#52Ancestors: In the Courthouse

The Nebraska State Journal (Lincoln, NE)
Thursday, 17 March 1892, pg. 1.

Back in the olden days, before the census was digitized and the snow was six feet deep, we were grateful for the Soundex system as a way to pinpoint the location of our ancestors. Developed as a way to identify people in an era before widespread civil registration, the Soundex enabled government officials to locate individuals as a form of proof of age when enrolling in Social Security.

The Soundex is a system for indexing surnames based on the phonetic spelling, or sound, of the name. The code consists of the first letter of the name, followed by 3 digits representing the first three phonetic sounds found in the name. As a result, similar sounding family names are grouped together with similar Soundex codes. It was invaluable for the years it was generated; 1880, 1900, 1920 and partially 1910.

Based on earlier census, I expected to find my great-great-great grandparents, Eliza (Kirkendall) and Cuyler Shultz somewhere in Hall County, Nebraska in 1900, likely near the village of Doniphan. Rather than scroll page by page, I elected to go first to the 1900 Soundex for Nebraska in the hopes of identifying an exact page. I found Cuyler readily enough, but the first thing I noticed his location was in Lincoln, Nebraska's capital. "That's weird" I remember thinking. The next thing I read really made my hair stand on end, Inmate at the Nebraska State Penitentiary. Holy cow!! Scrolling on, I also found a card for his wife, Eliza, living in Doniphan, just as I expected. Well, there's definitely a story here, I thought!

The first order of business, however, was to look at the actual census. Armed with the exact enumeration district and page I was able to quickly locate Cuyler there amongst his fellow inmates. I wrote to the Nebraska State Historical Society which sent me copies of his prison record showing he was incarcerated for the crime of murder! Oh my goodness, this was getting crazy. Over time, I learned Cuyler shot his neighbor, Jamie Farr, as a result of his anger over a longstanding feud between the two, which worsened over time until the final confrontation. Numerous Nebraska newspapers have since been digitized which provide rich details of the trial. 

Grand Island Old Soldiers' and Sailors' Home postcard

Insanity was the plea and during the course of the trial evidence was introduced about Cuyler's erratic "irascible" behavior before the murder including sleeping with a gun under his pillow, randomly barking like a dog and hitting his wife with a bullwhip... but only when she deserved it. It was also revealed that Cuyler, a veteran of the Civil War, was still carrying lead bullets in his body. Although the link may not have been as well understood then, the notion that Cuyler had some level of lead poisoning certainly seems possible now. Family testimony also suggested he was a heavy drinker and not all that nice, to begin with.

Originally sentenced to hang, this was later reduced to twenty years in prison. Sixty-one at the time of the murder, Cuyler's sentence was eventually commuted in 1903 by the Governor of Nebraska Ezra Savage due to infirmities of old age. Cuyler lived out the final years of his life at the Old Soldier and Sailors Home in Grand Island, Nebraska, now known as the Nebraska Veterans Home. His obituary in 1917 mentioned nothing about his life of crime, rather focusing on his Civil War service. The closest it comes is to say he resided in Doniphan until the spring of 1892! Oh, o-kay! Wink, wink!

Curiously, Cuyler's daughter Belle—my great-great-grandmother—left this entire chapter in her family's history out of the 80-page manuscript of her life, as well! After the trial, many family members changed the spelling of their name from Shultz to Shults. I'm not exactly sure who they thought they were fooling by this change! But there is no denying that Cuyler, seemingly unconcerned about his fate according to newspaper accounts, spent some time #IntheCourthouse!

Copyright 2019 by Lisa A. Oberg, GeneaGator: Vignettes of Yesteryear. All Rights Reserved.