Originally published to facebook.com/NorthPlattePL on August 5, 2022.
Welcome back to another Facebook Friday History!
Today’s Facebook Friday History looks at a hard-working, innovative gardener, farmer, and WWI veteran; who survived floods, the great war, and challenging farming conditions.
John James Hahler was born on June 24, 1899 in Pierre, South Dakota to Julius J. and Frances A. (Henish) Hahler. John was an only child and by the time John was ten years old (1910), the Hahler family had moved to North Platte, Nebraska. The family was of German descent and Julius was the immigrant who came to America in 1873. Julius and Frances also adopted two children while in North Platte.
Although most of John’s schooling took place at North Platte Catholic Schools, John graduated from North Platte High School at age 16. In 1918, he enlisted in the Army and served in World War I. After the war, John attended and graduated from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.
In 1925, John married Mary Evangeline Herrod in North Platte. They were catholic and attended St. Patrick’s catholic Church. They had two children:
- John James “Jack” Hahler, Jr (1927-2018). He graduated from St Patrick’s Catholic School, entered the United States Navy and served in World War II. Then attended the University of Notre Dame; John Junior married Catherine Ann Williamson in 1949.
- Mary Elizabeth Hahler. Mary also graduated from St Patrick’s Catholic schools and attended St. Theresa’s College in Winona, Minnesota. Mary married Bernard “Bernie” Pieper and lived in North Platte, Nebraska.
By July 1925, John Hahler was building a new home south of North Platte. This land was located east of Applebee’s Restaurant. See the follow-up at the end of this post. The deep red brick home was a bungalow style. The floors of the house were all done in 2-inch oak, in the log cabin style. They were hand finished by John and were not stained. The wall that contained the fireplace was left red brick. The house contained eight rooms and the interior was in a log cabin style. The house was wired for electricity. You can see what the house and outbuildings looked like in 2019 in the color photographs attached to this post.
John farmed a wide variety of crops around his home and raised livestock. By 1929, he was proposing pump irrigation projects to the City and County.
1929 also had John placing first in the Lincoln County Fair for Poland China hogs.
In 1930, John placed first in the Fair for the largest watermelon. And in 1932, Hahler told the North Platte Daily Telegraph that he was planting thirty acres of watermelons and cantaloupe.
Mrs. Hahler was very active in the community and played piano and sang frequently for local churches and other organizations. The family was actively involved in St Patrick’s Church.
In 1932, the Lincoln County Tribune reported that: “John Hahler has just finished planting 1,400 choice asparagus plants on two acres of his place on the island farm south of this city. It was a big job requiring several men to put the plants in the soil as they had to be handled individually and each plant had to be covered carefully. Mr. Hahler has no plans for the crop, except to see if it will pay dividends in competition with asparagus grown elsewhere.”
In addition to his asparagus, he also ordered 2,000 chicks! To put it mildly, John Hahler was a farmer from his heart to the bottom of his soul. He was a very successful farmer and his livestock were of high quality.
Then in April 1942, excessive rains hit southwestern Nebraska. John Hahler reported that 500 pigs drowned. There was no loss of life, but the high rising water killed livestock and damaged wells. Two years later, John had rebuilt his reputation as a pig man and was again selling Hampshire hogs.
John James Hahler died at age 66 on November 12, 1965 in an Omaha Hospital. Mary died at the age of 89 on June 5, 1989 in her home. Both are buried in the North Platte Cemetery.
Follow-up: After the passing of John James Hahler’s son, John James Hahler Junior, in 2018, Agri-Affiliates held a Hahler Trust Land Auction in 2019 and auctioned off all of the Hahler land and remaining buildings. You can click here to see the video made by Agri-Affiliates to help entice buyers to the auction to better see where the land was located: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZ58pxbdqhs
The color photographs that accompany this post show the Hahler house and existing Hahler buildings (exterior and interior) as they appeared in 2019. While dilapidated and well-used, you can see the quality in the original buildings.
Thank you for reading! See you next week!
