Ivan and Sadie Lux
Ivan Elsworth Lux, son of John Kelley and Caroline (Fischer) Lux was born on October 27, 1871, in Toledo, Iowa. His family moved to Nebraska when he was a baby, and he grew up in near Gibbon.
Sarah Inez "Sadie" Hogg, daughter of John Alexander and Margaret (Hall) Hogg was born on June 19, 1875, in Mitchellville, Iowa. Her father had acquired a homestead in Gardner Township, north of Shelton. Her family lived first in a dugout, then moved into a sod house which her father built in 1873. Sadie was born and grew up there.
Ivan married Sadie on January 30, 1895, in Shelton, Nebraska. Their first home was a large two-story house southwest of Sadie's parents farm. From there they moved to another place southwest of the Hogg farm. Then Ivan acquired 80 acres southeast of the Hogg farm and they settled there.
The farm of John and Margaret Hogg, Sadie's parents, remained the place for the families to gather, and many happy 4th of July celebrations were held there, as well as Thanksgivings and Christmases.
There were no buildings on Ivan's new property, so with the help of Sadie's father, John Hogg, a sod house was built. The family moved into the sod house in the spring of 1904, shortly after Ivan's father John Kelley Lux died, and his mother, Caroline, moved into Shelton.
The sod house was divided into 2 rooms using curtains, and the smaller room was further divided with curtains, creating 2 small bedrooms. The larger one was the kitchen, dining room, an all purpose room, and later also served as a bedroom for the boys. The house was heated by the kitchen stove. A windmill was built, which furnished their water. Sometime around 1910, Ivan built a frame kitchen addition onto the sod house, as they needed room in the original house to accommodate their growing family. The farm was located about a mile from the Gardner School No. 112, which Ivan and Sadie's children attended.
By 1915 the 80 acre farm was not large enough to support Ivan's growing family, and additional land around Shelton was hard to come by, so Ivan bought 160 acres to farm northeast of Crookston, Nebraska, with another 160 acres for pasture. He leased another 160 acres for hay. The farm came with a small 2-room house, a barn, hen house, and a windmill. As the house was way too small for a family of nine, Ivan quickly added on another 3 rooms, with a celler. Their last two children were born in this house.
During the depression, times were hard for Ivan and his family. The 1938 map at the left shows Ivan only owned 160 acres, so perhaps he also sold half of his land. Of course by this time many of the older children had left home.
Ivan and Sadie had 10 children:
| Iva Mae Lux | Born on July 25, 1896, in Shelton, Nebraska. She married Harvey Albert Goucher on November 15, 1924, in Bennett County, South Dakota. They had seven children during their marriage. Iva Mae died on October 13, 1986, in Warrensburg, Missouri, at the age of 90, and was buried in Leeton, Missouri. |
| Raymond F. Lux | Born on August 26, 1899, in Shelton, Nebraska. He had one son with Bernice Hunt on September 18, 1921. He died on April 12, 1981, in Valentine, Nebraska, at the age of 81, and was buried there. |
| John Floyd Lux | Born on September 10, 1904, in Shelton, Nebraska. He had three daughters with Frieda M. Block. He died on June 28, 1997, in Valentine, Nebraska, at the age of 92, and was buried there. |
| Minerva Grace Lux | Born on October 2, 1906, in Shelton, Nebraska. She married Oscar Vocu on April 11, 1932. They had three children during their marriage. She died on October 4, 1977, at the age of 71. |
| Donald E. Lux | Born on April 26, 1909, in Shelton, Nebraska. He married Ruby Albertina Mundt on October 20, 1930, in Todd County, South Dakota. They had four children during their marriage. He died on April 3, 1982, in Valentine, Nebraska, at the age of 72, and was buried there. |
| Rachel Elsie Lux | Born on September 12, 1911, in Shelton, Nebraska. She married Delmer Everett Peterson on May 24, 1930, in Hay Springs, Nebraska. They had five children during their marriage. She died on April 8, 2008, in Hay Springs, Nebraska, at the age of 96, and was buried there. |
| Irene Doris Lux | Born on June 16, 1913, in Shelton, Nebraska. She married Rudolph Krafka on May 26, 1937. They had four children during their marriage. She died on April 21, 1994, in Harlingen, Texas, at the age of 80, and was buried in San Benito, Texas. |
| Ivan Elsworth "Bud" Lux, Jr. | Born on February 2, 1915, in Shelton, Nebraska. He married Alma Fietsch Gormley on December 30, 1950, in Adams City, Colorado. They had two children during their marriage. He died on March 8, 2001, in Minden, Nebraska, at the age of 86, and was buried there. |
| Kenneth Lux | Born on March 10, 1916, in Crookston, Nebraska. He had four brothers and five sisters. He died on March 20, 2007, in Valentine, Nebraska, at the age of 91, and was buried there. |
| Martha Lux | Born on September 17, 1917, in Crookston, Nebraska. She married Joseph Francis Cody on October 24, 1945. She died on November 26, 2001, in Chula Vista, California, at the age of 84, and was buried in San Diego, California. |
In a letter to Sadie, her parents (probably her mother), gave her an update as to the goings on around her childhood home near Shelton.
Sadie died in Crookston, Nebraska, on February 28, 1943, at the age of 67. She was buried in Valentine, Nebraska. Ivan died 10 years later in Valentine, Nebraska, on July 10, 1953, at the age of 81, and was also buried there.
