Phelps County History

Holdrege is the third county seat location in Phelps County. The first county seat was in Williamsburg in Williamsburg Township in the northern part of the county. Information about Williamsburg is scarce but Rolf Johnson wrote that there were four buildings in Williamsburg when he arrived in 1876.

 Settlers organized Phelps County in 1873 and selected Williamsburg as the county seat the same year. The county seat was moved to the more centrally located Phelps Center in 1879. In 1884 county residents voted to move the county seat to Holdrege, which had been established just one year earlier. The first courthouse (a flimsy and modest structure) was completed even before the election made Holdrege the county seat. A new courthouse soon replaced the first structure. By the early twentieth century, county residents were ready to build yet another courthouse. Construction on this building began in 1910 and by 1911the Beaux Arts-style structure was completed. 

An August attack upon a wagon train in Northwest Phelps County, known as the Plum Creek Massacre, was the initial incident of the Indian War of 1864.

The Plum Creek Cemetery, located nine miles north and one mile east of Bertrand, rests on the open prairie as a quiet reminder of the struggles of early pioneers endured to settle this country.

The Plum Creek Massacre as told by Mrs. Thomas F. Morton In July, 1864, my husband and I decided to freight to Denver from Sidney, Iowa. After about five days travel, we arrived at Plum Creek Station. We were rejoined by nine wagons which made our wagon train consist of twelve wagons. When we were camped at Plum Creek that night, my brother and Mr. marble stood guard the forepart of the night and my husband the latter. About six o'clock in the morning we again started on our western course. My husband, being quite fatigued, requested that I should drive and I gladly consented. While I was driving, my husband was fast asleep and all my time was spent in viewing the beautiful landscape, which I supposed we would soon reach. But alas! That was only a momentary thought for far in the distance I could see objects which seemed to be approaching us but on account of the great distance, they were undistinguishable. But it was not long -- only a few minutes -- until I soon observed they were Indians and I again called to my husband and said he knew they were Indians. Soon we observed they were warriors and were pained and equipped for battle. Soon they uttered a wild cry and fired a volley from their guns which made us realize our helpless condition. This terrible and unsuspected apparition came upon us with such a startling swiftness that we had no time to make preparation for defense. With wild screams and ells, they circled round and round which frightened our teams so they became uncontrollable. Thinking there might be some faint hope of escape, I sprang from the wagon. My husband called me, 'Oh, my dear, where are you going?' And those were the last words I heard him say.

Somewhere in the prairies of southwestern Phelps County lies the unmarked grave of a would-be-killer who died in 1877. Articles in the newspaper state James Sweeze was the Sheriff at the time. The deceased, William P. Miller, a former Sheriff, lived in a combintaion dugout and log cabin. Miller always carried a gun and threatened his neighbors. He kidnapped a 16 year old girl and kept her imprisoned. Shortly after the birth of her second child, the girl escaped.

After the escape, Miller appeared to reform. However, as the years passed, more threats to the neighbors were reported. On July 19, 1877, Miller attempted to carry out his death threats. He threatened to kill Sweezy. Sweezy ordered him to surrender without result. Miller died from three gunshot wounds that day.

G. Royal Hanson's biography mentions his duties as Sheriff. "He was on call day and night. Having no deputy. he had to handle all aspects of civil, criminal, juveniles, and delinquent taxes. As County Health Chairman he quarantined all contagious diseases."

"Probably the roughest, rawest, era of law breaking was the bootlegging period, and was probably the era that gave him the most headaches."

A bank robbery occured in 1934. Three men took $5,000.00 and hostages, who were later released. Investigators branched out to many states. One of the robbers was killed in a car accident, one turned state's evidence, and the third was sentenced to 25 years. 

In December 1934 a babywas found in a suitcase at the local hospital in Holdrege. The suitcase had been sitting in the waiting room for several hours before the baby was found.

Sheriff Hanson was notified. All efforts to find the mother failed and a hearing was held and the court ordered the baby boy be put in a Home for Dependent Children, Lincoln, for adoption.

The attempted derailment of a Burlington Zephyr near Holdrege in 1936 was another of his top cases. It took a three week investigation to secure confessions from the suspects. 

In another case, a murderer's body was found before the victim's body was discovered.

Sheriff Wilber Gewecke's time as Sheriff and difficult periods as well. On January 11, 1959, Carl "Shorty" a gas station night attendant was murdered and his body was found in a rural Harlan County roadside ditch. Although dozens of people were interviewed, the murder was never solved. 

On January 7, 1960 a local intoxicated man shot into the home of a neighbor of Sheriff Gewecke, thinking it was the Sheriff's home. "The next evening I was out following some leads on the shooting and the man called my wife and informed her that he had killed me, and was coming to our house to kill her and the three kids" Gewecke said. He returned home to find his wife lying dead of a heart attack in the hallway and the phone torn off the wall.  

Dwayne Newman was Sheriff when the Holdrege Shoot-out took place on August 18, 1989. Two convicts were plucked from a Colorado Medium Security Prison by a hijacked helicopter. The helicopter and pilot had been taken at gun point by the convicts two girlfriends prior to the escape. Eight hours later the group was spotted in Holdrege in a Ryder van and a shoot out took place involving several law enforcement agencies including the Phelps County Sheriff's Office, including Sheriff Newman. Numerous rounds were fired by the convicts as we as law enforcement officers. The convicts were finally captured right here in Holdrege after one of them was wounded. 

Sheriff Nutt was elected to the office after retiring from the Nebraska State Patrol as a Sergeant. Sheriff Nutt was also involved in the Great Holdrege Shoot-out, only in his position as a Nebraska State Trooper at that time. He is a graduate of the FBI's National Law Enforcement Academy and has degree in criminal justice from the University of Nebraska at Kearney.  Sheriff Nutt was able to have the courthouse expanded in 2003 to the new facility that includes a larger Correctional Unit, and several new offices in the east wing of the courthouse. One of these offices is the current Sheriff's Office. 

Current Sheriff, Gene Samuelson, has a department that includes 6 Deputies, 2 reserve Deputies, a head jailer, and 16 corrections officers. The Sheriff's Office and correctional facility are located at the Phelps County Justice Center in Holdrege, Ne.

From 1872-1878 William P. Miller, James Sweezy, Frank Sweezy, and James Baldwin are mentioned.

John Shafer- 1873-1877

Frank Hallgren- 1877-1881

A. A. Wyatt- 1881-1883

L.A. Newman- 1883-1885

E.A. Erickson- 1885-1889

J.A. Ruby 1889-1891

D.S. Conley- 1891-1893

Simon Knudson- 1893-1899

J.N. Gustus- 1899-1911

Gustav Anderson- 1911-1915

G.A. Anderson- 1915-1923

Royal Hanson- 1923-1955

Wilbur Gewecke- 1955-1971

Dwayne Newman- 1971-1979

Merle Divis- 1979-1983

Dwayne Newman- 1983-1998

Tom Nutt- 1998-2011

Gene Samuelson- 2011-Present