Charles Eberstein is a native of Kalamazoo, Michigan. He joined the
army when quite young, and in the spring of 1865 he passed through
Nebraska with his regiment which was sent out west because of the
Indian uprising, and was in the same company as William Ramsdell,
another of our pioneers. The main army was divided on the Platte,
part of it going to Utah because of trouble among the Mormons; the
other part going to Wyoming.
Mr. Eberstein's brother, Henry
was sent to Utah, and had to pay $300 for a stage ride back from
Salt Lake City to Atchison, Kansas; such was the cost of travel in
early days. Mr. Eberstein went with his company to Wyoming and soon
afterwards returned to Michigan.
He came to Omaha, Nebraska
in 1867 and lived there until he was of age; so that he could
homestead. During that time he heard of a surveying party being
fitted out to go west, and he tried to join it. But when he saw the
surveyor, he was told he was just one day too late; all the men
needed having been engaged. The party set out for Fort Kearney where
they were to secure the help and protection of some soldiers, but
before this was accomplished the whole party was overtaken and
massacred, a happy miss for Mr, Eberstein.
In the early part
of March 1867 he set out West along with Mike Markey and William
Hartsell, with a team and wagon, landing at the home of Mr.
Alexandrias, who had located about 1862 on the Big Sandy River near
a small town called Meridian situated on the Little Blue River. When
making inquiries about homesteads at the Beatrice land office, he
asked for a plat of Fillmore county and laid down the dollar in
payment, but on looking at the plat he saw that the land was all
vacant, so he picked up his dollar, saying, "I guess I do not need a
plat," and the man in charge replied, "No, you will not need it as
all the land is vacant." It is perhaps well to add here, that the
north half of Fillmore County was homesteaded through the Lincoln
land office, and the south half through the office at Beatrice
The three men came ten miles north of the Alexandras place, Mr.
Markey and Mr. Hartsell homesteading in Saline County, and Mr.
Eberstein homesteaded two and a half miles north west of them in
Fillmore county, taking the South East quarter of Section 13, Town 5
Range 1, the claim taking in the forks of the Walnut creek, it being
the first piece of land taken in the south half of Filmore County.
That was in April 1869, a few days after he had come of age.
The nearest neighbor was ten miles away, and the next settlers
to come into the south half of the county were, George Marley and
Frank Snow, who came in the following June.
They soon began
breaking prairie and planting sod corn, and were never without
firearms day or night, for fear of the Indians, Mr. Eberstein broke
the first prairie ever broken in that part of the country, and had
at the time a rifle strapped to the plough handle, and a six shooter
strapped around his waist.
During that summer the Indians
broke out and came down near Medidian, and Governor Butler, who was
then Governor of Nebraska, ordered the raising of State Militia,
which Mr. Eberstein joined. They built a fort at the mouth of Spring
Creek and the Blue river near where Hebron now stands, calling it
Fort Butler; it being the headquarters of the Militia during the
season. The Indians thought a great deal of the Little Blue River,
and were very loath to give it up, which accounts for the many raids
made along its banks.
They made numerous scouting trips to
the South and West, one of which was in reality a buffalo hunt.
There were about thirty men including Governor Butler, and also two
English lords who went out seeking a location for a colony. About
two weeks were spent on this trip, and they often saw signs of
Indians, but never came into contact with any.
The greater
part of the hunting was done where Superior now stands, and they
succeeded in killing 125 buffaloes, also numerous elks, antelopes
and deer. They returned to Fort Butler with ten wagon loads of meat,
after which they were soon discharged from the State Militia.
It was now late in the fall; so Mr. Eberstein returned to his
claim and spent a few days building a log cabin, then he went on
horseback to Plattsmouth where he spent the winter working on the
first miles of the Burlington Railroad built in Nebraska.
The following February he returned to his claim, and that spring the
country was well settled up and numerous improvements made. Two
brothers, John and Henry, also settled in the neighborhood, and a
sister, Mrs. Vroman, was the first teacher in the Evergreen
district, which was originally part of the Mount Zion District.
Pioneers of Fillmore and Adjoining Counties
Source: Pioneer Stories of the Pioneers of Fillmore and adjoining Counties, by G. R. McKeith, Press of Fillmore County News, Exeter, Nebraska, 1915