Editor’s note: Frank Harding shared this history moment at the last Hooker County Historical Society meeting and is now sharing it with Tribune readers.
The Hooker County Historical Society meets the last Thursday of every month at 7:00 p.m. at the Old Hotel. Everyone welcome.
In 1887-1888, a stock growers committee was formed to try to bring law and order to this area and to try to form a county out of what was then called unorganized territory.
Those on the committee were: President, Alex Evans; Vice President, George Mary; Secretary, W.. Hoskins; Treasurer, Esquire Crain; Chaplain, William Treferen; Lector, William Barnaby; Door Keeper, E. Stevenson; and Sergeant at Arms, Edwin Demerit.
In researching history of Hooker County, I have found that almost all of these men’s names show up later in the history of the county. George Mary and Treferen platted the original town of Mullen. The Barnabys show up often in Mullen history. Esquire Crain (who, by the way, was my grandfather) was the chairman of the county commissioners when the present courthouse was built. One of Stevenson’s daughters married Dr. David Walker, whose 50-year anniversary is displayed at the foot of the stairs in the museum. Evans, I believe, later became a judge in Custer County.
But I want to talk briefly about the Sergeant at Arms, Ed Demerit. Mr. Demerit settled on the Middle Loup River just north of where Mullen is now. His claim was about ¾ of a mile west of where Highway 97 crosses the river north of town now. He is the one who built a water wheel to run a generator to provide the first rural electricity in the area.
Nels Simonson, who later lived neighbors to Demerit on the west, told me some about him. He was a small man, about four feet tall. When he came to town, he usually walked, which wasn’t far, and he carried his money and business papers in a teakettle.
The late Haskell Boyer remembered him as a very friendly man. When Boyer was a kid, his family would go to the Loup River to fish and pick fruit and he remembers Mr. Demerit letting them cook their fish in his shack.
At one time Ed Demerit served as Hooker County Treasurer. In fact, he was credited with helping to set up the books for the first Hooker County Treasurer in the newly formed county. Since there was no courthouse yet, the papers were kept in Thomas County.
This is all I had ever heard about Demerit. On County Government Day every year, SEE HISTORY MOMENT, 5 Lloyd Ginkens always wanted me to mention Demerit’s water wheel and about him using a teakettle as a briefcase to carry his money and his papers.
But forget this for a while, as I want to skip ahead about 125 years.
Recently a group of people in Custer County had a fundraising event to try to preserve the very old Broken Bow Township Cemetery. The money raised is to be used for general upkeep of the cemetery as well as to upright leaning stones, trim old trees, etc. The main feature of this event was to research and tell stories of what was known about the 12 people who are buried there. The stories ranged from a murder victim to a 7-month-old victim of cholera. Someone stood by each of the graves and read what was known about the person who was buried there.
These stories were printed in the Custer County Chief. A lot of history is hidden in old obituaries and little-known stories of pioneers that have passed on.
One story in particular I am going to tell about is the story that was read over the grave of one Edmond King.
This information was obtained from the 1912 history of the cemetery.
Edmond King was a respected farmer and a Baptist Church deacon in Custer County. While King was well liked, he had a reputation for having trouble keeping his livestock on his own place.
And for one neighbor in particular, this was a source of great aggravation.
On Dec. 10, 1887, some of King’s stock had wandered onto land belonging to his neighbor, a little short guy, about 4 feet tall, Edwin Demerit. When King went to get his livestock back, Demerit began to protest, saying now that the cattle has been grazing on his land, he should get paid something for keeping them. King ignored Demerit and started to get on his horse to go round up his cattle. Demerit pulled out his gun and fired one shot, and both King and his horse dropped dead from that single shot.
Demerit was arrested for the murder and jailed in the newly constructed Custer County jail. The sheriff testified that the bullet went through King’s temple into the horse’s eye, killing them both instantly.
This is where the story needs a little more detail.
I can find no record of Demerit being found innocent or guilty, or how long he was in jail. But we know that he was put in jail on Dec. 10, 1887. And we know he was on the Hooker County Founding Committee in 1888.
According to that 1912 history of the cemetery, after Demerit was released from jail, he gathered up his horses and cattle and moved northwest into the desolate and dismal unorganized territory of the Sandhills. He settled in the far upper reaches of the Middle Loup River. It is rumored that Demerit later served as an elected official of a county that was later formed near or around where the present village of Mullen is now located.
A few years ago, Tonya Dutton brought me some pictures of the old Dutton Store and of the Mullen Saloon, which was located where the post office is now and was owned by Bob McRide. This saloon was closed when the town was incorporated in 1905 or 1906 as a “dry town”.
No alcohol could be bought or sold within the village limits.
But an illegal saloon continued in the basement of that building known as The Blind Pig Saloon until the Hamilton murder, when it was closed for good. The picture of the illegal Blind Pig is on display at the museum.
In this picture (on page 1), taken around 1902, standing at the bar you can see Charlie Rector, who was a rider for the UBI Cattle Company and later served as sheriff of Hooker County. Standing next to him was Judge Bowers, who was one of the first three homesteaders of Hooker County. The far northeast corner of Cedarview Cemetery was originally called the Bower Cemetery. Next to him is a well-dressed short guy, about 4 feet tall, named Edwin Demerit.
I would personally like to know more about this man.
He was an educated man, one of the founders of our county, yet we only know about 25 years of his life. I would like to know where he came from and where he went when he left here after he sold his property to the Dufers.