My Genealogy Hound

ALBERT G. WELCH, one of the enterprising and well-to-do citizens of Gardner township, Buffalo county, was born in Vermont, March 10, 1854. His parents, George W. and Electa M. (Coney) Welch, were both natives of the Green Mountain State and moved to Illinois in the spring of 1856, when Albert was only two years old. The family settled in Henry county, where they remained for ten years. In 1866 they moved to Cass county, Iowa, where the father died in 1871. He was a farmer all his life, a zealous member of the Methodist church and a man respected and admired for his many good qualities.

Albert G. was the eldest of a family of six children. His educational advantages were limited to the common district school, which he attended during the winter months while engaged in assisting his father on the home place. Being brought up on a farm his natural inclinations seemed to run along on that line, and when he arrived at his majority he concluded to adopt farming as his vocation through life.

Mr. Welch, being of an ambitious nature, believed the West offered greater opportunities to a young man just starting in life than the older settled states. In 1878 he came to Buffalo county, Nebr., with the fixed determination of securing a home no matter what obstacles he might meet with. It was the last day in December, 1878, when he filed his papers on the northwest quarter of section 8, in Gardner township.

He built a dug-out in a convenient place, and settled down for the winter. He brought two teams, some cattle and about $200 in money with him from Iowa. A few settlers were erecting houses in the neighborhood, but the settlers were few and far between. His claim was located on the very backbone of the divide between the Loup and Platte rivers, and he could stand on one spot and look over into four counties. When spring opened he went seven miles to find ground enough broke that he could rent to plant some potatoes and corn. The second year he purchased a riding plow and his good wife broke sod while he did the planting. She also helped him put up sixty tons of hay that fall. There was plenty of deer, antelope and other wild game roaming about the bluffs, and the settlers who cared to shoot them could keep themselves well supplied with fresh meats. The Welch ranch was headquarters for some time for cattlemen driving their herds from the south Loup country to Grand Island to market. It was the only place on the route where they could corral and get water, and they always made it a point to stop over night when passing through that country.

The first two or three years in the new country tried the courage of the settler. Mr. Welch was no exception to the rule, he had come with limited means and had hard work to cope with the many disappointments and make both ends meet. In the fall of 1879 he procured employment in the mill race at Shelton and the money thus earned proved of great assistance. He often went sixty miles after timber with which to build sheds to shelter his stock.

Mr. Welch was married July 2, 1874, the lady whom he selected as his companion through life being Miss Amy Ayelsworth. She was born in McHenry county, Ill., July 20, 1856. She was a daughter of William H. and Amanda (Gardner) Ayelsworth, both of whom were natives of New York. They immigrated to Illinois in 1848, where her father died in 1870. He was a tailor by trade but followed farming the latter part of his life.

Mr. and Mrs. Welch have had two children, viz. — Flora A., born September 7, 1877, died December 16, 1887, and Theron Earl, born February 13, 1886.

Mr. Welch has one hundred and sixty acres of choice land, which he has supplied with all modern improvements. He has taken great pains in raising fruit and has one of the finest young apple orchards in the county. It comprises over four hundred thrifty trees which are beginning to bear handsomely. He has a large variety of the smaller fruits growing and is recognized as one of the most successful fruit growers in the county. He also takes considerable pride in stock-raising and is just entering upon a successful career in that line.