Mystery Monday: My grandfather's move across Nebraska

Sometime between the birth of my Aunt Berneice [sic] in 1921 and my father in 1927, my paternal grandfather, Joseph Huigens, headed west from Knox Co. in northeast Nebraska to Sheridan Co. in the northwest part of the state.


Map Courtesy of Digital-Topo-Maps.com

According to my grandfather's obituary, the move occured sometime prior to Jan. 1926.

In 1920 he was farming 480 acres that he rented from his father in sections 3 and 11 of Logan Township, about 10 miles west of Creighton, NE. He was also renting 160 acres he owned in section 9 to a John Parkhurst. (Source: 1920 Atlas of Knox County, Nebraska)

According to my mom, he rented the land he farmed in Sheridan Co. from Logan C. Musser of Rushville, NE.

The mystery is when did he move and, more importantly, why. Did he sell the land he owned in Knox Co.? If so, to whom? Why did he end the lease arrangement with his father and move across the state to rent land? Was it economics or family dynamics?

I wish I had raised some of these questions before my dad's stroke and before all his siblings were gone. Maybe my mom can provide some answers. I can also see what my dad's nieces and nephews and his cousins who are still around Creighton know. There's also land records and directories in Knox Co. and Sheridan Co. to go through. Plenty of places to go looking for more nuggets of family history.