Horace Willits came to Nebraska from Illinois in 1872 at the age of 33. He had been a solider in the U.S. Army during the Civil War. The Homestead Act of 1862 allowed soldiers to claim homesteads. He first came to select the site and build his sod house, with the help of his brother who had already come. He returned to Illinois to bring his wife, Mary and three children to Polk County. They had...
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