Life in those early days of settlement in Knox County were quite hard. Extreme weather, drought and other frontier hazards were abundant.
Many of the early accidental deaths in the 1860s and 1870s could be attributed to lightning, of all things. According to Andreas’ History of the State of Nebraska, a man named “Dutch Fred” was killed by lightning near Bazile Mills while he was chopping wood. Andreas reported that T.G. Hulihen’s house was struck in 1873, and was set on fire. But lightning wasn’t the only hazard in those days.
The first murder in Knox County took place northwest of present day Crofton in the young village of Frankfort when, in 1857, Charles Rohe was shot through the heart by Rudolph Grasso after the two men argued.
The first school in the county was also located in Frankfort in 1871; taught by Mrs. Clark. For many early settlers along the Nebraska side of the upper Missouri River, Frankfort was the center of civilization and it was a town on the rise.
Today, the Frankfort Cemetery north of town remains, and the name “Frankfort” remains on Frankfort and North Frankfort townships.
The village was first settled in 1856 by S. Loeber, according to a July 4 address offered by Solomon Draper in 1876.
It was that spring when the Missouri River flooded what was known as the Frankfort bottom, rising to the highest level any early settlers could recall.
Loeber opened a trading post, and the location was perfect because Smutty Bear and his camp were just across the river. Loeber was joined by his brother, Justus a year later.
Together, they laid out the townsite of Frankfort and filed the plat in the Cedar County seat at the time at St. James.
About 15-20 men made Frankfort their home at the time and the town, according to Draper, consisted of several houses. Charles Mischke and Leonard Weigand were among those first settlers and farmers in that vicinity. The Census of 1860 reported only 152 people in Knox County at the time Frankfort was settled.
Mischke built a log cabin and settled in around Frankfort, with the entire colony consisting of 12 houses and the trading post. In the family history reported in Crofton’s 125th History Book, it is noted that locals had to fight extremely hard times, including grasshopper infestations. At times, they had only cornmeal and bacon to eat.
After the Civil War ended, Mischke sold potatoes to those operating steam boats on the river. He began to invest in land and the farm grew. In 1866, Charles built a new log cabin, and had accumulated 100 head of cattle and 10 horses. He also hosted church services in their home each month during that time.
When the great flood of 1881 struck river villages and farms along the Missouri, it flooded the land in and around Frankfort. After the flood, the post office at Frankfort was discontinued. The Mischke family lost 100 head of cattle and 14 brood sows in the flood.
Today, if you walk through the Frankfort Cemetery, you will see graves of many members of the Mischke family, along with other family names familiar with the old Frankfort neighborhood. And you can still imagine the days before the great 1881 flood, when Frankfort was a community in the old river bottom that was still on the rise.