1. JOHN1 SCHWAB He married DELILAH RAKES 1844 in Savannah, MO, daughter of JOHN RAKES and TABITHA PARKER. She was born February 28, 1828 in Franklin Co. VA, and died 1913 in Murray, NE.
Notes for DELILAH RAKES:
obit. Mrs. Delilah (Rakes) Schwab :
In the death of Mrs. Delilah Schwab which occurred at the home of her son Charles five miles southeast of Murray Nebraska last month, there passed one of the pioneer settlers of East Rock Bluff precinct.
Mrs. Schwab, who had lived a frontier life since childhood, was born in Franklin Co., Virginia on February 28, 1828 and was the daughter of Carter T. Rakes, well known in the early history of Cass Co., NE.
She was of a vigorous physique and having passed the eighty-fifth milestone, was able to attend to her household duties. She was married to John Schwab, a native of Germany, in Savannah, MO, in 1844.
In the early spring of 1853, she and her husband crossed the Missouri River before the restrictions for settlement were raised at a point which afterward became the thriving steamboat town of Kenosha, long since deserted, decayed and converted to agricultural purposes.
Three miles west of this point, they located on a small stream with squatter's rights. Here, in a secluded little valley near a big stream protected on the north by a big hill and surrounded by a heavy forest, they built a little one-room log house, chinked and daubed with clay. Within a hundred feet of this spot, Mrs. Schwab spent her declining days.
Late in the fall of 1835, Jim McKinney from the Iowa side, accompanied by a fellow trapper, stopped for a night with the Schwab family. They were looking the territory over for a profitable locality in which to trap and hunt. The next morning was Sunday. The sun was shining brightly. They had had their breakfast and were lounging in front of the cabin when McKinney pointed excitedly to the south on a low hill a few hundred yards away, where a band of indians in full paint and feather were advancing upon them.
McKinney, who had spent many years among the indians and was familiar with their ways and understood their language, went to meet them. The band belonged to the Pawnee Nation.
A council was held. It was agreed that a feast be served and the entire supply belonging to the Schwabs was consumed. Coffee, with plenty of sugar was a delicacy relished by the red men. After the feast at this lonely log house, it was agreed between the Chief and McKinney that if they would recross the river, they would not be molested. The trappers helped Mr. and Mrs. Schwab carry their small stock of household goods, not appropriated by the indians, to the river, where they were set on the Iowa side. Relatives tell of this happening 3 times.
In 1854, under President Pierce, a treaty was made removing all restrictions. Mrs. Schwab and her husband were among the first 250 to cross the river and take up land and she held on until the time of her death the land first pre-emptied.
East Rock Bluffs precinct in notable in Nebraska's early history. Mrs. Schwab passed through the first 60 years of evolution in this state. She experienced many of the hardships of the pioneers with fortitude. She is survived by 5 children: John, a wealthy farmer in Los Burros, CA.; James, Weeping Water, NE; Samuel, Plattsmouth, NE; Mrs. Malissa Mason, Minnesota; and Charles, with whom she lived. (taken from a copy in the Plattsmouth Historical Society)
6/18/2000
I found Delilah listed on Ancestry.com, but the birthdate is incorrect. It shows her being born January 28, 1833 in VA and died 3/13/1919.
Children of JOHN SCHWAB and DELILAH RAKES are:
