“SENEY STAYS ALIVE AS FRIENDLY VILLAGE”
Seney, one of the two villages of Elgin Township, started as a stopping point on the Omaha Railroad line. It was platted on December 7, 1872.
The Reeves Brothers, first in business, opened a grain and lumber store in 1873.
In 1874, I. S. Small opened a general merchandise store. It was sold to George Reeves and it wasn’t long until it was known as Reeves & March. After this, it changed names three times from Reeves & March to March Brothers, then to V.B. March and finally E. March. During the ownership of E. March in 1886, the building was destroyed by fire.
Competition for this store was started in 1878, when J. T. Reeves & Company opened a general store. A few years later Reeves was conducting this store alone until in 1887, it was sold to I. E. Eldridge – who was said to be successfully conducting business in the year 1891.
The history of the Post Office was short and simple. It was first set up in 1873 by S. J. Howe. He was succeeded in 1874 by I. S. Small. The postmasters from this date on were: George Reeves, Mr. March, J.T. Reeves, Jonathan Alderson, William Aird, J.M. Whitman, and last recorded in June of 1887, I.E. Eldridge.
In 1890 Seney boasted these following businesses:
J.T. Reeves & Company, general store;
E. March, hardware and grocery;
S.A. Auserman, blacksmith;
F.H. Peavy & Company;
A.W. Gilbert, grain;
I. E. Eldridge, livestock.
In 1917, George Hughes owned a blacksmith shop.
Plymouth Milling Company ran an elevator.
J.M. Whitman ran a general store.
The Seney Lumber Company was in progress.
Up to today (mid-1960s) Seney has not gorwn much, but at least it has stayed on the map. Six organizations can still be found at Seney:
Seney North Star gas station, run by Jack Maulder;
Seney Elevator, run by Edward DenBeste;
Seney Saw Mill, run by Paul Eich;
Lancaster Garage, run by Darrell Lancaster;
Olson Trucking, run by Albert Olson;
Seney Methodist church, served by Rev. Morris.
Source: LeMars Sentinel, unknown date of publication in mid-1960s [This news article was written by Kathy Bogenrief.]