*other spellings of last name recorded in census Schwagler and Schwegler

TO BURY PIONEER NEAR TOMBSTONE SET 30 YEARS AGO

THOMAS SCHWEIGLER, 97, HAD EXPECTED DEATH THIRTY YEARS AGO

BURIAL IS TODAY AT ARLINGTON

AFTER SURVIVING HAZARDOUS SHIP RIDE AND THE GREAT BLIZZARD OF ’88, PIONEER OUTLIVED HIS OWN EXPECTANCEY MORE THAN 30 YEARS.

Like most pioneers, Thomas Schweigler was a hardy soul.

Accustomed to vigorous, outdoor life and hard work, he came through several harrowing experiences in earlier life that probably would be fatal to his modern counterparts.

But Mr. Schwigler erred when he figured how long he was to live.

Thirty years ago, back in 1907, Mr. Schweigler, a well known pioneer resident of Arlington, was 67 and decided that his earthly span was nearing an end.

So, after getting his affairs in order, Mr. Schweigler visited Arlington cemetery, selected a lot and ordered a tombstone set up in anticipation of his approaching death. He was ready.

It seems however, that Mr. Schweigler’s time was not at hand. At the end of a year he felt better than he ever did. One by one his old friends passed on, but Mr. Schweigler’s health remained as good as ever.

In 1920, encouraged by his apparent longevity, Mr. Schweigler moved to Oklahoma. He died last Saturday.

Yesterday the custodian at Arlington cemetery was busy preparing Mr. Schweigler’s grave for his belated arrival. The body arrived by train from Edmond, Oklahoma, and funeral services are being held at Arlington’s Methodist Episcopal church this afternoon.

Mr. Schweigler was born in Germany, where he grew to manhood and labored long hours in a vineyard on the river Rhine in Westphalia. Succumbing finally to the lure of America, he booked passage on a steamship and arrived in the United States after a rough and hazardous crossing.

He came to Arlington. A few years later came the historic blizzard of 1888. Stranded on a neighbor’s farm, he tried to reach his own home, and would have perished in the drifts had not it been for a lighted lamp which his step-daughter place in a window. The morning after the storm his footprints’ in the snow showed that he had wandered round and round his house before he saw the lamp.

Back in 1907, having retired from the farm, Mr. Schweigler decided it was time to get his grave ready. Two years later his wife died and was buried in the Arlington graveyard.

Mr. Schweigler had fooled himself. He lived to the ripe old age of 97, survived only by his two step-daughters, Mrs. David Kelfer of Edmond and Mrs. Louise Schwartz of Norman, Oklahoma.

*Washington County Cemetery records: Schwegler, Thomas; Born-8/22/1840; Died 5/29/1937: Arlington Cemetery; Section A Lot 51

*Name Thomas J Schwagler
Sex Male
Age 69
Event Date 1910
Event Place Arlington, Washington, Nebraska, United States
Event Place (Original) Arlington, , Nebraska
Event Type Census
Birth Year (Estimated) 1841
Birthplace Germany
Marital Status Widowed,
Race White
Relationship to Head of Household Head
Father's Birthplace Germany
Mother's Birthplace Germany

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