Aunt Ina.
Aunt Ina, no other name is needed.
It is thus she is known to everyone.
And this list is for from complete of those who knew and loved her.
So you see, Aunt Ina can never never die.
She will still be with us through the day
And enchant our dreams at night.
She will walk beside us as we go shopping
She shall be in every conversation,
And we shall tell our children
Who in turn shall tell their children,
That Aunt Ina still lives.
God rest her soul.
Harvey lost his mother when he was eight years old. He has one older brother. Harvey was one of the earliest homesteaders in the area. He came to Nebraska on April 13, 1886, and homesteaded 164 1/2 acres and secured a timber claim. Since that time he has improved four farms and has in prospect another. He had 80 acres ditched and made extensive improvements.
Whenever Harvey was asked by old timers from whence he came, his favorite reply was "I was born in Iowa, lived in Missouri and came here from California." As a young man of 20 years he had gone to California in April, 1884, but was back in Eastern Nebraska in the winter of 1886, planning to return to California in the spring.
Dr. Wirtz from Grand Island was organizing a colony to come to Western Nebraska and invited Harvey to join them. He was acquainted with Tom Allen, who was among the group. He had no special reason for going back to California, also he was now old enough to file on land.
After thorough consideration of the matter, Harvey came to Western Nebraska, arriving April 13, 1886. He was greatly impressed with the "largeness" of the country and soon filed on a homestead and tree claim.
Their first residence was an 8 x 9 foot tent placed over a dug out where four men lived. Fora table they used a pair of side boards from one of their wagons--these were moved out of doors at night time to make room for sleeping quarters on the bare ground floor. The four men were William Moulton, Harvey Harward, George and Tom Allen.
That same spring they managed to plant a little corn by one man plowing, another cutting the sod and dropping the kernels of corn in hills. The corn grew all right but the range cattle had not been removed and they simply made paths down the rows of corn.
Almost all of the pioneers were willing to offer a helping hand but none was more magnanimous than Harvey. Many of the new comers, arriving in the fall of 1886 and during the year of 1887 have said that it was Harvey who met them in Sidney and assisted them in getting their belongings to their homesteads.
Harvey was always interested in helping to establish Sunday Schools and Churches and gave assistance tot he building of the "Sod Church" which was only a short distance from his homestead.
In Scottsbluff county Harvey was united in marriage to Miss Ina Williams in April 1902. Ina's parents were T.J. and Lovina (Michel) Williams. Her mother Lovina died at the age of 50 years, in 1902. T.J. was born in Henry Co., Iowa February 9, 1849. His parents were Henry and Leah (Stanbrough) Williams, natives of Ohio. The Williams migrated westward ending up as homesteaders in Nebraska.
Harvey and Ina "Inie" didn't have children of their own, but took Guy's children after Guy and his wife died. Guy was Inie's brother. Lovina, six years old, and TJ, 18 months old, were taken into their home where they reared them as his own. Guy and his wife, Winnie, both died in the same year, 1918.
Lovina and T.J. were named for their pioneer grandparents, Lovina and Thomas James Williams.
Harvey and Ina moved to the second farm which Harvey had improved for their home, which was located six miles west of Bayard. After living there for a few years he purchased a farm south of Melbeta where they resided until they bought a farm on the north table and in Highland, in which community they had been early neighbors. This was to be their final home.
Since Harvey's farming operations always required the employment of a hired man, Joe Bauer, an exemplary young man entered his employ in 1928. Most hired men only stayed with their employer a short time but Joe Bauer continued for seven years.
During that time attachments were formed and in 1934, Lovina Williams became the wife of Joe Bauer. A number of years later Joe and Lovina Bauer became the owners of the old original Williams homestead where they made their home. When leaving the farm Joe Bauer became a full time employee of the Great Western Sugar Co. in Bayard, a position he held for many years.
Harvey was a member of School Boards at various times--he was elected as Honorary President of the Oregon Trail Days Celebration in 1937. He had been a Director of the Beet Growers Association and a Director of the Chimney Rock Public Power District for many years. Harvey had worked as a hired man and had had men work for him in that capacity. He had exchanged work with neighbors and had farmed in partnership with others. He had rented land to others, rented and farmed land for others. All of this was in addition to his extensive social, religious and community activities. Throughout all of these relationships there never was heard a disparaging word spoken against Harvey Harward.
In politics, Harvey was always been more or less an independent voter. For a numbers of years he held not only school offices but offices in connection with irrigation projects and had also been assessor. He had been very active in forwarding educational and church movements and on January 22, 1889, helped to organize the First Baptist church in Highland precinct, a charter ember with J. M. Adams and L. A. Christian. Both he and his wife belonged to the Methodist Episcopal church and he was superintendent of the Sunday school.
After 55 years in this area, Harvey died in 1941. Concerning his passing we quote from the Scottsbluff Star-Herald. "Harvery Howard, pioneer citizen, yesterday was carried to his last resting place at Bayard, where so many of his old friends and neighbors have preceded him. That Mr. Harward, far more than is ordinary, left behind him a good name--is shown by the record of more than half a century, during all of which time he had continually increased in stature as a good citizen, a good neighbor, a loyal and true friend -- and one whose life was above reproach. He was a Christian gentleman." A few years later, his wife Ina too passed away--both are buried in the Bayard cemetery.
Thus the record book of another pioneer family is closed.
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