William S. Anson, eldest child of Charles T. and Henrietta Whitmore Anson, was born on his father's ranch seven miles north of Orchard on December 28, 1888.
His mother died March 5, 1895. Then he and his sister, Octavia, lived with their Whitmore grandparents during the school year and lived with their father during vacations.
A year after their mother died, their father married Ervie May Strope, who became a wonderful stepmother to the children.
In his late teens, William took a course in agriculture at Lincoln and also took a business course at Nebraska Normal College the winter of 1907-08. When he had an opportunity to work in a bank, he chose farming and began a partnership with his father on the ranch where he was born.
On February 23, 1910 he married Cynthia Carson in the home of her mother south of Pilger. Henrietta (December 1910), Ruth (1913) and Theron (1916) were born on the ranch. In 1919, the family moved to Pleasant Valley five miles northeast of Orchard. Here, Walter (1921) and Sarah (1926) were born. From 1931-1948, the family lived on a farm west of Orchard which William and Octavia had inherited brom their Grandfather Whitmore. In November 1948, William and Gladys moved to Oklahoma with their son-in-law and daughter, Homer and Ruth Blain, to live in a warmer climate. A few years later, they returned to Nebraska to live with or near their children until Gladys died in 1971 near Springview. William then divided his time between California where Theron lived and Nebraska. He died in 1981 in Grand Island.
Henrietta married Harold Blain in 1938. He was a farmer and she taught school 26 years; they are retired in Orchard and had five sons. Ruth married Homer Blain (World War II veteran), have farmed and now retired. Theron, a career teacher, married Thelma Davis and have six children; Walter married Dorothy Cole and have four children; and Sarah married Howard Clay.
Source Unknown: Originally submitted for this website in June 2007