Handwritten Diaries Loomis Himberger Fremont Nebraska Manhattan Model 1916 - 1947
Item History & Price
WELCOMETO SALLY’S DIARIES: Just a note: I get asked the same question from time to time. I will never split up family lots and sell them separately but it's always a good question to ask your sellers when bidding on single diaries. Upfor auction today are 8 handwritten diaries that belonged to theLoomis/Himberger family of Fremont Nebraska. There are three authors;Nell Loomis/Himberger, Leo Alice Loomis (female) and I’m not quitesure of the other author. This gr...oup took me a few hours just tofigure out how they were all related and who was who. Here’swhat I found out. The head of the family is George Linden Loomis whowas born in 1850 and a well known attorney in Fremont Nebraska. Infact the family had a beautiful Victorian home on Military Avenuethat is still there. He married Alice M. and they had 6 children;Bayard, Leo, Floyd, Zela, Howard and Wayne. Here’s his bio….“GeorgeLinden Loomis, the son of a Methodist minister, was born in Harmony, New York, on November 28, 1849. Loomis attended public schools atBlockville and Harmony, New York, before entering college at Albany, New York, where he graduated with a bachelor of law degree in 1875.He lived in Iowa for a year, and then in 1876 moved to Fremont, Nebraska, to open a law office. He married Alice Marie Hadley in1880, and they made their home in Fremont, where Loomis practiced lawfor 56 years.Loomisserved as the County Attorney of Dodge County, Nebraska, andPresident of the County Bar Association. He was a Representative inthe Nebraska Legislature from 1901 to 1905; Chairman of the NebraskaDelegation to the Democratic National Convention in Baltimore whichnominated Woodrow Wilson for President; member of the Nebraska StateCommission to the Lewis and Clark Exposition held at Portland, Oregon, in 1905; and Collector of Internal Revenue during Wilson'sadministration. Loomis was a member of the Fremont School Board, onthe Board of Trustees of Doane College, and a Director of the FremontNormal School. A State Moderator of the Congregational Church, he wasalso Nebraska Grand Master of the Odd Fellows, founder of theCommercial Law League of America, and Director of several financialinstitutions in Fremont. George L. Loomis died in his home on March23, 1932, at the age of 82, after being bedridden for two years froma stroke. He was survived by his wife and six children.” Here’swhere I got a bit confused but I believe I’ve figured it out. WhenI went to look up both Nell Loomis (b. 1886) and Leo Alice (b. 1906), the 1920 census showed Nell divorced and she and her daughter LeoAlice are living with George and his wife. Nell is George’sdaughter-in-law and Leo Alice Loomis his granddaughter. So I was abit confused. I finally found out that Nell was married to Bayard, George’s son. I’m not sure of the date of their divorce but I doknow that she is still married to him in the 1910 census. After thedivorce she married Frank Himberger and the last diaries are writtenby her during her marriage to Frank. I couldn’t figure out who LeoAlice was married to and when she divorced but the 1930 census listsher as a model in a clothing store in Manhattan, New York City. Thedirectories before that list her as a stenographer in hergrandfather’s law firm. Thedates the diaries represent are 1916 (but the copyright date of thediary is 1906), 1928, 1928-1933 (a five year diary), 1936 & 1937, 1944, 1945, 1946, and 1947. Here’s how the authors play out: Thefirst diary from 1916 is written by Nell Loomis. The next twodiaries, (1928 and the five year diary from 1928-1933) are written byLeo Alice. I don’t know the author of the 1936-1937 diary but in iton Nell’s birthday on August 14th the author calls herMrs. H. Then the last four diaries 1944, 1945, 1946 and 1947 arewritten by Nell (Loomis) Himberger. Again, this took me awhile to figure out and just with all that information, there seems to be quite the interesting story behind these women andthis family; a bitof a mystery that needs to be solved. I decided to onlyread the 1928 diary of Leo Alice as I was intrigued at her life as amodel. I don’t have time to read the rest as I spent most of mytime just researching the family. HaveI confused you yet???? Here are a few example excerptsof Leo Alice’s first diary. On a side note, whenLeo Alice talks about “shows” in her 128 diary I believe shemeans shows she modeling for. …..1928“FebruaryMemoranda: Now that you’re gone, I think of you again, with mingledsadness and regret and pain. One fact particularly makes me sore.It’s too damned bad you didn’t go before.” “Dinnerwith Mitch at Vanderbilt’s…..Lunch at Vanderbilt’s with Flo andMitch, drinking. Lots of trouble. Flat for the evening after phonecalls. F-O-B sore and Mitch also…..Work till 4 P.M. Dress and meetFrank at Commodore at 6:15. Have dinner at the grill and go to Pennat 8 P.M. See Barbara. Leave at 8:30….Arrived Omaha 9:30. Doc andDad meet me. Go to Wayne’s. Folks come down about noon. Drive toFremont about 9:30. Art and whole crowd over in eve…..(In Mayis when her short trip west starts)…..On the beach all day. Backto N.Y. at 9 P.M. Danced at Plaza Del. Home at 11:30…..ArriveBuffalo at 8 A.M. Show at Arbs at 10:30. Lunch at Statlerand take pictures. Show at 2:30. Eve. on boat with Arbs and Criers.Dinner at Buffalo, launch club on Long Island. Hotel at 12 and Carl, other in Nebraska. I fell thru the pier…..Arrive Buffalo 7 A.M.Register Statler. Clean up and go out to shop at 9:30. Unpacked trunkand back to the hotel. Write letters. Show in P.M. (2models from Blooms). Dinner at Statler for eight. Made the midnighttrain back……” Asfar as the condition and how full each diary is: 1916:Great shape, every day has an entry. 1928:Poor shape as the cover is falling away from the binding but thepages and binding itself looks good. Cover is also worn around theedges. Almost every day has an entry give or take a handful of blankones. 1928-1933(five year diary):Good shape and still has its original key. 1928 isabout have full, 1929-1932 almost all the days have entries and 1933very few entries. 1936-1937:Goodshape. Every day for both years has an entry. 1944:Great shape. Maybe about 20 days are black the rest full. 1945:Great shape but stain on front cover. About 7/8 full of entries, onlya handful of blank ones. 1946:Fair shape as cover is stained and very worn as is the first page.Some holes. Binding and pages look good however. This one is about ½full. 1947:Fair shape as cover is stained and bent. Binding and pages look good.This one is about 2/3 full. The1916 diary is the small one measuring about 2 1/2” x 4 1/2” butthe others are much larger, good size diaries.
