Luginbuhl, Gilgeni Family - Luginbuel Funeral Home

A tall, ornate headstone, etched with age, marks the final resting place of a Nebraska pioneer named John Luginbill.
He was born more than 160 years ago near Bern, Switzerland, and died June 29, 1897 in Richardson County,
Nebraska.
John is buried in Four-Miles Cemetery, a picturesque setting of gentle rolling hills and valleys punctuated by
timberlands that follow streams snaking their way toward the Missouri River.
The Luginbill family migrated to American in 1829. They made the Atlantic crossing in a sailing ship and the trip
through the Appalachian mountains was accomplished by wagon train.
The family settled in or near Waynesburg or Winesburg (Stark County), Ohio, about 1830. The 1850 Federal Census of
Holmes County, Ohio records the young man's age as 24 and that he was married to Elizabeth Welti. She too, was born
in Switzerland and had come to America when two year's old.
Census records of 1860 show the family has moved further west to Andrews County, Missouri. This move, probably
about 1853, was the next to last stop for the John Luginbill family since records show they were in Nebraska in 1856.
Note: History of Richardson County, Nebraska list the following family member at the FIRST REGISTER OF
SETTLER'S CLAIM
John Luginbill - October 3, 1854: Peter Luginbill - October 3, 1854: Christian Luginbill - October 3, 1854: (Peter and
Christian brothers of John Luginbill).
Nebraska, still a Territory, was blessed with rich, black soil that produced abundant crops for a growing young nation.
This was the end of the rainbow for John Luginbuel. Here he put down roots, and here he remained. By this time there
were two new additions to the family: Elizabeth and Rosena. Older members for the family were William H., Peter,
Mary C., Henrietta, and John -- for a total of seven children.
It should be said that in 1854 a settler could homestead 160 acres, live on for six months, and then buy it from the
U.S. Government for $1.25 an acre. At the time they called it preemption, and that is the road John traveled, but it
wasn't an easy one.
Historians note that the frontier in those days was no place for weaklings. Only the fittest could endure the hardships,
privations, and dangers of everyday living. Although friendly and helpful, the Indian was a factor.
One anecdote has it that John owned a pair of oxen he obviously had brought from Ohio. One winter day while
logging. Indians made off with his one and only team. Promptly he picked up a gun and trailed them through the snow
to Brownsville, Nebraska. After confronting the culprits in language they understood, they returned the oxen and John
returned home.
Without question, the winter of 1854-55 was to be a hard one for the Luginbills. They lived in a log cabin in that
provided few comforts, especially with seven children. The, too, the weather was harsh and provisions were scarce.
The daughters learned to spin wool and weave cloth to keep the family warm. John and his sons tended the livestock in
makeshift shelters and melted snow to drinking water. By springs they were ready to go into the fields.
A set back of sorts occurred a few years later when President Buchanan signed legislation requiring payment of the
$1.25 per acre that John had signed up to buy. He had no choice but to take the inheritance money and savings of the
entire family to pay for the title to his 160 acres.
From that point on, however, the John Luginbill family fortunes began to look better. Besides the land John had found
through homesteading rights, deals were struck with Indian Chiefs for additional acreage and, little by little, John
Luginbills holding became substantial.
Meantime, the country was going through an era of turmoil and agony. They abolished slavery in 1865; The Civil War
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