SGS2026: Scandal!

Nebraska, 1900 Federal Census: Soundex and Population Schedules.
Soundex: S421/424 Ralph thru S513 (NARA Series T1057, Roll 89).

For the second SGS Write All About It! writing prompt, I chose SCANDAL. I didn't have a particular scandal in mind, but the more I thought about it, the more I was drawn back to the first ancestral scandal I discovered years ago, when I was just starting my genealogical journey, and one that remains unparalleled in the family secrets I have unearthed.

Back in yesteryear, the best entrée to the U.S. census was the Soundex. For genealogists, the creation of the Soundex was a transformative project conducted by the Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression. Beginning with the 1880 census, indexers used the Soundex phonetic indexing system to group individuals with similar-sounding surnames, enabling officials to efficiently locate those who needed proof of age in order to apply for newly established Social Security benefits. In addition to the 1880 census, the 1900, 1910, and 1920 censuses were also later indexed. For anyone doing genealogy before 1990, you know how critical these indexes were to your research.

Years ago, when I enrolled in an introductory genealogy course, the instructor opened her first lecture with the announcement, “If you can’t live with the knowledge your great-grandfather was a horse thief, leave now!” My first inkling that my great-great-great-grandfather, Cuyler Shultz, might fall into this dubious category of ancestors came while searching the Soundex for the 1900 Census, when I discovered that Cuyler was an inmate at the Nebraska State Penitentiary in Lincoln. Questions and rampant speculations immediately began racing through my mind about how he got there and what followed in the years until his death.

But first, before I could answer those questions, I needed to start at the beginning. I had been researching my paternal Shultz ancestors, Cuyler and Eliza, who originated in Wisconsin, later moved to Iowa, before settling in Nebraska in the 1880s. I was able to trace them relatively easily in the census using the printed indexes to the 1850, 1860, and 1870 censuses, using the process of elimination and winding and rewinding many microfilm reels. 

When I got to 1900, however, I noted that Cuyler was not enumerated with his large family in Grand Island, Nebraska. The enumerator indicated that his wife, Eliza, was married and not widowed, so I set out to find out whether he was living elsewhere or had been excluded for some reason. As I browsed the Soundex, I found Cuyler, but was surprised to learn he was living in Lancaster County, Nebraska, home of the state capital, Lincoln. As I read further down the card, I almost fell out of my chair when I read the words "Nebraska State Penitentiary"! Cuyler was 69 years old at the time, so I didn't know how long he had been incarcerated. Fortunately, Nebraska is one of the states for which the 1890 Veterans' census survived, and he was enumerated in Grand Island, where I expected to find him, so I was able to narrow down my search for his crime(s) to 1890-1900.

So, what happened and when, and how'd he end up in the Pen?

History of Hall County, Nebraska,
by A.F. Buechler and R.J. Barr, 1920.

On a research trip to the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City, I located a history of Hall County that provided a few scant details and a date. There were no online newspapers to consult at the time, so I wrote to a local genealogical society and paid for a researcher to check area newspapers for me. 

After a few months, I received a tantalizingly large envelope in the mail with a treasure trove of articles about the trial. To say it was the talk of the town is an understatement. In a nutshell, in a fit of rage, Cuyler shot his neighbor, J.P. Farr, over long-standing disagreements unprovoked and without remorse. During the course of the trial, which centered around an insanity defense that Cuyler himself rejected, it was revealed that, as a result of injuries received during the Civil War battle of Shiloh, Cuyler had shrapnel in his head. He had a history of erratic behavior after the war and was violent and a heavy drinker as a way to manage his ongoing pain.

Omaha Daily Bee, March 21, 1892, Page  1.

Regardless, he was convicted and sentenced to hang. At some point, his sentence was reduced to life without parole. After nearly 10 years in prison, the Shultz family petitioned the governor of Nebraska, Ezra P. Savage, for clemency for Cuyler, citing his advanced age and the family's pledge to manage his activities. Clemency was granted, and Cuyler was released in 1901. After their youngest daughter, Ida, was married in 1910, Cuyler moved to the Nebraska Soldiers and Sailors Home in Grand Island, where he lived until he died on June 10, 1917. 

Curiously, his obituary makes no mention of his murder conviction, but does make note of his Civil War service. His daughter, Christina, left behind an 80-page manuscript with many minute details of her life, and also neglects to mention anything about his murder conviction, although she does speak very candidly about his alcohol consumption, how her mother had to sell eggs and butter to provide food for the family when her husband didn't, and his violence towards his family. 

I have since located other direct ancestors with less-than-stellar histories, as well as nefarious activities of extended family members, but Cuyler holds the prize for being the most notorious of them all!

Copyright 2026 by Lisa A. Oberg, GeneaGator: Vignettes of Yesteryear. All Rights Reserved.