Hartington: Home of Two Nebraska Governors

Burney's governorship ran four months, from September 9, 1960 to January 5, 1961, finishing Ralph Brooks's term. Back as lieutenant governor, he was acting governor on June 27, 1961 while Frank Morrison was in Hawaii, and appointed the Republican Eugene T. Mahoney to a legislative vacancy, a controversial but legal move. He ran for governor in 1964, the year Morrison was reelected. Thone, aide to Senator Roman Hruska from 1954 to 1970, was narrowly defeated for reelection by Bob Kerrey in 1982 and died in Lincoln on March 7, 2018.

What the plaque says

Hartington Home of Two Nebraska Governors This marker, dedicated on the 100th anniversary of Hartington High School, June 25, 1988, is in honor of two graduates who became governors of Nebraska. Dwight Burney, born in 1892, graduated from Hartington High School in 1910. Burney attended the University of South Dakota and was School Superintendent in Turtin, South Dakota. He served in the Nebraska Legislature for twelve years; as lieutenant governor for eight years; and became governor of Nebraska upon the death of Ralph G. Brooks, September 9, 1960. Burney founded the Pleasant Dale 4-H Livestock Club in Cedar County, and he was co-founder of the Nebraska Livestock Feeders Association. Charles Thone was born in 1924 and grew up on Thoene Farm five miles north of Hartington. He attended District 108 grade school and graduated from Hartington High School in 1940. After World War II service, he received a law degree from the University of Nebraska. Thone was congressman for four terms and served as Nebraska's 34th governor. He was chairman of the Midwest Governors Association, chairman of the National Governors Agriculture Committee, and chairman of President Reagan's Export Commission for Agriculture. Cedar County Historical Society Nebraska State Historical Society

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• National Music Museum — 21 mi
  One of the great collections of musical instruments in the world, on a college campus in a prairie town, built around a band teacher's thousands of horns, fiddles and curiosities.
• Spirit Mound Historic Prairie — 23 mi
  A lone hill north of Vermillion that Lewis and Clark walked to on a scorching day in 1804, now one of the few places left where you can stand exactly where they stood.

More markers nearby

• Cedar County — steps away
• Paragon Cemetery — 4.9 mi
• William H. McMaster — 18 mi
• First Building at Yankton Site May 1858 — 18 mi