NEBRASKA STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY MANUSCRIPT FINDING AID
RG2379.AM: Albert Benjamin Persinger, 1851-1932
Diaries (on microfilm), etc.: 1879-1899, n.d.
Sidney, Cheyenne County, Neb.: Rancher; merchantile operator
Size: 6 items
BACKGROUND NOTE
Albert Benjamin Persinger, son of Elias and Louise Persinger, was born at North Port, Alabama, on May 7, 1851. He grew to manhood in his native state and there received his education, and at the age of 21 years established himself in the enterprise of publishing a paper known as the Spectator, at North Port, Alabama. In 1874 he moved to Jasper, Alabama where he published the editorial known as the Mountain Eagle. The following year he opened a newspaper office in Birmingham, Alabama, and published the Iron Age, which was later changed to the Birmingham Age Herald.
In 1877 he came west and located at Marion, Colorado, where he engaged in the business of ranching. Coming to Sidney, Nebraska, he engaged in the mercantile business known as Hass and Persinger Co., and later this firm was changed to Powell, Persinger and Whitney Mercantile Co. In 1880, A.B. Persinger married Miss Mary Adams at Cornwall, Ontario, Canada and the young couple established their home at Sidney, Nebraska. Mr. Persinger established a ranch on the North Platte River known as the Combs and Persinger Lodge Pole Ranch where he continued to maintain large interests until his death. His wife Mary died in 1885 and Persinger remarried in 1892 to Harriet Burkhardt, who died in 1896. On January 23, 1921 he was married again to Mrs. Minna Jewett and they established the Golden Rod Lodge of Lodge Pole. He held membership in the York Rite Masons of North Platte, and the Ancient Arabic Order, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine of Tangier Temple.
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
This bulk of this collection consists of three diaries of A.B. Persinger dated 1879, 1881 and 1882. These diaries relate to the freighting business run by Mr. Persinger on the Sidney-Black Hills Trail, to sheep ranching in Colorado and Nebraska and to Mr. Persinger’s mercantile business. The diaries note numerous business and personal trips, and brief notes occur regarding various crimes in the Sidney area. Diary entries name familiar stopping points along the trail but lack a vivid detail. The diaries were loaned for microfilming in August of 1972. Also included with the collection is a biography of A.B. Persinger, a sale contract for horses and a receipt for livestock. (Items 5 and 6 were transferred from the library vertical files on September 20, 1996 and are not on microfilm.)
Note: See the photo component [RG2379.PH] for images relating to A.B. Persinger. See also the Nebraska History article, “A. B. Persinger, Nebraska Panhandle Pioneer,” vol. 54, 1973, pp. 250-306.
DESCRIPTION
Reel 1
Item
- Diary, 1879
- Diary, 1881
- Diary, 1882
- Biography
- Sale contract for horses, 1890 (not on microfilm)
- Livestock sales receipt, 1899 (not on microfilm)
ADDED ENTRIES:
Cheyenne County (Neb.) — History
Crime and criminals — Nebraska — Cheyenne County
Freighting — Nebraska
Persinger, Albert Benjamin, 1851-1932
Sheep
Sidney (Neb.) — Businesses
Sidney-Black Hills Trail
JEP/DDS/pmc 08-22-1972
kfk 03-15-1996
Revised TMM 01-25-2010
Encoded TMM 03-07-2011
