This photograph was part of a large collection belonging to Gertie Mahar, wife of Fred Mahar (mentioned below).

The homestead address is now: 74623 Drive 429A, Smithfield, Gosper County, Nebraska. It is approximately 7 miles northeast of Elwood, NE.

My great-grandfather, William Mahar, homesteaded the farm and filed Homestead Claim Application No. 3390 for the SW ½, Section 22, Twp 8, Range 22 of Gosper County on October 13, 1882. William was granted Homestead Certificate 2011 in 1891. The farm was in the family until 1994 when it was sold to the current owners. William and his wife, Katherine, initially lived in a "dugout" in the side of a hill for a while. The oldest daughter, Johannah, was born in the dugout. The middle child, Ralph, and the youngest child, Fred, were born in the house in the photo.

The Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben Foundation, which is a civic and philanthropic organization, has an award called the Nebraska Pioneer Farm Family Award. This program has honored farm families in Nebraska whose land has been owned by the same family for 100 years or more. The program is co-sponsored by the Nebraska Association of Fair Managers and was presented to the Mahar family in 1985 at the Gosper County Fair. In 1985 the Mahar farm had been in the family for 103 years.

Fred, the youngest of William and Katherine’s three children, was born on August 18, 1891. Fred took over operation of the farm in 1909 and his parents moved to Lexington in 1913.

Fred married Gertie Overton Rhinehart on August 1, 1915. Fred and Gertie lived on the homestead until they moved to Elwood, Nebraska in 1943 when their son, Bill, and his wife, Betty, took over operation of the farm.

In 1947 Fred purchased an interest in the Elwood Coal and Lumber Company where he worked until retirement in 1956.

LARGER VIEW

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