Richard G. Atwood was born on his parents' homestead two miles northwest of Albion, Nebraska in 1883. His parents were the late Elias and Belle King Atwood, among the first settlers in Boone County.
They came from eastern Massachusetts seeking homesteads in Nebraska where free land was available for making a home. At that time the railroad was extended as far as Columbus, Nebraska. Since Boone County was named honoring Daniel Boone, his daughter was on the train trying to get to settle in that county.
Richard, better known as Dick, graduated from Albion High School and attended Wesleyan University. He married Cynthia Short of western Cherry County in 1910. Her parents, Andrew and Agnes Cole Short were also homesteaders in Cherry County, arriving in Nebraska from New York state when Cynthia was five years old in 1888.
Richard and Cynthia lived on one of his father's farms in Boone County a couple of years, then moved to Cynthia's kinkaid, a section of western Nebraska land given in the Kinkaid Act of 1904 to one who would “prove up” on it, located thirteen miles northeast of Gordon, Nebraska.
After ranching in Cherry County for five years, they purchased a farm five miles northwest of Neligh, from their Cherry County neighbor Arthur Branen, formerly of Antelope County.
In 1938 the Atwoods moved to a ranch south of Neligh, known as the Lorenzen place. They purchased the place a couple years later and the slough became known as the “Atwood Lake” and later “Sportsmen's”.
Richard died in 1951. Cynthia purchased a home in Neligh and resided there until her death in 1970. Richard was active on the Union Store Board, the Antelope County Fair Board and 4-H work. Cynthia organized the first Home Extension Club in the county. They were the parents of four childred: Lucile, married to Howard Earing; Vera, married to Ray Rankin; Olin, married to Delores Neal; and Gertrude, married to Elmer Wittenburg.
Source Unknown: Originally submitted for this website in June 2007