Andrew Cemetery Friend, NE

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Friend, NE
Andrew Cemetery Friend, NE

Board Members: Bill Bruntz, John Steyer, Marla Weber, Paul Johansen, Will Yokel, and Jill Speece

06/19/2026

Every life has a story… but this story is another mystery… Johannah Esbjorns Pierson Barney was born in Halland, Sweden on February 24, 1824. Her obituary states that her husband died May 15, 1864. Unfortunately, the obituary did not state her husband’s name. Johanna came to Friend in 1883 where, at some point, she lived with a son, Nels (or NIls or Niels), until her death (as stated in her obituary). The obituary states she had five sons and one daughter. Nels (or NIls) was the only child mentioned in the obit. Johannah was an active member in the Lutheran church (calling her “ a true Christian lady”). The funeral was held at her son’s (Nel’s) home. She died May 12, 1906 at the age of 82. Family Search shows Johannah was married to a Perhsson (Pierson) in 1870 and living in Saunders County, Nebraska which is plausible but not confirmed with another source. Information also showed Johanna married to Esbjorns Peterson on April 6, 1846 which also seems plausible with her age but did not list where they were married. The 1885 Census has her listed as Johannah Barney in 1885 and living at John Barney’s residence. The John Barney(s) buried at Andrew Cemetery are not linked to Johannah, nor do they seem to match a reasonable age for her husband. Searches such as this are difficult because there are multiple spellings of Johannah’s name (Elsbjorn, Pehrsson, Pearson, Barney, Barne, etc.). One source even listed her father’s name as Pehr Larsson. To compound all of this information, Nils Barney’s post on Findagrave.com does not list Johannah as his mother. Instead, it listed Hannah Anderson Barney. Hannah could be a derivative of Johannah but Anderson is one more surname to search. Hannah’s birth date did not match Johannah’s obituary information. The 1920 Census showed that her son and his family lived in Monroe Precinct and stated Nels Barney was born in Sweden in 1857. This would suggest her first husband died in Sweden and she was married to John Barney there too. In searching records from Sweden for births, marriages and deaths were limited. Many records are not yet digitized for easy access. There was no confirmation that Johanna was married to a “John” Barney yet.

06/10/2026

Every life has a story… Ralph Henry Ahl was born August 28, 1881. He was one of eight children born to Henry and Louesa Arnold Alh. Ralph was married to Marie “Mary” Rozanek in 1920. Mary was born in Hay Springs on November 5, 1885. She was one of seven children born to Jan and Magdalena Libersky. Their family moved to Saline County in 1899. Mary Libersky was first married in 1909 to Joseph Libersky in Exeter, Nebraska. After his death, she married Ralph Ahl and they moved to Friend. According to Mary’s obituary, Ralph died in August of 1960. (Findagrave shows him dying in 1980. His headstone’s date of death is difficult to determine. Obviously, her obituary should be correct since Mary died after Ralph). Mary died two years later, in 1962 on June 4. She was 62 years old. No children were listed for Mary with either husband.

06/02/2026

Every life has a story… Dr. Fletcher Jack Farwell was born on September 13, 1870 in Granger, Scotland County, Missouri. His parents were Catherine (Kate) McArthur Farwell. His siblings included Fannie (1859-1958) and Fred S. (1865-1944). Fletcher was married on January 3, 1911 in Buchanan, Missouri to Evelyn Emma Michael. Evelyn was born in 1877. Her parents were John and Ruth Michael. Evelyn was a visiting nurse, as listed on her headstone. Dr. Farwell was a school board member in Friend which was common to have doctors, bankers and farmers serving. No resource indicated if the couple had any children. Dr. Farwell died in 1919 due to erysipelas. This was a common skin infection as the infection was heightened due to widespread weakness attributed to the Spanish Influenza pandemic, 1918-1919. Dr. Fletcher was just 49. His wife, Emma, died in 1934. Both Fletcher and Emma are buried at Block 14, Lot 637.

05/23/2026

For eight years William Yokel has been organizing and leading the placement of flags at each of the veterans' graves buried in our local cemeteries. William chose this responsibility as his Eagle Scout project, and had actually helped with this tradition prior to that project while in Cub/Boy Scouts. He gained his experience from his predecessor, Ron Corbett. The process of placing the flags at all four cemeteries (Catholic, Johnson, Turkey Creek and Andrew) easily takes a half day or more, depending upon the weather.
Placing the 383 flags at these cemeteries would take much longer without the help of volunteers. This year's volunteers included Evan Brahmstedt, Joel Vossler, Riley Leif, Grady Bresson and Brenson Brandt. Thanks for honoring all the veterans in our area!

05/22/2026

The first widely recognized national observance of Decoration Day took place on May 30, 1868. Over the decades, Decoration Day became more widely recognized, and by the 1890s, nearly all Northern states had officially adopted it as a holiday. The name “Memorial Day” gradually replaced “Decoration Day” through the early 20th century, though the older name persisted in some areas well into the 1960s. In 1971, Memorial Day was officially recognized as a federal holiday, and its observance was moved to the last Monday in May as part of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act.
The Memorial Day service at Andrew Cemetery, sponsored by the Friend American Legion, will begin at 11:00. Pastor Jeff Jensen, from Geneva, will be the speaker.

05/19/2026

Thanks to "Mother Nature", recent rains have made the cemetery yard so much greener! Ongoing mowing and trimming is being completed. New mulch was added to berms. Flowers already decorate many graves. All this helps make the cemetery look its best for Memorial Day weekend.

05/18/2026

Every life has a story… Charles Wesley “Cheesey” Smith was born June 3, 1863 in Oakland, Ontario Canada. Charles had two sisters and two brothers; all of which remained in Canada throughout their lives. Charles moved to Friend, Nebraska some time after 1881. He became the operator of the town’s cheese factory that was built in 1881 by D.L. Fletcher. This was a profitable investment for Fletcher, as Friendville Cheese Factory was known for a very good grade of cheese. This factory was located just a little south of the present day Country Clubhouse. The factory was 20’ by 24’ and cost $800 to construct. It had the capacity to make 400 pounds of cheese each day. Other manufacturing in Friend at this time included a barbed wire factory, a brickyard, a broom factory and a cigar factory (locations unknown). A glove factory was also operating where the Saline County shop is now located. Sadly, very little is known about "Cheesey." No sources indicated if he had married or had children. Charles did remain in Friend until his death on January 18, 1946. His headstone, in Block 11, only listed his date of death and that he was 84 years old. This conflicts with the local obituary listing him as 82. Either way he outlived all of his siblings.

05/13/2026

Every life has a story… William Gordon was born in McComb, Illinois on June 11, 1839. He was one of five children born to Willis and Mary Gordon. He was married to Mary Durrell in Fulton, Colorado on November 7, 1865. Mary Emily Durrell was also born in Illinois. To this couple, seven children were born. Three children died in infancy. Four other children included Margaret, Ralph, Walter and George. While returning from an Odd Fellows meeting in Illinois, of which he was a charter member, William suffered an unimaginable accident on the railroad; resulting in having one leg severed. In 1889, William and Mary brought their family to Nebraska and purchased a home near Friend. In 1914, William suffered a stroke which left him an invalid. His wife, Mary, had died October 1, 1896 in Friend at the age of 52. William died nine years after his stroke on December 19, 1925. He was 86. The couple is buried in Block 9, Lot 338. (Daughter Margaret Effie Gordon Henry is also buried at Andrew and their son, Ralph, died when 25 years old. He is buried at Andrew Cemetery too.

05/05/2026

Every life has a story… William Worth Thomas was born May 24, 1848 in Centre County, Pennsylvania. His father died when he was 15 years old. Three years later in 1866, he and his brother left Pennsylvania, first working as farmhands in Dixon, Illinois. In 1870, they moved west to Nebraska, homesteading in Saline County near Friend. On September 24, 1874 William married Miss Parthenia (aka Berthenia) Moore of Ashland, Nebraska. Parthenia was born in Ohio in 1856. The couple had three known children: Alverda May Thomas Barclay (1877-1943), Elva A. Thomas Carter (1881-1976) and a son whose name and information was not available. William was a loyal member of the Congregational Church, attending church every Sabbath. William was also an active member of the Masonic Lodge and Odd Fellows. He served 50 years with the Odd Fellows and had completed his term of Worthy Master of Masonic Silver Cord Lodge No. 221 prior to his death. (His obituary mentioned his son died seven years before William (in 1929) but that son’s name was not stated.) William Thomas died on December 23, 1936, following several months of a lingering illness preceded by a breakdown two years prior to his death in Illinois. It appears he had been living with his daughter Elva Carter and her family. His wife, Parthenia, lived to be 92-93, dying in 1949. Both William and Parthenia were returned home to Friend for burial at Andrew.

05/01/2026

The old sexton's house and the directory at Andrew Cemetery are getting updated. Many shingles were lost with last year's storms so new tin roofs are being installed. Check out the new changes at the cemetery.

Address

604 CO Road E
Friend, NE
68359

Website

https://www.findagrave.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Search-Find-Graves&utm_term=gravefinders&gclid

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