Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
The Freeburg family of Kimball County was honored at the 2015 Kimball-Banner County Fair when they were awarded the Ak-Sar-Ben Nebraska Pioneer Farm Award. Accepting the award on behalf of their entire family, from left, are Natalie Freeburg, holding Dalton, Travis, with son Braydon in hand, Carsten, Brynlee, Troy, Loretta, Kinsee, being held by Jamie, Kathy and Raymond. Not shown in the photo are Raymond's daughter, Lori Trevillian, her husband Ty, and their children Laine and Piper Jo, who farm near Saratoga, Wyoming. Also not shown are Raymond's brother, Russ, who along with his wife and children farm near Frannie, Wyoming.
In 1912, a Union Pacific Railroad engineer stationed in Cheyenne homesteaded 640 acres in Kimball County, just north and west of Bushnell.
That man, Dave H. Sonday, and his wife, Etta, were deeded that same land two years later, after they made required improvements to the land and living on it for the duration.
The land was deeded in 1914 and was signed by the President of the United States, a document great-grandson Troy Freeburg and his wife, Loretta, still have.
What the Sondays created at that time was a home. More than 100 years later, the true creation was a legacy. That legacy was rece...