My Genealogy Hound

ANSON TEETER. Among those who came to Harlan county in an early day and have been identified with its settlement, growth and development, is this gentleman. He was born in Tompkins county, N. Y., June 12, 1830, and is next to the youngest child in a family of eighteen — seven girls and eleven boys — born to Elias and Rachel (Davenport) Teeter, both of whom were natives of New Jersey. The former, a farmer by occupation, lived to be over sixty years of age, dying in 1849. Anson spent his boyhood at home on his father’s farm, attending school and helping about the place until he was twenty years of age, when he came West and located in Michigan. There he remained two years and was engaged in clearing land, including that on which Lansing, the state capital, is now situated. He then returned East to Elmira, N. Y., and for four years was engaged principally in milling. His next move was to Aurora, Ill., where he engaged in milling one year and then went to Shabbona Grove, and engaged in farming. He left there in 1858, returning to Elmira, N. Y., and the following spring came to Jackson county, Mich., where he farmed until 1861, when he again changed his location to near Calumet, Porter county, Ind., where he farmed one year. His next move was to Kane county, Ill., where he resided on a farm until the fall of 1872, when he emigrated West and settled on his present claim in Prairie Dog township, Harlan county, Nebr. He homesteaded a quarter section in section 35, township 1, range 18 west, September 12, 1872, and at once erected a twelve by fourteen foot dug-out and brought the family out the following spring. At that day there were but few settlers in the Prairie Dog Valley, and the surrounding country looked more like the Arabian desert than a country that only needed to be tickled with a hoe to produce its millions of bushels of golden grain. Buffalo in herds of thousands were roaming over the neighboring hills and through the adjacent valleys, and presented a scene long to be remembered by the few venturesome settlers of that early day. Deer, elk and antelope were frequently to be seen, and wild turkey flocked through the wooded valley of the creek. The atmosphere was then so dry and the air so pure that wild game, when killed, could be hung up in the trees to dry, and would hang for months without spoiling. Mr. Teeter came to Harlan county with but little means, and the hardships he endured for the first few years are simply indescribable. He raised a small crop of corn and potatoes the first year, and was remunerated for his labor by getting $1.50 per bushel for his potatoes and 85 cents per bushel for his corn at his own door, but this was about all he was able to raise for the next five years, the drought and grasshoppers playing havoc with the crops. The first twelve years of his life in Harlan county he farmed without a team, working three days for a neighbor for one days work use of a team. With the more rapid settlement of the country, the drought and grasshoppers disappeared, and prosperity finally dawned, so that for the past seven or eight years he has raised good crops and has been generally prosperous.

He was united in marriage June 6, 1861, to Louisa M. Tippets, by whom he has had four children, namely — Hattie, Cora E., Isabell M. and George H. Politically Mr. Teeter is a strong believer in the principles of the democratic party. Considering the many disadvantages under which Mr. Teeter has had to labor, coming, as he did, to Harlan county in an early day with practically nothing and having to start from the very bottom and build up, he is certainly worthy of great credit for the manner in which he has persistently toiled on and the success he has achieved. His name will long be associated with the history of Harlan county.