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Burton Dale McPheeters born
Burton was born into a second generation farming family near Gothenburg, Nebraska, the youngest and only boy of three children. Because the local town had no hospital, Burton was born in his parent's bedroom (which is the bedroom he uses today!) -
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Burton grows up in a farming household
Burton grew up in a farming family, where he was expected to be a fully responsible human from an early age. Like with lots of farming families, he was taken out of school during most parts of harvest season to harvest the crop, and had many chores and duties under his responsibility. -
Burton gets a new coat
During the Great Depression, new purchases were very rare. Nearly every piece of material had served another purpose first, before being recycled and/or handed down through multiple family members. A "new" coat was very special, and while it was big enough for a few years, this coat was bought brand new for the growing heir to the family farm.. -
Burton with his family
From left to right: Nina (oldest sister), Burton, Ira (father), Nola(youngest sister), Pearl (mother). Burton and his sisters attended a one-room schoolhouse for their education, often strapping blades to the bottom of their shoes to "ice skate" to school on the canal in the frigid Nebraska winters. -
Burton graduates High School
Graduating High School was a proud landmark in Burton's life. At a time when many families could not afford to send their children to school, and when many farming families needed the boys to work on the farm instead of attending school, graduating High School was an accomplishment of will and, perhaps, good fortune. -
Rebuilt after the Tornado of 1948
While somewhat common in Nebraska, tornadoes usually pass right by a homestead leaving nothing more than wind damage. However, in 1948a cyclone tore the roof off of Burton's home and set it back down sideways on the house. The rebuilding process took weeks. -
Burton gets drafted into the US Army during Korean War
Burton was drafted, like many young men, into the United States Army for the Korean war. This was a major turning point in his life, as any war is for a nation. He remained in service until the end of the war in 1953. During his service, he was offered a chance to enter officer cantidate school, and to build a career in the military. However, as this would cause him to travel around a lot, he decided not to accept and went back to the farm. -
Burton marries Betty Rose Kaufman
Burton and Betty met when Betty came to the local one-romm schoolhouse to teach. She had to walk to the school every day. One day, Burton offered her a ride, she accepted, and the rest is history. -
Burton and Betty on their honeymoon
Honeymoons, especially those out-of-state, were unusual to Burton's small farming community, but he and Betty did both and traveled to Yellowstone National Park and Mount Rushmore for their honeymoon. -
Burton changes from manual farming tools to machinery
The transition from manually-operated tools to tractors and other machines in farming techniques was a major milestone in Burton's life. This type of farming would allowi him to farm more efficiently to produce more crop yeild, but the transition was not cheap, and required a substantial investment. This photograph shows Burton and his father Ira altering a machine that makes haybales to be compatable with a new tractor, visible in the left corner. -
Burton's first child is born, Marcy Ann McPheeters
Marcy's birth officially began Burton's life as a father, a job he took very serisouly. He ultimately expanded his farm holdings to include enough houses for each of his five children to settle in as adults.
Picture: Marcy and Burton pciking sweet corn, Marcy age 1. -
Burton's second child is born, Kay Lynette McPheeters
With a growing family, Burton's young family moved from a small "hired hand" house to the large McPheeters farmhouse on the home place.
Picture: Kay's first birthday party in the older house. -
Burton's third child is born, Matthew Kirk McPheeters
Sadly, there were complications surrounding Matthew's birth and he did not survive. He is buried next to Betty's mother and father in the rural cemetery surrounded by cornfields and pasture. Because boys generally took over the farm in those days, the loss of his first son was especially tragic to Burton. -
Burton installs grain bins
Burton made huge investments in the farming operation as technology changed. Here, a grain truck dumps corn harvested from Burton's fields. The corn goes into a large pit underground and is then moved into the silver bins on each side with an auger system. This investment was state of the art at the time. -
Burton's Father dies
Ira's death was very difficult for Burton. -
Burton's fourth child is born, Britt Ira McPheeters
The birth of another son was a boost to Burton's dream of holding onto the family farm in a rural 1950's community. Britt was given his middle name in honor of Burton's father, Ira McPheeters.
Picture: Britt and Burton going sledding, Britt age 1 -
Burton's fifth child born, Scott Bradford McPheeters
Burton has four healthy children and is a hardworking farmer. This son eventually becomes the one to come back to the family farm in the 1980's after college.
Picture: Easter Sunday, left to right; Marcy (7), Betty (31), Britt (2), Scott (6 months), Kay(6) -
Burton selected for board of directors of church
Burton spent many hours at this church, the church his father helped build. Church was very important in the community, and the church was the center of his community and social life. -
Burton's 40th birthday
Picture: Burton's 40th birthday party. -
Burton's sixth child is born, Julie Rose McPheeters
Julie, Burton's final child marked the end of his addition to his family tree, and started the beginning of my branch.
Picture: 1968 Christmas card, Julie age 9 months -
Burton aquires land
Throughout the 1980s, the farming market was very bad. Many farmers could not make a profit from their land, and were forced to sell it in order to pay thier debts. Because Burton was a good manager, he did not go out of business and instead bought lots of land that was for sale. He aquired nearly 2000 acres of land along with a huge historic barn duing this time. -
Burton's first grandchild is born, Gabriel David Robbins
Gabe was the first of 18 grandchildren to come, beginning the next generation of the farming legacy. -
Burton's son Scott returns to help run the farm
Scott decides return to the farm to make farming his career, a dream come true for a farimg father. Together they built a kind of farming empire, with thousands of acres, multiple employees, and a diverse crop yeild. -
Julie's high school graduation
While all of Burton's children graduated high school, my mother's graduation was a landmark because it bagen his empty nest stage of life, and marked a point in his life signifying that he had succeeded in giving each of his children every opportunity also presented to him. Also, Julie is my mother, so it is most important to me personally. -
Burton and his grown children
Burton was a family man, and his grown children were the mark that he had succeeded in bringing up his children and allowing them to them succeed. -
Burton sells his cattle, moving on to solely farming crops
For most of his life, Burton owned, sold and traded cattle. He was a good businessman and often raised cattle from calfs into impressive head. However, he wanted to move deeper into his crop farming, and could not organize that much, so he continued his farming and sold his cattle. It was theraputic to be with his cows, so the shift was very influential. -
Burton retires
Burton "retired" in 1991, but you can never really take the farmer out of a man. He is always at the farm, checking on progress and driving the country roads cheking his crops. -
Burton comes out of retirement
Burton came out of retirement because Scott had a heart attack and was recoveirng. Burton ran the farm and kept things in check until Scott healed, and then never really left. -
Burton's 50th Wedding Anneversary
A combined centrury of marriage is a great accomplishment for any couple, and this event was very meaningful for the entire family. -
Burton renovates the D-D ranch
Burton bought this barn in the 1980s and the ranch that accompanied it to save it from delapidation and destruction. He, with the help of his children and other resources, completely renovated it. A 60-ft barn is no small task for anybody to build, let alone renovate while maintaining structural intergrity. The barn was in fact used to hous the Pony Express horses, and the land it sat on had part of the Oregon and Mormon trails on it. Burton had saved a relic of the good old days of the west.
