Hartford, NE

Hartford, NE was the nearest small town about 4 miles from the farm where Philip Austin, Mel Austin and Shirley Austin were raised.^{BR1-3 BR1-4}

Mel returned home for one night when he got out of the army in 1946, but left immediately because his brother, Phil, wanted him to work on the farm without pay. He later visited Hartford once when the MMSA was passing fairly near.^BR1-32

Hartford, NE was also the small town where Jane Marshall grew up and her parents still lived. Jane visited her parents to announce her marriage and introduce Rick Thredford to them.

In times that some of its residents could remember, Hartford had been a successful economic unit. There had been schools, a feed mill, a number of businesses such as a gas station, a restaurant, a general store that had a good selection of things including dry goods, a small storefront grocery store, and a few other retail concerns of that nature. A doctor once had office hours two days a week, and there had been a small bank.^PJ20