Leggotts of Elwood, Gosper Co, NE
"The Elwood Bulletin," [Elwood, Gosper Co., NE], Diamond Jubilee Issue, 11 Aug 1960, p. 1:
LEGGOTT FAMILY HISTORY
George and Mary Leggott and three children -- eight year old Alice, Roy, three years, and Ed who was six months of age came to Gosper County from Clifton, Illinois in the fall of 1888.
Almost immediately Mr. Leggott purchased a quarter section of prairie about ten miles south west of Elwood. The land was purchased from Charles Albee for $1300 and he assumed a mortgage of $700. The deed was recorded December 27, 1888. Albees had acquired the land from Charle Howard who had secured it by patent from the U. S. Government. It was located just west of what come to be known as the "Ash Grove" School. The name originated from a timber claim planted almost entirely of Ash trees. The grove was on land owned by a family named Deverau and was in existence when the Leggott family arrived.
Mr. Leggott chartered a freight car at Clifton and shipped some machinery, a team of horses, named Kate and Brad, the family dog, and a few household goods. One piece of machinery, it is remembered, was a planter designed to plant corn on freshly turned sod.
Mr. Leggott rode the freight to Arapahoe while his wife and family accompanied by grandpa Carter, Mrs. Leggott's father, came by coach on the passenger train.
The family lived with Mrs. Leggott's brother, Will Carter, who had preceded the Leggotts to the frontier. The Carter place was west of the Gosper settlement.
The first chore in order was to build a house. A two story frame house was built by A. R. Perry, who was Mrs. Charley Carter's father. A well was put down and in a short time the family was established in their newhome.
It was imperative to begin breaking sod and as the family remembers the first sod turned was used to build a shelter for chickens and livestock.
Drouth struck the settlers the first few years of residence. Mr. Leggott became so discouraged and fearful for the fate of his family that the year following their arrival he made the decision to return to Illinois. Roy and Alice Hall both remember the day he left home for Elwood with the intentions of leasing the freight car headed east. When he returned home they remember him saying the men in town were very persuasive. He had changed his mind or at any rate a man named Frank Schroeder had changed it for him. They would remain in Gosper County.
The next winter their menus consisted almost entirely of beans and dried currants with an occasional rabbit for meat.
Mrs. Hall* remembers especially the profusion of fleas in the tall prairie grass which surrounded the buildings.
Five other children were born at that place, Annie [Mrs. Fred Fish], Charley, Carrie [Mrs. Clifford Tilson], Esther [Mrs. Joe Frescoln] and Mary who passed away in infancy from a sickness diagnosed in those early days simply as "Summer Complaint."
Their first school house on the Ash Grove sight [sic] was a sod building and was taught by Nate Jones. Church and Sunday School were also held in the school house whenever a preacher was available. Their first preacher was Rev. G. B. Chase who drove a horse and buggy out from Elwood to hold services.
Mr. Leggott built up a good sized herd of cattle and specialized in hogs. Wheat was taken to Arapahoe and milled into flour for the winters provision.
The family lived there until 1906 when they moved to the farm three quarters mile north west of Elwood now owned and occupied by Ed Leggott.
George Leggott passed away in 1911 and his wife Mary in 1936. The children with the exception of baby Mary are all living -- Ed, Roy and Charley Leggott, Carrie Tilson, Alice Hall in or near Elwood, Annie Fish at Oxford and Esther Frescoln at Winner, South Dakota.
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*The Leggotts' first born was the longest-lived: Alice May Leggott, b. 03 Dec 1882, Clifton, Iroquois Co., IL; d. 09 Apr 1986, Elwood, Gosper Co., NE; wife of Wellington Peter "Will" Hall.
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