VETERAN B. F. SAMMONS

About six years ago we received a letter from Veteran Sammons stating that he had read our letters in The Pilot and thought he would like a home in Ft. Calhoun, and in a few days, in answer to our letter, he came and, while looking over the properties for sale, we told him how bad we needed a good private boarding house here. The next morning he returned and purchased a rundown property that was fast becoming an eyesore in the community, and immediately converted it into a beautiful home that became a resting place and home for the ministers, teachers and others who were sadly in need of just such a home as he gave them ever since, and he not only served as mayor of the city one term, but before and after united with the church, was an active working member of the same, and a public spirited citizen. At the time of his death he held three offices in the Presbyterian church - elder, trustee and treasurer - and we do not know of anyone who can so faithfully and earnestly fill his place.

Only fourteen days ago we saw him, apparently in good health, but in the afternoon he was stricken suddenly with paralysis and became helpless and unconscious, apparently in a moment.

B. F. Sammons was a member of Co. H, 116th Ohio during the civil War, was several years a resident of Buffalo county, Nebraska, and then to Blair before coming to Ft. Calhoun. He leaves behind a very faithful wife, to whom he was married in 1868; two sons and a daughter. One son is a telegrapher in Wyoming and the other a physician in Iowa, and the daughter is Mrs. Smith of Lincoln, Nebraska. His two sons and their families have been with him most of the time during his illness.

He passed away Nov. 22, 1905 at the age of 72, and on Nov. 24 a beautiful service was held at the house by Rev. Dr. Braden, D.D. of Bellevue, and his pastor, Rev. Primrose, assisted by the church choir, Miss Edna Vaughan singing the anthem and Miss Bertha Bauman organist. The body was then put on the train and started for his old home in Shelton, Buffalo county, to be laid beside one of his children. He certainly was a grand man. W. H. Woods

~~~Obituaries courtesy of the Nebraska Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Blair, Nebraska Public Library~~~

Find a Grave Memorial #47379585