From: St Josephs Church Atkinson Nebraska 1886-1986
Atkinson is located in the western half of Holt County. The boundries of Holt County were established in 1863. The name of the county is derived from the Honorable Joseph Holt who was Postmaster General in the cabinet of President Buchanan.
The first permanent settlement in the county was made by the famous Irish colony of General John O'Neill which was formed in 1874. Atkinson was founded from the O'Neill settlement sometine later by Colonel John Atkinson of Detroit, a close friend of General O'Neil.
Catholic Settlers
Father Fanning, a missionary priest from Omaha, made an independent effort to make the first settlement in this vicinity. However, it is not the p[resent townsite. The town was named "Fanningville" but the scheme fell through and Atkinson itself took shape from the vision and guidance of John Carberry, a friend of Colonel John Atkinson. . . .
. . . When John Carberry came to Holt County, he filed a pre-emption on the present town site of Atkinson. The site, church property, and cemetery of Atkinson are a lasting monument to the Carberry's unbounded generosity as they gave the land for the purpose of building a Catholic Church.
Burial in consecrated ground was of great importance to our Catholic parishoners; thus St Josephs cemetery was started in 1886.
An incomplete (work in process) list
Donatus Seger 26 Sep 1828-27 Oct 1909
The Immigrant
Margaretha Sontag Seger ca 1830-28 Oct 1894
Wife of Donatus Seger
John Leopold Seger 1 Nov 1856-Dec 20,1920
Son of Donat Seger and Margaret Sontag
Elizabth Seger ?? -Dec 1,1903
Wife of John Leopold Seger