History of Nebraska LGAR
August 24, 1998 

LADIES OF THE GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC
Formerly Loyal Ladies Legion
"Subordinate to the Grand Army of the Republic"

Department of Nebraska (#10)
Organized May 17, 1892-Disbanded 1985

Compiled by Dave Wells   Omaha, Nebraska 68127

     This is a list of all the known chapters (called Circles) in Nebraska, of the group known as the LGAR.  Although not the official auxiliary to the GAR,
some towns formed Circles in addition to their WRC, or instead of a WRC.  If there was not an active WRC, the LGAR Circle would be the auxiliary to that GAR Post.
     Membership was limited to direct relatives of an honorably discharged Civil War veteran, (mother, wife, sister or daughter).  Later Sons of Veterans were allowed to join also.  The rivalry between the LGAR and the Womans Relief Corp was quite intense. In 1896 the GAR tried to get the two groups to merge, but this effort failed. The exact Circle number could not be determined on two locations.  In order to index them, an estimated number was assigned.  These Circles (E27 & E31) are clearly marked with the letter "E".

#     Location/Name      Date Mustered-Closed              Auxiliary Status

1     CRETE                 (September) 1889                     YES, after 1895
        Laird   Capt. James Laird-16th Mich Inf. Adams County pioneer who died Aug. 17, 1889
                                   Closed by 1929

2     ARCADIA          (November) 1890  ***              YES, after 1893
      Arcadia
                                 Reorganized by 8/31/1900 as D.S. Dow
                                 Closed by 1929

3     RED CLOUD       (April) 1891  ***                    No, See WRC 14
      Sherman   Gen. Sherman died Feb. 14, 1891
                                    Closed by 1929

-----------------1892--------------------------------------------------------

4     MINDEN          Mustered Jan. (13), 1892-1932   YES, No WRC after 1892
      Strong          Name from GAR Post

5     LOUP CITY    Mustered May 2, 1892                 YES, No WRC
      Shiloh          Name from GAR Post
                                  Closed by 1958

6     ORD                                                                    YES, No WRC
      Gen. Ord     Major Gen. Edward Otho Cresap Ord
                                 Closed by 1965

7     TAYLOR                                                             YES, No WRC
      Abe Lincoln
                               Closed by 1929

8     FREMONT                                                          No, See WRC 133
       John A. Logan   Major General John A. Logan
                               Closed by 1929
      See Circle 56 in 1924 also

-----------------1893--------------------------------------------------

9     HUBBELL         (1893)                                       No, See WRC 140
       J. M. Corse     Major Gen. John Murray Corse-1835-1893...General Corse died April 27, 1893
                               Closed by 1929


10    HOOPER                                                         YES, No WRC until 1907
        Upton    Name from GAR Post
                              Closed by 1929

---------------1894-----------------------------------------------------------

11    OMAHA      Mustered April 11, 1894             No, see WRC 82
       Garfield
                            Closed after 1972
     See Circles 16 & 48 also

12    BURWELL         By July 24, 1894                  YES, No WRC
        Hancock      Name from GAR Post
                                  Closed by 1929

13    LITCHFIELD                                                 No, See WRC 144
        Perryville      Name from GAR Post
                      Closed by 1929

14    YORK                                                           No, See WRC 5
        Hope     (Membership included Arborville)
                      Closed by 1929
       See Circle 39 in 1899 also

15    GRAND ISLAND    Mustered Oct. 20, 1894   No, see WRC 19 & 209
         Ellsworth       Col. Elmer Elsworth-11th N.Y. Zouaves 1838-1861...First Union officer killed in the war
                                        Closed by 1929
         See Circle 49 in 1907 also

16    SOUTH OMAHA     Mustered Dec. 3, 1894   No, See WRC 143
        U. S. Grant
                                         Closed by 1929
       See Circles 11 & 48 also

17    ELK CITY                 Mustered Dec. 15, 1894    YES, No WRC
      Sherman
      Moved in 1896 to
17-A  WATERLOO        Mustered Dec. 14, 1895      YES, No WRC
          Sheridan
          Closed by 1929

----------------1895-----------------------------------------------

18    BLOOMINGTON    Mustered March 9, 1895    YES, No WRC
        Antietam        Name from GAR Post
                                         Reorganized 5-4-1898
                                        Closed by 1929
      See Circle 29 in 1897 also

19    HASTINGS        Mustered March 18, 1895        No, See WRC 9
        Hastings
                                   Closed by 1929

20    NORTH PLATTE    Mustered April 2, 1895       No, see WRC 110
        Stephen Douglas-Name from GAR Post
                                        Closed by 1929
        See Circle 60 in 1934 also

21    MASON CITY      Mustered April 20, 1895      YES, No WRC
        Oak Springs
                                       Closed by 1929

22    ANSLEY          After Sept. 11, 1895                YES, No WRC after 1895
        Steadman    Name from GAR Post\
                               Disbanded in May 1940

23    SHELBY                                                          YES, No WRC after 1890
      McPherson    Major Gen. James B. McPherson 1828-1864...killed 7/22/64 during the Atlanta campaign
                               Closed by 1929

---------------1896---------------------------------------------------------

24    HARVARD         Mustered May 23, 18           No, see WRC 2A
        Harvard
                                    Closed by 1929

25    RAVENNA         Mustered June 13, 1896      No, See WRC 101
                                    Closed by 1929

26    LINCOLN         July (22), 1896                    No, see WRC 10
        Hettie K. Painter-Civil War Nurse buried in Lincoln 1820-1889...Niece of John Brown
        changed in 1898 to Custer
                                  Closed after 1972
       See Circle 62 in 1943 also

E27   MERNA           Inspected Jan. 1897           YES, No WRC
      Samuel Rice     Name from GAR Post
                                 Closed by 1929

------------------1897-----------------------------------------------------

28    FRANKLIN        Mustered March 20, 1897   YES, No WRC
        Ben Franklin
                                   Closed by 1929

29    BLOOMINGTON     By Aug. (6), 1897        YES, No WRC
        Hope     Membership included Naponee
                                          Closed by 1929
       See Circle 18 in 1895 also

30    STOCKHAM        By Aug. (7), 1897            YES, No WRC
        Griffin         Name from GAR Post
                                      Closed by 1929

E31   SARGENT         (1900)                               YES, No WRC after 1897
                                   Closed by 1929
         See Circle 59 in 1934 also

32    ST. PAUL        Mustered Dec. 7, 1897        YES, No WRC after 1895
        Canby           Name from GAR Post
                                Closed by 1929

----------------1898-------------------------------------------1898----------

33    McCOOK          Mustered Feb. 26, 1898            YES, No WRC until 1905
      McCook
                      Closed by 1929

34    ELMWOOD         Mustered May (7), 1898         YES, No WRC
      Kenesaw         Name from GAR Post
                                     Closed by 1929

35    BROKEN BOW    Mustered May 10, 1898         No, See WRC 96
      Unity
                                      Closed by 1929
      See Circle 55 in 1919 also

36    ARAPAHOE        Mustered Dec. 28, 1898         No, See WRC 98
        Abe Lincoln
                                     Closed by 1965

37    GREENWOOD       Mustered May 6, 1899        YES, No WRC after 1895
         Mission Ridge   Name from GAR Post
                                        Closed by 1929

38    LUSHTON         Mustered May 24, 1899-1908   YES, No WRC after 1893
      Billington      Pvt. Israel C. Billington-13th Iowa Inf. Co. A 1835-1897...Buried in Lushton
                                    Closed by 1929

39    YORK               Mustered June 1, 1899               No-See WRC 5
        U.S. Grant
                                 Closed by 1929
        See Circle 14 in 1894 also

----------------1900---------------------------------------------------------

40    SCRIBNER        Mustered Feb. (9), 1900         YES, No WRC
        D. A. Woodbury  Name from GAR Post
                      Closed by 1929

41    AURORA          Mustered by July 28, 1900      No-See WRC 36
        Logan
                                 Closed by 1941

42    SEWARD          Mustered March 26, 1901-1946   No, See WRC 38
      Benjamin Harrison-President Harrison died March 13, 1901

43

44    CAMBRIDGE   Mustered April 6, 1903          YES, No WRC
        Cambridge
                                 Closed after 1972

45    KEARNEY         Mustered May 11, 1904       No-See WRC 1
        Phil Kearny
                                   Closed by 1929

46    BEATRICE        Mustered May 6, 1905          No-See WRC 92
        Sherman
                                  Closed by 1929

47

48    OMAHA           By June 30, 1907                  No, See WRC 82
        Gettysburg
                                 Closed by 1929
        See Circles 11 & 16 in 1894 also

49    GRAND ISLAND-BURKETT  (1907)          No, See WRC
        Gen. Grant
                                 Closed in 1911
       See Circle 15 in 1894 also

50    SYRACUSE        Mustered Nov. 2, 1910             YES, No WRC
        Lt. Horne       Othneil G. Horne-100th Ill. Inf.1841-1905...Buried in Syracuse
                      Closed by 1929

51    HOLDREGE        Mustered Dec. (10), 1910         YES, No WRC after 1892
        S. H. Cooley    Musician Samuel Cooley-42nd Ill. Inf. 1817-1908...Member Post 111...Buried in Holdrege
                                    Closed by 1929

52    WAYNE           Mustered July (1), 1911              YES, No WRC after 1906
        Hobson     Possibly Thomas W. Hobson-5th Mo. Militia 1839-1909...Burt County Pioneer...Buried in Lyons
                                 Closed by 1929

53    RISING CITY     Mustered March 12, 1912           YES, No WRC after 1910
        E. M. Stanton   Name from GAR Post
                      Closed by 1929

54    GRESHAM         Mustered June 21, 1919-1932      No-Post had closed
        Betsy Ross

55    BROKEN BOW      Mustered Aug. 6, 1919            No, See WRC 96
        Broken Bow
                                       Closed by 1929
       See Circle 35 in 1898 also

56    FREMONT         Mustered May 7, 1924                No, See WRC 133
        John C. Fremont
                                   Closed by 1965
       See Circle 8 in 1892 also

57    SCOTTSBLUFF    Mustered May 24, 1928-1939    No, See WRC 137
        Scottsbluff

58    HEMINGFORD      Mustered Nov. 6, 1929           YES, No WRC
        Alvin Miller    Pvt. Alvin M. Miller-76th Ill. Inf. 1844-1935...Box Butte County pioneer...would be last Civil War Veteran in town
                                        Reorganized 3-5-1934
                                       Closed after 1972

59    SARGENT         Mustered Feb. 15, 1934-1946       No-Post had closed
        David McGugin   Cpl. David McGugin-44th Pa. Inf. 1839-1924...Buried in Sargent
                             See Circle 31 in 1897 also

60    NORTH PLATTE    Mustered May 9, 1934            No-See WRC 110
        Ann Rutledge
                                        Closed by 1972
       See Circle 20 in 1895 also

61    UNIVERSITY PLACE  Mustered March 19, 1935-1943    No, See WRC 192
        U. S. Grant
        See Circles 26 & 62 also

62    LINCOLN         Mustered April 16, 1943              No-See WRC 10
        Arlington
                                  Closed by 1958
       See Circle 26 & 61 also

Other possible locations:  Wahoo (1912), Clarks (1906), Hampton, Plattsmouth, So. Souix City

There were 23 active Circles in 1896
There were 41 active Circles in 1902
There were 24 active Circles in 1907
There were 12 active Circles in 1942

The Nebraska LGAR first appears in the Nebraska GAR Journal minutes in 1895. In 1897 a proposal to combine the LGAR and WRC in Nebraska was defeated.  In 1898 the GAR voted down a resolution recognizing the LGAR as an auxiliary.  At 1900 Conv. all  Sons of Veterans were made honorary members of the LGAR.  LGAR Memorial Day is in  October.

NOTATIONS ON CIRCLES

2     Arcadia        National Journal mentions they were organized in a letter dated 12/20/1890 (Pg. 57-8), but does not give date.
                           No local papers for that period available.

                           National Journal mentions Circle reorganized in a letter dated 8/31/1900, but gives no date.

3     Red Cloud       National Journal mentions Circle organized in a letter dated 6/1/1891 (Pg. 63), but gives no date. 
                              No mention found in local paper.

LGAR Conventions
1892  Minden      May 17-18      5 Circles    (Dept. organized 5-18-92)
1893
1894  Loup City   April 18-19    11 Circles

All LGAR Conventions were with the GAR from 1895 on.

LGAR articles in National Tribune: 2/24/1887, 12/1/87, 1/13/1889, 3/21/89, 2/6/1890, 
1/14/1892 PA, 1/21/92 OKLA, 2/11/92 OHIO, 3/31/92 OKLA, 5/26/92 PA, 6/23/92 OKLA, 
12/20/1894 WVA, 3/14/1895 OKLA, 4/18/95 OHIO, 5/25/95 WVA, 5/9/95 NY, 6/27/95 OHIO, 
7/4/95 IND, 7/25/95 PA, 8/22/95 NAT, 1/30/1896 Neb, 2/27/96 WIS, 3/5/96 Neb, 
4/16/96 Neb, 4/23/96 Neb, 4/30/96 ILL, 5/7/96 MASS, 6/4/96 SEV, 6/11/96 MASS, 
6/25/96 Neb, 7/9/96 Neb, 7/23/96 KS.            

        Active Nebraska Circles by year:
1929  4-5-6-11-22-36-41-42-44-54-56-57
1934  6-11-22-26-41-42-44-56-58-59-60    (-1)
1936  5-6-11-22-26-36-41-42-44-56-57-58-59-60
1941  5-6-11-22-26-36-42-44-56-58-59-60-61
1944  5-6-11-26-36-42-44-56-58-59-60-62
1947  5-6-11-26-36-44-56-58-60-62
1951  (same)
1958  6-11-26-36-44-56-58-60
1965  11-26-44-58-60
1972  11-26-44-58