Those of my generation who were raised and educated in Nebraska have probably heard of the 1888 Children’s Blizzard. The storm was so named because it struck during the middle of the school day, on a Thursday, 12 January 1888. At this time many children living on the prairie were gathered in one-room schoolhouses, most of which had limited fuel and no food supplies. I recall from my own school days stories of teachers setting out with children in tow, bravely attempting to lead their students through the storm to a safe haven. Although many lives were saved, tragically, over two hundred children and adults lost their lives in that storm.
What does this have to do with Buller Time? Well, the Buller Family Record devotes considerable space to that blizzard. In the first few pages, we read:
One of the most destructive blizzards on record in the northern plains occurred on Jan. 12, 1888. This blizzard has been called Omaha’s biggest news event and one of the most spectacular events in the history of Nebraska.
Many lives were lost in the blizzard and much livestock perished. It was reported that cattle were frozen to death in a standing position and to this date there is no accurate record of the number of lives lost in this blizzard. Estimates of the number of deaths range from several hundred to a thousand. Settlers in those days were few and far between and they could not be spared.
Settlers in the northern plains in 1888 were pioneers, and sod and log houses and schools were common. The blizzard came without warning and many people were caught away from shelter, especially since the weather preceding the blizzard was unusually warm.
The blizzard pushed southeastward across Montana into Dakota and Nebraska with the most destruction in the area which is now South Dakota. It caused temperature falls of from 30 to 60 degrees in 24 hours with readings down to 20 to 40 below zero. Although the snowfall was comparatively light the strong winds picked up what was on the ground and piled it into drifts which ranged from five to 20 feet deep.
Many of those who perished were school children. Some were caught going home and others left schools after all combustible material had been burned, only to be frozen before reaching nearby shelter. There were many stories of heroic actions by teachers who saved the lives of their school children. Many tales are related in a book called In All Its Fury [O’Gara 1947], an account of the blizzard of 1888. This was published in 1947 as a result of interest created after the organization of the “January 12, 1888 Blizzard Club” by survivors of the blizzard.
This account of the blizzard appears in the early pages of the Buller Family Record, following J. J. Friesen’s explanation of the Henderson Immigrant House historical marker and immediately after a a brief history of Henderson. There is no indication as to who wrote either the history of Henderson or the account of the Children’s Blizzard.
Not so with a second account of the Children’s Blizzard, which is tucked behind the page listing Peter P and Margaretha Epp Buller’s family. This account was written by Maria and Sara:
On January 12, 1888, the grandparents [Peter D and Sarah] were in Henderson, and the depot agent came to the store and told the people to hurry home, for he had word that a big snowstorm was on the way. They hurried home and were able to get all their cattle into the barn before the storm arrived. It had started to snow the night before and had kept it up all day until in the afternoon. It had been a mild day, snow soft and fluffy at least 12 inches deep. There had been no wind during the snowfall, but at 3 o’clock in the afternoon the wind started from the northwest and a terrible blizzard took place. Many people were caught away from shelter and froze to death. Many of these were school children. The next day the temperature dropped down to 40° below zero.
Given the placement of this second account within a brief history of Peter P’s life, it seems relatively clear that the 1888 blizzard was considered a significant event in our family’s early years in Nebraska. Peter D and Sarah Siebert Buller had settled in Nebraska in 1879, when Peter P was ten years old. The blizzard hit less than nine years later, before Peter P turned nineteen. One can easily imagine that the Children’s Blizzard was a life-defining moment for those who went through it.
Several details in Maria and Sara’s account help us to understand the likely impact on the family. Given the advance warning, we can reasonably imagine that all the school-age children in the family—which potentially included Heinrich, Jacob, Sarah, Cornelius, and David—were safe and dry at home. If these children were attending school at that time, it was probably in the “Russian School” located 3/4 mile west and 1/2 mile north of the Buller farmstead (see the plat map here). If any Buller children were in school that day, it would have been easy enough, and completely logical, for Peter D and Sarah to swing by the school and pick them up on the way home from Henderson.
Another significant detail is not left to our imagination: after arriving home, Peter D and Sarah had time to gather all the livestock into the safety of the barn. Unlike some others in the neighborhood, the Bullers did not suffer the loss of cattle or, one assumes, horses or pigs. All in all, it seems, the Buller family weathered the storm relatively well.
One wonders how our ancestors’ lives might have differed had Peter D and Sarah not been in Henderson that day or had the railroad depot agent not warned people of the approaching blizzard. To let our imaginations run a little further, what if there had not been a Henderson to go to that day? Interestingly, the town of Henderson had been established only in the fall of 1887, and a 1918 account of the town’s history notes that, “about the time of the great blizzard, the first houses of this town were being built” (Sedgwick 1921, 1:473). If the blizzard had struck in 1887 rather than 1888, our ancestors might well have been elsewhere, perhaps on their way back from Sutton, completely unaware of the danger rolling down from the northwest.
Of course, providence preserved our ancestors that terrible day, and they apparently came through the ordeal unscathed. They may not even have appreciated the severity of the threat to their lives and their livelihood until sometime later. Why do I say this? Contemporary newspaper accounts of the Children’s Blizzard reveal that the extent of the losses inflicted by that storm were not known for quite some time. We will rehearse some of those accounts in part 2 of this series.
Works Cited
O’Gara, W. H., comp. 1947. In All Its Fury: A History of the Blizzard of January 12, 1888. Edited by Ora A. Clement. J & L Lee Books. Available for free checkout here.
Sedgwick, T. E. 1921. York County Nebraska and Its People. 2 vols. Clarke. Available online here.
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