"Nebraska Farmer"
July 3, 1954
page 8
Mrs. M. L. Pickens, 98, the oldest resident of Jefferson County, came to Nebraska in a covered wagon with her parents in 1869. Mrs. Pickens was born on January 21, 1856 in Ohio. She was one of 13 children born to Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Bower. Her father is thought to have built the first frame house in Jefferson County, hauling the lumber from Nebraska City to their homestead at Bower. He was a wagon-maker and minister.
Mrs. Pickens recalls when the Otoe Indians made their trips from their reservation near Diller to their buffalo hunts.
She saw Fairbury in its beginning when the settlement consisted of Joel B. Mattingly's saw mill and B. T. Byburns' log cabin, when Joe Nelson put up a store building in 1870, and when Fairbury's first doctor, Dr. Showalter, arrived.
She married Wesley Pickens on November 28, 1875, and the couple homesteaded near Powell until Mr. Pickens' death in 1919.
Mrs. Pickens is the last surviving charter member of the old Bower Church. The church was organized in the sod house where Mrs. Pickes received her first schooling.
Six of her nine children survive. They are Lewis Pickens, Canton, Okla.; Plats Pickens, Huntley, Mont.; Mrs. Z. T. Furlow, Coeur d'Alene, Ida.; Mrs. Helen Yeager and Ernest Pickens, Long Beach, Calif.; and Mrs. M. V. Helvey, Fairbury. She has 22 living grandchildren, 59 great grandchildren, and nine great great grandchildren.
Her three brothers are Rev. Clark Bower and Lee Bower of Denver, Colo., and Irvin Bower of Tensleep, Wyo. She has a half brother and half sister, Albert and Irene Bower of Phoenix, Ariz.
July 3, 1954
page 8
Mrs. M. L. Pickens, 98, the oldest resident of Jefferson County, came to Nebraska in a covered wagon with her parents in 1869. Mrs. Pickens was born on January 21, 1856 in Ohio. She was one of 13 children born to Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Bower. Her father is thought to have built the first frame house in Jefferson County, hauling the lumber from Nebraska City to their homestead at Bower. He was a wagon-maker and minister.
Mrs. Pickens recalls when the Otoe Indians made their trips from their reservation near Diller to their buffalo hunts.
She saw Fairbury in its beginning when the settlement consisted of Joel B. Mattingly's saw mill and B. T. Byburns' log cabin, when Joe Nelson put up a store building in 1870, and when Fairbury's first doctor, Dr. Showalter, arrived.
She married Wesley Pickens on November 28, 1875, and the couple homesteaded near Powell until Mr. Pickens' death in 1919.
Mrs. Pickens is the last surviving charter member of the old Bower Church. The church was organized in the sod house where Mrs. Pickes received her first schooling.
Six of her nine children survive. They are Lewis Pickens, Canton, Okla.; Plats Pickens, Huntley, Mont.; Mrs. Z. T. Furlow, Coeur d'Alene, Ida.; Mrs. Helen Yeager and Ernest Pickens, Long Beach, Calif.; and Mrs. M. V. Helvey, Fairbury. She has 22 living grandchildren, 59 great grandchildren, and nine great great grandchildren.
Her three brothers are Rev. Clark Bower and Lee Bower of Denver, Colo., and Irvin Bower of Tensleep, Wyo. She has a half brother and half sister, Albert and Irene Bower of Phoenix, Ariz.
"Nebraska Farmer"
July 3, 1954
page 8
Mrs. M. L. Pickens, 98, the oldest resident of Jefferson County, came to Nebraska in a covered wagon with her parents in 1869. Mrs. Pickens was born on January 21, 1856 in Ohio. She was one of 13 children born to Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Bower. Her father is thought to have built the first frame house in Jefferson County, hauling the lumber from Nebraska City to their homestead at Bower. He was a wagon-maker and minister.
Mrs. Pickens recalls when the Otoe Indians made their trips from their reservation near Diller to their buffalo hunts.
She saw Fairbury in its beginning when the settlement consisted of Joel B. Mattingly's saw mill and B. T. Byburns' log cabin, when Joe Nelson put up a store building in 1870, and when Fairbury's first doctor, Dr. Showalter, arrived.
She married Wesley Pickens on November 28, 1875, and the couple homesteaded near Powell until Mr. Pickens' death in 1919.
Mrs. Pickens is the last surviving charter member of the old Bower Church. The church was organized in the sod house where Mrs. Pickes received her first schooling.
Six of her nine children survive. They are Lewis Pickens, Canton, Okla.; Plats Pickens, Huntley, Mont.; Mrs. Z. T. Furlow, Coeur d'Alene, Ida.; Mrs. Helen Yeager and Ernest Pickens, Long Beach, Calif.; and Mrs. M. V. Helvey, Fairbury. She has 22 living grandchildren, 59 great grandchildren, and nine great great grandchildren.
Her three brothers are Rev. Clark Bower and Lee Bower of Denver, Colo., and Irvin Bower of Tensleep, Wyo. She has a half brother and half sister, Albert and Irene Bower of Phoenix, Ariz.
July 3, 1954
page 8
Mrs. M. L. Pickens, 98, the oldest resident of Jefferson County, came to Nebraska in a covered wagon with her parents in 1869. Mrs. Pickens was born on January 21, 1856 in Ohio. She was one of 13 children born to Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Bower. Her father is thought to have built the first frame house in Jefferson County, hauling the lumber from Nebraska City to their homestead at Bower. He was a wagon-maker and minister.
Mrs. Pickens recalls when the Otoe Indians made their trips from their reservation near Diller to their buffalo hunts.
She saw Fairbury in its beginning when the settlement consisted of Joel B. Mattingly's saw mill and B. T. Byburns' log cabin, when Joe Nelson put up a store building in 1870, and when Fairbury's first doctor, Dr. Showalter, arrived.
She married Wesley Pickens on November 28, 1875, and the couple homesteaded near Powell until Mr. Pickens' death in 1919.
Mrs. Pickens is the last surviving charter member of the old Bower Church. The church was organized in the sod house where Mrs. Pickes received her first schooling.
Six of her nine children survive. They are Lewis Pickens, Canton, Okla.; Plats Pickens, Huntley, Mont.; Mrs. Z. T. Furlow, Coeur d'Alene, Ida.; Mrs. Helen Yeager and Ernest Pickens, Long Beach, Calif.; and Mrs. M. V. Helvey, Fairbury. She has 22 living grandchildren, 59 great grandchildren, and nine great great grandchildren.
Her three brothers are Rev. Clark Bower and Lee Bower of Denver, Colo., and Irvin Bower of Tensleep, Wyo. She has a half brother and half sister, Albert and Irene Bower of Phoenix, Ariz.
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