BROWNVILLE, Neb. (AP) — The square, white building would be easy to miss but for the sign dangling from a post.

"FURNAS HOUSE," it reads, marking the unassuming former residence of Robert Furnas, the second elected governor of Nebraska who died in 1905.

Converted into a museum, the house features myriad mid-19th century artifacts, from apple-picking ladders to Furnas' personal rocking chair.

A framed picture in the home's foyer proudly declares the former governor as "Nebraska's Renaissance Man."

It's a fitting moniker for Furnas, who not only dabbled in politics but in planting trees, growing...