Elzie & Christina Pont

Elsie Pont  

born 9/26/1887 Howells, Colfax County, NE, married 9/27/1915 Christina Hahn in Rushville, Sheridan County, NE, died 2/7/1968 Alliance, Box Butte County, NE.  Buried in Alliance Cemetery, Parents:  William Pont and Eliza Allen

Christina Hahn

Born 3/16/1893 Sheridan County, NE, died 6/1/1971 in Alliance, Nebraska, buried in Alliance Cemetery, Parents: Carl Hahn and Elizabeth Blickenstaff

Their children:

· Ruth, b. 9/9/1916 Marple, Sheridan County, NE (Post Office, not a town), m. 12/6/1944 Plainfield, IL to Homer Paxton

· John, b. 3/18/1918 in Howells, NE, m. 7/5/1942 to Virginia Kannaday in California, d. 1973 buried San Bernaidno, CA

· Albert, b. 1/1/1921 Marple, NE, m. 11/30/1946 Mary Martens, d. 2015(?)

· Howard, b. 9/21/1924, m. 6/5/1948 Beatrice Coffee in Glendale, CA, d. 1999(?)

· Christina, b. 3/23/1937 Alliance, NE, m. 6/24/1954 Robert Rusk in Alliance, NE, d. 2010(?)

Elise Pont Obituary (Alliance Times Herald, February 7, 1968):

Ellsie Pont, 80, a retired Burlington Employee (railroad) died early this morning at his home.  Mr. Pont was born September 2, 1887 in Colfax County and came to the Alliance (Hay Springs) area in 1907.

He was a member of the Presbyterian Church and was employed as a boiler washer’s helper at the Burlington prior to his retirement.  He is survived by two daughters, Mrs. HW Paxton, of Oakland, NJ and Mrs. Bob Rusk of Edgemont, SD, three sons, John of Yucaipa, CA, Albert of Indiatlantic, FL and Howard of Victorville, CA, a brother William of Perry , OK, 19 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren. 

Christina Hahn Pont Obituary (Alliance Times Herald, June 1, 1971)

Mrs. Christina Pont, a resident of the area since 19907, died early this morning at her home, 421 Lane 2.  Mrs. Pont was born March 16, 1893 in Sheridan County, NE.  Her late husband, Elsie, died in 1968.

She was a member of the Presbyterian Church, the Women’s Benefit Association, the Pioneer Club, and the Garden Club (and the Women’s Temperance Christian Union, at which she served as president for several years).  Survivors include two daughters, Mrs. HW Paxton, of Oakland, NJ and Mrs. Bob Rusk of Edgemont, SD, three sons, John of Yucaipa, CA, Albert of Indiatlantic, FL and Howard of Victorville, CA, a sister Mrs. FW Timblin (Aunt Viola) , and two brothers, William and Carl Hahn both of Hay Springs, 19 grandchildren and two great grandchildren. 

Remembrances by Christina Pont Rusk:

Due to grief and shock, both of these obituaries leave some facts to be desired.  When the Ponts were first married, they lived on a rented farm in Sheriden County, the Post Office was Marple, NE.  During the first world war they moved by horse and wagon to Howells, where Elzie and his father farmed together.  When the war was over they moved back to Marple and rented another farm. About 1922 they moved to a farm about 7 miles west of Alliance.  In 1924 they sold their farm machienery and stock and moved to Alliance, where Elzie took a job with the railroad ( Cicago Burlington & Quincy), and worked in the roundhouse.  He was employed by the railroad for 29 years before his retirement in 1953.  In 1936 thye moved to an acreage (5 acres) west of Alliance where they lived until ill health made it necessary for them to move to an apartment in the Good Samaritan Village.

Elzie was about 5’10” and weighed about 190 lbs.  His complexion was fair, and he sunburned easily.  His eyes were brown.  Until he was about 21 his hair was red.  He became ill with scarlet fever and his mother feared for his life for a time.  While he was ill, he lost his hair.  As he recovered it grew back, but it was white.  He spent his entire adulthood with white hair.

Christina was blonde when she was young.  When she was a baby her hair was white and, as she grew, it got darker.  During her early adult years her hair was dark brown.  When she was in her 40s she began to gray and in her old age her hair was white, too.  She was about 5’7” and most of her adult years she weighed 140 lbs.  When she was warried she weighed 110 lbs.  Her complexion was fair and her eyes were blue (gray).

When Elzie was a  young adult he owned a team of horses, Doc and Dolly.  They were roans and weighed about 1000 lbs.

Elzie graduated from the 8th grade about 1903.  This was the end of his formal education, but not the end of his learning.  He nearly wore out a set of Harvard Classics and wore out a number of dictionaries.  His dictionary was nearly always on the table where he was reading or on his nightstand. He also wore out at least 4 Bibles.  The magazine that he always had was the Saturday Evening Post.  He also had an assortment of farm magazines.  It was his biggest disappointment in his life that he left the farm.

As a boy, or perhaps young man, he worked for his Uncle Al Pont, who was the Editor and publisher of the Stanton Nebraska Newspaper.  He also played the “fiddle” for dances.  He played his fiddle at dances even after his marriage.

Christina Hahn graduated from the 8th grade in Sheriden County in 1909.  It was a graduating class of 70. Emile Sandos and Robert Pont were also in that graduating class. In the year 1907, district 73, Schill, NE the teacher of the school was Marie Surber and the officers of the school board were Martin Witting, director, Ed Hahn, treasurer, Carl Hahn, Moderator.  The students were Alice, Berniece, Leona, Lotha Benschoter, Ethel, Edna, Hora, Clara, Christina, Viola, Carl, George, Levi Hahn, Clarence Johnson, Marcelle Vrilleneir, Anna, Carl, Martha, Fritz, Herman Witting, Fred, Peter, and Laura Zurcher  Christina Hahn’s high school graduation took place in 1912.  She went to Chadron to Normal School and took her examination for her teacher’s certificate October 17, 1913.  Her grades were: Orthography 73%, Reading 70%, Writing 85%, Arithmetic, Mental 87%, Geography 73 %, Composition 70%, Grammar 76%, Physiology and Narcotics 87%, History 78%, Agriculture 87%.   On July 1, 1914, Christina Hahn was awarded a certificate good in Box Butte County for up to the 3rd grade.  She taught under a certificate good in Sheriden County from September 4, 1914 to July 1916, for the second grade (No. 516)

The Ponts faced earning a living during the Great Depression.  They were among the fortunate ones who had work.  But there were still problems.  The railroad cut the wages of the men by 10% across the board, and then they put a limit on the number of hours each man could work.  When the banks failed the Pont family lost their entire savings, but the payment had just cleared on the house, so they got credit for that.  They still had to “lay off the milkman” for a while. (this information was found in the earlies entries in Elzie’s diary)

During the 30s Christina was a practical nurse and midwife, partly to supplement the income and partly because the work was desperately needed.  She helped to deliver about 120 babies.  The last delivery was about 1939.