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M«U 


(GENEALOGY  COLLECTION 


3  1833  01066  5732 


N 


History  of 
Gage  County,  Nebraska 


I 


HISTORY  OF 
GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


A  NARRATIVE  OF  THE  PAST.  WITH  SPECIAL  EMPHASIS  UPON  THE  PIONEER 
PERIOD  OF  THE  COUNTY'S  HISTORY.  ITS  SOCIAL.  COMMERCIAL.  EDU- 
CATIONAL, RELIGIOUS.  AND  CIVIC  DEVELOPMENT  FROM  THE 
EARLY  DAYS  TO  THE  PRESENT  TIME 


HUGH  J.  DOBBS 


LINCOLN,  NEBRASKA 

WESTERN  PUBLISHING  AND  ENGRAVING  COMPANY 

I9I8 


COPYRIGHT.  1918 

BY 

HUGH  J.  DOBBS 


3RCH    PRESS 


DAR    RAPIDS.  IOW> 


0 

\ 


H 


DEDICATED 


This  volume  is  affectionately  dedicated  to  the  memory 
of  my  parents  and  to  the  memory  of  the  other  pioneers 
of  Gage  county,  living  and  dead,  whose  heroism  called 
the  county  into  existence  and  advanced  upon  its  rolling 
prairie  wastes  the  lines  of  civilized  Ufe. 


PREFACE 

This  volume  is  divided  into  historical  and  biographical  matter.  For  the 
former  I  am  wholly  responsible,  but  for  the  latter  my  responsibilitv  is  lim- 
ited to  a  few  biographical  sketches  — ■  less  than  a  dozen  out  of  hundreds  — 
the  remainder  having  been  prepared  under  the  supervision  of  the  \^'estern 
Publishing  and  Engraving  Company  of  Lincoln,  Nebraska. 

The  chief  value  of  the  historical  part  of  this  book  lies  in  its  fidelity  to  facts. 
It  is  not  claimed,  however,  that  all  has  been  set  down  that  should  have  been 
written  for  a  work  of  this  character  nor  that  the  narrative  is  as  complete  in 
every  instance  as  could  be  desired.  Time  and  the  limitations  as  to  volume, 
imposed  by  my  contract  with  the  publishers,  have  both  combined  to  set  bounds 
to  my  work.  Whatever  faults  the  critical  may  discover  in  the  following  pages, 
this  much  can  at  least  be  truthfully  said  of  this  History  —  it  constitutes  an  earn- 
est efifort  to  give  both  to  the  subscribers  and  the  public,  a  readable  and  reliable 
history  of  Gage  county,  something  that  has  not  hitherto  been  attempted. 

I  am  under  personal  obligations  to  many  for  assistance  in  the  preparation  of 
this  history.  Particularly  do  I  wish  to  acknowledge  my  indebtedness  to  A.  E. 
Sheldon,  secretary,  and  Mrs.  Clarence  S.  Paine,  librarian  of  the  State  Histori- 
cal Society,  Lincoln,  Nebraska ;  William  Elsey  Connelley,  secretary  of  the 
State  Historical  Society  of  Kansas;  Lion.  Charles  H.  Sloan,  congressman  of 
the  Fourth  congressional  district  of  Nebraska;  Major  A.  L.  Green,  Mrs. 
Charles  F.  Gale,  Earl  Marvin  of  the  Beatrice  Daily  Sun,  Mrs.  Anna  R.  Mum- 
ford,  William  R.  Jones,  and  Mrs.  Oliver  Townsend,  Beatrice ;  John  A.  Weav- 
er and  J.  B.  High,  of  the  register  of  deeds  office;  Mrs.  Mabel  Penrod,  coun- 
ty clerk,  and  F.  E.  Lenhart,  clerk  of  the  district  court  of  Gage  county;  Mrs. 
Minnie  Prey  Knotts,  Lincoln,  Nebraska;  Mentor  A.  Brown,  Kearney;  JNIrs. 
Maud  Bell,  Tecumseh ;  A.  D.  ]\rcCandless  and  Charles  M.  Murdock,  Wymore ; 
Mrs.  Elizabeth  Porter,  Wilber ;  Mr.  and  Mrs.  F.  M.  Graham,  William  Craig, 
and  Robert  A.  Wilson,  Blue  Springs;  Homer  J.  Merrick,  Adams;  Miss  Ev- 
elyn Brinton,  Pickrell ;  Theodore  Coleman,  Pasadena,  and  Miss  Benetta  Pike, 
Los  Angeles,  California;  Mrs.  Lilian  P.  Scoville,  San  Juan,  Porto  Rico;  Dr. 
James  P.  Baker,  St.  Louis,  ^Missouri;  :Mrs.  Julia  Beatrice  Metcalf,  Portland, 


6  PREFACE 

Oregon;  Joel  Thomas  Mattingley,  Condon,  Oregon;  Louis  Laflin,  Crab  Or- 
chard; Hon.  Peter  Jansen,  Andrew  S.  Wadsworth,  Leonard  A.  Enimert.  Clar- 
ence \A'.  Gale,  Beatrice;  Robert  H.  Baker,  Chicago;  W.  H.  Brodhead,  McKay, 
Idaho;  and  James  H.  H.  Hewitt,  Alliance,  Nebraska. 

I  desire  to  express  my  sincere  appreciation  to  the  many  subscribers  to  this 
volume  who  by  letter  or  otherwise  have  shown  a  kindly  interest  in  the  work. 

Very  respectfully, 

Hugh  J.  Dobbs 
Beatrice,  Nebraska,  August  7,  1918 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I  — The  Discoverers 

Christopher   Columbus  —  England   and   France  —  French    Explorers    and    Mi 

—  Robert  Cavalier  de  La' Salle  —  The  New  World  —  Louisiana. 

CHAPTER  H  — Territory  of  Louisiana 21 

As  part  of  New  France  —  Attempted  Settlement  by  La  Salle  —  His  Assassination  — 
Effect  of  Extension  of  New  France  to  Mississippi  Basin  —  France  loses  her  Colonial 
Possessions    in    North   America  —  Retrocession  by  Charles  V  —  American  Opposition 

—  Jefferson  and  the  Treaty  of  Ildefonso  —  Jefferson's  Aims  concerning  Louisiana 
and  the  Mississippi  —  Threat  of  Alliance  with  England  —  Alarm  of  Napoleon  by 
Threat  of  War  —  Livingston  Admonishes  Talleyrand  —  Arrival  of  Monroe  —  Cession 
to  the  United  States  —  Price  —  Population — Ignorance  of  America  concerning  New 
Purchase  —  Explorations   of    Lewis   and   Clark. 

CHAPTER  in  —  Nebrask.v  UP  TO  1866 29 

Early  Explorers  in  Nebraska  —  Coronado  —  Mallet  Brothers  —  Lewis  and  Clark  — 
Kansas-Nebraska  Bill  —  Territory-  opened  for  Settlement  —  Area  —  Boundaries  —  Or- 
ganization —  Census  —  Death  of  Governor  Burt  —  Governor  Cuming  —  The  First  Leg- 
islature —  Statehood. 

CHAPTER  IV  — Gage  County 36 

Act  Defining  Boundaries  —  Name  —  Area — Seat  of  Justice  —  Whitesville  —  Prepara- 
tion for  Election  —  Organization  —  First  Meetings  of  County  Commissioners  — 
County  Seat. 

CRAPTER  V  —  Old  Clay  County 41 

Act  Creating  —  Organization  —  Austin  —  Settlements  —  Partitioning  —  John  P.  Cad- 
man —  Joint  Meeting  Commissioners  of   Gage  and  Lancaster  Counties. 

CHAPTER  VI  — TopOGR.-vPHY  oE  Gage  County 45 

Location  —  Townships  —  Area  —  Hydrographic  Features  —  Stone  —  Clay  —  Coal  — 
Water    Supply  —  Climate  —  Temperature  —  Soil  —  The  Prairies. 

CHAPTER  \'II  —  Flora  and  Fauna 51 

Grasses  —  Flowers- — Forest  and  Stream  —  Animal  Life  —  The  Buffalo  —  Elk  —  An- 
telope—  Native  Birds  —  Fish  —  Insect  Life — Grasshoppers  —  Effect  of  Settlement. 

CHAPTER  VIII  — The  Public  Dom.\in 57 

Nemaha  Land  District  —  Brownville  Land  Office  —  Registers  and  Receivers  —  Offered 
and  L^noffered  Lands  —  Preemptions  —  Free  Homestead  Law  —  Agricultural  College 
Land  Grant  Act  —  Operation  of  the  Act  —  College  Scrip  Entries  in  Townships  — 
Homestead  Entries. 

CRAPTER  IX  — The  Pioneers 63 

First  Glimpse  of  Gage  Countv  —  Home  Building  on  the  Prairies  —  Food  Supplies  — 
Fruits  — Fish  — Game  — The  Buffalo  —  Clothes  —  Food  Substitutes  —  First  Wheat 
Crop — Spring  Wheat  —  Common  Salt — Social  Life. 

CHAPTER  X 71 

Poem  by  Edwin  Ford  Piper,  "Have  You  .A,n  Eye"  —  Early  Gage  County  Markets  — 
Missouri  River-Oregon  Trail  —  Insufficiency  of  Local  Markets  —  High  Prices  —  Mis- 
souri River  Points  Best  Purchasing  Markets  —  Oregon  Trail  Best  Selling  Market  — 
Its  Early  History  —  Great  South  Pass  —  John  C.  Fremont  —  Origin  of  Term,  "Military 
Road"  —  Starting  Point  —  Route  —  Marcus  Whitman  —  Changes  —  Statistics  of  North- 
ern Route  —  An  Emigrant  Route  —  Freighting  —  Nebraska  City  —  Overland  Stage  — 
Pony   Express  —  Beatrice   Route  —  General  Description. 

CITAPTER  XI  — First  Actual  Settlers 85 

Otoe  and  Missouri  Tribes  of  Indians  —  History  —  Reservation  —  Relation  of  Pioneers 
to  Indians  —  Plans  to  sell  Reservation — Sale  —  Report  of  Lewis  and  Clark  —  Indian 
Village  —  Removal   of   Indian   Tribes. 

7 


8  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  XII  —  Narrative  of  Major  Albert  Lamborn  Green 


CHAPTER  XIII  — First  White  Settlers Ill 

Indian  Agents  and  Employes  —  Gideon  Bennett  —  David  Palmer  —  John  O.  Adams, 
and  the  Shaws  —  The  Pethouds  — The  Kilpatricks  and  Others  —  Settlements  in  Rock- 
ford   Township  —  In   Grant  Township  —  At  Blue  Springs. 

CHAPTER  XIV  — Founding  OF  Beatrice 117 

The  Hannibal-Nebraska  Association  —  Organization  —  Members  —  Locating  Commit- 
tee—  Its  Report  —  Selection  of  Name  —  First  Fourth  of  July  Celebration. —  Associa- 
tion Aleets  on  Townsite  —  Selection  and  Entry  of  Townsite. 

CHAPTER  XV  — Narrative  of  Mrs.  Julia  Beatrice  (Kii-Jney)  Metcalf  .         .         123 
CHAPTER  XVI  —  Founders  of  Beatrice 129 

John  Fitch  Kinney  —  John  McConihe  —  Albert  Towle  —  Joseph  Rutherford  Nelson  — 
bbediah  Brown  Hewett  —  Gilbert  T.  Loomis  —  Oliver  Townsend  —  Harrison  F.  Cook 
—  Dr.  Bayard  T.  Wise  —  Joseph  Milligan — Bennett  Pike  —  Jefferson  B.  Weston  — 
William  H.  Brodhead  —  Dr.  Herman  M.  Reynolds. 

CHAPTER  XVII  —  A  Roll  of  Honor 149 

Gage  County  Territorial  Pioneers  —  Biographical  Sketches :  Nathan  Blakel.v,  Charles 
N.  Emery,  Joseph  Hollingw'orth,  Hiram  \V.  Parker,  Charles  G.  Dorsey,  Fordyce 
Roper,  Albert  L.  Tinkham,  Horace  M.  Wickham,  Isma  P.  and  Elizabeth  Mumford, 
James  B.  Mattingley,   Samuel  Jones,  Algernon  Sidney  Paddock. 

CHAPTER  XVIII  —  Narr.\tive  of  George  Gale  with  Biographical  Sketch     .         166 

CHAPTER  XIX  — Growth  of  Beatrice  from  Beginning  to  1870        ...         181 
A  Hard  Winter — Company  Assets  —  Pap's  Cabin  —  Mumford's  Cabin  —  Entry  of  the 
Townsite  —  Population  in   1870  —  Coming  of   the   Railroads  —  First   School   House  — 
First  Bridge  across  the  Big  Blue  —  The  Government  Land  Office  —  Improved  Condi- 
tions—  First  United   States  Mail  —  The   Stage  Routes  —  Beatrice  of  the  Sixties. 

CHAPTER  XX  —  Beatrice  Continued 189 

Incorporation  of  Towns  by  County  Board  —  Petition  to  Incorporate  Beatrice  —  Order. 
Incorporating  Beatrice  —  First  Board  of  Trustees  —  Incorporation  of  Beatrice  as  a 
City  of  the  Second  Class  —  First  City  Council  —  Population  of  Beatrice  —  Incorpora- 
tion of  Beatrice  as  a  City  of  the  First  Class  —  .\dditions  to  Beatrice  —  Changed  to 
Commission  Government  —  First  County  Court  House  —  Location  —  Old  "Public 
Square"  —  Description  —  Cost  —  Abandoned  —  Demolished  —  A  New  Court  House  — 
Court  House  Bond  Litigation  —  County  Jail  —  The  New  Jail  —  First  LInited  States 
Postoffice  —  Present  Postoffice  Building  —  Postmasters  —  Beatrice  City  Hall  —  Fire 
Department  —  Lighting    Plant — Sewers  —  Paving  —  City  Water  Works. 

CHAPTER  XXI  — Beatrice  Continued 208 


The  Free  Public  Library  —  First  Board  of  Directors  —  Carnegie  Library  Building  — 
First  Librarian  —  Public  Parks  — The  Old  Stone  Church  — The  New  Methodist 
Church  — The  First  Presbyterian  Church  — The  Episcopal  Church  —  First  Christian 
Church  — United  Brethren  Church  —  Trinity  Lutheran  Church  — First  Catholic  Church 

—  First  Baptist  Church  —  St.  John's  Lutheran    Church  —  German    Methodist    Church 

—  LaSelle  Street  Church  —  Seventh  Day  .A.dventist  Church  —  First  Church  of  Christ 
Scientist  —  First  Congregational  Church  —  Mennontie  Church  —  Beatrice  School  Dis- 
trict—  Old  Frame  School  House  —  First  High  School  Building — Second  High 
School  Building  — Third. High  School  Building  — Grade  School  Buildings  —  City  Su- 
perintendents of  Schools. 

CHAPTER  XXII  —  Beatrice  Concluded 228 

Banks  — Factories  — Wholesale    Houses  — Rawlins  Post  —  Hospitals  and   Sanitariums 

—  Newspapers   and   Newspaper  Men. 

CHAPTER  XXIII  — Blue  Springs • 

CHAPTER  XXIV  — Wvmore :        .        260 

CHAPTER  XXV  — iNcoRpoR.vTEn  ^■ILL.\r,ES 272 

Adams  —  Barnestou  —  Clatonia  —  Cortland  —  Filley  —  Liberty  —  Odcll  —  Pickrell 

—  Virginia. 


249 


CONTENTS  9 

CHAPTER  XXYl  —  Unincorporated  Villages 290 

Ellis  —  Hoag  —  Kinney  —  Lanham  —  Rockford  —  Holmesville. 

CHAPTER  XXVH  —  County  Offices  and  Officials 294 

First  Election  Law  —  Elections  —  Two  Early  Elections  —  Official  Roster  of  County 
Commissioners  —  Adoption  of  Township  Organizations  —  County  Clerks  —  County 
Treasurers  —  Clerks  of  District  Court — County  Sheriflfs  —  County  Judges  —  County 
Superintendents  of  Schools  —  County  Surveyors  —  County  Coroners  —  Registers  of 
Deeds  —  County  Attorneys  —  County  Assessors  —  Territorial  Assemblies  —  House  of 
Representatives  —  Members  of  the  Council  —  State  Legislatures  —  Members  of  the 
Senate. 

CHAPTER  XXVni  —  Hospitals 303 

Institute  for  Feeble  Minded  Youths  —  Hepperlin's  Hospital  —  New  Lutheran  Hospi- 
tal—  Fall's   Sanitarium  —  The   Mennonite   Deaconess  Home  and  Hospital. 

CHAPTER  XXIX  —  Military  History  OF  Gage  County 310 

Indian  Raid  on  Little  Blue  River,   1864  —  First  Military  Organization  —  A  Stampede 

—  Company  C,  Nebraska  Militia  —  Sioux  Indian  War,  1891  —  Gage  County  in  the 
Civil   War — The    Spanish- American   War — Roster   of   Company   C,    First   Regiment 

—  The   World   War. 

CHAPTER  XXX  — The  Bench  AND  THE  Bar 319 

Territorial  Supreme  Court  —  Territorial  District  Courts  — Chief  Justice  Ferguson — 
Associate  Justices  —  First  Session  Supreme  Court  —  First  Term  District  Court  — 
First  Judicial  Legislation  —  Gage  County's  First  District  Judge  —  First  Term  Dis- 
trict Court  in  Gage  County  —  Second  Term  — First  Grand  Jury — First  Embezzle- 
ment-First Murder  — Third  Term  District  Court  — First  Petit  Jury— First  Di- 
vorce Case— State  Supreme  Court  — State  District  Courts  — Act  Admitting  Attor- 
neys —  First  Lawyers  in  Gage  County  —  Brief  Sketches  of  Former  Members  of  the 
Bar  —  Present   Members. 

CHAPTER    XXXI  —  People    Who    have   done  Their  Part  in  Making  Gage 

County 338 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

WiLLiAJi  Clark 26 

Meriwether   Lewis 26 

Bowlder  Commemorating  first  council  with  the  Indians  on  Nebraska  soil  .  28 

QuivERA  Monument 30 

Stephen  A.  Douglas 32 

Francis  Burt 33 

Thomas  B.   Cuming 34 

Rev.  William  D.  Gage 37 

Grasshopper  Scene,  1874 53 

First  Claim  Cabin  in  Nebraska 65 

S'ALT  Basin  and  Salt  Works,  Lincoln,  1872 69 

Mormon  Encampment  about  1846 73 

John  C.  Fremont 74 

Brigham   Young 75 

Scenes  at  Ash  Hollow 76 

Peter  J.  De  Smet,  SJ 77 

Freighting  Scenes  Along  the  Oregon  Trail 80 

Concord  Stage-coach 82 

Ar-ka-ke-ta,  Head  Chief  of  the  Otoes -86 

Otoe  Indian  Village 92 

Old  Agency  Mill,  Indian  Reservation 95 

Old  Burial  Place  and  Funeral  Trees  of  the  Otoes 99 

Medicine  Horse's  Village 108 

Log  from  John  Pethoud's  Cabin,  1857 113 

Original  Cabin  on  First  Homestead 115 

Daniel  Freeman 116 

Julia  Beatrice  Kinney,  1860 120 

Julia  Beatrice   (Kinney)   Metcalf,  1909 124 

Julia  Beatrice   (Kinney)   Metcalf,  1878 124 

John   Fitch   Kinney 131 

Hannah   D.    (Hall)    Kinney  . 131 

General  John  McConihe .        .        .        .  132 

Albert  Towle 133 

Katie  Towle 134 

Joseph  Rutherford  Nelson 135 

Oliver  Townsend 137 

Harrison  F.  Cook 138 

Bennett  Pike 141 

William  H.  Brodhead 144 

Herman  M.  Reynolds 146 

Nathan  Blakely 154 

Margaret  Constance  Blakely 155 

Hiram  W.  Parker 157 

11 


12 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


EtIZABETH    MUMFORD 161 

Pioneer  Residence  of  Samuel  Jones ;[g4 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  George  Gale 167 

Court  Street,  Beatrice,  in  1870 *  !        '        185 

BiRDSEYE  View  oe  Beatrice,  1874      ........  192 

First  Court  House  at  Beatrice I95 

Federal  Building  at  Beatrice 197 

Gage  County  Court  House 197 

Old  County  Jail 199 

New  County  Jail '         '        20O 


Carnegie  Library,  Beatrice 
City  Water  Works,  Beatrice  . 


Beatrice  City  Hall 


20.3 

203 

•        •        ■ 203 

\  olunteer  Fire  Station,  Beatrice 993 

Athletic  Park,  Beatrice 910 

Views  in  and  about  Beatrice r>-[i 

Beatrice  Churches 9^5 

New  Congregational  Church,  Beatrice 221 

First  High  School  Building,  Beatrice 224 


Beatrice  School  Buildings 


225 


Beatrice  National  Bank  Building 73-: 

Beatrice  Banking  Institutions 933 

Beatrice  Steel  Tank  Manufacturing  Company 234 

Beatrice  Iron  Works 934 

John  H.  von  Steen  Company 236 

F.  D.  Kees  Manufacturing  Company 236 

Beatrice  Cold  Storage  Company 237 

Swift  &  Company "'■^37 

Beatrice  Creamery  Company 937 

Residence  Streets  in  Beatrice 238 

Business  Streets  in   Beatrice '  240 

Beautiful  Homes  in  Beatrice 241 

Theodore  Coleman 944 

Court  Street,  Beatrice,  in  1908 948 

Bridge  and  Mill  at  Blue  Springs 251 

Blue  Springs  High  School 252 

William  B.  Tyler ' 954 

Mrs.   Rebecca   Tyler ':>54 

Robert  A.  Wilson      .        .        '. 955 

Mrs.  Amelia  Wilson 255 


Solon  M.  Hazen 


256 


Dr.  Levi  Anthony 957 

Francis  M.  Graham 9i:;8 

Mrs.  Hannah  Retta  Graham 258 

Niagara  Avenue,  Wymore 263 

St.  Mary's  Catholic  Church  and  Rectory  Wymore 266 

First  B.\ptist  Church,  Wymore 267 

First  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Wymore 268 

Two  Rural  Churches  near  Wv.more      ...  .         .  760 


ILLUSTRATIONS  13 

High  School,  Wymore 270 

Main  Street,  Cortland 278 

Public   School,   Cortland 279 

Views  in   Odell 285 

High  School,  Holmesville 292 

Cottages  at  Institute  for  Feeble  Minded  Youths 304-305 

Girls'  Second  Cottage,  Institute  for  Feeble  Minded  Youths  ....  306 

Hospital  Building,  Institute  for  FeeblE  Minded  Youths         ....  307 

Mennonite   Hospital 308 

Dr.  Fall's  Sanitarium 308 

Lutheran  Hospital 308 

Institute  for  Feeble  Minded  Youth 308 

New  Lutheran  Hospital 309 

314 

320 

321 

322 

.....  325 

' 448 

600 

613 


Colonel  John  M.  Stotsenberg 

Fenner  Ferguson 

James   Br.a.dley   .... 

Edward  Randolph  Harden 

Oliver  P.  Mason 

Zion's  Lutheran  Church 

Kilpatrick  Mausoleum     . 


Pioneer  Residence  of  Fidillo  Hunter  Dobbs 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  DISCOVERERS 

ChristopherColumbus  — England  AND  France  — French  Explorers  and  Missionaries 
—  Robert  Cavalier  de  La  Salle  —  The  New  World  —  Louisiana 


Nothing  in  human  history  exceeds  in  roman- 
tic interest  the  discovery-  and  settlement  of  the 
New  World.  The  first  voyage  of  Columbus 
from  the  shores  of  Spain  across  the  unknown 
waters  of  the  Atlantic  ocean,  which  the  super- 
stition of  the  times  invested  with  every  sort 
of  mystery  and  danger,  must  always  appeal  to 
the  imagination  as  an  act  of  superlative  dar- 
ing— -an  event  of  first  importance  in  the 
progress  and  happiness  of  mankind  —  for  he, 
by  adventuring  where  others  dared  not  ven- 
ture, by  a  single  act  revealed  to  the  astonished 
gaze  of  Europe  the  existence  of  new  lands  of 
wonderful  beauty  and  promise,  where  none 
were  believed  to  exist;  and,  at  a  blow,  dis- 
pelled forever  the  ignorance  and  fear  which 
hitherto  had  enslaved  the  mind  and  paralyzed 
the  endeavor  of  the  most  favored  and  most 
intelligent  portion  of  the  globe. 

Columbus  set  sail  from  the  port  of  Palos  on 
the  3d  day  of  August,  1492,  with  a  fleet  of 
three  small  vessels,  the  Pinta,  the  Santa  Maria, 
and  the  Nina.  He  was  accompanied  by  the 
tears  and  lamentations  of  the  entire  popula- 
tion of  that  small  port,  most  of  whom  had 
relatives  abroad  the  ships,  and  who,  as  the 
winding  of  the  shore  hid  the  little  fleet  from 
sight,  abandoned  all  hope  of  ever  again  see- 
ing the  adventurous  mariners  alive.  On 
board  those  small  caravels  the  crews  them- 
selves, as  the  distance  from  the  shores  oi 
Spain  daily  increased,  were  seized  with  fear 
and  unrest,  which  greatly  endangered  the 
success  of  the  expedition.  But  the  confident 
Admiral  held  firmly  to  his  course  and  pointed 
the  prow  of  his  flag  ship  steadily  toward  the 


west.  The  sea  was  smooth,  the  air  soft 
and  refreshing,  nature  herself  seemed  un- 
usually propitious  toward  this  momentous 
and  daring  enterprise.  Soon  the  frail  vessels 
came  within  the  course  of  the  trade  winds 
and,  with  a  constant  and  favoring  breeze,  the 
little  squadron  made  rapid  headway.  Occa- 
sionally the  crews  sighted  floating  weeds  and 
other  objects  which  seemed  to  indicate  the 
near  presence  of  land  and  which  served  to 
cheer  their  spirits  and  invigorate  their  flagging 
zeal.  On,  on,  on  they  sailed,  day  and  night, 
always  toward  the  west.  Uneventful  weeks 
passed  without  sight  of  land,  but  on  the  night 
of  October  11,  1492,  Columbus,  who  was  sta- 
tioned on  the  high  cabin  of  the  Santa  Maria, 
saw  at  a  distance  across  the  water  a  faintly 
gleaming,  uncertain  light.  Few  of  his  crew 
were  encouraged  by  this  sign,  though  Colum- 
bus himself  regarded  it  as  a  certain  proof  of 
the  vicinity  of  land.  At  two  o'clock  on  the 
morning  oi  the  12th  day  of  October,  1492,  the 
little  Pinta,  which  from  her  superior  sailing 
ability  was  leading  the  other  vessels,  fired  a 
gun,  the  agreed  signal  in  case  any  of  the  ships 
should  in  the  night  time  discover  certain  indi- 
cations of  land.  The  little  squadron  instantly 
lay  to,  eagerly  awaiting  the  dawn.  At  last 
daylight  slowly  broke,  and  at  a  short  distance 
the  voyagers  beheld  a  green  and  marvelously 
beautiful  island,  lying  in  a  sapphire  sea.  It 
was  San  Salvador,  the  outpost  of  a  newly 
discovered  world.  To  their  intense  surprise, 
the  Spaniards  found  this  island  densely  popu- 
lated by  perfectly  naked  savages,  so  kindly 
disposed   and   unsuspicious   as   to   regard  the 


16 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


newcomers  as  gods  whom  they  were  inclined 
to  worship.  Accompanied  by  the  principal 
persons  of  his  expedition,  Columbus,  richly 
attired,  was  rowed  to  the  shore.  Falling  upon 
their  faces,  the  party  kissed  the  earth  and 
gave  thanks  to  Almighty  God.  Then  unfurl- 
ing the  banner  of  Spain  over  this  patch  of 
land,  Columbus  took  possession  in  the  name 
of  his  sovereigns,  Ferdinand  and  Isabella.  A 
few  days  were  spent  in  sailing  the  waters 
about  this  island,  and  having  gathered  from 
the  natives  that,  toward  the  southwest,  gold 
was  to  be  found  in  lands  of  yet  more  surpass- 
ing beauty,  Columbus,  on  the  24th  day  of  Oc- 
tober, 1492,  turned  his  prows  in  that  direction. 
On  the  fourth  day  of  his  voyage  he  beheld  the 
noble  shores  of  Hispaniola,  now  Cuba,  rising 
out  of  the  ocean  before  him.  Charmed  to 
ecstacy  by  the  mildness  of  the  climate,  the 
beauty  of  the  scenery,  the  gorgeous  plumage 
of  birds,  the  docility  and  intelligence  of  the 
natives,  and  the  sunlit  sea  in  which  Cuba  rests, 
queen  of  the  waves,  the  soul  of  the  great  Ad- 
miral glowed  with  pride  and  satisfied  ambi- 
tion. He  gave  up  his  days  to  the  luxury  of 
his  surroundings  and  to  exploring  the  north- 
ern coast  of  the  island,  and  on  the  5th  day  of 
December,  1492,  having  passed  the  eastern 
extremity  of  Cuba,  he  saw  toward  the  south- 
east, looming  out  of  the  ocean,  a  new  island  — 
high  and  mountainous,  Hayti,  the  most  beau- 
tiful and  most  unfortunate  of  all  the  West 
Indian  islands.  Here,  freed  by  the  softness  of 
the  climate  and  the  wonderful  fertility  of  the 
soil,  from  toilsome  labor,  he  found  a  native 
population  that  passed  its  days  in  indolence 
and  repose.  Having  lost  the  Santa  Maria  by 
an  accident  of  the  sea  and  being  deserted  by 
the  Pinta,  commanded  by  Pinzon,  Columbus 
now  resolved  to  begin  his  homeward  voyage. 
Departing  from  Hayti  January  4,  1493,  after 
a  most  perilous  voyage,  guided  by  the  hand  of 
Providence,  on  the  15th  day  of  March  follow- 
ing, he  again  cast  anchor  in  the  little  harbor 
of  Palos.  He  left  Spain  poor  and  unknown, 
he  returned  rich  with  honors,  having  gained 
the  right  to  have  his  name  forever  first  on  the 
roll  of  discoverers,  as  well  as  that  of  those 
who  by  greatly  daring,  greatly  achieve. 


Columbus  carried  with  him  to  Spain  several 
natives  of  the  islands,  together  with  products 
of  the  soils  of  these  new  lands,  notably  to- 
bacco, coffee,  and  potatoes,  with  fruits  and 
spices,  as  evidence  of  his  discoveries.  The 
great  and  unusual  honors  bestowed  upon  him 
by  the  proudest  and  most  powerful  court  of 
the  world,  with  the  graphic  report  which  he 
was  able  to  make  to  his  sovereigns  of  his  won- 
derful voyage  and  the  marvelous  possibihties 
suggested  by  his  discoveries,  electrified  every 
portion  of  the  globe  where  civilization  had  ob- 
tained the  slightest  foothold.  Fired  partly  by 
religious  zeal,  partly  by  love  of  adventure  and 
thirst  for  fame,  and  partly  by  the  commercial 
incentive  to  discover  and  open  an  all-water 
route  for  trade  between  Europe  and  the  East 
Indies,  the  maritime  nations  of  western  Eu- 
rope joined  enthusiastically  in  voyages  of  dis- 
covery to  the  western  hemisphere. 

Columbus  himself  continued  in  the  great 
work  of  discovery  till  he  had  added  to  the 
memorable  voyage  of  1492  three  others  to  the 
New  World.  Island  after  island  rose  out  of 
the  depths  of  the  ocean  before  him.  But  in 
none  of  his  voyages  did  the  great  discoverer 
touch  either  of  the  American  continents.  Ig- 
norant of  the  vast  extent  of  the  ocean,  he 
imagined  that  he  had  reached  only  the  thresh- 
old of  India  and  that  he  was  upon  the 
point  of  realizing  his  lifelong  dream  of  an 
open,  all-water  route  to  Cathay  —  land  of 
jewels  and  spices.  With  feverish  energy  he 
sought  the  one  factor  which  alone,  as  he  sup- 
posed, could  give  value  to  his  priceless  discov- 
eries. But  gold  was  rare  in  those  islands, 
fanned  by  the  great  trade  winds,  and  yielding 
only  bloom  and  fruitage,  heaped  as  by  magic 
upon  the  bosom  of  the  Atlantic. 

(Jn  his  third  voyage,  in  1498,  Columbus 
came  upon  the  large  island  of  Trinidad,  which 
lies  off  the  coast  of  South  America,  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Orinoco  river.  Cruising  about 
this  island,  he  found  to  his  surprise  that  the 
waters  of  the  narrow  strait  that  separates  it 
from  the  main  land  were  sweet  and  fresh,  and 
gazing  westward  he  beheld  what  he  conceived 
to  be  the  low-lying  lands  of  a  yet  larger  island 
extending  twenty  leagues  or  more  along  the 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


17 


coast.  Never  dreaming  that  these  fresh,  sweet 
waters  were  those  of  a  mighty  river  that 
drained  a  continent  and  the  low-lying  lands 
the  eastern  edge  of  that  continent,  he  sailed 
away  to  Hayti  to  visit  a  colony  which  he  had 
founded  there  on  his  second  voyage,  in  1496. 
From  this  visit  he  was  sent  to  Spain  a  prisoner 
in  chains,  and  he  died  at  Valladolid,  May  20, 
1516,  poor  and  neglected,  old  and  broken,  at 
sixty  years  of  age,  already  robbed  by  Ameri- 
cus  Vespucci,  an  obscure  adventurer,  of  the 
honor  due  to  his  memory,  of  bestowing  his 
own  name  on  the  great  New  World  which  his 
genius  and  faith  had  disclosed  to  mankind. 

In  a  material  sense,  the  net  result  of  his  four 
voyages  of  discovery  was  to  add  to  the  known 
portions  of  the  earth  those  groups  of  archi- 
pelagoes in  the  western  Atlantic  which  are 
collectively  known  as  the  West  Indies,  and 
which,  svi'eeping  in  a  wide  curve  from  Florida 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Orinoco,  screen  the  Car- 
ibbean sea  from  the  gulf  of  Me.xico  and  the 
Atlantic  ocean  —  islands  of  ravishing  beauty, 
marvelous  fertility,  delightful  climate,  teem- 
ing with  the  products  of  nature. 

But  who  shall  ever  be  able  rightly  to  weigh 
the  tremendous  influence  of  this  simple-hearted 
man  upon  the  physical  and  mental  horizon  of 
the  world?  The  people  of  all  western  Europe 
by  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century  had  so 
far  emerged  from  the  "Dark  Ages"  as  to  be 
measurably  free  from  the  forms  of  govern- 
ment which  had  characterized  the  feudal  sys- 
tem, and  for  the  first  time  since  modern 
Europe  had  arisen  from  the  fragments  of  the 
Roman  empire  its  governments  were  in  the 
hands  of  able  rulers,  while  national  policies 
had  displaced  government  by  individual  whim 
or  caprice.  It  was  the  age  of  the  Renaissance 
and  the  revival  of  learning.  The  world  was 
undergoing  the  process  of  a  new  birth.  The 
foolish  superstitions  and  practices  which  had 
prevailed  for  centuries  under  the  forms  and 
guise  of  religion  were  rapidly  passing  away. 
.•\  universal  activity  and  zeal  for  the  cause  of 
learning  had  aroused  mankind  to  a  sense  of 
its  needs.  France,  England.  Spain,  Portugal, 
were  rapidlv  assuming  the  dignity  and  self- 
importance  of  empire.     In  the  verv-  midst  of 


this  tremendous  activity  and  of  these  vague 
longings  and  dreams  of  national  aggrandize- 
ment, came  Columbus  home  from  the  voyage 
into  the  vmknown,  with  almost  incredible  tales 
of  golden  islands  beyond  the  furthest  rim  of 
the  western  sea.  The  vast  evolution  which 
was  rapidly  bringing  freedom  to  mankind 
throughout  western  Europe  had  already  pre- 
pared maritime  nations  to  a  large  extent  for 
the  discovery  of  a  new  world,  and,  as  if  by 
the  intervention  of  Providence  itself,  tliis 
great  event  was  made  to  serve  as  an  outlet 
for  their  highest  ambitions. 

It  is  foreign  to  the  aim  and  purpose  of 
this  history  to  narrate  in  detail  the  great 
work  of  discovery,  exploration,  and  coloni- 
zation of  America  which  followed  its  dis- 
covery by  Columbus.  We  know  that  for 
years  Spain  led  the  other  nations  in  the  num- 
ber, extent,  and  value  of  her  enterprises.  In 
less  than  forty  years  after  the  death  of  the 
great  Admiral,  she  had  estabhshed  her  hold  on 
the  West  Indies  by  right  of  discovery,  and 
had  grasped  by  the  bloody  hand  of  conquest 
Alexico.  Central  America,  the  isthmus  of 
Panama,  the  isthmus  of  Darien,  and  the  con- 
tinent of  South  America  —  a  domain  which  in 
natural  resources  rivalled  continental  Europe, 
and  which  for  unbroken  centuries  poured  a 
golden  stream  into  her  national  treasury.  In 
addition  to  all  this,  she  claimed  Florida  by 
right  of  its  discovery,  on  Easter  Day.  1512, 
by  the  aged  cavalier,  Juan  Ponce  de  Lenn, 
sailing  in  search  of  the  fountain  of  perpetual 
youth,  and  she  laid  claim  also  to  the  basin  of 
the  Mississippi,  on  account  of  the  discovery  of 
that  historic  stream  by  Hernando  de  Soto,  in 
1541,  and  its  exploration  in  part  by  him  and 
the  wandering  remnant  of  his  followers  after 
he  had  sunk  to  rest  in  its  mighty  flood.  With 
more  or  less  definiteness,  Spain  asserted  for 
centuries  proprietary  rights  in  the  whole  of 
North  America,  on  account  of  the  achieve- 
ments of  Columbus  and  those  Spanish  navi- 
gators who  followed  him. 

But  her  rivals,  and  particularly  England  and 
France,  were  quick  to  perceive  the  tremendous 
possibilities  involved  in  the  possession  of  lands 
in  the  western  hemisphere,  where,  nt  almost 


18 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEP-RASKA 


a  single  bound  and  at  a  trifling  cost  in  money 
and  life,  national  wealth,  national  resources, 
and  territorial  dominion  might  be  immeasur- 
ably increased. 

Thus  it  came  about  that  in  1498,  when 
Columbus,  looking  westward  from  the  island 
of  Trinidad,  saw  the  shores  of  South 
America,  Sebastian  Cabot,  sailing  under  a 
commission  from  Henry  VH  of  England, 
discovered  and  explored  the  eastern  portion 
of  Xorth  America  from  Labrador  to  Cape 
Hatteras,  thereby  affording  ground  for  Eng- 
land's claim  to  all  portions  of  the  continent  of 
North  America  from  the  middle  shore  of  the 
Atlantic  ocean  to  the  crest  of  the  Alleghany 
mountains. 

Francis  I,  King  of  France,  early  in  the  six- 
teenth century,  turned  his  attention  to  discov- 
ery, exploration,  and  colonization  in  the  New 
World.  In  1524  John  Varrazani,  a  Floren- 
tine in  the  service  of  France,  sailed  from  the 
shores  of  Europe  with  four  vessels,  in  search 
of  an  all-water  route  to  Asia.  Directing  his 
course  nearly  to  the  west,  on  the  7th  of  March 
he  discovered  the  main  land  of  the  continent, 
in  the  latitude  of  Wilmington,  North  Caro- 
lina. He  explored  this  coast  from  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  miles  south  of  Wilmington  to 
the  remotest  point  of  New  England,  reaching 
Newfoundland  in  the  latter  part  of  May.  In 
July  he  returned  to  France  and  published  an 
account  of  ,  his  wonderful  voyage,  which  at- 
tracted wide  attention,  but  ten  years  were 
suffered  to  elapse  before  another  effort  was 
made  to  repeat  his  experiment.  Beginning 
with  1534,  French  navigators,  aided  by  their 
government,  flocked  across  the  Atlantic,  ex- 
plored the  eastern  coast  of  the  great  northern 
continent,  circumnavigated  Newfoundland,  en- 
tered the  gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  and  ascended 
the  noble  St.  Lawrence  river.  They  founded 
scores  of  towns,  including  Port  Royal  (now 
Annapolis,  Nova  Scotia),  Quebec,  and  Mon- 
treal. French  adventurers,  trappers,  hunters, 
penetrated  the  wilderness  to  the  Great  Lakes ; 
black-robed  French  missionaries  preached  the 
gospel  over  wide  areas  to  savage  tribes  by 
lake  and  stream  far  into  the  interior.  No 
fairer    pages    of    history   can    be    found    tlian 


those  which  record  the  exploration  and  settle- 
ment of  New  France,  as  the  French  posses- 
sions in  North  America  came  to  be  known. 
From  the  early  part  of  the  sixteenth  century 
to  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
this  work  went  continually  forward.  It  was 
closed  by  the  rediscovery  of  the  Mississippi 
river  by  Joliet  and  his  companian,  the  heroic 
Jesuit  missionary.  Father  Marqette,  in  1673. 
and  by  the  exploration  of  that  mighty  stream 
from  the  Illinois  to  its  mouth  by  La  Salle,  in 
1682. 

The  name  of  Robert  Cavalier  de  La  Salle 
will  be  forever  spoken  with  respect  by  every 
man  who  is  at  all  conversant  with  his  daring 
and  adventurous  achievements.  No  more  con- 
spicuous name  adorns  the  annals  of  colonial 
history  in  North  America.  Amidst  the  vacillat- 
ing and  shifting  policy  of  Louis  XIV  and  his 
ministers  with  respect  to  the  French  posses- 
sions in  the  New  World,  where  much  was 
promised  and  little  done,  La  Salle,  with  the 
prevision  of  genius  and  great  statesmanship, 
saw  more  clearly  than  any  other  man  of  his 
race  that  the  road  to  empire  for  Fr.ince  lay  in 
the  lakes,  rivers,  savannahs,  and  wildernesses 
of  North  America.  Not  only  was  the  prevision 
of  empire  his  but  he  possessed  also  the  imagin- 
ation to  conceive  and  the  power  and  will  to  put 
into  execution  the  plans  which  should  have 
been  the  colonial  policy  of  France  from  the 
first.  La  Salle  was  a  Norman,  born  at  Rouen 
in  1643 ;  he  was  educated  by  the  Jesuits,  with 
whom  he  spent  ten  years  as  a  student  and  from 
whom  he  acquired  a  habit  of  rigorous  abstrac- 
tion. Abnormally  reticent  about  himself  and 
his  work,  he  made  few  close  friends  and  many 
bitter  enemies.  He  was  persistent,  active,  de- 
termined, and  brave  to  a  fault.  In  1660  he 
left  France  for  Canada.  By  that  time  the 
French  possessions  in  North  .\merica  had  be- 
come known  to  the  world  as  New  France  and 
comprised  the  entire  basin  of  the  St.  Law- 
rence river,  the  Great  Lakes  region,  Labrador, 
Nova  Scotia,  New  Brunswick,  and  that  part  of 
Maine  lying  in  the  basin  of  the  St.  Lawrence. 
To  the  vain  and  licentious  Louis  XIV  New 
France  offered  but  a  small  and  unpromising 
lield   for  the  display  of  his  glory  and  power 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


ly 


and  the  gratification  of  his  ambitions.  It  cost 
money  to  colonize,  defend,  and  develop  the 
distant  province,  and  Louis  was  wasting  his 
resources  and  exhausting  the  nation  in  deso- 
lating wars  with  England  and  the  Holy  Alli- 
ance. He  had  at  last  been  prevailed  upon  to 
send  to  New  France,  in  1672,  the  ablest  and 
most  disinterestedly  patriotic  of  all  French 
governors.  Count  Louis  de  Frontenac,  who, 
like  La  Salle,  foresaw  the  approaching  strug- 
gle for  the  continent  between  Protestant  Eng- 
land and  Catholic  France,  and  was,  like  him, 
gifted  with  the  prevision  of  empire  in  the 
New  World. 

On  arriving  in  Canada,  La  Salle  settled  on 
an  estate  nine  miles  below  Montreal,  on  the 
St.  Lawrence.  Here  he  came  in  contact  with 
roving  bands  of  Iroquois,  who  told  him  of  a 
mighty  river,  far  to  the  west,  which  rose  in 
their  country,  flowed  westward  and  he  who 
followed  its  course  for  nine  months,  entered  a 
wide  sea.  They  called  this  river  Ohio,  mean- 
ing probably  to  include  with  it  the  Mississippi 
from  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  to  the  gulf.  La 
Salle  pondered  this  important  information. 
Like  other  explorers,  he  was  imbued  with  the 
idea  of  discovering  an  all-water  route  to 
India ;  and  he  argued  that  the  discovery  of 
this  stream  might  enable  him  to  reach  the 
Pacific,  whose  waves  he  knew  in  their  far 
course  broke  on  the  distant  shores  of  Cathay. 
With  a  few  Franciscan  monks,  known  as 
seminar}'  priests,  and  some  men  at  arms,  with 
the  aid  of  Frontenac,  he  organized  an  expe- 
dition to  explore  the  region  of  country  west  of 
the  Alleghanies,  drained,  as  he  believed,  by 
the  river  described  by  the  Iroquois.  Little  is 
known  of  this  venture  into  the  wilderness  be- 
yond the  fact  that  the  expedition  reached  the 
Ohio  and  descended  its  course  as  far  at  least 
as  Louisville,  Kentucky.  In  1670  we  hear  of 
La  Salle  again  wandering  amongst  the  forests 
that  border  the  Illinois  and  exploring  the 
region  drained  by  that  stream,  but  again  he 
stopped  short  of  the  great  river. 

Fort  Frontenac  had  been  erected  near  the 
outlet  of  Lake  Ontario,  on  its  northern  shore, 
and  here  in  16,78,  La  Salle  was  in  command 
of  this,  the  most  advanced  military  outpost  of 


New  France.  In  this  environment  this  re- 
markably grave,  solitary,  thoughtful  man 
ruled  with  absolute  authority  over  a  wide 
region  of  country.  His  days  were  spent 
amongst  the  Indians,  half-breeds,  traders, 
trappers,  voyageurs,  and  couriers  de  bois 
(rangers  of  the  woods),  barkening  to  their 
strange  tales  of  the  wilderness  and  prairies, 
of  river  and  lakes,  Indian  tribes,  and  the  wild 
life  of  the  woods  and  plains.  Slowly,  slowly, 
he  matured  the  great  design  of  uniting  by  a 
bold  stroke  these  unknown  and  unexplored 
wilderneses  to  New  France,  thereby  laying 
the  foundation  for  a  French  empire  in  the 
New  World.  La  Salle  knew  that  Joliet  and 
the  black-robed  priest  Marquette  had  in  1673 
rediscovered  the  Mississippi  river  under  In- 
dian guidance,  by  following  the  course  of  the 
Wisconsin,  and  had  paddled  down  the  great 
river  as  far  as  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas, 
leaving  the  question  of  its  ultimate  termina- 
tion still  in  doubt.  By  some  of  his  associates 
it  was  thought  that  the  Mississippi  flowed  into 
the  Pacific  ocean,  others  that  it  discharged  its 
waters  into  the  Atlantic,  and  some  that  the 
gulf  of  Mexico  received  its  mighty  flood.  The 
determination  of  this  vital  question  was  in 
La  Salle's  mind  the  first  step  toward  empire. 
Resigning  his  command  at  Fort  Frontenac,  he 
applied  for  a  commission  from  the  king  to 
explore  the  vast  unknown  region  lying  south 
and  west  of  Canada  and  the  Great  Lakes,  but 
such  were  the  difficulties  and  hardships  which 
he  encountered  that  four  years  expired  after 
receipt  of  his  commission  before  he  was  able 
to  undertake  the  great  adventure.  In  Febru- 
ary, 1682,  with  a  small  fleet  of  canoes,  and 
accompanied  by  about  thirty  Frenchmen  and 
a  band  of  Indians  from  western  Canada,  La 
Salle  descended  the  tranquil  Illinois.  His 
course  was  impeded  at  first  by  floating  ice.  but 
at  Peoria  lake  he  struck  clear  water,  and  on 
the  6th  day  of  February,  1682,  the  small  flo- 
tilla of  canoes  issued  upon  the  bosom  of  the 
mighty  Mississippi. 

Without  a  moment's  hesitation,  the  canoes 
were  pointed  with  the  swift  current  and  the 
momentous  voyage  which  was  to  determine 
the  course  of  the  Mississippi  was  begun.    The 


20 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


party  floated  and  paddled  rapidly  down  its 
current,  traveling  only  by  daylight.  Day  by 
day  they  drifted  swiftly,  almost  silently,  to- 
ward unknown  destinies.  Slowly  the  mysteries 
of  the  New  World  unrolled  before  them  like 
a  scroll.  The  winter  passed  into  spring,  and 
in  the  bright  sunlight  and  drowsy  atmosphere 
they  saw  the  tender  foliage  clothe  again  the 
wilderness.  They  passed  numerous  Indian  vil- 
lages, some  of  which  they  visited,  and  where 
they  occasionally  spent  the  night.  Not  infre- 
quently they  encountered  Indians  in  huge  war 
canoes,  but,  avoiding  all  hostile  encounters, 
they  drifted  on  and  on  toward  their  objective 
—  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi.  They  noted 
the  steady  trend  of  the  river,  through  dense 
forests,  swampy  cane-brakes,  wild-rice  fields 
that  lay  along  the  shore,  ever  toward  the 
south.  Doubt  finally  dissolved  into  certainty; 
they  knew  that  it  led  on  through  semi-tropical 
lands  to  the  heaving  billows  of  the  gulf  of 
Mexico.  On  the  6th  day  of  April,  1682,  ex- 
actly two  calendar  months  since  they  had  em- 
barked on  the  river,  they  reached  its  delta, 
where  its  mighty  flood  divides  into  three  chan- 
nels. Directing  D'Autray  to  follow  the  east- 
most  channel  with  some  of  the  canoes,  the 
Count  Henry  Tonty  the  middle  channel. 
La  Salle  himself  descended  the  western  pass- 
age. Slowly  paddling  down  these  waterways, 
they  noted  soon  the  odor  of  brine  in  the  fresh- 
ening breeze  and  suddenly  before  these  keen- 
eyed  voyageurs  the  tumbling  billows  of  the 
gulf  of  Me.xico  came  into  view. 

Proceeding  along  the  marshy  shore,  La  Salle 
picked  up  one  after  another  the  canoes  of  his 
I)arty  and,  assembling  his  followers  on  a  dry 
spot  of  land  a  short  distance  above  the  mouth 
of  the  river,  he  caused  a  column  of  wood  to 
be  made  on  which  he  inscribed  the  following: 
"Louis  the  Great,  King  of  France  and  of 
Navarre.  King. 
.\pril  9th,  1682." 

Then  marshaling  his  men  at  arms,  amidst 
the  fire  of  musketry,  the  shouts  of  "A'ive  le 
Roy"  and  the  chanting  of  the  Te  Deum  by  the 
priests,  while  the  Indian  braves  and  their 
squaws  looked  wonderingly  on.  La  Salle  plant- 
ed the  column  in  its  place.     Standing  near  it 


he  then  in  a  loud  voice  delivered  a  proclama- 
tion, of  which  the  following  is  part : 

In  the  name  of  the  most  high,  mighty,  in- 
vincible and  victorious  prince,  Louis  the 
Great,  by  the  grace  of  God  king  of  France  and 
of  Navarre,  Fourteenth  of  that  name,  I  this 
ninth  day  of  April,  one  thousand  six  hundred 
eighty-two.  in  virtue  of  the  commission  of  his 
majesty  which  I  hold  in  my  hand  and  which 
may  be  seen  by  all  whom  it  may  concern,  have 
taken  and  do  now  take,  in  the  name  of  his  ma- 
jesty and  of  his  successors  to  the  crown, 
])ossession  of  this  country  of  Louisi.^N.\.  the 
seas,  harbors,  bays,  ports,  adjacent  straits 
and  all  the  nations,  peoples,  provinces,  cities, 
towns,  villages,  mines,  minerals,  fisheries, 
streams  and  rivers  within  the  extent  of  the 
said  Louisi.\N.\. 

Thus  the  great  basin  of  the  ^lississippi 
river  came  under  the  scepter  of  Louis  XIV, 
the  most  dissolute  monarch  of  Europe,  and 
thus  at  the  word  of  a  single  daring  explorer, 
standing  on  the  lonely  delta  of  that  great 
river,  the  territory  of  Louisiana,  out  of 
which  came  Nebraska,  was  called  into  exis- 
tence, a  territory  which  comprised  vast  and 
unknown  regions  of  dense  forests,  rich 
savannahs,  sunbaked  plains,  apparently  limit- 
less prairie,  watered  by  a  thousand  streams, 
peopled  only  by  savage  Indian  tribes,  the  abode 
of  buffalo  and  other  wild  denizens  of  the  for- 
est and  plain;  a  territory  which  stretched 
from  the  pure  springs  of  the  far  north  whose 
confluent  streams  form  the  source  of  the 
mighty  Father  of  Waters,  to  the  hot  marshy 
liorders  of  the  gulf  of  Mexico,  and  from  the 
low-wooded  crests  of  the  AUeghanies  on  the 
east  to  the  river  of  palms,  the  bold,  naked 
peaks  of  the  Rocky  mountains  and  the  sources 
of  the  Missouri  of  the  west. 

The  New  France  of  Robert  Cavalier  de 
La  Salle  and  of  Frontenac,  comprising  Canada, 
Nova  Scotia,  New  Enmswick,  the  region  of 
the  Great  Lakes  and  the  territory  of  Louis- 
iana, has  long  since  been  lost  to  its  founders, 
but  the  memory  of  that  glorious  empire  plant- 
ed in  the  wilderness  of  North  America,  with 
incredible  hardships  and  labors  which  only 
men  of  heroic  nio'd  could  have  cndur.od,  still 
survives  to  animate  the  souls  of  the  thought- 
ful and  the  hearts  of  the  daring. 


CHAPTER  II 

TERRITORY  OF  LOUISIANA 

As  PART  OF  New  France  —  Attempted  Settlement  by  La  Salle  —  His  Assassination - 
Effect  of  Extension  of  New  France  to   Mississippi   Basin  — France  loses   her 
Colonial    Possessions    in    North    America — Retrocession    by    Charles    V  — 
American  Opposition  —  Jefferson  and  the  Treaty  of  Ildefonso  —  Jeffer- 
son's Aims  concerning  Louisiana  and  the  Mississippi  —  Threat  of  Al- 
liance with  England  —  Alarm  of  Napoleon  by  Threat  of  War  — 
Livingston  Admonishes  Talleyrand  —  Arrival    of    Monroe  — 
Cession  to  the  United  States  — •  Price  —  Population  — 
Ignorance  of  America  concerning  New   Purchase  — 
Explorations  of  Lewis  and  Clark 


The  history  of  Nebraska  may  properly  be 
said  to  begin  with  the  voyage  of  the  heroic  La 
Salle  in  1682.  An  historical  sequence  of  events 
leads  the  mind  steadily  forward  from  his  dis- 
coveries till,  by  well  defined  processes  of  dif- 
ferentiation and  elimination,  a  point  is  reached 
where  the  commonwealth  of  Nebraska  stands 
forth  clearly  defined  in  the  mighty  sisterhood 
of  states  which  comprise  the  North  American 
republic. 

In  a  comparatively  short  time  after  its  dis- 
covery the  vast  territory  of  Louisiana  became 
linked  to  Canada  and  the  other  French  posses- 
sions in  North  America  as  an  integral  part  of 
Xew  France.  This  process  was  begun  and  car- 
ried forward  by  men  animated  by  the  desire 
to  realize  the  ideal  of  its  discoverer,  which 
aimed  at  nothing  less  than  a  great  interior 
French  empire,  composed  of  the  most  fertile 
lands  in  the  world.  The  New  France,  as  fash- 
ioned by  the  vision  of  La  Salle,  was  to  be  yet 
fairer  than  the  old,  as  the  daughter  will  some- 
times be  fairer  than  the  mother.  The  work  of 
reclaiming  the  wilderness  was  first  carried  on 
by  French  traders,  trappers,  hunters,  and  wood 
rangers,  who  extended  their  activities  over  the 
greater  portion  of  the  Mississippi  basin,  ex- 
tending    south    to    the    gulf    of    Mexico    and 


west  to  and  including  Texas.  Where  these 
went  the  Jesuit  and  Franciscan  monks  fol- 
lowed, preaching  the  pure  and  gentle  religion 
of  the  lowly  Nazarene  to  the  savage  tribes 
who  inhabited  these  wildernesses  and  plains. 
The  earliest  effort  to  establish  settlements 
in  the  new  territory  was  made  by  La  Salle, 
himself,  in  1684.  Shortly  after  his  return 
from  the  long  voyage  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi  he  repaired  to  France,  and  was 
supplied  with  three  vessels,  including  a  ship  of 
the  line,  and  a  body  of  troops  and  emigrants, 
for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  colony  and 
erecting  fortifications  to  guard  the  great  river 
from  English  and  Spanish  aggression.  But 
he  missed  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  and 
sailed  we.stward  to  Mata  Gorda  bay.  Texas. 
Dissension  arose  between  him  and  the  com- 
mander of  the  war  vessel  that  accompanied 
him,  and  La  Salle,  leaving  the  ships  with  a 
few  of  the  emigrants  and  men  at  arms,  tem- 
porarily established  his  headquarters  at  that 
point  and  began  a  search  for  the  Mississippi. 
Failing  in  his  quest,  he,  in  1686,  undertook 
to  penetrate  the  wilderness  to  the  Illinois, 
where  Tonty  had  been  directed  to  remain  with 
supplies  and  men.  While  prosecuting  this 
venture  this  remarkable  man  fell  bv  the  hand 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


of  an  assassin.  Others  took  up  the  work  of 
settling  New  France  and  occupying  at  least 
the  lower  basin  of  the  Mississippi  river;  as  a 
result  of  which  New  Orleans  was  founded  in 
1723,  by  Jean  Baptiste  Lemoine,  sieur  de 
Bienville.  Settlements  were  made  also  in  the 
Ohio  valley  and  elsewhere  in  the  wilderness 
west  of  the  Alleghanies,  so  that  by  the  middle 
of  the  eighteenth  century  a  chain  of  forts  and 
military  posts  had  been  planted  by  the  French 
from  Quebec  along  the  St.  Lawrence,  the 
Niagara,  the  Detroit,  the  Illinois  rivers,  and 
the  Mississippi  river  and  some  of  its  tribu- 
taries, to  the  bay  of  Biloxi,  on  the  gulf  of 
Mexico,  while  the  region  of  the  Great  Lakes 
was  guarded  by  similar  outposts  of  defense. 
Such  settlements  were  accompanied  by  the 
orderly  forms  of  government,  supported  by 
the  military  forces  of  Canada  and  France,  in 
the  hope  of  guarding  and  defending  from  Eng- 
lish aggression  on  the  east  and  Spanish  aggres- 
sion on  the  south  and  west,  the  most  valuable 
and  extensive  colonial  territory  ever  possessed 
by  a  single  European  power  in  North  America. 
The  extension  of  New  France  to  the  basin 
of  the  Mississippi  river  from  source  to  mouth 
and  westward  from  the  heights  of  the  Al- 
leghanies, had  the  effect  of  setting  metes  and 
bounds  to  British  possessions  in  the  New 
World.  Bitter  and  implacable  rivalry  arose 
between  the  English  and  French  colonists,  and 
bloody  attacks  and  reprisals  blur  the  annals  of 
both  Saxon  and  Gaul.  Britain's  claim  of  all 
North  America  from  ocean  to  ocean  by  right 
of  Cabot's  discovery,  and  the  stout  resistance 
by  the  French  to  this  claim,  were  the  main 
causes  of  that  series  of  sanguinary  conflxts 
known  in  English  colonial  history  as  the 
French  and  Indian  wars,  which,  beginning  in 
1690,  with  what  is  known  as  King  William's 
war,  raged  with  great  fury  and  finally  termi- 
nated at  the  close  of  the  Seven  Years'  Euro- 
pean war,  in  1763,  thirteen  years  before  the 
commencement  of  the  American  Revolution. 
By  treaties  which  marked  the  closing  of  these 
wars,  striking  changes  were  effected  in  North 
America.  By  the  treaty  of  Utrecht,  in  1713, 
which  marked  the  close  of  that  colonial  dis- 
turbance    sometimes     designated     as     Queen 


Anne's  war,  England  made  her  first  great  in- 
road into  French  territory.  By  this  treaty 
she  obtained  control  of  the  valuable  fisheries 
of  Newfoundland,  together  with  possession  pf 
Hudson  bay,  Labrador,  Nova  Scotia,  and 
minor  French  possessions ;  and  at  the  close  of 
King  George's  war,  in  1763,  under  the  treaty 
of  Paris,  Canada  itself  and  Cape  Breton  were 
ceded  by  France  to  England,  with  their  terri- 
torial appendages,  and  the  western  boundaries 
of  the  English  colonies  were  pushed  beyond 
the  Alleghanies  to  the  eastern  shores  of  the 
Mississippi  river.  Thus  fell,  as  by  a  single 
blow,  the  dream  of  empire  which  had  animated 
the  soul  of  the  courageous  La  Salle,  and  of 
which  Count  de  Frontenac  also  had  dreamed, 
and  thus  was  laid  the  foundation  of  the  vast 
colonial  possessions  of  England  in  the  New 
World. 

Nothing  remained  to  France  of  her  proud 
colonial  empire  in  North  America  except  that 
portion  of  La  Salle's  discoveries  which  lay 
west  of  the  Father  of  Waters  and  which  had 
come  to  be  designated  in  France  as  the  pro- 
vince of  Louisiana ;  all  else  had  been  swal- 
lowed up  by  her  ancient  rival,  England.  Even 
Louisiana  passed  immediately  from  her  con- 
trol, for  on  the  very  day  of  the  execution  of 
the  treaty  of  Paris  by  which  she  was  shorn  of 
Canada  and  Cape  Breton,  she  entered  into  a 
secret  treaty  with  Spain,  under  which  the  last 
fragment  of  the  empire  of  Frontenac  and  La 
Salle  passed  to  that  country.  Thus  by  the  acts 
of  a  weak  and  licentious  sovereign,  the  land  of 
Clovis  and  Charlemagne  was  stripped  of  every 
vestige  of  her  rich  colonial  possessions  in  the 
New  World,  and  thus  ended  the  struggle  for 
a  continent  between  the  two  most  enlightened 
nations  in  western  Europe. 

But  the  tragedy  of  Louisiana  was  not  yet 
played  to  the  end,  nor  indeed  could  be  until 
its  destiny  was  fulfilled.  Its  cession  to  Spain 
increased  her  colonial  possessions  in  North 
America,  till,  with  Mexico,  they  covered 
nearly  half  the  continent.  Whatever  secret 
understanding  may  have  existed  between  her 
and  the  court  of  Louis  XV  as  to  the  retroces- 
sion of  Louisiana  in  the  future,  SiKiin  entered 
into  possession  of   her  new   province   shortly 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


23 


after  the  treaty  of  Paris  in  1763,  hoisted  her 
national  emblem  at  New  Orleans,  city  of  Bien- 
ville, and,  amidst  the  tears,  protestations,  and 
lamentations  of  the  French  inhabitants,  es- 
tablished her  authority  over  the  province, 
which  was  to  continue  to  the  opening  year  of 
the  nineteenth  Christian  century.  During 
these  forty-five  years  of  Spanish  rule  in 
Louisiana  province,  most  marked  changes  had 
taken  place  in  France  itself.  The  monarchy 
had  fallen,  the  French  Revolution  had  termi- 
nated, and  an  effort  had  been  made  to  establish 
a  republic,  which  ended  in  what  is  known  in 
French  history  as  the  "Consular  Govern- 
ment," with  Napoleon  Bonaparte  as  First  Con- 
sul and  as  such  the  chief  officer  of  state. 

On  October  1,  1800,  a  treaty  was  en- 
tered into  between  Charles  IV  of  Spain  and 
the  consular  government,  whereby  Louis- 
iana was  retroceded  to  France,  entire,  as  re- 
spected its  former  boundaries.  Peace  had 
temporarily  settled  over  Europe  and  Napoleon 
looked  forward  to  a  period  of  continued  na- 
tional prosperity,  wherein  he  conceived  it  pos- 
sible to  realize,  at  least  in  part,  the  dream  of 
the  unfortunate  La  Salle.  But  the  ink  on  the 
parchment  whereon  was  written  the  treaty  of 
Ildefonso  was  scarcely  dry  when  a  portentous 
war  cloud  suddenly  obscured  the  rising  sun 
of  peace,  wherein  England,  aiming  at  empire, 
threatened  to  involve  France  in  another  ter- 
rible conflict.  Actual  transfer  of  possession 
of  the  province  to  France  was  necessarily  de- 
layed and  before  it  could  be  accomplished  the 
news  of  the  retrocession  had  reached  the 
United  States.  The  Spanish  governor  had 
rendered  himself  obnoxious  to  this  country 
on  account  of  certain  trade  restrictions  affect- 
ing navigation  on  the  Mississippi  and  by  re- 
fusing at  New  Orleans  what  was  known  as 
the  right  of  deposit. 

It  had  become  apparent  that  the  expan- 
sion and  growth  of  the  United  States  de- 
manded free  access  to  the  gulf  of  Mexico 
through  the  Mississippi.  In  this  country  it 
was  understood  too  that  by  the  treaty 
of  Ildefonso  France  had  obtained  also 
what  was  then  known  as  the  Floridas,  thus 
gaining   control   of   the  entire   course   of   the 


great  river  to  the  gulf.  Agitation  was  at  once 
started  having  for  its  object  the  cession  by 
France  to  the  United  States,  of  New  Orleans, 
the  Floridas,  and  that  portion  of  the  lower 
Mississippi  basin  which  reached  from  the  city 
to  the  Floridas.  The  settlers  of  the  western 
states  and  territories  bordering  on  the  river, 
particularly  those  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee, 
which  had  suifered  most  from  the  unjust  re- 
strictions of  the  Spanish  governor  of  New 
Orleans,  were  greatly  excited  and  were  angry 
to  the  point  of  desperation  over  the  proposed 
extension  of  a  single  European  power  to  the 
entire  length  of  the  great  river.  Resistance 
was  urged  to  the  point  of  seizing  the  lower 
Mississippi,  with  New  Orleans,  before  the 
transfer  of  territory  could  be  effected.  In 
their  petitions  to  congress  the  settlers  de- 
clared: "The  Mississippi  is  ours  by  the  laws 
of  nature,  it  belongs  to  us  by  our  numbers 
and  the  labor  we  have  bestowed  on  those  spots 
which  before  our  arrival  '  were  barren  and 
desert.  Our  innumerable  rivers  swell  it  and 
flow  with  it  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Its  mouth 
is  the  only  issue  which  nature  has  given  to  our 
waters  and  we  wish  to  use  it  for  our  vessels. 
No  power  in  the  world  can  deprive  us  of  this 
right." 

On  February  13,  1803,  Ross,  a  senator  from 
the  state  of  Pennsylvania,  introduced  a  reso- 
lution in  the  United  States  senate  directing 
the  government  to  seize  the  port  of  New 
Orleans.  It  was  seconded  by  Gouvemeur 
Alorris,  of  Revolutionary  fame,  then  repre- 
senting the  state  of  New  York  in  the  senate. 
It  was  announced  that  volunteers  from  the 
Mississippi  valley  were  ready  at  a  word  to 
carry  this  resolution  into  effect  if  sanctioned 
by  congress.  But  the  President,  the  able  and 
prudent  Jefferson,  restrained  this  movement 
as  dangerous  to  the  peace  of  the  countn,;,  and, 
preferring  to  achieve  results  by  diplomacy 
rather  than  arms,  he  set  before  himself  the 
task  of  acquiring  the  lower  Mississippi  basin 
by  peaceful  rather  than  by  violent  means.  He 
first  aimed  to  prevent  if  possible  the  cession 
of  Louisiana  to  France  and  to  exact  from 
Spain  recognition  of  the  right  of  the  United 
States   to  the  unrestricted   navigation   of  the 


24 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Mississippi.  As  an  alternative,  in  case  of 
failure,  he  proposed  to  form  an  immediate  al- 
liance with  Great  Britain.  Writing  to  Robert 
Livingston,  our  minister  in  France,  the  Presi- 
dent says : 

There  is  on  the  globe  one  single  spot  the 
possessor  of  which  is  our  natural  and  habitual 
enemy,  —  the  day  that  France  takes  posses- 
sion of  New  Orleans  fixes  the  sentence  which 
is  to  restrain  her  forever  within  her  low-water 
mark.  It  seals  the  union  of  two  nations  who 
in  conjunction  can  maintain  exclusive  posses- 
sion of  the  ocean.  From  that  moment  we 
must  marr}'  ourselves  to  the  British  fleet  and 
nation. 

This  threat  had  been  most  efifectively  dan- 
gled by  our  minister  to  France  before  the  eyes 
of  the  First  Consul  and  from  the  moment  of 
receiving  these  instructions  Mr.  Livingston 
was  able  to  speak  in  a  tone  that  arrested  Na- 
poleon's attention,  and  aroused  in  him  a  sense 
of  a  new  power  beyond  the  seas.  A  year  had 
gone  by  since  the  secret  treaty  of  Ildefonso 
had  come  to  the  knowledge  of  our  government, 
and  Mr.  Livingston  had  apparently  made  but 
little  progress.  In  the  spring  of  1803,  at  Jef- 
ferson's instance,  James  Monroe  was  dis- 
patched to  France  as  special  envoy  and  min- 
ister extraordinary  to  assist  him  in  adjusting 
the  irritating  questions  with  respect  to  Louis- 
iana and  the  Alississippi  —  questions  which 
had  sprung  so  suddenly  into  prominence  and 
which  were  hourly  becoming  more  menacing 
to  the  peaceful  relations  between  France  and 
the  United  States.  Even  yet  the  instructions 
to  both  ministers  did  not  contemplate  the  ac- 
quirement of  the  whole  of  the  territory  of 
Louisiana.  The  most  that  was  hoped  for  ap- 
parently was  free  navigation  of  that  river  for 
American  commerce.  To  secure  this,  how- 
ever, it  was  proposed  that  we  purchase  New 
Orleans  and  the  Floridas  from  France,  under 
the  erroneous  assumption  that  she  had  ac- 
quired the  latter  from  Spain ;  and,  by  proper 
treaty  stipulations,  secure  to  both  nations  the 
right  to  free  transportation.  Not  knowing 
the  full  terms  of  the  treaty  of  Ildefonso.  Mr. 
Jefferson  instinctively  felt  that  whatever  they 
were  they  deeply  concerned  the  United  States, 
and  he  considered  the  moment  had  come  to 


settle  forever  every  question  of  policy  or  ter- 
ritory which  might  in  the  future  occasion  dis- 
sension with  France.  With  clearer  vision  than 
any  man  of  his  day,  Jefferson  foresaw  the 
tremendous  advantages  of  removing  everv 
obstacle  to  the  expansion  of  our  country'  be- 
yond the  Mississippi.  Guided  by  an  instinc- 
tive prevision,  he  purposed  to  seize  the  mo- 
ment to  acquire  control  of  that  great  stream 
and  secure  forever  an  unobstructed  passage 
to  the  gulf.  Failing  to  achieve  this  result  by 
peaceful  means,  he  determined  to  accomplish 
it  by  force,  and  when  Monroe  set  out  for 
France  he  carried  instructions  to  demand  the 
cession  of  New  Orleans  and  the  Floridas  to 
the  L'nited  States,  and  consequently  the  es- 
tablishment of  the  Mississippi  as  a  boundary- 
between  the  LInited  States  and  Louisiana.  Mr. 
Livingston  had  already  apprised  Napoleon  that 
such  a  demand  would  be  made  and  the  First 
Consul  had  considered  it  of  sufficient  weight 
to  detain  the  armed  expedition  which  was 
about  to  sail  for  Louisiana. 

But  the  rapid  march  of  events  was  working 
more  powerfully  in  the  interests  of  the  Amer- 
ican republic  than  any  influence  the  govern- 
ment itself  was  able  to  exert.  At  almost  the 
very  moment  the  existence  of  the  treaty  of 
Ildefonso  became  known,  came  the  porten- 
tous threat  of  war  with  England;  and  Na- 
poleon feared  that  because  of  her  superior 
naval  power  and  the  defenseless  position  of 
Louisiana,  England  was  bound  to  deprive 
France  of  that  province  and  yet  further  aug- 
ment her  power  and  prestige  in  the  western 
hemisphere.  There  were  other  considerations 
which  impelled  the  consular  government  of 
France  to  hearken  favorably  to  the  represen- 
tations of  Mr.  Livingston.  On  the  retroces- 
sion of  the  great  province  to  Spain,  and  while 
the  terms  of  the  treaty  were  still  a  secret,  in 
order  to  be  in  a  position  to  defend  Louisiana 
from  a  convenient  base  against  aggression  from 
whatsoever  source.  Napoleon  had  dispatched 
an  army,  under  General  LeClerc,  to  San  Do- 
mingo in  1802.  This  was  partly  for  the  pur- 
pose of  crushing  the  negro  rebellion  then  at 
its  height  in  that  island  and  partly  to  have  an 
anii\-    within    striking   distance   of    Louisiana. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


But  LeCIerc  was  defeated  by  Toussaint  !'( )u- 
verture,  and  his  army  had  been  so  decimated 
by  war  and  disease  that  it  had  become  inef- 
fective as  a  miHtary  force.  Besides  these  con- 
siderations, the  increasing  expense  and  diffi- 
cuhy  of  maintaining  the  power  of  France  in 
Louisiana  became  everj'  day  more  apparent 
to  Napoleon  and  his  advisers,  while  like  a 
nightmare  the  haunting  threat  of  Jefiferson  of 
an  English  alliance  loomed  before  his  vision. 
By  a  strategic  diplomatic  movement  as  dis- 
tinctive of  his  genius  as  any  on  the  field  of 
battle,  the  First  Consul  determined  to  defeat 
the  arch  enemy  of  France  in  its  aggressive 
policy  and  at  the  same  time  with  bands  of 
steel  bind  to  France  the  rising  young  republic 
of  North  America,  whose  ultimate  destiny  he 
foresaw  was  to  dominate  the  western  hemis- 
phere. 

The  existence  of  the  treaty  of  Iklefonso 
became  known  to  Livingston  in  1802,  and  in 
November  of  that  year,  learning  that  Na- 
poleon had  planned  to  send  an  expedition 
under  General  Victor  to  take  possession  of 
Louisiana,  on  behalf  of  the  United  States  he 
submitted  a  definite  ofter  to  purchase  New 
Orleans  and  the  Floridas,  leaving  to  France 
all  the  great  territory  lying  west  of  the 
Alississippi.  The  reticence  of  both  Napoleon 
and  his  chief  minister  of  state,  Talleyrand, 
with  respect  to  the  representations  of  our  gov- 
ernment, and  the  secrecy  with  which  the  terms 
of  the  treaty  was  guarded,  led  our  minister  to 
suspect  designs  against  the  United  States  it- 
self. He  warned  Jefferson  of  his  fears  and 
advised  the  prompt  strengthening  of  the  mili- 
tary forces  of  the  country  in  the  lower  basin 
of  the  Mississippi.  A  winter  had  passed 
without  action  on  Livingston's  offer  of  pur- 
chase, but  Napoleon  still  delayed  taking 
possession  of  Louisiana.  Spring  approached. 
Mr.  Monroe  was  known  to  be  on  the  high  seas, 
hastening  to  the  assistance  of  Livingston.  His 
arrival  was  momentarily  expected.  But  Na- 
poleon, having  reached  a  final  conclusion,  acted 
with  the  celerity  that  characterized  all  his 
movements.  Returning  to  his  palace  at  St. 
Cloud   from  the  religious  services  on  Easter 


Sunday,  April  10,  1803,  he  called  into  consul- 
tation Decres  and  Marbois,  two  of  his  most 
trusted  advisers,  and  asked  their  opinion  on 
the  subject  of  the  province  of  Louisiana.  In 
the  discussion  which  followed,  he  said : 

I  know  the  full  value  of  Louisiana  and 
have  been  most  desirous  of  repairing  the  in- 
juries to  their  country  of  the  French  nego- 
tiators of  1763.  It  has  been  restored  to  us  by 
a  few  lines  of  a  treaty.  Now  we  face  the 
danger  of  losing  it.  No  doubt  the  English 
will  seize  it  as  one  of  their  first  acts  of  war. 
.\lready  they  have  twenty  ships  of  the  line  in 
the  Gulf  of  Alexico.  Its  conquest  will  be 
easy.  There  is  not  a  moment  to  lose  in  plac- 
ing it  beyond  their  reach.  They  have  succes- 
sively taken  from  France  the  Canadas,  Cape 
Breton,  Newfoundland,  Nova  Scotia  and  the 
richest  portions  of  Asia.  They  shall  not  have 
Louisiana.  While  nothing  can  compensate  us 
for  its  loss,  it  may  be  disposed  of  in  such  man- 
ner as  ultimately  to  redound  to  our  advan- 
tage. 

The  patriotic  Decres  eloquently  opposed  the 
proposal.  "France,"  he  said,  "needed  colonies, 
and  what  colony  could  be  more  desirable  than 
Louisiana?  The  navigation  to  the  Indies  by 
doubling  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  had  changed 
the  course  of  European  trade  and  ruined 
Venice  and  Genoa."'  And  then,  with  pro- 
phetic vision,  he  asked,  "What  will  be  its  direc- 
tion if  at  the  Isthmus  of  Panama  a  simple 
canal  should  be  opened  to  connect  one  ocean 
with  the  other?"  "The  revolution  which  navi- 
gation will  then  experience"  he  declared,  "will 
be  still  more  considerable  and  the  circumnavi- 
gation of  the  globe  will  become  easier  than 
the  long  vo>-ages  that  are  now  made  in  going 
to  and  from  India.  Louisiana  will  then  be 
on  the  new  route  and  it  will  be  acknowledged 
that  this  possession  is  of  inestimable  value. 
.  .  .  There  does  not  exist  on  the  globe  a 
single  port,  a  single  city  susceptible  of  becom- 
ing as  important  as  New  Orleans." 

Marbois  admitted  the  gravity  of  the  situ- 
ation but  supported  the  view  of  Napoleon.  No 
conclusion  was  arrived  at,  but  at  davbreak 
the  following  morning  ]\Iarbois  was  summoned 
to  read  the  dispatches  from  the  French  min- 
ister at  London.  These  indicated  that  war  was 
imminent  and  rajiidly  approaching.  After  con- 


26 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


sidering  the  purport  of  this  intelhgence,  turn- 
ing to  Marbois,  Napoleon  said : 

I  renounce  Louisiana.  It  is  not  alone  New 
Orleans  that  we  will  cede,  but  the  whole  col- 
ony, without  reservation.  I  know  its  value 
and  I  abandon  it  with  the  greatest  regret.  But 
to  obstinately  endeavor  to  retain  it  would  be 
the  height  of  folly.  I  direct  you  to  negotiate 
this  matter  at  once  with  the  envoy  of  the 
United  States.  Do  not  wait  for  the  arrival  of 
Mr.  Monroe.  Have  an  interview  this  very  day 
with  Mr.  Livingston.  I  shall  require  a  great 
deal  of  money  for  the  approaching  war,  but 
will  be  moderate.  I  want  fifty  million  francs 
for  Louisiana. 

Pending  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Monroe,  Living- 
ston, despairing  of  success  and  weary  of  delay, 


territory  of  Louisiana  was  at  the  disposal  of 
his  government.  In  the  negotiations  which  en- 
sued, the  demand  of  Napoleon's  ministers  for 
one  hundred  million  francs  as  a  consideration 
for  Louisiana,  was  gradually  reduced  till  an 
agreement  was  reached,  and  on  April  30,  1803, 
a  treaty  was  signed  by  our  ministers  on  be- 
half of  the  United  States  of  America,  and  by 
Francis  Barbe  Marbois,  the  financial  minister 
of  France,  on  the  part  of  that  country,  by 
which,  in  consideration  of  the  payment  of 
fifteen  million  dollars,  the  equivalent  of  eighty 
million  francs,  the  territory  of  Louisiana 
passed  to  the  republic  of  the  United  States. 
The  consummation  of  the  treatv  was  accom- 


„yf'tjeytAy>'i^-e/¥u^    okieyu-)^-.^* 


on  April  12th  admonished  Talleyrand  that 
when  Monroe  arrived,  he  intended  to  advise  his 
government  to  abandon  the  negotiations  and 
seize  New  Orleans  by  force.  On  that  very  day 
came  Mr.  Monroe,  and  on  the  13th  day  of 
April,  while  at  dinner  with  a  company  of 
friends,  the  two  ministers  observed  Marbois 
walking  in  the  embassy  garden.  On  being  in- 
vited to  enter,  he  stated  that  he  had  important 
information  to  communicate,  but  would  delay 
doing  so  until  he  could  see  the  representatives 
of  the  United  States  alone.  Mr.  Livingston 
sought  him  out  at  the  first  opportunity  and  was 
startled  upon  being  informed  that  the  entire 


panied  by  no  illusions  on  the  part  of  the  sig- 
natory parties.  On  the  contrary  they  were 
fully  aware  of  its  import  and  tremendous  im- 
portance. AVhen  it  had  been  signed,  Living- 
ston, rising  from  the  consultation  table,  said : 
''We  have  lived  long,  but  this  is  the  noblest 
work  of  our  lives.  From  this  day  the  United 
States  takes  their  place  amongst  the  powers  of 
the  first  rank ;  England  loses  all  her  exclusive 
influence  in  the  afifairs  of  America."  And 
Napoleon,  showing  his  full  appreciation  of 
the  importance  of  the  event,  exclaimed  :  "This 
accession  of  territory  forever  strengthens  the 
power  of  the  L^nited  States.     I  have  just  given 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


England  a  maritime  rival  that  will  sooner  or 
later  humble  her  pride." 

The  patriotic  and  far-seeing  Jefferson 
lost  not  a  moment's  time  in  securing  the  rati- 
fication of  this  treaty.  As  soon  as  it  was  re- 
ceived on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  he  issued 
a  call  for  a  special  session  of  congress.  That 
body  assembled  on  the  17th  day  of  October, 
1803,  and  within  a  month  the  treaty  was  rati- 
fied and  authority  conferred  upon  the  Presi- 
dent to  take  immediate  possession  of  the  newly 
acquired  territory'.  To  enable  him  to  do  so, 
he  was  empowered  to  •employ  the  army  and 
navy  of  the  United  States,  and,  if  in  his  opin- 
ion necessarjr,  he  was  authorized  also  to  en- 
roll the  militia  of  the  several  states  to  the 
number  of  eighty  thousand  men,  to  enforce 
and  secure  our  countrj-'s  right  to  the  ceded 
territor}'. 

But  no  opposition  was  encountered  to  the 
surrender  of  the  possession  of  the  great  pur- 
chase. France  herself,  on  December  17,  1803, 
first  procured  its  surrender  from  Spain,  and 
on  Tuesday,  the  25th  day  of  December,  three 
days  thereafter.  Governor  W.  C.  C.  Claiborne, 
of  Mississippi  territory,  having  been  com- 
missioned by  the  President  to  assume  the  pro- 
visional government  of  Louisiana,  appeared 
at  the  gate  of  New  Orleans,  escorted  by  Gen- 
eral Wilkinson,  with  a  small  detachment  of 
state  militia.  The  party  was  greeted  by  a 
salute  of  twenty-one  guns  from  the  forts,  and 
entering  the  city  it  drew  up  on  the  square 
known  as  the  Place  d'Arms.  The  ceremonies 
attending  the  formal  presentation  of  Clai- 
borne's credentials  as  a  commissioner  of  the 
United  States  to  accept  the  surrender  of  the 
city  of  New  Orleans  and  the  territor}-  of 
Louisiana,  were  soon  over.  The  keys  of  the 
city  were  delivered  to  him,  and  Lauscat,  the 
French  governor,  addressing  the  people  from 
the  portico  of  the  cabildo,  in  French,  con- 
gratulated them  upon  their  accession  to  lib- 
erty and  absolved  them  from  further  allegiance 
to  the  sovereigns  of  France.  Claiborne  then 
spoke  in  English,  assuring  all  present  that 
their  rights  would  be  preserved  as  citizens  of 
the  republic  of  the  L'nited  States.  The  fleur 
de   h's.   emblem   cf    France,   was   then    slowlv 


lowered,  as  the  stars  and  stripes,  the  banner  of 
freedom,  slowly  arose  to  catch  in  the  sunshine 
the  freshening  breeze  from  over  the  waters 
of  the  Mississippi.  When  the  flags  were  both 
half  way,  the  one  descending  the  other  ascend- 
ing, a  gun  was  fired,  and  at  the  signal  the  can- 
non on  the  vessels  in  the  harbor  and  the  bat- 
teries of  the  forts  fired  a  salute,  while  amidst 
the  cheers  of  the  few  Americans  present,  the 
territory  of  Louisiana  passed  forever  into  the 
possession  of  the  L'nited  States. 

It  was  a  tremendous  accession  to  the  terri- 
tory of  the  young  republic.  The  very  figures 
that  attempt  to  convey  to  the  mind  some  idea 
of  its  superficial  area  are  themselves  impres- 
sive. It  more  than  doubled  the  previous  land 
area  of  the  United  States.  In  round  numbers 
it  exceeded  883,000  square  miles.  Out  of  it.  in 
addition  to  the  present  state  of  Louisiana, 
there  have  been  carved  Missouri,  Arkansas, 
Oklahoma,  Kansas,  Nebraska,  Iowa,  North 
and  South  Dakota,  two-thirds  of  Minnesota, 
one-third  of  Colorado,  and  three-fourths  of 
Wyoming.  At  the  time  of  its  accession  to  the 
United  States  its  known  population  did  not 
exceed  five  thousand  souls,  nearly  one-half 
of  whom  were  slaves.  In  1810  the  first  fed- 
eral census  showed  a  population  of  twenty 
thousand,  of  whom  one-half  were  still  negro 
slaves.  If  taken  to-day, — -a  census  of  the 
same  territory  would  closely  approach  twenty 
million,  all  free  men. 

Considered  as  a  whole,  little  was  really 
known  of  the  vast  territory  of  Louisiana  at 
the  time  of  its  purchase  by  Jeft'erson.  Al- 
though one  hundred  and  twenty  years  had 
elapsed  since  that  memorable  9th  of  April. 
1682,  when  Robert  Cavalier  de  La  Salle  from 
a  lonely  eminence  on  the  delta  of  the 
Mississipi  had  proclaimed  the  sovereignity  of 
the  King  of  France  over  his  discoveries,  no 
vigorous,  persistent  effort  had  been  made  to 
explore  the  vast  territory,  either  by  France  or 
by  Spain  during  the  two  score  and  five  years 
she  had  been  mistress  of  Louisiana.  Few 
settlements  had  been  established  and  aside 
from  the  "Chain  of  Forts"  extending  in  an 
irregular  line  from  the  St.   Lawrence  to  the 


28 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Mississippi  and  on  to  the  bay  of  IJiloxi. 
Louisiana  was  an  unknown  land,  except  pos- 
sibly to  the  fur  traders,  hunters,  trappers, 
wood  rangers,  and  the  indefatigable  Frencli 
priests,  who  appear  to  have  visited  nearly 
even'  portion  of  the  territor)^ 

But  the  sagacious  and  energetic  Jefferson 
had  matured  a  plan  for  exploring  the  Mis- 
souri river  country-,  the  least  known  portion 
of  the  territory,  almost  before  congress  had 
ratified  the  treaty  under  which  possession  was 
acquired.  In  May,  1804,  he  started  the  far- 
famed  Lewis  and  Clark  expedition  up  the  Mis- 
souri, charged  with  the  duty  of  exploring  that 
great  river  from  its  mouth  to  its  source  and 
then    on    to    the    Pacific    ocean.     The    report 


which  these  explorers,  after  an  absence  of  two 
years,  were  able  to  make  of  the  resources  of 
the  country  through  which  they  had  jour- 
neyed, of  its  lofty  mountain  chains  and 
plateaus,  of  its  wide,  rolling  prairies,  its  for- 
ests of  valuable  timber,  its  wildernesses, 
rivers,  native  inhabitants,  and  its  wild  life  of 
forest  and  plain,  served  to  confirm  the  vague 
ideas  of  the  times  concerning  the  new  terri- 
ton'  as  a  possession  of  the  United  States. 

Time,  through  a  thousand  channels,  has  vin- 
dicated the  wisdom  of  Jefferson  and  his  min- 
isters in  securing  at  3  critical  jieriod  in  our 
country's  histor\-,  by  the  arts  of  peaceful  di- 
plomacy, this  great  accession  of  territory  to 
our  beloved  countrv. 


CHAPTER  III 

NEBRASKA  UP  TO  18G6 

Earlv  Exi'Loreks  in  Nebraska  —  Coronado  —  Mallet  Brothers  —  Lewis  and  Clark 
Kansas-Nebraska   Bill  —  Territory  opened   for    Settlement  —  Area  —  Boun- 
daries —  Organization  — ■  Census  —  Death  of  Governor  Burt  —  Gov- 
ernor Cuming  —  The  First    Legislature  —  Statehood 


The  Virgin  of  the  ivilderness. 
She  sits  upon  her  hills  alone; 
Loose  sprigs  of  cedar  in  her  hair, 
A  vine-zireath  round  her  zone,  — 
As  grey-eyed  Pallas  pure  and  free, 
B.rpectant  of  the  things  to  be. 

—  O.  C.  DakE. 

That  portion  of  the  "Great  Purchase"  which 
comprises  the  state  of  Nebraska  was  scarcely 
known  to  white  men  prior  to  the  expedition  of 
Lewis  and  Clark  in  1804-1806.  Doubtless  it 
had  been  traversed,  in  part  at  least,  by  French- 
Canadian  trappers,  traders,  and  couriers  du 
bois.  as  well  as  by  French  missionaries  who 
followed  the  Indian  trails  to  the  remotest  re- 
g'ions  of  all  New  France.  Rut  these  left  no 
records  of  their  travels  and  adventures  of 
which  history  can  take  notice.  Just  when  the 
earliest  visits  of  white  men  to  Nebraska  occur- 
red may  never  be  known. 

In  recent  years  efiforts  have  been  made 
by  writers  on  the  history  of  our  state  to 
connect  the  expedition  of  Francisco  Vasquez 
de  Coronado,  in  1540,  with  Nebraska.  It 
is  claimed  that  this  expedition  not  only 
crossed  the  southern  boundary  of  the  state 
somewhere  between  the  eastern  boundary  of 
Gage  county  and  points  much  further  west, 
but  also  that  it  actually  penetrated  the  state 
as  far  north  as  the  Platte  river.  The  most 
convincing  evidence  assigned  in  support  of 
this  contention  is  that  the  chroniclers  of  the 
expedition,  as  well  as  its  leader,  used  descrip- 
tive terms,  in  relation  to  the  soil,  vegetation, 
landscaiie,  and  other  phenomena  obser\-e(l  liy 


them,  which  might  be  applicable  to  southeast- 
ern Nebraska,  and  that  Coronado  himself  de- 
clares that  Ouivera  "where  I  have  reached  it  is 
in  the  40th  degree."  To  say  the  most  for  such 
evidence  it  only  indicates  in  a  general  way  the 
route  of  the  expedition.  It  is  offset  by  consid- 
erations which  are  entitled  to  great  weight, 
even  in  the  face  of  Coronado's  declaration. 
Coronado  came  to  the  New  World  in  the  train 
of  Mendoza,  viceroy  of  Mexico,  in  1.^35,  and 
had  been  assigned  by  his  patron  to  the  gov- 
ernorship of  Neuva  Galicia.  a  northern  prov- 
ince of  the  conquered  country.  Like  all  am- 
bitious Spainards  of  that  particular  day,  his 
imagination  had  been  fired  by  the  wonderful 
success  of  Cortez,  the  conqueror  of  Mexico, 
and  Pizarro,  the  conqueror  of  Peru.  The 
fabulous  wealth  of  these  vanquished  nations 
had  gone  to  enrich  their  masters  to  an  extent 
of  which  no  Spainard  had  ever  before  so  much 
as  dreamed.  Coronado,  listening  to  the  tales 
concerning  the  far  away  "Seven  City  of  Ci- 
bola," whose  wealth  was  said  to  rival  the 
riches  of  Montezuma  and  the  Incas  of  Peru, 
resolved  to  imitate  the  exploits  of  Cortez  and 
Pizzaro  by  undertaking  the  conquest  of  these 
fabled  cities  of  the  plain.  Obtaining  leave 
from  the  viceroy,  and  assembling  an  army  of 
three  hundred  Spanish  soldiers  and  a  band 
of  warlike  Mexican  Indians  and  equipping 
them  for  conquest,  he  started  from  the  capital 
of  his  province  on  the  23d  day  of  Februar)', 
1540,  animated  solely  by  the  hope  of  plunder. 
For  two  years  this  marauding,  predatory  ex- 


29 


30 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


pedition  \yandered  about  over  the  barren 
wastes  of  New  Mexico  and  possibly  eastern 
Arizona,  reddening  their  trail  with  the  blood 
of  the  simple  natives  and  committing  heinous 
crimes  against  their  chastity  and  virtue.  The 
"Seven  Cities  of  Cibola"  dwindled  to  a  few 
isolated  Zuni  villages,  while  the  search  for 
gold,  always  gold,  proved  an  evanescent  dream. 
Finally  it  was  found  that  the  riches  lay  far 
away  to  the  east  in  the  land  of  the  Quivera. 
Here,  the  Spaniards  were  told,  were  large  cities 


Quivera  Monument 
Near  Junction  City,  Kansas 

with  unmeasured  treasures  of  gold  and  vast 
herds  of  buffalo  and  other  game.  The  rapa- 
cious leader  gave  willing  ear  to  these  tales, 
which  no  doubt  were  meant  to  involve  his  ex- 
pedition in  ruin,  and,  turning  eastward,  he 
tra\-ersed  the  plains  of  central  Kansas  as  far 
as  the  neighborhood  of  Junction  City,  where, 
recently,  enthusiastic  Coronadists  have  erected 
a  costly  monument  intended  to  commemorate 
the  discovery  of  Quivera,  a  name  apparently 


used  to  designate  a  tribe  of  Indians  in  that 
section  of  country. 

Whether  Coronado  came  as  far  north  as 
Nebraska  will  never  be  known.  His  declara- 
tion that  he  found  Quivera  within  the  40th 
degree  means  but  little.  He  was  not  engaged 
in  exploring  the  country  and  could  not  have 
been  greatly  concerned  about  such  things  as 
degrees  of  latitude.  Besides  it  is  a  well  set- 
tled fact  that  in  the  sixteenth  century  a  com- 
mon error  of  about  two  degrees  runs  through 
all  Spanish  computations  as  respects  the  fix- 
ing of  degrees  of  latitude.  If  correct  in  the 
assumption  that  he  did  actually  cross  the  for- 
tieth parallel  of  latitude,  then  Coronado  was 
the  first  white  man  to  set  foot  on  Nebraska 
soil,  and  Nebraska  was  known  to  the  Cau- 
casian race  within  a  generation  after  the  death 
of  Columbus  and  more  than  eighty  years  be- 
fore the  landing  of  the  Mayflower  at  Plym- 
outh Rock. 

It  may  be  recorded  that  the  first  authentic 
account  of  the  visit  of  white  men  to  Nebraska 
is  found  in  the  journals  of  the  brothers  Pierre 
and  Paul  Mallet  which  fell  into  the  hands  of 
Jean  Baptiste  Lemoyne,  siuer  de  Bienville,  the 
founder  of  New  Orleans  and  for  many  years 
the  French-Canadian  governor  of  the  province 
of  Louisiana.  In  attempting  to  reach  Santa 
Fe  by  way  of  the  Mississippi  these  explorers, 
with  a  party  of  French-Canadians,  in  1739 
passed  up  the  Missouri,  its  chief  tributary, 
and  appear  to  have  spent  the  winter  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Niobrara.  In  the  spring  of  1740 
they  descended  the  Missouri  to  the  Platte  and, 
following  the  latter  stream  about  seventy 
miles,  struck  across  the  plains  to  Santa  Fe, 
thus  traversing  a  considerable  portion  of  what 
is  now  the  state  of  Nebraska. 

Whatever  may  be  said  concerning  those 
who  may  have  preceded  them,  it  is  true 
beyond  cavil  that  the  existence  of  what  is 
now  Nebraska  was  first  brought  strongly 
to  public  attention  by  the  expedition  of 
Lewis  and  Clark.  These  explorers,  pad- 
dling up  the  swift  and  dangerous  current  of 
the  Missouri  river,-  were  compelled  to  tie  their 
crude  vessels  to  objects  along  the  river  banks 
at    night   and    to    proceed    only    by    daylight. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


31 


They  camped  indifferently  on  either  side  of 
the  stream.  July  15,  1804,  their  journal 
shows  they  first  camped  on  Nebraska  soil,  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Little  Nemaha  river,  near 
the  present  town  of  Nemaha,  and  on  the  way 
out  their  last  encampment  in  Nebraska  was 
made  September  7,  1804,  at  a  point  a  few 
miles  below  the  northeast  comer  of  the  state, 
(jn  their  return  trip  the  explorers  floated  past 
the  northeast  corner  of  the  state,  on  Sunday, 
the  31st  day  of  August,  1806,  and  passed  the 
southeast  corner  on  the  11th  of  the  following 
September — -a  total  of  five  hundred  and  fifty- 
six  miles,  channel  measurement.  Several 
points  in  Nebraska  where  the  explorers 
pitched  camp  have  been  identified  from  the 
minute  and  accurate  description  supplied  by 
the  record  of  their  movements  along  the  course 
of  the  Missouri. 

Scattered  along  the  banks  of  this  mighty 
stream  Lewis  and  Clark  found  many  Indian 
tribes,  amongst  them  the  Otoe  and  Missouri, 
which  long  afterward  became  domiciled  in 
Gage  county.  While  encamped  at  Council 
Bluffs,,  a  point  since  identified  as  Fort  Cal- 
houn, the  explorers  made  the  following  entries 
in  their  journal : 

"The  meridian  altitude  of  this  day  [July 
31,  1804]  made  the  latitude  of  our  Camp  41° 
18'  1.4".  We  waited  with  much  anxiety  the 
return  of  our  messenger  to  the  Otoes.  Our 
apprehensions  were  finally  relieved  by  the 
arrival  of  a  party  of  about  fourteen  Otoe  and 
Missouri  Indians,  who  came  at  sunset,  on  the 
2d  of  August,  accompanied  by  a  Frenchman 
who  resided  among  them  and  interpreted  for 
us.  Captain  Lewis  and  Clark  went  out  to 
meet  them  and  told  them  we  would  hold  a 
council  in  the  morning." 

The  first  political  event  of  great  signifi- 
cance in  the  history  of  Nebraska  was  the 
enactment  by  congress  into  law  of  a  bill 
entitled  "An  act  to  organize  the  Territory 
of  Nebraska."  As  early  as  1848  the  organi- 
zation into  a  territory  of  that  part  of  the  pub- 
lic domain  lying  west  of  Missouri  and  extend- 
ing to  the  Rocky  mountains  had  received 
serious  consideration  in  the  halls  of  our  na- 
tional legislature,  and  in   1852  a  bill  for  that 


purpose  had  been  actually  introduced  in  con- 
gress. The  following  year  a  bill  was  brought 
forward  for  the  organization  of  Nebraska 
territory,  which  covered  substantially  the 
territory  now  included  in  the  states  of  Kan- 
sas and  Nebraska,  extending  from  the  Mis- 
souri frontier  to  the  crests  of  the  Rocky 
mountains.  Neither  of  these  measures  at- 
tracted great  public  attention  or  received 
legislative  sanction,  but  early  in  January,  1854. 
Stephen  A.  Douglas,  who  was  then  dominant 
in  national  politics,  reported  from  the  senate 
committee  on  territories,  of  which  he  was 
chairman,  a  bill  to  organize  the  territories  of 
Kansas  and  Nebraska.  This  was  the  historic 
Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  the  passage  of  which 
through  congress  stirred  the  nation,  north  and 
south,  east  and  west,  to  its  greatest  depths, 
and  aroused  passions  destined  to  be  cooled  only 
in  the  agonies  of  fratricidal  strife.  No  such 
public  upheaval  as  followed  the  introduction 
of  this  bill  had  ever  before  been  known  in  the 
United  States.  The  act  was  drawn  with  the 
politician's  most  consummate  art  and  with  a 
boldness  that  startled  the  entire  country. 
There  was  no  effort  on  the  part  of  the  pro- 
jectors of  this  measure  or  any  one  else  to  dis- 
guise the  fact  that  it  repealed  the  "Missouri 
Compromise,"  the  most  obnoxious  measure  to 
the  slave-holding  class  ever  passed  by  the  na- 
tional legislature,  and  permitted  the  extension 
of  slavery  north  of  the  famed  "Mason  and 
Dixon  Line."  On  the  other  hand,  the  bill, 
with  the  appearance  of  fairness,  permitted  the 
people  of  each  of  the  proposed  territories  to 
determine,  as  states,  whether  they  should  be 
dedicated  to  slavery  or  freedom.  Thus  by 
adroitly  uniting  the  Democratic  representa- 
tives in  congress,  both  north  and  south,  in  sup- 
port of  his  measure,  and  having  first  by  sub- 
stitution divided  the  original  bill  into  two  or- 
ganic acts,  one  applying  to  Kansas  and  the 
other  to  Nebraska  alone.  Senator  Douglas  se- 
cured the  passage  of  the  substitute  bills 
through  both  houses  of  congress  in  ]\lay,  1854, 
and  on  the  30th  day  of  that  month  the  act 
creating  the  territory  of  Nebraska  received 
the  official  approval  of  Franklin  Pierce,  then 
] 'resident  of  the  United  States. 


32 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


In  the  interval  between  the  introduction  of 
the  bill  and  its  passage,  great  preparations 
were  on  foot  in  anticipation  of  the  act  ulti- 
mately becoming  a  law.  On  the  17th  day  of 
April,  in  that  year,  the  federal  government, 
by  treaty  stipulations,  acquired  the  title  of  the 
various  Indian  tribes  to  all  the  lands  within 
the  boundaries  of  the  proposed  territories 
which  bordered  upon  the  western  bank  of  the 
Missouri  river.  On  the  eastern  shore  of  that 
great  stream,  during  the  spring  of  1854,  people 
gathered  from  many  states  and  anxiously 
awaited  final  action  on  the  bill  and  the  Presi- 


Stephen  a.  Douglas 

dent's  proclamation  opening  the  new  territory 
of  Nebraska  for  settlement.  No  white  man 
had  previously  been  or  was  at  that  time  ad- 
lowed  to  enter  or  remain  on  Nebraska  soil 
without  permission  from  the  war  department, 
and  then  only  while  engaged  in  hunting,  trap- 
ping, or  commerce  with  the  Indians.  VVh'lc 
the  act  was  effecting  its  passage  through  con- 
gress, the  commissioner  of  the  general  land 
office  at  Washington,  after  a  personal  ex- 
ploration of  the  eastern  boundaries  of  Ne- 
braska,  asserted   that   there   were   not   three 


bona  fide  white  settlers  in  the  entire  territory. 
The  President's  proclamation  declaring  it 
open  for  settlement  was  issued  June  24,  1854, 
and  with  the  wave  of  immigration  that  imme- 
diately broke  over  our  eastern  boundary,  the 
long,  exciting  struggle  which  attended  the 
erection  of  Nebraska  into  a  territory  came  to 
an  end. 

The  area  of  the  new  territory  as  defined  by 
the  organic  act  far  exceeded  its  present  boun- 
daries. Beginning  at  a  point  where  the  fortieth 
parallel  of  latitude  crosses  the  Missouri  river, 
that  is  to  say  at  what  is  now  the  southeastern 
corner  of  Richardson  county,  the  southern 
boundary  line  of  the  territory  stretched  away 
westward  to  the  eastern  boundary  of  Utah  and 
the  summit  of  the  Rocky  mountains,  thence 
northward  on  the  principal  chain  of  those 
mountains  to  the  British  possessions,  thence 
eastward  on  the  national  boundary  line  to 
Minnesota,  and  southward  to  the  ^Missouri 
river,  following  the  main  channel  of  that 
stream  to  the  point  of  beginning. 

In  addition  to  the  present  boundaries  of  our 
state,  this  fledgling  territory  embraced  within 
its  borders  Montana,  North  and  South  Da- 
kota, the  northern  part  of  Colorado,  a  por- 
tion of  Idaho,  and  nearly  the  whole  gf  Wyom- 
ing. It  comprised  a  variety  of  soils,  scenery, 
climate,  and  products.  It  was  inhabited  only 
by  the  red  man  and  was  the  range  of  the 
greatest  herds  of  wild  buffalo  known  to  man- 
kind, as  well  as  elk,  deer,  mountain  lion,  and 
many  other  wild  and  ravenous  beasts.  It  con- 
tained vast  deposits  of  coal,  mines  of  precious 
ores,  oil_ fields  of  great  and  unknown  value, 
immense  forests,  lakes,  plains,  and  rivers  with 
their  rich,  productive  valleys.  Doubtless  th'e 
organic  act  which  conferred  upon  the  new 
territory  such  magnificent  proportions  was 
passed  by  congress  under  the  belief  that  the 
major  portion  of  the  great  plains  region  of  the 
Missouri  valley  was  unfit  for  human  habita- 
tion. 

But  the  act  provided  that  congress  might, 
from  time  to  time,  as  appeared  proper  or  ex- 
pedient, reduce  the  area  of  this  territory  bv 
creating  other  territories  or  parts  of  territories 
from  it,  and  it, is  Ijy  virtue  of  this  original  pro- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


33 


vision  that  Nebrasl\a  has  suffered  successive 
diminutions  until  our  present  boundaries  were 
finally  reached. 

The    organic    act    provided    for    the    im- 
mediate,   complete   civic    organization    of    the 


1804.  About  1835,  the  Presbyterian  church 
had  established  at  this  point  a  mission  for  the 
Pawnee,  Otoe,  and  Missouri  Indians,  and  it 
was  the  most  widely  known  spot  in  the  terri- 
tory at  that  time.     It  was  beautifully  located 


flwtografh    owiu-d    by    the    Xcbrasl.-a    Slate    Historical    Society. 

Francis  Burt 
First  governor  of   Nebraska  territory 


new  territory',  and  to  this  end  Francis  Burt, 
of  North  Carolina,  was  apointed  governor, 
and  Thomas  B.  Cuming,  of  Iowa,  secretary 
of  state  for  the  territory  of  Nebraska.  These 
two  officials  arrived  at  Bellevue,  in  Sarpy 
county,  October  10,  1854.  This  small  west- 
ern outpost  of  civilization  had  been  a  sta- 
tion of    the    American    Fur    Company    since 


on  a  rising  plateau,  near  the  ^lissouri  river, 
and  for  some  months  it  was  the  prospective 
capital  of  the  new  territory.  On  his  way  out 
to  assume  the  duties  of  his  office,  the  governor 
had  contracted  an  illness,  and  on  the  18th  day 
of  October,  eight  days  after  his  arrival,  in  the 
old  Mission  House  at  Bellevue,  at  the  foot  of 
the  hill,  "Big  Elk."  in  that  remote  village,  he 


34 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


died,  and  Cuming  succeeded  to  the  office  thus 
made  vacant,  as  acting  governor  of  Nebraska 
territory. 

In  matters  pertaining  to  the  organization 
of  the  territorial  government  the  organic  act 
had  clothed  the  governor  with  autocratic 
power  and  authority.  Amongst  other  things 
it  was  made  his  duty,  immediately  upon  his 
arrival,  to  take  a  census  of  the  people  and 
of  the  qualified  voters  of  the  territory ;  to 
apportion  amongst  the  counties  the  members 


Thomas  B.  Cuming 
First  secretary  and  twice  acting  governor  of  Ne- 
braska territory 


of  the  two  houses  of  the  legislature,  desig- 
nated by  the  act  as  the  council  and  house 
of  representatives ;  to  call  an  election  for 
members  of  that  body,  and  select  a  place 
for  holding  its  first  session.  Before  his 
arrival  at  Bellevue,  Governor  Burt  had 
marked  of?  the  inhabited  portions  of  the  ter- 
ritory into  counties,  and  the  proclamation  of 
Acting  Governor  Cuming,  issued  on  the  21st 
day  of  November,  1854,  calling  the  first  terri- 
torial election,  included  eight  counties,  name- 
ly: Burt,  Cass,  Dodge,  Forney  (now  Ne- 
maha), Pierce   (now  Otoe),  Richardson,  and 


Washington,  —  all  bordering  upon  the  Mis- 
souri river. 

The  first  official  act  of  the  acting  gov- 
ernor was  the  issuing  of  a  proclamation 
containing  the  announcement  of  the  death 
of  Governor  Burt,  and  dated  the  day  of  his 
demise.  Three  days  thereafter,  to  wit. 
October  21,  1854,  the  acting  governor,  in  order 
that  all  absent  residents  might  return  to  the 
territory  for  registration,  issued  his  procla- 
mation announcing  that  an  enumeration  of  the 
census  would  commence  on  the  following 
Tuesday,  namely  October  24,  1854.  When 
completed,  this  census  showed  the  entire 
population  of  the  new  territory  to  be  2,722. 
Upon  the  return  of  the  census  enumerators. 
Governor  Cuming  apportioned  the  thirty-nine 
members  of  the  legislature  provided  for  in  the 
organic  act  amongst  the  eight  counties  already 
mentioned,  and  issued  a  proclamation  for  their 
election.  On  the  20th  day  of  December,  1854, 
the  election  having  been  held,  a  call  was  issued 
convening  the  "General  Assembly  of  the  Ter- 
ritory of  Nebraska  on  the  16th  day  of  Janu- 
ary, 1855." 

This  first  legislature,  or  general  assembly, 
as  it  was  called,  was  an  able  and  a  wonderfully 
active  body.  Following  the  Iowa  statutes, 
from  which  it  borrowed  with  the  utmost 
freedom,  it  enacted  general  laws  for  the 
government  of  the  people,  adopted  codes  of 
civil  and  criminal  procedure,  established 
numerous  territorial  roads,  created  and  de- 
fined the  boundaries  of  nineteen  new  counties 
and  provided  for  the  establishment  of 
seats  of  justice  therein.  It  passed  laws  for 
the  incorporation  of  insurance,  railroad,  land, 
manufacturing,  milling,  bridge,  fern',  bank- 
ing, colonization,  and  immigration  companies. 
It  incorporated  cities,  of  which  many  were 
mere  figments  of  some  speculator's  brain, 
their  very  names  having  been  lost  in  the  efflux 
of  time.  It  incorporated  colleges  and  seats  of 
learning  destined  never  to  have  faculty  or 
curriculum,  and  finally,  on  the  16th  day  of 
March,  1855,  it  expired  amidst  a  whirlwind 
of  joint  resolutions  and  memorials  to  con- 
gress. 

It  is  foreign  to  the  purpose  of  this  work  to- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


35 


pursue  at  length  the  history  of  the  territory 
of  Nebraska.  The  organic  act  was  passed  and 
approved  May  30,  1854,  and,  as  we  have  seen, 
it  was  quickly  followed  by  executive  procla- 
mation opening  the  new  territory  to  settle- 
ment. In  October,  1854,  on  the  arrival  of  Gov- 
ernor Burt  at  Bellevue,  there  were  probably 
less  than  two  thousand  white  persons  in  the 
entire  territor}'.  But  the  territorial  period 
quickly  passed.  The  national  census  of  1860 
showed  a  total  population  of  28,841.  In  1870 
the  census  gave  the  state  of  Nebraska  123,993. 
As  early  as  1864  a  movement  was  inaugurated 
which  had  for  its  object  the  admission  of  Ne- 
braska into  the  Union  of  States.  That  year, 
on  the  19th  day  of  April,  congress  passed  "An 
act  to  enable  the  people  of  Nebraska  to  form 
a  constitution  and  state  government,  and  for 
the  admission  of  such  state  into  the  Union  on 
an  equal  footing  with  the  original  states." 
After  prescribing  the  boundaries  of  the  pro- 
posed state,  directing  the  election  of  delegates 
to  a  constitutional  convention  to  be  held  for 
the  purpose  of  framing  a  state  constitution, 
and  fixing  the  date  for  holding  such  conven- 
tion, the  act  provided  that  the  constitution  of 
the  proposed  state,  when  framed,  should  be 
republican  and  not  repugnant  to  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States  and  the  Declaration 
of  Independence.  The  act  further  provided 
that  such  constitution  should,  by  proper 
articles  which  should  be  forever  irrevocable 
without  the  consent  of  congress,  provided 
inter  alia  that  slavery  or  involuntary  servitude 
should  be  forever  prohibited  in  Nebraska,  and 
that  perfect  tolerance  of   religious   sentiment 


should  be  secured,  and  no  inhabitant  of  the 
state  should  ever  be  molested  in  person  or 
property  on  account  of  his  or  her  mode  of  re- 
ligious worship.    J_2'^  jj  *~'QQ 

In  compliance  with  this  enalDUng  act  and 
pursuant  to  the  directions  thereof,  an  election 
was  held  in  the  territory  on  the  6th  day  of 
June,  1866,  for  the  selection  of  delegates  to 
the  proposed  constitutional  convention.  At 
the  same  time,  by  a  sort  of  referendum,  the 
question  of  statehood  was  also  submitted  to 
a  vote  of  the  people.  The  election  returns 
showed  a  clear  majority  against  statehood,  and 
the  constitutional  convention  which  assembled 
in  June,  in  conformity  with  the  enabling  act, 
promptly  adjourned  without  action. 

In  1866  the  subject  of  the  admission  of  Ne- 
braska as  a  state  into  the  Union  again  chal- 
lenged public  attention.  The  territorial  legis- 
lature for  that  year,  on  its  own  motion,  sub- 
mitted a  state  constitution,  prepared  under  its 
direction,  to  the  voters  of  the  territory,  and  at 
an  election  held  June  2,  1866,  this  action  of 
the  legislature  was  ratified  and  the  constitution 
was  adopted.  Congress,  thereupon,  under 
date  of  February  9,  1867,  passed  a  supple- 
mental enabHng  act,  wherein  it  was  specified, 
as  a  condition  precedent  to  statehood,  that  the 
legislature  of  Nebraska  must  declare  that 
there  should  never  be  a  denial  of  the  right  of 
suffrage  on  account  of  race  or  color,  by  the 
prospective  state.  This  condition  was  finally 
accepted,  and  on  i\Iarch  1,  1867,  the  territory 
of  Nebraska  ceased  to  be,  and  the  great  state 
of  Nebraska  came  into  existence. 


CHAPTER  IV 

GAGE  COUNTY 

Act  Defining  Boundaries  —  Name  —  Area  —  Seat    of    Justice  —  Whitesville  —  Prep- 
aration FOR  Election  —  Organization  —  First    Meetings    of    County 
Commissioners  —  County    Seat 


Among  the  nineteen  counties  which  were 
created  by  the  first  session  of  the  legislative 
assembly  of  Nebraska  territory  was  the 
county  of  Gage.  This  act  was  entitled  "An 
act  to  define  the  boundaries  and  locate  the 
seat  of  justice  in  Gage  county."  In  conferring 
a  name  upon  the  new  county  it  was  the  aim  of 
the  assembly  to  honor  the  Rev.  William  D. 
Gage,  a  Methodist  clergj'man,  who  was  then 
serving  as  chaplain  for  both  houses  of  the 
legislative  assembly. 

This  act  became  a  law  on  the  16th  day  of 
March,  1855.  As  denned  by  the  act,  the 
county  consisted  of  a  tract  of  land  twenty- 
four  niiles  square,  lying  directly  west  of  Paw- 
nee county,  which  had  been  likewise  created 
by  this  session  of  the  legislative  assembly  and 
its  boundaries  prescribed  by  an  act  approved 
]\Iarch  6,  1855.  The  second  section  of  the  act 
creating  Gage  county  reads  as  follows  :  "Wil- 
liam D.  Gage,  John  B.  Robinson  and  I.  L. 
Gibbs  be  and  are  hereby  appointed  commis- 
sioners to  locate  the  seat  of  justice  in  said 
county."  And  liy  the  third  section  these  com- 
missioners or  a  majority  of  them  were  re- 
quired to  meet  "at  some  convenient  point  (as 
may  be  agreed  upon)  on  or  before  the  10th 
day  of  June  next,  or  within  three  months 
thereafter,  and  proceed  to  locate  the  seat  of 
justice  for  said  Gage  county."  By  the  fourth 
section  of  the  act  the  commissioners  were  re- 
quired to  commit  their  findings  to  writing, 
giving  a  i)articular  description  of  the  place  so 
selected,  and  to  file  the  same  in  the  office  of 
the  countv  clerk  of  Richardson  countv,  who 


was  required  to  file  and  keep  on  file  such 
findings.  The  place  thus  designated  was  de- 
clared to  be  the  "seat  of  justice"  for  the  new 
county.  The  act  further  required  the  setting 
aside  of  "fifty  lots  of  land"  in  the  town  s& 
selected  to  be  reserved  for  the  use  of  such 
county,  the  moneys  arising  from  the  sale  there- 
of to  be  by  the  county  judge  applied  to  the 
erection  of  a  court  house  and  other  necessan- 
public  buildings. 

Prior  to  the  passage  of  the  foregoing  act. 
Acting  Governor  Cuming  had  evidently 
marked  out  a  county,  lying  west  of  Richard 
son,  to  be  known  as  Jones  county.  This  pros- 
jiective  county  began  at  the  northwest  corner 
of  Richardson  county,  as  then  constituted  and 
which  included  both  the  present  counties  of 
Pawnee  and  Richardson,  and  apparently  it 
was  meant  to  extend  thence  northward  to  the 
Platte  river,  and  along  the  south  side  of  that 
stream  to  the  western  boundary  of  the  terri- 
tory, on  the  crest  of  the  Rocky  mountains  ;  fol- 
lowing this  chain  in  a  southeasterly  direction 
to  the  south  line  of  the  territory  and  thence 
back  again  to  the  southwest  corner  of  Rich- 
ardson county  and  north  to  the  place  of  be- 
ginning. 

In  preparing  for  the  election  of  members 
for  the  first  legislature,  the  governor  detailed 
Jesse  Lowe,  the  deputy  United  States  mar- 
shal, to  visit  the  proposed  county  and  as- 
certain the  number  of  settlers  therein. 
He  was  instructed  to  apportion  to  it  one  or 
more  representatives,  as  the  number  of 
inhal)itants  should  require,  and  to  arrange  for 


36 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


37 


the  holding  of  an  election  in  such  county. 
\\hether  the  deputy  marshal  actually  visited 
the  prospective  county  is  doubtful,  but  on  the 
10th  day  of  December,  1854,  he  reported  to 
the  acting  governor  that  there  were  no  voters 
in  said  county,  "unless  a  few  living  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Bellews  precinct  in  Richard- 
son county,  and  who  would  naturally  vote  in 
said  precinct."  But  as  we  have  already  seen, 
within  three  months  from  the  date  of  this  re- 
port, a  bill  passed  both  branches  of  the  legis- 
lative assembly  and  became  a  law,  creating 
the  county  of  Gage,  defining  its  boundaries 
and  providing  for  the  location  of  a  seat  of  jus- 
tice in  and  for  said  county. 

But  it  takes  more  than  broad  acres  and  legis- 
lative enactments  to  create  a  body  politic.  At 
the  time  the  first  territorial  legislature  sought 
to  immortalize  its  chaplain,  the  Rev.  \Villiam 
D.  Gage,  by  bestowing  his  name  on  that  por- 
tion of  the  public  domain  which  it  had  erected 
into  Gage  county,  there  is  not  known  to  have 
been  a  single  actual  settler  within  its  boun- 
daries, and  it  is  doubtful  if  at  that  time  there 
was  a  single  white  person  in  the  county.  It 
was,  in  fact,  more  than  two  years  after  the 
passage  of  this  act  before  a  sufficient  number 
of  settlers  had  gathered  in  the  county' to  at- 
tempt its  organization. 

No  evidence  is  known  to  exist  which  shows 
that  the  commission  charged  with  the  duty 
of  locating  a  county  seat  or  "seat  of  jus- 
tice" for  Gage  county  ever  met  or  acted 
under  the  authority  thus  conferred  upon  it. 
But  at  the  third  session  of  the  territorial 
assembly,  begun  and  held  at  Omaha,  Jan- 
uary 5,  1857,  an  act  was  passed  (and  ap- 
proved February  13,  1857),  locating  the 
"seat  of  justice"  of  said  county  at  Whites- 
ville.  The  site  thus  selected  by  the  assembly 
as  the  future  county  seat  of  Gage  county  com- 
prised the  southeast  quarter  of  the  southeast 
quarter  of  section  twenty-nine  in  Rockford 
township,  located  a  little  south  of  the  present 
\illage  of  Holmesville,  two  miles  east  and  one- 
half  mile  north  of  the  geographical  center  of 
the  county  as  originally  created.  For  several 
years  thereafter  the  stout  oak  stakes  driven 
into  the  prairie  to  mark  the  corners  of  lots  in 


Whitesville  were  plainly  visible.  Prairie  fires 
finally  consumed  them  and  with  their  destruc- 
tion all  trace  of  the  projected  "seat  of  justice" 
for  Gage  county  disappeared. 

The  first  territorial  assembly,  by  an  act 
passed  and  approved  March  14,  1855,  provided 
that  whenever  the  citizens  of  any  unorganized 
county  desired  to  organize  the  same  a  majority 
of  the  legal  voters  of  the  county  might  make 


Rkv.  William  D.  Gage 
Chaplain  of  the  first  legiskiture 

application  to  the  probate  judge  of  the  county 
to  which  it  was  attached  for  election  purposes 
for  an  order  calling  an  election  for  county 
ofticers  in  such  unorganized  county.  The  act 
further  provided  that  all  unorganized  counties 
should  be  attached  to  the  nearest  organized 
county  to  the  eastward  for  election,  judicial, 
and  revenue  purposes.  Under  this  act,  Gage 
county  at  the  moment  of  its  creation  became 
automatically  attached  to  Pawnee  county  for 
the  purposes  specified  in  the  act,  until  such 
date  as  it  had  perfected  its  own  organization. 
On  the  5th  day  of  August,  1857,  shortly 
after  the  arrival  of  the  company  of  colo- 
nists who  founfled  the  city  of  Beatrice,  steps 
were    initiated    by    them    to    organize    Gage 


38 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


county,  with  Beatrice  as  the  county  seat,  and 
this  without  complying  with  the  provisions  of 
the  act  above  mentioned.  The  townsite  en- 
thusiasts appear  to  have  gone  through  a  form 
of  an  election  of  county  officers  at  that  time. 
It  is  said  that  thirty-three  votes  were  cast  and 
it  seems  that  a  full  list  of  county  officials  were 
chosen.  At  that  date  there  could  not  have 
been  over  fifty  white  persons  within  the  county 
of  Gage  and  it  is  doubtful  if  there  were  a 
dozen  voters  outside  of  the  Beatrice  Town- 
site  Company.  The  minutes  of  the  county 
commissioners,  or  county  court,  as  it  was  then 
called,  in  and  for  Gage  county,  begin  March 
13,  1858,  wherein  it  appears  that  Albert  Towle 
and  H.  M.  Reynolds  acted  as  county  commis- 
sioners and  Nathan  Blakely  as  county  clerk 
of  said  county.  These  minutes  are  the  first 
county  records  of  any  kind  in  existence,  and 
in  a  sense  they  form  an  unbroken,  continuous 
record  of  the  transactions  of  the  county  board 
of  the  county  from  the  beginning.  The  min- 
utes of  the  first  meeting  read  as  follows : 

"Commissioners  court,  held  March  13,  1858, 
at  which  ordered  that  a  county  election  should 
be  held  on  Saturday,  March  28th,  to  relocate 
the  county  seat  of  Gage  county ;  also  to  elect 
a  sheriff  in  place  of  Daniel  P.  Taylor,  who 
failed  to  qualify ;  also  to  elect  a  county  trea- 
surer in  the  place  of  Calvin  IMiller,  who  failed 
to  qualify ;  also  to  elect  a  recorder  in  the  place 
of  John  Hart,  who  failed  to  qualify;  also  a 
suj>erintendent  of  common  schools  in  place  of 
N.  B    Beldin,  who  failed  to  qualify. 

"It  was  ordered:  That  the  county  be  di- 
vided into  two  precincts  for  election  purposes  ; 
that  townships  one  and  two  shall  be  called 
precinct  No.  1,  and  that  townships  three  and 
four  shall  be  called  precinct  No.  2. 

"Isma  Mumford,  John  ^McDowell  and  Ben- 
nett Pike  were  appointed  judges  of  election  in 
precinct  No.  2;  Rankin  Johnson,  James  John- 
son and  Henry  B'lliott  judges  of  election  for 
pricinct  No.  1.    The  court  then  adjourned." 

The  next  meeting  of  the  commissioners' 
court  was  held  at  the  house  of  Albert  Towle 
October  7,  1858,  and  the  third  meeting  was 
held  at  the  same  place  November  29,  1858, 
both  designated  as  regular  meetings,  with  the 


same  officers  present  as  at  the  first  meeting. 
The  next  regular  meeting  of  the  commission- 
ers' court  was  held  January  3,  1859;  present 
Commissioners  Towle  and  Reynolds  and 
County  Clerk  Nathan  Blakely.  And  on  April 
13,  1859,  at  a  special  meeting  of  the  commis- 
sioners' court,  there  occurs  the  following  en- 
try : 

"At  a  meeting  at  a  special  term  of  the  Co. 
Court  held  at  the  house  of  A.  Towle,  on  the 
13th  day  of  April,  1859,  present:  Commis- 
sioners Albert  Towle  and  H.  M.  Reynolds.  It 
was  ordered  and  the  following  preamble  and 
resolutions  be  adopted : 

"Whkrkas,  We  have  been  officially  in- 
formed by  the  county  clerk  of  Pawnee  county 
that  certain  individuals  residing  in  precinct 
No.  One  of  Gage  county  have  petitioned  the 
county  commissioners  of  Pawnee  county  to 
issue  an  order  for  an  election  for  the  purpose 
of  organizing  said  Gage  county,  Therefore, 

"Resolved,  That  we  protest  against  any 
such  order  being  issued  by  the  aforesaid  com- 
missioners of  Pawnee  county  or  any  action 
being  taken  thereon  by  the  citizens  of  pre- 
cinct No.  One  of  Gage  county. 

"Resolved,  That  we  claim  that  Gage 
county  was  regularly  organized  by  an  election 
held  on  the  3d  day  of  August,  1857;  that  as 
evidence  of  this  fact  we  have  the  certificate 
from  the  county  clerk  of  Pawnee  county  cer- 
tifying that  the  officers  elected  at  the  said  elec- 
tion were  duly  elected.  And  also  the  fact  that 
the  county  clerk  of  said  Gage  county  elected 
at  the  said  election  was  duly  qualified  by  the 
county  clerk  of  Pawnee  county. 

"In  addition  to  the  above  the  returns  of  an 
election  held  since  the  above  named  have  been 
recognized  by  the  board  of  territorial  can- 
vassers as  being  issued  by  a  regularly  organ- 
ized county. 

"It  is  ordered  that  the  county  clerk  of  Gage 
county  forward  a  copy  of  the  above  preamble 
and  resolutions  to  the  county  clerk  of  Pawnee 
county.  Also  send  a  copy  of  the  same  into 
precinct  No.  One  of  Gage  county. 

"The  court  then  adjourned. 

"N.\Tii.\N  Blakely,  Co.  Clerk." 

It   is   clear    from  this   preamble   and   these 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


39 


resolutions  that  active  steps  had  been  taken 
by  the  county-seat  promoters  at  Beatrice 
to  vahdate  the  election  of  August  3,  1857.  A 
second  election  had  been  held  ^M'arch  27.  1859, 
for  the  evident  purpose  of  filling  the  county 
offices  in  all  cases  where  the  officials  chosen  at 
the  first  election  had  failed  to  qualify.  Prob- 
ably at  the  second  election  no  action  was  taken 
on  the  county-seat  matter,  as  specified  in  the 
commissioners'  proceedings  under  date  of 
March  13,  1858.  Blue  Springs  had  become 
an  aspirant  for  that  honor,  and  as  both  voting 
precincts  of  the  county  participated  in  the 
election  of  March  27,  1859,  a  contest  at  the 
polls  over  that  question  appears  to  have  been 
avoided. 

The  location  of  the  county  seat  and  the  in- 
sistence of  Beatrice  on  the  legality  of  the  or- 
ganization of  the  county  in  August,  1857,  by 
the  Beatrice  Townsite  Company  had  become 
so  acute  a  subject  of  difference  between  the 
rival  towns,  that  precinct  No.  1,  Blue  Springs, 
failed  to  participate  in  the  annual  election  held 
August  2,  1858.  At  the  meeting  of  the  com- 
missioners' court  under  date  of  July  4,  1859. 
among  other  things,  it  was  ordered  that  Albert 
Towle,  Samuel  Jones,  and  Nathan  Blakely  be 
allowed  and  paid  $1.50  each  as  judges  of  elec- 
tion at  Beatrice,  August  2,  1858,  and  that  W. 
D.  Spencer  and  Myron  Newton  be  allowed 
and  paid  a  like  sum  each  for  acting  as  clerks 
of  that  election,  but  nothing  seems  to  have 
been  allowed  any  citizen  of  Blue  Springs  or 
vicinity  for  acting  as  a  judge  or  a  clerk  in 
precinct  No.  1  in  this  election. 

In  the  spring  of  1859,  both  Blue  Springs 
and  Beatrice  attempted  to  assess  Gage  county, 
each  claiming  to  have  lawful  right  to  perform 
that  service.  Blue  Springs  because  of  the  as- 
sumed illegality  of  the  county  organization 
claimed  to  have  been  effected  by  Beatrice  in 
August,  1857,  and  because  of  her  pending  ap- 
plication to  the  commissioners  of  Pawnee 
county  for  the  calling  of  an  election  to  effect 
the  legal  organization  of  the  county  ;  and  Be- 
atrice, by  virtue  of  the  election  in  1857,  and 
her  assumption  of  its  regularity.  The  resolu- 
tions of  Commissioners  Towle  and  Reynolds 
aljove  set  forth,  under  date  of  April  4,  1859, 


put  an  end  to  that  movement  on  the  part  of 
Blue  Springs,  and  both  precincts  of  the  county 
participated  in  the  election  of  1859.  To  ter- 
minate the  dissension  that  grew  out  of  this 
rivalry,  the  legislative  assembly,  at  its  session 
begun  and  held  at  Omaha,  December  5,  1859, 
passed  an  act  entitled :  "An  act  to  legalize  the 
first  organization  of  Gage  county,  the  location 
of  the  county  seat  at  Beatrice  and  the  official 
acts  of  the  officers  of  said  county." 

There  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  the  alleged 
organization  of  the  county  by  the  Beatrice 
Townsite  Company  in  August,  1857,  was  ir- 
regular and  probably  illegal  from  its  inception. 
There  appears  to  be  no  evidence  that  the  en- 
thusiastic townsite  boomers  made  the  slight- 
est effort  to  comply  with  the  law  then  in  ef- 
fect, regulating  the  organization  of  counties, 
and  this  fact  seems  to  have  been  recognized 
by  the  legislature  in  passing  the  above  de- 
scribed act. 

The  passage  of  this  act  destroyed  forever 
the  hopes  of  Blue  Springs  respecting  the 
county  seat  of  the  new  county.  This  unpre- 
tentious outpost  of  civilization  possessed  many 
advantages  which  were  justly  counted  in  its 
favor  as  an  aspirant  to  first  place  in  civic 
honors.  It  is  a  romantic  spot,  beautifully  lo- 
cated on  the  Big  Blue  river,  and  during  all  the 
times  here  mentioned  it  was  a  prospective  sta- 
tion on  a  projected  cutoff'  from  the  old  mili- 
tary highway  from  Fort  Leavenworth  to  the 
west,  which,  leaving  the  main  road  at  Rich- 
mond, Nemaha  county,  Kansas,  a  few  miles 
below  Seneca,  on  the  Nemaha  river,  led  north- 
west from  Blue  Springs  and  beyond,  inter- 
secting the  main  road  at  some  point  east  and 
south  of  the  famous  Rock  Creek  Station,  in 
Jefferson  county.  Blue  Springs  also  was  on  a 
main  traveled  road  from  Marj'sville,  Kansas, 
through  the  Otoe  Indian  village  to  Beatrice. 
It  possessed  natural  advantages  for  a  city 
which  were  wanting  to  some  extent  in  its  rival. 
It  was  several  miles  nearer  the  geographical 
center  of  the  county  than  Beatrice,  and  its  few 
inhabitants  were  people  of  worth  and  char- 
acter, equal  in  these  respects  to  the  Beatrice 
colonists.  Its  most  serious  drawback  was  its 
proximity   to   the    Otoe   and    Missiiuri    Indian 


40 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


reservation,  the  north  Hne  of  which  was  only 
two  miles  distant. 

Beatrice  may  have  been  more  in  line  with 
the  direct  travel  both  east  and  west,  and  it  cer- 
tainly possessed  the  controlling  advantage  of  a 
central  location  as  respected  the  white  inhabi- 
tants of  the  county  at  that  time.  In  addition 
to  these  things,  its  destiny  was  in  the  hands  of 
men  who  were  fully  alive  to  the  advantages 
that  would  accrue  to  them  by  controlling  the 
organization  of  the  county  from  the  very  first, 
and   by   this   and   other  methods   securing  at 


Beatrice  the  county  seat.  The  changing  years 
have  probably  vindicated  their  judgment. 
With  its  present  boundaries,  Beatrice  is  un- 
questionably the  most  desirable  location  as  a 
seat  for  the  government  of  our  splendid 
county.  The  animosities  which  may  have  been 
engendered  by  the  county-seat  rivalry  of  more 
than  a  generation  ago  have  long  since  passed 
away,  and  the  two  historic  territorial  cities 
of  Gage  county,  their  early  dissensions  for- 
gotten, for  many  years  have  dwelt  together  in 
the  bonds  of  unity  and  friendship. 


CHAPTER  V 

OLD  CLAY  COUNTY 


Act  Creating  —  Organization  —  Austin — Settlements  —  Partitioning  —  John  V. 
C.ADMAN  —  Joint  Meeting  Commissioners  of  Gage  and  Lancaster  Counties 


Prior  to  the  passage  of  the  act  creating  Gage 
county  and  defining  its  boundaries,  the  first 
territorial  assembly,  on  the  6th  day  of  March, 
1855,  passed  an  act  "To  define  the  boundaries 
and  establish  the  seat  of  justice  for  Lancaster 
county,"  and  on  the  following  day  an  act  was 
passed  creating  Clay  county  and  defining  its 
boundaries.  Gideon  Bennett  and  James  H. 
Decker,  members  of  the  assembly  from  former 
Pierce  (now  Otoe)  county,  and  D.  M.  John- 
son, representative  from  Richardson  county, 
were  appointed  by  the  last  named  act  as  legis- 
lative commissioners  "to  locate  the  seat  of 
justice  for  Clay  county"  ;  and  a  third  section 
of  the  act  provided  "that  the  seat  of  justice 
in  and  for  Clay  county  shall  be  called  Cla- 
tonia."  Both  of  these  counties,  like  Gage,  were 
twenty-four  miles  square.  Clay  lying  north  of 
Gage  and  south  of  Lancaster,  but  joining  each, 
and  consisting  of  a  fine  body  of  land,  with  an 
unusual  proportion  of  rich  upland  prairie. 

Clay  was  duly  organized  into  a  county 
pursuant  to  the  act  creating  it  and  defin- 
ing its  boundaries,  and  entered  upon  its 
separate  existence  as  such.  No  evidence 
is  known  to  exist  to  show  that  any  place 
was  ever  selected  by  the  legislative  commission 
as  a  county  seat  or  seat  of  justice  for  Clay 
count)'.  While  several  towns  or  villages  ap- 
pear to  have  been  laid  out  on  paper,  there  was 
never  in  fact  any  semblance  of  a  town  in  Clay 
county.  The  nearest  approach  to  it  seems  to 
have  been  a  group  of  squatters  on  the  public 
domain  about  what  was  known  as  Austin's 
mill,  on  Stevens  (now  Indian)  creek.  Here, 
in    1857,    came   Hiram    W.    Parker,    Fordvce 


Roper,  Edward  C,  Charles,  and  Homer  B. 
Austin,  also  Orrin  Stevens,  who  gave  his 
name  to  Indian  creek  at  that  point  —  a  name 
which  the  Beatrice  colonists  always  refused 
to  recognize.  Possibly  a  few  other  early  set- 
tlers gathered  near  there  on  the  public  domain, 
and  an  effort  was  made  to  establish  a  town 
which  could  become  in  the  course  of  time  a 
county  seat  for  the  new  county.  Edward  C. 
Austin  had  located  a  claim  in  the  latter  part 
of  April  or  early  in  INIay,  1857,  in  the  imme- 
diate vicinity  of  the  present  village  of  Pick- 
rell.  He  had  built  a  log  cabin,  staked  out  a 
forty-acre  tract  of  his  claim  into  town  lots, 
and  called  the  proposed  town  Austin.  Shortly 
thereafter  he  purchased  and  brought  to  his 
claim  a  saw  mill  and  buhrs  for  a  grist  mill,  and 
erected  the  former  on  the  east  side  of  Indian 
or  Stevens  creek,  on  the  north  side  of  the 
present  road  leading  east  from  Pickrell.  A 
little  below  the  mill,  on  the  east  side  of  In- 
dian creek,  was  the  sur\'eyed  town  of  Austin. 
No  dwellings  or  other  structures  were  ever 
erected  on  the  townsite  and  the  mill  itself 
proved  a  financial  failure,  due  in  part  to  the 
fact  that  it  was  not  on  the  line  of  western 
bound  emigrant  travel,  and^  in  part  to  the  fact 
that  there  was  scarcely  any  demand  for  lumber 
in  that  locality,  but  more  to  the  fact  that  a  saw- 
mill was  established  about  the  same  time 
in  Beatrice,  by  the  Beatrice  Townsite  Com- 
pany. About  the  year  1862  the  buhrs  of 
Austin's  mill  were  purchased  by  Mr.  Fordyce 
Roper  for  use  in  a  mill  which  he  was  then 
erecting  in  Beatrice.  This  move  broke  up  the 
[jrospective  town  of  Austin  and  nothing  more 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


was  heard  of  it.  The  Austins  left  the  coun- 
try; Parker,  Roper,  and  Stevens  moved  to 
Beatrice,  and  no  one  was  left  tq  take  their 
j)laces  in  furthering  the  interests  of  this  for- 
lorn hope. 

In  addition  to  the  projected  town  of  Austin, 
there  was  at  least  one  serious  elTort  to  found 
a  town  in  the  north  half  of  Clay  county.  In 
that  section  of  the  county,  John  D.  Prey  and 
family  had  established  a  residence  near  Roca, 
July  26,  1856.  The  following  year  other  set- 
tlers joined  them,  among  whom  were  J.  L. 
Davidson,  W.  W.  Dunham,  and  I.  C.  Bristol. 
A  townsite  company  was  formed,  composed 
of  John  L.  Davidson.  Joseph  B.  Weeks,  James 
S.  Goodwin.  John  G.  Haskins,  and  George  L. 
Bristol;  a  forty-acre  tract  of  land  was  sur- 
veyed into  town  lots  and  the  prospective  town 
named  Olathe.  This  ambitious  project  was  lo- 
cated on  Salt  creek,  about  three-quarters  of  a 
mile  west  of  the  ford  where  the  road  from 
Nebraska  City  to  Denver  crossed  that  stream. 
a  few  yards  north  of  the  spot  where  the  pres- 
ent bridge  at  Roca  is  located.  The  Olathe 
quarries  were  only  a  short  distance  away. 
there  was  some  wood  along  the  creek,  and 
these  appear  to  have  been  the  determining  fac- 
tors in  the  location  of  the  town.  Nothing 
came  of  this  venture,  and  at  the  time  Clay 
county  was  divided  there  was  not  a  single 
tiiwn,  village,  or  hamlet  within  its  bounds. 

Clay  county  as  thus  constituted  was  large- 
ly a  treeless  scope  of  country,  rather  poorly 
watered,  especially  on  the  upland,  and  it  was 
generally  thought  that  there  was  no  desirable 
central  location  for  a  county  seat  in  the  county. 
Its  big,  rolling,  unbroken  prairies  did  not  look 
inviting  to  men  who  were  wholly  dependent 
for  so  important  a  matter  as  fuel  upon  timber 
along  the  streams.  The  settlements  had  been 
confined  to  those  Iftcalities  where  timber  could 
be  had.  In  addition  to  the  settlement  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Austin's  mill,  others  were 
made  in  1857,  in  Adams  township,  along  the 
Big  Nemaha  river  at  several  points  in  the 
north  half  of  Clay  county,  along  Salt  creek 
and  its  tributaries,  and  a  few  squatters  on  the 
public  domain  might  have  been   found  in  the 


southwest  corner  of  the  county,  along  the  Big 
Blue  river. 

The  maintenance  of  county  government  in  a 
county  whose  population  was  so  sparse  and  so 
widely  separated,  would,  it  was  thought,  be  an 
expensive  and  difficult  problem  under  any  cir- 
cumstances, and  the  early  settlers  of  the  county, 
realizing  the  situation,  were  for  the  most  part 
readily  persuaded  to  embrace  a  scheme  for  the 
division  of  their  county.  This  movement  was 
started  in  1863.  John  P.  Cadman,  residing 
near  the  village  of  Lancaster,  in  the  neighbor- 
hood known  as  Yankee  Hill,  where  the  present 
Asylum  for  the  Insane,  at  Lincoln,  is  located, 
was  that  year  elected  the  representative  of 
Gage,  Clay,  and  Lancaster  counties  in  the  ter- 
ritorial legislature.  He  is  said  to  have  carried 
with  him  a  petition  signed  by  a  majority  of 
the  legal  voters  of  Clay  county  praying  the 
legislature  to  divide  that  county  and  attach 
the  north  half  to  Lancaster  and  the  south  half 
to  Gage  county.  Whether  this  is  true  or  not. 
a  bill  was  brought  forward  early  in  the  session 
of  the  assembly,  which  convened  at  Omaha. 
Januarj'  7,  1864,  to  effect  such  division  and 
distribution  of  old  Clay  county.  Some  oppo- 
sition developed  at  first  to  this  measure  in  the 
legislative  body,  headed  by  Mr.  John  S. 
Gregory,  a  colleague  of  Cadman's.  But  the 
obvious  advantages  of  this  important  measure 
to  all  three  counties  were  such  that  Gregory' 
was  finally  induced  to  lend  his  influence  to  the 
act. 

The  bill,  which  passed  the  assembly  on  the 
15th  day  of  February,  1864,  was  carefully 
and  skilfully  drawn  by  the  late  P.  'SI.  Mar- 
quette. It  was  entitled  "An  act  to  attach  the 
north  half  of  Clay  county  to  the  county  of 
Lancaster  and  the  south  half  of  Clay  county 
to  the  county  of  Gage."  It  covered  every 
possible  contingency  that  might  arise  from 
the  proposed  division.  It  declared  the  or- 
rganization  of  the  county  of  Clay  to  be  for- 
ever at  an  end,  and  constituted  the  board  of 
county  commissioners  of  Lancaster  and  Gage 
counties  "A  board  to  meet  at  such  time  and 
place  as  they  might  agree  upon  for  the  pur- 
pose of  effecting  the  division  of  Cla\-  cnuntv 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


43 


pursuant  to  the  provisions  of  this  act."  In 
compliance  with  the  terms  of  the  act,  the 
commissioners  of  Gage  county  on  July  26, 
1864,  held  a  joint  session  with  the  commis- 
sioners of  Lancaster  county,  represented  by 
John  W.  Prey,  at  the  home  of  Hiram  W. 
Parker,  the  county  clerk  of  Clay  county,  in 
Beatrice,  for  the  purpose  of  efifecting  a  set- 
tlement of  the  affairs  of  that  county.  The 
preliminary  entry  on  the  journal  of  the  rec- 
ords of  the  county  commissioners  of  Gage 
county  as  respects  this  meeting  reads  as  fol- 
lows : 

"County  Court,  July  26,  1864.  Commis- 
sioners of  Lancaster  and  Gage. 

"At  a  meeting  of  the  county  commissioners 
of  the  counties  of  Gage  and  Lancaster,  held 
at  the  house  of  H.  W.  Parker,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  receiving  the  accounts,  books,  monies, 
and  all  and  any  other  property  belonging  to 
Clay  county,  and  for  the  purpose  of  a  settle- 
ment of  the  accounts  to  and  with  the  officers 
of  the  aforesaid  county  of  Clay. 

"There  were  present  county  commissioners 
from  Gage  county,  Fordyce  Roper,  F.  H. 
Dobbs  and  William  Tyler.  From  the  county 
of  Lancaster,  John  W.  Prey." 

As  illustrative  of  the  meager  volume  of 
business  transacted  by  a  county  in  that  early 
day,  as  well  perhaps  as  the  poverty  and  sim- 
plicity of  the  times,  the  remainder  of  the  rec- 
ord of  the  meeting  mentioned  in  the  preceding 
paragraph  may  not  be  without  interest  to  the 
reader  or  regarded  as  inappropriate  to  this 
history.     It  reads  as  follows  : 

Order  of  IU'Sinkss 

Ordered  1st. — That  the  account  of  H.  W. 
Parker  be  allowed  for  services  as  county 
clerk  (Clay  County)  from  April  4,  1864  to 
July  28,  1864,  SVz  months  at  $4.25  per  month, 
$15.00.  And  that  the  Clerk  of  Clay  County 
draw  a  warrant  on  the  county  treasurer  for 
the  same. 

Ordered  2nd.  —  That  John  W.  Prey  be  al- 
lowed $11.00,  his  per  cent,  for  collecting  Co. 
revenue  and  that  the  Co.  clerk  of  Clay  County 
draw  warrant  on  the  Co.  treasurer  for  tlie 
same. 

3rd.  —  That  the  clerk  of  Clay  County  draw 
warrants   on   the  Co.   treasurer   for  John   W. 


Prey  for  $25.80,  said  amount  having  been  paid 
out  by  him  for  non-assessed  sinking  fund  for 
the  year  1861. 

4th.  —  By  an  examination  of  the  Clay 
County  record,  the  total  amount  of  indebted- 
ness was  found  to  be  $211.95. 

5th.  —  The  assessed  valuation  of  property 
in  the  south  half  of  Clay  County  for  the  year 
1864  is  $13,482.00. 

6th.  —  The  assessed  valuation  of  property  in 
the  north  half  of  Clay  County  for  the  vear 
1864  is  $22,647.82. 

7th.  —  The  total  amount  of  indebtedness  to 
be  paid  by  the  north  half  of  Clay  County  ac- 
cording to  apportionment  is  $185.70. 

8th.  —  The  total  amount  of  indebtedness  to 
be  paid  by  the  south  half  of  Clav  Countv  is 
$110.75. 

Ordered  9th.  —  That  the  county  treasurer 
of  Clay  County  pay  over  all  monies  in  his 
hands  to  their  respective  funds. 

Ordered    10th.  —  That   all    offices    in    Clay 
County  be  declared  vacant  from  this  date,  ex- 
cept precinct  officers. 
(Signed) 

Oliver  Townsend, 
Co.  Clerk  for  Gage  Co. 

F.  Roper, 
F.  H.  Dobbs, 
William  Tyler. 
John  W.  Prey. 

The  reader  has  now  looked  upon  the  closing 
scene  of  old  Clay  county.  Seldom  have  the 
obsequies  of  so  important  an  organization  as  a 
splendid  county  been  attended  with  greater 
simplicity  or  with  less  bitterness  and  dissen- 
sion. It  is  easy  to  read  between  the  lines  of 
the  act  of  dissolution  the  paramount  influence 
of  the  rising  city  on  the  south  and  the  am- 
bitious village  of  Lancaster  on  the  north,  so 
soon  to  lose  its  identity  in  the  noblest  monu- 
ment that  has  yet  been  reared  to  the  martyr- 
president,  the  heroic  Abraham  Lincoln.  Lapse 
of  time  has  proved  that  the  few  heroic  spirits 
of  Stevens  creek,  Pierce,  Bear,  the  Nemaha 
and  Salt,  would  have  been  more  than  justified 
in  persisting  to  the  last  in  maintaining  the 
separate  existence  of  their  county.  The 
traveler  who  now  motors  over  northern  Gage 
and  southern  Lancaster  counties  is  charmed 
with  the  beauty  of  the  landscape  and  the  fer- 
tility of  the  soil.  Where  once  only  a  few 
souls  gathered  in  isolation  and  loneliness  along 
the    widely    separated    streams    within    these 


44 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


boundaries,  he  finds  a  contented,  prosperous, 
and  happy  population  numbering  many  thou- 
sands. Where  once  stretched  the  silent  and, 
to  many,  desolate  prairies,  he  beholds  wide- 
spreading  fields,  meadows  and  pasture  lands, 
groves  and  orchards ;  he  finds  also  commodi- 
ous and  not  infrequently  elegant  country 
homes.  No  finer  upland  site  for  an  ambitious 
county-seat  town  can  be  anywhere  found  in 
the  west  than  that  occupied  by  the  present  vil- 


lage of  Cortland,  near  the  geographical  center 
of  ancient  Clay  county.  Within  the  former 
boundaries  of  this  old  county  are  several  other 
pretty,  attractive,  and  thriving  villages,  and 
what  was  Clay  county  in  the  primitive  days 
has  evolved  into  a  district  supplied  with  rail- 
roads, telegraph  and  telephone  lines,  schools, 
churches,  banks,  magnificent  highways,  and 
other  institutions  and  conveniences  by  which 
modern  living  is  both  embellished  and  exalted. 


CHAPTER  VI 

TOPOGRAPHY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY 


Location  —  Townships  — 
Water  Supply 


Area  —  Hydrographic  Features  —  Stone  —  Clay  ■ 
-  Climate  —  Tem  perature  —  Soil  —  The  Prairies 


The  county  of  Gage  is  located  in  the 
southern  part  of  the  state  of  Nebraska, 
its  eastern  boundary  being  approximately 
fifty  miles  west  of  the  Missouri  river.  On 
the  north  it  is  bounded  by  Lancaster  county, 
on  the  east  by  Johnson  and  Pawnee  counties, 
on  the  south  by  the  state  of  Kansas,  and 
on  the  west  by  Jefiferson  and  Saline  coun- 
ties. It  is  a  rectangular  body  of  land,  thirty- 
six  miles  in  length  north  and  south  and  twenty- 
four  miles  in  breadth  from  east  to  west.  As 
originally  created  by  the  territorial  assembly, 
in  1855,  it  was  twenty-four  miles  square,  but 
as  the  reader  will  remember,  in  1864,  Clay 
county,  which  was  also  twenty-four  miles 
square,  was  divided  by  the  territorial  assem- 
bly, the  south  half  being  attached  to  Gage  and 
the  north  half  to  Lancaster  county,  thus  giving 
to  both  Gage  and  Lancaster  their  present  di- 
mensions. The  county  is  composed  of  twenty- 
four  government  townships,  which,  under 
article  9  of  the  constitution  of  the  state  of  Ne- 
braska, are  each  independent  corporations  — 
like  counties  as  relates  to  their  own  internal 
affairs.  Li  1885  the  county  government  was 
changed  from  the  commissioner  system  to 
township  organization,  and  when  such  change 
is  made,  boards  of  super\'isors  are  required 
by  law  to  select  names  for  the  various  town- 
ships under  their  jurisdiction,  by  which  they 
shall  thereafter  be  designated.  Pursuant  to 
this  provision  of  the  law,  the  various  town- 
ships of  Gag-e  county,  beginning  with  the 
northeast,  are  named  as  follows :  Adams, 
Nemaha,  Highland,  Clatonia,  Grant,  Holt, 
Hanover,    Hooker,    Filley,    Logan.    Midland, 


Blakely,  Lincoln,  Riverside,  Rock  ford,  Sher- 
man, Blue  Springs,  Island  Grove,  Wymore, 
Sicily,  Elm,  Glenwood,  Paddock,  Barneston, 
Liberty.  With  the  exception  of  Blue  Springs 
and  Wymore  all  these  townships  are  approxi- 
mately six  miles  square.  Originally  Blue 
Springs  comprised  a  full  government  town- 
ship, but  in  1889,  for  the  purposes  of  local 
government,  it  was  divided,  on  an  east  and 
west  line  through  the  center,  into  two  town- 
ships. The  south  half  was  named  Wymore, 
and  in  the  same  is  situated  the  city  of  that 
name;  the  north  half  retained  the  name  of 
Blue  Springs  and  within  its  limits  is  the  little 
city  of  the  same  name.  It  is  through  this  di- 
vision of  the  original  township  of  Blue  Springs 
that  Gage  county  now  has  twenty-five  town- 
ships. 

The  county  has  a  superficial  area  of  nearly 
864  square  miles,  —  approximately  552,960 
acres.  It  has  an  average  elevation  above  sea 
level  of  1,200  feet.  Its  surface  configuration 
may  be  described  as  a  plain,  tipped  toward  the 
southeast,  —  a  construction  which  is  only 
slightly  modified  locally  by  erosion  and  the  di- 
rection of  water  courses.  When  it  is  consid- 
ered that  the  two  principal  drainage  systems 
of  the  county  flow  from  the  northwest  in  an 
almost  due  southeasterly  direction,  it  becomes 
evident  even  to  casual  observation  that  the 
general  surface  trend  also  follows  that  course. 

The  hydrographic  features  of  the  county 
are  very  marked  and  readily  traced.  The 
Big  Nemaha  river  enters  it  from  the  north- 
west, near  the  half-section  line  running  north 
and  south  through  Section  2,  in  Nemaha  town- 


46 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


ship,  and,  flowing  in  an  almost  due  southeast 
direction  across  Adams  township  to  the  south- 
east corner  of  Section  36  in  that  township,  it 
crosses  the  county  line  into  Johnson  county 
With  its  tributary  streams,  it  drains  a  large 
portion  of  Nemaha,  Adams,  and  Hooker  town- 
ships. At  Sterling  it  receives  the  waters  of 
Hooker  creek,  and  at  Tecumseh  those  of 
Yankee  creek,  both  of  considerable  volume  and 
with  headwaters  partly  in  Gage  county.  At 
Tecumseh  the  Nemaha  has  a  volume  of  water 
sufficient  for  milling  purposes  if  properly  con- 
served, and  for  many  years  it  was  the  site  of  a 
good  grist  and  flouring  mill,  deriving  its  power 
wholly  from  the  river.  It  crosses  the  Paw- 
nee county  line  into  Richardson  county  a  few 
miles  east  of  Tablerock,  receives  at  Salem  the 
waters  of  its  South  Fork  from  Kansas,  and 
falls  into  the  IMissouri  river  at  the  southeast 
corner  of  Richardson  county,  discharging  into 
the  Missouri  a  considerable  volume  of  water. 
But  by  far  the  most  important  element  in 
the  natural  drainage  of  Gage  county  is  the 
Big  Blue  river.  This  beautiful  stream  also 
enters  the  county  from  the  northwest,  in  Sec- 
tion 19,  Grant  township,  and,  taking  a  south- 
easterly course,  it  flows  across  Grant,  Blakely, 
Midland,  Riverside,  Rockford,  Blue  .Springs, 
and  Barneston  townships,  crossing  the  state 
line  into  Kansas  at  a  point  in  Section  35  in 
Barneston  township,  approximately  twenty- 
eight  miles  south  and  seventeen  miles  east  of 
the  initial  point.  From  the  west  it  receives 
the  waters  of  Swan  creek  at  a  point  two  and 
one-half  miles  south  of  DeWitt,  Cub  creek 
near  Hoag,  Bills  creek  at  Blue  Springs,  and 
Big  Indian  creek  at  Wymore,  with  their  nu- 
merous tributaries.  From  the  north  and  east 
its  waters  are  augmented  by  those  of  Clatonia, 
Soap,  Smake,  Indian,  Bear,  Cedar,  Mud,  Wolf, 
Plum,  and  Mission  creeks  with  their  tribu- 
taries, most  of  which  are  living  streams,  a 
number  carrying  considerable  quantities  of 
water.  Power  for  all  purposes  is  supplied  by 
the  river  itself,  and  its  value  and  usefulness 
in  this  respect  become  increasingly  important 
with  every  decade.  From  Barneston  the  river 
flows  almost  due  south,  through  Kansas,  re- 
ceiving the  waters  of  the  Little  Blue  river  and 


other  streams  on  its  course,  and,  greatly  aug- 
mented in  volume  and  force,  it  falls  into  the 
Republican  at  Manhattan,  Kansas.  It  is  one 
of  the  most  beautiful  and  interesting  of  all 
Nebraska  rivers,  and  from  source  to  mouth  it 
is  approximately  three  hundred  miles  in  length, 
— •  channel  measurement. 

The  drainage  of  the  county  is  fully  ma- 
tured. From  every  portion  of  it  the  water  is 
led  at  once  by  natural  depressions,  streams 
and  water  courses  away  from  the  land.  So 
nearly  perfect  is  the  drainage  that  in  case  of 
excessive  rainfall  the  surface  water  is  imme- 
diately conducted  into  runs,  creeks,  and 
streams,  and  these  may  become  swollen,  over- 
flow their  banks  and  flood  the  valley  and  low 
lands,  sometimes  washing  away  the  soil,  de- 
stroying fences,  bridges,  and  other  structures, 
and  often  doing  great  damage  to  crops  on  the 
bottoms  and  sloping  uplands.  Damages  from 
this  source  could  be  greatly  mitigated  if  the 
farmers  and  other  interested  parties  would 
avail  themselves  of  the  recent  drainage  legisla- 
tion of  our  state,  form  drainage  districts,  if 
necessary  issue  bonds,  and,  by  ditching, 
straighten  the  channels  of  the  streams  so  as 
to  facilitate  the  rapid  discharge  of  their  waters 
and  prevent  overflow.  This  has  been  done  in 
Pawnee,  Johnson,  Lancaster,  Nemaha,  Rich- 
ardson, and  probably  other  counties  of  the 
state,  to  the  very  great  profit  of  the  sections 
concerned. 

Both  the  Nemaha  and  the  Big  Blue  rivers, 
and  particularly  the  latter,  are  noted  for  their 
wide  and  fertile  valleys.  Many  of  their  tribu- 
taries also  present  in  a  marked  degree  valley 
formation.  Usually  the  valleys  on  either  hand 
are  bounded  by  ranges  of  low  hills,  beyond 
which  are  the  uplands,  —  formerly  prairies. 

From  the  time  white  men  first  became  fa- 
miliar with  southeastern  Nebraska,  the  streams 
of  our  county  were  bordered  by  lines  of  tim- 
ber, which  under  favorable  circumstances 
often  spread  out  over  the  lower  bottom  lands 
into  groves  of  valuable  oak,  walnut,  hickory, 
ash,  elm,  hackberry,  Cottonwood,  willow,  and 
other  deciduous  varieties  of  trees  common  to 
this  latitude.  On  some  of  the  streams  the  red 
cedar  is  occasionally  found.  From  these  natural 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


sources  the  early  settlers  of  our  county  ob- 
tained wood  for  fuel  and  lumber,  logs  and 
clapboards  for  building  purposes,  fencing  and 
other  requirements  of  rural  husbandry.  Culti- 
vation of  the  land,  by  keeping  down  disastrous 
prairie  fires  and  by  affording  strong  protection 
to  the  native  timber  growths,  has  largely  con- 
tributed to  the  spread  of  timbered  areas.  In 
later  times  the  use  of  coal  and  other  fuels,  and 
of  foreign  lumber,  by  relieving  the  demand 
upon  the  native  woods  has  likewise  greatly 
augmented  the  natural  resources  of  the  coun- 
try, so  that  at  the  present  moment  our  tim- 
bered areas  exceed  by  many  thousand  acres  the 
natural  forest  resources  of  the  county  as 
known  to  the  pioneers.  In  addition  to  these 
factors  tree  planting  in  recent  years  has  given 
Gage  county  largely  the  appearance  of  a  tim- 
bered country. 

There  are  no  mountains  and  no  hills  of  un- 
usual size  or  altitude  in  Gage  county.  Its 
most  noted  elevation  is  a  round-topped  hill 
on  the  eastern  boundary  of  River.side  town- 
ship, a  few  miles  southeast  of  Beatrice,  locally 
known  as  "Iron  Mountain."  Speaking  gen- 
erally, the  configuration  of  the  surface  of  the 
county  is  such  that  a  traveler  is  everywhere 
met  with  a  panorama  of  low  hills,  gentle 
slopes,  short  plains,  and  shallow  ravines,  a':l 
pleasingly  diversified  by  stream  and  wood. 

In  may  portions  of  the  county  a  fair  quality 
of  building  stone  is  found,  and  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Blue  Springs  and  Wymore  are  ex- 
tensive quarries  of  conglomerate  rock,  which 
for  several  years  have  afforded  an  ample  sup- 
ply of  materials  for  the  important  rock-crush- 
ing industries  at  those  points,  the  products  be- 
ing shipped  in  quantities  over  the  state  and 
elsewhere.  Sand  and  gravel  of  exceptional 
quality  are  also  valuable  natural  products  of 
this  county,  as  well  as  clay,  both  common  and 
vitreous. 

Coal  has  not  yet  been  discovered  in  paying 
quantities  anywhere  in  the  state  of  Nebraska. 
As  far  back  as  1868,  Prof.  F.  V.  Hayden,  then 
at  the  head  of  the  National  Geological  Survey, 
in  an  address  delivered  to  the  citizens  of  Bea- 
trice in  the  old  frame  school  house,  cautioned 
his  audience  against  entertaining  any  hope  of 


finding  coal  in  Gage  county  in  workable  quan- 
tities; and  in  his  report  to  the  secretary  of  the 
interior  at  \\'ashington  in  1872,  after  a  thor- 
ough study  and  survey  of  the  resources  of  the 
state  of  Nebraska,  says  :  "In  regard  to  finding 
workable  beds  of  coal  within  accessable  depths 
in  eastern  Nebraska  by  deep  boring,  I  would 
remark  in  conclusion  that  though  not  pre- 
pared to  discourage  all  hope  of  success,  it  is 
proper  to  state  that  all  the  known  facts  are 
unfavorable." 

The  intervening  years  have  only  sensed  to 
prove  the  wisdom  and  correctness  of  this 
eminent  scientist's  conclusion.  Twice  in 
Gage  county  deep  borings  have  been  made  for 
coal,  oil,  and  natural  gas.  The  first  effort  was 
about  1875,  when  a  boring  eleven  hundred  feet 
deep  was  put  down  across  the  alley  on  the 
Robertson  property  just  north  of  the  old  jail, 
in  Beatrice,  with  no  other  result  than  to  de- 
velop a  strong  flow  of  salt  water  which  rose 
to  the  top  of  the  ground  with  nearly  artesian 
force.  Quite  recently  another  boring  was  put 
down,  on  the  Farlow  tract  of  land  which  now 
is  incorporated  in  the  golf  links  and  Country 
Club  grounds.  A  depth  of  six  hundred  feet 
was  re?.ched,  where  salt  water  was  again 
found.  Within  a  few  months  from  this  date 
several  tracts  of  land  in  the  eastern  part  of  our 
county  have  been  covered  with  oil.  coal,  and 
natural-gas  leases.  No  borings  have  yet  been 
made,  and  nothing  has  transpired  since  1868 
to  discredit  the  cautionary'  remarks  of  Prof. 
F.  V.  Hayden. 

The  county  is  well  supplied  with  water 
other  than  that  afforded  by  streams.  Nu- 
merous excellent  springs  are  found  in  many 
localities.  At  Barneston,  within  a  stone's 
throw  of  the  old  Agency  building,  is  a 
splendid  spring  which  during  the  Indian 
occupation  gushed  out  of  the  ancient  prairie. 
For  many  years  it  supplied  the  entire  Otoe  and 
Missouri  tribes  of  Indians,  as  well  as  the  white 
population  at  the  agency,  with  pure,  whole- 
some water  for  drinking  and  all  domestic  pur- 
poses. It  has  been  allowed  to  fall  into  disuse 
and  is  now  so  filled  with  washings  from  the 
land  and  with  other  debris  that  is  is  a  mere 
hog,  —  so  much  an  object  of  danger  to  stock 


48 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


that  the  owner  of  the  land  where  it  is  located 
keeps  a  fence  around  it.  With  proper  develop- 
ment this  spring  is  capable  of  supplying  a  citv 
of  many  thousands  with  an  abundance  of  the 
purest  water,  at  small  expense.  At  Blue 
Springs  there  is  a  succession  of  beautiful 
springs  gushing  from  under  steep  embank- 
ments and  forming  a  little  stream  which  is 
called  Spring  creek  and  which  debouches  a 
few  rods  away  into  the  Big  Blue  river.  Here 
is  an  unknown  quantity  but  certainly  an  abun- 
dant supply  of  excellent  water,  capable  of  meet- 
ing the  demand  of  a  large  city.  These  nat- 
ural water  resources,  besides  giving  a  name  to 
the  beautiful  city  of  Blue  Springs,  have  been 
sufficiently  developed  to  meet  the  demands  of 
both  Blue  Springs  and  Wymore.  Beatrice, 
as  is  well  known,  draws  her  entire  municipal 
water  supply  for  her  12,000  population, 
amounting  to  over  1,000,000  gallons  a  day, 
from  what  is  known  as  Zimmerman  Springs, 
a  few  miles  northwest  of  the  city,  —  a  supply 
which  under  scientific  analysis  has  been  found 
to  be  almost  chemically  pure.  There  are  other 
localities  throughout  the  county  where  spring 
water  of  excellent  quality  and  great  purity  can 
be  obtained  at  comparatively  small  cost.  Well 
water  of  great  volume  and  purity  is  obtainable 
in  every  part  of  the  county,  at  depths  varying 
from  a  few  feet  in  the  Blue  river  bottom  lands 
to  much  greater  depths  in  the  upland  regions. 
There  are  no  natural  lakes  in  the  county  and 
no  large  bodies  of  water  formed  by  the 
streams. 

The  climate  of  Gage  county  is  moder- 
ately humid,  mild  and  invigorating.  The 
normal  monthly  temperature  ranges  from 
an  average  of  thirty-two  degrees  Fahren- 
heit in  January  to  seventy-six  degrees 
in  July.  Nowhere  in  the  upper  Mississippi 
valley  are  the  climatic  conditions  more  equable 
or  more  conducive  to  healthy  living  for  man 
and  beast.  Here  one  experiences  in  the  great- 
est perfection  the  grand  procession  of  the  sea- 
sons, spring,  summer,  autumn,  winter.  The 
rainfall  averages  about  thirty  inches  per  an- 
num and  is  well  distributed  throughout  the 
period  of  plant  growth,  as  a  rule  assuring 
abundant  harvests,  bountiful  crops.     All  Ne- 


braska, however,  is  in  the  region  of  occasional 
extremes  of  temperature  caused  by  excessive 
drought.  Once  in  each  decade,  sometimes 
oftener,  crops  may  partlj'  fail  from  this  cause 
or  from  hot,  dry  southwesterly  winds.  The 
winters  are  sometimes  severe,  and  other  ec- 
centricities of  climate  common  to  Nebraska 
and  neighboring  states  may,  and  do  in  fact, 
manifest  themselves  in  some  degree  in  Gage 
county.  But,  all  things  considered,  it  would 
be  difficult  to  find  in  this  latitude  of  the  entire 
country  a  more  healthful  or  a  more  attractive 
climate. 

In  the  early  days  fluctuations  of  temper- 
ature were  more  frequent  and  more  marked 
than  now,  and  the  pioneers  often  suffered 
severely  both  from  the  rigors  of  winter  and 
the  heat  and  drought  of  summer.  Fearful 
storms  not  infrequently  swept  over  the  tree- 
less prairies,  endangering  the  lives  of  man 
and  beast,  both  in  winter  and  summer.  With 
the  settlement  of  the  country,  the  cessation  of 
prairie  fires,  the  planting  of  groves,  (irchards. 
and  hedgerows,  together  with  many  other 
agencies  incident  to  a  large  and  progressive 
community,  tending  to  ameliorate  the  hard 
conditions  of  pioneer  life,  the  sudden  and  fre- 
quent changes  of  temperature  to  which  all  the 
northwest  is  subject  summer  and  winter,  have 
come  to  be  regarded  here  with  great  indififer- 
ence. 

The  soils  of  the  county,  as  of  nearly  all  east- 
ern Nebraska,  are  mature  and  fertile.  They 
contain  the  essential  elements  necessary  to  the 
growth  and  production  of  the  fruits,  grasses, 
and  grains  common  to  north  temperature  re- 
gions, and  as  a  rule,  up  to  the  iiresent  moment, 
they  respond  bountifully  to  the  labors  of  the 
husbandman  without  artificial  fertilization  ot 
other  expensive  upkeep. 

Soil  may  be  defined  as  a  mixture  of  fine 
earthy  materials  with  organic  matter  produced 
by  the  decomposition  of  vegetation  on  the 
earth's  .surface, —  as  the  stems,  roots,  and 
leaves  of  trees,  grasses,  and  other  forms  of 
vegetation.  The  earthy  materials  which  enter 
into  soil  formation  are  the  outer  portions  of 
the  earth's  crust,  which,  by  a  process  described 
as   weathering,,  or  by  glacial  action  or  other 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


49 


drastic  force,  become  decomposed  into  fine 
stone,  gravel,  minerals,  clay,  sand,  and  silt. 
Types  of  soils  are  determined  by  the  relative 
proportions  of  these  materials,  organic  and 
inorganic,  which  by  inspection  or  chemical 
analysis  are  found  to  enter  into  their  compo- 
sition. 

On  the  basis  of  their  origin,  the  soils  of 
Gage  county  may  be  roughly  classed  as  resi- 
dual, alluvial,  glacial  drift,  and  loessial  de- 
posits. Residual  soils  are  formed  from  the 
decomposition  of  limestone  and  possibly  some 
other  kinds  of  rock  by  a  process  scientificallv 
known  as  leaching,  in  which  the  soluble  por- 
tions of  the  decomposed  mass  disappear,  and 
the  insoluble  or  less  soluble  remain  in  the  place 
where  decomposition  or  leaching  has  occurred, 
as  a  sort  of  subsoil,  and  by  the  addition  of 
vegetable  or  organic  mold  may  mature  into 
rich,  fertile  soil. 

Alluvial  soils  are  formed  from  sedimentary 
deposits  arising  from  the  overflow  of  streams, 
carrying  in  suspension  soils  and  soil  materials 
from  a  higher  to  a  lower  elevation.  The 
vegetable  matter  such  soils  contain  often  ren- 
ders them  the  richest  and  most  fruitful  known 
to  man.  The  valleys  of  the  Nile,  the  ]\lissis- 
sippi,  the  upper  Ganges,  the  Hoang-Ho.  the 
Po,  and  the  Danube,  afford  fine  examples  of 
the  strength  and  wonderful  fertility  of  this 
kind  of  soil. 

Glacial  soils  are  derived  from  those  deposits 
which  are  mainly  the  product  of  glacial  action, 
exerted  through  long  ages  in  the  formative 
period  of  the  earth,  though  their  immediate  de- 
position may  have  been  caused  in  part  by  the 
action  of  wind  and  water.  Such  soils  are 
found  as  far  south  as  the  southern  boundary 
of  the  great  ice  cap,  which  in  the  glacial  or 
ice  age  covered  to  enormous  depths  the  north 
temperate  regions  of  the  world.  Soils  derived 
from  this  source  are  scientifically  described 
as  drift. 

Loessial  soil  is  a  loessial  deposit,  very 
homogeneous  in  character  and  rarely  strati- 
fied. It  usually  contains  large  quantities  of 
land  and  fresh  water  shells  as  well  as  the  bones 
of  extinct  animals.  In  regions  where  the 
loess  occurs  it  is  the  most  recent  of  the  soil 


formations.  It  is  regarded  as  the  sedimentary 
bottoms  of  ancient  fresh-water  seas  and  lakes. 
Its  presence  is  often  attributed  to  fierce  winds 
which  in  primordial  times  carried  the  fine 
loamy  silt  to  distant  areas  and  spread  it  out, 
often  in  great  thickness.  This  imperial  soil, 
according  to  Professor  Samuel  Aughey,  who 
was  the  first  to  occupy  the  position  of  geolo- 
gist at  the  State  University  of  Nebraska,  ve- 
neers almost  the  entire  glacial  drift  of  the 
state.  It  forms  the  Missouri  river  bluffs  and 
is  thickest  there,  gradually  thinning  towards 
the  west.  A  recent  soil  survey  of  Gage 
county  showed  the  loess  to  be  extensively  pres- 
ent in  various  areas,  principally  however  on  the 
uplands.  It  is  said  to  be  the  thickest  and  in 
the  highest  state  of  preservation  about  Cort- 
land. In  common  parlance  it  is  spoken  of  as 
loam,  modified  by  descriptive  terms,  as  black 
loam,  sandy  loam,  clay  loam,  and  the  like. 

To  the  wondering  view  of  the  early  in- 
habitants of  this  section  of  Nebraska  the  ob- 
ject of  the  most  striking  and  universal  inter- 
est was  the  rolling  prairies.  Extending  from 
the  Canadian  boundary  on  the  north  to  the 
tropical  gulf  of  Mexico  on  the  south,  and 
from  the  timbered  shore  of  the  Missouri  river 
on  the  east  to  the  foothills  of  the  Rocky 
mountains  on  the  west,  its  apparently  illimit- 
able expanse  presented  great  variety  of  sur- 
face configuration.  In  its  virgin  state  it  was 
a  source  of  never-ending  curiosity  and  inter- 
est. Thickly  clothed  with  verdure,  diversi- 
fied by  stream  and  wood,  and  shimmering  in 
the  brilliant  sunshine,  the  prairies  of  eastern 
Nebraska  were  probably  the  rno.st  beautiful 
landscape  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  At  fre- 
quent inten'als  were  found  rivers  and  living 
streams  of  pure  water,  and  the  dark  foliage 
of  the  forest  trees  skirting  them  presented  a 
]:)leasing  contrast  to  the  lighter  green  of  the 
prairies.  Such  was  the  fascination  which  they 
exerted  over  the  human  mind  that  the  first 
settlers  were  prone  to  wander  from  one  high 
place  to  another  to  feast  their  eyes  upon  the 
beautiful  panorama  which  the  prairies  offered. 

The  origin  of  the  prairies  is  involved  in  some 
doubt.  Even  scientific  men  of  character  and 
great  learning  are  not  fully  agreed  upon  this 


?0 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


important  subject.  The  most  plausible  theory 
which  seeks  to  account  for  the  presence  of  the 
great  level  prairies  is  that  they  were  the  sites 
of  ancient  shallow  lakes,  which  gradually  filled 
with  silt  washed  down  from  the  Rocky  moun- 
tains, six  hundred  miles  away,  and  from  other 
sources,  —  first  becoming  marshes,  which  with 
the   accumulations    of    vegetable   matter   ulti- 


mately became  the  high  level  prairies.  The 
rolling  prairies  are  said  to  bear  evidence  to  the 
rush  and  the  recoil  of  the  fresh-water  seas  that 
followed  the  melting  of  the  great  ice  cap,  while 
the  ravines,  the  hills,  and  the  valleys  were 
formed  by  the  washing  away  of  large  portions 
of  the  surface  in  the  process  of  continental 
draining. 


CHAPTER  VII 

FLORA  AND  FAUNA 

Grasses  —  Flowers  —  Forest  and  Stream  —  Animal  Life  —  The  Buffalo  —  Elk- 
TELOPE  —  Native  Birds  —  Fish  —  Insect  Life  —  Grasshoppers  — 
Effect  of  Settlement 


The  native  flora  of  our  county,  like  all 
the  southeastern  portion  of  Nebraska,  was 
characterized  by  many  forms  of  plant  life. 
The  most  casual  observer  could  readily  divide 
it  into  the  flora  of  the  prairies  and  the  flora  o^ 
forest  and  stream.  The  prairies  were  clothed 
with  many  varieties  of  grass  as  well  as  of 
plants,  some  of  which  were  per^iunial  and 
in  their  florescence  beautiful.  The  early  set- 
tlers found  bottom  land  along  the  streams  and 
other  depressions  stocked  with  the  blue-stem 
grass,  the  uplands  with  bunch  grass  and  other 
species  of  succulent  grasses,  all  of  which  how- 
ever ultimately  yielded  to  the  blue-stem  as  the 
country  became  settled,  the  uplands  pastured, 
and  the  ravages  of  fire  diminished,  —  eastern 
Nebraska  thus  became  clothed  with  this  the 
most  desirable  of  all  our  native  forage  plants. 
This  process  was  rapid  in  Gage  county,  so 
much  so  that  within  ten  years  after  the  first 
settlements  were  made  the  blue-stem  could 
be  cut  for  hay  anywhere  on  the  prairies. 
Mingled  with  the  grasses,  which  spread  a  beau- 
tiful carpet  of  verdure  over  the  earth's  sur- 
face, were  hundreds  of  flowering  plants  whose 
diversity  of  size,  color,  and  perfume  contrib- 
uted to  the  beauty  and  interest  of  the  primi- 
tive landscape.  The  graceful  wild  rose,  rep- 
resentatives of  the  lily  family,  buttercups,  vio- 
lets, mallows,  primroses,  goldenrods,  asters, 
verbenas,  morning-glories,  and  many  other 
well  known  flowering  species  bloomed  forth 
over  the  prairies  in  their  season, —  a  profusion 
of  delicate  colors.  In  almost  no  other  way  have 
settlement  and  cultivation  wrought  such  radi- 


cal changes  as  in  the  plant  life  of  the  prairies. 

The  flora  of  the  forest  and  stream  needs  but 
a  word.  Unlike  that  of  the  prairies,  which 
was  native  in  its  origin,  the  larger  forms  of 
vegetation  in  this  portion  of  Nebraska  are 
wholly  due  to  migration.  In  the  southern 
part  of  the  state  the  source  of  forest  growth 
is  readily  assignable  to  the  nearby  forests 
along  the  Missouri  river.  The  distribution  of 
tree,  vine,  and  shrub  seeds,  of  all  common  for- 
ests growths  in  this  latitude,  has  been  greatly 
facilitated  by  wind,  by  flood,  by  beak  and  wing, 
a  process  which  has  gone  on  from  primordial 
times  to  the  present  moment.  Shut  off  from 
germination,  by  the  fine,  compact  soils  of  the 
prairies,  such  seeds,  when  transported  from 
near  by  or  from  distant  forests,  have  found 
lodgment  and  favorable  conditions  of  growth 
in  the  rich  alluvial  soils  of  the  streams,  thus 
giving  rise  to  our  forests  of  oak,  hickory,  elm. 
hackberry,  sycamore,  maple,  box  elder,  red 
bud,  locust,  willow,  cottonwood,  and  all  the 
other  varieties  of  timber  growth  that  go  to 
make  up  our  groves  and  forests.  Amongst 
the  shrubs  are  the  plum,  chokecherry,  hazel 
nut,  prickly  ash,  wahoo  bush,  red  willow, 
gooseberry,  wintergreen,  and  some  other  va- 
rieties. Of  plants  and  vines  the  most  beauti- 
ful and  important  are  the  strawbern,',  the 
blackberry,  raspberry,  several  varieties  of 
wild  grape,  bitter-sweet,  Virginia  creeper, 
sarsaparilla,  and  other  climbing  vines. 

The  hand  of  man  has  greatly  modified  the 
pleasing  aspect  which  nature  wore  here  in  her 
primitive  state,  and  has  added  greatly  to  the 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


stock  of  forest  trees  and  forest  growths  by 
the  art  and  skill  of  arboriculture,  while  by  ex- 
cluding fire  and  other  destructive  agencies  it 
has  greatly  increased  l)oth  the  quality  of  our 
growing  timber  and  the  acreage  of  our  for- 
ests. 

The  animal  life  of  southeastern  Nebraska 
when  the  white  man  came  was  varied  and 
interesting.  Nearly  every  form  of  wild  life 
common  to  this  latitude,  whether  of  earth, 
air.  or  water,  was  represented  here,  and,  in 
addition,  forms  which  are  associated  mainly 
with  wide  reaches  of  open  prairies.  In  vast 
herds,  aggregating  many  millions,  here  roamed 
the  shaggy  buffalo,  while  the  shy  and  lordly 
elk  in  great  bands  fed  upon  the  natural  mead- 
ows. Both  species  of  the  American  deer  were 
native  here,  and  droves  of  beautiful  antelope 
roamed  the  plains.  Not  long  before  the  advent 
of  the  white  man,  our  plains  were  probably 
also  the  range  of  the  caribou,  the  moose,  and 
the  mountain  sheep.  The  wild  fox,  the  sly 
coyote,  and  his  large  relation,  the  mountain  or 
gray  wolf,  the  lynx,  the  panther,  the  bear,  the 
mountain  lion,  and  other  representatives  of  the 
carnivorous  tribe  were  all  at  some  time  no 
doubt  native  to  our  eastern  Nebraska.  The 
rodents  were  widely  distributed  in  forest  and 
plain  ;  they  were  the  mole,  the  wood  mouse, 
tlie  ground  gopher  or  ground  sc|uirrel,  the 
pocket  gopher,  the  common  tree  squirrel,  the 
badger,  the  ground  hog.  while  acres  upon 
acres  were  included  in  the  villages  of  the 
prairie  dog.  The  strictly  fur-bearing  animals 
were  well  represented  by  the  beaver,  the  otter, 
the  mink,  the  muskrat,  the  raccoon,  and  the 
skunk.  Frogs,  toads,  and  other  batrac'ans 
inhabited  the  streams  and  marsh  lands,  while 
numerous  varieties  of  snakes,  the  prairie  rat- 
tlesnake, the  common  bull  snake,  the  water 
moccasin,  the  puffing  adder,  and  other  forms 
of  reptilian  life  abounded  on  the  prairies  and 
about  the  woods  and  streams. 

Bird  life  was  in  evidence  on  every  hand. 
The  largest  species  were  the  wild  turkey, 
g'Hise,  brant,  crane,  duck,  and  turkey  buzzard: 
The  medium-sized  species  were  the  long-billed 
curlew  in  vast  flocks,  the  golden  plover,  the 
s;ind  ])ipcr,  several  species  of  hawks.  i<wls.  and 


crows ;  the  smaller  birds  and  the  singers, 
amongst  others,  included  swallows,  wrens, 
yellow  hammers,  chickadees,  peewees,  blue- 
jays,  meadow  larks,  thrush,  bluebird,  black- 
bird, and  many  other  prairie,  bush,  meadow, 
and  grass  species  of  song  and  plumage  birds. 
The  game  and  food  birds  aside  from  water 
fowl  were  wild  turkeys  in  occasional  flocks, 
the  quail,  and  millions  upon  millions  of  grouse, 
or  prairie  chickens  as  they  were  commonly 
called. 

The  clear  waters  of  the  creeks  and  rivers 
were  well  stocked  with  all  varieties  of  fish 
common  to  this  portion  of  North  America.  In 
the  smaller  streams  and  in  the  deep  holes  in 
large  ravines  which  were  fed  in  part  by 
springs,  were  found  bullheads,  perch,  chubs, 
cat,  red-horse,  and  sunfish.  In  the  rivers  and 
larger  streams  were  the  buffalo,  pike,  pickerel, 
gar-pike,  suckers,  croppies,  and  cat  fish.  In 
Gage  county  in  the  early  days  as  at  the  pres- 
ent time,  the  Big  Blue  river  was  the  one  re- 
liable source  of  the  fish  supply.  In  this  re- 
spect it  was  a  very  notable  stream,  as  fish 
abounded  in  it  and  were  easily  taken,  and  be- 
fore the  wash  from  cultivated  lands  had 
changed  their  character  its  waters  were  clear, 
sparkling,  beautiful  as  a  mountain  stream  — 
in  deep  places  as  blue  as  the  overhanging  sky. 
A  river  moss,  wherever  a  stony  formation  sup- 
plied points  of  attachment,  spread  out  over 
the  bottom  of  the  stream,  sometimes  from 
shore  to  shore  and  several  inches  thick,  cover- 
ing large  areas  of  the  channel,  its  individual 
streamers  often  being  many  feet  in  length  and 
all  thickly  leaxed.  The  swift  water  imparted 
a  wavy  motion  to  its  mass,  and  its  gentle  ris- 
ing and  falling  was  often  accelerated  by  large 
buffalo  fish  and  other  species  preying  upon  the 
periwinkle,  crawfish,  and  other  small  acquatic 
life  found  attached  to  the  green  moving  masses 
of  moss. 

Insect  life,  the  most  numerous  and  varied 
of  all  forms  of  life,  has  always  abounded  in 
every  portion  of  Nebraska.  Flies,  gnats, 
mosquitos,  wasps,  hornets,  vari-colored  but- 
terflies, moths,  grasshoppers,  cycads,  beetles, 
miriapods,  crickets,  spiders,  bees,  locusts, 
caterpillars,    ants,    and    every    other   creeping 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


53 


and  crawling  thing  native  to  the  north  tem- 
perate zone  tinds  a  natural  habitat  in  eastern 
Nebraska.  Of  these  native  insects  the  most 
destructive  species  are  the  chinch  bug,  the 
army  worm,  the  Hessian  fly,  the  Colorado 
potato-beetle,  and  the  codling  moth.  At 
varying  periods  of  time,  under  favorable  cir- 
cumstances, great  injury  has  been  done  to 
growing  field  crops  by  many  of  these  insects, 
as  well  as  to  orchards  and  gardens. 

But  the  insect  that  has  caused  the  greatest 
and  most  widespread  disaster  to  crops  and 
vegetation  in  our  county,  as  well  as  to  the  state 
at  large  and  neighboring  states,  is  the  Rocky 
]^Iountain  locust  or  grasshopper  —  a  migra- 
tory insect,  native  to  the  high,  dry  plateaus 
of  New  Mexico  and  Arizona,  the  eastern 
foothills  of  the  Rocky  mountains,  and  the 
plains  of  ^^^"oming,  Idaho,  and  Montana. 
Nothing  in  the  natural  history  of  the  west 
has  excited  such  widespread  interest  as  the 
great  locust  plagues  to  which  the  early  set- 
tlers of  our  state  were  frequently  subjected 
and  which  may  again  become  a  menace  to  our 
prosperity.  Unlike  Pharaoh's  locusts  that 
came  on  an  east  wind,  these  usually  came  on 
a  northwest  wind,  but  like  them  "they  cov- 
ered the  face  of  the  whole  earth  so  that  the 
land  was  darkened;  and  they  did  eat  every 
herb  of  the  land,  and  all  the  fruit  of  the 
trees  —  and  there  remained  not  any  green 
thing  in  the  trees  or  the  herbs  of  the  field  in 
all  the  land  of  Egv'pt-"     [Ex.  8,  v.  15.] 

It  is  not  known  when  these  pests  first  ap- 
peared in  Nebraska.  Probably  before  the 
coming  of  the  white  man  they  may  have  been 
here  as  a  mere  incident  to  wild  nature.  The 
first  actual  visitation  known  to  history  oc- 
curred in  1857,  when  they  are  described  by 
the  Brownville  Advertiser  as  "mowing  the 
prairies."  No  less  than  seven  invasions  are 
known  to  have  occurred  in  southeastern  Ne- 
braska before  the  last,  in  1874.  They  were 
much  alike.  In  a  few  instances  the  corn  crop 
was  far  enough  advanced  to  escape  total  de- 
struction, but  in  the  great  invasion  of  1874 
not  a  green  thing  escaped.  The  leaves  on  the 
trees,  prairie  grass,  and  herbage  of  every  de- 
scription   were    practically    laid    waste.      The 


first  intimation  of  disaster  would  be  a  few 
rapidly  dropping  hoppers  out  of  the  sky,  mere 
avant  couriers  of  the  myriads  of  destroying 
locusts.  The  obsen-cr,  glancing  toward  the 
sun,  beheld  the  air  to  a  depth  of  half  a  mile 
or  more  thick  with  the  flying  insects,  moving 
with  the  wind  and  glittering  in  the  sunshine 
like  flakes  of  snow.  A  slight  change  of  the 
high-wafting  breeze  or  a  slackening  of  its 
force,  caused  an  immediate  descent  of  the 
whole  dense  mass  to  the  ground,  and  the 
whole  earth,  as  in  biblical  times,  was  covered 


Grasshoi-i'Er  Scene,  Plattsmouth,  Nebr-\ska,  1874 

by  hopi)ing,  flying,  creeping,  climbing,  crawl- 
ing locusts,  and  every  edible  thing  perished. 
Here  in  Gage  county  up  to  July  16,  1874, 
crops  of  every  description  had  never  held 
greater  promise.  Fall  wheat  and  oats  were 
already  harvested,  or  well  matured,  but  on 
that  day  a  devastating  hot  wind  swept  up 
from  the  southwest  and  the  corn  crop  was 
blasted  in  a  few  hours.  The  grasshopper  in- 
vasion which  followed  in  the  early  part  of 
August  left  the  fields  practically  bare.  All 
Nebraska,  Minnesota,  Iowa,  Illinois,  Mis- 
souri, Kansas,  Arkansas,  Nevada,  Colorado, 
Texas,  and  the  territories  of  Wyoming, 
Dakota,  and  Idaho  were  involved  in  the  dis- 
aster.     In    most   of    this    territory   the   crops, 


54 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


gardens,  and  orchards  were  in  flourishing- 
condition  ;  everything  was  swept  away.  This 
invasion  marks  an  era  in  the  history  of  the 
states  affected  and  in  the  lives  of  all  their  in- 
habitants, a  never  to  be  forgotten  circum- 
stance. It  was  the  same  story  everywhere  — 
destruction  on  a  tremendous  scale.  It  was 
the  most  startling  plague  of  locusts  of  which 
we  have  any  account  outside  of  the  Bible. 
Combined  with  the  drought,  this  scourge  was 
the  cause  of  great  destitution  in  Nebraska. 
On  the  8th  day  of  September,  1874,  Governor 
Robert  W.  Furnas,  by  proclamation,  appoint- 
ed twenty  prominent  Nebraskans  as  a  relief 
commission  to  receive  and  distribute  all  con- 
tributions of  money  and  clothing  in  aid  of 
those  who  had  been,  through  no  fault  of  their 
own,  practically  reduced  to  beggary.  These 
gentlemen  formed  a  corporation  known  in 
our  history  as  the  Nebraska  Relief  and  Aid 
Society.  This  society  proceeded  to  organize 
the  work  throughout  the  state.  It  was  esti- 
mated in  Januan^  1874,  that  more  than  ten 
thousand  people  of  our  commonwealth  were 
in  need  of  aid.  In  the  frontier  counties  the 
suffering  was  acute  and  often  pitiful,  but  a 
great  many  benevolent  persons  interested 
themselves  in  the  cause  of  relief  and  much 
was  done  by  private  charity  to  mitigate  the 
poverty  and  want  of  the  times. 

By  January  8,  1875,  the  society  was  able  to 
report  the  receipt  from  various  sources  of 
$37,279.73  in  money  and  nearly  an  equal 
amount  in  clothing.  Early  in  1875  congress 
appropriated  thirty  thousand  dollars  in  money 
to  be  used  in  the  purchase  of  food  supplies 
and  five  times  that  amount  for  the  purchase 
of  clothing,  its  beneficences  to  be  distributed 
to  the  people  of  the  several  states  who  were 
sufiferers  from  the  grasshopper  scourge  of 
1874.  A  part  of  these  funds  came  of  course 
to  our  state.  By  far  the  most  practical  and 
noteworthy  act  within  our  borders  was  the 
passage  of  a  law  by  the  legislature,  under  date 
of  February  17,  1875,  providing  for  the  issu- 
ing of  state  bonds,  to  the  amount  of  fifty 
thousand  dollars,  "For  the  purpose  of  pro- 
viding seed  for  the  citizens  of  counties  devas- 
tated by  grasshoppers  during  the  year  1874." 


Most  of  the  counties  in  the  state,  including 
Gage,  were  beneficiaries  of  these  relief  meas- 
ures, and  by  these  various  means  thousands 
of  homesteaders  were  held  upon  their  claims 
and  the  state  was  spared  wholesale  depopu- 
lation in  many  counties. 

Great  alarm  existed  during  the  winter  of 
1874-1875,  as  well  as  the  following  spring 
and  early  summer,  on  account  of  the  billions 
and  billions  of  grasshopper  eggs  that  had  been 
deposited  in  the  ground  the  previous  autumn. 
The  exact  facts  of  the  case  with  respect  to 
the  deposition  of  grasshopper  eggs  staggers 
ijelief.  Scarcely  an  inch  of  land  or  a  clod  of 
dirt  but  contained  several  nests  of  grasshop- 
per eggs,  closely  packed  in  a  sealed  mass, 
about  an  inch  in  length,  numbering  probably 
one  hundred  eggs  to  a  package,  shaped  like 
and  about  the  size  of  a  small  ant  egg.  When 
hatching  time  came  in  the  spring,  the  sight 
was  simply  wonderful.  Myriads  upon  multi- 
plied myriads  of  small,  young  hoppers  ap- 
peared everywhere,  so  thick  in  places  upon 
the  rails  of  the  railway  tracks  as  to  impede 
travel.  \\'ords  fail  to  describe  adequately  the 
situation.  The  j'oung  hoppers  were  ravenous. 
In  a  large  portion  of  the  state  every  green, 
edible  thing  disappeared  as  if  by  magic.  They 
matured  rapidly  and  by  the  20th  of  May  or  a 
little  later  the  young  pests  got  their  wings  and 
shape,  after  a  succession  of  moultings,  and 
became,  by  an  almost  instantaneous  transition 
from  a  mere  rusty  hopper,  a  winged  insect 
capable  of  prolonged  flight.  The  migration 
Ijegan  the  moment  their  wings  appeared.  The 
young,  wingless  insects  would  begin  hopping 
with  a  wind  from  the  north,  when  suddenly 
with  a  mighty  hop  their  wings  would  appear 
and,  spreading  them,  they  would  sail  away 
southward  on  the  favoring  breeze.  In  a  few 
days  all  were  gone  and  the  replanting  of  the 
corn,  oats,  and  gardens  began.  But  on  June 
15,  1875,  a  south  wind  brought  them  back. 
Pale,  anxious,  frightened  groups  of  men 
gathered  in  the  cities  and  villages  to  discuss 
the  situation,  business  came  to  a  standstill, 
and  appalling  disaster  seemed  imminent. 
But  Providence  had  intervened  to  avert  the 
threatened   ruin.      It   was   soon   observed  that 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


although  they  had  settled  in  multiplied  bil- 
lions in  the  fields  and  gardens,  no  depreda- 
tions were  committed.  An  examination 
showed  that  every  insect  was  the  victim  of 
more  than  a  single  species  of  parasite,  amongst 
them  being  a  small,  yellowish  boring  beetle,  at 
the  base  of  the  wings.  None  ever  again  rose 
in  flight.  They  remained  stationary  a  few 
hours  and  perished.  Here  in  Gage  countv, 
where  comparatively  little  damage  had  been 
done  to  the  growing  crops  by  the  young  hop- 
pers, a  cold  rain  set  in  the  night  of  their  re- 
turn, and  when  it  was  over  there  was  not  a 
single  live  grasshopper  to  be  found.  Their 
liodies  were  washed,  by  wagon  loads,  into 
the  draws,  frequently  damming  them  and  im- 
peding the  flow  of  surface  water  from  the 
rain.  This  was  the  last  of  the  much  and 
justly  dreaded  grasshopper  scourges.  Alorc 
than  two  score  years  have  elapsed  since  the 
final  appearance  of  this  strange  and  destruc- 
tive migratory  insect,  and  the  state  of  Ne- 
braska has  become  rich  and  powerful,  but  the 
man  who  was  living  in  Nebraska  in  1874  wit- 
nessed a  scourge  of  locusts  greater  than  that 
of  Pharaoh. 

The  Gr.\sshoppf.rs 
Kinvix   Foko  riPER 

Down  Ijy  the  orchard  plot  a  man  and  boy. 

The  boy's  hat  just  above  the  whitened  floor 

Of  oats  half  hiding  the  young  trees  and  sway- 
ing 

Under  a  strong  breeze  in  the  blazing  noon. 

The  man  looks  upward,  blinks  with  dazzled 
eyes, 

Then  shading  face  with  hand  peers  painfull}-; 

Little  winged  creatures  drive  athwart  the  sun. 

High  up,  in  ceaseless,  countless  flight  to  the 
north. 

His  mood  runs  hot  envisioning  the  past. 

"It  was  three  years  ago  this  very  day. 

"Three  years  ago  that  clinging,  hopping  horde 
Made  the  earth  crawl.    With  slobbery  mouths, 
-Ml  leafage,  woody  twig,  and  grain,  and  grass. 
They  utterly  consumed,  leaving  the  land 
Abominable.     The  wind-borne  plague  rained 

down 
On  the  full-leaved  tree  where  laughter  rippled 

light 
To  answer  odorous  whispers  of  the  flowers. 
Soon,  naked  to  the  blistering  sun,  it  stared 


At  the  bones  of  its  piteous  comrades.  After- 
wards, 

.V  jest  to  strangers  —  charity  —  cattle  hun- 
gering — 

Women  and  children  starvmg!  But  the 
power  of  the  creatures  ! 

The  daughters  of  the  locust,  numberless,  num- 
berless 1 

laws  bite,  throats  suck,  the  beautv  of  lovely 
fields 

Is  in  their  guts,  the  world  is  but  a  mmnmy !" 

.Man  and  boy  turn  from  the  oats  and  the 
vigorous  orchard ; 

But  as  they  go  the  lad  is  looking,  looking 

To  see,  high  up,  like  gnats,  the  winged  mil- 
lions 

Moving  across  the  sun.  May  God  rebuke 
them ! 

As  long  as  the  human  race  was  rejjresented 
in  Nebraska  by  wandering  savages  who  dwelt 
sparsely  in  widely  separted  communities  it  was 
possible  for  every  form  of  wild  life  to  thrive 
and  increase,  but  when  the  white  man  spreads 
abroad  over  nature's  wide  domain,  maintaining 
fixed  habitations,  he  dominates  all  forms  of 
life.  And  the  settlement  of  Nebraska  by  the 
])ale faced  race  has  brought  tremendous  changes 
in  its  primitive  forms.  Gone  are  the  useful 
buf¥alo,  the  stately  elk,  the  deer,  the  antelope, 
from  which  the  Indian  fed  and  clothed  him- 
self and  manufactured  many  of  the  crude 
utensils  for  his  own  use ;  gone  the  larger 
felines  that  preyed  upon  them;  fish,  bird,  and 
even  insect  life  have  also  been  notably  modi- 
fied by  the  presence  of  the  white  man.  The 
game  birds  have  almost  totally  disappeared, 
with  the  curlews  and  the  plovers,  while  the 
wild  goose,  brant,  crane,  and  duck  are  rarely 
seen  except  in  their  long,  high,  semi-annual 
pilgrimages  to  and  from  their  breeding 
grounds  on  the  Saskatchewan  and  the  far 
north.  The  denizens  of  the  streams  have 
been  depleted  both  in  quantity  and  quality, 
many  species  having  wholly  disappeared,  as 
the  pike,  pickerel,  bullhead,  sucker,  chub,  red 
horse,  and  perch.  The  waters  of  our  county 
no  longer  abound  with  the  buft'alo  fish  or  the 
cat,  and  even  the  vicious  gar-pike  has  become 
scarce.  While  these  are  taken  in  limited  num- 
bers, the  carp,  an  alien  fish,  has  largely  sup- 
planted them.     Even  the  great  Missouri  has 


56 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


suffered  similar  depletions  and  invasions  and 
the  faitliful  and  continuous  efforts  of  the 
state  through  its  fish  commission  to  restock 
our  streams  with  desirable  edible  fish  have  so 
far  proved  of  doubtful  value. 

The  beaver  and  the  otter,  which  once  were 
found  in  numbers  about  the  water  courses  of 
southeastern  Nebraska,  have  almost  wholly 
disappeared.  The  mink,  muskrat,  and  skunk 
are  still  occasionally  trapped  or  shot,  but 
their  pursuit  is  no  longer  a  profitable  occupa- 
tion. The  wolves,  badgers,  mountain  lions, 
and  other  noxious  carnivora  have  >ither  been 
driven  away  or  hunted  and  killed,  until  only 
an   occasional   coyote,   bob   cat,   or  badger   is 


found  where  once  they  abounded.  Few  repre- 
sentatives of  the  reptilian  family  remain  and 
these  are  mostly  of  an  innocuous  kind. 

Animal  life  of  the  state  has  been  affected 
too  by  the  additions  to  it  which  man  has  con- 
sciously made  or  which  have  followed  his 
course.  Besides  the  domestic  animals  which 
replaced  the  buffalo,  elk,  and  deer  and  made 
civilization  possible  on  the  "Great  American 
Desert,"  wherever  man  builds,  plants,  sows, 
gathers,  or  reaps,  there  is  found  in  its  greatest 
perfection  the  house  fly,  the  Colorado  potato- 
beetle,  the  chinch  bug,  the  cut-worm,  and  other 
insects  that  prey  upon  the  roots,  stems,  and 
leaves  of  his  fields,  gardens,  and  orchards. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  PUBLIC  DOMAIN 

Nemaha  Land  District  —  Brownville  Land  Office  —  Registers  and  Receivers  —  Of- 
FERED  AND  Unoffered  Lands  —  Preemptions  —  Free    Homestead    Law  —  Agri- 
cultural College  Land  Gr.\nt  Act  —  Oper.\tion    of    the    Act  —  Col- 
lege Scrip  Entries  in  Townships  —  Homestead  Entries 


The  public  domain  of  the  United  States  has 
dwindled  to  a  mere  fraction  of  what  it  was  in 
1854,  when  the  territory  of  Nebraska  was 
created  by  act  of  congress.  The  system  by 
which  the  United  States  government  under- 
took to  dispose  of  its  lands  has  worked  as  ef- 
ficiently as  any  department  of  the  public  ser- 
vice. In  every  state  and  territory  where  pub- 
lic lands  were  located,  and  particularly  here 
in  the  west,  the  federal  land  office  has  always 
proved  an  effective  and  a  most  important  fac- 
tor in  the  settlement  and  development  of  the 
country.  The  prospective  settler  has  met.  at 
the  very  outset  of  liis  inquiries,  the  organ- 
ized agencies  of  his  government,  prepared  to 
lend  him  all  possible  assistance  in  selecting  and 
locating  upon  a  tract  of  land. 

The  local  land  office  for  the  district  in 
which  Gage  county  was  situated  in  the  early 
pioneer  days,  was  established  at  Brownville, 
Nemaha  county,  Nebraska,  under  an  act  of 
congress,  dated  March  3,  1857,  and  opened 
for  business  about  that  time.  The  land  dis- 
trict was  officially  described  as  the  Nemaha 
District,  while  amongst  the  people  it  was  al- 
most universally  designated  as  the  Brownville 
Ipnd  district.  The  office  continued  in  opera- 
tion at  Brownville  from  the  date  of  its  estab- 
lishment to  July  7,  1868,  when  it  was  re- 
moved to  Beatrice.  The  district  was  there- 
after known  as  the  Beatrice  land  district, 
and  it  embraced  Nemaha.  Richardson,  Paw- 
nee, Johnson,  Gage,  Jefiferson,  Saline,  Fill- 
more,   Thayer,    Nuckolls,   and   Clay   counties. 


The  office  was  maintained  at  Beatrice  from 
July  7,  1868,  to  the  15th  day  of  September, 
1887,  when  the  district  was  consolidated  with 
the  Lincoln  land  district  and  the  records  of 
the  Beatrice  office  were  removed  to  Lincoln. 

For  more  than  thirty  years  this  office  was 
a  necessary  and  an  important  factor  in  the 
affairs  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  district  which 
it  served.  Through  its  ministrations  many 
homes  were  established  and  the  foundation 
for  many  a  fortune  laid.  The  volume  of 
business  transacted  at  this  office  through  the 
greater  portion  of  its  existence  was  enor- 
mous. Its  officials  were  called  upon  to  advise 
the  settlers  both  with  respect  to  the  laws 
under  which  public  lands  were  granted  to  in- 
dividuals and  the  methods  of  complying  with 
these  laws  once  the  entryman  had  availed 
himself  of  their  benefits.  The  officers  of  the 
local  land  offices  of  the  United  States  are  des- 
ignated as  register  and  receiver.  The  fixed 
salar}'  attached  to  each  office  was  $500  and  an 
additional  amount,  on  the  fee  basis,  was  al- 
lowed, not  to  exceed  $2,500,  or  $3,000  in  all. 
The  oflicers  of  the  old  Brownville-Beatrice 
land  office  were  uniformly  gentlemen  of  high 
character  and  excellent  ability.  Their  names 
may  be  regarded  as  worthy  of  preservation  in 
a  work  of  this  kind.  At  Brownville  the  offi- 
cials were : 

George  H.  Nixon,  Register,  April  9,  1857, 
temporary  ;  April  16,   1858,  permanent. 

Charles  B.  Smith,  Receiver,  April  11,  1857. 
temporary ;  April  16,  1858,  permanent. 


57 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


Richard  F.  Barrett,  Register,  May  27,  1861, 
temporar}- :  July  26,  1861,  permanent. 

I.    Edward    Burbank,    Receiver,    May    27, 

1861,  temporary. 

George  F.  Watton,  Receiver,  June  21,  1861, 
temporary:  July  26,  1861,  permanent. 

Sewell    R.    Jamison,    Receiver,    Alarch    10, 

1862,  permanent. 

Charles  G.  Dorsey,  Register,  July  25,  1865, 
temporary ;  May  16,  1866,  permanent. 

Theodore  W.  Bedford,  Register,  Novem- 
ber 5,   1866,  temporary. 

Henry  M.  Atkinson,  Register,  ]March  7, 
1867,  permanent. 

John  S.  Carson,  Receiver.  April  15,  1867, 
permanent 

At  Beatrice  the  officials  were : 

Hiram  W.  Parker,  Register,  June  2,  1871. 
temporary;  December  27,  1871,  permanent; 
January  22,  1876,  pemianent ;  January  29, 
1880,  permanent. 

Nathan  Blakely,  Receiver,  August  10,  1869, 
temporary  ;  December  28,  1869,  permanent. 

Robert  B.  Harrington,  Receiver,  September 
10,  1875,  temporary ;  December  17,  1875,  per- 
manent ;  December  22,   1879,  permanent. 

Hugh  J.  Dobbs,  Register,  March  7,  1884. 

W  illiam  H.  Somers,  Receiver,  March  .24, 
1881. 

Joseph  Hill,  Receiver,  June  9,  1885.  tem- 
porary. 

Edward  R.  Fogg,  Receiver,  May  24,  1886, 
permanent. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  land  office  in  the 
o!d  Nemaha  district,  the  public  lands  were 
classified  as  offered  and  unoffercd  lands.  The 
former  comprised  all  those  tracts  which  had 
been  fonnally  oftered  by  the  local  land  office 
for  sale  at  public  auction,  for  cash,  to  the  high- 
est bidder,  the  minimum  bid  allowed  being 
one  dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  per  acre.  The 
unoffered  lands  comprised  all  public  lands 
which  had  not  been  placed  on  sale  at  public 
auction,  for  cash,  to  the  liis;-hest  bidder.  This 
distinction  in  the  ])ul)lic  land  laws  was  made 
by  act  of  congress  in  the  early  '40s,  and  con- 
tinued from  that  time  until  May  18,  1898. 
when  the  law  creating  the  distinction  was  re- 
])ealed. 


In  districts  where  offered  lands  were  lo- 
cated, those  not  sold  at  public  vendue  when 
olifered,  could  be  afterward  bought  without 
settlement  for  cash,  at  one  dollar  and  twenty- 
five  cents  per  acre.  UnofTered  lands  were  not 
open  for  cash  entry.  In  both  classes  title  could 
be  acquired  by  entry  and  actual  settlement 
under  the  preemption  laws  of  :ongress.  Like- 
wise military-bounty  land  warrants  issued, 
under  the  acts  of  1847  and  1855,  to  the  soldiers 
and  sailors  of  the  Revolutionary  war,  the  war 
of  1812,  the  Mexican  war,  and  the  various  In- 
dian wars,  could  be  used  in  purchasing  public 
lands  of  the  United  States,  regardless  of  the 
foregoing  distinction.  And  under  the  home- 
stead act,  effective  January  1,  1863,  this  dis- 
tinction was  also  ignored  and  entry  could  be 
made  anywhere  on  the  public  domain  on  lands 
not  reserved  or  otherwise  appropriated  by  con- 
gress. 

The  offered  lands  in  the  old  Brownville- 
Beatrice  land  district  were  confined  to  the 
^[issouri  river  counties.  From  first  to  last 
Gage  county  presented  a  clear  field  for  entry 
of  land  under  the  preemption,  homestead, 
and  other  acts  for  acquiring  title  on  the  pub- 
lic domain.  Prior  to  the  passage  of  the  home- 
stead law  the  settlers  acquired  title  under  the 
preemption  act,  where  purchase  was  not  made 
by  military-bounty  land  warrants.  The  pro- 
cedure under  the  preemption  laws  as  applied 
by  claimants  was  simplicity  itself.  It  con- 
sisted in  performing  some  act  which  amounted 
to  notice  to  the  world  of  an  intention  on  the 
part  of  the  settler  to  claim  the  tract  selected 
by  him — -as  the  erection  of  some  sort  of  a 
dwelling  or  the  placing  of  a  foundation  for  a 
cabin  on  the  land  selected ;  any  act,  in  fact, 
which  manifested  an  intent  to  claim  a  given 
tract  of  land  and  which  at  the  same  time 
amounted  to  notice  of  such  intent  to  an  ad- 
verse claimant.  Such  act  must  of  course  be 
followed  by  filing  in  the  local  land  office  a 
written  declaration  of  intent  on  the  part  of 
the  claimant  to  enter  and  ])urchase  said  land ; 
it  must  also  be  followed  by  actual  settlement 
on  his  part,  and  in  twelve  months  by  proof  of 
settlement,  of  improvement,  and  the  paviuent 
to  the  government  of  one  dollar  and  twenty- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUXTY,  NEBRASKA 


five  cents  per  acre  in  cash  or  in  military- 
bounty  land  warrants,  or,  at  a  later  date,  by 
college  scrip  at  the  same  rate  per  acre. 

A  number  of  preemption  filings  were  made 
on  Gage  county  land  prior  to  the  taking  effect 
of  the  homestead  law,  January  1,  1863,  but 
these  were  followed  by  comparatively  few 
final  entries.  In  actual  practice,  the  squatter 
on  the  public  domain  performed  his  acts  of 
settlement,  filed  his  declaration  of  intentions 
in  the  local  land  office  to  appropriate  said  land 
and  pay  for  the  same,  made  improvements,  es- 
tablished his  residence  upon  the  land,  and  in 
many  instances,  without  perfecting  his  entry 
under  the  preemption  acts,  remained  in  open, 
exclusive,  adverse  possession  until  the  home- 
stead law  became  effective,  when  he  availed 
himself  of  its  benefits  by  changing  his  pre- 
emption into  a  homestead.  Once  in  actual 
possession  the  "Squatter  Sovereign"  ran  little 
risk  of  being  disturbed  by  a  rival  claimant, 
ijy  a  sort  of  freemasonry  existing  between 
them,  the  settlers  allowed  it  to  be  understood 
that  there  must  be  no  claim  jumping,  and 
claim  jumpers  in  Gage  county  were  pretty 
scarce. 

The  passage  of  the  free-homestead  bill  by 
congress  nearly  two  and  one-half  years  before 
the  close  of  the  great  Civil  war,  was  followed, 
after  the  close  of  the  war,  by  a  tremendous 
influx  of  settlers  on  the  public  domain,  wher- 
ever free  homes  could  be  found,  and  Gage 
county  rapidly  filled  with  actual  settlers  seek- 
ing fiermanent  homes  in  this  beautiful  section 
of  country,  many  of  them  veterans  of  the  Civil 
war.  But  in  1867  this  movement  was  sud- 
denly and  permanently  halted  by  the  operation 
of  what  is  known  as  the  Agricultural  College 
Land  Grant  Act. 

Whatever  one  may  think  of  the  beneficent 
purpose  of  this  act,  whereby  the  national  leg- 
islature was  induced,  without  the  slightest 
financial  consideration,  to  appropriate  nearly 
ten  million  acres  of  the  public  lands  of  the 
United  States  for  educational  purposes,  there 
can  be  no  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  im- 
providence and  wastefulness  of  this  legisla- 
tion. As  set  forth  in  the  title  to  the  act,  the 
IHirpose  of  this  vast  donation  was  to  provide 


for  the  establishment  of  one  or  more  institu- 
tions in  each  state,  "the  leading  object  of 
which  shall  be,  without  excluding  other,  scien- 
tific and  classical  studies,  and  including  mili- 
tary practice,  to  teach  such  branches  of  learn- 
ing as  are  related  to  agriculture  and  mechanic 
arts,  in  such  manner  as  the  legislatures  of  the 
states  shall  respectively  prescribe,  in  order  to 
promote  the  liberal  and  practical  education  of 
the  industrial  classes  in  the  several  pursuits 
and  professions  of  life." 

Had  the  operation  of  this  act  been  confined 
to  those  states  and  territories  whose  wealth 
consisted  chiefly  in  the  public  lands  within 
their  boundaries,  and  which,  on  account  of 
poverty,  were  unable  to  make  suitable  provis- 
ion for  the  education  and  training  of  their 
young  men  and  women,  it  would  be  beyond 
just  criticism  and  worthy  of  all  praise.  Prob- 
ably that  was  the  original  intent  and  purpose 
of  the  act,  but  the  selfishness  of  the  old  and 
wealthy  states,  where  there  were  no  public 
lands,  resulted  in  a  distortion  of  the  original 
intent,  and  in  the  end  imparted  to  the  act  the 
appearance  of  a  land-grabbing  device  of  colos- 
sal proportions,  by  which  states  with  large 
delegations  in  congress  profited  enormously 
at    public    expense. 

For  the  bill  in  its  passage  through  congress 
to  secure  the  support  of  the  representatives  of 
those  states  where  there  were  no  public  lands 
subject  to  entry  or  purchase  under  federal 
laws,  an  ingeneous  scheme  was  devised  where- 
by scrip  was  to  be  issued  to  all  such  states  for 
the  full  amount  of  their  donative  shares,  at 
one  dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  per  acre,  for 
the  entire  acreage  due  them  on  the  basis  of 
thirty  thousand  acres  for  each  senator  and  rep- 
resentative in  congress.  The  states  holding 
this  scrip  could  under  the  law  either  enter 
land  with  it  themselves  or  sell  it  at  private 
sale  and  use  the  proceeds  of  such  sale  as  they 
deemed  proper  to  carry  out  the  purposes  of 
the  law.  The  result  is  perfectly  obvious  — 
the  weak,  helpless,  needy  states,  rich  only  in 
the  public  lands  within  their  borders,  were 
restricted  to  the  land  itself  at  the  rate  of  thirty 
thousand  acres  for  each  senator  and  represen- 
tative   in    congress,    while    the    great,    strong. 


60 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


healthy,  powerful  states  took  their  share  in 
scrip,  and  either  located  it  themselves  at  the 
rate  of  one  dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  per 
acre  on  vast  tracts  of  public  lands  or  sold  it 
upon  the  market  for  cash.  Thus  Nebraska 
received  under  the  act  ninety  thousand  acres 
of  public  land,  which  formed  the  nucleus  for 
its  State  University,  while  the  great  state  of 
New  York  received  college  scrip  covering 
989,930  acres,  part  of  which  was  sold  on  the 
market  at  a  fraction  of  its  face  value,  the  re- 
mainder being  used  to  purchase  vast  areas  of 
the  finest  pine  land  in  the  world,  in  Wiscon- 
sin and  Minnesota.  From  her  donative  share 
New  York  realized  $6,651,473.88,  which  vast 
sum  constitutes  the  endowment  of  Cornell 
University.  Not  a  single  state  or  territory 
failed  to  avail  itself  of  the  provisions  of  this 
enactment,  by  which  a  grand  total  of  9,597,340 
acres  of  the  public  lands  of  the  United  States 
were  nominally  dedicated  to  the  cause  of 
higher  education.  Only  a  comparatively  few, 
however,  actually  received  their  donative 
shares  in  land.  As  might  have  been  foreseen 
by  any  patriotic  and  prudent  statesman,  the 
vast  profit  of  this  legislation  inured  to  indi- 
viduals. The  process  by  which  this  curious 
and  unexpected  result  was  achieved  was  ver)' 
simple.  The  scrip  was  thrown  indiscriminately 
on  the  market  and  sold  for  cash  to  speculators, 
usually  for  a  fraction  of  its  nominal  value,  the 
purchaser  or  assignee  succeeding  to  the  rights 
of  the  states  to  select  and  pay  for  the  public 
lands  of  the  country  with  agricultural-col- 
lege scrip  so  purchased,  at  the  rate  of  one  dol- 
lar and  twenty-five  cents  per  acre.  Thus. 
Alabama  scrip  sold  for  one  dollar  and  six 
cents  per  acre,  leaving  a  margin  of  nineteen 
cents  per  acre  profit  to  the  purchaser ;  Arkan- 
sas scrip  sold  for  ninety  cents,  Connecticut 
scrip  for  seventy-five  cents,  Delaware  ninety- 
two  cents,  Illinois  one  dollar,  Indiana  eighty- 
seven  cents,  Kentucky  sixty  cents,  Maine  and 
Massachusetts  fifty-six  cents,  Maryland  and 
New  Jersey  fifty-five  cents,  Missouri  and 
Pennsylvania  fifty-two  cents,  Ohio  fifty-four 
cents,  New  Hampshire  thirty-two  cents.  North 
Carolina  forty-six  cents,  and  Rhode  Island 
forty-one  cents  \)er  acre.     Even  at  these  low 


prices,  some  of  the  states  were  enabled,  on  ac- 
count of  the  vast  amount  of  their  donative 
shares  of  the  public  lands,  to  endow  most  lib- 
erally the  institutions  founded  under  the  act. 
Thus,  Pennsylvania,  with  780,000  scrip  acres, 
received,  at  the  low  rate  of  fifty-two  cents  per 
acre,  from  scrip  sales  alone  the  sum  of  $406,- 
000 ;  Massachusetts,  with  a  donative  share  of 
390,000  acres  of  the  public  domain,  from  scrip 
sales  alone  received  $219,000;  and  the  other 
wealthy  eastern  states  profited  from  scrip  sales 
proportionally.  When  we  take  into  account 
the  fact  that  the  populous  eastern  states  re- 
ceived the  lion's  share  of  this  vast  donation, 
and  that  the  new  prairie  states  and  territories 
and  the  northern  timbered  states  and  terri- 
tories were  despoiled  of  their  rich  and  valuable 
lands  under  this  act,  to  build  up  existing  edu- 
cational institutions  in  New  England,  New 
York,  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey,  Ohio,  In- 
diana, Illinois,  and  other  landless  states,  the 
improvidence  and  the  selfishness  of  this  legis- 
lation must  be  apparent  to  the  dullest  mind. 

Gage  county  suffered  severely  from  this 
wasteful  policy.  Speculators  thronged  her 
prairies,  their  pockets  and  carpetbags  stuffed 
with  college  scrip  bought  at  nominal  figures 
from  Illinois,  CJhio,  Indiana,  Pennsylvania, 
Massachusetts,  Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Mis- 
souri, Kentucky.  Alabama.  Mississippi,  Rhode 
Island,  New  York,  and  other  scrip  states,  and 
in  the  summer  of  1867  her  broad,  fertile  acres 
disappeared  as  by  magic,  at  the  very  moment 
when  Nebra.ska  had  ceased  to  be  a  territory, 
when  the  railroads  had  come  or  were  on  their 
way,  and  when  the  pioneer  days  were  over 
and  immigration  was  setting  toward  her  in  an 
e\-er  increasing  stream.  Keen-eyed  appraisers 
went  leisurely  over  our  county's  finest  upland 
regions  and  marked  for  entry  every  desirable 
tract  of  land.  The  following  table  shows  ap- 
proximately the  acreage  thus  entered  in  the 
several  townships  of  our  county  during  the 
years  1867  and  1868,  by  the  use  of  college 
scrip : 

Adams    19        sections 

Nemaha    19  1-2  sections 

1  lighland     .  .  .  .  • 8         sections 

Clatonia     3  1-4  sections 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


61 


Grant    14  1-2  sections 

Holt    23  1-2  sections 

Hanover    29  1-2  sections 

Hooker    29  1-2  sections 

Filley    19  1-2  sections 

Logan    20  3-4  sections 

Midland    W  3-4  sections 

Blakely 111-2  sections 

Lincoln    20  3-4  sections 

Riverside    24  3-4  sections 

Rockford    18        sections 

Sherman    311-2  sections 

Island  Grove    15  1-2  sections 

Blue  Springs    "3-4  sections 

Sicilv    12  1-2  sections 

Elm' S         sections 

In  the  northern  portion  of  the  county  at  that 
time,  most  of  Nemaha  township,  practically 
all  of  Highland,  and  a  large  part  of  both  Cla- 
tonia  and  Grant  townships  had  been  with- 
drawn from  public  entry  as  state  selections 
under  the  grant  by  the  general  government  to 
the  state  of  Nel^raska  of  500,000  acres  of  the 
public  domain  for  internal  improvement,  under 
the  act  of  September  4,  LS41.  In  1871  these 
lands  were  opened  for  homestead  entry,  the 
state's  application  for  the  reservation  of  such 
lands  having  been  rejected  by  the  general  land 
office  at  M'ashington,  and  were  thus  saved 
from  the  predatory  effects  of  the  Agricultural 
College  Land  Grant  Act.  In  the  south  part 
of  the  county  the  Otoe  and  Missouri  Indian 
reservation,  of  course,  escaped  speculative 
spoliation  of  the  college  scriptor.  The  dense 
population  of  those  townships,  where  practi- 
cally each  quarter-section  of  land  went  to  an 
actual  settler,  shows  what  would  have  taken 
place  had  not  more  than  one-half  of  Gage 
county's  fair  domain  gone  to  increase  the  edu- 
cational facilities  of  the  wealthy  eastern 
states  and  line  the  pockets  of  speculators  in 
college  scrip. 

It  may  interest  the  reader  to  know  that,  not- 
withstanding the  donation  of  this  Ir.rge  acre- 
age of  Gage  county  land  in  the  way  here  de- 
scribed, a  great  many  homestead  entries  were, 
in  fact,  made  in  the  county  by  actual  b(inafide 
settlers  prior  to  1S71,  when  the  opening  of  the 


lands  in  the  northern  part  of  the  county  notice- 
ably increased  the  number  of  such  entries. 

In  the  several  townships  of  the  county 
where  homestead  entries  could  be  made  prior 
to  the  above  date,  the  number  of  such  entries 
exclusive  of  cancellations,  was: 

Adams    46 

Highland    (  Michael  Weaver  ) 1 

Grant    46 

Hanover   — 

Filley    26 

Midland    •.  .29 

Lincoln    g 

Rockford    5-1 

Island  Grove   26 

Sicily    21 

Liberty    20 

Nemaha    — 

Clatonia   9 

Holt    12 

Hooker    21 

Logan    24 

Blakely     52 

Riverside    16 

Sherman    9 

Blue  Springs    14 

Elm    ^ 10 

A  total  of  four  hundred  and  forty-four  en- 
tries. Assuming  that  each  entry  covered  the 
maximum  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  the 
total  acreage  embraced  in  these  homestead  en- 
tries is  71,040.  Subsequent  to  January  1, 
1(S71,  the  public  lands  in  our  county  subject 
to  homestead  entry  were  almost  wholly  con- 
fined to  Nemaha,  Highland,  Clatonia,  and 
Grant  townships,  with  an  occasional  entry  in 
some  of  the  other  to\vnships,  usually  growing 
out  of  the  relinquishment  and  cancellation  of 
a  previous  one. 

In  these  calculations  the  lands  of  the  Otoe 
and  Missouri  Indian  reservation,  which  were 
ceded  to  the  United  States  in  1881  and  which 
were  afterward  sold  for  the  exclusive  benefit 
of  these  Indians,  for  cash,  to  actual  settlers 
only,  under  virtually  the  same  conditions  and 
restrictions  as  prevailed  under  the  homestead 
law,  are  not  considered.     But  if  we  add  the 


62 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUXTY,  NEBRASKA 


acreage  of  these  lands  to  the  acreage  covered 
by  homestead  entries  in  our  county,  it  will  be 
seen  that  even  then  less  than  one-half  the  ter- 
ritory of  Gage  county  passed  from  the  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  to  actual  settlers. 

Xor  are  the  lands  the  titles  to  whi:h  were 
acquired  under  the  preemption  laws  or  cash 
entries  with  military-bounty  land  warrants, 
considered  in  the  above  calculations,  but  the 
lands  so  purchased  from  the  United  States 
were  not  of  sufficient  acreage  to  affect  to  any 
exteiit  the  foregoing  results. 

A  moment's  reflection  will  show  the  striking 


contrast  between  the  beneficent  influence  of 
the  free-homestead  law  and  the  effects  of  the 
agricultural-college  act,  not  only  in  the  early 
settlement  and  development  of  our  county  but 
in  existing  and  future  conditions.  The  one 
operated  as  a  gift  from  heaven,  descending 
upon  an  independent,  self-respecting  and  in- 
dustrious population ;  the  other  forms  the 
basis  of  nearly  every  large  landed  fortune  in 
the  county.  Without  it  there  would  have  been 
no  such  individual  domain  as  the  Scully  es- 
tate, and  the  problem  of  landlordism  in  Gage 
county  would  be  scarcely  worth  considering. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE    PKJNEERS 

First  Glimpse  OF  Gage  CouxTv  —  Homebuilding  on    the   Prairies  —  Food   Supplies 
Fruits  —  Fish  —  Game  —  The    Buffalo  —  Clothes  —  Food  Substitutes  — 
First  Wheat  Crop  —  Spring  Wheat  —  Common  Salt  —  Social  Life 


It  should  certainly  be  the  delight  of  every 
age  to  pay  grateful  tribute  to  a  noble  or 
valiant  ancestry.  The  annals  of  mankind 
have  but  meager  interest  when  stripped  of  the 
personal  element  and  confined  to  a  bare  narra- 
tive of  events.  But  when  vivified  by  the  rec- 
ord of  the  lives  of  those  whose  heroic  daring 
lifted  them  far  above  the  ordinary,  common 
plane  of  living,  history  may  become  the  most 
pleasing  and  instructive  of  all  subjects  of 
study. 

Xo  history  of  our  county  would  be  com- 
plete which  failed  to  render  justice  to  its 
]3ioneers.  Three  score  and  four  years  have 
passed  since  the  first  wave  of  immigation 
broke  over  the  eastern  boundary  of  our  state, 
which  marked  the  close  of  the  long  struggle 
that  attended  the  creation  of  the  territory  of 
Nebraska.  Accustomed  as  we  now  are  to 
comfortable  and  often  luxurious  homes,  to 
cultivated  fields,  well  kept,  well  traveled  pub- 
lic highways,  to  groves,  orchards,  meadows, 
churches  and  schools,  to  thriving  villages  and 
cities,  to  newspapers,  manufactories,  banks, 
business  establishments,  railroads,  telegraph 
and  telephone  lines,  to  everything,  in  fact,  that 
typifies  modern  living,  we  are  too  prone  to  for- 
get the  hard,  difficult  pioneer  days,  when  there 
were  no  homes  save  the  settlers'  lonely  dug- 
out, sod-house,  or  log-cabin  ;  when  there  were 
no  fields  or  meadows  save  the  rolling  prairies, 
stretching  away  to  the  horizon  on  every  hand, 
as  far  as  the  eye  could  see  ;  when  there  were  no 
highways  save  the  meandering  paths  of  the 
bufl^alo  and   Indian  ;  when  there  were  no  or- 


chards, towns  or  cities,  no  railroads,  telegraph 
or  telephone  lines ;  when  all  the  landscape  was 
fresh  from  the  hand  of  God,  untouched  and 
unchanged  by  the  brain  and  genius  of  man. 

Not  only  are  we  in  our  present  state  of  hap- 
piness and  prosperity  prone  to  forget  the  as- 
pect that  nature  wore  in  these  primitive  soli- 
tudes to  the  wondering  view  of  the  first  in- 
habitants of  our  county,  but  we  may  even  be 
strongly  inclined  to  hold  as  of  trifling  conse- 
quence the  sacrifices  required  of  pioneer  life 
and  to  disparage  the  actual  hardships,  dan- 
gers, privations,  and  suffering  which  they  en- 
dured whose  heroism  and  courage  made  it 
possible  for  the  lines  of  civilization  to  be  ad- 
vanced upon  the  great  plains  region  of  the 
west. 

The  thin  line  of  immigrants  that  gathered 
in  the  spring  and  early  summer  of  1854,  on 
the  eastern  shore  of  the  Missouri  river,  await- 
ing the  signal  to  enter  the  new  territory  of 
Nebraska,  rapidly  spread  over  the  eastern  sec- 
tion of  the  territory  contiguous  to  that  mighty 
stream.  And  the  early  immigrants  of  Rich- 
ardson, Nemaha,  Otoe,  Cass,  Sarpy,  Douglas, 
and  some  other  of  the  eastern  counties,  on  ac- 
count of  the  navigation  then  existing  on  the 
river,  were  spared  many  of  the  privations  of 
pioneer  life.  But  those  who  later  pushed  on 
into  Gage  and  other  counties  remote  from  this, 
the  only  source  of  water  transportation  avail- 
able, experienced  in  every  degree  the  hardships 
of  isolated  pioneer  existence. 

If   we  turn  back  the  pages   that  cover  the 


64 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUxXTY,  NEBRASKA 


sixty-four  years  of  our  state's  history,  we  will 
find  that  in  1S54  when  people  of  the  New 
England,  the  .Middle,  and  the  South  Atlantic- 
states  spoke  of  the  west  they  meant  Ohio,  In- 
diana or,  at  the  farthest,  Michigan,  Wisconsin, 
Illinois,  —  or  Iowa  or  Missouri  when  they 
mentioned  our  western  border  or  frontier.  The 
immigrants  bound  for  Nebraska  territory  in 
1854,  and  for  several  years  thereafter,  usually 
crossed  the  Missouri  river  at  Omaha,  Platts- 
mouth,  Nebraska  City,  Brownville,  or  some 
less  known  village  nestled  amongst  the  bluffs 
on  the  western  shore  of  that  stream.  The 
means  of  travel  were  in  their  crudest  state. 
The  intending  immigrant  might  reach  the  river 
on  foot,  on  horseback  or  by  mule,  ox  or  horse 
drawn  vehicle,  or  by  the  deep-throated,  side- 
wheel  Missouri  river  steamboats,  which  in 
those  days  traversed  the  "Big  Muddy"  from 
St.  Louis  to  the  trading  posts  of  the  trappers, 
traders,  and  frontiersmen  scattered  along  its 
banks  to  its  source  in  the  northwest.  Once 
having  crossed  that  turbulent  stream,  the  im- 
migrant did  not  need  to  be  told  that  he  was  on 
the  very  confines  of  civilization,  since  the 
crudity  and  newness  of  his  surroundings  were 
vocal  with  evidence  of  that  fact.  He  found 
himself  hundreds  of  miles  from  the  nearest 
railway,  while  the  future  of  the  electric  tele- 
graph was  still  wrapped  up  in  a  congressional 
appropriation  of  thirty  thousand  dollars,  to  en- 
able Professor  Morse  to  perfect  his  wonderful 
invention.  Eastward  across  the  river  lay  the 
hamlets  and  sparse  settlements  of  the  new 
state  of  Iowa  ;  toward  the  west,  from  every 
point  as  far  as  the  eye  could  see,  stretched  the 
territory  of  Nebraska,  until  then  wholly  unoc- 
cupied by  civilized  man.  Of  one  thing  the  im- 
migrant could  feel  assured,  —  when  he  turned 
his  back  upon  the  Missouri  river  and  faced  the 
western  horizon  he  was  like  an  army  cut  off 
from  its  base  of  supplies  and  lines  of  com- 
munication. Before  him  lay  the  undulating  al- 
most treeless  prairie,  rolling  away  to  the  west, 
north,  and  south  like  the  billows  of  the  ocean, 
hundreds  upon  hundreds  of  miles.  It  was  the 
"Great  American  Desert"  of  the  old  geogra- 
phers :  the  "Plains"  of  the  military  department 
at   Washington ;   the   VA   Dorado  of   the   ])oor 


homeseeker ;  the  unorganized,  tenantless  ter- 
ritory of  Nebraska,  inhabited  only  by  wild  ani- 
mals and  by  the  red  man,  almost  equally  wild. 
-Vs  he  advanced  westward  a  little  in  the  bril- 
liant sunlit  plain,  the  last  trace  of  the  presence 
of  civilized  man  soon  vanished.  The  dim 
wagon  trail  grew  dimmer  and  more  uncertain 
and  finally  disappeared.  Around  on  every 
hand  the  blue  sky,  descending  to  the  horizon, 
encompassed  him  like  a  gigantic  dome.  A 
silence,  a  solitude  that  had  brooded  together 
over  these  vast  areas  since  the  world  began, 
closed  about  him  as  his  distance  from  the  river 
settlements  slowly  increased.  In  these  pri- 
meval solitudes  he  might  remain  for  weeks, 
aye  months,  without  seeing  a  single  human 
face  or  hearing  save  his  own,  a  single  human 
voice. 

Such  was  the  face  that  nature  wore  and  the 
conditions  that  life  presented  to  those  who 
drew  the  first  furrows  in  the  virgin  soil  of 
Nebraska.  But  the  true  pioneer  looks  be- 
yond his  present  hard,  uninviting  surround- 
ings, and  with  prophetic  vision  beholds  states 
and  nations  arise  from  tenantless  wildernesses 
and  naked  plains.  Others  may  grow  weary  or 
discouraged,  and  abandon  the  enterprise,  — 
not  so  the  pioneer.  Destiny  points  his  course 
and  with  unswerving  fidelity  he  calmly  awaits 
the  fruition  of  his  hopes  ! 

But  the  prospect  that  confronted  the  Gage 
county  pioneer  in  that  long  by -gone  day  — 
three  score  and  four  years  ago  —  was  not 
wholly  uninviting,  nor  his  surroundings  as 
desolate,  nor  his  condition  as  desperate  as  to 
the  unreflecting  mind  they  might  have  seemed. 
Resourceful  by  nature,  self-reliant  from  the 
hard  school  of  experience,  courageous,  deter- 
mined, he  was  his  own  best  guarantor  of  the 
successful  issue  of  his  venture  as  a  jiioneer  in 
the  new  territory.  If  the  winds  of  winter 
whistled  and  roared  about  his  lonely  cabin  and 
drifting  snows  almost  hid  it  from  sight,  within 
the  blazing  logs  glowed  on  the  rude  hearth  and 
all  was  warmth  and  cheer.  If  the  winter 
seemed  long,  cold,  and  hard,  it  burgeoned  at 
last  into  spring,  whose  vernal  clouds  and  dap- 
])led  sky,  whose  long  twilight  and  dawn,  song 
of  birds  and  distant  boom  of  prairie  chicken 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


65 


welcoming  the  rising  sun,  renewed  his  hopes 
and  spurred  him  on  to  yet  higher  endeavor. 
Summer  followed,  always  beautiful,  with  the 
wide  billowy  prairie  garbed  in  green,  white, 
pink,  red,  yellow,  and  gold;  then  autumn,  with 
its  brilliant  and  soothing  colors  outlining 
prairies  and  stream. 

The  occupations  of  the  pioneer  were 
many  and  varied.  His  first  care  was  to  pro- 
vide some  sort  of  shelter  for  himself  and 
family.  Here  in  Gage  county  this  usually  con- 
sisted of  a  log  cabin,  or  occasionally  a  sod 
house,    generally    comprising   a    single    room. 


constructed  for  that  purpose,  drawn  by  sev- 
eral yoke  of  oxen  or  sometimes  by  three  or 
more  horses  or  mules.  The  sod  was  usually 
broken  to  a  depth  of  about  three  inches,  the 
plows  being  equipped  with  either  a  standing 
or  a  rolling  cutter,  and  the  depth  of  the  fur- 
row regulated  by  a  device  which  held  the  plow 
steadily  on  a  level.  With  the  pioneers,  per- 
fection in  prairie  breaking  consisted  in  so 
turning  the  sod  that  the  edges  lapped  in  such 
a  way  as  to  give  to  a  strip  of  breaking,  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  weather-boarded  side  of  a 
frame  house.     The  breaking  could  be  planted 


",   /n    Geo    Suiwns,  lit   the  fi  oiitict  shctch  book  of  N    P.  Dodge 

First  Clmm  Cabin  in  Nebr\sk\ 
Built  by  Daniel  Norton,  between  Omaha  and  Bellevue,  in  1853 


probably  fourteen  by  sixteen  feet  in  di- 
mensions, of  a  single  low  story  in  height,  built 
in  some  bend  of  a  stream  or  other  sheltered 
spot.  It  was  often  scant  quarters  for  a  family, 
but  children  of  pioneer  parents  soon  learned 
to  accommodate  themselves  to  their  surround- 
ings and  the  exigencies  of  circumstances. 
After  his  family  the  pioneer's  next  care  was 
to  construct  shelter  for  such  stock  as  he  posses- 
sed and  to  provide  for  their  maintenance.  This 
shelter  was  apt  to  be  a  very  crude  affair, 
though  warm  and  safe,  while  hay  made  from 
blue-stem  and  other  grasses,  and  corn  grown 
on  the  newly  turned  sod,  furnished  an  abun- 
dant supply  of  animal  food. 

The  water  supply  for  man  and  beast,  and 
fuel  being  provided,  the  pioneer  turned  his 
attention  to  breaking  the  tough  prairie  sod, 
which  was  accomplished  as  a  rule  with  plows 


as  a  corn  field  either  by  dropping  the  corn  in 
every  second  or  third  furrow  and  covering 
with  the  next,  or  by  cutting  a  gash  in  the  up- 
turned sod  with  a  sharp  ax  or  spade  and  in- 
serting the  seed,  firming  the  earth  above  with 
the  foot.  Pumpkin  seeds,  watermelon  seeds, 
beans,  and  other  field  or  garden  truck  were 
planted  in  the  same  way,  and  this  method 
carefully  followed  was  most  apt  to  give  sat- 
isfactory results.  If  the  season  were  favor- 
able, crops  of  sod  corn  were  often  raised 
yielding  as  high  as  twenty-five  or  more  bushels 
per  acre,  and  the  rich,  new  soil  produced  po- 
tatoes, melons,  pumpkins,  squashes,  turnips, 
and  other  vegetables  in  great  profusion  and 
of  excellent  quality.  Ordinarily  a  very  few 
months  in  the  growing  season  of  the  year, 
under  favorable  conditions,  were  sufificient 
to  place  the  family  of  the  pioneer  beyond  the 


66 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  C(  )L-XTY,  NEBRASKA 


possibility  of  actual  want,  as  far  as  good 
wholesome  vegetables  and  Indian  corn  could 
insure  this  result.  For  sugar  a  ready  and  a 
very  wholesome  substitute  was  found  in  com- 
mon sorghum,  and  in  the  production  of  a  high 
grade  of  sorghum  molasses  the  pioneer  often 
attained  great  skill,  the  product  being  whole- 
some and  pleasant  to  the  taste.  Beginning 
with  the  first  settlement  of  the  county,  and 
extending  until  long  after  the  close  of  the 
great  Civil  war,  this  nutritious  product  entered 
largely  into  the  dietary  of  the  people. 

The  pioneers  of  our  county  found  grow- 
ing in  great  abundance  along  the  streams 
thickets  of  wild  plums  and  chokecherries. 
The  plums  were  often  of  large  size  and  de- 
licious flavor;  the  cherries,  large  and  meaty, 
hung  in  long,  thick,  grape-like  bunches  in 
profusion  on  the  low  bushes.  These  thickets 
were  apt  to  be  found  in  great  perfection 
in  the  bends  of  the  streams,  fomiing  a 
sort  of  fire  break  to  the  groves  of  tim- 
ber, of  which  they  were  the  fringe.  The  mold 
produced  by  their  thick  leaves  from  year  to 
year  afforded  almost  ideal  conditions  for  the 
spread  of  forest  growth.  In  the  early  spring, 
when  the  elms,  willows,  cotton  woods,  box 
elders,  oaks,  and  other  trees  along  the  streams 
were  putting  forth  their  tender  young  leaves 
and  the  fresh  green  of  the  prairies  was  be- 
ginning to  show  on  every  hand,  the  milk- 
v»-hite,  fragrant  blossoms  of  the  plum  and 
cherry  thickets  afforded  a  pleasing  diversity 
to  the  landscape,  often  outlining  the  course  of 
the  streams  for  great  distances. 

In  the  woods  were  found  numerous  vari- 
eties of  excellent  wild  grapes  and  wild  goose- 
berries, while  at  the  edges  of  the  prairies  the 
wild  strawberries  grew  in  abundance  —  and 
these  formed  the  staple  fruit  supply  of  the 
pioneers.  These  fruits  were  made  into  jellies, 
preserves,  jams,  butters,  and  other  forms  of 
food  for  winter  use,  and  with  the  thrifty 
housewife's  tomato  preserves,  pumpkin  but- 
ter, dried  corn,  and  other  preparations  of  a 
like  character,  they  formed  an  important 
feature  of  the  homely  family  food  supply  in 
the  early  days,  as  they  virtually  took  the  place 
of   the  orchards  and  vineyards  of   the  older 


settled  portions  of  the  country.  These  native 
wild  fruits  have  long  since  lost  their  value 
and  importance  as  sources  of  food  supply. 
The  plum  and  cherry  thickets  have  largely 
disappeared  and  even  the  wild  grape  and 
gooseberry  no  longer  enter  extensively  into 
the  dietary  of  the  present  population.  The 
custom  of  pasturing  non-tillable  and  timbered 
land  with  stock  has  proved  almost  fatal  to  the 
existence  and  spread  of  every  sort  of  wild 
shrub,  vine,  and  forest  growth.  The  time  is 
rapidly  approaching  when  the  scarcity  and 
the  high  cost  of  coal  and  lumber  will  force  a 
return,  in  the  matter  of  forestation.  to  the 
primitive  conditions  of  the  country-  as  respects 
the  protection  of  growing  timber  from  de- 
struction by  pasturage. 

The  food  supply  afforded  by  these  sources 
was  not  infrequently  supplemented  by  the 
streams,  the  groves,  and  the  prairie.  The 
waters  of  our  county  in  an  early  day  abounded 
with  several  varieties  of  edible  fish  which  were 
easily  taken  by  the  expenditure  of  a  little  time- 
and  trouble.  Many  of  the  most  desirable 
sort,  the  pike,  the  pickerel,  the  perch,  the  sun- 
fish,  the  chub,  the  red  horse,  have  long  since 
disappeared.  Throughout  the  pioneer  days 
our  prairies  abounded  with  grouse  or  prairie 
chickens,  the  woods  with  squirrels,  rabbits, 
raccoons,  and  quails,  with  an  occasional  flock 
of  wild  turkeys. 

Prior  to  the  advent  of  the  white  man.  Gage 
county  had  been  a  favorite  range  of  the  wild 
bufTalo,  the  elk,  the  deer,  the  antelope.  As 
late  probably  as  1855.  when  the  Otoe  and  Mis- 
souri tribes  of  Indians  were  transferred  from 
the  Missouri  river  country  to  our  county, 
these  great  game  animals  were  here  in  large 
herds  and  bands.  The  early  settlers  found 
their  remains  in  every  direction.  They  had 
slowly  retired,  however,  before  the  red  man, 
so  that  by  1857  the  buffalo  had  wholly  disap- 
peared from  the  confines  of  our  county,  but 
still  could  be  found  in  great  abundance  in  the 
region  west  of  the  Little  Blue  river.  Small 
Ijands  of  elk  were  occasionally  seen  in  the 
northern  portions  of  the  county,  while  deer 
and  antelope,  when  the  first  settlers  arrived, 
were   still    fairl\-   abundant,    especiallv    in   the 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


67 


winter  about  the  heads  of  draws  or  wherever 
thick   underbrush  afforded  shelter  and   food. 

Of  all  the  plains  animals  the  buffalo  was 
at  once  the  most  picturesque  and  the  most 
useful.  These  huge  beasts  ranged  the  prairies 
by  millions  from  the  Height  of  Land  in  the 
far  north  to  the  tide  waters  of  the  gulf  of 
]\Iexico.  They  spread  over  what  is  now 
Texas,  western  Louisiana,  Oklahoma,  New 
]\Iexico,  Kansas,  Colorado,  Nebraska,  Iowa, 
the  Dakotas,  and  Montana.  To  the  Indian 
tribes  inhabiting  these  regions  they  fur- 
nished clothing,  food,  materials  for  sewing 
garments,  knives,  arrow  points,  war  clubs, 
and  many  other  useful  articles  of  Indian 
manufacture  for  both  peace  and  war.  The 
building  of  tlie  trans-continental  railway  lines 
in  1867  and  in  subsequent  years,  by  multiply- 
ing the  means  for  their  destruction,  finally  led 
to  the  wanton  extinction  of  this  wonderful 
and  picturesque  indigenous  source  of  wealth. 
Such  representatives  of  this  once  numerous 
and  powerful  denizen  of  the  prairies  as  now 
remain  are  found  only  in  parks  or  shows,  in 
semi  or  complete  confinement,  regarded  as 
curiosities  and  fomiing  a  sad  commentary 
upon  the  careless  wastefulness  of  a  govern- 
ment to  which  conservation  of  natural  re- 
sources of  wealth  has  until  recently  been  a 
subject  of  minor  consideration  —  a  high 
sounding  phrase. 

From  such  sources  of  food  supply  as  here 
given,  the  pioneer  was  able  fully  to  supple- 
ment the  products  of  his  raw  land  and  stock 
of  domestic  animals  and  to  live  in  security 
against  the  demands  of  hunger  through  the 
most  strenuous  times,  until  his  harvest  ripen- 
ed again  upon  the  rich  soil  of  his  homestead 
and  the  returns  of  his  toil  and  foresight  finally 
rendered  him  indifferent  to  the  wild  plum  and 
grape,  the  bison,  the  deer,  the  antelope,  and 
those  conditions  of  living  which  his  depen- 
dence on  them  implied. 

Probably  the  most  perj)lexing  subject  with 
which  the  pioneer  had  to  deal  concerned 
clothes.  Even  before  the  beginning  of  the 
war  of  the  rebe'.lion,  in  1861,  clothing  ma- 
terials of  all  kinds  here  in  Gage  county 
were  scarce  and  expensive.     The  cost  of  all 


commodities  was  increased  by  the  Civil  war 
of  1861-1865,  which  also  augmented  the 
scarcity  of  many  articles.  But  in  the  case  of 
wearing  apparel  the  cost  was  not  only  very 
much  enhanced  but  there  was  often  little  of 
much  value  to  be  had.  The  scarcity  of  cloth- 
ing and  the  materials  for  it,  as  well  as  the 
cost  of  all  clothing  materials,  was  manifested 
in  many  ways,  but  chiefly  by  plainness  and 
inexpensiveness  of  attire.  Frequently  the  men 
and  boys  wore  coats  made  by  wives  and 
mothers  from  blankets  obtained  from  the  In- 
dians by  barter,  while  pantaloons  constructed 
from  meal  sacks  or  any  common,  cheap  mate- 
rial were  mu:h  in  evidence.  Shortly  before  the 
close  of  the  war,  and  for  some  time  thereafter, 
army  contract  clothing  which  had  been  con- 
demned and  rejected  by  the  go\-ernment  was 
to  be  had  at  fairly  reasonable  figures,  and  a 
civilian  partly  clad  in  army  blue  was  a  com- 
mon sight  on  the  streets  of  Beatrice  and  else- 
where long  after  the  war  had  closed.  Boots, 
shoes,  socks,  hats,  caps,  mittens,  gloves,  and 
other  articles  of  wearing  apparel  for  men  and 
boys  were  often  crude  in  manufacture  as  well 
as  material.  The  common  footwear  for  win- 
ter was  brogans  and  cowhide  boots  and  shoes, 
while  in  summer  the  country  population  dur- 
ing the  war  went  mostly  barefoot.  Occasion- 
ally Indian  moccasins  would  he  worn  and  not 
infrequently  rough  homemade  foot-gear, 
while  the  skins  of  animals  — •  the  badger,  coon, 
coyote,  squirrel,  sheep,  antelope,  deer  —  were 
often  used  for  caps,  mittens,  leggings,  and 
vests.  Leather  straps,  strips  of  buckskin,  and 
even  bedticking,  often  supplied  the  office  of 
suspenders,  and  all  articles  of  wearing  ap- 
parel were  more  or  less  of  home  manufacture. 

Wives  and  daughters  dressed  plainly  in 
homemade  garments.  The  sunbonnet  was  the 
most  fashionable  form  of  female  headgear 
and  crinoline  was  worn  by  all.  Outside  the 
villages,  Beatrice,  and  Blue  Springs,  what 
might  be  deemed  a  well  dressed  lady  or  gen- 
tleman was,  in  fact,  rarely  seen  amongst  the 
pioneers,  and  none  but  beggars  and  tramps 
would  now  think  of  dressing  as  rural  folks 
in  that  far  oft'  day  were  forced  to  dress. 

In    addition    to    his    other    privations,    the 


68 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  XEIiRASKA 


pioneer  during  the  opening  years  of  our  coun- 
ty's history  was  frequency  unable  to  pro- 
cure tea,  coffee,  wheat  flour,  coal  oil,  salt, 
and  many  other  commodities  of  common 
household  consumption,  nearer  than  the 
Missouri  river,  if  at  all.  Even  when  procur- 
able, such  articles  were  expensive  and  the  cost 
often  prohibitive.  For  tea  and  coffee  substi- 
tutes were  found  which  were  relished  by 
many.  Often  a  burnt  crust  of  corn  or  any 
bread,  parched  corn,  or  even  corn  meal  stirred 
with  sorghum  and  browned  over  the  fire  to 
the  size  and  consistency  of  grape  nuts,  made 
a  substitute  for  coffee.  For  tea  the  leaves  of 
summer  savory  and  various  other  herbs  were 
used  in  place  of  Bohea,  Souchong,  Young  Hy- 
son, and  Gunpowder.  The  substitute  for 
wheat  flour  was  of  course  corn  meal,  and 
many  a  family  was  reared  to  strength  and 
happiness  largely  on  corn  bread,  milk,  butter, 
garden  vegetables,  and  such  wild  meat  as  was 
available.  The  common  substitute  for  coal 
oil  for  lighting  purposes  was  the  tallow  candle 
or  the  old  fashioned  homemade  lamp,  consist- 
ing of  some  sort  of  receptacle,  as  a  saucer, 
teacup,  or  tin  plate,  with  a  twist  of  cotton  cloth 
for  a  wick,  immersed  in  lard. 

Wheat  was  not  grown  in  Gage  county 
prior  to  1<S61  or  1862,  when  spring  wheat 
was  introduced,,  and  for  many  years  it  con- 
stituted the  only  variety  planted.  At  first 
the  settlers  strove  to  raise  only  enough  for 
their  own  use,  as  there  was  no  home  market 
for  their  surplus.  And  in  addition  the  manu- 
factory of  wheat  flour  was  in  its  crudest 
state.  The  first  mill  for  grinding  grain  of  any 
kind  in  Gage  county  was  at  the  Otoe  res- 
ervation, and  for  several  years  corn  meal  and 
graham  flour  were  its  only  products.  The 
pioneer  hauled  his  wheat  to  Brownville,  Peru, 
Nebraska  City,  and  even  to  points  in  wes- 
tern Iowa,  to  obtain  his  supply  of  wheat  flour. 
But  about  the  year  1864  Fordyce  Roper  came 
into  possession  of  the  milling  franchise  in 
Beatrice  and  erected  a  small  mill,  run  by  water 
jjower,  on  the  present  site  of  Black  Brothers' 
fine  merchant  mill.  At  the  same  time  the 
L'nited  States  government  began  to  make 
while  flour  at  the  mill  on  the  Otoe  reserva- 


tion, and  thereafter  both  points  became  im- 
portant milling  centers  for  an  increasingly 
large  patronage.  These  were  toll  mills,  where 
the  farmer  delivered  his  grain  at  the  mill  in 
large  or  small  quantities,  divided  it  with  the 
miller  on  the  proportional  basis  fixed  by  law 
and  waited  around  until  his  grist  was  ground. 
Sometimes  this  might  require  several  days,  as 
each  customer  took  his  turn,  like  buying 
tickets  at  a  railway  station  on  an  excursion 
day.  Those  living  close  at  hand  could,  and 
often  did,  leave  their  grists  and  return  later 
for  their  share  of  the  flour. 

Spring  wheat  continued  to  be  a  staple  crop 
here  until  about  1876,  when  the  chinch  bug 
became  so  destructive  to  the  plant  that  its 
cultivation  ceased,  and  fall  wheat  was  substi- 
tuted for  it  with  more  happy  results,  while 
the  chinch  bug  as  a  pest  disappeared.  The 
surplus  wheat  crop  was  either  hauled  to  mar- 
ket at  some  Missouri  river  point  or  made  into 
flour  and  hauled  by  wagon  loads  to  the  stage 
stations,  ranches,  and  military  posts  along  the 
old  military  highway  from  Independence, 
Missouri,  Leavenworth,  Atchison,  and  St. 
Joseph  to  Fort  Kearney  and  beyond,  where 
it  found  a  ready  sale  at  good  prices,  along 
with  the  homesteaders'  surplus  butter,  eggs, 
beef,  pork,  and  corn. 

Common  salt  also  was  a  necessary  article 
that  was  difficult  to  obtain  through  the 
ordinary  channels  of  trade.  At  a  very 
early  period  in  the  settlement  of  our  state, 
the  salt  basin  at  Lincoln  became  a  factor 
of  much  importance  not  only  to  the  pio- 
neers of  Gage  county  but  also  to  hrge  areas 
of  the  settled  portions  of  the  territories  of 
Nebraska  and  Kansas  and  the  state  of  Iowa: 
for  here,  under  favorable  conditions,  the  set- 
tler by  a  few  hours'  labor  could  often  obtain 
enough  of  this  important  substance  to  last  an 
ordinary  family  for  an  entire  year.  Through- 
out the  summer  months,  in  dry  weather,  a  thin 
crust  of  salt  would  be  produced  every  twenty- 
four  hours  over  the  low,  flat,  semi-dry  surface 
of  the  basin,  and  this  could  be  scraped  up  by 
wagon  loads.  At  first  the  settlers  hauled 
their  scrapings  home  and  proceeded  to  cleanse 
ihe  salt   from  its  impurities.     This  was  done 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUXTY,  NEBRASKA 


69 


by  boiling  the  mass  in  sorghum  pans  or  large 
cast-iron  kettles,  skimming  off  the  impurities 
that  rose  to  the  surface  and  evaporating  the 
strong  brine  in  shallow  vessels.  From  a 
wagon  load  of  scrapings  could  be  produced 
bv  this  method  a  barrel  or  more  of  clean,  pure 
salt  in  a  few  days,  the  length  of  time  re- 
quired depending  upon  the  sun  and  the  at- 
mospheric conditions.  Under  favorable  cir- 
cumstances ten  inches  of  brine  could  be  com- 
I)letely    reduced    to   high-grade    salt    in    sixty 


pelled  to  return  home  saltless  after  camping 
for  several  days  on  the  salt  flats.  For  a  num- 
ber of  years  several  enterprising  gentlemen 
managed  to  make  a  very  comfortable  living  in 
this  industry,  besides  enjoying  in  its  season 
the  fine  shooting  of  wild  goose,  duck,  crane, 
and  other  water  fowl  that  in  myriads  fre- 
quented the  salt  lake  at  the  basin. 

Social  intercourse  and  social  diversions 
amongst  the  pioneers  were  on  a  plane  com- 
mensurate with  their  lives.  To  those  who 
are    whollv    unaccustomed    to    the    conditions 


Very  shortly  after  the  beginning  of  the 
Civil  war,  in  1861,  there  had  been  established 
at  the  basin  a  regular  industry  for  producine 
salt  in  quantities,  by  evaporation.  People 
coming  from  great  distances  for  salt  were 
enabled  to  exchange  flour,  corn,  eggs,  butter, 
potatoes,  and  other  farm  produce  for  salt 
ready  for  immediate  use.  Or  upon  the  pay- 
ment of  fifty  cents  per  hundred  weight  they 
could  buy  the  crude  salt  which  in  fair  weather 
had  been  scraped  together  in  heaps  under 
some  sort  of  shelter,  and  by  subsequent  evap- 
oration at  home  secure  their  supply  of  salt. 
This  was  a  great  convenience,  since  many  a 
settler  after  driving  for  miles  to  obtain  his 
annual  salt  supply  found  the  basin  black  and 
Ijare,  on  account  of  rain,  mist,  fog,  or  excep- 
tionallv  high  winds,  and  might  even  be  com- 


which  a  new  country,  devoid  of  every 
convenience  of  modern  living,  imposes  on 
its  adventurous  first  inhabitants,  the  life 
of  a  Gage  county  pioneer  may  seem  cruelly 
hard  and  unattractive  —  a  drab  existence  from 
which  one  might  reasonably  exclaim  in  the 
language  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer, 
"Good  T^ord  deliver  us."  Such  persons  take 
small  account  of  the  wonderful  adaptability 
of  human  nature  which  enables  the  normal 
man  often  to  turn  to  his  advantage  his  most 
,-idverse  surroundings.  And,  besides,  the  pio- 
neers of  a  new  country  are  largely  in  a  class 
by  themselves.  They  possess  the  prevision  of 
the  seer  of  visions  and  the  dreamer  of 
dreams,  and  are  endowed  with  the  never- 
failing  light  of  imagination.  To  such,  pioneer 
life  in  the  early  days  in   Nebraska  was  anv- 


70 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


thing  but  dull  and  uninteresting.  Its  great 
simplicity  and  its  freedom  from  those  exac- 
tions which  wealth  imposes  left  time  for 
social  intercourse.  None  were  rich  and  few 
so  poor  as  to  suffer  by  contrast  with  their 
neighbors.  Amongst  the  pioneers  there  ex- 
isted a  far  truer  sense  of  equality  than  can 
anywhere  be  found  in  communities  where  so- 
ciety is  complex  and  where  prevail  social  dis- 
tinctions resting  on  wealth,  ancestry,  or  posi- 
tion. Neighbors  were  few  and  often  remote, 
but  distance  was  no  barrier  to  social  inter- 
course in  those  far-off  simple  days.  The 
settlers  were  not  usually  pressed  for  time  and 
made  nothing  of  traveling,  even  with  slow  ox 
teams,  several  miles  to  spend  the  day  with 
friends.  Social  gatherings,  picnics,  Sunday 
schools  and  other  religious  meetings,  and  even 
dances,  were  apt  to  bring  together  whole 
townships.  Innocent  youthful  parties  were 
frequent,  where  the  masculine  element  ap- 
peared in  its  smartest  garments,  and  well 
greased  cow-hide  boots ;  the  feminine  in  its 
prettiest  pink  and  white,  most  fetching  poke 
bonnet  and  newest  crinoline.  Tag,  blindman's 
buff,  drop  the  handkerchief,  and  other  youth- 
ful games  served  to  pass  the  hours.  Refresh- 
ments consisted  at  all  social  gatherings  of 
native  walnuts,  popcorn,  and  sorghum  taffy, 
while  gaiety  ruled  the  happy  throng.  Danc- 
ing was  always  a  staple  amusement  for  the 
youth  of  the  community  and  even  for  those  of 
staider  deportment  and  greater  age.  It  was 
not  the  fox  trot  or  bunny  hug,  not  often  the 
waltz,  polka,   or'  schottisch,  but  the  Virginia 


reel  or  the  common  square  dance,  with  the 
fiddles  wailing  out  the  "Money  Musk,"  the 
"Arkansas  Traveler,"  "The  Girl  I  Left  Behind 
Me,"  and  other  simple,  lively  melodies,  while 
some  one  called  to  the  waiting  couples  on  the 
floor,  "Salute  your  partners  and  the  opposite 
lady" ;  when  this  act  of  ballroom  courtesy  had 
been  performed  there  would  come  the  sten- 
torian call,  "Forward  four,"  then  "Balance 
all"  and  "Swing  your  partners,"  and  so  on 
through  the  whole  set  of  dancing  figures  till 
the  call  "To  your  seats"  came  at  last,  after 
several  minutes  of  glorious  rythmic  motion  in 
time  to  the  rude  orchestra.  After  a  few  mo- 
ments of  social  intercourse,  laughter,  per- 
chance a  song,  the  floor  manager's  call  was 
again  heard  good  and  loud,  "Choose  your 
partners  for  the  next  dance,"  and  if  the  young 
swain  was  fortunate  enough  to  lead  forward 
the  girl  of  his  choice,  his  happiness  was  un- 
alloyed, and  in  the  minds  of  the  happy  sons 
and  daughters  of  our  pioneers  was  apt  to  be 
eclipsed  Byron's  description  of  the  great  ball 
in  Brussels  the  night  before  Waterloo,  when 

"There  was  a  sound  of  revelry  by  night, 
And  Belgium's  capital  had  gathered  there 
Her  beauty  and  her  chivalry' ;  and  bright 
The  lamps  shone  o'er  fair  women  and  brave 

men. 
A  thousand  hearts  beat  happily,  and  when 
Music  arose  with  its  voluptuous  swell, 
Soft  eye  looked  love  to  eye  that  spoke  again, 
And  all  went  merry  as  a  marriage  bell." 


CHAPTER  X 

■'H.wic  You  Ax  Eve,"  Poem  kv  Edwix  Ford  I'ipkr  —  Early  Gage  County  Markets  — 
Missouri  Ri\er-Oregon  Trail — 1  Nsri-i-Kii-.xcv  ^n■   Local  AIarkets — "High   Prices 
—  ^Missouri  River  Points  Best  Purcuasixc.  Markets — Oregon  Trail  Best  Sell- 
ing Market  —  Prs  Early  History  —  Great  South  Pass  —  John  C.  Fremont  — 
Origin  of  Term,  "Military  Road"  —  Starting      Point  —  Route  —  Marcus 
Whitman  —  Changes  —  Statistics    on  Northern  Route  —  An  Emigrant 
Route  —  Freighting  —  Nebraska  City  —  Overland  Stage  —  Pony  Ex- 
press —  Beatrice    Route  —  General  Descriptiox. 


Have  You  An  Eye? 

ll;n'e  you  an  eye  for  the  trails,  the  trails. 

The  old  mark  and  the  new? 
What  scurried  here,  what  loitered  there. 

In  the  dust  and  in  the  dew? 

Have  you  an  e\e  for  the  beaten  track. 
The  old   hoof  and  the  young? 

Come  name  me  the  drivers  of  yesterday. 
Sing-  me  the  songs  they  sung. 

<  ',  was  it  a  schooner  last  went  by. 
And  where  will  it  cross  the  stream? 

Where  will  it  halt  in  the  early  dusk. 
And   where   will   the  camp-fire   gleam? 

They  used  to  take  the  shortest  cut 
The   cattle    trails    had    made ; 

Get  down  the  hill  by  the  easy  slope 
To  the  water  and  the  shade. 

But  it's  barbed  wire  fence,  and  section  liii 

And   kill-horse   travel   now  : 
Scoot  you  down  the  canyon  bank, — 

The  old  road's  under  plough. 

Have  you  an  eye  for  the  laden  wheel, 

The  worn  tire  or  the  new? 
Or  the  sign  of  the  prairie  pony's  hoof 

That  was  never  trimmed  for  shoe? 

<)  little  by-path  and  big  highway, 

.\las,  your  lives  are  done. 
The  freighter's  track  a  weed-grown  ditch. 

Points  to  the  setting  sun. 


The  marks  are  faint  and  rain  will  fall. 

The   lore  is   hard   to  learn. 
<  >  heart,  what  ghosts  would  follow  the  road 

If  the  old  years  might  return.^ 

The  lack  of  convenient  markets  was  per- 
haps as  serious  a  drawback  to  the  early  settler 
of  our  county  as  any  of  his  numerous  hard- 
ships. At  the  very  beginning,  of  course,  there 
was  no  need  of  markets.  On  account  of 
drought,  hot.  dr_\'  winds,  grasshoppers,  or  other 
calamity,  it  frequently  happened  that  the  set- 
tler had  no  surplus,  but  had  to  supplement  the 
meager  returns  from  his  claim  by  such  food 
as  the  streams,  woods,  and  prairies  supplied. 
But  in  process  of  time  the  problem  of  markets 
l:)e;ame  immediate  and  insistent. 

It  was  often  as  necessary  to  be  able  to  buy 
in  a  convenient  market  as  to  sell,  and  for  many 
}-ears  here  in  Gage  county  merchants  were  able 
to  supply  to  only  a  limited  degree  the  neces- 
sary demands  of  the  population.  Their  stock 
in  trade  consisted  principally  of  the  bare  ne- 
cessities of  life,  flour,  bacon,  cheese,  crackers, 
sorghum,  and  the  like,  and  as  they  would  not 
usuall}-  pay  cash  for  farm  products,  transac- 
tions with  their  customers  were  largely  a  mat- 
ter of  barter,  —  calicoes  for  eggs,  denims  for 
gooseberries  or  butter.  There  being  virtually 
no  home  market  where  the  pioneer  could  both 
sell    for    cash    the    surplus    of    his    labor   and 


'  From  Pcirhrd  fC 
Ford   Finer    (1917). 


<id  Olhc 


¥A\ 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


skill  and  purchase  the  necessary  articles  of 
consumption  for  himself  and  family,  he  was 
often  compelled  to  seek  distant  markets  in 
which  to  sell  as  well  as  buy.  Thus  many  of 
the  commonest  thing^s  in  use,  as  a  hat,  a  bon- 
net, a  slate,  a  pencil,  a  spool  of  thread,  farm 
machinery,  tools,  clothing,  and  the  like,  could 
often  be  had  only  at  some  Missouri  river  town 
or  village.  This  condition  of  affairs  is  toler- 
ably well  stated  by  the  following  extract  from 
a  letter  written  from  the  interior  of  the  ter- 
ritory of  Nebraska  as  late  as  January  26.  1866, 
in  which  the  writer  says : 

"I  will  give  you,  or  attempt  it, —  for  nothing 
could  show  except  the  actual  living  here, — 
some  idea  of  the  life  in  these  western  wilds. 
In  the  first  place  we  are  about  as  near  in  the 
center  of  nowhere  as  I  care  to  be.  We  are 
lifty  miles  directly  west  from  Nebraska  City, 
which  is  the  nearest  point  where  one  can  buy 
a  shoe-string  or  a  spool  of  thread.  Farms  here 
are  'ranches.'  cattle  yards  'corrals' ;  there  are 
no  fences  of  any  account,  people  herd  their 
cattle  by  day,  put  them  in  corrals  by  night, 
that  is  they  'corral'  them." 

From  the  beginning  of  our  county's  history 
in  1857  until  long  after  the  close  of  the  Civil 
war,  until  the  railroads  came,  in  fact,  prices 
ranged  high  on  all  sorts  of  commodities.  This 
was  due  to  two  main  causes,  namely,  a  depre- 
ciated medium  of  exchange  and  che  absence  of 
anything  like  a  system  of  rapid  transporta- 
tion. 

In  1854,  the  year  which  witnessed  the  first 
imigration  to  our  county,  the  whole  country 
was  laboring  in  the  slough  of  a  financial  de- 
pression induced  in  part,  if  not  mainly,  by  a 
system  of  state  banks,  commonly  designated 
"Wildcat,"  which  sprang  into  being  after  the 
dissolution  of  the  historic  United  States  F>ank 
and  its  branches,  by  Andrew  Jackson,  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  in  1835.  These 
l)anks  were  invariably  what  is  known  as  banks 
iif  issue,  and  their  Ijcautifully  engraved  notes, 
cnntaining  the  figure  of  an  Indian,  dog,  buffalo, 
tree.  cat.  or  other  meaningless  device,  and  in- 
tended to  circulate  as  money,  were  so  often 
utterly  worthless  as  to  destroy  public  confi- 
dence  in   the  entire   system.     Gold   and   silver 


were  at  a  tremendous  premium  and  difficult  to 
get.  All  classes  of  chattels  as  well  as  land 
had  an  inflated  value  when  measured  by  this 
medium  of  exchange.  In  every  case  the  value 
of  a  bill  depended  wholly  on  the  rating  of  the 
bank  issuing  it,  and  this  could  be  shown  only 
by  the  "National  Business  Man's  Detector," 
a  publication  intended  to  give  the  financial 
standing  and  condition  of  every  bank  of  issue 
in  the  United  States.  The  public  was  wholly 
dependent  upon  such  information  as  to  the 
solvency  of  the  banks  of  the  entire  country. 

The  working  of  this  system  of  exchange 
can  be  illustrated  by  a  concrete  example.  An 
immigrant  party  to  the  territory  of  Nebraska, 
in  1859,  tendered  the  owner  of  the  ferry  boat 
in  payment  of  its  passage  charge  at  the  point 
where  they  desired  to  cross  the  Missouri  river, 
a  bill  issued  by  a  newly  organized  bank  of 
Indiana.  The  bank  was  not  listed  in  the  copy 
of  the  "Detector"  in  the  possession  of  the 
ferryman,  and  he  refused  the  transportation 
until  he  could  telegraph  to  St.  Joseph  and 
receive  a  reply  assuring  him  of  the  solvency  of 
the  Indiana  bank.  This  took  from  three 
o'clock  until  seven  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  All 
business  transactions  were  necessarily  con- 
ducted in  the  same  cautious  and  cumbersome 
manner.  The  National  Banking  Act  of  1864 
introduced  a  stable  as  well  as  a  uniform  mon- 
etary system,  under  the  general  supervision  of 
the  government  of  the  United  States,  and 
"Wildcat"  banking  became  a  thing  of  the 
past.  But  to  such  a  deplorable  state  had  the 
country  fallen  that  the  issuance  of  the  treasury 
notes  and  the  national  greenback  currency 
early  in  the  great  Civil  war,  as  war  measures, 
acted  upon  the  business  world  like  the  elixir 
of  life,  and  this  even  though  the  greenback 
currency  itself  possessed  a  purchasing  power 
far  below  its  par  value.  For  example,  in  1863 
one  hundred  dollars  in  gold  would  purchase 
two  hundred  and  eighty  dollars  in  greenbacks. 

As  the  products  of  the  soil  increased,  the 
pioneers,  following  a  natural  law  of  commerce, 
turned  to  the  nearest  cash  market  in  which  to 
dispose  of  their  surplus.  Tliis  was  the  great 
continental  highway  which  was  known  to  the 
traders,  ranchmen,  and  overlaml  stage  drivers 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


as  the  "Military  Road,"  but  whicli  is  now 
more  generally  and  perhaps  more  properly 
designated  as  the  "Oregon  Trail."  The  cer- 
tainty of  good  cash  prices  for  almost  every 
description  of  farm  produce  and  live  stock 
along  this  great  thoroughfare  not  only  re- 
lieved the  settlers  of  the  dread  and  fear  of 
want,  but  also  had  the  effect  of  steadying  and 
stimulating  prices  at  home,  thereby  creating 
a  better  home  market.  Through  the  agency 
of  this  great  publi;  roadway  eastern  Nebraska 
rapidly  filled  with  immigrants  and  the  slow 
accumulation  of  wealth  and  fixed  capital  set 
in.     This  great  national  highway  was  so  much 


their  expeditions  to  and  from  the  post  the 
Astorians  established  a  traveled  road  over 
most  of  the  distance  between  Independence 
and  Astoria.  Later  this  dim  trail  was  fol- 
lowed by  the  hunters,  trappers,  and  traders 
whose  occupations  took  them  to  the  northwest, 
and  finally  by  explorers,  surveyors.  Mormons, 
and  emigrants  making  their  way  to  Utah, 
Oregon,  and   California. 

In  1824  the  Great  South  Pass,  at  the  head 
of  the  Sweetwater,  a  branch  of  the  North 
Platte  river,  was  discovered,  which  greatly 
facilitated  western  travel.  In  1832  Captain 
Bonneville  passed  over  this  route  from  Inde- 


a  part  of  our  county's  early  development  and 
entered  so  largely  into  the  life  of  the  pioneers 
that  it  deserves  a  place  in  this  history. 

The  ( )regon  Trail  has  been  described  as  the 
route  of  "a  national  movement" —  the  migra- 
tion of  a  people  seeking  to  avail  itself  of  op- 
portunities which  have  come  but  rarely  in  the 
history  of  the  world  and  will  never  come  again. 
It  was  a  route  every  mile  of  which  had  been 
the  scene  of  hardship  and  suffering,  yet  of 
high  purpose  and  stern  determination. 

The  known  history  of  the  great  trail  begins 
with  the  establishment  of  the  fortified  trad- 
ing post  known  as  Astoria,  on  the  Columbia 
river,  fifteen  miles  above  its  mouth,  in  1811, 
by  the  agents  of  John  Jacob  Astor,  head  of 
the  .\merican  Fur  Company.  This  venture 
failed   and   in   1813  it  was  abandoned,  but  in 


pendence  to  California,  and  it  is  claimed  that 
his  was  the  first  wagon  train  over  the  great 
trail.  In  1842  John  C.  Fremont,  but  recently 
commissioned  lieutenant  of  a  corps  of  topo- 
graphical engineers,  by  the  direction  of  the 
federal  government,  led  a  surveying  expedi- 
tion from  Independence,  by  way  of  the  Grand 
Island,  in  the  Platte,  to  the  Great  South  Pass 
and  the  Rorky  mountains.  This  expedition 
was  accompanied  by  the  famous  Kit  Carson, 
as  guide.  It  consisted  of  twenty-seven  armed 
and  mounted  men,  together  with  the  young 
lieutenant  and  the  twelve-year-old  son  of 
Colonel  Thomas  H.  Benton.  United  States 
senator  from  Missouri,  whose  daughter,  Jes- 
sie, was  Fremont's  wife. 

In   1846  Fremont's   route   was   followed   b\- 
Joel   Palmer  and  party,  from  Indiana,  and  b>- 


74 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBR/VSKA 


Edwin  Hryant  and  party.  In  1843  the  Oregon 
immigration  set  in,  and  in  1847  began  the  great 
Mormon  immigration  to  Utah,  which  lasted 
for  several  years.  The  main  body  of  "Saints."' 
some  fifteen  thousand,  led  by  Brigliam  Young, 
set  out  from  Florence,  Nebraska,  taking  the 
already  broken  trail  up  the  north  side  of  the 
Platte  river.  But  from  Independence,  West- 
port,  and  other  Missouri  frontier  points  the 
Mormons  followed  the  southern  trail  to  its 
confluence  with  the  northern  in  the  neighbor- 


Jon  n    C.    Fremont 

hood  of  the  Great  South  Pass.  In  1849  came 
the  gold  excitement  in  California  and  a  mighty 
emigration  set  in  across  the  plains,  along  the 
old  trail.  The  following  year  General  Albert 
Sidney  Johnston,  who  was  afterward  com- 
mander in  chief  of  the  Confederate  armies,  led 
an  armed  force  of  five  thousand  men  along  the 
trail,  from  Fort  Leavenworth  to  Utah,  to  sup- 
press a  threatened  Mormon  insurrection  sup- 
posed to  be  brewing  at  the  time,  and  from  this 
circumstance  the  eastern  portion  of  this  great 
highway  was  thereafter  frequently  designated 
as  the  "Military  Road."  In  18.^9  placer  gold 
was  discovered  in  the  sands  of  Cherrv  creek. 


where  the  city  of  Denver  now  stands,  and  the 
following  year,  placer  gold  was  discovered 
also  in  the  neighborhood  of  Pike's  Peak.  The 
immigration  that  followed  these  several  events 
in  our  country's  history  imparted  to  the  old 
trail  tremendous  importance  in  the  settlement 
and  development  of  the  west  and  northwest. 

The  actual  starting  point  of  the  Oregon  Trail 
was  St.  Louis,  the  entrepot  of  western  trafSc. 
From  there  to  the  mouth  of  the  Kansas  the 
journey  could  be  made  by  steamboat.  But 
from  the  Kansas  river,  the  upward  course  of 
the  Alissouri  for  six  hundred  miles  was  al- 
most directly  north,  which  rendered  its  further 
navigation  for  those  bound  for  Oregon,  Cali- 
fornia, and  the  Rocky  mountain  regions  unde- 
sirable. Land  expeditions  became  the  recog- 
nized mode  of  travel  from  this  and  all  upper 
Missouri  river  points  to  the  far  west  and 
northwest.  The  Santa  Fe  Trail  also  had  its 
origin  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kansas  river,  some 
years  prior  to  the  beginning  of  overland  travel 
aking  the  Oregon  Trail.  To  accommodate 
the  travel  on  both  these  historic  thoroughfares 
the  town  of  Independence,  Missouri,  first 
sprang  into  existence,  and,  later,  Westport, 
now  the  site  of  Kansas  City.  Here  were  lo- 
cated horseshoeing  and  repair  shops,  general 
outfitting  and  supply  houses,  horse  and  cattle 
markets, —  everything  in  fa:t  required  by  the 
caravan  trade  to  Santa  Fe  and  the  Oregon 
country. 

From  Independence  the  two  trails  were  at 
first  identical  as  far  out  as  the  neighborhood 
of  the  town  of  Gardner,  Kansas,  a  distance  of 
forty-one  miles.  Here  a  signboard  was 
erected,  with  an  arrow  pointing  toward  the 
northwest  and  bearing  the  legend  "Ro.\d  to 
Oregon."  Never  before  or  since  those  mem- 
orable days  has  a  wayside  sign  annoimced 
so  long  or  so  unusual  a  journey.  Leading  on 
from  this  point  across  the  country  in  an  al- 
most straight  northwest  direction,  the  original 
trail  crossed  the  Kansas  river  at  Papin's  Ferry, 
where  the  state  capital  of  Kansas  now  stands, 
eighty-one  miles  out  from  Independence.  The 
general  itinerary  of  the  early  trail  from  this 
point  to  its  destination  was  as  follows ;  Turkey 
creek,   ninetv-five   miles:   I'.ig  \'ermillion,    160 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


miles:  Big  Blue  river.  174  miles;  here  the 
ford  was  first  near  the  mouth  of  the  Little 
Tilue.  and  eight  miles  beyond  the  ford  Albert 
Sidney  Johnston's  "Military  Road"  came  in. 
bringing  the  travel  from  Leavenworth.  Atchi- 
son and  St.  Joseph ;  later  the  ford  was  diverted 
to  Marysville,  where  the  junction  of  the  two 
roads  occurred.  The  trail  entered  Nebraska 
a  trifle  east  of  the  southwest  corner  of  Gage 
county. —  at  a  point  now  occupied  by  a  mon- 
ument ;  then  on  to  Big  Sandy.  226  miles,  near 
its  junction  with  Little  Blue  river:  Platte 
river.  316  miles.  The  trail  now  led  up  the 
immediate  valley  of  the  Platte  to  the  junction 
of  the  North  and  South  Forks ;  Lower  Ford, 
on  the  South  Platte,  493  miles,  where  the  road 
to  the  headwaters  of  the  South  Platte  led 
awav  from  the  trail,  up  the  south  bank  of  the 
river:  Ash  Hollow,  513  miles:  Court  House 
Rock,  555  miles ;  Chimney  Rock,  571  miles ; 
Scott's  Blufifs,  616  miles :  Laramie,  667  miles : 
Rig  Springs,  680  miles:  Ford  of  the  Platte, 
794  miles :  Poison  Spider  creek.  807  miles : 
Independence  Rock,  838  miles:  Devil's  Gate, 
843  miles:  Great  South  Pass,  947  miles.  Thi^ 
is  the  most  celebrated  pass  in  the  entire  length 
of  the  continental  divide.  Here  the  trail  passed 
from  Atlantic  to  Pacific  waters.  Pacific 
S])rings,  952  miles :  Green  river,  1014  mile> ; 
Fort  Bridger,  1070  miles:  junction  with  Sub- 
lette's Cutofif,  1146  miles.  This  cutoff  elim- 
inated the  wide  detour  by  way  of  Fort  Bridger  : 
it  left  the  main  road  at  Little  Sandy.  9>')9  miles, 
and.  taking  a  nearly  due  west  course,  reached 
liig  Sandy,  975  miles:  then  Green  river,  1021 
miles:  l>ear  river,  1093  miles:  Smith's  Fork, 
1149  miles:  Thompson's  Fork,  1156  miles: 
Soda  Springs,  1206  miles:  Fort  Hall,  1288 
miles  ( on  the  left  bank  of  the  Snake  river, 
the  third  important  station  on  the  trail  and  the 
first  on  Columbia  waters)  :  American  Falls, 
1308  miles;  Salmon  Falls,  1439  miles;  Fort 
Boise,  1585  miles;  Powder  river,  1692  miles; 
the  Grande  Ronde,  1736  miles :  L'matilla  river, 
1791  miles:  Columbia  river,  1835  miles;  The 
Dalles,  1893  miles;  the  Cascades,  1977  miles: 
Fort  A'ancouver,  opposite  the  mouth  of  the 
Willamette,  head  of  navigation  on  the  Colum- 


bia and  properly  regarded  as  the  end  of  the 
Oregon  Trail,  2020  miles.^ 

From  the  time  of  the  Astorians  (  1811-1813) 
to  the  beginning  of  the  Oregon  immigration 
(1843)  travel  along  the  great  trail  was  largely 
confined  to  exploring,  surveying,  and  military 
expeditions  and  to  parties  engaged  in  hunting, 
trapping,  and  trade  with  the  Indians.  These 
stopped  short  of  covering  the  entire  distance 
to  the  Pacific  coast  by  a  direct  continuous 
route,  and  it  remained  for  Dr.  Marcus  \Miit- 


GHAM  Young 


man  to  demonstrate  to  the  world  the  practic- 
ability of  such  a  highway  of  travel. 

In  1836  this  remarkable  man  had  gone  into 
the  Oregon  country  as  a  missionary-physician, 
under  the  auspices  of  the  American  Board.  In 
1842  he  returned  to  the  east  deeply  impressed 
with  the  great  value  of  Oregon  and  strongly 
opposed  to  the  treaty  of  1818.  which  estab- 
lished joint  occupation  of  that  territory  by 
England  and  the  L'nited  States.  He  visited 
^^'ashington  for  the  purpose  of  acquainting  the 
federal  authorities  with  the  advantages  that 
would  accrue  to  this  country  by  the  abroga- 
tion of  the  treaty  and  the  acquirement  of  the 

-  Nota  bene:  All  distances  here  given  arc  from 
Independence. 


Scenes  at  Ash  Hollow 

The  original  rcmtc  of  the  Oregon  Trail  from  the  south  fork  to  the  north  fork  of  the  Platte  river,  by 
way  of  Ash  Hollow,  descends  northward  from  the  plain,  3,763  feet  above  sea  level,  four  miles  to  the  river 
bottom,  at  an  elevation  of  3,314  feet.  From  the  head  of  the  Hollow,  the  trail,  still  visible,  wound  to  the 
left  about  a  mile  along  the  sharp-backed  ridges,  then  dropped  by  a  very  steep  descent  eastward  into  the 
Hollow,  which  here  widens  into  a  level  vallev  from  a  quarter  to  half  a  mile  wide.  The  spring,  a  luxury 
to  the  emigrants,  still  bubbles  up  strongly  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  mouth  of  the  Hollow,  and  at  the 
base  of  a  cliff  about  100  feet  high,  as  shown  in  the  middle  picture.  The  cedar  and  ash  trees  at  one  time 
abundant  here  all  have  been  cut  awav.  Marks  of  Fort  Grattan,  occupied  as  a  post  in  1855,  are  visible  near 
the  river  north  of  the  east  side  of  the  mouth  of  the  Hollow.  On  the  west  side  of  the  mouth  of  the 
Hollow  are  the  modest  gravestones  of  Rachel  Patterson,  a  girl  of  nineteen,  who  died  in  1849,  and  of 
two  infant  children. 

The  figure  on  the  hill  is  that  of  Mr.  Albert.s,  editor  <if  the  Morton   History. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


undisputed  possession  of  Oregon.  To  prove 
the  accessibility  of  Oregon  to  settlers  he  assist- 
ed in  leading  a  large  party  of  emigrants,  in 
1843,  from  Independence  to  the  Columbia 
river.  In  1844,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  sec- 
retary of  war,  he  prepared  a  bill  for  passage 
by  congress,  which  provided  for  the  establish- 
ment of  military  posts  along  the  trail  from 
Papin's  Ferry  to  the  Pacific  coast,  for  the 
])rotection  of  emigration.  ^^'riting  of  this 
measure,  to  the  secretary,  in  1844,  he  says: 

"I  have  since  our  last  interview,  been  in- 
strumental in  piloting  across  the  route  de- 
scribed in  the  accompanying  bill  and  which  is 
the  onl\-  eligible  wagon  road,  no  less  than  two 
hundred  families,  consisting  of  one  thousand 
persons,  of  both  sexes,  with  their  wagons, 
amounting  in  all  to  more  than  one  hvuidred 
and  twenty,  with  six  hundred  and  ninety-four 
oxen  and  seven  hundred  anrl  sevent\-three 
loose  cattle.  As  pioneers  these  people  have 
established  a  durable  road  from  Miss(.)uri  to 
(Jregon,  which  will  serve  to  mark  permanently 
the  route  for  larger  numbers  for  each  suc- 
ceeding year." 

C)n  the  arrival  of  these  emigrants,  in  1843, 
a  provisional  government  was  formed  for  Ore- 
gon, and  on  the  withdrawal  by  England  of  her 
claims,  Oregon,  in  1848,  was  erected  into  a 
territory  of  the  United  States.  These  results 
are  justly  attributable  to  the  indefatigable  en- 
ergy, courage  and  patriotic  ardor  of  Dr.  Mar- 
cus Whitman. 

"As  a  highway  of  travel  the  Oregon  Trail  is 
the  most  remarkable  known  to  history.  Con- 
sidering the  fact  that  it  originated  with  the 
spontaneous  use  of  travelers ;  that  no  transit 
ever  located  a  foot  of  it;  that  no  level  estab- 
lished its  grades ;  that  no  engineer  sought  out 
the  fords  or  built  any  bridges  or  surveyed  the 
mountain  passes ;  that  there  was  no  grading 
to  speak  of  nor  any  attempt  at  metalling  the 
road-bed  : —  and  the  general  good  quality  of 
this  two  thousand  miles  of  highway  will  seem 
most  extraordinary.  Father  De  Sniet,  who 
was  born  in  Belgium,  the  home  of  good  roads, 
pronounced  the  Oregon  Trail  one  of  the  finest 
highways  in  the  world.  At  the  proper  season 
of  the  vear  this  was  undoubtedlv  true.       Be- 


fore the  prairies  became  too  dry.  the  natural 
turf  formed  the  best  roadway  for  horses  to 
travel  on  that  has  probably  ever  been  known. 
It  was  amply  hard  to  sustain  traffic,  yet  soft 
enough  to  be  easier  to  the  feet  than  even  the 
most  perfect  asphalt  pavement.  Over  such 
roads,  winding  ribbon-like  through  the  verdant 
prairies,  amid  the  profusion  of  spring  flowers, 
with  grass  so  plentiful  that  the  animals  reveled 
in  its  abundance,  and  game  everywhere  greet- 
ed the  hunter's  rifle,  and  finally,  with  pure 
water  in  the  streams,  the  traveler  sped  his  way 


Peter  J.  De  Smet,  S.  J. 


with  a  feeling  of  joy  and  exhilaration.  But 
not  so  when  the  prairies  became  dry  and  parch- 
ed, the  road  filled  with  stifling  dust,  the 
stream-beds  mere  dry  ravines,  or  carrying  only 
alkaline  water  which  could  not  be  used,  the 
game  all  gone  to  more  hospitable  sections,  and 
the  summer  sun  pouring  down  its  heat  with 
torrid  intensity.  It  was  then  that  the  Trail 
became  a  highway  of  desolation,  strewn  with 
abandoned  property,  the  skeletons  of  horses, 
mules  and  oxen,  and,  alas,  too  often,  with 
freshly  made  mounds  and  head  boards  that 
told  the  pitiful  tale  of  suffering  too  great  to  be 
endured.  If  the  trail  was  the  scene  of  ro- 
mance,   adventure,    pleasure,    and   excitement. 


78 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


so  it  was  marked  in  every  mile  of  its  course 
by  human  misery,  tragedy  and  death. 

"The  immense  travel  which  in  later  years 
passed  over  the  trail  carved  it  into  a  deep  fur- 
row, often  with  several  parallel  tracks  making 
a  total  of  a  hundred  feet  or  more.  It  was 
an  astonishing  spectacle,  even  to  white  men, 
when  seen  for  the  first  time.  It  may  easily  be 
imagined  how  great  an  impression  the  sight 
of  this  road  must  have  made  upon  the  minds 
of  the  Indians.  Father  De  Smet  has  recorded 
some  interesting  observations  upon  this  point. 

'"In  1851  he  traveled,  in  company  with  a 
large  number  of  Indians,  from  the  Missouri 
and  Yellowstone  rivers  to  Fort  Laramie,  where 
a  great  council  was  held  that  year  to  form 
treaties  with  the  several  tribes.  Most  of  these 
Indians  had  not  been  in  that  section  before  and 
were  quite  unprepared  for  what  they  saw.  'Our 
Indian  companions,'  says  Father  De  Smet, 
'who  had  never  seen  but  the  narrow  hunting 
paths  by  which  they  transport  themselves  and 
their  lodges,  were  filled  with  admiration  on 
seeing  this  noble  highway,  which  is  as  smooth 
as  a  barn  floor  swept  by  winds,  and  not  a  blade 
of  grass  can  shoot  up  on  it  on  account  of  the 
continual  passing.  They  conceived  a  high 
idea  of  the  countless  White  Nation,  as  they  ex- 
press it.  They  fancied  that  all  had  gone  over 
that  road  and  that  an  immense  void  must  ex- 
ist in  the  land  of  the  rising  sun.  Their  coun- 
tenances testified  evident  incredulity  when  I 
told  them  that  their  exit  was  in  no  wise  per- 
ceived in  the  land  of  the  whites.  They  stvled 
the  route  the  Great  ^iledicine  Road  of  the 
Whites."  "  ^ 

The  settlement  and  development  of  the  west 
produced  many  changes  in  the  old  Trail  as 
known  to  Fremont,  the  "Pathfinder."  and 
other  early  western  travelers  and  explorers. 
In  February,  1859,  the  Hannibal  &  St.  Joseph 
Railroad  was  completed  to  St.  Joseph,  Mis- 
souri, and  in  1861  it  was  extended  to  Atchison, 
Kansas.  During  the  late  '50s  and  early  '60s 
navigation  on  the  Missouri  attained  its  great- 
est volume  and  towns  sprung  up  as  by  magic 
along  its  banks.  Each  progressive  step  in  the 
march  of  western   development  was   reflected 

■■'Hist.   Am.  Fur   Trade,   vol.   i,   Chitendcn. 


in  the  history  of  the  old  highway.  Branch 
lines  shot  out  from  Fort  Leavenworth,  Atchi- 
son, St.  Joseph,  Brownville,  Nebraska  City, 
and  other  Missouri  river  towns,  all  converg- 
ing upon  the  old  trail  and  intersecting  it  before 
it  reached  Fort  Kearney.  The  most  noted  of 
these  has  already  been  mentioned  as  starting 
from  the  vicinity  of  Council  BluiTs  and  thread- 
ing the  valley  of  the  Platte,  north  of  the  river. 
— the  avant  courier  of  the  L'nion  Pacific  Rail- 
road. The  non-Mormon  travel  along  this 
route,  though  bound  to  California,  Oregon,  and 
the  northwest,  followed  it  to  Shinn's  Ferry 
or  a  ford  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of 
Fort  Kearney,  and,  crossing  the  Platte,  con- 
tinued on  up  the  south  side  of  the  river,  tra- 
versing the  Independence  trail.  As  time 
developed  the  necessity  for  diverting  travel 
to  the  gold  fields  of  Colorado  and  other  sec- 
tions of  the  great  west,  branch  lines  led  away 
from  the  Oregon  Trail,  to  Salt  Lake  City, 
San  Francisco,  Denver,  and  the  southwest,  as 
far  even  as  Santa  Fe,  but  until  the  construction 
of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  in  1867-1868, 
the  Oregon  Trail,  its  cutoffs  and  numerous 
branches  leading  into  and  away  from  it,  was 
the  sole  connected  line  of  travel  across  the 
continent  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific 
ocean,  and  the  usual  means  of  communication 
throughout  the  great  plains  and  Rocky  moun- 
tain regions  of  the  west,  as  well  as  the  entire 
Pacific  slope. 

No  statistics  are  available  which  in  brief 
compass  illustrate  the  tremendous  importance 
of  the  great  trail,  considered  as  a  unit.  The 
following  news  item  taken  from  the  Dakota 
City  Herald,  under  date  of  August  13.  1859. 
affords  some  evidence  of  the  volume  of  travel 
and  emigration  on  the  route  from  Council 
Bluffs  and  Omaha  up  the  Platte  valley,  at  that 
early  date; 

"The  secretary  of  the  Columbus  Ferry  Com- 
pany at  Loup  Fork  informs  the  Omaha  Xc- 
braskian  that  the  emigration  across  the  plains 
up  to  June  25th  was  as  follows :  1807  wagons, 
20  hand  carts.  5401  men,  434  women.  480 
children,  1610  horses,  406  mules.  610  oxen, 
6000  sheep,  had  crossed  this  ferry  at  that  point. 
This    statement    includes    no    portion    of    the 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


79 


J.Iormon  emigration,  but  embraces  merely  Cali- 
fornia, Oregon  and  Pike's  Peak  emigrants  and 
their  stock,  all  going  westward.  The  return- 
ing emigration  crosses  at  Shinn's  Ferry,  some 
fifteen  miles  below  the  contluence  of  the  Loup 
Fork  with  the  Platte.  Many  of  the  outward- 
bound  emigrants  also  crossed  at  the  same 
point,  so  it  is  probable  that  not  less  than  4000 
wagons  have  passed  over  the  ^lilitary  Road 
westward  from  this  city  since  the  20th  of 
.March." 

The  reader  will  observe  from  the  foregoing- 
extract  that  the  uses  made  of  the  old  trail  were 
many  and  varied.  In  1859  the  high  tide  of 
western  travel  and  emigration  had  not  been 
reached,  but  from  that  year  forward  to'  the 
completion  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railway,  it 
increased  by  leaps  and  bounds.  From  a  dim, 
narrow  roadway,  traveled  at  wide  intervals  by 
exploring,  surveying,  and  military  expeditions 
and  thin  lines  of  emigration,  it  expanded  under 
its  increasing  usefulness  into  a  broad,  smooth, 
hard-beaten  highway  of  great  national  inter- 
est and  importance.  Unlike  the  Appian  Way 
and  other  great  roads  centering  in  Rome,  the 
products  of  military  necessity  and  ambition,  the 
Oregon  Trail  in  all  its  branches  and  ramifica- 
tions was  wholly  devoted  to  the  arts  of  peace 
and  the  activities  of  a  young  and  mighty  na- 
tion. 

As  a  route  of  emigration  its  value  and  use- 
fulness can  never  be  exaggerated.  Long  before 
a  trans:ontinental  railway  was  projected,  when 
in  fact  railway  construction  was  yet  in  its  in- 
fancy in  this  country,  it  was  the  means  of 
peopling  Utah,  Oregon,  California,  Colorado, 
and  other  sections  of  the  great  west.  Over 
it  travel  was  maintained  across  the  continent 
of  North  America.  Travelers  bent  on  business 
or  pleasure  and  persons  engaged  in  the  diplo- 
matic service  of  foreign  countries  freely  made 
use  of  this  great  thoroughfare,  to  escape  the 
long,  tedious,  and  often  dangerous  sea  voyage 
around  Cape  Horn,  to  and  from  the  Orient. 

The  military  occupation  of  the  west  by  our 
government,  and  the  tremendous  emigration 
that  followed  it,  gave  rise  to  a  freighting  in- 
dustry by  mule  and  ox  trains  unlike  anything 
previously    known    in    our    history,    and    this 


formed  a  most  conspicuous  element  in  the  use- 
fulness of  the  trail.  No  statistics  are  avail- 
able to  give  an  adequate  idea  of  the  tremen- 
dous volume  of  goods  annually  carried  across 
the  plains  when  this  industry  was  at  its  max- 
imum. As  early  as  1861,  Nebraska  City,  by 
becoming  the  headquarters  of  the  firm  of  Rus- 
sell, Majors  &  VVaddell,  contractors  for  the 
transportation  of  government  freight  to  the  far 
west,  grew  quickly  into  one  of  the  principal 
outfitting  towns  on  the  Missouri  river.  A  cen- 
sus of  the  freighting  business  from  that  point 
taken  for  the  year  1865  showed  the  following- 
figures:  Men  employed  in  the  movement  of 
grain  and  merchandise  westward,  8.385 ; 
wagons,  7.365;  mules,  7,231:  oxen,  50,712: 
freight  transported,  31,445,428  pounds.  When 
it  is  considered  that  Nebraska  City  was  only 
one  of  several  great  outfitting  stations  on  the 
Oregon  Trail  and  its  branches,  that  most  of 
the  freight  was  carried  long  distances  over 
plain  and  n-iountain,  across  unbridged  streams, 
in  huge,  creaking,  linch-pin,  thick-tired,  can- 
vas-covered wagons,  capable  of  transporting 
fron-i  seven  to  ten  tons  of  freight  and  drawn 
by  from  five  to  ten  yoke  of  oxen  or  more,  trav- 
eling at  the  rate  of  two  miles  an  hour  and  re- 
quiring months  to  make  the  round  trip,  the 
gigantic  proportions  of  this  industry  n-iust  be 
apparent  to  the  dullest  mind. 

Tlie  following  description  of  Nebraska  City 
in  its  pristine  days  as  a  tern-iinus  of  freight 
traffic  is  taken  from  a  letter  written  from  near 
there  in  1866,  and  is  fairly  representative  of 
the  scenes  constantly  occurring  at  all  ^Missouri 
river  outfitting  towns  for  freight  traffic  across 
the  plains : 

The  streets  are  not  filled  with  carriages  and 
gay  equipages,  though  I  saw  some  elegant 
turnouts,  but  there  are  huge  freight  wagons  on 
every  street,  at  every  corner :  there  are  hun- 
dreds of  oxen  and  mules  attached  to  them. 
Often  ten  yoke  of  oxen  to  a  wagon,  —  six 
span,  oftener  four,  of  mules  driven  with  one 
line.  There  is  heard  the  lumbering  of  these 
"prairie  schooners,"  the  bellowing  of  oxen, 
braying  of  mules,  cracking  of  long  whips, 
which  for  me  is  a  show  of  itself,  to  see  the  dex- 
terity with  which  the  drivers  use  them.  There 
is  the  hallowing,  yelling  of  tean-isters,  mingled 


The  lower  view  represents  the  freighting  train  known  as  "Bull  of  the  Woods,"  owned  by  Alexander  and 
James  Carlisle.  From  a  photograph  taken  on  Main  street,  Nebraska  City,  looking  east  from  Sixth  street, 
and  loaned  by  Mr.  O.  C.  Morton.  This  train  consisted  of  twenty-five  wagons  with  six  mules  to  each 
wagon,  and  was  considered  one  of  the  finest  outfits  known  to  freighters. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


81 


with  more  oaths  than  I  have  ever  heard  before 
in  all  my  life  together.  Everything  is  high  in 
this  prairie  land.  Aly  mother  sells  some  of  her 
butter  for  sixty  cents  per  povmd,  none  less  than 
fifty  cents,  and  that  at  home;  cheese  thirty 
cents  and  thirty-five  cents ;  and  so  on  with 
everything.  The  great  amount  of  travel  on  the 
road  half  a  mile  from  us  makes  all  the  market 
one  needs  at  present.  Trains  passing  with 
thirty  wagons  (twenty-four  or  eighteen,  those 
being  the  usual  numbers)  are  or  have  been  un- 
til recently  of  almost  daily  occurrence,  —  some 
going  to  the  mountains,  others  going  to  the 
states.  It  is  also  the  stage  route  (or  one)  of 
Ben  Holliday's  express  through  to  California, 
so  that  we  have  a  daily  mail  one  day  from  the 
west,  the  next  from  the  east.  It  seems  odd  in 
such  a  new  country,  so  devoid  of  almost  every- 
thing civilized,  to  see  the  coach  daily,  going 
and  coming. 

As  a  highway  for  the  Overland  stage  from 
the  Missouri  river  to  the  Pacific  coast  the  great 
trail  performed  a  most  interesting  and  a  most 
important  service  to  the  American  people. 
Light  CoiK-ord  coaches  were  usually  recjuired 
for  this  service,  and  with  the  rapid  growth  of 
the  west,  the  business  ultimately  attained  huge 
proportions. 

From  1850  down  to  the  date  when  the  old 
trail  ultimately  fell  into  disuse  the  overland 
stage  was  largely  devoted  to  the  carrying  of 
the  mails.  The  carrying  of  passengers  and  ex- 
press packages  also  formed  important  items  of 
its  receipts.  At  first  monthly  trips  were  made, 
then  semi-monthly,  and  finally — -when  the 
overland-stage  business  fell  into  the  hands  of 
Ben  Holliday.  who  in  many  respects  was  one 
of  the  most  remarkable  men  of  his  day  —  a 
stage  service  was  evolved  in  which  stages  ran 
daily  on  fast  and  schedule  time  from  Atchison, 
Kansas,  to  Placerville,  California,  in  the  re- 
markably short  period  of  seventeen  days,  car- 
rying mail  and  passengers  each  way. 

An  important  incident  to  the  old  highway 
was  the  pony  express,  a  movement  which  orig- 
inated, in  1860,  with  William  H.  Russell,  of 
Leavenworth,  Kansas.  It  was  a  system  of 
mounted  couriers,  wholly  devoted  to  the  private 
transmission  of  letter-mail,  newspapers,  tele- 
graph messages,  important  government  dis- 
patches, liank  drafts,  and  the  like.     It  followed 


the  St.  Joseph  branch  of  the  Overland  trail  to 
Kennekuk,  forty-four  miles  out  from  the  Mis- 
souri river,  where  it  intersected  the  main  Inde- 
pendence line,  and  thereafter  followed  the  old 
trail  to  Fort  Kearney,  thence  on  up  the  Platte 
valley  to  old  Julesburg,  where  it  forded  the 
South  Fork,  followed  the  old  Mormon  trail  up 
Lodge  Pole  creek,  thence  through  the  Great 
South  Pass  to  Fort  Bridger,  Salt  Lake  City, 
and  on  to  Sacramento,  where  it  connected  with 
navigation  on  the  Sacramento  river  to  San 
Francisco.  The  trip  from  its  eastern  terminus, 
at  St.  Joseph,  Missouri,  to  its  western  terminus 
usually  required  eight  days,  and  the  return 
trip  the  same  number  of  days.  It  was  inaug- 
urated at  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  the  3d 
day  of  April,  1860,  with  many  demonstrations 
of  satisfaction  throughout  its  entire  course 
across  mountain  and  plain.  At  San  Francisco 
cannon  were  fired,  flags  displayed,  speeches 
made,  flowers  distributed,  and  at  both  terminals 
crowds  gathered  to  witness  the  departure  of 
the  first  daring  rider  of  the  pony  express.  The 
horses  selected  for  this  service  were  hardy  and 
fleet  plains  stock.  The  equipment  consisted  of 
a  strong,  well  made  saddle  and  a  mail  sack  of 
the  old-fashioned  saddle-bags  pattern,  and  an 
emergency,  lariat.  The  rider  was  booted  and 
spurred.  A  leathern  holster  on  either  side  of 
the  pommel  of  his  saddle  carried  a  navy  re- 
volver. No  time  was  wasted  at  the  stations 
where  changes  of  horses,  and  often  of  riders, 
were  made.  LTsually  the  rider  found  his 
mount  already  groomed,  saddled,  and  held  by 
an  assistant  awaiting  his  arrival.  He  had  only 
to  change  his  holsters  and  mail  bags  from  one 
saddle  to  the  other,  mount  the  fresh  steed  and 
away  with  the  speed  of  the  winds.  At  sta- 
tions where  riders  were  relieved,  the  fresh 
rider  would  be  awaiting  the  incoming  man, 
mounted  and  ready  to  fly  on  his  journey. 

This  service  lasted  approximately  eighteen 
months  and  was  discontinued  only  when  the 
telegraph  line,  of  which  it  was  the  ai'aut  cour- 
ier, reached  Fort  Kearney,  in  1861.  It  was 
by  far  the  most  picturesque  feature  of  over- 
land travel  along  the  wonderful  old  trail,  .and 
no  other  business  venture  of  the  great  plains 
region  had  a  more  daring  or  romantic  historv 


82 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


or  left  a  more  lasting  impression  than  the  pony 
express. 

This  storied  old  highway  was  reached  from 
Beatrice  and  other  sections  of  Gage  county 
mainly  by  the  Brownville  road.  This  branch 
of  the  overland  trail  crossed  the  Big  Blue  river 
at  the  old  Market  street  ford;  it  then  swung 
northward  to  the  river,  and,  taking  the  course 
of  the  present  highway  to  a  point  about  two 
miles  west  of  the  Cub  creek  crossing,  it  left 
the  creek  and  started  on  its  course  across  the 
high  prairie  on  what  was  known  as  Twenty- 
two  Mile  Ridge;  it  struck  Little  Sandy  creek 


river,  near  where  the  town  of  Alexandria  if, 
now  located.  Four  miles  above  Hackney's 
was  the  Kiowa  stage  station ;  six  miles  beyond 
the  Kiowa  was  the  Oak  Grove  ranch,  located 
near  the  dreaded  Narrows,  a  point  on  the  Little 
Blue  river  where  the  prairies  terminated 
abruptly  in  low,  steep  bluffs,  forcing  the  travel 
on  a  narrow  strip  of  land  along  the  river  bank. 
A  little  east  of  the  Narrows  was  the  ranch  of 
the  ill-fated  Ubanks  family.  Comstock's  ranch 
was  a  short  distance  above  this  pass,  and  be- 
yond Comstock's  was  the  Little  Blue  stage  sta- 
tion.    Here  the  trail  left  the  river  and  struck 


Type  OF  THi;  Famius  Concord  Stage-coach 


at  Thomas  Helvey's  ranch,  and  a  mile  further 
on  to  the  west,  at  Shumway's  ranch,  it  inter- 
sected the  main  trail.  Three  miles  west  of 
Shumway's,  at  Patterson's  ranch,  Big  Sandy 
was  crossed,  and  the  traveler  entered  the  stir- 
ring scenes  and  pulsing  life  of  the  great  na- 
tional highway. 

At  Big  Sandy,  besides  Patterson's  ranch, 
there  were  Slaughter's  ranch,  D.  C.  Jenkins' 
ranch,  George  VVeisel's  ranch,  and  some  others. 
In  addition  to  these  there  was  a  stage  station, 
kept  by  Edward  Farrell.  From  Farrell's  sta- 
tion on  the  I'ig  Sandy,  the  trail,  a  broad, 
smooth  highway,  led  almost  due  west  across 
Eighteen  Mile  Ridge,  past  Thompson's  stage 
station,  twelve  miles  out  from  Farrell's,  to 
the  great  Hackney  ranch,  on  the  Little  Blue 


out  across  the  Nine  Mile  Ridge.  At  Buffalo 
ranch  it  returned  to  the  Little  Blue  and  con- 
tinued up  that  stream  eight  miles  to  Pawnee 
ranch.  Four  miles  beyond  was  Spring  ranch, 
an  overland  stage  station,  where  the  trail 
climbed  a  long,  steep  hill  to  the  high  prairie, 
and  led  on  to  Thirty-two  Mile  Creek,  a  station 
located  on  a  little  stream  of  that  name,  eight 
miles  southwest  of  the  present  city  of  Hastings. 
From  Thirty-two  Mile  Creek  it  ran  in  a  north- 
westerly direction  through  a  collection  of  low, 
rounded  sand  hills  to  the  Platte  river  bottom, 
where  it  intersected  the  Nebraska  City  branch 
of  the  trail  at  Hook's  ranch,  nine  miles  this 
way  from  Fort  Kearney. 

From  almost  any  point  in   Gage  county  a 
market  could  be  found  for  farm  produce  in  two 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


83 


or  three  days'  travel,  at  the  ranches  and  sta- 
tions along  the  old  trail.  Money  was  abun- 
dant, prices  good,  and  the  excitement,  ro- 
mance, and  thrilling  adventure  afforded  by  the 
trail  was  an  added  inducement  to  draw  the 
pioneers  and  their  sons  to  this  traffic. 

A  person  who  now  travels  by  rail  or  motors 
over  country  roads  from  any  portion  of  south- 
eastern Nebraska  to  the  site  of  old  Fort  Kear- 
ney, in  the  general  direction  held  by  the  Ore- 
gon Trail  or  its  branches,  encounters  evidence 
of  wealth  and  refinement  on  every  hand.  He 
sees  a  succession  of  thriving  cities  and  villages, 
connected  by  rail,  telegraph,  and  telephone 
lines.  Beautiful  homes,  smiling  countrysides, 
and  a  happy,  intelligent,  and  thriving  popula- 
tion greet  him  on  every  hand.  To  such  a  trav- 
eler the  condition  of  life  which  this  same  sec- 
tion of  country  presented  along  the  old  con- 
tinental cross-country  highway  from  about 
1850  to  1867  would  be  impossible  of  visualiza- 
tion. To  the  traveler  in  those  heroic  days  the 
only  signs  of  civilized  life  were  the  old  high- 
way and  its  ever  shifting  kaleidoscopic  popula- 
tion. The  road  itself  constituted  not  the  least 
wonderful  of  the  objects  which  he  encoun- 
tered. It  led  across  the  naked  prairie  from  the 
Missouri  river,  —  wide,  hard,  and  bare.  It  fol- 
lowed no  definite  course,  unless  a  generally 
northwesterly  direction  could  be  so  designated. 
It  crossed  bridgeless  streams,  traversed  locali- 
ties of  great  natural  beauty  and  vast  prairie 
meadows  where  millions  of  buffalo,  elk,  deer, 
and  antelope  found  abundant  pasturage  dur- 
ing the  greater  portion  of  the  year.  On  either 
side,  stretching  away  in  all  directions,  was  the 
uninhabited  and  apparently  limitless  prairie. 
The  few  stage  stations  and  ranches  that 
marked  its  course  served  to  emphasize  the 
emptiness  and  desolation  of  the  country 
through  which  it  passed. 

This  great  thoroughfare  was  traveled  by  as 
heterogeneous  a  mass  of  people  as  could  be 
found  anywhere  in  the  world,  — ■  merchants, 
capitalists,  freighters,  prospectors,  miners, 
hunters,  trappers,  traders,  soldiers,  Indians, 
emigrants,  Mormons,  gamblers,  adventurers, 
|ileasure-seekers,  tourists,  and  the  representa- 


tives of  foreign  nations,  —  passing  from  east 
to  west  or  from  west  to  east,  all  in  teeming, 
restless  activity.  From  the  top  of  a  Concord 
stage-coach,  drawn  by  three  span  of  horses 
selected  for  this  service  on  account  of  their 
speed  and  endurance,  and  rushing  ahead  on 
schedule  time  at  the  rate  of  ten  or  more  miles 
per  hour,  pausing  at  the  stations  only  long 
enough  to  change  jaded  for  fresh  teams,  the 
traveler  might  go  for  days  without  being  out 
of  sight  of  long  trains  of  huge  wagons  drawn 
slowly  by  from  six  to  ten  yoke  of  oxen  or  half 
as  many  mules. 

The  pioneers  either  hauled  their  produce  to 
the  ranches  or  stations  on  the  trail  or  sold  at 
home,  at  remunerative  prices,  to  those  who 
were  regularly  engaged  in  freighting  along  the 
trail.  Among  these  were  Samuel  Jones  and  his 
son  William  R.  Jones,  Peter  Hanna,  John  Dun- 
bar, Jefferson  B.  Weston,  Joseph  Saunders, 
David  Kilpatrick,  Nathan  Blakely,  William 
Blakely,  Thomas  and  Joseph  Kline,  Volney 
Whitmore,  George  Whitmore,  M.  C.  Butler, 
J.  W.  Kelly,  Gilbert  T.  Loomis,  Alvah  Ayers, 
and  many  others  whose  names  are  not  readily 
recalled.  The  ranches  along  the  old  trail  were 
kept  by  a  fearless  class  of  frontiersmen,  whose 
business  it  was  to  supply  the  freighters,  sol- 
diers, stage-drivers,  emigrants,  and  travelers 
with  provender  for  their  stock,  and  for  them- 
selves food  and  drink, — -quite  often  drink. 
Amongst  the  Gage  county  people  who  were  en- 
gaged from  time  to  time  in  the  ranching  and 
stage-driving  business  were  Albert  Holliday, 
who  for  many  years  kept  the  Hackney  ranch; 
Charles  N.  Emery,  first  a  stage-driver  and 
then  a  keeper  of  Pawnee  and  other  ranches ; 
Jim  Bainter;  "Big"  Fred  and  "Little"  Fred 
Roper;  Joseph  B.  Roper;  Joseph  Milligan ; 
William  E.  Mudge ;  William  Hess ;  Asa  and 
John  Latham ;  Robert  Emery ;  Carl  Emery ; 
John  Gilbert;  Ray  Grayson;  William  Blakely, 
and  George  Hurlburt. 

This  storied  highway  is  now  a  thing  of  the 
past.  The  part  it  played  in  the  settlement  and 
development  of  the  great  west  may  never  be 
fully  understood  or  rightly  appreciated.  Over 
the  greater  part  of  the  distance  traversed  by  it 


84                                 HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 

there  is  left  scarcely  a  trace.     In  a  few  years  regions  of  our  country,  the  far  west  and  north- 
there  will  be  none  who  could  mark  its  course,  west,    what    the    Union    Pacific    Railroad,    of 
But  as  long  as  men  note  and  love  the  history  which    it    was    the    precurser,    became    on    its 
of  their  country,  this  one  fact  must  always  re-  completion  over  half  a  century  ago. 
main,  —  for  nearly  three  score  vears,  beginning  There  are  highways  born,  the  old  roads  die  — 

.,    ^,      A   i.     ■     '    •     1011    ^u'           ^      4.-       1  Can  you  read  what  once  they  said, 

with  the  Astonans  m  1811,  this  great  national  ^^^^^^    >^^  wav-worn  ditch  and  the  sunflower 

thoroughfare,  with  its  branches  and  ramifica-  clump, 

tions,  was  to  the  plains  and  Rocky  mountain  And  the  needs  of  folk  long  dead  ?  * 


From  Barbed  W 


CHAPTER  XI 

FIRST  ACTUAL  SETTLERS 

Otoe   and    Missouri    Tribes   oe    Indians — History  —  Reservation  —  Relation  oi 
NEERS  to  Indians  —  Plans  to  sell  Reservation  —  Sale  —  Report  oe  Lewis 
AND    Clark  —  Indian    Village  —  Removal  of  Indian  Tribes  — 


The  first  actual  settlers  of  Gage  county  were 
of  course  the  Otoe  and  Missouri  consolidated 
tribes  of  Indians.  The  treaty  under  which  all 
their  lands  in  the  territory  of  Nebraska  were 
ceded  to  the  United  States,  except  their  reser- 
vation on  the  Big  Blue  river,  was  made  Alarch 
15,  1854,  and  became  immediately  effective. 
Section  2  of  the  treaty  required  the  Indians  to 
vacate  the  ceded  lands  and  remove  to  their 
new  reservation  "as  soon  after  the  United 
States  shall  make  the  necessary  provision  for 
fulfilling  the  stipulations  of  this  instrument  as 
they  can  conveniently  arrange  their  affairs,  and 
not  exceeding  one  year  after  such  provision  is 
made." 

The  report  of  George  Heppner,  the  gov- 
ernment agent  for  these  Indians,  to  the  Indian 
Bureau  at  Washington,  under  date  of  Novem- 
ber 1,  1855,  conveys  the  information  that  they 
were  then  occupying  their  new  reservation, 
in  what  afterward  became  Gage  county,  and 
had  raised  a  crop  of  corn  for  their  support 
during  that  season.  According  to  this  report 
there  were  at  that  time  approximately  six  hun- 
dred Indians  on  the  reservation,  which  was 
doubtless  their  full  tribal  strength. 

When  first  known  to  white  men,  the  Otoe 
tribe  of  Indians  were  one  of  a  group  of  three 
related  tribes,  the  others  being  the  Iowa  and 
Missouri  tribes  of  Indians,  all  speaking  prac- 
tically the  same  language.  They  appear  never 
to  have  been  numerous,  like  the  Pawnees, 
Comanches,  and  some  others  of  the  plains  In- 
dians. Their  history  as  far  as  known  con- 
tains   little   more   than   a   struggle   to   defend 


themselves  against  their  enemies,  until  they 
came  virtually  under  the  domination  of  the 
white  man.  They  are  first  mentioned  by  some 
of  the  French-Canadian  traders,  trappers,  and 
missionaries.  Father  Marquette,  in  1673,  ap- 
parently locates  them  on  his  autograph  map 
about  the  upper  Des  Moines  river,  and  Mem- 
bre,  the  companion  of  LaSalle,  in  1680,  places 
the  tribe  one  hundred  and  thirty  leagues  west 
of  the  Illinois,  on  the  Wisconsin.  In  1700, 
Iberville,  a  French-Canadian  explorer  and  the 
first  governor  of  the  province  of  Louisiana, 
said  that  the  Otoe  and  Iowa  Indians  were 
with  the  Omahas.  Charlevoix,  in  1721,  found 
them  on  the  east  side  of  the  Missouri,  above 
the  Kansa  tribe,  on  the  west  side  of  the  Mis- 
souri. In  1761  they  were  located  on  the 
Platte,  between  its  mouth  and  the  Pawnee 
country  to  the  west.  Here  they  were  found 
by  Lewis  and  Clark  in  1804,  on  the  south  side 
of  the  river,  twenty  miles  from  its  mouth ;  but 
the  explorers  record  the  fact  that  they  had 
formerly  lived  twenty  miles  above  the  mouth 
of  the  Platte  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Mis- 
souri river.  Having  been  greatly  diminished 
by  war  and  smallpox,  in  1817  they  migrated 
to  the  neighborhood  of  the  Pawnees,  near  the 
city  of  Fremont,  under  whose  protection  they 
seem  to  have  lived  for  a  time,  and  were  here 
incorporated  with  the  Missouris.  For  some 
time  prior  to  1841  the  two  tribes  were  lo- 
cated near  the  mouth  of  the  Platte  river,  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Bellevue.  Later  they 
removed  to  a  reservation  near  Nebraska  City, 
which   in   the  treaty   bearing  date  of    March 


86 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


15,  1854,  was  ceded  to  the  United  States,  to- 
gether with  all  lands  in  Nebraska  territory 
save  and  except  a  reservation  lying  partly 
in  the  southern  portion  of  Gage  county.  As 
before  stated,  Article  2  of  the  treaty  prom- 
ised that  they  would  vacate  the  ceded  territory 
and  remove  to  the  lands  reserved  for  them  by 
it  "as  soon  after  the  United  States  shall  make 
the  necessary  provision  for  fulfilling  the  stipu- 
lations of  this  instrument  as  they  can  con- 
veniently arrange  their  afifairs,  and  not  to 
exceed  one  year  after  such  provision  is  made." 
This  reservation  comprised  a  fine  body  of 


Ar-ka-kE-Ta    (tribal  guardian) 
Head  chief  of  the  Otoes 

land,  ten  miles  north  and  south  and  twenty- 
five  miles  east  and  west.  It  extended  two 
miles  south  of  the  state  line  its  full  length, 
into  Washington  and  Marshall  counties,  Kan- 
sas. North  of  the  state  line  it  extended  two 
and  three-fourths  miles  into  Jefferson  county. 
That  portion  of  it  which  lay  in  Gage  county 
was  a  strip  eight  miles  in  width  and  twenty- 
two  and  one-half  miles  in  length,  east  and 
we.st.  Glen  wood,  Paddock,  and  Barneston 
townships  lay  wholly  within  the  reservation, 
also  the  greater  part  of  Liberty  township;  it 
included  the  two  southern  tiers  of  sections  in 
Elm,  Sicily,  Wymore,  and  Island  Grove  town- 
ships to  within  two  and  one-fourth  miles  of 
the  county   line   on   the  east.     Altogether  it 


comprised  250  sections,  160,000  acres,  of 
which  126,720  acres  lay  in  Gage  county.  It 
was  well  watered  and  timbered.  The  Big 
Blue  river  flowed  through  it  in  a  southeasterly 
direction,  across  Wymore  and  Barneston 
townships,  while  Big  Indian  creek  drained 
the  northern  and  western  portions  and  en- 
tered the  river  at  Wymore.  East  of  the  river 
Wolf,  Plum,  and  Mission  creeks  with  their 
tributaries  drained  the  land  and  supplied  in 
great  abundance  water  for  grazing  purposes. 
Fine  groves  of  timber  lined  all  the  streams. 
Hunting  and  fishing  offered  both  sport  and  sus- 
tenance to  the  noble  red  man  and  his  pro- 
geny, while  to  the  hoes,  which  a  wise  and 
beneficent  government  placed  in  the  hands 
of  the  squaws,  the  rich  alluvial  soils  of  the 
creek  and  river  valleys  responded  with  boun- 
tiful crops  of  Indian  corn,  melons,  pumpkins, 
beans,  and  other  field  and  garden  produce. 

The  pioneers  profited  considerably  from  the 
existence  of  this  large  reservation  within  the 
county.  The  United  States  government  from 
the  first  had  maintained  on  the  reservation, 
at  the  junction  of  Plum  creek  and  the  river, 
a  steam  saw  and  grist  mill  where  lumber  of 
all  dimensions  was  manufactured  from  native 
timber  and  where  corn  meal  and  graham  flour 
could  be  ground.  Plere  also  was  a  blacksmith 
shop  which,  in  addition  to  the  Indian  black- 
smithing,  did  custom  work.  From  the  sur- 
rounding country  for  miles  settlers  hauled 
their  saw  logs  and  grain  to  this  primitive  mill 
and  hauled  back  lumber,  slabs,  meal,  and 
cracked  wheat  or  graham  flour.  The  mill  was 
afterward  supplied  with  proper  machinery  for 
making  bolted  flour,  and  then  became  one  of 
the  early  milling  points  of  our  county. 

Considerable  trade,  mainly  barter,  was  car- 
ried on  between  the  pioneers  and  the  Indians, 
in  which  beaded  moccasins,  buffalo  robes, 
dried  or  jerked  buffalo  meat,  other  products 
of  the  chase,  and  handiwork  of  the  squaws, 
as  well  as  blankets,  calicoes,  and  other  articles 
issued  annually  by  the  Great  Father  at  Wash- 
ington to  his  dusky  children,  were  exchanged 
for  the  hogs,  cattle,  sheep,  and  cured  meats 
of  the  settlers. 

The  personal  relations  between  the  Indians 
and  the  white  settlers  were  ideally  friendly. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


87 


There  were  many  members  of  these  tribes 
that  in  point  of  worth  of  character  measured 
up  to  the  best  traditions  of  the  North  Ameri- 
can Indian.  They  were  as  a  rule  scrupu- 
lously honest,  returning  what  they  borrowed 
from  their  white  neighbors  and  friends,  and 
discharging  punctually  their  financial  obliga- 
tions. They  were  not  pilferers  or  thieves. 
They  were  inclined  to  overstay  a  welcome 
and  were  great  beggars  for  something  to  eat. 
In  their  domestic  relations  they  apparently 
led  well  ordered  and  decent  lives. 

In  those  days  of  primitive  life  the  white 
man  rarely  turned  his  eyes  toward  the  landed 
possessions  of  his  Indian  neighbors.  Gov- 
ernment land  was  cheap  and  abundant,  to  be 
had  almost  for  the  asking.  No  man  needed 
to  want  for  land;  he  could  take  it  by  paying 
a  trifling  fee  to  the  officers  of  the  government 
land  office  at  Brownville.  But  on  the  admis- 
sion of  Nebraska  into  the  Union  as  a  state; 
on  the  entry  by  college  scrip,  in  1867,  of  the 
finest  portions  of  the  public  domain  in  Gage 
county,  and  the  coming  of  the  railroads,  the 
situation  completely  changed.  Land  began 
to  have  a  value.  Soon  it  was  impossible  for 
a  man  to  be  land  poor.  A  homesteader  who 
had  been  accustomed  to  regard  his  quarter 
section  mor^  as  a  liability  than  an  asset,  sud- 
denly found  that  it  possessed  a  cash  value  in 
the  open  market;  that  when  pressed  for 
money,  by  resorting  to  an  invention  known 
as  a  mortgage,  he  could  actually  borrow  a  few 
hundred  dollars  on  his  homestead.  Un- 
dreamed of  opulence  descended  upon  him, 
and  the  poor  homesteader,  whose  years  had 
been  spent  in  poverty  and  want,  who  was 
often  compelled  to  stay  because  too  poor 
to  leave,  suddenly  found  his  broad  acres  a 
source  of  wealth,  as  wonderful  to  him  as  the 
lamp  of  .Maddin  or  the  purse  and  hat  of  For- 
tunatus. 

Under  these  circumstances  the  lands  of 
the  Indian  reser\'ation  became  appreciably 
valuable  in  the  eyes  of  the  white  inhabitants 
of  the  two  states  where  it  lay,  and  in  the  eyes 
of  the  Indians  themselves  and  their  guardian, 
the  United  States  government.  Great  pres- 
sure was  brought,  beginning  with  the  early 
'70s,   on   the  representatives  of   both   Kansas 


and  Nebraska  in  congress,  to  effect  the  sale 
of  the  reservation  and  convert  it  into  a  source 
of  wealth  for  the  white  man. 

In  January,  1875,  Hon.  Algernon  S.  Pad- 
dock, then  a  citizen  of  Gage  county,  was 
elected  to  the  United  States  senate  from 
Nebraska.  Soon  after  taking  his  seat  he 
introduced  a  bill  providing  for  the  sale 
of  that  portion  of  the  Otoe  and  Missouri 
Indian  reservation  lying  west  of  range  VII, 
and  prescribing  a  method  for  conducting 
the  sale  of  such  lands.  This  act,  by  and 
with  the  consent  of  the  Indians,  became  a 
law  August  15,  1876,  and  the  lands  affected 
by  it,  constituting  a  little  more  than  one-half 
of  the  reservation,  were  appraised  and  sold 
for  cash  to  active  settlers  at  the  appraised 
value,  in  tracts  not  exceeding  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  to  any  one  purchaser.  They  at- 
tracted a  fine  class  of  settlers,  and  were  soon 
disposed  of  at  an  average  price  of  about  three 
dollars  and  fifty  cents  per  acre.  With  inter- 
est on  deferred  payments  this  netted  the  In- 
dians over  two  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

The  sale  of  this  land,  which  had  hitherto 
produced  nothing  to  its  owners  and  which  they 
regarded  as  of  but  little  value,  for  practically 
five  hundred  dollars  per  capita,  served  only  to 
whet  the  appetite  of  the  Indians  for  that  sort 
of  tangible  wealth  which  always  bears  the  dol- 
lar mark.  The  successful  outcome  of  this 
sale  prompted  further  agitation  in  congress  on 
the  part  of  the  representatives  of  both  Kan- 
sas and  Nebraska  to  put  the  remainder  of  the 
reservation  on  the  market,  and  on  March  3, 
1881,  a  bill  was  passed  by  congress  for  that 
purpose,  which  also  prescribed  a  method  of 
conducting  a  sale  of  the  lands  affected  by  it. 
The  government  having  purchased  in  the  In- 
dian territory,  now  Oklahoma.  129.113  acres 
of  land  as  a  reser\'ation  for  the  Otoe  and  Mis- 
souri Indians,  immediately  after  the  passage 
of  this  act,  the  remainder  of  their  lands,  after 
appraisement,  were  placed  on  sale,  in  1883. 
Under  the  orders  of  the  secretary  of  the  in- 
terior, the  appraisement  was  ignored  and  the 
lands  sold  at  public  auction  for  cash  to  the 
highest  bidder,  but  to  actual  settlers  only,  and 
in  tracts  not  to  exceed  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  to  any  one  purchaser.     The  exact  figures 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


are  not  at  hand  to  show  the  amount  of  this 
sale,  but  the  lands  brought  approximately 
twelve  and  one-half  dollars  per  acre,  amount- 
ing approximately  to  the  sum  of  one  million 
dollars.  In  addition  to  removing  an  unas- 
similable  element  from  the  population  of  our 
county,  these  two  sales  brought  within  its  jur- 
isdiction and  added  to  its  taxable  wealth  a 
splendid  body  of  land  which  in  process  of 
time  has  become  very  valuable,  and  thickly 
populated  by  a  splendid  class  of  American 
citizens. 

Tradition  aside,  the  Otoe  Indians  were 
never  warlike  or  aggressive.  They  were 
tillers  of  the  soil,  traders  and  trappers,  and 
were  usually  found  in  the  neighborhood  of 
some  more  powerful  tribe  whose  protection 
they  sought. 

The  Missouri  tribe  of  Indians,  who  derived 
their  name  from  the  great  river  on  whose 
shores  they  dwelt  for  many  years,  after  hav- 
ing been  attacked  and  almost  annihilated,  in 
1720,  by  the  Sac  and  Fox  tribes  with  their  al- 
lies, were  dispersed.  Five  or  six  lodges 
joined  the  Osage,  two  or  three  took  refuge 
with  the  Kansa,  and  the  remainder  amalga- 
mated with  the  Otoe  Indians.  Lewis  and 
Clark  spoke  of  the  Otoes  and  Missouris  whom 
they  saw  in  the  neighborhood  of  Council 
Bluffs,  as  almost  naked,  having  in  fact  no  cov- 
ering except  a  sort  of  breech-cloth  and  a  loose 
blanket  or  painted  buffalo  robe  thrown  about 
their  shoulders.  Their  villages  consisted  of 
large  earthen  lodges,  but  when  traveling  they 
found  shelter  in  skin  tepees. 

The  permanent  Indian  village  was  located 
in  Barneston  township,  mainly  on  the  site  of 
the  present  village  of  Barneston.  At  this 
point  there  was  and  still  is  a  splendid  spring 
of  purest  water,  similar  in  quality  to  the  well 
known  Zimmerman  spring  from  which  the  city 
of  Beatrice  draws  its  entire  supply  of  water. 
Near  this  spring  were  the  agency  building,  the 
school  house,  Indian  tepees  and  burial  place. 
To  the  south  of  the  village,  across  Plum  creek, 
at  the  point  where  that  stream  enters  the  Big 
Blue  river,  on  the  small  tract  of  level  land  ad- 
jacent to  both  these  streams,  were  the  black- 
smith shop,  the  steam  saw  and  grist  mill  be- 
longing to  the  Indians,  and  the  residences  of 


several  of  the  employes  of  the  government 
upon  the  reservation.  The  Indians  maintained 
an  unbroken  residence  in  this  location  from 
April,  1855,  to  October  5,  1882,  —  more  than 
twenty-seven  years,  — -  during  which  period  of 
time,  under  the  care  and  tutelage  of  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States,  its  agents  and 
employes,  including  several  teachers,  they 
made  considerable  progress  in  general  educa- 
tion and  in  a  knowledge  of  the  useful  indus- 
tries of  civilized  life.  After  ceding  their  lands 
here  to  the  United  States,  they  removed  from 
our  county  to  Oklahoma,  in  1882.  The  la.5t 
glance  aiiforded  us  of  the  aboriginal  inhabit- 
ants of  Gage  county  is  presented  in  the  follow- 
ing extract  from  the  report  of  their  agent. 
Jacob  \'.  Carter,  to  the  bureau  of  Indian  af- 
fairs, under  date  of  August  20,  1882.  It  reads 
in  part  as  follows : 

Soon  after  forwarding  my  last  annual  re- 
port dated  at  Otoe  Agency,  Nebraska,  I  re- 
ceived orders  to  remove  the  Indians  in  my 
charge  from  that  agency  to  their  new  location 
in  Indian  Territory.  Agreeable  to  said  order, 
I  began  the  work  of  removal  at  once.  On 
September  22,  1882,  I  started  the  cattle  herd, 
numbering  two  hundred  and  twenty- four  head, 
in  charge  of  competent  herders,  for  the  terri- 
tory. On  the  5th  of  October  following,  hav- 
ing completed  my  arrangements,  I  pulled  out 
of  the  Agency  with  a  train  which  consisted  of 
seventy  wagons  and  about  two  hundred  ponies. 
We  arrived  at  Red  Rock  on  the  23d  day  of 
the  same  month,  nineteen  days  out,  traveling 
nearly  three  hundred  miles  without  sustaining 
any  loss  or  mishap  by  the  way-  The  herd  ar- 
rived on  the  16th,  in  good  condition  and  with- 
out loss. 

It  is  generally  understood  that  these  Indian 
tribes  had  been  greatly  decimated  by  death,  in- 
duced partly  by  sloth  and  excess  wealth,  un'iil 
their  nuinbers  were  reduced  to  somewhat  over 
five  hundred,  in  1881,  Their  number  was  es- 
timated as  twelve  hundred  in  1833.  Bur- 
roughs gave  in  1859  their  number  as  nine  hun- 
dred ;  the  report  of  the  Indian  bureau  at 
Washington  for  1843  designates  nine  hundred 
and  thirty-one.  In  1862  the  two  tribes  nun.'- 
bered  seven  hundred  and  eight;  in  1867,  five 
hundred  and  eleven ;  in  1877,  four  hundred 
and  fifty-seven;  in  1886,  three  hundred  ancf 
thirty-four ;  and  in  1906  three  hundred  an<} 
ninety. 


CHAPTER  XII 


NARRATIVE  OF  MAJOR  ALBERT  LAMBORN  GREEN 


[When  Ulysses  Grant  -became  president  of 
the  United  States  in  1869  he  adopted  the 
policy  of  placing  the  Indian  wards  of  the 
nation  as  far  as  possible  in  the  hands  of  the 
Quakers,  a  policy  to  which  he  rigorously  ad- 
hered during  hte  eight  years  of  his  incum- 
bency in  office.  In  June,  1869,  Albert  Lam- 
born  Green,  of  Philadelphia,  a  young  man 
affiliated  with  that  sect,  was  placed  in  charge 
of  the  Otoe  and  Missouri  tribes  of  Indians  in 
Gage  county,  as  the  agent  of  the  government 
and  with  the  rank  and  title  of  a  major  in 
the  federal  army.  Major  Green  served  in 
that  capacity  several  years,  and  became  fa- 
miliar with  the  history  of  these  Indian  tribes 
as  well  as  with  their  manners  and  customs. 
At  the  request  of  the  author  of  this  book  he 
has  prepared  the  following  reminiscent  nar- 
rative illustrated  by  pen  drawings  prepared  by 
himself.  Those  who  may  feel  an  interest  in 
these  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  our  county 
cannot  fail  to  read  with  keen  pleasure  the 
following  context:] 

Man's  earliest  weapon  was  a  stone,  and  later 
a  rudely  chipped  flint,  the  acquisition  and  use 
of  which  ushered  in  the  paleolithic  age,  —  the 
initial  period  of  all  human  culture  and  pro- 
gress. It  was  during  this  earliest  stage  of 
human  advancement  that  the  region  now  em- 
braced within  the  limits  of  Gage  county,  re- 
ceived its  first  inhabitants,  —  a  race  whose 
weapons  and  utensils,  rudely  chipped  from  the 
flints  of  the  locality,  still  testify  to  its  having 
existed.  In  the  course  of  many  generations,  as 
greater  skill  became  acquired,  the  paleolithic 
age  of  roughly  chipped  flints  gradually  merged 
into  a  neolithic  age  of  finely  wrought  arrow- 
heads and  carefully  finished  weapons  and  uten- 
sils of  stone.    Such  an  age  has  likewise  left  its 


scattered  memorials  throughout  the  region 
Whether  both  periods  pertain  to  an  identical 
race  may  never  be  known,  but  archeologists 
regard  it  as  almost  a  certainty  that  the  period 
of  roughly  chipped  flints  long  antedates  the 
Pawnee  occupancy  of  the  region.  To  the  per- 
iod of  Pawnee  occupancy  may  confidently  be 
attributed  all  fragments  of  pottery  and  possi- 
bly all  relics  of  a  neolithic  character.  Prof. 
E.  E.  Blackman  has  definitely  located  the  sites 
of  at  least  five  prehistoric  villages  within  the 
county,  the  most  ancient  of  which  undoubtedly 
belonged  to  the  paleolithic  age.  One  that  is 
known  to  have  been  occupied  by  the  Pawnees 
long  after  the  invasion  of  Quivira  by  the 
French  traders  and  explorers,  is  located  about 
a  mile  north  of  Blue  Springs.  Another,  that 
is  evidently  of  much  greater  antiquity,  has 
been  found  a  short  distance  south  of  Holmes- 
ville.  Other  village  sites,  both  east  and  west 
of  the  river,  bear  ample  evidence  of  the  fact, 
that,  for  untold  centuries,  the  valley  of  the 
Blue  has  been  the  abode  of  man. 

It  may  have  been  with  a  people  whose  an- 
cestors were  of  the  older,  or  paleolithic, 
period,  that  Coronado  met  in  1541,  and  of 
whom  Castaneda,  the  chronicler  of  the  ex- 
pedition, has  left  us  so  graphic  a  descrip- 
tion. It  is  from  Castaneda's  account,  which 
historians  have  generally  regarded  as  authen- 
tic, that  we  are  led  to  believe  that  Coro- 
nado's  horsemen  crossed  the  Kansas  river  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Blue  and  followed  the  course 
of  the  latter  stream  northward.  No  other 
river  or  stream  flowing  into  the  Kansas  so  ac- 
curately meets  the  description  given,  and  the 
fact  that  the  principal  villages  and  trails  or 
routes  of  travel  were  undoubtedly  along  its 
course    lends    confirmatory    evidence    to    this 


89 


90 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


conclusion.  Coronado  was  in  search  of  cities 
and  towns,  and  the  great  flint  deposits  near 
the  present  side  of  Wymore  had  attracted  to 
their  vicinity  a  population  whose  village  sites 
are  still  traceable.  Thus  we  may  safely  as- 
sume that  Castaneda's  graphic  description  of 
the  people  met  with,  applied  to  the  aboriginal 
inhabitants  of  this  vicinity,  hence  a  few  quo- 
tations from  his  narrative  may  be  in  place. 
He  says  "they  are  very  intelligent,"  and  "able 
to  make  themselves  so  well  understood  by 
signs  that  there  was  no  need  of  an  interpre- 
ter" ;  he  speaks  of  them  as  "a  kind  people  and 
faithful  friends"  ;  he  tells  us  that  "the  women 
are  well  made  and  modest,"  that  "they  cover 
the  whole  body  and  wear  shoes  and  buskins 
made  of  tanned  skins" ;  he  tells  us  that  when 
away  from  their  villages,  they  travel  with 
troops  of  dogs  loaded  with  poles  and  having 
Moorish  pack-saddles  with  girths,  and  that 
when  the  loads  become  disarranged  the  dogs 
howl,  calling  some  one  to  fix  them  aright." 
Two  hundred  years  after  this  account  was 
written  this  region  was  still  a  part  of  that 
mystical  Quivira  described  by  Spanish  writers 
as  bounded  on  the  east  by  the  "Mountains  of 
the  Sun"  —  now  known  as  the  Missouri  river 
bluffs.  At  that  time  the  existence  of  the  Blue 
river  had  become  so  well  known  to  the  French 
traders  and  explorers  that  when,  in  1795,  in- 
formation was  being  obtained  for  the  prep- 
aration of  an  up-to-date  map  of  North  Amer- 
ica, showing  all  the  latest  discoveries,  the  Blue 
river  was  correctly  located  and  named,  at 
least  so  far  as  its  course  through  Quivira  was 
concerned,  but  the  geographer  evidently  lacked 
information  as  to  its  further  course  and  dis- 
posed of  the  problem  by  causing  it  to  empty 
into  the  gulf  of  California.  The  Otoe  name 
of  the  river  was  Nee-haun-chee,  but  the  In- 
dians sometimes  referred  to  it  as  Nee-haun- 
chee-toe.  Big  Blue  river. 

This  ancient  map  locates  the  "Otter  Nation," 
probably  intending  it  for  the  "Ottoe  Nation" — 
that  being  an  old-time  way  of  spelling  the  name 
of  the  Otoe  tribe.  At  the  time  the  map  was 
made  the  Pawnees  occupied  the  valley  of  the 
Blue  as  well  as  that  of  the  Republican,  while 
the  Otoes  dwelt  near  the  mouth  of  the  Ne- 


braithka  (Platte)  and  included  in  their  trap- 
ping grounds  the  Nemahas  and  blulif  region  of 
the  Missouri  as  far  south  as  the  Great  Ne- 
maha. Tradition  informs  us  that  prior  to  about 
1720  the  natives  of  this  region  possessed  no 
horses,  their  only  domestic  animal  being  a 
tamed  descendant  of  the  large  gray  wolf.  But 
about  that  time  an  expedition  set  out  from 
Santa  Fe  to  conquer  the  Otoes  and  take  posses- 
sion of  the  region  for  the  king  of  Spain,  and 
thus  head  off  the  French,  whose  activities  as 
traders  and  explorers  had  extended  far  up  the 
Espiritu  Santo,  and  Nebraithka  rivers.  It  ap- 
pears that  the  Spanish  had  learned  of  a  chronic 
state  of  warfare  existing  between  the  Osages, 
who  lived  south  of  the  Kansas  river,  and  the 
tribe  they  were  advancing  against,  and  decided, 
if  possible,  to  engage  their  assistance.  As  the 
Spanish  cavalcade  journeyed  toward  the 
Osage  domain,  it  met  a  war  party  of  Mis- 
souris,  and,  mistaking  them  for  Osages,  in- 
formed them  of  the  purpose  they  had  in  view, 
which  was  nothing  less  than  to  surprise  and 
destroy  their  own  kindred.  The  Missouris, 
quick  to  perceive  the  blunder  the  Spaniards 
had  made,  conferred  together  and  soon  in- 
formed the  Spaniards  that  they  really  were 
Osages  returning  from  a  war  against  the 
Otoes  and  that  they  would  willingly  accom- 
pany them  on  a  war-path  against  their  enemy. 
Then,  secretly  dispatching  a  courier  to  the 
Otoe  village  to  acquaint  their  friends  as  to  the 
situation,  they  conducted  the  Spanish  party 
thither  by  slow  stages,  giving  them  to  under- 
stand that  they  were  conducting  them  to  the 
town  of  the  Osages,  where  they  would  be  en- 
tertained before  proceeding  against  their  com- 
mon enemy.  It  was  customar>'  with  the 
Spaniards  on  all  warlike  expeditions  to  have 
a  friar  along  to  look  after  their  spiritual  in- 
terests and  to  act  as  a  chronicler  of  their  do- 
ings, and  we' are  indebted  to  a  friar's  letter 
now  in  the  archives  of  Spain  for  most  of  the 
particulars  here  given.  The  Otoes,  posing  as 
Osages  at  the  village,  received  the  visitors 
with  a  great  show  of  hospitality.  The  inter- 
val that  had  elapsed  between  the  arrival  of 
the  courier  and  that  of  the  Spaniards  had  been 
employed  in  assembling  warriors  from  every 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


91 


available  source ;  even  a  band  of  their  heredi- 
tary enemies,  the  Pawnees  had  arrived,  prob- 
ably from  the  valley  of  the  Blue.  After  a 
night  spent  in  feasting  and  dancing,  the  as- 
sembled warriors  fell  upon  the  drowsy  unsus- 
pecting Spaniards  and  killed  them  all,  except 
a  monk.  The  horses  and  equipage  of  the  in- 
vaders were  secured  by  the  Indians,  and  it 
afterward  devolved  upon  the  monk  to  teach 
them  how  to  ride — -an  art  in  which  they  soon 
became  adepts.  Tradition  informs  us  that 
the  monk  afterwards  escaped  on  the  fleetest  of 
the  animals.  Thus  it  was  that  in  the  course 
of  time  ponies  superseded  dogs  as  beasts  of 
burden  in  this  region.  As  the  pony  herds 
multiplied  they  came  to  be  regarded  as  syn- 
onymns  of  wealth.  The  war-path  became  no 
longer  a  mad  adventure  to  secure  scalps  that 
had  no  economic  value,  for  an  enemy's  ponies 
were  worth  more  than  his  scalp,  and  it  usually 
required  as  much  risk  and  bravery  to  secure 
the  one  as  the  other.  The  Pawnees  probably 
occupied  the  valley  of  the  Blue  until  about 
the  year  1825,  when  they  went  north  to  join 
their  kindred  whom  the  Delawares  had  driven 
from  the  valley  of  the  Republican.  During 
their  occupancy  of  this  region  their  principal 
village  was  situated  about  a  mile  north  of  the 
present  town  of  Blue  Springs,  while  their 
winter  tepees  were  scattered  up  and  down  the 
river.  The  enmity  between  the  Otoes  and  the 
Pawnees  was  hereditary;  surprise  attacks 
and  bloody  reprisals  had  kept  alive  a  hatred 
that  had  been  nursed  from  generation  to  gen- 
eration. The  smoke-cured  scalps  of  Pawnee 
warriors,  hardened  and  faded  with  age,  still 
adorned  the  Otoe  medicine  bags  long  after 
they  had  settled  on  their  reservation. 

The  last  attack  made  upon  the  village  above 
mentioned  by  Otoe  warriors  occurred  only  a 
few  years  prior  to  the  Pawnees'  removal.  A 
large  band  of  Otoes  were  then  encamped  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Nemaha,  and  had  cunningly 
timed  their  attack  to  take  place  at  day-break  of 
the  day  succeeding  that  on  which  the  young 
braves  of  the  Pawnee  village  had  started  on  a 
buffalo  hunt.  The  Otoes,  bent  on  securing 
scalps  as  well  as  plunder,  had  killed  a  number 
of  people  and  caused  a  frightful  uproar  and 


panic  in  the  village,  when  a  brave  from,  the 
hunting  party — which  had  encamped  the  even- 
ing before  near  the  head  of  Indian  creek — 
came  riding  into  the  village ;  he  was  at  once 
killed  by  the  Otoes,  who  also  wounded  the  pony 
and  frightened  it  so  that  it  galloped  back  to- 
wards the  camp;  its  return,  riderless  and 
wounded,  caused  great  alarm  and  called  for  in- 
stant action.  All  the  braves  of  the  hunting 
party,  mounted  on  their  swiftest  ponies,  started 
at  once  for  the  home  village,  on  reaching 
which,  they  saw  at  a  glance  what  had  occurred. 
The  enemy  had  left,  but  the  avengers  were  not 
long  in  striking  their  trail,  which  was  swiftly 
followed  :  they  were  overtaken  in  a  large  draw 
near  the  east  side  of  what  is  now  Island 
Grove  township,  —  a  spot  that  was  pointed 
out  to  the  writer  by  old  men  of  the  Otoe  tribe 
who  related  incidents  connected  with  the  af- 
fair as  handed  down  to  them.  A  fierce  battle 
ensued  —  during  which  no  quarter  was  given 
or  asked.  The  Otoes,  about  thirty  in  num- 
ber, were  completely  surrounded  and  fought 
desperately,  but  were  outnumbered  two  to  one  ; 
only  one  was  permitted  to  escape  and  report 
the  fate  of  his  companions  ;  the  wounded  were 
scalped,  and  both  dead  and  wounded  were 
burned,  the  Pawnees  having  fired  the  tall 
sloughgrass  that  grew  in  the  draw. 

After  the  Pawnees  left  the  Blue,  which  is 
supposed  to  have  been  about  1825,  the  Otoes 
included  the  Blue  valley  in  their  hunting  and 
trapping  circuit,  and  it  was  seldom  that  the 
tepee  of  an  Otoe  family,  or  perhaps  a  group  of 
tepees,  might  not  be  found  somewhere  along 
the  river's  course.  In  1854  a  reservation,  com- 
prising two  hundred  and  fifty  square  miles, 
the  greater  part  of  which  is  now  included  with- 
in the  limits  of  Gage  county,  was  set  apart  for 
the  Otoes,  they  having  ceded,  for  a  consider- 
ation to  be  paid  in  the  form  of  an  annuity,  all 
their  lands  south  of  the  Platte,  except  said 
tract.  Of  the  one  hundred  and  sixty  thousand 
acres  comprised  in  the  area  reserved,  consider- 
ably more  than  one  hundred  thousand  acres 
were  included  within  the  limits  of  the  county. 
The  site  selected  for  their  village  and  the 
agent's  residence  was  a  sightly  elevation  about 
half  a  mile  east  of  the  river,  where  a  spring, 


92 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


that  issued  from  a  limestone  ledge,  afforded 
an  ample  supply  of  pure  water.  The  town  of 
Barneston  now  occupies  a  part  of  the  site.  A 
residence  for  the  government  agent  was  built 
about  one  hundred  feet  north  of  the  spring. 
It  consisted  of  a  one  and  a  half  story  frame 
with  an  ell  on  the  rear,  and  contained  in  all 
six  rooms  with  large  basement.  There  was  a 
latticed  porch  in  front,  with  a  balcony  over 
the  same,  that  commanded  a  view  of  the  whole 
village;  near  the  agent's  house  was  a  large 
barn  and  other  outbuildings.     A  steam  grist 


cular  opening  in  the  roof.  There  were  also 
a  few  bark  lodges  of  a  type  that  were  common 
among  the  lowas  and  Sacs  and  Foxes,  but  they 
were  of  a  less  durable  character  than  the 
Siouan  type  of  habitation  and  were  usually 
regarded  as  temporary.  An  agency  farm  of 
one  hundred  acres  was  broken  out  adjacent  to 
the  village.  The  white  employes  included  a 
farmer,  carpenter,  blacksmith,  miller,  phy- 
sician, teachers,  etc.  All  plowing  was  done 
with  oxen.  All  supplies  were  hauled  from 
Missouri   river  points,   usually   from   Brown- 


869-1870 


mill,  saw  mill,  blacksniitii  shop,  and  residences 
for  the  various  white  employes,  were  located 
on  Plum  creek,  about  a  mile  from  the  agency. 
The  main  village  consisted  of  about  forty 
large  earth-covered  lodges  of  the  type  com- 
monly used  by  tribes  of  Sioux  origin.  Each 
lodge  was  circular  in  form,  with  an  entrance 
through  a  projecting  passageway  opening 
towards  the  east,  and  was  usually  not  less  than 
about  forty  feet  in  diameter,  inside  measure- 
ment. Usually  several  closely  related  fami- 
lies occupied  a  single  lodge — ■  each  having  a 
sleeping  booth  on  a  raised  platform  that  ex- 
tended around  the  inside  space.  All  cooking 
was  done  at  a  fire  of  small  logs  that  blazed  in 
the  center,  the  smoke  escaping  through  a  cir- 


ville.  A  mission  school,  under  Presbyterian 
auspices,  was  established  near  the  reservation 
soon  after  the  Indians  removed  there.  It  was 
established  by  the  New  York  Home  Mission 
Society  of  that  denomination,  on  the  north 
half  of  Section  1,  township  1  south,  range  eight 
east,  state  of  Kansas,  which  tract  of  three 
hundred  and  twenty  acres  the  society  had  pur- 
chased, and  on  which  it  had  caused  to  be 
erected  a  concrete  building  ninety  by  forty 
feet  in  size  and  three  stories  in  height  with 
an  ell  or  wing  two  stories  in  height.  The 
kitchen  and  dining  room  were  in  the  latter  and 
the  school  rooms  and  dormitories  were  in  the 
main  building.  ■  The  buildings  were  about  six 
miles  from  the  agency  and  village,  and  about 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


a  mile  and  a  quarter  beyond  the  limits  of  the 
reservation.  On  May  10,  1857,  the  Rev. 
Daniel  A.  Murdock,  with  his  wife,  Prudence, 
and  their  seven  children,  arrived  and  assumed 
charge  of  the  mission;  three  teachers  were 
engaged,  as  were  also  a  farmer,  a  carpenter, 
and  a  teamster,  as  well  as  two  interpreters. 
It  was  the  benevolent  design  of  the  society 
that  the  education  of  both  sexes  should  com- 
bine industrial  features.  Soon  after  Mr.  Mur- 
dock's  arrival  a  conference  was  held  with  the 
chiefs,  which  resulted  in  an  agreement  on 
their  part  that  they  would  promote  the  attend- 
ance of  all  children  of  a  proper  age,  and  in 
due  time  the  school  opened  with  an  attendance 
of  seventy-two,  of  whom  only  two  were 
females.  This  was  very  disappointing,  as  ac- 
commodations had  been  provided  for  as  many 
girls  as  boys.  All  pupils  arrived  almost  in  a 
state  of  nudity,  and  they  were  generously  sup- 
plied with  clothing  at  the  expense  of  the  so- 
ciety. Each  day  was  dvided  into  periods  of 
hours  for  school-room  study,  for  out-door 
play,  and  for  farm  work,  and  thus  all  was  pro- 
gressing favorably  when  the  time  arrived  for 
the  tribe  to  start  on  its  annual  fall  buffalo 
hunt.  The  chiefs  and  heads  of  families  then 
visited  the  mission  and  urgently  requested 
that  the  boys  be  permitted  to  accompany  their 
parents  on  the  hunt,  a  request  that  could  not 
be  granted,  inasmuch  as  it  would  practically 
break  up  the  school  for  an  indefinite  time.  It 
was  supposed  that  the  Indians  had  acquiesced 
in  this  refusal,  when  suddenly,  on  a  Sabbath 
afternoon,  all  the  boys  disappeared  and  were 
soon  en  route  with  their  parents  to  the  buf- 
falo region.  The  mission  people  were  not 
only  discouraged  —  but  also  dismayed,  for 
there  was  no  certainty  as  to  when  the  chil- 
dren would  return,  and  it  was  possible  that 
they  might  be  absent  the  greater  part  of  the 
winter.  A  few  weeks  after  the  departure  of 
the  children  an  incident  occurred  that  doomed 
the  school  to  failure,  through  fear  and  dis- 
trust on  the  part  of  the  Indians,  causing  their 
refusal  to  permit  their  children  to  attend.  This 
incident  was  nothing  less  than  a  raid  of  hos- 
tile Siou.x  Indians  upon  the  Otoe  village  and 
the   mission   property,    during  the  tribe's   ab- 


sence on  the  hunt.  The  circumstances  of 
their  raid  convinced  the  Otoes  that  their  chil- 
dren would  have  been  massacred  if  they  had 
not  accompanied  them  on  the  hunt.  It  seems 
that  the  Sioux,  finding  that  the  village  was  de- 
serted, as  any  who  had  not  gone  on  the  hunt 
had  fled  or  secreted  themselves,  ransacked 
such  caches  as  they  were  able  to  find  and  then 
proceeded  to  the  mission,  evidently  in  search 
of  the  children.  Finding  none  in  sight  about 
the  premises,  the  leader  of  the  band  ascended 
the  hall  staircase,  leading  to  a  dormitory, 
when  he  encountered  J.  E.  Tanner,  overseer 
of  the  farm,  who  seized  him  and  threw  him 
to  the  bottom  of  the  stairs,  where  he  landed 
very  heavily.  Being  unsuccessful  in  finding 
any  of  the  children,  the  two  girls  having  been 
secreted  by  the  teachers,  the  Sioux  angrily  de- 
parted. This  was  the  last  time  that  a  Sioux 
war-party  ever  ventured  within  the  limits  of 
the  county.  The  following  spring,  finding 
that  the  Indians  still  refused  to  allow  their 
children  to  attend  the  school,  Mr.  Murdock 
resigned  his  charge  and  left  the  mission  in 
charge  of  a  Mr.  Guthery,  but  after  vainly  try- 
ing to  win  the  favourable  regard  and  confi- 
dence of  the  Indians  he  too  resigned,  and  the 
society,  thoroughly  discouraged,  concluded  to 
abandon  as  a  hopeless  job  all  attempts  to  edu- 
cate and  civilize  the  Otoes.  The  society  sold 
the  mission  property,  and  the  building  was 
afterward  partially  destroyed  by  a  tornado. 

No  further  attempt  was  made  toward  edu- 
cating the  Otoe  children  until  the  summer  of 
1869,  when  the  administration  of  agency  aiTairs 
was  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  representative  of 
the  Society  of  Friends,  by  President  Grant.  At 
that  time  the  Otoes  and  Missouris  were,  with 
very  few  exceptions,  "blanket"  Indians.  Most 
of  the  men,  both  young  and  old,  were  accus- 
tomed during  warm  weather,  to  discard  even 
the  blanket  and  wear  only  a  clout  or  breech- 
cloth.  Hats  were  never  worn,  except  by  the  in- 
terpreter and  occasionally  by  an  Indian  police- 
man. It  was  customary  to  shave  the  scalp,  leav- 
ing only  a  lock  from  the  center  of  the  crown 
backward,  to  which  an  eagle's  feather  was  fre- 
quently attached.  They  used  much  Vermil- 
lion, indigo,  yellow  ocher,  and  white  clay  in 


94 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


facial  decoration,  and  necklaces  of  woven 
horsehair  curiously  wrought  with  many  col- 
ored bead-work  by  the  Indian  women,  were 
worn  by  both  sexes  almost  universally.  The 
Indian  women  were  very  skilful  in  embroid- 
ering and  decorating  moccasins  and  leggins  of 
deer-skin  with  bead  and  porcupine  quill  work. 
Most  of  the  older  men  and  women  had  their 
ears  lacerated  with  holes,  often  not  less  than 
a  quarter  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  not  only 
through  the  lobe,  but  also  through  the  rim  of 
the  ear  from  the  top  downward.  Such  holes 
facilitated  loading  the  ears  with  large  clusters 
of  bobs,  —  an  article  of  adornment  made  of 
block  tin  and  sold  by  all  Indian  traders.  It 
was  usual  for  the  women  and  girls  to  put  a 
line  of  vemiillion  paint  where  their  hair  parted 
as  well  as  to  paint  with  vermillion  the  inside 
of  their  ears,  thus  adding  to  the  fine  effect  of 
the  silvery  bobs.  Eagle  feathers,  red-stone 
pipes,  wampum,  and  beadwork  were  among 
their  most  highly  prized  possessions  —  single 
specimens  of  either  being  frequently  valued  at 
more  than  a  fine  horse. 

While  the  earth -covered  lodges  of  the  vil- 
lage were  cool  and  pleasant  as  summer  habi- 
tations, they  were  cold  and  draughty  in  win- 
ter, the  heat  from  the  central  fire  escaping 
too  readily  through  the  great  circular  opening 
in  the  roof.  For  that  reason  it  was  customary 
for  all  to  live  in  tepees  during  the  winter,  each 
family  selecting  a  sheltered  spot  where  water 
and  dead  wood  were  obtainable,  and  where, 
though  often  surrounded  by  banks  of  drifted 
snow,  they  existed  with  some  degree  of  com- 
fort until  spring.  The  Indian  ponies  sought 
shelter  in  the  timber,  where  they  often  de- 
pended on  the  bark  of  the  cottonwood  for  sus- 
tenance. At  the  time  the  writer  assumed 
management  of  the  Indian  agency,  old  Ar-ka- 
ke-ta  was  the  head  chief  and  the  other  chiefs 
were  Big  Soldier,  Wan-na-ga-he,  Medicine 
Horse  (Shunga-mon-co),  Bufifalo,  Pipe  Stem, 
and  Little  Pipe.  Ar-ka-ke-ta  was  a  polygamist, 
and  regarded  his  wives  as  valuable  assets  on 
account  of  their  usefulness  in  cultivating  the 
ground,  providing  fire-wood,  and  otherwise 
contributing  to  his  support.  He  was  opposed 
to    man-ua\    labor,   and    was   what   might   be 


termed  an  obstructionist,  as  he  opposed  all 
measures  likely  to  promote  the  advancement 
of  the  tribe.  In  appearance  he  was  decidedly 
unprepossessing  and  untidy;  his  usual  facial 
adornment  was  a  coating  of  soot  mixed  with 
mud,  — •  which  accorded  well  with  a  pessimis- 
tic state  of  mind  that  was  natural  to  him.  In 
1867-1868  a  party  of  the  chiefs  had  visited 
Washington  and  negotiated  a  treaty,  under 
the  terms  of  which  they  agreed  to  sell  the 
whole  reservation  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
thousand  acres  at  one  dollar  and  fifty  cents  per 
acre,  and  Ar-ka-ke-ta  posed  on  that  occasion 
as  a  great  man ;  the  mud  and  soot  disappeared 
from  his  face;  the  pessimist  became  an  op- 
timist, for,  in  his  mental  visions  of  the  future, 
he  saw  his  people  rescued  from  the  shackels 
that  civilization  was  weaving  around  them, 
and  mingling  once  more  with  kindered  tribes 
in  the  far  oflf  Indian  territory.  When  the 
writer  arrived  at  the  agency  in  June,  1869, 
the  treaty  was  awaiting  ratification  by  the 
senate  and  the  tribe  was  consequently  in  a  very 
restless  condition.  It  soon  became  obvious  to 
him  that  the  conditions  of  the  treaty  were  very 
prejudicial  to  the  best  interest  of  the  Indians 
and  that  the  consideration  was  entirely  inade- 
quate, being  less  than  half  of  what  might  be 
considered  a  fair  valuation  of  the  land  at  that 
time.  He  accordingly  commenced  taking 
measures  to  defeat  ratification,  by  calling  a 
council  and  persuading  the  head  men  and  a 
few  of  the  chiefs  to  sign  a  remonstrance 
against  ratification,  and  a  repudiation  of  the 
action  of  the  party  that  had  visited  Washing- 
ton. This,  together  with  a  carefully  prepared 
statement,  was  taken  to  Washington  by  a  com- 
mittee of  Friends,  and  the  result  was  the  de- 
feat of  the  treaty.  The  lands  afterward  sold 
for  nearly  ten  times  what  they  would  have 
brought  under  the  terms  of  the  treaty. 

In  1870,  as  Indian  agent,  I  removed  Ar-ka- 
ke-ta  from  the  position  of  head  chief  and  pro- 
moted Shunga-mon-co  (  Medicine  Horse )  to 
that  position.  This  was  done  because  of  the 
old  head  chief's  refusal  to  remove  from  the 
village  and  go  to  farming  when  a  neat  frame 
house  and  tract  of  choice  land  had  been  of- 
fered him.     It   was   important  that  the  head 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


95 


chief  should  set  an  example  to  the  young  men 
of  the  tribe.  Medicine  Horse  was  a  man  of 
considerable  influence  and  of  very  striking-  ap- 
pearance, —  a  natural  orator  whose  flowery 
figures  of  speech  always  elicited  cries  of  how ! 
how !  how !  from  the  assembled  council.  He 
agreed  that  if  appointed  head  chief  he  would 
occupy  a  frame  house,  open  a  small  farm,  and 
set  a  good  example  to  others.  When  the  mat- 
ter was  first  broached  to  him  he  declared,  with 
pretended  seriousness,  that  he  had  never  done 


1870,  1871  and  1872  probably  twenty-five  fam- 
ilies had  tried  the  experiment  of  living  in 
houses  and  cooking  on  stoves  —  at  least  dur- 
ing the  summer  months  —  the  lure  of  tepee 
life  proving  too  strong  on  the  approach  of 
winter  for  some  of  them.  Next  in  import- 
ance to  Medicine  Horse  was  Big  Soldier,  who, 
in  face  and  figure,  was  a  replica  of  an  ancient 
Roman  senator.  By  means  of  facial,  labial, 
and  finger  movements,  he  was  always  able  to 
converse  without  an  interpreter,  although  he 


Old  Agency  Mill 


a  stroke  of  work  in  his  life,  but  he  was  im- 
mediately contradicted  by  old  Chief  Buffalo, 
who  affirmed  that  he  remembered  seeing  him, 
when  a  boy,  carrying  a  kettle  of  water  for  his 
mother.  At  this  accusation  I\'Iedicine  Horse 
pretended  to  be  verj'  angrv  declaring  that  the 
charge  was  utterly  false,  in  the  course  of  a 
few  days  Medicine  Horse,  assisted  by  others, 
was  busily  engaged  in  cutting  saw-logs  and  in 
due  time  he  and  his  family  were  ensconced  in 
a  neat  frame  dwelling  built  of  newly  sawed 
Cottonwood  lumber.  Encouraged  by  his  ex- 
ample others  were  also  persuaded  to  cut  logs, 
and  the  agency  ox-teams  were  kept  busy  haul- 
ing them  to  the  saw  mill.     During  the  years 


seldom  used  an  English  word.  In  many  ways 
he  was  a  very  remarkable  man,  and  a  typical 
thoroughbred  Otoe. 

Next  in  importance  to  the  chiefs  were 
the  police,  usually  consisting  of  not  more 
than  fifteen  individuals,  chosen  and  appointed 
by  the  agent,  whose  duty  it  was  to  make 
arrests  and  otherwise  assist  in  preserving 
order.  They  were  commanded  by  a  captain 
and  lieutenant,  and  all  provided  with  United 
States  cavalry  uniforms,  which,  however, 
were  seldom  worn  except  on  important  oc- 
casions, such  as  council  meetings,  and  the 
execution  of  orders  that  required  them,  to 
leave  the  reservation.     All  of  the  chiefs  were 


96 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Otoes  except  Eagle,  who  was  a  Missouri  In- 
dian and  the  recognized  "war  chief"  of  the 
combined  tribes;  for  many  years  it  had  been 
his  province  to  act  as  commander  on  all  buf- 
falo hunts  or  other  adventurous  enterprises. 
He  was  a  man  of  commanding  and  dignified 
appearance,  and  despite  his  great  age  was 
straight  as  an  arrow  and  active  as  a  young 
man.  An  incident  that  came  under  the  writ- 
er's observation  while  accompanying  the  In- 
dians on  a  buffalo  hunt  in  1870,  illustrates 
how  punctilious  old  Eagle  was  in  strictly  en- 
forcing an  ancient  tribal  rule  that  forbids  the 
killing  of  a  straggling  buft'alo  before  the  camp 
has  been  pitched  and  the  hunters  are  all  ready 
to  participate  in  a  combined  attack  upon  the 
great  herd.  In  this  case  it  was  a  young  chief, 
Little  Pipe,  who  was  the  offender.  Eagle's 
face  was  stern  and  unrelenting  as  he  ordered 
the  heavy  pony  lash  applied  to  the  culprit's 
naked  back,  but  before  a  blow  descended  the 
young  chief's  brother-in-law  pushed  him  aside 
and  presented  his  own  back  to  receive  vicari- 
ously the  punishment  that  it  was  feared  might 
degrade  a  chief.  A  bloody  back  soon  showed 
that  while  the  substitution  had  been  accepted 
no  mercy  had  been  shown  by  the  old  war 
chief.  This  chief's  name  is  worthy  of  a  place 
in  history  as  the  last  chieftain  of  that  Indian 
nation  whose  name  is  more  frequently  men- 
tioned than  is  that  of  any  other  aboriginal 
people  on  the  continent;  a  people  who  have 
given  name  to  one  of  earth's  longest  rivers  and 
to  one  of  our  nation's  greatest  and  richest 
commonwealths.  In  1869  there  were  only 
about  eighty  Missouris  living,  and  since  that 
time  the  race  has  practically  disappeared. 

It  was  customary  for  the  Otoes  to  go  on  a 
buffalo  hunt  twice  a  year,  starting  on  the 
summer  hunt  about  the  last  of  June  and  get- 
ting back  usually  some  time  in  August.  Late 
in  November  they  started  on  the  winter  hunt, 
the  return  from  which  was  wholly  dependent 
on  weather  conditions  and  their  success  in 
procuring  hides  and  meat..  The  depredations 
by  hostile  Indians  on  the  Little  Blue  had  made 
the  settlers  very  distrustful  of  all  Indians,  and 
in  order  to  allay  fear  on  the  part  of  the  set- 
tlers, as  well  as  to  protect  the  Otoes  from  hos- 


tile Indians,  the  agent  obtained  from  the  war 
department  an  order  directing  General  Augur 
to  furnish  an  escort  of  cavalry  for  the  win- 
ter hunt  of  1869  as  well  as  for  the  summer 
hunt  of  1870.  On  the  latter  occasion  the 
agent  and  a  party  of  Philadelphians  accom- 
panied the  expedition;  they  encountered  a 
large  herd  of  buffalo  on  the  Sappa  creek,  in 
what  is  now  Decatur  county,  Kansas. 

It  was  an  ancient  Indian  practice  among 
the  Nebraska  Indians  to  mike  sugar  from  the 
sap  of  the  box  alder, — a  practice  that  the 
Otoes  continued  after  their  settlement  on  the 
reservation.  Formerly  they  used  no  tobacco, 
but  smoked  a  mixture  of  dried  sumac  leaves 
and  red-willow  bark  that  had  been  in  common 
use  among  all  the  western  tribes  probably  for 
centuries.  This  old  Quivira  mixture,  with 
sometimes  a  little  tobacco  added  but  oftener 
without  any,  was  always  adhered  to  by  the 
Otoes  and  Missouris.  The  smoke  produced 
had  an  acrid  though  not  altogether  disagree- 
able odor  and  was  usually  exhaled  through 
the  nostrils.  The  Indians  obtained  many  fine 
fish  from  the  Blue.  They  used  no  fishhooks, 
but  shot  the  fish  as  they  glided  through  the 
clear  water,  using  only  bow  and  arrows  for 
the  purpose.  When  heavy  rains  raised  the 
water  to  flood  tide  they  built  seine-like  bar- 
riers of  willow  poles  and  rods  across  the 
mouths  of  bayous  and  draws  so  that  the  re- 
ceding waters  left  many  fish,  usually  of  large 
size,  stranded  behind  such  barriers.  As  long 
as  the  waters  of  the  Blue  remained  clear  the 
river  abounded  with  gars,  which  often  at- 
tained a  large  size;  specimens  four  feet  in 
length  being  frequently  caught.  Although 
the  white  settlers  did  not  consider  them  edi- 
ble, the  Otoes  regarded  them  very  favourably 
as  food.  As  the  country  gradually  settled  up 
and  sediment  from  plowed  fields  found  its  way 
into  the  river,  the  gars  disappeared.  As  late 
as  1869  a  beaver  was  occasionally  caught,  and 
the  commoner  fur-bearing  animals,  such  as 
mink,  skunk,  raccoon,  etc.,  were  plentiful, 
their  furs  being  quite  a  source  of  profit  to  the 
Indians..  The  abundance  and  variety  of 
plums  gathered  by  the  Indian  women  were 
surprising.     They  varied  greatly  in  quality  and 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


97 


size,  a  tree  being  occasionally  found  the  fruit 
from  which  equalled  the  choicest  sold  in  our 
markets  to-day.  There  were  still  a  few  wild 
deer  in  the  county  as  late  as  1870,  for  at 
least  two  fawns  were  caught  by  the  Indians 
during  that  year,  and  a  large  antlered  buck 
was  seen  by  the  writer  a  few  miles  south  of 
Beatrice. 

The  breaking  of  the  prairie  sod  caused  the 
total  disappearance  of  a  plant,  once  quite  plen- 
tiful, whose  bulbous  root  was  eagerly  sought 
for  and  highly  prized  as  an  article  of  food  by 
the  Otoes.  In  taste  it  slightly  resembled  a 
chestnut,  and  when  divested  of  its  thick,  bark- 
like skin,  it  was  as  large  as  a  hulled  walnut. 
This  plant  grew  to  a  height  of  from  eighteen 
inches  to  two  feet  and  had  a  branching  top. 
The  settlers  made  no  use  of  it,  but  to  the  In- 
dians travelling  on  the  war-path  or  the  hunt, 
when  short  of  other  food,  it  afforded  security 
from  starvation.  It  was  an  emergency  food 
supply  that  the  Indians  had  no  doubt  availed 
themselves  of  from  time  immemorial.  The 
Otoes  at  all  times  relished  it  highly,  even  when 
they  had  other  food  in  abundance.  The  des- 
truction of  the  origional  sod  has  caused  the 
disappearance  from  the  county  of  other  plants 
equally  as  interesting,  but  probably  of  none 
that  occupied  as  high  a  place  in  the  Indian's 
estimation  as  did  this  one.. 

For  more  than  a  decade  prior  to  1869  no 
missionary  efforts  had  been  made  or  religious 
services  held  among  the  Otoes  and  Missouris. 
They  had  a  religion,  if  such  it  might  be  called, 
that  was  not  based  on  creed,  bible,  or  confes- 
sion of  faith,  and  that  had  come  down  to  them 
as  an  inheritance  from  a  far  off  past.  It  was 
the  religion  of  ancient  Quivira.  The  Great 
Spirit,  VVa-con-da,  —  the  maker  of  all  things 
was  to  them  no  far  off  deity  dwelling 
in  a  far  oft'  heaven,  but  an  ever  present  actuat- 
ing and  controlling  force  in  nature  and  in  all 
natural  phenomena;  they  heard  his  voice  in 
the  thunder  and  saw  the  ashes  of  his  wrath 
in  the  lightning ;  the  tornado  showed  his  might 
and  power;  the  sunshine  and  the  gentle  rain, 
the  ripened  corn,  and  every  beneficent  gift  of 
nature,  bore  evidence  to  his  favor.  How 
many  white  professors  of  religion,  seated  at  a 


loaded  table,  commence  eating  without  giving 
a  thankful  thought  to  the  Great  Giver  of  all 
good :  —  and  yet  we  have  seen  an  Otoe  chief, 
seated  with  his  family  on  the  ground  around 
a  pot  of  succotash,  a  mixture  of  boiled  corn 
and  pumpkin,  before  dispensing  it  to  the  mem- 
bers of  his  family  pour  some  of  it  on  the 
ground  and  stir  it  into  the  dirt  and  ashes  so 
that  the  dogs  could  not  get  it,  calling  on  Wa- 
con-da  to  accept  it  as  a  thank  offering.  It 
was  the  universal  custom  in  council  to  pass 
the  pipe  from  chief  to  chief,  each  taking  a 
whiff  or  two,  and  exclaiming,  as  he  exhaled  the 
smoke,  words  that  signified  an  acknowledg- 
ment of  Wa-con-da's  presence, — the  act  be- 
ing in  reality  a  smoke  offering.  They  knew 
nothing  of  the  Mosaic  law,  but  old  Chief  Wan- 
a-ga-he  once  declared,  striking  himself  upon 
the  breast,  "We  know  that  within  us  is  peace 
if  we  do  right,  but  if  we  do  wrong  Wa-con-da 
is  displeased  and  we  are  unhappy."  Kindness 
toward  each  other  and  harmony  in  families 
were  notable  traits  of  the  Otoe  character  that 
remind  one  of  Castaneda's  statement  already 
quoted  — •  "they  are  a  kind  people."  As  the 
ancient  Jews  relied  upon  their  tribal  God  to 
aid  them  in  battle  with  their  enemies,  so  the 
Otoes  relied  upon  Wa-con-da  to  aid  and  pro- 
tect them  on  the  war-path. 

In  the  fall  of  1870  Agent  Green  discovered 
that  a  party  of  Otoes  were  preparing  for  a 
pony  raid  on  a  distant  tribe  a  proceedure  that 
was  analagous  to  going  on  the  war-path,  so  far 
as  risk  and  excitement  were  concerned.  The 
leader  of  the  party,  a  notorious  half-breed, 
known  as  Jim  White-water  (who  afterward 
spent  seventeen  years  in  the  state  penitentiary 
for  an  atrocious  double  murder),  had  already 
nearly  completed  all  preliminary  arrangements 
when  the  discovery  was  made.  For  several 
days  the  braves  whom  he  had  selected  for  the 
party  had  been  segregated  in  a  tepee  at  some 
distance  from  the  village,  undergoing  certain 
preparatory  exercises,  consisting  mostly  of 
chanting  and  drumming,  while  Jim  sought  se- 
cluded places  in  the  timber  along  Plum  creek 
where  he  loudly  wailed  and  called  on  Wa-con- 
da  to  favour  the  enterprise.  This  segregation 
or  separation  of  men  from  their  wives  for  some 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  XEHRASKA 


days,  before  starting  on  the  war-path,  the  time 
being  taken  up  with  efforts  to  win  the  favour 
of  Wa-con-da  by  chanting  and  drumming,  is  of 
great  antiquity.  On  this  occasion  Wa-con-da 
failed  to  render  protection,  for  the  agent 
wrathfully  descended  on  the  band  with  his 
poHce  and  ordered  their  dispersal  threatening 
imprisonment  of  their  leader  if  he  attempted 
to  leave  the  reservation.  The  chiefs  at  once 
asked  for  a  council  and  informed  the  agent 
that  when  a  war-party  had  gone  so  far  with 
the  preliminaries  they  could  not  back  out  with- 
out disgrace,  and  that  in  order  to  look  their 
friends  in  the  face  without  shame  it  would 
be  necessary  to  give  them  at  least  six  ponies, 
and  suggested  that  if  the  agent  would  give  one 
they  would  make  up  the  required  number.  This 
the  agent  refused  to  do,  and  the  chiefs  silently 
departed,  but  sent  a  messenger  to  infomi  the 
agent  that  they  had  bought  the  war-party  off 
with  ponies. 

The  medicine-bag,  a  bundle  about  two  feet 
in  length,  containing  a  mysterious  assortment 
of  relics  and  charms,  held  an  important  place 
in  what  might  be  termed  the  religious  psychol- 
ogy of  the  Otoes.  In  some  mysterious  way  it 
was  supposed  to  invite  the  presence  or  favour 
of  Wa-con-da.  There  was  usually  one  of 
these  mysterious  bundles  suspended  in  every 
large  lodge  and  all  were  supposed  to  be  of 
great  antiquity,  having  been  handed  down 
from  generation  to  generation.  Some  of  them 
were  decorated  with  the  scalps  of  enemies 
slain  in  battles  fought  so  long  ago  that  even 
tradition  failed  to  recall  their  story.  There 
was  no  tincture  of  idolatry  connected  with 
these  objects;  they  were  venerated  very  much 
as  shrines  have  been  venerated  by  Christians 
and  were  carried  by  war  parties  in  a  belief  that 
Wa-con-da,  the  Great  Medicine  (Mystery), 
would  favour  them  with  his  protecting  pres- 
ence. 

The  Otoes  and  Missouris  believed  in  a  uni- 
versal immortality  that  included  not  only  hu- 
man souls  but  also  spirits  of  all  animals.  They 
believed  that  a  pony,  strangled  by  the  side  of 
its  owner's  grave  at  the  time  of  his  burial,  ac- 
companied him  as  a  spirit  steed  to  the  land 
of  the  immortals,  and  that  a  dog  strangled  be- 


side the  grave  of  a  little  child  afforded  it  com- 
pany and  protection.  It  was  not  until  1870- 
1871  that  Agent  Green  succeeded  in  abolishing 
the  practice  of  strangling  ponies,  but  the 
strangling  of  dogs  was  permitted  to  continue 
during  the  Indians'  sojourn  in  the  county.  It 
was  not  an  uncommon  sight  to  see  the  body  of 
a  dog,  dried  to  a  mummy,  standing  in  an  up- 
right position  with  its  back  to  a  stake,  to  which 
it  was  tightly  bound  by  a  raw-hide  thong 
passed  around  its  throat. 

The  Otoes  used  no  coffins,  but  placed  their 
dead  in  a  sitting  posture  in  graves  that  were 
only  about  four  feet  in  depth  with  an  opening 
at  the  top  only  large  enough  to  admit  the  body, 
—  the  cavity  being  from  three  to  four  feet  in 
width  at  the  bottom.  The  relatives,  having 
taken  a  final  farewell  of  the  dead,  all  joined  in 
lotid  wailing,  while  the  old  women,  whose 
province  it  was  to  dig  graves  and  conduct 
burials,  placed  a  layer  of  heavy  sticks  and  a 
buffalo  robe  or  blanket  over  the  mouth  of  the 
grave  and  piled  the  excavated  earth  upon  it. 
If  a  pony  was  to  be  strangled,  a  saddle  and 
bridle  was  usually  put  beside  its  owner  in  the 
grave,  and  the  chosen  animal,  having  been 
decorated  with  hand-marks  of  vermillion,  was 
led  to  the  grave-side  with  a  lariat  looped 
around  its  neck  in  a  manner  easily  to  produce 
strangulation  when  a  squaw  at  each  end  pulled 
with  all  her  strength.  The  pony  having  fallen 
beside  the  grave  was  allowed  to  remain  there 
until  dogs  and  wild  animals  had  consumed  its 
flesh ;  the  skull  was  then  placed  as  a  decoration 
on  the  top  of  the  mound,  and  its  tail  or  a  por- 
tion of  the  mane  attached  to  a  pole  planted  at 
the  side  of  the  grave.  A  well  authenticated 
instance  of  the  burial  alive  of  an  old  man,  with 
the  body  of  his  grandchild,  occurred  a  few 
years  prior  to  1869.  The  stor}',  as  related  by 
Battiste  Deroin,  was  a  very  sad  and  pathetic 
one.  It  appears  that  the  old  man  was  greatly 
attached  to  the  child  and  when  it  died  was  in- 
consolable; his  feeble  condition  indicated  that 
his  own  departure  was  not  far  distant,  and  it 
was  in  accordance  with  his  own  desire  that  he 
was  placed  in  the  grave  with  the  little  one  in  his 
embrace,  that  he  might  be  its  caretaker  and 
companion    through    the    wilderness    that    all 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


99 


must  cross  in  order  to  reach  the  land  of  eternal 
rest.  Food  was  placed  beside  him  and  the 
wailing  sounded  afar,  as  his  kinsmen  bade  him 
farewell  and  the  heavy  earth  was  mounded 
above  his  head. 

The  Otoes  did  not  always  bury  their  dead, 
especially  when  the  ground  was  deeply  frozen. 
One  of  the  strangest  sights  to  be  seen  upon  the 
reservation  consisted  of  two  ancient  oaks, 
standing  within  a  few  feet  of  each  other,  the 


nited  and  with  their  gruesome  burden  com- 
pletely destroyed.  What  was  probably  the 
last  instance  of  such  disposal  of  the  dead  oc- 
curred during  the  winter  of  1870,  when  the 
writer  discovered  the  recently  placed  body  of  a 
child  securely  wrapped  and  tied  far  out  on  the 
limb  of  a  very  tall  tree  that  stood  on  the  bank 
of  the  Blue  at  a  point  about  a  mile  south  of 
the  present  town  of  Wymore. 

The   first   mercantile   establishment    in    the 


Old  Buri.kl  Place  and  Funeral  Trees  of  the  Otoes 


limbs  and  forks  of  which  were  laden  with  the 
mummified  remains  of  men  women  and  chil- 
dren, each  wrapped  in  skins,  old  blankets,  bark, 
etc.,  and  bound  with  raw  hide  thongs  so  se- 
curely that  the  most  violent  storms  had  never 
been  able  to  dislodge  them.  The  trees  stood 
at  the  foot  of  a  low  bluff  near  the  principal 
Indian  burial  ground,  and  at  a  point  nearly 
midway  between  the  present  town  of  Barnes- 
ton  and  Plum  creek.  During  the  fall  of  1872 
a  great  prairie  fire  swept  the  river  bottom  and 
there  being  much  tall  grass  and  dry  trash  be- 
neath the  partly  decayed  oaks,  they  were  ig- 


county  was  on  Plum  creek,  at  a  point  about  a 
mile  west  of  the  present  town  of  Liberty, 
where,  in  a  log  cabin,  one  Gideon  Bennett,  an 
Indian  trader,  sold  beads,  calico  and  other  In- 
dian goods,  taking  in  exchange  furs  and  buf- 
falo robes,  as  well  as  crediting  the  heads  of 
families  against  the  forthcoming  annuity  pay- 
ments. The  business  afterward  passed  into 
the  hands  of  Macdonald,  of  St.  Joseph,  who, 
in  1859,  engaged  Mrs.  David  Palmer  to  con- 
duct the  store.  She  understood  and  talked 
the  Indian  language  and  dealt  fairly  with  the 
Indians.     Mrs.  Palmer  and  her  husband  were 


100 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


among  the  first  settlers  of  the  county  and  were 
typical  pioneers.  David  was  a  stalwart  moun- 
tainer,  inured  to  hardships ;  the  advantages  of 
an  education  had  been  denied  him,  but  the 
book  of  nature  was  ever  open  to  his  under- 
standing. Mrs.  Palmer  was  in  many  respects 
a  remarkable  woman,  energetic  and  trust- 
worthy in  conducting  Macdonald's  business 
and  quick  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  the  Otoe 
language  that  enabled  her  to  transact  business 
without  an  interpreter.  As  illustrating  the 
versatility  of  her  talents,  the  writer  has  in  his 
possession  a  pair  of  heavy,  gauntleted  driving 
gloves  made  from  a  beaver  skin  that  he  ob- 
tained from  an  Otoe,  — •  the  palms  and  fingers 
being  of  deer  skin,  the  cutting,  fitting,  and 
stitching  all  being  the  work  of  her  hands  and 
equal  to  any  that  are  oflfered  for  sale.  The 
vicinity  of  the  store  was  settled  by  families 
from  Tennessee,  some  of  whom  tried  raising 
cotton,  but  soon  discovered  that  the  climate 
was  not  very  well  adapted  to  it;  some  of  them 
did  their  own  spinning  and  weaving  of  a  sort 
of  cloth,  having  brought  the  necessary  appa- 
ratus with  them  from  Tennessee.  The  writer 
remembers  to  have  seen  men's  clothing  made 
from  this  homespun  cloth. 

It  was  during  the  time  that  Bennett  con- 
ducted the  store  on  Plum  creek  that  a  band  of 
Pawnees  made  a  raid  upon  it.  They  had 
spent  a  part  of  the  night  watching  for  an  op- 
portunity to  seize  Otoe  ponies,  but  finding 
them  too  securely  corralled  and  guarded,  had 
broken  into  the  store  instead.  Naturally  Ben- 
nett supposed  that  a  party  of  Otoes  must  have 
been  guilty  of  the  affair,  but  investigation  at 
the  agency  proved  that  such  was  not  the  case. 
The  Otoes  were  greatly  excited  and  their  po- 
lice were  not  long  in  discovering  the  trail  of 
the  robber  band  which  they  followed  swiftly, 
overtaking  them  on  the  Little  Blue,  some  miles 
above  the  present  site  of  Fairbury.  In  the 
fall  of  1869  the  writer,  while  accompanying 
the  Otoes  on  a  himt,  encamped  for  a  night  near 
the  spot  where  this  encounter  took  place,  at 
which  time  fragments  of  skulls  and  bones  were 
found  among  the  briars  and  underbrush  that 
covered  the  spot  where  the  Pawnees  were 
overtaken.  The  Otoes  claimed  to  have  killed 
the  entire  party. 


We  have  already  referred  to  the  hereditary 
hostility  that  existed  between  these  Indians 
and  the  Osages,  —  a  hostility  that  is  known  to 
have  existed  as  far  back  as  1720,  if  the  writ- 
ings of  Spanish  friars  can  be  depended  upon, 
and  which  appears  to  have  been  kept  alive 
through  all  the  intervening  years,  resulting  ii.^ 
frequent  ventures  upon  the  war-path,  re- 
prisals for  ponies  stolen  and  sometimes  in 
bloodshed.  The  last  rsid  made  by  Osage 
warriors  upon  the  Indians  of  Gage  county  oc- 
curred in  the  fall  of  1868 ;  it  resulted  in  the 
killing  of  a  number  of  Otoe  women  who  were- 
at  work  at  some  distance  from  the  village,  all 
of  whom  were  scalped  and  otherwise  mu- 
tilated. The  Osages  were  a  powerful  tribe  as 
compared  with  the  Otoes,  but  a  party  of  Otoe 
braves  at  once  prepared  to  take  the  war-path 
against  them,  determined  either  to  inflict  retri- 
bution or  exact  reparation.  Having  invoked 
the  favour  of  Wa-con-da  by  chanting,  drum- 
ming, and  wailing,  in  a  tepee  apart  from  the 
village,  the  party  set  out  on  their  perilous  un- 
dertaking. They  had  been  gone  many  days  and 
great  suspense  and  anxiety  was  felt  in  regard 
to  them  when  a  messenger,  announcing  their 
approach  with  a  great  herd  of  ponies,  arrived 
at  the  village.  The  greatest  excitement  and 
rejoicing  ensued;  heralds  cried  the  news  from 
one  end  of  the  village  to  the  other,  and  the 
women  and  children  stationed  themselves  on 
the  tops  of  the  lodges  in  order  to  get  a  view 
of  the  returning  war  party  as  it  approached  in 
the  distance.  Soon,  with  beating  drum  and 
loud  war  whoops,  they  filed  into  the  village- 
with  a  string  of  eighty  ponies  following  in 
their  train.  Of  these  eighty  ponies,  it  ap- 
pears that  forty  had  been  given  by  the  Osages 
on  presentation  of  the  peace-pipe  at  a  parley 
held  at  the  Osage  village,  the  other  forty  had 
been  stolen  from  the  Osages  the  following 
night.  A  great  war  dance  followed ;  the  story 
of  bravery  and  daring  was  loudly  shouted  by 
the  heralds;  feasting  and  rejoicing  continued 
far  into  the  night,  but  through  it  all  a  sense  of 
hovering  danger  disquieted  the  old  men  of  the 
tribe  who  were  too  well  acquainted  with  the 
ways  of  the  Osages  to  doubt  for  a  moment 
that  their  painted  warriors  would  lose  little 
time  in  exacting  reparation.     Measures  were 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


101 


at  once  taken  to  guard  against  a  surprise  raid. 
All  ponies  were  securely  corralled  within  the 
village  every  night  and  kept  under  watch  both 
night  and  day. 

It  was  during  this  period  of  fear  and  sus- 
pense, which  extended  into  the  summer  of 
1869,  that  the  Pottawattamies  turned  a  rather 
neat  trick  on  the  Otoes.  A  war-party  of 
Pottawattamies  had  made  a  raid  upon  the 
Omahas  and  with  thirty  head  of  stolen  ponies 
were  on  their  homeward  way,  when,  in  order 
to  mislead  the  Omahas  and  throw  suspicion 
upon  the  Otoes,  should  the  Omahas  follow 
their  trail,  they  made  a  detour  through  the 
Otoe  reservation,  passing  in  the  night  as  near 
the  village  as  possible  without  discovery  by 
the  Otoes.  The  war-party  of  thirty  Omaha 
braves  who  a  few  days  later,  following  their 
trail,  naturally  concluded  that  their  ponies  had 
been  stolen  by  the  Otoes  and  that  the  right 
thing  to  do  would  be  to  recoup  themselves 
from  the  Otoe  herds.  Cautiously  reconnoit- 
ering  during  the  small  hours  of  the  night,  they 
were  greatly  astonished  at  the  unusual  pre- 
cautions that  the  Otoes  had  taken  to  protect 
their  ponies  from  theft,  not  being  aware  of 
their  recent  trouble  with  the  Osages.  The 
ponies  belonging  to  each  family  were  enclosed 
in  pens  of  heavy  wickenvork  close  to  the' 
lodge  entrance  and  from  sunset  until  day- 
break a  watchman  was  on  guard. 

The  Omaha  braves,  secreted  in  the  tall  sun- 
flowers and  wild  hemp  that  formed  a  rank 
growth  in  the  vicinity  of  the  lodges  and  cor- 
ralls,  received  no  attention  from  the  Indian 
dogs,  though  if  a  white  man  had  so  hidden 
they  would  have  announced  his  presence  in 
the  noisiest  manner.  Slowly  the  hours  passed 
until,  with  the  first  streaks  of  dawn,  the 
watchmen  retired  and  then  with  swift  move- 
ments the  silent  fonns  of  thirty  nearly  naked 
men  cut  the  withes  of  bark  that  held  the 
wickerwork  and  poles  of  the  corralls  in  place, 
each  seized  a  choice  animal,  mounted  it,  and 
all  rode  swiftly  away.  The  noise  of  clattering 
hoof -beats  awakened  the  drowsy  Otoes  who 
came  swarming  from  their  lodges,  sure  that 
the  feared  and  hated  Osages  had  visited  them 
at  last.     It  was  soon   found  that  thirtv  head 


of  the  very  best  ponies  were  missing.  In  a 
very  short  time  the  women  and  children  of  the 
village  were  standing  on  the  lodges  gazing 
afar  off  on  the  prairie  where  a  long  line  of 
Otoe  horsemen  were  swiftly  following  the 
trail  of  the  stolen  ponies.  By  noon  the  thieves 
had  been  overtaken  and  found  to  be  Omahas 
instead  of  Osages.  The  entire  party  were 
taken  prisoners  and  brought  to  the  agency ;  all 
were  in  war  paint  and  heavily  armed,  each 
man  having,  besides  a  bow  and  quiver  of  ar- 
rows, a  heavy  revolver  of  the  type  used  by 
cavalrymen  during  the  Civil  war.  The  leader 
carried  a  war-drum  which  the  writer  still  re- 
tains as  a  memento  of  the  occasion.  Having 
disarmed  them  as  they  entered  the  council 
room  in  charge  of  the  Indian  police,  all  were 
seated  on  the  floor  while  their  leader  and 
other  principal  men  of  the  party  were  called 
upon  to  state  the  circumstances  of  their  visit. 
The  Otoes  had  been  furiously  angry  at  first, 
but  on  learning  all  the  facts  connected  with 
the  affair  were  rather  inclined  to  view  it  as  a 
"comedy  of  errors"  and,  on  advice  of  the 
agent,  smoked  the  pipe  of  peace  with  the  cap- 
tured men  and  invited  them  to  partake  of 
food,  as  they  were  nearly  starved.  They  had 
traveled  from  their  village  one  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  away,  afoot,  expecting  to  return  on 
horseback,  but  the  fortunes  of  war  compelled 
them  to  return  as  they  came.  The  only  blood 
shed  upon  their  war-path  was  that  of  a  hog 
belonging  to  Elijah  Filley,  whose  farm  lay  in 
their  course.  Elijah  brought  the  bloody  ar- 
row to  the  agency  as  evidence  of  what  he  sup- 
posed to  have  been  an  Otoe  depredation. 

The  success  of  the  Omaha  raiders  in  taking 
ponies  from  the  corralls  did  not  lessen  the 
feeling  of  uneasiness  and  dread  that  was  felt 
in  the  direction  of  the  Osages.  In  fact  the 
expectation  of  an  Osage  attack  kept  the  Otoes 
on  the  anxious  seat  until  the  spring  of  1870, 
when  Agent  Green  called  a  council  and  an- 
nounced to  the  chiefs  his  intention  of  making 
an  everiasting  peace  between  the  tribes.  He 
informed  them  that  he  should  at  once  invite 
the  Osages  to  send  representatives  to  a  settle- 
ment of  all  differences:  that  forty  head  of 
ponies  should  be  deHvered  to  them,  that  being 


102 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


the  number  stolen ;  and  that  the  war-path  be- 
tween the  Otoes  and  the  Osages  should  be  for- 
ever ended.  In  due  course  of  time  a  band  of 
Osage  chiefs  and  braves,  gorgeously  painted 
and  befeathered,  arrived  at  the  agency ;  a 
council  was  held  and  many  speeches  in  both 
the  Otoe  and  Osage  language  were  made;  the 
great  red-stone  peace  pipe  was  smoked  by  all 
as  it  passed  from  hand  to  hand.  The  agent, 
whom  the  Indian  chiefs  always  addressed  as 
"Un-koe"  (my  father)  when  they  were  as- 
sembled in  council,  then  emphasized  the  im- 
portance of  at  once  forever  ending  a  custom 
that  civilization  would  no  longer  tolerate.  All 
agreed  that  the  words  of  the  father  were  good, 
—  a  great  feast  followed  the  adjournment  of 
the  council,  and  the  Osage  warriors  departed, 
leaving  behind  them  a  sense  of  peaceful  se- 
curity that  the  Otoes  had  not  known  for  many 
long  years. 

After  the  destruction  of  the  old  mission 
building  some  years  elapsed  before  any  at- 
tempt was  again  made  to  educate  the  Indian 
children.  During  the  fall  and  winter  of  1869 
Cottonwood  and  walnut  logs  were  cut  and  the 
saw  mill  was  kept  busy  preparing  lumber  for 
a  school  house  and  other  needed  buildings.  A 
large  one-stor)'  school  building  was  completed 
in  1870  and  all  Indian  children  of  school  age 
were  required  to  attend,  attendance  being 
made  compulsory.  Commencing  with  the  fall 
of  1869  clothing  of  all  kinds  for  children  was 
abundantly  furnished  by  the  Indian  Aid  As- 
sociation of' the  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting 
of  Friends,  consequently  the  school  children 
were  all  well  clothed  for  the  first  time  in  their 
lives.  The  school  was  supplied  with  com- 
petent teachers  from  the  start,  —  women 
whose  faithful  sen'ices  entitle  their  names  to 
laudatory  mention  in  any  historical  account  of 
our  county's  Indian  population.  Miss  Maria 
VanDorn  and  Mrs.  Nannie  Armstrong  were 
Virginians,  while  Mrs.  Sallie  Ely  and  Miss 
Elizabeth  Walton  were  from  Philadelphia. 
All  were  faithful  and  efficient  workers  in 
educational  lines  as  well  as  in  attending  to  the 
needs  of  the  sick  and  aged,  in  distributing 
clothing,  and  in  advising  the  Indian  women  in 
regard  to  sanitary  living.     Miss  Phebe  Oliver, 


a  graduate  of  the  Women's  Medical  College 
of  Philadelphia,  came  to  the  agency  as  resident 
physician  in  1870.  She  was  very  successful 
in  the  treatment  of  diseases  of  children,  the 
prevalence  of  which  diseases  had  caused  many 
deaths  previous  to  her  arrival.  Up  to  this 
time  the  Otoes  had  relied  wholly  on  their 
own  methods  of  treatment,  the  basic  principle 
of  which  was  the  prevention  of  interference 
by  evil  spirits.  Every  case  of.  sickness  was 
supposed  to  result  in  accordance  with  the  will 
of  an  evil  spirit  or  influence  that,  unless 
frightened  away,  will  interfere  with  the  action 
of  medicine  and  render  a  cure  impossible.  The 
course  usually  adopted  in  the  case  of  desper- 
ate wounds  or  severe  injuries  was  to  shake 
rattles  and  to  dance  around  the  patient  for  six 
days  and  nights,  fresh  dancers  taking  the  place 
of  others  from  time  to  time.  In  the  case  of  a 
sick  or  wounded  horse  a  different  method  was 
pursued.  At  each  administration  of  medicine 
or  treatment  of  a  wound  a  different  colored 
blanket  was  placed  upon  the  animal,  the  sup- 
position being  that  this  would  confuse  or  de- 
ceive the  bad  spirit  that  interfered  with  the 
curative  process,  so  that  it  would  be  likely  to 
pass  without  recognizing  the  animal. 

As  illustrative  of  Otoe  methods  in  the  suc- 
cessful treatment  of  a  case  that  the  agent  and 
his  employes  all  considered  hopeless,  that  of 
Roc-co  a  young  brave  whose  skull  had  been 
split  by  an  axe  so  that  a  portion  of  the  brain 
exuded,  deserves  recording  in  these  pages.  It 
seems  that  Roc-co  was  sitting  on  the  ground 
close  to  where  his  wife  was  cutting  down  a 
tree,  when  her  axe  slipped  or  glanced  and  cut 
deeply  into  the  top  of  his  head.  The  horrified 
woman,  believing  that  she  had  killed  him  and 
knowing  that  his  blood  relatives  would  lose  no 
time  in  taking  her  life  for  his,  at  once  fled  and 
secreted  herself  in  some  far-off  fastness.  The 
unconscious  Roc-co  was  found  in  due  time  an  1 
borne  to  the  agency.  It  was  the  opinion  of 
all  the  white  employes  that  he  could  survive 
but  a  short  time  and  that  he  would  never  re- 
gain consciousness.  Dr.  Oliver  not  yet  having 
arrived  upon  the  reservation,  the  Otoe  doctors 
begged  for  permission  to  try  their  skill  upon 
him,  which  the  agent  granted.     He  was  then 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


103 


taken  to  his  own  lodge  and  laid  upon  the 
ground  with  his  head  near  a  fire,  beside  which 
an  Otoe  drum  was  continuously  beaten  and 
around  which  a  circle  of  Indians  danced,  each 
shaking  a  gourd  rattle,  the  noise  of  which,  to- 
gether with  the  monotonous  chanting  of  the 
relays  of  dancers,  was  kept  up  for  six  days 
and  nights.  At  intervals  one  of  --he  dancers 
stepped  from  the  circle  and  taking  a  mouthful 
of  a  dark  liquid  sprayed  it  upon  the  wound. 
Whether  it  was  the  alternate  moistening  of 
the  wound  with  the  liquid  and  drying  by  the 
warmth  of  the  fire,  or  the  incessant  noise, 
acting  curatively  in  awakening  dormant  faith, 
no  one  can  tell,  but  the  fact  remains  that  after 
six  days  the  tribe  assembled  to  see  him  led 
forth,  pale  as  a  ghost,  tottering  and  leaning 
on  a  staflf.  His  complete  recovery  was  a  mat- 
ter of  only  a  few  weeks. 

In  the  meantime  diligent  search  had  been 
made  for  Roc-co's  wife,  and  she  was  very 
liable  to  perish  from  cold  and  hunger,  the 
nights  being  cold  and  she  very  thinly  clad.  It 
was  many  days  before  a  trace  of  her  could  be 
found  and  when  at  last,  emaciated  and  worn 
out  with  anguish  and  physical  suffering,  she 
was  found  in  some  far  off  ravine,  the  news 
of  her  husband's  survival  and  possible  recov- 
ery came  to  her  as  a  message  of  great  joy. 
She  had  carefully  evaded  and  eluded  all 
searching  parties,  supposing  their  intention 
was  to  put  her  to  death. 

Among  the  Otoes  the  doctors  were  usually 
women,  whose  duty  it  was  to  dig  the  grave 
and  bury  a  patient  whom  they  failed  to  cure, 
such  termination  of  a  case  entitling  them  to 
act  as  administrators  of  the  personal  estate  of 
the  deceased,  most  of  which  became  their 
perquisites.  Bleeding  and  blistering  were  re- 
sorted to  for  many  pains  and  aches.  The 
bleeding  was  done  by  scarifying  the  spot  in 
which  the  pain  centered  and  then  using  a 
sort  of  a  suction  cup  made  from  the  horn  of  a 
young  buffalo,  the  small  end  of  which  had 
been  perforated.  The  blistering  was  a  cruel 
infliction  usually  applied  on  the  breasts  of  chil- 
dren by  inserting  a  piece  of  dry  pitch  in  a  small 
cut  and  igniting  it.  As  several  such  torches 
were  scattered  over  a  child's  breast  and  burned 


down  until  large  blisters  were  produced,  one 
can  imagine  the  agony  the  little  patients  had 
to  endure. 

An  ancient  Indian  custom,  that  survived 
until  1871-1872,  was  pony-giving  and  pipe- 
dancing.  The  lowas,  Omahas,  and  Otoes  had 
always  been  on  visiting  terms,  and  always 
owed  each  other  visits,  in  order  to  get  back 
as  many  ponies  as  had  been  given  or  more.  It 
was  nothing  unusual  for  the  Otoes  to  give 
from  twenty-five  to  fifty  head  of  ponies  to  a 
visiting  band.  A  man's  reputation  for  courage 
and  his  standing  in  the  tribe  was  largely  de- 
pendant on  the  number  of  ponies  he  had  given 
away  during  his  lifetime.  In  almost  every 
lodge  there  was  conspicuously  displayed  a 
bundle  of  small  painted  sticks,  each  of  which 
represented  a  pony  that  the  owner  of  the  lodge 
had  given  away  on  the  occasion  of  a  pipe- 
dance.  The  larger  the  bundle  the  greater  the 
honor  due  its  possessor.  The  daughter  of  a 
man  whose  display  of  painted  sticks  indicated 
his  having  given  away  many  ponies  was  en- 
titled to  bear  the  "Kra-kah"  mark,  —  a  blue 
spot  tattooed  midway  between  the  eye  brows. 
The  possession  of  such  a  be.iuty-spot  was  evi- 
dence that  she  was  the  daughter  of  a  very 
brave  and  honorable  personage.  Agent  Green 
found  that  pipe-dancing  and  tribal  visits  with 
pony  giving  were  very  detrimental  to  the 
tribe's  advancement  toward  a  more  civilized 
condition.  They  were  customs  that  had  been 
in  vogue  for  untold  centuries  and  were  among 
tb.e  strongest  ties  binding  the  tribes  to  a  past 
age  of  barbarism.  At  a  conference  of  United 
States  Indian  agents,  held  in  Omaha  in  1870- 
1871,  he  advocated  a  concerted  action  on  the 
part  of  all  the  agents  in  the  superintendancy, 
in  putting  a  stop  to  tribal  visiting,  pipe-danc- 
ing and  pony-giving.  Each  agent  present 
agreed  no  longer  to  permit  his  Indians  either 
to  go  on  a  pipe-dance  visit,  or  to  receive  a 
visiting  band  from  another  tribe.  It  required* 
some  time  for  the  tribes  to  reconcile  them- 
selves to  this  abandonment  of  what  for  cen- 
turies had  been  one  of  their  chief  sources  of 
pleasure  and  excitement,  and  it  was  not  until 
after  a  few  visiting  bands  had  been  sent  to 
their  homes  pony-less  that  the  custom  was  re- 


10+ 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


luctatitly  abandoned.  The  conclusion  of  a 
permanent  peace  with  the  Osages  and  the  dis- 
continuance of  frequent  tribal  visits  with  their 
attendant  excitement  rendered  it  less  difficult 
to  induce  the  Indians  to  live  in  the  small  frame 
houses  that  the  agent  was  building  for  them, 
and  to  cultivate  the  land. 

Gradually  the  men  were  induced  to  wear 
the  clothing  furnished  by  the  Indian  Aid  Asso- 
ciation, though  many  of  the  older  men  could 
never  be  persuaded  to  wear  trousers  and  often 
mutilated  or  destroyed  a  new  pair  of  trousers 
in  order  to  use  the  legs  as  leggings ;  they  ob- 
jected to  the  rest  of  the  garment  for  the  rea- 
son that  it  made  the  lower  part  of  the  body  too 
warm.  Efforts  were  made  by  the  ladies  of  the 
agency  to  introduce  the  use  of  soap  and  towels 
into  the  domestic  economy  of  the  Otoe  lodges, 
and  considerable  quantities  of  these  were  sup- 
plied by  the  Indian  Aid  Association,  all  of 
which  the  Indians  gladly  received  and  at  once 
established  a  lively  commerce  with  their  white 
neighbors,  supplying  them  with  soap  and  tow- 
els in  exchange  for  fresh  pork,  chickens,  but- 
ter, and  other  edibles.  On  one  occasion  the 
Indian  Aid  Association  sent  a  very  large  box 
containing  enough  gay  creations  of  the  millin- 
er's art  to  supply  every  woman  in  the  tribe  with 
a  flower  or  feather  bedecked  headpiece,  either 
a  hat  or  a  bonnet.  The  next  day  the  young 
braves  of  the  tribe  had  bedecked  themselves 
with  the  whole  of  this  supply  of  gay  milli- 
nery ;  the  women  had  no  use  for  it. 

The  Otoes  and  Missouris  were  of  very  pure 
Indian  blood,  except  in  the  case  of  three  or 
four  individuals  whose  names  indicated  a 
French  ancestry.  Two  of  these  men  were  of 
striking  appearance  and  physique.  Both  were 
fairly  well  educated  and  they  were  of  nearly 
the  same  age.  One  was  Battiste  Deroin  the 
other  Battiste  Barneby.  Battiste  Deroin  was 
an  Otoe  while  his  lifelong  rival  and  competitor 
for  the  position  of  United  States  interpreter 
was  an  Omaha,  married  to  an  Otoe  woman. 
The  French  blood  in  the  veins  of  each  had 
been  diluted  through  so  many  generations  of 
Indian  ancestors  that  its  existence  was  hardly 
;i]>])arent.  For  some  reasons  that  had  mili- 
tated in   his    favour  Deroin   received  the  ap- 


pointment as  government  interpreter  from 
Agent  Green,  in  1869,  —  a  position  that  he 
afterward  held  until  the  removal  of  the  Indians 
from  the  county.  Both  men  had  great  in- 
fluence among  the  Indians  and  were  highly  re- 
garded by  many  of  the  ^rtrly  settlers  of  the 
county.  They  were  both  most  interesting  con- 
versationalists and  well  versed  in  all  Indian 
lore.  Battiste  Deroin  was  a  polygamist,  his 
two  wives  being  sisters,  as  he  had  availed  him- 
self of  an  Indian  custom  that  permitted  a  man 
to  take  his  wife's  younger  sister  as  a  supple- 
mentary wife  without  ceremony  or  gift.  The 
fact  that  this  young  woman  was  the  beauty  of 
tlie  tribe  and  had  a  host  of  admirers  and  lov- 
ers caused  him  many  a  pang  of  jealousy  that 
was  far  from  being  groundless.  Battiste 
Barneby  was  among  the  first  Indians  on  the 
reservation  to  build  a  frame  house  and  occupy 
it  as  a  dwelling  place  both  winter  and  summer. 
It  was  provided  with  a  wide,  open  fire-place, 
within  which  a  cheerful  fire  always  blazed 
and  beside  which  might  be  often  seen  a  nearly 
full-grown  wild  cat,  either  asleep  or  engaged 
in  washing  its  face  with  its  paw,  just  as  an 
ordinary  pussy  does.  Its  sharp  claws  en- 
abled it  to  exact  due  respect  from  the  snarling 
dogs  that  tried  to  form  its  acquaintance.  Mrs. 
Barneby  wore  the  Kra-kah  mark  between  her 
eyebrows,  indicating  that  her  father  had  been 
brave  and  honorable ;  a  man  of  great  liberality 
and  generosity.  A  bundle  of  small  painted 
sticks,  each  representing  a  pony  given  away, 
doubtless  accompanied  him  to  the  grave.  Bat- 
tiste Barneby  was  accidentally  killed,  in  Atchi- 
son, Kansas,  in  1875  or  1876. 

Perhaps  no  Indian  was  more  widely  known 
among  the  early  settlers  than  old  Medicine 
Jake,  the  snake  doctor.  Emaciated  and  en- 
tirely nude,  except  as  to  a  breech  cloth,  his 
striking  appearance  was  enhanced  by  a  snake- 
skin  bandaged  around  one  of  his  skinny  legs, 
just  below  the  knee,  as  a  sign  or  advertisement 
of  his  profession.  Rattlesnakes  and  moc- 
casins were  quite  plentiful  and  the  Indian 
children  were  frequently  bitten.  It  was 
claimed  that  old  Jake  had  an  inf.illible  cure 
that  nobody  else  knew  how  to  prepare.  Strange 
as  it  may  seem,  the  Otoes  were  afraid  to  kill 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUxNTY,  NEBRASKA 


105 


snakes  owing  to  a  belief  that  if  one  was  killed 
its  kindred  would  seek  until  they  found  the 
killer  and  inflicted  revenge.  Their  name  for 
snake  was  "wah-cun,"  signifying  something 
akin  to  a  spirit.  Another  remark  ible  char- 
acter was  O-thro-kes-koo-nie,  known  among 
the  white  people  as  "Hog-Jaw"  because  of  a 
deformity  that  caused  his  lower  teeth  and  jaw 
to  project  in  a  frightful  manner,  —  a  malfor- 
mation that  made  the  poor  fellows  life  miser- 
able by  creating  fear  and  aversion  whenever 
he  appeared  in  the  presence  of  strangers.  Per- 
haps one  of  the  strongest  characters  among 
the  Otoes  was  Jo-John,  captain  of  the  Indian 
police.  When  Ar-ka-ke-ta  was  deposed  and 
Medicine  Horse  made  chief,  Jo-Johii  was  pro- 
moted by  the  agent  to  a  chieftainship,  but  alas, 
Beatrice  whiskey  was  his  undoing,  —  when 
under  its  influence,  in  a  sudden  fit  of  anger, 
he  killed  a  companion  by  striking  him  on  the 
head  with  a  neckyoke.  This  act  cost  him  his 
position  as  chief  and,  according  to  ancient  cus- 
tom, forfeited  him  his  life,  putting  it  abso- 
lutely at  the  disposal  of  the  kindred  of  the 
slain.  In  order  to  save  him  from  summary 
execution  he  was  lodged  in  jail  at  Beatrice. 
Eventually  the  relatives  of  the  murdered  man 
were  appeased  by  a  liberal  gift  of  ponies,  and 
Jo-John  was  restored  to  the  bosom  of  his 
family.  Physically  Jo-John  was  a  splendid 
specimen  of  his  race.  Having  a  mental  capac- 
ity above  the  average,  he  possessed  those 
ancient  traits  of  Indian  character  that  won 
the  confidence  and  esteem  of  the  early  French 
traders,  —  honesty,  integrity,  and  truthful- 
ness. An  incident  illustrating  this  occurred 
shortly  before  the  unfortunate  homicide  we 
have  mentioned.  It  seems  that  he  had  bor- 
rowed a  small  sum  of  money  from  a  person 
living  near  Blue  Springs,  promising  to  repay 
it  within  a  certain  time  and  when  the  time  was 
near  at  hand  he  went  to  the  house  of  the 
lender  to  repay  it,  only  to  find  the  premises  oc- 
cupied by  strangers,  who  informed  him  that 
the  party  he  sought  had  removed  to  a  distant 
part  of  Kansas.  Jo-John  knew  nothing  about 
bank  drafts  or  money  orders,  so,  mounting  his 
pony,  he  set  out  on  a  long  and  wearisome  jour- 
ney  to   find  his  creditor.     The  trip   required 


several  days  and  involved  much  inquiry,  for  it 
was  not  known  exactly  where  the  party  had 
located  and  an  inability  to  clearly  express  ideas 
in  English  made  the  task  he  had  undertaken 
all  the  harder.  His  perseverance,  however, 
was  rewarded  by  finding  the  party  sought,  who 
was  greatly  surprised  by  the  payment  of  a 
small  debt  that  he  had  forgotten  all  about. 

The  Otoes  as  a  people  were  innately  hon- 
est and  generally  careful  to  meet  all  their 
financial  obligations.  This  characteristic  was 
so  well  known  to  all  Indian  traders  and  agency 
employes  that  they  never  hesitated  to  extend 
them  credit,  knowing  that  on  annuity  payment, 
if  not  before,  the  debt  would  be  paid.  Per- 
haps next  to  Jo-John  the  finest  looking  and 
rriost  typical  specimen  of  an  Indian  warrior 
was  Har-ra-gar-rah,  son  of  Chief  Big  Sol- 
dier. He  was  known  among  the  white  peo- 
ple by  the  name  of  "Hod-de-god-die."  It 
was  the  chief  hope  and  ambition  of  Big  Sol- 
dier's life  that  Hod-de-god-die  should  succeed 
him  as  chief,  and  many  were  the  interviews  he 
sought  with  the  agent  on  that  account,  but  the 
old  man's  hopes  were  doomed  to  disappoint- 
ment for  Hod-de-god-die's  mental  equipment 
and  calibre  would  have  disqualified  him  even 
had  a  vacancy  occurred.  When  arrayed  in 
full  Indian  costume  that  included  a  very  anc- 
ient necklace  of  bear's  claws,  ears  loaded  with 
silver  bobs,  and  face  bedecked  with  indigo 
and  Vermillion,  Hod-de-god-die  presented  a 
rather  gorgeous  spectacle,  but  the  real  Beau 
Brummel  of  the  tribe,  the  acknowledged 
prince  of  all  fops,  was  Jack  Wild-Bird.  To 
visitors  he  was  a  curiosity.  He  appeared  to 
have  only  one  serious  occupation,  aside  from 
athletic  games,  and  that  was  the  beautification 
and  decoration  of  his  personality.  Hours 
were  spent  in  painting  and  decorating  his  face 
with  vennillion,  indigo,  yellow  ocher.  and 
white  clay,  and  experience  had  taught  him 
how  to  produce  the  most  startling  and  inhar- 
monious effect.  His  head  was  always  kept 
shaved  to  a  scalp-lock,  from  which  floated  a 
fine  eagle's  feather.  And  many  hours  of  his 
time  were  occupied  in  the  use  of  his  beard- 
puller  and  in  watching  his  face  in  a  large  hand- 
glass that  was  carried  attached  to  his   waist 


106 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


cord.  The  beard-pullers  used  by  the  Otoes 
consisted  of  a  spring>-like  steel  coil  about 
three  inches  in  length  which,  when  pressed 
against  the  face,  and  tightly  squeezed,  caught 
and  held  the  small  hairs  and  eyebrows,  thus 
enabling  the  operator  to  extract  a  large  num- 
ber at  once.  These  instruments  were  sold 
by  all  Indian  traders.  During  warm  weather 
Jack's  only  raiment,  aside  from  his  scarlet 
breech  cloth  and  heavy  necklaces  of  wampum 
and  beads,  was  similar  to  that  possessed  by 
Adam  before  the  apple  episode,  but  in  cold 
weather  he  fairly  bloomed  in  gay  ribbands, 
deer-skin  leggings  decorated  with  the  stained 
quills  of  the  porcupine,  and  the  handsomest 
scarlet  blanket  obtainable.  He  was  un- 
doubtedly the  most  accomplished  flute  music- 
ian in  the  tribe,  and  during  summer  evenings 
the  melodious  strains  of  his  flute,  mingled 
with  the  far  off  wail  of  a  mourner  beside  a 
lonely  grave,  were  often  aids  in  courting 
sleep.  The  never  failing  hospitality  to  be  met 
with  at  every  lodge  rendered  the  matter  of 
subsistence  a  minor  consideration  with  this 
gay  idler.  In  the  ancient  athletic  games  of 
the  tribe  he  was  a  leader  and  expert.  The 
village  play  ground  was  a  very  important  fea- 
ture of  village  life.  It  consisted  of  well- 
smoothed  and  perfectly  level  space  about  five 
hundred  feet  in  length  by  perhaps  two  hun- 
dred in  width.  It  was  there  that  many  of  the 
young  men,  nude  except  as  to  breech  cloth, 
played  from  morning  till  night  through  the 
hottest  days,  exhibiting  a  wonderful  dexterity 
in  throwing,  while  running  at  great  speed,  a 
small  flexible  ring,  causing  it  to  spin  along  the 
ground  while  each  runner  essayed  to  catch  it 
upon  a  sort  of  a  javelin  that  he  threw  as  he 
ran.  This  game  was  rendered  very  exciting 
by  the  betting  that  accompanied  it,  and  it  was 
from  this  source  that  Jack  Wild-Bird  acquired 
the  means  that  enabled  him  to  bedeck  himself 
so  gayly. 

It  was  a  custom  among  the  Indians  to  de- 
prive a  woman  of  the  sight  of  one  eye  if  she 
was  known  to  have  departed  from  the  path  of 
virtue.  The  writer  was  cognizant  of  a  case  of 
this  kind  in  1869,  but  occasions  for  the  in- 
fliction of  this  severe  punishment  were  very 


rare.  Marital  infelicity,  caused  by  infidelity 
on  the  part  of  a  wife,  called  for  the  blood  of 
her  paramour;  or  in  lieu  of  that  a  gift  of 
ponies  proportionate  to  his  wealth. 

The  adjudication  and  settlement  of  all 
troubles  devolved  upon  the  agent.  In  the 
course  of  administering  justice  and  punishing 
delinquents  he  found  it  necessary  on  one  oc- 
casion to  convert  the  agency  smoke-house  into 
a  jail,  and  having  placed  a  number  of  youth- 
ful culprits  therein,  under  a  ten  days'  sen- 
tence, he  securely  padlocked  the  door.  The 
building  being  an  old  frame  structure,  the 
prisoners  had  little  difficulty  in  devising  a 
secret  exit  which  enabled  them  to  spend  most 
of  their  time  at  home,  being  very  careful  to 
be  in  jail  when  the  meals  were  handed  in.  This 
free  and  easy  manner  of  suffering  imprison- 
ment had  been  continued  for  several  days  so 
successfully  that  the  prisoners  grew  careless 
in  regard  to  being  in  limbo  at  meal-time,  and 
their  jailor  having  decided  to  pay  them  a  visit 
a  little  earlier  than  usual,  found  the  prison 
empty.  The  police  were  at  once  notified  and 
soon  reported  that  they  had  found  them  in  the 
jail,  where  they  positively  declared  they  had 
been  all  the  time. 

The  Otoe  word  for  medicine  had  a  broader 
meaning  than  we  attach  to  its  equivalent,  for 
it  is  "mon-co,"  —  the  mysterious,  the  occult, 
the  incomprehensible ;  even  clairvoyance  is  not 
beyond  its  pale.  A  remarkable  instance  of  an 
exhibition  of  the  last  named  phenomena  by 
the  medicine  men  of  the  tribe  occurred  in  1872, 
while  efforts  were  being  made  to  recapture 
White-Water,  the  murderer,  who,  having  es- 
caped from  the  sheriff  after  his  arrest,  was  in 
hiding  somewhere  on  the  reservation.  A 
large  party  of  lowas  were  visiting  the  Otoes 
at  the  time,  on  account  of  a  pipe-dance,  and 
had  joined  in  the  hunt  that  was  being  made 
for  the  hiding-place  of  the  fugitive.  On  ac- 
count of  a  trifling  peculiarity  in  the  shape  of 
the  sole  of  his  moccasin  the  searchers  had 
discovered  his  trail  in  widely  separated  locali- 
ties, but  his  cunning  in  eluding  them  was 
greater  than  their  sleuth-craft.  The  Indians 
were  exceedingly  anxious  to  capture  White- 
Water  in  order  to   show   their  conticmnation 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


107 


of  his  crime  as  well  as  to  placate  the  animosity 
it  had  created,  toward  the  Indians,  among  the 
friends  and  relatives  of  the  murdered  men. 
Disappointed  in  their  efforts  after  several 
days  of  search,  they  at  length  invoked  the  oc- 
cult and  mysterious  power  that  was  believed 
to  pertain  to  the  "Mon-co"  men,  with  results 
in  the  direction  of  clairvoyance  that  were  as 
astonishing  as  they  were  mystifying  An  as- 
semblage of  probably  two  hundred  horsemen, 
including  the  lowas,  was  gathered  at  a  place 
on  the  west  side  of  the  river  where  the  prairie 
gradually  sloped  to  a  broad  river-botton.  The 
medicine  men  in  their  midst  chanted  and 
danced  frantically  until  at  length  two  of  them, 
mounted  on  swift  ponies,  emerged  from  the 
throng  and  after  circling  around  it  a  few  times 
at  great  speed,  darted  ofif  across  the  prairie 
and  out  of  sight,  —  where  they  went  or  what 
happened  to  them  during  their  absence  of  per- 
haps twenty  minutes  we  do  not  know,  but 
when  they  reappeared  their  horses  were  in  a 
lather  of  sweat  and  as  they  approached  it  be- 
came evident  that  both  swayed  .md  could 
hardly  retain  their  seats ;  a  rush  was  made  to 
meet  them  and  each  fell  from  his  horse  into 
the  outstretched  arms  of  his  friends  in  an  ap- 
parently unconscious  condition.  They  were 
laid  upon  the  ground  and  an  excited  crowd 
gathered  closely  around  them.  As  they 
slowly  recovered  from  a  stupor  they  muttered 
words  that  were  eagerly  awaited  for  and  lis- 
tened to  by  those  who  were  bending  over  them. 
In  gasping  and  broken  sentences  they  told  of 
where  they  had  (clairvoyantly ?)  seen  the 
fugitive  seated.  It  was  on  the  summit  of  a 
high  bhilT  on  the  south  side  of  Cedar  creek 
at  a  point  that  could  be  reached  by  climbing  a 
very  steep  rocky  gulch  that  extended  from 
the  bed  of  the  creek.  There,  they  declared,  he 
was  sitting  in  the  tall  grass  and  gazing  watch- 
fully over  the  country.  The  writer  who  ac- 
companied the  party  of  horsemen  that  at  once 
started  for  the  spot  indicated,  which  was 
several  miles  distant,  noticed  that  as  they  drew 
near,  the  Indians  halted  and  were  evidently 
afraid  to  approach  within  gun  shot,  and  it  was 
not  until  he  had  appealed  to  the  police  to  show 
their  Ijravery  that  they  finally  charged  up  the 


hill  and,  on  the  very  spot  designated  by  the 
medicine  men,  found  the  nest  in  the  tall  grass 
where  he  had  been  seated  a  very  short  time  be- 
fore the  party  charged  up  the  hill  on  the 
prairie  side,  his  moccasin  tracks  proving  that 
he  had  escaped  down  the  rocky  gulch  to  the 
bed  of  the  creek  and  along  the  edge  of  the 
creek,  where  his  trail  was  followed  for  about 
a  mile  when  it  struck  across  the  prairie  tow- 
ards the  timber  on  Wolf  creek. 

The  circumstances  connected  with  the  ar- 
rest of  White-Water  by  Sheriff  Alexander, 
of  Jefi'erson  county,  his  escape  from  the  sher- 
iiif,  and  his  final  capture  by  the  Indians,  may 
be  of  sufficient  historical  interest  to  relate  here. 
News  of  an  atrocious  double  murder  had 
reached  us,  but  it  was  not  until  the  arrival  of 
Sherifif  Alexander  at  the  Agency  that  we 
learned  that  White-Water  was  suspected  of 
the  crime.  On  inOjUiry  it  was  learned  that 
when  the  Otoes  returned  from  the  hunt  a  few 
days  before  he  had  loitered  behind  and  came 
in  alone  and  very  seriously  wounded  some 
hours  after  the  crime  must  have  been  com- 
mitted. The  police  informed  us  that  he  wa.s 
living  at  Medicine  Horse's  village  of  bark 
lodges  near  the  mouth  of  Mission  creek,  and 
the  agent  and  sherifif  at  once  proceeded  to  that 
place. 

On  their  arrival  an  Indian,  by  a  dy  gesture, 
indicated  the  lodge  where  he  slept  and  the 
agent  at  once  entered  and  found  him  lying 
beside  his  wife  on  the  platform  of  poles  that, 
with  a  covering  of  skins,  constituted  his  bed. 
On  seeing  the  agent  enter  and  catching  a 
glimpse  of  the  sherifif  outside  the  doorway  he 
at  once  realized  that  for  him  the  situation  was 
now  desperate,  and  reaching  beneath  his  pil- 
low he  drew  forth  a  heavy,  old-fashioned  navy 
revolver,  the  very  one  with  which  the  murder 
had  been  committed,  and  cocking  it  with  his 
unwounded  hand,  excitedly  told  his  wife  that 
"now  my  time  has  come  to  die  and  these  two 
principal  white  men  shall  die  with  me."  He 
arose  from  the  bed  and,  keeping  the  pistol 
pointed  at  the  agent,  backed  to  the  rear  door- 
way of  the  lodge,  the  agent  followed  closely 
despite  his  repeated  threats  that  he  would 
shoot,    a    threat   that    he   would    u-idoubtedly 


108 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


have  carried  into  effect  had  not  Medicine- 
Horse  arrived  in  the  nick  of  time  and  com- 
pelled him  to  put  up  his  pistol,  telling  him  that 
if  he  killed  either  the  agent  or  the  sheriff  the 
white  people  would  wipe  the  tribe  off  the 
reservation.  The  murderer,  pale  with  fear 
and  suffering  from  his  wound,  was  placed  on 
a  rear  seat  of  the  agency  carriage  with  Medi- 
cine-Horse beside  him  as  a  guard  as  well  as  a 
friend  and  adviser,  and  driven  rapidly  to  the 


return  the  next  day,  but  having  finished  his 
business  by  sundown,  and  the  night  being 
moonlight,  he  concluded  to  start  back.  In 
those  days  all  the  creeks  between  Beatrice  and 
the  agency  were  crossed  by  very  dangerous 
and  uncertain  fords,  and  in  order  to  reach  the 
Wolf  creek  ford  the  road  skirted  along  the 
creek  through  the  timber  for  nearly  a  quarter 
of  a  mile.  It  was  shortly  before  midnight 
when  the  agent  reached  this  stage  of  his  home- 


AIedicixe-Horse's  Village 


agency.  On  arriving  at  the  Otoe  village 
White-Water  begged  to  be  permitted  to  bid 
farewell  to  a  relative,  and  it  was  while  doing 
this  that  he  sprang  away  from  the  sheriff  and 
with  the  swiftness  of  a  deer  made  his  escape. 
It  \fas  nearly  two  weeks  after  the  clairvoy- 
ance episode  before  his  capture  was  finally  ef- 
fected. It  had  become  known  that  he  was 
lurking  in  the  timber  bordering  Wolf  creek, 
heavily  armed,  and  determined  never  to  be 
taken  alive ;  this  knowledge  had  been  obtained 
by  secretly  following  and  watching  his  wife, 
who  had  sought  him  out  and  was  in  communi- 
cation with  him.  On  the  day  of  his  capture 
the  agent  had  gone  to  Beatrice,  expecting  to 


ward  journey,  the  very  timber  tract  in  which 
the  outlaw  was  secreted.  The  moon  was 
shining  brightly  and  as  all  the  curtains  of  the 
carriage  were  rolled  up  he  at  once  realized 
that  he  was  about  to  become  a  possible  target 
to  an  unerring  marksman.  He  stopped  the 
horses,  unrolled  and  fastened  down  every  cur- 
tain, and  then  useing  the  whip  made  quick 
time  through  the  timber  and  across  the  steep- 
banked,  dangerous  ford.  Approaching  the 
agency  with  the  expectation  of  finding  all 
wrapped  in  darkness  and  slumber,  he  was 
greatly  astonished  to  find  the  place  all  lighted 
and  astir.  The  Indian  police  were  standing  on 
guard   about   the  doors,  and  evidently  some- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


109 


thing  momentuous  had  occurred.  Yes,  White- 
Water  had  been  captured,  brought  to  the 
agency,  and  delivered  to  the  agent's  wife,  who 
had  been  left  in  charge  of  affairs  during  his 
absence.  She  had  wisely  planned  all  arrange- 
ments to  render  the  murderer's  escape  impos- 
sible, but  the  unexpected  return  of  her  hus- 
band was  a  great  relief  to  her.  The  capture 
was  effected  by  his  kinsmen  in  order  that  no 
one  could  be  held  liable,  or  compelled  to  atone 
for  his  blood  in  case  of  his  execution,  —  it 
being  the  Indian  custom  for  kindred  to  exact 
reparation  either  by  taking  a  life  or  exacting 
a  heavy  penalty  in  ponies.  They  had  ap- 
proached him  with  brotherly  greetings  that 
disarmed  suspicion  and  it  was  his  own 
brother  who,  at  an  opportune  moment,  sprang 
upon  him  and  held  his  arms  while  the  others 
bound  him  securely  with  a  lariat.  A  farm 
wagon  was  then  brought  from  the  agency  and 
his  unhappy  kindred  completed  their  stern  act 
of  duty  by  delivering  him  into  the  hands  of 
the  law.  The  next  day  the  Indian  police,  clad 
in  their  blue  cavalry  uniforms,  and  carrying  a 
large  United  States  flag  at  their  head,  escorted 
the  large  agency  carriage  containing  the  agent, 
his  interpreter,  Battiste  Deroin,'  and  the 
prisoner  for  Fairbury.  Lack  of  space  forbids 
giving  details  of  the  case;  suffice  to  say  that 
at  a  trial  before  Judge  O.  P.  Mason,  held  some 
months  later,  White- Water  was  convicted  of 
murder  in  the  first  degree  and  sentenced  to 
imprisonment  in  the  penitentiary  for  life. 
Seventeen  years  later  he  was  pardoned  by  the 
governor,  but  his  stay  in  prison  had  been  an 
age  to  him.  Confinement  had  ruined  his 
health,  his  wife  had  married  another,  his  kin- 
dred were  mostly  dead,  and  the  beautiful  val- 
ley of  the  Blue  was  no  longer  the  home  of  his 
race. 

The  names  of  some  of  the  leading  braves 
and  heads  of  families  whose  faces  were  fa- 
miliar to  many  of  the  early  settlers  of  the 
county  may  become  of  historic  interest  to  fu- 
ture generations  and  well  worth  preserving, 
together  with  the  significance  of  each  in  Eng- 
lish.    Hence  we  present  the  following : 

Shun-ga-mon-co    (Medicine-Horse) 
Cha-pah  (Buffalo's  Head) 


Cha-thea-ka    (Buffalo's  Tracks) 
Hoo-gra-toe-way  (Four  Pillars) 
E-stah-mon-tha  (Iron  Eyes) 
Kay-tah  (Turtle) 
Paw-nee-inga   (Little  Pawnee) 
Paw-nee-coo-cha  (Pawnee-Killer) 
Sho-cha-mon-ie  (Moving  Smoke) 
Wah-nah-quash-coon-ie  (Fearless) 
Wah-cun-hun-cha  (Big  Snake) 
Shun-ga-scaw  (White  Horse) 
Mon-co-yo  (Valley  or  Low  Land) 
Bah-thea-inga  (Little  Cedar) 
My-um-pe  (Good  Land) 
Nah-way-hun-cha  (Big  Hand) 
Koth-a-inga  (Little  Crow) 
Lont-noo-inga  (Little  Pipe) 
Nee-ach-shinga  (Little  Creek) 
Maw-hee  (Knife) 
Mah-loo-ha-la  (Distant  Land) 
Mon-toe-pah  (Bear's  Head) 
Mon-toe-tha-way  (Black  Bear) 
No-ho-cha-ning-shinga  (Little  Brains) 
Ton-nah-coo-nah  (Courting  Favour) 
Wah-con-dah-keep-ah  (Religious  Head) 
Wah-cun-thra-cha   (Long  Snake) 
Whan-a-ga-he  (Adviser) 
Ho-mo-schu-cha  (Red  Elk) 
Mah-sho-cha  (Dust) 
Chee-na-inga  (Small  Village) 

Other  heads  of  families,  the  English  sigiiifi- 
cance  of  whose  names  we  are  unable  to  give, 
but  all  of  whom  were  well  known  to  mosfot 
the  early  settlers  of  southern  Gage  county, 
were  the  following: 

A-Gie-hi-ya 

Cha-ah-gra 

Har-ra-gar-rah   (Police) 

Ka-gra-tha 

Mus-ka-gah-hay  (Police) 

Pah-wan-a-sha 

Shoc-a-pi-ya 

Poonch-e-in-do-wa 

Who-ha 

Ah-ga-ha-mon-nee 

Cre-cah-gah 

Hoth-a-coe 

Gah-he-gah  (Police) 

Nah-pe-wah-la 

Pay-ton-gah-hay 


no 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Tah-poth-ka   (Police) 

Noh-thra-thra-cha 

Chu-sho-cha 

Ah-ho-thea-ah 

Ha-thon-ta 

Ha-naw 

Loo-he-a-mon 

Noh-he-toppe  (Police) 

Roc-co  (Police) 

Um-buth-ka-day 

We-ru-gri-inga 

Sho-cha-inga 

Among  the  names  of  prominent  Otoe  women 
who  were  occasional  callers  on  the  white  set- 
tlers and  whose  faces  were  familiar  to  many 
of  them  were: 
Ho-tock-a-me  (Tom  Boy) 
Hun-gesh-cha-me 
Ah-wa-soon-tha-me 
Mon-ka-toe-wack-a-me 
O-ma-toe-me 
Mon-com-pay-me 
Hoo-gla-me 
Moh-sho-cha-me 
Hun-do-ya-me 
Tah-cha-me 
Bah-ho-cha-me 
Kay-lah-me 
Mon-thu-bla-me 


In  1875-1876  better  school  accommodations 
were  secured  by  the  erection  of  a  large  mod- 
ern two-story  school  building,  with  accommo- 
dations for  boarding  a  large  number  of  the 
children.  The  supervision  and  care  of  the 
Indian  Aid  Association  of  the  Society  of 
Friends  was  continued  from  year  to  year,  and 
this,  combined  with  other  civilizing  influences, 
was  instrumental  in  gradually  changing  the 
modes  of  living  and  habits  of  thought  among 
the  younger  members  of  the  tribe,  but  the  old 
people  adhered  tenaciously  to  the  ancient 
habits  and  customs  of  their  race.  The  discon- 
tinuance of  buffalo  hunting,  tribal  visiting, 
pony-giving,  pipe-dancing,  and  other  episodes 
of  Indian  life  that  had  always  been  of  vast 
import  to  them,  caused  a  feeling  of  unrest  and 
dissatisfaction  that  finally  culminated  in  a 
determination  to  remove  to  the  Indian  Terri- 
tory. 

In  concluding  this  account  of  the  aborig- 
inal inhabitants  of  Gage  county  the  writer 
wishes  to  bear  testimony  to  their  many  virtues 
as  a  people,  —  their  honesty,  their  never-fail- 
ing generosity,  their  unselfish  liberality,  and 
their  love  and  deep  regard  for  each  other  in 
every  fanfily  circle.  Many  interesting  facts 
and  incidents  might  be  added,  but  space  for- 
bids. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

FIRST  WHITE  SETTLERS 

Indian  Agents  and  Employes  —  Gideon  Bennett  —  David  Palmer  —  John  O.  Adams, 
AND  THE  Shaws  —  The  Pethouds  —  The    Killpatricks   and    Others  —  Settle- 
ments  IN    Rockeord  Township  —  In   Grant  Township  —  At   Blue   Springs 


The  first  white  man  to  enter  our  county 
as  far  as  we  have  any  reliable  information, 
were  George  Heppner,  Indian  agent  for  the 
Otoe  and  Missouri  tribes  of  Indians,  in  1855  ; 
his  successor  in  office,  William  Wallace  Den- 
nison,  in  1859;  and  a  few  employes  of  the 
government  who  had  in  charge  the  mill  which 
belonged  to  the  Indians  and  which  had  been 
hauled  from  Nebraska  City  by  ox  teams,  in 
April,  1855 ;  the  blacksmith,  farmer,  and  such 
other  employes  as  the  government  allowed  at 
that  time.  At  least  one  white  man  followed 
the  Indians  from  Nebraska  City  and  engaged 
in  trade  with  them  on  his  own  account.  This 
was  Gideon  Bennett,  who,  in  1854,  kept  the 
famous  ferry  on  which  so  many  immigrants 
to  the  new  territory  of  Nebraska  there  crossed 
the  Big  Muddy  then  and  later  on,  and  who 
obtained  a  charter  from  the  first  territorial 
legislative  assembly  conferring  upon  him  and 
his  family  the  exclusive  privilege  and  fran- 
chise for  operating  a  ferry  at  Nebraska  City 
for  ten  years,  beginning  April  1,  1855.  This 
privilege  the  second  session  of  this  assembly 
revoked.  Bennett  established  a  trading  post 
on  Plum  creek,  just  outside  the  eastern  reser- 
vation line  and  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the 
village  of  Liberty,  on  Plum  creek.  He,  how- 
ever, acquired  no  residence  in  our  county  and 
remained  at  the  trading  post  but  a  short  time, 
when  he  sold  it  to  a  party  named  McDonald, 
at  St.  Joseph.  Missouri,  and  returned  to  Ne- 
braska City,  where  his  family  resided.  Af- 
terward he  became  prominent  in  local 
and       territorial       affairs,       amnn"st       other 


activities  representing  Otoe  county  in 
the  territorial  assembly  of  1864.  Some 
of  his  children  still  reside  in  Nebraska 
City.  Neither  Agent  Heppner  nor  Agent  Den- 
nison  removed  their  families  from  Nebraska 
City  to  the  new  reservation  nor  made  any 
eflfort  to  acquire  a  residence  in  the  county, 
nor  did  any  of  the  other  employes  of  the  gov- 
ernment about  the  Indian  agency  acquire  or 
attempt  to  acquire  a  permanent  residence  in 
the  county  until  after  settlement  was  made  at 
a  number  of  other  points.  Some  of  the  em- 
ployes at  the  agency  did,  however,  at  an  early 
date  acquire  a  permanent  residence  in  the 
county.  Among  these  were  Robert  A.  Wil- 
son, who  with  his  brother,  William  Wilson, 
came  to  the  agency  in  1855,  and  erected  and 
took  charge  of  the  steam  saw  mill.  They  re- 
mained in  charge  of  this  property  as  millers 
and  engineers  till  1859,  when  both  returned  to 
Iowa.  Robert  A.  Wilson  married  there  and 
in  1861  he  returned  to  Gage  county,  where  he 
has  ever  since  resided  in  Blue  Springs.  A 
more  extended  notice  of  him  will  be  found 
later  on  in  this  work,  in  the  article  entitled 
"Blue  Springs."  Another  of  the  Indian  em- 
ployes in  an  early  day  was  Jacob  Shaw.  Mr. 
Shaw  and  his  wife  came  to  the  Otoe  agency 
with  their  only  son,  John  Shaw,  now  connect- 
ed with  Klein's  Mercantile  Company,  of  Beat- 
rice, in  1859,  and  was  the  government  black- 
smith for  the  Indians  until  about  the  year 
1865,  when  he  removed  to  Beatrice,  where  he 
and  liis  wife  and  son  became  highly  respected 
and    prominent    citizens.     Mr.    Shaw    passed 


112 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


away  in  1916,  but  his  aged  widow  and  their 
son  survive  at  the  time  of  this  writing. 

About  the  time  the  Indians  were  removed 
from  Nebraska  City  to  their  new  reservation, 
a  young  man  by  the  name  of  David  Pahner 
came  to  the  county  as  an  employe  of  Gideon 
Bennett  at  the  latter's  trading  post  on  Cub 
creek.  Just  when  he  acquired  an  actual  and 
permanent  residence  in  the  county  does  not 
seem  to  be  settled  beyond  a  doubt.  It  is  cer- 
tain, however,  that  he  remained  in  the  county 
from  about  1855  until  his  death,  residing  dur- 
ing the  latter  part  of  his  life  on  a  farm  owned 
by  him  in  the  neighborhood  of  Liberty. 
While  living  there  he  was  drowned  June 
26,  1876,  in  the  Big  Blue  river,  near  the 
Otoe  and  ^Missouri  Indian  village.  His  de- 
scendants still  live  in  Barneston  and  Liberty 
townships.  They  are  William  Palmer,  a  son, 
of  Liberty ;  Mrs.  Flora  McFarland  and  Mrs. 
Fannie  Evans,  daughters,  of  Barneston.  It 
is  to  be  regretted  that  a  more  authentic  record 
of  David  Palmer  cannot  be  obtained  for  the 
purposes  of  this  history. 

If  we  can  look  to  neither  Agents  Heppner 
nor  Dennison  nor  to  the  employes  of  the  gov- 
ernment about  the  Indian  agency,  nor  to  Gid- 
eon Bennett,  nor  to  David  Palmer,  as  the  first 
white  settler  in  Gage  county,  that  question 
must  be  detennined  by  considering  other  por- 
tions of  the  county. 

The  evidence  is  conclusive  that  white  men 
in  considerable  numbers  came  into  the  county 
in  the  spring  of  1857.  In  March  of  that  year, 
in  old  C!ay  county,  a  lone  white  man  is  said 
to  have  stretched  a  piece  of  bark  between  two 
saplings  on  which  was  written  this  scrap  of 
information:  "John  O.  Adams  claims  this 
tract  of  land  this  30th  of  March,  1857."  Un- 
der the  doctrine  of  squatter  sovereignty  as 
then  applied  to  the  preemption  laws  of  the 
country,  this  simple  act  was  sufficient  probably 
to  constitute  a  settlement  upon  the  public  do- 
main, if  followed  within  four  months  with 
substantial  improvements  and  actual  occupan- 
cy. After  selecting  this  tract  of  land,  Mr. 
Adams  returned  to  Holt  county,  Missouri, 
where  he  spent  the  winter  of  1856-1857,  and 
in  the  following  April  he  moved  with  his  fam- 


ily upon  his  claim,  a  part  of  which  now  con- 
stitutes the  townsite  of  the  village  of  Adams. 
Having  erected  a  small  hewed-log  house  on 
his  land,  he,  on  May  17,  1857,  occupied  it  as  a 
residence  and  on  the  same  day  began  break- 
ing up  the  virgin  soil  and  planting  a  crop  of 
sod  corn.  It  can  hardly  be  questioned  that  his 
is  the  first  claim  located,  his  the  first  cabin 
erected  (the  cabin  at  Bennett's  trading  post 
excepted),  and  his  the  first  furrows  drawn 
within  the  present  boundaries  of  Gage  county 
—  all  this,  even  though  we  may  concede  to 
David  Palmer  the  honor  of  being  the  first 
bona  fide  white  settler  of  our  county.  In  ad- 
dition to  himself  and  wife  Mr.  Adams's  fam- 
ily consisted  of  seven  children.  They  were 
Nelson,  Nancy,  Isaac,  John  Ouincy,  Leander, 
Naomi,  and  Myanna.  Mr.  Adams  was  born 
in  New  Jersey,  in  1807,  he  married  Miss  Leti- 
tia  Harris,  a  native  of  Kentucky,  born  in  1812, 
and  removed  from  Kentucky  to  Missouri  in 
the  fall  of  1856,  with  an  ox  team.  He  ac- 
quired a  large  tract  of  land  in  Adams  town- 
ship, and  several  of  his  children  were  old 
enough  to  avail  themselves  of  the  benefit  of 
the  homestead  law.  His  wife  passed  av.'ay 
at  the  age  of  fifty-five  years  and  his  own  death 
occurred  December  24,  1867.  None  of  his 
children  survive  except  Nelson  and  Naomi, 
who  reside  in  the  town  of  Adams.  To  this 
sterling  pioneer  a  special  memoir  is  dedicated 
in  the  biographical  department  of  this  volume. 
Shortly  after  his  arrival  Mr.  Adams  was 
joined  by  John  Stafford,  H.  Reynolds  and 
brother,  Charles  Hickock,  and  Henry  Golden; 
and  in  July,  1857,  Stephen  P.  Shaw  and  his 
wife,  Anna  Hicks  Shaw,  with  their  sons,  Wil- 
liam, Egbert,  John  B.,  James  I.,  and  Stephen 
V.  Shaw,  with  their  families,  and  James  and 
William  P.  Silvernail,  sons-in-law,  with  their 
families,  settled  along  the  Big  Nemaha  river, 
in  Adams  township,  all  neighbors  of  John  O. 
Adams.  The  Shaws  were  natives  of  the  state 
of  New  York,  migrated  from  that  state  to 
Wisconsin  in  1850,  and  from  there  to  Nebras- 
ka, leaving  Wisconsin  March  6th,  with  six 
lumber  wagons  drawn  by  eight  yoke  of  oxen, 
and  arriving  in  Nebraska  July  6,  1857.  In 
November  of  that  year  this  small  colony  was 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


113 


augmented  by  George  Gale,  John  Lyons,  and 
George  Noxon,  who  also  were  sons-in-law  of 
Stephen  P.  Shaw.  And  in  the  same  year 
Jacob  and  John  Hildebrand,  George  Drown, 
William  Curtis,  and  H.  C.  Barmore  arrived 
to  swell  the  number  of  this  little  colony  of 
progressive  citizens.  All  these  early  pioneers 
settled  in  Adams  township.  Some  are  still 
Hving,   among  them   John    B..   James   I.,   and 


Pickrell,  and  began  the  erection  of  a  log  cabin 
on  his  claim.  He  and  Pethoud  were  found 
at  this  work  on  the  15th  day  of  May.  1857, 
by  Jefferson  B.  Weston,  Bennett  Pike,  M.  W. 
Ross,  and  Harrison  F.  Cook,  members  of  the 
locating  committee  of  the  Nebraska  Associa- 
tion, on  their  way  to  Omaha  to  report  to  the 
remainder  of  the  association  the  selection  of 
the  original  townsite  of  Beatrice  by  this  com- 


,-alniit  log  from   Tolin  Pethoud's  log  cabin  erected  in  the  summer  of  1S57  on  his  claim  four 
miles  north  of  Beatrice 


Stephen  \'.  Shaw.  Alfred  Gale,  who  was  also 
a  pioneer  of  1857  in  Adams  township,  and 
who  maintained  a  continuous  residence  in  that 
township  until  recently,  is  spending  the  clos- 
ing years  of  his  life  in  University  Place,  this 
state. 

At  almost  the  same  time  that  John  O. 
Adams  entered  the  boundaries  of  old  Clay 
county,  John  Pethoud,  head  of  the  well  known 
pioneer  family  of  that  name,  came  with  his 
friend  Edward  C.  Austin  to  that  county.  .A.us- 
tin  settled  on  Stevens  (now  Indian)  creek,  in 
the  immediate  neighborhood  of  the  viUage  of 


niittee  as  the  most  eligible  location   in   south- 
eastern Nebraska  for  a  city. 

John  Petlioud  also  drew  after  him  a  con- 
siderable following  of  relatives  and  friends, 
who  settled  in  Midland.  Logan,  and  Hanover 
townships,  along  Indian,  Pier:e,  and  Bear 
creeks,  on  the  south  side  of  the  Clay  county 
line.  Amongst  these  were  his  married  sons, 
John,  Thomas,  and  Franklin  M..  with  their 
families,  and  his  sons,  Andrew  J.  and  James 
K.  P.  Pethoud.  Soon  afterward  he  was  joined 
by  his  sons-in-law.  Samuel  Jones,  the  father 
of   William   R.    Jones  and   ^^Irs.    Sarah   Drew 


114 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


of  Beatrice,  and  John  Wilson  and  Marvin 
Thompson.  About  the  same  time,  as  previous- 
ly noted,  Edward  C.  Austin  and  two  brothers, 
with  Fordyce  Roper,  H.  W.  Parker,  Orrin 
Stevens,  and  a  few  others  settled  in  Clay  coun- 
ty, around  Austin's  mill,  near  the  present  site 
of  Pickrell.  These  pioneer  families  were  soon 
joined  by  Ira  Dixon  and  family,  Joseph  Proud, 
Thomas  Sherrill  and  family,  AI.  C.  Kelly,  J. 
H.  Butler,  and  H.  J.  Pierce,  for  whom  Pierce 
creek  was  named. 

In  1858  and  1859  settlements  were  made  in 
the  western  part  of  the  county,  along  Cub 
creek,  by  Samuel  Kilpatrick  and  his  wife, 
Rachael,  parents  of  John  David  and  Henry 
Kilpatrick,  both  deceased,  and  the  well  known 
railroad  contractors,  capitalists,  farmers,  and 
stock-raisers,  William  H.  Kilpatrick,  Robert 
J.  Kilpatrick,  Samuel  Davenport  Kilpatrick, 
and  Joseph  M.  Kilpatrick.  .'\bout  the  same 
time,  down  the  creek  toward  Beatrice  from 
Samuel  Kilpatrick's  homestead,  Leander  Cof- 
fin, Thomas  and  Joseph  Clyne  and  their  moth- 
er, Elizabeth  Clyne,  Andrew  Dean,  a  large 
family  by  the  name  of  Wells.  Asa  F.  Bailey, 
George  Whittemore,  Joseph  Graff,  William 
Blakely,  Frederick  Elwood,  Jonathan  Potts, 
and  another  man  of  the  same  surname,  located 
claims  along  Cub  creek  or  its  vicinity. 

Early  settlements  were  made  also  along  the 
Big  Blue  river;  and  the  Mud  and  Cedar  creeks, 
in  Rockford  township.  The  first  settler  in  this 
township,  as  far  as  known,  was  James  B. 
Mattingley,  with  his  wife  and  two  children. 
Mattingley  located  on  lower  Mud  creek,  in  Sec- 
tion 33,  in  May,  1857.  In  1858  the  C.  C. 
(Coffin)  Berry  family  located  a  mile  west  of 
Mattingley's,  on  the  Big  Blue  river,  in  Section 
33  of  Rockford  township.  In  the  spring  of 
1858  Edward  Woolridge  and  wife,  Leonard 
Wilson,  wife  and  child,  George  W.  Stark,  and 
Solon  AI.  Hazen  located  on  preemption  claims 
in  the  central  part  of  the  township.  They 
each  broke  out  a  few  acres  of  prairie  and 
planted  a  crop  of  sod  corn.  \\'oolridge,  Wil- 
son, and  Stark  built  cabins  on  their  claims  and 
remained  until  their  corn  had  ripened.  This 
was  gathered  and  stored  in  their  cabins 
Leonard  Wilson's  child  dictl  in  the  autumn  of 


1858,  its  little  grave  being  the  first  grave  in 
Rockford  township  and  the  beginning  of  what 
is  known  as  the  Stark  cemetery.  In  August, 
1858,  Fidillo  H.  Dobbs  located  a  preemption 
claim  in  the  same  neighborhood.  All  these 
settlers  returned  to  Alissouri  river  points  to 
spend  the  winter.  In  the  spring  of  1859  the 
Woolridges,  Pottertons,  Hazen,  and  Stark  re- 
turned to  their  claims  ;  the  Wilsons  never  came 
back.  Fidillo  H.  Dobbs  moved  his  family, 
consisting  of  his  wife  and  six  children,  to  his 
claim  March  13,  1859.  The  same  year  Jacob 
Schullenberger  and  family,  Henry  Schullen- 
berger,  wife  and  children,  Philip  B.  Coffee 
and  family,  Robert  Breese,  John  Tidier,  John 
H.  Dunn,  and  James  W.  Dunn  established 
their  permanent  residence  in  Rockford  and 
Filley  townships  along  Mud  creek.  In  1861 
these  settlers  were  joined  by  William  E.  Mudge 
and  family  and  Joseph  Milligan  and  his  wife 
Sally;  and  within  the  same  year  the  Hollings- 
worth,  Shelley,  and  Wild  families,  consisting 
of  about  twenty-five  persons,  settled  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Holmesville,  along  Cedar 
creek  and  the  Big  Blue  river.  They  were 
English,  were  all  related,  and  proved  a  wel- 
come and  valuable  addition  to  the  population 
of  Gage  county. 

On  the  Big  Blue  river  north  of  Beatrice,  in 
Grant  and  Blakely  townships,  the  first  settlers 
were  John  Barrett,  George  Grant,  and  Charles 
Buss,  about  1859.  They  were  soon  joined  by 
a  strong  English  colony  of  which  the  promi- 
nent members  were  Richard  Rossiter  and  fam- 
ily, William  and  James  Plucknett,  Robert 
Nicholas,  Richard  Dibble  and  families.  These 
were  afterward  joined  by  the  Kinsies,  two 
brothers,  Joseph  Roper  and  Frederick  B.  Rop- 
er, and  members  of  the  Ouackenbush  family 
and  others. 

In  the  southeast  corner  of  the  county  settle- 
ment was  made  in  1859  along  Plum  and  Wolf 
creeks  and  their  tributaries,  by  James  L.  Ayers, 
Jonathan  Sharp,  Nathaniel  D.  Cain,  Stephen 
15.  Evans,  John  Palmer,  Frederick  Fisher,  Peter 
Buckles,  Tipton  Marion,  Frederick  Wymore, 
and  others. 

In  July,  1857,  about  the  time  the  city  of 
Pieatrice  was  founded  on  an  open  prairie,  set- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


115 


tlement  was  made  also  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Blue  Springs.  The  first  settlers  of  whom  we 
have  any  account  in  that  locality  were  James 
H.  Johnson  and  his  family,  consisting  of  his 
wife,  Martha  M.  Johnson,  his  young  daugh- 
ters, Mary  and  Martha,  and  his  sons,  Thomas, 
Allen,  James,  and  Richard.  Allen,  a  boy  ten 
years  of  age,  was  drowned  in  the  Big  Blue 
river  shortly  after  the  arrival  of  this  family  on 
their  claim,  a  mile  and  a  half  northeast  of 
Blue  Springs.  His  death  was  the  first  to  oc- 
cur in  Blue  Springs  township  of  which  we 
have  any  record.  The  Johnson  family  was 
accompanied  in  its  migration  by  the  Elliott 
familv,  which,  besides  Martin  Elliott,  the  head 


this  volume,  in  an  article  devoted  to  Blue 
Springs. 

An  interesting  incident  in  the  early  settle- 
ment of  Gage  county  is  the  fact  that  the  first 
homestead  entry  under  the  homestead  act  of 
1863  was  made  by  a  citizen  of  this  county, 
Daniel  Freeman,  long  a  resident  of  Blakely 
township,  where  his  homestead  is  located. 

He  had  entered  the  service  of  the  United 
States  as  a  private  in  the  Sixteenth  Illinois 
^'olunteer  Infantry  at  the  breaking  out  of  the 
Civil  war,  in  1861.  Shortly  afterward  he  was 
transferred  to  the  secret  service  of  the  United 
States,  in  which  he  continued  until  the  close 
of  the  war,  rendering  almost  invaluable   ser- 


Orici 


Cabin   on    First   Homestead 


of  this  pioneer  family,  his  wife  and  some  minor 
children,  included  his  adult  married  sons  with 
their  families  —  Williams,  Stephen,  and  Henry 
Elliott.  With  the  Elliotts  was  also  a  related 
family  named  Hevener.  In  1858-1859,  these 
pioneers  were  joined  by  Rankin  Johnson  and 
family,  Patrick  R.  Gary,  a  son-in-law  of  John- 
son's, and  by  Jacob  PofT,  Reuyl  Noyes,  Joseph 
Chambers,  Samuel  Shaw,  Rebecca  Woodward, 
F.  M.  Gratiam,  William  B.  Tyler,  Wright  Sar- 
gent and  his  wife,  True  Sargent,  and  Herbert 
Viney  and  wife;  and  in  1860-1861,  Thomas 
Armstrong  and  family,  George  Diesert,  Dr. 
J.  M.  Summers,  and  his  son-in-law,  James  B. 
Maxfield,  who  afterwards  became  distinguish- 
ed as  a  presiding  elder  in  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal church  in  Nebraska.  Robert  A.  Wilson, 
Dr.  Levi  Anthony,  Lynus  Knight,  and  King 
Fisher  also  settled  in  Blue  Springs  or  in  that 
neighborhood.  The  individual  histories  of 
some  of  these  settlers  will  be  found  later  on  in 


vices  to  the  military  department  at  Washing- 
ton. In  1862  he  was  detailed  for  duty  in  the 
territory  of  Nebraska,  and  while  here  he  vis- 
ited the  village  of  Beatrice  and  located  a  claim, 
in  Section  26,  township  4,  range  5  of  this  coun- 
ty. He  erected  thereon  a  log  cabin,  and  he 
moved  his  family  to  his  claim  prior  to  the  first 
of  January,  1863. 

On  the  last  day  of  December,  1862,  Mr. 
Freeman  appeared  at  Brownville  for  the  pur- 
pose of  availing  himself  of  the  benefit  of  the 
new  homestead  act,  which  went  into  effect  at 
midnight,  December  31,  1862.  Mr.  Freeman 
knew  of  the  provisions  of  the  homestead  act 
but  had  no  conscious  intent  of  being  the  first 
man  to  profit  by  it.  He  had  been  ordercil  to 
report  for  service  in  one  of  the  military  dc 
partments  of  the  country  and  was  anxious  to 
be  away.  That  night  he  attended  a  dance  at 
Brownville,  and,  becoming  acquainted  with  one 
of  the  employes  of  the  government  land  of- 


116 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


fice,  he  apprised  him  of  the  fact  that  he  de- 
sired to  make  homestead  entry  of  his  claim  in 
Gage  county.  This  accommodating  official  im- 
mediately after  twelve  o'clock,  on  January  1, 
1863,  accompanied  Mr.  Freeman  to  the  land 
office  and  prepared  his  application  for  home- 
stead entry  covering  the  south  half  of  the 
northwest  quarter,  the  northeast  quarter  of  the 
northwest  quarter,  and  the  southwest  quarter 
of  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  26,  township 
4,  range  5,  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  and  when 
the  land  office  opened  in  the  morning  for  bus- 
iness, Mr.  Freeman's  entry  was  allowed  as  the 


first  under  the  homestead  act  —  this  n.otwith- 
standing  the  presence  of  a  large  number  of 
other  applicants,  including  Samuel  Kilpatrick. 
who  were  awaiting  opportunity  to  enter  land 
under  the  new  homestead  act.  Hon.  Galusha 
A.  Grow,  the  author  of  the  free-homestead 
law,  speaking  years  afterward  in  congress  up- 
on the  beneficence  of  this  act.  among  other 
things,  said : 

There  are  two  interesting  incidents  connect- 
ed with  the  final  passage  of  the  original  free- 
homestead  bill.  First,  it  took  effect  on  the 
day  of  Lincoln's  emancipation  proclamation. 
Second,  the  first  settler  under  the  homestead 
bill,  which  provided  free  homes  for  free  men, 
was  named  Freeman.     Daniel  Freeman,  of  Be- 


atrice, Gage  county,  Nebraska,  was  a  Union 
soldier,  home  on  a  furlough  which  would  ex- 
pire on  the  2d  or  3d  day  of  January,  1863.  At 
a  little  past  midnight  on  the  1st  day  of  January, 
1863,  he  made  his  entry  in  the  land  office  of  his 
district,  and  left  his  home  the  same  day  to 
take  his  place  again  in  the  ranks  on  the  tented 
fields.  His  entry  was  number  one,  his  proof 
of  residence  was  number  one,  his  patent  was 
number  one,  recorded  on  page  one  of  book  one 
of  the  land  ofiice  of  the  United  States.  The 
first  settler  under  this  law  was  a  Freeman,  and 
I  trust  that  the  last  of  its  beneficiaries  in  the 
long  coming  years  of  the  future  will  be  a  free 
man. 

Daniel  Freeman  was  of  the  sturdiest  kind 
of  New  England  stock.  His  ancestors  almost 
from  the  beginning  of  this  country  have  been 
prominent  and  influential  citizens  of  their  com- 
munities. Many  of  them,  including  his  great- 
grandfather, had  fought  in  the  Revolutionary 
war  as  well  as  in  the  war  of  1812  and  the  In- 
dian wars  of  the  country.  He  himself  pos- 
sessed many  admirable  and  heroic  qualities. 
The  last  visit  paid  to  him  by  the  author  of  this 
volume  some  time  before  his  death  was  at  his 
home  on  the  old  homestead.  He  was  ill,  suf- 
fering from  ailments  from  which  he  never  re- 
covered. Lying  on  his  couch,  he  discoursed 
eloquently  about  his  family  history  and  point- 
ed out  upon  the  walls  of  his  room  and  in  its 
corners,  many  relics  of  Revolutionary  days, 
among  them  his  great-grandfather's  flintlock 
musket,  carried  in  some  of  the  first  battles  for 
liberty  in  ^lassachusetts. 

Mr.  Freeman  was  born  in  Ohio  in  1826,  and 
was  taken  by  his  parents  to  Knox  county,  Illi- 
nois, in  1835.  In  1847  he  began  the  study  of 
medicine,  at  Peoria,  Illinois.  Two  years  later 
he  graduated  from  the  Electric  ^iledical  Insti- 
tute at  Cincinnati,  and  he  began  the  practice 
of  his  profession  at  Ottawa,  Illinois,  the  same 
year.  But  the  great  Civil  war  drew  him  into 
its  maelstrom  in  1861,  and  after  its  close,  in 
1865,  he  found  occupation  in  the  simple,  un- 
eventful life  of  a  farmer.  He  served  his  coun- 
try as  sheriff  in  1869-1870;  he  was  for  many 
years  justice  of  the  peace  of  his  township,  and 
he  held  other  minor  civil  offices.  Of  this  hon- 
ored pioneer  further  mention  is  made  in  the 
biographical  department  of  this  work. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

FOUNDING  OF  BEATRICE 

The  Hannibai^-Nebraska  Association  —  Organization  —  Members  —  Locating    Com- 
mittee —  Its  Report  — ■  Selection  of  Name  — ■  First  Fourth  of  July  Celebration  — 
Association  ^Meets  on  TowNsiTE — Selection    and    Entry    of    Townsite 


The  most  authentic  and  interesting  account 
of  the  early  settlement  of  our  county  clus- 
ters about  the  beautiful  city  of  Beatrice.  What- 
ever credit  may  be  due  to  others  for  the  settle- 
ment, development,  and  progress  of  Gage  coun- 
ty, there  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  part  that  this 
city  has  played  in  all  this  work.  The  story  of 
the  founding  of  Beatrice  reads  like  a  romance 
and  can  never  fail  to  have  absorbing  interest 
as  a  unique  experiment  in  the  settlement  of  the 
west. 

Almost  from  the  beginning  of  the  ninteenth 
century  the  jMissouri  river  steamboat  had  been 
an  important  means  of  communication  between 
settled  portions  of  our  country  and  the  western 
frontier.  By  1854,  when  the  territory  of  Ne- 
braska was  created  and  opened  to  immigra- 
tion, lines  of  steamboats  were  regularly  plying 
between  St.  Louis  and  the  upper  Missouri. 
One  of  these  vessels  was  the  old  side-wheel 
steamer  "Hannibal."  On  the  3d  day  of  April, 
1857,  this  staunch  river  boat  slowly  turned  her 
prow  up  the  current  of  the  Mississippi,  pushed 
off  from  her  wharf  at  St.  Louis,  and  began  a 
long,  tedious,  and  uneventful  voyage  to  the  set- 
tlements along  the  Missouri  river.  She  was 
crowded  with  emigrants  from  every  portion  of 
the  country,  all  bound  for  the  west.  Of  -her 
three  hundred  passengers  two  hundred  were 
Mormons  on  their  way  to  join  a  jNIormon  col- 
ony at  Florence,  Nebraska  territory,  and 
thence  to  move  across  the  great  plains  to  Salt 
Lake  City.  Of  the  remaining  passengers 
many  were  young  men,  and  a  few  were  heads 
of  families  ;  nearly  all  were  bound  for  the  west- 


ern frontier.  Before  they  had  been  many  days 
out  from  St.  Louis,  there  sprung  up  between 
the  non-Mormon  portion  of  the  passengers  an 
acquaintance  which  was  destined  to  be  attend- 
ed by  consequences  of  the  utmost  importance 
to  the  citizens  of  Gage  county  and  the  state  of 
Nebraska.  On  the  23d  day  of  the  voyage  from 
St.  Louis,  while  this  great  river  boat  was  tem- 
porarily stranded  on  a  sand  bar,  opposite  the 
village  of  Doniphan,  in  Kansas  territory,  in 
a  meeting  called  for  the  purpose  of  considering 
the  situation  steps  were  taken  whereby  thirty- 
five  of  these  daring  and  congenial  spirits  bound 
themselves  by  a  written  constitution  to  remain 
together  and  settle  as  a  colony  somewhere  in 
the  new  territory  of  Nebraska. 

The  minutes  of  this  meeting  when  viewed  by 
the  light  of  subsequent  events  possess  great  in- 
terest.    They  read   as  follows : 

Wednesday,  April  22,  1857. 

Meeting  of  the  passengers  on  board  the 
steamboat  Hannibal,  convened  while  fastened 
on  a  sand  bar  near  Doniphan.  K.  T. 

On  motion  of  John  McConihe,  Hon.  J.  F. 
Kinney  was  called  to  the  chair.  On  motion, 
John  AlcConihe  was  appointed  secretary. 

The  chairman  then  stated  the  object  of  the 
meeting  to  be  the  organization  of  all  who  were 
willing  into  one  town  association  and  the  form- 
ation of  a  settlement  in  Nebraska.  Appro- 
priate remarks  were  made  by  the  president, 
tending  to  show  the  advantages  of  such  an  as- 
sociation, if  all  the  members  were  actual  set- 
tlers, and  further  stated  that  southern  Ne- 
braska, the  Nemaha  country,  would  probably 
offer  the  greatest  inducements  at  present. 

Mr.  Albert  Towle  was  then  called  upon  and 
he  addressed  the  meeting,  stating  that  he  had 


117. 


118 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


traveled  in  the  Nemaha  country  and  that  it 
was  a  beautiful  and  desirable  section,  and  that 
a  town  located  in  its  midst  would  thrive  and 
prosper. 

Thereupon  it  was  resolved  that  a  committee 
of  five  be  appointed  to  draft  articles  of  asso- 
ciation and  report  at  a  subsequent  meeting. 

The  chair  appointed  as  a  committee  to  draft 
articles  of  association,  John  McConihe,  Ezra 
M.  Drake,  Timothy  Elliott,  Bayard  T.  Wise, 
James  A.  Raridon. 

Mr.  McConihe  moved  that  the  chairman  be 
added  to  the  committee  as  its  chairman-  Car- 
ried. 

The  meeting  was  large  and  enthusiastic, 
and  the  subject  of  starting  new  towns  was  gen- 
erally discussed. 

On  motion  the  meeting  adjourned  to  meet 
to-morrow,  April  23d,  at  10  o'clock  A.M. 
John  McConihe,  Secretary. 

The  second  meeting  also  was  well  attended. 
It  included  probably  most  of  the  non-Mormon 
male  passengers  who  were  looking  forward  to 
establishing  themselves  in  the  new  territory 
of  Nebraska.  The  minutes  of  this  meeting 
are  interesting  and  have  great  historical  value. 
They  are  as  follows  : 

Missouri  River  Steamboat  Hannibal. 
April  23,  1857,  10  A.  M. 
Meeting  called  to  order,  Hon.  J.  F.  Kinney 
in  the  chair.  The  committee  appointed  at  the 
first  meeting  to  draft  articles  of  association  re- 
ported as  the  result  of  their  labors,  the  fol- 
lowing : 

Articles  of  Association. 

The  undersigned  agree  to  and  adopt  the  fol- 
lowing Articles  of  Association. 

First:  The  name  of  this  association  shall 
be  known  as  "The  Nebraska  Association." 

Second:  The  object  of  the  same  to  select 
a  townsite  in  Nebraska,  either  by  purchase  or 
claim;  claim  the  same  and  so  much  land  ad- 
jacent thereto  as  this  association  may  agree 
upon,  all  of  which  shall  be  held  by  the  mem- 
bers for  the  mutual  benefit  of  all. 

Third:  Persons  signing  these  articles  and 
becoming  settlers  either  in  person  or  by  sub- 
stitute upon  the  townsite  or  adjacent  land 
claimed  as  aforesaid  within  two  months  shall 
be  entitled  to  an  equal  share  in  all  the  bene- 
fits belonging  to  or  arising  out  of  this  associa- 
tion. 

Fourth :  The  offiers  of  this  association  shall 
consist  of  a  president,  secretary,  treasurer  and 
board  of  directors. 

Fifth:     A   locating  committee  shall  be  ap- 


pointed immediately,  who  shall  proceed  at  the 
expense  of  this  association  to  explore  Ne- 
braska and  select  a  townsite  and  report  at  an 
adjourned  meeting  to  be  held  at  Omaha  City 
on  the  20th  of  May  next,  which  report  shall 
be  adopted  as  the  townsite  for  the  town  of  .  . 


Sixth :  Such  townsite  shall  be  surveyed, 
lithographed  and  divided  into  such  number  of 
shares  as  may  be  agreed  upon,  which  with  the 
claims  adjacent  thereto  shall  be  the  property 
of  this  association,  and  such  number  of  shares 
as  may  be  thought  best  can  be  sold  and  the 
proceeds  of  such  shares  applied  to  the  carry- 
ing out  of  the  purposes  of  this  association. 

Seventh :  Assessments  may  be  made  if  nec- 
essary from  time  to  time  for  such  expenses 
and  improvements  as  a  majority  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  association  may  declare  necessary. 

Eighth :  Members  who  do  not  in  person  or 
by  substitute  locate  upon  said  townsite  or  some 
claim  of  the  association  adjacent  thereto  within 
two  months  from  the  time  of  the.  report  of  the 
locating  committee  shall  forfeit  all  right  of 
membership;  unless  he  shall  be  justified  in  his 
absence  by  the  association. 

Ninth :  These  articles  may  be  amended  or 
others  substituted  therefor  by  a  two-thirds 
vote  of  the  members,  provided  always  that  re- 
quisite notice  of  such  proposed  alteration  of 
these  articles  has  been  given  to  the  association 
at  least  two  weeks  previous  to  the  adoption  of 
the  same  and  the  members  thereof  sufficiently 
notified  of  such  meeting. 

Tenth :  Each  member  shall  have  the  benefit 
of  such  improvements  as  exceed  in  value  those 
made  by  others  of  the  association,  to  be  as- 
certained and  allowed  in  such  equitable  man- 
ner as  may  be  agreed  upon. 

The  above  articles  were  fully  discussed 
separately  and  were  finally  adopted  unanim- 
ously. When,  on  motion,  the  secretary  was 
ordered  to  copy  the  same  preparatory  to  re- 
ceiving signatures,  and  the  meeting  adjourned 
to  three  o'clock  P.M.  for  that  purpose. 

John  McConihe,  Secretary. 

At  the  adjourned  meeting,  at  three  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon,  the  articles  of  the  associa- 
tion were  presented  for  signatures  and  were 
signed  by  the  following  named  persons :  E. 
A.  Wilmans,  Calvin  Miller,  E.  M.  Drake,  Wil- 
liam F.  Buffington,  John  McConihe,  Timothy 
Elliott,  M.  C.  Barr,  Gilbert  T.  Loomis.  George 
W.  Robb,  John  B.  Kellogg.  John  Henn,  Jacob 
Talman,  Albert  Towle,  Bayard  T.  Wise,  Her- 
man M.  Reynolds,  Bennett  Pike,  John  Brown, 
George   H.    Tobey,   A.    Nelson,   J.    F.    King, 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


119 


Norman  Colson,  John  P.  Cadman,  Phineas  W. 
Hitchcock,  George  A.  Jackson,  M.  W.  Ross, 
Edward  Stewart,  Jefferson  B.  Weston,  Jesse 
Spiehnan,  Jacob  Zolinger,  John  F.  Kinney, 
Richard  Northrup,  James  J.  Raridan,  Alexan- 
der McCready,  Justus  Townsend. 

Later,  and  before  the  boat  reached  its  des- 
tination in  Omaha,  Isaac  M.  Steele,  Alexander 
Lewis,  Charles  Dripps,  James  M.  Green,  Dan- 
iel P.  Taylor,  Obediah  H.  Hewett,  John  N. 
Newton,  Joseph  R.  Nelson,  and  Logan  D. 
Cameron  were  admitted  to  membership  in  the 
association,  and  at  a  meeting  of  the  board  of 
directors  held  in  Omaha,  on  May  22,  1857, 
George  D.  Bonham  and  Joseph  Milligan  also 
were  admitted  into  full  membership  in  the  as- 
sociation on  the  same  terms  as  the  others, 
namely,  payment  into  the  treasury  of  the  sum 
of  one  hundred  dollars.  And  at  a  meeting 
of  the  board  of  directors  held  at  Beatrice  it 
was  "resolved  that  H.  F.  Cook  become  a 
member  of  the  association  upon  payment  of 
assessment  (in  place  of  Mr.  Dripps,  whose 
share  has  been  forfeited)  and  upon  payment 
of  fifty  dollars  additional."  As  far  as  the 
records  go  there  were  no  other  formal  addi- 
tions to  the  membership  of  the  association,  but 
it  is  an  historical  fact  that  Nathan  and  William 
Blakely,  together  with  Isma  P.  Mumford 
and  wife,  arrived  on  the  townsite  of  Beatrice 
on  July  17,  1857,  and  became  thereafter  close- 
ly identified  with  the  history  and  destiny  of 
Beatrice. 

At  the  third  meeting  of  the  association  held 
on  board  the  Hannibal  April  28,  1857,  a  census 
of  the  membership  was  taken  with  respect  to 
their  occupations  and  it  was  found  that  there 
were  six  lawyers,  four  physicians,  three  mer- 
chants, a  mason,  a  bricklayer,  an  engineer, 
and  a  surveyor,  together  with  a  number  of 
members  without  expressed  occupations. 

Before  the  "Hannibal"  reached  Nebraska 
City  a  committee  consisting  of  Bennett  Pike, 
M.  W.  Ross,  F.  A.  Wilmans,  Bayard  T.  Wise, 
Jefl'erson  B.  Weston,  and  Judge  John  F.  Kin- 
ney, was  chosen,  known  as  the  locating  com- 
mittee, in  conformity  with  the  5th  subdivision 
of  the  articles  of  association,  "to  explore  Ne- 
braska and  select  a  townsite  and  report  at  an 


adjourned  meeting  (of  the  association)  to  be 
held  at  Omaha  on  the  20th  day  of  May  next, 
which  report  shall  be  adopted  as  a  townsite," 
etc.  At  Nebraska  City  this  committee  left  the 
boat  and  proceeded  to  discharge  its  duty.  It 
divided  itself  into  two  sub-committees,  Wise, 
Kinney,  and  Wilmans  formed  one  of  these,  and, 
proceeding  directly  west  from  Nebraska  City 
they  passed  over  the  spot  where  Lincoln,  the 
state  capital,  now  stands.  The  other  three 
members  of  the  committee,  Weston,  Pike,  and 
Ross,  hired  a  team  at  Nebraska  City,  and, 
with  Harrison  F.  Cook  as  driver,  began  their 
search  at  once  for  a  suitable  location  for  the 
prospective  city.  Striking  in  a  southwesterly 
direction,  without  other  guide  than  the  sec- 
tional corner  stones  planted  by  the  government 
surveyors,  they  proceeded  through  the  bright 
May  weather  to  examine  the  country  through 
which  they  took  their  course  with  the  single 
purpose  of  choosing  the  most  desirable  site 
for  a  city.  After  several  days  of  intelligent 
wandering  over  the  springing  prairies,  in  the 
brilliant  sunshine  lands,  on  a  late  afternoon 
in  early  May,  they  pitched  camp  on  the  banks 
of  Indian  creek,  near  where  the  Kees  Manu- 
facturing Company's  buildings  now  stand,  and 
within  the  present  limits  of  the  city  of  Beatrice, 
A  little  investigation  convinced  them  that  their 
quest  was  at  an  end.  These  clear-visioned 
young  men  noted  the  wide  sweep  of  rolling 
plain  extending-  in  all  directions  from  the  con- 
fluence of  the  two  streams  where  their  camp 
was  made  ;  they  marked  the  near  neighborhood 
of  several  well  wooded  streams  flowing 
through  fertile  lands  into  the  Big  Blue  river ; 
they  observed  that  this  stream,  with  its  rock 
bottom  and  steep  shores  possessed  at  this  point 
ample  facilities  and  power  for  milling  and 
manufacturing  purposes,  and  that  nature  had 
given  the  adjacent  land  grades  and  levels  that 
rendered  the  work  of  building  a  city  an  easy 
task. 

Having  carefully  noted  all  these  things  they 
began  their  journey  to  Omaha,  stopping  a  few 
hours  on  the  way  with  John  Pethoud  and  his 
friend  Edward  C.  Austin,  who  were  engaged 
in  building  a  hewed-log  house  on  Mr. 
Pethoud's  claim,  four  and  one-half  miles  north 


120 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


of  the  prospective  city,  on  this  side  of  the  Clay 
county  line. 

The  entire  committee  having  assembled  in 
Omaha  and  agreed  upon  its  report,  the  mem- 
bers of  the  association  were  called  together 
to  receive  it,  on  the  20th  day  of  May,  1857,  at 
the  hour  of  one  o'clock  in  the  forenoon,  in  the 
office  of  the  territorial  secretary  of  state. 
The  report  was  brief  and  was  probably  written 
by  that  able  young  lawyer,  Bennett  Pike.  It 
reads  as  follows : 

We,  the  undersigned,  locating  committee  of 
the  Nebraska  Association,  after  thoroughly 
exploring  Johnson,  Gage,  Clay,  Lancaster  and 


Julia  Be.\trice  Kinney 
1860 


Cass  counties,  find  the  most  eligible  site  for  a 
town  near  the  center  of  Gage  county.  The  ad- 
vantages of  this  place  consist  in  its  location  be- 
tween two  tributaries  of  the  Blue  and  at  the 
junction  of  the  western  branch  with  the  main 
river ;  in  the  great  beauty  and  fertility  of  the 
adjacent  prairies,  in  the  abundance  of  wood 
and  timber,  in  the  proximity  of  stone  fit  for 
building  purposes,  and  the  favorable  indica- 
tions of  coal.  The  prairie  is  four  miles  in 
width  from  creek  to  creek  and  is  skirted  on 
either  side  by  the  timber  line  along  the  banks 
of  the  above  mentioned  streams.  The  timber 
is  generally  oak,  walnut,  hickory,  ash,  cotton- 
wood  and  elm,  and  is  of  a  better  quality  and 
finer  size  than  any  other  we  saw  in  our  ex- 
plorations. The  beauty  of  the  situation,  the 
central  position  in  the  county,  and  quality  and 
quantity  of  the  timber,  the  superior  nature  and 
location  of  the  intervening  prairie  and  the 
large  extent  of  country  tributary  to  it,  deter- 
mined us  ill  the  selection  of  this  place  as  pos- 


sessing all  the  requisites  and  advantages  nec- 
essary to  the  founding  and  building  of  a  prosr 
perous  and  thriving  inland  town.  All  of  which 
is  very  respectfully  submitted,  with  an  accom- 
panying map  of  the  place. 

Bennett  Pike.  M.  W.  Ross. 

F.  A.  Wilmans.  B.  T.  Wise. 

J.  B.  Weston.  J.  F-   Kinney. 

This  report  was  unanimously  adopted  and  a 
committee  appointed  whose  duty  it  was  to  as- 
certain and  properly  designate  the  exact  loca- 
tion of  the  proposed  townsite  and  have  the 
same  surveyed.  Another  committee  was  ap- 
pointed, charged  with  the  duty  of  reporting 
at  an  early  date  to  the  association  a  name  for 
this  embryo  town.  The  last  named  committee, 
as  a  result  of  its  deliberations,  at  a  meeting  of 
the  association  on  May  21st,  reported  the 
names  of  "Wheatland"  and  "Beatrice."  The 
latter  was  the  name  of  Judge  Kinney's  eldest 
daughter,  Julia  Beatrice  Kinney,  and  it  was 
adopted  by  a  vote  of  sixteen  to  nine.  The  as- 
sociation, after  appointing  a  committee,  head- 
ed by  Bennett  Pike,  to  purchase  for  its  use  a 
steam  saw  mill,  adjourned  to  meet  at  Beatrice 
(in  the  27th  day  of  July,  1837. 

Most  of  the  members  of  the  association  made 
their  way  to  the  proposed  townsite  during  the 
month  of  June,  and  by  the  4th  day  of  July 
nearly  all  were  assembled  on  the  original  vir- 
gin townsite  of  Beatrice.  They  proceeded  to 
celebrate  the  national  holiday,  and  this  was  the 
first  Fourth  of  July  celebration  ever  held  in 
Gage  county.  Judge  Kinney,  who  had  located 
at  Nebraska  City  in  the  practice  of  the  law. 
drove  across  the  country  with  his  family  to 
participate  in  this  celebration.  Though  the 
participants  were  few  in  number,  patriotic  en- 
thusiasm was  much  in  evidence.  Miss  Julia 
Beatrice  Kinney,  the  seventeen-year-old  daugh- 
ter of  the  president  of  the  association,  in  a 
pleasing  speech  presented  to  her  namesake  the 
national  flag  which  had  been  made  by  the  ladies 
of  the  association  at  Nebraska  City,  and  P>en- 
iiett  Pike  replied. 

Most  of  the  members  remained  on  tiie  ground 
until  the  27th  day  of  July,  the  date  to  which 
the  association  had  adjourned  at  Omaha  in 
^fay  to  meet  at  the  townsite  of  ISeatrice,  and 
when   on  that   day  the  president  of  the  asso- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


121 


ciation,  Judge  Kinney,  directed  liis  scholarly 
secretary,  John  AlcConihe,  to  call  the  roll  of 
the  members  the  following  gentlemen  respond- 
ed to  their  names :  Messrs.  Pike,  Towle,  Wise, 
Weston,  Jackson,  Hewett,  Elliott,  Joseph  Nel- 
son, Northrop,  Tovvnsend,  Tobey,  Tailor, 
Wilmans,  Ross,  Reynolds,  Johnson,  Miller, 
Brown,  Loomis,  Green,  and  Bonham.  Thirteen 
members,  namely,  Kellogg,  A.  Nelson,  Barr, 
Cadman,  Hitchcock,  Henn,  Dripps,  Stewart, 
Zolinger,  King,  Raridon,  Robb,  and  Buffington, 
were  represented  by  proxy. 

Judge  Kinney  then  announced  that  the  site 
selected  for  the  location  of  the  town  was  "one 
mile  from  east  to  west  and  one-half  mile  from 
north  to  south."  Some  discussion  ensued, 
during  which  Mr.  Bonham  moved  "that  the 
townsite  be  so  moved  as  to  conform  with  the 
government  survey  and  to  consist  of  four 
hundred  acres."  After  further  discussion  of 
the  site  of  the  proposed  town  "the  whole  mat- 
ter was  referred  back  to  the  locating  commit- 
tee". On  the  28th  day  of  July,  that  committee 
reported,  recommending  that  "the  eastern 
boundary  be  placed  on  the  section  line  and  that 
an  addition  be  taken  in  on  the  west  sufficient 
to  cross  the  river."  This  report  was  accepted 
and  O.  B.  Hewett  was  thereupon  appointed  lot 
agent  "to  donate  town  lots  and  that  he  be  al- 
lowed to  donate  no  more  than  three  lots  in 
any  one  block,  and  that  no  lots  be  donated 
except  to  actual  settlers  who  will  build  there- 
on." A  resolution  was  adopted  that  "the  size 
of  the  town  lots  be  fifty  feet  front  by  one 
hundred  and  forty  feet  deep,  with  streets  eighty 
feet  wide  and  alleys  twenty  feet  wide,  running 
one  way."  The  Rev.  D.  H.  May,  the  grand- 
father of  Earl  and  Paul  Marvin,  was  given 
five  lots  "for  his  kindness  in  coming  to  Beatrice 
and  preaching  the  first  sermon  in  town."  A 
resolution  was  adopted  donating  "one  thousand 
dollars  to  any  competent  man  who  will  take 
the  mill,  erect  the  same  immediately  and  run 
it  under  certain  specified  restrictions,"  and 
"Mr.  Towle  was  allowed  the  privilege  of  oc- 
cupying the  association  log  house  by  unanimous 
consent  until  further  action  upon  the  subject." 
William  H.  Brodhead,  who  had  previously 
been  selected   to  survey  the  townsite,  at  this 


meeting  of  the  association,  July  28,  1857,  was 
"allowed  one  hundred  dollars  and  expenses 
for  laying  out  the  townsite  and  making  three 
plats  of  the  same"  and  Mr.  Bonham  was  ap- 
pointed "to  confer  with  him  about  selecting 
lands."  A  half  block  was  donated  and  set 
apart  for  school  purposes  and  a  committee  ap- 
pointed to  select  land  for  a  cemetery.  Mr. 
Pike  was  empowered  to  sell  the  mill  if  op- 
portunity offered,  and  Hewett  was  directed  as 
lot  agent  to  donate  two  lots  to  the  "first 
blacksmith  who  would  erect  a  blacksmith  shop 
in  town."  At  an  adjourned  meeting  of  the 
association  held  July  29th  at  three  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon,  the  location  of  the  townsite  was 
taken  up  and  finally  it  was  resolved  "that  the 
townsite  be  removed  to  the  north  so  as  to  cor  • 
respond  with  the  government  survey." 

The  townsite  finally  selected  comprised  the 
southeast  quarter  of  section  thirty-three  and 
the  southwest  quarter  of  section  thirty-four,  in 
township  four  north,  and  range  six  east  of  the 
sixth  principal  meridian,  comprising  three 
hundred  and  twenty  acres.  It  was  surveyed 
and  platted  by  William  H.  Brodhead,  at  that 
time  a  resident  of  Nebraska  City,  and  on  the 
13th  day  of  August,  1859,  it  was  formally  en- 
tered under  the  national  townsite  act,  by  Dr. 
Herman  M.  Reynolds,  as  mayor  of  the  city  of 
P.eatrice,  at  the  land  office  at  Brownville,  where 
at  the  same  time  a  plat  of  the  new  town  was 
filed,  as  in  case  of  such  entries  the  law  re- 
quired. 

The  reader  has  now  looked  upon  the  origin 
of  the  city  of  Beatrice.  Glancing  backward 
across  the  intervening  three  score  years  from 
his  felicitous  surroundings,  it  may  be  difficult 
for  him  to  visualize  the  unpromising  condi- 
tions that  beset  this  beautiful  city  at  the  hour 
of  its  birth.  Planted  in  the  midst  of  what 
was  virtually  a  primitive  waste,  far  removed 
from  even  the  confines  of  civilized  life,  no  one 
who  was  not  endowed  with  the  prevision  of 
the  pioneer  could  have  foreseen  the  bright  fu- 
ture that  awaited  it. 

The  Nebraska  Association  continued  in  busi- 
ness until  about  1870,  when  Solon  M.  Hazen 
of  Blue  Springs,  who  was  one  of  the  county 
commissioners  at  that  time,  was  selected  as  a 


122 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


referee  to  make  a  division  amongst  the  persist- 
ent members  of  the  unsold  and  unclaimed  lots 
included  in  the  original  townsite.  Unfortu- 
nately his  assignment  of  lots  is  not  available  for 
the  purposes  of  this  history.  Few,  however, 
of  the  original  company  were  left  to  claim  their 
proportionate  share  of  the  residue  of  the  com- 
pany assets.  Having  accomplished  its  orig- 
inal purpose  and  witnessed  the  full  frui- 
tion of  its  hopes,  the  association,  following 
Hazen's  report,  formally  and  voluntarily  dis- 
banded. 

When  we  consider  that  the  title  to  the  ninety- 
four  blocks  comprising  the  original  townsite 
of  Beatrice,  and  now  by  far  the  most  populous 
and  valuable  portions  of  the  city,  rests  upon 
the  entrv  made  bv  Dr.  Herman  M.  Reynolds 


at  the  United  States  land  office  at  Brownville, 
on  the  12th  day  of  September,  1859,  under  the 
act  of  congress  dated  May  25,  1844,  commonly 
known  as  the  townsite  act,  and  the  steady,  un- 
wavering zeal  of  the  body  of  men  who  for 
years  held  the  destiny  of  our  city  in  their 
hands,  we  are  bound  to  yield  to  the  founders  of 
Beatrice  ungrudging  credit  for  all  they  did 
here.  It  is  to  their  energ}-.  enthusiasm,  and 
prevision  that  we  owe  not  only  the  origin  of 
Beatrice,  but  also  in  a  large  measure  its  pros- 
perity and  happiness.  Their  names  should  be 
ever  spoken  with  reverence  and  respect  by  all 
who  take  the  slightest  interest  in  her  welfare, 
or  who  feel  a  just  pride  in  the  fact  that  she  is 
as  a  city  set  upon  a  hill,  whose  light  can  not 
be  hid. 


CHAPTER  XV 


NARRATIVE  OF  MRS.  JULIA  BEATRICE  (KINNEY)  METCALF 


[The  following  narrative,  by  Mrs.  Julia 
Beatrice  (Kinney)  Aletcalf,  for  whom  the  city 
of  Beatrice  was  named,  was  prepared  at  the  re- 
quest of  the  author  of  this  book.  As  far  as 
known,  it  is  the  only  contemporary  narrative 
of  the  voyage  of  the  "Hannibal"  and  the  found- 
ing of  Beatrice  which  could  be  procured  now 
from  any  living  person.  Mrs.  jNIetcalf  when 
a  girl  became  a  resident,  with  her  parents,  of 
Nebraska  City,  in  May,  1857.  Later  she  be- 
came the  wife  of  Julian  Metcalf,  a  pioneer 
banker  of  Nebraska  City.  Until  1893  her 
home  was  in  Nebraska  City,  when  JNIr.  and 
Mrs.  Metcalf  removed  to  the  Pacific  coast. 
She  is  spending  her  declining  years  in  the  city 
of  Portland,  Oregon.] 

This  brief  sketch  of  the  founding  of 
Beatrice  and  the  events  that  led  to  it  must 
unavoidably  be  somewhat  biographical.  To 
recall  the  incidents  and  experiences  of  sixty 
years  ago  is  not  an  easy  task,  as  some  scenes 
stand  out  very  vividly,  while  others  have  faded 
and  grown  dim. 

My  native  state  is  Ohio,  and  Blount  \'ernon 
my  native  town,  where  I  first  saw  the  light 
October  29,  1839.  When  I  was  four  years 
old  my  father,  J.  F.  Kinney,  dazzled  by  the  star 
of  empire  which  had  led  him  from  the  At- 
lantic and  was  destined  to  lead  him  to  the  far- 
oflF  Pacific,  gathered  his  little  family  together 
and  moved  to  Iowa.  Here,  in  the  small  town 
of  West  Point,  we  lived  until  I  was  in  my 
fourteenth  year.  I  was  always  kept  in  school, 
there  being  an  excellent  one  in  the  place,  and 
I  do  not  remember  ever  missing  a  day  either 
by  illness  or  by  the  spring  desire  to  play  hooky 
when  the  flowers  came  and  the  birds  sang. 
Not  but  that  I  had  that  desire,  but  we  were 
taught   obedience   in   those   days. 


At  this  time  my  father  received  the  appoint- 
ment of  chief  justice  of  Utah  territory,  which 
he  accepted,  and  a  change  of  base  became  nec- 
essary. After  a  family  council  it  was  decided 
that  my  school-life  must  be  continued.  My 
sister,  two  years  my  junior,  now  Mrs.  J.  A. 
Ware  of  Nebraska  City,  was  to  go  on  the 
wonderful  journey  across  the  plains  with  my 
parents  and  the  three  boys,  still  younger.  But 
I  was  taken  by  my  father  to  Georgetown,  D. 
C,  a  suburb  of  Washington,  and  placed  in  Miss 
English's  seminary,  where  I  found  myself  in 
a  typical  southern  atmosphere,  my  companions 
being  daughters  of  old  southern  families.  I 
was  the  only  western  girl  there,  and  at  first 
was  looked  at  askance  as  coming  from  a  dare- 
devil region  of  wild  Indians,  tomahawks,  and 
stampeding  buffaloes.  This  school  during  the 
Civil  war  was  converted  into  a  hospital,  and 
Miss  Alcott  wrote  her  "Hospital  Sketches" 
from  her  experiences  as  a  nurse  in  this  and 
other  Washington  hospitals.  Georgetown 
Heights  was  the  fashionable  place  of  residence 
for  government  foreign  officials  in  1854.  Here 
General  Badiscoe,  the  Russian  ambassador, 
lived,  having  married  a  former  student  of  Aliss 
English's  school,  a  beautiful  young  girl  called 
when  in  Russia  "the  American  rose." 

My  school  life  in  Georgetown  was  both  in- 
structive and  interesting;  I  was  in  Washington 
during  part  of  two  presidential  administrations. 
Pierce  and  Buchanan,  and  recall  Mrs.  Pierce's 
sad  face,  in  her  deep  mourning  for  the  loss  of 
her  son;  and  also  Miss  Lane,  President 
Buchanan's  handsome  niece,  who  presided  at 
the  White  House  during  his  administration.  On 
the  President's  reception  days  we  of  the  senior 
class  were  permitted  to  attend  the  state  func- 
tions at  rare  intervals,  chaperoned  by  a  teacher. 


124 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


It    all    looked    brilliant    and    gorgeous   to    our 
young  eyes. 

In  1856  I  was  graduated,  being  honored  as 
valedirtorian  and  receiving  the  highest  prize 
in  music.  My  father,  having  returned  from 
I'tah,  came  on  immediately  for  me,  and  once 
niore  we  were  in  our  old  home, —  but  how 
changed  everything  looked  to  me,  the  town  so 


week's  less  time  than  it  took  us  to  reach  our 
goal  on  the  Missouri  river. 

What  a  memorable  journey  that  was  !  Three 
hundred  human  beings  of  all  nationalities 
crowded  the  boat  to  its  capacity.  The  morning 
was  a  typical  April  one,  the  sky  bright  with  the 
mists  from  the  two  rivers  floating  away  and 
the  trees  and  grasses  sparkling  from  the  past 


Beatrice   (Kinney)   Metc.\i.f,  1909 


much  smaller  than  I  remembered  it.  Even 
our  pleasant  country  home  had  dwindled, — 
the  ceilings  were  lower,  the  rooms  smaller ;  we 
judge  all  things  by  comparison. 

The  star  of  empire  still  drawing  my  father 
westward,  the  farm  was  sold,  and  in  1857  we 
all  embarked  at  Fort  Madison  on  the  Missis- 
sippi for  Nebraska  the  "land  of  broad  rivers." 
The  trip  down  the  river  was  uneventful.  On 
reaching  St.  Louis,  the  "Hannibal,"  long  to  be 
remembered,  a  large  freight  and  passenger 
boat,  awaited  us.  I  suppose  it  was  named 
for  the  great  Carthaginian  general  who  amid 
suiK-rhunian   difficulties  crossed  the  .Mps  in  j\ 


night's  shower.  All  were  in  high  spirits  as 
we  started  from  the  wharf,  saluted  by  boats  as 
we  passed  ;  one  having  once  heard  the  "Han- 
nibal's" tremendous  blast  as  she  answered  the 
signals  can  never  forget  it, —  hoarse,  deep  as 
the  lowest  trombone  tone,  it  thundered  with 
impressive  self-importance.  Thus  with  waving 
hands  and  handkerchiefs  we  passed  up  the  river 
on  our  journey  to  the  unknown. 

'When  night  came  the  "Hannibal"  rested 
from  her  labors,  not  daring  to  brave  in  the 
darkness  her  vicious  enemies,  the  great  snags 
and  sandbars  that  surrotmded  her,  thick  as  the 
"Thousand  Islands"  but  without  their  beautv. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


125 


Remember,  there  were  no  brilliant  search- 
lights in  those  faraway  days.  The  first  and 
last  impressions  of  the  "Big  Muddy"  were 
,snags,  ugly,  cruel-looking  things,  grotesque  in 
shape,  and  countless  sandbars,  while  ever  float- 
ing swiftly  by  were  ashen  gray  logs,  hurrying 
to  the  end,  wherever  that  might  be.  It  gave 
one  a  dizzy,  sickening  feeling  to  watch  them, 
liut  turn  your  eyes  from  this  treacherous, 
mighty  river  to  the  banks  on  either  side,  where 
were  vine-covered  trees,  the  tender  spring  ver- 
dure, the  early  flowers,  the  waving  grasses ; — 
all  of  which  delighted  us;  at  night  the  whip- 
poorwills  sang,  and  at  dawn  we  heard  innu- 
merable birds  hidden  in  the  tree-tops. 

Sometimes  when  the  boat  landed  we  went 
exploring  along  the  shore,  gathering  the  early 
wild  flowers  but  always  keeping  our  ears  open 
for  the  tremendous  blast  which  hurried  us 
back  to  our  floating  home.  Once  on  landing 
at  a  small  town,  two  boys,  eight  and  ten  years 
old,  went  ashore  to  buy  some  shoes  which  they 
sadly  needed.  After  the  purchase  a  most  ex- 
citing dog-fight  took  place ;  the  boat  whistled, 
but  the  boys,  oblivious  to  all  but  the  absorbing 
event  at  hand,  heard  it  not,  and  the  boat  went 
on  its  way.  Soon  however  the  mother,  missing 
her  children,  raised  a  cry  of  despair,  and  the 
mighty  "Hannibal,"  after  a  mile  or  so,  re- 
versed her  course  and  picked  up  the  penitent 
boys,  who  explained  that  they  "wanted  to  stay 
and  see  the  end  of  the  fight." 

The  chief  amusements  among  us  were  chess, 
checkers,  and  dancing  the  old-fashioned 
quadrilles,  for  round  dances  were  not  con- 
sidered proper  in  those  days,  and  cards  were 
forbidden ;  in  fact,  I  believe  that  not  one  of  us 
young  people  knew  one  card  from  another. 
So  the  days  dragged  on.  It  was  always  inter- 
esting to  watch  the  great  spars  as  they  worked 
to  free  us  from  the  sandbars,  to  hear  the 
signals  ring  and  the  shouting  of  the  men  as 
as  orders  were  given;  there  was  great  rejoic- 
ing when  we  were  on  our  way  once  more,  until 
the  creaking  and  quivering  of  the  boat  told  us 
we  were  again  aground. 

It  was  when  our  steamer  was  on  one  of  these 
sandbars,  the  worst  we  had  yet  encountered, 
that  the  organization  was  formed  for  the  pur- 


pose of  locating  a  town  in  Nebraska ;  a  written 
constitution  and  by-laws  were  signed  by  some 
thirty-five  men,  and  an  exploring  committee 
was  appointed.  Little  did  they  realize  then 
that  they  were  making  history  and  that  a 
beautiful  city  was  to  spring  magically  on  the 
virgin  soil  of  the  then  unknown  land. 

These  gentlemen  were  men  of  sterling  worth, 
possessing  all  the  energ}',  mental  attainments 
and  courage  necessary  for  a  frontier  life,  as 
time  has  proved.  Their  names  are  all  em- 
blazoned in  the  annals  of  the  State  History  of 
Nebraska,  so  it  is  not  necessary  for  me  to 
name  them  here.  I  distinctly  remember  the 
Towle  family  as  adding  so  much  to  our  social 
life  on  the  steamer,  and  afterward  being  most 
active  in  all  good  works  and  hospitality  in 
Beatrice. 

After  three  long  weeks  we  reached  Ne- 
braska City,  where  we  landed  with  joy ;  we 
drove  at  once  to  the  "City  Hotel,"  a  small, 
frame,  two-story  building  which  afterward 
fell  down  and  was  replaced  by  a  substantial 
brick  hotel.  The  next  thing  to  do  was  to  find 
a  house  to  live  in,  not  an  easy  matter,  as 
houses  were  few  and  far  between.  We  found 
a  small  frame  house  with  one  room  and  a  shed 
at  the  back,  which  served  for  kitchen  and  din- 
ing room.  This  rented  for  twenty-five  dollars 
a  month.  Here  we  took  up  our  new  life.  We 
partitioned  the  one  room  with  a  curtain,  and 
this  recess  was  my  sanctum.  I  enjoyed  play- 
ing stage  efl^ects  going  in  and  out  of  that  cur- 
tain, and  on  the  whole  found  it  more  interest- 
ing that  a  well  appointed  bedroom. 

On  July  4,  1857,  the  interesting  ceremony 
of  christening  the  new  city  which  the  com- 
pany organized  on  the  boat  and  had  located 
on  the  Blue  river,  was  to  be  celebrated,  and 
our  family,  with  many  others,  started  well 
equipped  for  the  land  of  promise.  We  had  all 
the  comforts  and  conveniences  necessary  for 
camp  life,  and  were  in  joyful  mood  and  high 
anticipation  as  we  left  Nebraska  City  behind 
us.  The  weather  was  perfect,  for  where  will 
you  find  more  sunshine  or  purer  air  than  in 
our  noble  state?  The  vast,  gently  rolling 
prairies  seemed  like  petrified  waves  of  a  gen- 
tle  sea.     The   waving  grasses,  often   as   high 


126 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


as  our  heads,  gave  a  wonderful  effect  of  light 
and  shade  in  their  graceful  undulations  as 
the  light  winds  passed  over  them. 

As  we  journeyed  we  halted  to  gather  the 
wild  flowers,  so  beautiful  and  abundant.  Here 
we  found  the  blue  and  yellow  violets,  the  fra- 
grant wild  roses  ranging  in  color  from  the 
deepest  tone  of  pink  to  the  white,  their  color 
kissed  from  them  by  the  sun.  We  decorated 
our  horses  and  wagons  with  the  Indian  paint- 
brush, flaming  like  fire  in  the  grass,  and  the 
golden  rod,  now  our  national  flower.  Sun- 
flowers were  everywhere,  giving  a  vivid  touch 
of  color  to  the  landscape ;  we  went  through 
avenues  of  them.  Yellow  and  purple  seemed 
to  predominate. 

Who  of  us  can  forget  the  first  sunset  on 
that  vast  uninhabited  plain?  As  the  sun  sank 
the  air  was  filled  with  a  radiant  glow,  the  hills 
were  touched  with  red  and  violet  and  purple 
tints.  A  silence  fell  upon  our  little  party  as 
we  gazed  ;  the  sweet  song  of  a  thrush  thrilled 
us  as  though  it  were  an  evening  hymn  of 
praise.  How  small  and  material  seemed  our 
petty  lives  in  so  much  grandeur!  But  alas, 
we  were  awakened  from  this  poet's  dream  by 
the  rattling  of  dishes,  the  steam  of  the  coffee, 
the  buzz  of  talk  and  the  care  of  the  horses, 
and  as  the  sunset  faded  we  ate  our  supper, 
for  mortals  must  eat,  so  "it  readeth  in  the 
law."  Soon  our  camp  in  that  vast  wilderness, 
with  no  human  beings  but  ourselves  to  dese- 
crate nature's  primitive  domain,  rested  in  sweet 
and  refreshing  sleep. 

We  were  early  awakened  by  the  birds.  They 
seemed  to  fill  the  air  with  melody ;  meadow- 
larks  led  the  chorus,  but  over  and  above  them 
all,  poised  high  in  mid-air,  a  bird  hovered, 
pouring  forth  the  most  delicious  trills,  ca- 
dences and  sparkling  scales.  The  song  floated 
down  to  us  like  liquid  music.  I  think  it  must 
have  been  the  Missouri  skylark,  Neocorys 
Spraguei,  described  by  Audubon  and  by  El- 
liott Coues.^  "No  other  bird  music  heard  in 
our  land  compares  with  the  wonderful  strains 
of  this  songster;  there  is  something  not  of 
earth  in  the  melody,  coming  from  above,  yet 
from  no  visible  source.     The  notes  are  some- 

•  See  Coues,  Birds  of  the  Northwest,  pp.  42-45. 


thing  indescribable,  but  once  heard  they  can 
never  beforgotten ;  their  volume  and  pene- 
tration are  truly  wonderful ;  they  are  neith- 
er loud  nor  strong,  yet  the  whole  air  seems 
thrilled  with  the  tender  strains,  and  the  de- 
lightful melody  continues  long  unbroken.  It 
is  only  uttered  when  the  birds  are  soar- 
ing." They  make  their  nests  in  the  prairie 
grasses,  but  are  very  difficult  to  find.  We 
could  do  nothing  while  this  heavenly  song 
lasted,  and  when  it  ended  we  turned  reluct- 
antly to  our  morning  tasks.  We  had  an  early 
start,  hoping  to  reach  our  destination  that 
evening.  The  wild  flowers  seemed  more  and 
more  abundant.  The  purple  vetch,  columbine, 
phlox,  coloring  great  fields  with  blue.  There 
was  blue-eyed  grass,  and,  as  if  to  enhance  the 
delicious  blueness,  we  heard  the  quiet  little 
song  of  the  blue-bird.  Overhead  flew  great 
flocks  of  blackbirds,  all  varieties,  the  red- 
shouldered  ones,  the  yellow-headed,  and  the 
bronze  variety.  Then  further  on  we  found 
great  patches  of  the  Prairie  Snow,  Euphorbia, 
making  the  ground  white  with  a  very  faint 
tinge  of  pale  green.  We  did  not  reach  the 
Blue  river  as  soon  as  we  had  hoped,  so  we 
had  another  glowing  sunset,  another  song  of 
birds,  and  through  the  night  we  heard  the 
whippoorwill. 

The  morning  brought  us  to  our  goal.  The 
view  was  entrancing,  the  valley  with  its 
glistening  river,  the  wooded  banks,  the  slop- 
ing hills.  No  narrow  outlook  met  our  gaze, 
but  far  as  the  eye  could  reach  was  the  limit- 
less range  of  beauty,  calm,  peaceful  with  the 
smile  of  God  resting  upon  it.  All  involun- 
tarily exclaimed  "Could  a  more  beautiful  spot 
for  a  city  be  found  anywhere?" 

On  the  4th  of  July  we  assembled  for  the 
formal  presentation  of  the  nation's  flag  given 
by  the  ladies  of  the  company.  I  had  the 
honor  of  making  the  presentation.  I  well 
remember  going  down  by  the  river,  sitting 
among  the  willows  and  invoking  the  muse, 
which  resulted  in  some  four  short  verses  of 
salutation  to  the  town  to  be.  Of  course  if 
I  had  dreamed  that  the  occasion  was  to  be 
historic  I  would  have  preserved  them,  un- 
worthy as  they  were,  but  after  the  ceremony 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


127 


was  over  they  were  thrown  on  the  bright. 
Rowing  river,  which,  unhke  the  traditional 
"Sweet  Afton,"  bore  the  song  of  praise  away 
from  its  inspirer.  ]\lr.  Pike,  a  cuhured  young 
lawyer,  replied,  somewhat  embarrassed  I 
thought ;  probably  the  combination  of  the  Stars 
and  Stripes  and  a  young  lady  overcame  him. 
Beatrice  was  christened,  and  my  name  for- 
ever honored.  A  shaking  of  hands  and  con- 
gratulations followed,  and  plans  of  future 
work  were  talked  over  by  the  company.  All 
these  particulars  have  been  told  so  well  in 
historical  sketches  of  Nebraska  that  I  will  not 
attempt  them.  Our  return  was  uneventful, 
but  ^\•ith  the  little  pioneer  part}'  we  had  formed 
lifelong  friendships  which  I  recall  to  this  dis- 
tant day  with  pleasure. 

Of  course  the  habits  and  customs  of  many 
of  the  early  settlers  in  Gage  county,  breaking 
the  sod  and  building  their  cabins,  impressed 
me  as  somewhat  peculiar ;  as  all  nationalities 
were  represented,  this  was  to  be  expected.  I 
remember  driving  with  my  father  far  out  on 
the  prairie  and  stopping  at  a  cabin  for  din- 
ner. Boiled  potatoes  in  their  jackets  and  fried 
pork  (a  good  deal  cheaper  then  than  now), 
with  saleratus  biscuit  very  yellow  with  the 
superfluous  amount  of  soda,  made  our  bill-of- 
fare.  When  the  good  woman  of  the  house 
asked  me  if  I  would  take  "long  shortening  or 
short  shortening"  in  my  coffee  I  deliberated 
as  to  what  this  might  mean,  but  thought  the 
safest  way  was  to  say  "short"  as  that  would 
mean  less  of  whatever  it  might  be,  and  some 
very  coarse  looking  brown  sugar  was  put  into 
my  cup.  My  father  not  liking  the  looks  of 
this,  said  in  his  polite,  old-school  manner,  "I 
vvill  take  long  shortening,  Madam,  if  you 
please" :  whereupon  a  couple  of  tablespoons  of 
very  black  looking  molasses  were  poured  into 
his  coffee.  The  look  of  consternation  on  his 
face  and  of  mirth  on  mine  fortunately  were 
unobserved  by  the  hostess.  Useless  to  say 
the  coft'ee  was  left  untasted.  Here  too  I 
first  heard  the  expression  "powerful  weak," 
speaking  of  a  man  suffering  with  ague,  then 
very  prevalent  in  some  parts  of  the  country. 
The  phrase  struck  me  as  being  comically  con- 
tradictory, hut  ])hysiologically  it  means  I  sup- 


pose that  the  weakness  holds  the  man  power- 
fully; at  least  it  might  be  so  explained.  These 
same  people  in  course  of  years  developed  a 
fine  farm  by  their  thrift  and  industry,  and 
educated  their  children,  who  are  now  doubtless 
driving  their  autos  and  enjoying  all  the  lux- 
uries of  modern  life. 

In  1861  I  did  what  young  ladies  have  done 
since  the  world  began, —  I  married.  My  hus- 
band Julian  Metcalf  was  a  banker  and  greatly 
interested  in  our  growing  state. 

My  first  visit  to  Beatrice  was  in  1864,  I 
think:  it  was  with  my  father,  who,  with  a 
light  top-buggy  and  a  pair  of  mettlesome 
horses,  invited  me  to  accompany  him.  It 
was  a  perfect  October  day  and  I  was  more 
than  delighted  to  go  and  see  my  beautiful 
namesake  again.  We  made  the  drive  in  one 
day ;  the  fast  livery  team  seemed  as  fresh  when 
we  reached  Beatrice  as  when  we  started.  I 
found  great  changes  in  these  few  years,  the 
town  developing  substantially  and  rapidly.  We 
spent  only  a  day  there,  as  my  father's  business 
required  no  longer  time,  and  we  started  early 
so  as  to  reach  Nebraska  City  before  dark. 
This  proved  a  memorable  drive.  When  we 
had  driven  several  miles  we  saw  a  vast  sea 
of  fire  sweeping  toward  us  with  a  terrific 
roar.  We  were  on  a  hill  which  gave  us  a  full 
view.  The  grass,  dry  as  tinder,  eight  and 
even  ten  feet  high,  made  rich  fuel  for  the 
flames.  It  was  a  race  for  life.  ]\Iy  father 
turned  the  horses  and  urged  them  to  their 
utmost  speed.  The  flying,  blackened  cinders 
of  the  burnt  grass  flew  by  us  and  over  us,  we 
could  hear  the  rushing  of  tjie  fire-storm  and 
even  feel  its  heat  as  it  gained  upon  us.  The 
horses  seemed  to  understand  the  danger  and, 
maddened  by  the  crackling  and  roar  of  the 
flames,  they  raced  as  they  had  never  raced 
before.  In  places,  burning  wisps  of  grass 
carried  by  the  fierce  wind  started  fires  on  eith- 
er side  of  us,  but  fortunately  not  near  the 
road.  With  great  relief  we  reached  Beatrice 
in  safety,  for  it  was  out  of  the  immediate 
path  of  the  fire;  only  the  little  school  house 
was  endangered,  and  as  the  fire  swept  over 
it  we  watched  with  fear  and  trembling  for  its 
fate.     For  a  moment  it  was  enveloped  by  the 


128 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


flames,  with  the  roar  and  speed  of  a  railroad 
train,  and  as  they  passed  we  saw  the  little 
frame  school  house  unharmed ;  the  very  fury 
and  swiftness  of  the  fire  saved  it.  We  re- 
sumed our  journey,  and  for  twenty  miles  we 
traveled  through  a  black,  smoking-  country. 
In  places  we  saw  deer  that  had  been  chased 
by  the  fire  lying  by  the  roadside  too  exhausted 
to  move  as  we  drove  by. 

As  night  fell,  one  of  the  traces  became  un- 
fastened and  hitting  the  horse  frightened  him, 
and  they  both  started  on  a  wild  run.  They 
left  the  road  and,  dashing  over  hillocks  and 
rough  places,  nearly  upset  the  light  buggy. 
My  father  was  thrown  out.  This  left  the 
reins  under  the  horses'  feet  and  they  plunged 
madly  on  through  the  darkness.  Aly  only 
thought  was  to  cling  to  the  buggy.  In  a  short 
time,  long  to  me,  they  broke  away  from  it 
and  I  was  left  sitting  in  it,  unharmed.  At 
once  I  started  in  search  of  my  father,  whom  I 
found  unconscious ;  he  had  struck  on  his  head 
and  it  was  bleeding.  Rubbing  him  and  calling 
him,  I  succeeded  at  last  in  rousing  him,  and. 


urging  him  to  walk,  we  started  toward  a  dis- 
tant light,  which  proved  to  be  a  farm  house. 
There  we  were  able  to  find  a  wagon  and  driv- 
er to  take  us  to  Nebraska  City,  only  three 
miles  distant. 

Thus  ended  my  first  and  last  visit  to 
Beatrice.  But  I  have  always  kept  in  touch  with 
its  progress  and  development,  and  have 
pictures  of  its  handsome  homes  and  fine  busi- 
ness buildings.  If  I  ever  go  eastward  again  I 
shall  certainly  visit  the  beautiful  city  by  the 
Blue,  of  which  I  am  naturally  proud,  as  I  appre- 
ciate the  honor  conferred  on  me  by  its  name. 

In  1893  we  moved  to  the  Pacific  coast, 
where  my  three  children,  two  daughters  and 
a  son,  were  living,  also  my  parents.  We 
made  San  Diego  our  home,  and  at  times  Los 
Angeles  and  Portland,  Oregon.  At  the  latter 
place  my  beloved  husband  passed  away  in  his 
eighty-third  year.  Blessed  with  perfect  health 
and  strength,  surrounded  with  loving  chil- 
dren, I  am  indeed  most  thankful  to  the  Giver 
of  every  good  and  perfect  gift  who  guides 
us  all  in  love  and  wisdom. 


CHAPTER  XVI 


FOUNDERS  OF  BEATRICE 


John  Fitch  Kinney  —  John  McConihk- — Albert  Towle  —  Joseph  Rutherford  Nel- 
son—Obediah  Brown  Hewett  —  Gilbert  T.  Loomis  —  Oliver  Townsend  —  Har- 
rison F.  Cook  —  Dr.  Bayar^d  T.  Wise  —  Joseph    Milligan  —  Bennett    Pike^ 
Jeeferson  B.  Weston  —  William  H.  Brodhead—  Dr.  Herman  M.  Reynolds 


It  was  no  ordinary  body  of  men  who  in 
April,  1857,  while  passengers  on  the  old  riv- 
er boat  "Hannibal,"  resolved  to  cut  loose 
from  civilization  and  seek  fortune  and  hap- 
piness in  that  region  of  our  country  which 
was  even  then  designated  in  the  school  geo- 
graphies as  the  "Great  American  Desert."  Al- 
though there  were  many  other  river  boats  be- 
side the  "Hannibal"  plying  between  St.  Louis 
and  the  Upper  Missouri,  we  nowhere  else 
have  any  account  of  the  formation  from  their 
passenger  lists  of  any  organization  similar 
tc  the   Nebraska  Association. 

It  took  courage  of  no  mean  order  and  op- 
timism of  large  proportions  to  hold  men  of 
learning  and  ability,  such  as  for  the  most  part 
composed  the  membership  of  the  Beatrice 
Townsite  Company,  to  what  must  have  ap- 
peared to  a  reflecting  mind  a  forlorn  hope. 
As  far  as  we  are  acquainted  with  their  his- 
tory, we  must  accord  to  them  the  qualities  of 
the  true  pioneer,  who,  scorning  the  hard, 
uninviting  surroundings  of  the  moment, 
sees,  in  the  changing  years,  mighty  com- 
monwealths develop  from  primeval  con- 
ditions. On  the  date  of  the  actual  found- 
ing of  Beatrice,  July  27,  1857,  there  were 
not  to  exceed,  besides  themselves,  twen- 
ty-five white  men  in  Gage  county  as  original- 
ly created.  There  had  never  been  a  bushel  of 
wheat,  a  bushel  of  corn,  a  potato,  or  any  sort 
of  product  raised  from  the  soil  of  the  county 
by  the  hand  of  man  outside  of  the  Otoe  and 
Missouri    Indian    reservation.     The    first    fur- 


rows had  been  drawn  through  the  virgin  soil 
in  the  spring  of  that  year,  by  John  Pethoud. 
There  was  not  a  government  mail  route  or 
carrier,  not  a  single  stage  line,  not  a  broken 
road  traveled  by  white  men  in  the  county ;  ex- 
cepting Gideon  Bennett's  Indian  trading  post, 
a  mile  and  a  quarter  southwest  of  the  present 
town  of  Liberty,  there  was  not  a  single  place 
within  the  boundaries  of  Gage  county  where 
a  man  could  buy  a  knife  or  any  other  article 
of  common  use,  or  a  meal,  or  a  garment. 

A  number  of  those  who  subscribed  to  the 
articles  of  association,  or  who  were  afterward 
added  to  the  membership  by  the  board  of  di- 
rectors, never  came  to  Beatrice  or  attempted 
tc  profit  by  their  connection  with  the  com- 
pany, and  under  the  eighth  section  of  the  ar- 
ticles of  association  they  forfeited  their  mem- 
bership. They  were  Edward  Stewart,  Jesse 
Spielman,  E.  M.  Drake,  Jacob  Zolinger,  Wil- 
liam E.  Buffington,  Richard  Northup,  Norman 
Colson,  J.  P.  Cadman,  Alex.  McCleary,  Phin- 
eas  W.  Hitchcock,  George  W.  Robb,  John 
Henn,  Jacob  Talman,  John  B.  Kellogg,  A. 
Nelson,  W.  C.  Barr,  and  George  W.  Dripps. 
The  subsequent  history  of  most  of  these  per- 
sons is  unknown  to  this  historian.  John  B. 
Kellogg  finally  settled  at  Tabor,  Fremont 
county,  Iowa.  Phineas  W.  Hitchcock,  who 
seems  never  to  have  acted  with  the  old  town- 
site  company  after  the  "Hannibal"  tied  up  to 
the  Missouri  river  bank  at  Omaha,  was  repre- 
sented at  the  meeting  of  the  association  July 
17 .  1857,  on  the  townsite  of  Beatrice,  bv  John 


130 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


McConihe,  who  held  his  proxy.  He  was  a 
young  lawyer  who  found  in  the  growing  city 
of  Omaha  a  most  attractive  field  for  the  exer- 
cise of  his  talents  and  calling.  He  early  ob- 
tained prominence  as  a  politician,  and  in  1860 
he  was  a  delegate  to  the  national  Republican 
convention,  at  Chicago,  which  nominated  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  for  President  of  the  United 
States.  Afterward  he  was  United  States  mar- 
shal of  Nebraska  territory  and  territorial  del- 
egate to  congress.  In  1871,  he  was  chosen  as 
a  Republican  senator  from  the  state  of  Ne- 
braska, and  served  six  years  in  that  exalted 
position.  He  died  of  appendicitis,  at  Omaha, 
in  1881,  in  the  forty-ninth  year  of  his  age. 
For  several  years  he  was  proprietor  of  the 
Omaha  Republican,  the  mouthpiece  of  the  Re- 
publican party  in  Nebraska,  and  one  of  the 
leading  newspapers  in  this  state.  His  son, 
Gilbert  M.  Hitchcock,  is  now  serving  his  sec- 
ond term  in  the  United  States  senate  from  Ne- 
braska. Whether  J.  P.  Cadman,  who  was  one 
of  the  original  townsite  company  and  dropped 
out  at  Omaha  or  Nebraska  City,  was  the  John 
Cadman  who,  in  1859,  settled  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Yankee  Hill,  in  old  Clay  county, 
who  was  a  prominent  member  of  the  terri- 
torial legislature  in  1864,  and  who,  after  the 
partition  of  Clay  county,  became  a  prominent 
citizen  of  Lancaster  county,  is  unknown  to 
this  writer.  The  first  president  of  the  Ne- 
braska Association,  John  Fitch  Kinney,  at  the 
time  of  its  formation  was  a  man  of  mature 
years,  and  not  only  the  most  experienced  in 
human  affairs,  but  probably,  also  the  most 
variously  endowed  of  all  members  of  that  or- 


sranization. 


Fitch  Kinney 


Born  in  New  Haven,  Oswego  county.  New 
York,  April  7,  1816,  Judge  Kinney  was  a  trifle 
past  forty-one  years  of  age  on  the  22d  day  of 
1857,  when  he  was  chosen  as  the  president  of 
the  Nebraska  Association.  He  obtained  his 
elementary  education  in  the  public  schools  of 
western  New  York,  and  at  the  age  of  fifteen 
entered  a  private  school  in  New  Haven,  where 
he  remained  six  months,  after  which  he  en- 
tered a  private  school  at  Hannibal,  New  York. 


After  a  year  spent  there,  he  enrolled  himself 
as  a  student  in  the  Rensselaer  Academy  at  Os- 
wego, a  famous  institution  of  learning  in  its 
day,  where  he  remained  two  years.  Forty 
years  afterward  he  attended  a  reunion  of  its 
old  teachers  and  pupils  on  the  classi:  grounds 
of  his  alma  mater.  This  proved  to  be  a  no- 
table gathering  of  several  hundred  persons, 
including  lawyers,  judges,  doctors,  authors, 
ministers,  lawmakers,  and  teachers,  the  occa- 
sion being  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  found- 
ing of  the  academy.  At  this  meeting  Judge 
Kinney  was  chosen  president  of  the  alumni  as- 
sociation. 

In  1835  Judge  Kinney  began  the  study  of 
the  law,  as  a  student  in  the  office  of  Judge 
Orville  Robinson,  in  the  city  of  Mexico,  state 
of  New  York.  After  eighteen  months'  appli- 
cation to  his  studies,  in  September,  1837,  he 
removed  to  Marysville,  Ohio,  where  he  form- 
ed the  acquaintance  of  Augustus  Hall,  a  ris- 
ing young  lawyer  of  that  city,  with  whom  he 
studied  law  for  a  year;  he  was  then  admitted 
to  the  bar  in  Ohio.  On  January  29,  1839,  he 
married  his  preceptor's  sister.  Miss  Hannah  D. 
Hall. 

In  1842,  another  brother-in-law,  Orville 
Hall,  left  Ohio  and  settled  in  the  territory  of 
Iowa,  and  in  1854.  he  was  appointed  by  Frank- 
lin Pierce,  President  of  the  L'nited  States,  to 
the  office  of  chief  justice  of  the  supreme  court 
of  the  territory  of  Nebraska.  He  died  at 
Bellevue,  in  January,  1861,  leaving  two  daugh- 
ters and  a  son.  The  latter  was  the  late  Rich- 
ard S.  Hall,  who  for  many  years  was  a  promi- 
nent lawyer  of  the  Omaha  bar  and  was  at  one 
time  a  partner  in  the  practice  of  law  of  the 
late  John  M.  Thurston,  a  former  United 
States  senator  from  Nebraska. 

In  1840  Judge  Kinney  began  the  practice 
of  his  profession  at  Mount  Vernon.  Ohio, 
where  his  success  was  immediate.  But  the 
lure  of  the  great  west  descended  upon  him 
and  in  1844  he  too  migrated  to  the  territory 
of  Iowa,  where  he  entered  at  once  upon  an 
active  professional  and  political  career.  The 
mere  enumeration  of  the  professional,  civic, 
and  political  honors  that  fell  to  him  would 
be  lengthy  and  impressive.     He  was  an  hon- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


131 


ored  member  of  the  national  Democratic 
party,  was  one  of  its  most  trusted  advisers, 
and  was  frequently  its  candidate  for  impor- 
tant offices.  Before  he  had  attained  to  the  age 
of  thirty-three  years  he  had  been  twice  secre- 
tary of  the  legislative  council  of  Iowa,  prose- 
cuting attorney  of  his  judicial  district  and 
justice  of  the  supreme  court.  His  opinions 
as  a  judge  are  found  in  \^olumes  I.  II,  III 
and  I\'  of  Green's  Iowa  Supreme  Court  Re- 


residence  amongst  the  few  pioneers  that  had 
gathered  at  that  spot  since  May,  1854.  Here 
for  thirty-three  years,  and  until  the  spring  of 
1890,  he  made  his  home.  He  engaged  in  the 
practice  of  the  law,  with  other  occupations, 
during  the  greater  portion  of  his  life,  and 
during  the  formative  period  of  Nebraska's 
history  he  was  not  only  active  in  his  profes- 
sion, but  he  was  also  one  of  the  most  useful 
and  valued  citizens   of  the   entire   state.     Hp 


John  Fitch  Kinney 


Hannah  D.  (Hall)   Ki> 


ports.  In  1853  the  President  of  the  United 
States  appointed  him  chief  justice  of  the 
supreme  court  of  Utah,  a  position  which, 
though  attended  with  much  danger,  was  ably 
and  conscientiously  filled  by  him  for  two 
years.  In  the  spring  of  1856  he  returned  to 
Iowa,  and  in  April,  1857,  as  we  have  already 
seen,  he  and  his  family  were  passengers  on 
the  old  river  boat  "Hannibal,"  bound  for  the 
great  new  territory  of  Nebraska. 

Judge  Kinney's  destination  was  Nebraska 
City,  and  on  the  arrival  of  the  "Hannibal"  at 
that  little  hamlet,  nestled  amongst  the  Miss- 
ouri river  bluffs,  in  the  latter  part  of  April, 
1857,    they    went    ashore   and    took    up    their 


was  a  warm  personal  friend  of  the  late  J. 
Sterling  Morton,  and  in  the  early  days  these 
two  men  bore  the  heat  and  burden  of  the 
Democratic  politics  in  Nebraska.  In  1890,  he 
removed  with  his  wife  and  a  portion  of  his 
family  to  San  Diego,  California,  where  in 
1895.  Mrs.  Kinney  passed  away,  at  the  age 
of  seventy-nine  years.  August  17,  1902,  she 
was  followed  to  the  grave  by  her  distinguish- 
ed husband,  ripe  with  years  and  clothed  with 
honors  worthily  achieved  and  modestly  worn. 
Judge  Kinney  to  the  last  moment  of  his 
life  remained  a  steady  friend  of  the  little  city 
of  Beatrice.  He  retained  his  interest  in  the 
townsite   till   it   had   passed   the   experimental 


132 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  XEDRASKA 


stage  and  was  a  frequent  visitor  here  until 
he  removed  to  CaHfornia.  The  existence  of 
our  lovely  city  is  much  indebted  to  his  pre- 
vision, ripe  judgment,  and  persistent  energy. 


John  jMcConihe 
The  first  secretary  of  the  townsite  associa- 
tion, John  ]\IcConihe,  was  a  member  of  an  old 
New  York  family.  He  was  born  in  the  city  of 
Troy,  Rensselaer  county,  New  York,  Septem- 
ber 4.  1834.  When  sixteen  years  of  age  he 
entered  Union  College  at  Schenectady,  New 
York,  from  which  famous  institution  he 
graduated  in  1853.  He  studied  law  with  his 
father   at   Troy   for  a    few   months,   and   then 


General  Juhx  AIcCumhe 

entered  the  Albany  Law  School,  from  which 
he  graduated  in  1855,  and  immediately  opened 
an  office  in  his  native  city.  He  had  already 
established  a  practice  and  had  been  elected 
a  member  of  the  school  board  of  Troy  when 
he  became  imbued  with  a  desire  to  try  his 
fortunes  in  the  "Far  West."  Bidding  fare- 
well to  his  ancestral  home  and  making  his 
way  to  St.  Louis,  we  find  him  on  board  the 
old  Missouri  river  boat  ■•Hannibal",  in  April, 


1857.  bound  for  the  new  territory  of  Ne- 
braska. He  attended  the  preliminary  meeting 
of  the  Nebraska  Association,  and  was  chosen 
Its  secretary.  He  participated  actively  in  the 
meeting  and  was  a  member  of  the  committee 
appointed  to  prepare  the  articles  of  associa- 
tion. After  the  organization  was  perfected  he 
was  chosen  as  a  member  of  its  board  of  di- 
rectors and  the  minutes  both  of  the  organiza- 
tion itself  and  of  the  official  board  are  in  the 
scholarly  handwriting  of  John  McConihe 
from  April  27,  to  July  28,  1857.  these  being 
signed  by  him  as  secretary. 

Before  coming  to  Beatrice  from  Omaha 
with  the  other  members  of  the  association,  he 
had  arranged  to  enter  upon  the  practice  of  the 
law  there.  Although  Omaha  was  at  that 
time  little  more  than  a  western  village,  perched 
on  the  bank  of  the  -Alissouri  river.^t  was  the 
capital  of  the  new  territory  and  a  most  promis- 
ing locadon  for  a  young  lawyer.  After  July 
28.  1857,  his  name  no  longer  appears  in"  the 
records  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Nebraska 
Association  or  of  its  board  of  directors,  but 
he  complied  with  all  the  requirements  of  the 
organization,  received  his  distributive  share 
of  the  town  lots  of  Beatrice,  and  it  was  only 
in  recent  years  that  his  interests  in  the  city 
were  finally  disposed  of  by  his  relatives. 

Having  assisted  in  placing  the  infant  town 
upon  its  feet,  he  returned  to  Omaha  and  en- 
tered upon  the  practice  of  his  profession.  He 
was  a  man  of  many  activities.  In  1858  he 
formed  a  copartnership  with  some  one  of  the 
numerous  freighters  or  freighting  concerns 
then  to  be  found  at  every  Missouri  river  town 
ill  eastern  Nebraska,  and  he  seems  to  have 
participated  in  the  business  until  the  breaking 
out  of  the  CiYil  war,  in  1861.  Politically  he 
was  a  Democrat,  and  in  1858  he  was  appoint- 
ed private  secretary  to  Governor  Richardson  i 
he  afterward  held  the  same  position  under 
Governor  Black  until  the  end  of  the  latter's 
term.  In  1860  he  was  an  unsuccessful  candi- 
date for  mayor  of  Omaha,  and  within  the 
same  year  he  was  appointed  adjutant  general 
of  the  territory,  subsequently  leading  an  ex- 
pedition against  the  Pawnee  Indians. 

On   the   breaking  out   of   the   Civil   war   he 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


133 


raised  a  company  for  the  First  Nebraska 
Regiment,  and  as  its  captain  he  participated 
with  the  regiment  in  its  Missouri  campaign. 
He  was  detailed  to  attend  to  certain  military 
matters  connected  with  the  Department  of 
Missouri  at  Washington.  While  there  in  the 
discharge  of  his  duty,  he  became  ill,  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1862,  and  immediately  left  for  his  home 
in  Troy,  where  he  was  critically  ill  with 
typhoid  fever  for  several  weeks.  On  recov- 
ering his  health,  he  rejoined  his  regiment,  the 
day  before  the  great  battle  of  Shiloh.  and 
participated  with  it  in  that  terrjble  conflict. 
He  was  severely  wounded  in  the  left  arm  and 
while  at  home  slowly  recovering  from  his 
injury,  he  was  appointed  lieutenant  colonel 
of  the  One  Hundred  and  Sixty-ninth  Regi- 
ment of  New  York  Volunteers.  In  October, 
1862,  he  went  with  his  regiment  to  Washing- 
ton. He  later  saw  service  in  Florida.  North 
Carolina,  Bermuda  Hundred,  and  other  places. 
On  the  resignation  of  Colonel  Buell  he  was 
made  colonel  of  his  regiment  and  later  be- 
came a  brigadier  general.  While  leading  his 
brigade  in  a  desperate  charge  aganist  the 
"Bloody  Angle"  at  the  battle  of  Cold  Harbor, 
this  gallant  young  officer  was  shot  through  the 
heart.  With  an  involuntary  exclamation,  he 
died  instantly.  His  last  orders,  given  in  the 
heat  of  battle  a  moment  before  his  death,  were 
"Cease  firing.  Fix  bayonets.  Charge.  Dress 
up  on  the  colors.     Do  not  leave  the  colors." 

Thus  perished  the  gallant,  handsome,  schol- 
arly John  AlcConihe.  a  man  greatly  admired 
by  all  who  knew  him,  greatly  loved  by  his 
friends  and  kindred  and  deeply  mourned  b)' 
his  native  city.  His  remains  lie  under  the 
monument  in  the  McConihe  family  burial 
plot  which  overlooks  the  lordly  Hudson  from 
a  height  near  the  busy  city  of  Troy.  During 
the  brief  period  in  which  he  participated  in 
the  founding  of  Beatrice,  he  exhibited  a 
genial,  friendly  nature  that  won  the  kindly 
regard  of  every  member  of  the  association. 
The  great  Civil  war  deprived  Nebraska  of  one 
its  ablest  and  most  promising  citizens  when 
John  ]\IcConihe  gave  his  valuable  life  to  his 
country. 


Ai,BERT  TowLE 

One  of  the  most  influential  members  of  the 
Nebraska  Association  was  Albert  Towle, 
"Pap"  Towle  as  he  was  familiarly  called  by 
nearly  every  one  of  his  acquaintance.  Like 
Tudge  Kinney,  Mr.  Towle  was  a  man  of  ma- 
ture years  and  large  experience  in  the  affairs 
of  life  at  the  time  the  Nebraska  Association 
was  organized  on  board  the  "Hannibal,"  in 
April,  1857.  As  far  as  the  records  show,  he 
was  the  only  member  of  the  organization  who 
claimed  to  possess  any  personal  knowledge  of 
Nebraska  territory  or  any  portion  of  it. 


Albert  Towle 

Mr.  Towle  was  born  in  1817,  and  most  of 
his  early  life  was  spent  in  the  state  of  Illinois. 
He  had  acquired  a  good  usable  education  and 
throughout  the  early  history  of  Beatrice  and 
Gage  county  he  was  the  most  all-around 
servicable  member  of  the  entire  community. 
No  man  devoted  his  life  more  exclusively  to 
the  interests  of  the  public  and  the  upbuilding 
of  the  embryo  city  of  Beatrice  than  Albert 
Towle.  By  nature  he  was  highly  optimistic, 
and  there  were  times  when  but  for  him  the 
venture  would  have  entirely  failed.  He  pos- 
sessed a  singular  power  of  infusing  into 
others  his  own  enthusiasm  and  hopeful  cour- 
age. His  age  and  experience  in  the  affairs 
of  life  gave  him  great  influence  over  the  voung 


134 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


'  men  with  whom  he  was  associated  in  found- 
ing and  building  up  our  city.  He  was  pres- 
ent and  answered  to  his  name  when  the  roll 
of  members  was  called  in  the  office  of  the 
territorial  secretary  of  state  May  20th  and  re- 
sponded to  his  name  when  the  roll  was  again 
called,  on  the  Beatrice  townsite,  July  27, 
1857.  From  that  time  till  the  day  of  his  death 
he  was  rarely  outside  Gage  county. 

^Ir.  Towle  assisted  in  erecting  the  company 
house  and  on  the  arrival  of  his  family,  in  the 


Katie  Towle 
First  white  child  born  in  Gage  county 


late  summer  or  fall  of  1857,  this  log  cabin 
was  donated  to  him.  For  many  years  he  oc- 
cupied it  as  a  home.  It  became  widely  and 
familiarly  known  as  "Pap's  Cabin,"  and  for 
a  decade  besides  serving  as  a  wayside  inn  it 
was  the  postoffice,  while  its  main  room  became 
a  place  for  holding  public  meetings  of  almost 
every  character.  It  was  here  that  Mr.  Towle's 
youngest  child,  Katie,  was  born.  She  was  the 
first  child  born  of  white  parents  in  the  county 
and,  growing  to  lovely  womanhood  in  her  na- 
tive city,  she  became  the  wife  of  George  jM. 
Ayres,  of  Deadwood,  South  Dakota,  who  had 
spent  most  of  his  life  in  Beatrice.  She  died  at 
Deadwood  on  the  28th  day  of  March,  1890,  at 
the  age  of  32  years.     Her  remains  rest  by  the 


side  of  those  of  her  parents  in  the  Beatrice 
cemetery,  near  the  city  of  her  birth. 

Mr.  Towle  was  the  second  postmaster  of 
Beatrice,  having  been  appointed  to  that  posi- 
tion May  22,  1860,  succeeding  Herman  M. 
Reynolds  who  was  commissioned  first  post- 
master, in  1857.  By  successive  appointments 
he  held  the  office  till  his  death.  In  addition  to 
the  office  of  postmaster  Mr.  Towle  was  fre- 
quently honored  by  election  to  various  county 
offices.  On  the  organization  of  the  county, 
in  August,  1857,  he,  with  George  Bonham,  was 
elected  couoty  commissioner  of  the  county,  and 
he  retained  the  office  three  years,  —  until  all 
questions  respecting  the  organization  of  the 
county  and  the  location  of  the  county  seat  had 
been  settled.  He  was  county  judge  from  1861 
to  1867;  county  treasurer  in  1858-59-60  and 
again  in  1864-65-66-67-68-69.  He  was  for  many 
years  a  notary  public  and  a  justice  of  the  peace. 
The  second  instrument  recorded  in  the  office 
of  the  register  of  deeds  of  the  county  is  his 
bond  in  the  sum  of  two  hundred  dollars  as 
a  notary  public,  with  John  McConihe  as  his 
surety.  It  is  dated  October  9,  1857,  and  was 
filed  for  record  June  3,  1858. 

Mr.  Towle  early  in  life  married  Catherine 
Holt,  a  woman  of  ability  and  great  force  of 
character.  She  strongly  supported  her  hus- 
band's ambitions  and  efiforts  as  respected  the 
upbuilding  of  Beatrice,  and  her  practical  good 
sense  rendered  her  an  exceedingly  useful 
member  of  the  community.  She  survived  her 
husband  ten  years  and  rests  at  his  side  in 
the  family  burial  lot  in  Beatrice  cemetery.  To 
this  union  there  was  born  Helen,  who  be- 
came the  wife  of  Jefferson  B.  Weston  and 
who  recently  passed  away  at  her  home  in 
Beatrice;  Emer.  who,  about  1868,  became  the 
wife  of  Joseph  Saunders,  the  first  mail  carrier 
from  the  Missouri  river  to  Beatrice  and  one 
of  the  early  and  successful  merchants  of  our 
city  (Mr.  Saunders  died  recently,  at  his  home 
in  Reynolds,  Jefferson  county  and  lies  with 
his  wife  in  his  burial  lot  in  Beatrice  cemetery)  ; 
Adelia,  who  became  the  wife  of  Richard  C. 
Davis  and  who  died  in  Chicago,  in  1916;  Mary, 
who  became  the  wife  of  Dr.  John  G.   Davis 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


135 


and   who   now   lives   in   Chicago ;   and   Katie, 
of  whom  mention  has  just  been  made. 

The  family  of  Albert  Towle  was  one  of  the 
best  known  and  most  highly  esteemed  of  the 
pioneer  families  of  our  county-  The  head 
of  the  family  more  than  any  other  man  is  en- 
titled to  be  known  to  posterity  as  the  "Father 
of  Beatrice."  This  beautiful  city  is  in  a  large 
sense  his  enduring  monument.  He  died  on  the 
8th  day  of  March,  1879,  at  his  home,  the  story 
and  a  half  brick  cottage  erected  by  him  in 
1869,  at  the  corner  of  Fourth  and  Ella  streets 
this  city. 

Joseph  Rutherford  Nelson 

Nelson  was  but  little  past  twenty-one  years 
of  age  in  .1857,  when  he  became  a  member 
of  the  Nebraska  Association,  and  was  probably 
the  youngest  man  in  the  organization.  He  re- 
sponded to  his  name  when  the  roll  of  mem- 
bership was  called  in  Omaha  May  20th,  and 
again  on  the  townsite  of  Beatrice,  July  27, 
1857,  but  he  does  not  appear  to  have  ever 
been  active  in  the  affairs  of  the  association  or 
to  have  accepted  his  distributive  share  of  the 
townsite  of  Beatrice.  It  is  not  known  to  this 
writer  how  long  he  remained  here  nor  where 
he  went  after  leaving  Beatrice  in  August, 
1857,  but  in  1860  he  is  known  to  have  made  a 
trip  across  the  plains  to  the  Colorado  gold 
fields.  From  there  he  went  to  Minnesota, 
thence  to  Wisconsin,  and  finally  to  Chicago, 
Illinois,  where  we  find  him  in  1862.  He  at- 
tended a  commercial  college  for  a  while  in 
Chicago,  and  then  found  employment  with 
thiC  Lake  Shore  &  Michigan  Southern  Railway 
Company  until  1867,  when  he  returned  to 
Beatrice.  In  1868,  in  co-operation  with 
Nathaniel  Howard,  he  established  at  Beatrice 
the  first  newspaper  in  Gage  county,  known  as 
the  Blue  Valley  Record.  The  history  of  the 
venture  will  be  found  further  in  this  volume, 
in  the  chapter  devoted  to  the  newspapers  and 
newspaper  men  of  Gage  county.  On  the  8th 
day  of  September,  1869,  he  married,  at  Wayne, 
Wisconsin,  Miss  Mary  Eastman.  Five  chil- 
dren were  born  to  this  union,  of  whom  only 
one  is  living,  a  son,  Amos  A.  Nelson.  In 
1881  Mr.  Nelson  engaged  in  the  general  mer- 


cantile business  in  DeWitt,  Saline  county, 
Nebraska,  where  he  resided  until  1884,  when 
he  removed  to  Texas.  During  the  great  Gal- 
veston flood  he  lost  nearly  all  his  property  and 
in  1901  he  again  returned  to  Beatrice.  About 
1910  he  removed  to  the  state  of  Washington, 
where  he  has  ever  since  resided,  and  he  is 
reported   to  be  a  helpless   invalid,  at  the   age 


Joseph  Rutherford  Nelson 

of  eighty-two  years.  As  far  as  known,  he  is 
the  last  survivor  of  the  old  Nebraska  Associa- 
tion. 

Obediah   Brown   Hewett 

Judge  Hewett  was  admitted  to  membership 
in  the  Nebraska  Association  April  29,  1857, 
at  the  first  meeting  of  the  board  of  directors 
on  board  the  "Hannibal,"  and  was  thereafter 
for  several  years  an  active  and  an  efficient 
member  of  the  organization.  He  was  the  only 
one  of  the  seven  lawyers  who  were  members 
of  the  company  who  engaged  in  the  practice 
of  his  profession  in  Beatrice,  in  those  far  off', 
early  years.  He  was  the  first  county  judge 
of  Gage  county  and  his  name  frequently  oc- 
curs in  the  minutes  of  the  county  commis- 
sioners' court  as  having  performed  some 
service  for  the  county. 

He  was  born  at  Hope,  Maine,  September 
18,  1828,  and  was  educated  through  his  own 
efforts.        He    entered    Bowdoin   College   and 


136 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


graduated  with  the  class  of  1855.  He  then 
went  to  Chicago,  Illinois,  where  he  was  em- 
ployed for  two  years  as  a  teacher.  While  so 
employed  he  read  law  and  he  was  admitted 
to  the  bar  in  the  spring  of  1857,  by  the  supreme 
court  of  Illinois.  Almost  immediately  there- 
after he  set  out  for  St.  Louis,  where  we  find 
him  a  passenger  on  board  the  "Hannibal"  in 
April  of  that  year.  After  the  founding  of 
Beatrice  he  went,  in  1858,  to  Brownville,  Ne- 
braska, where  he  engaged  in  the  practice  of 
his  profession  for  a  short  time.  He  spent  a 
few  months  of  1859  prospecting  for  gold  in 
Colorado.  In  October,  1862,  he  joined  the 
Second  Nebraska  Cavalry,  as  a  private  in 
Company  F;  he  was  later  elected  captain  of 
Company  M,  which  he  commanded  until  it 
was  mustered  out,  in  December,  1863.  He  was 
secretary  of  the  last  territorial  council,  in  1867, 
and  secretary  of  the  senate  in  the  second  state 
legislature.  During  the  years  1865  and  1869. 
he  was  the  county  superintendent  of  schools 
for  Nemaha  county  and  he  was  the  third  mayor 
of  Brownville.  Beginning  with  1868,  he  serv- 
ed the  people  as  district  attorney  for  four 
years,  at  a  time  when  the  district  embraced 
nearly  the  whole  of  Nebraska  south  of  the 
Platte  river. 

Judge  Hewett  was  always  interested  in  the 
work  of  education  and  during  the  greater  part 
of  his  life  he  was  active  in  the  support  and 
encouragement  of  every  educational  agency. 
He  was  president  of  the  first  meeting  of  the 
Nebraska  State  Teachers'  Association  and  a 
member  of  the  first  board  of  education  of  the 
State  Normal  School  at  Peru,  Nebraska,  con- 
tinuing several  years  in  its  service.  Judge 
Hewett  was  an  ardent  Presbyterian  and  in  his 
later  years  he  was  especially  active  in  the 
establishment  of  Hastings  College,  of  which 
institution  his  son  was  the  first  graduate.  He 
continued  in  tlie  practice  of  the  law  at  Brown- 
ville until  1876,  when  he  removed  to  a  farm 
near  Auburn,  Nebraska,  from  which,  in  1880, 
he  went  to  Hastings.  There  he  was  engaged 
in  tlie  practice  of  the  law  until  1893.  when  he 
removed  to  Riverside,  California,  where  he 
again  engaged  in  the  practice  of  law.  after- 


ward locating  on  a  fruit  ranch  in  Chino,  where 
he  died,  November  10,  1898. 

At  Brownville,  Nebraska,  Judge  Hewett  was 
married  in  October,  1857,  to  jNIiss  Mary  W. 
Turner,  who  was  the  first  milliner  of  that 
western  village.  She  died  at  Hastings,  Ne- 
braska, March  22,  1891.  Three  children  of 
this  marriage  are  living,  James  H.  H.  Hewett, 
chief  clerk  of  the  United  States  land  office  at 
Alliance,  Nebraska;  Mrs.  Katherine  L.  Davis, 
of  Long  Beach,  California;  and  C.  William 
Hewett,  of  Little  Rock,  Arkansas.  J\Ir. 
Hewett  was  again  married,  at  Riverside,  Cali- 
fornia, in  1893,  to  Mrs.  Mary  Nance,  who 
survived  him  but  a  short  time. 

Personally  Obediah  Brown  Hfewett  was  a 
man  of  unusually  large  stature;  he  was  delib- 
erate of  speech,  a  good,  clear  thinker,  and  a 
man  whose  whole  life  was  dominated  by  ab- 
solute integrity  of  purpose. 

Gilbert  T.  Loom  is 

Gilbert  T.  Loomis  was  one  of  the  younger 
members  of  the  Nebraska  Association.  He 
was  a  large,  good-looking,  pleasant  gentleman, 
with  brown  eyes  and  brown  curling  hair  and 
beard.  He  settled  upon  the  northeast  quarter 
of  section  twenty-six.  Midland  township,  now 
owned  by  Markus  and  Jens  Jepson.  It  was  at 
this  point,  almost  due  east  of  the  quarter  sec- 
tion line  running  east  and  west  through  this 
tract,  that  the  old  Brownville,  Beatrice,  Fort 
Kearney  road  forded  Bear  creek  for  many, 
many  years.  He  lead  the  uneventful  life  of  a 
farmer  and  was  never  very  active  in  the  affairs 
of  the  Nebraska  Association,  though  he  main- 
tained his  membership  to  the  end  in  that  his- 
toric organization,  and  on  March  3,  1859,  he 
went  so  far  as  to  trade  a  yoke  of  oxen  for  the 
distributive  share  of  Richard  Northrop  in  the 
Beatrice  townsite.  The  assignment  describes 
Northrop  as  a  resident  of  Tabor,  Fremont 
county,  Iowa.  It  bears  the  above  date,  is  re- 
corded in  Book  A,  page  1,  of  the  deed  records 
of  Gage  county  and  is  the  first  instrument  of 
any  description  to  be  made  a  matter  of  record 
in  the  office  of  the  register  of  deeds.  Mr. 
Loomis,  in  1861  or  1862,  in  connection  with 
\'olney  S.  Whitemore,  bought  a  new  threshing 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


13/ 


outfit,  and  for  a  year  or  two  these  gentlemen 
did  all  the  threshing  by  machinery  in  the 
county.  It  was  an  old-fashioned,  horse-power 
affair  and  was  the  first  threshing  machine 
brought  to  Gage  county.  Loomis  kept  with 
his  teams  and  machine  a  large,  vicious  dog 
and  there  was  always  more  or  less  trouble  be- 
tween him  and  the  hands  about  the  machine 
over  this  faithful  but  dangerous  canine.  He 
sold  his  farm  many  years  ago  and  with  his 
family  removed  to  Washington,  in  which  state 
both  he  and  his  wife  recently  passed  away. 
Mrs.  Loomis  was  a  kindly,  gentle  woman,  the 
sister  of  Thomas  W.  Brown,  who  in  1866- 
1867  was  sheriff  of  Gage  county  and  who  now 
lives  in  Tumwater,  Washington.  Both  :\Ir. 
and  Mrs.  Loomis  left  none  but  pleasant  mem- 
ories behind  them  in  Gage  county. 

Oliver  Town  send 

The  reader  may  have  noticed  the  name  of 
Justus  Townsend  amongst  those  who  originally 
subscribed  to  the  articles  of  association  of  the 
Nebraska  Townsite  Company.  Justus  Town- 
send  was  a  young  physician,  who  with  hh 
sister,  Miss  Jennie  Townsend.  was  also  a 
passenger  on  board  the  "Hannibal"  from  St. 
Louis  bound  to  the  new  territory  of  Nebraska. 
He  took  an  active  interest  in  the  affairs  of  the 
association  from  the  time  of  its  organization 
until  the  founding  of  Beatrice,  in  July,  1857, 
and  his  name  is  frequently  mentioned  in  the 
minutes  of  the  association's  meetings.  Later, 
returning;  ti.i  Xew  York,  he  transferred,  by  as- 
signment, his  interest  in  the  townsite  to  his 
brother  Oliver,  who  joined  the  organization 
in  October,  1857,  and  who  never,  as  long  as 
he  lived,  claimed  a  home  anywhere  but  at 
Beatrice,  where  he  became  one  of  the  most 
active  and  useful  citizens  of  our  county.  The 
lure  of  the  west  must  have  been  very  great 
to  have  held  a  refined,  scholarly  gentleman  like 
Oliver  Townsend  in  the  forlorn  hamlet  of 
P.eatrice  during  its  earliest  years.  When 
Townsend  first  saw  it,  it  consisted  of  a  single 
two-room  log  house,  "Pap's  Cabin,"  and  a 
v.-heez}'  old  steam  saw  mill,  perched  on  the 
bank  of  the  Big  Blue  river.  All  the  brilliant 
company  who,  in  July,  had  assisted  in  found- 


ing the  future  city,  except  Albert  Towle,  J.  B. 
Weston,  Bennett  Pike,  Gilbert  T.  Loomis,  and 
M.  W.  Ross,  had  returned  to  Missouri  river 
points  or  elsewhere  to  spend  the  winter  and 
to  earn  a  little  money.  The  privations  of  that 
winter  were  very,  very  great,  and  these  few 
pioneers  who  had  been  left  to  guard  this  new 
outpost  of  western  civilization  frequently  arose 
in  the  morning  with  gnawing  appetites  and  at 
night  retired  hungry  to  bed.  But  with  more 
accurate  knowledge  of  the  food  resources 
afforded  by  the  prairies,  the  woods,  and  the 


Oliver  Townsend 

streams,  all  fear  of  hunger  was  ultimately  dis- 
pelled, and  returning  spring  brought  increase 
of  numbers  and  reviving  hope. 

Several  of  the  colony  availed  themselves  of 
the  benefits  of  existing  land  laws  and  located 
claims  about  the  embryo  city,  the  cultivation 
of  which  soon  yielded  abundance.  \It.  Town- 
send  himself  established  a  claim  upon  the  tract 
of  land  which  now  comprises  Glenover  Addi- 
tion to  Beatrice.  This  he  fenced  and  farmed 
in  part  for  four  years  before  disposing  of  it. 
With  the  development  of  the  city  and  the 
settlement  of  the  county,  honors,  such  as  they 
were,  came  to  Mr.  Townsend.  He  was  four 
times  elected  county  clerk  of  Gage  countv.  and 
served  in  that  oflice  from  1862  to  1870.  He 
was  a   member   of  the   first   state   legislature. 


138 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


having  been  elected  to  that  ofifice  in  1867.  He 
served  acceptably  for  two  years  and  as  a  legis- 
lator he  participated  in  the  stirring  events 
which  accompanied  the  effort  to  remove  the 
capital  of  the  state  from  Omaha  to  Lincoln. 
As  county  clerk  he  was  ex  officio  one  of  the 
earliest  superintendents  of  the  common  schools 
of  Gage  county,  serving  in  that  office  from 
1862  to  1868.  When  the  first  one-room  frame 
school  house  was  erected  in  Beatrice,  in  1862, 
Air.  Townsend  was  hired  to  teach  the  first  fall 
and  winter  school  in  that  building.  He  was,  in 
fact,  for  many  years  active  in  the  civic,  social, 
political,  and  scholastic  life  of  this  city,  county, 
and  state. 

Mr.  Townsend  was  widely  known  as  a 
pioneer  merchant,  and  for  several  years  was 
a  member  of  the  firm  of  Blakely,  Reynolds  & 
Townsend,  which  erected  the  old  part  of  the 
stone  building  now  owned  by  Kilpatrick 
Brothers  at  the  corner  of  Fifth  and  Court 
streets,  north  of  the  Burwood  Hotel,  and  which 
conducted  a  general  merchandise  business 
therein  for  a  number  of  years.  After  the  dis- 
solution of  this  firm  by  the  death  of  Dr. 
Reynolds,  in  1875,  I\Ir.  Townsend  engaged  in 
business  on  his  own  account,  maintaining  for 
a  number  of  years  a  men's  clothing  and  furn- 
ishings store  on  the  north  side  of  Court  street, 
just  east  of  Fifth  street. 

In  1880  he  was  married,  at  Nebraska  City, 
to  ;\liss  Kate  Monce,  and  with  her  he  spent 
the  latter  part  of  his  life  on  a  small  farm  east 
of  the  city,  on  the  road  to  the  State  Insti- 
tution. To  this  union  six  children  were  bom, 
three  sons  and  a  like  number  of  daughters. 
The  sons  died  in  infancy,  and  the  daughters 
are  Jean,  Ruth  and  Catherine.  Hte  died  in 
April,  1914,  in  the  eightieth  year  of  his  age. 
His  devoted  wife  survives  him,  and,  with  her 
younger  daughters,  Ruth  and  Catherine,  oc- 
cupies the  homestead,  the  object  of  the  af- 
ection  and  tender  regard  of  all  who  know  her. 

Oliver  Townsend  by  disposition  was  open, 
friendly,  and  genial.  He  was  a  man  of  great 
personal  worth,  thoroughly  honest  and  reli- 
able in  all  the  relations  of  life.  He  was  from 
the  very  first  the  recipient  of  universal  con- 
fidence and  esteem   from  the  earlv  settlers  of 


this  portion  of  our  state^  and  he  retained  the 
affectionate  regard  of  the  entire  community  to 
the  last  moment  of  his  life. 

Harrison  F-  Cook 

Mr.  Cook  became  associated  with  the 
Beatrice  Townsite  Company  immediately  on 
the  arrival  of  the  steamboat  "Hannibal"  at 
Nebraska  City,  April  29,  1857,  where  he  was 
awaiting  events.  Learning  of  the  locating 
committee  and  its  intended  search  for  a  town- 
site,  he  offered  to  hire  himself  as  a  driver  for 
the  livery  team  with  which  a  part  of  the  com- 
mittee,  Weston,   Pike,  and  Ross,  intended  to 


Harrison  F.  Cook 

explore  southeastern  Nebraska.  'Sir.  Cook 
accompanied  these  members  of  the  committee 
on  their  long  drive  across  green  stretches  of 
unbroken  prairie,  until  they  finally  reached  the 
townsite  of  Beatrice.  Early  in  June  he  came 
to  Beatrice  and  was  admitted  into  membership 
in  the  association.  He  returned  to  Nebraska 
City  in  the  latter  part  of  July  and  remained 
tb.ere  until  the  spring  of  1858.  He  was  again 
in  Beatrice  during  that  year  and  possibly  as 
late  as  the  spring  of  1859.  He  then  left  for 
Connecticut  and  did  not  return  to  Gage  county 
again  until  about  the  year  1867,  having  been 
absent  eight  years.  He  engaged  in  farming 
for  a   while   on   his   land,   a   mile  and   a  half 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


139 


north  of  the  city,  on  Indian  creek,  which  is 
still  owned  by  a  member  of  his  family,  but 
later  he  established  himself  in  the  furniture 
business  in  Beatrice. 

yir.  Cook  carried  on  this  business  until  his 
death,  which  occurred  at  Beatrice,  on  the  17th 
day  of  January,  1908.  He  had  witnessed  the 
transformation  of  the  bare,  naked  townsite  of 
Beatrice  into  the  beautiful  city  which  it  has 
grown  to  be.  Not  only  had  he  witnessed  but 
he  had  also  been  part  and  parcel  of  the  growth 
and  development  for  more  than  half  a  century 
of  what  was  a  prairie  waste  in  1857.  No  one 
can  remember  the  time  when  he  was  not  an 
enthusiast  over  the  prospects  of  the  city  of  his 
affections.  He  died  universally  respected  by 
the  community. 

Harrison  F.  Cook  was  born  at  Norridge- 
wock.  Somerset  county.  Maine,  November  4, 
1830.  He  was  married,  at  Staft'ord  Hollow, 
Tolland  county,  Connecticut,  March  15,  1860, 
to  Lucinda  H.  Harvey,  a  native  of  that  place. 
This  pioneer  husband  and  wife  lie  side  by  side 
in  the  old  Beatrice  cemetery. 

Although  abrupt  in  manner  and  very  terse 
in  statement,  quick  to  take  offense  and  slow 
to  forget  an  injury,  real  or  fancied,  Harrison 
F.  Cook  was  a  wholesome,  genuine,  true  man, 
and  will  live  in  the  memory  of  his  fellow  citi- 
zens who  knew  and  deeply  loved  him. 

Dr.  Bay.vrd  T.  Wise 

Dr.  ^^'ise  was  a  young  physician  who  found 
himself  on  board  the  "Hannibal"  in  April, 
1857,  bound  for  the  territory  of  Nebraska. 
He  was  active  in  the  organization  of  the  Ne- 
braska Association,  served  as  its  first  treasurer, 
was  a  member  of  the  locating  committee,  was 
present  at  the  call  of  the  roll  of  the  members 
in  Omaha,  May  20th,  in  the  office  of  the  ter- 
ritorial secretary  of  state,  repaired  with  the 
others  to  the  Beatrice  townsite  in  June,  1857, 
took  an  active  part  in  the  Fourth  of  July  cele- 
bration, and  answered  to  his  name  when  the 
roll  was  called  on  the  Beatrice  townsite  July 
27,  1857.  He  remained  here,  however,  only  a 
few  days  after  that  time,  but  appears  to  have 
visited  Beatrice  again  in  1858,  while  located 
in  Plattsmouth,  Nebraska,  in  the  practice  of 


his  profession.  From  there  he  removed  to 
Fort  Madison,  Iowa,  where  he  remained  until 
the  breaking  out  of  the  great  Civil  war,  in 
which  he  served  as  surgeon  of  the  Fifth  Iowa 
Cavalry.  After  the  close  of  the  war,  he  re- 
turned to  Fort  jNIadison,  and  resumed  his 
practice  for  a  short  period  of  time.  But 
Dr.  Wise  found  more  congenial  and  perhaps 
more  profitable  employment  as  the  state  agent 
for  the  Phoenix  Fire  Insurance  Company  of 
Brooklyn,  New  York.  For  twenty-seven  years 
he  served  this  company  as  its  field  man  in  the 
great  state  of  Illinois,  with  headquarters  at 
Springfield.  He  died  in  the  Deaconess  Hospi- 
tal at  Indianapolis,  ^lay  16,  1908,  of  harden- 
ing of  the  liver,  at  the  age  of  seventy-three 
years.  His  remains  lie  by  those  of  his  wife, 
in  the  beautiful  Elmwood  cemetery  in  the  city 
of  Fort  iMadison,  Iowa. 

Dr.  Wise  was  survived  by  three  sons, 
namely,  Edward  P.  \Mse,  state  agent  of  the 
Agricultural  Insurance  Company  for  the  states 
of  Kansas  and  Nebraska ;  Frederick  T.  Wise, 
state  agent  for  Illinois  for  the  Home  Insur- 
ance Company  of  New  York ;  and  Gus  -\I. 
Wise,  state  agent  and  field  man  for  the  Agri- 
cultural Insurance  for  the  state  of  Indiana. 

Dr.  Wise  was  known  to  be  a  kindly,  good 
man  and  a  very  useful  man. 

Joseph  Mileigax 

Joseph  Milligan  joined  the  Nebraska  Asso- 
ciation after  its  organization,  his  name  ap- 
pearing among  those  who  answered  the  roll 
call  on  the  Beatrice  townsite  July  27,  1857. 
He  did  not  maintain  close  relations  with  the 
association  and  appears  to  have  gone,  in  the 
late  summer  of  1857,  to  some  Missouri  river 
point,  where  he  remained  until  about  the  year 
1860.  He  then  returned  to  Gage  county,  set- 
tled on  a  claim  on  East  ]\Iud  creek,  and  resid- 
ed in  that  vicinity,  with  his  wife  Sallie.  until 
1863,  when  he,  with  William  E.  IMudge,  es- 
tablished Buffalo  Ranch,  on  the  old  Oregon 
Trail,  at  the  western  terminus  of  the  stretch 
of  roadway  know  as  Nine  Mile  Ridge,  on  the 
Little  Blue  river,  where  the  village  of 
Deweese  is  now  located.  At  this  time  the 
travel  on  the  old  trail  had  attained  its  maxi- 


140 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


mum  and  the  partners  flourished  amazingly. 
I  kit  on  the  afternoon  of  the  7th  day  of  August, 
1864.  a  stage  driver  halted  his  panting  horses 
in  front  of  the  ranch  and  shouted  a  warning 
that  the  Indians  were  murdering  the  ranchmen 
further  down  the  road,  burning  the  ranches  and 
destroying  property,  and  advising  them  to  fly 
at  once  for  their  lives.  Hastily  attaching  a 
team  to  a  wagon  and  placing  therein  a  few 
provisions  and  clothing,  they  loaded  their 
families  in  the  wagon  and  drove  rapidly  to 
Pawnee  Ranch,  eight  miles  up  the  road,  passing 
the  body  of  Patrick  Burke,  the  first  blacksmith 
of  Beatrice,  who  had  been  killed  by  the  Indians 
two  hours  before.  They  remained  at  Pawnee 
Ranch,  which  was  then  leased  and  managed  by 
Charles  N.  Emery,  throughout  a  determined  at- 
tack made  upon  it  by  the  Indians  the  same  day, 
a  few  hours  after  their  escape.  Later  they 
returned  to  Gage  county,  by  way  of  the  Ne- 
braska City  branch  of  the  Oregon  Trail,  bring- 
ing with  them  Patrick  Burke's  team,  which  they 
turned  over  to  his  widow,  Mary  E.  Burke.  In 
1865  the  Indian  war  having  been  quelled,  they 
returned  to  Bufl^alo  Ranch,  but  the  building  of 
the  Union  Pacific  Railway  in  1866,  across  Ne- 
liraska  from  east  to  west,  put  an  end  to  the 
freighting  and  ranching  business  along  the  old 
trail  and  the  partnership  was  dissolved.  Wil- 
liam E.  Mudge  returned  to  Gage  county,  and 
in  1866  he  took  a  homestead  in  Elm  township, 
where  he  lived  for  many  years,  his  death  having 
occurred  in  Beatrice,  in  1917.  Joseph  Milligan 
and  wife  went  to  Texas  to  live,  where  they  both 
died  many  years  ago.  They  were  fine-looking 
people  and  would  have  been  valuable  accessions 
to  any  community.  They  were  Irish  and  were 
endowed  with  the  ready  wit  and  good  humor 
which  characterize  that  race.  They  were  both 
much  loved  and  highly  respected  by  the  old 
settlers  of  Gage  countv. 

Be.vmctt  Pikic 

Perhaps  no  man  was  more  active  in  the  af- 
fairs of  the  Nebraska  A.ssociation  while  identi- 
fied with  it  than  Bennett  Pike.  The  minutes 
of  the  organization  show  that  much  of  its  early 
success  was  due  to  his  clear,  logical  and  vigor- 
ous intellect.     He  was  a  member  of  the  im- 


portant "Locating  Committee."  and  with  Jef- 
ferson B.  Weston  and  AI.  W.  Ross  selected 
the  townsite  for  Beatrice.  He  prepared  the  re- 
port of  the  committee  and  presented  it  at  the 
meeting  of  the  organization  in  Omaha,  May  20, 
1857,  in  which  the  advantages  of  the  site  se- 
lected by  the  committee  were  set  forth  in  de- 
tail and  with  great  clearness.  While  in  Omaha 
the  company  selected  him  as  the  mill  agent  to 
transport  to  the  proposed  townsite  the  steam 
saw  mill  which  had  previously  been  purchased 
and  which  formed  practically  the  only  asset  of 
the  association. 

Mr.  Pike  answered  to  his  name  when  the 
roll  was  called  on  the  Beatrice  townsite  July 
27,  1857.  He  took  a  very  active  part  in  the 
preliminary  work  of  founding  Beatrice.  With 
Weston,  Reynolds,  Towle,  Townsend,  and 
Loomis,  he  remained  on  the  townsite  until  late 
in  the  fall  of  1858.  over  fifteen  months.  In  the 
meantime  he  preempted  and  purchased  of  the 
government  the  northeast  quarter  of  Section  33, 
township  4,  range  6  east,  joining  the  townsite, 
north  of  Grant  and  west  of  Sixth  street.  On 
leaving  the  territory  he  seems  to  have  gone  to 
Rockport,  Missouri,  and  during  the  year 
1859  he  engaged  in  the  practice  of  law  at  that 
point,  but  later  he  removed  to  Saint  Joseph. 

Mr.  Pike  was  the  son  of  John  and  Elvira 
(Check)  Pike.  He  was  born  in  the  town  of 
Cornish,  state  of  Maine,  January  6,  1829, 
and  died  at  Arcadia,  Missouri,  July  15,  1892. 
He  was  educated  at  Bowdoin  College,  Bruns- 
wick, Maine.  He  was  colonel  of  the 
Fifty-eighth  Regiment  of  Missouri  State  Mil- 
itia during  1863  and  1864,  at  the  same  time 
representing  his  district  in  the  house  of  rep- 
resentatives of  the  state  legislature:  he  was 
also  appointed  brigadier  general  of  militia. 
About  the  time  the  Civil  war  closed  he  was 
appointed  federal  district  attorney  for  the 
Northern  District  of  Missouri,  and  he  served 
several  years  in  that  office.  He  was  elected 
to  congress  from  the  Saint  Joseph.  Missouri, 
district  in  1870,  but  was  counted  out:  he  was 
elected  district  judge  for  the  Buchanan  coun- 
ty district  and  afterward  became  the  general 
attorney  for  the  Iron  Mountain  Railroad 
Company,   with   headquarters  at  Saint  Louis, 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKx\  141 

^lissouri.        Five    days    after    his    death    the      disposition  that  marked  him  as  an  important 
Saint   Louis  bar  held  a  memorial  meeting  in      influence   in   his  community.     Personally   and 


which   a   preamble   and    resolutions   in    regard 

to    Judge    Pike    were    unanimously    adopted,      i^iss  the'wounds  of  the  sorrowing,  and'   with 


socially  he  was  genial  and   full  of  sympathy, 
with  a  great  heart  full  of  love ;  he  stooped  to 


Bennett  Pike 


.\mongst  other  things  are  the  following  re- 
citals respecting  him  : 

Judge  Bennett  Pike  died  July  25.  A.  D. 
1892.  He  ran  his  mortal  course,  and  at  the 
end  bowed  unmurmuringly  to  the  arbiter  of 
all  human  destines. 

His  was  a  race  of  varied  experiences.  Na- 
ture   had    endowed    him    with    talents    and    a 


manly  generosity,  rejoiced  with  those  who 
deservingly  won  life's  laurels.  He  was  a 
helper  of  his  fellow  kind.  Distinctions  came 
to  him  and  he  bore  them  with  modesty,  dig- 
nity and  honor. 

He  was  a  member  of  the  house  of  repre- 
sentatives of  this  state,  and  his  efforts  were 
(  as  in  all  his  other  walks)   to  the  upbuilding 


142 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


of  the  public  welfare  and  happiness,  upon  a 
broad,  strong  and  intelligent  basis. 

He  served  as  federal  district  attorney  in 
this  state  at  a  time  when  passion  ran  high 
and  prosecution  was  prone  to  take  the  form 
of  persecution,  but  with  a  heart  incapable  of 
embitterment,  an  impartial  and  scrupulous 
mind,  he  stood,  at  once,  the  protector  of  rights 
and  the  just  defender  of  violated  law. 

As  a  judge  upon  the  state  circuit  bench  he 
challenged  the  deference  and  confidence  of 
the  lawyers  and  people,  neither  fawning  to 
the  leadership  of  the  one  nor  cringing  to  the 
impulse  of  the  other.  He  was  just,  discrim- 
inating, learned  and  courageous. 

For  many  years  he  was  with  us  as  a  prac- 
titioner at  the  bar.  His  integrity  was  im- 
pregnable, his  demeanor  calm,  gentle  and 
dignified.  His  humor  in  conversation  sprang 
freely  as  from  a  fountain  of  good  nature,  and 
if  weakness  he  had  it  was  his  admiration  and 
veneration  for  his  chosen  and  constantly  pur- 
sued  profession. 

Jefferson  Burns  Weston 

No  other  man  connected  with  the  Nebraska 
Association  became  as  thoroughly  identified 
with  the  history  of  the  state  of  Nebraska  as 
Jefferson  Burns  Weston.  From  the  moment 
of  arriving  in  the  new  territory  of  Nebraska 
to  the  end  of  his  long  career  he  was  a  loyal 
and  useful  citizen  of  our  state.  He  was  wide- 
ly known  and  was  universally  honored  and 
respected   throughout   our   commonwealth. 

Mr.  Weston  was  born  March  23,  1821,  in 
the  little  town  of  Bremen,  Lincoln  county, 
Maine.  He  was  the  son  of  Eliphaz  and  Eliz- 
abeth Longfellow  Weston,  natives  of  the  Pine 
Tree  state  and  both  highly  respected  mem- 
bers of  old  New  England  families  who  traced 
their  ancestry  back  to  Puritan  days  in  this 
country.  Mr.  Weston  obtained  his  elemen- 
tary education  in  the  common  schools  of 
Maine  and,  having  prepared  himself  for  a 
collegiate  course  of  study,  he,  about  1852,  en- 
tered Union  College,  now  Union  University, 
at  Schenectady,  New  York,  which  under  the 
presidency  of  Dr.  Eliphalet  Knott  ( 1804-1866) 
had  become  one  of  the  foremost  educational 
institutions  in  the  western  world  and  drew 
bright,  capable  young  men  from  every  por- 
tion  of  the  ccuntrv.     Mr.   Weston  graduated 


in  the  classical  course  from  the  college  in 
1856,  and  lending  ear  to  the  call  of  the  great 
west,  he  came  first  to  Chicago,  and,  still  fol- 
lowing the  Star  of  Empire  to  the  cry  "West- 
ward Ho,"  he  went,  in  the  spring  of  1857, 
to  St.  Louis,  where  on  a  soft  April  morning, 
in  1857,  he  joined  Judge  John  Fitch  Kinney, 
John  McConihe  (a  fellow  alumnus  of  his 
alma  mater),  Albert  Towle,  Herman  M. 
Reynolds,  Bennett  Pike,  and  the  rest  on  board 
the  "Hannibal"  in  her  memorable  voyage  to 
the  upper  Missouri.  He  became  a  leader  in 
that  band  of  intrepid  spirits  who,  on  the  23d 
day  of  April,  entered  into  a  written  compact 
to  remain  together  and  found  a  city  somewhere 
in  the  new  territory  of  Nebraska.  From 
the  moment  of  its  organization  J\Ir.  Weston 
was  most  active  in  furthering  this  venture  into 
what  was,  in  fact,  little  more  than  a  prairie 
waste.  He  was  member  of  the  locating  com- 
mittee, and  with  Bennett  Pike,  M.  W.  Ross, 
and  Harrison  F.  Cook,  reported  to  the  or- 
ganization at  Omaha,  May  20,  1857,  their 
selection  of  the  original  townsite  of  Beatrice 
as  the  most  eligible  site  for  the  prospective 
city.  He  never  for  a  single  moment  waver- 
ed in  his  loyalty  to  this  enterprise  and 
throughout  his  life  he  was  an  efficient  force 
in  the  upbuilding  of  Beatrice  —  child  of  his 
courage  and  brain.  From  May  29,  1857, 
when  the  first  stake  was  driven  on  the  town- 
site  of  Beatrice,  with  the  exception  of  about 
nine  years  spent  in  Lincoln  during  and  im- 
mediately following  his  six  years'  service  as 
a  state  official,  this  city  was  his  home.  He 
retained  his  distributive  share  in  the  original 
townsite  of  Beatrice  until  it  became  valuable 
and  he,  more  than  any  other  of  the  Nebraska 
Association,  profited  from  this  venture. 

Mr.  Weston  remained  with  Townsend, 
Towle,  Pike,  and  Loomis,  throughout  the 
summer  and  fall  of  1857  and  the  following 
winter,  as  a  component  part  of  the  guard  left 
behind  to  protect  the  interests  of  the  Townsite 
Company.  Some  time  in  1858,  or  possibly  as 
late  as  1859,  he  returned  to  Chicago  and  took 
a  course  in  the  study  of  the  law.  He  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  and  on  his  return  to 
Beatrice  he  engaged   for  a  brief  time  in  the 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


143 


practice  of  his  profession.  But  he  soon  turned 
to  a  more  adventurous,  a  more  profitable  and 
(to  him  at  that  period  of  Hfe)  a  more  con- 
genial field  of  activity.  About  1860  he  en- 
gaged in  the  business  of  freighting  across  the 
plains  along  the  old  Military  Highway  from 
Beatrice  to  Denver  and  other  western  points. 
Later  he  engaged  in  mining  and  other  enter- 
prises about  the  gold  fields  of  Colorado,  but, 
returning  to  Beatrice  in  1868,  he  resumed  the 
practice  of  the  law.  His  professional  card 
appears  in  Volume  I,  No.  8  of  the  Blue  Val- 
ley Record,  the  first  newspaper  published  in 
Gage  county.     It  reads  as  follows: 

J.  B.  Weston. 
Notary  Public  and  Conveyancing. 

Real  Estate  Agency  and  Law  Office. 

Beatrice,  Gage  County,  Nebraska. 

He  continued  in  the  practice  of  law  at 
Beatrice  till  1873,  when,  having  been  elected 
auditor  of  public  accounts  for  the  state  of 
Nebraska,  he  removed  his  family  to  Lincoln. 
He  served  the  people  as  their  auditor  from 
January  1,  1873  to  January  1,  1879, —  six 
years. 

On  the  18th  day  of  November,  1883,  Mr. 
Weston,  having  with  Daniel  W.  Cook  and 
others  purchased  the  stock  of  the  Gage  County 
Bank,  organized  the  Beatrice  National  Bank, 
of  Beatrice,  Nebraska.  He  was  chosen  the 
president  of  this  institution  by  the  first  board 
of  directors,  a  position  which  he  held  for  over 
twenty  years,  and  until  his  death.  Of  those 
who  were  associated  with  him  at  the  time, 
namely,  Daniel  W.  Cook,  Hiram  W.  Parker, 
Cyrus  Alden,  Silas  P.  Wheeler,  Nathan  Blake- 
ly,  and  William  Lamb,  of  Beatrice,  and  Na- 
than S.  Harwood,  of  Lincoln,  all  have  passed 
away,  Mr.  Cook,  the  last  survivor,  dying  in 
March,  1916. 

On  the  30th  of  April,  1860,  Mr.  Weston 
married  Miss  Helen  Towle,  the  eldest  daugh- 
ter of  Albert  Towle.  To  this  union  four 
children  were  born,  namely  Ralph  A.,  Eliza- 
beth L.,  Katherine,  and  Herbert  T.  Weston. 
Mr.  Weston  died  September  15,  1905,  in  the 
seventieth  year  of  his  age,  and  in  1917  his  wife 
followed  him  to  the  grave.  Their  remains 
rest  in  the  beautiful  Evergreen  Home  Ceme- 


tery, as  do  also  those  of  their  younger  daugh- 
ter, Katherine.  To  every  loyal  citizen  of  our 
county,  and  to  every  man  who  values  worth 
of  character,  the  turf  that  wraps  their  clay 
should  be  hallowed  mold. 

No  sketch  of  the  life  of  Mr.  Weston  would 
be  complete  which  failed  to  take  account  of 
the  remarkable  influence  which,  without  con- 
scious effort  on  his  part,  he  exercised  over 
others.  From  first  to  last  he  was  an  important 
factor  in  the  affairs  of  the  territory  and  state. 
He  was  a  just  man,  kind  and  sympathetic.  He 
was  remarkably  deliberate  and  conservative  in 
judgment,  and  was  accustomed  to  take  an  ac- 
curate and  comprehensive  view  of  human  af- 
fairs. His  clear,  inclusive  way  of  looking  at 
things  made  him  one  of  the  most  useful  citi- 
zens the  state  of  Nebraska  has  ever  possessed. 

In  his  habits  and  association,  Jefferson  Burns 
Weston  was  the  most  democratic  of  men.  His 
charity  was  large,  his  integrity  above  question. 
With  a  generous,  open-hearted  faith  in  human- 
ity and  a  deep-rooted  faith  in  Almighty  God, 
he  reached  the  end  of  his  long  journey  in  an 
atmosphere  of  hope,  courage,  and  cheer  that 
was  infectious  to  all  who  came  under  his  in- 
fluence. 

William  H.  Brodhe.vd 

Though  not  a  member  of  the  Beatrice 
Townsite  Association,  William  H.  Brodhead 
was  so  intimately  connected  with  the  enterprise 
as  to  deserve  a  place  amongst  the  founders  of 
our  city.  In  1857  he  was  the  best  known  and 
perhaps  the  most  competent  surveyor  and 
topographical  engineer  in  the  territory  of 
Nebraska,  and  for  this  reason  he  was  employ- 
ed by  the  directors  of  the  Beatrice  Association 
to  survey  and  make  plats  of  the  original  town 
of  Beatrice.  During  his  entire  life  Mr.  Brod- 
head took  a  keen  interest  in  Beatrice,  and  to 
friends  here  he  frequently  expressed  an  ap- 
preciation of  the  fact  that  he  had  been  in- 
strumental in  the  founding  of  the  city. 

Mr.  Brodhead  was  born  near  Milford,  Pike 
county,  Pennsylvania,  August  25,  1832.  He 
died  at  Plailey,  Idaho,  October  21,  1898.  At 
Honesdale.  Wayne  county,  Pennsylvania,  June 
11,  1867,  he  married  Eliza  Averv.     Surviving 


144 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


him  are  his  widow  and  their  son.  W.  A.  Bred-  his  professions,  having  been  admitted  to  prac- 

head,  who  is  a  prominent  lawyer  of  Alackay,  tice  before  the  courts  of  the  territory  June  4, 

Idaho,  and   the  chairman   of  the   Idaho   state  1857.     In   1859  he  was  elected  a  member  of 

highway  commission.  the  house  of   representatives  of  the  territory, 


William  H.  Brodhe.\d 
original  tovvnsite  of  Beatrice,  1857 


William  H.  Brodhead,  in  addition  to  a  very 
accurate  and  useful  education  in  civil  engineer- 
ing, was  a  lawyer  of  ability,  having  been  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  of  Pennsylvania  November 
21,  1856.  The  same  year  he  came  to  the  ter- 
ritory of  Nebraska,  where  he  practised  both  of 


from  Otoe  county,  and  he  served  during  that 
session.  His  friend,  the  distinguished  Ne- 
braskan,  J.  Sterling  Morton,  also  was  a  mem- 
ber of  that  legislature.  In  1861  Mr.  Brod- 
head went  to  Utah  territory  to  live  ;  there  he 
ser\ed  for  a  while  as  the  federal  district  at- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


145 


torney.  Although  a  non-Mormon  in  belief 
and  practice,  he  was  a  warm  personal  friend 
of  Brigham  Young  and  was  frequently  the 
recipient  of  the  Prophet's  favor.  In  1863  he 
located  at  Carson  City,  Nevada,  where  he 
practiced  law  for  a  few  years,  but,  being  drawn 
into  the  maelstrom  of  the  mining  excitement 
then  rife  in  Carson  City,  he  dropped  the  law 
and  sought  wealth  as  a  miner.  He  followed 
this  business  until  the  fall  of  1879,  when  he 
moved  to  Hailey,  Idaho.  In  1894  he  was  ap- 
pointed register  of  the  United  States  land  of- 
fice at  Hailey,  and  he  died  just  after  he  had 
completed  his  four  years'  term  of  ofifice. 

Mr.  Brodhead  was  six  feet  four  inches  in 
height  and  was  proportionately  a  large  man. 

As  a  surveyor,  Mr.  Brodhead  was  required 
to  make  three  plats  of  the  original  town  of 
Beatrice,  one  of  which  was  filed  in  the  local 
land  office  at  Brownville  on  the  12th  day  of 
August,  1859,  and  one  was  forwarded  to  the 
General  Land  Office  at  Washington  to  be  kept 
as  a  part  of  its  files.  The  third  was,  of 
course,  delivered  to  Herman  M.  Reynolds,  as 
mayor  of  the  city.  Some  dissatisfaction  ex- 
isted for  a  while  over  Brodhead's  survey,  and 
about  the  year  1875  Anselmo  B.  Smith  was 
employed  to  resurvey  the  original  town  of 
Beatrice.  These  surveys  differ  slightly ;  the 
Smith  survey  showing  a  deviation  from  the 
true  lines  of  less  than  three  feet  in  some  parts 
of  the  city.  When  we  take  into  account  the 
crudeness  of  the  time  and  the  probable  haste 
with  which  the  original  survey  was  made  by 
Mr.  Brodhead,  it  is  evident,  assuming  that  the 
error  did  exist,  that  his  work  was  well  done. 
A  careless  chain  carrier  might  easily  account 
for  this  error. 

Dr.  Herm.\n  Myer  Reynolds 

It  would  be  difficult  for  any  one  to  speak  the 
whole  truth  about  Dr.  Herman  Myer  Reynolds 
without  appearing  to  be  his  panegyrist.  But 
seven  days  past  the  age  of  twenty-five  years 
when  he  joined  with  Kinney,  McConihe, 
Towle,  Weston,  Wise,  Pike,  and  the  others  to 
form  the  Nebraska  Association,  on  board  the 
old  steamboat  "Hannibal,"  he  was  already  a 
man  of  affairs  and  for  some  time  had  been  a 


successful  practicing  physician.  He  was  a 
native  of  Sullivan  county.  New  York,  and  was 
a  son  of  Andrew  and  Catherine  Reynolds,  both 
natives  of  the  state  of  New  York.  The  father 
was  of  English  lineage,  and  the  mother  was 
the  daughter  of  Garrett  Van  Benscoten,  a 
Hollander  and  a  soldier  of  the  Revolution.  Dr. 
Reynolds  obtained  his  elementary  education  in 
the  common  schools  of  his  native  state,  and  in 
his  youth  entered  an  academy  at  Liberty,  New 
York.  He  afterward  pursued  a  course  of 
study  in  the  State  Normal  School  at  Albany, 
with  the  view  of  fitting  himself  for  a  teacher, 
and  he  did  for  a  while  engage  in  that  occupa- 
tion. When  still  a  very  young  man  he  began 
the  study  of  medicine,  at  Pittsfield,  Massachu- 
setts. His  final  course  was  taken  in  the  great 
medical  college  at  Albany,  from  which  institu- 
tion he  graduated  May  31,  1853,  and  he  at 
once  entered  upon  the  practice  of  his  profes- 
sion at  Barryville,  in  his  native  state.  After- 
ward he  removed  to  Scranton,  Pennsylvania, 
where  he  remained  two  years,  engaged  in  the 
practice  of  his  profession.  Dr.  Reynolds  was 
not  the  man  to  yield  to  the  wanderlust,  as  his 
subsequent  history  clearly  shows,  but  the  call 
of  the  great  west  was  in  the  air.  The 
romance,  the  spirit  of  adventure  and  its  excite- 
ment, proved  to  him  as  to  many  other  young 
men,  irresistible,  and  him  too  we  find,  on  a  soft 
April  morning,  in  1857,  aboard  the  old  steam- 
er "Hannibal."  headed  for  the  new  territory 
of  Nebraska. 

With  characteristic  modesty,  his  name  first 
appeared  in  the  records  of  the  townsite  com- 
pany amongst  those  who  signed  the  articles 
of  association,  following  the  names  of  Dr. 
Wilmans,  Dr.  Wise,  and  Albert  Towle.  It  is 
next  found  when  the  membership  roll  was 
called  by  the  scholarly  secretary,  John 
McConihe,  in  the  office  of  the  territorial  sec- 
retary of  state,  in  Omaha,  May  20,  1857,  and 
when  the  roll  was  again  called  on  the  townsite 
of  Beatrice,  July  27,  1857,  Dr.  Reynolds  was 
one  of  the  members  who  answered  "Here." 
Prior  to  coming  to  Beatrice,  it  had  been  ar- 
ranged that  the  members  of  the  association 
should  observe  some  sort  of  order  in  locating 
claims  on  the  public  domain  with  respect  to 


146 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


the  townsite,  so  as  to  avoid  rivalry  and  contests 
over  the  matter,  and  the  first  piibHc  service 
Dr.  Reynolds  was  called  upon  to  perform  was 
to  act  as  a  member  of  a  committee  of  three 
persons  "to  draft  resolutions  for  a  claim  as- 
sociation," evidently  to  be  given  jurisdiction 
over  this  delicate  subject.  The  importance  at- 
tached by  the  members  of  the  assoriation  to 
the  subject  of  claims  is  evidenced  by  the  fact 
that  this  committee  was  the  first  one  appointed 


Herm.nn  M.  Rkynoliis 

at  Beatrice,  July  17.  1857.  .Vt  the  adjourned 
session  in  the  afternoon  of  that  day,  on  the 
coming  in  of  the  report  of  this  committee,  Dr 
Reynolds  was  chosen  as  secretary  and  treasur- 
er for  this  claims  association,  and  the  next 
day  Bennett  Pike  was  selected  as  president, 
the  other  members  being  David  P.  Taylor  and 
H.  F.  Cook.  Their  duties  were  plainly  out- 
lined by  the  proceeding  of  May  28,  1858,  when 
it  was  resolved  that  "Each  individual  hold  his 
own  claim  as  at  present  staked  out,  regardless 
of  the  valuation  of  the  same,  but  subject  to 
the  location  of  the  town,"  and  it  was  further 
"resolved  that  the  claim  club  settle  boundary 


lines  of  claims  and  that  the  same  be  referred 
to  them,"  and  it  was  at  this  meeting  also 
"resolved  that  no  one  individual  be  allowed  to 
hold  more  than  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
within  one  mile  of  town." 

After  these  meetings,  the  name  of  Dr. 
Reynolds  frequently  occurs  in  the  association's 
record.  At  a  meeting  of  the  association,  held 
May  22.  1858,  when  sixty  votes  were  cast  for 
president  of  the  Nebraska  Association,  he  re- 
ceived fifty-seven,  and  was  at  the  same  time  se- 
lected as  a  member  of  the  board  of  directors. 
Under  the  federal  townsite  act,  the  govern- 
ment did  not  recognize  individuals  but  required 
at  least  a  semblance  of  a  village  or  town  organ- 
ization, the  mayor  of  such  body  alone  having 
authority  to  enter  land  for  townsite  purposes. 
Dr.  Reynolds  was  chosen  as  the  first  mayor 
of  Beatrice, —  at  a  time  when  there  was  neither 
councilmen,  clerk,  treasurer,  city  attorney  nor 
any  semblance  of  civic  organization. —  in  order 
that  the  law  might  be  complied  with  and  the 
land  comprising  the  original  townsite  of 
Beatrice  be  purchased,  pursuant  to  the  above 
mentioned  act  of  congress.  An  assessment 
was  levied  upon  the  members  of  the  association 
and  a  thousand  dollars  was  in  some  way 
gotten  together  to  pay  for  the  survey  and  the 
government  price  of  one  dollar  and  twenty- 
five  cents  per  acre  for  the  land  and  other 
necessary  expeditures  connected  with  the  sur- 
vey and  entry  of  the  townsite.  On  the  12th 
day  of  August.  1859,  Dr.  Reynolds,  as  the 
mayor  of  Beatrice,  entered  at  the  government 
land  office  at  Brownville  the  half-section  of 
land  comprising  the  original  townsite.  Most 
of  the  mayor's  deeds  for  lots  in  the  original 
townsite  were  executed  by  him. 

Dr.  Reynolds  was  also  very  active  in  the 
early  affairs  of  Gage  county.  With  Mr.  Towle 
he  served  from  January,  1858,  to  January  1, 
1860,  as  a  member  of  the  first  board  of  county 
commissioners,  and  after  the  county  was  divid- 
ed into  three  commissioner  districts  he  served 
on  the  board  till  May,  1860,  when  he  resigned, 
so  that  J.  M.  Summers  of  Blue  Springs  could 
be  appointed  to  represent  that  part  of  the 
county  on  the  board.     He  was  county  treas- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


147 


urer  in  1858  and  1859  and  again  in  1863 ;  he 
was  county  judge  in  1868-1869;  clerk  of  the 
district  court  in  1866-1867;  county  superin- 
tendent of  school  in  1868-1869.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  state  constitutional  convention 
in  1866,  from  Gage  county,  and  represented 
our  county  in  the  legislature  of  1874  . 

Dr.  Reynolds  was  the  first  resident  physi- 
cian of  Gage  county  and  one  of  the  first  in 
the  state  of  Nebraska.  In  1857  there  was  of 
course  but  little  call  for  men  of  his  profession. 
But,  undeterred  by  the  discouraging  outlook, 
he  took  up  his  work  as  a  physician  amongst 
the  settlers,  and  for  several  years  he  devoted 
his  time,  when  called  upon,  simply  to  doing 
good,  such  compensation  as  he  was  willing  to 
accept  being  usually  in  some  sort  of  farm  pro- 
duce—  butter,  eggs,  poultry  and  the  like.  In 
the  first  issue  of  the  Blue  Valley  Record,  of 
August  1,  1868,  is  found  this  card: 

H.  M.  REYNOLDS,  M.D. 

Office  Blakely,  Reynolds  &  Go's.  Store 

Beatrice,  Neb. 

Until  the  last  moment  of  his  life  Dr. 
Reynolds  treasured  above  his  earthly  posses- 
sions his  ability  to  relieve  the  sick,  minister  to 
the  afflicted,  console  the  dying.  Until  pro- 
strated by  disease,  he  was  never  known  to 
fail,  even  in  his  busiest  years,  the  demands  up- 
on his  professional  skill  and  knowledge. 
Through  cold  and  heat,  across  desolate  prai- 
ries, this  pioneer  physician  went  about  among 
the  people  ministering  with  all  kindness  to 
those  who  sought  his  aid. 

The  Doctor  frequently  engaged  in  business 
ventures  outside  of  his  profession.  In  1864, 
he  put  up  a  considerable  quantity  of  prairie 
hay,  and  in  the  fall  and  winter  he  bought  a 
large  number  of  cattle.  Roughing  the  cattle 
through  the  winter,  he  herded  them  on  the 
prairie  until  they  became  fit  for  market,  then 
drove  them  to  St.  Joseph,  Missouri,  where  they 
were  sold.  So  many  died  during  the  winter 
that  his  profits,  if  any  at  all,  were  small.  A 
number  of  times  he  engaged  in  mercantile 
business  of  some  kind.  As  early  as  1859  he 
had  a  small  grocery  and  provision  store,  about 


where  the  old  First  National  Bank  began  busi- 
ness in  1872.  His  goods  were  kept  in  a  small, 
round-log  cabin,  with  the  side  next  to  Court 
street.  Finally  he  and  Oliver  Townsend  open- 
ed a  general  store  here,  later  the  firm  be- 
came Blakely,  Reynolds  &  Company,  and  still 
later  Dr.  Reynolds  and  Oliver  Townsend 
erected  the  old  part  of  the  stone  building  now 
owned  by  the  Kilpatrick  Brothers  at  the  corner 
of  Fifth  and  Court  streets,  where  the  firm  con- 
tinued in  business  until  he  died,  in  1875.  Mr. 
Blakely,  however,  was  appointed  receiver  of 
the  government  land  office  at  Beatrice,  August 
10,  1869,  and  retired  from  the  firm,  being  suc- 
ceeded later  by  I.  N.  McConnell.  This  busi- 
ness made  money  for  the  various  partners  and 
was  really  the  foundation  of  their  fortunes. 

Dr.  Reynolds  was  of  medium  height  and 
probably  never  weighed  in  excess  of  one 
hundred  and  forty  pounds.  When  he  was  a 
young  man  his  hair  was  thick,  black,  and  curl- 
ed ;  his  complexion  was  dark ;  his  eyes  gray, 
large,  and  very  expressive ;  his  nose  Grecian, 
features  regular,  forehead  broad  and  high, 
countenance  frank  and  open.  He  was  a  most 
kindly,  sympathetic  man  and  wonderfully  con- 
siderate of  the  feelings  and  wishes  of  others. 

On  October  20,  1861,  Dr.  Reynolds  married 
Naomi  Barcus,  who  at  this  writing  survives 
him,  and  with  her  daughters,  Josephine  and 
Ruth,  the  wife  of  Corey  C.  Farlow,  occupies 
the  two-story,  brick  dwelling  house,  at  the 
corner  of  Alarket  and  Eighth  streets,  which 
was  erected  by  the  Doctor  as  a  home  a  few 
years  prior  to  his  death.  His  widowed  daugh- 
ter is  Mrs.  Elsie  Loeber,  of  Beatrice,  and  his 
other  children  are  Mrs.  Mollie  Randall,  the 
wife  of  George  Randall,  of  Morrill  county,  Ne- 
braska, and  Mrs.  Hermina  Sackett,  the  wife 
of  Hon.  Harry  E.  Sackett,  of  Beatrice. 

To  the  last  moment  of  conscious  existence 
Dr.  Reynolds  was  a  most  loyal  citizen  of  the 
city  which  he  was  so  instrumental  in  founding. 
He  rarely  left  Gage  county  and  his  interest  in 
its  welfare  was  such  as  always  to  hasten  his 
return.  He  died  at  Beatrice  on  the  26th  day 
of  April,  1875,  after  a  lingering  illness,  and 
when  but  a  few  days  past  the  forty-third  year 


148 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


of  his  age.  His  remains  lie  in  the  Beatrice 
cemetery,  near  the  city  whose  history  is  in- 
separably linked  with  his  name.  He  was  deep- 
ly loved  and  universally  mourned.  On  the  day 
of  his  burial,  the  business  houses  of  the  city 
closed  out  of  respect  for  him.  Some  one  has 
said  "To  Hve  in  hearts  we  leave  behind  is  not 


to  die."  If  this  is  a  true  saying,  then  Dr. 
Reynolds  is  immortal,  for  he  can  never  be  for- 
gotten while  the  city  of  Beatrice  lasts.  As 
in  the  case  of  Albert  Towle,  Oliver  Townsend, 
and  Jefferson  Burns  Weston,  the  beautiful  city 
of  Beatrice  stands  as  an  enduring  monument 
to  the  memory  of  Dr.  Herman  Myer  Reynolds. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

A  ROLL  OF  HONOR 

Gage   County   Territorial     Pioneers  —  Biographical   Sketches:   Nathan  Blakely, 
Charles   N.   Emery,  Joseph    Hollingworth,   Hiram   W.    Parker,   Charles   G. 

DORSEY,    FORDYCE   RoPER,    ALBERT    L.    TiNKHAM,    HORACE    M.    WiCKHAM,    ISMA 

P.  AND  Elizabeth  Mumford,  James  B.  Mattingley,  Samuel  Jones, 
Algernon  Sidney  Paddock. 


Most  of  the  men  and  women  of  our  county 
whose  heroism  made  it  possible  for  the  Hnes  of 
civilization  to  be  advanced  upon  these  western 
prairies,  have  long  since  passed  away.  Many 
are  now  unrepresented  here  by  posterity  or 
near  relatives.  As  far  as  possible,  it  is  the 
design  of  the  author  of  this  history  to  rescue 
from  oblivion  in  this  chapter  of  his  work  the 
names  of  the  territorial  pioneers  of  Gage 
county.  In  a  few  instances  names  will  be 
found  here  of  those  who  were  in  the  territory 
many  years  before  they  became  residents  of 
Gage  county.  Appended  to  the  list  of  names 
will  be  found  brief  biographical  sketches  of 
some  of  these  heroic  dead,  who,  by  public 
service,  position  in  the  county,  or  from  worth 
of  character,  are  entitled  to  a  place  in  any 
history  of  the  county.  It  is  a  regrettable  fact 
that  no  accurate  catalogue  of  the  names  of 
these  pioneers  is  now  in  existence.  The  most 
reliable  evidence  is  afforded  perhaps  by  the 
records  of  the  United  States  land  office.  As 
far  as  possible  the  writer  has  supplemented 
these  records  from  the  minutes  of  the  meetings 
of  the  Old  Settlers'  Association  of  Gage  coun- 
ty, the  early  district-court  records,  the  minutes 
of  the  county  commissioners,  and  the  recollec- 
tion of  a  few  pioneers  still  amongst  us. 

Nebraska  was  admited  to  the  great  sister- 
hood of  states  March  1,  1867.  Though  pioneer 
conditions  still  prevailed  in  many  portions  of 
the  state,  it  may  reasonably  be  said  that  with 
railroads  built  and  rapidly  building  through- 


out Nebraska,  fairly  accessible  markets  for  the 
bulk  of  the  population,  steadily  rising  land 
values,  rapidly  accumulating  wealth,  a  grow- 
ing independence  on  the  part  of  the  entire  pop- 
ulation and  the  political  freedom  which  under 
our  system  of  government  statehood  always 
confers,  the  pioneer  days  were  at  an  end 
when  Nebraska  ceased  to  be  a  territory.  In 
compiling  the  following  list  of  names,  where 
the  date  on  which  the  residence  of  the  pioneer 
began  in  our  county  is  known  it  is  given ; 
where  unknown,  the  date  on  which  the  pioneer 
is  shown  to  have  entered  public  land  in  the  old 
Brownville-Beatrice  land  office  is  given  as  the 
year  to  which  residence  of  the  party  is  credit- 
ed. Names  appear  in  this  roll  regardless  of 
the  fact  that  they  are  found  elsewhere  in  this 
history.  It  is  hoped  that  as  time  advances,  the 
years  may  render  more  and  more  apparent  the 
value  of  this 

Roll  of  Honor 


Alexander,  T.  J.,  1859 

Alexander,  William,   1859 

Ashby,  William  H.,  1865 

Ayers,  James  L.,  1860 

Ayers,  Patience  M. 

Blakely,  Nathan,  July  17,  1857 

Blakely,  Margaret  Constance   (Tinkham) 

Blakely,  William,  1857 

Burke,  Patrick,  1858 


149 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Burke,  Mary  E.,  1858 

Brown,  Thomas  W.,  1860 

Brown,  J.  L.,  1860 

Brown,   Sidney,   1860 

Jionham,  G.  W.,  1857 

Coulter,   Theodore   M.,   1859 

Cartwright,   Edward,   1860 

Cook,   Harrison   F.,   1857 

Chandler,  Luther  B.,  1865 

Chase,  J.  E.,  1860 

Cox,  M.  D.,  1867 

Davis,  Richard  C,  1860 

Dorsey,  C.  G.,  1856  (Brownville) 

Dunbar,  John  J.,  1866 

Emery,  Charles,   1860 

Emery,  Mary  E.,  1860 

Emery,  Carl,   1860 

Favor,  Filetus  M.,  1859 

Gilbert,  John,  1858 

Griggs,  L.  T.,  1865 

Griggs,  N.  K.  1867 

Hewett,  Obediah  B.,  1857 

Hulburt,  George  W.,  1864 

Hamma,  Peter,   1865 

Harrington,  Silas  B..  1857 

ha  Selle,  Henry  A.,   1866 

Loomis,   Gilbert  T.,   1857 

LePoidevin,  Nicholas.   1865 

LePoidevin,  Thomas,  1866 

Latham,  John  W.,  1864 

Latham,  Diana,    1864 

Latham,  Asa,  1864 

Mumford,  Isma  P,,  1857 

Mumford,  Elizabeth,   1857 

Mack,  Eugene,   1866 

Maxfield,  James  B.,   1860 

Nelson,  Joseph,   R..    1857 

Parker,    Hiram    W.,    1857 

Pike,   Bennett,    1857 

Paddock,  Algernon  Sidney,  1857 

Pethoud,  Andrew  J.,   1857 

Reed,  Israel 

Roper,  Fordyce,  1857 

Roper,  Frederick  E.,  1857 

Sage,  A.  D.,  1863 

Stevens,  Orrin,  1857 

Stevens,  Amasa,  1864 

Sibier,  Frederick,  1866 

Shaw,  Jacob,  1866 


Shaw,  Julia,  1866 
Shaw,  John,  1866 
Stoner,  William  Henry,  1860 
Saunders,  Joseph,  1855 
Saunders,  Emer,   1857 
Steer,  William  H.,  1866 
Snow,  A.  L,,  1866 
Snow,  Emilie,   1866 
Towle,  Albert,  1857 
Towle,  Catherine,   1857 
Tinkham,  Albert  L.,   1862 
Tinkham,  Sarah,  1862 
Tobbey,  G.  H.,  1857 
Townsend,  Oliver,  1857 
Weston,  Jefferson  Burns,  1857 
Weston,  Helen  (Towle),  1857 

ELM  TOWNSHIP 

Mudge,  William  E.,  1866 
Stebbins,  Austin  E.,  1866 
Worden,  William  A.,  1866 

BLAKELY    TOWNSHIP 

Alexander,  John  W.,   1863 
Badley,  John  W.,  1863 
Ball,  Lucy  A.,  1865 
Bailey,  Asa  F.,  1863 
Benjamin,  James  H.,   1861 
Blakely,  William,  1857 
Blakely,    Cornelia,    1863 
Claybaugh,  John   H.,   1866 
Claybaugh,  Reuben,    1866 
Claybaugh,  Rebecca,   1866 
Claybaugh,  Joseph,  1866 
Clyne,  Thomas,   1859 
Clyne,  Joseph,  1859 
Clyne,  Margaret,  1859 
Dibble,  Richard,  1865 
Dolen,  Benjamin,  1864 
Freeman,  Daniel,   1866 
Graff,  Joseph,  1863 
Jakes,  John,   1862 
Kilpatrick,  Samuel,  1859 
Kilpatrick,  Rachael,   1859 
Kinzie,  John,  1866 
Myers,  Mary,  1863 
McCleve,  William  H.,  1864 
Odell,  Hirani  S..  1859 
Rogers,  Washington  N.,  1865 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Rogers,  Wilber  S.,   1865 
Rossiter,   Richard,    1862 
Scheve,  Henry,   1865 
Scheve,  John,  1866 
Scribner,  Irving  S.,  1866 
Sopher,  Elijah,  1866 
Suiter,  Agnes  E.,  1865 
Wells,  Joel,  1863 
Wells,  Christian,  1865 
Wells,  Leon,  1863 
Wells,  James,   1863 
Wells,  Darius,  1863 
Wells,  Cyrus,  1863 
Wells,  B.  E.,  1863 
Wright,  Amos  h.,  1866 
Wickham,  Horace,  1859 

GRANT    TOWNSHIP 

Barrett,   John,    1858 
Buss,  Charles,   1859 
Carnahan,  Thomas,   1866 
Carnahan,  George,    1866 
Claibourne,   1865 
Claibourne,   1865 
Creed,  George,  1865 
Gaston,  George  W.,  1866 
Grant,  George,  1858 
Grant.  John,  1858 
Grant.  James,  1865 
Haddlock,  Alva  R..  1865 
Harvey.  David,   1865 
Kinsey,  James,   1861 
Kinsey,   William,    1861 
Lull,  H.  M.,  1865 
Nicholas,  Robert,  1860 
Plucknett,  William,  1861 
Van  Clief,  William,  1863 

CLATONIA    TOWNSHIP 

Albert,  Henry,  1866 
Kloepper,  Henry,  1866 
Pitzer,  Frederick,  1866 
Steinmeyer,  William,  1866 
Steinmeyer,  Henry,   1866 
Steinmeyer,  Frederick,  1866 

SICILY    TOWNSHIP 

Harvey,  Oliver  J.,  1866 
Harpster.  Daniel  J..  1862 


Lott,  James  L.,  1864 
Stebbins.  Austin  E.,  1861 

RIVERSIDE  TOWNSHIP 

Crites,  George  B.,  1866 
Holt,  C.  B.,  1866 
Parker,  John  C,  1864 
Shelley,  Francis,  1862 

MIDLAND   TOWNSHIP 

Brick,  Henry,  1866 
Buchanan,  Joe,  1865 
Bull,  Stephen,  1866 
Barney,  Joseph,   1866 
Conley,   Michael,   1866 
Dixon,  Ira,  1858 
Jones,  Samuel,  1857 
Jones,  William,    1859 
Jones,  Isaac,   1857 
LePoidevin,  Thomas,  1866 
Loomis,  Gilbert  T.,  1857 
Martin,  Joseph,  1860 
Pierce,  H.  J.,  1857 
Pethoud,  John,  1857 
Pethoud,  John,  Jr.,  1858 
Pethoud,  F.  M.,  1857 
Pethoud,  Thomas,  1858 
Pethoud.  James  K.  P.,  1858 
Sherrill.  Thomas,  1860 

HOLT     TOWNSHIP 

Austin,  Edward  C,  1857 
Austin,  Homer  B.,  1857 
Barnhouse,  John,  1866 
Chesney,  Warren,  1865 

HIGHLAND   TOWNSHIP 

Michael,  Weaver,  1866 

BLUE    SPRINGS 

Armstrong,  Thomas,  1860 
Anthony,  Levi,  1862 
Chambers,  Joseph 
Desert,   George 
Elliott,  Martin,  1857 
Elliott,  William,  1857 
Elliott,  Henry,   1857 
Elliott,  Stephen,  1857 
Hager,  Adam,  1859 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Hager,  Margaret,  1859 

Hager,  John,  1859 

Fisher,  King,  1862 

Fisher,  Fred,  1862 

Gary,  Patrick  R.,  1859 

Graham,  F.  M.,  1859 

Johnson,  James  H.,  1857 

Johnson,  Martha  M.,  1857 

Johnson,  Rankin,   1859  . 

Knight,  Lynus,  1860 

Knight,  Jane  A.,  1860 

Lott,  James,  1860 

Max 

Nichols,  James  H.,  1864 

Noyes,   Reuyl,   1857 

Poff,  Jacob,  1857 

Shaw,  Samuel,  1859 

Sargent,  True,   1859 

Sargent,  Wright,  1859 

Summers,  J.  M.,  1859 

Tyler,  William  B,   1859 

Tyler,  Rebecca  (Woodward),  1859 

Wilson,  Robert  A.,  1861 

ROCKFORD  TOWNSHIP 

Adams,  John,  1865 
Andrews,  Miles,  1863 
Barnum,  H.  S.,  1859 
Breese,  Robert,  1860 
Coffee,  Philip  B,  1865 
Coffinberry,  C.   C,   1858 
Davis,  Carroll,  1859 
Davis,  William,  1859 
Dixon,  James,  1858 
Dobbs,  F.  H.,  1858 
Dunn,  John  H.,  1860 
Elerbeck,  James,  1866 
Freeman,  Humphrey  P.,  1863 
Graves,  H.  J.,  1860 
Hendy,  Eli  B.,  1859 
Hollingworth,  James,  1862 
Hollingworth,  Henry,  1862 
Hollingworth,  Joseph,      1862 
Hollingworth,  James,  Jr.,  1862 
Hayden,  Stephen,  1863 
Hayden,  Amos,  1863 
Lily,  Henry  D.,  1863 
Mattingley,  James  B.,  1857 
Milligan,  Joseph,  1857 


Montgomery,  John,   1860 
Miller,  David,  1863 
Miller,  Catherine,  1863 
Mudge,  Louis  C,  1866 
Mudge,     Franklin,   1865 
Nyghart,   Stodgell.   1866 
Potterton,  John,  1859 
Schullenberger,  Jacob,  1859 
Schullenberger,  Henry,  1859 
Schullenberger,  William   McK.,    II 
Shaw,  Harley,  J.,  1865 
Slocumb,  Charles  H,,  1866 
Stark,  George  W,  1858 
Tidier,  John,  1859 
Webber,  Cyrene,  1865 
Weigle,  Gabriel,  1863 
Welsh,  Alex,  1864 
Wild,  William,  1862 
Van  Boskirk,  Asher,  1863 
Van  Bockirk,  William,  1866 

LOGAN    TOWNSHIP 

Armstrong,  William,  1865 
Chrisman,  David,  1863 
Chrisman,  Marion,  1863 
Chrisman,  Joseph,  1863 
Graves,  Abraham,   1860 
Graves,  Louis,   1860 
Graves,  Enoch,    1860 
Graves,  Henry,  1860 
Hadley,  Isaac  N,  1862 
Mumford,  J.  W.,  1865 
Mumford,  J.  B.,  1865 
Pheaster,  Johnathan,  1865 
Rogers,  John,  1863 
Smith,  Duncan,  1866 
Smith,  Archibald,  1866 
Tanner,  John,  1865 
Williams,  Thomas,  1865 
Williams,  Evan,   1865 
Zimmerman,  Thomas,  1862 
Zimmerman,  Class,  1862 

NEMAHA   TOWNSHIP 

Sykes,  George,   1865 

LIBERTY    TOWNSHIP 

Cain,  Nathaniel  D.,  1865 
Dunn,  William  B.,  1865 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Dunn,  John  C,   1865 
Evans,  Stephen,   1866 
Fisher,  Sylvester,  1859 
Coin,  James  K.,  1856 
Jimmerson,  Allen,  1866 
Jimmerson,  John  J.,  1866 
Muchmore,  L.  M.,  1856 
Muchmore,  James,   1866 
MacMains,  A  .P.,  1858 
Palmer,  David,   1855 
Palmer,  John,  1866 
Sharp,  Johnathan,  1865 
Sharp,  Louis,  1865 
Sharp,  George,  1865 
Wymore,  Cornelius  S.,  1866 

ISLAND    GROVE 

Bolinger,  Peter,  1866 
Buckles,  Peter,  1864 
Brown,  Joel,  1866 
Dewey,  Timothy,  1859 
Dewey,  William  F,,  1859 
Fishbaugh,  John,  1864 
Garaer,  James  I.,  1866 
Irby,  James,   1864 
Mangus,  David,  1866 
Marion,    Tipton,    1864 
Stuteman,  Thomas,   1866 
Tibbitts,  Samuel  A.,  1864 
Tibbitts,  Thomas  D.,  1864 
Tibbitts.  Edward,   1864 
Willis,  Scott,  1864 
Willis,  Cornelius,  1864 
Wymore,  Cornelius,  1864 
Wymore,  James,  1864 
Wymore,  Frederick,  1863 

SHERMAN  TOWNSHIP 

Anderson,  Asa,  1865 
Martin,  Thomas,  1865 
Smith.  Abraham  B.,  1866 
Wilkinson,  George,  1866 

FILLEY    TOWNSHIP 

Bendernagle,  Andrew,  1866 
Bendernagle,  Philip,   1866 
Blakely,  Benjamin  F.,  1862 
Dunn,  James  W.,  1859 
Franklin,  George  W.,  1863 


Kees,  John  F,,  1866 

Norton,  Noah,  1866 

Reese,  Levi  M.,  1864 

■     Scott,  Wilson  D.,  1865 

HOOKER    TOWNSHIP 

Fuller,  George  W.,   1863 
Fuller,  John,  1863 
Fuller,  Mary  A.,  1863 
Hillman,  John,  Sr.,  1860 
Hillman,  John,  Jr.,  1860 
Hillman,  Thaddeus,  1860 
Krause,  William,  1865 
Williams,  Thaddeus,  1863 

ADAMS    TOWNSHIP 

Adams,  John  O.,  1857 
Adams,  Nelson,  1857 
Barmore,  Henry,  1865 
Curtis,  William,   1860 
Drown,  George  W.,  1863 
Golden,  Henry,  1857 
Gale,  Alfred,  1857 
Gale,  George,  1858 
Hildebrand,  Jacob  P.,  1858 
Hildebrand,  Leroy,   1857 
Hickock,  Charles,  1860 
Mathews,  William,   1856 
Moore,  B.  F.,  1859 
Noxon,  George,  1857 
Lyons,  John,  1857 
Reynolds.  H.,  1857 
Shaw,  Stephen  P.,   1857 
Shaw,  William,   1857 
Shaw,  John,  1857 
Shaw,  James  I.,  1857 
Shaw,  Stephen  V.,  1857 
Silvernail,  James,  1857 
Silvernail,  William,   1857 
Stafford,  John,  1857 
Shaw,  Egbert,  1857 
Whyman,  Charles,  1866 

Nathan  Blakely 

Nathan  Blakely  was  born  at  Roxbury,  Con- 
necticut, July  26,  1824.  He  obtained  a  good, 
usable  education  in  the  public  schools  of  his 
neighborhood  and  in  Roxbury  Academy.  In 
1844  he  began  to  teach  school  in  Westchester 


154 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


county,  New  York,  and  he  followed  this  un- 
eventful but  useful  calling  for  a  number  of 
years,  teaching  thirteen  terms  in  succession  at 
Long  Branch,  the  celebrated  watering  place 
in  Monmouth  county.  New  Jersey.  He  then 
returned  to  Connecticut  and  for  a  while  en- 
gaged in  newspaper  work  at  Roxbury.  In 
1852  he  went  to  Chicago,  and  finally  he  lo- 
cated, in  Iowa,  where  he  again  taught  school. 
In  1857,  in  company  with  his  brother,  Wil- 
liam Blakely,  he  came  to  the  new  territory  of 
Nebraska,   and,   with   Isma   Mumford,   almost 


N,\THAN  Blakely 

by  accident,  stumbled  upon  the  Beatrice 
Townsite  Company  and  found  the  members  of 
this  company  engaged  in  building  the  log 
house  which  afterward  became  famous  in  the 
pioneer  history  of  the  county  as  "Pap's  Cabin." 
He  never  identified  himself  directly  with  the 
townsite  company,  but  a  few  days  after  his 
arrival  he  entered  the  tract  of  land  where 
Zimmerman  Spring  is  now  located.  He  lived 
there  from  July,  1857,  to  the  spring  of  1865, 
and  the  walnut  grove  north  of  the  spring  was 
planted  by  him.  He  then  sold  his  land  to 
Nicholas  LePoidevin  and  moved  to  Beatrice, 
where  he  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits  and 
for  a  few  years  was  the  most  active  and  prom- 
inent business  man  in  the  village. 

In  1858  he  was  elected  county  clerk  of  Gage 


county  and  the  first  minutes  of  the  board  of 
county  commissioners,  or  the  county  court 
as  that  board  was  then  called,  are  written  by 
Mr.  Blakely 's  hand.  In  1859  he  was  reelected 
to  the  office  of  county  clerk,  and  during  his 
entire  incumbency  of  that  office  he  was  ex 
officio  county  superintendent  of  public  instruc- 
tion, while  for  a  brief  period,  in  1858-1859,  he 
filled  the  office  of  county  judge.  In  1861  Mr. 
Blakely  was  elected  the  representative  in  the 
territorial  assembly  for  the  district  composed 
of  Gage,  Johnson,  Clay,  and  Jones  (now  Jef- 
ferson) counties,  and  in  1866  he  was  again 
elected,  to  what  proved  to  be  the  last  terri- 
torial legislature.  Before  the  adjournment  of 
the  session,  in  June,  1867,  Nebraska  had  be- 
come a  state  and  it  became  necessary  to  elect 
two  United  States  senators  to  represent  her 
in  congress.  Mr.  Blakely  steadily  supported 
for  these  offices  Thomas  W.  Tipton  of  Brown- 
ville,  and  Algernon  S.  Paddock  of  Omaha. 
Tipton  was  elected,  but  instead  of  Paddock, 
General  John  M.  Thayer  was  chosen.  Mr. 
Ijlakely  was  elected  to  the  first  state  legisla- 
ture in  the  fall  of  1868,  from  our  county,  and 
while  still  a  member  of  that  body  he  was  ap- 
pointed receiver  of  public  moneys  for  the  Unit- 
ed States  land  office  at  Beatrice :  he  took  charge 
of  that  office  October  1,  1869.  He  served  the 
government  in  this  responsible  position  for 
six  years,  handling  thousands  of  dollars  of 
public  money,  and  at  the  close  of  his  service 
it  was  found  that  the  government  was  slightly 
in  his  debt. 

In  November,  1868,  Mr.  Blakely  married 
Margaret  Constance  Tinkham,  the  daughter 
of  Albert  L.  and  Sarah  Tinkham,  who  were 
also  among  the  earliest  settlers  of  Gage  coun- 
ty. Prior  to  her  marriage  Mrs.  Blakely  had 
been  one  of  the  active  and  successful  school 
teachers  of  Gage  county.  Her  first  school  was 
at  Blue  Springs,  and  her  pupils  were :  Carter 
C.  Coffinberry  and  Hugh  J.  Dobbs,  from  what 
is  now  Rockford  township ;  John  Shaw,  from 
the  Otoe  Indian  Agency :  and  from  Blue 
Springs,  Thomas,  James,  Richard,  and  Martha 
Johnson,  Maria  Knight  (afterward  Mrs. 
Louis  Wehn),  Retta  Anthony  (now  Mrs.  F. 
M.    Graham),    her    brother    Isaac,    and    two 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


younger  sisters,  children  of  Dr.  Levi  Anthony. 
These,  with  Sarah  Fisher  and  her  sister, 
daughters  of  King  Fisher,  constituted  one  of 
the  earhest  schools  taught  in  the  county. 

Air.  Blakely's  death  occurred  at  his  home 
in  Beatrice  on  his  birthday  anniversary,  July 
26,  1906,  and  his  wife  passed  away,  at  her 
home,  December  6,  1908.  At  the  time  of  his 
decease  he  had  attained  the  age  of  eighty-two 
years,  and  Mrs.  Blakelv  had  reached  the  aoe 


M.ARGARET  Constance  Blakely 

of  sixty-five.  Mr.  Blakely  was  a  shrewd  busi- 
ness man  and  at  the  time  of  his  death  was 
one  of  the  wealthy  men  of  our  county.  His 
fortune  was  all  in  Beatrice  real  estate  and 
farm  lands  in  Gage,  Thayer,  Nuckolls,  and 
other  Nebraska  counties.  After  his  widow's 
death  this  fortune  descended  to  their  only  son, 
Charles,  who  is  now  a  resident  of  Omaha. 
This  pioneer  husband  and  wife  lie  side  by  side 
in  their  own  burial  plot  in  Beatrice  cemetery, 
in,  as  yet,  unmarked  graves. 

From  the  moment  of  its  origin  until  the 
last  moment  of  his  life,  Beatrice  never  pos- 
sessed a  more  loyal,  enthusiastic,  hopeful 
friend  than  Nathan  Blakely. 

Ch.\rles  N.  Emery 

Charles  N.  Emery  was  born  in  Industry, 
Franklin    county,    Maine,    August    15,    '1836. 


Early  in  1856,  with  the  great  influx  of  free- 
soil  immigration,  he  came  to  Kansas,  and 
made  his  home  at  Lawrence,  which,  from 
1854  to  1863,  was  the  rallying  point  of  the 
free-soilers  and  the  headquarters  of  John 
Brown,  Jim  Lane,  Redpath.  Parsons,  Eldridge, 
Pomeroy,  and  other  anti-slavery  leaders.  His 
first  occupation  was  to  drive  stage  on  the  old 
Santa  Fe  Trail  from  Leavenworth  to  Topeka, 
Kansas,  and  in  this  capacity  he  made  the  ac- 
quaintance of  nearly  every  prominent  leader 
of  the  anti-slavery  movement  in  the  territory 
of  Kansas. 

In  1864  he  came  to  Nebraska  territory, 
where  he  was  for  a  while  in  the  employ  of 
the  Overland  Stage  Company  and  had  charge 
of  the  station  at  Thirty-two  MWe  Creek.  Later 
he  came  eastward  on  the  Oregon  Trail  to 
Liberty  Farm,  and  he  had  charge  of  that  im- 
portant station  at  the  time  of  the  great  Sioux 
Indian  raid  on  the  Little  Blue  river  in  August, 
1864.  On  the  afternoon  of  that  day  a  stage 
driver  halted  his  team  at  Liberty  Farm  long 
enough  to  warn  the  inmates  to  fly  for  their 
lives.  Mr.  Emery  and  his  family  made  their 
way  quickly  to  Pawnee  Ranch,  a  large  station 
of  the  Overland  Stage  Company,  so  located  as 
to  be  easily  defended.  They  went  through  the 
siege  from  three  or  four  hundred  savages,  and 
when  the  danger  had  subsided  they  made  their 
way  to  Atchison,  Kansas.  From  that  point, 
for  a  year  or  two,  Mr.  Emery  engaged  in 
freighting  across  the  plains  to  Colorado.  In 
July,  1867,  he  came  to  Beatrice,  and  for  a 
while  he  was  engaged  in  farming  and  stock- 
raising,  but  on  the  completion  of  the  old  stone 
hotel  building  at  the  corner  of  Fifth  and  Court 
streets,  he,  on  January  1,  1871,  became  its 
landlord.  This  famous  old  hostelry  was 
known  for  years  as  the  "Emery  House,"  and 
is  to  this  day  in  favor  with  the  traveling  pub- 
lic, under  the  name  of  the  "Burwood."  Be- 
ginning with  1878,  Mr.  Emery  owned  and 
ran  a  livery  barn,  which  was  located  directly 
east  of  the  hotel. 

While  driving  stage  over  the  old  Santa  Fe 
Trail,  Charles  N.  Emery  met  Mary  Benson, 
and  on  May  4,  1858,  they  were  married,  at 
Lawrence,   Kansas.     Here  their  two  children 


156 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


were  born,  George  E.  and  John  C.  Emery. 
This  pioneer  family  from  the  first  was  prom- 
inent in  the  social  and  business  aflfairs  of 
Beatrice.  Charles  and  Mary  Emery  were 
genial,  optimistic,  friendly  people  and  were 
much  loved  and  highly  respected  by  the  en- 
tire community. 

He  reached  the  boundaries  of  life  when 
venerable  in  years,  and  on  the  6th  da-y  of 
January,  1907,  the  passing  Death  Angel  with 
his  wing  touched  his  companion  of  over  forty 
years,  and  she  passed  peacefully  from  the 
earth  forever.  After  their  long  pilgrimage 
together,  they  lie  side  by  side,  in  everlast- 
ing repose,  near  the  beautiful  city  which  they 
both  loved  and  which  loved  them. 

JOSBPH     HOLLINGSWORTH 

Joseph  Hollingworth  was  born  in  the  man- 
ufacturing town  of  Melbourne,  Derbyshire, 
England,  November  2,  1836.  He  was  the 
youngest  of  twelve  children  born  to  his  par- 
ents, James  and  Elizabeth  Hollingworth.  In 
1848  these  fine  English  parents,  accompanied 
by  their  four  youngest  children,  came  from 
England  to  the  United  States  of  America  and 
settled  in  the  then  new  state  of  Wisconsin, 
where  the  father  engaged  in  farming  and  in 
the  manufacture  of  lumber  from  the  pine  for- 
ests of  that  state.  After  the  parents  had  been 
in  this  country  some  years  they  were  followed 
by  most  of  their  other  children.  They  were 
James,  the  eldest  son;  Henry  and  Robert;  also 
their  married  daughters  Elizabeth,  wife  of 
William  Wild,  and  Frances,  wife  of  Francis 
Shelley.  In  1861  all  these  families  except 
Robert  numbering  probably  twenty-five  souls, 
migrated  from  Wisconsin  to  Gage  county,  Ne- 
braska. All  found  homes  in  Rockford  town- 
ship except  Robert,  who  came  on  later  and  set- 
tled in  Thayer  county,  where  he  became  very 
prominent  both  in  public  and  private  life.  They 
became  at  once  useful  and  valued  citizens  of 
our  county  and  state  and  though  all  but  Eliza- 
beth Wild  have  answered  the  summons  of 
death  their  posterity  is  to  be  found  in  numbers 
in  the  city  of  Beatrice,  in  Gage  county  and 
elsewhere  in  Nebraska,  engaged  in  many  voca- 
tions in  the  world  of  work.     Joseph  Holling- 


worth and  his  brothers,  as  well  as  Wild  and 
Shelley,  were  successful  farmers  and  belonged 
to  the  cultivated  English  rural  class.  These 
families  all  possessed  the  manly  and  womanly 
virtues  that  distinguish  high-class  English  peo- 
ple wherever  found. 

Shortly  after  coming  to  Nebraska  Joseph 
Hollingworth  met  and,  on  July  13,  1862,  mar- 
ried Wealthy,  the  good  and  accomplished 
daughter  of  Rev.  Albert  L.  Tinkham  and  his 
wife  Sarah,  pioneers,  too,  of  Gage  county.  She 
was  a  successful  school  teacher.  She  taught 
the  village  school  in  Beatrice  in  1861  and  was 
teaching  the  second  school  taught  in  Blue 
Springs,  in  1862,  when  she  first  met  her  future 
husband.  Their  marriage  was  from  first  to 
last  a  complete  exemplification  of  perfect  con- 
jugal happiness  and  domestic  felicity,  broken 
only  by  the  husband's  death. 

Joseph  Hollingworth  maintained  a  continu- 
ous residence  here  till  1882,  when  he  went  to 
Nuckolls  county  to  live,  on  a  section  of  land 
which  he  had  purchased.  In  1887  he  returned 
to  his  farm  in  Rockford  township,  and  in  1895 
he  came  to  Beatrice  to  live.  After  a  few  years 
spent  in  this  city  he  removed  to  University 
Place  and  after  a  short  time  he  went  to  Cali- 
fornia, whence  eventually  he  went  to  Portland, 
Oregon,  where  he  died  October  23,  1914.  His 
wife,  though  nearing  life's  boundary,  still 
survives, —  the  object  of  the  tender  afifection 
and  solicitude  of  her  children  and  friends. 

To  Joseph  and  Wealthy  Hollingworth  there 
were  born  five  sons  and  three  daughters.  The 
sons  are  Arthur,  Thomas,  George,  Albert,  and 
Archie ;  the  daughters  are  Alma,  Arvilla,  and 
Aimee.  All  reside  in  Portland,  Oregon,  except 
Albert,  who  for  many  years  has  made  his  home 
in  Beatrice.  He  served  during  the  Spanish- 
American  war  as  captain  of  Company  C  of  the 
First  Nebraska  Regiment  of  Volunteer  Infan- 
try, a  company  composed  largely  of  Gage  coun- 
ty men.  He  was  severely  wounded  in  battle 
in  the  Philippines  but  returned  with  his  regi- 
ment in  1899,  and  on  February  27,  1906,  he 
was  appointed  postmaster  of  Beatrice,  an  ofifice 
which  he  most  ably  and  acceptably  filled  for 
more  than  eight, years,  maintaining,  however, 
in  some  capacity  a  connection  with  the  military 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


15; 


organization  of  the  state.  When  the  United 
States  entered  the  present  world  war,  in  1917, 
he  was  among  the  first  to  offer  his  services  to 
his  country,  and  he  is  now  lieutenant  colonel 
of  one  of  the  Nebraska  regiments  in  training 
for  service  in  France. 

Hiram  W.  Parker 

In  the  history  of  Gage  county,  few  men  have 
played  so  important  a  part  as  Hiram  W.  Park- 
er. He  was  born  in  Worcester,  Massachusetts, 
December  17,  1827 ;  he  died  at  Beatrice  in  1899. 
Mr.  Parker  came  to  Nebraska  from  Ironton, 
Ohio,  in  April,  1857,  and  in  1858  he  located  a 


Hiram  W.  P.\rker 

claim  in  old  Clay  county,  near  the  present  vil- 
lage of  Pickrell,  and  engaged  in  farming  and 
stock-raising.  In  1865  he  removed  to  Camden, 
in  Seward  county.  Nebraska,  where  he  built  a 
saw  mill,  and  followed  this,  in  1871,  by  adding 
a  grist  mill.  On  the  2d  day  of  June,  1871,  he 
was  appointed  register  of  the  government  land 
office  at  Beatrice,  and  by  successive  appoint- 
ments he  held  this  office  until  April  1,  1884. 
He  was  county  judge  of  old  Clay  county,  and 


was  the  clerk  of  that  county  in  1864,  when 
Clay  was  partitioned  between  Lancaster  and 
Gage  counties.  In  1860  Mr.  Parker  was  elect- 
ed to  represent  Gage,  Clay,  and  Johnson  coun- 
ties in  the  territorial  assembly,  and  he  was  al- 
so a  member  of  the  state  constitutional  con- 
vention in  1871. 

Mr.  Parker  was  married,  at  Austinburg, 
Ohio,  in  October,  1852,  to  Almira  T.  Dole,  a 
native  of  that  state.  His  living  children  are 
Franklin  H-  Parker  of  Santa  Rosa,  California, 
and  Louis  C.  Parker  of  Chicago,  Illinois.  Mr. 
Parker  for  a  long  time  was  vice-president  of 
the  First  National  Bank,  and  was  also  president 
of  a  brick  manufacturing  company  and  a  large 
canning  company,  in  both  of  Vhich  he  lost 
money,  and  of  an  early-day  telephone  company 
of  Beatrice.  For  a  number  of  years  he  was  a 
member  and  president  of  the  school  board  of 
the  city  of  Beatrice ;  he  was  also  a  long-time 
official  of  the  Gage  County  Agricultural 
Society. 

The  remains  of  both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Parker 
lie  in  the  old  Beatrice  cemetery,  where  two  chil- 
dren preceded  them  many  years,  and  the  spot 
is  marked  by  a  fine  monument. 

Though  rather  abrupt  in  manner.  Mr.  Parker 
at  bottom  was  a  good,  reliable  citizen,  and  to 
th.ose  who  broke  through  his  reserve  he  was  a 
good  friend. 

Charles  G.  Dorsey 

Charles  G.  Dorsey  came  to  Brownville  from 
Indianapolis,  Indiana,  in  1856,  and  engageil  in 
the  practice  of  the  law,  principally,  however,  in 
such  litigation  as  grew  out  of  land  contests 
before  the  register  and  receiver  in  the  Brown- 
ville land  office.  He  com.bined  with  his 
practice  a  general  real-estate  business.  On 
the  25th  day  of  July,  1865,  he  was  appointed 
register  of  the  land  office,  and  he  held  this 
position  till  March  7,  1867,  when  he  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Henry  M.  Atkinson,  who  was  af- 
terwards surveyor  general  of  New  Mexico. 
The  land  office  was  moved  from  Brownville 
to  Beatrice  July  7,  1868.  and  Mr.  Dorsey 
removed  from  Brownville  in  1869,  and 
continued  his  practice  before  that  of- 
fice.    His      brother,      George     Dorsey,      also 


158 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


came  from  Brownville  to  Beatrice,  and  the 
brothers,  with  I.  N.  McConnell,  for  a  number 
of  years  practically  monopolized  the  litigation 
before  the  register  and  receiver  of  the  Beatrice 
land  office,  at  the  same  time  doing  a  very  large 
real-estate  and  insurance  business,  from  which 
all  the  partners  reaped  large  profits.  In  the 
late  70s  Mr.  Dorsey  engaged  in  the  hardware 
business  in  Beatrice,  and  about  the  year  1882, 
he  erected  the  double,  three-story,  brick  build- 
ing in  block  sixty-four  of  the  original  town 
of  Beatrice,  west  of  the  Burwood  Hotel.  Air. 
Uorsey  continued  in  the  hardware  business 
in  one  of  these  storerooms  for  a  number  of 
years,  but  during  the  hard  times  in  1893  to 
1898,  he  lost 'his  property  largely,  and,  with 
a  mere  remnant  of  his  property,  he  moved  to 
Kansas  City,  Missouri,  where  he  made  an 
heroic  struggle  to  recoup  his  fortune.  He 
again  engaged  in  the  hardware  business  and 
was  gradually  achieving  success,  when  his 
death  occurred. 

Mr.  Dorsey  was  for  many  years  active  and 
prominent  in  the  affairs  of  Beatrice  and  Gage 
county.  He  was  an  able  man  and  very  con- 
siderate, as  well  as  conservative  in  judgment 
He  was  an  esteemed  and  valuable  citizen. 

Before  coming  to  Beatrice,  Mr.  Dorsey  had 
been  a  member  of  the  territorial  legislature. 
While  here,  he  was  frequently  a  member  of 
the  city  council.  He  was  married  at  Peru, 
Nebraska,  in  the  fall  of  1871,  to  Mary  E. 
Majors,  a  daughter  of  S.  P.  Majors,  a  promi- 
nent citizen  and  pioneer  of  Nemaha  county, 
whose  son,  Colonel  Thomas  J.  Majors,  is  a 
widely  known  citizen  of  the  state  of  Nebraska. 
Three  children  were  born  to  this  husband  and 
wife,  namely:  William  C,  Edith,  and  Harry 
Dorsey.  Harry,  the  second  son,  died  in 
Beatrice  a  number  of  years  ago.  The  elder 
son,  William  C.  Dorsey,  resides  at  Blooming- 
ton,  Nebraska,  and  is  at  the  present  time  serv- 
ing as  district  judge  of  his  judicial  district  of 
the  state. 

FoRDYCE  Roper 

Fordyce  Roper  was  one  of  the  early  settlers 
of  old  Clay  county,  having  established  his 
rf.sidence  on  Indian  creek,  twelve  miles  north 


of  Beatrice,  in  1857.  He  accompanied  Judge 
Kinney,  Dr.  Wise,  Dr.  Wilmans,  Dr.  Reynolds, 
J.  B.  Weston,  and  others  to  the  Beatrice 
townsite,  the  last  of  May,  1857.  He  became 
a  resident  of  Beatrice  in  1859,  but  in  1860  he 
went  to  Pike's  Peak  on  a  prospecting  expedi- 
tion for  gold.  He  returned  that  fall  and  pur- 
chasing the  buhrs  of  Austin's  mill  he  removed 
them  to  Beatrice.  Having  acquired  some  in- 
terest in  the  saw  mill  at  that  time  being  oper- 
ated on  the  bank  of  the  Big  Blue  river  (where 
Black  Brothers  merchant  mill  is  now  located) 
by  one  Waldripp,  he  proceeded  to  put  in  a 
dam  across  the  river  and  erect  a  grist  mill, 
both  to  be  driven  by  water  power.  For 
some  reason  this  venture  did  not  prove  a  suc- 
cess, but  Mr.  Roper  persisted  in  the  enterprise 
and  ultimately  produced  a  very  fair  grist  mill. 
In  connection  with  this  he  developed  a  very 
efficient  saw  mill,  planing  mill,  and  lath  and 
shingle  industry.  He  was  not  only  the  first 
miller  of  Beatrice,  but  was  also  for  many  years 
one  of  its  most  important  and  most  consid- 
ered citizens.  He  was  active  in  community 
affairs,  serving  the  county  as  a  commissioner 
from  1862  to  and  including  1864,  and  was 
chairman  of  the  Gage  county  board  when 
Clay  county  was  divided,  in  1864,  between 
Lancaster  and  Gage  counties.  In  1869,  on  the 
resignation  of  Nathan  Blakely  as  representa- 
tive for  Gage  and  Jefferson  counties  in  the 
state  legislature,  Mr.  Roper  was  elected  to  fill 
the  vacancy.  About  the  year  1875  he  sold  his 
mill  to  Henry  Weatherald  and  his  son  Newton, 
and  retired  from  the  milling  business.  About 
the  same  time  he  sold  his  residence  and  re- 
moved from  Nebraska  to  California,  settling 
finally  in  Bakersfield,  that  state,  where  he  died 
a  few  years  ago. 

Mr.  Roper  was  the  first  miller  of  Beatrice. 
He  had  the  business  acumen  to  forsee  the 
necessity  for  such  an  enterprise  and  the  energy 
and  enthusiasm  which  urged  forward  to  its 
accomplishment.  His  old  home  stood  and  still 
stands  facing  South  Second  street  where  it 
terminates  on  Scott  street.  It  is  practically 
unchanged  from  what  it  was  when  he  left  it. 
It  is  now  occupied  by  Henry  \'on  Reisen  as  a 
residence. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


159 


Re\-.  Albert  L.  Tinkham 

If  worth  of  character  and  a  long  life  devoted 
to  the  betterment  of  mankind  are  in  themselves 
sufficient  to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  man, 
then  no  history  of  Gage  county  could  be  com- 
plete without  some  account  of  the  Rev.  Al- 
bert L.  Tinkham. 

This  writer  knew  this  good  man  long  and 
well ;  many  of  the  happiest  recollections  of  his 
life  are  inseparably  connected  with  him  and 
his,  and  this  sketch  is  written  for  the  purpose 
of  commemorating  the  life  and  character,  and 
the  noble  and  unselfish  services  to  the  pioneers 
of  Gage  county,  of  this  heroic  man. 

Mr.  Tinkham  was  born  almost  at  the  open- 
ing of  the  nineteenth  century.  He  died  in 
Beatrice  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight  years.  He 
was  derived  from  good  New  England  stock 
and  was  endowed  with  all  those  qualities  of 
heart  and  brain  which  win  and  retain  the 
esteem  of  mankind.  He  was  of  a  deeply  reli- 
gious nature  and  as  a  minister  of  the  Gospel, 
he  spent  the  greater  part  of  his  life  in  simply 
doing  good.  He  exemplified  perfectly  in  his 
long  life  as  a  Christian  minister  the  sentiment 
contained  in  Tennyson's  verse : 

"Howe'er  it  be,  it  seems  to  me 
'Tis  only  noble  to  be  good ; 
Kind  hearts  are  more  than  coronets 
And  simple  faith  than  Norman  blood." 

;\lr.  Tinkham  came  to  Beatrice  in  1860.  He 
had  been  preceded  here  by  his  eldest  son,  Gil- 
bert, who  died  among  strangers,  in  the  lonely, 
almost  desolate  hamlet  of  Beatrice,  in  the 
winter  of  1859.  On  arriving  here  with  his 
family,  Mr.  Tinkham  became  at  once  a  useful 
and  an  influential  member  of  the  community. 
He  found  Beatrice  a  mere  village  of  log  and 
board  shanties,  where  people  hibernated  in 
winter  and  vegetated  in  summer.  It  required 
courage  of  no  ordinary  character  to  bring  a 
young  and  growing  family,  in  what  seems  now 
that  far-off  day,  to  this  outpost  of  civilization. 
He  was  presented  by  the  townsite  company 
with  the  two  lots  on  Ella  street,  in  block  forty- 
nine,  where  the  three-story  building  known  as 
the  Penner  Block  is  located,  and  he  proceeded 
to  build  thereon  a  two-room,  hewed-Iog,  clap- 


board-roofed house,  which  in  its  day  was  per- 
haps equal  to  any  other  residence  in  Beatrice. 
It  was  the  furthest  out  of  any  of  the  houses 
and  was  located  on  the  broad,  open  prairie. 
Here  he  dwelt  with  his  family  during  four 
busy  years  and  here  his  son  Edward  was  born. 
He  was  a  carpenter  by  trade  and  in  addition  to 
his  pastoral  duties  he  was  accustomed  to  labor 
assiduously  with  saw  and  plane.  He  and  his 
son  Elias  built  the  old  frame  school  house  on 
the  block  where  the  old  high-school  building, 
now  Central  grade-school  building,  stands.  Mr. 
Tinkham  was  a  Alethodist  clergyman  and  pos- 
sessed the  fire  and  enthusiasm  of  the  early 
ministers  of  that  church, —  the  Wesleys,  Whit- 
field, Cartwright.  For  many  years  he  was  the 
best  known  minister  of  the  Gospel  in  Gage 
county,  extending  his  gentle  ministrations  far 
and  wide  amongst  the  hardy  pioneers,  officiat- 
ing at  marriages,  funerals,  and  other  services 
performed  by  clergymen ;  he  was  known  by  all 
and  loved  by  all.  In  the  lonely  dugouts  and 
log  cabins  he  was  a  familiar  figure  and  a  wel- 
come guest.  People  traveled  far  to  hear  him 
preach.  At  his  maximum  his  voice  was  as 
mellow  and  resonant  as  a  bell.  No  preaching- 
could  have  been  more  simple  and  direct,  more 
free  from  rant  and  cant.  He  possessed  traits 
of  character  which  disarmed  emnity  and  left 
him  without  foe  or  detractor  in  all  the  world. 
He  was  gentle  and  considerate  and  endowed 
to  a  remarkable  degree  with  the  charity  that 
envieth  not,  is  not  puffed  up,  that  vaunteth  not 
itself,  that  suffereth  long  and  yet  is  kind. 
Strictly  honorable  and  exact  in  his  dealings 
with  his  fellow  men,  he  expected  Almighty 
God  to  be  exact  with  him.  Not  ambitious  of 
worldly  wealth  or  honors,  he  was  content  with 
a  life  severely  simple  and  plain. 

In  early  life  Mr.  Tinkham  married  Sarah 
Wilson,  at  Wilsonville,  Ohio.  To  this  couple 
there  were  born  Gilbert,  Wealthy,  Elias,  Mar- 
garet Constance,  James  Leroy,  Thomas,  Alice, 
Edward,  and  Albert  Tinkham.  Both  Wealthy 
and  Margaret  were  amongst  the  first  school 
teachers  in  Gage  county.  The  former  married 
Joseph  HoUingworth,  the  latter  Nathan  Blake- 

iy- 

In  1864,  Mr.  Tinkham  was  prevailed  upon 


160 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


hv  his  friends  to  avail  himself  of  the  benefits 
<;)f  the  homestead  law,  and  he  entered  the 
(juarter-section  of  land  on  Bear  creek  on  the 
south  side  of  the  Scott-street  road,  extending 
from  Cottonwood  Grove  school  house  a  little 
wav  beyond  the  bridge.  This  tract  of  land 
continued  to  be  the  family  home  until  his 
fleath.  His  remains,  with  those  of  his  wife  and 
other  members  of  his  family,  lie  in  the  family 
burial  lot  in  the  Beatrice  cemetery. 

Horace  M.  Wickham 

Hiorace  M.  Wickham  was  born  in  Licking 
county,  Ohio,  September  2,  1832.  His  early 
life  was  spent  in  Andrew  county,  Missouri. 
He  spent  the  years  of  1855-1856  in  Iowa,  and 
on  March  20,  1859,  he  became  a  resident  of 
Gage  county,  Nebraska.  During  most  of  the 
intervening  years  up  to  the  time  of  his  death, 
September  4,  1906,  he  made  this  county  his 
home  and  was  by  occupation  a  farmer.  In 
1867  he  was  elected  a  county  commissioner  of 
Gage  county,  and  he  served  continuously  in 
that  responsible  office  till  the  year  1877, —  the 
longest  continuous  service  in  that  office  of  any 
of  its  numerous  incumbents.  On  the  8th  of 
May,  1859,  Mr.  Wickham  was  married,  at 
the  home  of  a  Mr.  Woodrow,  on  Bear  creek, 
three  miles  northeast  of  Beatrice,  to  Lavinia 
Young,  by  Nathan  Blakely,  then  acting  probate 
judge  of  this  county.  Some  years  ago,  on  the 
occasion  of  a  farewell  party  to  Mr.  Wickham 
at  his  home  in  Blakely  township,  Mr.  Blakely, 
who  performed  this  first  marriage  ceremony 
in  Gage  county,  sent  to  Mr.  Wickham  a  letter, 
which  is  not  only  self-explanatory  but  also 
sheds  much  light  on  the  crude  conditions  of 
those  early  days.  The  letter  reads  as  follows : 
Horace  M.  Wickham, 

Hoag,  Gage  County,  Nebraska. 
My  Dear  Friend : 

I  regret  that  my  health  is  such  that  I  can 
not  avail  myself  of  a  kind  invitation  to  meet 
you  and  your  old  friends  in  this  county  before 
you  make  your  departure  for  yci'.r  new  heme  in 
the  Platte  valley,  in  this  state.  We  have  al- 
ways known  you  long  and  well,  and  we  think 
you  should  have  remained  with  us  the  few 
remaining  days  of  our  earthly  pilgrimage,  to 
cheer  and  comfort  one  another. 


We  have  all  had  many  joys  and  sorrows 
since  we  located  in  this  wild,  unsettled  country 
so  many  years  ago.  We  found  many  good  and 
true  friends  among  the  old  settlers  of  this 
county.  We  cherish  the  memory  of  many  de- 
parted ones  and  the  hearty  handshake  of 
others,  who,  with  us,  will  soon  bid  adieu  to 
all  earthly  scenes,  we  hope  for  a  brighter  and 
better  life. 

I  have  always  felt  a  special  interest  in  you 
and  yours,  for,  in  the  spring  of  1859,  you  asked 
me  to  marry  you  to  Miss  Lavinia  Young.  As 
there  was  no  minister  in  this  part  of  the 
country,  and  I  being  the  only  county  official 
that  seemed  to  have  authority,  I  was  compelled 
to  perform  the  operation.  There  had  never 
been  a  marriage  in  this  county,  so  I  could  not 
get  any  information  just  what  to  say  or  how 
to  proceed.  I  lay  awake  a  good  share  of  two 
or  three  nights  trying  to  learn  my  piece ;  then 
I  wrote  it  down  and  used  to  declaim  it  out  on 
the  prairie  —  a  mile  from  any  human  being. 
As  the  audience  neither  applauded  or  hissed, 
I  decided  it  was  good. 

The  ordeal  came,  and  one  pleasant  Sunday 
in  May  (8th).  1859,  I  started  for  Bear  creek, 
where  Mr.  Woodrow  and  family  lived,  near 
Fulton's  Spring,  Miss  Young  living  with  them. 
On  the  green  grass,  under  a  new  tent,  I  tried 
my  very  best  to  make  Mr.  Wickham  and 
Miss  Young  husband  and  wife,  and,  as  far  as 
I  have  ever  learned,  I  succeeded. 

I  don't  know  what  I  said  and  I  never  dared 
ask  you  or  your  wife,  but  as  you  appeared  to 
be  so  smiling,  I  could  not  tell  whether  it  was 
from  what  I  had  said  or  from  your  inexpres- 
sible happiness  of  being  made  a  husband. 

May  the  blessings  of  Heaven  rest  upon  you 
and  your  family  henceforth  and  for  evermore, 
and  evermore,  Your  friend, 

Nathan  Blakely. 

The  reader  has  now  looked  upon  the  first 
marriage  solemnized  in  Gage  county,  and  its 
commemoration  by  a  man  of  keen  intellect  and 
unquestioned  veracity. 

Shortly  after  this  marriage,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Wickham  went  to  the  state  of  Colorado  with 
a  view  of  making  their  home  there.  Here  the 
young  bride  was  taken  ill  and  died,  at  South 
Park,  Colorado,  August  7,  1860.  Mr.  Wick- 
ham later  married,  at  St.  Joseph,  Missouri, 
Mrs.  Isabelle  Beebe,  who  passed  away  in  1873, 
leaving  two  children,  Clarissa  and  Franklin  P. 
Wickham. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


161 


ISilA    P.    MUMFORD 

Isnia  p.  and  Elizabeth  Mumford  were 
amongst  the  first  pioneers  in  Gage  coun- 
ty. Isnia  P.  Mumford  was  born  in  the 
state  of  Alaryland,  while  Elizabeth  Mal- 
lock,  was  born  in  Adams  county,  Oiiio, 
in  1830.  She  was  the  granddaughter  of 
a  Revohitionary  soldier  and  the  daughter  of 
a  man  who  bore  arms  for  his  country  in  the 
war  of  1812.  When  twenty-one  years  of  age 
she  became  the  wife  of  Isma  P.  Mumford. 
Shortly  after  their  marriage,  in  1853,  they  mi- 
grated from  Ohio  to  the  new  state  of  Wis- 
consin, and  in  1857  they  came  seeking  a  home 
in  the  new  territory  of  Nebraska.  On  the  way 
out  they  were  joined  at  Plattsmouth  by  Wil- 
liam and  Nathan  Blakely,  and  together  these 
heroic  pioneers  of  Gage  county  made  their  slow 
way  across  the  unmarked,  trackless  prairies  of 
southeastern  Nebraska.  Hearing  that  the  Big 
lUue  river  valley  offered  great  advantages  to 
settlers,  on  account  of  the  abundant  limber 
and  rich  bottom  land  which  lined  its  course, 
tliey  traveled  thither,  and  on  the  17th  day  of 
July,  almost  by  accident,  stumbled  upon  the 
members  of  the  Beatrice  Townsite  Company, 
who  were  engaged  in  erecting  a  company 
house  on  their  townsite,  which  building  later 
became  the  property  of  Albert  Towle  and 
widely  famous  as  'Tap"s  Cabin."  They  also 
found  a  cluster  of  covered  wagons  and  tents, 
in  the  neighborhood  of  the.Kees  Manufactur- 
ing plant,  a  little  above  the  junction  of  Indian 
creek  and  the  Big  Blue  river.  Learning  that 
the  representatives  of  the  townsite  company 
had  founded  a  town  and  purposed  to  remain 
and  carry  their  enterprise  to  fulfillment,  and 
pleased  both  with  the  prospect  and  company, 
the  little  party  resolved  to  cast  in  its  fortunes 
with  that  old  guard  which  then  and  for  many 
succeeding  years  held  this  remote  outpost  of 
ci\nlization  against  all  hardships,  privations 
and  discouragements. 

For  several  months  Mrs.  Mumford  and  a 
^liss  Bailey,  who  accompanied  the  party,  were 
the  only  white  women  in  the  settlement,  and 
probably  the  only  white  women  in  the  county. 
Of  Miss  Bailey  this  writer  is  imable  to  give 
anv  further  account,  but  Mrs.  Mumford  en- 


joyed the  distinction  of  being  the  sole  repre- 
sentative of  her  sex  in  Gage  county  until  the 
arrival  of  Mrs.  Catherine  Towle,  in  the 
autumn  of  1857.  The  names  of  both  these 
good  ladies  must  be  forever  spoken  with 
reverence  by  those  for  whom  the  early  history 
of  Beatrice  and  Gage  county  has  the  slightest 
interest.  Both  possessed  unusual  mental 
vigor;  both  were  endowed  with  those  traits 
of  personal  character  that  always  command 
and  retain  the  respect  of  mankind :  both  have 
long   since   passed   to  their   rest.     One   sleeps 


Elizabeth  Mumford 
The  first  white  woman  settler  in  Gage  county 

beside  her  honored  husband  in  the  old  ceme- 
tery, near  this  city,  and  the  other  is  wrapped 
in  kindred  earth  of  a  sister  state.  To  Mrs. 
Towle  belongs  the  honor  of  being  the  mother 
of  the  first  child  born  in  Gage  county,  a 
daughter,  Katie  Towle,  and  to  Mrs.  Mum- 
ford, the  honor  of  being  the  mother  of  the 
first  white  male  child  born  within  the  boun- 
daries of  our  county.  Both  these  children, 
having  reached  the  age  of  maturity,  were 
long  ago  gathered  to  the  bosom  of  Mother 
Earth.  Katie  Towle  became  the  wife  of 
George  V.  Ayers,  of  Deadwood,  South  Dakota. 
She  died  on  the  28th  day  of  March  1890,  aged 
thirty-two  years.  Her  remains  lie  with  those 
of  her  parents  in  the  family  burial  ground  in 


162 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


the  Beatrice  cemetery,  while  the  turf  that  en- 
folds a  father's  and  a  brother's  clay  wraps 
also  the  dust  of  Dawson  Mumford,  he  having 
perished  in  an  accident,  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
two  years  —  the  age  when  most  men  begin 
life. 

Shortly  after  his  arrival,  Isma  P.  Mum- 
ford  began  the  erection  of  the  building  which 
in  his  hands  became,  and  long  afterward  con- 
tinued, to  be  a  leading  public  inn  of  the 
struggling  village  of  Beatrice.  "Pap's  Cabin" 
consisted  of  an  unhewn  story-and-a-half  log 
structure,  which  stood  about  where  the 
baggage  room  of  the  Burlington  station  is 
located.  It  was  the  first  structure  of  any 
kind  erected  in  Beatrice,  and  Mumford's  inn 
the  second.  Mumford's  building  differed 
from  Pap's  Cabin,  in  being  a  hewed  instead 
of  a  round  log  house.     It  still  stands. 

The  remaining  history  of  Isma  P.  and 
Elizabeth  Mumford  may  be  briefly  told.  On 
August  7,  1857,  at  an  election  attended  prin- 
cipally by  the  members  of  the  Beatrice  Town- 
site  Company  for  the  purpose  of  organizing 
Gage  county  by  electing  a  complete  set  of 
county  officials,  Mr.  Mumford  was  chosen 
county  treasurer,  and  he  held  that  office  one 
year.  He  bears  the  distinction  of  being  the 
first  county  treasurer  of  Gage  county.  Dur- 
ing the  great  Indian  panic  of  1864,  which 
swept  over  this  portion  of  Nebraska  with  ir- 
resistible force,  the  Mumfords,  with  many  oth- 
er families,  left  the  territory,  some  never  to  re- 
turn. But  in  the  spring  of  1865  Isma  P.  and 
Elizabeth  Mumford,  with  their  children,  es- 
tablished a  home  near  what  was  know  as  the 
"Steam  Wagon  Road,"  six  miles  west  of  Ne- 
braska City.  Here,  in  1873,  Isma  died,  and 
his  wife,  in  1875,  removed  permanently  from 
the  state,  taking  up  her  residence  with  a  son, 
in  Nodaway  county,  Missouri,  where  she  died 
in  March,  1897.  They  were  the  parents  of 
nine  children,  seven  sons  and  two  daughters. 
One  son,  James,  became  a  prominent  Congre- 
gational minister,  and  as  far  as  known  to  this 
writer,  all  their  children  who  reached  ma- 
turity became  useful  and  worthy  members  of 
society. 


James  B.  M.xttingly 

James  B.  Mattingly  was  born  in  the  state 
of  Kentucky,  on  the  8th  day  of  April,  1818, 
near  Elizabethtown,  Harden  county.  In  1841 
he  migrated  to  the  territory  of  Illinois  and 
settled  in  Moultrie  county.  He  was  of  a  rov- 
ing disposition,  and  leaving  Illinois,  about 
1847,  he  moved  to  Iowa ;  from  there,  in  1849. 
to  Platte  county,  Missouri.  In  1857  he  left 
Missouri  and  started  west  along  the  Oregon 
Trail  in  an  aimless  search  for  a  new  location. 
At  Ash  Point,  a  station  on  the  old  highway, 
he  struck  a  dim  trail  and  followed  it  to  the 
Otoe  and  Missouri  Indian  village.  Guided 
by  reports  of  desirable  locations  further  north, 
he  passed  the  site  of  Blue  Springs,  and  finally 
selected  a  quarter-section  of  land  in  the  south- 
west corner  of  Rockford  township,  on  Mud 
creek,  in  June  1857.  About  the  year  1866  he 
sold  his  homestead  to  James  Millard,  and 
moved  to  Jefferson  county,  Nebraska,  where 
he  entered  a  tract  of  land,  eighty  acres  of 
which  now  form  the  most  populous  and 
wealthy  portion  of  the  city  of  Fairbury. 
Shortly  after  arriving  in  Jefferson  county  he 
engaged  somewhat  extensively  in  the  freight- 
ing business,  along  the  Oregon  Trail,  for  a 
few  months,  an  occupation  which  he  had  fol- 
lowed also  while  residing  in  Gage  county. 
When,  in  1867,  the  construction  of  the  Union 
Pacific  Railroad  put  an  end  to  the  freighting 
business  along  the  old  trail,  Mattingly 
established  himself  on  the  Little  Blue  river, 
within  pistol  shot  of  the  court  house  in  Fair- 
bury,  in  the  saw-mill  business,  and  while  en- 
gaged in  sawing  lumber  for  homesteaders 
who  were  rapidly  flowing  into  that  section  of 
country,  he  was  visited  one  day  by  Woodford 
G.  McDowell,  a  resident  of  Fairbury,  Illinois. 
The  St.  Joseph  &  Grand  Island  Railway  was 
pointing  up  the  Little  Blue  river,  and 
McDowell,  with  keen  prevision,  had  selected 
the  present  site  of  Fairbury  as  the  location 
for  the  county  seat  of  Jefferson  county.  Mat- 
tingly possessed  in  a  remarkable  degree  the 
imagination  which  always  goes  with  adven- 
ture, and  McDowell  had  no  difficulty  in 
getting  him  to  enter  into  his  scheme  to  found 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


163 


a  town,  to  be  called  Fairbury,  which  should 
be  the  chief  city  of  that  entire  section  of 
country.  McDowell  had  obtained  title  to 
eighty  acres  adjoining  Mattingly's.  They 
jointly  laid  out  and  platted  the  town  of  Fair- 
bury,  the  history  of  which  has  more  than 
fulfilled  the  dreams  of  both  its  founders. 

James  Bartholomew  Mattingly  belonged  to 
that  class  of  men  which  is  ever  adrift  in  the 
forefront  of  advancing  civilization.  After  in- 
vesting some  money  in  the  town  of  Endicott, 
in  the  vain  endeavor  to  boom  it  into  a  city 
of  importance,  and  losing  heavily  in  the  ven- 
ture, he,  with  his  son,  Joel  Thomas,  his  wife, 
and  daughter  Polly,  migrated  to  the  Pacific 
slope.  .  All  are  dead  now  but  the  son,  Joel 
Thomas,  who  lives  at  Condon,  Oregon,  in 
fairly  comfortable  circumstances.  Mr.  Mat- 
tingly himself  died  October  19,  1907,  aged 
eighty-nine  years.  At  the  time  of  his  death 
he  was  a  resident  of  a  little  town  in  northern 
Washington. 

James  B.  Mattingly  was  a  wonderfully  ac- 
tive man ;  his  occupations  were  diverse ;  he 
was  at  once  a  soldier,  a  freighter  on  the  Ore- 
gon Trail,  a  speculator,  a  farmer,  a  miller,  a 
carpenter,  and  dabbled  in  many  other  occu- 
pations. With  many  faults  of  character  and 
of  mental  equipment  and  attitude,  he  was  at 
bottom  a  reliable  citizen  and  active  in  the 
public  welfare.  He  was  county  commissioner 
of  Gage  county  in  1861-62-63;  he  was 
deputy  sheriff,  bailifif  of  the  courts,  justice  of 
the  peace  and  occupied  other  civil  positions  of 
trust,  if  not  of  profit,  in  Gage  county.  He 
taught  the  first  Sunday  school  in  Rockford 
township  and  one  of  the  first  in  our  county. 
This  Sunday  school  was  organized  in  April, 
1859.  The  writer  of  this  volume,  with  his 
brother,  and  Joel  Thomas  Mattingly  were  his 
only  pupils,  although  the  school  lasted  two 
or  three  years. 

James  B.  ]\Iattingly  was  as  eccentric  a  char- 
acter as  he  was  a  picturesque  one,  and  when 
he  died,  the  world  could  have  better  spared 
a  better  man. 

#  Samuel  Jones 

Samuel  Jones  was  born  in  Grayson  coun- 
ty,   \'irginia,    in    1826.     When   he    was   eight 


years  of  age  his  parents  moved  to  Ohio,  and 
settled  near  Gallipolis,  Gallia  county,  where 
he  grew  to  manhood.  In  1845  he  married  Re- 
becca Pethoud,  daughter  of  John  Pethoud,  one 
of  the  first  settlers  of  Gage  county,  Nebraska. 
In  1855  he  moved  from  Ohio  to  Platte  county, 
Missouri,  and  after  six  months'  residence  there 
he  moved  to  Jefferson  county,  Kansas,  locating 
thirty-three  miles  west  of  Leavenworth.  In 
In  September,  1857,  he  came  to  Gage  county, 
Nebraska  territory,  and  in  the  spring  of  1858 
he  made  preemption  filing  and  settlement  on 
the  northeast  quarter  of  section  15,  Midland 
township.  He  built  a  log  house  on  his  pre- 
emption claim  that  year,  the  carpentry  work 
being  done  by  H.  F.  Cook,  one  of  the  founders 
of  the  city  of  Beatrice.  With  some  additions 
to  this  rude  structure,  to  accommodate  his  in- 
creasing family,  the  building  constituted  his 
home  for  several  years,  but  in  1866,  he  began 
the  erection  of  a  large  stone  house,  near  the 
old  pioneer  log  cabin.  This  was  finished  by 
1868  and  was  probably  the  most  commodious 
farm  residence  in  the  county.  The  wood  work 
was  done  by  Tom  Redpath,  who  was  after- 
ward drowned  while  bathing  in  the  Big  Blue 
river  above  the  dam,  when  that  stream  was  in 
flood. 

Samuel  Jones  was  a  farmer  all  his  life,  but 
during  the  pioneer  days  in  Nebraska  Territory 
he  engaged  in  freighting  and  ranching  to  some 
extent,  along  the  old  Oregon  Trail,  and  was 
one  of  the  best  known  freighters  and  all- 
around  business  men  in  the  county.  He  was  a 
very  active  man,  good  natured,  kindly,  and  was 
heartily  liked  by  the  early  settlers.  He  died 
February  8,  1872,  and  with  his  father,  William 
Jones,  and  sister,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  McDaniel, 
and  daughter  Helen,  aged  five  years,  is  buried 
on  the  hill  a  quarter  of  a  mile  south  of  the  old 
stone  dwelling.  His  wife,  Rebecca  Jones,  died 
at  Gooding,  Idaho,  about  1901,  while  making 
her  home  with  a  daughter,  and  was  buried 
there. 

To  these  pioneer  parents  there  were  born 
fourteen  children  —  eight  sons  and  six  daugh- 
ters. Seven  of  these  children  are  numbered 
with  the  dead.  The  living  are  William  R. 
Jones,  the  eldest  son,  who  resides  in  the  city 
of  Beatrice  and  has  made  his  home  in  Gage 


164 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


county  since  September,  1857,  when  he  was 
eleven  years  of  age ;  the  third  daughter,  Sarah 
A.  Drew,  wife  of  Lorenzo  L.  Drew,  also  lives 
in  Beatrice ;  John  T.  Jones  and  Ehzabeth 
Dwyer,  son  and  daughter,  live  at  Gooding, 
Idaho;  Leroy  C.  Jones,  another  son,  is  United 
States  marshal  of  Idaho  and  lives  in  the  city  of 
Boise ;  Albert  Jones,  a  son,  Hves  at  Baker  City, 
Oregon:  Rebecca  (Jones)  Pethoud,  daughter, 
lives  at  Cotopaxi,  Colorado. 


the  county.     With  them  are  rapidly  disappear- 
ing the  traditions  and  the  romance  of  the  past. 

Algernon  Sidnev  P.\duock 
Algernon  Sidney  Paddock  was  born  at  Glens 
Falls,  New  York,  November  9,  1830.  He  died 
at  Beatrice,  Nebraska,  October  17,  1897.  He 
was  the  son  of  Ira  A.  Paddock,  a  well  known 
and  prominent  lawyer  of  Glens  Falls.  He 
received  his  elementary  education  in  the  com- 


PioNEER  Residence  of  Samuel  Jones 


The  old  stone  mansion  erected  as  a  family 
home  by  Samuel  Jones  in  1866  is  in  process  of 
demolition  and  will  soon  be  a  thing  of  the  past. 
Time  was  when  this  pioneer  residence  was  a 
place  of  great  interest  and  importance.  It  was 
the  abode  of  hospitality,  generous,  ungrudg- 
ing, and  was  a  center  of  the  social  forces  of 
the  surrounding  community.  It  stood,  staunch 
and  inviting,  near  one  of  the  old  trails  that  led 
from  Beatrice  up  Indian  creek  bottom  and  on 
past  its  portals  to  the  head  of  Salt  creek,  and 
down  that  stream  to  the  salt  basin,  where  it 
connected  with  the  old  trails  from  Nebraska 
City,  Plattsmouth  and  Omaha.  One  after  an- 
other the  pioneer  homes  have  disappeared,  un- 
til at  the  present  moment  there  are  probably 
not  twenty  of  these  ancient  buildings  left  in 


mon  schools  of  his  native  city,  and,  preparing 
himself  for  college  in  the  academy  of  Glens 
Falls,  at  the  age  of  eighteen  years  he  entered 
Union  College  (now  university),  at  Schenec- 
tady, New  York,  where  so  many  of  the  able 
men  of  the  nation  have  received  their  educa- 
tion. On  account  of  financial  affairs  he  was 
compelled  to  leave  the  college  when  just  en- 
tering upon  his  senior  year.  For  a  while  he 
taught  school,  reading  law  at  the  same  time, 
and,  having  been  admitted  to  the  bar  in  his 
native  state,  he,  in  May,  1857,  came  by  steam 
boat  from  St.  Louis.  Missouri,  to  Omaha. 
He  was  a  man  of  great  amiability  and  pleas- 
ing address,  and  these  and  other  qualities  won 
him  influential  friends  in  Nebraska  from  the 
moment   of   his   arrival.     He   was   al\\*vs   an 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


165 


ardent,  unflinching  and  loyal  Republican,  and 
in  1860  he  was  a  delegate  from  Nebraska,  to 
the  national  convention  of  his  party  which 
nominated  Abraham  Lincoln  for  president. 
In  the  convention  Mr.  Paddock,  however,  sup- 
ported his  friend  William  H.  Seward  for  that 
office,  a  service  which  that  able  and  good  man 
never  forgot,  and  in  1861,  through  his  influ- 
ence, Mr.  Lincoln  appointed  Mr.  Paddock 
territorial  secretary  of  state  for  Nebraska,  an 
office  which  he  both  adorned  and  exalted  for 
the  period  of  six  years,  retiring  only  upon  the 
admission  of  Nebraska  to  the  Union,  March 
1,  1867.  At  the  first  state  legislature  Mr. 
Paddock  was  a  candidate  for  United  Stares 
senator,  but  was  defeated  by  General  John  M. 
Thayer,  a  Civil  war  hero  of  Nebraska.  In 
1869  he  became  interested  in  the  construction 
of  the  Burlington  Railroad  system  in  Ne- 
braska, and  for  a  while  maintained  business 
relations  with  the  officers  of  that  railroad 
company.  In  1872  he  moved  from  Omaha  to 
Beatrice,  which  was  his  home  for  the  remaind- 
er of  his  life. 

Mr.  Paddock  was  elected  United  States 
senator  for  Nebraska  in  1875,  in  place  of 
Thomas  W.  Tipton,  for  the  term  of  six  years. 
In  1881  he  was  defeated  for  that  office  by 
Charles  H.  Van  Wyck,  and  in  1882  he  was 
appointed  a  member  of  the  very  important 
"Utah  Commission"  by  his  friend  President 
Arthur,  upon  which  body  he  served  with  great 
distinction  until  October  1,  1886,  when  he 
resigned.  In  1887  Mr.  Paddock  was  again 
chosen  United  States  senator  for  the  state 
of  Nebraska,  serving  until  1893,  when  his 
place  was  taken  by  William  V.  Allen. 

On  entering  the  United  States  senate  few 
western  senators  were  as  well  equipped  as  Mr. 
Paddock  for  serving  their  section  of  the  coun- 
try. He  was  familiar  with  western  conditions, 
versed  in  the  land  laws  under  which  title 
could  be  obtained  to  land  in  the  public  domain, 
he  was  acquainted  in  detail  with  questions 
growing  out  of  Indian  depredations,  school- 
land  selections,  surveys  and  re-surveys  of  pub- 
lic lands,  Indian  and  military  reservations,  and 
the  necessary  military  equipment  for  all  the 
great  west.  He  was  indefatigable  in  his  ef- 
forts to  secure  proper  legislation  for  the  en- 
tire country  and  particularly  for  the  western 


states  and  territories.  Perhaps  it  is  no  more 
than  just  to  say  that  Nebraska  has  never  had 
in  either  house  of  congress  an  abler,  more  con- 
scientious and  more  faithful  and  intelligent 
servant  than   Senator   Paddock. 

For  many  years  Senator  Paddock  was  not 
only  a  citizen  of  Beatrice  but  he  was  also  a 
force  in  this  community.  In  1887-1888  he 
built  the  Hotel  Paddock,  which  in  many  re- 
spects is  the  most  important  private  property 
in  the  city  of  Beatrice.  He  platted  and  laid 
out  Fairview  and  Padd:ack  additions  to 
Beatrice,  and  in  other  ways  exhibited  his  in- 
terest in  the  destiny  of  the  fair  city  of 
Beatrice. 

In  his  personality  Senator  Paddock  was  one 
of  the  most  attractive  of  men.  He  was  ex- 
tremely optimistic  in  temperament  and  his 
faith  in  Nebraska  was  unbounded, —  and  this 
through  good,  as  through  evil  report.  Mr. 
Paddock  stood  four-square  to  all  the  world, 
and,  though  often  subject  to  adverse  criticism 
by  his  political  opponents,  no  man  ever  had 
the  temerity  to  attack  him  in  his  private  life. 

On  the  22d  day  of  December,  1859,  Mr. 
Paddock  married  Anna  L.  Mack,  of  St.  Law- 
rence county,  New  York,  a  daughter  of  Daniel 
Mack,  an  honored  citizen  of  that  state.  It 
was  a  most  felicitous  marriage,  covering  a 
period  of  thirty-eight  years.  His  devoted  wife 
still  (1918)  survives  him,  and  makes  her  home 
in  Lincoln.  The  children  of  this  marriage 
were  Daniel  Mack  and  Susan,  both  of  whom 
died  at  an  early  age;  Harriet,  wife  of  O.  J. 
Colman,  of  Lincoln,  Nebraska ;  Francis 
Amelia,  now  deceased ;  and  Franklin  Algernon 
Paddock,  of  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

Both  time  and  space  forbid  the  further  ex- 
tension of  these  sketches  of  territorial  pioneers 
of  our  county.  The  reader  will  find  in  the 
biographical  department  of  this  work  and  else- 
where, the  life  history  in  more  or  less  detail 
of  a  large  number  of  these  pioneers.  The 
chief  aim  of  the  writer  in  these  sketches  has 
been  to  show  the  kind  of  men  and  women  who 
were  the  first  to  people  our  county,  and  who 
set  in  motion  those  forces  and  influences  which 
eventuated  in  the  creation  of  a  great,  free 
commonwealth,  one  of  the  most  attractive  and 
interesting  in  the  sisterhood  of  states. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 


NARRATIVE  OF  GEORGE  GALE,  WITH    UIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH 


George  Gale  was  born  in  Columbia  county. 
New  York,  May  17,  1828,  and  died  at  his 
home  in  Adams  township,  Gage  county,  Jan- 
uary 9,  1899.  He  was  descended  from  a  well 
known  family  of  the  Empire  state,  members 
of  which  had  participated  in  both  the  Revo- 
lutionary war  and  the  war  of  1812.  His  par- 
ents were  Alonzo  and  Phoebe  (Peck)  Gale, 
both  natives  of  Dutchess  county,  New  York. 
His  father  was  of  Irish  descent,  his  mother  a 
Hollander.  When  he  was  six  years  of  age 
his  parents  moved  from  New  York  to  Con- 
necticut, where  he  was  reared  and  educated. 
March  26,  1850,  Mr.  Gale  married  Margaret 
M.  Shaw,  the  daughter  of  Stephen  P.  Shaw, 
himself  a  well  known  pioneer  immigrant  to 
Gage  county. 

Shortly  after  his  marriage  George  Gale 
moved  to  the  new  state  of  Michigan,  and  in 
1854  he  went  still  further  west,  settling  in 
Neosha  county,  Wisconsin.  From  Wiscon- 
sin, in  1858,  with  his  family  and  household 
effects,  carried  in  two  ox-drawn  wagons,  he 
migrated  to  Otoe  county,  in  the  territory  of 
Nebraska.  He  remained  in  that  county  until 
1860,  when  he  came  to  what  is  now  Adams 
township.  Gage  county,  but  then  part  of  old 
Clay  county.  Here  he  purchased  land,  and  in 
1863,  under  the  homestead  law,  he  added  to 
his  purchase  one  hundred  twenty  acres  more. 
Mr.  Gale  was  a  most  reliable,  conscientious 
man.  He  had  a  keen  sense  of  right  and  was 
accustomed  to  follow  the  inner  light  of  con- 
science wherever  it  led.  By  occupation  he 
was  a  farmer,  and  was  content  with  that 
simple,  uneventful  life.  He  was  well  and 
favorably  known  in  Gage  county  and  esteemed 
as  a  man  of  strong  common  sense  and  sturdy 
integrity  of  character.       Four  children   were 


born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gale,  namely,  Edward 
I].,  Mary  A.,  Charles  F.  and  Margaret. 

Mr.  Gale  was  the  second  assessor  of  Gage 
county,  having  been  elected  to  that  office  in 
1869.  For  over  twenty  years  he  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  school  board  of  his  school  district 
and  filled  other  neighborhood  positions.  Not 
only  was  George  Gale  himself  thus  accredited 
but  members  of  his  family  also  have  been 
useful  and  esteemed  citizens  of  our  county. 
His  sister  Carrie  was  one  of  the  early  and 
successful  school  teachers  of  the  county.  In 
1865  she  taught  the  Beatrice  summer  school 
and  in  1866  she  taught  both  the  fall  and 
winter  terms  in  the  old  cottonwood,  frame 
school-house  in  Beatrice,  this  writer  having 
been  much  honored  in  being  one  of  her  pupils 
at  the  winter  term.  She  became  the  wife  of 
Louis  T.  Griggs,  and  though  long  since  gath- 
ered to  the  bosom  of  Mother  Earth  both  she 
and  her  husband  are  represented  in  the  world 
of  work  by  their  children,  George,  Clifford, 
Albert,  Kirk,  and  Mollie,  all  honored  and  use- 
ful members  of  society.  Mr.  Gale's  son, 
Charles  F.,  but  recently  deceased,  was  for 
many  years  prominent  in  the  social  and  busi- 
ness life  of  the  city  of  Beatrice. 

The  following  narrative  was  written  by 
I\[r.  Gale  in  1876.  Primarily  it  was  intended 
as  a  history  of  old  Clay  county,  but  it  is  so 
largely  devoted  to  the  various  phases  of 
pioneer  life  as  he  saw  and  lived  it  as  to  im- 
part to  it  historic  value  of  a  high  order.  It  is 
first-hand  matter  and  probably  stands  alone 
as  a  contemporary  narrative  of  pioneer  condi- 
tions in  our  county.  It  supplements  to  some 
extent  other  chapters  of  this  volume,  and  as 
evidence  it  has  the  weight  of  an  eye  witness 
on    most    of    the    subjects    considered    bv    its 


166 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


167 


author.  For  all  these  reasons,  as  well  as  from 
respect  which  the  author  of  this  work  bears 
to  the  memory  of  Mr.  Gale,  his  narrative  is 
given  place  here.  The  interesting  article  is 
reproduced  without  formal  marks  of  quotation. 

History  of  Old  Clay  County  from  its  Set- 
tlement UP  TO   1876 

BY    GEORGE    GALE 

In  writing  a  history  of  this  section  of  Ne- 
braska,   that    is   to    say   that   part   of   it   once 


settlement  under  the  policy  usually  known  as 
popular  sovereignty,  by  which  the  question 
of  freedom  or  slavery  was  left  to  a  vote  of 
the  people  at  the  time  of  forming  state  con- 
stitutions. 

All  this  is  necessary  to  be  understood  in 
order  to  understand  why  Nebraska,  with  a 
superior  soil,  climate  and  geographical  posi- 
tion, was  comparatively  neglected  by  settlers, 
who  agreed  by  common  consent  to  make 
Kansas  the  battle-ground  between  freedom 
and  slavery,  and  who  rushed  to  that  territory 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  George  Gale 


comprised  within  the  limits  of  Clay  county 
and  now  attached  to  the  counties  of  Lancaster 
and  Gage,  it  will  be  necessary,  or  at  least 
proper,  to  go  back  to  the  organization  of  the 
territorial  government,  and  also  to  touch  some- 
what on  the  history  of  other  and  adjoining 
counties. 

As  is  well  known,  the  act  of  congress  or- 
ganizing the  territories  of  Kansas  and  Ne- 
braska was  passed  in  the  spring  of  1854,  thus 
opening  up   at   once  these   two   territories   to 


in  order  to  assist  in  establishing  such  institu- 
tions as  they  personally  approved. 

Very  little  permanent  settlement  was  made 
in  Nebraska  this  year.  Some  towns  along  the 
Missouri  river  were  located  by  parties  who  had 
been  watching  the  land  for  years  and  waiting 
for  it  to  come  under  the  provisions  of  the 
preemption  laws.  Omaha,  Plattsmouth,  Ne- 
braska City,  Brownville,  and  perhaps  other 
towns  were  laid  out  this  year. 

The  first  session  of  the  legislature  of  Ne- 


168 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


braska  was  held  this  year,  some  surveying  was 
done,  and  some  few  farm  claims  were  taken 
near  the  river,  but  many  of  the  settlers  went 
back  to  Iowa  or  Missouri  to  winter. 

In  1855  some  farm  claims  were  taken  fif- 
teen or  twenty  miles  from  the  river,  but 
nothing  in  the  way  of  provisions  was  raised 
in  this  or  the  following  year. 

In  1856  people  in  search  of  first-class  loca- 
tions explored  the  country  on  the  Nemaha, 
and  as  far  west  as  upper  Salt  creek,  but  few, 
however,  of  the  claims  then  taken  were  ever 
occupied  by  them,  but  were  afterward  taken 
up  by  others. 

The  first  permanent  settlement  in  Clay 
county  was  made  on  Salt  creek  by  the  Preys 
—  father  and  sons  —  Mr.  Davison,  the  Wal- 
lingfords,  and  others  whose  names  are  not  now 
remembered,  all  of  whom  are  now  gone  ex- 
cept the  Preys. 

These  settlers  were  all  driven  out  by  the 
Indians  in  the  fall  of  1857.  They  wintered  at 
Nebraska  City  and  returned  to  their  claims  in 
the  S])ring  of  1858,  but  the  Indians  troubled 
them  more  or  less  for  several  years,  as  we 
shall  have  occasion  to  relate  further  on.  They 
laid  out  the  town  of  Olatha  this  year. 

In  1857  a  great  many  settlements  were  made 
in  Clay  county.  On  the  Nemaha,  Mr.  John 
O.  Adams  settled  early  in  the  spring  and  put 
in  and  raised  a  crop  of  sod  corn.  Mr.  John 
Stafford  came  this  spring  and  also  raised  a 
crop.  Mr.  Golden  and  sons,  Mr.  H.  Reynolds 
and  brother,  Charlie  Hickock  and,  farther 
down  the  east  branch,  Mr.  John  Watson,  Mr. 
William  Freeborn,  R.  Swallow,  B.  J.  Baker 
and  others. 

In  July  of  this  year  came  Stephen  P.  Shaw 
and  sons  —  William,  John,  James,  and 
Stephen  —  and  James  and  William  Silver- 
nail.  They  located  on  the  branch  above  Mr. 
Adams  at  La:ona.  Jacob  and  Leroy  Hilde- 
brand  also  came  this  year,  and  settled  on  the 
branch  known  as  Jake's  creek,  near  Adams. 

About  the  same  time  a  settlement  was  made 
on  Indian  creek  by  E.  C.  Horner,  Charley 
.■\ustin,  a  gentleman  named  Phelps,  H.  W. 
Parker,  besides  others  who  i^roceeded  to  lay 
out  the  town  of  Austin,  which  now  exists  only 


on  paper,  if  anywhere.  Also,  further  down 
in  Gage  county,  the  Pethouds  —  father  and 
son.  Beatrice  was  also  located  and  surveyed 
this  season  by  what  was  and  still  is  known  as 
the  Beatrice  Town  Company. 

In  November  the  Nemaha  settlement  was 
further  augmented  by  the  arrival  of  Egbert 
Shaw  and  John  Lyons  and  their  families. 
There  was  another  settlement  made  this  year 
on  the  head  of  the  little  Nemaha,  by  Mr. 
Noble,  JNIr.  Rodencamp,  Mr.  Meecham  and 
others,  and  I  think  they  laid  out  a  town  near 
where  Bennett  now  stands. 

At  the  time  these  settlements  were  made 
in  Clay  county  there  had  been  raised  in  the 
state  nothing  of  any  consequence  toward  sup- 
porting the  people.  Everything  had  to  be  im- 
ported from  the  east.  Those  who  had  money 
could  buy  at  the  Missouri  river  anything  they 
wanted  but  many  had  very  little  money,  while 
some  had  to  sell  their  best  team  or  cow  in 
order  to  live  until  a  crop  could  be  grown. 

Some  few  who  had  their  houses  built  went 
to  the  river  and  worked  for  those  who  had 
work  to  do  and  money  to  pay  for  it.  Plow- 
ever,  the  most  of  these  supposed  when  they 
came  that  they  had  money  enough  to  keep 
their  families  until  they  could  get  a  crop  and 
then  make  enough  by  farming  or  in  soine 
other  way  to  pay  for  their  land,  for  it  must 
be  borne  in  mind  that  there  was  no  home- 
stead law  then.  Their  land  was  taken  under 
the  preemption  law  and  they  did  not  expect 
the  land  would  be  brought  into  market  for 
many  years,  and  that  perhaps  before  that  time 
came  congress  would  pass  a  homestead  law  and 
save  them  all  further  trouble.  In  this  they 
deceived  themselves,  as  they  found  to  their 
great  disgust   a   year  or   two  afterward. 

Although  land  could  be  taken  from  the 
first  under  the  preemption  law  it  could  not 
be  entered  at  private  sale  until  it  had  first  been 
oflfered  at  public  sale  to  the  highest  bidder. 
This  being  the  case,  the  settlers  felt  perfectly 
safe  with  regard  to  their  claims  as  long  as 
the  land  was  withheld  from  market.  But  in 
the  summer  of  1858,  to  their  great  astonish- 
ment and  consternation,  the  land  from  the 
Missouri  river  to  range  8  was  advertised  to  be 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


169 


offered  for  sale  in  September.  Only  a  few 
of  the  settlers  were  prepared  to  pay  for  their 
land,  while  most  of  them  had  no  recourse  but 
to  hire  a  land  warrant  at  forty  per  cent,  in- 
terest, for  such  were  the  very  moderate  terms 
of  the  gentlemen  who  petitioned  the  President 
to  bring  the  land  into  market. 

Of  course  they  had  the  choice  of  selling  their 
teams  and  fighting  the  battle  bare-handed,  or 
letting  the  matter  take  its  own  course  and  run 
the  risk  of  their  claims  being  bid  on  by  specu- 
lators, and  losing  their  land,  and  in  some 
cases  costly  improvements  besides.  But  as 
nearly  every  man  thought  his  claim  was  the 
center  of  the  universe,  the  very  pivot  around 
which  all  the  rest  of  the  world  revolved,  and 
that  consequently  it  offered  an  irresistible 
temptation  to  some  speculator  to  buy  it,  near- 
ly all  were  frightened  into  buying  land  war- 
rants on  time,  at  forty  per  cent,  interest,  and 
proving  up  their  claims. 

After  this  little  game  had  been  successfully 
played,  the  land  was  withdrawn  from  sale  for 
one  year.  The  next  year,  however,  in  1859, 
it  was  all  offered  for  sale  as  far  west  as  to 
include  Clay  county.  This  produced  very 
little  excitement,  people  having  recovered  from 
their  fright,  and  very  little  land  was  sold  — 
perhaps  none  that  was  held  under  the  pre- 
emption law.  Some  proved  up  and  paid  be- 
fore the  sale,  and  some  let  it  run  and  took 
their  land  under  the  homestead  law,  in  1863. 

We  may  as  well  say  here  that  most  of 
those  who  located  borrowed  land  warrants 
on  their  claims  lost  them  with  all  their  im- 
provements, and  in  some  cases  after  paying 
interest  at  forty  per  cent,  for  several  years. 

There  were  no  roads  at  this  time  except 
Indian  trails,  nor  bridges  on  the  streams,  and 
when  they  were  obliged  to  go  to  the  river  or 
anywhere  else,  three  or  four  would  go  to- 
gether, traveling  on  the  divides  as  much  as 
possible,  and  when  a  stream  had  to  be  crossed 
they  would  take  all  the  teams  across  except 
one,  then  run  one  of  the  wagons  down  the 
bank  into  the  creek,  then  hitch  on  all  the 
teams  with  chain  enough  to  reach  to  the  top 
of  the  bank,  then  pull  the  wagon  out  and  then 


repeat  the  process  on  all  the  rest  of  the 
wagons. 

But  this  was  too  much  trouble  for  an  every- 
day business  and  nearly  every  settler  soon  had 
a  good  bridge  or  a  ford  for  his  own  use,  which 
were  always  and  for  many  years  used  by  the 
public. 

At  the  time  of  which  we  are  treating,  the 
settlers  all  used  ox  teams,  and  there  were  very 
few  horses  in  the  country. 

The  possession  of  a  riding  nag  was  an 
indication  of  the  wealth  of  its  owner,  and  the 
man  who  owned  a  horse  team  was  set  down 
at  once  as  a  blooded  aristocrat. 

In  making  long  trips  on  the  road  they 
always  carried  their  own  provisions  and 
bedding,  and  in  winter  feed  for  their  teams. 
If  the  weather  was  fine  they  always  camped 
out  nights,  but  if  it  was  cold  or  stormy  they 
would  always  be  welcome  to  spread  their  beds 
on  the  floor  of  some  kind-hearted  settler  — 
Joe  Sanders',  the  widow  McKee's,  Solonberg- 
er's,  Brownell's,  or  almost  any  house  from 
here  to  Nebraska  City.  But  in  the  winter 
time  Brownell's  was  the  most  popular  place 
to  stop  of  any  on  the  road  and  your  historian 
and  nearly  all  of  the  Nemaha  settlers  have 
many  times  had  experience  of  the  hospitality 
of  this  genial,  kind-hearted  old  gentleman. 
The  old  settlers  of  the  Nemaha  will  never  for- 
get the  nights  they  have  lain  on  his  floor,  be- 
fore the  broad,  open  fireplace  piled  with  blaz- 
ing logs,  and  listened  to  the  old  gentleman's 
stories,  and  told  others  to  match  them  until 
sometimes  they  would  all  fall  asleep  in  the 
midst  of  a  story,  only  to  resume  it  at  the  same 
place  in  the  morning. 

Those  were  pleasant  times  to  look  back  up- 
on, but  they  seemed  not  so  pleasant  then,  and 
probably  if  the  same  times  were  offered  us 
now  we  should  decline  with  many  thanks. 

These  trips  to  the  river,  though  not  strictly 
pleasure  parties,  were  occasions  of  consider- 
able fun  and  enjoyment,  provided  the  weath 
er  was  good,  but  if  the  weather  proved  bad 
and  stormy,  the  situation  offered  but  few  at- 
tractions, even  to  an  old  settler. 

They  alw'ays  started  on  these  trips  in  good 
weather,  with  the  intention  of  makins;  certain 


170 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


well  known  points  each  night  to  camp,  and  if 
no  accident  happened  and  the  roads  were  good 
and  if  the  weather  was  not  too  hot  for  the  cat- 
tle, the  points  were  sure  to  be  made.  Some 
of  the  most  popular  cam])ing  places  with  the 
Nemaha  people  were  Syracuse  ford,  Brow- 
nell's.  Rock  ford,  Delaware  City,  and  after- 
ward at  Solenberger,  Nursery  Hill,  Wilson 
Bridge,  etc. 

They  generally  managed  to  camp  near 
enough  to  Nebraska  City  to  go  in,  and  get  out 
again  at  night  to  the  same  place  or,  at  least 
out  of  town.  While  a  part  of  the  men,  and 
perhaps  some  of  the  women  (for  they  liked  to 
go  to  town  just  as  well  then  as  now),  were 
gone,  those  left  in  the  settlement  looked  after 
the  families  and  stock  of  those  who  were  gone. 
And  when  it  was  time  for  the  absent  ones  to 
return,  those  at  home  would  watch  for  the 
teams  coming  over  the  hill  and  would  some- 
times gather  at  the  first  house  on  the  road  to 
meet  them  and  get  the  first  news,  receive  their 
letters  from  friends  east,  and  the  children  to 
receive  their  presents,  for,  in  spite  of  poverty, 
something  for  them  was  sure  to  be  found  in 
some  of  the  packages  that  came  from  the  city. 

As  we  have  before  remarked,  there  was  a 
little  sod  corn  raised  in  Clay  county  in  1857. 
Nearer  to  the  river  there  was  considerable, 
and  it  was  sold  for  a  good  price  to  those  who 
had  not  yet  raised  any.  This  served  to  dem- 
onstrate the  fact  that  corn  would  grow  in  Ne- 
braska, and  to  encourage  the  settlers  to  plant 
all  they  could  the  next  year,  when  most  boun- 
tiful crops  of  corn,  potatoes,  beans,  pumpkins, 
scjuashes  and  all  manner  of  garden  vegetables 
were  grown,  and  this  was  the  last  one  and 
only  good  crop  of  sod  corn  grown  in  this 
section  of  country. 

This  success  in  farming  solved  the  provision 
question  so  far  as  the  raw  material  was  con- 
cerned, but  mills  were  needed  to  grind  the 
corn.  Several  small  mills  were  established  at 
different  places  along  the  river  this  year  or  the 
year  before,  but  the  people  here  who  were  out 
of  flour  and  out  of  money  could  not  wait  for 
the  new  crop  to  mature  and  dry  sufficiently  to 
grind.  Thus  they  commenced  living  on  the 
new  corn  as  soon  as  it  was  in  roasting  ears. 


and  as  soon  as  they  could  get  it  dry  enough  to 
grind  they  hauled  it  to  the  river  and  had  it 
gi-ound,  if  they  could  find  a  mill  that  was  in 
running  order,  for  they  were  generally  out  of 
repair  and  sometimes  our  people  would  have 
to  wait  a  week  for  their  grinding;  sometimes 
they  would  return  without  it  and  make  an- 
other trip  for  it ;  and  in  the  meantime  they 
would  borrow  meal  or  flour  of  each  other  until 
the  entire  stock  of  the  whole  settlement  was 
exhausted  —  and  then  all  would  go  to  making 
hominy,  grinding  in  cofifee  mills  and  pounding 
ill  mortars  or  grating  on  tin  pans,  sometimes 
for  weeks  together  until  grinding  could  be  had. 

When  the  Austin  mill  started  there  was  great 
rejoicing  on  the  Nemaha,  for  now  grinding 
could  be  had  within  from  fifteen  to  twenty-five 
miles,  and  the  trip  could  be  made  in  two  days. 
This  mill  only  ran  one  day  in'  a  week  and 
sometimes  only  one  day  in  two  weeks,  but  it 
proved  a  very  convenient  thing  for  us  until  we 
began  to  raise  wheat,  when  we  were  again 
obliged  to  go  to  the  city,  or  some  other  point 
on  the  river,  or  into  Iowa.  Your  historian 
and  many  others  have  been  to  Iowa  to  mill 
and  been  gone  on  the  trip  ten  days. 

The  Beatrice  mill  was  built  in  1861  and 
burned  in  1862,  but  it  was  rebuilt  in  1863,  and 
since  that  time  there  has  been  very  little 
trouble  about  mills. 

There  are  people  who  think  we  are  not  now 
very  well  provided  with  mill  facilities,  but  it 
was  worse  during  the  days  of  the  first  settle- 
ments. One  word  more  about  the  Austin  mill. 
If  from  any  cause  the  mill  could  not  be  started 
on  the  regular  day,  or  the  day  had  not  been 
appointed,  Mr.  Austin  would  either  ride  over 
to  the  Nemaha  or  send  a  man  to  let  us  know 
when  it  would  start,  so  that  no  one  would 
come  to  the  mill  and  be  disappointed.  Such 
men  were  millers  in  those  days,  but  they  are 
all  dead,  and  they  died  poor. 

The  settlers  commenced  farming  on  a  very 
small  scale  at  first,  raising  garden  vegetables, 
potatoes,  et:.,  for  their  own  use  but  nothing 
for  sale  for  several  years  except  corn,  for 
which  there  was  a  market  at  Nebraska  City, 
though  after  the  first  good  crop  prices  were 
low. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


171 


In  the  meantime  they  had  tried  wheat  to  a 
small  extent  and  it  had  not  proved  successful, 
and  people  had  got  the  idea  that  the  country 
was  not  adapted  to  wheat. 

In  the  year  1858  news  came  of  the  discov- 
ery of  gold  near  Pike's  Peak,  and  this  greatly 
raised  the  hopes  of  the  people  with  regard  to 
markets  for  their  produce,  which  would  not  at 
this  time  pay  the  expense  of  hauling  to  an 
eastern  market,  but  it  was  two  or  three  years 
before  their  hopes  were  realized  and  the  gold 
fields  afforded  a  market  for  anything  of  con- 
sequence; In  the  meantime  many  of  the  set- 
tlers had  become  discouraged  and  had  gone 
back  to  the  east,  to  the  mountains  or  to  the 
war,  and  those  who  remained  looked  dubious- 
ly at  the  prospect  of  making  homes  here,  with 
the  result  that  there  were  actually  less  people 
in  the  territory  in  1862  than  there  were  in 
1859,  by  about  ten  thousand,  fully  one-third 
of  the  people  having  left  the  territory. 

The  opening  of  the  war  had  a  very  depress- 
ing influence  on  the  afifairs  of  Nebraska,  es- 
pecially the  financial  and  business  afifairs. 
Coming  as  it  did  after  a  general  failure  of 
crops  in  I860,  on  account  of  drouth,  it  found 
our  people  with  little  or  nothing  to  sell  and 
no  market  for  that.  It  seemed  as  if  the  world 
had  come  to  a  stand-still.  There  were  times 
when  produce  could  not  be  exchanged  for 
goods  at  Nebraska  City,  and  even  toward  the 
close  of  the  war,  when  confidence  had  become 
somewhat  restored,  it  would  take  two  bushels 
of  wheat  to  buy  a  pound  of  coffee  or  a  yard 
of  brown  sheeting,  and  many  other  things 
in  proportion.  Of  course  we  did  not  put  on 
much  style  in  dress  or  live  very  luxuriously 
in  any  way.  This  state  of  things  drove  us 
from  the  Missouri  river  as  a  market  and 
obliged  us  to  look  to  the  westward  for  the  sale 
of  our  products. 

There  was  at  the  opening  of  the  war  quite 
a  large  increasing  population  in  Colorado  that 
must  be  fed  with  produce  from  the  east,  and 
the  people  of  Nebraska  were  quick  to  take 
advantage  of  this  new  market. 

To  illustrate  to  what  expedients  our  people 
were  driven  during  the  war,  take  such  in- 
stances as  these.     In  the  fall  of  1862.  I  think 


it  was,  wheat  was  worth  at  Nebraska  City, 
thirty-five  cents  and  salt  was  eight  dollars  a 
barrel.  How  were  the  people  to  get  salt? 
This  is  the  way ;  they  hitched  up  their  teams 
and  went  to  the  salt  basin  on  Salt  creek,  near 
where  Lincoln  now  stands,  scraped  up  the  salt 
that  rises  to  the  surface  and  is  crystalized  by 
the  action  of  the  sun,  hauled  it  home,  dissolved 
it,  purified  it,  boiled  it  down  and  made  a  very 
fine  article  of  salt. 

Not  only  were  the  people  of  this  section,  but 
of  all  South  Platte,  a  part  of  Iowa,  and  the 
country  westward  to  the  mountains,  to  a  great 
extent  supplied  with  salt  from  this  source. 
In  fact  manufactories  of  salt  of  considerable 
extent  and  capacity  were  established  there, 
and  quite  a  town  was  built  up,  all  of  which 
has  long  since  disappeared. 

They  could  not  pay  two  dollars  per  pound 
for  tobacco  so  they  raised  their  own  tobacco. 
They  did  not  use  cofifee  or  tea  every  day. 
Sorghum  syrup  took  the  place  of  sugar,  which 
was  at  one  time  two  and  a  half  pounds  for  a 
dollar. 

Some  farmers  who  had  heavy  teams  hauled 
their  produce  to  Denver  or  went  into  a  regular 
freighting  business;  others  moved  on  to  the 
lines  of  travel,  and  established  ranches  for  the 
accommodation  of  the  travel,  while  others 
staid  on  their  farms  and  raised  produce  and 
hauled  to  the  ranches  and  sold  it,  the  produce 
being  mostly  corn,  potatoes,  pork,  eggs  and 
butter.  At  this  time  hundreds  of  farms  were 
abandoned  and  left  uncultivated  in  all  parts 
of  the  terfitory. 

The  west  was  our  principal  market  until  the 
building  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  which 
destroyed  the  market  for  corn  and  drove  the 
people  of  this  county  to  raising  wheat,  for 
which  we  had  now  a  pretty  good  market  east- 
ward. 

The  early  settlers  had  the  idea  that  wheat 
would  not  do  well  here  until,  in  1862  or  1863, 
some  astonishingly  large  and  good  crops  were 
raised,  but  for  the  want  of  a  paying  market 
very  little  was  raised  for  sale  until  about  1866. 
Since  that  time  wheat  has  been  the  principal 
crop  grown  for  sale,  and  it  was  for  many  years 


172 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


considered  the  surest  and  best  paying  crop 
that  could  be  grown. 

The  war  found  our  people  almost  unanim- 
ous for  sustaining  the  government.  Some  few 
secessionists  were  found  along  the  river,  but 
they  speedily  left  Nebraska  for  more  con- 
genial climes.  In  this  county  a  few  opposed 
the  coercion  of  the  states,  but  they  were  gen- 
erally very  mild  in  the  expression  of  their 
views. 

During  the  winter  of  1860-1861  the  legisla- 
ture passed  a  law  for  organizing  the  militia 
of  the  territory  into  companies,  regiments,  bri- 
gades and  divisions,  for  purposes  of  defence  in 
case  of  danger.  Accordingly  an  election  was 
called  by  proclamation,  and  those  persons  lia- 
ble to  military  duty  were  required  to  meet  at 
their  respective  county  seats  and  organize  one 
or  more  companies,  according  to  population, 
by  electing  officers.  In  Clay  county  the  able- 
bodied  men  met  at  Austin  some  day  in  June, 
1861,  and  organized  a  company  by  electing  for 
captain.  Delos  Mills,  of  Salt  Creek;  first  lieu- 
tenant, James  Silvernail,  of  the  Nemaha ;  sec- 
ond lieutenant,  H.  W.  Parker,  of  Austin ;  and 
a  full  set  of  non-commissioned  officers. 

Clay  county  had,  at  this  time,  a  population 
of  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  or  perhaps  a 
trifle  more,  of  whom  about  forty  were  voters. 
At  the  first  election  after  the  organization  of 
the  county,  Nemaha  precinct,  composed  of 
about  one-fourth  of  the  territory  of  the  coun- 
ty, cast  seven  votes,  being  the  full  vote  of  the 
precinct,  and  as  late  as  the  division  of  the 
county  the  highest  number  of  votes  polled  was 
thirteen  ;  most  of  the  other  precincts'had  more. 

We  do  not  know  the  number  or  the  names 
of  all  those  who  enlisted  in  the  army  at  the 
different  times  under  the  different  calls 
of  tlie  president  for  volunteers,  but  Clay 
county,  although  a  frontier  county,  furn- 
ished a  large  number  of  soldiers,  and  the 
territory  kept  her  quota  full  under  all  calls, 
without  resorting  to  the  draft.  Among  those 
who  enlisted  under  the  first  call  for  three  hun- 
dred thousand,  were  John  Hilman,  Jr.,  William 
Shaw.  Egbert  Shaw,  James  I.  Shaw.  William 
Hand.  Charlie  Austin  (who  went  east  and 
enlisted  in  an  Ohio  regiment),  \\'illiam  Rud- 


ruff,  and  two  young  men  on  the  Blue  whose 
names  are  forgotten.  These  all,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  Charlie  Austin,  enlisted  in  the 
Nebraska  regiment  and  went  to  the  front. 
None  of  them  was  killed  in  the  service  except 
William  Shaw,  who  was  killed  by  an  accident, 
at  St.  Louis,  in  1863. 

Many  others  served  for  the  defense  of  the 
frontier  for  different  terms  and  at  different 
times,  among  whom  were  Thaddeus  Hillman, 
John  Stafford,  Nelson  Adams,  two  young  men 
named  Etherton,  on  Salt  creek,  James  Her 
and  several  others  whose  names  are  not  now 
known,  as  they  were  new  comers  and  did  not 
return  to  the  country  after  their  term  of  ser- 
vice expired.  One  son  of  John  Hilman  enlist- 
ed in  an  Iowa  regiment  and  was  killed  in  the 
first  battle  he  was  engaged  in. 

A  history  of  this  section  would  not  be  com- 
plete without  an  account  of  the  division  of 
Clay  county  and  the  distribution  of  its  terri- 
tory between  the  counties  of  Lancaster  and 
Gage.  All  history  has  for  its  object  the  in- 
struction of  the  present  and  future  by  the  les- 
sons and  experiences  of  the  past,  and  for  this 
reason  the  history  of  the  division  of  Clay  coun- 
ty must  be  written. 

As  early  as  the  fall  of  1863,  rumors  of  a 
plan  for  dividing  Clay  county  began  to  reach 
the  people  of  the  several  settlements  of  the 
county,  but  this  did  not  arouse  much  interest, 
from  the  fact  that  no  one  seemed  to  know 
anything  definite  about  it,  or  where  the  rumors 
came  from,  and  further  it  was  well  known 
that  scarcely  any  one  in  Clay  county  favored 
such  division.  But  soon  men  in  Beatrice 
would  drop  a  hint  now  and  then  to  feel  the 
pulse  of  our  people  in  this  matter,  but  they 
found  them  all  against  any  such  scheme  and 
for  some  time  we  heard  nothing  more  about 
it,  and  we  supposed  the  thing  was  dead.  But 
in  the  fall  of  1864  the  matter  took  such  shape 
that  there  could  be  no  mistaking  the  fact  that 
there  were  only  two  or  three  in  the  extreme 
southern  and  about  the  same  number  in  the 
extreme  northern  part  who  favored  the  plan 
or  assisted  in  carrying  it  out;  and  they  were 
all  interested  in  town-site  speculations  which 
the  scheme  was  supposed  to  favor. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


173 


At  this  time  Clay,  Gage,  and  Jolmson  coun- 
ties formed  one  representative  district,  and 
John  Cadman  managed  to  get  the  nomination 
for  representative  from  this  district.  All  this 
was  apparent,  still  but  few  knew  that  this  was 
a  part  of  the  plan  to  defraud  the  people  of 
their  rights.  The  plan  was  soon  discovered, 
but  too  late  to  do  anything  of  any  consequence 
toward  defeating  Cadman's  election.  In  fact, 
nothing  could  have  been  done  under  any  cir- 
cumstances. 

This  man  Cadman  lived  on  Salt  creek  at' 
Saltillo,  on  the  extreme  north  side  of  the  coun- 
ty. He  owned  a  town-site  further  down  the 
creek,  where  the  insane  asylum  has  since  been 
built,  and  this,  if  Clay  county  was  divided, 
would  be  very  near  the  center  of  Lancaster 
and  'of  course  would  be  likely  with  shrewd 
management  to  become  the  county  seat  of 
Lancaster,  which  was  not  yet  located. 

On  the  south  the  proprietors  and  people  of 
Beatrice  never  felt  quite  sure  that  they  could 
hold  the  county  seat  of  Gage  county  at  that 
place,  because  it  was  within  six  miles  of  the 
north  line  of  the  county  and  considerably  to 
the  west  of  the  center  of  the  county,  while  the 
geographical  center  lay  on  the  Big  Blue  river 
and  was  in  every  way  as  good  a  place  to 
build  a  town  as  at  Beatrice.  Consequently 
the  people  of  that  town  took  an  active  interest 
in  the  conspiracy  and  worked  for  Cadman's 
nomination  and  election. 

A  nomination  by  the  Republican  party  was 
at  that  time  nearly  equivalent  to  an  election, 
but  Cadman  did  not  feel  safe  to  keep  still,  so 
he  made  a  canvass  of  the  three  counties,  telling 
the  people  of  Clay  and  Johnson  counties  that 
if  elected  he  would  do  nothing  in  the  legisla- 
ture looking  to  a  division  of  the  county  unless 
he  had  a  petition  (which  he  felt  doubtful  of 
getting)  to  present,  from  at  least  two-thirds 
of  the  legal  voters  of  the  county,  asking  such 
division.  The  people  of  these  counties  know- 
ing that  there  were  not,  altogether,  a  dozen 
people  who  would  sign  such  a  petition,  he 
was  elected. 

At  that  time  the  capital  was  at  Omaha, 
there  were  no  facilities  for  travel  as  there  are 
now,  and  in  the  winter  we  scarcelv  ever  heard 


what  was  going  on  in  the  legislature  until  the 
session  was  over.  So  it  was  this  time.  Some 
time  in  March,  1865,  we  learned  that  the  leg- 
islature had  adjourned  and  one  of  the  acts 
passed  was  an  act  to  divide  Clay  county,  giv- 
ing the  territory  to  Gage  and  Lancaster  coun- 
ties. The  people  of  Clay  county  were  thun- 
derstruck. They  had  not  expected  such  a 
thing.  There  had  been  no  petition  circulated 
or  signed  and  the  people  were  unable  to  con- 
ceive of  such  infamy  and  political  rascality  as 
this  act  revealed.  It  seems  that  the  legisla- 
ture had  obliterated  this  county  from  the  map 
of  Nebraska  at  the  demand  of  a  small  ring 
of  speculators,  without  the  consent  or  even 
knowledge  of  the  people  of  the  county,  thus 
adding  insult  to  the  other  wrongs  consum- 
mated by  this  outrage. 

In  justice  to  the  senators  and  representa- 
tives from  other  parts  of  the  state,  it  should 
be  stated  that,  in  answer  to  our  reproaches, 
they  said  that  there  was  a  petition  presented 
properly  signed  and  which  appeared  to  be  per- 
fectly regular,  asking  them  to  pass  such  an 
act  and  they  supposed  that  they  were  doing  a 
favor  to  the  whole  people  of  Clay  county  — 
which  proves  that  a  forgery  was  committed. 

The  people  of  the  county  did  not  propose 
to  submit  to  such  treatment  as  this,  but  sup- 
posed that  on  a  true  representation  of  all  the 
facts  to  the  next  legislature,  supported  by  a 
petition  of  nearly  the  whole  of  the  legal  voters 
of  the  county,  that  the  act  would  be  repealed 
and  the  old  county  restored.  Acting  upon  this 
supposition  and  in  this  belief,  in  the  winter  of 
1866-1867  some  of  our  people  started  out  and 
secured  the  signature  of  very  nearly  every  legal 
voter  in  the  old  county,  but  the  work  was 
hindered  by  the  inclemency  of  the  weather,  by 
high  water  in  the  streams  and  by  lack  of  facil- 
ities for  traveling  over  the  country,  so  that  by 
the  time  the  work  was  done  and  the  petition 
was  ready  to  send  off,  the  legislature  was  ad- 
journed and  we  were  disappointed. 

This  so  discouraged  some  that,  though  they 
most  earnestly  wished  the  old  county  restored, 
they  could  not  be  induced  to  take  any  trouble 
upon  themselves  for  this  purpose  on  the 
chances  presented.     Others  never  gave  up  their 


174 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


hope  of  remedy  or  ceased  their  efforts  to  at- 
tain it. 

Another  effort  to  obtain  justice  was  made 
in  the  winter  of  1868-1869,  when  our  petition 
was  denied,  at  the  demand  of  Lancaster  and 
Gage  county  delegations.  Still  another  effort 
was  made  in  1871,  when  a  petition  signed  by 
over  four  hundred  legal  voters  was  presented 
by  Colonel  H.  Rhodes,  representative  from 
Johnson  county,  while  the  measure  was  sup- 
ported by  members  from  other  counties;  but, 
although  the  justice  of  our  cause  was  unques- 
tioned, we  could  not  offer  the  inducement  to 
members  for  votes  for  our  measure,  that  Beat- 
rice and  Lincoln  could  for  votes  against  it,  and 
they  refused  to  grant  our  petition.  From 
that  time  all  hope  seemed  to  have  died  out  until 
the  session  of  1875,  when  another  effort  was 
made  for  the  lost  cause,  but  with  no  better 
success  than  before. 

In  giving  a  history  of  the  county  division 
and  efforts  for  restoration,  through  a  period  of 
ten  years  or  more,  we  have  neglected  many 
topics  of  interest,  which  we  will  now  proceed 
to  take  up  under  separate  and  appropriate 
heads. 

Education 

As  before  stated,  the  cause  of  education  in 
Clay  county  looked  very  discouraging  in  the 
early  days.  The  people  were  poor;  there  was 
no  public-school  fund  to  draw  from  then  and 
very  little  taxable  property,  the  land  being 
nearly  all  in  the  hands  of  Uncle  Sam. 

The  subject  was  taken  up  by  the  several 
settlements  and  treated  according  to  the  means 
and  ability  of  the  people.  The  first  step  was 
to  form  and  organize  school  districts.  The 
first  school  districts  were  composed  of  pre- 
cints  of  from  three  to  five  government  town- 
ships, each  with  a  township  board  of  education 
whose  duty  it  was  to  form  sub-districts,  the 
law  not  permitting  the  formation  of  a  sub- 
district  with  less  than  ten  children  of  school 
age. 

There  was  no  fund  for  building  school 
houses,  but  the  people  subscribed  according 
to  their  means  and  built  log  school  houses, 
made  caves  or  sod  houses  in  which  to  teach 
the    young    idea    how    to    shoot.     Teachers' 


wages  were  low  and  were  paid  by  subscription 
or  rate  bill.  There  were  three  districts  laid  off 
in  Clay  county  in  1862  —  one  on  the  Nemaha, 
one  on  Salt  creek,  and  one  on  Indian  creek  aiid 
the  Blue  river  —  which  were  organized.  The 
one  on  the  Nemaha  was  divided  into  three 
sub-districts  in  the  course  of  the  years,  but 
for  various  reasons  they  did  not  get  schools 
running  in  any  of  them  until  1864. 

The  first  school  taught  on  the  Nemaha  was 
taught,  in  the  old  log  school  house,  until 
lately  standing  near  James  Silvernail's,  by  Miss 
Carrie  Gale,  now  Mrs.  L.  T.  Griggs,  of 
Beatrice.  School  cost  something  in  those  days 
when  the  expense  was  wholly  borne  by  three 
or  four  in  each  sub-district.  Since  that  time 
schools  have  been  taught  regularly  in  nearly  all 
the  districts,  both  before  and  since  the  county 
division. 

Since  1865  and  1866  the  country  has  set- 
tled up  more  rapidly  than  before,  and  schools 
and  school  houses  have  been  multiplied  ac- 
cordingly, and  people  coming  to  this  state 
now  need  have  no  fears  that  their  children 
need  go  without  instruction,  as  our  public 
schools  will  compare  favorably  with  those  of 
any  state. 

Sf.tti,eme;nts 
The  settlement  of  this  state  was  very  slow 
during  the  war;  from  1861  to  1864  a  few 
came,  mostly  from  Missouri,  being  run  out  by 
bushwackers  or  leaving  to  escape  the  draft. 
A  few  of  these  stopped  in  this  county  but 
most  of  them  stayed  near  the  Missouri  river. 
They  are  nearly  all  gone  now,  some  to  one 
place  and  some  to  another.  Mr.  Isaac  Mayo 
is  the  only  one  left  on  the  Nemaha.  There 
are  a  few  yet  on  Salt  creek  and  near  Firth, 
of  whom  we  may  mention  the  Grims,  Jack- 
sons,  Montgomerys  and  a  few  others.  Also 
about  this  time  or  a  little  before,  came  from 
Indiana  Mr.  William  McLane  and  brothers 
and  other  relatives.  Further  down  Salt  creek, 
Mr.  Delos  Mills,  Mrs.  Boydston,  Mrs.  Warner, 
Mr.  Keyes,  D.  S.  Brown,  Fred  and  Carl  Krul. 
Mr.  Huskin  and  others.  On  the  Nemaha, 
George  Drown,  William  Curtis,  11.  C.  Barmole, 
and  a  little  later  the  Moore  Brothers,  J.   H. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


175 


Lynch,  George  Lykes  and  Henry  Stoops,  and 
soon  after  James  Sykes. 

On  Indian  creek  and  the  BUie,  the  settlers 
were  George  Grant  and  sons,  who  for  some 
time  resided  at  Austin,  and  who  moved  to 
Turkey  creek  about  this  time ;  and  near  him 
Robert  Nicholas,  James  and  William  Pluck- 
nett,  and,  on  Clatonia  and  the  Blue,  William 
Van  Cleit,  James  Krusie,  Alfred  Snell,  and 
others. 

After  the  war  the  settlement  was  rapid,  and 
your  historian  was  unable  to  keep  an  account 
of  all  who  came,  much  less  to  name  them. 
For  several  years  after  the  war  a  great  many 
soldiers  found  themselves,  to  use  a  vulgar  but 
significant  expression,  loose-footed,  and  the  at- 
tractions of  Nebraska  as  an  agricultural  state 
becoming  known  at  the  east,  Nebraska  receiv- 
ed a  large  accession  of  this  honored  class  of 
citizens  from  other  states. 

Through  all  this  immediate  section  all  the 
claims  on  the  streams  containing  bottom  land 
or  timber,  were  taken  up  in  1866  or  before, 
and  the  next  year  prairie  claims  were  taken, 
in  fact  early  all  the  homestead  land  in  the 
county  was  taken. 

One  thing  that  delayed  the  settlement  of  the 
section  of  country  about  Firth  was  the  with- 
drawal of  large  tracts  of  land  from  market  by 
the  government,  for  railroad  purposes,  but 
this  is  now  seen  to  be  an  advantage  to  the 
country  in  keeping  it  out  of  the  hands  of 
other  speculators  who  are  still  holding  in  Gage 
county  large  tracts,  above  the  means  of  set- 
tlers. 

Since  1867  the  improvement  of  the  country 
has  been  very  rapid,  embracing  the  building 
of  towns  and  railroads,  which  properly  comes 
under  another  head,  to  which  we  will  now 
refer. 

Towns  -\nd  R.mlro.vds 

As  has  been  already  stated,  a  number  of 
towns  were  laid  out  in  Clay  county  at  an  early 
dy,  but  none  of  them  ever  amounted  to  any- 
thing. They  were  generally  located  without 
reference  to  any  natural  advantages  of  posi- 
tion except,  perhaps,  a  beautiful  site  for  build- 
ing purposes,  but  as  such  sites  could  be  had 


anywhere,  it  was  not  of  sufficient  importance 
to  build  up  a  town. 

There  was  not  at  that  time,  or  for  many 
years  afterward,  anything  in  the  county  to 
build  up  towns.  There  was  no  water  power 
in  the  county  to  encourage  manufacturing 
operations,  there  was  but  one  route  of  travel 
overland  through  the  country,  viz  ;  through  the 
Salt  creek  settlement  from  Nebraska  City  to 
Denver,  Colorado,  but  the  travel  was  too  light 
and  too  transient  to  build  up  the  town  Olatha. 
But  the  principal  trouble  was  that  here  were 
not  people  or  capital  enough  to  give  anything 
a  good  start. 

When  Clay  county  was  divided,  and  for 
years  afterward,  there  was  absolutely  no  town 
of  any  kind  in  the  county.  Nebraska  City 
was  the  only  town  that  could  be  called  a 
market  for  the  people  of  this  section  until 
about  1868. 

John  Adams,  on  the  Nemaha,  used  to  do 
some  blacksmithing  for  the  neighbors.  He 
got  so  that  he  could  do  a  good  job  of  almost 
any  kind,  and  was  always  willing  to  oblige 
his  neighbors.  John  W.  Prey,  of  Salt  creek, 
used  also  to  do  some  blacksmith  work,  and 
mend  plows' and  wagons  for  his  neighbors. 
John  Stafford,  on  the  Nemaha,  made  and 
mended  shoes  and  boots.  George  Gale  used 
to  make  ropes  and  twine,  Alfred  Gale  used  to 
make  baskets  and  John  B.  Shaw  used  to  make 
brooms.  Aside  from  these  mechanical  arts 
practiced  at  home,  all  business  had  to  be  done 
a  long  distance  from  home. 

After  the  location  of  the  capital  at  Lincoln 
there  was  a  market  there  for  some  of  the 
lighter  kinds  of  produce,  and  most  kinds  of 
merchandise  could  be  bought  there  nearly  as 
cheaply  as  at  Nebraska  City,  but  did  not  afford 
us  a  market  for  grain  or  other  heavy  produce, 
from  the  fact  that  there  were  no  railroads  to 
get  it  away,  and  up  to  the  time  of  the  com- 
pletion of  the  Midland  Pacific  Railroad  to 
Lincoln,  in  1871,  the  farmers  hauled  all  their 
grain  to  Nebraska  City,  and  bought  all  or 
most  of  their  heavy  goods,  lumber,  and  build- 
ing material,  salt,  hardware,  machinery,  im- 
plements, etc.,  there.     The  people  of  this  sec- 


176 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


tion  never  did  much  business  at  Beatrice  until 
witliin  a  few  years  past. 

The  first  town  within  the  Hmits  of  Clay 
county  that  was  of  any  use  to  the  people  was 
Bennett,  on  the  Missouri  Pacific  Railroad. 
This  town  afforded  a  market  for  grain  and 
made  a  fair  trading  point  for  the  farmers  of 
the  northeastern  section  of  the  old  county. 

When  the  Burlington  &  Missouri  River 
Railroad  was  built,  a  little  station  and  trading 
point  was  established  on  Cheese  creek,  in  the 
northwestern  part  of  the  old  county,  and  called 
Highland.  Other  little  towns  were  started 
on  the  Beatrice  branch  of  the  Burlington  & 
Missouri  River  Railroad  just  outside  of  the 
limits  of  Clay  county,  and  Crete,  Wilber,  and 
DeWitt  are  a  great  accommodation  to  many 
of  the  people  of  the  county. 

Some  years  previous  to  this,  a  mill  was 
built  and  a  town  laid  out  in  Johnson  county 
by  W.  H.  Mann,  of  Sterling,  Illinois,  and 
called  Sterling,  but  the  town  never  made  much 
growth  until  the  building  of  the  railroad.  It 
was  and  still  is  of  great  advantage  to  some  of 
the  people  of  the  southeastern  part  of  the 
county.  None  of  these  roads  run  through  old 
Clay  county  except  to  cut  across_  a  corner  of 
it. 

In  1869  the  legislature  offered,  as  a  bounty 
for  the  building  of  railroads  in  Nebraska,  to 
give  twenty  thousand  acres  of  land  to  any  com- 
pany who  should,  by  the  first  of  January,  1871, 
build  and  operate  ten  miles  of  first-class  rail- 
road in  Nebraska.  About  this  time  a  com- 
pany was  formed  and  incorporated,  called  the 
Nemaha  Valley  Railroad  Company,  for  the 
purpose  of  building  a  railroad  from  Rulo  to 
Lincoln.  This  company  and  several  others 
commenced  building  railroads  and  built  ten 
miles  of  road  and  claimed  the  bounty  of 
twenty  thousand  acres  of  land. 

The  legislature  being  in  session  at  that 
time,  a  board  of  commissioners  was  appointed 
to  examine  and  report  on  the  several  roads 
claiming  the  bounty,  and  on  their  report  the 
legislature,  while  it  accepted  some  of  them, 
rejected  the  claim  of  the  Nemaha  Valley 
Company  on  the  ground  that  it  could  not  be 
rated    as    a    first-class    railroad.     About  this 


time  the  company  became  bankrupt,  the  work 
was  abandoned,  and  the  hopes  of  the  people 
were  frustrated. 

But  is  was  not  long  that  this  rich  valley  was 
to  languish  for  want  of  railroad  facilities,  for 
a  company  having  the  means  to  do  the  work 
took  hold  of  the  matter  and  the  result 
was  the  building  of  the  Atchison  & 
Northern  Railroad  from  Atchison,  Kansas, 
to  Lincoln,  Nebraska,  in  1871-1872,  thus 
opening  up  the  entire  valley  of  the  Big 
Nemalia  to  the  commerce  of  the  world.  Be- 
fore tliis  time  this  section  had  become  pretty 
well  settled,  large  farms  had  been  opened  and 
the  want  of  an  outlet  by  rail  for  the  immense 
quantities  of  produce  grown  was  severely  felt ; 
and  when  the  road  was  completed,  its  benefits 
were  immediately  felt  and  appreciated  by  the 
people  of  the  valley.  The  effects  of  the  build- 
ing of  this  road  were  to  cause  new  farms  to  be 
opened,  and  old  ones  to  be  enlarged  and  im- 
proved, as  well  as  the  building  of  towns  and 
the  rise  of  real  estate  along  the  whole  line  to 
the  distance  of  many  miles. 

Among  the  towns  built  on  this  road  are 
Adams,  Firth,  and  Hickman,  all  in  old  Clay 
county  and  consequently  within  the  limits  of 
this  history.  These  towns  were  located  and 
surveyed  by  the  company. 

Adams 

Adams  was  laid  out  on  the  north  half  of  the 
northeast  quarter  of  section  27  town  6,  range 
8,  in  Gage  county,  in  the  spring  of  1873,  John 
O.  Adams  giving  the  company  a  half-interest 
in  the  land.  Willia:n  Curtis  built  the  first 
house  the  same  spring  and  this  has  been  used 
l)y  B.  W.  Anderson  for  a  store  and  dwelling 
to  the  present  time.  After  harvest  of  the  same 
year  Messrs.  Adams  and  Curtis  built  the  ware- 
house which  is  now  used  by  R.  A.  Kenyon  for 
shipping  grain. 

In  the  fall  of  1874  R.  A.  Kenyon  built  and 
opened  a  store  and  in  the  fall  of  1875  he  en- 
larged his  house  and  moved  his  family  there, 
where  he  still  keeps  a  store  and  does  a  good 
business  buying  grain. 

The  postofifice  was  established  in  1872,  with 
William   Curtis   postmaster.     Mr.   Burget  op- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


177 


ened  a  blacksmith  shop  there  in  the  spring  of 
1875.  Adams  is  a  good  point  for  business 
and  would  do  a  great  deal  if  the  railroad 
company  would  improve  the  facilities  for  do- 
ing it. 

Firth 

Firth  was  laid  out  on  the  northwest  quarter 
of  section  35,  town  7,  range  7,  in  July  1872, 
on  land  belonging  to  the  Burlington  &  Mis- 
souri Railroad  Company  in  Nebraska,  which 
gave  the  Atchison  &  Northern  a  half-interest 
in  the  town. 

The  company  commenced  making  improve- 
ments and  others  commenced  building  almost 
immediately.  The  first  building  aside  from 
the  company's  improvements  was  a  small  house 
which  was  used  as  a  saloon.  Then  followed 
the  section  house  and  depot,  and  A,  Ellsworth's 
store,  which  was  the  first  store  in  Firth.  Then 
Lyman  Wood's  dwelling,  then  Ton  ]\Ior- 
gan's  house  and  blacksmith  shop,  Cham- 
pion's dwelling,  Clement  &  Everest's  store, 
Sweeney's  dwelling,  and  Champion's  ware- 
house. Albert  Brown  was  the  first  sta- 
tion agent  and  operator  for  the  railroad  com- 
pany. D.  E.  Champion  commenced  buying 
grain  the  30th  of  September,  1872.  Sweeney 
commenced  a  few  days  later  and  they  soon 
bought  together  and  continued  together  for 
about  two  years,  when  Champion  concluded  to 
retire  from  business  and  is  not  doing  anything 
now  except  running  a  livery  stable,  a  land 
agency,  building  houses  to  rent,  selling  im- 
plements and  machinery,  and  running  a  hard- 
ware store. 

Improvements  from  this  time  were  rapid. 
Dwellings  and  business  houses  sprang  up  as 
if  by  magic.  First  one  and  then  another 
branch  of  business  was  introduced,  but  these 
could  scarcely  keep  pace  with  the  wants  of 
the  country  in  their  several  lines.  The  Chi- 
cago Lumber  Company  established  a  lumber 
yard  early  in  the  year  1873.  J-  B.  Hawley 
was  agent,  and  was  succeeded  in  1875  by  T. 
B.  Barnes. 

Dr.  Feilds,  the  station  agent,  was  the  first 
physician  to  locate  in  Firth,  followed  by  Dr. 
Murphy,  and  later  by  Dr.  Robinson.  Dr. 
I\Iurphy  brought  on   the   first  stock  of  drugs 


and  started  a  drug  store  in  the  building  now 
occupied  as  the  postofifice.  He  sold  out  the 
stock  to  William  Phillips,  who  took  the  stock 
to  Hickman  and  sold  out  there.  !Murphy  and 
Jewell  had  previously  opened  with  a  larger 
stock  of  drugs,  oils,  paints,  etc.,  in  Champion's 
new  building,  and  sold  out  to  W.  H.  Moore, 
who  later  ran  the  business  in  another  building. 

Clement  &  Everest  opened  the  second  store 
in  Firth,  occupying  the  stand  on  the  corner  of 
First  and  May  streets  east  of  Ellsworth's  store, 
which  was  burned  in  November  1873,  with  a 
part  of  the  stock. 

Clement  &  Everest  sold  out  to  Bailey  & 
Barnhouse.  Bailey  sold  out  to  Barnhouse, 
who  for  a  while  ran  the  business  alone,  then 
sold  out  to  Bailey  &  Flickinger. 

The  first  hardware  store  in  Firth  was  opened 
by  the  Reed  Brothers,  who  sold  out  to  Cham- 
pion &  Hoisington.  In  the  spring  of  1874 
John  and  George  Brownell  opened  a  new  store 
and  after  a  number  and  variety  of  changes  they 
were  still  found  in  the  business.  In  1873  L.  R. 
Horrum  started  a  harness  shop.  He  ran  it 
for  a  while,  and  was  succeeded  by  Charlie 
Flickinger,  and  he  again  by  Mr.   Horrum. 

Spellman  commenced  business  in  Firth  early 
in  1874.  Henry  Golden  built  and  kept  the 
first  hotel.  Smith  &  Mellinghouse  started  the 
second  lumber  yard  in  1874  but  sold  out  and 
went  into  the  grain  business.  Witzig  Broth- 
ers started  the  second  blacksmith  shop  and 
later  Mr.  William  Cook  the  third.  In  1875 
"Sir.  Phinney  put  up  the  first  and  only  mill  in 
Firth,  then  sold  out  to  John  Brooks,  who  still 
runs  it.  In  the  spring  of  1875  Clement  & 
Davis  started  the  first  furniture  store. 

Firth  since  its  location  has  grown  very 
rapidly,  partly  from  the  fact  that  the  country 
was  well  settled  by  an  energeic  and  thrifty 
class  of  farmers  who  were  greatly  in  need  of 
business  facilities,  and  partly  from  the  fact 
that  the  business  men  of  Firth  were  an  enter- 
prising set  of  men,  who  when  they  set  out 
to  build  a  town  meant  business.  Such  men  of 
course  will  always  win. 

The  buildings  of  Firth,  both  public  and  pri- 
vate, are  of  a  better  and  more  substantial 
character    than    are    usually    found    in    a    new 


178 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


town,  and  the  known  character  of  its  people 
and  everything  about  the  town,  its  position  and 
surroundings  point  to  a  career  of  prosperity 
in  the  future. 

The  public  school  house  is  an  honor  to  the 
town,  and  might  be  pointed  to  with  pride  by 
the  citizens  of  far  more  pretentious  towns  than 
Firth.  It  cost  two  thousand  dollars.  The 
building  of  such  school  houses  is  an  indica- 
tion of  the  intelligence,  liberality  and  far- 
sightedness of  the  citizens.  Mr.  Beams  had 
the  honor  of  being  the  first  to  teach  in  this 
house. 

T.  S.  Elsworth  may  be  said  to  have  been 
the  first  resident  in  Firth,  as  he  was  the  first 
postmaster  and  merchant.  Henry  Golden  built 
and  kept  the  first  hotel,  D.  E.  Champion  was 
the  first  to  buy  grain,  Dr.  Fields  was  the  first 
doctor.  L.  N.  Morgan  was  the  first  black- 
smith. The  first  birth  and  the  first  death 
also  occured  in  his  family.  The  oldest  man  in 
Firth  is  Mr.  Clement,  aged  seventy-five  years. 
The  largest  man  is  Mr.  Champion,  weight 
four  hundred  pounds.  The  best  looking  is 
Mr.  Wood,  the  postmaster. 

Firth  has  so  far  been  remarkably  free  from 
disasters  or  calamities.  The  burning  of  Mr. 
Elsworth's  house  is  the  only  fire  to  record  since 
the  foundation  of  the  town.  The  unprece- 
dented rise  of  the  Great  Nemaha  in  July,  1875, 
did  some  damage  to  the  residents  of  the  town, 
as  well  as  to  the  farmers  along  the  creek. 
Such  a  flood  had  never  been  known  before 
since  the  country  has  been  settled.  The 
water  was  four  or  five  feet  deep  on  the  bot- 
toms. 

Indians 

When  Nebraska  was  first  settled  there  were 
several  tribes  of  Indians  in  the  territory. 
These  Indians  were  settled  (if  Indians  can 
settle)  on  reservations,  supported  and  under 
the  care  of  the  government  agents  and  mis- 
sionaries, and  were  generally  supposed  to  be 
friendly  to  the  settlers.  They  were  not  al- 
lowed to  leave  their  reservations  without  a 
permit  from  their  agents,  but  being  generally 
peaceable  they  were  generally  permitted  to 
hunt  over  the  country  the  greater  part  of  the 
time. 


These  tribes  were  the  Pawnees,  Otoes, 
and  Omahas,  and  they  were  friendly  to  each 
other  (although  they  would  steal  each  other's 
ponies)  and  were  much  afraid  of  the  Sioux, 
Arapahoes,  Kiowas,  Comanches  and  Cheyen- 
nes,  who  roamed  over  the  country  to  the  north, 
southwest  and  west,  and  who  occasionally 
made  a  raid  on  the  reservation  Indians,  scalped 
a  few  and  ran  off  their  ponies.  These  were 
called  wild  Indians  to  distinguish  them  from 
the  reservation  Indians,  who  were  supposed  to 
have  made  some  progress  in  civilization. 

The  most  trouble  the  settlers  had  with  these 
Indians  was  through  their  frightening  the 
women  and  children,  for  they  supposed  that 
an  Indian  was  an  Indian  anyway,  and  indeed 
they  needed  watching  whenever  they  were 
around,  for  they  would  steal  anything  they 
could  lay  hands  on,  sometimes  in  the  presence 
of  the  owners,  and  whenever  they  had  been 
unsuccessful  in  hunting,  they  would  steal 
cattle  and  hogs,  or  anything  eatable.  They 
would  dig  up  seed  potatoes  and  eat  them,  even 
after  they  were  up  and  had  made  considerable 
growth.  They  would  scarcely  offer  any 
violence  to  the  whites  unless  they  were  nearly 
starved,  and  they  were  resisted  in  their  thefts. 
A  man  could  generally  drive  off  any  number 
of  them,  and  women  have  been  known  to  do 
it,  but  generally  they  were  so  much  frightened 
at  the  sight  of  the  Indians  that  they  would 
give  them  anything  that  they  demanded.  The 
settlers  on  Salt  creek  had  more  trouble  with 
them  than  any  others  in  Clay  county,  because 
the  Pawnees  claimed  that  they  had  not  had 
their  pay  for  the  land  on  that.  In  April,  1857, 
the  Pawnees  came  on  to  that  settlement  and 
drove  the  settlers  all  away  and  they  did  not 
return  to  their  claims  until  toward  the  spring 
of  1858.  Again,  in  May,  1859,  they  became 
troublesome  and  stole  some  cattle,  and  the 
whites  killed  and  scalped  one  of  them  and 
drove  the  rest  away,  but  the  settlers  always 
lived  in  fear  of  them. 

Soon  after  this  the  Arapahoes  drove  the 
Pawnees  across  the  Missouri  river  into  lo.wa, 
where  they  remained  some  time,  not  daring  to 
return.  They  also  burned  the  Pawnee  village 
on  the  Platte.     When  the  Arapahoes  returned, 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


179 


a  part  of  them  came  through  the  Salt  creek 
settlement  and  committed  some  depredations, 
stealing  stock,  burning  houses,  etc.,  and  tried 
to  carry  off  Miss  Rebecca  Prey,  now  Mrs. 
Henry  Stoops,  but  were  forced  to  give  her  up 
after  carrying  her  about  eighty  rods. 

On  the  Nemaha,  Alfred  Gale's  house  was 
attacked  by  Otoes  in  June  or  July  of  the 
same  year,  when  he  was  alone  in  it,  forcing 
the  door  and  overpowering  him  and  a  part  of 
them  holding  him  while  the  others  robbed 
the  house  of  every  thing  that  was  eatable,  and 
did  not  leave  him  enough  for  breakfast.  The 
attack  was  made  in  the  dusk  of  the  evening. 
He  had  just  lent  his  revolver  and  had  not  the 
least  thing  in  the  house  to  defend  himself  with. 

The  next  day  they  went  to  John  Lyon's 
place  and  tried  to  run  off  his  stock,  but  he 
and  J.  I.  Shaw  were  breaking  prairie  about  a 
mile  from  them  and  saw  them  driving  the 
cattle.  They  started  after  them  and  saved 
the  stock,  but  one  cow  had  two  arrows  shot 
into  her  about  eighteen  inches,  but  she  lived 
and  was  a  good  cow  for  many  years. 

In  1860  seven  Otoes  came  to  the  house  of 
your  historian,  who  would  not  let  them  in  but 
loaded  his  gun  with  buckshot  and  drove  them 
away  from  his  stock,  when  they  went  to  John 
B.  Shaw's  and  finding  his  cattle  out  of  sight, 
ran  them  off  and  killed  one  of  them. 

On  Indian  creek  and  the  Blue,  they  were 
very  troublesome,  stealing  stock  and  robbing 
houses  that  happened  to  be  left  alone. 

In  July.  1861,  there  was  a  great  Indian  scare 
on  the  Big  Blue  and  the  Nemaha.  Some  way 
or  another  a  story  came  that  the  Cheyennes 
and  Sioux  were  coming  this  way,  killing  and 
burning  everything  they  met.  What  the  story 
sprung  from  this  writer  does  not  remember, 
but  it  created  some  excitement  on  the  Nemaha. 
A  meeting  was  called  at  John  O.  Adams'  to 
consult  as  to  what  should  be  done,  and  it  was 
decided  to  load  up  our  wagons  and  go  to  the 
river  and  camp  near  some  town  until  it  was 
over,  and  a  day  was  set  to  start. 

Mr.  Adams  buried  his  blacksmith  tools,  and 
some  other  things  that  he  could  not  take  were 
otherwise  hidden.  George  Gale  hid  his  cook- 
stove   in   the   brush,   and   some   other   equally 


foolish  things  were  done,  but  before  the  day 
came  to  start  they  all,  without  consultation, 
concluded  not  to  go  and  they  soon  found  there 
was  no  occasion  for  alarm. 

There  was  no  more  trouble  with  Indians 
in  this  section  until  the  great  Indian  scare  of 
August,  1864,  when  the  Sioux  broke  out  and 
killed  every  man  and  either  killed  or  carried 
away  every  woman  and  child  that  they  could 
get  at  on  the  Platte  and  little  Blue,  for  about 
three  hundred  miles  in  one  day,  and  ran  off  the 
stock  and  burned  the  ranches.  Some  of  the 
ranches  were  well  armed  and  defended  and 
they  escaped  with  only  a  scare. 

The  news  of  this  massacre  reached  Beatrice 
and  the  Nemaha  a  day  or  two  after  it  oc- 
curredj  with  the  addition  that  the  Indians 
were  coming  on  to  Beatrice,  and  meant  to 
burn  the  towns  along  the  Missouri  river. 

This  news  nearly  made  some  people  crazy, 
they  loaded  a  few  things  into  their  wagons, 
gathered  up  their  stock  and  started  for  the 
river.  Some,  nearly  all,  I  believe,  left  the 
north  branch  of  the  Nemaha  before  we  on 
the  south  branch  heard  the  news.  Some  of 
these  never  came  back  on  the  Nemaha  again, 
the  others  returned  in  the  course  of  the  fall. 

None  left  the  south  branch  at  this  time.  In 
Beatrice  the  scare  was  greater  than  on  the 
Nemaha.  While  some  prepared  for  defense 
and  sent  out  runners  and  scouts  to  find  out 
the  truth  and  bury  those  killed  at  the  ranches, 
others  never  waited  for  anything,  but  hitched 
up  their  teams  and  started  for  the  east  as  fast 
as  they  could  go.  One  man  drove  so  fast 
that  he  spoiled  his  team.  On  Salt  creek  all 
got  ready  to  leave  and  some  did  leave  and 
sold  their  land  and  did  not  return  for  several 
years,  and  others  never  came  back. 

Old  Settlers 

Here  is  a  list  of  the  oldest  settlers  of  the 
territory  belonging  to  old  Clay  county,  by  pre- 
cincts, commencing  at  the  northeastern  corner 
of  the  county. 

LANCASTER   COUNTY 

Bennett  —  Messrs.  Rodencamp,  Aleecham, 
and  Nobles,  1857. 


180 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Saltillo  —  J.  L.  Davison,  Joseph  Weeks,  C. 
L.  Bristo,  all  long-  since  gone,  so  that  Mr. 
Keyes  is  the  oldest  permanent  settler,  1856. 

Centerville  —  John  D.  Prey  and  sons,  John 
W.,  Thomas  R.,  William  L.,  and  James, 
David  E.,  and  George  Prey,  and  J.  F.  Good- 
win, 1856. 

Highland  —  George  Lougton,   1865. 

Olive  Branch  —  John  and  Robert  Falkner, 
1864. 

Biida  — H.   Boone  and  Mr.  Rieurd.  1865. 

South  Pass  —  William  ]\IcLain,  Frank  and 
William  Lorsh,  and  William  Greer,  1864. 

Panama  —  Curren  Moore  and  James  Piatt, 
1866. 

GAGE    COUNTY 

Adams  — John  O.  Adams,  1857. 


Nemaha  —  George  Sykes,  1865. 

Highland  —  McCollum  or  M.  Weaver,  1867. 

Clatonia  —  William  VanCleif,  1859. 

Grant  —  George  Grant  and  sons,  1860. 

Hoh  —  E.  C.  Austin,  Charley  Austin,  Mr. 
Phelps,  H.  W.  Parker  1857,  now  all  gone,  and 
the  oldest  permanent  settler  is  not  known. 

Bear  Creek  — John  Wilson,  1858. 

Hooker  — John  Hillman,   1860. 

Alfred  Gale  is  the  longest  resident  in  Ne- 
braska of  any  person  on  the  Nemaha,  and,  with 
.the  exception  of  the  Preys  on  Salt  creek,  of 
any  in  the  county.  He  left  Kenosha,  Wis- 
consin, in  September  1856,  on  foot,  carrying 
a  knapsack  and  gun.  which  he  carried  on  foot 
all  the  way  to  Omaha  and  to  Nebraska  City, 
averaging  thirty-three  miles  per  day. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

GROWTH  OF  BEATRICE  FROM  BEGINNING  TO  1870 

A   Hard   Winter  —  Company   Assets — Pap's  Cabin — ^Mumeord's  Cabin  —  Entry  of 

THE  TowNSiTE — Popueation  IN  1870 — Coming  of  the  Raieroads  —  First 

School  House  —  First  Bridge  across  the  Big  Blue — The  Government 

Land  Office — Improved  Conditions  —  First   United    States 

Mail  —  The  Stage  Routes — Beatrice  of  the   Sixties 


Few  of  the  Townsite  Company  remained 
in  Beatrice  during  the  winter  of  1857-1858. 
The  enterprise,  however,  could  not  be  wholly 
abandoned  for  even  a  short  period  of  time 
without  jeopardizing-  the  rights  of  the  'as- 
sociation to  the  land  selected  as  a  townsite ; 
moreover,  as  the  association  had  gone  through 
the  form  of  organizing  the  county,  with 
Beatrice  as  the  county  seat,  it  was  consid- 
ered important  that  some,  at  least,  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  association,  inckiding  the  county 
officials,  should  remain  on  guard.  Finally  it 
was  agreed  that  Albert  Towle,  one  of  the 
county  commissioners,  should  bring  his  family 
from  Nebraska  City  to  Beatrice,  and  with 
Bennett  Pike,  Jefferson  B.  Weston,  Gilbert 
T.  Loomis,  M.  W.  Ross,  and  Oliver  Townsend 
(who  had,  by  assingment,  succeeded  to  the 
rights  of  his  brother.  Dr.  Justus  Townsend, 
in  the  townsite,  and  who  had  joined  the  com- 
pany in  October),  occupy  the  company  build- 
ing. During  the  long,  cold  winter  Ross  died, 
his  being  the  first  death  in  the  county.  His 
body  was  buried  in  the  old  burial  ground, 
between  Indian  creek  and  Glenover  school 
house,  which  for  several  years  constituted  the 
cemetery  for  Beatrice  and  surrounding  coun- 
try. 

Those  who  remained  in  Beatrice  for  the 
winter  possessed  only  a  meager  supply  of  pro- 
visions, but  it  was  thought  to  be  sufficient, 
with  what  nature  provided,  to  last  through 
the  winter.     Besides  it  was  considered  that,  as 


a  trip  could  be  made  to  Brownville  in  a  week's 
time,  there  could  be  no  danger  of  starvation. 
The  autumn  days  were  short  and  a  winter  of 
great  severity  soon  set  in.  As  the  holidays 
approached  it  became  evident  that  it  would  be 
necessary  to  procure  a  fresh  supply  of  food 
for  both  man  and  beast.  Loomis  possessed 
the  only  team  in  the  company  and  he  volun- 
teered to  make  a  trip  to  Brownville,  and  re- 
turn as  soon  as  possible  with  such  supplies  as 
were  thought  to  be  necessary  to  last  through 
the  winter.  A  common  purse  of  such  funds 
as  the  small  company  possessed  was  placed 
in  his  hands,  and  he  was  directed  to  go  beyond 
Brownville  into  Missouri,  where  it  was 
thought  supplies  might  be  procured  cheaper. 
He  was  detained  by  the  severity  of  the  weath- 
er and  was  unable  to  return  to  his  companions 
for  more  than  a  month.  The  occupants  of 
"Pap's  Cabin"  saw  their  stock  of  provisions 
running  lower  and  lower,  each  day  bringing 
a  visible  diminution  in  their  means  of  sub- 
sistence. They  wondered  anxiously  if  Loomis 
would  ever  return  and  went  so  far  as  to  even 
question  his  honesty.  The  seriousness  of  the 
situation  is  illustrated  by  an  incident  which 
has  been  handed  down  from  that  distant  day. 

The  family  of  J\Ir.  Towle  occupied  the  east 
room  in  the  cabin  and  what  passed  for  an 
upstairs,  while  the  young  men  kept  bachelors' 
hall  in  the  west  end.  The  bachelors  had  or- 
ganized a  sort  of  cooperative  association  for 
housekeeping   purposes    only,    by   which    each 


181 


182  HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 

took  a  weekly  turn  as  cook  and  housekeeper,  and    when    the    second    winter    came,    plenty 

The  day  before  Loomis  returned  was  Sunday ;  smiled  on  every  hand. 

the  larder  in  the  bachelors'  end  of  the  build-  The  transition  from  a  few  covered  wagons 
ing  was  completely  cleaned  out;  Mother  Hub-  and  a  tent,  from  "Pap's  Cabin"  and  a  saw 
bard's  cupboard  was  not  barer.  It  was  Pike's  mill,  in  1857,  to  a  modern  city  of  approximate- 
turn  at  the  household  duties.  At  the  proper  ly  twelve  thousand  inhabitants  in  1918,  was  of 
hour  for  assuming  his  duties,  he  failed  to  arise,  course  painfully  slow.  At  first  there  was  little 
When  urged  to  proceed  with  the  breakfast,  he  at  hand  which  by  any  stretch  of  the  imagina- 
very  logically  argued  that  in  the  absence  of  tion  could  be  regarded  as  valuable  material 
anything  to  cook,  breakfast  was  out  of  the  for  the  upbuilding  of  a  city.  Supplies  beyond 
question.  An  animated  conversation  ensued  the  bare  necessities  of  life  were  scarce. 
in  which  the  condition  of  affairs  was  thorough-  Brownville  was  the  nearest  trading  point  and 
ly  exposed,  to  the  enlightenment,  as  well  as  between  here  and  there  lay  sixty  miles  of 
the  amusement  perhaps,  of  the  occupants  of  prairie,  practically  uninhabited;  the  road 
the  east  end  of  the  cabin.  Upstairs,  or  more  thither  was  little  better  than  a  wandering  trail 
properly  in  the  attic,  the  provident  Mrs.  Towle  across  a  prairie  waste.  After  crossing  Bear 
had  suspended  on  nails  two  fair  sized  pieces  creek  at  a  point  nearly  a  mile  north  of  the 
of  dried  beef.  A  conference  between  her  and  State  Institution  for  Feeble  Minded  Youth, 
her  husband  ensued,  in  which  the  relief  of  the  there  was,  as  late  as  1869  and  1870,  not  a 
famine  prevailing  in  the  west  end  of  the  cabin  single  dwelling  house  or  a  place  where  drink- 
was  agreed  upon.  Mr.  Towle  noiselessly  ing  water  could  be  obtained  until  Yankee  creek 
climbed  the  ladder  to  the  attic  and  taking  one  was  reached,  near  Crab  Orchard.  Settlers 
piece  of  the  dried  beef,  crossed  the  loose  floor  began  to  come  into  the  county  in  1858,  locat- 
to  a  point  directly  over  the  bed  where  Mr.  ing  usually  along  the  streams,  where  wood  and 
Pike  lay,  and  stealthily  removing  a  board,  water  could  be  obtained.  They  were  mostly 
dropped  the  beef  on  the  breast  of  that  gentle-  single  men,  or  a  husband  and  wife,  and  after 
man,  who,  with  ready  wit,  exclaimed,  "Thank  spending  a  portion  of  the  summer  on  their 
God,  the  ravens  have  brought  us  food."  The  claims  they  usually  returned  to  Missouri  river 
arrival  of  Loomis  removed  the  fear  as  well  towns  and  settlements  to  await  the  coming  of 
as    the    danger   of    starvation.     It   is    related,  spring. 

however,   that  on  account  of  the   scarcity  of  At  Beatrice  the  only  tangible  asset  of  any 

meat  during  the  latter  portion  of  the  winter,  value  possessed  by  the  Townsite  Company  was 

these   young,    college-bred    bachelors   did   not  the   steam  saw  mill   purchased   in   Omaha   in 

find    it   beneath    their    dignity   to    search    the  May,  1857,  and  even  this  mill  at  first  figured 

woods    for   the    festive   raccoon,   whose   flesh,  as  a  liability.     At  the  fourth  meeting  of  the 

though  eaten  with  relish,,  they  never  mistook  association,   on   July   28,    1857,   the   following 

for  a  delicacy.     Spring  brought  complete  re-  financial   report   was   read : 

lief,  and  the  colonists  for  the  first  time  were  mill  report 

able  to  appreciate   the   fact  that  the  woods.  Dr. 

the  prairies  and  streams  about  them  abounded     Original  cost  of  mill $2,750.00 

•  in  food  for  both  man  and  beast.  ^'^'f'l  °"  '!}"  ^^"?,'; ^^^6.50 

Cost  of  hauhng  mdl 548.15 

A  number  of  the  company  returned  during     Qqj)-  Qf  truck  " 75.00 

the  spring  and   summer   of   1858,   and  acces-  p 

sions  were  made  from  homeseekers,  such  as      p^j^j  qj.,  ^jj]    500.00 

Patrick  Burke,  the  first  blacksmith,  Ed.  Cart-      Paid  on  freight 542.30 

Wright,  the  noted  fisherman,  P.  M.  Favor  and      Paid  on  hauling 273.15 

others.     A  little  of  the  prairie  on  the  nearby  For  some   time   this  old   steam  mill   was  a 

claims  of  members  of  the  company  was  brok-  source  of ,  worry   to  the   members   of  the  as- 

en  and  planted  to  corn,  melons  and  vegetables,  sociation,    and    possibly    of    some   contention. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


183 


The  chief  difficulty  apparentl}'  was  to  find 
some  one  competent  to  set  up  and  run  it,  but 
by  the  beginning  of  1858  it  was  in  effective 
operation.  On  the  28th  day  of  May  in  that 
year,  at  a  meeting  of  the  members  of  the  as- 
sociation, J.  B.  Weston,  the  agent  of  the 
company  having  the  enterprise  in  charge,  re- 
ported that  the  hnnber  sold  from  the  mill 
amounted  to  $383.38.  "Of  this  sum"  he  says, 
"five  dollars  in  specie  is  in  the  halids  of  the 
agent."  Once  in  successful  operation,  the  old 
company  steam  mill,  which  was  the  first  manu- 
facturing enterprise  of  the  county,  excluding 
the  government  mill  on  the  Otoe  and  Missouri 
Indian  reservation,  for  many  years  supplied 
not  only  Beatrice  but  also  a  large  area  of  the 
surrounding  country  with  lumber  of  every 
kind  and  dimension,  white  oak,  walnut,  hack- 
berry,  Cottonwood,  the  last,  however,  being 
the  main  reliance  for  building  purposes.  This 
mill  did  custom  work  on  the  toll  system ;  that 
is,  the  party  who  hauled  saw  logs  to  it  rarely 
if  ever  paid  cash  for  the  services  of  the 
sawyer,  but  gave  in  payment  part  of  the 
lumber  manufactured  from  his  logs.  This 
system  has  long  since  been  abolished  in  Ne- 
braska, either  by  law  or  custom,  probably  on 
account  of  its  inherent  temptation  to  dishon- 
esty. The  owner  of  the  logs  frequently  de- 
livered them  at  the  mill  in  the  winter,  and  at 
times  when  there  was  great  congestion  in 
the  mill  yard  he  might  be  compelled  to  wait 
many  weeks  before  his  turn  came  to  have  his 
logs  made  into  lumber.  He  was  without 
adequate  means  for  checking  the  milling  of 
his  logs  and  was  almost  compelled  to  accept 
what  the  owner  or  lessee  of  the  mill  turned 
out  to  him.  The  settlers  were  rarely  satis- 
fied with  what  they  received. 

But  with  all  its  imperfections  and  the  de- 
fects of  the  tolling  system,  the  old  company 
mill  was  not  only  a  great  convenience  to  the 
settlers  but  was  also  a  positive  asset  in  the 
settlement  and  development  of  the  county. 
When  Fordyce  Roper,  in  1861,  erected  the 
first  flouring  mill  at  Beatrice  and  placed  a 
dam  across  the  river  by  which  to  obtain  power 
for  his  enterprise,  he  either  purchased  or 
leased  the  old  steam  saw  mill  from  the  town- 


site  company  and  changed  it  to  a  water-driven 
mill.  He  operated  it  in  connection  with  his 
flouring  mill  until  1869,  when  William  E. 
Hill,  of  Nebraska  City,  opened  a  lumber  yard 
at  tlie  corner  of  Fourth  and  Court  streets  and 
placed  it  in  charge  of  William  Survoss.  This 
soon  put  an  end  to  the  old  saw  mill  of  pioneer 
days. 

As  already  noted,  the  first  building  erected 
in  Beatrice  was  the  company  house,  which  af- 
terward became  widely  and  favorably  known 
as  "Pap's  Cabin."  When  the  association  ad- 
journed in  Omaha  on  May  21st,  to  meet  in 
Beatrice,  July  27,  1857,  a  number  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  association  made  their  way  to  the 
townsite  in  June,  and  immediately  began  the 
erection  of  this  building.  It  was  located  on 
what  was  afterward  designated  on  the  original 
town  plat  as  block  forty-six,  a  block  which  is 
now  entirely  owned  and  occupied  by  the  Chi- 
cago, Burlington  &  Quincy  Railroad  Company 
as  a  site  for  its  passenger  depot.  In  its  ori- 
ginal state  the  block  comprised  a  tract  of 
land  which  terminated  abruptly  on  the  north 
in  a  steep  bank  that  ran  down  six  or  eight 
feet  to  Ella  streets  which  was  then  a  flat  swale 
leading  to  the  river.  The  south  third  of  the 
block  also  lay  in  a  wide  depression,  which  ex- 
tended on  the  south  nearly  across  Court  street. 
This  depression  also  led  to  the  river,  narrow- 
ing to  a  deep  channel  just  before  it  entered 
that  stream,  where  the  east  abutment  of  the 
present  Court  street  bridge  is  located.  On 
the  south  bank  of  this  channel  stood  the  old 
saw  mill,  a  trifle  north  of  where  Black  Broth- 
ers' magnificent  merchant  mill  now  stands. 
On  the  west  side  of  the  block  the  ground  fell 
away  rapidly  toward  the  river,  but  on  the  east 
it  formed  part  of  a  beautiful  plateau,  reach- 
ing to  Third  street. 

After  Mr.  Towle  moved  his  family  to 
Beatrice,  in  the  autumn  of  1857,  this  building, 
which  had  been  partly  completed,  was  donated 
to  him  as  a  residence  and  was  occupied  by  this 
genial  and  influential  citizen  as  a  family  resi- 
dence, postofifice,  court  room,  village  inn,  elec- 
tion booth,  and  as  the  general  meeting  place 
for  the  entire  community,  until  1867,  when  it 
was  sold  to  Job  Buchanan,  by  whom  it  was 


184 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


eventually  transferred  to  the  Burlington  Rail- 
road Company. 

The  second  building  erected  in  the  hamlet 
of  Beatrice  was  Isma  Mumford's  residence 
and  hotel  building.  This  was  located  on  block 
forty-seven,  and  was  a  story  and  a  half,  hewed- 
log  structure,  containing  five  or  six  rooms. 
Though  suffering  many  modifications,  this 
building  still  remains;  it  is  just  north  of  the 
Butler  House  and  is  owned  and  occupied  by 
W.  W.  Scott  as  a  storage  building. 

Beginning  with  1858,  a  number  of  build- 
ings were  erected,  some  log,  some  slab  and 
some  of  sawed  timber.  Orr  Stevens  had  moved 
from  the  neighborhood  of  Austin's  Mill,  on 
Indian  creek,  at  that  time  known  as  Stevens 
creek,  and  had  settled  on  lot  one,  block  forty- 
six.  Dr.  Reynolds  and  Oliver  Townsend  had 
a  little  log  hut  on  the  south  side  of  Court 
street,  between  Third  and  Fourth,  and  near 
them  were  Patrick  Burke's  blacksmith  shop 
and  slab  shanty  where  his  family  lived.  There 
were  also  a  few  other  rude  structures  of 
which  no  one  now  remembers  the  use  or  own- 
ership, and  no  reliable  record  exists  by  which 
their  location  can  be  ascertained.  In  Septem- 
ber, 1859,  \yhen  this  writer  first  saw  Beatrice, 
it  was  a  mere  huddle  of  log  and  slab  shanties, 
with  scarcely  an  effort  toward  a  building  of 
any  pretensions.  Aside  from  "Pap's  Cabin" 
and  the  Mumford  building,  the  most  preten- 
tious structure  was  the  shed  that  housed  the 
steam  engine  at  the  mill.  Beatrice  did  not 
contain  to  exceed  fifty  actual  residents  all  told. 
The  prairie  came  down  to  Fifth  street  and  the 
traveled  portion  of  Court  street  from  there  to 
the  river  was  a  narrow  wagon  track,  like  a 
country  road.  Court  was  the  only  street  that 
showed  signs  of  being  regularly  traveled,  and 
this  was  only  from  Fourth  street  on  to  the  ford 
across  the  river  just  above  where  the  bridge 
is  now  located. 

In  August,  1859,  the  members  of  the  town- 
site  company,  after  a  mighty  elTort,  raised  a 
thousand  dollars  to  enable  Dr.  Reynolds,  as 
mayor  of  the  town,  an  office  required  by  the 
federal  townsite  act,  to  enter  the  half-section 
of  land  comprising  the  original  town  of  Be- 
atrice, and  to  pay  the  expenses  attending  the 


surveying  and  platting  of  the  townsite.  On 
September  12,  1859,  a  certified  copy  of  the  plat 
was  filed  in  the  government  land  office  at 
Brownville  and  the  entry  and  purchase  of  the 
land  allowed.  Thereafter  patent  was  issued 
to  Dr.  Reynolds  as  mayor  and  trustee  of  the 
townsite  company,  and  deeds  and  other  con- 
veyances of  the  lots  could  then  be  made.  As 
far  as  a  mere  paper  townsite  goes,  Beatrice 
from  that  moment  had  existence.  The  growth 
of  the  town,  however,  was  slow,  though  con- 
stant. The  county  itself,  in  1860,  contained 
but  four  hundred  and  twenty-one  white  in- 
habitants, according  to  the  federal  census  of 
that  year.  Of  this  number  probably  twent_v 
per  cent,  could  properly  be  credited  to  Beatrice. 
During  the  decade  which  closed  in  1870, 
though  still  a  pioneer  village,  Beatrice  in- 
creased its  population  to  six  hundred  and  twen- 
ty-four inhabitants.  The  state  of  Nebraska  it- 
self had  come  into  the  Union  on  March  1,  1867, 
with  a  population  of  123,993,  and  the  old  ter- 
ritorial organization  had  passed  away.  The 
Union  Pacific  Railroad  was  completed  from 
Council  Bluflfs,  Iowa,  via  Omaha,  to  the  Paci- 
fic coast.  This  first  great  continental  railway 
line  traverses  the  entire  length  of.  Nebraska 
from  east  to  west.  Its  construction,  together 
with  the  conferring  of  statehood  upon  Nebras- 
ka, was  a  tremendous  uplift  to  every  interest 
of  the  state.  Population  flowed  in,  capital 
sought  investment,  towns  and  villages  sprang 
into  existence,  institutions  of  learning  were 
founded,  roads  established,  and  all  those  ele- 
ments of  progress  as  well  as  of  convenience 
and  necessity,  which  a  high  degree  of  civiliza- 
tion and  refinement  implies,  had  received  a 
mighty  impetus  throughout  the  entire  state. 
The  construction  of  the  Burlington  system, 
which  was  ultimately  to  gridiron  a  large  por- 
tion of  Nebraska,  was  under  way  across  the 
state  from  Omaha  to  Denver,  via  Lincoln,  to 
be  followed  early  in  the  '70s  by  the  building 
of  the  line  of  railway  known  to  the  early  set- 
tlers as  the  Atchison  &  Nebraska.  Not  only 
Beatrice  and  Gage  county,  but  also  all  Ne- 
braska east  of  the  one  hundredth  meridian,  was 
IHilsing  with  the  energ}'  and  enthusiasm  which 
a  rapidlv  increasing  population  and  a  tremen- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


185 


clous  accession  of  wealth  are  apt  to  excite  in  a 
body  politic  at  any  time  and  under  all  circum- 
stances. Before  the  close  of  1870,  steps  were 
inaugurated  for  the  extension  of  the  Burling- 
ton Railroad  system  to  Beatrice.  Hfcre 
it  is  sufficient  to  say  that  this  extension, 
together  with  the  other  activities  of  the  70's 
here  mentioned,  went  far  toward  realizing  the 
dreams,  the  hopes,  the  visions  of  Kinney,  i\lc- 
Conihe,  Towle,  Reynolds,  Weston,  Pike,  Town- 
send,  Cook,  and  the  other  founders  of  this 
beautiful  city  of  Beatrice.  During  this  period, 
as  if  by  magic,  there  was  evolved  —  from  the 
old  steam  saw  mill,  "Pap's  Cabin"  and  the  clus- 


school  building  erected  in  the  county,  it  was 
the  subject  of  considerable  comment  by  every- 
body. People  came  from  far  and  near  to  look 
at  it,  and  when  school  opened  that  fall,  with 
Oliver  Townsend  as  the  teacher,  many  a  man 
breathed  a  sigh  of  relief  on  reflecting  that  at 
last  school  privileges  were  in  sight  for  his 
children. 

By  the  close  of  1870,  the  hardships  of  pio- 
neer conditions  were  rapidly  passing  away. 
As  a  member  of  the  first  state  legislature,  in 
1868,  Hon.  Nathan  Blakely  had  procured  the 
passage  of  an  act  appropriating  one  thousand 
acres  of  land  in  Gage  county,  the  proceeds  of 


Court  Street  in  1S70. 


ter  of  huts  and  slab  and  board  shanties  that 
earlier  comprised  this  unknown  western  ham- 
let on  the  very  rim  of  civilization  —  under  the 
name  of  Beatrice  a  beautiful  and  enterprising 
little  city,  destined  to  attain  a  position  of  great 
power  and  influence  in  the  state  and  nation. 

During  this  decade  living  conditions  greatly 
improved  in  Beatrice  and  Gage  county.  As 
early  as  1862,  a  small  frame  school  house  was 
erected  on  the  block  dedicated  by  the  founders 
of  the  city  to  school  purposes,  where  the  Cen- 
tral grade-school  building  now  stands.  This 
building  was  a  one  story,  single-room  struc- 
ture, sixteen  by  twenty  feet  in  dimensions.  It 
Avas  built  of  cottonwood  lumber  donated  by  the 
townsite  company  and  supplied  from  its  saw- 
mill, and  the  labor  re(|uired  for  its  erection 
was   largely    donated.     As   this    was   the   first 


which,  when  sold,  were  to  be  used  in  erecting 
a  bridge  across  the  Big  Blue  river  at  Beatrice. 
The  lands  thus  donated  were  a  part  of  a  dona- 
tion of  five  hundred  thousand  acres  of  land  by 
the  federal  government  to  the  state  of  Nebras- 
ka, out  of  the  public  domain  in  the  state,  to 
be  used  for  internal  improvement.  Almost 
as  soon  as  Mr.  Blakely's  bill  became  operative 
steps  were  taken  to  carry  its  purposes  into 
effect. 

On  May  22,  1869.  the  county  commissioners, 
Ticknor,  \\'i:kham,  and  Pettygrevv.  ordered  an 
advertisement  in  the  Clarion,  a  newspaper 
which  was  printed  in  Beatrice  and  which  had 
just  come  into  existence,  calling  for  bids  for 
the  construction  of  a  bridge  at  Beatrice  across 
the  Big  Blue  river,  to  consist  of  three  stone 
piers  twenty-four  feet  high,  two  spans,  each 


186 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


one  hundred  and  thirty  feet  in  length  and 
sixteen  feet  high,  to  cost  not  less  than  six 
thousand  nor  more  than  eight  thousand  dol- 
lars, and  to  be  completed  by  August  1,  1870. 
The  public  lands  selected  by  the  county  board 
to  be  applied  to  the  cost  of  erecting  this 
bridge,  were :  The  northeast  quarter  of  sec- 
tion 15,  township  2,  range  6;  the  southwest 
quarter  of  section  1 ;  the  southeast  quarter  of 
the  southeast  quarter  of  section  2 ;  the  north- 
east quarter  of  section  3 ;  and  the  northwest 
quarter  of  section  12,  all  in  township  4,  range 
6;  and  the  north  half  of  section  2,  township 
4  north,  range  7  east,  Gage  county,  Nebraska. 

There  were  several  bids  for  this  first  county 
bridge.  Cyrus  W.  Wheeler  for  the  wood- 
work on  the  bridge  bid  $5,000;  Michael  Hinne- 
berry  for  the  piers  alone  bid  $3,000;  J.  Killian 
&  Son  for  the  complete  work,  $8,000;  Curtis  & 
Peavy,  of  Pawnee  City,  bid  $7,600  on  the  com- 
plete structure  and  were  awarded  the  contract. 
This  bridge  was  located  where  the  old  Market 
street  ford  crossed  the  river,  immediately  be- 
low Black  Brothers'  mill.  It  was  a  high,  nar- 
row structure,  with  room  for  only  one  vehicle 
at  a  time,  and  was  perched  on  abutments  which 
were  said  to  have  been  filled  with  straw  and 
stable  manure  instead  of  cement.  The  first 
spring  freshet  that  took  the  ice  out  of  the 
river,  carried  this  bridge  down  with  the  flood. 
But  its  brief  existence  taught  the  public  the 
value  of  bridges  in  our  county,  and  this  work 
has  gone  on  until  now  the  annual  bridge  budg- 
et of  seventy-five  thousand  dollars  makes  the 
Peavey  &  Curtis  appropriation  of  eight  thous- 
and look  extremely  insignificant. 

During  1870  the  old  part  of  what  is  now  the 
Burwood  Hotel  was  erected  by  Woodford  G. 
McDowell  and  his  brother,  Joseph  B.  Mc- 
Dowell, and  it  was  opened  to  public  patronage 
by  a  grand  ball,  on  January  1,  1871.  Prior  to 
this,  however,  a  frame  hotel  building  of  some 
pretentions  had  been  erected  by  George  Hul- 
burt,  at  the  corner  of  Second  and  Market 
streets,  on  lots  2  and  3,  block  67  of  the  origi- 
nal town  of  Beatrice,  known  at  the  time  as  the 
Hulburt  House.  About  1874  title  was  ac- 
quired to  this  property  by  the  Kansas  &  Ne- 
braska Stage  Company,  wlio  reconstructed  the 


building  into  a  large  hostelry  and  christened  it 
the  Pacific  House.  For  many  years  this  old 
building  discharged  the  office  of  a  public  inn. 
The  spot  where  it  stood  is  now  occupied  by 
the  buildings  of  the  Sonderegger  Nurseries 
and  Seed  House. 

In  1868  the  government  land  office  was  mov- 
ed from  Brownville  to  Beatrice  and  for  nearly 
twenty  years  this  city  was  the  center  of  activ- 
ity for  the  entire  Beatrice  land  district.  At 
that  time  a  government  land  office  was  an  im- 
portant institution  in  the  settlement  and  de- 
velopment of  the  country.  People  from  long 
distances  were  compelled  to  transact  their  bus- 
iness largely  with  the  government  officials  at 
the  land  office.  The  counties  west  of  Gage 
at  that  time  were  rapidly  filling  with  home- 
steaders and  other  classes  of  entrymen,  farms 
were  being  opened  in  all  the  eleven  counties 
comprising  the  land  district,  and  particularly 
in  Jefferson,  Saline,  Thayer,  Fillmore,  Nuck- 
olls, and  Clay  counties.  Supplies  of  all  kinds, 
including  farm  tools,  lumber,  meats,  groceries, 
dry  goods,  and  the  like,  were  necessary  to  the 
settlers,  and  Beatrice  merchants  and  business 
men  profited  greatly  by  this  temporary  trade. 

During  the  time  that  had  elapsed  since  that 
July  day  in  1857  when  Judge  Kinney  directed 
the  secretary  of  the  Beatrice  Association, 
young,  scholarly  John  McConihe,  to  call  the 
roll  of  the  members  of  the  association  on  the 
townsite  of  Beatrice,  to  the  close  of  1870,  the 
people  of  Beatrice  as  well  as  of  the  county  at 
large  had  accustomed  themselves  to  the  incon- 
venience under  which  they  rested  as  respected 
markets,  trade,  mails,  travel,  transportation  and 
the  like.  The  transportation  of  merchandise 
from  Nebraska  City  and  Brownville  to  Beat- 
rice had  become  so  common  as  to  be  taken  as  a 
matter  of  course.  When  wheat  became  a  sta- 
ple crop  in  the  county,  the  surplus  was  hauled 
to  the  Missouri  river,  where  water  transpor- 
tation could  be  had,  and  the  farmer  loaded 
back  with  lumber,  salt  and  other  freight  for 
Beatrice  merchants,  who  were  thus  enabled  not 
only  to  supply  their  trade  with  better  goods 
and  in  increasing  quantities,  but  also  to  carry 
practically  everything  demanded  by  their  cus- 
tomers. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


187 


The  carrying  of  the  mail  for  Beatrice  and 
practically  all  of  Gage  county  was  at  first  a 
neighborhood  affair.  Those  whose  business 
took  them  to  Nebraska  City,  Brownville  or  oth- 
er Missouri  river  towns  where  mail  was  re- 
ceived for  the  settlers,  brought  back  with  them 
letters,  papers  and  other  mail  for  their  neigh- 
borhood. But  in  1860  a  regular  mail  route 
was  established  between  Nebraska  City  and 
Marysville,  Kansas,  via  Beatrice.  Joseph 
Saunders  was  the  first  mail  carrier  on  this 
route.  He  first  rode  into  Beatrice  with  the 
United  States  mail  on  the  evening  of  October 
3,  1860.  At  that  time  a  national  election  of 
intense  interest  was  rapidly  approaching,  and 
as  Mr.  Saunders  rode  up  to  the  postofiice, 
"Pap's  Cabin,"  he  was  greeted  by  practically 
the  entire  population  of  Beatrice,  all  eager  to 
hear  the  news.  The  mail  was  carried  on  horse- 
back and  the  carrier  was  frequently  forced  to 
swim  the  unbridged  streams.  But  no  one  ever 
heard  Joseph  Saunders  complain  of  the  hard- 
ship of  his  task  and  none  ever  knew  him  to 
fail  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties.  He  was, 
in  fact,  a  most  faithful  and  a  most  efficient 
public  servant. 

In  1868  a  regular  stage  route  was  establish- 
ed from  both  Nebraska  City  and  Brownville, 
via  Tecumseh,  to  Beatrice.  On  x^ugust  26, 
1868,  the  Blue  Valley  Reeord  announced  that 
the  Kansas  &  Nebraska  Stage  Line,  of  which 
Martin  V.  Nichols,  Cyrus  P.  Wheeler  and 
Cyrus  H.  Cotter  were  proprietors,  was  in  per- 
fect working  order  and  made  trips  regularly 
to  Nebraska  City  every  other  day ;  a'hd  later 
the  public  received  the  following  announce- 
ment, in  the  way  of  an  advertisement  in  the 
Reeord: 

Kansas  &  Nebraska  Stage  Company,  from 
Nebraska  City,  Nebraska,  to  Tecumseh  and 
Beatrice,  and  intermediate  points,  carrying 
United  States  Mail,  Passengers  and  Express 
Packages. 

Leaves  Nebraska  City  ]\Iondays,  Wednes- 
days and  Fridays,  connecting  at  Beatrice  with 
a  stage  line  to  Lincoln,  the  Capital. 

Returning,  leaves  Beatrice  on  Tuesdays. 
Thursdays,  and  Saturdays,  connecting  at  Te- 
cumseh with  the  stage  line  for  Brownville  and 
intermediate  points,  and  at  Nebraska  City  with 
the  Council  Bluffs  &  St.  Joseph  Railroad  for 
all  points  east,  north  and  south. 


The  Hulburt  House,  later  and  better  known 
as  the  Pacific  Hotel,  was  in  those  days  the 
Beatrice  stage  station,  and  its  genial  proprie- 
tor, George  W.  Hulburt,  was  the  stage  com- 
pany's agent  at  Beatrice. 

But  the  aspiring  entrepot  of  southeast  Ne- 
braska was  not  long  satisfied  with  a  tri-weekly 
mail  from  Brownville  and  Nebraska  City. 
Strenuous  efforts  were  made  early  in  1869  to 
secure  through  the  stage  company  a  daily  ser- 
vice. In  the  Blue  Valley  Record  for  Feb- 
ruary 20,  1869,  voice  is  given  to  this  longing 
in  a  brief  editorial,  which  reads  as  follows : 

The  country  needs  a  daily  mail  between 
this  point  and  the  river  towns.  This  want, 
already  a  pressing  one,  is  growing  more  so 
every  day,  and  the  increased  amount  of  busi- 
ness which  will  be  transacted  here  in  the 
spring,  and  the  rapid  growth  of  the  country 
will  render  it  a  demand  of  such  a  nature  as 
not  to  be  much  longer  resisted.  The  question 
of  having  it  is  only  a  question  of  time,  how 
soon  we  shall  have  it  is  one  which  our  citizens 
can  in  the  main  determine  for  themselves. 
Petitions  should  be  gotten  up  and  circulated 
along  the  route,  and  we,  who  are  most  inter- 
ested, should  be  the  first  to  move  in  it.  Brown- 
ville and  Nebraska  City  have  already  shown 
a  willingness  to  assist  in  having  it  established, 
for  they  well  know  the  importance  of  having 
close  connections  with  this  country  and  will 
not  be  wanting  in  efforts  to  accomplish  it. 
The  matter  should  be  attended  to  at  once. 
The  roads  are  becoming  good ,  the  days  longer 
and  the  trip  can  be  easily  made  in  a  day.  Let 
us  for  once  lay  aside  old  fogyism  and  inhale 
enough  of  the  spirit  of  the  age  in  which  we 
live  to  show  some  energy  in  so  important  a 
matter. 

This  agitation  was  evidently  successful,  as 
the  first  number  of  Volume  I  of  the  Beatrice 
Clarion,  issued  on  the  8th  day  of  May,  1869, 
announced  a  daily  mail  over  the  Kansas  & 
Nebraska  Stage  Line  from  Nebraska  City  and 
Brownville  to  Beatrice  and  intermediate  points, 
connecting  at  Beatrice  with  the  stage  line  to 
Lincoln  and  leaving  Beatrice  on  its  return  trips 
every  morning  at  seven  o'clock,  Sundays  ex- 
cepted, for  Brownville  and  Nebraska  City ;  and 
connecting  at  each  point  with  the  Council 
Bluffs  &  St.  Joseph  Railroad  for  eastern,  north- 
ern and  southern  destinations. 

These  old  advertisements  act  as  little  win- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


dows  through  which  we  may  see  into  the  very 
heart  of  things  as  they  were  in  those  far  off 
pioneer  days,  half  a  century  ago.  Through 
them  we  may  behold  how  a  little  western  vil- 
lage on  the  bank  of  the  Big  Blue  river,  in  a 
trifle  more  than  ten  years  from  the  date  of  its 
founding  on  a  trackless  prairie  waste,  in  1857, 
had  become  a  center  for  travel  and  the  dis- 
tribution of  the  United  States  mails.  Nay 
more,  they  show  how  elTectually  the  pioneers 
of  our  county  had  learned  to  make  the  most 
of  such  advantages  as  their  surroundings  af- 
forded. 

Let  us  take  a  last  glance  at  the  Beatrice  of 
the  '60s.  The  county  officers  in  1868  and  1869, 
most  of  whom  were  quartered  in  Beatrice  or 
near  it,  were:  Probate  judge,  H.  M.  Rey- 
nolds ;  county  treasurer,  Albert  Towle ;  sheriff, 
Luther  P.  Chandler;  county  clerk,  Oliver 
Townsend;  surveyor,  A.  J.  Pethoud;  coroner, 
Daniel  Freeman ;  county  commissioners,  Wil- 
liam Ticknor,  Horace  M.  Wickham  and  James 
M.  Pettygrew;  while  Nathan  Blakely  repre- 
sented the  county  in  the  state  legislature.  Al- 
bert Towle  was  postmaster,  and  the  following 
advertisement,  undoubtedly  prepared  by  him, 
correctly  exhibits  the  mailing  facilities  of  the 
community  on  February  20,  1869: 

MAII.S 

Arrivals  and  departures  of  mails  from  the 
Postoffice  of  Beatrice,  Nebraska. 

Falls  City  to  Beatrice 
Arrives  Tuesdays,  Thursdays,  and  Saturdays, 

at  6  P.  M. 
Departs  Mondays,  Wednesdays,  and  Fridays, 
at  6  A.  M. 
Nebraska  City  and  Brownville,  to  Beatrice 
Arrives  at  Beatrice  Mondays,  Wednesdays  and 

Fridays  at  4  P.  M. 
Departs  Tuesdays,  Thursdays  and  Saturdays, 
at  7  A.  M. 

Beatrice   to   Marysville,    Kas. 
Arrives  Tuesdays,  Thursdays  and  Saturdays, 

at  6  P.  M. 

Departs  Mondays,   Wednesdays   and   Fridays, 

at  6  A.  M. 

Plattsmouth  via  Lincoln,  to  Beatrice 

Arrives  Wednesday  at  12  M. 

Departs  same  day  at  1  P.  M. 

Beatrice  to  Big  Sandy 
Departs  Wednesdays  at  6  A.  M. 
Arrives  Thursdav  at  8  P.  M. 

Albert  Towle,  P.M. 


The  government  land  office  was  located  on 
the  second  floor  of  Joseph  Saunders'  brick 
store,  on  the  south  side  of  Court  street,  be- 
tween Third  and  Fourth  streets,  in  the  build- 
ing now  occupied  in  part  by  John  Pagel's  groc- 
ery store.  Henry  M.  Atkinson  was  the  regis- 
ter and  John  L.  Carson,  the  well  known  banker 
of  Brownville,  was  the  receiver.  The  office 
was,  however,  mainly  under  the  direction  of 
"Jack"  McFarland,  chief  clerk  of  the  office  at 
that  time. 

A  semi-annual  report  of  Mr.  Towle,  as  coun- 
ty treasurer,  of  the  aff'airs  of  his  office  from 
April  7  to  October  7,  1869,  showed  total  re- 
ceipts amounting  to  $9,722.00,  with  a  balance 
in  the  treasury  of  $3,323.18. 

The  legal  profession  was  represented  in 
Gage  county  by  Jefferson  B.  Weston,  Silas 
B.  Harrington,  Nathan  K.  Griggs,  and  Hiram 
P.  Webb.  Drs.  H.  H.  Reynolds,  Levi  An- 
thony, and  C.  F.  Sprague  were  engaged  in 
the  practice  of  medicine.  Blakely,  Reynolds 
&  Townsend ;  LaSelle,  Buchanan  &  Son ;  and 
Joseph  Saunders  were  the  representatives  of 
the  general  mercantile  business.  The  drug- 
gists were  George  W.  Hinkle  and  George  W. 
Brock;  the  blacksmiths,  Jacob  Shaw  and  A.  L. 
Snow ;  A.  W.  Proctor  and  D.  Stewart  carried 
on  wagon-making  shops,  while  J.  W.  Wehn, 
Jr.,  had  a  paint  shop  at  Court  and  Second 
streets.  Fordyce  Roper  owned  the  mill,  which 
was  advertised  as  the  finest  site  on  the  Big 
Blue  river,  and  in  connection  with  it,  he  had  a 
saw  mill,  a  lath  and  shingle  machine,  and 
carried  a  large  supply  of  all  kinds  of  lumber. 
Mrs.  M.  F.  Buchanan  was  the  dressmaker  and 
milliner  of  the  town.  Heard  &  Guffy  supplied 
all  kinds  of  cut  stone  for  building  purposes, 
from  their  Rockford  quarry.  Samuel  Myers 
and  Volney  Rhodes  were  the  harnessmakers. 
Warren  E.  Chesney  was  the  proprietor  of  the 
Beatrice  House,  the  old  hotel  erected  by  Is- 
ma  Mumford  in  1857.  Charles  F.  Satler  and 
Asher  Van  Buskirk  made  boots  and  shoes  for 
the  pioneers ;  while  Artemus  Baker,  a  cabinet- 
maker, supplied  the  demand  for  work  in  his 
line.  William  Hagy  was  just  beginning  to  do 
a  thriving  business  as  a  manufacturer  of  brick 
for  building  pilrposes. 


CHAPTER  XX 

BEATRICE  CONTINUED 

Incorporatkin  OF  Towns  BY  County  Board — Petition  to  Incorporatb  Beatrice  —  Order 
Incorporating  Beatrice  —  First   Board  oe  Trustees  —  Incorporation  of  Beatrice  as 
A  City  of  the  Second  Class  —  First  City    Council  —  Population    of    Beatrice  — 
Incorporation  of  Beatrice  as  a  City  of   the   First   Class  —  Additions   to   Be- 
atrice—  Changed  to  Commission  Government  —  First  County  Court  House  — 
Location  — •  Old  "Public  Square"  —  Description   —  Cost  —  Abandoned  — 
Demolished  —  A   New   Court  House  —  Court    House    Bond   Litigation  — 
County   Jail  —  The    New   Jail  —  First    United    States    Postoffices  — 
Present  Postoffice  Building  —  Postmasters  —  Beatrice  City  Hall  — 
Fire    Department  —  Lighting    Plant  —  Sewers  —  Paving  —  City 
Water  Works 


From  the  date  of  its  founding,  in  July, 
1857,  to  September,  1871,  Beatrice  had  ex- 
isted as  an  unincorporated  hamlet  or  village. 
Under  the  law  regulating  the  incorporation  of 
toivns,  the  county  commissioners  of  any 
county  in  Nebraska  were  empowered,  and  in 
fact  required,  by  proper  order  to  incorporate 
any  town  within  their  county  whenever  a  ma- 
jority of  its  taxable  inhabitants  should  pre- 
sent a  petition  praying  for  its  incorporation. 
The  corporate  powers  of  every  town  were  by 
law  vested  in  a  board  of  trustees  of  five  mem- 
bers, to  be  elected,  after  the  first  board,  by 
the  qualified  voters  residing  within  such  town ; 
and  the  county  conmiissioners  at  the  time  they 
declared  a  town  incorporated  were  required 
to  appoint  as  trustees  for  the  town  five  suit- 
able persons,  who  should  hold  their  offices 
until  their  successors  were  duly  elected  and 
qualified.  Amongst  the  qualifications  required 
by  law  for  a  town  trustee  was  that  he  should 
be  a  "free,  white  male  citizen  of  the  L^nited 
States."  The  law  vested  boards  of  trustees 
of  towns  with  the  usual  powers  possessed  by 
governing  bodies  of  municipal  corporations, 
and  contained  some  provisions  not  now  met 
with  in  similar  statutes. 


Pursuant  to  the  requirements  of  this  stat- 
ute, on  the  9th  day  of  September,  1871,  there 
was  filed  before  the  board  of  commissioners 
of  Gage  county  a  petition  praying  that  body 
to  incorporate  Beatrice  as  a  town  and  to  ap- 
point as  trustees  thereof,  H.  M.  Reynolds, 
J.  B.  McDowell,  Albert  Towle,  William' Lamb, 
and  Job  Buchanan.  Many  of  the  names  at- 
tached to  this  petition  will  always  be  promi- 
nent in  ever}-  history  of  Gage  county.  For 
this  reason,  and  because  the  petition  neces- 
sarily represented  a  majority  of  the  taxable 
inhabitants  of  Beatrice  at  that  time,  the  names 
of  the  signers  are  here  given.     They  are: 


J.  B.  Weston 

H.  W.  Parker 

S.  C.  B.  Dean 

N.  Blakely 

I.  N.  McConnell 

John  McGregor,  M.D. 

C.  G.  Dorsey 

G.  W.  Dorsey 

W.  J.  Pemberton 

F.  T.  Clififord 

Oliver  M.  Enlow 

J.  F.  King 

H.  A.  LaSelle 


John  G.  Davis,  M.D. 
G.  H.  Gale 
C.  C.  Freil 
L.  M.  Korner 
J.  S.  S.  Wallace 
John  M.  Hayes 
William  Hothan 
Byron  Bradt 
N.  K.  Griggs 
Israel  Blythe 
W.  D.  Knowles 
J.  Buchanan 
James  Van  Buskirk 


189 


190 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


A.  S.  Marsh  W.  A.  Presson 

H.  P.  Webb  George  W.  Jackson 

William  P.  Hess  L.  Y.  Coffin 

C.  N.  Emery  G.  F.  Sprague,  M.D. 

George  W.  Hinkle  Ford   Roper 

J.  Q.  Thacker  Peter  Terry 

J.  H.  Halliday  A.  P.  Hazard 

Daniel  Freeman  J.  A.   McMeans 

William  H.  Walker         M.  L.  McMeans 
George  W.  Place  C.  A.  Pease 

William  Hevverkel  Orrin  Stevens 

Blauser  Brown  Joseph  Saunders 

H.  M.  Reynolds  James  Boyd 

H.  L.  Wagner  Artemus  Baker 

James  Charles  J.  Fitch  Kinney,  Jr. 

Peter  Brauner  George  L.  Lamkin 

C.  H.  Cotter  M.  T.  Wetherald 

Fred  Wenger  J.  L.  Webb,  M.D. 

Oliver  Townsend  William  Lamb 

William  H.  Lamb  Albert  Towle 

Leroy  Tinkham  S.  W.  Wadsworth 

John  Yohe  S.  Meyers 

C.  R.  Rogers  S.  W.  Allen 
E.  H.  King  Milton  Rhodes 
H.  Broughton  Paul  Hailman 
G.  B.  Reynolds                 C.  Rosenthal 

D.  E.  Marsh  Sherman  P.  Lester 
M.  W.  Beam  William  A.  Wagner 
A.  L.  Snow 

Of  these  eighty-three  petitioners,  as  far  as 
known  to  this  writer,  all  have  passed  to  the 
great  beyond,  save  G.  B.  Reynolds,  H.  A. 
LaSelle,  William  H.  Walker,  Byron  Bradt, 
and  George  W.  Hinkle,  of  Beatrice;  A.  L. 
Snow,  of  Milford,  Nebraska ;  Sherman  P. 
Lester  and  J.  Fitch  Kinney,  Jr.,  of  Portland, 
Oregon;  and  Samuel  Meyers,  of  Bassett,  Ne- 
braska. 

On  the  day  the  foregoing  petition  was  pre- 
sented to  the  commissioners  —  Solon  M. 
Hazen,  Horace  M.  Wickham,  and  James  Pet- 
tigrew  —  that  body,  after  declaring  that  it 
was  fully  satisfied  that  a  majority  of  the  tax- 
able inhabitants  of  said  town  of  Beatrice  had 
signed  the  petition  and  that  they  had  consid- 
ered the  same  and  were  fully  advised  in  the 
premises,  ordered,  "That  the  inhabitants  re- 
siding upon  the  southeast  quarter  of  section 
33  and  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  34,  in 


township  4  north,  of  range  6  east  of  the  6th 
principal  meridian,  Gage  county,  Nebraska 
the  same  being  the  originally  surveyed  town- 
site  of  Beatrice,  and  all  the  legal  additions 
which  may  now  or  may  hereafter  be  attached 
to  the  said  town  of  Beatrice,  be  and  are  here- 
by declared  incorporated,  a  body  politic  and 
corporate  by  the  name  and  style  of  the  town 
of  Beatrice. 

"And  it  is  further  ordered  that  H.  M. 
Reynolds,  J.  B.  McDowell,  Albert  Towle, 
William  Lamb  and  Job  Buchanan  be  and  are 
hereby  appointed  as  a  board  of  trustees  of 
said  town  of  Beatrice,  to  hold  their  offices 
until  their  successors  are  elected  and  quali- 
fied." 

The  county  clerk  was  instructed  to  notify 
forthwith  in  writing,  under  the  seal  of  his 
office,  each  and  all  of  the  board  of  trustees  of 
their  appointment  as  such  and  to  transmit  to 
them  a  certified  copy  of  the  order. 

On  the  same  day  the  trustees  thus  appoint- 
ed held  a  meeting  in  the  rear  room  of  Hinkle 
&  Pease's  drug  store,  and,  having  taken  the 
oath  of  office,  as  provided  by  the  statute,  en- 
tered at  once  upon  the  discharge  of  their  duties 
by  electing  Herman  M.  Reynolds  chairman  of 
the  board,  and  appointing  William  A.  Wagner 
clerk,  Albert  Towle  treasurer,  and  Gilson  H. 
Gale  constable  for  the  term  of  the  trustees 
and  until  the  successor  of  each  was  elected 
and  qualified. 

On  March  18,  1873,  a  change  was  effected 
from  town  to  city  organization  by  an  ordinance 
of  that  date,  which  reads  as  follows : 

Whereas,  The  town  of  Beatrice,  in  the 
State  of  Nebraska,  was  organized  as  such  on 
the  3rd  day  of  October,  A.  D.  1871,  under  and 
by  virtue  of  the  provisions  of  chapter  53  of 
the  Revised  Statutes  of  the  State  of  Nebraska, 
entitled  "TOWNS"  :  and 

Whereas,  The  said  town  now  contains 
more  than  five  hundred  (500)  inhabitants; 
and 

Whereas,  Said  town  is  desirous  of  becom- 
ing incorporated  as  a  city  of  the  second  class, 
under  the  provisions  of  the  act  of  the  legisla- 
ture of  the  State  of  Nebraska,  approved 
March  1,  1871,  entitled,  "An  act  to  incor- 
porate cities  of  the  second  class,  and  to  define 
their  powers,"  and  of  the  amendments  there- 
to ;  therefore. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


191 


Be  It  Ordained  by  the  Board  of  Trustees  of 

the  Town  of  Beatrice 

That  the  said  town  be,  and  the  same  is  here- 
by, incorporated  as  a  city  of  the  second  class, 
by  the  name  of  the  "City  of  Beatrice." 

This  ordinance  shall  be  published  in  the 
Beatrice  Express,  a  newspaper  in  said  town, 
for  two  (2)  weeks,  successively,  and  to 
take  effect  and  be  in  force  from  and  after  the 
5th  day  of  April,  1873. 

At  the  ensuing  municipal  election  for  that 
year,  S.  C.  B.  Dean,  a  lawyer  of  great  ability 
and  learning,  was  elected  mayor;  E.  S.  Chad- 
wick,  an  able  young  lawyer,  police  judge;  O. 
A.  Avery,  marshal;  William  A.  Wagner,  city 
clerk ;  Samuel  C.  Smith,  city  treasurer ;  Wil- 
liam Bradt,  C.  G.  Dorsey,  J.  E.  Hill  and  Wil- 
liam Lamb  councilmen,  of  the  city  of  Beatrice. 

At  this  time,  the  population  of  the  city  had 
materially  increased  since  the  census  of  1870, 
when  it  stood  at  624.  At  the  time  the  first 
city  council  was  elected,  in  1873,  it  probably 
exceeded  1,500.  It  was  growing  rapidly;  the 
census  of  1880  showed  a  population  of  2,447, 
and  it  had  begun  to  assume  the  proportions 
and  attributes  of  a  flourishing  western  city. 

The  street  shown  furthest  north  in  the  ac- 
companying birdseye  view  of  Beatrice  in  1874 
is  Washington,  the  one  furthest  south  is 
Scott,  while  Tenth  instead  of  Thirteenth  is 
shown  as  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  city. 
The  bridge  in  the  foreground  is  the  Curtis  & 
Peavey  bridge,  on  Market  street ;  the  first  lo- 
cation of  the  Burlington  depot  is  shown  where 
Grant  street  apparently  terminates.  Roper's 
mill,  with  the  dam,  is  properly  located  above 
the  bridge.  "Pap's  Cabin"  appears  south  of 
the  string  of  empty  cars.  The  old  court  house 
appears  in  its  proper  place.  West  of  it  by  a 
little  north  is  the  original  Episcopal  church 
building.  The  church,  with  spire,  in  the  mid- 
dle foreground  is  the  first  church  building  of 
the  Presbyterians.  Southwest  across  the  block 
is  seen  the  old  stone  Methodist  church,  with 
parsonage,  and  southeast  is  the  old  frame 
school  house,  on  the  school  block.  Further 
east  by  south  is  the  first  high-school  building. 
On  the  south  the  first  Sixth  street  bridge  is 
seen,  with  winding  roads  from  east  and  north, 
across  the  prairie. 


In  April,  1891,  an  act  of  the  legislature  be- 
came effective  which  provided  for  the  incor- 
poration of  cities  of  the  first  class  having  less 
than  25,000  and  more  than  8,000  inhabitants, 
and  regulating  their  duties,  powers  and  gov- 
ernment. Pursuant  to  this  statute,  Lorenzo 
Crounse,  governor  of  the  state  of  Nebraska, 
on  the  26th  day  of  January,  1893,  issued  his 
proclamation  declaring  that  Beatrice  from  and 
after  that  date  was  a  city  of  the  first  class. 
In  his  proclamation  the  Governor  recites  the 
fact  that  the  census  of  1890  showed  that  the 
city  possessed  a  population  of  13,825.  It  can 
not  be  doubted  that  the  actual  population  of 
Beatrice  in  1890  was  far  short  of  the  number 
of  inhabitants  returned  by  the  census  enu- 
merators, and  probably  less  even  than  the 
minimum  figure  for  cities  of  the  class  to  which 
this  proclamation  assigned  Beatrice.  That 
census  has  been  the  subject  of  much  just 
criticism,  which  applied  not  only  to  the  cities 
but  to  the  entire  state  of  Nebraska.  That  it 
was  a  gross  exaggeration  of  the  facts  respect- 
ing the  population  of  the  state  and  its  cities  is 
an  admitted  fact. 

Since  the  original  incorporation  of  the  town 
of  Beatrice,  in  1871,  which  included  only  the 
three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land  com- 
prising the  original  townsite,  a  great  many 
additions  have  been  made  to  the  superficial 
area  of  the  city,  until  to-day  it  embraces  ap- 
proximately thirty-two  hundred  acres  of  land. 
The  principal  additions  to  the  city  are  Crop- 
sey's  Addition,  Weston's  Additions,  Smith 
Brothers'  Addition,  Fairview  Addition,  Pad- 
dock's Addition,  Green's  Addition,  Grable  & 
Beachley's  Addition,  Grable  &  Beachley's  Sec- 
ond and  Third  Additions,  Yule  «S:  Son's  Park 
Addition,  and  Glenover  Addition  —  on  the 
north  and  west;  Lamb's  Subdivision,  Henry 
H.  Lamb's  Subdivision,  Barney's  Subdivision, 
and  Wittenberg  Addition  —  on  the  east ;  the 
town  of  South  Beatrice  and  the  First  and  Sec- 
ond Additions  to  the  town  of  South  Beatrice, 
Cole's  Addition,  Riverside  Park  Addition, 
Brumback's  Additions,  Belvidere  Heights,  and 
Highland  Park  Addition  — on  the  south; 
Harrington's  Subdivision,  McConnell's  First 
and  Second  Subdivisions,  West  Park  Addition, 


:zmmm^. 


HISTORY  OF  CxAGE  COUNTY,  NEBR.\SKA 


193 


Scheve's  Addition,  Milligan's  Addition  and 
McConnell's  Addition — -on  the  west.  The 
city  also  contains  numerous  small  subdivisions, 
places,  and  irregular  tracts,  which  by  ordi- 
nance have  been  incorporated  into  the  city. 
These  additions  were  largely  made  between 
the  years  1885  and  1890  —  a  period  which 
witnessed  tremendous  growth  and  expansion 
in  all  directions  in  Beatrice,  as  well  as  in  the 
state  at  large. 

From  the  date  of  its  organization  into  a 
city,  March  18,  1873,  to  May  1,  1912,  the  mu- 
nicipal government  of  Beatrice  had  been 
strictly  representative  in  character.  The  first 
act  of  the  first  city  council  was  to  divide  the 
city  of  Beatrice  into  three  wards.  The  city 
government  consisted  of  a  mayor  and  of  coun- 
cilmen  elected  from  each  of  the  wards. 
Though  modified  to  include  four,  five,  and 
even  six  wards,  the  principal  of  representative 
municipal  government  was  preserved,  and  the 
citizens  at  large,  through  their  councilmen, 
had  direct  representation  in  the  affairs  of  the 
city.  The  clerk,  treasurer,  police  judge,  and 
other  administrative  officers  were  elected  by 
the  people  at  the  time  the  mayor  and  council 
were  chosen.  The  chief  of  police,  policemen, 
street  commissioner,  city  attorney,  and  some 
other  minor  ofiicers  were  appointed  by  the 
mayor,  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the 
council.  Speaking  generally,  this  form  of 
municipal  government  up  to  a  score  of  years 
ago  was  universal  throughout  the  United 
States,  and  it  is  still  the  form  under  which  the 
vast  majority  of  cities  are  governed,  including 
the  great  metropolitan  cities  of  New  York, 
Philadelphia,  Boston,  Pittsburgh,  Chicago, 
and  St.  Louis. 

About  the  year  1900  there  arose  in  many 
of  the  states  a  system  of  municipal  govern- 
ment designated  commission  government  or 
government  by  commission,  which  in  a  large 
measure  did  away  wholly  with  the  old  repre- 
sentative form  of  municipal  government.  This 
heresy  spread  with  some  rapidity  in  the  west 
and  mid-west  portions  of  the  country.  In 
1911  the  legislature  of  Nebraska  passed  an  act 
providing  for  the  commission  form  of  govern- 
ment   in    all    cities    having   more    than    5,000 


population,  and  at  the  election  held  in  Beatrice 
in  1912  it  was  voted  to  abandon  the  repre- 
sentative form  and  adopt  the  new  method  of 
government.  The  centralizing  of  power  in  a 
few  hands  may  possess  some  advantages  as 
applied  to  civic  affairs,  but  any  form  of  gov- 
ernment, municipal  or  otherwise,  which  aban- 
dons in  whole  or  in  part  the  representative 
principle,  lays  an  ax  at  the  roots  of  free  insti- 
tutions, and  this  because  it  is  evident  that  if 
delegated  powers  may  be  given  to  two,  three 
or  five  men,  they  can  be  conferred  upon  one, 
and  a  free  community  pass  into  the  hands  of  a 
dictator.  The  weakness  of  commission  govern- 
ment as  applied  to  cities,  and  its  unrepresenta- 
tive character,  must  in  time  become  manifest, 
and  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  people  will  long 
continue  a  system  which  in  effect  bars  the 
active  participation  of  the  public  to  an  appre- 
ciable extent  in  municipal  affairs. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  period  marked  by 
the  year  1870,  it  became  apparent  that  the 
growing  needs  of  the  county  demanded  facili- 
ties for  transacting  public  business.  The 
county  possessed  neither  court  house  nor  jail. 
The  county  offices  were  housed  around 
town,  wherever  quarters  could  be  had.  If  the 
incumbent  of  the  office  happened  to  live  in  the 
county  seat,  he  carried  his  office  around  with 
him,  or  kept  it  at  his  dwelling  or  place  of 
business.  The  board  of  county  commission- 
ers, or  the  county  court,  as  that  body  was 
legally  designated  for  many  years,  was  com- 
pelled to  hold  its  meetings  at  the  residence  of 
the  member  in  Beatrice  or  the  places  of  busi- 
ness at  the  county  seat  willing  to  accommodate 
them.  The  courts  were  held  first  at  "Pap's 
Cabin,"  but  when  the  Griggs  &  Webb  building, 
on  Court,  between  Third  and  Fourth  streets, 
was  erected,  in  the  fall  of  1868,  the  upper  floor 
of  that  edifice  was  used  for  several  years  as  a 
court  room. 

That  a  movement  should  be  made  in  a  rap- 
idly growing  town  to  secure  a  court  house  and 
jail  was  the  natural  outcome  of  these  condi- 
tions, and  on  August  20,  1869,  a  petition  was 
presented  to  the  county  court,  or  board  of 
county  commissioners,  signed  by  H.  M.  Rey- 
nolds,   Nathan    Blakely,    Orrin    Stevens,    and 


194 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


sixty-eight  other  electors  of  the  county,  pray- 
ing for  the  submission  to  a  vote  of  the  people 
at  the  next  general  election  of  a  proposition  to 
bond  the  county  in  the  sum  of  ten  thousand 
dollars,  for  the  erection  of  a  county  court 
house  and  jail  at  Beatrice,  the  county  seat. 

On  the  1st  day  of  September,  1869,  the 
county  clerk  was  directed  to  include  in  the  call 
for  the  annual  election  to  be  held  October  12, 
1869,  the  proposition  for  the  issuance  of  such 
bonds,  and  the  ballots  at  the  election  fairly 
submitted  this  question  to  the  voters  of  the 
county.  The  canvass  of  the  votes  showed,  a 
majority  in  favor  of  issuing  the  bonds,  and  in 
January,  1870,  the  matter  of  erecting  the  court 
house  was  taken  up  in  earnest  by  the  county 
board.  On  the  6th  day  of  that  month,  the 
county  clerk,  Oliver  Townsend,  was  directed 
to  advertise  in  the  Beatrice  Clarion  for  bids 
for  the  erection  of  both  a  court  house  and  a 
jail,  costing  not  less  than  ten  thousand  dollars, 
all  bids  to  be  accompanied  by  plans  and  speci- 
fications. 

About  this  time  the  question  arose  as  to 
where  the  new  court  house  should  be  erected. 
The  founders  of  Beatrice  had  provided  for 
county  buildings  by  dedicating  the  block 
bounded  on  the  north  by  Ella,  on  the  east  by 
Ninth,  on  the  south  by  Court,  and  on  the  west 
by  Eighth  street ;  but  when  it  became  appar- 
ent that  the  county  commissioners  were  about 
to  act  in  the  matter  of  locating  the  county 
buildings,  A.  J.  Cropsey,  of  Lincoln,  who  had 
been  a  state  officer  in  Nebraska  and  who  had 
laid  out  an  addition  on  the  north  of  the  origi- 
nal town  of  Beatrice,  designated  and  known, 
as  Cropsey's  Addition,  appeared  upon  the 
scene  and  made  an  ofifer  to  the  county  board, 
composed  of  H.  M.  Wickham  and  others,  to 
donate  block  24  of  his  addition  to  the  county 
for  court-house  purposes,  and  the  south  half 
of  block  11  for  the  purpose  of  a  jail.  Mr. 
Cropsey  included  also  in  his  ofifer  certain  other 
inducements.  The  county  commissioners  ac- 
cepted these  ofifers  and  abandoned  to  the  first 
comer  the  "public  square"  which  the  founders 
of  Beatrice  had  dedicated  to  court-house  pur- 
poses. Daniel  Freeman,  who  was  sheriff  ol 
the  county  in  1870-1871,  quickly  saw  the  weak- 


ness of  this  move  and  took  possession  of  the 
square,  fenced  it  and  placed  a  couple  of  small 
dwelling  houses  on  it.  In  1873  the  legislature 
passed  an  act  entitled,  "An  Act  to  Quiet  Title 
to  Certain  Portions  of  the  City  of  Beatrice." 
Section  3  of  the  act  reads  as  follows : 

That  the  dedication  to  the  county  of  Gage 
of  the  block  known  as  the  "public  square"  in 
the  said  city  of  Beatrice,  lying  between  block ' 
52  on  the  east,  and  block  51  on  the  west,  is 
hereby  ratified  and  confirmed,  and  the  legal 
and  equitable  title  thereto,  in  fee-simple,  is 
hereby  vested  in  said  county  of  Gage,  to  be 
used  as  a  site  for  public  buildings,  either  for 
the  said  Gage  county,  or  for  the  said  city  of 
Beatrice,  or  otherwise,  as  may  seem  proper. 

In  August,  1874,  through  the  agency  of  a 
distress  warrant  for  taxes,  an  effort  was  made 
by  the  county  treasurer  to  dispossess  Free- 
man. This  proved  abortive  and  in  the  end 
served  to  strengthen  his  hold  on  the  property. 
(Freeman  z's.  Webb  et  al.,  27  Neb.,  160.)  No 
efifort  appears  to  have  been  made  by  the  county 
at  any  time  by  direct  suit  to  assert  its  title  to 
this  property,  either  under  the  act  of  dedica- 
tion or  the  above  described  act  of  the  legisla- 
ture, and  in  process  of  time  Freeman's  pos- 
session, as  the  law  then  stood,  ripened  into  a 
perfect  title. 

On  the  19th  day  of  August,  1870,  the  con- 
tract for  the  erection  of  a  court  house  at  Be- 
atrice on  block  24  of  Cropsey's  Addition  to 
the  city,  was  let  to  Binns  &  Fordham.  The 
contract  price  of  this  structure  was  $11,196.01, 
and  it  was  to  be  erected  in  accordance  with 
the  plans  and  specifications  furnished  by  the 
contractors  and  adopted  by  the  county  board. 
The  building  was  a  two-story,  brick  structure, 
with  stone  foundation  and  trimmings ;  it  was 
about  forty  feet  square,  with  both  north  and 
south  frontage,  connected  by  a  straight  hall- 
way, six  feet  wide,  through  the  entire  build- 
ing. 

The  lower  floor  of  this  old  court  house  was 
wholly  occupied  by  the  county  offices,  while 
the  upper  story  was  used  exclusively  as  a  dis- 
trict court-room,  with  two  connected  jury 
rooms.  This  floor  was  reached  by  a  stairway 
which  started  from  the  lower  hallway  at  the 
middle  of  the-  east  side  and  led  directly  to  the 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


195 


second  floor,  terminating  in  a  short  hall  which 
led  westward  to  the  district  court  room. 

Before  the  work  was  completed  the  con- 
tractors suggested  modifications  of  the  plans, 
which  they  agreed  to  make  for  one  thousand 
dollars  in  addition  to  the  contract  price  of  the 
building,  and  which  were  accepted  by  the 
county  board.  The  work  progressed  rapidly, 
and  on  April  19,  1871,  the  first  court  house  of 


county  offices  were  moved  to  the  stone  building 
at  the  corner  of  Fourth  and  Court  streets, 
then  occupied  by  the  Nebraska  National  Bank. 
The  county  court  and  the  sheriff's  office  were 
later  moved  to  the  basement  in  the  Masonic 
Temple  building,  at  the  corner  of  Sixth  and 
Court  streets,  the  present  site  of  the  Beatrice 
National  Bank.  In  the  latter  part  of  1889 
the  court  house  was  wholly  abandoned,  dis- 


FiRST  Court  House  at  Be.^trice 


our  county  was  turned  over  to  the  county  and 
formally  accepted  by  the  commissioners  — 
James  Pettigrew,  Solon  M.  Hazen,  and  Hor- 
ace M.  Wickham.  The  total  cost  of  this  old 
building,  including  a  vault  for  the  county 
treasurer,  and  all  extras,  was  $13,914.00.  The 
grounds  about  the  building  were  planted  by 
Mr.  Cropsey  with  cottonwood,  maple  and  other 
forest  trees,  and  for  many  years  served  to 
some  extent  the  purposes  of  a  park. 

This  first  court  house,  product  of  the  neces- 
sities of  the  pioneers,  remained  in  constant  use 
until  the  spring  of  1887,  when  several  of  the 


trict  court  being  held  at  first  in  an  old  frame 
opera  house  at  the  corner  of  Fifth  and  Ella 
streets,  where  the  fine  two-story  Kilpatrick 
building  now  stands,  and  later  in  a  hall  on  the 
third  floor  of  the  Nebraska  National  Bank 
building. 

No  sooner  had  the  county  abandoned  the 
property  in  part  than  A.  J.  Cropsey,  who  after 
a  long  absence  from  the  state  had  returned  to 
Lincoln,  began  in  the  United  States  district 
court  at  Omaha  an  action  in  ejectment  against 
the  county,  to  obtain  possession  of  the  court 
house  square,  alleging  that  the  property  had 


196 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBR.\SKA 


been  conveyed  to  the  county  for  court-house 
purposes  only,  and,  setting  forth  its  abandon- 
ment by  the  county,  charged  that  the  title  to 
this  property  had  reverted  to  him  as  the  gran- 
tor. After  considerable  evidence  had  been 
taken  by  deposition  on  both  sides,  the  case  was 
compromised  and  settled  by  this  writer,  as 
county  attorney  of  Gage  county,  in  March, 
1889,  by  and  with  the  approval  of  the  county 
board,  and  a  quit-claim  deed  taken  from  Crop- 
sey  and  his  v/ife  for  both  the  court  house 
square  and  the  half  block  where  the  county 
jail  was  located. 

In  1889-1890,  after  arrangements  had  been 
made  to  erect  the  present  court  house,  the  old 
building  was  demolished  and  became  a  thing 
of  the  past.  But  to  those  whose  memories 
cover  its  history  this  old  building  will  never 
cease  to  possess  a  deep  interest  on  account  of 
the  part  it  played  in  the  early  development  of 
our  county  and  state.  Here  many  of  the  law- 
yers who  are  now  practicing  at  the  bar  of 
Gage  county,  and  many  others  who  have  died 
or  moved  away,  gained  their  first  experience 
in  the  trial  of  causes ;  here  much  of  the  im- 
portant litigation,  both  civil  and  criminal, 
arising  in  our  county  was  tried,  including  the 
two  Marion  murder  trials  (1883  and  1886), 
the  Bradshaw  murder  trial  (1883),  the  Reed 
murder  trial  (1883),  the  first  Carson  murder 
trial  (1889),  and  many  other  cases  of  public 
interest  and  importance.  Here  also  the  county 
business  was  transacted  from  April  19,  1871, 
to  April  1,  1887;  here  at  desk  and  ledger  toiled 
men,  many  of  whose  names  are  inseparably 
connected  with  the  early  history  of  our 
county.  Among  these  names  may  be  noted 
the  following:  Hiram  P.  Webb,  John  Ellis, 
J.  F.  King,  E.  J.  Roderick,  county  treasurers ; 
the  lamented  Daniel  E-  Marsh,  William  D. 
Cox,  John  E.  Hill,  A.  J.  Pethoud,  and  George 
E.  Emery,  county  clerks;  Oliver  M.  Enlow, 
John  E.  Hill  (ex-officio),  A.  V.  S.  Saunders, 
and  Frank  H.  Holt,  clerks  of  the  district 
court ;  Daniel  Freeman,  Leander  Y.  Coffin, 
Eugene  Mack,  Nathaniel  Herron,  and  E.  F. 
Davis,  sheriffs  of  our  county ;  C.  A.  Pease,  J. 
W.  Carter,  Alfred  Hazlett,  Peter  Shafifer, 
Joseph  E.  Cobbey,  Ernest  O.  Kretsinger,  and 


Oliver  M.  Enlow,  county  judges;  Lucius  B. 
Filley,  J.  R.  Little,  Matthew  Weaverling,  and 
M.  D.  Horham,  county  superintendents  of 
public  schools. 

Few  are  living  now  of  all  those  who  in  the 
days  of  the  old  court  house  were  prominent  in 
the  affairs  of  our  county.  All  of  the  old  trea- 
surers are  gone ;  all  of  the  old  clerks  but 
George  E.  Emery;  all  of  the  clerks  of  the  dis- 
trict court  except  A.  V.  S.  Saunders ;  all  the 
sherifTs  except  Davis ;  and  all  the  judges  ex- 
cept Hazlett  and  Kretsinger,  while  not  a  single 
one  of  the  old  county  superintendents  is  left. 

All  the  days  of  the  years  of  the  old  court 
house  were  great  days  for  the  citizens  of  Be- 
atrice and  Gage  county.  In  those  days  were 
laid  broad  and  deep,  and  for  all  time  to  come, 
the  foundations  of  one  of  the  most  progres- 
sive, homogeneous  and  patriotic  counties  in 
the  entire  state  of  Nebraska. 

In  the  year  1887  our  county  abandoned  the 
commissioner  system  of  county  government 
and  adopted  the  supervisor  system,  and  at  a 
meeting  of  the  board  of  supervisors  held  in 
Febriiary,  1889,  steps  were  taken  for  the  erec- 
tion of  the  present  court  house,  on  the  site  of 
the  old,  and  a  special  election  was  called  for 
May  7th  of  that  year,  in  which  a  proposition 
for  the  issuance  of  the  bonds  of  the  county  in 
the  sum  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  for 
the  purpose  of  erecting  a  court  house  at  the 
county  seat,  was  submitted  to  the  voters  of 
our  county.  Of  the  5,059  votes  cast  at  this 
election,  2,589  favored  the  proposition  and 
2,470  opposed  it,  leaving  a  clear  majority  for 
the  bonds  of  139  votes.  Steps  were  about  to 
be  taken  for  the  issuance  of  these  bonds  and. 
the  erection  of  the  court  house,  when  proceed- 
ings were  inaugurated  by  citizens  of  Wymore 
to  enjoin  the  work  on  the  ground  that  the  act 
under  which  the  board  of  supervisors  had  pro- 
ceeded in  calling  the  election  was  unconstitu- 
tional and  therefore  the  election  was  void,  and. 
that  the  county  board  was  without  jurisdiction 
to  bond  the  county  for  the  purpose  of  erecting 
a  court  house.  In  the  district  court,  Hon.  A. 
D.  McCandless,  of  Wymore,  represented  the 
plaintiffs  in  the  action  —  Robert  Fenton,  A. 
Perkins,   John    Mordhorst,    Michael   Keckley,. 


#- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


Federal  Building, 


Gage  County  Court  Hou 


198  HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 

Patrick  Murphy,  and  J.  W.  Bridenthal —  crime,  the  county  was  compelled  to  rely  on 
while  the  writer  of  this  history,  as  county  at-  Nebraska  City,  which  was  the  nearest  point 
tomey,  represented  the  defendants  —  Thomas  within  the  state  where  jail  privileges  were 
Yule,  as  chairman  of  the  board  of  supervisors,  available.  This  involved  not  only  a  charge 
and  George  E.  Emery,  as  county  clerk  of  Gage  for  maintenance  of  the  prisoners  wlflle  in  jail, 
county.  The  cause  was  instituted  July  8,  but  also  the  cost  of  their  transportation  to 
1889,  and  a  temporary  restraining  order  was  Nebraska  City,  and  back  again  to  Beatrice 
granted  until  a  hearing  could  be  had.  On  July  every  time  the  district  court  set  or  until  the 
15th  a  demurrer  was  filed  to  the  petition,  on  criminal  charge  was  finally  disposed  of.  This 
the  ground  that  it  did  not  state  facts  sufficient  is  well  illustrated  in  the  case  of  the  State  ot 
to  constitute  a  cause  of  action  against  the  de-  Nebraska  vs.  Lydia  Armstrong,  a  woman  who 
fendants ;  and  on  July  17th  Judge  Jefferson  H.  had  been  bound  over  to  the  district  court  by  a 
Broady  sustained  the  demurrer,  dissolved  the  justice  of  the  peace  on  a  common  peace  war- 
injunction  and  dismissed  the  bill  at  the  cost  of  rant  sworn  to  by  her  husband,  W.  W.  Arm- 
plaintiffs.  The  cause  was  then  appealed  to  the  strong.  At  a  session  of  the  county  board  held 
supreme  court  of  Nebraska,  where  it  was  ad-  October  23,  1869,  the  following  bills  in  this 
vanced  and  came  up  for  hearing  at  the  open-  case  were  audited,  allowed  and  paid  : 
ing  of  the  September  term  of  that  tribunal,  l    P.  Chandler,  sheriff,  board  of  pris- 

At  this  hearing  Mr.  McCandless  was  assisted  oner  at  Hulbert  House $     4.50 

by  Judge  Oliver  P.  Mason;  and  the  writer,  as  A.  L.  Hurd,  guarding  prisoner  1  day. .       2.00 

attorney  for  the  defendants,  by  G.  M.  Lam-  W.  W.  Brock,  guarding  prisoner  1  day      2.00 

bertson.     On  October  30,  1889,  the  case  was  ^  ^f^^  ^^^"^^''■'  g^^'-d'"?  P"soner  6     ^^^^ 

again  decided  in  favor  of  the  validity  of  the  Otoe  County 'jaii,' 4  days  at  $4  per'day     16.'00 

bonds,  by  the  court  of  last  resort  in  Nebraska,      Feed  for  team  4  days 8.00 

(Fenton,  et  al.  vs.  Yule,  et  al.,  27  Neb.  758),  Board  for  prisoner  2  days  at  $1.50. . . .       3.00 

and  the  wav  opened  for  the  erection  of  the  Expense  for  prisoner  at  Otoe  County 

new  court  house.  J^^^  "v"a"("1 ( • ' '     ^^'^^ 

.     .       ^                ,,-,„^           .        ,      ,         .      ^  A.   L.  Hurd,   for  team  for  conveymg 

At  Its  January,   1890,  session  the  board  of  prisoner   from  Otoe  County  jail  to 

supervisors  adopted  the  plans  and  specifica-  Gage  County  court,  4  days  at  $4 16.00 

tions   for  the   present  court  house,  prepared      Feed  for  said  team  for  4  days 8.00 

and  submitted  to  them  by  Gunn  &  Curtis,  of      Board  of  prisoner  2  days 3.00 

Kansas  City,  Missouri,  and  immediately  adver-      Guardmg  prisoner  6  days ^Um 

tised  for  bids  for  its  erection.     On  the  29th  Total    $117.08 

day  of  March,  1890,  the  bid  of  M.  T.  Murphy,  i     i  ■       .  ,j  .,' \'        (      ■   -i 

-'                    '     ,                 ^          ,        ,      ,    ,  Action  looking  toward  the  erection  of  a  jail 

of  Omaha,  for  the  sum  of  one  hundred  thou-  ^^^^  ^^^^  ^^^^^  ^^  ^^^  ^^^^^^^  ^^^^^  j^^^^^^ 

sand  dollars  was  accepted,  upon  his  executing  3^^   ^^72,  when  one  W.  W.  Watson  was  ap- 

a  bond,  in  the  sum  of  twenty  thousand  dollars,  ^^^^^^^  ^^  ^^^  commissioners  to  prepare  plans 

to  be  approved  by  the  county  board,  for  the  ^,^^  specifications  for  a  jail,  and  the  county 

faithful  performance  of  his  contract.     After  ^^^^^  ^^  ^^e  same  time  was  directed  to  adver- 

some  vicissitudes  the  building  was  finally  com-  tjgg  j,^  ji^^  Beatrice  Express  for  proposals  for 

pleted,  was  turned  over  to  the  county  board  the  erection  of  a  jail  at  Beatrice,  in  accordance 

and  was  accepted  by  that  board  in  January,  .^vith  such  plans   and   specifications.     But   on 

1892.  February  24,  1872,  all  proposals  were  rejected, 

The  erection  of  a  county  jail  was,  after  the  and,  on  account  of  cost  and  lack  of  funds,  the 

first  court  house,  the  next  most  urgent  public  building  of   a   jail   for  Gage  county  was   in- 

need.    The  administration  of  the  criminal  law  definitely  postponed,  by  commissioners  Solon 

was  reduced  to  almost  a  farce  by  lack  of  facili-  N.  Hazen,  Horace  M.  Wickham,  and  Elijah 

ties    for  enforcing   it.      Whenever   it   became  Filley. 

necessary    to    imprison    persons    accused    of  But   the   subject   was   not   allowed   to   rest. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


199 


Steps  were  taken  by  the  county  board  to  sup- 
ply funds  for  this  building,  and  at  the  regular 
annual  election  held  on  the  8th  day  of  Oc- 
tober, 1872,  a  proposition  to  bond  the  county 
in  the  sum  of  $7,000,  the  proceeds  of  which 
were  to  be  used  in  the  erection  of  a  county  jail 
at  Beatrice,  was  carried  by  a  decisive  majority. 
On  the  9th  day  of  January,  1873,  the  county 
clerk,  William  D.  Cox,  was  again  directed  to 
advertise  in  the  Beatrice  Express  for  three 
consecutive  weeks  for  bids  for  a  county  jail, 
all  bids  to  be  accompanied  by  plans  and  speci- 
fications, the  building  to  consist  of  stone  and 
iron,  and  to  cost  not  more  than  $6,000  —  the 


it  by  Andrew  Miller,  of  this  city,  for  the  erec- 
tion of  a  jail  in  conformity  with  the  Anyan 
plans  and  specifications,  for  the  sum  of  $6,400, 
conditioned,  however,  upon  his  executing  a 
bond  to  the  county  in  the  sum  of  $12,800  for 
the  faithful  performance  of  his  contract.  But 
on  March  22d  following,  Miller  appeared  be- 
fore the  board  and  confessed  his  inability  to 
give  a  bond  in  sufficient  sum.  The  contract 
with  him  was  thereupon  cancelled,  and  a  read- 
vertisement  ordered  for  bids.  On  April  21. 
1873,  the  contract  for  the  erection  of  a  jail  in 
accordance  with  the  Anyan  plans  and  specifi- 
cations was  awarded  to  T.  J.  Patterson  for  the 


OiD  Col  m\ 


commissioners  reserving  the  right  to  reject  all 
bids,  plans  and  specifications.  Whether  any 
bids,  or  plans  and  specifications  were  filed  with 
the  county  board  on  the  $6,000  basis  is  un- 
known to  this  writer,  but,  evidently  growing 
weary  of  putting  the  cart  before  the  horse, 
that  body,  on  the  8th  day  of  February,  1873, 
adopted  plans  and  specifications  for  a  county 
jail,  prepared  and  submitted  to  them  by  Wil- 
liam Anyan,  a  well  known  resident  and  home- 
steader of  Elm  township,  a  farmer,  a  practi- 
cal builder  and  contractor,  a  politician,  an  Eng- 
lishman of  talent  and  ability.  The  county 
clerk  was  a  third  time  directed  to  advertise 
for  bids  for  the  erection  of  a  county  jail  at 
Beatrice,  in  the  Beatrice  Express  for  three 
consecutive  weeks,  and  on  March  15,  1873, 
the  county  board  accepted  a  bid  submitted  to 


sum  of  $6,364,  and  at  a  special  session  of  the 
county  board  held  May  11,  1873,  the  pros- 
pective jail  was,  by  formal  order  of  the  board, 
located  on  lots  16,  17,  and  18,  block  11  of 
Cropsey's  Addition  to  the  City  of  Beatrice. 

This  old  building  was  constructed  wholly  of 
native  stone,  on  the  corner  of  Lincoln  and 
Seventh  streets.  It  was  a  single  story,  with 
basement  under  the  part  devoted  to  the  jail- 
er's residence.  The  entrance  was  from  the 
south,  and  a  hall  led  past  the  living  rooms  to 
a  corridor  in  the  rear,  where  prisoners  were 
allowed  to  exercise;  beyond  the  corridor  were 
the  cells. 

The  building  was  completed  and  turned 
over  to  the  county  board  in  the  early  part  of 
1874,  and  for  forty-four  years  it  served  the 
people  as  a  county  prison.     It  lacked  almost 


200 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


every  convenience  for  a  modern  jail.  For 
years  every  grand  jury  was  accustomed  to 
condemn  it  as  unsanitary  and  unsafe.  In  this 
old  building  all  the  desperate  criminals  or  our 
county  have  been  held  awaiting  trial,  execution 
or  removal  to  the  penitentiary.  In  the  old 
jail  yard  occurred  the  only  legal  execution 
ever  had  in  Gage  county,  when  Jackson  Mar- 
ion paid  the  penalty  on  the  gallows,  in  March, 
1886,  for  the  brutal  murder  of  John  Cameron 
in  1873.  Hundreds  of  criminals  have  sighed 
behind  its  iron  bars,  and  to  some  it  was  the 
end  of  hope.    If  ghosts  could  walk  and  all  the 


awarded  to  F.  L.  Robertson,  as  general  con- 
tractor, the  building  to  be  erected  pursuant  to 
plans  and  specifications  drawn  by  Richard  W. 
Grant,  of  Beatrice.  C.  W.  Werner,  of  Wy- 
niore,  was  awarded  the  plumbing  contract, 
Baker-Hartzell  Company,  of  Beatrice,  the 
contract  for  electrical  wiring  and  electrical 
appliances,  while  the  Pauly  Jail  Building 
Company,  of  St.  I,ouis,  Missouri,  was  award- 
ed the  contract  for  cells  and  other  equipment. 
The  following  table  exhibits  the  total  cost  of 
the  building,  exclusive  of  grounds  and  grad- 


>^  -^^ 

~  '  ^^^jffifll 

^^b 

fe*^"*,.     >-^V^  ■■  k    ''V 

jH^rr^  ^  \ "!  ^S^gai^^^^^M 

VTY    J.\IL,    1918 


past  be  revealed,  strange  tales  might  be  told  of 
those  incarcerated  within  its  walls.  In  the 
spring  of  1918,  on  the  completion  of  the  new 
jail,  this  old  county  bastile  was  demolished, 
beam  by  beam,  bar  by  bar,  rock  by  rock.  The 
very  place  where  it  had  stood  so  long  is 
plowed,  graded  and  filled,  and  not  a  trace  of 
this  sad,  gloomy  structure  is  left. 

As  early  as  1916  the  building  of  a  modern 
jail  was  taken  under  consideration  by  the 
county  supervisors,  and  a  levy  of  one  and  one- 
fourth  mills  on  the  total  valuation  of  the 
county  was  levied  that  year  for  the  purpose 
of  creating  a  fund  to  build  a  new  jail.  In 
1917  also  a  levy  was  made  for  the  same  pur- 
pose, one  and  two  one-hundredths  mills, 
and  on  the  28th  day  of  May,  1917,  a  contract 
for    the    erection    of    the    new    building    was 


Paid  Richard  W.  Grant,  Architect. $  1,220.00 
Paid  F.  L.  Robertson,  Contractor.  .  14,841.36 
Paid  C.  \V.  Werner,  Plumbing  Con- 
tractor    2,102.00 

Paid  Baker-Hartzell  Co.,  Electrical 

Contractors    275.00 

Paid  The  Pauly  Jail  Building  Co..  .  7,700.00 

Paid  for  extras.! .'^ 87.45 

Total  cost  $26,225.81 

This  fine,  commodious  jail  building,  which 
includes  also  a  residence  for  the  jailor  or 
sheriff,  was  completed  and  accepted  by  the 
county  board  November  27,  1917.  Few,  if 
any,  counties  in  Nebraska  can  boast  a  more 
handsome,  complete,  modern  jail  building 
than  Gage,  the  great  third  county  of  Ne» 
braska. 

The   first   United    States   postoffice   of   Be- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


201 


atrice  was  the  pioneer  residence  of  Albert 
Tovvle,  commonly  called  "Pap's  Cabin,"  but 
in  1866  the  postoffice  was  moved  to  a  single 
room  in  the  rear  of  the  twenty-five-foot-front, 
frame  hardware  store  owned  by  Rainboldt  & 
Company,  on  the  corner  of  Third  and  Court 
streets,  where  the  building  of  the  Blue  Valley 
Mercantile  Company  (wholesale  grocery) 
now  stands.  The  little  room  containing  the 
postof^ce  fronted  on  Third  street.  About 
1870  iMr.  Towle,  the  postmaster,  erected  a 
narrow  frame  building  immediately  west  of 
Saunders'  two-story  brick  store  building  on 
Court  street.  The  business  of  the  office  in- 
creased so  rapidly  that  more  commodious 
quarters  became  necessarj',  and  about  1872 
the  postoffice  was  moved  to  the  west  store- 
room in  the  Burwood  hotel,  where  at  this 
writing,  H.  P.  Claussen  has  his  shoe  store. 
In  1886  the  office  was  moved  from  the  hotel 
building  to  the  east  room  of  the  old  Masonic 
I'emple  Block,  on  the  corner  of  Sixth  and 
Court  streets,  which  was  destroyed  by  fire  in 
1902,  and  on  the  site  of  which  the  Beatrice 
National  Bank  building  now  stands.  In  1887 
Algernon  S.  Paddock  was  elected  United 
States  senator  from  Nebraska,  and  in  1891  he 
secured  an  appropriation  from  congress,  in 
the  sum  of  $65,000,  to  be  used  for  the  pur- 
chase of  a  site  and  the  erection  of  a  postoffice 
building  in  the  rapidly  growing  city  of  Be- 
atrice. Of  this  sum,  not  to  exceed  $15,000 
was  to  be  used  in  the  purchase  of  a  site  for 
the  building.  The  northeast  corner  of  the 
intersection  of  Seventh  and  Ella  streets  was 
considered  the  most  eligible  site ;  one  hundred 
twenty  feet  of  this  property  was  selected  for 
the  site  of  the  new  postoffice  building,  and  in 
July,  1891,  it  was  purchased  at  a  cost  to  the 
government  of  $15,041.74.  Thereafter  the 
United  States  proceeded  to  erect  the  old  part 
of  the  present  postoffice  building  on  this 
ground,  at  a  cost  of  $49,934.37,  and  in  Oc- 
tober, 1893,  it  was  occupied  for  postoffice 
purposes.  The  material  used  in  this  structure 
is  from  the  great  sandstone  quarries  of  War- 
rensburg,  Missouri. 

The  business  of  the  office  increased  rapidly, 
and  in  1911  congress  appropriated  the  sum  of 


$62,000  for  the  purjjose  of  purchasing  addi- 
tional land  and  increasing  the  capacity  of  the 
office.  The  sum  of  $11,000  was  paid  for  the 
eighty  feet  of  ground  adjoining  the  original 
site,  and  an  extension,  with  other  improve- 
ments, was  added  to  the  original  building,  at 
a  cost  of  $49,877.50.  .The  total  cost  to  the 
government  of  this  building,  including  site,  is 
the  sum  of  $125,853.61. 

The  postoflice  in  every  community  is  to  its 
members  the  visible  sign  of  the  power  and 
beneficence  of  the  government.  Its  impor- 
tance cannot  be  greatly  exaggerated.  It  forms 
a  connecting  link  between  the  citizen  and  the 
outside  world.  Until  recent  years  the  postal 
department  was  the  sole  representative  in  the 
United  States  of  the  paternal  or  social  idea  of 
government.  It  may  be  that  the  present 
period  of  the  great  world  war  will  eventuate 
in  government-owned  facilities  of  every  de- 
scription, from  postal  to  transportation  and 
shipping. 

The  patrons  of  the  Beatrice  postoffice  have 
been  fortunate  in  the  character  of  the  men 
who  have  occupied  the  important  position  of 
postmaster.  Since  its  establishment,  July  16, 
1857,  to  the  present  time,  the  following  named 
persons  have  been  appointed  postmasters  at 
Beatrice,  on  the  dates  here  given : 

Herman  M.  Reynolds,  July  15,  1857;  Al- 
bert Towle,  May  27,  1860 ;  Jacob  Drtmi,  Sep- 
tember 1,  1879:  Samuel  E.  Rigg,  March  18, 
1886:  Charles  M.  Rigg,  November  7,  1889; 
George  P.  Marvin,  September  11,  1893  ;  Alex- 
ander Graham,  January  14,  1898 ;  William  H. 
Edgar,  January  20,  1902 ;  Albert  H.  Holling- 
worth,  Februan,'  27,  1906;  John  R.  ]\lcCann, 
August  19,  1914. 

Some  years  ago  the  postoffice  department 
at  Washington,  pursuant  to  acts  of  congress 
authorizing  such  action,  established  in  Gage 
county  the  system  of  rural  mail  delivery,  and 
about  the  same  time  the  system  of  city  car- 
riers was  inaugurated  for  Beatrice.  The 
rural  routes  radiate  from  the  Beatrice  office 
in  everj'  direction  and  are  served  by  seven 
carriers,  while  the  city  of  Beatrice  gives  em- 
ployment to  ten  carriers  of  United  States  mail 
within  its  lioundaries. 


202 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


In  1896  the  city  of  Beatrice  purchased  lot 
ten  in  block  sixty-four  of  the  original  town- 
site  and  erected  thereon  a  small,  two-story, 
plain  brick  city  hall.  This  structure,  though 
undergoing  various  changes,  modifications, 
and  additions,  is  still  too  small  for  public  re- 
quirements. It  lacks  nearly  every  appoint- 
ment of  a  modern,  up-to-date  municipal  build- 
ing and  is  almost  ofifensively  wanting  in  archi- 
tectural style  and  beauty. 

It  supplies  a  place,  however,  for  a  jail,  the 
meetings  of  the  city  council,  offices  for  the 
police  magistrate,  and  chief  of  police  and  his 
subordinates,  and  several  of  the  elective  and 
appointive  officers  of  the  city.  The  day  is  not 
far  distant  when  the  grovi^ing  city  of  Beatrice 
will  demand  a  city  building  which  besides  af- 
fording ample  room  and  facilities  for  the 
housing  of  the  public  records  of  the  city  and 
the  transaction  of  municipal  business  will  add 
to  civic  attractiveness. 

Allied  to  the  City  Hall  is  the  fire  depart- 
ment, which  includes  four  volunteer  hose  com- 
panies and  a  salaried  force  of  firemen.  This 
important  branch  of  the  public  service  had 
its  origin  with  the  organization  of  the  volun- 
teer companies  June  8,  1886.  From  then 
until  a  comparatively  recent  date  the  non- 
salaried  volunteers  valiantly  defended  against 
the  ravages  of  fire  the  property  of  the  citizens 
of  our  city,  in  a  most  faithful  and  efficient 
manner.  Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  since 
the  creation  of  the  salaried  fire  department 
the  volunteer  companies  have  been  relegated 
to  the  position  of  reserves,  they  have  main- 
tained their  organization  intact  and  hold  them- 
selves in  readiness  to  respond  instantly  to 
every  call  for  aid.  At  present  these  com- 
panies number  one  hundred  and  thirty  brave 
and  public-spirited  citizens  of  Beatrice. 

On  the  first  day  of  September,  1908,  the 
volunteer  hose  companies  purchased  the  north 
forty-six  and  two-thirds  feet  of  lots  7  and  8, 
block  63,  Beatrice,  and,  at  a  cost  of  more  than 
thirty  thousand  dollars,  erected  thereon  a  fine, 
two-story,  pressed-brick  fire  station,  which 
forms  headquarters  for  all  the  firemen  of  the 
city. 

In  this  building  is  housed  the  fire-fighting 


apparatus  of  the  city,  at  the  present  time  con- 
sisting of  a  motor  truck,  which  is  a  combined 
hose  and  chemical  engine,  a  horse-drawn  truck 
of  like  character,  hose  reels,  and  the  hook  and 
ladder  equipment. 

The  volunteers  also,  in  1907,  in  commemo- 
ration of  their  dead,  erected  a  splendid  monu- 
ment, which,  fronting  its  main  entrance,  over- 
looks beautiful  Evergreen  Home  Cemetery. 

In  many  other  ways  this  organization  has 
written  its  own  indelible  record  in  the  history 
of  Beatrice.  The  fire  chiefs  have  been  Na- 
thaniel Herron  (the  first  leader  of  the  brave 
volunteers),  John  Schick,  John  Walker,  H.  L. 
Harper,  Rudolph  Woelke,  John  Scharton,  and 
Henry  Whiteside  (the  present  chief). 

In  1912  the  authorities  of  the  city  of  Be- 
atrice installed  in  connection  with  the  water- 
works system  a  municipal  lighting  plant,  from 
which  the  streets  and  city  buildings  are  now 
well  and  beautifully  illuminated.  Efforts  have 
been  made  to  secure  the  application  of  this 
plant  to  commercial  purposes,  but  so  far  the 
voters  have  failed  to  endorse  this  plan.  The 
future  may  see  a  complete  revolution  of  senti- 
ment with  respect  to  the  activity  of  the  city 
along  commercial  lines. 

Beatrice  is  also  well  supplied  with  storm 
and  sanitary  sewers,  work  which  had  its  be- 
ginning about  1886,  and  which  has  been  re- 
cently extended  to  cover  large  areas  of  the 
city.  Perhaps  no  city  of  its  size  in  the  west 
exceeds  our  city  with  respect  to  these  public 
utilities. 

No  other  improvement  in  the  city  has  added 
so  much  to  the  beauty  of  the  city  and  the  com- 
fort of  living  in  Beatrice  as  the  street  paving. 
This  work  was  inaugurated  in  the  autumn  of 
1886,  and  was  largely  confined  to  the  business 
districts  of  the  city.  Since  1913  the  paving  of 
the  streets  and  alleys  of  Beatrice  has  been 
greatly  increased  and  been  extended  to  in- 
clude much  of  the  residence  portion  of  the 
city  east  of  the  river.  This  work  has  gone 
steadily  forward  until  at  the  present  moment 
Beatrice  possesses  approximately  sixteen 
miles  of  paved  streets  and  is  probably  the  best 
paved  city  of  its  class  in  the  state. 

The  outstanding  indebtedness  of  Beatrice  on 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


203 


City  Water  Works. 


2(M 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


account  of  the  paving,  exclusive  of  interest 
and  the  cost  of  paving  the  intersections  of  the 
streets,  is  $101,930,  which  is  assessed  against 
the  property  comprising  the  several  paving 
districts. 

In  1885  steps  were  taken  by  the  city  council 
to  inaugurate  a  waterworks  system  in  Be- 
atrice. That  year,  on  the  twenty-first  day  of 
December,  an  ordinance  was  passed  by  the 
mayor  and  council  which  provided  for  holding 
a  special  election  January  22,  1886,  upon  a 
proposition  to  issue  bonds  of  the  city  in  the 
sum  of  eighty  thousand  dollars,  for  the  pur- 
pose "of  constructing,  operating  and  maintain- 
ing a  system  of  waterworks  for  said  city  of 
Beatrice."  At  the  election  thus  provided  for, 
this  proposition  was  carried  by  a  decisive  af- 
firmative vote,  and  steps  were  at  once  taken 
to  put  into  efifect  the  wishes  of  the  voters. 
The  work  went  vigorously  forward  and  be- 
fore the  closing  of  the  year  1888  the  city 
water-works  were  in  operation. 

The  plan  adopted  was  that  known  as  the 
direct-pressure  system,  by  which,  through  the 
agency  of  powerful  force  pumps,  the  water  is 
elevated  through  main  lines  and  service  pipes 
to  the  consumer.  In  1890  additional  bonds 
were  voted  to  cover  the  extension  of  the  water 
mains.  The  water  used  by  the  consumers  was 
taken  directly  from  the  Big  Blue  river,  in  an 
unfiltered  and  impure  state.  During  the  greater 
portion  of  the  year  it  was  utterly  unfit  for 
drinking  or  culinary  purposes.  In  1891  a 
serious  efifort  was  made  to  remedy  this  condi- 
tion, and  at  a  special  election,  held  in  Beatrice 
on  the  second  day  of  September  of  that  year, 
called  for  the  purpose  of  voting  on  a  proposi- 
tion to  issue  additional  bonds,  the  city  council 
was  authorized  to  issue  the  negotiable  bonds 
of  the  city  "to  the  amount  of  thirty-five 
thousand  dollars  ($35,000),  for  the  purpose 
of  constructing,  maintaining  and  operating  a 
system  of  vvatenvorks  for  said  city,  to  pur- 
chase land  for  the  site  of  a  water  plant,  and 
otherwise  improve  the  waterworks  system  of 
the  city  of  Beatrice  and  appurtenances,  in  the 
extension  of  and  connection  with  the  present 
system  of  waterworks  of  the  said  city." 

At  the  time  these  bonds  were  voted,  a  series 


of  experiments  had  been  conducted  by  the 
water  commissioner  in  what  was  then  known 
as  "Paddock's  Pasture,"  a  tract  of  land  where 
the  Lang  canning  factory  and  the  Kilpatrick 
stock  and  storage  yards  are  now  located. 
From  the  test  wells  put  down,  the  city  coun- 
cil was  led  to  believe  that  an  abundance  of 
pure  water  could  be  here  obtained  at  a  shallow 
depth.  These  bonds  were  issued,  placed  upon 
the  market  and  sold  for  approximately  their 
face  value,  and  a  contract  for  installing  this 
plant  was  let  to  the  firm  of  Godfrey  &  Means, 
of  Fremont,  Nebraska.  But  these  contractors 
failed  to  obtain  a  satis  factor}'  supply  of  water, 
though  it  developed  that  a  considerable  quan- 
tity of  pure,  wholesome  water  did  in  fact  ex- 
ist at  that  point.  The  money  invested  in  this 
movement  was  wholly  lost  and  the  small  brick 
building  which  was  erected  as  a  pumping  sta- 
tion and  which  still  occupies  the  small  tract  of 
ground  purchased  by  the  city,  is  a  melancholy 
reminder  to  the  tax-payers  of  Beatrice  of  this 
failure  to  secure  the  necessary  supply  of  pure 
municipal  water. 

For  several  years  after  this  costly  experi- 
ment, the  question  of  an  adequate  supply  of 
potable  water  for  Beatrice  was  suffered  to 
rest,  though  it  still  remained  an  ever-present, 
urgent  problem  to  every  lover  of  his  city. 
About  1910  the  city  authorities  again  took  up 
the  matter  and  a  short  distance  east  of  the 
Paddock  pasture  several  test  wells  were  put 
down  to  water  bearing  gravel.  These,  it  was 
thought,  indicated  the  existence  of  pure  water 
in  sufficient  quantities,  if  properly  developed, 
to  meet  the  requirements  of  the  city.  Four 
large  wells  were  put  down  by  the  city,  electri- 
cal pumping  apparatus  was  installed  in  them, 
and,  in  1911,  a  small  reservoir  was  built,  at 
considerable  cost,  on  the  northern  boundary 
of  the  city.  Water  from  these  wells  was  pumped 
into  this  reservoir  and  conducted  by  gravity 
through  mains  to  the  pumping  station  of  the 
city  waterworks.  It  soon  became  apparent 
that  the  water  problem  of  Beatrice  had  not 
been  solved,  the  supply  from  this  source  being 
painfully  deficient. 

At  the  election  in  1912  a  change  was  ef- 
fected from  the  old  plan  of  ward  representa- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


205 


tiou  in  the  city  council  to  the  commission  form 
of  government,  and  the  new  administration 
applied  itself  at  once  to  a  solution  of  this  ever- 
present,  perplexing  problem  of  wholesome 
water  for  Beatrice.  Finally,  on  the  10th  day 
of  August,  1912,  the  commissioners  advertised 
in  the  city  press  for  sealed  proposals  "for  the 
construction  of  a  sufficient  number  of  wells  to 
supply  the  city  of  Beatrice  with  five  hundred 
thousand  (500,000)  to  seven  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  (750,000)  gallons  of  water  per 
day  of  twenty-four  hours,  also  the  pumps, 
electric  motors,  pipe  fittings,  and  all  other  ma- 
terial and  equipment,  including  all  labor  nec- 
essary to  install  same  and  to  deliver  the  above 
amount  of  water  into  the  present  water 
mains."  Bidders  were  to  furnish  their  own 
plans  and  specifications  and  the  cost  of  the 
work  to  the  city  was  to  be  based  on  the  num- 
ber of  gallons  of  water  that  the  wells  and 
equipment  should  be  capable  of  pumping  into 
the  mains  for  twenty-four  hours. 

On  the  20th  day  of  August,  1912,  the  Demp- 
ster Mill  Manufacturing  Company,  of  Be- 
atrice, submitted  a  "proposal  for  wells,  pump 
and  motors  for  the  city  of  Beatrice"  accom- 
panied by  plans  and  specifications  and  a  blue- 
print illustrative  of  the  proposed  wells  and 
their  equipment.  This  proposal  was  accepted, 
and  the  company  entered  immediately  upon  the 
work  of  putting  down  wells  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  Paddock  Pasture,  on  North  Sixth 
street.  The  limitations  of  this  volume  render 
it  inexpedient  to  follow  the  details  of  this 
movement  further  than  to  say  that  the  com- 
pany failed  to  develop  a  sufficient  quantity  of 
water  from  its  wells  to  meet  the  requirements 
of  its  contract. 

Finally  it  turned  to  the  well  known  spring 
located  on  the  farm  of  John  H.  Zimmerman, 
on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  a  short  distance 
northwest  of  the  city.  The  existence  of  this 
spring  had  been  known  since  the  first  settle- 
ment of  Gage  county.  Without  development 
or  artificial  aid  it  sent  forth  a  considerable 
stream  of  pure,  cold  water.  To  the  Dempster 
Mill  Manufacturing  Company  generally,  and 
to  its  president,  Charles  B.  Dempster,  par- 
ticularly, belongs  the  entire  credit  of  develop- 


ing this  fine  living  spring,  which  is  now  almost 
the  sole  source  of  the  city  water  supply. 

The  history  of  this  venture,  with  its  result, 
is  well  set  forth  in  a  letter  by  the  company, 
signed  by  its  president,  addressed  to  the  mayor 
and  city  commissioners  of  Beatrice.  The  gen- 
eral statements  of  this  letter  are  pertinent  to 
the  object  and  purpose  of  this  history  and  for 
that  reason  it  is  here  given  in  full.  It  reads 
as  follows : 

Beatrice,  Neb.,  Aug.  6,  1913. 
Hon.    Mayor   &   City   Commissioners, 

Beatrice,    Neb. 
Gentlemen : 

Without  going  into  details  with  refer- 
ence to  our  efforts  to  secure  the  city  of 
Beatrice  a  sufficient  supply  of  water, 
which  we  have  been  endeavoring  to  do  since 
last  November,  we  are  now  pleased  to  re- 
port that  we  have  finally  secured  what  we 
believe  to  be  not  only  an  ample  but  a  last- 
ing supply  of  good,  pure,  soft  water  at  Zim- 
merman Springs,  joining  the  city  on  the  north- 
west. 

We  also  have  an  option  from  Mr.  John  H. 
Zimmerman  for  the  lease  of  these  springs,  to- 
gether with  the  right  of  way  over  the  land 
adjacent  thereto,  for  a  term  of  ten  years, 
for'  an  annual  rental  of  $300.00  per  year, 
with  further  option  to  purchase  the  springs 
at  any  time  within  ten  years  at  the  price  of 
$6,000.00,  together  with  such  land  as  may 
be  required,  up  to  ten  acres,  at  a  price  of 
$200.00  per  acre.  This  contract  or  option 
is  made  direct  to  the  Dempster  Mill  Manu- 
facturing Company,  but  can  be  assigned  by 
them  to  others.  We  believe  this  option  is  a 
valuable  one  to  the  city  of   Beatrice. 

We  further  believe  that  we  have  secured 
and  can  deliver  to  the  city  over  one  and  one- 
half  million  gallons  of  water  every  twenty- 
four  hours,  taking  the  Zimmerman  Springs 
and  the  wells  we  put  down  north  of  the 
city  together.  The  wells  north  of  the  city 
were  put  down  under  our  contract  with  the 
city  of  Beatrice,  dated  August  20,  1912, 
with   later  amendments. 

After  having  put  down  these  four  batter- 
ies of  wells  north  of  the  city,  you  will  re- 
member that  we  were  unable  to  secure  the 
required  amount  of  water  to  complete  our 
contracts  and  that,  by  mutual  consent,  the 
contract  was  suspended  until  we  had  an  op- 
portunity to  make  a  test  of  the  supply  of 
water   at   the   Zimmerman    Springs. 

The  test  and  purchase  of  the  option 
of  the  Zimmerman  Springs,  as  you  well  un- 


206 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


derstand,  were  made  at  our  expense  and  our 
risk,  the  city  taking  no  chances  in  our 
ability  to  secure  the  water  supply  whatso- 
ever. We  stated  that  we  would  take  the 
matter  up  with  you  again  after  we  had 
made  the  tests. 

Now,  Gentlemen,  we  have  not  only  made 
the  tests,  but  have  completed  a  perma- 
nent well,  walling  it  up  with  a  twelve- 
inch  brick  wall,  laid  in  cement.  We  have 
been  pumping  the  springs  almost  continual- 
ly for  two  months  and  the  amount  of  water 
pumped  increased  steadily  from  the  time  we 
began  pumping  until  it  is  now  capable  of 
furnishing  1,200,000  gallons  of  water  per 
day  and,  at  the  same  time,  leaving  three  to 
three  and  a  half  feet  of  water  still. in  the 
bottom  of  the  well. 

The  well  is  dug  down  thirty  feet  deep. 
We  also  drilled  five  holes  in  the  bottom  of 
the  dug  well  an  additional  twenty  feet. 
The  first  two  of  these  holes  we  drilled  in- 
creased the  flow  of  the  water  in  the  well 
about  fifty  per  cent.  It  is  our  opinion,  al- 
so the  opinion  of  Professor  E.  H.  Barbour, 
Head  of  the  Geological  Survey  Department 
of  the  University  of  Nebraska,  that  by 
blasting  and  taking  out  the  rock  an  ad- 
ditional sixteen  or  eighteen  feet,  we  can  in- 
crease the  supply  of  water  up  to  at  least  one 
and  a  half  million  gallons  per  day. 

Professor  Barbour  made  a  special  trip  here 
at  our  request,  while  we  were  sinking  the 
wells.  He  made  a  careful  investigation  of 
the  formations  and  all  conditions  surround- 
ing the  springs,  and  stated  that  it  was  the  best 
prospect  for  an  ample  supply  of  water  that  he 
had  seen  in  the  state  and  that  it  was,  in  his 
opinion,  a  permanent  supply.  He  was  also 
here  yesterday,  making  measurements  and 
taking  photographs  of  the  flow  of  the  water 
and  surroundings,  and  was  very  much  pleased 
with  the  amount  of  water  we  were  getting. 

Now,  Gentlemen,  we  have  been  to  a  con- 
siderable expense  in  our  endeavor  to  secure 
the  city  this  supply  of  water  and,  at  last,  we 
have  the  satisfaction  of  being  able  to  say  to 
you  and  to  the  citizens  of  Beatrice  that  we 
have  been  successful  and  that  we  have  se- 
cured a  supply  of  water  sufficient  to  take  care 
of  the  city's  requirements  for  many  years  t& 
come. 

We  never  had  figured  on  making  a  profit 
out  of  securing  for  the  city  a  sufficient  supply 
of  water  and  we  are  willing  at  this  time  to 
turn  the  wells  and  springs  over  to  the  city  of 
Beatrice,  which  shall  include  the  option  for  the 
lease  or  purchase  of  the  Zimmennan  Springs 
together   with    the    completed    well,    also    the 


wells  north  of  the  city  and  the  pumping  ma- 
chinery and  equipment  connected  with  same, 
also  the  cancellation  of  our  contract  for  the 
water  supply,  and  all  we  ask  in  return  is  that 
we  be  paid  just  what  it  has  cost  us  to  secure 
it,  charging  nothing  for  the  risk  which  we 
have  taken  by  virtue  of  the  fact  that  had  we 
not  secured  the  water,  we  stood  to  lose  what 
we  had  spent  or  invested. 

The  total  cost  amounts  to  $15,867.26,  to 
which  we  will  have  to  add  six  per  cent  interest 
from  August  1,  1913. 

This  proposition  is  made  to  the  city  of 
Beatrice,  through  you  as  their  representatives, 
and  will  hold  good  until  September  15,  1913, 
which  we  believe  will  give  you  ample  time  to 
investigate  the  matter  and  decide  whether  the 
city  wants  to  accept  the  proposition  or  not. 

Hoping  that  this  proposition  will  meet  with 
your  approval  and  that  steps  may  be  taken  at 
an  early  date  to  close  the  matter  up,  in  order 
that  the  main  may  be  run  into  the  city  and  the 
people  supplied  with  this  spring  water  before 
winter  sets  in,  we  are 

Yours  very  truly, 

Dempster  Mill  Mfg.  Co. 
C-  B.  Dempster,  Pres. 

At  a  special  election  held  in  the  city  May  5, 
1910,  the  voters  of  the  municipality  had  au- 
thorized the  issuance  of  $70,000  of  the  bonds 
of  the  city,  the  proceeds  thereof  to  be  used  in 
constructing,  maintaining  and  operating  a  sys- 
tem of  watenvorks  for  Beatrice.  On  Oc- 
tober 10th  of  that  year  these  bonds  had  been 
issued  and  sold,  and  the  money  realized  from 
their  sale  had  been  applied  by  the  city  au- 
thorities in  enlarging  the  building  and  plant 
of  the  waterworks,  installing  additional  ma- 
chinery, including  an  electric  pumping  plant 
and  lighting  system,  and  in  covering  the  ex- 
pense of  the  various  efforts  put  forth  by  the 
commissioners  in  trying  to  develop  a  sufficient 
water  supply  by  the  system  of  wells.  After 
the  development  of  the  Zimmerman  Springs 
proposition  as  set  forth  in  the  foregoing  let- 
ter of  the  Dempster  Company,  it  became 
necessary  to  raise  money  to  cover  the  cost  of 
acquiring  the  spring  and  the  ten-acre  tract 
where  it  is  situated,  as  set  out  in  the  letter. 
For  this  purpose  the  special  election  was  held 
in  the  city  on  the  5th  day  of  November,  1913, 
at  which  the  issuance  of  $30,000  of  the  bonds 
of    the    city    was    authorized,    the    proceeds 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


207 


thereof  to  be  used  to  complete  the  waterworks 
system  of  the  city  by  acquiring  title  to  the 
spring  and  the  ten-acre  tract  of  land  where  it 
is  located  and  of  connecting  it  to  the  existing 
waterworks  system  of  the  city. 

By  these  various  steps  Beatrice  has  finally 
acquired  a  supply  of  pure  spring  water  suffi- 


cient, as  far  as  tried,  for  the  demands  of  the 
city,  at  a  total  cost  of  approximately  $225,000 
to  the  taxpayers  of  the  municipality.  After 
many  years  of  operation  at  a  steady  loss, 
which  was  annually  met  by  additional  taxa- 
tion, the  Beatrice  city  water  plant  has  reached 
a  point  where  it  is  easily  self-supporting. 


CHAPTER  XXI 


BEATRICE  CONTINUED 

The  Free  Public  Library  -  First  Board  of  Directors- Carnegie  Library  Building - 
First  Librarian -Pubuc.Parks  -  The  Old  Stone  Church -The  New  Methodist 
Church -The   First  Presbyterian   Church -The     Episcopal     Church -First 
Christian  Church  -  United  Brethren  Church  -  Trinity  Luther.^n  Church - 
First    Catholic    Church -First    Baptist    Church -St.    John's    Lutheran 
Church -German   Methodist   Church -LaSalle    Street    Church  -  Sev- 
enth Day  Adventist  Church  —  First    Church    of    Christ,    Scientist  — 
First  Congregational  Church  —  Mennonite  Church  —  Beatrice  School 
District  — Old  Frame  School  House  —  First  High  School  Building — 
Second  High  School  Building  — Third    High    School    Building  — 
Grade  School  Buildings  —  City  Superintendent  of  Schools 


The  public  library  of  the  city  of  Beatrice, 
which  in  the  afflux  of  time  has  become  a  fac- 
tor of  inestimable  importance  in  the  intellect- 
ual life  of  the  city,  is  the  direct  outgrowth  of 
the  activities  of  an  organization  known  as  the 
Beatrice  Literary  Club,  founded  about  the 
year  1890,  by  Carroll  G.  Pearse  (superintend- 
ent of  the  Beatrice  city  schools),  Ossian  H. 
Brainard,  Alexander  R.  Dempster,  Edward 
Sinclair  Smith,  Dr.  Edward  Bates,  Leander 
M.  Pemberton,  Samuel  S.  Peters,  Joseph  E. 
Cobbey,  Jr.,  Marion  T.  Cummings,  Hugh  J. 
Dobbs,  and  others.  Prior  to  the  founding  of 
the  library,  the  ladies  of  the  Woman's  Chris- 
tian Temperance  Union  of  Beatrice  had  for 
many  years  maintained  a  small  circulating  li- 
brary in  the  city,  this  being  poorly  supported 
by  voluntary  contributions  and  paid  subscrip- 
tions. It  had  a  very  limited  use,  on  account  of 
the  small  number  of  books  of  value  and  of 
the  expense  to  patrons  using  it.  For  several 
years  its  sponsors  had  frequently  endeavored 
to  persuade  the  city  to  take  their  library'  and, 
with  it  as  nucleus,  found  a  municipal  library 
suported  by  public  tax ;  in  this,  however,  they 
had  been  uniformly  unsuccessful. 

In  the  spring  of  1893  the  Beatrice  Literar>' 


Club  found  itself  in  the  possession  of  a  con- 
siderable sum  of  money,  the  product  of  some 
very  successful  lecture  courses  given  under  its 
auspices,  and  resolved  to  undertake  the  service 
to  the  community  of  inducing  the  city  council 
to  acept  the  offer  of  the  ladies  of  the  Wo- 
man's Christian  Temperance  Union,  to  relieve 
them  of  the  burden  of  carrying  on  a  library 
which  met  the  demands  of  the  community  to 
a  very  limited  degree,  and  to  found  a  munic- 
ipal library  to  which  every  citizen  of  Beatrice 
might,  under  proper  regulations,  have  full  and 
free  access.  As  a  slight  inducement  to  favor- 
able action  on  the  part  of  the  city  council,  the 
members  of  the  Literary  Club  proposed  to 
turn  over  to  the  city  the  money  in  its  treasury, 
to  be  used  for  library  purposes.  The  city 
council  gave  ear  to  the  persuasive  eloquence 
of  Carroll  G.  Pearse,  president  of  the  Liter- 
ary Club,  and,  after  canvassing  the  matter,  de- 
cided to  act  favorably  upon  his  suggestions. 
The  money  tendered  by  the  club  was  accepted, 
the  books  and  library  eft'ects  of  the  ladies  of 
the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union 
were  taken  over  by  the  city,  and,  in  June, 
1893,  the  city  council,  formally  and  in  the 
manner  provided   by   law,   established  a    free 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


209 


public  library  for  the  citizens  of  Beatrice.  A 
board  of  directors  was  thereupon  appointed 
and  for  the  support  of  the  library  a  leyy  of 
two  mills  on  the  dollar  was  made  upon  the 
grand  assessment  roll  of  the  city.  The  first 
board  of  directors  was  composed  of  the  fol- 
lowing well  known  citizens  of  the  city  of 
Beatrice:  Jefferson  B.  Weston,  three  years; 
Cornelius  Jansen,  three  years;  Leander  M. 
Pemberton,  one  year;  Joseph  E.  Cobbey,  one 
year ;  Samuel  Rinaker,  two  years ;  LeRoy  F. 
LaSelle,  three  years ;  George  P.  Marvin,  two 
years ;  Charles  G.  Gilespie,  one  year ;  Hugh 
J.  Dobbs,  three  years. 

This  board  of  driectors  organized  by  choos- 
ing Jefferson  B.  Weston,  president ;  Leander 
M.  Pemberton,  vice-president ;  and  Cornelius 
Jansen,  secretary.  Mary  E.  Abell,  who  had 
been  prominent  in  the  affairs  of  the  former 
library,  was  elected  by  the  board  of  directors 
as  the  first  librarian  of  the  municipal  library. 
Quarters  for  the  new  library,  together  with  a 
reading  room,  were  secured  on  the  upper  floor 
of  the  new  postoffice  building  on  its  comple- 
tion, in  October,  1893,  and  the  Beatrice  Free 
Public  Library  was  formally  opened  to  public 
patronage. 

In  December,  1902,  application  was  made 
by  the  library  board  to  Andrew  Carnegie  for 
an  allowance  out  of  his  millions  for  the  pur- 
pose of  erecting  a  suitable  building  for  the 
library.  The  application  was  favorably  re- 
ceived by  the  great  iron  master,  who  offered  to 
donate  to  the  city  of  Beatrice  the  sum  of  $20,- 
000  for  the  erection  of  a  library'  building,  pro- 
vided a  suitable  site  were  procured  and  the 
city  council  would  agree  to  make  an  annual 
levy  upon  the  taxable  valuation  of  the  prop- 
erty of  the  city  for  the  purpose  of  supporting 
the  library.  The  money  to  purchase  the  pres- 
ent site  of  tlie  library  building  was  raised  by 
private  subscription,  and  lots  5  and  6  in  block 
36  of  the  original  town  of  Beatrice,  the 
present  site  of  the  library,  were  purchased  for 
$1,600. 

George  A.  Burlinghof,  an  architect  then  re- 
siding at  Beatrice,  was  selected  to  draft  plans 
and  specifications  for  the  library  building. 
Contracts  were  let  for  its  construction  and  the 


work  entered  upon  in  the  spring  of  1903,  al- 
most exactly  ten  years  from  the  date  of  found- 
ing the  library.  The  work  progressed  rap- 
idly. The  material  used  was  Warrensburg, 
^Missouri,  sandstone  and  terra  cotta.  While 
not  fire-proof,  the  building  is  constructed  on 
the  principle  known  as  slow  combustion.  This 
building,  with  its  grounds,  is  now  practically 
included  in  the  Charles  Park,  and  together 
they  form  perhaps  the  most  interesting  and 
beautiful  spot  in  Beatrice. 

On  the  completion  of  the  building,  Mr. 
Carnegie,  being  again  appealed  to,  contributed 
$3,000  to  be  used  in  the  purchase  of  suitable 
furniture,  shelving  and  other  fixtures  for  the 
library.  The  book  stacks  and  furniture  were 
bought  of  the  American  Library  Association 
and  were  duly  installed.  On  the  first  day  of 
January,  1904,  the  Beatrice  Free  Public  Li- 
brary was  opened  to  public  patronage  in  its 
new  and  beautiful  building. 

Since  its  founding,  the  patrons  of  the  li- 
brary have  been  served  by  a  number  of  effi- 
cient librarians,  but  by  none  more  able  or 
devoted  than  the  first,  Mary  E.  Abell.  This 
good  lady,  who  had  been  a  citizen  of  Beatrice 
for  many  years,  died  while  serving  as  libra- 
rian, on  Saturday,  April  4,  1903,  and  of  the 
original  library  board,  Weston,  Cobbey,  La- 
Selle, JMarvin  and  Gillespie  also  have  passed 
away.  But  the  institution  which  they  were 
instrumental  in  organizing  remains  and  will 
long  remain  to  radiate  its  beneficent  influence 
throughout  the  beautiful  city  which  it  serves. 

The  public  parks  of  Beatrice  are  Charles 
Park,  Nichols  Park,  the  Athletic  Park,  and  the 
Chautauqua  Park. 

Charles  Park  is  situated  between  Fifth  and 
Sixth  streets,  immediately  south  of  the  old 
high-school  building.  It  was  purchased  in 
part  with  a  bequest  in  the  will  of  James 
Charles,  a  pioneer  resident  of  Beatrice  and  vi- 
cinity, the  purchased  lots  being  1,  2,  3  and  4 
in  block  36  of  the  original  town  of  Beatrice. 
To  these  were  added  lots  5  and  6,  where  the 
public  library  stands,  and  also  Elk  street  be- 
tween Fifth  and  Sixth  streets,  which  was  va- 
cated by  the  city  council  for  park  purposes, 
and  all  that  part  of  the  school-house  square 


210 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUx\TY,  NEBRASKA 


south  of  the  walks  about  the  old  high-school 
building. 

Nichols  Park  is  located  a  little  west  of  the 
Court  street  bridge  across  the  Big  Blue  river. 
It  is  a  beautiful  spot,  comprising  about  three 
acres  of  ground  between  Court  street  and  the 
river.  Most  of  the  land  forming  it  was  do- 
nated by  Martin  V.  Nichols,  an  old  and  highly 
esteemed  resident  of  Beatrice. 

The  Athletic  Park  is  an  adjunct  of  the  city 
school    system.     The    founders    of    this    play 


large  assembly  hall  and  the  other  structures 
now  found  there  were  placed  on  the  grounds 
by  this  organization.  For  a  dozen  years  or 
more  the  programs  given  at  this  place  were 
well  patronized  by  the  people  of  southeastern 
Nebraska.  Many  eminent  men  and  women 
have  here  contributed  to  the  instruction, 
amusement  and  entertainment  of  large  au- 
diences. Amongst  these  were  Thomas  De 
Witt  Talmage,  a  noted  clergyman  of  the  past 
generation  :  ex-President  Hayes  ;  Sam  Jones ; 


ground  were  the  late  Daniel  Wolford  Cook, 
the  Kilpatrick  Brothers  and  S.  VV.  Collins. 
After  its  completion,  it  was  donated  and  by 
warranty  deed  conveyed  to  the  Beatrice  school 
district,  to  be  forever  dedicated  to  wholesome 
school  sport,  and  other  scholastic  and  public 
gatherings. 

The  Chautauqua  Park  comprises  about 
thirty  acres  of  land,  for  many  years  known 
and  used  as  Chautauqua  grounds.  Beginning 
about  1888,  the  Chautauqua  organization, 
composed  of  several  public-spirited  citizens  of 
Beatrice,  annually  for  several  years  gave  a 
Chautauqua  program  on  these  grounds.     The 


Bishop  Vincent;  Frank  Robinson,  the  trav- 
elouge  entertainer ;  William  J.  Bryan ;  Frances 
Willard ;  Congressman  Horr ;  Mary  Ellen 
Lease ;  Edward  Rosewater ;  Dr.  Robert  Mc- 
Intyre ;  Susan  B.  Anthony ;  Dr.  Henson,  a 
noted  Baptist  clergyman,  of  Chicago ;  Robert 
LaFollette ;  and  many  others  of  wide  reputa- 
tion as  speakers,  lecturers,  and  entertainers. 

After  an  interesting  and  profitable  record 
covering  many  years,  the  organization,  on  ac- 
count of  the  decrease  in  attendance,  finally 
suspended  operations  in  debt,  and  an  action 
was  brought  against  it  in  the  district  court  of 
Gage  county  to   foreclose  a  mortgage  on   its 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


212 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


property,  when,  by  an  arrangement  with  the 
board  of  directors,  the  city  of  Beatrice  inter- 
vened, paid  the  indebtedness,  took  over  the 
property  and  converted  it  into  a  beautiful  city 
park. 

An  important  adjunct  to  the  public-park 
system  of  the  city  is  the  use  which  has  re- 
cently been  made  of  the  Big  Blue  river  as  a 
source  of  recreation.  While  always  a  favored 
means  of  entertainment  it  has  grown  in  favor 
since  W.  E.  Garrett,  in  August,  1907,  acquired 
riparian  rights  on  the  river  above  Black 
Brothers'  mill  dam  and  installed  a  line  of 
pleasure  boats,  including  flat  boats  for  pic- 
nickers. For  a  number  of  years  he  has  given 
an  annual  evening  festival  on  the  river  locally 
known  as  "Venetian  Night"  which  attracts 
large  and  appreciative  crowds,  many  coming 
from  considerable  distances. 

The  Nehaunchee  canoeing  club  is  an  or- 
ganization of  canoe  enthusiasts  whose  purpose 
is  to  develop  a  taste  for  this  fine  sport  and  in- 
crease the  usefulness  of  the  river  as  a  pleasure 
resort. 

Nothing  perhaps  shows  the  steady  growth 
of  Beatrice  from  a  mere  village  of  a  few  hun- 
dred inhabitants  to  a  modern  city  of  probably 
12,000  people  more  than  its  church  history. 
No  movement  to  erect  a  church  building  in  the 
village  was  inaugurated  prior  to  the  year  1868. 
The  Methodist  Episcopal  denomination  had 
possessed  organizations  in  Beatrice,  Blue 
Springs  and  other  localities  in  the  county  prior 
to  that  time.  Early  that  year  steps  were  taken 
to  erect  in  Beatrice  a  church  for  general  use. 
The  idea  seemed  to  be  that  it  should  be  open 
and  free  to  all  denominations ;  it  was  in  elifect 
a  citizens'  movement  for  a  free  church  build- 
ing. The  location  for  this  structure  was  fixed 
at  the  corner  of  Fourth  and  Elk  streets,  lots  7, 
8,  block  20  of  the  original  town  of  Beatrice, 
and  work  was  begun  probably  in  the  late 
spring  of  1868.  The  building  planned  was  to 
be  a  stone  edifice,  approximately  twenty-five 
by  fifty  feet  in  dimensions,  with  a  single 
room, — a  plain  building  both  inside  and  out. 
The  stone  was  hauled  from  the  quary  of  Hurd 
&  Guffey,  at  what  is  now  Holmesville,  and 
the  work  appears  to  have  progressed  rapidly, 


as  things  went  in  those  days.  Under  date  of 
October  28,  1868,  the  Blue  Valley  Record 
says  "Our  free  church  edifice  is  beginning  to 
loom  up.  Carr,  the  contractor,  is  a  smasher 
to  drive  business.  However  it  is  no  wonder, 
for  he  has  the  best  material  in  the  world  to 
use  in  his  contract."  The  same  paper  an- 
nounces also  that  Mr.  Carr,  who  superin- 
tended the  stone  work  at  the  capitol  building 
at  Lincoln,  had  located  permanently  in  Be- 
atrice. 

As  the  church  approached  completion  the 
plan  of  a  free  church  building  was  abandoned 
and  the  property  turned  over  to  the  Methodist 
church  organization,  which  completed  it  and 
occupied  it  for  religious  services  in  the  early 
part  of  1869.  May  17,  1870,  to  the  trustees 
of  the  church  a  deed  was  given  to  lot  8,  block 
20,  by  J.  W.  and  J.  B.  Mumford,  and  on  May 
23,  1871,  J.  B.  Weston  conveyed  to  the  trus- 
tees of  the  church  lot  7  in  this  block,  which 
was  afterward  occupied  by  a  parsonage.  This 
old  stone  structure  was  the  first  building  in 
Gage  county  erected  for  church  purposes  and 
dedicated  to  the  worship  of  Almighty  God. 
For  many  years,  with  the  parsonage,  it  stood 
at  the  corner  of  Fourth  and  Elk  streets.  Re- 
cently both  lots  have  been  purchased  by  the 
Beatrice  school  district  and  the  old  stone 
church,  which  had  fallen  into  disuse,  was 
wrecked,  the  parsonage  moved  away  and  the 
lots  included  in  the  high-school  grounds.  This 
old  pioneer  church  building  played  a  most  in- 
teresting and  useful  part  in  the  religious  and 
social  life  of  Beatrice  for  many  years.  In  ad- 
dition to  the  services  of  the  church,  Sunday 
school  was  held  within  its  walls,  marriages 
performed  at  its  altar,  the  dead  buried  from 
its  doors,  and  many  a  penitent  found  rest  for 
a  troubled  heart  through  confession  of  sin  and 
profession  of  faith. 

The  old  church  delighted  to  open  its  doors 
in  hospitable  welcome  to  religious,  social  and 
educational  gatherings.  The  first  confirma- 
tion service  of  the  Episcopal  church  was  held 
here,  in  April,  1871,  and  the  first  meetings  of 
the  Presbyterians  were  in  this  building,  in 
1869.  Here  the  writer  himself,  in  the  unfor- 
gotten   past,   attended   not   only   the   religious 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


213 


services  of  the  church  but  also  debates,  lec- 
tures, educational  meetings,  social  gatherings. 
When  its  rugged  walls  were  taken  down, 
stone  by  stone,  much  of  the  past  history  of 
Beatrice  may  be  said  to  have  disappeared  for- 
ever. 

The  first  Methodist  minister  to  hold  service 
in  the  church  as  pastor  was  W.  A.  Presson,  a 
veteran  of  the  Civil  war.  After  him ,  not 
strictly  in  order  perhaps,  were  Revs.  J.  W. 
Wilson,  David  Hart,  John  W.  Stewart,  and 
Wesley  K.  Bean. 

The  congregation  grew  rapidly  from  the 
first,  and  the  old  building  became  inadequate 
to  its  needs.  Under  the  ministry  of  Rev. 
Wesley  K.  Bean,  in  1885,  steps  were  taken  to 
erect  a  new  church  edifice  and  parsonage,  and 
as  a  result  of  that  movement  the  fine  brick 
house  of  worship  located  at  the  corner  of 
Sixth  and  Elk  streets,  known  as  the  Centen- 
ary Methodist  Episcopal  church,  was  erected, 
and  it  was  dedicated  to  the  worship  of  God  in 
the  spring  of  1886. 

About  the  year  1906  a  fine  pipe  organ  was 
installed  in  the  church,  the  gift  of  Mrs.  Ra- 
chael  Kilpatrick  and  Mrs.  Margaret  Constance 
Blakely,  both  pioneer  residents  of  our  county. 
In  1915  the  church  was  enlarged  and  other- 
wise extensively  improved.  The  membership 
of  this  church  has  grown  from  a  mere  hand- 
ful in  1869  to  a  body  of  nine  hundred  com- 
municants. Amongst  its  organizations  are 
the  Ladies'  Aid  Society,  Epworth  League,  the 
Home  and  Foreign  Missionary  Societies  and 
the  Standard  Bearers. 

Amongst  the  ministers  who  have  occupied 
the  pulpit  of  this  church  and  given  it  power 
and  influence  are  Wesley  K.  Bean,  John  W. 
Stewart,  C.  S.  Dudley,  Duke  Slavens,  H.  T. 
Davis,  L.J.  Guild,  B.  F.  Thomas,  N.  A.  Mar- 
tin, Ulysses  G.  Brown,  and  Benjamin  F. 
Gaither.  The  present  pastor  is  Rev.  Clyde 
Clay  Cissell. 

The  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Beatrice 
was  organized  March  12,  1859,  under  the  au- 
spices of  the  Missouri  River  Presbytery.  The 
charter  members  in  the  organization  were 
Mrs.  Sarah  Ann  Blodgett,  Mrs.  Mary  T. 
Griggs,  Miss  Anna  Griggs,  Robert  H.  Weed- 


en  and  Mrs.  Lydia  Weeden.  Of  these  Mrs. 
Blodgett  is  the  only  survivor.  The  first 
board  of  trustees  comprised  Henry  A.  La- 
Selle,  Robert  H.  Weeden  and  R.  L.  Blodgett. 
Mr.  LaSelle  was  also  clerk  and  treasurer  of 
the  church.  In  1869  a  church  edifice  thirty- 
seven  by  thirty-seven  feet  in  dimensions,  brick, 
two  stories,  was  erected  on  the  southwest 
corner  of  Fifth  and  High  streets.  It  was 
completed  at  a  cost  of  about  $10,000  and  was 
dedicated  as  a  house  of  public  worship  some 
time  in  1870.  The  first  minister  of  this  pio- 
neer church  was  Benjamin  F.  McNeil,  who 
was  also  county  superintendent  of  schools. 
Following  him  there  came  James  A.  Griffith, 
Thomas  S.  Hale,  L.  W.  B.  Shryock,  W.  H. 
McMeen,  H.  F.  White,  A.  B.  Irving,  John  W. 
Mills,  William  H.  Hood,  John  D.  Counter- 
mine, William  H.  Kearns,  L.  D.  Young,  N.  P. 
Patterson,  and  E.  C.  Lucas,  the  present  pas- 
tor. Perhaps  no  church  in  the  west  has  been 
served  by  an  abler,  more  learned  or  more  de- 
voted line  of  ministerial  leaders.  Some  of 
them,  having  acquired  reputation  and  in- 
fluence in  Beatrice,  have  been  called  to 
broader  fields  of  labor,  while  the  present  pas- 
tor, with  patriotic  self-denial,  will  soon  en- 
gage in  the  work  of  his  calling  in  distant 
France,  during  the  great  world  war. 

In  1893  the  present  beautiful  church  and 
parsonage  were  erected,  at  a  cost  of  $24,000. 
The  membership  now  exceeds  five  hundred, 
the  attendance  at  Sunday  school  averages  two 
hundred  and  fifty.  The  present  bench  of 
elders  are :  Rev.  Edgar  C.  Lucas,  Moderator ; 
F.  B.  Sheldon,  clerk ;  E.  F.  Kimmerly,  trea- 
surer; Dr.  W.  C.  Purviance,  G.  H.  Van  Horn, 
Charles  Elliott,  Paul  D.  Marvin,  J.  W. 
Beard,  J.  R.  Spicer,  J.  E.  T.  Dickinson,  H.  A. 
LaSelle,  and  Dr.  C.  A.  Spellman.  The  ac- 
tivities of  the  church  are  many  and  varied. 
Its  societies  are  the  Young  People's  Society 
of  Christian  Endeavor,  Intermediate  and 
Junior  Christian  Endeavor  Societies,  Wo- 
men's Missionary  Society,  Ladies'  Aid  So- 
ciety, Delta  Alpha  Chapter  of  Westminster 
Guild,  Life  Bearers  and  Mission  Band. 

In  Arpil,  1871,  the  first  confirmation  of  the 
Episcopal   church  was   held   at  the   old   stone 


214 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


^[ethodist  church  and  the  general  sen'ices  of 
the  church  began  in  that  year.  The  parish 
was  organized  and  admitted  to  the  union  of 
the  diocese  in  1873.  The  minutes  of  the 
meeting  at  which  the  parish  was  organized 
show  that  S.  C.  B.  Dean  was  elected  senior 
warden  and  John  E.  Smith  junior  warden; 
vestrymen,  J.  \\\  Carter,  Alfred  Hazlett,  and 
A.  G.  Spellman.  Of  the  incorporators  only 
one  is  now  identified  with  the  parish,  Mr. 
John  E.  Smith,  who  in  1874  was  elected  sen- 
ior warden  and  who  has  been  annually  re- 
elected since  that  time.  The  first  record  in 
the  parish  register  is  the  baptism  of  Sarah 
Isabella  Landy,  August  13,  1871,  by  the  Rev. 
Arthur  E.  Wilson. 

The  first  rector  of  the  parish  was  the  Rev. 
Joseph  F.  Cotton,  who  continued  in  charge 
until  1876.  The  Rev.  Robert  W.  Jones  served 
as  rector  from  1877  to  1880,  the  Rev.  Wil- 
liam G.  Hawkins  served  from  1880  to  1882 
and  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  C.  L.  Ful forth, 
who  remained  until  1885 ;  the  Rev.  Robert 
Scott  took  charge  of  the  parish  at  the  begin- 
ning of  1886  and  remained  until  1891 ;  Rev.  J. 
O.  Davis  became  rector  that  year  and  served 
until  1895;  the  Rev.  W.  P.  N.  J.  Wharton 
served  one  year  and  was  succeeded  by  the 
present  rector,  Rev.  W.  A.  Mulligan,  in  1896. 
At  the  time  of  the  organization,  a  wooden 
church  was  built  on  the  site  where  the  pres- 
ent church  now  stands.  Prior  to  this  the 
congregation  worshiped  in  a  small  wooden 
school-house  which  stood  on  the  block  where 
the  Central  ward  school  now  stands.  During 
the  rectorship  of  the  Rev.  Robert  Scott,  the 
present  handsome  stone  church  was  built,  at 
a  cost  of  about  $40,000.  The  comer  stone 
was  laid  in  1889  and  the  church  opened  for 
service  on  Easter  Day,  1890.  In  the  year 
1892  an  excellent  pipe  organ  was  installed  in 
the  church,  this  being  the  first  pipe  organ  in 
Beatrice.  In  1904  the  present  commodious 
rectory  was  built,  at  a  cost  approximately  of 
$5,000.  In  1908  the  parish  was  cleared  of  in- 
debtedness, and  the  church  was  consecrated 
June  16th  of  that  year.  In  1916  a  handsome 
stone  chapel  was  built  in  the  rear  of  the 
church  edifice,  at  a  cost  of  $6,000. 


The  organizations  of  the  church  are  the 
Ahar  Guild,  Daughters  of  the  King,  Junior 
Auxilliary,  St.  Mary's  Auxilliary,  Red  Cross 
Auxilliary,  and  Women's  Auxilliary. 

The  following  are  men  of  Christ  Church 
parish  who  have  enlisted  in  the  present  world 
war:  J.  Edmund  C.  Fisher,  Philip  W. 
Clancy,  Allen  B.  Ellis,  Robert  J.  Emery, 
Royal  Green,  Edward  Hackstadt,  Fulton 
Jack,  Jr.,  Ernest  D.  Kees,  Clarence  F.  Kil- 
patrick,  Russell  A.  Phelps,  Samuel  L.  Roe, 
Herbert  T.  SchaeiTer,  William  T.  Rogers, 
John  F.  Schick,  Ralph  C.  Scott,  Frank  Hobbs, 
Donald  N.  Van  Arsdale,  George  St.  Clair 
Preston,  Harold  R.  Mulligan,  Cliflford  Rock- 
hold,  John  J.  Kilpatrick,  Allen  W.  Mulligan, 
George  W.  Maurer,  and  Harold  D.  Burgess 

The  Episcopalians  have  contributed  to  the 
beauty  of  the  city  of  Beatrice  in  a  memorable 
way  by  the  erection  of  their  stone  church. 
No  building  in  the  city  compares  with  it  in 
architectural  grace  and  churchly  character. 
From  the  surrounding  country  on  every  hand, 
the  white,  beautiful  spire  of  this  sacred  edi- 
fice forms  the  most  impressive  object  in  the 
landscape. 

The  First  Christian  Church  of  Beatrice, 
Nebraska,  was  organized  the  first  Lord's  Day 
in  October,  1872.  Rev.  R.  C.  Barrow,  labor- 
ing under  the  General  Christian  Missionary 
Convention,  had  visited  the  place  at  inter\'als 
prior  to  this  date  and  baptized  a  few  persons. 
Among  the  number  thus  brought  together 
were  Dr.  H.  M.  Reynolds  and  wife  and  Mrs. 
Emily  O.  Snow,  and  these  with  a  few  others 
formed  the  nucleus  of  the  congregation. 
Among  these  were  John  C.  Past  and  wife, 
from  Newcastle,  Indiana ;  William  Bradt  and 
wife,  from  Rockford,  Illinois;  and  John  L. 
Rhodes  and  wife,  from  North  English,  Iowa. 
In  the  fall  of  1872  John  C.  Past  attended  the 
state  missionary  convention,  at  Lincoln,  to  se- 
cure aid  in  holding  a  meeting  and  through  this 
means  effect  an  organization ;  the  state  board 
recommended  that  the  brethren  at  Beatrice 
proceed  to  hold  a  meeting  and  if  possible  es- 
tablish an  organization,  and  the  services  of 
John  W.  Allen  were  secured  to  hold  a  pro- 
tracted   meeting,    which    was    commenced    at 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


215 


Methodist  Church. 


216 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


once.  After  about  two  weeks  a  church  was 
organized  with  about  twenty  members.  They 
were  J.  C.  Past,  Mrs.  J.  C.  Past,  Wilham 
Bradt,  Mrs.  William  Bradt,  Dr.  H.  M.  Rey- 
nolds, ]\Irs.  Reynolds,  John  L.  Rhodes,  Mrs. 
John  L.  Rhodes,  Edwin  Pheasant,  Mrs.  Ed- 
win Pheasant,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Headley,  G.  W. 
Hinkle,  John  Ellis,  Mrs.  Dr.  C.  C.  Sprague, 
Mrs.  Chesney,  Mrs.  A.  L.  Snow,  A.  W.  Bradt, 
Mrs.  A.  W.  Bradt,  and  Miss  Maggie  Murga- 
troyd.  J.  C.  Past  and  William  Bradt  were 
elected  elders,  and  Dr.  H.  M.  Reynolds  and 
John  L.  Rhodes  were  made  deacons.  The 
elders  and  deacons  constituted  the  official 
board.  The  first  meetings  were  held  in  Rey- 
nolds &  Townsend's  Hall,  in  the  second  story 
of  the  building  at  the  northwest  corner  of 
Court  and  Fifth  streets. 

In  1874  a  movement  was  started  to  build  a 
church  and  $250  was  paid  for  a  lot  at  the 
northeast  comer  of  Sixth  and  Ella  streets. 
A  church  building  was  built,  twenty-eight  by 
forty-two  feet,  with  an  addition  in  the  rear 
for  vestry  rooms,  ten  by  twelve  feet  and  a 
baptistry  under  the  pulpit,  at  a  cost  of  about 
$2,000.  But  the  grasshoppers  came  and  de- 
stroyed the  crops  before  the  building  was 
completed,  leaving  the  organization  with  a 
debt  of  seven  or  eight  hundred  dollars,  be- 
cause the  people  could  not  make  good  their 
pledges.  In  1889  an  addition  was  built  on  the 
north,  thirty-two  by  forty-four  feet,  giving 
the  building  a  T  shape,  with  a  seating  capacity 
of  five  hundred.  The  same  year  they  pur- 
chased the  two  lots  at  the  east  end  of  the 
block,  where  the  present  church  building 
stands,  and  considered  the  construction  of  a 
new  church  on  this  site.  In  1891  the  United 
States  government  purchased,  for  a  postoffice 
site,  the  lot  on  which  the  church  stood,  and 
this  necessitated  the  removal  of  the  church 
building  to  the  lots  at  Seventh  and  Ella 
streets.  A  basement  story  was  built  level  with 
the  street  under  the  entire  building  and  the 
parsonage  was  moved  to  the  north  of  the 
church.  This  was  the  home  of  the  congrega- 
tion until  1907,  when  the  present  beautiful 
edifice  was  erected,  at  a  cost  of  $40,000. 

At  the  present  time  the  membership  of  the 


church  is  over  twelve  hundred.  The  number 
enrolled  in  the  Sunday  School  is  twelve  hun- 
dred, with  an  average  attendance  of  five  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five. 

The  first  minister  was  the  Rev.  J.  Madison 
Williams,  now  of  Des  Moines,  Iowa.  Those 
following  him  were  Samuel  Lowe,  Joseph 
Lowe,  William  G.  Springer,  Eli  Fisher,  R.  H. 
Ingram,  J.  D.  Dabney,  A.  D.  McKeever,  F.  A. 
Bright,  Edgar  Price,  J.  E.  Davis,  and  C.  F. 
Stevens,  the  present  pastor,  who  has  been 
here  about  six  years. 

The  present  official  board  is  composed  of  J. 
L.  Rhodes,  honorary  elder;  D.  W.  Carre,  H. 
E.  Sackett,  W.  H.  Davis,  H.  S.  Souders,  Hen- 
ry Essam,  J.  L.  Riecker,  F.  K.  Klein,  O.  J. 
Lyndes,  O.  A.  Burket,  elders ;  and  A.  H. 
Voortman,  Henry  Fishbach,  William  Thomas, 
H.  M.  Smethers,  P.  J.  Smethers,  Henry  Wil- 
liamson, F.  E.  McCracken,  E.  L.  Hevelone, 
W.  W.  Duncan,  N.  Thompson,  Fordyce 
Graf,  John  Connor,  D.  G.  McGaffey,  H.  S. 
Vaught,  and  J.  W.  Baumgartner,  deacons. 
W.  H.  Davis  is  superintendent  of  the  Sunday 
school.  There  are  three  Christian  Endeavor 
Societies,  senior,  intennediate,  and  junior. 
There  are  also  the  Young  Ladies'  Circle,  the 
Triangle  Club,  and  the  Ladies'  Aid  Society. 

A  society  of  the  United  Brethren  church 
was  organized  December  14,  1874,  with  the 
Rev.  W.  H.  Shepherd  as  minister  in  charge. 
Meetings  were  first  held,  on  alternate  Sun- 
days, in  the  Baptist  church,  which  stood 
where  the  Knox  livery  barn  is  now,  on  Mar- 
ket street  between  Fifth  and  Sixth  streets. 
On  the  20th  day  of  October,  1876,  a  church 
was  organized  with  the  following  named  mem- 
bers :  Elias  Rhodes,  Margaret  Rhodes,  Mrs. 
Eh  Miller,  Mrs.  Howe,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Salts, 
Michael  Beam,  Mrs.  Michael  Beam,  Elizabeth 
Meyers,  Mary  Reed,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  A.  Q. 
Miller.  The  first  board  of  trustees  was  com- 
posed of  Elias  Rhodes,  Leander  Swain, 
Michael  Beam,  and  A.  Q.  Miller.  Of  the 
charter  members  Mrs.  Eli  Miller  is  the  only 
one  now  residing  in  Beatrice.  In  1875,  by 
devise  of  Mrs.  Elizabeth  N.  Joseph,  of  Aetna, 
Ohio,  the  church  came  into  possession  of  one 
hundred   and    sixty   acres    of    land   near   Be- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


217 


atrice,  which  they  traded  with  Wilham  Lamb 
for  building  them  a  church  at  the  southeast 
corner  of  Eighth  and  Ella  streets.  This 
building  was  enlarged  in  1891  and  again  in 
1905.  The  church  has  a  membership  of 
eighty,  the  Sunday  school  of  ninety-one.  The 
ministers  who  have  served  this  congregation 
are  W.  H.  Shepherd,  J.  H.  Embree,  Byron 
Beal,  Rev.  Aumiller,  Robert  Floyd,  Rev.  Lan- 
dis  A.  Oliver,  C.  O.  Robb,  S.  E.  Floyd,  Wil- 
liam Burwell,  Philip  Surface,  J.  M.  Haskins, 
E.  F.  Bowers,  F.  M.  Bell,  E.  T.  Root,  J. 
Powers,  F.  M.  Miller,  W.  F.  Brink,  E.  A. 
Sharp,  T.  P.  Cannon,  W.  S.  Lynde,  T.  S. 
Swan,  H.  F.  Hoffman,  and  S.  S.  Turley,  the 
latter  since  February,  1918. 

The  Trinity  Lutheran  Church  was  organized 
December  9,  1883.  The  corner  stone  of  the 
brick  church  belonging  to  this  organization, 
at  the  corner  of  Ninth  and  Elk  streets,  was 
laid  November  9,  1884,  and  the  church  com- 
pleted and  dedicated  in  December,  1885.  It 
had  a  membership  of  forty-five.  The  min- 
isters who  have  served  this  organization  are 
George  H.  Albright,  W.  L.  Remsburg,  J.  L. 
Alotchman,  W.  W.  Hess,  J.  A.  Lowe,  Roy  M. 
Badger,  and  A.  M.  Reitzel.  Mr.  Reitzel  came 
to  the  church  in  1915  ;  recently  he  resigned 
and  the  pastorate  at  this  writing  is  vacant. 
The  church  has  a  membership  of  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty,  and  a  Sunday-school  enroll- 
ment of  one  hundred  and  forty,  with  J.  H. 
Fletcher,  superintendent. 

The  board  of  trustees  of  this  church  con- 
sists of  the  elders  and  deacons.  The  elders 
now  are  E.  Feldkirschner,  J.  P.  Naumann, 
Andrew  Anderson,  and  T-  J.  Trauernicht ; 
the  deacons  are  F.  H.  Kimmerling,  August 
Schmidt,  L.  K.  Stevens,  and  C.  S.  Overbeck. 

The  first  Catholic  to  settle  in  Gage  county 
was  Joseph  Graff,  who,  in  1860,  located  on  a 
claim  four  miles  west  of  Beatrice.  At  that 
time  the  nearest  priest  was  in  Nebraska  City, 
sixty-five  miles  away.  Father  Hoffmayer 
visited  Gage  county  in  1859  and  mass  was  of- 
fered in  the  log  cabin  of  Joseph  Graff,  in  a 
room  sixteen  by  sixteen  feet,  and  three  of  Mr. 
Graff's  children  were  baptized.  The  next 
priest  to  visit  Gage  county  was  Father  Ferdi- 


nand Lechleitner,  who  was  located  in  Crete. 
He  first  visited  Beatrice  September  15,  1874, 
and  again  December  6,  1874;  May  4,  and 
June  15,  1875;  May  16,  1876;  May  29  and 
October  30,  1877.  On  all  the  above  dates  he 
held  service  at  the  residence  of  Joseph  GraiT. 
In  July  or  August  of  1877  Father  Lechleitner 
presided  at  a  meeting  held  at  Mr.  Graff's,  at 
which  it  was  arranged  to  build  a  church.  A 
lot  was  then  purchased  in  the  block  north  of 
the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  &  Pacific  depot,  on 
South  Sixth  street,  and  a  church  forty  by 
forty-six  feet  was  erected  thereon  at  a  cost 
of  $1,000.  It  was  dedicated  in  1878,  and  this 
is  the  first  Catholic  church  in  Gage  county. 
The  members  of  the  organization  at  that  time 
were  Joseph  Graft',  Francis  Leonard,  Franz 
Grussel,  John  Russell,  Thomas  Grace,  Anna 
and  Marie  Samletzki,  Joseph  Meyer,  Charles 
Hentges  and  wife,  Frank  Hiebeler,  and 
Charles  A.  Graff.  The  church  was  called  St. 
Joseph's  and  was  attached  to  the  Tecumseh 
church  until  1884.  Down  to  this  time  it  had 
been  served  by  the  following  named  priests: 
Father  McNally,  Father  Madden,  Father 
John  Crowley,  and  Father  A.  Havestadt,  who 
held  mass  occasionally.  In  the  spring  of  1884 
lots  were  purchased  at  the  northeast  corner  of 
Sixth  and  High  streets  and  the  old  church 
was  moved  to  this  location.  Father  A.  Have- 
stadt was  the  first  resident  priest,  1884-1886, 
and  was  followed  by  Father  Thomas  Quick, 
1886-1889.  The  first  parsonage  was  built  in 
1885.  At  the  close  of  1886  the  number  of 
families  within  the  pale  of  the  church  was  one 
hundred  and  eleven,  or  five  hundred  and  ten 
souls.  At  the  close  of  1887  there  were  one 
hundred  and  sixty-six  families;  at  the  close 
of  1888,  one  hundred  eighty-six  families,  or 
three  hundred  and  eighty-seven  persons  over 
eighteen  years  of  age  and  four  hundred  and 
eighty  under  that  age.  In  1888  a  school  room, 
thirty-eight  by  twenty-two  feet,  was  added  to 
the  old  church.  In  September,  1889,  a  home 
was  opened  for  Ursuline  Sisters,  who  had 
come  from  York,  Nebraska,  to  take  charge  of 
the  school.  It  was  called  St.  Joseph's  Con- 
vent. In  December,  1889,  Father  A.  J.  Co- 
pellen  assumed  charge  of  the  parish.    In  1890 


218 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


a  tract  of  ten  acres  of  land  was  purchased 
three  miles  north  of  the  city,  and  this  was 
consecrated  as  a  Catholic  buryingf  ground. 
September  1,  1893,  Father  Copellen  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Rev.  Michael  Merkl.  During  the 
hard  years  of  1894-1895-1896-1897,  member- 
ship in  the  church  decreased  fifty  per  cent. ; 
the  sisters  gave  up  the  school,  and  at  the  close 
of  1898  there  were  but  one  hundred  and  thirty 
families.  Father  Merkl  was  succeeded  by 
Father  Petrasch,  who  came  in  1907.  He  pro- 
ceeded to  tear  down  the  old  church,  and  the 
present  brick  church,  school  house  and  par- 
sonage were  erected.  In  1912  Father  E.  Boll 
succeeded  Father  Petrasch,  but  the  latter  re- 
turned for  a  few  months  in  1916,  when  Father 
Boll  left.  In  December,  1916,  Father  Bickert, 
the  present  priest,  took  charge  of  the  parish. 
There  are  now  one  hundred  and  seventy-five 
families  on  the  church  roll,  and  eighty-four 
pupils  in  the  school,  which  is  in  charge  of 
three  Dominican  Sisters,  from  Racine,  Wis- 
consin. Philip  GrafT,  Henry  Lang,  John  Plu- 
beck,  John  Scharton,  Hugh  Carmichael,  and 
Arthur  Woelke  constitute  the  present  board 
of  trustees.  The  following  organizations  af- 
filiate with  the  work  of  the  church :  Knights 
of  Columbus,  Society  of  the  Altar,  Sewing 
Circle,  Ladies'  Social  Club,  and  Blessed  Virgin 
Mary  Sodality. 

The  First  Baptist  Church  of  Beatrice  was 
organized  December  6,  1873,  and  for  a  while 
it  was  served  by  Rev.  J.  N.  Webb,  the  state 
supreintendent  of  Baptist  churches.  June  27, 
1874,  Rev.  Thomas  J.  Arnold  became  its  pas- 
tor. He  was  succeeded  April  9,  1876,  by  Rev. 
L.  P.  Nason,  who,  in  June,  1877,  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Rev.  L.  D.  Wharton,  and  the  latter 
was  succeeded,  November  1,  1878,  by  Rev. 
George  Scott.  The  first  church  building  was 
where  the  Knox  livery  barn  now  stands,  on 
the  north  side  of  Market  street,  between  Fifth 
and  Sixth  streets.  About  1880  it  was  moved 
to  the  north  side  of  Ella  street,  between  Fourth 
and  Fifth  streets,  where  Kimball's  laundry 
now  stands.  A  few  years  afterward  this 
church  was  moved  to  Grant  street,  between 
Seventh  and  Eighth  streets.  About  twelve 
years   ago   the  church   was   again   moved,   to 


Sixth  street,  and  placed  on  the  alley,  occupy- 
ing what  is  now  the  southeast  comer  of 
Charles  Park.  When  it  was  decided  to  locate 
the  park  upon  these  lots  the  city  bought  the 
old  church  property  and  paid  the  Baptists 
$6,000  for  it,  and  they  in  turn  purchased  the 
Unitarian  church  building,  on  the  northwest 
corner  of  Sixth  and  High  streets,  which  they 
have  since  occupied. 

The  charter  members  of  the  church  were 
John  Kerlin,  Elizabeth  Kerlin,  Mary  C.  Ker- 
lin,  S.  A.  Smith,  Rhoda  Smith,  Josiah  A. 
Smith,  T.  J.  Smith,  and  Job  Buchanan,  who 
was  also  first  church  clerk.  The  trustees  were 
John  Kerlin,  S.  A.  Smith,  and  Job  Buchanan. 
The  deacons  of  the  church  now  are  Griffith 
Evans,  R.  Davis,  George  Sexton,  Henry  Fair- 
child,  H.  M.  Garrett,  Fred  Lloyd,  F.  N. 
Crangle.  C.  H.  Aylesworth.  The  board  of 
trustees  are  G.  W.  Thomas,  Walter  D.  Wright, 
Dan  Crosby,  Walter  Andrews,  Argre  Fryer; 
the  church  clerk  is  S.  R.  Jamison. 

St.  John's  Lutheran  Church  of  Beatrice  was 
organized  in  1880,  with  fifteen  members.  It 
met  in  various  halls  until  the  erection  of  its 
church  at  the  comer  of  Fifth  and  Bell  streets. 
The  first  minister  was  the  Rev.  Lynch.  The 
present  minister,  Rev.  Leonard  Poeverlein, 
has  served  the  church  continuously  since 
1883.  The  church  has  a  membership  of  fifty 
families.  Fred  Damrow,  Julius  Harter,  and 
Fred  Paul  are  trustees,  John  Roschefski  is 
church  clerk,  and  F.  S.  Kuhl  is  treasurer. 

The  German  Methodist  Church,  located  at 
the  northwest  comer  of  Eighth  and  Scott 
streets,  was  organized  in  1886,  and  a  church 
was  erected  in  1887,  at  a  cost  of  $2,000.  It 
had  a  membership  of  twelve  when  organized 
and  now  has  twenty-four.  As  pastors  E.  T. 
Treibler,"G.  M.  Zwink,  John  Lauer,  C.  G. 
Meyer,  Conrad  Eberhart,  John  Mueller,  and 
Edward  Beck  have  served  this  church,  Rev. 
Edward  Beck  being  the  present  pastor  and 
having  been  with  the  church  since  1904.  M. 
Buehler,  Albert  Eckel,  and  Henry  Wipper- 
man  constitute  the  board  of  trastees. 

LaSalle  Street  ]\Iethodist  Church  was  or- 
ganized in  1887,  and  its  church  was  dedicated 
November  6th  of  that  year,  with  Rev.  H.  C. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


219 


Wells,  pastor  in  charge.  There  were  fifty- 
four  charter  members,  and  the  present  mem- 
bership is  one  hundred  and  seventy- four. 
Pastors,  H.  C.  Wells,  1886-1887;  James  K. 
Maxfield,  1887-1889;  James  Darby,  1889- 
1892;  T.  S.  Fowler,  1892-1893;  H.  D.  Wil- 
cox, 1893-1895;  G.  W.  Selby,  1895-1896;  J. 
W.  Royce,  1896-1898;  D.  C.  Phillips,  1898- 
1899;  A.  W.  Cofifman,  1899-1900;  E.  L. 
Barch,  1900-1903;  F.  W.  Bean,  1903-1905; 
George  M.  Jones,  1905-1906;  J.  W.  Lewis, 
1906-1909;  B.  F.  Hutchins,  1909-1911;  J.  A. 
Ronsley,  1911-1912;  J.  B.  Darby,  1912-1915; 
Henry  Bell,  1915-1916 ;  A.  L.  Pratt,  1916  to 
the  present  time.  The  church  has  been  rebuilt 
and  was  rededicated  in  June,  1914. 

The  Church  of  the  Brethren  merits  definite 
consideration  in  this  work.  This  branch  of 
the  Brethren  church,  located  at  the  corner  of 
Fourteenth  and  Grant  streets,  was  organized 
in  1881,  and  the  church  was  built  in  1888,  at 
a  cost  of  $3,000.  Its  ministers  have  been  J. 
E.  Young,  J.  H.  Mohler,  L.  D.  Bosserman,  A. 
D.  Sollenberger,  A.  P.  Musselman,  and  W.  W. 
Blough.  At  the  present  time  the  deacons  are 
Charles  H.  Price,  E.  J.  Kessler,  and  C.  J. 
Lichty ;  the  trustees  are  C.  H.  Price  and  E.  J. 
Kessler;  the  treasurer  is  Miss  Rebecca  Essam, 
and  the  clerk  is  E.  J.  Kessler.  The  church 
has  a  membership  of  ninety-five. 

The  following  record  concerning  the  First 
Church  of  Christ,  Scientist,  in  the  city  of 
Beatrice,  was  prepared  by  Leonard  A.  Em- 
mert : 

Interest  in  Christian  Science  was  first 
aroused  in  Beatrice  in  the  fall  of  1884.  A 
lady  who  had  been  confined  to  her  bed  several 
months  was  invited  by  a  friend  to  visit  her  in 
Boston,  Massachusetts.  While  there  she  was 
induced  to  take  Christian  Science  treatments, 
with  the  result  that  she  was  healed.  Upon  re- 
turning to  her  home  (Beatrice)  she  told  of 
the  wonderful  "new  religion"  in  Boston 
known  as  Christian  Science,  and  of  its  heal- 
ing power.  Her  recovery  and  the  story  she 
told  interested  others  suffering  from  diseases 
that  the  doctors  had  pronounced  hopeless. 
Several  decided  to  go  to  Boston,  and  in  writ- 
ing  to    Mary    Baker   Eddy,    the    founder   of 


Christian  Science,  were  informed  that  a  stu- 
dent of  hers  just  finishing  metaphysical  college 
would  be  in  Omaha  in  a  few  weeks.  As  soon 
as  this  student  arrived  in  Omaha,  Mrs.  Eliza- 
beth Buswell,  given  up  by  the  doctors  as  in- 
curable, went  to  her,  in  May,  1885,  and  she 
was  healed  in  a  week's  treatment.  This  was 
the  reason  for  many  others  going.  All  came 
back  healed  or  greatly  benefited. 

Within  a  few  weeks,  when  it  was  sufficient- 
ly known  that  the  new  method  of  healing, 
called  Christian  Science,  purported  to  be  a 
practical  and  scientific  application  of  the 
truth  taught  and  practiced  by  Jesus  and  His 
disciples,  a  number  who  had  been  interested 
and  benefited  began  meeting  together  in  the 
diiiferent  homes.  The  first  public  meeting  was 
held  in  the  Masonic  Hall  —  First  National 
Bank  Building  —  Easter  Sunday,  1886.  A 
charter  was  granted  from  Boston  May  IS, 
1886.  November  24,  1888,  services  were 
moved  to  what  was  then  known  as  Gibbs  Hall 
and  on  this  date  the  First  Church  of  Christ. 
Scientist,  was  organized  and  incorporated 
under  the  laws  of  the  state.  This  was  the  first 
Church  of  Christ,  Scientist,  organized  west  of 
the  Missouri  river. 

In  the  winter  of  1890,  on  account  of  fire, 
the  church  was  obliged  to  move  again,  this 
time  taking  up  quarters  in  the  LePoidevin 
Block.  In  April  of  the  following  year  (1891) 
it  became  possible  to  secure  the  Brethren 
church  edifice,  located  in  the  1200  block  of 
Court  street.  This  last  move  proved  to  be  an 
important  one  for  the  growth  of  the  church, 
for  shortly  after  locating  here  every  depart- 
ment of  work  advanced  rapidly.  At  a  meet- 
ing of  the  board  of  directors,  held  June  14, 
1891,  it  was  decided  to  purchase  a  lot  at  the 
corner  of  Ninth  and  Elk  streets,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  some  day  erecting  a  building.  This 
was  successfully  accomplished  the  following 
month,  on  July  31st.  It  was  secured  from 
Maggie  C.  Blakely  for  a  consideration  of 
thirteen  hundred  dollars. 

The  next  important  step  in  the  march  of 
progress  was  the  buying  of  the  Brethren 
church,  in  the  fall  of  1900.  It  was  planned 
that  this  church  building  was  to  be  moved  to 


220 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


the  lot  purchased,  but  in  working  out  this 
program  it  developed  that  a  more  desirable 
location  presented  itself,  which  resulted  in  the 
directors  disposing  of  their  first  purchase  and 
buying  a  lot,  fifty  by  one  hundred  and  fifty 
feet,  on  the  corner  of  Eighth  and  Ella  streets. 
This  was  purchased  from  Cora  M.  Woolridge, 
September  22,  1900,  consideration  being  eight 
hundred  dollars. 

In  March,  1901,  meetings  were  again  held 
in  the  LePoidevin  Block,  while  the  church  edi- 
fice was  being  moved  to  its  new  location. 
There  it  was  remodeled,  enlarged  and  refur- 
nished throughout.  This  home  was  dedicated 
May  2G,  1901,  and  remained  unchanged,  ex- 
cept for  a  few  minor  improvements,  until 
September,  1916,  when  it  again  became  pos- 
sible to  remodel  and  enlarge  the  structure.  A 
beautiful  foyer  was  added,  and  several  large 
columns  were  placed  at  the  entrance,  which 
seems  to  be  so  characteristic  of  Christian 
Science  churches.  Meetings  were  resumed  in 
the  church  edifice  November  26,  1916.  Ser- 
vices were  held  in  the  Commercial  Club  rooms 
while  the  work  was  being  done. 

Three  authorized  teachers  have  taught 
Christian  Science  in  Beatrice.  The  first  class 
taught  west  of  Chicago  was  conducted  in  Be- 
atrice, October  5,  1885. 

The  history  of  this  church  would  be  incom- 
plete without  mention  being  made  of  the 
nation-wide  attention  which  was  directed  to- 
ward Beatrice  in  February  and  March,  1893, 
when  a  student  and  teacher  of  Christian  Sci- 
ence was  indicted,  under  the  statutes  of  the 
state  of  Nebraska,  for  practicing  medicine 
without  legal  authority.  Quoting  from  one  of 
the  local  papers,  dated  February  27,  1893,  we 
find  the  following  records  made  of  the  case: 
"The  case  of  E.  M.  Buswell,  who  is  charged 
with  practicing  medicine  without  legal  autho- 
rity, will  be  called  up  in  the  district  court  to- 
morrow. It  is  a  peculiar  case,  perhaps  unlike 
any  that  has  gone  before  in  the  courts,  and  it 
will  excite  widespread  interest."  Quoting 
again  from  the  same  paper,  dated  March  5, 
1893 :  "The  great  trial  is  over.  The  jury  in 
the  case  of  E.  M.  Buswell,  charged  with  ille- 
gal practicing  of  medicine,  which  went  out  at 


eighty  thirty  yesterday  afternoon,  came  in 
about  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening  with  a  ver- 
dict of  acquittal.  The  defendant  was  there- 
upon discharged.  The  verdict  is  generally  re- 
garded as  what  might  have  been  expected  in 
the  face  of  the  evidence  presented."  This  was 
a  victory  for  Christian  Science  which  was  felt 
throughout  the  United  States  and  wrote  a 
memorable  page  for  the  growth  of  the  church 
here,  and  for  the  cause. 

The  history  of  this  church  is  like  that  of 
most  churches  which  started  in  the  west  — 
the  record  of  a  small  beginning,  a  slow  but 
sturdy  progress,  perseverance  in  the  face  of 
discouraging  obstacles,  defiance  at  times  that 
seemed  almost  defeat.  But  what  is  here  to- 
day is  a  testimonial  of  Courage  —  Faith  — 
Hope — -Love. 

The  Seventh  Day  Adventists  of  Beatrice 
held  their  first  meeting  July  7,  1894,  and  they 
organized  a  church  in  August,  1895,  with 
twenty-two  members.  The  meetings  were 
held  in  homes  of  the  members  until  the  church 
was  built,  in  1897,  on  the  northeast  comer  of 
Ella  and  Tenth  streets.  The  first  minister 
was  Elder  J.  H.  Rogers.  The  local  elder  is 
A.  E.  Putnam.  George  Stout  is  treasurer, 
and  Mrs.  A.  E.  Putnam  is  clerk. 

The  First  Congregational  Church  of  Be- 
atrice was  organized  June  1,  1884.  The 
charter  members  were  J.  M.  and  Matilda 
Wilber,  Dr.  Edward  S.  Bates  and  Jennie  N. 
Bates,  Gray  Warner  and  Carrie  L.  Warner, 
W.  B.  Hotchkiss,  Lewis  R.  Thomas,  Ruth  A. 
Thomas,  H.  S.  Cox,  A.  R.  Dempster,  Jennie 
C.  Dempster,  Dr.  Calvin  Starr,  Dr.  Julia  C. 
Starr,  Mar\'  Starr,  L.  E.  Walker,  Bessie  Yule 
Walker,  Henry  D.  Gates,  Nellie  W.  Gates, 
Clara  Bewick  Colby.  At  a  business  meeting 
held  July  20,  1884,  steps  were  taken  to  pro- 
vide the  organization  with  a  house  of  worship. 
On  October  10,  1884,  the  church  purchased, 
from  Isaac  N.  McConnell,  lots  1  and  2,  block 
6  of  the  original  town  of  Beatrice,  and  began 
the  erection  of  a  commodious  church  building 
on  the  east  seventy  feet  of  these  lots.  It  was 
pushed  to  completion  and  on  Thursday,  June 
30,  1885,  it  was  formally  dedicated  to  the  pub- 
lic worship  of  Almighty  God  as  a  Congrega- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


tional  church.  From  that  date  to  about  the 
7th  day  of  August,  1914,  it  was  occupied  by 
the  Congregationalists  of  Beatrice  as  a  house 
of  worship.  Prior  to  the  7th  day  of  August, 
1914,  the  church  acquired  by  purchase  lots  9, 
10,  11,  12,  block  29  of  Cropsey's  Addition  to 
Beatrice,  as  a  more  suitable  location,  and  on 
that  date,  by  warranty  deed,  conveyed  the  old 
church  property  to  the  Evangelical  Lutheran 
church,  which  has  since  owned  and  occupied 
it  as  their  churcli.     Long  prior  to  that  date 


been  fortunate  in  the  character  and  ability  of 
the  men  who  have  served  it  as  pastors  during 
the  thirty-four  years  of  its  existence.  Its 
first  regular  pastor  was  William  O.  Wheedon, 
who  served  from  1884  to  1886,  when  he  was 
forced  to  resign  on  account  of  ill  health.  His 
successor,  E.  H.  Ashman,  held  the  pastorate 
from  August  18,  1886  to  February  1,  1888, 
and  was  succeeded  by  E.  St.  Clair  Smith, 
February  24,  1888,  who  very  ably  served  the 
church  as  its  pastor  to  July  31,  1892,  when  he 


New  Cong 


JNAL  Church 


the  church  had  sold  the  west  seventy  feet  of 
their  property  to  Rev.  E.  S.  Smith,  one  of  its 
early  pastors,  who  erected  thereon  a  dwelling 
which  he  occupied  as  a  parsonage  during  his 
pastorate.  The  property  is  now  owned  and 
occupied  as  a  home  by  Miss  Marie  Upson. 
Following  the  sale  of  its  property  to  the  Lu- 
therans, the  church  began  the  erection  of  a 
handsome  brick  structure  on  the  lots  pur- 
chased by  it  in  Cropsey's  Addition,  on  the 
corner  of  Sixth  and  Grant  streets.  This 
church  was  completed  at  a  cost  of  approxi- 
mately $20,000,  and  on  the  4th  day  of  June, 
1916,  it  was,  with  appropriate  ceremonies, 
dedicated  to  the  worship  of  God. 

The  Congregational  church  of  Beatrice  has 


resigned  to  accept  a  charge  in  Indiana.  The 
church  thereupon  extended  a  call  to  George 
W.  Crofts,  of  Council  Bluffs,  Iowa,  and  for 
twelve  years  this  good  and  saintly  man  was 
not  only  a  forceful  factor  in  the  Congrega- 
tional church  of  Beatrice  but  also  in  the 
churches  of  the  state  and  in  the  community  at 
large..  No  minister  of  the  Gospel  ever  exem- 
plified in  a  greater  degree  the  graces  of  its 
precepts  than  the  poet-preacher  George  W. 
Crofts.  In  1912  he  passed  to  his  reward,  and 
all  that  is  mortal  of  this  beloved  man  lies  in 
the  cemetery  at  Council  Bkiffs.  November  2, 
1904,  Mr.  Crofts  was  succeeded  by  Edwin 
Booth,  Jr.,  who  continued  in  the  pastorate 
until  May  15,  1908,  when  he  resigned,  to  take 


222 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


charge  of  the  First  Congregational  church 
at  Norfolk,  Nebraska,  of  which  he  is  still  the 
pastor.  He  was  succeeded  by  Fred  L.  Hall, 
whose  ministry  terminated  July  1,  1910.  Rev 
J.  W.  Femer,  of  Shenandoah,  Iowa,  was  called 
to  the  service  September  23,  1910,  and  re- 
signed November  8,  1914,  to  accept  a  call  to 
the  First  Congregational  church  of  Aurora, 
Nebraska.  He  was  succeeded  by  the  present 
pastor,  Victor  F.  Clark. 

This  church,  though  small  in  numbers,  en- 
ters actively  into  the  religious  and  social  life  of 
the  community. 

Gage  county  has  had  one  religious  immi- 
gration, and  the  story  of  that  immigration  is 
set  forth  in  the  following  narrative,  prepared 
for  this  work  by  the  Hon.  Peter  Jansen : 

"Mennonites,  called  after  the  founder  of 
the  church,  Menno  Simons,  a  former  Roman 
Catholic  priest  in  Holland.  Principal  char- 
acteristics :  Baptize  only  adults,  upon  confes- 
sion of  faith ;  opposed  to  all  war,  like  the 
Quakers ;  avoid  law  suits ;  members  are  to  be 
strictly  honest;  do  not  make  oath,  but  affirm. 
"They  are  called  'Prussian  Mennonites,' 
which  is  a  misconception.  Their  ancestors 
came  from  the  Netherlands  (Holland)  to 
Prussia  in  search  of  religious  liberty,  espec- 
ially freedom  from  military  service,  which  was 
abrogated  during  the  early  70s  of  the  past 
century,  after  the  Franco-Prussian  war  (and 
to  avoid  military  service  were  forced  out  of 
Prussia.) 

"At  the  instigation  of  Cornelius  Jansen  and 
his  son  Peter,  the  latter  having  settled  in  Jef- 
ferson county  in  1874,  a  delegation  visited  Ne- 
braska during  the  summer  of  1876,  and  finally 
selected  Gage  county  as  the  most  promising 
and  suitable  place  for  their  settlement.  A 
dozen  or  more  families  moved  to  Nebraska 
that  fall  and  located  temporarily  in  Beatrice, 
then  a  frontier  town  of  a  thousand  or  so  in- 
habitants. By  the  spring  of  1877  thirty  to 
forty  families  had  arrived  and  settled  within 
a  radius  of  ten  miles  of  Beatrice;  most  of 
them  bought  farms  and  grass  land  at  from 
six  to  ten  dollars  per  acre.  The  names  of  the 
most  prominent  families  were  Penner,  Wiebe, 
Reimer,    Thimm,    Goosen,    Claussen,    Janzen, 


etc.  Others  joined  them  during  the  next  few 
years,  so  that  eventually  a  large  and  very 
prosperous  settlement  has  sprung  up. 

"They  built  a  commodious  meeting  house  a 
few  miles  west  of  town,  and  later  another 
one  in  this  city.  Still  later  they  bought  the 
old  Kilpatrick  church,  about  ten  miles  west 
of  Beatrice.  All  three  meetings  are  under 
one  bishop,  Gerhard  Penner,  now  eighty-two 
years  old,  living  in  West  Beatrice. 

"At  the  time  America  entered  the  world 
war  they  of  course  were  subject  to  the  selec- 
tive draft,  like  all  other  citizens ;  however,  the 
government  recognized  their  conscientious 
scruples  against  bloodshed,  and  designated  for 
them,  as  well  as  for  the  Quakers  and  Dunk- 
ards,  noncombatant  service,  under  the  new 
military  law,  by  which  they  can  serve  their 
country  without  violating  their  conscience." 

Beatrice  Schools 

The  Beatrice  school  district  was  the  first 
district  organized  in  Gage  county.  An  un- 
fortunate fire  which,  in  1902,  destroyed  the 
old  Masonic  Temple  building,  destroyed  also 
all  the  previous  records  of  the  city  schools,  the 
superintendent  at  that  time  having  his  office  in 
that  building.  The  records  of  the  county  su- 
perintendent's office  show  that  the  Beatrice 
school  district  was  organized  May  10,  1868. 
and  the  school  district  is  there  numbered  15, 
but  that  date  cannot  represent  the  actual  date 
of  the  organization  of  the  district.  About 
that  time  all  the  school  districts  in  the  county, 
some  thirty  in  number,  were  put  through  a  re- 
organization process,  and  numbered.  The 
numbering  began  with  the  northeast  comer  of 
the  county  and  without  respect  to  the  date  on 
which  the  districts  were  organized,  the  aim  ap- 
parently being  to  secure  uniformity  in  num- 
bering only. 

Beatrice  was  the  oldest  community  in  the 
county  and  the  most  compact.  Its  founders 
were  at  the  head  of  public  aiTairs  and  they 
showed  great  aptitude  in  advancing  the  inter- 
ests of  the  town.  One  of  the  first  officers 
elected  by  the  colony  was  the  county  superin- 
tendent of  schools,  and  this  office,  through 
every  change  of  the  law  was  perpetuated  in 


PIISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


223 


some  fonn.  It  is  certain  that  Beatrice  was  an 
organized  school  district  under  the  laws  of 
the  territory  of  Neljraska  as  early  as  1862, 
when  the  old  frame  school  building  was 
erected  and  the  first  public  school  was  taught 
by  Oliver  Townsend. 

The  area  of  the  school  district  in  those  early 
days  is  a  matter  of  conjecture.  In  1858  the 
territorial  legislature  passed  an  act  making 
each  government  township  a  school  district, 
and,  under  this  statute,  what  is  now  Midland 
township  then  constituted  a  single  school  dis- 
trict, with  the  village  of  Beatrice  included. 
This  statute,  however,  provided  for  the  for- 
mation of  sub-districts  in  the  township,  and 
by  various  subdivisions  and  legislative  enact- 
ments the  area  of  the  original  district  was  re- 
duced to  its  present  proportions.  In  addition 
to  the  corporation  itself,  Beatrice  school  dis- 
trict now  embraces  several  tracts  of  farm 
land,  some  adjacent  to  the  city  and  some  not. 
The  school  history  of  Beatrice  begins  with 
a  subscription  school  taught  by  Miss  Frances 
Butler,  in  1860,  in  a  small  frame  building  be- 
longing to  Fordyce  Roper.  In  1861  Wealthy 
Tinkham  (later  Mrs.  Joseph  Hollingworth) 
also  taught  a  subscription  school  in  Beatrice. 
After  the  erection  of  the  old  single- room, 
frame  school  house  in  1862,  on  the  block  of 
ground  dedicated  by  the  founders  of  the  city 
to  school  purposes,  the  public  school  of  Bea- 
trice became  a  permanent  institution.  This 
pioneer  school  house,  the  first  school  building 
in  Gage  county,  was  for  many  years  freely 
used  for  nearly  every  sort  of  gathering,  and  it 
continued  to  afford  the  chief  educational 
facility  in  Gage  county  until  the  year  1870. 

It  first  became  necessary  to  employ  two 
teachers  for  the  growing  village  in  the  year 
1869.  That  autumn  and  the  following  winter 
a  Mr.  Hodson  taught  the  older  pupils,  some 
thirty-five  in  number,  in-  the  old  frame  school 
house,  and  Mary  L.  Blodgett  (later  Mrs. 
William  A.  Wagner)  taught  the  primary 
classes  in  an  upstairs  room  in  an  old  stone 
structure  at  the  corner  of  Fourth  and  Market 
streets,  on  lot  12,  block  65  of  the  original 
townsite.  The  Beatrice  Clarion,  the  second 
newspaper  printed  in  Beatrice,  and  the  imme- 


diate predecessor  of  the  Beatrice  B.v^rcss,  oc- 
cupied the  ground  floor  of  the  building,  below 
the  schoolroom.  Miss  Blodgett's  school  num- 
bered fifty-six  pupils,  and  they,  with  those 
under  Mr.  Hodson's  instruction,  comprised 
the  school  population  of  the  entire  Beatrice 
school  district. 

In  1870  a  small  two-story,  brick  school 
house  was  erected  at  the  corner  of  Eighth  and 
Ella  streets,  on  lots  9  and  10,  block  33  of  the 
original  townsite.  The  building  originally 
cost  about  $5,000,  and,  as  first  planned,  con- 
tained four  schoolrooms,  two  on  the  first  and 
two  on  the  second  floor.  Later  a  two-story 
addition  was  built  on  the  north,  comprising 
two  fair  sized  schoolrooms,  and  an  entry  was 
constructed  on  the  south,  from  which  a  stair- 
way led  to  the  upper  floor. 

This  was  the  first  school  building  of  any 
pretentions  in  Beatrice.  It  was  both  a  grade 
and  a  high  school  and  was  used  as  such  for 
many  years.  By  December  1,  1870,  the  two 
ground  floor  rooms  of  this  building  had  been 
so  far  completed  as  to  permit  their  use  for  the 
opening  of  the  winter  term  of  school,  with  H. 
J.  Chase  as  principal  and  Mary  L.  Blodgett  as 
primary  and  intermediate  teacher.  All  told 
there  were  about  one  hundred  pupils  in  the 
school,  nearly  equally  divided  between  the 
two  instructors.  Mr.  Chase,  the  principal  of 
this  early  school,  performed  a  man's  work 
as  a  teacher  of  the  older  pupils.  There  was 
almost  no  such  thing  as  classification,  but  he 
made  a  serious  efifort  to  elevate  the  Beatrice 
schools  to  something  more  than  an  ordinary 
district  school.  The  most  advanced  subjects 
taught  were  higher  arithmetic,  algebra,  book- 
keeping, grammar,  and  physical  geography. 
The  writer  was  a  pupil  of  Mr.  Chase,  and  it 
affords  him  pleasure  to  record  his  appreci- 
ation of  this  scholarly  young  teacher  of  that 
early  day. 

On  the  5th  day  of  January,  1878,  this  his- 
torian entered  upon  his  duties  as  superintend- 
ent of  the  schools  of  Beatrice.  At  that  time 
the  old  frame  school  house  was  still  in  use, 
as  a  primary  school.  In  the  following  year 
another  small  frame  school  room  was  erected 
among   the   cottonwoods   and   maples    at    the 


224 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


northeast  corner  of  the  school-house  square, 
and  this  also  was  devoted  to  primary  instruc- 
tion. By  the  opening  of  the  fall  term  of  1879 
the  schools  had  been  as  carefully  graded  as 
circumstances  permitted,  and  a  printed  out- 
line course  of  study  placed  in  the  hands  of  the 
teachers.  The  board  of  education  then  con- 
sisted of  Thomas  H.  Harrison,  president; 
Oliver  Townsend,  clerk  ;  H.  W.  Parker,  treas- 


line  Elwood,  of  Los  Angeles,  California.  The 
enrollment  for  the  school  year  in  all  depart- 
ments was  six  hundred  and  eighty  pupils. 

This  illy  constructed  first  high-school  build- 
ing served  its  purpose  until  1884,  when,  upon 
the  completion  of  a  modern,  high-school 
building,  it  was  demolished  and  every  vestige 
of  its  existence  effaced.  The  new  building 
was  erected  at  a  cost  to  the  Beatrice  school 


First  High  School  Building,  1870 


urer;  Peter  Shaffer,  Benjamin  Palmerton,  and 
O.  N.  Wheelock.  The  teachers  were  Hugh 
J.  Dobbs,  superintendent ;  Fannie  B.  Outcalt, 
assistant  in  the  high  school ;  Henry  N.  Blake, 
head  of  the  grammar  department ;  and  S.  W. 
Dodge,  Amelia  Marston,  Mary  F.  Price,  Mary 
C.  F.  Blake,  and  Mirian  Blake  (Mrs-  R.  J. 
Kilpatrick)  as  the  grade  teachers.  At  the 
close  of  the  spring  term  of  1880  the  first 
graduating  exercises  of  the  Beatrice  schools 
were  held,  the  graduates  being  Oliver  B.  Ges- 
sell,  Ida  Lumbeck,  (both  deceased)  and  Caro- 


district  of  $40,000,  where  the  old  frame  school 
house  had  stood  since  1862,  and  on  its  occu- 
pation, in  the  fall  of  1884,  it  became  the  cen- 
ter of  the  educational  system  of  the  city  of 
Beatrice. 

When  the  present  high-school  building  was 
erected  this  old  building  became  a  grade  school 
for  the  central  portion  of  the  city.  But  no 
change  of  destiny  can  rob  it  of  the  simple 
dignity  of  its  proportions  or  minimize  its  rec- 
ord of  scholastic  usefulness.  It  stands  in  the 
center  of  the  old  school-house  square  and  dom- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


225 


226 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


inates  beautiful  Charles  Park,  the  public  li- 
brary and  its  other  immediate  surroundings,  in 
a  way  that  satisfies  the  mind  as  to  what  a 
building  with  its  history  should  be. 

In  the  year  1908  the  qualified  electors  of  the 
Beatrice  school  district,  at  a  special  election 
called  for  that  purpose,  voted  to  issue  the 
bonds  of  the  district  in  the  sum  of  $80,000  for 
the  purpose  of  erecting  a  high-school  build- 
ing, and  in  1909,  the  present  high-school 
building  was  erected,  pursuant  to  plans  and 
specifications  prepared  by  architect  Richard 
W.  Grant.  It  stands  at  the  comer  of  Fifth 
and  Elk  streets,  an  imposing,  three-stor}'  struc- 
ture with  a  basement.  The  original  cost  of 
the  site,  building  and  furniture  was  $81,886.00. 

The  remaining  school  buildings  of  the  city 
of  Beatrice  are  as  here  noted:  The  Harring- 
ton school  building  was  constructed  in  1885- 
1886,  at  a  cost  of  approximately  $7,500;  the 
South  school  building  was  constructed  in  1886, 
at  a  cost  of  $8,000  (bonds)  ;  the  East  school 
building  and  the  West  school  building,  built 
on  the  same  plan,  were  constrvicted  in  1888, 
at  a  cost  of  $11,000  each  (bonds)  ;  the  Bel- 
videre  school  building,  at  first  one  room,  later 
two,  was  constructed  in  1889;  the  Fairview 
school  building  and  Glenover  school  building, 
built  on  the  same  plan,  were  constructed  in 
1891,  at  a  cost  of  $7,500  each  (bonds)  ;  ad- 
dition to  the  West  school  building,  four  rooms, 
constructed  in  1916,  cost  $13,000. 

But  the  marshaling  of  physical  assets,  how- 
ever impressive  the  array,  can  at  most  indi- 
cate only  the  wealth  and  power  of  the  com- 
munity. They  are  not  the  glory  of  our 
schools.  For  this  we  must  look  to  the  char- 
acter of  the  men  and  women  who  here  have 
received  their  training  for  the  affairs  of  life. 
Measured  by  this  standard  alone  the  record 
is  most  excellent.  Students  from  the  public 
schools  of  Beatrice  are  to  be  found  every- 
where in  the  world  of  work ;  they  honor  the 
professions  as  lawyers,  physicians,  preachers, 
teachers,  and  they  swell  the  ranks  of  those 
who,  in  the  great  world  war,  are  fighting  for 
human  liberty. 


The  heads  of  the  Beatrice  city  schools,  be- 
ginning with  Hodson  in  1869,  are  H.  J.  Chase,  | 
Charles  B.  Palmer,  John  Ellis,  John  N.  Fuller, 
H.  L.  Wagner,  Mrs.  Clara  B.  Colby,  John  N. 
Rhodes,  Hugh  J.  Dobbs,  L.  B.  Shryock,  Wil- 
liam H.  Elbright,  Carroll  G.  Pearse,  J.  W. 
Dinsmore,  W.  H.  Beeler,  Ossian  H.  Brainard,. 
W.  L.  Stephens,  C.  A.  Fulmer,  E.  J.  Bodwell. 
and  A.  J.  Stoddart. 

Some  of  the  men  who  have  brought  renown 
to  the  Beatrice  public  schools  because  they 
were  at  one  time  connected  therewith  are  as- 
follows :  Carroll  G.  Pearse,  superintendent 
back  in  the  '80s  and  early  '90s,  has  since  been 
superintendent  of  schools  in  Omaha  and  Mil- 
waukee, is  now  president  of  the  Milwaukee- 
Normal  school,  and  is  considered  one  of  the 
few  foremost  educators  of  America.  W.  L. 
Stephens,  superintendent  of  schools  in  the 
'90s,  has  since  been  superintendent  of  the  city 
schools  at  Lincoln,  and  is  at  present  in  a  simi- 
lar position  at  Eong  Beach,  California.  J.  W. 
Crabtree,  one-time  principal  of  the  Beatrice 
high  school,  has  since  passed  from  normal- 
school  presidencies  to  the  highest  position  in 
the  National  Educational  Association,  and  as 
its  secretary  wields  an  influence  undoubtedly 
greater  than  any  other  educator  in  America. 
In  later  years,  C.  A.  Fulmer,  for  five  years, 
and  E.  J.  Bodwell,  for  nine  years  superintend- 
ent, have  placed  the  schools  at  the  top  in  the 
state  of  Nebraska.  A.  J.  Stoddart  is  now 
superintendent,  and  the  future  will  undoubt- 
edly see  the  present  standard  maintained.  In 
addition  to  these,  Beatrice  has  enjoyed  the  ser-  ■ 
vices  of  many  distinguished  men  and  women 
who  have  gone  far  and  wide  through  other 
fields.  No  chronicle  of  the  Beatrice  schools 
would  be  complete  without  mentioning  Miss 
Juletta  O.  Rawles,  who  has  been  assistant 
principal  of  the  high  school  during  a  period 
of  time  of  such  duration  that  the  community 
will  long  know  and  feel  the  good  effects  of 
her  fine  personality. 

Through  the  years  old  residents  have  seen 
the  number  of  teachers  grow  from  a  small 
nucleus  of  two  or  three  until  we  now  have 
twenty-two  in  the  high  school  and  forty-eight 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA                              227 

in  the  grades ;  and  the  school  enroHment  grow  from  one  Httle  building  of  one  room  until  we 

from  a  few  pupils  in  one  or  two  rooms  until  now  have  eight  ward  buildings  and  one  big 

last  year  we  had  1109  boys  and  1124  girls  en-  central  high-school  building.     In  addition  to 

rolled  in  the  schools.     The  high  school  ranks  this,  through  the  public-spiritedness  of  some 

third  in  size  in  the  state,  having  now  an  en-  of  the  citizens  of  Beatrice,  we  have  the  finest 

rollment  of  490.  The  physical  plant  has  grown  athletic  park  in  the  west. 


CHAPTER  XXII 


BEATRICE  CONCLUDED 


Banks  —  Factories  —  Wholesale  Houses  —  Rawlins    Post  —  Hospitals   and    Sanitar- 
iums — ■  Newspapers  and  Newspaper  Men. 


For  many  years  after  the  settlement  and 
organization  of  our  county  the  pioneers  were 
wholly  dependent  upon  foreign  banking  insti- 
tutions in  all  business  transactions  requiring 
the  intervention  of  a  bank.  One  of  the  six 
"wild-cat"  banks  established  in  Nebraska  ter- 
ritory in  1856,  by  legislative  charter,  was  the 
Platte  Valley  Bank,  at  Nebraska  City.  It  was 
organized  with  S.  F.  Nuckolls  as  president 
and  Joshua  Garside  as  cashier.  On  account 
of  the  high  character  of  these  men,  this  bank 
secured  a  good  patronage,  and  it  was  the  only 
territorial  bank  of  the  "wild-cat"  type  that 
survived  the  terrible  financial  panic  of  1857. 
In  1859  it  liquidated  its  obligations  and  was 
succeeded  at  Nebraska  City  by  the  private 
banking  house  of  James  Sweet  &  Company, 
which  was  organized  September  19,  1859.  The 
honorable  record  as  bankers  established  by  the 
Platte  Valley  Bank  under  Mr.  Nuckolls'  man- 
agement, together  with  the  confidence  inspired 
by  James  Sweet  and  those  associated  with  him 
in  his  private  banking  enterprise,  drew  to  Ne- 
braska City  a  great  volume  of  banking  business 
from  many  of  the  South  Platte  counties,  in- 
cluding Gage.  Through  the  cooperation  of 
the  pioneer  merchants  of  Beatrice  with  these 
banking  concerns,  a  regular  banking  business 
of  a  sort  was  established  for  Beatrice  and 
vicinity.  The  process  was  in  the  main  as 
follows:  A  citizen  wishing  to  borrow  a  sum 
of  money  would  go  to  Joseph  Saunders  or  to 
Blakely,  Reynolds  &  Townsend  or  to  some 
other  Beatrice  merchant,  offer  his  security, 
make  his  note  at  twelve  per  cent,  annual  in- 
terest,   payable    in    advance,    and    secure    the 


money.  The  lender,  by  endorsing  the  note  or 
guaranteeing  its  payment,  could  turn  it  in  at 
his  correspondent  bank  at  Nebraska  City  and 
take  credit  for  it. 

But  with  the  coming  of  the  railroads,  in 
1872,  all  this  was  completely  changed.  To 
every  property-owner  in  the  county  the  ad- 
vent of  the  iron  horse  was  equivalent  to  un- 
claimed treasure-trove.  That  which  before 
had  possessed  no  market  value,  became  market- 
able. Land  advanced  almost  over  night  from 
a  nominal  sum  to  five  dollars  or  more  per 
acre,  and  found  purchasers.  Business  quickly 
adjusted  itself  to  new  conditions.  Grain  and 
live  stock  and  other  products  of  the  farm 
found  a  ready  market  at  reasonable  figures. 
In  fact  the  coming  of  the  railroads  ended  the 
pioneer  days  in  Gage  county. 

In  1871  Nathan  Kirk  Griggs  and  Hiram 
Peter  Webb  began  a  banking  business  in  a 
small  way,  as  private  bankers,  in  the  two- 
story,  brick  building  erected  by  them  on  lot 
10,  block  47  of  the  original  town  of  Beatrice, 
described  as  No.  314  Court  street.  Neither 
member  of  the  firm  possessed  sufficient  capital 
for  any  but  the  most  meager  banking  oper- 
ations, but  they  did  have  the  most  desirable 
of  all  wealth,  —  youth,  enthusiasm,  self-con- 
fidence and,  to  a  very  remarkable  degree,  the 
confidence  of  the  community,  —  a  confidence 
which  both  well  deserved.  Both  were  well 
educated,  both  lawyers  without  briefs,  both 
with  character  and  abilities  which  promised 
much  for  the  future.  At  the  election  in  No- 
vember, 1869,  Webb  was  elected  treasurer  of 
Gage  county,  and  by  successive  elections  he 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


229 


held  the  office  from  January,  1870,  to  Jan- 
uary, 1876.  There  were  then  no  restrictions 
upon  the  use  of  the  funds  of  the  county  by 
the  treasurer,  nor  was  he  required  to  account 
for  interest  on  such  funds.  Many  a  pioneer 
bank  in  Nebraska  had  its  inception  with  the 
election  of  the  county  treasurer.  The  bank 
was  known  as  the  Griggs  &  Webb  Bank  and 
it  did  a  large  business  for  those  crude  days ; 
it  was  successfully  managed  by  Webb  until 
1878.  In  1874  they  built  a  two-story,  stone 
bank  building  at  the  comer  of  Fifth  and 
Court  streets,  and  transferred  the  bank  to  this 
building.  In  1876  Mr.  Griggs,  who  had  by 
that  time  become  a  prominent  and  successful 
lawyer  and  politician,  was  appointed  United 
States  consul  to  Chemnitz,  Saxony,  and  on 
accepting  this  office  he  withdrew  from  the 
bank.  Webb  retired  from  the  county  treas- 
ury in  January,  1876,  and  thereafter  devoted 
his  time  exclusively  to  the  affairs  of  the  bank, 
which  then  became  known  as  H.  P.  Webb  & 
Company,  he  having  associated  with  him  in 
the  bank  Nathan  Blakely  and  Silas  P.  Wheeler. 
Had  he  confined  his  activities  to  legitimate 
banking  he  no  doubt  would  have  built  up  a 
very  strong  institution.  He  was  a  genial, 
clever,  accommodating  man,  much  esteemed 
in  the  community,  and  drew  about  him  a  host 
of  the  warmest  of  friends.  In  an  evil  mo- 
ment, he  formed  a  copartnership  with  a  man 
named  Holt,  bought  both  the  Beatrice  and  De- 
Witt  mills,  and  with  him  engaged  in  the  mill- 
ing and  grain  business  at  DeWitt  and  Bea- 
trice, using  the  funds  of  his  bank  to  finance 
these  transactions.  He  was  cruelly  deceived 
and  cheated  by  Holt,  and  both  mills  were 
finally  destroyed  by  fire.  The  banking  house 
of  H.  P.  Webb  &  Company  closed  its  doors 
in  May,  1878,  its  assets  passed  into  the  hands 
of  W.  H.  Ashby,  as  assignee,  and  Gage 
county's  first  banker,  Hiram  Webb,  having 
lost  what  in  those  days  was  a  fortune  and  the 
opportunity  of  great  success  in  the  banking 
world,  broken  in  spirit  while  still  a  young 
man,  left  Gage  county  and  went  to  Oregon, 
where,  being  deeply  religious,  he  engaged  in 
works  of  piety,  and  died  many  years  ago,  far 
from  his  friends.     The  annals  of  Gage  county 


present  no  more  pathetic  ending  of  what  might 
have  been  a  brilliant  and  a  useful  life. 

Following  the  failure  of  the  Webb  banking 
concern,  William  Lamb,  having  acquired  the 
old  Webb  banking  house,  August  1,  1879,  or- 
ganized a  private  bank  bearing  his  name.  In 
1881  the  Lamb  banking  establishment  was 
purchased  by  Erastus  E.  Brown,  of  Lincoln, 
and  reorganized  June  14,  1881,  as  the  Gage 
County  Bank;  capital  $50,000,  with  Brown, 
president.  Lamb,  manager,  and  Oliver  M. 
Enlow,  cashier  and  attorney.  In  1884  the 
stock  of  this  bank  was  purchased  by  Daniel 
W.  Cook,  Jefiferson  B.  Weston,  Nathan  H. 
Harvvood  and  their  associates,  and  it  was  then 
reorganzied,  as  the  Beatrice  National  Bank, 
with  a  capital  of  $50,000.  President,  Jeffer- 
son B.  Weston;  vice-president,  Daniel  W. 
Cook ;  cashier,  C.  M.  Brown.  The  bank  con- 
tinued in  business  in  the  old  two-story,  stone 
building  at  Fifth  and  Court  streets  until  De- 
cember 10,  1892,  when  its  directorate  having 
acquired  the  bulk  of  the  stock  in  the  old  Ma- 
sonic Temple  Building  Company  moved  the 
bank  to  that  building,  on  the  comer  of  Sixth 
and  Court  streets,  which  had  been  remodeled 
for  banking  purposes.  This  building  was  des- 
troyed by  fire  December  22,  1902,  entailing  a 
complete  loss  of  the  bank  furniture  and  fix- 
tures. The  vaults  and  safes,  however,  af- 
forded perfect  protection  to  the  books,  records 
and  funds  of  the  bank,  and  at  the  usual  hour 
on  the  morning  of  the  23d  of  December  it 
opened  for  business  in  the  old  Nebraska  Na- 
tional Bank  building,  secured  for  that  pur- 
pose while  its  own  was  in  flames. 

Steps  were  immediately  taken  by  the  officers 
and  directors  of  the  bank  to  erect  a  modern 
bank  building  on  the  spot  where  the  old  Ma- 
sonic Temple  building  had  stood.  This  work 
was  begun  as  soon  as  the  debris  of  the  old 
structure  was  cold,  and  it  was  pushed  to  com- 
pletion as  rapidly  as  possible.  Almost  a  year 
was  consumed  in  the  erection  of  this  building, 
and  it  was  not  till  the  morning  of  December 
14,  1903,  that  the  doors  of  the  new  building 
swung  open  to  the  patrons  of  the  bank,  and  a 
new  chapter  was  begini  in  its  long  career  of 
usefulness     and     prosperity.       Supplemental 


230 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


data  concerning  this  institution  appear  in  the 
memoir  dedicated  to  Daniel  W.  Cook,  in  the 
biographical  department  of  this  history. 

In  August,  1872,  John  E.  and  Samuel  C. 
Smith  came  to  Beatrice  and  on  the  first  day 
of  September  following  they  opened  a  private 
bank  at  No.  409  Court  street,  in  the  building 
now  occupied  by  Cullen  &  Lock  as  a  cigar 
store.  The  brothers  possessed  a  capital  of 
$10,000,  and  the  bank  was  known  as  Smith 
Brothers'  Bank,  of  which  John  E.  Smith  was 
president  and  Samuel  C.  Smith,  cashier.  Both 
brothers  were  natives  of  Ridgefield,  Connecti- 
cut; John  E.,  the  elder,  was  born  August  6, 
1842,  and  Samuel  C.  was  born  June  18,  1846. 
They  were  at  an  age  when,  if  ever,  enthusiam 
and  ambition  have  assumed  full  sway  and  they 
entered  into  the  business  life  of  our  county 
with  a  vigor  that  was  most  inspiring  to  all  who 
fell  under  their  influence.  They  brought  to 
their  business  as  bankers  the  powerful  sup- 
port of  a  number  of  moneyed  men  both  in 
Ridgefield  and  in  Cambridge,  New  York, 
where  the  elder  brother  had  served  an  appren- 
ticeship in  the  banking  business  as  an  em- 
ploye of  the  Cambridge  Valley  Bank,  which 
Loans  and  Discounts 
United  States  Bonds 
Other  Stocks  and  Bonds 
Real  Estate 

Furniture  and  Fixtures 
Premiums 
Due  from  Banks  and  United 

States  Treasurer 
Cash  on  hand 


Total  $141,574.87 

Its  wonderful  growth  is  shown  by  its  report 
close  of  business  December  31,  1881 : 


institution  he  had  served  three  years  as  cash- 
ier, acquiring  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the 
business.  For  nearly  forty-six  years  Smith 
Brothers  have  been  prominent  factors  in  the 
growth  and  development  of  the  city  of  Bea- 
trice, the  county  of  Gage  and  state  of  Ne- 
braska. 

In  1877  they  organized  the  First  National 
Bank  of  Beatrice,  which  was  chartered  and 
commenced  business  in  April  of  that  year.  The 
directors  of  the  bank  were  Hon.  Algernon 
Sidney  Paddock,  Hiram  W.  Parker,  Elijah 
Filley,  Charles  G.  Dorsey,  John  E.  and  Sam- 
uel C.  Smith,  of  Beatrice,  and  James  Ellis,  of 
New  York.  John  E.  Smith  was  president ; 
Hiram  W.  Parker,  vice-president ;  Samuel  C. 
Smith,  cashier;  and  Frank  Graham,  assistant 
cashier.  The  success  of  this  banking  enter- 
prise was  immediate.  The  statement  of  its 
condition  at  the  close  of  the  first  nine  months 
of  its  existence  comprises  not  only  an  instruc- 
tive commentary  on  the  affairs  of  the  bank 
itself,  but  is  the  first  bank  statement  ever  is- 
sued by  any  institution  in  Gage  county.  It 
is  dated  December  31,  1877,  and  is  as  fol- 
lows: 


$61,574.20 

Capital  Stock 

$50,000.00 

30,000.00 

Surplus  and  Profits 

1,603.26 

3,073.50 

Circulation 

27,000.00 

5,978.30 

Deposits 

60,471.61 

2,006.66 

Unpaid  Dividends 

2,500.00 

2,550.00 

22,052.74 

14,339.47 

Loans  and  Discounts 

$190,235.22 

Capital  Stock 

United  States  Bonds 

50,000.00 

Surplus  and  Profits 

Other  Stocks  and  Bonds 

1,137.51 

Circulation 

Due  from  Banks  and  United 

Deposits 

States  Treasurer 

61,105.35 

Re-discounts 

Real  Estate 

6,861.30 

Furniture  and  Fixtures 

2,800.00 

Cash  on  hand 

21,487.00 

Total 

$333,626.38 

Total 

Total  $141,574.87 

the   comptroller   of   the   treasury   at   the 


$  50,000.00 

15,074.27 

45,000.00 

204,552.11 

19,000.00 


$333,626.38 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


231 


About  the  year  1885  the  First  National 
Bank  building,  on  the  corner  of  Fifth  and 
Court  streets  was  erected,  and  the  bank  was 
transferred  to  the  commodious  quarters  ar- 
ranged for  it  in  this  substantial  structure. 

This  pioneer  bank  has  had  a  remarkable 
career  in  the  banking  history  of  the  state  of 
Nebraska.  In  1886,  the  Beatrice  Savings 
Bank  was  organized  and  operated  in  connec- 
tion with  this  institution,  and  from  the  be- 
ginning, Smith  Brothers,  had  maintained  a 
farm-loan  department,  separately  incorporated 
however  as  the  Smith  Brothers  Loan  &  Trust 
Company.  All  these  institutions  did  a  tre- 
mendous business,  each  in  its  line.  Through 
Smith  Brothers  Loan  &  Trust  Company  the 
funds  of  the  savings  bank  were  largely  in- 
vested in  mortgages  on  western  Kansas  and 
Nebraska  land.  The  business  thus  trans- 
acted was  enormous,  was  most  conservatively 
conducted,  and  under  normal  conditions  would 
have  proved  very  profitable  to  all  parties  con- 
cerned. But  the  great  financial  panic  of  1893, 
coupled  with  a  series  of  dry  seasons  which 
beggared  nearly  every  man  in  the  territory 
where  these  lands  were  located  and  drove  thou- 
sands out  of  the  country,  caused  such  shrink- 
age in  values  as  to  force  the  Smith  Brothers 
out  of  business.  The  savings  bank  passed 
into  the  hands  of  a  receiver,  and  the  stock  of 
the  First  National  Bank  held  by  them  passed 
to  L.  B.  Howey  and  those  associated  with 
him  in  its  purchase,  and  John  and  Samuel 
Smith,  by  these  transactions,  turned  over  to 
the  creditors  of  their  business  enterprises  all 
their  non-exempt  property.  The  saddest  part 
of  this  business  tragedy  consists  in  the  fact 
that  the  assets  of  the  two  banks  were  what 
in  common  parlance  is  described  as  "gilt- 
edge."  Even  under  the  wasteful  management 
of  a  receivership  the  assets  of  the  savings  bank 
paid  ninety  cents  on  the  dollar  of  its  indebted- 
ness, and  if  the  Smith  Brothers  could  have 
been  given  time,  the  restoration  of  values 
which  shortly  ensued  would  have  left  their 
several  institutions  entirely  solvent  and  them 
with  independent  fortunes.  They  were  inno- 
cent victims  of  the  times  and  the  lack  of  con- 
fidence in  all  financial  institutions  then  widely 


prevalent.  With  superb  courage,  they  have 
successfully  re-established  themselves  in  a 
profitable  farm-loaning  business  known  as  the 
Farmers  Trust  Company,  but  more  important 
than  all,  through  all  reverses  of  fortune,  they 
have  retained  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  a 
community  to  whose  material,  social  and  re- 
ligious development  they  have  so  largely  con- 
tributed. 

The  reader  has  now  witnessed  the  begin- 
ing  of  the  banking  business  in  the  city  of  Bea- 
trice and  followed  the  history  of  its  two 
pioneer  banks  to  the  present  moment.  It  may 
be  of  interest,  at  least  to  those  who  come  after 
us,  to  know  that  these  two  institutions  are  to- 
day stronger,  more  powerful  and  better  than 
ever  before.  Since  the  death  of  Daniel  W. 
Cook,  in  1916,  Wallace  Robertson  has  been 
president  of  the  Beatrice  National  Bank;  R. 
J.  Kilpatrick,  vice-president;  Daniel  W.  Cook, 
Jr.,  cashier;  J.  H.  Doll,  assistant  cashier. 
Frederick  H.  Kowey  is  president  of  the  First 
National  Bank;  M.  V.  Nichols,  first  vice- 
president  ;  William  C.  Black,  second  vice- 
president ;  R.  B.  Clemens,  cashier;  H.  A. 
Reeves,  assistant  cashier.  With  its  other  activi- 
ties the  First  National  Bank,  in  1909,  organ- 
nized  and  is  successfully  carrying  on  a  savings 
bank,  under  the  name  of  First  State  Savings 
Bank  of  Beatrice,  Nebraska. 

Numerous  other  banking  ventures  have  been 
made  in  the  city,  some  achieving  a  great  suc- 
cess, some  a  dismal  failure.  One  that  in  the 
early  '80s  promised  to  reach  a  position  of 
great  usefulness  was  The  People's  Bank,  or- 
ganized by  John  Ellis  (a  former  county  treas- 
urer of  Gage  county),  Horace  L.  Ewing,  War- 
ren Cole,  Lafayette  P.  Brown,  C.  W.  Collins 
and  others,  in  1882.  Within  a  year  after  its 
organization  Mr.  Collins  removed  to  Hebron, 
where  he  became  the  principal  owner  and 
president  of  the  First  National  Bank  of  that 
city,  an  institution  which  he  conducted  to  great 
prosperity.  After  the  retirement  of  Mr.  Col- 
lins, Ellis  and  his  associates  erected  a  splen- 
did four-story,  stone  building  at  the  corner  of 
Fourth  and  Court  streets,  now  the  property 
of  Milburn  &  Scott  Company,  and  reorgan- 
ized  the   bank   into   the    Nebraska    National 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


233 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


235 


Bank,  with  Ellis  as  president,  Cole,  vice-presi- 
dent, and  Ewing,  cashier.  But  the  terrible 
financial  panic  of  1893-1896  found  the  bank 
unable  to  withstand  the  demands  upon  it,  and 
it  went  down  in  a  maelstrom  of  ruin.  Its 
aiTairs  were  wound  up  by  E.  R.  Fogg,  the  re- 
ceiver, who  paid  about  fifty  per  cent  of  the 
indebtedness. 

In  1881  William  A.  Wolfe  founded  the  Ger- 
man National  Bank.  Associated  with  him 
were  George  Arthur  Murphy,  Andrew  W. 
Nickell,  Dwight  Coit  and  the  W.  H.  Thrift  es- 
tate;  capital  $100,000.  Wolfe  was  chosen 
president ;  Nickell,  vice-president ;  and  Coit, 
cashier.  After  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century 
of  successful  business  this  bank  liquidated  in 
1912,  sold  its  building  at  No.  411  Court  street 
to  the  Union  Savings  Bank,  and  retired  from 
business.  In  1913,  Mr.  Wolfe,  with  Dwight 
Coit,  Hugo  Ahlquist  and  others,  organized  the 
Nebraska  State  Bank,  with  Wolfe,  president, 
and  Coit,  cashier;  capital  $50,000. 

Another  hopeful  banking  venture  was  that 
of  the  American  Bank  of  Beatrice,  organized 
in  1888  as  the  American  Savings  Bank,  but 
soon  changed  to  the  American  Bank,  capital 
$100,000.  The  officers  were:  Charles  E. 
White,  president ;  Charles  L.  Schell,  vice- 
president;  John  Henderson,  cashier.  The  in- 
stitution occupied  the  banking  house  owned 
by  it  at  No.  110  North  Fifth  street,  and  now 
owned  and  occupied  by  the  State  Savings  & 
Loan  Association.  This  bank  also  was  caught 
in  the  financial  storm  of  1893,  and  closed  its 
doors  on  the  second  day  of  July  of  that  year. 

About  the  year  1889  L.  E.  Walker,  Thomas 
Yule  and  others  organized  a  bank  known  as 
the  Union  Savings  Bank  of  Beatrice.  After 
a  few  years  Mr.  Walker  retired  and  Martin 
V.  Nichols  and  John  H.  Penner  became  the 
leading  stockholders  of  this  concern,  which 
then  became  a  commercial  bank,  under  the 
name  of  Union  State  Bank.  This  bank  man- 
aged to  exist  until  quite  a  recent  date,  when 
the  stock  was  purchased  by  Robin  B.  Nickell, 
who  about  the  same  time  purchased  the  stock 
of  the  German  National  Bank  and  consoli- 
dated the  two  into  a  strong  financial  institu- 
tion now  known  as  the  Union  State  Bank,  and 


owned  by  H.  C.  Arnold,  John  Anderson  and 
others,  with  Arnold,  president,  and  Anderson, 
cashier;  capital  $50,000. 

In  February,  1892,  the  Farmers  &  Mer- 
chants State  Bank  was  organized  with  a  paid- 
up  capital  of  $50,000,  by  William  P.  Norcross. 
Milo  Baker,  Eugene  W.  Wheelock,  and  others, 
and  with  Norcross,  president ;  Baker,  vice- 
president,  and  Wheelock,  cashier.  The  bank 
was  very  conservatively  managed  and  prom.- 
ised  a  long  career  of  usefulness  in  the  com- 
munity. It  opened  with  a  fine  patronage  and 
this  was  continued  until  the  great  financial 
panic  of  1893-1896,  when  banking  had  be- 
come so  hazardous  a  risk  as  to  be  unattractive 
to  capital.  On  the  31st  of  December,  1896. 
the  Farmers  &  Merchants  Bank  went  into 
voluntary  liquidation,  its  depositors  were  paid 
in  full  and  the  stockholders'  money  returned 
:o  them  dollar  for  dollar. 

In  1908  the  Beatrice  State  Bank  was  or- 
ganized by  F.  E.  Allen,  of  Auburn,  Nebraska, 
J.  T.  Harden,  H.  H.  Waite,  Frank  Morrison, 
Alpha  Graf  and  others ;  capital  $50,000.  This 
institution  has  had  a  successful  career  and  is 
ably  and  conservatively  managed.  F.  E. 
Allen  is  president ;  J.  T.  Harden,  vice-presi- 
dent, and  H.  H.  Waite,  cashier. 

The  city  of  Beatrice  may  be  said  to  have 
been  a  manufacturing  center  of  consequence 
from  the  date  of  its  origin,  in  July,  1857.  The 
old  steam  saw  mill  set  up  by  the  Townsite 
Company,  employed  in  the  manufacture  of 
lumber  from  native  timber  for  their  imme- 
diate use,  was  supplanted  in  the  early  '60s  by 
Fordyce  Roper's  water-power  saw  and  grist 
mill  and  shingle  and  lath  machines,  all  doing 
custom  work  and  finally  drawing  trade  from 
considerable  distances.  From  these  early 
days  and  crude  beginnings  to  the  present  time 
Beatrice  has  steadily  advanced  until,  in  a  trifle 
more  than  three  score  years  from  the  date  of 
her  founding,  she  has  gained  first  place  as  a 
manufacturing  center  amongst  the  cities  of 
her  class  in  Nebraska,  as  respects  both  the 
variety  and  the  value  of  her  manufactured 
products.  •' 

The  mere  enumeration  of  these  forms  an 
impressive  and  eloquent  tribute  to  the  genius 


236 


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HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


238 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


239 


and  enterprise  of  her  citizens.  The  hst  in- 
cUides  vahiable  agricultural  implements,  wind 
mills,  gasoline  engines,  pumps,  machinerj-  for 
handling  hay,  irrigating  and  ditching  machin- 
ery, well-drilling  devices,  galvanized  steel 
tanks,  burial  vaults,  portable  com  cribs  and 
granaries,  woven-wire  fencing,  wire  and  slat 
fencing,  cigars,  ice  cream,  butter,  tombstones 
and  monuments,  electricity,  flour,  meal  and 
other  cereal  products,  cement  building  blocks, 
bricks  and  tiling,  blank  books,  corn-husking 
pegs  and  other  hardware  specialties,  shirts, 
and  many  other  articles  of  daily  use  and  con- 
sumption. 

The  figures  are  not  at  hand  to  show  the 
value  of  the  manufactured  products  of  the 
city  as  a  whole;  but  since  the  great  Dempster 
Mill  Manufacturing  Company  stands  at  the 
head  of  the  manufacturing  industries  of  the 
city,  perhaps  of  the  state,  some  idea  may  be 
gained  of  the  value  of  its  products  from  the 
fact  that  it  has  a  present  capital  and  surplus 
of  more  than  one  and  one-fourth  million  dol- 
lars, that  it  has  over  five  hundred  employes, 
exclusive  of  its  Memphis  plant,  and  an  annual 
pay  roll  of  over  half  a  million  dollars. 

Several  of  the  other  factories  of  the  city 
make  a  creditable  and  an  impressive  showing. 
Some  of  the  more  important  concerns  are  the 
Beatrice  Steel  Tank  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany, Beatrice  Iron  Works,  the  John  H.  von 
Steen  Company  and  the  F.  D.  Kees  Manufac- 
turing Company. 

In  addition  to  its  manufacturing  concerns 
Beatrice  has  several  allied  institutions.  These 
are  the  Lang  Canning  &  Preserving  Com- 
pany, the  Beatrice  Cold  Storage  Company, 
Swift  &  Company's  poultry  house,  and  the 
Beatrice  Creamery  Company. 

The  limitations  of  this  work  make  a  fur- 
ther enumeration  or  description  of  the  manu- 
facturing interests  of  the  city  inexpedient.  It 
is  sufficient  to  say  here  that  as  a  manufactur- 
ing and  distributing  center  Beatrice  has  ac- 
quired a  prestige  and  a  momentum  that  as- 
sure her  future  growth  and  prosperity. 

Not  only  has  the  city  acquired  reputation 
as  a  manufacturing  center  but  in  recent  years 
she  has  also  set  the  pace  for  her  competitors 


as  a  wholesaling  point.  Here  are  located  the 
great  Sonderegger  Nurseries  &  Seed  House, 
the  Pease  Grain  &  Seed  Company,  the  E.  S. 
Stevens  wholesale  grocery,  and  the  Blue  Val- 
ley ]\Iercantile  Company,  also  a  wholesale 
grocery  house. 

Beatrice  has  latterly  come  to  occupy  an  en- 
viable position  as  a  retailing  center.  Her  mer- 
chants are  enterprising  and  accommodating, 
their  stocks  large  and  varied,  and  trade  is  at- 
tracted to  the  city  from  long  distances.  With 
her  attractive  business  houses  and  her  mag- 
nificent system  of  street  lighting,  Beatrice  cer- 
tainly in  its  business  district  approaches  the 
"City  Beautiful." 

But  however  attractive  the  business  portion 
of  the  city,  visitors  never  tire  of  traversing 
the  residence  districts,  where  there  are  found 
some  of  the  most  beautiful  homes  in  the 
west.  The  extensive  paving  of  the  streets  in 
recent  years  has  greatly  added  to  the  charm 
of  Beatrice  as  a  residence  city,  and  latterly 
attention  has  been  given  to  architectural  form 
and  beauty  in  the  erection  of  private  resi- 
dences. With  the  constant  increase  of  wealth, 
the  advancing  years  will  witness  a  continual 
accession  of  artistic  dwellings. 

Both  time  and  space  forbid  extended  notice 
of  the  secret  societies  and  benevolent  orders. 
As  it  has  been  the  aim  of  the  author  to  avoid 
anything  like  a  director}'  feature  in  this  work, 
it  must  suffice  here  to  say  that  almost  all  the 
societies  and  different  orders  found  in  the 
west  are  represented  in  Beatrice.  He  feels 
constrained,  however,  to  give  place  here  to  an 
organization  which  all  delight  to  honor  and 
which  is  not  a  secret  society  nor  is  it  to  be 
classed  with  the  benevolent  orders.  It  is  a 
list  of  the  living  members  of  Rawlins  Post, 
No.  35,  Department  of  Nebraska,  Grand  Army 
of  the  Republic,  which  was  chartered  in  1880, 
dropped  in  1881,  reorganized  and  chartered 
December  27,  1882. 

Avey,  Samuel,  Co.  A,  10th  Ohio  Cav. 
Armstrong,  Thomas,  Co.  I,  39th  111.  Inft. 
Armstrong,  R.,  Co.  F,  180th  Ohio. 
Arnett,  Jelt   (colored),  Co.  F,   125th  U.  S. 
Inft.  (colored). 

Bull.  Stephen,  Co.  C,  186th  N.  Y.  Inft. 


240 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


241 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Brother,  Ferd,  Surgeon  8th  ^lo.  State  Mil- 
itia \'ol. 

Bress,  S.  W.,  Co.  F.  18th  Iowa  Inft. 

Black,  W.  H.  H.,  Co.  I,  42d  Ind. 

Brewster,  A.,  Co.  L,  15th  N.  Y.  Engineer 
Brigade. 

Brock,  C.  A.,  Co.  F,  34th  111.  Inft. 

Bell,  William,  Co.  C,  1st  Tenn.  Inft. 

Bevins,  S.,  1st  Ohio  Heavy  Art. 

Buck,  George,  Jr.,  Co.  H,'2d  Vt.  Inft. 

Brewster,  A.  W.,-  Co.  E,  128th  Ind.  Inft. 

Calkins,  D.  K.,  Co.  E,  34th  111.  Inft. 

Craig,  J.  R.,  Co.  B,  10th  111.  Inft. 

Calland,  H.  S.,  Co.  D,  92d  Ohio. 

Carmichael,  John,  Co.  H,  46th  111.  Inft. 

Carter,  Frank,  Co.  A,  102d  U.  S.  Vol.  (col- 
ored). 

Crangle,  W.  F.,  Co.  A,  42d  111.  Inft. 

Colby,  L.  W.,  Co.  B,  8th  111.  Inft. 

Coulter,  R.,  Co.  I,  104th  Ohio. 

Cousins,  James,  Co.  G,  2d  Iowa  Inft.  Died 
Feb.  23,  1917. 

Confer,  Daniel,  Co.  A,  34th  Ind. 

Claypool,  J.  W.,  Co.  K,  143d  111. 

Davis,  Samuel,  Co.  B,  8th  111.  Cav. 

Dunn,  Payson,  Co.  F,  37th  Wis.  Inft. 

Decker,  George,  Co.  E,  2d  Conn. 

Davis,  George  W.,  Co.  A,  16th  Kan.  Cav. 

Evans,  G.  D.,  Co.  B,  Wis.  Inft. 

Forbes,  J.  A.,  Co.  F,  42d  111.  Inft. 

Fletcher,  J.  C,  Co.  I,  3d  Iowa  Cav. 

Fielder,  William,  Co.  I,  72d  111.  Inft. 

Frederick,  John,  Co.  F,  82d  111.  Inft. 

Gilmore,  R.  G.,  Co.  D,  83d  Penn. 

Gray,  L.  D.,  Co.  I,  13th  Iowa  Inft. 

Geddes.  Charles,  Co.  I,  16th  Iowa  Inft. 

Gardner,  R.  E.,  Co.  K,  3d  Iowa  Cav. 

Glazier,  N.  Newton,  Co.  G,  11th  Vt.  Vol. 
(Eost  left  arm.) 

Hemphill,  R.  C,  Co.  F,  13th  Penn.  Cav. 
Died  Jan.  24,  1918. 

Hutchins,  T.  E.,  Co.  H,  20th  Ind.  Inft. 

Hartwell,  R.  B.,  Co.  G,  28th  Iowa. 

Jackson,  J.  W.,  Co.  G,  124th  111.  Inft. 

kimmerly,  D.  J.,  Co.  A,  13th  N.  Y.  Died 
Jan.  19,  1918. 

LaSelle,  H.  A.,  Co.  D,  114th  N.  Y.  Inft. 

Lash,  S.  P.,  Co.  H.  87th  Ind.  Inft. 

Lilly,  W.  S.,  Co.  H,  19th  Mich.  Inft. 


Miller,  S.  T.,  Co.  A,  34th  111.  Inft. 

Alayborn,  Thomas,  Co.  A,  14th  N.  Y. 

Meeker,  George,  Co.  G,  5th  Iowa  Inft. 

Munson.  Z.,  Co.  H,  3d  j\Iich.  Cav. 

McCrea,  Ed.,  Co.  C,  10th  :Mo.  Cav.  Died 
Nov.  10,  1917. 

McCollery,  Orvin,  Co.  C,  28th  ^lo.  Died 
Jan.  19,  19i6. 

AIcKinney,  William,  Co.  H,  27th  Iowa. 

Olsen,  Iver  A.,  Co.  A,  88th  111.  Inft. 

Pease,  G.  L.,  Co.  F,  28th  Conn.  Inft. 

Pfefferman,  S.,  Co.  B,  129th  111.  Inft. 

Pagles,  John,  Co.  K,  65th  111. 

Pape,  Abraham,  Co.  F,  92d  111.  Inft. 

Rice,  Dr.  A.  T.,  Co.  B,  91st  Ind. 

Randell,  C.  W.,  Co.  I,  13th  N.  H. 

Ramsey,  J.  H.,  Co.  I,  3d  Iowa  Cav. 

Reedy,  A.  J.,  Co.  H,  1st  Mo.  Cav. 

Roller,  J.  f.,  Co.  D,  110th  Penn.  Inft.  Died 
March  18,  1917. 

Sterne,  W.  W.,  Co.  K,  W.  Va.  Cav. 

Shafner,  J.  F.,  Co.  B,  2d  Minn.  Cav. 

Shottenkirk,  W.,  Co.  C,  113th  111. 

Sample,  A.,  Co.  C,  8th  Iowa  Cav. 

Shaw,  John,  Co.  K,  99th  Ind. 

Spiker,  T.  L.,  Co.  G,  118th  111.  Inft. 

Salts,  Peter,  Co.  G,  76th  Ohio  Inft. 

Smith,  Charles  A.,  Co.  C,  17th  Mich.  Inft. 

Smith,  Edward,  Musician  20th  111.  Inft. 

Seymour,  S.  A.,  Co.  E,  189th  N.  Y.  Inft. 

Thomas,  Hiram,  Co.  D,  4th  111.  Cav. 

Taylor.  W.  M.,  Co.  A,  22d  Pa.  Cav. 

Tucker,  Robert,  Co.  H,  19th  Mich.  Inft. 

Wilson,  Charles,  Co.  F,  26th  111.  Inft.  Died 
July  8,  1917. 

Webb,  John,  Co.  I,  118th  111.  Inft. 

Walker,  W.  H.,  Co.  E,  93d  111.  Inft. 

Weston,  William,  Co.  B,  161st  Ohio  Inft. 

On  the  first  day  of  July,  1868,  there  oc- 
curred in  the  little  village  of  Beatrice  an  event 
of  unusual  significance.  It  was  the  appear- 
ance of  the  Blue  Valley  Record,  the  first  news- 
paper published  in  Gage  county.  The  pro- 
prietors of  this  paper  were  Joseph  R.  Nelson 
and  Nathaniel  Howard.  It  was  a  sorry  little 
affair,  judged  by  any  standard  of  newspaper 
excellence,  yet  it  is  doubtful  if  any  newspaper 
was    ever    more    joyfully    welcomed    by   any 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


243 


community.     Mr.  Nelson,  in  writing  of  this 
venture  years  afterward,  says  : 

There  were,  I  think,  not  a  thousand  people 
in  the  county,  and  not  half  of  them  in  Beatrice. 

Nat  Howard  and  I  were  talking  of  the  ad- 
vantage to  be  gained  by  having  a  newspaper 
published  in  Beatrice,  and  as  I  had  some 
money  and  Nat  the  brains,  we  concluded  to  go 
into  the  newspaper  business.  When  a  boy  I 
had  played  often  in  the  ofifice  of  the  Pough- 
keepsie  (N.  Y.)  Telegraph,  thereby  gaining 
the  only  real  knowledge  we  had  with  which 
to  start  our  paper. 

We  took  a  sheet  of  wrapping  paper  and 
marked  out  places  for  ads ;  then  we  went  out 
to  find  them.  We  found  everyone  interested. 
All  subscribed  and  some  took  several  copies 
to  send  to  friends  east.  Nat  went  to  Nebraska 
City  and  I  to  Brownville,  and  each  got  a  few 
more  ads.  We  then  sent  to  the  Adams  Press 
Company,  of  New  York,  for  a  press,  and  on 
May  27,  1868,  they  shipped  us  our  little  press 
(called  now  Anny  press),  which  arrived  in 
Nebraska  City  sometime  in  June. 

We  hurried  to  the  city  to  get  it,  as  well  as 
the  other  materials,  which  we  had  bought  of 
Tom  Morton,  who  owned  and  ran  the  Nebras- 
ka City  Nczvs,  Sterling  Morton  being  the  edi- 
tor. As  we  did  not  know  the  boxes,  and  being 
in  a  hurn,%  we  concluded  to  have  the  cases 
with  paper  between  them,  and  loaded  them 
into  our  wagon  (wagons  then  being  the  only 
means  of  transportation  between  Nebraska 
City  and  Beatrice)  and  started  for  home. 

When  we  arrived  in  Beatrice  we  found  our 
type  somewhat  mixed,  and  it  took  us  several 
days  to  sort  it  out.  The  only  way  we  knew 
the  boxes  was  by  the  ones  that  had  the  most 
of  one  kind  in.  We  worked  early  and  late, 
copied  from  Nebraska  City  and  Brownville 
papers,  and  when  we  got  stuck  we  slipped  out 
of  town  to  see  Tom  Morton,  who  kindly  helped 
us,  and  finally  we  launched  our  first  paper  on 
the  waves,  and  were  more  proud  of  it  than  a 
father  of  his  first-born. 

We  expected  encouragement  from  the 
papers,  and  the  Nebraska  City  News  and 
Press  and  Brownville  Advocate  gave  us  a 
good  "send-ofif,"  but  the  galoot  that  ran  the 
Marysville  Locomotive  said  our  paper  looked 
as  though  it  had  been  set  up  by  a  coal-heaver. 
That  made  us  mad  and  I  wanted  him  thrashed, 
for  I  had  set  it  up  myself,  with  the  help  of  Nat 
Baker,  a  young  boy,  and  thought  I  had  done 
it  extra  well,  but  in  after  years  concluded  he 
was  more  than  half  right. 

We  printed  one  page  at  a  time  and  had  to 
pull  type  from  one  ad.  to  fix  up  others  and 


sometimes  made  a  mixed-up  mess  of  it.  We 
sent  Warren  Chesney  to  Nebraska  City  to  col- 
lect, and  he  told  us  that  when  he  presented 
the  bill  to  one  man  he  ordered  him  out,  with 
a  promised  thrashing,  —  said  he  did  not  order 
that  ad.,  and  another  thing  he  would  not  pay 
for  one  with  another  man's  name  to  it.  We 
looked  over  the  paper  and  found  the  wooden 
reglet  had  slipped,  and  in  putting  it  back  we 
had  got  it  in  the  wrong  place.  Warren  said 
that  when  we  wanted  any  more  bills  collected 
we  could  do  it  ourselves. 

We  sent  Silas  Plarrington  to  Meridian  to 
collect  from  a  man  who  ran  a  saw  mill,  and 
told  him  to  take  it  out  in  lumber.  We  did  not 
see  him  for  several  weeks  after  his  return, 
till  meeting  him  one  day  and  asking  him  where 
the  lumber  was,  he  pointed  to  his  new  house, 
and  said,  "There  it  is,"  and  there  it  was, 
nailed  fast. 

We  had  many  such  trials  and  tribulations, 
with  plenty  of  hard  work,  for  nine  months, 
when  we  sold  a  half  interest  to  Mr.  Hogshead. 
We  next  sold  out  to  Theodore  Coleman,  and 
thus  ended  my  newspaper  experience. 

Upon  the  sale  of  the  half-interest  in  the 
Blue  Valley  Record  to  J.  M.  Hogshead,  the 
name  of  the  paper  was  changed  to  the  Be- 
atrice Clarion,  the  first  number  of  which  ap- 
peared Saturday,  May  8,  1869,  with  the  motto 
"Hew  to  the  line,  let  the  chips  fall  where  they 
may."  The  publishers'  names  were  given  as 
J.  M.  Hogshead  &  Company,  and  the  company 
consisted  of  J.  M.  Hogshead,  Joseph  R.  Nel- 
son, Nathaniel  Howard,  and  Captain  WiUiam 
H.  Ashby.  Of  these  owners  all  but  Nelson 
had  seen  service  in  the  Confederate  army,  but 
Howard,  Hogshead,  and  Ashby  were  all  fine- 
looking,  courtly  gentleman,  and  were  a  wel- 
come addition  to  the  social  and  business  in- 
terests of  Beatrice.  The  biography  and  por- 
trait of  Joseph  R.  Nelson  appear  in  Chapter 
XVII  of  this  volume,  entitled  "A  Roll  of 
Honor." 

Theodore  Coleman,  who  in  1870  purchased 
the  Beatrice  Clarion,  gives  for  this  history  the 
following  narrative  of  his  newspaper  ex- 
perience in  Beatrice: 

"After  having,  at  the  age  of  twenty  years, 
broken  into  the  newspaper  game  in  northern 
Wisconsin  and  carried  on  the  same  for  sev- 
eral years  with  a  measure  of  success  that 
stopped  short,  to  be  sure,  of  illuminating  the 


244 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


northwestern  horizon  with  its  glow,  I  heeded 
a  suggestion  convejed  by  a  letter  from  Joe 
Nelson  (pardon  the  colloquialism  touching 
Mr.  Nelson's  name),  and  went  to  Beatrice  for 
an  inspection  of  journalistic  conditions  there. 
My  entry  into  Gage  county  was  not  exactly  of 
a  triumphant  character,  since  I  had  to  tarry 
three  days  in  Iowa  before  the  running  ice  in 
the  Missouri  river  would  allow  the  primitive 
ferry  to  operate  across  to  Nebraska  City ;  and 
upon  finally  arriving  in  that  metropolis,  it  was 


Theodore  Coleman 
Founder  of  the  Beatrice  Express 

found  that  transportation  to  Beatrice  was  lim- 
ited to  a  loaded  farmer's  wagon,  returning  to 
his  home  ten  miles  north  of  my  objective 
point.  However,  the  walking  was  good  and 
no  difficulty  was  found  in  negotiating  the  ten 
miles. 

"This  was  in  1870.  The  Gage  County  Clar- 
ion was  the  one  newspaper  of  Beatrice  at  the 
time,  —  published  weekly  and  carrying  on  its 
title  page  the  rather  startling  motto  (for  a 
clarion)  "Hew  to  the  Line,  Let  the  Chips  Fall 
Where  they  May."  The  ownership  of  the 
Clarion  was  divided  among  several  embryonic 


Greeleys  and  Danas  and  Hearsts  and  North- 
cliiifes,  including  my  friend  Nelson,  Mr.  John 
Hogshead  and  Mr.  Nathaniel  Howard. 
Whether  Captain  Ashby  was  of  the  syndicate 
I  do  not  know,  but  he  had  had  some  connection 
with  newspaperdom  in  Beatrice,  as  I  remem- 
ber. I  suspect  there  was  a  holding  concern 
back  of  these  gentlemen,  for  when  it  came  to 
negotiations  for  the  purchase  of  the  Clarion 
the  proposed  payment  of  something  like  five 
hundred  dollars  for  it  on  my  part  caused  such 
a  flurry  in  newspaper  financial  circles  that  fre- 
quent consultations  with  an  unknown  party  to 
the  deal  seemed  necessary. 

"However,  it  went  through  and  I  acquired 
the  property  and  with  it  the  services  of  Mr. 
Hogshead,  the  only  printer  of  the  dissolved 
corporation.  Changing  the  title  of  the  paper 
to  the  Beatrice  Express  did  not  wound  the 
feelirigs  of  the  retiring  proprietors,  and  this 
was  done.  At  that  time  the  home  of  the  paper 
was  the  stone  building  on  Market  street  near 
Fourth,  where  the  newly  christened  Express 
was  published  until  removal  to  the  classic 
precincts  of  the  old  frame  school-building 
then  standing  on  Fifth  street,  north  of  Court. 
There  we  remained  until  the  transfer  to  the 
second  story  of  a  business  building  on  Court 
street. 

"Certain  primitive  conditions  obtained  in 
Nebraska  in  the  early  '70s  that  somewhat 
hampered  the  production  of  high-class  jour- 
nalistic work.  In  the  first  place,  mechanical 
■facilities  were  so  limited  that  in  the  necessary 
task  of  casting  inking-rollers  for  our  four-page 
forms  I  was  on  more  than  one  occasion 
obliged  to  make  a  stage  trip  to  Brownville  for 
glue.  The  Clarion  did  not  boast  a  job  press 
among  its  assets,  but  its  fonts  of  type  included 
a  few  that  could  be  used  in  setting  up  simple 
handbills  and  the  like,  to  be  worked  ofif  on  the 
same  hand-lever  press  from  which  the  paper 
was  issued  in  weekly  installments  to  a  waiting 
constituency  of  some  three  hundred  or  more. 
I  soon  added  a  rotary  job-press  and  concomi- 
tants, and  its  manipulation  was  put  into  the 
hands  of  a  young  southerner  named  Bailey, 
who,  as  I  recall,  was  an  old  friend  of  Messrs. 
Howard  and  Hogshead.     The  former  seemed 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


245 


to  be  at  the  editorial  helm  of  the  Clarion  { if 
the  mixed  metaphor  may  be  used),  with  j\lr. 
Hogshead  as  chief  officer.  John  was  a  good 
printer,  but  it  pains  me  to  have  to  acknowledge 
that  the  sole  effusion  of  his  pen  that  sticks  in 
my  memory  in  connection  with  the  last  days 
of  the  Clarion  was  to  the  effect  that  a  darky 
exclaimed  as  he  fled  from  an  angrj'  bull : 
'Millions  for  de  fence.' 

"It  may  be  said  without  egotism  that  the 
Express  grew  apace  with  the  growth  of  Be- 
atrice, and  that  it  was  always  generously  sup- 
ported by  the  people  who  constituted  the  rap- 
idly developing  community.  Of  these  there 
remain  with  me  after  the  elapsed  half-century 
no  memories  that  are  not  pleasant  to  dwell 
upon.  Among  them,  I  visualize  now  (using 
the  familiar  vernacular  of  that  early  period). 
Pap  Towle,  J.  B.  Weston,  John  and  Sam 
Smith,  Lige  Filley,  Judge  Parker,  Joe  Saun- 
ders, Gil  Loomis,  Dan  Freeman,  Uncle  Jimmy 
Boyd,  Volney  Whitmore,  Jack  Pethoud, 
Charley  and  Carl  Emery,  Joe  McDowell,  Nate 
Blakely,  N.  K.  Griggs,  Joe  Fletcher,  Colonel 
and  Captain  Presson,  Oliver  Townsend,  Dr. 
Reynolds,  George  Hurlburt,  Thacker,  Dan 
and  Alvin  Marsh,  Pemberton,  Willard,  George 
and  Charley  Dorsey,  Ford  Roper,  Dean,  Davis, 
et  al.  If  Tom  Shubert  had  been  able  to  read 
and  if  "Old  Man  Chrisman"  could  have  re- 
mained sober  long  enough  to  have  achieved 
the  same  accomplishment,  it  is  certain  they 
would  have  been  among  the  readers  of  the 
B-r  press. 

"Mentor  A.  Brown  came  into  the  office  in 
1873,  I  think,  first  as  a  most  competent  printer, 
and  later  as  one  of  my  successors  in  the  pro- 
prietorship of  the  paper.  His  successful  ca- 
reer as  a  newspaper  man  for  these  many 
years  is  generally  known  to  Beatrice  people. 
It  is  a  matter  of  no  little  personal  satisfaction 
that  during  all  these  forty  and  more  years,  his 
paper  —  first  the  Express  and  then  the  Kear- 
ney Hub  —  has  reached  my  home  each  publica- 
tion day,  with  his  compliments.  Another  early 
employe  on  the  Express  now  lives  and  thrives 
as  a  master  printer  in  Los  Angeles,  ten  miles 
from  my  own  residence  —  John  Burke.  Anent 
John,  let  this  digression,  if  you  will,  creep  into 


your  veracious  annals :  On  a  day  in  1884, 
while  I  was  publishing  the  Santa  Clara  Jour- 
nal in  this  state,  a  strange  specimen  of  the 
now  extinct  genus  homo  known  as  tramp 
printer,  walked  into  my  office  and  asked  for 
work.  Upon  close  examination  he  was  re- 
vealed as  Johnny  Burke.  A  day's  work  was 
followed  by  his  complete  disappearance,  and 
he  was  not  visible  to  me  again  until  three 
years  ago,  when  he  was  accidentally  'met  up 
with'  in  the  guise  of  a  portly,  fine  appearing 
foreman  in  the  office  of  one  of  the  Los  An- 
geles dailies. 

"C.  B.  Palmer  came  to  Beatrice  as  principal 
of  the  high  school  and  soon  thereafter  bought 
an  interest  in  the  Express,  chiefly  as  a  means 
of  printing  and  distributing  a  monthly  educa- 
tional periodical.  When  the  election  of  A.  S. 
Paddock  to  the  United  States  senate  took  place 
in  1875,  I  conceived  the  idea  of  going  to  Wash- 
ington and  helping  him  run  the  government, 
which  being  done,  the  Express  was  soon  there- 
after sold  to  L.  W.  Colby,  and  my  return  to 
Beatrice  was  indefinitely  postponed." 

Theodore  Colem.an  was  born  in  Roches- 
ter, New  York,  January  26,  1842,  of  New 
England    (Nantucket)    and    Dutch    lineage. 

The  family  removed  to  Dubuque,  Iowa,  and 
a  little  later  to  Galena,  Illinois,  the  lure  being 
the  lead  mines  of  those  districts.  The  death 
of  his  mother  at  Galena,  in  1846,  resulted  in 
a  return  of  the  remaining  members  of  the  fam- 
ily to  Rochester. 

From  Rochester  another  family  trek  was 
taken,  in  1849,  to  Toronto,  Canada,  where  Mr. 
Coleman's  father  had  bought  a  saw  mill  on 
the  shores  of  the  bay.  Theodore  attended  the 
Toronto  Model  School  on  King  street,  Toron- 
to (price  three  pence  per  week),  until  1852, 
assisting  meantime  in  digging  the  first  sod  of 
Canada's  first  railroad,  the  Grand  Trunk. 

Back  to  Rochester  in  1852,  where  the  enter- 
prising head  of  the  family  was,  in  1857-1858, 
financially  floored  by  building  Main  street 
bridge  across  the  Genessee  river  for  the  city 
and  failing  to  collect  under  his  $50,000  con- 
tract because  of  an  alleged  weak  abutment  — 
that  still,  after  a  lapse  of  sixty  years,  sturdily 
sustains  the  west  end  of  the  bridge.     Attend- 


246 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


ance  at  the  public  school  and  work  in  a  flour 
mill,  a  grocery  and  on  the  aforesaid  bridge 
filled  the  period  from  1852  to  1859,  when  an- 
other shift  of  residence  was  made,  this  time 
to  Cincinnati.  Thence  up  the  Mississippi  and 
Chippewa  rivers  to  Chippewa  Falls,  Wiscon- 
sin, went  the  family  in  1860.  There,  amidst 
somewhat  primeval  surroundings,  a  halt  was 
made  for  ten  years,  logging  and  saw-mill 
work  occupying  the  men  of  the  family.  Some 
sort  of  literary  work,  however,  had  always 
appealed  to  the  member  under  consideration, 
so  the  chance  to  go  into  the  office  of  the  Chip- 
pewa Valley  Union  as  printer  boy  was  eagerly 
seized.  Two  years  thereafter  Mr.  Coleman 
bought  the  plant,  and  published  the  little 
weekly  for  two  years,  selling  it  out  in  order 
to  piece  out  his  disappointed  school  education 
by  going  for  a  year  to  Williston  Seminary, 
East  Hampton,  Massachusetts,  and  for  another 
year  to  Antioch  College.  Upon  closing  this 
agreeable  chapter,  he  returned  to  Wisconsin 
and  helped  for  a  time  to  keep  the  saws  run- 
ning in  his  father's  mill.  Then  away  to  Be- 
atrice and  into  the  newspaper  work  again, 
soon  seeking  a  little  time  to  go  back  to  the 
northern  state  upon  matrimonial  intentions 
bent.  The  carrying  out  of  this  intention  was  a 
very  fortunate  achievement  for  him,  as  not 
a  few  of  the  present  population  of  Beatrice 
who  knew  Mrs.  Coleman  would  be  willing  to 
attest. 

The  thirty-nine  years'  residence  in  Califor- 
nia following  the  close  of  four  years  of  gov- 
ernment work  in  Washington,  has  been  large- 
ly taken  up  with  newspaper  publishing  and 
editing;  but  for  the  last  fifteen  years  Mr. 
Coleman  has  been  occupied  with  duties  of  a 
more  distinctly  business  character,  first  as  sec- 
retary and  business  manager  of  an  educational 
institution  in  Pasadena  —  Throop  Polytechnic 
Institute  and  College  —  and  later  as  similar 
officer  of  the  Pasadena  Hospital  Association. 
His  newspaper  work  in  California  was  as  pub- 
lisher of  the  Santa  Clara  Journal  and,  in  Pasa- 
dena, in  an  editorial  capacity  on  the  Pasadena 
Star  and  the  Pasadena  Ncivs.     His  family  of 


two  sons  and  two  daughters,  two  of  them 
natives  of  Beatrice,  are  married  and  all  but 
one  of  the  four  are  living  in  Pasadena.  The 
oldest  son  is  a  resident  of  Arizona. 

Mentor  A.  Brown,  who  succeded  Theo- 
dore Coleman  in  the  ownership  of  the  Be- 
atrice Express.  January  7,  1884,  has  writ- 
ten for  this  history  the  following  interesting 
reminiscent  narrative  of  his  connection  with 
the  paper: 

"My  knowledge  of  the  newspapers  of  Gage 
county  dates  from  the  20th  day  of  July,  1871. 
On  the  evening  of  July  19th  I  disembarked 
from  a  Kansas  and  Nebraska  stage  coach  after 
a  dusty  ride  from  Crete,  at  the  old  Pacific 
House,  of  which  George  Plurlburt  was  land- 
lord. The  following  morning  the  office  of  the 
Beatrice  Express  was  discovered  in  a  small 
one-room  frame  building  that  had  formerly 
housed  the  public  schools  of  the  pioneer  vil- 
lage, and  it  still  remained  in  the  center  of  a 
block  of  ground  with  no  other  building  nearer 
than  Ella  and  Fifth  streets.  This  intervening 
space  was  for  several  summers  afterward 
utilized  by  the  'fans'  as  a  baseball  park. 

"Theodore  Coleman  was  the  sole  proprietor 
and  editor  of  the  Express.  He  had  purchased 
the  plant  of  the  Clarion  the  previous  year  and 
changed  the  name  to  the  Express.  The  shop 
was  equipped  with  a  Washington  hand-press 
(which  served  until  the  fall  of  1883)  and  a 
limited  assortment  of  type  and  other  material. 
There  was  one  printer  in  the  shop,  a  big  six- 
foot  Mississippian  named  Hogshead,  with  the 
imposing  front  and  the  swing  of  the  old-time 
southern  colonel,  sandy  'complected'  and  ot 
surpassing  good  nature.  The  first  'devil'  who 
was  initiated  soon  afterward  was  'Johnnie' 
Burke,  who  is  still  plying  his  trade  and  a  mem- 
ber of  the  typographical  union  in  good  stand- 
ing at  Los  Angeles.  They  had  induced  the 
writer  to  quit  a  job  as  a  compositor  on  the 
Council  Bluffs  Nonpareil,  to  do  the  job  print- 
ing, set  the  'ads,'  etc.  The  proprietor,  Mr. 
Coleman,  was  not  a  skillful  printer,  but  was 
a  capable  newspaper  man,  a  versatile  and 
graceful   writer  and   also   a   capable  business 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


247 


man.  Charles  B.  Palmer,  principal  of  the 
Beatrice  schools,  also  a  practical  printer,  be- 
came associated  with  Mr.  Coleman  in  1871, 
and  Coleman  &  Palmer  were  the  publishers 
until  January  1,  1874,  when  the  'cub'  bought 
out  Mr.  Palmer  and  the  firm  name  was 
changed  to  Coleman  &  Brown.  This  partner- 
ship and  business  association  was  very  har- 
monious, but  was  interrupted  when  ]\Ir.  Cole- 
man accepted  a  position  in  Washington  as  sec- 
retar\f  to  Senator  Paddock,  and  by  the  sale  of 
his  interest  in  the  paper  to  Mr.  Colby,  in  1876. 
Soon  thereafter  the  junior  partner  also  sold 
his  interest  to  Mr.  Colby,  but  he  remained  in 
charge  and  conducted  the  business  until  the 
winter  of  1876-1877,  when  he  purchased  an 
interest  in  the  Fairbur)'  Gazette ;  but  in  the 
early  fall  of  1877  he  returned  to  Beatrice, 
having  purchased  Mr.  Colby's  entire  interest 
in  the  Express,  and  became  sole  proprietor. 
The  paper  grew  with  the  town,  and  in  1884 
the  Daily  Express  greeted  the  public.  In  the 
summer  of  1888  the  writer  disposed  of  his 
entire  interests  in  the  newspaper  and  printing 
plant  to  Kilpatrick  Brothers,  and  in  October 
of  that  year  he  removed  to  Kearney,  where  he 
established  the  Kearney  Daily  and  Weekly 
Hub. 

"The  first  rival  newspaper  of  the  Express 
was  the  Courier,  published  by  Coulee  and 
Ritchie,  about  1875.  Mr.  Ritchie  soon  retired 
and  the  paper  itself  lived  but  a  short  time,  its 
career  being  both  sensational  and  tempestu- 
ous. Mr.  Alex  W.  Conlee  was  one  of  the  old 
type  of  'personal'  journalists  and  a  very  inter- 
esting character.  At  a  later  date,  M.  B.  Davis, 
lawyer,  published  the  Beatrice  Republican. 
The  Beatrice  Democrat  was  established  about 
the  middle  of  the  '80s  by  George  P.  Marvin,  a 
vigorous,  aggressive  and  capable  newspaper 
man,  father  of  the  present  publisher  of  the  Be- 
atrice Sun,  which  later  succeeded  the  Demo- 
crat. 

"It  might  be  mentioned  that  Beatrice  was 
the  original  home  of  the  educational  journal, 
the  'Nebraska  Teacher,'  which  was  first  pub- 
lished by  Mr.  Palmer,  printed  in  the  ofiice  of 


the  Express  on  a  hand  press,  and  removed  to 
Lincoln  in  1877,  when  the  publisher  removed 
to  the  capital  to  take  charge  of  the  preparatory 
department  of  the  Nebraska  State  Univer- 
sity." 

Mentor  A.  Brown  was  born  February  19, 
1853,  at  Janesville,  Wisconsin.  His  mother 
died  in  his  infancy;  his  father  died  on  Sher- 
man's march  to  the  sea. 

Mr.  Brown  was  reborn  as  printer's  devil, 
office  of  Netv  Era,  Jefferson,  Iowa,  June  25. 
1866.  "Swarmed"  July  17,  1870,  and  spent  a 
year  in  Nebraska  City,  Omaha,  and  Council 
Bluffs.  Found  himself  in  Beatrice,  Nebraska, 
July  19,  1871.  Connected  with  Beatrice  Ex- 
press as  printer,  partner,  publisher,  and  edi- 
tor, until  October,  1888.  Nearly  fifty-two 
years'  service  in  "print-shop."  He  married 
and  has  three  sons  and  two  daughters  and 
eleven  grandchildren  living;  wife  Sophie  G., 
daughter  of  the  late  Captain  C.  J.  Schmidt,  of 
Beatrice. 

The  Republican,  of  which  ]\Ir.  Brown  speaks 
in  his  reminiscent  article,  was  founded  about 
1886  by  J.  W.  Hill,  M.  B.  Davis  later  acquir- 
ing a  half -interest  in  it.  It  was  conducted  sev- 
eral years  by  them  as  partners.  Mr.  Davis  was 
a  vigorous  writer  and  secured  for  the  paper 
a  good  circulation.  It  was  a  weekly  newspaper 
and  Republican  in  politics.  About  the  first  of 
May,  1892,  Davis  sold  his  half -interest  in  the 
paper  to  William  L.  Knotts  and  it  was  con- 
ducted by  Hill  and  Knotts  a  short  time,  when 
Krtotts  acquired  full  ownership.  About  1900 
he  sold  it  to  Winfield  Scott  Tilton,  a  practical 
newspaper  man  from  Kansas.  The  name  of 
the  paper  was  changed  to  the  Beatrice  Times 
and  was  conducted  by  him  very  ably  till  about 
1909,  when  he  abandoned  the  field  and  re- 
moved his  press  and  other  newspaper  ma- 
terials to  Oklahoma. 

More  than  twenty-one  years  ago  Emil 
Schultz  established  in  Beatrice  a  German-lan- 
guage newspaper  called  the  Nebraska  Post, 
and  this  has  had  a  continuous  existence  till 
July  1,  1918,  when,  out  of  deference  to  pub- 


248 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


lie  opinion,  Mr.  Schultz  with  commendable 
patriotism  suspended  the  publication  of  his 
paper  till  the  close  of  the  great  world-war  now 
raging   with  the  utmost   fury   in   all   western 


Europe —  a  war  in  which  our  own  government 
has  plunged  with  the  maximum  of  energy  and 
enthusiasm,  in  defense  of  democratic  institu- 
tions. 


Court  StRnET,  Beatrice,  in 


CHAPTER  XXIII 


BLUE  SPRINGS 


The  historic  town  of  Bkie  Springs  dates  its 
origin  from  the  year  1857,  at  ahnost  the  iden- 
tical moment  that  Beatrice  was  founded.  In 
July  of  that  year  James  H.  Johnson,  Jacob 
Poff,  Martin  Elliott  and  his  sons  Stephen, 
William,  and  Henry  Elliott,  with  their  fami- 
lies, settled  on  the  public  domain  at  Blue 
Springs  and  its  immediate  vicinity,  and,  in 
conjunction  with  the  government  surveyors 
who  were  then  engaged  in  surveying  the  pub- 
lic lands  in  that  vicinity,  they  projected  a 
townsite  company  and  marked  out  into  town 
lots  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land, 
comprising,  with  -other  lands,  the  present 
townsite  of  Blue  Springs.  But  there  was  lit- 
tle inducement  at  that  early  day  for  engaging 
in  such  enterprises,  and  this  company  did  not 
even  go  to  the  trouble  of  acquiring  title  to  the 
lands  they  had  selected  for  a  townsite.  The 
project  was  finally  abandoned,  and  Reuyl 
Noyes  and  Joseph  Chambers,  returning  from 
a  gold-mining  venture  at  Pike's  Peak,  took  it 
up.  They  were  enterprising  young  men  and 
undertook  to  develop  Blue  Springs  into  an 
attractive  frontier  town.  Amongst  other 
things  they  attempted  to  divert  travel  from 
the  Oregon  Trail  at  Ash  Point,  near  Rich- 
mond, in  Nemaha  county,  Kansas,  to  Blue 
Springs  and  westward  about  twelve  miles  to 
the  Caldwell  ranch,  on  the  old  trail.  It  must 
be  remembered  that  the  Oregon  Trail  was  to 
Nebraska  territory  in  that  early  day  what  a 
trunk  line  of  railway  would  be  now  to  an 
undeveloped  section  of  country.  The  princi- 
pal crossing  of  the  Big  Blue  river  was  at 
jMarysville,  in  a  direction  south  of  west  from 
Ash  Point.  From  Marysville  the  trail  took  a 
northwesterly  course  across  the  southern  part 
of  the   Otoe   Indian  reservation,  to  the  Rock 


Creek  stage  station;  part  way,  near  the  head 
waters  of  Indian  creek,  was  Caldwell  ranch. 
By  diverting  the  travel  by  way  of  Richmond 
and  Blue  Springs  the  distance  was  consider- 
ably less.  These  enterprising  proprietors  of 
Blue  Springs  and  their  friends,  having  first, 
in  1859,  borrowed  the  necessary  money  for 
that  purpose  from  Robert  A.  Wilson,  acquired 
by  purchase  the  tract  of  ground  where  Blue 
Springs  is  located,  in  section  17  of  that  town- 
ship, giving  him  a  mortgage  on  it.  They 
built  a  double,  story-and-a-half,  hewed-log 
ranch  house  on  the  northeast  corner  of  block 
5  of  the  original  town  of  Blue  S'prings,  at  the 
intersection  of  Hazen  and  Main  streets.  They 
also  built  a  toll  bridge  across  the  Big  Blue 
river,  and  drew  a  furrow  from  the  point  of 
departure  on  the  old  trail,  past  Richmond,  to 
Blue  Springs  and  on  to  the  Caldwell  ranch. 
But  Seneca,  the  rival  of  Richmond,  defeated 
this  project  by  diverting  travel  from  the  old 
trail  to  herself.  Mrs.  Rebecca  Woodward, 
who  in  the  spring  of  1859  was  living  at 
Richmond,  sold  her  possessions  there,  and  in 
anticipation  of  the  success  of  the  movement 
to  divert  travel  to  Blue  Springs,  moved  to 
that  place,  bought  the  Noyes  &  Chambers 
building  and  immediately  became  a  factor  in 
the  development  of  the  village.  There  were 
at  that  time  three  other  log  cabins  built  under 
the  bluffs  along  Spring  creek-  This  was 
really  the  origin  of  Blue  Springs.  Mrs. 
Woodward  and  a  number  of  others  had  bought 
lots  in  the  town  as  originally  surveyed,  but 
on  account  of  the  Wilson  mortgage,  title  could 
not  be  made.  Chambers  and  Noyes  finally- 
abandoned  their  townsite  interests  and  Wilson 
succeeded  to  their  rights.  In  1861  in  order 
to  quiet  the  demands  of  those  who  had  pur- 

249 


250 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


chased  lots  of  Chambers  and  Noyes,  Wilson 
caused  the  original  townsite  of  Blue  Springs 
to  be  surveyed  and  platted  by  Solon  M.  Hazen, 
and  placed  the  plat  thereof  on  record  in  the 
ofifice  of  the  register  of  deeds  on  the  7th  day 
of  June,  1861,  whereupon  he  deeded  to  the 
claimants  lots  in  the  townsite  as  platted  and 
recorded.  Several  additions  have  been  made 
to  Blue  Springs,  the  principal  ones  being  Hol- 
lister's,  Blackman's,  Casebeer's,  and  Hill's  ad- 
ditions. The  city,  with  its  additions,  now  oc- 
cupies a  considerable  portion  of  sections  17 
and  18  of  Blue  Springs  township. 

The  growth  of  Blue  Springs  was  slow.  In 
1863,  when  this  writer,  a  youth  of  thirteen 
summers,  attended  school  there,  the  families 
living  in  the  village  and  its  immediate  vicinity 
were  those  of  William  B.  Tyler,  Dr.  Levi 
Anthony,  Martjia  Johnson  (widow  of  James 
H.  Johnson,  a  first  settler  at  Blue  Springs), 
Robert  A.  Wilson,  Lynus  Knight,  James  Lott, 
Thomas  Armstrong,  King  Fisher,  and  Herbert 
Viney.  About  1863  Solon  M.  Hazen  opened 
a  general  store  at  the  corner  of  Scott  and 
Hazen  streets,  and  in  1868  William  Tichnor, 
at  that  time  one  of  the  county  commissioners 
of  Gage  county,  built  a  dam  across  the  Big 
Blue  river  and  erected  a  fine  mill,  including  a 
saw,  lath  and  shingle  mill.  This  enterprise 
imparted  to  Blue  Springs  the  character  of  a 
business  center,  since  people  were  compelled 
to  have  their  grists  ground,  their  logs  sawed, 
and  their  laths  and  shingles  riven.  Thereaf- 
ter the  village  grew  apace,  and  about  1872 
there  was  quite  an  influx  of  immigrants  from 
the  east  to  Blue  Springs, — the  Casebeers,  Gam- 
bees,  Wonders,  Harpsters,  Shocks,  and 
others,  mostly  from  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio. 
The  territory  tributary  to  Blue  Springs  was 
well  populated  by  1870,  and  the  village  had 
grown  rapidly  during  the  closing  years  of  that 
decade,  the  federal  census  of  1870  showing 
a  population  of  354.  In  1880  the  population 
had  increased  to  513;  in  1890,  according  to 
the  census,  there  were  963  inhabitants ;  in 
1900  there  were  786  and  in  1910  the  number 
was  712.  While  these  figures  show  a  decrease 
in  population  from  1890  to  1900,  and  a  small 
decrease  between   1900  and   1910,  it  must  be 


borne  in  mind  that  the  census  of  1890,  as  far 
as  population  is  concerned,  was  utterly  unre- 
liable, and  there  were  probably  no  more  in- 
habitants in  the  city  in  1900  than  in  1910;  the 
strong  probability  is  that  there  was  no  actual 
loss  in  population  after  the  year  1900.  Since 
the  last  census  Blue  Springs  has  grown  ma- 
terially and  an  enumeration  would  probably 
show  a  population  of  nearly  a  thousand  souls. 
Blue  Springs  always,  even  in  territorial 
days,  maintained  a  most  enviable  reputation 
on  account  of  its  attitude  on  all  moral  ques- 
tions, and  the  worth  of  character  of  its  citi- 
zenry. Crime  is  almost  unknown  in  Blue 
Springs.  There  has  never  been  a  murder 
committed  in  that  community,  and  prosecu- 
tion for  even  minor  offenses  is  almost  un- 
known. The  character  of  the  citizens  is  well 
illustrated  by  the  attitude  of  the  community 
on  the  question  of  the  licensed  saloon,  when 
that  was  a  disturbing  factor  in  municipal  af- 
fairs throughout  the  state.  It  never  looked 
with  favor  upon  the  saloons,  although  yield- 
ing occasionally  to  the  pressure  brought  for 
them,  but  in  1898  this  arch  enemy  of  good 
morals  and  virtuous  manhood  was  by  the 
voters  of  Blue  Springs  banished  forever  from 
the  community.  This  writer  testifies  with  the 
keenest  satisfaction  to  the  high  moral  tone 
that  has  always  characterized  the  beautiful  city 
of  Blue  Springs. 

The  first  bridge  erected  across  the  Big  Blue 
river  in  Gage  county  was  the  Noyes-Cham- 
bers  toll  bridge,  in  the  spring  of  1859,  which 
has  already  been  mentioned.  As  the  travel 
on  the  proposed  cut-off  from  Ash  Point  to 
Blue  Springs  and  beyond  did  not  materialize, 
the  proprietors,  in  the  autumn  of  1859,  sold 
their  bridge  to  Samuel  Shaw,  and  the  spring 
freshet  of  1861  carried  it  away, —  and  nearly 
carried  Mr.  Shaw  away  with  it.  It  was  not 
rebuilt,  nor  was  there  any  effort  made  to 
erect  a  bridge  at  Blue  Springs  until  about  the 
year  1870,  when  Gage  county  placed  an  iron 
bridge  across  the  river  at  the  point  where  the 
present  steel  bridge  is  found.  The  old  bridge 
was  moved  to  Beatrice  and  erected  across 
the  Big  Blue  river  at  the  Scott  street  crossing. 
The  flood  of  1903  dropped  it  into  the  water 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


25  i 


and  it  was  finally  removed  and  rebuilt  across 
the  river  a  mile  north  of  Beatrice,  near  the 
Zimmerman  Springs. 

About  the  year  1880  John  E.  Smith,  Sam- 
uel C.  Smith  and  Joel  C.  Williams  established 
the  Bank  of  Blue  Springs-  Williams  after- 
ward acquired  the  stock  of  the  Smith  brothers 
and  successfully  conducted  the  bank  for  a 
number  of  years,  but  he  was  unable  to  with- 
stand   the    difficulties    of    the    great    panic    of 


Sr.,  acquired  by  purchase  the  title  to  the  Blue 
Springs  mill  and  dam.  This  pioneer  milling 
property  was  thoroughly  overhauled  by  the 
new  proprietors  and,  at  great  expense,  one 
of  the  best  mills  in  the  county  was  evolved. 
Its  present  owners  are  William  C.  Black,  Sr., 
and  the  estate  of  Cochran  S.  Black.  This 
valuable  property  is  managed  by  R.  W. 
Kanagy. 

In  addition  to  the  business  enterprises  here 


The  Bridge  and  Mill  at  Blue  Springs 
Looking  up  the  Big  Blue  river  from  the  south 


1893-1898,  and  finally,  about  1895,  closed  the 
doors  of  the  bank  and  liquidated  its  obliga- 
tions as  far  as  his  shrunken  assets  would  per- 
mit. About  the  year  1890  the  Blue  Springs 
State  Bank  was  founded  by  O.  N.  Wheelock 
and  others,  which  several  years  later  passed 
into  other  hands.  The  present  stockholders 
of  this  bank  are  Wm.  C.  Black,  Jr.,  and  Ralph 
Clemmons,  of  Beatrice:  and  T.  J.  Patton,  O. 

E.  Bishop  and  George  F.  Harris,  of  Blue 
Springs.  Mr.  Black  is  president  of  the  board 
of  directors  and  Mr.  Patton  is  cashier. 

A   number  of  years   ago  the  late   Cochran 

F.  Black  and  his  brother,  William  C.  Black, 


mentioned,  Blue  Springs  has  two  grain  ele- 
vators, a  good  lumber  and  coal  yard,  and 
nearly  every  retail  business  common  to  cities 
of  its  class  in  Nebraska  is  represented. 

In  1896  M.  A.  Farr  began  the  publication 
of  the  Blue  Springs  Weekly  Motor,  and  from 
that  day  to  this  the  city  has  possessed  a 
good  newspaper.  The  Motor  was  succeeded 
by  the  Sentinel,  a  paper  established,  owned, 
and  edited  by  the  late  James  H.  Casebeer, 
and  now  conducted  by  his  son  Clarence  Case- 
beer.  It  has  always  been  a  remarkably  clean 
and  reliable  newspaper  and  has  rendered  in- 
valuable service  to  its  readers  as  a  dissemina- 


252 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


tor    of    information    and    a    pillar    of    public 
morals. 

The  first  school  in  Blue  Springs  was  a  sub- 
scription school  (in  1861)  taught  by  Miss 
Lucy  Johnson,  a  daughter  of  Rankin  Johnson, 
one  of  the  early  settlers  of  that  locality.  Fol- 
lowing this,  ]\Irs.  Maria  Sargent,  wife  of  J. 
T.  Sargent,  taught  a  subscription  school  in 
her  own  house,  a  log  cabin,  and  had  twelve 
pupils.  In  1862  Miss  Wealthy  Tinkham,  af- 
terward   Mrs.    Joseph    Hollingsworth,   taught 


As  early  as  1859  the  Methodists  organized 
a  church  in  Blue  Springs,  with  John  Foster 
as  its  pastor.  This  organization  was  fostered 
and  sustained  by  the  pioneers  to  a  man.  In 
1879  the  citizens  assisted  in  erecting  a  stone 
church  building  for  the  Methodists,  a  move- 
ment contemporary  with  the  building  of  the 
old  stone  church  in  Beatrice.  Besides  the 
Methodist  church,  the  Presbyterians,  the 
Evangelical  Association,  the  United  Brethren, 
and    the   Christian   churches   are   represented, 


Blue  Springs  High  School 


the  first  public  school  in  Blue  Springs,  and  in 
1863  her  sister  Margaret ,  afterward  :\Irs. 
Nathan  Blakely,  taught  the  second  public 
school,  with  an  enrollment  of  sixteen  pupils. 
During  the  Indian  troubles  on  the  Little  Blue 
river  and  farther  west,  1864,  1865,  1866,  Httle 
attention  seems  to  have  been  given  to  educa- 
tion, but  in  1869  a  small  school-house  was 
erected  and  thereafter  a  school  was  regularly 
taught  in  Blue  Springs.  The  district  now 
possesses  a  fine,  two-story,  brick  school-house, 
containing  eight  rooms,  and  employs  eight 
teachers,  with  an  enrollment  of  more  than 
two  hundred  pu])ils. 


all  owning  substantial  edifices  for  the  worship 
of  Almighty  God. 

Both  the  Masonic  fraternity  and  the  Inde- 
pendent Order  of  Odd  Fellows  have  very 
strong  organizations  in  Blue  Springs,  the  lat- 
ter having  a  membership  of  upwards  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty.  A  number  of  the  bene- 
ficiary orders  also  are  represented  in  Blue 
Springs. 

During  the  Civil  war,  in  1863,  the  village 
of  Blue  Springs  and  its  tributary  territory 
contributed  a  number  of  volunteers  to  the 
Nebraska  Second  Regiment  of  \'olunters. 
The    regiment    was    part    of    General    Sully's 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


253 


command,  dispatched  by  the  government  to 
put  down  the  Indian  uprising  in  ]\Iinnesota. 
Some  of  the  volunteers  from  Bkie  Springs 
were  Francis  M.  Graham,  George  Dessert, 
H.  S.  Barnum,  and  Edward  Armstrong. 

A  government  postoffice  was  established  in 
Blue  Springs  about  1859,  with  William  B. 
Tyler,  postmaster.  The  mails  were  at  first 
carried  on  horseback  from  Nebraska  City  and 
Brownville,  and  for  many  years  the  postoffice 
at  Blue  Springs  served  a  large  portion  of 
southern  Gage  county  with  mail  facilities. 

Blue  Springs  is  elecrtrically  lighted  with  cur- 
rent from  the  Holmesville  plant.  It  owns  its 
own  waterworks  and  by  an  arrangement  with 
Wymore  its  springs  of  pure  water  are  utilized 
for  both  cities  at  the  expense  of  Wymore. 

The  isolation  of  Blue  Springs  was  broken 
in  1879  by  the  construction  of  the  Union 
Pacific  line  of  railway  from  ]Marysville  to 
Beatrice,  as  well  as  by  the  extension  of  the 
Burlington  line  from  Beatrice  to  the  main 
southern  line  of  the  company.  At  one  time, 
in  1880,  it  seemed  as  if  Blue  Springs  might 
become  the  junction  point,  but  by  over-con- 
fidence and  mismanagement  she  allowed  this 
splendid  opportunity  to  slip  from  her  grasp. 
At  first  the  extension  of  the  Beatrice  line  was 
more  in  the  nature  of  a  disaster  than  a  bene- 
fit. The  Burlington  road,  for  reasons  of  its 
own,  refused  to  stop  its  trains  or  build  a  depot, 
or  to  recognize  in  any  way  the  existence  of 
Blue  Springs,  but  rushed  across  the  corpora- 
tion, regardless  of  its  public  duty  as  a  common 
carrier,  to  Wymore,  which  with  this  favor- 
itism was  growing  by  leaps  and  bounds.  But 
in  1885  P.  W.  Mattoon,  a  citizen  of  Blue 
Springs,  brought  in  the  supreme  court  of  Ne- 
braska a  proceeding  in  mandamus,  to  compel 
the  road  to  afford  Blue  Springs  railway  facil- 
ities. The  application  was  sustained,  and 
chereafter  the  railroad  grudgingly  complied 
ivith  the  mandate  of  the  court. 

Blue  Springs,  though  missing  this  great  op- 
portunity, has  remained  beautiful  and  attrac- 
tive, as  she  was  in  the  beginning.  No  "homier"' 
place  exists  in  all  the  boundaries  of  the  state. 

Amongst  the  sturdy  pioneers  who  in  her 
infancy   guided   the   destiny  of   Blue   Springs 


were  William  B.  Tyler,  Rebecca  Woodward, 
Robert  A.  Wilson,  Solon  M.  Hazen,  and  Dr. 
Levi  Anthony. 

Mr.  Tyler  was  familiarly  and  affectionately 
known  as  "Pap"  Tyler.  He  was  of  Holland 
extraction  and  in  many  ways  possessed  the 
shrewdness  which  characterized  the  Holland- 
er. He  was  born  in  York  county,  Pennsyl- 
vania, November  16,  1801,  at  the  very  thresh- 
hold  of  the  nineteenth  century.  In  early  life  he 
married  Sarah  Wilt,  of  his  native  village.  In 
1842  she  passed  away,  leaving  a  family  of 
four  children.  After  the  death  of  his  wife 
Mr.  Tyler,  in  1843,  enlisted  in  the  First  United 
States  Regiment  of  Dragoons  and  he  served 
through  the  Mexican  war.  His  first  term  of 
enlistment  expiring  in  1848,  he  reenlisted  and 
remained  in  the  service  of  the  United  States 
continuously  until  1854,  when  he  was  honor- 
ably discharged,  at  Fort  Leavenworth,  Kansas. 
He  at  once  entered  the  service  of  the  govern- 
ment in  a  clerical  position  in  the  quarter- 
master's department,  where  he  remained  until 
1859.  He  then  started  to  Salt  Lake  City  to 
take  a  similar  position  under  the  government, 
but  changed  his  mind  and,  in  March  of  that 
year,  settled  at  Blue  Springs.  He  purchased 
a  quarter-section  of  land  a  mile  or  so  up  the 
river  from  the  village.  In  1860  Mr.  Tyler 
married  Rebecca  Woodward,  who,  when  this 
writer  with  his  parents  crossed  the  Big- 
Nemaha  at  old  Richmond,  Nemaha  county, 
Nebraska,  on  their  way  to  Gage  county,  Ne- 
braska, kept  the  ranch  at  Richmond  which  was 
intended  to  be  a  station  on  the  Blue  Springs 
cut-off  from  the  Oregon  Trail,  and  who  short- 
ly afterward  sold  out  at  Richmond  and  bought 
the  Noyes-Chambers  ranch  house  in  Blue 
Springs  and  came  there  to  live.  At  the  time 
of  this  marriage  Mrs.  Woodward  was  in  pos- 
session of  considerable  means  for  those  days, 
and  she  was  probably  the  wealthiest  person  in 
Gage  county  for  several  years.  Several  of 
the  first  instruments  recorded  in  our  county 
represent  business  transactions  in  her  name. 
At  the  time  of  this  marriage  she  was  about 
forty  years  of  age  and  an  amiable,  accomp- 
lished, and  very  capable  woman.  She  passed 
away  in  1870,  mourned  by  all  who  knew  her. 


254 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


William  B.  Tyler  was  county  commissioner 
of  Gage  county  during  the  years  of  1862,  1863, 
18(>+,  1865,  1866,  and  in  1864,  with  Fordyce 
Roper  and  F.  H.  Dobbs  as  associate  commis- 
sioners, adjusted  the  affairs  of  old  Clay  coun- 
ty after  its  partition  between  Lancaster  and 
Gage.  From  1860  until  his  death,  in  1889,  he 
was  a  judge  at  every  annual  election  in  the 
county  and   also   the   messenger  who  carried 


his  father  died  while  yet  a  young  man.  In 
1856  Mr.  Wilson  came  to  Omaha  and  later 
he  went  to  Nebraska  City,  where  he  met  Judge 
John  Fitch  Kinney,  and,  being  a  practical  mill- 
wright and  miller,  he  was  about  to  engage 
with  Judge  Kinney  to  come  to  Beatrice  and 
set  up  and  take  charge  of  the  steam  saw  mill 
owned  by  the  Beatrice  Townsite  Company.  He 
was  deterred  from  entering  into  this  arrange- 


Mrs.  Rebecca  Tyler 


the  returns  of  Blue  Springs  to  the  county 
clerk. 

He  was  a  kindly,  genial  soul,  and  to  the 
last  moment  of  his  life  was  one  of  the  most 
public-spirited  citizens  of  Blue  Springs.  As 
a  youth  the  writer  spent  nearly  an  entire  year 
under  the  roof  of  William  and  Rebecca  Tyler 
as  a  member  of  their  household,  and  he  de- 
sires here  to  testify  his  appreciation  of  their 
uniform  kindness  and  goodness  of  heart. 

Robert  A.  Wilson  was  born  in  Decatur, 
Indiana,  on  the  4th  day  of  February,  1833. 
In    1848   his   parents   moved   to   Iowa,   where 


ment,  and  probably  from  becoming  a  citizen  of 
Beatrice,  by  the  remark  of  some  friend  to  the 
effect  that  the  members  of  the  Beatrice  Town- 
site  Company  were  all  college-bred  men  and 
knew  nothing  about  saw  mills.  Mr.  Wilson 
and  his  brother  William  did,  however,  about 
that  time  accept  from  the  United  States  gov- 
ernment service  which  took  them  to  the  Otoe 
and  ]\Iissouri  Indian  Agency,  where  they 
erected  the  government  steam  saw  and  grist 
mill  and  ran  the  same  until  1860.  In  the 
autumn  of  that  year  he  returned  to  Iowa  and 
married   Miss   Amelia  Darner.     Prior   to   his 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


255 


leaving  the  territory  he  had  loaned  Joseph 
Chambers  five  hundred  dollars  with  which  to 
purchase  the  tract  of  land  where  Blue  Springs 
now  stands,  and  had  taken  a  mortgage  upon 
the  prospective  townsite  to  secure  this  in- 
debtedness. Learning  that  Chambers  and  his 
partner  Noyes  had  disposed  of  their  inter- 
ests in  Blue  Springs  and  abandoned  the  pro- 
jected townsite,  Mr.  Wilson  returned  to  Ne- 


years  ago  he  retired  from  his  farm  and  he  is 
spending  the  remnant  of  his  life  in  the  beauti- 
ful little  city  of  which  he  was  the  founder 
nearly  three  score  years  ago.  He  is  slowly 
recovering  from  the  shock  of  a  serious  sur- 
gical operation  performed  nearly  a  vear  ago, 
and  he  and  his  aged  wife  are  the  objects  cf 
the  veneration  and  love  of  the  entire  com- 
munity. 


Robert  A.  Wilson 
Founder  and  pioneer   resident  of   Blue   Springs 


Mrs.  Amelia  Wilson 
Wife  of  Robert  A.  Wilson 


braska  territory  and  settled  in  Blue  Springs 
in  1861.  Shortly  after  his  arrival  he  procured 
the  services  of  Solon  M.  Hazen  and  surveyed 
and  platted  the  original  town  of  Blue  Springs. 
From  1865  to  1868  he  was  employed  in  thf^ 
mill  of  Perry  Hutchison,  at  Marysville,  Kan- 
sas. During  the  latter  year  he  was  interest- 
ed with  William  Tichnor  in  building  the  dam 
and  mill  at  Blue  Springs. 

For  many  years  Mr.  Wilson  led  the  sinijile 
life  of  a  farmer,  on  a  fine  tract  of  land  ad- 
joining the  townsite  of  Blue  Springs.       Some 


Robert  A.  Wilson  is  a  man  of  heroic  stat- 
ure, standing  considerably  over  six  feet,  and 
is  large  of  frame.  Throughout  his  long 
career,  until  recently,  he  was  a  man  of  great 
physical  strength.  He  is  of  a  genial,  kindly, 
humorous  nature,  a  good  friend,  an  interest- 
ing companion,  loyal  and  true-hearted. 

Solon  M.  Hazen  was  born  in  Denmark,  New 
York,  August  11,  1829.  He  belonged  to  that 
class  of  patriotic  young  men  who  came  from 
the  eastern  states  in  the  year  1857  as  followers 
of  John  Brown  in  his  efiforts  to  save  Kansas 


256 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


from  the  curse  of  human  slavery.  After 
spending  the  winter  of  1857-1858  in  Brown 
county,  Kansas,  he,  in  1858,  with  George  W. 
Stark,  another  anti-slavery  enthusiast,  came 
to  the  new  territory  of  Nebraska  and  settled 
on  land  in  Rockford  township,  this  county. 
He  built  a  log  cabin  on  his  land,  broke  out 
several  acres  of  fertile  Mud  creek  bottom, 
and  remained  here  until  after  the  presidential 
election  of    I860,   when   he   returned   to    New 


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Solon  M.  Hazen 
Pioneer  resident  of  Blue  Springs 

York  and  resumed  his  occupation  as  a  school 
teacher.  He  also  purchased  a  newspaper,  the 
Journal-Republican,  at  Lowville,  New  York, 
which  he  conducted  for  three  years.  Later 
he  purchased  the  Watertown  Herald,  at  Wa- 
tertown.  New  York,  and  he  continued  as  its 
publisher  for  several  years.  On  the  24th  day 
of  December,  1863,  he  married  Miss  Priscilla 
Ann  Vary,  and  in  1868  he  returned  to  Ne- 
braska, which  was  then  a  state,  and  settled 
permanently  in  Blue  Springs.  Shortly  after 
his  return  he  opened  a  general  store  at  the 
corner  of  Hazen  and  Scott  streets,  and  he  con- 
tinued for  manv  vears  in  business  in   that  lo- 


cation. In  1861  he  surveyed  for  Robert  A. 
Wilson  the  original  townsite  of  Blue  Springs, 
and  later  he  was  elected  one  of  the  county 
commissioners  of  Gage  county,  an  office 
which  he  held  for  some  years.  In  1884  he 
was  elected  to  represent  the  people  of  Gage 
county  in  the  state  legislature,  where,  as  a 
member  of  several  important  committees,  he 
rendered  distinguished  services  to  his  consti- 
tuents and  to  the  people  of  the  state.  He 
served  his  community  as  justice  of  the  peace, 
postmaster,  member  of  the  school  board, 
member  of  the  council  and  in  other  capacities. 

Mr.  Hazen  was  a  tall,  distinguished-looking 
man,  slow  of  speech,  deliberate  in  judgment,- 
and  very  considerate  of  the  rights  and  feel- 
ings of  others.  There  were  no  better  men 
than  Solon  M.  Hazen.  This  historian  has 
the  kindest  of  recollections  of  this  good,  ben- 
evolent man.  When  still  a  mere  child  and 
at  a  time  when  there  were  no  schools  acces- 
sible to  him  the  writer  got  his  first  lessons 
in  numbers  by  the  flickering  light  of  a  chip 
fire,  in  the  open  air,  from  Solon  M.  Hazen. 

Dr.  Levi  Anthony  was,  next  to  Dr.  Herman 
M.  Reynolds,  the  earliest  practising  physician 
of  reputation  and  standing  in  Gage  county. 
He  was  born  at  Washington,  Jackson  county, 
(/^hio,  November  27,  1835,  but  from  October 
14,  1846,  to  the  fall  of  1849  he  lived  in  Jack- 
son county,  Missouri.  He  then  moved  to 
Mills  county,  Iowa,  and  took  up  the  study 
of  medicine  under  Dr.  Barrett,  and  he  entered 
upon  the  practice  of  his  profession  in  Iowa. 
In  1859  he  moved  to  Peru,  Nebraska,  and, 
forming  a  partnership  with  Dr.  Perry  at  that 
western  outpost  of  civilization,  he  practiced 
his  profession  there  until  1861.  While  at  Peru 
he  met  Robert  A.  Wilson,  of  Blue  Springs, 
who  pursuaded  him  to  change  his  location  and 
oflfered  to  deed,  and  did  afterward  deed,  to 
him  forty  acres  of  land  in  the  vicinity  of  Blue 
Springs  on  the  condition  of  his  making  such 
change.  No  time  was  lost  by  the  Doctor, 
who  was  an  active,  decisive  man,  in  reaching 
his  new  location.  Here  he  soon  became  wide- 
ly known  as  a  physician  of  skill  and  ability. 
His  practice  extended  over  a  large  portion 
of  Gage  county  and  several  of  the  surround- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


257 


iiig  counties.  He  made  his  professional  calls 
mostly  on  horseback,  carrying  his  medicine- 
cliest  in  large,  double,  leather  saddle-bags, 
strapped  to  the  back  of  his  saddle.  He  was 
a  most  familiar  fignire  and  on  account  of  his 


title  to  this  land  and  made  it  his  home  for 
several  years.  When  the  village  of  Wilber 
was  laid  out  as  a  town,  in  1872,  by  Charles 
D.  Wilber  and  Jacob  Mooney,  Dr.  James 
Paddock,  a  young  physician,  came  there  seek- 


Dr.  Levi  Anthony 


genial  nature  was  a  welcome  visitor  in  the 
homes  of  the  early  settlers.  In  1867  he 
moved  to  Beatrice  and  engaged  successfully 
in  the  practice  of  his  profession  there,  but  in 
the  latter  part  of  1869  the  Doctor  located  on 
a  homestead  three-quarters  of  a  mile  south 
of   the  present  city   of   Wilber.     He  acquired 


ing  a  location.  Finding  Dr.  Anthony  already 
on  the  field,  he  sought  and  was  able  to  form 
a  copartnership  with  him,  and  for  many  years 
these  two  pioneer  physicians  practiced  their 
profession  together  at  Wilber,  Dr.  Anthony 
living  upon  his  homestead  until  age  admon- 
ished him  that  the  period  for  rest  had  come. 


258 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


He  then  purchased  a  residence  in  Wilber  and 
lived  there  till  December  4,  1891,  when  he 
passed  away,  at  the  age  of  sixty-six  years. 

In  the  autumn  of  1864,  following  the  Indian 
outbreak  on  the  Little  Blue  river,  in  August 
of  that  year,  a  company  of  militia  was  raised, 
consisting  of  about  one  hundred  men  and 
composed  exclusively  of  residents  of  Gage 
and    Pawnee    counties.        Dr.    Anthony    was 


this  marriage  twelve  children  were  born, 
Nancy  Elizabeth,  Hannah  Retta,  Mary  A., 
Isaac  T.,  Martha  E.,  Eliza  J.,  Sarah  C,  Orpha 
J.,  Eydia  A.,  John  F.,  George  S.,  and  Leon  J. 
His  wife  and  two  of  these  children  died  be- 
fore his  own  death  occurred. 

In  his  early  life  Dr.  Anthony  was  an  active 
member  of  the  Methodist  church.  He  later 
became   affiliated  with   the   Church   of   Latter 


Francis  M.  Graham 


Mrs.  Hannah  Retta  Gr.\ham 


active  in  this  movement  and  was  elected  sec- 
ond lieutenant  of  the  company,  which  went 
into  service  in  September,  1864.  It  was  sta- 
tioned at  Bufifalo  ranch,  on  the  Little  Blue 
river,  at  the  foot  of  Nine  Mile  Ridge,  on  the 
old  Oregon  Trail,  until  Feburary,  1865,  when 
it  was  mustered  out  of  service.  The  com- 
pany performed  guard  duty  along  the  old 
trail,  protecting  the  overland  stage,  emigrants 
and  commercial  travel  each  way  from  its 
stockade  for  a  distance  of  forty  miles. 

When    a    very    young    man    Dr.    Anthony 
married  Meriba  Troth,  October  4,  1846.     To 


Day  Saints,  at  Wilber.  Dr.  Anthony  was 
below  average  stature,  was  endowed  with  ani 
alert  mind,  was  genial,  witty  and  possessed, 
other  qualities  which  made  him  a  pleasant 
companion  and  a  welcome  visitor  every- 
where. 

Francis  M.  Graham  has  been  so  long  a 
resident  of  Blue  Springs  that  few  are  living 
now  who  remember  the  time  when  he  was  not 
a  citizen  of  that  place.  Some  time  prior  to 
his  arrival  at  Blue  Springs,  he  had  made  his 
home  with  Rebecca  Tyler,  at  Richmond, 
Nemaha  county,   Kansas,  and  when  she  sold. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


259 


out  there  and  moved  to  Blue  Springs,  in  the 
summer  of  1859,  he  came  with  her,  being  then 
a  youth  of  fifteen  summers.  They  were  much 
attached  to  each  other  and  the  relation  of 
mother  and  son  practically  existed  between 
them  until  her  death.  Until  his  marriage,  in 
1865,  her  home  was  his. 

Air.  Graham  was  born  November  2,  1844, 
in  Vermillion  parish,  Louisiana.  His  foster 
mother,  Rebecca  Tyler,  was  a  southern 
woman.  He  was  the  son  of  Samuel  Graham 
and  Martha  (Johnson)  Graham.  When  quite 
small  he  was  taken  to  Missouri  to  live,  then 
to  Kansas  and  then  to  Blue  Springs,  Ne- 
braska.    In   1865  he  married  Retta  Anthony, 


the  second  daughter  of  Dr.  Levi  Anthony,  and 
these  worthy  people  have  ever  since  made 
Blue  Springs  their  home.  Both  are  highly 
respected  and  useful  members  of  society.  They 
have  reared  a  large  and  interesting  family 
and  are  spending  their  declining  years  with 
their  many  friends,  amid  the  surroundings 
of  their  early  days.  With  Robert  A.  Wilson 
and  perhaps  one  or  two  members  of  the  James 
H.  Johnson  family,  they  are  all  that  is  left 
of  that  heroic  company  that  created  Blue 
Springs  from  a  prairie  waste. 

Air.  and  Mrs.  Graham  are  open-hearted, 
friendly  people  whose  lives  are  an  open  book 
to  be  read  by  all. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 


WYMORE 


The  city  of  Wymore  is  located  at  the  con- 
fluence of  Big  Indian  creek  and  the  Big  Blue 
river,  on  the  main  line  of  the  Chicago,  Bur- 
lington &  Ouincy  Railroad  Company  across 
southern  Nebraska,  from  Chicago  to  Denver. 
Here  also  the  branch  line  of  this  company 
from  Omaha  to  Concordia,  Kansas,  via 
Lincoln  and  Beatrice,  intersects  the  main 
Denver  line,  imparting  to  the  city  of  Wymore 
the  characteristics  of  a  railway  center.  From 
its  beginning  the  city  has  constituted  a  divi- 
sion for  the  Burlington  Railroad ;  here  are 
found  the  company's  roundhouse,  machine  and 
repair  shops,  station  building  and  numerous 
other  structures  required  at  a  railway  division 
point.  Here  also  are  found  the  headquarters 
of  the  division  officials,  and  the  various  ac- 
cessories necessary  to  the  proper  operation  of 
the  railroad.  Wymore  is  the  second  largest 
municipal  corporation  in  Gage  county  and  is 
the  most  important  and  best  city  of  its  popu- 
lation in  southeastern  Nebraska.  It  is  thirteen 
miles  southeast  of  Beatrice,  joins  the  city  of 
Blue  Springs  to  the  north,  and  is  located  in 
the  midst  of  a  wealthy,  prosperous  farming 
community. 

The  founding  of  Wymore  dates  from  the 
construction  of  the  main  line  of  the  Burling- 
ton Railroad  upon  which  it  is  located.  At 
the  time  of  its  origin  the  situation  in  Ne- 
braska was  such  as  to  invite  railroad  building 
on  a  large  scale  throughout  the  eastern  two- 
thirds  of  the  state.  The  main  line  of  the 
Union  Pacific  Railway  through  central  Ne- 
braska had  proved  a  surprising  success  as  a 
factor  in  the  settlement  and  development  of 
all  the  territory  tributary  to  it.  By  successive 
purchases  and  consolidations  with  other  lines 
the   Chicago,   Burlington   &  Ouincy   Railroad 


Company  had,  by  1870,  acquired  a  line  of 
railway  from  Chicago,  Illinois,  to  Pacific 
Junction,  opposite  Plattsmouth,  Nebraska.  The 
Burlington  &  Missouri  River  Railroad  Com- 
pany in  Nebraska  had  been  incorporated  May 
12,  1869,  and  in  July  of  that  year  began  the 
construction  of  a  line  of  railway  from  Platts- 
mouth to  Kearney  Junction,  Nebraska,  on  the 
Union  Pacific,  near  where  the  city  of  Kearney 
is  located.  Several  years  after  the  comple- 
tion of  this  route,  the  company  was  consoli- 
dated with  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Ouincy 
Railroad  Company,  under  date  of  the  26th 
day  of  July,  1880,  having  at  that  time  836 
miles  of  trackage  in  southeastern  Nebraska, 
including  a  railroad  bridge  across  the  Mis- 
souri river  at  Plattsmouth  and  two  miles  of 
trackage  at  Pacific  Junction.  Amongst  its 
other  activities  it  had  constructed,  in  1878,  a 
line  of  railway  from  Hastings  to  Red  Cloud, 
and  thence  up  the  Republican  valley,  projected 
to  Denver.  In  1871  it  had  also  constructed 
a  line  of  railway  from  Crete,  on  its  main 
Ime  between  Plattsmouth  and  Kearney 
Junction,  to  Beatrice.  In  1879  the  Union 
Pacific  Railway  Company,  ^then  described  as 
the  Omaha  &  Southwestern,  had  built  its 
present  line  of  railway  from  Marysville, 
Kansas,  as  far  as  Beatrice,  via  Blue  Springs 
and  the  Otoe  Indian  Agency,  which  was  pro- 
jected to  a  junction  with  its  main  line  at 
A'alley,  via  Lincoln.  Almost  the  entire  state, 
and  particularly  the  South  Platte  country  and 
that  portion  of  central  Nebraska  which  was 
then  tributary  to  the  Union  Pacific  Railway 
lines,  was  in  a  ferment  of  activity.  Immigra- 
tion was  rushing  in,  following  the  rails,  at  an 
unheard  of  rate ;  the  prairies  were  disappear- 
ing under  the  settlers'  plows  ;  in  every  direction 

260 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


261 


towns  and  villages  were  springing  up  as  if 
by  magic ;  and  everywhere  in  the  state  the 
railways  were  taxed  to  the  uttermost  to  meet 
the  demands  of  the  ever  increasing  popula- 
tion. 

Moreover  the  local  situation  by  1879  was 
such  as  to  promote  the  increase  of  railway 
trackage  in  Gage  county,  and  particularly  in 
the  southern  portion.  Since  its  completion, 
Beatrice  had  been  the  terminus  of  the  Crete 
branch  of  the  Burlington  road.  In  1877  the 
western  portion  of  the  Otoe  and  Missouri 
Indian  lands  had  been  placed  upon  the  market 
and  quickly  sold  to  actual  settlers,  as  by  law 
required.  This  splendid  tract  of  fertile  lands 
was  without  railway  facilities  nearer  than 
Beatrice  or,  later,  than  Blue  Springs.  Under 
these  circumstances,  it  created  no  surprise 
when,  in  March,  1880,  a  party  of  Burlington 
surveyors  arrived  in  Blue  Springs  from  the 
west.  They  had  carried  a  projected  line  of 
railway  from  Red  Cloud  down  the  Republican 
river  to  Hardy,  Nuckolls  county ;  thence  across 
country  to  the  head  waters  of  Rose  creek,  in 
Jefiferson  county,  crossed  the  Little  Blue  river 
at  the  confluence  of  these  streams ;  led  up  his- 
toric Rock  creek  to  the  head  waters  of  Big 
Indian  creek ;  followed  down  the  valley  of  that 
stream  to  its  junction  with  the  big  Blue  river, 
and,  crossing  the  river,  led  away  eastward  to 
an  intersection  with  the  Atchison  &  Nebraska 
at  Table  Rock,  and  still  on  down  the  Big 
Nemaha  to  the  Missouri,  St.  Joseph,  northern 
^lissouri,   western   Illinois,   Chicago. 

This  ambitious  and  most  successful  plan 
of  railroad  building  contemplated  the  exten- 
sion of  the  Crete-Beatrice  branch  to  a  junction 
with  the  east  and  west  main  line.  When  it 
became  evident  that  these  lines  of  railway 
were  to  be  pushed  to  immediate  completion 
the  southern  half  of  Gage  county  seethed  with 
excitement  and  eager  anticipation.  The 
question  of  greatest  concern  was  the  location 
of  the  junction,  since  it  was  evident  that  at 
that  point  would  be  developed  a  city  of  im- 
portance. Blue  Springs  was  of  course  ar- 
dently hoping  to  become  the  center  of  all 
this  railroad  activity  and  to  profit  by  securing 
the  location  of  the  junction  of  the  two  lines 


of  railway.  Unfortunately,  and  to  this  day  to 
the  regret  of  those  who  love  it,  these  expec- 
tations were  not  to  be  realized.  Over-confi- 
dence in  her  position  and  importance  at  that 
particular  juncture  in  her  affairs,  prevented 
the  consummation  of  her  hopes. 

The  following  narrative  of  the  origin  of 
VVymore  and  its  early  history  was  prepared 
for  this  work  by  Charles  M.  Murdock,  who 
has  been  a  citizen  of  that  city  since  its  found- 
ing, and  who  as  a  right-of-way  agent  for  the 
Burlington  Railroad  Company,  and  at  the 
time  a  citizen  of  Blue  Springs,  writes  from 
an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  facts : 

"In  the  fore  part  of  May,  1880,  R.  O. 
Phillips,  secretary  of  the  Lincoln  Land  Com- 
pany, and  some  of  the  Burlington  &  !ilis-. 
souri  River  Railroad  officials  came  to  Blue 
Springs  and  made  an  arrangement  with  S. 
M.  Hazen,  C.  W.  Hill,  and  others  in  Blue 
Springs,  for  a  half  interest  in  about  two 
hundred  acres  of  land  in  sections  17  and  18, 
township  2  north,  of  range  7  east  of  the  6th 
principal  meridian,  surrounding  where  the 
depot  at  Blue  Springs  now  stands,  and  to 
locate  a  depot,  and  not  lay  out  or  build  any 
conflicting  town  interest  within  five  miles  of 
the  depot  at  Blue  Springs.  Several  business 
men  in  Blue  Springs  agreed  to  purchase  from 
five  to  ten  acres  of  the  Hazen  and  Hill  lands 
and  pay  them  a  stated  price  per  acre.  Then 
they  would  donate  (to  the  Lincoln  Land 
Company)  a  half-interest  in  the  tracts  they 
had  purchased,  in  order  to  share  the  burden 
with  Hazen  and  Hill.  This  arrangement  was 
agreed  to  and  seemed  to  be  definitely  settled. 
But  within  sixty  days  some  of  the  parties  who 
had  agreed  to  purchase  from  five  to  ten  acres 
of  the  Hazen  and  Hill  lands  went  back  on 
what  they  had  agreed  to  do.  They  claimed 
the  Burlington  &  Missouri  River  Railroad 
Company  would  put  in  the  depot  at  Blue 
Springs  regardless  of  whether  they  got  a 
half-interest  in  the  Hazen  and  Hill  lands  or 
not.  R.  O.  Phillips,  secretary  of  the  Lincoln 
Land  Company,  and  A.  B.  Smith,  townsite 
surveyor,  came  to  Blue  Springs  and  tried  to 
close  the  deal,  but  could  not  do  it.  They 
then   had   options   of  purchase   taken   on   part 


262 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


of  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  21,  south- 
west quarter  of  section  22,  northwest  quarter 
of  section  27  and  northeast  quarter  of  section 
28,  township  2  north,  of  range  7  east,  where 
the  Burlington  surveyed  line  crossed  the 
Union  Pacific  tracks, —  a  move  that  looked 
very  discouraging  to  some  of  the  observing 
people  in  and  around  Blue  Springs. 

"Samuel  Wymore  then  owned  the  north- 
east quarter  of  section  20,  Blue  Springs  town- 
ship, which  joined  the  section  in  which  the 
city  was  located.  When  he  learned  that  R. 
O.  Phillips,  for  the  Lincoln  Land  Company, 
had  procured  options  of  purchase  on  lands 
east  of  the  Big  Blue  river,  he  offered  to  donate 
a  half-interest  in  the  west  half  of  his  quarter 
section,  which  on  the  north  joined  the  town- 
site  of  Blue  Springs  and  which  was  crossed 
by  the  Burlington  right-of-way  leading  east- 
ward, if  the  railroad  company  would  erect 
and  maintain  a  depot  on  his  land  or  at  the 
junction  of  the  two  lines  on  the  southeast 
quarter  of  section  20,  joining  his  land  on  the 
south,  and  he  signed  a  contract  to  that  ef- 
fect. I  then  went  to  the  southeast  part  of 
Marshall  county,  Kansas,  to  see  Owen  R. 
Jones,  who  then  owned  the  last-named  quarter 
section  of  land,  together  with  the  north  half 
of  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  29.  I 
took  his  contract  for  the  right-of-way  over 
the  southeast  of  section  20  and  any  extra 
right-of-way  that  might  be  required  in  the 
construction  of  the  railroad  across  or  upon  that 
tract  of  land.  He  said  the  railroad  company 
ought  to  buy  his  land ;  I  asked  him  his  price, 
and  he  said  twenty  dollars  per  acre.  He  and 
his  wife  signed  a  memorandum  contract 
agreeing  to  convey  to  R.  O.  Phillips  the  above 
described  land,  240  acres,  for  the  sum  of 
$4,800.  I  sent  the  memorandum  contracts  of 
Samuel  Wymore  and  Owen  R.  Jones  to  Mr. 
Phillips  at  Lincoln,  Nebraska,  and  wrote  to 
A.  E.  Touzalin  what  could  be  done  with 
Wymore  and  Jones.  Touzalin  and  Phillips 
were  anxious  to  get  tlie  location  at  Blue 
Springs  adjusted,  and  to  gain  time  I  procur- 
ed, at  their  request,  an  extension  of  the  Wy- 
more and  Jones  contracts  to  September  15, 
1880. 


"But  the  Blue  Springs  location  was  not 
definitely  settled,  and  Mr.  Touzalin,  the  gen- 
eral manager  of  the  Burlington  road,  and 
other  officials  arranged  to  come  to  Blue 
Springs,  and  on  September  17,  1880,  Mr. 
Touzalin ;  George  W.  Holdrege,  general  sup- 
erintendent; Tobias  Castor,  superintendent  of 
right-of-way ;  Superintendent  T.  E.  Calvert, 
and  other  Burlington  Railroad  officials  came 
to  Blue  Springs  from  Beatrice  over  the  Union 
Pacific  line,  in  a  special  car.  They  arranged 
for  a  meeting  with  the  Blue  Springs  people 
that  evening.  At  the  meeting  the  subject  was 
fully  discussed  and  the  Blue  Springs  people 
asked  for  time  to  enable  them  to  talk  the  mat- 
ter over  that  night,  and  at  nine  o'clock  the 
next  morning  they  reported  that  they  would 
not  accept  the  proposition. 

"Wymore  and  Jones  were  both  present  at 
the  above  described  meeting.  A  deal  with 
them  was  closed  September  18,  1880,  and  it 
was  definitely  settled  that  a  depot  would  be 
built  at  the  junction  on  the  southeast  quarter 
of  secion  20,  township  2  north,  range  7  east, 
Gage  county,  Nebraska.  In  the  latter  part 
of  December,  1880,  the  line  was  extended  from 
Beatrice  to  the  junction,  and  General  Super- 
intendent Holdrege  and  other  officials  rode 
down  to  the  junction  over  their  own  new  line, 
in  a  special  car,  January  5,  1881. 

"April  7,  1881,  Mr.  Phillips,  secretary  of 
the  Lincoln  Land  Company,  and  Anselmo  B. 
Smith,  the  company's  townsite  surveyor,  be- 
gan the  survey  of  the  townsite  at  the  junction 
of  the  two  lines  of  railway.  A.  E.  Touzalin, 
general  manager  of  the  Burlington  lines, 
named  the  town  Wymore,  after  the  late 
Samuel  Wymore." 

Mr.  Murdock  was  selected  by  the  Lincoln 
Land  Company,  an  organization  which  every 
old  settler  will  remember  as  having  greatly  in- 
fluenced to  its  own  profit  the  location  and 
disposal  of  townsites  along  the  lines  of  the 
Burlington  Railroad  system  in  the  early 
history  of  Nebraska,  to  handle  the  company's 
interest  at  Wymore.  The  plat  of  the  original 
town  of  Wymore  was  filed  for  record  in  the 
office  of  the  register  of  deeds  at  Beatrice, 
May  21,    1881,  by  which  time  Mr.   Murdock 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


263 


had  sold  twenty  lots  in  the  townsite,  upon 
which  buildings  were  being  erected,  and  with- 
in sixty  days  after  the  recording  of  the  plat 
there  were  sixty  business  houses  and  resi- 
dences erected  in  the  new  town  of  Wymore. 
Among  the  first  to  build  were  David  Green- 
slate,  who  erected  a  hotel  forty  by  forty-four 
feet,  and  two  store  buildings ;  J.  Pisar,  a 
business  house  twenty  by  thirty  feet ;  J. 
Wazab,  a  business  house  twenty-four  by 
thirtv-six  feet;  Charles  Wachtel,  H.  M.  Leach, 


of  deeds  May  21,  1881.  It  comprised  a  part 
of  the  east  half  of  section  20;  it  has  been 
greatly  augmented  by  additions,  the  most  im- 
portant of  which  are  Ashby's  Addition  and 
Wymore's  Addition,  on  the  north  and  west; 
Summit  and  Railroad  Additions,  on  the  east; 
Hoag's,  Hinkle's,  and  Scott's  Additions,  on 
the  south  and  west.  With  these  additions  the 
city  now  occupies  a  part  of  sections  19,  20,  29, 
and  30. 

The  business  district  of  the  city  is  largely 


Ni.\G.\RA  Avenue,  Wymore 


R.  C.  Welch,  A.  J.  McClain,  T.  E.  Cone,  W. 
Shestak,  J.  Miles,  M.  H.  Gow,  L.  W.  Allgire, 
A.  V.  S.  Saunders,  David  McGuire,  John 
Vesley,  F.  R.  Siltz,  William  Baxendale,  P. 
Sullivan,  Hs.  S.  Glenn,  E.  P.  Reynolds,  Sr., 
(hotel)  ;  James  A.  Myer,  E.  C.  Pusey,  H.  A. 
Greenwood,  W.  H.  McClelland,  J.  Casey,  G. 
W.  Rummelj  Washburn  Brothers  (lumber 
yard)  ;  H.  A.  Kingsbury  (lumber  yard)  ;  J.  S. 
Johnson,  Joseph  Grimes,  O.  J.  King,  J.  D. 
Gallagher,  J.  H.  Ake,  George  Noll,  S.  P. 
Lester  (livery  stable)  ;  F.  J.  Greer  (elevator), 
and  others. 

The  plat  of  the  original  townsite  of  Wymore 
was  filed  for  record  in  the  office  of  the  register 


confined  to  the  original  townsite.  Niagara 
avenue,  running  north  to  Blue  Springs,  is  the 
principal  business  street.  It  is  a  wide,  beauti- 
ful thoroughfare,  and  most  of  the  business 
houses  upon  it  are  substantial,  two-story,  brick 
structures. 

A  United  States  government  postoffice  was 
established  in  the  village  of  Wymore,  October 
27,  1881,  with  George  F.  Walker  as  post- 
master. The  citizens  of  Wymore  are  supplied 
with  free  mail  delivery,  employing  two  city 
carriers,  while  the  rural  population  tributary 
to  the  city  is  reached  by  the  free-delivery 
service  of  the  postoffice  department. 

An  interesting  incident  in  the  early  history 


264 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


of  Wymore  was  the  construction  and  opera- 
tion of  a  street-railway  line  from  the  Burling- 
ton station  to  the  Union  Pacific  -station  at 
Blue  Springs.  It  was  a  horse-car  line  and 
was  built  by  E.  P.  Reynolds  and  his  sons  J. 
H.  and  Ben  Reynolds,  railroad  contractors 
with  headquarters  at  Wymore,  who  had  com- 
pleted a  number  of  contracts  for  the  Burling- 
ton Railroad  Company  on  the  main  line  from 
the  Missouri  river  to  Denver.  This  car  line 
was  carried  across  the  Burlington  right-of- 
way  by  an  overhead  bridge,  thirty  feet  in 
width,  on  Ashby  avenue.  It  was  operated 
from  1882  till  about  1892,  when  it  was  aban- 
doned. 

From  the  beginning  Wymore  grew  rapidly 
in  population  and  wealth.  It  was  an  ambi- 
tious and  aggressive  rival  of  Beatrice,  the 
county  seat.  By  1883  it  had  acquired  a  popu- 
lation of  approximately  two  thousand  souls. 
The  federal  census  of  1890  gave  it  2420  in- 
habitants; that  of  1900,  2626;  and  that  of 
1910,  2613.  In  the  year  1893  those  who 
guided  its  destinies  conceived  it  possible  to 
divide  Gage  county  and  erect  a  new  county 
out  of  the  south  half,  to  be  known  as  Blaine 
county,  with  Wymore  as  its  county  seat. 
Proper  steps  were  taken  by  these  enthusiasts 
to  bring  the  matter  to  a  vote  at  the  November 
elecion.  A  very  spirited  and  splendid  canvass 
was  made  by  the  Wymoreans.  Beatrice  of 
course  entered  warmly  into  the  contest,  and 
during  the  latter  part  of  the  summer  and 
early  fall  of  1883  a  vigorous  campaign  was 
waged  on  the  question  of  county  division.  At 
the  election,  1332  votes  were  polled  for  divi- 
sion and  2801  against  the  project.  It  is  to 
the  lasting  credit  of  Wymore  that  she  grace- 
fully accepted  this  result  and,  without  mur- 
mur or  complaint,  good-natUTedly  has  contin- 
ued to  play  the  part  of  the  second  most  im- 
portant city  in  the  splendid  county  of  Gage. 

On  October  25,  1881,  Horace  A.  Green- 
wood, who  had  formerly  lived  at  Red  Oak, 
Iowa,  established  the  first  bank  in  Wymore. 
The  following  year  Benjamin  Burch,  his  son 
John  C.  Burch  and  M.  A.  Southwick  came 
to  Wymore  for  the  purpose  of  engaging  in 
the  banking  business  and  were  about  to  start 


a  newi  bank  when  Mr.  Greenwood  sold  them 
his  institution  and  retired  for  the  time  being 
from  the  banking  business.  The  Bank  of 
Wymore,  under  the  management  of  its  new 
pioprietors,  did  a  flourishing  business  for 
more  than  ten  3'ears,  but  during  the  great 
financial  panic  which  began  in  1893  and  lasted 
for  several  years,  the  bank  was  forced  out  of 
business  and  passed  into  the  hands  of  a  re- 
ceiver. About  the  time  the  Bank  of  Wymore 
was  purchased  by  the  Burches  and  Southwick, 
a  brick  bank  building  was  erected  by  Joseph 
R.  Dodds  on  the  corner  south  of  the  Touzalin 
Hotel,  that  being  the  first  brick  bank  building 
in  Wymore,  and  the  Citizens  Bank  was  estab- 
lished in  it  by  Elisha  P.  Reynolds  and  sons. 
Some  years  afterward  this  became  the  proper- 
ty of  Samuel  Wymore  and  E.  C.  Wilcox,  with 
E.  C.  Wilcox  as  cashier  and  as  the  one  in 
principal  charge  of  the  bank's  fortunes.  About 
the  time  of  the  financial  stringency  above  re- 
ferred to  this  bank  liquidated  its  obligations 
and  ceased  to  exist.  Succeeding  these  two 
early  ventures  in  banking,  the  First  National 
Bank  of  Wymore  was  founded  by  Horace  A. 
Greenwood  and  others,  and,  probably  about 
the  same  time,  the  Farmers  &  Merchants  Bank 
came  into  existence.  These  are  both  excep- 
tionally strong  financial  institutions  for  a 
town  of  the  population  of  Wymore  and  each 
possesses  a  fine  bank  building.  They  are 
owned  and  conducted  by  men  of  character  and 
standing  in  the  community  and  meet  the  or- 
dinary demands  for  banking  resources  in  a 
way  that  leaves  nothing  to  be  desired.  J.  A. 
Rueling  is  president  of  the  First  National ; 
G.  L.  Stephenson,  vice-president ;  John 
S.  Jones,  cashier;  and  D.  K.  Windle,  assistant 
cashier.  Sherman  Taylor  is  president  of  the 
Farmers  &  Merchants  Bank;  W.  A.  Dawson, 
vice-president;  F.  E.  Lefiferdink,  cashier;  A. 
E.  Baker  and  C.  F.  Stillwell,  assistant  cash- 
iers. 

In  addition  to  its  banks  Wymore  is  well 
supplied  with  elevators,  lumber  and  coal  yards, 
garages,  hotels,  implement  houses,  restaur- 
ants, general  stores,  grocery  stores,  hard- 
ware stores,  drug  stores,  jewelry  establish- 
ments,  photograph  galleries,   and   every   kind 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


265 


of  business  establishment  to  be  found  in  cities 
of  its  population  and  class  in  the  west. 

The  city  obtains  its  water  from  the  springs 
of  its  nearby  neighbor,  Blue  Springs,  and 
owns  its  own  water  system.  It  is  well  lighted 
by  electrical  current  from  the  Holmesville 
Mill  &  Power  Company. 

The  visitor  to  Wymore  is  always  impressed 
by  the  extensive  yards  and  shops  of  the  Bur- 
lington Railroad  Company,  where  hundreds 
of  men  are  daily  employed.  The  monthly  dis- 
tribution of  wages  by  the  company  to  its 
employes  at  this  divisional  point  has  been  a 
constant  and  never-failing  source  of  prosperity 
to  the  business  men  of  the  city.  At  pres- 
ent the  railroad  company  employes  135  men  in 
its  mechanical  department,  371  in  its  operat- 
ing department,  and  46  officers  and  clerks  —  a 
total  of  552  employes  of  the  Burlington  Rail- 
road at  Wymore. 

No  city  of  its  population  in  the  state  ap- 
proaches Wymore  in  the  number,  acreage  and 
beauty  of  its  public  parks.  The  public-park 
system  for  the  city  was  first  agitated  several 
years  ago,  by  H'on.  A.  D.  McCandless,  a 
lawyer  of  distinction  in  the  Gage  county  bar. 
With  intelligent  persistence  worthy  of  the 
cause,  he  has  allowed  no  opportunity  to  pass 
for  urging  upon  the  citizens  of  the  city 
and  upon  those  in  authority  the  desir- 
ability of  adopting  a  system  of  public  parks 
which  should  be  more  than  commensurate  with 
the  immediate  needs  and  resources  of  the  city. 
Great  success  has  crowned  his  unselfish  and 
altruistic  efforts.  To  his  credit,  and  to  the 
credit  of  those  associated  with  him  in  his 
fine,  patriotic  labor,  there  are  now  eight  pub- 
lic parks  in  the  city  of  Wymore.  They  are 
as  designated  in  the  following  paragraphs. 

Arbor  State  Park  consists  of  thirty-three 
acres  of  land  in  the  northeast  quarter  of  sec- 
tion 20,  formerly  known  as  the  old  Fair 
Ground.  It  was  named  Arbor  State  Park 
"in  recognition  of  the  loyalty  of  the  Arbor 
State  newspaper  to  the  interests  and  upbuild- 
ing of  the  city  of  Wymore  in  the  past  quarter 
of  a  century,  and  of  the  editor  of  said  paper 
for  his  years  of  faithful  service  as  the  high- 
est office  in  said  city,  and  his  zealous  work 
for  the  park  system  of  said  city." 


McCandless  Park  comprises  blocks  25  and 
26  of  Ashby's  Addition  to  the  city  of  Wymore, 
with  the  street  lying  between  the  two  blocks, 
which  was  vacated  in  order  to  become  a  part 
of  the  park.  It  was  named  in  honor  of  A.  D. 
McCandless  and  in  recognition  of  his  success- 
ful work  in  planning  and  securing  an  attrac- 
tive  public   parking   system   for   the   city. 

Furnas  Park  consists  of  the  south  half  of 
block  8  and  the  north  half  of  block  9  in  the 
original  town  of  Wymore  and  the  street  lying 
between  these  two  parcels  of  land,  which  was 
vacated  by  the  city  council  for  the  purpose 
of  being  added  to  the  park. 

Rawlings  Park  is  block  31  of  the  original 
town  of  Wymore  and  bears  the  name  of 
Rawlings  Park  in  recognition  of  one  of  its 
most  prominent  and  enterprising  citizens,  M. 
L.  Rawlings,  who  has  served  three  terms  as 
mayor  of  the  city  of  Wymore  and  has  been 
otherwise  active  and  useful  for  many  years  in 
the  affairs  of  the  city. 

Riverside  Park  lies  on  the  east  bank  of  the 
Big  Blue  river,  between  the  wagon  road  on 
Bennett  street  and  the  Burlington  Railroad 
bridge  across  the  river. 

Horseshoe  Park  lies  south  of  Indian  creek 
and  west  of  what  is  known  as  the  ]\Iarysville 
road,  and  is  the  property  of  the  Lincoln  Land 
Company. 

High  School  Park  is  that  portion  of  the 
high-school  grounds  which  has  been  incor- 
porated into  the  parking  system  of  Wymore. 

Taylor  Park  comprises  a  considerable  tract 
of  ground  lying  north  and  west  of  the  right- 
of-way  of  the  Burlington  Railroad  Company, 
iti  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  the  depot 
building. 

In  1916  the  public-spirited  citizens  of  Wy- 
more began  agitation  for  a  free  public  library. 
Application  was  made  to  the  great  philan- 
thropist, Andrew  Carnegie,  for  an  appropria- 
tion out  of  his  many  millions  for  the  erection 
of  a  library  building.  This  magnanimous 
builder  of  libraries  readily  donated  to  the  city 
the  sum  of  $10,000  to  be  used  exclusively  for 
a  building,  on  condition  that  a  suitable  site 
be  furnished  by  the  citizens  of  Wymore  and 
that  the  city  authorities  should  annually  levy 
a  public  tax  sufficient  to  sustain  the  library. 


266 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


These  conditions  have  been  fully  complied 
with.  The  library  is  located  on  the  southeast 
corner  of  block  26  of  Wymore's  Addition, 
immediately  west  of  Neuman's  store,  on  the 
southeast  corner  of  the  block.  The  plans  and 
specifications  were  furnished  by  Richard  W. 
Grant,  architect,  of  Beatrice,  and  at  this  writ- 
ing the  building  is  complete  except  for  the 
placing  of  a  furnace. 

The  first  Episcopal  church  service  was  held 
in  Wymore  by  Rev.  T.  O'Connell,  in  what  is 
known  as  the  Honeymoon  school-house,  in 
the  fall  of  1881.  In  Alarch,  1884,  a  service 
was  held  by  the  Rev.  C.  L.  Fulforth,  rector 
of  the  Episcopal  church  at  Beatrice,  at  which 


this  being  dedicated  as  a  house  of  worship, 
by  Bishop  Worthington,  April  15,  1889.  The 
church  has  grown  in  strength  and  usefulness 
from  the  first  day  and  is  today  one  of  the 
live,  virile  religious  organizations  of  the  city. 
The  parish  of  St.  Mary's  Catholic  church 
was  established  in  1882,  a  pastoral  residence 
being  erected  that  year  and  later  a  frame 
church  building.  The  priest  first  in  charge 
was  the  Rev.  A.  C.  Rausch,  who  continued 
his  labors  until  1889,  when  the  Rev.  J.  C. 
Freeman  tooK  charge ;  he  remained  at  the 
head  of  the  parish  until  his  death,  in  1915. 
He  was  succeeded  by  Father  D.  J.  Cronin, 
who  is  now  in  charge  of  the  parish. 


preliminary  steps  were  taken  for  the  organiza- 
tion of  a  parish  in  Wymore.  A  petition  was 
prepared  and  was  addressed  to  the  bishop  of 
the  diocese,  requesting  such  action.  It  was 
signed  by  eighteen  persons,  of  whom  eight 
were  communicants  of  the  church.  This  re- 
quest was  granted,  and  on  August  17,  1884, 
the  parish  was  organized  under  the  name  of 
St.  Luke's.  On  the  following  13th  day  of 
September,  with  Bishop  Worthington  officiat- 
ing, the  holy  communion  service  of  the  church 
was  celebrated  for  the  first  time  in  Wymore. 
A  mission  organization  wlas  adopted,  with 
Richard  Whitten  as  warden.  On  the  10th 
day  of  October,  1888,  steps  were  taken  to- 
ward the  building  of  a  church  by  the  congre- 
gation. A  lot  for  that  purpose  was  donated 
by  the  Lincoln  Land  Company,  the  Bishop 
contributed  $800  and  a  building  was  erected. 


The  Catholic  organization  owns  fine  church 
properties  in  Wymore,  consisting  of  an  entire 
block  of  ground  adjoining  the  high-school 
block,  upon  which  is  situated  the  church  build- 
ing and  a  new  pastoral  residence,  of  two 
stories. 

The  Christian  church  was  organized  in  1887, 
by  Elder  Bear,  of  Tecumseh,  the  services  first 
being  held  in  Brownwell  Hall  and  other  places. 
In  1896  the  present  church  edifice  was  erected. 
Services  are  regularly  maintained  by  the 
church  and  the  organization  is  an  active  factor 
in  the  social  and  religious  life  of  the  city. 

The  first  church  organized  in  Wymore  was 
the  Missionary  Baptist  church.  The  organ- 
ization took  place  September  14,  1881.  Ser- 
vices were  maintained  at  various  places  in  the 
city  until  1886,  when  the  congregation  built 
a  frame  church  building,  under  the  pastorate 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


267 


of  Rev.  A.  H.  Law.  This  building  was  after- 
ward sold,  and  the  Baptists  acquired  by  pur- 
chase their  present  church,  from  the  Congre- 
gationalists. 

Since  its  organization  a  good  Sunday  school 
has  been  maintained  and  the  regular  services 
of  the  church  have  gone  constantly  forward. 
The  membership  of  this  church  is  quite  strong 
and  it  is  an  influential  factor  in  the  life  of  the 
city. 

About  1907  the  Calvanistic  Welsh  church 
Vv'as  organized  in  Wymore.  A  building  was 
purchased  and  moved  to  its  present  location, 
where  it  was  fitted  up  as  a  house  of  worship. 


at  her  suggestion,  a  subscription  list  was  start- 
ed for  funds  to  be  used  in  purchasing  a  suit- 
able site  for  a  church  building.  The  sum  of 
one  hundred  dollars  was  immediately  sub- 
scribed by  her  and  her  children  and  subscrip- 
tions continued  to  be  taken  until  enough 
money  was  on  hand  to  purchase  a  lot  and  a 
half  in  the  most  desirable  residence  portion  in 
the  city  of  Wymore  on  which  to  erect  a  church 
building,  where  the  present  splendid  house  of 
worship  now  stands.  A  movement  was  then 
started  to  secure  enough  money  by  subscrip- 
tion to  erect  a  church  edifice.  Plans  and 
specifications  were  supplied  by  the  Methodist 


First  Baptist  Church,  Wymore 


A  Sunday  school  and  church  services  have 
since  been  regularly  maintained. 

The  Free  Methodist  church  has  had  an  ex- 
istence in  Wymore  since  1887,  maintaining  a 
pastor  the  most  of  the  time  and  its  organiza- 
tion all  the  time.  It  has  a  new  frame  church 
building,  located  in  the  northwest  part  of  the 
city. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  church  was  or- 
ganized in  Wymore  July  20,  1883,  with  the 
Rev.  C.  M.  Hollopeter  as  pastor.  The  church 
services  and  Sunday  school  were  first  held  in 
Livsey's  Opera  House,  later  in  the  Newbranch 
Hall  and  in  what  is  now  known  as  the  Baptist 
church.  The  first  effort  to  secure  a  church 
building  came  from  j\lrs.  William  Winter,  in 
1885.  At  a  family  gathering  at  which  her 
seven   sons  and  two  daughters  were  present, 


Church  Extension  Society  and  approved  by 
the  local  board  of  trustees  for  a  structure  to 
cost  approximately  six  thousand  dollars.  The 
building  was  begun  in  1888  and  in  the  follow- 
ing year  it  was  completed,  and  dedicated,  by 
Bishop  Joyce,  to  the  worship  of  God.  In- 
cluding the  grounds,  the  property  cost  about 
thirteen  thousand  dollars.  A  considerable  in- 
debtedness rested  upon  the  church,  which  ac- 
cumulated during  the  hard  times  following 
1893,  until  it  finally  amounted  to  $4,700.  He- 
roic efforts  were  made  by  the  pastor  in  charge, 
the  Rev.  A.  B.  Whitmer,  to  secure  through 
subscriptions  a  sum  of  money  sufficient  tO' 
liquidate  this  indebtedness.  He  was  aided  by 
Dr.  Huntington,  the  presiding  elder  of  the 
church,  and  at  a  meeting  in  1900,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  a  large  and  rejoicing  congregation,  it 


268 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


fell  to  the  lot  of  the  Rev.  John  W.  Swan  to 
commit  to  the  flames  the  mortgage  which  had 
hitherto  rested  upon  the  property. 

Since  that  date  the  church  has  erected  on 
lots  adjoining  the  church  property,  which  it 
purchased  from  R,  W.  Laflin,  a  fine  parsonage, 
which  cost  $4,250.  Thus  through  years  of 
toil,  patience,  sacrifice  and  self-denial,  the 
]\'Iethodists  of  Wymore  have  succeeded  in  se- 
curing a  beautiful  and  permanent  church 
building  and  a  roomy,  homelike  parsonage. 
The  congregation  is  large  and  in  a  flourishing 
condition.  Since  Dr.  Hollopeter's  time,  the 
following   named    ministers    have    served    the 


McClelland  was  elected  its  director.  He  pro- 
ceeded at  once  to  take  an  enumeration  of  the 
district  and,  incidentally,  a  census  of  the  pop- 
ulation. On  March  17,  1882,  he  reported  the 
number  of  families  then  in  Wymore  to  be  224 ; 
number  of  inhabitants,  1,280;  and  number  of 
children  of  school  age,  375. 

The  schools  of  Wymore  have  flourished 
from  the  beginning  and  the  liberal-minded 
citizens  of  the  city  have  seen  to  it  that  ample 
school  facilities  were  available.  The  city  now 
possesses  two  brick  ward-school  buildings  of 
two  rooms  each,  and  a  handsome,  two-story, 
brick    high-school     building,    containing    ten 


church:  O.  P.  Light,  C.  W.  Abbott,  A.  B. 
Whitmer,  E.  F.  Gates,  and  O.  T.  Winslow. 

In  the  neighborhood  of  section  16,  Wymore 
township,  are  found  two  attractive  country 
churches,  as  shown  on  page  269. 

In  the  fall  of  1881,  a  subscription  school 
was  started  in  Wymore,  with  Miss  Ormsby 
and  Miss  Mitchell  as  teachers.  The  school 
was  held  in  Johnson's  Hall,  but  as  this  proved 
too  small  to  accommodate  the  attendance,  an- 
other room  was  secured,  and  S.  B.  Bowdish 
was  employed  as  principal. 

Early  in  1882  steps  were  taken  to  detach 
Wymore  and  its  additions  from  the  Blue 
Springs  school  district,  and  in  March  of  that 
year  the  city  of  Wymore  was  erected  into  a 
separate  school  district  and  numbered  114. 
On   the   organization   of  the   district,   W.    H. 


rooms.  The  district  employs  seventeen  teach- 
ers and  the  high  school  oflfers  a  four  years' 
course  of  study,  with  normal  training.  The 
pupils  enrolled  in  the  schools  of  Wymore  num- 
ber 683. 

The  social  and  benevolent  orders  of  Wy- 
more include:  Coleman  Post,  No.  115,  De- 
partment of  Nebraska  Grand  Army  of  the  Re- 
public, organized  at  Wymore  October  7,  1882, 
and  ever  since  remaining  in  good  standing; 
Coleman's  Women's  Relief  Corps,  No.  65,  De- 
partment of  Nebraska,  organized  at  Wymore 
June  12,  1888,  and  ever  since  maintaining  its 
good  standing;  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted 
Masons,  organized  April  19.  1883;  Independ- 
ent Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  No.  105,  installed 
February  8,  1883;  Rebekah  Lodge,  No.  69, 
organized    September    23,    1891 ;    Abergeldie 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


269 


Castle,  No.  34,  Royal  Highlanders :  and  the 
usual  number  of  fraternal  and  benevolent  or- 
ders in  cities  of  the  population  of  Wymore. 

So  rapid  has  been  the  growth  of  Wymore 
from  the  beginning  that  at  a  very  early  period 
of  its  history  the  necessity  for  some  form  of 
municipal  government  had  become  very  ob- 
vious.    With   characteristic   enersrv'   and   fore- 


ation  of  Wymore  as  a  village  under  this  stat- 
ute and  suggesting  as  suitable  persons  for  vil- 
lage officials  E.  Hutchins  to  be  mayor ;  W.  H. 
Ashby,  clerk;  E.  C.  Wilcox,  treasurer;  George 
W.  Mechling,  police  judge ;  Ben  Reynolds,  en- 
gineer ;  C.  F.  Washburn  and  E.  C.  Pusey, 
councilmen  for  the  first  ward,  and  S.  S.  Dar- 
ling' and  A.  J.  Davis,  councilmen  for  the 


Two  Rural  Churches  ne.vr  Wymore 


sight,  a  movement  was  inaugurated  early  in 
1882,  almost  within  a  year  after  the  founding 
of  the  city,  to  effect  village  organization  under 
the  statute  which  then  provided  that  all  unin- 
corporated towns  and  villages  in  Nebraska 
having  over  two  hundred  and  less  than  fifteen 
hundred  inhabitants  might  be  incorporated  as 
villages.  On  the  22d  day  of  June,  1882,  a  peti- 
tion was  filed  before  the  board  of  commission- 
ers of  Gage  county,  praying  for  the  incorpor- 


ond  ward.  The  prayer  of  this  petition  was 
readily  granted  by  the  county  commissioners 
and  these  recommendations  approved.  The 
organization  of  Wymore  as  a  village,  under 
the  law,  immediately  followed. 

Village  government  was  continued  in  Wy- 
more until  1884,  when  it  was  incorporated  as 
a  city  of  the  second  class,  having  more  than 
fifteen  hundred  and  less  than  twenty-five  thou- 
sand   population,    as    provided   by   law.     The 


270 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


first  city  officials  were:  Daniel  McGuire, 
mayor;  Thomas  D.  Cobbey,  clerk;  E.  C.  Wil- 
cox, treasurer;  A.  D.  McCandless,  city  attor- 
ney; W.  H.  Carmichael,  marshal;  James  Pas- 
co, engineer;  J.  M.  Tout  and  O.  P.  New- 
branch,  councilmen  for  first  ward,  and,  after 
the  resignation  of  Newbranch,  S.  H.  Craig; 
for  the  second  ward,  E.  Snuffin  and  D.  H. 
Schmitz. 

Wymore  appears  to  have  always  been  an  in- 
viting field  for  newspaper  men.  In  May,  1879, 


Hotel,  where  later  the  Citizens  bank  was  es- 
tablished. On  the  12th  day  of  May,  1882, 
from  the  basement  of  this  old  building,  Mr. 
Dodds  sent  forth  the  first  issue  of  the  Wymore 
Eagle.  In  the  fall  of  that  year  he  purchased 
from  Ashby  &  Scott  the  Gage  County  Leader, 
a  newspaper  which  had  been  founded  shortly 
after  Murdock  had  brought  the  Reporter  to 
Wymore,  and  this  he  consolidated  with  the 
Eagle.  A  little  later  he  merged  both  names 
into  the  Democrat,  bearing  the  following  leg- 


1^^^^ 

^^^ 

^M 

s     '  j^ 

'  f  €'f "" 

in. 

'■■■  J  ■-    i   .        5...       .\ 

^.f;^ 

p  mommmmS^  Nv 

"^''•';- 

-  *:"'"'!Z~*^-.' 

"      _        ;d!«^^  SCHOOL  WYMORE 

NiBR 

Charles  M.'  Murdock  had  established  at  Blue 
Springs  a  newspaper  called  the  Reporter, 
largely  as  an  advertising  medium  for  the  sale 
of  real  estate,  but  on  the  22d  day  of  June, 
1881,  he  removed  his  printing  establishment 
to  Wymore,  and  thereafter  for  many  years  the 
Wymore  Reporter  was  an  important  factor  in 
the  settlement  and  development  of  the  city. 
This  was  the  first  newspaper  in  Wymore.  In 
May,  1881,  Joseph  R.  Dodds,  a  veteran  of  the 
Civil  war,  came  from  Burlington,  Iowa,  to  Wy- 
more and  became  immediately  active  in  its 
affairs.  He  erected  the  two-story,  brick  build- 
ing on  the  corner  of  Nebraska  street  and  Blue 
River  avenue,  directlv  south  of  the  Touzalin 


end:  "Wymore  and  Blue  Springs,"  Before 
his  death,  he  ceased  publishing  the  Democrat 
and  began  the  publication  of  the  Arbor  State. 
This  bright,  newsy  paper  is  now  both  a  daily 
and  a  weekly,  and  is  owned  and  ably  edited 
by  J.  W.  Ellingham.  In  1882,  with  Benjamin 
Burch,  his  son  John  C.  Burch,  and  W.  H 
Southwick,  John  A.  Weaver,  a  practical  news- 
paper man,  came  to  Wymore  from  Red  Oak, 
Iowa.  In  conjunction  with  the  younger 
Burch  he  established,  the  Wymorean,  a  week- 
ly newspaper  which  has  had  a  continuous  ex- 
istence from  the  date  of  its  founding  and 
which  is  well  established,  with  a  circulation 
exceeding   two    thousand    copies.     For    thirty 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


years  it  has  been  very  ably  conducted  by 
its  present  owner  and  publisher,  J.  M.  Burn- 
ham. 

Wymore  is  a  city  of  many  beautiful  homes. 
The  residence  district  lies  west  of  Niagara 
avenue  and  is  reached  from  the  business  dis- 
trict by  ascending  a  gentle  slope.  It  over- 
looks the  beautiful  valley  of  the  Big  Blue 
river  on   the   north,  east  and   south,  and  the 


valleys  of  Bills  creek  and  Big  Indian  creek 
toward  the  west,  and  from  almost  every  point 
presents  a  pleasing  landscape.  At  an  early 
day  Elisha  P.  Reynolds  and  his  sons,  J.  H. 
and  Benjamin  erected  fine  residences  in  this 
part  of  the  city,  and  many  others  have  since 
been  erected.  Here  also  are  located  the  beau- 
tiful high-school  grounds  and  a  number  of  the 
churches. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

INCORPORATED  VILLAGES 

Adams  —  Barneston  —  Clatonia  —  Cortland  —  Fillky  —  Liberty Odell 

PicKRELL  —  Virginia 


ADAMS 

As  early  as  1867  a  postoffice  was  estab- 
lished in  Adams  township,  called  Laona. 
John  Lyons  was  the  first  postmaster,  the  post- 
office  being  at  his  home,  a  mile  and  one-half 
west  of  the  present  town  of  Adams.  In  1873 
the  Atchison  &  Nebraska  Railroad  Company 
built  its  line  of  railway  through  Adams  town- 
ship from  Atchison  to  Lincoln,  and  in  May 
of  that  year  John  O.  Adams,  in  conjunction 
with  the  railroad  company,  laid  off  the  south 
half  of  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  27, 
into  a  townsite  and  it  was  named  Adams. 
Village  organization  was  deferred  until  March 
10,  1892.  The  first  board  of  village  trustees 
comprised  the  following  well  known  residents 
of  that  place,  namely:  Frank  E.  Whyman, 
Henry  H.  Norcross,  W.  C.  Garrison,  Na- 
thaniel C.  Shaw,  and  William  C.  Gray.  They 
were  duly  qualified  for  office  by  James  B. 
Shaw,  justice  of  the  peace.  F.  E.  Whyman 
was  elected  first  chainnan  of  the  village  board, 
W.  C.  Gray  the  first  secretary,  and  H.  L.  Wat- 
son was  appointed  the  first  marshal  of  Adams. 
One  of  the  first  ordinances  passed  prohibited 
"the  sale,  giving  away,  delivering  or  furnish- 
ing in  any  manner  any  spirituous,  malt,  vin- 
ous or  intoxicating  liquors  within  the  village," 
an  ordinance  which  has  stood  intact  from  the 
beginning.  The  open  saloon  never  found  a 
place  to  conduct  business  in  Adams. 

The  town  of  Adams  has  flourished  from  the 
beginning.  It  was  supported  by  an  unusually 
intelligent,  progressive  and  loyal  class  of  citi- 
zens. Amongst  them  the  Whyman  family,  who 
came    overland    from    western    Pennsylvania, 


consisting  of  the  parents  and  twelve  children ; 
the  Adams  family  and  the  Shaw  family,  of 
whom  mention  has  already  been  made  in  this 
work  in  the  chapter  on  the  early  settlers  in 
this  county;  the  Silas  Bryson  family,  who 
came  from  Ohio  by  boat  down  the  Ohio  river 
and  up  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri,  consist- 
ing of  the  parents  and  fourteen  robust  sons 
and  daughters,  who  have  contributed  ably  to 
the  making  of  the  state  of  Nebraska;  Wil- 
liam Curtis,  who  was  the  fourteenth  man  to 
make  homestead  entry  at  the  Brownville  land 
office,  and  his  family;  H.  J.  Merrick,  who  is 
a  veteran  of  the  Civil  war  and  who  has  proved 
a  force  in  the  upbuilding  of  the  village;  Byron 
P.  Zuver,  Stephen  Disher,  John  Lyons,  George 
and  Alfred  Gage,  L.  R.  Horrum  and  his  son, 
Dr.  J.  W.  McKibbin,  and  many  other  resi- 
dents of  the  town  of  Adams  and  vicinity. 

In  1874  John  O.  Adams,  the  founder  of  the 
village,  and  \\'illiam  Curtis,  built  the  first 
grain  elevator,  and  Curtis  the  first  store  build- 
ing erected  in  Adams.  In  1874  a  postoffice 
was  established  at  Adams,  Mrs.  Hannah 
Noxon,  who  had  been  postmistress  at  Laona, 
was  appointed  postmistress  and  for  many 
years  she  occupied  that  position,  in  a  manner 
highly  satisfactory  to  all  patrons  of  the  office, 
maintaining  at  the  same  time  a  general  store 
in  connection  with  the  office.  In  1880  J.  H. 
Spellman  erected  a  store  building  and  put  in 
a  complete  stock  of  goods.  He  continued 
business  in  this  building  for  thirty  years.  In 
1880  L.  R.  Horrum,  who  had  taken  a  home- 
stead near  Adams  in  1868,  working  in  the 
meantime  at  his  trade  as  a  harnessmaker  in 


272 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


273 


connection  with  his  farm  work,  buiU  a  harness 
shop  in  Adams,  and  this  he  conducted  until 
his  death,  in  1913,  the  business  still  being  car- 
ried on  by  his  son,  George  Horrum.  The  se- 
nior Horrum  built  the  first  brick  business 
house  in  Adams-  Dr.  J.  W.  McKibbin,  the  first 
resident  physician  of  Adams,  located  in  the 
village  in  1881,  and  has  been  in  constant  prac- 
tice of  his  profession  here  since  that  time. 

Early  in  the  histon,'  of  Adams,  H.  J.  Mer- 
rick organized  a  patrons'  cooperative  com- 
pany, with  a  capital  stock  of  five  hundred  dol- 
lars, its  object  being  the  conducting  of  a  gen- 
eral merchandise  business.  Stephen  Disher 
became  president  of  the  company ;  H.  J.  Mer- 
rick, secretary;  B.  P.  Zuver,  manager.  This 
was  the  pioneer  business  of  Adams,  it  being 
established  in  June,  1874.  From  it  has  de- 
veloped the  Tourtelot-Barber  Company,  which 
conducts  one  of  the  best  general  stores  any- 
where to  be  found  in  a  village  of  seven  hun- 
dred inhabitants,  the  present  population  of 
Adams. 

The  grain  business  has  been  an  active  in- 
dustry at  Adams  from  the  moment  the  rail- 
road came.  Many  individuals  and  companies 
had  helped  develop  it  until  finally  the  Cen- 
tral Granaries  Company  obtained  control  of 
the  business.  In  1908  this  company  sold  its 
elevator  to  the  Farmers  Elevator  Company, 
incorporated,  with  a  capital  stock  of  $10,000, 
held  by  two  hundred  farmers  and  business 
men  of  Adams  and  adjacent  territory.  J.  B. 
Zuver  was  its  first  president,  J.  W.  Campbell 
its  first  secretary,  and  J.  B.  Zuver  its  manager. 
The  oiiticers  at  present  are:  H.  J.  Merrick, 
president ;  Henry  Bable,  secretary ;  and  J.  B. 
Zuver,  manager;  capital  and  surplus,  $40,000. 

In  1905  W.  E.  Bryson  and  J.  E.  Miller 
erected  a  large,  first-class  flouring  and  feed 
mill,  which  was  later  sold  to  the  Nebraska 
Corn  Products  Company,  and  was  dismantled, 
the  machinery  being  removed  and  the  building 
sold  to  the  Farmers  Elevator  Company. 

The  lumber  business  first  operated  at 
Adams  was  known  as  the  Chicago  Lumber 
Company,  with  A.  Huyser,  manager.  This 
company  was  succeeded  about  1880  by  the 
Stewart,  Chute  Lumber  Company  and  others, 


including  M.  J.  Mitten,  who  is  now  engaged 
in  that  business. 

The  first  bank  at  Adams  was  a  private  bank, 
owned  by  Messrs.  Holber  &  Bauer,  who  began 
business  in  1884.  It  was  followed  by  the  State 
Bank  of  Adams,  in  1889 ;  capital  stock, 
$10,000.  The  board  of  directors  under  the 
original  charter  comprised  W.  P.  Norcross, 
H.  J.  Merrick,  J.  W.  McKibbin,  B.  P.  Zuver, 
J.  H.  Spellman,  W.  W.  Barnhouse,  W.  E. 
Bryson  ;  —  Norcross,  president ;  McKibbin, 
vice-president ;  and  Merrick,  cashier.  March 
1,  1902,  the  controlling  interest  was  purchased 
by  C.  S.  Black  and  L.  B.  Howey,  of  the  First 
National  Bank  of  Beatrice,  and  F.  B.  Draper, 
of  Lincoln,  Nebraska,  W.  P.  and  H.  H.  Nor- 
cross retiring.  Mr.  Black  became  president 
and  Mr.  Draper  the  cashier,  the  capital  stock 
being  increased  to  $15,000.  Directors:  Black, 
Draper,  Howey,  Merrick,  Barnhouse,  McKib- 
bin, and  Bryson.  In  1908  the  bank  was  re- 
organized as  the  First  National  Bank,  with  a 
capital  of  $25,000.  The  former  officers  and 
board  of  directors  were  retained.  The  insti- 
tution is  a  depositary  of  the  Federal  Reserve 
Bank. 

In  1908  the  Farmers'  State  Bank  was  or- 
ganized, with  a  capital  stock  of  $25,000. 
President,  G.  W.  Meeker;  vice-president,  W. 
E.  Bryson ;  cashier,  Frank  O'Neal.  After 
some  changes  in  management,  a  controlling 
interest  of  the  capital  stock  was  purchased, 
in  1917,  by  Mr.  Christiansen  and  Frank  M. 
Stapleton.  Stapleton  being  the  cashier  and  A. 
M.  Replogle  the  vice-president. 

The  bank  known  as  the  Adams  State  Bank 
was  organized  with  a  capital  stock  of  $20,000. 
Officers  and  directors :  Chris  Hennies,  presi- 
dent ;  Frank  Schoen,  vice-president ;  Frank 
Grammann,  cashier;  F.  H.  Hennies,  August 
Hoehne,  Adolph  Hoehne,  Thale  Tholen,  di- 
rectors. The  three  banks  here  named  are  all 
in  flourishing  condition,  which  indicates  a 
prosperous  and  wealthy  community. 

In  the  spring  of  1859,  Mrs.  Hannah  Hicks 
Shaw  invited  the  settlers  with  their  children 
to  meet  at  her  home  to  study  the  Bible.  A 
dozen  of  all  ages  responded.  The  older  ones 
were  taught  by  Miss  Phoebe  Gale,  daughter 


274 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


of  George  Gale,  and  the  younger  by  Mrs. 
W.  W.  Silvernail  ( Rebbecca  Shaw).  Mrs. 
Shaw  then  visited  Nebraska  City  and  ob- 
tained second-hand  Sunday-school  supplies 
from  Mr.  W.  L.  Boydston,  of  the  Methodist 
church  of  that  place.  From  this  lively  root 
have  sprung  all  the  religious  activities  of 
Adams  township.  In  1861  D.  H.  Wheeler, 
representing  the  American  Sunday  School 
Union,  came  to  the  township  for  the  purpose 
of  establishing  a  Sunday  school,  but  he  found 
the  work  already  advanced  and  in  good 
hands.  In  1861  and  1862  the  school  was  held 
at  a  new  school  house  in  district  No.  2,  old 
Clay  county,  but  continuing  under  the  superin- 
tendency  of  Mrs.  Shaw.  In  1866  the  school 
was  held  in  a  log  house  on  what  was  known 
as  Chambers'  farm,  and  afterward  at  the 
Disher  farm,  now  owned  by  S.  B.  Fraper;  the 
superintendent  was  William  Curtis.  It  was 
afterward  held  in  a  barn  recently  built  by 
John  Lyons,  and  in  1868  and  1869  again  was 
held  in  the  school  house  of  district  No.  2.  In 
1870  school  district  No.  30  was  organized  and 
a  dug-out  school-house  was  made  on  the  land 
now  a  part  of  Adams  village.  In  this  place 
Matthew  Weaverling  (afterward,  for  three 
terms,  county  superintendent  of  schools  of 
Gage  county)  taught  the  first  school  in  that 
district.  In  1871  a  new  frame  building  was 
erected  one-half  mile  west  of  what  is  now  the 
village  of  Adams  and  the  Sunday  school  was 
transferred  to  it,  where  it  remained  until  1882, 
when  it  was  transferred  to  the  newly  built 
Methodist  Episcopal  church,  on  the  present 
high-school  grounds  in  the  village  of  Adams. 

This  had  been  a  union  Sunday  school  until 
this  time,  when  the  Presbyterians  withdrew  to 
their  own  newly  built  church,  and  organized 
as  a  denominational  school,  with  W.  C.  Gray 
as  superintendent.  The  remainder  organized 
as  a  Methodist  Episcopal  school,  with  Silas 
Bryson  as  superintendent.  In  the  early  '70s 
the  Baptists  organized  a  Sunday  school  in 
school  district  No.  2,  with  J.  H.  Lynch  and 
Charles  Whyman  as  principal  supporters. 

The  first  sermon  preached  in  Adams  town- 
ship was  by  Z.  B.  Tnmian,  at  the  home  of 
Stephen    and    Hannah    Shaw,    in    November, 


1859,  followed  in  1860  by  Rev.  Kindall,  both 
Methodists.  From  this  time  until  1867  Rev. 
Luther  Gibbs,  a  Baptist  homesteader,  served 
the  people.  In  that  year  Rev.  Leroy  F.  Britt, 
Methodist  minister  of  Tecumseh,  preached 
during  the  summer,  and  organized  a  class  of 
seven  persons,  namely :  William  Curtis,  Silas 
Bryson,  Mrs.  Clara  Bryson,  Mrs.  Almira 
Lyons,  Mrs.  Letitia  Adams,  Mrs.  Harriet 
Adams,  Mrs.  Robert  Howard.  Robert  How- 
ard was  appointed  leader.  In  1868  Silas  Bry- 
son was  elected  leader,  with  Rev.  George 
Paddock  pastor  in  charge.  In  1869-1870, 
Rev.  A.  L.  Folden  and  Rev.  J.  H.  Presson  were 
pastors  in  charge,  followed,  in  1872,  by  T.  A. 
Hull.  In  1873-1874  J.  H.  Presson ;  1875,  H.  P. 
Mann;  1876,  N.  W.  Van  Orsdal;  1877,  T.  A. 
Hull,  who  died  in  his  chair  while  holding  ser- 
vices in  the  Hooker  school  house;  1878,  H.  A. 
S.  King;  1879,  G.  W.  Walker;  1881,  Isaac 
New  —  all  were  pastors  of  the  Methodist  con- 
gregation. Within  these  years  the  first 
Methodist  Episcopal  church  was  built  and  the 
congregation  thereafter  was  served  by  J.  W. 
Taylor,  in  1883;  B.  C.  Phillips,  1884-1885;  J. 
S.  Orr,  1886;  M.  C.  Smith,  1887-1891;  A.  L. 
Folden,  1891  to  1894;  J.  J.  Stannard,  1894- 
1898;  Duke  Slavins,  1899-1902,  when  the  new 
church  was  built,  at  a  cost  of  $10,000. 

Rev.  Mr.  Wharton,  a  missionary  Baptist, 
organized  a  church  in  1869,  with  J.  H.  Lynch 
and  wife,  Charles  Whyman  and  family,  and 
others  as  its  supporters. 

The  First  Presbyterian  Church  was  organ- 
ized February  22,  1880,  by  Rev.  George  L. 
Little,  of  Omaha,  assisted  by  Rev.  A.  B.  Irwin, 
of  Beatrice.  William  A.  Gray  and  F.  G.  Dick- 
inson were  chosen  as  ruling  elders.  This 
church,  in  connection  with  its  Sunday  school, 
Christian  Endeavor  and  other  organized  ac- 
tivities, has  been  a  directive  force  in  the  de- 
velopment of  the  moral  uplift  of  the  commun- 
ity.   Rev.  W.  I.  Boole  is  the  present  pastor. 

The  Freewill  Baptists  and  the  Christian 
church  each  has  an  active  organization,  with 
Sunday  schools  and  Christian  Endeavor  so- 
cieties in  connection  therewith. 

The  following  named  societies  were  early 
organized  in  Adams :     Independent  Order  of 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


275 


Odd  Fellows,  Ancient  Free  &  Accepted  Ma- 
sons, Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  Women's 
Relief  Corps,  Sons  of  Veterans,  Woodmen  of 
the  World,  Royal  Highlanders,  Independent 
Order  of  Good  Templars,  and  others. 

In  November,  1905,  the  village  board  of 
trustees  granted  to  E.  J.  Shaw  and  his  suc- 
cessors, or  assigns,  the  right  to  install  an  elec- 
tric light  and  power  plant,  and  this  has  been 
in  constant  operation  since  that  date.  In  1915 
the  village  acquired  control  of  this  plant,  en- 
larged its  capacity  and  placed  it  on  a  modern 
basis,  since  which  time  it  has  been  giving  its 
patrons  the  best  of  service. 

The  Adams  Gazette,  Volume  I,  No.  1,  was 
issued  March  25,  1886,  by  W.  H.  Fitzgerald, 
and  this  was  the  beginning  of  newspaper  en- 
terprise in  Adams.  The  paper  soon  passed 
into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Snyder,  who  continued 
this  publication  until  1892,  when  M.  D.  Hor- 
ham  became  editor  and  proprietor.  In  1907 
the  present  owner  and  publisher,  E.  W.  Var- 
ner,  purchased  the  plant  and  he  has  given  to 
Adams  and  vicinity  probably  the  best  weekly 
newspaper  now  published  in  Gage  county. 

This  brief  summary  of  the  origin,  business 
interests,  religious  and  social  life  of  Adams 
was  prepared  in  the  main  by  Hon.  Homer  J. 
Merrick,  whose  life  has  been  so  long  identi- 
fied with  the  community  of  which  he  writes, 
and  it  modestly  omits  extended  reference  to 
the  citizens  of  Adams  and  the  country  tribu- 
tary to  it.  It  is  no  exaggeration,  nor  is  it  ful- 
some praise,  to  state  that  no  community  in  our 
county  is  more  distinguished  as  possessing  a 
large  intellectual  life  and  all  those  qualities 
and  attributes  of  character  which  go  to  make 
up  a  loyal,  enterprising  and  wholly  reliable 
citizenship  than  the  one  of  which  he  writes. 

BARNESTON 

The  village  of  Barneston,  one  of  the  inter- 
esting and  pretty  villages  of  southern  Gage 
county,  stands  on  historic  ground.  It  em- 
braces within  its  boundaries  the  site  of  the 
ancient  village  of  the  Otoe  Indians  and  their 
agency  buildings,  a  location  which  serves  as  a 
perpetual  reminder  to  the  old  settlers  and  their 
descendants    of    the    original    inhabitants    of 


Gage  county.  Barneston  is  located  on  the 
Union  Pacific  Railway  line  from  Valley,  Ne- 
braska, to  Manhattan,  Kansas,  via  Lincoln 
and  Beatrice.  It  is  named  for  Francis  M. 
Barnes,  who  was  a  member  of  the  original 
townsite  company  and  who  was  affiliated  by 
marriage  with  the  Otoe  Indian  tribe,  his  wife 
being  a  half-blood  Indian  woman,  a  daughter 
of  Andrew  Drips.  Mrs.  Barnes  was  born 
November  15,  1827,  in  Bellevue,  Nebraska, 
where  her  father  was  stationed  as  a  repre- 
.sentative  of  the  American  Fur  Company.  She 
was  educated  at  the  Convent  of  the  Visitation, 
at  Kaskaskia,  Illinois,  and  in  1856,  at  Kansas 
City,  Missouri,  she  became  the  wife  of  Fran- 
cis M.  Barnes.  In  1859  they  moved  to  the 
Territory  of  Nebraska,  and  later  they  settled 
near  the  Otoe  and  Missouri  Indians  in  Gage 
county.  As  far  as  known,  Mrs.  Barnes  is  the 
oldest  living  native  born  Nebraskan. 

The  townsite  of  Barneston  comprises  the 
greater  portion  of  the  northwest  quarter  of 
section  18,  township  1  north,  range  8  east, 
while  West  Barneston,  an  addition  to  the 
original  town,  lies  in  the  northeast  quarter  of 
section  13,  township  1  north,  range  7  east, 
where  the  railway  line,  sidetracks  and  station 
are  located.  The  owners  of  the  original  town- 
site  were  F.  M.  Barnes,  of  Barneston;  H.  R. 
W.  Hartwig,  of  St.  Joseph,  Missouri;  I.  N. 
Speer,  of  Hiawatha,  Kansas ;  and  H.  L. 
Ewing,  John  Ellis,  Charles  O.  Bates,  and  Al- 
fred Hazlett,  of  Beatrice,  Nebraska.  The  plat 
of  the  town  of  Barneston  was  filed  in  the  of- 
fice of  the  register  of  deeds  of  Gage  county. 
May  17,  1884.  The  plat  of  West  Barneston 
was  filed  on  August  3,  1883.  The  larger  por- 
tion of  the  business  establishments  of  the 
village  and  nearly  the  entire  residence  district 
are  in  the  original  town  of  Barneston,  which 
is  a  part  of  Liberty  township.  Some  years 
ago,  however,  the  county  board  annexed  the 
quarter  section  on  which  the  town  is  located 
to  Barneston  township  for  voting  and  other 
administrative  purposes. 

The  surroundings  of  the  village  are  roman- 
tically beautiful.  Near  by  on  the  north  is 
Wolf  creek,  a  living,  well  timbered  stream, 
and  on  the  south  is  beautiful  Plum  creek,  a 


276 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


never-failing  stream  of  water.  Towards  the 
west  is  the  Big  Bhie  river,  and  on  every  hand 
what  was  once  a  rolling  prairie  now  shows 
cultivated,  highly  improved,  thrifty  farms. 
It  is  to  the  eastern  part  of  the  old  Indian  res- 
ervation what  Odell  is  to  the  western  part, 
with  this  difference,  that  about  Barneston 
clings  the  romance  of  another  race. 

As  early  as  1873  there  was  a  trading  post  at 
the  Indian  village  where  Barneston  is  now 
located.  That  year  F.  M.  Barnes  opened  a 
store  with  a  general  stock  of  goods,  near  the 
agency  buildings,  which  he  maintained  until 
the  Indians  removed  to  Indian  Territory  (now 
Oklahoma),  in  1881.  In  1882,  prior  to  the 
founding  of  Barneston  village,  he  again  estab- 
lished a  store  at  this  point,  to  accommodate 
land  seekers  and  the  early  settlers  on  that  part 
of  the  old  Otoe  and  Missouri  Indian  reserva- 
tion. The  first  merchant  in  Barneston  after 
it  was  surveyed  and  platted  was  Patrick  Raw- 
ley,  who  conducted  a  general  merchandise 
store  there  until  1910;  he  now  lives  at  Falls 
City,  Nebraska.  He  was  soon  followed  by  A. 
G.  Keyes,  with  a  hardware  store.  The  first 
district  school-teacher  at  Barneston  was  a  man 
named  Harris.  In  1883  he  taught  a  school  in 
the  old  Indian  school  building,  a  structure 
fifty  by  ninety  feet,  two  stories  in  height. 
This  building  was  located  on  the  quarter-sec- 
tion of  land  just  east  of  Barneston.  It  was 
erected  by  the  United  States  government  for 
the  education  of  the  Indian  youths  and  maid- 
ens of  the  Otoe  and  Missouri  Indian  villages, 
and  some  years  ago  it  was  destroyed  by  fire. 

The  school  district  of  Barneston  was  or- 
ganized November  22,  1883,  at  the  residence 
of  William  Tauer,  and  it  has  since  been 
known  as  district  No.  116.  The  Barneston 
district  possesses  at  present  a  frame,  two- 
story  school  house  and  the  school  district  em- 
ploys four  teachers,  with  an  enrollment  of  ap- 
proximately ninety  pupils.  The  course  of 
study  includes  only  two  years  of  high-school 
work.  Recently  the  district  has  been  greatly 
augmented  by  being  consolidated  with  districts 
Nos.  119,  121,  177,  136,  and  137  into  a  county 
high  school,  with  approximately  one  hundred 
and  fifty  pupils.    It  is  planned  to  erect  for  the 


consolidated  district  a  new  school  building  in 
the  village  of  Barneston,  at  a  probable  cost 
of  $40,000,  and  when  this  building  is  com- 
pleted there  will  be  installed,  with  the  usual 
grades,  a  high  school  providing  four  years' 
work. 

A  United  States  postoffice  was  early  estab- 
lished in  Barneston,  with  F.  M.  Barnes  as  the 
first  postmaster.  Those  who  have  succeeded 
him  are  A.  G.  Keyes,  Edwin  Huddert,  Jesse 
C.  Wyatt,  and  Bertha  Hablitzle,  the  present 
incumbent.  Rural  free  delivery  of  mail  is 
maintained  at  Barneston,  the  service  now  be- 
ing performed  by  a  single  carrier. 

The  first  physician  in  Barneston  was  Dr. 
C.  S.  Smith,  who  remained  three  years.  Those 
who  have  followed  him  were  Drs.  Hinton,  J. 
I.  Gumaer,  J.  L.  Kirby,  U.  D.  Stone.  G.  W. 
Strough,  F.  J.  Bachle,  and  F.  J.  Woods.  All 
abandoned  the  field  but  Dr.  Woods,  who  has 
pursu-ed  his  calling  in  Barneston  and  vicinity 
so  many  years  and  so  successfully  that  he  has 
become  not  only  a  professional  but  a  social  and 
political  force. 

About  the  year  1884  James  Craig  opened 
a  private  bank  in  Barneston  and  he  continued 
in  business  there  until  1890.  He  was  succeed- 
ed by  the  Bank  of  Barneston,  incorporated, 
about  1890,  by  F.  M.  Barnes  and  C.  M.  War- 
ren, of  Barneston ;  John  Ellis,  Horace  L. 
Ewing,  W.  F.  King,  and  Harriet  Ewing,  of 
Beatrice;  and  W.  Q.  Bell,  of  Lincoln,  Ne- 
braska. This  banking  institution  is  still  in 
existence,  and  is  owned  and  officered  by  J.  A. 
Spencer,  president,  and  A.  D.  Spencer,  cash- 
ier. Since  1903  the  banking  business  at 
Barneston  has  been  shared  with  the  Commer- 
cial State  Bank  of  that  village.  J.  M.  Howe  is 
the  president,  and  Henry  Monfelt  the  cashier 
of  the  Commercial  State  Bank.  Both  banking 
institutions  are  in  a  flourishing  condition. 

In  addition  to  the  banks,  Barneston  has  two 
general  stores,  a  dnag  store,  hardware  store, 
grocery  store,  two  restaurants,  a  hotel,  two 
garages,  a  blacksmith  shop,  barber  shop,  lum- 
ber and  coal  yard,  pump  and  plumbing  estab- 
lishment, two  elevators,  a  meat  market,  and 
such  other  business  concerns  as  one  would  ex- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


277 


pect  to  find  in  a  village  of  like  size  and  char- 
acter. 

The  benevolent  and  other  orders  of  the 
village  consist  of  a  lodge  of  the  Ancient  Free 
&  Accepted  Masons,  Chapter  of  the  Eastern 
Star,  camp  of  the  Modern  Woodmen  of 
America,  and  organizations  of  the  Royal 
Neighbors  and  Royal  Highlanders. 

In  1889  the  Presbyterians  erected  a  fairly 
good  church  building  in  Bameston,  at  a  cost 
of  $1,200,  and  they  have  since  maintained  a 
church  organization  in  the  village.  The 
Catholics  also  have  an  organization  there, 
their  church  edifice  having  been  erected  in 
1892,  at  a  cost  of  $1,800. 

By  the  census  of  1910,  Barneston  was  given 
228  inhabitants.  Its  population  at  present 
(1918)  is  approximately  300.  In  general  ap- 
pearance Barneston  is  a  verj'  neat,  pretty,  at- 
tractive town.  Its  business  men  are  active, 
accommodating  and  public-spirited.  Barnes- 
ton has  furnished  members  of  the  legislature, 
Hon.  A.  D.  Spenser  having  served  in  both 
branches  of  that  body. 

Among  those  who  have  been  prominent  in 
shaping  the  destiny  of  Bameston  and  in  the 
management  of  its  afifairs  are  F.  M.  Barnes, 
W.  P.  \^^'att,  Matthew  Weaverling,  C.  W. 
Warren,  George  Pace,  A.  L.  Cook,  Patrick 
Rawley,  James  Ryan,  William  Tauer,  Joseph 
Guittard,  Jesse  C.  Wyatt,  Julius  Vogel,  A.  G. 
Keyes,  G.  D.  Barry,  William  Monfelt,  A.  D., 
Hugh,  and  J.  A.  Spencer,  Edward  Huddert, 
S.  S.  Ratcliff,  Timothy  Rawley,  Dennis  Sulli- 
van, James  Maliscky,  John  Wolken,  Lon  Tur- 
ner, Harry  Zook,  John  Anderson,  Frederick 
Barnes,  Jacob  Gutbrot,  and  F.  J.  Woods. 

CLATONIA 

Tucked  away  in  the  northwest  corner  of  the 
county  is  the  substantial  village  of  Clatonia, 
located  on  a  creek  of  that  name,  in  Clatonia 
township.  The  original  townsite  comprises  a 
forty-acre  tract,  in  sections  22  and  27.  Henry 
Albert  and  J.  PI.  Steinmeyer,  both  highly  es- 
teemed pioneer  residents  of  the  county,  were 
the  proprietors  of  Clatonia,  and  having  caused 
the  townsite  to  be  surveyed  and  platted  in  the 
spring  of  1892,  they  filed  the  plat  for  record  in 


the  ofiice  of  the  register  of  deeds,  December  3, 
1893.  Some  additions  have  been  made  to  Cla- 
tonia and  the  townsite  now  includes  about 
eighty  acres  of  land.  It  is  a  station  on  the 
main  line  of  the  Rock  Island  Railway  from 
Chicago  to  Denver,  via  Omaha,  Lincoln,  and 
Jansen.  It  is  about  twenty  miles  northwest  of 
Beatrice  and  about  the  same  distance  south- 
west of  Lincoln.  Prior  to  the  construction  of 
this  line  of  railroad  and  the  founding  of  Cla- 
tonia the  farmers  of  this  section  were  without 
immediate  market  facilities  for  the  produce  of 
their  lands,  and  Clatonia  township  and  other 
portions  of  the  northwest  corner  of  the  county 
divided  their  trade  with  Cortland,  DeWitt, 
Wilber,  and  Crete;  but  since  the  founding  of 
the  village,  that  scope  of  country  has  been 
given  an  excellent  market. 

Trains  began  operating  on  the  railway  line 
in  May,  1903,  and  Clatonia  quickly  grew  into 
a  thriving  country  village.  It  was  incorporated 
as  a  village  about  1893,  with  one  of  its 
founders,  J.  H.  Steinmeyer,  as  chairman  of 
the  village  board,  and  J.  I.  Moore  as  clerk. 
At  present  the  village  board  is  composed  of 
the  following  well  known  Clatonians :  E.  T- 
Chittenden,  president;  J.  E.  McCormick, 
clerk ;  and  C.  A.  Miller,  j.  H.  Meyer,  and  H. 
Suders. 

The  first  family  to  establish  a  residence  in 
the  village  was  that  of  Frank  W.  Jones,  and 
Mr.  Jones  was  also  Clatonia's  first  postmaster. 
The  first  merchant  in  Clatonia  was  a  Mr.  Jac- 
quith.  The  first  child  born  in  the  village  was 
Gladys  Berkheimer.  The  first  church  was  the 
German  Methodist  Episcopal,  an  organization 
which  as  early  as  1871  had  erected  a  church 
building  on  the  tract  of  land  which  afterward 
became  Clatonia.  In  1903  the  English-speak- 
ing Methodists  organized  a  church  and  erected 
a  house  of  worship. 

About  1893  John  H.  and  William  Stein- 
meyer organized  the  Farmers'  Bank  of  Cla- 
tonia, and  about  1900  erected  a  substantial, 
brick,  bank  building,  which  it  now  occupies. 
Henry  Albert  is  now  president  of  this  bank; 
J.  H.  Steinmeyer,  vice-president;  and  E.  J. 
Chittenden,  cashier.  Later  the  Steinmeyers 
built  a  substantial  village  inn,  and  in  1894  J. 


278 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


H.  Steinmeyer  built  a  large  grain  elevator, 
which  is  now  owned  by  the  Farmers  Elevator 
&  Grain  Company  of  Clatonia. 

The  school  district  of  Clatonia  was  organ- 
ized in  1894,  at  the  house  of  Henry  Albert. 
The  district  has  a  frame,  two-story  school- 
house  of  three  rooms,  employs  three  teachers 
and  has  an  enrollment  of  about  sixty  pupils. 
In  addition  to  the  usual  eight  grades  it  offers 
a  two  years'  high-school  course  of  study. 

In  addition  to  the  various  business  and  other 
interests  here  mentioned,  Clatonia  has  two 
general  stores,  two  hardware  stores,  a  lumber 
yard,    drug    store,    hotel,    elevator,    privately 


land  township,  within  a  mile  of  the  north  line 
of  the  county.  It  is  a  station  on  the  Union 
Pacific  Railway  line  from  Valley,  Nebraska, 
to  Manhattan,  Kansas.  The  original  town- 
site  comprises  the  east  half  of  the  northeast 
quarter  of  section  11  in  this  township.  The 
land  was  bought  from  Alfred  Gale  by  Joseph 
H.  Millard,  of  Omaha,  in  1883,  about  the 
time  of  the  construction'  of  what  was  then 
known  as  the  Omaha  &  Republican  Valley 
Railroad,  a  branch  then,  as  now,  of  the  Union 
Pacific  system.  Millard  caused  the  tract  to 
be  surveyed  and  platted  and  the  plat  was  iiled 
for  record   February  4,    1884.     Mr.   Millard, 


owned  electric-lighting  plant,  two  garages,  a 
blacksmith  shop,  and  such  other  business  en- 
terprises as  are  common  in  Nebraska  villages 
of  its  population.  The  village  also  owns  its 
waterworks  system. 

The  postofhce,  with  Mr.  G.  M.  Ludick  as 
postmaster,  gives  rural  free  delivery  to  Cla- 
tonia patrons,  a  service  performed  by  a  single 
carrier. 

Clatonia  has  a  population  of  180  by  the  fed- 
eral census  of  1910.  It  is  substantially  built, 
many  of  the  business  houses  being  of  brick, 
and  is  the  center  of  a  large  German- American 
neighborhood,  some  of  whose  members  were 
pioneers  in  Gage  county,  —  notably  Henry  Al- 
bert, J.  H.  Steinmeyer,  Henry  Steinmeyer, 
and   William   Steinmeyer. 

CORTLAND 
The  village  of  Cortland  is  situated  in  High- 


who  was  afterward  United  States  senator 
from  Wisconsin,  was  at  that  time  a  director 
in  the  Union  Pacific  Railway  Company.  The 
station  buildings  and  the  railroad  yards  at 
Cortland  are  situated  on  this  tract  of  land. 
The  depot  was  built  in  the  spring  of  1884.  A 
strip  of  land  in  section  12,  east  of  the  railroad 
right-of-way,  platted  in  1884  by  the  owner 
Frank  H.  Oberman,  and  Malone's  Addition, 
on  the  north,  also  platted  in  1884,  have  been 
added  to  the  original  townsite. 

The  first  merchant  in  Cortland  was  Henry 
Spellman,  who  hauled  lumber  from  Firth,  in 
Lancaster  county,  and  erected  a  building  upon 
the  townsite  in  the  winter  of  1883-1884,  where 
he  conducted  a  general  merchandise  store.  In 
the  spring  of  1884  Wallingford  &  Masterman 
established  a  farm-implement  store  in  Cort- 
land, Downs  &  Hickman  a  general  store,  and 
Fred   Wittstruck  erected  a  building  used  by 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


279 


him  as  a  boarding  house  or  hotel.  In  the 
winter  of  1883-1884,  L.  A.  Simmons,  now 
sheriff  of  Lancaster  county,  erected  the  first 
residence  on  the  townsite.  Some  of  the  early 
merchants  in  Cortland  were  LaSalle  &  Fisk, 
J.  C.  Wanier  and  Kurtz  Brothers,  who  con- 
ducted general  stores ;  I.  M.  Scott,  a  hardware 
merchant ;  and  Baum  &  Scott,  druggists. 

In  its  early  history  Cortland  acquired  bank- 
ing facilities,  James  Scanlon  and  J.  H.  Ballard 
having  established  the  Bank  of  Cortland 
about  1885.  They  were  succeeded  by  Jacob 
Bond.  During  the  great  panic  of  1893  this 
bank  failed;  but  later  Thomas  Burling  re- 
opened it,  and  after  conducting  it   for  some 


one  of  the  first  settlers  in  Highland  township, 
having  located  on  a  homestead  in  1872.  In 
1889  he  was  one  of  Gage  county's  representa- 
tives in  the  state  legislature  and  he  was  always 
recognized  as  a  citizen  of  sterling  worth.  At 
the  present  time  Mrs.  Martha  Gletty  is  post- 
mistress. The  rural  districts  at  Cortland  are 
supplied  with  free  mail  delivery,  this  service 
being  performed  by  two  carriers. 

The  churches  at  Cortland  are  the  Congre- 
gational church,  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church,  the  Catholic  church  and  the  Seventh 
Day  Adventist  church.  The  Congregational 
and  the  Catholic  churches  were  organized  in 
1885  and  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  was 


time  he  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  F.  A.  Bur- 
ling. Recently  the  bank  has  been  sold  to  R.  A. 
Nickell.  About  1912  the  Farmers  State  Bank 
of  Cortland  was,  organized,  with  C.  P.  Potts, 
president,  and  E.  L.  Pothast,  cashier.  Both 
of  these  banks  are  well  patronized  and  doing 
a  lucrative  business. 

A  postoffice  was  established  in  Highland 
township  about  1872,  with  J.  P.  Clough,  post- 
master. It  was  located  on  his  farm,  six  miles 
southwest  of  Cortland  and  was  known  as 
Highland  Center.  On  the  founding  of  the 
village  of  Cortland  this  postoffice  was  discon- 
tinued. Among  those  who  have  served  as 
postmaster  at  Cortland  was  A.  B.  McNickle, 
now  a  resident  of  Ashland,  Kansas,  who  was 
for  many  years  justice  of  the  peace  and  post- 
master in  the  village,  and  who  was  one  of  the 
first  men  to  locate  there.     Mr.  McNickle  was 


recently  organized.  All  these  churches  have 
substantial  church  buildings. 

The  benevolent  and  fraternal  orders  at  Cort- 
land are  the  Ancient  Free  &  Accepted  Masons, 
Modern  Woodmen  of  America,  Royal  High- 
landers and  Knights  and  Ladies  of  Security. 

Since  1884  Cortland  has  supported  a  weekly 
newspaper.  Its  founders  were  Conant  & 
Bloom ;  it  has  had  numerous  editors  and  pro- 
prietors. Until  quite  recently  it  was  known 
as  the  Cortland  Sun.  but  it  is  now  called  the 
Cortland  Nczvs. 

The  first  school  in  Cortland  was  an  ordi- 
nary district  school,  with  the  school-house  lo- 
cated on  the  Union  Pacific  right-of-way.  Latei 
this  building  was  moved  to  a  better  location, 
and  it  served  several  years  as  the  village 
school-house.  Cortland  now  possesses  a  fine 
two-story,  brick  school-house,  with  basement, 


280 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


which  was  erected  in  1916  at  an  approximate 
cost  of  $20,000.  The  district  employs  seven 
teachers  and  there  is  an  enrollment  of  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  pupils.  It  offers  a  four 
years'  course  of  study  in  the  high  school, 
which  ranks  with  those  of  Beatrice  and  other 
large  cities. 

Cortland  has  two  general  stores,  a  grocery 
store,  drug  store,  three  garages,  blacksmith 
shop,  meat  market,  two  restaurants,  two  ele- 
vators, a  lumber  yard  and  a  small  private 
electric-lighting  plant. 

Although  without  fire  protection  except  a 
volunteer  brigade,  the  village  has  never  suf- 
fered any  disastrous  fire.  The  federal  cen- 
sus of  1910  gives  Cortland  a  population  of 
three  hundred  and  ninety.  Its  present  popu- 
lation is  somewhat  larger,  as  the  village  is  in  a 
prosperous,  growing  condition. 

Cortalnd  was  organized  as  a  village  undei 
the  laws  of  Nebraska  many  years  ago  and  has 
been  one  of  the  most  efficiently  governed 
municipal  corporations  in  the  county.  Its 
present  village  board  consists  of  K.  Slot, 
Thomas  Sargent,  C.  H.  Pfeift'er,  F.  H.  Bear 
and  J.  A.  Johnson. 

FILLEY 

The  village  of  Filley  is  a  station  thirteen 
miles  out  from  Beatrice  on  the  Burlington 
line  of  railroad.  It  is  situated  in  the  midst 
of  a  fine  section  of  the  county  and  since  its 
founding  has  been  the  center  of  a  wealthy 
farming  community.  It  is  located  on  the 
northwest  quarter  of  section  28,  in  Filley 
township.  It  was  founded  by  Elijah  Filley, 
the  owner  of  this  tract  of  ground,  in  the  spring 
of  1882  at  the  time  of  the  Tecumseh-Auburn 
branch  of  the  Burlington  Railroad  was  con- 
structed. The  plat  of  the  village  was  filed  for 
record  by  the  incorporators,  Elijah  and  Emma 
Filley,  April  22,  1883. 

The  first  mercantile  establishment  in  Filley 
was  the  general  merchandise  store  of  Lewel- 
len  &  Axtell.  This  was  followed  by  a  hard- 
ware store  belonging  to  Charles  G.  Dorsey,  of 
Beatrice,  but  managed  by  John  W.  Wright, 
who  later  acquired  the  stock  by  purchase  from 
Dorsey.     Both  these  pioneer  merchants,  Lew- 


ellen  and  Wright,  remained  in  business  in 
Filley  for  many  years  and  both  amassed  sung 
fortunes.  Lewellen  is  now  a  prominent  citi- 
zen of  Thedford,  Thomas  county,  Nebraska, 
and  Mr.  Wright  died  a  few  years  ago,  deeply 
mourned  by  his  entire  community.  Dr.  I.  N. 
Pickett,  now  of  Odell,  was  the  first  physician 
to  locate  here,  though  Dr.  L.  D.  Boggs,  now 
of  Oklahoma  City,  who  had  settled  on  a  farm 
in  that  neighborhood  in  1874,  had  practised 
his  profession  as  a  physician  continuously 
from  that  date  and  for  many  years  thereafter, 
in  Filley  and  its  vicinity.  His  son.  Dr. 
Charles  S.  Boggs,  is  the  present  resident  phy- 
sician. 

W.  A.  Waddington  was  the  first  postmaster, 
and  later,  while  a  resident  of  Filley,  was 
elected  sheriff  of  Gage  county.  At  present 
James  F.  Boggs  is  the  postmaster.  Filley  has 
free  rural  delivery  of  the  mails,  which  gives 
employment  to  two  carriers. 

Filley  possesses  two  general  stores,  a  gro- 
cery store,  a  restaurant,  two  elevators,  three 
garages,  a  drug  store,  lumber  yard,  and  other 
business  enterprises  usually  to  be  found  in  a 
village  of  its  population  in  this  section  of  the 
country. 

The  fraternal  and  benevolent  orders  of  Fil- 
ley are  the  Ancient  Free  &  Accepted  Masons, 
Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  Modem 
Woodmen  of  America,  Ancient  Order  of 
United  Workmen  and  Royal  Highlanders. 

In  1885  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church 
building  was  erected,  and  this  denomination 
has  maintained  an  organization  at  Filley  ever 
since.  Early  in  the  history  of  the  village  the 
Baptist  church  also  was  organized  and  a 
church  edifice  erected.  This  building,  about 
1902,  was  destroyed  by  fire  and  was  never  re- 
built, and  the  organization  disbanded.  In 
1888  the  Christian  denomination  erected  a 
church  in  Filley  and  has  since  maintained  its 
organization. 

Filley  school  district  was  organized  May  2, 
1868,  the  first  meeting  of  the  voters  being  held 
at  the  home  of  Elijah  Filley.  The  first 
school-teacher  in  the  district  was  Matthew 
Weaverling,  who  taught  several  very  success- 
ful schools  here.     He  afterward  taught  in  the 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


281 


city  schools  of  Beatrice  and  was  for  six  years 
county  superintendent  of  schools  in  Gage 
county.  The  present  school  building  in  Filley 
is  a  substantial  three-room,  frame  structure. 
The  district  employs  three  teachers  and  the 
school  has  an  enrollment  of  sixty-five  pupils. 
The  course  of  study  at  present  includes  two 
years'  high-school  work.  June  8,  1918,  on 
proper  notices,  Filley  school  district  No.  9,  ef- 
fected a  consolidation  with  districts  Nos.  43, 
93  and  120.  The  consolidated  district  will 
hereafter  be  known  as  district  No.  166.  This 
consolidated  district  is  about  to  vote  on  a  prop- 
osition to  issue  its  bonds  in  the  sum  of  $50,- 
000,  to  be  used  in  the  erection  and  equip- 
ment of  a  new  school  building.  The  school 
population  of  the  district  is  approximately  one 
hundred  and  seventy-five  pupils.  Under  the 
new  arrangement  the  district  will  give  em- 
ployment to  seven  or  eight  teachers  and,  with 
the  usual  grades,  there  will  be  a  four  years' 
high-school  course. 

In  addition  to  its  other  interests,  Filley 
boasts  a  substantial  bank,  the  State  Bank  of 
Filley,  of  which  Earl  Norcross  is  cashier  and 
the  manager  in  charge. 

To  the  present  world  war  Filley  has  contri- 
buted eight  of  its  young  men,  namely :  Ray 
H.  Noakes,  now  in  the  aviation  service  in 
France ;  C.  W.  Hazelton,  William  Thomas,  C. 
J.  Saum,  Milo  Laflin,  Elmer  Hansen,  now  at 
Camp  Cody ;  Claude  Saum,  at  the  Great  Lakes 
Naval  Training  Station;  Delbert  Edgerton,  at 
Camp   Logan. 

Filley  has  had  several  disastrous  fires,  but, 
with  great  tenacity,  has  endeavored  to  over- 
come these  calamities,  and  the  village  is  now 
substantially  built  up  with  attractive  brick 
business  houses. 

At  the  last  census  the  village  had  a  popula- 
tion of  two  hundred.  It  probably  exceeds 
that  number  now.  Filley  was  organized  into 
a  village  under  the  laws  of  Nebraska  many 
years  ago  and  has  maintained  its  organization 
until  the  present  time.  The  village  board  at 
present  consists  of  the  following  well  known 
gentlemen :  T.  C.  Hagerman,  Hans  Anderson, 
Christ  Christiansen,  Charles  Parker,  and  John 
V.  Clark. 


Among  those  who  have  contributed  to  the 
growth  and  prosperity  of  the  village  since  its 
founding  are  Elijah  and  Emma  Filley  (now 
of  Des  Moines,  Iowa),  Charles  S.  and  James 
F.  Boggs,  P.  T.  Lewellen,  John  W.  Wright, 
Hans  Anderson,  Daniel  F.  Kees,  W.  A.  Wad- 
dington,  T.  C.  Hagerman,  P.  M.  Anderson,  A. 
C.  Tilton,  Christ  Christiansen,  H.  M.  Miller, 
Charles  Parker,  Dr.  L.  B.  Boggs,  John  V. 
Clark,  J.  F.  Burbank,  Earl  Norcross,  Dr.  I. 
N.   Pickett,   and  Erastus   W.    Starlin. 

LIBERTY 

The  village  of  Liberty  is  located  on  the  main 
line  of  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  Rail- 
road between  Chicago  and  Denver,  by  way  of 
St.  Joseph.  The  townsite  comprises  a  part 
of  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  35,  a  part 
of  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  36,  in 
Island  Grove  township,  besides  a  part  of  the 
northwest  quarter  of  section  1  and  part  of  the 
northeast  quarter  of  section  2  in  Liberty 
township ;  it  lies  within  a  mile  of  the  east  line 
of  Gage  county.  It  is  the  trade  center  of  quite 
a  scope  of  rich  farming  land  in  both  Gage  and 
Pawnee  counties.  The  original  townsite  was 
owned  b}-  Nathaniel  Cain,  Frank  Muchmore, 
and  Allen  B.  Jimmerson.  It  was  deeded  by 
them  to  the  Lincoln  Land  Company  and  the 
plat  of  the  town  was  filed  in  the  office  of  the 
register  of  deeds  in  Gage  county  on  the  19th 
day  of  June,  1881.  The  railroad  was  built 
through  the  county  in  1881  and  trains  began 
running  in  the  fall  of  that  year. 

In  the  early  '70s  Cornelius  S.  Wymore  had 
been  appointed  postmaster  for  this  community 
and  the  office  was  called  Liberty.  It  was  on 
his  fann,  half  a  mile  west  of  the  present  town. 
In  1879  he  opened  a  drug  store  in  connection 
with  the  postoffice.  At  that  time  the  mails 
were  carried  twice  a  week  between  Pawnee 
City  and  Blue  Springs.  When  the  village  was 
laid  out,  its  founders  adopted  the  name  of 
Mr.  Wymore's  postoffice  as  a  suitable  cogno- 
men for  the  prospective  town. 

The  little  village  built  up  rapidly.  The  first 
merchant  was  E.  W.  Lane,  who,  as  early  as 
1882,  had  a  general  merchandise  store.  Mr. 
Lane's  venture  was  soon  followed  by  others, 


282 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


and  in  a  short  time  Liberty  was  a  town  of 
several  hundred  people,  in  which  every  class 
of  business  was  represented,  —  general  stores, 
restaurants,  drug  store,  hardware  stores,  lum- 
ber yard,  elevators,  barber  shops,  meat  mark- 
ets and  the  like. 

The  first  bank  was  organized  in  1882  by 
Frank  Stewart  and  E.  E.  Harden.  With 
varying  fortunes,  as  Harden  &  Stewart's  Bank, 
Bank  of  Liberty,  First  National  Bank  of  Lib- 
erty, it  has  had  a  continuous  existence  since 
its  founding.  It  is  now  known  as  the  State 
Bank  of  Liberty  and  is  affiliated  with  the  First 
National  Bank  of  Beatrice.  It  is  still  the  lead- 
ing banking  institution  in  the  village.  In  the 
year  1917  the  Farmers  State  Bank  of  Liberty 
was  organized,  and  this  bank  also  is  in  a  flour- 
ishing condition. 

The  orders  now  in  existence  at  Liberty  are 
the  Ancient  Free  &  Accepted  Masons,  the  In- 
dependent Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  the  Modem 
Woodmen  of  America,  with  their  auxiliaries, 
and  the  Royal  Highlanders. 

For  many  years  the  Missionary  Baptists 
have  maintained  an  organization  in  Liberty 
township.  This  church  was  one  of  the  pio- 
neer churches  of  the  county  and  known  among 
Baptists  throughout  the  state  of  Nebraska. 
After  Liberty  was  founded,  the  organization 
built  a  church  building  in  the  village,  and  it 
is  still  a  live  and  active  member  of  the  Bap- 
tist denomination  in  Gage  county.  The 
Christian  denomination  also  have  maintained 
an  organization  in  Liberty  and  own  a  substan- 
tial, well  built  church.  At  one  time  there  were 
a  i\Iethodist  and  two  Presbyterian  churches 
in  Liberty,  but  a  few  years  ago  these  were  con- 
solidated into  a  Congregational  church.  The 
history  of  this  consolidation  is  interestingly 
set  forth  in  a  statement  by  the  Rev.  N.  L. 
Packard,  which,  on  account  of  its  general  in- 
terest in  showing  what  may  be  done  in  such 
cases,  is  here  given  in  full. 

"One  of  the  most  interesting  attempts  at 
church  union  ever  known  in  the  state  was  that 
of  Liberty,  Gage  county.  Liberty,  a  village 
of  four  hundred  people  and  a  well  settled 
country  adjacent,  had  for  years  tried  to  sup- 
port five  Protestent  American  churches.  There 


were  five  church  buildings  and  sometimes  five 
half-starved  preachers.  It  seemed  a  poor  use 
of  home-missionary  funds  to  keep  these 
churches  running. 

"Three  of  these  churches,  Presbyterian, 
United  Presbyterian  and  Methodist  Episcopal, 
felt  that  a  union  must  in  some  way  be  effected. 
But  as  the  three  were  of  about  equal  strength, 
the  problem  which  seemed  impossible  to  solve 
was  which  one  should  survive  and  which  two 
must  be  swallowed  up.  The  matter  ran  on 
for  several  years,  when  a  happy  suggestion 
was  made  by  a  layman  in  the  United  Presby- 
terian church.  That  was  for  all  three  churches 
to  disband  and  organize  a  Congregational 
church,  as  there  was  no  church  of  this  name 
in  the  place  and  its  polity  made  it  generally  ac- 
ceptable to  people  of  all  evangelical  faiths. 

"It  was  finally  agreed  that  when  eighty  per 
cent,  of  the  membership  agreed  to  the  plan 
the  move  should  be  made.  When  the  paper 
was  circulated,  almost  one  hundred  per  cent, 
of  each  church  signed,  as  well  as  some  who 
were  not  members  of  any  of  the  three.  Some 
hoped  that  all  five  churches  might  combine, 
but  the  Baptists  and  the  Disciples  decided  to 
continue  their  organizations. 

"A  committee  of  nine,  three  from  each  of 
the  consolidating  churches,  was  chosen  to  man- 
age alTairs  until  the  new  organization  could 
be  effected.  After  the  local  people  had  de- 
cided to  form  a  Congregational  church,  the 
committee  asked  State  Superintendent  S.  I. 
Hanford  to  send  them  a  minister  who  could 
shepherd  the  flock  and  help  them  to  organize. 
Rev.  N.  L.  Packard,  of  Lincoln,  the  state  gen- 
eral missionary,  was  called  to  the  important 
task.  He  found  a  very  delightful  people  to 
work  with,  and  by  December,  1911,  property 
interests  were  arranged  and  a  church  organi- 
zation effected  under  the  name  of  the  First 
Congregational  Church  of  Liberty,  Nebraska. 

"The  old  Presbyterian  church  building  and 
parsonage  were  turned  over  to  the  new  or- 
ganization, on  the  simple  condition  of  their 
meeting  some  small  indebtedness.  The  United 
Presbyterian  church  building  was  bought  at  a 
small  figure,  and  both  were  in  use  for  a  time. 
At  length,  however,  the  last  named  building 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


283 


was  enlarged  and  a  basement  placed  under  it, 
and  the  other  building  sold.  The  parsonage 
continued  in  use  for  the  new  pastor. 

"The  three  Sunday  schools  were  running 
with  an  average  attendance  of  about  thirty, 
but  the  new  school  started  out  with  a  mem- 
bership of  nearly  two  hundred,  and  an  aver- 
age attendance  for  the  following  six  years  of 
more  than  one  hundred  and  thirty.  The 
church  membership  was  not  over  forty  each 
before  the  union,  but  the  new  church  was  or- 
ganized with  one  hundred  and  sixty  members 
and  has  increased  in  numbers  each  succeeding 
year.  Rev.  N.  L.  Packard  became  so  inter- 
ested in  the  field  that  he  resigned  his  state 
work  and  accepted  a  unanimous  call  to  be- 
come pastor.  He  filled  out  six  very  pleasant 
years,  and  the  Rev.  Calvin  Holbrook  is  at  the 
present  writing  leading  the  church  in  a  very 
successful  pastorate. 

"No  sectarian  divisions  liave  arisen  during 
the  years  and  a  spirit  of  general  harmony  has 
been  maintained.  Letters  have  come  from 
many  states  in  the  Union,  asking  'How  was  it 
done?'  Just  such  a  consolidation  of  church 
interests  is  demanded  in  many  towns. 

N.  L.  Packard, 
Wahoo,  Nebraska" 
Liberty  was  organized  as  a  village  in  1883, 
under  the  statutes  of  the  state  of  Nebraska, 
and  it  has  maintained  its  village  organization 
up  to  the  present  time.  The  present  village 
board  consists  of  W.  D.  Huntington  (chair- 
man), L.  E.  Baldwin,  (clerk),  WilHam  Har- 
mon, Jacob  Jimmerson,  James  Bloom,  and  H. 
H.  Kirschner. 

One  of  the  first  school  districts  organized 
in  the  county  was  the  Plum  Creek  district,  now 
Liberty  district.  In  ^  reorganization  in  1868, 
for  the  purpose  of  numbering  the  districts  of 
the  county,  this  district  was  given  number  27, 
a  number  that  it  still  retains.  The  Liberty 
public  school,  into  which  the  old  Plum  Creek 
district  has  grown,  is  one  of  the  highly  rated 
schools  of  the  county.  The  district  owns  a 
fine,  two-story,  brick  school  building,  employs 
six  teachers  and  has  an  enrollment  of  approxi- 
mately one  hundred  and  fifty  pupils. 

Liberty  has  suffered  several  disastrous  fires. 


but  phoenix-like,  has  risen  from  its  ashes,  and 
to-day,  with  a  population  of  over  four  hun- 
dred, is  one  of  the  interesting  and  pretty  vil- 
lages of  our  county. 

The  Liberty  Journal  was  established  by  a 
member  of  the  well  known  Olmstead  family, 
in  1882,  shortly  after  the  founding  of  the  vil- 
lage. It  had  had  a  continuous  unbroken  ex- 
istence from  that  day  to  this  and  is  now  owned 
and  edited  by  J.  Franklin  Spence. 

Some  of  the  early  settlers  of  Liberty  town- 
ship and  vicinity  were : 

Nathaniel  P.  Cain,  deceased,  a  native  of 
Tennessee,  born  in  1823,  homesteaded  in  Lib- 
erty township  in  1865.  Stephen  Evans,  de- 
ceased, a  native  of  Ohio,  born  in  1823,  set- 
tled in  Liberty  township  in  1866.  Sylvester 
Fisher,  a  native  of  Ohio,  born  in  1833,  came 
to  Nebraska  in  1859,  locating  in  Pawnee 
county,  just  over  the  line  from  Liberty,  moved 
to  Liberty  township  in  1868.  James  Gay,  a 
native  of  England,  born  in  18-H-,  immigrated 
to  America  in  1869.  He  located  in  Beatrice 
in  1879,  and  in  1880  in  Liberty,  where  he  is 
"The  Village  Blacksmith."  A.  P.  McMains, 
a  native  of  Indiana,  born  in  1831,  came  to  Ne- 
braska in  1858  and  to  Liberty  township  in 
March,  1860.  F.  M.  Muchmore,  deceased,  a 
native  of  Ohio,  born  in  1832,  located  on  Tur- 
key creek,  in  Johnson  county,  in  1866,  and  in 
Liberty  township  in  1868.  Cornelius  S.  Wy- 
more,  a  native  of  Indiana,  bom  in  1841,  lo- 
cated in  Pawnee  county  in  1861,  served  in 
Company  D,  Second  Kansas  Cavalry  from 
1861  to  1865,  and  he  was  first  postmaster  of 
Liberty.  Peter  Bollinger,  native  of  Claibourne 
county,  Tennessee,  born  in  1840,  came  to  Lib- 
erty township  in  1867.  He  became  known  as 
a  Baptist  minister,  farmer,  school-teacher,  was 
a  man  of  sterling  character,  able  and  useful, 
and  he  now  resides  in  Graham  county.  Kan- 
sas. Allen  B.  Jimmerson,  native  of  Clai- 
bourne county,  Tennessee,  settled  on  the  south- 
east quarter  of  section  35,  township  2,  range  8, 
Gage  county,  in  1874,  a  part  of  his  old  farm 
being  included  in  village  of  Liberty.  A  man 
of  .fine  character,  generous,  friendly,  honest 
and  able,  he  died  in  1916,  leaving  many  des- 
cendants.    Jonathan  Sharp,  a  native  of  Clai- 


284 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


bourne  county,  Tennessee,  was  born  June  23, 
1826.  He  came  to  Liberty  township  in  1864 
and  settled  across  Plum  creek,  just  south  of 
the  village  of  Liberty.  He  died  about  twenty 
years  ago,  a  man  of  fine  character,  honest, 
able,  active  in  county  and  local  afifairs,  and 
much  esteemed  by  all  who  ever  knew  him,  for 
kindness  of  heart  and  generous  hospitality. 

Most  of  the  men  here  mentioned  were  from 
the  state  of  Tennessee.  Nearly  all  have  passed 
away,  leaving  behind  them  nothing  but  the 
most  kindly  remembrances.  They  would  have 
graced  any  community  in  the  world  as  honest, 
worthy,  independent  citizens.  Such  as  these 
have  given  the  village  of  Liberty  high  standing 
in  Gage  county. 

ODELL 

This  neat  and  compact  Gage  county  village 
is  an  important  station  on  the  main  line  of  the 
Burlington  Railroad  system  between  Chicago 
and  Denver,  via  St.  Joseph,  Missouri,  and  is 
a  junction  point  where  originates  the  branch 
line  to  Concordia,  Kansas,  via  Lanham,  Ne- 
braska, and  Hanover,  Washington  and  other 
Kansas  towns.  It  was  the  first  village  founded 
on  the  old  Otoe  and  Missouri  Indian  reserva- 
tion. Prior  to  the  founding  of  Odell,  William 
B.  LaGorgue  had  surveyed  and  platted  a  town- 
site  on  his  farm,  on  the  south  side  of  Big 
Indian  creek,  a  mile  or  so  from  Odell,  and 
christened  it  Charleston.  A  start  had  been 
made  toward  establishing  a  town  there  when, 
in  1880,  the  railroad  was  surveyed  north  of  the 
creek  and  the  village  of  Odell  was  founded. 
All  who  had  cast  in  their  lot  with  Charleston 
moved  to  Odell  and  were  instrumental  in  giv- 
ing that  prospective  village  its  first  start  on 
what  has  proved  a  pfosperous  and  happy  ex- 
istence. 

The  village  is  located  a  little  north  of  Big 
Indian  creek,  one  of  the  prettiest  and  most 
important  streams  of  southern  Gage  county. 
It  is  a  living  stream,  and  in  the  early  days  was 
well  timbered;  along  its  course  near  Odell  a 
good  quarry  of  limestone  was  found  from 
which  several  of  the  buildings  of  the  village 
were  constructed.  The  village  is  planted  in 
the  midst  of  a  thriving  and  wealthy  farming 


community.  Nowhere  in  the  county  are  there 
better  farm  buildings,  better  tilled,  better  kept 
farms,  better  orchards,  roads  or  school  build- 
ings than  in  the  vicinage  of  Odell 

Odell  is  partly  in  Glenwood  and  partly  in 
Paddock  township,  and  is  located  on  land  orig- 
inally bought  by  Perry  Walker,  in  1879,  from 
the  United  States  government,  as  agent  and 
guardian  of  the  Indians.  He,  in  1880,  sold  it 
to  J.  D.  Myers,  of  Chicago,  and  by  the  latter 
an  undivided  half-interest  in  the  tract  compris- 
ing the  original  townsite  was  sold  to  Charles 
E.  Perkins,  representing  the  Lincoln  Land 
Company,  an  organization  composed  chiefly 
of  the  officials  and  employes  of  the  Burlington 
Railroad  system.  Mr.  Perkins  himself  was  at 
that  time,  or  afterward,  president  of  the  Bur- 
lington Railroad  Company.  The  original 
townsite  covered  part  of  the  west  half  of  the 
southwest  quarter  of  section  18,  township  1 
north,  of  range  6  east,  and  part  of  the  east  half 
of  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  13,  town- 
ship 1  north,  range  5  east.  It  was  surveyed 
and  platted  by  Anselmo  B.  Smith,  September 
21,  1880.  The  plat  was  i^led  in  the  office  of 
the  register  of  deeds  of  Gage  county  Novem- 
ber 11,  1884,  with  the  Lincoln  Land  Company 
(by  Charles  E.  Perkins,  its  president,)  and 
James  D.  and  Elizabeth  A.  Myers,  as  incor- 
porators. It  was  named  after  LeGrand  Odell, 
of  Chicago,  a  friend  of  Myers  who  had  in- 
duced him  to  come  west  from  Chicago  and  lo- 
cate at  Odell,  and  who  on  account  of  his  rela- 
tions with  the  Burlington  officials  or  some  of 
them,  was  instrumental  in  giving  his  friend  a 
start  in  this  venture. 

The  first  merchant  of  Odell  was  Mike  Tris- 
key,  who  moved  his  store  from  Charleston  to 
the  new  village  on  the  railway  line.  Things 
moved  very  rapidly  then.  The  entire  county 
and  state  were  new  and  filling  with  new  people. 
Immigrants  flocked  to  the  new  towns  along 
the  railroad  lines,  and  villages  w^re  born 
over  night.  Odell  soon  had  a  supply  of 
stores,  shops  and  business  houses  of  every 
kind,  and  by  1882  it  was  a  prosperous,  thriv- 
ing village. 

In  its  early  history  James  D.  Myers  built 
what  was  called  "The  Store  on  the  Hill."  for  a 


286 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


long  time  the  most  sightly  and  imposing  struc- 
ture in  the  village.  Here  he  kept  a  general 
merchandise  store  and  did  a  small  banking 
business.  But  he  was  not  a  very  good  busi- 
ness man  and  soon  others  easily  eclipsed  him. 
He  died  some  years  ago,  a  poor  man,  having 
let  slip  the  opportunity  to  make  a  snug  for- 
ture.  His  chief  competitors  were  F.  R.  Joy 
and  his  sons  Edward  and  Howard.  Edward 
Joy,  for  many  years  the  leading  merchant  of 
Odell,  amassed  a  fortune  and  retired  and  is 
now  living  at  Havelock.  The  father  and  How- 
ard did  a  flourishing  banking  business  at 
Odell. 

Several  years  ago  the  Hinds  State  Bank 
was  organized  as  successor  to  the  Joy  Bank. 
It  is  owned  by  Edward  B.  and  Charles  H. 
Hinds  and  occupies  the  building  formerly  oc- 
cupied by  the  Joys.  This  bank  has  had  a  suc- 
cessful career  and  does  an  annual  business 
amounting  in  volume  to  many  thousands  of 
dollars.  For  some  time  its  deposits  have  run 
to  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  million  dollars.  The 
banking  business  of  the  village  and  surround- 
ing country  is  shared  by  the  Odell  State  Bank, 
with  deposit  accounts  aggregating  a  quarter  of 
a  million  dollars.  Its  owners  and  officers  are : 
Thomas  W.  Stanosheck,  president;  Eniest 
Loemker,  vice-president:  W.  T.  Stanosheck, 
cashier. 

The  first  church  organized  in  Odell  was  the 
Methodist  Episcopal,  and  the  organization  held 
its  meetings  in  a  carpenter  shop-  the  first  year. 
In  1886  J.  D.  Myers  donated  a  lot  upon 
which  a  small  frame  church  building  was 
erected,  at  an  original  cost  of  fifteen  hundred 
dollars.  Rev.  Mr.  Orr  was  the  first  pastor. 
The  present  minister  in  charge  is  Rev.  H.  S. 
Burd.  The  Catholics  also  have  a  flourishing 
organization  in  Odell.  The  first  frame  build- 
ing erected  by  the  church  cost  six  hundred 
dollars.  The  present  church  was  erected  many 
years  ago,  at  a  cost  of  four  thousand  dollars, 
and  the  property  includes  a  rectory  or  parson- 
age, built  a  dozen  years  ago.  At  first  there 
were  but  eight  or  ten  Catholic  families ;  now 
there  are  forty-five.  Several  priests  of  great 
ability  and  learning  have  ministered  to  the 
parish :  among   them  the   first   priest,   Father 


Mosler,  who  served  the  parish  for  ten  years, 
and  the  present  pastor.  Father  W.  J.  Mc- 
Kenna.  The  Christian  church  also  is  one 
of  the  well  established  religious  organizations 
of  Odell.  Its  church  edifice  was  erected  in 
1888  and  the  organization  has  been  active  in 
the  community  ever  since.  It  frequently  is 
without  a  regular  pastor  and  is  then  supplied 
by  students  from  Cotner  University,  at  Lin- 
coln. 

The  fraternal  organizations  are  the  Grand 
Army  of  the  Repubhc,  Ancient  Free  &  Ac- 
cepted Masons,  Independent  Order  of  Odd 
F'ellows,  Knights  &  Ladies  of  Security,  and 
some  others.  The  Grand  Army  of  the  Re- 
public, once  a  flourishing  and  numerous  body 
of  Civil  war  veterans,  has  by  lapse  of  time 
become  reduced  to  five  living  members,  — • 
Henry  Rice,  E.  B.  Hinds,  A.  F.  Drake, 
Michael  Keckley,  and  Hubert  Glasgow.  While 
these  heroes  of  a  day  long  past  do  not  meet 
regularly  any  more,  they  loyally  maintain  their 
organization. 

The  village  of  Odell  has  two  lumber  cor- 
porations, two  elevators,  two  hotels,  three  gen- 
eral-merchandise stores,  a  drug  store,  harness 
shop,  two  implement  houses,  a  furniture  store 
and  undertaking  establishment,  three  garages, 
one  pump  shop  with  accessories,  local  tele- 
phone exchange  and  many  other  business  con- 
cerns. By  the  last  census  the  population  of 
the  village  was  four  hundred  and  twenty- 
seven. 

The  Odell  Weekly  Wave  newspaper  was 
founded  in  the  village  in  1893,  by  G.  W.  Bede, 
and  has  had  a  continuous  and  a  successful  ex- 
istence ever  since.  It  is  now  owned  and  ably 
edited  by  J.  P.  Martin.  It  receives  the  loyal 
support  of  the  community  and  is  in  a  flourish- 
ing condition  as  a  country  newspaper. 

The  school  district  of  the  village  was  or- 
ganized January  12,  1878,  at  the  house  of  W. 
B.  LaGorgue.  The  first  school  building  was 
a  small  frame  structure,  to  the  erection  of 
which  LeGrand  Odell  contributed  $100,  the 
people,  by  subscription,  $100,  and  the  school 
district,  in  bonds,  $400.  The  present  school 
building  is  a  frame,  two-story,  seven-room 
structure.     The  district  employs  seven  teach- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


287 


ers  and  maintains  a  high  school  with  a  four 
3'ears'  course,  with  normal  training. 

Some  of  the  men  who  have  been  prominent 
in  the  affairs  of  Odell  are  Perry  Walker,  Wil- 
liam B.  LaGorgue,  E.  B.  Hinds,  T.  W.  Stano^ 
sheck,  James  D.  Myers,  Dr.  George  L.  Roe, 
Amos  Quein,  F.  R.  Joy  and  his  sons  Edward 
and  Howard  Joy,  Thomas  R.  Callan  (the 
veteran  merchant  of  Odell,  whose  son,  now 
serving  in  the  army  of  the  United  States,  is 
postmaster  of  Odell),  John  Millhalland,  Frank 
Styles,  EH  Worthington,  John  Wilson,  Lund 
Nelson,  Dr.  Henry  Allen,  Henry  Rice,  Hubert 
Glasgow,  Charles  N.  Hinds,  William  M. 
Munns,  Henry  Kasparek,  James  F.  Raney, 
George  Williamson,  Frank  Truax,  M.  E. 
Shalla,  H.  R.,  Rufus,  and  Sidney  Tincher,  and 
Dr.  I.  N.  Pickett. 

PICKRELL 

[This  history  of  Pickrell  was  written  by 
Evelyn  Brinton,  a  high  school  pupil  of  that 
village.—  H.  J.  D.] 

Mr.  Watson  and  William  Pickrell  owned  the 
land  where  Pickrell  is  located.  There  was 
some  talk  of  having  the  town  two  miles  north, 
but  the  sidetrack  for  the  railroad  was  here. 
In  the  year  1884  the  Pickrell  brothers  began 
to  lay  off  the  lots ;  some  of  the  first  lots  sold 
for  fifteen  dollars  and  others  for  twenty-five 
dollars.  Pickrell  was  built  on  the  hillside, 
because  the  railroad  ran  on  the  level.  The 
first  settler  was  Mr.  Bashaw.  His  home  was 
built  outside  of  Pickrell  and  afterwards  moved 
in ;  the  house  is  still  standing,  and  Mr.  Wil- 
liam Ilansel  now  occupies  it.  The  first  house 
built  in  Pickrell  belonged  to  Ed.  White.  Mr. 
McKim  built  some  of  the  first  houses  for  the 
settlers  to  move  into.  Mrs.  Edwards  owned 
the  first  good  building. 

Pickrell  was  organized  as  a  village  August 
14,  1913,  with  G.  L.  Mumford  as  chairman  of 
the  board  of  trustees,  Dr.  Amesbury  Lee, 
treasurer,  J.  R.  Wilson,  clerk ;  the  other  mem- 
bers of  the  town  board  were  B.  E.  Ridgley  and 
J.  J.  W'ardlaw. 

The  first  postoffice  was  in  the  grain-elevator 
office.  It  was  started  in  1884.  Mr.  Joseph 
Chandler  was  appointed  postmaster  February 


1,  1884.  Mr.  David  Royer,  the  second  post- 
master, was  appointed  July  1,  1884.  The  first 
postoffice  building  burned  in  1890.  The  first 
mail  carrier  was  Roy  Armstrong. 

The  first  church  was  the  Congregational, 
built  in  1885,  and  the  first  minister  was  Mr. 
Bates.  In  1888  the  United  Brethren  church 
was  built  and  Mr.  Surface  was  the  minister. 
In  1910  both  the  Congregational  and  United 
Brethren  churches  were  torn  down  and  the 
present  United  Brethren  church  was  built. 

A  list  of  old  settlers  is  as  follows:  David 
Royer,  who  now  resides  at  McPherson,  Kan- 
sas ;  Mr.  Houdgs,  deceased,  place  of  burial 
southeast  of  Pickerell;  Mr.  Bergett,  deceased, 
place  of  burial,  Hutchinson,  Kansas ;  Roxie 
Irvin,  deceased ;  J.  D.  White,  who  resides  at 
Gage,  Oklahoma ;  D.  Xicewonger.  G.  Balder- 
son  and  F.  J.  Emal,  who  reside  in  Pickrell ;  S. 
King,  John  Young,  Mr.  Bashaw,  Mr.  McKin, 
Mr.  Lockwood,  Thomas  Noonan,  Thomas 
Langely,  B.  Bathrick,  Dr.  D.  W.  Tucker,  Mr. 
Wilber.  Mr.  Chandler,  Henry  Latimer,  and 
Mr.  Waters. 

Pickrell  was  started  with  one  family ;  later 
more  settlers  came.  There  was  a  store,  an  ele- 
vator, postoffice,  drug  store  and  a  few  other 
business  houses.  Now  we  have  two  general 
stores,  two  elevators,  three  garages,  a  bank, 
an  implement  shop,  a  drug  store,  a  hardware 
store,  cream  station,  hotel,  blacksmith  shop, 
barber  shop  and  lumber  yard.  The  popula- 
tion is  now  between  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  and  two  hundred.  A  list  of  the  leading 
business  houses  when  the  town  was  first 
started  is  as  follows :  A  general  store,  man- 
agers Mr.  Royer  and  Mr.  Bergett;  a  black- 
smith shop,  William  Hunter,  manager;  a  lum- 
ber yard,  Mr.  McKim  and  Mr.  Newcomb, 
managers ;  a  livery  bam,  Mr.  D.  Tucker,  pro- 
prietor ;  a  hardware  store,  Mr.  Newcomb,  pro- 
prietor. The  depot  agent  was  Roxie  Irvin. 
The  first  section  boss  was  Thomas  Noonan. 
Mr.  Davis  and  Mr.  Chandler  bought  hogs. 

A  list  of  leading  business  houses  and  man- 
agers to-day  is  as  follows :  Bergstraesser 
store;  managers,  Bergstraesser  Brothers. 
Rife's  store ;  manager,  Henry  Dirk.  Imple- 
ment   store;    proprietor,    F.    C.    Pape.     Drug 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


store ;  druggist,  R.  Dunkle.  Lumber  yard ; 
manager,  C.  P.  Horn.  Blacksmith  shop ;  pro- 
prietor, F.  J.  Emal.  Cream  station  ;  manager, 
B.  Mumford. 

The  first  school  house  was  built  in  1885, 
where  the  present  school  building  stands.  The 
school  district  is  No.  144.  Some  of  the  first 
teachers  were  Miss  Proctor,  Mr.  Lamberti, 
Miss  Kennedy,  and  Miss  Pladley. 

In  1912  school  districts  Nos.  65  and  144 
were  consolidated  and  a  new  brick  school 
building  built.  It  is  now  a  ten-grade  school. 
In  December,  1917,  the  pupils  of  the  high 
school  surveyed  the  land  in  Pickrell  that  could 
be  utilized  for  gardens;  they  found  about 
eight  acres,  which  is  going  to  be  used.  Later 
the  school  became  a  hundred-per-cent  school 
as  a  Red  Cross  society.  The  food-pledge 
cards  were  distributed  to  the  parents  by  the 
school  children ;  they  were  signed  by  the  par- 
ents and  returned,  to  be  sent  to  the  food  ad- 
ministrator. In  January,  1918,  the  pupils  of 
the  primary  and  grammar  rooms  went  to  the 
homes  of  all  the  people  in  the  town  and  tag- 
ged their  shovels.  The  school  was  very  suc- 
cessful in  the  sale  of  thrift  and  war-savings 
stamps.  There  are  sixty-seven  on  the  roll. 
During  the  month  of  January,  1918,  the  school 
bought  $1,300  worth  of  war-savings  stamps 
and  was  awarded  a  banner  by  the  county  su- 
perintendent of  Gage  county,  T.  J.  Trauer- 
nicht. 

A  list  of  the  early  preachers  is  :  Mr.  Bates, 
Mr.  Long,  Mr.  Rock,  and  Mr.  Surface.  The 
first  doctor  and  druggist  was  Mr.  B.  Bathrick. 

The  first  bank  was  organized  in  1904.  F. 
R.  Pothast  is  cashier  and  Mr.  Reil,  book- 
keeper. The  first  bank  building  was  on  the 
north  side  of  Main  street  and  is  still  standing; 
in  1911  a  brick  bank  building  was  erected 
across  the  street. 

The  postoffice  is  in  the  hardware  store  ;  Wil- 
liam Vanderhook  is  postmaster.  Bud  Weiser 
is  the  mail  carrier  for  route  No.  2,  and  Earl 
Emal  is  substitute  for  route  No.  1. 

The  Union  Pacific  Railroad  was  started 
through  Pickrell  in  1883  and  finished  in  1884. 

The  first  grain  elevator  was  the  Omaha,  in 
the  southeast  part  of  Pickrell,  built  in  1884; 


Mr.  Cotner,  manager.  The  next  elevator  was 
the  Nebraska,  with  Mr.  J.  D.  White  as  man- 
ager. Before  the  elevators  were  built  Mr. 
White  bought  the  grain  and  shipped  it.  Then 
the  farmers  bought  the  elevator,  and  Mr. 
White,  Mr.  Wardlaw,  Mr.  Williams  and  Mr. 
J.  R.  Wilson  were  managers.  It  was  organ- 
ized in  1905.  In  1913  a  new  elevator  was 
built  by  the  farmers,  and  Mr.  J.  R.  Wilson 
has  been  manager  from  then  to  the  present 
time.  There  are  175  members  of  the  Farm- 
ers Elevator  Company  and  the  capital  stock 
is  $25,000.  The  capacity  of  the  elevator  is 
25,000  bushels. 

Mr.  D.  Nicewonger  has  lived  in  Pickrell 
the  longest ;  he  came  from  Oregon,  Illinois, 
when  he  was  seven  years  old.  Some  of  the 
leading  citizens  are:  J.  R.  Wilson,  C.  P. 
Horn,  F.  L.  Pothast,  Rev.  Beasley,  William 
Vanderhook,  R.  W.  Dunkle,  D.  Nicewonger, 
G.  Balderson,  Bergstraesser  Brothers  and  F. 
C.  Pape.  We  have  four  boys  in  the  world 
war.  They  are  David  Emal,  Robert  Mum- 
ford,  Ben  Weiser,  and  Marion  Sigler. 

Pickrell  has  had  three  fires.  In  1890  five 
buildings  on  the  north  side  of  Main  street 
burned.  In  1893  two  livery  bams  burned ; 
they  were  never  rebuilt.  The  last  fire  was  in 
1910,  when  some  of  the  buildings  on  the  south 
side  of  Main  street  burned.  There  have  been 
two  floods  that  came  to  the  railroad  tracks 
but  did  not  do  any  damage. 

The  officers  of  Pickrell  now  are:  J.  R. 
Wilson,  chairman ;  C.  P.  Horn,  clerk ;  F.  L 
Pothast,  treasurer;  and  the  other  members  of 
the  village  board  are  Mr.  Reil,  B.  E.  Ridgley, 
and  D.  Nicewonger. 

VIRGINIA 

This  attractive  Gage  county  village  com- 
prises the  northwest  quarter  of  the  northwest 
quarter  of  section  11,  township  2  north,  range 
6  east.  It  is  a  station  of  both  the  Chicago, 
Rock  Island  &  Pacific  line  of  railway  from 
Chicago  to  Denver  and  a  bi-anch  of  the- Mis- 
souri Pacific  Railway  from  Kansas  City,  Mis- 
souri, which  terminates  at  Virginia.  It  has 
several  good  stores,   lumber  yard,   implement 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


289 


house,  garage,  blacksmith  shop,  grain  elevators 
and  other  business  accessories  to  a  thriving 
village.  The  townsite  was  surveyed  and  plat- 
ted by  Ford  Lev^ris,  the  owner  of  the  land, 
about  the  time  of  the  completion  of  the  Chi- 
cago, Rock  Island  &  Pacific  Railway  through 
that  section  of  country.  The  plat  was  filed 
for  record  in  the  office  of  the  register  of  deeds 
May  23,  1887. 

The  first  general  store  was  that  of  M.  V. 
Drew,  and  this  was  followed  almost  immedi- 
ately by  the  store  of  Warren  Barber,  who  was 
Virginia's  first  postmaster.  The  first  black- 
smith was  A.  L.  Boyer,  and  the  first  children 
born  in  Virginia  were  his  twin  daughters, 
Gertie  and  Mertie.  Mr.  Boyer  is  still  the 
village  blacksmith. 

The  first  church  organized  in  Virginia  was 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  and  its  pastor. 
Rev.  J.  F.  Holgate,  preached  the  first  sermon. 
The  Christian  church  was  erected  in  1902, 
on  a  lot  donated  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dwight 
Dalbey. 

In  the  early  history  of  Virginia,  Captain 
Logan  Enyart,  of  Nebraska  City,  opened  a 
state  bank  in  the  village.  It  soon  passed  into 
the  hands  of  George  H.  Gale,  and  later  became 
the  property  of  O-  O.  Thomas.  Still  later,  A. 
W.  Nickell,  of  Beatrice,  purchased  a  majority 
of  the  stock  and  he  operated  this  bank  until  his 
death.  The  present  Citizens'  State  Bank  of 
Virginia  is  an  outgrowth  of  this  early  banking 
venture.  Amos  L.  Wright,  a  pioneer  of  Gage 
county,  is  the  principal  stockholder  and  presi- 
dent of  the  bank  and  his  son,  Frederick  A. 
Wright  is  the  present  cashier. 

Several  years  ago  Mr.  Dalbey  built  a  mod- 
ern  hotel    for  the   village,    which   has    added 


greatly  to  its  attractiveness.  There  is  no 
more  "homey"  public  house  in  Gage  county 
than  this  little  hotel.  Visitors  are  drawn  to 
it  from  far  and  near  and  it  is  liberally  patron- 
ized by  the  traveling  public. 

Virginia  started  with  a  single-room  school 
house  in  1887,  but  in  1902  the  school  district 
erected  a  frame,  two-story  school  building. 
There  are  about  ninety  pupils  in  the  district 
and  three  teachers  are  employed.  On  the  3d 
day  of  June,  1918,  Virginia  school  district.  No. 
110,  was  consolidated,  under  the  school  laws  of 
Nebraska,  with  districts  Nos.  149,  151  and 
157,  into  a  county  high-school  district.  The 
consolidated  school  district  is  preparing  to 
erect  a  modem  high-school  building  which  is 
to  cost  not  to  exceed  $50,000.  The  grounds 
for  this  building,  not  to  exceed  fifteen  acres, 
will  be  donated  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dalbey.  The 
consolidated  school  district  will  have  a  school 
population  of  approximately  one  hundred  and 
sixty,  will  have  a  full  four  years'  high  school 
course,  and  employ  from  seven  to  ten  teachers. 

Virginia  was  incorporated  as  a  village,  un- 
der the  laws  of  the  state,  about  1905,  and  has 
ever  since  maintained  a  corporate  existence. 
As  at  present  constituted,  the  village  board 
consists  of  A.  M.  Darwin,  president ;  W.  S. 
McGafifey,  clerk ;  F.  A.  Wright,  treasurer ;  and 
N.  C.  Mittan  and  John  Ilenzel. 

Virginia  is  beautifully  located  on  the  high, 
rolling  prairie  of  Sherman  township,  in  the 
midst  of  a  wealthy  farming  community,  which 
it  serves  as  a  business  and  social  center.  By 
the  census  of  1910  it  contained  a  population 
of  154.  Its  steady  growth  since  then  has  in- 
creased this  to  probably  two  hundred  inhabi- 
tants. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 


UNINCORPORATED  VILLAGES 


E1.LIS  —  HoAG  —  Kinney  —  Lanham  —  Rockford  —  Holmesville 


The  unincorporated  villages  of  Gage  county 
are  Ellis,  Hoag,  Kinney,  Lanhan,  Rockford 
and  Holmesville. 

ELLIS 

Ellis  is  located  in  the  midst  of  a  prosperous 
farming  community  in  Lincoln  township,  ten 
miles  west  by  south  from  Beatrice.  It  is  a 
station  on  the  Chicago-Denver  line  of  the 
Chicago,  Rock  Island  &  Pacific  Railroad.  It 
has  a  bank,  the  Ellis  State  Bank,  lumber  yard, 
two  elevators,  two  general  stores  and  a  farm- 
implement  store. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  church  is  the  only 
religious  denomination  represented  in  Ellis. 
The  village  forms  a  good  rural-school  district 
of  the  county,  with  a  substantial  frame  build- 
ing as  school  house.  The  district  employs  one 
teacher  and  enrolls  about  fifty  pupils.  At  the 
last  census  Ellis  was  shown  to,  have  a  popula- 
tion of  122.  It  is  a  good  social  and  business 
center  for  the  surrounding  territory. 

HOAG 
Hoag  is  a  mere  hamlet  on  the  Beatrice-Lin- 
coln line  of  the  Burlington  Railroad,  the  first 
station  out  of  Beatrice,  with  a  population  not 
to  exceed  25.  It  has  a  postoffice,  general  store 
and  two  elevators.  This  is  a  rural  school  dis- 
trict, having  a  frame,  one-room  school  house, 
about  three  quarters  of  a  mile  southeast  of  the 
village.  The  school  employs  one  teacher  and 
has  an  enrollment  of  about  forty-five  pupils. 

KINNEY 
Kinney  is  also  a  hamlet,  located  on  the  Bur- 
lington main  line,  first  station  east  of  Wymore, 


named  for  Samuel  A.  Kinney,  an  old  resident 
of  Island  Grove  township,  on  whose  farm  the 
village  is  located.  It  has  a  general  store,  post- 
office  and  lumber  yard. 

LANHAM 
Lanham  is  a  village  of  eighty  inhabitants,  lo- 
cated twenty-five  miles  southwest  of  Beatrice, 
on  the  state  line,  partly  in  Glenwood  township 
and  partly  in  Kansas.  It  is  a  station  on  the 
Concordia  line  of  the  Burlington  Railroad. 
The  principal  business  houses  are  the  State 
Bank  of  Lanham,  general  store,  hardware 
store,  drug  store,  restaurant,  meat  market, 
lumber  and  coal  yard,  barber  shop  and  black- 
smith shop.  Its  school  district  was  organized 
in  1892,  at  the  home  of  George  Arnold.  It 
possesses  a  single-room,  frame  school-house, 
employs  one  teacher  and  has  an  enrollment  of 
thirty-five  pupils. 

ROCKFORD 
Rockford  is  located  in  section  1  of  Rock- 
ford township  and  is  the  first  station  east  of 
Beatrice  on  both  the  Burlington  and  the  Rock 
Island  Railroads.  It  is  in  one  of  the  oldest- 
settled  portions  of  the  county  and  has  fifty-six 
inhabitants.  It  was  founded  by  William  Girl 
more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago  and  has 
slowly  grown  to  a  position  of  great  usefulness 
as  a  social  and  business  center  of  Rockford, 
Lincoln,  Hanover,  and  parts  of  Sherman  and 
Filley  townships.  Though  not  boastful  it  is 
a  good  little  village  and  there  are  those  yet 
living  who  love  it  because  of  early  associations 
and  the  memories  its  name  invokes. 


290 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


291 


Rockford  has  a  general  store,  postoffice,  two 
elevators,  blacksmith  shop  and  a  very  pretty 
church  building,  the  property  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  denomination.  Rockford  school 
district  No.  49  was  organized  at  the  home  of 
Morgan  Reed,  upon  notice  to  John  Dunn,  May 
27,  1872.  A  few  years  ago  it  was  consoli- 
dated with  the  F.  H.  Uobbs  school  district  on 
the  south  and  the  T.  B.  Essex  school  district 
on  the  north,  and  it  retains  its  original  num- 
ber, 49.  A  few  years  ago  the  consolidated 
district  erected  a  fine  three-room  school  house, 
at  a  cost  of  about  $5,000.  It  employs  three 
teachers  and  has  an  enrollment  of  about  ninety 
pupils.  In  addition  to  the  grades,  it  offers  a 
two  years'  high-school  course  of  study. 

The  early  settlers  in  the  immediate  neigh- 
borhood of  Rockford  were  F.  H.  Dobbs, 
Henry  D.  Lillie,  George  W.  Stark,  Solon  M. 
Hazen,  Abrahajn  Fetro,  Thomas  B.  Essex, 
John  H.  Dunn,  John  Potterton,  Edward  Wool- 
ridge,  Jesse  Willis,  Humphrey  P.  Freeman, 
Peter  Girl,  William  Girl,  Calvin  Miller,  David 
Miller,  Stephen  Hayden,  Rufus  Hayden,  John 
E.  Murphy,  James  B.  McLaughlin,  Thomas  M. 
Martin,  Asa  Anderson,  D.  J.  Woods,  Henry, 
Robert  and  Jacob  Fry,  (triplets),  Morgan 
Reed,  Daniel  Fuller,  James  West,  Charles  Slo- 
cumb,  Michael  Weaver,  John  O.  Adams,  A.  B. 
Smith,  George  Wilkinson,  Andrew  Kerr,  Alex- 
ander Welch,  Josiah  Graves,  Mrs.  Serena 
Webber,  Miles  Andrews,  Duncan  Smith, 
Archibald  Smith,  Marvin  Freeman,  and 
Marion  Reese. 

No  locality  in  Gage  county  possesses  greater 
rural  charm  than  that  where  Rockford  is 
situated.  Cedar  creek  and  both  branches  of 
i\Iud  creek  flow  through  the  township  into  the 
Big  Blue  river.  They  are  all  well  timbered 
streams  of  living  water.  From  every  height 
of  land  the  observer  is  rewarded  by  a  most 
beautiful  landscape  of  hill,  dale,  valley,  forest, 
and  in  the  growing  season  of  the  year  by  vis- 
tas of  living  green;  and  in  the  autumn  by 
stretches  of  gold  and  brown.  No  other  place 
in  the  county  exerts  as  lasting  an  influence 
over  the  heart  as  the  environment  of  the  hum- 
ble village  of  Rockford. 


HOLMESVILLE 

Holmesville  is  not  only  the  largest  but  is 
easily  the  most  important  of  the  unincorpor- 
ated villages  of  Gage  county.  It  has  a  popu- 
lation of  175,  according  to  the  federal  census 
of  1910.  It  is  located  in  Rockford  township, 
on  the  east  bank  of  the  Big  Blue  river.  It  is 
nine  miles  southeast  of  Beatrice  and  is  the  first 
station  on  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad.  It  was 
marked  by  the  early  settlers  as  the  location  for 
a  townsite  and  Whitesville,  the  first  legal 
county  seat  of  Gage  county,  was  within  half 
a  mile  of  the  townsite  of  Holmesville,  on  a 
tract  of  land  afterward  taken  as  a  homestead 
by  James  Kingsford,  namely:  the  southwest 
quarter  of  section  29,  Rockford  township.  In 
a  very  early  day,  A.  L.  Hurd  and  W.  S.  Guf- 
fey  opened  a  stone  quarry  at  or  near  the  site 
of  Holmesville,  and  most  of  the  stone  used 
in  building  the  first  state  capitol  at  Lincoln 
was  hauled  across  country,  by  ox,  mule  and 
horse  teams,  from  this  quarry,  in  1868. 

The  village  was  founded  by  Morgan  L. 
Holmes,  in  1880,  the  surveyed  plat  being  filed 
for  record  in  the  office  of  the  register  of  deeds 
on  March  8th  of  that  year.  The  founding  of 
the  village  immediately  followed  the  construc- 
tion of  che  present  line  of  the  Union  Pacific 
Railroad  from  Mar)'sville,  Kansas,  to  Beatrice. 
The  first  store  in  Holmesville  was  a  general 
store  opened  by  Thomas  Patz.  James  Glea- 
son,  a  brother-in-law  of  the  founder  of  the  vil- 
lage, James  H.  Davis,  Abraham  Petro,  Eli 
Miller  and  James  H.  Fuller  also  were  among 
its  earliest  business  men  and  residents.  Ful- 
ler ran  a  general  merchandise  store  for  many 
years,  and  up  to  the  time  of  his  death,  a  few 
years  ago,  was  a  well  known  and  substantial 
citizen  of  Holmesville. 

Amongst  the  business  concerns  now  found 
in  Holmesville  are  two  general  stores,  hard- 
ware store  and  lumber  yard,  elevator,  hotel, 
restaurant  and  meat  market.  But  what  dis- 
tinguishes Holmesville  from  all  the  other  vil- 
lages in  the  county  is  the  investment  made 
there  by  J-  H.  Steinmeyer  and  his  sons  George 
W.  and  Robert  Steinmeyer.  About  1908  these 
public-spirited   citizens    of   the   county   estab- 


292 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


lished  the  State  Bank  of  Ilolmesville,  with  a 
capital  of  $10,000.  Under  the  very  able  man- 
agement of  the  owners  this  banking  institution 
has  grown  to  the  point  where  it  does  a  large 
volume  of  business  in  the  course  of  a  year  and 
has  deposits  of  over  $100,000. 

In  addition  to  this  bank  Mr.  Steinmeyer  and 
his  sons  have  invested  heavily  in  a  hydro-elec- 
tric power  and  lighting  plant.  The  building 
where  the  machinery  is  located  is  just  below 
the  dam  and  is  of  concrete  and  steel  construc- 
tion ;  it  was  begun  in  1908  and  completed  in 
1911.     It  generates  an  electric  current  of  one 


present  public  school  building.  The  district 
employs  three  teachers,  has  enrollment  of 
about  sixty  pupils  and  offers  a  two  years'  high- 
school  course  of  study.  Recently  it  was  con- 
solidated with  districts  numbered  19,  V7 ,  58, 
76,  133  and  part  of  139.  The  consolidated 
school  district  is  about  to  erect  a  school  build- 
ing which,  with  equipment,  will  cost  approxi- 
mately $50,000.  The  district  will  probably 
then  employ  seven  teachers,  will  have  a  school 
population  of  approximately  160  pupils,  and 
will  install  a  high  school  with  a  four  years' 
course  of  studv. 


million  watts  per  hour,  and  from  it  Wy- 
more,  Blue  Springs,  Beatrice,  and  Holmes- 
ville  are  supplied  with  electricity  for  all  pur- 
poses. 

The  Ilolmesville  school  district  was  organ- 
ized August  30,  1868,  at  a  meeting  held  for 
that  purpose  at  the  home  of  Amos  Hayden, 
two  miles  southeast  of  Holmesville,  on  Mud 
creek.  The  first  school  house  was  a  low, 
round-log  cabin,  erected  by  F.  H.  Dobbs  in  the 
fall  of  1858  on  his  preemption  claim  in  Rock- 
ford  township.  After  the  formation  of  the 
district,  this  cabin  was  bought,  taken  down 
and  moved  to  the  southeast  quarter  of  section 
32  and  rebuilt  on  the  northeast  corner  of  that 
tract,  where  it  was  used  for  several  years  as  a 
school  house  for  the  district.  The  first  teacher 
was  S.  S.  Switzer.  After  the  founding  of 
Holmesville,  a  frame,  single-room  school 
house  was  erected  in  the  village,  which  by  suc- 
cessive additions  has  been  expanded  into  the 


The  Methodist  Episcopal  church  maintains 
an  organization  at  Holmesville  and  owns  a  sub- 
stantial and  very  neat  house  of  worship. 

For  many  years  Holmesville  has  been  a  so- 
cial and  religious  center  for  the  Church  of  the 
Brethren,  a  religious  denomination  commonly 
spoken  of  by  outsiders  as  Dunkards,  but 
amongst  themselves  always  simply  called  The 
Brethren  or  Church  of  the  Brethren.  This  de- 
nomination had  its  origin  in  Westphalia,  Ger- 
many in  1708.  It  was  founded  by  Alexander 
Mack,  as  a  protest  against  what  he  conceived 
to  be  the  erroneous  practices  and  beliefs  of 
the  followers  of  Martin  Luther.  Mack  taught 
the  strict  observances  of  the  forms  as  respects 
baptism,  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper 
and  other  ordinances  of  the  church.  Both  he 
and  his  followers  were  the  subjects  of  intense 
persecution,  and  were  finally  driven  out  of 
Germany  and  compelled  to  take  refuge  in  the- 
New  World.     They  settled  first  in  Pennsyl-- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


293 


vania,  then  spread  over  Ohio,  Indiana,  Mary- 
land, \'irginia  and  other  states,  and  Canada  as 
well.  The  communicants  of  this  church  now 
number  more  100,000.  In  doctrine  the 
Brethren  are  closely  affiliated  with  the  Men- 
nonites  as  opposed  to  war  and  litigation;  in 
dress  and  manners  they  closely  resemble  the 
Quakers  or  Society  of  Friends.  In  Holmes- 
ville  they  have  a  small  church,  but  a  couple  of 
miles  northeast  of  the  village  the  denomination 
owns  a  large  church  edifice,  where  most  of  its 
religious  activities  are  carried  on.  There  is 
really  but  one  congregation  for  the  two 
churches  and  they  both  have  the  same  pastor, 
at  present  the  Rev.  Edgar  Rothrock. 

The  Church  of  the  Brethren  in  Rockford 
township  was  founded  by  the  Rev.  Henry  Bru- 
baker,  under  the  following  circumstances. 
John  P.  Crothers,  of  Indiana,  in  1867,  had 
entered  with  college  scrip  a  large  tract  of  land 
in  Rockford  township,  much  of  which  lay  on 
the  upland  between  the  valleys  of  Mud  and 
Cedar  creeks.  Knowing  something  of  the 
sturdy  virtues  of  the  Church  of  the  Brethren, 
he  advertised  largely  that  he  would  donate  a 
quarter-section  of  land  in  Rockford  township 


to  any  minister  of  the  Brethren  church  who 
would  locate  upon  it  and  organize  a  church  of 
that  denomination.  Mr.  Brubaker  accepted 
this  offer,  and  in  1875  Mr.  Crothers  conveyed 
to  him,  by  warranty  deed,  the  northwest  quar- 
ter of  section  21  of  Rockford  township. 
Shortly  thereafter  he  organized  the  Brethren 
church  at  Rockford,  with  twelve  members. 
The  organization  gained  in  membership  rap- 
idly, many  of  the  new-comers  purchasing  land 
of  Crothers,  and  about  1880  the  large  church 
of  the  Brethren  was  erected  on  the  southeast 
corner  of  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  15, 
Rockford  township.  This  is  one  of  the  his- 
toric churches  of  Gage  county.  It  has  per- 
formed a  great  and  important  service  in  the 
settlement  and  development  of  the  county.  Its 
membership  is  of  a  high  order  of  citizens  and 
it  exemplifies  in  an  almost  perfect  degree  the 
gentle  doctrines  of  its  founder.  It  has  grown 
steadily  in  power,  wealth,  influence  and  use- 
fulness, until  it  is  to-day  the  most  lasting 
monument  that  could  be  erected  to  the  vener- 
able Henry  Brubaker,  who  is  now  spending 
the  declining  years  of  his  life  in  Holmesville, 
under  its  shadow. 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

COUNTY  OFFICES  AND  OFFICIALS 

First     Election     Law  —  Elections  —  Two    Early    Elections  —  Official    Roster    of 
County  Commissioners  —  Adoption  of  Township  Organization  —  County  Clerks  — 
County  Treasurers  —  Clerks  of  District  Court  —  County  Sheriffs  —  County 
Judges  —  County    Superintendents    of     Schools  —  County     Surveyors  — 
County     Coroners  —  Registers      of     Deeds  —  County     Attorneys  — 
County  Assessors  —  Territorial  Assemblies  —  House     of     Repre- 
sentatives —  Members  of  the  Council  —  State  Legislatures  — 
Members  of  the  Senate. 


At  the  second  session  of  the  legislative  as- 
sembly of  the  territory  of  Nebraska,  begun 
and  held  at  Omaha  December  16,  1855,  a  gen- 
eral election  law  was  passed  and  approved 
January  26,  1856,  which,  amongst  other 
things,  provided  that  "an  election  for  mem- 
bers of  the  house  of  representatives  shall 
take  place  on  the  first  Monday  in  August, 
1856,  and  on  the  same  day  of  each  j'ear  there- 
after." It  was  further  provided  that  an  elec- 
tion for  a  delegate  to  congress  and  for  terri- 
torial and  county  officials  should  be  held  on 
the  first  Monday  in  August  in  1857,  and  on 
the  same  day  in  every  second  year  thereafter. 

The  official  history  of  Gage  county  began 
on  the  7th  day  of  August,  1857,  with  the  form 
of  an  election  by  the  members  of  the  Beatrice 
Townsite  Company,  for  the  purpose  of  effect- 
ing county  organization  by  the  election  of  a 
full  corps  of  county  officials.  This  election 
was  wholly  irregular,  though  held  probably 
on  the  proper  date  fixed  by  statute.  It  re- 
quired a  special  act  of  the  legislative  assembly 
of  1859  to  validate  this  election  and  give  ef- 
fect to  the  official  acts  of  the  officers  so 
chosen.  In  1858  a  special  election  was  called 
by  the  county  board  for  the  purpose  of  filling 
vacancies  in  certain  county  offices  where  those 
who  had  been  chosen  the  previous  year  had 
failed  to  qualify.     For  the  purpose  of  elec- 


tions, the  county  board  divided  Gage  county 
into  two  election  precincts.  Precinct  No.  1 
included  the  south  half  of  the  county;  pre- 
cinct No.  2  the  north  half,  as  then  organized. 
The  dividing  line  between  the  precincts  was 
the  line  between  townships  2  and  3.  The  en- 
tire county  participated  in  the  special  election, 
and  in  1859,  at  the  regular  election,  a  full  set 
of  county  officials  was  chosen  by  the  voters 
of  the  county. 

For  a  period  of  sixty  years  Gage  county  has 
gone  through  a  procession  of  elections,  un- 
eventful as  a  rule,  but  effective  in  results.  If 
that  nation  is  happy  whose  annals  are  without 
interest,  then  the  citizens  of  Gage  county  have 
enjoyed  great  felicity  during  these  three  score 
years,  if  their  annual  and  biennial  elections 
are  to  be  regarded  as  barometers  of  domestic 
felicity. 

Perhaps  an  incident  of  the  election  of  1859 
and  one  of  the  election  of  1860  may  be  of 
sufficient  interest  to  justify  their  preserA^ation 
in  this  history.  Of  both  elections  and  the  inci- 
dents here  narrated  the  writer  can  speak  with 
the  authority  of  an  eye-witness. 

The  election  of  1859  occurred  on  a  mellow 
day  in  August  and  was  well  attended  by  the 
voters  of  precinct  No.  2.  It  was  held  in  the 
open  street,  at  the  corner  of  Second  and  Court 
streets,  where  the  ground  about  the  middle  of 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


295 


Court  fell  away  to  the  north  in  a  wide  de- 
pression, to  include  about  one-third  of  block 
46,  now  owned  by  the  Burlington  Railroad 
Company.  On  the  southeast  corner  of  this 
block,  lot  12,  was  the  plain,  board  shanty  of 
Orrin  Stevens,  well  back  from  Court  street, 
near  the  alley,  and  south  of  the  house,  at  the 
edge  of  the  depression,  stood  his  straw-cov- 
ered shed  or  stable.  The  entire  population 
of  the  county  did  not  exceed  three  hundred 
white  persons,  the  majority  of  whom  were 
residents  of  precinct  No.  2.  The  voters  about 
the  polls  that  day  and  the  spectators  com- 
bined probably  numbered  fifty  persons.  The 
voting  began  some  time  in  the  afternoon. 
Probably  about  three  o'clock  anxious  in- 
quiries began  to  be  made  as  to  the  where- 
abouts of  "Orr  Stevens."  Presently  there 
arose  from  the  edge  of  the  prairie  at  Fifth 
and  Court  streets  a  fierce  Comanche-like  yell, 
and  coming  toward  the  polls  the  spectator  saw 
a  new.  partly  covered  wagon,  drawn  by  a  span 
of  fine  mules,  plunging  under  whip  down 
street  toward  the  voting  place,  every  crack 
of  the  whip  being  punctuated  by  yells  from 
the  driver,  who  stood  erect  in  the  front  end 
of  his  wagon.  Then  the  cry  was  raised 
"There  comes  Orr  Stevens,"  and  the  crowd 
gathered  about  the  voting  place.  The  team 
was  brought  to  a  sudden  stop  in  their  midst, 
the  driver,  a  spare,  light-complexioned  man, 
slightly  above  medium  height,  with  reddish- 
brown  hair  and  beard,  blue  eyes,  high,  nar- 
row forehead,  descended  to  the  ground,  and 
with  many  good-natured  oaths  in  reply  to  the 
banter  of  the  crowd,  proceeded  to  take  out  the 
rear  endgate  of  his  wagon,  and  with  the  help 
of  other  willing  hands,  brought  forth  a  barrel 
of  perfectly  good  whiskey. 

It  was  election  whiskey  furnished  by  the 
candidates  and  representatives  of  the  Beatrice 
Townsite  Company,  to  be  used  in  celebrating 
the  first  general  election  held  in  Gage  county. 
The  head  of  the  barrel  was  knocked  in  and  all 
who  would  helped  themselves  without  invita- 
tion to  its  contents. 

The  election  of  1860  was  of  great  dramatic 
interest  throughout  the  entire  United  States. 
That  was  the  election  that  sounded  the  doom 


of  human  slavery  in  our  country.  The  poll- 
ing place  in  Beatrice  was  at  "Pap's  Cabin." 
The  population  of  the  county  had  materially 
increased  since  the  last  election,  the  census  of 
that  year  showing  421  white  inhabitants.  The 
voters,  to  the  number  of  probably  one  hun- 
dred, gathered  early  in  the  forenoon  about  the 
voting  place.  Nebraska  Territory  was  strongly 
Republican,  and  at  this  polling  place  but  two 
parties  were  represented,  "Douglas  Demo- 
crats" and  Republicans.  The  seriousness  of 
the  situation  seemed  to  be  impressed  upon  all 
those  present,  regardless  of  party.  There  was 
some  delay  in  opening  the  polls,  and  inquiry 
was  made  as  to  the  cause.  The  information 
was  then  given  out  that  those  in  authority 
were  waiting  the  arrival  of  Frederick  Elwood 
and  Johnathan  Potts,  who  were  to  act  as 
clerks  of  election.  Presently  two  fresh- 
faced  young  men  arrived  and  took  their 
places  at  a  table  prepared  and  in  readiness  fot 
the  judges  and  clerks  of  election.  They  were 
Elwood  and  Potts,  both  residents  of  the  Cub 
creek  neighborhood  and  squatters  on  the  pub- 
lic domain.  Less  than  a  year  afterward  they 
were  the  first  to  volunteer  from  Gage  county 
in  the  service  of  their  country  in  the  great 
Civil  war.  They  went  to  Nebraska  City  and 
both  enlisted  in  Company  H,  First  Regiment 
of  Nebraska  Volunteers,  the  regiment  of  Gen- 
eral John  M.  Thayer,  John  McConihe,  Thomas 
J-  Majors,  Silas  D.  Strickland,  and  other  Ne- 
braska heroes  of  that  great  struggle  for  hu- 
man liberty. 

The  reader  may  find  from  the  following  of- 
ficial roster  of  Gage  county  officials  some  in- 
formation which  may  be  of  interest. 

County  Com.missioners 

1857  — Albert  Towle,  George  D.  Bonham. 

1858  — Albert  Towle,  H.  M.  Reynolds. 

1859  —  Albert  Towle,  H.  M.  Reynolds. 

1860 — ^  H.  M.  Reynolds  (resigned,  suc- 
ceeded by  J.  M.  Summers),  J.  T.  Alex- 
ander, J.  B.  Mattingly. 

1861— J.  B.  Mattingly,  J.  C.  Waldrip,  J.  T. 
Sargent. 

1862  — Fidillo  H.  Dobbs,  Fordyce  Roper, 
William  Tyler. 


296 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


1863  -  William    Tyler,    Fordyce    Roper,    Fi- 

dillo  H.  Dobbs. 

1864  —  William    Tyler,    Fordyce    Roper    and 

Fidillo  H.  bobbs. 

1865  — Fidillo  H.  Dobbs,  William  Tyler,  H. 

T.  Pierce. 

1866  — William  Tyler, 'George  Grant,  H.   P. 

Freeman. 

1867— H.  P.  Freeman,  William  Tichnor, 
Horace  Al.  Wickham. 

1868 — H.  P.  Freeman,  William  Tichnor, 
Horace  M.  Wickham. 

1869  —  Horace  M.  Wickham,  J.  M.  Pettegrew, 
William  Tichnor. 

1870— Horace  M.  Wickham,  J.  M.  Pette- 
grew, Solon  M.  Hazen. 

1871  —  Horace  M.  Wickham,  Solon  M.  Ha- 

zen, Elijah  Filley. 

1872  — W.    S.    Guflfy,   Elijah    Filley,    H.    M. 

Wickham. 

1873  — W.    S.    Guffy,   Elijah   Filley,   H.    M. 

Wickham. 

1874  —  Elijah  Filley,  H.  M.  Wickham,  W.  S. 

Guffy. 

1875  — Solon  M.  Hazen,  Elijah  Filley,  H.  M. 

Wickham. 
1876— Solon  M.  Hazen,  Ehjah  Filley,  H.  M. 
Wickham. 

1877  —  Solon  M.  Hazen,  Elijah  Filley,  Henry 

Albert. 

1878  —  William  Lamb,  Henry  Albert,  George 

W.  Talbot. 

1879  —  Henry  Albert,  George  W.  Talbot,  Wil- 

liam Lamb. 

1880  — J.   Blackman,   Henry  Albert,  William 

Lamb. 
1881 — J.  I.  Gumaer,  William  Lamb,  Henry 
Albert. 

1882  —  T.  B.  Essex,  J.  I.  Gumaer,  Henry  Al- 

bert. 

1883  —  T.  B.  Essex,  J.  I.  Gumaer,  T.  J.  Ches- 

ney. 

1884  — T.'b.  Essex,  T.  J.  Chesney,  E.  W. 

Lane. 

1885  _  E.  W.  Lane,  T.  J.  Chesney,  J.  W.  Wil- 

liams. 

1886  —  Township  Supervisors. 

In   1885  the  county  adopted  the  township- 
supervisor  system  of  county  government.     At 


first  each  township  was  represented  on  the 
county  board  by  a  supervisor,  the  city  of  Bea- 
trice by  four  supervisors.  This  large  repre- 
sentation, which  was  both  cumbersome  and 
expensive,  was  changed  by  the  legislature  in 
1911,  providing  that  counties  under  township 
organization  should  be  divided  into  seven  su- 
pervisor districts,  with  a  supervisor  for  each 
district.  Under  this  law  township  organiza- 
tion in  Gage  county  has  been  very  effective, 
and  the  county  boards  have  uniformly  been 
composed  of  men  of  ability  and  character.  The 
limitations  of  this  work  render  it  impractical 
to  set  forth  the  names  of  the  supervisors  from 
the  beginning  of  township  organization  in  this 
county.  At  present  the  1st  district,  composed 
of  Adams,  Filley,  Hooker,  Logan,  Hanover 
and  Nemaha  townships,  is  represented  on  the 
board  of  supervisors  by  B.  H.  Siefkes.  Dis- 
trict No.  2,  composed  of  Blakely,  Grant,  Cla- 
tonia.  Highland,  Holt  and  Midland  townships, 
is  represented  by  Warren  E.  Chittenden.  Dis- 
trict No.  3,  comprising  Riverside  township 
and  wards  one  and  three  of  the  city  of  Bea- 
trice, is  represented  by  W.  P.  Carrithers.  Dis- 
trict No.  4,  comprising  wards  two  and  four 
of  Beatrice,  is  represented  by  John  O.  Essam ; 
District  No.  5,  comprising  Rockford,  Blue 
Springs,  Sherman,  Island  Grove  and  Liberty 
townships,  by  J.  W.  Marples,  resigned,  John 
W.  McFarren  appointed  to  fill  vacancy ;  Dis- 
trict No.  6,  composed  of  Wymore  and  Barnes- 
ton  townships,  by  Anton  Scheideler;  District 
No.  7,  composed  of  Sicily,  Paddock,  Lincoln. 
Elm  and  Glenwood  townships,  by  J.  R.  Sailing. 

County  Clerks 

1857,  L.  H.  Johnson  (failed  to  qualify;  Na- 
than Blakely  by  appointment)  ;  1858-1860,  Na- 
than Blakely;  1861,  C.  C.  Cofifinberry;  1862- 
1869,  Oliver  Townsend ;  1870-1871,  Daniel  E. 
Marsh;  1871-1876,  William  D.  Cox;  1876- 
1882,  J.  E.  Hill;  1882-1886,  A.  J.  Pethoud, 
1886-1890,  George  E.  Emery ;  1890-1894,  Al- 
bert G.  Keini;  1894-1898,  Thomas  E.  Wilson; 
1898-1902,  Joseph  D.  White;  1902-1906,  James 
R.  Plasters;  1906-1910,  Benjamin  H.  Conlee; 
1910-1917,  Jesse  C.  Penrod  (died  before  close 
of  term  and  his  deputy  E.  M.  Burnham  ap- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


297 


pointed  for  the  unexpired  term)  ;  1917-1919, 
E.  M.  Buriiham,  (resigned,  and  Mrs.  Mabel 
C.  Penrod  appointed  to  fill  unexpired  term). 

County  Treasurers 

1857,  Isma  P.  Mumford ;  1858-1860.  Albert 
Towle;  1860-1862,  Theodore  M.  Coulter: 
1863,  Herman  M.  Reynolds  ;  1864-1870,  Albert 
Towle;  1870-1876,  Hiram  P.  Webb;  1878- 
1882,  John  Ellis;  1882-1886,  James  F.  King; 
1886-1890,  Evan  J.  Roderick;  1890-1892, 
Harry  W.  Davis ;  1892-1896,  Isaac  J.  Frantz ; 
1896-1898,  Jacob  Klein;  1898-1902,  George 
W.  Maurer;  1902-1906  William  W.  Wright; 
1906-1910,  Julian  A.  Barnard;  1910-1915,  El- 
mer E.  Hevelone ;  1915-1919,  Andrew  An- 
dersen. 

Clerks  of  the  District  Court 

Prior  to  the  passage  of  an  act  of  the  state 
legislature  under  date  of  June  22,  1867,  it 
seems  to  have  been  the  custom  for  judges  of 
the  district  court  to  appoint  clerks  of  the  court 
in  all  organized  counties  of  the  territory.  The 
act  named  not  only  authorized  but  also  di- 
rected the  judges  to  make  such  appointments. 
By  an  act  of  the  legislature  approved  February 
9,  1867,  amending  the  act  of  June  22,  1867, 
the  county  clerks  of  the  several  counties  of  the 
state  were  declared  to  be  ex  officio  clerks  of 
the  district  court  of  their  respective  counties. 
This  act  continued  in  force  till  1879,  when  an 
act  was  passed  directing  that  in  each  county 
of  the  state  "having  a  population  of  eight 
thousand  inhabitants  or  more  there  shall  be 
elected  in  the  year  1879,  and  every  four  years 
thereafter,  a  clerk  of  the  district  court  in  and 
for  such  county." 

The  first  clerk  of  the  district  court  for  Gage 
county  of  which  we  have  any  record  was 
Rienzi  Streeter,  of  Nebraska  City.  He  was 
represented  at  the  first  term  of  the  district 
court  of  which  there  is  any  known  record, 
lieginning  November  26,  1863,  by  Oliver 
Townsend  as  depty.  At  the  second  term  of 
the  court,  held  in  September,  1865,  he  was 
represented  by  Herman  M.  Reynolds  as 
deputy,  and  at  the  fall  term  (third),  which 
convened  October  7,  1867,  he  was  again  rep- 


resented by  Hemian  M.  Reynolds.  It  was 
probably  to  remedy  this  situation  that  the  act 
of  June  22,  1867,  was  passed. 

Those  who  held  the  office  by  appointment 
from  the  bench  were  H.  M.  Reynolds,  1867; 
H.  P.  Webb,  1868;  Oliver  M.  Enlow,  1874; 
O.  H.  Phillips,  1876;  and  J.  E.  Hill,  1878. 
Those  who  have  held  the  office  by  election 
under  the  act  of  1879  are  : 

A.  V.  S.  Saunders,  served  from  1880  to 
1888,  inclusive.  Frank  H.  Holt,  1888  to  No- 
vember, 1891.  He  died  on  the  night  of  the 
election,  having  been  reelected  for  an  ensuing 
four  years'  term.  His  wife  was  appointed  to 
fill  out  his  unexpired  term,  and  R.  W.  Laflin 
was  then  appointed  to  hold  office  till  the  gen- 
eral election  of  1892,  when  he  was  elected  for 
the  full  term  of  four  years.  He  was  suc- 
ceeded by  John  A.  Weaver,  who  was  elected  at 
the  general  election  of  1895,  for  the  full  term 
of  four  years.  On  the  expiration  of  his  term 
he  was  succeeded  by  Charles  E.  Brewster, 
January  1,  1900,  and  the  latter  was  succeeded, 
in  1904,  by  John  R.  Quein,  who  held  the  of- 
fice, by  a  reelection  in  1907,  till  January  1, 
1908,  and  was  succeeded  by  Frank  E.  Lenhart, 
the  present  incumbent. 

Sheriffs 

1857,  Daniel  P.  Taylor,  failed  to  qualify; 
1858-1860,  Philetus  M.  Favor;  1860-1862,  Eli 
B.  Hendy;  1862-1866,  Joseph  Clyne;  1866- 
1868,  Thomas  W.  Brown;  1868-1870,  Luthei 
P.  Chandler;  1870-1872,  Daniel  Freeman; 
1872-1876,  Leander  Y.  Coffin;  1876-1878,  A. 
P.  Hazard;  1878-1880,  Eugene  Mack;  1880- 
1886,  Nathaniel  Herron;  1886-1890,  E.  F. 
Davis;  1890-1892,  William  R.  Jones;  1892- 
1896,  Robert  Kyd;  1896-1900,  Lind  Nelson; 
1900-1904,  WilHam  A.  Waddington;  1904- 
1910,  Alonzo  J.  Trude;  1910-1915,  John  L. 
Schick;  1915-1919,  Frank  W.  Acton. 

County  Judges 

1857,  Obediah  B.  Hewett;  1858,  Nathan 
Blakely;  1859-1860,  William  Blakely;  1861- 
1868,  Albert  Towle;  1868-1870,  Herman  M. 
Reynolds;  1870-1872,  C.  A.  Pease;  1872- 
1876,  J.  W.  Carter;  Carter  resigned  in   1875 


298 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


and  Alfred  Hazlett  was  appointed  to  serve  re- 
mainder of  term;  1876-1878,  Alfred  Hazlett; 
Hazlett  resigned  in  1877  and  William  M. 
Forbes  was  appointed  to  complete  the  term : 
1878-1880  Peter  Shafifer;  1880-1882,  Joseph 
E.  Cobbey;  1882-1886,  Ernest  O.  Kretsinger; 
1886-1890,  Oliner  N.  Enlow ;  1890-1896,  Wil- 
bur S.  Bourne  ;  1896-1900,  M.  B.  Davis ;  1900- 
1906,  Frederick  E.  Bourne ;  1906-1910,  Harry 
E.  Spafiford;  1910-1917,  Herbert  D.  Walden , 
1917-1919,  J.  A.  O'Keefe. 

County  Superintendents  of  Schooes 

1857,  N.  B.  Belden;  1858-1861,  Henry  El- 
liott; 1861-1866,  B.  F.  McNeil;  1866-1867, 
Nathan  Blakely ;  1867-1869,  H.  M.  Reynolds ; 
1869-1870,  B.  F.  iMcNeil ;  1870-1874,  Lucius 
B.  Filley;  1874-1878,  Joseph  R.  Little;  1878- 
1884,  Matthew  Weaveriing;  1884-1888,  M.  D. 
Horhum;  1888-1892,  Marie  P.  Upson,  1892- 
1894,  A.  A.  Reed;  1894-1898,  W.  J.  Todd; 
1898-1904,  A.  R.  Staller;  1904-1910.  Anna  V. 
Day;  1910-1915,  Jessie  V.  Pyrtle;  1915-1919, 
T.  J.  Trauernicht. 

County  Surveyors 

1857-1860,  G.  H.  Tobey;  1861-1863,  A.  J. 
Pethoud;  1864-1868,  Isaac  Newton  Headley; 
1868-1870,  A.  J.  Pethoud:  1870-1872,  Alfred 
Gale;  1872-1876,  A.  J.  Pethoud;  1876-1882, 
Willis  Ball;  1882-1884,  G.  W.  Minkler;  1884- 
1890,  Willis  Ball;  1890-1894,  R.  D.  Kennedy; 
1894-1896,  Joseph  Pasco;  1896-1906,  Willis 
Ball;  1906-1915,  A.  J.  Pethoud;  1915-1919, 
John  L.  Llershey. 

County  Coroners 

H.  M.  Wickham  was  the  first  coroner, 
elected  in  1861,  served  to  1862,  one  year, 
1863-1866,  J.  B.  Mattingly ;  1866,  J.  L.  Brown  ; 
1867-1871,  Daniel  Freeman;  1871-1878,  Job 
Buchanan;  1878-1880,  Joseph  C.  Fletcher; 
1880-1882,  D.  A.  Walden;  1882-1884,  Osceola 
O.  Wells  ;  1884-1886,  M.  P.  Walsh ;  1886-1890, 
Frank  M.  Somers ;  1890-1892,  Osceola  O- 
Wells;  1892-1894,  Robert  H.  Albri.^ht;  1894- 
1896,  Joseph  C.  Fletcher;  1896-1898,  Louis 
jMiller;  1898-1902,  John  Q.  Reed;  1902-1906, 


Clifford  W.  Walden;  1906-1915,  John  Q. 
Reed;  1916-1919,  the  county  attorney,  ex  of- 
ficio. 

Register  of  Deeds 

The  legislature  of  1887  created  the  office  of 
register  of  deeds  in  counties  having  a  stipu- 
lated number  of  inhabitants.  Prior  to  that 
time  the  duties  of  this  official  had  been  per- 
formed by  the  county  clerks  of  the  several 
counties  in  the  state.  At  the  election  in  No- 
vember, 1887,  J.  E.  Hays  was  elected  to  this 
office,  and  he  served  till  January  1st,  1894 ; 
1894-1898,  John  T.  Greenwood:  1898-1906, 
Charles  L.  Reed;  1906-1910,  Charles  B.  Hens- 
ley;  1910-1919,  John  A.  Weaver. 

County  Assessors 

This  important,  not  very  desirable,  and  poor- 
ly paid  ofSce  of  county  assessor  has  been  the 
subject  of  a  good  deal  of  legislation.  On  the 
26th  day  of  January,  1856,  the  territorial  as- 
sembly passed  a  general  statute  respecting 
assessors  and  assessments.  By  that  act  the 
office  of  county  assessor  was  created.  By  the 
act  of  February  22,  1873,  provision  was  made 
for  the  election  of  precinct  assessors.  This 
was  followed  by  an  act  of  the  legislature  in 
1879,  becoming  effective  September  1st  of  that 
year,  which  provided  for  the  election  of  touni- 
ship  assessors.  The  general  revenue  law  of 
1903  provided  for  the  election  of  county  asses- 
sors, who  should  hold  office  for  four  years 
and  be  ineligible  for  reelection  while  in  office. 
The  legislature  of  1913  provided  that  at  the 
general  election  of  1916  and  each  four  years 
thereafter  there  should  be  elected  in  each 
county  in  the  state  a  county  assessor,  whose 
term  of  office  should  be  four  years  and  who 
should  be  ineligible  for  two  successive  terms. 
The  act  then  provided  that  upon  presentation 
of  a  petition  to  the  county  board  not  less  than 
sixty  days  before  a  general  election,  signed 
by  a  prescribed  percentage  of  the  electors  of 
the  county,  and  praying  that  the  question  of 
electing  the  county  "assessor  of  said  county  be 
submitted  to  the  electors  therein,  the  county 
board  should  order  that  question  to  be  submit- 
ted at  the  general  election,  and  that  if  a  ma- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


299 


jority  of  the  votes  cast  should  be  opposed  to 
the  election  of  county  assessors  in  that  county, 
the  office  should  cease  with  the  expiration  of 
the  term  of  the  then  incumbent,  and  the  duties 
of  the  office  be  thereafter  performed  by  the 
county  clerk.  The  last  statute  is  the  one  now 
in  force. 

The  condition  of  the  Gage  county  records  as 
respects  this  office  is  such  as  to  render  it  ex- 
tremely difficult  to  make  up  an  accurate  list  of 
those  who  have  held  the  office  of  county  asses- 
sor under  the  act  of  1856.  In  1867  William 
Blakely  was  elected  to  that  office,  for  a  term 
of  two  years.  He  was  succeeded  by  George 
Gale,  in  1869,  and  at  the  general  election  of 
1871  Charles  H.  Slocum  was  elected  county 
assessor.  He  served  until  January  1,  1874, 
when,  by  the  change  in  the  law,  as  above  noted, 
precinct  assessors  came  into  existence:  Under 
the  act  of  1903  Walter  W.  Scott  was  the  first 
assessor  and  held  the  one  term.  He  was  suc- 
ceeded by  R.  C.  Hemphill,  in  1908.  At  the 
general  election  of  1911  A.  K.  Smith  was 
elected  county  assessor,  but  he  died  before 
taking  office,  and  Oliver  M.  Enlow  was  ap- 
pointed to  and  held  the  office  of  assessor  until 
the  act  of  1913  came  into  effect  and  the  duties 
of  the  office  devolved  upon  the  county  clerk. 
District  and  County  Attorney 

The  legislature  of  1885  created  the  office  of 
county  attorney  in  all  counties  of  the  state 
having  2,000  population.  Prior  to  the  passage 
of  this  act  the  duties  of  a  prosecuting  attorney 
had  been  performed  by  district  attorneys  elect- 
ed for  each  judicial  district  of  the  state.  Dis- 
trict attorneys  for  the  district  in  which  Gage 
county  is  located  were  uniformly  lawyers  ot 
ability  and  high  character.  One  of  the  early 
district  attorneys  was  the  late  Jefferson  H. 
Broady,  who,  in  the  '70s,  although  a  Demo- 
crat of  the  old  school,  was  elected  to  the 
office  in  a  strong  Republican  district,  which 
at  the  time  comprised  the  counties  of  Richard- 
son, Nemaha,  Otoe,  Johnson,  Pawnee,  Gage, 
Jefferson,    Saline,    Fillmore,    Nuckolls,    Clay, 


Adams,  Kearney,  Harlan,  Thayer,  Franklin, 
and  Webster.  In  1883  he  was  elected  judge 
of  the  First  judicial  district,  then  composed 
of  Richardson,  Pawnee,  Nemaha,  Johnson, 
and  Gage  counties,  and  he  was  reelected  to 
the  office  in  1887,  making  eight  years'  service 
on  the  district  judicial  bench.  He  was  a 
splendid  citizen,  an  able  lawyer,  and  a  wise 
and  conscientious  judge. 

Judge  Broady  was  succeeded  in  the  district 
attorney's  office  by  John  P.  Maul,  of  Fair- 
mont, Fillmore  county,  who,  after  a  four 
years'  term,  ending  about  1879,  was  succeeded 
by  Judge  William  H.  Morris,  of  Crete.  In 
1881  Robert  W.  Sabin,  of  Beatrice,  was  elect- 
ed to  this  responsible  office,  and  at  the  close  of 
the  two  years'  term  he  was  succeeded  by  Dan- 
iel F.  Osgood,  of  Tecumseh,  in  1883.  Be- 
fore the  election  of  1885  occurred,  the  office 
of  district  attorney  was  abolished  by  the  legis- 
lature and  that  of  county  attorney  created. 

Robert  S.  Bibb  was  the  first  county  attor- 
ney of  Gage  county,  being  elected  to  that  of- 
fice in  November,  1886.  In  1888  Hugh  J. 
Dobbs  was  elected,  and  in  1890,  Charles  O. 
Bates.  Mr.  Bates  afterward  resigned  his 
office  and  left  the  state,  whereupon  his  part- 
ner, Alfred  Hazlett,  was  appointed  to  serve 
the  remainder  of  his  term.  In  1892  Robert 
W.  Sabin  was  elected  county  attorney,  and 
after  two  years'  service  he  was  succeeded  by 
George  Arthur  IMurphy,  who  was  reelected 
in  1894.  He  was  succeeded  by  Samuel  Rin- 
aker,  who.  by  reelection  in  1898,  held  the 
office  four  years.  He  was  succeeded,  in  1900, 
by  H.  E.  Sackett,  who  was  reelected  in  1902, 
and  who  was  succeeded,  in  1904,  by  Samuel 
D.  Killen,  who  was  himself  succeeded  by 
Menzo  Terry,  in  1906.  Frederick  O.  McGirr 
was  elected  in  1908,  and  in  the  presidential 
election  of  1912  his  successor,  Jean  Cobbey, 
was  elected.  He  served  two  years  and  was  de- 
feated for  reelection  in  1914,  by  Frederick 
Messmore,  who  was  reelected  in  1916  and  is 
the  present  incumbent  of  the  office. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 
Territorial  Assembly — House  of  Representatives 


DATE 

NAME 

RESIDENCE 

1859 

Dr.  Charles  A.  Goshen 

Tecumseh 

1860 

Hiram  W.  Parker 

Austin 

1861 

Nathan  Blakely 

Beatrice 

1862 

Nathan  Blakely 

Beatrice 

1863 

John  Cadman 

Lancaster 

1864 

John  Cadman 

Lancaster 

1865 

Herman  M.  Reynolds 

Beatrice 

1866 

Hugh  M.  Ross 

Unknown 

1867 

Nathan  Blakely 

Beatrice 

COUNTIES   REPRESENTED 

Gage,  Clay,  Johnson 
Gage,  Clay,  Johnson 
Gage,  Clay,  Johnson 
Gage,  Clay,  Johnson 
Gage,  Clay,  Johnson 
Gage,  Clay.  Johnson 
Gage,  Jones 
Gage,  Jones 
Gage,  Jones 


Territorial  Assembly — MeiMbers  of  the  Council 

1865  Dr.  Jeremiah  N.  McCasland      Pawnee  City        Pawnee,  Gage,  Clay,  Johnson,  Jones 

1866  Dr.  Jeremiah  N.  McCasland      Pawnee  City        Pawnee,  Gage,  Clay,  Johnson,  Jones 

1867  Dr.  Alexander  S.  Stewart  Pawnee  City        Pawnee,  Gage,  Clay,  Johnson,  Jones 

State  Legislature  —  House  of  Representatives 


1867 

Oliver  Townsend 

Beatrice 

Gage,  Jones 

1869 

Nathan  Blakely 

Beatrice 

Gage,  Jones 

1871 

Fordyce  Roper 

Beatrice 

Pawnee,    Gage,     Saline, 
Lancaster 

[efferson    and 

1873 

J.  B.  McDowell 

Beatrice 

Gage 

1875 

J.  B.  McDowell 

Beatrice 

Gage 

1877 

William  Anyan 

Beatrice 

Gage 

1879 

L.  B.  Boggs 

Beatrice 

Gage 

John  Sparks 

Beatrice 

Gage 

William  Curtis 

Adams 

Gage 

1881 

H.  H.  Silver 

Silver 

Gage 

Elijah  Filley 

Beatrice 

Gage 

1883 

G.  R.  Turner 

Blue  Springs 

Gage 

W.  W.  Morrison 

Beatrice 

Gage 

G.  H.  Castle 

Blue  Springs 

Gage 

1885 

F.  H.  Holt 

Beatrice 

Gage 

S.  M.  Hazen 

Blue   Springs 

Gage 

J.  R.  Buffington 

Liberty 

Gage 

1887 

J.  M.  Wardlow 

Pickreil 

Gage 

C.  C.  Gafford 

Wymore 

Gage 

J.  N.  Fuller 

Hanover 

Gage 

1889 

F.  E.  Whyman 

Adams 

Gage 

F.  C.  Severin 

Cortland 

Gage 

A.  B.  McNickle 

Cortland 

Gage 

W.  C.  Hill 

Blue  Springs 

Gage 

1891 

J.  W.  Williams 

Filley 

Gage 

j.  W.  Faxon 

Lanham 

Gage 

Edward  Arnold 

Odell 

Gage 

Henry  Albert 

Wilber 

Gage 

1893 

J.  M.  Wardlaw 

Pickreil 

Gage 

HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


301 


H.  J.  Merrick 

Adams 

Gage 

P.  H.  James 

Cortland 

Gage 

E.  B.  Hinds' 

Odell 

Gage 

F.  W.  Miles 

DeWitt 

Gage 

E.  B.  Hinds 

Odell 

Gage 

H.  J.  Merrick 

Adams 

Gage  and  Salme 

J.  C.  Birch 

Wymore 

Gage 

G.  U.  Jones 

Wymore 

Gage 

G.  R.  Fouke 

Liberty 

Gage 

W.  E.  Chittenden 

Cortland 

Gage 

J.  H.  Casebeer 

Blue  Springs 

Gage  and  Saline 

W.  E.  Chittenden 

Clatonia 

T.  E.  Hibbert 

Adams 

G.  U.  Jones 

Wymore 

A.  D.  Spencer 

Barneston 

Gage  and  Saline 

T.  E.  Hibbert 

Adams 

Gage 

Henry  Steinmeyer 

Clatonia 

Gage 

R.  W.  Laflin 

Wymore 

Gage 

W.  E.  Robbins 

Cortland 

Gage 

J.  H.  Ramsay 

Filley 

Gage 

S.  S.  Spier 

Odell 

Gage 

Herschel  W.  Smith 

Tobias 

Gage  and  Saline 

Robert  K.  Kyd 

Beatrice 

Gage  and  Sahne 

James  H.  Casebeer 

Blue  Springs 

Gage 

Adam  McMullen 

Wymore 

Gage 

W.  E.  Robbins 

Cortland 

Gage 

Adam  McMullen 

Wymore 

Gage 

C.  W.  McCullough 

Blue  Springs 

Gage 

D.  T.  Killen 

Adams 

Gage 

C.  H.  Ciildice 

DeWitt 

Gage  and  Saline 

B.  H.  Begole 

Beatrice 

Gage 

D.  J.  Killen 

Adams 

Gage 

Charles  J.  McCoU 

Beatrice 

Gage 

Frank  O.  Ellis 

Beatrice 

Gage  and  Saline 

I.  R.  Clayton 

W3'more 

Gage 

H.  Clyde  Filley 

Beatrice 

Gage 

J.  W.  McKissick 

Beatrice 

Gage 

Anton  Sagl 

Wilber 

Gage  and  Saline 

Charles  F.  Allen 

Beatrice 

Gage 

F.  W.  Schaupp 

Virginia 

Gage 

D.  S.  Dalby 

Beatrice 

Gage 

G.  W.  Burrows 

Adams 

Gage 

1867     Oscar  Holden 
1869     C.  H.  Gere 


1S71     A,  J.  Cropsey 


State  Legislature  —  Senate 


Pawnee,  Gage,  Johnson,  Clay,  and  Jones 
Pawnee,   Gage,   Jefferson,   Saline,   Lan- 
caster 
Pawnee,    Gage,   Jefferson,    Saline,    Lan- 
caster 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


1873     N.  K.  Griggs 

Beatrice 

1875     N.  K.  Griggs 

Beatrice 

1877    L.W.Colby 

Beatrice 

1879     J.  A.  McMeans 

Fairbury 

Jefferson  and  Gag 

1881     E.  B.  Harrington 

Beatrice 

1883     Elijah  Filley 

Beatrice 

1885     W.  H.  Snell 

Fairbury 

1887    L.W.Colby 

Beatrice 

1889    J.  W.  Funck 

Beatrice 

1891     G.  F.  Collins 

Firth 

1893     Alex.  Graham 

Beatrice 

1895     Alex.  Graham 

Beatrice 

1897    G.  A.  Murphy 

Beatrice 

1899    F.  N.  Prout 

Beatrice 

1901     W.  H.  Edgar 

Beatrice 

1903     L.  M.  Pemberton 

Beatrice 

1905     H.  W.  L.  Jackson 

Beatrice 

1907     H.  E.  Sackett 

Beatrice 

1909    Jacob  Klein 

Beatrice 

1911     Peter  Jansen 

Beatrice 

1913.    Jacob  Klein 

Beatrice 

Gage  and  Pawnee 

1915     A.  D.  Spencer 

Barneston 

Gage  and  Pawnee 

1917    Adam  McMullen 

Wymore 

Gage  and  Pawnee 

CHAPTER  XXVIII 

HOSPITALS 

Institute  for  Feeble  Minded  Youths  — HeppErlin's  Hospital  —  New  Lutheran  Hos- 
pital—Fall's  Sanitarium  — The  Mennonite  Deaconess  Home  and  Hospital. 


A  community  is  often  distinguished  by  its 
beneficent  institutions,  both  pubHc  and  pri- 
vate. If  the  aphorism  "Man's  inhumanity  to 
man  makes  countless  thousands  mourn,"  as 
the  old  school  readers  had  it,  then  it  must  be 
equally  true  that  man's  humanity  to  man 
causes  countless  thousands  to  rejoice.  Noth- 
ing is  more  indicative  of  the  altruistic  prin- 
ciple in  human  affairs  than  asylums  and  hos- 
pitals for  the  afflicted,  the  helpless,  the  hope- 
less. Though  the  commercial  spirit  may 
largely  prevail  in  a  community,  there  will  al- 
ways be  found  those  to  whom  the  cup  of  cold 
water  given  in  kindness,  the  gentle  word,  the 
alleviation  of  pain  and  suffering,  the  care  of 
the  unfortunate,  are  more  than  gold,  than 
much  fine  gold. 

Beatrice  is  widely  known  on  account  of  its 
being  the  site  of  the  Institution  for  Feeble 
Minded  Youths,  as  well  as  on  account  of  its 
two  private  hospitals  and  a  private  sanitarium 
located  within  the  city. 

The  state  institution  was  created  by  act  of 
the  legislature  of  1885,  which  became  a  law 
March  5th  of  that  year.  The  second  section 
of  the  act  reads  as  follows : 

Besides  shelter  and  protection,  the  prime 
object  of  said  institution  shall  be  to  provide 
special  means  of  improvement  for  that  unfor- 
tunate portion  of  the  community  who  were 
born,  or  by  disease  have  become,  imbecile  oi 
feeble-minded,  and  by  a  wise  and  well  adapted 
course  of  instruction  reclaim  them  from  their 
helpless  condition,  and,  through  the  develop- 
ment of  their  intellectual  faculties,  fit  them  as 
far  as  possible  for  usefulness  in  society.  To 
this  end  there  shall  be  furnished  them  such 
agricultural  and  mechanical  education  as  they 
may  be  capable  of  receiving. 


The  fourth  section  of  the  act  provided  for 
the  location  of  the  institution  "at  or  near  Be- 
atrice and  within  two  miles  of  the  corporate 
limits  of  said  city ;  Provided,  that  said  city  of 
Beatrice  or  the  citizens  thereof  shall  donate 
and  convey  to  the  state  not  less  than  forty 
(40)  acres  of  land,  near  or  through  which 
runs  a  stream  of  living  water  sufficient  to 
afford  water  supply  for  said  institution,  said 
site  to  be  approved  by  the  board  of  public 
lands  and  buildings." 

Pursuant  to  this  proviso,  the  moitey  to  pur- 
chase a  site  and  thereby  secure  the  location 
of  the  institution  at  Beatrice  was  readily  sub- 
scribed by  the  citizens,  amounting  to  the  sum 
of  $4,000,  and  the  east  ten  acres  of  the  north- 
east quarter  of  the  northeast  quarter  of  sec- 
tion 35  and  the  west  thirty  acres  of  the  north- 
west quarter  of  the  northwest  quarter  of 
section  36,  in  Midland  township,  were  pur- 
chased and,  by  warranty  deed,  conveyed  to 
the  state  as  a  site  for  this  institution. 

The  ninth  section  of  the  act  appropriated 
the  sum  of  $50,000  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
structing and  furnishing  a  building  for  the 
use  of  the  inmates,  as  provided  by  the  act,  and 
the  tenth  and  last  section  reads  as  follows : 

In  order  to  create  a  fund  for  the  support 
of  said  institution,  there  is  hereby  authorized 
and  shall  be  made  an  annual  tax  levy  on  the 
taxable  property  of  the  state,  not  to  exceed 
one-eighth  (>^j  of  one  mill  on  the  dollar; 
said  fund  shall  be  known  as  "The  Fund  of 
the  Institution  for  the  Feeble  Minded." 

Shortly  after  the  passage  of  the  act  and 
the  purchase  and  conveyance  of  the  above- 
described  tract  of  land  to  the  state,  work  was 
begun  on  the  first  structure  erected  on  these 


303 


304  HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 

grounds.     It  is  now  used  and  known  as  the      Armstrong    was    the   first    superintendent    of 

administration  building.  the  institution  and  his  wife  the  first  matron. 

The  act  establishing  the  institution  author-      It  was  to  him  more  than  to  any  other  man 


Boys'  First  Cottage 


ized  the  state  board  of  pubhc  lands  and  build- 
ings to  appoint  a  superintendent  for  it,  to 
whom  was  to  be  committed  its  control,  and 
also  provided  for  the  appointment  of  a  ma- 
tron, teachers,  and  other  employes.     Dr.  J.  T. 


that  credit  is  due  for  the  founding  of  this 
great  charity,  one  of  the  very  few  of  like 
character  in  the  United  States.  He  remained 
superintendent  until  his  death.  The  Beatrice 
Institute  for  Feeble  Minded  Youths  stands  as 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


305 


a  lasting  monument  to  the  enthusiasm  and  election  to  the  oflice  of  clerk  of  the  district 
benevolence  of  spirit  of  Dr.  J.  T.  Armstrong,  court.  Both  he  and  Dr.  Armstrong  are 
and  to  Frank  M.  Holt,  who  at  that  time  rep-     buried    in    Evergteen    Home    cemetery.     His 


Boys'  Secoxii  Cott,\ge 


resented  Gage  county  in  the  legislature,  and  grave  is  marked  by  a  stone,  the  Doctor's  by  a 

whose  powerful  and  manly  advocacy  of  his  monument. 

bill  establishing  the  institution  won  him  the  The  first  child  was  admitted  to  the  institu- 

respect  and  gratitude  of  the  entire  state.     He  tion  May  24,  1887.     It  is  a  matter  of  history 

died  in  November,  1891,  on  the  day  of  his  re-  that  Orion  Rossman,  a  boy  who  is  still  an  in- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


307 


mate  of  the  institution,  was  the  third  one  ad- 
mitted, he  having  entered  on  the  25th  day  of 
May,  1887. 

A  number  of  prominent  physicians  have 
served  the  state  as  superintendent  of  the  insti- 
tution since  the  death  of  Dr.  Armstrong. 
They  are  Dr.  Chfiford  P.  Fall,  of  Beatrice, 
Drs.  Sprague,  Deering,  Johnson,  Osbourne, 
G.  L.,  Roe  (also  of  Beatrice),  Thomas,  and 
Fast.  Dr.  D.  G.  Griffiths  is  the  present  super- 
intendent, and  under  his  able  administration. 


stantly  increasing.  Few  are  ever  discharged 
except  by  death,  and  it  is  a  matter  of  record 
that  patients  of  this  class  are  as  a  rule  short- 
lived. 

The  state  of  Nebraska  is  entitled  to  the 
greatest  possible  credit  for  what  it  has  done 
to  alleviate  the  condition  of  these  unfortunate 
children  and  to  relieve  their  relatives  from  the 
great  burden  of  their  care. 

In  1879  Dr.  Harry  M.  Hepperlen  estab- 
lished, at  No.  1700  South  Ninth  street,  a  pri- 


HospiTAL  Building 


the  high  record  of  efficiency  in  this  important 
trust  has  been  fully  maintained. 

The  state  has  been  most  liberal  in  providing 
the  necessary  buildings  and  conveniences  for 
these  youthful  but  hopeless  wards.  In  addi- 
tion to  the  buildings  here  shown  there  are  an 
up-to-date  dairy,  barn,  laundry,  store-room, 
bakery,  engine  house,  pumping  station  for  the 
water  supply  and  a  large  stand  pipe  for  water 
service  to  all  the  buildings  as  well  as  the 
grounds.  By  successive  purchases  the  state 
now  owns  a  fine  body  of  fertile  land,  compris- 
ing three  hundred  acres,  adjoining  its  original 
forty-acre  tract,  and  the  institution  is  in  a 
large  measure  self-supporting.  There  is  at 
this  time  a  population  of  six  hundred  children 
at  the  institution,  a  population  which  is  con- 


vate  hospital,  which  immediately  secured  a 
large  patronage  from  the  city  and  surround- 
ing country.  After  several  years  of  prosper- 
ous existence  under  its  founder's  personal 
care,  it  was  purchased,  in  1909,  by  the  United 
Brethren  church,  which  continued  its  benefi- 
cent mission  until  1913,  when  it  was  sold  to 
the  Lutheran  church.  This  organization  has 
carefully  nourished  the  plant,  attracting  a 
widely  distributed  patronage.  The  old  build- 
ing in  which  the  hospital  was  first  started, 
after  some  additions  and  changes  had  been 
made  by  Dr.  Hepperlen,  could  accommodate 
twenty-five  patients.  But  latterly  these  ac- 
commodations have  been  found  insufficient, 
and  the  present  owners  are  now  erecting  a 
modern  hospital,  to  cost  $150,000,  and  to  be 


308 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


309 


equipped  with  the  latest  and  most  modem  ap- 
pliances of  every  description  for  hospital 
work.  It  is  the  intention  to  spare  no  pains  or 
expense  to  make  it  one  of  the  most  complete 
institutions  of  its  kind  in  existence.  It  will 
be  a  fire-proof  building  and  when  opened  to 
public  patronage  will  contain  one  hun- 
dred beds.  The  new  structure  is  located  a 
little  north  of  the  old  building  and  the 
latter  will  continue  to  be  used,  as  a  nurse's 
home. 

In   1901   Dr.  ClifTord  P.  Fall  established  a 
pri\'ate    sanitarium    in    connection    with    his 


desire  to  make  a  special  thanks-ofifering  to 
God  for  all  their  blessings.  It  was  at  first 
proposed  to  establish  a  home  for  the  aged,  but 
it  was  finally  determined  to  found  a  hospital, 
to  be  known  as  the  Mennonite  Deaconess 
Flome  and  Hospital.  By  the  congregation 
was  chosen  a  board  of  directors  consisting  of 
twelve  brethren,  who  went  immediately  to 
work,  their  first  object  being  to  raise  the 
funds  necessary  to.  purchase  a  site  and  erect 
a  suitable  building.  When  $20,516.25  had 
been  subscribed  for  the  building,  Hon.  Peter 
Jansen   and   wife  donated  to  the  church   for 


New   Llther-W  HobiiTVL 


practice.  It  is  located  at  No.  723  North 
Eleventh  street.  This  institution  has  had  a 
very  successful  and  a  very  useful  career.  It 
contains  twenty-five  beds,  has  the  service  of 
eight  nurses,  and  it  is  open  to  the  use  of 
other  physicians  and  surgeons.  Dr.  Fall  came 
to  Beatrice  a  young  man,  in  1888;  he  is  now 
a  veteran  in  his  profession  and  has  achieved 
an  enviable  reputation  both  as  a  physician  and 
a  surgeon. 

The  Mennonite  Deaconess  Home  and  Hos- 
pital is  located  at  Eleventh  and  Arthur  streets. 
Its  inception  can  be  traced  to  a  jubilee  cele- 
bration held  by  the  Beatrice  Mennonites  sev- 
eral years  ago,  for  the  purpose  of  praising 
the  Lord  for  His  merciful  guidance  during 
the  twenty-five  years  of  their  settlement  in 
this  country  of  religious  liberty.  On  this  oc- 
casion   the    congregation    was    seized    with    a 


hospital  purposes  block  2  of  Fairview  Addi- 
tion to  Beatrice.  The  plans  for  the  building 
were  drawn  by  Richard  W.  Grant,  architect, 
and  the  work  of  erecting  the  structure  was 
begun  during  the  year  1910.  It  was  com- 
pleted in  1911,  and,  with  appropriate  cere- 
monies, was  dedicated  to  its  work  of  mercy 
on  July  16th  of  that  year. 

The  hospital  is  arranged  to  accommodate 
thirty  patients,  and  these  are  cared  for  by  the 
sisters  in  a  faithful  and  conscientious  manner. 
It  employs  from  eight  to  ten  nurses,  and  every 
efifort  is  made  to  alleviate  suffering,  mitigate 
despair,  and  awaken  hope  in  the  breasts  of 
the  despondent  and  afflicted.  With  generous 
unselfishness  and  absolute  impartiality,  the 
management  invites  all  practising  physicians 
and  surgeons  to  avail  themselves  of  its  facili- 
ties. 


CHAPTER  XX    IX 

MILITARY  HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY 

Indian   Raid   on   Little  Blue   River,    1864 — ■  First  Military  Organization  —  A  Stam- 
pede—  Company   C,    Nebraska   Militia  —  Sioux  Indian  War,  1891  —  Gage 
County  in  the  Civil  War  —  The    Spanish-American    War  — 
Roster  oe  Company  C,  First  Regiment  — 
The  World  War. 


The  early  annals  of  Gage  county  as  re- 
spects military  affairs  have  but  little  interest. 
The  pioneers  usually  provided  themselves  with 
arms  against  the  depredations  of  Indians  and 
lawless  persons,  but  within  the  boundaries  of 
our  county  there  is  no  well  authenticated  case 
of  Indian  troubles  worthy  of  mention.  The 
Otoe  and  Missouri  tribes  of  Indians  were  at 
peace  with  the  whites  and  were  their  allies 
against  the  encroachments  of  warlike  tribes. 
Nevertheless,  for  a  number  of  years  the  white 
population  maintained  an  attitude  of  constant 
vigilance  against  surprises  and  attacks  by 
marauding  bands  of  savages,  but  until  1864 
nothing  like  a  military  organization  of  any 
kind  existed  in  the  county. 

That  year,  on  Sunday,  the  7th  day  of 
August,  occurred  what  is  known  in  Nebraska 
history  as  the  Indian  raid  on  the  Little  Blue 
river,  in  which  several  Gage  county  people 
lost  their  lives  and  property  and  in  which  the 
lives  of  many  others  were  put  in  jeopardy. 
The  Indians  were  Cheyennes,  led  by  Black 
Kettle,  One-Eyed  George  Bent,  a  half-breed. 
Two  Face,  and  other  chiefs.  It  had  evidently 
been  planned  to  attack  the  ranches  and  stage 
stations  along  the  Oregon  Trail  simultaneous- 
ly at  a  number  of  points,  to  kill  the  whites, 
destroy  their  property,  and  clear  the  Little 
Blue  country  as  far  as  the  Big  Sandy.  Pat- 
rick Burke,  the  first  blacksmith  of  Beatrice, 
on  his  way  up  the  old  trail  with  a  load  of 
corn,  about  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  in 


plain  sight  of  and  within  half  a  mile  of  Paw- 
nee Ranch,  was  shot  and  killed.  About  the 
same  hour  an  attack  was  made  by  a  band  of 
Cheyennes  on  Little  Blue  Station,  or  Com- 
stock's  Ranch,  at  Oak  Grove,  and  J-  H.  But- 
ler and  M.  C.  Kelley,  both  Gage  county  men, 
were  shot  with  arrows,  and  killed.  A  few 
miles  further  down  the  river  the  Eubank 
family  was  murdered,  nine  persons  in  all,  and 
Mrs.  Eubank,  the  wife  of  William  Eubank, 
her  child  and  Miss  Laura  Roper,  a  Gage 
county  girl,  were  carried  away  into  captivity. 
In  May,  1865,  while  quartered  at  Laramie, 
General  Tom  Moonlight,  afterward  governor 
of  Wyoming,  when  about  to  start  on  an  expe- 
dition against  the  Indians,  learned  that  two 
white  women  were  with  Two  Face's  band, 
near  the  south  base  of  the  Black  Hills.  Com- 
munication was  opened  with  these  Indians, 
and  for  a  large  number  of  ponies,  blankets,  a 
quantity  of  sugar  and  other  things  of  value 
to  the  Indians,  the  white  women  were  pur- 
chased from  them  and  brought  into  Laramie, 
under  an  armistice,  accompanied  by  Two  Face 
and  two  of .  his  best  warriors.  The  women 
were  Mrs.  Eubank  and  Laura  Roper.  When 
the  condition  of  Mrs.  Eubank  became  known 
to  General  Moonlight,  the  armistice  was  vio- 
lated —  Two  Face  and  his  warriors  were  ar- 
rested and  were  hanged  in  chains,  on  a  bluff 
two  miles  north  of  Fort  Laramie,  where  their 
bodies  remained  until  the  crows  had  picked 
their  liones.    Thirty  persons  lost  their  lives  at 


310 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


311 


the  ranches  and  stage  stations  along  the  Little 
Blue  river  in  this  raid,  and  the  first  semblance 
of  a  mihtary-  organization  in  Gage  county  was 
a  company  of  its  citizens  hastily  called  to- 
gether by  the  sheriff,  Joseph  Clyne,  for  the 
purpose  of  investigating  the  depredations  of 
these  savages,  ascertaining  the  true  condition 
of  affairs,  burying  the  dead  killed  in  the 
massacre,  and  repelling  the  invasion. 

As  far  as  known  the  members  of  this  com- 
pany from  Gage  county  were  William  H. 
Stoner,  John  Gilbert,  Oliver  Townsend,  Al- 
bert C.  Howe  (half-brother  of  Church 
Howe),  H.  M.  Wickham,  William  R.  Jones, 
Daniel  Freeman,  Thomas  Pethoud,  James 
Pethoud,  Enoch  Graves,  Henry  Graves,  Louis 
Graves,  Ira  Dixon,  Leander  Wilson,  Samuel 
Jones,  Richard  C.  Davis,  William  Alexander, 
Joseph  Clyne,  Edward  Wells  and  his  brother, 
from  Cub  creek,  Mr.  Bagley,  also  from  Cub 
creek,  and  Theodore  M.  Coulter,  a  defaulting 
county  treasurer  and  a  prisoner  in  the  custody 
of  Sheriff  Clyne.  Stoner  was  elected  captain 
of  the  company,  and  John  Gilbert,  who  still 
lives,  an  honored  citizen  of  Red  Cloud,  was 
chosen  lieutenant.  At  Big  Sandy  this  com- 
pany of  men  was  joined  by  a  number  of 
others,  among  them  a  man  named  Constable, 
who,  in  the  battle  which  ensued,  was  killed, 
with  another,  whose  name  is  not  known. 
These  men  were  well  armed  and  well  mounted, 
and,  after  passing  Big  Sandy,  numbered 
thirty-four.  On  their  way  out  they  buried  the 
dead,  including  Bill  Kennedy,  who  had  been 
killed  in  his  cabin  by  the  Indians,  five  of  the 
Eubanks  family,  Kelley  and  Butler.  They 
found  all  the  principal  ranches  and  stage 
stations  between  the  Hackney  Ranch  and 
Pawnee  Ranch  burned,  except  Little  Blue  Sta- 
tion, where  they  found  an  abandoned  wagon 
train  of  a  hundred  laden  wagons,  bound  west- 
ward, and  they  found  desolation  and  destruc- 
tion everywhere.  A  detail  of  United  States 
troops  had  been  dispatched  from  Fort  Kear- 
ney, under  the  command  of  Captain  E.  B. 
Murphy,  to  go  over  the  Little  Blue  country 
on  the  same  mission  of  the  company  from 
Beatrice,  and  the  two  companies  met  at  Paw- 
nee Ranch  on  the  14th  day  of  August.     The 


next  day,  under  command  of  Captain  Murphy, 
they  started  south  in  pursuit  of  the  hostile 
Cheyennes,  and  came  upon  the  Indians  where 
the  Fort  Riley  road  crossed  Elk  creek,  in 
northeastern  Nuckolls  county,  ten  miles  south 
of  Little  Blue  Station,  in  considerable  num- 
bers and  in  a  warlike  attitude.  In  the  engage- 
ment which  immediately  ensued  about  three 
hundred  warriors  participated,  while  a  still 
larger  number  appeared  to  be  held  in  reserve. 
The  entire  band  was  moving  toward  the  Re- 
publican river.  Captain  Murphy  had  a  single 
field-piece,  but  it  was  disabled  in  firing  the 
first  round.  He  then  deemed  it  best,  in  view 
of  the  number  of  Indians,  to  retreat  and  fall 
back  to  Little  Blue  Station,  having  lost  two 
of  his  command.  Having  only  limited  ra- 
tions, he  abandoned  further  pursuit  of  the 
Indians  and  the  Beatrice  company  returned 
home. 

The  excitement  in  Gage  county  over  this 
Indian  raid  was  intense.  At  Beatrice  a  sod 
breastwork  was  thrown  up  on  the  east  bank 
of  the  Big  Blue  river,  to  defend  the  Market 
street  ford,  and,  as  far  as  possible,  the  men 
went  armed  and  took  other  precautions  to 
defend  the  city.  The  late  summer  and  fall  of 
1864  was  a  period  of  great  suspense  and  ner- 
vous strain.  This  is  well  illustrated  by  a 
stampede  which  occurred  in  the  eastern  por- 
tion of  the  county  toward  the  end  of  August. 
One  day,  a  little  after  noon,  a  couple  of  men 
in  a  lumber  wagon,  passed  up  Mud  creek  and 
reported  that  the  Indians  had  attacked  and 
were  burning  Blue  Springs.  They  claimed 
also  that  they  had  been  attacked,  and,  as  proof, 
showed  bullet  holes  in  their  wagon-box.  About 
that  time  a  confederate  near  Blue  Springs  set 
fire  to  a  patch  of  prairie  grass,  and  these 
strangers  pointed  to  the  smoke  as  a  confirma- 
tion of  their  story.  That  was  enough ;  the 
alarm  spread  like  wildfire,  and  before  sun- 
down not  a  white  person  was  left  in  Rock  ford, 
Filley,  and  Sherman  townships.  The  settlers 
turned  their  hogs,  cattle,  and  chickens  loose 
to  roam  at  will,  loaded  their  women  and  chil- 
dren into  wagons,  and  fled  as  best  they  could. 
That  night  most  of  them  stopped  on  Yankee 
creek,  about  a  mile  west  of   Crab   Orchard ; 


312 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


others  went  on  to  Brownville  and  Nebraska 
City.  After  a  day  or  two  a  company  of  ten 
men  ventured  back  to  their  homes  and  found 
that  the  settlers  had  been  the  victims  of  a 
practical  joke. 

The  Little  Blue  country,  however,  contin- 
ued to  be  dangerous  ground,  and  a  call  was 
issued  by  Governor  Saunders  for  four  com- 
panies of  territorial  militia  to  be  used  in 
guarding  traffic,  travel  and  the  Overland  Stage 
line  along  the  old  trail  from  Big  Sandy  to 
Denver.  One  of  these  was  Company  C  of  the 
Second  Brigade,  First  Regiment  Nebraska 
Militia  (cavalry),  raised  in  Pawnee  and  Gage 
counties  —  Alvin  G.  White,  of  Pawnee  City, 
captain ;  William  B.  Raper,  of  Pawnee  City, 
first  lieutenant;  Dr.  Levi  Anthony,  of  Blue 
Springs,  second  lieutenant.  The  Gage  county 
members  of  the  company  were: 

Levi  Anthony  (second  lieutenant),  John 
Barrett,  William  Alexander,  James  Grant, 
Isaac  Claiborne,  William  Aikens,  Nelson 
Adams,  Alvah  Ayers,  William  T.  Brown, 
Charles  Bailey,  Charles  Buss,  Edward  Cart- 
wright,  Henry  Corlett,  William  J.  Dobbs, 
John  H.  Dunn,  Josiah  Eastman,  David  K. 
Fisher,  John  J.  Fisher,  Francis  M.  Graham, 
Henry  Graves,  Henry  L.  McMuford,  Abra- 
ham P.  McManis,  Joel  T.  Mattingley,  Joseph 
Milligan,  Francis  M.  Reese,  D.  M.  Shellan- 
berger,  Horace  M.  Wickham,  James  A.  Wy- 
more. 

The  company  was  mustered  into  the  ser- 
vice of  the  state  at  Pawnee  City,  September 
1,  1864,  and  was  stationed  at  Buffalo  Ranch, 
at  the  western  end  of  Nine  Mile  Ridge,  on 
Little  Blue  river,  throughout  the  "ensuing  fall 
and  winter,  to  guard  the  stage  lines,  ranches, 
stations  and  travel  from  Big  Sandy  to  Fort 
Kearney.  It  performed  this  duty  efficiently, 
was  paid  by  the  state,  but  rationed  by  the  fed- 
eral government,  and  disbanded,  without  be- 
ing discharged,  about  February  7,  1865. 

Our  county  took  an  honorable  and  efficient 
part  in  what  is  known  as  the  Sioux  Indian 
war,  in  1890-1891.  In  that  year  there  arose 
on  the  northwestern  border  of  our  state  a 
religious  disturbance  amongst  the  Sioux 
Indians    in    South    Dakota.      A    young,    half- 


educated,  Piute  Indian,  with  a  smattering 
knowledge  of  the  Christian  religion,  appeared 
in  Utah  as  the  long  expected  Indian  Messiah, 
who  was  to  drive  the  whites  from  the  ancient 
Indian  hunting  grounds,  rejuvenate  the  aged 
and  infirm,  resurrect  the  dead,  bring  back  to 
the  hunting  grounds  the  deer,  buffalo  and 
other  wild  game  of  the  early  days,  and  restore 
to  the  Indians  the  great  northwest.  This  mis- 
chief-making imposter  claimed  to  have  re- 
ceived direct  from  the  Great  Spirit  the  revela- 
tion of  the  "Ghost  Dance"  as  a  means  of 
spreading  the  knowledge  of  his  mission 
abroad.  This  sacred  rite  was  introduced 
among  the  powerful  Sioux  tribes  of  South 
Dakota  at  a  moment  when,  on  account  of  gen- 
eral drought,  they  were  facing  a  great  short- 
age of  provisions.  The  subtle  influence  of 
these  pretentions  manifested  itself  at  first  in 
mutterings  of  discontent  and  finally  in  a  gen- 
eral movement  of  large  bodies  of  Indians 
from  their  agencies  in  almost  open  defiance 
of  authority.  The  Indians  of  Standing  Rock 
Agency,  Big  Foot's  band  from  the  Cheyenne 
River  Agency,  and  the  Brules  at  the  Rosebud 
Agency,  broke  away  from  every  semblance  of 
control  and,  in  open  defiance  of  their  agents' 
orders,  refused  to  discontinue  the  dance.  Dis- 
affection was  spreading  to  the  Rosebud  and 
Pine  Ridge  Agencies,  which  together  com- 
prised a  compact  body  of  more  than  ten 
thousand  Indians,  the  most  warlike  in  the 
northwest.  In  August,  1890,  some  of  the  local 
agents  declared  the  situation  to  be  beyond 
their  control,  and  in  November  the  president 
of  the  United  States  directed  the  secretary  of 
war  to  take  active  measures  to  prevent  an  out- 
break. Troops  to  the  number  of  8,0(X)  were 
poured  into  the  country  and  many  of  the  In- 
dians left  their  agencies  and  fled  to  the  Bad 
Lands.  With  more  than  twenty-five  thousand 
Indians  in  a  state  of  semi-rebellion  and  nearly 
all  infected  by  the  Messiah  craze  and  the 
Ghost  Dance,  and  impatient  of  restraint,  the 
inhabitants  of  northern  Nebraska  appealed  to 
the  governor  of  the  state  for  protection. 

By  his  direction,  the  adjutant  general  sup- 
plied fourteen  independent  military  compan- 
ies, organized  in  places  along  the  northwes- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


313 


tern  frontier,  with  Springfield  breech-loading 
rifles,  ammunition,  and  equipment,  and  in 
January,  1891,  the  two  regiments  of  the  Ne- 
braska National  Guard,  under  Brigadier  Gen- 
eral Leonard  W.  Colby,  were  ordered  to  the 
scene  of  action  and  stationed  at  or  near  the 
towns  along  the  Elkhorn  Railway,  south  of 
the  Indian  country.  The  guards  did  good  ser- 
vice in  quieting  the  fears  of  the  people  and  in 
showing  a  readiness  to  afford  protection  in 
case  of  necessity. 

Company  C  of  the  First  Regiment  was 
from  Beatrice.  It  was  commanded  by  A.  A. 
Reed,  was  stationed  during  the  Indian  troubles 
at  Valentine,  Nebraska,  and  its  services  in  this 
historic  event  closed  the  military  activities  of 
Gage  county  as  respects  Indian  wars. 

Our  county  participated  to  some  extent  in 
the  great  Civil  war.  The  patriotic  devotion  of 
the  territory  of  Nebraska  to  the  Union 
throughout  those  trying  days  forms  a  most 
creditable  chapter  in  its  history.  The  news 
of  the  fall  of  Fort  Sumter,  in  April,  1861, 
evoked  a  spirit  of  unbounded  loyalty  in  the 
new  territory.  In  Omaha  steps  were  at  once 
taken  to  aid  the  government  by  organizing 
two  companies  of  infantry,  one  of  dragoons 
and  one  of  artiller}'.  Governor  Black  ap- 
pointed George  F.  Kennedy,  of  Florence,  act- 
ing brigadier  general  of  the  First  Nebraska 
Regiment,  pending  its  organization  and  enroll- 
ment. Governor  Saunders,  who  had  succeed- 
ed to  the  executive  chair,  on  May  18,  1861, 
issued  his  proclamation  reciting  the  necessity 
of  loyally  supporting  the  government,  and  in- 
voked the  aid  of  every  lover  of  his  country 
and  his  home  to  sustain  and  protect  it.  Steps 
were  immediately  taken  to  organize  a  regi- 
ment, and  on  the  2d  day  of  July,  1861,  the 
tenth  and  last  company  of  the  First  Nebraska 
Regiment  of  \'olunteers  were  sworn  into  the 
service  of  the  United  States.  Men  were  drawn 
from  all  over  the  territory  into  this  regiment. 
From  Gage  county  came  Samuel  Shaw,  who 
enlisted  in  Company  B,  June  13,  1861 ;  Fred- 
erick Elwood,  aged  twenty-three,  who  went 
from  Beatrice  and  enlisted  in  Company  H ; 
Jonathan  Potts,  twenty-seven  years  old,  also 
from     Beatrice,     enlisted     in     Company     M. 


These  heroic  citizens  of  our  county  served 
faithfully  until  the  end  of  the  war,  and  all 
returned  to  Gage  county  to  make  their  homes. 
Mr.  Shaw  some  years  ago  went  to  Florida, 
where  he  died.  Elwood  and  Potts,  after 
many  years'  residence,  both  died  in  Gage 
county,  much  honored  by  all  who  knew  their 
history.  In  addition  to  these,  William,  Eg- 
bert, and  James  Shaw  (sons  of  Stephen  P. 
Shaw),  and  John  Q.  Adams,  from  Adams 
township,  served  in  this  regiment,  being  mem- 
bers of  Company  H. 

The  county  contributed  also  to  the  member- 
ship of  the  Second  Nebraska  Cavalry  Regi- 
ment, organized  in  1863,  to  repel  an  invasion 
by  the  Sioux  Indians  in  their  retreat  from 
Minnesota,  following  the  great  massacres  of 
August,  1862.  This  regiment  was  raised  in 
eastern  Nebraska  and  enlisted  for  nine 
months'  service,  under  the  command  of  Col- 
onel Robert  W.  Furnas,  of  Brownville.  It 
became  a  part  of  General  Sully's  expedition 
up  the  Missouri  river,  participating  in  the 
skirmishes  and  the  battle  of  White  Stone 
Hills,  South  Dakota,  in  which  the  Indians 
were  completely  vanquished.  Those  from 
Gage  county  who  took  part  in  this  campaign, 
as  members  of  Company  L  of  the  Second 
Nebraska,  were  Francis  M.  Graham,  George 
W.  Desert,  H.  S.  Barnum,  Edward  Arm- 
strong, Thaddeus  Armstrong,  and  John 
Hagar,  all  of  Blue  Springs  and  vicinity. 

Our  county  can  take  a  just  pride  in  the  rec- 
ord made  by  its  citizens  in  the  Spanish- 
American  war,  in  1898.  On  April  20th  of 
that  year  tl->e  United  States  presented  its  ulti- 
matum to  Spain,  demanding  that  she  relin- 
quish sovereignty  over  Cuba  before  noon  of 
April  23d  and  withdraw  her  land  and  naval 
forces  from  that  unhappy  island.  Spain  in- 
dignantly refused  to  comply  with  these  de- 
mands, and  on  that  day,  at  noon.  President 
William  McKinley  issued  a  call  for  135,000 
volunteers  in  the  military  and  naval  service 
of  the  United  States.  On  the  25th  day  of 
April  congress  issued  its  declaration  of  a  state 
of  war  between  Spain  and  the  United  States, 
and  the  call  reached  Lincoln,  Nebraska,  on 
the  27th  of  April.     At  noon  of  the  following 


314 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


COLOXEI.    JilHX    y\.    StoTSENBERG 

Killed  in  action  in  the  Philippines,  April  23, 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


315 


day  the  companies  of  the  First  Nebrasl<a,  in- 
ckiding  Company  C,  of  Beatrice,  went  into 
camp  at  Camp  Ah-in  Saunders,  Lincohi.  This 
regiment  was  mustered  into  service  beginning 
on  the  9th  day  of  May;  on  June  5th  it  was 
aboard  the  steamer  "Senator,"  at  San  Fran- 
cisco, bound  for  the  orient;  and  on  July  17th, 
the  city  of  Manila  lay  spread  out  before  its 
members,  from  their  vessel's  anchorage  in 
Manila  Bay.  The  regiment  disembarked  on 
the  21st  day  of  July,  at  Cavite,  and  remained 
in  camp  until  August  2d,  when  it  participated 
in  the  assault  on  the  outposts  of  Manila,  in 
which  eight  Nebraskans  were  wounded.  On 
August  13th  the  regiment  took  an  active  part 
in  the  assault  and  capture  of  the  city  of 
Manila.  From  that  tiine  until  February  it 
was  on  outpost  and  guard  duty  about  Manila, 
while  Aguinaldo's  rebellion  was  rapidly  gath- 
ering head.  On  February  4,  1899,  while  sta- 
tioned opposite  block  house  No.  6,  near  the 
waterworks,  on  Pasig  river,  a  squad  of  four 
armed  Filipinos  attempted  to  pass  the 
American  line.  Private  Grayson,  of  the  First 
Nebraska,  stood  guard  there,  and  when  the 
Filipinos  refused  to  halt,  he  fired  on  them 
His  fire  was  returned  by  the  insurrectos,  and 
the  war  of  the  Philippines  was  on.  The  regi- 
ment rushed  to  the  defense  of  its  outposts, 
the  Filipinos  attacking  with  vigor,  and  this 
action  is  known  as  the  first  battle  of  Santa 
Mesa. 

The  regiment  participated  with  great  re- 
nown in  the  second  battle  of  Santa  Mesa,  Feb- 
rtiary  20th;  the  battle  of  Maraquana  Roads, 
March  5th  and  6th ;  the  advance  on  Mallolos  ; 
the  capture  of  Francisco  del  Monte,  Meycan- 
gua,  Ste.  Marie,  Ste.  Clara,  March  25th ;  the 
battle  of  Quingua,  April  23d;  the  battles  of 
Calumpit,  Santa  Thomas,  San  Fernando  and 
Calocan,  May  6,  1899.  Perhaps  the  battle  of 
Quingua  was  the  most  sanguinary  conflict  in 
which  the  regiment  was  engaged.  Amongst 
those  who  fell  that  day  was  John  M.  Stotsen- 
berg,  the  colonel  of  the  regiment. 

The  regiment  sailed  from  Manila  July  21st 
and  reached  San  Francisco  July  29th,  went 
into  camp  at  the  Presidio  July  30th,  and  was 
mustered  out  and  discharged  August  23,  1899, 


after  a  service  of  one  year,  three  months,  and 
fourteen  days.  Its  losses  were:  Killed  in 
battle,  twenty-one;  died  of  wounds,  thirteen; 
died  of  disease,  thirty — a  total  of  sixty-four. 

Company  C  reached  Beatrice  September  1, 
1899,  and  was  given  a  royal  reception  by  the 
entire  population.  The  roster  of  this  company 
is  as  follows : 

Captain 

Hollingworth,  Albert  H. 

First  Lieutenants 

Archer,  Harry  L. 

Storch,  Joseph  A. 

Second  Lieutenants 
McLaughlin,  Warren  L. 
Wheedon,  Burt  D. 
Dungan,  William  B. 
Coleman,  Garrett  F. 

First  Sergeants 
Wadsworth,  Andrew  S. 
Reedy,  William  H. 

Quartermaster's    Sergeants 
Pethoud,  Logan  L. 
Johnson,  Hans 

Sergeants 
Curtis,  Orrin  T. 
Geddes,  George  L. 
Hall,  John  A. 
Murdock,  Harry  S. 
Evans,  William  J. 
Peters,  Lehman  C. 
Johnson,  Hans 
Dudley,  Howard  S. 

Corporals 
Evans,  William  J. 
Cook,  Erastus 
Bick,  Frederick 
Bloodgood,  Edwin  E. 
Langdon,  Oliver  H. 
Holbert,  Andrew  F. 
Jones,  Sherman 
Truax,  George  Lester 
Hall,  Sherrill  W. 
Tyson,  Jesse 
Baird,  Jesse  P. 
Schultz,  Hugo  D. 


316 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Putt,  Philip  C. 
Peters,  Lehman  C. 
Hall,  William  G. 

Musicians 
Stevenson,  Arthur  E. 
Baird,  Jesse  P. 
Roller,  John  S. 
Tucker,  Luther  I. 
McPIugh,  Joseph  D. 

General  Roster 
Ashenfelter,  James  L. 
Ashley,  CHfford  L. 
Beal,  Eugene 
Butler,  Charley  C. 
Bick,  John  W. 
Bowling,  William  W. 
Bradshaw,  James  A. 
Brewster,  Charles  L. 
Brownell,  Mike 
Ball,  Louis 
Bowling,  George  I. 
Barry,  Joseph  J. 
Bloodgood,  Edwin  E. 
Campbell,  Robert 
Campbell,  Roy  C. 
Clark,  Frank  M. 
Condon,  William 
Cook,  Fred 
Davis,  Everett 
Drake,  Neal  C.  A. 
Druigman,  William  F. 
Dudley,  Howard  S. 
Field,  Charles 
Folden,  Charles  F. 
Folden,  James  R.  C. 
Gable,  Louis  M. 
Gashaw,  Nelson  S. 
Griffith,  Norman 
Hall,  William  G. 
Hall,  Sherrill  W. 
Hileman,  Wilbert  S. 
Holbert,  Andrew  F. 
Hutson,  Edward  J. 
Harris,  Frank 
Johnson,  Hans 
Johnson,  William 
Jones,  Charley  C. 
Jones,  Sherman 


Knouse,  Frank  M. 
Kuhn,  Fred  C. 
Langdon,  Oliver  H. 
Litty,  Fred  I,. 
Macy,  Bruce  E. 
Meeker,  Orrie  A. 
McHugh,  Joseph  D. 
McDaniel,  Charles  L. 
McDonough,  Michael  L. 
Nelson,  Linus  C. 
Olinghouse,  Henry  L 
Owen,  Frank 
Ozman,  Roscoe  C. 
Ossowski,  Paul 
Penrod,  Jesse  C. 
Peters,  Lehman  C- 
Peters,  Martin  L. 
Pinson,  Will  H. 
Powers,  Mark 
Putt,  Phillip  C. 
Quein,  John  R. 
Ragland,   Simeon  W. 
Ray,  Alpheus 
Reedy,  William  H. 
Roller,  John  S. 
Riordan,  John  J. 
Rungan,  Charles 
Shultz,  Hugo  D. 
Scott,  Marion  F. 
Smith,  Elmer  W. 
Spott,  Thomas 
Staker,  Will  C. 
Sterne,  William  A. 
Tatman,  Harry  E. 
Thompson,  Earl  W. 
Tucker,  Luther  I. 
Tyson,  Jesse 
Watts,  Bert  W. 
Willey,  Frank 
Wilson,  John  E. 

Recruits 
Ackerman,   Paul  August 
Avey,  Sherman  H. 
Burnham,  Lyvenus  S. 
Boomer,  George  R. 
Bishop,  Fred  W. 
Chevrout,  James  W. 
Epp,  Henry  Martin 
Franklin,  C.  M. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


317 


Logsdon,  William 
Miller,  Julius  G. 
Morris,  Robert  B. 
Nelson,  Julius  M. 
Pillsbury,  John  W. 
Rowland,  Ira  C. 
Salisbury,  Clayton  L. 
Shaw,  Herman  C. 
Smock,  Harry  O. 
Stambough,  William  H. 
Stout,  Ira  P. 
Stout,  Walter  I. 
Tilton,  Winfield  S. 
Truax,  George  Lester 
Ward,  Peter 
Woodbridge,  William  E. 

Promoted 

Harry  L.  Archer,  First  Lieutenant,  Regi- 
mental Adjutant. 

W.  R.  McLaughlin,  Second  Lieutenant, 
Regimental  Quartermaster. 

Bert  D.  Wheedon,  Second  Lieutenant,  Regi- 
mental Adjutant. 

Andrew  S.  Wadsworth,  First  Sergeant, 
Second  Lieutenant,  Company  B. 

Orrin  T.  Curtis,  First  Sergeant,  Second 
Lieutenant,  Company  L. 

Wounded 

A.  H.  Hollingworth,  Captain,  wounded  in 
right  forearm  and  right  thigh,  near  Ma- 
riquina,  P.  I.,  February  17,  1899. 

J.  A.  Storch,  First  Lieutenant,  wounded  in 
right  arm,  at  San  Francisco  del  Monte,  P.  I., 
March  25,  1899. 

B.  D.  Wheedon,  Second  Lieutenant,  wound- 
ed in  right  hip,  near  Mariquina,  P.  I.,  Febru- 
ary 17,  1899. 

W.  G.  Dungan,  Second  Lieutenant,  wound- 
ed near  Quingua,  P.  I.,  April  24,  1899. 

Orrin  T.  Curtis,  First  Sergeant,  wounded 
in  right  hand,  at  Santa  Mesa,  P.  I.,  February 
4,  1899. 

Jesse  P.  Baird,  Corporal,  wounded  in  left 
hand,  at  Marilao,  P.  I.,  March  29,  1899. 

Chas.  Brewster,  Corporal,  wounded  in  right 
foot,  at  Calumpit,  P.  I.,  April  25,  1899. 

John  S.  Roller,  Artificer,  wounded  in  left 
arm,  at  Quingua,  P.  I.,  April  23,  1899. 


Henry  Epp,  wounded  in  left  shoulder,  at 
Santa  Mesa,  P.  I.,  February  5,  1899. 

Fred  C.  Kuhn,  wounded  in  left  thigh,  at 
waterworks,  P.  I.,  February  6,  1899. 

Roscoe  C.  Ozman,  wounded  in  right  fore- 
arm, at  San  Francisco  del  Monte,  P.  I.,  March 
25,  1899. 

Roy  C.  Campbell,  wounded  in  left  ankle,  at 
Guiguinto,  P.  I.,  March  29,  1899. 

George  R.  Boomer,  wounded  in  left  fore- 
arm, near  Guiguinto,  P.  I.,  March  30,  1899. 

Lyvenus  S.  Bumham,  wounded  in  left 
shoulder,  near  Guiguinto,  P.  I.,  March  30, 
1899. 

William  Logsdon,  wounded  in  right  lung, 
near  Guiguinto,  P.  I.,  March  30,  1899. 

Bert  W.  Watts,  wounded  in  left  thigh,  near 
Guiguinto,  P.  I.,  March  30,  1899. 

Dead 

William  G.  Evans,  Sergeant,  died  of  blood 
poison,  at  Cavite,  P.  I.,  July  24,  1898. 

George  L.  Geddes,  Sergeant,  died  of  spinal 
meningitis,  at  sea,  June  21,  1898. 

Bruce  E.  Macy,  wounded  in  action  at  Ma- 
rilao, P.  I.,  March  29,  1899,  died  April  20, 
1899. 

Julius  G.  Miller,  died  of  spinal  meningitis, 
at  Honolulu,  October  20,  1898. 

Frank  Knouse,  drowned  in  Pasig  river,  De- 
cember 15,  1898. 

The  members  of  Company  C  of  the  First 
Nebraska  were  the  only  Gage  county  people 
who  saw  active  service  in  the  Philippine  war. 
General  Leonard  W.  Colby,  of  Beatrice,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  war,  was  appointed  brigadier 
general  and  assigned  to  a  command  at  Annis- 
ton,  Georgia.  His  brigade,  however,  was 
never  called  into  service. 

But  all  other  military  achievements  to  which 
Gage  county  may  justly  lay  claim,  pale  into 
insignificance  before  its  activities  in  the  pres- 
ent great  world  war.  Scarcely  had  the 
declaration  of  war  with  Germany  been  made 
by  congress,  in  April,  1917,  when  historic 
Company  C  of  the  Nebraska  National  Guard, 
of  Beatrice,  commanded  by  Captain  Charles 
L.  Brewster,  presented  itself  for  volunteer 
service.     At  Wymore,  Company  F,  command- 


318 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


ed  by  Captain  F.  E.  Crawford,  and  composed 
almost  wholly  of  Gage  county  volunteers,  left 
Wymore  September  20,  1918,  for  military 
training  at  Camp  Cody,  Deming,  New  Mexico. 
Prior  to  the  taking  effect  of  the  draft  act  of 
congress,  many  others  volunteered  in  the 
army  and  navy  of  the  United  States  for  ser- 
vice in  this  the  greatest  and  most  terrible  of 
all  wars.  Under  the  draft  act,  many  more  of 
Gage  county's  young  men  have  been  drawn 
into  the  service.  The  figures  are  not  at  hand 
to  show  the  number  of  our  county's  citizens 
now  serving  under  our  country's  flag  in  the 


war  waged  for  the  preservation  of  democratic 
institutions  throughout  the  world.  Including 
both  branches  of  the  service,  it  is  approxi- 
mately 1200.  Many  are  already  in  France,  a 
few  have  made  the  supreme  sacrifice  for  hu- 
man liberty,  and  many  others  may  yet  do  so. 
Besides  its  man-power,  the  county  has  gener- 
ously contributed  of  its  wealth  for  the  prose- 
cution of  this  war  of  embattled  nations.  The 
full  record  of  the  county's  patriotic  contribu- 
tions in  this  crucial  epoch  of  the  world's  his- 
tory must  needs  be  left  to  the  consideration 
of  some  later  historian. 


CHAPTER  XXX 

THE  BENCH  AND  THE  BAR 

Territorial  Supreme;  Court  —  Territorial  District  Courts  —  Chief  Justice  Ferguson 

—  Associate  Justices  —  First   Session    Supreme   Court  —  First   Term   District 

Court  —  First  Judicial  Legislation  —  Gage  County's  First  District  Judge  — 

First  Term  District  Court  in  Gage  County  —  Second  Term — First  Grand 

Jury  —  First   Embezzlement  —  First  Murder — Third  Term  District 

Court  —  First  Petit  Jury  —  First  Divorce  Case — State  Supreme 

Court — State  District  Courts  —  Act  Admitting  Attorneys 

—  First  Lawyers  in  Gage  County  —  Brief  Sketches  of 

Former   Members  of  the  Bar  —  Present  Members 


The  organic  act  by  which  the  territory  of 
Nebraska  was  created  and  under  which  it  was 
organized,  vested  the  judicial  power  of  the  ter- 
ritory in  a  supreme  court,  district  courts,  pro- 
bate and  justice-of-the-peace  courts.  With 
respect  to  the  supreme  court,  it  was  provided 
that  this  high  tribunal  should  consist  of  a  chief 
justice  and  two  associate  justices,  to  be  ap- 
pointed by  the  president  of  the  United  States, 
by  and  with  the  consent  of  the  senate.  Any 
two  of  the  justices,  the  act  specified,  should 
constitute  a  quorum.  They  were  required  to 
hold  one  term  of  court  annually  at  the  seat 
of  the  territorial  government,  and  continued  in 
office  for  a  period  of  four  years,  or  until  their 
successors  were  appointed  and  had  qualified. 
Their  salaries  were  fixed  at  the  sum  of  two 
thousand  dollars  per  annum,  to  be  paid  out 
of  the  public  treasury  at  Washington,  and  they 
were  given  authority  to  appoint  a  clerk,  who 
held  office  at  the  pleasure  of  the  justices  and 
who  was  paid  by  the  fees  of  his  office. 

The  act  further  provided  that  the  territory 
should  be  divided  into  three  judicial  districts 
and  that  a  term  of  court  should  be  held  an- 
nually in  each  district,  by  one  of  the  judges 
of  the  supreme  court,  at  such  times  and  places 
as  should  be  prescribed  by  law.  Each  judge 
was  authorized  to  appoint  a  clerk  of  the  court 
for  his  district,  "who  should  also  be  a  register 


in  chancery  and  should  keep  his  office  at  the 
place  where  the  court  may  be  held".  Clerks 
of  the  district  court,  like  the  clerk  of  the 
supreme  court,  held  office  at  the  pleasure  of 
the  judge  appointing  them,  and  were  paid  by 
the  fees  of  their  respective  offices. 

Section  17  of  the  organic  act  provided  that, 
until  otherwise  provided  by  law,  the  governor 
of  the  territory  might  define  the  judicial  dis- 
tricts "and  assign  the  judges  who  may  be  ap- 
pointed for  the  territory  to  the  several  dis- 
tricts, and  also  appoint  the  times  and  places 
for  holding  courts  in  the  several  counties  or 
subdivisions  in  each  of  said  judicial  districts, 
by  proclamation  to  be  issued  by  him ;  but  the 
legislative  assembly,  at  their  first  or  any  sub- 
sequent session,  may  organize,  alter  or  modify 
such  judicial  districts,  and  assign  the  judges, 
and  alter  the  times  and  places  of  holdling 
courts,  as  to  them  shall  seem  proper  and  con- 
venient." 

In  June.  1854,  President  Buchanan  appoint- 
ed James  Bradley,  of  Pennsylvania,  associate 
justice  of  the  territorial  supreme  court  of  Ne- 
braska ;  in  July  following,  Edward  Randolph 
Harden  was  appointed  associate  justice  of  that 
court;  and  on  October  12th  President  Buch- 
anan appointed  Fenner  Ferguson,  of  the  state 
of  New  York,  chief  justice  of  the  court. 

Immediately    upon    his    appointment    Judge 


320 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Ferguson  moved  his  family  to  Belleviie,  where 
he  resided  until  his  death.  He  was  very  ac- 
tive in  assisting  the  legislative  assembly  to 
frame  and  adopt  the  first  code  of  laws  enacted 
for  the  government  of  Nebraska  Territory  and 
in  otherwise  placing  it  in  a  going  condition. 
Acting  within  the  scope  of  his  authority,  Act- 
ing-Governor Cvmiing  had  by  executive  pro- 
clamation pni\-isi(inallv  organized  the  territor- 


Fenner  Ferguson 

First   chief  justice   of   the   Nebraska  Territorial 

supreme  court 

ial  courts  by  assigning  Chief  Justice  Ferguson 
to  the  first  judicial  district,  as  established  by 
his  proclamation.  This  district  embraced 
Dodge  and  Douglas  counties.  The  second 
district,  as  marked  out  by  the  proclamation, 
embraced  the  entire  South  Platte  portion  of 
the  territory,  and  the  third,  the  counties  of 
Burt  and  Washington.  Associate  Justice 
Harden  was  assigned  to  the  second,  and  As- 
sociate Justice  Bradley  to  the  third  district. 
The  proclamation  provided  for  the  holding  of 
a  term   of   the   supreme   com't   at   the   seat   of 


government  on  the  third  Monday  of  February, 
1855 ;  in  the  first  district,  at  Bellvue,  on  the 
second  Monday  in  March,  1855 ;  in  the  second 
district,  at  Nebraska  City,  the  third  Monday  in 
March,  and  in  the  third  district,  at  Florence, 
the  first  Monday  in  April,   1855. 

Pursuant  to  this  proclamation,  the  first  ses- 
sion of  the  territorial  supreme  court  met  in 
Omaha  —  which  had  been  selected  by  Acting- 
Governor  Cuming  as  the  capital  of  the  new 
territory  —  on  the  19th  day  of  February,  1855, 
and  remained  in  session  until  the  6th  day  of 
March  following.  Chief  Justice  Ferguson 
])resided,  and  during  most  of  the  session  both 
associate  justices  appear  to  have  been  in  at- 
tendance ;  a  part  of  the  time,  though,  we  are 
informed.  Justice  Harden  was  ill,  at  his  lodg- 
ings at  Bellevue.  J.  Sterling  Morton,  of  Belle- 
\ue,  was  appointed  clerk  of  the  court.  On 
ilie  last  day  of  the  term,  just  before  adjourn- 
ment, on  motion  of  Attorney  General  Esta- 
brook,  a  number  of  applicants  were  admitted 
to  practice  law  in  the  courts  of  the  territory, 
amongst  them  being  Andrew  J.  Poppleton, 
Andrew  J.  Hanscom,  and  Silas  A.  Strickland, 
all  of  whom  became  closely  identified  with 
the  early  history  of  Nebraska.  But,  on  the 
whole,  this  first  term  of  the  territorial  supreme 
court  was  largely  a  formal  matter,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  effecting  an  organization  and  keeping 
the  letter  of  the  acting  governor's  proclama- 
tion. 

The  first  term  of  district  court  in  the  new 
territory  was  also  largely  for  the  same  pur- 
poses. It  was  opened  at  Bellevue,  the  oldest 
town  in  Nebraska,  then  situated  in  Douglas 
county,  now  in  Sarpy  county,  by  Chief  Justice 
Ferguson,  as  judge  of  the  first  territorial  judi- 
cial district,  on  the  12th  day  of  March,  1855. 
Eli  R.  Doyle,  marshal  of  the  territory,  was 
present  in  his  official  capacity,  and  the  court 
appointed  Silas  A.  Strickland,  of  Bellevue, 
clerk  of  the  court.  Several  applications  were 
made  for  naturalization  papers  by  foreign-born 
residents  of  the  territory  and,  no  other  im- 
portant business  coming  before  the  court,  an 
adjournment  was  taken  until  April   12,   1855. 

In  accordance  with  section  17  of  the  organic 
act,  which  devolved  upon  the  legislature  the 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


321 


duty  of  permanently  establishing  the  courts  of 
the  territory,  defining  their  jurisdiction  and 
dividing  Nebraska  into  judicial  districts,  the 
first  legislative  assembly,  which  convened  at 
Omaha  on  the  16th  day  of  January,  1855,  hav- 
ing adopted  in  part  the  Iowa  code  of  civil 
procedure,  proceded  to  enact  a  body  of  gen- 
eral laws,  amongst  which  were  several  acts  or 
parts  of  acts  defining  the  powers  and  duties  of 
the  several  courts  of  the  territory  and  prescrib- 
ing their  jurisdiction.  The  legislative  enact- 
ment constituted  the  district  courts  the  great 
trial  courts  of  the  territory.  They  were  given 
exclusive  and  original  jurisdiction  of  all  suits 
at  law  and  chancery,  except  such  as  were 
within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  justices  of  the 
peace  and  such  matters  as  were  by  express 
enactment  committed  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
probate  courts,  and  for  the  inferior  courts  it 
was  given  appellate  jurisdiction.  The  supreme 
court  was  given  appellate  jurisdiction  in  all 
decrees  in  chancery,  and  was  a  court  of  last  re- 
sort to  which  writs  of  error  could  be  addressed 
from  all  final  judgments  at  law  tried  by  the 
district  courts.  In  other  words,  the  final  judg- 
ments and  decrees  of  the  members  of  the 
court,  sitting  as  judges  of  the  district  courts, 
were  subject  to  review  by  the  entire  bench  on 
appeals  or  writs  of  error. 

Amongst  other  things,  the  legislative  body 
divided  the  territory  into  three  judicial  dis- 
tricts, the  first  of  which  comprised  Washing- 
ton and  Douglas  counties;  the  second,  Rich- 
ardson, Nemaha,  Otoe,  Cass,  Lancaster,  Green 
(now  Seward),  Clay,  Pawnee,  Johnson.  York 
and  Gage ;  the  third  comprised  the  counties  of 
Dakota,  Buffalo,  Cuming,  Burt,  Dodge,  Loupe 
(now  Colfax),  Blackbird  (now  Thurston  in 
part),  Izard  (now  Wayne),  Jackson  (now  the 
north  third  of  Gage),  and  ]\IcNeal  (now  Stan- 
ton) counties.  Chief  Justice  Ferguson  was  as- 
signed to  the  first  district.  Associate  Justice 
Harden  to  the  second  district,  and  Associate 
Justice  Bradley  to  the  third  district.  The  legis- 
lative assembly  designated  also  the  time  and 
place  for  holding  court  in  the  three  judicial  dis- 
tricts. In  the  second  district,  it  provided  that 
court  should  be  held  in  the  county  of  Cass  on 
the  first  Mondays  of  April  and  September,  in 


Otoe  county  on  the  second  Mondays,  in 
Nemaha  county  on  the  third  Mondays,  and  in 
Richardson  county  on  the  fourth  Mondays  of 
April  and  September  in  each  year,  and  "in  all 
other  counties  in  said  district  at  such  times 
and  places  as  the  judge  may  appoint." 

As  respects  Gage  county,  there  is  no  known 
evidence  that  Associate  Justice  Harden  ever 
called  a  term  of  court  in  the  county.  He  was 
a  southern  gentleman  of  the  old  school.     He 


James  Bradley 

Associate  Justice  of  the  Nebraska  Territorial 

Supreme  Court 

was  born  and  educated  in  Georgia  and  was 
appointed  associate  justice  of  the  supreme 
court  of  the  territory  of  Nebraska  in  July, 
1854,  when  he  was  thirty-nine  years  of  age. 
In  May,  1860,  he  was  appointed  to  a  like  posi- 
tion in  Utah,  by  James  Buchanan,  who  was 
then  president  of  the  United  States.  He  held 
the  first  term  of  court  in  his  district,  as  far  as 
known,  at  Nebraska  City,  in  March,  1855,  and 
left  the  territory  probably  before  Gage  county 
had  any  demand  for  a  term  of  district  court. 
He  returned  to  Georgia  in  time  to  participate 
in  the  famous  secession  convention  of  that 
state,  in  1861,  and  on  the  breaking  out  of  the 


322 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


civil  war  he  enlisted  in  the  Confederate  army 
as  commander  of  a  company  known  as  the 
Dalton  Guards ;  he  was  afterward  made  adju- 
tant of  Smith's  Legion.  He  later  served  as 
an  aide  on  General  Walker's  staff,  and  on  the 
close  of  the  war  he  resumed  the  practice  of  the 
law,  at  Cuthbert.  Georgia.  He  served  two 
terms  in  the  legislature  of  his  state,  as  a  repre- 
sentative from  Walker  county,  and  held  other 
honorary  and  remunerative  positions.  He  ap- 
pears to  have  been  a  man  of  ability  and  in- 
tegrity. He  died  at  Quitman,  Georgia,  in 
1884,  at  the  age  of  sixty-nine  years. 


Edward  Randolph  Harden 

Associate  Justice  of  the  Nebraska  Territorial 

Supreme  Court 


There  exists  no  record  of  the  holding  of  a 
term  of  the  territorial  district  court  in  Gage 
county  prior  to  the  26th  day  of  November, 
1863.  Elmer  S.  Dundy,  of  Falls  City,  was 
appointed  associate  justice  of  the  supreme 
court  by  Abraham  Lincoln,  president  of  the 
United  States,  in  the  early  part  of  1863,  and 
was  assigned  to  the  Second  judicial  district. 
The  first  record  in  the  district-court  records 
of  the  county,  written  in  Judge  Dundy's  own 
hand,  reads  as  follows; 

Be  It  Remembered,  that  at  the  Fall  ad- 
journed term  of  the  Gage  County  District 
Court  of  Nebraska  Territory,  held  at  Beatrice 
in  said  County,  on  the  25th  day  of  November, 
A.  D.,  1863,  the  said  court  having  been  ad- 
journed from  the  first  Thursday  after  the  first 


Monday  in  September,  to.  the  26th  day  of  No- 
vember, 1863,  the  following  named  officers 
were  present,  towit : 

Elmer  S.  Dundy,  Judge 
Rienzi  Streeter,  Clerk,  by 
Oliver  Townsend,  Deputy, 
C.   B.  R.  E.,  Prosecuting  Atty., 
Joseph  Kline,   Shff. 
and  the  following  proceedings  were  had,  towit : 
C.  B.  R.  E.  was  admitted  to  practise  law  in 
the  several  District  Courts  of  this  Territory, 
after  full  examination  in  open  court,  he  hav- 
ing been  first  duly  sworn,  according  to  law. 

On  motion  of  Aug.  Schoenheit,  J.  Wilson 
Bolinger  was  adinitted,  on  certificate,  to  prac- 
tice law  in  the  several  Judicial  Districts  of  this 
Territory,  having  been  first  duly  sworn,  ac- 
cording to  law. 

The  said  sheriff  returns  into  open  court  the 
venire  heretofore  issued  for  petit  jury,  and 
the  jury  being  called,  the  following  named  per- 
sons   were    present    and    answered    to    their 

names:  ,,,       „,  ,    , 

Wm.  Blakely, 

John   Badly    { Bagley) 

Sam'l  Kilpatrick. 

H.  J.  Pierce, 

J.  E.  Chase, 

Adam  Hager, 

H.   M.   Wickham, 

and  there  being  no  business  before  the  Court, 
were  thereupon  discharged. 

Most  of  the  business  before  the  court  was 
of  slight  importance.  There  Were  three  in- 
dictments pending  for  the  illegal  sale  of  in- 
toxicating liquors,  one  for  "malicious  mis- 
chief," and  a  charge  of  riot,  all  of  which  were 
dismissed  by  the  prosecuting  attorney  "C.B. 
R.E." 

The  civil  business  disposed  of  by  Judge 
Dundy  included  nineteen  cases,  one  of  the 
important  ones  being  that  of  Gideon  Bennett 
vs.  William  W.  Dennison.  Bennett,  the  read- 
er will  remember,  was  an  Indian  trader  who 
followed  the  Otoe  and  Missouri  Indian  tribes 
from  Nebrask-a  City  to  their  Gage  county 
reservation  in  1855,  and  Dennison,  the  defend- 
ant in  the  case,  was  the  government  agent  of 
the  Indians  until  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil 
war,  when  he  left  the  territory,  and  afterwards 
became  identified  with  the  Confederacy.  The 
action  was  upon  a  claim  for  money  due  to 
plaintiff  from  defendant,  and  had  been  accom- 
panied by  an  order  of  attachment  which  had 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


323 


been  levied  by  the  sheriff  upon  property  be- 
longing to  Major  Dennison.  The  record 
shows  that  the  defendant  had  died  during  the 
pendency  of  the  suit,  and  John  W.  Latham 
had  been  appointed  administrator  of  his  estate. 
The  suit  was  revived  against  the  administrator 
and  judgment  entered  for  the  plaintiff  in  the 
sum  of  three  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  and 
costs,  the  sheriff  being  directed  to  sell  the  at- 
tached property  in  satisfaction  of  same. 

Perhaps  the  most  important  case  disposed  of 
by  the  court  was  that  entitled  Theodore  Hill, 
Plaintiff,  vs.  The  Central  Overland  and  Pike's 
Peak  Express  Company,  Defendant.  This 
action  also  was  upon  indebtedness  claimed  to 
be  due  plaintiff  from  defendant,  and  the  pro- 
perty of  defendant,  consisting  of  a  number  of 
horses,  "two  with  docked  tails" ;  a  nine-pass- 
enger, four-horse  coach,  named  "Red  Rover" ; 
two  four-mule  teams,  and  other  chattels,  had 
been  taken  by  Sheriff  Clyne,  in  satisfaction  of 
the  plaintiff's  claim.  A  jury  was  waived  by 
both  parties  to  the  suit,  trial  had  to  the  court 
and  judgment  entered  for  plaintiff  against  the 
defendant  in  the  sum  of  $1,395.67,  and  the 
sheriff  was  directed  to  sell  the  attached  pro- 
perty in  satisfaction  thereof. 

The  second  term  of  district  court  held  in 
Gage  county  convened  in  Beatrice  on  the  7th 
day  of  September,  1865. 

"Present;     Elmer  S.  Dundy,  Judge, 
Rienzi  Streeter,  Clerk, 
by    H.  M.  Reynolds,  Deputy, 
Joseph  Clyne,  Shff., 
J.  B.  Mattingley,  Deputy  Shff." 

The  preliminary  entries,  after  reciting  the 
failure  of  the  county  to  select  a  grand  jury  as 
by  law  required,  directs  the  sheriff  to  call  by 
four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  "sixteen  good  and 
lawful  men,  possessing  the  qualifications  of 
electors  in  said  county,  to  serve  as  grand  jurors 
for  the  present  term,  according  to  law  in  such 
case  made  and  provided." 

The  record  further  recites  that  the  following 
named  persons  appeared  as  grand  jurors  at 
four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  that  day, 
namely : 


R.  C.  Davis  J.  Hinton 

John  Alexander  John  T.  Pethoud 

William  Alexander  JNIichael  Conley 

Wm.  Tichnor  Wm.  ]\IcCumsey 

Amasa  Stevens  Orrin  Stevens 

Jacob  Shaw  Edward  Cartwright 

Joseph  L.  Brown  John  Q.  Adams 

A.  D.  Sage  F.  Raper 

As  far  as  the  records  of  the  district  court 
go,  this  appears  to  have  been  the  first  grand 
jury  called  in  Gage  county.  The  term  lasted 
a  single  day,  but  the  grand  jurors  returned  in- 
dictments against  Alexander  Dean,  for  murder 
in  the  first  degree;  Theodore  M.  Couher,  for 
embezzlement;  and  John  Fishpaugh,  Peter 
Buckles,  Scott  Willis  and  Henry  Willis,  for 
assault  with  intent  to  commit  murder.  One 
of  the  cases  tried  and  decided  by  Judge  Dundy 
was  the  County  of  Gage  vs. Theodore  M.  Coul- 
ter, an  action  brought  by  the  county  to  re- 
cover against  Coulter  the  sum  of  $547.98 
embezzled  by  him  while  county  treasurer.  The 
defendant  made  default  in  the  case  and  a 
judgment  was  entered  for  the  county  against 
him  and  his  bondsmen  for  that  amount,  and 
he  was  almost  immediately  indicted  for  em- 
bezzlement. 

Coulter  was  arrested  upon  this  indictment 
and  he  was  held  a  prisoner  by  the  sheriff  for 
nearly  three  years.  There  was  no  jail  where 
he  could  be  kept  and  the  sheriff  was  compelled 
to  board  and  care  for  him  at  the  county's  ex- 
pense. It  was  often  very  inconvenient  for  the 
sheriff  to  guard  or  otherwise  hold  his  prisoner 
in  custody.  Following  the  great  Indian  raid 
on  the  Little  Blue  river  in  August,  1864,  the 
sheriff,  Joseph  Clyne,  was  a  member  of  a  com- 
pany from  Beatrice  who  went  on  an  expedi- 
tion to  the  stricken  section  of  the  territory,  to 
bury  the  dead  and  assist  in  repelling  further 
invasion.  He  was  compelled  to  take  his 
prisoner  along,  as  he  could  find  no  one  willing 
to  have  him  in  charge.  After  the  excitment 
had  abated  and  Coulter's  bondsmen  had  liqui- 
dated his  defalcation,  the  expense  of  providing 
for  the  prisoner  and.  of  bringing  him  to  trial 
outweighed  all  other  considerations  and  by 
common  consent  every  opportunity  was  given 
him   to  escape.     As  a   prisoner  he   was   very 


324 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


much  of  a  man  of  leisure,  the  board  was  good 
and  he  was  clothed,  fed,  and  sheltered  at 
public  expense.  He  sensed  the  situation  per- 
fectly, talked  largely  about  his  innocence  and 
forcing  the  county  to  bring  him  to  trial,  and 
made  not  the  slightest  move  toward  relieving 
the  community  of  his  emabrrassing  presence. 
At  last,  in  sheer  desperation,  he  was  placed  in 
the  custody  of  the  deputy  sheriff,  James  B. 
Mattingley,  and  by  the  deputy  was  removed 
to  his  home  in  Rockford  township  a  few  miles 
north  of  Blue  Springs.  At  this  home  he  re- 
ceived a  meager  fare  and  a  poor  quality  of 
meals.  After  a  few  weeks  Couher  took  the 
hint  and  disappeared.  No  one  ever  made  the 
slightest  effort  to  apprehend  him,  and  thus 
ended  the  first  embezzlement  case  in  Gage 
county. 

The  indictment  of  Dean  for  murder  was  also 
largely  a  farcical  matter,  though  in  a  more  ad- 
vanced state  of  society  he  would  no  doubt  have 
been  immediately  arrested  and  punished.  His 
victim  was  Spencer  Roberts,  who  owned  and 
lived  upon  the  tract  of  land  where  Crab 
Orchard  is  now  located.  He  had  sold  to 
Andrew  Dean,  a  Dane  living  on  Cub  creek, 
near  the  "First  Homestead,"  a  horse  and  had 
taken  his  note  for  sixty  dollars  in  settlement 
for  the  animal.  Roberts,  who  was  a  cattle- 
buyer  and  stock  dealer,  called  at  Dean's  house 
in  his  absence,  to  collect  the  note,  and  it  was 
alleged  he  attempted  to  be  familiar  with  his 
debtor's  wife.  She  repelled  his  advances  and 
Roberts  left  the  premises.  He  afterward  re- 
turned to  the  house  and  found  Dean  and  his 
neighbor,  Thomas  Clyne,  engaged  in  threshing 
wheat  with  flails.  He  was  upon  the  point  of 
leaving  when  Dean's  wife  attempted  to  as- 
sault him,  and  Dean,  then  learning  the  identity 
of  the  man  who  had  insulted  her,  his  w'lie 
claimed,  grabbed  his  flail  and  rushed  to  at- 
tack Roberts.  Clyne  stepped  between  the  men 
and  caught  Dean's  hand  when  in  the  act  of 
striking  with  the  flail,  but  the  short  end  of 
the  bludgeon  struck  Roberts,  fracturing  his 
skull,  from  which  injury  he  soon  expired.  No 
effort  was  made  to  apprehend  Dean  and  he 
soon  disappeared.     His  indictment  was  more 


to  save  the  face  of  the  community  than  for  any 
definite  purpose  of  bringing  him  to  punish- 
ment. This  was  the  first  murder  of  a  white 
person  in  Gage  county  of  which  there  is  any 
known  evidence,  and  Dean's  indictment  was 
the  first  one  returned  by  a  grand  jury  in  the 
county,  all  previous  criminal  prosecutions  hav- 
ing been  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  justice 
court  or,  where  the  offense  charged  was  be- 
yond the  jurisdiction  of  the  justice  and  the  of- 
fender had  been  bound  over,  no  indictment  or 
prosecution  followed,  a  procedure  illustrated 
in  the  actions  of  the  prosecuting  attorney  in 
dismissing  six  criminal  cases  pending  before 
Judge  Dundy  at  the  first  term  of  the  Gage 
county  district  court  in  1863. 

Judge  Dundy  continued  to  hold  the  office 
of  associate  justice  of  the  territorial  supreme 
court  until  Nebraska  was  admitted  into  the 
Union,  March  1,  1867.  At  the  general  election 
of  1866,  in  contemplation  of  the  change  from 
territorial  to  state  government,  William  A. 
Little,  of  Omaha,  was  elected  chief  justice  of 
the  supreme  court  and  George  B.  Lake  and 
Lorenzo  Crounse,  both  of  Omaha,  were  elect- 
ed associate  justices.  Before  taking  office 
Little  died  and  his  opponent  at  the  election, 
Oliver  P.  Mason,  of  Nebraska  City,  was  ap- 
pointed by  Governor  Butler  (the  first  of  the 
state  governors)  chief  justice  in  his  stead,  to 
serve  until  the  next  general  election,  when  he 
was  elected  chief  justice  of  the  supreme  court 
of  the  state  of  Nebraska. 

By  an  act  of  the  state  legislature,  approved 
June  12,  1867,  the  boundaries  of  the  judicial 
districts  were  changed,  and  the  counties  of 
Richardson,  Nemaha,  Otoe.  Johnson,  Pawnee, 
Gage,  Jefferson,  Saline,  Fillmore,  and  Nuckolls, 
with  the  unorganized  territory  to  the  west, 
were  designated  as  the  First  judicial  district. 
The  first  term  of  the  Gage  county  district  court 
after  Nebraska  territory  became  the  state  of 
Nebraska,  was  held  by  Judge  Mason,  at 
Beatrice,  beginning  the  7th  day  of  October, 
A.D.,  1867.  The  introductory  entries  are  in 
Judge  Mason's  own  handwriting,  and  read 
as  follows : 

Be  it  Remembered,  That  at  a  regular  term 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


325 


of  the  District  Court  of  the  First  Judicial  Dis- 
trict, sitting  within  and  for  Gage  County, 
Present        O.  P.  Mason,  Judge, 

Isham  Reavis,  Dist.  Attorney, 
Rienzi  Streeter,  Clerk, 
by     H.  M.  Reynolds.  Deputy 
W.  T.  Brown,  Sheriff, 
T.  J.  Chesney,  Deputy  Sheriff, 
Daniel  Freeman,  Bailiff'. 
The    following   proceedings    were    had    and 
done:     The  court  having  been  opened  at  the 
time  prescribed  by  law  by  the  sheriff  making 
public  proclamation  thereof,  N.  K.  Griggs  and 
S.  B.  Harrington  were  admitted  to  practice  law 
in   the   several   District    Courts   of  the    State, 
having  been    first    duly    sworn,    according   to 
law. 

The  said  sheriff  returns  in  open  court  a 
venire  heretofore  issued  for  a  Grand  Jury,  and 
the  jury  being  called,  the  following  named  per- 
sons were  present  and  answered  to  their  names, 
viz : 

Richard  Rossiter  A.  Van  Buskirk 

Peter  Hamma  H.  D.  Lilley 

George  Stark  H.  M.  Wickham 

Sam'l  Kilpatrick  J.  M.  Rodgers 

J.  B.   Shaw  John  Parker 

N.  Kain  H.  Hollingworth 

John  Mumford  Alex.  Welch 

Absent  J.  J.  Dunbar  and  A.  D.  Sage.  A.  D. 
Sage  was  excused  on  account  of  sickness,  and 
Alexander  Welch  was  found  not  qualified  to 
act  as  a  juror,  on  account  of  being  a  foreigner, 
and  an  attachment  was  ordered  for  J.  J. 
Dunbar. 

The  following  named  persons  were  then 
summoned  by  the  sheriff  to  serve  as  Grand 
Jurors  and  fill  the  panel,  to  wit :  F.  E.  Roper, 
Christian  Euster  and  George  H.  Ross. 

After  the  Grand  Jurors  had  all  been  examin- 
ed by  the  Court  touching  their  qualifications  as 
such,  H.  M.  Wickham  was  duly  sworn  as  Fore- 
man of  the  Grand  Jury,  after  which  the  other 
Grand  Jurors  were  all  sworn  in  the  oath  pro- 
vided by  law,  and  after  being  charged  by  the 
Court  retired  in  charge  of  Daniel  Freeman, 
a  sworn  bailiff,  to  consider  their  indictments 
and  their  presentments. 

The  said  sheriff  also  returned  into  open  court 
a  venire  heretofore  issued  for  a  petit  jury,  and 
the  jury  being  called,  the  following  named  per- 
sons were  present  and  answered  to  their 
names,  to-wit : 

R.  C.  Davis  John  Barrett 

J.  W.  Mumford  Henry  Shullenbarger 

L.  P.  Chandler  F.  H.  Dobbs 

Jacob  Hildebrand         David  Palmer 
Amos  Hay  den  H.  S.  Barnum 


Frederick  Sprague       John  Hillman 


James  Kinzie 
Tames  Plucknett 
Alfred  Snell 
_V.  S.  Whittemore 
Robert  Nicholas 
R.  A.  Wilson 


J.  W.  Nickols 
John  Lyons 
William  Curtiss 
Egbert  Shaw 
J.  Buchanan 
William  Wild 


As  far  as  disclosed  by  the  records  this  was 
the  first  petit  jury  ever  empaneled  in  the  dis- 
trict court  in  Gage  county.  The  term  lasted 
two  days  and  it  must  have  run  day  and  night, 
as  a  large  amount  of  business  was  transacted 
by  Judge  Mason.  Amongst  the  cases  tried  by 
him  at  this  term  was  that  of  Hester  Drown  vs. 


OtivER  P.  Mason 

First  Chief  Justice  of  the  Nebraska  State  Supreme 

Court 


George  W.  Drown,  action  for  divorce.  It 
was  tried  on  the  last  day  of  the  tenn,  Septem- 
ber 9th,  and  a  divorce  was  denied  the  plaintiff 
and  awarded,  the  defendant,  on  account  of 
plaintiff's  proved  moral  deliquencies.  This 
was  the  first  divorce  suit  ever  tried  in  Gage 
county. 

After  empaneling  the  jury  the  following 
order  was  made  by  the  court:  "Ordered  that 
the  sheriff  of  Gage  county  purchase  for  the 
use  of  the  district  court  within  and  for  Gage 
county,  twelve  chairs  of  good  and  substantial 
material  and  make,  and  that  the  same  be  pur- 


326 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


chased  at  the  expense  of  the  said  county  of 
Gage." 

Within  the  two  days'  session  of  the  court 
occurred  the  trial  of  The  People  of  the  State 
of  Nebraska  vs.  John  Fishpaugh,  Peter 
Buckles  and  John  Scott  Willis,  indicted  for 
riot.  The  jury  empaneled  to  try  the  case  were 
Jacob  W.  Mumford,  Jacob  Hildebrand,  Fred- 
erick Sprague,  James  Kinzie,  James  Plucknett, 
Alfred  Snell,  Robert  Nicholas,  V.  S.  Whitte- 
more,  John  Hillman,  F.  H.  Dobbs,  David 
Palmer,  and  John  Lyons. 

"After  hearing  the  evidence  introduced  as 
well  on  the  part  of  said  prisoners  as  on  the 
part  of  the  People  of  the  State  of  Nebraska, 
and  after  hearing  the  arguments  of  counsel 
and  the  charge  of  the  court,  the  jury  retired 
in  charge  of  a  sworn  officer  to  consider  their 
verdict.  And  after  consulting  and  deliberat- 
ing thereon,  returned  into  court  the  following 
verdict : 

'We,  the  jury,  find  the  defendants,  John 
Fishpaugh,  Peter  Buckles  and  John  Scott 
Willis,  guilty  as  they  stand  charged  in  the  in- 
dictment. F.  H.  Dobbs,  Foreman'." 

This  was  the  first  trial  jury  empaneled  and 
this  the  first  verdict  rendered  by  a  jury  in  the 
district  court  of  Gage  county. 

From  1867  to  1873  Judge  Mason,  chief 
justice  of  the  supreme  court,  was  the  district 
judge  of  the  First  judicial  district  of  Nebraska, 
and  was  succeeded  by  Daniel  Gantt.  The 
state  supreme  court  retained  its  original  ter- 
ritorial organization  until  the  adoption  of  the 
present  state  constitution,  in  1875.  By  its  pro- 
vision, district  judges  were  elected  and  mem- 
bers of  the  supreme  court  ceased  to  be  trial 
judges  in  the  judicial  districts.  The  first  dis- 
trict judge  of  the  First  judicial  district  under 
the  constitution  was  Archibald  J.  Weaver,  of 
Falls  City.  He  was  elected  to  this  office  at 
the  general  election  in  1875  and  reelected  in 
1879.  Before  his  second  term  expired,  at  the 
general  election  in  1883,  he  was  elected  to  the 
Forty-eighth  congress  from  the  old  First  con- 
gressional district,  and  in  the  fall  of  1885  he 
was  reelected,  to  the  Forty-ninth  congress.  He 
was  a  man  of  great  force  of  character,  of  in- 


defatigable energy  and  of  unquestioned  integ- 
rity of  character.  He  was  kindly,  generous, 
hospitable,  and  one  of  the  most  companionable 
of  men.  He  was  of  such  striking  appearance 
and  commanding  physique  as  to  attract  at- 
tention in  any  crowd.  His  career  as  a  judge 
in  the  old  First  judicial  district  will  never  be 
forgotten  while  a  single  member  of  the  bar 
of  that  district  who  appeared  in  his  court  re- 
mains alive.  His  power  in  the  dispatch  of 
judicial  business  was  phenomenal  and  his  court 
ran  at  high  pressure  by  day  and  a  part  of 
every  night.  He  had  remarkable  sagacity  in 
divining  the  intents  and  purposes  of  men  and 
any  crooked  or  fraudulent  deal  never  got  by 
him,  so  far  as  any  lawyer  ever  knew.  He  con- 
tracted a  slight  attack  of  pneumonia  and,  af- 
ter an  illness  of  three  days,  died  April  18,  1887, 
when  in  the  prime  of  life  and  ere  he  had  ap- 
proached the  zenith  of  his  great  powers  and 
usefulness.  Perhaps  no  man  in  Nebraska  had 
been  so  showered  with  honors  and  few,  if 
any,  ever  had  a  future  of  greater  possibilities. 
Judge  Weaver  was  succeeded  on  the  bench 
of  the  First  judicial  district  by  Jefferson  H. 
Broady,  of  Brownville,  at  the  election  of  1883. 
Judge  Broady  served  the  district  most  faith- 
fully for  four  years.  Before  the  expiration 
of  his  term  of  office  the  legislature  of  1887 
authorized  the  election  of  two  judges  for  the 
First  judicial  district,  and  at  the  fall  election 
that  year  Judge  Broady  was  reelected,  and 
with  him  Thomas  Appleget,  of  Tecumseh.  At 
the  close  of  his  term  of  office  Judge  Broady 
retired  from  the  bench,  honored  and  respected 
by  the  entire  bar  of  the  First  judicial  district, 
having  for  eight  busy  years  given  power,  digni- 
ty and  honor  to  the  bench  of  the  district.  He 
had  been  living  in  Beatrice  for  three  or  four 
years  but  in  1901  he  removed  to  Lincoln  and 
re-engaged  in  the  practice  of  the  law.  He 
died  a  few  years  ago,  mourned  by  almost  the 
entire  state. 

In  1891  the  legislature  redistricted  the  state 
at-  respects  the  judicial  districts.  The  bound- 
aries of  the  old  First  judicial  district  of  Weav- 
er's and  Broady's  day,  which  comprised  Rich- 
ardson, Nemaha,  Johnson,  Pawnee  and  Gage, 
was  changed  to  include  Jefferson  county.  The 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


327 


provision  for  the  election  of  two  judges  in  tlie 
district  was  retained,  and  at  the  general  elec- 
tion of  1891  Albert  H.  Babcock  and  James 
E.  Bush,  both  of  Beatrice,  were  elevated  to 
the  judicial  district  bench.  In  1895  Charles 
B.  Letton,  of  Fairbury,  and  John  S.  Stull,  of 
Auburn,  were  elected  judges  of  the  district, 
and  each  was  reelected  in  1899.  At  the  elec- 
tion of  1903  Albert  H.  Babcock,  of  Beatrice, 
and  W.  H.  Kellegar,  of  Auburn,  were  elected 
district  judges  of  the  First  judicial  district.  Be- 
fore his  term  of  office  expired  Judge  Babcock 
died,  and  John  B.  Raper,  of  Pawnee  City, 
was  appointed  by  Governor  Mickey  to  fill  out 
his  unexpired  term.  At  the  fall  election  of 
1907  Leander  M.  Pemberton  and  John  B. 
Raper  were  elected,  and  both  have  by  succes- 
sive elections  held  this  important  office  till  the 
present  moment. 

In  1911  the  legislature,  by  a  reapportionment 
of  the  judicial  districts,  created  district  No. 
18,  consisting  of  Gage  and  Jefferson  counties, 
and  Judge  Pemberton  was  assigned  for  ser- 
vice to  this  district.  He  is  the  present  in- 
cumbent of  the  office- 
Speaking  generally,  the  judges  of  the  dis- 
trict court  of  the  several  judicial  districts  to 
which  Gage  county  has  belonged  have  been 
lawyers  of  ability  and  of  great  worth  of  char- 
acter. Some  were  called  to  even  higher  ser- 
vice than  the  district  judicial  bench.  Judge 
Dundy  was,  in  1868,  elevated  to  the  bench  of 
the  Federal  district  court  of  Nebraska,  and 
he  occupied  that  position  until  his  death,  Octo- 
ber 28,  1896.  Judge  Weaver  passed  from  the 
district  court  bench  to  a  seat  in  congress ; 
Judge  Gantt  was  elected  a  justice  of  the  su- 
preme court  in  1867  and  at  the  time  of  his 
demise,  in  1878,  was  chief  justice  of  that  great 
court ;  Judge  Letton,  after  nearly  eight  years' 
service  on  the  district  bench  of  the  First  judi- 
cial district,  was,  in  November,  1903,  appointed 
one  of  the  supreme-court  commissioners,  and 
in  1905  he  was  elected  a  justice  of  the  supreme 
court  of  the  state,  a  position  he  has  since  held. 
He  is  a  candidate  for  a  second  reelection, 
with  every  prospect  of  success. 

The  intimate  relationship  which  always  ex- 
ists between  bench  and  bar  in  the  public  mind 


as  well  as  in  actual  practice,  gives  pertinency 
to  what  will  be  said  concerning  the  lav;'yers  of 
Gage  county. 

The  bar  as  a  branch  of  the  American  sys- 
tem of  jurisprudence  was  given  standing  by 
the  first  general  assembly  of  the  territory  of 
Nebraska  in  an  act  approved  March  9,  1855, 
entitled  "An  act  regulating  the  admission  of 
attorneys."  It  is  very  brief.  The  first  sec- 
tion provides  that  "any  person  twenty-one 
years  of  age  who  can  produce  satisfactory 
evidence  of  a  good  moral  character  and  ,pass 
an  examination  before  either  the  judges  of 
the  district  court  or  before  the  justices  of  the 
supreme  court  of  this  territory,  shall  be 
licensed  to  practice  as  an  attorney  at  law 
and  solicitor  in  chancery  in  all  the  courts  in 
this  territory."  And,  as  a  sort  of  after- 
thought, the  second  section  of  the  act  pro- 
vides that  "every  citizen  of  this  territory  may 
attend  to  his  own  cases  in  all  said  courts." 

At  the  third  session  of  the  legislative  as- 
sembly, begun  and  held  at  Omaha  January 
15,  1857,  a  code  of  civil  procedure  was  adopted 
for  the  territory,  in  which  the  law  regarding 
attorneys  and  counselors  at  law  was  formulated 
very  much  as  it  now  appears  in  the  statutes  of 
our  state.  Under  these  statutes  there  has  been 
from  almost  the  first  an  able,  patriotic  and 
trustworthy  bar  in  Nebraska.  No  class  of 
citizens  has  contributed  as  much  toward  the 
general  welfare,  the  formulation  and  enact- 
ment of  wise  and  wholesome  laws,  the  en- 
forcement of  law  and  order  and  the  mainten- 
ance of  a  high  standard  of  moral  character  in 
the  community.  No  other  profession  excels 
the  lawyers  in  breadth  of  learning  and  ability. 
The  Nebraska  bar  has  always  been  an  influ- 
ential factor  in  the  public  affairs  of  our  state 
and  nation,  and  in  every  walk  of  life  it  has 
made  a  record  in  which  all  of  its  members  may 
feel  a  just  pride.  Gage  county  and  the  city  of 
Beatrice  are  monuments  to  the  courage,  daring 
and  prevision  of  a  few  lawyers,  who,  with 
others,  gathered  into  an  association  in  1857,  on 
board  the  old  Missouri  River  steamboat  "Han- 
nibal," and  resolved  to  remain  together  and 
share  their  fortunes  in  the  new  territory  of 
Nebraska.     The  senior  of  these  in  point  of  age 


328 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


and  experience  was  John  Fitch  Kinney,  who 
had  already  acquired  reputation  as  a  politician, 
law-maker,  judge  and  advocate  in  the  states 
of  Ohio  and  Iowa,  and  who  was  the  first 
president  of  the  Nebraska  AsscKiation,  which 
became  in  effect  the  Beatrice  Townsite  Com- 
pany. The  secretary  of  this  organization  was 
a  young  man  from  the  state  of  New  York,  just 
entering  upon  the  practice  of  the  law, —  schol- 
arly, courtly  John  McConihe,  whose  brilliant 
career  as  a  lawyer  and  soldier  terminated  on 
the  bloody  field  of  Cold  Harbor,  in  1864. 
Bennett  Pike,  a  lawyer  of  rare  ability  and  a 
man  of  most  afifable  temperament  and  great 
worth  of  character,  was  the  third  of  this  group 
of  lawyers,  who,  in  a  sister  state,  achieved 
undying  fame  in  a  learned  bar  in  a  great  city. 
To  these  were  joined  Jeiiferson  B.  Weston, 
who  became  one  of  the  most  distinguished 
citizens  of  our  state ;  Obediah  B.  Hewett,  one 
of  the  early  district  attorneys  of  the  old  First 
judicial  district  of  Nebraska  and  an  honored 
citizen  for  many  years  of  Nemaha  county ; 
and  Phineas  W.  Hitchcock,  whose  abilities  as 
a  lawyer  won  him  senatorial  honors  in  the 
congress  of  the  United  States. 

From  the  first  settlement  of  Gage  county, 
her  citizens  were  largely  dependent  upon  out- 
side counsel  for  such  legal  services  as  were 
required  in  those  primitive  days.  Bolinger  & 
Rumbaugh,  at  Marysville,  Kansas,  were  fre- 
quently employed  by  people  of  Gage  county 
in  handling  their  affairs.  Judge  Isham  Reavis, 
the  father  of  Congressman  Frank  Reavis,  was 
one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Richardson  county, 
and  for  many  years  was  an  active  practitioner 
ir.  the  courts  of  our  county,  as  was  also  Thomas 
B.  Stevenson,  of  Nebraska  City. 

The  first  resident  lawyer  of  Gage  county 
was  Jefferson  B.  Weston,  who  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  and  authorized  to  practice  his  profes- 
sion about  1862,  after  having  pursued  a  course 
of  legal  studies  in  Chicago,  Illinois.  But  Mr. 
Weston  found  life  on  the  plains  more  attractive 
than  life  in  a  law  office  in  a  primitive  com- 
munity. For  several  years  he  engaged  in 
freighting  along  the  Oregon  Trail,  and  in 
trade  and  other  business  ventures  in  the  far 
west.      It  was  not  until  about  1868,  when  the 


government  land  office  was  removed  from 
Brownville  to  Beatrice  and  the  country  began 
to  fill  up  rapidly  with  homeseekers,  that  Mr. 
Weston  settled  down  to  the  practice  of  his 
profession.  In  1873  he  was  elected,  for  a 
four-year  term,  to  the  office  of  state  auditor  of 
Nebraska,  and  was  reelected  for  two  years. 
On  his  election  he  moved  to  Lincoln,  where 
he  resided  until  1880,  when  he  returned  to 
Beatrice  and  engaged  in  the  banking  business. 
After  his  election  to  office  he  abandoned  the 
practice  of  law  altogether. 

Perhaps  the  most  picturesque  character  who 
ever  assumed  to  practice  law  in  Gage  county 
was  "C.  B.  R.  E."  This  man  had  been 
Charles  C.  Coffinberry.  He  had  reared  a 
family,  almost  all  grown,  to  each  of  whom  he 
had  given  alliterative  names.  His  eldest  son 
was  Cyrian  C.  Coffinberry ;  his  second  son, 
Crosby  C.  Coffinberry;  his  third  son,  Corwin 
C.  Coffinberry ;  his  fourth  son  was  Carter  C. 
Coffinberry ;  and  his  handsome  and  very 
amiable  daughter  was  Caroline  C.  Coffinberry, 
who  became  the  wife  of  E.  B.  Hendy,  one  of 
the  early  sheriffs  of  the  county.  The  head  of 
the  family,  while  a  member  of  the  Wisconsin 
legislature,  had  procured  a  legislative  enact- 
ment authorizing  him  thereafter  to  appear  as 
plain  Mr.  C.  C.  Berry,  but  his  entire  family 
repudiated  this  shortening  of  the  family 
cognomen,  and  insisted  upon  being  known  as 
Coffinberry.  This  was  the  first  family  to  locate 
on  the  Big  Blue  river  in  Rockford  township. 
In  the  spring  of  1858  they  settled  on  the 
claim  which  was  afterward  the  homestead  of 
James  Hollingworth,  and  is  now  owned  by  his 
son  Charles,  a  mile  and  a  half  south  of 
Holmesville.  The  eccentricities  of  this  family 
were  a  never  failing  source  of  gossip  and  en- 
tertainment to  the  early  settlers.  Nothing 
could  better  illustrate  this  characteristic  than 
the  performance  of  the  head  of  the  family  as 
a  member  of  the  bar  in  Gage  county.  As  far 
as  the  records  show,  he  was  the  first  lawyer 
admitted  to  practice  in  the  county,  yet  his 
name  is  not  given,  only  the  initials  "C.B.R.E." 
He  acted  as  district  attorney  during-  the  first 
term  of  district  court  held  in  the  county,  ap- 
pearing for  the  people   in   six  criminal  cases, 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


329 


where  in  every  instance  it  is  gravely  written 
by  Judge  Dundy  "The  prosecuting  attorney. 
C.  B.  R.  E.,  enters  a  nolle  prosequi,  by  leave 
of  the  court  first  had  and  obtained."  He  served 
repeatedly  on  election  boards,  drew  money 
from  the  county  treasury,  executed  and  wit- 
nessed instruments  by  these  initials,  and  even 
went  so  far  as  to  sign  the  bond  of  County 
Treasurer  Theodore  M.  Coulter  for  $10,000, 
and  was  sued  upon  this  bond  as  C.  B.  R.  E., 
the  same  having  been  approved  by  the  county 
commissioners.  For  years,  as  far  as  the 
records  show,  this  singular  representative  of 
the  legal  profession  of  our  county  marched 
across  the  pages  of  its  history  as  "C.  B.  R.  E." 
Salmasius  Bardwell  Harrington  was  the 
first  lawyer  to  open  and  maintain  an  office  in 
Beatrice.  He  was  born  at  Maysville,  Chau- 
tauqua county,  New  York,  April  16,  1829,  the 
son  of  Asa  and  Mary  (Swift)  Harrington. 
His  primary  education  was  received  in  a  New 
York  Quaker  school.  His  father  died  while 
he  was  a  child  and  his  mother  became  the  wife 
of  Parley  Laflin.  The  family  removed  to 
Illinois  in  1840,  residing  at  first  in  Kane  county 
and  then  in  Rock  Island  county.  He  worked 
on  a  farm,  attended  public  school,  and  finally 
entered  Woodward  College,  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio 
Eater  he  read  law  with  an  uncle,  Eben  Har- 
rington, and  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar,  at  Rock  Island,  Illinois. 
He  engaged  briefly  in  the  practice  of  the  law 
there,  but  his  family  moved  to  Nebraska  ter- 
ritory in  1857,  and  he  came  with  them,  and 
located  in  Johnson  county,  near  Gage,  a  few 
miles  northwest  of  Crab  Orchard,  where  his 
half-brother,  Louis  Laflin,  still  resides  and 
where  his  stepfather  and  mother  died  many 
years  ago.  In  1859  he  followed  the  gold  lure 
to  Pike"s  Peak,  and,  returning,  established  a 
ranch  on  the  Little  Blue  river,  at  the  eastern 
end  of  the  Nine  Mile  Ridge.  Here  he  re- 
mained a  year  in  the  midst  of  the  exciting- 
scenes  on  the  Oregon  Trail ;  he  then  sold  his 
ranch  to  a  man  named  Ewing  and  returned 
to  Illinois,  to  his  wife  and  daughter.  In  1861 
he  enlisted  in  the  Fifty-eighth  Illinois  Infantry, 
and  he  was  captured  at  the  battle  of  Shiloh, 
while  serving  in  General  Prentice's  Division. 


He  was  held  a  prisoner  in  Libby  Prison,  from 
which  he  was  finally  exchanged -and  rejoined 
his  regiment,  with  which  he  served  until  Lee 
surrendered,  at  Appomattox.  In  the  fall  of 
1865  he  returned  to  Nebraska  territory,  made 
arrangements  for  his  family  to  join  him,  and 
settled  at  once  in  the  practice  of  the  law  at 
Beatrice.  He  was  not  formally  admitted  to 
the  bar  of  the  territory,  however,  until  the 
regular  fall  term  of  the  district  court,  October 
7,  1867,  due  no  doubt  to  the  irregularity  of 
the  sessions  of  the  court. 

He  was  an  active,  aggressive  lawyer,  afl^able 
in  manner  and  made  and  retained  friends. 
From  1865  vmtil  his  death,  much  of  the  legal 
business  of  the  county  was  transacted  by  him. 
He  died  suddenly,  in  his  office  in  Beatrice, 
August  25,  1870,  and  his  remains  lie  in  a 
secluded  spot,  now  almost  unidentified,  in  the 
Beatrice  cemetery.  He  was  a  man  of  many 
excellent  qualities  and  great  worth  of  char- 
acter. He  died  at  the  age  of  forty-one  years, 
an  age  when  most  men  approach  the  zenith  of 
their  powers  and  usefulness  and  at  a  time 
when  the  new  state  of  Nebraska  contained 
boundless  possibilities  for  men  of  his  profes- 
sion. 

In  the  spring  of  1869,  came  Nathan  K. 
Griggs,  a  young  man  who  had  but  recently 
been  admitted  to  the  bar  in  the  state  of  In- 
diana. In  June  of  that  year  he  opened  an 
office  in  Beatrice,  but  as  a  school  teacher  he 
found  a  more  lucrative  and  a  more  certain 
means  of  sustenance  than  the  law  aft'orded.  He 
was  but  a  beginner  in  his  profession,  without 
means,  and  litigation  was  not  only  scarce  in 
Gage  county  but  was  as  yet  a  luxury.  He 
accepted  the  position  of  village  school-master 
for  the  winter  of  1867-1868,  and  thereby  did 
more,  perhaps,  to  ingratiate  himself  in  public 
favor  than  by  any  other  course  he  could  pos- 
sibly have  taken.  Although  a  man  of  many 
activities  and  engaging  on  other  occupations, 
beginning  with  1869,  Mr.  Griggs  found  ample 
employment  for  his  abilities  as  a  rising  young 
lawyer. 

In  the  spring  of  1868  Hiram  P.  Webb 
came  to  Beatrice  and  was  admitted  to  practice 
at  the  bar,  and  that  spring  Jefferson  B.  Weston 


330 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


also  opened  a  law  office  in  the  village  of 
Beatrice.  Numbers  8,  Vol.  I,  of  the  Blue 
J 'alley  Record,  under  date  of  August  26,  1868, 
carried  under  the  heading  "Professional"  the 
card  of  Jefferson  B.  Weston,  who  announced 
himself  as  a  notary  public,  conveyancer,  real- 
estate  agent  and  lawyer.  Another  card  reads, 
"S.  B.  Harrington,  Attorney  and  Counselor  at 
Law  and  Real  Estate  Agent,"  and  the  third 
and  last  is  "N.  K.  Griggs,  Attorney  and  Coun- 
selor at  law  and  Real  Estate  Agent."  To  these 
announcements,  there  was  added,  in  the  22d 
number  of  the  same  volume  of  the  Courier, 
under  date  of  December  5,  1868,  the  follow- 
ing: "H.  P.  Webb,  Attorney  and  Counselor 
at  Law."  At  the  same  time  there  appeared  in 
the  Record  the  professional  card  of  Stephenson 
&  Hayward,  of  Nebraska  City,  who,  among 
other  things,  announce  that  they  "will  practice 
in  the  courts  of  Gage  county."  \"olume  1, 
No.  1  of  the  Beatrice  Clarion,  the  successor  of 
the  Blue  Valley  Record,  under  date  of  May 
8,  1869,  contains  the  following  professional 
card :  "W.  H.  Ashby,  Attorney  and  Counselor 
at  Law  and  Real  Estate  Agent,  Beatrice,  Ne- 
braska," and  the  public  is  informed  also  that 
Mr.  Ashby  will  make  collections  and  pay  taxes 
for  non-residents,  while  Stephenson  &  Hay- 
ward  continue  to  announce  that  they  "will 
practice  in  the  courts  of  Gage  county." 

By  1869  this  group  of  pioneer  lawyers  had 
found  the  government  land  office  the  chief 
source  of  professional  business  and  income, 
and  they  became  expert  in  the  law  and  rules 
of  practice  regulating  contests  involving  en- 
tries of  public  lands. 

About  1870  the  Gage  county  bar,  as  thus 
composed,  was  augmented  by  the  advent  of 
Smith  C.  B.  Dean,  and  for  several  years  he  and 
the  others  named,  constituted  the  bar  of  Gage 
county.  They  were  all  able  and  scholarly  men, 
all  achieved  success  in  their  profession,  and 
all,  with  the  exception  of  Ashby,  have  long 
since  paid  the  great  debt  of  nature. 

A  brief  sketch  of  S.  E.  Harrington  already 
appears  in  this  chapter,  and  elsewhere  in  this 
volume  will  be  found  sketches  of  Weston  and 
Webb,  while  in  the  biographical  department, 
in  the  sketch  of  Samuel  Rinaker,  will  be  found 


an  extended  reference  to  the  life  of  his  partner, 
N.  K.  Griggs. 

William  H.  Ashby  was  for  many  years  a 
distinguished  member  of  the  Gage  county  bar. 
He  was  born  in  Livingston  county,  Missouri, 
in  1841  and  grew  to  manhood  in  that  state. 
Having  obtained  a  good,  usable  education,  he 
was  on  the  point  of  entering  upon  a  profes- 
sional career  when  the  great  Civil  war  cut 
short  all  plans  of  a  purely  personal  nature. 
He  followed  the  fortunes  of  the  southern  Con- 
federacy, at  first  attaching  himself  to  the  com- 
mand of  General  Sterling  Price,  and  took 
part  in  the  battles  of  Pea  Ridge,  luka,  and 
Corinth.  He  served  in  the  armies  of  the  south 
until  the  close  of  the  war,  was  seriously  wound- 
ed during  the  siege  of  Vicksburg,  was  promot- 
ed to  a  captaincy,  and  on  the  collapse  of  the 
Confederacy  he  was  paroled.  May  16,  1865. 
Within  that  year  he  came  to  Nebraska  City  and 
engaged  in  the  practice  of  the  law.  In  1869  he 
moved  to  Beatrice  and  with  J.  M.  Hoggshead 
purchased  a  half-interest  in  the  Blue  I'allcy 
Record,  changed  the  name  of  the  paper  to  the 
Beatrice  Clarion,  and,  with  Hoggshead,  Nelson 
and  Howard,  conducted  the  paper  as  an  in- 
dependent publication  until  it  was  sold  to 
Theodore  Coleman,  in  the  spring  of  1870,  and 
the  name  changed  to  the  Beatrice  Express. 
For  a  period  of  six  eventful  and  busy  years 
Captain  Ashby  here  successfully  practised  his 
profession  as  a  lawyer.  In  June,  1875,  he  was 
appointed,  by  President  Grant,  a  member  of 
the  Sioux  Indian  Commission  and  spent  that 
summer  and  fall  amongst  the  Indians  of  South 
Dakota.  The  commission  having  negotiated 
with  the  Sioux  a  treaty  of  purchase  for  the 
Black  Hills  region,  Captain  Ashby  was  dis- 
patched to  Washington  as  the  bearer  of  its 
report.  In  June,  1877,  he  was  sent  by  our 
government  as  its  special  representative  to 
Panama,  the  West  Indies,  and  South  America, 
to  investigate  and  report  upon  certain  abuses  in 
the  importation  of  sugar.  He  was  recalled 
from  this  service  in  1878,  and,  returning  to 
Beatrice,  he  resumed  the  practice  of  the  law. 
In  1881  he  became  interested  in  the  rising  city 
of  Wymore.  With  Samuel  Wymore  he  pur- 
chased a  tract  of  land  adjoining  the  original 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


331 


townsite  and  laid  it  out  as  an  addition  to  the 
city.  Having  sold  his  Wymore  property  at 
good  figures  he,  in  1886,  returned  to  Beatrice 
and  again  resumed  the  practice  of  his  profes- 
sion. 

Captain  Ashby  was  thrice  married,  first  to 
Miss  Coila  B.  Lambkin,  of  JMississippi,  in 
1865  ;  second,  to  :Miss  Lilla  Shaw,  July  4,  1879, 
from  both  of  whom  he  was  divorced.  His 
third  marriage  proved  a  happy  and  congenial 
one,  the  issue  of  which  was  two  sons  and  a 
daughter.  About  1912  he  removed  to  the  state 
of  California,  and  he  is  now  living  in  the  city 
of  Berkeley,  under  the  shadow  of  the  great 
State  University  of  California.  His  two  sons 
are  in  the  service  of  the  United  States  in  the 
present  great  world  war.  Captain  Ashby  is 
a  man  of  commanding  presence,  a  good  friend, 
a  loyal  citizen,  and  a  lawyer  of  more  than 
ordinary  ability. 

Smith  C.  B.  Dean  was  by  birth,  education 
and  training,  a  Canadian.  Before  coming  to 
Nebraska  he  had  already  acquired  reputation 
and  standing  as  a  lawyer  in  the  courts  of 
Canada.  His  health  failing  there,  he  came  to 
the  new  territory  of  Nebraska  in  the  vain 
hope  of  eradicating  from  his  system  the  germs 
of  pulmonary  consumption.  He  was  a  man 
of  fine  presence,  possessed  an  excellent  educa- 
tion and  was  endowed  with  abilities  of  a  very 
high  order.  He  was  a  lawyer  of  great  learn- 
ing and  industry,  and  the  pleadings  and  other 
legal  documents  drawn  by  him  were  models 
of  brevity  and  clearness.  He  was  about  forty 
years  of  age,  and  on  his  arrival  in  Beatrice  he 
formed  a  co-partnership  in  the  practice  of  the 
law  with  Jefferson  B.  Weston,  their  office  be- 
ing on  the  ground  floor,  beneath  the  United 
States  land  office,  in  the  Saunders  store  build- 
ing, now  No.  309  Court  street.  Mr.  Dean 
took  a  deep  interest  in  the  general  welfare  of 
the  community,  was  very  public-spirited,  and 
lent  his  assistance  to  the  upbuilding  of  Beatrice 
and  Gage  county  at  a  time  when  such  services 
as  he  willingly  rendered  were  of  the  greatest 
value.  He  was  the  first  mayor  of  the  city  of 
Beatrice,  in  1873,  and  was  a  potent  factor  in 
shaping  its  destiny.  He  acquired  great  in- 
fluence in  the  community,  and  at  the  time  of 


his  demise  his  voice  carried  further  than  any 
other  in  public  affairs.  He  died  in  Beatrice 
on  the  first  day  of  May,  1877. 

About  1872  the  bar  of  Gage  county  re- 
ceived several  notable  accessions.  In  April  of 
that  year  E.  Sanborn  Chadwick  and  Alfred 
Hazlett  were  both  admitted  to  practice,  and  in 
1873  Leonard  W.  Colby.  Louis  B.  Sale,  and 
William  H.  Somers  were  licensed  in  the  prac- 
tice of  the  law  and  identified  themselves  with 
the  Gage  county  bar. 

Mr.  Chadwick  was  the  first  police  judge  of 
the  city  of  Beatrice.  He  remained  here  but 
a  short  time,  made  but  small  impression  on 
the  community,  and  left  here  many  years  ago, 
locating  in  Bloomington,  Nebraska,  where  he 
was  for  several  years  county  judge  of  his  coun- 
ty.    He  died  there  many  years  ago. 

Mr.  Sale  had  been  a  classmate  of  Leonard 
W.  Colby  in  the  University  of  Wisconsin  and 
they  began  professional  life  together  here  as 
partners.  He  remained  here  but  a  short  time, 
returning  to  Wisconsin,  where  he  achieved  pro- 
fessional success  and  where  political  honors 
came  to  him,  amongst  others,  a  seat  in  con- 
gress, to  which  he  was  repeatedly  elected. 
W^hile  still  a  comparatively  young  man.  he  lost 
his  life  while  bathing  on  a  Wisconsin  lake. 
Seeing  his  two  sons  struggling  in  the  water  for 
their  lives,  he  rushed  to  their  rescue  and  all 
were  drowned. 

William  H.  Somers  came  to  Gage  county  in 
1872  and  was  for  many  years  a  leading  citizen 
of  Beatrice,  but  he  achieved  no  reputation  as 
a  lawyer,  other  things  diverting  his  attention 
and  energies.  He  served  one  term  in  the 
legislature,  as  a  float  representative  from  Gage 
and  other  counties.  In  1881  he  was  appointed 
receiver  of  the  United  States  government  land 
office  at  Beatrice.  At  the  close  of  his  term 
of  office,  in  1886,  he  removed  with  his  family 
to  California  and  opened  a  large  fruit  ranch 
in  El  Cajon  valley,  seventeen  miles  up  the  coast 
from  San  Diego.  Several  years  ago  he  dis- 
posed of  this  property  and  moved  to  San  Diego, 
where  he  was  killed,  about  1908,  in  a  street- 
car accident. 

In  1874  Oliver  M.  Enlow  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  of  Gage  county  and  he  remained  in 


332 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


the  practice  until  his  death,  in  1916.  He  did 
not  aspire  to  great  eminence  in  the  legal  pro- 
fession but  chose  rather,  whenever  possible,  to 
combine  it  with  some  clerical  or  other  occu- 
pation. He  was  for  some  time  clerk  of  the 
district  court,  during  the  incumbency  of  Judge 
Gantt.  He  was  county  judge  of  Gage  county 
for  four  years,  and  in  the  latter  part  of  his 
life,  for  a  number  of  years,  he  was  deputy  as- 
sessor;  following  the  general  election  of  1911, 
on  the  death  of  A.  K.  Smith,  who  had  been 
elected  county  assessor,  Mr.  Enlow  was  ap- 
pointed to  that  office,  and  he  was  the  last  of 
the  county  assessors.  He  was  a  warm-hearted, 
generous  man,  much  esteemed  by  all  who  knew_ 
him. 

William  AI.  Forbes  was  born  February  28, 
1847,  near  Greensburg,  Indiana.  He  came  to 
Beatrice  in  July,  1876,  and  settled  in  the  prac- 
tice of  the  law.  He  was  a  graduate  of  the 
law  department  of  the  Iowa  State  University, 
class  of  1874,  and  had  been  a  school  teacher 
in  Burlington,  Iowa.  He  served,  by  appoint- 
ment, as  county  judge  of  Gage  county  for  the 
unexpired  term  of  J.  M.  Carter,  in  1878,  and 
in  1879  he  formed  a  law  partnership  with 
Judge  Leander  M.  Pemberton.  After  several 
years'  successful  practice  at  the  bar  of  Gage 
county  Mr.  Forbes  removed  to  Topeka,  where 
he  has  been  a  prominent  member  of  the  bar 
of  that  city.  He  was  possessed  of  considerable 
means  for  a  western  lawyer  and  on  his  ar- 
rival in  Beatrice  he  erected  an  elegant  home  for 
those  early  days,  on  the  corner  of  Fifth  and 
Lincoln  streets,  opposite  the  Episcopal  church. 
He  and  his  wife  were  active  members  of  the 
Methodist  church  and  were  important  factors 
in  the  social  life  of  the  city  in  that  early  day.. 

Charles  O.  Bates  was  a  briliant  young 
man  who  entered  the  law  office  of  Colby  & 
Hazlett  in  1875  ;  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
about  1878,  and  at  the  same  time  to  an  in- 
terest in  the  business  of  his  preceptors.  His 
success  as  a  lawyer  and  politician  was  imme- 
diate. In  1890  he  was  elected  county  attorney 
of  Gage  county,  but  he  resigned  before  the 
expiration  of  his  term  of  office  and,  leaving 
Beatrice,  finallv  settled,  about  1891,  in  Tacoma, 


Washington,  where  he  now  resides  and  is  a 
prominent  member  of  the  bar. 

Albert  Hardy  came  to  Beatrice  in  February, 
1878,  from  the  state  of  New  York,  where  he 
had  been  for  many  years  engaged  in  the  prac- 
tice of  his  profession,  at  Sandy  creek,  Oswego 
county.  He  was  about  forty  years  of  age  and 
ii!  his  prime.  But  for  some  eccentricities  of 
character,  he  might  easily  have  been  the  head 
of  the  Gage  county  bar  and  a  successful 
practitioner  of  the  law.  He  sometimes  tried 
cases  well  and  often  won  where  he  should  have 
failed,  and,  everything  considered,  he  was 
fairly  successful  as  a  lawyer.  With  the  ex- 
ception of  a  year  or  two  in  Denver,  Mr.  Hardy 
followed  his  calling  in  Beatrice  from  the  time 
of  his  arrival  here  until  about  1906.  He  then 
went  to  Pierre,  South  Dakota,  to  live,  and  a 
few  years  ago  he  passed  away,  aged  about 
eighty  years. 

Andrew  J.  Hale  was  for  several  years  a 
prominent  member  of  the  Gage  county  bar. 
He  was  born  in  Chittenden  county,  near  Bur- 
lington, Vermont,  March  8,  1842.  He  re- 
ceived a  general  education  in  the  common 
schools  of  his  native  state  and  in  Fairfax 
Institute,  at  Burlington,  where  he  spent  three 
years  as  a  student.  About  1865  he  graduated 
from  the  law  department  of  Union  College 
(now  University),  at  Albany,  New  York,  and 
in  1867  he  located  in  Nebraska  City  in  the 
practice  of  his  profession :  in  1876  he  came  to 
Beatrice  and  opened  a  law  office.  In  the  early 
'80s  he  was  in  partnership  with  Albert  Hardy. 
In  1886,  having  inherited  a  considerable  for- 
tune, he  purchased,  amongst  other  real  estate, 
a  half-section  of  land  a  few  miles  southwest 
of  Beatrice,  abandoned  the  practice  of  the  law 
and  engaged  in  farming  and  stock-raising. 
This  venture  proving  a  failure  and  having 
lost  most  of  his  property,  about  1885,  he  left 
the  county  and  returned  to  Nebraska  City, 
where  he  died  a  few  years  ago. 

Thomas  Farrar  Burke,  a  young  lawyer 
from  New  England  settled  at  Blue 
Springs  in  1879.  Mr.  Burke  was  the  posses- 
sor of  a  good  education,  was  a  man  of  great 
energy,  and  rapidly  acquired  a  practice  at  the 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


333 


bar  of  Gage  county.  About  1882  Frank  N. 
Prout  came  to  the  county,  first  to  Beatrice  and 
later  to  Blue  Springs,  where  he  formed  a  law 
partnership  with  Mr.  Burke.  Both  were  good 
lawyers,  both  ambitious  and  both  affable  gen- 
tlemen. They  were  prominent  at  our  bar  for 
a  number  of  years  and  as  lawyers  performed 
a  real  service  to  the  people  of  the  state  of  Ne- 
braska in  the  case  of  the  State  on  the  Relation 
of  Alattoon  versus  The  Republican  \'alley 
Railroad  Company,  reported  in  Volume  17  of 
the  Xcbraska  Supreme  Court  Reports,  at  page 
647.  This  was  an  action  in  mandamus,  brought 
in  the  supreme  court  of  Nebraska,  to  compel 
the  railroad  company  to  build  within  the  cor- 
porate limits  of  Blue  Springs  a  depot  and  put 
in  the  necessary  sidetracks  and  switches  for  a 
station,  and  to  stop  its  trains  there  for  the 
proper  transaction  of  business.  The  Crete 
branch  of  the  railroad  line  had  been  extended 
to  Wymore  through  Blue  Springs,  but  the 
company  refused  to  afford  railroad  facilities 
to  Blue  Springs,  while  at  the  same  time  aiTord- 
ing  its  rival  every  possible  support.  The  writ  of 
mandamus  was  allowed  against  the  defendant 
and  it  was  compelled  to  furnish  the  city  of 
Blue  Springs  with  service,  thereby  establish- 
ing the  rule  that  no  common  carrier  could 
unjustly  discriminate  against  a  municipal  cor- 
poration in  Nebraska. 

About  twenty  years  ago  Mr.  Burke  re- 
moved from  Nebraska  to  Wyoming  and  lo- 
cated at  Cheyenne,  where  he  has  attained  both 
professional  success  and  distinguished  honors 
as  a  lawyer,  having  served  the  state  of  Wy- 
oming for  several  years  as  its  attorney  general, 
and  for  many  years  has  served  as  a  member  of 
the  board  of  regents  for  the  Wyoming  State 
University. 

Mr.  Prout  removed  to  Beatrice  after  the  dis- 
solution of  the  copartnership  and  was  for  a 
number  of  years  city  attorney ;  in  1898  he  was 
elected  to  the  state  senate,  from  Gage  county. 
In  1900  he  was  elected  attorney  general  of  the 
state  of  Nebraska  and,  by  a  reelection,  he  serv- 
ed the  people  in  the  important  office  four  years, 
beginning  January  1,  1901.  Since  retiring  from 
office  he  has  practised  law  in  Oklahoma  City, 
Oklahoma,   and    in    Fairbury   and    Huri!>oldt, 


Nebraska,  and  has  finally  located  permanently 
in  Falls  City,  in  the  practice  of  his  profession. 

Nathan  T.  Gadd  came  to  Gage  county  about 
1880,  and  located  in  the  practice  of  the  law  at 
Liberty.  Mr.  Gadd  was  an  active  and  very 
useful  man  in  his  community.  For  several 
years  he  was  an  important  factor  not  only  in 
Liberty  but  in  the  county  of  Gage,  and  from  a 
mere  youthful  beginner  in  the  law  he  grew  into 
an  important  and  lucrative  practice.  When 
the  great  northwest  was  being  rapidly  settled 
and  the  Burlington  Railroad  was  pushing  a 
line  across  northern  Nebraska  and  through  to 
the  Puget  Sound  country,  he  went  to  Broken 
Bow,  in  Custer  county,  Nebraska,  where  he 
became  active  in  the  practice  of  his  profession. 
Mr.  Gadd  is  an  impulsive,  warm-hearted, 
courtly  gentleman,  much  esteemed  by  b.is  pro- 
fessional brethren  and  given  to  many  kindly, 
generous  acts. 

William  H.  Richards  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  of  Gage  county  about  1895.  He  was  a 
man  of  limited  education  but  proved  to  be  a 
very  good  business  lawyer.  He  is  a  member 
of  a  pioneer  family  in  Pawnee  county,  his 
parents  having  located  at  the  head  of  Turkey 
creek,  in  that  county,  in  1859.  They  were 
people  of  sterling  worth  of  character  and  Mr. 
Richards  inherited  from  them  many  of  the 
family  characteristics.  From  the  time  of  his 
admission  to  the  bar  until  he  left  Gage  county 
he  practised  his  profession  at  Liberty,  while 
at  the  same  time  engaging  in  other  pursuits. 
About  1908  he  left  the  county  and  located  at 
Humboldt,  in  the  practice  of  the  law,  and  later 
he  removed  to  Wichita,  Kansas. 

W.  V.  A.  Dodds  was  admitted  to  the  Gage 
county  bar  in  1885 ;  his  practice  however  was 
very  limited,  as  he  gave  his  attention  largely 
to  outside  matters.  For  several  years  he  con- 
ducted a  large  farm  in  Gage  county  and  later 
he  went  to  Alontana,  where  he  is  now  located 
in  business. 

George  M.  Johnston  came  to  Beatrice  about 
1890.  He  erected  a  paper  mill  near  the  city, 
placed  a  dam  across  the  Big  Blue  river  and 
proceeded  to  build  up  a  business  as  a  paper 
manufacturer.  But  a  flood,  in  1902,  destroyed 
the  water  power,  and  the  enterprise  was  aban- 


334 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


doned.  Mr.  Johnston  then  engaged  in  the 
practice  of  the  law,  having  been  previously 
admitted,  to  the  bar  in  the  state  of  Illinois. 
He  was  successful  in  his  professional  work  and 
was  an  active  member  of  the  bar  of  Gage 
county  for  several  years.  Later  he  went  to 
Missouri,  where  he  engaged  in  various  enter- 
prises, and  he  died  about  1912. 

Menzo  Terry,  a  farmer  near  Pickrell,  who 
had  been  previously  admitted  to  the  bar.  was 
elected  county  attorney,  on  the  Democratic 
ticket,  in  1905  and  served  one  term  in  that 
office,  during  which  time  and  for  a  year  or 
two  afterward  he  was  in  partnership  with 
Fred  O.  IMcGirr.  In  1910  he  left  this  state 
and  he  is  now  located  on  a  fruit  farm  in  south- 
ern  California. 

Robert  S.  Bibb  came  from  the  Peoria.  Illi- 
nois, bar  to  the  Gage  county  bar  in  1884.  Mr. 
Bibb  had  been  a  member  of  the  Illinois  legis- 
lature and  a  practicing  attorney  at  Peoria. 
Shortly  after  his  arrival  here  he  formed  a  co- 
partnership with  W.  V.  A.  Dodds,  in  the  prac- 
tice of  the  law,  and  about  1890  he  entered  the 
firm  of  Griggs  &  Rinaker,  which  was  there- 
after known  as  Griggs,  Rinaker  &  Bibb.  On 
the  removal  of  Mr.  Griggs  to  Lincoln,  in  1893, 
the  firm  name  was  changed  to  Rinaker  &  Bibb. 
This  firm  did  a  large  and  very  successful  legal 
business  until  Mr.  Bibb's  death,  which  oc- 
curred May  17,  1907.  Mr.  Bibb  was  the  first 
county  attorney  of  Gage  county,  having  been 
elected  to  that  office  in  1885.  He  was  very 
prominent  in  the  business,  professional  and 
social  life  of  Beatrice  during  his  entire  resi- 
dence here.  He  was  an  unusually  good  law- 
yer, one  of  the  ablest  trial  lawyers  the  bar  of 
Gage  county  has  ever  produced.  Personally 
he  was  genial,  kindly  and  considerate.  He 
was  popular  with  the  court  and  with  his  pro- 
fessional associates.  His  final  resting  place  is 
in  Evergreen  Home  cemetery,  and  the  spot  is 
marked  by  a  rugged  monument  which,  in  a 
sense,  is  indicative  of  his  character. 

George  Arthur  Murphy  came  to  Beatrice 
from  Indiana  about  the  year  1886,  and  en- 
gaged at  once  in  the  practice  of  his  profes- 
sion. His  success  was  immediate,  and  while 
he  lived  here  he  had  a  large  and  paying  client- 


age. In  1891  he  was  elected  county  attorney 
of  Gage  county,  and  he  was  reelected  in  1893. 
In  1898  he  was  elected  state  senator  from 
Gage  county.  In  1901  Mr.  Murphy  removed 
to  the  state  of  Oklahoma  and  located  at  Mus- 
cogee, where  he  has  since  resided.  He  has 
been  successful  in  his  profession  and  has  ac- 
quired wealth. 

W.  C.  LeHane  came  to  Gage  county  about 
the  year  1890  and  for  a  while  was  a  law  part- 
ner of  George  Arthur  Murphy.  In  1896  he 
was  appointed  receiver  of  the  Beatrice  Savings 
Bank,  and  his  duties  as  receiver  absorbed  his 
time  to  such  an  extent  that  he  practically 
abandoned  the  practice  of  the  law.  He  so 
managed  the  affairs  of  the  bank  as  to  pay 
ninety  cents  on  the  dollar  of  its  indebtedness. 
After  the  adjustment  of  the  receivership,  Mr. 
LeHane  went  to  Idaho,  where  for  a  time  he 
engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  profession  at 
Boise  City.  Later  he  removed  to  California, 
and  he  is  now  living  near  San  Francisco,  in 
the  Sacramento  valley. 

Charles  E.  Bush  is  a  son  of  Judge  James  E. 
Bush.  He  is  a  graduate  of  the  Beatrice  high 
school,  studied  law  in  his  father's  office  and 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Gage  county  about 
the  year  1891.  He  later  removed  to  Oklaho- 
ma and  for  several  years  he  has  been  located 
in  the  successful  practice  of  the  law  at  Tulsa, 
that  state. 

Jean  Cobbey,  a  son  of  Judge  J.  E.  Cobbey, 
was  born  in  Gage  county,  graduated  from  the 
Beatrice  high  school,  attended  the  State  Uni- 
versity of  Nebraska  and  took  a  course  in  the 
law  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  He  began 
the  practice  of  his  profession  in  Beatrice  in 
1911  and  in  1912  was  elected  county  attorney 
of  Gage  county.  He  was  defeated  for  reelec- 
tion in  1914  and  shortly  thereafter  removed 
to  Nebraska  City.  Later  he  sought  service  in 
the  army  on  the  Mexican  border,  and  when 
our  government  entered  the  world  war,  in 
April,  1917,  he  was  serving  as  chaplain  of  his 
regiment,  but  he  recently  resigned  and  is  now 
with  the  colors  in  France. 

Philip  E.  Winter  was  one  of  the  early  law- 
yers of  Wymore.  For  a  number  of  years  he 
was  successfully  engaged  in  the  practice  of  his 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


335 


profession  there  with  E.  N.  Kauffman,  his 
brother-in-law.  He  later  removed  to  Omaha, 
where  for  several  years  he  was  an  active  mem- 
ber of  the  bar.  He  then  located  in  Oklahoma 
City,  Oklahoma,  and  is  now  a  prominent  mem- 
ber of  the  bar  at  that  place. 

Thomas  D.  Cobbey  located  in  Beatrice  in 
the  practice  of  his  profession  in  1882.  Short- 
ly thereafter  he  moved  to  Wymore  and  he  was 
actively  engaged  in  the  practice  of  the  law 
there  for  a  number  of  years,  successfully  trans- 
acting a  large  volume  of  legal  business.  Sev- 
eral years  ago  he  moved  to  Denver,  Colorado, 
and  he  is  now  one  of  the  successful  and 
wealthy  lawyers  of  that  city. 

James  A.  Smith  came  from  Iowa  City  to 
Beatrice  in  1879.  He  was  born  at  Geneva, 
Illinois,  November  22,  1844.  On  the  break- 
ing out  of  the  Civil  war  he  enlisted  in  the 
First  Missouri  Cavalry,  at  St.  Louis,  in  Sep- 
tember, 1861.  He  was  wounded  in  the  battle 
of  Sugar  Creek,  Arkansas,  February  19,  1862, 
lost  his  right  arm  at  the  shoulder  and  a  finger 
of  his  left  hand,  and  was  discharged  Septem- 
ber 22,  1862.  He  read  law  in  the  office  of 
Governor  Kirkwood  of  Iowa  and  married  Ca- 
lista  Saunders,  of  Iowa  City,  November  23, 
1868.  Shortly  after  coming  to  Beatrice  he 
was  elected  police  judge  of  the  city,  an  office 
which  he  held  for  several  years.  He  died  in 
Beatrice  many  years  ago  and  his  remains  are 
buried  in  Evergreen  Home  cemetery. 

John  N.  Richards  was  born  in  Adams  coun- 
ty, Ohio,  February  22,  1850.  In  1856  he  went 
to  LaSalle  county,  Illinois,  and  in  that  state 
as  a  youth  he  engaged  in  farming.  Having 
obtained  a  common-school  education,  he 
spent  some  time  in  the  Wesleyan  Uni- 
versity at  Bloomington,  Illinois.  He  came 
to  Nebraska  in  1874  and  located  at  Falls  City, 
where  he  was  principal  of  the  city  schools. 
He  removed  to  Beatrice  in  1877  and  entered 
upon  the  practice  of  the  law,  in  which  he  was 
fairly  successful.  He  left  Beatrice  several 
years  ago,  and  is  now  located  at  Colorado  City, 
Colorado. 

Albert  H.  Babcock  was  born  at  Bath,  Steu- 
ben county.  New  York,  in  1846,  and  when 
quite  young  was  taken  by  his  parents  to  JXIich- 


igan,  where  he  lived  until  he  came  to  Ne- 
braska. He  learned  the  trade  of  a  blacksmith 
and  was  a  successful  artisan.  In  August, 
1862,  he  enlisted  in  Company  H,  Eighteenth 
Michigan  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  he  was  af- 
terward promoted  to  the  captaincy  of  Company 
E  of  that  regiment.  He  continued  in  the  ser- 
vice until  July,  1865,  having  been  in  all  the 
battles  and  marches  of  his  command.  He 
graduated  from  the  law  department  of  the 
Michigan  University  with  the  class  of  1868, 
and  located  at  Pawnee  City,  Nebraska,  in  the 
practice  of  the  law,  in  October,  1869.  There 
he  achieved  a  great  measure  of  success  in  his 
profession.  In  February,  1880,  he  moved  to 
Beatrice  and  opened  a  law  office,  and  for  many 
years  he  was  prominent  in  the  litigation  of 
Gage  county.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Ne- 
braska legislature  in  1873-1874,  and  he  served 
both  Pawnee  City  and  Beatrice  as  city  attor- 
ney. In  1891  he  was  elected  district  judge  of 
the  First  judicial  district,  and  served  four 
years ;  he  was  again  elected  in  1903,  and  he 
served  until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1907. 
His  remains  lie  in  Evergreen  Home  cemetery. 
As  a  lawyer  Judge  Babcock  was  an  able  coun- 
selor, careful  and  systematic  in  all  he  did ;  as 
a  judge  he  upheld  the  best  traditions  of  the 
bench,  and  as  a  man  he  led  a  blameless  life  in 
the  sight  of  God  and  of  all  men. 

James  E.  Bush  was  born  in  Rockville,  In- 
diana, June  1,  1845,  living  there  and  in  Ken- 
tucky until  he  was  three  years  old.  While 
he  was  still  an  infant  his  father  died,  in  the 
Mexican  war ;  his  mother  dying  shortly  after- 
ward, he  began  life  as  an  orphan.  His  elder 
brothers  and  sisters  held  the  family  together, 
moved  from  Kentucky  to  Peoria,  Illinois, 
where  they  lived  five  years,  and  thence  to  Wy- 
oming, Stark  county,  Illinois,  in  the  spring  of 
1853.  On  August  12,  1862,  he  enlisted  in  the 
service  of  the  United  States,  in  the  One  Hun- 
dred and  Twelfth  Regiment  of  Illinois  Vol- 
unteer Infantry,  and  he  served  until  the  close 
of  the  war.  He  was  mustered  out  of  the  serv- 
ice in  Chicago,  in  July,  1865,  and  returned  to 
Wyoming,  Illinois.  He  began  the  study  of 
law  in  1872,  in  the  office  of  Miles  A.  Fuller, 
of  Toulon,  Illinois,  and,  having  passed  a  satis- 


336 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


factory  examination  in  the  supreme  court  of 
that  state,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  June  5, 
1875.  He  began  the  practice  of  his  profession 
at  Bradford,  Stark  county,  lUinois.  On  May  6, 
1880,  he  came  to  Beatrice  and  associated  him- 
self with  John  N.  Richards.  When  this  partner- 
ship was  dissolved,  in  1884,  he  formed  a  part- 
nership with  Leander  M.  Pemberton.  In  1891, 
with  Judge  Babcock,  he  was  elected  to  the  dis- 
trict bench  in  the  old  First  judicial  district, 
and  he  served  four  years.  He  was  defeated 
for  reelection  in  1895,  and  died  in  Beatrice  on 
the  14th  day  of  April,  1900.  His  remains  lie 
in  Beatrice  cemetery  and  those  of  his  beloved 
wife  were,  in  September,  1917,  laid  by  his  side. 
Their  resting  place  is  marked  by  a  tasteful 
monument. 

Joseph  Elliott  Cobbey  was  born  in  the  state 
of  Missouri,  in  1853,  and  when  a  child  was 
taken  by  his  parents  to  Benton  county,  Iowa, 
where  he  grew  to  manhood.  He  obtained  a 
good  education  in  the  common  schools  of  Iowa 
and  at  the  State  Agricultural  College,  situated 
in  the  little  city  of  Ames.  While  still  a  very 
young  man  he  entered  the  college  of  law  in 
the  University  of  Iowa,  from  which  institution 
he  graduated  with  honor  in  1877,  and  he  came 
almost  immediately  to  Beatrice.  He  was  em- 
ployed for  a  while  in  the  county  treasurer's 
office,  by  his  uncle,  Hiram  P.  Webb,  also  in  the 
bank  of  Hiram  P.  Webb  &  Company.  In 
1878  he  began  the  active  practice  of  his  pro- 
fession and  he  continued  therein  until  his  death, 
on  the  22d  day  of  August,  1911.  He  soon 
achieved  a  commanding  position  at  the  bar  of 
his  county  and  state,  and  for  thirty-four  years 
this  quiet,  unassuming,  pioneer  lawyer  carried 
on  an  extended  and  diversified  practice  in  the 
courts  of  this  state  and  the  federal  courts. 

He  was  prominent  in  city  and  county  af- 
fairs and  in  the  Republican  party,  to  which  he 
belonged.  In  1879  he  was  elected  to  the  office 
of  county  judge,  and  served  two  years.  He 
was  defeated  for  renomination  by  his  party, 
and  again  engaged  in  the  active  practice  of  the 
law.  During  his  professional  career  he  served 
the  city  of  Beatrice  one  term  of  two  years  as 
city  attorney  and  was  four  years  a  member  of 
the  common   council   of  this  city.     Wherever 


placed  and  whatever  he  did,  his  life  and  labors 
were  characterized  by  the  utmost  fidelity  of 
purpose  and  he  became  one  of  the  most  useful 
and  respected  citizens  of  our  county. 

In  1889  Judge  Cobbey  turned  in  a  measure 
from  the  practical  side  of  his  profession  and 
sought  wealth  and  honor  by  digging  about 
the  roots  and  strengthening  the  foundations  of 
the  law  itself.  In  1890  he  published  a  text- 
book on  the  "Law  of  Replevin" ;  he  revised  it 
in  1893,  and  it  is  everywhere  in  this  country 
regarded  by  the  courts  and  the  legal  profes- 
sion as  standard  authority  upon  that  subject. 
Later  appeared  his  textbook  on  the  "Law  of 
Chattel  Mortgages,"  in  two  large  volumes, 
equal,  at  least,  in  authority  to  any  other  Amer- 
ican textbook  on  that  subject.  In  1901  Judge 
Cobbey  turned  his  attention  to  the  business  of 
statute-making,  and  that  year  appeared  "Cob- 
bey's  Annotated  Code  of  Nebraska."  These 
well  known  contributions  to  the  law  of  the  land 
are  alone  sufficient  to  constitute  an  enduring 
monument  to  his  memory. 

In  the  year  1891  Judge  Cobbey  was  em- 
ployed by  the  legislature  of  Nebraska  to  com- 
pile and  publish  the  statutes  of  the  state,  and 
that  body  appropriated  the  sum  of  twelve 
thousand  dollars  to  assist  him  in  the  work. 
This  is  known  as  the  "Consolidated  Statutes 
of  Nebraska  for  1891."  It  was  followed  by 
the  "Consolidated  Statutes  of  1893."  Both 
editions  were  annotated,  and  both  appeared 
under  legislative  sanction  as  the  authorized 
statutes  of  the  state.  These  were  followed  by 
similar  statutes  for  the  years  1905,  1907,  1909, 
1911.  The  last  work  came  from  the  press 
only  a  few  days  prior  to  his  death.  "Cobbey 's 
Statutes  for  1911"  was  monumental  in  char- 
acter. It  is  as  nearly  perfect,  probably,  as  any 
work  of  that  kind  could  be.  In  addition  to 
his  indefatigable  labors  as  annotator  and  pub- 
lisher of  the  Nebraska  statutes.  Judge  Cobbey 
was  employed  by  the  legislature  of  New  Mex- 
ico, a  couple  of  years  prior  to  his  death,  to 
codify  the  laws  of  that  new  state,  and  he 
spent  nearly  a  year  in  that  important,  and 
to  him  agreeable,  task,  in  the  old  city  of  Santa 
Fe.  From  this  brief  sketch  of  his  life,  it  is 
evident    that    no   other   Nebraska   lawver   has 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


337 


succeeded  so  completely  in  embedding  his  name 
in  the  legal  history  and  legal  literature  of  his 
state  and  nation. 

The  present  bar  of  Gage  county  is  com- 
posed of  \\'ilber  S.  Bourne ;  Charles  L.  Brew- 
ster, now  serving  his  country  as  a  captain  in 
France,  in  the  great  world  war;  Leonard  W. 
Colby ;  Frank  E.  Crawford,  now  also  a  cap- 
tain serving  his  country  in  France ;  Lloyd 
Crocker;  Hugh  J.  Dobbs ;  John  W.  Delehant, 
now  in  training  in  an  officers'  camp,  awaiting 
the  call  for  his  services  under  his  country's 
flag;  Alfred  Hazlett ;  Fulton  Jack;  Edward  N. 
KaufTman ;  Albertus  H.  Kidd ;  Samuel  D.  Kil- 
len ;  Ernest  O.  Kretsinger  and  his  son,  Ernest 
Kretsinsrer ;   Frederick  W.   Messmore ;   Adam 


McMullen ;  Leander  M.  Pemberton ;  Samuel 
Rinaker ;  Robert  W.  Sabin  ;  Harry  E.  Sackett ; 
Franklin  D.  Sheldon ;  Walter  A.  Vasey ;  and 
Herbert  D.  Walden.  Biographical  sketches 
appear  in  this  volume  of  most  of  the  lawyers 
here   named. 

In  point  of  ability,  integrity,  learning  and 
worth  of  character  the  bar  of  Gage  county  has 
always  compared  most  favorably  with  that  of 
other  counties  of  the  state.  From  its  ranks 
have  come  judges,  legislators,  authors,  soldiers, 
diplomats.  Not  greedy  of  wealth  and  avari- 
cious only  of  honor  and  the  opportunity  of 
service,  the  lawyers  of  our  county  have  stead- 
ily maintained  the  best  traditions  of  this  noble 
and  learned  profession. 


CHAPTER  XXXI 

PEOPLE  WHO   HA\'E  DONE  THEIR  PART   IN   MAKING   GAGE   COUNTY 


DANIEL  W.  COOK.  — Daniel  Wolford 
Cook  lives  now  only  in  the  memory  of  those 
who  knew  and  loved  him.  Though  passed  to 
that  bourne  from  which  no  traveler  has  ever 
yet  returned,  his  abilities  and  worth  of  char- 
acter were  such  as  to  entitle  him  to  a  place  in 
any  history  of  Gage  county  or  the  state  of 
Nebraska.  During  a  long  residence  in  the 
city  of  Beatrice  he  was  a  potent  factor  in  its 
development  and  in  its  social  and  business 
activities,  and  at  the  moment  of  his  demise 
he  was  one  of  its  best  known  and  most  highly 
respected  citizens.  He  responded  to  the  sum- 
mons of  the  death  angel  while  yet  in  love 
with  life  —  ere  he  had  reached  the  zenith  of 
his  powers  and  usefulness  and  at  a  period  of 
his  career  when  the  public  was  turning  to- 
ward him  more  kindly  and  appreciatively 
than  ever  before;  when  his  own  nature  was 
responding  more  fully  than  ever  to  the  social 
demands  of  the  community  upon  him  as  one 
of  its  leading  citizens.  After  an  illness  of 
more  than  a  year,  the  serious  nature  of  which 
he  understood,  and  having  calmly  and  bravely 
awaited  the  end,  on  Saturday,  the  4th  day  of 
March,  1916,  at  his  home  on  North  Seventh 
Street,  Beatrice,  he  passed  to  that  house  not 
made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens.  All 
that  was  mortal  of  this  good  and  true  man 
now  rests  in  his  tomb  in  Evergreen  Home 
cemetery,  near  the  city  he  loved  and  where  so 
many  of  his  happiest  years  were  spent. 

Mr.  Cook  was  born  on  the  27th  day  of 
March,  1860,  in  the  little  city  of  Hillsdale, 
state  of  Michigan,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death 
he  lacked  but  a  few  days  of  being  fifty-six 
years  of  age,  an  age  when  most  men  are  still 
in  their  prime.  He  was  the  son  of  John  P. 
Cook  and  Martha  Wolford,  and  was  one  of 
ten  children  born  to  that  husband  and  wife, 
six  sons  and  four  daughters.  They  were 
John   P.   Cook,   Lewis   Cass   Cook,   Chauncey 


F.,  William  Wilson,  Catherine,  Anna,  Daniel 
Wolford,  Franklin  M.,  Caroline  and  Belle 
Cook,  of  whom  four  are  still  living.  They 
are  Chauncey  F.  and  Franklin  M.  Cook,  of 
Hillsdale,  William  Wilson  Cook,  of  New 
York  city,  and  the  youngest  sister,  Mrs.  Belle 
Funkhouser,  of  Chicago,  Illinois.  In  addition 
to  this  family,  there  were  five  children  of  the 
half  blood,  born  to  his  father  John  P.  Cook 
and  Betsy  Wolford.  Their  names  were 
Amanda,  Julia,  Charles  H.,  Martha  A.,  and 
Mary  Cook,  and  none  of  them  is  now  living. 

Mr.  Cook  obtained  an  elementary  educa- 
tion in  the  public  schools  of  his  native  city 
and  at  an  early  age  entered  the  well  known 
Baptist  College  at  Hillsdale.  Later  he  was  a 
student  for  some  time  in  the  University  of 
Michigan,  located  in  the  city  of  Ann  Arbor. 
Without  graduating  at  either  of  these  insti- 
tutions, he  obtained  a  good  usable  education 
and  never  found  himself  at  a  disadvantage 
when  brought  into  contact  with  people  of 
learning  and  refinement. 

While  attending  Hillsdale  College  Mr.  Cook 
became  acquainted  with  Miss  Elizabeth  Case, 
who  also  was  a  student  at  that  institution,  and 
in  the  delightful  intimacy  of  college  life  a 
friendship  was  formed  between  them  which 
soon  ripened  into  romantic  love,  the  purest 
of  all  the  passions  of  the  heart,  and  on  the 
22d  day  of  December,  1883,  they  were  united 
in  marriage.  The  conjugal  felicity  of  this 
union  was  never  doubted  by  those  with  whom 
this  husband  and  wife  came  in  contact.  It 
was  broken  only  by  the  hand  of  death.  Four 
children  came  to  bless  this  union  and  cement 
the  marital  bond,  of  whom  three  survive. 
They  are  Daniel  Wolford  Cook,  cashier  of  the 
Beatrice  National  Bank ;  Mary  E.  Ramsey, 
the  wife  of  Mr.  William  C.  Ramsey,  a  prom- 
ising young  lawyer  of  Omaha;  and  John 
Bradford  Cook,  but  recently  graduated  from 


338 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


341 


the  University  of  Nebraska  and  now  engaged 
in  the  banking  business  in  the  thriving  western 
town  of  Scotts  Bluffs,  Nebraska.  William  W. 
Cook,  the  second  and  much  loved  son,  at  the 
age  of  eighteen  years,  was  drowned  while 
bathing  in  the  Big  Blue  river,  on  the  27th  day 
of  August,  1905. 

For  many  years  prior  to  his  death,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Cook  owned  and  occupied  a  beautiful 
home  at  the  comer  of  Seventh  and  Summit 
Streets,  Beatrice,  erected  by  them  in  1884. 
Here  thirty-two  years  of  their  married  life 
were  spent  together;  here  their  children  were 
born ;  and  from  its  portals  a  well  beloved  son 
and  husband  were  borne  to  the  grave  and  an 
only  and  much  loved  daughter  departed  a 
bride.  Cold  indeed  must  be  the  heart  that 
can  withhold  its  sympathy  from  her  to  whom 
this  spot  is  hallowed  by  so  many  sacred  mem- 
ories. 

No  one  was  less  inclined  to  speak  of.  him- 
self or  his  family  than  Daniel  Wolford  Cook. 
His  most  intimate  friends  rarely  heard  him 
mention  his  ancestry  or  speak  of  his  family 
beyond  his  immediate  home  circle.  His  re- 
ticence in  this  respect  was  the  more  remark- 
able since  there  is  much  in  his  family  gene- 
alogy of  which  he  was,  no  doubt,  justly 
proud.  His  reticence  on  this  subject  was 
probably  due  to  a  natural  reserve  of  char- 
acter which  ran  through  his  entire  life,  and  to 
a  fine  sensitiveness  concerning  his  personal 
matters. 

Mr.  Cook's  parents  were  both  born  and 
reared  in  the  town  of  Cato,  Cayuga  county. 
New  York.  His  father  was  born  in  1812, 
amidst  the  stirring  scenes  of  our  second  war 
with  England.  Early  in  life  he  married 
Betsy  Wolford,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty  he 
migrated  to  the  new  Territory  of  Michigan, 
locating  first  at  Detroit.  In  1833,  about  four 
years  prior  to  the  time  Michigan  was  admitted 
into  the  union  of  sovereign  states,  he  removed 
to  Hillsdale  county  and  settled  in  the  village 
of  Hillsdale,  where  he  resided  until  his  death, 
in  1884,  at  the  age  of  seventy-two  years.  His 
first  wife  having  died  about  the  year  1850. 
leaving  him  with  a  family  of  five  young  chil- 
dren, he  in  1854,  married  Martha  A.  Wol- 
ford, her  younger  sister.     In  his  early  years 


he  was  a  wonderfully  active  and  a  very  useful 
man.  Shortly  after  his  arrival  in  Michigan, 
he  formed  the  acquaintance  of  General  Lewis 
Cass,  and  for  many  years  he  was  an  intimate 
friend  of  that  distinguished  soldier,  statesman 
and  diplomat.  He  was  intimately  connected, 
almost  from  the  first,  with  the  social,  intellec- 
tual, political,  and  business  interests  of  his 
section  of  country.  He  was  the  first  post- 
master at  Hillsdale,  serving  his  community  in 
that  capacity  for  a  number  of  years;  he  was 
one  of  the  trustees  of  the  state  hospital  at 
Kalamazoo,  and  for  a  long  time  a  trustee  of 
Hillsdale  College,  president  of  the  town  board 
of  Hillsdale,  and  discharged  the  duties  of 
other  local  officers.  He  was  a  delegate  to  two 
constitutional  conventions  of  his  state,  twice 
a  member  of  the  house  of  representatives,  and 
thrice  a  member  of  the  state  senate  of  Michi- 
gan. He  was  an  exceptionally  good  business 
man  and  by  fortunate  investments  in  Michi- 
gan timbered  lands  he  had  amassed  a  fortune, 
which  at  his  death  amounted  to  nearly  half  a 
million  dollars. 

On  his  father's  side,  Daniel  Wolford  Cook 
was  descended  in  a  direct  line  from  William 
Bradford,  who  came  over  with  the  "Pilgrim 
Fathers"  in  the  Mayflower,  in  1620,  and  who 
for  thirty  years  was  governor  of  Plymouth 
Colony.  A  certain  Captain  David  Cook  be- 
came the  husband  of  Mary  Bradford  in  the 
earlv  part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  who  in  a 
direct  line  was  the  great-great-granddaughter 
of  the  Puritan  governor.  This  Captain  Cook 
fought  with  distinction  in  the  war  of  the 
Revolution,  from  its  beginning,  in  1776,  to  its 
close,  in  1783.  From  him  was  descended 
John  P.  Cook,  the  father  of  Daniel  Wolford 
Cook.  On  his  mother's  side  Mr.  Cook  was 
descended  from  Holland  and  French  stock, 
his  maternal  grandfather  being  a  Hollander 
and  his  maternal  grandmother,  a  La  Rue, 
French.  Martha  A.  Cook,  the  mother  of  Dan- 
iel Wolford  Cook,  reached  the  bounds  of  this 
mortal  life  in  1909,  the  object  of  the  solici- 
tude and  affection  of  a  host  of  relatives  and 
friends.  Now  all  that  is  mortal  of  these 
Michigan  pioneers  lies  in  the  Hillsdale  ceme- 
tery,   where   after   having   answered   the   call 


342 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


of  the  angel  of  death,  they  await  the  trump  of 
the  angel  of  the  resurrection. 

Shortly  after  leaving  the  University  of 
Michigan,  in  1879,  Mr.  Cook,  at  the  age  of 
nineteen  years,  engaged  in  the  wholesale  and 
retail  lumber  trade  in  Michigan  City,  Indiana, 
at  the  foot  of  Lake  Michigan.  His  busi- 
ness was  operated  in  connection  with  his 
father's  lumber  manufacturing  plant  at  White 
Lake,  Michigan,  and  in  carrying  it  on,  he  was 
associated  with  his  cousin,  W.  C.  Wilson,  now 
president  of  the  Bankers  Life  Insurance  Com- 
pany of  Lincoln,  Nebraska.  After  several 
years'  successful  business,  he  sold  his  interest 
in  the  lumber  trade  at  Michigan  City  to  his 
partner,  and  in  1884  he  came  to  Nebraska  to 
seek  fortune,  happiness,  and  success  in  this 
new  state. 

Having,  through  the  mediation  of  his 
brother-in-law,  the  late  Nathan  S.  Harwood, 
and  the  late  Jefferson  B.  Weston,  purchased 
a  controlling  interest  in  the  Gage  County 
Bank,  Mr.  Cook  moved  his  family  to  Beatrice 
in  February,  1884.  With  Harwood,  Weston, 
and  others,  he  reorganized  the  bank  into  a  na- 
tional bank,  with  a  capital  of  fifty  thousand 
dollars,  to  be  thenceforth  known  as  the 
Beatrice  National  Bank,  a  title  still  worn  by 
this  well  known  banking  institution.  The 
first  board  of  directors  of  the  bank  were  Har- 
wood, Weston,  Cook,  Cyrus  Alden,  Nathan 
Blakely,  Silas  P.  Wheeler,  and  William  Lamb, 
of  which  Mr.  Weston  was  president  and  Mr. 
Cook  vice-president.  All  these  gentlemen, 
well  known  in  the  early  days,  have  passed 
away,  Mr.  Cook  being  the  last  survivor  of  this 
board  of  directors.  Mr.  Weston  served  as 
president  of  the  board  until  his  death,  in  Sep- 
tember, 1905,  and  thereafter  until  his  demise 
Mr.  Cook  was  president  of  the  board. 

Beginning  at  a  time  when  Gage  county  was 
just  emerging  from  its  pioneer  days,  when 
things  were  new  and  fresh  within  its  bound- 
aries, when  Beatrice  had  but  recently  been 
advanced  from  a  mere  western  village  to  a 
city  under  the  law  of  less  than  five  thousand 
population,  the  steady  growth  of  the  Beatrice 
National  Bank  under  Mr.  Cook's  management 
is,  in  a  sense,  typical  of  the  growth  of  both  the 
city  and  county.     The  first  statement  by  the 


board  of  directors  after  he  took  control  of 
the  afifairs  of  the  bank,  under  date  of  Sep- 
tember 30,  1884,  showed  a  total  volume  of 
business  amounting  to  the  sum  of  $124,755.37, 
of  which  $61,235.86  were  deposits.  The 
statement  of  the  bank  issued  March  7,  1916,  a 
few  days  after  Mr.  Cook's  death,  showed  a 
volume  of  business  amounting  to  the  sum  of 
$1,255,020.24,  of  which  sum  $988,917.49  were 
deposits.  Assuming  the  management  of  this 
bank  at  a  time  when  he  was  not  yet  twenty- 
four  years  of  age,  the  unusual  abilities  pos- 
sessed by  Mr.  Cook  as  a  business  man  and 
banker  are  demonstrated  by  the  steady  and 
rapid  growth  of  this  splendid  banking  enter- 
prise. While  he  held  its  destiny  in  his  hands 
not  a  penny  of  its  depositors'  money  was  lost 
or  even  jeopardized  by  unwise  banking  meth- 
ods. 

In  the  everyday  affairs  of  the  community 
Mr.  Cook  acted  the  part  of  a  wise  and  helpful 
banker,  readily  assisting  the  deserving  in  every 
safe  business  enterprise  when  money  was 
needed.  He  had  the  faculty  of  divining  char- 
acter in  his  customers  and  he  was  never  known 
to  err  seriously  in  his  judgment  of  men.  He 
was  particularly  generous  and  helpful  both  in 
monetary  affairs  and  in  advice  to  young  men 
just  entering  a  business  career  and  he  was 
apt  to  place  greater  reliance  upon  individual 
honesty,  when  coupled  with  ability  and  energy, 
than  upon  any  sort  of  collateral.  His  liberal 
assistance  to  deserving  customers  of  his  bank, 
his  habit  of  taking  a  kind  and  helpful  interest 
in  their  affairs  and  his  clear,  comprehensive, 
deliberate  way  of  looking  at  things,  made  him 
one  of  the  most  all-round  useful  citizens  of 
his  community. 

He  was  a  man  of  teeming  activities.  In 
addition  to  the  personal  management  of  his 
bank  he  devoted  considerable  time  to  farm- 
ing and  the  breeding  and  sale  of  live  stock, 
and  he  was  never  happier  than  when  going 
over  his  farm,  near  the  village  of  Ellis,  with 
some  sympathetic  friend.  In  1891  he  was  in- 
duced to  invest  a  considerable  sum  of  money 
in  the  capital  stock  of  the  Bankers  Life  In- 
surance Company  of  Lincoln,  Nebraska.  As- 
sociated with  him  in  this  enterprise  were 
Nathan     S.     Harwood,     John    M.    Thurston, 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


343 


Thomas  Kimball  (then  vice-president  of  the 
Union  Pacific  Railway  Company),  William  R. 
Kelly,  J.  E.  Houtz,  Charles  Boggs  (of  Lin- 
coln), Michael  Wolbach  (of  Beatrice),  his 
brother,  Franklin  M.  Cook,  and  his  cousin, 
W.  C.  Wilson.  At  the  time  Mr.  Cook  became 
interested  in  this  company  its  capital  stock 
was  $100,000,  its  assets  $127,000.  He  after- 
ward acquired  the  stock  of  his  brother  in  this 
institution,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death  he 
was  its  second  largest  stockholder,  its  presi- 
dent, W.  C.  Wilson,  being  the  largest.  This 
company  has  prospered  amazingly.  Its  capi- 
tal stock  still  remains  at  $100,000,  but  its  busi- 
ness has  increased  by  leaps  and  bounds,  until 
at  the  present  moment  its  assets  amount  to 
$13,000,000.  During  his  entire  connection 
with  this  company  Mr.  Cook  occupied  the  po- 
sition of  vice-president,  and  he  was  also  an 
influential  member  of  the  finance  committee. 
In  1911,  the  company  erected  a  substantial 
five-story,  modern  building  at  the  corner  of 
Fourteenth  and  M  streets,  Lincoln,  at  a  cost 
of  $300,000,  where  its  offices  are  now  lo- 
cated. 

Though  never  seeking  any  sort  of  lucrative 
office  for  himself,  Mr.  Cook  always  manifest- 
ed a  deep  and  an  intelligent  interest  in  public 
affairs.  He  was  active  in  all  matters  relating 
to  the  welfare  of  his  city,  and  in  the  political 
movements  of  his  county  and  state.  For  many 
years  he  affiliated  with  the  Democratic  party 
and  he  was  twice  a  delegate  to  the  national 
convention  of  that  great  party.  Growing  dis- 
satisfied with  its  attitude  on  the  question  of 
the  coinage  of  silver  by  the  federal  govern- 
ment, as  set  forth  in  its  platform  of  1896,  he 
openly  withdrew  from  it  and  became  an  active 
and  useful  member  of  the  Republican  party. 
This  affiliation  he  maintained  with  unswerving 
loyalty  to  the  last.  He  was  eminent  in  its 
counsels  and  influential  in  shaping  its  policies 
both  at  home  and  abroad. 

From  this  resume  it  is  clear  that  Mr.  Cook's 
mind  was  turned  almost  wholly  to  the  practi- 
cal side  of  life.  He  was  a  man  of  affairs, 
keen,  active,  decisive.  He  was  broad  in  con- 
ception, sound  in  judgment,  and  endowed  with 
masterful  powers  in  organizing  and  conduct- 
ing business  aitairs.  For  thirty  years  he  de- 
voted his  time,  energy,  and  splendid  abilities 


largely  to  laying  the  foundation  for  his  own 
fortune  and  the  fortunes  of  his  business  asso- 
ciates. Success  in  his  several  undertakings 
being  finally  assured,  he  extended  his  interest, 
energies,  and  activities  to  the  upbuilding  of 
the  entire  community.  For  several  years  prior 
to  his  demise  he  served  faithfully  and  effi- 
ciently as  a  member  of  the  board  of  public 
parks  for  the  city  of  Beatrice.  He  also  took 
a  deep  and  friendly  interest  in  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  of  Beatrice,  and 
it  was  largely  through  his  efforts,  enterprise, 
enthusiasm,  and  love  of  clean,  wholesome 
sports  that  the  Beatrice  school  district  now 
owns  what  is  probably  the  finest  athletic  park 
in  the  west.  He  passed  away  at  the  moment 
of  his  greatest  usefulness,  when  he  could  have 
been  least  spared  and  at  a  time  when  he  was 
rapidly  winning  the  public  appreciation  which 
always  attends  unselfish  efforts  of  a  high 
order  for  the  upbuilding  of  a  community. 

Mr.  Cook,  though  not  directly  affiliated  with 
any  religious  organization  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  was  never  indifferent  to  the  claims  of 
religion  or  the  value  of  Christian  character. 
He  believed  in  Almighty  God  and  in  an  over- 
ruling providence  in  the  affairs  of  men.  Him- 
self candid  and  direct,  he  despised  indirection 
and  hypocracy  in  others.  He  was  an  enter- 
taining conversationalist  and  was  well  in- 
formed as  respects  the  leading  events  of  our 
country's  history,  the  lives  and  characters  of 
the  public  men  of  our  day  as  well  as  the  past. 
He  delighted  in  clean,  pointed  anecdotes,  and 
a  visit  with  him  in  his  private  office  was  al- 
ways a  thing  to  be  remembered.  Though 
sometimes  abrupt  in  manner  and  outspoken, 
at  bottom  he  was  one  of  the  kindest  and  most 
generous  of  men.  Though  never  very  demon- 
strative, he  was  capable  of  great  depth  of 
feeling.  He  rarely  spoke  of  the  death  of  his 
son  William  without  emotion  and  never  re- 
covered from  this  wound  to  his  affections. 
He  loved  the  society  of  men  and  men  were 
fond  of  him.  He  prized  his  friends  as  few 
men  ever  did,  and  once  his  friendship  was 
given  it  was  never  lightly  withdrawn.  It  is 
hard  to  reflect  that  the  grave  —  the  silent, 
remorseless  grave  —  has  closed  forever  over 
the  assemblage  of  manly  qualities  embodied  in 
Daniel  Wolford  Cook. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


THOMAS  YULE.  — It  was  within  the 
province  of  the  late  Thomas  Yule,  who  served 
one  term  as  mayor  of  Beatrice,  one  term  as 
city  treasurer  and  three  terms  as  a  member 
of  the  county  board  of  supervisors,  to  have 
wielded  a  large  and  beneficent  influence  in  the 
civic,  industrial,  and  business  affairs  of  Gage 
county,  and  he  was  exponent  of  that  high  type 
of  manhood  which  ever  stands  indicative  of 
usefulness  and  subjective  honor.  He  im- 
pressed his  strong  individuality  deeply  upon 
the  history  of  Gage  county,  within  whose  gra- 
cious borders  he  maintained  his  home  for  near- 
ly thirty  years  prior  to  his  death,  and  in  a 
publication  of  the  functions  assigned  to  the 
one  at  hand  it  is  eminently  consonant  that  a 
tribute  be  paid  to  his  memory  and  recognition 
be  accorded  to  him  as  having  been  one  of  the 
essentially  representative  men  of  this  favored 
county.  His  character  was  the  positive  ex- 
pression of  a  noble  and  loyal  nature  and  his 
genial  and  kindly  personality  gained  and  re- 
tained to  him  the  high  regard  of  all  with  whom 
he  came  in  contact. 

Mr.  Yule  was  born  in  Northumberland 
county,  England,  on  the  20th  of  October,  1832, 
and  his  death  occurred  at  his  home  in  Beatrice. 
Nebraska,  on  the  21st  of  June,  1907.  He  was 
a  son  of  George  and  Elizabeth  (Huggett) 
Yule,  his  father  having  been  a  civil  engineer 
by  profession  and  having  for  some  time  held  a 
responsible  position  with  the  London  &  North- 
eastern Railway  Company.  Thomas  Yule  re- 
ceived excellent  educational  advantages  in  his 
native  land  and  there  continued  to  reside  until 
1853,  when,  accompanied  by  his  parents  and 
his  young  wife,  he  came  to  the  United  States, 
the  family  home  being  established  in  Columbia 
county,  Wisconsin,  where  the  father  and  son 
became  pioneer  exponents  of  agricultural  in- 
dustry. The  honored  father  died  in  1871,  at 
the  age  of  sixty-seven  years,  and  his  wife  sur- 
vived him  by  six  years,  she  having  been 
seventy-three  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  her 
demise.  Four  of  their  six  children  attained 
to  maturity  and  became  well  established  in  life 
before  the  death  of  the  parents. 

On  the  15th  of  March,  1853,  was  solemnized 
the  marriage  of  Thomas  Yule  to  Miss  Mary 


Todd,  who  likewise  was  born  in  Northumber- 
landshire,  a  daughter  of  John  and  Mary  Todd. 
The  voyage  to  America  on  a  sailing  vessel  of 
the  type  common  to  that  day  virtually  consti- 
tuted the  bridal  tour  of  the  young  couple,  and 
after  having  been  for  some  time  associated 
with  his  father  in  farm  enterprise  in  Columbia 
county,  Wisconsin,  Thomas  Yule  removed 
with  his  wife  to  the  village  of  Lodi,  that 
county,  where  he  was  engaged  in  contracting 
and  building  at  the  time  of  the  inception  of  the 
Civil  war.  His  loyalty  to  the  land  of  his 
adoption  soon  found  significant  exposition,  for 
on  the  15th  of  August,  1862,  he  enlisted  as  a 
private  in  the  Twenty-third  Wisconsin  Volun- 
teer Infantry,  with  which  he  entered  service 
in  the  Army  of  the  West,  under  General  A.  J. 
Smith,  and  in  the  Fourteenth  Army  Corps, 
commanded  by  General  Sherman.  Relative  to 
the  gallant  military  career  of  Mr.  Yule  the  fol- 
lowing interesting  record  has  been  given  :  "Mr. 
Yule,  with  his  comrades,  in  active  campaign 
service,  traveled  through  Kentucky,  Missis- 
sippi, Tennessee,  and  Arkansas,  and  with  his 
command  participated  in  the  first  battle  of 
Vicksburg,  in  the  summer  of  1862.  He  con- 
tinued to  take  part  in  the  various  engagements 
in  which  his  regiment  was  involved  until  the 
11th  of  January,  1863,  when,  in  the  engage- 
ment at  Arkansas  Post,  he  received  a  wound 
which  resulted  in  the  loss  of  his  right  leg.  The 
grievously  wounded  man  was  removed  to  the 
Lawson  hospital,  in  the  city  of  St.  Louis, 
Missouri,  where  he  remained  until  the  follow- 
ing March,  when  he  was  honorably  discharged 
and  returned  to  his  home,  at  Lodi,  Wisconsin. 
Afterward,  in  recognition  of  his  service  as  a 
soldier  and  the  sacrifice  which  he  had  made  in 
the  cause  of  the  Union,  Mr.  Yule  was  appoint- 
ed provost  marshal  for  his  Wisconsin  district. 
He  was  elected  also  to  the  offices  of  justice  of 
the  peace  and  township  treasurer,  both  of 
which  he  retained  until  1867,  when  he  was 
elected  register  of  deeds  of  Columbia  county, 
an  ofifice  of  which  he  continued  the  incumbent 
eight  successive  years."  It  may  further  be 
said  that  in  later  years  Mr.  Yule  vitalized  the 
memories  and  association  of  his  military  career 
as    a    soldier    of    the    Union    by    maintaining 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


345 


active  affiliation  with  the  Grand  Anny  of  the 
RepubHc,  in  which  great  patriotic  organization 
he  was  one  of  the  most  popular  and  influential 
members  of  Rawlins  Post,  at  Beatrice,  Ne- 
braska, in  which  he  passed  the  various  official 
chairs  and  with  which  he  continued  to  be 
actively  identified  until  the  close  of  his  life. 

Mr.  Yule  never  permitted  himself  to  view 
his  physical  infirmity  as  a  definite  handicap, 
and  it  is  certain  that  it  did  not  interfere  with 
his  productive  usefulness  and  service.  After 
his  retirement  from  the  office  of  register  of 
deeds  for  Columbia  county,  Wisconsin,  he 
continued  to  be  there  associated  with  Miles  T. 
Alverson  in  the  abstract  and  loan  business 
until  April,  1879.  He  then  sold  his  interest  in 
the  business  and  came  with  his  family  to 
Beatrice,  Nebraska,  where  he  engaged  in  the 
loaning  of  money  on  real-estate  security  and 
where  he  forthwith  put  his  previous  experience 
to  eft'ective  use  by  turning  his  attention  to  the 
preparation  of  a  set  of  abstracts  of  realty 
titles  from  the  original  records  of  the  county. 
In  this  commendable  and  important  work  he 
had  as  his  efficient  coadjutor  his  son  John  T., 
and  they  continued  to  be  actively  associated 
in  the  conducting  of  the  well  ordered  abstract 
business  until  his  death,  since  which  time  the 
son  has  individually  continued  the  enterprise, 
as  noted  in  the  review  of  his  career,  on  other 
pages  of  this  volume. 

Mr.  Yule  entered  most  heartily  and  help- 
fully into  the  communal  life  of  Beatrice  and 
Gage  county  and  his  ability  and  sterling  in- 
tegrity marked  him  as  specially  eligible  for 
service  in  offices  of  local  trust.  It  has  already 
been  noted  in  this  memoir  that  he  served  one 
term  as  mayor  of  Beatrice,  a  position  in  which 
he  gave  most  progressive  and  efficient  admin- 
istration, and  that  he  held  for  one  term  the 
office  of  city  treasurer.  In  the  late  '80s  he 
was  elected  representative  of  Beatrice  town- 
ship on  the  county  board  of  supervisors,  in 
which  office  he  served  three  consecutive  terms, 
during  the  last  two  of  which  he  was  chairman 
of  the  board.  He  was  one  of  those  interested 
in  the  establishing  of  the  canning  factory  at 
Beatrice  and  became  a  member  of  the  board  of 
directors  of  the  company  operating  the  same. 


besides  which  he  was  a  director  of  the  Beatrice 
Street  Railway  Company.  In  politics  Mr. 
Yule,  with  consummate  strength  of  convic- 
tion, never  wavered  in  his  allegiance  to  the 
Republican  party  and  he  gave  in  a  local  way 
yeoman  service  in  behalf  of  its  cause.  He 
became  affiliated  with  the  Masonic  fraternity 
in  1858  and  was  actively  identified  with  the 
various  Masonic  bodies  in  Beatrice  at  the  time 
of  his  death. 

The  wife  of  the  young  manhood  of  Mr. 
Yule  continued  as  his  gracious  and  loved  com- 
panion and  helpmeet  until  she  was  summoned 
to  eternal  rest,  her  death  having  occurred 
April  11,  1881.  They  became  the  parents  of 
four  children,  concerning  whom  the  follow- 
ing brief  data  are  available:  Bessie  J.  be- 
came the  wife  of  Louis  E.  Walker  and  is  now 
deceased ;  John  T.  is  individually  mentioned 
on  other  pages  of  this  publication ;  Albert  G. 
was  a  boy  at  the  time  of  his  death,  in  1866; 
and  Mary  Grace,  who  completed  her  educa- 
tion by  attending  Brownell  Hall,  in  the  city  of 
Omaha,  is  now  the  wife  of  John  Gray,  living 
in  Los  Angeles,  California. 

In  1884  Mr.  Yule  contracted  a  second  mar- 
riage, when  Miss  Mary  H.  Burke  became  his 
wife.  She  was  born  in  the  Dominion  of  Can- 
ada, but  was  a  resident  of  Beatrice  at  the 
time  of  her  marriage.  No  children  were  born 
of  this  union  and  Mrs.  Yule  survived  her  hus- 
band, she  being  now  a  resident  of  Los  An- 
geles, California. 

CLARENCE  W.  GRAFF.  — The  vice- 
president  of  the  representative  mercantile 
corporation  conducting  business  in  the  city  of 
Beatrice  under  the  title  of  The  John  H.  von 
Steen  Company,  is  recognized  as  one  of  the 
vital  and  representative  business  men  of  the 
younger  generation  in  his  native  county  and 
is  further  entitled  to  recognition  by  reason  of 
being  a  scion  of  one  of  the  well  known  and 
honored  pioneer  families  of  the  county,  within 
whose  limits  his  paternal  grandfather,  Joseph 
Graff,  establi-shed  his  residence  at  an  early 
period  in  the  history  of  development  in  Ne- 
braska. Joseph  Graff  became  one  of  the  pio- 
neer exponents  of  agricultural  and  live-stock 


346 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


industry  in  Gage  county  and  here  he  and  his 
wife  passed  the  remainder  of  their  hves.  On 
the  old  homestead  farm  was  bom  Henry 
Graff,  father  of  him  whose  name  initiates  this 
paragraph,  and  he  was  reared  under  the  con- 
ditions and  influences  of  the  pioneer  days  — 
an  environment  that  made  for  the  develop- 
ment of  self-reliance,  ambition,  and  apprecia- 
tion of  the  true  values  in  the  scheme  of  human 
thought  and  action.  Henry  Graff  received  the 
advantages  of  the  common  schools  of  the 
locality  and  period  and  after  having  achieved 
independent  success  through  his  association 
with  agricultural  industry  he  was  for  a  long 
term  of  years  engaged  in  the  agricultural  im- 
plement business  in  the  fine  little  town  of 
Wymore,  this  county.  He  developed  a  large 
and  prosperous  enterprise  in  this  line  and  con- 
tinued his  activities  in  the  same  until  his 
death,  in  1907.  He  was  influential  in  civic 
affairs  in  his  community,  was  a  stalwart  sup- 
porter of  the  cause  of  the  Republican  party, 
and  though  not  ambitious  for  public  office  he 
showed  his  loyalty  by  consenting  to  become 
the  candidate  of  his  party  for  the  office  of 
treasurer  of  the  city  of  Wymore,  his  service 
in  this  capacity  continuing  for  one  term.  He 
was  a  communicant  of  the  Protestant  Episco- 
pal church,  as  is  also  his  widow,  who  still 
maintains  her  home  at  Wymore.  Of  the  two 
children,  Clarence  W.,  immediate  subject  of 
this  sketch,  is  the  elder,  and  the  younger. 
Hazel,  remains  with  her  widowed  mother. 
Mrs.  Susan  (Myers)  Graff,  widow  of  Henry 
Graff,  was  born  in  the  state  of  Wisconsin  and 
accompanied  her  parents  on  their  removal  to 
Gage  county,  Nebraska,  where  her  marriage 
to  Mr.  Graft'  was  later  solemnized  and  where 
she  has  since  maintained  her  home,  her  gra- 
cious personality  having  won  to  her  a  specially 
wide  circle  of  friends.  Her  father,  the  late 
Valentine  Myers,  likewise  was  one  of  the  pio- 
neers of  this  county,  and  became  one  of  its 
substantial  farmers  and  highly  esteemed  citi- 
zens. 

Clarence  W.  Graff  continued  his  studies  in 
the  public  schools  until  he  had  completed  the 
curriculum  of  the  high  school  at  Wymore,  his 
birth  having  occurred  in  the  village  of  Blue 


Springs,  this  county,  on  the  8th  of  October, 
1889.  In  further  preparation  for  the  active 
responsibilities  of  life  he  took  an  effective 
course  in  the  business  college  at  Beatrice. 
For  five  months  thereafter  he  held  a  clerical 
position  in  a  telegraph  office  in  this  city,  and 
he  then  became  associated  with  the  John  H. 
von  Steen  Company,  in  which  he  is  now  one 
of  the  interested  principals  and  of  which  he 
has  been  the  vice-president  since  1917.  His 
popularity  in  his  native  county  is  on  a  parity 
with  his  recognized  ability  and  progressive- 
ness  as  a  business  man  and  he  takes  most  loyal 
interest  in  all  things  touching  the  civic  and  ma- 
terial welfare  of  his  home  city  and  county. 
His  political  allegiance  is  given  to  the  Repub- 
lican party  and  he  is  affiliated  with  Beatrice 
Lodge,  No.  619,  Benevolent  &  Protective 
Order  of  Elks. 

April  25,  1917,  recorded  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Graff  to  Miss  Augusta  R.  Kilpatrick,. 
daughter  of  Joseph  M.  Kilpatrick,  of  Beatrice, 
Nebraska,  and  they  are  popular  factors  in  the 
representative  social  life  of  the  Gage  county 
metropolis.  They  hold  membership  in  the 
parish  of  Christ  Church,  Protestant  Episcopal, 
of  which  both  are  communicants. 


C.  C.  JOHNSON,  who  is  now  living  re- 
tired in  the  village  of  Filley,  has  proved  him- 
self a  man  of  might,  like  Tubal  Cain  of  old, 
and  for  many  years  he  followed  the  sturdy 
trade  of  blacksmith,  through  the  medium  of 
which  he  achieved  the  prosperity  that  enables 
him  to  pass  the  gracious  evening  of  his  life  in 
well  earned  peace  and  comfort. 

Mr.  Johnson  was  born  in  Denmark,  on  the 
26th  of  February,  1844,  and  is  a  son  of  John 
Christ  and  Anna  Christina  (Christiansen) 
Anderson,  the  latter  of  whom  passed  her  en- 
tire life  in  Denmark  and  the  former  of  whom 
came  to  the  United  States  in  1884,  settling 
first  in  Illinois,  but  a  few  months  later  coming 
to  Nebraska,  where  he  passed  the  remainder 
of  his  life.  Of  the  ten  children  only  two  are 
now  living,  the  subject  of  this  review  being 
the  elder  and  Nels  being  a  resident  of  the 
city  of  Chicago.  The  father  was  a  blacksmith 
by  trade  and  after  coming  to  the  United  States 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


347 


he  lived  retired  until  his  death,  the  closing 
period  of  his  life  having  been  passed  in  the 
home  of  his  son  C.  C.,  subject  of  this  sketch. 
Both  he  and  his  wife  were  earnest  communi- 
cants of  the  Danish  Lutheran  church. 

C.  C.  Johnson  acquired  his  early  education 
in  his  native  land  and  there  learned  the  trade 
of  blacksmith  under  the  effective  direction  of 
his  father.  He  was  twenty-eight  years  of  age 
when  he  came  to  the  United  States  and  estab- 
lished his  residence  in  the  city  of  Kankakee, 
Illinois,  where  he  was  employed  three  years 
in  one  blacksmith  shop.  He  continued  to  fol- 
low his  trade  in  that  state  for  seven  years  and 
then,  in  1879,  he  came  to  Gage  coimty,  Ne- 
braska, where  he  opened  a  little  blacksmith 
shop  four  miles  north  of  the  present  village 
of  Filley.  When  this  village  was  platted  he 
here  established  its  first  blacksmith  shop,  and 
he  was  not  only  the  first  citizen  to  erect  a 
house  in  the  village  but  also  the  first  to  buy  a 
lot  in  the  newly  established  cemetery,  in 
which  the  remains  of  his  stepmother  were  the 
first  interred.  He  continued  actively  and  suc- 
cessfully in  the  work  of  his  trade,  with  a 
large  and  representative  patronage,  until  1902, 
since  which  time  he  has  lived  virtually  re- 
tired. Mr.  Johnson  has  gained  and  retained 
the  unqualified  confidence  and  esteem  of  the 
community  in  which  he  has  long  maintained 
his  home.  He  has  a  little  farm  of  nine  acres 
and  finds  recreation  in  giving  to  the  same  his 
personal  supervision.  He  is  independent  in 
politics  and  is  an  earnest  member  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church,  as  is  also  his 
wife. 

In  1873  was  solemnized  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Johnson  to  Miss  Anna  Nelson,  who  like- 
wise was  bom  in  Denmark.  She  is  the  daugh- 
ter of  Christ  Nelson,  whose  entire  life  was 
passed  in  Denmark,  his  widow  having  finally 
come  to  the  United  States  and  having  been  a 
resident  of  Iowa  at  the  time  of  her  death,  in 
1914.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Nelson  became  the  par- 
ents of  six  children,  of  whom  three  are  liv- 
ing :  Lars  Jansen  is  now  a  resident  of  Iowa ; 
Sena  Peterson  maintains  his  home  in  the 
state  of  Texas ;  and  Mrs.  Johnson  is  the  old- 
est of  the  number.    To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Johnson 


have  been  born  five  children :  Fritz  owns  and 
operates  a  farm  of  eighty  acres,  four  miles 
northeast  of  Filley;  Nels  is  a  farm  employe 
in  this  county,  as  is  also  Louis ;  Lena  is  the 
wife  of  Chester  Hill,  of  Filley,  and  they  have 
one  son,  Lloyd  Everett ;  and  Clara  remains 
at  the  parental  home. 


JOHN  O.  ADAMS.  — The  chance  travel- 
er who  might  have  found  his  way  in  the  spring 
of  1857  into  what  is  now  the  beautiful  Ne- 
maha valley  would  have  seen  in  what  is  now 
Adams  township.  Gage  county,  something 
that  looked  like  the  beginning  of  a  home,  but, 
knowing  that  no  settlers  were  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, he  would  have  been  at  a  loss  to 
understand  the  meaning  thereof  until  he 
chanced  to  notice,  stretched  between  two  sap- 
lings, a  tablet  of  bark,  upon  which  was  writ- 
ten, "John  O.  Adams  claims  this  tract  of  land, 
this  3bth  day  of  March,  1857." 

The  late  John  O.  Adams  was  born  in  New 
Jersey,  July  17,  1808,  and  when  a  child  was 
taken  by  his  parents  to  Kentucky.  In  1838  he 
moved  to  Dubois  county,  Indiana,  and  in  1840 
he  married  Letitia  Flarris,  a  native  of  Ken- 
tucy,  born  January  4,  1812.  Mr.  Adams  en- 
gaged in  farming  in  Dubois  county  until  the 
fall  of  1856,  when  he  started  west.  On  Oc- 
tober 20th  the  family  arrived  at  the  home  of  a 
brother  in  Atchison  county,  Missouri.  In  the 
early  spring  Mr.  Adams  started  to  look  over 
the  country  and  find  a  suitable  place  to  locate, 
and  the  result  was  his  making  a  claim  in  Gage 
county,  Nebraska,  as  above  stated.  This  lo- 
cality was  known  as  Clay  county  at  that  time. 
With  two  covered  wagons  drawn  by  oxen 
which  he  had  driven  from  Indiana,  he  and  his 
family  came  to  that  new  home.  Not  a  wagon 
track  was  to  be  seen  or  a  habitation  found  for 
many  miles  from  the  spot  where  he  located. 
They  had  to  build  a  bridge  to  cross  the  Ne- 
maha river.  On  Section  26,  Adams  town- 
ship, half  a  mile  east  of  where  the  town  of 
Adams  now  stands,  they  unloaded  their  goods, 
Mr.  Adams's  wife  and  their  seven  children 
having  accompanied  him.  They  cut  and 
hewed  logs,  and  just  one  month  from  the  day 
they  arrived  they  moved  into  their  new  home. 


348 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Here  the  family  assiduously  set  about  to  de- 
velop a  farm  out  of  the  wild  and  unbroken 
prairie.  This  was  ten  years  before  Nebraska 
became  a  state.  No  homestead  laws  were  in 
existence,  and  Mr.  Adams  held  squatter  sov- 
ereignly over  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
until  he  could  file  and  prove  up.  Here  he 
reared  his  family  amid  the  pioneer  conditions, 
and  he  prospered.  Before  his  death  he  di- 
vided a  section  of  land  among  his  children  and 
lived  to  see  them  all  well  established  in  life. 

The  township  and  village  of  Adams  were 
named  in  his  honor.     Historians  concede  him 


to  be  the  first  permanent  white  settler  in  Gage 
county.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
Methodist  church  in  the  township  and  was  a 
devoted  member.  He  was  a  Republican  in 
politics  and  represented  old  Clay  county  on 
the  board  of  commissioners.  He  was  a  black- 
smith by  trade  and  conducted  a  shop  on  his 
farm.  This  worthy  pioneer  passed  from  the 
scene  of  earthly  activities  December  24,  1887. 
His  wife  had  preceded  him  to  eternal  rest 
many  years  previously,  her  death  having  oc- 
curred November  21,  1867. 

They  became  the  parents  of  eight  children. 


concerning  whom  the  following  data  are  avail- 
able: Nelson  A.  resides  at  Adams;  Nancy 
became  the  wife  of  B.  P.  Zuver  and  is  now  de- 
ceased ;  Isaac  and  Leander  are  deceased ;  John 
Q.  was  the  next  and  his  whereabouts  are  un- 
known;  Naomi  became  the  wife  of  Thomas 
Davis  Mosby  and  lives  in  Adams  township ; 
Anna  is  deceased;  and  one  child  died  in  in- 
fancy. 


CALVIN  STARR,  M.  D.  —  Dr.  Calvin 
Starr,  who  was  nearly  ninety-four  years  of 
age  at  the  time  when  he  passed  from  the  stage 
of  life's  mortal  endeavors,  came  to  Nebraska 
at  the  beginning  of  the  decade  following  its 
admission  as  one  of  the  sovereign  states  of 
the  Union,  and  Gage  county  was  favored  in 
having  eventually  gained  him  as  a  citizen  and 
as  an  able  and  distinguished  representative  of 
the  noble  profession  to  which  he  gave  himself 
with  all  of  earnestness  and  self-abnegation 
for  more  than  sixty  years.  To  his  name  and 
memory  the  county  shall  ever  pay  a  tribute  of 
veneration  and  afifection,  and  this  publication 
would  stultify  its  consistency  were  there  fail- 
ure to  enter  at  least  brief  record  concerning 
the  singularly  interesting  and  truly  unassum- 
ing and  exalted  life  record  of  this  venerated 
citizen,  who  passed  to  eternal  rest  on  the  25th 
of  November,  1915,  at  his  home  in  the  city  of 
Beatrice. 

Dr.  Starr  was  one  of  the  favored  mortals 
whom  nature  launches  into  the  world  with 
the  heritage  of  sturdy  ancestry,  a  splendid 
physique,  a  masterful  mind  and  energy  enough 
for  many  men.  Added  to  these  attributes 
were  exceptional  intellectual  and  professional 
attainments  and  the  useful  lessons  of  a  wide 
and  varied  experience  stored  away.  He  was 
a  type  of  the  true  gentleman  and  a  repre- 
sentative of  the  best  in  the  communal  life, 
dignified  and  yet  possessed  of  an  affability 
and  abiding  human  sympathy  that  won  him 
warm  friends  among  all  classes  and  condi- 
tions of  men. 

Dr.  Starr,  a  scion  of  one  of  the  honored 
pioneer  families  of  the  old  Buckeye  state,  was 
born  on  the  old  homestead  farm  of  his  par- 
ents, in  Franklin  countv,  Ohio,  and  the  date 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


349 


of  his  nativity  was  April  2,  1822.  It  is 
worthy  of  special  note  that  this  ancestral 
homestead,  now  in  part  occupied  by  the  city 
of  Columbus,  capital  of  Ohio,  was  an  integral 
portion  of  the  original  tract  of  land  deeded  by 
the  government  to  an  ancestor  of  Dr.  Starr 
in  recognition  of  his  services  as  a  patriot  sol- 
dier in  the  war  of  the  Revolution.  An  appre- 
ciable portion  of  the  original  allotment  of  land 
remained  for  several  generations  in  the  posses- 
sion of  the  Starr  family,  and  Dr.  Starr  him- 
self owned  at  one  time  a  part  that  now  lies 
between  the  Ohio  State  University  and  the 
state  capitol. 

The  youngest  in  a  family  of  eleven  chil- 
dren, all  of  whom  attained  to  years  of  ma- 
turity. Dr.  Starr  passed  the  period  of  his 
childhood  and  early  youth  under  the  sturdy 
and  invigorating  discipline  of  the  home  farm, 
his  father,  John  Starr  having  become  one  of 
the  substantial  exponents  of  agricultural  in- 
dustry in  Franklin  county,  where  he  reclaimed 
a  productive  farm  from  the  virtual  forest  wil- 
derness. John  Starr  was  born  in  Nova  Scotia, 
and  as  a  young  man  he  established  his  resi- 
dence in  Connecticut,  where  was  solemnized 
his  marriage  to  Aliss  Betsey  Havens,  a  native 
of  Groton,  that  state.  In  1812,  John  Starr 
and  his  wife  removed  to  the  wilds  of  Ohio 
and  settled  in  Franklin  county,  the  site  of  the 
present  capital  city  of  the  state  having  at  that 
time  been  marked  by  a  single  log  house.  Liv- 
ing up  to  the  full  tension  of  pioneer  life,  John 
Starr  and  his  noble  wife  passed  the  residue  of 
their  lives  in  Franklin  county.  He  was  a  man 
of  strong  mind  and  sterling  character  —  a 
citizen  who  was  influential  in  community  af- 
fairs, he  having  been  in  his  young  manhood  a 
successful  teacher  and  the  passing  years  hav- 
ing continuously  widened  his  intellectual 
horizon.  His  death  occurred  in  1837,  and  his 
widow  survived  him  by  thirty  years,  she  hav- 
ing passed  to  the  life  eternal  in  1865.  Both 
were  devoted  Christians  in  faith  and  service, 
and  in  politics  Mr.  Starr  was  to  be  found  a 
staunch  supporter  of  the  cause  of  the  old-line 
Whig  party. 

Dr.  Calvin  Starr  acquired  his  preliminary 
education  in  the  common  schools  of  his  native 


county  and  later  he  completed  a  four  years' 
course  in  Central  College,  at  Blendon,  Ohio, 
where  his  alert  mind  and  distinctive  ambition 
enabled  him  to  make  the  best  possible  use  of 
the  higher  academic  advantages  thus  offered. 
In  consonance  with  well  formulated  plans  he 
finally  began  the  study  of  medicine  under 
private  preceptorship,  in  accordance  with  the 
custom  of  the  day,  and  in  the  furtherance  of 
his  technical  education  he  took  two  full 
courses  of  lectures  in  historic  old  Starling 
Medical  College,  which  is  now  a  part  of  the 
University  of  Ohio.  In  completing  his  ad- 
mirable fortification  for  the  work  of  his  ex- 
acting profession  Dr.  Starr  entered  the 
Homeopathic  Medical  College  at  Cleveland, 
Ohio,  one  of  the  first  and  most  important 
Homeopathic  colleges  in  the  west,  and  in  this 
institution  he  was  graduated  February  21, 
1851,  with  the  well  earned  degree  of  Doctor 
of  Medicine.  In  this  connection  it  may  con- 
sistently be  stated  that  at  the  time  of  his  death 
Dr.  Starr  was  the  oldest  alumnus  of  this  col- 
lege, which,  about  the  year  1912,  was  removed 
from  Cleveland  to  Columbus,  where  it  became 
the  constituent  Homeopathic  medical  school 
of  the  University  of  Ohio.  The  Doctor,  a 
pioneer  of  the  benignant  system  of  Homeo- 
pathy in  the  west,  ever  retained  a  deep  affec- 
tion for  his  alma  mater,  and  after  his  death 
his  widow,  Mrs.  Julia  C.  Starr,  M.  D.,  re- 
ceived a  letter  from  a  member  of  the  faculty 
of  the  college,  the  context  of  the  communica- 
tion containing  statements  that  are  worthy  of 
preservation  in  this  connection :  "In  the  death 
of  Dr.  Starr  our  college  loses  its  oldest  alum- 
nus, and  one  whose  name  was  frequently  men- 
tioned in  faculty  meetings,  especially  in  con- 
nection with  the  oil  painting  of  Hahnemann 
that  Dr.  Starr  presented  to  the  college.  It  is 
a  privilege  granted  to  but  few  men  to  be  per- 
mitted to  engage  actively  in  the  practice  of 
medicine  for  more  than  sixty  years,  and  to  his 
family  it  is  an  occasion  of  just  pride  to  know 
that  the  husband  and  father  was  permitted  to 
accomplish  so  great  an  amount  of  good  in  the 
world."  It  may  further  be  noted  that  the 
Hahnemann  portrait  thus  presented  by  Dr. 
Starr  now  occupies  a  place  of  honor  in  the 


350 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Homeopathic  building  of  the  University  of 
Ohio  and  that  since  his  death  there  has  been 
attached  thereto  a  metal  plate  with  the  fol- 
lowing inscription:  "Calvin  Starr,  M.  D., 
Class  of  1851,  Donor." 

After  having  been  graduated,  with  high 
honors.  Dr.  Starr  began  his  professional  no- 
vitiate by  engaging  in  active  general  practice 
at  Xenia,  Ohio,  but  one  year  later  he  removed 
to  Springfield,  that  state,  where  he  remained 
five  years.  Becoming  convinced  that  a  greater 
field  of  usefulness  lay  open  for  him  in  connec- 
tion with  the  rapidly  developing  west.  Dr. 
Starr  removed  to  Iowa  City,  Iowa,  in  the  year 
1857,  and  as  one  of  the  most  able  and  honored 
pioneer  physicians  of  the  Hawkeye  state  he 
continued  in  active  practice  at  Iowa  City  for 
twenty  years,  within  which  he  built  up  a  large 
and  representative  professional  business,  be- 
sides contributing  much  to  civic  and  material 
progress  and  prosperity  in  his  home  com- 
munity. 

In  1877,  ten  years  after  Nebraska  had 
gained  the  dignity  of  statehood,  Dr.  Starr 
came  with  his  family  to  this  now  favored  com- 
monwealth, and  after  successfully  continu- 
ing in  practice  at  Nebraska  City  for  five  years 
he  came,  in  1882,  to  Beatrice,  judicial  center 
of  Gage  county,  which  place  remained  the 
central  stage  of  his  earnest  and  able  profes- 
sional activities  during  the  remainder  of  his 
long  and  useful  life,  he  having  been  a  veritable 
patriarch  of  the  community  at  the  time  of  his 
death.  In  his  profession  and  as  a  man  he  was 
ever  one  to  remember  and  aid  "those  who 
were  forgotten"  and  he  bore  optimistic  cheer 
and  encouragement  as  well  as  professional 
ministration  to  those  in  suffering  or  dis- 
tress, so  that  it  may  well  be  understood  that 
he  was  loved  in  every  community  in  which  he 
had  lived  and  labored.  At  this  juncture  may 
consistently  be  reproduced  an  appreciative 
estimate  that  was  a  part  of  an  obituary  article 
published  in  a  Beatrice  paper  at  the  time  of 
his  demise: 

"Dr.  Starr  had  marked  abilities  as  a  physi- 
cian and  as  a  man  of  high  moral  character 
and  kindly  disposition.  On  account  of  his 
advanced    years,    nearly    ninety-four,    he   had 


been  confined  to  his  home  for  some  time,  but 
his  influence  has  continued  to  go  forth  with 
all  who  came  to  see  him.  He  inherited  those 
virtues  which  go  to  make  sterling  manhood, 
but  he  did  not  rest  content  with  mere  ancestral 
bequest.  While  true  to  the  faith  of  his  fathers 
in  every  essential,  yet  he  thought  for  himself 
and  followed  the  truth  as  God  gave  him  to 
see  it,  the  finest  product  of  his  religious  belief 
being  a  character  that  gave  him  the  absolute 
confidence  of  his  fellow  men  —  and  that  is 
the  final  test  of  religion."  The  Doctor  was 
an  active  member  and  liberal  supporter  of 
the  Congregational  church  of  Beatrice,  as  is 
also  his  widow. 

As  a  young  man  Dr.  Starr  wedded  Miss 
Sophia  J.  McPherson,  of  Xenia,  Ohio,  and 
she  passed  the  closing  years  of  her  life  at 
Iowa  City,  Iowa,  where  she  died  April  23, 
1876.  Of  this  imion  were  born  five  children, 
concerning  whom  the  following  brief  data  are 
given :  George  B.  now  resides  in  the  state  of 
California ;  Clarence  A.  is  a  resident  of  Wi- 
nona Lake,  Indiana;  Emma  H.  was  a  resi- 
dent of  Lincoln  at  the  time  of  her  death ;  and 
Mary  P.  and  John  A.  maintain  their  resi- 
dence in  California,  the  former  being  the  wife 
of  W.  S.  Brayton. 

On  the  27th  of  June,  1878,  was  solemnized 
the  marriage  of  Dr.  Starr  to  Dr.  Julia  C. 
(Candee)  Scudder,  of  Muscatine,  Iowa,  her 
first  husband  having  been  Horace  Scudder, 
and  the  one  child  of  this  union  was  Horace, 
Jr.,  who  died  in  1906.  Mrs.  Starr  was  bom 
at  Muscatine,  Iowa,  and  is  a  daughter  of 
Sheldon  N.  and  Lucy  A.  (Starr)  Candee,  the 
former  a  native  of  Connecticut  and  the  latter 
of  Ohio.  The  parents  were  numbered  among 
the  honored  pioneers  of  both  Iowa  and  Ne- 
braska and  they  passed  the  closing  period  of 
their  lives  in  the  latter  commonwealth,  the 
father  having  devoted  the  major  part  of  hi.s 
active  career  to  the  carriage-factory  business, 
and  both  having  been  residents  of  Beatrice, 
Nebraska,  at  the  time  of  their  death. 

Dr.  Julia  C.  Starr,  a  woman  of  high  profes- 
sional attainments,  became  the  able  and  val- 
ued coadjutor  of  her  husband  in  the  control 
of  their  large  and  representative  joint  prac- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


351 


tice  in  Gage  county,  and  she  still  maintains 
her  office  at  the  attractive  home  at  409  North 
Sixth  street,  Beatrice.  She  was  graduated  in 
the  medical  department  of  the  University  of 
Iowa,  at  Iowa  City,  and  an  unequivocal  suc- 
cess has  attended  her  benignant  service  in  the 
practice  of  her  profession,  in  which  she  has 
gained  status  as  one  of  the  leading  women 
physicians  and  surgeons  of  Nebraska.  She 
still  continues  in  active  practice  and  her  gra- 
cious womanhood  and  gentle  sympathy  have 
enhanced  the  effectiveness  of  her  earnest 
labors  in  the  alleviation  of  human  suft'ering, 
the  while  she  has  gained  the  affectionate  re- 
gard of  all  who  have  received  her  ministra- 
tions and  counsel.  She  has  a  large  practice, 
in  connection  with  which  she  spares  herself 
neither  time  nor  effort,  and  she  insistently 
keeps  in  touch  with  the  advances  made  in 
medical  and  surgical  science,  through  recourse 
to  the  best  standard  and  periodical  literature 
of  her  profession,  the  while  she  is  a  gracious 
and  popular  figure  in  the  representative  civic 
and  social  life  of  her  home  city,  where  her 
circle  of  friends  is  coincident  with  that  of  her 
acquaintances.  No  children  were  born  of  her 
second  marriage,  but  the  Doctor  holds  hal- 
lowed memories  of  the  gracious  relations  that 
obtained  at  all  times  during  the  years  of  her 
conjugal  and  professional  association  with 
the  honored  subject  of  this  memoir. 

WILLIAM  HOLM  has  identified  himself 
most  fully  with  the  civic  and  material  interests 
of  Gage  county,  for  he  is  not  only  a  repre- 
sentative merchant  in  the  village  of  Virginia, 
but  is  also  the  owner  of  a  well  improved  farm 
estate  in  Shennan  township.  He  is  a  native 
son  of  the  west  and  has  exemplified  its  pro- 
gressive spirit  in  the  varied  activities  that  have 
brought  to  him  a  generous  share  of  temporal 
prosperity. 

Mr.  Holm  was  bom  in  Pottawatomie 
county,  Kansas,  on  the  6th  of  January,  1873, 
and  is  a  son  of  Charles  J.  and  Louise  (Ander- 
son) Holm,  who  were  born  and  reared  in 
Sweden,  where  their  marriage  was  solemnized. 
In  1865  the  parents  came  to  the  United  States 
and  settled  in  Kansas,  where  the  father  be- 


came a  pioneer  farmer  of  Pottawatomie 
county  and  improved  his  farm  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty  acres,  and  where  he  passed  the 
remainder  of  his  life.  William  Holm  was  the 
youngest  member  in  a  family  of  four  chil- 
dren and  was  six  years  of  age  at  the  time  of 
his  mother's  death.  John  E.,  the  eldest  of  the 
children,  is  a  farmer  in  Kansas ;  Charles  A., 
who  was  for  several  years  engaged  in  the 
plumbing  business  at  Virginia,  Gage  county, 
is  now  a  resident  of  Lincoln,  Nebraska,  and 
is  a  traveling  salesman ;  and  Frank  has  the 
active  charge  of  the  fine  Gage  county  farm  of 
his  brother  William.,  of  this  review.  For  his 
second  wife  Charles  J.  Holm  wedded  Miss 
Lottie  Carlson  and  the  one  child  of  this  union 
is  Emma,  the  wife  of  Walter  F.  McGaffey, 
of  Virginia,  Gage  county.  Charles  J.  Holm 
was  a  Republican  in  politics  and  he  and  each 
of  his  wives  held  the  faith  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church. 

The  public  schools  of  the  Sunflower  state 
afforded  to  William  Holm  his  early  educa- 
tional advantages  and  the  same  were  supple- 
mented by  a  course  in  shorthand  and  type- 
writing in  Pond's  Business  College,  in  the  city 
of  Topeka,  as  well  as  by  further  commercial 
instruction  in  the  Kansas  City  Business  Uni- 
versity. In  his  youth,  after  leaving  the  farm. 
Mr.  Holm  became  associated  with  the  retail 
lumber  business,  at  Olesburg,  Kansas,  and  in 
the  spring  of  1893  he  came  to  Gage  county 
and  established  his  residence  in  Virginia. 
Here  for  two  years  he  conducted  a  lumber 
yard,  and  for  seventeen  years  thereafter  he 
was  successfully  established  in  the  hardware 
business,  besides  serving  simultaneously  as 
postmaster  of  the  village.  He  finally  sold  his 
hardware  stock  and  business  and  eighteen 
months  later  he  purchased  the  stock  and  busi- 
ness of  J.  S.  Hubka.  He  expanded  the  busi- 
ness by  installing  a  large  and  well  selected 
stock  of  general  merchandise  and  has  since 
conducted  a  most  substantial  and  prosperous 
enterprise.  He  is  the  owner  of  a  well  im- 
proved farm  property  of  three  hundred  and 
twenty  acres,  and  the  same  is  under  the  active 
charge  of  his  brother  Frank,  as  previouslv 
noted.     On  this  place  he  is  giving  special  at- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


tention  to  the  raising  of  full-blood  Holstein 
cattle,  besides  which  he  is  developing  a  suc- 
cessful dairy  business  in  the  connection. 

In  1896  Mr.  Holm  wedded  Miss  Bessie 
Wright,  who  was  born  and  reared  in  Gage 
county,  and  who  is  a  daughter  of  Amos  L. 
Wright,  a  retired  farmer  residing  in  the  vil- 
lage of  Virginia,  this  county.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Holm  have  two  children  —  Grace  A.,  who  is 
a  student  in  the  Beatrice  high  school ;  and  Mil- 
dred Genevieve,  who  had  the  distinction  of 
receiving  first  prize  as  the  best  baby  girl  at 
the  Gage  county  fair  in  1917.  Mrs.  Holm  is 
an  active  member  of  the  Christian  church. 

Mr.  Holm  has  been  active  and  liberal  as  a 
citizen  of  intense  public  spirit,  has  held  var- 
ious township  offices,  and  commands  inviol- 
able place  in  popular  confidence  and  good  will. 

NELSON  ADAMS.  — The  subject  of  this 
record  has  the  distinction  of  being  the  oldest 
living  settler  in  Gage  county.  When  a  lad  of 
sixteen  years  he  arrived  in  what  is  now  Adams 
township,  in  company  with  his  father,  John 
O.  Adams,  who  was  the  first  permanent  set- 
tler of  the  county.  Mr.  Adams  was  born  in 
Dubois  county,  Indiana,  February  24,  1841. 
He  grew  to  manhood  on  the  pioneer  farm  in 
Nebraska  and  at  an  early  age  began  to  aid  in 
the  development  and  improvement  of  the  old 
homestead.  In  September,  1864,  he  enlisted 
in  Company  C,  Second  Nebraska  Regiment, 
for  a  term  of  four  months,  or  during  the  war. 
He  was  sent  to  Fort  Kearney  and  from  there 
to  Camp  Blue,  where  the  winter  was  passed. 
In  the  spring  of  1865,  the  regiment  was  hon- 
orably discharged  and  young  Nelson  returned 
home  The  next  year  he  was  united  in  mar- 
riage to  Miss  Laura  Haskins  and  they  settled 
on  a  farm  he  had  purchased.  But  they  were 
destined  to  enjoy  their  companionship  for 
only  a  brief  season,  for  four  months  and 
eight  days  after  their  marriage  Mrs.  Adams 
passed  away.  In  April  of  that  year  Mr. 
Adams  made  a  trip  of  over  five  hundred  miles, 
into  Colorado.  He  drove  overland  from  Ne- 
braska City  with  a  load  of  produce  —  eggs, 
butter,  corn,  etc.  —  and  the  Indians  made  it 
so  uncomfortable   for  him  that  he  was  com- 


pelled to  hasten  to  Denver.  He  had  entered  a 
homestead  in  Section  25,  Adams  township, 
and  had  built  a  log  house  sixteen  by  twenty- 
two  feet  in  dimensions.  He  returned  from  the 
west  and  in  1868  he  married  Miss  Lydia  J. 
Wilson,  a  native  of  Putnam  county,  Indiana. 
Of  this  union  were  born  two  children,  Nancy 
E.,  who  is  the  wife  of  C.  B.  Ashcroft  and  re- 
sides in  Wyoming,  and  Letitia  O.,  who  died 
in  childhood.  The  mother  of  these  children 
passed  away,  and  the  present  Mrs.  Adams 
was  in  her  girlhood  Emily  J.  Dilworth.  She 
is  a  native  of  Grant  county,  Kentucky,  where 
she   was   born   April   7,    1843.     Her  parents. 


Lindsey  and  Sarah  (Simpson)  Dilworth,  came 
to  Nebraska  in  1863,  settling  in  Johnson 
county.  They  gave  the  name  to  the  town  of 
Crab  Orchard,  from  the  large  number  of  wild 
crab-apple  trees  growing  in  the  vicinity.  By 
a  former  marriage,  to  William  H.  Stoner,  who 
was  a  Union  soldier  in  the  Civil  war,  Mrs. 
Adams  became  the  mother  of  three  children, 
the  eldest  of  whom  is  William  H.  Stoner,  who 
resides  in  Cass  county,  Minnesota,  and  is  the 
only  one  now  living.  At  the  time  of  her  mar- 
riage to  Mr.  Adams,  Mrs.  Adams  was  the 
widow  of  G.  T.  Simpson,  and  their  one  son. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


353 


Hugh  M.,  died  at  the  age  of  seventeen  years. 
Nelson  Adams  successfully  followed  farm- 
ing until  1902,  when  he  retired,  and  he  now 
makes  his  home  in  Adams.  He  has  been  a  wit- 
ness of  the  vast  changes  which  have  taken 
place  in  Gage  county,  having  been  a  member 
of  the  first  family  to  establish  a  home  here. 
Mr.  Adams  is  a  Methodist  in  religious  be- 
lief, and  in  politics  is  a  Republican.  He  held 
various  township  offices  years  ago,  but  is  now 
retired  from  all  activities. 

ELIJAH  FILLEY.  — In  the  summer  of 
1867,  the  year  that  marked  the  admission  of 
Nebraska  to  statehood,  Hon.  Elijah  Filley,  a 
young  man  of  industry,  self-reliance,  and 
courage,  came  with  his  wife  to  Gage  county 
and  numbered  himself  among  its  sterling 
pioneers.  He  and  his  faithful  wife  ran  the 
full  gamut  of  pioneer  experience  and  their 
reminiscences  of  the  early  days  are  most 
graphic  and  interesting.  They  made  the  over- 
land journey  to  Nebraska  with  teams  and 
wagons  and  girded  themselves  with  the  in- 
domitable valor  and  undauntable  purpose  that 
are  ever  the  prerequisite  of  success  under  the 
conditions  that  must  obtain  in  opening  a  new 
country  to  civilization  and  progress.  Mr. 
Filley  has  been  in  the  most  significant  sense 
the  architect  of  his  own  fortunes  and  few  men 
have  played  a  larger  or  more  benignant  part 
in  connection  with  the  development  and  up- 
building of  Gage  county  along  both  civic  and 
industrial  lines.  Of  this  no  further  assur- 
ance need  be  given  than  the  statement  that  a 
township  and  a  village  of  the  county  have  been 
named  in  honor  of  this  venerable  pioneer  citi- 
zen, while  it  has  been  his  to  represent  Gage 
county  in  both  houses  of  the  state  legislature, 
to  gain  through  his  own  ability  and  well 
ordered  energies  a  substantial  fortune,  the 
while  he  has  so  ordered  his  course  as  to  merit 
and  receive  at  all  stages  the  unqualified  re- 
spect and  confidence  of  his  fellow  men.  It  is 
most  gratifying  to  be  able  to  present  in  this 
publication  a  tribute  to  Mr.  Filley  as  a  pio- 
neer of  pioneers  and  to  enter  brief  review  of 
a  career  that  has  been  marked  by  earnest  and 
honest  endeavor.     He  and  his  wife  now  live 


in  gracious  retirement  in  the  city  of  Des 
Moines,  Iowa,  and  though  venerable  in  age 
the  years  rest  lightly  upon  them,  while  they 
find  a  full  measure  of  satisfaction  in  revert- 
ing to  the  attractive  social  and  material  con- 
ditions and  environment  which  they  have 
aided  in  creating  in  Gage  county,  Nebraska. 
Mr.  Filley  was  bom  in  Jackson  county,  Mich- 
igan, on  the  28th  of  November,  1839,  and  is  a 
son  of  Ammi  and  Mary  (Marvin)  Filley, 
both  natives  of  Bloomfield,  Connecticut,  where 
they  were  reared  and  educated.  Ammi  Fil- 
ley, a  member  of  one  of  the  early  colonial 
families  of  New  England,  was  born  January 
2,  1808,  and  he  continued  his  residence  in 
Connecticut  until  1833,  when  he  immigrated 
to  Michigan,  which  state  was  not  admitted  to 
the  union  until  1837.  He  became  one  of  the 
pioneers  of  Jackson  county,  where  he  re- 
claimed a  farm  from  the  forest  and  where  he 
continued  his  active  alliance  with  agricultural 
industry-  about  thirty  years.  In  the  summer 
of  1867  he  retired  from  the  active  labors  that 
had  so  long  been  his  portion  and  accompanied 
his  son  Elijah,  of  this  review,  to  Gage  county, 
Nebraska,  where  he  remained  until  his  death 
and  where  he  received  during  the  intervening 
period  the  deepest  filial  care  and  solicitude  on 
the  part  of  his  son  and  the  latter's  family. 
He  was  seventy-two  years  of  age  at  the  time 
of  his  death,  which  occurred  May  13,  1880. 
Ammi  Filley  was  one  of  the  gallant  sons  of 
the  nation  who  went  forth  in  defense  of  the 
Union  when  the  Civil  war  was  precipitated  on 
the  country.  In  response  to  President  Lin- 
coln's first  call,  he  enlisted  as  a  private  in 
Company  D,  Second  Michigan  Cavalry,  and 
with  this  gallant  command  he  served  through- 
out the  entire  course  of  the  war.  He  was  a 
skilled  sharpshooter  and  participated  in  many 
of  the  important  battles  marking  the  progress 
of  the  great  conflict.  He  took  part  in  the 
siege  of  Vicksburg  and  the  famous  charge  at 
Fort  Donelson,  and  previously  had  been  with 
his  command  in  heavy  campaigns  and  engage- 
ments in  the  southern  states  farther  to  the 
east.  In  later  years  he  found  pleasure  in 
vitalizing  the  associations  of  his  military 
career  by  affiliation  with  the  Grand  Army  of 


354 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE,  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


the  Republic.  Ammi  and  Mary  (Marvin) 
Filley  became  the  parents  of  four  sons  and 
two  daughters,  and  of  the  number  only  Elijah 
is  living  in  1918. 

Elijah  Filley  was  but  five  years  old  at  the 
time  of  his  mother's  death,  and  the  home  was 
broken  up.  For  about  three  years  thereafter 
he  lived  in  the  home  of  a  man  named  Cran- 
dall,  a  farmer  in  Jackson  county,  Michigan, 
and  his  father  then  contracted  a  second  mar- 
riage and  re-established  a  home  for  his  chil- 
dren. However,  with  so  little  consideration 
and  kindness  did  the  stepmother  treat  Elijah 
Filley  that  he  was  compelled  to  leave  home 
when  about  twelve  years  of  age,  and  the  im- 
mature youth  began  to  provide  for  himself  by 
taking  up  the  arduous  work  of  plowing  for  a 
neighbor  farmer  for  a  compensation  of  six 
dollars  a  month.  In  reminiscent  way  he  fre- 
quently reverts  to  this  period  of  his  life,  when 
he  drove  the  plodding  ox-team  to  the  plow 
and  did  other  heavy  farm  work.  He  con- 
tinued to  be  employed  by  the  month  as  a  farm 
hand  during  the  summer  seasons  and  attend- 
ed school  during  the  intervening  winter  terms, 
the  while  he  worked  mornings  and  evenings 
to  pay  his  board. 

In   1858,  when  nineteen  years  of  age,  Mr. 
Filley  went  to  Joliet,  Illinois,  and  there  he  was 
employed  by  the  firm  of  Poole  &  Ring  on  one 
*\  of  the  canal  boats  on  the  old  Michigan  &  Illi- 

nois canal  until  the  freezing  of  the  canal  put 
a  stop  to  such  navigation.  During  the  fol- 
lowing winter  he  was  employed  in  sawing 
wood  for  use  on  railroad  locomotives,  and  he 
recalls  that  the  buzz-saw  used  for  the  purpose 
was  operated  by  a  treadmill  on  which  power 
was  furnished  by  horses.  In  1859  Mr.  Filley 
went  to  Odell,  Livingston  county,  Illinois,  and 
after  working  for  a  time  on  a  farm  in  that 
vicinity  he  made  his  way  to  LaSalle  county, 
that  state,  where  for  three  years  he  was  en- 
gaged in  herding,  driving,  and  dealing  in  live 
stock,  in  the  employ  of  William  Strawn,  an 
extensive  farmer  and  stock  dealer  of  the  day. 
In  company  with  Mr.  Strawn  he  made  the 
overland  trip  to  Cedar  Rapids,  Iowa,  and  in- 
cidentally accumulated  a  herd  of  one  hundred 
and  fortv-six  fat  cattle  at  Des  Moines,  Iowa. 


With  this  large  herd  they  then  started  for 
Chicago,  but  Mr.  Strawn  was  summoned  to 
his  home,  when  fifteen  miles  east  of  Des 
Moines,  so  that  Mr.  Filley  alone  had  charge 
of  driving  the  cattle  through  to  the  future 
metropolis  of  the  west.  During  his  three 
years  of  association  with  Mr.  Strawn  he 
gained  knowledge  and  experience  that  proved 
of  inestimable  value  to  him  in  later  operations 
of  an  independent  order  that  enabled  him  to 
lay  the  substantial  foundation  for  his  success. 
After  leaving  Mr.  Strawn  he  continued  to  be 
engaged  in  farming  in  Livingston  county, 
Illinois,  until  1867,  in  the  summer  of  which 
year  he  provided  himself  with  three  covered 
wagons  and  three  good  teams,  and  with  these 
set  forth  on  the  overland  journey  to  the  new 
state  of  Nebraska,  his  young  wife  accompany- 
ing him  on  this  momentous  trip.  In  due  course 
of  time  they  arrived  in  Gage  county,  and  here 
Mr.  Filley  utilized  the  money  which  he  had 
previously  acquired  to  effect  the  purchase  of 
six  quarter-sections  of  government  land,  be- 
sides which  he  filed  claim  on  a  homestead  of 
equal  area.  His  horses  died  soon  after  his 
arrival  in  the  county  and  he  finally  acquired 
ox  teams  and  began  breaking  the  virgin 
prairie  soil  to  pay  for  his  oxen.  He  contin- 
ued to  break  soil  for  others  for  about  three 
years  and  in  the  meanwhile  established  a  pio- 
neer home  on  his  own  land.  Instead  of  fol- 
lowing the  custom  of  the  majority  of  the  early 
settlers  by  providing  a  dug-out  or  sod  house, 
Mr.  Filley  determined  to  make  a  residence  of 
less  primitive  type.  In  the  meanwhile  he  and 
his  wife  lived  in  a  tent  and  around  the  same 
they  eventually  built  a  stone  house  of  one 
room,  this  structure  having  in  later  years  been 
familiarly  known  as  "The  Old  Stone  House," 
and  constituting  one  of  the  veritable  land- 
marks of  this  section  of  the  state.  Mr.  Filley 
himself  quarried  the  stone  and  burned  the  lime 
for  mortar,  while  Mrs.  Filley  hauled  the  ma- 
terial to  the  site  of  the  new  home  by  means  of 
the  ox  team.  Together  these  ambitious  pio- 
neers mixed  the  mortar  and  laid  the  walls  of 
the  little  dwelling,  after  which  a  roof  was  con- 
structed. They  lived  in  the  one  room  during 
the  first  winter  and  in  the  following  summer 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


355 


they  added  to  the  domicile,  eventually  making 
the  house  one  of  good  size  and  excellent  pro- 
visions for  comfort.  In  this  dwelling  they 
continued  to  maintain  their  home  for  sixteen 
years. 

Soon  after  coming  to  Nebraska  Mr.  Filley 
put  his  previous  experience  to  good  use  by 
buying  cattle  to  stock  his  large  farm,  and 
soon  he  developed  a  prosperous  business  in 
the  feeding  and  shipping  of  cattle.  On  the 
completing  of  the  railroad  line  to  Beatrice  he 
had  the  distinction  of  loadifig  the  first  carload 
of  cattle  ever  transported  from  Gage  county 
to  Chicago  by  rail.  Later  the  railroad  was 
extended  to  the  present  village  of  Filley, 
which  was  named  in  his  honor  and  which  is 
situated  on  a  part  of  his  old  farm.  He  there 
erected  a  large  grain  elevator,  the  same  hav- 
ing thereafter  been  utilized  by  him  for  many 
years  in  connection  with  his  extensive  opera- 
tions in  the  buying  and  shipping  of  grain. 

When  the  Burlington  &  Missouri  River 
Railroad  was  completed  from  Beatrice  to 
Nebraska  City,  Mr.  Filley,  in  the  summer  of 
1883,  founded  on  the  line  the  town  which 
bears  his  name  and  which,  as  before  stated, 
is  located  on  one  of  his  farms.  In  1885  the 
county  authorities  conferred  upon  him  a 
merited  distinction,  in  that  they  authorized  the 
changing  of  the  name  of  Mud  Creek  township 
to  Filley  township,  a  fitting  tribute  to  the 
sterling  pioneer  who  was  the  first  settler  with- 
in the  limits  of  that  township.  Mr.  Filley  was 
for  a  long  term  of  years  recognized  as  the 
most  progressive  and  substantial  farmer, 
stock-feeder,  and  stock-shipper  in  this  section 
of  the  state,  and  among  his  early  enterprises 
of  importance  was  also  the  owning  and  oper- 
ating of  a  threshing  outfit. 

About  the  year  1890  Mr.  Filley  sold  the 
major  part  of  his  large  and  important  real- 
estate  and  business  interests  in  Gage  county, 
and  settled  on  a  tract  of  one  thousand  acres 
which,  in  an  early  day,  he  had  purchased  in 
the  adjoining  county  of  JeiTerson.  This  prop- 
erty he  improved  in  excellent  order  and  he 
operated  the  same  successfully  in  connection 
with  his  extensive  stock  business  for  several 
years  —  until,  in  fact,  he  met  with  an  accident 


that  nearly  resulted  in  his  death.  He  then  de- 
cided to  sell  his  property  and  retire  from 
active  business,  and  since  that  time  he  and 
his  devoted  wife  have  lived  in  the  serene  en- 
joyment of  the  gracious  rewards  of  former 
years  of  earnest  endeavor. 

In  politics  Mr.  Filley  has  been  a  recognized 
stalwart  in  the  ranks  of  the  Republican  party 
and  as  a  progressive  citizen  he  wielded  much 
influence  in  shaping  the  governmental  poli- 
cies that  brought  normal  development  and 
growth  to  Gage  county.  He  was  elected 
county  commissioner  and  in  this  office  served 
two  terms,  of  three  years  each.  In  1881  and 
1883  he  represented  Gage  county  in  the  state 
legislature,  and  soon  after  his  retirement  from 
this  office  he  was  elected  state  senator  from 
his  district,  in  which  position  he  served  until 
1885.  His  record  as  a  legisaltor  has  become 
a  very  part  of  the  history  of  the  state  and  is 
illumined  by  his  characteristic  loyalty  and 
public  spirit.  Mr.  Filley  has  been  affiliated 
with  the  Masonic  fraternity  since  1866,  was 
made  a  Master  Mason  and  also  a  Royal  Arch 
Mason  in  Fairbury,  Illinois.  He  then  settled 
in  Nebraska  and  was  a  charter  member  and 
helped  to  organize  the  Blue  Lodge,  No.  26, 
also  the  chapter  and  commandery  at  Beatrice, 
Nebraska.  Then  he  organized  Temple  Lodge, 
No.  175,  at  Filley,  and  of  this  he  served  as 
master  for  about  twelve  years. 

Matured  and  invigorated  through  the  her- 
culean labors  and  hardships  of  the  pioneer 
days,  the  physical  constitution  of  Mr.  Filley 
has  been  sturdy  and  thus  he  retains,  as  he 
nears  the  eightieth  milestone  on  the  journey 
of  life,  the  mental  and  physical  vigor  of  a  man 
many  years  his  junior,  while  his  loved  wife 
has  been  his  devoted  companion  and  helpmeet 
for  more  than  half  a  century  —  a  woman 
whose  strength  has  been  as  the  number  of  her 
days  and  who  had  a  remarkable  share  in  pio- 
neer experience  in  the  great  west,  as  will  be 
attested  by  statements  yet  to  be  made  in  this 
context. 

On  the  4th  of  November,  1863,  was  sol- 
emnized the  marriage  of  Mr.  Filley  to  Miss 
Burd,  of  Pleasant  Ridge,  Livingston  county, 
Illinois.     She  was  born  in  Will  countv,  that 


356 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


state,  November  6,  1844,  and  is  a  daughter  of 
Silas  and  Betsey  Ann  Burd,  the  former  of 
whom  was  born  in  New  Jersey,  December  8, 
1818,  and  the  latter  of  whom  was  bom  in 
the  state  of  New  York,  on  the  13th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1817.  Silas  Burd  numbered  himself 
among  the  pioneers  of  Illinois  and  later  em- 
phasized his  pioneer  experience  by  removing 
with  his  family  to  Texas,  this  action  having 
been  taken  primarily  for  the  benefit  of  the 
health  of  himself  and  his  wife.  Mrs.  Filley 
was  a  girl  of  twelve  years  when  the  family 
thus  removed  to  the  Lone  Star  state,  and  the 
greater  part  of  the  journey  was  made  with 
teams  and  wagons.  Georgetown,  Texas,  was 
made  the  destination  and  from  that  head- 
quarters Mr.  Burd  engaged  in  buying  and 
selling  cattle  and  horses.  Mrs.  Filley  accom- 
panied him  in  his  trips  about  the  country  to 
buy  stock,  and  finally,  with  a  herd  of  about 
eighty  cattle  and  several  ponies,  they  started 
overland  for  Chicago  in  the  spring  of  1858. 
In  the  meanwhile  Mr.  Burd  had  traded  his 
wagons  for  a  top  buggy,  cattle,  etc.,  and  in 
starting  forth  on  the  long  journey  a  sturdy 
yoke  of  oxen  was  provided  for  the  transpor- 
tation of  the  camp  outfit.  The  family  started 
on  this  return  trip  when  Mrs.  Filley  was  a 
girl  of  about  fifteen  years  and  she  assisted  in 
driving  the  ox  team.  They  had  proceeded  as 
far  as  Waco,  Texas,  when  the  father  was  so 
stricken  with  illness  as  to  be  unable  to  proceed 
farther,  and  in  the  camp  which  they  made  he 
died  on  the  22d  of  February,  1859,  leaving  his 
wife  ill  in  bed  and  with  the  care  of  theif  two 
sons  and  three  daughters.  Mrs.  Filley,  the 
eldest  of  the  children,  bravely  assumed  the 
care  of  her  mother  and  the  directing  of  family 
affairs  in  general  after  the  remains  of  the 
loved  father  had  been  laid  to  rest  in  Texas 
soil.  After  the  grass  came  up  in  the  follow- 
ing spring  the  little  family  resumed  their 
weary  journey  to  the  east,  with  the  cattle  and 
general  camp  equipment.  On  they  drove 
through  Texas  and  the  Indian  Territory, 
where  they  were  urged  by  each  successive  In- 
dian tribe  encountered  to  give  one  or  more 
head  of  the  little  band  of  cattle,  in  order  to 
obtain  permission  to  pass  on  unmolested,  but 


Mrs.  Filley,  with  a  courage  and  tact  beyond 
her  years,  contrived  to  gain  this  permission 
without  sacrificing  the  live  stock,  only  one 
beef  steer  having  been  contributed  to  the  In- 
dians. Continuing  in  the  saddle  every  day, 
she  led  the  outfit  onward  until  they  crossed 
the  Mississippi  river  at  Alton,  Illinois,  where 
they  were  joined  by  a  brother  of  her  mother. 
Thus  reinforced  the  party  continued  the  jour- 
ney to  Livingston  county,  Illinois,  and  in  the 
village  of  Avoca  the  family  rented  a  house 
until  the  live  stock  could  be  sold  in  the  Chi- 
cago market,  to  which  Mrs.  Filley  assisted  in 
driving  the  cattle  from  the  Texas  wilds  —  in 
fact  she  thus  made  the  entire  trip  from  Texas 
to  Chicago  on  the  back  of  a  little  Texas  pony. 
After  the  sale  of  the  cattle  the  family  pur- 
chased a  farm  in  Livingston  county  and  there 
Mrs.  Filley  remained  until  her  marriage, 
within  a  few  years  after  which  it  was  again 
her  portion  to  endure  the  trials  and  vicissi- 
tudes of  pioneer  life,  as  noted  in  foregoing 
paragraphs. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Filley  became  the  parents  of 
six  children,  concerning  whom  the  following 
brief  data  are  given :  Fitch  died  at  the  age  of 
twelve  years ;  Hiram  is  now  a  resident  of  the 
state  of  Arkansas ;  Emma  died  at  the  age  of 
eighteen  years;  Oscar  Elijah  died  in  April, 
1916,  aged  forty-six  years;  Charles  Elmer 
was  four  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  his  death  ; 
Daisy  C.  is  the  wife  of  Murray  A.  Scoular. 
of  Des  Moines,  Iowa. 

The  foregoing  record,  implying  much  to  him 
who  can  read  between  the  lines  as  well  as  ap- 
preciate the  data  of  the  context  itself,  will  be 
read  with  pleasure  by  the  many  friends  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Filley  in  Gage  county  and  will  prove 
a  definite  and  worthy  contribution  to  the 
generic  history  of  this  favored  section  of  Ne- 
braska, as  their  names  merit  enduring  place  of 
honor  and  distinction  on  the  pages  of  Gage 
county  history. 


SAMUEL  RINAKER.  — No  history  of 
Gage  county  or  the  state  of  Nebraska  would 
be  complete  without  the  name  of  Samuel  Rin- 
aker.  For  nearly  a  third  of  a  century  this 
able  and  scholarly  lawyer  has  made  his  home 


^UiS-cOxA    ^Ola^aJL 


HISTORY  OK  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


359 


in  the  city  of  Beatrice  and  has  engaged  in  the 
active  practice  of  his  profession  in  the  state 
and  federal  courts.  During  this  entire  period 
of  time  he,  with  the  several  firms  of  which 
he  has  been  a  member,  has  enjoyed  a  lucrative 
practice  at  the  bar  of  this  county  and  state. 
He  has  been  professionally  connected  from 
the  beginning  of  his  career  as  a  lawyer  here 
with  a  large  portion  of  the  important  litiga- 
tion arising  in  this  section  of  the  country,  and 
by  sheer  force  of  character,  learning  and  abili- 
ties of  a  high  order,  he  has  embedded  his 
name  deeply  and  permanently  in  the  legal  his- 
tory of  his  state  and  country. 

Mr.  Rinaker  was  born  at  Carlinville, 
Macoupin  county,  Illinois,  on  the  14th  day  of 
September,  1860.  He  is  the  second  son  of  the 
late  John  I.  Rinaker  and  Clarissa  Keplinger, 
his  wife.  Besides  Samuel,  the  surviving  chil- 
dren of  these  worthy  parents  are  the  eldest 
son,  Thomas  Rinaker,  a  prominent  lawyer  of 
Carlinville  and  for  many  years  his  father's 
partner  in  the  practice  of  the  law;  John  I. 
Rinaker,  a  well  known  and  successful  archi- 
tect of  the  city  of  Springfield,  Illinois,  and 
Judge  Lewis  Rinaker,  who  after  several 
years'  successful  practice  at  the  Chicago  bar 
was  elected  judge  of  the  county  court  of  Cook 
county,  Illinois,  and  held  this  important  office 
four  years. 

Shortly  after  locating  in  Beatrice,  Mr.  Rina- 
ker married  Miss  Carrie  Palmer  Mayo,  who 
like  himself  was  a  native  of  Carlinville  and 
who  was  the  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Eliza- 
beth (Palmer)  Mayo.  Her  father  was  a 
prominent  and  influential  citizen  of  Macoupin 
county  and  her  mother  was  a  sister  of  the  late 
General  John  M.  Palmer,  of  whom  further 
mention  will  be  made  later  on  in  this  sketch. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rinaker  occupy  a  handsome 
and  attractive  home  at  the  corner  of  Fifth  and 
Washington  streets,  Beatrice.  Their  mar- 
riage has  proven  to  be  a  happy  one  —  lapse 
of  time  serving  only  to  cement  more  firmly 
the  marital  bond.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rinaker 
two  children  have  been  born,  Samuel  Mayo 
Rinaker,  a  son,  and  Miss  Carrie  Rinaker,  a 
daughter.  The  former  after  graduating  at  the 
Beatrice   high    school    in    1905,    with   highest 


honors,  entered  the  Nebraska  State  Univer- 
sity in  the  autumn  of  that  year  and  after  two 
years  spent  in  that  institution,  successfully 
passed  a  competive  examination  for  a  Rhoades 
scholarship  in  Oxford  University,  England, 
as  a  representative  from  the  state  of  Nebras- 
ka. In  1910  he  was  graduated  with  honors 
from  that  historic  institution  and,  returning  to 
the  United  States,  he  entered  the  law  depart- 
ent  of  Harvard  University.  After  a  three 
years'  course  at  Harvard  he  took  his  degree 
as  Bachelor  of  Laws  in  the  spring  of  1914  and 
in  the  fall  of  that  year  he  went  to  Chicago, 
Illinois,  where  he  is  now  well  established  in 
the  practice  of  his  profession  The  daughter, 
Miss  Carrie  Rinaker,  also  graduated  from  the 
high  school  of  Beatrice,  as  a  member  of  the 
class  of  1909,  and  in  the  autumn  of  that  year 
was  matriculated  as  a  student  of  Vassar  Col- 
lege, Poughkeepsie,  New  York.  She  attended 
this  institution  for  some  time  and  is  domiciled 
under  the  paternal  roof. 

While  pride  of  ancestry  is  not  a  marked 
characteristic  of  the  American  citizen,  it  is, 
nevertheless,  not  only  natural  but  highly  com- 
mendable that  one  should  feel  a  just  pride  in 
the  fact  that  he  has  descended  from  ancestors 
who  were  more  than  ordinarily  distinguished 
in  their  day  and  generation.  With  this 
thought  in  mind  it  is  hoped  that  a  brief  ac- 
count of  the  parents  of  Samuel  Rinaker  will 
not  be  deemed  inappropriate  in  this  sketch  of 
their  son. 

His  father,  John  I.  Rinaker,  was  one  of  the 
best  known  and  widely  influential  citizens  of 
the  great  state  of  Illinois.  He  was  born  in 
Baltimore,  Maryland,  in  the  year  1830.  He 
was  bereft  of  his  parents  when  a  child  six 
years  of  age  and  was  taken  to  Illinois,  where 
for  a  few  years  he  made  his  home  with  the 
family  of  John  T.  Alden  of  Sangamon  county. 
When  ten  years  of  age  he  was  thrown  on  his 
own  resources  and  found  a  home  and  occupa- 
tion on  a  farm.  He  acquired  the  rudiments 
of  an  education  by  attending  the  common 
schools  of  Illinois  in  the  winter  time.  By 
great  industry,  thrift  and  economy,  as  well  as 
by  close  application  to  his  studies,  he  was 
finally  enrolled  as  a  student  in  the  Illinois  Col- 


360 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


lege  at  Jacksonville,  where  he  remained  for 
some  time,  and  later  entering  McKendree  Col- 
lege at  Lebanon,  Illinois,  he  was  graduated 
from  that  institution  with  the  class  of  1851, 
receiving  afterward  from  his  alma  mater  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws.  Animated  by  an 
ambition  to  give  full  scope  to  his  abilities,  he 
entered  upon  the  study  of  the  law  in  the  office 
of  John  McAuley  Palmer,  at  Carlinville, 
shortly  after  his  graduation.  His  preceptor, 
in  addition  to  being  a  lawyer  of  renown,  be- 
came afterwards  distinguished  as  a  general  in 
the  Union  army  during  the  great  Civil -war 
and  as  a  politician  of  more  than  ordinary 
ability.  His  services  as  major  general  of 
volunteers  began  in  1862,  and  he  closed 
his  military  career  as  a  commander  of 
an  army  corps  under  General  Sherman, 
in  1865 .  He  was  elected  United  States 
senator  from  Illinois  in  1869  as  a  Republican 
and  again  in  1891,  as  a  Democrat,  and  he 
closed  his  political  career  as  a  candidate  for 
the  presidency  of  the  United  States  as  a 
sound-money  Democrat,  in  1896. 

General  Rinaker  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at 
Carlinville,  in  1854,  and  was  immediately  suc- 
cessful in  his  profession.  In  1862  he  took  an 
active  part  in  organizing  the  One  Hundred 
and  Twenty-second  Regiment  of  Illinois  Vol- 
unteer Infantry,  was  elected  and  commissioned 
its  colonel  and  served  throughout  the  remain- 
der of  the  great  Civil  war  at  the  head  of  this 
gallant  regiment  —  participating  in  its  marches, 
sieges,  battles,  victories.  He  was  seriously 
wounded  in  the  battle  of  Parker's  Cross 
Roads,  December  31,  1862,  but  as  soon 
as  he  recovered  he  rejoined  his  command, 
and  on  the  13th  day  of  March,  1865, 
a  month  before  Lee  surrendered  to  Grant 
at  Appomattox  Court  House,  Virginia,  he 
was  breveted  brigadier  general  of  volun- 
teers, on  account  of  "great  and  meritorious 
services".  At  the  close  of  the  war  he  returned 
to  Carlinville  and  resumed  the  practice  of  his 
profession.  He  rapidly  achieved  success  as  a 
lawyer  and  great  prominence  as  an  orator  and 
politician.  He  began  life  as  a  Democrat  but 
in  1858  became  affiliated  with  the  rising, 
young  Republican  party,  and  to  the  end  of  his 


long  and  useful  life  he  remained  a  loyal  mem- 
ber of  that  great  national  organization  —  emi- 
nent and  influential  in  its  counsels,  honoring  it 
and  frequently  honored  by  it,  and  he  closed  a 
conspicuously  honorable  political  career  as  a 
member  of  the  congress  of  the  United  States 
to  which  he  was  elected  in  1894,  from  the  Six- 
teenth congressional  district  of  Illinois  —  a 
district  then  and  now  strongly  Democratic.  He 
died  at  Eustis,  Florida,  where  he  was  spend- 
ing the  winter  with  his  wife,  on  the  15th  day 
of  January,  1915,  in  his  eighty-fifth  year,  be- 
queathing to  his  posterity  the  example  and 
influence  of  a  life  crowded  with  duties  faith- 
fully performed  and  of  honors  modestly  and 
worthily  borne.  His  venerable  wife,  though 
near  the  bounds  of  life,  still  survives  her  dis- 
tinguished husband,  the  object  of  the  tender 
solicitude  and  veneration  of  a  host  of  rela- 
tives and  friends. 

Samuel  Rinaker  spent  his  childhood,  youth 
and  early  manhood  in  the  little  city  of  Carlin- 
ville and  acquired  his  elementary  education  in 
the  public  schools  of  that  city.  At  the  age  of 
sixteen  he  entered  Blackburn  College,  also 
located  at  Carlinville,  from  which  institution 
he  graduated  in  the  classical  course  with  the 
class  of  1880.  He  then  pursued  a  course 
of  study  in  the  business  college  at  Jack- 
sonville, Illinois,  and  having  through  these 
agencies  laid  the  foundation  for  the  study 
of  the  law  he  entered  the  law  depart- 
ment of  Yale  College  (now  University)  prose- 
cuting his  studies  during  the  years  of  1882 
and  1883  in  that  historic  institution  and  after- 
ward completing  his  legal  studies  in  the  law 
office  of  his  father  and  brother  at  Carlinville. 
He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Illinois  in  the 
autumn  of  1884,  by  the  supreme  court  of  that 
state.  In  February,  1885,  he  came  to  the  city 
of  Beatrice,  then  a  hustling,  growing,  promi.'"^- 
ing  western  town  of  probably  five  thousand 
people.  Upon  his  arrival  here  he  formed  a 
pprtnership  for  the  practice  of  the  law  with 
the  late  Nathan  Kirk  Griggs,  under  the  firm 
name  of  Griggs  &  Rinaker. 

Both  partners  were  splendidly  endowed 
with  all  those  qualities  of  intellect,  learning 
and  character  which  are  indispensable  to  great 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


361 


success  in  the  legal  profession.  Mr.  Griggs 
was  from  Indiana.  He  came  to  Beatrice  in 
June,  1867,  and  was  therefore  a  pioneer 
lawyer  of  Gage  county.  He  was  a  man  of 
boundless  energy  and  teeming  industry,  a  care- 
ful practitioner  of  the  law  and  a  most  for- 
midable antagonist  in  the  trial  of  causes.  Be- 
sides being  an  unusually  skillful  and  adroit 
trial  lawyer  he  was  an  ofifice  lawyer  of  ex- 
ceptional abihty.  He  was  forty-four  years  of 
age  and  at  the  very  zenith  of  his  powers.  He 
brought  to  the  co-partnership  a  wide  experi- 
ence as  a  lawyer,  politician  and  legislator.  He 
had  served  the  United  States  six  years  as  our 
consul  at  Chemitz,  Saxony,  a  period  which  had 
produced  the  same  effect  on  his  mind  and 
character  as  a  college  education  might  have 
done,  and  he  was  cosmopolitan  in  learning, 
taste,  sympathy.  He  was  the  most  variously 
endowed  of  any  of  the  lawyers  of  the  state 
with  whom  he  was  contemporary,  being  at 
once  poet,  singer,  composer  of  songs  and 
music,  orator,  writer,  and  lecturer  —  and  ex- 
celling in  all.  As  an  indication  of  the  esteem 
in  which  he  was  held  as  well  as  an  indication 
of  the  mental  equipment  and  attitude  of  its 
writer,  on  certain  matters,  attention  is  called 
to  the  following  letter : 

Carlinville,  111.,  August  26,  1910. 
Hon.  N.  K.  Griggs,  Lincoln,  Nebraska. 
Dear  Sir: — 

Several  days  ago  I  had  the  pleasure  to 
receive  a  copy  of  your  address,  entitled 
"Christ  in  America's  Life,"  for  which  accept 
my  thanks.  I  was  pleased  with  the  ideas  which 
you  advanced  therein  and  with  the  striking 
and  elegant  manner  in  which  you  expressed 
them.  You  show  that  Christianity  is  the  vital 
and  conservative  force  in  all  moral  progress, 
the  solvent  of  the  refractory  problems  that 
confront  human  society  in  its  onward  march 
to  a  higher  and  better  destiny.  You  make 
plain  that  religions  are  the  creations  of  men, 
but  that  Christianity  is  the  gift  of  God  to 
man,  that  it  is  a  force  irresistible,  immaculate 
and  immortal  and  that  while  permeated  with 
that  force,  America  wih  lead  the  world  to  the 
longed  for  Golden  Age. 

John  I.  Rinaker. 

The  junior  member  of  this  law  firm  was 
by  education,  training,  ambition  and  abilities 
well  calculated  to  supplement  the  experience 


and  abilities  of  its  senior,  and  he  possessed 
necessary  qualities  to  success  which  Mr. 
Griggs  lacked  to  some  extent.  The  success  of 
the  firm  was  immediate  and  lasting  and  each 
partner  grew  toward  the  intellectual  stature 
of  the  other  with  a  uniformity  and  certainty 
rarely  seen  in  such  relationships. 

In  1890  Mr.  Griggs  accepted  an  appoint- 
ment from  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy 
Railroad  Company  as  its  attorney  for  the 
western  division  of  this  great  corporation  and 
was  assigned  to  the  state  of  Wyoming  and 
other  inter-mountain  states.  He  held  this  po- 
sition until  his  death,  which  occurred  while  he 
was  journeying  to  the  northwest  from  his 
home  in  Lincoln,  in  the  service  of  his  com- 
pany, at  Alliance,  Nebraska,  on  Sunday  morn- 
ing, September  4,  1910,  he  being  found  dead 
in  his  berth  on  the  sleeping  car  at  that  time 
and  place. 

After  Mr.  Griggs  accepted  this  appointment 
the  late  Robert  S.  Bibb  was  admitted  to  the 
co-partnership  which  thereafter  for  some  time 
was  known  as  Griggs,  Rinaker  &  Bibb.  But 
in  1893,  on  the  removal  of  Mr.  Griggs  to 
Lincoln,  his  name  was  dropped  from  the  firm 
name,  which  thereafter  was  designated  as 
Rinaker  &  Bibb.  Following  the  death  of  Mr. 
Bibb,  in  May,  1907,  Mr.  Rinaker  practiced  his 
profession  alone  until  the  year  1909,  when  he 
became  associated  with  Mr.  A.  H.  Kidd,  of 
Beatrice,  in  the  practice  of  the  law  under  the 
firm  name  of  Rinaker  &  Kidd,  a  title  by  which 
it  is  still  known  and  under  which  it  does  busi- 
ness. 

His  natural  amiability  of  character  and  great 
adaptability  to  the  profession  of  the  law,  have 
enabled  Mr.  Rinaker  always  to  take  a  leading 
place  in  the  business  of  his  several  firms,  and 
this  by  common  consent  stripped  of  every 
semblance  of  jealousy  or  envy.  The  volume 
of  business  with  which  he  has  been  profes- 
sionally connected  in  the  various  courts  of  the 
state  and  country  has  been  great  and  varied  in 
character.  He  has  numbered  amongst  his 
clients,  public  officials  and  public  bodies,  rail- 
way companies,  banks  and  banking  institu- 
tions, manufacturing  and  mercantile  concerns, 
loan  associations  and  agencies,  general  corpor- 


362 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


ations,  firms  and  individuals.  His  practice  has 
not  been  confined  to  the  courts  of  the  state  of 
Nebraska  alone,  but  it  has  embraced  the  courts 
of  several  other  states  and  the  great  national 
courts  of  the  country. 

Mr.  Rinaker  is  a  trained  and  skillful  trial 
lawyer ;  he  possesses  an  accurate  and  a  usable 
knowledge  of  the  rules  and  principles  of  the 
law  and  their  practical  application  to  the  trial 
of  causes.  He  is  eminent  in  counsel,  clear  and 
concise  in  statement,  whether  of  fact  or  law, 
discriminating  and  logical  in  argument  court- 
ly and  dignified  in  address,  fair,  just,  dispas- 
sionate. Though  earnest  and  forceful  in  pre- 
senting his  case  to  court  or  jury  he  is  suave, 
self-possessed,  deferential.  He  is  a  successful 
trial  lawyer  and  as  an  advocate  and  minister 
of  justice,  no  member  of  the  legal  profession 
in  Nebraska  is  held  in  higher  esteem  or  com- 
mands greater  consideration  from  judges  and 
courts  than  Samuel  Rinaker. 

Though  eminently  qualified  for  public  life, 
whether  in  the  judicial,  legislative  or  admin- 
istrative branches  of  our  government,  Mr. 
Rinaker  has,  in  the  main,  steadfastly  refused 
to  enter  the  political  arena  as  a  seeker  of  of- 
fice. In  1896  he  was  put  forward  by  his 
friends  as  the  Republican  candidate  for  coun- 
ty attorney  of  Gage  county  and  was  triumph- 
antly elected.  He  was  reelected  to  the  same 
office  in  1888.  With  these  exceptions  he  has 
never  permitted  his  name  to  be  brought  for- 
ward for  any  political  office  whatsoever.  He 
has,  however,  served  his  community  most  ac- 
ceptably as  a  member  of  the  Beatrice  school 
board,  and  since  it  was  founded,  twenty-five 
years  ago,  to  the  present  moment  he  has  been 
a  director  of  the  Free  Public  Library  of  Bea- 
trice. The  fact  that  so  far  his  friends  have 
failed  to  induce  him  to  look  with  favor  upon 
a  political  career  has  been  a  source  of  deep 
regret  to  his  many  friends,  both  at  home  and 
abroad  in  the  state. 

The  talents  and  abilities  which  mark  Mr. 
Rinaker  for  a  useful  and  a  successful  public 
career  have  not  been  lost  to  his  fellow-citizens 
but  have  served  more  fittingly  to  qualify  their 
possessor  for  the  duties  and  activities  of  pro- 
fessional  and  social  life.     Mr.   Rinaker  is  a 


citizen  of  the  utmost  loyalty  and  public  spirit. 
He  takes  an  active  and  a  sympathetic  inter- 
est in  the  social,  intellectual  and  business  af- 
fairs of  his  community,  and  by  his  compre- 
hensive way  of  looking  at  things,  the  accuracy 
of  his  judgment  and  the  probity  of  his  char- 
acter he  is  everywhere  accorded  a  first  place  as 
a  citizen  of  his  county  and  state.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Commercial  Club  of  Beatrice, 
the  Beatrice  Club  —  a  social  organization,  — 
and  the  Golf  Club  of  his  city.  For  many  years 
he  has  been  a  member  of  the  board  of  direc- 
tors of  the  First  National  Bank  of  Beatrice 
and  the  First  Savings  Bank,  an  adjunct  insti- 
tution. He  is  a  Mason,  a  Knight  Templar 
and  a  Modern  Woodman.  For  a  man  with 
only  a  moderate  fortune,  his  charities,  though 
discriminating,  are  large  and  varied.  Without 
advertising  the  fact  he  always  contributes  to 
every  worthy  enterprise  or  beneficence  apply- 
ing to  him  for  assistance. 

In  politics,  Mr.  Rinaker  has  always  affiliated 
with  the  Republican  party  and  as  a  trusted 
leader  in  that  great  party  he  has  been  very 
influential  in  formulating  and  directing  its  pol- 
icies and  activities  in  both  the  state  and  na- 
tion. 

If  to  gain  and  through  long  years  of  associa- 
tion to  be  able  to  hold  the  esteem  of  an  entire 
community;  if  to  so  discharge  the  duties  of  an 
advocate  and  a  lawyer  as  to  dignify  and  en- 
noble that  great  and  learned  profession,  if  to 
command  through  the  third  of  a  century  the 
•profound  respect  of  the  bench  and  bar  of  a 
great  state  furnish  sufficient  evidence  of  worth 
of  character,  then  the  case  for  Samuel  Rina- 
ker is  complete.  Time  may  bring  additional 
honors ;  it  may  enlarge  his  field  of  activities 
and  usefulness,  it  may  broaden  his  acquaint- 
ance; but  it  cannot  augment  the  esteem,  con- 
fidence and  affection  with  which  he  is  re- 
garded by  those  vvho  already  know  him. 

HARRY  M.  HEPPERLEN,  M.  D.— No 
member  of  the  medical  profession  in  Nebraska 
has  shown  a  greater  appreciation  of  the  exac- 
tions and  responsibilities  of  his  humane  call- 
ing or  has  more  thoroughly  equipped  himself 
for  the  work  of  the  profession  than  Dr.  Hep- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


363 


364 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


perlen,  whose  attainments  are  of  high  order 
and  who  has  gained  specially  high  reputation 
as  a  surgeon.  He  is  distinctively  one  of  the 
leading  physicians  and  surgeons  of  southeast- 
ern Nebraska,  has  been  established  in  practice 
at  Beatrice  since  1898  and  his  is  the  distinc- 
tion of  having  founded  the  first  hospital  in 
this  city.  In  this  connection  he  manifested  not 
only  his  professional  zeal  and  loyalty,  but  also 
his  liberality  and  progressiveness  as  a  citizen. 
The  hospital  which  he  established  constituted 
the  nucleus  of  the  present  admirably  equipped 
and  conducted  Lutheran  Hospital,  and  Dr. 
Hepperlen  continues  his  effective  and  val- 
ued services  as  chief  of  the  surgical  staff  of 
this  admirable  institution.  The  hospital  is 
situated  about  one  mile  distant  from  the  cen- 
ter of  the  city  of  Beatrice  and  one  block  dis- 
tant from  the  beautiful  city  park,  which  for- 
merly was  the  Chautauqua  assembly  grounds 
of  this  city.  The  hospital  occupies  a  modem 
three-story  building,  and  in  its  general  equip- 
ment and  appointments  it  is  maintained  at  the 
most  approved  standard,  with  facilities  for  the 
care  of  eighty  patients.  In  connection  with 
the  hospital  is  conducted  a  well  ordered  train- 
ing school  for  nurses,  and  the  Institution  as  a 
whole  is  a  source  of  pride  and  satisfaction  to 
the  citizens  of  Gage  county,  besides  standing 
as  a  monument  to  the  initiative  ability  and  pro- 
fessional zeal  of  its  founder.  As  a  surgeon 
Dr.  Hepperlen  controls  a  practice  that  in  scope 
and  importance  is  especially  noteworthy,  his 
services  being  demanded  through  a  wide  ter- 
ritory of  the  middle  west, —  particularly  in 
Nebraska  and  Kansas.  Many  delicate  surgical 
operations,  both  major  and  minor,  stand  to  the 
credit  of  the  Doctor,  and  in  the  field  of  sur- 
gery he  is  frequently  called  upon  as  an  author- 
ity by  his  professional  conferees.  He  is  an  en- 
thusiast in  the  work  of  his  profession,  keeps 
in  closest  touch  with  the  advances  made  in 
medical  and  surgical  science,  has  a  compre- 
hensive and  select  library  of  standard  medical 
works  and  has  made  valuable  contributions 
to  the  periodical  literature  of  his  profession 
He  is  an  active  member  of  the  American  Med- 
ical Association  and  the  Nebraska  State  Med- 
ical Society,  as  well  as  the  American  College 


of  Surgeons.  As  a  public-spirited  citizen  he 
is  found  arrayed  as  a  staunch  advocate  of  the 
principles  of  the  Republican  party. 

Dr.  Harry  M.  Hepperlen  was  born  in  Ly- 
coming county,  Pennsylvania,  January  26, 
1868,  and  is  a  son  of  John  and  Mary  (Mich- 
ael) Hepperlen,  who  removed  from  the  old 
Keystone  state  to  Nebraska  in  1880  and  es- 
tablished their  home  in  Jefferson  county,  where 
the  father  became  a  substantial  and  influential 
citizen.  Dr.  Hepperlen  acquired  his  earlier 
education  in  the  public  schools  of  Jefferson 
county,  this  state,  and  supplemented  his  train- 
ing by  attending  during  three  winter  terms 
the  select  school  conducted  at  Beatrice  by  Pro- 
fessor Blake,  an  educator  of  exceptional  abil- 
ity. After  having  formulated  definite  plans 
for  his  future  career  Dr.  Hepperlen  entered 
Keokuk  Medical  College,  in  the  city  of  Keo- 
kuk, Iowa,  and  in  this  institution  he  was  grad- 
uated as  a  member  of  the  class  of  1891,  with 
the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine.  It  has  al- 
ready been  intimated  in  this  context  that  Dr. 
Hepperlen  has  spared  neither  pains  nor  eltort 
in  fortifying  himself  for  his  profession,  and 
in  assurance  of  this  it  may  be  noted  that  a 
few  years  after  receiving  his  degree  he  took 
effective  post-graduate  work  in  historic  old 
Jefferson  Medical  College,  in  the  city  of  Phila- 
delphia, from  which  institution  he  received  in 
1896  the  supplemental  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Medicine.  Thereafter,  in  1897-8,  he  took  a 
two  years'  post-graduate  course  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Vienna,  Austria,  where  he  special- 
ized in  surgery,  as  had  he  also  at  Jefferson 
Medical  College. 

In  1891,  soon  after  his  graduation.  Dr.  Hep- 
perlen engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  profes- 
sion in  the  village  of  Harbine,  Jefferson  coun- 
ty, and  there  he  continued  his  residence  and 
professional  headquarters  until  he  went 
aliroad  for  further  study.  Upon  his  return 
to  the  United  States,  in  1899,  Dr.  Hepperlen 
established  his  residence  in  Beatrice,  where  he 
has  since  maintained  his  home  and  been  a  val- 
ued and  honored  figure  in  the  community  life. 
Here  he  founded  soon  after  his  arrival  a  small 
hospital,  the  same  having  but  six  beds  as  total 
accommodation   for  patients,  and  within  the 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


365 


nine  years  that  the  hospital  was  conducted  by 
the  Doctor  he  brought  about  its  splendid  de- 
velopment and  increased  its  accommodations 
to  thirty-six  beds.  In  1912  the  institution  was 
acquired  by  the  Brethren  church,  under  the 
auspices  of  which  it  was  conducted  until  1914, 
with  Dr.  Hepperlen  as  head  of  its  surgical 
staff  and  a  valued  factor  in  the  general  ad- 
ministration of  its  affairs.  In  1914  the  hos- 
pital, by  sale,  passed  to  the  control  of  the 
Lutheran  church,  under  the  auspices  of  which 
it  has  since  been  conducted. 

August  8,  1899,  recorded  the  marriage  of 
Dr.  Hepperlen  to  Miss  Rosa  B.  Warner,  and 
they  have  four  children,  namely:  Mary  Ber- 
netta,  Joseph  Price,  Fanstella  May,  and  Harry 
Michael,  Jr.  Mrs.  Hepperlen  is  a  member  of 
the  Presbyterian  church. 

REV.  FRANZ  ALBRECHT.  — In  a 
double  sense  is  this  honored  citizen  a  faithful 
and  prolific  worker  in  the  harvest,  for  not 
only  is  he  serving  with  consecrated  zeal  as  a 
clergyman  of  the  Mennonite  church  but  he  is 
also  actively  and  successfully  identified  with 
the  basic  industries  of  agriculture  and  stock- 
growing,  as  the  owner  of  a  well  improved 
farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  the 
northeast  quarter  of  Section  19,  Blakely  town- 
ship. 

Mr.  Albrecht  was  born  at  Lindenau,  in  Si- 
lesia, Prussia,  and  the  date  of  his  nativity 
was  January  10,  1876.  He  is  a  son  of  Henry 
and  Helena  (Penner)  Albrecht,  of  whose  five 
children  he  was  the  second  in  order  of  birth ; 
Henry,  the  eldest  son,  is  a  prosperour  farmer 
of  Jeft'erson  county,  this  state;  Helena  is  the 
wife  of  David  Jansen,  of  that  county;  Abra- 
ham is  a  resident  of  Inman,  Norton  county, 
Kansas  ;  and  Jacob  died  when  an  infant.  The 
father  was  born  August  20,  1845,  and  contin- 
ued his  residence  in  his  native  land  until  1884, 
when  he  immigrated  with  his  family  to  the 
United  States.  On  the  12th  of  September  of 
that  year  he  established  the  family  home  near 
Beatrice,  and  for  five  years  thereafter  he  was 
employed  as  a  farm  workman.  The  succeed- 
ing nine  years  found  him  engaged  in  farming 
on  rented  land  and  he  then  purchased  a  farm 


near  Hoag,  in  Blakely  township.  He  acquired 
this  property  in  1897,  made  excellent  improve- 
ments on  the  same  and  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  in  1909,  he  was  the  owner  of  a  valuable 
landed  estate  of  three  hundred  and  twenty 
acres.  He  was  a  son  of  Jacob  Albrecht,  who 
passed  his  entire  life  in  Prussia  and  who  was 
a  farmer  by  vocation.  His  widow  later  re- 
moved to  Russia,  and  there  her  death  oc- 
curred. The  mother  of  Rev.  Franz  Albrecht 
was  born  in  Prussia  on  the  7th  of  April,  1847, 
and  since  the  death  of  her  husband  she  has 
resided  with  her  son  Franz  on  the  old  home- 
stead farm.  Her  parents,  Cornelius  and 
Adelgunda  (Dau)  Penner,  passed  their  entire 
lives  in  Germany  and  her  father  was  a  cloth 
and  linen  weaver.  He  whose  name  introduces 
this  article  was  a  lad  of  eight  years  at  the  time 
when  the  family  came  to  America  and  estab- 
lished a  home  in  Gage  county.  Here  he  was 
reared  to  adult  age  under  the  benignant  influ- 
ences of  the  farm,  the  while  he  made  good  use 
of  the  advantage  afforded  in  both  the  German 
and  English  schools  of  the  locality.  In  1902 
he  entered  Bethel  College,  at  Newton,  Kansas, 
and  in  this  institution  he  was  graduated  as  a 
member  of  the  class  of  1905,  after  the  com- 
pletion of  a  Bible  course  and  other  work  of  a 
preparatory  order  for  ordination  to  the  min- 
istry. He  became  a  clergyman  of  the  Men- 
nonite church  in  1905,  and  has  since  been  the 
able  and  zealous  pastor  of  the  church  of  this 
denomination  in  his  home  neighborhood,  be- 
sides which  he  gives  ministerial  ser\'ice  to 
other  Mennonite  church  organizations  in  the 
county — -a  man  of  strong  intellectuality,  of 
much  ability  as  a  pulpit  speaker,  and  of  ut- 
most zeal  in  all  departments  of  his  service. 

Mr.  Albrecht  has  resided  on  the  present 
homestead  farm  from  the  time  his  father 
purchased  the  property,  and  his  heritage  from 
his  father's  estate  included  the  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  to  the  management  of  which 
he  gives  his  effective  attention,  as  one  of  the 
progressive  and  representative  farmers  and 
stock-raisers  of  Blakely  township. 

On  the  5th  of  November,  1909,  was  sol- 
emnized the  marriage  of  Mr.  Albrecht  to  Miss 
Mary  Wiebe,  who  was  born  in  Prussia  and 


366 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


was  a  young  woman  at  the  time  of  the  family 
immigration  to  America,  her  parents,  Herman 
and  Wilhelmina  (Hein)  Wiebe,  having  been 
born  and  reared  in  Germany  and  the  mother 
having  passed  to  the  hfe  eternal  in  1884.  Mr. 
Wiebe  has  been  a  resident  of  Gage  county 
since  1894  and  lives  upon  his  well  improved 
homestead  farm,  north  of  the  city  of  Beatrice. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Albrecht  have  two  children  — 
Margaret  and  Dora  H. 

JOHN  S.  GOODBAN.  — Along  manifold 
lines  has  this  honored  pioneer  exerted  be- 
nignant influence  during  nearly  a  half  century 
of  continuous  residence  in  Gage  county,  and 
he  is  now  living  virtually  retired,  his  attrac- 
tive home  being  in  the  village  of  Cortland. 
He  is  a  man  of  broad  intellectual  ken,  high 
ideals,  and  gracious  personality  —  a  citizen 
who  commands  the  fullest  measure  of  popular 
confidence  and  esteem. 

Mr.  Goodban  was  born  in  Erie  county, 
Pennsylvania,  October  21,  1846,  and  is  a  son 
of  William  and  Margaret  (Langley)  Goodban. 
William  Goodban  was  born  in  Kentshire, 
England,  February  22,  1804,  and  he  contin- 
ued his  residence  in  his  native  land  until  1840, 
when  he  came  to  America  and  settled  in  the 
state  of  New  York.  In  1842  he  removed  to 
Erie  county,  Pennsylvania,  where  he  passed 
the  remainder  of  his  life,  his  death  having 
occurred  in  October,  1861.  His  first  wife, 
whose  maiden  name  was  Hannah  Langley, 
died  when  comparatively  a  young  woman, 
four  children  having  been  born  of  their 
union  —  Edward,  Esther  A.,  Hannah  C,  and 
one  who  died  in  infancy.  Edward  died  when 
thirty  years  of  age  and  both  Esther  and  Han- 
nah likewise  are  deceased,  the  former  having 
become  the  wife  of  P.  J.  Mosier,  and  the  lat- 
ter having  been  the  wife  of  T.  C.  Golden. 
For  his  second  wife  William  Goodban  mar- 
ried Miss  Margaret  Langley,  a  sister  of  his 
first  wife,  and  she  passed  to  eternal  rest  when 
eighty-three  years  of  age.  Concerning  the 
children  of  this  marriage  the  following  brief 
data  are  available:  Margaret  became  the 
wife  of  J.  Kellogg  and  is  now  deceased ;  Sarah 
M.  is  the  widow  of  C.  L.  Porr  and  resides  in 


the  city  of  Burlington,  Iowa ;  William  remains 
on  the  old  homestead  farm  in  Erie  county, 
Pennsylvania;  John  G.,  the  immediate  sub- 
ject of  this  review,  was  the  next  in  order  of 
birth;  Mary  S.  is  the  wife  of  S.  Henry,  of 
Dunkirk,  Ohio ;  Henry  F.  is  a  resident  of 
Ragan,  Harlan  county,  Nebraska;  Arthur  J. 
is  deceased ;  and  Ninetta  E.  is  the  wife  of  L. 
Darling,  of  Chandlers  Valley,  Pennsylvania. 

In  the  old  Keystone  state  John  S.  Goodban 
was  reared  and  educated,  his  scholastic  dis- 
cipline having  included  an  effective  course  in 
the  Pennsylvania  Normal  School  at  Edinboro. 
His  career  as  a  representative  of  the  peda- 
gogic profession  covered  a  period  of  nearly 
fifteen  years — -1868-1882  —  and  he  proved  a 
most  successful  and  popular  teacher.  In  1867 
Mr.  Goodban  numbered  himself  among  the 
pioneers  of  Butler  county,  Iowa,  and  in  that 
state  he  continued  his  sen'ice  as  a  teacher, 
besides  following  agricultural  pursuits,  until 
1870,  when  he  came  to  Otoe  county,  Nebras- 
ka In  1872  he  established  his  home  in  Gage 
county.  Here  he  continued  to  teach  in  the 
district  schools  during  the  winter  terms  for 
the  ensuing  decade,  and  in  the  meanwhile  he 
carried  forward  the  improvement  of  his  farm. 
In  Section  14  Highland  township,  one  mile 
south  and  one-half  mile  west  of  Cortland,  he 
entered  a  pre-emption  claim  of  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres,  and  here  he  established  his 
home.  He  broke  the  prairie  soil  and  made  it 
available  for  cultivation,  set  out  forty  acres  of 
timber  and  with  the  passing  years  so  devel- 
oped and  improved  his  land  as  to  make  it  one 
of  the  valuable  farms  of  the  county.  He  was 
specially  successful  in  the  raising  of  Red 
Polled  Angus  cattle  and  Poland-China  swine, 
but  did  not  make  stock-raising  subordinate  to 
agricultural  enterprise.  Besides  his  old  home- 
stead he  became  the  owner  of  other  lands, 
and  he  continued  his  active  association  with 
farm  industry  until  1913,  since  which  time  he 
has  lived  virtually  retired  in  the  village  of 
Cortland,  where  he  owns  his  home  property 
and  also  business  buildings.  He  is  also  a 
stockholder  and  director  of  the  Bank  of  Cort- 
land. He  has  never  abated  his  interest  in 
educational   affairs   and  served   a   number  of 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


367 


years  as  a  member  of  the  school  board  of  his 
district  while  still  residing  on  the  farm.  Well 
fortified  in  his  opinions  concerning  public  af- 
fairs, he  is  a  stalwart  advocate  of  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  Republican  party,  and  he  and  his 
wife  are  members  of  the  Congregational 
church,  he  being  treasurer  of  the  church  of 
this  denomination  at  Cortland,  in  1917-1918, 
and  having  previously  served  a  number  of 
years  as  a  member  of  the  board  of  trustees. 

February  25,  1871,  recorded  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  Goodban  to  Miss  Emma  J.  Mosher, 
who  likewise  is  a  native  of  Pennsylvania  and 
who  was  a  resident  of  Iowa  at  the  time  of 
her  marriage,  her  father,  the  late  P.  J. 
Mosher,  having  been  a  pioneer  of  the  Hawk- 
eye  state.  In  conclusion  is  given  brief  record 
concerning  the  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Goodban :  Eva  is  the  widow  of  J.  Yarnall 
and  resides  at  Cortland;  Carrie  L.  is  the  wife 
of  F.  Hofifman,  of  Ragan,  Harlan  county,  Ne- 
braska ;  Nettie  E.  is  the  wife  of  C.  P.  Jones, 
of  Highland  township;  Winifred  died  at  the 
age  of  two  and  one-half  years ;  and  Arthur  J., 
whose  natural  mechanical  talent  has  been  so 
developed  as  to  make  him  an  expert  machin- 
ist, conducts  an  automobile  garage  at  Cort- 
land, with  a  well  equipped  machine  and  repair 
shop  in  connection  therewith,  besides  which 
he  is  manager  of  the  Cortland  electric-lighting 
plant  and  system,  he  having  been  one  of  the 
organizers  of  the  company  which  installed  this 
important  public  utility,  and  being  one  of  its 
stockholders. 

CLIFFORD  P.  FALL,  M.  D.—  For  a  peri- 
od of  virtually  thirty  years  Dr.  Fall  has  been 
established  in  the  practice  of  his  profession 
at  Beatrice,  judicial  center  of  Gage  county, 
and  the  unequivocal  success  which  he  has 
achieved  in  his  exacting  vocation  fully  attests 
to  his  high  professional  attainments  and  his 
facility  in  the  effective  application  of  his  tech- 
nical knowledge.  The  Doctor  has  long  con- 
trolled a  substantial  and  representative  gen- 
eral practice,  commands  inviolable  place  in 
popular  confidence  and  esteem  and  is  essen- 
tially one  of  the  representative  physicians  and 
surgeons  of  Gage  county. 


Dr.  Fall  was  born  in  Boone  county,  Indiana, 
on  the  9th  of  February,  1863,  and  is  a  son  of 
David  and  Annie  (Kernodle)  Fall,  the  former 
a  native  of  North  Carolina  and  the  latter  of 
Virginia,  both  families  having  been  founded 
in  the  fair  southland  many  generations  ago. 
The  parents  of  Dr.  Fall  were  children  at  the 
time  of  the  immigration  of  the  respective  fam- 
ilies to  Preble  county,  Ohio,  in  the  pioneer 
days,  and  they  were  reared  and  educated  in  the 
old  Buckeye  state,  their  marriage  having  been 
solemnized  in  Union  county,  Ohio.  David 
Fall  became  a  successful  farmer  in  Boone 
county,  Indiana,  and  there  his  death  occurred 
when  his  son,  Clifford  P.,  subject  of  this  re- 
view, was  but  two  years  of  age.  Dr.  Fall  was 
reared  in  his  native  county  and  there  received 
the  advantages  of  the  public  schools.  Though 
his  youthful  experience  had  to  do  principally 
with  the  basic  art  of  agriculture,  he  had  the 
ambition  that  led  him  to  seek  a  broader  sphere 
of  endeavor  in  choosing  his  life  vocation.  He 
took  up  the  study  of  medicine  and  finally  went 
to  the  city  of  Chicago,  where  he  was  matricu- 
lated in  the  College  of  Physicians  &  Surgeons. 
In  this  celebrated  institution  he  was  graduated 
as  a  member  of  the  class  of  1888  and  in  April 
of  that  year,  shortly  after  receiving  his  well 
earned  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine,  he  came 
to  Nebraska  and  established  his  permanent 
residence  in  the  progressive  little  city  of  Bea- 
trice, which  has  continued  as  the  stage  of  his 
earnest  and  successful  professional  endeavors 
during  the  inten'ening  period  of  thirty  years. 

Dr.  Fall  has  significantly  amplified  the  scope 
of  his  professional  work  and  made  a  valuable 
contribution  to  his  home  city  through  his  con- 
ducting of  a  well  equipped  sanitarium  and 
hospital  which  is  known  as  the  Beatrice  Sani- 
tarium. This  institution  was  founded  by  Dr. 
Fall  and  Dr.  G.  A.  Harris  about  the  year  1902, 
and  from  a  modest  inception  is  has  been  de- 
veloped into  a  well  ordered  hospital  of  modern 
equipment  and  facilities,  the  same  providing 
for  the  accommodation  of  twenty-five  pa- 
tients. Dr.  Fall  served  four  years  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Nebraska  state  board  of  health, 
and  at  the  time  of  the  Spanish-American  war 
he  served  as  special  contract  surgeon  at  the 


368 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Clii-i-ord  p.  Fall.  M.  D. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


369 


United  States  military  cantonment  at  Chicka- 
mauga,  for  a  period  of  three  months.  He  is 
an  active  and  valued  member  of  the  Gage 
county  Medical  Society  and  the  Nebraska 
State  Medical  Society,  besides  holding  mem- 
bership in  the  American  Medical  Association. 
Through  recourse  to  the  best  standard  and 
periodical  literature  of  his  profession  and 
through  individual  study  and  research  Dr.  Fall 
insistently  keeps  in  touch  with  the  advances 
made  in  medical  and  surgical  science,  and 
brings  to  bear  in  his  practice  the  results  of  this 
consistent  application.  Though  he  has  sub- 
ordinated all  other  interests  to  the  demands 
of  his  profession  he  has  been  an  exponent  of 
loyal  and  progressive  citizenship  and  gives 
allegiance  to  the  Democratic  party,  his  predi- 
lections never  having  been  such  as  to  lead  him 
to  seek  or  desire  political  office  of  any  descrip- 
tion. He  not  only  gives  his  attention  to  his 
large  private  practice,  but  also  has  the  active 
supervision  of  the  Beatrice  Sanitarium,  of 
which  he  is  now  sole  proprietor.  He  was  one 
of  the  organizers  of  the  Beatrice  Building  & 
Loan  Association,  which  has  developed  a  large 
and  prosperous  business  that  extends  into  the 
various  sections  of  Nebraska,  and  of  this  pro- 
gressive association  the  Doctor  has  been  presi- 
dent from  the  time  of  its  organization.  In  the 
Masonic  fraternity  Dr.  Fall  has  completed 
the  circle  of  each  the  York  and  the  Scottish 
Rites,  in  the  latter  of  which  he  has  received 
the  thirty-second  degree.  He  is  past  exalted 
ruler  of  Beatrice  Lodge  of  the  Benevolent  & 
Protective  Order  of  Elks,  and  is  a  member 
of  the  Presbyterian  church. 

In  the  year  1885  was  solemnized  the  mar- 
riage of  Dr.  Fall  to  Miss  Annie  Kemper,  who 
was  born  in  the  state  of  Wisconsin,  and  they 
have  two  children, —  Hazel  F.,  who  is  the  wife 
of  Carl  F.  Shafer,  of  Beatrice,  and  Frederick 
who  remains  at  the  parental  home. 

FREDERICK  H.  HOWEY  — The  busi- 
ness career  of  Frederick  H.  Howey  has  been 
significantly  characterized  by  courage,  self- 
reliance,  and  progressiveness,  as  well  as  by 
that  dynamic  initiative  and  executive  ability 
that  brings  normally  in  its  train  a  full  mea- 


sure of  success.  His  resolute  purpose  and 
inviolable  integrity  have  begotten  the  popular 
confidence  and  esteem  that  are  so  essential  in 
the  furtherance  of  success  in  the  important 
line  of  enterprise  along  which  he  has  directed 
his  attention  and  energies,  and  through  the 
medium  of  which  he  has  gained  secure  status 
as  one  of  the  representative  figures  in  the 
financial  circles  of  Nebraska.  During  practi- 
cally his  entire  business  career  Mr.  Howey 
has  been  closely  associated  with  banking  en- 
terprise, and  there  is  needed  no  further 
voucher  for  the  precedence  he  has  gained,  than 
the  statement  that  he  is  now  president  of  the 
First  National  Bank  of  Beatrice;  president  of 
the  First  State  Savings  Bank  of  the  same  city ; 
president  of  the  State  Bank  of  Liberty,  Gage 
county;  treasurer  of  the  National  Accident 
Insurance  Company  of  Lincoln,  Nebraska; 
and  a  director  of  the  Farmers'  Bank  &  Trust 
Company  of  Fort  Collins,  Colorado.  As  a 
banker  Mr.  Howey  has  shown  special  con- 
structive talent,  and  through  his  effective 
policies  and  efforts  he  has  furthered  the  suc- 
cess of  every  financial  enterprise  with  which 
he  has  become  associated.  As  one  of  the  rep- 
resentative business  men  and  progressive  and 
public-spirited  citizens  of  Gage  county  he 
merits  specific  recognition  in  this  publication. 

Mr.  Howey  was  born  in  the  vicinity  of 
Columbus,  the  fair  capital  city  of  Ohio,  on  the 
9th  of  December,  1868,  and  is  a  son  of  Rev. 
John  D.  and  Lina  E.   (Bowman)   Howey. 

Rev.  John  D.  Flowey  was  born  November 
21,  1831,  and  was  summoned  from  the  stage 
of  life's  mortal  endeavors  on  the  29th  of  De- 
cember, 1894.  After  completing  a  four  years' 
course  in  Jefferson  College,  at  Pittsburgh, 
Pennsylvania,  and  a  two  years'  course  in  the 
Allegheny  Theological  Seminary  he  entered 
the  ministry  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  in 
which  he  was  ordained  in  1858.  For  the  long 
period  of  thirty-eight  years  he  continued  as  an 
able  and  faithful  clergyman  of  the  Presby- 
terian fold,  and  his  earnest  labors  terminated 
only  when  death  set  its  seal  upon  his  mortal 
lips.  He  was  a  man  of  fine  intellectuality  and 
labored  with  all  of  consecrated  zeal  and  devo- 
tion in  the  vineyard  of  the  Divine  Master.   He 


370 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


held  pastoral  charges  in  Ohio  and  Illinois 
prior  to  becoming  one  of  the  pioneer  ministers 
of  the  Presbyterian  church  in  Nebraska,  in 
which  state  he  established  his  residence  in 
1884.  Here  he  served  in  various  pastorates, 
and  though  his  death  occurred  in  the  city  of 
Lincoln  he  was  at  the  time  maintaining  his 
home  at  Hastings,  this  state.  He  was  born 
and  reared  in  Pennsylvania  and  was  sixty- 
three  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  his  death, 
his  memory  being  revered  by  all  who  came 
within  the  sphere  of  his  kindly  and  benignant 
influence.  Mrs.  Lina  E.  (Bowman)  Howey 
was  bom  at  Neilsburg,  Pennsylvania,  in  1835, 
a  daughter  of  John  and  Nancy  Bowman.  Her 
marriage  to  Rev.  John  D.  Howey  was  sol- 
emnized in  the  year  1861,  and  she  survived 
him  by  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century.  Mrs. 
Howey  passed  the  closing  period  of  her  life  in 
the  home  of  her  daughter  Ivie,  wife  of  Wil- 
liam C.  Black,  Jr.,  of  Beatrice,  and  she  passed 
to  eternal  rest  July  19,  1917,  after  a  lingering 
illness  and  when  in  her  eighty-second  year. 
For  more  than  twenty  years  this  gracious  gen- 
tlewoman had  been  a  resident  of  Beatrice  and 
was  here  a  member  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
church,  in  the  work  of  which  she  took  an 
active  and  devoted  interest.  Concerning  the 
children  of  Rev.  and  Mrs.  John  D.  Howey 
the  following  brief  data  are  available:  W. 
Clement  is  living  retired  on  a  small  fann 
homestead  near  the  city  of  Lincoln,  this  state ; 
Loyal  B.  is  president  of  the  City  National 
Bank  of  Lincoln ;  Frederick  H.,  of  this  review, 
was  the  next  in  order  of  birth;  Clyde  G.  is 
an  osteopathic  physician  and  is  engaged  in  the 
successful  practice  of  his  profession  in  the 
city  of  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania ;  Miss 
Marie  T.  has  held  responsible  clerical  posi- 
tions in  connection  with  the  banking  business 
for  a  long  term  of  years,  was  for  some  time  in 
the  employ  of  Hon.  William  Jennings  Bryan, 
and  she  now  resides  in  the  city  of  Los  An- 
geles, California;  Ivie  B.  is  the  wife  of  Wil- 
liam C.  Black,  Jr.,  and  they  maintain  their 
home  at  Beatrice. 

Frederick  H.  Howey  acquired  his  early  edu- 
cation in  the  public  schools  and  after  the  re- 
moval of   the    family  to   Nebraska,   when   he 


was  about  sixteen  years  of  age,  he  continued 
his  studies  in  the  schools  of  the  cities  of  Lin- 
coln and  Fairmont,  where  his  father  held  pas- 
toral charges.     Mr.  Howey  early  began  to  de- 
pend upon  his  own  resources  and  he  has  been 
in  the  truest  sense  the  artificer  of  his  own 
fortunes    as    one    of    the    world's    productive 
workers.     At   the  age  of   eighteen   years   he 
left  the  gracious  environment  of  the  parental 
home  and  found  employment  as  a  clerk  in  a 
dry-goods   establishment   in  the  city  of   Lin- 
coln.    His  judgment  and  ambition  prompted 
him  to  further  reinforce  himself  by  taking  a 
course   in   bookkeeping   and   accounting,    and 
for  this  purpose  he  pursued  his  studies  in  a 
business  college  at  Lincoln.     Soon  afterward 
he   found  employment   as   bookkeeper  in   the 
State  National  Bank  of  Lincoln,  and  after  four      j 
years  of  eflfective  service  with  this  institution      | 
he  was  elected  cashier  of  the  Bank  of  Mar- 
quette, in  the  village  of  Marquette,  Hamilton      ; 
county,  where  he  remained  one  year  —  in  the      ; 
later  '80s.    For  a  short  time  thereafter  he  held 
a  position  in  the  American  Exchange  National      i 
Bank  in  Lincoln,  and  he  then  purchased  an      j 
interest  in  and  assumed  the  position  of  cashier      | 
of    the    First    National    Bank    at    Humphrey,      j 
Platte  county,  at  the  time  the  same  was  or-      j 
ganized   as    successor   of    the   Citizens'    State      | 
Bank.     He  played  a  large  part  in  the  upbuild-      , 
ing  of  the  substantial  business  of  this  insti- 
tution  and   continued   the    incumbent   of    the 
office  of  cashier  until  1897,  when  he  resigned 
his  position  and  came  to  Beatrice,  where  he 
was   elected   vice-president  of   the   First   Na- 
tional   Bank.      This    office   he    retained    until 
1911,  since  which  time  he  has  been  president 
of  the  institution,  his  administration  in  each 
of  these  offices  having  been  potent  in  further- 
ing the  advancement  of  this  representative  in- 
stitution,   which    bases    its    operations    on    a 
capital   stock   of   one  hundred  thousand   dol- 
lars,   the   while    its    surplus    fund    and   undi- 
vided  profits   have  now  attained  to  the  sig- 
nificant aggregate  of  more  than  sixty  thousand 
dollars.     Since   1909  Mr.  Howey  has  served 
also  as  president  of  the  First  State  Savings 
Bank  of  Beatrice,  which  has  a  capital  stock 
of  twelve  thousand  five  hundred  dollars,  sur- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


371 


plus  and  undivided  profits  of  six  thousand 
dollars  and  deposits  to  the  amount  of  more 
than  one  hundred  thousand  dollars.  Under 
his  careful  and  progressive  regime  the  First 
National  Bank  has  made  a  wonderful  ad- 
vancement in  the  volume  of  its  business,  and 
its  deposits  are  now  in  excess  of  one  million 
dollars,  the  bank  having  been  founded  in  1877, 
and  being  one  of  the  leading  financial  institu- 
tions of  southeastern  Nebraska.  It  has  pre- 
viously been  noted  that  Mr.  Howey  is  presi- 
dent also  of  the  State  Bank  of  Liberty,  and 
it  may  further  be  stated  that  this  institution 
has  a  capital  stock  of  twenty-five  thousand 
dollars  and  deposits  of  approximately  three 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars. 

In  1907  Mr.  Howey  became  associated  with 
his  brother  Loyal  B.  in  the  organization  and 
incorporation  of  the  National  Accident  Insur- 
ance Company,  at  Lincoln,  and  the  same  has 
operations  based  on  a  capital  stock  of  one 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  he  being  treasurer 
of  the  company  and  his  brother  the  president. 
Unequivocal  success  has  attended  the  under- 
writing business  of  this  corporation,  and  in 
extending  health  and  accident  indemnity  the 
company  now  has  in  force  policies  represent- 
ing about  four  million  dollars.  Its  thorough 
reliability  and  able  executive  control  have 
caused  this  company  to  have  a  remarkable 
growth  within  a  decade,  and  it  now  has  an 
extensive  and  representative  list  of  patrons 
throughout  the  state  of  Nebraska,  as  well  as 
a  good  business  in  other  states  of  this  section 
of  the  Union. 

As  a  broad-gauged  and  liberal  citizen  Mr. 
Howey  has  always  shown  vital  interest  in 
community  affairs,  and  he  has  served  three 
years  as  a  member  of  the  Beatrice  school 
board.  He  has  been  active  in  the  local  coun- 
cils of  the  Republican  party,  as  attested  by  the 
fact  that  he  has  served  since  1916  as  treasurer 
of  the  Gage  county  Republican  committee. 
He  is,  however,  essentially  a  business  man  and 
has  not  deviated  from  his  course  to  become  an 
aspirant  for  public  office  of  any  kind.  He  and 
his  wife  are  active  members  of  the  First  Pres- 
byterian church  of  Beatrice  and  he  is  affiliated 
with  the  local  organizations  of  the  Masonic 


fraternity,  including  Mount  Herman  Com- 
mandery  of  Knights  Templars,  as  is  he  also 
with  Beatrice  Lodge  of  the  Benevolent  &  Pro- 
tective Order  of  Elks. 

In  1894  was  solemnized  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Howey  to  Miss  Eva  Tamblyn,  who  was 
born  at  Mason  City,  Illinois,  and  who  was 
reared  at  Altona,  Knox  county,  Illinois,  in 
which  state  she  was  graduated  in  the  Musical 
Conservatory  of  Knox  College,  at  Galesburg. 
A  pianist  of  exceptional  ability,  she  was  a  suc- 
cessful teacher  of  music  prior  to  her  mar- 
riage, and  she  is  a  leader  in  church  work  and 
the  literary  and  musical  circles  of  Beatrice, 
where  she  is  a  popular  factor  in  the  repre- 
sentative social  activities  of  the  community. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Howey  have  three  children: 
Earle  T.,  who  was  born  in  1896,  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  class  of  1920  in  the  University  of 
Nebraska,  where  also  he  is  affiliated  with  the 
Phi  Kappa  Psi  fraternity,  but  in  December, 
1917,  he  enlisted  in  the  regular  army  of  the 
United  States,  for  service  in  the  great  Euro- 
pean war;  Katharyn,  who  was  born  in  the 
year  1897,  is  a  member  of  the  class  of  1919  in 
the  University  of  Nebraska,  where  she  holds 
membership  in  the  Delta  Gama  sorority;  and 
Walden  H.,  born  in  1900,  is  a  member  of  the 
class  of  1919  in  the  Beatrice  high  school. 

SOLOMON  HARPSTER  was  one  of  the 
strong  and  worthy  pioneers  who  came  to  Ne- 
braska in  the  year  that  marked  the  admission 
of  the  territory  to  statehood,  the  first  year 
of  his  residence  within  the  borders  of  the  new 
commonwealth  having  been  passed  in  Richard- 
son county,  and  his  home  having  been  estab- 
lished in  Gage  county  in  1868.  He  contrib- 
uted to  the  civic  and  industrial  development 
and  progress  of  the  county,  represented  the 
best  in  communal  life  and  spirit  and  bore  with 
fortitude  and  unwavering  faith  and  confidence 
the  hardships  and  trials  of  frontier  life.  He 
gained  inviolable  place  in  popular  confidence 
and  good  will  and  was  long  and  familiarly 
known  in  Gage  county  as  "Uncle  Sol  Harp- 
ster."  This  sterling  pioneer,  whose  death  oc- 
curred in  1894,  is  consistently  given  a  tribute 
of  honor  in  this  publication. 


372 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  Solomon  Harpster 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


373 


Solomon  Harpster  was  born  in  the  state  of 
Pennsylvania  and  was  seventy  years  and 
twelve  days  of  age  at  the  time  of  his  death. 
He  became  a  resident  of  Ohio  when  about  nine 
years  of  age,  remained  in  the  old  Buckeye 
state  until  1867,  when  he  came  with  his  family 
to  the  newly  created  state  of  Nebraska  and, 
as  previously  noted,  established  himself  in 
Richardson  county,  whence  he  came  to  Gage 
county  about  one  year  later.  In  this  county 
he  secured  a  homestead  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  of  wild  prairie  land,  in  Sicily  town- 
ship. It  is  interesting  to  record  that  this  land, 
to  which  he  received  a  deed  from  the  govern- 
ment, has  never  passed  from  the  possession 
of  the  family,  by  members  of  which  it  is  still 
held.  Mr.  Harpster  reclaimed  his  land  and 
developed  the  same  into  one  of  the  valuable 
farm  properties  of  the  county.  In  Ohio  his 
health  had  been  considerably  impaired,  but  he 
found  the  climate  and  vital  influences  of  Ne- 
braska so  invigorating  that  he  became  a  man 
of  robust  health.  He  labored  with  character- 
istic zeal  and  ability  in  furthering  the  devel- 
opment of  his  farm  and  in  aiding  the  general 
advancement  of  the  county  along  civic  and 
material  lines.  He  lived  in  this  section  of  Ne- 
braska during  the  early  pioneer  days  in  which 
hardships  and  privations  drew  men  together 
in  strong  ties  of  friendship  and  helpfulness, 
and  his  genial  personality  gained  to  him  the 
sobriquet  of  Uncle  Sol,  by  which  he  was 
known  to  all  the  early  settlers. 

Mr.  Harpster  superintended  the  building  of 
the  bridge  across  the  Blue  river  at  Blue 
Springs  and  also  the  erection  of  the  first  coun- 
ty jail,  at  Beatrice.  He  was  careful  and  up- 
right in  all  of  the  relations  of  life,  had  a  fine 
sense  of  personal  stewardship  and  was  never 
known  to  use  profane  language,  tobacco  or 
intoxicating  liquors.  Both  he  and  his  wife 
were  lifelong  and  zealous  members  of  the 
Evangelical  church.  In  coming  to  Gage  coun- 
ty he  transported  his  family  and  effects  with 
wagon  and  ox  team,  and  the  oxen  he  there- 
after utilized  in  breaking  his  land  and  other- 
wise carrying  forward  the  development  of  his 
farm. 

In  Ohio  was  solemnized,  Tune  16,  1850,  the 


marriage  of  Mr.  Harpster  to  Miss  Judith 
Beck,  and  they  passed  the  closing  years  of 
their  lives  in  their  pleasant  home  in  the  vil- 
lage of  Blue  Springs,  his  death  having  oc- 
curred in  December,  1894,  and  his  widow  hav- 
ing entered  into  eternal  rest  in  March,  1911, 
when  seventy-seven  years  of  age.  They  be- 
came the  parents  of  four  children :  Malissa 
is  the  widow  of  Samuel  Mowry,  to  whom  a 
memoir  is  dedicated  on  other  pages  of  this 
volume ;  Alonzo  is  a  boilermaker  by  trade  and 
is  employed  in  the  shops  of  the  Chicago,  Bur- 
lington &  Ouincy  Railroad  at  Wymore,  this 
county ;  George  resides  in  the  city  of  Lincoln 
and  is  a  conductor  in  the  service  of  the  Chi- 
cago, Burlington  &  Quincy  Railroad ;  and 
Miss  Sue  remains  at  the  old  home  of  her  par- 
ents at  Blue  Springs. 

JOHN  L.  ANDERSON.  —  Definite  effi- 
ciency has  characterized  the  service  of  Mr. 
Anderson  in  the  responsible  office  of  cashier 
of  the  Union  State  Bank,  of  Beatrice,  and  his 
administration  has  done  much  to  conserve  the 
success  that  has  marked  the  history  of  this 
important  and  representative  financial  insti- 
tution of  Gage  county,  the  while  his  person- 
ality and  civic  loyalty  have  gained  to  him  in- 
violable place  in  popular  confidence  and  es- 
teem. 

Mr.  Anderson  was  born  in  Cook  county, 
Illinois,  on  the  31st  of  August,  1875,  and  is  a 
son  of  John  P.  and  Carrie  (Berendutt)  An- 
derson, the  former  of  whom  was  born  in 
Scotland  ami  the  latter  in  France,  their  mar- 
riage having  been  solemnized  in  the  state  of 
Illinois.  John  P.  Anderson  received  in  his 
youth  good  educational  advantages,  including 
a  course  in  the  Bryant  &  Stratton  Business 
College  in  the  city  of  Chicago,  and  he  became 
a  business  man  of  marked  circumspection  and 
progressiveness,  so  that  success  came  to  him 
as  a  natural  prerogative.  In  Illinois  he  was 
engaged  in  the  furniture  business  but  about 
the  year  1885  he  came  to  Nebraska  and  estab- 
lished the  family  home  in  the  city  of  Omaha. 
There  he  conducted  for  two  and  one-half 
years  two  well  ordered  retail  groceries,  and  in 
1888  he  came  to  Gage  county  and  engaged  in 


374 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


the  same  line  of  mercantile  enterprise  at 
Beatrice.  He  built  up  a  large  and  representa- 
tive business  and  continued  as  one  of  the  lead- 
ing merchants  and  most  highly  honored  citi- 
zens of  Beatrice  until  his  death,  when  about 
fifty-five  years  of  age,  his  widow  being  still 
a  resident  of  this  city.  Of  their  two  children 
the  subject  of  this  review  is  the  elder,  and 
Sylvia  is  the  wife  of  Charles  D.  Loper,  sec- 
retary of  the  wholesale  woolen  house  of  Mul- 
lin  &  Company,  of  Chicago.  John  P.  Ander- 
son was  liberal  and  public-spirited  in  his  civic 
attitude,  gave  his  allegiance  to  the  Republican 
party,  and  was  an  earnest  communicant  of  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  church,  as  is  also  his 
widow. 

John  L.  Anderson,  the  immediate  subject  of 
this  sketch,  acquired  his  early  education  prin- 
cipally in  the  public  schools  of  the  cities  of 
Omaha  and  Beatrice,  and  at  the  age  of  six- 
teen years  he  assumed  a  clerical  position  in 
the  First  National  Bank  of  Beatrice.  In  this 
institution  he  won  promotion  to  the  position 
of  assistant  cashier,  of  which  he  continued  the 
incumbent  several  years.  On  the  4th  of  July, 
1912,  he  purchased  stock  in  the  Union  State 
Bank  of  Beatrice,  of  which  he  has  since  con- 
tinued to  serve  as  cashier  and  to  the  upbuild- 
ing of  which  he  has  contributed  .in  large  mea- 
sure. The  bank  was  founded  in  1902,  bases 
its  operations  on  a  capital  stock  of  fifty 
thousand  dollars,  has  surplus  and  undivided 
profits  of  six  thousand  dollars,  and  its  de- 
posits now  aggregate  more  than  eight  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  dollars.  When  he  took 
the  position  of  cashier  the  institution  had  de- 
posits of  only  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
dollars,  and  the  remarkable  increase  since  that 
time  gives  a  measure  of  testimony  to  his  effi- 
ciency of  administration  and  to  his  unqualified 
personal  popularity. 

As  a  broad-minded  and  progressive  citizen 
Mr.  Anderson  manifests  lively  interest  in  all 
things  touching  the  communal  welfare  and  his 
political  allegiance  is  given  to  the  Republican 
party.  He  is  prominently  identified  with  the 
time-honored  Masonic  fraternity,  in  which  his 
affiliations  are  here  briefly  noted :  Beatrice 
Lodge,    No.    19,    Ancient    Free    &    Accepted 


Masons,  of  which  he  is  past  master;  Living- 
ston Chapter,  No.  10,  Royal  Arch  Masons,  of 
which  he  is  past  high  priest ;  Rabona  Council, 
Royal  &  Select  Masters,  in  which  he  has 
passed  various  official  chairs ;  and  Mount  Her- 
man Commandery,  No.  7,  Knights  Templars, 
of  which  he  is  past  eminent  commander.  He 
is  one  of  the  charter  members  of  the  Beatrice 
lodge  of  the  Benevolent  &  Protective  Order 
of  Elks  and  served  for  a  long  period  as 
treasurer  of  the  same.  Both  he  and  his  wife 
are  zealous  communicants  of  Christ  church, 
Protestant  Episcopal,  and  he  has  been  a  mem- 
ber of  the  vestry  of  this  parish  since  1915. 

In  the  year  1907  was  solemnized  the  mar- 
riage of  Mr.  Anderson  to  Miss  Charlotte  P. 
Smith,  who  was  born  and  reared  in  Nebraska 
and  whose  father,  Samuel  C.  Smith,  has  been 
long  and  prominently  identified  with  the  bank- 
ing business  in  Beatrice.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  An- 
derson have  one  son,  Peter,  who  was  bom  on 
the  19th  of  November,  1909.  Mrs.  Anderson, 
a  woman  of  culture  and  most  gracious  person- 
ality, is  a  leader  in  church,  musical,  and  social 
activities  in  her  home  city.  She  was  afforded 
the  advantages  of  St.  Gabriel's  School  at 
Peekskill,  New  York,  and  later  pursued  a 
course  in  voice  culture  under  the  preceptor- 
ship  of  Mrs.  Morris,  a  leading  teacher  of 
music  in  the  city  of  New  York.  She  is  the 
popular  chatelaine  of  one  of  the  attractive  and 
hospitable  homes  of  the  city  of  Beatrice. 

HENRY  J.  WIEBE.  — This  representative 
agriculturist  and  stock-grower  of  Blakely 
township  has  been  a  resident  of  Gage  county 
for  forty  years.  He  was  about  sixteen  years 
of  age  when  he  came  with  his  widowed  mother 
and  younger  brother  to  Beatrice  and  by  mak- 
ing good  use  of  the  advantages  here  offered 
he  has  made  his  way  forward  to  the  goal  of 
independence  and  marked  prosperity.  He 
is  the  owner  of  a  valuable  farm  property  of 
two  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  being  in  Section  20  and  the  re- 
maining sixty  acres  in  Section  17,  Blakely 
township.  With  the  effective  cooperation  of 
his  sons  Mr.  Wiebe  is  now  identified  with  the 
farming  and   stock-raising   operations   on   an 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


375 


aggregate  of  four  hundred  and  sixty  acres, 
and  since  1916  he  has  given  special  attention 
to  the  breeding  and  feeding  of  thoroughbred 
short-horn  cattle. 

Mr.  Wiebe  was  born  in  Prussia,  Germany, 
on  the  28th  of  February,  1863,  and  is  a  son  of 
Jacob  and  Emeline  (Penner)  Wiebe,  his 
father  having  been  a  prosperous  farmer  in 
Prussia  at  the  time  of  his  death.  The  subject 
of  this  review  acquired  his  early  education  in 
the  excellent  schools  of  his  fatherland  and  on 
the  18th  of  August,  1878,  in  company  with  his 
widowed  mother,  his  younger  brother  and  his 
one  sister,  he  set  sail  for  the  United  States. 
Disembarking  in  the  port  of  New  York  city, 
the  family  came  forthwith  to  Nebraska  and 
settled  at  Beatrice.  In  this  locality  the  two 
sons  found  employment  at  farm  work,  and 
concerning  the  younger  son,  Jacob  W.,  indi- 
vidual mention  is  made  on  other  pages,  the 
daughter,  Anna,  being  now  the  wife  of  W.  A. 
Penner,  of  Beatrice,  and  the  devoted  mother 
having  here  continued  to  reside  until  her 
health  became  impaired  and  she  was  moved  to 
visit  her  old  home  in  Germany.  In  June,  1883, 
she  returned  to  Germany,  and  there  her  death 
occurred  in  the  following  year,  when  she  was 
nearly  fifty  years  of  age.  This  revered  pio- 
neer woman  was  a  devoted  Mennonite  in  re- 
ligious faith  and  assisted  in  the  organizing  of 
the  first  church  of  this  denomination  in  Gage 
county. 

After  the  family  home  had  been  established 
in  Gage  county,  Henry  J.  Wiebe  attended  the 
public  schools  of  Beatrice  for  six  months,  at 
the  time  when  Hugh  J.  Dobbs  was  the  super- 
intendent, and  as  a  student  both  here  and  in 
his  native  land  he  gave  special  attention  to 
botany  and  chemistry.  His  recompense  for 
his  services  during  the  first  year  of  his  resi- 
dence in  Gage  county  was  only  fifty  dollars, 
and  he  continued  his  activities  as  a  farm  em- 
ploye for  seven  years,  during  the  last  of  which 
he  received  wages  of  one  hundred  and  eighty 
dollars.  Thereafter  he  was  associated  with 
his  brother  in  farming  on  rented  land  for  one 
year,  and  in  1886  he  purchased  his  present 
homestead  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres.     The  place  was  improved  with  a  good 


house  but  with  the  passing  years  he  has  made 
further  improvements  that  mark  the  farm  as  a 
model  according  to  twentieth  century  stan- 
dards. In  1907  he  erected  the  present  large 
barn  on  his  farm,  the  same  being  thirty-six  by 
sixty  feet  in  dimensions.  With  increasing 
prosperity  he  added  to  the  area  of  his  farm 
and  he  gives  his  attention  vigorously  to  diver- 
sified agriculture  and  the  raising  of  superior 
live  stock.  In  the  season  of  1917  he  had  one 
hundred  and  fifty  acres  devoted  to  corn  and 
eighty-six  acres  to  oats.  He  is  a  Republican 
of  independent  proclivities  and  he  and  his  wife 
are  earnest  members  of  the  Mennonite  church, 
in  which  he  is  a  teacher  in  the  Sunday  school. 
]March  10,  1887,  was  the  date  of  the  mar- 
riage of  Mr.  Wiebe  to  Miss  Mary  Wiebe,  who 
came  with  her  parents  from  Prussia  to 
America  in  1876.  Her  father,  John  G.  Wiebe, 
became  a  successful  lumber  dealer  at  Beatrice, 
and  of  him  mention  is  made  on  other  pages 
of  this  work.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wiebe  have  eight 
children,  the  two  elder  sons,  Gerhard  R.  and 
Henry  P.,  being  progressive  farmers  of  this 
county,  and  all  of  the  other  children  remain- 
ing at  the  parental  home,  namely:  Alfred, 
Rudolph,  Arnold,  Oscar,  Gertrude,  and  Kate. 

CARL  SONDEREGGER.  —  One  of  Ne- 
braska's sterling  pioneer  citizens  who  has  here 
had  the  prescience  and  energy  to  make  the  most 
of  the  opportunities  offered  in  connection  with 
civic  and  material  development  and  progress, 
Mr.  Sonderegger  has  achieved  large  and 
worthy  success  through  his  association  with 
agricultural  industry  and  later  as  an  aggres- 
sive exponent  of  the  nursery  business.  His 
original  dwelling  in  Jefferson  county  was  a 
"dugout"  of  the  most  primitive  pioneer  type, 
the  same  being  established  on  the  embryonic 
farm  which  figured  as  the  stage  of  his  vigor- 
ous activities  in  the  early  days.  In  evidence 
of  his  ability  and  worthy  achievement  stands 
his  now  extensive  and  well  ordered  nursery 
and  seed  industry,  high-grade  fi'uit  and  orna- 
mental trees,  shrubbery,  seeds  of  all  kinds, 
etc.,  being  now  shipped  from  his  well  equipped 
nursery  plant  into  the  most  diverse  sections 
of  the  Union,  the  while  the  Httle  farm  dugout 


376 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


pales  into  retrospective  obscurity  when  it  is 
recognized  that  the  home  of  the  Sonderegger 
family  in  the  city  of  Beatrice  is  conceded  to 
be  one  of  the  finest  residence  properties  in  the 
county,  the  building  being  a  commodious  struc- 
ture of  modern  architectural  design  and  most 
attractive  appointments.  Mr.  Sonderegger  has 
proved  himself  one  of  the  world's  constructive 
workers  and  in  the  furtherance  of  his  own 
prosperity  has  aided  also  in  the  civic  and  ma- 
terial development  and  progress  of  the  county 
and  state  of  his  adoption.  As  one  of  the  hon- 
ored and  representative  citizens  and  business 
men  of  Gage  county  he  is  especially  entitled 
to  recognition  in  this  history. 

Carl  Sonderegger  was  born  in  the  fair  little 
republic  of  Switzerland,  on  the  31st  of  Janu- 
ary, 1856,  and  is  one  of  the  eight  surviving 
children  of  Conrad  and  Lena  (Hohl)  Sonder- 
egger, both  of  whom  passed  their  entire  lives 
in  Switzerland.  Of  the  children  only  two 
came  to  America, —  Carl,  subject  of  this  re- 
view, and  Arthur,  who  is  now  a  representa- 
tive civil  engineer  residing  at  Los  Angeles, 
California.  The  father  was  identified  with 
farm  industry  in  earlier  days,  but  achieved 
his  success  principally  as  a  manufacturer,  and 
he  accounted  well  for  himself  in  all  of  the 
relations  of  life,  his  father,  Conrad  Sonder- 
egger, likewise  having  been  a  farmer  and 
manufacturer  in  Switzerland.  The  family  has 
been  notable  for  the  sturdiest  of  physical  pow- 
ers and  for  incidental  longevity,  and  in  this 
connection  it  may  be  noted  that  not  until  their 
final  illness  were  either  the  parents  or  the 
paternal  grandparents  of  Carl  Sonderegger 
known  to  be  sick  for  even  a  day.  Jacob  Hohl, 
maternal  grandfather  of  Mr.  Sonderegger,  was 
a  citizen  of  prominence  and  influence  in  Swit- 
zerland, where  he  served  as  governor  of  his 
canton  and  held  for  forty  years  the  office  of 
mayor  of  the  city  of  Heiden. 

In  his  youth  Carl  Sonderegger  received 
good  educational  advantages,  and,  like  many 
another  son  of  Switzerland,  he  acquired  full 
command  of  both  the  German  and  French 
languages.  As  a  youth  he  became  associated 
with  his  father  in  the  manufacturing  of  the 
fine  Swiss  embroidery,  and  finally  his  youth- 


ful ambition  led  him  to  sever  the  home  ties 
and  come  to  the  United  States,  where  he  felt 
assured  of  better  opportunities  for  attaining 
independence  and  prosperity  through  his  own 
effort.  In  1875  he  came  to  America  and  in 
the  same  year  he  numbered  himself  among 
the  pioneers  of  Jefferson  county,  Nebraska. 
He  purchased  a  tract  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  of  unimproved  land,  twenty  miles  west 
of  Beatrice,  and  developed  the  same  eventually 
into  one  of  the  valuable  farms  of  this  section 
of  the  state.  There  he  continued  his  success- 
ful activities  as  an  agriculturist  and  stock- 
grower  for  a  full  quarter  of  a  century,  and 
at  the  present  time  he  owns  his  admirably 
equipped  nursery  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty  acres,  the  soil  being  specially  available 
for  the  propagation  of  high-grade  nursery 
stock  and  its  fertility  being  perpetuated 
through  proper  scientific  treatment. 

In  initiating  his  nursery  industry  Mr.  Son- 
deregger began  operation  on  a  modest  scale, 
and  the  first  catalogue  which  he  issued  con- 
tained only  four  pages.  He  has  brought  to 
bear  the  best  scientific  methods  and  the  most 
scrupulous  care  in  the  development  and  up- 
building of  the  enterprise,  and  the  business 
now  demands  the  issuing  of  large  catalogues 
annually,  an  average  of  one  hundred  thousand 
of  these  attractive  catalogues  being  distributed 
each  year.  In  the  year  1900  Mr.  Sonderegger 
established  the  headquarters  of  his  nursery 
business  in  the  city  of  Beatrice,  and  the  in- 
dustry has  in  its  splendid  development  con- 
tributed much  to  the  industrial  and  commer- 
cial prestige  of  the  city  and  county.  Mr. 
Sonderegger  is  imbued  with  the  most  vital 
spirit  of  civic  pride  and  loyalty  and  has  been 
specially  influential  in  the  development  of  the 
attractive  system  of  public  parks  in  Beatrice, 
where  he  is  now  chairman  of  the  municipal 
board  of  park  commissioners,  his  political  al- 
legiance being  given  to  the  Democratic  party. 

As  a  matter  of  commercial  expediency  Mr. 
Sonderegger  has  incorporated  his  business 
under  the  laws  of  Nebraska  and  with  the  title 
of  the  Sonderegger  Nursery  and  Seed  House. 
Operations  are  based  on  a  capital  stock  of 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars,  but  all  of  the 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA  377 


378 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


stock  is  held  by  members  of  the  Sonderegger 
family,  so  that  it  is  a  close  corporation,  the 
subject  of  this  sketch,  as  may  be  inferred,  be- 
ing the  executive  head  of  the  business.  He  is 
a  member  of  the  directorate  of  the  Union 
State  Bank  of  Beatrice  and  also  of  that  t>i 
the  Bonner  Portland  Cement  Company,  of 
Kansas  City,  Missouri.  He  is  affiliated  with 
the  Beatrice  lodge  of  the  Benevolent  &  Pro- 
tective Order  of  Elks  and  he  and  his  wife  are 
active  members  of  the  Christian  church  in 
their  home  city. 

In  the  year  1875  was  solemnized  the  mar- 
riage of  Mr.  Sonderegger  to  Miss  Babetta 
Hohl,  who  likewise  was  born  and  reared  in 
Switzerland  and  who  joined  him  in  America 
within  a  short  time  after  his  immigration  to 
this  country.  Most  gracious  have  been  the 
relations  of  the  family  home  circle  and  in  the 
concluding  paragraph  of  this  article  are  given 
brief  data  concerning  the  childi-en  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Sonderegger. 

Clara  married  and  resides  in  La  Crosse, 
Wisconsin.  Charles,  who  is  associated  with 
his  father  in  business,  married  Miss  Mabel 
Jones  and  they  have  two  children, — ■  Carl  and 
Morris ;  Lydia  is  the  wife  of  Charles  Hughes, 
a  farmer  of  Jefiferson  county,  this  state,  and 
they  have  three  children, —  Clara,  Leo  and 
Lucille;  Leo,  who  is  now  engaged  in  business 
in  New  York  city,  married  Miss  Louise  Get- 
zentanner  and  has  two  children, —  Leo  and 
I<ouise;  Frederick,  who  is  associated  with  his 
father's  nursery  business,  wedded  Miss  H. 
Sonderegger  and  they  have  three  children, — 
Frederick,  Arnold  and  Margaret;  Ernest  has 
more  special  connection  with  the  seed  de- 
partment of  the  Sonderegger  nursery :  the 
maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Helen  Loeber 
and  they  have  no  children ;  Lena  is  the  wife 
of  Ralph  Rosezell,  who  is  engaged  in  the  pho- 
tographic business  in  Beatrice,  and  their  two 
children  are  Richard  and  Catherine ;  Arthur, 
who  is  connected  with  the  nursery  business 
of  his  father,  wedded  Miss  Ruth  Atwater,  and 
they  have  one  child,  Phyllis ;  Hilda  is  the  wife 
of  Clayton  Harris  and  they  reside  at  Los 
Angeles,  California ;  and  Helen  remains  at 
the  parental  home. 


FRANK  W.  JONES.  — The  attractive 
little  village  of  Clatonia  claims  Mr.  Jones  as 
one  of  its  liberal  citizens  and  representative 
business  men.  Here  he  has  developed  a  pros- 
perous enterprise  in  the  handling  of  lumber 
and  building  supplies,  and  in  connection  there- 
with he  keeps  pace  with  the  modern  trend  by 
acting  also  as  agent  for  the  celebrated  Over- 
land automobile  for  this  part  of  the  county. 

Mr.  Jones  was  born  on  a  farm  near  the  city 
of  Dixon,  Illinois,  on  the  8th  of  April,  1870, 
and  is  a  son  of  George  H.  and  Jane  A.  (Whit- 
comb)  Jones.  He  is  the  eldest  in  a  family  of 
four  children  and  concerning  the  others  the 
following  brief  data  may  consistently  be  en- 
tered: Elva  is  the  wife  of  James  E.  McCor- 
mack,  who  is  a  partner  in  the  business  of  the 
subject  of  this  sketch ;  Cyrus  P.  is  a  prosper- 
ous farmer  in  Highland  township;  and  Vema 
remains  with  her  widowed  mother  in  the 
pleasant  home  in  the  village  of  Cortland,  this 
county. 

George  H.  Jones  was  born  in  the  state  of 
Maine,  in  1847,  and  was  nine  years  of  age 
when  he  accompanied  his  parents  on  their  re- 
moval to  Illinois,  where  he  was  reared  and 
educated  and  where  he  continued  his  residence 
until  1872,  when  he  came  to  Nebraska  and 
became  one  of  the  pioneers  of  Gage  county. 
He  entered  claim  to  a  homestead  of  eighty 
acres  in  Highland  township;  in  1874  he  pur- 
chased from  the  railroad  company  an  adjoin- 
ing eighty  acres,  and  in  1884  he  added  another 
eighty  acres  to  his  valuable  landed  estate.  His 
old  homestead  place  is  situated  in  Section  30, 
and  he  owned  also  the  northwest  one-half  of 
Section  31  in  the  same  township.  He  made 
the  best  of  improvements  upon  his  land  and 
was  one  of  the  prominent  farmers  of  the 
county  for  many  years.  For  a  time  he  rented 
his  farm  and  he  was  engaged  in  the  mercan- 
tile business  in  Cortland,  Nebraska,  about  two 
years.  Finally  he  retired  again  from  his  farm 
and  moved  to  Cortland,  where  he  remained 
until  his  death,  in  1909.  Mr.  Jones  was  a  man 
of  sterling  character  and  marked  ability,  so 
that  he  consistently  was  called  upon  to  serve 
as  a  member  of  the  county  board  of  super- 
visors —  an  office  in  which  he  made  a  record 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


379 


for  liberality  and  progressiveness.  He  was  a 
staunch  supporter  of  the  cause  of  the  Repub- 
lican party  and  was  an  active  member  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church,  as  is  also  his 
widow.  Mrs.  Jones  was  born  near  the  city  of 
Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania,  and  was  a  resident 
of  Illinois  at  the  time  of  her  marriage.  She 
is  one  of  the  loved  pioneer  women  of  Gage 
county  and  is  now  about  seventy  years  of  age. 
She  still  resides  at  Cortland. 

Frank  W.  Jones  was  a  child  of  two  years 
at  the  time  of  the  family  removal  to  Gage 
county,  where  he  was  reared  on  the  home  farm 
and  early  gained  experience  in  herding  cattle 
on  the  prairies,  besides  which  he  recalls  as  a 
part  of  his  experience  in  the  pioneer  days  the 
occasional  seeing  of  deer  in  this  section  of  the 
state.  He  was  afforded  the  advantages  of  the 
public  schools  and  continued  to  be  associated 
with  his  father  in  farm  industry  until  the  re- 
moval of  his  parents  to  the  village  of  Cortland, 
where  for  the  ensuing  two  years  he  clerked  in 
his  father's  general  store.  The  next  year 
there  found  him  employed  as  assistant  in  a 
lumber  yard,  and  on  the  14th  of  February, 
1893,  he  removed  to  Clatonia,  where  for  the 
following  year  he  had  charge  of  the  lumber 
yard  of  his  uncle,  H.  H.  Jones.  He  then 
opened  a  general  merchandise  store  in  the  vil- 
lage and  for  the  following  eleven  years  he 
successfully  conducted  this  business.  In  1893 
he  was  appointed  postmaster  of  Clatonia,  and 
of  this  office  he  continued  the  incumbent  until 
he  sold  his  mercantile  business  and  formed  a 
partnership  with  James  E.  McComiack,  with 
whom  he  has  here  been  associated  in  the  retail 
lumber  trade  since  that  time.  He  is  the  owner 
of  his  attractive  residence  in  Clatonia  and  also 
of  other  realty  in  the  village.  Taking  a  loyal 
interest  in  local  aff'airs,  Mr.  Jones  was  the 
one  who  prepared  the  petition  that  led  to  the 
incorporation  of  the  village  of  Clatonia,  and 
since  that  time  he  has  served  several  terms  as 
a  member  of  the  municipal  council.  His  politi- 
cal allegiance  is  given  to  the  Republican  party 
and  he  and  his  wife  hold  membership  in  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church. 

December  21,   1893,  recorded  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  Jones  to  Miss  Ella  L.  Albert,  a  daugh- 


ter of  Henry  Albert,  of  whom  specific  men- 
tion is  made  on  other  pages  of  this  work,  so 
that  further  record  concerning  the  family  is 
not  demanded  in  the  present  connection.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Jones  have  but  one  child,  Izetta,  who 
was  born  July  27,  1896,  and  who  remains  at 
the  parental  home  —  a  young  woman  of  cul- 
ture and  one  who  is  a  popular  figure  in  the  so- 
cial activities  of  her  home  community.  Miss 
Jones  was  for  two  years  a  student  in  the  high 
school  of  Lincoln,  Nebraska's  capital  city,  and 
thereafter  she  was  for  two  years  a  student  in 
the  high  school  at  University  Place.  She  is 
now  attending  Wesleyan  University,  at  Uni- 
versity Place,  Lancaster  county.  She  taught 
two  terms  of  school  in  Grant  township  and 
proved  herself  a  successful  worker  in  the 
pedagogic  ser\'ice. 

BENJAMIN  F.  STEINMEYER,  who  is 
one  of  the  progressive  and  successful  expon- 
ents of  agricultural  and  live-stock  enterprise 
in  his  native  county  and  a  member  of  one  of 
the  well  known  and  influential  pioneer  families 
of  this  section  of  Nebraska,  was  bom  in  Cla- 
tonia township,  on  the  27th  of  January,  1883, 
a  son  of  William  and  Louisa  (Schlake)  Stein- 
meyer,  of  whose  ten  children  the  firstborn 
was  John,  who  died  in  infancy;  Sophia,  who 
was  born  April  11,  1873,  remains  with  her 
widowed  mother;  Ella  died  in  early  child- 
hood ;  Henry,  a  representative  farmer  of  Cla- 
tonia township,  was  bom  April  13,  1878; 
Anna  is  the  wife  of  Fred  Carsten,  of  Hallan, 
Lancaster  county,  her  birth  having  occurred 
February  5,  1881 ;  Benjamin  F.,  immediate 
subject  of  this  review,  was  the  next  in  order 
of  birth;  William,  who  was  born  April  5, 
1885,  has  the  management  of  the  old  home- 
stead farm,  in  Clatonia  township ;  Jennie,  who 
was  born  Februaray  16,  1887,  is  the  wife  of 
A.  P.  Kost,  of  St.  Joseph,  Missouri ;  Edwin, 
who  was  born  February  25,  1890,  is  a  pros- 
perous farmer  of  Clatonia  township,  and  his 
twin  brother,  Albert,  died  at  the  age  of  nine- 
teen years. 

The  late  William  Steinmeyer  was  born  in 
the  province  of  Hanover,  Germany,  July  9, 
1839,   a   son   of   John   Henry   and   Elizabeth 


380 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


381 


(Fradiker)  Steinmeyer,  there  having  been  five 
other  children,  —  Frederick,  Henry,  Mary, 
Ann  and  Emma.  John  Henry  Steinmeyer  im- 
migrated with  his  family  to  America  in  1857, 
and  after  a  voyage  of  eight  weeks  on  a  sail- 
ing vessel  they  landed  in  Baltimore,  Mary- 
land. The  family  home  was  established  in 
Scioto  county,  Ohio,  where  John  Henry  Stein- 
meyer continued  his  residence  until  the  autumn 
of  1865,  when  he  came  with  other  members  of 
his  family  to  Nebraska  Territory.  In  the 
following  spring  he  came  to  Gage  county  and 
filed  claim  to  a  homestead  of  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  in  Clatonia  township,  the  pres- 
ent thriving  village  of  Clatonia  being  on  the 
tract  which  he  thus  secured  prior  to  the  ad- 
mission of  Nebraska  to  the  Union.  He  re- 
claimed his  pioneer  farm  to  cultivation  and 
he  and  his  wife  here  passed  the  remainder 
of  their  lives. 

William  Steinmeyer  was  reared  and  educat- 
ed in  his  native  land  and  was  eighteen  years 
of  age  at  the  time  of  the  family  immigration 
to  America.  Upon  coming  with  his  father  to 
Gage  county,  Nebraska,  in  the  spring  of  1866, 
he  took  up  a  homestead  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres,  in  Section  28,  Clatonia  township, 
this  place  being  an  integral  part  of  the  large 
and  finely  improved  landed  estate  which  he 
eventually  accumulated  and  which  is  still 
owned  by  his  widow.  Of  the  conditions  that 
here  prevailed  at  the  time  when  Mr.  Stein- 
meyer initiated  his  pioneer  experience  the  fol- 
lowing interesting  statements  have  been  writ- 
ten: "The  embryonic  farm  bore  little  re- 
semblance to  its  condition  in  the  present  day, 
the  plowshare  never  having  passed  over  it 
and  not  a  building  having  been  erected  for  the 
shelter  of  man  or  beast.  Mr.  Steinmeyer 
was  prepared,  however,  for  this  state  of  things 
and  after  finding  a  temporary  home  he  began 
to  gather  together  implements  for  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  soil,  while  he  girded  himself  ear- 
nestly and  staunchly  for  the  developing  of  a 
productive  farm  from  the  prairie  wilds."  Mr. 
Steinmeyer  made  the  best  of  improvements 
upon  his  original  homestead,  and  the  buildings 
and  general  attractiveness  of  the  place  to-day 
evidence  his  industry  and  good  management. 


On  the  old  homestead  he  continued  to  reside 
until  his  death,  which  occurred  July  3,  1911, 
and  he  was  one  of  the  honored  pioneer  citizens 
of  the  county  when  he  was  thus  called  from 
the  stage  of  life's  mortal  endeavors.  He  be- 
came the  owner  of  a  fine  landed  estate  of  one 
thousand  four  hundred  and  sixty  acres  in 
Gage  county,  five  hundred  acres  in  Missouri 
and  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  in  Kan- 
sas. His  sons  utilize  the  various  farms  for 
their  productive  activities  as  agriculturalists 
and  stock  growers.  He  was  a  stalwart  Re- 
publican in  politics  was  loyal  and  progressive 
as  a  citizen  and  his  ability  and  popularity  gave 
him  marked  influence  in  community  affairs. 
He  served  two  terms  as  treasurer  of  Clatonia 
township  and  was  a  charter  member  of  the 
German  Methodist  church  that  was  organized 
by  his  father  in  Clatonia  township,  his  widow 
likewise  being  an  earnest  member  of  this  re- 
ligious body. 

January  19,  1870,  recorded  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Steinmeyer  to  Miss  Louisa  Schlake,  who 
was  born  in  Prussia,  February  12,  1851,  a 
daughter  of  Henry  and  Mary  (Tieman) 
Schlake,  the  former  of  whom  passed  his  en- 
tire life  in  Germany  and  who  was  survived  by 
five  children,  —  Mary  Ann,  William,  Char- 
lotte, Louisa  and  Caroline.  The  devoted 
mother  came  to  America  in  1870  and  came 
with  her  daughter  to  Gage  county,  where  she 
died  four  weeks  later.  Mrs.  Steinmeyer  was 
reared  and  educated  in  her  native  land  and 
was  about  seventeen  years  of  age  when,  in 
1869,  she  came  to  the  United  States  in  com- 
pany with  her  sister.  She  remained  for  a 
time  at  Aurora,  Illinois,  and  after  a  few 
months  came  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  where 
her  marriage  was  shortly  afterward  solem- 
nized. After  the  death  of  her  husband  she 
removed  to  the  village  of  Clatonia,  where  she 
and  her  eldest  daughter  have  an  attractive 
home,  and  she  still  retains  ownership  of  the 
valuable  farm  property  accumulated  by  her 
honored  husband.  All  of  her  ten  children,  of 
whom  mention  has  been  made  in  an  earlier 
paragraph,  received  good  educational  advan- 
tages, including  those  of  the  college  at  War- 
renton,   Missouri. 


382 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Benjamin  F.  Steinmeyer,  the  immediate 
subject  of  this  review,  was  reared  on  the  old 
home  farm,  and  after  completing  the  curricu- 
lum of  the  district  schools  he  was  for  some 
time  a  student  in  the  Central  Wesleyan  Col- 
lege, at  Warrenton,  Missouri.  He  has  never 
found  it  expedient  or  a  matter  of  desire  to 
deflect  his  course  from  farm  industry  and  he 
is  now  successfully  carrying  on  progressive 
enterprise  as  an  agriculturist  and  stock-grow- 
er in  his  native  township,  where  he  operates 
a  part  of  the  family  estate,  in  Clatonia  town- 
ship. His  political  support  is  given  to  the  Re- 
publican party  and  at  Beatrice  he  is  affiliated 
with  the  lodge  of  the  Benevolent  and  Protec- 
tive Order  of  Elks,  besides  which  he  is  a 
member  of  Blue  Valley  Lodge,  Ancient  Free 
&  Accepted  Masons,  at  Wilber,  Saline  county. 

On  the  2d  of  June,  1915,  Mr.  Steinmeyer 
wedded  Miss  Alice  Balderson,  who  was  born 
at  Crete,  Saline  county,  October  1,  1890,  a 
daughter  of  Jacob  and  Carrie  (Schnacker) 
Balderson,  who  removed  eventually  to  Wilber, 
that  county,  where  the  father  is  living  retired, 
Mrs.  Balderson  being  now  deceased.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Steinmeyer  have  a  fine  little  son,  George 
Benjamin,  who  was  born  August  6,  1916. 

TAMME  R.  ZIMMERMAN,  a  venerable 
and  highly  honored  citizen  who  is  now  living 
retired  in  the  city  of  Beatrice,  is  a  man  who 
has  proved  one  of  the  world's  productive 
workers  and  one  who  has  merited  the  distinc- 
tive prosperity  that  is  his  in  the  gracious 
evening  of  his  long  and  useful  life.  He  is  the 
owner  of  two  thousand  acres  of  land  in  Texas, 
and  in  Nebraska  he  owns  sixteen  hundred  and 
eighty  acres  in  Gage  county,  four  hundred  and 
eighty  in  Red  Willow  county,  three  hundred 
and  twenty  in  Cherry  county,  and  one  hundred 
and  sixty  in  Franklin  county.  In  his  exten- 
sive operations  as  a  farmer  and  ranchman  he 
made  a  specialty  of  raising  the  best  type  of 
live  stock,  and  his  energy  and  good  judgment 
made  his  success  assured  and  cumulative. 

Mr.  Zimmerman  was  bom  in  the  province 
of  Hanover,  Germany,  October  14,  1834,  and 
is  a  son  of  Frank  and  Anna  (Dorn)  Zimmer- 
man, of  whose  family  of  two  sons  and  three 


daughters  only  the  two  sons  are  now  livmg, 
Claus  being  a  resident  of  the  village  of  Pick- 
rell,  this  county,  and  having  celebrated  in 
1918  his  eighty-seventh  birthday  anniversary. 
The  parents  passed  their  entire  lives  in  Ger- 
many. 

The  subject  of  this  review  was  but  two 
years  old  at  the  time  of  his  mother's  death  and 
only  six  years  of  age  when  his  father  died. 
Thus  he  was  early  thrown  on  his  own  re- 
sources, and  how  efifectively  he  has  lived  up 
to  the  responsibilities  devolving  upon  him  is 
shown  in  the  unqualified  success  which  he  has 
won  through  his  own  efforts.  As  a  boy  and 
youth  in  his  native  land  he  was  able  to  attend 
school  only  one  month  each  year,  and  there  he 
continued  to  be  employed  at  farm  work  until 
1856,  when  he  came  to  America  and  found 
employment  on  a  farm  in  Menard  county. 
Illinois.  In  1859  he  there  took  unto  himself 
a  wife,  and  in  the  following  year  he  and  his 
young  wife  came  to  Nebraska  Territory  and 
numbered  themselves  among  the  early  pio- 
neer settlers  of  Richardson  county.  In  Frank- 
lin precinct  of  that  county  he  purchased  forty 
acres  of  raw  prairie  land,  upon  which  he  built 
a  primitive  log  house,  and  there  he  continued 
his  farming  activities  two  years.  In  1862  he 
came  to  Gage  county  and  bought  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  of  land  in  Logan  township. 
Here  he  began  vigorously  the  agricultural  and 
live-stock  enterprise  that  brought  to  him  ever- 
increasing  success  with  the  passing  years,  and 
as  his  financial  resources  were  augmented  he 
added  gradually  to  his  landed  estate,  while 
eventually  he  accumulated  valuable  property 
in  other  counties  of  Nebraska,  as  well  as  his 
extensive  land  holdings  in  Texas.  He  con- 
tinued as  one  of  the  representative  exponents 
of  farm  enterprise  in  Logan  township  until 
1904,  since  which  time  he  has  lived  in  well 
earned  retirement,  with  a  comfortable  and  at- 
tractive home  in  Beatrice. 

In  1859  Mr.  Zimmerman  married  Miss 
Catherine  Miller,  who  was  born  in  Germany 
and  who  came  with  her  father  to  the  United 
States  in  1855,  the  family  home  being  estab- 
lished in  Illinois.  Mrs.  Zimmennan  passed  to 
the  life  eternal  on  the  11th  of  July,   1910,  a 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


devout  communicant  of  the  German  Lutheran 
church.  Of  this  union  were  born  eight  chil- 
dren :  Mrs.  Anna  Dom  Uves  in  Frankhn 
county ;  Mrs.  Abbie  Meints  is  a  resident  of 
Logan  township,  Gage  county;  Mrs.  Fannie 
Baughman  hves  near  Pickrell,  this  county ; 
Eilert  is  Hving  on  his  father's  old  homestead 
farm,  in  Logan  township ;  Rachel  and  Renken 
are  deceased;  Mrs.  Tillie  Frerichs  resides  in 
Logan  township  ;  and  Mrs.  Mary  Huttenmaier 
lives  on  a  farm  five  miles  east  of  Beatrice. 

On  the  6th  of  December,  19n,  Mr.  Zimmer- 
man wedded  Mrs.  Julia  (Matthews)  Ayers, 
widow  of  Jonathan  Ayers.  By  her  first  mar- 
riage Mrs.  Zimmerman  has  three  children: 
William  is  a  resident  of  Dodge  City,  Kansas, 
where  he  holds  the  position  of  inspector  in  the 
service  of  the  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe 
Railroad ;  Harry  is  superintendent  of  the 
plant  of  the  great  packing  house  of  Swift  & 
Company  in  the  city  of  St.  Paul,  Minnesota; 
and  Mrs.  Effie  Grace  resides  at  Downs,  Os- 
borne county,  Kansas.  Mrs.  Zimmerman  was 
born  in  Warren  county,  Pennsylvania,  and  was 
five  years  old  when  her  parents,  Ansel  and 
Barbara  (Dias)  Matthews,  became  pioneer 
settlers  in  Iowa,  her  father  having  been  a 
native  of  Massachusetts  and  her  mother  of  In- 
diana. After  her  marriage  to  Jonathan  Ayers, 
Mrs.  Zimmerman  came  with  her  husband  to 
Gage  county  and  made  settlement  on  the  Otoe 
Indian  reservation,  in  1878,  their  elder  son 
having  been  the  first  white  child  bom  on  this 
reservation.  Mr.  Zimmerman  is  a  Democrat 
in  politics  and  is  a  member  of  the  Lutheran 
church,  Mrs.  Zimmerman  being  a  member  of 
the  Methodist  church. 

REV.  LEONARD  POEVERLEIN,  the 
honored  pastor  of  the  parish  of  St.  John's 
German  Lutheran  church  in  the  city  of  Be- 
atrice, has  retained  this  incumbency  since  the 
13th  of  December,  1883,  and  is  one  of  the  re- 
vered pioneer  clergymen  of  the  Lutheran  faith 
in  this  section  of  the  state  —  the  devoted 
shepherd  of  his  flock,  the  friend  of  all  human- 
ity, and  the  earnest  vicar  of  the  Divine  Master 
whom  he  has  served  with  all  of  consecrated 
zeal. 


Mr.  Poeverlein  was  born  in  the  Kingdom  of 
Bavaria,  Germany,  December  25,  1848,  a  son 
of  George  and  Maria  (Fakelmeier)  Poever- 
lein, who  passed  their  entire  lives  in  that  part 
of  the  German  empire.  In  his  native  land 
Mr.  Poeverlein  was  given  excellent  education- 
al advantages  in  his  youth  and  in  preparation 
for  the  responsible  work  of  the  ministry  he 
completed  a  most  thorough  academic  and 
theological  education  in  the  Lutheran  seminary 
at  Neuen  Dettelsau,  Germany,  his  ordination 
to  the  ministry  having  occurred  in  1873. 
Prompted  by  faith  that  in  America  he  would 
find  a  field  for  eftective  service  in  his  chosen 
calling,  Mr.  Poeverlein  came  to  this  country 
in  the  autumn  of  1873,  arriving  in  New  York 
city  on  the  25th  of  September,  and  a  few 
weeks  later  continuing  his  westward  journey 
to  Dubuque,  Iowa.  Soon  afterward  he  be- 
came pastor  of  a  small  church  organization 
at  Iowa  City,  where  he  remained  until  the 
spring  of  1874,  when  he  came  to  Nebraska 
and,  on  the  18th  of  April,  entered  upon  pas- 
toral duties  in  Nemaha  county.  One  year 
later  he  went  to  Rockport,  Missouri,  where  he 
held  a  pastoral  charge  until  December  13. 
1883,  since  which  time  he  has  been  pastor  of 
St.  John's  church  in  the  city  of  Beatrice. 
L'nder  his  faithful  pastoral  and  executive  di- 
rection this  parish  has  prospered  both  spiritu- 
ally and  temporally,  and  the  congregation  now 
includes  fifty  families  or  more,  with  a  roll  of 
one  hundred  and  fifty  communicants.  Mr. 
Poeverlein  has  been  earnest  not  only  in  his 
church  activities  but  also  as  a  loyal  and  public- 
spirited  citizen  interested  in  furthering  the 
communal  welfare  along  all  lines,  and  he  has 
the  high  esteem  of  the  people  among  whom 
he  has  so  long  lived  and  labored. 

In  1876  was  solemnized  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Poeverlein  to  Miss  Louisa  Hemperer. 
who  was  born  and  reared  in  Clayton  county, 
Iowa,  and  of  the  four  children  of  this  union, 
the  firstborn,  Charles,  died  at  the  age  of 
seventeen  months;  Matilda,  who  remains  at 
the  parental  home,'  was  graduated  in  the 
Beatrice  high  school,  and  is  now  a  popular 
teacher  in  the  public  schools  of  her  home  city; 
Heade,   likewise  a   graduate  of   the   Beatrice 


384 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


high  school,  is  now  an  efficient  teacher  in  the 
public  schools  at  Columbus,  Platte  county; 
and  Freda,  who  remains  with  her  parents,  was 
graduated  in  the  local  high  school  and  also  the 
Beatrice  Business  College. 

ALFRED  HAZLETT.  —  Judge  Hazlett 
was  bom  and  reared  in  Indiana  county,  Penn- 
sylvania. To  the  country  public  schools  of 
his  native  commonwealth  he  is  indebted  for 
his  preliminary  educational  discipline,  which 
was  supplemented  by  a  course  of  higher 
studies  in  Jefferson  College,  at  Cannonsburg, 
Pennsylvania.  In  preparing  himself  for  his 
chosen  profession,  he  prosecuted  his  studies 
under  the  tutorship  of  former  United  States 
Senator  Edgar  Cowan,  of  Greensburg,  Penn- 
sylvania, and  in  June,  1871,  he  was  admitted 
to  the  bar  of  his  native  state. 

In  the  fall  of  1871,  having  just  arrived  at 
the  age  of  his  majority,  with  all  of  his  vital 
and  youthful  ambition,  he  came  to  Nebraska, 
and  established  his  residence  in  Beatrice, 
where  he  has  since  continuously  resided. 

In  the  year  1876,  at  Omaha,  Nebraska,  was 
solemnized  the  marriage  of  Judge  Hazlett  to 
Miss  Sibbie  Cotton.  They  have  no  living 
children.  Those  of  the  early  pioneers  now  liv- 
ing, and  who  knew  him  from  the  time  of  his 
location  in  Nebraska,  were  impressed  with  his 
tall,  manly,  dignified  figure,  and  pronounced 
him  the  man  that  he  was  subsequently  found 
to  be.  He  was  strong  in  mind  and  still  at  his 
present  age  is  maintaining  a  fine,  shapely 
physique.  Of  Scotch-Irish  descent  he  was 
born  strong  for  decision,  judgment,  and  with 
pronounced  self-independence.  During  all  of 
his  life  he  has  had  a  dislike  for  the  affected 
or  pretentious,  and  despised  hypocrisy,  deceit, 
and  dishonesty.  Perhaps,  on  account  of  this 
one  permanent  feature  in  his  character,  he  has 
always  refrained  from  entering  into  what  he 
has  termed  the  tainted  cesspool  of  politics, 
although  his  friends  many  times  have  urged 
and  beseeched  him  to  run  not  only  for  state, 
but  for  national  office. 

Within  a  period  of  some  forty  years  of  his 
professional  activity,  in  Gage  county.  Judge 
Hazlett  won,  and  still  maintains,  for  himself 


a  reputation  for  being  one  of  the  strongest, 
and  most  resourceful  trial  lawyers  in  south- 
eastern Nebraska.  No  member  of  the  Gage 
county  bar  has  participated  in  so  many  con- 
tested cases,  both  of  a  civil  and  criminal  na- 
ture as  he,  and  with  so  great  a  success.  His 
whole  aim  in  his  work  was  not  so  much  for 
the  money  he  could  obtain  from  his  clients 
but  to  win  their  cases.  His  judgment  of  men 
is  recognized  by  all,  and  this  attribute  alone 
has  never  failed  him  in  selecting  the  jury,  and 
in  questioning  the  witness.  The  make-up  of 
his  machinery  is  grand,  in  this  :  He  is  honest : 
he  is  keen,  with  a  bright  mind  stored  with  legal 
lore ;  in  appearance  he  is  somewhat  austere  — 
and  yet  no  one  is  more  gentle  in  spirit  —  and 
retiring;  he  stands  as  one  of  our  central  fig- 
ures ;  he  has  a  liberal  education,  and  is  an 
able  advocate.  Those  who  have  seen  him  in 
our  different  courts,  in  important  cases,  and 
have  heard  him  address  a  jury,  say  that  for 
forensic  eloquence  and  convincing  argument 
few,  if  any,  surpass  him.  He  is  indeed  a 
strong  man,  by  reason  of  his  force  of  char- 
acter and  his  ability  as  a  lawyer,  and  he  has 
been  and  is  a  potent  factor  in  the  affairs  of 
men.  In  all  of  his  active  professional  life  it 
is  to  be  said  that  he  is  possessed  only  of  a 
modest  estate  in  worldly  goods,  and  this  fact 
is  a  genuine  testimonial  to  his  honesty  and 
self-sacrifice.  He  has  often  said  that  there 
is  no  grander  type  of  manhood  on  earth  than 
an  able,  cultured,  honest  lawyer. 

MRS.  SOPHIA  H.  DOLE.  — More  than 
casual  distinction  attaches  to  the  personality 
and  record  of  this  venerable  and  revered  pio- 
neer woman,  for  not  only  has  she  been  a  resi- 
dent of  Nebraska  since  the  territorial  period 
of  its  history  and  endured  her  share  of  the 
hardships  and  vicissitudes  that  marked  the 
early  stages  of  development  and  progress  in 
this  now  favored  commonwealth,  but  it  has 
also  been  within  her  province  to  found  and 
upbuild  in  her  home  city  of  Beatrice  a  most 
prosperous  and  representative  business  enter- 
prise —  that  conducted  under  the  corporate 
title  of  the  Dole  Floral  Company.  Though 
this  gracious  gentlewoman  celebrated  in  1917, 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


385 


the  eighty-first  anniversary  of  her  birth,  she 
still  takes  vital  and  earnest  interest  in  the 
world's  work  and  fortunes,  and  incidental  to 
the  activities  of  preparation  for  the  nation's 
participation  in  the  stupendous  war  in  Europe 
she  has  been  found  busily  applying  herself  in 
skillful  knitting  of  garments  and  supplies  for 
the  Red  Cross  service  and  otherwise  "doing 
her  bit"  to  exemplify  the  ardent  patriotism 
of  American  womanhood. 

Mrs.  Dole  was  born  in  the  state  of  New 
York,  on  the  6th  of  October,  1836,  and  is  a 
daughter  of  P.  J.  and  Mary  (Derbyshire) 
Hooker,  who  were  pioneer  settlers  of  Seward 
county,  Nebraska,  and  whose  names  merit 
enduring  place  on  the  roster  of  those  who 
aided  in  the  civic  and  industrial  development 
of  the  territory  and  state.  Mrs.  Dole  was 
reared  and  educated  in  her  native  state  and 
after  two  of  her  brothers  had  returned  home 
after  valiant  service  as  soldiers  of  the  Union 
in  the  Civil  war,  the  entire  family  came  to  the 
Territory  of  Nebraska,  in  1866,  settlement  be- 
ing made  in  Seward  county,  the  father,  two 
sons,  and  two  daughters  taking  homesteads. 
The  comparative  isolation  and  the  primitive 
conditions  that  marked  the  life  of  Mrs.  Dole 
during  the  pioneer  period  of  her  residence  in 
Nebraska,  could  not  in  the  least  curb  her  in- 
tellectual activity  or  her  ambitions,  and  she 
has  grown  in  mental  stature  with  the  passing 
years,  has  shown  abiding  human  sympathy 
and  tolerance  and  has  manifested  her  steward- 
ship in  kindly  words  and  kindly  deeds.  Mrs. 
Dole  has  been  a  member  of  the  Congrega- 
tional church  since  she  was  fourteen  years  of 
age,  and  has  exemplified  her  Christian  faith 
in  her  daily  life.  Her  marriage  to  J.  G.  Dole 
was  solemnized  in  the  year  1869,  and  her  hus- 
band devoted  the  major  part  of  his  active 
career  to  brick  manufacturing,  he  having  been 
a  resident  of  Beatrice  at  the  time  of  his  death, 
April  19,  1903. 

Mrs.  Dole  has  maintained  her  home  at 
Beatrice,  judicial  center  of  Gage  county,  since 
1889,  and  in  establishing  and  developing  the 
now  extensive  business  of  the  Dole  Floral 
Company  she  has  demonstrated  not  only  her 
executive   ability   and   mature   judgment,   but 


also  exemplified  her  desire  to  provide  for  hu- 
manity the  gracious  natural  products  that 
make  for  beauty  and  good  cheer.  Of  this 
company  specific  mention  is  made  on  other 
pages.  In  her  venerable  years  she  is  sus- 
tained and  comforted  by  the  filial  devotion  of 
her  five  children,  concerning  whom  the  fol- 
lowing brief  data  are  available:  Edward  W. 
is  engaged  in  fanning  and  is  the  subject  of 
an  individual  record  on  other  pages  of  this 
volume;  Walter  A.,  who  was  long  and  active- 
ly associated  with  the  Dole  Floral  Company, 
has  sold  his  property  interests  at  Beatrice  and 
is  at  the  time  of  this  writing,  in  the  winter  of 
1917,  making  provisions  to  establish  his  home 
in  the  state  of  Georgia;  Anna  D.  is  the  wife 
of  George  M.  Johnston,  who  is  manager  of 
the  Dole  Floral  Company,  and  who  is  indi- 
vidually mentioned  on  other  pages  of  this 
publication ;  Ella  S.  is  the  wife  of  Frederick 
von  Boskirk,  who  is  a  successful  farmer  of 
Gage  county  and  whose  life  work  is  portrayed 
elsewhere  in  this  volume ;  and  Elbert  J.  is  en- 
gaged in  the  photographic  business  in  the  city 
of  Lincoln,  this  state. 

JAMES  B.  McLaughlin  was  a  gallant 
young  veteran  of  the  Civil  war  when  he  made 
his  first  visit  to  Nebraska,  in  the  year  that 
marked  the  admission  of  the  state  to  the 
Union,  and  in  the  autumn  of  the  same  year 
he  returned  to  Illinois,  where  he  wedded  the 
gracious  young  woman  who  was  to  prove  his 
devoted  companion  and  helpmate  during  the 
remainder  of  his  long  and  useful  life  and  who 
is  still  living.  In  the  spring  of  1868  they  set- 
tled in  Sherman  township.  James  Brady  Mc- 
Laughlin was  a  man  of  sterling  character  and 
high  ideals,  and  he  bore  his  full  share  of  the 
burdens  and  responsibilities  incidental  to  the 
march  of  progress  in  a  pioneer  locality,  as 
proved  by  his  civic  loyalty  and  influence  dur- 
ing the  many  years  of  his  residence  in  Gage 
county  and  by  the  success  which  attended  his 
activities  as  an  exponent  of  agricultural  and 
live-stock  industry.  He  was  one  of  the  hon- 
ored and  venerable  pioneer  citizens  of  Rock- 
ford  township  at  the  time  of  his  death,  which 
occurred  September  12,  1914,  and  it  is  fitting 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


that  in  this  history  be  entered  a  tribute  to  his 
memory. 

Mr.  McLaughlin  was  bom  at  McKeysport, 
Allegheny  county,  Pennsylvania,  on  the  5th 
of  January,  1841,  and  was  a  son  of  David 
and  Hannah  (Brady)  McLaughlin,  both  na- 
tives of  Westmoreland  county,  that  state.  The 
paternal  grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this 
memoir  was  John  McLaughlin,  who  came 
from  Scotland  to  America  when  he  was  a 
youth  of  sixteen  years  and  who  passed  the 
residue  of  his  life  in  Pennsylvania.  The  ma- 
ternal grandfather  was  a  cousin  of  Samuel 
Brady,  who  achieved  historic  reputation  as  an 
Indian  hunter.  For  fully  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury David  McLaughlin  served  as  a  pilot  on 
boats  plying  the  Ohio  river,  and  in  1857  he 
removed  with  his  family  from  Pennsylvania 
to  Rock  Island  county,  Illinois,  where  he  be- 
came a  prosperous  farmer  and  where  he  died 
in  1870,  at  the  age  of  fifty-seven  years,  his 
widow  having  survived  him  by  a  number  of 
years.  They  became  the  parents  of  eight  sons 
and  one  daughter  and  all  save  one,  the  daugh- 
ter, are  deceased. 

James  B.  McLaughlin  gained  his  youthful 
education  in  the  schools  of  the  old  Keystone 
state  and  was  sixteen  years  old  at  the  time 
of  the  family  removal  to  Illinois,  where  he 
supplemented  his  education  by  attending 
school  during  several  winter  terms,  when  his 
services  were  not  in  requisition  in  connection 
with  the  work  of  the  home  farm.  Mr.  Mc- 
Laughlin was  twenty  years  of  age  at  the  out- 
break of  the  Civil  war  and  in  1862  he  en- 
listed, for  a  three  months'  term,  as  a  pri- 
vate in  Company  F,  Sixty-ninth  Illinois  Vol- 
unteer Infantry.  He  was  assigned  to  guard 
duty  over  the  great  number  of  Confederate 
prisoners  held  at  Camp  Douglas,  Chicago,  and 
in  the  atuumn  of  1862,  he  was  an  escort  of 
such  of  these  prisoners  as  were  taken  to 
Vicksburg,  Mississippi,  for  exchange.  He 
continued  in  service  three  months  after  the 
expiration  of  his  term  of  enlistment  and  then 
received  his  honorable  discharge,  at  Camp 
Douglas.  In  1865  he  again  enlisted,  for  the 
duration  of  the  war,  and  after  being  mustered 
in  he  was  sent  to  New  Orleans,  whence  he 


was  transferred  to  Mobile.  Finally  he  was 
assigned  to  guard  duty  at  Montgomery,  Ala- 
bama,' where  he  was  taken  ill  with  fever  and 
confined  in  a  hospital  two  months.  He  was 
finally  discharged,  on  account  of  physical  dis- 
ability, and  he  arrived  at  his  home  in  Illinois 
in  the  autumn  of  1865.  There  he  remained 
until  1867,  when  he  came  to  Nebraska,  and 
after  a  tour  of  investigation  he  decided  to 
establish  his  residence  in  Gage  county.  In 
Section  1,  Sherman  township,  he  entered 
claim  to  a  homestead  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres,  and  also  made  entry  on  an  addi- 
tional two  hundred  acres  in  the  same  town- 
ship. He  then  returned  to  Illinois,  and  in 
March,  1868,  he  there  wedded  Miss  Phoebe 
King,  who  was  bom  in  New  York  city,  on 
the  30th  of  August,  1843.  Her  father  was 
an  expert  in  cotton  manufacturing  and  as 
such  was  employed  in  various  important  cot- 
ton mills  in  the  eastern  states.  Mrs.  Mc- 
Laughlin is  a  daughter  of  James  and  Char- 
lotte (Allen)  King,  who  were  natives  of  Man- 
chester, England,  where  the  father  was  over- 
seer in  a  large  cotton  factory  until  1840,  when 
he  came  with  his  wife  and  two  children  to  the 
United  States,  Mrs.  McLaughlin  having  been 
the  sixth  of  the  ten  children  born.  Two  of 
her  brothers  are  deceased  and  three  of  her 
sisters  are  living  in  1918.  She  received  good 
advantages  and  developed  her  marked  musical 
talent  under  most  favorable  auspices.  •  At  the 
age  of  twenty-one  years  she  went  to  Illinois 
and  engaged  in  the  teaching  of  music,  which 
she  there  continued  until  her  marriage.  It 
may  well  be  understood  that  her  musical  tal- 
ent came  in  for  marked  appreciation  in  the 
pioneer  community  after  she  came  with  her 
husband  to  Gage  county,  and  both  became 
zealous  in  church  work,  as  members  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church,  as  well  as  popu- 
lar factors  in  the  representative  social  activi- 
ties of  the  county.  In  pioneer  reminiscence 
Mrs.  McLaughlin  states  that  in  early  days  she 
and  her  husband  attended  church  services  in 
the  old  Dobbs  school  house,  where  they  also 
served  in  the  sessions  of  the  Sunday  school 
On  many  an  occasion  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mc- 
Laughlin were  dinner  guests  in  the  home  of 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


387 


James  B.  McLaughlin  and  Family 


388 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  F.  H.  Dobbs,  and  she  states 
that  no  family  in  Gage  county  has  been  more 
benignant  in  influence  than  the  Dobbs  family, 
both  in  the  pioneer  days  and  in  later  genera- 
tions, her  kindly  mark  of  appreciation  being 
one  that  will  be  specially  appreciated  by  the 
editor  of  this  history  of  the  county.  In  the 
early  days  Mrs.  McLaughlin  often  rode  home 
on  horseback  after  having  visited  at  the  resi- 
dence of  "Father  and  Mother  Dobbs,"  and 
frequently  one  of  their  young  sons  would  be 
her  escort. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  McLaughlin  remained  on 
their  farm  in  Sherman  township  until  1881, 
when  they  sold  the  property,  with  the  inten- 
tion of  removing  to  California.  After  a  visit 
to  the  old  home  in  Illinois,  however,  they  de- 
cided to  return  to  Gage  county,  and  here  Mr. 
McLaughlin  purchased  the  farm  of  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres  on  which  he  passed  the 
remainder  of  his  life  and  on  which  his  widow 
still  maintains  her  home,  near  the  village  of 
Rock  ford.  He  made  excellent  improvements 
on  the  place  and  it  is  one  of  the  attractive 
rural  homes  of  Rockford  township.  No  chil- 
dren were  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  McLaughlin 
but  they  adopted  and  reared  a  boy  and  girl, 
the  latter  of  whom  is  deceased.  The  home 
of  Mrs.  McLaughlin  is  endeared  to  her  by 
the  hallowed  memories  of  the  past,  and  in  the 
association  with  friends  who  are  tried  and 
true  she  is  passing  the  gracious  evening  of 
her  life  in  peace  and  comfort,  loved  by  all 
who  have  come  under  her  gentle  influence. 

In  politics  Mr.  McLaughlin  was  a  stalwart 
supporter  of  the  cause  of  the  Republican 
party,  he  was  actively  affiliated  with  Rawlins 
Post,  No.  35,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic, 
at  Beatrice,  and  was  also  a  member  of  the 
Masonic  fraternity.  His  life  was  guided  and 
governed  by  the  highest  princpiles  of  integ- 
rity and  honor,  and  naught  better  than  this 
can  be  said  of  any  man. 


CHARLES  R.  HITE,  president  and  gen- 
eral manager  of  the  Blue  Valley  Mercantile 
Company,  of  Beatrice,  has  the  securest  of 
status  as  one  of  the  representative  business 
men  and  progressive  citizens  of  the  fine  me- 


tropolis and  judicial  center  of  Gage  county. 
He  was  born  at  Marion,  Iowa,  February  2, 
1862,  and  is  a  son  of  Eli  and  Elizabeth  (Run- 
ner) Hite,  the  former  a  native  of  Ohio  and 
the  latter  of  West  Virginia,  their  marriage 
having  been  solemnized  in  Iowa,  where  the 
parents  of  Mrs.  Hite  established  a  home  in 
the  early  '50s.  EH  Hite  was  reared  and  edu- 
cated in  Ohio  and  became  a  pioneer  settler 
near  Marion,  Linn  county,  Iowa,  where  he 
owned  land  and  reclaimed  a  good  farm. 
Later  he  was  thirty  years  engaged  in  the  ex- 
press and  transfer  business  at  Shenandoah, 
Page  county,  Iowa,  where  he  died  when  about 
seventy-seven  years  of  age  and  where  his 
widow  still  resides,  the  subject  of  this  review 
being  the  eldest  of  the  three  children ;  Addie 
became  the  wife  of  JNIarshall  Morgan,  who  is 
now  deceased,  and  she  maintains  her  home  in 
the  city  of  Beatrice,  Nebraska ;  and  Frances 
is  the  wife  of  Michael  Gauss,  who  is  engaged 
in  the  drug  business  at  Sheridan,  Iowa.  Eli 
Hite  was  a  Democrat  in  politics  and  was  a 
member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church, 
as  is  also  his  venerable  widow.  His  father, 
John  Hite,  passed  his  entire  life  in  Ohio, 
where  the  family  was  founded  in  an  early  day, 
and  he  was  a  farmer  by  vocation.  John  Run- 
ner, maternal  grandfather  of  the  subject  of 
this  sketch,  was  a  pioneer  in  Iowa,  where  both 
he  and  his  wife  died. 

In  the  public  schools  of  Shenandoah,  Iowa, 
C.  R.  Hite  continued  his  studies  until  he 
had  attained  to  the  age  of  fifteen  years,  and 
thereafter  he  serv'ed  a  three  years'  appren- 
ticeship to  the  baker's  trade,  at  Shenandoah. 
In  the  same  town  he  then  clerked  five  years 
in  the  grocery  department  of  a  general  store, 
and  in  1887,  as  an  ambitious  young  man  of 
twenty-five  years,  he  came  to  Nebraska  and 
settled  at  Giltner,  Hamilton  county,  where  he 
was  employed  three  years  in  a  general  mer- 
chandise establishment.  He  then  became 
associated  with  James  Sherard  in  purchasing 
the  store  and  business,  and  Mr.  Hite  contin- 
ued as  a  member  of  the  firm  for  the  ensuing 
three  years.  For  several  years  thereafter  he 
was  a  successful  traveling  salesman  for  the 
wholesale  grpcery  house  of  Hargreves  Broth- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


389 


ers,  of  Lincoln.  Upon  severing  this  alliance 
he  assumed  a  similar  position  with  the  whole- 
sale grocery  house  of  Groneweg,  Schotgen  & 
Company,  of  Lincoln,  with  which  concern  he 
was  connected  in  this  capacity  until  1904.  In 
the  meanwhile  he  had  established  and  main- 
tained his  home  in  Beatrice,  and  in  the  year 
last  mentioned  he  here  became  associated  with 
three  partners  in  establishing  a  fruit  and  vege- 
table business.  Two  years  later  the  business 
was  incorporated  under  the  present  title  of 
the  Blue  Valley  Mercantile  Company,  and  the 
scope  of  operations  was  extended  to  include 
a  wholesale  grocery  and  confectionery  busi- 
ness, the  operations  of  the  company  being  now 
based  on  a  capital  stock  of  two  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  dollars  and  its  trade  being  ex- 
tended and  well  established  throughout  Ne- 
braska and  Kansas,  so  that  the  concern  has 
contributed  much  to  the  commercial  prece- 
dence of  Beatrice,  where  is  maintained  the 
large  and  well  ordered  wholesale  house.  It 
has  already  been  noted  that  Mr.  Hite  is  presi- 
dent and  general  manager  of  the  company ; 
Gilbert  L.  Griffith  is  vice-president ;  and 
Harry  S.  Ahlquist  is  secretary  and  treasurer. 
Besides  these  executive  officers  the  directorate 
of  the  company  includes  also  William  E.  Rife 
and  Joseph  Bouske.  When  the  principals  in 
the  company  established  the  original  enter- 
prise each  made  an  investment  of  only  two 
thousand  dollars,  and  at  the  time  of  incorpora- 
tion the  capital  stock  was  placed  at  thirteen 
thousand  dollars.  No  better  evidence  of  the 
splendid  growth  of  the  enterprise  can  be  of- 
fered than  the  statement  that  the  capitalistic 
investment  is  now  two  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  dollars  and  that  the  annual  business 
averages  fully  seven  hundred  and  fifty  thous- 
and dollars,  a  corps  of  seven  efficient  travel- 
ing salesmen  being  retained  and  the  number 
of  employes  at  headquarters  being  about  fif- 
teen. It  is  an  admirable  record  of  achieve- 
ment that  has  been  made  by  Mr.  Hite  in  the 
business  world  and  his  success  has  been  won 
entirely  through  his  own  ability  and  efforts. 
He  is  liberal  and  public-spirited  in  his  civic 
attitude,  as  behooves  one  who  has  been  thus 
greatly  prospered  in  business,  and  his  politi- 


cal allegiance  is  given  to  the  Republican  party. 
He  holds  membership  in  the  United  Commer- 
cial Travelers'  Association,  is  a  member  of  the 
Congregational  church,  and  his  wife  holds 
membership  in  the  Episcopal  church. 

December  31,  1891,  recorded  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  Hite  to  Miss  Jemima  Armstrong,  who 
was  born  in  Scotland,  and  who  was  a  child  at 
the  time  when  her  parents  came  to  the  United 
States  and  settled  in  Illinois,  where  her  father 
engaged  in  farm  enterprise.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Hite  have  two  daughters,  both  of  whom  re- 
main at  the  parental  home  and  are  popular 
figures  in  the  social  life  of  Beatrice:  Ethel 
received  the  advantages  of  the  public  schools 
of  Beatrice  and  also  completed  a  four  years' 
course  in  the  Nebraska  Agricultural  College; 
the  younger  daughter.  Hazel,  has  been  gradu- 
ated in  the  Beatrice  high  school. 

FRANK  T.  SCHOWENGERDT,  M.  D., 
whose  character  and  professional  attainments 
have  given  him  secure  vantage-ground  as  one 
of  the  representative  physicians  and  surgeons 
of  Gage  county,  is  established  in  the  general 
practice  of  his  profession  at  Cortland,  where 
he  has  maintained  his  residence  since  1911. 
He  is  a  valued  member  of  the  Gage  County 
Medical  Society,  and  is  identified  also  with 
the  Nebraska  State  Medical  Society  and  the 
American  Medical  Association. 

Dr.  Schowengerdt  was  born  in  Warren 
county,  Missouri,  December  2,  1875,  and  is  the 
younger  of  the  two  surviving  children  of  John 
and  Amelia  (Schaake)  Schowengerdt,  the 
former  of  whom  was  born  in  Franklin  county, 
Missouri,  in  1846,  a  member  of  a  sterling  pio- 
neer family  of  that  state,  his  parents,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Frederick  Schowengerdt,  having  come 
from  Germany  to  America  about  the  opening 
of  the  nineteenth  century  and  having  estab- 
lished their  home  in  Missouri,  their  acquain- 
tanceship having  been  formed  and  their  mar- 
riage solemnized  after  they  had  come  to  the 
United  States.  John  Schowengerdt,  a  farmer 
by  vocation,  passed  his  entire  life  in  Missouri, 
where  he  died  on  the  Uth  of  October,  1888. 
His  first  wife,  mother  of  the  Doctor,  was  bom 
in  Germany,  in  1854,  and  her  death  occurred 


390 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


in  1882.  For  his  second  wife  John  Schow&n- 
gerdt  married  Emma  Niemeyer,  who  was  born 
in  Warren  county,  Missouri,  and  of  the  three 
children  of  this  union  the  two  survivors  still 
reside  in  IVIissouri.  Emma,  the  other  surviv- 
ing child  of  the  first  marriage,  is  the  wife  of 
William  Dorsett  and  they  reside  at  Alton, 
Illinois. 

Dr.  Schowengerdt  passed  the  period  of  his 
childhood  and  early  youth  on  the  home  farm 
and  as  a  lad  of  thirteen  years  began  working 
on  the  farm  of  his  uncle,  Frederick  Schowen- 
gerdt, of  Osage  county,  Missouri.  In  the 
meanwhile  he  had  made  good  use  of  the  ad- 
vantages of  the  public  schools  and  in  1894  he 
entered  Central  Wesleyan  College,  at  War- 
renton,  Missouri,  in  which  institution  he  pur- 
sued a  general  academic  course  during  a  period 
of  three  years.  In  1897  he  was  matriculated 
in  the  Marion  Sims  Medical  College,  in  the 
city  of  St.  Louis,  which  institution  is  now  the 
medical  department  of  St.  Louis  University, 
and  in  this  celebrated  institution  he  was  gradu- 
ated as  a  member  of  the  class  of  1902,  with 
the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine.  He  gained 
most  valuable  clinical  experience  by  serving 
eleven  months  as  an  interne  in  the  Alexian 
Brothers'  Hospital,  St.  Louis,  and  three 
months  in  the  St.  Louis  Female  Hospital.  In 
1903  he  engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  pro- 
fession at  Morrison,  Missouri,  whence,  three 
years  later,  he  removed  to  Brownsville,  Texas, 
in  which  place  he  continued  in  the  active  prac- 
tice of  medicine  until  1911,  when  he  came  to 
Gage  county  and  established  his  home  at 
Cortland.  Here  he  has  built  up  a  substantial 
and  representative  practice  that  attests  alike 
his  professional  ability  and  his  personal  popu- 
larity. The  Doctor  gives  unswerving  alle- 
giance to  the  Republican  party,  is  affiliated 
with  the  Masonic  fraternity  and  the  Modern 
Woodmen  of  America,  and  he  and  his  wife 
hold  membership  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church.  When  the  United  States  entered  the 
European  war,  in  1917,  Dr.  Schowengerdt 
made  application  for  appointment  as  medical 
officer  in  the  Medical  Reserve  Corps  of  the 
army,  but  physical  inability  caused  his  appli- 
cation to  be  rejected. 


July  8,  1903,  Dr.  Schowengerdt  wedded 
Miss  Mary  E.  Smith,  who  was  boni  and 
reared  in  Osage  county,  Missouri,  a  daughter 
of  George  and  Henrietta  Smith.  Mr.  Smith 
was  born  in  Gerinany,  came  to  America  when 
young,  and  was  a  loyal  soldier  of  the  Union  in 
the  Civil  war,  he  having  thereafter  become 
one  of  the  prosperous  farmers  of  Osage 
county,  Missouri.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Schowen- 
gerdt became  the  parents  of  five  children  — 
Irene,  Waldo,  Grace,  Gladys,  and  Frances. 
Waldo  and  Gladys  died  in  early  childhood 
and  the  other  children  remain  at  the  parental 
home. 


HOMER  J.  MERRICK.—  If  a  man  comes 
of  a  good  family  he  ought  to  be  proud  of  it 
and  he  performs  an  immeasurable  duty  when 
he  employs  the  best  means  to  preserve  the 
family  record  in  enduring  form,  that  future 
generations  may  receive  instruction  through 
principles  and  influences,  personality  and  ca- 
reers of  the  ancestors. 

The  subject  of  this  biography  can  trace  his 
ancestry  from  the  same  source  that  gave  the 
world  such  persons  as  John  Greenleaf  Whit- 
tier,  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson  and  Frances  Mer- 
iam  Whitcher.  The  Merricks  are  descended 
from  the  Welsh  Royal  family  and  King  El- 
wood  I  of  England,  and  the  first  representa- 
tive of  the  family  in  this  country,  came  over 
in  1636. 

The  parents  of  our  subject  were  Austin 
and  Sylvia  (Whitcher)  Merrick,  natives  re- 
spectively of  Connecticut  and  Vermont.  The 
paternal  grandfather  was  accidentally  killed 
on  the  Erie  canal  while  making  a  trip  to  west- 
em  Pennsylvania.  His  wife  was  named  Alden, 
and  was  a  direct  descendant  of  John  Alden, 
whom  Longfellow  made  famous  in  his  poem 
entitled  "The  Courtship  of  Miles  Standish." 
The  maternal  grandparents  were  Stephen  and 
Esther  (Emerson)  Whitcher,  who  were  prob- 
ably uncle  and  aunt  of  the  poet,  John  Green- 
leaf  Whittier,  and  Grandmother  Whitcher  was 
closely  related  to  that  other  distinguished 
author,  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson.  Frances  Mer- 
iam  Whitcher,  author  of  the  "Widow  Bedott 


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HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


395 


Papers,"  was  a  sister  of  the  mother  of  Homer 
J.  Merrick,  of  this  review. 

Austin  Merrick  located  at  Pleasantville, 
Venango  county,  Pennsylvania,  and  was  a 
merchant  and  farmer  who  resided  there  until 
his  death,  in  1875,  at  the  age  of  seventy-five 
years.  He  was  married  three  times,  the 
mother  of  our  subject  being  his  second  wife. 
She  passed  away  in  Pennsylvania  in  1849,  at 
the  age  of  forty  years. 

Homer  J.  Merrick  was  born  at  Pleasant- 
ville, Pennsylvania,  November  18,  1846.  He 
was  reared  on  a  farm  and  attended  village 
school  until  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  war. 
When  just  past  his  seventeenth  birthday  he 
enlisted,  in  December,  1863,  in  Company  B, 
One  Hundred  and  Eleventh  Pennsylvania 
Volunteer  Infantry,  for  three  years,  or  dur- 
ing the  war.  Plis  regiment  was  detailed  to 
Bridgeport,  Alabama,  where  it  arrived  in 
time  to  join  the  Atlanta  campaign  and  par- 
ticipate in  the  battles  of  Resaca,  Dallas,  Kene- 
saw  Mountain,  Peach  Tree  Creek,  and  the 
Siege  of  Atlanta,  and  thereafter  it  was  with 
General  Sherman  on  the  historic  march  from 
Atlanta  to  the  Sea.  Subsequently  the  com- 
mand went  up  through  the  Carolinas  and  was 
present  at  the  Grand  Review  at  Washington, 
the  greatest  military  pageant  ever  seen  on  the 
western  hemisphere. 

Returning  home,  Mr.  Merrick  attended  the 
State  Normal  School  at  Edinboro,  Pennsyl- 
vania, two  years,  and  later  was  a  student  in 
a  commercial  college  at  Cleveland,  Ohio.  In 
1869  he  came  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  and 
took  a  homestead  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres,  in  Section  22,  Adams  township.  He 
purchased  a  wagon,  team  of  horses  and  some 
implements  and  began  farming.  His  first 
home  was  a  dug-out  in  which  he  lived  and 
kept  bachelor's  hall  the  first  year.  He  board- 
ed then  with  neighbors,  breaking  prairie  for 
them.  He  would  haul  grain  to  Nebraska 
City  and  bring  back  to  Beatrice  a  load  of 
lumber,  the  trip  requiring  five  days.  As  time 
passed  he  prospered.  In  1875  Mr.  Merrick 
bought  land  in  Section  16,  Adams  township. 
This  he  improved  with  good  buildings,  and 
there  he  continued  his  operations  as  an  agri- 


culturist, meeting  with  the  success  which  al- 
ways comes  as  the  reward  of  industry  and  in- 
telligently directed  effort. 

On  the  21st  of  December,  1870,  Mr.  Mer- 
rick was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Lucy 
A.  Lyons,  a  native  of  Kenosha  county,  Wis- 
consin. Her  parents,  John  and  Almira 
(Shaw)  Lyons,  became  residents  of  Gage 
county  in  1857,  settling  in  Adams  township, 
where  they  spent  the  remainder  of  their  lives. 
The  father  was  a  native  of  Litchfield  county, 
Connecticut,  and  the  mother  was  bom  in 
Dutchess  county,  New  York.  The  ancestors 
of  Mrs.  Merrick  were  of  English  descent. 
Her  grandfather,  John  Lyons,  was  born  in 
England.  On  the  maternal  side  is  shown  a 
direct  descent  from  Richard  Hicks,  who  came 
to  America  from  England  on  the  ship  "For- 
tune," in  1621,  this  being  the  second  vessel 
to  arrive  after  the  "Mayflower."  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Merrick  became  the  parents  of  seven 
children,  as  follows :  Frank  A.  and  John  H. 
are  deceased;  Julia,  is  the  wife  of  Dr.  Tur- 
ner, of  Sterling,  Nebraska;  Dell,  is  the  wife 
of  J.  M.  Burnham,  of  Adams  township; 
Olive  R.  is  the  wife  of  R.  B.  Winter,  of 
Adams  township;  Homer  C.  resides  in 
Adams ;  and  Sylvia  is  deceased. 

Mr.  Merrick  contributed  his  full  share  to 
the  agricultural  development  of  Gage  county, 
and  until  1907  was  engaged  in  general  farm- 
ing and  the  raising  of  Shorthorn  cattle,  both 
branches  of  his  business  yielding  him  a  sub- 
stantial income.  He  made  judicious  invest- 
ments in  farm  lands  and  is  today  the  owner 
of  thirteen  hundred  acres.  In  1893  his  neigh- 
bors, recognizing  his  ability  and  worth, 
elected  him  to  represent  them  in  the  lower 
house  of  the  state  legislature.  He  was  re- 
elected, and  served  two  terms,  to  the  entire 
satisfaction  of  his  constituents.  Among  the 
many  measures  which  he  introduced  and 
which  have  found  place  on  the  statute  books 
of  this  commonwealth  was  a  bill  authorizing 
the  building  of  the  Soldiers'  Home  at  Mil- 
ford.  His  community  has  been  benefited  by 
his  wise  council  and  he  has  efificiently  filled  all 
of  the  offices  of  his  township.  In  1898  he 
received   an    injury    which    necessitated    his 


396 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


leaving  the  farm,  and  he  was  appointed  and 
served  as  postmaster  of  Adams  for  five 
years.  He  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the 
First  State  Bank  of  Adams,  which  is  now 
the  First  National  Bank,  and  he  has  since 
helped  to  shape  its  policy  by  serving  as  a 
director.  He  is  now  vice-president  of  the 
institution,  of  which  he  was  cashier  for  one 
year.  Mr.  Merrick  is  president  of  the  Farm- 
ers' Elevator  Company  of  Adams  and  was 
at  one  time  interested  in  a  hardware  busi- 
ness. His  religious  belief  coincides  with  the 
doctrines  of  the  Methodist  church,  of  which 
he  and  his  wife  are  members.  In  politics 
Mr.  Merrick  is  a  Republican,  and  fraternally 
he  is  a  member  of  the  Ancient  Free  and  Ac- 
cepted Masons  and  several  of  the  other  Ma- 
sonic bodies.  He  maintains  pleasant  rela- 
tions with  old  army  comrades  by  membership 
in  Sargeant  Cox  Post,  No.  100,  Grand  Army 
of  the  Republic.  Mr.  Merrick  is  an  honor- 
able representative  of  a  noble  family,  and 
while  he  has  achieved  success  which  places 
him  among  the  men  of  affluence  in  his  county 
and  state,  he  has  not  been  remiss  in  any  duty 
and  enjoys  the  respect  and  confidence  of  all 
with  whom  he  has  come  in  contact. 

ROBERT  II.  STEINMEYER,  cashier  of 
the  State  Bank  of  Holmesville,  of  which  his 
father,  John  H.  Steinmeyer,  is  president,  is  a 
member  of  a  prominent  and  influential  Gage 
county  family,  concerning  which  adequate 
mention  is  made  on  other  pages  of  this  work. 
Mr.  Steinmeyer  was  born  in  Saline  county, 
Nebraska,  August  25,  1889,  and  in  his  youth 
he  attended  the  public  schools  of  Clatonia. 
Gage  county,  besides  having  taken  a  higher 
course  in  an  academy  in  the  city  of  Lincoln. 
His  active  career  as  a  business  man  has  been 
marked  by  his  close  association  with  banking 
enterprise,  and  he  is  giving  most  efficient  ser- 
vice as  cashier  of  the  State  Bank  of  Holmes- 
ville, which  bases  operations  upon  a  capital 
stock  of  ten  thousand  dollars,  and  which  now 
has  in  surplus  and  undivided  profits  a  fund 
of  more  than  one  hundred  thousand  dollars, 
the  substantial  institution  proving  an  im- 
portant adjunct  to  the  industrial  and  commer- 


cial facilities  of  this  section  of  the  county. 
In  addition  to  his  executive  service  at  the 
bank  Mr.  Steinmeyer  has  developed  a  pros- 
perous business  in  the  buying  and  shipping  of 
live-stock. 

In  politics  Mr.  Steinmeyer  is  found 
aligned  as  a  loyal  supporter  of  the  cause  of 
the  Republican  party  and  he  has  served  as 
township  clerk,  as  has  he  also  as  a  member 
of  the  school  board  of  Holmesville.  He  is  an 
appreciative  and  popular  member  of  Beatrice 
Lodge,  No.  619,  Benevolent  &  Protective 
Order  of  Elks,  of  which  he  is  serving,  in 
1918,  as  esteemed  lecturing  knight.  His  wife 
holds  membership  in  the  Brethren  church. 

October  15,  1913,  recorded  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Steinmeyer  to  Miss  Mabel  Gish,  who  was 
bom  and  reared  in  this  county  and  who  is  a 
daughter  of  James  W.  Gish,  a  representative 
farmer  of  Rock  ford  township.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Steinmeyer  have  one  child,  Phyllis,  who  was 
born  in  1917. 


JOSEPH  C.  DELL  merits  consideration  in 
this  history  as  one  of  the  representative  far- 
mers and  valued  citizens  of  Rockford  town- 
ship, and  also  by  reason  of  being  a  member 
of  one  of  the  sterling  pioneer  families  of  the 
county,  where  the  family  home  was  estab- 
lished when  he  was  a  lad  of  twelve  years. 

Mr.  Dell  was  bom  in  Owen  county,  In- 
diana, October  8,  1863,  and  is  a  son  of  Isaac 
and  Lydia  (Summers)  Dell,  both  natives  of 
Ohio,  where  the  former  was  born  March  4,. 
1834,  and  the  latter  on  the  5th  of  August, 
1838,  their  marriage  having  been  solemnized 
in  Indiana.  Isaac  Dell  was  an  honored  pio- 
neer who  passed  the  closing  years  of  his  life 
in  Gage  county,  where  he  died  June  1,  1904, 
and  his  widow  now  resides  in  Rockford  town- 
ship. They  became  devout  members  of  the 
Church  of  the  Brethren,  in  which  he  gave 
earnest  service  as  a  minister  for  many  years. 
Isaac  Dell  was  a  son  of  Peter  Dell,  who  was 
born  in  Pennsylvania,  of  German  ancestry, 
and  who  removed  from  that  state  to  Ohio, 
whence  he  later  went  to  Indiana,  where  he  re- 
sided a  number  of  years.  He  then  returned 
with  his  familv  to  Ohio,  where  he  continued 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


397 


to  live  until  his  death,  he  having  been  a  cabi- 
net-maker by  trade.  Jacob  Summers,  ma- 
ternal grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this  re- 
view, removed  from  Ohio  to  Indiana,  in  which 
latter  state  he  passed  the  remainder  of  his 
life,  a  farmer  by  vocation.  Isaac  Dell  ac- 
quired in  his  youth  the  trade  of  carpenter  and 
he  followed  the  same  in  Owen  county,  In- 
diana, until  1869,  when  he  removed  with  his 
family  to  Harrison  county,  Iowa,  where  he 
became  a  pioneer  contractor  and  builder.  In 
1876  he  came  with  his  family  to  Gage  county, 
where  he  purchased  and  improved  a  farm, 
besides  continuing  for  many  years  in  the 
active  work  of  his  trade,  in  which  connection 
he  erected  many  buildings  of  excellent  order 
that  still  remain  as  evidences  of  his  skill  as 
a  carpenter.  He  was  a  man  of  fine  mind  and 
fine  character,  ever  commanding  the  unquali- 
fied respect  of  his  fellow  men,  and  he  was  one 
of  the  honored  pioneer  citizens  of  Gage  county 
at  the  time  of  his  death.  He  took  loyal  in- 
terest in  community  affairs  and  was  a  Repub- 
lican in  politics.  Of  his  family  of  two  sons 
and  six  daughters  all  are  living  except  one 
daughter:  Ida  is  the  wife  of  John  G.  Van 
Dyke,  a  farmer  near  Grand  Junction,  Col- 
orado; Julia  is  the  wife  of  John  A.  Cullen,  a 
farmer  near  McPherson,  Kansas ;  Joseph  C, 
of  this  sketch,  was  the  next  in  order  of  birth ; 
Jacob  is  a  prosperous  farmer  in  Rockford 
township  and  is  also  a  minister  of  the  Church 
of  the  Brethren ;  Mary,  who  became  the  wife 
of  William  H.  Pair,  is  deceased;  Martha  is 
the  wife  of  Irvin  Frantz,  of  Sherman  town- 
ship ;  Hattie  is  the  wife  of  Henry  J.  Frantz, 
of  the  same  township;  and  Susan  is  the  wife 
of  Alvah  C.  Heaston,  who  is  engaged  in  the 
automobile  business  at  Lincoln,  Nebraska. 

Joseph  C.  Dell  acquired  his  preliminary 
education  in  the  public  schools  of  Iowa  and 
after  the  family  removed  to  Gage  county  he 
continued  his  studies  in  the  district  schools 
and  also  in  the  select  school  of  Professor 
Blake,  at  Beatrice.  His  entire  mature  life 
has  been  marked  by  active  association  with 
the  basic  industries  of  agriculture  and  stock- 
growing,  and  through  the  medium  of  the  same 
he  has  achieved  definite  success  and  advance- 


ment, his  prosperity  representing  the  direct 
result  of  his  own  efforts.  His  original  inde- 
pendent farm  operations  were  conducted  on 
land  which  he  rented,  and  finally  he  purchased 
eighty  acres  in  Rockford  township,  to  which 
he  added,  two  years  later,  by  the  purchase  of 
an  adjoining  tract  of  eighty  acres.  After 
making  good  improvements  on  this  farm  he 
traded  the  property  for  his  present  fine  home- 
stead farm,  which  now  comprises  three  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres,  with  the  best  type  of 
buildings,  the  handsome  house  having  been 
erected  by  him,  as  have  been  also  the  other  ex- 
cellent farm  buildings  which  mark  the  place 
as  a  model  farm.  Mr.  Dell  is  the  owner  also 
of  a  landed  estate  of  twelve  hundred  and 
eighty  acres  in  western  Kansas. 

In  the  year  1888  was  solemnized  the  mar- 
riage of  Mr.  Dell  to  Miss  Mollie  Cullen, 
daughter  of  James  K.  and  Christ ena  Cullen, 
who  were  bom  in  Virginia  and  who  came  to 
Gage  county  in  1885.  Concerning  the  chil- 
dren of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dell  the  following  brief 
record  is  offered :  Claude  has  the  supervision 
of  his  father's  large  landed  estate  in  Kansas ; 
Ernest  is  associated  in  the  management  of  the 
home  farm;  Lela  is  the  wife  of  Earl  Frantz 
and  both  are  attending  school  at  McPherson, 
Kansas,  Mr.  Frantz  being  a  minister  of  the 
Brethren  church ;  Carl  Dell  likewise  is  attend- 
ing school  at  McPherson ;  and  Milton,  Joseph 
C,  Jr.,  and  Lois  remain  at  the  parental  home. 

Mr.  Dell  and  his  family  are  earnest  mem- 
bers of  the  Church  of  the  Brethren,  and  in 
politics  he  is  aligned  with  the  Republican 
party.  As  a  progressive  farmer  he  is  giving 
special  attention  to  the  raising  of  pure-bred 
Short-horn  cattle  and  Percheron  horses,  and 
at  the  time  of  this  writing  he  has  about  fifty 
head  of  horses  and  an  equal  number  of  cattle 
on  his  farm.  His  progressiveness  extends 
also  to  his  status  as  a  citizen  and  he  takes  deep 
interest  in  community  affairs,  though  he  has 
no  ambition  for  public  office. 

SAMUEL  MOWRY,  to  whom  this  me- 
moir is  dedicated,  was  one  of  the  honored 
pioneers  of  Gage  county  and  more  than  thirty- 
years  ago  he  was  summoned  to  "that  undis- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


399 


covered  country  from  whose  bourne  no  trav- 
eler returns."  To  him,  as  a  man  of  sterling 
character  and  w^orthy  achievement,  a  tribute 
is  due  in  this  history  of  the  county  in  which 
he  established  his  home  in  the  year  following 
that  in  which  the  Territory  of  Nebraska  was 
admitted  to  statehood. 

Samuel  Mowry  was  born  in  Darke  county, 
Ohio,  on  the  19th  of  June,  1847,  and  was  a 
son  of  Jacob  and  Susan  Mowry,  who  were 
natives  of  Pennsylvania  and  who  became 
early  settlers  in  Ohio,  where  they  passed  the 
remainder  of  their  lives.  Samuel  Mowry  was 
reared  on  the  farm  of  his  father  and  gained 
his  youthful  education  in  the  schools  of  his 
native  county.  In  1868,  as  an  ambitious  and 
resolute  young  man  of  twenty-one  years,  he 
severed  the  ties  that  bound  him  to  the  old 
Buckeye  state  and  set  forth  to  establish  a 
home  in  the  west.  In  that  year  he  arrived 
in  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  and  here  he  ob- 
tained a  homestead  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres,  the  same  constituting  the  southwest 
quarter  of  Section  7,  Blue  Springs  township. 
Not  a  furrow  had  been  turned  on  the  prairie 
land  and  on  the  same  no  improvement  of  any 
kind  had  been  made.  Mr.  Mowry's  first 
house  on  his  homestead  was  a  little  and  primi- 
tive shanty,  ten  by  twelve  feet  in  dimensions 
and  constructed  of  lumber  cut  from  the  na- 
tive Cottonwood  trees,  the  logs  having  been 
hauled  by  him  to  Blue  Springs,  where  they 
were  sawed  into  rough  boards.  As  he  had 
learned  in  his  native  state  the  trade  of  stone 
mason,  Mr.  Mowry  was  able  to  provide  some- 
what better  foundation  for  his  modest  house 
than  those  commonly  in  evidence  in  the  pio- 
neer community.  He  excavated  a  cellar  and 
walled  it  up  with  stone,  this  being  covered 
with  a  board  roof.  This  embryonic  house 
served  as  his  place  of  abode  several  years. 
He  set  resolutely  to  work  in  subduing  the  vir- 
gin prairie  and  making  it  available  for  culti- 
vation, and  as  the  years  passed  he  developed  a 
productive  farm,  besides  making  good  im- 
provements on  his  farm.  Here  he  continued 
his  vigorous  and  productive  activities  as  a 
farmer  until  the  close  of  his  earnest  and  useful 
life,  his  death  having  occurred  on  the  28th  of 


February,  1887.  He  was  a  man  of  strong  and 
noble  character,  was  a  loyal  citizen,  a  true 
friend  and  a  devoted  husband  and  father  —  a 
person  whose  death  entailed  a  distinct  loss  to 
the  community  in  which  he  had  long  lived  and 
labored  to  goodly  ends.  His  political  allegi- 
ance was  given  to  the  Republican  party,  but 
he  never  sought  or  desired  public  office  of  any 
kind.  He  was  an  earnest  and  consistent  mem- 
ber of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  as  is 
also  his  widow,  who  has  been  a  resident  of 
Gage  county  since  her  childhood. 

After  coming  to  Gage  county  Mr.  Mowry 
was  here  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Malissa 
Harpster,  who  was  bom  in  Seneca  county, 
Ohio,  and  who  is  a  daughter  of  the  late  Solo- 
mon Harpster,  to  whom  a  memoir  is  entered 
on  other  pages  of  this  volume.  Mrs.  Mowry 
shared  with  her  husband  in  the  trials  and  re- 
sponsibilities of  pioneer  life  and  after  the 
gracious  marital  ties  were  severed  by  the 
death  of  Mr.  Mowry  she  remained  on  the 
farm  for  a  number  of  years,  during  which 
she  showed  marked  acumen  and  judgment  in 
its  management.  For  several  years  past  she 
has  maintained  her  home  in  the  village  of 
Blue  Springs,  and  few  of  the  pioneer  women 
of  the  county  have  a  more  interesting  fund  of 
reminiscences  pertaining  to  the  pioneer  period 
of  Gage  county  history.  April  10,  1918,  rep- 
resented the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  day 
when  with  her  parents  she  crossed  the  Blue 
river  and  entered  the  little  pioneer  hamlet  of 
Blue  Springs,  this  county,  the  village  at  that 
time  having  had  but  one  store.  Concerning 
this  primitive  mercantile  establishment  Mrs. 
Mowry  has  given  the  following  statement: 
"About  all  that  was  sold  in  the  store  was 
green  coffee,  brown  sugar,  calico  and  patent 
medicine,  and  more  of  these  commodities  were 
sold  to  the  Indians  than  to  white  persons, 
simply  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  the  Indians 
were  greatly  in  preponderance  in  the  locality 
at  that  time."  Mrs.  Mowry  was  a  girl  when 
she  thus  came  with  her  parents  to  Gage 
county  and  she  states  that  at  the  pioneer  home 
of  the  Harpster  family  it  was  not  unusual 
even  to  look  up  from  work  and  see  one  or 
more  Indians  peering  in  at  the  window.    Mr. 


400 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


and  Mrs.  Mowry  became  the  parents  of  four 
children,  of  whom  two,  George  and  Freder- 
ick, died  in  infancy.  Edgar  married  Miss 
Anna  Brinley  and  they  reside  in  the  city  of 
Lincoln,  this  state,  and  Miss  Leafy  remains 
with  her  widowed  mother  in  the  pleasant 
home  at  Blue  Springs. 

THOMAS  M.  MARTIN  was  an  honored 
pioneer  who  established  his  residence  in  Gage 
county  in  the  year  that  marked  the  admission 
of  Nebraska  to  statehood,  and  his  was  also  the 
distinction  of  having  been  a  gallant  soldier  of 
the  Union  in  the  Civil  war.  He  reclaimed  and 
developed  one  of  the  fine  farm  properties  of 
Sherman  township  and  there  continued  his 
residence  until  the  time  of  his  death,  which 
occurred  January  27,  1917.  A  man  of  sterl- 
ing character  and  one  who  accounted  well  for 
himself  in  all  the  relations  of  life,  it  is  fitting 
that  in  this  history  be  incorporated  a  tribute 
to  his  memory. 

Thomas'  M.  Martin  was  born  in  Union 
county,  Indiana,  on  the  20th  of  December, 
1836,  and  was  a  son  of  Thomas  and  Mary 
(Miller)  Martin,  the  former  a  native  of  Scot- 
land and  the  latter  of  Pennsylvania. 

The  subject  of  this  memoir  was  but  three 
years  of  age  at  the  time  of  his  father's  death, 
and  the  widowed  mother  eventually  came  to 
Nebraska  and  took  up  a  homestead  claim  in 
Pawnee  county,  where  she  passed  the  remain- 
der of  her  life.  She  contracted  a  second  mar- 
riage and  had  two  children  by  each  marriage, 
all  being  now  deceased. 

After  his  marriage,  in  1859,  Thomas  M. 
Martin  continued  his  association  with  farm  en- 
terprise in  Clinton  county,  Indiana,  until  the 
outbreak  of  the  Civil  war  caused  him  to 
subordinate  all  else  to  tender  his  aid  in  de- 
fense of  the  Union.  In  August,  1862,  he  en- 
listed as  a  member  of  Company  K,  Seventy- 
second  Indiana  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  with 
this  valiant  command  he  continued  in  service 
more  than  three  years  —  until  the  close  of  the 
war.  Mr.  Martin  took  part  in  many  of  the 
historic  campaigns  and  battles  of  the  great 
conflict  between  the  states  of  the  north  and 
the  south,  and  among  the  various  engagements 


in  which  he  participated  may  be  noted  the  bat- 
tles of  Chickamauga,  Stone's  River,  Mission- 
ary Ridge,  Selma  (Alabama),  and  Hoover's 
Gap.  He  was  with  his  regiment  in  the  At- 
lanta campaign  and  was  present  at  the  battle 
of  Atlanta,  the  burning  of  that  city,  and  with 
Shennan  on  the  subsequent  march  to  the  sea. 
In  later  years  he  vitalized  the  more  gracious 
associations  of  his  military  career  by  his  af- 
filiation with  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Repub- 
lic. After  the  close  of  the  war  Mr.  Martin 
continued  his  association  with  farm  activities 
in  Indiana  until  1867,  in  the  autumn  of  which 
year  he  set  forth,  in  company  with  his  wife 
and  their  three  children,  for  the  frontier  as 
represented  in  the  new  state  of  Nebraska. 
The  long  and  weary  journey  was  made  with  a 
team  and  covered  wagon  and  thirty-four  days 
elapsed  before  the  little  family  party  arrived 
in  Gage  county,  on  the  4th  of  October.  Mr. 
Martin  entered  claim  to  a  homestead  of  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres,  in  Section  19,  Sher- 
man township,  and  here  initiated  the  reclaim- 
ing of  a  farm  from  the  prairie  wilderness. 
He  and  his  brave  and  loyal  wife  endured  to 
the  full  the  tension  incidental  to  frontier  life 
and  in  the  early  days  he  was  compelled  at 
times  to  seek  outside  employment  in  order  to 
provide  for  the  needs  of  his  family.  With  a 
courage  equal  to  that  which  he  had  evinced  as 
a  soldier  on  the  battlefields  of  the  south,  Mr. 
Martin  girded  himself  for  the  winning  of  the 
victories  of  peace,  and  with  the  passing  years 
success  and  independence  crowned  his  earnest 
efforts.  He  developed  one  of  the  fine  farm 
properties  of  Sherman  township,  and  this 
estate,  still  retained  by  his  widow,  comprises 
two  hundred  and  eighty  acres,  Mrs.  Martin 
still  remaining  on  the  fine  old  homestead  which 
is  hallowed  to  her  by  the  gracious  memories 
and  associations  of  the  past.  In  the  early  days 
the  home  was  isolated,  with  the  nearest  neigh 
bors  far  removed,  and  Mrs.  Martin  frequent- 
ly passed  many  weeks  with  her  children  in 
the  pioneer  home  without  seeing  any  other 
white  person  than  the  members  of  her  own 
family,  though  Indians  were  still  much  in  evi- 
dence. For  a  number  of  years  Mr.  Martin 
gave  his  attention  to  the  operation  of  a  thresh- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


401 


ing  outfit,  and  on  one  occasion  he  handled 
work  of  this  order  on  the  site  of  the  present 
court-house  in  the  city  of  Beatrice.  He  was 
a  Democrat  in  politics  and  was  always  a 
leader  in  the  supporting  of  measures  and  en- 
terprises tending  to  advance  the  civic  and  ma- 
terial welfare  of  his  home  community  and 
county. 

In  Clinton  county,  Indiana,  in  the  year  1859, 
was  solemnized  the  marriage  of  Mr.  Martin 
to  Miss  Mary  Dailey,  who  was  born  in  Wash- 
ington county,  that  state,  on  the  4th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1840,  a  daughter  of  James  and  Eliza- 
beth (Feeler)  Dailey,  the  former  a  native  of 
North  Carolina  and  the  latter  of  Virginia: 
they  were  pioneer  settlers  in  Indiana,  where 
they  passed  the  remainder  of  their  lives  and 
where  the  father  was  a  prosperous  farmer. 
In  conclusion  of  this  paragraph  is  given  brief 
record  concerning  the  children  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Martin:  Mary  E.  is  married  and  re- 
sides in  the  state  of  Colorado ;  James  W.  is  a 
prosperous  farmer  in  Sherman  township; 
Charles  W.  is  engaged  in  farm  enterprise  in 
Rockford  township ;  T.  Malon  is  a  substantial 
agriculturist  and  cattle-grower  in  Colorado; 
John  M.  rents  the  old  homestead  farm,  on 
which  he  and  his  wife  remain  with  the  wid- 
owed mother,  and  of  him  more  specific  men- 
tion is  made  elsewhere  in  this  volume;  Lillie 
is  the  widow  of  William  R.  Rainey  and  re- 
sides with  her  mother  on  the  old  home  place ; 
and  Ira  Jackson  is  a  substantial  farmer  near 
Liberty,  this  county. 

From  another  source  have  been  gained  ad- 
ditional data  of  genealogical  and  personal 
order  that  will  consistently  supplement  the 
foregoing  narrative.  Thomas  Martin,  father 
of  the  subject  of  this  memoir,  was  bom  in 
Scotland,  in  the  year  1809,  and  at  the  age  of 
fifteen  years  he  came  to  America  in  company 
with  his  father  and  two  brothers,  settlement 
being  made  at  Louisville,  Kentucky,  the 
father  later  removing  to  Indiana  and  buying  a 
tract  of  land,  which  he  divided  among  his 
sons.  Thomas  Martin  was  a  young  man  when 
he  wedded  Miss  Mary  Miller,  who  was  bom 
in  Pennsylvania,  in  1812,  a  daughter  of  Peter 
and  Kate  (Hafiford)   Miller,  who  removed  to 


Indiana  soon  after  the  close  of  the  war  of 
1812.  Thomas  Martin  died  in  1838  and  his 
widow  passed  away  in  1876.  They  became 
the  parents  of  six  sons  and  one  daughter,  all 
of  whom  are  now  deceased. 

Thomas  M.  Martin  made  his  initial  visit  to 
Nebraska  in  1858,  a  year  prior  to  his  marriage, 
and  it  was  not  until  after  he  had  later  made  a 
fine  record  as  a  soldier  in  the  Civil  war  that 
he  finally  came  with  his  family  to  Nebraska 
and  established  a  permanent  home,  as  noted 
in  preceding  paragraphs.  He  never  sought 
office,  but  did  well  his  part  in  the  advancing 
of  the  communal  prosperity,  his  interest  in  his 
old  comrades  of  the  Civil  war  having  been 
shown  through  his  affiliation  with  Scott  Post, 
No.  Z7,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  at  Blue 
Springs. 

FREDERICK  L.  POTHAST  has  been 
cashier  of  the  Farmers'  State  Bank  of  Pick- 
rell  from  the  time  of  its  organization,  in  1904, 
has  been  a  resourceful  and  progressive  execu- 
tive and  wielded  primary  influence  in  the  up- 
building of  this  substantial  financial  insti- 
tution of  Gage  county.  He  is  not  only  one 
of  the  principal  stockholders  of  this  bank  but 
is  also  the  owner  of  a  valuable  landed  estate 
of  four  hundred  acres  in  Gage  county  —  two 
hundred  and  forty  acres  in  Holt  township  and 
the  remaining  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  in 
Highland  township :  his  farms  are  leased  to 
and  operated  by  efficient  tenants. 

Mr.  Pothast  was  born  in  Stephenson  county, 
Illinois,  June  4,  1878,  a  son  of  David  and 
Mary  (Wendt)  Pothast.  He  was  but  two 
years  old  at  the  time  of  his  father's  death, 
and  his  mother  later  became  the  wife  of  Fred- 
erick J.  Smith,  to  whom  a  memoir  is  dedicated 
on  other  pages  of  this  work,  so  that  further 
review  of  the  family  history  is  not  demanded 
in  the  present  connection.  Mr.  Pothast  was 
a  child  of  two  years  when  he  accompanied  his 
mother  and  stepfather  to  Gage  county,  where 
he  was  reared  to  manhood  and  was  given  the 
advantages  of  the  public  schools  of  the  vil- 
lage of  Cortland.  After  his  graduation  in 
the  high  school  he  taught  two  terms  of  dis- 
trict school  and  in  1898  he  entered  a  commer- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


403 


cial  college  in  the  city  of  Omaha.  In  this  in- 
stitution he  was  graduated  in  the  following 
year  and  he  then  entered  into  partnership 
with  his  stepfather,  Mr.  Smith,  in  the  gen- 
eral merchandise  business  at  Cortland,  the 
enterprise  having  been  conducted  under  the 
firm  name  of  F.  J.  Smith  &  Company.  In 
1901  Mr.  Pothast  and  his  brother  Edward  L. 
engaged  in  the  agricultural  implement  busi- 
ness at  Cortland,  and  after  he  sold  his  interest 
in  this  business,  in  1903,  he  was  for  about  one 
year  a  traveling  representative  for  the  Inter- 
national Harvester  Company,  in  the  mean- 
while maintaining  his  headquarters  in  the  city 
of  Lincoln.  In  May,  1904,  Mr.  Pothast  be- 
came the  organizer  of  the  Farmers'  State 
Bank  at  Pickrell,  and  of  the  same  he  has  since 
been  the  cashier,  as  previously  noted.  In  a 
frame  building  on  the  north  side  of  the  main 
street  of  the  village  the  bank  initiated  busi- 
ness, after  having  been  incorporated  with  a 
capital  stock  of  five  thousand  dollars.  Here 
operations  were  continued  until  1912,  when 
was  erected  the  present  modern  and  hand- 
somely appointed  bank  building,  and  the  busi- 
ness of  the  institution  is  now  based  on  a  capi- 
tal stock  of  twenty  thousand  dollars,  while  its 
deposits  are  in  excess  of  three  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars.  The  bank  has  been  a  valuable 
medium  for  the  facilitation  of  industrial  and 
commercial  activities  in  this  part  of  the 
county  and  is  conducted  with  conservative 
policies  but  also  with  well  ordered  progress- 
iveness.  Edward  Bauman,  a  representative 
farmer  of  Holt  township,  is  president  of  the 
institution,  and  its  vice-president,  Christopher 
Spilker,  is  likewise  one  of  the  prosperous 
farmers  of  Holt  township. 

Though  he  is  distinctly  liberal  and  loyal  in 
his  civic  attitude  and  a  staunch  supporter  of 
the  principles  of  the  Republican  party,  Mr. 
Pothast  has  manifested  no  ambition  for  pub- 
lic office  or  political  preferment  of  any  kind. 
He  is  affiliated  with  the  Masonic  fraternity, 
as  a  member  of  the  Beatrice  lodge,  Ancient 
Free  &  Accepted  Masons,  in  the  city  of 
Beatrice,  and  he  and  his  wife  are  zealous 
members  of  the  United  Brethren  church  at 
Pickrell,  he  being  a  member  of  its  board  of 


trustees   and   having   contributed   liberally   to 
the  erection  of  the  present  church  edifice. 

December  12,  1900,  recorded  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  Pothast  to  Miss  Delia  Clark,  who  was 
born  in  Virginia  and  who  was  a  child  at  the 
time  when  the  family  home  was  established 
on  a  pioneer  farm  in  Lancaster  county,  Ne- 
braska, where  she  was  reared  and  educated. 
She  is  a  daughter  of  T.  A.  and  Iva  (Kinche- 
loe)  Clark,  both  of  whom  likewise  were  bom 
in  the  historic  old  Dominion  state.  The  father 
died  when  about  seventy-five  years  of  age, 
and  the  mother  is  still  living,  at  Firth,  Ne- 
braska. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pothast  have  two  win- 
some little  daughters,  Audrey  and  Mildred. 

ROBERT  NICHOLAS  — A  history  of 
Gage  county  would  be  incomplete  without  a 
record  of  the  man  whose  name  introduces  the 
review.  Mr.  Nicholas  was  one  of  the  very 
early  pioneer  settlers  in  Gage  county,  having 
come  to  Nebraska  in  1860  and  having  settled 
in  Gage  county  several  years  prior  to  the  ad- 
mission of  the  state  to  the  Union. 

Robert  Nicholas  was  born  in  Glanstonbury, 
Somersetshire,  England,  in  December,  1832, 
and  his  death  occurred  on  his  old  homestead 
in  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  in  1913.  His 
gracious  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Mary 
Ann  Plucknett,  was  likewise  born  and  reared 
in  Glastonbury,  England,  but  their  acquaint- 
anceship was  formed  in  the  state  of  Illinois, 
where  their  marriage  was  solemnized  and 
whence  they  came  to  Gage  county  in  the  ter- 
ritorial period  of  Nebraska  history.  Here 
Mrs.  Nicholas  passed  the  remainder  of  her 
life,  and  she  was  one  of  the  venerable  pio- 
neer women  of  the  county  at  the  time  of  her 
death,  in  1910,  at  the  age  of  seventy-six  years. 
Robert  Nicholas  was  reared  and  educated  in 
his  native  land,  and  was  an  ambitious  youth  of 
eighteen  years  when  he  came  to  the  United 
States  and  established  his  residence  in  Ohio. 
From  that  state  he  later  removed  to  Hancock 
county,  Illinois,  where  his  marriage  occurred 
and  where  he  continued  to  be  identified  with 
farm  enterprise  until  1860,  when  he  set  forth 
for  Nebraska  Territory,  transporting  his  fam- 
ily and  little  supply  of  household  goods  by 


404 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


means  of  wagon  and  ox  team.  Upon  his 
arrival  in  Gage  county  he  entered  claim  to  a 
homestead  of  wild  prairie  land  in  Sections  29 
and  30,  Grant  township,  where  as  soon  as 
possible  he  completed  a  rude  log  house  as  the 
family  domicile.  With  the  ox  team  he  then 
began  vigorously  the  breaking  of  the  virgin 
soil,  and  he  and  his  noble  wife  endured  the 
trials  and  hardships  of  the  early  pioneers. 
With  the  passing  of  the  years  prosperity  at- 
tended the  energetic  and  efficient  efforts  of 
Mr.  Nicholas  and  he  added  materially  to  his 
landed  estate.  He  continued  farming  until 
his  death  and  developed  one  of  the  best  farms 
in  Gage  county.  He  raised  and  fed  cattle 
upon  a  large  scale,  and  was  one  of  the  first 
men  in  Nebraska  to  raise  hay  from  the  tame 
grasses.  In  the  early  days  trains  would  be 
stopped  when  passing  his  farm  in  order  that 
the  passengers  might  view  his  fine  fields,  and 
officials  of  the  railroad  company  sent  sam- 
ples of  his  timothy  and  clover  back  to  the  east, 
in  exploiting  the  fine  resources  of  this  section 
of  Nebraska.  Before  the  admission  of  the 
state  to  the  Union  and  prior  to  the  Civil  war, 
Mr.  Nicholas  hauled  wheat  by  team  and 
wagon  to  St.  Joseph,  Missouri,  and  from  the 
money  received  in  payment  for  the  same  he 
purchased  a  corn-planter.  This  was  the  first 
implement  of  the  kind  put  into  commission  in 
Gage  county,  and  when  he  arrived  in  Bea- 
trice the  citizens  gathered  about  to  view  the 
novelty,  most  of  then  not  knowing  to  what 
purpose  the  machine  was  to  be  applied.  On 
the  old  homestead  were  born  all  the  children 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Nicholas,  and  it  may  well 
be  understood  that  to  these  children  many 
gracious  memories  attach  to  the  place. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Nicholas  were  the  parents  of 
six  children,  as  follows:  Frank  E.  is  success- 
fully established  in  the  creamery  business  in 
Dewitt,  Saline  county;  Alfretta  is  the  wife  of 
Walter  W.  Barney,  president  of  the  State 
Bank  of  Dewitt;  Norton  B.  died  when  about 
five  years  of  age;  Jessie  N.  is  the  wife  of 
Frank  Buss,  of  Hunter,  Oklahoma;  George 
\V.  is  now  postmaster  of  Dewitt,  and  concem- 
him  a  record  will  be  found  on  other  pages  of 


this    publication;    Elizabeth    is    the    wife    of 
Frank  O.  Ellis,  of  Beatrice. 


MARTIN  F.  EICKMANN.  —  That  surety 
of  vision  and  judgment  that  makes  for  defi- 
nite success  in  connection  with  the  practical 
affairs  of  life  is  being  signally  exemplified  in 
the  business  career  of  Mr.  Eickmann,  who  is 
a  young  man  well  entitled  to  classification 
among  the  efficient  and  progressive  business 
executives  of  Gage  county  and  its  metropo- 
lis. He  has  won  advancement  through,  his 
ability  and  efficient  service  and  now  holds  the 
responsible  office  of  secretary  of  the  German 
Savings  &  Loan  Association,  one  of  the  strong 
and  well  ordered  financial  and  fiduciary  insti- 
tutions of  this  section  of  his  native  state. 

Mr.  Eickmann  was  born  in  Thayer  county, 
Nebraska,  on  the  9th  of  July,  1889,  a  son  of 
Christ  and  Mary  (Sorge)  Eickmann,  both 
natives  of  Germany  —  the  former  having 
been  born  in  Brandenburg,  in  1861,  and  the 
latter  in  the  province  of  Hanover,  in  Oc- 
tober, 1866.  Christ  Eickmann  was  a  boy  at 
the  time  of  the  family  immigration  to  America 
and  was  reared  and  educated  in  the  state  of 
Wisconsin,  where  he  received  the  advantages 
of  the  public  schools  of  Fond  du  Lac  and 
where  also  he  served  an  apprenticeship  to  the 
tailor's  trade.  He  was  eighteen  years  of  age 
when  he  accompanied  his  father  to  Nebraska, 
the  journey  being  made  from  Omaha  to  Grand 
Island  by  way  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad 
and  from  the  latter  point  they  walked  over- 
land to  their  destination  in  Thayer  county, 
this  state.  Though  he  had  virtually  no  finan- 
cial resources  he  purchased  one  hundred  and 
twenty  acres  of  land  in  Thayer  county  even- 
tually, and  with  the  passing  years  substantial 
success  crowned  his  activities  as  an  agricul- 
turist and  stock-grower.  He  became  one 
of  the  representative  farmers  of  Thayer 
county,  where  he  continued  to  reside  until 
his  death,  which  occurred  in  July,  1908,  his 
widow  being  still  a  resident  of  that  county. 
His  father,  Christ  Eickmann,  Sr.,  likewise  be- 
came a  pioneer  farmer  of  Thayer  county  and 
after  there  acquiring  one  hundred  and  twenty 
acres  of  land  the  father  returned  to  Wiscon- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


sin  to  make  provision  for  bringing  the  re- 
mainder of  his  family  to  the  new  home.  He 
achieved  independence  and  prosperity  in  con- 
nection with  the  development  of  the  natural 
resources  of  Thayer  county  and  there  he  and 
his  wife  passed  the  remainder  of  their  lives, 
he  having  followed  the  trade  of  wagonmaker 
during  the  period  of  his  residence  in  Wiscon- 
sin. Frederick  Sorge,  maternal  grandfather 
of  the  subject  of  this  review,  came  with  his 
family  to  America  in  1862  and  became  one  of 
the  very  early  settlers  of  Thayer  county, 
where  he  developed  a  valuable  farm,  and  he 
is  now  a  resident  of  the  village  of  Deshler, 
where  he  is  honored  as  one  of  the  sterling  and 
venerable  pioneer  citizens  of  Thayer  county. 
Christ  Eickmann,  Jr.,  was  a  man  of  splendid 
energy  and  of  superior  mentality,  so  that  he 
was  well  equipped  for  leadership  in  com- 
munity affairs.  In  a  basic  way  he  gave  sup- 
port to  the  principals  of  the  Democratic  party 
but  in  connection  with  local  matters  he  held 
himself  independent  of  strict  partisan  lines. 
He  served  for  a  number  of  years  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  school  board  of  his  district  and 
otherwise  he  gave  his  earnest  support  to  those 
things  that  tend  to  advance  the  general  wel- 
fare. His  religious  faith  was  that  of  the  Ger- 
man Lutheran  church,  of  which  his  widow 
likewise  is  a  zealous  communicant.  Of  their 
five  children  four  are  living  and  of  the  num- 
ber, Martin  F.,  of  this  sketch,  is  the  eldest ; 
William  remains  with  his  widowed  mother  on 
the  old  homestead  fann  in  Thayer  county,  as 
did  also  Richard  until  he  entered  the  national 
army  being  raised  to  represent  the  United 
States  in  the  great  European  war,  he  being  at 
the  present  time  (in  the  winter  of  1917)  with 
his  command  at  Camp  Funston,  Kansas ; 
Arthur,  youngest  of  the  four  sons,  remains 
on  the  old  home  farm. 

Martin  F.  Eickmann  acquired  his  prelim- 
inary education  in  the  Lutheran  parochial 
schools  of  Thayer  county  and  supplemented 
this  by  an  efifective  course  in  Northwestern 
College,  at  Watertown,  Wisconsin,  his  uncle, 
Martin  Eickmann,  having  been  at  that  time  a 
member  of  the  faculty  of  that  institution. 
Prior  to  the  death  of  his  father  Mr.  Eickmann 


had  completed  a  course  in  the  preparatory  de- 
partment of  this  college,  and  as  the  eldest  son 
he  thereafter  gave  his  attention  for  a.  short 
time  to  the  management  of  the  home  farm. 
His  tastes  and  ambition,  however,  lay  in  other 
directions,  and  he  came  to  Beatrice,  where  he 
completed  a  course  in  a  business  college,  after 
which  he  obtained  a  clerical  position  in  the 
Union  State  Bank  of  this  city,  at  a  salary  of 
fifteen  dollars  a  month.  He  so  applied  him- 
self as  to  make  the  best  possible  use  of  the 
experience  gained,  and  by  faithful  and  effi- 
cient service  he  won  advancement.  He  con- 
tinued with  this  banking  institution  from  1909 
to  1914,  in  which  latter  year  he  was  elected 
secretary  of  the  German  Savings  &  Loan 
Association,  a  position  of  which  he  has 
since  continued  the  efficient  and  popular  in- 
cumbent, this  institution  having  been  founded 
in  1913.  By  his  own  efiforts  Mr.  Eickmann 
has  achieved  success  and  an  inviolable  repu- 
tation, and  in  the  city  of  Beatrice  he  is  the 
owner  not  only  of  his  own  attractive  residence 
property,  but  also  of  a  number  of  vacant  city 
lots.  His  political  allegiance  is  given  to  the 
Democratic  party  and  he  and  his  wife  are 
active  communicants  of  the  German  Lutheran 
church. 

On  the  14th  of  October,  1914,  was  solem- 
nized the  marriage  of  Mr.  Eickmann  to  Miss 
Blanche  M.  Purdy,  who  was  born  and  reared 
in  this  county,  her  father,  William  W.  Purdy, 
being  now  a  resident  of  Beatrice,  where  he 
follows  the  trade  of  plasterer  and  controls  a 
successful  contracting  business  in  this  line. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Eickmann  have  a  fine  little 
son  — ■  Martin  F.,  Jr.,  who  was  born  July  9, 
1917. 


EUGENE  P.  MUMFORD.  — He  whose 
name  introduces  this  review  is  not  only  one 
of  the  progressive  and  representative  business 
men  of  Gage  county,  but  is  also  a  descendant 
of  one  of  the  well  known  and  influential  pio- 
neer families  of  this  part  of  the  state.  The 
name  of  Mumford  is  prominently  linked  with 
the  early  histor)'  and  industrial  development 
of  Gage  county,  where  its  original  representa- 
tives  settled   in   territorial   days.     Eugene   is 


406 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


upholding  the  honors  of  the  family  name,  and 
his  business  life  has  given  impetus  to  indus- 
trial and  civic  advancement  in  Gage  county. 
By  reason  of  his  being  reared  and  educated 
on  the  broad  prairies  of  Nebraska,  with  fresh 
air  and  sunny  skies,  and  under  the  freedom  of 
pioneer  days,  he  learned  the  first  principles  of 
good  citizenship  from  early  experiences  on 
the  farm,  and  he  has  kept  pace  w^ith  the  march 
of  development  and  progress. 

"Gene,"  the  name  by  which  he  is  generally 
known,  was  born  in  Lafayette  county,  Wis- 
consin, on  the  1st  day  of  April,  1863.  He  is 
a  son  of  John  B.  and  Mary  A.  (Roach) 
Mumford,  the  former  of  whom  was  bom  in 
Maryland,  of  English  parentage,  on  Septem- 
ber 20,  1829,  and  the  latter  of  whom  was  bom 
in  Adams  county,  Ohio,  of  Holland  and  Eng- 
lish lineage. 

John  B.  Mumford  first  came  to  Gage 
county,  Nebraska,  in  May,  1860,  in  company 
with  his  brother  Ismay,  who  was  the  first 
county  treasurer  of  the  county,  and  whose  son 
Dawson  Mumford  was  the  first  white  boy 
born  in  the  county.  John  B.  Mumford  re- 
turned to  Wisconsin,  and  in  1865  he  again 
came  to  Gage  county,  with  his  brother  Jacob. 
He  settled  on  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of 
land,  ten  miles  north  of  Beatrice  on  Bear 
creek,  one  of  the  best  farming  localities  in 
the  county.  To  this  in  later  years  he  added 
by  the  purchase  of  two  hundred  and  forty 
acres,  making  his  estate  one  of  four  hundred 
acres.  On  his  fami  he  continued  to  reside 
during  the  remainder  of  his  life. 

Mr.  Mumford  was  an  enterprising  citizen 
and  had  much  to  do  with  the  development  of 
the  county,  and  it  may  be  said  of  him  that  he 
continued  to  contribute  his  quota  to  the 
county's  progress  until  his  death,  February 
14,  1904.  His  widow,  now  (1918)  eighty 
years  of  age,  still  resides  in  Gage  county,  hav- 
ing moved  to  Beatrice  after  the  death  of  her 
husband,  and  is  one  of  the  venerable  and  re- 
vered pioneers  of  the  county,  she  being  among 
the  very  few  of  the  original  settlers  left.  Of 
the  nine  children  bom  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mum- 
ford, six  survive:  Sarah  E.  is  the  wife  of 
William  A.  Foreman,  who  was  a  successful 


farmer  and  is  the  owner  of  a  good  farm  of 
four  hundred  acres,  located  six  miles  north- 
east of  Beatrice.  They  have  now  retired  and 
live  in  Beatrice.  Charles  B.  is  noted  for  his 
love  of  fine  horses  and  has  owned  many  good 
ones.  Of  late  years  he  has  been  engaged  in 
the  automobile  business  at  Beatrice.  Eugene 
P.  was  the  next  in  order  of  birth.  Ida  N.  is 
the  wife  of  Lawrence  W.  Epard,  and  they  re- 
side upon  the  old  homestead  of  her  father, 
adjoining  the  old  home  place,  John  B.  Mum- 
ford having  relinquished  the  homestead  in 
the  early  days  to  his  sister.  Frank  W.  is  still 
living  in  the  old  home  where  he  was  born. 
He  is  also  an  extensive  live-stock  shipper. 
Luther  E.,  former  principal  of  the  Beatrice 
high  school,  is  now  living  in  Lincoln,  Nebras- 
ka, and  is  engaged  in  school  work. 

The  late  John  B.  Mumford  took  a  decided 
interest  in  political  and  public  affairs,  and  was 
always  a  Democrat.  He  did  much  to  advance 
the  party  but  never  consented  to  be  a  candi- 
date for  office.  His  religious  faith  was  that 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  and  his 
venerable  widow  is  a  member  of  the  Christian 
church. 

Eugene  P.  Mumford  was  about  two  years 
old  at  the  time  the  family  moved  to  Gage 
county.  He  profited  by  the  advantages  of  the 
country  school  and  later  attended  the  Blake 
Select  School  of  Beatrice,  but  never  com- 
pleted the  regular  course  of  study.  He  has 
devoted  much  time  to  reading,  and  had  the 
good  fortune  of  having  association  and  friend- 
ship with  such  pioneer  characters  as  J.  B. 
Weston,  George  P.  Marvin,  Judge  Alfred 
Hazlett,  R.  S.  Bibb,  and  D.  W.  Cook,  for  all 
of  whom  he  had  much  respect  and  who  con- 
tributed much  to  his  fund  of  useful  informa- 
tion. He  is  a  Democrat  politically,  as  were 
his  ancestors  "from  the  time  the  memory  of 
man  runneth  not  to  the  contrary."  He  be- 
longed to  the  old  school  known  as  "gold" 
Democrats,  and  was  opposed  to  free  silver 
during  the  campaign  on  that  issue.  He  was  a 
student  of  Adam  Smith  on  finance  and  be- 
lieved in  a  commodity  basis  for  value.  He 
has  done  much,  with  the  assistance  of  his 
brother  Frank,  to  build  up  the  ranks  of  the 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


407 


party  and  has  been  twice  recognized  for  loy- 
alty. He  was  appointed  revenue  collector  for 
the  southeast  division  of  Nebraska  during 
President  Cleveland's  administration,  and  al- 
though he  filed  his  resignation  at  the  end  of 
four  years,  he  was  retained  two  years  under 
President  McKinley,  owing  to  his  familiarity 
with  the  service,  and  to  the  exigencies  of  the 
Spanish-American  war.  He  was  selected  by 
Governor  John  H.  Morehead  as  private  secre- 
tary to  that  able  executive  during  his  several 
terms  as  governor  of  Nebraska.  Mr.  Mum- 
ford  is  now  engaged  in  business  at  Beatrice. 
His  reputation  for  absolute  reliability  in  all 
transactions  and  his  wide  acquaintanceship 
and  knowledge  of  afifairs  have  established  for 
him  a  good  business  in  the  real  estate  and  in- 
surance enterprise,  including  the  rental  of 
properties,  of  which  he  has  farm  and  city 
property  to  look  after.  He  also  has  a  furni- 
ture store,  which  he  conducts  with  the  assist- 
ance of  his  nephew,  C.  D.  Mumford. 

On  the  22d  of  June,  1898,  Mr.  Mumford 
was  united  in  marriage  to  Lenda  Mostert, 
who  was  born  near  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin, 
and  came  to  Nebraska  in  1878,  when  seven 
years  of  age.  Mrs.  Mumford  is  of  German 
lineage,  her  people  coming  from  Bavaria. 
She  was  studious  during  her  school  days  and 
in  1888  was  graduated  with  honor  in  the 
Beatrice  high  school.  For  ten  years  thereafter 
she  was  an  instructor  in  the  Beatrice  schools. 
Mrs.  Mumford  has  always  been  active  in 
school  affairs,  and  is  held  in  high  regard  by 
her  many  friends  and  associates.  She  is  a 
member  of  the  Trinity  Lutheran  church  and 
has  taken  an  active  part  in  the  work  of  that 
organization.  She  is  at  the  present  time 
treasurer  of  the  Young  Women's  Christian 
Association  and  is  now  serving  her  third 
term.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mumford  are  the  par- 
ents of  one  son,  Paul  E.,  who  was  graduated 
at  the  Beatrice  high  school  in  the  class  of 
1918. 


CHARLES  H.  OJERS  has  been  a  resident 
of  Nebraska  for  nearly  half  a  century  and 
since  1889  he  has  been  numbered  among  the 
honored   citizens   and   representative   farmers 


of  Lincoln  township.  Gage  county,  where  he 
has  made  the  best  of  improvements  on  a  farm 
of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  that  consti- 
tutes the  northeast  quarter  of  Section  3,  this 
property  having  been  a  heritage  received  by 
his  wife  from  the  estate  of  her  father,  who 
was  an  influential  pioneer  of  Nebraska. 

Mr.  Ojers  was  born  in  Steuben  county. 
New  York,  on  the  15th  of  May,  1851,  and  is 
a  son  of  John  A.  and  Phoebe  A.  (Huntley) 
Ojers,  the  former  of  whom  was  bom  in  the 
city  of  London,  England,  in  1821,  and  the 
latter  of  whom  was  bom  in  Steuben  county, 
New  York,  in  April,  1823,  a  representative 
of  one  of  the  well  known  pioneer  families  of 
that  section  of  the  Empire  state.  In  his 
native  city  John  A.  Ojers  gained  his  youth- 
ful education  and  also  served  a  thorough  ap- 
prenticeship to  the  shoemaker's  trade.  As  a 
young  man  he  came  to  the  United  States  and, 
as  a  skilled  workman,  found  employment  at 
his  trade.  After  his  marriage  he  continued 
his  residence  in  the  state  of  New  York  until 
1856,  when  he  removed  with  his  family  to 
Illinois  and  established  his  residence  in  Ogle 
county,  where  he  continued  in  the  work  of  his 
trade  for  a  number  of  years.  In  1874  he  and 
his  wife  came  to  Nebraska,  where  he  passed 
the  remainder  of  his  long  and  useful  life, 
his  death  having  occurred  at  DeWitt,  Saline 
county,  in  1909,  at  which  time  he  was  eighty- 
eight  years  of  age.  His  venerable  widow, 
who  celebrated  in  the  spring  of  1917  the 
ninety-fourth  anniversary  of  her  birth,  is  one 
of  the  revered  women  of  Gage  county  and  is 
passing  the  gentle  evening  of  her  life  in  the 
village  of  Wymore. 

Charles  H.  Ojers  was  five  years  of  age  at 
the  time  of  the  family  removal  to  Illinois, 
where  he  was  reared  to  manhood  and  where 
his  educational  advantages  were  those  of- 
fered by  the  common  schools.  There  he  gave 
his  attention  principally  to  farm  work,  being 
employed  by  the  month,  until  he  had  attained 
to  his  legal  majority,  when,  in  1872,  he  came 
to  Nebraska  and  rented  land  in  Johnson 
county.  Under  these  conditions  he  there  con- 
tinued his  operations  as  a  farmer  until  1887, 
when  he  removed  to  Saline  countv  and  set- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charles  H.  Ojers 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


409 


tied  on  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
which  his  wife  inherited  and  which  they  still 
own.  In  1889  they  came  to  Gage  county  and 
established  their  home  on  their  present  at- 
tractive farm,  upon  which  he  has  made  ad- 
mirable improvements  in  the  way  of  build- 
ings and  other  permanent  evidences  of  thrift 
and  good  management,  and  which  he  has 
made  one  of  the  fine  farms  of  Lincoln  town- 
ship. He  has  been  a  vigorous  and  productive 
representative  of  farm  industry  during  the 
many  years  of  his  residence  in  Nebraska  and 
has  achieved  success  worthy  of  the  name.  He 
is  progressive  and  judicious  in  his  business 
policies  and  in  addition  to  his  valuable  farm 
holdings  he  is  a  substantial  stockholder  in  the 
Blue  Valley  Mercantile  Company  of  Beatrice. 
Though  he  has  had  neither  time  nor  inclina- 
tion for  political  activity  or  public  office  of 
any  kind,  he  accords  loyal  support  to  the  cause 
of  the  Republican  party,  and  he  is  affiliated 
with  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows. 
On  the  20th  of  August,  1871,  was  solemn- 
ized the  marriage  of  Mr.  Ojers  to  Miss  Fan- 
nie R.  Rathburn,  who  was  bom  in  Ogle 
county,  Illinois,  and  who  is  a  daughter  of  the 
late  Job  B.  Rathburn,  an  honored  pioneer  who 
accumulated  a  very  extensive  and  valuable 
landed  estate  in  sotitheastern  Nebraska  and 
was  one  of  the  prominent  and  influential 
citizens  of  Gage  county  at  the  time  of  his 
death.  Of  the  four  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Ojers,  Charles,  who  was  born  in  1872,  died 
at  the  age  of  five  years ;  George  L.,  born  in 
1874,  died  in  early  childhood ;  Annie  R.,  who 
was  born  in  1874,  is  the  wife  of  Edward 
Zobel  and  they  reside  with  her  parents  on  the 
latter's  homestead  farm,  of  which  Mr.  Zobel 
has  much  of  the  active  management;  and 
Addie  R.,  who  was  born  in  1881,  is  the  wife 
of  Essa  A.  Lash,  a  prosperous  farmer  in  Sa- 
line county,  where  he  operates  a  farm  owned 
by  his  wife's  father.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lash  have 
six  children  —  Lloyd,  Myrtle,  George,  John, 
Mary,  and  Gertrude. 

JEFFERSON  B.  WESTON.  — Not  too 
often  and  not  through  the  agency  of  too  many 
vehicles  can  be  recorded  the  life  history  of 


one  who  lived  so  honorable  and  useful  a  life 
as  did  the  late  Jefferson  B.  Weston,  who 
wrote  his  name  in  large  and  indelible  char- 
acters on  the  history  of  the  state  of  Nebraska, 
within  whose  borders  he  established  his  home 
three  years  after  the  creation  of  the  original 
territory  and  fully  six  years  prior  to  the  re- 
duction of  its  area  to  the  present  limitations. 
He  was  one  of  the  founders  and  builders  of 
this  now  noble  and  opulent  commonwealth 
and  he  gave  the  best  of  an  essentially  strong 
and  loyal  nature  to  the  service  of  the  terri- 
tory and  the  state ;  his  life  course  was  guided 
and  governed  by  the  highest  principles  of  in- 
tegrity and  honor.  As  offering  a  somewhat 
intimate  and  assuredly  earnest  and  consistent 
estimate  of  the  man  and  his  services,  there  is 
all  of  propriety  in  perpetuating  in  this  memoir 
the  following  extracts  from  an  appreciative 
article  that  appeared  in  the  Beatrice  Sun  at 
the  time  of  the  death  of  Mr.  Weston,  who 
passed  from  the  stage  of  life's  mortal  en- 
deavors on  the  15th  of  September,  1905, 
minor  elimination  and  paraphrase  being  in- 
dulged in  the  reproduction  of  these  excerpts : 
"Mr.  Weston  was  born  at  Bremen,  Lincoln 
county,  Maine,  on  the  3d  of  March,  1831,  and 
thus  he  was  nearly  seventy-five  years  of  age 
at  the  time  of  his  death.  He  was  a  scion  of 
the  staunchest  of  colonial  New  England  an- 
cestry and  in  his  personality  always  mani- 
fested the  sturdy  and  rugged  characteristics 
of  a  strong  and  worthy  ancestry.  When  he 
was  about  twenty  years  of  age  Mr.  Weston 
entered  LTnion  College,  at  Schnectady,  New 
York,  and  in  this  institution  he  was  graduated 
as  a  member  of  the  class  of  1856.  In  less 
than  a  year  thereafter  he  joined  the  exodus 
of  emigrants  who  were  pushing  their  way 
westward,  and  in  April,  1857,  he  came  to  the 
new  territory  of  Nebraska,  which  then  ex- 
tended from  the  Missouri  river  west  to  the 
Rocky  movmtains  and  from  the  fortieth  par- 
allel to  the  Canadian  border.  He  was  one  of 
the  leaders  of  that  band  of  intrepid  men  and 
women  who,  on  board  the  old  river  boat 
'Hannibal,'  on  the  3d  of  April,  1857,  while 
stuck  on  a  sand  bar  opposite  Doniphan,  Kan- 
sas, entered  into  a  compact  to  remain  together 


410 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


and  locate  somewhere  in  the  new  territory  of 
Nebraska,  with  the  definite  purpose  of  there 
founding  a  city.  He  was  the  principal  mem- 
ber of  the  committee  representing  this  com- 
pany of  pioneers,  and  this  committee,  upon 
personal  inspection  in  May  of  that  year,  de- 
termined upon  the  site  which  comprises  the 
original  town  of  Beatrice  as  the  location  of 
the  prospective  city  to  be  founded  by  these 
sterling  pioneers,  and  Mr.  Weston  was  one 
of  the  enthusiastic  young  men  who  made 
prompt  answer  when  the  roll  of  this  company 
was  called  on  the  site  of  Beatrice,  June  27, 
1857.  From  the  date  of  his  arrival  in  the 
territory  Mr.  Weston  identified  himself  fully 
and  vigorously  with  the  activities  of  pioneer 
life.  In  the  early  days  he  engaged  in  various 
freighting  ventures  and  with  ox  teams  crossed 
the  plains  to  Denver  and  other  points,  besides 
having  gained  his  quota  of  experience  in 
trading  with  the  Indians  and  with  mining  en- 
terprise. Early  in  his  career  he  was  admitted 
to  the  territorial  bar,  and  for  some  time  prior 
to  1872  he  gave  considerable  time  and  atten- 
tion to  the  practice  of  his  profession,  as  one 
of  the  pioneer  members  of  the  bar  of  Gage 
county  and  its  judicial  center. 

"In  the  autumn  of  1872  Mr.  Weston  was 
elected  auditor  of  public  accounts  of  the  state 
of  Nebraska,  and  by  successive  re-elections 
he  continued  the  incumbent  of  this  office  from 
January,  1873,  until  January,  1879.  From 
1873  to  1886  he  and  his  family  resided  in  the 
city  of  Lincoln,  capital  of  the  state,  but  with 
this  exception  he  held  continuous  residence  at 
Beatrice  from  1857  until  the  time  of  his 
death. 

"From  the  brief  data  here  presented  it  will 
be  seen  that  Mr.  Weston  was  closely  identi- 
fied with  the  histor)'  of  Nebraska  from  the 
beginning.  He  belonged  to  that  class  of 
frontiersmen  who  have  in  a  large  degree  the 
constructive  faculty.  Possessed  of  the  true 
pioneer  spirit  which  looks  far  into  the  future 
and  sees  states  rise  from  tenantless  wilder- 
nesses and  naked  plains,  he  never  wavered 
from  his  trust  that  here  God  had  marked  the 
outlines  of  a  great  commonwealth.  He  lived 
to  see  the  justification  of  his  faith  and  to  par- 


ticipate in  a  large  measure  in  the  fruition  of 
his  hopes. 

"Not  only  was  Air.  Weston  the  possessor 
of  a  liberal  education  but  he  was  also  a  man 
of  large  intellectual  life.  Deliberate  and  con- 
servative in  his  judgment,  he  was  accustomed 
to  take  an  accurate  and  comprehensive  view 
of  human  affairs.  His  clear,  comprehensive 
way  of  looking  at  things  made  him  one  of 
the  most  useful  members  of  the  community 
in  which  he  lived  and  also  a  useful  and  valued 
citizen  of  his  state.  His  charity  was  large, 
his  kindness  of  heart  without  bounds,  and  in 
his  habits  and  associations  he  was  the  most 
democratic  of  men.  With  a  generous,  open- 
hearted  faith  in  humanity  and  a  deep-rooted 
faith  in  God,  he  came  to  the  end  of  his  long 
journey  in  an  atmosphere  of  hope,  courage 
and  cheer  that  was  infectious  and  touched  all 
who  came  within  the  sphere  of  his  benign  in- 
fluence. Men  loved  him,  and  to  hundreds  in 
his  home  community  and  in  other  portions  of 
the  state  the  world  will  be  lonelier  and  less  in- 
viting without  Jefferson  B.  Weston." 

Measured  by  its  beneficence,  its  rectitude, 
its  productiveness,  its  unconscious  altruism, 
and  its  material  success,  the  life  of  Hon. 
Jeft'erson  B.  Weston  counted  for  much,  and 
Nebraska  is  perpetually  favored  in  that  as  a 
young  man  he  allied  himself  with  all  of  tho- 
roughness and  completeness  with  its  interests, 
grew  with  its  growth  and  dignified  and  hon- 
ored the  territory  and  the  state  by  his  char- 
acter and  his  achievement.  Standing  in  the 
light  and  unassuming  glory  of  life  and 
character  like  this,  those  of  the  younger 
generation  of  Americans  may  gain  lesson  and 
inspiration  and  feel  the  thrill  of  buoyant 
loyalty  and  patriotism,  the  while  there  can 
not  fail  to  be  appreciation  of  the  splendid 
and  ever  widening  influence  which  such  a  life 
implies. 

In  the  stability  of  his  mature  judgment  Mr. 
Weston  was  well  fortified  in  his  opinions  con- 
cerning economic  and  governmental  policies, 
and  he  gave  his  political  allegiance  to  the 
Republican  party.  Mr.  Weston  was  asso- 
ciated with  other  representative  citizens  in 
the  founding  of  the  Beatrice  National  Bank, 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


411 


which  received  its  charter  in  the  autumn  of 
1883,  and  by  the  original  board  of  directors 
he  was  elected  president  of  the  institution, 
an  office  of  which  he  continued  the  incumbent 
until  his  death  —  a  period  of  nearly  a  quarter 
of  a  century. 

In  1860,  at  Nebraska  City,  was  solemnized 
the  marriage  of  Mr.  Weston  to  Miss  Helen 
Towle,  who  was  born  at  Hennepin,  Illinois, 
a  daughter  of  Albert  and  Catherine  (Holt) 
Towle,  who  likewise  were  numbered  among 
the  honored  pioneers  of  Nebraska.  Mrs. 
Weston  survived  her  honored  husband  and  in 
her  gentle  and  gracious  womanhood  she 
proved  a  true  complement  to  his  virile  and 
upright  manhood,  so  that  the  home  relations 
were  ideal  during  a  devoted  companionship 
that  continued  nearly  half  a  century  and  that 
was  broken  only  by  the  death  of  the  husband 
and  father.  Mrs.  Weston  passed  to  the  life 
eternal  on  the  25th  of  February,  1917,  and 
her  memory  is  revered  by  all  who  came  within 
the  compass  of  her  gentle  and  gracious  influ- 
ence. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Weston  became  the  par- 
ents of  four  children  —  Ralph  A.,  Elizabeth 
L.,  Herbert  T.,  and  Katharine.  Ralph  A.  ii 
now  a  resident  of  Millet,  Alberta,  Canada, 
and  Katharine,  who  became  the  wife  of 
Thomas  E.  Wing,  was  a  resident  of  Scars- 
dale,  New  York,  at  the  time  of  her  death. 
Elizabeth  L.  and  Herbert  T.  remain  in 
Beatrice. 


JOSEPH  LUTHER  WEBB,  M.  D.— 
Large,  definite,  and  benignant  was  the  im- 
press which  this  honored  pioneer  left  in  con- 
nection with  this  history  of  Gage  county,  and 
no  work  purporting  to  give  record  concern- 
ing those  who  have  here  been  the  vigorous 
apostles  of  civic  and  material  development 
and  progress  can  be  consistent  with  itself  if 
there  is  failure  to  accord  an  earnest  tribute 
of  recognition  to  Dr.  Webb.  He  was  one  of 
the  very  first  physicians  to  establish  residence 
and  engage  in  practice  in  the  little  frontier 
community  which  was  the  nucleus  of  the 
present  city  of  Beatrice,  and  it  has  well  been 
said  that  "all  through  the  rest  of  his  life  he 
was  closely  associated  with  every  movement 


looking  toward  the  development,  growth,  and 
social  and  material  well-being  of  the  com- 
munity. 

Dr.  Webb  was  born  on  a  pioneer  homestead 
farm  near  the  city  of  Springfield,  Illinois,  and 
the  date  of  his  nativity  was  August  1,  1837. 
He  was  a  son  of  Luther  Hiram  Webb  and 
Martha  (Bellows)  Webb,  both  representa- 
tives of  sterling  families  that  were  founded 
in  New  England  in  the  early  colonial  period 
of  our  national  history.  The  Doctor  was  the 
sixth  in  order  of  birth  in  a  family  of  seven 
children  and  the  youngest  of  the  number  was 
Hiram  P.,  who  likewise  became  prominently 
identified  with  pioneer  activities  in  Gage 
county,  Nebraska.  Concerning  the  early 
period  in  the  career  of  Dr.  Webb  the  follow- 
ing record  has  been  prepared,  and  it  is  worthy 
of  perpetuation  in  this  connection:  "When 
the  Doctor  was  but  ten  years  old  his  father 
and  elder  brother  died,  only  a  day  apart,  leav- 
ing the  widowed  mother  and  the  surviving 
children  on  the  pioneer  homestead.  In  the 
face  of  most  strenuous  hardships  and  trials 
the  devoted  mother  struggled  to  keep  her 
family  together  and  saw  to  it  that  each  child 
was  cared  for  and  afiforded  the  best  educa- 
tional advantages  oiTered  in  that  pioneer 
locality,  the  capital  city  of  Illinois  having  been 
d.  mere  village  at  that  time.  After  having 
availed  himself  of  the  advantages  of  the  local 
schools,  Dr.  Webb  went  to  Springfield,  the 
state  capital,  and  there  he  prosecuted  his 
study  of  medicine  in  the  offices  of  several  of 
the  leading  physicians  of  the  place,  this  meth- 
od of  preliminary  training  having  been  com- 
monly in  vogue  in  the  locality  and  period.  At 
this  time  Abraham  Lincoln,  Stephen  A. 
Douglas  and  many  other  men  who  attained 
to  eminence  were  residing  in  Springfield,  and 
the  ambitious  young  student  came  to  an  ap- 
preciable extent  under  their  influence,  his 
life  ever  afterward  having  shown  the  strong 
characteristics  that  such  association  tended  to 
develop.  With  characteristic  ambition  and 
zeal  Dr.  Webb  pursued  his  medical  studies 
and  finally  he  found  it  possible  to  enter  the 
Eclectic  Medical  Institute  in  the  city  of  Cin- 
cinnati,   Ohio,   an   institution   of   celebrity   at 


4i: 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


the  time  and  one  notable  for  leadership  in  the 
development  of  medical  reform  and  advance- 
ment, —  one  that  continues  to  the  present 
day  as  a  strong  and  influential  school  of  medi- 
cine. In  this  college  the  Doctor  was  gradu- 
ated as  a  member  of  the  class  of  1871  and  in 
the  same  year  he  established  his  permanent 
residence  in  Gage  county,  which  he  had  pre- 
viously visited.  In  1867  the  new  country  rep- 
resented in  Nebraska,  which  was  admitted  to 
statehood  in  that  year,  was  being  much 
talked  about  and  exploited  in  the  eastern 
states,  and  a  group  of  young  men  from  the 
vicinity  of  Springfield,  Illinois,  and  including 
Dr.  Webb  and  his  brothers,  decided  to  pay  a 
visit  to  this  new  land  of  promise.  Accord- 
ingly, they  set  forth,  and  they  made  the  trip 
partly  by  stage,  partly  by  rail,  partly  on  horse- 
back, and  for  a  considerable  distance  on  foot, 
gaining  much  from  each  experience.  Before 
returning  the  Webb  brothers  had  acquired  in 
Gage  county  a  tract  of  land,  as  an  investment. 
They  then  returned  to  their  home  in  Illinois 
and  after  having  prepared  himself  thoroughly 
for  the  work  of  his  chosen  profession  Dr. 
Webb  reverted  to  the  favorable  impression 
which  Nebraska  had  made  upon  him,  with  the 
result  that,  in  1871,  he  came  to  Gage  county 
and  established  himself  as  one  of  the  pioneer 
physicians  and  surgeons  in  the  embryonic 
city  of  Beatrice. 

"The  country  was  sparsely  settled  and  the 
practice  of  medicine  must  needs  be  carried  on 
without  the  aid  of  any  of  the  modem  con- 
veniences, such  as  laboratories,  hospitals, 
telephones,  automobiles,  consultants,  and 
stores  where  needed  appliances  could  be  ob- 
tained. The  life  of  the  self -abnegating  and 
faithful  physician  was  full  of  exposure,  long 
and  irregular  hours  and  all  manner  of  inci- 
dental hardships.  Dr.  Webb's  ministrations 
in  the  early  days  often  involved  the  making 
of  trips  that  required  several  days  to  com- 
plete, and  on  numerous  occasions  he  found 
his  buggy  unavailable  for  further  progress, 
so  that  he  would  proceed  on  horseback  and 
at  times  even  on  foot  —  moved  by  an  in- 
violable sense  of  stewardship  and  consecrated 
professional  zeal.     Travel  would  follow  the 


trails  and  ridges,  streams  were  to  be  forded, 
and  the  Doctor  must  needs  be  both  physician 
and  nurse  in  cases  of  emergency.  Still,  the 
services  thus  rendered  seemed  to  be  more  on 
a  basis  of  friendship  than  mere  remuneration, 
and  the  heartfelt  appreciation  and  affection- 
ate regard  which  these  old-time  physicians 
won  proved  a  greater  and  worthier  recom- 
pense than  that  of  mere  money.  Such  close 
and  inviolable  relationships  are  seldom  pos- 
sible between  the  physicians  of  the  present 
day  and  their  clients.  Later  in  life  Dr. 
Webb  was  pleased  to  recount,  with  animation 
and  appreciation,  many  stories  of  experience 
gained  during  these  early  years,  when  the 
buffalo,  the  Indian,  the  desperado  sometimes 
crossed  his  path.  He  had  unexpected  meet- 
ings with  many  whose  names  are  prominently 
associated  with  frontier  annals  in  the  west, 
as  well  as  border  outlaws  and  other  insubordi- 
nate characters,  but  his  genial  personality  and 
indomitable  courage  were  such  that  such  en- 
counters never  resulted  in  specially  unplea- 
sant experiences." 

Dr.  Webb  was  humanity's  friend  in  the 
highest  sense  of  the  expression,  was  tolerant 
and  kindly  in  his  judgment,  and  he  labored 
earnestly  and  efficiently  in  the  alleviation  of 
suffering  and  distress  —  a  guide  and  coun- 
sellor to  many  of  the  representative  pioneer 
families  of  Gage  and  adjoining  counties.  He 
continued  in  active  practice  until  within  a  few 
years  prior  to  his  death,  and  even  after  his 
retirement  many  of  his  former  clients  re- 
fused to  receive  ministration  from  any  other 
source.  He  was  loved  and  revered  in  the 
county  which  so  long  was  the  stage  of  his 
earnest  endeavors,  and  the  entire  community 
manifested  a  sense  of  personal  loss  and  be- 
reavement when  he  passed  from  the  scene  of 
this  mortal  life.  Pertinent,  indeed,  are  the 
following  quotations :  "Dr.  Webb  was  a  man 
of  vigorous  health,  regular  habits  and  temper- 
ate living.  He  was  active  in  church  and  other 
Christian  work,  true  to  his  friends  and  pos- 
sessed of  an  exceptionally  broad  education, 
with  a  philosophy  in  life  that  made  him  a 
pleasant  member  of  any  group  in  which  he 
appeared.     He  made  a  trip  into  the  country 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA  413 


Dr.  Joseph  L.  Webb,  Sr. 


414 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


on  the  morning  of  May  12,  1911,  returned 
and  was  with  his  family  at  noon.  He  went  to 
his  down-town  office  as  usual,  and  there  he 
was  suddenly  taken  ill,  passing  into  uncon- 
sciousness about  sundown,  and  his  death  oc- 
curred near  midnight.  His  demise  was  so 
unexpected  that  it  came  as  a  distinct  shock  to 
the  community  when  it  was  announced  the 
next  morning." 

Associating  themselves  with  other  repre- 
sentative citizens,  Dr.  Webb  and  his  brother 
Hiram  P.  were  closely  identified  with  the 
early  development  of  the  community.  They 
gave  freely  of  their  time  and  energy  in  the 
furtherance  of  every  movement  that  seemed 
to  promise  good  to  the  interests  of  the  com- 
monwealth, and  the  early  annals  of  Gage 
county  histor}^  give  record  of  much  which 
they  did  to  accelerate  social  and  material  prog- 
ress in  the  county  and  especially  the  city  of 
Beatrice. 

On  the  2d  of  October,  1873,  was  solemnized 
the  marriage  of  Dr.  Webb  to  Miss  Kate 
Louise  Sheppard,  daughter  of  G.  W.  Shep- 
pard,  who  had  come  with  his  wife  and  chil- 
dren from  England  to  America  in  the  preced- 
ing year  and  who  established  a  home  in  Gage 
county.  In  conclusion  of  this  memoir  is 
given  brief  record  concerning  the  children  of 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Webb,  the  latter  continuing  to 
occupy  the  attractive  old  homestead  in  the 
city  of  Beatrice  and  being  an  earnest  member 
of  the  Episcopal  church :  Hiram  L.,  eldest 
of  the  children,  now  resides  near  the  city  of 
Binghampton,  New  York ;  James  Edgar  died 
in  infancy;  Dr.  Joseph  Lewis  Webb  is  indi- 
vidually mentioned  elsewhere  in  this  volume; 
and  Kate  L.  remains  with  her  widowed 
mother,  being  prominent  in  the  women's  ac- 
tivities of  the  Centenary  Methodist  Episcopal 
church  of  Beatrice  and  also  in  the  local  and 
national  affairs  of  the  Young  Women's 
Christian  Association,  the  while  she  is  a 
popular  figure  in  the  representative  social  life 
of  her  native  city. 

HON.  LEWIS  B.  BOGGS,  M.  D.,  a  man 
of  distinguished  intellectual  and  professional 
ability  and  high  ideals,  came  with  his  family 


to  Gage  county  in  1872,  and  it  was  given  him 
to  wield  a  large  and  benignant  influence  not 
only  as  a  pioneer  physician  and  surgeon  of 
this  section  of  the  state,  but  also  as  a  man  of 
aftairs  and  a  citizen  whose  civic  loyalty  and 
exceptional  talents  made  him  a  most  influen- 
tial factor  in  public  affairs  in  the  county  and 
state  of  his  adoption.  Now  venerable  in 
years,  he  and  his  wife  maintain  their  residence 
in  Oklahoma  City,  Oklahoma,  to  which  state 
they  removed  from  Gage  county  in  1894.  As 
sterling  pioneers  who  represented  the  best  in 
civic  life  in  Gage  county  for  many  years,  it 
is  fitting  that  they  be  accorded  recognition  in 
this  history. 

Dr.  Lewis  Bowen  Boggs  was  born  at  New- 
castle, Indiana,  September  3,  1828,  the  fourth 
in  order  of  birth  in  a  family  of  seven  children. 
His  paternal  grandfather,  Andrew  Boggs,  was 
born  and  reared  in  Ireland  and  upon  coming 
to  America  established  his  residence  in  Vir- 
ginia, in  which  historic  old  commonwealth  he 
passed  the  remainder  of  his  life.  James 
Boggs,  father  of  the  Doctor,  was  born  in  Vir- 
ginia, where  he  was  reared  and  educated,  and 
as  a  young  man  of  twenty  years  he  went  to 
Indiana  and  settled  in  the  pioneer  town  of 
Newcastle.  There  was  solemnized  his  mar- 
riage to  Miss  Martha  Stinson,  who  was  bom 
in  eastern  Tennessee,  October  26,  1806,  her 
parents  having  removed  from  Tennessee  to 
Indiana  and  having  become  pioneer  settlers 
in  Henry  county,  where  they  passed  the  rest 
of  their  lives,  the  father,  John  Stinson,  having 
there  become  a  prosperous  farmer.  James 
Boggs  continued  his  residence  in  Henry 
county,  Indiana,  until  his  death,  November  7, 
1842,  and  he  there  reclaimed  and  improved  a 
valuable  farm,  his  status  having  been  that  of 
a  substantial  and  influential  citizen  of  that 
section  of  the  old  Hoosier  state.  His  widow 
survived  him  by  nearly  a  decade  and  was 
summoned  to  the  life  eternal  on  the  6th  of 
March,  1852. 

Dr.  Lewis  B.  Boggs  was  but  fourteen  years 
of  age  at  the  time  of  his  father's  death  and 
was  thus  early  thrown  upon  his  own  re- 
sources. For  a  time  he  worked  for  his  board 
and  clothing,  in  the  meanwhile  finding  it  pos- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


415 


sible  to  attend  school  during  the  winter  terms. 
His  alert  mentality  was  on  a  parity  with  his 
ambition,  and  he  determined  to  obtain  a  liberal 
education.  He  continued  to  be  associated 
with  farm  enterprise  until  he  had  attained  to 
the  age  of  twenty  years,  when  he  entered 
Wabash  College.  In  this  institution  he  com- 
pleted the  full  classical  course,  and  after  leav- 
ing college  he  was  employed  for  one  year  in 
a  grain  elevator  at  Michigan  City,  Indiana, 
At  Leesburg,  that  state,  he  then  took  up  the 
study  of  medicine,  under  effective  private  pre- 
ceptorship,  and  he  applied  himself  with  such 
characteristic  diligence  and  receptivity  that 
three  years  later  he  was  able  to  engage  in 
active  general  practice,  at  North  Manchester, 
Indiana.  There  he  remained  until  1858,  when 
he  removed  to  Neponset,  Illinois,  which  lo- 
cality continued  to  be  the  stage  of  his  effective 
professional  labors  until  1865,  when  he  re- 
turned to  Indiana  and  established  himself  in 
practice  at  Argos,  Marshall  county.  There 
he  retained  a  large  and  representative  general 
practice  until  1870,  when,  on  account  of  his 
impaired  health,  he  turned  over  his  practice 
to  his  younger  brother.  In  1872  he  came  with 
his  family  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  where 
he  purchased  one  hundred  and  eighty-five 
acres  of  land  in  what  is  now  Filley  township. 
For  this  property  he  paid  only  four  and  one- 
half  dollars  an  acre  and  with  the  passing 
years  he  reclaimed  it  into  one  of  the  fine  farm 
properties  of  the  county.  Here  he  gave  his 
attention  primarily  to  the  raising  of  live  stock, 
and  when  it  became  known  throughout  the 
pioneer  community  that  he  was  a  skilled 
physician  and  surgeon  he  was  prevailed  upon 
to  resume  here  the  practice  of  his  profession, 
in  the  meanwhile  continuing  his  farm  enter- 
prise with  the  effective  assistance  of  his  sons. 
Within  a  short  time  he  built  up  a  large  prac- 
tice, the  same  extending  over  a  radius  of 
twenty  miles,  and  iie  devoted  himself  earnest- 
ly and  unselfishly  to  the  alleviation  of  human 
suffering  under  conditions  that  involved  ardu- 
ous work  and  many  hardships.  This  pioneer 
physician  thus  gained  the  affectionate  regard 
of  the  entire  community  and  his  name  is  re- 


vered in  the  county  where  he  thus  lived  and 
labored  to  goodly  ends. 

In  1887  Dr.  Boggs  retired  from  the  active 
practice  of  his  profession,  but  he  still  retained 
most  vital  interest  in  community  affairs  and 
those  of  governmental  and  general  public 
order.  He  became  deeply  interested  in  the 
cause  of  prohibition  and  was  associated  with 
others  in  establishing  a  prohibition  publica- 
tion to  which  was  given  the  name  of  the  New 
Republic.  He  was  actively  associated  with 
the  management  of  this  periodical,  which  was 
made  an  influential  organ  of  the  cause.  Dr. 
Boggs  was  reared  in  the  faith  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party  but  prior  to  the  Civil  war  he  had 
become  a  staunch  abolitionist,  doing  all  in  his 
power  to  remove  the  institution  of  human 
slavery  from  the  nation. 

In  1876  Dr.  Boggs  was  elected  representa- 
tive of  Gage  county  in  the  Nebraska  legisla- 
ture, and  he  made  a  characteristically  effective 
record  in  the  promotion  of  wise  legislation. 
He  was  assigned  to  important  committees  of 
the  house  of  representatives,  including  the 
judiciary  committee,  and  his  loyal  activities 
as  a  legislator  were  of  that  exalted  order 
which  was  to  be  expected  of  a  man  of  his 
temperament  and  ability.  The  Doctor  has  for 
many  years  been  affiliated  with  the  Masonic 
fraternity  and  he  was  one  of  the  founders 
and  a  director  of  the  first  banking  institution 
established  in  the  village  of  Filley.  He  was 
loyal  and  liberal  in  the  support  of  measures 
and  movements  tending  to  advance  the  gen- 
eral well-being  of  his  home  county.  He  was 
one  of  the  most  influential  representatives  of 
the  Prohibition  party  in  Gage  county  and  in 
1884  was  a  presidential  elector  on  the  party 
ticket.  He  acquired  a  large  landed  estate  in 
Gage  county  and  was  the  true  apostle  of  civic 
and  industrial  progress. 

In  LaPorte  county,  Indiana,  on  the  26th  of 
October,  1854,  was  solemnized  the  marriage 
of  Dr.  Boggs  to  Miss  Virginia  R.  Eraser,  a 
daughter  of  James  and  Sarah  (Campbell) 
Fraser,  the  former  of  whom  was  born  at 
Alexandria,  Virginia,  July  3,  1798,  and  the 
latter  in  the  city  of  Washington,  D.  C,  in 
the  year  1808.     The  parents  were  married  in 


416 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


the  city  of  Washington  and  in  1834  became 
pioneer  settlers  in  LaPorte  county,  Indiana, 
in  which  state  they  passed  the  remainder  of 
their  lives.  Mrs.  Boggs  was  bom  in  LaPorte 
county,  March  28,  1836,  and  was  there  reared 
and  educated,  she  having  been  the  third  in  a 
family  of  eight  children..  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
Boggs  became  the  parents  of  a  fine  family  of 
thirteen  children,  and  of  the  nine  now  living 
the  names  and  respective  dates  of  birth  are 
here  noted :  James  F.,  January  7,  1856 ; 
Charles  S.,  June  19,  1857  (individually  men- 
tioned on  other  pages  of  this  work)  ;  Eva  L. 
(wife  of  P.  E.  Plumb),  November  19,  1858; 
Mary  Ellen  (wife  of  William  H.  Andrew), 
August  5,  1860;  Luther  A.,  April  16,  1862; 
Thomas  W.,  March  8,  1864;  Benjamin  F., 
March  16,  1866;  Alice  C.  (wife  of  H.  H. 
Halhday),  March  4,  1868;  and  Minnie  (wife 
of  George  Scott),  February  11,  1881. 

GUSTAVUS  A.  ERICKSON  merits  con- 
sideration in  this  work  by  reason  of  his  secure 
status  as  one  of  the  representative  farmers 
and  citizens  of  Sherman  township.  He  was 
born  in  Mercer  county,  Illinois,  on  the  2d  of 
August,  1871,  and  is  a  son  of  Peter  and  Susan 
Erickson,  both  natives  of  Sweden.  Peter 
Erickson  was  reared  and  educated  in  his  na- 
tive land  and  was  a  sturdy  and  ambitious 
youth  of  twenty  years  when  he  came  to  the 
United  States.  For  some  time  thereafter  he 
was  employed  at  Galesburg,  Illinois,  where 
his  marriage  was  solemnized,  and  in  1876  he 
removed  with  his  family  to  Iowa,  where  he 
remained  until  1884,  as  a  farmer,  and  whence 
he  then  came  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska.  Here 
he  became  the  owner  of  a  half-section  of  land, 
in  Sherman  township,  and  he  developed  this 
into  one  of  the  well  improved  and  valuable 
farm  properties  of  the  county.  He  finally 
sold  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  but  the  re- 
mainder of  the  place  he  retained  in  his  posses- 
sion until  his  death,  in  1901,  his  widow  being 
now  (1918)  seventy-eight  years  of  age.  Of 
their  four  children  three  are  living  and  of  that 
number  the  subject  of  this  sketch  is  the  eld- 
est ;  Minnie  is  the  wife  of  E.  G.  Crook ;  Frank 
is  deceased;  and  Ida  is  the  wife  of  WilHam 


Kresbaugh,  who  has  charge  of  the  old  home- 
stead farm  of  Peter  Erickson.  Mr.  Erickson 
was  a  Republican  in  politics  and  was  an  earn- 
est member  of  the  Luthem  church,  as  is  also 
his  venerable  widow.  He  came  to  the  United 
States  without  other  reinforcement  than  his 
individual  energy  and  determined  purpose, 
and  he  achieved  worthy  success  through  his 
association  with  farm  enterprise. 

Gustavus  A.  Erickson  was  a  lad  of  five 
years  at  the  time  of  the  family  removal  from 
IlHnois  to  Iowa,  and  in  the  latter  state  he  re- 
ceived his  early  education  in  the  public 
schools.  He  was  thirteen  years  old  when  his 
parents  came  to  Gage  county,  and  here  he  con- 
tinued to  attend  school  at  intervals,  the  while 
he  assisted  materially  in  the  work  of  the  home 
farm.  After  beginning  independent  oper- 
ations as  a  farmer  he  utilized  rented  land  for 
five  years,  and  he  then  purchased  eighty  acres 
of  his  present  farm,  the  place  now  com- 
prising one  hundred  and  sixty  acres.  In  ad- 
dition to  this  homestead  he  owns  other  Gage 
county  land  of  such  amount  as  to  make  the 
area  of  his  estate  in  the  county  four  hundred 
acres,  besides  which  he  is  the  owner  of  four 
hundred  acres  in  the  state  of  Kansas.  He  has 
made  excellent  improvements  on  his  homestead 
farm  and  in  addition  to  carrying  on  well 
ordered  operations  as  an  agriculturist  he  raises 
each  year  a  large  number  of  cattle  and  swine 
of  good  type. 

Mr.  Erickson  is  a  stalwart  Republican  and 
he  is  serving  in  1918  as  chairman  of  the  town- 
ship board.  He  is  afitiliated  with  the  Masonic 
fraternity  and  the  Modern  Woodmen  of 
America  and  his  wife  and  children  hold  mem- 
bership in  the  Christian  church. 

In  1893  Mr.  Erickson  wedded  Miss  Mary 
MangT.is,  who  was  born  in  Illinois  and  who  is 
a  daughter  of  William  Mangus,  who  came 
with  his  family  to  Gage  county  in  1883  and 
who  was  here  the  owner  of  a  valuable  farm 
estate  of  four  hundred  acres  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  he  ha\'ing  been  born  in  Virginia  and 
his  wife,  who  survives  him,  having  been  born 
in  Illinois.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Erickson  became 
the  parents  of  five  children,  all  of  whom  are 
living  except  the  third,  Nellie,  who  died  at  the 


HISTORY  OF  GACxE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


4i; 


age  of  two  years ;  Oliver  is  a  sophomore  in  a 
leading  dental  college  in  the  city  of  Omaha ; 
Walter  is  now  associated  with  his  father  in 
farm  enterprise;  and  Edith  and  Alva  are  at- 
tending the  local  district  school. 

AMOS  L.  WRIGHT  is  one  of  the  honored 
territorial  pioneers  of  Gage  county  and  has 
become  one  of  the  specially  successful  expo- 
nents of  industrial  and  business  enterprise  in 
this  section  of  the  state  —  an  influential  citi- 
zen who  now  resides  in  the  village  of  Vir- 
ginia, Sherman  township,  and  who  is  properly 
given  a  tribute  in  this  history  of  the  county 
to  whose  development  and  progress  he  has 
contributed  in  generous  measure. 

Mr.  Wright  was  born  in  Menard  county, 
Illinois,  on  the  27th  of  February,  1844,  and 
there  he  gained  ample  experience  in  connec- 
tion with  the  work  of  the  piorneer  farm,  the 
while  he  made  excellent  use  of  the  educa- 
tional advantages  that  were  afforded  him,  as 
shown  by  the  fact  that  he  became  a  successful 
and  popular  representative  of  the  pedagogic 
profession  after  he  became  a  pioneer  of  Gage 
county,  Nebraska,  where  he  taught  school 
three  winter  terms.  He  was  an  ambitious 
young  man  of  twenty-two  years  when,  in  1866, 
he  came  to  Nebraska  Territory,  which  was  ad- 
mitted to  statehood  in  the  following  year. 
Here  he  found  work  as  a  farm  hand,  at  a 
compensation  of  ten  dollars  a  month,  and 
finally  he  began  the  breaking  and  improving 
of  his  homestead  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres,  in  Section  10  Blakely  township.  In 
1868  he  hauled  from  this  pioneer  farm  to  Ne- 
braska City  three  wagon-loads  of  wheat,  rep- 
resenting his  entire  crop  for  that  season,  and 
for  the  same  he  received  sixty  cents  a  bushel. 
That  the  loads  were  not  large  in  volume  is 
vouched  for  by  the  fact  that  the  sacks  of 
grain  were  hauled  on  a  wagon  without  side- 
boards. In  1867,  with  ox  and  horse  teams, 
he  broke  up  a  part  of  his  land,  and  in  that 
year  he  was  a  member  of  a  company,  includ- 
ing Jacob  Rutherford  and  seventeen  other 
pioneers,  who  made  their  way  to  the  west  to 
assist  in  quelling  insubordinate  Indians,  he 
and  Mr.  Rutherford  being  now  the  only  sur- 


viving members  of  this  expedition  against  the 
Cheyenne  Indians,  but  in  the  connection  they 
failed  to  encounter  a  single  Indian  except  one 
who  was  dead. 

Mr.  Wright  reclaimed  his  farm  into  one  of 
the  productive  tracts  of  Blakely  township  and 
there  remained  until  1886,  when  he  removed 
with  his  family  to  Sherman  township,  where 
he  purchased  a  tract  of  six  hundred  and  forty 
acres  —  the  south  half  of  Section  14  and  the 
north  half  of  Section  23.  On  this  fine  estate 
he  made  the  best  improvements  and  engaged 
extensively  in  general  farm  industry,  includ- 
ing diversified  agriculture  and  the  raising  of 
live  stock.  Later  he  was  engaged  in  the  grain 
and  lumber  business  in  the  village  of  Virginia, 
but  he  still  retains  possession  of  his  land  in 
Gage  county.  He  passes  a  portion  of  each 
year  with  his  children,  in  Gage  county,  where 
are  many  associations  and  memories  that  are 
hallowed  to  him  and  where  his  circle  of  friends 
is  limited  only  by  that  of  his  acquaintances, 
and  the  intervening  periods  he  customarily 
utilizes  in  visiting  his  daughter  in  California. 

In  Gage  county  was  solemnized  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  Wright  to  Miss  Clara  Wickham,  who 
was  born  in  Holt  county,  Missouri,  July  27, 
1848,  and  they  became  the  parents  of  three 
children :  Frances  A.  is  the  widow  of  Joseph 
E.  Penry  and  resides  at  Bostonia,  California, 
she  being  the  mother  of  three  children  ;  Bessie 
is  the  wife  of  William  Holm,  a  representative 
merchant  at  Virginia,  Gage  county,  and  they 
have  two  daughters ;  and  Fred  A.  is  individu- 
ally mentioned  in  this  publication. 

Amos  L.  Wright  is  a  son  of  James  and 
Elizabeth  (Offiel)  Wright,  natives  respective- 
ly of  Ohio  and  Kentucky.  James  Wright  re- 
moved, in  company  with  one  of  his  brothers, 
to  Illinois  in  the  pioneer  days,  and  there  he 
remained  until  1867,  when  he  came  with 
other  members  of  his  family  to  the  new  state 
of  Nebraska,  where  his  son  Amos  L.  has  lo- 
cated in  the  preceding  year.  Here  he  became 
a  pioneer  farmer,  though  in  earlier  years  he 
had  given  much  attention  to  work  at  the  car- 
penter trade,  he  and  his  brother  John  having 
built  an  old-time  box  bridge  across  the  Sanga- 
mon river  at  Springfield,  Illinois,  in  the  pio- 


418 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  Amos  L.  Wright 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


419 


neer  days.  James  Wright  died  on  his  farm 
in  SaHne  county,  Nebraska,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-one  years,  his  wife  having  preceded 
him  to  eternal  rest.  His  father,  George 
Wright,  was  riding  horseback  along  one  of 
the  narrow  pioneer  roads  of  Ohio  when  a 
falHng  tree  killed  both  the  rider  and  the  horse. 

JACOB  KLEIN.  —  The  career  of  this  hon- 
ored pioneer  merchant  of  the  city  of  Beatrice 
has  been  significantly  characterized  by  cour- 
age, confidence,  progressiveness  and  impregn- 
able integrity  of  purpose.  None  has  a  more 
secure  status  as  a  representative  citizen  and 
business  man  of  southeastern  Nebraska,  and 
to  the  people  of  Gage  county  his  name  and 
achievement  are  practically  as  familiar  as  the 
name  of  the  county.  Aside  from  being  the 
executive  head  and  the  founder  of  one  of  the 
largest  and  best  ordered  department  stores  in 
this  section  of  the  state  and  having  other 
capitalistic  interests  of  important  order,  Mr. 
Klein  has  been  signally  loyal  and  helpful  as  a 
public-spirited  citizen  and  as  one  who  has  been 
a  force  in  the  furtherance  of  the  civic  and  ma- 
terial advancement  and  prosperity  of  the  com- 
munity in  which  he  has  maintained  his  home 
for  more  than  forty  years  and  to  which  he 
came  as  an  ambitious  young  man  with  very 
limited  financial  resources  but  with  the  fullest 
measure  of  determination  and  resourcefulness. 
He  eminently  deserves  classification  among 
those  self-made  men  who  have  distinguished 
themselves  for  their  ability  to  master  the  op- 
posing forces  of  life  and  to  wrest  from  the 
hands  of  fate  a  large  measure  of  success  and 
an  honorable  name.  Mr.  Klein  has  not  only 
been  the  dominating  force  in  the  upbuilding 
of  the  extensive  mercantile  business  now  con- 
ducted under  the  corporate  title  of  Klein's 
Mercantile  Company,  but  has  identified  himself 
also  with  the  development  and  promotion  of 
other  business  enterprises  of  importance,  has 
been  the  loyal  supporter  of  all  measures  tend- 
ing to  conserve  the  general  wellbeing  of  his 
home  city,  county  and  state,  and  has  been 
called  upon  to  serve  in  various  positions  of 
public  trust,  including  that  of  member  of  the 
state  senate. 


In  the  Upper  Palatinate  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Bavaria,  Germany,  and  not  far  distant  from 
the  historic  old  city  of  Bingen,  on  the  Rhine, 
Jacob  Klein  was  born  March  31,  1846,  —  a 
scion  of  old  and  honored  families  of  that  sec- 
tion of  the  German  empire,  where  his  paternal 
grandfather,  John  Klein,  a  weaver  by  trade 
and  vocation,  passed  his  entire  life,  as  did  also 
the  maternal  grandfather,  Conrad  Weiser, 
who  gave  his  allegiance  to  the  great  funda- 
mental industry  of  agriculture.  Mr.  Klein  is 
a  son  of  Jacob  and  Margaret  (Weiser)  Klein, 
both  likewise  natives  of  Bavaria,  where  each 
was  born  in  the  year  1805.  The  parents 
passed  the  closing  years  of  their  lives  in  Liv- 
ingston county,  Illinois,  where  the  mother's 
death  occurred  in  1874  and  that  of  the  father 
in  1879,  their  marriage  having  been  solemn- 
ized in  1832  and  both  having  been  earnest  com- 
municants of  the  Lutheran  church.  Of  their 
five  children  the  subject  of  this  review  is  the 
youngest  and  the  other  two  now  living  are 
Charles,  who  is  a  resident  of  Montana,  where 
he  is  a  retired  farmer,  and  Katherine,  who  is 
the  widow  of  Louis  Moschel  and  maintains  her 
home  in  the  city  of  Beatrice. 

In  the  year  1855  Jacob  Klein,  Senior,  immi- 
grated with  his  family  to  the  United  States, 
and  soon  after  landing  in  the  port  of  New 
York  city  he  continued  his  westward  journey 
and  settled  in  Tazewell  county,  Illinois.  He 
had  incurred  an  indebtedness  of  six  hundred 
dollars  incidental  to  transporting  the  family  to 
America,  and  thus  a  double  responsibility 
rested  upon  him  after  he  had  established  a 
home  in  this  country.  For  the  first  year  he 
was  employed  by  others,  and  he  then  rented 
a  farm  from  an  Englishman  who  furnished 
him  with  all  requisite  tools  and  appliances,  and 
he  continued  his  operations  on  this  farm,  in 
Tazewell  county,  for  a  period  of  nine  years. 
His  energy  and  good  judgment  brought  him  a 
full  measure  of  success  as  an  agriculturist, 
though  in  his  native  land  he  had  followed  the 
trade  of  weaver.  Through  his  operation  in 
the  control  of  the  farm  mentioned  Mr.  Klein 
accumulated  a  sufficient  reserve  of  money  to 
justify  him  in  purchasing  a  farm  of  his  own. 
Under  these  conditions  he  bought,  at  the  rate 


420 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


of  twenty-five  dollars  an  acre,  a  tract  of  eighty 
acres  in  Livingston  county,  Illinois,  and  to  the 
improving  and  cultivating  of  this  homestead 
he  continued  to  give  his  attention  until  the 
death  of  his  loved  and  devoted  wife,  in  1874, 
when  he  sold  the  property  to  his  son,  Philip  C, 
with  whom  he  remained  until  he  too  passed  to 
the  life  eternal,  about  five  years  later.  The 
son  Philip  was  a  resident  of  Illinois  at  the 
time  of  his  death  and  the  other  deceased  mem- 
ber of  the  immediate  family  circle  was  John, 
who  died  when  about  seventy-nine  years  of 
age. 

He  whose  name  introduces  this  review  ac- 
quired his  rudimentary  education  in  his  native 
land  and  was  a  lad  of  about  ten  years  at  the 
time  of  the  family  immigration  to  the  United 
States.  He  was  reared  to  manhood  under  the 
sturdy  discipline  of  the  farm  and  in  the  mean- 
while he  profited  by  the  advantages  aiiforded 
in  the  schools  of  Tazewell  county,  Illinois,  his 
attendance  in  the  same  having  continued  at  in- 
tervals during  a  period  of  three  years,  the 
while  he  was  not  denied  a  full  quota  of  stren- 
uous and  practical  experience  in  connection 
with  the  work  of  the  home  farm.  Like  many 
another  reared  under  similar  conditions,  he 
has  rounded  out  his  education  through  effec- 
tive self-discipline  and  through  the  lessons 
gained  through  his  long  and  successful  busi- 
ness career,  so  that  he  has  become  a  man  of 
broad  mental  ken  and  mature  judgment.  Mr. 
Klein  initiated  his  independent  career  as  a 
farmer  when  he  was  about  twenty-three  years 
of  age,  and  he  continued  his  active  alliance 
with  farm  industry  in  Illinois  until  1873,  when, 
at  the  age  of  twenty-seven  years,  he  came  to 
Nebraska  and  numbered  himself  as  one  of  the 
pioneers  of  Gage  county.  His  marriage  oc- 
curred about  two  years  previously  and  upon 
coming  to  this  county  he  established  the  fam- 
ily home  in  the  small  but  aspiring  little  city 
of  Beatrice.  Here  he  forthwith  formed  a 
partnership  with  Charles  Moschel  and  Emil 
Lang  and  they  engaged  in  the  retail  grocery 
business,  under  the  firm  name  of  J.  Klein  & 
Company.  Success  attended  the  enterprise 
and  within  a  few  years  its  scope  was  enlarged 
by  the  addition  of  departments  devoted  to  dry 


goods  and  men's  clothing.  The  partnership 
alliance  continued  until  1887,  in  January  of 
which  year  the  three  principals  made  an  equit- 
able division  of  the  business  and  stock,  Mr. 
Klein  at  this  time  taking  control  of  the  dry- 
goods  and  clothing  department  of  the  enter- 
prise. With  characteristic  energy  and  good 
judgment  he  made  himself  a  leader  in  antici- 
pating the  demands  of  the  public  incidental  to 
the  development  and  growth  of  the  county  and 
its  judicial  center,  and  finally  he  developed  the 
large  and  important  general  merchandise  busi- 
ness which  marks  the  present  department 
store  of  Klein's  Mercantile  Company  as  one 
of  the  most  metropolitan  and  efficiently  con- 
ducted institutions  of  the 'kind  in  this  part  of 
the  state.  For  the  accommodation  of  the 
large  and  constantly  increasing  business  Mr. 
Klein  erected  the  large  and  substantial  brick 
block  which  bears  his  name,  the  building  being 
two  stories  in  height,  not  including  basement, 
and  occupying  a  ground  area  twenty-five  by 
one  hundred  and  ten  feet  in  dimensions.  Here 
is  conducted  under  most  favorable  conditions 
and  arrangement  the  general  department  store, 
and  every  department  is  known  for  efficiency 
and  acceptability  of  service,  so  that  the  sub- 
stantial enterprise  has  the  firmest  of  founda- 
tions, even  as  the  executive  policies  attest  to 
the  sterling  integrity  and  the  progressivness 
of  Mr.  Klein,  as  well  as  of  his  sons,  who  have 
become  his  valued  coadjutors  in  the  control 
and  management  of  the  important  enterprise, 
—  the  reputation  of  the  concern  constituting 
its  best  commercial  asset.  In  1901  the  busi- 
ness was  incorporated  under  the  present  name, 
Klein's  Mercantile  Company,  the  charter  given 
under  the  laws  of  Nebraska  designating  the 
capital  stock  at  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
thousand  dollars.  The  honored  founder,  as 
president  and  general  manager  of  the  com- 
pany, continues  as  the  executive  head  of  the 
business,  his  eldest  son,  Jacob  A.,  who  is  in- 
dividually mentioned  on  other  pages,  being 
vice-president  of  the  company;  the  second 
son,  Frederick  K.,  being  secretary  and  treasur- 
er, and  the  youngest  son,  Frank  E.,  likewise 
being  actively  associated  with  the  business. 
In  noting  the  financial  and  civic  status  of 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


421 


Jacob  Klein  at  the  present  time  it  is  interest- 
ing to  record  that  when  he  came  to  Beatrice 
his  available  capitalistic  resources  were  sum- 
med up  in  about  five  hundred  dollars.  His 
success  has  not  been  an  accident  but  rather  the 
logical  result  of  well  applied  energy  and  abil- 
ity, and  his  many  friends  in  the  community 
honor  him  the  more  for  the  fact  that  he  has 
always  been  an  earnest  and  productive  worker. 
His  communal  loyalty  has  led  him  to  make 
his  liberality  keep  pace  with  his  cumulative 
prosperity,  and  thus  he  has  given  capitalistic 
co-operation  in  the  furtherance  of  other  busi- 
ness enterprises.  Among  his  other  and  note- 
worthy connections  may  be  mentioned  his  ac- 
tive and  prolific  association  with  the  Gage 
County  Agricultural  Society,  he  having  been 
one  of  the  twenty  progressive  citizens  who 
organized  this  society. 

Well  fortified  in  his  convictions  pertaining 
to  governmental  and  economic  policies,  Mr. 
Klein  has  always  been  found  arrayed  as  a 
staunch  supporter  of  the  cause  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party,  and  he  has  been  influential  in  its 
councils  and  campaign  activities  in  this  part  of 
the  state.  He  served  one  term  as  treasurer  of 
Gage  county,  has  been  a  valued  member  of  the 
Beatrice  board  of  education,  and  the  high 
popular  estimate  placed  upon  him  was  signifi- 
cantly shown  when,  in  1909,  he  was  elected 
representative  of  the  Fourteenth  district  in  the 
state  senate.  He  proved  a  well  poised,  sane 
and  vigorous  figure  in  the  deliberations  and 
work  of  the  senate  and  those  of  the  various 
committees  to  which  he  was  assigned,  and  was 
given  the  best  of  popular  commendation 
through  his  re-election  in  1913.  He  and  his 
family  are  communicants  of  the  Lutheran 
church  and  he  takes  deep  satisfaction  in  giv- 
ing to  his  gracious  and  popular  wife  a  due 
mede  of  credit  for  the  aid  she  has  given  him 
in  the  furtherance  of  his  success,  the  while  her 
gentle  and  kindly  personality  has  gained  to  her 
the  affectionate  regard  of  all  who  have  come 
within  the  sphere  of  her  influence. 

In  the  year  1871  was  solemnized  the  mar- 
riage of  Mr.  Klein  to  Miss  Catharine  Moschel, 
who  was  bom  in  Germany  and  who  came  with 
her      widowed      mother,       Mrs.       Margaret 


(Schantz)  Moschel,  to  America  in  the  year 
1865,  the  father.  Christian  Moschel,  having 
died  in  Germany  about  the  year  1854,  his  vo- 
cation having  been  that  of  cabinetmaker.  The 
widowed  mother  brought  her  five  children  to 
the  United  States  and  the  home  was  estab- 
lished in  Illinois,  the  mother  having  there 
passed  the  residue  of  her  life,  her  death  hav- 
ing occurred  on  a  farm  near  Chenoa,  McLean 
county,  in  1886.  Three  of  her  sons,  Louis, 
Charles,  and  Daniel,  became  pioneers  of  Gage 
county,  Nebraska,  where  they  settled  in  the 
70s,  and  all  became  representative  citizens  of 
the  county.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Klein  have  four 
children,  and  in  a  preceding  paragraph  it  has 
been  noted  that  the  three  sons  are  actively 
associated  with  the  business  founded  by  their 
father.  The  only  daughter,  Ida  M.,  remains 
at  the  parental  home  and  is  a  popular  assis- 
tant to  her  mother. 

HERMAN  M.  REYNOLDS,  M.  D.— 
For  all  time  must  Gage  county  pay  a  tribute 
of  veneration  and  honor  to  the  late  Dr.  Her- 
man Meyer  Reynolds,  who  was  one  of  the 
foremost  pioneer  physicians  and  surgeons  of 
this  part  of  the  state,  who  wielded  large  and 
beneficent  influence  in  the  furtherance  of 
civic  and  material  development  and  progress 
and  who  was  a  leader  in  all  movements  tend- 
ing to  advance  the  welfare  and  growth  of  the 
beautiful  little  city  of  Beatrice,  the  metropo- 
lis and  judicial  center  of  Gage  county.  He 
aided  in  upbuilding  Beatrice  from  a  frontier 
village  to  its  present  status  as  one  of  the 
vigorous  and  important  muncipalities  of  Ne- 
braska, and  his  was  the  distinction  of  being 
elected  the  city's  first  mayor.  His  life  was 
significantly  one  of  service,  was  marked  by 
unwavering  optimism  and  abiding  human 
sympathy,  and  even  this  succinct  record  con- 
cerning his  life  and  labors  can  not  fail  of  les- 
son and  incentive.  He  was  one  of  the  best 
known  and  most  beloved  pioneer  citizens  of 
Gage  county  at  the  time  of  his  death,  which 
occurred  on  the  26th  of  April,  1875. 

Dr.  Reynolds  was  born  at  Shelldrake,  Sul- 
livan county.  New  York,  on  the  15th  of  April. 
1832,  and  was  a  scion  of  one  of  the  old  and 


422 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


honored  families  of  that  section  of  the  Em- 
pire state.  A  youth  of  alert  mind  and  valiant 
ambition,  Dr.  Reynolds  early  detennined, 
after  having  availed  himself  of  the  advantages 
of  the  common  schools,  to  prepare  himself 
for  the  medical  profession,  and  finally  he 
provided  ways  and  means  to  complete  a  course 
in  a  medical  college  in  the  city  of  Albany, 
New  York.  After  having  received  the  degree 
of  Doctor  of  Medicine  he  engaged  in  the  prac- 
tice of  his  profession,  and  his  ability  soon 
gained  him  recognition,  with  the  result  that 
success  attended  his  earnest  efforts  in  the  work 
of  his  chosen  calling.  For  two  years  prior  to 
coming  to  the  west  the  Doctor  was  engaged  in 
practice  in  the  city  of  Scranton,  Pennsylvania, 
and  he  was  one  of  the  leaders  in  the  fine  col- 
ony that  came  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  and 
located  the  town  site  of  Beatrice,  the  county 
seat.  He  was  thus  one  of  the  founders  of  this 
city  and  had  the  distinction  of  being  not  only 
its  pioneer  physician  and  surgeon,  but  also 
the  first  man  elected  as  chief  executive  of  the 
municipal  government  of  the  ambitious  little 
city.  In  the  work  of  his  humane  mission  Dr. 
Reynolds  spared  himself  neither  mental  nor 
physical  effort  in  the  pioneer  days,  and  he 
rode  on  horseback  over  the  Nebraska  prairies 
for  miles  in  every  direction  from  Beatrice,  to 
carry  relief  and  solace  to  those  in  affliction 
and  distress.  He  ministered  with  all  of  his 
unselfish  zeal  and  marked  ability  in  the  work 
of  his  profession  and  his  kindliness  and  sym- 
pathy transcended  mere  vocation  to  become 
an  actuating  motive  for  helpfulness.  Under 
these  conditions  it  may  well  be  understood 
that  his  name  and  memory  are  held  in  lasting 
reverence  in  the  community  in  which  he  lived 
and  labored  to  goodly  ends.  In  the  attractive 
brick  residence  which  the  Doctor  erected  at 
800  Market  street  he  passed  the  closing  period 
of  his  life,  and  there  his  venerable  widow  has 
maintained  her  home  for  more  than  forty 
years,  the  place  and  the  community  being  en- 
deared to  her  by  the  hallowed  memories  and 
associations  of  the  past  and  hers  being  gra- 
cious status  as  one  of  the  loved  pioneer 
women  of  Beatrice.  In  this  connection  it  may 
consistently  be  noted  that  the  first  home  pro- 


vided for  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Reynolds  in  Beatrice 
was  a  pioneer  log  cabin,  the  same  having  been 
situated  at  the  corner  of  Fourth  and  Court 
streets.  !Mrs.  Reynolds  has  thus  witnessed  the 
development  of  Beatrice  from  a  frontier  ham- 
let into  a  populous  and  prosperous  city  of 
twelve  thousand  inhabitants,  and  though  she 
has  passed  the  psalmist's  span  of  three  score 
years  and  ten  she  retains  in  splendid  degree 
her  mental  and  physical  vigor  and  finds  that 
in  the  gracious  evening  of  her  life  her  lines 
are  "cast  in  pleasant  places,"  her  circle  of 
friends  in  the  community  being  limited  only 
by  that  of  her  acquaintances.  Dr.  Reynolds 
was  a  man  of  vigorous  intellectuality  and  ma- 
ture judgment,  was  well  fortified  in  his  views 
concerning  governmental  and  economic  poli- 
cies, and  gave  his  political  allegiance  to  the 
Republican  party,  his  religious  faith  having 
been  that  of  the  Christian  church.  He  and  his 
wife  were  charter  members  of  the  church  of 
this  denomination  in  Beatrice  and  Mrs.  Rey- 
nolds is  still  active  in  its  work. 

At  Beatrice,  Nebraska,  on  the  20th  of  Oc- 
tober, 1861,  was  solemnized  the  marriage  of 
Dr.  Reynolds  to  Miss  Naomi  Barcus,  who 
was  born  at  Covington,  Indiana,  on  the  20th  of 
October,  1841,  and  who  was  an  infant  at  the 
time  of  the  death  of  her  father,  Jesse  Barcus. 
Her  widowed  mother,  whose  maiden  name 
was  Alary  Blodgett,  later  became  the  wife  of 
Thomas  Sherrill,  and  in  1859  they  came  to 
Nebraska  and  numbered  themselves  among  the 
earliest  settlers  of  Gage  county,  where  they 
passed  the  residue  of  their  lives.  Mrs.  Rey- 
nolds was  reared  and  educated  in  the  old 
Hoosier  state  and  was  about  eighteen  years  of 
age  when  she  accompanied  her  mother  and 
stepfather  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  so  thai 
it  may  readily  be  understood  that  hers  are 
vivid  memories  touching  the  conditions  and 
influences  that  obtained  in  the  early  pioneer 
days.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Reynolds  became  the 
parents  of  six  daughters  and  one  son,  two 
of  whom  died  in  infancy ;  Elsie  is  the  widow 
of  George  W.  Eoeber  and  maintains  her  home 
at  Beatrice;  Mollie  is  the  wife  of  George  F. 
Randall,  a  large  rancher  in  Morrill  county, 
Nebraska,    Redington    being    their    postoffice 


rf,yr-' 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


425 


address ;  Ruth  is  the  wife  of  Charles  C.  Far- 
low,  of  Beatrice,  and  Mr.  Farlow  is  serving, 
in  1918,  as  deputy  treasurer  of  Gage  county ; 
Miss  Josephine  is  an  efficient  and  popular 
teacher  in  the  public  schools  of  Beatrice  and 
remains  with  her  widowed  mother  at  the  old 
homestead ;  and  liemiina  is  the  wife  of  Harry 
E.  Sackett,  a  representative  Gage  county  law- 
year,  to  whom  is  accorded  mention  on  other 
pages  of  this  work. 

JOHN  W.  WRIGHT  was  a  man  whose 
sterling  character  gave  him  excellent  equip- 
ment for  being  master  of  his  own  destiny,  and 
though  his  financial  resources  were  of  the 
most  limited  order  when  he  came  to  Gage 
county,  forty  years  ago,  he  so  directed  his 
activities  as  to  achieve  large  and  worthy  suc- 
cess. He  was  a  pioneer  merchant  and  farmer 
of  this  county,  commanded  the  unqualified 
respect  of  all  who  knew  him  and  it  is  most 
fitting  that  in  this  history  be  entered  a  tribute 
to  his  memory. 

John  Wesley  Wright  was  born  in  Hawkins 
county,  Tennessee,  May  27,  1852,  and  there 
he  was  reared  and  educated.  At  the  age  of 
twenty-four  years  he  drove  with  team  and 
wagon  from  Tennessee  to  Illinois  and  settled 
in  Macoupin  county,  where  he  found  employ- 
ment at  farm  work,  including  the  cutting  of 
wood,  his  compensation  at  the  start  being  only 
eight  dollars  a  month.  The  following  year 
was  marked  by  his  turning  his  attention  to 
independent  farm  enterprise  in  that  county, 
and  there  also  the  ambitious  young  man,  on 
March  18,  1877,  wedded  the  gracious  young 
woman  who  was  to  continue  as  his  devoted 
companion  and  helpmeet  during  the  remainder 
of  his  earnest  and  worthy  life.  In  1878  Mr. 
Wright  made,  with  team  and  wagon,  the  over- 
land trip  from  Illinois  to  Gage  county,  Ne- 
braska, and  his  wife  joined  him  within  a  few 
months  thereafter,  she  having  made  the  jour- 
ney by  railroad.  Soon  after  his  arrival  in  the 
county  Mr.  Wright  purchased  land  in  Filley 
township,  the  farm  now  owned  by  John  A. 
Burbank,  and  with  characteristic  vigor  and 
resourcefulness  he  initiated  the  improvement 
and    development   of   this   place.      When    the 


village  of  Filley  was  platted  Mr.  Wright 
erected  one  of  the  first  buildings  in  the  new 
town  and  assumed  the  management  of  one  of 
the  first  mercantile  establishments  there 
opened.  Later  he  purchased  the  stock  and 
business  and  for  twenty-one  years  thereafter 
he  there  conducted  a  substantial  and  prosper- 
ous business  as  a  dealer  in  hardware,  agri- 
cultural implements,  and  groceries.  After 
selling  his  original  farm  he  purchased  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  in  Filley  township, 
just  outside  the  corporate  limits  of  the  village 
of  the  same  name,  and  upon  this  homestead 
he  erected  good  buildings  and  made  other  im- 
provements of  excellent  order.  Here  he  be- 
came a  most  successful  and  progressive  ex- 
ponent of  agricultural  and  live-stock  enter- 
prise and  he  eventually  added  much  to  the 
area  of  his  landed  estate,  so  that  he  left  to  his 
family  at  his  death  a  valuable  farm  property 
of  two  hundred  acres,  his  widow  still  remain- 
ing on  the  attractive  homestead  and  having  at 
all  times  been  the  popular  chatelaine  of  a 
pleasant  home  known  for  its  gracious  hospi- 
tality. 

Mr.  Wright  was  a  man  well  fortified  for 
leadership  in  community  afifairs  and  while  he 
had  no  desire  for  political  preferment  he  was 
a  stalwart  advocate  of  the  principles  of  the 
Republican  party  and  showed  his  civic  loyalty 
by  his  efficient  ser\dce  in  the  office  of  justice 
of  the  peace.  He  became  a  member  of  the 
Masonic  fraternity  when  he  was  twenty-one 
years  of  age  and  continued  his  active  affilia- 
tion throughout  the  remainder  of  his  life.  He 
was  an  earnest  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church,  to  the  support  of  which  he 
contributed  liberally  and  with  a  high  sense  of 
personal  stewardship,  and  his  widow  likewise 
is  a  zealous  member. 

In  the  year  1877,  as  previously  intimated, 
was  solemnized  the  marriage  of  Mr.  Wright 
to  Miss  Ella  E.  Fetter,  who  was  born  and 
reared  in  Macoupin  county,  Illinois,  and  who 
is  a  daughter  of  Adam  and  Amelia  (McDon- 
ald) Fetter,  the  fonner  of  whom  was  born  in 
Germany  and  the  latter  in  Morgan  county, 
Illinois,  where  her  parents  were  pioneer  set- 
tlers.    Mr.  Fetter  became  a  prosperous  far- 


426 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


mer  in  Illinois  and  there  he  and  his  wife  con- 
tinued to  reside  until  their  death,  when  well 
advanced  in  years.  Of  the  eleven  children 
born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wright  all  are  living 
except  the  last,  who  died  in  infancy ;  Clara  is 
the  wife  of  J.  R.  Landon;  Cora  B.  is  the  wife 
of  William  B.  Little  and  they  reside  in  the 
city  of  Omaha ;  Charles  is  a  bachelor  and  re- 
mains with  his  widowed  mother,  he  having 
active  management  of  the  home  farm;  Minnie 
is  the  wife  of  Elon  E.  Hill  of  Omaha;  Alice 
remains  at  the  maternal  home,  as  do  also 
James  and  Lillie;  Otis  is  married  and  resides 
in  the  village  of  Filley ;  Ella  is  the  wife  of 
Guy  Steece,  a  farmer  in  Logan  township ;  and 
Marie  is  the  wife  of  Edward  Dobbs,  of  Logan 
township. 

AARON  PALMER.  —  An  indomitable 
energy  that  has  triumphed  over  seemingly 
great  obstacles,  as  well  as  varied  misfortunes, 
is  that  which  had  dominated  Aaron  Palmer 
during  the  varied  stages  of  a  remarkably 
earnest  and  productive  business  career  in 
which  he  has  rallied  to  his  cause  splendid 
initiative  ability  and  has  made  each  recurrent 
stroke  of  adverse  fortune  but  a  spur  to  re- 
newed effort.  Depending  entirely  upon  his 
own  resources  he  has  pressed  forward  along 
the  line  of  worthy  ambition  and  that  he  has 
arrived  at  the  goal  of  substantial  success  and 
influence  in  connection  with  business  opera- 
tions needs  no  further  voucher  than  the  fact 
that  he  is  now  president  of  the  A.  Palmer 
Company,  of  Beatrice,  which  conducts  the 
largest  and  most  complete  house-furnishing 
establishment  in  the  entire  state  of  Nebraska, 
this  important  enterprise  being  controlled  by 
himself  and  his  wife,  the  latter  of  whom  is 
secretary  of  the  company,  even  as  she  has 
been  his  devoted  and  efficient  coadjutor 
throughout  the  entire  period  of  their  ideal 
marital  companionship.  Mr.  Palmer  is  wide- 
ly known  through  Nebraska  as  the  "Fire 
King,"  and  this  title  has  been  gained  through 
his  having  purchased  and  sold  a  greater  num- 
ber and  quantity  of  stocks  of  merchandise  sal- 
vaged from  fires  than  has  probably  any  other 
one  man  in  Nebraska  —  in  fact  the  foundation 


of  his  success  having  been  laid  through  this 
means.  The  company  of  which  he  is  now  the 
executive  head  gives  special  attention  to  the 
buying  and  selling  of  bankrupt  stocks,  fire 
stocks,  first  and  second  hand  goods,  etc.,  and 
a  prosperous  business  has  been  developed. 
The  extensive  and  well  ordered  business  es- 
tablishment of  the  A.  Palmer  Company  at 
Beatrice  gives  twenty-six  thousand  square 
feet  of  floor  space  in  the  main  sales  and  dis- 
play rooms,  at  119-123  North  Fifth  avenue, 
and  in  the  company's  warehouse  and  manu- 
facturing building,  at  417  Ella  street,  are 
utilized  twelve  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
fifty  square  feet  of  floor  space.  The  opera- 
tions of  the  company  are  based  on  a  capital 
stock  of  fifty  thousand  dollars,  and  of  this 
the  stock  has  been  issued  to  the  amount  of 
thirty-one  thousand  dollars.  The  modern 
storage  building  owned  and  occupied  by  the 
company  is  a  four-story  structure  with  double 
walls  and  is  moisture-proof.  All  save  a  few 
shares  of  the  stock  of  the  company  are  owned 
by  Mr.  Palmer  and  his  wife. 

Aaron  Palmer,  known  and  honored  as  one 
of  the  most  substantial  and  progressive  busi- 
ness men  of  southeastern  Nebraska  and  as  a 
citizen  of  loyalty  and  liberality,  has  the  dis- 
tinction of  being  a  native  of  Nebraska  and  a 
scion  of  a  family  that  was  here  founded  in 
the  early  territorial  days.  He  was  born  in  the 
old  frontier  town  of  Brownville,  Nemaha 
county,  this  state,  on  the  9th  of  February, 
1857  —  a  decade  prior  to  the  admission  of  the 
state  to  the  Union  —  and  he  is  a  son  of  James 
and  Elizabeth  (Bell)  Palmer,  the  former  of 
whom  was  bom  in  Missouri  and  the  latter  in 
Illinois,  her  mother  having  been  a  childhood 
schoolmate  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  James 
Palmer  came  from  Missouri  to  Nebraska  in 
1856  and  became  one  of  the  early  settlers  at 
Brownville,  in  which  vicinity  he  began  the  de- 
velopment of  a  small  farm,  besides  raising 
various  garden  products  that  found  ready  de- 
mand in  the  frontier  settlement.  He  died  at 
Brownville  when  he  was  but  forty  years  of 
age,  leaving  his  wife  to  care  for  their  seven 
children,  of  whom  the  subject  of  this  sketch 
was  the  eldest.     Mrs.   Palmer  bravely  faced 


-il  STORY 


GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


the  responsibilities  that  devolved  upon  her  and 
in  providing  for  her  fatherless  children  mani- 
fested the  utmost  self-abnegation  and  ma- 
ternal solicitude.  She  continued  to  reside  in 
Brown ville  until  her  death  and  was  one  of  the 
revered  pioneer  women  of  Nebraska,  her 
death  having  occurred  when  she  was  about 
seventy-two  years  of  age. 

Reared  in  his  native  town  to  adult  age, 
Aaron  Palmer  was  about  twenty-three  years 
old  at  the  time  of  his  father's  death,  and  as 
the  eldest  of  the  seven  children,  he  applied 
himself  earnestly  to  aiding  his  mother  in  car- 
ing for  and  rearing  the  younger  children,  to 
the  support  of  whom  he  continued  to  con- 
tribute until  they  were  old  enough  to  assume 
individual  responsibility  for  their  own  main- 
tenance. Under  such  conditions  it  may  read- 
ily be  understood  that  the  early  educational 
training  of  Aaron  Palmer  was  limited  to  a 
somewhat  irregular  and  desultory  attendance 
in  the  pioneer  schools  at  Brownville,  but  his 
alert  and  receptive  mind  later  enabled  him  to 
profit  largely  through  the  lessons  learned 
under  the  preceptorship  of  that  wisest  of  all 
head-masters,  experience.  In  aiding  in  the 
support  of  the  family  he  applied  himself  to 
whatever  work  he  could  obtain,  and  finally  he 
learned  the  trade  of  baker,  in  a  modest  bakery 
at  Brownville.  With  this  line  of  occupation 
he  there  continued  his  association  until  1887, 
when  he  came  to  Beatrice  and  opened  a  bakery 
and  restaurant.  He  had  no  available  capital 
and  thus  initiated  this  enterprise  on  credit. 
The  venture  proved  a  failure,  notwithstand- 
ing his  earnest  and  assiduous  eft'orts,  and 
within  a  year  he  came  to  involuntary  liquida- 
tion, with  an  indebtedness  of  about  eighteen 
hundred  dollars.  Thus  temporarily  astride 
the  back  of  adversity,  Mr.  Palmer  did  not 
falter  in  courage  or  determination,  and  in 
order  to  provide  for  his  family  and  rid  him- 
self of  the  burden  of  debt  he  gained  appoint- 
ment to  the  position  of  city  mail  carrier  in 
Beatrice,  in  which  capacity  he  continued  to 
give  effective  service  for  eleven  years,  within 
which  he  brought  himself  triumphantly  out  of 
debt  and  also  accumulated  a  modest  reserve 
of  sixteen  hundred  dollars.     In  1894  the  gen- 


eral merchandise  establishment  of  Begole  & 
Van  Arsdale,  of  Beatrice,  was  destroyed  by 
fire,  and  Mr.  Palmer  purchased  the  damaged 
goods  salvaged  from  the  fire,  though  he  had 
only  the  sixteen  hundred  dollars  to  apply  on 
the  purchase  price.  He  borrowed  the  balance 
required  and  in  the  sale  of  this  stock  of  mer- 
chandise he  made  a  profit  of  about  two 
thousand  dollars.  Since  that  time  he  has  con- 
tinued to  deal  extensively  in  bankrupt  and  fire 
stocks,  in  which  field  of  enterprise  he  has  de- 
veloped from  a  small  inception  a  business  that 
is  now  the  largest  of  the  kind  in  Nebraska. 
It  has  been  consistently  stated  that  in  the 
Palmer  establishment  may  be  purchased  any- 
thing from  a  needle  to  a  piano,  and  the  dis- 
play of  merchandise  includes  clothing,  dry 
goods,  hardware,  stoves,  and  general  house 
furnishings  of  every  description. 

Mr.  Palmer  has  had  no  communion  with 
apathy  or  idleness,  has  been  a  productive 
worker  and  has  been  found  busily  at  work  at 
all  stages  of  his  career.  Essentially  a  busi- 
ness man,  he  has  had  neither  time  nor  desire 
to  enter  the  turbulence  of  practical  politics  or 
to  seek  public  office,  though  he  is  liberal  and 
public-spirited  in  his  civic  attitude  and  gives 
staunch  support  to  the  principles  and  policies 
for  which  the  Republican  party  stands  spon- 
sor. Widely  known  throughout  this  section 
of  the  state,  he  has  by  his  earnest  and  honest 
endeavors  entrenched  himself  firmly  in  popu- 
lar confidence  and  esteem,  and  this  has  con- 
tributed much  to  the  success  of  his  present  im- 
portant business  enterprise.  In  the  Masonic 
fraternity  he  has  completed  the  circle  of  the 
York  Rite,  his  maximum  affiliation  being  with 
Beatrice  commandery  of  Knights  Templars, 
besides  which  he  holds  membership  in  the  ad- 
junct Masonic  organization,  the  Mystic 
Shrine. 

On  the  11th  of  January,  1879,  was  officially 
recorded  the  marriage  of  Mr.  Palmer  to  Miss 
Delia  Furlow,  who  was  bom  in  the  state  of 
Maine,  but  who  was  a  child  at  the  time  of  her 
parents'  removal  to  Nebraska,  where  she  was 
reared  and  educated,  her  father  having  been 
one  of  the  pioneer  settlers  of  Nemaha  county. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Palmer  have  no  children,  but  in 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


429 


their  attractive  home  they  dehght  to  extend 
welcome  and  entertainment  to  the  young  folk 
of  the  communty  as  well  as  to  the  friends  of 
their  own  generation.  Mrs.  Palmer  is  an 
active  member  of  the  Presbyterian  church  of 
Beatrice,  and  is  affiliated  with  the  representa- 
tive Masonic  subsidiary  body  known  as  the 
Order  of  the  Eastern  Star. 

WILLIAM  C.  MOORE.  —  In  Sections  35 
and  36,  Holt  township,  Mr.  Moore  and  his 
wife  are  the  owners  of  a  fine  rural  estate  of 
three  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  and  Mr. 
Moore,  whose  farm  experience  has  touched 
various  sections  of  Nebraska,  looks  upon 
Gage  county  as  one  of  the  best  and  most  at- 
tractive districts  for  the  successful  prosecution 
of  agricultural  and  live  stock  industry  that 
can  be  found  within  the  limits  of  this  pro- 
gressive state.  He  has  made  his  farm  prop- 
erty one  specially  notable  for  thrift  and  good 
management  and  is  essentially  one  of  the  rep- 
resentative citizens  and  substantial  farmers 
of  Holt  township. 

Mr.  Moore  was  born  at  Waterloo,  Black- 
hawk  county,  Iowa,  March  27,  1865,  being  the 
youngest  in  a  family  of  ten  children,  of  whom 
eight  attained  to  maturity.  He  is  a  son  of 
Jacob  and  Catherine  (Waltz)  Moore,  the 
former  of  whom  was  born  in  Germany,  March 
27,  1821,  and  the  latter  of  whom  was  bom  in 
Dauphin  county,  Pennsylvania,  August  28, 
1821.  Jacob  Moore  was  about  eleven  years 
old  when  he  accompanied  his  parents  on  their 
immigration  to  America,  and  the  family  home 
was  established  in  Pennsylvania,  where  he  was 
reared  to  adult  age  and  where  his  marriage 
was  solemnized.  In  1857,  within  a  short  time 
after  their  marriage,  Mr.  Moore  and  his  wife 
left  the  old  Keystone  state  and  made  their  way 
to  Green  county,  Wisconsin,  both  having 
walked  a  large  part  of  the  intervening  dis- 
tance. He  became  a  pioneer  farmer  in  that 
county,  where  he  remained  until  about  1864, 
when  he  removed  to  Blackhawk  county,  Iowa, 
where  he  repeated  his  pioneer  experience  as 
an  agriculturist.  One  of  his  sons,  John  W., 
went  forth  as  a  soldier  of  the  Union  in  the 
Civil  war:  he  enlisted  in  a  Wisconsin  volun- 


teer regiment  of  infantry  and  took  part  in 
many  engagements  marking  the  progress  of 
the  conflict  between  the  north  and  the  south, 
he  having  been  with  Sherman  on  the  historic 
march  from  Atlanta  to  the  sea.  This  honored 
veteran  of  the  Civil  war  is  now  venerable  in 
years  and  maintains  his  home  in  Newburg, 
Oregon.  Jacob  Moore  became  a  farmer  in 
Iowa,  where  he  remained  until  1874,  when  he 
came  to  Nebraska,  the  closing  period  of  his 
life  having  been  passed  in  Hamilton  county, 
this  state,  where  he  died  March  27,  1877.  He 
had  been  an  invalid  for  eight  years.  A  man  of 
sterling  character  and  indefatigable  industry, 
he  had  the  distinction  of  being  a  pioneer  in 
each  of  three  different  states,  and  he  lived  a 
righteous  and  upright  life,  so  that  he  com- 
manded unqualified  popular  esteem.  His 
widow  long  survived  him  and  was  a  resident 
of  Newburg,  Oregon,  at  the  time  of  her  death, 
in  June,  1906.  Both  were  reared  in  the  faith 
of  the  Gemian  Lutheran  church  but  after 
their  removal  they  became  members  of  the 
Dunkard  church,  with  which  they  continued 
to  be  affiliated  during  the  remainder  of  their 
lives. 

William  C.  Moore  gained  his  preliminary 
education  in  the  schools  of  Iowa  and  was  nine 
years  of  age  when  his  parents  numbered 
themselves  among  the  pioneers  of  Hamilton 
county,  Nebraska,  where  he  continued  to  at- 
tend school  until  he  was  fifteen  years  of  age. 
When  eleven  years  of  age  he  received  an  in- 
jury that  compelled  him  to  abandon  his  school 
work  for  a  year,  and  as  a  youth  he  turned  his 
attention  to  farm  work,  his  initial  experience 
as  a  farm  hand  having  been  gained  when  he 
was  a  lad  of  fifteen  years.  At  the  age  of  nine- 
teen years  he  rented  land  in  Hamilton  county, 
where  he  conducted  independent  farm  opera- 
tions for  the  ensuing  four  years.  He  then  es- 
tablished the  first  dray  line  at  Stockham.  He 
later  became  the  owner  of  a  homestead  farm  in 
the  southern  part  of  Lincoln  county,  and  after 
selling  this  property,  in  1889.  he  became  asso- 
ciated with  his  brother  John  W.  in  purchasing 
of  Daniel  and  William  Nicewonger  a  general 
merchandise  store  and  business  in  the  village 
of  Pickrell,  Gage  county.    In  1893  the  subject 


430 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


of  this  review  sold  his  interest  in  the  business 
to  his  brother  and  resumed  his  active  associa- 
tion with  farm  enterprise,  by  renting  a  farm 
located  to  the  east  of  Pickrell,  in  Holt  town- 
ship. In  1895  he  purchased  forty  acres  in 
Section  23  of  that  township,  for  a  considera- 
tion of  eleven  hundred  dollars,  and  about  six 
years  later  he  sold  the  property  for  two 
thousand  dollars.  In  1899  Mr.  Moore  pur- 
chased the  Jersey  Smith  farm  of  eighty  acres, 
and  this  constitutes  an  integral  part  of  his  now 
large  and  admirably  improved  landed  estate  in 
Holt  township.  Energy,  progressiveness,  and 
correct  business  policies  have  enabled  Mr. 
Moore  to  achieve  unqualified  success  in  the 
different  departments  of  farm  industry  and  he 
is  one  of  the  substantial  and  influential  citi- 
zens of  Holt  township,  where  he  has  been 
called  upon  to  serve  in  various  public  offices 
of  minor  order  and  where  he  is  now  a  director 
of  the  school  board  for  District  No.  57,  his 
political  allegiance  being  given  to  the  Republi- 
can party  and  he  and  his  wife  being  active 
members  of  the  United  Brethren  church. 

February,  1891,  recorded  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Moore  to  Miss  Mary  Lewis,  who  was 
bom  in  Holt  township,  this  county,  November 
8,  1870,  a  daughter  of  John  E.  and  Sarah  M. 
(Williams)  Lewis,  the  former  a  native  of 
Wales  and  the  latter  of  the  state  of  New 
York.  Mr.  Lewis  became  a  pioneer  of  the 
state  of  Wisconsin,  where  he  remained  until 
1868,  when  he  came  to  the  new  state  of  Ne- 
braska and  became  one  of  the  earliest  settlers 
in  Holt  township,  Gage  county,  where  he  re- 
claimed and  improved  a  valuable  farm  prop- 
erty and  where  he  and  his  wife  passed  the 
residue  of  their  lives  as  honored  pioneer  citi- 
zens of  the  county.  Mr.  Lewis  died  May  2, 
1913,  at  the  age  of  seventy-two  years,  his  wife 
having  passed  away  February  17,  1905,  at  the 
age  of  fifty-two  years.  Of  their  eight  children 
all  are  living  except  one,  only  two  of  the  num- 
ber being  residents  of  Gage  county  and  the 
others  maintaining  their  residence  in  Scotts 
Bluff  county.  Concerning  the  children  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Moore  the  following  brief  record  is 
given :  John  is  associated  with  his  father  in 
the  management  of  the  home  farm ;  Eva,  who 


was  graduated  in  the  high  school  at  Beatrice, 
is  a  successful  and  popular  teacher  in  the  dis- 
trict schools  of  the  county;  Walter  assists  in 
the  work  of  the  home  farm;  Myrtle  likewise 
was  graduated  in  the  Beatrice  high  school  and 
is  an  efficient  teacher  in  the  district  schools  of 
her  native  county;  Sarah  is  a  member  of  the 
class  of  1919  in  the  Beatrice  high  school ;  Ed- 
ward and  George  remain  at  the  parental 
home;  and  one  son  died  in  infancy. 

Mr.  Moore  has  been  in  the  most  significant 
sense  the  builder  of  the  sturdy  ladder  on  which 
he  has  risen  to  the  plane  of  independence  and 
worthy  prosperity,  and  he  is  today  not  only 
the  owner  of  a  valuable  landed  estate  and  a 
stockholder  in  the  farmers'  grain  elevator  at 
Pickrell  but  is  also  entirely  free  from  indebt- 
edness. He  had  made  good  improvements  on 
his  farm  property  and  has  availed  himself  of 
the  most  modern  farm  machinery  and  acces- 
sories, including  an  elevator  for  the  transfer- 
ring of  the  various  grain  products  raised  on 
his  broad  and  fertile  acres.  In  short,  he  is  a 
successful  exponent  of  modern  and  scientific 
farm  enterprise. 

THE  DOLE  FLORAL  COMPANY.  —  In 
the  year  1916  was  celebrated  the  twenty-fifth 
anniversary  of  the  founding  of  one  of  the 
large,  important,  and  interesting  industrial 
enterprises  of  Beatrice  and  Gage  county,  that 
of  the  Dole  Floral  Company,  and  this  publi- 
cation exercises  a  consistent  function  when  it 
gives  special  recognition  to  this  representative 
corporation,  for  in  the  upbuilding  of  its  busi- 
ness has  been  exemplified  the  splendid  energy 
and  initiative  ability  of  its  honored  founder, 
Mrs.  Sophia  H.  Dole,  who,  while  representing 
all  of  gracious  womanhood,  has  proved  her- 
self one  of  the  most  successful  business  women 
of  Nebraska,  has  made  of  her  individual  suc- 
cess a  medium  of  leverage  for  the  uplifting 
of  civic  and  material  prosperity  in  her  home 
city  and  county,  the  while  she  has  ever  re- 
tained an  inviolable  place  in  the  affectionate 
regard  of  the  community  in  which  she  has 
lived  and  labored  to  goodly  ends.  Of  the  in- 
ception and  growth  of  the  business  founded 
by   this   representative   exponent   of   business 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBR.\SKA 


431 


enterprise  in  the  city  of  Beatrice,  a  brief,  per- 
tinent, and  interesting  record  was  given  in 
the  anniversary  catalogue  issued  by  the  Dole 
Floral  Company  in  1916,  and  it  is  pleasing  to 
perpetuate  in  more  enduring  form  this  record  : 

"In  the  spring  of  1891  Mrs.  Sophia  H. 
Dole,  with  an  investment  of  one  dollar  for 
flower  pots  and  seventy-five  cents  for  seeds, 
and  with  a  hot-bed  sash  for  a  greenhouse, 
began  the  ornamental  plant  business  at  617 
Mary  street.  In  the  autumn  of  the  same  year 
a  small  greenhouse  was  built.  The  next  year 
Josiah  G.  Dole  and  his  two  sons,  Edward  W. 
and  Walter  A.,  became  associated  with  Mrs. 
Dole,  under  the  firm  name  of  S.  H.  Dole  & 
Sons,  and  thereafter  the  greenhouse  was  en- 
larged from  year  to  year  until  the  location 
was  outgrown.  In  1898  three  acres  of  land 
were  leased  and  a  new  range  of  greenhouses 
was  built  at  609  Mary  street.  The  business 
was  incorporated  in  1904,  under  the  title  of 
the  Dole  Floral  Company.  Capital  stock  was 
ofifered  for  sale  and  five  acres  of  land  were 
purchased  by  the  company  at  the  comer  of 
Fifth  and  Hoyt  streets.  On  this  specially  eli- 
gible site  was  erected  in  1905  the  present 
range  of  greenhouses,  which  has  since  been 
notably  enlarged,  in  consonance  with  the  con- 
stantly increasing  demands  placed  upon  the 
company  in  connection  with  its  growing  trade. 
The  result  is  that  at  the  present  time  the  com- 
pany has  twenty-five  thousand  feet  of  glass, 
besides  well  equipped  work  and  storage  rooms. 

"Our  first  down-town  salesroom  occupied 
a  little  building  that  was  only  five  by  seven 
feet  in  dimensions,  at  114  North  Fifth  street. 
In  1908  the  company  purchased  a  lot  at  518 
Ella  street,  and  in  the  following  year  there 
was  erected  on  this  site  the  present  Dole 
building,  a  substantial  brick  structure  of  two 
stories.  The  building  has  since  been  enlarged 
and  is  now  equipped  with  a  large  and  modem 
case  for  the  preservation  of  cut  flowers  and 
with  an  artificial  ice  refrigerating  plant." 

In  a  progressive  policy  that  implies  the  giv- 
ing of  thoroughly  metropolitan  service  the 
Dole  Floral  Company  has  equipped  its  at- 
tractive salesrooms  with  the  most  modern  ap- 
pointments  and    facilities,   and   the   establish- 


ment is  a  source  of  pride  to  the  city  of 
Beatrice  and  its  people.  The  large  display 
cases  in  which  the  cut  flowers  are  preserved 
after  being  taken  from  the  greenhouses  have 
cold  air  supplied  from  the  company's  artificial 
ice  plant,  which  is  operated  by  electricity  and 
which  has  a  capacity  for  the  production  of 
four  tons  of  ice  every  twenty-four  hours. 
The  company  has  an  attractive  automobile  de- 
livery car,  which  is  utilized  not  only  in  deliv- 
ering floral  products  to  patrons  in  Beatrice 
but  also  in  transporting  fresh-cut  flowers 
from  the  greenhouses  each  morning,  for  dis- 
play and  sale  at  the  down-town  store.  The 
propagating  facilities  controlled  by  the  com- 
pany are  of  the  most  approved  order  and  the 
concern  offers  roses,  carnations,  sweet  peas, 
and  all  other  of  the  popular  varieties  of 
flowers,  the  same  being  grown  entirely  at  the 
conservatories  of  the  company.  Large  ship- 
ments are  made  to  other  cities  and  many  towns 
in  this  section  of  the  state,  and  demands  come 
also  from  points  even  farther  removed.  The 
company  gives  the  best  of  service  in  the  sup- 
plying of  cut  flowers,  bedding  plants,  house 
plants,  and  bulbs.  Special  attention  is  given 
also  to  the  producing  of  artistic  floral  designs 
for  decorative  and  funeral  purposes,  and  the 
company  maintains  a  department  for  the 
handling  of  the  finest  varieties  of  gold  fish. 

The  Dole  Floral  Company  now  bases  its 
operations  on  a  capital  stock  of  fifty  thousand 
dollars,  and  the  personnel  of  its  executive 
corps  is  as  here  noted:  Edward  W.  Dole, 
president ;  Victor  Ryhd,  secretary ;  and  George 
M.  Johnson,  treasurer  and  manager.  Of  each 
of  these  officers  more  specific  mention  is  made 
on  other  pages  of  this  volume,  and  similar 
recognition  is  given  also  to  the  popular  foun- 
der of  the  enterprise,  Mrs.  Sophia  H.  Dole. 

CHARLES  F.  BONHAM  was  one  of  the 
organizers  of  the  State  Bank  of  Ellis,  a  thriv- 
ing village  of  Gage  county,  and  has  been  cash- 
ier of  this  well  ordered  institution  since  1909, 
his  administration  having  proved  potent  in  the 
upbuilding  of  the  substantial  business  of  the 
bank. 

Mr.  Bonham  was  born  in  Andrew  county, 


432 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Missouri,  December  7,  1871,  and  is  a  son  of 
William  and  Mary  Ann  (Nicholson)  Bon- 
ham,  of  whose  four  children  he  was  the  third 
in  order  of  birth,  Eunice,  the  firstborn,  having 
been  about  three  years  of  age  at  the  time  of 
her  death;  William  B.  died  at  the  age  of 
twelve  years ;  and  Clarence  L.  is  now  engaged 
in  the  banking  business  at  Ayr,  Adams  county. 
William  Bonham  was  bom  near  the  city  of 
Milwaukee,  Wisconsin,  in  1841,  a  scion  of  a 
sterling  pioneer  family  of  that  state.  His  par- 
ents, David  and  Rebecca  (Weaver)  Bonham, 
were  natives  respectively  of  England  and  Wis- 
consin, and  from  the  Badger  state  they  finally 
removed  to  Missouri,  making  the  long  over- 
land journey  in  a  covered  wagon  that  was 
drawn  by  a  mule  and  a  blind  horse,  besides 
which  they  had  an  ox  team.  David  Bon- 
ham engaged  in  farming  in  Missouri  and  there 
he  and  his  wife  passed  the  remainder  of  their 
lives.  They  became  the  parents  of  eight  chil- 
dren and  four  of  their  sons  were  soldiers  of 
the  Union  in  the  Civil  war  —  David,  Jr.,  Rob- 
ert, John,  and  James  —  all  now  deceased. 

William  Bonham  became  a  substantial  far- 
mer and  influential  citizen  of  Andrew  county, 
Missouri,  and  later  was  engaged  in  farming 
in  Gentry  county,  that  state,  where  for  a  num- 
ber of  years  he  was  engaged  also  in  the  agri- 
cultural-implement business,  at  King  City.  He 
came  to  Nebraska  about  the  year  1892  and  he 
reclaimed  and  developed  a  good  farm  in  Fur- 
nas county,  where  he  passed  the  remainder  of 
his  life,  his  death  having  occurred  in  1902. 
His  widow,  who  was  born  in  Indiana,  in 
1846,  and  whose  death  occurred  in  1906,  was 
a  daughter  of  John  F.  Nicholson,  who  was  a 
gallant  soldier  of  the  Union  in  the  Civil  war. 
William  Bonham  and  his  wife  were  most 
zealous  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church  and  in  politics  he  gave  his  support  to 
the  Republican  party. 

Charles  F.  Bonham  was  reared  on  the  farm 
of  his  father  in  Missouri  and  after  having 
profited  duly  by  the  advantages  of  the  district 
schools  he  continued  his  studies  in  the  village 
schools  of  King  City  until  he  had  completed 
the  work  of  the  tenth  grade.  Later  he  com- 
pleted a  commercial  course  in  Wesleyan  Col- 


lege, at  Cameron,  Missouri,  and  after  his 
graduation  he  became  bookkeeper  for  his 
father,  who  was  then  engaged  in  the  imple- 
ment business  at  King  City.  In  1892  he  re- 
sumed his  association  with  farm  enterprise  in 
his  native  state  and  in  1894  he  accompanied 
his  parents  to  Furnas  county,  Nebraska, 
where  he  was  engaged  in  farming  until  1909, 
when  he  came  to  Gage  county  and  became 
cashier  of  the  State  Bank  of  Ellis,  of  which 
position  he  has  since  continued  the  efficient 
and  popular  incumbent.  This  bank  was  or- 
ganized in  1907  by  his  brother  Clarence  and 
eight  representative  farmers  of  this  section  of 
the  county,  and  in  the  general  record  con- 
cerning the  banking  interests  of  the  county, 
on  other  pages,  due  mention  is  made  of  this 
prosperous  institution,  of  which  Temple  E. 
Pierce  is  president  and  Albert  C.  Pefiferman, 
vice-president. 

Mr.  Bonham  takes  vital  interest  in  all  things 
touching  the  wellbeing  and  advancement  ol 
his  home  village  and  county,  is  a  Republican 
in  his  political  allegiance,  is  affiliated  with  the 
local  organizations  of  the  Independent  Order 
of  Odd  P'ellows  and  the  Modem  Woodmen 
of  America,  and  he  and  his  wife  are  zealous 
members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church 
at  Ellis,  of  which  he  is  serving  as  a  steward 
in  1917-1918.  He  is  the  owner  of  village 
property  in  Ellis,  including  his  pleasant  home, 
and  also  has  a  well  improved  farm  property 
of  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  near  Wil- 
sonville,  Furnas  county. 

January  7,  1893,  recorded  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Bonham  to  Miss  Elsie  Timmons,  who 
was  bom  in  the  state  of  Illinois,  a  daughter  of 
Ephraim  Timmons,  and  of  this  union  have 
been  born  three  children :  Lee  D.  is  assistant 
cashier  of  the  Union  State  Bank  in  the  city 
of  Beatrice ;  Ada  died  at  the  age  of  two  years ; 
and  Russell  died  in  1915,  at  the  age  of  seven 
vears. 


ARNOTT  D.  McCANDLESS.  —  Each 
successive  stage  of  a  life  that  has  been  worth- 
ily lived  bears  its  full  measure  of  compensa- 
tion, and  the  man  who  has  passed  life's  me- 
ridian, who  has  stored  up  the  lessons  of  rich 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


433 


Arnott  D.  McCandless 


434 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


and  varied  experience,  and  who  has  wrought 
wisely,  justly,  and  effectively,  must  find  each 
successive  year  thereafter  radiant  in  personal 
contentment  and  gracious  in  memories.  Such 
a  sane,  direct,  and  productive  life  has  been 
that  of  Arnott  Duncan  McCandless,  who  is 
one  of  the  representative  members  of  the  bar 
of  Gage  county  and  whose  buoyant  optimism 
has  enabled  him  to  get  the  best  out  of  life  in 
its  varied  relations.  He  is  a  writer  of  excep- 
tional talent  and  another  dominating  attribute 
of  his  makeup  is  his  love  for  the  vital  sports 
afield  and  afloat,  in  which  domain  of  recrea- 
tion he  has  gained  distinct  prestige.  He  is  en- 
gaged in  the  practice  of  his  profession  in  the 
city  of  Wymore  and  his  status  as  a  citizen,  a 
lawyer,  and  as  a  genial  and  popular  man 
makes  it  specially  pleasing  to  accord  him  rec- 
ognition in  this  history. 

Mr.  McCandless  is  of  staunch  Scotch  an- 
cestry on  both  the  paternal  and  maternal  sides, 
as  the  respective  names  fully  indicate.  He 
was  born  on  a  farm  six  miles  east  of  Macomb, 
McDonough  county,  Illinois,  on  the  27th  of 
August,  1849,  and  is  a  son  of  William  Wal- 
lace McCandless  and  Sarah  (Duncan)  Mc- 
Candless, both  natives  of  Pennsylvania.  A 
literal  and  fully  substantiated  fact  pertinent 
to  the  McCandless  family  is  singularly  in  con- 
sonance with  a  statement  all  too  tritely  made 
concerning  the  founding  of  other  families  in 
America.  That  is,  the  original  progenitors  of 
the  McCandless  family  in  this  country  were 
the  proverbial  three  brothers,  but  it  has  been 
clearly  established  that  one  of  the  number 
established  a  home  in  Pennsylvania,  that  an- 
other located  in  the  south  and  that  the  third 
became  a  seafaring  man.  From  the  one  who 
settled  in  the  old  Keystone  state  the  subject 
of  this  review  is  descended. 

Arnott  D.  McCandless  was  five  years  old 
when  his  parents  removed  from  McDonough 
county,  Illinois,  and  settled  on  a  farm  one- 
half  mile  southwest  of  Aledo,  Mercer  county, 
and  he  was  a  lad  of  about  thirteen  years  when 
his  loyal  and  patriotic  father  went  forth  to 
battle  for  the  nation's  integrity  as  a  soldier  of 
the  Union  in  the  Civil  war.  On  the  14th  of 
August,    1862,   William  W.   McCandless   en- 


listed as  a  private  in  Company  H,  Eighty- 
fourth  Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  with 
his  command  he  set  forth  from  Quincy,  Illi- 
nois, marched  across  Kentucky  and  on  to 
Nashville,  Tennessee,  the  soldiers  of  his  regi- 
ment sleeping  at  night  under  the  open  sky,  as 
they  were  not  provided  with  tents.  Mr.  Mc- 
Candless was  destined  soon  to  sacrifice  his  life 
in  the  righteous  cause,  for  he  was  killed  at  the 
battle  of  Stone  River,  on  the  31st  of  Decem- 
ber, 1862,  little  more  than  four  months  after 
he  had  enlisted.  He  had  become  the  father  of 
six  children,  and  his  widow  and  two  of  her 
married  daughters  eventually  came  to  Ne- 
braska and  settled  in  Box  Butte  county. 
While  visiting  at  the  home  of  her  son  Arnott 
D.,  of  this  review,  at  Wymore,  the  widowed 
mother  was  summoned  to  eternal  rest,  her 
death  having  occurred  in  1910,  at  which  time 
she  was  eighty-eight  years  of  age. 

Arnott  Duncan  McCandless  attended  the 
district  schools  in  Mercer  county,  Illinois,  and 
thereafter  attended  for  two  years  a  Presby- 
terian select  school  in  that  state.  He  was  at 
this  time  about  eleven  years  old  and  there- 
after he  attended  school  only  three  months 
until  after  he  had  attained  to  his  legal  major- 
ity. The  death  of  his  father  compelled  him  to 
assume  heavy  responsibilities  when  he  was 
but  a  boy,  and  through  his  application  to  farm 
work  he  aided  in  the  support  of  his  mother 
and  the  other  members  of  the  family.  His  in- 
sistent determination  to  broaden  his  education 
led  him  to  take  his  Latin  grammar  into  the 
field  with  him,  in  order  that  he  might  apply 
himself  to  study  during  his  all  too  few  leisure 
moments.  In  the  meanwhile  his  advancement 
had  been  such  that  he  proved  himself  a  suc- 
cessful teacher  during  four  months  of  peda- 
gogic service  in  the  district  schools  of  his 
native  state. 

Soon  after  reaching  his  legal  majority  Mr. 
McCandless  entered  the  law  office  of  Isaac  N. 
Bassett,  a  leading  lawyer  at  Aledo,  Illinois, 
and,  at  a  stipend  of  sixteen  dollars  and  seven- 
ty-five cents  a  month,  he  here  took  charge  of 
a  set  of  abstract  books,  the  while  he  vigorous- 
ly applied  himself  to  the  study  of  law.  In 
1874  he  had  so  effectively  absorbed  and  as- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


435 


similated  the  science  of  jurisprudence  that  he 
was  admitted  to  the  lUinois  bar,  at  a  session 
of  the  supreme  court  of  the  state  held  at  Otta- 
wa. In  1875  Mr.  McCandless  went  to  the  new 
town  of  Creston,  Iowa,  and  became  one  of  its 
pioneer  lawyers.  There  he  built  up  a  substan- 
tial practice  and  there  he  continued  his  profes- 
sional activities  until  1882,  when  he  again  evi- 
denced his  predilection  for  being  in  at  the  start 
of  things  in  a  new  town,  as  he  cast  in  his  for- 
tunes with  the  village  of  Wymore,  Gage 
county,  Nebraska,  a  place  that  had  been 
founded  about  one  year  previously.  A  man  of 
vigorous  thought  and  action,  he  proved  a 
staunch  force  in  furthering  civic  and  material 
development  and  progress  at  Wymore,  and  he 
has  continued  as  one  of  the  valued  and  public- 
spirited  citizens  of  this  thriving  little  city,  even 
as  he  has  been  recognized  as  one  of  the  able 
and  representative  members  of  the  bar  of  the 
county.  For  fifteen  years  after  their  marriage 
Mr.  McCandless  and  his  wife  kept  their  text- 
books constantly  at  hand  in  their  home  and 
devoted  themselves  earnestly  to  study  and 
reading,  vying  with  each  other  in  enthusiasm 
for  advancement  along  educational  lines. 

In  1873  Mr.  McCandless  wedded  Miss 
Gertrude  Cabeen,  who  was  bom  at  Keiths- 
burg,  lUinois,  a  daughter  of  Richard  C.  Ca- 
been, an  early  settler  and  influential  citizen  of 
Mercer  county,  that  state.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mc- 
Candless have  no  children,  but  their  devoted 
companionship  during  the  long  years  has  been 
of  ideal  order  —  intensified,  as  it  were,  by  their 
having  had  no  child  to  divide  even  measur- 
ably their  interests. 

In  politics,  as  in  other  matters  of  vital  im- 
portance, Mr.  McCandless  thinks  and  acts  for 
himself,  and  he  has  not  been  constrained  by 
strict  partisan  dictates.  In  his  home  village 
he  is  affiliated  with  Wymore  Lodge,  No.  104, 
Ancient  Free  &  Accepted  Masons ;  Hiram 
Chapter,  No.  28,  Royal  Arch  Masons ;  and 
Cypress  Council,  No.  22,  Royal  and  Select 
Masters. 

For  many  years  prior  to  the  death  of  his 
loved  mother  Mr.  McCandless  made  regular 
visits  to  her  and  his  two  sisters,  in  Box  Butte 
county,  and  incidentally  he  made  interesting 


hunting  expeditions  in  Cherry  county.  As  he 
says,  he  "loves  to  sleep  out  on  the  sand  hills, 
with  only  a  blanket  for  protection,  to  breathe 
the  air  no  one  else  ever  breathed,  and  to  deter- 
mine the  time  of  the  night  by  observing  the 
position  of  the  Great  Dipper."  Along  literary 
lines  Mr.  McCandless  has  gained  no  little  re- 
pute by  reason  of  the  specially  original  and 
interesting  articles  which  he  has  contributed 
to  the  periodical  known  as  "Forest  and 
Stream,"  his  articles  having  been  entitled 
"Days  in  Cherr}'  County"  and  "Boyhood  Days 
in  Illinois."  These  articles  have  attracted 
wide  attention  on  the  part  of  devotees  of  out- 
door sport,  and  Mr.  McCandless  has  not  only 
received  letters  of  marked  appreciation  from 
the  editor  of  "Forest  and  Stream,"  but  they 
have  led  also  to  his  being  called  upon  to  act 
as  escort  to  wealthy  and  influential  sportsmen 
in  expeditions  in  western  Nebraska.  Among 
such  millionaire  sportsmen  with  whom  Mr. 
McCandless  has  been  thus  pleasantly  asso- 
ciated may  be  mentioned  Mr.  Wilbur,  of 
Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania,  and  Mr.  Liles,  of 
Aurora,  Missouri.  Mr.  McCandless  is  an  ex- 
pert shot  and  has  made  splendid  record  at  the 
traps,  in  which  connection  he  has  come  in 
close  competition  with  Thomas  Marshall,  of 
Keithsburg,  Illinois,  the  two  having  become 
acquainted  when  they  were  boys. 

Even  this  brief  article  indicates  the  broad 
mental  grasp  of  Mr.  McCandless  and  shows 
that  while  he  has  concentrated  and  won  suc- 
cess in  his  profession  he  has  had  appreciation 
of  other  things  that  go  to  make  up  the  full  and 
complete  life,  and  that  he  has  made  the  pass- 
ing years  count  not  only  in  achievement  but 
also  in  giving  the  benefices  of  happiness  and 
contentment. 

JOHN  STROUGH.  —  In  the  career  of  the 
late  John  Strough,  who  was  a  resident  of 
Gage  county  for  more  than  a  score  of  years, 
success  and  honor  were  inseparable,  and  he 
made  his  life  count  for  good  in  its  every  rela- 
tion. His  sudden  death,  as  the  result  of  heart 
disease,  occurred  at  his  home  in  the  city  of 
Beatrice,  November  23,  1917,  he  having  been 
stricken  while  engaged  in  his  customary  eve- 


436 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


ning  work  about  the  home,  at  1423  High 
street. 

Mr.  Strough  was  born  in  Henry  county, 
Indiana,  on  the  28th  of  January,  1844,  and  was 
a  son  of  John  and  Sarah  (Miller)  Strough, 
who  reared  to  years  of  maturity  a  family  of 
eleven  children.  John  Strough,  Sr.,  was  bora 
in  Pennsylvania,  in  the  year  1808,  and  in  the 
earlier  part  of  his  career  he  followed  the 
trade  of  tailor.  As  a  young  man  he  went  to 
the  historic  old  state  of  Virginia,  and  later  he 
numbered  himself  among  the  pioneers  of 
Henry  county,  Indiana,  where  he  became  a 
prosperous  farmer  and  where  his  death  oc- 
curred on  the  20th  of  May,  1863.  His  wife 
was  born  in  Rockingham  county,  Virginia,  in 
which  state  she  was  reared  and  educated,  and 
there  their  marriage  was  solemnized,  her 
father,  George  Miller,  having  been  a  native  of 
Pennsylvania:  she  was  born  about  the  year 
1835  and  passed  to  eternal  rest  about  1887, 
her  first  three  children  having  been  born  in 
Virginia,  prior  to  the  family  removal  to  In- 
diana, where  she  continued  to  reside  until  her 
death. 

The  subject  of  this  memoir  was  reared  on 
the  old  homestead  farm  in  Indiana  and  ac- 
quired his  early  education  in  the  pioneer 
schools  of  Henry  county,  that  state.  At  the 
time  of  the  Civil  war  he  gave  efficient  service 
as  a  soldier  in  an  Indiana  volunteer  regiment, 
and  his  service  covered  practically  the  entire 
period  of  the  conflict  between  the  North  and 
the  South.  In  his  native  state  his  marriage 
was  solemnized  in  1867,  and  in  1870  he  re- 
moved with  his  family  to  Holt  county,  Mis- 
souri, where  he  purchased  a  farm  of  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres,  near  the  village  of  Craig. 
There  he  continued  his  successful  activities  as 
a  farmer  until  1890,  when  he  and  his  wife  es- 
tablished their  home  in  Gage  county,  Nebras- 
ka, after  he  had  disposed  of  his  farm  in  Mis- 
souri. Upon  coming  to  Gage  county  Mr. 
Strough  purchased  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  of  land  in  Section  33,  Holt  township, 
and,  with  his  progressive  policies  and  mature 
judgment  he  there  proved  notably  successful 
in  his  farm  enterprise,  the  while  he  made  ex- 
cellent improvements  on  the  homestead.     He 


remained  on  the  farm  until  1908,  when  he  re- 
tired from  active  labors  and  removed  with  his 
devoted  wife  to  the  city  of  Beatrice,  where  he 
passed  the  residue  of  his  life,  secure  in  the 
high  regard  of  all  who  knew  him. 

Mr.  Strough  was  well  fortified  in  his  con- 
victions concerning  governmental  policies  and 
was  a  stalwart  advocate  of  the  principles  of 
the  Republican  party.  He  took  deep  interest 
in  community  afifairs  and  while  living  on  his 
Gage  county  farm  he  served  as  a  member  of 
the  school  board  of  his  district.  His  religious 
faith  was  that  of  the  Presbyterian  church  and 
his  widow  holds  membership  in  the  Congre- 
gational church  of  Beatrice. 

In  the  year  1867  Mr.  Strough  wedded  Miss 
Sarah  Ann  Bowers,  who  was  bora  in  Henry 
county,  Indiana,  April  14,  1849,  a  daughter  of 
George  and  Lydia  (Weane)  Bowers,  both 
natives  of  Rockingham  county,  Virginia, 
where  the  former  was  born  in  the  year  1819 
and  the  latter  on  the  9th  of  August,  1831. 
Upon  his  removal  to  Indiana,  Mr.  Bowers 
became  a  pioneer  of  Henry  county,  and  there 
he  became  a  substantial  farmer  and  influential 
citizen  of  his  community.  He  was  one  of  the 
venerable  pioneer  citizens  of  the  county  at 
the  time  of  his  death,  in  1891,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-two  years,  and  his  widow,  who  at- 
tained to  the  age  of  eighty-one  years,  was  a 
resident  of  Henry  county,  Indiana,  at  the 
time  of  her  death,  in  1908.  Since  the  death 
of  her  honored  husband  Mrs.  Strough  has 
continued  to  reside  in  the  attractive  home 
which  he  provided  upon  their  removal  to 
Beatrice.  In  conclusion  is  given  brief  record 
concerning  their  children,  eleven  having  been 
born  to  them  and  two  of  the  number  having 
died  in  infancy:  Laura  is  the  wife  of  Giles 
Laughlin  and  they  reside  near  Sheridan, 
Arkansas;  Mary  B.  is  the  wife  of  Thomas 
Harding,  a  prosperous  farmer  of  Holt  town- 
ship, Gage  county,  Nebraska ;  Joseph  Leonard 
resides  in  Beatrice,  this  county,  where  he 
operates  a  garage  ;  Dora  E.  is  the  wife  of  John 
Coonley,  who  is  engaged  in  the  grocery  busi- 
ness in  West  Beatrice;  Lloyd  L.,  who  owns 
and  resides  upon  his  father's  old  home  farm 
in   Holt  township,   is   individually  mentioned 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


437 


on  other  pages  of  this  volume;  Rufus  F.  is 
engaged  in  the  oil  business  in  the  city  of 
Beatrice;  Jesse  F.  is  a  resident  of  Ottumwa, 
Iowa ;  and  Nona  E.  is  the  wife  of  William 
Sherwood,  a  prosperous  farmer  in  Logan 
township. 

ANDREW  J.  REEDY.  — In  nearly  every 
village  in  the  United  States  are  to  be  found 
men  who  fought  that  our  nation  might  re- 
main an  indissoluble  union,  and  one  of  such 
men  is  Mr.  Reedy,  of  Blue  Springs,  this 
county. 

Andrew  Jackson  Reedy  was  born  in  Mor- 
gan county,  Indiana,  January  1,  1839,  and  is 
a  son  of  William  and  Nancy  (Cannedy) 
Reedy,  the  former  bom  in  Ireland  and  the 
latter  in  Scotland;  they  migrated  to  West 
Virginia  with  their  respective  parents  and  in 
that  state  their  marriage  occurred.  With 
hearts  full  of  hope  and  courage  they  traversed 
the  wilds  of  Ohio  and  crossed  over  into  In- 
diana, where  they  cleared  a  space  for  their 
rude  log  cabin  and  where  William  Reedy  be- 
came a  pioneer  farmer.  Sons  and  daughters 
grew  up  around  them,  and  they  became  the 
parents  of  a  fine  family  of  sixteen  children. 
Three  of  this  large  family  are  now  living; 
George  Reedy,  a  Civil  war  veteran,  is  living 
retired  at  Nebraska  City,  Nebraska;  Polly, 
widow  of  John  Busha,  resides  at  Council 
Bluffs,  Iowa;  and  Andrew  J.  Reedy  is  the 
subject  of  this  sketch.  In  Morgan  county, 
Indiana,  the  mother  of  these  children  passed 
to  the  life  eternal.  Her  husband  later  con- 
tracted a  second  marriage  and  by  this  union 
six  children  were  born.  The  latter  years  of 
the  life  of  William  Reedy  were  spent  in  Ore- 
gon, where  his  death  occurred.  He  was  a 
Douglas  Democrat  in  politics  and  was  a  cap- 
tain in  the  Mexican  war. 

The  educational  advantages  that  the  times 
afforded  in  the  boyhood  of  Andrew  J.  Reedy 
were  very  meager,  but  such  as  they  were  he 
profited  by  these.  When  a  youth  of  seventeen 
years  he  went  to  Missouri  to  farm  and  was 
called  from  the  plowing  of  his  land  to  take 
up  arms  for  his  country.  He  was  in  the  ser- 
vice for  a  few  months  with  the  contingent  from 


Harrison  county,  Missouri,  but  soon  enlisted 
with  Missouri  cavalry,  from  Gentry  county, 
in  which  command  he  served  two  years,  two 
months,  and  seven  days.  He  participated  in 
the  vigorous  action  incidental  to  the  historic 
Price  raids,  fighting  every  day  against  Gen- 
eral Price  from  the  Ozarks  to  Fort  Scott.  In 
1863  he  was  in  the  raid  for  Quantrell,  and 
one  time  was  taken  prisoner  by  the  rebels,  but 
he  made  his  escape  from  them. 

After  the  war  Mr.  Reedy  went  back  to  the 
peaceful  occupation  of  tilling  the  soil  in  Mis- 
souri. It  was  here  that  he  married  Sarah 
Ann  Lowe,  who  has  been  his  faithful  com- 
panion all  of  these  years.  She  has  borne  him 
twelve  children,  ten  of  whom  are  living,  as 
follows :  Andrew  lives  at  Blue  Springs ; 
Florence  first  married  O.  T.  Randall  and  is 
now  the  wife  of  Samuel  Price,  a  farmer  near 
Kansas  City,  Kansas ;  William  resides  at  Blue 
Springs,  Daniel  in  Iowa,  and  Alonzo  at  Lin- 
coln, Nebraska ;  Luther  is  in  the  military  ser- 
vice of  the  United  States  as  a  member  of  a 
machine  gun  company;  Lucy,  widow  of  Fred 
Stratford,  is  now  employed  in  Palmer's  store 
at  Beatrice ;  Salome,  widow  of  George  Dens- 
more,  is  living  in  Lincoln ;  Mary  is  the  wife  of 
John  Herman,  of  Wymore;  and  Harry  is  in 
the  war  service  of  the  United  States. 

Mr.  Reedy  farmed  in  Missouri  until  1878, 
when  he  went  to  Kansas,  and  in  1886  he  came 
to  Gage  county,  where  he  continued  farming 
until  his  retirement  to  Blue  Springs  twenty 
years  ago.  In  politics  Mr.  Reedy  has  voted 
with  the  Republican  party.  He  is  a  member 
of  the  Rawlins  Post,  Grand  Army  of  the  Re- 
public, at  Beatrice,  and  is  one  of  the  valued 
members  of  the  community  in  which  he  has 
long  resided,  he  having  given  many  useful 
years  to  agricultural  industry. 

FREDERICK  W.  MESSMORE.  —  In  the 
year  that  marked  the  semi-centennial  of  the 
admission  of  Nebraska  as  one  of  the  sovereign 
states  of  the  Union,  Gage  county  numbered  as 
one  of  its  most  efficient  and  valued  officials 
Frederick  W.  Messmore,  who  is  still  serving 
as  county  attorney  and  who  has  the  further 
distinction  of  being  one  of  the  youngest  men 


438  HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Frederick  W.  Messmoee 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


439 


to  be  the  incumbent  of  such  office  in  the  entire 
state.  He  is  making  a  splendid  record  as  a 
public  prosecutor  and  through  his  official  ac- 
tivities is  enhancing  his  reputation  and  is 
solidifying  his  status  as  one  of  the  representa- 
tive members  of  the  bar  of  Gage  county. 

Mr.  Messmore  was  bom  in  Boone  county, 
Iowa,  on  the  11th  of  July,  1889,  and  is  a  son 
of  H.  A.  and  Clara  J.  (Davidson)  Messmore. 
both  of  whom  likewise  are  natives  of  the 
Hawkeye  state,  where  the  respective  families 
were  founded  in  the  early  pioneer  days.  H.  A. 
Messmore  was  reared  and  educated  in  Iowa 
and  there  became  actively  identified  with  rail- 
way operations,  as  a  conductor  on  the  line  of 
the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Railroad.  About 
the  year  1907  he  removed  with  his  family  to 
Nebraska  and  established  his  residence  at 
Randolph,  Cedar  county,  where  he  success- 
fully conducted  a  hotel,  later  continuing  in  the 
same  line  of  enterprise  in  turn  at  Laurel,  that 
county ;  Geneva,  Fillmore  county ;  and  Nelson, 
Nuckolls  county.  In  1915  he  and  his  wife  es- 
tablished their  home  at  Beatrice,  and  here  it  is 
his  intention  again  to  engage  in  the  hotel  busi- 
ness within  the  near  future.  Mr.  Messmore 
is  unwavering  in  his  allegiance  to  the  Demo- 
cratic party,  he  and  his  wife  hold  membership 
in  the  Presbyterian  church,  and  in  the  time- 
honored  Masonic  fraternity  he  has  received 
the  thirty-second  degree  of  the  Ancient  Ac- 
cepted Scottish  Rite,  besides  being  affiliated 
also  with  the  Mystic  Shrine.  Of  the  four  chil- 
dren of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Messmore,  the  subject 
of  this  review  is  the  younger  of  the  two  now 
living,  and  Sylvia  is  the  wife  of  T.  O.  Hester, 
a  banker  at  Wiota,  Cass  county,  Iowa. 

The  preliminary  educational  discipline  of 
Frederick  W.  Messmore  was  acquired  princi- 
pally in  the  public  schools  of  the  city  of  Coun- 
cil Bluffs,  Iowa,  where  he  completed  the  cur- 
riculum of  the  high  school  and  also  took  a 
course  in  the  Northwestern  Business  and  Nor- 
mal College.  After  his  graduation  in  the  same 
he  followed  the  trend  of  his  ambition  and  well 
formulated  plans  by  enrolling  himself  as  a  stu- 
dent in  the  Creighton  Law  School,  in  the  city 
of  Omaha.  In  this  well  ordered  institution  he 
was  graduated  as  a  member  of  the  class  of 


1912,  and  his  admission  to  the  Nebraska  bar 
was  virtually  coincident  with  his  reception  of 
the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Laws.  In  1913  Mr. 
Messmore  entered,  with  characteristic  vigor 
and  earnestness,  upon  his  professional  novi- 
tiate, and  he  was  favored  in  being  at  this  time 
able  to  associate  himself  with  General  L.  W. 
Colby,  of  Beatrice,  one  of  the  leading  members 
of  the  Gage  county  bar.  He  maintained  this 
alliance  until  his  election  to  the  office  of 
county  attorney,  in  1914,  and  the  estimate 
placed  upon  his  administration  of  the  affairs 
of  this  important  office  was  unequivocally 
shown  in  his  reelection  in  1916. 

Mr.  Messmore  is  a  most  vital  and  effective 
advocate  of  the  principles  and  policies  for 
which  the  Democratic  party  stands  sponsor 
and  is  one  of  the  influential  young  men  in  its 
councils  in  his  home  county.  Mr.  Messmore 
is  affiliated  with  the  Masonic  fraternity,  the 
Benevolent  &  Protective  Order  of  Elks,  the 
Delta  Theta  Phi  college  fraternity,  and  the 
Modern  Woodmen  of  America,  in  which  last 
mentioned  organization  he  is  past  worthy  ad- 
visor. He  and  his  wife  hold  membership  in 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  church. 

In  April,  1913,  was  solemnized  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  Messmore  to  Miss  Jennie  Frances 
Saxe,  who  was  born  at  Belden,  Cedar  county, 
Nebraska,  a  daughter  of  AUison  and  Frances 
(Boughn)  Saxe,  and  she  was  reared  in  the 
home  of  her  mother's  uncle,  Zack  Boughn, 
who  was  one  of  the  pioneer  settlers  of  this 
state.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Messmore  have  no 
children. 

FRANK  OVERBECK  has  been  a  resident 
of  Gage  county  for  nearly  two  score  years  and 
through  his  able  and  vigorous  activities  as  a 
farmer  he  has  achieved  substantial  prosperity. 
He  is  the  owner  of  a  well  improved  landed 
estate  of  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  in 
Section  16,  Holt  township,  and  here  he  is 
now  living  virtually  retired,  his  two  sons  hav- 
ing the  active  management  of  the  farm  prop- 
erty. 

Mr.  Overbeck  was  bom  in  Pmssia,  Ger- 
many, July  26,  1841,  a  son  of  Frederick  and 
Lizzie   (Teisenbrink)    Overbeck,  who  passed 


440 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


their  entire  lives  in  their  native  land.  Frank 
Overbeck  was  reared  and  educated  in  Ger- 
many and  there  gained  his  initial  experience  in 
connection  with  farm  industry.  In  May,  1882, 
he  came  to  the  United  States  and  landed  in 
the  port  of  New  York  city.  Shortly  after- 
ward he  came  to  Nebraska  and  established  his 
residence  in  Gage  county,  where  he  found  em- 
ployment as  a  farm  workman.  He  continued 
to  be  thus  engaged  about  five  years  and  then 
engaged  in  farming  in  an  independent  way. 
He  was  encouraged  to  take  this  course  by  his 
friend  Frederick  Pohlman,  who  came  to  the 
farm  on  which  Mr.  Overbeck  was  at  the  time 
employed  and  made  inquiry  as  to  the  amount 
of  money  the  latter  had  available.  Mr.  Over- 
beck stated  in  reply  that  he  had  saved  three 
hundred  and  twenty-five  dollars,  and  Mr. 
Pohlman  then  said  that  he  would  lend  him  an 
additional  one  hundred  dollars  and  that  with 
the  combined  sum  he  could  find  him  a  farm 
that  he  could  rent.  Preparations  were  made 
by  the  two  friends  going  to  Dewitt,  where  Mr. 
Overbeck  purchased  a  team  of  horses  and  the 
required  agricultural  implements,  he  having 
given  his  note  for  the  purchase  price  of  the 
team.  He  then  rented  the  farm  of  John  H. 
Steinmeyer,  who  established  himself  in  the 
grain  and  elevator  business  at  Dewitt,  and  on 
this  farm  Mr.  Overbeck  continued  operations 
two  years.  He  then  purchased  a  Scully  lease 
of  land  in  Hanover  township,  and  there  he 
continued  his  successful  activities  as  an  agri- 
culturist and  stock-grower  until  he  purchased 
his  present  homestead  farm  of  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres,  upon  which  but  little  improve- 
ment had  been  made  at  the  time.  He  has  de- 
veloped his  farm  until  it  is  now  one  of  the 
model  places  of  Holt  township,  the  additional 
tract  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  having 
been  purchased  somewhat  later  and  the  farm 
being  all  in  one  body.  Mr.  Overbeck  has 
erected  good  farm  buildings  and  each  of  his 
sons  has  an  attractive  house  on  the  half-sec- 
tion of  land  which  has  been  under  their  ef- 
fective management  since  their  father  retired 
from  the  labors  that  were  so  long  his  portion. 
Mr.  Overbeck  is  a  Republican  in  politics  and 


is  a  communicant  of  the  Lutheran  church,  as 
are  also  the  members  of  his  family. 

As  a  young  man  Mr.  Overbeck  wedded  Miss 
Caroline  Stolde,  who  was  bom  and  reared  in 
Germany  and  who  there  passed  her  entire 
life,  her  death  having  occurred  in  1882,  and 
she  having  been  survived  by  four  children. 
In  the  same  year  Mr.  Overbeck  came  to 
America  with  three  of  his  children,  Henry, 
the  eldest  of  the  four  having  come  to  this 
country  a  short  time  previously,  and  being 
now  a  resident  of  Jeft'erson  county,  Nebraska; 
Lizzie  is  the  wife  of  Charles  Gerhardt,  of 
Beatrice ;  Frederick  is  a  prosperous  farmer  in 
Hanover  township ;  and  Charles  is  engaged  in 
the  real-estate  business  in  the  city  of  Beatrice. 

Prior  to  coming  to  the  United  States  Mr. 
Overbeck  contracted  a  second  marriage,  with 
Miss  Lizzie  Hansjurgen,  who  was  bom  in  the 
year  1853,  and  whose  death  occurred  April 
13,  1913.  Of  the  eleven  children  of  this  union 
six  are  living:  William  is  a  successful  far- 
mer in  Hanover  township ;  Frank  is  associated 
in  the  operation  of  the  home  farm  of  his 
father;  Ernest  is  engaged  in  farm  enterprise 
in  Holt  township ;  John  is  the  other  son  who 
farms  a  portion  of  his  father's  place;  Her- 
man is  a  farmer  in  Nemaha  township ;  and 
Edwin  is  engaged  in  farming  in  Saline  county. 

CHARLES  M.  MURDOCK,  of  Wymore, 
is  not  only  one  of  the  honored  pioneer  citizens 
of  Gage  county,  but  also  a  representative  of  a 
family  whose  name  is  one  of  singular  and  sig- 
nificant prominence  in  connection  with  the 
early  annals  of  Nebraska,  the  subject  of  this 
review  having  gained  wide  and  varied  ex- 
perience in  connection  with  life  on  the  fron- 
tier and  his  noble  father  having  been  one  of 
the  early  missionaries  to  the  Indians  in  Ne- 
braska. A  wealth  of  interesting  data  may  be 
gleaned  concerning  this  family,  and  the  rec- 
ord cannot  fail  of  enduring  historical  interest. 

Charles  M.  Murdock  was  born  in  Greene 
county,  Pennsylvania,  August  29,  1843,  and  is 
a  son  of  Rev.  Daniel  A.  and  Prudence  L. 
(Smith)  Murdock,  both  likewise  natives  of 
the  old  Keystone  state.  Rev.  Daniel  A.  Mur- 
dock  received  a  liberal  education  and  as  a 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


441 


young  man  he  entered  the  ministry  of  the 
Presbyterian  church.  His  marriage  to  Miss 
Prudence  L.  Smith  was  solemnized  April  6, 
1841,  and  concerning  their  nine  children  the 
following  brief  record  may  be  entered :  Ly- 
sander  B.  was  born  March  24,  1842,  and  died 
January  10,  1858;  Charles  M.,  of  this  review, 
was  the  next  in  order  of  birth;  Mary  F.  was 
born  August  25,  1845,  and  her  death  occurred 
December  5,  1863 ;  Alonzo  D.  was  born  No- 
vember 11,  1847;  Bashford  E.  W.  was  bom 
May  11,  1850,  and  died  July  24,  1888;  Alfa- 
retta  L.  was  born  September  22,  1852 ;  Dualla 
R.  was  born  October  2,  1854,  and  her  death 
occurred  June  25,  1908;  Effie  T.  was  born 
June  30,  1858,  and  her  death  occurred  March 
19,  1864;  and  Daniel  A.,  Jr.,  was  born  Jan- 
uar  18,  1861. 

The  following  specially  interesting  record 
is  taken  in  large  part  from  an  admirable  ac- 
count prepared  by  Charles  M.  Murdock,  to 
whom  this  sketch  is  dedicated.  In  the  spring 
of  1853  Rev.  Daniel  A.  Murdock  removed 
with  his  family  to  the  pioneer  wilds  of  Iowa 
and  established  a  home  near  Bloomfield,  Davis 
county,  but  removal  was  soon  afterward  made 
to  the  vicinity  of  Holleyville,  Page  county. 
In  September,  1856,  Mr.  Murdock  and  his 
wife,  in  company  with  their  neighbors,  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Hayes,  drove  overland  in  covered 
wagons  from  Page  county,  Iowa,  into  the  Ter- 
ritory of  Nebraska,  and  they  decided  to  locate 
in  Richardson  county,  near  the  present  village 
of  Stell.  This  sturdy  pioneer  clergyman  pur- 
chased in  that  locality  a  tract  of  land,  and 
within  a  short  time  thereafter  he  returned  to 
his  home  in  Iowa.  In  the  same  year  he  was 
requested  by  the  Presbyterian  Missionary  So- 
ciety, of  New  York  city,  to  accept  the  posi- 
tion of  missionary  to  the  Otoe  and  Missouri 
tribes  of  Indians  in  Nebraska  and  Kansas, 
and  he  accepted  this  responsible  post.  On  the 
7th  of  April,  1857,  in  company  with  his  wife 
and  their  seven  children.  Rev.  Daniel  A.  Mur- 
dock left  Page  county,  Iowa,  with  teams  and 
covered  wagons  and  set  forth  for  his  new  field 
of  service.  When  they  arrived  at  Sidney, 
Fremont  county,  Iowa,  they  found  that  the 
]\Iissouri  river  was  so  high  as  to  make  it  im- 


possible to  cross  the  same.  The  family  there- 
fore remained  at  Sidney  until  the  6th  of  May, 
when  they  crossed  the  river  on  a  ferry  boat, 
at  Weeping  Water,  just  above  Nebraska  City. 
Three  days  later  the  pioneer  missionary  ar- 
rived with  his  family  at  the  Indian  trading 
post  conducted  by  Gideon  Bennett,  on  Plum 
creek,  and  one  mile  west  of  the  site  of  the 
present  village  of  Liberty,  Gage  county.  The 
next  day  the  family  continued  its  journey  a 
distance  of  about  seven  miles  and  arrived  at 
the  Otoe  and  Missouri  Indian  mission  build- 
ing, in  Marshall  county,  Kansas.  Here  the 
Presbyterian  Missionary  Society  had  pur- 
chased half  a  section  of  land,  the  north  half 
of  Section  One  (1)  in  Township  One  (1) 
south,  Range  Eight  (8)  east,  and  erected 
thereon  a  concrete  building  forty  by  ninety 
feet  in  dimensions  and  three  stories  in  height, 
this  building  having  been  about  forty  rods 
south  of  the  Kansas  and  Nebraska  territorial 
line  and  one  and  one-half  miles  distant  from 
the  east  line  of  the  Otoe  and  Missouri  Indian 
reservation.  Soon  after  the  arrival  of  the 
Murdock  family  at  this  frontier  mission  the 
seven  chiefs  of  the  Otoe  and  Missouri  tribes 
came  to  visit  the  new  incumbent  at  the  mis- 
sion. Here  Arkeketa  and  the  other  six  chiefs 
held  conference  and  decided  to  send  their 
children  to  the  mission  school.  Mr.  Murdock 
treated  them  with  great  consideration  and  ex- 
plained to  them  the  purpose  and  object  of  his 
coming  as  a  missionary.  From  New  York 
were  sent  two  women  to  become  teachers  of 
the  young  Indians,  and  about  seventy-five  boys 
and  two  girls  came  to  receive  instruction. 
With  its  various  attaches  the  mission  repre- 
sented a  busy  little  community,  and  the  Mur- 
dock family  passed  the  first  summer  very 
pleasantly.  When  the  Indians  were  about  to 
set  forth  on  their  autumn  hunting  trip  for 
buffalo,  they  asked  Mr.  Murdock  to  permit 
the  Indian  boys  in  the  school  to  accompany 
them  on  the  expedition.  The  missionary  tried 
to  persuade  them  to  let  the  children  remain 
in  school.  The  elder  Indians  seemingly  gave 
their  consent  to  this  plan,  but  a  little  after 
dark  the  same  evening  "all  of  the  Indian  boys 
at  the  mission  vanished  like  a  flock  of  quail." 


442 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


While  the  Otoes  were  on  this  hunting  expedi- 
tion a  band  of  Sioux  Indians,  who  were  not 
on  good  terms  with  the  Otoes,  appeared  at  the 
mission,  evidently  in  search  of  the  Indian 
boys,  whom  they  doubtless  wished  to  scalp  or 
kidnap.  When  they  found  the  boys  absent 
they  did  not  molest  the  mission,  the  two  In- 
dian girls  having  in  the  meanwhile  been  se- 
creted. When,  upon  their  return,  the  Otoes 
learned  of  the  visit  of  the  Sioux  their  super- 
stitious minds  led  them  to  believe  that  a  mir- 
acle had  been  wrought,  in  that  the  boys  had 
been  absent,  and  they  did  not  permit  the 
youngsters  to  return  to  the  mission  in  suffi- 
cient number  to  justify  the  continuing  of  the 
school.  Only  two  of  the  Indian  boys  came 
back  to  the  mission.  The  result  was  that  the 
mission  was  given  up  in  the  autumn  of  1857, 
the  land  and  buildings  being  later  sold  by  the 
missionary  society. 

In  1861,  however.  Rev.  Daniel  A.  Murdock 
and  his  family  again  occupied  the  mission 
building.  In  the  interim  he  had  removed  to 
Doniphan  county,  Kansas,  whence  he  went 
to  Lawrence  county,  Missouri,  to  assume 
charge  of  a  college  at  Mount  Vernon.  When 
the  Civil  war  broke  out  he  found  his  sym- 
pathy with  the  Union  cause  to  be  a  source  of 
trouble  in  his  community,  and  he  returned  to 
Nebraska  and  settled  on  a  tract  of  land  which 
he  had  previously  entered  as  a  preemption 
claim,  in  Pawnee  county.  The  next  spring  he 
went  with  his  family  to  Washington  county, 
Kansas,  and  within  a  short  time  thereafter  he 
was  made  chaplain  of  the  Thirteenth  Kansas 
Infantry.  In  this  capacity  he  served  until  his 
death,  which  occurred  at  Springfield,  Mis- 
souri, on  the  5th  of  April,  1863.  A  godly  and 
righteous  life  marked  by  self-abnegating  ser- 
vice was  that  of  this  pioneer  clergyman  and 
missionary,  and  his  final  days  were  given  to 
his  country's  service  in  the  Civil  war.  Mrs. 
Murdock  subsequently  contracted  a  second 
marriage  and  removed  to  Wray,  Colorado, 
where  her  death  occurred  January  18,  1899, 
her  remains  being  laid  to  rest  in  the  cemetery 
at  Wymore,  Gage  county,  Nebraska. 

Charles  M.  Murdock  was  a  lad  of  about  ten 
years  at  the  time  of  the  family  removal  to 


Iowa,  and  was  reared  under  the  conditions 
and  influences  of  frontier  life,  his  educational 
training  having  been  received  largely  under 
the  direction  of  his  father  and  mother,  both  of 
whom  were  persons  of  superior  intellectuality. 
He  accompanied  his  parents  on  their  various 
removals,  as  noted  in  the  preceding  context, 
and  was  able  to  attend  the  college  of  which  his 
father  was  the  executive  head  in  Missouri. 
On  the  11th  of  July,  1862,  about  one  month 
prior  to  his  twentieth  birthday  anniversary, 
Mr.  Murdock  tendered  his  aid  in  defense  of 
the  Union.  At  Marysville,  Marshall  county, 
Kansas,  he  enlisted  as  a  member  of  Company 
K,  Ninth  Kansas  Cavalry.  The  command 
went  to  Fort  Leavenworth,  Kansas,  in  Sep- 
tember, 1862,  and  there  received  a  complete 
outfit.  It  thence  marched  to  join  the  army  in 
the  field  in  southwestern  Missouri,  where  it 
thus  joined  the  active  forces  on  the  2d  of  Oc- 
tober following.  Under  the  command  of 
General  Blunt  the  Ninth  Kansas  Cavalry  par- 
ticipated in  the  following  named  battles  and 
other  engagements :  Newtonia,  Missouri,  Oc- 
tober 3d;  Neosha,  October  4th;  Cane  Hill, 
Arkansas,  November  28th ;  Prairie  Grove, 
December  7th;  Van  Buren,  December  28th. 
The  command  then  marched  to  Fort  Scott, 
Kansas,  and  for  the  remainder  of  the  winter 
it  was  employed  in  escorting  trains  loaded 
with  supplies  from  that  place  to  the  Army  of 
the  Frontier,  in  Arkansas.  In  the  perform- 
ance of  this  duty,  Mr.  Murdock's  company 
had  frequent  engagements  with  guerrilla 
forces,  which  attempted  to  capture  the  trains 
under  its  escort.  In  March,  1863,  the  regi- 
ment was  stationed  at  points  on  the  Kansas- 
Missouri  state  line,  from  the  Missouri  river 
to  the  Osage.  Company  K  was  stationed  at 
Aubrey,  in  Johnson  county,  Kansas,  and  dur- 
ing the  following  year  was  engaged  in  scout- 
ing and  fighting  guerrillas  and  bushwhackers 
through  the  border  tier  of  counties  in  Mis- 
souri. Mr.  Murdock  continued  in  service  until 
victory  had  crowned  the  Union  arms  and 
peace  had  been  re-established.  He  proved  a 
loyal  and  gallant  soldier,  always  at  the  post 
of  duty,  and  was  never  wounded  or  captured. 
His   record  was  one  that   shall   ever  reflect 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBR-^SKA 


443 


honor  upon  his  name,  and  he  was  mustered 
out  July  17,  1865,  duly  receiving  his  honor- 
able discharge. 

After  the  close  of  the  war  Mr.  Murdock 
settled  in  Washington  county,  Kansas,  and 
for  several  years  thereafter  he  was  engaged  in 
freighting  across  the  plains.  He  was  well  ac- 
quainted with  William  Hecock,  commonly 
known  as  "Wild  Bill,"  and  has  been  in  the 
room  in  which  this  frontier  character  shot 
McCandless  and  four  others  of  his  gang,  at 
Elkhom  Station,  in  Jefferson  county,  Ne- 
braska. Those  were  strenuous  times  and  Mr. 
Murdock,  known  for  his  courage  and  self- 
control,  was  elected  and  efficiently  served  as 
sheriff  of  Washington  county,  Kansas.  He 
relates  many  thrilling  tales  concerning  the 
problems  and  danger  which  he  faced  in  the 
performance  of  his  official  duties.  The  court- 
house of  Washington  county  was  destroyed  by 
fire  while  he  was  serving  as  sheriff,  and  he 
was  employed  by  the  county  to  draft  a  new 
set  of  abstract  books,  as  the  original  county 
records  had  been  destroyed  in  the  fire. 

On  the  18th  of  August,  1874,  Mr.  Murdock 
came  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  and  estab- 
lished his  residence  at  Blue  Springs,  where  he 
engaged  in  newspaper  enterprise.  He  found- 
ed the  Blue  Springs  Reporter,  of  which  he 
became  editor  and  publisher,  and  later  he  was 
editor  and  publisher  of  the  Wymore  Reporter. 
He  was  appointed  right-of-way  representative 
for  the  Burlington  Railroad  in  this  section  of 
the  state  and  was  instrumental  in  locating  and 
naming  the  present  thriving  city  of  Wymore. 
where  he  has  maintained  his  residence  since 
1881.  He  also  gave  efficient  service  in  obtain- 
ing the  right  of  way  through  Gage  county  for 
the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  &  Pacific  and  the 
Union  Pacific  Railroads.  A  man  of  broad 
views,  mature  judgment,  and  utmost  civic 
loyalty,  Mr.  Murdock  has  done  much  to  fur- 
ther material  and  social  advancement  in  Gage 
county,  and  he  so  thoroughly  grounded  him- 
self in  the  science  of  jurisprudence  as  to  gain 
admission  to  the  Nebraska  bar.  In  later  years 
he  has  given  his  attention  principally  to  the 
practice  of  law  and  to  the  handling  of  real 
estate. 


Mr.  Murdock  has  given  unswerving  alle- 
giance to  the  Republican  party  from  the  time 
of  attaining  his  legal  majority,  and  his  loyalty 
to  the  party  has  been  intensified  by  the  thought 
that  it  represented  the  cause  for  which  he 
fought  at  the  time  of  the  Civil  war.  He  per- 
petuated the  more  gracious  memories  and  asso- 
ciations of  his  military  career  by  affiliation 
with  Coleman  Post,  No.  115,  Grand  Army  of 
the  Republic,  at  Wymore.  He  is  a  charter 
member  of  this  post,  was  elected  its  first  com- 
mander, and  is  serving  as  its  commander  in 
1918. 

On  the  25th  of  March,  1868,  was  solemnized 
the  marriage  of  Mr.  Murdock  to  Miss  Jane  E. 
Pasko,  who  was  born  in  Wisconsin,  and  they 
celebrated  their  golden  wedding  anniversary 
in  the  spring  of  1918,  their  long  companion- 
ship having  been  one  of  ideal  order.  Of 
their  six  children  only  two  are  living :  Arthur 
A.  is  engaged  in  the  newspaper  business  at 
Dewitt,  Saline  county;  and  Glenn  E.  is  in  the 
employ  of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul 
Railroad,  at  Great  Falls,  Montana. 

Mr.  Murdock  is  a  recognized  authority  on 
historical  data  in  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  and 
has  dates  and  names  at  his  tongue's  end  — 
an  evidence  of  his  remarkably  vigorous  and 
retentive  memor)^  He  figures  as  a  pioneer  of 
both  Nebraska  and  Kansas,  and  has  lived  up 
to  the  full  tension  of  life  on  the  frontier,  even 
as  he  has  done  his  part  in  the  progressive 
movements  that  have  compassed  the  develop- 
ment of  these  two  opulent  commonwealths. 

ALBERT  MILLER  is  one  of  the  sterling 
pioneer  citizens  whose  alert  mentality,  fine  ob- 
servative  powers,  and  distinct  intellectuality 
make  his  reminiscences  of  the  early  days 
specially  graphic  and  interesting,  and  it  has 
been  through  his  own  industry  and  good  man- 
agement that  he  has  gained  place  as  one  of  the 
prosperous  exponents  of  farm  industry  in  the 
county  that  has  represented  his  home  for 
nearly  half  a  century,  and  to  the  development 
and  progress  of  which  he  has  contributed  his 
quota.  He  is  the  owner  of  a  well  improved 
landed  estate  of  two  hundred  and  eighty  acres, 
in  Section  2,  Logan  township,  and  in  the  man- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


445 


agement  of  the  place  he  is  assisted  most  ef- 
fectively by  his  only  son,  Eilert,  who  is  a 
bachelor,  so  that  the  two  reign  supreme  in  the 
pleasant  home,  the  devoted  wife  and  mother 
having  passed  to  eternal  rest  December  4, 
1891. 

Mr.  Miller  was  born  in  Germany,  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1847,  and  is  a  son  of  Eilert  Miller.  Mr. 
Miller  was  little  more  than  an  infant  at  the 
time  of  his  mother's  death  and  was  six  years 
old  when  he  came  with  his  father  to  the  United 
States,  settlement  being  made  in  St.  Clair 
county,  Illinois,  where  the  father  died  a  few 
months  later.  The  orphan  boy  was  taken  into 
the  home  of  a  family  by  which  he  was  reared 
to  adult  age  on  a  farm  in  that  county,  and  the 
somewhat  meager  education  which  he  gained 
in  his  youth  has  since  been  supplemented  by 
extensive  and  careful  reading  of  the  best  in 
general  and  current  literature,  as  well  ■  as  by 
the  diversified  experiences  of  a  singularly  ac- 
tive and  earnest  life.  In  St.  Clair  county,  Illi- 
nois, Mr.  Miller  continued  his  alliance  with 
agricultural  industry  until  he  came  to  Gage 
county,  Nebraska,  in  1870,  his  wife,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Rachel  Jurgens,  having 
likewise  been  a  native  of  Germany  and  having 
accompanied  him  to  Gage  county,  where  she 
passed  the  remainder  of  her  life,  the  son  Eil- 
ert being  the  only  surviving  child. 

Upon  coming  to  this  county  Mr.  Miller  pur- 
chased one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land 
in  Section  2,  Logan  township,  and  with  the 
passing  years  he  has  transformed  this  virgin 
prairie  land  into  one  of  the  fine  farms  of  the 
township,  where  he  has  acquired  a  valuable 
estate  of  twp  hundred  and  eighty  acres.  His 
original  domicile  on  the  farm  was  a  primitive 
dug-out  of  the  pioneer  type,  and  this  was  re- 
placed by  a  log  house  which  he  occupied  until 
he  erected  his  present  frame  house,  which  he 
has  kept  in  excellent  repair,  besides  supplying 
other  farm  buildings  of  good  type.  Mr.  Mil- 
ler had  his  full  share  of  trials  and  vicissitudes 
in  the  pioneer  days,  as  did  other  early  settlers 
of  the  county,  and  he  went  twelve  miles  across 
the  prairie  to  Beatrice  for  his  mail,  the  present 
attractive  county  seat  having  been  a  mere  ham- 
let at  that  time  and  its  postmaster  having  been 


Oliver  Townsend,  who,  as  Mr.  Miller  has 
facetiously  stated,  "kept  postoffice  in  his  over- 
coat pocket."  From  his  youth  Mr.  Miller  has 
been  an  earnest  communicant  of  the  Lutheran 
church,  and  the  first  meeting  of  the  Lutheran 
society  organized  in  Logan  township  was  held 
in  his  home,  the  little  dug-out,  as  was  also  the 
first  school  meeting  for  the  district.  Mr.  Mil- 
ler has  liberally  done  his  part  in  support  of 
progressive  measures  and  movements,  has 
continued  active  in  the  affairs  of  the  Lutheran 
church,  and  is  one  of  the  honored  and  influen- 
tial pioneer  citizens  of  Logan  township,  where 
his  circle  of  friends  is  coincident  with  that  of 
his  acquaintances.  His  political  allegiance  is 
given  to  the  Republican  party  and  in  the  early 
days  he  had  to  go  to  Beatrice,  the  only  polling 
place,  to  cast  his  vote.  He  served  one  year  as 
township  assessor  and  held  for  a  quarter  of  a 
century  the  office  of  treasurer  of  Logan  town- 
ship. 

FRANK  BERAN,  a  representative  farm- 
er of  Glenwood  township,  is  farming  four 
hundred  and  eighty  acres  of  land  in  Section  8. 
Mr.  Beran  is  a  son  of  Anton  and  Pauline 
(Shalla)  Beran,  who  had  three  children,  but 
he  is  the  only  one  who  survives ;  the  mother  is 
deceased.  Anton  Beran  was  married  the 
second  time,  to  Josephine  Beran,  and  the  fam- 
ily history  is  recorded  in  another  portion  of 
this  volume. 

Frank  Beran  was  born  November  16,  1876, 
in  Washington  county,  Iowa,  where  his  par- 
ents had  followed  their  farming  operations 
previous  to  their  coming  to  Gage  county  in 
1878.  At  that  time  Mr.  Beran  was  just  a 
babe  in  arms  and  he  has  passed  practically  all 
of  his  life  thus  far  upon  Gage  county  soil, 
growing  up  with  her  sons  and  receiving  the 
education  of  her  institutions.  From  1900  to 
1902  he  rented  land  from  his  father  and  in  the 
latter  year  he  puchased  his  present  farm, 
where  he  is  enjoying  the  fruits  of  the  labors  of 
years  gone  by.  He  is  a  breeder  of  Duroc- 
Jersey  hogs  and  is  attending  efficiently  to  his 
large  and  well  improved  farm. 

February  27,  1900,  Mr.  Beran  married  Mil- 
lie Vavruska  and  they  are  the  parents  of  five 


446 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


children  who  are  growing  up  in  their  home 
and  being  educated  in  the  district  school  —  in 
short,  receiving  the  preliminary  discipline  that 
shall  prepare  them  for  the  good  citizenship 
necessary  to  make  happy  homes  and  national 
wellbeing.  They  are  as  follows :  Frank, 
Alfred,  Adolph,  Rose,  and  Benjamin.  Mrs. 
Beran  was  bom  March  7,  1878,  in  Marshall 
county,  Kansas,  and  is  a  daughter  of  John 
Vavruska,  who,  after  years  of  active  farming 
life,  is  now  retired  and  living  in  Wilber,  Ne- 
braska. 

In  politics  Mr.  Beran  is  loyal  to  the  Demo- 
cratic principles  and  in  1913  he  was  elected 
township  clerk,  in  which  position  he  is  still 
serving  his  community. 

CARL  F.  WOLLENBURG.  —  As  an  ex- 
ponent of  most  modern  and  scientific  policies 
as  applied  to  farm  industry  Mr.  Wollenburg 
stands  forth  prominently  as  one  of  the  dis- 
tinctly representative  and  influential  agricul- 
turists and  stock-growers  of  his  native  county. 
He  is  a  member  of  one  of  the  sterling  and 
honored  families  of  the  county  and  by  his  own 
energy  and  well  directed  efforts  he  has  made 
his  way  to  the  goal  of  success  and  prosperity, 
as  evidenced  in  the  fact  that  he  is  the  owner 
of  a  valuable  landed  estate  of  two  hundred 
and  eighty-eight  acres,  eligibly  situated  in 
Sections  3,  4,  and  10,  Blakely  township,  his 
homestead  place  being  in  Section  4  and  on 
rural  mail  route  No.  3  from  the  village  of  De- 
witt.  Saline  county.  Mr.  Wollenburg  is  asso- 
ciated with  his  brother  Henry  in  operating 
each  season  a  thoroughly  modern  threshing 
outfit,  and  in  his  plowing  and  various  other 
work  for  which  the  modem  device  is  available 
he  utilizes  a  high-grade  tractor.  These  state- 
ments indicate  unmistakably  his  progressive- 
ness,  which  is  further  shown  in  his  use  of  the 
best  of  farm  implements  and  machinery  and 
the  general  air  of  thrift  and  good  manage- 
ment that  pervades  his  fine  farm  property. 

Mr.  Wollenburg  was  bom  on  his  father's 
old  homestead  farm  in  Grant  township,  this 
county,  and  the  date  of  his  nativity  was  March 
7,  1882.  He  is  a  son  of  the  late  William  Wol- 
lenburg, to  whom  a  memoir  is  dedicated  on 


other  pages  of  this  volume,  so  that  there  is 
not  demand  for  a  further  review  of  the  family 
history  in  the  present  connection.  In  the 
Lutheran  parochial  schools  and  the  district 
schools  Mr.  Wollenburg  gained  the  discipline 
that  matured  his  mental  powers  as  a  boy  and 
youth,  and  he  has  shown  his  good  judgment 
by  his  continued  association  with  farm  enter- 
prise, through  the  medium  of  which  he  has 
achieved  splendid  success.  In  1913  he  pur- 
chased his  first  land  —  a  tract  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty  acres,  in  Sections  3  and  10,  Blake- 
ly township  —  and  with  increasing  prosperity 
he  continued  to  make  judicious  investments 
until  he  has  accumulated  one  of  the  finely  im- 
proved and  well  ordered  farm  estates  of  his 
native  county.  In  making  this  excellent  ac- 
count for  himself  in  his  independent  activities 
Mr.  Wollenburg  has  not  become  self-centered 
but  has  at  all  times  shown  loyal  interest  in 
community  affairs,  his  political  support  being 
given  to  the  Republican  party  and  both  he  and 
his  wife  being  communicants  of  the  Lutheran 
church. 

On  the  25th  of  April,  1905,  was  solemnized 
the  marriage  of  Mr.  Wollenburg  to  Miss  Ma- 
tilda Schafer,  who  was  born  near  Wilber, 
Saline  county,  and  is  a  daughter  of  Henry 
Schafer,  who  was  bom  in  Germany  and  who 
was  twelve  years  old  when  the  family  came  to 
the  United  States  and  settled  in  Illinois.  Mr. 
Schafer  came  to  Gage  county  about  1887,  he 
being  still  a  resident  of  this  county,  where  his 
wife  died  a  few  years  ago.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Wollenburg  have  six  children  —  Matilda,  El- 
sie, Wilhelmina,  Carl,  Theodore,  and  Helen, 
the  twin  sister  of  Helen  having  died  in  in- 
fancy. 

REV.  J.  B.  REENTS  has  been  a  faithful 
and  zealous  worker  in  the  vineyard  of  the  Di- 
vine Master  and  is  one  of  the  able  and  hon- 
ored members  of  the  clergy  of  the  German 
Lutheran  church  in  Nebraska.  He  has  served 
since  1902  as  pastor  of  what  is  familiarly 
known  as  the  Hanover  German  Lutheran 
church,  the  present  edifice  of  which  is  in  Logan 
township,  near  the  Hanover  township  line. 
This  splendid  organization  claims  precedence 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA  447 


Rev.  J.  B.  Reents 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Zion's  Lutheran   Chi 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


449 


as  one  of  the  strongest  and  wealthiest  rural 
churches  in  the  entire  state  and  otifers  a  splen- 
did field  for  the  earnest  and  consecrated 
labors  of  its  honored  pastor. 

Mr.  Reents  was  born  in  the  province  of 
Hanover,  Germany,  January  15,  1874,  a  son 
of  John  and  Jennie  (Straate)  Reents,  both 
likewise  natives  of  that  historic  province, 
where  the  father  was  born  February  11,  1834, 
and  the  mother  November  21,  1833,  their  mar- 
riage having  been  solemnized  in  1858.  In  his 
native  land  John  Reents  continued  to  be  ac- 
tively identitied  with  farm  enterprise  until  the 
death  of  his  loved  wife,  in  1911,  and  in  the 
following  year  he  came  to  America,  the  resi- 
due of  his  life  having  been  passed  in  the  home 
of  his  son  J.  B.,  the  subject  of  this  review. 
Both  he  and  his  wife  were  most  devout  com- 
municants of  the  German  Lutheran  church 
and  exemplified  their  faith  in  their  noble  and 
gracious  lives.  Of  their  five  children  the  eld- 
est is  Joost,  who  is  now  a  prosperous  farmer 
near  Clara  City,  Chippewa  county,  Minnesota ; 
Bernard  likewise  is  a  prosperous  farmer  in 
that  county;  Ailt  is  engaged  in  farming  near 
Allison,  Butler  county,  Iowa;  Rev.  J.  B.,  of 
this  sketch,  was  the  next  in  order  of  birth; 
and  Theda  is  the  wife  of  William  Kramer,  a 
farmer  near  Bristow,  Butler  county,  Iowa. 
Three  of  the  sons  served  the  required  term  in 
the  German  army. 

Rev.  J.  B.  Reents  acquired  his  early  educa- 
tion in  his  native  land,  where  he  completed  a 
course  in  a  teachers'  preparatory  school.  He 
was  eighteen  years  of  age  when  he  came  to  the 
l.Tnited  States,  in  1892,  and  has  been  a  resi- 
dent of  Nebraska  since  1900.  After  coming 
to  this  country  he  maintained  his  residence 
for  three  years  at  Nora  Springs,  Iowa,  where 
he  was  a  student  in  a  seminar}',  and  for  one 
year  thereafter  he  continued  his  studies  at 
Cedar  Falls,  that  state.  Thereafter  he  was  for 
five  terms  a  successful  teacher  in  the  public 
schools  of  Iowa,  after  which  he  entered 
Wartburg  Seminary,  in  the  city  of  Dubuque, 
Iowa,  in  which  institution  he  completed  a 
thorough  course  in  philosophy  and  theology 
and  was  graduated  as  a  member  of  the  class  of 
1900.     In  the  same  year  he  was  ordained  a 


minister  of  the  German  Lutheran  church, 
and  was  assigned  to  the  pastoral  charge 
of  the  Lutheran  church  located  four  and 
one-half  miles  north  of  the  village  of 
Pickrell,  Gage  county,  Nebraska.  There 
he  continued  his  service  until  February, 
1902,  when  he  assumed  his  present  im- 
portant pastorate,  in  charge  of  Zion's  German 
Lutheran  church  in  Logan  township,  near  the 
Hanover  township  line.  The  original  church 
building  was  located  in  Hanover  township, 
within  a  comparatively  short  distance  from 
the  site  of  the  present  edifice,  and  the  name 
of  "Hanover  Church"  is  still  familiarly  ap- 
plied. The  present  fine  church  edifice,  which 
was  dedicated  in  1917,  is  one  of  the  best 
church  buildings  in  the  entire  state  and  has 
been  definitely  proclaimed  as  "probably  the 
most  beautiful  rural  church  in  the  west." 
The  edifice  was  completed  at  an  approximate 
cost  of  forty-five  thousand  dollars  and  it  is 
pleasing  to  record  that  all  money  necessary 
for  the  construction  and  equipment  of  the 
building  was  raised  before  the  work  of  con- 
struction was  initiated  —  and  that  without 
calling  for  any  assistance  of  financial  order 
save  from  members  of  the  congregation  itself. 
The  church  is  beautiful  in  its  interior  design 
and  appointments,  is  equipped  with  a  pipe 
organ  of  the  best  modern  type,  and  it  was 
dedicated  without  one  cent  of  indebtedness, 
the  normal  seating  capacity  of  the  edifice 
being  eight  hundred.  In  this  connection  the 
following  brief  record  is  worthy  of  perpetua- 
tion :  "The  Hanover  German  Lutheran 
church  was  organized,  with  ten  members, 
March  14,  1874.  In  1875  a  parsonage  was 
erected,  but  this  was  destroyed  by  a  tornado, 
on  June  26th  of  the  same  year.  Church  ser- 
vices were  held  in  the  school  house  of  the 
district  No.  38  until  1881,  when  was  erected 
a  church  building  that  was  thirty  by  forty-six 
feet  in  dimensions.  This  soon  proved  too 
small,  and  an  addition  was  made  in  1898.  A 
belfry  also  was  built  at  this  time  and  a  bell  of 
two  thousand  pounds  was  installed,  this  being 
now  in  the  new  church  edifice,  on  the  oppo- 
site of  the  road  from  the  old  church  building. 
The  pastors  of  the  church  from  its  organiza- 


450 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


tion  to  the  present  have  been  as  here  noted : 
Rev.  Mr.  Martin,  Rev.  William  Ehmen,  Rev. 
Theodore  Seylor,  Rev.  O.  Lompe,  Rev.  Wolf- 
gang Hertel,  and  Rev.  J.  B.  Reents,  the 
pastorate  of  the  present  incumbent  having 
covered  a  period  of  nearly  sixteen  years. 
Constructed  of  cream-colored  brick  and  not- 
able for  the  beauty  and  consistency  of  its 
architectural  design,  the  new  church  edifice 
presents  a  very  handsome  appearance,  two 
tall  spires  adorning  the  fagade.  Standing  on 
a  hill,  the  church  is  visible  for  a  considerable 
distance  in  each  direction  and  the  chimes  that 
have  been  installed  in  the  taller  spire  can  be 
heard  for  miles." 

This  vigorous  and  noble  parish  organiza- 
tion claims  a  membership  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  families  —  the  largest  congregation  in 
Gage  county  and  the  largest  of  the  Lutheran 
faith  in  the  entire  state.  The  present  pastor, 
a  man  of  fine  intellectuality,  is  an  earnest  pul- 
pit orator,  unselfish  and  indefatigable  in  all 
pastoral  duties,  and  an  able  and  progressive 
executive..  He  takes  deep  interest  in  all 
things  touching  the  communal  welfare  and  his 
influence  is  in  all  ways  beneficent,  the  while 
he  has  the  unqualified  esteem  of  all  who  know 
him.  His  political  allegiance  is  given  to  the 
Democratic  party. 

On  Christmas  day  of  the  year  1900  was  sol- 
emnized the  marriage  of  Mr.  Reents  to  Miss 
Louisa  Hertel,  daughter  of  Rev.  Wolfgang 
Hertel,  who  was  the  immediate  predecessor 
of  Mr.  Reents  as  pastor  of  the  Hanover  Lu- 
theran church.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Reents  have  six 
children :  John  is  attending  college  at  Sterl- 
ing, this  state;  and  the  other  children  remain 
at  the  parental  home  —  Walter,  Irene,  Arthur, 
William,  and  Bemhard. 

ALBERTUS  H.  KIDD.  —  This  representa- 
tive member  of  the  Gage  county  bar  has  shown 
in  his  professional  activities  and  service  the 
power  of  concentrating  the  full  forces  of  the 
individual  and  raising  them  to  the  plane  of 
large  achievement.  He  has  demonstrated  his 
ability  not  only  as  a  lawyer  but  also  as  a  citi- 
zen well  qualified  for  leadership  in  move- 
ments and  enterprises  contributing  to  the  gen- 


eral wellbeing  of  the  community,  and  thus, 
while  never  wavering  in  his  fealty  to  his  pro- 
fession, he  has  directed  his  energies  also  in 
successful  exploitation  of  the  basic  industrial 
resources  of  Gage  county  and  in  fostering  the 
progressive  policies  that  make  for  civic  and 
material  advancement  and  prosperity  in  the 
communal  life.  Mr.  Kidd  has  been  engaged 
in  the  active  practice  of  law  at  Beatrice,  ju- 
dicial center  of  Gage  county,  since  1891,  and 
since  1909  he  has  maintained  a  professional 
alliance  with  Samuel  Rinaker,  with  offices  in 
the  First  National  Bank  building.  The  firm 
of  Rinaker  &  Kidd  is  uniformly  conceded  to 
be  one  of  the  strongest  in  the  southern  part 
of  the  state,  and  this  fact  in  itself  vouches  for 
the  character  and  technical  ability  of  the  prin- 
cipals in  the  firm.  As  a  lawyer  Mr.  Kidd  has 
achieved  high  repute  and  has  definite  profes- 
sional prestige  throughout  southeastern  Ne- 
braska —  a  prestige  based  on  results  achieved. 

Albertus  H.  Kidd  is  a  scion  of  sterling 
American  colonial  stock  in  both  the  agnatic 
and  distafif  lines,  and  takes  definite  pride  in 
reverting  to  the  fact  that  both  paternal  and 
maternal  ancestors  were  numbered  among  the 
patriot  soldiers  of  the  Continental  Line  in  the 
war  of  the  Revolution.  Family  tradition  is  to 
the  efi^ect  that  the  historic  character.  Captain 
Kidd,  was  of  the  same  family  line,  and  the 
subject  of  this  review  has  never  found  it  con- 
sonant to  criticise  the  somewhat  misdirected 
energies  of  the  redoubtable  captain,  who  under 
more  favorable  circumstances  probably  would 
have  marked  his  career  with  worthy  achieve- 
ment as  remarkable  as  were  his  storied  ex- 
ploits of  seeming  depredation. 

Mr.  Kidd  was  born  at  Ada,  Allen  county, 
Ohio,  on  the  19th  of  March,  1863,  and  is  a 
representative  of  one  of  the  honored  pioneer 
families  of  the  old  Buckeye  state,  within 
whose  borders  were  born  his  parents,  Rev. 
Jeremiah  W.  and  Elvira  (Lillibridge)  Kidd, 
both  of  whom  passed  the  closing  period  of 
their  lives  in  the  state  of  IlHnois.  Rev.  Jere- 
miah W.  Kidd,  a  man  of  broad  intellectual 
ken  and  fervent  piety,  prepared  himself  for 
the  ministry  of  the  Methodist  Protestant 
church,  and  as  a  clergyman  of  this  denomina- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


451 


tion  he  was  called  to  service  in  Illinois  in  the 
year  1874.  In  that  state  he  held  thereafter 
pastoral  charges  in  many  different  counties, 
and  he  was  a  revered  patriarch  of  Bureau 
county,  Illinois,  at  the  time  of  his  death,  which 
occurred  when  he  was  nearly  ninety  years  of 
age,  his  devoted  wife  having  preceded  him  to 
eternal  rest  by  many  years.  He  labored  with 
all  of  consecrated  zeal  in  his  chosen  calling 
for  a  long  term  of  years,  and  his  ministerial 
services  were  given  first  in  Ohio,  later  in  In- 
diana, and  finally  in  Illinois.  Both  the  Kidd 
and  Lillibridge  family  lines  trace  back  to 
staunch  English  origin  and  both  families  sent 
representatives  to  America  in  the  early  col- 
onial period  of  our  national  history,  as  pre- 
viously intimated  in  this  context.  Mr.  Kidd 
of  this  review  has  in  his  possession  a  compre- 
hensive genealogical  record  of  the  Lillibridge 
family,  and  data  therein  presented  show  that 
members  of  the  family  in  various  generations 
have  been  prominent  and  influential  in  Ameri- 
can affairs  and  in  varied  walks  of  life. 

Albertus  H.  Kidd  was  about  six  years  of 
age  at  the  time  of  the  family  removal  from 
Ohio  to  Indiana,  and  was  a  lad  of  about  eleven 
years  when  removal  was  made  to  Illinois,  in 
which  latter  state  he  acquired  the  major 
part  of  his  early  educational  discipline,  which 
included  the  curriculum  of  the  high  school  at 
Wyoming,  Stark  county.  Thereafter  he  pur- 
sued higher  academic  studies  in  a  college  at 
La  Harpe,  that  state,  and  he  put  his  scholastic 
acquirements  to  practical  test  and  utilization 
by  entering  the  pedagogic  profession,  as  a 
teacher  in  the  public  schools  of  Illinois.  In 
the  meanwhile  he  had  formulated  definite 
plans  for  his  future  career,  and  in  consonance 
therewith  he  began  reading  law  under  the  ef- 
fective preceptorship  of  the  firm  of  Matthews 
&  Peacock,  of  Monmouth,  Illinois.  With  char- 
acteristic earnestness  and  zeal  he  applied  him- 
self to  the  study  of  the  involved  science  of 
jurisprudence,  and  he  proved  himself  well 
fortified  in  the  same  when  he  applied  for  and 
received  admission  to  the  bar  of  Illinois,  in 
1887.  In  the  same  year  Mr.  Kidd  c^me  to 
Nebraska  and  engaged  in  the  practice  of  his 
profession  at  Alma,  Harlan  county.    There  he 


continued  to  reside  until  1891,  when,  for  the 
purpose  of  obtaining  a  broader  field  of  pro- 
fessional endeavor,  he  came  to  Gage  county 
and  established  his  residence  at  Beatrice, 
where  he  has  continued  in  the  practice  of  his 
profession  during  the  intervening  period  of 
more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  and  where  he 
has  won  secure  vantage-ground  as  one  of  the 
leading  members  of  the  bar  of  southeastern 
Nebraska. 

In  Gage  county  Mr.  Kidd  has  entered  most 
loyally  and  fully  into  the  communal  life  and 
has  exemplified  specially  vital  and  well  or- 
dered progressiveness  and  public  spirit.  He 
served  six  years  as  a  member  of  the  board  of 
education  of  Beatrice  and  for  fifteen  years  as 
a  member  of  the  board  of  directors  of  the 
Beatrice  public  library,  of  which  he  is  still  a 
member.  While  he  gives  unfaltering  allegiance 
to  the  Republican  party  and  has  accorded  yeo- 
man service  in  behalf  of  its  cause,  Mr.  Kidd 
has  considered  his  profession  worthy  of  his 
undivided  fealty  and  thus  has  manifested  no 
desire  for  political  office.  His  civic  loyalty 
was  shown,  however,  in  two  terms  of  effective 
service  as  city  attorney  of  Beatrice.  He  was 
for  four  years  the  president  of  the  Gage 
County  Crop  Improvement  Association  and 
his  interest  in  agricultural  industry  has  been 
shown  in  his  ownership  and  improvement  of 
several  farms  in  Nebraska,  in  which  connec- 
tion it  may  be  noted  that  he  is  at  the  present 
time  the  owner  of  a  fine  farm  in  Midland 
township.  He  gives  a  general  supervision  to 
the  operations  of  this  farm  and  is  active  irt 
the  improving  of  the  grades  of  live  stock  in 
this  section  of  the  state,  as  well  as  in  the  ad- 
vancing of  scientific  methods  in  agricultural 
enterprise.  Mr.  Kidd  is  president  of  the  State 
Savings  &  Loan  Association,  of  Beatrice,  one 
of  the  substantial  and  important  financial  in- 
stitutions of  the  county,  and  he  is  also  a  stock- 
holder in  the  First  National  Bank  of  Beatrice. 
He  is  an  influential  and  appreciative  member 
of  the  Beatrice  Commercial  Club  and  has 
sei-ved  for  years  as  a  member  of  its  board  of 
directors.  In  connection  with  the  various 
movements  incidental  to  the  nation's  partici- 
pation in  the  great  European  war,  Mr.  Kidd 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


453 


is  now  Federal  Food  Administrator  for  Gage 
county. 

In  the  year  1888,  at  La  Harpe,  Hancock 
county,  Illinois,  was  solemnized  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  Kidd  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Gilliland,  who 
was  born  in  Schuyler  county,  that  state,  and 
they  have  two  daughters  —  Dora  A.  and 
Norma  J.,  both  of  whom  were  graduated  in 
the  Beatrice  high  school  and  also  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Nebraska.  The  elder  daughter  re- 
mains at  the  parental  home  and  Miss  Norma 
J.  is  assistant  secretary  of  the  Young  Women's 
Christian  Association  in  the  city  of  Lincoln, 
this  state. 


JAMES  K.  P.  PETHOUD  was  a  lad  of 
fourteen  years  when  he  came  with  his  parents 
to  Nebraska  Territory  and  his  father  became 
one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of  Gage  county, 
where  the  family  home  was  established  nearly 
a  decade  prior  to  the  admission  of  Nebraska 
to  statehood.  Here  the  subject  of  this  memoir 
was  reared  to  manhood  under  the  conditions 
and  influences  which  marked  the  initiation  of 
civic  and  industrial  development  in  this  section 
of  the  state,  and  thus  he  was  the  more  strong- 
ly fortified  in  mature  years  to  carry  forward 
his  quota  of  the  important  work  which  has 
made  Gage  county  one  of  the  opulent  and  at- 
tractive divisions  of  a  great  and  prosperous 
commonwealth.  He  was  one  of  the  world's 
constructive  workers  and  was  one  of  the  hon- 
ored pioneer  citizens  of  the  county  at  the  time 
of  his  death,  which  occurred  on  the  7th  of 
June,  1896.  Adequate  record  concerning  the 
family  history  is  given  on  other  pages  of  this 
work,  in  the  specific  tribute  dedicated  to  John 
Pethoud,  father  of  him  whose  name  introduces 
this  article. 

James  Knox  Polk  Pethoud  was  born  in 
Lawrence  county,  Ohio,  November  24,  1844, 
and  was  named  in  honor  of  the  Hon.  James 
K'.iox  Polk,  who  had  in  that  year  been  elected 
president  of  the  United  States.  He  received 
his  early  education  in  the  schools  of  the  old 
Buckeye  state  and  in  1858  accompanied  his 
parents  to  the  frontier  wilds  of  what  is  now 
Gage  county,  where  he  assisted  in  reclaiming 
a  pioneer  farm  and  where,  upon  attaining  to 


his  legal  majority,  he  entered  claim  to  a  home- 
stead of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land 
in  what  is  now  Section  10  Midland  township. 
For  about  three  years  after  his  marriage  he 
and  his  wife  remained  on  the  old  homestead 
farm  of  his  father,  in  order  that  they  might 
give  proper  filial  care  to  his  venerable  parents, 
and  after  he  had  instituted  the  improvement 
of  his  own  farm  his  parents  there  remained 
with  him  until  they  were  called  from  the  stage 
of  life's  mortal  endeavors.  Mr.  Pethoud  was 
a  man  of  superabundant  energy  and  ambition 
and  thus  he  was  specially  successful  in  his 
progressive  activities  as  an  agriculturist  and 
stock-grower.  He  continued  to  maintain  the 
active  supervision  of  his  fine  farm  property 
until  the  time  of  his  death,  and  though  his 
early  educational  advantages  were  of  necessity 
very  limited,  he  profited  greatly  from  the  les- 
sons of  experience  and  became  a  man  of  broad 
views  and  mature  judgment,  even  as  he  was 
one  of  sterling  integrity  of  character.  His 
political  allegiance  was  given  to  the  Demo- 
cratic party,  but  he  pursued  the  even  tenor  of 
his  earnest  and  unassuming  way  with  no  de- 
sire for  political  activity  or  preferment.  He 
was  one  of  the  sturdy  yeomen  who  aided  in 
civic  and  material  development  and  progress 
in  Gage  county,  true  to  the  duties  and  respon- 
sibilities that  devolved  upon  him  and  known 
for  simple  and  unpretentious  rectitude. 

As  a  young  man  Mr.  Pethoud  wedded  Miss 
Nancy  Melissa  Bunker,  who  was  born  in  the 
state  of  Indiana.  November  12,  1844,  and  who 
was  reared  in  the  state  of  Iowa,  where  her 
parents  were  pioneer  settlers.  She  was  a 
daughter  of  Daniel  Bunker,  a  descendant  of 
Nathaniel  Bunker,  who  owned  the  farm  on 
which  was  fought  the  gre^t  Revolutionary 
battle  of  Bunker  Hill.  Chief  Justice  Chase, 
of  the  United  States  supreme  court,  was  a 
scion  of  the  Bunker  family  and  it  was  through 
his  genealogical  research  that  definite  proof 
was  given  that  the  celebrated  battle  was  thus 
fought  on  the  property  of  his  forebear,  whose 
name  is  thus  perpetuated  in  history.  Mrs. 
Pethoud  survived  her  husband  by  more  than  a 
decade  and  was  one  of  the  venerable  and  loved 
pioneer  women  of  Gage  county  at  the  time  of 


454 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


her  death,  June  3,  1908.  They  are  survived 
by  only  one  child.  Miss  Arabella  Pethoud,  who 
remains  on  the  old  homestead  farm  which  her 
father  obtained  from  the  government  under 
homestead  entry  in  the  early  pioneer  era,  the 
place  being  endeared  to  her  by  the  hallowed 
memories  and  associations  of  the  past  and  the 
pleasant  home  being  known  for  its  generous 
hospitality. 

JOHN  R.  McCANN,  who  has  held  since 
1914  the  office  of  postmaster  of  the  city  of 
Beatrice,  was  born  at  Mount  Sterling,  Brown 
county,  Illinois,  on  the  11th  of  January,  1868, 
and  is  a  son  of  Thomas  and  Bettie  (McEntee) 
McCann,  both  natives  of  Ireland.  Thomas 
McCann  was  born  in  the  city  of  Dublin,  No- 
vember 12,  1839,  the  youngest  child  and  now 
the  only  survivor  in  a  family  of  four  sons  and 
three  daughters.  Thomas  McCann  was  a  lad 
of  about  ten  years  when  he  accompanied  his 
parents  to  America,  the  voyage  having  been 
made  on  a  sailing  vessel  of  the  type  common  to 
that  period  and  the  family  having  landed  in 
the  port  of  New  York  city  on  the  5th  of  June, 
1849.  From  the  national  metropolis  the  par- 
ents, Thomas  and  Rose  McCann,  proceeded  to 
Cincinnati,  Ohio,  the  journey  having  been 
made  by  canal  and  the  Great  Lakes,  prior  to 
the  time  when  railroad  facilities  had  been  pro- 
vided. After  remaining  about  three  months 
in  Cincinnati  the  family  went  by  steamer  down 
the  Ohio  river  and  across  the  Mississippi  to 
St.  Louis,  Missouri,  where  the  home  was 
maintained  until  1854.  Removal  was  then 
made  to  Brown  county,  Illinois,  where  Thomas 
McCann,  Sr.,  purchased  land,  near  Mount 
Sterling.  There  he  developed  a  productive 
farm  and  there  he  and  his  wife  passed  the  re- 
mainder of  their  lives,  both  having  been  com- 
municants of  the  Catholic  church,  to  the  faith 
of  which  the  later  generations  of  the  family 
have  adhered.  The  father  of  the  postmaster 
of  Beatrice  was  reared  to  manhood  on  the  pio- 
neer farm  in  Brown  county,  Illinois,  where  he 
owns  and  still  resides  upon  the  old  homestead 
farm  which  was  obtained  by  his  father  nearly 
sixty-five  years  ago.  Mrs.  Bettie  (McEntee) 
McCann    was    born    in    County    Cavan,    Ire- 


land, in  1838,  and  her  parents,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Patrick  McEntee,  were  pioneers  of  Brown 
county,  Illinois,  where  they  continued  to  re- 
side until  their  death.  Mrs.  McCann  passed 
to  the  life  eternal  in  1879,  and  of  the  seven 
children  John  R.,  of  this  review,  is  the  eldest ; 
Thomas  M.  is  a  resident  of  the  city  of  Chi- 
cago; Rose  is  the  wife  of  Henry  Moss,  of 
Mount  Sterling,  Illinois ;  Elizabeth  is  the  wife 
of  James  W.  Brady,  of  Mount  Sterling;  Clara 
died  at  the  age  of  eighteen  years  and  George 
in  infancy;  and  Miss  Anna  remains  with  her 
venerable  father  on  the  old  homestead  farm. 

John  R.  McCann  was  reared  to  the  sturdy 
discipline  of  the  farm  and  acquired  his  youth- 
ful education  in  the  public  schools  of  his  native 
county.  At  the  age  of  seventeen  years  he  went 
to  Jewell  City,  Kansas,  where  for  a  period  of 
about  two  years  he  was  employed  in  a  whole- 
sale grocery  establishment.  He  next  went  to 
Mankato,  Kansas,  and  there  he  learned  the 
tinner's  trade.  After  about  two  years  his 
health  became  impaired  to  such  an  extent  that 
he  sought  a  less  sedentary  occupation  and  en- 
tered the  employ  of  the  Carpenter  &  Gage 
Nursery  Company,  at  Fairbury,  Jefferson 
county,  Nebraska,  where  he  had  previously 
worked  at  his  trade  for  some  time.  In  1888 
Carl  Sonderegger,  who  was  the  proprietor  of 
the  German  Nursery  at  Fairbury,  had  occa- 
sion to  make  a  trip  to  Switzerland,  and  he  en- 
gaged Mr.  McCann  to  assist  in  the  manage- 
ment of  the  nursery  during  his  absence.  Mr. 
McCann  continued  his  alliance  with  the  Son- 
deregger nursery  and  in  the  meanwhile  lived 
in  the  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Carl  Sonder- 
egger until  the  time  of  his  marriage.  He  be- 
came a  traveling  representative  of  the  concern 
and  after  his  marriage  he  resided  at  Dewitt, 
Saline  county,  until  1893.  Save  for  a  brief 
interval  he  continued  in  the  employ  of  Mr. 
Sonderegger  for  a  period  of  fifteen  years, 
during  which  he  sold  nursery  stock  to  the 
value  of-  thousands  of  dollars,  the  while  his 
relations  with  his  honored  employer  were  ever 
of  the  most  gracious  and  mutually  apprecia- 
tive order.  Mr.  McCann  established  his  resi- 
dence in  Beatrice  in  1893  and  here  he  con- 
tinued his  active  connection  with  the  Sonder- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


455 


egger  nurseries,  as  a  salesman,  until  1898, 
when  he  here  engaged  in  the  real-estate  busi- 
ness. His  operations  in  this  field  of  enterprise 
extended  into  Texas,  Florida,  and  Georgia, 
where  his  transactions  involved  the  handling 
of  much  land  and  also  the  promotion  of  immi- 
gration to  those  states.  He  continued  as  a 
successful  exponent  of  important  real-estate 
operations  until  his  appointment  to  the  office 
of  postmaster  of  Beatrice,  a  position  of  which 
he  has  been  the  valued  incumbent  since  1914, 
as  previously  noted  in  this  context. 

Mr.  McCann  is  unwavering  in  his  allegiance 
to  the  Democratic  party,  and  he  has  been 
active  and  influential  in  its  councils  in  Ne- 
braska, where  he  served  three  years  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Democratic  state  central  committee. 

On  the  17th  of  June,  1889,  was  solemnized 
the  marriage  of  Mr.  McCann  to  Miss  Grace 
E.  Gast,  a  daughter  of  William  and  Sarah 
(Moyer)  Gast,  who  were  pioneer  settlers  in 
Saline  county,  Nebraska.  There  Mr.  Gast  be- 
came the  owner  of  an  entire  section  of  land 
and  developed  a  large  and  valuable  farm  es- 
tate, his  holdings  including  land  also  in  Gage 
county.  His  widow  now  resides  at  Dewitt, 
Saline  county.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  McCann  became 
the  parents  of  two  children,  Ethel  G.,  who 
died  the  28th  of  December,  1916,  and  Edith 
Grace,  who  is  the  wife  of  Walter  C.  Magee,  of 
Beatrice,  Nebraska. 

JOHN  E.  MURPHY.  — The  history  of 
Gage  county  tells  what  has  been  done  during 
the  fifty  years  of  struggle,  striving,  and  work- 
ing toward  the  creation  of  a  great  county.  It 
must  tell  of  the  individual  achievements  of  the 
men  who  have  taken  an  active  part  m  the 
work  of  development  and  progress.  These 
men  are  the  foundations  of  the  social  struc- 
ture of  Gage  county.  One  of  the  number  is 
John  E.  Murphy,  who  is  a  son  of  Patrick  and 
Catherine  (McCaffrey)  Murphy,  early  pio- 
neer settlers  on  the  former  Otoe  Indian  reser- 
vation in  Gage  county.  Patrick  Murphy  was 
bom  in  Ireland  and  when  a  youth  he  there 
wedded  Miss  Catherine  McCafifrey.  The 
young  couple  left  their  native  land  to  seek 
their  fortune  in  the  United  States,  and  thev 


landed  in  Brooklyn,  New  York,  where  Pat- 
rick worked  as  a  laborer.  By  hard  work  and 
patient  saving  he  was  finally  able  to  buy  thirty- 
two  acres  of  land  near  Tribes  Hill,  New  York. 

In  1878,  when  the  eyes  of  the  east  were  di- 
rected upon  the  new  western  lands  being 
opened  for  settlement,  Mr.  Murphy  decided 
to  come  to  Nebraska  and  seek  better  oppor- 
tunities for  acquiring  a  living  and  competence. 
This  entailed  a  long  and  weary  journey  over 
rough  roads  that  were  not  drained,  while  in 
many  places  there  were  virtually  no  roads  at 
all.  Finally,  after  weeks  of  travel,  Mr.  Mur- 
phy and  his  family  arrived  in  Lincoln,  Ne- 
braska. Here  he  heard  of  the  Otoe  Indian 
reservation  land  being  opened  up  for  settle- 
ment. He  came  to  Gage  county,  and  on  the 
reservation  purchased  a  squatter's  right  to 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land,  a  few 
miles  from  the  present  village  of  Odell.  Here 
the  family  was  soon  settled  on  the  pioneer 
farm,  and  the  father,  with  his  only  son,  John, 
broke  the  virgin -land,  wresting  from  the  soil 
in  due  time  its  treasures  of  wheat  and  com. 

Mr.  Murphy  gave  unstintingly  of  his  time 
and  talent  to  the  community  at  large.  As 
other  settlers  came  in,  there  was  need  of  civic 
and  religious  organizations.  He  was  among 
the  first  to  give  aid  in  the  organization  of 
Paddock  township  and  also  to  organize  a 
school  for  the  education  of  the  children.  Mr. 
Murphy  gave  liberally  of  his  time  and  money 
to  organize  the  Catholic  church  at  Odell,  and 
later  he  helped  in  the  organization  of  the 
Catholic  church  at  Wj'more.  All  during  his 
life  thereafter  these  institutions  received  lib- 
erally of  his  support.  In  all  of  his  labors  on 
the  farm,  in  the  church  and  community  Mr. 
Murphy's  devoted  wife  shared.  She  was 
born  March  12,  1827,  in  Darlyn,  County  Fer- 
managh, Ireland,  and  she  came  to  this  coun- 
try with  her  young  husband,  settled  with  him 
in  the  Otoe  Indian  reservation,  and  shared 
with  him  all  of  the  hardships  and  trials  of 
pioneer  life.  They  became  the  parents  of  six 
daughters  and  one  son.  Mrs.  Murphy  lived 
to  the  venerable  age  of  ninety  years  and  six 
months,  and  passed  the  declining  period  of  her 
life  in  the  home  of   her  youngest  daughter. 


456 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


457 


Mrs.  Rose  Masek,  where  she  died  September 
23,  1917.  Of  the  children  the  following  rec- 
ord is  given :  Mrs.  Mary  McCarthy  resides 
at  Wymore,  this  county ;  Mrs.  Katherine  Hat- 
maker  is  deceased;  Mrs.  Julia  Comer  resides 
in  Paddock  township ;  John  F.  is  the  only  son 
and  is  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  Mrs.  Susan 
McCaffrey  is  a  widow  and  resides  at  Hast- 
ings, Nebraska ;  Mrs.  Abbie  Stanosheck  lives 
at  Odell,  Gage  county,  Nebraska ;  and  Mrs. 
Rose  Masek,  of  Odell,  is  deceased. 

John  E.  Murphy  was  the  fourth  child  and 
only  son  born  to  his  parents.  He  was  born 
October  1,  1863,  at  Tribes  Hill,  New  York. 
His  education  was  received  in  New  York 
prior  to  his  coming  to  Nebraska  with  his  par- 
ents. He  was  15  years  old  when  they  arrived 
on  the  Otoe  Indian  reservation  and  he  helped 
his  father  to  build  their  cabin,  break  the  land, 
and  perform  the  various  other  duties  that 
were  to  be  done  on  a  pioneer  farm.  He  re- 
mained on  this  farm  until  he  went  to  Odell, 
to  sen'e  as  a  clerk  in  a  general  merchandise 
store.  He  remained  thus  engaged  until  1900, 
when  he  went  into  the  general  merchandise 
business  for  himself.  He  successfully  con- 
ducted the  enterprise  until  1914,  when  he  dis- 
posed of  the  business,  and  he  has  since  de- 
voted his  time  to  the  real  estate  and  insurance 
business. 

In  1904  the  Odell  Independent  Telephone 
Company  was  organized  and  Mr.  Murphy  was 
the  leading  spirit  in  the  organizing  of  this 
company,  of  which  he  was  elected  secretary' 
and  treasurer.  This  substantial  company  has 
a  modern  building,  erected  at  a  cost  of  five 
thousand  dollars,  and  in  this  the  business  is 
conducted.  Mr.  Murphy  was  interested  also  in 
a  cider  and  vinegar  manufacturing  company 
that  was  organized  in  1907,  and  in  1913  the 
factory  at  Odell,  Gage  county,  was  transferred 
to  Atchison,  Kansas,  where  it  is  now  located. 
Mr.  Murphy  was  secretary  and  treasurer  of 
the  company  until  March,  1917,  when  he  sold 
his  interest  in  the  business. 

The  marriage  of  John  Murphy  and  Katie  A. 
Stanosheck  was  solemnized  May  4,  1892.  Mrs. 
Murphy  was  born  in  Iowa  City,  Iowa,  and  is 
a  daughter  of  Albert  and  Pauline  Stanosheck. 


(See  Thomas  W.  Stanosheck  sketch  for  the 
family  history) .  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Murphy  became 
the  parents  of  nine  children :  Frank  E.  is  an 
electrician  for  the  Atchison  Railroad  Special- 
ty Company,  at  Atchison,  Kansas;  Ruth  is  a 
teacher  in  the  high  school  at  McCook,  Ne- 
braska; Rosa  and  Lillian  are  twins,  Rosa  be- 
ing a  dressmaker  and  remaining  at  the  par- 
ental home,  and  Lillian  being  a  teacher  at 
Culbertson,  Nebraska ;  Adelaide  died  at  the 
age  of  twelve  years ;  Marie  is  attending  the 
high  school  at  Odell ;  Frances  is  attending  the 
public  schools ;  and  John  and  Catherine,  twins, 
are  at  home.  The  children  have  received  the 
advantages  of  the  schools  of  Odell,  and  the 
family  is  popular  in  the  social  life  of  the  com- 
munity. 

Mr.  Murphy  votes  the  Democratic  ticket 
and  has  held  offices  of  trust  in  his  commun- 
ity. He  has  served  as  a  member  of  the  city 
council  of  Odell  and  as  township  clerk.  He 
afifiliates  himself  with  the  Knights  and  Ladies 
of  Security,  the  Ancient  Order  of  United 
Workmen,  the  Royal  Neighbors,  the  Modem 
Woodmen  of  America,  and  the  Benevolent 
and  Protective  Order  of  Elks.  He  has  real 
estate  in  Nebraska,  Kansas,  South  Dakota, 
and  Colorado.  He  is  ever  alert  to  the  civic 
needs  of  Odell  and  is  a  citizen  of  utmost  loy- 
alty and  progressiveness. 

JOHN  H.  MENTER.  — The  great  basic 
industries  of  agriculture  and  stock-growing 
yield  substantial  and  worthy  rewards  to  the 
man  of  enterprise  and  good  judgment,  and 
this  is  definitely  signified  in  the  prosperity  that 
has  attended  the  efforts  of  Mr.  Menter  as  one 
of  the  vigorous  and  resourceful  farmers  of 
Grant  township,  where  he  is  the  owner  of  a 
valuable  landed  estate  of  two  hundred  acres, 
besides  which  he  is  the  owner  of  three  hun- 
dred and  twenty  acres  in  Deuel  county,  this 
state. 

Mr.  Menter  claims  the  old  Buckeye  state 
as  the  place  of  his  nativity,  but  the  year  1918 
records  for  him  thirty  years  of  continuous 
residence  in  Nebraska,  where  he  has  achieved 
substantial  success  and  independence  entirely 
through  his  own  ability  and  well  ordered  ef- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


forts.  Mr.  Menter  was  born  in  Wood  county, 
Ohio,  October  21,  1868,  and  is  a  son  of  Fred- 
erick and  Mary  (Schuemian)  Menter,  the  lat- 
ter of  whom,  a  native  of  Prussia,  Germany, 
died  in  1874,  at  the  age  of  thirty-six  years, 
after  having  become  the  mother  of  four  chil- 
dren, of  whom  three  are  living:  Henry  is  a 
resident  of  Toledo,  Ohio,  and  Louis  of  Pem- 
berville,  that  state.  The  father  ultimately  con- 
tracted a  second  marriage  and  of  the  children 
of  this  union  five  are  living,  all  being  residents 
of  the  state  of  Michigan  —  Edward,  William, 
Carrie,  Katherine,  and  Ida. 

Frederick  Menter  was  born  in  the  province 
of  Hanover,  Germany,  May  20,  1840,  and  was 
six  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  the  family  im- 
migration to  America,  his  parents  having  set- 
tled in  Wood  county,  Ohio,  where  they  passed 
the  remainder  of  their  lives,  his  father  having 
there  become  a  prosperous  farmer.  Frederick 
Menter  was  reared  and  educated  in  Ohio  and 
there  he  continued  his  alliance  with  farm  in- 
dustry until  1907,  when  he  removed  with  his 
family  to  Huron  county,  Michigan,  where,  at 
a  venerable  age,  he  still  resides  on  his  well 
improved  farm,  the  religious  faith  of  the  fam- 
ily having  been  for  generations  that  of  the 
Lutheran  church. 

John  H.  Menter  grew  to  maturity  under  the 
invigorating  discipline  of  the  old  home  farm 
in  Ohio  and  in  the  meanwhile  profited  by  the 
advantages  afiforded  in  the  district  schools  of 
the  locality.  In  1888,  shortly  before  attain- 
ing to  his  legal  majority,  he  came  to  Nebraska, 
where  for  the  ensuing  nine  years  he  worked  as 
a  farm  hand,  principally  in  Gage  and  Saline 
counties.  His  compensation  during  a  consid- 
erable part  of  this  period  was  only  fourteen 
dollars  a  month,  but  he  carefully  saved  his 
earnings  and  kept  fully  in  view  the  goal  of  his 
ambition  —  that  of  becoming  an  independent 
exponent  of  farm  enterprise.  In  1896  he 
rented  land  in  Webster  county,  and  later  he 
farmed  on  rented  land  in  Adams  and  Saline 
counties.  In  1911  Mr.  Menter  purchased  his 
present  Gage  county  farm,  on  which  he  has 
since  made  many  excellent  improvements  of 
permanent  order,  including  the  erection  of  a 
barn  and  other  farm  buildings.     His  energy 


and  progressiveness  have  enabled  him  to  make 
his  place  stand  forth  as  one  of  the  best  im- 
proved and  effectively  operated  farms  in 
Grant  township,  his  attractive  homestead  be- 
ing situated  three  miles  southeast  of  the  vil- 
lage of  Dewitt,  Saline  county,  from  which  he 
receives  service  on  rural  mail  route  No.  3. 
He  gives  his  attention  to  diversified  agricul- 
ture and  stock-growing,  and  is  making  a  spe- 
cialty of  raising  graded  swine.  He  gives 
loyal  support  to  measures  and  enterprises 
tending  to  advance  the  civic  and  material  wel- 
fare of  the  community,  has  served  as  road 
supervisor,  and  he  and  his  family  hold  mem- 
bership in  the  Lutheran  church. 

February  22,  1896,  recorded  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  Menter  to  Miss  Mary  Ulrich,  daughter 
of  Charies  G.  and  Johanna  (Graff)  Ulrich, 
concerning  whom  further  mention  is  made  on 
other  pages,  in  the  sketch  of  their  son  Edward 
W.  A.  In  conclusion  is  given  brief  record 
concerning  the  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Men- 
ter :  Carl  has  the  management  of  his  father's 
farm  property  in  Deuel  county;  Alfred  is 
associated  in  the  work  and  management  of 
the  home  farm  in  Gage  county ;  Gertrude  is 
deceased;  and  Arthur,  John,  Alice,  and  Paul 
remain  members  of  the  gracious  home  circle. 

CHARLES  B.  MUMFORD.  —  From  the 
early  pioneer  period  in  its  history  to  the  pres- 
ent time  Gage  county  has  claimed  members 
of  the  Mumford  family  as  sterling  and  valued 
citizens,  John  B.  Mumford,  father  of  the  sub- 
ject of  this  review,  having  been  one  of  three 
brothers  who  came  from  Wisconsin  to  this 
county  in  the  '60s,  and  each  of  these  brothers, 
John  B.,  Ismay,  and  Jacob,  having  taken 
vigorous  part  in  the  furtherance  of  the  initial 
development  and  upbuilding  of  the  county, 
where  the  family  name  has  always  stood  forth 
for  civic  loyalty  and  progressiveness  and  for 
the  intelligent  and  productive  industry  which 
makes  for  individual  success  and  communal 
advancement. 

John  B.  Mumford  was  born  in  the  state  of 
A-Iaryland,  where  his  parents  established  their 
home  upon  coming  from  England  to  this  coun- 
try, and  he  became  one  of  the  pioneer  settlers 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


459 


in  Wisconsin,  where  he  engaged  in  agricul- 
tural pursuits  and  became  one  of  the  substan- 
tial citizens  of  Lafayette  county.  His  initial 
visit  to  the  Territory  of  Nebraska  was  made 
in  the  year  1860,  when  he  accompanied  his 
older  brother,  Ismay,  to  what  is  now  the  opu- 
lent and  beautiful  county  of  Gage,  and  of  the 
conditions  that  then  obtained  in  this  locality 
some  idea  is  conveyed  by  the  statement  that 
Dawson  Mumford,  son  of  Ismay,  was  the  first 
white  child  born  within  the  limits  of  this 
county.  The  general  historical  department  of 
this  publication  shows  also  that  Ismay  Mum- 
ford  was  the  first  treasurer  of  Gage  county. 
After  this  pioneer  visit  to  Gage  county  John 
B.  Mumford  returned  to  Wisconsin,  but  in 
1865  he  brought  his  family  to  Gage  county 
and  here  established  a  permanent  home.  He 
purchased  four  hundred  acres  of  land,  re- 
claimed and  developed  one  of  the  excellent 
farms  of  the  county,  and  he  continued  to  re- 
side on  his  well  improved  homestead  farm,  in 
Logan  township,  until  his  death,  when  seventy- 
three  years  of  age,  his  venerable  widow  still 
surviving  him  and  being  one  of  the  loved  pio- 
neer women  of  Gage  county :  her  maiden  name 
was  Mary  A.  Roush  and  she  was  born  in 
Ohio,  the  original  American  progenitors  of  the 
Roush  family  having  come  from  Holland  in 
the  early  period  of  our  national  history.  John 
B.  and  Mary  A.  (Roush)  Mumford  became 
the  parents  of  nine  children,  and  of  the  six 
now  living  Charles  B.,  of  this  review,  is  the 
second  eldest ;  Sarah,  the  eldest,  is  the  wife  of 
William  A.  Foreman,  of  Beatrice;  Eugene  P. 
is  individually  mentioned  within  the  pages  of 
this  publication ;  Ida  and  Frank  remain  on  the 
old  homestead  farm  of  their  father,  the  for- 
mer being  the  wife  of  L.  W.  Eppert.  who  is 
associated  in  the  work  and  management  of  the 
place ;  and  Luther  A.,  formerly  principal  of 
the  Beatrice  high  school,  is  now  engaged  in 
the  school-textbook  business  in  the  city  of 
Lincoln,  capital  of  Nebraska.  John  B.  Mum- 
ford was  a  leader  in  the  local  councils  of  the 
Democratic  party,  though  never  consenting  to 
accept  public  office,  and  his  religious  faith  was 
that  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  his 


venerable  widow  being  a  devout  adherent  of 
the  Christian  church. 

Charles  B.  Mumford  was  born  in  Lafayette 
county,  Wisconsin,  and  was  a  small  boy  at  the 
time  the  family  home  was  established  on  the 
pioneer  farm  in  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  where 
he  was  reared  to  manhood  and  received  the 
advantages  of  the  common  schools  of  the 
period.  It  can  well  be  understood  that  in  his 
boyhood  and  youth  he  acquired  full  fellow- 
ship with  the  sturdy  work  of  the  farm,  and  in 
initiating  his  independent  career  he  naturally 
continued  his  allegiance  to  the  great  basic  in- 
dustry of  agriculture.  For  a  period  of  years 
he  was  numbered  among  the  progressive  and 
successful  farmers  of  Logan  township,  and  in 
1894  he  removed  to  Beatrice,  the  county  seat, 
where  he  engaged  in  the  livery  business.  A 
number  of  years  later  he  sold  this  business  and 
turned  his  attention  to  the  buying  of  horses, 
which  he  sold  for  local  use,  besides  develop- 
ing a  substantial  enterprise  in  the  shipping  of 
horses  to  various  central  markets.  A  thorough 
judge  of  values,  he  made  a  definite  success  of 
the  business  and  was  one  of  the  prominent 
shippers  of  horses  from  this  state.  In  the 
spring  of  1915  Mr.  Mumford  gave  evidence  of 
his  appreciation  of  the  modem  trend  of  pro- 
gress by  identifying  himself  with  the  automo- 
bile business.  He  erected  a  large  garage 
building  on  Seventh  street  and  there  installed 
the  best  of  equipment,  including  a  general  re- 
pair shop  and  a  line  of  automobile  supplies 
and  accessories,  his  broad  experience  and  ag- 
gressive policies  having  been  potent  in  the  up- 
building of  a  very  prosperous  business  and  his 
active  control  of  the  same  having  continued 
until  September,  1917,  when  he  sold  both  the 
building  and  the  business  to  the  present  owner, 
Austin  Krous.  Since  that  time  he  has  renewed 
his  allegiance  to  his  former  line  of  business 
and  gives  his  attention  to  handling  horses, 
both  in  placing  them  on  the  market  and  in  fit- 
ting them  for  service.  He  is  at  the  time  of 
this  writing  the  owner  of  two  fine  standard 
bred  horses  which  are  making  good  account 
of  themselves  in  turf  events.  Mr.  Mumford 
is  well  known  throughout  this  part  of  Ne- 
braska,  and   his   genial   personality,   as   com- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


bined  with  his  sturdy  integrity  in  all  of  the 
relations  of  life,  has  gained  to  him  a  wide 
circle  of  friends.  He  is  a  staunch  supporter 
of  the  cause  of  the  Republican  party,  though 
he  has  manifested  naught  of  ambition  for  pub- 
lic office,  and  his  wife  is  an  active  member  of 
the  Christian  church. 

As  a  young  man  Mr.  Mumford  wedded 
Miss  Martha  Dearborn,  and  she  is  now  de- 
ceased. She  is  survived  by  three  children : 
Charles  D.,  who  is  associated  with  his  uncle, 
E.  P.  Mumford,  in  the  furniture  business  in 
Beatrice,  where  he  was  formerly  employed 
fourteen  years  in  the  furniture  store  of  Wal- 
ter Scott;  Leslie  is  now  a  resident  of  San 
Francisco,  California;  and  Mabel  is  the  wife 
of  N.  Townsend,  a  prosperous  farmer  in  the 
vicinity  of  Taco,  in  the  Canadian  northwest. 

In  September,  1904,  was  solemnized  the 
marriage  of  Mr.  Mumford  to  Miss  Mae  Van 
Eoskirk,  who  was  born  in  Linn  county,  Iowa, 
a  daughter  of  Lincoln  and  Celia  (Freer)  Van 
Boskirk,  whose  marriage  was  solemnized  in 
Wisconsin,  whence  they  eventually  removed 
to  Iowa,  from  which  state  they  came  to  Gage 
county,  Nebraska,  in  1885,  establishing  their 
residence  in  Beatrice,  where  Mr.  Van  Bos- 
kirk erected  a  large  and  attractive  residence 
at  the  corner  of  Seventh  and  Summit  street  — 
this  being  the  present  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
IMumford.  Mr.  Van  Boskirk  was  a  second 
cousin  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  in  the  early 
territorial  days  he  acquired  a  large  tract  of 
land  in  Nebraska,  the  patent  to  the  same  hav- 
ing been  signed  by  President  Johnson,  and  this 
property  still  continues  in  the  possession  of 
the  family.  More  detailed  mention  of  the  Van 
Boskirk  family  is  made  on  other  pages,  in  the 
review  of  the  career  of  Frederick  Van  Bos- 
kirk, a  brother  of  Mrs.  Mumford.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Mumford  have  one  daughter,  Clara 
Belle,  who  was  born  February  28,  1912. 

JOHN  B.  RENARD  is  a  successful  far- 
mer and  stock-raiser  who  owns  a  valuable  and 
well  improved  farm  in  Section  1,  Glenwood 
township.  As  a  representative  citizen  of  that 
township  he  is  entitled  to  recognition  in  this 
history  of  Gage  county. 


Mr.  Renard  was  born  at  Keokuk,  Lee 
county,  Iowa,  May  5,  1862.  His  parents, 
Adam  and  Catherine  (Wofe)  Renard,  were 
natives  of  Germany,  and  both  passed  the  clos- 
ing period  of  their  lives  at  Keokuk,  Iowa-, 
where  they  had  resided  for  many  years  and 
where  the  father  was  a  cabinet  maker  by 
trade  and  vocation.  John  B.  Renard  was  one 
of  seven  children,  four  of  whom  are  living, 
he  being  the  only  one  in  Nebraska.  When  a 
young  man  he  made  his  way  to  Page  county. 
Iowa,  where  he  remained  two  years,  and  he 
then  came  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska.  Here 
he  farmed  in  Rockford  township  for  one 
year,  and  for  the  ensuing  five  years  he  was 
engaged  in  farming  in  Logan  township.  For 
the  past  twenty-eight  years  he  has  conducted 
successful  operations  on  four  hundred  and 
twenty  acres  of  land  in  Sections  1  and  12 
Glenwood  township.  Here  he  has  erected  a 
splendid  set  of  buildings,  among  the  finest  in 
the  county,  and  is  here  engaged  in  general 
agricultural  and  stock-raising  enterprise.  He 
has  the  cooperation  of  Herman  Lenger,  who 
is  a  bachelor  brother  of  Mrs.  Renard,  and 
who  makes  his  home  with  the  Renard  family. 

Mr.  Renard  chose  as  his  wife  Miss  Lottie 
Lenger,  who  was  born  in  Warren  county, 
Missouri,  her  parents  having  been  early  set- 
tlers of  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  and  a  record 
of  the  family  being  given  elsewhere  in  this 
volume,  in  sketch  dedicated  to  Lewis  D.  Len- 
ger, of  Beatrice.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Renard  are 
members  of  the  Christian  church  at  Odell. 
Mr.  Renard  takes  an  active  interest  in  the 
aflfairs  of  his  community  and  was  one  of  the 
organizers  of  the  Odell  Telephone  Company, 
of  which  he  has  been  president  for  many 
years.  He  assisted  also  in  organizing  the 
State  Bank  of  Odell.  Fraternally  he  is  a  mem- 
ber of  Odell  Lodge,  No.  97,  Independent 
Order  of  Odd  Fellows.  He  is  a  Republican 
in  politics  and  has  given  years  of  service  in 
the  office  of  justice  of  the  peace.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Renard  indulge  themselves  in  travel  and 
have  recently  made  an  extended  trip  on  the 
Pacific  coast.  They  are  folk  of  sterling  worth 
and  have  a  host  of  friends. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


461 


462 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


REV.  VICTOR  F.  CLARK.  — The  hon- 
ored pastor  of  the  First  Congregational  church 
of  Beatrice  is  a  man  of  high  intellectual  at- 
tainments and  has  labored  with  all  of  conse- 
crated zeal  and  devotion  in  the  work  of  the 
ministry,  besides  having  wielded  much  influ- 
ence in  the  field  of  educational  service.  He 
was  reared  to  manhood  in  Nebraska,  where 
the  family  home  was  established  prior  to  the 
admission  of  the  state  to  the  Union  and  when 
he  was  a  lad  of  about  ten  years.  His  high 
sense  of  stewardship  has  been  shown  in  every 
pastoral  charge  which  he  has  held  and  also  in 
all  other  relations  of  life,  the  while  his  be- 
nignant influence  has  touched  most  helpfully 
the  general  communal  life  ia  every  place  that 
has  figured  as  the  stage  of  his  earnest  and 
prolific  endeavors.  There  are  many  points  of 
surpassing  interest  in  both  his  personal  and 
ancestral  history  and  he  takes  pride  in  being 
a  scion  of  one  of  the  sterling  old  colonial  fam- 
ilies of  New  England,  that  gracious  cradle  of 
much  of  our  national  history.  Mr.  Clark 
plays  a  large  part  in  the  community  life  of 
Beatrice,  aside  from  his  ecclesiastical  func- 
tions, and  for  this  reason,  as  well  as  on  ac- 
count of  his  being  the  spiritual  and  executive 
head  of  one  of  the  important  church  organi- 
zations of  the  city,  he  is  specially  entitled  to 
the  tribute  which  is  perpetuated  through  the 
medium  of  this  publication. 

Rev.  Victor  Fremont  Clark  was  born  at 
West  Haven,  Rutland  county,  Vermont,  on 
the  20th  of  August,  1856,  and  is  a  son  of 
Rev.  Elipha  Lyman  Clark  and  Nancy  (Hun- 
ger) Clark,  both  natives  of  Whiting,  Addison 
county,  Vermont,  where  the  former  was  born 
February  27,  1813,  and  the  latter  on  the  6th  of 
March,  1815.  The  father  died  in  April,  1873, 
and  the  gracious  and  devoted  wife  and  mother 
passed  to  the  life  eternal  in  the  following  year, 
both  having  been  representatives  of  honored 
and  influential  pioneer  families  of  the  old 
Green  Mountain  state.  Rev.  Elipha  L.  Clark, 
a  man  of  fine  intellectuality  and  exalted  char- 
acter, as  a  youth  prepared  himself  for  the 
legal  profession  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
of  his  native  state.  After  having  been  for  a 
time  engaged  in  the  practice  of  law  he   fol- 


lowed the  course  of  his  earnest  conviction 
pertinent  to  his  personal  stewardship  and  en- 
tered the  ministry  of  the  Baptist  church,  as  a 
clergyman  of  which  he  labored  for  many 
years,  a  true  disciple  of  the  Divine  Master 
and  one  who  gave  himself  with  devotion  to 
the  aiding  and  uplifting  of  his  fellow  men. 
He  bore  to  the  full  the  "heat  and  burden  of 
the  day,"  garnered  a  rich  harvest  and  also  a 
gracious  aftermath,  and  proved  himself  the 
friend  and  counselor  of  all  who  came  within 
the  sphere  of  his  influence.  In  1866  he  came 
with  his  family  to  Nebraska  Territory  and  en- 
tered claim  to  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of 
government  land  in  Seward  county.  There  he 
gave  his  attention  to  the  development  of  his 
farm,  the  while  he  continued  his  activities  as 
one  of  the  pioneer  clerg}'men  of  the  territory 
and  state,  and  he  was  one  of  the  revered  citi- 
zens of  Seward  county  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  which  occurred  on  his  old  homestead 
farm.  His  was  definite  leadership  in  popular 
sentiment  and  action  in  the  pioneer  commun- 
ity, he  was  stalwart  in  his  allegiance  to  the 
Republican  party,  and  he  served  as  repre- 
sentative of  Seward  county  in  the  last  session 
of  the  territorial  legislature,  as  well  as  in  the 
first  legislature  under  state  regime.  He  be- 
came the  father  of  eleven  children,  of  whom 
only  four  are  now  living,  and  of  the  number 
the  subject  of  this  review  is  the  youngest. 

Rev.  Elipha  L.  Clark  was  a  son  of  Elipha 
and  Jemima  (Mouhon)  Clark,  and  a  grand- 
son of  Isaiah  and  Eunice  (Moore)  Clark, 
whose  marriage  was  solemnized  December  24, 
1778,  at  Simsbury,  Connecticut,  and  who  re- 
moved in  the  same  year  to  Vermont,  their  son 
Elipha  having  been  bom  in  that  year  and  his 
death  having  occurred  in  1813,  the  parents 
having  passed  the  remainder  of  their  lives  in 
the  old  Green  Mountain  state  and  the  family 
name  having  stood  exponent  of  strong  and 
noble  manhood  and  gentle  and  gracious 
womanhood  as  one  generation  has  followed 
another  onto  the  stage  of  life. 

Augustus  Munger,  maternal  grandfather  of 
the  subject  of  this  review,  was  born  at  Whit- 
ing, Vermont,  on  the  22d  of  May,  1794,  and 
his  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Temperance 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


463 


Babcock,  was  born  June  30,  1793,  their  mar- 
riage having  been  solemnized  February  22, 
1813,  and  both  having  passed  the  remainder 
of  their  lives  at  Whiting,  Vermont,  where  the 
former  died  in  May,  1841,  and  the  latter  in  the 
year  1870.  Augustus  Hunger  was  a  son  of 
Moses  and  Mercy  (Baker)  Munger,  their 
marriage  having  occurred  November  21,  1793. 
Moses  Munger  was  born  in  the  west  parish  of 
South  Brimfield,  Massachusetts,  October  21, 
1769,  and  his  wife  was  bom  in  1778.  Both 
were  residents  of  Whiting,  Vermont,  at  the 
time  of  their  death,  he  having  passed  to  eternal 
rest  on  the  11th  of  January,  1861,  and  she  in 
the  year  1840.  Moses  Munger  was  a  son  of 
Jehiel  Munger,  who  was  born  at  Brimfield, 
Hampden  county,  Massachusetts,  June  3, 
1737,  and  whose  marriage  to  Elsie  Rogers  was 
celebrated  in  1758,  she  having  been  bom  at 
Brimfield  in  the  year  1738  and  both  having 
passed  the  closing  years  of  their  life  at  Whit- 
ing, Vermont,  where  Mrs.  Munger  died  in 
1798  and  where  he  passed  away  August  3, 
1817.  Jehiel  Munger  was  a  distinguished  pa- 
triot soldier  in  the  Revolution,  in  which  he 
rose  from  the  rank  of  sergeant  to  captain. 
He  took  part  in  important  engagements  mark- 
ing the  progress  of  the  great  war  for  inde- 
pendence, including  those  of  Concord  and  the 
Brandywine,  and  in  the  "piping  times  of 
peace"  he  manifested  the  same  spirit  of  loy- 
alty and  patriotism.  This  sterling  Revolu- 
tionary soldier  erected  as  a  home  for  his  fam- 
ily the  first  two-story  house  built  at  Whiting, 
Vermont,  and  in  the  same  were  frequently 
held  church  services,  he  having  been  a  deacon 
of  his  church.  Authoritative  family  records 
still  extant  show  that  Nicholas  Munger,  who 
was  bom  and  reared  in  England,  came  to 
America  in  1639  and  established  his  home  in 
Massachusetts.  He  married  Sarah  Hall,  in 
1659,  and  their  son  Samuel,  born  in  1665, 
married  Sarah  Hand.  The  next  in  line 
of  descent  to  the  subject  of  this  review 
was  Nathaniel,  who  was  born  in  1712,  a  son 
of  Samuel  and  Sarah  (Hand)  Munger,  and 
in  1736  Nathaniel  wedded  Elizabeth  Bullen, 
they  having  become   the   parents   of   Colonel 


Jehiel   Munger,   of   whom  mention   has  been 
made. 

As  previously  stated  in  this  context,  Rev. 
Victor  F.  Clark  was  about  ten  years  of  age  at 
the  time  when  the  family  home  was  established 
in  Nebraska  Territory,  which  in  the  follow- 
ing year  gained  the  dignity  of  statehood,  and 
he  was  reared  thereafter  under  the  benignant 
influences  of  the  pioneer  farm  and  those  of  a 
home  of  distinctive  culture  and  refinement. 
After  having  made  good  use  of  the  advantages 
aftorded  in  the  schools  of  the  locality  and 
period  he  entered  Tabor  College,  at  Tabor, 
Iowa,  and  in  the  preparatory  department  of 
this  institution,  which  was  founded  in  1866, 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Congregational 
church,  he  continued  his  studies  until  his 
graduation  Thereafter  he  was  a  student  in 
the  college  proper  until  he  went  to  Chicago,  in 
1880,  and  entered  the  theological  seminary.  In 
this  institution  he  was  graduated  as  a  member 
of  the  class  of  1883,  his  ordination  to  the  min- 
istry of  the  Congregational  church  having  oc- 
curred in  that  year.  His  first  pastoral  charge 
was  at  Milburn,  Illinois,  where  he  remained 
four  years  and  he  then  devoted  a  year  to  ef- 
fective post-graduate  study  in  Princeton  Uni- 
versity, New  Jersey.  For  the  ensuing  four 
years  he  held  a  pastorate  at  David  City,  Ne- 
braska ;  the  next  five  years  found  him  as  pas- 
tor of  the  Congregational  church  at  Holdrege, 
this  state.  He  then  accepted  a  call  to  the  pas- 
torate of  the  Congregational  church  at  Liv- 
ingston, Montana,  where  he  remained  six 
years.  He  then  returned  to  Nebraska  and 
became  pastor  of  the  Congregational  church 
at  Neligh,  Antelope  county,  an  incumbency 
from  which  he  retired  six  years  later,  to  be- 
come pastor  of  the  church  at  Ashland,  Saun- 
ders county.  After  two  years  of  characteristi- 
cally earnest  and  fruitful  ser\'ice  in  this  pas- 
toral charge  ^Ir.  Clark  was  tendered  and  ac- 
cepted the  position  of  state  secretary  of  Doane 
College,  at  Crete,  this  state  —  an  institution 
maintained  under  Congregational  church  aus- 
pices. In  this  position  Mr.  Clark  did  effective 
work  in  promoting  the  interests  of  the  col- 
lege and  after  three  years  he  resigned  his 
post  to  accept,  in   1914,  the  pastorate  of  the 


464 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


First  Congregational  church  of  Beatrice. 
Here  he  has  done  much  to  further  the  spiritual 
and  material  prosperity  of  his  charge  and  has 
gained  to  his  church  many  new  members.  He 
is  not  only  .a  forceful  and  eloquent  pulpit 
orator,  bvit  his  every  utterance  bears  the  im- 
press of  sincere  conviction  and  utmost  altru- 
ism, while  his  entire  freedom  from  intellectual 
intolerance  makes  his  work  in  his  high  calling 
the  more  effective  and  benignant.  Aside  from 
his  pastoral  functions  of  direct  order  he  has 
marked  executive  ability,  and  has  shown  splen- 
did success  in  gaining  the  earnest  cooperation 
of  the  people  of  the  various  churches  which 
he  has  served. 

It  is  to  be  presupposed  that  a  man  of  such 
patriotic  ancestry  would  manifest  a  deep  in- 
terest in  the  welfare  of  the  nation  and  the 
state,  and  the  civic  loyalty  of  Mr.  Clark  is 
shown  in  his  giving  his  influence  and  aid  in  the 
support  of  measures  and  enterprises  tending 
to  advance  the  general  wellbeing  of  the  com- 
munity. He  pronounces  himself  an  inde- 
pendent Republican  in  politics  and  while  he 
has  never  sought  public  office  he  has  yielded 
to  urgent  importunities  and  is  giving  effective 
service  at  the  present  time  in  the  office  of  pro- 
bation officer  of  Gage  county.  He  is  affiliated 
with  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows 
and  the  Modem  Woodmen  of  America. 

In  August,  1879,  Mr.  Clark  wedded  Miss 
Katie  M.  Woods,  who  was  born  at  Tabor, 
Iowa,  a  daughter  of  Daniel  Woods.  Mrs. 
Clark  passed  to  the  life  eternal  in  1886  and  is 
survived  by  one  son,  Roy  Victor,  who  is  en- 
gaged in  the  insurance  business  at  Wilming- 
ton, California.  In  1888  was  solemnized  the 
marriage  of  Mr.  Clark  to  Miss  Alice  Mathews, 
who  was  born  in  the  state  of  Wisconsin,  a 
daughter  of  Charles  and  Myra  (Simmons) 
Mathews,  the  former  of  whom  was  born  at 
Norwich,  Vermont,  in  1825,  and  the  latter  at 
Kinderhook,  New  York,  in  1831:  she  died  in 
1857,  in  Wisconsin.  Mr.  Mathews  was  a  car- 
penter by  trade  and  became  a  successful  con- 
tractor, his  home  having  been  established  near 
the  state  line  between  Wisconsin  and  Illinois 
for  many  years  and  his  death  having  occurred 
in   the  latter  state,   in    1895.     Mr.   and   Mrs. 


Clark  have  but  one  child,  Martha  Leavitt 
Clark,  who  was  graduated  in  the  high  school  at 
Crete,  this  state,  where  she  is  now  a  member 
of  the  class  of  1919  in  Doane  College. 

ANTON  NOVOTNY.  — The  Bohemian 
farmer  is  industrious  and  accumulative.  His 
pinched  opportunities  for  advancement  in  his 
native  land  make  him  appreciative  of  the  op- 
portunities offered  in  the  new  world.  This 
nationality  is  found  in  great  numbers  in  Elm 
township,  and  Anton  Novotny  is  a  son  of  Bo- 
hemian parents,  Frank  and  Mary  (Vostry) 
Novotny.  With  their  family  of  nine  children, 
the  youngest,  Anton  Novotny,  but  a  child  in 
arms,  the  parents  settled  in  Pawnee  county, 
Nebraska,  in  1878.  There  were  years  of  hard 
work  and  many  deprivations  facing  this  sterl- 
ing pioneer  couple,  who  were  called  upon  to 
feed  and  clothe  the  large  family  of  children, 
but  Frank  Novotny  lived  to  see  his  children 
all  grown  to  manhood  and  womanhood.  He 
passed  away  in  1906.  He  was  born  in  Bo- 
hemia in  the  year  1829.  His  wife,  Mrs.  Mary 
(Vostry)  Novotny,  was  born  in  Bohemia,  and 
since  her  husband's  death  she  has  made  her 
home  with  her  youngest  daughter,  Mrs. 
Emma  Fritz,  of  Washington  county,  Kansas. 
The  following  is  brief  record  concerning  the 
children:  Louisa  died  in  Bohemia;  Kather- 
ine  is  the  wife  of  Anton  Blecha,  living  near 
Oklahoma  City,  Oklahoma;  Anna  is  the  wife 
of  Amos  Hubka,  living  in  Washington  county, 
Kansas;  Mary  is  the  widow  of  Joe  Herring, 
and  lives  in  Washington  county,  Kansas ;  Jos- 
eph is  a  resident  of  Washington  county,  Kan- 
sas ;  Frank  lives  near  Virginia,  Gage  county, 
Nebraska;  James  lives  near  Gretna,  Nebras- 
ka ;  Louis  resides  in  Washington  county,  Kan- 
sas ;  Anton,  of  this  sketch,  was  next  in  order 
of  birth ;  Amos  lives  near  Wheatland,  Okla- 
homa;  and  Emma  is  the  wife  of  John  Fritz, 
of  Washington  county,  Kansas. 

Anton  Novotny  was  born  October  15,  1876, 
in  Bohemia,  and  he  was  only  fifteen  months 
old  when  his  parents  immigrated  to  the  United 
States.  He  received  his  education  in  the  rural 
schools  of  Pawnee  county,  Nebraska,  and 
early  began  to  assist  in  the  work  of  the  home 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  Anton  Novotny 


466 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


farm.  He  left  the  parental  roof  in  1901,  when 
he  married  and  bought  land  south  of  Virginia, 
Gage  county.  This  place  he  fanned  until 
1906,  when  he  purchased  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  of  land  in  Section  34,  Elm  town- 
ship, where  he  has  since  resided.  February 
19,  1901,  Mr.  Novotny  married  Miss  Mary 
Chadima,  who  was  born  in  1878,  in  Iowa. 
Her  death  occurred  October  20,  1916,  and  she 
left  three  sons  to  be  cared  for  by  their  father 
—  Alvie,  Fred,  and  George. 

Mr.  Novotny  is  a  Democrat  in  politics  but 
has  never  sought  any  political  honors.  He  is 
a  member  of  Western  Bohemian  Lodge,  and 
is  a  shareholder  in  the  Farmers'  Telephone 
Company  at  Odell,  this  county.  His  sons  re- 
main on  the  farm  with  him  and  help  him  in 
the  many  ways  in  which  boys  of  such  age  can 
be  of  use. 

WILBUR  S.  BOURNE.  — This  repre- 
sentative member  of  the  Gage  county  bar  has 
been  established  in  the  practice  of  his  profes- 
sion at  Beatrice,  the  county  seat,  for  the  past 
thirty-five  years,  and  he  has  exemplified  in  his 
activities  the  best  ethics  of  his  profession, which 
he  has  dignified  alike  by  his  character  and 
achievement.  He  is  now  ( 1918)  serving  as  city 
attorney,  and  his  inviolable  hold  upon  popular 
confidence  and  esteem  has  been  shown  by  his 
having  been  called  upon  to  serve  in  various 
other  offices  of  public  trust.  He  presided  six 
years  on  the  bench  of  the  county  court  of 
Gage  county,  has  held  the  offices  of  city  clerk 
and  member  of  the  board  of  education  of 
Beatrice,  and  in  1898  he  was  elected  mayor  of 
the  city,  an  ofifice  in  which  he  gave  a  most 
able  and  popular  administration,  marked  by 
well  ordered  progressiveness,  his  tenure  of 
the  position  of  chief  executive  of  the  munici- 
pal government  having  continued  for  two 
years.  Judge  Bourne  is  unswerving  in  his 
allegiance  to  the  Republican  party  and  has 
given  effective  service  in  the  furtherance  of 
its  cause.  In  the  Masonic  fraternity  he  has 
completed  the  circle  of  the  York  Rite,  in  which 
his  maximum  affiliation  is  with  Mount  Her- 
man Commander)'  of  Knights  Templars,  be- 
sides which  he  holds  membership  in  the  ad- 


junct Masonic  organization,  the  Ancient 
Arabic  Order  of  the  Nobles  of  the  Mystic 
Shrine,  his  affiliation  in  this  being  with 
Sesostris  Temple,  in  the  city  of  Lincoln,  Ne- 
braska. Both  he  and  his  wife  are  active  and 
valued  members  of  the  Christian  church  of 
Beatrice. 

Wilbur  S.  Bourne  was  born  at  Macomb, 
McDonough  county,  Illinois,  on  the  22d  of 
June,  1854,  and  is  a  son  of  Rev.  Milton  Bourne 
and  Melvina  (Gardiner)  Bourne,  the  former 
of  whom  was  bom  in  the  state  of  Massachu- 
setts and  the  latter  in  that  of  New  York,  she 
having  been  the  second  wife  of  Rev.  Milton 
Bourne,  and  the  latter  having  been  the  father 
of  five  children  by  his  first  marriage  and  five 
by  the  second.  One  of  the  sons,  Milton,  Jr., 
went  forth  from  Illinois  as  a  valiant  soldier  of 
the  Union  in  the  Civil  war.  Rev.  Milton 
Bourne  was  a  child  at  the  time  of  his  par- 
ents' removal  to  the  state  of  Vermont,  where 
he  was  reared  and  educated.  He  entered  the 
ministry  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church 
and  became  one  of  its  pioneer  clergymen  in 
Illinois,  where  he  formed  the  personal  ac- 
quaintance of  his  historic  contemporary,  Peter 
Cartwright,  while  he  was  presiding  elder  of 
the  Monmouth  district  of  the  Methodist 
church  in  Illinois  at  a  time  when  said  district 
comprised  fully  one-third  of  the  entire  state. 
Rev.  Milton  Bourne  labored  with  all  of  zeal 
and  self-abnegation  in  his  chosen  calling  and 
the  closing  period  of  his  life  was  passed  on  a 
farm  in  McDonough  county,  Illinois,  where 
he  died  when  his  son  William  S.,  of  this  re- 
view, was  a  lad  of  nine  years,  his  loved  wife 
surviving  him  by  a  number  of  years. 

Wilbur  S.  Bourne  passed  the  period  of  his 
childhood  and  early  youth  in  his  native  county 
and  after  having  profited  by  the  advantages 
of  the  public  schools  he  provided  ways  and 
means  that  enabled  him  to  supplement  this 
training  by  a  course  in  a  normal  school  of 
Illinois. 

In  1878,  vAth  a  team  and  old-time  "prairie 
schooner,"  Mr.  Bourne  and  his  young  wife 
made  the  overland  journey  from  Illinois  to 
Nebraska,  and  for  the  ensuing  year  he  was 
here  engaged  in  farming,  in  Gage  county.    He 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


467 


then  returned  to  Illinois,  where  he  completed 
his  interrupted  law  studies  and  gained  admis- 
sion to  the  bar.  In  1882  he  returned  to  Ne- 
braska and  established  his  home  at  Beatrice, 
where  he  has  since  continued  in  the  practice 
of  his  profession  and  where  he  is  not  only  a 
representative  member  of  the  bar  of  south- 
eastern Nebraska  but  also  one  of  the  most 
honored  citizens  of  Gage  county. 

In  the  year  1878  was  solemnized  the  mar- 
riage of  Judge  Bourne  to  Miss  Georgia  Rile, 
who  likewise  was  born  and  reared  at  Macomb, 
Illinois,  and  they  have  three  daughters :  Fan- 
nie L.,  who  is  the  wife  of  Edward  Buhler,  of 
Lincoln,  Nebraska,  and  Etsel  and  Velma,  who 
remain  at  the  parental  home. 

GEORGE  W.  PITTS.  — The  early  '80s 
saw  great  numbers  of  farmers  coming  to  Gage 
county  and  possessing  themselves  of  their  sev- 
eral portions  of  land.  They  built  their  sod 
huts  and  set  themselves  with  a  will  to  win 
the  wild  prairie  to  fertility.  One  of  these  men 
is  George  W.  Pitts,  who  for  nearly  forty 
years  has  tilled  Gage  county  soil  on  Section  7, 
Glenwood  township. 

Mr.  Pitts  came  to  Gage  county  February 
22,  1880,  and  purchased  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  of  land  from  the  government,  for  $3.50 
an  acre.  As  far  as  the  eye  could  see  there 
was  nothing  to  obstruct  the  view  of  the  roll- 
ing prairie  with  the  exception  of  one  lone  tree, 
which  Mr.  Pitts  cut  down  to  provide  fuel  for 
cooking  the  first  meal  after  the  family  arrival 
in  the  county. 

Mr.  Pitts  was  bom  September  16,  1844,  in 
Ross  county,  Ohio,  where  his  parents,  George 
and  Lucinda  (Turk)  Pitts,  followed  their 
farming  operations  upon  coming  from  Penn- 
sylvania, their  natal  state.  It  was  in  the  year 
1840  they  established  their  Ohio  home  and  in 
1848  the  father  was  called  to  his  eternal  rest. 
His  widow  later  marrigd  a  Mr.  White,  and 
her  last  days  were  spent  in  Kansas,  where  her 
death  occurred  in  1882. 

The  early  days  of  Mr.  Pitts'  life  were 
spent  amid  the  rural  environments  of  Ohio, 
and  it  was  here  he  met  and  married,  in  1865, 
the  companion   of  these  many  years,  Albina 


Runnels.  She  was  born  October  17,  1845,  in 
Licking  county,  Ohio,  and  is  a  daughter 
of  Sollis  and  Eliza  (Nash)  Runnels,  who 
were  born  in  Vermont  and  became  pioneers 
of  Ohio,  where  they  passed  the  remainder  of 
their  lives. 

In  1869  Mr.  Pitts  and  his  good  wife  re- 
moved to  Washington  county,  Iowa,  where  he 
continued  farm  operations  until  1880,  when 
he  made  selection  of  his  present  farm  of  .one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres,  in  Gage  county,  Ne- 
braska. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pitts  are  the  parents 
of  the  following  named  children:  Flora,  the 
wife  of  D.  Baker,  living  in  Idaho;  Sollis,  a 
resident  of  Alda,  Nebraska;  Cora,  the  wife 
of  H.  Coleman,  living  at  Diller,  Nebraska; 
Walter,  residing  in  Louisiana;  Arthur,  of 
Thedford,  Nebraska;  and  Eva,  wife  of  O.  A. 
Dean,  farming  the  home  place  of  subject. 
One  child  died  in  infancy. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pitts  are  members  of  the 
Methodist  church  and  in  politics  he  is  inde- 
pendent of  partisan  lines. 

SAMUEL  D.  RUTH.  —  Controlling  a 
large  and  representative  trade,  the  John  H.  von 
Steen  Company  holds  prestige  as  one  of  the 
leading  business  corporations  of  Gage  county 
and  its  progressive  metropolis,  and  more  spe- 
cific mention  of  this  important  Beatrice  busi- 
ness house  is  made  on  other  pages  of  this 
publication.  Of  this  company  Mr.  Ruth  is 
the  secretary,  and  his  activities  as  an  execu- 
tive and  a  progressive  business  man  have  in- 
ured materially  to  the  success  of  the  enter- 
prise with  which  he  is  thus  identified. 

Mr.  Ruth  was  born  in  St.  Clair  county,  Illi- 
nois, on  the  29th  of  March,  1873,  and  he  re- 
ceived his  early  education  in  the  schools  of 
his  native  state.  He  was  there  graduated  in 
the  McKendree  College  as  a  member  of  the 
class  of  1898.  He  then  came  to  Beatrice, 
Nebraska,  and  entered  the  employ  of  the  John 
H.  von  Steen  Company,  with  which  he  has 
since  maintained  his  alliance  and  in  connection 
with  which  he  has  advanced  to  the  responsible 
office  of  secretary,  of  which  he  has  been  the 
incumbent  since  1908.  He  has  entered  fully 
into  the  general  communal  life  of  his  adopted 


468 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


city  and  is  essentially  liberal  and  progressive 
in  his  civic  attitude.  He  gives  his  political 
allegiance  to  the  Republican  party  and  he  and 
his  wife  hold  membership  in  the  Mennonite 
church. 

In  the  year  1904  vi^as  solemnized  the  mar- 
riage of  Mr.  Ruth  to  Miss  Marie  C.  Dueck, 
who  was  born  in  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  Mis- 
souri, and  their  two  children  are  Clinton  and 
Mildred. 

JOHN  W.  McKISSICK  is  known  and 
valued  as  one  of  the  loyal  and  influential  citi- 
zens of  Gage  county,  which  he  has  represent- 
ed in  the  Nebraska  legislature,  and  he  is  now 
an  executive  of  the  pure-food  department  of 
the  state,  in  which  position  he  is  serving  his 
fourth  consecutive  year,  his  official  duties  de- 
manding virtually  his  entire  time  and  atten- 
tion and  involving  his  traveling  through  ah 
parts  of  the  state.  He  maintains  his  home  in 
the  city  of  Beatrice,  and  this  history  of  Gage 
county  properly  accords  to  him  specific  recog- 
nition. 

Mr.  McKissick  is  a  native  son  of  the  west 
and  during  the  course  of  his  earnest  and 
constructive  career  he  has  exemplified  most 
fully  the  progressive  western  spirit.  He  was 
born  near  Hamburg,  Fremont  county,  Iowa, 
on  the  2d  of  November,  1875,  and  is  a  son  of 
William  A.  and  Ruth  (Utterback)  McKissick, 
both  likewise  natives  of  Fremont  county  arid 
both  representatives  of  pioneer  families  of 
that  section  of  the  Havvkeye  state.  William 
A.  McKissick  was  born  June  11,  1842,  on  the 
same  farm  as  was  his  son  John  W.,  of  this 
review,  and  in  Fremont  county,  Iowa,  he 
passed  the  closing  years  of  his  life.  He  was 
a  son  of  Cornelius  McKissick,  who  was  born 
in  Scotland  and  who  was  a  boy  at  the  time  of 
the  family  immigration  to  the  United  States, 
where  he  was  reared  and  educated.  The 
family  home  was  established  in  Missouri,  and 
from  that  state  he  removed  to  Fremont 
county,  Iowa,  in  1830.  '  He  was  the  first  set- 
tler of  that  county,  where  he  took  up  a  squat- 
ter's clairn  and  where  eventually  he  developed 
a  valuable  farm  property.  He  became  one  of 
the  influential  citizens  of  Fremont  county  and 


remained  on  his  old  homestead  until  his  death, 
in  1894  —  a  patriarchal  pioneer  who  had  been 
a  leader  in  the  march  of  development  and 
progress  in  the  great  empire  of  the  west  and 
whose  name  and  achievement  merit  enduring 
place  in  the  annals  of  Iowa  history.  Cornel- 
ius McKissick  assisted  in  the  construction  of 
the  pioneer  stage  road  between  St.  Joseph, 
Missouri,  and  Council  Blufifs,  Iowa,  and  in 
compensation  for  his  ser\'ices  he  received  an 
allotment  of  land  in  Iowa,  which  was  under 
the  territorial  jurisdiction  of  Michigan  Terri- 
tory at  the  time  when  he  there  established  his 
home  on  the  frontier.  His  wife  survived  him 
and  remained  on  the  old  homestead  until  her 
death,  at  the  remarkable  age  of  one  hundred 
and  two  years.  Mrs.  William  A.  McKissick 
is  a  daughter  of  James  R.  Utterback,  who  was 
born  in  Indiana  and  who  was  the  second  per- 
son to  make  settlement  in  western  Iowa,  Cor- 
nelius McKissick  having  been  the  first  settler. 

William  A.  and  Ruth  (Utterback)  McKis- 
sick became  the  parents  of  seven  children,  of 
whom  John  W.,  of  this  review,  is  the  eldest 
son;  Edward  resides  at  Riverton,  Iowa,  and 
is  engaged  in  the  telephone  business;  Mattie 
is  the  wife  of  Ora  Hatton,  of  Fremont,  Ne- 
braska ;  Miss  Stella  remains  with  her  widowed 
mother  in  the  pleasant  home  at  Riverton, 
Iowa;  Winnie  is  the  wife  of  Herbert  Jones, 
a  farmer  near  Riverton,  Iowa;  Nellie  is  the 
wife  of  Frederick  Beam,  who  is  engaged  in 
the  agricultural  implement  business  at  River- 
ton; Gosper  is  associated  with  the  Palmer- 
Wheelock  Company,  in  the  metropolis  of 
Gage  county,  Nebraska. 

William  A.  AicKissick  had  a  broad  expe- 
rience in  connection  with  life  on  the  frontier, 
and  it  is  worthy  of  record  that  he  made,  with 
wagon  and  ox  team,  eight  trips  across  the 
plains  in  the  early  days.  On  the  last  of  these 
venturesome  journeys  he  made  his  way  to 
California,  where  he  remained  seven  years 
and  was  engaged  in  the  buying  and  selling  of 
horses.  Upon  his  return  to  Iowa  he  brought 
with  him  from  the  Pacific  coast  several  horses, 
besides  which  he  was  accompanied  by  some 
faithful  Indians.  Mr.  McKissick  gained 
through  his  own  ability  and  efl^orts  a  generous 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


469 


measure  of  success  and  prosperity  and  he 
wielded  much  influence  in  his  native  county, 
where  he  was  held  in  unqualified  popular  es- 
teem. He  was  sixty-three  years  of  age  at  the 
time  of  his  death,  December  18,  1908,  and,  as 
before  intimated,  his  widow  now  resides  at 
Riverton,  Iowa.  Her  father,  James  R.  Utter- 
back,  settled  in  Fremont  county,  Iowa,  in 
1833,  and  there  he  remained  on  his  original 
homestead  until  his  death,  in  April,  1893,  his 
wife  having  passed  away  in  1883.  William 
A.  McKissick  was  a  staunch  supporter  of  the 
principles  of  the  Democratic  party  and  his 
religious  faith  was  that  of  the  Presbyterian 
church,  of  which  his  widow  has  long  been  a 
devoted  member. 

John  W.'  McKissick,  the  immediate  subject 
of  this  sketch,  acquired  his  youthful  educa- 
tion in  the  public  schools  of  Riverton,  Iowa, 
and  he  passed  his  childhood  days  on  the  old 
home  farm  of  which  mention  has  been  made 
in  preceding  paragraphs.  As  a  lad  of  thirteen 
years  he  accompanied  one  of  his  brothers  to 
western  Nebraska,  where  he  passed  about  two 
years  on  a  large  ranch  owned  by  his  father. 
During  the  ensuing  two  years  he  was  at  the 
parental  home  and  in  the  meanwhile  he  con- 
tinued his  educational  work.  In  1895  he  set- 
tled in  Polk  county,  Nebraska,  where  he  con- 
tinued his  successful  activities  in  connection 
with  agricultural  and  live-stock  industry 
until  1902,  when  he  came  to  Gage  county  and 
established  his  residence  in  the  city  of  Be- 
atrice, where  he  has  since  maintained  his 
home.  Here  he  engaged  in  the  insurance 
business,  in  connection  with  which  he  was 
made  general  agent  for  the  Nebraska  Mutual 
Life  Insurance  Company,  of  Hastings.  For 
a  few  years  he  held  the  position  of  actuary  of 
this  company,  besides  having  served  for  a 
term  of  years  as  a  member  of  its  board  of 
directors.  Since  1914  he  has  been  one  of  the 
most  efficient  and  valued  executives  of  the 
Nebraska  pure-food  department,  and  he  is 
doing  also  an  important  work  as  secretary  of 
the  Municipal  Code  Commission,  of  Lincoln, 
this  state.  This  commission  was  organized 
for  the  authoritative  handling  of  the  work  of 
codifying  the  ordinances  of  cities  and  minor 


municipalities,  and  in  each  instance  it  makes 
a  definite  guaranty  to  the  accuracy  of  its 
work  and  to  the  legal  impregnability  of  the 
same.  The  commission  has  already  produced 
valuable  work  in  its  special  province  and  this 
has  been  in  connection  not  only  with  Nebras- 
ka municipalities,  but  also  those  of  other 
states  of  the  Union.  In  this  connection  it  is 
interesting  to  record  that  the  commission  is 
at  the  time  of  this  writing,  in  the  summer  of 
1918,  completing  the  codification  of  the  ordi- 
nances of  Gage  county's  judicial  center  and 
metropolis,  the  city  of  Beatrice. 

Admirably  fortified  in  his  opinions  con- 
cerning economic  and  governmental  policies, 
Mr.  McKissick  is  a  staunch  advocate  of  the 
principles  of  the  Democratic  party  and  has 
been  an  influential  figure  in  the  party  coun- 
cils in  Nebraska.  He  served  from  1911  to 
1915  as  representative  of  Gage  county  in  the 
lower  house  of  the  Nebraska  legislature,  and 
here  made  an  excellent  record  in  the  further- 
ance of  wise  legislation  and  the  forwarding 
of  the  interests  of  his  constituency.  He  is 
prominently  affiliated  with  the  Independent 
Order  of  Odd  Fellows  and  he  is  serving  in 
1918  as  deputy  grand  master  of  the  Nebraska 
grand  lodge.  He  has  passed  the  official  chairs 
also  in  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America. 

On  the  26th  of  February,  1895,  was  sol- 
emnized the  marriage  of  Mr.  McKissick  to 
Miss  Delia  E.  Swan,  who  was  born  in  Polk 
county,  Nebraska,  January  8,  1876,  and  who 
is  a  daughter  of  William  H.  and  Ida  (Blow- 
ers) Swan,  the  former  a  native  of  Iowa  and 
the  latter  of  Indiana.  Concerning  the  brothers 
and  sisters  of  Mrs.  McKissick  the  following 
brief  data  may  consistently  be  given :  Wil- 
liam H.  and  Clara  reside  in  the  city  of 
Beatrice  and  the  latter  is  the  wife  of  Rudolph 
R.  Woelke ;  Harry  is  a  resident  of  Shelby, 
Polk  county,  this  state ;  Jennie  is  the  wife  of 
Edward  Globes,  of  the  same  place;  Minnie  is 
the  wife  of  Andrew  Peterson  and  they  like- 
wise reside  at  Shelby,  as  do  also  the  j'ounger 
children  —  Perr}',  Pearl,  Vernal,  and  Floyd. 
The  names  and  respective  dates  of  birth  of 
the  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  McKissick  are 
here  noted:     William  A.,   March  26,    1896; 


470 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Ida  Ruth,  December  5,  1897;  Bertha  June, 
June  24,  1901;  Frances  Gertrude,  December 
19,  1903;  and  Woodrow  Wilson,  July  26, 
1913. 

REV.  WILLIAM  T.  McKENNA.  — The 
life  work  of  a  priest  of  the  Holy  Roman 
Catholic  church  is  essentially  one  of  self- 
sacrificing  devotion  to  the  needs  of  his  peo- 
ple, his  church,  and  the  Divine  Master  whom 
he  serves.  The  work  demands  years  of  pre- 
liminary study  and  preparation,  for  the  high- 
est of  intellectual  standards  and  the  broadest 
of  practical  humanitarianism  are  demanded, 
the  while  there  can  be  in  prospect  no  temporal 
rewards  commensurate  with  the  service  to  be 
rendered,  save  the  satisfaction  of  having 
labored  faithfully  and  well  in  behalf  of  Christ 
and  humanity.  Father  McKenna  has  mea- 
sured up  fully  to  the  demands  and  exactions 
of  his  high  calling  and  is  one  of  the  repre- 
sentative members  of  the  Catholic  priesthood 
in  this  section  of  Nebraska.  He  is  pastor  of 
St.  Mary's  church  at  Odell,  and  commands 
the  high  esteem  and  affectionate  regard  of  the 
members  of  his  parish,  as  well  as  the  confi- 
dence and  good  will  of  the  entire  community. 

Father  McKenna  was  born  on  Prince  Ed- 
ward Island,  Canada,  on  the  21st  of  Septem- 
ber, 1873,  and  he  received  his  preliminary 
educational  discipline  in  the  rural  schools  of 
his  native  province.  He  remained  with  his 
parents  on  the  home  farm  until  he  was  a  lad 
of  twelve  years,  and  was  then  sent  to  a  Can- 
adian college  in  which  he  prosecuted  his 
studies  of  preparatory  order  as  well  as  along 
higher  academic  lines.  In  1893  he  entered  St. 
Mary's  Seminary  at  Baltimore,  Maryland, 
and  in  this  institution  he  completed  the  philo- 
sophical and  ecclesiastical  studies  that  pre- 
pared him  for  the  priesthood.  In  this  cele- 
brated theological  seminary  he  was  graduated 
in  1896,  and  in  the  same  year  he  was  or- 
dained to  the  priesthood.  Shortly  afterward 
he  was  assigned  to  a  pastoral  charge  at  Fair- 
bury,  Nebraska,  but  after  three  months  of 
service  at  that  place  he  was  transferred  to 
Nebraska  City,  where  he  remained  six  years 
and   gave   effective   pastoral   service,    in   the 


parish  of  St.  Mary's  church.  In  July,  1916, 
Father  McKenna  came  to  Gage  county  and 
assumed  his  present  cliarge,  as  pastor  of  St. 
Mary's  church  at  Odell.  He  has  been  since 
that  time  the  zealous  and  devoted  shepherd  of 
this  fold  and  has  given  earnestly  of  his  time 
and  talents  to  the  furtherance  of  the  spiritual 
and  temporal  wellbeing  of  his  parish. 

CHARLES  D.  KNOX  has  the  best  of  mod- 
ern facilities  in  the  conducting  of  his  success- 
ful livery  and  transfer  business  in  the  city  of 
Beatrice,  and  is  one  of  the  wide-awake  and 
progressive  citizens  of  the  Gage  county  metro- 
polis. He  was  born  in  Belmont  county,  Ohio, 
November  23,  1855,  and  is  a  son  of  Isaac  and 
Jane  (Foster)  Knox,  who  were  bom  and' 
reared  in  West  Virginia,  where  their  marriage 
was  solemnized,  and  who  removed  thence  to 
Belmont  county,  Ohio,  where  the  father  en- 
gaged in  agricultural  pursuits.  In  1865  Isaac 
Knox  removed  with  his  family  to  Illinois,  and 
later  he  became  a  pioneer  settler  in  eastern 
Kansas,  where  he  entered  claim  to  a  quarter 
section  of  land  near  the  present  town  of  Erie. 
There  both  he  and  his  wife  passed  the  re- 
mainder of  their  liyes.  Of  their  ten  children 
the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  the  sixth  in 
order  of  birth  and  of  the  number  six  are  now 
living.  Isaac  Knox  was  a  gallant  soldier  of 
the  Union  in  the  Civil  war,  his  service  cover- 
ing a  period  of  about  three  years ;  his  political 
allegiance  was  given  to  the  Republican  party 
and  both  he  and  his  wife  were  earnest  mem- 
bers of  the  Christian  church.  James  Knox, 
father  of  Isaac,  was  a  native  of  Ireland  and 
was  a  resident  of  West  Virginia  at  the  time 
of  his  death. 

Charles  D.  Knox  acquired  his  early  educa- 
tion in  the  schools  of  Illinois  and  Kansas,  and 
he  has  just  claim  to  pioneer  distinction  in  Ne- 
braska, to  which  state  he  came  in  1873.  He 
settled  in  Seward  county  and  later  took  up  land 
and  engaged  in  farm  enterprise  in  the  south- 
western part  of  the  state.  Still  later  he  en- 
gaged in  the  stage  and  livery  business  at  Grant, 
Perkins  county,  where  he  continued  oper- 
ations in  this  line  of  enterprise  for  ten  years. 
He  then  returned  to  the  eastern  part  of  the 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


471 


state  and  engaged  in  the  livery  business  at 
Seward,  judicial  center  of  the  county  of  that 
name.  Several  years  later  he  established  him- 
self in  the  same  business  at  College  View,  a 
suburb  of  the  city  of  Lincoln,  and  in  1913  he 
came  to  Beatrice  and  purchased  the  livery  and 
transfer  business  which  he  has  since  conducted 
with  marked  success.  That  his  establishment 
is  thoroughly  modern  in  its  equipment  needs 
no  .further  voucher  than  the  statement  that  he 
now  operates  a  number  of  taxicabs  and  other 
motor  vehicles,  his  business  being  the  most  im- 
portant one  of  the  kind  in  the  city.  In  poli- 
tics Mr.  Knox  gives  his  allegiance  to  the  Re- 
publican party,  he  is  affiliated  with  the  Inde- 
pendent Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  and  his  wife 
is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church. 

In  1879  Mr.  Knox  wedded  Miss  Arpha 
Hickman,  who  was  born  at  Newton,  Iowa,  and 
they  have  four  children :  Clarence  B.  is  now 
engaged  in  buying  and  shipping  horses  at 
Beatrice;  Clara  is  the  wife  of  Chas.  B.  Hand, 
of  Seward,  this  state;  Fern  remains  at  the 
parental  home;  and  Eva  is  the  wife  of  Frank 
R.  Shelley,  of  whom  mention  is  made  on  other 
pages  of  this  volume. 

HARVEY  O.  MASON,  owner  of  an  ex- 
cellent farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
in  Section  1,  Lincoln  township,  was  born  in 
Ontario  county,  New  York,  March  21,  1841, 
and  has  been  a  resident  of  Nebraska  since 
1867,  the  year  that  marked  the  admission  of 
the  state  to  the  Union.  His  life  has  been  one 
of  varied  experiences  and  consecutive  pro- 
ductiveness, and  he  stands  forth  as  one  of  the 
sterling  pioneer  citizens  of  Gage  county. 

In  a  little  log  house  of  one  room,  in  Farm- 
ington  township,  Ontario  county.  New  York, 
Harvey  O.  Mason  was  born  March  21,  1841, 
a  son  of  Robinson  and  Mary  (Brandt) 
Mason,  of  whose  six  children  he  was  the 
fourth  in  order  of  birth;  Hannah  E.  and  Sam- 
uel are  deceased ;  George  is  a  resident  of  Fort 
Dodge,  Iowa ;  and  Franklin  and  Byron  are  de- 
ceased. Robinson  Mason  was  a  representative 
of  one  of  the  pioneer  families  of  Ontario 
county.   New   York,   where  he  was  born,   in 


Farmington  township,  in  August,  1813.  He 
continued  his  alliance  with  farm  enterprise  in 
the  old  Empire  state  until  1848,  when  he  re- 
moved with  his  family  to  Chicago,  Illinois, 
the  future  metropolis  having  then  been  little 
more  than  a  straggling  village.  It  was  his  in- 
tention to  buy  land  in  Illinois,  but  his  wife 
found  so  little  appeal  in  the  west  that  he  con- 
sented to  return  to  New  York.  At  Church- 
ville,  that  state,  he  engaged  in  the  general 
merchandise  business,  but  about  a  year  later 
he  removed  with  his  family  to- Wisconsin  and 
engaged  in  the  same  line  of  business  at  Port- 
age City.  Two  years  later  he  became  identi- 
fied with  lumbering  operation  near  Grand 
Rapids,  that  state,  and  in  1856  he  became  a 
pioneer  in  the  same  line  of  enterprise  at 
Chippewa  Falls,  Wisconsin,  in  which  locality 
he  became  the  owner  of  three  thousand  acres 
of  valuable  timber  land.  In  his  lumbering 
camps  he  gave  employment  to  sixty  men,  and 
work  was  continued  night  and  day,  with  con- 
sistent shifting  of  the  working  forces.  In 
1864  Mr.  Mason  returned  to  the  state  of  New 
York  and  purchased  a  large  farm,  besides 
which  he  became  concerned  in  the  oil  develop- 
ment business  in  Pennsylvania.  Finally  he 
established  the  home  of  his  family  in  Monroe 
county.  New  York,  after  which  he  went  to 
South  Pass,  Wyorhing,  and  engaged  in  mining 
for  gold.  He  shipped  in  from  Chicago,  via 
the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  his  ten-stamp 
quartz  mill,  and  from  Bryan,  Wyoming,  he 
hauled  the  mill  across  the  desert  to  South 
Pass  —  one  hundred  and  ten  miles  distant. 
John  C.  Fremont,  the  great  "pathfinder,"  had 
visited  South  Pass  in  1848  and  the  name  was 
given  to  the  point  in  honor  of  the  expedition 
which  he  led  through  this  newly  discovered 
pass  to  the  Pacific  coast.  Mr.  Mason  failed 
to  develop  gold  in  vein  quality,  and  finally 
abandoned  his  undertaking.  The  government 
then  employed  him  to  saw  lumber  for  use  at 
Fort  Stambaugh,  besides  finally  purchasing 
his  power  plant.  Mr.  Mason  eventually  re- 
turned to  his  family  and  he  was  a  resident  of 
Monroe  county.  New  York,  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  in   1885.     His  wife  was  born  in  On- 


472 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


tario  county,   New  York,   in   1815,  and  her 
death  occurred  in  September,  1890. 

Harvey  O.  Mason  attended  school  in  Farm- 
ington  and  Churchville,  New  York,  and  also 
at  Portage,  Wisconsin.  One  of  his  school- 
mates at  Churchville  was  that  noble  and  re- 
Tered  woman,  Miss  Frances  E.  Willard, 
founder  and  president  of  the  Woman's  Chris- 
tian Temperance  Union,  and  their  friendship 
endured  until  this  gracious  gentlewoman 
passed  to  eternal  rest,  in  1898.  Mr.  Mason 
was  associated  with  his  father's  business  activi- 
ties until  1865,  when  he  engaged  in  the  meat 
business  in  the  city  of  Chicago,  where  also  he 
became  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Trade.  In 
1866  he  sold  his  interests  in  Chicago  and  re- 
turned to  the  state  of  New  York,  but  in  the 
following  year  he  came  to  the  new  state  of  Ne- 
braska and  purchased  land  in  Douglas  county, 
three  miles  south  of  Omaha.  In  1870  he  sold 
this  property,  and  thereafter  he  remained  in 
the  state  of  New  York  until  1874,  on  the  9th 
of  May  of  which  year  he  arrived  at  Beatrice, 
the  judicial  center  of  Gage  county.  The  fol- 
lowing day  he  went  by  stage  to  Plymouth,  Jef- 
ferson county,  in  which  locality  he  purchased 
land  and  engaged  in  farming  on  an  extensive 
scale.  In  1887  he  sold  his  property  in  that 
county  and  settled  on  his  present  attractive 
homestead  in  Gage  county.  For  eighteen 
years,  while  continuing  his  association  with  the 
management  of  his  farm,  Mr.  Mason  was  a 
traveling  representative  of  the  Beatrice  Cream- 
ery Company,  one  of  the  foremost  concerns  of 
the  kind  in  the  west.  He  has  stood  exponent 
of  broad-gauged  and  progressive  citizenship, 
has  achieved  independence  and  prosperity 
through  his  own  efforts  and  is  one  of  the  well 
known  and  highly  esteem  citizens  of  Gage 
county.  His  political  allegiance  is  given  to 
the  Republican  party  and  he  and  his  wife  hold 
membership  in  the  Presbyterian  church. 

In  February,  1869,  Mr.  Mason  wedded  Miss 
Jennie  Shindoll,  who  was  bom  in  Racine 
county,  Wisconsin,  in  1857,  a  daughter  of  John 
G.  and  Mary  (Nelson)  Shindoll.  In  conclu- 
sion is  given  brief  record  concerning  the  chil- 
dren of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mason:  Luella  is  a 
popular  teacher  in  the  schools  of  Long  Beach, 


California ;  Byron,  who  is  engaged  in  the  drug 
business  at  Riverton,  Wyoming,  married  Miss 
Mary  Griffeth  of  Chicago,  and  they  have  one 
child ;  George  is  a  successful  ranchman  near 
Blackfoot,  Idaho;  Gertrude  is  the  wife  of  D. 
M.  Bendernagel,  of  Lincoln  township.  Gage 
county;  Harvey  is  a  successful  farmer  in 
Riverside  township ;  Roy  is  a  resident  of  Dead- 
wood,  South  Dakota ;  Elmer  resides  at  River- 
ton,  Wyoming ;  Esther  is  a  trained  nurse  at  the 
Green  Gables  Institute,  Lincoln,  Nebraska: 
Marjorie  remains  at  the  parental  home;  and 
two  children  died  in  infancy. 


HENRY  ALBERT.  — The  attractive  vil- 
lage of  Clatonia  claims  as  one  of  its  honored 
citizens  this  venerable  and  revered  pioneer, 
whose  has  been  a  large  and  beneficent  part  in 
connection  with  the  development  and  upbuild- 
ing of  Gage  county  along  both  civic  and  in- 
dustrial lines.  Mr.  Albert  is  president  of  the 
Clatonia  Bank  and  is  the  owner  of  a  valuable 
landed  estate  of  eight  hundred  acres  in  Sec- 
tions 23,  25,  26,  and  27,  Clatonia  township, 
besides  which  he  has  six  hundred  and  forty 
acres  in  Hand  county,  South  Dakota,  and  a 
fine  farm  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  acres  in 
Allen  county,  Kansas.  As  an  extensive  land- 
holder he  has  done  most  effective  service  in 
connection  with  the  march  of  progress  in  the 
nation's  great  empire  of  the  west. 

Mr.  Albert  was  born  in  the  province  of 
Hanover,  Gennany,  on  the  24th  of  April, 
1837,  and  while  he  has  attained  to  the  age  of 
four  score  years  he  exemplifies  in  his  sound 
mental  and  physical  powers  the  effectiveness 
of  right  living  and  right  thinking  during  the 
course  of  a  signally  active  and  useful  career. 
Mr.  Albert  is  a  son  of  David  and  Katherine 
(Kinker)  Albert,  of  whose  four  children  he 
is  the  firstborn;  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Shaffer,  the 
next  in  order  of  birth,  remains  a  resident  of 
Hanover,  Germany ;  Eberhart  has  been  a  resi- 
dent of  Gage  county  since  1874  and  is  now 
living  retired  in  the  village  of  Clatonia;  and 
Katherine,  who  is  the  widow  of  August 
Struckmeier,  likewise  maintains  her  home  in 
this  village,,  her  husband  having  been  another 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA  473 


Henry  Albert 


474 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


of  the  honored  pioneer  setters  of  Clatonia 
township. 

David  Albert  continued  his  residence  in  the 
Hanovarian  fatherland  until  1874,  when,  in 
company  with  his  wife,  he  came  to  America, 
to  which  country  three  of  their  children  had 
preceded  them,  and  they  gained  likewise  a 
pioneer  distinction  by  joining  their  two  sons 
and  one  daughter  in  Gage  county,  the  closing 
years  of  their  earnest  and  upright  lives  hav- 
ing here  been  passed  in  the  home  of  their 
daughter,  Mrs.  Stuckmeier. 

Henry  Albert  is  indebted  to  the  excellent 
schools  of  his  native  land  for  his  early  educa- 
tional discipline,  and  he  was  but  fifteen  years 
of  age  when  his  father  provided  him  with 
sufficient  funds  to  pay  the  cost  of  the  ocean 
voyage.  It  was  in  the  year  1852  that  the 
United  States  thus  gained  this  youthful  immi- 
grant. Mr.  Albert  landed  in  the  port  of  the 
national  metropolis  and  soon  afterward  made 
his  way  to  Ohio,  where  he  turned  his  atten- 
tion to  the  vocation  of  teaming  and  where  he 
continued  his  residence  until  he  manifested 
his  unbounded  and  insistent  loyalty  to  the 
country  of  his  adoption  by  going  forth  as  a 
soldier  of  the  Union  in  the  Civil  war.  In  re- 
sponse to  President  Lincoln's  first  call  for  vol- 
unteers, he  enlisted,  July  15,  1861,  at  Cincin- 
nati, as  a  private  in  Company  M,  Second 
United  States  Artillery,  with  which  gallant 
command  he  saw  wide  and  varied  campaign 
service  in  Virginia,  North  Carolina  and  other 
sections  on  which  were  staged  activities  inci- 
dental to  the  great  conflict  between  the  north 
and  the  south.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
famous  brigade  commanded  by  General  Cus- 
ter, who  later  sacrificed  his  life  in  conflict 
with  the  Indians  in  Montana,  and  he  partici- 
pated in  many  engagements,  including  a  good- 
ly number  of  the  important  and  sanguinary 
battles  marking  the  progress  of  the  war.  His 
military  career  in  the  field  extended  from 
July  15,  1861,  until  he  received  his  honorable 
discharge  at  Light  House  Point,  Virginia,  on 
the  16th  of  July,  1864,  at  which  time  he  was 
near  the  spot  on  which,  about  one  year  later. 
General  Lee  made  his  historic  surrender.  It 
may  well  be  understood  that  Mr.  Albert  has 


continued  to  feel  vital  interest  in  his  old  com- 
rades and  that  he  signalizes  the  same  through 
his  active  affiliation  with  the  Grand  Army  of 
the  Republic,  as  a  member  of  which  he  was 
one  of  the  organizers  of  Rollins  Post,  No.  35, 
at  Beatrice,  Nebraska,  of  which  he  served  as 
senior  vice-commander,  his  present  affiliation 
being  with  the  post  in  the  city  of  Lincoln. 

After  the  close  of  his  military  career  Mr. 
Albert  continued  his  residence  in  Ohio  until 
the  spring  of  1865,  when  he  came  to  Nebras- 
ka Territory  and  numbered  himself  among 
the  early  pioneer  settlers  of  Nebraska  City, 
Otoe  county.  He  arrived  in  Gage  county  on 
the  1st  of  April,  1866,  and  soon  afterward 
entered  claim  to  a  homestead  of  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres,  in  what  is  now  Clatonia 
township.  This  ambitious  young  veteran  of 
the  Civil  war  was  fertile  in  resources  and  ex- 
pedients, as  befits  one  who  essays  the  burdens 
and  responsibilities  of  a  pioneer,  and  in  insti- 
tuting the  improvement  of  his  land  he  pur- 
chased four  yoke  of  oxen  at  Nebraska  City, 
from  which  point  he  drove  them  overland  to 
his  embryonic  farm,  fully  seventy-five  miles 
distant.  With  these  faithful  but  plodding 
animals  Mr.  Albert  broke  about  one  hundred 
acres  of  his  land,  and  in  the  meanwhile  he 
constructed  a  rude  "dugout"  as  a  domicile  for 
himself  and  his  devoted  young  wife,  who 
proved  his  true  helpmeet  in  these  days  of 
struggle  and  hardship.  It  may  be  mentioned 
also  that  he  assisted  in  the  construction  of  the 
little  dugout  which  was  placed  in  commission 
as  the  first  schoolhouse  in  Clatonia  township. 
The  passing  years  rewarded  the  earnest  and 
indefatigable  activities  of  Mr.  Albert  with 
cumulative  success  and  prosperity  and  he 
finally  developed  his  old  homestead  into  one 
of  the  fine  farms  of  this  section  of  the  state. 
He  erected  on  the  old  homestead  modern 
buildings,  besides  making  other  improvements 
of  the  best  order,  and  there  he  continued  to  re- 
side for  the  long  period  of  thirty-eight  years, 
in  the  meanwhile  having  gained  recognition 
as  one  of  the  most  substantial  and  influential 
citizens  of  the  county. 

In  1912  Mr.  Albert  sundered  the  gracious 
associations  of  the  old  farm  and  removed  to 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


475 


the  village  of  Clatonia,  where,  in  a  commo- 
dious and  modem  home  known  for  its  gener- 
ous hospitality,  he  is  now  living  in  semi-retire- 
ment, though  his  important  capitalistic  and 
landed  interests  make  imperative  demands 
upon  much  of  his  time  and  attention.  He 
owns  one-third  of  the  stock  of  the  Clatonia 
Bank,  of  which  he  has  been  president  since 
1894,  and  his  mature  judgment  and  conserva- 
tive policies  have  made  this  institution  a  valu- 
able factor  in  the  furtherance  of  the  civic  and 
material  interests  of  this  section  of  the  county. 

In  1876  Mr.  Albert  was  elected  a  member 
of  the  board  of  county  commissioners,  and 
incidental  to  his  efifective  service  in  this  im- 
portant office  he  was  a  member  of  the  com- 
mittee which  had  the  supervision  of  matters 
pertaining  to  the  erection  of  the  county  court 
house,  as  well  as  that  in  charge  of  the  building 
of  the  bridge  across  the  river  on  Court  street. 
He  served  six  years  as  county  commissioner 
and  did  much  to  advance  public  improvements 
of  an  enduring  order  as  well  as  to  provide  for 
the  county  efifective  governmental  policies. 
In  politics  Mr.  Albert  has  never  wavered  in 
his  allegiance  to  the  Repubican  party,  and  he 
reverts  with  satisfaction  to  the  fact  that  his 
first  presidential  vote  was  cast  for  Abraham 
Lincoln.  In  1901-02  he  represented  Gage 
county  in  the  state  legislature,  where  he  made 
his  influence  distinctly  felt  in  the  promotion 
of  wise  legislation,  though  he  was  of  the  mi- 
nority forces  in  that  signally  Populistic  session 
of  the  legislature.  He  has  served  as  mayor 
of  Clatonia,  was  one  of  the  organizers  and 
original  members  of  the  school  board  of  this 
village,  and  has  given  his  service  in  other  vil- 
lage offices.  Mr.  Albert  is  an  active  member 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  of  Cla- 
tonia and  contributes  liberally  to  the  support 
of  the  various  departments  of  its  work. 

At  Portsmouth,  Ohio,  on  the  9th  of  April, 
1865,  was  solemnized  the  marriage  of  Mr. 
Albert  to  Miss  Emma  Steinmeyer,  who  was 
born  and  reared  in  Germany  and  who  became 
a  resident  of  Ohio  soon  after  coming  to  the 
United  States.  Mrs.  Albert  shared  with  her 
husband  in  the  tension  incidental  to  pioneer 
life  in  Nebraska  and  lived  to  enjoy  the  gra- 


cious rewards  that  eventually  attended  their 
endeavors.  She  was  summoned  to  the  life 
eternal  on  the  14th  of  December,  1909,  at  the 
age  of  sixty-three  years,  secure  in  the  affec- 
tionate regard  of  all  who  knew  her.  She  was 
a  devout  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church  and  exemplified  her  faith  in  her  daily 
life  and  her  association  with  others.  Of  the 
ten  children  born  of  this  union  brief  record 
is  here  consistently  given:  Anna  died  when 
about  twenty  years  of  age ;  Ella  is  the  wife  of 
Frank  W.  Jones,  of  Clatonia,  who  is  indi- 
vidually mentioned  on  other  pages  of  this 
work ;  John  died  at  the  age  of  about  thirty- 
three  years ;  Frank  resides  upon  and  has  ac- 
tive charge  of  the  old  homestead  farm  of  his 
father  and  concerning  him  specific  mention 
is  made  in  this  volume;  Mrs.  Minnie  Lat- 
shaw  and  her  husband  reside  at  Chetek,  Bar- 
ron county,  Wisconsin ;  Benjamin  is  a  resi- 
dent of  Clatonia  township  and  a  sketch  of  his 
career  appears  on  other  pages ;  Augusta  is  the 
wife  of  J.  W.  Lydick,  of  Clatonia;  Daniel  is 
a  resident  of  Clatonia  township  and  is  repre- 
sented individually  elsewhere  in  this  publi- 
cation ;  Alma  became  the  wife  of  Roy  Barker 
and  is  now  deceased;  and  Clara  is  the  wife 
of  Edward  Chittenden,  who  is  an  executive 
in  the  Clatonia  Bank. 

On  the  12th  of  July,  1911,  Mr.  Albert  con- 
tracted a  second  marriage,  when  Mrs.  Au- 
gusta Kroff  became  his  wife.  She  was  born 
and  reared  in  Lippe,  Germany.  By  her  first 
marriage  she  became  the  mother  of  six  chil- 
dren, all  of  whom  are  living.  She  was  a  resi- 
dent of  Lincoln,  Nebraska,  at  the  time  of  her 
marriage  to  Mr.  Albert,  and  she  is  the  gra- 
cious and  popular  chatelaine  of  their  pleasant 
home  at  Clatonia. 

ELMER  L.  HEVELONE.  —  The  efficient 
and  popular  secretar\'  of  the  State  Savings  & 
Loan  Association  of  Beatrice  became  a  resi- 
dent of  Gage  county  when  he  was  a  lad  of  six 
years,  and  that  in  his  character  and  achieve- 
ment he  has  proved  fully  equipped  for  keeping 
pace  with  the  march  of  development  and  pro- 
gress in  this  favored  commonwealth  is  attested 
by  the  fact  that  he  has  been  called  upon  to 


476 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


serve  in  various  positions  of  distinctive  re- 
sponsibility and  trust,  including  that  of  treas- 
urer of  Gage  county.  He  has  been  in  the  most 
significant  sense  the  builder  of  the  ladder  on 
which  he  has  risen  to  the  plane  of  definite  suc- 
cess and  prestige,  and  his  activities  have  been 
varied,  though  each  stage  of  his  career  has 
been  marked  by  his  consecutive  advancement, 
the  while  he  has  so  ordered  his  course  as  to 
merit  and  retain  the  inviolable  confidence  and 
esteem  of  all  with  whom  he  has  come  in  con- 
tact in  the  varied  relations  of  life. 

Mr.  Hevelone,  though  imbued  with  the  ut- 
most loyalty  to  Nebraska  and  fully  appreci- 
ative of  its  manifold  attractions  and  advant- 
ages, takes  a  due  measure  of  satisfaction  in  re- 
verting to  the  old  Buckeye  state  as  the  place 
of  his  nativity, — perhaps  in  consonance  with 
the  humorous  paraphrase  which  Hon.  Chaun- 
cey  M.  Depew  once  made  of  a  familiar  quota- 
tion, his  version  being  as  follows :  "Some  men 
are  born  great;  some  achieve  greatness,  and 
some  are  born  in  Ohio."  Mr.  Hevelone  was 
born  in  Seneca  county,  Ohio,  on  the  12th  of 
May,  1874,  and  is  a  son  of  Sylvester  and 
Cynthia  C.  (Wonder)  Hevelone,  the  former 
of  whom  was  born  in  Pennsylvania  and  the 
latter  in  Ohio.  Sylvester  Hevelone  was  born 
on  the  28th  of  December,  1847,  and  was  young 
at  the  time  of  the  family  removal  from 
Pennsylvania  to  Ohio,  where  his  marriage  was 
later  solemnized.  In  the  climacteric  period  of 
the  Civil  war  he  manifested  his  intrinsic  pa- 
triotism by  tendering  his  services  in  defense 
of  the  Union.  In  1864  he  enlisted  as  a  mem- 
ber of  Company  A,  Fifty-fifth  Ohio  Volunteer 
Infantry,  and  with  this  gallant  command  he 
continued  in  active  service  until  the  close  of 
the  war.  Mr.  Hevelone  lived  up  to  the  full 
tension  of  the  great  conflict  between  the  north 
and  the  south,  participated  in  numerous  en- 
gagements of  important  order  and  as  a  soldier 
made  a  record  that  shall  ever  reflect  honor  and 
distinction  upon  his  name  and  memory.  In 
later  years  he  vitalized  the  more  gracious 
associations  of  his  military  career  by  retaining 
active  afUliation  with  the  Grand  Army  of  the 
Republic.  His  political  allegiance  was  given 
to  the  Republican  party  and  both  he  and  his 


wife  held  membership  in  the  Evangelical 
church. 

After  the  close  of  the  Civil  war  Sylvester 
Hevelone  continued  his  association  with  agri- 
cultural pursuits  in  C)hio  until  1880,  when  he 
came  with  his  family  to  Nebraska  and  settled 
in  Gage  county,  where  he  established  the  fam- 
ily home  on  a  farm  owned  by  his  father-in-law, 
George  Wonder,  in  Blue  Springs  township, 
near  the  present  thriving  village  of  Blue 
Springs.  He  marked  the  passing  years  with 
earnest  and  well  directed  endeavor  and  became 
one  of  the  substantial  farmers  and  influential 
citizens  of  his  township.  Both  he  and  his 
wife  passed  the  closing  years  of  their  lives  at 
Blue  Springs,  where  his  deatli  occurred  in  the 
year  1897  and  where  she  was  summoned  to 
the  life  eternal  in  1908.  They  are  survived 
by  eight  children,  concerning  whom  brief  men- 
tion may  consistently  be  made  at  this  juncture : 
George  D.  resides  at  Blue  Springs  and  is  a 
farmer  by  occupation ;  Samuel  J.  is  a  success- 
ful farmer  in  Riverside  township,  this  county ; 
Sidney  F.  is  engaged  in  the  merchandise  busi- 
ness at  Beatrice,  the  county  seat ;  Ralph  R.,  of 
Alma,  Harlan  county,  is  a  farmer  by  vocation  : 
Emma  P.  is  the  wife  of  David  I.  Ault,  of  Alma 
Harlan  county;  Eva  P.  is  the  wife  of  Frank 
Hatch,  of  Greeley,  Colorado ;  Alice  T.  is  the 
wife  of  Abraham  L.  Bowers,  of  Edinburg, 
Texas  ;  and  Elmer  L..  the  immediate  subject 
of  this  review,  was  the  first  in  order  of  birth. 

Reared  to  the  sturdy  discipline  of  a  semi- 
pioneer  farm,  Elmer  L.  Hevelone  acquired  his 
early  education  in  the  excellent  public  schools 
of  Gage  county,  and  in  1890  he  completed  an 
efl'ective  course  in  the  Beatrice  Business  Col- 
lege. As  a  boy  and  youth  he  had  found  both 
diversion  and  valuable  experience  by  working 
about  the  depot  of  the  Chicago,  Burlington  & 
Quincy  Railroad  at  Blue  Springs,  and  there  he 
learned  efficiently  the  art  of  telegraphy.  As  a 
skillful  operator  he  was  given  employment  by 
the  railroad  company  mentioned,  and  for  a 
time  he  was  in  service  at  Atchison,  Kansas. 
Later  he  became  station  agent  for  the  same 
company  at  Kesterson,  Jefiferson  county,  Ne- 
braska, where  he  ser^'ed  in  this  capacity  until 
1899,  when  he  was  transferred  to  a  similar 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


477 


post  in  the  village  of  Filley,  Gage  county, 
where  he  remained  thus  engaged  until  1901. 
For  eighteen  months  thereafter  he  gave  his 
attention  to  the  buying  and  shipping  of  grain, 
with  headquarters  at  Tecumseh,  Johnson 
county,  and  from  1903  to  1906  he  was  Bur- 
lington station  agent  at  Blue  Springs,  near  the 
old  homestead  farm. 

In  the  year  1906  Mr.  Hevelone  was  ap- 
pointed deputy  treasurer  of  Gage  county, 
under  the  administration  of  Julian  A.  Barn- 
ard, and  of  this  position  he  continued  the  in- 
cumbent four  years.  His  eiificiency  and  his 
strong  hold  upon  popular  confidence  and  good 
will  then  marked  him  as  a  logical  candidate 
for  the  office  of  county  treasurer,  and  to  this 
responsible  position  he  was  elected  in  1910, 
as  the  candidate  on  the  Republican  ticket.  He 
received  at  the  polls  a  most  gratifying  sup- 
port, and  the  high  estimate  placed  upon  his 
administration  was  shown  in  his  re-election 
at  the  close  of  his  first  term,  without  opposi- 
tion in  either  political  party.  By  a  change  in 
the  state  laws  during  his  second  term  the  ad- 
justment was  such  that  instead  of  serving  for 
a  total  of  four  years,  the  regular  two  terms 
of  the  previous  regulation,  he  retained  the 
office  for  five  consecutive  years.  His  ability 
in  the  management  of  the  fiscal  affairs  of  the 
county  marked  Mr.  Hevelone  as  a  man  well 
fortified  for  the  administration  of  financial 
business  of  a  general  order,  and  after  his  re- 
tirement from  the  office  of  county  treasurer 
he  was  chosen  president  of  the  Farmers  & 
Merchants   Bank  at  Wymore,  this  county. 

Of  this  position  he  continued  in  tenure  two 
years,  and  in  1914  he  became  a  stockholder 
and  director  of  the  State  Savings  &  Loan 
Association  of  Beatrice,  which  is  recognized 
as  one  of  the  strong,  well  ordered  and  repre- 
sentative financial  institutions  of  southeastern 
Nebraska.  In  February,  1917,  Mr.  Hevelone 
was  elected  secretary  of  this  banking  corpora- 
tion and  as  such  he  has  the  active  adminis- 
tration of  its  large  and  substantial  business, 
with  incidental  status  as  one  of  the  efficient 
and  representative  figures  in  financial  circles 
in  this  part  of  the  state.  The  State  Savings 
&  Loan  Association  of  Beatrice  was  organized 


and  incorporated  in  the  year  1890  and  it  has 
proved  a  valuable  conservator  of  civic  and 
material  progress  and  prosperity  in  Gage 
county.  Of  this  institution  Albertus  H.  Kidd, 
of  Beatrice,  is  president ;  Thomas  J.  Chides- 
ter,  of  Western,  Saline  county,  is  vice-presi- 
dent, Mr.  Hevelone  being  its  secretary,  as  al- 
ready noted,  and  Louis  Graff  holding  the  of- 
fice of  treasurer.  The  assets  of  the  institu- 
tion are  $1,700,000.00  and  it  gives  special  at- 
tention to  the  handling  of  savings  accounts 
and  to  assisting  in  the  purchasing  and  improv- 
ing of  real  estate. 

Mr.  Hevelone,  as  intimated  in  a  preceding 
paragraph,  is  a  veritable  stalwart  in  the  local 
camp  of  the  Republican  party  and  as  a  citizen 
he  stands  exponent  of  the  loyalty  and  public 
spirit  that  are  potent  in  the  furtherance  of  the 
general  wellbeing  of  the  community.  He  is 
one  of  the  active  and  valued  members  of  the 
Beatrice  Commercial  Club  and  served  two 
years  as  its  president.  He  is  affiliated  with 
the  Masonic  fraternity,  the  Eastern  Star,  the 
Benevolent  &  Protective  Order  of  Elks  and 
the  Royal  Highlanders.  Both  he  and  his  wife 
hold  membership  in  the  Christian  church  in 
their  home  city  and  are  popular  factors  in  the 
representative  social  life  of  the  community. 

On  February  23,  1898,  was  solemnized  the 
marriage  of  Mr.  Hevelone  to  Miss  Anna  M. 
McVey,  who  was  bom  in  the  state  of  Mis- 
souri a  daughter  of  Solomon  and  Lean  (Kib- 
ler)  McVey,  the  former  of  whom  passed  the 
latter  years  of  his  life  in  Gage  county,  Ne- 
braska, and  Republic  county,  Kansas,  his 
widow  being  now  a  resident  of  Blue  Springs. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hevelone  have  one  child  — 
Maurice  Sylvester,  born  October  23,  1905,  at 
Blue  Springs. 

JOSEPH  MANGUS,  who  has  figured  as  a 
successful  farmer  and  stockman  in  Gage 
county,  was  born  in  Macoupin  county,  Illi- 
nois, August  17,  1871,  and  is  a  son  of  Wil- 
liam and  Catherine  (Garst)  Mangus,  a  rec- 
ord of  whom  appears  elsewhere  in  this  vol- 
ume. 

Joseph  Mangus  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools  of  Illinois  and  attended  school  for  a 


478 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


short  time  after  coming  to  Nebraska.  He 
came  to  Gage  county  with  his  parents  in 
1881.  He  has  always  followed  farming,  be- 
ginning by  renting  land  and  later  buying  one 
hundred  and  twenty  acres  in  Sherman  town- 
ship. After  operating  this  for  a  few  years  he 
purchased  eighty  acres  on  Section  33,  Rock- 
ford  township,  where  he  estabhshed  his  home. 
There  were  no  buildings  on  this  farm  when 
Mr.  Mangus  bought  it,  with  the  exception  of 
a  small  shack.  Mr.  Mangus  greatly  improved 
this  farm,  upon  which  he  erected  a  fine  two- 
story  house,  a  good  modem  barn,  and  other 
buildings. 

On  September  2,  1915,  Mr.  Mangus  was 
united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Margaret  Hutch- 
inson, daughter  of  James  and  Frances 
(Combs)  Hutchinson,  who  were  born  in 
Illinois  and  who  removed  to  Kansas  in  1882. 
Mr.  Hutchinson  now  makes  his  home  in  Mis- 
souri, his  wife  having  passed  away  several 
years  ago. 

Joseph  Mangus  and  wife  are  members  of 
the  Congregational  church.  Mr.  Mangus  is 
independent  in  politics  and  has  never  desired 
or  held  public  office,  thinking  it  better  to  de- 
vote his  entire  time  and  energy  to  his  farm 
and  the  raising  and  feeding  of  live  stock,  in 
which  line  of  enterprise  he  has  been  success- 
ful. 

WALTER  H.  DeBOLT.  — If  persever- 
ance, self-reliance  and  worthy  purpose  consti- 
tute the  genius  of  success,  then  there  is  no 
need  for  indirection  or  puzzling  in  determining 
the  forces  that  have  been  brought  to  bear  in 
gaining  advancement  for  Mr.  DeBolt,  who  has 
depended  entirely  upon  his  own  ability  and 
resources  in  making  his  way  in  the  world,  who 
has  shown  himself  a  master  of  expedients  and 
who  has  pressed  steadily  forward  to  the  goal 
of  ambition.  He  is  now  one  of  the  stock- 
holders of  the  John  H.  von  Steen  Company, 
one  of  the  leading  wholesale  concerns  of 
Beatrice,  Nebraska,  and  has  an  active  part  in 
directing  the  executive  policies  and  general 
business  of  this  representative  corporation, 
which  is  engaged  in  the  wholesale  and  retail 
lumlier  business. 


Mr.  DeBolt  can  well  claim  to  be  intrinsically 
an  American  of  Americans,  as  he  is  a  scion  of 
a  family  that  was  founded  in  this  country- 
prior  to  the  war  of  the  Revolution.  In  1772 
three  brothers,  William,  George  and  Henry 
DeBolt,  each  bearing  a  personal  name  spelled 
according  to  the  French  method  and  the 
original  French  surname  of  DeBaul,  immi- 
grated from  the  fair  French  province  of  Al- 
sace—the present  stage  of  much  of  the 
frightful  military  operations  incidental  to  the 
great  European  war  —  to  America,  little  wot- 
ting that  more  than  two  centuries  later  the 
land  of  promise  to  which  they  thus  made  their 
way  would  become  involved  in  warfare  in 
their  native  province,  to  which  William  and 
Henry  finally  returned,  the  brother  George 
remaining  to  perpetuate  the  family  name  and 
honors  in  the  new  world  and  to  become  the 
worthy  ancestor  from  whom  the  subject  of 
this  review  traces  his  lineal  descent,  the  pre- 
sumption being  that  this  founder  of  the  fam- 
ily in  America  established  his- residence  in  the 
historic  Old  Dominion  —  Virginia.  Isaac 
DeBolt,  grandfather  of  him  whose  name 
initiates  this  article,  was  born  and  reared  in 
Ohio,  and  thus  is  given  assurance  that  his 
parents  were  numbered  among  the  pioneer 
settlers  of  the  Buckeye  commonwealth. 

Walter  H.  DeBolt  was  born  at  Edinburg, 
Johnson  county,  Indiana,  on  the  27th  of  July, 
1860,  and  is  a  son  of  George  and  Mary 
(Webb)  DeBolt,  both  natives  of  Indiana, 
where  their  marriage  was  solemnized.  In 
1866  George  DeBolt  removed  with  his  family 
to  Sterling,  Illinois,  but  in  the  following  year 
he  numbered  himself  among  the  pioneers  of 
Moulton,  Appanoose  county,  Iowa.  In  the 
spring  of  1878,  with  team  and  wagon,  he  made 
the  overland  journey  from  the  old  home  in 
Iowa  to  the  state  of  Nebraska,  and  became 
one  of  the  early  settlers  of  the  village  of 
Utica,  Seward  county,  where  he  opened  a  shop 
for  the  repairing  of  wagons  and  where  he 
maintained  his  home  for  many  years.  He 
passed  the  closing  period  of  his  life  at  St. 
Petersburg,  Florida,  where  he  died  at  the  age 
of  eighty-three  years,  his  wife  having  been 
seventy-seven  years  of  age  when  she  was  sum- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


479 


nioned  to  eternal   rest   and  her  death  having 
occurred  at  Seward,  Nebraska. 

Walter  H.  DeBolt  was  a  lad  of  about  seven 
years  at  the  time  when  the  family  home  was 
established  in  Appanoose  county,  Iowa,  where 
he  early  became  inured  to  active  labor  and 
responsibility,  the  while  he  made  the  best  use 
of  the  educational  advantages  afforded  him  in 
the  public  schools.  Through  his  own  re- 
sources Mr.  DeBolt  defrayed  the  expenses  of 
his  course  in  the  Iowa  Normal  School  at 
Moulton,  and  it  is  a  matter  of  record  that  he 
attended  extra  classes  three  evenings  a  week, 
under  the  instruction  of  Mrs.  H.  M.  Bushnell, 
who  now  resides  in  the  city  of  Lincoln,  Ne- 
braska. He  applied  himself  diligently  to 
study  during  the  midnight  hours,  found  em- 
ployment through  the  day  and  bent  every 
energy  to  bringing  himself  up  to  the  standard 
of  his  class,  in  which  he  was  three  years  be- 
hind in  his  studies,  owing  to  the  conditions 
under  which  he  applied  himself.  Of  his  in- 
domitable perseverance  and  his  marked  mental 
receptiveness  no  further  voucher  need  be 
asked  than  the  statement  that  he  made  good 
on  all  his  studies,  though  covering  three  years' 
work  in  one,  and  was  triumphantly  gradu- 
ated in  regular  order  with  his  class,  that  of 
1877,  besides  having  had  the  distinction  of 
delivering  the  valedictory  address. 

Reinforced  with  the  academic  honors  thus 
sturdily  won,  Mr.  DeBolt  set  forth,  in  1878, 
to  join  his  parents  in  Seward  county,  Ne- 
braska. Upon  his  arrival  in  Seward  county 
he  found  employment  at  farm  work,  and 
though  he  had  received  absolutely  no  expe- 
rience in  the  job  assigned  to  him,  he  contrived, 
with  much  mortification  of  the  flesh,  as  we 
may  well  imagine,  to  turn  out  his  share  of 
work  in  the  binding  of  grain  in  the  trail  of 
a  Marsh  han'ester.  In  the  spring  of  1880 
Mr.  DeBolt  went  to  Montana,  and  he  passed 
four  years  moving  about  in  that  frontier  sec- 
tion of  the  country.  He  then  returned  to  Ne- 
braska, where  for  several  years  he  was  identi- 
fied with  the  lumber  business,  a  portion  of 
the  time  in  the  position  of  auditor  for  the 
Searle  &  Chapin  Lumber  Company,  of  Lin- 
coln.    In   1909  he  came  to  Beatrice,   still   in 


the  employ  of  the  company  mentioned,  and 
from  this  center  he  continued  his  activities  as 
auditor  until  he  accepted  a  place  as  traveling 
salesman  for  the  John  H.  von  Steen  Com- 
pany. In  this  capacity  he  made  an  admirable 
record  of  productive  business  and  finally  he 
became  a  stockholder  of  the  company,  be- 
sides which  he  has  served  as  a  member  of  its 
directorate  since  1914.  He  now  remains  at 
the  headquarters  of  the  company  and  is  ac- 
tively identified  with  the  general  management 
of  its  extensive  business.  Mr.  DeBolt  has 
lost  none  of  his  characteristic  nerve  and 
energy  and  holds  prestige  not  only  as  one  of 
the  representative  business  men  of  the  Gage 
county  metropolis  and  judicial  center  but  also 
as  a  progressive  and  wide-awake  citizen  who 
is  always  ready  to  lend  his  influence  and  co- 
operation in  the  furtherance  of  measures  for 
the  general  good  of  the  community.  He  has 
not  been  assailed  by  ambition  for  political  of- 
fice but  has  never  swerved  in  his  allegiance  to 
the  cause  of  the  Democratic  party. 

In  1888  was  solemnized  the  marriage  of  Mr. 
DeBolt  to  Miss  Alice  Corkens,  daughter  of 
James  Corkens,  of  Beaver  Crossing,  Seward 
county,  and  they  are  popular  factors  in  the 
social  life  of  their  home  city :  they  have  no 
children. 


SILAS  BRYSON.  — No  one  who  knows 
the  facts  concerning  the  early  settlement  of 
Gage  and  Johnson  counties  would  consider 
the  history  of  these  counties  complete  were 
the  story  of  the  Br)'son  family  omitted  from 
its  pages.  Silas  Bryson  was  one  of  the  great- 
est and  noblest  of  the  early  pioneers  of  this 
vicinity. 

Silas  Bryson  was  born  June  20,  1835,  in 
Athens  county,  Ohio.  There  he  spent  his  boy- 
hood days  and  he  completed  his  education  at 
the  Zanesville  Academy.  On  April  12,  1855, 
he  was  united  in  marriage  to  Clarinda 
Young,  of  Morgan  county,  Ohio.  To  this 
union  were  born  fifteen  children,  twelve  of 
whom  are  still  living  at  the  opening  of  the 
year  1918. 

In  April,  1862,  the  Bryson  family  came  to 
Nebraska  Territor}-  and  settled  in  what  is  now 


480 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


481 


Johnson  county,  near  the  Bents  Mills.  Here 
they  remained  four  years  and  they  removed 
to  Gage  county  and  estabished  their  home 
near  Adams,  where  Silas  Bryson  continued 
to  reside  until  the  time  of  his  death.  Shortly 
after  coming  to  Nebraska  the  family  had  rea- 
son to  be  considerably  in  fear  of  the  Indians, 
and  on  one  occasion  word  came  of  an  In- 
dian uprising.  All  of  the  neighbors  for  miles 
around  banded  together  and  started  for  Ne- 
braska City,  sixty  miles  distant.  Terrible  rain 
storms  came  on,  all  the  bedding  became 
soaked,  the  victuals  were  ruined  and  the  set- 
tlers were  in  dire  distress.  The  third  morn- 
ing JNIother  Bryson  arose  in  camp  and  an- 
nounced her  intentions  of  going  back  home. 
She  said,  "This  style  of  living  is  worse  than 
the  Indians,  and  I  am  going  back."  Her 
courage  inspired  the  crowd  and  by  night  the 
next  day  all  arrived  at  home  and  found  that 
their  habitations  had  not  been  disturbed  or 
their  property  molested.  One  winter  when 
meat  was  scarce  Father  Bryson  saw  a  fine 
big  turkey  coming  into  the  clearing  from  the 
woods,  and  running  back  for  his  gun  he  soon 
brought  the  turkey  down.  This  was  the  day 
before  Christmas,  and  there  was  surely  holi- 
day rejoicing  in  the  pioneer  home.  The  older 
children  have  often  said,  "It  was  the  finest 
Christmas  dinner  we  ever  had,  and  no  turkey 
since  has  tasted  half  so  good." 

Mr.  Bryson  was  one  of  the  early  pioneer 
school  teachers  of  Gage  and  Johnson  coun- 
ties, where  he  spent  thirty-five  years  in  the 
noble  work  of  moulding  the  characters  of 
Nebraska  boys  and  girls.  He  organized  the 
Adams  Methodist  Episcopal  Sunday  School 
and  for  seventeen  years  was  its  superinten- 
dent. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bryson  were  charter 
members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church 
of  Adams.  Their  oldest  grandson.  Dr.  Roy 
D.  Brj'son,  is  one  of  the  Nebraska  surgeons  in 
the  war  and  is  now  in  France.  Three  other 
grandsons,  Edgar  Evans,  Horace  Patch,  and 
Frank  L.  Brj^son,  and  a  grand-son-in-law, 
James  F.  Brown,  also  are  in  the  government 
service  in  connection  with  the  great  world 
war.  Mrs.  W.  W.  Barnhouse,  eldest  daughter 
of    Mr.    and    Mrs.    Silas    Bryson,    lives    at 


Wheeler,  Kansas ;  William  E.  makes  his  home 
at  University  Place,  Nebraska;  three  daugh- 
ters, Mrs.  George  Horrum,  Mrs.  Viola  Shep- 
pard,  and  Mrs.  Mollie  Barmore,  live  at  Adams, 
Gage  county,  as  do  also  the  sons  David  F.,  the 
well-known  auctioneer,  and  John  A. ;  one 
daughter,  Mrs.  Jennie  Patch,  lives  at  Canby, 
Oregon;  Mrs.  Ruth  Bassett  lives  at  Bayard, 
Nebraska ;  S.  Y.  resides  at  Grand  Island,  this 
state ;  George  lives  at  Arcadia,  Nebraska ;  and 
another  daughter,  Mrs.  Gertrude  Evans,  lives 
at  Lincoln,  Nebraska's  capital  city. 

Although  the  members  of  this  good  family 
are  much  scattered,  yet  their  influence  is  still 
felt  throughout  Gage  county.  Mother  Bryson 
passed  to  her  reward  on  April  2,  1909,  and 
Father  Bryson  remained  with  us  until  No- 
vember 10,  1915,  when  he  answered  the  sum- 
mons of  his  Maker  and  joined  the  heavenly 
assembly  around  the  throne  of  God. 

JAMES  W.  SHELLEY,  whose  mental, 
moral,  and  physical  powers  well  fitted  him  for 
enduring  the  trials  and  responsibilities  of  pio- 
neer life  and  who  marked  the  passing  years 
with  large  and  worthy  achievement,  came  to 
Gage  county  in  the  territorial  epoch  of  Ne- 
braska history  and  here  played  a  prominent 
and  influential  part  in  connection  with  civic 
and  material  development  and  progress.  He 
was  one  of  the  honored  pioneer  citizens  of 
the  county  at  the  time  of  his  death,  which  oc- 
curred October  24,  1908,  and  this  history 
properly  pays  a  specific  tribute  to  his  memory. 

Mr.  Shelley  was  born  in  Derbyshire,  Eng- 
land, February  5,  1843,  a  son  of  Francis  and 
Frances  (Hollingsworth)  Shelley,  who,  in 
1SS5,  came  with  their  family  to  the  United 
States  and  established  a  home  in  Portage 
county,  Wisconsin,  in  which  state  they  re- 
mained until  1861,  when  they  came  to  Ne- 
braska Territory  and  numbered  themselves 
among  the  very  early  settlers  of  Rockford 
township.  Though  Francis  Shelley  had  fol- 
lowed in  his  native  land  the  trade  of  shoe- 
maker he  showed  versatility  and  adaptability 
when  he  became  a  pioneer  farmer  in  Gage 
county,  and  he  developed  a  good  farm  in  the 
township  mentioned.     On  the  old  homestead, 


482 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


in  Section  19,  he  passed  the  remainder  of  his 
Hfe,  his  death  having  occurred  May  25,  1884, 
at  which  time  he  was  seventy-two  years  of 
age:  his  widow  survived  him  by  nearly  a 
quarter  of  a  century  and  passed  to  the  life 
eternal  in  1897,  at  a  venerable  age,  their  chil- 
dren having  been  six  in  number. 

James  W.  Shelley  acquired  his  early  edu- 
cation in  his  native  land  and  was  twelve  years 
old  at  the  time  of  the  family  immigration  to 
America.  He  continued  to  attend  school  in 
Wisconsin,  but  there  his  advantages  along  this 
line  were  meager.  He  was  a  sturdy  youth  of 
eighteen  years  when  he  accompanied  his  par- 
ents to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  and  he  drove 
an  ox  team  through  from  the  former  home 
in  Wisconsin.  In  1864  he  took  up  a  home- 
stead claim  of  one  hundred  and  twenty 
acres,  and  while  giving  vigorous  attention  to 
reclaiming  and  improving  this  land  he 
continued  to  remain  at  the  parental  home  for 
six  years  after  acquiring  the  property.  With 
increasing  prosperity,  he  made  judicious  in- 
vestment in  adjoining  land  and  finally  he  de- 
veloped a  well  improved  landed  estate  of 
more  than  four  hundred  acres,  the  while  he 
stood  forth  as  one  of  the  energetic  and  pro- 
gressive exponents  of  agricultural  and  live- 
stock enterprise  in  this  section  of  the  state. 
He  provided  excellent  buildings  for  his  farm 
property  and  was  known  and  valued  as  a 
leader  in  community  affairs  in  Rockford  town- 
ship, where  he  continued  to  maintain  his  resi- 
dence until  his  death,  his  venerable  widow,  one 
of  the  revered  pioneer  women  of  the  county, 
being  now  a  resident  of  the  city  of  Beatrice. 
Mr.  Shelley  was  a  man  whose  course  was  ever 
guided  and  governed  by  the  highest  principles 
and  his  broad  range  of  vision  made  him 
naturally  a  leader  in  community  affairs.  Con- 
scientious in  every  relation  of  life,  he  voted 
in  consonance  with  his  convictions  and  was  a 
stalwart  supporter  of  the  cause  of  the  Prohi- 
bition party.  He  and  his  wife  became  early 
members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church 
at  Holmesville,  a  village  not  far  distant  from 
their  farm,  and  he  served  a  number  of  years 
as  a  member  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  this 
church.     He  was   zealous   in   the   support   of 


educational  work  and  served  three  years  as 
moderator  of  his  school  district. 

January  1,  1870,  Mr.  Shelley  wedded  Miss 
Mary  E.  Baile}^  who  was  born  in  Kenosha 
county,  Wisconsin,  January  31,  1851,  the 
fourth  in  a  family  of  eight  children,  and  she 
was  twelve  years  old  when  the  family  came 
to  Gage  county,  in  1863,  her  parents,  Asa  F. 
and  Jeanette  (Ford)  Bailey,  having  here 
passed  the  remainder  of  their  lives,  the  father 
having  been  born  in  New  Hampshire,  of 
Colonial  ancestry,  and  the  mother  having 
been  a  native  of  the  state  of  New  York.  Mrs. 
Shelley  shared  with  her  husband  in  the  vicissi- 
tudes and  labors  of  pioneer  life  and  prior  to 
their  marriage  she  had  been  a  successful  and 
popular  teacher  in  the  rural  schools  of  Gage 
county.  A  woman  of  gracious  personality, 
she  is  loved  by  all  who  have  come  within  the 
sphere  of  her  influence  and  she  has  many  in- 
teresting reminiscences  concerning  the  pioneer 
period  in  Gage  county  history.  Of  the  chil- 
dren of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Shelley,  Violetta  died 
at  the  age  of  eight  years ;  Anna  remains  with 
her  widowed  mother  at  their  pleasant  home 
in  the  city  of  Beatrice;  William  is  a  substan- 
tial farmer  in  Rockford  township ;  Eloise  is 
the  wife  of  Robert  H.  Whittaker,  a  prosper-t 
ous  farmer  in  Rockford  township;  Harriet  E. 
died  in  1915,  at  the  age  of  thirty-three  years; 
Merton  J.  at  the  time  of  this  writing,  in  the 
spring  of  1918,  is  in  government  service,  as  a 
member  in  the  aviation  corps  at  Waco,  Texas : 
Gilbert  R.  has  the  management  of  his  father's 
old  homestead  farm ;  Frank  R.  is  president 
of  the  Northwestern  Business  College  at 
Beatrice,  and  is  individually  mentioned  on 
other  pages ;  and  Harold  E.  is  now  a  member 
of  the  United  States  army  forces  in  the  can- 
tonment at  Fort  Mc Arthur,  Waco,  Texas, 
where,  as  an  aviator,  he  is  preparing  to  take 
his  place  as  a  patriot  soldier  in  the  great 
European  war.  It  will  be  noted  that  three  of 
the  sons  are  in  the  aviation  corps  —  located 
at  Fort  Mc  Arthur,  Texas. 

VIRGIL.  E.  McGIRR.  — The  city  of  Be- 
atrice proves  a  most  attractive  residence 
place  for  those  who  have  been  successful  in 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


483 


farm  enterprise  in  the  county  and  who  have 
achieved  the  independence  that  justified  their 
retirement  from  active  labors.  Among  the 
many  popular  citizens  who  are  thus  enjoying 
the  attractions  and  privileges  of  the  judicial 
center  of  the  county  is  Mr.  McGirr,  who  has 
been  active  not  only  as  a  representative  of 
farm  industry  but  also  has  been  a  successful 
exponent  of  the  real-estate  business.  He  was 
born  in  Kankakee  county,  Illinois,  January  31, 
1875,  and  thus  is  in  the  very  prime  of  life.  He 
is  a  son  of  Francis  M.  and  Judith  (Barkey) 
McGirr,  and  adequate  record  concerning  the 
family  is  given  on  other  pages,  in  the  sketch 
of  Dr.  John  I.  McGirr. 

Virgil  E.  McGirr  was  eleven  years  of  age 
at  the  time  of  the  family  removal  from  Illi- 
nois to  Gage  county,  and  in  the  public  schools 
he  here  continued  his  studies  until  his  gradu- 
ation in  the  Beatrice  high  school,  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  class  of  1894.  He  continued  his 
active  association  with  farm  enterprise  until 
he  had  attained  to  the  age  of  twenty-seven 
years,  and  he  then  established  his  residence 
at  Beatrice,  where  he  served  three  years  as 
deputy  sheriff  of  the  county.  For  several 
years  thereafter  he  was  successfully  engaged 
in  the  real-estate  business,  and  his  operations 
included  the  selling  of  land  not  only  in  Ne- 
braska but  also  in  other  states  of  the  Union. 
He  built  up  a  substantial  and  prosperous  busi- 
ness and  since  his  withdrawal  from  this  line 
of  enterprise  he  has  lived  virtually  retired. 
He  is  the  owner  of  a  well  improved  farm  of 
two  hundred  and  sixty-five  acres,  in  Holt 
township. 

In  politics  Mr.  McGirr  is  found  aligned  as 
a  stalwart  in  the  camp  of  the  Democratic 
party  and  he  has  been  influential  in  its  local 
campaign  activities.  He  has  twice  been  his 
party's  candidate  for  sheriff  of  Gage  county, 
and  on  one  occasion  reduced  materially  the 
large  Republican  majority,  his  defeat  being 
compassed  by  only  twenty-seven  votes.  He 
served  six  years  as  chief  of  police  at  Beatrice, 
and  gave  a  most  efficient  and  satisfactory  ad- 
ministration. Mr.  JMcGirr  has  passed  the 
various  official  chairs  in  the  local  lodge  of  the 
Independent  Order  of   Odd  Fellows,  is  now 


president  (1918)  of  the  Beatrice  aerie  of  the 
Fraternal  Order  of  Eagles,  and  he  is  affiliated 
also  with  the  Benevolent  &  Protective  Order 
of  Elks.  In  their  home  city  both  he  and  his 
wife  became  members  of  the  Centenary 
Methodist  Episcopal  church,  with  which  he  is 
still  actively  identified. 

December  22,  1898,  recorded  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  McGirr  to  Miss  Bessie  Hoopes,  who 
was  born  in  the  state  of  Iowa  and  whose 
death  occurred  February  15,  1902.  In  1905 
Mr.  McGirr  wedded  Miss  Bertha  G.  Skinner, 
who  was  born  in  Kansas,  and  they  have  three 
children  —  Francis  D.,  John,  and  Paul.  There 
are  no  children  resultant  of  Mr.  McGirr's 
first  marriage. 

FRANK  W.  ACTON.  — In  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  office  of  sheriff  of  Gage  county 
Mr.  Acton  has  so  ordered  affairs  as  to  prove 
conclusively  the  wisdom  of  the  popular  esti- 
mate that  placed  him  in  this  exacting  posi- 
tion. His  experience  in  connection  with  police 
and  constabular  service  has  covered  a  period 
of  fully  a  quarter  of  a  century,  and  thus  he 
was  specially  well  fortified  for  assuming  the 
office  of  sheriff"  of  Gage  county,  to  which  he 
was  elected  in  1914,  and  reelected  in  1916,  at 
the  close  of  his  first  term. 

Sheriff  Acton  claims  the  Hawkeye  state  as 
the  place  of  his  nativity  and  is  a  representa- 
tive of  one  of  the  sterling  pioneer  families  of 
that  commonwealth.  He  was  born  on  a  pio- 
neer farm  in  Henry  county,  Iowa,  October 
21,  1857,  and  is  a  son  of  William  N.  and 
Mima  E.  (Cook)  Acton,  the  former  of  whom 
was  bom  in  the  state  of  Maryland,  in  1820, 
and  the  latter  was  born  in  Ohio,  in  1827. 
William  N.  Acton  was  a  boy  at  the  time  of  his 
father's  death,  which  occurred  in  Maryland, 
and  he  was  reared  and  educated  principally 
in  the  state  of  Ohio.  His  energy,  self-reli- 
ance, and  ambition  led  him  as  a  young  man 
to  number  himself  among  the  pioneer  settlers 
of  Iowa,  where  he  entered  claim  to  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres  of  land,  in  Henry  county. 
He  improved  this  property  and  after  perfect- 
ing his  title  thereto  he  finally  sold  the  farm 
and    removed    to    Montgomery    county,    that 


484 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


state,  in  1865.  There  he  continued  his  suc- 
cessful activities  in  agriculture  and  stock- 
growing  until  1892,  when  he  removed  to 
Kansas  and  purchased  a  tract  of  land.  In  the 
following  year  he  came  to  visit  at  the  home 
of  his  son  Frank  W.,  at  Wymore,  Gage 
county,  and  here  he  was  attacked  with  severe 
illness,  in  November  of  that  year,  his  death 
having  here  occurred  on  the  2d  of  February, 
1894.  His  loved  and  devoted  wife  survived 
him  by  nearly  fifteen  years  and  was  a  resident 
of  Furley,  Kansas,  at  the  time  of  her  death, 
in  July,  1908. 

William  N.  Acton  was  essentially  a  self- 
made  man,  and  he  achieved  definite  and 
worthy  success  in  tonnection  with  normal 
lines  of  industrial  and  business  enterprise,  the 
while  he  so  ordered  his  course  as  to  merit  and 
receive  the  unqualified  respect  and  esteem  of 
his  fellow  men.  His  religious  faith  was  that 
of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  church  and  his 
wife  held  membership  in  the  IMethodist  Epis- 
copal church,  she  having  been  a  daughter  of 
Jesse  Cook,  who  was  bom  in  Pennsylvania, 
whence  he  removed  to  Ohio,  and  who  removed 
from  the  old  Buckeye  state  to  Iowa  in  the 
pioneer  period  of  the  history  of  the  latter 
commonwealth :  he  became  the  owner  of  a 
valuable  landed  estate  in  Iowa  and  there  he 
and  his  wife  passed  the  residue  of  their  lives. 
William  N.  and  Mima  E.  (Cook)  Acton  be- 
came the  parents  of  six  children,  and  of  the 
number  the  present  sherilf  of  Gage  county, 
Nebraska,  is  the  eldest;  A.  B.  is  a  repre- 
sentative merchant  in  the  village  of  Furley, 
Sedgwick  county,  Kansas ;  Ella  M.  is  the  wife 
of  A.  M.  Stanley,  a  merchant  at  Palms,  Cali- 
fornia; O.  D.  is  a  successful  carpenter  and 
contractor  at  Colfax,  Iowa;  J.  L.  is  asso- 
ciated with  his  brother  A.  B.  in  the  general 
merchandise  business  at  Furley,  Kansas,  as  is 
also  C.  M.,  the  youngest  of  the  children. 

Frank  W.  Acton  received  excellent  educa- 
tional advantages  in  his  youth,  and  after  hav- 
ing availed  himself  of  the  privileges  of  the 
public  schools  of  Mount  Pleasant,  Iowa,  he 
entered  the  University  of  Iowa,  graduating  as 
a  member  of  the  class  of  1875,  and  receiving 
the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts.    He  defrayed 


the  expenses  of  his  higher  education  largely 
through  the  revenue  received  from  his  ef- 
fective services  as  a  teacher  in  the  public 
schools,  his  pedagogic  work  having  included 
three  terms  of  service  in  the  district  schools 
of  Iowa,  two  terms  in  the  schools  of  Cali- 
fornia, and  two  in  Kansas.  At  Red  Oak, 
Iowa,  Mr.  Acton  gained  his  initial  experience 
as  a  member  of  a  police  force. 

In  1910  Sherifif  Acton  removed  from  Wy- 
more to  Beatrice,  Nebraska,  the  capital  of  the 
same  county,  and  here  he  soon  afterward  as- 
sumed the  position  of  deputy  sherifif,  under 
the  administration  of  Sheriff  J.  L.  Schiek. 
Prior  to  this  he  had  served  for  twenty  years 
as  a  member  of  the  police  force  of  Wymore, 
Gage  county,  in  which  thriving  little  city  he 
held  also,  for  fourteen  years,  the  position  of 
street  and  water  commissioner.  Known  and 
honored  in  Gage  county,  Mr.  Acton  retired 
from  the  position  of  deputy  sheriff  only  to 
assume  the  more  important  post  of  sheriff. 
In  connection  with  the  conscription  of  the 
young  men  of  the  United  States  for  service 
in  the  great  European  war  Sheriff  Acton  is 
serving  as  a  member  of  the  exemption  board 
for  Gage  county.  As  a  stalwart  in  the  camp 
of  the  Republican  party  he  has  at  all  times 
taken  an  active  and  loyal  interest  in  political 
affairs  and  has  been  influential  in  the  local 
councils  of  his  party.  The  sheriff  is  promi- 
nently affiliated  with  the  Knights  of  Pythias, 
in  which  he  is  past  chancellor,  besides  which 
he  has  on  several  occasions  served  as  a  dele- 
gate to  the  Iowa  grand  lodge  of  this  order. 
He  holds  membership  also  in  the  Improved 
Order  of  Red  Men  and  the  Fraternal  Order 
of  Eagles. 

In  the  year  1881  was  recorded  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  Acton  to  Miss  Mary  E.  Harris,  who 
was  born  and  reared  in  Jefferson  county,  Iowa, 
and  she  was  summoned  to  the  life  eternal  in 
1911,  her  memory  being  revered  by  all  who 
came  within  the  sphere  of  her  gracious  influ- 
ence. Mrs.  Acton  is  survived  by  two  chil- 
dren :  Paul  holds  the  position  of  bookkeeper 
in  the  offices  of  the  warehouse  of  the  Chi- 
cago, Burlington  &  Quincy  Railroad  at  Wy- 
more, this  county;  and  Maude  is  the  wife  of 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


485 


Paul  W.  Hitchins,  foreman  in  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Dempster  Mill  Manufacturing 
Company,  at  Beatrice.  Christine,  a  foster 
daughter  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Acton,  is  now  the 
wife  of  R.  M.  Burroughs,  an  electrician  at 
Scotts  Bluff,  Nebraska.  Mrs.  Acton  was  a 
devoted  member  of  the  Christian  church  and 
active  in  its  work. 


I.  T.  MERCHANT,  the  efficient  postmaster 
at  Adams,  Gage  county,  claims  the  old  Buck- 
eye state  as  the  place  of  his  nativity.  He  was 
born  in  Paulding  county,  Ohio,  on  the  19th 
of  March,  1856,  a  son  of  Isaac  and  Nancy 
(Caylor)  Merchant.  The  father  was  born 
at  a  place  eighteen  miles  southwest  of  Wash- 
ington Court  House,  Ohio,  on  the  25th  of 
November,  1823.  He  was  a  prosperous  far- 
mer in  Ohio  at  the  time  when  the  Civil  war 
was  precipitated,  and  he  showed  his  intrinsic 
patriotism  by  enlisting  in  an  Ohio  volunteer 
regiment  and  by  serving  valiantly  with  the 
same  during  the  period  of  the  great  conflict 
between  the  states  of  the  north  and  the  south. 
When  his  country  no  longer  needed  his  ser- 
vices as  a  soldier  he  returned  to  Ohio,  and  in 
1866  he  removed  to  Kingston,  Missouri.  In 
that  locality  he  was  engaged  in  farming  until 
the  time  of  his  election  to  the  position  of 
county  judge.  In  this  office  he  served  until 
1873,  when  he  came  to  Lincoln,  Nebraska.  In 
the  following  year  he  went  to  Custer  county, 
this  state,  where  he  took  up  a  homestead  claim 
and  became  one  of  the  pioneer  settlers  of  that 
large  and  now  prosperous  section  of  Ne- 
braska. He  there  continued  his  agricultural 
activities  until  1885,  when  he  sold  his  farm 
and  established  his  residence  at  Broken  Bow, 
the  county  seat,  where  he  practiced  law  for 
several  years  thereafter.  In  1911,  after  hav- 
ing spent  some  time  in  a  visit  to  his  native 
state,  Mr.  Merchant  came  to  Adams,  Gage 
county,  where  he  passed  the  closing  period  of 
his  life  in  the  home  of  his  son,  the  subject  of 
this  review,  his  death  having  here  occurred 
November  10,  1913.  His  wife  was  born  Feb- 
ruary 5,  1830,  her  birthplace  having  been  not 
far  distant  from  that  of  her  husband,  in  Wash- 
ington  county,    Ohio.      She    died    at    Broken 


Bow,  Nebraska,  January  22,  1892,  and  in  the 
cemetery  at  that  place  were  laid  to  rest  the 
mortal  remains  of  both  her  and  her  husband. 
They  became  the  parents  of  ten  children,  con- 
cerning whom  the  following  brief  record  is 
available:  Mrs.  T.  J.  Todhunter  lives  at 
Washington  Court  House,  Ohio;  John  was  a 
soldier  of  the  Union  at  the  time  of  his  death, 
which  occurred  in  a  hospital  at  Memphis, 
Tennessee,  within  the  progress  of  the  Civil 
war;  George  W.  is  a  resident  of  Bedford, 
Iowa ;  Mrs.  W.  H.  Huffer  lives  at  Urbana, 
Ohio ;  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  the  next 
in  order  of  birth;  Mrs.  John  Armstrong  re- 
sides in  San  Francisco,  California ;  Emma 
and  William  are  deceased ;  and  Mrs.  R.  D. 
Ross  lives  at  Anselmo,  Custer  county,  Ne- 
braska. 

I.  T.  Alerchant  continued  his  studies  in  the 
public  schools  until  his  graduation  in  the  high 
school  at  Kingston,  Missouri,  as  a  member  of 
the  class  of  1873.  In  1873,  as  previously 
noted,  the  family  removed  to  Lincoln,  Nebras- 
ka, and  there  he  became  bookkeeper  in  his 
father's  hotel.  In  the  following  year  he  ac- 
companied his  parents  to  Custer  county,  this 
state,  where  he  entered  claim  to  a  homestead 
and  engaged  in  the  feeding  of  sheep  and  cat- 
tle. He  finally  disposed  of  his  farm  inter- 
ests and  removed  to  Broken  Bow,  where  he 
became  deputy  sheriff  of  Custer  county. 
Thereafter  he  was  appointed  postmaster  at 
Broken  Bow,  an  office  of  which  he  continued 
the  incumbent  until  1890.  Thereafter  he  was 
there  engaged  in  buying  and  shipping  grain 
and  live  stock  until  1893,  when  he  became  a 
keeper  in  the  shops  of  the  Nebraska  peniten- 
tiary, at  Lincoln.  The  next  year  he  went  to 
Toronto,  Canada,  where  he  became  actively 
identified  with  lumbering  enterprise. 

In  1900  Mr.  Merchant  established  his 
residence  at  Liberty,  Gage  county,  Nebraska, 
where  he  continued  to  be  engaged  in  the  buy- 
ing and  shipping  of  grain  for  the  ensuing  nine 
years.  He  then  removed  to  the  village  of 
Adams,  this  county,  and  here  he  was  success- 
fully engaged  in  buying  and  shipping  grain 
and  other  farm  produce  until  1913,  when  he 
was   appointed   postmaster   of    the   village,    a 


486 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


position  in  which  he  has  since  continued  his 
effective  administration. 

At  Broken  Bow,  Custer  county,  on  the  4th 
of  September,  1880,  was  recorded  the  mar- 
riage of  Mr.  Merchant  to  Miss  Sarah  E. 
North,  who  was  born  in  the  Dominion  of 
Canada  and  who  is  a  daughter  of  Samuel  and 
Mary  (Kilpatrick)  North,  natives  of  Ire- 
land. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Merchant  have  one  son, 
T.  O.,  who  has  become  a  member  of  the  na- 
tional army  and  who  is,  in  the  spring  of  1918, 
stationed  at  Camp  Cody,  New  Mexico.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Merchant  belong  to  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church,  and  in  politics  he  is  a  Demo- 
crat. He  has  rendered  efficient  service  as  a 
member  of  the  township  board,  as  justice  of 
the  peace  and  as  poHce  judge.  In  a  fraternal 
way  he  is  affiliated  with  the  Independent  Or- 
der of  Odd  Fellows.  Mr.  Merchant  is  a  man 
of  ability  and  civic  loyalty  and  he  takes  deep 
interest  in  all  things  pertaining  to  the  com- 
munal welfare. 

DAVID  F.  BRYSON.  — Some  one  has 
said,  "Expect  great  things,  attempt  great 
things  and  great  things  will  result."  This  may 
not  be  true  in  every  instance,  but  in  the  case 
of  David  F.  Bryson  it  most  undoubtedly  is. 
Nebraska  might  be  called  "The  young  man's 
state,"  for  she  has  within  her  borders  many 
brilliantly  successful  young  men.  In  this 
class  should  be  included  the  subject  of  this  re- 
view. 

David  S.  Bryson  is  a  native  of  Gage  county, 
born  in  Adams  township,  July  1,  1872,  and  he 
is  a  son  of  Silas  and  Clarinda  (Young)  Bry- 
son, a  record  of  whom  appears  elsewhere  in 
this  volume.  David  F.  Bryson  spent  his  boy- 
hood days  on  his  father's  farm  in  Adams 
township.  He  attended  the  district  school  in 
acquiring  his  early  education  and  assisted  in 
the  work  of  planting,  cultivating,  and  harvest- 
ing the  crops.  On  reaching  man's  estate  he 
engaged  in  farming  on  his  own  account,  and 
no  man  in  Gage  county  has  met  with  greater 
success  in  his  chosen  calling.  He  is  the  owner 
of  six  hundred  acres  of  well  improved  land 
and  leases  1700  acres.  He  is  a  breeder  of 
pure-bred  Angus  cattle,  and  deals  extensively 


in  cattle  and  hogs,  which  he  buys  and  ships. 
He  is  the  best  known  and  most  successful 
auctioneer  in  southeastern  Nebraska,  making 
a  specialty  of  selling  fancy  live-stock,  as  well 
as  land. 

December  24,  1891,  Mr.  Bryson  married 
Miss  Martha  L.  Kensing.  Her  father,  Au- 
gust Kensing,  was  bom  in  Germany  and  came 
to  America  when  a  lad  of  sixteen  years.  He 
worked  as  a  stone-mason  and  on  a  farm  until 
1861,  when  he  enHsted  as  a  soldier  in  the 
Civil  war,  serving  under  General  Ulysses  S. 
Grant.  He  was  a  loyal  and  valiant  soldier, 
and  after  being  captured  by  the  enemy  he  was 
held  a  prisoner  at  Andersonville  until  his  ex- 
change was  effected.  He  was  mustered  out  at 
the  close  of  the  war,  in  1865,  when  he  went  to 
Iowa  and  located  on  the  farm  where  he  re- 
mained until  the  time  of  his  death.  The 
mother  of  Mrs.  Bryson  was  bom  in  New 
York  state,  June  5,  1847,  a  daughter  of  Solo- 
mon and  Martha  (Davis)  Perrin.  She  is  now 
the  widow  of  David  J.  Olmstead,  and  makes 
her  home  with  her  daughter. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bryson  became  the  parents  of 
ten  children :  Velma  is  the  wife  of  Guy  At- 
kins, of  Adams,  Gage  county;  George  Doug- 
las died  in  infancy;  Reuben  K.  married  Belle 
Hargis,  and  lives  at  Adams ;  Elnora  May, 
Frank  LeRoy,  Martha  Pearl  Joy,  David 
Silas,  Alma  Clarinda,  June,  and  Queenie 
Plazel  are  still  under  the  parental  roof ;  and 
James  I.  died  in  infancy. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bryson  are  members  of  the 
Methodist  church,  and  in  politics  Mr.  Bryson 
is  a  Prohibitionist,  the  cause  of  temperance 
finding  in  him  a  stalwart  champion. 

With  no  unusual  advantages,  except  a  laud- 
able ambition  and  abundance  of  self-reliance 
and  ability,  Mr.  Bryson  has  so  intelligently 
directed  his  efforts  that  to-day  he  stands  in 
the  front  rank  of  the  men  of  large  affairs  in 
his  native  county. 

HARRY  R.  BROWN,  M.  D.,  a  successful 
and  representative  physician  and  surgeon  of 
the  younger  generation  in  Gage  county,  is  es- 
tablished in  the  practice  of  his  profession  in 
the  city  of  Beatrice  and  also  holds  the  position 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  David  F.  Bryson 


488 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


of  assistant  surgeon  of  the  German  Lutheran 
hospital  in  his  home  city. 

Dr.  Brown  was  born  in  Jeflferson  county, 
Nebraska,  on  the  9th  of  January,  1883,  and  is 
a  son  of  Joshua  P.  and  Dora  Bell  Brown, 
both  natives  of  the  state  of  Pennsylvania. 
Joshua  P.  Brown  was  born  in  the  year  1856 
and  is  a  son  of  Orlando  Brown,  who  likewise 
was  born  and  reared  in  the  old  Keystone  state 
and  who  died  in  1915,  at  the  patriarchal  age 
of  ninety  years.  Joshua  P.  Brown  was  for 
many  years  a  successful  teacher  in  the  schools 
of  Pennsylvania  and  finally  he  came  to  Ne- 
braska and  became  a  pioneer  teacher  in  the 
schools  of  this  commonwealth.  He  purchased 
land  in  Jeflferson  county  and  there  reclaimed 
and  developed  a  good  farm.  He  there  con- 
tinued his  active  association  with  farm  enter- 
prise until  1909,  when  he  removed  to  Kansas, 
in  which  state  he  had  become  the  owner  of  two 
sections  of  land.  He  and  his  wife  now  main- 
tain their  home  at  White  City,  Kansas,  and 
both  are  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church.  Mr.  Brown  is  a  man  of  broad  intel- 
lectual ken  and  high  ideals,  and  he  has  proved 
successful  in  the  lines  of  productive  enterprise 
along  which  he  has  directed  his  energies.  His 
political  allegiance  is  given  to  the  Republican 
party  and  he  has  served  in  various  township 
offices  and  as  a  member  of  school  boards  since 
he  came  to  the  wect.  He  is  affiliated  with  the 
Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  of  which 
he  became  a  member  while  he  was  still  a  resi- 
dent of  Pennsylvania.  Levi  K.  Karschner, 
father  of  Mrs.  Joshua  P.  Brown,  continued 
his  residence  in  his  native  state  of  Pennsyl- 
vania until  he  came  with  his  family  to  Ne- 
braska and  became  a  pioneer  settler  and  home- 
steader in  Jeflferson  county.  He  made  the 
long  journey  to  this  state  by  means  of  wagon 
and  ox  team.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Joshua  P.  Brown 
became  the  parents  of  four  children  and  of 
the  two  surviving  Dr.  Brown  of  this  review 
is  the  elder;  Merle  is  now  (1918)  attending 
school  at  Manhattan,  Kansas. 

Dr.  Harry  R.  Brown  acquired  his  early  edu- 
cation in  the  public  schools  of  Nebraska  and 
in  the  same  he  continued  his  studies  until  his 
graduation,  in  1901,  in  the  high  school  at  To- 


bias, Saline  county.  In  1901-1902  he  vvas  a 
student  in  the  University  of  Nebraska,  and 
he  then  entered  Marion  Sims  Medical  College, 
now  the  medical  department  of  the  St.  Louis 
University,  in  the  metropolis  of  Missouri,  and 
in  this  celebrated  institution  he  was  graduated 
as  a  member  of  the  class  of  1907.  After  thus 
receiving  his  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine  he 
initiated  the  active  practice  of  his  profession 
at  Dakin,  Nebraska,  where  he  built  up  a  sub- 
stantial business  and  where  he  continued  his 
activities  until  1915,  when  he  removed  to  Be- 
atrice, where  he  has  since  been  associated  in 
practice  with  Dr.  Harry  M.  Hepperlen,  of 
whom  specific  mention  is  made  on  other  pages 
of  this  work. 

In  March,  1910,  was  solemnized  the  mar- 
riage of  Dr.  Brown  to  Miss  Alta  Briggs, 
daughter  of  Russell  Briggs,  who  came  to  Ne- 
braska in  the  pioneer  days  and  who  now  lives 
on  his  extensive  cattle  ranch  near  Broken 
Bow,  judicial  center  of  Custer  county.  Dr. 
and  Mrs.  Brown  have  two  children  —  Harry 
R.,  Jr.,  and  Helen  Loure. 

Dr.  Brown  is  found  arrayed  in  the  ranks 
of  the  Republican  party,  he  is  affiliated  with 
the  local  organizations  of  the  Benevolent  & 
Protective  Order  of  Elks  and  the  Modern 
Woodmen  of  America,  and  both  he  and  his 
wife  are  communicants  of  Christ  church, 
Protestant  Episcopal.  The  Doctor  has  gained 
special  prestige  through  his  ability  as  a  sur- 
geon and  has  to  his  credit  many  delicate  opera- 
tions, both  major  and  minor. 


FRANCIS  ELIAS,  M.  D.,  established  his 
residence  in  the  thriving  little  city  of  Wymore 
in  the  year  1911,  and  here  he  has  since  been 
engaged  in  the  successful  practice  of  his  pro- 
fession, in  which  his  ability  and  efifective  ser- 
vice have  given  him  secure  place  among  the 
representative  physicians  and  surgeons  of 
Gage  county. 

Dr.  Elias  was  born  in  the  state  of  Kansas, 
on  the  17th  of  June,  1883,  and  the  place  of 
his  nativity  was  his  father's  home  farm,  in 
Clay  county.  He  is  a  son  of  Henry  A.  and 
Emma  (Younkin)  Elias,  the  former  of  whom 
was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  and  the  latter  in 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


489 


Illinois.  In  the  early  70s  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Henry 
A.  Elias  removed  from  Illinois  and  numbered 
them.selves  among  the  pioneer  settlers  of  Clay 
county,  Kansas.  There  Mr.  Elias  reclaimed 
and  developed  a  valuable  farm  property  and 
since  his  retirement  from  active  farm  enter- 
prise he  and  his  v^rife  have  maintained  their 
home  in  the  city  of  Manhattan,  Kansas.  In 
the  Sunflower  state  were  born  their  three 
children  —  Anna,  who  is  the  wife  of  Rev.  Mr. 
Tannehill,  of  Centralia,  Kansas;  Mary,  who 
is  the  wife  of  Jacob  Nelson,  of  Wakefield, 
that  state ;  and  Dr.  Francis  Elias,  who  is  the 
immediate  subject  of  this  review.  Henry  A. 
Elias  is  aligned  in  the  ranks  of  the  Republi- 
can party  and  while  residing  on  his  farm  in 
Kansas  he  was  called  upon  to  serve  in  various 
local  offices  of  public  trust.  Both  he  and  his 
wife  are  members  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal church. 

Dr.  Francis  Elias  acquired  his  preliminary 
education  in  the  public  schools  of  Clay  county, 
Kansas,  and  the  discipline  included  a  course 
in  the  high  school.  In  preparing  for  the  pro- 
fession of  his  choice  Dr.  Elias  entered  the 
medical  department  of  the  University  of  Kan- 
sas, and  in  the  same  he  was  graduated  as  a 
member  of  the  class  of  1910.  After  thus  re- 
ceiving his  well  earned  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Medicine  he  was  engaged  in  practice  at  St. 
George,  Kansas,  about  one  year.  He  then,  in 
1911,  came  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  and 
established  his  residence  at  Wymore,  where 
he  has  since  continued  in  active  general  prac- 
tice as  a  well  fortified  physician  and  surgeon 
who  keeps  in  full  touch  with  advances  made 
in  the  profession  that  has  enlisted  his  earnest 
and  efifective  services.  The  Doctor  has  de- 
veloped a  substantial  and  representative  prac- 
tice and  is  one  of  the  loyal  and  progressive 
citizens  of  Wymore.  He  holds  membership 
in  the  American  Medical  Association,  the  Ne- 
braska State  Medical  Society,  and  the  Gage 
County  Medical  Society.  In  1915  he  took  an 
efifective  post-graduate  course  in  the  medical 
department  of  the  famous  Johns  Hopkins  Uni- 
versity, in  the  city  of  Baltimore,  Maryland. 
He  gives  undivided  allegiance  to  his  exacting 
profession  but  is  loyal  to  all  civic  duties  and 


responsibilities,  his  political  support  being 
given  to  the  cause  of  the  Republican  party. 
In  his  home  city  he  is  affiliated  with  Wymore 
Lodge,  Ancient  Free  &  Accepted  Masons, 
and  Hiram  Chapter,  Royal  Arch  Masons. 

The  year  1911  recorded  the  marriage  of 
Dr.  Elias  to  Miss  Olive  Todd,  who  was  bom 
and  reared  in  Clay  county,  Kansas,  where  her 
parents,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jonathan  Todd,  still 
maintain  their  home.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Elias 
have  three  children  —  Houghton,  Winfield, 
and  Allison. 

D\\TGHT  S.  DALBEY  has  identified  him- 
self most  closely  and  loyally  with  the  interests 
of  Gage  county,  where  he  has  been  influential 
in  public  life  and  civic  and  industrial  affairs, 
and  where  he  has  been  called  upon  to  serve 
in  various  positions  of  distinctive  public  trust, 
including  that  of  representative  of  the  county 
in  the  Nebraska  legislature. 

Mr.  Dalbey  was  born  in  Christian  county, 
Illinois,  on  the  22d  of  September,  1878,  and 
is  a  son  of  William  M.  and  Mary  N.  (Hall) 
Dalbey,  the  former  a  native  of  Ohio  and  the 
latter  of  Illinois.  Dwight  S.  Dalbey  found 
the  period  of  his  boyhood  and  early  youth 
compassed  by  the  benignant  influences  of  the 
old  home  farm  in  Christian  county,  Illinois, 
and  in  his  native  state  he  continued  his  studies 
in  the  public  schools  until  he  was  graduated  in 
the  high  school  at  Taylorville,  as  a  member 
of  the  class  of  1897.  For  the  ensuing  two 
years  he  was  engaged  in  independent  farm 
enterprise  in  his  home  county,  and  he  then 
entered  the  college  of  agriculture  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Illinois,  in  which  he  was  graduated 
in  1902  and  from  which  he  received  the  de- 
gree of  Bachelor  of  Science.  His  definite  pro- 
ficiency was  recognized  by  his  being  appointed 
an  instructor  in  agronomy  in  the  agricultural 
college  after  his  graduation,  and  after  serving 
in  this  capacity  about  eighteen  months  he  re- 
signed the  position  and  went  to  Arkansas, 
where  he  purchased  a  one-third  interest  in  a 
large  cotton  plantation,  near  Marianna.  He 
gave  the  greater  part  of  his  time  to  the  super- 
vision of  this  plantation  until  his  marriage, 
in    1903,   after  which   he  continued   his   resi- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


dence  at  Jerseyville,  Illinois,  the  old  home  of 
his  wife,  until  1907,  when  they  came  to  Gage 
county,  Nebraska,  and  established  here  their 
permanent  home,  their  removal  having  been 
prompted  by  their  desire  to  assume  personal 
direction  of  the  large  landed  interests  which 
Mrs.  Dalbey  had  received  in  this  state  as  a 
heritage  from  her  father.  Mr.  Dalbey  found 
in  the  new  home  splendid  opportunities  for 
the  utilizing  of  his  vital  energies  and  the  ex- 
ercising of  his  progressive  civic  policies.  His 
ability  and  personal  popularity  soon  brought 
him  into  service  in  offices  of  local  trust,  for 
in  1910  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  board 
of  supervisors  of  Gage  county,  the  efficiency 
of  his  service  having  led  to  his  reelection 
thereafter  for  three  additional  terms.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  board  at  the  time  when 
was  constructed  the  first  concrete  bridge  in 
the  county,  and  he  had  been  so  conspicuously 
influential  in  bringing  about  this  modem  im- 
provement that,  at  the  suggestion  of  the 
supervising  engineer,  the  new  bridge  was 
named  the  Dalbey  bridge. 

In  1915  Mr.  Dalbey  was  elected  representa- 
tive of  Gage  county  in  the  lower  house  of  the 
Nebraska  legislature,  as  candidate  on  the  Re- 
publican ticket,  and  it  should  be  recorded  that 
he  ran  ahead  of  the  party  ticket  in  this  elec- 
tion, as  did  he  also  at  the  time  of  his  reelec- 
tion, in  1917.  He  has  proved  a  most  valuable 
working  member  of  the  house  and  the  various 
committees  to  which  he  has  been  assigned, 
and  has  done  much  to  further  the  interests  of 
his  constituent  district,  as  well  as  wise  legisla- 
tion for  the  state  at  large.  Mr.  Dalbey  is  a 
stalwart  advocate  of  the  principles  and  poli- 
cies for  which  the  Republican  party  has  ever 
stood  sponsor  in  a  basic  way,  and  he  and  his 
wife  are  active  members  of  the  Presbyterian 
church.  Mr.  Dalbey  was  president  of  the 
Beatrice  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
for  a  number  of  years  and  is  now  director. 
He  has  been  a  member  of  the  Beatrice  li- 
brary board  for  eight  years,  and  is  president 
of  the  Cornhusker  Highway,  which  runs 
through  Beatrice  from  Marysville,  Kansas,  to 
Sioux  City,  Iowa.  He  also  is  a  director  in  the 
Beatrice  National  Bank,  and  has  been  a  di- 


rector of  the  Commercial  Club  for  ten  years . 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dalbey  own  about  eight 
thousand  acres  of  Nebraska  land  —  in  Gage, 
Otoe,  and  Pawnee  counties  —  the  same  being 
a  heritage  which  Mrs.  Dalbey  received  from 
her  father,  the  late  Ford  Lewis,  to  whom  a 
memoir  is  dedicated  on  other  pages  of  this 
publication.  They  are  unflagging  in  their  ef- 
forts to  further  the  prosperity  of  the  two 
towns  founded  by  the  latter's  father  —  Vir- 
ginia, in  Gage  county,  and  Lewiston,  in  Paw- 
nee county  —  the  first  having  been  named  for 
Mrs.  Dalbey,  whose  Christian  name  is  Vir- 
ginia, and  Lewiston  having  been  given  its 
name  in  honor  of  its  founder,  the  late  Ford 
Lewis.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dalbey  are  prominent 
in  connection  with  the  representative  social 
activities  of  Gage  county  and  the  city  of 
Beatrice,  in  which  they  have  a  beautiful  home, 
and  they  retain  also  the  fine  old  Lewis  home- 
stead at  Jerseyville,  Illinois,  between  which 
city  and  Beatrice  they  divide,  their  time.  They 
have  a  host  of  friends  in  Nebraska  —  in  fact, 
it  may  consistently  be  said  that  the  number  is 
limited  only  by  that  of  their  acquaintances. 
Mrs.  Dalbey  has  been  specially  active  in 
philanthropic  and  charitable  work  since  estab- 
lishing her  home  in  Gage  county,  and  is  doing 
a  generous  share  in  the  war  activities  to 
which  the  women  of  America  are  devoting 
themselves  so  loyally  and  effectively.  She 
has  served  two  terms  as  regent  of  Elizabeth 
Montague  Chapter  of  the  Society  of  the 
Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution,  in  the 
city  of  Beatrice,  and  at  the  time  of  this  writ- 
ing, in  the  summer  of  1918,  she  is  state  cor- 
responding secretary,  and  has  been  chairman 
of  the  state  committee  of  the  Nebraska  So- 
ciety of  the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revo- 
lution, which  has  as  its  special  function  the 
prevention  of  desecration  of  the  nation's  flag. 
At  Virginia,  this  county,  the  town  named  in 
her  honor,  Mrs.  Dalbey  has  erected  a  most 
modern  and  attractive  hotel,  known  as  the 
Virginia  Inn,  and  at  Lewiston,  Pawnee 
county,  named  in  honor  of  her  father,  she 
and  her  mother  erected  the  Lewiston  Hall,  a 
most  modern  building  for  general  public  as- 
semblage    and     community    use.       At    both 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


491 


Lewiston  and  Virginia  Mrs.  Dalbey  donated 
public  parks,  and  in  1918  she  donated  a  site 
of  fifteen  acres  at  each  of  the  towns  for  the 
new  consolidated  schools. 

December  23,  1903,  recorded  the  marriage 
of  Dwight  S.  Dalbey  to  Miss  Virginia  Lewis, 
the  only  daughter  of  the  late  Ford  Lewis,  of 
Jerseyville,  Illinois,  where  Mrs.  Dalbey  was 
born  and  reared,  her  early  educational  advan- 
tages having  included  those  of  the  public 
schools  of  her  native  city  and  those  of  Monti- 
cello  Seminary,  at  Godfrey,  Illinois. 


JOHN  H.  VON  STEEN,  a  man  of  ad- 
mirable and  pronounced  initiative  and  con- 
structive ability,  has  been  the  primary  factor 
in  the  developing  of  one  of  the  largest  and 
most  important  industrial  and  commercial  en- 
terprises of  Gage  county,  and  he  is  one  of  the 
most  valued  and  influential  citizens  and  busi- 
ness men  of  Beatrice,  where  he  is  president 
and  treasurer  of  The  John  H.  von  Steen  Com- 
pany, a  pioneer  concern  which  controls  an 
extensive  wholesale  and  retail  business  in  the 
handling  of  building  material,  coal,  etc.,  be- 
sides having  developed  an  important  and 
prosperous  industry  in  the  manufacturing  of 
the  woven-wire  fence  designated  as  the  "Be- 
atrice Barbed  Border,"  and  also  of  the  cele- 
brated "Beatrice  Portable  Corn  Cribs."  Bas- 
ing its  operations  upon  large  capital  and  most 
progressive  policies,  this  company  is  one  of 
the  foremost  of  the  kind  in  Nebraska,  and  it 
maintains  four  branch  yards,  under  the  fol- 
lowing titles  and  at  the  designated  locations, 
at  other  points  in  the  state :  Hallam  Lumber 
&  Coal  Company,  Hallam,  Lancaster  county; 
Huntley  Lumber  &  Coal  Company,  Huntley, 
Harlan  county;  and  The  John  H.  von  Steen 
Company,  Bruning,  Thayer  county,  and 
Strang,  Fillmore  county.  In  addition  to  being 
the  founder  and  president  of  The  John  H.  von 
Steen  Company  of  Beatrice,  Mr.  von  Steen  is 
executive  head  also  of  the  subsidiary  com- 
panies just  mentioned.  The  business  of  The 
John  H.  von  Steen  Company  is  widely  dis- 
seminated throughout  Nebraska,  and  the  cor- 
poration  handles    all   kinds    of   building   ma- 


terial on  a  large  scale,  at  both  wholesale  and 
retail. 

In  1879,  about  two  years  after  he  had  es- 
tablished his  residence  at  Beatrice,  John  H. 
von  Steen  here  engaged  in  the  retail  lumber 
business.  The  enterprise  which  he  thus  es- 
tablished on  a  very  modest  scale  formed  the 
nucleus  around  which  has  been  developed  the 
great  business  enterprise  of  which  he  is  now 
the  head.  In  1892  he  expanded  his  enterprise 
to  include  the  wholesale  dealing  in  building 
material,  supplies,  and  accessories,  and  in 
1908,  under  the  provisions  of  the  laws  of  Ne- 
braska, The  John  H.  von  Steen  Company  was 
incorporated  with  a  capital  stock  of  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  fully  paid  in. 
Under  date  of  March  6,  1912,  the  company's 
charter  was  so  amended  as  to  permit  its  in- 
crease of  authorized  capital  to  two  hundred 
thousand  dollars,  almost  fully  paid  now.  The 
history  of  the  enterprise  has  been  one  of  con- 
secutive growth  in  scope  and  importance  and 
has  been  marked  by  those  legitimate  and  hon- 
orable commercial  policies  that  must  underlay 
all  worthy  success  along  such  lines.  Mr.  von 
Steen  has  been  president  and  treasurer  of  the 
company  from  the  time  of  its  incorporation 
and  the  other  members  of  the  executive  corps 
are  here  designated:  Clarence  W.  Graff, 
vice-president,  and  Sam  D.  Ruth,  secretary. 
In  addition  to  these  officers  the  directorate  of 
the  company  includes  also  John  H.  Pletscher, 
and  Walter  H.  DeBolt. 

John  H.  von  Steen  was  bom  near  the  city 
of  Dantzic,  capital  of  the  Prussian  province 
of  the  same  name,  and  the  date  of  his  nativ- 
ity was  May  15,  1852.  He  is  a  son  of  John  H. 
and  Johanna  (Zimmerman)  von  Steen,  who 
were  bom  and  reared  in  that  same  province, 
where  the  father  followed  the  vocation  of 
farming  until  1875,  when  he  came  with  his 
family  to  America.  He  and  his  wife  were 
zealous  members  of  the  Mennonite  church, 
the  tenets  of  which  deprecate  all  activities  of 
military  service,  and  his  principal  reason  for 
leaving  his  native  land  was  to  avoid,  in  con- 
sonance with  his  religious  views  and  firm  per- 
sonal convictions,  conscription  of  himself  and 
his  sons  for  service  in  the  German  army.    In 


492 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


1877  John  H.  von  Steen,  Sr.,  established  the 
family  home  at  Beatrice,  and  here  he  and  his 
wife  remained  as  honored  and  valued  citizens 
until  they  were  summoned  to  the  life  eternal, 
secure  in  the  high  regard  of  all  who  knew 
them. 

The  subject  of  this  review  received  in  his 
native  city  excellent  educational  advantages, 
besides  which  he  passed  four  years  in  the 
cities  of  London  and  Liverpool,  with  the  pri- 
mary object  of  familiarizing  himself  with  the 
English  language  and  business  methods.  He 
accompanied  his  parents  to  America  when  he 
was  twenty-five  years  of  age  and  he  has  re- 
sided continuously  at  Beatrice  since  1877. 
Here  he  was  employed  eighteen  months  in  the 
lumber  yard  of  LePoidevin  Brothers,  and  in 
1879  he  engaged  independently  in  the  retail 
lumber  business,  on  part  of  the  grounds  where 
the  Burlington  Railroad  station  now  stands. 
Energy,  integrity,  faithfulness,  and  broad 
vision  insured  cumulative  success  to  the  am- 
bitious young  man,  and  that  he  has  wrought 
earnestly  and  well  needs  no  further  voucher 
than  his  status  to-day  as  one  of  the  most  sub- 
stantial men  of  afifairs  in  this  section  of  the 
state  of  his  adoption.  While  thus  promoting 
his  individual  advancement  Mr.  von  Steen  has 
at  all  stages  been  mindful  of  his  civic  respon- 
sibilities and  has  stood  forth  as  a  liberal  and 
public-spirited  naturalized  American  citizen, 
his  course  in  all  of  the  relations  of  life  having 
been  such  that  he  has  gained  and  retained  the 
inviolable  confidence  and  good  will  of  his 
fellow  men. 

The  political  allegiance  of  Mr.  von  Steen 
has  been  given  to  the  Prohibition  party,  but 
he  is  primarily  and  essentially  a  business  man 
and  has  had  no  ambition  for  political  activity 
or  preferment.  He  was  reared  in  the  faith  of 
the  Mennonite  church  and  has  been  an  earn- 
est and  active  member  of  the  same  from  his 
early  youth  to  the  present  time.  He  is  one  of 
the  influential  representatives  of  this  denomi- 
nation in  Gage  county,  has  for  many  years 
been  a  valued  teacher  in  the  Sunday  school  of 
the  Mennonite  church  in  Beatrice.  He  at- 
tended the  general  conference  of  the  Mennon- 
ite church  held  in  California  in  the  summer  of 


1917,  and  incidental  to  his  trip  to  the  Pacific 
coast  he,  with  his  wife,  visited  the  Yellow- 
stone National  Park  —  an  indulgence  that  af- 
forded them  special  satisfaction,  this  also 
being  true  in  connection  with  his  annual  vaca- 
tions, which  are  usually  given  to  travel  for 
recreation. 

In  1882  Mr.  von  Steen  wedded  Miss  Mary 
McKibbin,  who  was  bom  at  Fishlake,  Indiana, 
and  whose  death  occurred  in  1893,  she  having 
been  a  devout  member  of  the  Mennonite 
church.  She  is  survived  by  two  daughters  — - 
Edith,  who  completed  her  education  in  Bethel 
College,  at  Newton,  Kansas,  and  who  is  now 
the  wife  of  Professor  D.  H.  Richert,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  faculty  of  that  institution ;  and 
Ada,  who  is  the  wife  of  Dr.  Louis  E.  Penner, 
a  representative  physician  and  surgeon  en- 
gaged in  practice  at  Beatrice.  In  1895  Mr. 
von  Steen  contracted  a  second  marriage,  when 
Mrs.  Katie  (Ruth)  Hirschler  became  his  wife^ 
and  she  is  now  the  worthy  chatelaine  of  their 
beautiful  home,  on  North  Fourth  street,  in. 
Beatrice. 

HENRY  J.  TROEMPER,  D.  V.  S.— 
Broad  and  accurate  technical  knowledge  and 
marked  facility  in  making  practical  application 
of  the  same  have  given  to  Dr.  Troemper  defi- 
nite prestige  as  one  of  the  able  and  represen- 
tative exponents  of  the  veterinary  profession 
in  this  section  of  the  state,  and,  with  residence 
and  professional  headquarters  in  the  city  of 
Beatrice,  he  has  developed  a  substantial  and 
important  practice,  his  efficient  service  being 
of  special  value  in  its  direct  pertinence  to  the 
large  live-stock  interests  of  this  section  of  Ne- 
braska. He  is  a  young  man  who  is  an  en- 
thusiast in  his  profession  and  in  connection 
with  his  widely  extended  professional  prac- 
tice he  is  the  proprietor  of  the  Beatrice  Veter- 
inary Hospital,  a  well  ordered  institution  of 
the  best  modern  facilities. 

Dr.  Troemper  was  born  at  Alma,  Waubaun- 
see  county,  Kansas,  on  the  9th  of  December, 
1883,  and  is  a  son  of  Christian  and  Ursula 
(Myer)  Troemper,  the  former  of  whom  was 
born  at  Pottsville,  Pennsylvania,  and  the  lat- 
ter in  Germany.     Christian  Troemper  was  a 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


493 


pioneer  in  the  state  of  Kansas,  where  he  en- 
tered claim  to  a  homestead  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres,  in  Waubaunsee  county,  and  where 
he  eventually  accumulated  and  improved  a 
large  and  valuable  landed  estate.  He  still 
continues  his  activities  as  one  of  the  represen- 
tative agriculturists  and  stock-growers  of  that 
county  and  is  an  honored  citizen  of  his  com- 
munity. His  wife  died  June  7,  1917,  at  the 
age  of  sixty-eight  years. 

Reared  to  the  sturdy  discipline  of  the  farm, 
Dr.  Troemper  early  learned  the  lessons  of 
practical  industry,  the  while  he  made  good 
use  of  the  advantages  afforded  in  the  excellent 
public  schools  of  his  native  commonwealth. 
In  formulating  plans  for  his  future  career  he 
followed  the  course  of  his  ambition  by  enter- 
ing the  Kansas  City  Veterinary  College,  after 
having  previously  been  for  two  years  a  stu- 
dent in  the  State  Agricultural  College  of  Kan- 
sas, at  Manhattan.  During  the  vacation  of 
his  freshman  year  in  the  veterinary  college 
Dr.  Troemper  fortified  himself  by  practical  ex- 
perience gained  along  the  line  of  his  chosen 
profession,  this  service  having  been  given  in 
Kansas  City.  In  his  junior  year  he  gave  to 
the  government  efficient  professional  service 
in  the  work  of  eradicating  an  epidemic  of 
scab  in  sheep  in  the  state  of  New  Mexico,  his 
headquarters  for  this  interval  having  been  in 
the  city  of  Albuquerque.  He  was  graduated 
in  the  Kansas  City  Veterinary  College  as  a 
member  of  the  class  of  1908,  and  in  August  of 
that  year,  after  having  thus  received  his  de- 
gree of  Doctor  of  Veterinary  Surgery,  he  es- 
tablished his  residence  in  Beatrice,  where  he 
has  built  up  a  large  and  representative  prac- 
tice that  extends  over  a  radius  of  many  miles 
from  the  judicial  center  of  Gage  county.  His 
veterinary  hospital  has  the  most  approved  ap- 
pliances and  facilities  for  the  treatment  and 
general  care  of  horses,  cattle  and  other  ani- 
mals, and  he  has  made  the  same  an  institution 
of  much  value  in  this  section  of  the  state. 

In  politics  Dr.  Troemper  is  found  aligned 
in  the  ranks  of  the  Democratic  party,  he  is 
affiliated  with  the  Masonic  fraternity  and  both 
he  and  his  wife  hold  membership  in  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church. 


In  1910  was  recorded  the  marriage  of  Dr. 
Troemper  to  Miss  Nannie  Hadinger,  who  was 
born  and  reared  at  Shickley,  Fillmore  county, 
Nebraska,  and  they  are  popular  factors  in 
the  representative  social  activities  of  their 
home  city. 

GENERAL  LEONARD  WRIGHT  COL- 
BY was  born  in  Cherry  Valley,  Ashtabula 
county,  Ohio,  August  5,  1846,  the  fifth  son  of 
the  seven  children  born  to  Rowel  and  Abigail 
(Livingston)  Colby.  His  parents  were  Ameri- 
cans and  natives  of  Grafton  county.  New 
Hampshire.  When  he  was  about  four  years 
old  his  parents  removed  to  a  farm  five  miles 
from  Freeport,  Stephenson  county,  Illinois, 
where  he  resided  until  his  enlistment  as  a 
private  soldier  in  the  great  war  of  the  Rebel- 
lion and  his  assignment  to  the  Eighth  Regi- 
ment of  Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry,  with 
which  he  served  until  the  close  of  the  war. 
He  was  wounded  on  x\pril  9,  1865,  in  almost 
the  last  battle  of  the  Civil  war,  and  was  recom- 
mended for  promotion  and  commission  for 
gallant  and  meritorious  services  in  the  charge 
at  Fort  Blakely  and  the  siege  of  Mobile,  Ala- 
bama, where  he  captured  a  Confederate  flag. 
After  his  discharge  from  the  Union  army,  in 
1865,  he  with  about  fifty  others  from  his  regi- 
ment enlisted  with  the  forces  of  Maximilian, 
serving  with  the  rank  of  captain  for  several 
months,  until  his  resignation,  in  December, 
1865.  On  his  return  home  he  entered  the  high 
school  at  Freeport,  Illinois,  from  which  he 
graduated  in  July,  1867,  with  the  highest  hon- 
ors of  his  class.  In  the  fall  of  the  same  year 
he  entered  the  University  of  Wisconsin,  in  the 
regular  classical  course,  and  he  was  gradu- 
ated in  June,  1871,  with  the  degree  of  Bach- 
elor of  Arts,  again  taking  the  highest  honors 
of  his  class.  He  was  graduated  also  from  the 
military  and  engineering  courses  at  the  same 
institution,  obtaining  the  degrees  of  Civil  En- 
gineer and  Mechanical  Engineer  and  the  rec- 
ommendation for  a  lieutenant's  commission  in 
the  United  States  army.  During  the  last  two 
years  of  his  college  course  he  was  commis- 
sioned and  served  as  captain  of  the  university 
cadets  at  Madison,  Wisconsin.    Thereafter  he 


494 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


was  graduated  from  the  law  department  of  the 
university,  with  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of 
Laws,  and  in  the  fall  of  1872  (August  22d), 
he  came  to  Nebraska  and  opened  a  law  office 
in  Beatrice,  being  associated  in  business  with 
Lynus  B.  Sale,  a  former  college  friend.  In 
1874  the  University  of  Wisconsin  conferred 
upon  him  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts.  On 
June  25,  1875,  he  became  associated  with 
Alexander  W.  Conley  in  the  organization  of  a 
company  of  state  militia  at  Beatrice,  and  was 
commissioned  first  lieutenant  of  such  com- 
pany, which  was  designated  as  the  Paddock 
Guards,  in  honor  of  United  States  Senator 
Algernon  Sidney  Paddock.  In  the  summer  of 
1877  he  was  commissioned  captain  by  the 
governor  of  Nebraska  and  placed  in  command 
of  four  companies  of  mounted  rifles.  He 
marched  his  battalion  from  Beatrice  to  Red 
Cloud,  thence  to  northern  Nebraska  and  Wy- 
oming in  pursuit  of  bands  of  marauding  In- 
dians. On  his  return  he  was  commissioned 
captain  of  the  Paddock  Guards,  which  com- 
mand he  held  until  June  13,  1881,  when  he 
was  commissioned  colonel  of  the  First  Regi- 
ment Nebraska  National  Guard.  He  had 
command  of  the  Nebraska  state  troops  and  six 
companies  of  United  States  regulars  during 
the  labor  strike  in  Omaha  in  March,  1882,  at 
which  time  the  city  was  placed  under  martial 
law ;  he  was  re-commissioned  colonel  July  10, 
1884,  and  before  the  end  of  his  term,  on  April 
11,  1887,  was  promoted,  by  appointment  and 
commission,  to  brigadier  general  and  placed 
in  command  of  the  First  Brigade,  comprising 
two  infantry  regiments,  a  troop  of  cavalry, 
and  a  battery  of  artillery.  On  April  11,  1890, 
his  commission  as  brigadier  general  was  re- 
newed for  another  term  of  three  years. 

During  the  winter  of  1890-1891  General 
Colby  and  his  command  were  called  into 
active  service  on  the  occasion  of  the  uprising 
of  the  Sioux  Indians  of  Pine  Ridge  and  other 
agencies  in  South  Dakota  and  Nebraska.  The 
command  took  part  with  great  credit  in  the 
engagement  at  Wounded  Knee  and  many 
skirmishes  along  the  borders  of  the  Bad 
Lands,  where  the  hostile  Indians  were  located, 
and  won  the  congratulations  of  Major  General 


Nelson  A.  Miles,  of  the  United  States  army, 
who  complimented  General  Colby  on  his  suc- 
cessful management  of  the  Nebraska  troops. 
On  his  return  home  General  Colby  was  pre- 
sented with  a  gold  medal  for  "gallant  and  effi- 
cient services  rendered  the  state  of  Nebras- 
ka." The  fourth  day  after  the  battle  of 
Wounded  Knee,  when  the  detail  went  out  to 
bury  the  dead,  an  Indian  baby  girl  about 
four  months  old  was  found  on  the  battlefield, 
tied,  in  the  usual  fashion,  on  her  dead  mother's 
back,  and  found  under  a  covering  of  snow. 
Her  head,  hands,  and  feet  were  frozen  in  the 
severe  storm  that  followed  the  battle,  but 
under  proper  care  she  fully  recovered.  The 
child  was  taken  by  General  Colby  to  his  home, 
was  given  the  Christian  name  of  Margaret 
Elizabeth,  and  the  Indian  name  of  Zintkala 
Nuni,  meaning  in  the  Sioirs  language  "Lost 
Bird."  She  was  reared  and  educated  at  his 
home,  being  given  all  the  advantages  of  civi- 
lization. 

April  10,  1893,  General  Colby  was  for  the 
third  time  commissioned  brigadier  general  of 
the  Nebraska  state  troops,  and  in  July  of  the 
following  year  his  command  was  again  called 
into  active  service,  in  the  suppression  of  the 
strike  at  the  packing  houses  in  South  Omaha, 
where  order  was  restored  without  damage  or 
casualty.  In  December,  1896,  during  the  pro- 
gress of  the  Cuban  revolution  against  Spain, 
General  Colby  commenced  the  organization  of 
the  American-Cuban  Volunteer  Legion,  and  in 
the  following  year  he  ciDmpleted  the  enroll- 
ment of  twenty-five  thousand  American  vol- 
unteers, with  headquarters  at  Matamoras, 
Mexico,  and  raised  one  million  two  hundred 
thousand  dollars  for  the  establishment  of  the 
Cuban  republic.  Upon  the  destruction  of  the 
battleship  Maine,  in  Havana  harbor,  he  ten- 
dered the  services  of  the  Cuban  Legion  in  the 
approaching  war  between  the  United  States 
and  Spain.  General  Colby  was  commissioned 
June  3,  1898,  by  President  McKinley,  as 
brigadier  general  of  United  States  Volunteers; 
he  was  first  assigned  to  the  command  of  the 
Third  Brigade,  First  Division,  Third  Army 
Corps,  stationed  at  Chickamauga  Park,  Ga. ; 
for  some  weeks  he  had  command  of  the  First 


c  '"■ ' 


f^ 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


499 


Division  of  the  Third  Army  Corps,  and  was 
the  ranking  general  in  command  at  the  time 
of  the  great  review  at  that  camp.  He  was 
afterward  given  command  of  the  Second 
Brigade,  Second  Division  of  the  Fourth  Army 
Corps,  and  was  thereafter  for  some  time  in 
command  of  the  camp  and  the  division  at 
Anniston,  Alabama.  In  January,  1899,  he  was 
sent  to  Havana,  Cuba,  and  upon  his  return  to 
Washington,  the  last  of  February  of  that 
year,  he  was  mustered  out  of  the  service,  with 
the  rank  of  brigadier  general  of  volunteers. 
Upon  his  return  to  Nebraska,  General  Colby 
was  appointed  adjutant  general  of  the  state, 
which  office  he  held  from  May  6,  1901,  to 
February  20,  1903.  On  August  8,  1906,  he 
was  placed  on  the  retired  list,  with  the  rank  of 
brigadier  general. 

In  November,  1876,  General  Colby  was 
elected  state  senator  to  represent  Gage  and 
Jefferson  counties,  and  in  1886  he  was  reelect- 
ed to  the  state  senate,  to  represent  Gage 
county.  During  the  latter  term  he  introduced' 
fifty  bills  of  importance,  of  which  about  thirty 
passed  the  senate,  and  of  the  latter  number 
more  than  half  became  laws.  In  June,  1891, 
General  Colby  was  appointed  by  President 
Harrison  as  assistant  attorney  general  of  the 
United  States,  his  duties  embracing,  among 
other  important  litigation,  the  defense  of 
claims  for  damages  against  the  government 
and  Indian  tribes.  These  involved  over  ten 
thousand  cases  in  the  court  of  claims  and  the 
United  States  supreme  court,  and  over  forty 
million  dollars.  Upon  his  retirement  from  the 
department  of  justice  he  was  employed  by  the 
Creeks,  Cherokees,  and  Seminoles,  three  of 
the  civilized  tribes  of  Indians  in  Indian  Ter- 
ritory, as  their  attorney  in  Washington,  D.  C, 
and  during  this  employment  he  obtained  a 
judgment  against  the  government  and  in  favor 
of  the  Cherokee  Nation  for  the  sum  of 
$6,742,000. 

Since  the  declaration  of  war  against  the  im- 
perial government  of  Germany,  General  Colby 
has  been  active  in  all  patriotic  and  war  mea- 
sures in  the  interest  of  winning  such  war.  At 
the  commencement  he  tendered  his  services  to 
the  United  States  and  to  the  state  of  Nebraska 


and  requested  to  be  recalled  from  the  retired 
list  into  active  service.  He  has  been  placed  on 
the  list  of  officers  subject  to  call  by  the  war 
department,  and,  having  the  personal  assur- 
ance of  Secretary  of  War  Baker  that  his  ser- 
vices will  be  required  in  the  near  future,  he 
has  passed  his  physical  examination  for  such 
service.  In  the  meantime  he  has  served  as 
government  agent  and  attorney  for  the  draft 
board,  as  chairman  of  the  Gage  County  Coun- 
cil of  Defense,  as  a  member  of  the  War 
Works  Committee,  and  has  taken  an  active 
part  in  the  campaigns  for  the  several  Liberty 
Loans,  the  Red  Cross  and  Y.  M.  C.  A.  drives 
in  the  county  and  district. 

General  Colby  has  had  a  law  office  at  Be- 
atrice and  been  engaged  in  the  practice  of  his 
profession  in  the  several  courts  of  the  states 
and  nation  and  has  maintained  his  residence 
at  Beatrice  during  all  of  the  years  since  his 
location  in  the  state  in  August,  1872.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Society  of  Foreign  Wars, 
Loyal  Legion,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic, 
Spanish-American  War  Veterans,  Aero 
League  and  Naval  League  of  the  United 
States,  the  Blue  Lodge  and  Royal  Arch  Ma- 
sons, the  Red  Men,  Knights  of  Pythias,  Ne- 
braska State  Historical  Society,  Nebraska 
Pioneers,  the  Nebraska  and  American  Bar 
Associations,  the  Republican  Club,  and  the 
Christian  church  at  Beatrice. 

Marie  Moller  Colby,  wife  of  General  Leon- 
ard  Wright  Colby,  was  born  in  Robel,  Meck- 
lenburg-Schwerin,  Germany,  and  is  a  daugh- 
ter of  John  F.  Moller  and  Marie  Henrietta 
(Mxiller)  Moller,  both  being  of  pure  German 
stock,  and  of  long  established  and  well  known 
families  in  the  fatherland.  The  parents  left 
their  old  German  home  on  account  of  political 
oppression  and  came  to  the  United  States  to 
enjoy  the  blessings  of  a  free  government, 
arriving  in  Lancaster  county,  Nebraska,  in 
April,  1875,  and  locating  on  a  farm  three 
miles  west  of  Firth.  Six  years  later  they 
moved  to  Roca,  and  on  April  1,  1882,  they  re- 
moved to  Beatrice,  which  has  since  been  the 
family  home.  Mrs.  Colby  is  the  second  of 
seven  children,  all  of  whom  are  living. 

Mrs.    Colby   was    educated    in    the    public 


500 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


schools  of  Beatrice  and  at  the  Western  Nor- 
mal College  at  Lincoln,  and  later  took  a  course 
in  the  Academy  of  Fine  Arts  in  Philadelphia. 
She  has  added  to  her  general  knowledge  by 
systematic  courses  of  reading,  a  Chautauqua 
course,  travel  in  this  country,  Canada,  Cuba, 
and  Mexico  and  by  thorough  business  train- 
ing. She  is  a  member  of  several  social  organi- 
zations and  clubs  of  the  city,  and  in  addition 
to  attending  to  her  many  business  interests 
has  time  for  church  and  social  work,  and  to 
assist  her  husband  in  his  many  duties  as  well 
as  manage  her  domestic  affairs  and  care  for 
her  attractive  home. 


THOMAS  LePOIDEVIN.  — This  ven- 
erable citizen  of  Gage  county  is  now  living 
retired  in  the  city  of  Beatrice,  the  prosperity 
that  is  his  representing  the  results  of  his  use 
of  the  advantages  that  have  been  afforded 
with  the  development  of  the  natural  re- 
sources of  this  favored  section  of  the  state, 
he  having  come  to  Gage  county  shortly  before 
the  admission  of  the  state  to  the  Union  and 
having  become  one  of  the  pioneer  representa- 
tives of  agricultural  industry  in  Midland  town- 
ship. As  a  sterling  citizen  who  has  contrib- 
uted generously  to  the  material  upbuilding 
of  Gage  county,  he  is  entitled  to  recognition 
in  this  history. 

As  his  name  indicates,  Mr.  LePoidevin  is 
of  French  lineage,  and  he  was  born  on  the 
beautiful  island  of  Guernsey,  in  the  English 
channel,  on  the  25th  of  March,  1840,  the  eld- 
est of  the  seven  children  of  Job  and  Rachel  Le 
Poidevin,  both  of  whom  were  born  on  the 
island  of  Guernsey,  descendants  of  old  and 
honored  families  of  that  island,  many  of  the 
inhabitants  of  which  still  speak  the  old  Nor- 
man French  language.  John,  the  second  son, 
is  a  resident  of  Odell,  Gage  county;  Rachel 
died  at  the  old  home  on  the  island  of  Guern- 
sey;  Joseph  is  a  resident  of  the  state  of  New 
York ;  Amelia  is  living  on  the  island  of  Guern- 
sey ;  Alfred  is  a  resident  of  New  York  state  ; 
and  Alice  died  on  the  island  of  Guernsey, 
where  the  parents  passed  their  entire  lives 
In  the  schools  of  his  native  island  Thomas  re- 
ceived his  limited  educational  training  in  his 


youth,  and  it  later  became  his  to  profit  by  the 
lessons  gained  and  under  the  direction  of  that 
wisest  of  all  teachers,  experience.  Within  the 
reign  of  Queen  Victoria  of  England  he  served 
seven  years,  in  the  English  militia,  and  this 
experience  is  one  to  which  he  often  reverts 
with  special  satisfaction  now  that  England  and 
France  have  become  allied  in  fighting  for  hu- 
manity in  the  greatest  war  in  the  annals  of 
history,  for  he  feels  a  natural  and  inherent 
loyalty  to  both  England  and  France. 

In  1863,  at  the  age  of  twenty-three  years, 
Mr.  LePoidevin  came  to  the  United  States. 
Within  a  short  time  after  arriving  in  the 
port  of  New  York  city  he  made  his  way  to 
Racine  county,  Wisconsin,  where  he  found 
employment  at  farm  work.  He  continued  his 
residence  in  the  Badger  state  until  1866,  when 
he  came  to  Nebraska  Territory  and  entered 
claim  to  a  homestead  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres,  in  what  is  now  Midland  township, 
Gage  county.  He  forthwith  began  with  vigor 
the  work  of  reclaiming  and  developing  his 
pioneer  farm,  and  the  first  dwelling  which  he 
there  erected  was  a  modest  house  constructed 
of  rough  lumber  from  the  native  cottonwood 
timber,  the  little  home  being  fourteen  by  six- 
teen feet  and  one  and  one-half  stories  in 
height, — a  home  superior  to  those  of  the  aver- 
age pioneers  of  the  county,  many  of  whom 
used  primitive  dugouts  and  sod  houses.  As 
prosperity  attended  his  efforts  Mr.  LePoi- 
devin made  gradual  improvements  on  his 
farm,  to  which  he  added  by  the  purchase  of  an 
adjoining  tract  of  eighty  acres,  and  he  pro- 
vided a  substantial  and  commodious  house  as 
the  home  for  his  family.  In  his  pioneer  ex- 
periences he  relates  that  he  cut  his  first  crop 
of  wheat  with  an  old-time  cradle,  and  that  in 
those  early  days  there  were  but  two  threshing 
machines  in  the  entire  county.  He  took  a 
great  interest  in  the  movement  which  brought 
statehood  to  Nebraska  and  gave  his  help  in 
other  enterprises  for  the  general  good  of  the 
community.  With  the  passing  years  he  de- 
veloped one  of  the  valuable  farms  of  Gage 
county,  where  he  still  retains  ownership  of  a 
fine  estate  of  two  hundred  and  forty  acres, 
well  improved.     He  remained  on  his  old  home- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


501 


stead  until  1903,  when  he  removed  to  the  city 
of  Beatrice,  where,  still  hale  and  vigorous,  he 
and  his  devoted  wife  are  enjoying  the  rewards 
of  former  years  of  earnest  toil  and  endeavor, 
and  where  they  are  known  and  honored  as 
venerable  pioneer  citizens  of  the  county.  Both 
are  earnest  members  of  the  Christian  church 
and  he  is  a  Republican  in  politics.  He  has 
never  sought  public  office  but  while  residing 
on  his  farm  he  served  for  a  number  of  years 
as  school  director  for  his  district. 

On  the  5th  of  December,  1867,  he  married 
Miss  Teanna  Tanner,  who  was  born  in  the 
fair  little  republic  of  Switzerland,  on  January 
16,  1847,  and  who  was  about  eight  years  old 
when  her  parents,  John  and  Babette  Tanner, 
came  to  America  and  established  their  home  at 
Etna,  Licking  county,  Ohio.  From  that  state 
they  came  to  Nebraska  in  the  year  1867, 
and  the  father  obtained  a  homestead  of 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  east  of  Beatrice, 
both  he  and  his  wife  having  passed  the  re- 
mainder of  their  lives  in  this  county  and  their 
names  having  a  place  on  the  roll  of  the  pion- 
eers of  this  section  of  the  state.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
LePoidevin  became  the  parents  of  ten  chil- 
dren, and  it  is  most  gratifying  to  record  that 
death  has  never  yet  invaded  the  family  circle. 
In  conclusion  is  given  brief  record  concerning 
the  children :  Adelia  is  the  wife  of  Lincoln 
Thornburg,  a  successful  farmer  of  Midland 
township ;  Almeda  is  the  wife  of  Edward  Es- 
sam,  living  five  miles  east  of  Beatrice ;  John  is 
a  prosperous  farmer  in  Rockford  township ; 
Bertha,  who  resides  at  Beatrice,  is  the  widow 
of  Hanford  Chase;  Mabel  is  the  wife  of  Merl 
Hughes,  of  this  county ;  Ezra  is  a  successful 
farmer  and  resides  eight  miles  north  of 
Beatrice;  Charles  is  a  representative  expon- 
ent of  agricultural  industry  in  Midland  town- 
ship ;  and  Marie,  Josephine  and  Ceba  remain 
at  the  parental  home, — an  attractive  residence 
at  522  South  Ninth  street,  Beatrice. 

JOHN  S.  JONES  has  been  a  resident  of 
Gage  county  since  his  childhood  and  has  here, 
in  his  mature  years,  found  ample  opportunity 
for  the  achieving  of  success  worthy  of  the 
name.     Here   he   has   been    closely   identified 


with  banking  enterprise  during  the  entire 
course  of  his  active  business  career,  and  of  the 
same  he  is  now  a  prominent  representative  in 
the  county.  He  holds  the  position  of  cashier 
of  the  First  National  Bank  of  Wymore,  which 
is  recognized  as  one  of  the  leading  financial 
institutions  of  Gage  county,  and  to  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  interests  of  which  his  care- 
ful and  progressive  administrative  policies 
have  largely  contributed.  Mr.  Jones  is  essen- 
tially one  of  the  representative  citizens  and 
business  men  of  the  thriving  little  city  of  Wy- 
more and  is  properly  accorded  consideration  in 
this  history,  —  a  publication  on  whose  advisory 
board  he  has  served  during  the  period  of  com- 
pilation. 

John  S.  Jones  was  born  on  a  farm  near  Wil- 
liamsburg, Iowa,  and  the  date  of  his  nativity 
was  August  3,  1877.  He  is  a  son  of  John  S. 
and  Ann  S.  (Lloyd)  Jones,  both  natives  of 
Wales  and  representatives  of  staunch  old 
families  of  that  portion  of  the  great  British 
empire.  John  S.  Jones,  Sr.,  was  born  in 
Wales  in  September,  1844,  a  son  of  Thomas 
Jones,  and  in  his  native  land  he  was  reared 
and  educated.  As  a  youth  he  became  asso- 
ciated with  the  great  coal-mining  industry  in 
Wales,  and  he  was  twenty-seven  years  of  age 
when  he  came  to  the  United  States.  His 
prior  experience  readily  gained  to  him  em- 
ployment in  coal  mines  in  Pennsylvania,  but 
after  remaining  about  two  years  in  the  old 
Keystone  state  he  removed  to  Iowa  county, 
Iowa,  and  turned  his  attention  to  farm  enter- 
prise, in  the  vicinity  of  Williamsburg.  There 
he  continued  operations  along  this  line  for  a 
period  of  four  years,  and  he  then,  in  1881, 
came  with  his  family  to  Gage  county,  Ne- 
braska, and  established  his  residence  on  a  farm 
four  miles  south  of  Wymore.  There  he  gave 
his  active  supervision  to  the  work  and  im- 
provement of  his  farm  until  the  time  of  his 
death,  which  occurred  July  10,  1888.  His 
marriage  to  Miss  Ann  S.  Lloyd,  daughter  of 
John  and  Elizabeth  Lloyd,  was  solemnized  in 
Wales  and  his  young  wife  accompanied  him  on 
his  immigation  to  America;  she  is  still  living 
and  resides  with  her  youngest  daughter,  at 
Wymore.     John  S.  and  Ann  S.  (Lloyd)  Jones 


502 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


became  the  parents  of  eight  children,  all  of 
whom  are  now  married  and  well  established  in 
life,  all  save  the  eldest  of  the  number  having 
been  born  after  the  family  home  was  estab- 
lished in  the  United  States.  The  names  of 
the  children  are  here  noted  in  the  respective 
order  of  birth:  Elizabeth,  Sarah  Ann,  Mag- 
gie, John  S.,  Jr.,  Marj'  Ella,  Robert  V.,  Edith, 
and  Luther  Ellis. 

John  S.  Jones,  Jr.,  the  immediate  subject 
of  this  review,  was  about  four  years  old  at  the 
time  of  the  family  removal  to  Gage  county, 
and  here  he  has  since  maintained  his  home.  He 
was  but  ten  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  his 
father's  death  and  as  he  was  the  eldest  son 
large  responsibilities  thus  early  fell  upon  him 
in  connection  with  the  work  and  management 
of  the  home  farm.  He  was  associated  with 
his  devoted  mother  in  carrying  forward  the 
activities  of  the  farm  until  he  had  attained  to 
the  age  of  twenty-four  years,  his  educational 
advantages  in  the  meanwhile  having  been  those 
of  the  district  schools  and  of  the  high  school 
at  Wymore,  where  he  was  a  student  two  years. 
Upon  leaving  the  farm  Mr.  Jones  assigned  its 
management  to  his  brother  Robert  and  became 
bookkeeper  in  the  First  National  Bank  of  Wy- 
more. One  year  later  he  was  tendered  and 
accepted  the  position  of  assistant  cashier  of 
the  newly  organized  State  Bank  of  Wymore. 
of  which  he  was  made  cashier  two  years  later. 
In  1907  this  well  ordered  institution  received 
charter  as  a  national  bank  and  was  incor- 
porated with  a  capital  stock  of  fifty  thousand 
dollars.  Mr.  Jones  continued  as  cashier  of 
the  bank  until  its  building  was  destroyed  by 
fire,  in  1910,  and  in  that  year  its  stockholders 
and  directors  made  a  move  of  distinctive  ex- 
pediency and  wisdom,  in  purchasing  the  stock 
and  business  of  the  First  National  Bank.  Upon 
the  consolidation  of  the  two  institutions  the 
title  of  First  National  Bank  of  Wymore  was 
retained,  and  Mr.  Jones  has  continued  as  cash- 
ier of  the  vital  and  substantial  institution  to 
the  present  time.  The  bank  bases  its  opera- 
tions on  a  capital  stock  of  fifty  thousand  dol- 
lars, its  surplus  fund  is  ten  thousand  dollars 
and  its  deposits  are  now  in  excess  of  six  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  dollars 


Mr.  Jones  is  loyal  and  progressive  as  a  citi- 
zen and  is  always  ready  to  given  his  co-oper- 
ation in  the  furtherance  of  projects  advanced 
for  the  general  good  of  his  home  city  and 
county.  In  politics  he  is  found  staunchly 
aligned  in  the  ranks  of  the  Republican  party, 
and  he  and  his  wife  are  active  members  of  the 
Methodist  Epicopal  church  of  Wymore.  Mr. 
Jones  is  affiliated  with  Wymore  Lodge,  An- 
cient Free  &  Accepted  Masons,  of  which  he  is 
past  master ;  with  Hiram  Chapter,  Royal  Arch 
Masons,  of  which  he  is  past  high  priest,  and 
with  Mount  Hemian  Cominandery,  Knights 
Templars,  in  the  city  of  Beatrice,  besides 
which  he  holds  membership  in  Sesotris  Tem- 
ple of  the  Mystic  Shrine,  in  the  city  of  Lin- 
coln, and  in  Violet  Chapter,  Order  of  the 
Eastern  Star,  at  Wymore,  of  which  latter  he 
is  serving  as  worthy  patron  in  1918,  his  wife 
being  likewise  affiliated  with  this  chapter. 
Mr.  Jones  takes  specially  deep  interest  in  edu- 
cational affairs  and  is  serving  at  the  time  of 
this  writing  as  president  of  the  Wymore 
board  of  education. 

On  the  28th  of  June,  1905,  was  solemnized 
the  marriage  of  Mr.  Jones  to  Miss  Mary  Eliz- 
abeth Roberts,  who  was  born  near  Iowa  City, 
Iowa,  on  the  9th  of  January,  1878,  her  parents 
soon  afterward  coming  to  Gage  county,  Ne- 
braska, where  they  still  maintain  their  home. 
The  names  and  respective  dates  of  birth  of  the 
three  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jones  are  here 
entered:  Gordon  John,  October  12,  1908; 
Eleanor  May,  May  19,  1911 ;  and  Dwight,  July 
4,  1914. 

In  connection  with  the  nation's  participation 
in  the  great  world  war  Mr.  Jones  has  been  very 
active  in  Red  Cross  and  Liberty  Loan  work, 
with  a  spirit  of  loyalty  that  prompts  him  to 
give  to  the  government  and  its  gallant  military 
and  naval  forces  every  possible  assistance. 

SIMON  B.  HARTZELL,  a  progressive 
farmer  of  Rock  ford  township,  was  bom 
March  21,  1879,  and  was  an  infant  at  the  time 
when  his  parents  established  their  home  in 
Gage  county.  He  is  a  son  of  EH  E.  Hartzell, 
who  is  now  living  retired  at  Holmesville,  this 
county.     Eli  E.  Hartzell  was  born  in  Mahon- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


ing  county,  Ohio,  March  19,  1837,  and  his  par- 
ents, George  and  Jane  (Smart)  Hartzell,  who 
were  born  and  reared  in  Pennsylvania,  re- 
moved in  an  early  day  from  the  old  Keystone 
state  to  Ohio.  Eli  E.  Hartzell  received  in  his 
youth  the  advantages  of  the  common  schools 
and  as  a  young  man  he  went  to  Indiana, 
where  he  engaged  in  the  lumber  business. 
Later  he  resided,  for  intervals  of  vary- 
ing duration,  in  Michigan,  Kentucky,  Ohio, 
and  Pennsylvania,  and  in  1881  he  •  came 
with  his  family  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska. 
He  settled  in  Riverside  township,  and  there 
he  continued  his  successful  activities  as  a 
farmer  for  fully  twenty  years.  Several  years 
ago  he  removed  to  Arkansas,  but  after  re- 
maining there  a  short  time  he  returned  to 
Gage  county,  where  he  has  since  lived  virtu- 
ally retired  and  where  he  now  maintains  his 
home  at  Holmesville.  His  wife,  whose  maid- 
en name  was  Miralda  Quigley  and  who  was  a 
resident  of  Mahoning  county,  Ohio,  at  the 
time  of  their  marriage,  was  bom  December 
13,  1840,  a  daughter  of  Dr.  Quigley,  her 
father  having  been  a  physician  and  having 
been  engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  profession 
in  Ohio  for  more  than  half  a  century.  Eli 
E.  and  Miralda  Hartzell  became  the  parents 
of  seven  children:  Willis  is  deceased;  Rush 
and  Jay  are  engaged  in  farm  enterprise  in 
Nemaha  township,  this  county;  Homer  is  a 
resident  of  Portland,  Oregon ;  Mary,  who  be- 
came the  wife  of  Rev.  Gustave  Briegleb,  is 
deceased ;  Simon  Bert,  of  this  review,  was  the 
next  in  order  of  birth;  Harry  is  a  physician 
and  surgeon  by  profession  and  is  engaged  in 
practice  at  Eldorado,  Kansas. 

Eli  E.  Hartzell,  who  has  passed  the  age  of 
four  score  years,  is  one  of  the  venerable  and 
highly  honored  citizens  of  Gage  county,  and 
is  a  man  of  broad  mental  grasp,  a  citizen  who 
has  been  loyal  in  all  of  the  relations  of  life. 
His  religious  faith  is  that  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church. 

Simon  Bert  Hartzell  gained  his  early  edu- 
cation in  the  schools  of  Gage  county,  includ- 
ing the  public  schools  of  the  city  of  Beatrice, 
and  his  initial  activities  as  an  independent 
farmer  were  conducted  on  land  owned  by  his 


father.  Later  he  was  engaged  for  eleven 
years  in  the  operation  of  a  farm  in  Hanover 
township,  under  a  Scully  lease,  and  three 
years  ago  he  purchased  his  present  fine  farm, 
in  Rockford  township,  the  same  comprising 
two  hundred  acres.  When  he  purchased  the 
property  it  was  not  provided  with  buildings, 
as  those  formerly  on  the  place  had  been  swept 
away  by  a  cyclone,  a  few  years  previously, 
the  disaster  being  the  more  malign  by  reason 
of  the  fact  that  on  the  farm  two  persons  were 
killed  at  the  time.  Mr.  Hartzell  erected  a 
good  house  on  the  farm  and  also  provided  a 
modern  barn  and  other  requisite  farm  build- 
ings. He  gives  his  attention  to  diversified 
agriculture,  raises  and  feeds  cattle  for  the 
market  and  is  proving  successful  in  all  de- 
partments of  his  vigorous  farm  enterprise. 

Mr.  Hartzell  married  Miss  Jewell  Hick- 
man, who  was  born  in  Macoupin  county,  Illi- 
nois, and  who  is  a  daughter  of  the  late  J.  T. 
and  Sarah  (Piper)  Hickman.  Mr.  and  Mrs 
Hartzell  have  four  children  —  Ruth,  Blanche, 
Simon  B.,  Jr.,  and  Raymond. 

Mr.  Hartzell  is  a  member  of  the  school 
board  of  his  district  and  he  and  his  wife  hold 
membership  in  the  Methodist  church. 


DAVID  GRAF  has  been  a  resident  of  Gage 
county  since  1875  and  for  more  than  forty 
years  he  and  his  wife  have  maintained  their 
home  on  their  present  fann,  in  Section  4,  Mid- 
land township.  His  sons  now  have  the  active 
management  of  his  extensive  farm  estate  and 
he  and  his  wife  are,  under  most  gracious  en- 
vironment and  associations,  enjoying  the  gen- 
erous prosperity  and  comfort  that  properly 
crown  their  former  years  of  earnest  en- 
deavor—  sterling  pioneer  citizens  to  whom  is 
accorded  the  fullest  measure  of  popular  es- 
teem. 

David  Graf  was  born  on  his  father's  farm 
in  Northville  township,  LaSalle  county,  Illi- 
nois, September  27,  1845,  the  second  in  order 
of  birth  in  a  family  of  six  sons  and  four 
daughters,  and  of  the  number  seven  are  still 
living.  The  honored  father,  Samuel  Graf, 
was  bom  and  reared  in  the  fair  little  republic 
of  Switzerland  and  was  a  young  man  when  he 


504  HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


505 


came  to  America  and  in  the  state  of  Pennsyl- 
vania found  employment  at  his  trade,  that  of 
tailor.  In  Somerset  county,  that  state,  was 
solemnized  his  marriage  to  Miss  Louise  Anna 
Parker,  and  about  the  year  1833  they  num- 
bered themselves  among  the  pioneer  settlers  of 
La  Salle  county,  Illinois.  There  Mr.  Graf  re- 
claimed and  improved  one  of  the  excellent 
farms  of  Northville  township,  and  upon  this 
homestead  he  and  his  wife  passed  the  re- 
mainder of  their  lives,  he  having  passed  away 
in  1876,  at  the  age  of  seventy-five  years,  and 
his  widow  having  been  one  hundred  years  of 
age  at  the  time  of  her  death,  which  occurred 
in  October,  1916.  Both  were  zealous  mem- 
bers of  the  Presbyterian  church. 

David  Graf  was  reinforced  for  his  later 
service  through  the  experience  he  gained  on 
the  old  homestead  farm  in  Illinois,  where  his 
early  educational  advantages  were  those  af- 
forded in  the  district  schools  of  his  native 
county.  There  he  continued  his  active  asso- 
ciation with  farm  enterprise  until  he  had  at- 
tained to  the  age  of  twenty-seven  years,  when 
he  found  employment  as  a  farm  hand,  work- 
ing by  the  month.  In  1875  he  came  to  Gage 
county,  where  his  father  had  purchased  for 
the  sons  six  eighty-acre  tracts  of  land,  and  on 
one  of  these  tracts,  east  of  Beatrice,  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch  initiated  his  independent 
activities  as  a  farmer.  The  following  year 
he  purchased  his  present  homestead  place  of 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  in  Section  4, 
Midland  township,  where  he  and  his  gracious 
wife  have  continuously  maintained  their  resi- 
dence during  the  long  intervening  years,  which 
have  been  marked  by  constantly  increasing 
prosperity,  won  through  earnest  and  honest 
endeavor  on  their  part.  On  the  place  the 
original  home  of  the  family  was  a  frame 
shanty  that  had  been  erected  by  the  previous 
owner,  Andrew  J.  Pethoud,  who  was  one  of 
the  earliest  settlers  of  the  county  and  did 
much  important  surveying  work  in  the  early 
days.  This  primitive  house  continued  as  the 
Graf  abode  for  fifteen  years,  and  then  re- 
moval was  made  to  the  commodious  and  at- 
tractive frame  house  which  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Graf    now    occupy,    the   buildings    which    he 


has  erected  on  his  farm  property  being  among 
the  finest  in  the  township  and  being  kept  in 
the  best  of  repair  —  a  fitting  token  of  thrift 
and  prosperity.  Mr.  Graf  is  now  the  owner 
of  a  fine  landed  estate  of  two  hundred  acres 
and  his  wife  owns  farm  property  of  equal 
area  in  the  same  township.  Vigorous  and  pro- 
gressive policies  always  marked  the  activities 
of  Mr.  Graf  as  an  agriculturist  and  stock- 
grower,  and  the  principles  which  he  thus  in- 
culcated in  his  sons  have  caused  them  to  fol- 
low with  equal  efficiency  the  same  policies  in 
their  management  of  the  fine  estate  owned  by 
him  and  his  wife. 

In  LaSalle  county,  Illinois,  March  3,  1875, 
recorded  the  marriage  of  Mr.  Graf  to  Miss 
Adeline  Hazemann,  who  was  there  bom 
March  25,  1856,  her  parents,  Jonathan  G.  and 
Amelia  (Smith)  Hazemann,  having  been 
natives  of  France  and  having  become  pioneer 
settlers  of  LaSalle  county,  Illinois,  where  they 
passed  the  residue  of  their  lives.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Graf  have  four  children :  Alpha  D.  and 
John  G.  remain  with  their  parents  and  have 
the  active  management  of  the  home  farm; 
Clarence  D.,  who  is  a  successful  farmer  in 
Filley  township,  married  Miss  Elizabeth  Jen- 
sen and  they  have  three  children  ;  Fordyce  H., 
the  maiden  name  of  whose  wife  was  Hazel 
Burket,  is  serving,  in  1917-1918,  as  city  clerk 
of  Beatrice,  judicial  center  of  the  county. 

Mr.  Graf  has  been  distinctively  the  sup- 
porter of  civic  and  industrial  progress  and  de- 
velopment in  Gage  county  and  while  he  has 
shown  loyal  interest  in  community  affairs  and 
given  staunch  support  to  the  cause  of  the 
Democratic  party  he  has  never  consented  to 
serve  in  official  positions  other  than  those  of 
road  supervisor  and  school  director.  He  and 
his  wife  are  earnest  members  of  the  Reorgan- 
ized Church  of  Latter  Day  Saints,  and  they 
are  genial  and  kindly  pioneer  citizens  whose 
circle  of  friends  in  Gage  county  is  limited  only 
by  that  of  their  acquaintances. 

GEORGE  HUNKLE,  secretary  and  man- 
ager of  the  Farmers'  Elevator  Company,  at 
Holmesville,  in  Rockford  township,  is  one  of 
the  leading  exponents  of  the  grain  business  in 


506 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


this  part  of  the  county  and  is  held  in  high 
esteem  in  the  county  that  has  represented  his 
home  for  more  than  thirty  years.  He  was 
born  in  the  state  of  New  York,  June  1,  1876, 
and  as  he  was  left  an  orphan  in  early  child- 
hood he  has  no  definite  information  concern- 
ing the  family  history.  He  was  placed  in  an 
orphans'  home  in  New  York  city,  and  when 
nine  years  of  age  he  was  sent  with  other  boys 
from  that  institution  to  Nebraska,  where  he 
became  a  member  of  the  family  circle  of  Wil- 
liam Woolsey,  a  farmer  in  Lincoln  township. 
Gage  county.  Here  he  was  reared  to  man- 
hood and  received  the  advantages  of  the  local 
schools.  He  remained  with  his  foster-parents 
until  he  had  attained  to  his  legal  majority  and 
for  some  time  thereafter  he  was  independent- 
ly engaged  in  farm  enterprise  in  Lincoln  town- 
ship. He  then  went  to  the  village  of  Ellis, 
where  he  learned  the  trade  of  telegraphist,  and 
after  having  been  employed  as  an  operator  at 
Jansen  and  Plymouth,  Nebraska,  he  returned 
to  Ellis,  Gage  county,  and  engaged  in  the 
grain  business.  In  December,  1901,  he  was 
made  manager  of  the  firm's  business  and  of 
this  position  he  continued  the  incumbent  until 
the  business  was  sold  to  Black  Brothers,  with 
whom  he  continued  in  a  similar  capacity,  at 
Holmesville,  until  they  sold  their  elevator  and 
business  to  the  Farmers'  Elevator  Company, 
in  1913,  since  which  time  he  has  given  most 
efficient  service  as  secretary  and  manager  of 
this  company.  Mr.  Hunkle  is  a  Republican 
in  politics,  and  is  affiliated  with  the  Ellis 
Lodge  of  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fel- 
lows, as  is  he  also  with  Beatrice  Lodge  of  the 
Benevolent  &  Protective  Order  of  Elks. 

In  1912  Mr.  Hunkle  wedded  Miss  Fannie 
Lemmel,  who  was  bom  in  Saline  county,  this 
state,  a  daughter  of  Philip  and  Eliza  Lemmel, 
the  former  of  whom  is  deceased  and  the  lat- 
ter of  whom  now  resides  in  the  city  of 
Beatrice.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hunkle  have  a  fine 
little  son,  Donald  G. 

CHARLES  J.  McCOLL  has  been  a  resi- 
dent of  Gage  county  since  1888  and  in  the 
city  of  Beatrice  he  has  long  controlled  a  sub- 
stantial    and     representative    business    as     a 


skilled  painter  and  paperhanger,  his  pleasant 
home  being  at  225  North  LaSelle  street.  A 
scion  of  the  staunchest  of  Scottish  ancestry, 
Mr.  McColl  was  born  in  Argyleshire,  Scot- 
land, on  the  13th  of  August,  1852,  a  son  of 
James  and  Mary  (McGinness)  McColl,  who 
the  next  year,  1853,  immigrated  to  America 
and  established  their  home  in  York  county, 
Province  of  Ontario,  Canada,  where  the 
father  became  the  owner  of  a  small  farm  and 
where  he  and  his  wife  passed  the  residue  of 
their  lives.  Of  their  eleven  children  the  sub- 
ject of  this  review  is  now  the  only  survivor. 
After  the  death  of  James  McColl  his  widow 
engaged  in  the  dairy  business,  and  by  her 
energy  and  ability  she  made  the  enterprise 
distinctly  successful.  Both  were  members  of 
the  Presbyterian  church. 

Reared  to  adult  age  in  York  county,  On- 
tario, Charles  J.  McColl  received  in  his  youth 
but  limited  educational  advantages,  but  in  con- 
nection with  the  practical  affairs  of  life  he 
has  effectively  made  good  this  handicap.  In 
the  city  of  Toronto  he  learned  in  his  youth 
the  trade  of  painting  and  graining,  and  after 
there  following  his  trade  for  a  number  of 
years  he  decided  to  identify  himself  with  the 
progressive  western  section  of  the  United 
States.  On  the  1st  of  May,  1888,  he  arrived 
in  the  city  of  Beatrice,  and  here  he  has  since 
continued  his  residence,  the  while  he  has  been 
consecutively  engaged  in  business  as  a  painter 
and  paperhanger,  in  which  field  of  enterprise 
he  has  built  up  a  prosperous  business  that 
makes  him  one  of  the  leading  exponents  of 
the  same  in  the  judicial  center  and  metropolis 
of  Gage  county. 

March  6,  1881,  recorded  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  McColl  to  Miss  Susan  Bates,  who  was 
born  in  Huron  county,  Ontario,  Canada,  a 
daughter  of  Thomas  and  Susan  (Sterling) 
Bates,  the  former  a  native  of  Ireland  and  the 
latter  of  Scotland.  In  Canada  Mr.  Bates  fol- 
lowed the  trade  of  plasterer  and  there  both 
he  and  his  wife  continued  to  reside  until  their 
death.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  McColl  became  the  par- 
ents of  three  children :  Ethel  died  at  the  age 
of  twenty-three  years  ;  Eva  is  a  popular  teacher 
in  the  Central  school  in  the  city  of  Beatrice. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


507 


and  Mary  is  an  efficient  teacher  in  the  high 
school  at  Shickley,  Nebraska.  Mrs.  McColl 
and  her  daughters  are  members  of  the  Pres- 
byterian church. 

Mr.  McColl  is  affiliated  with  the  Knights  & 
Ladies  of  Security,  the  Order  of  Ancient 
Foresters,  and  the  Ancient  Order  of  Shep- 
herds, in  each  of  which  he  has  passed  all  of 
the  official  chairs.  In  politics  he  has  been 
a  staunch  Republican  during  the  entire  period 
of  his  residence  as  a  naturalized  citizen  in  the 
United  States,  and  he  has  been  influential  in 
political  affairs  in  Gage  county.  While  a 
resident  of  St.  Thomas,  Canada,  he  served  as 
a  member  of  the  city  council,  and  this  ex- 
perience gave  him  special  resourcefulness 
when  he  was  called  upon  to  give  similar  ser- 
vice as  a  member  of  the  city  council  of 
Beatrice.  His  ability  and  popularity  marked 
him  as  an  eligible  candidate  for  higher  offi- 
cial preferment,  and  in  1908  he  was  elected 
representative  of  Gage  county  in  the  Nebras- 
ka legislature,  in  which  he  served  one  term. 
Though  the  lower  house  of  the  legislature  was 
strongly  Democratic,  Mr.  McColl  proved  a 
strong  minority  leader  and  was  assigned  to 
various  important  committees,  including  those 
on  public  lands  and  buildings,  towns  and 
cities,  and  labor  and  insurance. 

JACOB  ESSAM  has  been  a  resident  of 
Gage  county  since  he  was  a  youth  of  eighteen 
years  and  by  his  well  ordered  industry  and  en- 
terprise has  gained  secure  vantage-place  as 
one  of  the  representative  farmers  of  Midland 
township,  where  he  is  the  owner  of  a  well  im- 
proved farm  property  of  four  hundred  acres, 
his  attractive  homestead  place  being  situated 
in  Section  24,  on  rural  mail  route  No.  3  from 
the  city  of  Beatrice,  which  is  about  four  and  • 
one-half  miles  distant. 

Mr.  Essam  was  born  in  Schuyler  county, 
Illinois,  May  10,  1863,  was  there  reared  on 
his  father's  farm  and  there  acquired  his  early 
education  in  the  district  schools.  He  is  a  son 
of  James  and  Susanna  (Fitz)  Essam,  both 
natives  of  York  county,  Pennsylvania,  where 
the  former  was  born  April  8,  1834,  and  the 
latter  on  the  12th  of  May,  1840.     James  Es- 


sam was  a  young  man  when  he  removed  from 
the  old  Keystone  state  and  settled  in  Illinois, 
where  his  activities  as  a  farmer  were  carried 
on  first  in  Fulton  and  later  in  Schuyler 
county.  In  1880  he  disposed  of  his  property 
in  Illinois  and  came  with  his  family  to  Gage 
county,  where  he  purchased  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  of  land,  in  Logan  township.  He 
improved  one  of  the  excellent  farms  of  the 
county  and  continued  to  reside  on  the  old 
homestead  until  his  death,  which  occurred 
August  22,  1902,  his  widow  having  been  sum- 
moned to  the  life  eternal  on  the  5th  of  May, 
1909.  Both  were  earnest  members  of  the 
Dunkard  church  and  exemplified  their  faith 
in  their  daily  lives,  their  names  meriting  en- 
during place  on  the  roster  of  the  honored  pio- 
neers of  Gage  county.  Of  their  eight  children 
the  firstborn  is  Henry,  who  is  a  prosperous 
farmer  in  Riverside  township ;  Jacob,  of  this 
review,  was  the  next  in  order  of  birth ;  Mary 
is  the  wife  of  James  Canning  and  they  reside 
in  the  state  of  Kansas;  Edward  is  a  success- 
ful farmer  in  Logan  township;  Miss  Rebecca 
resides  in  the  city  of  Beatrice,  and  is  the  home- 
keeper  for  her  bachelor  brother,  John,  the 
next  younger  of  the  children ;  Charles  like- 
wise resides  in  Beatrice;  and  Harvey  resides 
upon  and  operates  his  father's  old  home  farm, 
in  Logan  township. 

As  previously  intimated,  Jacob  Essam  was 
a  youth  of  eighteen  years  when  he  accompan- 
ied his  parents  to  Gage  county,  and  for  some 
time  thereafter  he  was  employed  by  the  month 
at  farm  work,  his  compensation  being  twelve 
and  one-half  dollars  a  month.  For  several 
years  he  farmed  on  rented  land  and  it  was 
about  twenty-five  years  ago  that  he  purchased 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  the  old  home- 
stead of  his  father-in-law,  in  Midland  town- 
ship. This  proved  to  be  the  nucleus  of  the 
large  and  valuable  landed  estate  of  four  hun- 
dred acres  which  he  has  since  accumulated 
through  his  energetic  and  well  directed  activi- 
ties as  an  agriculturist  and  stock-raiser,  and 
he  has  made  many  permanent  improvements 
of  excellent  order  on  his  property,  including 
the  rebuilding  and  remodeling  of  the  house 
on  his  homestead  and  the  erection  of  other 


508 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


farm  buildings  of  model  type  and  facilities. 
Mr.  Essam  is  one  of  the  substantial  and 
popular  citizens  of  Midland  township,  where 
he  has  served  fifteen  years  in  the  office  of 
township  treasurer  and  for  many  years  as  a 
member  of  the  school  board  of  his  district. 
He  is  independent  of  strict  partisan  lines  in 
politics  and  gives  his  support  to  men  and  mea- 
sures meeting  the  approval  of  his  judgment. 
His  wife  is  an  active  member  of  the  Christian 
church. 

February  14,  1880,  recorded  the  mar- 
riage of  Mr.  Essam  to  Miss  Mary  E.  Bar- 
tram,  who  was  born  in  Macoupin  county,  Illi- 
nois, a  daughter  of  William  and  Mary  Bar- 
tram,  with  whom  she  came  to  Gage  county, 
Nebraska,  in  1878,  her  parents  settling  on  the 
farm  which  is  now  the  homestead  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Essam,  both  having  here  passed  the  re- 
mainder of  their  lives  and  Mr.  Essam  having 
purchased  the  farm  at  the  time  when  the  prop- 
erty was  placed  on  sale  in  the  final  adjustment 
of  the  estate.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Essam  have  four 
children :  James,  the  maiden  name  of  whose 
wife  was  Esta  Doan,  is  a  prosperous  farmer 
in  Midland  township ;  Bessie  is  the  wife  of 
Ezra  LePoidevin,  a  farmer  in  Holt  township ; 
Evart  remains  at  the  parental  home  and  is 
associated  with  his  father  in  the  work  and 
management  of  the  farm ;  and  Gilbert,  who 
married  Miss  Pearl  Bible,  is  one  of  the  pro- 
gressive young  farmers  of  Midland  township. 

JOHN  W.  BURGESS,  treasurer  of  the 
Dempster  Mill  Manufacturing  Company, 
which  is  the  most  important  industrial  cor- 
poration not  only  in  the  city  of  Beatrice  but 
also  in  Gage  county,  has  been  for  more  than 
thirty  years  actively  and  prominently  identi- 
fied with  the  civic  and  business  affairs  in 
Beatrice  and  he  is  properly  accorded  recogni- 
tion in  this  history. 

John  Warren  Burgess  was  born  in  Cook 
county,  Illinois,  on  the  3d  of  November,  1865, 
and  is  a  son  of  Eli  and  Marietta  (Childs) 
Burgess,  who  were  born  in  Saratoga  county, 
New  York.  Their  marriage  was  solemnized 
in  the  old  Empire  state  and  thence  they  re- 
moved to  Cook  county,  Illinois,  prior  to  the 


Civil  war.  EH  Burgess  was  a  man  of  staunch 
character  and  of  much  intellectual  ability.  In 
the  earlier  period  of  his  career  he  was  a  suc- 
cessful teacher  in  the  public  schools  and  there- 
after he  was  engaged  in  the  mercantile  busi- 
ness for  some  time.  He  became  a  farmer  near 
Dundee,  Illinois,  and  finally  removed  from  the 
farm  to  that  village,  where  he  continued  to  be 
engaged  in  mercantile  enterprise  until  his 
death,  his  wife  also  having  there  passed  the 
closing  years  of  her  life.  They  became  the 
parents  of  four  sons,  of  whom  the  eldest  is 
Edwin  A.,  a  civil  engineer  by  profession  and 
a  resident  of  the  city  of  Chicago ;  Arthur  C. 
still  resides  at  Dundee,  Illinois,  where  he  is  a 
representative  business  man ;  William  E.  is 
deceased ;  and  John  W.,  of  this  review,  is  the 
youngest  of  the  number. 

The  lineage  of  the  Burgess  family  traces 
back  to  Welsh  origin  and  the  Childs  family 
was  one  of  early  settlement  in  the  state  of 
New  York,  where  members  of  the  family  mar- 
ried representatives  of  the  fine  old  Van  Tassell 
family,  whose  name  is  linked  with  the  found- 
ing of  the  early  Holland  Dutch  colonies  in  the 
Empire  state. 

The  early  educational  advantages  of  John 
W.  Burgess  were  those  afforded  in  the  public 
schools  of  his  native  state,  and  after  having 
attended  the  high  school  at  Dundee  he  was 
for  one  year  a  student  in  Wheaton  College, 
at  Wheaton,  Illinois,  after  which  he  completed 
a  nornial  course  in  what  is  now  Valparaiso 
University,  at  Valparaiso,  Indiana.  As  a  rep- 
resentative of  the  pedagogic  profession  he 
taught  in  the  public  schools  of  Henry  and 
Kane  counties,  Illinois,  besides  which  he  gave 
effective  service  in  the  office  of  superintendent 
of  schools  for  the  latter  county. 

In  the  autumn  of  1887  Mr.  Burgess  came 
to  Beatrice,  Nebraska,  where  he  has  since  been 
actively  associated  with  the  Dempster  Mill 
Manufacturing  Company,  of  which  he  is  a 
stockholder  and  director  and  of  which  he  has 
served  long  and  effectively  as  treasurer.  He 
has  done  much  to  further  the  upbuilding  of 
this  large  and  important  industrial  corpora- 
tion and  as  a  citizen  has  shown  marked  loy- 
alty  and  progressiveness.     He   and  his   wife 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


509 


hold  membership  in  the  Presbyterian  church. 
In  December,  1891,  was  solemnized  the  mar- 
riage of  Mr.  Burgess  to  Miss  Sarah  E-  Demp- 
ster, who,  like  her  husband,  was  graduated  in 
the  institution  now  known  as  Valparaiso  Uni- 
versity. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Burgess  have  three 
sons:  Warren  C,  who  is  a  graduate  of  the 
University  of  Colorado,  is  now  in  the  employ 
of  the  Westinghouse  Electrical  Manufactur- 
ing Company;  Harold  D.  is  a  student,  in  1918, 
in  the  University  of  Kansas ;  and  John  Paul 
is  a  student  in  the  Beatrice  high  school. 

JOHN  I.  McGIRR,  M.  D.  —  In  promoting 
general  efficiency  along  all  lines  of  human  en- 
deavor there  has  come  in  these  later  years  a 
distinct  recognition  of  the  supreme  value  of 
concentration  of  effort,  and  this  is  specially 
true  in  the  medical  profession,  in  which  ex- 
ponents find  the  maximum  success  and  are 
able  to  give  the  most  benignant  service  through 
devoting  their  attention  to  perfecting  them- 
selves and  exploiting  special  departments  of 
practice.  In  Gage  county  Dr.  McGirr  has 
gained  exceptional  prestige  by  such  concen- 
tration and  he  gives  his  time  and  attention 
primarily  to  the  diagnosis  and  treatment  of 
diseases  of  the  eye,  ear,  nose,  and  throat.  He 
maintains  his  residence  and  professional  head- 
quarters in  the  city  of  Beatrice  and  is  known, 
through  his  character  and  high  professional 
attainments,  as  one  of  the  representative 
physicians  and  surgeons  of  this  part  of  the 
state. 

Dr.  McGirr  was  born  at  Reddick,  Kankakee 
county,  Illinois,  on  the  23d  of  March,  1873, 
and  in  his  native  commonwealth  he  received 
his  rudimentan,'  education,  his  age  at  the  time 
of  the  family  removal  to  Nebraska  having 
been  twelve  years.  The  Doctor  is  a  son  of 
Francis  M.  and  Judith  (Barkey)  McGirr,  the 
former  of  whom  was  born  in  the  fair  Old 
Emerald  Isle,  a  scion  of  a  family  of  patrician 
antecedents  and  superior  educational  status, 
and  the  latter  of  whom  was  born  in  the  state 
of  Pennsylvania,  their  marriage  having  been 
solemnized  in  the  state  of  Illinois.  Francis 
M.  McGirr  was  reared  and  educated  in  his 
native  land,  where  he  received  excellent  ad- 


vantages, his  father,  Joseph  IMcGirr,  who  con- 
tinued to  maintain  his  home  in  Ireland  until 
his  death,  at  the  venerable  age  of  eighty-five 
years,  having  been  a  man  of  fine  intellectual- 
ity and  having  served  many  years  as  a  school- 
master, in  which  connection  it  may  be  noted 
that  he  spoke  and  taught  eight  different  lan- 
guages. Francis  M.  McGirr  was  a  young  man 
when  he  came  to  the  United  States  and  that 
his  loyalty  to  the  land  of  his  adoption  was  of 
perfervid  order  needs  no  further  voucher 
than  the  statement  that  he  went  forth  as  a 
valiant  soldier  of  the  Union  in  the  Civil  war, 
in  which  conflict  he  served  three  years,  as  a 
member  of  Battery  K,  First  Illinois  Light 
Artillery.  During  his  later  years  of  residence 
in  Nebraska  he  perpetuated  the  more  gracious 
memories  of  his  military  career  through  affil- 
iation with  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic, 
and  in  all  of  the  relations  of  life  he  exempli- 
fied the  same  instinctive  loyalty  and  high  sense 
of  personal  stewardship  that  prompted  him 
thus  to  defend  in  his  young  manhood  the 
righteous  cause  through  which  was  perpetu- 
ated our  national  integrity.  His  wife  was  a 
girl  at  the  time  of  her  parents'  removal  from 
the  old  Keystone  state  to  Illinois,  where  she 
was  reared  and  educated,  her  father,  the  late 
Enos  Barkey,  having  finally  removed  with  his 
family  to  Nebraska  and  become  one  of  the 
early  settlers  of  Gage  county,  where  he  was  a 
prosperous  farmer  and  where  he  and  his  wife 
passed  the  residue  of  their  lives. 

After  the  close  of  the  Civil  war  Francis  M. 
?iIcGirr  engaged  in  farming  in  Kankakee 
county,  Illinois,  and  in  that  state  he  remained 
until  1885,  when  he  came  with  his  family  to 
Nebraska  and  purchased  land  in  Gage  county. 
Here  he  developed  one  of  the  valuable  farms 
of  the  county  and  he  continued  to  reside  upon 
his  old  homestead  until  1901,  when  he  re- 
moved to  the  city  of  Beatrice,  his  death  hav- 
ing here  occurred  in  1905,  and  his  widow  hav- 
ing passed  to  eternal  rest  in  1913.  Mr.  Mc- 
Girr was  one  of  the  honored  and  influential 
citizens  of  Gage  county,  a  man  of  broad  men- 
tal ken  and  well  fortified  convictions,  and  he 
commanded  the  unequivocal  respect  of  his 
fellow  men.     He  was  reared  in  and  ever  held 


510 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


to  the  faith  of  the  Cathohc  church,  and  his 
wife  was  a  member  of  the  Mennonite  church. 
They  are  survived  by  four  children:  Ed- 
ward B.  is  successfully  engaged  in  the  real- 
estate  business  at  Beatrice;  Frederick  O.  is 
engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  profession  at 
Beatrice,  as  a  representative  member  of  the 
Gage  county  bar,  and  is  serving,  1917-1918, 
in  the  office  of  supreme  court  commissioner; 
Dr.  McGirr,  of  this  review,  was  the  next  in 
order  of  birth;  and  Virgil  E.  is  a  retired  far- 
mer residing  in  Beatrice:  he  served  as  dep- 
uty sheriff  of  Gage  county  and  for  several 
terms  as  chief  of  police  of  Beatrice. 

As  previously  stated,  Dr.  McGirr  was  a  lad 
of  twelve  years  at  the  time  of  the  family  re- 
moval to  Nebraska,  and  he  was  reared  to  ma- 
turity in  Gage  county,  where  he  continued  to 
attend  the  public  schools  until  he  had  profited 
by  the  advantages  of  the  Beatrice  high  school. 
Thereafter  he  pursued  higher  academic  studies 
in  Western  Normal  College,  in  the  city  of 
Lincoln,  and  in  preparation  for  the  work  of 
his  chosen  profession  he  went  to  the  city  of 
Omaha,  where  he  was  matriculated  in  the 
medical  department  of  the  University  of  Ne- 
braska. Here  he  completed  the  prescribed 
curriculum  and  was  graduated  as  a  member 
of  the  class  of  1897.  After  thus  receiving  his 
coveted  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine  he  en- 
gaged in  the  general  practice  of  his  profession 
at  Ellis,  Gage  county,  where  he  remained 
three  years.  In  the  meanwhile  he  determined 
that  he  could  expand  his  field  of  service  and 
usefulness  by  devoting  himself  to  special 
phases  of  professional  work,  and  to  fortify 
himself  properly  for  such  service  he  took  ef- 
fective post-graduate  work  in  a  leading  medi- 
cal school  of  New  York  city  and  later  in  one 
of  the  important  institutions  in  Vienna,  Aus- 
tria. In  each  of  these  connections  he  gave 
special  attention  to  study  and  clinical  work 
pertaining  to  the  diseases  of  the  eye,  ear,  nose, 
and  throat,  and  in  1901  he  established  his 
residence  in  the  city  of  Beatrice,  where  he 
now  gives  his  close  and  efficient  attention  to 
his  special  domain  of  practice,  in  which  he  has 
gained  repute  as  one  of  the  leading  eye,  ear, 
nose,  and  throat  specialists  in  this  section  of 


the  state,  so  that  his  practice  is  derived  in  ap- 
preciable part  from  points  outside  of  local 
environs.  The  Doctor  controls  a  large  and 
representative  practice,  keeps  in  close  touch 
with  the  advances  made  in  medical  and  surgi- 
cal science  and  is  unremitting  in  his  study  of 
the  best  standard  and  periodical  literature  of 
his  profession.  He  holds  membership  in  the 
American  Medical  Association  and  is  one  of 
the  active  and  valued  members  of  the  Ne- 
braska State  Medical  Society,  of  which  he  has 
served  as  vice-president,  and  of  the  Gage 
County  Medical  Society,  of  which  he  was 
formerly  secretary.  The  Doctor  owns  his  at- 
tractive residence  property  in  the  city  of 
Beatrice  and  also  a  valuable  farm  near  Pick- 
rell,  this  county.  As  a  broad-gauged  and 
progressive  citizen  he  gives  his  cooperation  in 
the  furtherance  of  measures  and  enterprises 
tending  to  conserve  the  communal  welfare, 
and  his  political  allegiance  is  accorded  to  the 
Democratic  party.  He  is  prominently  identi- 
fied with  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fel- 
lows, in  which  he  is  affiliated  with  both  the 
local  and  encampment  bodies,  as  well  as  with 
the  auxilliary  organization,  the  Daughters  of 
Rebekah,  and  he  is  past  grand  of  Beatrice 
Ivodge,  No.  187,  of  the  Odd  Fellows,  besides ' 
having  represented  the  same  as  a  delegate  to 
the  grand  lodge  of  Nebraska.  He  gives  lib- 
eral support  to  the  Baptist  church  of  Beatrice, 
of  which  his  wife  is  an  active  member. 

In  June,  1915,  was  solemnized  the  marriage 
of  Dr.  McGirr  to  Miss  Myrtle  Gue,  who  was 
born  and  reared  at  York,  the  judicial  center 
of  the  Nebraska  county  of  the  same  name, 
and  the  one  child  of  this  union  is  a  son  — 
John  I.,  Jr.,  born  November  6,  1916. 

JOHN  PETHOUD.  — Ten  years  prior  to 
the  time  when  the  Territory  of  Nebraska  was 
transformed  into  a  new  state  of  the  Union  the 
late  John  Pethoud  became  a  pioneer  of  what 
is  now  Gage  county,  and  his  was  the  distinc- 
tion of  turning  the  first  furrow  that  was  ever 
plowed  on  Gage  county  soil.  A  man  of  su- 
perior intellectuality  and  dauntless  spirit, 
Judge  Pethoud  represented  the  finest  type  of 
pioneer,  and  it  was  his  to  wield  large  and 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


511 


benignant  influence  in  the  formative  period  of 
the  history  of  southeastern  Nebraska.  This 
pubHcation  exercises  a  most  consistent  func- 
tion when  it  accords  a  tribute  to  his  memory. 

John  Pethoud  was  of  French  ancestry  and 
was  born  in  Lawrence  county,  Ohio,  in  Au- 
gust, 1798,  the  place  of  his  nativity  having 
been  a  tract  of  land  that  had  been  a  French 
grant  to  the  Pethoud  family.  His  parents 
were  called  upon  to  meet  the  trials  and  hard- 
ships incidental  to  the  pioneer  period  in  the 
history  of  the  old  Buckeye  state,  and  there  he 
was  reared  to  manhood,  his  early  educational 
advantages  having  been  limited,  as  a  matter 
of  course,  but  his  alert  mind  and  broad  intel- 
lectual grasp  having  eventually  made  him  a 
man  of  exceptional  mentality  and  mature  judg- 
ment. In  his  native  state  he  became  familiar- 
ly known  as  Esquire  Pethoud,  doubtless  owing 
to  the  fact  of  his  having  served  in  the  office 
of  justice  of  the  peace. 

In  1857,  in  company  with  Edward  Austin 
and  H.  J.  Pierce,  Judge  Pethoud  set  forth  for 
the  wilds  of  Nebraska  Territory.  The  three 
venturesome  pioneers  made  the  journey  down 
the  Ohio  river  and  up  the  Mississippi  and 
Missouri  rivers  by  boat  and  upon  arriving  at 
some  point  near  the  Nebraska  line,  they 
bought  ox  teams  and  wagons,  with  which  they 
continued  their  way  to  what  is  now  Gage 
county.  Within  the  limits  of  the  county  as 
then  existing  Judge  Pethoud  entered  a  pre- 
emption claim,  for  which  he  paid  two  hun- 
dred dollars.  Gage  and  old  Clay  counties 
then  lay  contiguous  and  he  built  his  modest 
frontier  house  on  the  Gage  county  side  of  the 
line,  thus  becoming  the  first  settler  in  Gage 
county  as  then  constituted.  The  land  which 
he  thus  obtained  from  the  government  is  now 
owned  by  David  Graf  and  lies  in  Midland 
township.  On  this  pioneer  farm  Judge  Pe- 
thoud continued  to  reside  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  September  5,  1883,  after  he 
had  attained  to  the  venerable  age  of  eighty- 
five  years.     He  was  buried  on  that  farm. 

Judge  Pethoud  was  a  great  reader  and  stu- 
dent, was  well  informed  concerning  history 
and  current  events,  and  though  he  was  not  spe- 
cifically a  professor  of  religion  he  was  a  deep 


student  of  the  Bible,  with  which  he  was  fa- 
miliar from  cover  to  cover,  and  he  had  an 
abiding  appreciation  of  the  spiritual  verities 
of  the  Christian  faith.  He  was  a  man  of 
strong  convictions  and  prejudices,  but  both 
were  usually  well  taken,  and  he  guided  his 
life  according  to  the  highest  principles  of  in- 
tegrity and  honor.  Though  he  was  a  resident 
of  Gage  county,  he  was  called  upon  to  serve 
as  the  first  judge  of  the  probate  court  of  Clay 
county. 

In  Ohio  was  solemnized  the  marriage  of 
Judge  Pethoud  to  Miss  Mary  Thompson,  who 
was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  and  she  shared 
with  him  in  the  experiences  of  life  on  the 
frontier  after  their  home  had  been  estab- 
lished in  Nebraska.  Concerning  their  chil- 
dren brief  record  is  given,  in  conclusion  of 
this  memoir:  Mrs.  Cynthia  Ann  Blanken- 
ship  was  a  resident  of  Ohio  at  the  time  of  her 
death,  which  occurred  more  than  sixty  j'ears 
ago ;  Elizabeth  was  the  wife  of  John  Wilson, 
one  of  the  early  pioneer  settlers  of  Logan 
township,  Gage  county ;  Francis  M.  was  a 
resident  of  Midland  township  at  the  time  of 
his  death,  and  to  him  a  memoir  is  dedicated 
on  other  pages  of  this  volume;  John  T.  is  de- 
ceased, as  are  also  Mrs.  Rebecca  Jones,  An- 
drew J.,  and  James  K.  P.  All  of  the  children 
except  the  eldest  became  residents  of  Gage 
county  and  the  family  name  is  one  that  has 
been  signally  prominent  and  honored  in  con- 
nection with  the  county's  history. 

KIRK  GRIGGS.  — In  Sections  30  and  31 
Blakely  township  is  situated  the  well  improved 
farm  estate  of  Kirk  Griggs,  the  place  compris- 
ing six  hundred  acres  and  being  given  over  to 
diversified  agriculture  and  stock-growing. 
The  owner  has  gained  special  success  and 
precedence  as  a  breeder  of  Holstein  cattle, 
Hampshire  swine,  and  Shire  horses,  and  has 
made  numerous  exhibitions  of  his  fine  stock 
at  various  county  fairs.  He  is  one  of  the 
most  progressive  stock -growers  of  the  county 
that  has  represented  his  home  from  the  time 
of  his  birth  and  in  which  his  parents  were 
pioneer  settlers. 

Mr.    Griggs    was    bom    at    Beatrice,    this 


512 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


county,  on  the  8th  of  January,  187i,  and  is  a 
son  of  Lewis  T.  and  CaroHne  (Gale)  Griggs, 
of  whose  five  children  he  was  the  fourth  in 
order  of  birth;  Mollie  is  the  wife  of  Freder- 
ick W.  Daniels,  of  Sheridan,  Oregon ;  George 
L.  is  a  resident  of  the  city  of  Alliance;  Clif- 
ton C.  resides  at  Eureka,  Utah ;  and  Burt  re- 
sides at  Buffalo,  Wyoming.  Lewis  T.  Griggs 
was  born  in  Ohio,  on  the  17th  of  April;  1843, 
a  son  of  Lucien  and  Mary  T.  (Kirk)  Griggs, 
and  in  the  old  Buckeye  state  he  was  reared  on 
the  home  farm,  with  such  educational  ad- 
vantages as  were  afforded  in  the  common 
schools  of  the  locality.  He  was  a  youth  of 
eighteen  years  at  the  inception  of  the  Civil 
war  and  he  tendered  his  aid  in  defense  of  the 
Union  by  enlisting,  early  in  1862,  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Eleventh  Indiana  Cavalry,  with 
which  gallant  command  he  participated  in 
many  battles  and  important  campaigns,  it  hav- 
ing been  his  fortune  to  receive  a  wound  while 
taking  part  in  the  battle  of  Chickamauga.  He 
was  with  his  command  in  the  battle  of  Fort 
Donelson  and  those  of  Lookout  Mountain  and 
Vicksburg,  besides  which  he  was  with  Gen- 
eral Sherman  on  the  historic  march  from  At- 
lanta to  the  sea.  In  1864  he  was  promoted  to 
the  office  of  first  lieutenant,  and  as  such  he 
served  until  the  close  of  the  war,  when  he  re- 
ceived his  honorable  discharge.  After  the 
war  he  returned  to  Indiana,  to  which  state  his 
parents  had  removed  from  Ohio,  and  in  1866 
he  and  his  half-brother,  Thomas  J.  Griggs, 
each  entered  claim  to  a  homestead  of  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres  in  Pawnee  county,  Ne- 
braska Territor)'.  On  his  pioneer  homestead, 
seven  miles  southeast  of  the  present  thriving 
town  of  Liberty,  Lewis  T.  Griggs  erected  a 
small  house,  the  material  for  which  he  trans- 
ported with  team  and  wagon  from  Nebraska 
City.  He  instituted  the  development  of  his 
farm  and  in  due  time  perfected  his  title  to  the 
property.  In  1869  he  wedded  Miss  Caroline 
Gale  and  soon  afterward  they  established 
their  residence  at  Beatrice,  which  was  then  a 
mere  frontier  village.  On  the  site  of  the 
present  Beatrice  National  Bank  he  had  a  little 
store  in  which  he  engaged  in  the  handling  of 
agricultural    implements   and   machinery,   and 


here  he  continued  his  successful  operations  in 
this  line  of  enterprise  until  1883,  when  he  re- 
moved with  his  family  to  Atchison,  Kansas, 
where  he  became  a  representative  of  one  of 
the  leading  harvesting  machine  companies, 
the  death  of  his  wife  having  there  occurred 
in  1885.  Soon  afterward  he  returned  to 
Beatrice,  and  thereafter  he  was  a  traveling 
salesman  for  agricultural  implements  until 
1888.  In  that  year  he  removed  to  Newcastle, 
Wyoming,  prior  to  the  extension  of  the  rail- 
road to  that  locality,  and  there  he  became  a 
successful  exponent  of  .stock-raising  industry, 
with  which  he  continued  to  be  identified  until 
his  death,  which  occurred  November  11,  1908. 
He  was  one  of  the  influential  pioneers  of 
Weston  county,  Wyoming,  where  he  served  as 
clerk  of  the  court  and  also  as  county  attorney, 
he  having  studied  law  previously  and  having 
been  admitted  to  the  bar  in  the  early  '70s.  At 
Newcastle,  Wyoming,  he  engaged  in  the  prac- 
tice of  his  profession,  as  one  of  the  leading 
members  of  the  bar  of  Weston  county,  and  in 
a  fraternal  way  he  was  affiliated  with  the  Ma- 
sonic fraternity,  the  Independent  Order  of 
Odd  Fellows,  the  Knights  of  Pythias,  and  the 
Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  in  which  last 
named  organization  he  was  a  charter  member 
of  Rawlins  Post,  at  Beatrice.  His  wife  was 
born  in  the  western  part  of  Massachusetts 
and  was  reared  by  kinsfolk,  members  of  the 
Gale  family  having  been  numbered  among  the 
early  settlers  of  Gage  county.  Coming  to  this 
county  prior  to  the  admission  of  Nebraska  to 
the  Union,  Mrs.  Griggs  became  one  of  the 
early  and  popular  teachers  in  the  village 
schools  of  Beatrice,  she  having  been,  in  fact, 
one  of  the  first  teachers  thus  rendering  ser- 
vice in  the  little  frontier  village  that  has  be- 
come one  of  the  attractive  and  prosperous 
cities  of  the  state.  She  was  forty-two  years 
of  age  at  the  time  of  her  death,  June  13,  1883, 
and  was  a  devoted  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church.  Upon  coming  to  Gage 
county,  in  1867,  Mrs.  Griggs,  two  years  prior 
to  her  marriage,  entered  a  homestead  claim, 
and  a  considerable  part  of  this  property  is  now 
included  in  the  Glenover  addition  to  the  city 
of  Beatrice. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


513 


Kirk  Griggs,  immediate  subject  of  this  re- 
view, was  born  in  a  house  that  stood  on  the 
site  of  the  present  Beatrice  high  school  build- 
ing, and  his  youthful  education  was  gained  in 
the  schools  of  this  city  and  those  of  Newcastle, 
Wyoming,  where  the  family  home  was  estab- 
lished when  he  was  a  lad  of  twelve  years. 
That  he  profited  by  these  advantages  is  shown 
by  the  fact  that  he  proved  himself  eligible 
for  pedagogic  honors  and  was  for  six  months 
engaged  in  teaching  in  a  rural  school  in  Wy- 
oming. In  that  state  he  remained  on  his 
father's  extensive  cattle  ranch  until  he  had  at- 
tained to  the  age  of  twenty  years,  and  for  six- 
teen years  thereafter  he  was  successfully 
identified  with  railroad  construction  enter- 
prise, with  Kilpatrick  Brothers  and  later  with 
the  McArthur  Company,  leading  New  York 
contractors  in  this  line  of  enterprise.  His 
first  service  was  in  the  capacity  of  stenog- 
rapher, but  later  he  became  allied  closely  with 
the  practical  executive  details  of  construction 
work,  in  which  connection  he  organized  camps 
of  workmen,  acted  as  auditor  and  superin- 
tendent and  proved  in  all  ways  a  vigorous  and 
resourceful  executive. 

In  1913  Mr.  Griggs  purchased  of  his  former 
employers,  Kilpatrick  Brothers,  his  present 
fine  landed  estate  in  his  native  county,  and  in 
the  same  year  he  erected  his  present  modern 
and  attractive  residence,  at  a  cost  of  six 
thousand  dollars.  His  farm  is  one  of  the  best 
improved  and  most  efifectively  equipped  of  all 
in  the  county,  and  on  the  same  he  has  two 
artesian  wells,  the  while  his  modern  facilities 
including  a  gas-lighting  system  for  his  house. 
After  his  return  from  the  west  Mr.  Griggs 
purchased  the  house  of  his  birth,  in  the  city  of 
Beatrice,  and  this  property  he  finally  sold  to 
the  board  of  education  as  a  site  for  the  present 
modern  high  school  building.  A  man  of 
thought  and  action,  Mr.  Griggs  has  become 
one  of  the  representative  agriculturists  and 
stock-growers,  as  well  as  a  popular  and  repre- 
sentative citizen  of  his  native  county.  His  po- 
litical support  is  given  to  the  Republican  party 
and  he  is  serving  at  the  time  of  this  writing 
as  a  director  of  school  district  No.  22.     Both 


he  and  his   wife  are  active  members  of   the 
Christian  church. 

June  12,  1901,  recorded  the  marriage  of  Mr. 
Griggs  to  Miss  Mabel  C.  Pyrtle,  the  younger 
of  the  two  children  of  James  and  Nancy  E. 
(Murphy)  Pyrtle,  the  former  of  whom  was 
born  in  Missouri,  in  1847,  and  the  latter  in 
Indiana,  on  the  15th  of  September,  1852. 
Mrs.  Griggs,  prior  to  her  marriage,  had  been 
for  five  years  a  successful  and  popular 
teacher  in  the  schools  of  Gage  county,  her 
work  including  four  years'  service  in  the  city 
schools  of  Beatrice.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Griggs 
have  four  children  —  Theodore,  Roger,  Gale, 
and  Jessie  M. 

HENRY  FISHBACH.  — Under  the  gen- 
eral communal  conditions  and  exigencies  of 
the  present  day  no  city  can  claim  definite 
metropolitan  facilities  if  there  has  been  fail- 
ure to  provide  proper  accommodations  for  the 
conserving  of  food  stuffs,  and  Beatrice  is  sig- 
nally favored  in  this  respect,  as  the  city  takes 
just  pride  in  the  excellent  service  given  by  the 
large  and  modern  plant  of  the  Beatrice  Cold 
Storage  Company,  of  which  Henry  Fishbach 
was  the  founder  and  of  which  he  has  continu- 
ously been  the  executive  head.  In  establishing 
this  important  enterprise  Mr.  Fishbach  dem- 
onstrated alike  his  civic  loyalty  and  his  pro- 
gressiveness  as  a  business  man,  and  through 
his  careful  and  effective  administration  the 
business  has  been  developed  from  a  modest 
inception  to  one  of  large  volume  and  definite 
success. 

Mr.  Fishbach  was  born  at  Franklin  Grove, 
Lee  county,  Illinois,  on  the  16th  of  October, 
1859,  and  is  a  son  of  Philip  and  Catherine 
(Hausknecht)  Fishbach,  both  of  Vv-hom  were 
born  in  the  now  devastated  province  of  Al- 
sace-Lorraine, which  was  then  an  integral  part 
of  French  domain  and  which  has  again  become 
the  stage  of  terrible  polemic  activities  inci- 
dental to  the  great  war  in  which  France  is 
again  arrayed  against  Germany.  The  parents 
of  Mr.  Fishbach  were  young  at  the  time  of 
the  immigration  of  the  respective  families  to 
America  and  both  families  established  resi- 
dence in  the  state  of  Illinois,  in  the  pioneer 


514 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


history  of  that  commonwealth.  Philip  Fish- 
bach  devoted  the  greater  part  of  his  active 
life  to  his  trade,  that  of  stone-cutter,  and  both 
he  and  his  wife  continued  their  residence  at 
Franklin  Grove,  Illinois,  until  their  death  — 
folk  of  sterling  character  and  honored  by  all 
who  knew  them.  To  the  public  schools  of 
his  native  county  Henry  Fishbach  is  indebted 
for  his  early  educational  training  and  there  he 
continued  to  reside  until  he  had  attained  to 
the  age  of  nineteen  years,  when  he  went  to 
the  state  of  Colorado  and  turned  his  attention 
to  farm  work  and  other  service  that  would 
give  him  a  living  recompense.  He  remained 
in  Colorado  three  years  and  then  returned  to 
Illinois,  where  he  was  engaged  in  agricultural 
enterprise,  in  Lee  county,  until  1884.  In  the 
year  last  mentioned  he  came  to  Gage  county, 
Nebraska,  and  though  he  had  virtually  no 
financial  resources  he  had  an  abundance  of 
ambition  and  self-reliance,  as  shown  by  the 
fact  that  he  purchased  eighty  acres  of  land, 
in  Greenwoood  township,  assuming  indebted- 
ness for  practically  the  entire  purchase  price. 
The  land  had  received  but  the  slightest  im- 
provement, and  for  the  first  seven  years  of  his 
residence  on  his  embryonic  farm  Mr.  Fish- 
bach  used  as  his  house  a  primitive  granery 
that  had  been  constructed  on  the  place.  En- 
ergy and  industry  brought  returns,  and  even- 
tually Mr.  Fishbach  was  able  not  only  to  clear 
himself  of  the  burden  of  debt  but  also  to  add 
eighty  acres  to  the  area  of  his  landed  estate. 
He  made  good  improvements  upon  his  farm 
property,  brought  the  greater  part  of  the  land 
under  effective  cultivation,  and  there  con- 
tinued his  vigorous  activities  as  an  agricul- 
turist and  stock-grower  for  a  period  of  nine 
years.  That  he  had  been  successful  is  shown 
by  the  fact  that  in  1893,  in  company  with  his 
wife,  he  visited  the  great  World's  Columbian 
Exposition,  in  the  city  of  Chicago,  and  in  this 
connection  his  alert  mind  caused  him  to  see  an 
opportunity  for  the  development  of  a  prosper- 
ous business  enterprise  in  his  home  county. 
His  attention  was  called,  while  in  Chicago,  to 
a  carload  of  live  poultry  that  was  being  sent 
in  for  the  use  of  consumers  in  the  city,  and 
he   soon   decided  to   establish  himself   in   the 


poultry  business  in  Gage  county.  To  carry 
out  his  plans  he  purchased  the  small  poultry 
business  that  had  been  established  by  a  man 
named  Greening,  at  Beatrice,  and  two  years 
later  he  removed  his  business  to  the  site  of 
his  present  well  equipped  cold-storage  plant, 
his  original  place  of  business  having  been  in 
a  building  that  was  only  ten  by  twelve  feet  in 
dimensions.  Bringing  to  bear  his  character- 
istic energy  and  good  judgment  and  having 
secure  place  in  popular  confidence  and  good 
will,  Mr.  Fishbach  caused  his  business  to  ex- 
pand substantially  and  normally  in  scope  and 
importance,  and  to  keep  pace  with  demands 
he  enlarged  his  quarters  from  time  to  time. 
In  1906,  as  a  matter  of  business  expediency, 
he  effected  the  incorporation  of  the  Beatrice 
Cold  Storage  Company,  of  which  he  has  since 
been  the  president  and  active  manager.  His 
plant  for  cold-storage  is  of  modern  type  in  all 
respects  and  as  an  important  adjunct  to  the 
same  he  has  established  a  plant  for  the  manu- 
facturing of  ice,  besides  conducting  a  cream- 
ery in  connection  and  doing  also  a  substantial 
business  in  the  manufacturing  of  ice  cream 
for  the  trade.  Natural  ice  is  harvested  to 
supplement  the  artificial  supply,  and  the  com- 
pany now  controls  an  extensive  business  in 
the  buying  and  shipping  of  poultry  and  eggs, 
with  branch  headquarters  in  the  Nebraska 
towns  of  Norfolk,  Fremont,  Columbus,  Wake- 
field, and  Blair.  In  connection  with  the  Be- 
atrice plant  of  the  company  an  average  of 
eighty-five  employes  is  retained,  and  at  times 
the  roster  of  employes  includes  as  many 
as  one  hundred  and  fifty  persons.  Mr. 
Fishbach  deserves  much  credit  for  the  suc- 
cess which  he  has  achieved  and  also  for 
having  given  a  substantial  and  progressive 
industrial  and  commercial  enterprise  to  Gage 
county  and  its  judicial  center.  He  takes 
loyal  interest  in  all  measures  and  enter- 
prises tending  to  advance  the  civic  anO 
material  progress  and  prosperity  of  his 
home  city  and  county,  is  the  owner  of  two  of 
the  well  improved  and  valuable  farms  of  Gage 
county,  each  comprising  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres,  and  recently,  in  connection  with  the  na- 
tional movement  for  the  conservation  of  food 


\:ynh^::f^ 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


products,  he  has  had  the  distinction  of  being 
called  to  the  national  capital  for  conference 
with  the  food  administrator,  Mr.  Hoover,  in 
connection  with  the  poultry,  egg,  and  cold- 
storage  business,  as  one  of  the  leading  expo- 
nents of  these  lines  of  enterprise  in  Nebraska 
His  advice  in  this  conference  has  been  of  defi- 
nite general  value  in  connection  with  conser- 
vation policies.  In  politics  ]\Ir.  Fishbach  gives 
his  allegiance  to  the  Republican  party,  and  he 
and  his  wife  are  earnest  members  of  the 
Christian  church. 

As  a  young  man  of  twenty-five  years  Mr. 
Fishbach  wedded  Miss  ]\Iary  Ellen  Wolf,  who 
was  born  at  Leaf  River,  Ogle  county,  Illinois, 
and  she  passed  to  the  life  eternal  in  1895,  being 
survived  by  four  children,  concerning  whom 
the  following  brief  data  are  entered :  Ralph 
is  the  manager  of  the  Beatrice  Cold  Storage 
Company's  plant  at  Norfolk,  Madison  county, 
Nebraska ;  Eulalie,  a  young  woman  of  much 
business  ability,  as  well  as  social  popularity, 
is  treasurer  of  the  company  of  which  her 
father  is  president ;  Oscar  is  identified  with 
ranching  enterprise  in  the  Canadian  north- 
west; and  Ethel  is  the  wife  of  William  Myers, 
who  is  associated  with  the  Beatrice  Cold  Stor- 
age Company  as  an  employe  at  the  headquar- 
ters in  Beatrice. 

On  the  6th  of  March,  1898,  :\Ir.  Fishbach 
contracted  a  second  marriage,  in  his  union 
with  Miss  Laura  Peck,  who  was  born  in  the 
state  of  Kansas,  and  their  attractive  home  is 
brightened  by  the  presence  of  their  three  chil- 
dren —  Agnes,  Bertha,  and  Priscilla. 

HEINRICH  REIMER.  — Though  Mr. 
Reimer  claims  the  great  empire  of  Germany 
as  the  place  of  his  nativity  he  was  not  yet  two 
years  of  age  at  the  time  of  his  parents'  im- 
migration to  America  and  his  entire  experience 
has  been  gained  in  association  with  conditions 
and  influences  of  the  middle  western  states  of 
the  Union.  He  was  yet  an  infant  at 
the  time  when  the  family  home  was  estab- 
lished in  Gage  county,  in  the  pioneer  days,  and 
here  he  has  made  the  best  possible  use  of  the 
advantages  and  opportunities  afforded  him, 
as  is  evident  when  it  is  stated  that  he  is  now 


numbered  among  the  representative  exponents 
of  agricultural  and  live-stock  industry  in 
Blakely  township,  his  well  improved  farm,  of 
one  hundred  and  fifty-five  acres,  being  situ- 
ated in  Section  21,  that  township,  and  on  rural 
mail  route  No.  1  from  the  city  of  Beatrice, 
which  is  about  eight  miles  distant  from  his 
home. 

Mr.  Reimer  was  born  in  Prussia,  Germany, 
December  13,  1874,  and  is  a  son  of  Bernhard 
and  Helen  (Goosen)  Reimer,  who  became  the 
parents  of  six  sons  and  seven  daughters,  the 
father  having  had  also  two  children  by  his 
first  marriage.  In  1876  Bernhard  Reimer 
came  with  his  family  to  the  United  States  and 
engaged  in  farming  in  Iowa,  but  before  the 
close  of  that  year  he  came  to  Gage  county  and 
established  the  family  home  on  a  pioneer  farm 
three  miles  west  of  Beatrice.  He  developed 
and  improved  this  property  into  one  of  the 
productive  farms  of  the  county  and  there  he 
continued  to  reside  until  his  death,  in  1896,  at 
the  age  of  sixty-four  years,  his  devoted  wife 
having  passed  away  in  1885,  at  the  age  of 
forty-two  years.  Both  were  zealous  members 
of  the  Mennonite  church  and  assisted  in  the 
organization  of  the  church  of  this  denomina- 
tion in  cheir  home  district  in  Gage  county. 

Heinrich  Reimer  was  reared  under  the  in- 
fluence of  the  pioneer  farm  and  early  began 
to  lend  his  aid  in  its  work,  the  while  he  pro- 
fited duly  by  the  advantages  aft'orded  in  the 
local  schools.  In  1900  he  rented  a  portion  of 
the  land  belonging  to  his  father's  estate,  and 
a  few  years  later  he  purchased  his  present 
farm,  upon  which  he  has  made  good  improve- 
ments, including  the  erection  of  a  modern 
barn  that  is  thirty-six  by  sixty-four  feet  in 
dimensions.  Thrift  and  enterprise  have  given 
him  place  among  the  most  progressive  and 
successful  agriculturists  and  stock-raisers  of 
Blakely  township  and  he  is  one  of  the  stock- 
holders of  the  farmers'  grain  elevator  in  the 
village  of  Hoag.  He  is  a  Republican  in  poli- 
tics, and  he  and  his  wife  are  earnest  members 
of  the  Mennonite  church. 

April  27,  1900,  Mr.  Reimer  married  Miss 
Agatha  Penner,  who  was  born  and  reared  in 
Gage  county  and  who  is  a  daughter  of  Rev. 


518 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Gerhard  Penner  and  Anna  (Froese)  Penner, 
her  parents  having  been  members  of  a  sterl- 
ing Mennonite  colony  that  came  from  western 
Prussia  and  settled  in  Gage  county  in  1874. 
Mr.  Penner  is  now  pastor  of  the  Mennonite 
church  at  Beatrice  and  is  one  of  the  revered 
pioneer  citizens  of  Gage  county.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Reimer  have  one  child,  Gerhard,  who 
was  born  October  27,  1902. 


LOUIS  GRAFF.  —  Successfully  estab- 
lished in  business  in  the  city  of  Beatrice,  Mr. 
Graft  is  a  scion  of  one  of  the  most  honored 
and  influential  territorial  pioneer  famiHes  of 
Gage  county  and  takes  just  pride  in  claiming 
the  county  as  the  place  of  his  nativity.  He 
was  born  on  the  old  homestead  farm  of  his 
father,  Joseph  Graff,  in  Blakely  township, 
three  miles  west  of  Beatrice,  and  the  date  of 
his  nativity  was  March  3,  1862,  due  record 
concerning  the  family  history  being  given  on 
other  pages  of  this  volume.  Mr.  Graff  is  a 
son  of  Joseph  and  Teresa  (Meyers)  Graff, 
and  in  his  boyhood  days  he  gained  a  full 
quota  of  experience  in  connection  with  the 
conditions  and  influences  of  the  pioneer  era 
in  the  history  of  this  now  opulent  section  of 
Nebraska.  He  herded  cattle  on  the  wide- 
stretching  prairie,  had  experience  in  the  fight- 
ing of  prairie  fires,  and  made  his  share  of 
youthful  inroads  on  the  wild  strawberries, 
plums,  and  gooseberries  that  were  then  plen- 
tiful in  this  locality.  He  assisted  in  the  work 
of  the  home  farm  and  in  the  meanwhile  made 
good  use  of  the  advantages  of  the  schools  es- 
tablished in  Blakely  township  by  the  ambi- 
tious and  progressive  pioneers.  He  remained 
at  the  parental  home  until  he  had  attained  to 
the  age  of  twenty-six  years,  and  he  then  en- 
tered the  employ  of  his  older  brothers,  who 
were  engaged  in  the  agricultural-implement 
business  at  Wymore,  this  county.  In  1889  he 
purchased  an  interest  in  a  well  established 
lumber  yard  in  the  city  of  Beatrice,  and  later 
he  became  sole  owner  of  the  business,  which 
he  has  since  successfully  continued  in  the 
original  location,  at  413  West  Court  street, 
where  he  also  controls  a  substantial  trade  in 
the  handling  of   coal,   paints,  builders'  hard- 


ware, etc.  He  has  secure  vantage-place  as 
one  of  the  most  substantial  and  progressive 
business  men  of  the  capital  and  metropolis  of 
his  native  county  and  is  equally  well  en- 
trenched in  popular  confidence  and  esteem,  as 
attested  by  the  success  that  has  attended  his 
business  activities.  He  is  financially  interested 
also  in  important  cement  manufacturing 
plants  in  Dallas,  Texas;  near  Kansas  City, 
Missouri,  and  at  Mason  City,  Iowa;  and  he 
handles  the  products  of  the  same  in  connection 
with  his  extensive  business  at  Beatrice.  Mr. 
Graff  is  the  owner  of  fifty  acres  of  valuable 
land  on  the  Rio  Grande  river,  in  Hildridge 
county,  Texas,  and  twenty  acres  near  Lake 
View,  Oregon.  He  is  liberal  and  public- 
spirited  in  his  civic  attitude,  is  a  Republican 
in  politics,  is  affiliated  with  the  Beatrice  or- 
ganizations of  the  Modern  Woodmen  of 
America,  the  Benevolent  &  Protective  Order 
of  Elks,  and  the  Woodmen  of  the  World,  and 
he  and  his  wife  are  communicants  of  the 
Catholic  church  in  their  home  city. 

February  8,  1888,  recorded  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Graff  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Buckley,  who  was 
bom  in  Canada  and  who  was  a  daughter  of 
John  and  Mary  Buckley.  Her  father  was 
born  in  Ireland  and  was  a  young  man  when 
he  came  to  America  and  established  his  home 
in  Canada,  where  he  married  and  where  he 
remained  until  after  the  death  of  his  wife. 
Finally  he  came  with  his  six  children  to  Gage 
county,  Nebraska,  where  he  engaged  in  farm- 
ing and  where  he  passed  the  remainder  of  his 
life,  his  remains  being  interred  in  the  Catholic 
cemetery,  at  Beatrice.  Mrs.  Graff  passed  to 
the  life  eternal  on  the  8th  of  March,  1908, 
and  is  survived  by  three  children:  Irene  T. 
is  the  wife  of  Leo  Werner,  who  is  associated 
with  Mr.  Graff  in  the  conducting  of  the  lum- 
ber business  at  Beatrice ;  Joseph  J.  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  United  States  aviation  corps  that  is 
preparing  for  service  in  the  great  European 
war.  and  at  the  time  of  this  writing,  in  the 
winter  of  1917-1918,  he  is  stationed  at  San 
Antonio,  Texas;  and  Carl  H.,  in  January, 
1918,  passed  the  examination  in  the  training 
camp  for  officers  in  the  United  States  aviation 
service  in  the  European  war.     In    1910  Mr. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


519 


Graff  wedded  Miss  Man-  Buckley,  a  sister  of 
his  first  wife,  and  she  is  the  gracious  chate- 
laine of  their  pleasant  and  hospitable  home. 
No  children  have  been  bom  of  this  union.  " 


JESSE  L.  SCHLOSSER.  — At  this  point 
it  is  possible  to  accord  merited  recognition  to 
another  of  the  venerable  and  honored  pioneer 
citizens  of  Gage  county,  Mr.  Schlosser  having 
been  a  resident  of  Nebraska  for  the  past 
forty  years  and  now  maintaining  his  home  in 
the  city  of  Beatrice. 

Jesse  L.  Schlosser  was  born  in  Greene 
county,  Ohio,  on  the  13th  of  October,  1842, 
and  in  the  old  Buckeye  state  he  was  reared  to 
the  sturdy  discipline  of  the  farm,  the  while  he 
made  good  use  of  the  advantages  offered  by 
the  common  schools  of  the  locality.  He  was 
still  a  youth  at  the  time  of  the  family  re- 
moval to  Michigan,  where  he  continued  his 
active  association  with  agricultural  industry, 
and  in  that  state  was  solemnized  his  marriage 
to  Miss  Polly  Schock,  who  was  born  at  Tiffin, 
Seneca  county,  Ohio.  In  1877  Mr.  Schlosser 
came  with  his  family  to  Nebraska,  and,  prior 
to  the  construction  of  a  railroad,  they  made 
the  overland  trip  with  team  and  wagon  from 
Falls  City  to  Gage  county.  Mrs.  Schlosser 
had  received  as  a  heritage  from  the  estate  of 
her  father  a  tract  of  eighty  acres  of  land  in 
Blue  Springs  township,  this  county,  and  on 
this  embryonic  farm  !Mr.  Schlosser  erected 
as  a  domicile  for  his  family  a  pioneer  shanty, 
twelve  by  fourteen  feet  in  lateral  dimensions 
and  provided  with  a  "lean-to"  about  ten  feet 
square.  With  the  passing  years  he  developed 
his  farm  and  inade  good  improvements  on  the 
same,  and  there  he  continued  his  active  al- 
liance with  agricultural  industry  for  twenty- 
two  years.  In  the  early  days  he  hauled  his 
wheat  to  Marysville,  ^larshall  county,  Kansas, 
two  days  being  required  to  compass  this  over- 
land trip,  and  he  sold  wheat  at  times  for  a 
price  as  low  as  thirty-five  cents  a  bushel  —  a 
statement  that  is  specially  significant  in  com- 
parison with  prices  demanded  at  the  present 
time,  when  the  government  is  putting  forth 
every  effort  for  food  consen-ation,  incidental 
to  the  nation's  entrance  into  the  great  Euro- 


pean war.  It  may  further  be  noted  that  the 
first  hogs  which  J\Ir.  Schlosser  raised  on  his 
farm  were  sold  at  the  rate  of  three  and  one- 
half  dollars  a  hundredweight. 

Mr.  Schlosser  remained  on  his  farm,  to  the 
area  of  which  he  had  added  by  degrees,  until 
about  the  year  1898,  when  he  sold  the  prop- 
erty and  removed  with  his  family  to  Beatrice, 
the  county  seat.  For  three  or  more  years 
thereafter  he  was  employed  in  connection  with 
the  grain  business  conducted  by  William  N. 
Spellman,  and  later  he  was  similarly  asso- 
ciated with  Henry  H.  Norcross,  whose  business 
finally  was  developed  into  that  now  controlled 
by  the  Dobbs  Grain  Company,  with  which  Mr. 
Schlosser  is  connected.  He  is  a  recognized 
authority  in  the  grain  trade,  as  his  experience 
has  been  long  and  varied,  and  though  he  is 
now  venerable  in  years  he  preserves  marked 
vigor  of  mind  and  physical  powers,  so  that  the 
thought  of  retiring  from  active  association 
with  business  is  repugnant  to  him. 

Mr.  Schlosser  is  a  stalwart  in  the  camp  of 
the  Republican  party  and  while  residing  on 
his  farm  he  served  for  a  number  of  years  in 
the  office  of  treasurer  of  Blue  Springs  town- 
ship. He  is  affiliated  with  the  Masonic  fra- 
ternity and  both  he  and  his  wife  hold  mem- 
bership in  the  Presbyterian  church.  They  be- 
came the  parents  of  one  child,  Carrie  M.,  who 
is  the  wife  of  Dr.  Clemens  A.  Spellman,  a 
leading  dentist  of  Beatrice  and  individually 
mentioned  on  other  pages  of  this  work. 


ALBERT  T.  MILBURN.  — He  whose 
name  initiates  this  paragraph  is  the  senior 
partner  of  the  Milburn  &  Scott  Company, 
printers  and  bookbinders,  and  the  well  estab- 
lished business  with  which  he  is  thus  con- 
nected is  one  of  the  important  enterprises  of 
Beatrice.  This  company  has  an  establishment 
of  most  modern  facilities  for  the  handling  of 
all  kinds  of  job  printing  and  book  binding,  a 
specialty  being  made  of  the  manufacturing  of 
high-grade  blank  books  and  the  handling  of  a 
general  line  of  supplies  for  county  offices, 
banks,  etc.,  while  the  concern  keeps  in  stock 
also  a  full  assortment  of  office  stationery  and 
supplies,  so  that  the  enterprise  has  been  ex- 


520 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


tended  far  outside  the  boundaries  of  Gage 
county.  Mr.  Milburn  has  been  a  resident  of 
Gage  county  since  he  was  about  twelve  years 
of  age  and  in  his  independent  career  has  here 
found  ample  opportunity  for  the  achieving  of 
substantial  success  and  established  place  as 
one  of  the  representative  business  men  of  the 
metropolis  and  judicial  center  of  the  county. 

Mr.  Milburn  was  born  on  a  farm  near  Che- 
banse,  Iroquois  county,  Illinois,  on  the  22d 
of  March,  1874,  and  is  a  son  of  Thomas  H. 
and  Sarah  E.  (Fanning).  Milburn,  who  were 
born  in  the  province  of  Ontario,  Canada,  and 
whose  marriage  was  solemnized  in  the  state 
of  Illinois.  The  paternal  grandfather,  John 
Milburn,  was  born  and  reared  in  England, 
whence  he  finally  immigrated  to  America  and 
established  his  residence  in  the  Dominion  of 
Canada.  Later  he  removed  with  his  family 
to  the  state  of  Illinois,  where  he  passed  the 
remainder  of  his  life,  his  vocation  having  been 
that  of  farming  during  the  greater  part  of  his 
active  career.  George  Fanning,  the  maternal 
grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this  review, 
came  to  America  from  Ireland  and  after  hav- 
ing lived  for  a  term  of  years  in  Canada  he 
removed  to  Illinois,  where  he  became  a  pros- 
perous farmer  and  where  he  died  at  the  ven- 
erable age  of  eighty-four  years. 

Thomas  II.  Milburn  established  his  resi- 
dence in  Illinois  prior  to  the  Civil  war  and  he 
was  one  of  the  early  employes  of  the  cele- 
brated McCormick  Harvester  Company. 
Later  he  engaged  in  farming  near  Chebanse, 
that  state,  and  through  this  medium  he  laid 
the  foundation  for  his  substantial  success. 
In  1886  Mr.  Milbum  came  with  his  family  to 
Gage  county,  Nebraska,  and  established  his 
residence  at  Beatrice.  He  purchased  farm 
land  in  the  county,  having  owned  two  or  three 
different  farms,  and  he  gave  his  personal 
supervision  to  his  farm  properties  in  a  general 
way,  though  he  continued  to  reside  in  Beatrice 
until  his  death,  in  1901,  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
two  years.  His  political  support  was  given  to 
the  Republican  party  and  his  religious  faith 
was  that  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church, 
of  which  his  venerable  widow  likewise  is  a 
devoted    member,    she    still    maintaining    her 


home  at  Beatrice  and  the  year  1918  recording 
the  seventy-eighth  anniversary  of  her  birth. 
Of  their  three  children  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  is  the  younger  of  the  two  surviving, 
and  George  H.  is  actively  identified  with  mer- 
cantile enterprise  at  Beatrice. 

To  the  public  schools  of  Illinois  Albert  T. 
Milburn  is  indebted  for  his  preliminary  edu- 
cational discipline  and  after  the  family  re- 
moval to  Beatrice  he  here  continued  his  studies 
until  he  had  profited  by  the  advantages  of  the 
high  school.  At  the  age  of  seventeen  years  he 
initiated  his  apprenticeship  to  the  trade  of 
book-binding,  and  also  that  of  printer.  He 
became  skilled  in  all  technical  details  of  these 
lines  of  business  and  finally  engaged  inde- 
pendently in  business  by  associating  himself 
with  others  in  founding  the  enterprise  with 
which  he  is  now  connected  and  to  the  upbuild- 
ing of  which  he  has  given  his  best  energies, 
his  associates  in  Milbum  &  Scott  Company 
being  John  C.  Scott  and  Albert  H.  Buckman. 

While  unremitting  in  his  application  to 
business,  Mr.  Milburn  has  simultaneously 
stood  exponent  of  loyal  and  progressive  citi- 
zenship and  has  taken  deep  interest  in  the 
social  and  material  advancement  of  his  home 
city.  His  political  views  are  indicated  by  the 
unwavering  support  which  he  gives  to  the 
cause  of  the  Republican  party,  and  as  a  rep- 
resentative of  the  same  he  was  elected  a  mem- 
ber of  the  city  council  when  he  was  but 
twenty-eight  years  of  age.  He  heldthis  office 
four  years,  during  which  he  was  the  youngest 
member  of  the  municipal  body,  and  he  did  all 
in  his  power  to  further  wise  and  economical 
administration  of  the  city  government  and  to 
promote  needed  public  improvements.  He  is 
one  of  the  appreciative  and  popular  members 
of  the  local  lodge  of  the  Benevolent  &  Pro- 
tective Order  of  Elks,  his  religious  faith  is 
that  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  and 
his  wife  is  an  active  member  of  the  Presby- 
terian church. 

In  June,  1909,  was  solemnized  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  Milburn  to  Miss  Martha  McClellan, 
who  was  born  and  reared  at  Holmesville,  this 
county,  and  whose  father,  the  late  Robert  H. 
McClellan,  was  one  of  the  early  pioneer  set- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


521 


tiers  of  Gage  county,  where  he  reclaimed  and 
improved  a  valuable  farm  and  where  he  served 
for  a  long  period  in  the  office  of  justice  of  the 
peace.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Milburn  have  three  chil- 
dren —  Robert,  William,  and  Martha  Vir- 
ginia. 

JOHN  T.  YULE.  —  In  the  spring  of  1879 
John  T.  Yule  became  associated  with  his  hon- 
ored father  in  the  preparation  of  the  first  set 
of  abstracts  of  real-estate  titles  for  Gage 
county,  and  these  initial  records,  as  supple- 
mented by  the  careful  additions  made  in  the 
intervening  years,  continue  to  be  recognized 
as  the  ultimate  abstract  authorities  in  this 
county,  the  while  John  T.  Yule  continues 
actively  to  conduct  the  important  abstract 
business  in  which  he  was  the  coadjutor  of  his 
father  until  the  latter's  death,  on  the  2d  of 
June,  1907.  He  is  not  only  one  of  the  best 
known  and  most  essentially  representative 
citizens  of  Gage  county  but  takes  deep  pride 
in  the  position  of  influence  gained  by  his 
father,  who  was  long  numbered  among  the 
foremost  and  most  honored  citizens  of  this 
county,  a  special  tribute  to  his  memory  being 
entered  on  other  pages  of  this  work,  so  that  in 
the  present  connection  is  not  demanded  further 
review  of  the  family  history. 

John  T.  Yule  was  born  in  Columbia  county, 
Wisconsin,  on  the  3d  of  June,  1856,  and  is  one 
of  the  two  surviving  children  of  Thomas  and 
Mary  (Todd)  Yule.  In  his  native  county 
John  T.  Yule  was  reared  to  adult  age  and 
after  having  there  availed  himself  of  the  ad- 
vantages of  the  high  school  at  Portage,  the 
county  seat,  he  followed  the  course  of  his 
ambition  by  entering  the  law  department  of 
the  University  of  Wisconsin,  in  which  he  was 
graduated  as  a  member  of  the  class  of  1877, 
his  admission  to  the  bar  of  his  native  state 
having  been  virtually  coincident  with  his  re- 
ception of  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Laws. 
He  served  a  brief  professional  novitiate  by 
engaging  in  the  practice  of  law  at  Portage, 
but  within  a  year  after  his  graduation  he  ac- 
companied his  parents  on  their  removal  to 
Beatrice,  Nebraska,  where  the  family  home 
was  established  in  May,  1879.    Here  Mr.  Yule 


did  not  find  it  expedient  to  engage  in  the  work 
of  his  profession,  but  he  became  closely  asso- 
ciated with  his  father  in  the  extending  of 
financial  loans  on  real-estate  security  and  also 
in  the  important  work  of  compiling  from  the 
county  records  the  first  complete  set  of  books 
containing  concise  and  authoritative  abstracts 
of  title  to  all  realty  in  the  county.  Later  they 
expanded  their  abstract  business  into  other 
counties  in  this  section  of  the  state,  as  well 
as  into  adjoining  sections  of  Kansas,  and  the 
business  became  one  of  extensive  and  impor- 
tant order,  its  cumulative  ramifications  having 
continued  to  the  present  time  and  the  subject 
of  this  sketch  having  continued  in  full  control 
of  the  enterprise  since  the  death  of  his  father. 
He  maintains  his  well  appointed  offices  in  the 
Drake  building,  and  so  admirably  has  all  work 
been  systematized  that  the  most  absolute  effi- 
ciency of  service  is  given  by  this  pioneer  ab- 
stract institution,  the  records  being  kept  con- 
stantly up  to  date,  by  the  proper  entrance  of 
data  concerning  every  real-estate  transaction 
in  the  county.  In  connection  with  his  long 
and  active  association  with  this  line  of  enter- 
prise Mr.  Yule  has  found  his  knowledge  of 
the  law  of  inestimable  value,  though  he  has 
not  engaged  actively  in  the  practice  of  the  pro- 
fession for  which  he  so  carefully  prepared 
himself.  By  virtue  of  his  intellectual  and 
business  ability  he  is  well  fortified  for  leader- 
ship in  popular  sentiment  and  action  and  he 
has  been  active  and  influential  in  the  local 
councils  of  the  Republican  party,  though  never 
manifesting  any  ambition  for  political  prefer- 
ment in  an  official  sense.  His  civic  loyalty 
has  been  of  insistent  and  helpful  order  and  he 
has  given  effective  service  both  as  city  clerk 
and  city  treasurer  of  Beatrice.  Through  his 
business  activities  he  has  contributed  his  quota 
to  the  civic  and  industrial  progress  of  his 
home  city  and  county  and  he  commands  the 
unqualified  esteem  of  all  who  know  him.  He 
and  his  family  are  active  members  of  the 
Presbyterian  church. 

On  the  24th  of  October,  1877,  was  solem- 
nized the  marriage  of  Mr.  Yule  to  Miss  Emma 
Shattuck,  who  was  born  at  Moundsville, 
Marshall  county,  West  Virginia,  and  who  was 


522 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


a  girl  at  the  time  of  the  family  removal  to 
Wisconsin,  where  she  was  reared  and  edu- 
cated. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Yule  became  the  par- 
ents of  eleven  children,  and  concerning  the 
nine  now  living  the  following  brief  record  is 
given  in  conclusion  of  this  review :  Alice  is 
the  wife  of  James  R.  Robinson,  who  is  en- 
gaged in  the  automobile  business  at  Ennis, 
Texas ;  Lucille  is  the  wife  of  C.  R.  Taylor,  of 
Beatrice;  Laura  is  the  wife  of  Dale  Chapman, 
of  this  city;  Thomas  K.  is  successfully  and 
extensively  engaged  in  the  sheep-growing 
business  in  Colorado,  with  residence  at  Fort 
Collins,  and  it  may  be  noted  that  in  the  season 
of  1917  he  fed  on  his  ranch  twenty-one 
thousand  head  of  sheep  and  lambs;  Mary  is 
employed  as  cashier  in  a  leading  meat  market 
in  Beatrice ;  Miriam  and  Mildred  hold  respon- 
sible positions  in  business  offices  in  their  home 
city ;  Hattie  holds  a  clerkship  in  a  local  mer- 
cantile establishment;  and  Arlene  is  the 
youngest  of  the  number,  she  being  at  the  par- 
ental home,  as  are  also  the  other  unmarried 
daughters,  the  family  being  one  of  marked 
popularity  in  the  representative  social  activities 
of  Beatrice. 


JOHN  B.  FULTON,  M.  D.  —  To  no  man 
should  be  accorded  a  higher  degree  of  honor 
than  to  the  skilled  and  loyal  physician  and  sur- 
geon who  has  given  years  of  earnest  and  ef- 
fective service  in  the  alleviation  of  human 
suiTering  and  distress,  and  to  Dr.  Fulton  is 
uniformly  accorded  this  honor  in  Gage  county, 
where  he  has  lived  and  labored  unselfishly 
and  devotedly  in  the  work  of  his  humane  pro- 
fession and  where,  as  a  pioneer  physician  and 
surgeon,  he  lived  up  to  the  full  tension  of  ex- 
acting service  demanded  of  him  in  the  early 
days,  when  he  traversed  the  country  over  a 
radius  of  many  miles,  in  summer's  heat  and 
winter's  rigorous  blasts,  often  finding  his  way 
on  horseback  over  almost  impassable  roads  and 
even  across  the  prairie  where  no  roads  were 
defined  —  and  all  this  in  his  zeal  to  aid  those 
who  made  call  for  his  ministrations.  Though 
he  has  now  passed  the  eightieth  mile-stone  on 
the  journey  of  life,  he  retains  splendid  mental 
and  physical  vigor,  keeps  in  touch  with  the 


advances  in  his  profession  and  responds  fre- 
quently to  the  calls  made  for  his  ministrations 
on  the  part  of  families  to  which  he  has  given 
such  service  during  the  course  of  many  years. 
A  man  of  strength  and  honor,  he  has  been  the 
friend  and  benefactor  of  humanity,  and  it 
may  well  be  understood  that  he  is  held  in 
reverent  affection  in  the  county  that  has  so 
long  represented  his  home  and  been  the  stage 
of  his  able  and  sympathetic  services.  Thus 
historic  consistency  is  conserved  in  according 
to  him  a  tribute  in  this  publication,  and  even 
this  brief  record  must  bear  its  measure  of  les- 
son and  inspiration. 

Dr.  John  Blythe  Fulton  was  born  in  High- 
land county,  Ohio,  on  the  9th  of  June,  1833, 
and  is  a  son  of  William  and  Catherine  (Bas- 
kin)  Fulton,  the  former  a  native  of  Pennsyl- 
vania and  the  latter  of  Ireland.  The  paternal 
grandparents  of  Dr.  Fulton  were  born  in  Ire- 
land and  were  numbered  among  the  sterling 
pioneers  of  Pennsylvania.  William  Fulton, 
father  of  the  Doctor,  was  reared  and  educated 
in  the  old  Keystone  state  and  thence  went  to 
Ohio,  where  he  became  a  pioneer  farmer  in 
Highland  county,  both  he  and  his  wife  there 
continuing  their  residence  until  they  were 
summoned  from  the  stage  of  their  mortal  en- 
deavors —  secure  in  the  respect  and  esteem 
of  all  who  knew  them. 

Under  the  sturdy  and  invigorating  disci- 
pline of  the  home  farm  Dr.  Fulton  waxed 
strong  of  brain  and  brawn  during  the  period 
of  his  childhood  and  youth,  and  his  alert 
and  receptive  mind  caused  him  to  profit  fully 
by  the  advantages  aflforded  in  the  common 
schools  of  the  locality  and  period.  He  sup- 
plemented this  training  by  a  course  of  higher 
study  in  Hillsboro  Academy,  a  well  ordered 
institution  in  his  native  county,  and  in  prep- 
aration for  the  work  of  his  profession  he  went 
to  the  state  of  Pennsylvania,  where  he  prose- 
cuted his  technical  studies  under  effective 
preceptorship  and  earnestly  fortified  himself 
for  his  exacting  and  responsible  vocation.  He 
began  his  professional  novitiate  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, later  removing  to  Fairbury,  Living- 
ston county,  Illinois,  and  there  he  continued  in 
active  and  successful  general  practice  for  the 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


523 


long  period  of  twenty-one  years.  Gracious 
were  the  environment  and  associations  which 
he  there  forsook  to  number  himself  among 
the  pioneer  representative  of  his  profession 
in  Nebraska,  to  which  state  he  came  in  1879. 
somewhat  more  than  a  decade  after  its  admis- 
sion to  the  Union.  He  established  his  home 
at  Beatrice,  the  judicial  center  of  Gage  county, 
the  now  beautiful  Httle  city  having  then  been 
a  straggling  frontier  village,  and  in  those 
days  he  was  one  of  only  three  physicians  in 
the  county,  the  other  two  who  were  his  con- 
temporaries in  this  pioneer  prestige  having 
been  Dr.  Webb  and  Dr.  Huff,  both  of  whom 
have  passed  to  the  life  eternal. 

Dr.  Fulton  was  earnest  and  indefatigable  in 
his  professional  ministration  during  the  pio- 
neer epoch  and  in  the  latter  years  of  opulent 
prosperity  and  progress,  and  in  the  early  days 
he  made  a  remarkably  successful  record  in  the 
treatment  of  the  all  prevalent  fever  from 
which  the  settlers  suffered.  The  Doctor  is  an 
optimist  by  very  nature  and  his  altruism  has 
always  been  on  a  parity  with  his  abiding 
human  sympathy,  so  that  it  may  well  be  under- 
stood that  his  ministrations  have  been  benefi- 
cent in  the  bringing  of  cheer  as  well  as  in  re- 
lieving physical  ailments.  Aside  from  slight 
lameness,  due  to  the  improper  adjustment  of 
a  broken  hip  when  he  was  a  youth,  Dr.  Ful- 
ton is  still  active  and  vigorous,  the  years  rest- 
ing lightly  upon  him  and  his  lines  being  cast 
in  pleasant  places,  as  he  lives  and  moves 
among  a  people  who  accord  to  him  affection- 
ate regard  and  hold  him  always  as  persona 
grata. 

Dr.  Fulton  has  been  a  leader  in  popular 
sentiment  and  action  in  Gage  county  during 
the  many  years  of  his  residence  within  its 
borders  and  has  been  found  aligned  as  a  stal- 
wart advocate  of  the  principles  and  policies  for 
which  the  Democratic  party  has  ever  stood 
sponsor  in  a  basic  way.  He  has  for  many 
years  maintained  affiliation  with  the  Masonic 
fraternity,  and  while  he  was  reared  in  the 
faith  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  of  which  his 
father  was  an  elder  for  forty  years,  his  per- 
sonal study  and  research  have  in  later  years 


led  him  to  endorse  many  of  the  tenets  of  the 
spiritualistic  faith. 

In  1882  Dr.  Fulton  purchased  two  blood- 
hounds and  for  thirty-six  years  he  has  main- 
tained the  "Beatrice  Bloodhound  Kennels," 
widely  known  for  their  effectiveness  in 
breeding,  raising,  and  training  bloodhounds 
for  use  in  tracing  and  locating  criminals.  The 
dogs  are  trained  and  managed  by  the  Doctor's 
son,  Richard,  familiarly  known  as  "Dick," 
who  has  a  wide  reputation  as  a  detective.  In 
the  kennels  are,  in  the  spring  of  1918,  twenty 
or  more  animals,  and  at  various  times  the 
number  of  hounds  in  these  celebrated  kennels 
has  been  as  high  as  forty.  A  market  for 
these  animals  is  found  all  over  the  United 
States  and  in  foreign  countries,  and  high 
prices  are  paid  for  the  animals. 

As  a  young  man  of  about  twenty-nine 
years  Dr.  Fulton  wedded  Miss  Sarah  Phipps, 
who  was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  a  daughter  of 
Judge  David  Phipps,  and  she  passed  to  the 
life  eternal  in  the  year  1903.  Of  this  union 
were  born  nine  children,  of  whom  eight  are 
living,  and  concerning  them  the  following 
brief  data  are  available ;  Mary  Maggie  is  the 
wife  of  W.  W.  Johnston,  of  Omaha,  Ne- 
braska; Oliver  P.  is  engaged  in  the  real- 
estate  business  in  Beatrice ;  Belle  is  the  widow 
of  A.  D.  Butt,  of  Los  Angeles,  California; 
Thos.  B.  is  associated  with  the  Beatrice  Stm 
and  has  been  engaged  in  the  newspaper  busi- 
ness for  thirty  years ;  William  S.  is  a  success- 
ful sign  painter  in  Beatrice;  Hattie  is  the  wife 
of  J.  H.  Simon,  of  Boston,  Massachusetts; 
Richard  maintains  his  residence  in  Beatrice; 
Jesse  E.  died  at  the  age  of  about  thirty-five 
years ;  and  Fitch  B.  is  a  talented  artist,  now  a 
resident  of  the  state  of  California. 

In  contracting  a  second  marriage.  Dr.  Ful- 
ton wedded  Miss  Emily  May,  a  daughter  of 
one  of  the  early  clergymen  of  the  Methodist 
church  in  Nebraska.  No  children  have  been 
born  of  this  marriage. 

FRANK  E.  LEFFERDINK.  —  Banking 
enterprise  in  Gage  county  numbers  among  its 
successful  and  popular  exponents  of  the 
younger  generation  Frank  E.  Lefferdink,  who 


524 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


is  giving  effective  service  in  the  position  of 
cashier  of  the  Farmers  &  Merchants'  Bank  of 
Wymore. 

Mr.  Lefferdink  was  born  in  Lancaster 
county,  Nebraska,  on  the  16th  of  September, 
1885,  and  his  parents  now  maintain  their  resi- 
dence at  Hickman,  that  county,  where  his 
father  is  living  virtually  retired.  William 
Lefiferdink  was  born  near  the  city  of  Amster- 
dam, Holland,  in  the  year  1847,  and  was  reared 
and  educated  in  his  native  land.  In  1868, 
about  the  time  of  attaining. to  his  legal  major- 
ity, he  came  to  the  United  States.  He  passed 
the  ensuing  year  in  Wisconsin  and  then,  in 
1869,  came  to  Nebraska,  a  state  that  had  been 
admitted  to  the  Union  only  two  years  previous- 
ly. In  Lancaster  county  he  obtained  a  home- 
stead claim  of  eighty  acres,  and  he  was  so 
deeply  impressed  with  the  advantages  and  at- 
tractions of  the  new  commonwealth  that  he 
soon  returned  to  his  native  land  and  induced 
eighty  of  his  fellow  countrymen  to  come  like- 
wise to  America  and  acquire  for  themselves 
government  land  in  Nebraska.  Later  he  made 
a  second  trip  to  Holland,  and  on  his  return  he 
was  accompanied  by  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
two  earnest  and  industrious  Hollanders,  who 
became  colonists  in  the  vicinity  of  Hickman, 
Nebraska.  He  was  thus  primarily  instrumen- 
tal in  gaining  to  Lancaster  county  a  goodly 
contingent  of  most  valuable  citizens,  as  the 
Hollanders  are  known  for  their  frugality,  in- 
dustry, and  effective  methods  of  intensive 
farming — -not  an  inch  of  ground  being  by 
them  permitted  to  go  to  waste  in  the  matter 
of  productiveness.  William  Lefferdink  merits 
from  Nebraska  enduring  gratitude  for  his  ef- 
forts in  bringing  to  the  state  in  the  early 
period  of  its  history  a  valuable  element  that 
has  been  conspicuous  in  the  development  and 
advancing  of  the  agricultural  interests  of 
this  now  opulent  commonwealth.  Mr.  Leffer- 
dink was  a  carpenter  by  trade,  and  as  an  able 
contractor  and  builder  he  assisted  in  the  erec- 
tion of  many  buildings  in  the  city  of  Lincoln 
in  the  early  days  when  the  fine  capital  city 
contained  not  more  than  twelve  or  thirteen 
buildings.  With  the  passing  years  he  added 
to   his    landed    estate   and   gained   substantial 


prosperity,  so  that,  as  the  shadows  of  his 
earnest  and  useful  life  begin  to  lengthen  from 
the  golden  west,  he  is  enjoying  well  earned 
peace  and  comfort  in  the  attractive  home 
which  he  has  provided  in  the  village  of  Hick- 
man. 

While  residing  in  Wisconsin  William  Lef- 
ferdink wedded  Miss  Anna  Port,  who  was 
born  in  that  state,  in  1850,  her  parents  having 
been  pioneers  of  Wisconsin,  where  they  con- 
tinued to  reside  until  their  death  and  where 
the  father  was  a  farmer  by  vocation.  William 
and  Anna  (Port)  Lefferdink  became  the  par- 
ents of  seven  children,  concerning  whom 
brief  mention  may  be  consistently  made  at 
this  point:  Dena  is  the  wife  of  William 
Smith,  a  prosperous  farmer  in  western  Ne- 
braska ;  Nellie  is  the  wife  of  Richard  Schutte, 
who  has  charge  of  one  of  her  father's  farms 
near  Hickman,  Lancaster  county;  Henry  is  a 
retired  banker  and  resides  in  the  city  of  Lin- 
coln; Emma  is  the  wife  of  Alfred  Christo- 
pher, a  farmer  near  Ashton,  South  Dakota ; 
Frank  E.,  of  this  review,  was  the  next  in 
order  of  birth;  William  is  cashier  of  the  State 
Bank  of  Hadar,  Pierce  county,  Nebraska ; 
and  Cornelius  is  cashier  of  the  State  Bank  of 
Calumet,  Iowa. 

Frank  E.  Left'erdink  acquired  his  early  edu- 
cation in  the  public  schools  of  his  native 
county,  and  this  discipline  included  a  course 
in  the  high  school  in  the  city  of  Lincoln.  He 
was  graduated  in  the  high  school  as  a  member 
of  the  class  of  1904,  and  thereafter  he  com- 
pleted a  course  in  a  business  college  in  the 
capital  city,  with  special  attention  given  to  the 
theory  and  practical  work  of  banking.  In  his 
initial  experience  in  connection  with  the  bank- 
ing business  he  was  employed  two  and  one- 
half  years  at  Platte,  South  Dakota,  and  there- 
after he  held  for  a  short  period  the  office  of 
president  of  the  State  Bank  of  Denton';  Lan- 
caster county,  Nebraska.  Prior  to  coming  to 
Wymore,  Gage  county,  he  had  been  employed 
two  years  in  the  Farmers'  Savings  Bank  of 
Gaza,  Iowa,  a  position  from  which  he  retired 
to  assume  that  of  cashier  of  the  Farmers'  & 
Merchants'  Bank  of  Wymore.  Of  this  ofTfice 
he  has  been  the  incumbent  since  November  20, 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


523 


1916,  and  within  his  tenure  of  this  executive 
position  the  deposits  of  the  banlv  have  in- 
creased from  one  hundred  and  thirty  thousand 
to  two  hundred  and  thirty-six  thousand  dol- 
lars — ■  a  definite  testimonial  to  his  ability  and 
effective  executive  policies. 

In  politics  Mr.  LefTerdink  gives  his  alle- 
giance to  the  Republican  party,  he  was  reared 
in  the  faith  of  the  Dutch  Reformed  church, 
and  his  wife  holds  membership  in  the  Luth- 
eran church.  After  establishing  his  residence 
in  Wymore  he  here  erected  the  attractive  mod- 
ern house  which  is  the  family  home  and  which 
is  one  of  the  beautiful  and  hospitable  domi- 
ciles of  the  thriving  little  city.  While  he 
gives  close  attention  to  the  banking  business, 
Mr.  Letiferdink  has  made  judicious  investment 
in  valuable  land  in  Lancaster  county,  this 
property  having  been  purchased  by  him  from 
his  father. 

In  June,  1916,  was  solemnized  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  Lefferdink  to  Miss  Maude  Martin, 
who  was  born  at  Hickman,  Lancaster  county, 
her  parents  having  been  pioneer  settlers  in 
that  county.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lefiferdink  have 
a  winsome  little  daughter,  Dorothy. 

JOHN  L.  HERSHEY  is  the  efficient  and 
popular  incumbent  of  the  position  of  official 
engineer  for  Gage  county  and  also  the  city  of 
Beatrice,  and  in  his  chosen  profession  he  has 
won  a  station  of  substantial  success 

Mr.  Hershey  was  bom  in  Monmouth,  Illi- 
nois, on  the  19th  of  September,  1881,  and  is  a 
son  of  Samuel  and  Barbara  Ella  (Swiler^i 
Hershey,  both  natives  of  the  state  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, where  the  former  was  born  December 
6,  1843,  and  the  latter  on  the  22d  of  Septem- 
ber, 1850,  she  being  a  daughter  of  David 
Swiler,  who  removed  with  his  family  to  Kan- 
sas in  an  early  day.  Samuel  Hershey  was 
reared  and  educated  in  the  old  Keystone  state 
and  he  was  a  young  man  when  he  accompanied 
his  parents  on  their  removal  to  Illinois.  He 
is  a  son  of  Jacob  Hershey,  who  was  a  farmer 
and  miller  in  Pennsylvania  and  who  became  a 
successful  exponent  of  agricultural  enterprise 
after  his  removal  to  Illinois,  where  he  and  his 
wife  passed  the  residue  of  their  lives. 


Samuel  Hershey  learned  in  his  youth  the 
trade  of  carpenter  and  he  became  a  success- 
ful contractor  and  builder  in  Illinois.  In 
1884  he  came  with  his  family  to  Gage  county, 
Nebraska,  and  established  his  residence  in 
Beatrice,  where  he  continued  his  activities  as 
a  contractor  and  builder  and  had  the  super- 
vision of  the  erection  of  a  number  of  impor- 
tant public  and  business  buildings,  including 
the  Gage  county  court  house,  the  Beatrice 
postoffice  and  many  of  the  attractive  business 
blocks  of  the  city  of  Beatrice.  He  and  his 
wife  still  maintain  their  home  in  the  county's 
metropolis  and  he  is  now  in  the  employ  of  the 
Dempster  i\Iill  Manufacturing  Company.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Hershey  became  the  parents  of  five 
children,  of  whom  four  are  living:  Frances 
R.  is  the  widow  of  Charles  F.  Rogers  and  is 
now  a  popular  teacher  in  the  public  schools  of 
Beatrice ;  Charles  W.  is  in  the  employ  of  the 
Pacific  Electric  Company,  in  the  city  of  Los 
Angeles,  California;  Archibald  C.  is  engaged 
in  the  real-estate  business  in  Los  Angeles ;  and 
John  L.,  of  this  review,  is  the  youngest  of  the 
number.  The  children  received  excellent  edu- 
cational advantages,  all  attending  the  Univer- 
sity of  Nebraska  except  Charles  W.,  who  fin- 
ished his  education  at  Knox  College,  Gales- 
burg,  Illinois.  Samuel  Hershey  is  a  Republi- 
can in  politics,  is  affiliated  with  the  Inde- 
pendent Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  and  both  he 
and  his  wife  hold  membership  in  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  church. 

John  L.  Hershey,  the  immediate  subject  of 
this  review,  was  about  three  years  of  age  when 
the  family  home  was  established  in  Beatrice. 
Here  he  attended  the  public  schools  until  he 
had  completed  the  curriculum  of  the  high 
school,  in  which  he  was  graduated  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  class  of  1900.  In  1906  he  gradu- 
ated from  the  Engineering  College  of  the 
University  of  Nebraska,  and  for  two  years 
thereafter  he  was  employed  in  the  construc- 
tion of  reinforced  concrete  buildings  in  the 
state,  for  a  Lincoln  firm.  The  next  five  years 
found  him  in  charge  of  important  irrigation 
work  in  Colorado  and  Idaho,  and  this  ex- 
perience added  greatly  to  his  practical  skill  in 
his  profession.    In  1913  Mr.  Hershey  returned 


526 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


to  Beatrice  and,  as  an  able  and  experienced 
civil  engineer,  was  given  appointment  to  his 
present  responsible  position  as  special  engineer 
for  the  city  and  as  county  engineer,  in  which 
connection  he  had  done  a  large  amount  of  im- 
portant work,  especially  for  the  city  of 
Beatrice. 

In  politics  Mr.  Hershey  is  a  Republican,  and 
he  takes  loyal  interest  in  all  things  pertaining 
to  the  welfare  and  progress  of  his  home  city 
and  county.  He  is  a  member  of  the  American 
Society  of  Civil  Engineers  and  both  he  and  his 
wife  hold  membership  in  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal church. 

In  March,  1907,  was  solemnized  the  mar- 
riage of  Mr.  Hershey  to  Miss  Mae  E.  Bru- 
baker,  a  daughter  of  the  late  I.  H.  Brubaker, 
who  was  a  successful  fanner  and  grain  dealer 
in  Gage  county.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hershey  have 
a  winsome  little  daughter,  Martha  E. 

PHILIP  GRAFF. —  The  man  who  can  to- 
day qualify  as  a  progressive  and  successful 
exponent  of  the  great  basic  industries  of  agri- 
culture and  stock-growing  as  carried  forward 
under  the  admirable  conditions  and  influences 
provided  in  the  state  of  Nebraska,  may  well 
consider  himself  fortunate  and  have  full  con- 
fidence that  his  "lines  are  cast  in  pleasant 
places."  Gage  county  is  favored  beyond  mea- 
sure in  the  personnel  of  its  representative 
farmers  and  stock-raisers,  and  as  one  of  the 
specially  vigorous  and  resourceful  exemplifiers 
of  these  all-important  branches  of  productive 
enterprise  Mr.  Graff  is  eminently  entitled  to 
recognition  in  this  history.  He  is  the  owner 
of  one  of  the  finely  improved  and  distinctly 
model  landed  estates  of  Gage  county,  the  same 
comprising  six  hundred  and  eighty  acres, 
situated  in  Blakely  township,  with  service  on 
rural  mail  route  No.  1,  from  the  city  of  Be- 
atrice. 

Mr.  Graff  was  born  in  the  city  of  Milwau- 
kee, Wisconsin,  on  the  21st  of  May,  1857,  and 
is  a  scion  of  one  of  those  sterling  German 
families  that  were  destined  to  play  so  large 
and  benignant  a  part  in  the  development  and 
progress  of  the  Badger  state.  Mr.  Graff  is  a 
son  of  Joseph  and  Theresa   (Meyer)   Graff, 


both  of  whom  were  born  in  Baden,  Germany, 
where  they  were  reared  and  educated,  and 
who  were  married  in  Wisconsin.  In  1854 
Joseph  Graff  severed  the  ties  that  bound  him 
to  the  German  fatherland  and  came  to 
America.  For  a  few  years  after  his  marriage 
the  family  home  was  maintained  in  the  city  of 
Milwaukee,  and  eventually  he  removed  to 
Iowa,  where  he  worked  on  the  river.  Soon, 
however,  he  determined  to  cast  in  his  lot  with 
the  Territory  of  Nebraska,  which  was  then 
aspiring  to  statehood.  On  the  15th  of  April, 
1860,  he  arrived  with  his  family  in  Gage 
county,  which  at  that  time  was  little  more 
than  an  unbroken  prairie  -wilderness,  Indians 
and  all  manner  of  wild  game  being  still  plenti- 
ful in  this  section  of  the  territory.  He  pur- 
chased a  tract  of  wild  land  in  what  is  now 
Blakely  township  and  the  same  constitutes  an 
integral  part  of  the  present  highly  improved 
farm  property  of  his  son  Philip,  the  imme- 
diate subject  of  this  review.  Joseph  Graff  be- 
gan the  breaking  of  his  land  and  making  it 
available  for  cultivation.  This  work  was  done 
with  ox  teams  and  afforded  no  sybaritic  in- 
dulgence, as  may  well  be  imagined.  Ne- 
braska City,  about  sixty  miles  distant,  was  at 
that  time  the  nearest  trading  point  and  many 
deprivations  and  hardships  were  necessarily 
borne  by  these  early  settlers  who  laid  the  foun- 
dation for  future  opulence  and  progress  in 
this  section  of  Nebraska.  After  Nebraska  had 
gained  the  dignity  of  statehood  he  was  still 
found  vigorously  employed  in  the  improve- 
ment and  cultivation  of  his  farm,  and  with  the 
passing  years  he  made  the  same  one  of  the 
best  in  the  county.  As  prosperity  attended  his 
efforts,  he  erected  good  buildings  and  made 
other  modern  provisions  on  the  homestead, 
and  here  he  remained,  respected  by  all  who 
knew  him,  until  his  death,  on  the  10th  of  Oc- 
tober, 1897,  at  the  age  of  sixty-seven  years, 
his  devoted  wife,  who  had  been  a  true  help- 
meet, having  passed  to  the  life  eternal  on  the 
2d  of  June,  1894,  at  the  age  of  fifty-six  years. 
Both  were  devout  communicants  of  the  Cath- 
olic church  and  the  first  Catholic  services  to 
be  noted  in  the  history  of  the  county  were 
held  in  the  modest  log-cabin  home  of  these 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA  527 


528 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


honored  pioneers,  besides  which  they  assisted 
materially  in  the  organization  of  the  first 
Catholic  church  in  the  county  and  in  the  erec- 
tion of  the  first  church  edifice.  They  became 
the  parents  of  nine  children,  concerning  whom 
the  following  brief  data  are  accessible :  Henry 
died  at  the  age  of  fifty-five  years ;  Philip,  of 
this  review,  was  the  next  in  order  of  birth ; 
Gustav  is  now  a  resident  of  Pasadena,  Cali- 
fornia ;  Caroline  died  in  infancy ;  Louis  is  suc- 
cessfully established  in  the  lumber  business  at 
Beatrice;  George,  John,  Otto,  and  Frederick 
are  deceased.  Of  the  immediate  family  only 
two  continue  as  residents  of  Gage  county,  as 
the  above  record  indicates. 

Philip  Graff  was  three  years  of  age  at  the 
time  of  the  family  removal  to  the  frontier 
wilds  of  Nebraska  Territory,  and  on  the  old 
homestead  farm  in  Gage  county  he  was  reared 
under  the  conditions  and  influences  of  the  pio- 
neer era,  so  that  his  memory  compasses  the 
entire  period  in  which  have  been  wrought  the 
marvelous  progress  and  development  in  this 
now  favored  section  of  the  state.  As  soon  as 
possible  the  pioneers  established  primitive 
schools  for  their  children,  and  in  these  early 
"institutions  of  learning"  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  acquired  his  youthful  education.  From 
his  boyhood  to  the  present  day  he  has  con- 
tinued to  be  closely  and  actively  associated 
with  the  agricultural  and  live-stock  enterprise 
in  Gage  county,  and  in  1898,  shortly  after  the 
death  of  his  father,  he  purchased  the  interests 
of  the  other  heirs  and  assumed  full  ownership 
of  the  old  home  place. 

When  but  seventeen  years  of  age  Mr.  Graf? 
initiated  independent  enterprise  in  the  opera- 
tion of  a  threshing  machine,  incidental  to  the 
garnering  of  the  generous  harvests  in  this  sec- 
tion of  the  state,  and  he  has  continued  his 
active  alliance  with  this  important  industrial 
accessory  during  the  long  intervening  years. 
From  his  youth  he  has  done  all  of  the  thresh- 
ing on  the  old  homestead,  as  well  as  on  many 
neighboring  farms,  and  he  has  owned  and  op- 
erated several  threshing  outfits,  in  which  con- 
nection he  has  kept  his  equipment  up  to  the 
best  standard,  his  present  threshing  outfit  be- 
ing of  the  most  modern  type.     In  addition  to 


giving  attention  to  well  ordered  agricultural 
exploitation  Mr.  GrafT  has  been  an  extensive 
grower  and  feeder  of  cattle  and  has  made  this 
an  important  and  successful  feature  of  his 
farm  enterprise.  His  progressiveness  is  fur- 
ther shown  in  his  being  a  stockholder  and  vice- 
president  and  treasurer  of  a  well  ordered  ce- 
ment manufacturing  company  at  Bonner 
Springs,  Kansas ;  the  New  Monarch  Mining 
Company,  of  Leadville,  Colorado ;  and  also  of 
the  company  operating  a  modern  smelter  at 
Salida,  Colorado.  In  a  local  way  he  has  ex- 
tended his  business  and  capitalistic  interests  by 
becoming  one  of  the  principal  stockholders  of 
the  German  Savings  &  Loan  Company,  of 
Beatrice,  of  which  important  financial  and 
fiduciary  organization  he  is  now  the  president, 
his  well  ordered  executive  policies  having 
added  much  to  the  success  of  the  business. 

Mr.  Graft'  has  not  been  troubled  with  politi- 
cal ambition  and  though  he  has  not  consented 
to  appear  as  a  candidate  for  public  office  and 
is  independent  of  strict  partisan  lines  in  poli- 
tics, his  influence  and  cooperation  may  always 
be  counted  upon  in  support  of  those  things 
that  conserve  the  best  interests  of  the  com- 
munity, the  state  and  the  nation.  He  and  his 
family  are  communicants  of  the  Catholic 
church,  as  members  of  the  parish  of  St.  Jo- 
seph's church  in  the  city  of  Beatrice,  where 
he  also  maintains  affiliation  with  the  Knights 
of  Columbus. 

On  the  24th  of  November,  1886,  was  sol- 
emnized the  marriage  of  Mr.  Graff  to  Miss 
Mary  Meyer,  who  was  born  February  2,  1867, 
in  Effingham  county,  Illinois,  and  who  is  a 
daughter  of  Joseph  and  Crecentia  (Hiebler) 
Meyer,  natives  of  Germany.  The  parents  of 
Mrs.  Graff  came  from  Germany  and  settled 
in  Illinois  about  the  year  1853,  and  there  they 
remained  until  1870,  when  they  came  to  Gage 
county,  Nebraska,  and  settled  on  a  farm  in 
Blakely  township,  where  they  passed  the  re- 
mainder of  their  lives.  In  the  concluding  para- 
graph of  this  review  is  given  brief  record  con- 
cerning the  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Graff: 

Josephine  is  the  wife  of  George  H.  Sulli- 
van, a  successful  carpenter  and  contractor  at 
Beatrice ;  Edwin  is  actively  associated  with  his 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


father  in  the  work  and  management  of  the 
home  farm;  and  the  younger  children  of  the 
ideal  family  home  circle  are  Theresa,  Linda, 
Hugo,  and  Harold. 

JAMES  E.  BEDNAR.  — It  is  gratifying 
to  the  publishers  of  this  historj'  to  offer  with- 
in its  pages  recognition  of  James  E.  Bednar, 
a  native  son  of  Gage  county,  who  is  honoring 
the  county  in  his  effective  services  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Nebraska  bar.  He  is  now  success- 
fully engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  profession 
in  the  city  of  Omaha,  as  junior  member  of  the 
firm  of  Ringer  &  Bednar,  with  offices  in  the 
First  National  Bank  Building.  Mr.  Bednar 
is  a  son  of  the  late  Albert  Bednar,  an  honored 
Gage  county  pioneer  to  whom  a  memoir  is 
dedicated  on  other  pages  of  this  volume. 

James  E.  Bednar  was  born  on  the  family 
homestead  in  Sicily  township,  Gage  county, 
September  28,  1882.  As  a  boy  and  youth  Mr. 
Bednar  contributed  his  due  quota  to  the  work 
on  the  home  farm,  and  after  having  availed 
himself  of  the  advantages  of  the  district 
schools,  he  continued  his  studies  in  the  high 
school  at  Wymore.  He  defrayed  the  expenses 
incidental  to  acquiring  his  higher  academic 
training  and  his  professional  education  largely 
through  his  own  resources.  He  taught  the 
Sunny  Side  district  school  in  Lancaster  county 
prior  to  entering  the  University  of  Nebraska, 
was  graduated  from  the  University  of  Ne- 
braska, in  1907,  with  the  degree  of  Bachelor 
of  Arts,  but  continued  his  service  in  the  peda- 
gogic profession  for  a  short  time  as  instructor 
in  rhetoric  and  debating  in  the  high  school  at 
Beatrice,  Nebraska.  In  the  meanwhile  he  was 
but  working  definitely  along  the  course  of  his 
ambitious  purpose,  which  was  to  prepare  him- 
self for  the  legal  profession.  Finally  he  was 
matriculated  in  the  law  department  of  his 
alma  mater,  the  University  of  Nebraska,  and 
from  this  department  he  was  graduated  in 
June,  1910,  with  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of 
Laws  and  with  virtually  coincident  admission 
to  the  bar  of  his  native  state.  Shortly  after- 
ward he  formed  a  professional  partnership 
with  J.  Dean  Ringer,  with  whom  he  has  since 
continued  to  be  associated  in  the  practice  of 


law  in  the  city  of  Omaha,  under  the  firm  title 
of  Ringer  &  Bednar.  He  has  proved  resource- 
ful and  successful  both  as  a  trial  lawyer  and 
well  fortified  counselor  and  is  now  serving 
his  second  year  as  deputy  county  attorney  of 
Douglas  county. 

In  politics  Mr.  Bednar  accords  staunch  al- 
legiance to  the  Democratic  party.  In  the  time- 
honored  Masonic  fraternity  he  has  completed 
the  circle  of  the  Scottish  Rite  to  the  thirty- 
second  degree,  besides  being  affiliated  also 
with  the  Ancient  Arabic  Order  of  the  Nobles 
of  the  Mystic  Shrine.  Both  he  and  his  wife 
hold  membership  in  the  Presbyterian  church. 
On  the  16th  of  June,  1910,  the  same  day  he 
received  his  long  coveted  "sheepskin"  from 
the  college  of  law,  was  solemnized  the  mar- 
riage of  Mr.  Bednar  to  Britania  Daughters, 
who  was  born  at  Mooreshill,  Indiana,  but 
who  at  the  time  was  a  student  in  the  graduate 
college  of  the  University  of  Nebraska.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Bednar  have  two  children  —  James 
E.,  Jr.,  born  October  13,  1911,  and  Bryce  Ren- 
wick,  born  August  3,  1916. 

ELBERT  J.  DOLE,  who  is  a  leading  pho- 
tographer in  Nebraska's  capital  city,  is  a 
native  son  of  this  state  and  is  a  representative 
of  a  family  that  has  been  specially  prominent 
and  honored  in  Gage  county,  as  is  shown  by 
reference  to  the  review  of  the  life  of  his 
mother,  Mrs.  Sophia  H.  Dole,  of  Beatrice,  the 
founder  of  the  Dole  Floral  Company,  of  which 
also  is  given  specific  record  in  this  volume. 

Elbert  J.  Dole  was  reared  and  educated  in 
Gage  county  and  thus  is  fully  entitled  to  per- 
sonal recognition  in  this  history.  He  was  born 
in^Seward  county,  Nebraska,  December  3, 
1877,  and  he  was  about  nine  years  old  when 
the  family  home  was  established  in  the  city  of 
Beatrice,  judicial  center  of  Gage  county.  Here 
he  continued  his  studies  in  the  public  schools 
until  he  had  completed  a  course  in  the  high 
school,  in  which  he  was  graduated  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  class  of  1898.  Soon  afterward  he 
took  up  the  study  of  the  photographic  art,  and 
in  the  same  he  has  become  a  recognized  expert 
and  successful  professional  exponent  of  the 
photographic   business.      He  has   in   the   past 


530 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


been  employed  in  some  of  the  best  studios 
both  in  Beatrice  and  Lincoln,  as  well  as  by 
the  State  Journal  Company,  and  his  experience 
in  his  chosen  profession  has  been  wide  and 
varied.  Since  1912  he  has  conducted  in  the 
capital  city  of  Nebraska  his  present  hand- 
somely appointed  and  thoroughly  modern 
photographic  studio,  at  1125  O  street,  and  his 
large  and  representative  patronage  denotes 
alike  his  professional  skill  and  his  personal 
popularity.  Mr.  Dole  is  affihated  with  the 
Knights  of  Pythias  and  he  and  his  wife  hold 
membership  in  the  Christian  church. 

In  1904  was  solemnized  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Dole  to  Mrs.  Sadie  Crumpton,  who  was 
born  in  the  state  of  Ohio  and  who  was  a  resi- 
dent of  Lincoln,  Nebraska,  at  the  time  of  their 
marriage.     They  have  no  children. 

ELWOOD  BIGLER.  —  Prominent  among 
those  whose  successful  activities  are  potent  in 
upholding  the  commercial  prestige  of  the  city 
of  Beatrice  is  Elwood  Bigler,  who  here  con- 
ducts a  substantial  and  prosperous  general 
hardware  and  implement  business,  the  same 
having  been  established  in  1896,  under  the 
firm  title  of  Jacob  Bigler  &  Son.  He  has  con- 
ducted the  enterprise  in  an  individual  way, 
under  his  own  name,  since  1907.  His  honored 
father,  who  was  senior  member  of  the  origi- 
nal firm,  was  a  resident  of  the  city  of  Lin- 
coln, this  state,  at  the  time  of  his  death,  in 
1898. 

Mr.  Bigler  was  born  in  Hardin  county, 
Ohio,  on  the  23d  of  November,  1865,  and  is  a 
son  of  Jacob  and  Margaret  (Runyan)  Bigler, 
the  former  of  whom  was  born  in  the  fair  little 
republic  of  Switzerland,  in  1838,  and  the  lat- 
ter of  whom  was  born  in  the  state  of  Ohio,  in 
1842.  Jacob  Bigler  was  reared  and  educated 
in  his  native  land  and  was  a  young  man  when 
he  came  to  the  United  States.  He  found  em- 
ployment in  connection  with  navigation  activi- 
ties on  the  Mississippi  river,  with  headquar- 
ters in  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  and  he  was 
on  the  last  packet  boat  that  passed  up  the 
river  prior  to  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  war. 
His  loyalty  to  the  Union  was  marked  by  de- 
cisive action,  as  he  enlisted  in  a  regiment  of 


volunteers  that  was  organized  in  the  city  of 
St.  Louis,  and  was  with  his  command  in  nu- 
merous engagements,  including  the  battle  of 
Wilson's  Creek,  Missouri,  in  1861  —  an  en- 
gagement in  which  the  gallant  General  Lyons 
met  his  death.  After  the  war  Mr.  Bigler 
turned  his  attention  to  agricultural  pursuits, 
and  he  was  engaged  in  farming  in  Hardin 
county,  Ohio,  for  some  time  prior  to  1869, 
the  year  that  was  marked  by  his  removal  with 
his  family  to  the  new  state  of  Nebraska.  He 
settled  on  a  pioneer  farm  near  Crete,  Saline 
county,  in  1869,  and  there  he  continued  his 
successful  activities  as  an  agriculturist  and 
stock -grower  until  the  Centennial  year,  1876, 
when  he  was  elected  sheriff  of  Saline  county. 
At  that  period  the  office  of  sheriff  was  no 
sinecure  in  Nebraska,  for  the  state  had  an  un- 
due quota  of  lawless  and  incorrigible  men. 
within  its  borders,  but  Mr.  Bigler  gave  so 
effective  an  administration  in  his  county  that 
he  was  continued  as  the  incumbent  of  the 
shrievalty  for  six  consecutive  years,  the  ensu- 
ing two  years  finding  him  giving  equally  ef- 
fective administration  in  the  office  of  county 
clerk.  After  his  retirement  from  this  position 
he  engaged  in  the  hardware  business  at  Crete, 
that  county,  where  he  remained  until  1887, 
when  he  removed  to  Imperial,  the  judicial  cen- 
ter of  Chase  county,  where  he  established  him- 
self in  the  hardware  and  lumber  business.  He 
developed  a  large  and  prosperous  enterprise 
in  these  lines  and  continued  his  residence  at 
Imperial  until  1895,  when  he  removed  to  Lin- 
coln, the  capital  city  of  the  state,  where  he 
thereafter  lived  virtually  retired  until  his 
death,  which  occurred  in  1898.  He  was  one 
of  the  sterling  pioneers  who  contributed  a  gen- 
erous quota  to  civic  and  material  progress  and 
prosperity  in  Nebraska  and  he  commanded 
the  high  regard  of  all  who  knew  him.  His 
venerable  widow  now  resides  in  the  home  of 
her  son  Elwood,  subject  of  this  review,  and  in 
addition  to  receiving  the  utmost  filial  solici- 
tude she  is  graciously  compassed  by  many 
friends  who  pay  to  her  tribute  as  one  of  the 
noble  pioneer  women  of  this  now  favored 
commonwealth.  Three  children  survive  the 
honored  father  and  of  the  number  the  sub- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


531 


ject  of  this  sketch  is  the  youngest;  WilHam 
T.  is  a  resident  of  Casper,  Wyoming,  and  Mrs. 
Rosa  B.  Reed  resides  in  Aurora,  IlUnois. 

Ehvood  Bigler  was  a  lad  of  about  three 
years  at  the  time  of  the  family  removal  to  Ne- 
braska. He  was  reared  to  adult  age  in  Sa- 
line county,  and  was  one  of  a  few  scholars  in 
the  first  school  established  in  that  county.  He 
profited  by  the  advantages  of  the  pioneer 
schools  and  early  began  to  assist  his  father  in 
the  latter's  varied  business  operations.  In 
1896  he  became  associated  with  his  father  in 
the  establishing  of  a  well  ordered  hardware 
business  at  Beatrice,  and  of  the  enterprise  he 
assumed  full  charge,  his  father  having  been  at 
the  time  a  resident  of  Lincoln,  as  previously 
noted.  He  is  now  one  of  the  leading  expo- 
nents of  the  general  hardware  trade  in  Gage 
county,  his  well  equipped  store  being  situated 
.at  400  Court  street  and  each  department  of 
the  same  being  well  stocked  at  all  times,  so 
that  the  most  efficient  sers'ice  is  always  given 
to  the  large  and  appreciative  patronage. 

Mr.  Bigler  takes  loyal  interest  in  all  things 
touching  the  civic  and  material  welfare  and 
progress  of  his  home  city.  He  accords 
staunch  allegiance  to  the  Democratic  party  and 
does  his  part  in  the  furtherance  of  its  cause. 
In  the  time-honored  ]\Iasonic  fraternity  he 
bas  received  the  thirty-second  degree  of  the 
Ancient  Accepted  Scottish  Rite,  his  maximum 
York  Rite  affiliation  being  with  Mount  Her- 
Tnan  Commandery  of  Knights  Templar,  be- 
sides which  he  is  a  member  of  the  Ancient 
Arabic  Order  of  the  Nobles  of  the  Mystic 
Shrine.  In  his  home  city  he  is  likewise  a 
popular  member  of  the  lodge  of  the  Benevo- 
lent &  Protective  Order  of  Elks  and  the 
aerie  of  the  Fraternal  Order  of  Eagles. 

In  1909  was  solemnized  the  marriage  of  Mr. 
Bigler  to  Miss  Nellie  B.  Swartz,  who  was  bom 
in  Brown  county,  Kansas,  and  who  was  a  resi- 
dent of  Beatrice  at  the  time  of  her  marriage. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bigler  have  no  children. 

JAMES  G.  LAWRENCE.  — In  Gage 
county,  Nebraska,  not  to  know  James  G.  Law- 
rence is  virtually  to  argue  oneself  unknown, 
for  this  sterling  pioneer  citizen  of  Nebraska 


has  served  as  assistant  postmaster  at  Beatrice 
for  fully  thirty  years,  his  incumbency  having 
continued  under  the  administrations  of  eight 
different  postmasters,  including  John  R.  Mc- 
Cann,  who  is  now  in  tenure  of  this  office  and 
who  is  individually  mentioned  on  other  pages 
of  this  publication.  Mr.  Lawrence  came  to 
Nebraska  shortly  after  attaining  to  his  legal 
majority,  and  that  he  gained  his  quota  of  pio- 
neer experience  is  assured  by  the  fact  that  he 
here  established  his  residence  in  1871,  about 
four  years  after  the  territory  had  gained  the 
dignity  of  statehood.  He  has  done  specially 
efficient  service  as  an  educator  and  was  one 
of  the  efficient  and  popular  representatives  of 
the  pedagogic  profession  in  Nebraska  in  the 
early  days,  as  well  as  in  later  years.  Known 
and  honored  for  his  character  and  service,  his 
circle  of  friends  is  coincident  with  that  of  his 
acquaintances  and  it  is  gratifying  to  be  able 
to  accord  him  recognition  in  this  history. 

A  scion  of  sterling  New  England  colonial 
stock,  Mr.  Lawrence  was  bom  in  the  city  of 
Clinton,  Worcester  county,  Massachusetts,  on 
the  3d  of  February,  1850,  and  is  a  son  of 
James  S.  and  Caroline  (Lowe)  Lawrence,  the 
former  of  whom  was  born  at  Harvard  and  the 
latter  at  Clinton,  both  in  Worcester  county, 
Massachusetts.  James  S.  Lawrence  learned  in 
his  youth  the  trade  of  comb-maker,  and  for 
many  years  he  was  employed  as  shipping  clerk 
in  the  Foster  &  Lawrence  wholesale  furniture 
house  in  the  city  of  Boston.  He  later  engaged 
independently  in  comb  manufacturing  at 
Clinton,  Massachusetts,  and  through  this  me- 
dium he  achieved  definite  success  and  prestige, 
both  he  and  his  wife  having  continued  their 
residence  at  Clinton  until  their  death  and  both 
having  been  zealous  members  of  the  Congre- 
gational church,  in  which  connection  it  may 
be  noted  that  during  the  period  of  his  resi- 
dence in  the  city  of  Boston  Mr.  Lawrence 
maintained  membership  in  the  historic  old 
Winthrop  church  of  this  denomination.  The 
subject  of  this  review  was  the  third  in  order 
of  birth  in  a  family  of  six  children,  and  con- 
cerning the  others  the  following  brief  data 
are  available:  Oscar  is  in  the  service  of  the 
municipal  government  of  Worcester,   Massa- 


532 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


chusetts;  John  is  a  prosperous  farmer  near 
Northboro,  Worcester  county,  Massachusetts ; 
Charles  and  Caroline  are  twins,  the  former 
being  a  resident  of  Northboro,  Massachusetts, 
and  the  latter  the  widow  of  Harrison  P.  Fay, 
maintaining  her  home  at  Nanuet,  New  York, 
where  her  husband  had  been  principal  in  the 
public  schools ;  and  the  sixth  child,  a  son,  died 
in  infancy.  From  the  above  record  it  will  be 
discerned  that  of  the  immediate  family  James 
G.  Lawrence  is  the  only  representative  in  the 
west,  and  his  loyalty  to  Nebraska  is  on  a 
parity  with  his  appreciation  of  the  historic  old 
commonwealth  of  which  he  is  a  native  son. 

Mr.  Lawrence  is  indebted  to  the  public 
schools  of  his  native  city  for  his  early  educa- 
tional discipline,  and  there  he  was  graduated  in 
the  high  school  as  a  member  of  the  class  of 
1868.  Soon  afterward  he  became  a  clerk  in 
the  postoffice  at  Clinton,  and  there  he  served 
as  assistant  postmaster  for  two  years.  In 
1871,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  he  came 
to  the  new  state  of  Nebraska  and  after  visit- 
ing Beatrice,  which  was  then  a  mere  village, 
he  made  his  way  to  Thayer  county,  where  he 
entered  claim  to  a  homestead  of  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  of  virgin  land.  He  remained 
on  the  place  until  he  had  perfected  his  title 
thereto  and  later  he  disposed  of  the  property. 
Mr.  Lawrence  soon  found  opportunity  for 
making  effective  use  of  his  ability  as  a  teacher, 
and  for  a  number  of  years  he  taught  in  the 
public  schools  of  Thayer  and  Gage  counties. 
After  his  marriage  Mr.  Lawrence  returned  to 
the  east  and  engaged  in  comb  manufacturing 
at  Clinton,  Massachusetts,  but  after  an  ex- 
perience of  two  years  he  was  unable  to  resist 
the  lure  of  the  vital  and  progressive  west  and 
accordingly  returned  to  Beatrice,  where  he 
gave  his  attention  to  teaching  in  the  county 
schools  until  he  was  appointed  assistant  post- 
master, in  1887,  under  the  administration  of 
President  Cleveland.  He  has  held  this  posi- 
tion during  the  long  intervening  years,  his 
original  appointment  having  been  made  under 
the  regime  of  Samuel  E.  Rigg  as  postmaster, 
and  it  may  well  be  understood  that  each  suc- 
cessive incumbent  has  placed  high  and  fully 
justified  estimate  u])on  the  value  of  his  ser- 


vices, for  no  man  in  Gage  county  has  a  wider 
acquaintance  with  its  people  and  none  has  so 
comprehensive  a  grasp  upon  all  details  per- 
taining to  the  administration  of  the  postoffice 
business  in  Beatrice,  where  his  service  has 
kept  pace  with  the  march  of  civic  and  material 
development  and  progress  that  has  made 
Beatrice  one  of  the  vital  and  prosperous  cities 
of  the  state.  A  man  of  broad  mental  ken, 
strong  in  his  convictions  and  unequivocally 
loyal  and  public-spirited  as  a  citizen,  Mr. 
Lawrence  is  unfaltering  in  his  allegiance  to 
the  Democratic  party  and  has  been  prominent 
in  its  local  councils  in  Gage  county.  He  is  af- 
filiated with  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America 
and  attends  and  supports  the  Christian  church, 
of  which  his  wife  was  an  active  member. 

On  the  25th  of  December,  1878,  Mr.  Law- 
rence wedded  Miss  Laura  E.  Pheasant,  whose 
father,  the  late  Edward  Pheasant,  was  one  of 
the  representative  pioneers  of  Gage  county, 
where  he  became  the  owner  of  a  large  tract  of 
land  and  developed  the  same  into  a  well  im- 
proved and  valuable  property.  In  conclusion 
is  entered  brief  record  concerning  the  children 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lawrence:  Harold  E.  is. 
assistant  superintendent  of  the  Dempster  Mill 
Manufacturing  Company,  of  Beatrice;  Clif- 
ford J.  remains  at  the  parental  home;  James. 
E.  is  city  editor  of  the  Lincoln  Daily  Star,  in 
the  capital  city  of  Nebraska,  and  he  has  been 
very  successful  as  a  representative  of  news- 
paper work,  even  as  he  showed  his  ambition 
and  resourcefulness  by  defraying  almost  en- 
tirely through  his  own  efforts  the  expenses- 
incidental  to  his  course  in  the  University  of 
Nebraska,  in  which  he  was  graduated:  he 
married  Miss  Helen  Graves,  of  Lincoln,  and 
they  have  one  child,  Helen  E. ;  Esther,  the 
only  daughter  now  living,  was  graduated  in 
the  Beatrice  high  school  and  since  the  death 
of  her  mother,  which  occurred  November  23, 
1917,  she  has  taken  the  latter's  place  in  the 
family  home;  Ruth,  the  youngest  child,  died 
at  the  age  of  eleven  years. 

JOSEPH  HEBEL,  who  owns  and  resides 
upon  a  fine  farm  estate  of  two  hundred  and' 
forty  acres,  in  Section  6,  Paddock  township,  is. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


533 


a  representative  of  one  of  the  sterling  pioneer 
families  of  Nebraska,  and  in  his  independent 
career  he  has  well  maintained  the  honors  of 
the  family  name,  both  in  the  matter  of  loyal 
citizenship  and  also  through  his  productive 
activities  in  connection  with  agricultural  in- 
dustry. 

Mr.  Hebel  was  born  in  Bohemia,  Austria- 
Hungary,  and  the  date  of  his  nativity  was 
January  3,  1858.  He  is  a  son  of  Joseph  and 
Mary  (Machova)  Hebel,  who  likewise  were 
born  and  reared  in  Bohemia,  the  former  hav- 
ing been  born  in  1833  and  the  latter  in  1840. 
In  1869  Joseph  Hebel,  Sr.,  immigrated  with 
his  family  to  America  and  in  the  same  year  he 
numbered  himself  among  the  pioneers  of  the 
new  state  of  Nebraska.  Prior  to  coming  to 
the  United  States  Mr.  Hebel  had  served  eleven 
years  in  one  of  the  governmental  military  or- 
ganizations of  his  native  land.  Upon  coming 
to  Nebraska  he  obtained  a  homestead  claim  in 
Saline  county,  and  upon  this  wild  prairie 
tract  he  built  as  a  home  for  his  family  a 
primitive  dug-out  of  the  type  common  to  the 
early  pioneer  days.  This  rudimentary  build- 
ing had  a  roof_  that  was  thatched  with  hay, 
and  the  only  floor  was  the  earth.  On  this  pio- 
neer farm  Mr.  Hebel  continued  his  sturdy 
activities  for  ten  years,  at  the  expiration  of 
which,  in  1879,  he  came  to  Gage  county  and 
established  a  home  on  a  tract  of  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  that  is  now  in  Section  7,  Pad- 
dock township,  the  land  having  originally  been 
a  part  of  the  Otoe  Indian  reservation,  which 
had  but  shortly  before  been  opened  to  settle- 
ment. Here  Mr.  Hebel  continued  his  farm 
operations  with  vigor  and  success  until  he 
was  called  from  the  stage  of  his  mortal  en- 
deavors, his  death  having  occurred  in  1889. 
His  widow  subsequently  contracted  a  second 
marriage  and  she  now  resides  at  Wilber,  Sa- 
line county,  she  being  a  devout  communicant 
of  the  Catholic  church,  as  was  also  Joseph 
Hebel,  her  first  husband.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hebel 
became  the  parents  of  twelve  children :  Jo- 
seph is  the  immediate  subject  of  this  review; 
James  was  a  resident  of  Rawlins  county,  Kan- 
sas, at  the  time  of  his  death ;  Annie  is  the 
wife  of  Lewis  Rathbun,  of  Glenwood  town- 


ship. Gage  county ;  Charles  likewise  is  a  resi- 
dent of  this  county;  ]\Iary  is  the  wife  of  John 
Cacek,  of  Paddock  township ;  Nettie  is  the 
wife  of  Joseph  Synovec,  of  Paddock  township  ; 
Robert  is  a  resident  of  Fairbury,  Jefferson 
county ;  Mary  is  the  wife  of  Joseph  Turh- 
licka,  of  Glenwood  township,  Gage  coupty; 
and  the  other  four  children  died  when  young. 

He  whose  name  introduces  this  review  was 
a  lad  of  ten  years  at  the  time  of  the  family 
immigration  to  the  United  States  and  he  was 
reared  under  the  conditions  and  influences 
that  marked  the  pioneer  period  of  Nebraska 
history.  As  a  boy  and  youth  he  herded  cat- 
tle and  worked  on  his  father's  farm  in  Sa- 
line county,  and  in  the  meanwhile  he  attended 
school  when  opportunity  afforded.  He  was  a 
sturdy  youth  of  about  twenty  years  when  he 
accompanied  his  parents  on  their  removal  to 
Gage  county,  and  before  he  had  attained  to 
his  legal  majority  he  purchased  one  hundred 
and  twenty  acres  of  land  in  Paddock  township, 
this  being  the  homestead  place  on  which  he 
has  resided  during  the  long  intervening  years. 
When  he  came  into  possession  of  this  em- 
bryonic farm  not  a  furrow  had  been  turned  on 
the  land  and  no  improvement  had  been  made 
in  any  way,  as  the  tract  had  but  recently  been 
placed  on  the  market,  as  a  part  of  the  former 
Otoe  Indian  reservation.  Within  the  forty 
years  of  his  residence  on  this  farm  Mr.  Hebel 
has  made  excellent  improvements  upon  the 
place,  as  he  has  erected  good  farm  buildings 
and  given  other  distinct  evidences  of  his  pro- 
gressiveness  and  good  judgment.  The  pass- 
ing years  have  brought  to  him  a  generous 
measure  of  prosperity,  as  attested  by  the  fact 
that  he  has  gradually  added  to  his  holdings 
until  he  now  owns  a  valuable  fann  property 
of  two  hundred  and  forty  acres.  This  achieve- 
ment and  success  represent  the  tangible  results 
of  his  own  well  directed  efforts  and  unflag- 
ging industry. 

As  his  wife  and  helpmeet  Mr.  Hebel  chose 
Miss  Mary  Fitte,  who  was  born  in  Bohemia, 
March  8,  1862,  and  who  was  twelve  years  of 
age  when  she  came  with  her  parents  to  the 
United  States.  She  was  a  daughter  of 
Michael  and  .\nna  Fitte,  who  were  numbered 


534 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


among  the  early  settlers  of  Saline  county,  Ne- 
braska, and  who  now  reside  in  the  village  of 
Swanton,  that  county.  Mrs.  Hebel  was  called 
to  the  life  eternal  on  the  12th  of  September, 
1908,  and  concerning  the  children  the  follow- 
ing brief  record  is  consistently  entered: 
Emma  is  the  wife  of  Frank  Vanosek,  of 
Glenwood  township;  Minnie  is  the  wife  of 
Emil  Novotny,  of  the  same  township ;  Kate  is 
the  wife  of  Frank  Fleisleber,  likewise  of 
Glenwood  township;  Nellie  is  the  wife  of 
Philip  Graf¥,  of  Sicily  township;  and  Annie, 
Mattie,  and  Augusta  remain  at  the  paternal 
home. 

Joseph  Hebel  is  one  of  the  highy  respected 
pioneer  citizens  of  his  community,  and  he  is 
always  ready  to  give  his  influence  and  support 
to  any  cause  tending  to  advance  the  best  in- 
terests of  the  county  in  which  he  has  main- 
tained his  home  for  more  than  forty  years. 
In  politics  he  maintains  an  independent  atti- 
tude and  votes  for  men  and  measures  that 
meet  the  approval  of  his  judgment.  He  has 
for  eighteen  years  given  efficient  and  valued 
service  as  treasurer  of  his  school  district,  and 
has  been  influential  in  bringing  the  educa- 
tional work  of  the  district  up  to  its  present 
high  standard. 

Reverting  to  his  many  youthful  experiences 
in  connection  with  pioneer  life  in  Nebraska, 
Mr.  Hebel  relates  that  on  one  occasion  he  ac- 
companied his  father  on  foot  from  the  home 
in  Saline  county  to  Nebraska  City.  When 
night  came  they  asked  for  lodging  at  a  farm 
house,  but  no  place  could  be  found  to  ac- 
commodate them.  They  then  attempted  to 
sleep  on  a  pile  of  straw  in  the  barnyard,  but 
they  became  so  cold  that  they  had  to  arise 
and  travel  on.  They  covered  on  foot  the  en- 
tire distance  of  eighty-five  miles  between  their 
home  and  Nebraska  City,  and  on  their  return 
trip  they  were  more  fortunate  in  obtaining  a 
night's  lodging,  as  they  were  given  a  place  on 
the  floor  of  a  pioneer  fanu  house  and  pro- 
vided with  a  covering  of  sheep  pelts.  This  is 
but  one  of  many  incidents  which  Mr.  Hebel 
recalls  concerning  the  conditions  of  the  early 
days. 


HENRY  WILLIAMSON.  — A  resident 
of  Gage  county  for  nearly  forty  years,  Mr. 
Williamson  proved  himself  specially  energetic 
and  resourceful  in  his  productive  activities  as 
an  exponent  of  farm  industry  in  this  section 
of  the  state,  and  he  developed  one  of  the 
valuable  farm  properties  of  Glenwood  town- 
ship. He  finally  retired  from  the  old  home- 
stead to  establish  his  residence  in  the  city  of 
Beatrice,  but  a  life  of  ease  had  no  allurement 
for  him  and  he  has  here  proved  again  his 
success-proclivities  by  engaging  in  the  coal 
business,  in  which  line  of  enterprise  he  con- 
trols a  large  and  representative  trade  —  based 
alike  on  fair  and  honorable  dealings  and  upon 
his  unqualified  personal  popularity  in  the 
community.  A  share  of  pioneer  honors  at- 
taches to  his  name  and  achievement  and  con- 
sistency is  observed  when  he  is  here  accorded 
recognition  as  one  of  the  representative  citi- 
zens of  Gage  county. 

Mr.  Williamson  was  bom  at  Dixon,  Lee 
county,  Illinois,  on  the  6th  of  December, 
1855,  and  is  a  son  of  John  and  Margaret 
(Uhl)  Williamson,  the  former  a  native  of 
Ireland  and  the  latter  of  the.  state  of  Mary- 
land, where  their  marriage  was  solemnized. 
In  the  early  '50s  John  Williamson  and  his 
wife  enrolled  themselves  as  pioneers  of  Lee 
county,  Illinois,  to  which  section  of  the  state 
they  made  their  way  from  Chicago  by  means 
of  team  and  wagon.  In  that  county  Mr.  Wil- 
liamson purchased,  at  the  rate  of  one  dollar 
and  twenty-five  cents  an  acre,  a  tract  of  land 
that  is  now  worth  more  than  two  hundred 
dollars  on  acre.  He  continued  to  give  his 
close  attention  to  the  reclamation  and  develop- 
ment of  his  farm  until  the  outbreak  of  the 
Civil  war  brought  to  him  the  call  of  higher 
duty.  In  response  to  President  Lincoln's 
first  call,  he  enlisted,  early  in  1861,  as  a  pri- 
vate in  Company  A,  Seventy-fifth  Illinois 
Volunteer  Infantr)^  He  proceeded  with  his 
command  to  the  front,  took  part  in  the  various 
engagements  in  which  it  was  involved  up  to 
and  including  the  battle  of  Missionary  Ridge, 
in  which  engagement  he  was  captured  by  the 
enemy.  He  was  incarcerated  as  a  prisoner  of 
war  in  the   famous   Libby   Prison   of   odious 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


535 


memory,  and  there  it  was  his  to  endure  the 
horrors  and  privations  that  made  the  name  of 
that  Conferedate  prison-pen  infamous  in  the 
annals  of  history,  besides  which  he  made  the 
supreme  sacrifice  in  behalf  of  the  cause  for 
which  he  had  enlisted,  as  he  died  while  in 
Libby  Prison,  in  November,  1863.  His  widow 
survived  him  by  more  than  twenty  years  and 
was  a  resident  of  Carroll,  Carroll  county, 
Iowa,  at  the  time  of  her  death,  on  the  31st  of 
January,  1887.  They  became  the  parents  of 
six  children,  of  whom  four  are  living: 
George,  a  painter  by  trade  and  vocation,  re- 
sides at  Odell,  Gage  county,  Nebraska ;  Lydia 
is  the  widow  of  E.  L.  Burkett,  and  maintains 
her  home  at  Beaver  Crossing,  Seward  county, 
this  state;  Henry,  of  this  review,  was  the  next 
in  order  of  birth ;  and  Anna  is  the  wife  of  C. 
C.  Collins,  who  is  engaged  in  the  lumber  busi- 
ness at  Oak  Park,  Illinois.  The  honored 
father  espoused  the  cause  of  the  Republican 
party  at  the  time  of  its  organization  and  as  a 
man  and  citizen  he  commanded  the  high  re- 
gard of  all  who  knew  him.  His  father, 
George  Williamson,  likewise  came  from  Ire- 
land and  became  an  early  settler  and  prosper- 
ous farmer  of  Illinois,  where  he  passed  the 
remainder  of  his  life.  Peter  Uhl,  maternal 
grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this  review, 
likewise  became  one  of  the  pioneer  farmers 
of  Illinois,  where  he  remained  until  the  close 
of  his  life.  Mrs.  Margaret  (Uhl)  William- 
son bravely  and  unselfishly  devoted  herself 
to  the  care  and  rearing  of  her  children  after 
the  untimely  death  of  her  husband,  and  she 
exemplified  the  truest  and  noblest  traits  of 
gracious  womanhood,  her  religious  faith  hav- 
ing been  that  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church. 

Henry  Williamson  was  a  lad  of  about  eight 
years  at  the  time  of  his  father's  death  and 
soon  afterward  he  became  a  member  of  the 
family  circle  of  his  uncle,  Henry  Uhl,  a  far- 
mer near  Dixon,  Illinois.  He  remained  with 
his  uncle  until  he  had  attained  to  his  legal 
majority  and  in  the  meanwhile  profited  by 
the  advantages  afforded  in  the  schools  of  the 
locality.  Soon  after  attaining  to  his  legal  ma- 
jority  Mr.    Williamson   went   to   the   city   of 


Keokuk,  Iowa,  where  he  completed  a  course 
in  the  Baylies  Business  College.  For  two 
years  thereafter  he  was  engaged  in  the  grain 
and  coal  business  at  Carroll,  Iowa,  and  in  the 
spring  of  1880,  shortly  before  his  marriage, 
he  came  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska.  He  had 
first  come  to  this  county  in  1872  and  had  pur- 
chased a  tract  of  land  in  the  southern  part 
of  the  county  —  at  the  rate  of  three  dollars 
an  acre.  At  that  time  the  railroad  came  only 
to  Beatrice  and  from  this  point  he  had  to  go 
twenty-five  miles  on  horseback  to  look  over 
the  land  which  he  purchased. 

On  this  embryonic  farm  of  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres,  in  Section  30,  Glenwood  town- 
ship, Mr.  Williamson  instituted  improvements 
and  he  had  provided  a  comfortable  house  be- 
fore bringing  his  bride  to  the  new  home.  Mr. 
Williamson  developed  his  original  farm  into 
one  of  the  valuable  properties  of  the  county 
and  became  specially  successful  in  his  well 
ordered  activities  as  an  agriculturist  and 
stock-grower.  While  on  the  farm  he  was 
prominent  in  community  affairs,  served  as 
justice  of  the  peace  and  also  as  school  direc- 
tor, and  he  continued  his  active  association 
with  farm  industry  until  1910,  when  he  re- 
moved to  the  city  of  Beatrice.  Here  he  lived 
retired  for  one  year  and  he  then  engaged  in 
the  coal  business,  with  which  he  has  since 
continued  his  active  and  successful  associa- 
tion. He  handles  also  wood,  tankage,  and  oil 
meal,  and  his  business  is  of  substantial  order 
in  all  departments.  Mr.  Williamson  is  still 
the  owner  of  a  well  improved  landed  estate  in 
Gage  county,  his  farm  being  in  Midland  town- 
ship, near  Beatrice,  and  comprising  eighty 
acres.  He  is  the  owner  also  of  a  farm  of  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  in  southeastern  Kan- 
sas, and  of  another  tract,  of  four  hundred  and 
eighty  acres,  in  Washington  county,  that  state. 
He  has  been  in  the  most  significant  sense  the 
founder  and  builder  of  his  prosperity,  as  he 
had  neither  financial  reinforcement  or  influen- 
tial friends  to  aid  him  when  he  set  forth  as 
a  youth  to  gain  for  himself  independence  and 
advancement.  As  a  representative  of  live- 
stock industry  in  this  section  of  Nebraska  Mr. 
Williamson  did  much  to  improve  the  type  of 


536 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


cattle  raised,  and  he  exhibited  on  more  than 
one  occasion  fine  cattle  at  the  international 
stock  shows  in  the  city  of  Chicago.  In  this 
connection  it  should  be  noted  that  the  hand- 
some silver  cups  which  he  was  awarded  on  his 
exhibits  of  fine  cattle  are  the  only  trophies  of 
the  sort  held  by  a  citizen  of  Nebraska.  He 
specialized  in  the  breeding  and  growing  of 
fine  Hereford  cattle  and  of  this  stock  he 
shipped  a  load  to  Chicago  in  December,  1907, 
where  his  exhibit  gained  not  only  a  large  sil- 
ver cup  but  also  a  prize  of  three  hundred  dol- 
lars in  cash.  Later  he  received  a  silver  cup 
on  the  exhibit  which  he  made  in  the  city  of 
Denver,  where  further  recognition  was  given 
in  his  being  awarded  a  cash  prize  of  seven 
hundred  dollars.  On  his  farms  Mr.  William- 
son is  now  giving  special  attention  to  the 
raising  of  Hampshire  swine,  and  he  has  more 
than  four  hundred  head  of  these  hogs  yearly 
on  his  Gage  county  farm.  Mr.  Williamson  is 
found  staunchly  aligned  as  a  supporter  of  the 
cause  of  the  Republican  party,  he  is  affiliated 
with  the  Masonic  fraternity,  and  both  he  and 
his  wife  are  active  members  of  the  Christian 
church  in  their  home  city. 

On  the  1st  of  April,  1880,  was  solemnized 
the  marriage  of  Mr.  Williamson  to  Miss  Nellie 
A.  Faxon,  who  was  born  in  Whiteside 
county,  Illinois,  on  the  21st  of  February, 
1859,  a  daughter  of  John  W.  and  Asenath 
(Olds)  Faxon,  who  established  their  home 
in  Gage  county  in  1880,  and  who  here  passed 
the  residue  of  their  lives,  the  father  having 
become  one  of  the  substantial  farmers  of  the 
county.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Williamson  have  four 
children:  George  F.  is  now  employed  by  a 
concern  engaged  in  the  handling  of  school 
supplies  in  the  city  of  Lincoln,  he  having 
"been  graduated  not  only  in  the  University  of 
Nebraska,  but  also  in  historic  old  Columbia 
University,  in  New  York  city;  John  H.  has 
the  active  management  of  his  father's  fine 
farm  near  Beatrice;  Rhetta  is  the  wife  of  R. 
O.  Parks,  of  Beatrice  ;  and  Nellie  remains  at 
the  parental  home. 


THOMAS  E.  HIBBERT.  —  As  a  sterling 
pioneer  citizen,  a  veteran  of  the  Civil  war,  and 
as  a  member  of  the  Nebraska  legislature,  the 
late  Hon.  Thomas  E.  Hibbert  left  a  deep  and 
benignant  impress  upon  the  history  of  the 
state  in  which  he  established  his  residence 
prior  to  its  admission  as  one  of  the  sovereign 
commonwealths  of  the  Union,  and  this  his- 
tory of  Gage  county  exercises  a  consistent 
function  when  it  accords  a  tribute  to  his 
memory. 

Mr.  Hibbert  was  born  in  the  city  of  Phila- 
delphia, Pennsylvania,  in  the  year  1846,  and 
he  was  one  of  the  honored  pioneer  citizens  of 
Gage  county,  Nebraska,  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  which  here  occurred  on  the  3d  of 
March,  1905.  The  paternal  grandparents  of 
Mr.  Hibbert  were  born  and  reared  in  Eng- 
land and  upon  coming  to  America  they  settled 
in  Wayne  county,  Pennsylvania,  the  father  of 
the  subject  of  this  memoir  having  been  a  lad 
of  nine  years  at  the  time. 

Thomas  E.  Hibbert  was  reared  and  educated 
in  the  old  Keystone  state,  and  was  but  fifteen 
years  of  age  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  war. 
His  youthful  patriotism  was  roused  to  re- 
sponsive protest  and  action,  for  at  the  age 
noted  he  gallantly  tendered  his  services  in  de- 
fense of  the  Union.  He  weighed  at  the  time 
only  one  hundred  and  five  pounds  but  his  loyal 
enthusiasm  was  unbounded.  He  enlisted  from 
Wayne  county,  at  Salem,  in  Company  A,  One 
Hundred  and  Thirty-seventh  Pennsylvania 
Volunteer  Infantry,  under  Captain  J.  M.  Buck- 
ingham and  Colonel  Bassert.  His  regiment 
was  assigned  to  the  Third  Brigade  of  the  Sec- 
ond Division  of  the  Sixth  Army  Corps,  Gen- 
eral Hancock  having  command  of  the  brigade, 
in  Franklin's  corps  of  Smith's  division.  Mr. 
Hibbert  took  part  in  the  battle  of  Poolsville, 
Maryland,  September  10,  1862,  and  engage- 
ments in  which  he  thereafter  participated  may 
be  here  noted :  South  Mountain,  September 
14,  1862;  Antietam,  September  17,  1862,  his 
his  regiment  having  buried  almost  two  thous- 
and Confederate  soldiers  after  the  battle  and 
on  the  field  of  Antietam.  From  his  original 
brigade  Mr.   Hibbert  was  transferred  to  the 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


537 


Thomas  E.  H 


538 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Third  Brigade  (Paul's),  First  Division 
(Wadsworth's),  First  Army  Corps  (Rey- 
nolds'), and  with  this  command  he  took  part 
in  the  battles  of  Fredericksburg,  December 
13,  1862,  and  Chancellorsville,  April  28  to 
May  12,  1863,  having  incidentally  participated 
in  the  historic  "mud  march''  of  General  Burn- 
side's  command.  His  term  of  enlistment  had 
been  for  ninety  days,  and  after  the  expiration 
of  the  same  he  was  mustered  out,  on  the  6th 
of  June,  1863.  He  at  once  re-enlisted,  and 
was  assigned  to  Battery  C.  Second  Pennsyl- 
vania Veteran  Artillery.  Thereafter  he  served 
with  the  Twenty-second  Army  Corps  in  the 
defences  around  Washington  until  May,  1864, 
when  he  again  went  to  the  front,  in  the  Eigh- 
teenth Army  Corps.  He  took  part  in  the  bat- 
tle of  Cold  Harbor,  in  June,  1864,  and  on  the 
12th  of  that  month  he  embarked  on  a  trans- 
port, at  Whitehouse  Landing  and  sailed  down 
the  York  river  to  Chesapeake  Bay,  past  old 
Fortress  Monroe.  He  thence  proceeded  up 
the  James  river  to  City  Point,  Virginia,  and 
on  the  15th  of  June  he  was  in  the  movement 
against  Petersburg.  His  regiment  made  the 
first  attack  on  that  city  and  he  took  part  in 
all  of  the  engagements  in  which  the  Eighteenth 
Army  Corps  was  thereafter  involved,  up  to 
the  time  when  the  Twenty- fourth  Army  Corps 
was  organized,  when  the  Second  Pennsylvania 
Veteran  Artillery  became  a  part  thereof  and 
was  assigned  to  its  Third  Division.  Under 
these  conditions  Mr.  Hibbert  continued  in 
active  service  until  the  surrender  of  General 
Lee,  after  which  he  was  engaged  in  provost 
guard  duty  until  he  was  mustered  out,  on  the 
6th  of  February,  1866.  Further  details  con- 
cerning the  gallant  military  career  of  Mr. 
Hibbert  have  been  given  and  the  record  is 
worthy  of  perpetuation  in  this  connection,  as 
follows  :  "Despite  his  youth,  Mr.  Hibbert  car- 
ried the  heavy  musket  of  the  Civil  war  days 
and  performed  in  the  camp  and  field  the  same 
service  that  was  expected  of  his  older  com- 
rades. At  the  battle  of  Chapin's  Farm  he  was 
reported  killed,  but  he  wrote  to  his  father  to 
announce  the  fact  that  he  was  alive  and  well, 
he  having  been  reported  among  the  dead  by 
reason  of  the  fact  that  a  shell  from  a  gunboat 


had  exploded  so  close  to  him  that  he  was 
knocked  senseless  for  a  few  moments.  With- 
in the  course  of  his  service  Mr.  Hibbert  was 
tendered  a  commission  in  a  regiment  of  col- 
ored troops.  He  had  been  color  guard  in  his 
command  and  upon  the  return  of  the  regiment 
to  Pennsylvania  he  carried  back  its  state  flag, 
which,  on  July  4,  1866,  he  in  person  handed  to 
Governor  A.  G.  Curtis,  the  famous  war  gov- 
ernor of  the  Keystone  state.  This  stand  of 
colors  went  out  in  1861  and  came  back  in  1866. 
Within  this  long  interval  Confederate  hands 
never  touched  these  colors.  In  general  orders 
Mr.  Hibbert  was  mentioned  for  making  the 
three  best  shots  at  a  target  with  a  twenty-four- 
pound  howitzer,  while  serving  in  the  defences 
of  Washington,  he  having  been  the  gunner 
and  having  sighted  the  piece.  When  the  Con- 
federates made  an  attack  on  Redoubt  Carpen- 
ter, below  Dutch  Gap,  January  25,  1865,  his 
services  were  loaned  to  a  battery  of  the  Thir- 
teenth New  York  Artillery,  and  he  was  com- 
plimented for  the  assistance  rendered  by  his 
howitzer  in  repulsing  the  enemy." 

In  1866,  after  the  close  of  his  war  service, 
Mr.  Hibbert  came  to  the  Territory  of  Ne- 
braska and  entered  claim  to  a  homestead  in 
Gage  county,  this  place  being  in  Section  13, 
Hooker  township,  and  having  been  by  him 
reclaimed  and  improved  into  one  of  the  valu- 
able farm  properties  of  the  county.  On  this 
homestead  he  passed  the  remainder  of  his  long 
and  useful  life,  and  here  his  death  occurred 
March  3,  1905,  his  widow  still  remaining  on 
the  old  homestead,  which  is  endeared  to  her  by 
many  hallowed  memories  and  associations. 

In  politics  Mr.  Hibbert  was  a  stalwart  Re- 
publican and  he  gave  yeoman  service  in  the 
advancement  of  the  party  cause.  He  was  in- 
fluential in  public  affairs  in  Gage  county  and 
represented  the  same  several  terms  in  the 
lower  house  of  the  Nebraska  legislature.  He 
retained  vital  interest  in  his  old  comrades  and 
manifested  the  same  through  his  active  aflilia- 
tion  with  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic. 

On  the  19th  of  March,  1874,  was  solemnized 
the  marriage  of  Mr.  Hibbert  to  Miss  Nannie 
E.  Fuller,  of  Adams,  this  county,  her  father 
having  been    an    honored    pioneer    of    Gage 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


539 


count)',  where  both  he  and  his  wife  passed  the 
closing  period  of  their  hves.  Mr.  Fuller  was 
of  English  lineage  and  birth,  and  was  a  child 
when  he  accompanied  his  parents  to  the  United 
States.  The  parents  were  residents  of  Wayne 
county,  Pennsylvania,  for  many  years  and 
there  their  death  occurred.  In  the  concluding 
paragraph  of  this  memoir  is  given  brief  record 
■  concerning  the  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hib- 
bert: 

Guy  is  now  a  resident  of  Spearville,  Kan- 
sas ;  Ila  E.  likewise  lives  at  Spearville ;  Roscoe 
C.  continues  his  residence  in  Gage  county 
and  lives  in  the  village  of  Adams ;  Thomas  E- 
resides  at  Crab  Orchard,  Johnson  county,  and 
Benjamin  H.  at  Alliance,  Box  Butte  county ; 
Martha  C.  is  the  wife  of  Melvin  Liggett,  of 
Alliance,  this  state ;  James  G:  is  perpetuating 
the  patriotic  spirit  of  his  honored  father,  as 
he  has  become  a  member  of  the  great  national 
army  that  is  being  prepared  for  participation 
in  the  European  war,  he  being,  in  the  spring 
of  1918,  a  member  of  Company  A,  Three 
Hundred  and  Fifty-fifth  Regiment,  stationed 
at  Camp  Funston,  Kansas ;  George  D.  remains 
with  his  widowed  mother  on  the  old  home 
farm;  Anna  Josephine  died  April  6,  1877; 
Charles  Edward  passed  away  January  30, 
1880;  and  Mary  Pearl  died  February  17,  1880. 

JACOB  W.  WIEBE.  — This  substantial 
farmer  and  honored  citizen  of  Blakely  town- 
ship is  a  representative  of  the  fine  element  of 
German  citizenship  that  has  exercised  such 
beneficent  influence  in  connection  with  the 
civic  and  industrial  development  of  Gage 
county,  and  he  is  the  owner  of  a  well  im- 
proved farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres, 
in  Section  15  of  the  township  mentioned. 

Mr.  Wiebe  was  born  in  Prussia,  Germany, 
on  the  29th  of  August,  1864,  and  is  a  son  of 
Jacob  and  Emeline  (Penner)  Wiebe,  his 
father  having  been  a  farmer  by  vocation  and 
having  been  a  comparatively  young  man  at 
the  time  of  his  death.  The  subject  of  this 
sketch  attended  school  in  his  native  land  until 
he  was  fourteen  years  of  age,  when  he  came 
with  his  widowed  mother,  his  elder  brother 
and  his  only  sister  to  the  United  States,  the 


family  home  being  established  in  Gage  county, 
where  the  two  young  sons  found  employment 
at  farm  work.  The  little  family  thus  came  to 
the  county  in  1878  and  here  the  devoted 
mother  remained  until  the  summer  of  1883, 
when  she  returned  to  her  native  land  for  a 
visit.  Her  health  was  impaired  at  the  time 
and  she  did  not  live  to  rejoin  her  children,  as 
her  death  occurred  in  1884,  while  she  was 
still  in  Prussia,  she  having  been  nearly  fifty 
years  of  age  at  the  time.  Mrs.  Wiebe  was 
one  of  the  pioneer  representatives  of  the 
Mennonite  faith  in  Gage  county  and  was  most 
earnest  and  zealous  in  church  work. 

After  having  been  employed  six  years  at 
farm  work  in  this  county  Jacob  W.  Wiebe  be- 
came associated  with  his  brother,  Henry  J., 
of  whom  mention  is  made  on  other  pages,  in 
the  renting  of  a  farm,  and  his  energy  and 
ability  brought  to  him  success  in  these  inde- 
pendent activities  as  an  agriculturist  and 
stock -grower.  In  1896  he  purchased  his  pres- 
ent homestead  farm,  upon  which  he  has  made 
excellent  improvements  of  a  permanent  order 
and  which  he  has  brought  up  to  a  high  state 
of  productiveness.  He  remodeled  the  house 
and  has  also  brought  other  buildings  on  the 
farm  into  good  order,  and  he  planted  a  goodly 
number  of  trees  on  the  place,  many  of  the 
same  being  now  of  large  size  and  adding  ma- 
terially to  the  attractions  of  the  homestead. 
Mr.  Wiebe  has  not  neglected  his  civic  respon- 
sibilities while  furthering  his  individual  pros- 
perity, but  has  given  his  influence  in  support 
of  legitimate  measures  and  enterprises  tend- 
ing to  advance  the  general  welfare  of  the 
community.  He  is  a  stockholder  in  the  grain 
elevator  at  Hoag  and  is  a  substantial  citizen 
who  commands  unqualified  popular  esteem. 
He  is  an  independent  Republican  in  politics 
and  he  and  his  family  are  zealous  adherents 
of  the  Mennonite  church,  in  the  afifairs  of 
which  they  are  actively  interested. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  Wiebe  to  Miss  Agatha 
Penner  was  solemnized  November  16,  1899. 
She  was  born  in  Prussia  and  is  a  daughter  of 
Johannes  and  Magdalena  (Penner)  Penner, 
who  established  their  home  in  Gage  county  in 
1877.    Mrs.  Penner  passed  to  the  life  eternal 


uo 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


in  1911,  at  the  age  of  sixty-three  years,  and 
her  venerable  husband,  who  celebrated  in 
1917  his  seventy-seventh  birthday  anniver- 
sary, now  resides  in  the  village  of  Hoag,  this 
county.  Of  their  five  children  who  attained 
to  maturity  Mrs.  Wiebe  is  the  eldest.  The 
pleasant  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wiebe  still 
claims  as  members  of  the  family  circle  all  of 
their  children,  namely :  Harry,  Edwin,  John, 
Louis,  and  Richard,  but  one  child,  Anna,  died 
when  young. 

JOHN  RIECHERS.  — Through  enterprise 
and  excellent  management  Mr.  Riechers  has 
gained  distinctive  success  in  connection  with 
business  aflFairs  and  is  now  established  in  the 
general  merchandise  business  in  the  village  of 
Clatonia,  his  ample  and  well  appointed  store 
receiving  a  representative  supporting  patron- 
age and  the  stock  in  each  department,  includ- 
ing that  devoted  to  furniture,  being  kept  up  to 
the  standard  of  the  trade  requirements.  Mr. 
Riechers  has  been  a  resident  of  Nebraska 
since  bo)  hood  and  prior  to  entering  the  mer- 
cantile business  he  had  been  actively  identified 
with  agricultural  industry  in  Gage  county. 

Mr.  Riechers  was  born  in  Lafayette  county, 
Wisconsin,  on  the  30th  of  May,  1873.  and  is 
the  only  child  of  Herman  and  Margaret 
(Helms)  Riechers,  he  having  been  an  infant 
at  the  time  of  his  mother's  death. 

Herman  Riechers  was  born  in  the  province 
of  Hanover,  Germany,  September  29,  1844, 
and  was  one  of  the  honored  citizens  of  Gage 
county,  Nebraska,  for  many  years  prior  to 
his  death,  which  here  occurred  in  1909.  He 
was  reared  and  educated  in  his  native  land 
and  in  1865  he  came  to  America  in  company 
with  his  brother  Justus.  Both  established 
residence  in  Wisconsin,  where  their  parents 
joined  them  two  years  later,  to  pass  the  re- 
mainder of  their  lives  as  sterling  pioneer  citi- 
zens of  the  Badger  state.  In  Wisconsin  Her- 
man Riechers  continued  his  productive  activi- 
ties as  a  farmer  until  1883,  when  he  came  with 
his  family  to  Nebraska  and  settled  on  a  farm 
three  miles  west  of  Clatonia,  Gage  county. 
He  purchased  a  half-section  of  land  in  Saline 
county  and  became  one  of  the  progressive  and 


successful  agriculturists  and  stock-growers  of 
the  county,  besides  which  he  added  to  his 
landed  estate  by  purchasing  three  hundred 
and  twenty  acres  just  across  the  line  in  Gage 
county,  in  1892.  He  was  a  man  of  strong 
and  upright  character  and  at  all  times  com- 
manded the  high  regard  of  his  fellow  men, 
his  religious  faith  having  been  that  of  the 
Lutheran  church.  About  the  year  1875  Mr. 
Riechers  contracted  a  second  marriage,  when 
Miss  Sophia  Hillman  became  his  wife,  she 
likewise  being  a  native  of  Hanover,  Germany, 
and  having  become  a  resident  of  Wisconsin 
about  two  years  prior  to  her  marriage.  She 
now  resides  in  the  village  of  Clatonia,  where 
she  celebrated  in  1917  the  seventieth  anniver- 
sary of  her  birth.  Of  this  second  marriage 
were  born  three  sons  and  three  daughters,  all 
of  whom  survive  the  honored  father:  Died- 
rich  owns  and  resides  upon  a  part  of  his 
father's  old  homestead  farm,  three  miles  west 
of  Clatonia;  Herman  is  engaged  in  the  hard- 
ware business  at  Clatonia ;  Grover  is  conduct- 
ing a  prosperous  business  as  a  dealer  in  agri- 
cultural implements,  in  the  same  village ;  Mrs. 
Emma  Hunecke  likewise  resides  in  Clatonia ; 
Mrs.  Louisa  Kock  is  a  resident  of  Clay  Cen- 
ter, Kansas;  and  Mrs.  Nora  Kracke  and  her 
husband  maintain  their  home  on  an  excellent 
farm  five  miles  southwest  of  Clatonia. 

John  Riechers  gained  his  rudimentary  edu- 
cation in  the  district  schools  of  his  native 
county  and  was  a  lad  of  ten  years  at  the  time 
of  the  family  removal  to  Nebraska.  Here  he 
found  ample  demands  upon  his  youthful  at- 
tention in  connection  with  the  work  of  the 
home  farm,  the  while  he  made  good  use  of 
the  advantages  of  the  public  schools  of  the  lo- 
cality. In  1896  he  rented  land  from  his  father 
and  began  independent  operations  as  an  agri- 
culturist and  stock-grower,  but  in  1899  he  re- 
moved to  Clatonia,  where  for  the  ensuing  ten 
years  he  was  engaged  in  the  farm  implement 
business.  In  1909  he  sold  his  well  established 
business  to  his  brother  Grover,  after  which 
he  here  conducted  a  prosperous  furniture 
business  until  1914,  when  he  amplified  the 
scope  of  the  enterprise  by  installing  a  stock  of 
general     merchandise,     the     efficient     service 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


541 


given  in  his  establishment  combining  with  his 
personal  popularity  to  make  the  business  one 
of  substantial  and  representative  order.  In 
politics  he  gives  loyal  support  to  the  cause  of 
the  Democratic  party  and  he  served  four  or 
five  terms  as  treasurer  of  Clatonia  township. 
Both  he  and  his  wife  are  earnest  communi- 
cants of  the  German  Lutheran  church  in  their 
home  village. 

December  26,  189.S,  recorded  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  Riechers  to  Miss  Margaret  Hereth, 
who  was  born  in  Bavaria,  Germany,  daughter 
of  John  and  Anna  Hereth,  who  established 
their  home  in  Gage  county  in  1883,  the  father 
being  now  deceased  and  the  widowed  mother 
being  a  resident  of  the  state  of  Washington. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Riechers  have  four  children  — 
Rosa,  Amelia,  Herbert,  and  Anita. 

WILLIAM  A.  MULLIGAN,  B.  D.,  the 
honored  rector  of  Christ  church,  Protestant 
Episcopal,  in  the  city  of  Beatrice,  was  born 
in  Ontario,  Canada,  on  the  10th  of  March, 
1863,  and  is  a  son  of  William  and  Lucy 
(Montgomery)  Mulligan,  the  former  a  native 
of  the  Province  of  Ontario,  Canada,  and  the 
latter  of  Ireland.  The  parents  of  William 
Mulligan  came  to  America  from  the  north  of 
Ireland  and  settled  at  Port  Hope,  Ontario, 
Canada  the  father  becoming  a  prosperous  far- 
mer of  that  province  and  he  and  his  wife  hav- 
ing there  passed  the  residue  of  their  lives. 
William  Mulligan  long  held  precedence  as 
one  of  the  substantial  exponents  of  agricul- 
tural industry  in  Victoria  county,  Ontario, 
and  was  a  citizen  of  no  little  prominence  and 
influence  in  his  community.  Both  he  and  his 
wife  were  devout  communicants  of  the  Church 
of  England.  Of  the  five  children  the  subject 
of  this  review  is  the  eldest:  John  H.  is  a  re- 
tired farmer  residing  in  Ontario,  Canada ; 
Thomas  lives  on  his  father's  old  homestead 
farm,  in  Victoria  county,  Ontario ;  Alexander, 
a  resident  of  Superior,  Wisconsin,  is  in  the 
government  service,  having  been  for  fifteen 
years  an  attache  of  the  customs  service :  Mary 
is  the  wife  of  William  Carty,  of  Bobcaygeon, 
Canada. 

Rev.    William    H.    Mulligan    acquired    his 


early  education  in  the  public  schools  of  his 
native  province  and  his  higher  academic  train- 
ing through  Trinity  College,  Toronto,  and  has 
a  Bachelor  of  Divinity  degree  from  Seabury 
Divinity  School,  of  Minnesota.  Father  Mul- 
ligan was  ordained  to  the  priesthood  at  De- 
troit, Michigan,  by  Rt.  Rev.  Thos.  F.  Davies, 
D.D.,  bishop  of  the  diocese  of  Michigan,  and 
his  first  pastoral  incumbency  was  that  of  as- 
sistant rector  of  St.  James  church  at  Sault 
de  Ste.  Marie,  Michigan,  where  he  remained 
six  years.  He  then  assumed  the  charge  of 
Ascension  church  at  Ontonagan,  Michigan, 
and  in  the  following  year  the  entire  town  was 
virtually  destroyed  by  fire,  the  Episcopal 
church  edifice  having  been  reduced  to  ashes  in 
this  conflagration.  In  the  same  year,  1896, 
Father  Mulligan  came  to  Beatrice,  where  he 
has  since  labored  with  all  of  consecrated  zeal 
and  devotion  as  rector  of  Christ  church,  the 
spiritual  and  temporal  work  of  the  parish  hav- 
ing been  vitalized  and  prospered  under  his 
earnest  regime,  and  his  status  being  that  of 
one  of  the  able  and  representative  clergymen 
of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  church  in  the  Ne- 
braska diocese. 

Father  Mulligan  has  the  vigor  and  civic 
loyalty  that  make  him  a  leader  in  community 
thought  and  action  and  he  is  one  of  the  hon- 
ored and  valued  citizens  of  the  Gage  county 
metropolis.  The  church  of  which  he  is  rector 
has  a  membership  of  two  hundred  and  fifty 
and  all  departments  of  parish  work  are  in  ex- 
cellent order.  In  connection  with  the  afifairs 
of  the  parish  Father  Mulligan  issued  a  month- 
ly church  paper,  the  Message.  He  is  a  Repub- 
lican in  his  political  allegiance  and  is  affiliated 
with  the  Masonic  fraternity. 

In  1889  was  solemnized  the  marriage  of 
Father  Mulligan  to  Miss  Mary  Williams,  who 
likewise  was  bom  and  reared  in  the  Province 
of  Ontario,  Canada,  and  whose  father, 
Thomas  Williams,  was  a  prosperous  farmer 
in  the  state  of  Michigan  at  the  time  of  his 
death.  In  conclusion  is  given  brief  record 
concerning  the  children  of  Father  and  Mrs. 
Mulligan  :  Harold  R.  is  an  efficient  and  popu- 
lar teacher  in  the  high  school  in  the  city  of 
Omaha,  besides  being  athletic  director  of  the 


542 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


school,  and  incidentally  he  is  pursuing  a  course 
of  study  in  the  medical  department  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Nebraska ;  Stella  is  a  teacher  in  the 
public  schools  of  Beatrice;  Allan  W.  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  class  of  1920  in  the  medical  depart- 
ment of  the  University  of  Nebraska;  Edna 
K.  is  attending  the  school  for  trained  nurses 
that  is  connected  with  the  Clarkson  hospital 
in  the  city  of  Omaha;  Frederick  A.  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  class  of  1918  in  the  Beatrice  high 
school;  and  Ernest  A.  and  Arthur  M.  are 
likewise  students  in  the  high  school. 


FREDERICK  O.  McGIRR  is  one  of  the 
youngest  men  that  has  thus  far  been  called 
upon  to  serve  as  a  commissioner  of  the  su- 
preme court  of  Nebraska,  and  his  appoint- 
ment to  this  high  office  not  only  gave  signifi- 
cant recognition  of  his  fine  professional  at- 
tainments but  also  reflected  distinction  upon 
Gage  county,  where  he  was  reared  to  manhood 
and  where  he  had  gained  secure  vantage- 
ground  as  a  representative  member  of  the  bar 
of  this  part  of  the  state.  Prior  to  his  eleva- 
tion to  his  present  office,  involving  his  re- 
moval to  Lincoln,  the  capital  city  of  Nebraska, 
he  had  been  for  more  than  twenty  years  en- 
gaged in  the  successful  practice  of  his  profes- 
sion in  the  city  of  Beatrice,  and  on  this  score 
alone  he  is  entitled  to  special  recognition  in 
this  history,  as  is  he  likewise  by  reason  of  his 
being  a  scion  of  one  of  the  sterling  pioneer 
families  of  Gage  county.  Of  the  McGirr  fam- 
ily a  further  record  is  given  on  other  pages 
of  this  work,  in  the  sketch  dedicated  to  Dr. 
John  I.  McGirr,  brother  of  him  whose  name 
initiates  this  paragraph. 

Judge  Frederick  O.  McGirr  was  born  in 
Kankakee  county,  Illinois,  on  the  11th  of  De- 
cember, 1870,  and  there  received  his  earlier 
educational  discipline  in  the  public  schools  and 
was  fifteen  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  the 
family  removal  to  Nebraska.  Here  he  con- 
tinued to  attend  the  public  schools  until  he 
had  completed  the  curriculum  of  the  high 
school,  and  in  preparation  for  the  work  of  his 
chosen  profession  he  began  reading  law  under 
the  able  preceptorship  of  Robert  W.  Sabin,  a 
leading  member  of  the  bar  of   Gage   county 


and  its  capital  city.  Through  close  applica- 
tion he  made  rapid  progress  in  the  absorption 
and  assimilation  of  the  science  of  jurispru- 
dence, and  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  on  the 
20th  of  June,  1893.  He  served  his  profession- 
al novitiate  in  Beatrice  and  his  character  and 
ability  soon  enabled  him  to  build  up  a  sub- 
stantial practice.  In  1907  he  formed  a  pro- 
fessional partnership  with  Menzo  W.  Terry, 
under  the  firm  name  of  McGirr  &  Terry,  and 
this  alliance  continued  until  December,  1912. 
In  1908  Judge  McGirr  was  elected  prosecut- 
ing attorney  of  Gage  county,  and  of  this  office 
he  continued  the  incumbent  four  years,  retir- 
ing therefrom  in  January,  1913,  after  a  force- 
ful and  able  administration  that  inured  great- 
ly to  the  advancing  of  his  professional  pres- 
tige. He  then  resumed  the  practice  of  his 
profession,  with  a  substantial  and  representa- 
tive clientage,  and  continued  as  one  of  the 
leading  members  of  the  Gage  county  bar  until 
June,  1915,  when  he  was  appointed  a  member 
of  the  supreme  court  commission  of  the  state, 
for  a  term  of  two  years.  He  assumed  the 
duties  of  this  office  September  20,  1915,  and 
at  the  expiration  of  his  first  term  he  was  re- 
appointed, for  another  term  of  two  years,  on 
the  20th  of  September,  1917.  It  is  needless 
to  say  more  than  that  on  the  bench  he  has 
fully  justified  the  wisdom  of  his  appointment 
and  that  he  has  shown  the  true  judicial  tem- 
perament, as  well  as  a  broad  and  accurate 
knowledge  of  law  and  precedent. 

Judge  McGirr  is  one  of  the  honored  mem- 
bers of  the  Nebraska  State  Bar  Association, 
is  a  vigorous  and  efifective  advocate  of  the 
principles  and  policies  of  the  Democratic 
party,  for  which  he  has  done  yeoman  service 
in  various  campaigns,  and  he  is  affiliated  with 
the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows  and 
the  Benevolent  &  Protective  Order  of  Elks, 
in  each  of  which  he  has  held  various  official 
chairs. 

On  the  20th  of  December,  1899,  Judge  Mc- 
Girr wedded  Miss  Mary  Moody,  daughter  of 
Samuel  S.  Moody,  a  pioneer  merchant  of 
Beatrice,  where  he  was  successfully  estab- 
lished in  business  for  many  years.  He  had 
also  conducted  a  mercantile  business  at  Peru, 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


543 


Nemaha  county,  and  it  was  while  the  family 
home  was  there  maintained  that  Mrs.  McGirr 
was  born,  she  being  one  of  the  gracious  and 
popular  native  daughters  of  Nebraska.  Judge 
and  Mrs.  McGirr  have  no  children. 


HOIMER  B.  AUSTIN,  who  died  at  his 
home,  .in  the  city  of  Beatrice,  on  the  12th  of 
April,  1906,  was  an  honored  pioneer  of  the 
Territory  of  Nebraska  and  of  Gage  county, 
his  character  and  his  work  having  been  such 
that  a  tribute  to  his  memory  properly  finds 
place  in  this  publication.  In  offering  such  a 
memoir  it  is  but  fitting  that  liberal  and  slightly 
modified  quotation  be  taken  from  an  appre- 
ciative estimate  that  appeared  in  a  Beatrice 
newspaper  at  the  time  of  his  demise. 

l\Ir.  Austin  was  born  at  Austinburg,  Ash- 
tabula county,  Ohio,  in  1830,  and  there  he  was 
reared  to  manhood  on  his  father's  farm,  in 
the  meanwhile  attending  the  common  schools 
when  opportunity  afforded.  In  1853  he 
wedded  Miss  Mary  A.  Dunbar,  of  Camden, 
Oneida  county.  New  York,  and  in  1857  he 
joined  the  initial  tide  of  immigration  moving 
toward  Nebraska  Territory,  his  wife  and  in- 
fant son  joining  him  in  the  following  year. 
From  the  article  that  appeared  in  a  local 
paper  at  the  time  of  his  death  are  made  the 
following  extracts :  "He  chose  Gage  county 
as  his  place  of  residence  and  selected  a  claim 
on  Town  creek,  east  of  the  present  village  of 
Pickrell  and  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Pe- 
thouds,  the  Joneses,  the  Wilsons,  Judge  Hiram 
W.  Parker  and  other  old  friends  from  Ohio 
who  were  pioneers  in  the  new  territory.  His 
claim  joined  the  one  occupied  by  Judge  Par- 
ker, and  a  warm  intimacy,  cemented  by  trials, 
privations  and  dangers  of  pioneer  life  and 
destined  to  be  broken  only  by  death,  sprang 
up  between  the  two  families.  After  spending 
a  few  years  on  his  claim  Mr.  Austin  returned 
with  his  family  to  Ohio,  but  in  1884  he  re- 
turned to  the  west  and  established  his  resi- 
dence in  Washington  county,  Kansas,  where 
he  remained  until  1895,  when  he  returned  to 
Gage  county  and  established  his  hume  in  Be- 
atrice, where  he  passed  the  remainder  of  his 
life,    the   death   of   his    devoted    wife   having 


here  occurred  in  1897,  and  the  remains  of  both 
rest  in  the  beautiful  cemetery  at  Beatrice.  He 
was  survived  by  one  son,  Charles  N.,  of  whom 
mention  is  made  on  other  pages,  and  by  a 
cousin,  L.  E.  Austin,  who  was  a  resident  of 
Beatrice  at  the  time  of  his  death,  in  1909,  and 
who  is  survived  by  two  sons  —  Lewis  Benja- 
min, a  resident  of  Kansas  City,  Missouri,  and 
Edward,  who  is  in  the  aviation  service  of  the 
United  States.  Edward  S.  Austin,  another 
cousin  of  Homer  B.,  likewise  became  one  of 
the  very  early  settlers  of  Gage  county,  and 
he  erected  one  of  the  first  grist  mills  in  the 
county.  At  a  point  eight  miles  north  of  Be- 
atrice he  laid  out  a  little  village,  to  which  was 
given  the  name  of  Austin,  and  here  he  had 
charge  of  the  pioneer  postoffice  which  de- 
pended for  mail  service  on  the  facilities  af- 
forded by  the  overland  pony  express.  Edward 
S.  Austin  passed  the  remainder  of  his  life  in 
Gage  county  and  here  developed  a  .valuable 
farm  estate.  The  subject  of  this  memoir 
assisted  in  the  erection  of  the  first  saw  mill  in 
the  little  village  of  Beatrice. 

"Though  never  taking  an  active  part  in 
public  affairs  Homer  B.  Austin  was  a  public- 
spirited  citizen,  and  up  to  the  hour  of  his 
death  was  a  useful  and  exemplary  member  of 
society.  He  was  sober  and  industrious  and  in 
all  of  the  relations  of  life  was  scrupulously 
honest.  He  was  a  man  of  strong  feeling  and 
deep  emotion  and  although  a  good  friend, 
when  once  his  anger  or  resentment  was 
aroused  he  was  apt  to  be  as  implacable  in  his 
hatred  as  he  was  true  and  loyal  in  his  friend- 
ships. By  nature  he  was  deeply  religious. 
He  beheved,  with  a  constancy  and  devotion 
that  nothing  could  disturb,  in  the  existence  of 
a  spiritual  world,  and  that  this  is  a  higher  and 
holier  world  than  that  which  our  poor  senses 
apprehend.  For  many  years  this  good  man 
has  been  a  familiar  figure  upon  the  streets  of 
Beatrice,  and  it  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that 
many  in  this  community  will  learn  of  his  de- 
mise with  genuine  sorrow." 

It  may  well  be  said  that  in  all  of  the  rela- 
tions of  life  I\Ir.  Austin  exemplified  the  faith 
that  makes  faithful,  and  as  he  was  true  to 
himself,  so  was  he  true  to  those  who  came 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


within  the  circle  of  his  kindly  and  generous 
influence. 

WILLIAM  F.  ALBERT.  — He  whose 
name  initiates  this  paragraph  merits  recogni- 
tion as  one  of  the  representative  agriculturists 
and  stock-growers  of  his  native  county  and 
also  as  a  scion  of  one  of  the  honored  pioneer 
families  of  this  favored  section  of  the  state. 
His  well  improved  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty-six  acres,  in  Section  22  Clatonia  town- 
ship, is  that  on  which  he  was  born  and  reared, 
and  his  progressiveness  and  enterprise  are 
further  signalized  in  his  ownership  of  three 
hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  valuable  land 
in  South  Dakota.  A  tribute  to  his  honored 
father,  Henry  Albert,  appears  on  other  pages 
of  this  work,  so  that  further  review  of  the 
family  history  is  not  demanded  in  the  present 
connection. 

On  the  fine  homestead  farm  which  he  now 
occupies  William  Frank  Albert  was  born 
January  25,  1874,  and  in  addition  to  receiving 
in  his  youth  the  advantages  of  the  public 
schools  of  Clatonia  township  he  also  completed 
an  effective  course  in  a  business  college  in  the 
city  of  Lincoln.  He  has  never  wavered  in  his 
allegiance  to  the  great  fundamental  industries 
of  agriculture  and  stock-raising  and  he  pur- 
chased his  fathers  old  homestead  farm  in 
1906.  He  has  here  made  excellent  improve- 
ments of  a  permanent  order,  including  the 
erection  of  his  present  modern  and  attractive 
residence.  Prior  to  buying  the  old  home  farm 
he  had  successfully  conducted  a  horse  ranch 
for  a  period  of  about  five  years,  and  at  the 
present  time  he  amplifies  his  farm  enterprise 
by  doing  a  prosperous  business  as  a  buyer 
and  shipper  of  live  stock.  He  stands  ex- 
ponent of  loyal  and  liberal  citizenship  and 
though  he  has  had  no  ambition  for  political 
preferment  of  any  kind  he  accords  staunch 
allegiance  to  the  Republican  party. 

On  the  26th  of  February,  1902,  Mr.  Albert 
wedded  Anna  Carstens,  wh6  likewise  was  born 
and  reared  in  this  county,  where  her  parents 
established  their  home  more  than  forty  years 
ago.  Mrs.  Albert  is  a  daughter  of  Tebbe  G. 
and    Scente    (Gerdes)    Carstens,   whose  mar- 


riage was  solemnized  at  Rushville,  Illinois, 
March  2,  1870,  and  who  became  residents  of 
Gage  county  in  1876.  Mr.  Carstens  was  born 
in  Hanover,  Germany,  March  4,  1846,  a  son 
of  John  and  Gesche  (Aschen)  Carstens,  the  1 
latter  of  whom  died  in  Germany  and  the  for-  | 
mer  of  whom  passed  the  closing  years  of  his  ' 
life  in  Gage  county,  where  two  of  his  sons 
established  homes  in  the  pioneer  days.  '  Upon 
immigrating  from  his  native  land  to  America, 
in  1867,  Tebbe  G.  Carstens  settled  in  Illinois, 
and  there  he  continued  his  active  association 
with  agricultural  pursuits  until  1876,  when 
he  came  with  his  family  to  Gage  county.  Here 
he  farmed  on  rented  land  for  the  first  four 
years,  and  he  then  purchased  eighty  acres  in 
Section  10,  Clatonia  township.  Later  he 
added  eighty  acres  to  his  landed  estate  and  he 
continued  as  one  of  the  energetic  and  success- 
ful farmers  of  Clatonia  township  until  1904, 
when  he  and  his  wife  established  their  resi- 
dence in  the  village  of  Clatonia,  where  he  has 
since  lived  virtually  retired.  Mrs.  Carstens 
was  born  at  Scheindorfif,  Germany,  April  24, 
1847,  a  daughter  of  Joachim  A.  and  Steinten 
W.  (Rademacher)  Gerdes,  who  passed  their 
entire  lives  in  Germany.  Mrs.  Carstens  came 
to  America  in  1869  and  her  marriage  occurred 
the  following  year,  as  previously  noted  in  this 
sketch.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Carstens  became  the 
parents  of  five  children,  concerning  whom  the 
following  brief  data  are  available:  Gesiene, 
who  became  the  wife  of  Edward  Krauter,  is 
deceased ;  Joachim  and  John  M.  are  residents 
of  Fairbury,  Jefiferson  county,  Nebraska ; 
Mrs.  Anna  Albert  was  the  next  in  order  of 
birth ;  and  William  G.  has  the  active  manage- 
ment of  his  father's  old  homestead  farm.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Albert  have  three  children  —  Mel- 
vin,  Verneita,  and  Kermit. 


DANIEL  E.  TRACEY.  — For  nearly  six- 
teen years  Daniel  E.  Tracey  has  been  success- 
fully engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits  in 
Adams  township.  One  of  the  prime  elements 
of  success  in  any  position,  calling  or  profes- 
sion in  life  is  adaptability,  and  strength  in  this 
essential  has  been  the  secret  of  the  success 
achieved  by  Daniel  E.  Tracey  and  his  wife. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


^45 


who  has  been  his  earnest  helpmeet  and  co- 
adjutor. In  their  definite  adaptability  they 
have  proved  able  to  cope  with  the  problems  of 
life  as  they  presented  themselves.  Mr.  Tracey 
is  a  man  among  men  —  one  to  whom  his  fel- 
low citizens  look  with  confidence  —  and  he 
takes  his  place  among  the  many  who  are 
earnest  in  service  that  makes  for  the  advance- 
ment of  the  community  along  civic,  educa- 
tional, and  spiritual  lines. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Tracey  are  zealous  members 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  he  is  af- 
filiated with  the  Masonic  fraternity  in  an 
active  way,  is  a  newly  elected  member  of  the 
school  board  of  Adams,  and  for  a  number  of 
years  he  was  president  of  the  Farmers'  Ele- 
vator Company  at  Adams,  Nebraska.  Both 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Tracey  take  an  active  part  in 
church  life  and  in  the  affairs  of  the  Order  of 
the  Eastern  Star,  Mrs.  Tracey  being  in  1917- 
1918,  the  worthy  matron  of  Adams  Chapter, 
No.  163. 

Daniel  E.  Tracey  was  born  at  Bloomington, 
Illinois,  on  the  20th  of  October,  1869,  and  is 
a  son  of  John  and  Margaret  (O'Brien) 
Tracey,  both  natives  of  Ireland.  John  Tracey 
became  a  successful  contractor  at  Blooming- 
ton,  Illinois,  where  he  continued  his  residence 
until  1883.  In  that  year  he  came  with  his 
family  to  Nebraska  and  established  the  home 
in  the  city  of  Lincoln,  where  he  continued  his 
activities  as  a  contractor  until  the  time  of  his 
death,  in  1890.  He  left  to  mourn  his  loss  his 
wife  and  their  six  children  —  Daniel  Edward, 
Mary  Alice,  Winifred,  John  and  Margaret 
(twins),  and  Harry  James. 

He  whose  name  initiates  this  review  was 
fourteen  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  the  fam- 
ily removal  to  Nebraska,  and  he  was  an  ear- 
nest and  ambitious  youth  of  twenty  years  at 
the  time  of  his  father's  death.  Always  ready 
to  hear  and  respond  to  the  cry  of  the  widow 
and  orphan,  he  assumed  large  measure  of  re- 
sponsibility in  connection  with  home  affairs 
after  the  death  of  his  father,  and  proved  him- 
self a  boy  of  whom  any  mother  might  well  be 
proud,  the  while  the  responsibilities  which 
thus  devolved  upon  him  tended  to  mature  and 
solidify  his  character. 


Mr.  Tracey  received  his  youthful  education 
in  the  public  schools  of  Bloomington,  Illinois, 
and  Lincoln,  Nebraska.  In  the  latter  city  he 
was  for  several  years  in  the  employ  of  the 
Standard  Oil  Company,  and  in  1894  he  be- 
came a  member  of  the  Lincoln  fire  department, 
in  which  he  rendered  valuable  and  efficient 
service  for  a  period  of  eight  years.  He  be- 
came lieutenant  at  Engine  House  No.  1  and 
was  about  to  be  advanced  to  the  position  of 
captain  when  he  resigned  to  take  up  his  resi- 
dence on  the  farm  on  which  he  now  lives. 
This  is  a  valuable  tract  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty  acres,  in  Section  23,  Adams  township, 
and  one  mile  northeast  of  the  village  of 
Adams.  This  property  came  to  him  and  his 
wife  as  a  part  of  the  parental  inheritance  of 
Mrs.  Tracey.  On  this  fine  rural  estate  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Tracey  have  worked  together  ear- 
nestly and  effectively  and  on  the  same  they 
have  erected  a  residence  which  is  as  comfort- 
able and  commodious  as  any  other  of  the 
farm  homes  in  Adams  township  and  which  is 
a  favored  resort  for  the  host  of  friends  whom 
they  have  gathered  about  them. 

On  the  9th  of  August,  1899,  was  solemnized 
the  marriage  of  Mr.  Tracey  to  Miss  Mary  A. 
Zuver,  who  was  born  January  24,  1877,  a 
daughter  of  Byron  P.  and  Nancy  (Adams) 
Zuver,  concerning  whom  definite  record  is 
made  on  other  pages  of  this  volume.  Mrs. 
Tracey  is  a  granddaughter  of  John  O.  Adams, 
the  first  settler  of  Gage  county,  and  she  can 
recount  many  interesting  incidents  of  pioneer 
life,  as  told  to  her  by  her  mother.  The  Adams 
family  located  at  Adams  in  the  spring  of  1857, 
a  full  decade  before  Nebraska  Territory  be- 
came a  state,  and  at  that  time  the  site  of 
Adams,  named  in  honor  of  this  sterling  pio- 
neer family,  was  nothing  more  than  a  barren 
prairie.  Mrs.  Tracey  was  born  in  a  log  cabin 
in  Hooker  township,  this  county,  and  most  of 
her  life  thus  far  has  been  passed  in  her  native 
county.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Tracey  became  the  par- 
ents of  three  children :  Harold  Edward  and 
Winifred  Lillian  remain  at  the  parental  home, 
and  Marjory  Josephine  died  in  infancy.  Mrs. 
Tracey  was  graduated  in  the  high  school  at 
Adams  and  later  attended  a  leading  conserva- 


546 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


tory  of  music  in  the  city  of  Lincoln.  Both 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Tracey  are  active  in  Red  Cross 
work  since  the  nation  has  become  involved  in 
the  great  world  war  and  are  also  prominent 
in  community  affairs  in  general. 

FULTON  JACK.  —  Associated  with  Judge 
Alfred  Hazlett  in  the  control  of  a  large  and 
important  law  business  in  the  city  of  Beatrice, 
Mr.  Jack  is  junior  member  of  the  firm  of 
Hazlett  &  Jack  and,  like  his  honored  profes- 
sional coadjutor,  of  whom  specific  mention  is 
made  on  other  pages  of  this  publication,  he 
claims  the  historic  old  Keystone  state  as  the 
place  of  his  nativity,  his  paternal  great-great- 
grandfather having  been  a  native  of  Ireland 
and  having  settled  in  Pennsylvania  in  the 
early  colonial  history  of  that  commonwealth. 
Patrick  Jack,  great-grandfather  of  the  subject 
of  this  review,  was  a  captain  in  the  war  of  the 
Revolution,  in  which  he  was  a  representative 
of  Pennsylvania. 

Fulton  Jack  was  born  in  Indiana  county, 
Pennsylvania,  on  the  17th  of  June,  1869,  and 
is  a  son  of  James  ?.L  and  Elizabeth  (Fulton) 
Jack,  both  of  whom  were  likewise  born  and 
reared  in  Pennsylvania  and  both  of  whom 
were  residents  of  Indiana  county,  that  state, 
at  the  time  of  their  death,  their  religious  faith 
having  been  that  of  the  Presbyterian  church 
and  the  father  having  given  the  major  part  of 
his  active  career  to  the  basic  industry  of  agri- 
culture. After  having  duly  profited  by  the 
advantages  of  the  public  schools  of  his  native 
state  Fulton  Jack  there  entered  historic  old 
Washington  &  Jefferson  College  at  Washing- 
ton, Pennsylvania,  this  having  been  the  first 
collegiate  institution  founded  to  the  west  of 
the  Alleghany  mountains.  He  was  graduated 
in  this  college  in  1892.  Mr.  Jack  began  the 
reading  of  law  when  he  was  about  twenty- 
three  years  of  age,  his  studies  having  been 
pursued  in  the  Northern  Indiana  Law  School, 
and  under  the  preceptorship  of  Alfred  Hazlett, 
and  with  utmost  diligence  and  receptiveness 
he  applied  himself  to  the  mastering  of  the  in- 
volved science  of  jurisprudence.  He  has  been 
a  resident  of  Beatrice,  Nebraska,  since  1894, 
and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  that  vear.     In 


the  following  year  he  became  associated  with 
Judge  Hazlett  in  practice,  this  effective  profes- 
sional alliance  having  since  continued  without 
interruption.  Mr.  Jack  is  recognized  as  an 
able  trial  lawyer  and  well  fortified  counselor, 
and  he  has  appeared  in  connection  with  much 
important  litigation  in  the  courts  of  this  and 
other  states. 

In  politics  Mr.  Jack  is  arrayed  as  a  staunch 
supporter  of  the  cause  of  the  Republican 
party,  and  while  he  has  shown  a  lively  interest 
in  the  furtherance  of  the  success  of  his  party 
and  been  an  active  worker  in  its  local  ranks 
he  has  not  been  imbued  with  any  ambition  for 
public  office,  as  he  considers  his  profession 
worthy  of  his  undivided  time  and  attention. 
He  is  affiliated  with  the  time-honored  Ma- 
sonic fraternity.  He  and  his  wife  are  active 
members  of  the  Presbyterian  church. 

August  20,  1896,  recorded  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Jack  to  Miss  Angie  Pollock,  who  was 
born  and  reared  in  Nebraska,  where  her  par- 
ents, Robert  H.  and  Maria  (Parks)  Pollock, 
established  their  home  in  the  pioneer  days, 
Mr.  Pollock  having  been  one  of  the  early  set- 
tlers of  Pawnee  county.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jack 
have  three  children.  Fulton,  Jr.,  with  youth- 
ful loyalty  and  patriotism  that  mark  him  as  a 
worthy  scion  of  Revolutionary  stock,  enlisted 
in  Co.  C,  Fifth  Nebraska  National  Guard, 
at  the  outbreak  of  the  trouble  with  Mexico  in 
1916,  and  as  a  member  of  that  company  he 
entered  the  service  of  his  country  in  the  great 
European  war.  At  the  time  of  this  writing, 
February,  1918,  he  is  at  Camp  Stanley,  Texas, 
an  officers'  training  camp,  to  which  he  was 
recently  appointed.  The  two  daughters, 
Elizabeth  and  Mary  Josephine,  are  students 
in  the  Beatrice  high  school.  The  family  is  one 
of  prominence  in  the  representative  social  life 
of  the  community. 

A.  L.  BOYER,  who  has  been  for  thirty 
years  actively  engaged  in  the  work  of  his 
trade  in  the  village  of  Virginia,  is  known  as  a 
skilled  blacksmith  and  has  developed  a  sub- 
stantial and  prosperous  business  in  the  opera- 
tion of  his  well  equipped  shop,  which  was  the 
first  to  be  opened  in  the  village  and  which  has 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


548 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


continued  to  be  the  only  establishment  of  the 
kind  at  Virginia  during  the  long  period  of 
years  that  have  here  marked  his  close  applica- 
tion to  his  sturdy  trade-  Mr.  Boyer  was  a  boy 
at  the  time  when  the  family  home  was  estab- 
lished in  the  new  state  of  Nebraska,  and  he 
gained  a  plethora  of  experience  in  connection 
with  the  conditions  and  influences  of  the  pio- 
neer era  in  the  history  of  Gage  county. 

Mr.  Boyer  was  born  in  Jefferson  county, 
Pennsylvania,  on  the  8th  of  October,  1855,  and 
is  a  son  of  John  and  Elizabeth  (Shunk) 
Boyer,  both  of  whom  likewise  were  born  in 
the  old  Keystone  state,  where  the  mother 
passed  her  entire  life.  John  and  Elizabeth 
(Shunk)  Boyer  became  the  parents  of  six 
sons  and  four  daughters,  and  three  of  the 
number  became  residents  of  Nebraska.  Of 
the  children  the  subject  of  this  review  is  now 
the  only  survivor.  For  his  second  wife  John 
Boyer  wedded  Mrs.  Mary  Yohe,  widow  of 
Henry  Yohe,  and  in  1865  they  came  to  the 
west  and  settled  in  Iowa  county,  Iowa,  John 
Boyer  having  there  followed  his  trade,  that 
of  harness-maker.  In  May,  1868,  Mr.  Boyer 
came  with  his  family  to  Gage  county,  Ne- 
braska, and  took  up  a  homestead  claim  in 
Nemaha  township.  He  there  developed  a  pro- 
ductive farm  and  on  the  same  both  he  and  his 
wife  passed  the  remainder  of  their  lives,  no 
children  having  been  born  of  the  second  mar- 
riage. 

A.  L.  Boyer  gained  his  early  education  in 
the  schools  of  Pennsylvania,  Iowa,  and  Ne- 
braska, and  was  a  lad  of  thirteen  years  at  the 
time  when  the  family  home  was  established  in 
Gage  county.  Here  he  was  reared  to  adult 
age  and  in  the  meanwhile  he  assisted  in  the 
development  and  other  work  of  the  home 
farm.  When  he  was  sixteen  years  of  age  he 
had  a  somewhat  thrilling  experience  in  the 
saving  of  the  family  house  and  other  property 
from  destruction  by  a  prairie  fire.  This  ex- 
perience occurred  on  Sunday.  He  had  started 
to  accompany  his  parents  to  church  at  Adams, 
but  a  seeming  premonition  urged  him  to  re- 
turn home,  and  it  was  most  fortunate  that  he 
heeded  the  impulse.  He  had  on  his  best  suit 
of  clothes,  and  he  sacrificed  the  coat  in  his 


strenuous  efforts  to  check  the  fire.  With 
buckets  of  water  and  his  coat  he  saved  the 
house  from  destruction,  as  well  as  a  pile  of 
grain  in  a  log  enclosure  and  three  of  the  five 
stacks  of  hay.  He  was  overcome  finally  by 
the  smoke  and  heat  and  was  found  lying  on 
the  ground  when  his  parents  returned.  At 
the  age  of  seventeen  years  he  hauled  grade 
stakes  for  John  Lyons,  who  was  then  laying 
out  the  township  of  Adams.  Among  his  other 
early  experiences  was  that  incidental  to  three 
years  of  application  in  breaking  wild  prairie 
land. 

At  the  age  of  twenty  years  Mr.  Boyer 
went  to  Hamburg,  Iowa,  where  he  served  a 
thorough  apprenticeship  to  the  blacksmith 
trade.  In  October,  1888,  he  opened  the  first 
blacksmith  shop  at  Virginia,  and,  as  before 
intimated,  he  has  had  no  competitor  in  this 
line  during  the  long  intervening  years.  He  is 
widely  known  as  an  expert  artisan  and  turns 
out  in  his  shop  the  best  grade  of  work,  with 
facilities  including  modern  machinery  and  ac- 
cessories for  the  handling  of  all  kinds  of 
blacksmith  work,  as  well  as  wood  work  for 
wagons,  plows,  etc. 

At  Tecumseh,  this  state,  was  solemnized 
the  marriage  of  Mr.  Boyer  to  Miss  Mary  Jane 
Applebee,  a  sister  of  John  Applebee,  in  whose 
sketch,  on  other  pages  of  this  work,  is  given 
due  record  concerning  the  Applebee  family. 
The  eldest  of  the  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Boyer  is  Arthur,  who  resides  in  the  village 
of  Virginia,  the  maiden  name  of  his  wife 
having  been  Catherine  McGafi'ey;  James  Mel- 
vin  married  Miss  McGafifey  and  he  is  an 
evangelist  of  the  Christian  church,  his  field  of 
work  being  in  Nebraska;  James  Milo  married 
Miss  Lantz  and  they  reside  at  Newcastle,  Wy- 
oming; Gertrude  is  the  wife  of  Clarence  Haus, 
of  Sherman  township.  Gage  county ;  Iva  is  the 
wife  of  David  Hoover,  of  Lewiston,  Pawnee 
county ;  and  Maggie,  Ellen,  and  Lewis  remain 
at  the  parental  home. 

Mr.  Boyer  is  a  Republican  in  his  political 
adherency,  and  he  and  his  wife  are  active 
members  of  the  Christian  church. 

The  village  of  Virginia  was  but  one  year  old 
when  Mr.  Boyer  here  established  his  home. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


549 


and  he  has  since  continued  as  one  of  its  rep- 
resentative business  men  and  valued  citizens. 
The  first  children  born  in  the  village  were  his 
twin  daughters,  Gertrude  and  Myrtle,  the  lat- 
ter of  whom  is  deceased. 

J.  HENRY  STEINMEYER.  — He  whose 
name  initiates  this  paragraph  is  a  representa- 
tive of  one  of  the  most  honored  and  influen- 
tial pioneer  families  of  Gage  county  and  in 
addition  to  having  shared  in  the  generous  re- 
wards that  eventually  crowned  the  productive 
industrial  activities  of  his  pioneer  father  he 
has  marked  his  individual  course  with  large 
and  worthy  achievement,  with  the  result  that 
he  is  now  one  of  the  substantial  landholders 
of  Gage  county  and  an  influential  factor  in 
banking  enterprise  and  other  lines  of  business. 
In  his  home  county  he  is  the  owner  of  four 
hundred  acres  of  well  improved  and  valuable 
farm  land,  besides  which  he  owns  six  hundred 
and  forty  acres  of  excellent  agricultural  land 
in  Allen  and  Coffey  counties,  Kansas,  so  that 
the  total  area  of  his  landed  estate  is  over  one 
thousand  acres.  His  capitalistic  interests  in 
Gage  county  are  varied  and  important  and 
since  1910  he  has  maintained  his  residence  in 
Beatrice,  the  attractive  metropolis  and  judicial 
center  of  the  county,  his  residence,  at  821 
North  Eleventh  street,  being  one  of  the  fine 
and  modern  homes  of  the  city  and  being  a 
center  of  gracious  hospitality. 

J.  Henry  Steinmeyer  was  born  in  the  prov- 
ince of  Hanover,  Gennany,  on  the  17th  of 
May,  1853,  and  is  a  son  of  Henry  and  Eliza- 
beth (Fredker)  Steinmeyer,  both  of  whom 
were  likewise  natives  of  that  attractive  section 
of  the  great  German  empire,  the  father  hav- 
ing been  born  in  July,  1814,  and  the  mother  in 
August,  1810.  In  the  fatherland  Henry  Stein- 
meyer was  reared  to  the  discipline  of  the  farm 
and  there  he  continued  his  alliance  with  agri- 
cultural enterprise  until  1856,  when  he  immi- 
grated with  his  family  to  America  and  settled 
in  Scioto  county,  Ohio.  There  he  worked  in 
the  iron  furnaces  for  the  ensuing  ten  years, 
and  in  addition  to  providing  well  for  his  fam- 
ily he  was  able  to  accumulate  a  modest  reserve 
fimd  of  money.     The  voyage  across  the  At- 


lantic was  made  in  a  sailing  vessel  of  the  type 
common  to  that  day,  and  seven  weeks  elapsed 
ere  the  family  disembarked  in  the  port  of  Bal- 
timore, Maryland,  whence  shortly  afterward 
they  proceeded  to  southern  Ohio  and  located 
in  Scioto  county,  as  before  noted. 

Though  he  had  prospered  during  his  asso- 
ciation with  the  iron-furnace  industry  in  the 
Buckeye  state,  Henry  Steinmeyer  had  not 
abated  his  loyalty  to  and  appreciation  of  the 
great  fundamental  industry  of  agriculture,  and 
as  soon  as  conditions  made  it  expedient  he  re- 
sumed his  alliance  with  the  same.  In  1866  he 
came  with  his  family  to  the  territory  of  Ne- 
braska, which  was  admitted  to  statehood  the 
following  year  and  to  which  his  sons  William 
and  Fred  had  preceded  him  by  about  one  year. 
With  ox  teams  Mr.  Steinmeyer  brought  his 
family  overland  from  Nebraska  City  to  Gage 
county,  and  here  he  entered  claim  to  a  home- 
stead of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  —  the 
southwest  quarter  of  Section  22,  Clatonia 
township.  The  original  family  domicile  was 
a  rude  dugout  of  the  type  common  to  the  pio- 
neer era,  and  the  stable  which  he  provided  for 
his  oxen  and  horses  was  constructed  princi- 
pally of  straw.  Grappling  vigorously  with  the 
task  that  confronted  him,  Mr.  Steinmeyer 
gradually  broke  his  land  and  made  it  available 
for  cultivation,  besides  which  he  improved 
the  place  by  setting  out  trees  and,  eventually, 
by  the  erection  of  a  good  house  and  other 
farm  buildings.  After  giving  his  personal  at- 
tention to  the  homestead  for  ten  years  he  gave 
the  property  to  his  son  J.  Henry,  of  this  re- 
view, with  whom  he  lived  in  retirement  after 
the  death  of  his  devoted  wife,  their  marriage 
having  been  solemnized  in  1835.  Mrs.  Stein- 
meyer passed  to  the  life  eternal  in  1874,  and 
her  husband  long  sur^nved  her,  he  having  been 
somewhat  more  than  eighty  years  of  age  at  the 
time  of  his  death,  in  1895,  and  his  name  mer- 
iting a  place  of  enduring  honor  on  the  roster 
of  the  honored  pioneers  of  Gage  county. 
Both  he  and  his  wife  were  earnest  members 
of  the  German  Methodist  church  and  as  a 
naturalized  citizen  ever  loyal  to  the  country  of 
his  adoption,  he  gave  his  political  support  to 
the  cause  of  the  Republican  party.     Of  the 


550 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


six  children  one  died  in  infancy;  Mary,  who 
became  the  wife  of  Wilham  Marsh,  died  in 
the  year  1868;  William,  who  became  one  of 
the  representative  farmers  and  influential  citi- 
zens of  Clatonia  township,  continued  his  resi- 
dence in  Gage  county  until  his  death,  which 
occurred  in  1911;  Frederick,  who  is  now  liv- 
ing retired  in  the  village  of  Clatonia,  was  a 
valiant  soldier  of  the  Union  in  the  Civil  war, 
in  which  he  served  three  years,  as  a  member 
of  the  Fifty-sixth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry; 
J.  Henry,  of  this  sketch,  was  the  next  in  order 
of  birth  and  is  the  youngest  of  the  children. 
J.  Henry  Steinmeyer  was  about  three  years 
of  age  at  the  time  of  the  family  immigration 
to  America  and  was  a  lad  of  thirteen  years 
when  removal  was  made  to  Nebraska  Terri- 
tory. He  acquired  his  early  education  in  the 
schools  of  Scioto  county,  Ohio,  and  supple- 
mented this  by  attending  at  intervals  the  pio- 
neer district  schools  of  Clatonia  township, 
Gage  county,  Nebraska,  where  he  was  reared 
under  the  invigorating  influences  of  the  home 
farm,  which  was  finally  given  to  him  by  his 
honored  father,  as  noted  in  a  preceding  para- 
graph. In  1885  he  engaged  in  the  general 
merchandise  business  at  Dewitt,  Saline  county, 
where  he  continued  operations  along  this  line, 
in  connection  with  the  buying  and  shipping  of 
grain,  until  1894.  When,  in  the  year  last  rhen- 
tioned,  the  village  of  Clatonia  was  established 
on  a  portion  of  his  father's  old  homestead 
farm,  Mr.  Steinmeyer  manifested  his  loyalty 
to  the  old  home  county  and  the  new  town  by 
becoming  one  of  the  first  and  most  active  busi- 
ness men  of  the  ambitious  village,  where  he 
established  a  well  equipped  grain  elevator  and 
developed  a  substantial  and  profitable  business 
in  the  buying  and  shipping  of  grain  and  live 
stock.  He  was  one  of  the  first  two  stock- 
holders of  the  Farmers'  Bank  of  Clatonia,  in 
the  organization  of  which  he  was  associated 
with  his  brother  William,  and  in  1905  he  estab- 
hshed  the  Holmesville  Bank,  in  the  village  of 
Holmes ville,  of  which  institution  he  is  now  the 
sole  stockholder.  He  was  also  one  of  the  or- 
ganizers and  is  the  chief  stockholder  of  the 
company  which  installed  and  still  operates  the 
electric  power  and  lighting  plant  at  Holmes- 


ville, of  which  company  he  is  the  president. 
In  the  domain  of  business  and  industrial  en- 
terprise he  has  found  ample  demands  upon 
his  time  and  energy  and  thus  he  has  not  been 
imbued  with  any  desire  for  special  political 
activity  or  for  public  office,  though  he  is  found 
aligned  as  a  loyal  supporter  of  the  principles 
for  which  the  Republican  party  stands  spon- 
sor. In  1901  Mr.  Steinmeyer  was  elected  to 
the  Nebraska  state  legislature,  serving  one 
term.  He  is  affiliated  with  the  Modern  Wood- 
men of  America  and  both  he  and  his  wife  hold 
membership  in  the  Methodist  church  in  their 
home  city. 

On  the  18th  of  March,  1875,  was  solemnized 
the  marriage  of  Mr.  Steinmeyer  to  Miss  Ellen 
Unland,  who  was  born  in  Cass  county,  Illi- 
nois, a  daughter  of  Rev.  P.  and  Nancy 
(Wagle)  Unland,  the  former  of  whom  was 
born  in  Germany  and  the  latter  in  the  state 
of  Kentucky,  where  their  marriage  was  sol- 
emnized. In  1873  Rev.  F.  Unland  came  with 
his  family  to  Nebraska,  as  a  pioneer  clergyman 
of  the  German  Methodist  church,  and  he  had 
in  the  early  days  pastoral  charge  of  the  church 
of  his  denomination  at  Kramer,  Lancaster 
county,  and  that  in  Clatonia  township.  Gage 
county.  He  and  his  wife  are  both  deceased. 
Of  the  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Steinmeyer 
the  eldest  is  Emma,  who  is  the  wife  of  Dr.  B. 
M.  Deardorfif,  who  is  successfully  established 
in  the  practice  of  his  profession  at  Clatonia 
and  who  is  one  of  the  representative  physi- 
cians and  surgeons  of  Gage  county ;  George 
W.,  now  of  Beatrice,  was  superintendent  of 
the  Holmesville  Mill  and  Power  Company, 
and  is  one  of  the  young  men  who  are  repre- 
senting our  nation  as  a  soldier  in  the  great 
European  war,  his  training  for  service  as  an 
officer  being  received  in  the  government  can- 
tonment and  training  camp  at  Fort  Snelling, 
Minnesota;  Nettie  E.  is  the  wife  of  Charles 
S.  Brown,  of  Aurora,  Nebraska,  who  is  cash- 
ier of  the  Fidelity  National  Bank;  Myrtle  B. 
is  the  wife  of  W.  G.  Chittenden,  and  they  re- 
side on  her  paternal  grandfather's  old  home- 
stead farm,  in  Clatonia  township ;  Robert  H. 
is  cashier  of  his  father's  bank  at  Holmesville; 
Gladys  is  the  wife  of  H.  W.  Alquist,  of  Be- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


551 


atrice,  assistant  cashier  of  the  Nebraska  State 
Bank ;  and  WilHam  F.  is  assistant  cashier  of 
the  Farmers'  Bank  of  Clatonia. 

EDWARD  W.  A.  ULRICH.  —  In  Section 
5,  Grant  township,  a  well  improved  farm  of 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  is  owned  by  Mr. 
Ulrich,  and  he  is  so  ordering  his  productive 
activities  as  to  have  secure  status  as  one  of 
the  representative  agriculturists  and  stock- 
growers  of  the  younger  generation  in  this 
part  of  Gage  county. 

Mr.  Ulrich  was  born  in  Marshall  county,. 
Illinois,  on  the  13th  of  April,  1880,  and  is  the 
youngest  of  the  six  children  of  Charles  G. 
and  Johannah  (Graff)  Ulrich.  Concerning 
the  other  children  the  following  brief  data  are 
consistently  given:  Mena  is  the  wife  of  F. 
Burger,  a  prosperous  farmer  near  Wilber, 
Saline  county;  Anna  is  the  wife  of  George 
Burger,  a  farmer  of  Grant  township ;  Mary 
is  the  wife  of  J.  Menter,  another  of  the  sub- 
stantial farmers  of  Grant  township,  within 
whose  borders  Albert  Ulrich,  next  in  order  of 
birth,  likewise  is  a  progressive  exponent  of 
farm  industry;  the  fifth  child,  Charles,  died 
when  about  twenty-one  years  of  age. 

Charles  G.  Ulrich  was  born  in  Germany,  on 
the  28th  of  November,  1840,  and  there  he  con- 
tinued his  residence  until  about  1865,  when  he 
came  to  America  and  settled  in  Illinois.  He 
became  one  of  the  substantial  farmers  of  Mar- 
shall county,  that  state,  where  he  continued 
his  residence  until  1883,  when  he  came  to  Ne- 
braska and  purchased  the  f^irm  now  operated 
by  his  son  Edward,  of  this  review.  He  made 
good  improvements  on  the  place  and  devel- 
oped the  same  into  one  of  the  valuable  farm 
properties  of  Grant  township.  Here  he  re- 
mained, an  honored  citizen  and  enterprizing 
farmer,  until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  Oc- 
tober, 1913.  After  the  death  of  his  first  wife 
he  eventually  married  Miss  Amelia  Boise,  who 
likewise  was  born  in  Germany,  and  who  now 
resides  in  the  village  of  Dewitt,  Saline  county. 
Of  the  second  marriage  there  are  two  daugh- 
ters— -Augusta,  who  is  the  wife  of  H.  Feld- 
hus,  of  Dewitt,  and  Dora,  who  remains  with 
her  widowed  mother. 


Edward  W.  A.  Ulrich  was  a  child  of  three 
years  at  the  time  of  the  family  removal  to 
Gage  county,  where  he  was  reared  to  manhood 
on  his  present  farm  and  where  he  made  good 
use  of  the  advantages  of  the  district  school  lo- 
cated on  a  part  of  the  home  farm,  his  father 
having  aided  in  the  organization  of  this  school 
district  (No.  149)  and  having  served  a  num- 
ber of  years  as  a  director  of  the  same.  Upon 
the  death  of  his  father  Mr.  Ulrich  inherited 
eighty  acres  of  his  present  farm,  and  later  he 
accumulated  through  purchase  the  remaining 
eighty  acres.  As  a  vigorous  and  successful 
farmer  and  liberal  citizen  he  is  well  upholding 
the  prestige  of  the  family  name,  he  is  a  Demo- 
crat in  his  political  adherency  and  he  and  his 
wife  hold  membership  in  the  German  Luther- 
an church. 

On  the  24th  of  February,  1909,  Mr.  Ulrich 
wedded  Miss  Katherine  Spilker.  She  was 
born  and  reared  in  Grant  township,  a  daughter 
of  William  and  Louisa  (Pieper)  Spilker,  who 
still  remain  on  their  home  farm  in  this  town- 
ship and  both  of  whom  were  born  in  Ger- 
many. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ulrich  have  six  chil- 
dren —  Edna,  Emil,  Helen,  Arnold,  Walter, 
and  Norma. 

EDGAR  ROSSITER.  — A  native  son  of 
Gage  county  and  a  representative  of  an  hon- 
ored pioneer  family,  Mr.  Rossiter  is  now  suc- 
cessfully established  in  the  meat-market  and 
ice  business  in  the  village  of  Dewitt,  Saline 
county,  where  he  has  maintained  his  home  for 
more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  and  been  a 
specially  progressive  and  influential  citizen. 

Mr.  Rossiter  was  born  in  Midland  township. 
Gage  county,  October  11,  1862,  about  five  years 
prior  to  the  admission  of  Nebraska  to  the 
Union  of  states.  He  is  a  son  of  Richard  and 
Mary  (Green)  Rossiter,  and  is  the  fifth  of  a 
family  of  seven  children.  A  memoir  of  Rich- 
ard Rossiter  will  be  found  elsewhere  in  this 
publication. 

Edward  Rossiter  was  reared  to  the  invigor- 
ating discipline  of  the  pioneer  farm  on  which 
he  was  born,  received  such  educational  ad- 
vantages as  were  afforded  in  the  common 
schools  of  the  locality  and  period,  and  con- 


552 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


tinued  to  assist  his  father  in  practical  farm 
operations  until  he  attained  to  his  legal  ma- 
jority. He  passed  the  ensuing  three  years  in 
Colorado  and  upon  his  return  to  Nebraska 
settled  in  Dewitt,  Saline  county,  where  he  en- 
gaged in  business,  with  which  he  was  success- 
fully identified  for  a  term  of  years.  Since 
1904  he  has  conducted  a  well  equipped  meat- 
market  in  the  village  and  also  has  a  prosper- 
ous business  in  the  handling  of  ice.  He  has 
here  maintained  his  home  for  twenty-eight 
years  and  has  been  influential  in  civic  affairs, 
having  served  fifteen  years  as  a  member  of  the 
village  council,  and  on  three  occasions  he  was 
mayor,  or  president  of  the  village  board. 
Liberal  and  progressive,  he  has  done  much  to 
further  the  social  and  material  development 
and  advancement  of  Dewitt  and  he  commands 
the  high  esteem  of  all  who  know  him.  He  is. 
a  stalwart  in  the  local  camp  of  the  Republican 
party,  is  actively  affiliated  with  the  Ancient 
Order  of  United  Workmen,  and  the  Brother- 
hood of  American  Yeomen,  and  he  and  his 
wife  are  communicants  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  church.  He  is  the  owner  of  the  un- 
divided interest  of  the  old  homestead  in  Grant 
and  Blakely  townships,  the  same  being  part  of 
the  estate  accumulated  by  his  father. 

On  January  28,  1882,  Mr.  Rossiter  wedded 
Miss  Pluma  A.  Thompson,  who  was  born  at 
Leavenworth,  Kansas,  and  who  is  a  daughter 
of  Martin  W.  and  Evelyn  (Jones)  Thomp- 
son, the  former  a  native  of  Kentucy  and  the 
latter  of  Virginia.  Mr.  Thompson  came  with 
his  family  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  about 
the  year  1864,  and  settled  eight  miles  north  of 
Beatrice,  where  he  reclaimed  and  improved  a 
good  farm  and  where  he  continued  to  reside 
for  many  years.  He  was  at  Leadville,  Colo- 
rado, at  the  time  of  his  death,  his  wife  having 
survived  him  only  a  short  time,  and  the  re- 
mains of  both  are  interred  in  Dolan  cemetery 
in  Gage  county.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rossiter  have 
four  children :  Charles  E.  is  a  railroad  em- 
ploye at  Wymore,  Gage  county ;  Burton  W. 
is  associated  with  his  father  in  the  meat- 
market  business ;  Edna  A.  is  the  wife  of  Ralph 
W.  Venrick,  of  Norfolk,  Madison  county,  Ne- 
braska;  and  Vera  is  the  wife  of  Willis  H. 
Leacock,  of  St.  Joseph,  Missouri. 


ADAM  CRIPE,  who  is  now  living  virtually 
retired  on  his  excellent  farm  of  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres,  in  Section  23,  Rockford  town- 
ship, is  one  of  the  venerable  and  highly  es- 
teemed pioneer  citizens  of  Gage  county,  where 
he  has  maintained  his  home  since  1877. 

Mr.  Cripe  was  bom  on  a  farm  near  the  city 
of  Goshen,  Indiana,  May  11,  1844,  and  is  a 
scion  of  a  sterling  pioneer  family  of  the 
Hoosier  state,  his  parents,  Henry  and  Magda- 
lena  (Miller)  Cripe,  having  been  natives  of 
Ohio,  where  the  former  was  born  in  1818  and 
the  latter  in  1817.  Both  families  have  been 
notable  for  longevity  and  Henry  Cripe  at- 
tained to  the  age  of  ninety  years,  his  death 
having  occurred  in  1908,  while  his  widow 
passed  away  in  1911,  at  the  age  of  ninety-four 
years,  their  marriage  having  been  solemnized 
in  Indiana,  where  Mr.  Cripe  became  a  pioneer 
settler  in  Elkhart  county.  He  obtained  a  tract 
of  heavily  timbered  land,  made  a  clearing  and 
erected  thereon  a  log  house,  with  dirt  floor, 
and  this  constituted  the  original  home  of  the 
family.  Of  the  twelve  children  the  subject  of 
this  review  was  the  fourth,  and  of  the  number 
six  are  now  living.  The  parents  continued 
their  residence  in  Indiana  until  their  death  and 
prior  to  his  demise  the  father  had  divided  his 
land  among  his  children :  his  father,  Jacob 
Cripe,  was  a  pioneer  of  Indiana  and  there  died 
at  the  patriarchal  age  of  one  hundred  and 
three  years.  The  wife  of  Henry  Cripe  was 
a  daughter  of  John  Miller,  who  was  a  native 
of  Pennsylvania  and  a  pioneer  settler  in  Ohio. 

Adam  Cripe  was  reared  on  the  pioneer  farm 
in  Indiana  and  acquired  his  early  education  in 
the  common  schools.  He  received  from  his 
wife's  parents  eighty  acres  of  land  in  Kos- 
ciusko county  and  there  continued  his  activi- 
ties as  a  farmer  until  his  removal  to  Mont- 
gomen,'  county,  Illinois,  where  he  was  engaged 
in  farming  ten  years.  He  then,  in  1877,  came 
to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  where  for  the  en- 
suing three  years  he  farmed  on  rented  land. 
He  then  purchased  the  quarter-section  which 
constitutes  his  present  well  improved  home- 
stead, and  his  farm  is  now  under  the  active 
management  of  one  of  his  sons. 

November  5,  1865,  Mr.  Cripe  married  Mis? 
Susanna  Jacobs,  who  likewise  was  born  and 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


553 


reared  in  Indiana,  and  of  the  eight  children 
of  this  union  five  are  Hving:  Harley  is  a  far- 
mer near  Mankato,  Kansas ;  Eva  Jenetta  is 
the  wife  of  Ray  Lancaster,  a  farmer  in  Rock- 
ford  township ;  WilHam  E.  has  charge  of  his 
father's  farm;  Jesse  left  the  parental  home 
fifteen  years  ago  and  his  family  have  lost  all 
trace  of  him;  Mary  is  the  wife  of  Frank 
Heiston,  who  is  engaged  in  the  automobile 
business  at  Lincoln,  Nebraska. 

M'r.  Cripe  is  well  fortified  in  his  political 
views  and  gives  his  support  to  the  cause  of 
the  Democratic  party.  Both  he  and  his  wife, 
who  has  been  his  companion  and  helpmeet  for 
more  than  half  a  century,  are  earnest  adher- 
ents of  the  Brethren  church. 


ROBERT  PEASE.  — In  his  specific  field 
of  business  enterprise  Mr.  Pease  is  contrib- 
uting much  to  the  facilitating  of  the  basic  in- 
dustries of  Gage  county  and  he  holds  secure 
vantage-ground  as  one  of  the  alert  and  pro- 
gressive business  men  and  representative  citi- 
zens of  Beatrice,  where  he  is  the  owner  of 
the  large  and  prosperous  business  conducted 
under  the  title  of  the  Pease  Grain  &  Seed 
Company.  He  combines  the  energy  and  thrift 
of  his  New  England  forebears  with  the  vital 
and  progressive  spirit  of  the  west,  and  thus  he 
is  well  equipped  for  playing  a  useful  part  in 
the  communal  and  business  life  of  his  adopted 
city  and  county. 

Mr.  Pease  was  born  in  Somers,  Connecti- 
cut, on  the  19th  of  December,  1869,  and  in 
that  state  his  parents,  Robert  and  Eliza  Bill- 
ings (Hall)  Pease,  passed  their  entire  lives, 
his  father  having  been  a  farmer  by  vocation. 
He  whose  name  introduces  this  review  is  in- 
debted to  the  public  schools  of  his  native  state 
for  his  early  educational  discipline  and  there 
also  he  gained  his  initial  experience  in  con- 
nection with  the  practical  affairs  of  a  worka- 
day world.  In  1892,  at  the  age  of  twenty-two 
years,  Mr.  Pease  came  to  Nebraska  and  estab- 
lished his  residence  in  the  city  of  Omaha, 
where  he  entered  the  employ  of  the  Union 
Pacific  Railroad  Company,  in  a  clerical  ca- 
pacity. Later  he  was  employed  in  the  United 
States   railway  mail   service   for  a  period  of 


about  seven  years,  and  after  his  retirement 
from  this  position  he  passed  three  years  in  the 
state  of  Colorado,  where  he  gave  his  attention 
principally  to  general  mercantile  business. 
Thereafter  he  was  located  at  Salina,  Kansas, 
until  1906,  when  he  came  to  Beatrice,  Ne- 
braska, and  purchased  a  half  interest  in  the 
grain  and  seed  business  then  conducted  under 
the  title  of  Cummings  &  Laughlin.  In  1910 
he  assumed  sole  control  of  this  well  estab- 
lished enterprise,  which  he  has  since  conduct- 
ed under  the  title  of  the  Pease  Grain  &  Seed 
Company,  his  operative  facilities  being  of  the 
best  and  including  a  grain  elevator  with  a 
capacity  for  the  accommodation  of  sixty-five 
thousand  bushels.  Mr.  Pease  has  one  of  the 
most  thoroughly  modern  elevators  in  the  west. 
It  is  equipped  with  machinery  for  the  handling 
and  cleaning  of  grain  and  with  other  facili- 
ties seldom  found  outside  the  principal  termi- 
nal markets.  The  seed  department  of  his 
business  has  been  built  up  by  himself  and  has 
become  one  of  major  importance.  In  this 
department  are  the  best  of  provisions  for  the 
handling  of  both  field  and  garden  seeds  of  all 
kinds  and  a  large  and  constantly  expanding 
trade  is  controlled  by  this  department,  both 
wholesale  and  retail. 

Known  as  a  liberal  and  progressive  business 
man  and  public-spirited  citizen,  Mr.  Pease  has 
had  no  desire  to  enter  the  arena  of  practical 
politics  but  is  found  aligned  as  a  loyal  sup- 
porter of  the  cause  of  the  Republican  party. 
Both  he  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the 
Congregational  church. 

In  the  year  1901  Mr.  Pease  wedded  Miss 
Bertha  E.  Clark,  who  was  born  in  the  state 
of  Michigan,  and  the  three  children  of  this 
union  are  Robert,  Jr.,  Florence  C,  and  Ger- 
aldine. 


OLIVER  TOWNSEND.  — A  publication 
of  this  nature  exercises  a  most  important 
function  when  it  accords  recognition,  through 
fitting  memorial  tribute,  to  the  life  and  labors 
of  so  influential  and  honored  a  pioneer  as  the 
late  Hon.  Oliver  Townsend,  whose  record  of 
service  and  achievement  is  a  very  part  of  the 
history  of  Gage  county  and  especially  its  ju- 


554 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


dicial  center,  the  fair  city  of  Beatrice.  His 
character  was  the  positive  expression  of  a 
strong  and  loyal  nature,  his  mentality  was  of 
high  order  and  he  was  well  equipped  for 
leadership  in  popular  sentiment  and  action 
when  he  numbered  himself  among  the  earliest 
settlers  of  Gage  county.  He  was  the  true 
apostle  of  civic  and  material  progress  and 
made  his  life  count  for  good  in  its  every  re- 
lation. 

Oliver  Townsend  was  bom  in  Ulster 
county,  New  York,  October  4,  1834,  the 
youngest  son  in  the  family  of  nine  children 
and  a  member  of  one  of  the  sterling  pioneer 
families  of  that  section  of  the  old  Empire 
state,  and  likewise  of  one  that  was  founded 
in  America  in  the  early  colonial  era  of  our 
national  history,  the  lineage  of  the  Townsend 
family  tracing  back  to  staunch  English  origin. 
The  subject  of  this  memoir  was  a  son  of  Jos- 
eph and  Nancy  (Tompkins)  Townsend,  the 
former  a  native  of  Connecticut  and  the  latter 
of  the  state  of  New  York.  Joseph  Townsend 
was  a  very  early  settler  in  Ulster  county,  New 
York,  where  he  reclaimed  from  the  wilds  a 
productive  farm  and  held  secure  status  as  an 
honored  and  influential  citizen.  His  wife 
there  passed  away  in  1847,  and  he  survived 
her  by  twenty  years.  Oliver  Townsend  was 
reared  to  the  sturdy  discipline  of  the  farm 
and  in  his  native  county  acquired  his  prelim- 
inary education  in  the  common  schools.  As 
a  youth  he  became  clerk  in  a  hotel  in  Knights- 
town,  New  York,  and  later  he  was  similarly 
engaged  at  Hudson,  that  state.  Later  he  am- 
plified his  educational  training  by  attending 
school  both  at  Claverack  and  Ellenville,  New 
York. 

In  1856,  as  a  young  man  of  twenty-two 
years,  Mr.  Townsend  went  to  Huron  county, 
Ohio,  and  in  January  of  the  following  year 
he  made  his  way  to  the  little  frontier  town  of 
Sioux  City,  Iowa,  where  he  remained  until  the 
following  autumn,  when  he  came  to  southern 
Nebraska  and  here  determined  to  establish  his 
permanent  residence  —  a  full  decade  prior  to 
the  admission  of  the  territory  to  statehood. 
He  entered  claim  to  a  homestead  of  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres,  a  portion  of  which  is 


now  included  within  the  city  of  Beatrice,  and 
for  the  ensuing  four  years  he  devoted  him- 
self strenuously  to  the  reclaiming  and  im- 
proving of  his  land,  which  is  now  a  verj- 
valuable  property  and  which  he  held  in  his 
possession  many  years. 

In  1865  Mr.  Townsend  became  associated 
with  the  late  H.  M.  Reynolds  in  establishing 
a  general  merchandise  store  at  the  corner  of 
Court  and  Third  streets  in  the  little  town  of 
Beatrice,  and  in  1867  Hon.  Nathan  Blakely 
was  admitted  to  the  firm,  the  title  of  which 
then  became  Blakely,  Reynolds  &  Company. 
Four  years  later  Mr.  Blakely  sold  his  interest 
in  the  business,  which  was  thereafter  contin- 
ued under  the  firm  name  of  Reynolds  &  Town- 
send  until  1872,  when  Mr.  Townsend  retired, 
selling  his  interest  to  Mr.  Reynolds.  In  1874 
Mr.  Townsend  engaged  in  the  clothing  busi- 
ness, and  to  the  same  he  gave  the  major  part 
of  his  time  and  attention  from  1877  until 
1893,  when  he  retired  from  active  business, 
after  a  long  and  honorable  record  as  one  of 
the  most  successful  and  popular  merchants  of 
Gage  county. 

Unswerving  in  his  allegiance  to  the  Repub- 
lican party  and  well  fortified  in  his  convic- 
tions concerning  matters  of  economic  and  gov- 
ernmental import,  Mr.  Townsend  was  influ- 
ential in  political  afifairs  in  this  section  of  the 
state.  In  1858  he  was  elected  county  clerk, 
and  of  this  office  he  continued  the  efficient 
and  valued  incumbent  for  ten  years,  or  until 
the  admission  of  Nebraska  to  statehood,  be- 
sides which  he  was  ex  officio  register  of  deeds 
for  the  county  during  the  same  period.  In 
1867  he  had  the  distinction  of  being  elected 
a  representative  of  Gage  county  in  the  first 
legislature  of  the  new  state,  and  in  this  office 
he  made  a  characteristically  admirable  record 
of  faithful  and  effective  service  during  his 
term  of  two  years,  his  influence  being  given 
earnestly  to  the  furtherance  of  the  movement 
that  resulted  in  the  establishing  of  the  state 
capital  at  Lincoln.  He  was  at  all  times  liberal 
and  progressive  in  his  civic  attitude,  loyally 
supported  measures  and  enterprises  tending 
to  advance  the  social  and  material  advance- 
ment of  his  home  city  and  county,  and  none 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


had  more  secure  place  in  popular  confidence 
and  esteem.  His  religious  faith  was  that  of 
the  Unitarian  church,  of  which  his  widow 
likewise  is  a  devoted  adherent,  and  he  passed 
the  closing  period  of  his  life  on  his  beautiful 
farm,  just  to  the  east  of  the  city  of  Beatrice, 
where  his  death  occurred  April  31,  1914,  and 
where  his  widow  still  resides  —  one  of  the 
loved  pioneer  women  of  Gage  county. 

On  April  21,  1880,  was  solemnized  the 
marriage  of  Mr.  Townsend  to  Miss  Kate 
Monce,  who  was  born  in  the  state  of  Ohio, 
July  6,  1859,  and  whose  father,  the  late  Sam- 
uel Monce,  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  of 
Nebraska  City.  Mr.  Townsend  is  survived 
by  three  children :  Jeane  Beatrice  is  the  wife 
of  Dr.  Irwin  A.  Port,  a  successful  physician 
and  surgeon  engaged  in  practice  in  the  city 
of  Chicago ;  Ruth,  who  is  a  graduate  of  the 
Beatrice  high  school  and  a  popular  factor  in 
the  social  life  of  the  community,  remains  with 
her  widowed  mother;  and  Catherine  Ann  is 
a  member  of  the  class  of  1918  in  the  great 
University  of  Chicago. 

FORD  LEWIS.  — There  is  a  full  measure 
of  consistency  in  according  in  this  history  a 
tribute  of  honor  to  the  late  Ford  Lewis, 
though  he  never  established  his  home  in  Gage 
county.  He  was  a  man  of  distinctive  ability 
and  his  mature  judgment  was  significantly 
shown  when  he  made  large  investments  in  Ne- 
braska lands  in  the  year  which  marked  the 
admission  of  the  state  to  the  Union.  His  op- 
erations in  the  handling  of  real  estate  in  other 
sections  of  the  Union  had  already  been  large 
and  important,  and  thus  his  knowledge  of 
land  values  was  essentially  authoritative.  Not 
mere  speculative  venturing  attended  his  in- 
vestment in  land  in  the  new  commonwealth  of 
Nebraska,  for  he  had  the  prescience  to  dis- 
cern the  wonderful  future  possible  for  the 
state  and  was  prepared  to  do  an  active  part  in 
furthering  its  civic  and  material  development 
and  upbuilding.  He  thus  early  became  the 
owner  of  Gage  county  land  and  he  not  only 
developed  and  improved  his  various  holdings 
here  and  elsewhere  in  the  state  but  he  also 
gave   vital   and   liberal   support   to   important 


undertakings  and  enterprises  that  proved  of 
inestimable  value  in  fostering  the  march  of 
progress  in  the  new  state.  Mr.  Lewis  became 
well  and  favorably  known  in  southeastern  Ne- 
braska, where  he  passed  much  time  at  inter- 
vals, in  the  supervision  of  his  landed  interests, 
and  such  was  the  benignant  influence  which 
attached  to  his  activities  as  touching  Gage 
county  that,  as  before  stated,  it  is  most  con- 
sistent that  representation  be  accorded  him  in 
this  publication.  Mr.  Lewis  was  a  man  of 
fine  constructive  powers,  much  initiative  and 
administrative  ability,  and  noble  character — • 
a  man  who  did  much  for  Nebraska  and  es- 
pecially for  Gage  county,  where  his  only 
daughter,  2\lrs.  Dwight  S.  Dalbey  now  main- 
tains her  home. 

Ford  Lewis  was  born  at  Deckertown,  New 
Jersey,  on  the  25th  of  July,  1829,  and  for 
many  years  he  maintained  his  home  at  Jersey- 
ville,  Illinois,  where  his  death  occurred  on  the 
30th  of  November,  1901,  after  he  had  passed, 
by  about  two  years,  the  psalmist's  span  of 
three  score  years  and  ten.  Mr.  Lewis  was  a 
scion  of  a  family  that  was  founded  in  America 
in  the  colonial  period  of  our  national  history 
and  his  father  became  a  prosperous  merchant 
at  Deckertown,  New  Jersey.  In  his  youth 
Mr.  Lewis  was  afforded  good  educational  ad- 
vantages, as  gauged  by  the  standards  of  the 
locality  and  period.  Thus  it  may  be  noted  that 
he  was  a  student  at  Mount  Retermet  Sem- 
inary, that  he  later  attended  William  Rankin's 
classical  school,  and  that  finally  he  took  a 
practical  business  course  under  the  tutorship 
of  Christopher  Marsh,  widely  known  as  the 
man  who  devised  and  perfected  the  double- 
entry  system  of  bookkeeping,  his  school  having 
been  at  the  corner  of  Reade  street  and  Broad- 
way, New  York  city.  After  finishing  school 
work  Mr.  Lewis  found  employment  as  a  book- 
keeper in  business  establishments,  and  he  was 
thus  engaged  first  at  Hamburg  and  later  at 
Hackettstown,  New  Jersey.  His  vigorous  am- 
bition was  not,  however,  to  be  satisfied  with 
such  occupation,  for  in  his  youth,  as  through- 
out his  entire  life,  he  was  essentially  a  forward- 
looking  man.  After  he  had  gained  due  prelim- 
inary experience  in  connection  with  the  real- 


556 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


estate  business  Mr.  Lewis  determined  to 
identify  himself  with  the  progressive  west,  but 
after  proceeding  as  far  as  Syracuse,  New 
York,  he  was  induced  to  become  a  member 
of  the  firm  of  Chapman  &  Lewis,  which  there 
engaged  in  the  manufacturing  of  watch  cases 
and  in  the  importing  of  high-grade  watch 
movements.  The  firm  suppHed  watches  of 
standard  type  to  railway  officials,  including 
conductors  and  engineers  on  the  New  York 
Central  and  other  railways,  and  with  this  pros- 
perous enterprise  Mr.  Lewis  continued  his  al- 
liance until  1856,  when  he  sold  his  interest  in 
the  business  and  accepted  the  general  agency 
of  the  large  Morse  publishing  house  of  New 
York  City,  with  headquarters  at  Charleston, 
South  Carolina,  during  the  winter  season  and 
at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  during  the  intervening 
summer  months.  This  connection  he  main- 
tained until  1859,  when  he  accompanied  his 
parents  and  his  sister  on  their  removal  to 
Jerseyville,  Illinois,  —  a  place  that  was  to  rep- 
resent his  home  during  the  remainder  of  his 
long  and  useful  life.  There  he  engaged  in  the 
real-estate  business,  handling  both  town  and 
farm  property,  and  his  success  in  this  impor- 
tant line  of  productive  enterprise  led  him  to 
extend  his  operations  into  Nebraska  when  the 
territory  assumed  the  dignity  of  statehood,  in 
1867.  In  company  with  Hon.  Robert  M. 
Knapp,  Mr.  Lewis  made  in  that  year  his  in- 
itial visit  to  Nebraska,  where  he  also  made  his 
first  investment  in  government  land  in  the  new 
commonwealth.  In  Gage,  Johnson,  Pawnee, 
Otoe,  and  I,ancaster  counties,  as  now  consti- 
tuted, he  became  the  owner  of  about  eighteen 
thousand  acres  of  land,  and  much  of  this  he 
retained  in  his  possession  until  the  close  of  his 
life,  the  appreciation  in  its  value  under  his 
well  ordered  policies  of  improvement  and  in- 
cidental to  the  rapid  settlement  and  develop- 
ment of  the  state  in  general,  having  added 
largely  to  the  value  of  his  estate,  which  was 
a  large  and  substantial  one  at  the  time  of  his 
death.  The  various  deeds  to  the  land  which 
he  thus  obtained  in  Nebraska  bore  the  signa- 
tures of  Presidents  Johnson,  Lincoln,  and 
Grant,  and  the  documents  are  now  in  the  pos- 
session of   Mr.  Lewis's  only  surviving  child. 


Mrs.  Dwight  S.  Dalbey,  of  Beatrice.  Mr. 
Lewis  had  unfaltering  faith  and  confidence  in 
Nebraska,  and  during  the  successive  summers 
he  here  passed  considerable  time  in  supervis- 
ing the  development  and  other  improvement 
work  in  connection  with  his  landed  interests. 
He  was  essentially  the  apostle  of  progress  and 
gave  freely  of  his  influence  and  cooperation  in 
the  support  of  measures  and  enterprises  that 
tended  to  advance  the  social  and  material  de- 
velopment and  prosperity  of  Nebraska.  He 
was  specially  influential  in  promoting  the  en- 
terprise which  eventuated  in  the  construction 
of  the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  &  Pacific  Rail- 
road line  through  southeastern  Nebraska,  also 
the  Kansas  City  &  Northwestern,  which  ter- 
minated at  Virginia,  and  these  lines  traversed 
lands  owned  by  him.  The  now  fine  little  town 
of  Virginia,  Gage  county,  was  founded  by 
Air.  Lewis  and  was  named  in  honor  of  his 
only  daughter,  Virginia.  He  contributed  most 
liberally  to  the  development  and  upbuilding  of 
this  town,  as  did  he  also  to  that  of  Lewiston, 
Pawnee  county,  which  likewise  was  founded 
by  him  and  which  perpetuates  his  name.  Fur- 
ther incidental  data  relative  to  the  life  and 
achievement  of  Mr.  Lewis  appear  on  other 
pages,  in  the  sketch  dedicated  to  Dwight  S. 
Dalbey,  of  Beatrice,  husband  of  Mr.  Lewis's 
only  surviving  child.  Mr.  Lewis  was  the 
owner  of  valuable  properties  in  his  home  city 
of  Jerseyville,  Illinois,  as  well  as  in  other  parts 
of  the  country,  and  his  success  was  large  in 
connection  with  the  various  enterprises  with 
which  he  identified  himself.  He  was  not,  how- 
ever, self-centered,  but  was  appreciative  of 
the  responsibilities  which  success  involves  and 
had  a  high  sense  of  personal  stewardship.  He 
lived  an  earnest,  honorable  and  useful  life 
and  upon  its  record  there  rests  no  shadow  now 
that  he  has  passed  from  the  stage  of  his  mor- 
tal endeavors. 

Mr.  Lewis  was  essentially  a  man  of  though 
and  action  and  though  he  was  well  fortified  in 
his  convictions  concerning  economic  and  gov- 
ernmental policies  and  was  a  staunch  sup- 
porter of  the  principles  of  the  Democratic 
party,  he  had  no  desire   for  public  office  of 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


559 


any  kind.     Both  he  and  his  wife  were  active 
members  of  the  Presbyterian  church. 

On  the  24th  of  July,  1864,  was  solemnized 
the  marriage  of  Mr.  Lewis  to  Miss  Elizabeth 
Davis,  of  Jerseyville,  Illinois,  and  this  gra- 
cious companion  survived  him  by  about  fifteen 
years.  From  the  year  1097  until  her  death  she 
passed  a  portion  of  each  year  with  her  only 
remainder  at  her  old  home  in  Jerseyville,  Illi- 
daughter,  in  Beatrice,  Gage  county,  and  the 
nois.  She  was  summoned  to  the  life  eternal 
on  the  9th  of  August,  1916,  her  memory  being 
•evered  by  all  who  came  within  the  compass 
of  her  gracious  influence.  Of  the  only  daugh- 
ter of  Mr.  and  INIrs.  Lewis  more  specific  men- 
tion is  made  on  other  pages  of  this  volume, 
as  already  intimated. 

HARM  D.  HARMS  gives  his  effective  ser- 
vice in  the  management  and  operations  of  a 
well  improved  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
icres  which  he  and  his  wife  own  in  Section  23, 
Hanover  township,  and  he  is  known  as  one 
of  the  representative  agriculturists  and  stock- 
growers  of  this  township.  He  was  born  in 
Atchison  county,  Missouri,  December  4,  1878 
and  has  been  a  resident  of  Nebraska  since  he 
was  a  child  of  three  years.  He  is  a  son  of 
Dirk  and  Ellen  Harms,  the  former  a  native 
of  Germany  and  the  latter  of  the  state  of  Mis- 
souri, where  their  marriage  occurred.  Dirk 
Harms  was  a  young  man  when  he  came  to  the 
United  States  and  prior  to  coming  to  Ne- 
braska he  had  been  actively  engaged  in  farm 
enterprise  in  Illinois  and  Missouri.  In  1881 
he  came  with  his  family  to  Gage  county,  where 
he  engaged  in  farm  operations  for  the  ensuing 
thirteen  years.  He  then  removed  to  Franklin 
county,  where  he  became  a  prosperous  farmer 
and  where  he  passed  the  remainder  of  his  life, 
his  death  having  occurred  about  the  year  1912 
and  his  widow  being  still  a  resident  of  that 
county. 

Harm  D.  Harms  acquired  his  early  educa- 
tion in  the  district  schools  of  Gage  county  and 
later  attended  school  for  a  time  after  the 
family  removal  to  Franklin  county.  He  there- 
after found  employment  at  farm  work  and  was 
thus    engaged    after    he    returned    to    Gage 


county.  Here,  in  the  year  1905,  he  married 
Miss  Mary  Remmers,  who  was  born  and 
reared  on  their  present  farm,  which  she  in- 
herited from  the  estate  of  her  father,  Thomas 
Remmers,  of  whom  mention  is  made  on  other 
pages  of  this  publication.  The  old  homestead 
farm  occupied  and  owned  by  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Harms  is  one  of  the  well  improved  and  at- 
tractive places  of  Hanover  township,  and  here 
he  is  successfully  carrying  on  his  operations  as 
a  general  farmer.  He  and  his  wife  have  four 
children, — Sophia,  Emma,  Dirk,  and  Carrie. 

VICTOR  E.  RYHD.  — In  another  article 
appearing  within  the  pages  of  this  publication 
is  given  special  mention  of  the  Dole  Floral 
Company,  which  is  one  of  the  leading  concerns 
of  its  kind  in  this  part  of  Nebraska  and  the 
operations  of  which  contribute  materially  to 
the  industrial  prestige  of  the  city  of  Beatrice. 
Of  this  important  corporation  Mr.  Ryhd  is  the 
secretary,  and  his  standing  as  a  progressive 
business  man  and  loyal  and  public-spirited  citi- 
zen of  Betarice  clearly  entitles  him  to  recog- 
nition within  these  pages.  He  maintains  his 
residence  on  the  fine  grounds  of  the  large 
greenhouses  of  the  company  and  has  become 
a  recognized  authority  in  the  practical  details 
of  floriculture  and  landscape  gardening. 

Mr. Ryhd  was  born  in  Bernshammar,  Swe- 
den, on  the  28th  of  May,  1872,  and  to  the 
schools  of  his  native  land  he  is  indebted  for 
his  early  educational  discipline,  which  was 
coupled  with  practical  experience,  as  he  was 
but  ten  years  of  age  when  he  began  working 
at  otherwise  leisure  hours  in  greenhouses  in 
his  home  city  of  Bernshammar.  His  youthful 
ambition  to  acquire  a  thorough  technical 
knowledge  of  floriculture  finally  led  him  to 
enter  a  college  in  which  special  attention  was 
given  to  teaching  and  practical  work  pertain- 
ing to  floriculture  and  landscape  gardening, 
and  he  continued  his  studies  in  this  institution 
until  his  graduation.  Mr.  Ryhd  continued  his 
association  with  his  chosen  vocation  in  his  na- 
tive land  until  1905,  when  he  came  to  the 
United  States,  as  he  felt  assured  of  better  op- 
portunities for  here  achieving  independence 
and  success  along  the  line  of  his  profession. 


360 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Proceeding  to  the  city  of  Chicago,  he  there 
found  employment  in  the  most  extensive  green- 
houses in  the  entire  west, — those  conducted  by 
Puhman  Brothers,  the  conservatories  of  this 
concern  having  fully  two  million  square  feet 
of  glass.  From  Chicago  Mr.  Ryhd  finally 
went  to  St.  Joseph,  Missouri,  where  for  five 
years  he  held  a  responsible  position  with  the 
large  Stuppy  greenhouses.  He  then  came  to 
Beatrice,  where  he  has  since  continued  in  act- 
ive charge  of  the  large  and  modern  green 
houses  of  the  Dole  Floral  Company  and  where 
his  ability  and  progressive  methods  have  aided 
much  in  conserving  the  splendid  advancement 
and  success  of  the  company,  he  having  been 
elected  its  secretary  in  the  year  1917.  He  be- 
came one  of  the  stockholders  of  the  company 
at  the  time  its  reorganization  was  effected,  in 
1913,  for  commercial  expediency,  and  as  secre- 
tary he  has  shown  marked  circumspection  in 
the  directing  of  the  business  policies  of  this 
important  concern.  He  takes  loyal  interest  in 
all  that  touches  the  welfare  of  his  adopted 
city  and  gives  his  political  allegiance  to  the 
Democratic  party,  both  he  and  his  wife  being 
communicants  of  the  Lutheran  church. 

In  his  native  land,  in  the  year  1902,  was  re- 
corded the  marriage  of  Mr.  Ryhd  to  Miss 
Emma  Hetland,  and  the  two  children  of  this 
gracious  union  are  Louis  and  Tellef. 

CHARLES  C.  LePOIDEVIN  was  born 
on  the  farm  which  is  now  his  place  of  resi- 
dence, in  Section  13,  Midland  township,  and  is 
a  son  of  that  sterling  territorial  pioneer  of 
Gage  county,  Thomas  LePoidevin,  of  whom 
specific  mention  is  made  on  other  pages  of 
this  work.  Charles  C,  who  holds  secure  pres- 
tige as  one  of  the  representative  farmers  of 
the  younger  generation  in  his  native  county, 
was  born  July  27,  1882,  and  was  reared  to 
manhood  under  the  influences  of  the  home 
farm,  the  while  he  made  good  use  of  the  edu- 
cational advantages  afforded  in  the  public 
schools  of  the  locality.  At  the  age  of  eighteen 
years  he  began  working  by  the  month  as  a 
farm  hand,  and  two  years  later  he  rented  land 
and  engaged  in  farming  in  an  independent 
wav.     Since  1911  he  has  had  the  active  con- 


trol and  management  of  his  father's  fine  farm 
estate  of  two  hundred  and  forty  acres,  where 
he  is  bringing  to  bear  the  energy  and  good 
judgment  that  insure  the  maximum  of  success 
in  well  diversified  agriculture  and  stock-rais- 
ing. In  addition  to  the  old  homestead  he 
gives  supervision  also  to  a  well  improved  farm 
of  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  which  he  in- 
dividually owns  and  which  also  is  in  Midland 
township.  His  political  allegiance  is  given  to 
the  Democrat  party  and  he  and  his  wife  hold 
membership  in  the  Christian  church  at  Bea- 
trice, from  which  city  their  home  receives  ser- 
vice on  rural  mail  route  No.  3. 

On  March  6,  1907,  was  solemnized  the  mar- 
riage of  Mr.  LePoidevin  to  Miss  Mary  Barn- 
ard, who  was  born  in  Clay  county,  Ken- 
tucky, and  who  is  a  daughter  of  George 
Barnard,  her  father  being  given  individual 
recognition  elsewhere  in  this  publication.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  LePoidevin  have  three  children  — 
Velma,  born  January  16,  1908;  Lucile,  born 
December  14,  1914 ;  and  the  third  child,  born 
February  4,  1918. 

BARTLET  ADEN  was  another  of  the 
sterling  pioneers  who  gained  through  associ- 
ation with  agricultural  and  live-stock  industry 
in  Gage  county  a  generous  measure  of  success, 
and  though  his  financial  resources  when  he 
came  to  Nebraska  were  of  most  limited  order 
he  so  directed  his  activities  that  at  "the  time 
of  his  death,  January  16,  1910,  he  was  the 
owner  of  a  valuabled  landed  estate  of  three 
hundred  and  sixty  acres,  in  Hanover  town- 
ship. 

Mr.  Aden  was  born  in  Hanover,  Germany, 
August  18,  1853,  and  was  there  reared  and 
educated.  As  an  ambitious  youth  of  eighteen 
years  he  immigrated  to  America  and  made  his 
way  to  the  state  of  Illinois,  where  he  was  em- 
ployed by  the  month  at  farm  work  for  some 
time  and  where  he  continued  his  residence 
until  1872,  when  he  came  to  Gage  county,  Ne- 
braska, where,  after  having  been  for  three 
years  identified  with  farm  enterprise  as  an  em- 
ploye, he  purchased  eighty  acres  of  unimproved 
land  in  Hanover  township.  His  first  house 
was  a  rude  dug-out  of  the  true  pioneer  type 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


561 


and  with  increasing  prosperity  he  later  con- 
structed a  substantial  frame  house,  which  since 
his  death  has  been  notably  remodeled  and  en- 
larged by  his  widow  and  his  only  son,  who  re- 
main on  the  old  homestead.  Indefatigable  in 
energy  and  careful  and  methodical  in  his  busi- 
ness policies,  Mr.  Aden  achieved  unequivocal 
success  through  his  farm  enterprise,  and  he 
was  one  of  the  representative  citizens  of  Han- 
over township  at  the  time  of  his  death. 

After  coming  to  Gage  county  Mr.  Aden 
wedded  Miss  Annie  Carstens,  a  member  of  an 
influential  pioneer  family  of  this  county,  and 
she  passed  to  eternal  rest  in  1890,  a  zealous 
communicant  of  the  Lutheran  church.  Of  the 
three  children  of  this  union  two  died  in  in- 
fancy and  the  one  surviving  is  Heye  B.,  a  pro- 
gressive and  resourceful  young  man  who  is 
most  efficiently  managing  the  family  farm  es- 
tate, in  Section  35,  Hanover  township,  save 
for  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  in 
Section  32,  which  latter  property  is  rented  to  a 
good  tenant.  As  his  second  wife  Mr.  Aden 
married  Miss  Rachel  Schone,  who  was  born 
in  Adams  county,  Illinois  and  who  remains  on 
the  old  homestead,  as  do  also  her  two  children, 
Elsabe  and  Annie,  who  are  popular  factors  in 
the  social  life  of  the  community.  The  family 
hold  to  the  faith  of  the  Lutheran  church  and 
the  attractive  home  is  known  for  its  gracious 
hospitality  and  good  cheer. 

Heye  B.  Aden,  only  son  of  the  honored  sub- 
ject of  this  memoir,  was  born  on  the  old  home 
farm  of  which  he  now  has  the  active  super- 
vision and  the  date  of  his  nativity  was  Decem- 
ber 26,  1883.  Here  he  has  constantly  main- 
tained his  residence  and  here  he  early  learned 
the  vital  lessons  of  productive  industry,  the 
while  he  made  good  use  of  the  advantages  af- 
forded in  the  public  schools.  He  shows  great 
energy  and  discrimination  in  his  activities  as 
an  agriculturist  and  stock-grower  and  is  a  rep- 
resentative exponent  of  farm  enterprise  in  his 
native  county.  He  brings  to  bear  modem 
policies  in  all  departments  of  his  farm  indus- 
try and  is  committed  firmly  to  the  use  of  the 
automobile.  He  holds  membership  in  the 
Lutheran  church.  He  has  under  his  supervis- 
ion a  fine  farm  estate  of  two  hundred  acres. 


On  June  23,  1917,  was  solemnized  the  mar- 
riage of  Heye  B.  Aden  to  Miss  Margaret 
Rohlfs,  a  daughter  of  Herman  and  Mary 
(Schone)  Rohlfs,  natives  respectively  of  Ger- 
many and  Adams  county,  Illinois.  They  are 
now  living  on  their  fine  farm  of  eighty  acres, 
in  Filley  township.  Gage  county. 

JOHN  NELSON  FULLER  was  born 
February  22,  1831,  at  Paris,  Maine,  but  soon 
afterward  his  parents  removed  to  Livermore, 
Maine,  where  he  grew  to  manhood.  He  was 
a  scion  of  a  sterling  family  that  was  founded 
in  New  England  in  the  colonial  period.  The 
original  Fuller  came  to  this  country  in  1644, 
and  settled  on  the  winding  banks  of  the 
Charles  river,  at  Newton,  now  a  part  of  the 
city  of  Boston. 

As  Newton  is  on  the  direct  road  to  Con- 
cord and  Lexington,  it  is  not  surprising  that 
Mr.  Fullers  grandfather  Aaron  Fuller,  and 
his  two  great-grandfathers,  Elisha  Fuller  and 
Simeon  Pond,  are  known  to  have  been  in  the 
Revolutionary  war,  the  first  mentioned  having 
fought  in  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill.  John  N. 
Fuller  was  graduated  in  Hebron  Academy  and 
in  1857  in  the  historic  Bowdoin  College,  which 
has  given  to  the  country  so  many  illustrious 
sons.  His  schooling  was  gained  by  dint  of  hard 
work  and  perseverance,  which  is  the  common 
story  of  the  countrj'  boy  without  influential 
friends  but  ambitious  for  an  education.  Prior 
to  and  during  his  college  course  he  taught 
school  with  such  success  that  immediately  on 
graduation  he  received  appointment  to  conduct 
teachers"  institutes  under  the  direction  of  the 
state  superintendent  of'  Maine.  The  following 
year  he  became  principal  of  Lewiston  Falls 
Academy,  which  position  he  later  resigned  to 
study  law.  In  due  time  he  was  admitted  to 
the  bar,  but  only  for  a  short  period  was  he 
actively  engaged  in  the  practice  of  law.  Upon 
coming  west  to  Illinois,  in  the  early  '60s,  he 
again  engaged  in  educational  work,  as  princi- 
pal of  schools,  and  county  superintendent,  and 
in  1867,  he  was  professor  of  chemistry  and 
natural  sciences  in  Marshall  College,  at 
Henry,  Illinois. 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  war  Mr.  Fuller 


562 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


responded  to  President  Lincoln's  first  call  for 
volunteers,  and  he  served  in  Company  B 
Eleventh  Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry,  until  his 
discharge. 

On  December  25,  1867,  John  N.  Fuller 
married  Elizabeth  Van  Arsdale,  who  was  born 
April  14,  1848,  at  Fairview,  Illinois,  but  who 
was  reared  in  Henry,  Illinois.  She  is  the 
daughter  of  Peter  Beekman  Van  Arsdale,  and 
his  wife,  Christianna  Van  Der  Veer,  of  Fair- 
view,  Fulton  county,  Illinois,  who  came  west 
in  1838,  to  make  a  home  on  the  unbroken 
prairies  of  Illinois,  —  a  two  months'  journey 
via  flat  boat  down  the  Ohio  river.  They  were 
of  New  Jersey  Dutch  ancestry  that  can  be 
traced  back  to  the  very  earliest  settlers  of  New 
York  and  New  Jersey.  On  account  of  poor 
health  Mr.  Fuller  was  compelled  to  give  up 
his  profession  of  teaching,  and  in  1870  he 
came  to  Nebraska  and  settled  in  the  new  town 
of  Beatrice.  He  was  the  second  superintend- 
ent of  the  Beatrice  schools  and  during  his  brief 
administration  made  a  distinct  and  lasting  im- 
pression on  those  who  came  under  his  instruc- 
tion, or  who  were  associated  with  him  as  teach- 
ers. A  series  of  literary  entertainments  was 
inaugurated  in  which  both  schools  and  citizens 
took  part  and  for  which  an  admission  fee  of 
ten  cents  was  charged.  These  entertainments 
formed  a  prominent  part  in  the  social  life  of 
the  town,  and  the  proceeds  were  sufficient  for 
the  purchase  of  a  school  bell,  the  first  bell  in 
Beatrice,  and  the  first  that  many  of  the 
younger  citizens  had  ever  heard.  For  years 
it  called  the  children,  and  children's  children 
to  school,  —  until  it  was  cracked  in  celebrating 
some  high-school  victory. 

The  following  year  the  family  moved  on  a 
tract  of  land  purchased,  near  the  headwaters 
of  Bear  creek,  thirteen  miles  from  Beatrice, 
where  they  had  their  quota  of  pioneer  expe- 
rience and  hardships.  Mrs.  Fuller,  a  small, 
gentle,  little  woman,  shared  in  the  pioneer  ex- 
periences in  Gage  county,  and  she  has  many 
interesting  reminiscenses  concerning  the  earlier 
period  of  the  county's  history. 

Developing  a  new  farm  is  never  easy.  The 
first  year  grasshoppers  "came  in  a  cloud  that 
darkened  the  sun"  and,  descending,  took  every 


growing  thing,  breaking  down  the  corn  stalks 
with  their  weight,  and  leaving  only  round  holes 
in  the  ground  where  there  had  been  onions. 
They  had  laid  eggs  in  the  plowed  ground  and 
these  eventually  hatched  in  time  to  take  the 
young  crop  of  the  second  season. 

On  June  26,  1875,  the  third  year,  a  dis- 
astrous cyclone  swept  away  all  the  buildings 
and  left  hardly  one  foundation  stone  upon 
another,  the  members  of  the  family  barely  es- 
caping with  their  lives.  Fleeing  to  the  re- 
fuge of  the  cellar  when  the  storm  struck,  Mrs. 
Fuller,  with  the  youngest  child  in  her  arms, 
was  instantly  precipitated  to  the  bottom  of  the 
cellar,  clad  only  in  night  clothes,  unprotected 
in  a  cold,  pouring  rain,  and  with  home  and 
possessions  scattered  like  chaff  by  the  winds. 
Mr.  Fuller's  older  child  fared  not  so  well,  be- 
ing caught  up  with  the  house  and  nearly  killed 
amidst  the  falling  timbers.  Lilia,  with  one 
fair  braid  of  hair  torn  out,  bleeding  from  an 
ugly  three-cornered  gash  in  her  leg  and  stun- 
ned by  a  blow  on  the  temple,  was  dropped  un- 
conscious on  the  brink  of  a  deep-dug  well  from 
which  the  covering  had  been  blown  away.  The 
father,  bruised,  skinned,  with  back  injured  and 
two  ribs  broken,  managed  to  crawl  through  the 
storm  and  darkness  a  half  mile  to  neighbors 
for  assistance. 

But  from  these  same  acres  a  fine  farm  was 
developed,  and  in  time  more  acres  were  added 
to  this  farm  property,  which  valuable  estate  is 
still  in  possession  of  the  family.  Mr.  Fuller 
succeeded  in  having  a  "Star  Route"  postofifice 
established,  and  gave  the  name  Hanover  to  the 
postoffice  and  township  in  honor  of  the  many 
German  neighbors  who  had  left  that  part  of 
Germany  to  become  citizens  of  America.  The 
postoffice  was  for  some  years  at  the  Fuller 
residence.  One  of  the  first  orchards  in  this 
section  was  planted  at  a  time  when  many  fami- 
lies believed  "fruit  would  not  grow  in  Ne- 
braska" and  in  due  time  abundant  crops  as 
high  as  fourteen  hundred  bushels,  afforded 
convincing  proof  that  fruit  could  be  raised. 

After  the  storm  that  had  wrought  havoc, 
as  noted  in  a  preceding  paragraph,  Mr.  Fuller 
built  another  house  on  the  same  spot,  mostly 
with  his  own  hands,  using  many  bits  of  broken 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


563 


lumber  from  the  demolished  house  and  recon- 
structing the  furniture  from  splintered  frag- 
ments and  native  black  walnut  trees  uprooted 
by  the  tornado.  Naturally  he  and  his  wife 
were  discouraged,  and  Mr.  Fuller  offered  his 
two  cows  (all  they  had)  to  anyone  who  would 
bring  a  purchaser  for  his  farm  at  the  very  mod- 
est price  that  he  would  be  glad  to  get,  but  no 
purchaser  could  be  found.  On  this  home- 
stead he  and  his  family  resided  until,  in  1888, 
they  moved  to  Beatrice  to  educate  the  children. 
At  this  time  the  present  home  on  Lincoln 
street  was  built  and  here  Mr.  Fuller  lived 
continuously,  giving  a  general  supervision  to 
his  farm  property  and  business  affairs,  until 
his  death,  November  12,  1905,  of  valvular 
heart  trouble.  He  was  seventy-four  years  of 
age  at  the  time  of  his  death  and  is  survived 
by  his  widow  and  two  daughters,  Julia  and 
Mary.  The  oldest  daughter,  Lilia,  having  died 
at  the  age  of  ten  years.  The  family  are  found 
active  in  promoting  the  intellectual,  civic  and 
religious  interests  of  the  community,  have 
taken  part  in  encouraging  the  Young  Woman's 
Christian  Association  and  welfare  work  and 
are  identified  with  all  patriotic  and  philan- 
thropic movements.  Julia  has  been  an  officer 
in  local  and  state  woman's  clubs  and  is  chair- 
man of  Woman's  Council  of  Defense  in  Gage 
county  under  the  war  conditions  existing  in 
1918.  Mary  has  been  deeply  interested  in  wel- 
fare and  reform  work  and  has  the  distinction 
of  introducing  probation  work  and  being  the 
first  probation  officer  sewing  for  the  volun- 
teers. From  1915  to  1917  she  served  as  chief 
probation  officer  of  the  county. 

Of  all  that  implies  strong  and  noble  man- 
hood Mr.  Fuller  stood  exemplar,  and  he  was 
well  qualified  for  leadership  in  public  sentiment 
and  action.  He  bore  his  share  of  the  tension 
incidental  to  pioneer  life  in  Gage  county,  was 
vitally  loyal  to  the  best  interests  of  the  com- 
munity. He  was  an  able  advocate  of  the 
principles  of  the  Republican  party,  was  active 
in  public  affairs  in  Gage  county,  and  he  repre- 
sented, with  characteristic  ability,  this  county 
in  the  twentieth  general  assembly  of  the  Ne- 
braska legislature,  in  1887.  His  well  worn 
volumes  of  classics  and  both  modern  and  an- 


cient Latin  and  Greek  testify  to  his  literary 
tastes,  and  he  was  keenly  interested  in  the 
latest  scientific  and  political  news  of  the  day, 
watching  the  trend  of  modern  thought  always, 
with  keen  eye  to  future  developments.  He 
was  a  man  who  thought  and  studied,  who  read 
widely  and  discriminatingly,  and  who  fortified 
himself  thoroughly  in  his  convictions.  He  had 
deep  reverence  for  the  spiritual  verities  of  the 
Christian  religion,  but  was  not  formally  iden- 
tified with  any  church  organization.  He  was 
always  keenly  alive  to  all  questions  of  civic 
interest,  fearless  in  espousing  what  he  believed 
right,  and  convincing  in  saying  what  he 
thought.  Of  him  a  fellow  townsman  wrote: 
"He  was  rugged  in  his  honesty  and  as  unbend- 
ing in  his  integrity  as  the  rocks  that  guard  the 
coast  of  his  native  state.  He  early  learned 
those  rules  of  honesty,  thrift  and  frugality 
that  led  him  to  deal  as  squarely  with  others 
as  he  desired  them  to  deal  with  him.  He  more 
nearly  represented  the  genuine  typical  New 
Englander  that  laid  the  foundations  of  state 
and  nation  than  any  other  man  who  ever  lived 
in  our  midst." 


CLARENCE  S.  WARREN.  — A  well 
known,  influential,  and  popular  citizen  of  Be- 
atrice, Mr.  Warren  has  been  a  resident  of  Ne- 
braska since  he  was  a  lad  of  fourteen  years 
and  in  his  initiative  energy  and  business  activ- 
ities he  has  kept  pace  with  the  vital  march  of 
progress  in  this  favored  commonwealth,  where 
his  capitalistic  and  real-estate  interests  are  now 
large  and  important.  He  gives  the  major  part 
of  his  time  and  attention  to  the  management 
of  the  large  estate  left  by  his  honored  father 
and  to  that  which  he  has  accumulated  through 
his  own  effective  operations.  Mr.  Warren  be- 
came a  prominent  exponent  of  live-stock  indus- 
try and  did  much  to  raise  the  grade  of 
stock  raised  in  this  state,  his  attitude  being 
essentially  that  of  a  broad-gauged,  liberal  and 
progressive  citizen  and  in  the  management  of 
his  valuable  real-estate  holdings  in  Gage 
county  he  is  contributing  much  to  the  civic 
and  industrial  prosperity  of  the  county,  his 
status  as  a  citizen  and  man  of  affairs  being 
such  as  to  make  specially  consistent  the  recog- 


564 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


nition  accorded  to  him  in  this  history  of  Gage 
county  and  the  state  of  Nebraska. 

Mr.  Warren  was  born  on  his  father's  old 
homestead  farm  near  Minonk,  Woodford 
county,  IlHnois,  and  the  date  of  his  nativity 
was  August  21,  1872.  He  is  a  son  of  John 
and  Mary  (Arrowsmith)  Warren,  both  rep- 
resentatives of  sterling  pioneer  families  of 
Illinois,  in  which  state  their  marriage  was  sol- 
emnized, both  having  been  natives  of  England. 
John  Warren  was  born  at  Barnstable,  Eng- 
land, in  1840,  and  he  bore  the  full  patronymic 
of  his  father,  John  Warren,  who  came  with 
his  family  from  England  and  settled  in  Illi- 
nois prior  to  the  Civil  war,  both  he  and  his 
wife  having  passed  the  remainder  of  their 
lives  in  that  state,  where  he  gave  his  attention 
to  farming  until  his  death,  as  did  also  George 
Arrowsmith,  who  likewise  came  from  Eng- 
land and  became  a  farmer  in  Illinois  a  num- 
ber of  years  before  the  Civil  war,  the  latter 
having  been  the  maternal  grandfather  of  the 
subject  of  this  review  and  having  reared  a 
family  of  ten  children;  both  he  and  his  wife 
remained  in  Illinois  until  their  death.  Mrs. 
Mary  (Arrowsmith)  Warren  was  still  com- 
paratively a  young  woman  at  the  time  of  her 
death,  which  occurred  in  Woodford  county, 
Illinois,  on  the  11th  of  November,  1879,  her 
birth  having  occurred  in  Devonshire,  England, 
in  1843.  Of  the  three  children  of  John  and 
Mary  (Arrowsmith)  Warren  one  died  in  in- 
fancy and  Florence  A.  died  at  the  age  of 
twenty-three  years,  in  1891,  at  Beatrice,  Ne- 
braska, so  that  the  only  survivor  is  the  sub- 
ject of  this  review.  The  father  eventually 
contracted  a  second  marriage,  by  his  union 
with  Miss  Lena  F.  Huntling,  who  survives 
him  and  resides  in  Omaha,  Nebraska,  the  two 
children  of  this  marriage  being  Myrtle  and 
Frank,  both  residents  of  the  city  of  Omaha. 
John  Warren,  father  of  him  whose  name 
initiates  this  sketch,  was  reared  and  educated 
in  England  and  was  about  twenty  years  of  age 
when  he  accompanied  his  father  to  America 
and  became  a  resident  of  Illinois,  in  1860. 
Through  his  active  association  with  agricul- 
tural industry  in  that  state  he  laid  the  founda- 
tion of  his  worthy  success  as  a  man  of  af- 


fairs, and  entirely  through  his  own  ability  and 
eiiorts  he  accumulated  a  large  and  valuable 
estate.  His  self-reliance  was  on  a  parity  with 
his  ambition,  and  this  was  clearly  demon- 
strated when  he  purchased  an  entire  section 
of  land  in  Woodford  county,  Illinois,  at  a 
time  when  his  capitalistic  resources  were  rep- 
sented  almost  entirely  in  determination,  am- 
bition, and  sturdy  integrity  of  purpose.  He 
borrowed  the  money  with  which  to  make  pay- 
ment on  the  land  and  paid  ten  per  cent,  in- 
terest on  the  same.  Such  an  indomitable  per- 
sonality could  not  remain  inert  or  obscure, 
and  the  genius  of  success  was  an  intrinsic  ele- 
ment of  his  makeup,  as  fully  attested  by  the 
large  and  worthy  achievement  that  was  his 
during  the  years  of  a  significantly  active  and 
productive  career.  Mr.  Warren  coupled  his 
agricultural  activities  with  the  buying  and 
shipping  of  grain  and  as  early  as  1878  he  came 
to  Nebraska  and  purchased  a  tract  of  land  in 
Gage  county.  However,  he  thereafter  con- 
tinued his  residence  in  Woodford  county,  Illi- 
nois, until  1886,  when  he  came  with  his  family 
to  Gage  county  and  established  a  home  in 
Beatrice,  where  he  passed  the  residue  of  his 
life  and  where  his  death  occurred  on  the  15th 
of  February,  1908.  Mr.  Warren  played  a 
sturdy  part  in  connection  with  the  develop- 
ment and  progress  of  this  section  of  the  state, 
along  both  civic  and  industrial  lines,  and  at 
the  time  of  his  demise  he  was  the  owner  of  six 
sections  of  land  —  nearly  all  in  Gage  county. 
He  was  indefatigable  in  making  improvements 
upon  his  various  farm  properties  and  in  bring- 
ing them  up  to  the  best  modern  standard  of 
productivity,  the  while  he  made  his  influence 
definitely  helpful  in  the  furtherance  of  mea- 
sures and  enterprises  advanced  for  the  gen- 
eral good  of  the  community,  his  political  al- 
legiance having  been  given  to  the  Democratic 
party,  though  he  had  no  desire  for  public 
office,  and  his  religious  faith  having  been  that 
of  the  Christian  church :  his  first  wife  was 
an  earnest  member  of  the  Baptist  church. 
John  Warren  gave  to  the  world  assurance  of 
strong  and  worthy  manhood  and  showed  his 
stewardship  in  fruitful  achievement  along  the- 
normal  lines  of  enterprise  in  which  he  directed 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


565 


his  splendid  energies.  He  commanded  at  all 
times  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  his  fellow 
m.en  and  was  one  of  the  honored  and  influen- 
tial citizens  of  Gage  county  at  the  time  of  his 
demise. 

Clarence  S.  Warren  acquired  his  early  edu- 
cation in  the  public  schools  of  Illinois  and 
continued  his  studies  in  the  city  schools  of 
Beatrice,  Nebraska,  where  the  family  home 
was  established  when  he  was  about  fourteen 
years  of  age.  For  a  number  of  years  there- 
after he  assisted  in  the  work  of  his  father's 
farm  properties,  and  in  the  meanwhile  he  de- 
veloped the  admirable  initiative  and  executive 
ability  that  has  been  exemplified  so  potently 
in  the  later  stages  of  his  career.  As  a  youth 
Mr.  Warren  had  a  measure  of  experience  as  a 
bookkeeper  and  clerk  at  Beatrice,  but  in  1892 
he  went  to  southwestern  Nebraska  and  started 
an  extensive  stock  ranch.  There  he  adopted 
the  most  progressive  policies  in  the  raising  of 
thoroughbred  cattle  and  Poland-China  hogs, 
and  he  developed  a  prosperous  enterprise  in 
this  important  field.  Incidental  to  his  opera- 
tions he  purchased  an  entire  section  of  land, 
in  Jefl^erson  county,  and  of  this  property  he  is 
still  the  owner.  From  his  well  improved 
ranch  he  made  regular  shipments  of  live  stock 
to  Kansas  City  and  St.  Joseph,  Missouri,  and 
he  continued  his  active  regulation  of  the  busi- 
ness for  nine  years.  He  then  returned  to 
Beatrice,  to  assist  in  the  management  of  his 
father's  business,  and  since  the  death  of  his 
father  he  has  had  virtually  the  sole  manage- 
ment of  the  large  family  estate. 

Though  distinctively  loyal  and  public-spirit- 
ed in  his  civic  attitude  and  taking  a  lively  in- 
terest in  public  affairs,  Mr.  Warren  has  had 
no  desire  to  enter  the  arena  of  practical  poli- 
tics and  is  not  constrained  by  partisan  lines, 
as  he  prefers  to  give  his  support  to  men  and 
measures  meeting  the  approval  of  his  judg- 
ment, irrespective  of  political  affiliations  in- 
volved. In  1907  Mr.  Warren  erected  his  at- 
tractive residence,  at  806  North  Ninth  street, 
and  this  is  not  only  one  of  the  finest  homes  in 
Beatrice  but  is  also  known  as  a  center  of 
gracious  hospitality.  Mr.  Warren  is  affiliated 
with  both  York  and  Scottish  Rite  bodies  of 


the  Masonic  fraternity,  in  the  former  of  which 
his  maximum  alliance  is  with  Mount  Herman 
Commandery  of  Knights  Templars,  and  he  is 
affiliated  also  with  the  adjunct  Masonic  or- 
ganization, the  Mystic  Shrine,  as  well  as  with 
the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows  and 
the  Benevolent  &  Protective  Order  of  Elks. 
Both  he  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Bap- 
tist church. 

In  the  year  1895  was  solemnized  the  mar- 
riage of  Mr.  Warren  to  Miss  Gertrude  C. 
Tipton,  who  was  born  at  Glenwood,  Iowa,  and 
the  three  children  of  this  union  are  John  C, 
Maxwell  S.,  and  Clifford  E.,  the  two  younger 
sons  being  students  in  the  public  schools  of 
Beatrice  at  the  time  of  this  writing,  in  the 
spring  of  1918,  and  the  eldest  son,  John  C, 
being  numbered  among  the  patriotic  young 
men  preparing  for  active  service  with  the 
American  forces  in  the  great  European  war: 
at  the  time  of  the  preparation  of  this  article 
he  is  stationed  at  Deming,  New  Mexico,  as  a 
member  of  the  medical  corps  of  the  One  Hun- 
dred and  Thirty-fourth  United  States  In- 
fantry. 

SAMUEL  LEONARD  PYLE  is  one  of 
the  honored  pioneers  and  successful  farmers 
of  Paddock  township.  He  is  a  native  of  New 
Jersey  and  was  born  January  9,  1839.  His 
father,  Samuel  Leonard  Pyle,  likewise  was 
born  in  New  Jersey,  and  in  1845  he  sought  a 
home  in  what  was  then  considered  the  far 
west.  In  Lee  county,  Illinois,  he  secured  a 
homestead.  He  became  one  of  the  substantial 
farmers  of  that  county  and  there  he  passed 
away  at  the  age  of  eighty-two  years.  He  mar- 
ried Emeline  Moffit,  a  native  of  New  Jersey, 
and  she  was  seventy-six  years  of  age  at  the 
time  of  her  death,  which  occurred  in  Illinois. 

Samuel  Leonard  Pyle,  the  subject  of  this 
record,  was  a  lad  of  seven  summers  when  the 
family  home  was  established  in  Illinois,  and 
he  was  there  reared  to  the  sturdy  discipline 
of  a  pioneer  farm,  his  time  being  divided  be- 
tween study  in  the  district  school  and  the 
tasks  on  the  farm. 

In  1860,  when  twenty-one  years  of  age,  he 
drove   a   herd   of   cows   across   the  plains   in 


566 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


company  with  some  other  young  men,  and 
finally  went  to  Denver,  Colorado.  Young 
Pyle  spent  two  years  in  the  mountains  and 
then  returned  to  Illinois.  In  1865  he  went  to 
Rock  Island  county,  that  state,  and  engaged  in 
farming,  remaining  there  until  the  fall  of 
1879,  when  he  came  to  Nebraska  and  filed  on 
eighty  acres  of  land  in  Paddock  township, 
Gage  county.  This  land  had  only  recently 
been  opened  for  settlement,  having  previously 
been  in  possession  of  the  Otoe  Indians.  In 
the  spring  of  1880  Mr.  Pyle  brought  his  wife 
to  the  new  country.  Their  first  home  was  an 
upright  board  shanty,  fourteen  by  sixteen  feet 
in  dimensions,  and  in  this  they  lived  for  sev- 
eral years.  They  were  in  very  moderate 
financial  circumstances.  Their  first  cow, 
bought  after  they  arrived  in  Gage  county,  was 
staked  out  with  a  lariat,  before  any  fences 
had  been  built. 

Mr.  Pyle  devoted  his  energies  to  improving 
and  cultivating  the  land,  and  in  due  time  was 
reaping  golden  harvests  for  the  intelligent 
labor  bestowed  upon  the  fields.  Later  he  was 
able  to  add  to  his  possessions  another  eighty 
acres,  and  to-day  the  farm  consists  of  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres,  in  Section  I.  The 
improvements  on  this  farm  are  first-class,  con- 
sisting of  two  residence  and  good  outbuild- 
ings. Mr.  Pyle  has  now  laid  aside  the  more 
active  work,  placing  the  mantle  upon  the 
shoulders  of  his  son,  who  operates  the  place 
in  his  own  interests. 

On  December  25,  1864,  Mr.  Pyle  was 
united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Cornelia  William- 
son, who  was  born  in  the  state  of  New  York, 
her  natal  day  having  been  January  10,  1846. 
Her  parents,  Jacob  and  Sophia  (Ray)  Wil- 
liamson, were  likewise  natives  of  the  Empire 
state,  and  were  among  the  early  settlers  in 
Lee  county,  Illinois,  where  they  passed  the 
remainder  of  their  lives.  The  marriage  oi 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pyle  was  blessed  with  three 
children :  Franklin  died  at  the  age  of  four 
years;  Cora  is  the  wife  of  Charles  Miller,  a 
farmer  in  Sicily  township ;  and  Edwin,  who 
married  Cora  Fye,  operates  the  old  home 
farm:  he  and  his  wife  have  a  winsome  little 
daughter,  Mildred. 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pyle  have  seen  this  region 
transformed  from  wild,  unbroken  prairie  into 
beautiful  farms,  dotted  with  innumerable 
homes,  with  here  and  there  thriving  villages. 
Wymore  was  not  in  existence  when  they  came, 
and  they  saw  that  hustling  town  when  the 
streets  were  in  the  cornfields.  By  careful 
management  and  unceasing  energy  in  these 
thirty-eight  years  this  worthy  pioneer  couple 
justly  deserve  the  reward  that  permits  them 
to  spend  their  declining  years  in  ease  and  com- 
fort. They  have  both  passed  the  psalmist's 
allotted  three  score  and  ten  years,  and  both 
are  still  hale  and  hearty,  provided  with  all  the 
necessities  and  many  of  the  luxuries  of  life, 
and  enjoying  the  just  returns  from  intelli- 
gently directed  efifort  in  the  years  that  have 
passed. 


HARVEY  W.  GIDDINGS,  whose  death 
occurred  at  his  attractive  farm  home  in  Mid- 
land township,  was  a  pioneer  citizen  of  Ne- 
braska and  was  a  man  whose  fine  qualities  of 
mind  and  heart  caused  him  to  view  with  ex- 
ceptional equanimity  financial  reverses  and 
other  adverse  conditions  and  to  find  in  the 
same  but  a  spur  to  renewed  and  more  vigor- 
ous effort.  He  left  a  deep  impress  upon  the 
history  of  farm  enterprise  in  Gage  county, 
here  achieved  large  and  worthy  success  and 
here  held  his  direct  and  upright  course  in  such 
a  way  as  to  merit  and  received  the  unqualified 
esteem  of  his  fellow  men. 

The  eldest  in  a  family  of  eleven  children, 
nine  of  whom  attained  to  adult  age,  Harvey 
W.  Giddings  was  born  in  McKean  township, 
Erie  county,  Pennsylvania,  January  11,  1830. 
and  was  a  son  of  John  W.  and  Hannah  (Staf- 
ford) Giddings,  the  former  a  native  of  Massa- 
chusetts and  the  latter  of  the  state  of  New^ 
York.  The  lineage  of  the  Giddings  family 
traces  back  to  the  staunchest  of  Scottish 
origin  and  the  founder  of  the  American  line 
was  the  great-grandfather  of  the  subject  of 
this  memoir,  he  having  come  to  America  when 
a  young  man.  The  Stafford  family  is  of  Eng- 
lish origin.  In  1840  John  W.  Giddings  re- 
moved with  his  family  to  Illinois  and  became 
a  pioneer  settler  in  \A'arren  county,  where  he 


568 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


became  a  prosperous  farmer,  his  death  occur- 
ring in  1881,  when  he  was  seventy-seven  years 
of  age,  and  his  widow  having  passed  away  in 
1885,  at  the  age  of  seventy-six  years.  Harvey 
W.  Giddings,  with  an  exceptionally  receptive 
mind,  made  the  best  possible  use  of  the  ad- 
vantages of  the  common  schools  of  Illinois, 
and  it  is  a  matter  of  record  that  he  was  but 
four  years  old  when  he  began  to  attend  school 
in  Pennsylvania,  he  having  been  about  ten 
years  of  age  at  the  time  of  the  family  removal 
to  Illinois.  He  remained  at  the  parental  home 
and  assisted  in  the  work  of  the  farm  until  he 
had  attained  to  the  age  of  twenty-five  years. 
He  then  returned  to  Pennsylvania  and  wedded 
Miss  Rebecca  E.  McClure,  who  had  been  one 
of  his  childhood  schoolmates.  She  was  born 
in  Pennsylvania,  October  16,  1836,  a  daugh- 
ter of  George  W.  and  Elizabeth  (Shirer)  Mc- 
Clue,  the  former  a  native  of  Ireland  and  the 
latter  of  Holland,  the  closing  years  of  their 
lives  having  been  passed  in  Illinois,  where 
they  established  their  home  in  1865.  After 
their  marriage  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Giddings  estab- 
lished themselves  in  the  pleasant  home  which 
he  had  provided  for  their  use,  and  with  the 
passing  years  he  accumulated  in  Illinois  a 
valuable  landed  estate  of  nine  thousand  acres. 
His  faith  in  others  led  to  his  assuming  for 
them  heavy  financial  responsibility,  and  on  ac- 
count of  being  compelled  to  pay  these  large 
obligations  for  others  he  became  virtually 
bankrupt.  Under  these  depressing  conditions 
Mr.  Giddings  girded  himself  anew  and  with 
characteristic  courage  prepared  to  retrieve  his 
fortunes.  In  the  spring  of  1874  he  came  with 
his  family  to  Nebraska  and  rented  land  in 
Bufifalo  county.  His  first  crop  was  destroyed 
by  grasshoppers  and  the  outlook  would  have 
brought  utmost  discouragement  to  the  average 
man.  This  sturdy  pioneer,  however,  was  not 
to  be  bafifled,  and  finally,  in  1876,  he  came  to 
Gage  county,  where  he  operated  for  a  time 
on  leased  land.  He  then  established  himself 
on  a  ranch  of  twelve  hundred  acres  owned  by 
the  Kansas  &  Missouri  Stage  Company,  and 
here  he  broke  and  placed  under  cultivation 
more  than  four  hundred  acres,  all  of  which 
he  fenced  with  wire.     Unequivocal  prosperity 


attended  his  energetic  activities  and  he  re  • 
niained  on  this  ranch  six  years.  In  the  mean- 
while, in  1879,  he  purchased  two  hundred  and 
forty  acres,  in  Midland  township,  and  to  the 
same  he  removed  with  his  family  in  1882.  He 
developed  this  into  one  of  the  model  farms  of 
the  county,  and  extended  his  operations  by 
the  leasing  of  additional  land.  He  thus  uti- 
lized six  hundred  acres,  and  his  activities  were 
carried  on  with  discrimination  and  good  judg- 
ment, he  having  been  a  large  grower  of  the 
various  cereals,  as  well  as  flax,  having  con- 
ducted a  substantial  dairying  business  and 
having  raised  cattle  on  a  large  scale.  He  was 
a  leader  in  the  promotion  of  effective  farm  en- 
terprise in  this  section  of  the  state,  and  was 
the  staunch  and  loyal  supporter  of  education, 
of  churches  and  of  all  other  things  making 
for  civic  wellbeing,  his  political  allegiance 
having  been  given  to  the  RepubHcan  party 
and  his  wife  having  held  to  the  faith  of 
the  Presbyterian  church.  They  became  the 
parents  of  ten  children :  Flora  E.  died 
March  3,  1883 ;  Carrie,  on  the  22d  of  April, 
1882;  Edwin  on  the  16th  of  November,  1884; 
and  Carl  and  Rebecca  E.  likewise  are  de- 
ceased; Jennie  is  the  wife  of  James  Kerr,  a 
retired  farmer  residing  in  the  city  of  Denver, 
Colorado;  S.  E.  is  individually  mentioned  on 
other  pages  of  this  history ;  Harry  is  a  far- 
mer one  mile  east  of  Beatrice;  Susie  is  the 
wife  of  A.  C.  Calhoun,  of  McCook,  this  state : 
and  Ralph  is  associated  with  banking  business 
at  Missoula,  Montana. 

JACOB  A.  KLEIN.  —  Both  as  a  represen- 
tative business  man  and  loyal  and  progressive 
citizen  is  Mr.  Klein  well  upholding  the  pres- 
tige of  a  name  that  has  been  long  and  signifi- 
cantly honored  in  Gage  county,  and  he  is 
vice-president  of  Klein's  Mercantile  Com- 
pany, which  conducts,  in  his  native  city  of 
Beatrice,  one  of  the  leading  department  stores 
in  this  section  of  Nebraska.  Of  his  father 
specific  mention  is  made  on  other  pages  of  this 
publication,  and  in  that  connection  is  given 
adequate  review  also  of  the  business  conducted 
under  the  corporate  title  noted. 

Mr.  Klein  was  born  at  Beatrice,  this  county, 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


569 


on  the  13th  of  August,  1873,  and  is  the  eldest 
of  the  three  sons  of  Jacob  Klein,  who  is  still 
the  executive  head  of  the  Klein's  Mercantile 
Company.  Mr.  Klein  profited  fully  by  the  ad- 
vantages afforded  in  the  excellent  public 
schools  of  Beatrice  and  as  a  youth  began  to 
assist  in  his  father's  store.  He  has  literally 
grown  up  in  the  business  and  has  matured  his 
discrimination  and  administrative  ability  as  a 
merchant,  with  the  result  that  he  exercises 
large  influence  in  the  conducting  and  directing 
of  the  large  and  thriving  mercantile  business 
with  which  he  has  been  identified  during  the 
entire  course  of  his  active  career.  He  has  been 
vice-president  of  Klein's  Mercantile  Company 
from  the  time  of  its  incorporation,  in  1901. 

The  local  ranks  of  the  Democratic  party  find 
Mr.  Klein  aligned  as  a  staunch  supporter  of 
the  cause  for  which  the  now  dominant  party 
stands  sponsor,  and  he  has  been  active  and  in- 
fluential in  the  furtherance  of  the  party  cause. 
Recognition  of  this  fact  has.  been  officially 
shown  by  his  being  retained  as  a  colonel  on  the 
military  staff  of  Governor  Moorhead  and  later 
on  that  of  Governor  Neville.  He  is  an  appre- 
ciative and  popular  member  of  the  Beatrice 
Lodge  of  the  Benevolent  &  Protective  Order 
of  Elks,  his  religious  faith  is  that  of  the  Lu- 
theran church,  under  the  influences  of  which 
he  was  reared,  and  his  wife  is  an  active  mem- 
ber of  the  Presbyterian  church:  they  are 
leaders  in  the  social  activities  of  the  city  of 
Beatrice  and  delight  in  extending  to  their 
many  friends  the  hospitality  of  their  pleasant 
home.  The  year  1905  recorded  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  Klein  to  Miss  Myrtle  Grimes,  who  was 
born  at  Holton,  Kansas,  and  who  is  a  daugh- 
ter of  J.  A.  Grimes,  she  having  been  about 
twenty-two  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  the 
family  removal  to  Beatrice.  Mr.  and  Mrs 
Klein  have  two  children — -Alan,  who  was 
bom  in  the  year  1906,  and  Jean,  who  was  born 
in  1915. 

LUDWIG  MOSCHEL.  who  came  to  Gage 
county  in  1875  and  who  here  won  substantial 
success  through  his  vigorous  association  with 
farm  enterprise,  passed  the  closing  years  of 
his  life  in  the  city  of  Beatrice,  where  he  died 


in  1915  and  where  his  widow  still  maintains 
her  home.  He  was  a  man  of  strong  mind,  of 
determined  purpose  and  of  untiring  industry, 
a  citizen  of  sterling  worth  and  one  who  com- 
manded unqualified  popular  esteem. 

Mr.  Moschel  was  born  at  Webensheim, 
Bavaria,  Germany,  on  the  12th  of  November, 
1843,  a  son  of  Christian  and  Margaret 
(Schantz)  Moschel.  He  received  in  his  na- 
tive land  excellent  educational  advantages  and 
was  an  ambitious  youth  of  seventeen  years 
when  he  came  to  America  and  established  his 
residence  in  Illinois.  There,  in  the  year  1869, 
was  solemnized  his  marriage  to  Miss  Catherine 
Klein,  who  was  born  in  Bavaria,  Germany, 
June  24,  1849,  and  who  was  a  girl  at  the  time 
when  she  came  with  her  parents  to  the  United 
States,  the  family  home  being  established  in 
Illinois  :  she  is  a  sister  of  Jacob  Klein,  of  whom' 
definite  mention  is  made  on  other  pages,  with 
adequate  incidental  record  concerning  the  fam- 
ily. The  father  of  Mr.  Moschel  was  a  cabinet- 
maker by  trade  and  passed  his  entire  life  in 
Germany.  In  1860  the  widowed  mother  came 
with  her  seven  children  to  the  United  States 
and  settlement  was  made  on  a  farm  a  few 
miles  distant  from  Peoria,  Illinois,  in  which 
state  she  passed  the  remainder  of  her  life. 

After  his  marriage  Mr.  Moschel  continued 
his  association  with  farm  activities  in  Illinois 
until  1875,  when  he  came  with  his  family  to 
Gage  county.  He  had  sufficient  money  to 
make  partial  payment  on  a  farm  of  eighty 
acres,  three  miles  north  of  Beatrice,  and  his 
industry  and  good  management  brought  to 
him  gratifying  success  in  the  years  that  fol- 
lowed. He  accumulated  and  improved  a  fine 
farm  estate  of  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres 
and  continued  as  one  of  the  representative 
agriculturists  and  stock-growers  of  Midland 
township  until  1907,  when  he  retired  and  es- 
tablished his  home  in  Beatrice,  where  his 
death  occurred  eight  years  later.  He  took 
loyal  interest  in  community  affairs,  was  a 
Democrat  in  politics  and  while  residing  on  his 
farm  he  served  as  a  member  of  the  school 
board.  His  religious  faith  was  that  of  the 
Lutheran  church,  of  which  his  widow  likewise 
is  a  devoted  communicant. 


570 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


In  conclusion  of  this  memoir  is  given  brief 
record  concerning  the  children  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Moschel:  Lena  is  the  wife  of  Emory 
Ellis  and  they  reside  on  the  old  homestead 
farm  of  her  father;  August  L.  is  a  carpenter 
by  trade  and  is  engaged  in  contracting  and 
building  operations  in  the  city  of  Beatrice; 
Catherine  remains  with  her  widowed  mother ; 
Albert  C.  resides  in  the  city  of  Lincoln  and  is 
a  traveling  commercial  salesman ;  Emma  re- 
mains with  her  mother;  Bertha  L.  is  the  wife 
of  Albert  Pretzer,  residing  three  miles  north 
of  Beatrice ;  Ida  is  the  wife  of  August  Pret- 
zer, a  prosperous  farmer  in  Midland  town- 
ship;  and  Lizzie  L.  died  in  1881,  at  the  age  of 
eight  years. 

DAVID  G.  GRIFFITHS,  M.  D.,  the  ef^- 
cient  and  honored  superintendent  of  the  Ne- 
braska Institution  for  Feeble  Minded  Youth, 
at  Beatrice,  is  a  representative  of  one  of  the 
well  known  pioneer  families  of  Richardson 
county,  this  state,  where  he  was  born  Novem- 
ber 27,  1875,  a  son  of  David  and  Mary  Ellen 
(Young)  Griffiths,  the  former  of  whom  was 
born  in  Pennsylvania,  in  1845,  and  the  latter 
in  Wisconsin,  in  1851.  The  marriage  of  the 
parents  was  solemnized  in  Wisconsin,  and  in 
1869  they  established  their  home  in  the  new 
state  of  Nebraska,  Mr.  Griffiths  having  pre- 
viously visited  the  state  and  having  obtained  a 
tract  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land 
in  Richardson  county.  To  this  he  gradually 
added  until  he  had  accumulated  and  improved 
a  valuable  landed  estate  of  four  hundred  acres, 
which  he  still  owns.  About  a  decade  ago  he 
retired  from  his  farm  and  he  and  his  wife 
have  since  maintained  their  home  in  the  vil- 
lage of  Verdon,  Richardson  county.  They 
made  the  journey  from  Wisconsin  to  Nebras- 
l<a  with  team  and  covered  wagon  and  by  his 
■energy  and  good  management  he  here  achieved 
large  and  worthy  success.  David  Griffiths  was 
a  valiant  soldier  of  the  Union  in  the  Civil  war, 
and  was  wounded  severely  in  the  right  shoul- 
der, the  injury  having  been  such  as  permanent- 
ly to  cripple  his  right  arm.  Of  the  six  children 
four  are  living:  Daniel  is  a  farmer  near  Ver- 
don,   Richardson   county;   David   G.,   of   this 


review,  is  the  next  younger  son ;  Edward  is  a 
successful  exponent  of  farm  industry  near 
Verdon;  and  Florence  is  the  wife  of  William 
H.  Henderson,  a  farmer  in  the  same  locality. 
The  parents  are  active  members  of  the  Con- 
gregational church.  David  Griffiths  holds  af- 
filiation with  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic, 
and  in  politics  he  is  a  staunch  Republican. 
While  on  his  farm  he  served  in  various  town- 
ship offices.  His  father,  Daniel  Griffiths,  was 
born  in  Wales  and  came  to  the  United  States 
in  the  early  '40s,  first  settling  in  Pennsylvania 
and  finally  removing  with  his  family  to  Wis- 
consin, where  he  passed  the  remainder  of  his 
life. 

Dr.  David  G.  Griffiths  was  afforded  in  his 
youth  excellent  educational  advantages,  and 
after  having  been  a  student  in  the  Nebraska 
State  Normal  School  at  Peru  he  entered  the 
medical  department  of  the  University  of  Ne- 
braska, in  which  he  was  graduated  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  class  of  1902.  After  thus  receiving 
his  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine  he  engaged 
in  the  practice  of  his  profession  at  Verdon,  in 
his  native  county.  Three  years  later  he  removed 
to  Falls  City,  and  after  having  there  been  en- 
gaged in  practice  about  eighteen  months  he 
went  to  the  city  of  Lincoln,  which  constituted 
the  stage  of  his  successful  professional  activ- 
ities until  1913.  In  the  year  last  mentioned  he 
became  pathologist  at  the  Nebraska  State  Hos- 
pital for  the  Insane,  and  this  position  he  re- 
tained until  February  1,  1916,  when  he  as- 
sumed his  present  responsible  and  exacting 
office,  that  of  superintendent  of  the  Nebraska 
Institution  for  Feeble  Minded  Youth.  The 
Doctor  has  given  close  study  to  the  care  and 
uplifting  of  the  unfortunate  wards  of  this 
admirable  institution,  the  number  of  inmates 
being  about  six  hundred,  and  his  effective  ad- 
ministration is  fully  justifying  his  appoint- 
ment to  the  position. 

In  1902  was  solemnized  the  marriage  of 
Dr.  Griffiths  to  Miss  Nora  Moore,  who  was 
born  in  Kansas,  a  daughter  of  John  and  Katie 
(Eby)  Moore,  who  now  reside  at  Wymore, 
Gage  county,  Nebraska,  Mr.  Moore  being  a 
locomotive  engineer  on  the  Chicago,  Burling- 
ton &  Quincy  Railroad.     Dr.  and  Mrs.  Grif- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


571 


fiths  have  but  one  child,  Heath,  who  was  born 
in  1903,  and  who  is  attending  the  Beatrice 
schools. 

Dr.  Griffiths  is  a  valued  member  of  the  Gage 
County  Medical  Society  and  the  Nebraska 
State  Medical  Society,  besides  being  actively 
identified  with  the  American  Medical  Asso- 
ciation. His  political  allegiance  is  given  to 
the  Republican  party,  he  is  affiliated  with  the 
Masonic  fraternity  and  he  and  his  wife  are 
communicants  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
church. 


JOHN  E.  KING.  —  A  worthy  native  son 
of  Gage  county  is  John  Edward  King,  who  is 
operating  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land 
in  Sherman  township. 

Mr.  King  was  born  on  his  father's  farm  in 
Filley  township,  December  29,  1884,  a  son  of 
Charles  W.  King,  deceased,  whose  record  ap- 
pears elsewhere  in  this  volume.  John  E.  King 
was  reared  on  a  farm  and  learned  the  best 
methods  of  tilling  the  soil,  planting  and  har- 
vesting crops,  which  enables  him  to-day  to 
make  a  success  of  his  chosen  calling:. 

I\Ir.  King  was  united  in  marriage,  July  4, 
1914,  to  Miss  Georgia  Starns,  a  native  of  In- 
diana, a  daughter  of  Elijah  Starns,  of  Ham- 
burg, Iowa.  They  are  a  worthy  young  couple, 
who  have  a  host  of  friends  in  Gage  county. 


GEORGE  E.  ZIMMERMAN.  — Hanover 
township  well  merits  its  name,  for  within  its 
borders  are  to  be  found  many  influential  citi- 
zens who  were  bom  in  the  beautiful  province 
of  Hanover,  Germany,  and  who  have  done 
much  in  furthering  the  civic  and  industrial 
development  and  progress  of  Gage  county. 
Among  the  representative  farmers  of  the 
township  who  can  claim  this  ancestral  and 
personal  distinction  is  Mr.  Zimmerman,  who 
was  born  in  Hanover,  Germany,  March  17, 
1856,  a  son  of  Riender  R.  and  Johanna 
(Bless)  Zimmerman,  who  came  with  their 
family  to  America  in  1876  and  settled  in 
Champaign  county,  Illinois.  There  the  father 
farmed  on  rented  land  until  1879,  when  he 
came    to    Nebraska    and    numbered    himself 


among  the  pioneers  of  Gage  county.  He 
bought  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  wild 
prairie  land,  in  Hanover  township,  and  after 
erecting  a  substantial  barn  on  the  place  he 
equipped  the  building  as  a  temporary  resi- 
dence for  his  family.  About  three  years  later 
he  built  a  good  house  on  his  farm.  There 
he  and  his  wife  passed  the  remainder  of  their 
lives,  as  honored  pioneer  citizens,  and  both 
were  earnest  communicants  of  the  German 
Lutheran  church.  Of  their  five  children  the 
subject  of  this  review  is  the  eldest  of  the 
four  surviving;  Etta  is  the  wife  of  John  Job- 
man,  a  retired  farmer  residing  in  the  city  of 
Beatrice ;  Lizzie,  who  resides  in  the  village  of 
Pickrell,  this  county,  is  the  widow  of  John 
Meints;  and  Riender  is  a  prosperous  fanner 
five  miles  east  of  Beatrice. 

George  E.  Zimmerman  acquired  his  youth- 
ful education  in  the  excellent  schools  of  his 
native  land  and  was  seventeen  years  of  age 
when  he  came  to  the  United  States.  For  a 
period  of  about  eighteen  months  he  was  em- 
ployed in  the  railroad  shops  at  Galesburg, 
Illinois,  and  he  then  became  associated  with 
the  tending  of  horses  at  Terre  Haute,  In- 
diana. In  1879  he  came  with  his  parents  to 
Gage  county,  where  he  assisted  in  reclaiming 
and  improving  his  father's  farm  and  where  he 
finally  purchased  eighty  acres  of  land  from 
his  father,  in  Hanover  township.  Of  the  suc- 
cess that  has  attended  his  well  ordered  activ- 
ities as  an  agriculturist  and  stock-grower  no 
further  evidence  is  needed  than  the  fact  that 
he  is  now  the  owner  of  a  well  improved  and 
valuable  farm  estate  of  four  hundred  acres  — 
all  in  this  county.  On  his  homestead  farm  he 
erected  his  present  commodious  and  modem 
house  and  other  buildings  of  the  best  type, 
and  he  is  one  of  the  substantial  citizens  of 
Hanover  township. 

The  year  1880  recorded  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Zimmerman  to  Miss  Rixte  DeBuhr,  who 
likewise  is  a  native  of  Hanover,  Germany,  and 
of  their  six  children  five  are  living:  Johanna 
is  the  wife  of  George  Idines,  a  prosperous 
farmer  of  Logan  township ;  Jennie  is  the  wife 
of  William  Remmers,  who  is  a  farmer  in  Han- 
over  township;    Etta    is    the   wife   of    Harm 


S71 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Idines,  a  farmer  in  Hanover  township ; 
Menne  is  engaged  in  farm  enterprise  five 
miles  east  of  the  village  of  Pickrell;  and  Liz- 
zie is  the  wife  of  Arnold  Behr,  a  farmer  seven 
miles  east  of  Beatrice. 

Mr.  Zimmerman  is  a  man  whose  mental  and 
moral  qualities  well  fortify  him  for  leader- 
ship in  community  affairs,  and  he  is  one  of 
the  honored  and  influential  citizens  of  Han- 
over township.  His  political  allegiance  is 
given  to  the  Democratic  party  and  he  is  serv- 
ing as  justice  of  the  peace,  as  well  as  chairman 
of  the  official  board  of  Hanover  township. 
He  and  his  wife  are  zealous  communicants  of 
the  Zion's  German  Lutheran  church  of  Han- 
over, the  strongest  and  wealthiest  church  or- 
ganization in  Gage  county. 

FRED  F.  VAN  BOSKIRK,  a  progressive 
farmer  and  stock-grower  of  Midland  town- 
ship, has  an  attractive  homestead  of  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres  —  the  northeast  quarter 
of  Section  8.  He  was  born  at  Cedar  Rapids, 
Iowa,  March  15,  1881,  a  son  of  Lincoln  and 
Celia  (Freer)  Van  Boskirk,  of  whose  four 
children  he  is  the  youngest;  Mae  is  the  wife 
of  C.  R.  Munford,  who  is  individually  men- 
tioned in  this  history ;  Daisie  is  the  wife  of 
Curtis  C.  LaForge,  of  Midland  township ;  and 
Frank  O.  is  another  of  the  prosperous  far- 
mers of  this  township. 

Lincoln  Van  Boskirk  was  born  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, January  15,  1826,  and  his  death  oc- 
curred July  15,  1905.  He  was  a  pioneer  of 
the  state  of  Iowa  and  there  operated  sales 
stables  first  in  Cedar  Rapids  and  later  at  Iowa 
City,  giving  much  attention  to  buying  horses 
for  the  government  and  also  dealing  somewhat 
extensively  in  mules.  In  1885  he  came  with 
his  family  to  Gage  county  and  here  he  traded 
horses  for  a  section  of  land  in  Midland  town- 
ship, the  property  having  been  unimproved. 
He  developed  a  fine  farm  property  and  the 
present  homestead  of  his  son  Fred,  of  this 
review,  is  a  part  of  the  same.  Mrs.  Celia 
(Freer)  Van  Boskirk  was  born  in  Ashland, 
Ohio,  April  18,  1849,  and  passed  to  the  life 
eternal  on  the  2d  of  August,  1910. 

Fred  F.  Van  Boskirk  was  about  four  vears 


old  at  the  time  of  the  family  removal  to  Gage 
county,  where  he  was  reared  on  the  pioneer 
farm  of  his  father  and  duly  availed  himself 
of  the  advantages  of  the  public  schools.  He 
was,  however,  only  thirteen  years  old  when  he 
began  to  assert  his  youthful  independence  and 
provide  for  himself.  He  traveled  about  and 
for  four  years  he  was  employed  in  a  meat- 
packing plant  in  Kansas  City,  Missouri.  His 
father  then  gave  to  him  his  present  farm, 
upon  which  he  has  erected  a  modern  house 
and  made  other  good  improvements,  and  he  is 
alert  and  progressive  in  his  activities  as  an 
agriculturist  and  stock-grower,  in  which  lat- 
ter department  he  gives  special  attention  to 
the  raising  of  Hereford  cattle.  He  is  inde- 
pendent in  politics  and  his  wife  is  a  member 
of  the  Presbyterian  church. 

August  25,  1905,  recorded  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Van  Boskirk  to  Miss  Ella  Dole,  who  was 
born  at  Milford,  Seward  county,  Nebraska,  a 
daughter  of  Josiah  and  Sophia  (Hooker) 
Dole,  the  family  being  definitely  represented 
on  other  pages  of  this  publication.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Van  Boskirk  became  the  parents  of  five 
children,  all  of  whom  are  living  except  Ruth, 
the  firstborn  ;  Lauretta,  Katharine,  Venita,  and 
Harold  lend  joy  to  the  pleasant  home. 

Mr.  Van  Boskirk  is  a  successful  breeder  of 
fine  Belgian  draft  horses,  as  well  as  trotting 
and  saddle  horses  and  mules,  his  boyhood  ex- 
perience having  been  such  as  to  give  him 
special  predilection  for  enterprise  along  this 
line.  In  the  early  frontier  days  his  father  was 
a  freighter  from  Iowa  to  Colorado.  This 
sterling  pioneer  received  deed  to  his  land  in 
Midland  township  from  President  Andrew 
Jackson,  and  he  was  one  of  the  venerable 
pioneer  citizens  of  Gage  county  at  the  time 
of  his  death. 

EILERT  D.  CRAMER.  —  When,  in  1888, 
Mr.  Cramer  arrived  in  Gage  county,  as  an 
ambitious  and  determined  youth  of  eighteen 
years,  his  financial  resources  were  represented 
in  the  sum  of  one  dollar.  He  came  to  this 
county  soon  after  his  immigration  from  Ger- 
many and  that  he  has  wrought  wisely  and  well 
in    the    intervening   years    needs    no    further 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


573 


voucher  than  the  statement  that  he  is  now  the 
owner  of  a  well  improved  farm  estate  of  two 
hundred  and  forty  acres,  in  Section  16,  Han- 
over township.  Like  so  large  a  percentage  of 
the  representative  citizens  of  this  township, 
Mr.  Cramer  was  born  in  the  province  of  Han- 
over, Germany,  the  date  of  his  nativity  having 
been  August  1,  1870.  His  parents,  Dick  E. 
and  Ahlke  (Gardes)  Cramer,  are  now  ven- 
erable in  years  and  still  reside  in  their  native 
land,  representatives  of  old  and  honored  fam- 
ilies of  the  province  of  Hanover  and  both 
earnest  members  of  the  German  Lutheran 
church.  Of  their  eight  children  five  are  liv- 
ing and  the  eldest  is  Henry,  who  remains  in 
Germany;  Etta  is  the  wife  of  John  Bruns,  a 
successful  farmer  of  Hanover  township.  Gage 
county ;  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  the  next 
in  order  of  birth ;  Helena  and  Anna  remain 
with  their  parents,  in  Germany. 

Eilert  D.  Cramer  acquired  his  education  in 
the  excellent  schools  of  his  native  land  and  in 
1888  he  came  to  America  and  established  his 
residence  in  Gage  county,  as  previously  noted. 
For  the  ensuing  four  years  he  was  employed 
at  farm  work.  He  carefully  saved  his  earn- 
ings and  in  1899  he  made  his  first  purchase  of 
land  —  eighty  acres,  in  Hanover  township. 
In  the  following  year  he  established  his  home 
on  this  farm,  which  he  brought  under  effective 
cultivation,  and  later  he  sold  the  property  and 
bought  his  present  fine  homestead  farm,  to 
which  he  has  gradually  added  until  he  is  now 
the  owner  of  two  hundred  and  forty  acres, 
the  same  being  well  improved  and  the  at- 
tractive modern  residence  on  the  place  having 
been  completed  in  1917.  Mr.  Cramer  gives 
special  attention  to  the  raising  of  live  stock, 
but  gains  the  best  of  returns  also  in  the  agri- 
cultural department  of  his  farm  enterprise. 

April  5,  1894,  recorded  the  marriage  of  Mr. 
Cramer  to  Miss  Hannah  Alberts,  who  was 
bom  in  Brown  county,  Illinois,  and  is  a  daugh- 
ter of  Benjamin  and  Trintje  (Gronewold) 
Alberts,  who  came  to  America  about  1873, 
shortly  after  the  close  of  the  Franco-Prussian 
war.  Benjamin  Alberts  was  a  sailor  by  voca- 
tion and  followed  a  seafaring  career  during 
the  major  part  of  his  active  career.     Upon 


coming  to  the  United  States  he  first  settled  in 
Brown  ,  county,  Illinois,  where  the  family 
home  was  continued  eight  years.  With  team 
and  wagon  the  overland  journey  to  Nebraska 
was  then  made  and  the  family  located  on  a 
rented  form  in  Gage  county,  the  sons  assum- 
ing active  charge  of  the  work,  as  the  father 
had  little  experience  in  farm  enterprise. 
Benjamin  Alberts  died  in.  1888  and  his  widow 
survived  him  by  a  quarter  of  a  century,  her 
death  occurring  in  June,  1913.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Cramer  became  the  parents  of  six  children, 
of  whom  five  are  living  and  all  of  whom  re- 
main at  the  parental  home  —  Helen,  Richard, 
John,  Christina,  and  Edwin. 

Mr.  Cramer  has  been  fully  appreciative  ot 
the  opportunities  and  advantages  that  have 
been  aft'orded  him  in  Gage  county  and  thus  his 
civic  loyalty  is  of  the  insistent  order.  His 
political  support  is  given  to  the  Republican 
party  and  his  ability  and  personal  popularity 
have  led  to  his  being  called  upon  to  serve  in 
various  local  offices  of  public  trust,  including 
those  of  assessor,  clerk,  and  treasurer  of  Han- 
over township,  as  well  as  census  enumerator 
and  as  a  member  of  the  school  board  of  his 
district,  of  which  last  named  office  he  has 
been  the  incumbent  for  many  years. 

HERMAN  WOLKEN  is  another  of  the 
sterling  pioneers  who  has  won  large  and 
worthy  success  in  connection  with  the  devel- 
opment of  the  fine  natural  resources  of  Gage 
county,  where  he  has  through  his  own  ability 
and  industry  accumulated  a  valuable  farm  es- 
tate of  eight  hundred  and  eighty  acres,  his 
attractive  homestead  place  being  situated  in 
Section  31,  Hooker  township  and  the  village 
of  Filley  being  his  postoffice  address. 

Mr.  Wolken  was  boni  in  the  Province  of 
Hanover,  Germany,  on  the  10th  of  October, 
1851,  and  there  his  parents,  Henry  and  Chris- 
tina (Bowman)  Wolken,  passed  their  entire 
lives,  both  having  been  earnest  communicants 
of  the  Lutheran  church  and  the  father  having 
been  a  prosperous  farmer.  Of  the  six  chil- 
dren the  eldest  is  John,  who  is  now  a  success- 
ful farmer  in  Hanover  township.  Gage  county, 
as  is  also  Henry;  Annie  is  the  wife  of  John 


574 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Freline,  of  Franklin  county,  this  state;  and 
George  and  Henry  still  reside  in  Germany. 

Herman  Wolken  was  reared  and  educated 
in  his  native  land  and  was  nineteen  years  of 
age  when  he  severed  the  home  ties  and  came 
to  the  United  States,  in  1871.  He  passed  the 
ensuing  four  years  in  Illinois,  and  he  then,  in 
1875,  came  to  Gage  county,  where  for  two 
years  he  farmed  on  rented  land.  He  then 
purchased  eighty  acres  of  unimproved  land,' 
in  Hooker  township,  and  this  constituted  the 
nucleus  around  which  he  has  by  industry  and 
good  management  developed  his  present  large 
and  well  improved  farm  estate.  His  course 
has  been  guided  and  governed  by  the  highest 
principles  and  thus  his  success  has  been  well 
merited,  the  while  he  has  equally  deserved  the 
unqualified  popular  esteem  reposed  in  him. 
He  is  a  staunch  Republican  in  politics  and  he 
and  his  family  are  earnest  communicants  of 
the  Lutheran  church. 

In  Illinois,  the  year  1873  recorded  the  mar- 
riage of  Mr.  Wolken  to  Miss  Christina  Bow- 
man, who  was  born  in  Germany  and  whose 
parents  came  to  America  and  settled  in  Illi- 
nois when  she  was  a  girl,  her  father,  Reinhard 
Bowman,  having  there  become  a  farmer  and 
having  there  passed  the  remainder  of  his  life. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wolken  have  these  children : 
Henry  is  a  farmer  in  Hanover  township ; 
Annie  is  the  wife  of  Heye  Parde,  of  that 
township ;  Kate  is  the  wife  of  Mene  Buhr,  a 
farmer  in  the  same  township. 

C.  A.  HALL  has  served  efficiently  as  cash- 
ier of  the  Citizens'  State  Bank  in  the  village 
of  Virginia  since  1909  and  is  a  popular  scion 
of  one  of  the  sterling  pioneer  families  of 
southeastern  Nebraska.  He  was  born  on  his 
father's  farm  in  Pawnee  county,  this  state, 
and  the  date  of  his  nativity  was  December  9, 
1878.  He  is  a  son  of  William  and  Hannah 
(Manock)  Hall,  the  former  of  whom  was 
born  in  Scotland  and  the  latter  in  England. 
The  father  was  sixty-four  years  of  age  at  the 
time  of  his  death  and  the  mother,  who  now 
resides  at  Roosevelt,  Oklahoma,  celebrated  in 
1917  the  seventy-second  anniversary  of  her 
birth. 


William  Hall  was  reared  and  educated  in 
his  native  land  and  was  a  youth  when  he  came 
to  the  United  States,  prior  to  the  outbreak  of 
the  Civil  war.  Llis  juvenile  loyalty  was  such 
that,  at  the  age  of  sixteen  years,  he  tendered 
his  services  in  defense  of  the  nation's  in- 
tegrity, by  enlisting  as  a  private  in  the  One 
Hundred  and  Twenty-fourth  Illinois  Volun- 
teer Infantry,  with  which  command  he  pro- 
ceeded to  the  front  and  with  which  he  served 
about  two  years,  in  the  meanwhile  taking  part 
in  numerous  engagements  of  important  order. 
The  concussion  of  a  cannon  broke  the  drum 
of  his  left  ear,  and  the  injury  continued  to 
cause  him  no  inconsiderable  trouble  during 
the  remainder  of  his  life.  After  the  close  ot 
the  war  he  returned  to  Illinois  and  after  his 
marriage  he  there  continued  his  residence 
until  he  numbered  himself  among  the  pioneer 
settlers  of  Pawnee  county,  Nebraska,  where 
he  purchased  a  homestead  claim  and  instituted 
the  development  of  a  farm.  A  few  years  later 
he  sold  the  property  and  turned  his  attention 
to  buying  and  shipping  live-stock,  at  Pawnee 
City.  There  he  continued  his  successful  op- 
erations along  this  important  line  of  industrial 
and  commercial  enterprise  for  fully  a  quarter 
of  a  century,  and  he  was  one  of  the  honored 
pioneers  and  valued  citizens  of  Pawnee  coun- 
ty. William  Hall  was  a  Republican  in  politics 
and  he  and  his  wife  were  long  numbered 
among  the  active  members  of  the  Presby- 
terian church  at  Pawnee  City,  he  having  been 
affiliated  with  the  Masonic  fraternity.  His 
brother  Andrew  was  one  of  the  early  em- 
ployes of  the  Wells-Fargo  Express  Company 
and  was  killed  by  robbers  who  made  an  at- 
tempt to  take  from  him  a  valuable  express 
consignment.  William  and  Hannah  (Man- 
ock) Hall  became  the  parents  of  five  children : 
Sadie  remains  with  her  widowed  mother ;  W. 
T.  is  railroad  station  agent  at  Nemaha  City, 
Nebraska;  Mamie  is  the  wife  of  W.  L.  Laugh- 
lin,  a  farmer  in  Oklahoma ;  C.  A.,  of  this 
review,  was  the  next  in  order  of  birth ;  and 
Zula  is  the  wife  of  W.  L.  Griffith,  a  farmer 
in  Oklahoma. 

C.  A.  Hall  continued  to  attend  the  jiubli.' 
schools   until  he  had  completed   a   course   in 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


575 


the  high  school  at  Pawnee  and  thereafter  he 
learned  the  trade  of  telegraphy  and  became 
an  operator  on  the  line  of  the  Rock  Island 
Railroad.  As  operator  and  station  agent  he 
continued  in  the  service  of  the  Rock  Island 
Lines  about  fifteen  years,  during  five  and  one. 
half  years  of  which  period  he  was  station 
agent  at  Virginia.  Upon  retiring  from  this 
position,  in  1909,  he  became  associated  with 
the  Citizens'  State  Bank  in  this  village,  and 
he  was  made  cashier  of  the  institution,  a  po- 
sition of  which  he  has  since  continued  the 
incumbent  and  in  which  he  has  done  much  to 
further  the  advancement  of  the  business  of 
the  substantial  bank,  which  bases  its  opera- 
tions on  a  capital  stock  of  seventy-five  hun- 
dred dollars  and  the  deposits  of  which  average 
about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand 
dollars.  Mr.  Hall  is  one  of  the  vital  and  pro- 
gressive citizens  and  business  men  of  Vir- 
ginia, is  a  Republican  in  politics  and  has 
served  as  a  member  of  the  village  board  of 
trustees,  as  well  as  township  treasurer.  He 
is  affiliated  with  the  local  organization  of  the 
Royal  Highlanders. 

In  1909  was  recorded  the  marriage  of  Mr. 
Hall  to  Miss  Lucille  Cripe,  who  was  bom  and 
reared  in  Gage  county  and  who  was  a  daugh- 
ter of  Adam  Cripe,  one  of  the  substantial 
farmers  of  Rockford  township.  Mrs.  Hall 
passed  to  eternal  rest  on  the  15th  of  Febru- 
ary, 1916,  and  is  survived  by  no  children. 

ALLEN  M.  DARWIN  is  one  of  the  most 
alert  and  progressive  young  business  men  of 
the  village  of  Virginia,  where  he  leases  and 
conducts  the  grain  elevator  and  also  is  the 
owner  of  a  well  ordered  automobile  garage, 
in  connection  with  which  latter  enterprise  he 
is  agent  for  the  popular  Buick  automobile. 

Mr.  Darwin  was  born  in  Wright  county, 
Iowa,  April  29,  1883,  and  is  a  son  of  George 
and  B^mma  (Taylor)  Darwin,  the  former  of 
whom  was  born  in  England,  about  1856,  and 
the  latter  of  whom  was  born  in  Will  county, 
Illinois,  in  1860.  The  death  of  the  father  oc- 
curred in  1910  and  that  of  the  mother  in 
1912,  their  marriage  having  been  solemnized 
at  Joliet,  Illinois.     George  Darwin  was   four 


years  of  age  when  his  parents  came  to  the 
L^nited  States  and  established  their  home  in 
Illinois,  where  he  was  reared  and  educated, 
and  in  Iowa  he  continued  his  alliance  with 
farm  industry  until  about  1894,  when  he 
came  with  his  family  to  Gage  county  and  set- 
tled on  a  farm  in  Filley  township.  In  the 
following  year  he  engaged  in  the  meat  market 
business  in  the  village  of  Virginia,  where  he 
continued  operations  along  this  line  for  eleven 
years  and  where  both  he  and  his  wife  passed 
the  remainder  of  their  lives.  Of  their  six 
children  the  subject  of  this  review  is  the  eld- 
est; Harry  E.  is  a  farmer  in  Sherman  town- 
ship; May  is  the  wife  of  Roy  Ramsey,  who 
is  engaged  in  business  in  the  city  of  Beatrice ; 
X'ern  is  a  commercial  traveler  and  maintains 
his  home  in  Sioux  City,  Iowa ;  Beatrice  is  the 
vv'ife  of  Glenn  C.  McKinney,  a  farmer  in 
Colorado ;  and  Clifford  is,  in  1918,  a  student 
in  the  high  school  at  Beatrice.  The  parents 
were  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church  and  the  father  was  a  Republican  in 
politics  and  affiliated  with  the  Masonic  fra- 
ternity and  the  Modern  Woodmen  of 
.Vmerica. 

After  the  family  removal  to  Gage  county 
Allen  M.  Darwin,  then  a  lad  of  about  eleven 
years,  attended  the  public  schools  in  the  vil- 
lage of  Virginia,  and  thereafter  he  continued 
his  active  association  with  farming  until  he 
was  twenty-four  years  of  age.  In  1911  he 
leased  the  grain  elevator  at  Virginia,  and  in 
this  connection  he  has  since  controlled  a  sub- 
stantial business  in  the  handling  of  grain,  be- 
sides having  developed  a  prosperous  garage 
and  automobile  business. 

October  5,  1916,  recorded  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Darwin  to  Miss  Lola  White,  who  was 
born  and  reared  in  the  city  of  Beatrice,  this 
county,  and  who  has  made  their  pleasant  home 
a  center  of  gracious  hospitality.  She  is  an 
active  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church. 

Mr.  Darwin  is  one  of  the  liberal  and  pro- 
gressive citizens  of  Virginia,  is,  in  1918,  serv- 
ing his  second  term  as  a  member  of  the  vil- 
lage board  of  trustees,  and  is  a  Republican  in 
his  political  allegiance.     He  is  affiliated  with 


S76 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


the  Masonic  fraternity,  including  the  com- 
mandery  of  Knights  Templars  at  Beatrice  and 
the  temple  of  the  Mystic  Shrine  in  the  city 
of  Lincoln,  Nebraska. 


JOHN  W.  PARDE,  whose  death  occurred 
July  18,  1911,  after  an  illness  of  about  one 
year's  duration,  was  one  of  the  honored  citi- 
zens and  successful  farmers  of  Gage  county 
and  was  a  member  of  one  of  the  representa- 
tive pioneer  families  of  Hanover  township, 
his  parents,  William  and  Tete  Parde,  being 
still  residents  of  this  township  and  being  in- 
dividually mentioned  on  other  pages  of  this 
history. 

John  W.  Parde  was  born  in  Adams  county, 
Illinois,  on  the  26th  of  October,  1868,  and 
was  about  seventeen  years  of  age  when  the 
family  came  to  Gage  county,  where  he  was 
reared  to  manhood  and  assisted  his  father  in 
the  reclaiming  and  improving  of  the  pioneer 
farm,  his  early  education  being  acquired  in 
the  district  schools  and  the  Lutheran  parochial 
schools,  he  having  been  confirmed  in  the 
Lutheran  church  when  he  was  a  lad  of  four- 
teen years  and  ever  afterward  having  con- 
tinued an  earnest  communicant  of  the  same, 
as  is  also  his  widow.  When  twenty-two  years 
of  age  Mr.  Parde  took  unto  himself  a  wife 
and  in  establishing  a  home  he  purchased  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land,  in  Section 
22,  Hanover  township.  The  place  was  vir- 
tually unimproved  and  with  the  passing  years 
he  developed  the  same  into  one  of  the  fine 
farm  properties  of  the  township,  its  build- 
ings being  of  modern  order  and  giving  lasting 
evidence  of  his  thrift  and  the  prosperity  he 
won  through  vigorous  activities  as  a  progres- 
sive agriculturist  and  stock -grower.  His  wife 
inherited  sixty  acres  of  land  in  the  same  town- 
ship, and  he  thus  developed  a  farm  of  two 
hundred  and  twenty  acres,  his  widow  still 
remaining  on  the  homestead  and  giving  her 
personal  supervision  to  its  management.  Mr. 
Parde  was  liberal  and  public-spirited  as  a 
citizen,  commanded  the  high  regard  of  all  who 
knew  him,  and  his  political  allegiance  was 
given  to  the  Democratic  party. 

In  the  year  1894  Mr.  Parde  married  Miss 


Jennie  Ehmen,  who  was  born  and  reared  in 
this  county,  and  sufficient  record  concerning 
her  parents  is  given  on  other  pages,  in  the 
sketch  dedicated  to  her  brother  Henry  W. 
Six  children  survive  Mr.  Parde:  Teedy  is 
the  wife  of  George  Wollman,  of  Filley  town- 
ship, this  county;  William  married  Miss 
Grace  Meints,  of  Pickrell ;  Henry,  Heye,  and 
John  remain  with  their  widowed  mother;  and 
Emma  is  the  wife  of  Ehma  Jobman,  of  Filley 
township. 

ULYSSES  G.  McPHERON.  —  Men  who 
adhere  to  high  principles,  even  to  the  point 
of  personal  sacrifice  and  loss,  have  ever  made 
this  world  progress  along  the  lines  that  men 
with  less  principle  and  less  fortitude  would 
not  have  dared  to  follow.  Ulysses  Grant  Mc- 
Pheron  is  a  man  of  sound  religious  and  eco- 
nomic principles,  which  he  is  not  afraid  to 
defend  publicly  or  to  cast  his  vote  in  their 
favor.  In  this,  special  reference  is  made  to 
Mr.  McPheron's  convictions  relative  to  the 
regulation  of  the  liquor  traffic,  and  it  is  due 
to  men  like  him,  men  who  have  had  the  cour- 
age of  their  convictions  and  principles,  that 
the  Prohibition  party  has  been  born  and  radi- 
cal reforms  effected  in  our  communal  life. 

Ulysses  G.  McPheron  was  born  in  Hawkins 
county,  Tennessee,  January  16,  1875,  and  is 
the  son  of  James  M.  McPheron,  whose  record 
will  be  found  elsewhere  in  this  volume.  He 
was  only  ten  years  old  when  his  parents  came, 
in  1885,  to  Gage  county,  and  his  father  here 
engaged  in  farming  operations. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  McPheron  and  Miss 
Minnie  Fry  was  solemnized  February  19, 
1899.  Mrs.  McPheron  i  s  a  daughter  of 
Christian  F.  Fry,  whose  sketch  is  in  this  vol- 
ume. To  this  marriage  were  born  two  sons, 
Galen  Ralph  and  Earl  Gilmore,  who  are  now 
helping  their  father  on  the  farm.  The  mother 
passed  away  September  11,  1903.  The  second 
marriage  of  Mr.  McPheron  was  solemnized 
February  12,  1905,  when  Miss  Augusta  Cul- 
len  became  his  wife.  She  was  born  August 
18,  1871,  a  daughter  of  James  and  Christena 
Cullen,  of  whom  mention  is  made  on  other 
pages    of    this    work..      Two    little   daughters 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


John  \\.  Parde 


578 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


have  come  to  bless  this  home,  Lois  Christena, 
and  Nola  Rachel. 

The  political  views  of  Ulysses  G.  McPheron 
at  one  time  were  in  favor  of  the  Republican 
party,  but  he  is  now  a  Prohibitionist  and  is 
always  ready  to  cast  his  vote  for  the  reforms 
to  rid  our  nation  of  the  liquor  traffic.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Dunkard  church. 

BERNHARD  H.  SIEFKES  represents  the 
staunchest  of  American  loyalty  and  efficiency, 
though  he  is  the  only  member  of  his  imme- 
diate family  to  have  come  to  the  United  States 
from  Germany,  in  which  connection  it  may 
consistently  be  noted  that  one  of  his  brothers 
met  death,  in  1917,  on  the  great  battlefields  of 
Europe,  while  serving  as  a  soldier  in  the  Ger- 
man army,  and  another  brother  is  held  as  a 
prisoner  of  war  in  England. 

Mr.  Siefkes  has  been  a  resident  of  Gage 
county  since  1893,  and  he  is  now  one  of  the 
substantial  farmers  and  popular  and  influen- 
tial citizens  of  Hanover  township,  his  finely 
improved  homestead,  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres,  being  situated  in  Section  26.  Mr. 
Siefkes  was  born  in  Hanover,  Germany,  De- 
cember 27,  1875,  and  is  a  son  of  Diedrich  and 
Anna  (Deriese)  Siefkes,  the  former  of  whom 
died  about  1907  and  the  latter  of  whom  still 
remains  in  Germany,  the  father  having  been 
a  farmer  by  vocation.  The  subject  of  this 
sketch  acquired  his  early  education  in  the 
schools  of  his  native  land  and  was  but  sixteen 
years  of  age  when,  in  1892,  he  severed  the 
home  ties  and  bravely  set  forth  to  seek  his 
fortunes  in  the  United  States.  In  that  year 
he  arrived  at  the  home  of  his  uncle,  in  Frank- 
lin county,  Nebraska,  with  his  available  capi- 
tal represented  in  the  sum  of  a  single  dollar. 
He  worked  on  his  uncle's  farm  until  the  fol- 
lowing year,  when  he  came  to  Gage  county, 
took  a  Scully  lease,  in  Hanover  township,  and 
began  farm  operations  in  an  independent  way. 
Under  these  conditions  he  continued  his 
energetic  and  ambitious  activities  four  years, 
and  he  then  purchased  his  present  farm,  which 
was  at  that  time  improved  with  a  primitive 
house  of  two  rooms,  a  barn  twelve  by  six- 
teen feet  in  dimensions,  and  a  comcrib.    The 


measure  of  his  vigorous  achievement  in  the 
intervening  years  is  shown  in  the  thrift  that 
is  manifest  in  all  departments  of  his  farm 
enterprise  and  also  in  the  excellent  buildings 
which  he  has  erected  and  which  mark  his 
farm  as  one  of  model  order,  his  attention 
being  given  to  diversified  agriculture  and 
stock-growing. 

In  1898  Mr.  Siefkes  wedded  Miss  Ida 
Ehmen,  who  was  born  and  reared  in  this 
country  and  is  a  daughter  of  William  Ehmen, 
adequate  record  concerning  her  parents  being 
given  on  other  pages  of  this  volume.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Siefkes  have  eight  children  —  Diedrich, 
William,  Annie,  Henry,  Ermina,  Minnie,  Her- 
man, and  John,  and  the  religious  faith  of  the 
family  is  that  of  the  Lutheran  church. 

Entering  fully  into  the  spirit  of  American 
customs  and  institutions  and  speaking  the 
English  language  like  a  native  of  the  United 
States,  Mr.  Siefkes  is  a  staunch  supporter  of 
the  cause  of  the  Republican  party  and  is  in- 
fluential in  public  afifairs  in  Hanover  town- 
ship. In  1914  he  was  elected  representative 
of  the  First  district  on  the  county  board  ot 
supervisors,  an  office  of  which  he  was  the  in- 
cumbent three  years,  and  he  has  served  also 
as  a  member  of  the  board  of  township  trustees 
and  ten  years  as  assessor  for  his  precinct. 
Through  his  own  well  ordered  efforts  he  has 
won  worthy  success  and  in  addition  to  being 
the  owner  of  a  valuable  farm  property  he  is 
shareholder  of  the  Farmers'  Elevator  Com- 
pany at  Pickrell. 

RICHARD  W.  GRANT  is  a  leading  rep- 
resentative of  the  architect's  profession  in 
southeastern  Nebraska  and  is  established  in 
business  in  the  city  of  Beatrice.  He  was  born 
in  Sangamon  county,  Illinois,  on  the  5th  of 
January,  1862,  and  is  a  son  of  John  N.  and 
Emma  (Batty)  Grant.  The  father  was  born 
at  Chillicothe,  Ohio,  in  1822,  and  his  death 
occurred  in  1894.  The  mother  was  born  in 
England,  in  1827,  and  was  summoned  to  the 
life  eternal  on  Christmas  day  of  the  year 
1911.  Of  the  six  children  the  subject  of  this 
review  was  the  second  in  order  of  birth  and 
all  save  one  of  the  number  are  living —  Sarah 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


is  a  resident  of  Seattle,  Washington  ;  James 
E.  lives  at  Wenatchee,  that  state,  where  he  is 
engaged  in  the  hotel  business ;  Edwin  W.,  a 
mining  engineer,  resides  in  the  city  of  Port- 
land, Oregon ;  and  Charles  E.  is  engaged  in 
the  banking  business  in  the  city  of  Seattle. 
John  N.  Grant  was  a  child  at  the  time  of  his 
parents'  removal  from  Ohio  to  Illinois.  In 
the  latter  state  he  eventually  became  a  suc- 
cessful contractor  and  builder,  and  there  he 
remained  until  1869,  when  he  came  with  his 
family  to  the  new  state  of  Nebraska  and  be- 
came a  pioneer  of  Gage  county.  In  Hanover 
township  he  made  entry  upon  the  last  remain- 
ing homestead  in  the  county,  and  here  he  con- 
tinued his  residence  until  1875,  when  he  re- 
moved from  his  farm  to  Beatrice.  In  the 
meanwhile,  in  addition  to  vigorously  further- 
ing the  development  and  improving  of  his 
farm,  he  had  continued  his  activities  as  a  con- 
tractor and  builder,  and  along  this  line  he 
continued  operations  until  1888,  when  he  re- 
tired and  removed  to  Seattle,  Washington, 
where  he  remained  until  his  death.  His  po- 
litical allegiance  was  given  to  the  Republican 
party,  but  he  had  no  ambition  for  public 
office. 

Richard  W.  Grant  was  eight  years  old  when 
the  family  home  was  established  on  the  pio- 
neer farm  in  Gage  county,  and  in  addition  to 
receiving  in  his  youth  the  advantages  of  the 
public  schools  of  Beatrice  he  pursued  higher 
studies  in  the  University  of  Illinois.  He 
trained  himself  most  thoroughly  in  the  tech- 
nical and  applicatory  work  of  the  architec- 
tural profession,  of  which  he  has  been  an  ex- 
ponent during  his  entire  independent  career 
and  in  which  his  success  has  been  of  unequivo- 
cal order.  He  has  been  continuously  engaged  in 
the  practice  of  his  profession  in  Beatrice  since 
1889,  and  he  has  given  special  attention  to  the 
designing  of  public  buildings,  including  public 
schools.  Many  fine  structures  of  modern 
architectural  design  and  facilities  attest  his 
technical  skill  and  his  fidelity  as  a  supervising 
architect.  He  has  designed  and  supervised 
the  erection  of  fully  seventy  high  and  grade 
school  buildings  —  in  Nebraska,  Kansas, 
olorado,   and    South   Dakota  —  and   his   repu- 


tation in  his  profession  has  far  transcended 
mere  local  limitations.  Numerous  churches, 
business  buildings,  and  residences  in  Gage 
county  stand  as  monuments  to  the  ability  of 
Mr.  Grant,  and  not  the  least  of  these  is  the 
beautiful  edifice  of  the  Hanover  Lutheran 
church,  which  stands  near  the  site  of  the 
little  log  school  house  in  which  he  received 
his  early  educational  discipline,  he  and  his 
sister  having  walked  a  distance  of  three  and 
one-half  miles  from  their  home  to  attend  this 
primitive  institution  of  learning. 

In  1887  was  solemnized  the  marriage  of  Mr. 
Grant  to  Miss  Ida  M.  Schell,  who  was  born 
at  Peoria,  Illinois,  a  daughter  of  Charles  L. 
Schell,  her  father  having  been  a  large  prop- 
erty holder  and  prominent  real-estate  dealer 
after  coming  to  Nebraska,  in  1876,  and  hav- 
ing died  at  Walla  Walla,  Washington,  while 
on  a  trip  through  the  west.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Grant  have  seven  children  —  Mrs.  Robert  E. 
Kyle,  of  Fort  Worth,  Texas;  Mrs.  Henry 
Randall,  whose  husband  is  a  stock  ranchman 
in  Nebraska:  Mrs.  Rudolph  O.  Sheldon,  of 
Kansas  City,  Missouri ;  Richard  S.,  a  pharma- 
cist by  profession,  resides  at  Beatrice  and  now 
in  government  military  service  at  Base  Hos- 
pital No.  49;  Rachel  remains  at  the  parental 
home;  Joseph  N.  is  a  farmer  and  stock- 
grower  in  Gage  county;  John  Harmon  is  at 
the  parental  home  and  is  attending  the  public 
schools. 

Mr.  Grant  is  found  aligned  staunchly  in 
the  ranks  of  the  Republican  party,  and  he 
and  his  wife  are  active  members  of  the 
Christian  church  in  their  home  city.  Mr. 
Grant  is  the  owner  of  a  model  farm  of  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres,  in  Riverside  town- 
ship, about  two  miles  southeast  of  Beatrice, 
and  on  this  fine  rural  estate  he  and  his  fam- 
ily maintain  their  home.  He  here  raises  full- 
blood   Holstein   cattle  and   Hampshire   swine. 

LUCIEN  L.  NOBLE,  M.  D.,  a  representa- 
tive physician  and  surgeon  of  Gage  county, 
is  established  in  the  successful  practice  of  his 
profession  at  Holmesville,  and  his  important 
clientage,  disseminated  widely  through  the 
district   about   his   home   city,   indicates   alike 


580 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


his  technical  skill  and  his  personal  popularity. 
The  Doctor  was  born  at  Lincoln,  Logan 
county,  Illinois,  August  14,  1871,  and  is  a  son 
of  George  P.  and  Sallie  A.  (Webb)  Noble, 
both  natives  of  Kentucky,  where  each  was 
born  in  the  year  1828,  their  marriage  having 
been  solemnized  at  Richmond.  Kentucky.  In 
1861  George  P.  Noble  removed  to  Illinois, 
where  he  became  a  prosperous  farmer  and  a 
prominent  buyer  and  shipper  of  live-stock. 
There  he  passed  the  residue  of  his  life  and 
he  was  forty- four  years  of  age  at  the  time  of 
his  death,  in  1872.  His  widow  long  survived 
him  and  in  1881  she  came  with  her  children 
to  Nebraska  and  established  her  home  at 
Aurora,  Hamilton  county,  where  she  was 
summoned  to  eternal  rest  in  1896,  at  the  age 
of  sixty-eight  years.  Of  the  seven  children 
four  are  living  —  Louisa,  who  is  the  wife  of 
Charles  Dixon,  of  Ottawa,  Kansas ;  George, 
who  is  a  farmer  near  Aurora,  Hamilton 
county,  Nebraska;  Isaiah,  who  is  engaged  in 
the  meat-market  business  in  Kansas  City, 
Missouri;  and  Dr.  Lucien  L.,  who  is  the  im- 
mediate subject  of  this  review.  The  father 
was  a  Democrat  in  politics  before  the  Civil 
war,  but  at  that  time  changed  his  allegiance 
to  the  Republican  party.  He  was  affiliated 
with  the  Masonic  fraternity  and  served  as 
master  of  his  lodge,  both  he  and  his  wife  hav- 
ing been  members  of  the  Christian  church. 

Dr.  Noble  was  about  nine  years  old  at  the 
time  of  the  family  removal  to  Nebraska  and 
in  the  pubHc  schools  of  Hamilton  county  he 
continued  his  studies  until  his  graduation  in 
the  Aurora  high  school,  as  a  member  of  the 
class  of  1S91.  In  preparation  for  his  exacting 
profession  he  entered  Northwestern  Medical 
College,  at  St.  Joseph,  Missouri,  and  from  the 
same  he  received  in  1894  the  degree  of  Doctor 
of  Medicine.  His  professional  novitiate  was 
served  at  Roseland,  Adams  county,  Ne- 
braska, where  he  remained  four  months,  and 
since  that  time  he  has  been  engaged  in  active 
general  practice  at  Holmesville,  where  he  has 
achieved  success  of  unequivocal  order.  He 
is  an  active  member  of  the  Gage  County 
Medical  Society,  the  Nebraska  State  Medical 
Society,  and  the  American   Medical  Associa- 


tion. His  political  support  is  given  to  the 
Republican  party  and  he  takes  loyal  interest 
in  all  things  touching  the  welfare  of  his  home 
village  and  county.  He  is  affiliated  with  the 
Masonic  fraternity  and  is  also  a  member  of 
the  lodge  of  the  Benevolent  &  Protective 
Order  of  Elks  in  the  city  of  Beatrice. 

In  1895  Dr.  Noble  wedded  Miss  Minnie 
Will,  a  daughter  of  the  late  Frank  M.  and 
EHza  A.  (Houtz)  Will,  the  former  of  whom 
died  in  1909  and  the  latter  on  the  Uth  of  No- 
vember, 1917,  Mr.  Will  having  been  a  repre- 
sentative farmer  of  Gage  county.  Dr.  and 
Mrs.  Noble  have  three  children  —  Roy,  Les- 
lie, and  Marie.  Roy  is,  in  1918,  a  member  of 
the  sophomore  class  in  the  University  of  Ne- 
braska, and  Leslie  is  a  student  in  the  Beatrice 
high  school. 

HENRY  JANZEN.  —  Known  and  valued 
as  one  of  the  enterprising  and  representative 
agriculturists  and  stock-growers  of  Gage 
county,  Mr.  Janzen  is  the  owner  of  a  well 
improved  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres,  in  Section  33,  Blakely  township.  He 
was  born  in  western  Prussia,  on  the  1st  of 
February,  1858,  and  is  a  son  of  David  and 
Helena  (Thun)  Janzen.  He  was  the  second 
in  a  family  of  five  children,  the  fifth  having 
died  in  infancy  and  the  others,  David,  Jacob, 
and  Herman,  being  still  residents  of  Prussia, 
where  the  parents  passed  their  entire  lives. 

To  the  excellent  schools  of  his  native  land 
Henry  Janzen  is  indebted  for  his  youthful 
education  and  there  he  continued  his  alliance 
with  farm  enterprise  from  his  boyhood  until 
September  7,  1877,  when,  owing  primarily  to 
the  governmental  denial  of  the  religious  rights 
of  the  Mennonites,  of  which  he  is  a  zealous 
representative,  he  left  the  fatherland  and  set 
forth  on  the  voyage  to  the  United  States,  as- 
sured of  freedom  to  live  in  accord  with  the 
dictates  of  his  conscience  and  faith  after  he 
had  established  his  home  in  the  democratic 
nation  to  which  he  has  since  paid  the  fullest 
measure  of  loyalty  and  appreciation.  Mr. 
Janzen  landed  in  New  York  City  and  shortly 
afterward  came  to  Gage  county,  where  he 
arrived  in   1877.     For  the  first  few  years  he 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


581 


was  here  employed  at  farm  work,  in  the  ser- 
vice of  Bernard  Reimer  and  Elijah  Filley,  and 
his  wages  averaged  from  ten  to  fifteen  dollars 
a  month.  In  1881  he  returned  to  his  native 
land,  where  he  remained  from  March  unti'i 
September,  and  upon  coming  again  to  Gage 
county  he  here  continued  to  work  as  a  farm 
employe  until  1883,  when  he  not  only  pur- 
chased a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres, 
four  miles  northwest  of  Beatrice,  but  also 
fortified  himself  further  by  taking  unto  him- 
self the  gracious  young  wife  who  has  proved 
his  faithful  helpmeet  and  companion.  He 
made  good  improvements  on  his  farm  and 
there  continued  his  activities  until  1901,  when 
he  sold  the  property  to  advantage.  For  the 
ensuing  two  years  he  farmed  on  rented  land 
southeast  of  Beatrice,  and  he  then  rented  the 
Hollingwood  farm,  east  of  that  city,  where 
he  continued  his  productive  operations  for 
seven  years.  He  then,  in  1910,  purchased  his 
present  farm,  which,  under  his  progressive 
and  able  management,  he  has  made  one  of  the 
model  places  of  Blakely  township.  He  is  in- 
dependent in  politics,  giving  his  support  to 
men  and  measures  meeting  the  approval  of  his 
judgment,  and  he  and  his  family  are  earnest 
members  of  the  Alennonite  church. 

On  the  29th  of  March,  1883,  Mr.  Janzen 
wedded  Miss  Magdalene  Penner,  who  was 
born  and  reared  in  Prussia,  where  her  parents 
passed  their  entire  lives.  She  came  to  the 
United  States  and  established  her  residence 
in  Gage  county  in  1881.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Janzen 
became  the  parents  of  eight  children,  of  whom 
two  died  young;  Mary  is  the  wife  of  Kurt 
Wiebe,  of  Saline  county ;  Helena,  Henry, 
Anna,  and  Gustav  remain  at  the  parental 
home:  Agatha  is  the  wife  of  Henr\'  Franz, 
their  marriage  having  occurred  August  24, 
1917;  Miss  Anna  is  numbered  among  the 
successful  and  popular  teachers  in  the  schools 
of  this  county,  she  being  at  the  time  of  this 
writing,  in  the  winter  of  1917-1918,  in  charge 
of  the  well  ordered  school  of  District  21,  in 
Blakely  township.  Miss  Anna  Janzen,  an 
efficient  young  representative  of  the  pedagogic 
profession,  was  born  and  reared  in  Gage 
county  and  after  having  profited  by  the  ad- 


vantages of  the  district  schools  she  entered 
the  Beatrice  high  school,  in  which  she  was 
graduated  as  a  member  of  the  class  of  1915. 
Thereafter  she  effectively  fortified  herself 
for  her  chosen  profession  by  taking  a  course 
in  the  Nebraska  State  Normal  School  at  Peru. 
Her  initial  service  as  a  teacher  was  given  in 
the  autumn  of  1913,  and  her  work  has  been  of 
most  excellent  order  in  the  various  schools 
that  have  received  her  attention,  she  being  at 
the  present  time  the  teacher  in  her  home 
district. 

JOHN  B.  PARKER.  —  Though  he  has 
passed  the  allotted  span  of  three-score  years 
and  ten,  this  sterling  pioneer  of  Gage  county 
is  vigorously  and  successfully  conducting  in 
the  city  of  Beatrice  the  leading  harness  and 
saddlery  establishment  of  Gage  county,  and 
it  was  his  also  to  have  developed  in  the  pio- 
neer era  one  of  the  valuable  farm  properties 
of  the  county. 

Mr.  Parker  was  born  at  South  Petherton, 
Somersetshire,  England,  on  the  21st  of  July. 
1843,  and  is  a  son  of  William  and  Mary  Par- 
ker, who  became  the  parents  of  three  sons  and 
two  daughters,  all  of  whom  are  now  deceased 
except  the  subject  of  this  review,  who  was  the 
youngest  son.  William  Parker  was  bom  in 
the  year  1800  and  was  for  many  years  en- 
gaged in  the  work  of  his  trade,  that  of  shoe- 
maker, at  South  Petherton,  where  his  death 
occurred  in  1884.  His  wife,  who  likewise 
was  born  in  1800,  was  ninety-three  years  of 
age  at  the  time  of  her  death,  in  1893. 

John  B.  Parker  acquired  his  youthful  edu- 
cation in  the  schools  of  his  native  town  and 
he  was  a  lad  of  fourteen  years  when  he  came 
to  America  and  made  his  way  to  Bremer 
county,  Iowa,  where  he  found  emplo\'ment 
on  the  pioneer  farm  of  one  of  his  older 
brothers.  There  he  continued  to  attend  school 
during  the  winter  terms  until  he  was  about 
twenty  years  old.  In  1861  he  went  to  Wis- 
consin, where  he  continued  his  connection  with 
agricultural  industry  until  1863.  when  he 
joined  another  of  his  brothers,  Samuel  J.,  at 
Rochelle,  Illinois.  There  he  served  under  the 
direction  of  his  brother  a  thorough  apprentice- 


582 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


ship  to  the  trade  of  harnessmaker,  and  event- 
ually he  became  a  partner  in  the  business,  this 
effective  fraternal  alliance  continuing  twelve 
years.  Impaired  health  finally  required  that 
Mr.  Parker  should  find  less  sedentary  occu- 
pation and  in  1878  he  came  to  Gage  county, 
Nebraska,  and  purchased  a  tract  of  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres  of  land  in  Elm  township. 
He  returned  to  Illinois,  but  in  1879  he  re- 
moved with  his  family  to  the  new  home  in 
Nebraska.  He  reclaimed  this  farm  and  de- 
veloped the  same  into  one  of  the  valuable 
properties  of  Gage  county,  his  activities  as  a 
farmer  having  there  continued  until  1885, 
when  he  removed  to  Beatrice  and  resumed 
the  work  of  his  trade.  Here  he  became  as- 
sociated with  his  brother  Samuel  J.  in  estab- 
lishing the  harness  and  saddlery  business 
which  they  conducted  until  1888,  when  he  as- 
sumed full  ownership  of  the  substantial  busi- 
ness, which  he  has  since  carried  on  most  suc- 
cessfully in  an  individual  way.  A  skilled 
artisan  at  his  trade,  Mr.  Parker  gives  approval 
only  to  high-grade  work,  and  thus  the  major 
part  of  the  harness  sold  in  his  establishment 
is  there  manufactured  according  to  the  old- 
time  methods,  but  with  the  aid  of  modern  ma- 
chinery and  accessories.  The  establishment 
has  the  largest  and  most  complete  stock  of 
harness  and  saddlery  goods  in  Gage  county, 
and  its  reputation  constitutes  a  most  valuable 
asset,  for  here  is  given  fair  and  square  dealing 
and  most  efficient  service. 

A  citizen  of  worth  and  of  distinct  public 
spirit,  Mr.  Parker  has  always  taken  lively  in- 
terest in  local  affairs  and  he  is  found  aligned 
in  the  ranks  of  the  Republican  party.  He 
served  six  years  as  a  member  of  the  Beatrice 
board  of  education  and  five  years  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  city  council.  He  has  been  an  active 
member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church 
since  1862  and  has  been  at  various  times  an 
official  of  the  same.  He  is  now  the  earnest 
and  valued  teacher  of  the  senior  men's  class 
in  the  Sunday  school  of  the  First  Methodist 
Episcopal  church  of  Beatrice,  his  wife  having 
given  equally  effective  service  as  a  teacher  of  a 
class  of  senior  ladies  and  being  also  active  in 
the  missionary  work  of  the  church. 


October  14,  1873,  recorded  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Parker  to  Miss  Mary  E.  Clute,  of  Elgin, 
Illinois.  She  was  born  in  the  central  part  of 
the  state  of  New  York  and  is  a  daughter  of 
Rev.  Martin  V.  and  Nancy  (Fairbanks)  Clute, 
her  father  having  given  many  years  of  con- 
secrated service  as  a  clergyman  of  the  Free 
Methodist  church.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Parker 
have  three  children :  Nellie  May  remains  at 
the  parental  home;  Alice  Irene  is  the  wife  of 
Ray  W.  Weaverling,  of  Beatrice ;  and  William 
M.  is  now  a  resident  of  Pryor,  Oklahoma. 

JOHN  G.  HERETH.  — Thrift  and  pros- 
perity are  clearly  shown  in  the  general  ap- 
pearance of  the  fine  farm  estate  owned  and 
operated  by  Mr.  Hereth,  who  is  the  owner  of 
two  hundred  acres  of  the  admirable  land  of 
Gage  county,  his  homestead  place,  of  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  acres,  being  situated  in  Sec- 
tion 8,  Clatonia  township,  and  the  remaining 
eighty  acres  in  Section  5,  that  township.  He 
is  known  as  one  of  the  vigorous  and  substantial 
agriculturists  and  stock-growers  of  the 
county  and  is  a  representative  of  that  fine 
German  element  of  citizenship  that  has  played 
important  part  in  the  social  and  industrial  de- 
velopment and  progress  of  this  section  of  the 
state. 

Mr.  Hereth  was  born  in  Bavaria,  Germany, 
January  17,  1867,  and  is  a  son  of  John  and 
Margaret  (Lauterbach)  Hereth,  of  whose 
four  children  he  is  the  youngest ;  Margaret 
is  the  wife  of  George  Mitzell,  of  Campbell, 
Franklin  county,  this  state ;  Henrietta,  who 
became  the  wife  of  Simon  Hartmann,  is  de- 
ceased; and  Anna  is  the  wife  of  J.  M.  Betz, 
of  Lincoln,  the  fair  capital  city  of  Nebraska. 

John  Hereth,  father  of  the  subject  of  this 
review,  was  born  in  Bavaria,  in  April,  1840, 
and  there  he  continued  to  reside  until  1883, 
when  he  came  with  his  family  to  the  United 
States  and  settled  in  Clatonia  township.  Gage 
county,  Nebraska.  He  became  the  owner  of 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  in  Section 
12,  and  after  having  here  been  actively  en- 
gaged in  general  farm  industry  for  thirteen 
years  he  removed  to  the  western  part  of  the 
state  and  settled  in  Red  Willow  county.  After 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


'■>83 


having  there  continued  his  activities  as  a  far- 
mer for  a  period  of  seven  years  he  removed 
to  the  state  of  Washington,  where  he  passed 
the  remainder  of  his  life,  his  death  having  oc- 
curred at  Snohomish,  that  state,  in  September, 
1900,  and  his  earnest  religious  faith  having 
been  that  of  the  German  Lutheran  church. 
After  the  death  of  his  first  wife  he  wedded 
Anna  Rocholz,  prior  to  coming  to  America, 
and  she  still  maintains  her  home  in  the  state 
of  Washington.  Of  their  union  were  bom 
nine  children,  Michael  and  Martin  being  resi- 
dents of  Washington ;  Katherine  being  the 
wife  of  John  Hunke,  of  Lyndon,  Osage 
•county,  Kansas;  Margaret  being  the  wife  of 
John  Riechers,  who  is  individually  men- 
tioned on  other  pages  of  this  volume ;  Rena 
being  the  wife  of  George  Stocker,  a  resident 
•of  the  state  of  Washington,  where  Frederick, 
next  in  order  of  birth,  also  maintains  his  home  ; 
Conrad  being  a  resident  of  Oregon  and  George 
of  Washington ;  and  the  youngest  of  the  num- 
ber being  Lisette,  who  is  the  wife  of  J.  Con- 
rad, of  Washington. 

John  G.  Hereth  acquired  his  early  education 
in  the  excellent  schools  of  his  native  land  and 
was  a  youth  of  seventeen  years  at  the  time  of 
the  family  immigration  to  the  United  States. 
After  his  arrival  in  Gage  county  he  worked 
three  years  as  a  farm  hand,  at  a  compensation 
averaging  eighteen  dollars  a  month.  There- 
after he  farmed  rented  land  about  five  years, 
and  in  1S95  he  purchased  a  tract  of  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-seven  acres  near  Waverly, 
Lancaster  county.  He  brought  forty  acres  of 
this  raw  prairie  land  under  effective  cultiva- 
tion and  erected  a  house  and  other  buildings 
on  the  place,  besides  setting  out  trees  and  mak- 
ing other  excellent  improvements  of  a  per- 
manent order.  In  1902  Mr.  Hereth  sold  this 
farm  and  returned  to  Gage  county,  where  he 
purchased  his  present  homestead,  about  the 
only  notworthy  improvement  on  which  was  a 
well.  He  first  erected  a  small  house,  and  this 
sufficed  as  the  family  home  until  1904,  when 
he  built  his  present  modern  and  attractive 
house  of  eight  rooms,  besides  which  he  has 
improved  the  farm  with  a  barn  that  is  fifty- 
two  by  fifty-four  feet  in  dimensions.  His  pro- 


gressiveness  and  good  judgment  have  so  come 
into  play  as  to  make  his  one  of  the  model 
farms  of  Clatonia  township.  In  politics  he  is 
a  staunch  Democrat  and  he  served  con- 
tinuously from  1911  to  1917  as  assessor  of 
Clatonia  township.  •  For  the  past  fourteen 
years  he  has  been  a  director  of  school  district 
No.  47.  Both  he  and  his  wife  are  zealous 
communicants  of  the  German  Lutheran  church 
and  he  is  secretary  of  the  church  organization 
of  this  denomination  in  his  home  community. 
Mr.  Hereth  is  a  stockholder  of  the  farmers' 
co-operative  elevator  at  Clatonia  and  also  that 
at  Wilber,  Saline  county,  from  which  latter 
place  his  home  receives  service  on  rural  mail 
route  No.  2.  He  is  likewise  a  stockholder  of 
the  German  Supply  Company,  of  Lincoln. 

On  the  17th  of  April,  1893,  was  solemnized 
the  marriage  of  Mr.  Hereth  to  Miss  Minnie 
Heller,  who  was  born  in  Germany  and  who 
came  with  her  parents  to  the  United  States  in 
1888.  Mrs.  Hereth  is  a  daughter  of  William 
and  Anna  (Britt)  Heller,  who  are  now  resi- 
dents of  Otterndorf,  province  of  Hanover, 
Germany,  they  having  returned  to  their  na- 
tive land  in  1901  and  Mrs.  Hereth  being  their 
only  child.  Mr.  Heller  became  one  of  the  sub- 
stantial farmers  of  Clatonia  township.  Gage 
county,  where  he  and  his  wife  continued  to  re- 
side until  their  return  to  their  fatherland.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Hereth  have  nine  children,  all  of 
whom  remain  at  the  parential  home  except  the 
eldest  two,  —  Edwin,  who  is  a  successful  far- 
mer of  Clatonia  township  and  Anna,  who  is 
the  wife  of  William  Lueders,  of  Highland 
township.  Those  who  are  members  of  the 
ideal  home  circle  are  William,  Frederick,  Ben- 
jamin O.,  Lisette,  Amelia,  Alice  and  Loretta, 
and  the  parents  have  taken  pride  in  giving  to 
all  of  the  children  excellent  educational  ad- 
vantages. 

GEORGE  M.  JOHNSTON.  — As  man- 
ager of  the  office  and  sales  departments  of  the 
well  established  business  of  the  Dole  Floral 
Company,  Mr.  Johnston  has  been  a  valued 
factor  in  the  development  of  this  substantial 
enterprise  in  the  city  of  Beatrice  and  takes 
satisfaction  in  his  association  with  a  concern 


584 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


that  bases  its  operations  upon  the  best  of  mod- 
ern facihties,  the  company's  conservatories 
and  propagating  grounds  being  such  as  to 
make  possible  the  rendering  of  a  metropohtan 
service  to  patrons. 

Mr.  Johnston  was  born  in  the  city  of  Peoria, 
IlHnois,  on  the  13th  of  February,  1876,  and 
was  thirteen  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  the 
family  removal  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska, 
where  he  was  reared  to  adult  age  and  profited 
fully  by  the  advantages  of  the  public  schools. 
He  has  been  manager  of  the  Dole  Floral  Com- 
pany since  1912,  and  under  his  supervision  the 
business  has  been  doubled  in  volume  within  the 
intervening  period.  He  is  one  of  the  vital 
and  progressive  factors  in  the  business  circles 
of  Beatrice  and  here  his  circle  of  friends  is 
coincident  with  that  of  his  acquaintances. 
Twice  each  year  Mr.  Johnston  makes  extended 
trips  throughout  the  company's  extended  trade 
territory,  these  trips  being  mainly  for  the  pur- 
pose of  personal  conference  with  the  various 
agents  of  the  company  and  other  persons 
handling  products  from  the  extensive  Bea- 
trice greenhouses  of  this  progressive  business 
corporation. 

In  the  year  1900  Mr.  Johnston  wedded  Miss 
Anna  Dole,  of  Beatrice,  daughter  of  J.  G.  and 
Sophia  H.  (Hooker)  Dole,  and  they  have  one 
child,    Marjorie. 

Concerning  the  Dole  family  full  record  is 
made  on  other  pages,  in  the  sketches  of  Mrs. 
Sophia  H.  Dole  and  Edward  W.  Dole,  with 
additional  data  in  the  review  of  the  Dole 
Floral  Company. 

PHILIP  BINDERNAGEL.  — The  activi- 
ties of  this  sterling  pioneer  citizen  of  Gage 
county  have  been  the  positive  expression  of  a 
strong,  vigorous  and  self-reliant  personality, 
and  he  is  one  of  the  resourceful  men  who  came 
to  Nebraska  in  the  territorial  epoch  of  the 
history  of  this  now  favored  commonwealth 
and  who  numbered  himself  among  the  pio- 
neer settlers  of  Gage  county,  which  was  vir- 
tually on  the  frontier  at  the  time  when  he  here 
established  his  home.  He  proved  himself  well 
equipped  for  coping  with  the  adverse  forces 
that  ever  come  into  evidence  in  the  opening  of 


a  new  country  to  civilization  and  progress. 
Now  venerable  in  years,  Mr.  Bindernagel  is 
living  retired  in  the  city  of  Beatrice,  but  as 
tangible  evidence  of  the  prosperity  that  has 
attended  his  former  years  of  earnest  endeavor 
is  his  ownership  of  a  valuable  landed  estate  of 
four  hundred  and  eighty  acres  in  Gage  county, 
the  same  being  situated  in  Blakely  and  Lin- 
coln townships,  besides  which  he  owns  an 
estate  of  equal  area  in  Sherman  county,  Kan- 
sas. 

Mr.  Bindernagel  is  a  representative  of  that 
fine  element  of  German  citizenship  that  has 
played  so  large  and  worthy  a  part  in  connec- 
tion with  the  development  and  upbuilding  of 
Gage  county,  and  his  civic  loyalty  has  ever 
been  on  a  parity  with  his  deep  appreciation  of 
the  advantages  and  opportunities  afi^orded  him 
in  the  land  of  his  adoption.  He  was  born  in 
Prussia,  on  the  28th  of  January,  1838,  and 
thus  will  have  celebrated  his  ■  eightieth  birth- 
day anniversary  ere  this  history  is  issued  from 
the  press.  He  is  a  son  of  Philip  and  Marie 
(Friend)  Bindernagel,  both  of  whom  passed 
their  entire  lives  in  Germany,  v/here  the  father 
devoted  the  major  part  of  his  active  career  to 
the  vocation  of  butcher.  Philip  Bindernagel. 
Sr.,  was  born  December  6,  1806,  and  his  death 
occurred  in  June,  1844.  His  wife  was  born 
January  6,  1810,  and  was  summoned  to  the 
life  eternal  in  September,  1867,  both  having 
been  devoted  members  of  the  Lutheran  church. 
They  became  the  parents  of  five  children  and 
the  first  two  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Haen  and  Andrew 
are  deceased :  Philip,  Jr.,  of  this  review,  was 
the  third  child  :  and  as  the  younger  two,  Fred- 
erick and  Katherline,  likewise  are  deceased, 
he  is  now  the  only  one  of  the  children  living. 

In  his  native  land  Mr.  Bindernagel  dulv 
profited  by  the  advantages  of  the  national 
schools  and  there  also  he  served  a  thorough 
apprenticeship  to  the  trade  of  baker,  in  which 
he  became  a  skilled  workman.  In  1857,  as  an 
ambitious  young  man  of  nineteen  years,  he 
removed  from  his  native  land  to  England, 
where  he  continued  his  residence  until  1863, 
and  where  he  gained  an  excellent  command 
of  the  English  language,  so  that  he  had  this 
knowledge  as  a  valuable  reinforcement  when 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COL'XTY,  XELiRASKA 


385 


he  came  to  the  United  States.  He  landed  in 
the  port  of  New  York  city  on  the  4th  of  Aug- 
ust, 18b3,  and  for  the  ensuing  three  years  he 
was  employed  at  his  trade,  in  the  national 
metropolis.  His  vital  energy  then  led  him  to 
come  to  the  west,  the  progressive  spirit  of 
which  section  of  the  Union  made  special  ap- 
peal to  him.  In  the  year  1866,  about  one  year 
prior  to  the  admission  of  Nebraska  to  state- 
hood, ;\Ir.  Bindernagel  established  his  resi- 
dence near  Cottonwood  Springs,  to  which  lo- 
cality he  proceeded  from  Nebraska  City  by 
means  of  the  plodding  ox  team  and  a  wagon. 
He  located  at  Cottonwood  Springs  where  he 
brought  his  trade  into  effective  play  by  asso- 
ciating himself  with  his  cousin,  Frederick 
Kees,  in  the  conducting  of  a  little  restaurant 
and  bakery  of  primitive  facilities.  Twelve 
months  later  —  very  soon  after  the  admission 
of  Nebraska  to  the  Union  —  Mr.  Bindernagel 
obtained  from  the  government  a  homestead  of 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  near  the  site 
of  the  present  village  of  Filley,  Gage  county, 
this  original  homestead  having  been  in  the 
township  that  now  bears  the  name  of  Filley. 
He  utilized  an  ox  team  in  breaking  the  virgin 
prairie,  showed  his  enterprise  and  good  judg- 
ment by  setting  out  a  goodly  number  of  trees 
on  his  claim,  and  otherwise  made  good  im- 
provements of  a  permanent  order.  He  con- 
tinued activities  as  a  farmer  and  stock-grower 
on  his  original  homestead  until  1873,  when  he 
e.xchanged  the  property  for  a  farm  of  160 
acres  in  Blakely  township,  four  miles  west  of 
Beatrice.  He  judiciously  made  further  in- 
vestment in  Gage  county  farm  property,  and, 
as  previously  noted  in  this  context  he  is  now 
the  owner  of  a  specially  well  improved  and 
valuable  landed  estate  of  four  hundred  and 
eighty  acres  in  this  county,  besides  which  he 
has  shown  equal  progressiveness  in  improving 
his  large  landed  property  in  Sherman  county, 
Kansas.  He  continued  to  reside  upon  his 
home  farm  until  December  13,  1915,  when, 
about  three  years  after  the  death  of  his  de- 
voted wife,  he  removed  to  the  city  of  Bea- 
trice. Here  he  has  since  lived  retired  from 
active  business,  save  that  he  continues  to  give 
a  general  supervision  to  his  extensive  real- 
estate    interests    and    incidental    farm    enter- 


prise, his  eldest  daughter  presiding  over  the 
pleasant  home  which  he  has  provided  at  815 
Lincoln  street  in  the  capital  city  of  Gage 
county. 

Mr.  Bindernagel  entered  with  utmost  loyalty 
into  the  communal  activities  making  for  de- 
velopment and  progress  after  he  had  estab- 
lished his  residence  on  his  original  homestead, 
and  in  this  connection  it  may  be  noted  that  he 
gave  eft'ective  assistance  in  establishing  the 
first  school  in  what  is  now  Filley  township 
and  that  his  lively  interest  in  educational  af- 
fairs met  with  such  popular  appreciation  that 
he  was  retained  for  fully  thirty-five  years  as 
a  member  of  the  school  board  of  his  district. 
He  assisted  also  in  the  organizing  of  the 
Lutheran  church  in  Blakely  township,  of 
which  he  and  his  wife  became  influential  mem- 
bers. While  he  has  had  no  ambition  for  po- 
litical office  he  has  accorded  a  loyal  support  to 
the  cause  of  the  Republican  party  and  has 
taken  deep  interest  in  public  affairs,  especially 
those  of  local  order. 

On  the  25th  of  August,  1872,  was  solemn- 
ized the  marriage  of  Mr.  Bindernagel  to  Miss 
Margaret  Marschall,  who  was  bom  in  Ger- 
many, October  22,  1850,  and  who  was  there 
reared  and  educated.  She  came  to  America 
in  the  autumn  of  1870,  and  within  less  than 
two  years  thereafter  became  the  wife  of  Mr. 
Bindernagel,  to  whom  she  proved  a  devoted 
companion  and  helpmeet  during  the  remain- 
der of  her  earnest  and  kindly  life.  She  was 
called  to  the  life  eternal,  on  the  23d  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1913.  Of  their  union  were  born  six 
children,  concerning  whom  brief  record  is 
made  in  conclusion  of  this  review :  Miss 
Rosa  remains  with  her  venerable  father  and  is 
the  popular  chatelaine  of  their  pleasant  home 
in  the  city  of  Beatrice ;  Philip  A.  is  one  of  the 
representative  exponents  of  farm  industry  in 
Blakely  township,  where  he  operates  one  of 
his  father's  farms  ;  David  is  similarly  engaged 
in  Lincoln  township ;  Elizabeth  is  the  wife  of 
George  Stevens,  of  Lincoln  township ;  Caro- 
line died  August  24,  1909,  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
eight  years ;  and  Emma  is  the  wife  of  L.  K. 
Stevens,  who  has  the  active  charge  of  the  old 
homestead  farm  of  her  father,  in  Blakely 
township. 


586 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


HUGH  J.  DOBBS,  the  author  of  the  his- 
torical part  of  this  volume,  was  born  in  Taney 
county,  state  of  Missouri,  on  the  28th  day  of 
September,  1849.  He  is  the  second  son  and 
the  second  of  eleven  children  born  to  Fidillo 
Hunter  and  Mary  Jane  Dobbs.  His  ancestry 
and  family  history  are  set  forth  with  some  de- 
tail in  the  biography  of  his  parents  which  ap- 
pears elsewhere  in  this  work. 

Hugh  J.  Dobbs  attained  the  rudiments  of 
an  education  in  the  first  crude  schools  taught 
in  Beatrice,  Blue  Springs,  and  in  his  home  dis- 
trict, in  Rockford  township.  In  1871,  after 
leaving  the  first  Beatrice  high  school,  he  ob- 
tained a  third-grade  certificate  as  a  teacher  and 
taught  his  first  school,  beginning  May  10th  of 
that  year,  in  the  Hillman  school  district,  Hook- 
er township,  for  which  he  received  one  hun- 
dred dollars  and  board.  In  September,  1871, 
with  thirty-five  dollars  borrowed  money,  he 
entered  the  state  normal  school  at  Peru,  Ne- 
braska. At  the  close  of  the  fall  term  he  took 
charge  of  the  Holmesville  district  school,  and 
by  teaching  on  Saturday  and  in  vacations  he 
was  able  to  put  four  months'  teaching  into 
three,  and  return  to  the  normal  school  at  the 
opening  of  the  spring  term.  In  April,  1873, 
he  took  charge  of  the  public  schools  of  Bellevue 
and  taught  one  term.  Thereafter  he  was  able 
to  complete  his  course  of  study  in  the  state 
normal  school,  from  which  institution  he  gra- 
duated in  June,  1875.  In  September  of 
that  year  he  took  charge  of  the  public  schools 
at  Ashland,  Nebraska,  and  he  remained  at  the 
head  of  these  schools  till  January  1,  1878,  when 
he  accepted  a  similar  position  in  the  public 
schools  of  Beatrice.  He  remained  in  charge  of 
the  Beatrice  schools  till  the  close  of  the  school 
year  of  1880.  In  both  the  Ashland  and  the 
Beatrice  schools  he  was  the  first  to  introduce 
systematic  graduation,  install  a  course  of  study 
and  graduate  a  class. 

In  September,  1880,  Mr.  Dobbs  entered  the 
law  department  of  Union  College  (now  Uni- 
versity), of  Schenectady,  New  York,  this  de- 
partment being  located  at  Albany.  He  receiv- 
ed his  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Laws  from  Union 
College  May  27,  1881,  and  on  the  28th  day  of 
May  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  the  state  of 


New  York.  On  the  11th  day  of  July,  1881, 
he  began  the  practice  of  his  profession  at  Beat- 
rice, and  he  has  been  continuously  and  active- 
ly engaged  in  the  practice  of  the  law  in  this 
city  since  that  date.  His  practice  extends  to 
all  the  courts  of  Nebraska  and  the  federal 
courts.  In  the  thirty-seven  years  of  his 
practice  he  has  transacted  a  large  volume  of 
legal  business,  both  civil  and  criminal,  and  is 
an  able  and  successful  lawyer. 

Hugh  J.  Dobbs  always  takes  an  active  inter- 
est in  public  afl^airs.  In  politics  he  has  always 
been  affiliated  with  the  great  national  Republi- 
can party,  to  which  party  he  has  never  wavered 
in  loyalty.  In  1884  he  was  appointed  register 
of  the  United  States  government  land  office  at 
Beatrice,  by  President  Arthur.  He  took  office 
April  1st  of  that  year  and  held  the  same  until 
September  15,  1887,  when  the  Beatrice  land 
district  was  consolidated  with  the  Lincoln  land 
district,  and  the  records  of  the  old  Beatrice- 
Brownville  office  removed  to  Lincoln.  In 
1888  he  was  nominated  by  his  party  as  a 
candidate  for  the  office  of  county  attorney  and 
was  elected  by  the  highest  vote  of  any  candi- 
date on  the  ticket,  his  majority  in  the  county 
exceeding  that  of  Benjamin  Harrison,  candi- 
date for  president  of  the  United  States.  When, 
in  1893,  the  Beatrice  Free  Public  Library  was 
established,  he  was  selected  as  one  of  the  first 
board  of  trustees  of  that  important  and  useful 
institution  and  he  served  in  that  capacity  eight- 
een years.  He  was  two  years  president  of  the 
board  and  sixteen  years  at  the  head  of  the  book 
committee,  one  of  the  most  important  com- 
mittees connected  with  the  library. 

Mr.  Dobbs  has  been  engaged  over  a  year  in 
the  preparation  of  the  History  of  Gage  County. 
His  work  has  been  almost  wholly  confined  to 
the  historical  part  of  this  volume.  His  com- 
pensation consists  not  in  the  few  dollars  he  re- 
ceives for  his  labor,  but  in  the  satisfaction  of 
having  performed  a  service  of  lasting  benefit 
to  his  day  and  generation.  In  common  with 
many,  he  felt  that  before  the  last  of  the 
pioneers  had  passed  away  the  history  of  Gage 
county  should  be  written  by  one  who  was 
familiar  with  it  from  the  beginning  to  the  pres- 
ent time  and  whose  acquaintance  was  exten- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


sive  among-st  the  early  settlers.  He  has  ful- 
filled this  duty  as  forcefully  as  circumstances 
would  permit.  A  portrait  of  Mr.  Dobbs  ap- 
pears as  frontispiece  of  this  volume. 

While  attending  the  state  normal  school  at 
Peru,  the  subject  of  this  sketch  made  the  ac- 
quaintance of  Louisa  A.  Piper,  who  also  was 
attending  school  there.  In  1876  and  1877, 
they  taught  school  together  in  Ashland,  and  on 
Christmas  eve.  1877,  they  became  engaged  to 
be  married.  On  the  first  day  of  January,  1884, 
their  marriage  was  solemnized,  at  Alma, 
Harlan  county,  Nebraska,  and  they  have  ever 
since  resided  in  Beatrice.  Five  children  are 
the  fruit  of  this  marriage.  They  are :  Flor- 
ence M.,  who  lives  at  home  with  her  par- 
ents ;  Stuart  Piper,  a  graduate  of  the  Beatrice 
high  school  and  of  the  literary  and  law  cours- 
es of  the  University  of  Nebraska,  now  prac- 
ticing his  profession  at  Ogden,  Utah,  where 
he  is  district  attorney  of  the  judicial  district 
which  includes  Weber  county,  where  Ogden 
is  located,  and  three  other  counties ;  Edith 
Evelyn,  who  is  a  teacher  of  history  in  the 
public  schools  of  Ogden ;  Louise  Josephine, 
a  student  in  the  state  University  of  Colorado, 
at  Boulder;  and  Hugh  J.  Dobbs,  Jr.,  of  Colo- 
rado L^niversity,  now  serving  in  an  officers' 
reserve  training  camp  at  Presidio,  and  sub- 
ject to  the  call  of  his  country. 

THOMAS  FRANCIS  DOBBS  is  the  sixth 
son  and  the  ninth  child  of  Fidillo  Hunter  and 
Mary  Jane  Dobbs,  whose  biographical  sketch 
with  family  genealogy  is  found  elsewhere  in 
this  volume.  He  was  born  on  the  old  home- 
stead, in  Rockford  township,  on  August  6, 
1866.  He  received  the  rudiments  of  an  edu- 
cation in  the  old  school  house  across  the  road 
from  his  father's  homestead,  and  for  a  while 
taught  district  school  in  the  county.  Finally 
he  entered  the  state  normal  school  at  Peru, 
and  in  this  institution  he  was  duly  graduated. 
For  three  years  he  was  principal  of  the 
public  schools  at  Wahoo,  and  for  about  the 
same  length  of  time  principal  of  the  public 
schools  at  Auburn.  He  then  entered!  the 
hardware  business  at  Peru,  where  he  built  up 
a    fine    trade,    but    on    account    of    his    wife's 


health  he  was  forced  to  move  to  Colorado, 
where,  with  the  exception  of  a  single  year 
spent  in  Oregon,  he  has  since  made  his  home. 
For  several  years  he  was  engaged  in  business 
at  Rocky  Ford,  and  was  very  prosperous. 
He  sold  out  there  and  went  to  Oregon  with 
a  view  to  entering  the  banking  business,  but 
after  a  year, he  returned  to  Colorado  and 
settled  at  LaSalle,  six  miles  west  of  Greeley, 
where  he  bought  the  controlling  interest  in 
the  LaSalle  State  Bank.  He  is  now  president 
of  this  bank  and  is  doing  a  satisfactory  bank- 
ing business. 

While  attending  the  state  normal  school 
at  Peru,  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  Miss 
Vina  Cannon,  a  classmate,  and  shortly  after 
their  graduation  they  were  married.  Two 
children  have  been  born  to  them  —  Herbert, 
twenty-two  years  of  age,  cashier  of  the  State 
bank  of  LaSalle,  Colorado ;  and  Mary,  a 
student  in  the  conservatory  of  music  at  Den- 
ver. 

Thomas  F.  Dobbs  is  the  object  of  the 
deep  fraternal  affection  of  his  brothers  and 
sisters.  He  is  without  enemies  and  his 
friends    are    legion. 

LEANDER  M.  PEMBERTON.  —  No  man 
in  Gage  county  is  better  known  or  more  highly 
esteemed  than  Leander  M.  Pemberton.  For 
nearly  two  score  years  he  has  made  his  home 
in  the  city  of  Beatrice  and  he  has  gained  dis- 
tinction not  only  in  his  profession  as  an  able, 
scholarly  lawyer,  a  legislator  and  a  learned, 
wise  and  just  judge,  but  also  as  a  gentleman, 
a  friend  and  a  true  and  loyal  citizen  in  all  the 
walks  of  life.  He  came  to  Beatrice  from  Iowa 
in  the  fall  of  1879  and  gained  immediate  recog- 
nition as  a  careful,  discriminating,  conscien- 
tious lawyer,  and  until  his  merits  marked  him 
for  an  exalted  judicial  position  he  had  been 
professionally  connected  with  a  large  volume 
of  important  legal  business  in  the  courts  of  the 
country,  federal  as  well  as  state.  Perhaps  no 
man  of  his  profession  while  practicing  jit  the 
bar  in  Gage  county  was  so  often  called  into 
cases  by  other  counsel  as  Judge  Pemberton, 
and  no  lawyer  ever  more  deserved  the  confi- 
dence of  his  professional  associates.     His  sue- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


cess  in  lite  has  been  gained  by  sheer  force  of 
character,  learning  and  ability  of  a  very  high 
order.  It  is  characteristic  of  him  that  he  has 
the  power,  without  conscious  effort  on  his 
part,  of  inspiring  confidence  in  the  breasts  of 
others,  a  confidence  founded  on  a  belief  in  his 
honesty  and  integrity  of  character. 

To  have  been  well  born  is  ^Iways  a  desir- 
able factor  in  a  human  life.  While  pride  of 
ancestry  is  not  as  a  rule  characteristic  of  the 
American  citizen,  it  is  but  natural,  and  highly 
commendable,  that  one  should  feel  a  just  pride 
in  the  fact  that  his  ancestors  were  in  their  day 
and  generation  people  of  consequence,  of 
character  and  influence.  As  respects  his  par- 
ents, as  well  as  his  more  remote  ancestry, 
Judge  Pemberton  was  well  born.  The  family 
of  which  he  is  a  scion  is  of  English  origin  and 
was  founded  in  America  at  an  early  day.  John 
Pemberton,  his  great-grandfather  was  a  \'ir- 
ginian.  In  the  decisive  battle  of  King's 
Mountain,  October  7,  1780,  where  a  body  of 
state  militia  almost  annihilated  Lieutenant 
Colonel  Ferguson's  army  of  British  regulars, 
and  thereby  practically  destroyed  England's 
power  in  the  southern  colonies,  he  com- 
manded a  regiment  in  Colonel  Shelby's  regi- 
ment of  volunteers.  At  the  same  time  and 
in  his  company,  under  '  his  command,  were 
William  King  and  John  Sharp,  the  former  a 
paternal  great-grandfather  and  the  latter  a 
maternal  great-grandfather  of  Judge  Pember- 
ton. Thus  in  one  of  the  most  important  and 
decisive  battles  of  the  Revolutionary  war,  we 
find  serving  together  in  one  company  of  vol- 
unteers three  men  who  were  destined  to  oc- 
cupy the  same  relation  as  forbears  to  Judge 
Leander  Munsell  Pemberton.  Judge  Pem- 
berton's  paternal  grandfather,  Stanton  Pem- 
berton, also  a  Virginian,  about  the  year  1804, 
married  Sarah  King,  a  descendant  of  William 
King,  and  in  1831  emigrated  from  Virginia  to 
Coles  county,  Illinois.  To  this  marriage  there 
were  born  eleven  children,  the  third  of  whom, 
Harvey  Guilford  Pemberton,  became  Judge 
Pemberton's  father.  In  September,  1832, 
Harvey  Guilford  Pemberton  returned  to  Vir- 
ginia and  married  Caroline  Clarissa  King,  who 
was   liorn   in    Sullivan   county,   Tennessee,   in 


March,  1811,  the  tenth  child  in  a  family  o 
fourteen  children.  Her  people,  who  were 
Scotch-Irish  Presbyterians,  removed  from 
Pennsylvania  to  Tennessee  about  the  year 
1760.  Caroline  Clarissa  Pemberton,  the 
mother  of  Judge  Pemberton,  was  a  woman  of 
character  and  refinement ;  though  deprived  in 
her  youth  of  all  but  the  most  meager  educa- 
tional advantages,  she  was  a  lover  of  good 
literature  and  possessed  all  the  graces  and  vir- 
tues of  a  noble  wife  and  mother.  Several  of 
her  brothers  were  college  graduates,  but  the 
education  of  a  woman  was  deemed  a  needless 
extravagance  in  those  days.  She  became  the 
mother  of  nine  children,  of  whom  three  sons 
and  two  daughters  reached  maturity. 

One  of  these  sons,  Johnathan  Columbus 
Pemberton  was  in  the  militia  company  that 
went  to  the  rescue  of  the  settlers  in  the  Spirit 
Lake  massacre,  in  March,  1857,  and  his  name 
appears  on  the  fine  monument  at  Lake  Oko- 
boji,  Iowa,  erected  by  the  state  of  Iowa  to  the 
memory  of  the  suffering  and  heroism  of  those 
militiamen.  He  died  in  March,  1860,  aged 
twenty-seven  years,  from  a  disease  caused 
largely  by  the  hunger  and  exposure  encoun- 
tered on  that  expedition.  Another  son,  Wil- 
liam J.  Pemberton,  was  an  early  settler  of 
Beatrice,  but  he  afterward  removed  to  Jef- 
ferson county  and  became  a  member  of  the  leg- 
islature from  that  county,  in  the  session  of 
1887.  He  died  suddenly,  at  Hebron,  Ne- 
braska, in  November,  1898,  aged  fifty  years. 
The  other  son,  Leander  M.  Pemberton,  is  the 
subject  of  this  sketch.  One  daughter,  Mrs. 
Emily  C.  Ross,  died  in  December,  1881,  at 
Stratford,  Iowa,  aged  forty  years ;  the  other 
daughter,  Mrs.  Sarah  A.  Bascom,  aged  eighty- 
one  years,  is  still  (July,  1918),  living,  and  re- 
sides at  Spencer,  Iowa. 

Leander  M.  Pemberton  was  born  on  the  12th 
day  of  November,  1845,  in  a  humble  log  cabin 
on  a  fann,  near  the  town  of  Paris,  in  Edgar 
county,  Illinois.  Hig  early  childhood  was 
spent  in  the  place  of  his  birth,  but  when  he  was 
nine  years  of  age  his  parents,  in  the  fall  of 
1854,  moved  to  Iowa,  and  in  the  spring  of 
1835  settled  in  the  village  of  Homer,  in  what 
afterward    became   the   county   of    Hamilton. 


,1 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


LEander  M.  PemhErton 


590 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Here,  on  the  4th  day  of  November,  1864,  the 
wife  and  mother  died,  at  the  age  of  fifty-three 
years,  and  within  a  year  her  husband  also 
passed  away,  his  death  occurring  October  31, 
1865,  in  the  fifty-seventh  year  of  his  age.  All 
that  was  mortal  of  this  husband  and  wife  lie 
side  by  side  in  the  cemetery  near  Webster 
City,  Iowa. 

Judge  Pemberton's  education  began  in  the 
primary  department  of  a  seminary  at  Paris, 
Illinois,  when  he  was  seven  years  of  age.  On 
the  removal  of  his  parents  to  Iowa  it  was  con- 
tinued in  the  log  school  house,  and  later  in  the 
one-room,  frame  school  house  at  the  village  of 
Homer,  until  he  attained  the  age  of  sixteen, 
when  he  left  the  paternal  roof  and  engaged 
in  the  battle  of  life  single-handed  and  unaided. 
He  journeyed  on  foot  from  Homer,  in  Hamil- 
ton county,  to  Mahaska  county,  Iowa,  where 
he  found  employment  on  a  farm  near  Leredo, 
doing  with  his  might  whatever  he  found  to  do, 
at  the  munificent  wage  of  forty  cents  a  day. 
He  earned  money  enough  in  the  farming  sea- 
son to  pay  his  way  at  Oskaloosa  College  dur- 
ing the  winter  of  1862-1863  and  the  fall  of 
1863.  He  then  successfully  passed  an  examin- 
ation for  a  teacher's  certificate  and  began 
teaching  school.  His  rise  in  the  world  might  be 
described  as  rapid,  since  from  a  wage  of  twelve 
and  fifteen  dollars  a  month  as  a  farm  hand, 
he  was  now  able  to  command  a  salary  of 
twenty-five  dollars  a  month  as  a  country 
schoolmaster.  By  working  on  a  farm  in  the 
growing  seasons  of  the  year  and  teaching  fall 
and  winter  schools  he  managed  to  obtain 
enough  money  to  cover  his  expenses  through 
the  sophomore  year  of  the  State  University  of 
Iowa.  Reluctantly  abandoning  a  collegiate 
course  of  study,  Mr.  Pemberton  returned  to 
Hamilton  county,  Iowa  and  resumed  his  oc- 
cupation as  a  school  teacher,  studying  law  dili- 
gently, as  opportunity  afforded,  under  the  di- 
rection of  Judge  D.  D.  Chase,  of  Webster  City. 
April  6,  1870,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at 
Boonesboro,  Boone  county,  Iowa,  and  in  June 
of  the  same  year  he  began  the  practice  of  his 
profession  at  the  town  of  Peterson,  Clay 
county,  Iowa.  At  the  general  election  in  1871 
he  was  elected  to  the  office  of  auditor  of  Clay 


county  and  took  up  his  residence  in  Spencer, 
which  then  became  the  county  seat.  By  suc- 
cessive elections  he  held  this  position  six  years, 
practising  his  profession  in  the  meantime. 

During  the  presidential  campaign  of  1872 
Judge  Pemberton  directed  the  editorial  policy 
of  the  Clay  County  Neivs,  advocating  the  elec- 
tion of  Grant  and  Wilson.  In  the  autumn  of 
1879-he  left  Iowa  and  located  in  Beatrice. 

At  the  time  of  his  arrival  here  both  the  city 
of  Beatrice  and  the  county  of  Gage  were 
growing  by  leaps  and  bounds.  The  federal 
census  of  1880  credited  Beatrice  with  a  popu- 
lation of  2,447  and  the  county  with  13,164  in- 
habitants. Mr.  Pemberton  found  a  hospitable 
welcome  in  the  community  and  his  success  was 
immediate,  both  as  a  lawyer  and  a  citizen. 
From  the  first  he  took  an  active  part  in  the 
afifairs  of  the  city,  and  he  served  six  years  as 
city  attorney  of  Beatrice.  For  twelve  years 
he  was  a  member  of  the  school  board  and  for 
six  years  president  of  that  body.  He  was  at 
one  time  a  member  of  the  educational  council 
of  the  state.  When  the  free  public  library  was 
established  by  the  city  council,  in  1893,  Judge 
Pemberton  was  selected  as  a  member  of  the 
first  board  of  directors  and,  by  continuous  re- 
appointment, he  has  held  that  position  to  the 
present  time. 

In  1902  Judge  Pemberton  was  elected  state 
senator  from  Gage  county  and  from  the  mo- 
ment of  its  organization  he  became  a  useful, 
diligent  and  influential  member  of  that  body. 
Much  of  the  important  legislation  of  that  ses- 
sion was  due  to  his  wisely  directed  energies. 
The  legislature  undertook  to  revise  the  revenue 
laws  of  the  state  and  a  joint  committee  of  both 
houses  was  appointed  to  draft  and  report  a 
revenue  bill.  Judge  Pemberton  was  one  of 
the  senate  members  appointed  to  serve  on  this 
important  committee  and  soon  became  one  of 
its  most  influential  members.  It  is  largely  to 
his  training  as  a  lawyer  and  his  conscientious 
service  as  a  legislator  that  the  people  of  this 
state  are  indebted  for  their  present  complete 
and  efficient  revenue  law,  which  is  probably 
the  best  that  can  be  made  under  our  present 
constitution. 

At  the  general  election  of  1907  Judge  Pem- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


391 


berton  was  elected  one  of  the  judges  of  the  old 
First  judicial  district  of  Nebraska,  comprising 
the  counties  of  Richardson,  Nemaha,  Pawnee, 
Johnson,  Gage  and  Jefiferson.  The  judicial 
business  of  this  large  district  was  then  trans- 
acted by  two  judges,  Hon.  John  B.  Raper,  of 
Pawnee  City,  who  had  served  two  years  by 
appointment,  and  is  still  in  the  service  as  a 
judge  of  the  First  judicial  district,  having  been 
elected  at  the  time  Judge  Pemberton's  election 
occurred.  But  before  the  next  election  of 
judges  was  had  for  the  district,  it  was  divided 
by  the  legislature  and  District  Eighteen 
created,  consisting  of  Gage  and  Jefferson  coun- 
ties. At  the  general  election  of  1911  Judge 
Pemberton  was  elected  judge  of  the  Eighteenth 
judicial  district,  and  he  was  re-elected  in  1916. 
His  present  term  will  expire  January  6,  1921. 
He  has  served  more  than  ten  years  as  a  judge 
of  this  district  court,  a  court  which  has  both 
appellate  and  general  original  jurisdiction. 
Judge  Pemberton  is  known  far  and  wide  as  a 
careful  and  able  trial  judge.  He  commands 
not  only  the  respect  of  the  lawyers  of  his  dis- 
trict, but  is  also  universally  esteemed  by  all 
who  know  him.  The  judicial  ermine  was  never 
worn  more  worthily  or  its  sanctity  more  care- 
fully guarded. 

On  the  30th  day  of  April,  1879,  at  Spencer, 
Iowa,  Judge  Pemberton  married  Miss  Ida  M. 
Harris,  a  lady  of  amiable  disposition  and  many 
accomplishments.  Her  mental  faculties  were 
of  a  high  order  and  she  was  not  afraid  to  exer- 
cise her  judgment  and  follow  its  conclusions. 
In  all  the  relations  of  life,  and  particularly  as 
wife  and  mother,  she  was  unusually  capable. 
She  was  much  esteemed  in  the  community  and 
was  endowed  with  the  graces  that  only  a 
genuine,  wholesome  and  lovely  character  can 
confer.  On  the  6th  day  of  September,  1903, 
after  an  illness  of  some  duration,  she  passed 
away,  leaving  her  husband  and  children  to 
mourn  their  irreparable  loss. 

To  this  marriage  there  were  born  five  chil- 
dren, three  daughters  and  two  sons.  The 
daughters  are  Zula  L.  Pemberton,  for  several 
years  a  successful  teacher  in  the  Beatrice 
schools  and  now  a  highly  respected  teacher  in 
the    public    schools    of    Seattle,    Washington; 


Pauline,  wife  of  Wylie  B.  Mayer;  and  Louise, 
wife  of  Lee  W.  Johnson,  both  of  Beatrice.  Mr. 
Mayer  is  a  successful  business  man  and  Mr. 
Johnson  for  several  years  has  been  the  official 
reporter  for  the  Eighteenth  judicial  district  of 
Nebraska  ;  since  the  entry  of  the  United  States 
into  the  great  world  war  he  has  acted  also  as 
head  clerk  of  the  local  draft  board.  The  sons 
of  Judge  Pemberton  are  Frederick  K.  Pember- 
ton, a  young  business  man  of  Beatrice,  and 
Guilford  Pemberton,  a  cadet  in  the  signal  corps 
of  the  aviation  service  now  preparing  for  ser- 
vice in  France,  at  Ellington  Field,  Texas. 

Politically  Judge  Pemberton  has  always  af- 
filiated with  the  Republican  party,  and  to  the 
honors  bestowed  upon  him  by  this  great  na- 
tional organization  he  has  faithfully  endeav- 
ored to  respond  by  honoring  it  in  the  character 
of  his  public  services  as  a  representative  of  his 
party. 

While  not  directly  connected  with  any  re- 
ligious organization.  Judge  Pemberton  is  by 
nature  a  religious  man.  He  accepts  without 
reservation  the  general  teachings  of  Christian- 
ity as  lived  and  taught  by  its  great  founder, 
Jesus  of  Nazareth. 

Having  gained  and,  through  long  years  of 
association,  held  the  esteem  of  an  entire  com- 
munity ;  having  so  discharged  the  duties  of  an 
advocate  and  a  lawyer  as  to  dignify  and  en- 
noble the  great  and  learned  profession ;  having 
through  long  years  so  administered  justice  as 
judge  of  an  important  court  as  to  command  the 
respect  of  both  the  bench  and  bar  of  a  great 
state.  Judge  Leander  M.  Pemberton  can  await 
without  trepidation  or  fear  the  hour  when  it 
shall  be  said  of  him  "the  silver  cord  has  been 
loosed,  the  golden  bowl  broken,  the  pitcher 
broken  at  the  fountain." 

EDGAR  ROTHROCK— The  story  is  told 
that  on  a  Dutch  sailing  vessel  in  the  year 
1716  there  was  a  man  who  wore  a  reddish- 
brown  coat  and  whom  the  passengers  named 
"Rot-Rock."  Anyhow  it  is  an  established 
fact  that  Gottlieb  Rothrock.  the  first  and  pos- 
sibly the  only  Rothrock  to  come  to  America, 
arrived  in  the  year  1716  and  settled  in  York 
countv,  Pennsylvania. 


592 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


In  1746  twin  sons  were  born  to  one  Philip 
Rothrock  (probably  a  son  of  Gottlieb  Roth- 
rock),  who  lived  in  Manchester  township, 
York  county,  Pennsylvania.  These  sons, 
Philip  named  Valentine  and  Peter.  The 
former  remained  in  Pennsylvania  while  the 
latted  emigrated  to  North  Carolina  and  set- 
tled four  miles  south  of  Winston-Salem, 
where  on  April  19,  1785,  was  born  to  him  a 
son  whom  he  named  Joseph. 

Joseph  Rothrock  was  a  farmer  and  black- 
smith, and  spent  his  life  in  the  vicinity  of  his 
birth.  He  died  in  1868  and  was  buried  in  the 
cemetery  beside  the  Freiburg  Moravian 
church,  seven  miles  south  of  Winston-Salem, 
of  which  church  he  was  a  devout  member. 
Joseph  was  twice  married  —  iirst  to  Magda- 
lena  Knaup,  who  bore  to  him  six  children, 
and  after  whose  death  he  married  Sarali 
Spach,  six  children  being  born  of  this  second 
union.  For  this  sketch  our  interest  centers 
in  Martin,  who  was  born  April  24,  1814,  the 
second  son,  by  the  first  marriage. 

Martin  Rothrock  left  his  childhood  home 
and  immigrated  to  the  new  west  in  1838, 
settling  in  Edwards  county,  Illinois,  where  he 
followed  the  occupations  .of  his  father. 
Among  the  people  whom  he  learned  to  know 
in  the  vicinity  of  his  new  home  was  an  orphan 
girl,  Elizabeth  Rothrock,  who  was  born 
January  22,  1822,  and  who  lived  with  a  family 
of  another  name.  Their  acquaintance  ripen- 
ed into  love  and  they  were  united  in  holy 
matrimony  June  22,  1842.  To  this  union 
were  born  five  sons  and  three  daughters.  The 
second  child,  Eli  Sanford,  was  born  August 
5,   1849. 

Eli  S.  Rothrock  grew  to  manhood  in  the 
vicinity  of  his  birth  and  on  August  4,  1870, 
he  married  Susannah  Forney.  To  this  union 
were  born  ten  children,  the  seventh  of  whom 
is  the  subject  of  this  sketch.  Eli  S.  Roth- 
rock and  his  good  wife  left  their  childhood 
home  early  in  1876,  with  three  horses  and  a 
covered  wagon,  and  drove  to  Pawnee  county, 
Nebraska,  where  they  lived  until  the  spring 
of  1878,  when  they  removed  to  what  is  now 
Carlisle,  Fillmore  county,  Nebraska.  By  oc- 
supation  he  was  a  farmer,  but  he  also  served 


the  Bethel  Church  of  the  Brethren  accept- 
ably as  a  minister.  On  March  11,  1883  a  son 
was  born  to  them,  whom  they  named  Edgar 
Eli. 

The  Forneys  came  to  America  from 
Switzerland  and  settled  in  Pennsylvania  in 
colonial  days.  John  Forney,  Salisbury,  Som- 
erset county,  Pennsylvania  was  born  Novem- 
ber 15,  1777.  He  married  Susannah  Buechley, 
and  to  them,  were  born  nine  sons  and  three 
daughters.  By  trade  John  Forney  was  a  car- 
penter and  cooper,  and  from  the  year  1830 
he  served  the  Berlin  congregation  of  what  is 
now  the  Church  of  the  Brethren  (Dunkard) 
as  minister.  He  died  August  31,  1846,  and 
his  wife  departed  this  life  July  27,  1862,  at 
the  age  of  seventy-five  years. 

Michael  Forney,  son  of  John  and  Susannah 
Forney,  was  born  in  Somerset  county, 
Pennsylvania,  January  14,  1811.  February 
16,  1834  he  married  Rachel  Horner,  who  was 
a  daughter  of  John  Horner.  To  this  union 
ten  children  were  born.  The  seventh  was 
Susannah,  who  married  Eli  Sanford  Roth- 
rock. The  Forneys  were  Dunkards,  and 
many  of  them  preachers.  Michael  and  two 
of  his  brothers,  two  of  his  sons,  and  several 
grandsons  were  ministers.  The  Rothrocks 
were  Moravians.  Elizabeth  Rothrock  chang- 
ed her  church  relationship  and  united  with 
the  Church  of  the  Brethren  when  she  was  in 
middle  life. 

Edgar  Eli  Rothrock  grew  up  on  his  father's 
homstead  at  Carlisle,  Nebraska.  Having 
completed  their  studies  in  the  country  school 
he  and  his  brothers  and  youngest  sister  drove 
to  Davenport,  Nebraska,  and  finished  in  the 
high  school.  Then  Edgar  attended  Mount 
Morris  College,  Mount  Morris,  Illinois,  nearly 
two  years,  and  finished  the  Latin-Scientific 
course.  The  following  year  was  spent  in  the 
school  of  agriculture  at  Lincoln,  Nebraska. 
February  14,  1907,  he  and  Bertha  Evora 
Sweitzer  were  united  in  marriage,  at  the 
bride's  home,  near  Waterloo,  Iowa.  Mrs. 
Edgar  Rothrock,  daughter  of  Amos  D.  and 
Harriet  (Engle)  Sweitzer  was  born  Septem- 
ber 11,  1886,  being  the  seventh  in  a  family  of 
eight  children.     Both   lier  parents  were  born 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


393 


and  reared  in  Pennsylvania,  as  were  their 
parents  before  them,  being  of  the  sturdy 
Pennsylvania-German  pioneer  stock  of  that 
great  commonwealth.  After  their  marriage 
Edgar  and  Bertha  Rothrock,  settled  on  a  farm 
near  Carlisle,  Nebraska.  The  Bethel  congre- 
gation of  the  Church  of  the  Brethren  elected 
him  to  the  ministry  in  November,  1907.  At 
once  he  entered  upon  his  duties  and  preached 
his  first  sermon  the  first  Sunday  of  January, 
1908.  The  following  winters  were  spent  in 
study  at  home,  in  AlcPherson  College,  Kansas, 
and  Bethany  Bible  School,  Chicago,  Illinois. 
March  1,  1910,  the  Bethel  church  invited  him 
to  accept  the  pastorate,  which  he  did,  and  he 
served  his  home  congregation  in  a  very  ac- 
ceptable manner  for  seven  and  one-half  years. 
He  resigned  this  position  to  accept  a  similar 
one  in  the  South  Beatrice  church,  near 
Holmesville,  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  in  Sep- 
tember, 1917.  In  this  new  field  he  is  active 
not  only  in  the  things  pertaining  directly  to 
the  church  but  also  in  those  for  the  general 
development  of  the  community  life.  He  help- 
ed to  plan  the  campaign  which  resulted  in  the 
forming  of  the  consolidated  school  at  Holmes- 
ville. He  knows  and  loves  country  people 
and  he  believes  in  the  future  of  the  rural  com- 
munity. 

Into  this  home  si.x  children  have  been  born, 
all  of  whom  are  living.  They  are:  Kathryn 
Bernita,  born  February  6,  1908 ;  Aileen  May. 
born  May  1,  1909;  Kevin  ]\Ionroe,  born  De- 
cember 23,  1910:  Ruth  Elizabeth,  born  De- 
cember  1,    1912:   Samuel   Amos,  born   ]March 

26,  1914 ;   and    Edgar    Spurgeon,   born.   July 

27,  1918. 


JAMES  W.  MARPLES,  the  subject  of 
this  sketch,  was  born  in  Faribault  county, 
Alinnesota,  May  19,  1864.  He  is  the  son  of 
Charles  Marples  and  Hannah  Jane  ( Isleyl 
Alarples.  In  1868  his  parents  migrated  from 
Alinnesota  to  the  then  new  state  of  Nebraska, 
and  located  in  Saline  county,  on  a  farm  near 
the  present  city  of  Wilber.  His  father  served 
four  years  as  county  clerk  of  that  county 
durino-   its    earlv   historv,    the    county   seat   at 


that  time  being  Swan  City,  located  on  Swan 
creek,  a  short  distance  southwest  of  DeWitt. 
It  was  afterwards  moved  to  Pleasant  Hill, 
and  when  Wilber  was  laid  out,  in  1872,  it 
became,  and  still  is,  the  county  seat  of  Saline 
county. 

In  1875  Air.  Marples'  parents  moved  to 
Gage  county  and  located  on  a  farm  southeast 
of  Blue  Springs,  where  the  head  of  the  fam- 
ily died  within  the  following  winter.  In 
1877  the  mother  married  N.  Norris,  an  early 
settler  in  Saline  county,  and  they  still  live  on 
the  old  Marples  homestead,  three  miles  east 
of  Wymore. 

Air.  Alarples  obtained  a  good,  usable  edu- 
cation in  the  country  schools  of  Island  Grove 
township.  Gage  county,  and  looks  back  with 
much  satisfaction  to  those  happy  days  of  his 
early  life, — ^days  when  the  old-fashioned 
spelling  school  and  the  A,  B,  C  method  of 
instruction  had  not  gone  entirely  out  of  style, 
and  the  Three  R's  still  constituted  the  prin- 
cipal source  of  learning  in  the  common 
schools.  Having  completed  an  eighth-grade 
course  in  the  district  school,  he  spent  some 
time  in  Campbell  University,  at  Holton, 
Kansas,  entering  that  institution  in  1884. 

In  1875,  when  Air.  Alarples  first  came  to 
Gage  county,  there  was  still  much  unbroken 
prairie  throughout  the  county,  where  wild 
game  common  to  prairie  solitudes  could  be 
found  —  the  quail,  prairie  chicken,  and  now 
and  then  a  deer.  A  few  miles  south  of  his 
father's  farm  lay  the  Otoe  Indian  reservation, 
an  unbroken  stretch  of  prairie  reaching  from 
three  miles  in  Jefferson  county  to  within  two 
miles  of  the  east  line  of  Gage  county,  and  ex- 
tending ten  miles  south,  two  of  which  were  in 
Alarshall  and  Washington  counties,  Kansas. 
By  a  short  ride  or  drive  from  Air.  Alarples' 
boyhood  home,  a  person  could  be  in  the  midst 
of  primeval  conditions, —  overhead  the  blue 
sky  like  a  great  hollow  dome ;  on  every  hand 
the  wide,  rolling  prairie,  stretching  to  the  far 
horizon :  a  landscape  unbroken  by  a  single 
sign  of  civilized  life,  and  a  silence  which  had 
brooded  over  Nebraska  from  the  dawn  of 
time.  Air.  Alarples'  boyhood  and  youth  were 
not  infrequently  enlivened  by  the  presence  of 


594 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


blanketed  Indians  and  he  recalls  these  experi- 
ences with  the  keenest  interest. 

Mr.  Marples  has  until  recently  led  the  life 
of  a  farmer.  In  1909  he  was  elected  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Gage  county  board  of  supervisors, 
from  the  Fifth  supervisors'  district,  which  in- 
cludes Rockford,  Blue  Springs,  Sherman, 
Island  Grove  and  Liberty  townships.  By 
successive  re-elections  he  held  this  office  until 
January,  1918,  when  he  resigned  to  accept 
the  position  of  deputy  county  clerk  of  Gage 
county.  During  his  connection  with  county 
affairs,  the  entire  indebtedness  of  Gage  county 
has  been  liquidated,  leaving  the  county  for 
the  first  time  since  1870  entirely  free  of  debt. 
To  Mr.  Marples  much  of  the  credit  is  due  for 
this  very  satisfactory  state  of  affairs. 


MARION  TAYLOR  CUMMINGS  was 
born  in  Van  Buren  county,  Iowa,  June  21, 
1862.  He  is  a  son  of  A.  M.  Cummings  and 
Frances  B.  Cummings.  When  he  was  one  year 
old  his  parents  moved  from  Iowa  to  the  state 
of  Kansas  and  located  near  Gardner.  He 
obtained  the  rudiments  of  an  education  in 
the  common  schools  of  that  state  and,  having 
prepared  for  university  work,  he,  in  1883, 
went  to  the  State  L'niversity  at  Lawrence, 
Kansas,  quitting  in  his  junior  year.  For  one 
year  he  was  engaged  in  a  clerical  position  at 
Lawrence. 

While  attending  the  L'uiversity  of  Kansas 
he  made  the  acquaintance  of  Miss  ]\Iarianna 
Griffin,  a  native  of  that  state,  born  June  23, 
1869.  In  the  delightful  intimacy  of  college 
life  was  formed  between  these  two  students 
a  friendship  which  led  to  romantic  love,  and 
on  the  1st  day  of  May,  1888,  at  Lawrence, 
Kansas,  they  became  husband  and  wife.  Both 
were  independent  thinkers,  both  well  educat- 
ed, both  ambitious,  and  the  marriage  that  was 
broken  by  death  was  an  ideal  one.  In  August, 
1890,  they  moved  from  Kansas  to  Beatrice, 
Nebraska,  and  soon  became  factors  in  the 
social  and  business  life  of  the  community. 
Here  on  the  30th  day  of  November,  1899,  ^Nlr. 
Cummings'  beloved  wife,  Marianna.,  died,  and 
she  was  laid  to  rest  in  Evergreen  Home  cem- 


etery. The  children  of  this  marriage  were 
Luella,  Edith  Eleanor  and  Gale  Taylor  Cum- 
mings. 

On  the  5th  day  of  January,  1901  Mr.  Cum- 
mings married  Almida  Marie  Longtin,  of 
Beatrice,  a  good  and  noble  woman,  and  from 
this  marriage  have  sprung  Marianna  Marie, 
Francis  Marion  and  Emerie  Sextus  Cum- 
mings. These  children  are  all  living.  Mr. 
Cummings'  eldest  child,  Luella,  is  serving  the 
government  at  Washington  as  clerk  in  the 
geological  survey;  Edith  Eleanor  is  fellowship 
assistant  in  astronomy  at  Lick  Observatory, 
Mount  Hamilton,  California,  while  Gale  Tay- 
lor Cummings  is  in  the  marine  service  of  his 
country,  at  present  stationed  at  Mare  Island, 
California.  The  children  of  the  second  mar- 
riage are  at  home,  the  eldest,  Marianna,  hav- 
ing just  graduated  from  the  Lincoln  high 
school. 

Mr.  Cummings,  with  his  family,  came  to 
Beatrice  from  Lawrence,  Kansas,  in  August, 
1890.  His  first  act  was  to  buy  a  cup  of 
water,  for  five  cents,  on  the  old  Chautauqua 
grounds,  on  the  day  when  the  Rev.  Thomas 
DeWitt  Talmage  preached  to  the  multitude. 
His  first  meal  in  Gage  county  was  eaten  on 
the  open  prairie,  east  of  the  tile  works,  near 
where  the  Country  Club  now  has  golf  links. 

His  prairie  schooner  stopped  at  711  South 
Sixth  Street,  and  he  unloaded  his  wife  and 
baby  and  took  root  there.  His  assets  were 
a  blind  horse  and  eight  hundred  and  sixty- 
four  dollars  in  cash ;  his  bills  payable  were 
one  thousand  dollars,  for  which  his  mother 
was  security.  But  Mr.  Cummings  was  young, 
ardent,  and  active.  He  worked  hard,  and  pros- 
pered. After  a  year  in  the  coal  business,  he 
put  up  an  ice  crop,  and  from  this  he  paid  his 
debts  and  bought  a  home  for  his  family.  This 
venture  also  started  his  father-in-law  in  the 
ice  business,  from  which  he  grew  wealthy. 
To  his  coal  and  ice  business  Mr.  Cummings 
then  added  a  grain  business,  and  "went  over 
the  top."  He  was  the  first  man  in  Nebraska 
to  handle  a  wet  harvest  by  use  of  a  drying 
kiln.  The  venture  paid,  and  out  of  it  he 
coined  the  aphorism,  "The  Lord  loves  the 
valorous."       This    has    been    his    motto    ever 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


595 


since,    and     his     success    in    business    affairs 
seems  to  prove  its  verity. 

In  1903  there  came  a  tremendous  fiood  and 
the  Big  Bkie  river  attained  proportions  which 
had  previously  been  unknown,  even  to  the 
oldest  inhabitant  of  the  state.  Most  of  Mr. 
Cummings'  property,  cribbed  corn,  cattle,  and 
milling  interest,  was  swept  in  a  red  streak  on 
the  wrong  side  of  the  ledger.  His  operations 
had  been  extensive  and  varied,  and  he  found 
himself  indebted  to  the  various  banks  in  a 
total  sum  of  seventy-one  thousand  dollars. 
After  selling  off  every  kind  of  merchantable 
stock,  he  was  still  behind  the  game  in  the 
amount  of  twenty  thousand  dollars.  With 
undaunted  courage,  he  smiled  a  little  more  af> 
fably,  buckled  down  a  little  harder  and  paid 
out  the  second  year  after  the  flood. 

He  had  acquired  a  tract  of  one  block  with 
double  trackage  on  Sixth  street,  opposite  the 
Dempster  mill  manufacturing  plant,  and 
shortly  after  the  great  flood,  he  erected  on 
this  property  a  fine  elevator,  having  a  capacity 
of  eighty  thousand  bushels.  In  1906  he  en- 
tered into  copartnership  with  Robert  Pease  in 
the  coal  and  grain  business,  but  the  university 
attracted  him  to  Lincoln,  and  he,  in  1908,  sold 
his  Beatrice  business  to  his  partner,  moved  to 
Lincoln,  purchased  an  elevator  there  in  1910, 
and  the  following  vear  moved  his  family  to 
the  capital  city,  where  they  are  now  settled  in 
an  elegant  home  on  the  corner  of  Twenty-first 
and  B  streets.  As  a  business  proposition,  Mr. 
Cummings  has  no  complaint  to  make  of  the 
new  location.  Prosperity  appears  to  have  at- 
tended every  move. 

Mr.  Cummings'  family  motto  has  been 
"Not  a  boom  —  just  a  steady  growth".  It 
has  found  expression  in  a  family  of  twenty- 
seven  children,  the  six  already  named,  and 
also  ten  Belgian  and  eleven  French  war  or- 
phans who  are  now  his  by  adoption.  Those 
who  know  his  humane  tendencies  will  not  be 
surprised  to  see  this  family  doubled  in  the 
near  future. 

But  Mr.  Cummings  has  found  time  for 
other  activities.  He  is  the  inventor  of  a  sys- 
tem for  salvaging  wet  or  immature  grain, 
which   he   has  employed   in   his.  own  business 


with  great  success.  He  was  also  one  of  the 
first,  probably  the  very  first,  inventors  of  the 
depth  bomb,  which  is  nearly  the  sole  reliance 
for  combatting  the  odious  submarine.  He 
also  invented  a  pneumatic  mortar  for  hurling 
these  bombs  at  the  rate  of  seven  a  minute, 
a  distance  of  one  thousand  yards. 

Germany  declared  unrestricted  submarine 
warfare  February  2,  1917.  On  February  IStJi 
Mr.  Cummings  was  in  Washington  with  blue- 
prints of  these  inventions,  and  formally  laid 
them  before  the  board  of  naval  ordnance.  The 
board  nominally  turned  him  down,  but  actu- 
ally adopted  the  depth  charge,  which,  in  a 
slightly  modified  form,  they  have  been  using 
since  June,  1917.  They  also  declined  out- 
wardly to  consider  the  pneumatic  gun,  but 
the  New  York  World  of  July  5,  1918,  gives 
an  account  of  a  battle  in  which  the  pneumatic 
mortar  was  first  employed,  and  with  perfect 
results,  five  out  of  six  attacking  submarines 
being  sunk  by  two  merchantmen  armed  with 
this  weapon.  Doubtless  more  will  be  heard 
of  it  before  the  great  world  war  closes.  With 
the  patriotic  generosity  characteristic  of  him, 
Mr.  Cummings  took  out  no  patents  on  these 
inventions,  but  presented  them  to  the  ordnance 
department  of  the  United  States,  without  re- 
servation and  without  price.  He  wishes  to 
credit  here  Dean  Oscar  V.  P.  Stout,  a  graduate 
of  the  Beatrice  high  school  and  of  the  State 
I'niversity  of  Nebraska,  and  for  many  years 
the  distinguished  head  of  the  engineering  de- 
partment of  that  university,  for  valuable  as- 
sistance in  perfecting  these  inventions,  and 
Congressman  Reavis  and  Senator  Borah  for 
their  aid  in  getting  the  inventions  properly 
lodged  with  the  national  ordnance  department 
at  Washington. 

The  writer  of  this  sketch,  after  many  years 
of  intimate  personal  friendship  with  Mr.  Cum- 
mings, can  attest  his  value  as  a  citizen,  a  friend 
and  a  man. 

JOHN  L.  SCHIEK.  —  Civic  and  business 
altruism  has  been  effectively  exemplified  in 
the  career  of  this  representative  business  man 
of  the  city  of  Beatrice,  and  he  is  now  success- 
fully established  in   the  automobile  business 


596 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


with  headquarters  in  a  modern  and  well  equip- 
ped building  of  which  he  is  the  owner.  Mr. 
Schiek  has  been  a  resident  of  Gage  county  for 
more  than  thirty  years,  has  here  been  con- 
cerned with  various  lines  of  business  enter- 
prise and  his  secure  place  in  popular  confi- 
dence and  esteem  is  assured  by  the  fact  that 
he  served  two  and  one-half  terms  as  sherifi^ 
of  the  county,  his  administration  having  passed 
upon  record  as  being  one  of  the  best  given  to 
the  shrievalty  of  the  county  within  the  entire 
period  of  its  history. 

Mr.  Schiek  was  born  at  Mokena,  Will 
county,  Illinois,  on  the  26th  of  March,  1863, 
and  is  a  son  of  John  and  Helena  (Miller) 
Schiek,  both  natives  of  Germany.  John 
Schiek  was  reared  and  educated  in  his  native 
land  and  was  one  of  the  many  sterling  sons  of 
Germany  who  was  a  revolter  and  came  to  the 
United  States  in  the  year  1848.  From  the 
Atlantic  seaboard  he  made  his  way  westward 
to  Chicago,  which  was  then  a  comparatively 
insignificant  city,  and  from  the  future  metro- 
polis of  the  west  he  proceeded  with  wagon  and 
ox  team  to  Joliet,  Illinois,  finally  establishing 
a  permanent  home  in  Will  county,  where  he 
became  a  prosperous  farmer,  besides  having 
been  for  a  number  of  years  engaged  in  the 
hotel  business  at  Mokena  and  having  also  been 
one  of  the  leading  merchants  of  that  village. 
His  energy  was  equalled  by  his  busmess  ver- 
satility, and  through  his  own  well  directed  en^ 
deavors  he  achieved  independence  and  definite 
prosperity.  He  was  one  of  the  pioneer  oper- 
ators of  a  threshing  machine  in  northern  Illi- 
nois, and  he  continued  his  residence  in  that 
state  until  his  death.  He  was  one  of  the 
honored  pioneer  citizens  of  Will  county,  Illi- 
nois, and  was  about  sixty-eight  years  of  age  at 
the  time  of  his  demise.  He  was  a  son  of 
Henry  Schiek,  and  the  entire  family  came 
from  Germany  to  America  in  the  late  '40s,  the 
parents  of  Mr.  Schiek  having  been  residents 
of  Illinois  during  the  closing  years  of  their 
earnest  and  worthy  lives.  John  Schiek 
aligned  himself  as  a  stalwart  supporter  of  the 
principles  of  the  Democratic  party,  was  in- 
fluential in  public  afifairs  of  a  local  order  and 
held  various  offices  of  trust,  including  that  of 


county  commissioner.  His  venerable  widow, 
now  a  resident  of  Joliet,  Illinois,  is  a  daughter 
of  George  Miller,  who  immigrated  with  his 
family  from  Germany  and  established  himself 
as  one  of  the  pioneer  farmers  of  Cook  county, 
Illinois,  where  he  passed  the  residue  of  his 
life.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Schiek  became  the  parents 
of  nine  children,  of  whom  the  subject  of  this 
review  was  the  fourth  in  order  of  birth,  and 
of  the  number  seven  are  now  living. 

To  the  public  schools  of  Mokena,  Illinois. 
John  L.  Schiek  is  indebted  for  his  early  educa- 
tional advantages,  and  as  a  lad  he  began  to 
assist  his  lather  in  connection  with  the  lat- 
ter's  various  business  afifairs.  He  remained 
in  his  native  state  until  1886,  on  the  26th  of 
March  of  which  year  he  arrived  in  Beatrice, 
Nebraska.  Here  he  was  for  a  number  of 
years  employed  in  the  general  mercantile  es- 
tablishment of  Kline,  Lang  &  Mosshel,  and 
within  this  period  he  assisted  in  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Beatrice  volunteer  fire  department, 
of  which  he  served  several  years  as  chief.  He 
finally  established  himself  in  the  general  mer- 
chandise  business  in  the  village  of  Filley,  this 
county,  where  he  continued  operations  in  this 
line  for  three  years.  He  then  returned  to 
Beatrice  and  resumed  his  association  with  the 
mercantile  concern  by  which  he  had  previously 
been  employed;  later  he  engaged  in  buying 
and  selling  horses,  and  in  1916  he  was  elected 
sheriff  of  the  county,  his  efficient  administra- 
tion meeting  with  such  approval  that  he  was 
retained  in  this  office  two  and  one-half  terms, 
as  previously  noted  in  this  context.  Since  his 
retirement  from  public  office  Mr.  Schiek  has 
built  up  a  most  prosperous  enterprise  in  the 
handling  of  automobiles  and  the  conducting  of 
a  general  garage  and  repair  shop,  his  estab- 
lishment having  a  full  line  of  automobile  parts 
and  accessories.  He  is  the  local  agent  for  the 
popular  Buick  automobile. 

Mr.  Schiek  is  known  as  one  of  Gage  county's 
loyal  and  aggresive  advocates  of  the  cause  of 
the  Republican  party  and  he  has  been  in- 
fluential in  political  afifairs  in  the  county.  He 
has  served  in  various  minor  political  offices 
of  local  order,  and  he  has  been  prominent  in 
connection   with   fire-department  affairs.     He 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


597 


was  a  delegate  from  Gage  county  to  the  con- 
vention of  the  International  Firemen's  Asso- 
ciation held  in  the  city  of  Montreal,  Canada, 
has  served  as  president  of  the  Nebraska  State 
Firemen's  Association,  and  at  the  Louisiana 
Purchase  Exposition,  in  the  city  of  St.  Louis, 
he  was  a  member  of  the  official  board  which 
had  charge  of  awarding  prizes  to  firemen.  In 
addition  to  being  prominent  and  influential  in 
civic  affairs  in  his  home  city  and  county  Mr. 
Schiek  is  actively  affiliated  with  the  local  or- 
ganizations of  the  Benevolent  &  Protective 
Order  of  Elks,  the  Ancient  Order  of  United 
Workmen,  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America 
and  the  Travelers'  Protective  Association,  be- 
sides which  he  is  a  popular  member  of  the 
Beatrice  County  Club.  Both  he  and  his  wife 
are  communicants  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
church. 

In  1889  was  solemnized  the  marriage  of  Mr. 
Schiek  to  Miss  Anna  Grussel,  who  was  born 
in  the  state  of  New  York,  and  in  conclusion  of 
this  review  is  given  brief  record  concerning 
their  children:  Vivian  became  the  wife  of 
Berney  Reach  and  has  one  child,  Enid;  Julia 
is  the  wife  of  Frank  J.  Kline,  of  Beatrice; 
John  is  an  artificer  in  the  One  Hundred  and 
Thirty-fourth  United  States  Infantry,  of  the 
national  army  forces  that  are  preparing  to 
take  part  in  the  great  European  war,  and  is 
stationed  at  Deming,  New  Mexico;  and  Bea- 
trice and  Ralph  remain  at  the  parental  home. 

W.  C.  BLACK,  JR.  —  One  of  the  most  im- 
portant and  effectively  ordered  industrial  en- 
terprises of  the  city  of  Beatrice  is  that  con- 
ducted under  the  title  of  Black  Brothers,  and 
this  enterprise  involves  the  ownership  and  op- 
eration of  a  thoroughly  modern  flour  mill  that 
has  a  daily  output  capacity  of  three  hundred 
barrels.  The  products  of  this  mill  ure  of  the 
highest  standard  and  command  a  substantial 
trade  as  a  standard  household  provision 
throughout  southeastern  Nebraska.  He  whose 
name  initiates  this  paragraph  has  been  the 
active  manager  of  the  Black  Brothers  mill 
since  1902  and  his  interposition  in  this  capac- 
ity has  inured  notably  to  the  success  and  ex- 
pansion of  the  business. 


Mr.  Black  was  born  at  Sycamore,  Dekalb 
county,  Illinois,  on  the  3d  of  June,  1878,  and  is 
a  son  of  William  C.  and  Mary  (Conant) 
Black.  William  C.  Black,  Sr.,  was  born  in 
Ireland,  in  May.  1835,  and  was  a  child  of 
three  years  at  the  time  of  the  family  immi- 
gration to  the  United  States.  He  was  reared 
and  educated  in  Pennsylvania  and  as  a  young 
man  his  ability  was  on  a  parity  with  his  am- 
bition, with  the  result  that  he  achieved  dis- 
tinct success  and  became  prominently  engaged 
eventually  in  the  milling  and  lumb-ring  busi- 
ness. With  these  lines  of  enterprise  he  was 
actively  identified  at  Sycamore,  Illinois,  and 
later 'he  moved  to  the  city  of  Youngstown, 
(Jhio.  In  1879  he  became  associated  with  his 
brother,  Cochrane  S.  Black,  in  the  purchase  oi 
the  flour  mill  at  Beatrice,  Nebraska,  and  the 
same  has  since  been  operated  under  the  title 
of  Black  Brothers,  the  while  its  equipment  has 
at  all  times  been  kept  up  to  the  best  modern 
standard  in  all  departments.  In  188S  the  firm 
purchased  also  a  mill  at  Blue  Springs,  this 
county,  and  this  also  has  continued  to  be  op- 
erated successfully  by  the  firm  of  Black 
Brothers.  William  C.  Black,  Sr.,  celebrated 
in  May,  1917,  the  eighty-second  anniversary 
of  his  birth,  and  though  he  did  not  remove  to 
Nebraska  at  the  time  when  he  and  his  brother 
purchased  the  mill  at  Beatrice,  his  brother  as- 
suming active  charge  of  the  same,  he  finally 
established  his  residence  in  Beatrice,  in  1902, 
and  here  he  is  now  living  virtually  retired,  a 
venerable  citizen  who  commands  the  unquali- 
fied esteem  of  all  who  know  him.  He  has  been 
one  of  the  world's  productive  workers  and  haa 
achieved  success  worthy  of  the  name.  His 
gracious  wife  was  born  in  the  state  of  New 
York,  and  their  companionship  has  continued 
m  ideal  relationship  for  more  than  fifty  years, 
both  being  earnest  members  of  the  Presbyter- 
ian church.  Of  the  two  children  Mrs.  C.  M. 
Shafef  is  the  elder,  and  is  living  in  Kansas 
City,  Missouri. 

W.  C.  Black,  Jr.,  acquired  his  yoiuhful  edu- 
cation in  the  public  schools  of  Illinois  and  Ohio 
and  his  initial  business  experience  was  gained 
through  association  with  enterprise?  in  which 
his  father    was    a    principal.      He    developed 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


strong  initiative  and  executive  ability  and  thus 
was  well  equipped  when  he  assumed  the  active 
management  of  the  mill  and  business  of  Black 
Brothers  at  Beatrice,  his  service  in  this  capac- 
ity having  covered  a  period  of  fifteen  years, 
within  which  he  has  become  recognized  as  one 
of  the  most  progressive  and  loyal  citizens  and 
representative  business  men  of  Gnge  county 
and  the  fine  little  city  which  is  its  metropolis 
and  judicial  center.  Mr.  Black  is  ■::  member 
of  the  directorate  of  the  First  National  Bank 
of  Beatrice,  is  a  Republican  in  his  political 
allegiance,  and  he  and  his  wife  ?.re  active 
members  of  the  First  Presbyterian  church  in 
their  home  city. 

In  the  year  1901  was  solemnized  the  mar- 
riage of  Mr.  Black  to  Miss  Ivy  How;>y.  a  mem- 
ber of  a  well  known  Gage  county  family  that 
finds  representation  on  other  pages  of  this 
publication,  and  the  three  children  of  this 
union  are  Frances,  William  and  Beatrice. 


GEORGE  H.  VAN  HORNE.  — An  able 
and  popular  public  executive  in  the  city  of 
Beatrice  is  Mr.  Van  Home  who  is  superin- 
tendent of  mails  in  connection  with  the  admin- 
istration of  the  large  volume  of  business  now 
conducted  in  the  postofifice  of  the  metropolis 
and  judicial  center  of  Gage  county.  Aside 
from  his  assured  standing  as  a  citizen  special 
interest  attaches  to  the  career  of  Mr.  Van 
Home  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  he  is  con- 
sistently to  be  designated  as  a  pioneer  of  Gage 
county,  within  whose  gracious  borders  he  es- 
tablished his  home  nearly  half  a  century  ago, 
so  that  he  has  been  a  witness  of  and  con- 
tributor to  the  vigorous  process  of  develop- 
ment and  advancement  that  has  made  this  one 
of  the  populous,  prosperous  and  representa- 
tive integral  divisions  of  a  great  common- 
wealth. 

Mr.  Van  Home  takes  a  just  pride  not  only 
in  claiming  pioneer  honors  in  Gage  county  but 
also  in  being  a  representative  of  two  of  the 
sterling  pioneer  families  of  the  Wolverine 
state.  He  was  born  on  the  paternal  home- 
stead farm  in  Bridgewater  township,  Wash- 
tenaw county,  Michigan,  and  the  date  of  his 
nativity   was   March   30,    1854.     His   parents. 


William  H.  and  Elizabeth  G.  (Howe)  Van 
Home,  were  born  in  the  state  of  New  York 
and  their  marriage  was  solemnized  in  Mich- 
igan, to  the  settlement  of  the  southern  por- 
tion of  which  commonwealth  the  old  Empire 
state  contributed  a  numerous  quota  in  the 
pioneer  days.  Both  the  paternal  and  maternal 
grandfathers  of  the  subject  of  this  rev^iew  werei 
numbered  among  the  pioneers  of  southern 
Alichigan,  and  the  former  became  a  large  land- 
owner and  influential  citizen,  as  a  pioneer  of 
energy  and  much  constructive  ability.  The 
maternal  grandfather  of  Mr.  Van  Home  like- 
wise became  prominent  in  connection  with 
civic  affairs  and  industrial  development  in 
southern  Michigan,  served  as  a  member  of  the 
state  legislature  in  the  early  days  and  was 
otherwise  a  figure  of  no  little  prominence  in 
the  formative  history  of  that  state.  William 
H.  Van  Horne  became  a  substantial  farmer 
in  Washtenaw  county,  Michigan,  where  he 
continued  his  residence  until  1880,  when  he 
established  his  residence  in  Beatrice,  Ne- 
braska. Here  he  lived  to  the  patriarchal  age 
of  ninety-five  years,  his  loved  and  devoted 
wife  having  entered  into  eternal  rest  in  the 
year  1891.  Of  their  children  the  subject  of 
this  sketch  is  the  eldest ;  Dwight  W.  is  railroad 
station  agent  for  the  Chicago,  Burlington  & 
Ouincy  Railroad  in  the  village  of  Syracuse. 
Otoe  county,  Nebraska ;  Miss  Agnes  H.  re- 
mained with  her  venerable  father  until  his 
death ;  James  H.  is  a  machinist  by  vocation 
and  resides  at  Council  Bluffs,  Iowa ;  Josephine 
remains  at  the  parental  home,  in  Beatrice; 
and  Julia,  who  was  for  fifteen  years  sten- 
ographer and  chief  clerk  in  the  offices  of  the 
Sonderegger  nurseries,  at  Beatrice,  is  now  in 
the  service  of  the  government  in  lonnection 
with  war  activities  in  the  national  :;apital,  her 
technical  and  executive  ability  having  gained 
to  her  a  responsible  clerical  position. 

William  H.  Van  Horne  died  in  a  hospital  at 
Beatrice  on  the  morning  of  May  8,  1918. 
About  a  week  previously  he  had  received  a  fall, 
ill  which  he  fractured  one  of  his  legs,  the  phy- 
sical shock,  owing  to  his  great  age,  having  been 
the  virtual  cause  of  his  death.  He  was  a 
stalwart  supporter  of  the  cause  of  the  Demo- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


599 


cratic  party  and  was  for  many  years  affiliated 
with  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows, 
in  which  he  passed  the  various  official  chairs. 
While  he  resided  in  Michigan  his  religious 
views  was  in  harmony  with  the  tenets  of  the 
Presbyterian  church,  of  which  his  wife  was  a 
zealous  member. 

In  his  native  county  George  H.  Van  Home 
gained  his  early  educational  discipline  in  the 
rural  schools  and  the  public  schools  of  the  vil- 
lage of  Manchester,  where  he  completed  the 
curriculum  of  the  high  school.  As  a  boy  and 
youth  he  gained  practical  experience  in  con- 
nection with  the  operations  of  the  home  farm 
and  that  he  made  good  use  of  the  educational 
advantages  that  were  afforded  him  is  demon- 
strated in  the  effective  service  which  he  gave 
as  a  member  of  the  pedagogic  profession,  he 
having  devoted  about  a  decade  to  service  as  a 
successful  and  popular  teacher  in  the  public 
schools  of  Michigan,  Iowa  and  Nebraska.  De- 
sirous of  identifying  himself  with  the  progres- 
sive west,  Mr.  Van  Home  came  to  Nebraska 
and  established  his  residence  at  Beatrice  on 
the  21st  of  April,  1S75,  —  about  eight  years 
after  the  admission  of  the  state  to  the  Union. 
He  soon  afterward  purchased  a  farm  in  what 
is  now  Lincoln  township,  and  for  the  ensuing 
ten  years  he  was  engaged  in  breaking  his  land 
and  improving  and  cultivating  his  farm  besides 
participating  in  the  public  and  civic  affairs  of 
his  township  and  county  and  serving  as  school 
director,  etc.  In  1885  he  left  the  farm  and  re- 
moved to  Beatrice,  the  judicial  center  of  the 
county,  and  here  he  followed  various  occupa- 
tions until  September,  1888,  when  he  was  ap- 
pointed to  a  clerical  position  in  the  local  post- 
office,  with  the  administration  of  which  he  has 
since  been  consecutively  identified  and  in  which 
he  now  holds  the  position  of  superintendent  of 
mails.  Mr.  Van  Home  adheres  to  the  Demo- 
cratic faith  and  takes  loyal  interest  in  all  things 
touching  the  civic  and  material  welfare  of  his 
home  city,  county  and  state.  He  is  affiliated 
with  the  Royal  Highlanders  and  the  Modern 
Woodmen  of  America,  and  he  and  his  wife 
hold  membership  in  the  Presbyterian  church. 

On  the  27th  of  June,  1889,  was  solemnized 
the  marriage  of  Mr.  Van  Home  to  Miss  Mary 


Shear,  who  was  bom  in  the  state  of  New  York, 
and  their  only  child  is  an  adopted  son,  Leslie 
G.,  who  was  taken  into  their  home  when  he 
was  nine  months  old,  after  the  death  of  his 
mother,  Mrs.  E.  E.  Greer,  a  sister  of  his 
adoptive   mother. 

KILPATRICK  BROTHERS.  — No  his- 
tory of  Gage  county,  and  in  fact  no  history  of 
Nebraska  or  the  west,  would  be  complete,  if  it 
failed  to  take  account  of  the  Kilpatrick  family 
and  of  Kjlpatrick  Brothers. 

The  family  of  Samuel  and  Rachael  Kilpat- 
rick in  point  of  time  was  amongst  the  first 
families  of  Gage  county.  These  pioneers  came 
to  our  county  from  Iowa,  in  1859.  Leaving 
Benton  county  in  June  of  that  year,  with  ox 
teams,  they  crossed  the  Missouri  river  at 
Plattsmouth  on  the  third  day  of  July,  and  fol- 
lowed the  course  of  that  great  river  to  Ne- 
braska City.  After  a  few  days  they  ventured 
west  as  far  as  Tecumseh,  where  they  camped 
for  a  while  on  the  open  prairie.  From  that  in- 
significant western  village  they  came  to  Beat- 
rice, then  a  village  even  more  insignificant,  and 
for  an  entire  week  camped  on  the  bottom  land 
of  the  Big  Blue  river,  at  a  point  a  little  west 
and  south  of  the  old  Court  street  ford.  About 
the  first  of  August,  Samuel  Kilpatrick  estab- 
lished, by  actual  settlement,  preemption  rights 
to  the  "north  half  of  the  northwest  fractional 
quarter  and  the  southwest  fractional  quarter 
of  the  northwest  fractional  quarter  of  section 
thirty-one,  in  township  four  north,  of  range 
five  east"  in  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  —  the 
tract  containing  102  '"'"/, „o  acres.  On  the  first 
day  of  January,  1863,  at  Brownville,  Nebraska, 
he  made  entry  of  this  tract  of  land  under  the 
new  homestead  law  of  congress  which  went 
into  effect  that  day.  his  entry  being  the  second 
one  under  the  act.  This  quarter-section  of 
land  continued  to  be  the  home  of  Samuel  and 
Rachael  Kilpatrick  the  remainder  of  their 
lives,  and  it  is  still  owned  by  their  sons  and 
held  by  them  in  reverent  memory  of  their 
parents. 

Samuel  Kilpatrick  was  born  at  ]\IcConnells- 
ville,  Ohio,  December  5,  1818.  His  parents, 
John  and  Sarah  (Wallace)  Kilpatrick,  were  of 


eoo 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


S:otch-Irisli  descent,  and  were  pioneers  by 
habit,  tradition,  and  instinct.  At  a  very  early 
age  in  tlie  life  of  their  son,  they  moved  from 
Ohio  to  Indiana,  and  thence  to  Illinois,  where 
he  grew  to  maturity.  In  the  country  district 
schools  of  those  states  he  obtained  a  good, 
usable  education  for  that  day.  In  his  late 
youth  and  early  manhood  he  spent  much  of  his 
time  as  a  farm  hand,  and  by  industry  and  fru- 
gality he  had  acquired  considerable  property 
before  settling  down  in  life. 

Rachael  (Thompson)  Kilpatrick  also  was 
born  in  ( lliio,  near  Senecaville,  Guernsey  coun- 
ty, where  she  resided  with  her  parents,  David 
and  Ruth  Thompson,  until  she  attained  the  age 


Kilpatrick   M.susoi.ri'M 
Evergreen   Home  Cemetcr>' 

of  ten  years,  when  they  moved  to  Adams  coun- 
ty, Ohio,  locating  near  Wilmington.  In  1841 
they  moved  to  Will  county,  Illinois,  and  settled 
near  Kankakee.  Here  on  the  eighteenth  day 
of  May,  18-H-,  she  and  Samuel  Kilpatrick  were 
married,  at  her  father's  home,  by  Dr.  Jewett, 
a  Methodist  Episcopal  clergyman.  At  the 
time  of  their  marriage  the  husband  was  twen- 
ty-six years  of  age  and  the  wife  eighteen. 
This  marriage,  solemnized  so  long  ago,  proved 
to  be  an  ideally  happy  one  and  was  broken 
only  by  the  death  of  the  husband,  Samuel  Kil- 
patrick, which  occurred  on  the  20th  day  of 
February,  1875.  His  beloved  wife,  Rachael, 
survived  him  until  the  23d  day  of  May,  1908, 
when  she  too  passed  away,  at  the  old  home 
where  so  many  years  of  her  long  and  useful 
life  had  been  spent. 


Almost  immetliately  after  their  marriage 
Samuel  and  Rachael  Kilpatrick  left  Illinois 
and  went  to  live  in  the  state  of  Missouri,  where 
they  made  their  home  on  a  farm  in  Jasper 
county  from  1845  to  1857  and  where  six  of 
their  children  were  born.  During  the  year 
last  above  named  they  moved  to  Benton  coun- 
ty, Iowa,  and  thence  they  came,  as  above  nar- 
rated, in  1859,  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska. 

To  Samuel  and  Rachael  Kilpatrick  the  fol- 
lowing children  were  born,  namely :  Sarah 
Elizabeth  Kilpatrick,  July  19,  1845 ;  John 
David  Kilpatrick,  October  7,  1847 ;  Henry 
Clay  Kilpatrick,  August  23,  1850;  William 
Hamilton  Kilpatrick,  February  6,  1853 ;  Abra- 
ham Kilpatrick,  February  21,  1855;  Robert 
Jackson  Kilpatrick,  September  11,  1856;  Sam- 
uel Davenport  Kilpatrick,  March  21,  1859; 
Abraham  L.  Kilpatrick,  August  31',  1861 ; 
Josephus  M.  Kilpatrick,  September  7,  1867; 
Lottie  Rebec:a  Kilpatrick,  ;\Iarch  5,  1871. 

Of  these  children,  Sarah  Elizabeth  died 
August  31,  1851,  aged  six  years,  one  month, 
twelve  days ;  Abraham  died  September  30. 
1855,  aged  eight  months.  Their  remains  rest 
in  a  country  cemetery  in  Jasper  county,  near 
Joplin,  Missouri,  and  the  place  of  their  burial 
is  marked  by  a  stone.  Abraham  L.  died  Sep- 
tember 18,  1863,  aged  two  years,  seventeen 
days.  Lottie  Rebecca  died  December  23,  1873, 
aged  two  years,  nine  months,  seventeen  days. 
John  David  Kilpatrick,  the  eldest  son,  died  at 
his  home  in  Beatrice,  July  27,  1891,  aged  forty- 
three  years,  nine  months,  twenty  days.  Henry 
Clay  Kilpatrick  died  at  his  farm  home,  ten 
miles  east  of  Hebron,  in  Thayer  county.  May 
11,  1902,  aged  fifty-one  years,  three  months, 
twelve  days.  The  remains  of  the  deceased 
members  of  this  pioneer  family,  parents  and 
children,  except  those  of  Sarah  Elizabeth  and 
Abraham,  are  interred  in  the  splendid  mauso- 
leum erected  in  1912  by  the  surviving  sons, 
William  Hamilton,  Robert  Jackson,  Samuel 
Davenport,  and  Josephus  M.  Kilpatrick,  in 
Evergreen  Home  cemetery,  near  Beatrice. 

No  one  who  was  at  all  acquainted  with  Sam- 
uel and  Rachael  Kilpatrick,  the  founders  of 
this  Gage  county  family,  ever  failed  to  ac- 
cord to  them  the  highest  respect,  not  only  for 
their  kindness  of  heart  and  neighborly  quali- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


601 


ties,  but  also  for  their  acknowledged  worth  of 
character.  He  was  a  kindly,  good  man,  sin- 
cerely and  devoutly  religious,  a  lifelong  mem- 
ber of  the  ^lethodist  Episcopal  church. 
Though  unassuming,  and  unambitious  of 
worldly  fame  and  favor,  he  was  a  good  busi- 
ness man,  extremely  useful  to  his  community, 
highly  honored,  and  exerted  a  wholesome  influ- 
ence wherever  he  was  known.  He  was  well 
informed,  a  genial  companion,  a  most  kind 
husband  and  father,  a  charitable  and  helpful 
neighbor,  a  true,  good  friend.  Mrs.  Rachael 
Kilpatrick  also  came  of  religious  stock.  Her 
father,  David  Thompson,  was  a  long-time 
member  of  the  United  Brethren  church  and 
was  a  minister  of  the  Gospel.  Her  early  life 
was  spent  in  an  atmosphere  of  piet}'  and  re- 
ligious enthusiasm,  and  there  was  probably 
never  a  conscious  moment  of  her  life  when  she 
was  not  dominated  by  the  deep  forces  of  the 
Christian  religion.  Her  charities  were  large. 
She  not  only  gave  liberally  to  the  church  of 
which  she  was  a  member,  but  also  stretched  a 
helping  hand  to  the  poor  and  needy.  She,  with 
Mrs.  Nathan  Blakely,  many  years  ago  donated 
to  Centenary  Methodist  Episcopal  church  of 
Beatrice  the  fine  pipe  organ  now  in  use  there, 
and  in  many  other  ways  she  demonstrated  the 
natural  benevolence  of  her  heart.  She  died  the 
object  of  the  love  and  veneration  of  her  stal- 
wart sons  and  of  the  aiifection  and  profound 
respect  of  a  host  of  relatives  and  friends. 

The  firm  known  as  Kilpatrick  Brothers  and 
the  corporation  described  as  Kilpatrick  Bros. 
&  Collins  Contracting  Company,  originated 
with  John  David  Kilpatrick,  and  may  be  said 
to  date  from  his  old  freighting  days  along  the 
Oregon  Trail  from  Missouri  river  points  west 
to  the  Rocky  mountains.  From  his  youth  he 
was  engaged  in  this  adventurous  business  and 
was  a  well  known  figure  amongst  the  traders, 
freighters,  emigrants,  gold-seekers,  and  over- 
land stage  drivers  who  thronged  that  great 
highway  in  the  early  history  of  the  west. 
When  the  Union  Pacific  Railway  was  under 
construction  across  the  state  in  1867-68-69,  he, 
with  a  string  of  teams,  engaged  for  two  years 
in  this  work,  which  he  continued  until  connec- 
tion was  made  between  the  Union  Pacific  and 


Central  Pacific  Railway  lines  at  Promontory 
Point,  state  of  Utah,  where  he  witnessed  the 
driving  of  the  golden  spike.  May  10,  1869, 
which  signalled  the  completion  of  the  first 
transcontinental  railway  line  in  North  Amer- 
ica. That  same  year  he  moved  his  grading 
outfit  to  Kansas,  then  to  Arkansas,  then  to 
Louisiana  and  Texas.  In  each  of  these  states 
he  engaged  in  railroad  construction  work,  and 
in  the  city  of  Galveston  he  was  employed  by 
the  municipal  corporation  in  building  docks 
and  grading  the  streets.  He  built,  under  con- 
tract, for  the  Gulf,  Colorado  &  Santa  Fe  Rail- 
road Company,  the  first  sixty-five  miles  of  track 
north  from  Galveston,  which  included  a  bridge 
across  Galveston  Bay,  and  this  was  the  only 
railroad  bridge  at  Galveston  that  survived  the 
great  disaster  of  1900.  With  his  associates  he 
built  the  Tremont  House,  a  six-story,  brick 
hotel  covering  a  fourth  of  a  block  in  the  city  of 
Galveston.  Such,  indeed,  were  his  activities 
that  by  the  time  he  was  thirty  years  of  age  he 
was  one  of  the  best  known  contractors  and 
business  men  of  the  south.  In  1879  he  re- 
turned to  Nebraska  and  formed  the  co-partner- 
ship of  Kilpatrick  Brothers,  at  that  time  com- 
ix)sed  of  himself,  and  his  brothers  William  H., 
Robert  J.,  and  Samuel  D.  Kilpatrick.  As  rail- 
road contractors  the  firm  was  immediately  suc- 
cessful. That  same  year  it  obtained  a  contract 
for  the  grading  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railway 
line  from  Oketo,  Kansas,  to  Beatrice,  and  for 
building  the  bridges  and  laying  the  track  on 
this  line  from  Marysville  to  Beatrice. 

In  1882  the  Union  Pacific  Railway  Company 
undertook  the  construction  of  what  is  known 
as  the  Oregon  Short  Line,  extending  from  the 
town  of  Granger,  Wyoming,  to  Portland,  Ore- 
gon, and  Kilpatrick  Brothers  obtained  a  con- 
tract covering  the  construction  of  two  hundred 
sixty-four  miles  of  this  important  line  of  rail- 
way. The  work  carried  the  railroad  line  across 
the  lava  beds  of  southern  Idaho,  through  the 
Rocky,  Sierra  and  Coast  Range  mountains, 
and  was  in  those  days  a  most  difficult  feat  of 
railroad  construction.  But  under  the  manage- 
ment of  John  David  Kilpatrick  the  firm's  con- 
tract was  performed  with  such  care,  skill  and 
ability  as  to  lay  the  foundation  of  the  Kilpat- 


602 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


rick  Brothers'  fortunes.  By  1886  the  firm  had 
graded  approximately  six  hundred  thirty-two 
miles  of  railroad  lines,  located  in  Texas.  Ne- 
braska, Colorado,  Idaho,  Oregon,  \Msconsin, 
Minnesota,  South  Dakota.  Kansas,  and  Illi- 
nois. 

In  1886  Kilpatrick  Brothers  associated  with 
themselves  C.  W.  Collins,  of  lirooklyn,  New- 
York,  in  a  copartnership  known  as  Kilpatrick 
Bros.  &  Collins.  Mr.  Collins  was  then  an 
active  young  man  with  considerable  experience 
as  a  railroad  contractor  and  a  wide  acquaint- 
ance with  railroad  officials.  This  new  firm  was 
successful  from  the  first,  and  a  period  of  great 
gctivity  ensued  in  railroad  construction.  In 
1891,  after  the  death  of  John  David  Kilpatrick, 
Kilpatrick  Bros.  &  Collins  organized  a  corpor- 
ation known  as  Kilpatrick  Bros.  &  Collins  Con- 
tracting Company.  These  organizations  and 
Kilpatrick  Brothers,  the  partnership  in  which 
the  brothers  were  the  only  members,  continued 
in  railroad  construction  for  sixteen  years,  dur- 
ing which  time  they  held  construction  con- 
tracts covering  3,339.07  miles  of  railroad,  for 
which  they  received  $31,363,947.08.  In  addi- 
tion to  their  railroad  contracts  they  put  in  thir- 
ty-four miles  of  water  pipe  lines  for  the  Union 
Pacific  and  the  Colorado  &  Southern  Rail- 
roads, for  which  they  were  paid  $88,315.99; 
and  constructed  reservoirs  for  two  privately 
owned  irrigation  and  development  companies, 
and  a  reservoir  and  tunnel  for  the  United 
States  government,  for  all  which  they  received 
$326,970.56. 

Amongst  other  activities  these  companies 
discovered  and  opened  a  great  coal  field  in  the 
state  of  Wyoming.  They  induced  the  Chicago, 
Burlington  &  Ouincy  Railroad  Company  to  ex- 
tend its  line  of  railroad  from  Alliance,  Nebras- 
ka, to  these  coal  fields,  a  distance  of  one  hun- 
dred sixty-five  miles,  and  in  December,  1889. 
was  loaded  the  first  coal  train  at  their  mines. 
This  industry  resulted  in  the  founding  of  the 
towns  of  Newcastle  and  Cambria,  Wyoming. 
In  1910  the  coal  mines,  with  their  equipment, 
were  sold  by  Kilpatrick  Brothers,  wlio,  by  the 
retirement  of  Mr.  Collins,  in  1902,  had  suc- 
ceeded to  all  the  rights  of  Kilpatrick  Bros.  & 
Collins  and  Kilpatrick  Bros.   &  Collins   Con- 


tracting Company.  These  mines  are  to-day  in 
successful  operation  and  have  been  the  source 
of  a  tremendous  output  of  coal. 

Mention  has  been  made  of  the  retirement  of 
Mr.  Collins  from  the  copartnership  and  the 
corporation  in  which  he  was  associated  with 
the  Kilpatrick  Brothers.  This  association  had 
lasted  for  sixteen  years,  all  of  which  had  been 
crowded  with  important  business.  On  his  re- 
tirement, in  1902,  his  interests  were  purchased 
by  his  associates,  and  the  records  of  these  con- 
cerns were  in  such  perfect  condition  that  this 
transfer  was  completed  within  an  hour,  to  the 
satisfaction  of  all  persons  concerned. 

The  immense  labors  performed  by  the  Kil- 
patrick Brothers  and  their  associates  in  busi- 
ness, offer  mute  but  most  convincing  evidence 
of  their  energy  and  courage.  As  railroad  con- 
tractors of  integrity  and  ability  they  are  known 
over  all  the  west,  from  the  Missouri  river  to 
the  Pacific  coast. 

In  addition  to  their  railroad  construction 
work,  the  Kilpatrick  Brothers  have  for  many 
years  been  engaged  in  the  business  of  farming 
and  stock-raising.  Since  1917  they  have  de- 
voted their  attention  exclusively  to  these  inter- 
ests. They  own  farming  and  grazing  lands  in 
Nebraska,  Kansas,  South  Dakota,  Idaho,  Ore- 
gon, and  Texas.  At  present  they  are  farming 
over  six  thousand  acres  of  land,  and  the  re- 
mainder of  their  extensive  holdings  is  used 
for  grazing  purposes.  William,  Robert,  and 
Davenport  own  beautiful  homes  in  the  city  of 
Beatrice.  The  youngest  brother,  Josephus 
M.,  lives  on  the  old  family  homestead,  in  a 
beautiful  modern  mansion.  In  addition  to 
their  homes  in  this  city,  they  have  for  many 
years  owned  the  old  stone  building  at  the  cor- 
ner of  Fifth  and  Court  streets,  erected  in  the 
early  '70s  by  Blakely,  Reynolds  &  Townsend. 
pioneer  merchants  of  Beatrice,  and  to  this 
they  have  built  an  extensive  brick  addition  on 
the  rear,  to  the  alley.  They  own  also  a  splen- 
did office  building  at  the  corner  of  Fifth  and 
Ella  streets,  which,  besides  furnishing  them 
with  commodious  offices,  is  occupied  by  the 
Elks  Club  and  the  Beatrice  Commercial  Club, 
and  is  one  of  the  most  used  and  necessary 
buildings  in  the  city.     Outside  of  the  Beatrice 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,   NEBRASKA 


603 


property  here  mentioned,  they  own  but  little 
city  or  town  propery  anywhere. 

In  1877,  John  David  Kilpatrick  married 
Aliss  Jennie  Kane,  at  Galveston,  Texas.  Two 
children  were  born  of  this  marriage,  John 
David  and  Ray  M.  Kilpatrick.  The  son  died 
in  New  York,  many  years  ago.  The  daughter 
became  the  wife  of  John  P.  Cook  and  now  re- 
sides with  her  husband  in  New  York  city. 

Henry  Clay  Kilpatrick,  on  March  14,  1875, 
married  Miss  Charlotte  Wands,  and  moved  at 
once  to  the  Thayer  county  farm,  where  he  re- 
sided until  his  death,  May  11,  1902.  Twelve 
children  were  the  fruit  of  this  marriage.  Ten, 
with  their  mother,  still  survive. 

William  Hamilton  Kilpatrick,  on  the  4th  day 
of  June,  1890,  at  Roseville,  Illinois,  led  to  the 
marriage  altar  Miss  Margaret  E.  Nisley.  They 
are  the  parents  of  a  son,  William  H.  Kilpatrick. 
Jr..  and  a  daughter,  Rachael  E.,  now  the  wife 
of  Leonard  Purdy,  a  promising  young  business 
man  of  Beatrice.  The  son  is  serving  his  coun- 
try in  France  as  a  sergeant  in  the  quartermas- 
ters department  of  the  expeditionary  army  of 
the  United  States. 

Robert  Jackson  Kilpatrick,  on  the  28th  day 
of  December,  1881,  at  Beatrice,  married  Ma- 
rian D.  Jones,  who  for  several  years  had  been 
a  teacher  in  the  city  schools  of  Beatrice.  They 
are  the  parents  of  two  daughters,  Adelaide  D., 
now  the  wife  of  Irving  C.  Hancock,  of  Chi- 
cago, Illinois,  and  Katherine  R.,  the  wife  of 
C.  L.  Sherwood,  an  employe  of  the  Beatrice 
National  Bank. 

Samuel  Davenport  Kilpatrick,  on  the  28th 
day  of  September,  1898,  at  Beatrice,  married 
Miss  Mary  Bradt,  a  member  of  a  pioneer  fam- 
ily of  Gage  county. 

Josephus  M.  Kilpatrick,  on  the  20th  day  of 
September,  1892,  at  Brownville,  Nebraska, 
married  Miss  Augusta  Meitz.  To  them  have 
been  born  a  daughter,  Augusta,  wife  of  Clar- 
ence W.  GrafT,  and  two  sons,  John  J.  and 
Clarence  Kilpatrick,  both  now  in  the  service  of 
their  country,  —  John  as  a  first-class  truck 
driver.  Company  D,  Eighth  Train,  while  Clar- 
ence is  in  the  United  States  navy,  Fourth  Divi- 
sion, on  board  the  ship  North  Carolina. 

It  will  be  readily  conceded  by  all  who  are 


familiar  with  their  history  that  Kilpatrick 
lirothers  have  made  for  themselves  a  large 
place  in  the  world  of  work  as  well  as  in  the 
world  of  finance.  No  other  family  or  organi- 
zation of  Gage  county,  or  perhaps  in  the  state 
of  Nebraska,  has  a  more  enviable  record  of 
usefulness  and  of  things  achieved.  They  have 
performed  vast  labors  and  acquired  large  pos- 
sessions by  methods  which  will  bear  the  closest 
scrutiny.  Beginning  with  the  career  of  the 
oldest  brother,  the  generous  and  courtly  John 
D.  Kilpatrick,  and  continuing  through  the  long 
years,  they  have  maintained  a  high  standard  of 
integrity  and  efficiency.  Their  phenomenal 
success  has  been  due  in  part  to  careful,  sys- 
tematic business  methods ;  in  part  to  a  keen, 
discriminating  knowledge  of  men ;  but  more 
than  all  else,  perhaps,  to  an  unbounded  loyalty 
and  confidence  in  each  other,  enabling  them  to 
act,  in  the  gravest  aiifairs  of  life,  as  one  man. 
This  brotherhood  has  never  palled  or  weak- 
ened :  it  is  not  subject  to  fluctuation  or  change. 
Singly  any  one  of  its  members  might  have 
carved  out  for  himself  a  conspicuous  place  in 
the  world ;  collectively  they  have  proved  in- 
vincible. 

JOSEPH  H.  RAMSEY.  —  There  is  no 
dearth  of  interesting  data  in  the  personal  and 
ancestral  record  of  this  sterling  pioneer  citi- 
zen, who  has  been  a  resident  of  Gage  county 
for  nearly  forty  years  and  who,  after  having 
been  long  and  successfully  identified  with 
productive  agricultural  and  live-stock  indus- 
try in  Filley  township,  is  now  living  retired 
in  his  attractive  home  at  1220  Elk  street  in  the 
city  of  Beatrice.  Enduring  distinction  must 
ever  attach  to  the  name  of  Mr.  Ramsey  for 
the  gallant  service  which  he  gave  as  a  youth- 
ful soldier  of  the  Union  in  the  Civil  war,  for 
few  lived  up  more  fully  to  the  tension  of  that 
great  conflict,  or  endured  a  greater  quota  of 
hardships  and  perils.  Again,  few  have  had 
more  varied  and  intimate  experience  in  con- 
nection with  pioneer  life,  for  he  was  but  a 
child  at  the  time  when  his  parents  became 
pioneer  settlers  in  Iowa,  about  the  time  of  the 
admission  of  that  state  to  the  Union,  so  that 
he  was  literally  reared  under  the  conditions 


604 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,   NEBRASKA 


and  influences  of  the  frontier.  Adverting  to 
the  genealogy  of  Mr.  Ramsey,  it  may  be  said 
that  he  is  a  scion  of  famihes  that  were 
founded  in  Virginia  in  the  colonial  period  of 
our  national  history,  his  mother  having  been 
a  member  of  one  of  the  patrician  and  influ- 
ential families  of  the  Old  Dominion  and  her 
father  having  offered  her  as  her  marriage 
dowery  either  a  certain  number  of  slaves  or 
a  stipulated  sum  of  money.  Though  she  had 
been  'reared  under  the  influences  of  the  insti- 
tution of  slavery  she  was  averse  to  the  same 
as  a  young  woman,  long  before  the  historic 
abolition  movement  culminated  in  the  Civil 
war.  Thus  it  was  but  natural  that  her  son 
Joseph  should  prove  in  no  uncertain  way  his 
loyalty  to  the  Union  when  was  precipitated 
the  war  between  the  states  of  the  north  and 
the  south. 

Joseph  H.  Ramsey  was  born  in  Washing- 
ton county,  Missouri,  on  the  31st  of  January, 
1843,  and  is  a  son  of  Joseph  and  Jane  (  Berry ) 
Ramsey,  both  natives  of  Washington  county. 
Virginia,  where  they  were  reared  to  adult 
age,  their  marriage  having  been  solemnized 
at  Abingdon,  that  county.  Within  a  short 
time  after  their  marriage  the  parents  of  Mr. 
Ramsey  established  their  residence  in  Wash- 
ington county,  Missouri,  but  in  the  late  '40s 
they  removed  to  Iowa  and  became  early  set- 
tlers of  Appanoose  county,  where  the  father 
obtained  government  land  and  developed  a 
productive  farm,  besides  which  it  is  supposed 
that  he  there  found  more  or  less  demand  for 
his  services  as  a  skilled  millwright.  He  was 
one  of  the  substantial  and  popular  citizens  of 
Appanoose  county  and  there  he  and  his  wife 
passed  the  remainder  of  their  lives,  her  death 
occurring  in  1868  and  he  havaig -passed  away 
in  1878.  They  became  the  parents  of  three 
sons  and  seven  daughters,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  being  the  youngest  of  the  number,  and 
of  the  others  one  daughter  is  living  in  1918. 

Joseph  H.  Ramsey  was  a  child  of  two 
years  at  the  time  of  the  family  removal  to 
Iowa  Territory,  and  there  he  was  reared 
under  the  influences  of  the  pioneer  farm,  the 
while  he  made  good  use  of  the  advantages  of 
the  common  schools  of  the  locality.     He  was 


eighteen  years  old  at  the  inception  of  the 
Civil  war  and  promptly  manifested  his  youth- 
ful patriotism  by  enlisting,  on  the  30th  of 
August,  1861,  as  a  member  of  Company  I, 
Third  Iowa  Cavalry.  He  was  stationed  with 
his  command  at  Benton  Barracks,  Missouri, 
until  the  following  January,  and  his  first 
active  field  service  was  in  the.  southwestern 
part  of  that  state,  where  his  command  came 
in  spirited  contact,  at  Pea  Ridge,  with  In- 
dians who  were  under  Confederate  influence 
and  direction.  Within  a  short  time  there- 
after his  regiment  joined  the  forces  under 
General  Curtis  and  became  involved  in  almost 
constant  skirmishing  while  proceeding  down 
the  White  river  to  its  mouth.  Thereafter  the 
Third  Iowa  Cavalry  took  part  in  the  first  at- 
tack on  Vicksburg  and  the  battle  at  Jackson, 
Mississippi,  whence  they  continued  to  Can- 
ton and  then  marched  thirteen  consecutive 
days  and  nights,  with  Memphis,  Tennessee,  as 
the  objective  point.  In  the  fall  of  1862  Mr. 
Ramsey  was  with  the  force  that  repelled  the 
Confederate  forces  and  cut  them  oiT  from 
Holly  Springs,  at  the  time  when  General 
Grant  was  pressing  against  the  enemy  at 
Helena,  Arkansas,  in  the  same  campaign,  and 
in  this  connection  he  rode  on  his  horse  a  dis- 
tance of  seventy-five  miles  in  a  single  night. 
He  was  present  during  the  entire  siege  of 
Vicksburg  and  thereafter  took  part  in  im- 
portant conflicts  with  the  enemy  at  Memphis' 
and  Little  Rock.  Near  the  latter  place  he 
thereafter  was  assigned  with  his  regiment  to 
the  guarding  of  army  supplies  and  outposts 
extending  for  a  distance  of  twenty-five  miles, 
until  the  spring  of  1864,  when  he  and  his 
comrades  of  Company  I  recoived  a  furlough 
of  thirty  days.  Within  this  period,  and  at  the 
time  of  his  visit  to  his  home  in  Iowa,  Mr. 
Ramsey  further  fortified  himself  for  re- 
sponsibility, as,  on  the  4th  of  March,  1864,  he 
wedded  Miss  Sarah  J.  Evans,  a  daughter  of 
Jesse  and  Mary  (Ferguson)  Evans,  who 
were  natives  of  Pennsylvania  and  who  settled 
in  Appanoose  county,  Iowa,  in  1858,  the 
death  of  the  loved  wife  and  mother  having 
occurred  the  same  year  and  the  father  having 
passed  the  closing  period  of  his  life  in  Ham- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.   NEBRASKA 


605 


iltoii  county,  Nebraska.  Though  his  term  of 
enlistment  had  expired,  Mr.  Ramsey  and  a 
number  of  his  comrades  from  Appanoose 
county  promptly  re-enlisted  as  veterans,  and 
ten  days  after  his  marriage  he  set  forth  to 
rejoin  his  regiment,  which  was  then  encamped 
at  Memphis,  Tennessee.  On  the  1st  of  the 
following  June  the  command  received  march- 
ing orders  and  after  arriving  at  Ripley, 
Mississippi,  Mr.  Ramsey's  company,  with  one 
other,  was  sent  forth  to  collect  forage  for  the 
horses,  and  in  pursuance  of  this  duty  they  en- 
countered a  Confederate  battery.  This  pre- 
cipitated activities  on  the  part  of  the  general 
command,  which  took  up  the  line  of  march 
about  noon  on  the  10th  of  June.  In  the 
meanwhile  General  Forrest  had  brought  his 
Confederate  forces  into  a  des-perate  battle  at 
Brice's  Crossroads,  Mississippi,  where  he  had 
gained  a  decisive  victory.  While  with  his 
company  engaged  in  protecting  supplies  on 
retreat  Mr.  Ramsey  and  his  comrades  were 
captured  by  the  enemy,  and  incidental  to  this 
experience  the  following  interesting  record 
has  been  given :  "\Miile  surrounded  by  the 
enemy  Mr.  Ramsey  and  his  comrades  made  a 
dash  for  liberty,  putting  spurs  to  their  horses 
and  breaking  for  the  woods.  Being  unable  to 
cross  the  streams  with  their  horses,  they 
turned  the  animals  loose  and,  after  throwing 
away  their  heavy  carbines,  they  traveled  four 
nights,  secreting  themselves  and  resting  dur- 
ing the  days.  When  near  White  Station, 
Tennessee,  Mr.  Ramsey,  with  twenty-four  of 
his  comrades,  was  captured  by  the  enemy,  and 
he  was  then  taken  to  Andersoiiville,  where  he 
remained  incarcerated  in  the  historic  and 
odious  Andersonville  Prison  until  the  fall  of 
Atlanta.  Here  he  endured  all  the  horrors  and 
sufferings  which  gave  to  that  Confederate 
prison  its  infamous  place  in  history,  and  after 
the  capture  of  Atlanta  he  v/as  transferred 
with  other  prisoners  of  war  to  Florence,  in 
the  northern  part  of  South  Carolina,  where  he 
encountered  hardships  no  less  strenuous  than 
those  of  Andersonville.  On  the  31st  of  Janu-- 
ary,  186,^,  the  twenty-second  anniversan'  of 
his  birth,  ]\lr,  Ramsey  was  delirious  from  the 
suffering  of   hunger  and  thirst,   and   he  con- 


tinued in  this  deplorable  state  for  fifteen  days, 
at  the  expiration  of  which  he,  with  others, 
was  taken  to  Goldsboro,  North  Carolina, 
where  he  was  kept  under  guard  until  Febru- 
ary 26th,  when  he  and  his  equally  unfortunate 
comrades  were  released,  through  exchange. 
Such  was  his  physical  emaciation  and  debility 
that  he  was  carried  by  one  of  his  comrades  to 
the  hospital  at  Wilmington,  South  Carolina, 
and  he  still  had  strength  to  realize  the  bliss  of 
freedom,  feeling  that  he  had  escaped,  as  it 
were,  from  the  inferno  to  paradise." 

After  sufficiently  recuper-iting  his  wasted 
energies  to  make  this  possible.  Mr.  Ramsey 
proceeded  to  Annapolis,  Mar^dand.  Later  he 
was  located  at  St.  Louis  for  thirty  days  and 
he  was  at  Atlanta,  Georgia,  at  the  time  when 
he  received  his  honorable  discharge,  on  the 
22d  of  August,  1865.  He  then  returned  to 
his  home  and  his  young  bride,  in  Appanoose 
county,  Iowa.  There  he  finally  rented  land 
and  engaged  in  farm  enterprise,  but  about  two 
years  later  he  removed  to  Taylor  county,  that 
state,  where  he  continued  his  zealous  activities 
as  an  agriculturist  for  the  ensuing  twelve 
years.  In  March,  1880,  after  having  disposed 
of  his  property  in  Iowa,  Mr.  Ramsey  came  to 
Gage  county,  Nebraska,  where,  in  the  follow- 
ing June,  he  purchased  one  hiuidred  and  sixty 
acres  of  land  in  Section  34,  Filley  township. 
He  and  his  family  used  their  wagon  as  an 
abiding  place  until  he  could  erect  on  his  wild 
pra'rie  farm  a  temporary  house,  the  same  hav- 
ing been  a  mere  shanty,  twelve  by  twenty  feet 
in  dimensions.  In  the  following  autumn  he 
erected  a  good  frame  house  on  the  place,  and 
he  then  turned  his  attention  vigorouslv  to  re- 
claiming and  developing  his  land,  which  he 
eventually  transformed  into  one  of  the  val- 
uable and  well  improved  farms  of  this  section 
of  the  state.  He  became  a  most  progressive 
and  successful  exponent  of  agricultural  and 
live-stock  industry  and  with  increasing  pros- 
perity he  showed  his  excellerit  judgment  by 
adding  materially  to  the  area  of  his  landed 
estate.  He  purchased  an  entire  half  section 
of  land  —  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  in 
Holt  township  and  the  adjoining  tract  of  equal 
area   in   Midland   township.     He   tnus    found 


606 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


ample  scope  for  the  concrete  expression  of  his 
vital  energy  and  progressiveness,  and  he  de- 
veloped  his   large   property   into   one   of   the 
best  of  the  landed  estates  of  Gage  county.    In 
his  activities  Mr.  Ramsey  proved  a  veritable 
incarnation    of    energy    and    progressiveness, 
and  not  until  about   1905   did  he  consent  to 
leave  the  farm  and  abate  his  strenuous  labors. 
At  that  time  he  removed  to  Beatrice,  but  soon 
the  life  of  inactivity  palled  upon  him  and  he 
returned  to  the  farm.     There  he  applied  him- 
self with  characteristic  vigor  until  1912,  when 
he  came  to  a  realization  that  both  consistency 
and  expediency  justified  his  retirement   from 
the  responsibilities  and  labors  tliat  had  long 
been  his  portion,  and  at  this  juncture  he  was 
fortunate  in  being  able  to  purchase  a  hand- 
some and   recently  erected  house  of  modem 
design   and   facilities — -his   present   attractive 
residence  in  the  city  of   Beatrice,  where  his 
wife    proves    a    most    gracious    and    popuar 
chatelaine  of  a  home  that  is  at  all  times  ready 
to  extend  hospitable  welcome  to  their  host  of 
friends.      Mr.    and    Mrs.    Ramsey    celebrated 
their  golden  wedding  anniversary  in  1914  and 
the  occasion  was  made  one  notable  in  the  so- 
cial annals  of  Gage  county.    In  the  summer  of 
1917  they  made  a  most  pleasing  visit  to  the 
old  home  in  Appanoose  county,  Iowa,  where 
Mr.   Ramsey   attended   a   reunion   of   his   old 
comrades  of  the  Civil  war  and  renewed  the 
more  gracious  memories  and  associations  of 
his  military  career  as  a  youthful  soldier  of  the 
Civil  war.     He  further  vitalizes  these  associa- 
tions   through    his    affiliation    with    Rawlins 
Post,   No.  36,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic, 
at    Beatrice.      He   holds   membership   also    in 
the  Masonic   fraternity  and  he  and  his  wife 
have  been  for  many  years  active  members  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  church.    In  1903  Mr. 
Ramsey  was  a  member  of  the  Nebraska  legis- 
lature,  and  in  this  connection  it  is   specially 
worthy  of  note  that  he  introduced  and  ably 
championed  what  was  known  as  the  farmers' 
elevator   bill,   a    most   valuable   measure   that 
came  to  successful  enactment. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ramsey  became  the  parents 
of  eight  children,  two  of  whom  died,  in  early 
childhood,  while  the  family  home  was  main- 


tained in  Taylor  county,  Iowa,  besides  which 
Charles,  a  lad  of  fourteen  years,  was  killed  by 
lightning,  in  1883.  about  two  years  after  the 
family  removal  to  Gage  county.  Frank  K.  is 
now  a  resident  of  Riverside,  California ;  Min- 
nie is  the  wife  of  B.  P.  Wood,  a  successful 
farmer  of  Holt  township ;  Merrill  is  a  resident 
of  Petersburg,  Texas;  and  Ralph  and  Roy 
maintain  their  home  in  the  city  of  Beatrice. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ramsey  enjoy  the  best  of 
health  and  find  the  gracious  twilight  of  their 
long  and  devoted  companionship  to  be  com- 
passed by  most  cheering  environment  and  the 
filial  solicitude  of  their  sons  and  daughters, 
the  companv  of  friends  who  are  tried  and 
true,  the  while  they  count  themselves  favored 
indeed  in  that  they  have  seventeen  grand- 
children. 

ANDREW  J.  JAMISON.  — One  of  the 
representative  farmers  of  Elm  township  who 
has  by  strict  attendance  to  his  farming  inter- 
ests become  one  of  the  progressive  citizens  of 
Gage  county  is  Andrew  J.  Jamison,  whose  life 
review  follows. 

Andrew  Jackson  Jamison  was  born  May 
23,  1867,  in  Greene  county,  Indiana,  the 
county  which  saw  the  birth  of  his  parents, 
Isaac  and  Caroline  (Burcham)  Jamison;  the 
former  was  born  in  1842  and  died  in  1882; 
the  latter  was  born  in  1848  and  in  her  natal 
state  she  married  Isaac  Jamison,  to  which 
marriage  seven  children  were  born.  The 
eldest  is  Andrew  Jackson,  the  subject  of  this 
review ;  Jane  is  the  widow  of  W.  Heaton ; 
Isaac  is  a  farmer  of  Elm  township;  Roxy 
Ann  is  the  wife  of  A.  Bland,  living  at 
Terre  Haute,  Indiana;  John  is  farming  in 
Elm  township ;  the  address  of  Seymour  is  un- 
known ;  William  is  living  at  Bicknell,  Indiana. 
Mrs.  Isaac  Jamison,  after  her  husband's 
death,  married  John  Turley  and  by  this  mar- 
riage two  children  were  born,  George,  of  Lin- 
coln, Nebraska,  and  Otis,  of  Bicknell,  In- 
diana. John  Turley  was  a  native  of  Indiana 
■  and  is  now  deceased.  Mrs.  Jamison-Turley 
makes  her  home  in  Linton,  Indiana. 

Isaac  Jamison  was  the  son  of  Jackson 
Jamison,   who   named   Kentucky  as  his   natal 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUXTY,   NEBRASKA 


state  and  in  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth 
century  moved  to  the  wooded  lands  of  In- 
diana, where  he  became  a  very  well-to-do  man. 
He  was  active  in  the  logging  business  and  the 
clearing  of  the  forests  for  the  tilling  of  the 
rich  soil  which  gave  of  its  treasures  of  wheat 
and  corn.  In  1884  Jackson  Jamison  came  to 
Gage  county  and  until  1894  he  was  here  en- 
gaged in  farming.  He  then  removed  to  Okla- 
homa, where  his  death  occurred. 

Andrew  Jackson  Jamison,  with  whom  this 
review  deals,  received  his  education  in  the 
district  schools  of  Greene  county,  Indiana, 
and  in  the  meantime  was  helping  with  the 
farming  operations  of  the  old  homestead.  In 
the  '80s  he  came  to  Jefiferson  county,  Nebraska, 
where  for  a  number  of  years  he  rented  land 
and  worked  as  a  farm  hand.  In  1885  he 
came  to  Gage  county,  where  he  rented  land 
until  he  was  able,  in  1907,  to  purchase  the 
land  which  is  his  home,  in  Section  10,  Elm 
township.  He  has  added  eighty  acres  to  the 
original  and  also  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres, 
in  Section  9,  which  was  received  by  his  wife 
as  her  share  of  her  father's  estate.  Mr. 
Jamison  is  now  employed  in  the  tilling  of  two 
hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land  and  is  also 
raising  Duroc-Jersey  hogs  and  Red  Polled 
cattle. 

On  October  18,  1893,  was  solemnized  the 
marriage  of  Andrew  J.  Jamison  and  Miss 
Dora  L.  Hood  ( for  the  family  history  see 
John  C.  Hood  sketch  in  this  volume).  To 
this  marriage  have  been  born  six  children : 
Ethel,  the  wife  of  Archie  Carpenter,  of  Har- 
bine,  Nebraska ;  Gertrude,  attending  the  high 
school  at  Beatrice ;  and  Austin,  Frances.  Ina, 
and  Grace,  who  are  under  the  parental  roof. 
Mrs.  Jamison  was  born  in  Mason  county, 
Illinois,  in  1872,  and  came  to  Gage  county  in 
1884. 

]\Ir.  Jamison  allies  himself  with  the  Demo- 
cratic party,  although  he  has  sought  no  politi- 
cal honors.  He  is  now  ser\'ing  on  the  school 
board  of  district  No.  132.  Coming  to  the 
state  of  Nebraska  in  his  early  manhood,  Mr. 
Jamison  has  labored  for  all  that  he  owns, 
realizes  the  worth  of  all  that  he  has  acquired. 


and  is  now  giving  his  children  educational  ad- 
vantages which  will  lit  them  for  useful  lives. 

EDWARD  W.  DOLE  is  president  of  the 
Dole  Floral  Company,  of  Beatrice,  this  being 
an  important  corporation  that  has  developea 
to  large  volume  the  floriculture  enterprise  es- 
tablished in  a  modest  way  by  the  mother  of 
Mr.  Dole,  full  data  concerning  the  company 
and  its  honored  founder  being  given  on  other 
pages  of  this  work.  Mr.  Dole  resides  on  his 
model  little  farm  of  thirty-six  acres,  which 
lies  within  the  city  limits  of  Beatrice,  at  the 
south,  and  he  is  one  of  the  progressive  and 
representative  business  men  of  Gage  county 
and  its  fine  capital  city. 

The  lineage  of  the  Dole  family  traces  back 
to  sterling  English  origin  and  the  American 
progenitor  of  the  branch  represented  by  the 
Doles  of  Nebraska  was  Richard  Dole,  who 
was  born  in  Bristol,  England,  in  1624.  The 
founders  of  the  family  in  England  came  from 
the  ancient  province  of  Brittany,  France.  It  is 
to  be  presumed  that  Richard  Dole  accompan- 
ied his  parents  to  the  new  world  in  the 
autumn  of  1639,  though  records  extant  give 
no  specific  information  in  this  respect.  Rich- 
ard Dole  was  thrice  married  and  of  his  ten 
childen  Joseph,  born  August  5,  1657,  was  next 
in  line  of  direct  genealogical  line  to  him  whose 
name  introduces  this  review.  Richard  Dole 
settled  at  Amboy,  Massachusetts,  and  he  was 
eighty-one  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  his 
death.  In  a  circumscribed  article  of  this 
order  there  is  no  possibility  of  entering  into 
details  concerning  the  genealogical  history  oi 
the  Dole  family,  but  it  may  consistently  be 
said  that  in  each  successive  generation  the 
family  has  given  to  the  nation  men  and 
women  of  worthy  character  and  worthy 
achievement,  while  representatives  of  the 
name  have  been  prominent  not  only  in  New 
England,  that  gracious  cradle  of  much  of  our 
national  history,  but  also  in  divers  other  states 
of  the  Union. 

Edward  W.  Dole  was  born  in  Seward 
county,  Nebraska,  February  15,  1870.  and  is 
a  son  of  Josiah  G.  and  Sophia  (Hooker) 
Dole,  adequate  review  of  whose  lives  is  given 


608 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,   NEBRASKA 


on  other  pages.  At  this  juncture,  however, 
it  may  be  stated  that  Josiah  G.  Dole,  who  was 
born  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  December  25,  1825, 
joined  the  mihtary  police,  or  home  guard,  at 
the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  war,  was  made  first 
lieutenant  and  continued  in  active  service 
until  the  close  of  the  war.  He  came  to  Ne- 
braska in  1867,  the  year  that  marked  the  ad- 
mission of  the  state  to  the  Union,  and  he  set- 
tled in  Seward  county.  In  1868-1869  he  was 
there  engaged  in  the  manufacturing  of  brick, 
and  some  of  the  brick  was  used  in  the  con- 
struction of  the  first  brick  chimneys  in  the 
city  of  Lincoln.  In  1869  Mr.  Dole  wedded 
Miss  Sophia  Hooker,  and  they  became  the 
parents  of  five  children,  of  whom  the  subject 
of  this  review  is  the  eldest;  Walter  is  now  a 
resident  of  Bainbridge,  Georgia;  Anna  is  the 
wife  of  George  M.  Johnston,  individually 
mentioned  elsewhere  in  this  volume :  Ella  S. 
is  the  wife  of  Frederick  Van  Boskirk,  like- 
wise specifically  represented  in  this  publica- 
tion ;  and  Elbert  J.  is  a  leading  photographist 
in  the  city  of  Lincoln,  this  state. 

Edward  W.  Dole  was  reared  and  educated 
in  Seward  county  and  in  his  youth  gained 
familiarity  with  the  conditions  and  influences 
of  the  pioneer  era  in  the  history  of  south- 
eastern Nebraska.  His  father  was  associated 
with  brick  manufacturing  about  two  years 
and  then  obtained  a  homestead  in  Seward 
county  and  turned  his  attention  to  farm  en- 
teqjrise.  Eventually,  after  having  developed 
a  productive  farm,  he  came  to  Gage  county, 
and  he  passed  the  closing  years  of  his  life  in 
the  city  of  Beatrice,  where  his  death  occurred 
April  19,  1903.  His  wife  was  born  in  the 
state  of  New  York,  October  6,  1836,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Philip  J.  and  Mary  Ann  (Derbyshire) 
Hooker,  who  came  to  Nebraska  Territory  in 
1866  and  established  their  residence  in  Se- 
ward county,  as  sterling  pioneers,  the  father, 
two  of  the  sons  and  two  of  the  daughters,  in- 
cluding Mrs.  Dole,  having  each  taken  up  a 
homestead  claim  in  that  county.  Mr.  Hooker 
died  many  years  ago,  when  well  advanced  in 
years,  and  his  widow  was  ninety-two  years  of 
age  at  the  time  of  her  death,  in  January,  1906. 
The   earlv    educational    advantages    of    Ed- 


ward W.  Dole  included  a  year  of  study  in 
the  Beatrice  high  school,  and  thereafter  he 
was  for  a  time  identified  with  the  newspaper 
business — ^with  the  Beatrice  Daily  Express. 
In  1891  he  and  his  brother  Walter  A.  became 
associated  with  their  mother  in  establishing  a 
small  greenhouse  in  Beatrice  and  initiating 
the  enterprise  that  has  since  been  developed 
into  the  extensive  and  well  ordered  business 
now  conducted  under  the  title  of  the  Dole 
Floral  Company,  of  which  Edward  W.  Dole 
has  been  president  from  the  time  of  its  incor- 
poration. Mr.  Dole  has  been  vital  and  pro- 
gressive as  a  business  man  and  loyal  and  pub- 
lic-spirited as  a  citizen,  though  he  has  never 
sought  or  held  public  office  of  any  description. 
His  political  allegiance  is  given  to  the  Repub- 
lican party  and  he  and  his  wife  are  active 
members  of  the  Christian  church  in  Beatrice. 
April  26,  1890,  recorded  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Dole  to  Miss  Ellen  E.  McCrea,  daughter 
of  Edgar  and  Julia  (Dearsdorf)  McCrea,  who 
were  early  settlers  in  Seward  county,  j\Ir. 
McCrea  having  died  at  Milford,  that  county, 
November  23,  1917,  and  his  widow  being  still 
a  resident  of  that  village-.  Mrs.  Dole  has  two 
brothers  and  three  sisters :  .  John  W.  and 
Thomas  W.  are  residents  of  Beatrice :  Lydia 
E.  is  the  wife  of  Christopher  M.  Miller,  of 
this  city;  Florence  D.  is  the  wife  of  Jesse  W. 
Dubbins,  of  Beatrice ;  and  Fannie  B.  is  the 
wife  of  S.  D.  Newman,  of  Milford,  Seward 
county.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dole  have  an  adopted 
daughter,  Gladys  Thelma,  who  is  a  member 
of  their  gracious  home  circle. 

JAMES  F.  BOGGS,  postmaster  of  the  vil- 
lage of  Filley,  has  been  a  resident  of  Gage 
county  since  he  was  a  lad  of  fifteen  years  and 
is  a  son  of  that  honored  pioneer,  Hon.  Lewis 
B.  Boggs,  M.  D.,  to  whom  a  merited  tribute  is 
])aid  on  other  pages  of  this  work,  so  that  fur- 
ther reference  to  the  family  record  is  not  de- 
manded in  the  present  connection.  Mr.  Boggs 
was  born  at  North  Manchester,  Indiana,  Jan- 
uary 7,  1856,  and  he  acquired  his  early  educa- 
tion in  the  schools  of  Indiana  and  Gage 
county,  Nebraska,  to  which  latter  state  he 
came  with  his  parents  in  the  year   1871.     In 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUXTY,   NEBRASKA 


this  county  he  became  closely  and  effectively 
associated  with  his  father  in  farm  enterprise 
and  in  1888  he  assumed  a  position  as  clerk- 
in  a  hardware  establishment  in  the  village  of 
Filley.  Later  he  here  became  associated  with 
his  brother.  Dr.  Charles  S'.  Boggs,  in  the 
ownership  of  a  well  equipped  drug  store,  and 
this  alliance  has  since  continued,  the  firm  hav- 
ing recently  erected  a  new  building  for  tlie 
store  and  having  an  establishment  of  attrac- 
tive order  and  the  best  of  facilities  and  ser- 
vice. 

Air.  Boggs  identified  himself  with  the  Pro- 
gressive party  at  the  time  of  its  organization 
and  has  been  influential  in  its  local  councils 
in  Gage  county.  He  has  held  various  munic- 
ipal offices  in  the  village  of  Filley  and  is  now 
serving  his  second  term  as  postmaster,  his 
original  appointment  to  this  office  having  been 
made  in  1911.  He  is  one  of  the  loyal  and  pro- 
gressive citizens  of  his  home  village  and 
county  and  his  circle  of  friends  is  coincident 
with  that  of  his  acquaintances.  He  is  af- 
filliated  with  the  Masonic  fraternity  and  he 
and  his  wife  are  active  members  of  the  Chris- 
tian church  at  Filley. 

The  year  1882  recorded  the  marriage  of 
Air.  Boggs  to  Miss  Laura  E.  Faulder,  daugh- 
ter of  the  late  David  S.  Faulder,  to  whom  a 
memoir  is  dedicated  on  other  pages  of  this 
volume.  Air.  and  Airs.  Boggs  have  two  chil- 
dren :  Ethel  L.  is  the  wife  of  Glenn  W.  Hild- 
reth,  who  is  ( 1918)  superintendent  of  the  pub- 
lic schools  at  Roseland,  Adams  county,  Mrs. 
Hildreth  being  principal  of  the  schools  and 
both  being  teachers  of  distinctive  talent  and 
popularity ;  Edgar  D.  Boggs,  who  was  born 
October  29,  1893,  is  a  skilled  machinist  and 
is  employed  in  the  shops  of  the  Burlington 
Railroad  lines  at  Plattsmouth,  Nebraska ;  the 
maiden  name  of  his  wife  having  been  Ruby 
AlcPherson. 


FIDILLO  HUNTER  DOBBS  — The  fam- 
ily from  which  Fidillo  Hunter  Dobbs  was 
derived,  as  far  as  its  history  is  known,  begins 
with  Sir  Richards  Dobbs,  a  Yorkshireman, 
who  during  the  reign  of  Edward  VI  was  Lord 
Alayor  of  London,  and,  according  to  Froude, 


a  pillar  of  state.  For  his  services  to  the 
voung  king  he  was  knighted.  In  1596  his 
nephew,  John  Dobbs,  accompanied  Sir  Henry 
Dockwra,  Lord-Treasurer  of  Ireland,  to  that 
island,  and  served  as  his  deputy  for  the  Pro- 
vince of  Ulster.  In  1603  he  married  Alar- 
garet,  only  child  of  John  Dalway,  of  Ballyhill, 
County  Antrim,  a  lady  of  distinction  and  for- 
tune, and  through  this  marriage  was  founded 
the  well  known  Dobbs  family  of  Irish  his- 
tory. The  ancient  seat  of  this  family  is  Dobbs 
Castle,  County  Antrim,  Ulster  Province.  Its 
present  master  and  the  present  head  of  the 
family  in  Ireland  is  Alontague  William 
Edward  Dobbs,  Esquire,  born  September  28, 
1844. 

In  .\merica  the  family  history  begins  with 
Governor  Arthur  Dobbs,  born  April  2,  1689, 
who  was  high  sherifT  of  County  Antrim  and 
for  many  years  member  of  parliament  for 
Garrickfergus.  He  was  appointed  engineer  and 
surveyor  general  of  Ireland  by  Sir  Robert 
Walpole,  and  in  1753  was  sent  out  by  George 
II  as  governor  of  the  colony  of  North  Caro- 
lina. He  took  office,  at  Newbern,  November 
1,  1754,  and  immediately  adopted  measures  to 
conciliate  the  Indians.  Treaties  were  made 
with  the  Catawabas  and  Cherokees,  and,  to  pro- 
tect western  North  Carolina  from  Indian  de- 
predations, he  erected,  armed  and  manned 
Fort  Dobbs,  on  the  south  fork  of  the  Yadkin. 
He  established  courts  of  justice  in  a  number 
of  districts  where  none  had  been  before,  and, 
himself  a  man  of  letters,  he  encouraged  learn- 
ing in  the  colony.  In  a  book  entitled  "Lives 
of  Distinguished  Alen  of  North  Carolina," 
by  J.  W.  Peek.  (Raleigh,  1898,)  is  the  fol- 
lowing reference  to  his  administration :  "Pro- 
gress of  the  style  which  marked  the  period  of 
the  American  Revolution  can  be  traced  in 
North  Carolina  from  the  administration  of 
Governor  Dobbs".  This  has  reference  to  the 
exalted  style  and  purity  of  expression  which 
characterizes  the  writings  of  the  heroes  of  the 
Revolution.  Governor  Dobbs  governed  his 
colony  wisely  and  well,  raising  it  from  a 
wretched  state  of  poverty  to  a  position  of 
financial  independence.  Amongst  other  things 
he  was  remarkable  as  a  colonizer.     When  he 


610 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


61 L 


\- 


^Vk^ 


t 


AIary  Jaxe  Doit.s 
Wile  ot   Fidillu   Huntt.r  Dubbs 


6i: 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


came  to  North  Carolina  the  colony  contained 
nine  thousand  inhabitants,  but  at  the  close  of 
liis  eleven  years'  service  as  governor  it  had 
forty-five  thousand. 

Amongst  the  immigrants  whom  he  induced 
to  come  to  North  Carolina  were  many  of  his 
immediate  relatives,  who  came  with  the  hope 
and  expectation  of  appointment  to  office  and 
other  preferments.  The  Governor  amassed 
large  possessions  and  by  a  high-toned  defense 
of  the  royal  perogatives,  against  the  rising  tide 
of  democratic  resistance  to  royal  claims,  made 
many  powerful  enemies. .  Charges  were  pre- 
ferred against  him  to  the  crown,  including 
amongst  other  things  nepotism,  the  unjust  ac- 
cumulation of  wealth  and  a  fixed  determina- 
tion on  his  part  to  locate'  the  capital  of  the 
colony  on  his  own  land.  In  1765,  nearly  ten 
years  prior  to  the  beginning  of  the  Revolution- 
ary war,  he  resigned  his  office  to  return  to 
England  and  defend  himself  in  the  court  of 
George  III,  his  friend  and  patron,  the  learned 
George  II,  having  died  in  1760.  Before  he 
was  able  to  adjust  his  affairs  and  take  ship, 
he  died,  at  the  age  of  eighty-two  years. 

Governor  Dobbs  left  numerous  relatives  in 
North  Carolina,  amongst  them  his  sons  Con- 
way Richard  and  Edward  Brice  Dobbs,  the 
latter  being  a  member  of  his  council.  He  also 
left  a  brother,  described  in  his  will  as  Rev.  Dr. 
Richard  Dobbs ;  also  Richard  Spaight,  likewise 
a  member  of  his  council,  and  presumably  the 
father  of  Richard  Dobbs  Spaight,  a  nephew  of 
the  Governor,  who  was  afterward  distin- 
guished as  a  delegate  from  North  Carolina  to 
the  convention  which  framed  the  federal  con- 
stitution, and  who  afterward  became  the  eighth 
governor  of  the  state  of  North  Carolina. 

According  to  Gruppy,  a  recognized  author- 
ity on  Irish  genealogy,  a  son  Chesley  was  born 
to  Governor  Arthur  Dobbs  by  his  marriage 
with  Ann,  daughter  and  heir  of  Captain  Os- 
borne, of  Timahoe,  County  of  Kildare,  relict 
of  Captain  Norbury.  Burke,  in  the  Irish 
Landed  Gentry,  states  that  there  was  issue  of 
this  marriage  and  that  Conway  Richard  Dobbs 
took  the  inheritance,  but  fails  to  give  the  names 
of  the  other  sons. 

From   some   branch   of  this  colonial   family 


came  Chesley  Dobbs,  the  grandfather  of  Fi- 
dillo  Hunter  Dobbs.  It  is  stated  of  him  that 
he  served  seven  years  in  the  Revolutionary 
army  under  a  Colonel  William  Washington, 
and  afterward  settled  in  Claiborne  county, 
Tennessee.  His  son  Joel,  father  of  Fidillo 
Hunter  Dobbs,  was  born  in  Buncombe  county. 
North  Carolina.  He  married  Sallie  Morgan, 
also  a  native  of  North  Carolina,  and  a  member 
of  the  well  known  southern  family  of  that 
name.  She  was  closely  related  to  General 
John  Morgan,  the  "Raider"  of  Civil  war  fame. 
Their  marriage  took  place  in  Claiborne  county, 
Tennessee,  in  1815.  Shortly  afterward  the 
family  removed  to  Casey  county,  Kentucky, 
where  Fidillo  Hunter  Dobbs  was  born  on  the 
4th  day  of  March,  1823.  The  other  children 
of  this  marriage  were  Hugh  H.,  Russell  L., 
Bethene,  Anderson,  Orlean,  William  C,  Arch- 
ibald and  Sallie.  In  1828,  the  mother  died, 
and  in  1829  Joel  Dobbs  contracted  a  second 
marriage,  with  Elizabeth  Langville.  From 
this  union  there  were  born  seven  children,  of 
whom  five  reached  maturity :  some  attained 
wealth  and  prominence  in  eastern  Illinois. 

In  1830  Joel  Dobbs  removed  his  family  from 
Kentucky  to  Putman  county,  Indiana,  where 
he  located  near  Greencastle,  on  the  great  na- 
tional highway  then  being  constructed  across 
the  state  from  Terre  Haute  to  Cincinnati.  In 
1837  the  family,  except  Hugh,  Russell, 
Bethene  and  Anderson,  all  of  whom  remained 
in  Indiana,  removed  to  the  Ozark  country  in 
southwestern  Missouri  and  located  in  the  val- 
ley of  the  White  river,  in  Taney  county,  where, 
in  1842,  the  father.  Joel  Dobbs,  died. 

Fidillo  Hunter  Dobbs  acquired  in  the  com- 
mon schools  of  Indiana  and  Missouri,  a  good, 
unable  education  for  those  times,  and  when 
twenty-one  years  of  age  he  became  a 
schoolmaster,  pursuing  this  useful  occupation 
five  years.  On  August  1,  1847,  at  Forsyth, 
Taney  county,  Missouri,  he  married  Mary 
Jane  Schullenbarger,  the  eldest  daughter  of 
Jacob  and  Susan  (Simeon)  Schullenbarger; 
she  was  one  of  his  pupils  in  a  district  school 
in  the  Ozark  mountains.  They  became  the 
parents  of  eleven  children,  William  Jacob, 
Hugh  Jackson,  Susan  Catherine,  Russell  Lane, 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


613 


614 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Sarah  Jane,  Louisa  Florizelle,  Joel  Bracken, 
Josephine,  John  Abram,  Thomas  Francis  and 
Lucy  Ann.  All  grew  to  maturity  and  are  still 
living  excepting  Susan  Catherine,  who  died 
in  Andrew  county,  Missouri,  of  an  infantile 
disease,  in  1842,  aged  thirteen  months. 

In  May,  1852,  the  family  moved  from  south- 
western to  northwestern  Missouri,  where 
Fidillo  Hunter  Dobbs  purchased  a  farm  of 
eighty-seven  acres  on  the  Nodaway  river,  ten 
miles  southwest  of  Savannah,  the  county  seat 
of  Andrew  county.  In  March,  1856,  he  sold 
his  farm  and  moved  to  a  farm  on  the  Hundred 
and  Two  river,  in  the  edge  of  Grand  Prairie, 
eight  miles  northeast  of  Savannah. 

In  August,  1858,  he  came  to  the  new  terri- 
tory of  Nebraska,  and  under  the  pre-emption 
law  of  the  country  he  located  a  claim  in  Sec- 
tion twenty-three,  Rockford  township.  Gage 
county.  He  built  a  round-log  cabin  on  his 
claim,  rived  clapboards  to  cover  it,  mowed 
with  a  scythe  and  stacked  five  tons  of  prairie 
hay,  and  returned  to  Missouri  to  spend  the 
winter  of  1858-1859.  He  left  Missouri  on  the 
first  day  of  March  with  his  family,  consisting 
•of  his  wife  and  six  children,  and  arrived  in 
Gage  county  March  12,  1859.  The  following 
May  he  sold  his  first  claim  and  bought  of 
George  W.  Stark  his  pre-emption  rights  to 
the  northwest  quarter  of  Section  fourteen  in 
Rockford  township.  On  August  5,  1863,  at 
Brownville,  Nebraska,  he  made  homestead 
entry  of  this  tract  of  land  at  the  government 
land  office,  he  being  the  forty-seventh  entry- 
man  under  the  homestead  law.  This  tract  of 
land  constituted  the  family  homestead  until 
1906,  when  this  pioneer  husband  and  wife 
left  their  old  home  and  came  to  Beatrice  to 
spend  the  brief  remnant  of  their  days. 

Fidillo  Hunter  Dobbs  died  at  his  home  in 
Beatrice,  from  a  stroke  of  paralysis,  on  the 
16th  day  of  July,  1907,  aged  eighty-four  years, 
four  months,  twelve  days. 

His  beloved  wife,  Mary  Jane  Dobbs,  sur- 
vived him  but  a  few  months,  dying  at  her 
home  in  Beatrice  March  7,  1908,  aged  seventy- 
six  years,  six  months,  seventeen  days.  They 
lie  side  Ijy  side  in  Evergreen  Home  cemetery 


and  their  resting  place  is  marked  by  a  monu- 
ment. As  the  fruit  of  their  marriage,  there 
were  living  at  the  time  of  their  death,  ten 
children,  fifty-four  grandchildren  and  eleven 
great-grandchildren.  Their  living  posterity 
now  includes  ten  children,  fifty-five  grandchil- 
dren, fifty-one  great-grandchildren,  and  four 
great-great-grandchildren, —  a  total  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty  persons. 

Throughout  his  long  life  Fidillo  Hunter 
Dobbs  was  an  active  and  a  useful  member  of 
society.  He  was  by  occupation  a  farmer  but 
found  time  to  take  an  intelligent  interest  in 
public  affairs.  From  1862  to  1866,  inclusive, 
he  was  a  member  of  the  board  of  county  com- 
missioners of  Gage  county,  and  with  William 
Tyler  and  Fordyce  Roper,  the  other  members 
of  the  county  board  at  that  time,  and  John  W. 
Prey,  one  of  the  commissioners  of  Lancaster 
county,  adjusted  the  affairs  of  old  Clay  county 
after  its  partition  between  Lancaster  and  Gage. 

The  home  of  Fidillo  Hunter  and  Mary  Jane 
Dobbs  was  always  known  far  and  wide  for  its 
open  hospitality.  All  who  came  were  welcome 
and  for  the  entertainment  of  strangers  it  is 
doubtful  if  he  ever  accepted  willingly  a  cent  of 
compensation.  In  1866  they  erected  a  hewed- 
log,  story-and-a-half  house ;  though  in  a  ruined 
condition,  it  still  exists  on  the  old  homestead. 
Here  for  many  years 

The  great  fires  up  its  chimney  roared. 
The  stranger  feasted  at  its  board. 

This  was  their  residence  until  1885,  when 
they  erected,  near  the  northeast  corner  of  their 
homestead,  a  commodious  frame  house  which 
formed  their  domicile  while  they  remained  on 
the  farm.  Both  these  homes  were  centers  for 
the  social,  educational  and  religious  life  of  the 
community,  and,  covering  a  radius  of  many 
miles,  the  spirit  of  this  home  was  a  potent 
influence  for  the  best  there  is  in  humanity.  By 
their  simple,  unostentatious  and  helpful  lives, 
Fidillo  Hunter  and  Mary  Jane  Dobbs  endeared 
themselves  to  hundreds  of  the  pioneers  of  Gage 
county,  and  if  "to  live  in  hearts  we  leave  be- 
hind is  not  to  die"  they  are  assured  of  im- 
mortality. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


615 


JOHN  B.  REIFF  has  resided  since  1889  on 
his  present  farm,  which  comprises  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres  and  is  situated  in  Section 
21,  Rockford  township.  He  was  born  in  Wood- 
ford county,  Illinois,  February  10,  1863,  and 
is  a  son  of  Joseph  and  Mary  (Bailey)  Reiff, 
the  former  of  who  was  born  in  Lancaster 
county,  Pennsylvania,  in  1828,  and  the  latter 
of  whom  was  born  in  Ohio,  October  5,  1837. 
The  death  of  the  father  occurred  July  3,  1903, 
and  that  of  the  mother  on  the  22d  of  May, 
1917. 

Joseph  Reiff  was  a  son  of  Jacob  Reiff,  who 
passed  his  entire  life  in  Lancaster  county, 
Pennsylvania,  and  who  was  a  fanner  by  vo- 
cation, he  having  been  a  descendant  of  one  of 
three  brothers  who  came  from  Germany  and 
settled  in  the  Old  Keystone  state  in  the  pio- 
neer era  of  its  history.  The  wife  of  Joseph 
Reiff  was  a  daughter  of  Yost  Bailey,  who  came 
from  Germany  and  settled  in  Pennsylvania, 
whence  he  later  removed  to  Ohio,  and  finally 
he  established  his  home  in  Illinois,  in  the  pio- 
neer days,  his  death  having  there  occurred  in 
1877.  In  1848  Joseph  Reiff  became  a  resident 
of  Woodford  county,  Illinois,  and  finally  he 
purchased  land  and  turned  his  attention  to 
independent  farm  enterprise.  He  eventually 
accumulated  four  hundred  and  forty  acres  of 
land  and  he  so  improved  the  property  that 
when  he  finally  sold  the  same  he  was  able  to 
dispose  of  the  land  at  a  rate  varying  from 
eighty  to  eighty-five  dollars  an  acre.  In  1889 
he  came  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  where  he 
purchased  five  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of 
land,  much  of  which  he  later  gave  to  his  chil- 
dren, who  were  five  in  number  and  three  of 
whom  are  still  living :  Samuel  is  a  retired  car- 
penter and  builder  residing  at  McPherson, 
Kansas,  in  which  state  he  established  his  home 
in  1888  and  in  which  he  owns  valuable  farm 
property ;  John  B.,  of  this  sketch,  is  the  next 
younger;  and  Elizabeth,  who  is  the  widow  of 
Ezra  P.  Steel,  resides  at  Kidder,  Missouri. 
The  parents  were  earnest  members  of  the 
Church  of  the  Brethren  and  in  politics  the 
father  was  an  independent  Republican  during 
the  later  period  of  his  life.  He  achieved  a 
large  measure  of  temporal  prosperity  and  did 


much  to  foster  civic  and  industrial  progress 
after  he  had  initiated  the  development  of  his 
farm  properties  in  Gage  county. 

John  B.  Reiff  is  indebted  to  the  public 
schools  of  Illinois  for  his  early  educational 
discipline,  which  was  supplemented  by  higher 
studies  in  Mount  Morris  College,  that  state. 
After  having  been  for  four  years  engaged  in 
independent  farming  in  his  native  common- 
wealth he  came  to  Gage  county  and  purchased 
his  present  well  improved  farm,  a  property 
that  has  been  transferred  but  three  times  since 
it  was  a  part  of  the  government  domain,  the 
substantial  and  commodious  house  on  the 
homestead  having  been  erected  in  the  '60s  and 
showing  the  throughness  which  attended 
building  operations  in  that  pioneer  period. 

In  1885  Mr.  Reiff'  married  Miss  Susan  Gish, 
who  likewise  was  a  native  of  Woodford 
county,  Illinois,  and  she  passed  to  eternal  rest 
January  16,  1897.  Of  this  union  were  born 
five  children:  Carson  is  a  farmer  in  Rockford 
township,  as  is  also  Charles ;  Ida  is  the  wife 
of  Lee  Divine,  a  farmer  near  Blue  Springs. 
this  county ;  Oma  is  employed  as  a  skilled 
stenographer  in  the  city  of  Denver,  Colorado; 
and  Estella  is  the  wife  of  Robert  E.  Harris,  of 
Pleasanton,  Buffalo  county,  Nebraska. 

In  1899  Mr.  Reiff  contracted  a  second  mar- 
riage, when  Miss  Martha  Fink  became  his 
wife.  She  is  a  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Han- 
nah (Watenberger)  Fink,  both  natives  of 
Tennessee,  where  the  father  passed  his  entire 
life,  Mrs.  Fink  having  passed  the  closing  years 
of  her  life  in  the  home  of  her  daughter 
Martha,  Mrs.  Reiff.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Reiff  have 
four  children,  —  Hilda,  Joseph,  Elva  and  Ola. 

In  politics  Mr.  Reil?  is  a  Republican,  and 
he  is  now  serving  as  justice  of  the  peace,  and 
as  a  member  of  the  school  board  of  his  dis- 
trict. He  is  a  director  of  the  Blue  Springs 
Telephone  Company  and  a  member  of  the 
Crop  Improvement  Association  of  Gage 
county.  He  and  his  wife  are  zealous  mem- 
bers of  the  Brethren  church  of  Rockford 
township,  and  he  is  secretary  of  the  same.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  board  of  directors  of  the 
Farmers  Elevator  Company  of  Holmesville, 
is  now  the  owner  of  a  fine  landed  estate  of 


616 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


two  hundred  and  forty  acres  and  is  one  of  the 
substantial  farmers  of  the  county,  —  a  citizen 
who  commands  unqualified  popular  esteem. 

JOSEPfl  COOPER  properly  finds  recog- 
nition in  this  history  by  reason  of  his  standing 
as  one  of  the  progressive  exponents  of  farm 
industry  in  Gage  county,  his  home  farm  being 
in  Section  34,  Riverside  township.  Mr. 
Cooper  was  born  at  Stratford,  Perth  county, 
Province  of  Ontario,  Canada,  and  the  date  of 
his  nativity  was  February  12,  1881.  He  is  a 
son  of  Joseph  Cooper,  who  likewise  was  a  na- 
tive of  Stratford,  where  he  was  born  July  13, 
1849.  Joseph  Cooper,  Sr.,  followed  the  busi- 
ness of  brick  manufacturing  in  his  native  prov- 
ince until  1886,  when  he  came  with  his  family 
into  the  United  States  and  engaged  in  the 
same  line  of  industrial  enterprise  at  Mary- 
ville,  Missouri.  There  he  continued  his  activi- 
ties in  this  field  of  productive  enterprise  until 
1892,  when  he  came  with  his  family  to  Gage 
county,  Nebraska,  and  established  his  resi- 
dence in  the  city  of  Beatrice.  Here  he  de- 
veloped a  prosperous  business  as  a  manufac- 
turer of  brick  and  he  established  and  con- 
ducted also  a  brick  yard  at  Pawnee  City.  Of 
both  of  these  enterprises  he  continued  the  ex- 
ecutive head  until  his  death,  which  occurred 
October  9,  1900,  and  he  was  known  and  hon- 
ored as  a  successful  business  man  and  loyal 
and  progressive  citizen,  flis  widow,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Isabel  Wharram,  was  born 
at  Bayfield,  Ontario,  Canada,  on  the  28th  of 
December,  1858,  and  she  now  makes  her  home 
with  her  son  Joseph,  subject  of  this  review. 
Joseph  and  Isabel  Cooper  became  the  parents 
of  the  following  named  children :  Rosetta, 
George  R.,  Rachel,  Lillian,  Joseph,  Jr.,  Mary, 
William,  John,  Frances,  Harry,  Ethel  B.  and 
Fred  A.  Rosetta  is  deceased;  Mary  is  the 
wife  of  C.  Fritz,  of  Midland  township;  Wil- 
liam is  a  resident  of  Beatrice;  John  lives  in 
Riverside  township;  Frances  is  the  wife  of  B. 
Connelly,  of  Beatrice ;  Harry  is  a  resident  of 
Riverside  township ;  and  Ethel  B.  and  Fred  A. 
remain  in  Beatrice. 

Joseph  Cooper,  the  immediate  subject  of 
this  sketch,  was  five  years  of  age  when  the 


family  came  from  Canada  to  the  United 
States,  and  he  attended  the  public  schools  of 
Missouri  and  those  of  Beatrice,  Nebraska,  in- 
cluding the  high  school  in  the  Gage  county 
metropolis.  As  a  young  man  he  assisted  his 
father  in  the  manufacturing  of  brick,  and  in 
1900  he  purchased  forty  acres  of  land  in 
Riverside  township,  where  he  turned  his  at- 
tention to  agricultural  pursuits.  In  the  year 
1910  he  enlarged  the  scope  of  his  enterprise 
by  leasing  a  larger  tract  of  land,  and  five  years, 
later  he  purchased  the  quarter-section  of  land 
where  he  now  resides.  By  following  progres- 
sive methods  in  tilling  the  soil,  rotating  crops,, 
and  planting  those  cereals  best  adapted  to  soil 
and  climate,  and  by  feeding  cattle  for  market 
quite  extensively  he  has  been  more  than  or- 
dinarily successful.  He  is  now  the  owner  ot 
four  hundred  and  eighty  acres  and  leases  an 
equal  amount.  He  makes  a  specialty  of  put- 
ting up  prairie  hay,  of  which  product  he 
markets  hundred  of  tons  every  year.  Mr. 
Cooper  has  erected  four  sets  of  buldings  on  his 
land  and  his  progressiveness  is  further  shown 
by  his  commendable  interest  in  all  measures 
advanced  for  the  public  good.  Mr.  Cooper 
is  still  a  young  man,  and  as  he  is  making  good 
use  of  his  opportunities  and  is  industrious 
and  enterprising,  his  success  and  prosperity 
are  well  merited. 

GEORGE  O.  RAINS  conducts  in  the  city  of 
Beatrice  a  substantial  business  in  the  sale  of 
leading  and  popular  types  of  automobiles,  and 
is  agent  for  the  Oakland,  the  Paige,  the  Dodge 
and  the  Maxwell  cars.  He  owns  the  well 
equipped  building  occupied  by  his  salesrooms, 
on  South  Sixth  street.  He  is  essentially  one 
of  the  progressive  business  men  and  represen- 
tative citizens  of  the  county  that  has  been  hi& 
home  from  his  boyhood  and  in  which  he  has 
achieved  through  his  own  ability  and  efforts 
a  large  and  worthy  success. 

Mr.  Rains  was  born  in  Madison  county,  In- 
diana, on  the  29th  of  January,  1871,  and  is  a 
son  of  Joab  F.  and  Mary  (Rodecap)  Rains, 
the  former  a  native  of  Pennsylvania  and  the 
latter  of  Virginia.  The  father  was  identified 
with  agricultural  pursuits  in  the  old  Hoosier 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


617 


state  until  1883,  when  he  came  with  his  family 
to  Nebraska  and  settled  in  Nemaha  county. 
In  the  following  year,  however,  he  came  to 
Gage  county,  where  he  purchased  a  partly  im- 
proved farm  of  one  hundred  and  twenty 
acres,  in  Riverside  township.  With  the  pass- 
ing years  he  developed  this  homestead  into 
one  of  the  fine  farms  of  this  section  of  the 
state  and  he  was  one  of  the  substantial  and 
honored  citizens  of  the  county,  —  a  man  who 
contributed  his  quota  to  civic  and  industrial 
progress  and  who  commanded  the  confidence 
and  good  will  of  all  who  knew  him.  He  con- 
tinued to  reside  on  his  farm  until  his  death. 
His  wife  is  still  living  and  is  a  consistent  mem- 
ber of  the  Brethern  church.  In  politics  Mr. 
Rains  was  a  stalwart  Democrat. 

George  O.  Rains  gained  his  rudimentary 
■education  in  the  schools  of  his  native  state  and 
was  a  lad  of  about  twelve  years  at  the  time  of 
the  family  removal  to  Nebraska.  On  the 
liomestead  farm  in  Gage  county,  this  state,  he 
was  reared  to  adult  age,  early  beginning  to  as- 
sist his  father  in  the  arduous  work  of  the 
farm  and  in  the  meanwhile  making  good  use 
of  the  advantages  of  the  public  schools  of  the 
locality.  After  leaving  the  parental  home  he 
rented  land  and  engaged  in  fanning  in  an  in- 
dependent way,  and  later  he  did  successful 
work  as  a  traveling  salesman,  his  activities  as 
.a  salesman  of  agricultural  implements  having 
■covered  a  period  of  about  five  years,  within 
which  he  traveled  through  an  assigned  terri- 
tory that  included  many  of  the  counties  of 
southeastern  Nebraska.  Finally  he  estab- 
lished himself  independently  in  the  implement 
business  at  Beatrice,  and  with  this  line  of  en- 
terprise he  here  continued  his  successful  as- 
sociation for  several  years,  after  which,  in 
1910,  he  established  his  present  thriving  busi- 
ness, which  he  has  developed  into  one  of  the 
most  important  of  the  kind  in  this  section  of 
the  state. 

Vigorous  and  unremitting  in  his  application 
to  business,  Mr.  Rains  has  not  hedged  in  his 
interests  with  mere  personal  advancement  but 
lias  shown  himself  loyal  and  liberal  in  his 
■civic  attitude,  and  while  he  has  had  no  politi- 
cal ambitions  he  is  found  aligned  as  a  staunch 


supporter  of  the  cause  of  the  Republican  party. 
He  is  affiliated  with  the  camp  of  Modern 
Woodmen  of  America  in  the  village  of  Ellis, 
this  county,  and  he  and  his  wife  hold  member- 
ship in  the  Christian  church. 

In  the  year  1891,  was  solemnized  the  mar- 
riage of  Mr.  Rains  to  Miss  Emma  E.  Harnes, 
who  was  born  in  the  state  of  Iowa  but  who 
was  a  girl  at  the  time  of  her  parents'  removal 
to  Nebraska.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rains  have  four 
children,  — •  Letha,  who  is  the  wife  of  Allen  O. 
Weigel,  a  prosperous  farmer  in  Sicily  town- 
ship, this  county  ;  William,  who  is  married  and 
resides  in  Beatrice,  where  he  is  engaged  as  an 
automobile  salesman ;  Everett  and  his  wife 
likewise  maintain  their  residence  at  Beatrice 
and  he  is  clerk  in  a  grocery ;  and  Robert,  who 
celebrated  his  nineteenth  birthday  anniversary 
in  1917,  remains  at  the  parental  home. 

DAVID  S.  FAULDER  became  one  of  the 
pioneers  of  Gage  county  when,  in  1878,  he 
settled  on  a  farm  in  Hanover  township,  his 
homestead  place  comprising  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres.  He  was  bom  in  Washington 
county,  Maryland,  January  9,  1832,  a  son  of 
Samuel  and  Margaret  (Rohr)  Faulder,  na- 
tives respectively  of  I\Iar)'land  and  Pennsyl- 
vania. The  lineage  of  the  Faulder  family 
traces  back  to  English  origin,  John  and  Han- 
nah Faulder,  parents  of  Samuel,  having  come 
to  America  in  1794  and  having  settled  in  Mary- 
land, where  they  passed  the  remainder  of 
their  lives,  John  Faulder  having  been  a  suc- 
cessful school  teacher  and  having  been  a  tailor 
by  trade.  Samuel  Faulder  was  born  in  the 
year  1798  and  in  his  youth  he  learned  the 
trade  of  cooper,  besides  which  he  early  became 
identified  with  agricultural  pursuits.  He  be- 
came the  owner  of  a  good  farm  in  Maryland, 
near  the  Pennsylvania  line,  and  there  his  death 
occurred  in  1872,  his  wife  having  passed  away 
in  1858,  and  their  three  children  having  been 
Mary,  David  S.  and  Margaret. 

David  S.  Faulder  acquired  his  early  educa- 
tion in  the  schools  of  his  native  state  and  as 
a  youth  he  learned  the  cooper's  trade  under 
the  direction  of  his  father.  He  followed  his 
trade  as  a  vocation  for  a  period  of  about  ten 


618 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


years.  In  1853  he  wedded  Miss  Elizabeth 
Snyder,  who  was  born  in  Maryland,  February 
27 ,  1833,  a  daughter  of  Simon  and  Agnes 
Snyder.  After  his  marriage  Mr.  Faulder  con- 
tinued to  be  engaged  in  farm  enterprise  in  his 
native  commonwealth  until  1873,  when  he  re- 
moved with  his  family  to  Ogle  county,  Illinois. 
There  he  leased  a  farm  and  there  he  continued 
his  alliance  with  agricultural  pursuits  for  five 
years.  In  1878  he  came  with  his  family  to 
Nebraska  and  settled  in  Gage  county,  as  before 
noted.  Here  he  reclaimed  and  improved  a 
valuable  farm  estate  of  two  hundred  and  forty 
acres,  in  Hanover  township, '  and  his  success 
made  him  one  of  the  substantial  citizens  of  the 
county,  even  as  his  sterling  character  gained 
to  him  inviolable  esteem.  In  1891  Mr.  Faul- 
der retired  from  his  farm  and  removed  to  the 
city  of  Beatrice,  and  there  his  death  occurred 
September  13,  1917,  his  widow  being  still  a 
resident  of  that  city.  Mr.  Faulder  was  a  stal- 
wart Republican  in  politics  and  served  many 
years  as  justice  of  the  peace  in  Hanover 
township.  His  religious  faith  was  that  of  the 
Christian  church,  of  which  his  widow  likewise 
is  a  devoted  member.  Of  their  eleven  chil- 
dren nine  are  living:  Jerome  S.  is  associ- 
ated with  a  mercantile  concern  in  Beatrice  and 
remains  with  his  widowed  mother;  Samuel  R. 
is  deceased ;  Laura  Ellen  is  the  wife  of  James 
F.  Boggs,  of  whom  mention  is  made  else- 
where in  this  volume ;  Mary  C.  is  the  wife  of 
Dr.  Charles  S.  Boggs,  of  Filley,  who  is  made 
the  subject  of  a  specific  sketch  on  other  pages 
of  this  work ;  Charles  remains  with  his 
mother;  Anna  is  the  wife  of  Dr.  M.  H.  Black- 
burn, of  Princeton,  Illinois ;  Ira  M.  is  a  mer- 
chant in  the  city  of  Beatrice;  Irving  is  a  farm- 
er in  Riverside  township;  Lucy  E.  is  the 
wife  of  A.  H.  Voortman,  of  Beatrice;  and 
two  children  died  in  childhood,  prior  to  the 
family  removal  from  Maryland. 

DRS.  BURT  L.  &  CLEMENS  A.  SPELL- 
.MAN.  —  With  one  exception  the  Spellman 
brothers  have  been  established  in  the  success- 
ful practice  of  dentistry  in  the  city  of  Beatrice 
longer  than  all  others  of  their  professional 
contemporaries  in  Gage  county  and  they  have 


built  up  a  practice  whose  broad  and  represen- 
tative scope  bears  evidence  of  their  proficiency 
in  a  vocation  that  is  both  a  scientific  profes- 
sion and  a  mechanical  art.  The  brothers  have- 
been  associated  in  the  practice  of  their  profes- 
sion at  Beatrice  since  the  summer  of  1898,  im 
which  year  both  were  graduated  in  the  Chi- 
cago College  of  Dentistry,  in  the  city  of  Chi- 
cago, each  receiving  from  this  institution  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Dental  Surgery.  Their 
fraternal  and  professional  alliance  has  proved 
most  efifective  and  they  maintain  offices  of  at- 
tractive appointments  and  the  best  of  modern 
facilities  in  both  the  operative  and  laboratory 
departments.  The  brothers  have  been  resi- 
dents of  Gage  county  since  boyhood  and  are 
members  of  a  family  that  can  consistently 
claim  a  measure  of  pioneer  distinction,  as  their 
parents  came  from  Iowa  and  established  their 
home  in  Gage  county  nearly  forty  years  ago. 

Dr.  Burt  L.  Spellman  was  born  at  Atlantic, 
Cass  county,  Iowa,  on  the  14th  of  January, 
1873,  and  is  a  son  of  WilHam  N.  and  Louisa 
(Gleason)  Spellman,  whose  marriage  was 
solemnized  in  that  state.  William  N.  Spell- 
man was  born  in  Trumbull  county,  Ohio,  and 
was  a  son  of  Clemens  Spellman,  who  likewise 
was  a  native  of  the  old  Buckeye  state,  where 
his  parents  settled  in  the  pioneer  days.  Frorri 
Ohio  Clemens  Spellman  eventually  removed 
with  his  family  to  Illinois,  where  he  passed 
the  remainder  of  his  life,  his  age  at  the  time  of 
death  having  been  eighty-six  years.  William 
N.  Spellman  continued  his  association  with 
farm  industry  in  Illinois  until  about  the  year 
1866,  when  he  removed  to  Iowa.  There  he 
became  one  of  the  progressive  and  successful' 
farmers  of  Cass  county,  and  he  was  also  a 
pioneer  in  the  operation  of  threshing  outfits  in 
that  section  of  the  Hawkeye  state.  In  187S 
Mr.  Spellman  came  to  Nebraska  in  an  attempt 
to  apprehend  a  threshing  employe  who  had 
stolen  and  made  away  with  a  team  of  his 
horses.  Incidental  to  this  visit  he  became  so 
impressed  with  the  attractions  and  resources 
of  Gage  county  that  he  determined  to  establish 
his  residence  within  its  borders.  He  returned 
to  his  home  in  Iowa  and  about  six  months 
later,  in  the  same  year,  came  with  his  family 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,   NEBRASKA 


619 


to  this  county,  where  he  not  only  became  the 
•owner  of  valuable  farm  property  but  also 
achieved  marked  success  in  the  buying  and 
shipping  of  grain.  At  one  time  he  owned  a 
lialf  interest  in  a  flour  mill  at  Blue'Springs,  his 
.associate  in  the  ownership  and  operation  of 
this  mill  having  been  the  late  Dr.  Gumaer.  He 
was  about  sixty-four  years  of  age  at  the  time 
of  his  death  and  his  wife,  who  is  still  living 
.and  resides  in  Beatrice,  is  sixty-three  years 
of  age  in  1918.  The  only  surviving  chil- 
■dren  are  the  two  sons  to  whom  this  re- 
view is  dedicated.  Mr.  Spellman  was  a  stal- 
wart supporter  of  the  principles  of  the  Re- 
publican party,  he  held  membership  in  the 
Presbyterian  church,  as  does  also  his  widow, 
and  he  was  prominently  identified  with  local 
organizations  of  the  Masonic  fraternity.  He 
served  as  worshipful  master  of  Tyre  Lodge, 
No.  85,  Ancient  Free  &  Accepted  Masons,  at 
Blue  Springs,  and  his  Masonic  affiliations  in- 
cluded also  his  active  membership  in  the  com- 
mandery  of  Knights  Templars  at  Beatrice  and 
the  Temple  of  the  Mystic  Shrine  in  the  city 
■of  Lincoln. 

Dr.  Burt  L.  Spellman  profited  fully  by  the 
advantages  offered  in  the  public  schools  of  the 
village  of  Blue  Springs.  In  1895  both  he  and 
his  brother,  Clemens  A.,  entered  the  Chicago 
College  of  Dentistry,  and  both  were  there 
graduated  in  1898,  as  previously  noted  in  this 
■context.  Prior  to  thus  preparing  himself  for 
the  profession  in  which  he  has  achieved  un- 
equivocal success  Dr.  Spellman  had  given 
three  years  of  effective  service  as  a  teacher  in 
the  district  schools  of  Gage  county.  The 
brothers  began  the  practice  of  their  profession 
at  Wymore,  this  county,  but  four  months  later 
they  removed  to  Beatrice,  the  metropolis  of  the 
■county,  on  the  5th  of  August,  1898,  since 
which  time  they  have  been  here  associated  in 
the  successful  practice  of  their  profession, 
with  a  distinctively  representative  clientele. 
For  seventeen  years  they  maintained  their  of- 
fices in  a  building  at  Sixth  and  Ella  streets, 
and  they  then  removed  to  the'r  present  well 
appointed  quarters,  in  the  Baker  building, 
likewise  at  Sixth  and  Ella  streets. 

Dr.  Burt  L.  Spellman  gives  his  political  al- 


legiance to  the  Republican  party,  he  and  his 
wife  are  active  members  of  the  Presbyterian 
church,  and  his  Masonic  affiliations  are  with 
Beatrice  Lodge,  No.  26,  Ancient  Free  &  Ac- 
cepted Masons ;  Livingston  Chapter,  No.  10. 
Royal  Arch  Masons ;  Alount  Herman  Com- 
mandery.  No.  9,  Knights  Templars  ;  and  Sesos- 
tris  Temple  of  the  Mystic  Shrine,  in  the  city 
of  Lincoln. 

In  the  year  1901  Dr.  Spellman  wedded  Miss 
Roza  Barnum,  who  was  bom  and  reared  in 
Gage  county  and  who  is  a  daughter  of  the 
late  H.  Sizer  Barnum.  Her  farther  became 
one  of  the  earliest  permanent  settlers  in  this 
cotmty,  where  he  established  his  residence  in 
May,  1859,  nearly  a  decade  before  the  admis- 
sion of  Nebraska  to  the  Union.  Mr.  Barnum 
was  born  in  the  city  of  Bufifalo,  New  York, 
November  11,  1837,  and  in  the  following  year 
his  parents,  Hiram  and  Irena  H.  (Howard) 
Barnum  removed  to  the  former's  old  home  in 
his  native  state  of  Ohio,  where  Hiram  Barnum 
became  a  representative  lawyer  and  a  prom- 
inent and  influential  citizen:  he  was  born  in 
Trumbull  county,  in  1811,  and  passed  the 
closing  years  of  his  life  on  a  farm  in  that 
county,  where  he  died  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
six  years,  his  wife  surviving  him  by  a  num- 
ber of  years.  Hiram  Barnum  was  a  son  of 
Eli  Barnum,  who  was  a  native  of  Danbury, 
Connecticut,  and  who  became  one  of  the  ear- 
liest settlers  in  Trumbull  county,  Ohio. 

H.  Sizer  Barnum,  as  before  stated,  came 
to  Gage  county  in  1859,  and  at  the  time  when 
he  established  his  residence  in  Blue  Springs 
township  there  were  only  three  other  families 
within  its  borders.  He  developed  one  of  the 
productive  farms  of  that  part  of  the  county 
and  here  continued  his  activities  until  the  out- 
break of  the  Civil  war,  when,  on  the  1st  of 
September,  1861,  he  enlisted  in  the  First  Bat- 
talion of  Nebraska  Calvary,  being  later  trans- 
ferred to  the  Fifth  Iowa  Cavalry,  and  con- 
tinuing in  service  in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee 
until  November  11,  1862,  when  physical  dis- 
ability necessitated  his  discharge.  Thereafter 
he  remained  on  his  farm  until  1871,  when  he 
removed  with  his  family  to  the  village  of  Blue 
Springs,  where  for  many  years  thereafter  he 


620 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


was  engaged  in  the  livery  business  and  in  the 
breeding  of  tine  horses.  He  became  one  of 
the  most  substantial  and  influential  pioneer 
citizens  of  the  county  and  was  called  upon  to 
serve  in  various  local  offices  of  public  trust. 
In  this  connection  it  should  be  noted  that  he 
was  elected  register  of  deeds  for  the  county 
before  the  formal  organization  of  the  county 
had  been  effected,  his  certificate  of  election, 
carefully  preser^'ed  by  the  family,  bearing  date 
of  July  16,  1859.  Mr.  Barnum  was  living  on 
East  Court  street,  Beatrice  at  the  time  of  his 
death  and  his  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Myra  H.  Rappleye,  passed  away  when  about 
seventy-two  years  of  age.  Of  their  four 
children  three  are  living,  and  of  the  number 
Mrs.  Spellman  is  the  youngest.  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
Spellman  have  two  children,  —  Kathryn  and 
Marguerite. 

Dr.  Clemens  A.  Spellman  was  born  at  At- 
lantic, Iowa,  on  the  8th  of  September,  1875, 
and  was  not  yet  three  years  of  age  at  the 
time  of  the  family  removal  to  Gage  county. 
Here  he  received  in  his  boyhood  excellent  edu- 
cational training  under  the  direction  of  Pro- 
fessor Blake,  one  of  the  early  and  able  repre- 
sentatives of  the  pedagogic  profession  in  this 
county,  and  in  1892  he  was  graduated  in  the 
high  school  at  Blue  Springs.  In  a  preceding 
paragraph  it  has  been  noted  that  in  1898  he 
and  his  brother  were  graduated  in  one  of  the 
leading  dental  colleges  in  the  city  of  -Chicago, 
but  prior  to  this  he  had  taught  two  years  in 
the  district  schools  of  his  home  county  and 
for  one  year  had  been  associated  with  his 
father's  grain  business.  In  this  article  ade- 
quate data  have  already  been  given  relative  to 
his  successful  professional  career.  Both  of 
the  brothers  have  been  specially  active  and 
appreciative  in  connection  with  their  Masonic 
affiliations,  as  is  indicated  by  the  statement 
that  each  is  past  master  of  his  lodge,  past  high 
priest  of  his  chapter  and  past  eminent  com- 
mander of  his  commandery  of  Knights  Tem- 
plars. Dr.  Clemens  A.  Spellman  is  likewise 
past  patron  of  the  local  chapter  of  the  Order 
of  the  Eastern  Star,  of  which  his  wife  is  a 
leading  member,  she  being,  in  1917-1918,  con- 
ductress of  the  Nebraska  grand  chapter  of  this 


order.  The  Doctor  and  his  brother  are  both 
affiliated  with  the  Phi  Omega  dental  frater- 
nity, and  Dr.  Burt  L.  Spellman  was  secretary 
of  the  local  organization  while  a  student  in  the 
Chicago  College  of  Dentistry. 

Dr.  Clemens  A.  Spellman  is  found  aligned 
as  a  stalwart  in  the  ranks  of  the  Republican 
party  and  while  he  has  had  no  ambition  for 
public  office  he  has  manifested  his  civic  loy- 
alty through  his  effective  service  as  a  member 
of  the  board  of  education  of  Beatrice,  a  po- 
sition of  which  he  is  the  incumbent  at  the  time 
of  this  writing.  His  Masonic  affiliations  in- 
clude membership  in  Sesostris  Temple  of  the 
Mystic  Shrine,  in  the  city  of  Lincoln,  and  both 
he  and  his  wife  are  zealous  members  of  the 
Presbyterian  church  at  Beatrice,  in  which  he 
is  serving  as  deacon,  as  well  as  superintendent 
of  the  Sunday  school.  On  the  27th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1899,  was  solemnized  the  marriage  of 
Dr.  Clemens  A.  Spellman  to  Miss  Carrie  M. 
Schlosser,  who  was  born  and  reared  in  this 
county  and  who  is  a  daughter  of  Jesse  L. 
Schlosser,  subject  of  specific  mention  on  other 
pages  of  this  work.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Spellman 
have  two  children,  —  Helen  and  Clemens 
Eugene. 

LEROY  BRUGH,  who  is  one  of  the  repre- 
sentative farmers  of  the  younger  generation  in 
Midland  township,  is  a  native  son  of  Ne- 
braska and  a  member  of  a  well  known  family 
that  was  here  founded  in  the  territorial  days, 
his  paternal  grandfather  having  been  one  of 
the  earliest  settlers  of  Dodge  county.  Mr. 
Brugh  was  born  on  a  farm  near  Wahoo,  judic- 
ial center  of  Saunders  county,  Nebraska,  on 
the  18th  of  April,  1881,  and  is  a  son  of  Jacob 
A.  and  Laura  E.  (Davis)  Brugh,  the  former 
of  whom  was  bom  at  Hartford  City,  Indiana, 
August  29,  1854,  and  the  latter  of  whom  was 
born  in  the  state  of  Indiana,  a  daughter  of 
Andrew  J.  and  Nancy  (Cowan)  Davis.  Of 
the  children  of  Jacob  A.  and  Laura  E.  (Davis) 
Brugh  the  following  brief  record  is  given: 
Mabel  died  when  about  six  years  of  age; 
Maude  is  the  wife  of  Elof  Pierson,  of  Oak- 
dale,  Antelope  county,  Nebraska;  Leroy,  of 
this  review,  was  the  next  in  order  of  birth; 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


621 


Dr.  Spangler  Brugh,  a  representative  phy- 
-siciai  and  surgeon  of  Gage  county,  is  engaged 
in  the  practice  of  his  profession  at  Beatrice; 
Nancy  is  the  wife  of  George  A.  Girl,  of  Rock- 
ford  township,  this  county ;  Arthur  is  married 
and  conducts  a  hotel  at  Holmesville,  this 
county;  Milo  is  a  resident  of  Beatrice;  and 
one  son  died  in  infancy.  The  marriage  of  the 
parents  was  solemnized  December  5,  1875. 

Jacob  A.  Brugh  is  a  son  of  Spangler  and 
Nancy  (Shick)  Brugh,  and  he  was  seven  years 
of  age  when  his  parents  came  to  Nebraska 
Territory,  in  1861,  and  established  their  home 
in  Dodge  county,  where  the  father  took  up 
land  under  the  terms  of  a  squatter's  right. 
About  three  years  later  Spangler  Brugh  sold 
this  squatter's  claim  and  removed  with  his 
family  to  Fremont,  which  is  now  a  thriving 
little  city  of  about  ten  thousand  population, 
the  judicial  center  of  Dodge  county.  When 
Mr.  Brugh  there  took  up  his  abode  the  town 
was  represented  materially  in  one  store  and 
three  or  four  houses,  and  he  thus  became  vir- 
tually one  of  the  founders  of  the  present  at- 
tractive city.  Upon  coming  to  Nebraska  with 
his  family  Mr.  Brugh  made  the  journey  by 
railroad  to  St.  Joseph,  Missouri,  from  which 
point  he  came  with  wagon  and  ox  team  to 
Dodge  county.  Later  he  engaged  in  freight- 
ing with  ox  teams  between  Omaha  and. Den- 
ver, in  which  profitable  venture  he  was  as- 
sisted by  the  late  Herman  Kountz,  who  was 
at  that  time  engaged  in  the  banking  business  in 
Omaha  and  who  furnished  him  with  the  re- 
quisite freighting  outfit.  Mr.  Brugh  con- 
tinued operations  as  a  frontier  freighter  until 
the  completion  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad, 
and  he  then  engaged  in  the  hotel  business  at 
Fremont.  In  this  connection  he  conducted 
feed  yards  in  which  accommodations  were 
provided  for  horses  and  wagons  of  settlers  and 
travelers.  He  constructed  a  large  shed  of  Cot- 
tonwood poles,  with  straw  roof,  and  this  shed 
^ould  accommodate  seventy-five  teams,  a 
charge  of  one  dollar  a  night  being  made  foi 
each  team.'  About  the  year  1875  Spangler 
Brugh  removed  with  his  family  to  Saunders 
■county,  where  he  remained  about  fifteen  years 
.and  greatly  amplified  his  pioneer  experiences. 


There  he  took  up  land  and  engaged  in  farm 
enterprise,  and  after  his  retirement  from  active 
life  he  returned  to  his  old  home  in  Fremont, 
where  he  died  on  the  5th  of  February,  1917,  at 
the  age  of  eighty  years,  his  wife  having  passed 
away  Octobei"  24,  1912,  and  the  names  of  both 
meriting  enduring  place  on  the  roster  of  the 
honored  pioneers  of  Nebraska.  They  became 
the  parents  of  two  sons  and  three  daughters, 
Jacob  A.  having  been  the  elder  son ;  Spangler 
M.  is  now  a  resident  of  Pueblo,  Colorado ; 
Mary  E.  became  the  wife  of  Leo  Snyder  and 
was  a  resident  of  Arlington,  Washington 
county,  this  state,  at  the  time  of  her  death; 
Cora  M.  became  the  wife  of  George  Codding- 
ton  and  died  at  Fremont,  Dodge  county ;  and 
Miss  Edna  is  a  resident  of  Fremont. 

Jacob  A.  Brugh  was  reared  under  the  con- 
ditions and  influences  of  the  pioneer  epoch 
in  Nebraska  history  and  received  his  early 
education  in  the  schools  of  Dodge  county. 
He  accompanied  his  parents  on  their  removal 
to  Saunders  county,  and  there  he  was  engaged 
in  farm  enterprise  until  1887,  when  he  re- 
moved with  his  family  to  Colorado.  There 
he  remained  eleven  years,  at  the  expiration  of 
which  he  returned  to  Nebraska,  and  he  and 
his  wife  now  reside  at  Holmesville,  Gage 
county,  where  they  have  a  pleasant  home  and 
where  he  is  living  retired. 

Leroy  Brugh  was  a  lad  of  six  years  at  the 
time  of  the  family  removal  to  Colorado,  where 
he  was  reared  to  adult  age  and  given  the  ad- 
vantages of  the  public  schools.  In  1898  he 
returned  with  his  parents  to  his  native  state, 
and  he  has  since  been  actively  and  success- 
fully identified  with  agricultural  and  live-stock 
industry  in  Gage  county,  his  operations  being 
carried  on  somewhat  extensively,  as  he  is  farm- 
ing a  well  improved  estate  of  three  hundred 
and  twenty  acres,  in  Section  21,  Midland 
township,  and  about  three  miles  distant  from 
Beatrice,  on  rural  mail  route  No.  4.  Mr. 
Brugh  is  an  energetic  and  progressive  expon- 
ent of  farm  enterprise,  a  good  business  man 
and  a  loyal  young  citizen.  He  is  a  Democrat 
in  politics  but  has  never  been  troubled  with 
any  desire  for  public  office. 

February  26,    1902,   recorded  the  marriage 


622 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


623 


of  Mr.  Brugh  to  Miss  May  Warford,  daugh- 
ter of  Louis  M.  Warford,  of  Rockford  town- 
ship, to  whom  is  accorded  individual  mention 
on  other  pages  of  this  work.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Brugh  have  three  children :  Dwight,  Viola  and 
Hazel,  all  of  whom  are  attending  school. 

CHARLES  S.  BOGGS,  M.  D.,  who  is  en- 
gaged in  the  active  practice  of  his  profession 
at  Filley,  is  essentially  one  of  the  representa- 
tive physicians  and  surgeons  of  Gage  county 
and  is  upholding  in  both  a  professional  and 
civic  way  the  high  prestige  of  the  name  which 
he  bears,  his  father,  Hon.  Lewis  B.  Boggs. 
M.  D.,  having  been  one  of  the  leading  pioneer 
physicians  and  influential  citizens  of  the 
county  and  being  made  the  subject  of  a 
merited  tribute  on  other  pages  of  this  publi- 
cation, so  that  further  record  concerning  the 
family  history  is  not  here  demanded. 

Dr.  Charles  S.  Boggs  was  bom  at  North 
Manchester,  Indiana,  on  the  19th  of  June, 
1857,  and  he  acquired  his  early  education  in 
the  public  schools  of  the  old  Hoosier  state. 
He  was  a  lad  of  fourteen  years  at  the  time  of 
the  family  removal  to  Gage  county,  Ne- 
braska, in  1872,  and  here  he  continued  his 
studies  until  he  had  completed  the  curriculum 
of  the  Beatrice  high  school,  in  which  he  made 
a  splendid  record  as  a  student  and  was  at  the 
head  of  his  class  in  scholarship.  After  leav- 
ing the  high  school  Dr.  Boggs  gave  four  years 
of  most  efifective  service  as  a  teacher  in  the 
schools  of  this  part  of  Nebraska  and  he  then 
followed  the  trend  of  ambition  by  beginning 
the  work  of  preparation  for  the  profession  that 
has  been  significantly  dignified  and  honored 
by  the  services  of  his  father.  He  entered  the 
medical  department  of  the  University  of  Iowa, 
at  Iowa  City,  where  he  continued  his  technical 
studies  one  year.  He  then  entered  the  medi- 
cal department  of  the  University  of  Nebraska, 
in  which  he  was  graduated  as  a  member  of 
the  class  of  1884  and  from  which  he  received 
his  well  won  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine. 
He  forthwith  became  associated  with  his 
father  in  practice,  with  residence  and  profes- 
sional headquarters  in  the  village  of  Filley, 
and  here  he  has  continued  his  earnest  and  ef- 


fective labors  during  the  intervening  period 
of  more  than  thirty  years,  his  success  and 
popularity  showing  the  high  estimate  placed 
upon  him  and  also  giving  assurance  that  he 
has  kept  closely  in  touch  with  the  advances 
made  in  medical  and  surgical  science.  The 
Doctor  has  a  large  and  representative  prac- 
tice, is  actively  identified  with  the  Gage  County 
Medical  Society,  the  Nebraska  State  Medi- 
cal Society  and  the  American  Medical  Asso- 
ciation, and  in  connection  with  his  profes- 
sional activities  he  conducts  a  well  ordered 
drug  store  at  Filley,  he  having  recently  erected 
a  handsome  new  building  for  his  store. 

In  1882  was  recorded  the  marriage  of  Dr. 
Boggs  to  Miss  Mary  C.  Faulder,  daughter  of 
David  S.  Faulder,  of  whom  individual  men- 
tion is  made  on  other  pages  of  this  work.  Dr. 
and  Mrs.  Boggs  became  the  parents  of  one 
daughter,  Mabel,  whose  death  occurred  when 
she  was  twenty  years  of  age. 

In  politics  Dr.  Boggs  is  found  aligned  with 
the  Progressive  party,  and  he  has  shown  his 
civic  loyalty  by  many  years  of  service  as  a 
member  of  the  school  board  of  Filley,  as  well 
as  by  sen-ice  as  a  member  of  the  village  coun- 
cil. He  is  affiliated  with  the  Masonic  frater- 
nity and  his  wife  holds  membership  in  the 
Christian  church. 


STURMEUS  PFEFFERMAN  owns  and 
occupies,  at  1301  Ella  street,  one  of  the  pleas- 
ant homes  in  the  city  of  Beatrice,  where  he  is 
now  living  retired,  after  many  years  of 
earnest  and  productive  endeavor  in  connec- 
tion with  farm  enterprise.  He  was  bom  in 
Germany,  December  21,  1834,  a  son  of  Mich- 
ael HelTerman,  who  passed  his  entire  life  in 
Germany  and  who  was  engaged  in  the  mer- 
cantile business  for  many  years.  The  subject 
of  this  review  was  reared  and  educated  in  his 
native  land,  where  also  he  learned  the  tailors 
trade  in  his  youth,  but  he  never  gave  any  con- 
siderable attention  to  his  trade  after  having 
acquired  the  same.  In  1861  he  immigrated  to 
America  and  settled  in  Livingston  county, 
Illinois,  where  he  was  employed  at  farm  work 
until  the  spring  of  1862.  He  then  gave  evi- 
dence of  his  earnest  loyalty  to  the  land  of  his 


624 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


adoption  by  tendering  his  aid  in  defense  of 
the  Union.  He  enlisted  in  Company  B,  One 
Hundred  and  Twenty-ninth  IlHnois  Volun- 
teer Infantry,  with  which  gallant  command 
he  took  part  in  numerous  engagements  and 
with  which  he  accompanied  General  Sher- 
man's forces  on  the  historic  march  from  At- 
lanta to  the  sea.  He  was  fortunate  in  escap- 
ing wounds,  but  it  is  worthy  of  note  that  on 
one  occasion,  while  in  a  dense  brush,  he  felt 
an  impact  which  he  believed  to  have  beeii 
made  by  a  twig  or  bush,  but  upon  later  in- 
vestigation he  found  a  bullet  hole  in  his  belt, 
showing  that  his  escape  had  been  narrow. 
After  the  close  of  the  war  Mr.  Pfefiferman 
continued  his  residence  in  Livingston  county, 
Illinois,  until  1870,  when  he  came  to  Ne- 
braska and  numbered  himself  among  the  pio- 
neers of  Gage  county.  He  purchased  land  in 
Lincoln  township  and  with  the  passing  years 
reclaimed  and  developed  one  of  the  fine  farm 
properties  of  the  county.  He  still  owns  this 
valuable  landed  estate,  of  six  hundred  and 
forty  acres,  and  his  sons  have  active  manage- 
ment of  its  operation. 

Mr.  Pfefiferman  remained  on  his  farm  until 
1897,  when  he  removed  to  Beatrice,  where  he 
lias  since  lived  retired  and  where  he  is  most 
fully  enjoying  the  gracious  rewards  that 
are  so  justly  his  due.  In  politics  Mr. 
Pfefi'erman  supports  the  Republican  party 
and  he  was  reared  in  the  faith  of  the  Catholic 
church. 

In  December,  1866,  Mr.  PfefTerman  wedded 
Miss  Sarah  A.  Thomas.  She  was  born  in 
Cumberland  county,  Pennsylvania,  October 
17,  1837,  a  daughter  of  John  and  Mary 
Thomas,  who  passed  their  entire  lives  in  the 
old  Keystone  state,  Mr.  Thomas  having  been 
a  miller  by  trade  and  vocation.  Of  the  ten 
children  Mrs.  Pfefiferman  and  her  twin 
brother,  Emanuel,  were  the  youngest.  Mrs. 
Pfeft'erman  passed  to  the  life  eternal  on  the 
21st  of  January,  1917. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pfefiferman  became  the  par- 
ents of  five  sons  and  one  daughter  and  con- 
cerning them  brief  record  is  here  entered  • 
George,  who  was  born  December  12,  1867,  is 
a  successful   farmer  in  Gage  county ;  Lewis, 


who  was  born  November  14,  1869,  died  in 
1908;  Edward  C.  was  born  February  17, 
1871;  Albert  C.  was  born  January  7,  1873; 
Jennie  B.,  the  only  daughter,  was  the  next  in 
order  of  birth ;  and  Sturmeus,  Jr.,  was  born 
April  24,  1877. 

FRANK  J.  CHITTENDEN.  — Under  the 
modern  system  of  agricultural  and  live-istock 
industry  the  application  of  energy  and  good 
business  policies  insures  success,  and  this  is 
being  significantly  demonstrated  in  the  activi- 
ties of  Mr.  Chittenden,  who  is  a  young  man 
of  progressiveness  and  utmost  diligence  and 
who  is  being  prospered  in  his  enterprise  as  a 
farmer.  He  is  operating  a  farm  of  two  hun- 
dred acres  in  Clatonia  township,  —  a  prop- 
erty which  he  rents  from  Henry  Albert,  a  sub- 
stantial citizen  individually  mentioned  on 
other  pages.  The  success  of  Mr.  Chittenden 
is  the  more  pleasing  to  record  by  reason  of  his 
being  a  native  of  Gage  county.  He  was  bom 
in  Highland  township,  on  the  28th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1881,  and  is  a  son  of  Warren  E.  and 
Emma  (Pitman)  Chittenden,  concerning 
whom  more  specific  mention  is  made  else- 
where in  this  publication. 

Frank  J.  Chittenden  supplemented  the  dis- 
cipline of  the  district  schools  by  attending  the 
high  school  in  the  village  of  Clatonia  and  by 
a  course  in  the  Northwestern  Business  Col- 
lege, at  Beatrice.  Reared  to  the  sturdy  train- 
ing of  the  farm,  Mr.  Chittenden  has  found  the 
industries  of  agriculture  and  stock-growing 
well  worthy  of  his  continued  allegiance,  but 
he  held  for  three  years  a  clerical  position  in  the 
office  of  the  treasurer  of  Gage  county.  He 
resigned  this  position  in  1908,  and  thereafter 
rented  a  farm  in  Highland  township  until 
1910,  in  May  of  which  latter  year  he  efifected 
the  lease  of  the  large  and  well  improved  farm 
which  now  receives  his  supervision  and  in 
connection  with  which  he  is  meeting  with  sub- 
stantial success.  In  politics  he  is  unswerving 
in  his  allegiance  to  the  Republican  party  and 
he  takes  loyal  interest  in  community  afifairs, 
as  a  liberal  and  public-spirited  citizen. 

November  18,  1908,  recorded  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  Ciiittenden  to  Miss  Effie  J.  Albert,  who 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


625 


was  born  and  reared  in  Clatonia  township,  a 
daughter  of  Henry  Albert.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Chittenden  dehght  in  extending  to  their 
many  friends  the  hospitality  of  their  pleasant 
home,  which  is  brightened  further  by  the 
presence  of  their  winsome  little  daughter,  Ger- 
trude E.  They  are  active  members  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church  in  the  village  of 
Clatonia. 


JACOB  S.  RUTHERFORD.  —  The  ulti- 
mate and  consistent  reward  that  should  prove 
the  crown  of  years  of  earnest  and  effective 
toil  and  endeavor  is  the  gracious  retirement 
and  compassing  prosperity  that  may  be  had 
by  men  and  women  who  have  arrived  at  the 
stage  on  life's  journey  when  the  shadows  be- 
gin to  lengthen  from  the  crimson  west,  where 
the  sunset  gates  are  open  wide.  Such  reward 
has  been  granted  to  the  sterling  and  honored 
Gage  county  pioneer  whose  name  initiates  this 
paragraph,  and  his  name  and  achievement 
have  been  of  distinctive  influence  in  connection 
with  the  civic  and  material  development  and 
progress  of  Gage  county  and  especially  of  its 
judicial  center,  the  fair  city  of  Beatrice,  where 
he  is  now  living  virtually  retired.  He  has  held 
various  local  positions  of  public  trust,  includ- 
ing that  of  mayor  of  Beatrice,  and  further 
honor  attaches  to  him  for  the  service  which  he 
gave  in  his  youth  as  a  soldier  of  the  Union  in 
the  Civil  war.  As  a  venerable  pioneer  and  also 
as  a  citizen  who  has  been  prominent  and  in- 
fluential in  the  communal  afifairs  of  Gage 
county,  Mr.  Rutherford  merits  a  definite 
tribute  in  this  history. 

Jacob  S.  Rutherford  was  born  in  Sauk 
county,  Wisconsin,  on  the  6th  of  April,  1846,  a 
date  that  gives  assurance  that  his  parents 
were  numbered  among  the  pioneer  settlers  of 
that  section  of  the  Badger  state.  He  is  a  son 
of  James  B.  and  Blanche  (Slentz)  Ruther- 
ford, the  former  a  native  of  Kentucky  and  the 
latter  of  Ohio,  their  marriage  having  been 
solemnized  at  Mount  Carmel,  Illinois.  From 
the  latter  state  they  went  to  Wisconsin  and 
became  pioneers  of  Sauk  county,  the  father 
having  there  engaged  in  the  development  of  a 
farm  and  having  also  operated  a  grist  mill. 


In  1853  he  became  one  of  the  argonauts  in 
California,  where  he  engaged  in  the  mining 
of  gold  and  other  lines  of  enterprise,  with  a 
fair  degree  of  success,  and  where  he  remained 
until  1856,  when  he  returned  to  Wisconsin. 
In  the  latter  state  he  continued  his  residence 
until  the  spring  of  1866,  when  he  came  to 
Gage  county,  Nebraska,  and,  in  April  of  that 
year,  established  his  residence  on  a  pionee* 
farm  which  he  had  purchased  the  preceding 
year,  this  old  homestead  being  one  mile  north 
of  the  present  village  of  Pickrell.  He  insti- 
tuted the  development  of  his  farm,  besides 
eventually  adding  to  his  landed  property  by 
taking  up  a  homestead  claim.  He  continued 
as  one  of  the  prosperous  farmers  and  valued 
citizens  of  the  county  until  his  death,  at  the 
age  of  seventy-two  years,  his  wife  having  been 
fifty-six  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  her  de- 
mise. 

Jacob  S.  Rutherford,  the  immediate  subject 
of  this  review,  acquired  his  early  education  in 
the  pioneer  schools  of  Wisconsin  and  was 
fifteen  years  of  age  at  the  outbreak  of  the 
Civil  war,  so  that  he  was  ineligible  for  enlist- 
ment at  that  stage.  His  youthful  patriotism, 
however,  was  not  long  to  be  curbed,  for  on  the 
3d  of  July,  1864,  as  a  sturdy  youth  of  eigh- 
teen years,  he  enlisted  as  a  private  in  Com- 
pany H,  Eighth  Wisconsin  Volunteer  Infan- 
try, with  which  gallant  command  he  continued 
in  active  ser\'ice  until  victory  had  crowned 
the  Union  arms,  in  the  spring  of  the  following 
year.  He  took  part  in  various  engagements, 
including  the  battle  of  Nashville,  where  he  re- 
ceived a  flesh  wound  in  the  side.  While  with 
his  regiment  participating  in  the  seige  of  Vicks- 
burg  Mr.  Rutheford  fell  a  victim  to  an  ignoble 
foe,  as  he  was  attacked  so  severely  with 
measles  as  to  become  delirious,  the  result  be- 
ing that  when  he  resumed  normal  control  of 
his  mental  faculties  he  found  himself  in  a  bar- 
racks hospital  in  the  city  of  New  Orleans.  He 
had  not  yet  recovered  his  wonted  vigor  when 
the  war  came  to  a  close,  and  he  received  his 
honorable  discharge  while  stationed  at  De- 
mopolis,  Alabama. 

After  the  close  of  the  war  Mr.  Rutherford 
returned  to  Wisconsin  and  the  next  spring  he 


626 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


accompanied  his  parents  on  their  removal  to 
Gage  county,  Nebraska.  For  a  few  years  there- 
after he  gave  his  attention  principally  to  op- 
erating saw  mills  at  Beatrice  and  to  freighting 
from  Gage  county  to  Kearney,  this  state,  and 
also  into  Colorado.  Finally  his  mechanical 
ability  gained  to  him  prestige  as  a  skilled 
artisan  at  the  carpenter's  trade,  and  eventually 
he  developed  a  substantial  and  successful  busi- 
ness as  a  contractor  and  builder.  He  was 
concerned  in  the  erection  of  many  buildings 
in  this  county  and  certain  of  the  important 
buildings  in  Beatrice  stand  as  enduring  monu- 
ments to  his  skill  —  notably  those  of  the  Be- 
atrice National  Bank  and  the  public  library, 
besides  which  he  was  the  contractor  for  the 
larger  part  of  the  excellent  street  paving  of 
this  city.  He  continued  his  successful  activi- 
ties as  a  contractor  until  1915,  since  which  time 
he  has  lived  practically  retired,  owing  to  de- 
fective eyesight. 

Mr.  Rutherford  has  been  notably  loyal  and 
public-spirited  as  a  citizen  and  has  been  in- 
:fluential  in  the  local  councils  and  campaign 
-activities  of  the  Democratic  party.  In  the 
early  days  he  served  as  assessor  of  Beatrice 
and  adjoining  townships,  for  two  years  he 
held  the  office  of  street  commissioner  of  Beat- 
rice, and  his  ability  and  popularity  were  fur- 
ther indicated  by  his  having  been  retained  for 
fourteen  years  as  a  member  of  the  city  coun- 
cil, of  which  municipal  body  he  was  president 
four  years.  His  progressive  policies  were  en- 
grafted strongly  upon  the  administration  of 
city  affairs  and  finally,  in  1909  he  had  the 
further  distinction  of  being  elected  mayor  of 
Beatrice,  an  office  of  which  he  continued  the 
incumbent  two  years  and  in  which  he  did 
much  to  further  the  civic  and  material  ad- 
vancement of  the  city  which  he  has  seen  de- 
velop from  an  insignificant  village  of  true 
frontier  type.  Mr.  Rutherford  has  been  for 
many  years  affiliated  with  the  Independent 
Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  he  is  one  of  the  hon- 
ored members  of  Rawlins  Post,  Grand  Army 
of  the  Republic,  and  his  religious  faith  is  that 
of  spiritualism. 

In  the  year  1869  was  solemnized  the  mar- 
riage of  Mr.  Rutherford  to  Miss  Mary  Brick, 


who  was  born  in  Wisconsin  and  who  came 
with  her  father,  the  late  Henry  Brick,  to  Gage 
county,  Nebraska  in  1867,  the  year  that 
marked  the  admission  of  the  state  to  the 
Union.  Mrs.  Rutherford  passed  to  the  life 
eternal  in  the  year  1908,  and  her  memory  is 
revered  by  all  who  came  within  the  compass 
of  her  kindly  and  gracious  influence.  Though 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rutherford  became  the  parents 
of  ten  children  none  of  the  number  attained 
to  adult  age. 

FRANCIS  M.  PETHOUD,  whose  death 
occurred  at  his  home  farm,  in  Section  2,  Mid- 
land township,  on  the  7th  of  April,  1906,  was 
about  twenty-one  years  of  age  when  his  par- 
ents settled  in  Gage  county,  in  1858,  nearly 
ten  years  prior  to  the  admission  of  Nebraska 
to  statehood,  and  it  was  given  him  not  only 
to  experience  his  full  quota  of  the  hardships 
and  trials  incidental  to  life  on  the  frontier  but 
also  to  do  well  his  part  in  developing  the  fun- 
damental resources  of  the  county  which  con- 
tinued to  be  his  home  until  his  death  and  in 
which  he  lived  and  labored  to  goodly  ends. 

Francis  Marion  Pethoud  was  bom  at  Iron- 
ton,  Lawrence  county,  Ohio,  July  7,  1837,  a 
son  of  John  Pethoud,  a  territorial  pioneer 
whose  name  merits  enduring  place  of  honor 
on  the  pages  of  Gage  county  history  and  to 
whom  a  memoir  is  dedicated  on  other  pages  of 
this  work.  The  subject  of  this  review  ac- 
quired his  early  education  in  the  common 
schools  of  the  old  Buckeye  state  and  came  with 
his  parents  to  the  Territory  of  Nebraska  at  a 
time  when  this  section  was  still  on  the  fron- 
tier. In  Gage  county  he  entered  claim  soon 
afterward  to  a  homestead  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres,  in  what  is  now  Section  2,  Midland 
township,  and  with  characteristic  energy  he 
girded  himself  to  the  arduous  work  of  re- 
claiming from  the  virgin  prairie  a  productive 
farm.  His  first  house  was  a  snug  but  rude 
structure  of  sod  and  boards,  and  in  this  primi- 
tive domicile  all  of  his  children  were  born,  the 
same  having  continued  as  the  family  home  for 
a  period  of  fifteen  years.  Mr.  Pethoud  met 
his  full  share  of  hardships  through  drought 
and  grasshopper  scourge  in  the  early  days  but 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


627 


he  was  not  to  be  discouraged  and  had  pre- 
science of  the  gracious  returns  that  the  soil 
of  the  county  would  ultimately  yield.  He  ap- 
plied himself  with  unremitting  diligence,  was 
prospered  in  his  progressive  activities  as  an 
agriculturist  and  stock -grower  and  at  the  time 
■of  his  death  he  was  the  owner  of  a  valuable 
landed  estate  of  two  hundred  and  forty  acres, 
■clear  of  all  indebtedness  and  constituting  one 
of  the  highly  improved  farm  properties  oi 
Midland  township.  Mr.  Pethoud  was  a  pro- 
ductive worker  and  while  always  ready  to  do 
his  part  in  the  support  of  measures  and  enter- 
prises advanced  for  the  general  good  of  the 
community  he  was  entirely  free  of  ambition 
for  political  activity  or  public  office  of  any 
order. 

As  a  young  man  Mr.  Pethoud  married  Miss 
Emily  Maloney,  who  was  born  in  Stark 
county,  Ohio,  August  28,  1839,  and  she  en- 
dured with  him  the  vicissitudes  of  pioneer  life, 
•even  as  she  enjoyed  with  him  the  prosperity 
of  later  years.  After  his  death  she  remained 
on  the  old  homestead  until  she  too  was  sum- 
moned to  the  life  eternal,  —  on  the  12th  of 
December,  1912.  In  the  concluding  paragraph 
of  this  memoir  is  given  brief  record  concern- 
ing their  children. 

Fordyce  Myron,  who  has  remained  a 
hachelor,  remains  on  the  old  homestead,  as 
■does  also  his  bachelor  brother,  Darwin  Con- 
nor, and  their  maiden  sister,  Clara  B,  pre- 
sides over  the  domestic  economies  of  as  well 
as  being  the  popular  chatelaine  of  the  home, 
the  two  brothers  being  actively  associated  in 
the  management  of  the  fine  farm  property  and 
heing  representative  exponents  of  agricultural 
and  live-stock  enterprise  in  their  native  county. 
Darwin  C.  Pethoud  was  the  fourth  in  order 
of  birth  of  the  eight,  children.  Charles  F.  the 
second  child,  lives  upon  and  has  control  of 
forty  acres  of  his  father's  estate,  and  is  one  of 
the  prosperous  farmers  of  his  native  town- 
ship. He  married  Miss  Stella  Richardson, 
and  they  have  three  children,  —  Chester, 
Dwight  and  Percy.  The  eldest  son,  Chester, 
is  married.  Mary  A.  is  the  wife  of  Eli  D. 
McCune,  of  Riverside,  California.  Florence 
E.  is  the  wife  of  I.   M.  Hadley,  of  Lincoln, 


Nebraska.  Carrie  and  Clara  are  twins,  the 
latter  remaining  with  her  brothers  at  the  old 
home,  as  previously  noted,  and  Carrie  being 
the  wife  of  August  Guenther,  a  prosperous 
farmer  in  Riverside  township.  Martha  died 
in  early  childhood. 

ALFRED  H.  GRAY.  —  Since  the  year 
1913  Mr.  Gray  has  been  general  agent  for  the 
Bankers"  Life  Insurance  Company,  of  Lincoln, 
Nebraska,  with  residence  and  official  head- 
quarters in  the  city  of  Beatrice,  and  in  the 
extended  territory  assigned  to  his  jurisdiction 
he  has  developed  a  large  and  representative 
business  that  marks  him  as  one  of  the  able  in- 
surance executives  and  underwriters  of  the 
state.  The  signal  success  that  has  attended 
his  varied  activities  is  the  more  pleasing  to 
contemplate  in  view  of  the  fact  that  from  his 
youth  he  has  depended  entirely  upon  his  own 
resources  and  has  made  advancement  through 
his  own  ability  and  well  directed  endeavors. 

A  scion  of  a  family  whose  name  has  been 
closely  associated  with  pioneer  Hfe  in  various 
states  of  the  west,  Alfred  H.  Gray  was  born 
in  Olmsted  county,  Minnesota,  on  the  22d  of 
June,  1861,  and  he  is  a  son  of  William  and 
Malinda  (Loehr)  Gray,  the  former  a  native 
of  Illinois,  where  he  was  born  in  the  year 
1828,  and  the  latter  of  whom  was  bom  in  the 
state  of  Indiana,  in  1840,  their  marriage  hav- 
ing been  solemnized  in  Iowa.  Alfred  Gray, 
grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this  review,  was 
a  native  of  Ohio  and  thence  removed  to  Illi- 
nois, where  he  remained  for  a  number  of 
years.  He  then  went  with  his  family  to 
Iowa,  where  he  became  a  pioneer  farmer, 
though  he  had  previously  followed  the  trade 
of  cabinetmaker,  and  in  the  Hawkeye  state 
he  and  his  wife  passed  the  remainder  of  their 
lives.  James  Loehr,  maternal  grandfather  of 
him  whose  name  initiates  this  sketch,  was 
born  in  Pennsylvania,  of  staunch  German  line- 
age, and  he  likewise  became  one  of  the  ster- 
ling pioneers  of  Iowa,  where  he  engaged  in 
mercantile  pursuits  and  where  he  continued 
his  residence  until  his  death. 

After  his  marriage  William  Gray  continued 
his    residence    in    Iowa    until    about    the   year 


628 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


1860,  when  he  removed  to  Minnesota  and  set- 
tled on  a  pioneer  farm  in  Olmsted  county. 
Later  he  became  one  of  the  virtual  founders 
of  the  village  of  Eyota,  that  county,  where 
he  erected  the  first  house  and  where  he  was 
engaged  in  the  hotel  business  five  years.  He 
then  removed  with  his  family  from  the  south- 
eastern part  of  the  state  to  the  wilds  of  the 
southwestern  section  of  that  commonwealth. 
He  entered  a  homestead  claim  and  instituted 
the  reclamation  of  a  farm,  his  nearest  neigh- 
bor at  the  time  having  resided  at  a  point  five 
miles  distant  and  the  nearest  postoffice  and 
trading  point  being  twenty-six  miles  distant. 
He  remained  on  his  embroyonic  farm  and  gave 
himself  vigorously  to  aiding  in  the  develop- 
ment and  upbuilding  of  a  new  country,  the 
construction  of  the  railway  eventually  giving 
spur  to  the  march  of  advancement.  His  wife, 
now  venerable  in  years,  maintains  her  home 
at  Norton,  Kansas.  She  was  formerly  a 
member  of  the  Christian  church  but  is  now 
affiliated  with  the  Church  of  Latter  Day 
Saints. 

Reared  in  a  pioneer  community  in  which 
educational  advantages  were  notable  more 
particularly  for  their  absence,  Alfred  H. 
Gray  had  but  little  opportunity  to  attend  school 
and  his  education  has  been  mainly  that  gained 
through  self-discipline  and  through  associ- 
ation with  the  practical  affairs  of  life.  As  a 
boy  he  attended  a  select  school  for  three 
months  and  aside  from  this  he  had  practi- 
cally no  definite  pedagogic  instruction.  An 
alert  and  receptive  mind,  however,  refuses  to 
recognize  such  handicaps  and  he  has  so  profited 
by  experience  and  service  as  to  be  a  man  of 
broad  information  and  mature  judgment.  As 
a  boy  he  gained  fellowship  v.'ith  hard  work  and 
he  has  never  since  failed  in  appreciation  of 
the  dignity  and  value  of  honest  toil.  He  as- 
sisted in  the  support  of  the  family  and  his  first 
independent  work  was  initated  when  he  ob- 
tained a  position  as  railroad  brakeman.  He 
followed  this  occupation  ten  years  and  then 
became  a  traveling  salesman,  a  vocation  which 
he  followed  successfully  for  a  long  term  of 
years,  —  in  fact,  until  he  turned  his  attention 
to  the  insurance  business. 


In  June,  1913,  Mr.  Gray  estabHshed  his 
residence  in  Beatrice  and  here  became  general 
agent  of  the  Bankers'  Life  Insurance  Com- 
pany for  the  territory  including  Gage  county 
and  extending  to  Norton,  Kansas  and  the 
southern  tier  of  Nebraska  counties  as  far  to 
the  west  as  Harlan  county.  He  has  shown 
marked  finesse  and  ability  in  the  directing  of 
the  work  of  a  large  number  of  agents  and  has 
made  a  splendid  record  as  a  successful  and 
progressive  exponent  of  the  insurance  busi- 
ness. 

In  politics  Mr.  Gray  supports  the  Republican 
party  cause  in  a  general  way  but  in  local  af- 
fairs he  maintains  an  independent  attitude  and 
gives  support  to  means  and  measures  meeting 
the  approval  of  his  judgment,  irrespective  of 
partisan  lines.  He  is  affiliated  with  the  local 
organizations  of  the  Benevolent  &  Protective 
Order  of  Elks,  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd 
Fellows,  the  Loyal  Order  of  Moose,  the  Mod- 
ern Woodmen  of  America  and  the  Royal 
Neighbors. 

On  the  18th  of  December,  1884,  Mr.  Gray 
wedded  Miss  Clara  Ross,  who  was  born  at 
Red  Cloud,  Nebraska,  her  father,  Henry  Ross, 
having  been  one  of  the  pioneer  settlers  of  Web- 
ster county,  of  which  Red  Cloud  is  the  judicial 
center;  he  became  one  of  the  successful  farm- 
ers of  Webster  county,  where  he  also  fol- 
lowed his  trade  of  brick  mason,  and  he  is  now 
a  successful  mason  contractor  at  Campbell, 
Franklin  county,  this  state.  Mrs.  Gray  died 
in  1901  leaving  two  sons,  —  John  L.,  who  is  a 
skilled  mechanic  residing  in  Beatrice ;  and  Al- 
fred M.,  who  is  now  serving  in  a  machine-gun 
company  of  the  Fifth  regiment  of  the  national 
army  that  is  preparing  to  enter  active  service- 
in  the  great  European  war.  September  9. 
1908,  Mr.  Gray  wedded  Fannie  L.  Grensman, 
of  Cortland,  Gage  county,  and  they  have  two- 
children,  Robert  H.  and  Thomas  H„  aged,  in 
1918,  four  and  six  years  respectively. 

FRANK  MEYER.  — The  southwest  quar- 
ter of  Section  35,  Blakely  township,  consti- 
tutes the  attractive  and  well  improved  home- 
stead farm  of  Mr.  Meyer,  who  has  been  a 
resident  of  Gage  county  since  he  was  a  ladi 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


629 


of  about  twelve  years  and  who  is  a  represen- 
tative of  one  of  the  steriing  pioneer  famiUes 
of  this  favored  section  of  Nebraska.  His 
landed  estate  includes  also  the  northwest  quar- 
ter of  Section  11,  Lincoln  township,  so  that  he 
has  an  aggregate  of  three  hundred  and  twenty 
acres  of  the  excellent  land  of  Gage  county 
and  has  full  scope  for  his  successful  activities 
as  an  agriculturist  and  stock-grower. 

Air.  iNIeyer  was  born  in  La  Salle  county,  Illi- 
nois, on  the  28th  of  December,  1860,  and  is  a 
son  of  Joseph  and  Crescentia  (Hiebeler) 
Meyer,  both  natives  of  Bavaria,  Germany, 
where  they  were  reared  to  adult  age,  their 
marriage  having  been  solemnized  in  the  state 
of  Illinois.  Joseph  Meyer  was  born  April  22, 
1822,  and  in  1854  he  came  to  America  and  es- 
tablished his  residence  in  Illinois.  After  his 
marriage  he  continued  his  activities  as  a 
farmer  in  Effingham  county,  that  state,  until 
1872,  when  he  came  with  his  family  to  Ne- 
braska and  rented  a  farm  in  Blakely  town- 
ship, west  of  Beatrice,  the  judicial  center  of 
Gage  county.  There  he  continued  his  oper- 
ations as  a  renter  until  1877,  when  he  pur- 
chased the  farm  now  owned  by  his  son  Frank, 
of  this  review.  He  made  excellent  improve- 
ments on  this  pioneer  farm,  erecting  good 
buildings,  setting  out  trees,  etc.,  and  was  an 
honored  and  influential  factor  in  the  com- 
munity life,  while  he  endured  his  full  share 
of  the  adversity  incidental  to  drought  and 
grasshopper  scourge  in  the  early  days.  He 
served  several  years  as  a  member  of  the  school 
board  of  his  district  and  gave  with  consistent 
liberality  to  the  support  of  measures  and  en- 
terprises advanced  for  the  general  welfare 
of  the  community.  It  is  interesting  to  record 
that  he  and  his  family  made  the  journey  from 
Illinois  to  Gage  county  with  teams  and  two 
covered  wagons  of  the  type  best  known  as 
prairie  schooners,  and  six  weeks  were  required 
in  making  the  long  overland  trip.  This  hon- 
ored pioneer  passed  to  the  life  eternal  in  April, 
1887,  and  his  wife  survived  him  by  nearly 
thirty  years.  She  was  born  in  Bavaria,  Ger- 
many, on  the  14th  of  March,  1823,  and  came 
to  the  United  States  in  1856,  establishing  her 
home  in  Illinois,  where  her  marriage  occurred. 


as  previously  noted  in  this  article.  She  passed 
the  closing  years  of  her  life  in  the  home  of 
her  oldest  daughter,  ]Mrs.  Emil  Lang  of  Bea- 
trice, and  was  ninety-three  years  of  age  at  the 
time  of  her  death,  in  1916.  She  was  one  of 
the  revered  and  venerable  pioneer  women  of 
the  county.  Both  she  and  her  husband  were 
earnest  members  of  the  Catholic  church.  They 
became  the  parents  of  five  children :  Caro- 
line is  the  wife  of  Emil  Lang,  of  Beatrice,  this 
county;  Christena  is  the  wife  of  John  G. 
Hoefling,  of  Iron  River,  Wisconsin ;  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch  was  the  next  in  order  of 
birth;  John  is  a  prosperous  farmer  of  Lincoln 
township;  and  Mary  is  the  wife  of  Philip 
Graff,  of  whom  individual  mention  is  made  on 
other  pages  of  this  volume. 

Frank  Meyer  acquired  his  rudimentary'  edu- 
cation in  the  schools  of  his  native  state  and  as 
a  boy  of  twelve  years  found  the  long  overland 
trip  to  Nebraska  an  experience  which  afforded 
him  much  enjoyment.  He  assisted  his  father 
in  the  development  of  the  home  farm  upon 
which  he  now  resides  and  in  the  meanwhile 
he  attended  the  local  schools  when  opportunity 
offered.  In  1888,  the  year  after  the  death  of 
his  father,  he  purchased  the  old  homestead 
in  association  with  his  only  brother,  John,  and 
in  1890  he  purchased  also  the  latter's  interest  in 
the  property,  of  which  he  has  since  been  sole 
owner  and  upon  which  he  has  made  extensive 
and  well  ordered  improvements.  In  the 
autumn  of  1906  he  added  to  the  area  of  his 
landed  estate  by  purchasing  a  well  improved 
farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  in  Lin- 
coln township,  and  he  gives  to  this  also  his 
close  personal  supervision.  On  this  farm  he 
has  erected  a  large  barn  with  modern  facili- 
ties, as  well  as  building  corncribs  and  other 
minor  farm  buildings.  He  is  politically  in- 
dependent and  he  is  serving  in  1917-1918  as 
treasurer  of  school  district  No.  107.  He  is 
liberal  and  public-spirited  as  a  citizen  and  is 
one  of  the  substantial  agriculturists  and  stock- 
growers  of  the  county,  —  a  man  who  merits 
and  receives  the  fullest  measure  of  popular 
esteem.  He  and  his  family  are  communicants 
of  the  Catholic  church,  and  he  is  actively  af- 
filiated with  the  Knights  of  Columbus. 


630 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


On  the  26th  of  April,  1892,  was  solemnized 
the  marriage  of  Mr.  Meyer  to  Miss  Marie 
Buriwal,  who  was  born  and  reared  in  Austria, 
where  she  remained  until  1888  when  she  came 
to  the  United  States  and  established  herself 
in  the  home  of  the  Lang  family,  of  Beatrice, 
Gage  county,  where  she  remained  until  the 
time  of  her  marriage.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Meyer 
became  the  parents  of  eight  children,  of  whom 
the  firstborn  is  Irene ;  the  second  child  died  in 
infancy;  Aloysius  is  associated  in  the  work, 
and  management  of  the  home  farm  and  the 
other  children  likewise  remain  members  of 
the  gracious  home  circle,  namely :  Anna,  Ray- 
mond, Hildegard,  Helen  and  Clifford,  the  last 
two  being  twins. 

HENRY  HORNER.  — Both  through  pa- 
ternal heritage  and  pronounced  personal  ap- 
preciation Mr.  Horner  has  been  well  equipped 
for  the  furtherance  of  the  interests  of  musical 
art,  and  he  has  not  only  been  successful  as  a 
teacher  of  music  but  has  also  been  active  in 
the  sale  of  musical  instruments  and  merchan- 
dise, in  which  field  of  enterprise  he  has  been 
a  leading  representative  in  Gage  county  for 
the  past  thirty  years,  his  well  equipped  music 
store  being  established  in  the  city  of  Beatrice. 
He  has  exerted  much  influence  in  the  gracious 
advancement  of  music  in  connection  with  the 
representative  social  life  of  Beatrice,  has  built 
up  a  prosperous  business  and  has  the  securest 
vantage  place  in  the  esteem  of  the  people  of 
Gage  county,  the  while  he  has  always  been 
generous  in  the  Application  of  his  musical  tal- 
ent, which  is  of  high  order. 

Mr.  Horner  was  born  in  Bradford,  England, 
on  the  26th  of  October,  1852,  and  is  a  son  of 
Edward  and  Ann  f  Ellis)  Horner,  who  came 
to  the  United  States  when  the  subject  of  this 
review  was  a  child  of  two  years.  The  father, 
a  man  of  fine  musical  ability  and  attainments, 
was  for  many  years  actively  engaged  in  the 
teaching  of  the  "divine  art,"  and  upon  coming 
to  America  he  first  located  at  Galena,  Illinois, 
whence  he  later  removed  to  Morrison,  that 
state,  where  he  continued  teaching,  besides  en- 
gaging in  the  sale  of  musical  instruments, 
until  his  death,  when  he  was  sixty-nine  years 


of  age.  His  widow  survived  him  and  passed 
the  closing  period  of  her  life  at  Beatrice,  Ne- 
braska, in  the  home  of  her  son  Henry,  of  this 
review,  where  she  died  when  about  seventy- 
five  years  of  age. 

To  the  public  schools  of  Illinois  Henry  Horn- 
er is  indebted  for  his  early  educational  dis- 
cipline and  besides  being  reared  in  a  home  of 
distinctive  musical  atmosphere  he  received  in 
his  youth  thorough  training  in  instrumental 
music.  In  1887  he  came  to  Nebraska,  and 
here  he  has  been  continuously  engaged  in  the 
sale  of  musical  instruments,  as  well  as  in  teach- 
ing music  during  the  intervening  period  of 
thirty  years.  As  a  teacher  he  has  given  his 
attention  principally  to  instruction  in  piano- 
forte music.  In  politics  Mr.  Horner  gives  his 
support  to  the  Republican  party  and  he  has 
been  for  many  years  affliliated  with  the  Ma- 
sonic fraternity.  The  maiden  name  of  his 
wife  was  Anna  Snyder  and  they  became  the 
parents  of  seven  children,  of  whom  five  are 
living:  Samuel  is  associated  with  an  uncle 
in  business  in  the  city  of  Chicago ;  Walter, 
Edward  and  Archibald  are  actively  identified 
with  their  father's  business  and  are  assisting 
materially  in  its  successful  prosecution ;  and 
Grace  is  an  efficient  and  popular  teacher  in  the 
Waverly  public  schools :  she  is  a  graduate  of 
the  high  school  of  Beatrice,  and  the  Univer- 
sity of  Nebraska. 

ANANIAS  BREWSTER.  —  Nearly  half  a 
century  has  passed  since  Mr.  Brewster,  a 
young  man  of  indomitable  energy  and  ambi- 
tion and  one  who  had  previously  given  loyal 
service  as  a  youthful  soldier  of  the  Union  in 
the  Civil  war,  came  to  Nebraska  and  enrolled 
himself  as  a  pioneer  exponent  of  farm  enter- 
prise in  Gage  county.  He  has  been  dependent 
upon  his  own  resources  from  his  boyhood  and 
thus  he  had  no  fear  of  the  exactions  and  stren- 
uous labors  incidental  to  the  reclaiming  of  a 
pioneer  farm,  the  civic  loyalty  which  he  man- 
ifested having  been  consonant  with  his  am- 
bitious efforts  to  win  for  himself  by  worthy 
means  the  independence  and  prosperity  that 
were  his  due.  With  the  fleeting  years  success 
attended  his  well  ordered  endeavors  as  an  agri- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


631 


culturist  and  stock-grower  and  he  long  held 
prestige  as  one  of  the  prominent  and  influen- 
tial representatives  of  these  basic  lines  of  in- 
dustry in  Gage  county.  He  has  passed  the 
psalmist's  span  of  three  score  years  and  ten 
and  now  lives  in  gracious  retirement  in  the 
city  of  Beatrice. 

]Mr.  Brewster  is  a  scion  of  the  staunchest 
of  American  ancestry,  as  may  well  be  appre- 
ciated when  it  is  stated  that  he  is  a  lineal  de- 
scendant of  Elder  William  Brewster,  who  was 
one  of  the  Puritans  who  came  from  England 
to  America  on  the  first  voyage  of  the  historic 
ship  "Mayflower"  and  founded  the  Plymouth 
Colony  in  Massachusetts,  the  family  name  hav- 
ing been  worthily  linked  with  the  annals  of 
American  history  during  all  succeeding  gen- 
erations. He  whose  name  introduces  this  ar- 
ticle was  born  in  Oneida  county,  New  York, 
on  the  14th  of  February,  1847,  and  in  Otsego 
county,  that  state,  were  born  his  parents, 
John  and  Elizabeth  (Wilbur)  Brewster,  rep- 
resentatives of  honored  pioneer  families  of 
that  section  of  the  old  Empire  commonwealth. 
The  father  of  Mr.  Brewster  was  a  farmer  and 
miller  by  vocation  and  died  in  Oneida  county. 
New  York,  when  the  subject  of  this  review 
was  a  lad  of  eleven  years,  the  devoted  mother 
surviving  by  a  number  of  years. 

Ananias  Brewster,  the  youngest  in  a  family 
of  ten  children,  gained  but  little  scholastic 
training  in  his  youth,  the  death  of  his  father 
making  it  necessary  for  him  to  depend  mainly 
upon  his  own  resources  several  years  prior  to 
attaining  to  adult  age.  He  worked  at  what- 
ever occupation  he  could  obtain  and  contin- 
ued to  attend  school  at  rare  intervals  until  af- 
ter the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  war,  and  prior 
to  his  seventeenth  birthday  anniversary  he 
manifested  his  intrinsic  patriotism  by  tender- 
ing his  services  in  defense  of  the  Union.  In 
August,  1864,  he  enlisted  as  a  private  in  Com- 
pany L,  Fifteenth  New  York  Volunteer  In- 
fantry, and  with  this  gallant  command  he  con- 
tinued in  service  until  the  close  of  the  war. 
He  participated  in  a  number  of  important  en- 
gagements, including  the  siege  and  battle  of 
Petersburg,  and  after  receiving  his  honorable 
<lischarge  he  returned  to  his  native  state  and 


resumed  his  association  with  agricultural  en- 
terprise. 

In  1869,  at  the  age  of  twenty-two  years, 
this  youthful  veteran  of  the  Civil  war  came 
to  the  west,  and  after  passing  one  year  in  Will 
county,  Illinois,  he  carne,  in  the  spring  of  1870, 
to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  where  he  purchased 
one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  prairie  land, 
about  three  miles  east  of  Beatrice.  In  1872 
he  entered  claim  to  a  homestead  of  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres  of  state  land  near  the 
village  of  Clatonia,  and  upon  this  place  he 
continued  his  residence  eight  years,  in  the 
meanwhile  having  made  good  improvements 
on  the  same.  After  selling  this  property  he 
purchased  a  farm  eight  miles  east  of  Beatrice, 
where  he  continued  his  progressive  activities 
as  a  farmer  and  stock-grower  for  the  ensuing 
twenty  years,  within  which  he  developed  the 
place  into  one  of  the  well  improved  farms  of 
the  county.  He  finally  sold  this  farm,  but  after 
residing  four  years  in  Beatrice  he  bought  an- 
other farm,  in  Rockford  and  Riverside  town- 
ships, where  he  remained  until  1916,  when  he 
retired  from  active  labors  and  established  his 
residence  in  the  city  of  Beatrice.  Here  he 
has  an  attractive  home  in  which  he  and  his 
wife  delight  to  extend  welcome  and  hospital- 
ity to  their  many  friends.  Both  are  active 
members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church 
and  he  is  a  Democrat  in  his  political  faith  and 
adherency.  While  residing  on  his  farm  in  Lo- 
gan township  he  served  a  number  of  terms  as 
township  treasurer,  as  well  as  a  member  of 
the  school  board  of  his  district.  During  his 
former  period  of  residence  in  Beatrice  he  here 
served  for  a  time  as  a  member  of  the  board 
of  education.  He  maintains  deep  interest  in 
his  old  comrades  of  the  Civil  war  and  mani- 
fests the  same  by  his  affiliation  with  RawHns 
Post,  No.  35,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic, 
in  his  home  city.  Mr.  Brewster  is  a  man  of 
strong  mentality  and  has  kept  himself  well 
informed  on  the  questions  and  issues  of  the 
day,  so  that  he  is  well  fortified  in  his  opinions 
and  convictions.  He  reads  much  and  with 
discrimination  and  takes  vital  interest  in  all 
things  pertaining  to  the  nation's  participation 


.632 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


in  the  great  European  war  —  a   service   into 
which  one  of  his  sons  has  entered. 

January  3,  1872,  Mr.  Brewster  wedded  Miss 
Elvira  Tanner,  a  member  of  a  well  known 
Gage  county  family  that  is  given  recognition 
on  other  pages  of  this  publication,  and  con- 
cerning the  children  of  this  union  the  follow- 
ing brief  record  is  offered :  Frank  is  engaged 
in  the  practice  of  his  profession  at  Beaver  City, 
as  one  of  the  representative  physicians  and 
surgeons  of  Furnas  county;  Elizabeth,  who 
likewise  was  graduated  in  a  school  of  medi- 
cine, is  the  wife  of  Edward  Lamb,  a  promi- 
nent attorney  of  Beaver  City ;  Captain  Charles 
Lee,  who  Was  graduated  in  the  law  depart- 
ment of  the  University  of  Michigan,  at  Ann 
Arbor,  and  who  is  junior  member  of  the  law 
firm  of  Sackett  &  Brewster,  of  Beatrice,  gave 
gallant  service  in  the  Philippine  Islands  as  a 
soldier  of  the  Spanish-American  war,  and  he 
received  a  severe  wound  in  one  of  his  feet :  he 
is  now  captain  of  Company  C,  of  Beatrice, 
which  has  entered  the  national  army  for  serv- 
ice in  the  European  war  and  is  with  his  com- 
pany in  the  cantonment  at  Camp  Cody,  New 
Mexico,  at  the  time  of  this  writing,  in  the 
spring  of  1918;  Rose  is  the  wife  of  Edward 
Thomas,  president  of  a  college  at  Alberta, 
Canada ;  Imogene  is  the  wife  of  Edward  Rut- 
lege  and  they  reside  in  the  state  of  New  Mex- 
ico; Frederick  is  a  dentist  by  profession  and 
is  engaged  in  practice  at  Aspen,  Colorado; 
Beulah  is  a  successful  teacher  of  domestic 
science  in  a  college  at  Malbur,  Iowa;  and 
Lulu,  who  remains  at  the  parental  home,  was 
a  member  of  the  class  of  1913  in  the  Beatrice 
high  school. 


WILLIAM  TOWNSEND.  — The  late 
William  Townsend  merits  a  tribute  of  honor 
in  this  history  by  reason  of  his  having  been  a 
sterling  pioneer  of  Gage  county  and  a  citizen 
of  prominence  and  influence  in  Hanover  town- 
ship, where  he  reclaimed  and  improved  a  fine 
farm  property  and  where  the  little  hamlet  of 
Townsend  was  named  in  his  honor,  he  having 
been  appointed  postmaster  in  the  community 
in  1874  and  the  postoffice  having  been  estab- 


lished in  his  home,  the  locality  thus  being 
given  his  name,  even  as  was  the  postoffice. 

Mr.  Townsend  was  born  in  Delaware 
county.  New  York,  February  1,  1829,  a  son 
of  Moorehouse  and  Anna  (Johnson)  Town- 
send,  the  former  a  native  of  Connecticut  and 
the  latter  of  the  old  Empire  state,  where  their 
marriage  was  solemnized.  Moorehouse  Town- 
send  was  twelve  years  old  at  the  time  of  the 
family  removal  to  the  state  of  New  York,  and 
after  leaving  school  he  followed  a  seafaring 
life  until  he  was  about  thirty  years  old,  when 
he  turned  his  attention  to  agricultural  pur- 
suits. In  1864  he  removed  with  his  family  to 
LaSalle  county,  Illinois,  where  he  remained 
until  1870,  when  he  became  one  of  the  pioneer 
settlers  of  Gage  county,  Nebraska.  He  passed 
the  remainder  of  his  life  on  his  farm,  in  Han- 
over township,  where  his  death  occurred  in 
1878,  his  widow  having  survived  him  by  a 
number  of  years  and  having  been  of  vener- 
able age  at  the  time  of  her  demise.  They  were 
survived  by  four  children  —  William,  subject 
of  this  memoir;  Eunice,  who  became  the  wife 
of  Daniel  Griffin;  Caroline,  who  became  the 
wife  of  William  Barrett;  and  Wallace,  who 
was  a  resident  of  Beatrice  at  the  time  of  his 
death. 

William  Townsend  was  reared  under  the 
invigorating  discipline  of  his  father's  farm 
and  gained  his  early  education  in  the  common 
schools.  In  Bradford  county,  Pennsylvania, 
on  the  24th  of  November,  1851,  he  married 
Miss  Marian  Denton,  who  likewise  was  born 
in  Delaware  county,  New  York.  In  1866  Mr. 
Townsend  removed  with  his  family  to  La- 
Salle county,  Illinois,  where  he  engaged  in 
farming  on  rented  land.  In  1870  he  came  to 
Gage  county,  Nebraska,  and  purchased  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  unbroken  prairie 
land  in  Hanover  township,  for  which  property 
he  paid  seven  dollars  an  acre.  He  reclaimed 
and  developed  in  this  township  a  valuable  farm 
estate  of  three  hundred  acres,  and  here  he 
continued  his  residence  until  1892,  when  he 
removed  to  Nuckolls  county,  his  death  having 
there  occurred  on  the  6th  of  February,  1895. 
The  wife  of  his  young  manhood  was  called  to 
the  life  eternal  on  the  11th  of  March,  1874, 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


633 


WlUIAM    TOWNSEND 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


and  of  the  eight  children  of  this  union  five  are 
living :  Robert  resides  at  Fort  Morgan,  Colo- 
rado ;  Duane  is  a  resident  of  Ranier,  Oregon ; 
Mrs.  Emma  Cox  maintains  her  home  in  Be- 
atrice, as  does  also  John,  who  was  the  next  in 
order  of  birth ;  and  Mary  is  the  wife  of  Theo- 
dore Bohnstedt,  of  whom  individual  mention 
is  made  on  other  pages  of  this  volume.  In 
1876  Mr.  Townsend  married  Mrs.  Mary 
Jane  (Shearer)  Post,  a  native  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  they  became  the  parents  of  one 
child,  Cora  Belle. 

Mr.  Townsend  was  a  Republican  in  politics 
and  in  addition  to  having  served  several  years 
as  postmaster  at  Townsend,  he  also  gave 
equally  effective  administration  in  the  office 
of  justice  of  the  peace.  He  was  a  lifelong 
and  zealous  member  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal church  and  his  life  was  ordered  in  con- 
sonance with  the  faith  which  he  thus  pro- 
fessed. 

BERNARD  E.  DRUMMOND.  —  The  city 
of  Beatrice  is  favored  in  claiming  as  its  own 
an  institution  that  is  not  only  a  virtual  public 
utility  but  is  also  one  of  thoroughly  metro- 
politan facilities,  —  the  Kimball  Laundry,  of 
which  Mr.  Drummond  is  one  of  the  proprie- 
tors. This  laundry  is  operated  with  equip- 
ment of  the  most  modern  type  throughout  and 
the  large  and  representative  patronage  ac- 
corded to  it  gives  evidence  of  the  high  popular 
estimate  placed  upon  its  service.  Mr.  Drum- 
mond and  R.  G.  Weston  purchased  the  plant 
and  business  of  this  well  ordered  steam  laun- 
dry in  January,  1914,  and  their  careful  and 
progressive  business  policies  have  inured  great- 
ly to  the  success  of  the  enterprise,  the  laundry 
having  been  established  more  than  a  quarter 
of  a  century  ago  and  having  maintained  a 
high  reputation  prior  to  passing  into  posses- 
sion of  the  present  proprietors,  who  have  ef- 
fectively enhanced  its  reputation  for  the  best 
grade  of  service.  In  connection  with  the  oper- 
ations of  the  Kimball  laundry  is  retained  a 
working  force  of  six  men  and  eighteen  young 
v^'omen,  each  skilled  in  the  work  assigned. 

Bernard  Emmett  Drummond  was  born  in 
Saline    county,    this    state,    and    is    a    son    of 


Michael  L.  and  Catherine  (Mehan)  Drum- 
mond, who  were  pioneer  settlers  of  that  coun- 
ty, where  the  father  entered  a  homestead  claim 
and  developed  a  good  farm ;  he  is  now  living 
practically  retired  and  he  and  his  wife  main- 
tain their  home  in  the  city  of  Beatrice,  they 
having  come  to  Gage  county  when  their  son 
Bernard  E.  was  a  child.  He  whose  name  in- 
itiates this  review  acquired  his  youthful  edu- 
cation in  the  schools  of  this  county  and  at  the 
age  of  nineteen  years  he  entered  upon  an 
apprenticeship  to  the  trade  of  iron-moulder. 
As  an  expert  workman  at  his  trade  he  was 
employed  five  years  in  the  works  of  the  Demp- 
ster Manufacturing  Company,  at  Beatrice,  and 
thereafter  he  was  for  twelve  years  successful- 
ly engaged  in  the  cigar  and  tobacco  business 
in  Beatrice,  his  retirement  from  this  business 
having  occurred  when,  in  1914,  he  and  his 
present  associate  purchased  the  plant  and  bus- 
iness of  the  Kimball  Laundry,  to  which  he  has 
since  given  his  undivided  attention.  He  is  a 
Republican  in  his  political  proclivities,  is  one 
of  the  loyal  and  popular  members  of  the  Be- 
atrice Commercial  Club,  and  is  affliliated  with 
the  Masonic  fraternity  and  the  Benevolent  & 
Protective  Order  of  Elks. 

In  1903  was  recorded  the  marriage  of  Mr. 
Drummond  to  Miss  Lena  R.  Bush,  daughter 
of  the  late  Judge  James  Bush,  and  the  one 
child  of  this  union  is  a  fine  little  son,  Charles 
Bernard,  who  was  born  February  12,  1915. 

JAMES  K.  CULLEN.  —  Among  the  early 
settlers  in  Gage  county  was  James  Cullen,  a 
man  who  came  west  in  search  of  a  home  where 
land  could  be  purchased  more  cheaply,  and 
where  the  opportunities  were  greater  than  in 
the  state  of  Illinois  where  he  had  been  a  farm- 
er for  many  years.  He  was  moved  also  by  an 
earnest  desire  to  establish  his  home  in  a  com- 
munity in  which  he  should  not  be  denied  the 
full  advantages  of  and  fellowship  in  the  church 
of  which  he  was  an  earnest  adherent. 

Mr.  Cullen  was  born  in  Rockingham  county, 
Virginia,  and  when  a  young  man  he  moved  to 
Woodford  county,  Illinois,  where  he  was  en- 
gaged in  farming  for  many  years.  Mr.  Cul- 
len was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Christina 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


635 


Harshbarger,  also  a  native  of  Rockingham 
county,  Virginia.  In  1885  Mr.  CuUen  came 
with  his  family  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  and 
located  in  Rockford  township,  where  he  pur- 
chased eighty  acres  of  land,  partly  improved. 
He  was  very  successful,  and  at  the  time  of 
his  death  he  was  the  owner  of  two  hundred 
acres  in  Rockford  township.  Mr.  Cullen 
passed  away  at  the  age  of  seventy-two  years 
and  his  wife  followed  him  to  the  life  eternal 
three  years  later,  at  the  age  of  seventy-four 
years.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cullen  were  members 
of  the  Church  of  the  Brethren,  were  good 
Christian  people  and  were  very  highly  re- 
spected by  all  who  knew  them.  They  were 
the  parents  of  ten  children,  all  of  whom  iare 
living:  Sarah  is  the  wife  of  Perry  Van  Dyke, 
of  Newburg,  Oregon;  John,  who  for  many 
years  was  a  successful  farmer  in  Sherman 
township,  is  now  living  in  Kansas ;  Mary  is 
the  wife  of  J.  C.  Dell,  of  Gage  county;  Jamei 
resides  in  Rockford  township ;  William  is  a 
resident  of  Newburg,  Oregon;  Augusta  is  the 
wife  of  Ulysses  G.  McPheron,  of  Sherman 
township;  Hi.  D.  is  a  farmer  in  Rockford 
township;  Naomi  is  the  wife  of  J.  S.  Dell,  of 
Rockford  township;  and  Clarence  and  Otis  are 
at  Newburg,  Oregon. 

CLARENCE  W.  GALE.—  The  most  mod- 
ern and  metropolitan  of  facilities  and  service 
are  represented  in  the  attractively  appointed 
photographic  studio  of  ]\Ir.  Gale,  in  the  city 
of  Beatrice,  and  the  large  and  representative 
supporting  patronage  accorded  to  him  indicates 
the  high  popular  estimate  placed  upon  him  and 
on  the  work  issued  from  his  establishment. 
He  is  a  native  son  of  Gage  county  and  has 
won  place  as  a  leading  exponent  of  high-class 
photographic  portraiture  in  this  section  of 
Nebraska. 

Mr.  Gale  was  born  on  a  farm  in  Adams 
township,  this  county,  and  the  date  of  his 
nativity  was  July  12,  1887.  He  is  a  son  of 
Charles  and  Aldula  (Garrison)  Gale,  the 
former  a  native  of  Wisconsin  and  the  latter 
of  Iowa,  both  having  been  young  folk  at  the 
time  of  the  removal  of  the  respective  families 
to   Nebraska,   about   the   year   1865,   prior   to 


the  admission  of  the  state  to  the  Union.  George 
Gale,  paternal  grandfather  of  the  subject  of 
this  review,  was  born  and  reared  in  Wisconsin, 
where  his  parents  settled  in  the  early  pioneer 
days,  and  upon  coming  to  Nebraska  Territory 
he  numbered  himself  among  the  early  expon- 
ents of  agricultural  industry  in  Gage  county, 
where  he  and  his  wife  passed  the  residue  of 
their  lives,  as  did  also  the  maternal  grand- 
parents, Mr.  and  Mrs.  Omer  Garrison,  who 
came  to  the  territory  about  the  same  time, 
Mr.  Garrison  having  been  another  of  the 
sterling  pioneer  farmers  of  Gage  couiity,  and 
having  been  a  native  of  the  state  of  Pennsyl- 
vania. Charles  Gale  continued  his  active  as- 
sociation with  farm  enterprise  in  this  county 
until  shortly  after  the  birth  of  his  son  Clarence 
W.,  of  this  sketch,  and  in  the  meanwhile  he 
made  also  an  excellent  record  as  a  successful 
and  popular  teacher  in  the  public  schools  of 
the  county.  Upon  leaving  the  farm  he  re- 
moved with  his  family  to  Beatice,  and  here 
he  became  secretary  of  the  State  Building  & 
Loan  Association,  an  office  of  which  he  con- 
tinued the  incumbent  until  1916.  Thereafter 
he  here  lived  retired  until  his  death,  which 
occured  October  25,  1917.  He  was  a  staunch 
Republican  in  politics  and  was  an  active  mem- 
ber of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  as  is 
also  his  widow.  Of  their  children  the  subject 
of  this  review  is  the  eldest ;  Laura  is  an 
efficient  and  popular  teacher  in  the  Beatrice 
high  school ;  Robert  is  engaged  in  the  photo- 
graphic business  at  York,  judicial  center  of 
the  Nebraska  county  of  the  same  name ;  Marie 
and  Dorothy  remain  with  their  widowed 
mother.  Dorothy  is  a  valued  assistant  in  the 
photographic  studio  of  her  elder  brother. 

In  the  public  schools  of  Beatrice  Clarence 
W.  Gale  continued  his  studies  until  he  had 
completed  the  curriculum  of  the  high  school, 
in  which  he  was  graduated  as  a  member  of 
the  class  of  1904.  He  then  devoted  himself 
with  characteristic  vigor  and  earnestness  to 
acquiring  thorough  knowledge  of  all  scientific 
and  art  details  of  modern  photography,  and  he 
has  been  independently  engaged  in  business  as 
a  leading  photographist  in  Beatrice  since  1906. 
He  is  aligned  as  a  staunch  supporter  of  the 


636 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


cause  of  the  Republican  party  but  has  mani- 
fested no  ambition  for  political  activity  or 
official  preferment.  He  and  his  wife  are 
popular  factors  in  the  social  activities  of  their 
home  city  and  have  a  wide  circle  of  friends 
in  Gage  county. 

The  year  1909  recorded  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Gale  to  Miss  "Gladys  Majors,  who  was 
born  at  Peru,  Nemaha  county,  this  state,  and 
who  is  a  daughter  of  Hon.  Thomas  J.  and 
Isabelle  (Rushong)  Majors.  Her  father 
served  as  colonel  of  a  Union  regiment  during 
the  period  of  the  Civil  war,  he  having  been 
born  in  Kentucky  and  having  become  a  pioneer 
of  Nebraska  Territory  prior  to  the  war.  He 
has  been  one  of  the  representative  farmers 
and  most  influential  and  honored  citizens  of 
Nemaha  county  for  many  years  and  is  now 
living  virtually  retired  in  the  village  of  Peru. 
Colonel  Majors  has  been  specially  prominent 
in  political  affairs  in  Nebraska,  has  served  as 
a  member  of  the  state  senate  and  a  few  years 
ago  he  was  the  Republican  candidate  for 
governor  of  the  state,  his  defeat  being  the 
result  of  normal  political  exigencies.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Gale  are  active  members  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church  and  the  attrac- 
tive family  home  is  brightened  by  the  presence 
of  their  two  children, —  Francis  and  Doris. 

ALEX  L.  ANDERSON:— In  the  city  of 
Beatrice  Mr.  Anderson  is  a  successful  repre- 
sentative of  a  line  of  enterprise  that  has  im- 
portant bearing  upon  the  civic  and  material 
advancement  of  every  community,  as  he  is 
here  established  in  the  real-estate  business,  in 
which  his  operations  have  become  widely  dis- 
seminated through  Nebraska  and  other  states 
of  the  west.  Thorough  knowledge  of  realty 
values,  progressive  methods  and  fair  and 
honorable  dealings  have  gained  to  him  un- 
qualified popular  confidence  and  enabled  him 
to  build  up  a  business  of  substantial  and 
prosperous  order,  the  while  he  is  known  as 
one  of  the  loyal  and  public-spirited  citizens  of 
Gage  county  and  its  capital  city. 

Mr.  Anderson  was  born,  reared  and  educat- 
ed in  Sweden,  where  his  parents  passed  their 
entire    lives    and    where    his    father,    Andrew 


Anderson,  was  a  farmer  by  vocation.  Mr. 
Anderson  was  born  in  Sweden,  on  the  29th 
of  March,  1859,  and  in  1881,  soon  after  at- 
taining to  his  legal  majority,  he  came  to  the 
United  States,  relying  entirely  upon  his  own 
resources  in  establishing  himself  in  the  land 
of  his  adoption  and  in  here  winning  his  v/ay 
to  the  plane  of  prosperity  and  independence. 
For  six  months  after  his  arrival  he  was  em- 
ployed on  a  dairy  farm  in  Connecticut,  and 
he  then  made  his  way  to  Wisconsin,  where  he 
found  remunerative  employment  at  his  trade, 
that  of  blacksmith.  A  few  months  later  he 
again  yielded  to  the  wanderlust,  by  coming 
to  Nebraska,  and  after  having  worked  about 
two  years  at  his  trade  in  the  city  of  Lincoln 
he  came,  in  1884,  to  Beatrice,  where  he  estab- 
lished himself  in  the  work  of  his  trade.  He 
eventually  developed  a  substantial  independ- 
ent business  as  a  blacksmith  and  with  this 
sturdy  line  of  industrial  enterprise  he  con- 
tinued his  active  association  until  1907,  since 
which  year  he  has  given'  his  time  and  atten- 
tion to  the  real-estate  business,  as  previously 
noted  in  this  context.  As  a  loyal  and  appre- 
ciative citizen  he  has  taken  active  interest  in 
political  affairs,  though  never  an  aspirant  for 
public  office,  and  he  is  found  aligned  as  a 
stalwart  supporter  of  the  principles  of  the 
Democratic  party.  He  and  his  family  are 
communicants  of  the  Lutheran  church  and  he 
is  affiliated  with  the  Fraternal  Aid  Union  and 
the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America. 

In  1884  Mr.  Anderson  wedded  Miss  Lottie 
Berg,  who  likewise  is  a  native  of  Sweden,  and 
they  have  two  daughters, —  Minnie  Ruth,  who 
completed  a  course  in  the  Beatrice  high  school 
and  who  is  now  a  successful  and  popular 
teacher;  and  Clara,  who  is  a  skilled  steno- 
grapher and  who  holds  as  such  a  position  in 
the  city  of  Omaha. 

WILLIAM  L.  OZMAN.—  The  honored 
pioneer  of  Gage  county  whose  name  initiates 
this  paragraph  has  passed  recently  the  eighti- 
eth milestone  on  the  journey  of  life  and  though 
in  his  experience  he  has  endured  to  the  full 
the  "heat  and  burden  of  the  day"  and  made 
his  activities  count  in  worthy  productiveness, 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


637 


the  years  rest  lightly  upon  him  and  he  has  the 
mental  and  physical  vigor  commonly  accredit- 
ed only  to  a  man  many  years  his  junior.  Since 
1910  he  has  lived  practically  retired  in  the  city 
of  Beatrice,  and  aside  from  the  distinction  that 
is  his  as  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Gage 
county  there  must  ever  attach  to  his  name 
the  high  honor  of  having  given  valiant  service 
as  a  loyal  soldier  of  the  Union  in  the  Civil 
war. 

Mr.  Ozman  was  born  at  Lansing,  Tomp- 
kins county.  New  York,  in  the  year  1837,  and 
was  reared  to  manhood  in  the  old  Empire 
state,  where  he  received  the  advantages  of  the 
common  schools  and  where,  at  the  age  of 
eighteen  years,  he  entered  upon  an  apprentice- 
ship to  the  trade  of  harnessmaker,  in  which 
he  became  a  skilled  workman.  Mr.  Ozman  is 
doubly  appreciative  of  the  pariotism  mani- 
fested by  the  young  men  of  America  at  the 
present  time,  when  they  are  giving  themselves 
earnestly  to  making  up  the  fine  national  army 
for  the  country's  participation  in  the  great 
European  war,  and  this  attitude  on  his  part 
can  not  but  recall  vividly  to  his  mind  the 
time  when,  as  a  young  man  of  twenty-five 
vears,  he  subordinated  all  personal  interests 
to  respond  to  the  call  of  patriotism,  by  ten- 
dering his  services  in  defense  of  the  Union. 
In  1862  he  enlisted  as  a  private  in  Company 
C,  One  Hundred  and  Ninth  New  York  \'ol- 
unteer  Infantry,  with  which  he  proceeded  to 
the  front  and  took  part  in  various  engage- 
ments, including  the  first  battle  of  the  Wilder- 
ness. Shortly  after  this  historic  engagement 
he  was  attacked  with  illness  and  thereafter  he 
remained  incapacitated  for  active  service  until 
January,  1865,  when  he  rejoined  his  regiment, 
with  which  he  took  part  in  the  battle  of 
Petersburg  on  the  2d  of  the  following  April, 
this  being  one  of  the  last  of  the  important 
battles  of  the  great  internecine  conflict.  After 
the  surrender  of  Generals  Lee  and  Johnston 
Mr.  Ozman  took  part  in  the  Grand  Review  of 
the  victorious  troops  in  the  city  of  Washing- 
ton, where  he  received  his  honorable  discharge. 
He  then  returned  with  other  members  of  his 
regiment  to  New  York  state,  and  shortly  af- 
terward he  established  himself  in  business  as 


harnessmaker,  at  Ithaca,  that  state.  In  1866 
he  sold  his  business  and  went  to  Wheatland, 
Vernon  county,  Wisconsin,  where  he  contin- 
ued in  the  same  line  of  business  until  1871. 
In  the  year  last  mentioned  Mr.  Ozman  became 
a  resident  of  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  where 
he  obtained  a  homestead  claim  of  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  of  land,  in  Section  6  Highland 
township.  He  was  one  of  the  early  settlers 
of  that  part  of  the  county,  and  recalls  that  at 
the  time  Indians  were  still  much  in  evidence 
in  this  section  of  the  state,  the  while  deer 
and  antelope  still  roved  the  prairies.  He 
gave  himself  vigorously  to  the  reclaiming  and 
improving  of  his  pioneer  farm  and  eventually 
developed  the  same  into  one  of  the  productive 
and  valuable  landed  domains  of  the  county.  In 
character  and  ability  he  was  well  fitted  for 
leadership  in  community  affairs,  and  he  was 
active  in  the  furtherance  of  measures  and  un- 
dertakings that  conserved  both  civic  and  in- 
dustrial advancement  and  prosperity.  He  and 
his  devoted  wife  assisted  earnestly  in  the  or- 
ganizing of  the  first  Sunday  school  in  High- 
land township,  and  he  was  influential  in  the 
establishing  and  activities  of  the  Gage  county 
grange  of  the  Patrons  of  Husbandry,  as  well 
as  the  Farmers'  Alliance  of  later  years.  He 
was  able  also  to  give  efifective  service  as  one 
of  the  pioneer  teachers  of  this  section  of  the 
state,  and  while  improving  his  homestead  he 
taught  eleven  terms  of  school,  in  Gage  and 
Lancaster  counties,  his  service  in  the  peda- 
gogic profession  having  been  given  during  the 
winter  terms,  while  he  devoted  the  intervening 
summer  seasons  to  the  afl^airs  of  his  farm. 

Mr.  Ozman  has  never  abated  his  deep  in- 
terest in  his  old  comrades  of  the  Civil  war  or 
in  promoting  lofty  ideals  of  patriotism,  in 
which  connection  it  is  pleasing  to  note  that 
on  the  occasion  of  the  old  soldiers'  reunion 
held  at  Beatrice  in  1876,  in  connection  with 
the  centennial  anniversary  of  our  national  in- 
dependence, he  was  chosen  to  deliver  the  pa- 
triotic address,  a  duty  which  he  discharged 
with  characteristic  ability  and  earnestness.  In 
all  ways  has  this  sterling  pioneer  stood  ex- 
emplar of  loyal  and  progressive  citizenship, 
and   none   has   commanded   a   greater   degree: 


638 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


of  popular  confidence  and  good  will.  The 
political  proclivities  of  Mr.  Ozman  are  indi- 
cated in  the  staunch  support  which  he  accords 
to  the  Republican  party,  and  he  and  his  family 
hold  membership  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church,  in  which  he  has  been  active  and 
zealous  for  many  years.  He  has  been  affiliated 
with  the  time-honored  Masonic  fraternity  since 
1866  and  is  one  of  the  honored  and  veteran 
members  of  Rawlins  Post,  No.  35,  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic,  at  Beatrice. 

In  Wisconsin,  Mr.  Ozman  wedded  Miss 
Mary  A.  Phillips,  who  was  born  in  England 
and  who  was  a  girl  when  she  accompanied  her 
parents  on  their  immigration  to  America.  A 
woman  of  strong  character  and  high  ideals, 
Mrs.  Ozman  shared  with  her  husband  the 
trials  and  vicissitudes  of  pioneer  life  in  Gage 
county,  and  she  was  the  first  woman  to  live  on 
their  old  homestead  in  Highland  township, 
where  she  was  the  gracious  and  efficient  chate- 
laine of  the  pioneer  home  and  where  she  died 
at  the  age  of  forty-seven  years,  being  sur- 
vived by  six  children,  concerning  whom  the 
following  brief  record  is  given :  Elizabeth  Etta 
is  the  wife  of  Lincoln  Paine,  of  Caldwell, 
Idaho ;  Edmund  Grant,  who  is  now  one  of  the 
prosperous  farmers  of  Gage  county,  served 
in  the  command  of  General  Colby  in  the  Indian 
war  that  culminated  in  the  battle  of  Wounded 
Knee,  South  Dakota ;  Agnes  Nevada  is  the 
wife  of  Mr.  LaGrange  and  they  maintain  their 
home  in  the  state  of  Oklahoma;  Mary  Ella 
became  a  missionary  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal church  and  as  such  was  in  service  in 
South  America  for  the  three  years  preceding 
her  death ;  Roscoe  C,  who  was  graduated  in 
the  law  department  of  the  University  of  Ne- 
braska, engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  profes- 
sion at  Lincoln,  capitol  of  the  state,  and  he 
thereafter  had  the  distinction  of  serving  three 
years  as  city  clerk,  besides  which  he  well  up- 
held the  patriotic  honors  of  the  family  name 
by  enlisting  for  service  in  the  Spanish-Ameri- 
can war,  in  which  connection  he  was  assigned 
to  duty  in  the  Philippine  Islands,  where  he 
took  part  in  various  engagements,  in  one  of 
which  he  was  wounded  in  the  right  wrist:  in 
V>17  he  wedded  Miss  Edna  Deniming.  one  of 


his  youthful  schoolmates,  and  they  now  main- 
tain their  home  on  one  of  the  fine  farms  of 
Colorado ;  Alfred  Blaine,  the  youngest  of  the 
children,  married  Miss  Ida  Brown,  of  Beatrice, 
and  he  is  one  of  the  progressive  farmers  of 
Holt  township,  this  county. 

April  5,  1899,  William  L.  Ozman  contract- 
ed a  second  marriage,  the  maiden  name  of  his 
wife  having  been  Luetta  May  Kitchen.  Mrs. 
Ozman  was  born  and  reared  in  Jasper  county, 
Iowa,  a  representative  of  one  of  its  well  known 
pioneer  families,  and  she  makes  the  pleasant 
home  of  the  family  one  notable  for  its  gener- 
ous hospitality  and  good  cheer.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Ozman  have  two  children, —  Earl  John  and 
Theodore  R.,  both  of  whom  remain  at  the 
parental  home  and  are  students  in  the  public 
schools  of  Beatrice. 

FREDERICK  J.  SMITH  left  a  definite  and 
worthy  impress  in  connection  with  civic,  in- 
dustrial and  business  advancement  in  Gage 
county,  commanded  the  high  regard  of  all 
who  knew  him  and  it  is  but  due  that  a  tribute 
to  his  memory  be  incorporated  in  this  volme. 

Mr.  Smith  was  born  in  the  district  of  East 
Friesland,  in  the  extreme  northwestern  part 
of  Germany,  and  the  date  of  his  nativity  was 
December  22,  1850.  He  was  a  scion  of  one  of 
the  old  and  sterling  families  of  that  historic 
section  of  Germany,  a  district  formerly  a  part 
of  the  Netherlands,  and  was  a  son  of  Jergen 
and  Etta  (Goldenstein)  Schmidt,  concerning 
whom  more  specific  mention  is  made  on  other 
pages,  in  the  memoir  of  John  Carstens,  who 
married  their  daughter  Mary.  Mr.  Smith  was 
reared  and  educated  in  his  native  land  and 
was  about  seventeen  years  of  age  when  he 
came  to  America,  in  1868,  he  having  found  it 
expedient  to  change  the  original  spelling  of 
the  family  name  to  the  English  form  after  he 
had  here  established  his  home.  At  Rushville, 
Illinois,  he  has  associated  with  the  business 
conducted  by  his  uncle  until  1872,  when  he 
came  to  Gage  county,  after  having  previously 
purchased  a  homestead  near  Clatonia.  Such 
was  his  intellectual  ability  that  he  was  called 
upon  to  teach  school  in  one  of  the  districts 
of    Clatonia    township,    and    his    ambition    led 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


639 


him,  about  1874,  to  take  a  higher  course  of 
study,  in  Wesleyan  University  at  Warrenton, 
Missouri.  Thereafter,  he  continued  his  suc- 
cessful service  as  a  teacher  in  Clatonia  town- 
ship until  his  marriage,  in  1880,  after  which 
he  engaged  in  farming,  six  miles  west  of 
Cortland.  In  1885  he  removed  with  his  family 
to  the  village  of  Cortland,  where  he  engaged 
in  the  general  merchandise  business  and  built 
up  a  substantial  and  prosperous  trade.  He 
continued  his  activities  as  a  representative 
merchant  of  Cortland  until  his  death,  which 
occurred  January  21,  1913.  He  was  the  owner 
of  a  well  improved  farm  in  Clatonia  township 
and  also  of  another,  in  Rooks  county,  Kansas. 
He  was  a  stockholder  of  the  Farmers'  State 
Bank  of  Cortland  and  also  of  the  Farmers" 
Elevator  Company  of  that  place.  He  was 
loyal  and  public-spirited  as  a  citizen,  his 
course  was  guided  and  governed  by  the  highest 
principles,  and  he  held  the  inviolable  confi- 
dence of  those  with  whom  he  came  in  contact 
in  the  varied  relations  of  life.  His  political 
support  was  given  to  the  Republican  party,  he 
served  a  number  of  years  as  a  valued  member 
of  the  board  of  education  at  Cortland,  he  was 
affiliated  with  the  Ancient  Order  of  United 
Workmen,  and  he  was  a  zealous  member  of 
the  German  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  as 
is  also  his  widow,  who  still  resides  at  Cortland. 
He  aided  much  in  the  organization  of  the 
church  of  this  denomination  at  Cortland  and 
in  the  erection  of  the  church  edifice,  besides 
having  served  as  an  officer  of  the  same. 

On  the  1st  of  April,  1880,  was  solemnized 
the  marriage  of  Mr.  Smith  to  Mrs.  Maria 
(Wendt)  Pothast,  widow  of  Simon  Pothast, 
whose  death  occurred  when  he  was  about 
thirty-two  years  of  age,  in  Illinois,  and  who  is 
survived  by  four  sons, —  Henry,  who  is  en- 
gaged in  the  real-estate  business  in  the  city 
of  Lincoln,  Nebraska ;  David,  who  is  a  retired 
farmer  in  Colorado;  Edward,  who  is  cashier 
of  the  Farmers'  State  Bank  at  Cortland ;  and 
Frederick  L.,  who  is  cashier  of  the  Farmers' 
State  Bank  at  Pickrell  and  is  individually  men- 
tion on  other  pages  of  this  work.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Smith  became  the  parents  of  six  chil- 
dren: Rosetta  and  Anetta  died  in  early  child- 


hood; Lillie  is  the  wife  of  Professor  H.  G. 
Least,  of  Mount  Pleasant,  Iowa;  Elsie  is  the 
wife  of  J.  H.  Wehrli,  of  Haxton,  Colorado; 
Setta  died  at  the  age  of  three  years,  of  mem- 
branous croup;  and  Luella  remains  with  her 
widowed  mother  at  Cortland. 

Mrs.  Maria  (Wendt)  Smith  was  born  in 
Germany,  October  10,  1850,  and  in  1868  she 
accompanied  her  parents  on  their  immigra- 
tion to  America,  the  family  home  having  been 
established  in  Illinois,  where  her  first  marriage 
was  solemnized,  and  her  parents  having 
eventually  come  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska, 
where  they  passed  the  remainder  of  their 
lives.  Mrs.  Smith  is  a  daughter  of  Philip  and 
Helen  (Kentsche)  Wendt,  both  natives  of 
Germany,  where  the  former  was  born  in  1830 
and  the  latter  in  1828.  Mr.  Wendt  was  a 
shoemaker  by  trade,  and  resided  at  Davis, 
Illinois,  until  he  came  to  Gage  county,  in  1886. 
Here  he  worked  at  his  trade  and  clerked  in 
the  general  store  of  F.  J.  Smith  &  Co.  He 
died  in  1892,  and  his  venerable  widow  passed 
the  closing  years  of  her  life  in  Cortland,  where 
she  died  in  1903.  Of  their  four  children  two 
are  living. —  Mrs.  Smith  and  Mrs.  Helena 
Lucka,  who  likewise  resides  at  Cortland,  this 
county. 

JAMES  R.  WILSON  is  numbered  among 
the  progressive  business  men  and  influential 
citizens  of  the  village  of  Pickrell,  where  he  is 
a  stockholder  in  and  general  manager  of  the 
Farmers'  Elevator  Company,  besides  which 
his  association  with  agricultural  enterprise  is 
further  shown  by  his  ownership  of  an  excellent 
farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  in 
Thomas  county,  this  state. 

Mr.  Wilson  was  born  on  a  farm  near  Spring- 
field, capital  city  of  Illinois,  on  the  20th  of 
April,  1870,  and  is  a  son  of  Robert  and  Mary 
E.  (Reed)  Wilson,  of  whose  seven  children 
he  is  the  firstborn;  Clara  is  the  wife  of  P. 
G.  Stanley,  of  Cheyenne  Wells,  Colorado; 
Rilla  is  the  wife  of  E.  T.  Locke,  of  Wichita, 
Kansas;  Lena  is  the  wife  of  J.  J.  Sherman, 
of  Doniphan,  Hall  county,  Nebraska ;  Lillian 
is  the  wife  of  Ralph  G.  Ells,  a  successful 
farmer    in    Blakely    township.    Gage    tounty; 


640 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Ada  is  the  wife  of  W.  E.  Derby,  of  North 
Platte,  this  state ;  and  WilHam  W.  resides  at 
Beatrice,  Gage  county. 

Robert  Wilson  was  born  near  the  city  of 
Liverpool,  England,  June  8,  1838,.  and  was 
reared  and  educated  in  his  native  land.  There 
he  was  associated  with  farm  enterprise  until 
about  1868,  when  he  came  to  the  United  States 
and  engaged  in  farming  near  Springfield, 
Illinois.  In  1878  he  came  with  his  family  to 
Nebraska  and  established  his  residence  on  a 
farm  which  he  rented  from  Judge  Parker, 
south  of  Beatrice,  the  judicial  center  of  Gage 
county.  Later  he  purchased  land  on  the  old 
Indian  reservation,  in  Liberty  township,  where 
he  reclaimed  and  developed  a  fine  farm  and 
where  he  continued  to  reside  until  1900,  when 
he  sold  the  property.  He  then  paid  a  visit 
to  his  son  James  R.,  of  this  review,  after 
which  he  set  forth  to  visit  his  old  home  in 
England,  his  intention  being  to  return  to 
America  and  purchase  land  in  Canada. 
Mystery  and  probable  tragedy  are  all  that  can 
be  conjectured  concerning  him  since  that  time, 
as  none  of  his  family  has  heard  from  him  since 
he  left  Gage  county  and  no  trace  of  him 
has  been  obtained  from  any  source.  His  wife, 
whose  death  occurred  in  1902,  was  born  near 
Springfield,  Illinois,  in  June,  1846. 

James  R.  Wilson  was  a  lad  of  eight  years 
when  he  accompanied  his  parents  to  Gage 
county,  where  he  was  reared  to  manhood  and 
made  good  use  of  the  advantages  aflforded  in 
the  public  schools.  He  continued  thereafter  to 
be  associated  with  productive  farm  enterprise 
until  1911,  in  April  of  which  year  he  assumed 
his  present  office,  that  of  manager  of  the 
Farmers'  Elevator  Company  at  Pickrell. 

On  the  20th  of  March,  1895,  was  solemnized 
the  marriage  of  Mr.  Wilson  to  Miss  Rosa  M. 
Renfro,  who  was  born  in  southern  ^lissouri, 
June  21,  1877,  a  daughter  of  J.  T.  and  ]\rartha 
(Boyd)  Renfro,  both  likewise  natives  of 
Missouri,  representatives  of  the  Renfro  family 
having  been  clergymen  of  the  Baptist  church 
in  two  or  more  generations.  Upon  leaving 
Missouri  the  parents  of  Mrs.  Wilson  removed 
to  western  Kansas,  where  her  father  took  up 
a  homestead  claim,  but  within  a  comparatively 


short  time  he  came  with  his  family  to  Pawnee 
county,  Nebraska.  He  and  his  wife  now 
reside  at  Peru,  Nemaha  county,  where  he  is 
living  retired,  save  that  he  gives  his  supervi- 
sion to  his  fruit  orchard,  which  is  a  small  but 
productive  one.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wilson  have 
three  children, —  Ray,  who  is  assistant  man- 
ager of  the  grain  elevator  at  Pickrell,  as  his 
father's  valued  aid;  Harry,  who  is  a  student 
in  the  high  school  at  Beatrice,  and  Frank,  who 
is  the  youngest  member  of  the  home  circle. 

A  wide-awake  and  progressive  citizen  and 
business  man,  Mr.  Wilson  has  been,  specially 
influential  in  public  and  community  affairs  at 
Pickrell,  and  he  was  prominently  identified 
with  the  organization  and  incorporaiton  of  the 
village.  In  1914  he  was  elected  mayor,  and 
of  this  municipal  office  he  has  since  continued 
the  incumbent, —  a  fact  that  attests  alike  his 
personal  popularity  and  his  effective  admin- 
istration. He  has  been  progressive  in  his 
official  policies  and  under  his  regime  great 
improvements  have  been  made  in  the  village, 
especially  in  establishing  the  system  of  electric 
street  lighting  and  the  construction  of  cement 
sidewalks.  His  political  allegiance  is  given 
to  the  Democratic  party  and  he  is  affiliated 
with  the  Masonic  fraternity,  the  Independent 
Order  of  Odd  Fellows  and  the  Ancient  Order 
of  L^nited  Workman. 

SILAS  A.  SEYMOUR  is  another  of  the 
honored  Nebraska  pioneers  who  has  shown 
his  appreciation  of  the  advantages  and  at- 
tractions of  the  city  of  Beatrice  by  here 
establishing  his  home  after  retirement  from 
productive  activities  as  a  farmer.  He  was 
born  in  Herkimer  county.  New  York,  on  the 
4th  of  November,  1843,  and  is  a  son  of  Tomp- 
kins and  Hannah  (Dodge)  Seymour,  both 
likewise  natives  of  the  old  Empire  state,  where 
they  passed  their  entire  lives  and  where  the 
father  became  a  substantial  farmer  and  in- 
fluential citizen  of  Herkimer  county.  He  also 
was  a  successful  merchant  and  contractor  for 
a  term  of  years.  His  father,  Silas  Seymour, 
was  born  and  reared  in  New  York  state,  his 
parents  having  been  natives  of  England,  and 
he  was  a  soldier  in  the  war  of  1812.       His 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


wife's  father,  Amasa  Dodge,  was  a  representa- 
tive of  one  of  the  old  and  honored  families  of 
the  Mohawk  valley  of  New  York.  Tompkins 
Seymour  was  originally  a  Democrat  in  politics, 
but  finally  he  transferred  his  allegiance  to  the 
Republican  party.  He  was  a  man  of  broad 
mental  ken  and  mature  judgement  and  he 
commanded  the  high  esteem  of  all  who  knew 
him.  He  was  called  upon  to  serve  in  various 
township  offices,  and  he  and  his  wife  were 
active  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church.  Of  their  five  children  the  subject  of 
this  sketch  is  the  only  one  living. 

Silas  A.  Seymour  acquired  his  preliminary 
education  in  the  district  schools  of  Oswego 
county.  New  York,  and  thereafter  attended 
Pulaski  Academy,  at  Pulaski,  that  state,  be- 
sides pursuing  higher  academic  studies  in 
Falley  Seminary,  at  Oswego.  He  enlisted  in 
1864  as  a  member  of  Company  E,  One  Hun- 
dred and  Eighty-ninth  New  York  Volunteer 
Infantry,  and  with  this  command  he  was  in 
active  service  until  the  close  of  the  Civil  war, 
he  having  been  with  his  regiment  at  Appo- 
mattox at  the  time  of  the  surrender  of  General 
Lee  and  having  taken  part  in  numerous  en- 
gagements that  occurred  within  the  final  year 
of  the  great  conflict.  In  later  years  he  has 
vitalized  his  interest  in  his  old  comrades  in 
arms  by  maintaining  affiliation  with  the  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic. 

After  the  close  of  the  war  Mr.  Seymour  at- 
tended Falley  Seminary,  as  noted  above,  and 
in  1867  he  numbered  himself  among  the 
pioneer  settlers  of  Blackhawk  county,  Iowa, 
where  he  engaged  in  farm  enterprise  and 
where  he  continued  his  residence  until  1871. 
In  that  year,  with  team  and  covered  wagon, 
he  made  the  overland  journey  to  Jefferson 
county,  Nebraska,  and  the  same  primitive 
method  of  transportation  was  used  when  he 
brought  his  family  to  the  new  home,  in  the 
following  year.  He  purchased  in  Jefferson 
county  a  quarter  section  of  land,  minor  im- 
provements having  previously  been  made  on 
the  place,  including  the  erection  of  a  house 
fourteen  by  sixteen  feet  in  dimensions  and 
built  of  Cottonwood  lumber.  On  this  farm 
he    continued    his    residence    fourteen    years. 


within  which  period  he  brought  the  land  under 
effective  cultivation,  enlarged  and  remodeled 
the  house  and  erected  other  requisite  farm 
buildings.  He  was  successful  in  his  vigorous 
activities  as  an  agriculturist  and  stock-grower 
and  in  1885  he  came  with  his  family  to 
Beatrice,  where  he  purchased  property  and 
established  his  permanent  home.  Here  he  has 
since  lived  practically  retired  during  the  in- 
tervening years  and  in  the  enjoyment  of  the 
peace  and  prosperity  that  fittingly  crown  a  life 
of  earnest  and  fruitful  endeavor. 

On  the  2d  of  January,  1868,  was  solemnized 
the  marriage  of  Mr.  Seymour  to  Miss  Eliza- 
beth Porter,  who  was  born  and  reared  in  the 
state  of  New  York,  a  daughter  of  Nelson  B. 
Porter,  and  certain  of  whose  ancestors  were 
patriot  soldiers  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution, 
so  that  she  is  eligible  for  and  actively  affiliated 
with  the  Society  of  the  Daughters  of  the 
American  Revolution.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sey- 
mour have  two  children.  Florence,  a  graduate 
of  the  Beatrice  high  school,  remains  at  the 
parental  home  and  is  popular  and  active  in 
connection  with  the  social  life  of  the  com- 
munity. Gertrude  is  the  wife  of  \''erne  H. 
Burnette,  who  is  engaged  in  the  printing  busi- 
ness in  the  city  of  St.  Joseph,  Missouri,  as  a 
member  of  the  Roubidoux  Printing  Company. 
The  elder  daughter  is  a  skilled  stenographer 
and  has  been  employed  as  su;h  for  several 
years. 

Mr.  Seymour  is  found  arrayed  as  a  loyal 
supporter  of  the  cause  of  the  Republican  party, 
he  is  affiliated  with  the  Modern  Woodmen  of 
America  and  the  Knights  and  Ladies  of 
Security  and  he  and  his  wife  are  active  mem- 
bers of  the  Congregational  church.  He  finds 
ample  demands  upon,  his  time  and  attention 
in  his  activities  as  a  fancier  and  raiser  of 
fancy  poultry,  in  which  field  of  enterprise  he 
raises  fine  Rhode  Island  Reds,  his  exhibit  of 
which  at  the  Gage  county  fair  in  1917  brought 
to  him  majority  of  the  blue  ribbons  on  this 
type  of  poultry. 

GEORGE  E.  THEASMEYER,  who  is  the 
owner  of  a  fine  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  in   Section   15,   Clatonia  township,  and 


642 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


who  is  giving  special  attention  to  the  breeding 
and  raising  of  Hereford  cattle  and  Poland- 
China  swine,  is  a  member  of  one  of  the  hon- 
ored pioneer  families  of  Gage  county  and 
was  born  on  the  old  homestead  of  his  father, 
in  Section  15,  Clatonia  township,  July  26, 
1882,  being  fourth  in  a  family  of  six  children; 
Henry  is  the  eldest  of  the  family  and  remains 
with  his  mother;  Anna  is  the  wife  of  John 
Krauter,  of  Clatonia  township;  Emma  is  the 
wife  of  Henry  Heller,  of  Lancaster  county; 
Nina  is  the  wife  of  Henry  Horn,  of  Gering, 
Scotts  Bluflf  county;  and  Daniel,  who  lives 
with  his  mother,  is  a  farmer  in  Clatonia  town- 
ship. 

Henry  Theasmeyer,  father  of  the  subject 
of  this  review,  was  born  in  Detmold,  Princi- 
pality of  Lippe,  Germany,  February  21,  1850, 
and  was  one  of  the  honored  pioneer  citizens 
of  Gage  county  at  the  time  of  his  death,  De- 
cember 27,  1914.  In  early  childhood  he  was 
left  an  orphan  and  he  was  reared  by  kinsfolk, 
the  while  he  began  to  provide  in  a  degree  for 
his  own  maintenance  when  he  was  but  ten 
years  old,  by  doing  farm  work  within  the 
compass  of  his  physical  powers.  His  educa- 
tional advantages  were  limited  and  in  his 
native  land  he  applied  himself  diligently  until 
he  was  nineteen  years  old,  when  he  determined 
to  come  to  America,  where  he  felt  that  he 
could  find  better  opportunities  for  advance- 
ment. In  1869  he  embarked,  at  Bremen,  on 
a  sailing  vessel,  and  in  due  time  he  landed 
in  New  York  city.  He  thence  went  forthwith 
to  Stephenson  county,  Illinois,  where  he  found 
work  on  a  farm  and  where  his  efficient  services 
won  for  him  a  noteworthy  advance  in  wages 
Avithin  the  ensuing  six  years.  There,  on  the 
21st  of  April,  1875,  he  married  Miss  Susan 
Lauber,  who  was  born  in  Stephenson  county, 
Illinois,  July  30,  1852,  and  who  now  maintains 
her  home  in  the  village  of  Clatonia.  Shortly 
after  his  marriage  Mr.  Theasmeyer  came,  in 
the  spring  of  1875,  to  Gage  county,  where  he 
purchased  eighty  acres  of  railroad  land,  in 
Section  15,  Clatonia  township.  A  plentitude 
of  success  attended  his  earnest  activities  dur- 
ing the  long  years  that  marked  the  general  de- 
velopment and  progress  of  Gage  county,  and 


he  became  one  of  the  most  substantial  farmers 
of  Clatonia  township.  He  and  his  wife 
bravely  met  the  vicissitudes  and  trials  of  the 
pioneer  days  and  in  their  kindliness  and  up- 
rightness gained  the  high  regard  of  all  who 
knew  them.  At  the  time  of  his  death,  Decem- 
ber 27,  1914,  Mr.  Theasmeyer  was  the  owner 
of  a  valuable  landed  estate  of  eight  hundred 
and  eighty  acres.  He  and  his  wife  aided  in 
the  organization  of  the  German  Methodist 
Episcopal  church  at  Clatonia  and  became 
charter  members  of  the  same,  Mrs.  Theas- 
meyer being  still  an  active  member.  In  poli- 
tics Mr.  Theasmeyer  was  a  staunch  Republi- 
can and  he  took  a  lively  and  intelligent  interest 
in  governmental  aflfairs,  both  national  and 
local. 

George  E.  Theasmeyer  has  been  associated 
with  farm  enterprise  in  Clatonia  township 
from  the  time  of  his  boyhood,  and  a  portion 
of  his  present  farm  came  to  him  as  a  heritage 
from  his  father's  estate,  while  the  remainder 
he  purchased  from  his  widowed  mother.  He 
made  good  use  of  the  advantages  afforded  in 
the  public  schools  and  this  was  fostered  by 
influences  that  made  for  development  of  both 
brain  and  brawn  and  that  admirably  fortified 
him  for  the  duties  and  responsibilities  of  life. 
He  is  one  of  the  energetic  and  successful 
agriculturists  and  stock-growers  of  his  native 
county  and  as  a  liberal  and  progressive  citi- 
zen is  fully  upholding  the  honors  of  the  fam- 
ily name.  His  political  allegiance  is  given  to 
the  Democratic  party  and  he  and  his  wife  are 
members  of  the  German  Methodist  church. 

March  24,  1904,  recorded  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Theasmeyer  to  Miss  Frances  Heller,  who 
was  born  in  Lancaster  county,  this  state,  Feb- 
ruary 6,  1883,  a  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Rosa 
(Liesech)  Heller,  who  now  reside  at  Hallan, 
that  county.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Theasmeyer  have 
four  children  —  Herbert,  Hayward,  Helen, 
and  Dale. 

JOHN  T.  JURGENS,  who  is  numbered 
among  the  substantial  citizens  and  representa- 
tive farmers  of  Hanover  township  was  born  at 
Aurich,  in  the  province  of  Hanover,  Germany, 
March  3,  1871,  and  is  a  son  of  Thee  H.  and 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA  643 


R.  AND  Mrs.  George  E.  Theasmeyer 


644 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Anna  (Dulzman)  Jurgens,  both  natives  of  that 
section  of  the  German  empire,  where  the 
former  was  born  in  1833  and  the  latter  in 
1830,  her  death  having  occurred  in  1913.  In 
1881  Thee  H.  Jurgens  came  with  his  family 
to  Gage  county  and  after  farming  several  years 
on  rented  land  he  purchased  eighty  acres,  in 
Hanover  township.  He  continued  his  active 
and  successful  association  with  farm  enter- 
pise  until  1894,  when  he  retired,  and  he  now 
resides  in  the  home  of  his  son  John  T.,  of 
this  review, —  being  known  as  one  of  the 
sterling  pioneer  citizens  of  the  county,  his 
political  support  being  given  to  the  Republican 
party  and  his  religious  faith  being  that  of  the 
German  Lutheran  church,  of  which  his  wife 
likewise  was  a  devoted  communicant.  They 
became  the  parents  of  five  children:  Henry  is 
a  prosperous  farmer  in  Logan  township; 
Wilke  died  when  about  fifty  years  of  age; 
Thee  T.  is  a  farmer  in  Hanover  township ; 
Grace  is  the  wife  of  Ehme  Waldman,  of  Logan 
township;  and  the  subject  of  this  sketch  is  the 
youngest  of  the  number. 

John  T.  Jurgens  was  ten  years  old  at  the 
time  when  the  family  home  was  established 
in  Gage  covmty,  and  here  he  was  reared  to 
the  sturdy  discipline  of  the  farm,  the  while  he 
m,ade  good  use  of  the  advantages  afforded  by 
the  district  schools.  He  finally  purchased  his 
father's  farm,  to  which  he  has  added  until  it 
now  comprises  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres 
of  land,  in  Hanover  township.  His  success  has 
been  won  with  integrity  and  honor  and  by 
close  application  and  good  management.  He 
has  made  excellent  improvements  on  his  farm 
property,  including  the  erection  of  his  pres- 
ent large  and  attractive  house,  in  1910,  and 
his  large  barn,  in  1911.  He  is  liberal  and 
loyal  as  a  citizen,  is  a  Republican  in  politics, 
has  served  fifteen  years  as  a  member  of  the 
school  board  of  his  district,  besides  having 
given  equally  efficient  service  as  road  over- 
seer and  as  a  member  of  the  official  board  of 
the  township  of  Hanover.  In  connection  with 
diversified  agriculture  he  gives  special  atten- 
tion to  the  raising  of  good  live  stock,  and  he 
has  bred  from  four  full-blood  Short-horn  bulls 
that  have  been  owned  bv  him. 


In  1896  Mr.  Jurgens  wedded  Miss  Elsche 
Francen,  who  was  born  in  Champaign  county, 
Illinois,  and  reared  in  Gage  county,  Nebraska. 
She  is  a  daughter  of  Harm  Francen,  who  came 
from  Gennany  and  settled  in  Illinois,  where 
he  remained  until  1882,  when  he  settled  in 
Gage  county.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jurgens  are  ac- 
tive communicants  of  the  German  Lutheran 
church.  They  have  eight  children,  all  of  whom 
remain  members  of  the  gracious  home  circle  — ■ 
Thee,  Harm,  Henry,  Grace,  Wilke,  John, 
Dick,  and  Anna  Y. 

O.  J.  LYNDES.— The  greater  number  of 
the  pioneers  of  Gage  county  were  of  fine, 
sturdy  stock  —  generous-hearted,  resourceful, 
courageous  and  optimistic, —  and  such  attri- 
butes have  significantly  denoted  the  sterling 
pioneer  citizen  to  whom  this  sketch  is  dedi- 
cated. Mr.  Lyndes  is  now  living  virtually  re- 
tired in  the  city  of  Beatrice,  but  is  here  as- 
sociated with  his  son-in-law,  George  Mayborn, 
in  the  conducting  of  a  well  equipped  meat 
market,  under  the  firm  name  of  Mayborn  & 
Lyndes. 

Mr.  Lyndes  was  born  at  Grafton,  Lorain 
county,  Ohio,  March  6,  1848,  and  is  a  son  of 
Orville  and  Mary  (Turner)  Lyndes,  the 
former  a  native  of  Massachusetts  and  the  lat- 
ter of  Vermont.  Orville  Lyndes  was  a  scion 
of  fine  old  Puritan  New  England  ancestry  on 
both  the  paternal  and  maternal  sides  and  af- 
ter his  removal  to  Ohio  he  became  a  pro.sper- 
ous  farmer  in  Lorain  county,  both  he  and  his 
wife  having  continued  their  residence  in  the 
old  Buckeye  state  until  their  death.  Three  of 
their  sons  were  valiant  soldiers  of  the  Union 
in  the  Civil  war.  Anson  served  more  than 
three  years  and  after  being  captured  by  the 
enemy  was  confined  in  a  Confederate  prison 
for  somewhat  more  than  six  months  ;  Frederick 
was  in  the  Union  ranks  for  more  than  three 
years  and  was  with  General  Sheridan  in  the 
historic  Shenandoah  campaign ;  and  John, 
whose  military  career  covered  four  years,  was 
assigned  the  greater  part  of  the  time  to  the 
guarding  of  Confederate  prisoners  at  Colum- 
bus, Ohio- 

O.  J.  Lyndes  was  reared  on  the  old  home 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


645 


farm  and  gained  his  early  education  in  the 
common  schools  of  his  native  county.  At  the 
age  of  eighteen  years  he  went  to  Lee  county. 
Illinois,  where  he  found  work  on  a  farm  and 
where  later  he  engaged  in  farm  enterprise  in 
an  independent  way.  There  he  continued  his 
residence  until  1879,  when  he  came  to  Gage 
county,  Nebraska,  being  accompanied  by  his 
wife  and  their  infant  child  and  bringing  a 
small  supply  of  household  effects  to  equip  the 
new  home,  his  cash  capital  at  the  time  of  his 
arrival  in  Beatrice  having  been  three  hundred 
and  fifteen  dollars.  He  purchased  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  of  land  on  the  Indian  reserva- 
tion and  now  included  in  Glenwood  township. 
Fort  twenty-five  dollars  he  bought  a  breaking 
plow  from  the  pioneer  firm  of  Wagner  & 
Lamb ;  from  J.  B.  Lester  he  obtained  a  wagofl, 
for  which  he  paid  twenty  dollars ;  and  for 
ninety-nine  dollars  Samuel  Wymore  trans- 
ferred to  him  a  yoke  of  oxen.  Much  of  his 
available  cash  was  thus  expended  for  equip- 
ment, for  his  land  and  for  incidental  expenses 
of  the  family,  so  that  he  was  glad  to  add  to 
his  resources  by  breaking  prairie  land  for 
others,  at  two  dollars  an  acre.  In  the  autumn 
of  1880  Mr.  Lyndes  built  on  his  pioneer  farm 
a  frame  house  fourteen  by  twenty  feet  in  di- 
mensions, and  the  freezing  of  his  lime  made 
it  impossible  for  him  to  plaster  the  rooms  un- 
til the  following  spring.  The  little  house  was 
weather-boarded  with  one-half  inch  lap,  and  in 
order  to  make  the  building  snug  he  covered 
the  interior  with  building  paper,  in  lieu  of 
plaster.  The  ensuing  winter  was  the  coldest 
yet  known  in  the  history  of  Gage  county,  and 
Mr.  Lyndes,  his  wife  and  their  two  children 
endured  the  rigors  of  the  winter  by  living  in 
their  primitive  little  house,  which  had  but  one- 
half  of  an  inch  of  protective  material  between 
the  inside  and  the  exterior  surface.  For  his 
land  Mr.  Lyndes  paid  three  and  one-half  dol- 
lars an  acre,  and  later  he  purchased  an  ad- 
joining tract  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres. 
With  valiant  energy  and  perseverance  he  car- 
ried forward  the  reclaiming  and  developing 
of  his  farm  and  there  he  continued  his  activi- 
ties as  an  agriculturist  and  stock-grower  for 
thirty   years,    at  the   expiration   of   which   he 


sold  the  well  improved  property  at  the  rate 
of  one  hundred  and  ten  dollars  an  acre.  Af- 
ter selling  his  farm  Mr.  Lyndes  and  his  wife, 
who  had  shared  with  him  in  the  vicissitudes 
of  the  pioneer  days,  removed  to  the  city  of 
Beatrice,  where  they  now  occupy  their  attrac- 
tive residence  at  1336  Elk  street.  Since  1910 
Mr.  Lyndes  has  been  associated  with  George 
Mayborn  in  the  meat-market  business,  and 
their  establishment,  at  1220  Court  street,  re- 
ceives a  substantial  and  representative  patron- 
age, Mr.  Lyndes  giving  but  minor  attention 
to  the  business. 

At  Dixon,  Illinois,  in  the  year  1877,  Mr. 
Lyndes  wedded  Miss  Clara  Lindeman,  who 
was  born  and  reared  in  Lee  county,  that  state, 
a  daughter  of  Harmon  and  Nancy  (Fritz) 
Lindeman,  the  former  of  whom  is  deceased 
and  the  latter  of  whom  is  now  a  resident  of 
Dixon,  Illinois,  she  having  attained  to  most 
venerable  age.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lyndes  became 
the  parents  of  five  children:  Harry  has  for 
fully  fifteen  years  been  employed  by  an  im- 
portant chemical  manufacturing  company  in 
the  city  of  Denver,  Colorado;  Gertrude  be- 
came the  wife  of  George  Mayborn  and  is  now 
deceased;  Jay  G.  is  a  successful  farmer  near 
Powell,  Wyoming;  Mary  Ethel  is  the  wife  of 
Earl  Martin,  of  Sterling,  Illinois ;  and  Edna 
is  the  wife  of  John  Wilson,  a  successful  farm- 
er in  Midland  township. 

Mr.  Lyndes  relates  many  interesting  inci- 
dents pertaining  to  the  pioneer  period  of  Gage 
county  history,  and  his  reminiscences  are  es- 
pecially graphic.  Mr-  Lyndes  has  stated  that 
he  has  had  no  happier  period  in  his  life  than 
that  when  he  and  his  family  lived  in  their 
bleak  little  house  during  the  frigid  winter  of 
1881,  for  he  realized  that  he  had  good  pros- 
pects for  establishing  a  home  and  had  the  de- 
voted companionship  of  his  wife,  who  en- 
couraged him  in  his  determination  to  win  in- 
dependence and  prosperity  in  the  county  of 
their  adoption. 

Mr.  Lyndes  was  alert  and  loyal  in  support 
of  all  things  tending  to  advance  the  communal 
welfare  of  the  township  in  which  he  was  one 
of  the  first  settlers,  and  was  specially  promi- 
nent in  efifecting  the  organization  of  the  school 


646 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


district  in  his  locality,  he  having  been  one  of 
its  first  directors.  He  served  in  1892-1893 
as  a  member  of  the  county  board  of  supervis- 
ors and  in  1893  he  was  candidate  for  county 
sheriff,  but  met  defeat  with  the  rest  of  his 
party's  candidates  in  that  election.  He  and 
his  wife  are  zealous  members  of  the  Christian 
church,  of  which  he  has  been  an  elder  about 
six  years.  He  assisted  in  organizing  the  church 
and  Sunday  school  in  his  township,  besides 
becoming  the  first  superintendent  of  the  Sun- 
day school.  In  a  basic  way  he  gives  his  sup- 
port to  the  Republican  party,  but  in  local  af- 
fairs he  is  not  constrained  by  strict  partisan- 
ship. He  is  affiliated  with  the  Masonic  fra- 
ternity and  he  and  his  wife  are  known  and 
honored  as  sterling  pioneer  citizens  of  Gage 
county,  where  they  have  a  host  of  friends. 

JOHN  Q.  REED  was  a  young  man  when 
he  came  with  his  parents  to  Gage  county  and 
thus  can  claim  pioneer  prestige,  besides  which 
he  is  one  of  the  prosperous  business  men  and 
popular  citizens  of  Beatrice,  where  he  and  his 
brother  Luther  have  for  a  score  of  years  con- 
ducted a  well  equipped  feed  and  sales  stable 
which  represents  one  of  the  undivided  prop- 
erties of  the  Reed  family  estate. 

Mr.  Reed  was  born  in  Butler  county,  Ohio, 
January  29,  1845,  and  is  a  son  of  David  and 
Mary  A.  (Cochran)  Reed,  the  former  a  na- 
tive of  Ohio  and  the  latter  of  Kentucky.  In 
1852  David  Reed  removed  with  his  family  to 
Sangamon  county,  Illinois,  and  there  he  con- 
tinued his  residence  until  1871,  when  he  came 
with  his  family  to  Nebraska,  his  arrival  in 
Beatrice  having  occurred  April  13th  of  that 
year.  In  Riverside  township  he  purchased  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  unimproved  land, 
and  there  he  developed  a  productive  farm,  the 
while  he  was  known  and  honored  as  one  of  the 
sterling  pioneer  citizens  of  the  county.  He 
finally  retired  from  the  farm  and  both  he  and 
his  wife  passed  the  closing  years  of  their  lives 
in  Beatrice,  both  having  been  zealous  mem- 
bers of  the  Presbyterian  church,  in  which  he 
served  as  elder.  Of  the  six  children  three  are 
living:  Luther  is  associated  with  the  subject 
of  this  review  in  conducting  the  feed  and  sales 


stable  in  Beatrice,  as  previously  noted;  John 
O.  is  the  next  younger;  and  Nancy,  who  is 
the  widow  of  Richard  Lowe,  likewise  resides 
in  Beatrice ;  Fannie  became  the  wife  of  New- 
ton Weatherald  and  both  are  now  deceased; 
William  was  a  resident  of  Beatrice  at  the  time 
of  his  death;  and  David  Gibson  died  in  child- 
hood, in  Ohio. 

John  O.  Reed  is  indebted  to  the  schools  of 
Illinois  for  his  early  educational  training  and 
was  twenty-six  years  of  age  when  he  came 
with  his  parents  to  Gage  county.  Here  for 
several  years  he  did  a  successful  business  in 
the  feeding  and  shipping  of  cattle,  and  for 
five  years  he  purchased  cattle  for  the  govern- 
ment, the  stock  being  for  the  use  of  the  Indians 
on  the  Otoe  reservation  in  this  county.  For 
the  past  twenty  years  he  and  his  brother  have 
been  associated  in  business  in  Beatrice,  as 
previously  noted,  and  he  in  the  meanwhile 
gave  a  most  efficient  administration  in  the 
office  of  chief  of  the  Beatrice  police  depart- 
ment, a  position  of  which  he  continued  the 
incumbent  four  years.  For  fifteen  years  he 
held  the  office  of  county  coroner,  and  he  re- 
tained this  post  until  the  office  was  abolished, 
his  final  term  having  terminated  January  1, 
1917.  Mr.  Reed  has  seen  Beatrice  develop 
fiom  a  frontier  village  to  a  fine  city  of  metro- 
politan appearance  and  facilities,  and  he  takes 
satisfaction  in  designating  himself  as  one  of 
the  "old-timers"  of  Gage  county.  His  politi- 
cal allegiance  is  given  to  the  Republican  party 
and  he  has  given  active  service  in  its  behalf 
in  his  home  county. 

October  8,  1884  Mr.  Reed  wedded  Miss 
Elizabeth  A.  Fairbanks,  who  was  born  and 
reared  in  Indiana,  and  who  is  a  cousin  of  the 
late  Charles  N.  Fairbanks,  former  vice-presi- 
dent of  the  LTnited  States.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Reed 
have  one  daughter  Mary  Elizabeth,  at  home. 

LEMUEL  P.  GESSELL.— From  a  modest 
inception  Mr.  Gessell  has  built  up  in  the  city 
of  Beatrice  a  most  substantial  and  prosperous 
job-printing  business  and  his  establishment  is 
now  throughly  metropolitan  in  its  equipment 
and  facilities,  so  that  he  caters  most  acceptably 
to  a  large  and  representative  patronage.       He 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


647 


keeps  his  stock  of  type-faces  up  to  the  best 
modern  standard  at  all  times  and  in  its  selec- 
tion makes  provision  for  the  handling  of  all 
kinds  of  artistic  job  work,  both  large  and 
small.  His  battery  of  presses  comprises 
three  modern  job  presses  and  he  now  gives 
employment  to  an  efficient  corps  of  three  as- 
sistants. 

Mr-  Gessell  was  born  in  Delaware  county, 
Indiana,  on  the  8th  of  January,  1867,  and  is  a 
son  of  John  and  Sarah  (Brooke)  Gessell,  both 
of  whom  were  born  and  reared  in  Fairfield 
county,  Ohio,  members  of  pioneer  families  of 
that  section  of  the  old  Buckeye  state.  Soon 
after  their  marriage  John  Gessell  and  his  wife 
removed  to  Indiana,  where  he  gave  consider- 
able attention  to  the  work  of  his  trade,  that 
of  shoemaker.  In  1869,  about  two  years  after 
the  admission  of  Nebraska  to  statehood,  he 
came  with  his  family  to  Gage  county  and 
entered  claim  to  a  homestead  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty  acres,  in  what  is  now  Grant  town- 
ship. He  reclaimed  and  developed  one  of  the 
productive  farms  of  the  county,  was  influential 
in  community  affairs  in  the  pioneer  days  and 
was  a  Democrat  in  his  political  proclivities, 
both  he  and  his  wife  having  been  charter 
members  and  earnest  communicants  of  the 
Trinity  Lutheran  church  at  Beatrice.  John 
Gessell  had  the  most  meager  of  financial  re- 
sources when  he  numbered  himself  among  the 
pioneers  of  the  new  state  of  Nebraska,  but  he 
so  applied  his  energies  in  developing  the  ad- 
mirable resources  of  Gage  county  that  he 
achieved  a  substantial  competency.  He  was 
sixty-four  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  his 
death  and  his  wife  passed  to  eternal  rest  at 
the  age  of  ninety-six  years  —  sterling  pioneers 
whose  memories  are  revered  by  all  who  knew 
them.  Of  their  thirteen  children  only  four 
are  now  living:  Elmer  is  a  printer  by  trade 
and  now  lives  in  the  city  of  Dallas,  Texas ; 
Jesse  is  a  popular  salesman  in  one  of  the 
leading  grocery  stores  of  Beatrice ;  Lemuel  P., 
of  this  review,  was  the  next  in  order  of  birth ; 
and  Oscar,  a  clergyman  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church,  holds  at  the  time  of  this 
writing,  in  1918,  a  pastoral  charge  at  Enter- 
prise, Kansas. 


Lemuel  P.  Gessell  was  about  three  years  of 
age  at  the  time  when  his  parents  came  from 
Indiana  and  established  their  home  on  the 
pioneer  farm  in  Gage  county.  As  a  boy  he 
gained  full  fellowship  with  farm  work  and 
in  the  meanwhile  he  broadened  his  mental 
horizon  by  attending  the  schools  of  the  locality 
and  period.  He  continued  his  studies  in  the 
public  schools  at  intervals  until  he  was  about 
sixteen  years  of  age,  and  his  first  work  after 
leaving  the  parental  home  was  as  a  farm 
hand.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  years,  however, 
he  entered  upon  a  practical  apprenticeship  to 
the  printer's  trade,  in  the  ofifice  of  the  Beatrice 
Weekly  Express,  at  Beatrice.  He  continued 
to  work  at  his  trade  —  principally  in  the  city 
of  Beatrice  —  until  1909,  when  he  here  opened 
a  little  printing  establishment  of  his  own. 
His  technical  skill  in  the  execution  of  job 
work,  combined  with  his  personal  popularity, 
gained  him  an  appreciative  support,  and  each 
year  witnessed  a  substantial  development  in 
his  business,  which  is  now  one  well  established 
and  of  prosperous  order,  as  noted  in  an  earlier 
paragraph  of  this  article. 

Mr.  Gessell  takes  loyal  interest  in  all  things 
pertaining  to  the  welfare  of  the  county  that 
has  represented  his  home  from  childhood  and 
while  he  has  had  no  ambition  for  political 
office  he  accords  staunch  support  to  the  cause 
of  the  Republican  party,  both  he  and  his  wife 
holding  membership  in  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal church  and  he  being  affilliated  with  the 
Fraternal  Aid  Union. 

In  the  year  1889  was  solemnized  the  mar- 
riage of  Mr.  Gessell  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Kelly, 
who  was  born  on  the  Isle  of  Man,  in  the  Irish 
sea,  and  who  was  a  child  at  the  time  of  her 
parents'  immigration  to  America.  Mr.  and 
Mrs-  Gessell  have  one  child,  Annie,  who  is  a 
member  of  the  class  of  1919  in  the  Beatrice 
high  school. 

STEPHEN  BULL  was  a  gallant  young 
veteran  of  the  Civil  war  when,  in  1869,  he 
came  to  Nebraska  and  numbered  himself 
among  the  pioneers  of  Gage  county.  Here  he 
achieved  independence  and  stable  prosperity 
through  his  active  association  with   farm  in- 


648 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


dustry,  did  well  his  pyart  in  the  furtherance  of 
civic  and  material  progress  in  the  pioneer  days, 
and,  now  venerable  in  years,  he  is  one  of  the 
honored  pioneer  citizens  of  Beatrice,  his  pleas- 
ant home  in  this  city  being  at  1505  Grant 
street. 

Mr.  Bull  was  born  at  Camden,  Oneida  coun- 
ty. New  York,  September  20,  1844,  and  is  a 
son  of  John  S.  and  Lydia  Bull.  Stephen  Bull 
vas  reared  to  the  sturdy  discipline  of  the  farm 
and  profited  duly  by  the  advantages  afforded 
in  the  common  schools  of  the  locality  and 
period.  He  was  but  a  youth  at  the  inception 
of  the  Civil  war  but  his  patriotism  and  loyalty 
found  exemplification  on  the  24th  of  August, 
1864,  when,  at  the  age  of  twenty  years,  he  en- 
listed, from  Oswego  county,  New  York,  for 
a  term  of  twelve  months.  On  the  7th  of  the 
following  month  he  was  mustered  in  as  a 
private  in  Company  C,  (Captain  Edward 
Swan)  of  the  One  Hundred  and  Eighty-sixth 
New  York  Volunteer  Infantry,  commanded  by 
Colonel  Bradley  W.  Winslow,  the  organiza- 
tion of  this  command  having  been  perfected 
at  Sackett's  Harbor,  New  York.  The  regi- 
ment left  for  the  front  September  28,  1864, 
being  assigned  to  the  Second  Brigade,  Second 
Division,  Ninth  Corps,  Army  of  the  Potomac. 
Of  the  admirable  record  of  this  gallant  regi- 
ment the  following  data  have  been  obtained : 
During  its  period  of  service  the  One  Hundred 
and  Eighty-sixth  New  York  Infantry  partici- 
pated in  the  following  engagements  and  skirm- 
ishes:  Before  Petersburg,  Virginia,  October  1, 

1864,  and  April  2,  1865 ;  Hatcher's  Run,  Vir- 
ginia, October  27-28,  1864;  Fort  Steadman, 
\'irginia,  March  25,  1865 ;  Appomattox  cam- 
paign, Virginia,  March  28-  April  8,  1865; 
fall  of  Petersburg,  April  2,  1865.  "The  regi- 
ment performed  brave  and  vaHant  service  at 
all  times,  and  lost  one  hundred  and  eighty  offi- 
cers and  men,  in  killed,  wounded,  and  miss- 
ing, during  its  term  of  service.  It  was  hon- 
orably discharged  and  mustered  out  June .  2, 

1865,  near  Alexandria,  Virginia." 
Pertinent  to  the  personal  record  of  Mr.  Bull 

definite  details  have  been  given  in  the  follow- 
ing official  statement :  "The  said  Stephen  Bull 
was  wounded  during  the  assault  on  Fort  Stead- 


man,  Petersburg,  Virginia,  April  2,  1865,  while 
outside  the  fort,  a  minie  ball  having  shattered 
his  lower  right  arm  and  elbow.  He  walked 
from  the  fort  to  the  Union  lines  with  his  in- 
jured arm  swinging,  entered  an  ambulance  and 
was  taken  to  the  field  hospital,  where  the  arm 
was  amputated,  five  inches  below  the  shoulder 
point.  Two  days  later  he  embarked  at  City 
Point,  \'irginia,  and  proceeded  to  Fairfax 
Seminary  general  hospital,  at  Alexandria,  Vir- 
ginia, where  he  remained  until  June  16,  1865, 
when  he  received  an  honorable  discharge,  by 
reason  of  surgeon's  certificate  of  disability  on 
account  of  loss  of  arm.  Mr.  Bull  was  con- 
stantly with  his  command  during  its  service 
as  outlined  until  he  was  wounded ;  he  bore  a 
gallant  part  in  all  its  engagements  and  rend- 
ered faithful  and  meritorious  service  to  his 
country."  In  the  present  decade  of  the 
twentieth  century,  when  nearly  all  of  the  civil- 
ized world  is  aflame  with  war,  it  is  interest- 
ing to  revert  to  the  gallantry  and  sacrifice  of 
Mr-  Bull  during  his  period  of  service  as  a 
loyal  young  soldier  of  the  Union,  and  he 
pepetuates  the  more  gracious  memories  and 
association  of  his  military  career  by  his  affilia- 
tion with  Rawlins  Post,  No.  35,  Grand  Army 
of  the  Republic,  at  Beatrice,  in  which  noble 
organization  he  has  passed  all  of  the  official 
chairs,  including  that  of  commander,  of  which 
office  he  was  the  incumbent  in  1907. 

After  the  close  of  the  war  ]\Ir.  Bull  con- 
tinued his  residence  in  the  state  of  New  York 
until  1869,  when  he  came  to  the  new  state  of 
Nebraska  and  gallantly  arrayed  himself  among 
the  pioneers  of  Gage  county.  He  purchased 
land  in  Midland  township  and,  notwithstand- 
ing his  physical  infirmity,  in  the  loss  of  his 
right  arm,  he  proved  himself  resourceful  and 
a  master  of  industrial  expedients,  so  that  he 
reclaimed  and  developed  one  of  the  fine  farms 
of  the  county.  He  continued  his  successful 
association  with  farm  enterprise  until  Feb- 
ruary, 1901,  since  which  time  he  has  lived  vir- 
tually retired,  in  the  city  of  Beatrice. 

On  the  23d  of  March,  1868,  at  Williams- 
town,  New  York,  was  solemnized  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  Bull  to  Miss  Polly  Louisa  Park,  who 
was  born  at  Waterburv,  Connecticut,  Novem- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


649 


ber  20,  1847,  and  who  was  reared  and  educat- 
ed in  the  state  of  New  York.  In  the  year 
succeeding  that  of  their  marriage  Mr.  and 
Airs.  Bull  came  to  Gage  county  and  took  up 
the  burdens  and  responsibiHties  of  pioneer 
life.  In  this  county  were  born  all  of  their 
children, —  three  sons  and  six  daughters,  and 
two  of  the  number,  George  Frederick  and 
Musadora,  preceded  their  mother  to  the  life 
eternal.  In  all  that  makes  for  gracious  and  no- 
ble womanhood  Mrs.  Bull  was  preeminent,  and 
she  went  through  life  trailing  the  beatitudes 
of  her  train,  so  that  her  memory  is  revered  by 
all  who  came  within  the  compass  of  her  gentle 
influence.  She  continued  as  the  devoted  com- 
panion and  helpmeet  of  her  husband  for  nearly 
half  a  century,  and  the  gracious  ties  were 
severed  by  her  death,  which  occurred  August 
7,  1915.  Mrs.  Bull  was  a  most  earnest  mem- 
ber of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  and 
was  one  of  the  loved  members  of  the  Centen- 
ary church  of  this  denomination  in  Beatrice 
during  the  entire  period  of  her  residence  in  this 
city.  She  identified  herself  actively  with  the 
various  women's  societies  of  this  church  and 
was  also  affiliated  with  the  Woman's  Relief 
Corps  organized  as  an  adjunct  of  Rawlins  Post 
of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  besides 
which  she  was  affiliated  with  several  fraternal 
societies.  Until  impaired  health  made  it  im- 
possible, ]\Irs.  Bull  was  a  prominent  and  loved 
factor  in  connection  with  the  best  social  life  of 
the  Gage  county  metropolis,  and  her  memory 
rests  like  a  benediction  upon  her  venerable 
husband  and  her  surviving  children,  concerning 
whom  the  following  brief  record  is  consistent- 
ly entered:  Nora  E.  is  the  wife  of  Charles 
Lash,  of  Des  Moines,  Iowa ;  Emma  A-  resides 
in  Beatrice  and  for  fifteen  years  has  followed 
the  profession  of  trained  nurse;  Charles  A. 
resides  in  Beatrice ;  Rev.  Albert  S.  is,  in  1918, 
pastor  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  at 
Tekama,  Nebraska ;  Harriet  N.  is  the  wife  of 
Fay  Shottenkirk,  of  Beatrice;  Lydia  \\  is  the 
widow  of  Frank  Wing,  of  Steele  City,  Ne- 
braska; and  J\Iary  E.  is  the  wife  of  Robert 
Shedler,  of  Casper,  Wyoming.  September  20. 
1916,  Mr.  Bull  married  Henrietta  Miller  of 
Beatrice. 


In  politics  Air.  Bull  gives  unwavering  alle- 
giance to  the  Democratic  party  and  he  has 
always  shown  a  loyal  interest  in  communal 
affairs,  as  a  liberal  and  progressive  citizen. 
He  holds  membership  in  the  Centenary  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  church  of  Beatrice  and  while  he 
has  never  been  animated  by  ambition  for  pub- 
li:  office  he  served  as  deputy  sheriff  of  Gage 
county  in  1890-1891.  A  resident  of  this 
county  for  more  than  half  a  century,  he  is  well 
known  to  its  citizens  and  his  circle  of  friends 
is  limited  only  by  that  of  his  acquaintances. 

JOHN  KRAPP.—  To  have  attained  to  the 
success  and  status  that  mark  the  operations  of 
Mr.  Krapp  as  an  agriculturist  and  stock- 
grower  implies  the  concentrating  of  fine  ability 
and  energies  in  the  achievement  of  definite 
ends.  He  is  the  owner  of  a  valuable  and  well 
improved  landed  estate  of  eight  hundred  acres, 
all  in  Highland  township,  and  his  attractive 
home  place,  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres, 
is  situated  in  Section  10.  His  progressive- 
ness  may  be  said  to  denote  him  fully  as  a 
native  of  the  great  empire  of  the  west,  and  he 
is  a  scion  of  a  sterling  pioneer  family  of  Min- 
nesota- In  Wabasha  county,  that  state,  he 
was  born  April  18,  1864,  a  son  of  Joseph 
and  Mary  (Vollert)  Krapp,  of  whose  seven 
children  Saloma,  the  first,  and  Peter,  the 
youngest,  are  deceased,  the  subject  of  this 
review  being  the  eldest  son ;  Mary  became  the 
wife  of  August  Heidecker  and  was  a  resident 
of  Hallam  at  the  time  of  her  death;  Lena  is 
the  wife  of  J.  H.  Doolittle,  of  Nemaha  town- 
ship, Gage  county ;  Frances  is  the  wife  of 
Philip  O'Brien,  of  Princeton,  Lancaster  coun- 
ty, Nebraska ;  and  Charles  F.  is  one  of  the 
prosperous  farmers  of  Highland  township. 
Gage  county. 

Joseph  Krapp  was  born  in  Germany,  in 
1828,  and  as  a  young  man  he  came  to  the 
United  States  and  became  a  pioneer  settler 
in  Wabasha  county,  Alinnesota.  There  he 
continued  his  activities  as  a  farmer  until  1872, 
when  he  came  with  his  family  to  Nebraska  and 
established  his  home  in  Gage  county,  where 
he  found  ample  opportunity  for  expanding  his 
pioneer  experience.     He  had  visited  Nebraska 


650 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


several  years  previously  and  incidentally  had 
formed  the  acquaintance  of  Joseph  Graff,  one 
of  the  well  known  pioneers  of  Gage  county. 
On  coming  with  his  family  to  this  state  Mr. 
Krapp  made  the  journey  from  Minnesota  with 
a  team  and  a  covered  wagon,  and  he  had  not 
made  any  definite  decision  as  to  his  location  in 
the  west.  In  Gage  county  his  friend  Mr. 
Grafif  persuaded  him  not  to  continue  his 
journey  further  but  here  to  make  permanent 
location.  Mr.  Graff  so  effectively  presented 
the  claims  of  the  county  as  a  desirable  place 
for  successful  enterprise  that  Mr.  Krapp  de- 
cided to  establish  his  home  within  its  borders. 
Accordingly  he  took  up  a  homestead  of  eighty 
acres  in  Section  10  Highland  township,  and 
the  same  now  constitutes  a  part  of  the  fine 
landed  estate  of  his  son  John,  of  this  review. 
In  his  initial  operations  as  a  farmer  in  this 
county  he  received  assistance  and  counsel  from 
Mr.  Graff,  whose  friendship  he  greatly  valued. 
He  proved  successful  as  a  farmer  and  re- 
mained upon  his  old  homestead  until  his 
death,  which  occurred  in  1914,  and  he  devel- 
oped and  improved  one  of  the  excellent  farm 
properties  of  Highland  township.  His  broth- 
er John  accompanied  the  family  to  Gage  coun- 
ty and  he  likewise  took  a  homstead  of  eighty 
acres.  John  Krapp  was  a  man  of  most  kindly 
and  unselfish  nature  and  lived  until  his  death 
in  the  home  of  his  brother  Joseph,  whose 
children  accorded  to  their  bachelor  uncle  the 
deepest  affection.  John  Krapp  met  a  sudden 
death,  as  the  result  of  organic  desease  of  the 
heart,  and  was  about  seventy  years  of  age  at 
the  time-  Mrs.  Mary  (Vollert)  Krapp  was 
born  in  Germany,  in  1828,  and  her  marriage 
was  solemnized  in  Minnesota.  She  preceded 
her  husband  to  the  life  eternal,  her  death  hav- 
ing occurred  in  1900. 

John  Krapp,  immediate  subject  of  this  sketch, 
was  a  lad  of  seven  years  when  the  family 
made  the  long  overland  journey  to  Gage  coun- 
ty, and  his  parents  unloaded  their  wagons  on 
the  site  of  the  barn  on  his  present  homestead. 
By  hard  work  and  good  management  he  has 
pressed  forward  to  the  goal  of  success,  and 
his  early  education  was  gained  in  the  pioneer 
schools  of  this  county.     At  the  age  of  sixteen 


years  he  made  his  first  investment  in  land,  by 
purchasing  eighty  acres  of  railroad  land  in 
Highland  township,  this  tract  lying  adjacent 
to  the  present  village  of  Cortland.  With 
increasing  prosperity  Mr.  Krapp  continued  to 
make  judicious  investment  in  Gage  county 
land,  and  he  made  each  successive  purchase 
carefully,  waiting  until  he  had  accumulated 
sufficient  capital  to  justify  such  action.  His 
present  fine  estate  comprises  seven  hundred 
and  twenty  acres  and  includes  fully  six  dif- 
ferent farms  in  Highland  township.  He  has 
wisely  ordered  his  farm  enterprise  in  all  de- 
partments, and  has  been  enterprising  both  as 
an  agriculturist  and  as  a  grower  of  live  stock. 
He  is  a  stockholder  of  the  Farmers'  State 
Bank  of  Cortland,  is  a  Republican  in  politics, 
and  both  he  and  his  wife  are  communicants 
of  the  Catholic  church. 

On  the  15th  of  September,  1903,  was  solem- 
nized the  marriage  of  Mr.  Krapp  to  Miss 
Clara  Doyle,  who  was  born  and  reared  in  this 
county  and  who  is  a  daughter  of  Edward  and 
Ellen  (O'Neill)  Doyle.  Mr.  Doyle  was  born 
in  Ireland,  in  1842,  was  a  child  when  he  came 
to  the  United  States  and  was  reared  by  a 
spinster  aunt,  Miss  Ann  Coleman,  on  a  farm 
near  Woosing,  Ogle  county,  Illinois,  he  hav- 
ing been  about  six  years  old  when  he  came 
to  America  in  company  with  his  older  brother, 
Michael,  his  mother  having  died  when  he  was 
an  infant.  He  went  forth  as  a  valiant  soldier 
of  the  Union  in  the  Civil  war,  August,  1861, 
having  recorded  his  enlistment  as  a  member 
of  Company  D,  Thirty-fourth  Illinois  Vol- 
unteer Infantry,  and  he  continued  in  active 
service  until  the  close  of  the  war,  save  for  a 
period  of  about  two  weeks  during  which  he 
was  confined  in  the  historic  Libby  Prison,  af- 
ter his  capture  at  the  time  of  the  battle  of 
Stone's  River,  in  which  he  took  part.  In 
January,  1867,  he  married  Miss  Ellen  O'Neill, 
of  Illinois,  and  in  1873  they  came  to  Gage 
county,  Nebraska,  where  he  improved  a  farm 
of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  in  Section  30 
Highland  township.  There  he  and  his  wife 
passed  the  remainder  of  their  lives,  as  sterling 
pioneers  of  this  county.  They  became  the 
parents  of  eight  children,  of  whom  eight  are 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


651 


living-     Mr.  and  I\Irs.   Krapp  have  four  chil- 
dren,—  Dorothv,  Leland,  Neil  and  Alice. 


JOHN  F.  KRAUTER,  whose  attractive 
homestead  farm  is  situated  in  Section  3,  Cla- 
tonia  township,  has  by  his  own  ability  achieved 
noteworthy  success  as  a  representative  of 
agricultural  and  live-stock  enterprise  in  his 
native  county,  and  this  is  attested  by  his  own- 
ership of  a  valuable  estate  of  five  hundred  and 
twenty  acres  of  the  excellent  land  of  Gage 
county.  He  was  born  on  his  father's  farm  in 
Clatonia  township,  February  11,  1875  and  is 
a  member  of  a  family  of  twelve  children.  He 
is  a  son  of  George  and  Caroline  (Wolf) 
Krauter,  both  natives  of  Germany,  the  former 
having  been  born  in  Bavaria,  December  5, 
1833',  and  the  latter  a  native  of  the  province 
of  Alsace:  their  marriage  was  solemnized  in 
1853.  In  the  year  that  recorded  his  marriage 
George  Krauter  came  to  America,  making  the 
voyage  on  a  sailing  vessel  that  did  not  arrive 
in  the  port  of  New  York  till  after  the  lapse  of 
about  nine  weeks.  In  Orange  county.  New 
York,  he  was  employed  at  farm  work  about 
two  years  and  thereafter  he  was  located  for 
a  brief  period  in  the  vicinity  of  Sing  Sing, 
that  state.  He  then  removed  with  his  wife 
to  Iowa  and  established  his  residence  at  Bur- 
lington, which  was  then  a  mere  village.  There 
he  was  identified  with  the  lumber  business 
several  years,  and  he  then  engaged  in  farm 
enterprise  in  that  vicinity-  In  1871  he  came 
with  his  family  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  and 
took  up  a  homestead  of  eighty  acres,  in  Sec- 
tion 3,  Clatonia  township.  As  one  of  the 
sterling  pioneers  of  that  township  he  won 
success  and  independence  through  his  activ- 
ities as  a  farmer,  and  in  this  township  both 
he  and  his  wife  passed  the  remainder  of  their 
lives,  he  having  been  the  owner  of  more  than 
four  hundred  acres  of  land  in  the  township  at 
the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  in 
November,  1914,  his  wife  having  passed  away 
in  1908.  He  was  a  Republican  in  politics, 
liberal  and  influential  in  community  affairs, 
served  in  various  local  offices  of  minor  order, 
and  both  he  and  his  wife  were  earnest  mem- 


bers of  the  German  IMethodist  Episcopal 
church. 

John  F.  Krauter  was  reared  on  the  pioneer 
farm  and  received  his  early  education  in  the 
district  schools  of  Clatonia  township.  He 
continued  to  assist  his  father  in  the  work  of 
the  home  farm  until  he  had  attained  to  the 
age  of  nineteen  years  and  upon  reaching  his 
legal  majority  he  initiated  farm  enterprise  in 
an  independent  way,  handicapped  by  a  debt  of 
one  hundred  dollars  and  having  as  virtually 
his  principal  equipment  only  one  horse.  In 
1897  he  purchased  his  present  home  farm,  of 
one  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  and  he  has  not 
only  made  this  one  of  the  model  farms  of  the 
township  but  has  shown  equal  progressiveness 
in  the  developing  of  his  other  farms,  his  ability 
and  energy  having  enabled  him  to  accumulate 
a  valuable  landed  estate  of  five  hundred  and 
twenty  acres.  Mr.  Krauter  has  always  shown 
loyal  interest  in  all  things  tending  to  advance 
the  welfare  of  his  home  community  and  na- 
tive county,  is  a  Republican  in  his  political 
adherency  and  is  serving  in  1917  -  1918  as  a 
member  of  the  school  board  of  his  district. 
He  and  his  wife  are  active  members  of  the 
German  Methodist  church. 

April  17,  1902,  recorded  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Krauter  to  Miss  Anna  Theasmeier,  who 
was  born  in  this  county  on  the  28th  of  August, 
1878,  a  daughter  of  Henry  Theasmeier.  a 
well  known  pioneer  of  whom  more  specific 
mention  is  made  on  other  pages,  in  the  sketch 
of  his  son  George.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Krauter 
have  four  children, —  Edmund  S..  born  Jan- 
uary 19,  1903;  Raymond,  born  December  21, 
1905;  Orris,  born  March  27,  1910;  and  Lor- 
rine,  born  January  31,    1916. 

PETER  C.  THOM  was  a  self-reliant,  am- 
bitious and  sterling  pioneer  who  contributed 
in  large  measure  to  civic  and  industrial  ad- 
vancement in  Gage  county,  where  he  estab- 
lished his  home  in  the  year  1868,  within  a  few 
months  after  the  admission  of  Nebraska  to 
statehood,  and  he  and  his  noble  wife  endured 
their  full  share  of  the  vicissitudes  and  trials 
incidental  to  the  development  of  a  productive 
farm  in  a  frontier  country.     They  lived  and 


652 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUXTY,  NEBRASKA 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


653 


labored  to  goodly  ends  and  were  numbered 
among  the  venerable  and  honored  pioneer  citi- 
zens of  the  county  at  the  time  of  their  death, 
their  beautiful  old  homestead  farm,  in  Section 
20,  Sherman  township,  being  still  the  place  of 
residence  of  their  son,  James  A,  who  has 
kindly  consented  to  supply  the  data  on  which 
is  based  this  memoir  to  his  parents. 

Peter  C.  Thorn  was  born  on  a  pioneer  farm 
near  Tiffin,  Seneca  county,  Ohio,  May  4,  183S. 
the  eldest  in  a  family  of  six  sons  and  five 
daughters  born  to  Charles  and  Mary  E. 
(Weber)  Thom,  both  natives  of  the  Kingdom 
of  Bavaria,  Germany.  Charles  Thom  was 
born  March  24,  1809,  and  in  his  native  land 
he  received  excellent  educational  advantages. 
In  Bavaria  he  was  employed  as  an  expert  ac- 
countant until  1837,  when,  as  a  young  man 
of  twenty-eight  years,  he  came  to  America  and 
settled  in  Seneca  county,  Ohio,  where  he  be- 
came a  prosperous  farmer  and  where  both 
he  and  his  wife  passed  the  residue  of  their 
lives.  Mrs.  Thom  was  born  September  15, 
1816,  a  daughter  of  Michael  and  Catherine 
Weber,  with  whom  she  came  from  Bavaria 
to  the  United  States  in  1835,  the  family  home 
being  established  in  Ohio,  where  her  marriage 
was  solemnized  about  two  years  later.  Peter 
C.  Thom  acquired  his  early  education  in  the 
common  schools  of  the  Buckeye  state,  and  at 
the  age  of  fifteen  years  he  began  an  appren- 
ticeship to  the  trade  of  blacksmith,  in  Union 
county,  Ohio.  He  became  a  skilled  workman 
and  continued  to  follow  this  sturdy  trade 
about  fifteen  years. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-one  years  Mr.  Thom 
wedded  Miss  Delilah  Dailey,  who  was  boni 
in  Washington  county,  Indiana,  August  24, 
1838,  a  daughter  of  James  and  Elizabeth 
(Feeler)  Dailey.  natives  respectively  of  North 
Carolina  and  Virginia.  Mr.  Dailey  was  born 
in  1808  and  his  wife  in  1810,  their  marriage 
having  been  solemnized  in  1836.  Soon  after- 
wards they  settled  in  Washington  county,  In- 
diana, whence  they  later  removed  to  Clinton 
county,  that  state,  where  they  passed  the  re- 
mainder of  their  lives.  Within  a  few  years 
after  his  marriage  Mr.  Thom  left  his  home  to 
give  service  as  a  soldier  of  the  Union  in  the 


Civil  war,  and  he  thus  subordinated  all  othei 
interests  to  answer  the  call  of  patriotism. 

On  August  16,  1862,  Mr.  Thom  enlisted  as 
a  private  in  Company  H,  Eighty-sixth  Indiana 
Volunteer  Infantry,  and  with  his  command  he 
proceeded  to  Kentucky,  with  General  Burn- 
side.  At  Crab  Orchard  he  was  attacked  with 
illness  of  such  severity  that  he  was  incapaci- 
tated and  sent  to  the  hospital.  Upon  measur- 
ably recuperating  he  was  assigned  to  detailed 
duty  as  steward  of  Hospital  No.  6,  at  Bowling 
Green,  Kentucky,  and  later  he  was  transferred 
to  similar  service  at  Hospital  No.  5,  in  Nash- 
ville, Tennessee.  A  short  time  prior  to  the 
battle  of  Missionary  Ridge  he  joined  his  com- 
mand in  that  locality,  and  he  took  part  in  the 
historic  battle  at  that  place.  In  the  spring 
of  1864  he  was  detailed  to  a  pioneer  brigade, 
and  with  the  same  he  continued  in  active  ser- 
vice until  the  close  of  the  war,  he  having  been 
mustered  out  June  6,  1865.  It  may  be  noted 
at  this  juncture  that  in  later  years  Mr.  Thom 
manifested  his  continued  interest  in  his  old 
comrades  in  arms  by  maintaining  affiliation 
with  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  as  a 
member  of  Scott  Post,  Blue  Springs,  Gage 
county. 

After  a  record  of  loyal  service  as  a  soldier 
of  the  republic  Mr.  Thom  returned  to  In- 
diana and  established  a  blacksmith  shop  in 
the  village  of  Lexington.  There  he  continued 
in  the  work  of  his  trade  until  1868,  on  the  10th 
of  August  of  which  year  he  set  forth  with  his 
family  for  Nebraska,  the  entire  journey  hav- 
ing been  made  with  team  and  wagon  and  the 
sojourners  having  arrived  in  Gage  county 
about  the  1st  of  September.  Mr.  Thom  lo- 
cated a  homestead  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres,  in  Section  20,  Sherman  township,  and 
the  pioneer  dug-out  which  he  constructed  on 
the  pioneer  farm  continued  to  be  the  family 
home  about  nine  years.  Hardships  and  pri- 
vations were  encountered  by  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Thom,  and  to  make  provision  for  his  family 
he  did  more  or  less  work  at  his  trade,  includ- 
ing about  two  months  of  such  service  on  the 
Otoe  Indian  reservation.  He  eked  out  the 
family  living  the  first  winter  by  trapping  mink, 
from  the  sale  of  the  skins  of  which  he  was 


654 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


able  to  add  somewhat  to  his  available  financial 
resources.  For  a  time  also  he  was  engaged  in 
freighting  between  Beatrice  and  Nebraska 
City,  and  in  the  meanwhile  he  was  vigorously 
carrying  forward  the  reclamation  and  develop- 
ment of  his  frontier  farm.  A  high  type  of 
judgment  and  progressiveness  was  his,  and 
one  of  his  splendid  achievements  in  the  early 
days  was  the  planting  of  a  large  number  of 
forest  trees  on  his  farm  and  also  an  orchard. 
With  the  passing  years  abundant  success 
crowned  his  earnest  endeavors  as  an  agricul- 
turist and  stock-grower,  and  at  the  time  of 
his  death  he  was  the  owner  of  a  well  improved 
and  valuable  landed  estate  of  four  hundred 
acres  in  Gage  county.  Mr.  Thorn  passed  from 
the  stage  of  life's  mortal  activities  on  the  7th 
of  December,  1894,  and  his  widow  survived 
him  by  seventeen  years,  she  having  been  called 
to  the  life  eternal  on  the  16th  of  December, 
1911,  the  names  and  memories  of  both  merit- 
ing a  tribute  of  honor  in  this  history  of  the 
county  in  which  they  so  long  maintained  their 
home  and  in  which  they  commanded  unquali- 
fied popular  esteem.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thom  be- 
came the  parents  of  five  children :  Mary 
Elizabeth  died  in  childhood,  having  succumbed 
to  an  attack  of  diphtheria  while  the  father  waa 
serving  as  a  soldier  in  the  Civil  war.  Harriet 
died  in  infancy.  Sarah  Adeline  resides  on  her 
farm  estate,  in  Section  32,  Sherman  township. 
Charles  is  supposed  at  the  time  of  this  writ- 
ing to  be  with  the  American  military  forces 
in  active  service  in  the  great  European  war, 
and  his  only  son,  James  Dale  Thom,  likewise 
is  in  the  military  service  of  the  nation,  he 
being,  in  the  spring  of  1918,  stationed  at  Camp 
Lewis,  Washington,  and  having  won  the  rank 
of  second  lieutenant.  This  loyal  and  patriotic 
young  man  has  received  exceptional  educa- 
tional advantages  —  at  Sioux  City  and  Grin- 
nell,  Iowa  ;  Chicago  and  Springfield,  Illinois ; 
and  in  the  law  school  of  historic  old  Harvard 
University,  where  he  was  a  student  at  the 
time  when  he  volunteered  for  service  in  the 
United  States  army.  James  A.,  a  representa- 
tive farmer  of  Sherman  township,  is  indi- 
vidually mentioned  on  other  pages. 

A  man  of  broad  views  and  mature  judg- 


ment, Mr.  Thom  was  well  fortified  for  leader- 
ship in  community  sentiment  and  action,  and 
he  was  specially  influential  in  public  affairs  in 
Sherman  township,  where  he  served  as  town- 
ship supervisor  and  township  treasurer,  as  well 
as  a  member  of  the  school  board.  He  was  a 
stalwart  supporter  of  the  principles  of  the  Re- 
publican party  and  he  and  his  wife  were  earn- 
est members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church.  He  gave  to  his  children  the  best  of 
educational  advantages,  including  instruction 
in  the  Normal  School  at  Peru,  and  all  three 
have  given  added  honors  to  the  family  name. 
Miss  Sarah  A.  Thom,  who  gives  her  personal 
supervision  to  the  management  of  her  fine 
farms,  comprising  five  hundred  and  sixty-three 
acres,  attended  the  public  schools  of  Beatrice 
and  was  for  five  years  a  student  in  the  Ne- 
braska Normal  School  at  Peru.  For  five 
years  she  was  an  efficient  and  popular  teacher 
in  the  schools  of  Gage  county,  and  she  is  a 
gracious  gentlewoman  whose  friends  are  in 
number  as  her  acquaintances. 

WILLIAM  F.  LILLIE  is  a  scion  of  a  well 
known  family  that  was  founded  in  Gage  coun- 
ty about  three  years  before  the  Territory  of 
Nebraska  gained  the  dignity  and  prerogatives 
of  statehood,  and  he  has  been  a  resident  of 
the  county  since  he  was  a  lad  of  twelve  years, 
so  that  his  memory  forms  an  indissoluble  link 
between  the  pioneer  days  and  the  present 
period  of  opulent  prosperity  in  this  favored 
section  of  the  state.  He  is  now  one  of  the 
prosperous  agriculturists  and  stock-growers 
of  Rockford  township,  where  he  is  the  owner 
of  a  well  improved  farm  estate  of  forty  acres, 
his  home  being  in  Section  14. 

William  Franklin  Lillie  was  born  in  the  vi- 
cinity of  the  now  important  industrial  city  of 
Akron,  Ohio,  December  14,  1852,  and  is  a 
son  of  Henry  D.  and  Susanna  (Phillips) 
Lillie.  the  former  a  native  of  Pennsylvania 
and  the  latter  of  Ohio.  In  1864  Henry  D. 
Lillie  came  with  his  family  to  Nebraska  Ter- 
ritory, the  journey  having  been  made  with  a 
team  and  wagon,  and  he  became  a  pioneer 
settler  in  Gage  county,  where  he  took  up  a 
homestead   of   one   hundred   and   sixty   acres. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


655 


in  Section  14,  Rockford  township.  His  first 
house  was  constructed  principally  from 
his  wagon-box,  but  in  the  autumn  of  the  same 
year  he  constructed  the  walls  of  a  substantial 
stone  house,  though  for  several  years  the  roof 
of  the  building  was  of  the  sod  or  dirt  order 
so  common  to  the  pioneer  days.  He  reclaim- 
ed his  farm  and  bore  his  full  share  of  the 
burdens  incidental  to  life  on  the  frontier.  He 
was  fifty-nine  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  in  1882,  and  his  widow  still  resides  on 
the  old  homestead,  she  having  celebrated  the 
eighty-second  anniversary  of  her  birth  and  be- 
ing one  of  the  honored  pioneer  women  of  the 
county.  She  is  an  earnest  member  of  the 
Church  of  the  Brethren,  as  was  also  her  hus- 
band. Of  the  five  children  the  subject  of  this 
review  is  the  eldest ;  David  Sylvester  is  a  resi- 
dent of  Fairbury ;  Belinda  is  the  widow  of  Jo- 
seph Benson  and  remains  with  her  venerable 
mother  on  the  old  homestead ;  George  is  a  res- 
ident of  Fairbury ;  and  of  James  the  address  is 
unknown  to  the  other  members  of  the  family 
at  the  time  of  this  writing. 

William  F.  Lillie  acquired  his  early  educa- 
tion principally  in  the  common  schools  of  Ohio 
and  after  the  family  removal  to  Nebraska  he 
attended  school  three  terms  in  a  little  log 
school  house  that  was  established  by  the 
pioneers  of  Rockford  township.  He  assisted 
his  father  in  the  reclamation  and  general  ac- 
tivities of  the  home  farm  and  at  the  age  of 
twenty-two  years  he  initiated  his  independent 
operations  as  a  farmer,  though  he  had  virtually 
no  financial  resources  to  fortify  him  and  de- 
pended entirely  upon  his  own  energy  and 
ability  in  gaining  a  start  in  the  world.  His 
first  land  was  acquired  when  he  bought  forty 
acres  of  Hugh  J.  Dobbs,  and  this  constituted 
the  necleus  around  which  he  has  developed 
his  present  farm  property,  his  original  pur- 
chase having  been  made  in  1883,  prior  to  which 
year  he  had  farmed  on  rented  land- 
In  1874  Mr.  Lillie  married  Miss  Sarah  L. 
Richards,  who  was  born  in  Rock  Island  county, 
Illinois,  and  who  died  on  the  10th  of  March, 
1884.  Of  the  five  children  of  this  union  only 
one  is  living,  Wilham  E.,  who  is  a  progress- 
ive  farmer   in   Rockford   township.     In    1887 


Mr.  Lillie  contracted  a  second  marriage,  when 
Miss  Eva  May  Leming  became  his  wife.  She 
is  a  daughter  of  John  and  Margaret  ( Luke- 
mires)  Leming,  who  were  early  settlers  in 
Gage  county.  At  this  juncture  is  given  brief 
record  concerning  the  children  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Lillie:  Clara  is  the  wife  of  James  Wil- 
son, a  prosperous  farmer  in  Franklin  county; 
Henry  D.  is  engaged  in  farm  enterprise  in 
Rockford  township;  Susan  is  the  wife  of  Roy 
Graves,  of  Kansas  City,  Missouri ;  Altheia  is 
the  wife  of  Harry  Wenrick,  a  member  of  the 
Dempster  department  in  the  city  of  Beatrice ; 
Earl  A.,  Carrie  and  John  A.  remain  at  the 
parental  home ;  and  Bessie  died  at  the  age  of 
fifteen  months. 

Mr.  Lillie  has  had  no  desire  for  political 
preferment  or  public  office  of  any  kind,  but 
he  gives  a  staunch  support  to  the  cause  of  the 
Democratic  party.  His  wife  and  their  son 
John  hold  membership  in  the  Church  of  the 
Brethren. 

CALVIN  K.  HIGGINS  is  another  of  the 
sterling  pioneers  who  has  achieved  independ- 
ence and  liberal  prosperity  through  many  years 
of  active  association  with  farm  industry  in 
Gage  county,  and  his  admirably  improved 
farm  home,  in  Section  35,  Midland  township, 
is  in  close  proximity  to  the  city  of  Beatrice, — 
a  fine  rural  demesne  that  gives  full  evidence  of 
the  thrift  and  good  management  that  have  been 
brought  to  bear  in  its  development. 

Mr-  Higgins  is  a  scion  of  the  staunchest  of 
New  England  stock  in  both  the  paternal  and 
maternal  lines  and  a  representative  of  families, 
early  founded  in  the  Pine  Tree  state,  his  pa- 
ternal grandfather,  Ephraim  Higgins,  having 
been  born  at  Mount  Desert,  Maine,  on  the 
shores  of  the  Atlantic,  and  having  become  one 
of  the  substantial  farmers  of  his  native  state, 
where  he  passed  his  entire  life,  a  number  of  his 
brothers  having  become  seafaring  men.  Cal- 
vin K.  Higgins  was  born  in  the  town  of  Pitts- 
field,  Somerset  county,  Maine,  on  the  17th  of 
June,  1844,  and  is  a  son  of  Heman  and  Betsy 
(Tibbetts)  Higgins,  who  passed  their  entire 
lives  in  the  old  Pine  Tree  state,  where  the 
father  was  a  farmer  by  occupation.     Mr.  Hig- 


656 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


gins  is  the  eldest  in  a  family  of  four  children  ; 
Charity,  who  became  the  wife  of  William 
Dyer,  continued  to  reside  in  Maine  until  her 
death;  George  is  a  prosperous  farmer  at 
Clinton,  that  state;  and  Mary,  the  widow  of 
Henry  Lancaster,  resides  at  Pittsfield,  Maine. 
In  connection  with  his  farm  enterprise  the 
father  was  for  a  number  of  years  engaged  in 
lumbering  operations,  felling  the  timber  and 
running  the  logs  down  the  streams  to  the  mill. 
He  was  a  Democrat  in  politics. 

Calvin  K.  Higgins  was  not  denied  in  his 
youth  a  full  measure  of  experience  in  connec- 
tion with  the  work  of  the  somewhat  austere 
New  England  farm,  and  that  he  made  good 
use  of  the  advantages  afforded  in  the  com- 
mon schools  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  as  a 
young  man  he  became  a  successful  and  popular 
teacher  in  the  rural  schools  of  his  native  state. 
He  taught  five  winter  terms,  and  during  the 
intervening  seasons  continued  his  association 
with  farm  work.  In  1872  he  went  to  Lowell, 
]\Iassachusetts,  where  for  one  year  he  was 
employed  as  a  watchman  in  a  large  cotton 
mill,  and  in  1875  he  came  to  Nebraska  and 
numbered  himself  among  the  ambitious  young 
pioneers  of  Gage  county.  His  resources  were 
such  that  he  was  able  to  purchase  forty  acre.s 
of  unimproved  land,  in  Midland  township.  In 
the  primitive  little  shanty  which  he  built  on 
his  farm  he  maintained  "bachelor's  hall,"  and 
success  attended  his  activities.  He  finally  sold 
this  place  and  purchased  his  present  fine  farm 
estate,  which  comprises  one  hundred  and 
eighty-four  acres  and  which  he  had  improved 
with  excellent  buildings  and  accessories  that 
mark  it  as  one  of  the  most  attractive  home- 
steads of  the  township,  the  land  being  now 
exceptionally  valuable.  On  his  first  farm, 
near  Holmesvil'.e,  he  continued  to  maintain 
sway  as  a  bachelor  for  six  years  and  he  then 
took  imto  himself  a  companion  and  helpmeet 
who  has  been  his  earnest  coadjutor  during  the 
long  intervening  period  and  who  has  shared 
with  him  in  the  joys  and  sorrows  that  are  the 
common  lot  of  humanity. 

On  the  7th  of  June.  1881,  was  solemnized 
the  marriage  of  Mr.  Higgins  to  Miss  Rebec- 
ca Murgatroyd,  who  was  born  in  the  state  of 


Wisconsin,  April  3,  1857,  and  who  is  a  daugh- 
ter of  Emanuel  and  Ellen  (Newson)  Murga- 
troyd. Her  parents  were  born  and  reared  in 
England,  where  their  marriage  was  solemnized. 
They  became  pioneer  settlers  in  Gage  county, 
Nebraska,  where  they  passed  the  remainder  of 
their  lives-  Of  their  ten  children  only  four 
are  now  living.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Higgins  have 
six  children:  May  is  the  wife  of  Harvey 
Essam  and  they  reside  in  Logan  township ; 
Charles,  a  graduate  of  the  Beatrice  high  school, 
remains  at  the  parental  home  and  has  active 
management  of  the  farm;  Pansy  likewise  con- 
tinues a  member  of  the  home  circle ;  Edith 
was  graduated  in  the  University  of  Nebraska, 
was  for  two  terms  a  teacher  in  the  schools  of 
her  native  state  and  is  now  in  the  employ  of 
the  government,  at  Washington,  D.  C,  en- 
gaged in  the  scientific  testing  of  seeds ;  Grace 
remains  at  the  parental  home;  and  Julia  was 
graduated  in  the  Nebraska  Agricultural  Col- 
lege as  a  member  of  the  class  of  1918. 

A  man  of  strong  mentality  and  well  forti- 
fied opinions,  Mr.  Higgins  has  been  well 
fortified  for  leadership  in  community  sentiment 
and  action  and  has  been  known  as  one  of  the 
progressive  and  public-spirited  citizens  of  Gage 
county.  He  has  not  been  ambitious  for  public 
office  but  has  rendered  efficient  service  as  a 
member  of  the  school  board  of  his  district  and 
is  a  Republican  in  his  political  allegiance.  In 
connection  with  his  general  operations  as  an 
agriculturist  and  stock-grower  he  has  devel- 
oped a  fine  dairy  herd  of  Jersey  cows,  and  the 
milk  from  the  same  is  sold  to  appreciative 
customers  in  the  city  of  Beatrice. 

CHARLES  P.  HORN,  general  manager  of 
the  well  ordered  and  prosperous  lumber  busi- 
ness conducted  by  the  S.  A.  Foster  Company 
in  the  village  of  Pickrell,  was  born  at  Wood 
River,  Hall  county,  Nebraska,  October  25, 
1881,  a  son  of  Charles  M.  and  Elizabeth 
(  Schultz)  Horn.  Of  the  other  children  the 
following  brief  data  are  available :  Margaret 
is  the  wife  of  O.  H.  .\braham.  of  Sterling, 
Colorado;  Anna  remains  with  her  widowed 
mother  at  Wood  River ;  Henry  W.  is  a  resi- 
dent of  Gering,  Scotts  P.luff  county;  and  Otto 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


657 


continues  his  residence  at  \\'ood  River,  the 
subject  of  this  review  having  been  the  second 
in  order  of  birth. 

Charles  M.  Horn  was  born  in  Germany. 
November  28,  1840,  was  there  reared  and 
educated  and  was  about  nineteen  years  old 
when  he  came  to  America  and  landed  in  New 
York  city,  in  1859-  There  he  remained  until 
he  was  moved  to  manifest  his  loyalty  to  the 
land  of  his  adoption  by  tendering  his  services 
as  a  soldier  of  the  Union  in  the  Civil  war.  He 
enlisted,  in  1862,  in  the  Sixty-eighth  New 
York  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  with  this  com- 
mand he  served  until  the  close  of  the  war, — 
a  participant  in  many  important  battles  be- 
sides numerous  engagements  of  minor  order. 
In  the  early  70s  he  made  his  way  to  Arizona 
Territory,  after  having  previously  worked  at 
his  trade,  that  of  shoemaker,  in  a  boot  and 
shoe  establishment  at  St.  Joseph,  Missouri. 
About  the  year  1879,  Mr.  Horn  came  to  Ne- 
braska and  established  himself  in  the  work  of 
his  trade  at  Wood  River.  He  became  one  of 
the  successful  business  men  and  honored  citi- 
zens of  that  place  and  there  remained  until  his 
death,  which  occurred  in  ^913.  His  widow 
still  resides  at  Wood  River  and  through  her 
has  been  gained  the  information  here  recorded 
con:erning  his  career.  He  was  a  man  whose 
intrinsic  modesty  caused  him  to  say  but  little 
concerning  his  career  or  the  family  history, 
and  thus  more  ample  data  could  not  be  given 
for  the  preparation  of  this  review.  Mrs. 
Horn  was  born  in  Germany  about  1858,  came 
with  her  parents  to  America  in  the  early  70s 
and  the  family  home  was  established  in  Hall 
county,  Nebraska,  where  she  has  since  resided, 
her  marriage  having  there  been  solemnized  in 
1875. 

In  the  public  schools  of  ^^'ood  River 
Charles  P.  Horn  continued  his  studies  until 
his  graduation  in  the  high  school,  as  a  member 
of  the  class  of  1899.  In  the  same  year  he 
found  employment  in  a  lumber  yard  in  his 
native  village,  but  in  the  autumn  of  the  fol- 
lowing year  he  came  to  Gage  county  and 
entered  the  employ  of  the  Foster  Lumber 
Company,  in  the  yards  which  it  then  conduct- 
ed  at   Cortland.     In    1902   he    was   made   the 


manager  of  the  Pirkrell  lumber  yards  of  the 
S.  A.  Foster  Company,  a  position  of  which  he 
has  since  continued  the  efficient  and  popular 
incumbent. 

September  25,  1907,  recorded  the  marriage 
of  Air.  Horn  to  Miss  Lena  E.  Lawson,  who 
was  born  at  Beatrice,  this  county  where  her 
parents,  William  W.  and  Esther  M.  (McEl- 
roy )  Lawson,  still  maintain  their  home.  Mr. 
and  Airs  Horn  have  three  children, —  Lois  E., 
Charles  Lawson,  and  Leon  H. 

Mr.  Horn  is  known  and  valued  as  one  of  the 
most  alert  and  progressive  young  business  men 
of  Pickrell  and  as  a  loyal  and  public-spirited 
citizen.  He  has  given  efficient  service  as  a 
member  of  the  municipal  council  of  the  village 
and  also  as  a  member  of  the  board  of  educa- 
tion. He  is  a  Republican  in  his  political  alle- 
giance and  is  affiliated  with  the  Masonic  fra- 
ternity. In  the  preparation  of  this  history  of 
Gage  county  Mr.  Horn  has  shown  much  in- 
terest and  as  a  member  of  the  advisory  board 
which  has  passed  upon  the  various  chapters  of 
the  history  he  has  given  most  effective  co-oper- 
ation. 

CLARENCE  B.  KNOX.—  At  this  juncture 
is  consistently  accorded  recognition  to  a  vigor- 
ous and  resourceful  young  business  man  who 
is  one  of  the  popular  citizens  of  Beatrice  and 
who  claims  the  distinction  of  being  a  native 
son  of  Nebraska,  where  he  is  a  scion  of  the 
third  generation  on  both  the  paternal  and 
maternal  sides.  His  energies  are  well  em- 
ployed in  his  control  of  a  substantial  and  pros- 
perous business  in  the  buying  and  shipping  of 
horses  and  mules,  his  activities  as  a  buyer 
covering  a  large  area  of  country  in  this  sec- 
tion of  the  state  and  the  large  volume  of 
liis  business  being  indicated  by  the  statement 
that  in  the  fall  and  winter  of  1917  he  shipped 
an  average  of  three  or  more  carloads  of 
horses  and  mules  weeklv. 

Mr.  Knox  was  born  in  Seward  county, 
Nebraska,  on  the  11th  of  June,  1883,  and  is 
a  son  of  Charles  D.  and  Arlepha  (Hickman) 
Knox,  who  were  young  folk  at  the  time  of 
the  immigration  of  the  respective  families  to 
Seward    county,    where   they   were    reared    to 


658 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


maturity  and  where  their  marriage  was  sol- 
emnized. They  now  reside  in  the  city  of 
Beatrice,  where  the  father  conducts  a  pros- 
perous taxicab.  and  transfer  business.  Of  the 
four  children  the  subject  of  this  sketch  is  the 
eldest;  Clara  is  the  wife  of  Herbert  Hand,  a 
successful  farmer  in  Seward  county;  Fern 
remains  at  the  parental  home ;  and  Eva  is 
the  wife  of  Radford  Shelley,  proprietor  of  a 
well  ordered  business  college  at  Beatrice. 
Charles  D-  Knox  is  recognized  as  one  of  the 
substantial  and  representative  business  men  of 
Beatrice,  and  concerning  him  individual  rec- 
ord is  made   in  other  pages  of  this  volume. 

Clarence  B.  Knox  was  reared  to  the  sturdy 
discipline  of  a  pioneer  farm  in  Seward  county 
and  his  initial  experience  in  independent  lines 
was  acquired  through  his  continued  association 
with  agricultural  and  live-stock  enterprise. 
After  being  thus  engaged  in  independent  farm- 
ing in  Seward  county  for  three  years  he  re- 
moved to  the  county  seat,  Seward,  where  for 
two  years  he  was  engaged  in  the  livery  busi- 
ness. The  following  two  years  found  him 
again  identified  with  farm  enterprise  in  that 
county  and  he  then  came  to  Beatrice  and  en- 
gaged in  the  buying  and  shipping  of  horses 
and  mules,  with  which  line  of  enterprise  he 
has  since  continued  his  successful  connection, 
his  energy  and  progressive  policies  having 
enabled  him  to  develop  a  large  and  important 
business  in  which  his  personal  popularity  and 
fair  and  honorable  dealings  constitute  definite 
assets.  His  early  education  was  obtained  in 
the  public  schools  of  his  native  county  and 
has  been  effectively  supplemented  by  that 
gained  in  the  practical  school  of  experience. 
He  is  a  Republican  and  takes  loyal  interest  in 
public  affairs,  especially  those  of  local  signifi- 
cance. 

The  year  1906  recorded  the  marriage  of  Mr. 
Knox  to  Miss  Ada  Wickersham,  of  Seward, 
this  state,  and  their  only  child  is  a  fine  little 
son.  Bayard  Charles,  who  was  born  in  the  year 
1909. 

JOHN  H.  WAYMAN.— In  Clatonia  town- 
ship John  Henry  Wayman  resides  upon  and 
gives  his  able  supervision  to  a   farm  of  one 


hundred  and  twenty-five  acres  which  he  rents 
from  the  Steinmeyer  estate,  and  he  is  the 
owner  of  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres'  in  Lincoln  county,  Nebraska,  as  well 
as  of  property  in  the  village  of  Clatonia. 

Mr.  Wayman  was  born  at  Longrun,  Licking 
county,  Ohio,  on  the  9th  of  May,  1872,  a  son 
of  Henry  and  Sophia  ( Heisner)  Wayman,  the 
former  of  whom  died  in  Holt  county,  Ne- 
braska, in  1907,  at  the  age  of  eighty-two  years 
and  eleven  months,  and  the  latter  of  whom 
still  resides  in  that  county,  she  being  sixty- 
eight  years  of  age  in  1918. 

Henry  Wayman  was  born  and  reared  in 
Germany  and  was  a  young  man  when  he 
came  to  America  and  settled  in  Ohio.  In 
that  state  he  continued  his  residence  until  1884, 
when  he  came  with  his  family  to  Nebraska  and 
established  his  home  at  Centerville,  Lincoln 
county.  Later  he  came  to  Gage  county  and 
engaged  in  farming  in  Grant  township,  where 
he  remained  until  his  removal  to  Holt  county. 
His  first  wife  died  when  comparatively  a 
young  woman  and  of  their  children  six  are 
now  living,  namely:  William,  a  resident  of 
Arizona ;  Mrs.  Mary  Emerich,  of  Sedalia, 
Missouri ;  Frederick,  a  resident  of  Colorado ; 
Eliza,  wife  of  John  Spellman,  of  Adams  coun- 
ty, Nebraska ;  Mrs.  Lizzie  Pelzer,  of  Holt 
county,  this  state;  and  Henry  J-,  who  is  a 
prosperous  farmer  of  Holt  county.  Of  the 
children  of  Henry  and  Sophia  (Heisner)  Way- 
man  the  eldest  is  Agusta,  who  is  the  wife  of 
George  Bohl,  of  Antelope  county,  Nebraska; 
John  R.,  subject  of  this  review,  was  the  next 
in  order  of  birth ;  Louis  is  a  resident  of  Holt 
county :  Flora  died  in  childhood ;  and  Charles 
is  a  resident  of  Antelope  county.  The  twin 
sister  of  Augusta  died  in  infancy. 

John  H.  Wayman  was  about  twelve  years 
of  age  at  the  time  of  the  family  removal  to 
Nebraska  and  he  was  reared  principally  on 
his  father's  farm  in  Clatonia  township.  Gage 
county,  where  in  the  meanwhile  he  profited  by 
the  advantages  of  the  district  schools.  He  has 
exceptional  mechanical  ability  and  in  earlier 
years  he  gave  much  of  his  attention  to  work 
at  the  carpenter's  trade,  though  as  early  as 
1894  he  began  independent   farm  operations, 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


659 


on  rented  land.  In  1911  he  rented  his  present 
farm  and  here  he  has  continued  his  successful 
activities  as  an  agriculturist  and  stock-g-rower, 
the  while  he  gives  also  a  general  supervision  to 
the  improving  and  directing  of  the  farm  which 
he  owns  in  Lincoln  county.  He  has  had  no 
desire  for  political  activity  of  any  kind  but 
gives  his  allegiance  to  the  Republican  party. 

November  2,  1893,  recorded  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  Wayman  to  Miss  Katherine  Menke, 
who  was  born  in  Ohio,  and  who  came  as  a 
child  to  Nebraska,  she  being  a  daughter  of 
Henry  and  Eliza  (Knapp)  Menke,  the  former 
of  whom  is  deceased  and  the  latter  of  whom 
remains  on  the  old  home  farm,  near  Clatonia, 
this  county.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wayman  became 
the  parents  of  five  children,  of  whom  the  first- 
born, August,  died  at  the  age  of  twenty 
months ;  Albert,  who  became  associated  in  the 
work  of  the  home  farm,  is  in  the  cantonment  of 
the  national  army  at  San  Antonio,  Texas,  in 
the  spring  of  1918,  making  ready  to  go  to  the 
battlefields  of  Europe ;  Harvey  died  at  the  age 
of  three  years ;  and  Ellen  and  Henry  are 
m.embers  of  the  gracious  home  circle. 

CARL  HAWES.— One  of  the  fine  farm 
properties  of  Grant  township  is  that  to  which 
Mr.  Hawes  is  giving  his  careful  and  effiective 
supervision,  the  same  comprising  two  hundred 
and  forty  acres,  in  Section  28,  and  constituting 
property  that  was  inherited  by  his  mother  from 
the  estate  of  her  father.  With  him  on  the 
homestead  remain  his  younger  brothers  and 
sisters  and  in  his  independent  activities  as  an 
agriculturist  and  stock-grower  he  has  definite 
classification  among  the  successful  and  pro- 
gressive farmers  of  the  younger  generation 
in  his  native  county. 

Mr.  Hawes  was  born  on  his  present  home- 
stead farm,  February  1,  1894,  and  is  a  son 
of  the  late  John  and  Jane  E.  (Plucknett) 
Hawes,  of  whose  ten  children  he  was  the  fifth 
in  order  of  birth,  brief  data  concerning  the 
other  children  being  here  offered :  Mary  is  the 
wife  of  Wright  Truesdell,  of  Fort  Madison, 
Iowa ;  Ada  is  the  wife  of  Daniel  Morford,  of 
Omaha;  .Alexander  is  now  a  resident  of 
northwest   Canada;  William  resides   at   Fair- 


field, Clay  county,  Nebraska ;  Robert  is  asso- 
ciated with  the  subject  of  this  review  in  the 
work  and  management  of  the  home  farm, 
while  their  sister  Ruth  graciously  directs  the 
domestic  economies  of  the  home,  with  the  aid 
of  her  younger  sister,  Clara ;  and  Lloyd  and 
Frank  are  the  younger  members  of  the  family 
circle- 
John  Hawes  was  born  at  Glenwood,  Mills 
county,  Iowa,  June  18,  1853,  and  was  a  mem- 
ber of  one  of  the  sterling  pioneer  families 
of  the  Hawkeye  state.  He  was  a  son  of 
Thomas  and  Isabelle  (Stevens)  Hawes,  the 
former  a  native  of  Pennsylvania  and  the 
latter  of  Illinois,  in  which  last  mentioned  state 
their  marriage  was  solemnized.  Thomas 
Hawes  became  one  of  the  early  settlers  in 
Mills  county,  Iowa,  where  he  reclaimed  a  farm 
from  the  virgin  prairie,  but  after  a  number  of 
years  he  came  with  his  family  to  Nebraska 
and  numbered  himself  among  the  pioneers  of 
Saline  county.  There  he  entered  claim  to  a 
homestead,  southwest  of  Wilber,  and  he  be- 
came one  of  the  representative  farmers  of 
that  locality,  his  wife  having  died  at  Dewitt, 
Saline  county,  and  he  having  been  a  resident 
of  Oklahoma  at  the  time  of  his  death,  so  that 
his  pioneer  experience  had  touched  three  of 
the  now  great  and  prosperous  states  of  the 
L^nion. 

John  Hawes  was  the  eldest  in  a  family  of 
five  children  and  was  a  lad  of  nine  years  at 
the  time  of  the  family  removal  to  Nebraska 
Territory,  in  the  early  '60s.  He  was  reared 
under  the  discipline  of  the  pioneer  farm  in 
Saline  county,  where  eventually  he  became 
the  owner  of  land  and  engaged  in  independent 
farm  enterprise.  Later  he  had  the  manage- 
ment of  the  farm  inherited  by  his  wife  in  Gage 
county  and  he  was  one  of  the  substantial  farm- 
ers and  highly  esteemed  citizens  of  Grant 
township  at  the  time  of  his  death,  which  co- 
curred  June  1,  1908.  He  was  affiliated  with 
the  Ancient  Order  of  United  Workmen  and 
the  Knights  of  Phythias  and  both  he  and  his 
wife  were  active  communicants  of  the  Pro- 
testant Episcopal  church,  his  political  support 
having  been  given  to  the  Republican  party. 
Mrs.  Jane  E.    (Plucknett)    Hawes  was  born 


660 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


in  Grant  township,  this  county,  December  7, 
1863,  and  was  summoned  to  eternal  rest  on 
the  29th  of  August,  1914.  She  was  a  daugh- 
ter of  William  and  Caroline  (Hawlett) 
Plucknett,  both  natives  of  England  and  both 
numbered  among  the  prominent  and  honored 
pioneers  of  Gage  county,  where  Mr.  Plucknett 
developed  one  of  the  largest  and  best  landed 
estates  in  the  county :  he  was  at  one  time  the 
owner  of  about  two  thousand  acres  of  land, 
principally  in  Grant  township,  and  was  known 
and  valued  as  one  of  the  strong,  worthy  and 
influential  pioneer  citizens  of  this  section  of 
Nebraska,  he  having  established  his  residence 
in  Gage  county  in  1861,  and  both  he  and  his 
wife  having  here  passed  the  closing  years  of 
their  lives,  after  .having  previously  gained 
pioneer  experience  in  the  state  of  Iowa. 

Carl  Hawes  has  been  actively  associated 
with  farm  enterprise  from  his  early  youth, 
was  afforded  the  advantages  of  the  public 
schools,  and  since  the  death  of  his  mother  he 
has  had  the  active  management  of  the  splendid 
farm  of  two  hundred  and  forty  acres,  which 
is  given  over  to  diversified  agriculture  and 
stock-growing  and  is  a  part  of  one  of  the  his- 
toric pioneer  estates  of  Gage  county.  He  is 
a  Republican  in  politics  and  he  and  his  broth- 
ers and  sisters  retain  the  ancestral  religious 
faith  —  that  represented  in  America  by  the 
Protestant  Episcopal   church. 

THOMAS  MAYBORN,  who  is  now  living 
retired  in  the  city  of  Beatrice,  gained  independ- 
ence and  substantial  prosperity  through  his  as- 
sociation with  farm  enterprise  in  Gage  county 
and  is  a  citizen  who  commands  the  fullest 
measure  of  popular  confidence  and  good  will. 
Lasting  honor  shall  rest  upon  his  name  by  rea- 
son of  the  service  which  he  gave  as  a  gallant 
soldier  of  the  Union  in  the  Civil  war,  and  he 
is  one  of  the  valued  members  of  Rawlins  Post, 
No.  35,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  in  the 
city  of  Beatrice. 

Mr.  Mayborn  was  born  in  Dover.  England, 
not  far  distant  from  the  city  of  London,  and 
the  date  of  his  nativity,  was  November  19, 
1S44.  He  is  a  son  of  Thomas  and  Caroline 
(Harding)   Mayborn,  members  of  sterling  old 


English  families,  and  he  was  a  lad  of  about 
four  years  at  the  time  of  his  parents'  immigra- 
tion to  the  L'nited  States,  settlement  being 
first  made  in  Oneida  county,  New  York,  but 
about  eighteen  months  later  removal  being 
made  to  Stark  county,  Illinois,  where  the  father 
engaged  in  farm  enterprise  and  where  his 
death  occurred  when  the  subject  of  this  review 
was  but  seven  years  of  age.  Both  he  and  his 
wife  were  communicants  of  the  established 
Church  of  England  and  upon  coming  to  the 
L'nited  States  naturally  affiliated  themselves 
with  its  American  exponent  of  the  same  faith, 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  church.  Of  the  six 
children  three  are  living,  Thomas,  of  this  re- 
view, being  the  eldest  of  the  number ;  James  is 
a  substantial  farmer  in  Washington  county, 
Kansas;  and  Alfred  is  president  of  the  Diller 
State  Bank,  at  Diller,  Jefferson  county,  Ne- 
braska- Thomas  Mayborn,  Sr.,  was  about 
forty-five  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  his  death 
and  his  widow  passed  the  closing  period  of  her 
life  with  her  sons,  in  Gage  county,  Nebraska, 
where  she  died  at  the  venerable  age  of  eighty- 
one  years. 

He  whose  name  initiates  this  review  ac- 
quired his  early  education  in  the  public  schools 
of  Illinois  and  was  a  mere  lad  when  he  began 
to  apply  himself  earnestly  in  aiding  in  the  sup- 
port of  his  widowed  mother  and  the  other 
members  of  the  family,  he  having  been  the  eld- 
est of  the  children.  He  was  actively  associated 
with  farming  operations  in  Illinois  at  the  time 
of  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  war  and  promptly 
showed  his  intrinsic  loyalty  by  tendering  his 
services  in  defence  of  the  L'nion.  On  the  25th 
of  September,  1861,  while  on  a  visit  in  the  old 
Empire  state,  he  enlisted  as  a  private  in  Com- 
pany A,  Fourteenth  New  York  Volunteer  In- 
fantry, with  which  command  he  proceeded  to 
the  front.  At  the  battle  of  Malvern  Hill,  Vir- 
ginia, July  1,  1862,  he  was  wounded  in  the 
right  thigh,  by  a  minie  ball,  and  while  lying 
lielpless  on  the  battlefield  he  was  captured  by 
the  enemy.  He  was  taken  to  Libby  Prison, 
of  infamous  historical  record,  but  fortunately 
was  released  from  this  bastile  after  he  had 
there  been  held  as  a  prisoner  of  war  for  twenty- 
seven  (lavs.     The  effects  of  his  wound   inca- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


661 


pacitated  him  for  further  service  in  the  field, 
and,  much  to  his  regret,  he  was  compelled  to 
retire  from  the  army,  an  honorable  discharge 
having  been  given  to  him  in  December,  1862. 
He  then  returned  to  Stark  county,  Illinois,  and 
for  more  than  a  year  thereafter  he  was  unable 
to  do  any  active  work. 

Mr.  Mayborn  continued  his  residence  in  Il- 
linois until  1875,  when  he  removed  to  Page 
county,  Iowa,  where  he  was  engaged  in  farm- 
ing for  the  ensuing  six  years.  In  the  spring 
of  1881  he  came  with  his  family  to  Gage  coun- 
ty, Nebraska,  where  he  purchased  a  farm  of 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  in  Glenwood 
township,  and  instituted  its  improvement  and 
cultivation.  He  developed  the  place  into  one 
of  the  valuable  farm  properties  of  the  county 
and  still  owns  the  farm,  his  attention  having 
been  given  largely  to  the  raising  of  live  stock, 
but  diversified  agriculture  having  not  been  neg- 
lected by  him  during  the  period  of  his  resi- 
dence on  the  farm.  He  erected  good  buildings 
on  the  farm  and  he  now  rents  the  place  to  good 
effect.  In  1903  he  and  his  wife  removed  to 
the  city  of  Beatrice,  where  they  have  an  at- 
tractive home  and  where  he  has  since  lived 
practically  retired,  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  re- 
wards of  former  years  of  earnest  and  worthy 
endeavor. 

In  Stark  county',  Illinois,  on  the  9th  of  April, 
1865,  was  solemnized  the  marriage  of  Mr. 
Mayborn  to  Miss  Rebecca  Jerrems,  who  was 
born  in  Oneida  county.  New  York,  a  daughter 
of  James  and  Ann  (Carter)  Jerrems,  natives 
of  England,  whence  they  came  to  the  United 
States  in  the  early  '30s.  Mrs.  Mayborn  was 
born  April  5,  1845,  and  her  death  occurred 
August  1,  1890,  she  having  been  a  devout  mem- 
ber of  the  Christian  church.  She  is  survived 
by  four  children:  William  resides  in  Beatrice 
and  is  a  traveling  salesman  of  agricultural  im- 
plements and  machinery  ;  James  A.  is  a  success- 
ful farmer  in  Ogle  county,  Illinois :  George  is 
associated  with  William  Lyndes  in  the  meat- 
market  business  at  Beatrice;  and  C.  H.  is 
cashier  in  a  banking  institution  at  Brush.  Colo- 
rado. 

On  the  25th  of  April,  1901,  :\Ir.  Mayborn 
contracted    a    second    marriage,    when    ^Irs. 


Frances  Jane  (Black)  Hill  became  his  wife. 
She  is  the  widow  of  John  L.  Hill  and  has  three 
children  by  her  first  marriage :  Raymond  is  a 
carpenter  by  trade  and  is  a  successful  con- 
tractor and  builder  at  National  City,  Cali- 
fornia ;  Bessie  is  the  wife  of  Lloyd  Willis,  of 
Beatrice,  her  husband  having  recently  been 
called  to  enter  service  with  the  naticnal  army 
being  prepared  for  service- in  the  great  Euro- 
pean war ;  and  Laura,  who  remains  with  her 
mother,  is  assistant  librarian  of  the  P>eatrice 
public  library.  Mrs.  Mayborn  is  aii  earnest 
and  zealous  communicant  of  Christ  church, 
and  is  the  popular  chatelaine  of  one  of  the 
pleasant  homes  of  the  Gage  county  m.ctropolis 
and  judicial  center. 

Mr.  Mayborn  is  a  staunch  advocate  of  the 
principles  of  the  Republican  party  and  while 
residing  on  his  farm  he  served  several  years 
as  treasurer  of  the  school  board,  in  Glenwood 
township. 

ISAAC  B.  MITTAN.— The  frontier  line 
has  been  pushed  farther  and  farther  west  until 
to-day  we  have  no  frontier  line,  and  this 
progress  of  civilization  has  been  accomplished 
so  slowly  and  imperceptibly  by  the  pioneer 
men  and  women  who  braved  the  hardships  of 
their  crude  surroundings  to  make  homes  for 
themselves  and  to  win  the  wild  wastes  of  fer- 
tility that  ere  we  knew  it  there  was  no  fron- 
tier line.  For  fifty  years  Isaac  B.  Mittan  has 
lived  on  Gage  county  soil  and  has  experienced 
the  revelation  of  wild  unbroken  prairies  being 
replaced  by  fertile  farms  and  modern  cities 
and  industries.  Instead  of  the  slow,  deliberate 
oxen  wending  their  way  across  the  plains, 
there  now  dashes  through  the  night  the  fast 
midnight  express,  and  it  has  all  come  so  im- 
perceptibly that  it  seems  to  be  a  revelation. 

Isaac  B.  Mittan  was  born  in  Lee  county, 
Illinois,  March  4,  1851,  a  son  of  Daniel  C.  and 
Martha  (Fuller)  Mittan,  who  were  married 
in  Pennsylvania  and  were  among  the  earliest 
settlers  of  Lee  county,  Illinois,  where  they 
were  active  in  farm  enterprise  from  1849  to 
1868,  in  which  latter  year  they  started  across 
the  prairies  with  slow  driven  horse  teams  for 
the  land  of  Nebraska.    They  crossed  the  Mis- 


662 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


663 


soiiri  river  May  1st,  at  Brownville,  and 
reached  their  destination  in  Gage  county  May 
3d.  For  two  weeks  they  camped  on  Cedar 
creek,  while  the  father  and  sons  walked  over 
the  plains  to  select  the  best  homestead.  Their 
selection  was  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  in 
Section  28,  Rock  ford  township  —  the  present 
fine  home  farm  of  the  subject  of  this  review. 
A  small  frame  building  was  erected  and  this 
was  the  home  of  the  parents  until  their  death. 
Daniel  C.  Mittan  was  seventy-eight  years  old 
at  the  time  of  his  demise  and  his  widow  passed 
away  at  the  venerable  age  of  eighty-seven 
years.  Mr.  Mittan  was  a  Civil  war  veteran, 
enlisting  for  the  one  hundred  days'  service, 
but  he  followed  the  flag  and  continued  in 
active  service  for  one  year.  He  was  a  staunch 
Republican  and  both  he  and  his  good  wife 
were  devoted  members  of  the  Methodist 
church.  The  following  children  were  bom 
to  them :  Elvira,  deceased,  was  the  wife  of 
Harvey  Howard,  who  was  a  homesteader  ot 
Gage  county;  Phoebe,  deceased,  was  the  wife 
of  James  S.  Pease  and  lived  in  Rockford  town- 
ship; Isaac  B.  is  the  immediate  subject  of  this 
sketch ;  Horace  was  a  resident  of  Cedar 
county.  Nebraska,  at  the  time  of  his  death ; 
William,  unmarried,  resides  in  Sherman  town- 
ship ;  Jacob  is  deceased ;  Asa  lives  in  Dawes 
county,  Nebraska ;  and  Samuel  died  in  child- 
hood. 

Isaac  B.  Mittan  attended  the  schools  of 
Illinois  and  also  of  Gage  county.  Among  his 
schoolmates  in  this  county  was  Hugh  J. 
Dobbs,  the  author  of  this  history  of  the  county. 

Mr.  Mittan  has  farmed  in  Gage  county  all 
of  the  years  of  his  residence  with  the  excep- 
tion of  four  years  spent  in  Missouri.  By 
purchasing  the  interests  of  the  other  members 
of  the  family  he  has  become  in  possession  of 
the  original  homestead.  He  has  improved  the 
first  frame  house  and  has  erected  on  the  place 
the  attractive  house  which  is  now  the  place 
of  his  abode. 

Mr.  Mittan  was  married,  in  Gage  county, 
to  Miss  Elizabeth  Meyers,  born  in  Wisconsin 
March  24,  1854.  She  is  a  daughter  of  Valen- 
tine and  Roxana  Meyers,  who  settled  in  Rock- 
ford  township,  Gage  county,  in  1870,  and  both 


of  whom  are  deceased.  Mrs.  Mittan  passed 
away  in  1911,  there  being  only  ten  days'  lapse 
between  the  death  of  the  wife  and  the  mother 
of  Mr.  Mittan.  Following  is  brief  record 
concerning  the  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mit- 
tan:  Elmer  resides  in  Loup  county,  Nebras- 
ka ;  Nelson  resides  in  Virginia,  Gage  county ; 
Chartes  married  Bertha  McKinney  and  they 
have  five  children;  Clyde,  unmarried,  lives  in 
Virginia,  this  county;  Ada  is  the  wife  of  Le- 
Roy  Ayre,  living  in  Dickinson  county,  Kan- 
sas ;  Adra  and  Lester  died  in  infancy. 

Isaac  B.  Mittan  has  retired  from  active 
farming  and  makes  his  home  with  his  son 
Chartes,  who  is  operating  the  farm.  Mr.  Mit- 
tan is  a  Republican  in  politics,  and  is  one  of 
the  well  known  pioneer  settlers  of  Gage 
county. 

GEORGE  L.  MUMFORD.— The  family  of 
which  this  successful  and  popular  citizen  of 
Beatrice  is  a  scion  is  one  that  has  in  its 
various  generations  gained  marked  pioneer 
distinction  in  connection  with  the  march  of 
development  and  progress  in  the  great  Amer- 
ican republic  He  whose  name  initiates  this 
review  has  been  a  resident  of  Gage  county 
from  the  time  of  his  birth,  is  a  representative 
of  an  influential  pioneer  family  that  was 
founded  in  the  county  in  the  early  territorial 
period,  and  the  name  which  he  bears  has  been 
one  of  significant  prominence  in  connection 
with  the  annals  of  advancement  in  Gage 
county.  Further  data  attesting  to  this  fact 
n;ay  be  found  not  only  in  the  department  of 
this  work  specifically  devoted  to  the  history 
of  the  county  but  also  in  connection  with  the 
personal  mention  of  other  contemporary  re- 
presentatives of  the  family,  three  brothers  of 
the  name  having  established  homes  in  this 
favored  section  of  the  state  within  the  decade 
of  the  '60s. 

On  the  old  homestead  farm  of  his  father, 
in  Logan  township,  this  county,  George  L. 
Mumford  was  born  April  19,  1878,  and  he  is 
a  son  of  Jacob  and  Annie  (Newton)  Mumford, 
the  former  a  native  of  Maryland  and  the 
latter  of  Pennsylvania.  The  first  wife  of 
Jacob  Mumford  bore  the  family  name  of  Lin- 


664 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


sey,  and  of  the  children  of  this  union  two 
are  living, —  William  B.,  a  resident  of  Pickrell, 
Gage  county,  and  Mrs.  Emma  Dearborn,  of 
Los  Angeles,  California.  To  Jacob  and  Annie 
(Newton)  Mumford  were  born  four  children, 
and  of  the  three  surviving  the  subject  of  this 
review  is  the  eldest ;  John  is  one  of  the  pros- 
perous farmers  of  this  county;  Estella  died  at 
the  age  of  twelve  years;  and  Oliver  likewise 
is  numbered  among  the  representative  farm- 
ers of  Gage  county. 

Jacob  Mumford  was  a  son  of  William  Mum- 
ford  and  was  a  youth  at  the  time  of  the 
family  immigration  from  Maryland  to  Ohio, 
his  father  having  died  while  en  route  to  the 
new  home  and  his  remains  having  been  laid 
to  rest  in  the  state  of  Pennsylvania.  In 
Ohio  Jacob  Mumford  continued  his  associa- 
tion with  agricultural  industry  until  he  num- 
bered himself  among  the  pioneer  farmers  of 
Lafayette  county,  Wisconsin,  and  in  that  state 
was  solemnized  his  marriage  to  Miss  Annie 
Newton,  a  daughter  of  John  Newton,  who  was 
born  in  England  and  who  became  one  of  the 
early  settlers  of  Wisconsin,  where  he  passed 
the  remainder  of  his  life.  Jacob  Mumford 
continued  his  residence  in  the  Badger  state 
until  1865,  when  he  came  with  his  family  to 
Nebraska  and  established  his  residence  on  a 
pioneer  farm  in  Gage  county,  his  eldest  broth- 
er, Ismay  Mumford.  having  settled  here  in 
1860,  and  having  been  elected  the  first  treas- 
urer of  Gage  county,  his  son  Dawson  having 
been  the  first  white  child  born  in  the  county. 
Jacob  Mumford  entered  claim  to  government 
land  and  eventually  became  the  owner  of  a 
fine  landed  estate  of  six  hundred  acres.  He 
reclaimed  and  developed  one  of  the  fine  farm 
properties  of  the  county,  was  a  citizen  of  worth 
and  influence,  did  much  to  further  civic  and 
industrial  advancement  and  served  in  various 
local  positions  of  public  trust,  inckurng  that 
of  member  of  the  board  of  county  commis- 
sioners, an  office  of  which  he  was  the  incum- 
bent for  several  terms.  His  political  alle- 
giance was  given  to  the  Democratic  party,  his 
religious  faith  was  that  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
co])al  church  and  his  second  wife  was  a  devot- 
ed member  of  the  Cliristian  church. 


George  L.  Mumford  passed  the  period  of 
his  childhood  and  early  youth  on  the  home 
farm,  and  in  this  connection  gained  lasting 
appreciation  of  the  dignity  and  value  of  honest 
toil  and  endeavor.  In  the  public  schools  he 
continued  his  studies  until  he  had  been  gra- 
duated in  the  high  school  in  the  city  of 
Beatrice,  as  a  member  of  the  class  of  1897, 
and  that  he  made  good  use  of  the  advantages 
thus  afforded  is  demonstrated  by  the  effective 
service  which  he  gave  as  a  popular  teacher  in 
the  district  schools,  his  pedagogic  endeavors 
having  continued  for  two  years.  Thereafter 
he  was  actively  concerned  in  farm  enterprise 
in  his  native  county  for  six  years,  at  the  ex- 
piration of  which  he  was  associated  for  eight 
years  in  the  conducting  of  a  general  store  at 
Pickrell,  Nebraska.  In  1915  Air.  Mumford 
engaged  in  the  retail  grocery  business  in  the 
city  of  Beatrice,  where  he  has  a  well  equipped 
and  thoroughly  modern  establishment  and  has 
developed  a  substantial  and  representative  en- 
terprise, so  that  he  has  status  as  one  of  the 
progressive  merchants  of  the  city  and  as  one 
of  the  vigorously  loyal  and  public-spirited 
citizens  of  his  native  county,  where  his  circle 
of  friends  is  limited  only  by  that  of  his 
acquaintances.  His  political  proclivities  are 
indicated  in  the  staunch  support  which  he  gives 
the  cause  of  the  Republican  party,  he  and  his 
wife  hold  membership  in  the  Christian  church, 
and  he  is  affiliated  with  the  local  lodges  of  the 
Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows  and  the 
Benevolent  &  Protective  Order  of  Elks. 

The  year  1900  recorded  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Mumford  to  Miss  Alice  Smith,  who  like- 
wise was  born  and  reared  in  this  county,  and 
they  have  three  children, —  Hermina,  Gertrude 
and  Helen.  The  eldest  daughter  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  class  of  1918  in  the  P.eatrice  h=gh 
school  and  the  younger  daughters  are  still 
students  in  the  public  schools  of  their  home 
city. 

GEORGE  B.  HILTON,  who  is  now  living 
retired  in  the  city  of  Beatrice,  his  attractive 
home  being  at  923  Grant  street,  has  been  a 
resident  of  Nebraska  for  more  than  th-rty 
years  and  of  Gage  countv  since   1890.     I'ntil 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


665 


his  removal  to  the  county  seat  he  was  a  pro- 
gressive farmer  in  Riverside  township,  and  in 
the  city  of  Beatrice  he  served  about  two 
years  as  street  commissioner,  from  which  of- 
fice he  retired  in  1911. 

Mr.  Hilton  claims  the  old  Buckeye  state  as 
the  place  of  his  nativity  and  is  a  scion  of  one  of 
the  early  pioneer  families  of  that  common- 
wealth. He  was  born  at  Brunersburg,  De- 
fiance county.  Ohio,  on  the  20th  of  November, 
1847.  and  is  a  son  of  Benjamin  and  Catherine 
(  Bruner)  Hilton.  Benjamin  Hilton  was  born 
in  Adams  county,  Ohio,  September  20,  1820, 
his  parents  having  immigrated  to  Ohio  from 
Somerset  county,  Maine,  and  having  first 
settled  in  Hamilton  county.  They  made  the 
greater  part  of  the  journey  from  New  Eng- 
land to  the  pioneer  west  by  water  route,  passed 
down  the  Ohio  river  and  up  the  St.  Mary's 
river  in  boats  hewed  out  of  logs, —  primative 
vehicles  of  transporation  commonly  designated 
as  pirogues.  Later  removal  was  made  to  the 
vicinity  of  Defiance,  Ohio,  and  here  the  family 
occupied  a  little  shanty  for  the  first  year, 
the  meals  having  been  cooked  out  of  doors, 
over  a  fire  set  burning  near  a  large  log. 
Benjamin  Hilton  utilized  the  primitive  shanty 
only  till  such  time  as  he  could  complete  the 
manufacturing  of  sufficient  brick  to  erect  a 
more  pretentious  domicile,  both  he  and  his 
wife  having  been  sterling  and  resourceful 
pioneers  of  Ohio,  as  were  also  the  maternal 
grandparents  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch  ■ — 
Daniel  and  Catherine  Bruner,  who  established 
their  residence  in  Defiance  county,  where  the 
village  of  Brunersburg  was  named  in  honor 
of  the  family  and  where  the  mother  of  George 
B.  Hilton  was  born  and  reared.  Benjamin 
Hilton  received  the  advantages  of  the  common 
schools  of  the  pioneer  days  in  Ohio  and  as  a 
lad  he  assisted  in  the  general  store  conducted 
by  one  of  his  older  brothers.  Later  he  en- 
gaged in  the  general  merchandise  business  at 
Brunersburg,  besides  being  identified  with 
farm  enterprise,  and  he  continued  thus  engaged 
until  the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred 
November  5,  1865,  his  widow  having  survived 
him  by  about  seven  years.  The  eldest  of  their 
eight  children  was  Thomas,  who  was  a  resi- 


dent of  Beatrice  at  the  time  of  his  death,  in 
March,  1916;  George,  of  this  review,  was  the 
second  son ;  Ora  died  in  childhood ;  Mary  Etta 
was  a  resident  of  Brunersburg.  Ohio,  at  the 
time  of  her  death;  Clara  is  the  widow  of  Dr. 
A.  L.  Elder  and  resides  at  Hebron,  Thayer 
county,  Nebraska ;  Dora  is  the  wife  of  Ira 
Payne,  of  Reynolds,  Jefferson  county ;  Flor- 
ence died  when  about  eight  years  of  age ;  and 
Alice  is  the  wife  of  Wiley  D.  Fisher,  of  Litch- 
field, Sherman  county.  Nebraska. 

George  B.  Hilton  is  indebted  to  the  com- 
mon schools  of  the  old  Buckeye  state  for  his 
early  educational  discipline  and  from  his  boy- 
hood until  he  became  a  young  man  he  assisted 
in  the  work  of  a  farm  of  forty-seven  acres 
that  was  owned  by  his  father.  He  then  went 
to  the  city  of  Defiance,  Ohio,  where  he  was 
employed  in  a  flour  mill  until  1867,  the  ensu- 
ing period  of  about  two  years  having  found 
him  engaged  as  clerk  in  a  mercantile  estab- 
lishment ii>  that  place.  He  then  returned  to 
the  farm  previously  mentioned  and  he  there 
continued  his  activities  as  an  agriculturist  until 
1885,  when  he  came  to  Nebraska  and  purchas- 
ed a  tract  of  railroad  land  in  Thayer  county. 
There  he  continued  his  farm  operations  until 
1890,  when  he  sold  the  property,  upon  which 
he  had  made  good  improvements,  and  came 
to  Gage  county.  Here  he  purchased  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  in  Section 
26,  Riverside  township,  and  this  property  he 
developed  into  one  of  the  fine  farms  of  that 
part  of  the  county.  On  the  homestead  he 
continued  his  successful  enterprise  as  an 
agriculturist  and  stock-raiser  until  1907.  since 
which  time  he  has  lived  retired  in  the  city  of 
Beatrice,  save  that,  as  before  stated,  he  gave 
about  two  years  to  effective  service  in  the  of- 
fice of  street  commissioner.  He  is  found 
arrayed  as  a  loyal  supporter  of  the  cause  of 
the  Republican  party  and  he  and  his  wife 
hold  membership  in  the  Alethodist  Episcopal 
church. 

At  Defiance,  Ohio,  on  the  18th  of  November, 
1867,  was  solemnized  the  marriage  of  Mr. 
Hilton  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Lorah,  who  was 
born  and  reared  in  Noble  county,  that  state, 
a  daughter  of   Samuel  and   Charlotte   Lorah. 


666 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


In  conclusion  is  given  brief  record  concerning 
the  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hilton:  Ella  M. 
died  at  the  age  of  thirty-eight  years  and 
Curtis  at  the  age  of  nineteen  years;  Lottie  is 
at  home;  LeRoy  died  in  early  childhood; 
Mildred  is  the  widow  of  the  late  Hugo  H. 
Lueblen :  she  resides  at  Beatrice  and  she  has 
one  son,  Elwood,  eight  years  of  age  in  1918. 
The  eldest  daughter,  Ella,  became  the  wife  of 
Frederick  A.  Riddell,  of  Columbus,  Platte 
county,  and  she  is  survived  by  three  children, 
— ^John  and  Frederick  (Ted),  who  were 
students  in  the  University  of  Nebraska,  the 
latter  having  been  one  of  the  star  members  of 
the  university  football  team,  known  as  the 
'"Cornhuskers,"  and  both  he  and  his  brother, 
John,  are  now  serving  loyally  in  the  United 
States  Navy  department,  in  connection  with 
the  nation's  participation  in  the  great  Euro- 
pean war. 

ANTON  BERAN.— Among  the  first  set- 
tlers on  what  was  formerly  the  Otoe  Indian 
reservation  was  Anton  Beran,  who  has  resided 
on  his  present  farm,  in  Glenwood  township, 
since  the  spring  of  1878. 

Anton  Beran  is  a  native  of  the  province  of 
Bohemia,  in  the  dual  monarchy  of  Austria- 
Hungary,  where  he  was  born  March  14,  1843. 
His  parents,  John  and  Anna  Beran  passed 
their  entire  lives  in  Bohemia  and  both  died 
prior  to  the  time  when  their  son  Anton  start- 
ed for  America. 

In  1868  Anton  Beran  came  to  the  United 
States  and  settled  in  Washington  county, 
Iowa,  where  he  continued  to  reside  until  the 
Otoe  Indian  reservation  was  opened  for  set- 
tlement in  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  and  in  the 
spring  of  1878  he  here  purchased  eighty  acres 
of  government  land,  in  section  35,  Glenwood 
township.  Not  a  tree  or  a  wagon  track  in 
sight,  nothing  but  prairie  grass  as  far  as  the 
eye  could  see.  Here  he  built  a  little  frame 
house,  and  some  years  later  his  brother-in- 
law,  who  was  also  an  early  settler,  wanted  to 
sell  out.  so  Mr.  Beran  bought  eighty  acres 
from  him,  in  section  36,  so  that  to-day  he 
owns  a  well  imjjroved  farm  of  one  hundred 
and  sixtv  acres.     His  success  has  come  to  him 


as  the  result  of  his  own  efforts  and  those  of 
his  boys,  who  began  to  give  valuable  aid  as 
soon  as  they  were  old  enough  to  work. 

Mr.  Beran  owned  some  small  lots  in  the  old 
town  of  Richmond,  ^^'ashington  county,  Iowa, 
and  when  he  decided  to  locate  in  Nebraska  he 
sold  these.  The  modest  sum  of  money  he 
thus  obtained  was  all  he  had  when  he  lo:ated 
in  Gage  county.  After  locating  his  land  here 
he  was  making  the  trip  back  to  Iowa,  and  as 
he  had  no  money  he  was  obliged  to  set  forth 
on  foot.  However,  through  the  kindness  of 
a  trainman  running  east  out  of  Omaha,  he  was 
given  a  free  ride.  Mr.  Beran  has  always  felt 
grateful  for  that  kindness  and  delights  in  tell- 
ing of  it  when  talking  about  the  experiences 
of  those  early  days,  when  he  was  poor. 

Mr-  Beran  has  been  twice  married.  His 
first  wife  was  Pauline  Shalla,  who  died  in 
Gage  county  the  year  after  he  located  here. 
His  present  wife  was  Josephine  Beran.  Of 
the  first  union  were  born  three  children, 
Joseph,  Frank,  and  a  baby  girl  who  died  in 
Iowa.  Of  the  second  union  were  born  three 
children,  Van,  Tony  and  Margaret. 

Mr.  Beran  is  a  Republican  in  politics  and 
has  served  as  school  director,  but  he  has  held 
no  other  public  office.  Though  he  has  passed 
his  seventy-fifth  birthday  he  is  still  hale  and 
hearty  and  can  be  found  any  day  doing  work 
about  the  farm.  This  place  has  been  his 
home  for  forty  years  and  he  well  deserves 
this  recognition  in  the  history  of  Gage  county. 

WILLIAM  F.  ROSZELL,  who  now  lives 
retired  in  the  city  of  Beatrice,  came  to  Gage 
county  nearly  forty  years  ago  and  his  career 
has  been  marked  by  productive  activity  during 
the  intervening  period,  the  while  he  is  known 
and  honored  as  a  man  of  sterling  character  and 
as  a  loyal  and  progressive  citizen. 

William  Franklin  Roszell  was  born  in 
IMiami  county,  Ohio,  in  the  year  1857,  and  is 
a  son  of  David  and  Sarah  (Howell)  Roszell, 
the  former  a  native  of  New  Jersey  and  the 
latter  of  Ohio,  the  closing  years  of  their  lives 
having  been  passed  at  Fletcher,  Ohio.  David 
Roszell  was  a  son  of  David  and  Elizabeth 
(Brown)  Roszell,  and  his  wife  was  a  daughter 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


667 


of  Stephen  B.  and  Polly  (Hopkins)  Howell. 
The  subject  of  this  review  was  reared  and 
educated  in  the  old  Buckeye  state  and  there 
learned  in  his  youth  the  trade  of  harnessmaker. 
As  a  skilled  artisan  at  his  trade  he  continued 
to  follow  the  same  in  Ohio  until  1882,  when 
he  came  to  Nebraska  and  purchased  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  unimproved  land, 
in  Paddock  township,  Gage  county.  He 
initiated  the  reclamation  and  improvement  of 
this  farm  and  there  continued  his  activities 
four  years,  at  the  expiration  of  which  he  sold 
the  property  and  established  himself  in  the 
harness  and  saddlery  business  in  the  village 
Lanham,  this  county.  Later  he  conducted  for 
a  number  of  years  a  hotel  in  that  village, 
besides  which  he  served  as  postmaster  at 
Lanham  during  the  four  years  of  President 
Cleveland's  second  term.  Finally  he  disposed 
of  his  property  and  business  at  Lanham  and 
purchased  improved  realty  in  the  city  of 
Lincoln,  but  within  a  short  time  thereafter  he 
returned  to  Gage  county  and  established  his 
residence  in  Beatrice,  where  he  has  since  main- 
tained his  home,,  the  family  residence  being  at 
1310  Ella  street.  In  politics  Mr.  Roszell  is  a 
staunch  supporter  of  the  cause  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party  and  for  many  years  he  and  his 
wife  have  been  active  members  of  the 
Christian  church. 

In  Shelby  county,  Ohio,  the  year  1873 
recorded  the  marriage  of  Air-  Roszell  to  Miss 
Olive  Hageman,  who  was  born  and  reared  in 
that  county,  and  of  the  six  children  of  this 
union  only  two  are  living, —  Ralph  R.,  who 
owns  and  conducts  a  leading  photographic  art 
store  and  studio  in  the  city  of  Beatrice,  and 
Hazel  B.,  who  is  the  wife  of  Harry  Irvine,  of 
this  city. 

SAMUEL  F.  NICHOLS,  a  prosperous 
farmer  and  stock-grower  of  Riverside  town- 
ship, was  born  at  Osage,  Iowa,  November  9, 
1874,  and  is  a  son  of  Alartin  Van  Buren 
Nichols,  of  whom  individual  mention  is  made 
on  other  pages.  In  the  prosecution  of  his  ex- 
tensive operations  as  a  farmer  and  stock 
raiser  Mr.  Nichols  utilizes  one  thousand  acres 
of  land,  an  appreciable  proportion  of  which  is 


owned  by  him.  He  is  one  of  the  leading 
breeders  of  Holstein  cattle  in  Gage  county  and 
now  ships  an  average  of  eight  carloads  of  cat- 
tle and  swine  each  year,  his  activities  in  pre- 
vious years  having  involved  the  shipment  of 
an  average  of  forty  carloads  of  cattle. 

Mr.  Nichols  was  reared  and  educated  in  his 
native  place  and  in  the  public  schools  of 
San  Diego,  California,  where  the  family  home 
was  maintained  for  some  time.  In  1891  his 
parents  established  their  home  at  Beatrice,  Ne- 
braska, and  here  Samuel  F.  was  graduated  in 
the  high  school,  in  1895,  after  which  he  com- 
pleted a  preparatory  course  in  Columbia  Uni- 
versity, in  New  York  city.  In  1896  he  was 
matriculated  in  the  law  department  of  the 
great  L^'niversity  of  Michigan,  in  which  in- 
stitution he  was  graduated  as  a  member  of  the 
class  of  1898  and  with  the  degree  of  Bachelor 
of  Laws.  In  the  same  year  he  manifested  his 
patriotism  by  enlisting  for  service  in  the 
Spanish-American  war,  in  which  he  served 
six  month,  as  a  member  of  Company  A, 
Thirty-first  Michigan  Volunteer  Infantry.  In 
1900  Mr.  Nichols  associated  himself  with  the 
Albany  Linen  Mills,  at  Albany,  Wisconsin, 
and  for  two  years  he  held  the  position  of  man- 
ager of  the  business.  In  1902  he  returned  to 
Gage  county,  Nebraska,  where  he  has  since 
been  actively  identified  with  farm  enterprise. 
In  1906  he  purchased  his  present  fine  home- 
stead ranch,  and  upon  the  place  he  has  made 
the  best  of  modern  improvements,  including 
the  erection  of  an  attractive  bungalow,  which 
is  lighted  by  electricity  and  provided  with  hot 
and  cold  water  system. 

On  the  12th  of  November,  1907,  was  sol- 
emnized the  marriage  of  Mr.  Nichols  to  Miss 
Marie  Roe,  who  was  born  at  Odell,  this  coun- 
ty, and  is  a  daughter  of  Dr.  George  L-  and 
Ida  L.  (Thompson)  Roe,  natives  respectively 
of  Kentucky  and  Wisconsin,  Dr.  Roe  having 
for  many  years  been  one  of  the  leading  physi- 
cians and  surgeons  of  Beatrice  and  having 
tendered,  in  May,  1918,  his  professional  service 
to  the  government  in  connection  with  war  ac- 
tivities. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Nichols  have  four 
children,  whose  names  and  dates  of  nativity 
are  here  indicated:   Ruth,   October  20,    1908: 


668 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Martin  Van  Buren,  September  21,  1910; 
Dorothy,  August  16,  1914;  and  Margaret, 
June  13,  1917. 

Though  he  has  found  his  technical  training 
of  great  value  in  connection  with  his  business 
activities  Mr.  Nichols  has  never  engaged  in 
the  practice  of  law.  He  is  a  Republican  in 
his  political  allegiance  and  is  essentially  vital 
and  public-spirited  in  his  civic  attitude.  He 
i.;  actively  affiliated  with  the  Masonic  fratern- 
ity, including  Beatrice  Commandery  of 
Knights  Templars,  and  he  and  his  wife  are 
communicants  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
church. 

ABIJAH  S.  SHERWOOD,  who  is  now 
living  retired  in  the  city  of  Beatrice,  with  a 
pleasant  home  at  1522  High  street,  is  the 
owner  of  a  well  improved  farm  estate  of  two 
hundred  acres,  in  Section  19,  Filley  township, 
and  has  been  a  successful  exponent  of  agri- 
cultural and  live-stock  enterprise  in  Gage 
county,  his  removal  from  the  farm  to  Beatrice 
having  taken  place  in  October,  1910. 

Mr.  Sherwood  was  born  in  Marshall  coun- 
ty, Illinois,  March  17,  1856,  and  is  the  fourth 
in  a  family  of  five  sons  and  two  daughters 
born  to  Abijah  S.  and  Elizabeth  (McCune) 
Sherwood.  For  his  second  wife  the  father 
married  Margaret  McCord,  and  they  became 
the  parents  of  three  daughters.  After  the 
death  of  his  second  wife  he  married  !Mary 
Correll,  and  of  this  union  was  born  one  son. 

Abijah  S.  Sherwood,  Sr.,  was  born  in  the 
state  of  New  York,  April  23,  1822,  and  his 
death  occurred  June  30,  1894-  He  became  a 
substantial  farmer  and  extensive  landholder, 
and  it  is  to  be  noted  that  in  1876  he  purchased 
land  in  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  besides  which 
he  accumulated  land  also  in  Kansas,  Iowa, 
Missouri,  and  Illinois,  the  closing  years  of 
his  life  having  been  passed  in  Oklahoma  City, 
Oklahoma. 

Tlie  subject  of  this  sketch  was  reared  on 
the  home  farm  and  acquired  his  early  educa- 
tion in  the  public  schools  of  Illinois  and  the 
city  of  Topeka,  Kansas,  the  family  home  hav- 
ing been  maintained  at  intervals  in  various 
communities  and  Mr.   Sherwood   thus  having 


attended  school  in  several  different  localities. 
At  the  opening  of  Oklahoma  to  settlement  Mr. 
Sherwood's  father  was  one  of  those  who  made 
the  historic  "run,"  and  he  aided  in  the  initial 
development  of  Oklahoma  City,  where  he  as- 
sisted also  in  the  organization  of  the  first 
Presbyterian  church.  In  1876  he  whose  name 
introduces  this  review  returned  to  Illinois, 
where  he  continued  to  operate  one  of  his 
father's  farms  until  the  autumn  of  1883.  when 
he  came  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska.  In  the 
following  year  he  purchased  one  hundred  and 
twenty  acres  of  land,  and  this  constituted  the 
nucleus  around  which  he  has  developed  his 
present  valuable  landed  estate  in  this  county. 

In  politics  Mr.  Sherwood  is  a  staunch  Re- 
publican and  while  on  his  farm  he  represented 
for  one  term  Filley  township  on  the  board  of 
county  supervisors.  He  and  his  wife  are 
members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church, 
in  which  he  has  served  as  a  trustee.  In  a 
fraternal  way  he  is  affihated  with  the  Royal 
Highlanders. 

October  16,  1879,  recorded  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Sherwood  to  Miss  Esther  Dixon,  who  was 
born  in  La  Salle  county,  Illinois,  December  21, 
1858,  a  daughter  of  Hampton  S.  and  Jane 
(Tullis)  Dixon.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sherwood 
have  had  two  children :  Edna,  who  is  the  wife 
of  Merrill  Ramsey,  of  Petersburg,  Texas,  their 
marriage  having  been  solemnized  in  January, 
1903,  and  their  three  children  being  Merryl, 
Blanche  and  Sherwood.  Mrs.  Ramsey  was 
graduated  in  the  Filley  high  school  and  is  a 
skilled  musician,  she  having  been  a  successful 
teacher  of  music  prior  to  her  marriage.  Ralph 
H.  Sherwood  was  a  fine  young  man  of 
twenty-nine  years  when  he  met  a  tragic  death, 
in  1914.  he  having  been  killed  by  lightning-  He 
was  for  two  years  a  student  in  the  law  depart- 
ment of  the  University  of  Nebraska,  and  in 
June,  1910,  he  married  Miss  Cicely  May  Fen- 
ton,  who  survives  him  and  who  is  now  assis- 
tant librarian  of  the  library  of  the  law  depart- 
ment of  the  University  of  Colorado,  at 
Boulder. 

CURTIS  C.  LA  FORGE.  —  Agricultural 
industrv  in  Gage  county  has  a  worthy  repre- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


669 


sentative  in  the  subject  of  this  record,  and  he 
is  successfully  engaged  in  farming  and  stock- 
raising  in  Section  8,  Midland  township,  both 
departments  of  his  farm  enterprise  bringing 
him  gratifying  returns. 

Air.  La  Forge  claims  the  fine  old  Bluegrass 
state  as  the  place  of  his  nativity,  as  he  was 
born  in  the  city  of  Louisville,  Kentucky,  on 
the  20th  of  December,  1876.  He  is  a  son  of 
Nathan  P.  and  Demaris  (Dooley)  La  Forge, 
both  likewise  natives  of  Kentucky,  where  they 
were  reared  and  educated.  The  conditions 
and  influences  that  compassed  Nathan  P.  La 
Forge  during  the  period  of  his  youth  were 
such  that  when  the  Civil  war  was  precipitated 
on  a  divided  nation  his  sympathies  were  na- 
turally with  the  cause  of  the  south.  Conse- 
quently he  showed  his  loyalty  by  enlisting  in 
the  Confederate  ranks,  and  he  served  as  cap- 
tain of  cavalry  in  the  command  of  the  famous 
General  Morgan.  He  fought  faithfully  and- 
valiantly  in  defense  of  what  he  believed  to  be 
a  righteous  cause,  survived  the  shock  and 
storm  of  conflict  and  lived  to  rejoice  finally 
in  the  fact  that  the  integrity  of  the  nation  had 
been  preserved.  He  became  a  successful  con- 
tractor after  the  war  and  continued  his  ac- 
tivities along  this  line  until  his  death,  which 
occurred  April  24,  1899,  at  Kansas  City,  Mis- 
souri, where  he  had  built  up  a  substantial 
business  as  a  contractor.  He  was  sixty-three 
years  of  age  at  the  time  of  his  death  and  his 
widow  now  resides  in  Kansas  City.  Five  of 
the  brothers  of  Mrs.  LaForge  were  soldiers 
of  the  Confederacy  in  the  Civil  war. 

Curtis  C.  LaForge  acquired  his  preliminary 
education  in  the  schools  of  his  native  city 
and  after  the  family  removal  to  Kansas  City, 
Missouri,  he  there  continued  his  studies  in  the 
public  schools,  besides  which  he  supplemented 
this  training  by  a  course  in  the  Kansas  City 
Business  College.  Thereafter  he  associated 
himself  with  a  wholesale  drug  house  in  Kansas 
City,  and  he  continued  to  be  thus  employed 
for  fifteen  years. 

In  1911  Mr.  La  Forge  came  to  Nebraska 
and  located  at  Beatrice-  Here,  on  the  21st 
of  June  of  that  year,  was  solemnized  his  mar- 
riage ot  Miss  Daisie  G.  VanBoskirk,  a  daugh- 


ter of  Lincoln  and  Celia  (Freer)  Van  Boskirk, 
a  record  concerning  whom  appears  elsewhere 
in  this  volume.  Mrs.  La  Forge  received  as  a 
heritage  from  her  father  a  quarter-section  of 
land  and  soon  after  their  marriage  she  and 
her  husband  established  their  home  on  this 
place.  On  the  same  they  have  erected  a 
commodious  modern  residence,  besides  good 
barns  and  other  farm  buildings.  Here  Mr. 
LaForge  is  successfully  carrying  forward  his 
operations  in  diversified  agriculture  and  stock- 
growing,  and  he  is  recognized  as  one  of  the 
enterprising  and  wideawake  farmers  of  Mid- 
land township.  He  and  his  wife  have  a  fine 
little  son,  Curtis  C,  Jr.,  who  was  born  July 
12,  1914.  The  family  home  is  known  for  its 
generous  hospitality  and  good  cheer  and  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  La  Forge  have  a  host  of  friends, 
both  being  held  in  high  esteem  by  all  who 
know  them.  In  politics  Mr.  LaForge  retains 
the  ancestral  laith  and  gives  his  support  to 
the  cause  of  the  Democratic  party. 

RALPH  R.  ROSZELL  exemplifies  in  his 
finely  appointed  studio  in  the  city  of  Beatrice 
the  highest  types  of  photographic  art,  and  he 
has  long  held  secure  prestige  as  one  of  the 
leading  photographists  of  the  west.  He  is 
a  representative  of  one  of  the  early  pioneer 
families  of  Nebraska  and  was  born  on  the  old 
Otoe  Indian  reservation,  the  place  of  his  na- 
tivity having  been  near  the  present  village  of 
Odell,  Gage  county.  He  was  but  two  years 
of  age  when  his  parents  removed  to  what  is 
now  Lanham,  Washington  county,  Kansas,  a 
locality  at  that  time  included  in  Nebraska. 
There  he  acquired  his  preliminary  educational 
discipline  and  when  he  was  twelve  years  old 
the  family  removed  to  Lincoln,  Nebraska, 
where  he  attended  the  public  schools  and 
where  he  learned  the  art  of  photography  while 
a  mere  boy.  He  was  but  sixteen  years  old 
when  he  opened  his  first  photographic  studio, 
in  Lincoln,  Nebraska,  to  which  place  his  par- 
ents had  removed,  and  this  little  studio  was 
located  at  the  corner  of  Fourteenth  and  O 
streets.  Later  he  established  a  larger  and 
better  equipped  studio  at  1238  O  street,  and  in 
connection   with  the   same  he  conducted  also 


670 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


studios  at  Ashland  and  Trenton.  In  1905  a 
chemical  explosion  which  occurred  while  he 
was  working  in  his  photographic  laboratory 
so  injured  him  as  to  necessitate  the  amputa- 
tion of  his  left  hand,  but  this  injury  in  no 
degree  curbed  his  professional  enthusiasm  or 
his  self-reliance.  After  remaining  at  the 
parental  home  for  twelve  days  he  resumed 
work,  by  opening  a  new  studio  in  Beatrice,  at 
509-1^  Court  street,  this  being  known  as  the 
Roszell  Elite  Studio  and  being  equipped  with 
the  most  approved  of  modern  facilities  for 
the  issuing  of  high-grade  photographic  work 
of  all  kinds, —  portrait,  commercial,  view,  land- 
scape, etc.  Mr.  Roszell  has  nearly  a  dozen 
handsome  gold  and  silver  medals  that  have 
been  awarded  to  him  for  his  exhibits  at  state 
and  national  photographic  conventions,  and 
when  but  seventeen  years  of  age  he  had  gained 
high  national  rating  as  a  professional  photo- 
graphist, his  record  for  exceptional  ability  hav- 
ing been  one  of  cumulative  prestige  since  that 
time. 

In  1915  Air.  Roszell  amplified  his  field  of 
enterprise  by  engaging  in  t:he  handling  of 
photographic  supplies  of  all  kinds,  as  well  as 
artists'  materials,  and  he  has  developed  a 
prosperous  business  which  extends  through 
Nebraska  and  Kansas  and  to  a  certain  ex- 
tent outside  of  this  territory.  He  continues 
to  give,  however,  his  close  personal  super- 
vision to  his  studio  in  Beatrice,  and  the  same 
is  now  located  at  616  Court  street.  His  pat- 
ronage in  all  departments  of  his  well  organ- 
ized business  is  of  representative  order  and  he 
is  one  of  the  best  known  photographists  in 
Nebraska.  He  has  served  three  terms  as 
secretary  of  the  Nebraska  Professional  Photo- 
graphers' Association,  and  he  perfected  himself 
ill  his  profession  by  a  course  of  instruction  in 
Washington  University,  in  the  city  of  St. 
Louis,  besides  having  gained  technical  ex- 
perience in  a  number  of  the  foremost  photo- 
graphic studios  in  Lincoln  and  other  cities- 
Mr.  Roszell  is  the  son  of  William  F.  and 
Olive  Roszell,  pioneers  of  Gage  county,  who 
first  settled  on  the  old  Otoe  reservation  land 
east  of  Odell,  this  countv.     .\  sketch  of  the 


career  of  his  father  appears  on  other  pages  of 
this  volume. 

In  1912  Mr.  Roszell  married  Miss  Leah  A. 
Sonderegger,  daughter  of  Carl  Sonderegger,  a 
well  known  pioneer  of  Gage  county.  They 
have  two  children.  Richard  Ralph  and 
Kathryn  Eulula. 

Mr.  Roszell  had  the  honor  of  photographing 
Mr.  Hugh  Dobbs,  the  author  of  this  volume, 
whose  portrait  appears  in  the  front  of  this 
book. 

C.  M.  SMITH  is  another  of  the  sterling 
citizens  who  has  achieved  definite  prosperity 
through  connection  with  agricultural  and  live- 
stock industry  in  Gage  county,  and  after  hav- 
ing borne  the  trials  and  responsibilities  of 
pioneer  life  in  Nebraska  and  making  his  way 
through  his  own  eflforts  to  the  goal  of  suc- 
cess, he  is  now  living  in  well  earned  retire- 
ment, in  the  city  of  Beatrice. 

Mr.  Smith  is  a  scion  of  a  family  that  was 
founded  in  New  England  in  the  colonial  era 
of  our  national  history,  and  is  a  descendant  of 
Joshua  Smith  who  came  from  England  in 
company  with  his  brother  Edward  and  estab- 
lished a  home  in  Connecticut,  prior  to  the  war 
of  the  Revolution.  He  whose  name  initiates 
this  sketch  was  born  in  Orleans  county,  New 
York,  on  the  18th  of  November,  1846,  and 
is  a  son  of  Beriah  H.  and  Philena  (Morton) 
Smith,  the  former  having  been  born  neai' 
Hartford,  Connecticut,  June  11,  1803,  and  the 
latter  having  been  born  in  South  Deerfield, 
Massachusetts,  in  1811.  The  parents  were 
wedded  in  Massachusetts,  in  January,  1829, 
and  thereafter  removed  to  the  state  of  New 
York,  where  the  father  for  many  years  operat- 
ed a  boat  on  the  historic  old  Erie  canal-  In 
the  autumn  of  1847  Beriah  H.  Smith  removed 
with  his  family  to  Illinois  and  became  a  pioneer 
farmer  in  Putnam  county,  where  he  took  up 
government  land  and  developed  a  productive 
farm,  both  he  and  his  wife  having  passed  tlie 
remainder  of  their  lives  in  that  state,  where 
he  died  November  2,  1889,  his  wife  having 
passed  away  in  the  preceding  year  and  having 
been  a  devoted  member  of  the  Congregation:^! 
church,    his    religious    views    having    been    in 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


671 


harmony  with  the  tenents  of  the  Universahst 
church  and  his  political  support  having  been 
given  to  the  Whig  party  until  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Republican  party,  when  he  trans- 
ferred his  allegiance  to  the  latter.  He  was 
affiliated  with  the  Masonic  fraternity,  was  a 
man  of  superior  mental  endowments.  He  was 
called  to  serve  in  various  township  offices  in 
Illinois  and  was  one  of  the  honored  pioneer 
citizens  of  that  state  at  the  time  of  his  death. 
Of  the  nine  children  of  Beriah  H.  and  Philena 
(Morton)  Smith  only  three  are  now  living, — 
Edward,  who  is  engaged  in  the  blacksmith 
business  at  Cortland,  Gage  county;  C.  M., 
who  is  the  immediate  subject  of  this  sketch; 
and  Augusta,  who  resides  at  Pickrell,  this 
county. 

C.  M.  Smith  was  reared  on  his  father's 
pioneer  farm  in  Illinois  and  in  his  youth  made 
good  use  of  the  advantages  afforded  in  the 
common  schools  of  the  locality  and  period. 
He  continued  his  alliance  with  farm  industry 
in  Illinois  until  1870,  in  March  of  which  year 
he  came  to  Nebraska  and  took  up  a  hon^e- 
stead  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  in 
Nuckolls  county.  There  he  remained  until  he 
had  perfected  his  title  to  the  property,  and  he 
then  established  his  home  in  Gage  county.  He 
developed  a  fine  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  in  Blakely  township,  made  the  best  of 
improvements  on  the  place  and  there  contin- 
ued his  residence  until  1877  when  he  moved 
to  a  farm  in  Logan  township.  This  he  nn- 
proved  and  here  he  resided  until  1912,  when 
he  purchased  another  farm  in  Logan  town- 
ship,—  a  property  which  he  still  owns.  In 
October,  1915,  he  retired  and  with  his  wife 
established  his  home  in  Beatrice,  where  they 
are  enjoying  the  rewards  of  former  j'ears 
of  earnest  endeavor.  They  are  zealous  mem- 
bers of  the  Christian  church  and  in  politics 
he  gives  unswerving  allegiance  to  the  Repub- 
lican party.  While  on  his  farm  he  served  as 
township  trustee  and  clerk  for  a  number  of 
terms  each,  and  was  for  many  years  a  mem- 
ber of  the  school  board  of  his  district. 

March  16,  1873.  recorded  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Smith  to  Miss  Sarah  Pethoud,  of  G?.ge 
county,  she  being  a  daughter  of  Thomas  and 


Maria  Pethoud,  natives  of  Ohio  and  territoiial 
pioneers  in  Nebraska.  Mr.  Pethoud  came  with 
his  family  to  Gage  county  in  1857,  nearly  a 
decade  prior  to  the  admission  of  Nebraska  to 
statehood,  and  he  settled  on  his  pioneer  farm 
six  miles  north  of  Beatrice,  where  both  he  and 
his  wife  passed  the  residue  of  their  lives.  In 
conclusion  is  given  brief  record  concerning  the 
children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smith :  Clara  is  the 
wife  of  Gardner  Berry,  a  prosperous  farmer 
in  Riverside  township;  Helen  remains  at  the 
parental  home ;  Alice  is  the  wife  of  G.  L. 
Mumford,  of  whom  individual  mention  is 
made  on  other  pages  ;  Elsie  became  the  wife  of 
William  Barnard,  of  Beatrice,  and  her  death 
occurred  in  1914;  Sarah  Antoinette  remains 
with  her  parents ;  Eleanor  is  the  wife  of  C.  E. 
Thornburg,  a  farmer  in  Midland  township; 
and  Howard  has  the  active  management  of  his 
father's  farm. 

GERHARD  WIEBE.  — There  are  many 
interesting  points  in  the  career  of  this  repre- 
sentative citizen  of  Beatrice,  where  he  devel- 
oped a  substantial  dry-goods  business  and 
where  he  still  retains  his  interest  in  the  same, 
though  he  has  given  its  active  management 
over  to  his  sons  and  is  living  virtually  retired, 
his  attractive  home  being  at  715  North  Sixth 
street. 

Mr.  Wiebe  was  born  in  the  district  of  Dan- 
zig, Prussia,  in  May,  1844,  and  is  a  son  of 
John  and  Margaret  (Hamm)  Wiebe,  who,  as 
devout  members  of  the  Mennonite  church, 
were  religiously  opposed  to  warfare,  so  that, 
at  the  time  of  the  Franco-Prussian  war,  they 
severed  the  ties  that  bound  them  to  their  na- 
tive land,  made  many  sacrifices  and,  in  1872, 
removed  to  Russia,  thus  avoiding  military 
service  on  the  part  of  their  sons.  They  passed 
the  remainder  of  their  lives  in  Russia  —  exiles 
from  their  home  land  on  account  of  conscien- 
tious scruples.  John  Wiebe  had  accumulated 
a  valuable  farm  estate  of  two  hundred  acres 
near  the  Prussian  city  of  Dantzig,  and  he  was 
well  advanced  in  years  when  he  left  this  fine 
home  to  exile  himself  in  Russia.  Of  his  eight 
children  only  three  are  now  living  and  the  eld- 
est of  the  number,  John,  still  resides  in  Russia, 


672 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


the  youngest  of  the  three,  Herman,  being  a 
prosperous  farmer  of  Gage  county. 

In  his  native  land  Gerhard  Wiebe  received 
good  educational  advantages  in  his  youth  and 
he  there  gained  valuable  experience  in  the  mer- 
cantile business,  as  clerk  in  a  store  in  the  city 
of  Berlin.  He  was  preparing  to  engage  in 
business  for  himself  at  the  time  when  his  ven- 
erable parents  manifested  their  earnest  desire 
to  immigrate  to  Russia.  He  promptly  subor- 
dinated his  personal  plans  and  ambition  and 
went,  in  1869,  to  Russia,  to  prepare  a  home  for 
his  parents.  At  Samara  he  found  employ- 
ment as  clerk  in  a  mercantile  establishment, 
and  at  the  beginning  he  received  as  compen- 
sation only  his  room  and  board-  Within  six 
weeks  he  had  sufficiently  mastered  the  Russian 
language  to  be  able  to  do  effective  service  as  a 
salesman,  and  finally  he  learned  to  speak  the 
language  with  fluency.  Thus  fortified,  he  en- 
gaged in  business  on  a  modest  scale,  in  the 
colony  where  his  parents  resided,  and  he  con- 
tinued his  residence  in  Russia  for  more  than  a 
score  of  years  and  eventually  built  up  a  pros- 
perous mercantile  business,  though  he  was 
compelled  to  bring  in  his  merchandise  by 
wagons  from  the  nearest  city,  ninety  miles 
distant. 

In  1894  Mr.  Wiebe  came  to  America  and  in 
that  year  he  established  his  permanent  resi- 
dence at  Beatrice,  where  he  engaged  in  the 
general  merchandise  business  and  soon  famil- 
iarized himself  with  the  English  language.  He 
finally  confined  his  mercantile  enterprise  to  the 
handling  of  dry  goods  and  the  various  supple- 
mental lines  customarily  found  in  similar  es- 
tablishments. Fair  and  honorable  dealing  and 
efficient  service  enabled  him  to  develop  a  sub- 
stantial and  properous  business,  and  he  still 
retains  his  interest  in  the  well  equipped  store, 
which  is  now  under  the  active  management  of 
his  sons.  He  is  the  owner  of  good  business 
buildings  in  Beatrice  and  also  of  his  pleasant 
home.  He  is  a  liberal  and  public-spirited  cit- 
izen, loyal  in  all  things  to  the  land  of  his 
adoption  and  is  a  substantial  citizen  who  com- 
mands unqualified  popular  esteem.  He  is  in- 
dependent in  politics  and  he  holds  membership 
in  the  Mennonite  church. 


In  1873  Mr.  Wiebe  married  Miss  Margaret 
Claassen,  whcj  was  born  in  Germany  and  whose 
parents  thence  removed  to  Russia,  where  they 
passed  the  remainder  of  their  lives.  Mrs. 
Wiebe  died  at  the  old  home  in  Russia,  in  1890, 
and  there  also  died  four  of  her  ten  children, 
all  of  the  other  children  being  now  residents 
of  Gage  county :  G.  C.  is  engaged  in  the  cloth- 
ing business  at  Beatrice ;  William  is  associat- 
ed with  the  dry-goods  business  here  estab- 
lished by  his  father ;  Magdalene  is  a  deaconess 
of  the  Mennonite  Home  and  Hospital  in  Be- 
atrice;  Agatha  is  the  wife  of  H.  A.  Penner, 
who  is  connected  with  the  Peters  Trust  &  Loan 
Company,  at  Omaha;  Elizabeth  presides  over 
her  father's  home ;  and  Justina  is  the  wife  of 
P.  Daniel  Schultz,  teacher  of  science  in  the 
Beatrice  high  school.  It  will  thus  be  noted 
that  the  family  is  one  of  prominence  and  in- 
fluence in  the  business  and  social  life  of  the 
Gage  county  metropolis. 

JAMES  P.A.CKER.  —  The  seafaring  life  is 
vital  and  adventurous  and  it  has  lured  the 
youth  of  all  ages,  because  of  its  hazards  and 
the  opportunities  it  affords  to  see  the  world. 
James  Packer,  a  retired  farmer  living  in  Elm 
township,  spent  the  early  years  of  his  life  as 
a  sailor,  and  as  such  he  sailed  into  nearly  every 
port  of  the  world.  He  went  to  the  South  Sea 
Islands,  where  the  savages  brought  their 
spices  to  load  on  the  ship ;  he  went  to  the 
northern  countries,  where  the  furs  were  loaded 
on  his  ship ;  he  traded  with  white  men,  black 
men,  and  yellow  men  —  men  of  every  clime 
and  condition.  He  was  only  eight  years  old 
when  he  made  his  first  voyage,  on  his  father's 
ship,  and  from  that  time  onward  he  spent  the 
greater  part  of  his  time  in  close  association 
with  his  father's  maritime  activities.  In  the 
cold  winter  months  they  kept  to  the  southern 
waters,  away  from  the  treacherous  ice-floes. 
In  the  summer  months  they  went  to  the  north- 
ern waters  and  carried  the  freight  they  were 
anxious  to  send  to  other  shores.  Mr.  Packer 
has  an  interesting  collection  of  sea  shells  and 
deep-sea  fauna  which  he  had  collected  on  these 
voyages,  and  he  loves  to  recount  his  adven- 
tures. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA  673 


.Mr.  and  Mrs.  James  Packer 


674 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Mr.  Packer  was  born  on  famed  old 
way,  New  York  city,  the  date  of  his  nativity 
having  been  May  10,  1841.  He  is  the  eldest 
son  of  James  and  Mary  (Appleman)  Packer. 
James  Packer  was  born  in  New  York,  in  1812. 
and  died  July  7,  1892,  in  a  sailors'  home  at 
Key  West,  Florida.  James  Packer,  Sr.,  spent 
the  greater  part  of  his  life  on  the  sea,  sailing 
all  over  the  world.  The  latter  years  of  his 
life  were  spent  in  the  hotel  business  in  New 
York,  where  he  and  a  brother  conducted  a 
hotel.  In  1858  he  purchased  land  in  Clayton 
county,  Iowa,  where  he  farmed  for  a  few 
years.  His  wife,  Mary  Ann  (Appleman) 
Packer,  was  born  in  1813,  in  Connecticut  and 
was  laid  to  rest  in  Decatur,  Iowa,  in 
1898.  Her  parents  were  of  Swedish  birth, 
and  upon  coming  to  America  they  settled  in 
Connecticut.  James  Packer,  of  this  review, 
was  the  firstborn  in  a  family  of  six  children. 

In  the  public  schools  of  Mystic,  Connecti- 
cut, Mr.  Packer  received  his  early  education. 
He  had  as  a  classmate,  the  well  known  Judge 
Holmes,  of  Lincoln,  Nebraska.  During  the 
Civil  war  Mr.  Packer  was  exempted  from  ac- 
tual service,  as  he  was  engaged  in  farming  and 
the  farmers  were  neede'd  to  feed  the  fighting 
men.  His  brother  Gustavus  responded  and 
was  accepted,  serving  his  country  on  the  fir- 
ing line. 

The  marriage  of  James  Packer  and  Julia  F. 
Goodrich  was  solemnized  October  9,  1864. 
Mrs.  Packer  was  born  in  Chautauqua  county, 
New  York,  in  1844,  and  she  passed  to  the  life 
eternal  on  the  9th  day  of  July.  1897.  Her 
ancestry  was  of  the  sturdy  New  England  type 
characteristic  of  that  historic  section,  where 
it  is  said  that  they  do  not  raise  crops  but  raise 
men.  Her  paternal  grandfather  was  a  physi- 
cian and  fought  in  the  war  of  1812.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Packer  became  the  parents  of  nine  chil- 
dren, concerning  whom  brief  record  is  here 
given :  Charles  J.  resides  in  Riverside  town- 
ship ;  Hiram  A.  lives  at  Culbertson,  Hitchcock 
county.  Nebraska ;  James  G.  resides  at  Diller, 
Jefferson  county;  William  H.  and  Julius  F. 
reside  at  Woodriver,  Hall  county ;  Caroline  C. 
is  the  wife  of  A.  Frisbie,  of  Elm  township, 
Gage  county ;  Eda  F.  died  in  1880 ;  Walter  C. 


was  born  May  26,  1882,  and  died  March  18, 
1884;  Margaret  Ella  is  the  wife  of  John 
Greider,  living  in  Glenwood  township. 

Mr.  Packer  has  lived  on  his  present  farm 
in  Elm  township  since  1881,  when  he  came 
from  Iowa  to  Nebraska.  His  land  was  wild 
and  uncultivated,  and  he  has  won  it  to  a  high 
state  of  productivity,  planting  an  orchard  and 
other  shade  trees  to  beautify  the  former  bar- 
ren prairie.  In  1903  Mr.  Packer  married 
Nannie  Shaff,  who  was  born  February  22, 
1867,  in  Marion  county,  Iowa,  and  who  was 
a  child  at  the  time  of  the  death  of  her  parents. 
Mrs.  Packer  came  to  Gage  county  in  1901. 
One  child  has  been  bom  of  this  marriage,  and 
their  son,  Dewey  E.,  was  named  in  honor  of 
the  late  Admiral  Dewey,  of  Spanish-American 
war  fame,  who  was  a  personal  friend  of  Mr. 
Packer.  This  son  is  a  great  comfort  to  his 
parents  in  their  pleasant  home.  Mr.  Packer 
is  a  Republican  in  politics,  and  he  has  served 
as  road  overseer  and  as  a  member  of  the. 
school  board.  Mrs.  Packer  holds  membership 
in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church. 

JOHN  M.  SHALLA  was  born  in  Wash- 
ington county,  Iowa,  December  25,  1879,  a 
son  of  Frank  Shalla,  mentioned  elsewhere  in 
this  volume.  John  M.  Shalla  was  a  child  of 
eighteen  months  at  the  time  of  the  family  re- 
moval of  Gage  county.  He  can  remember 
the  building  of  his  parents'  first  home  in  Gage 
count}',  where  the  family  were  among  the  first 
t0;settle  on  the  Otoe  Indian  reservation.  He 
was  reared  on  the  farm,  attended  the  public 
schools  and  for  the  past  fourteen  years  he  has 
been  engaged  in  farming  for  himself.  Pie 
was  assisted  by  his  father  in  purchasing  a  farm 
in  Glenwood  township,  but  later  he  sold  this 
property  to  his  brother  William,  and  for  the 
past  six  years  he  has  owned  and  operated  the 
present  place,  a  well  improved  tract  of  two 
hundred  and  forty  acres,  in  Paddock  town- 
ship. 

He  married  Miss  Mary  Sikyta.  who  is  a 
native  of  Johnson  county,  Nebraska,  and  a 
daughter  of  Frank  and  Christian  Sikyta,  early 
settlers  of  that  county.  Mr-  and  Mrs.  Shalla 
have  two  children, —  Harold  and   Stanley. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


675 


Mr.  Shalla  is  a  Democrat  and  is  serving  as 
clerk  of  Paddock  township.  While  Hving  in 
Glenwood  township  he  was  clerk  of  that  town- 
ship for  several  years. 

JOHN  J.  GRONEWOLD  has  gained 
through  his  insistent  energy  and  ability  a  se- 
cure vantage-ground  as  one  of  the  substantial 
exponents  of  farm  enterprise  in  Hanover  town- 
ship, where  he  is  the  owner  of  a  well  improved 
farm  property  of  two  hundred  acres,  his  at- 
tractive homestead  being  situated  in  Section 
31.  Mr.  Gronewold  was  born  in  East  Fries- 
land,  Germany,  on  the  9th  of  October,  1873,  a 
son  of  John  and  Anna  (  Heinrichs)  Gronewold, 
the  father  having  been  born  in  1847  and  his 
death  having  occurred  in  1891,  his  entire  life 
having  been  passed  in  his  native  land,  where 
his  widow  still  resides,  she  having  been  born 
in  1844.  Of  their  six  children  four  are  living: 
Soaka  remains  in  Germany ;  John  J.,  of  this 
review,  is  the  next  younger;  William  is  en- 
gaged in  farming  in  Gage  county ;  and  Galscha 
remains  at  the  old  home  in  Germany.  The 
other  two  children,  Dick  and  Weaka,  sacri- 
ficed their  lives  in  the  great  European  war  of 
the  present  day.  The  religious  faith  of  the 
family  is  that  of  the  Lutheran  church  and  the 
father  gave  his  entire  active  career  to  farm 
industry,  in  which  his  success  was  unequivo- 
cal, his  old  homestead  farm  in  East  Friesland 
comprising  seventy   acres. 

John  J.  Gronewold  gained  his  youthful  edu- 
cation in  the  excellent  schools  of  his  native 
province  and  was  but  sixteen  years  old  when, 
in  1889,  he  came  to  the  United  States  and  es- 
tablished his  residence  in  Gage  county.  Here 
for  ten  years  thereafter  he  was  employed  as  a 
farm  hand,  and  though  he  never  received  large 
wages  he  carefully  saved  his  earnings,  as  he 
was  ambitious  to  establish  himself  independent- 
ly as  a  farmer.  After  his  marriage  he  con- 
tinued in  the  employ  of  others  until  1900,  when 
his  financial  resources  had  become  such  as  to 
enable  him  to  make  partial  payment  on  a  farm 
of  eighty  acres,  in  Hanover  township.  With 
characteristic  energy  he  gave  himself  to  the 
improving  and  general  operations  of  the  farm, 
which  he  eventually  sold  advantageously,  and 


he  has  not  only  become  an  independent  and 
successful  agriculturist  and  stock-grower  of 
the  county  but  has  also  accumulated  a  fine 
bnded  estate  of  two  hundred  acres.  He  keeps 
the  farm  in  the  best  of  condition  throughout, 
has  erected  good  buildings  to  supplement  those 
that  were  already  on  the  property,  and  he  or- 
ders with  much  circumspection  and  attendant 
success  all  branches  of  his  farm  enterprise, 
which  includes  diversified  agriculture  and  the 
raising  of  cattle,  swine  and  chickens  of  the  best 
type-  He  gives  special  attention  also  to  the 
raising  of  beans  and  has  made  this  enterprise 
notable  successful.  A  hard  worker  and  a  man 
of  good  judgment,  he  has  achieved  prosperity 
through  his  own  endeavors  and  is  one  of  the 
highly  esteemed  citizens  of  Hanover  township. 
In  politics  he  is  independent  of  strict  partisan 
lines,  he  has  served  as  road  overseer  and  as  a 
member  of  the  school  board,  and  he  and  his 
wife  are  active  communicants  of  the  German 
Lutheran  church. 

In  1897  Mr.  Gronewold  wedded  Miss  Anna 
Gerdes,  who  was  born  in  Germany,  where  her 
parents,  John  and  Freda  Gerdes.  passed  their 
entire  lives.  Mrs.  Gronewold  was  fourteen 
years  of  age  when  she  came  to  the  LTnited 
States  in  company  with  an  uncle  and  her  sis- 
ter Tena.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gronewold  have  four 
children,  all  of  whom  remain  at  the  parental 
home:     Anna,  Jennie,  John,  and  Freda. 

JAAIES  B.  ZUVER,  manager  of  the  Farm- 
ers' Elevator  Company  at  Adams,  Gage  coun- 
ty, is  a  native  of  this  county,  his  birth  having 
occurred  in  Hooker  township,  on  March  11, 
1871.  His  father,  George  W.  Zuver,  was  born 
at  Wooster,  Ohio,  December  6,  1846.  When 
ten  years  of  age  George  W.  Zuver  accompan- 
ied his  parents,  Solomon  and  Julia  Zuver,  to 
Iowa,  and  the  home  was  established  at  Mason 
City,  where  Solomon  Zuver  conducted  a  hotel. 
George  W.  Zuver  crossed  the  plains  in  1864 
and  successfully  engaged  in  mining  in  Idaho 
Territory.  Returning  to  Iowa,  Mr.  Zuver  was 
in  business  with  his  father  until  1867,  when 
he  came  to  Nebraska  and  homesteaded  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land,  on  Section 
15,  Hooker  township,  Gage  county-     He  was 


676 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


a  successful  farmer  and  one  of  the  early  set- 
tlers of  Gage  county,  where  he  experienced 
the  grasshopper  scourge  and  other  pioneer  con- 
ditions. i\Ir.  Zuver  invested  in  land  in  Kan- 
sas and  Missouri  and  for  a  time  lived  in  each 
of  these  states.  Returning  to  Gage  county, 
he  farmed  until  1894,  when  he  sold  out  and 
went  to  Louisiana.  Ten  months  later  he  set- 
tled in  Hall  county,  Nebraska.  In  1909  Mr. 
Zuver  moved  to  St.  Paul,  Nebraska,  and  after 
remaining  there  a  short  time  he  located  at 
Geneva,  Nebraska,  where  he  now  makes  his 
home.     In  the  year  1915  he  lived  at  Beatrice. 

The  maiden  name  of  the  mother  of  James  B. 
Zuver  was  Martha  J-  Hillman.  She  was  born 
in  Pennsylvania,  January  5,  1850,  a  daughter 
of  John  and  Eliza  Jane  Hillman,  who  came 
to  Nebraska  Territory  in  1855  and  established 
their  home  in  Gage  county.  Here  Mrs.  Zuver 
was  reared  and  educated  under  the  condition 
of  the  early  pioneer  era.  On  June  5,  1870, 
in  Hooker  township,  was  solemnized  her  mar- 
riage to  George  W.  Zuver  and  they  now  main- 
tain their  home  at  Geneva,  Fillmore  county, 
this  state. 

James  B.  Zuver  is  the  oldest  in  a  family  of 
five  children :  Julia  Bryson  lives  at  Grand  Is- 
land, Nebraska ;  Mrs.  L.  Dye  resides  at  Le- 
Mars,  Missouri,  and  Sarah  and  Clarence  are 
with  their  parents  at  Geneva,  Nebraska. 

The  subject  of  this  record  was  reared  on  a 
farm  in  Gage  county.  He  attended  district 
school  and  supplemented  this  with  a  course  in 
the  Beatrice  Business  College,  and  the  Lin- 
coln Normal  School.  He  graduated  in  the 
last  named  institution  and  taught  school  and 
farmed  in  Gage  county  until  1908,  when  he 
helped  to  organize  the  Farmers'  Elevator  Com- 
pany at  Adams,  becoming  president  of  that 
institution,  and  later  being  made  manager, 
which  position  he  now  holds. 

On  October  18,  1894,  Mr.  Zuver  was  united 
in  marriage  to  Miss  Laura  E.  Jewell,  a  native 
of  monmouth,  Illinois,  and  a  daughter  of  Wil- 
liam and  Emma  (Wonderly)  Jewell,  who  set- 
tled in  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  in  1877.  The 
mother  now  makes  her  home  at  Adams.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Zuver  became  the  parents  of  nine 
children:     Flovd    S.    is   in   the   national   army 


and  is  now  located  at  Camp  Cody,  New  Mex- 
ico, in  the  spring  of  1918;  Fern  is  deceased; 
\'iolet,  Daisy,  George,  Orvil,  and  Myrtle  re- 
main at  the  parental  home ;  and  Pansy  is  de- 
ceased. 

i\Ir.  Zuver  takes  an  active  interest  in  the 
civic  affairs  of  Adams,  is  chairman  of  the 
town  council,  and  a  member  of  the  school 
board,  and  he  is  affiliated  with  the  Masonic 
fraternity  and  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  Amer- 


THOMAS  R.  CALLAN  is  a  well  known 
hardware  and  implement  dealer  of  Odell,  Ne- 
braska. Perhaps  no  other  man  coming  to  Odell 
in  the  early  days  has  kept  in  such  close  per- 
sonal touch  with  the  farmers  and  the  farming 
development  of  his  community  as  has  Thomas 
R.  Callan.  He  came  to  Odell  in  the  early 
"SOs,  when  farming  implements  were  of  a  dif- 
ferent character  and  of  less  help  to  the  farmer 
than  the  modern  labor-saving  machinery  of 
tc-day.  The  life  story  of  a  self-made  man  is 
always  interesting,  being  ever  an  inspiration 
to  the  younger  generation,  who  are  by  his 
example  prompted  to  greater  efforts  and  sacri- 
fice to  make  good  in  their  chosen  work.  It  is 
fitting  we  should  have  the  life  story  of  this 
pioneer  merchant,  who  has  conducted  a  thriv- 
ing and  ever  expanding  hardware  and  imple- 
ment business  at  Odell  for  the  past  thirty-five 
years. 

Mr.  Callan  was  born  August  21,  1856,  in 
Garrett  county,  Maryland,  and  is  a  son  of  John 
and  Ellen  (Hoffman)  Callan.  John  Callan 
was  born  in  Ireland,  received  the  education 
which  his  time  and  country  afforded,  and  upon 
coming  to  the  United  States  he  settled  in  Mary- 
land. He  was  employed  as  a  collector  and  al- 
so became  the  editor  of  a  local  newspaper. 
When  only  thirty-two  years  of  age  he  was 
taken  away  from  his  wife  and  family,  his  death 
having  occurred  in  1860.  The  maiden  name 
of  his  wife  was  Ellen  Hoffman.  Five  chil- 
dren came  to  bless  their  union.  Ellen  (Hoff- 
man) Callan  was  born  in  1838,  in  Maryland; 
after  her  husband's  death  she,  with  her  family 
of  small  children,  removed  to  Illinois,  where 
in  1867,  she  became  the  wife  of  Samuel  Stan- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


677 


ton.  He  was  a  farmer  and  was  born  in  Mary- 
land. Four  children  were  born  to  this  union. 
Mrs.  Ellen  Stanton  lived  to  a  good  old  age, 
going  to  her  reward  in  1898-  She  was  a  faith- 
ful member  of  the  Methodist  church.  Two 
sons,  David  Callan,  living  at  Chicago,  Illinois, 
and  Thomas  R.,  with  whom  this  sketch  di- 
rectly deals,  are  the  only  children  of  the  first 
marriage  who  survive  her. 

Thomas  Callan  was  eleven  years  old,  when 
he  went  with  his  mother  to  Illinois  and  located 
on  his  step-father's  farm.  He  attended  the 
rural  schools  of  his  district.  In  1878  he  en- 
tered the  Northwestern  College  at  Fulton,  Illi- 
nois, and  afterward  he  taught  school  for  one 
term.  He  then  worked  as  a  farm  hand  for 
William  Uhl,  a  hardware  merchant.  Mr.  Uhl 
soon  realized  the  aptitude  of  his  young  farm 
employe  and  soon  had  him  back  of  his  coun- 
ter, selling  hardware.  This  incident  happened 
in  1880,  in  Dixon,  Illinois,  and  was  the  turn- 
ing point  in  Mr.  Callan's  life.  He  grasped 
opportunity  to  so  great  an  extent  that  in  1883 
he  came  to  Odell,  Nebraska,  and  opened  a 
hardware  business  for  himself.  For  virtually 
thirty-five  years  he  has  remained  in  the  present 
location  and  successfully  conducted  his  bus- 
iness. 

Mr.  Callan  was  married  January'  1,  1884,  to 
Lillian  Stitzel.  Two  sons  and  two  daughters 
have  come  to  bless  this  happy  marriage.  They 
have  given  their  two  sons,  in  the  present  na- 
tional crisis,  to  aid  in  "making  the  world  safe 
for  democracy."  The  first  born  is  John  S., 
who  was  postmaster  at  Odell  when  he  entered 
the  nation's  military  service.  He  was  located 
at  Jackson,  Florida,  in  the  quartermaster's  de- 
partment of  the  United  States  Army,  until  he 
went  with  his  command  to  France-  Ruth  is 
the  wife  of  Vern  Benson,  of  Sioux  City,  Iowa, 
her  husband  being  a  railroad  mail  clerk.  Madge 
is  a  teacher  at  Tobias.  Nebraska.  Richard  was 
at  the  Jackson  (Florida)  cantonment  until  he 
went  with  his  regiment  to  France.  These 
children  all  name  Odell  as  their  birthplace  and 
have  all  received  the  advantages  of  the  public 
schools  of  their  native  place.  The  mother  of 
this  interesting  family.  Lillian  (Stitzel)  Callan, 
was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  in   1858,  and  is  a 


daughter  of  John  and  Rose  Stitzel.  both  de- 
ceased. 

In  Paddock  township  Thomas  Callan  has  a 
well  improved  farm  of  eighty  acres,  which  he 
purchased  in  1901.  He  has  made  various  im- 
provements on  his  farm  setting  out  trees,  etc. 

In  1917  Mr.  Callan  erected  at  Odell  a  thor- 
oughly modern  automobile  garage,  in  which  he 
is  able  to  meet  the  needs  of  his  patrons.  This 
electric-lighted,  steam-heated  building  is  fifty 
by  one  hundred  feet  in  dimensions,  and  in  the 
same  are  all  the  conveniences  which  modern 
science  can  give  for  the  efficiency  of  motor-car 
service.  Mr.  Callan  is  the  local  agent  for  the 
well  known  Ford  automobile.  He  has  taken 
a  more  or  less  active  interest  in  Democratic 
politics,  and  has  served  in  municipal  offices  at 
Odell,  as  well  as  a  member  of  the  school  board. 
He  is  affiliated  with  the  Masonic  fraternity  and 
his  wife  is  an  active  member  of  the  Christian 
church. 

MARTIN  L.  KORS  first  came  to  the  state 
of  Nebraska  in  1883,  and  for  more  than  twenty 
years  he  has  been  one  of  the  leading  merchants 
and  representative  citizens  of  the  Gage  county 
metropolis-  He  has  built  up  a  large  and  pros- 
perous grocery  business,  with  an  establishment 
of  modern  equipment  and  facilities,  and  the 
substantial  and  important  business  is  now  con- 
ducted under  the  firm  title  of  M.  L.  Kors  & 
Son. 

Mr.  Kors  was  born  in  Cass  county,  Illinois, 
November  11,  1848,  and  is  a  son  of  Henry  F. 
and  Margaret  (Filiner)  Kors,  both  natives  of 
Germany.  Henry  F.  Kors  was  born  in 
the  province  of  Hanover,  Germany,  Decem- 
ber 31,  1804,  his  death  having  occurred  in 
1869.  In  1836  he  came  to  America  and  estab- 
lished his  home  in  Illinois,  and  he  invested  in 
property  in  the  now  prosperous  and  vital  little 
city  of  Beardstown,  where  his  marriage  was 
solemnized.  He  was  a  skilled  workman  at  the 
trade  of  plasterer  and  followed  the  same  in  Ill- 
inois until  his  death.  His  first  wife  became 
the  mother  of  four  children,  all  of  whom  are 
now  deceased,  and  of  the  seven  children  of  his 
second  marriage  only  two  are  now  living, 
Martin  L.,  of  this  review,  and  George  E.,  a 


678 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


prosperous  agriculturist  and  stock-growet  near 
Humboldt,     Richardson     county,     Nebraska. 

Henry  F.  Kors  aligned  himself  as  a  loyal 
supporter  of  the  cause  of  the  Republican  party, 
was  a  man  of  strong  convictions  and  sterling 
character,  and  both  he  and  his  wife  were  earn- 
est communicants  of  the  Lutheran  church. 

Martin  L.  Kors  acquired  his  early  educa- 
tion in  the  graded  schools  of  Illinois,  and  as  a 
youth  he  there  served  a  thorough  apprentice- 
ship to  the  trade  of  tinsmith.  As  a  skilled 
artisan  he  continued  to  follow  his  trade  until 
1877,  and  1883  engaged  in  the  tinner's  business 
at  Beatrice,  in  which  city  he  had  established 
his  home  that  year.  He  has  shown  marked 
discrimination  and  progressiveness  as  a  mer- 
chant. Efficiency  of  service  and  personal  pop- 
ularity having  been  the  principal  factors  in 
insuring  his  success.  His  first  store  in  Be- 
atrice was  established  on  the  west  side  of  the 
city,  but  he  soon  removed  to  the  central  retail 
district  and  since  February  10,  1898,  he  has 
conducted  his  business  at  the  present  location, 
on  Thirteenth  and  Court  streets-  In  1909  he 
admitted  to  partnership  his  son,  Walter  H., 
and  since  that  time  the  enterprise  has  been 
conducted  under  the  firm  name  of  M.  L.  Kors 
&  Son. 

November  28,  1883,  recorded  the  marriage 
of  Air.  Kors  to  Aliss  Sophia  AI.  Hackman, 
who  was  born  and  reared  in  Cass  county,  Illi- 
nois, a  daughter  of  John  F.  Hackman,  who 
was  a  native  of  Germany  and  became  an  early 
settler  and  prosperous  farmer  in  Illinois.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Kors  have  two  children:  Ethel  M.. 
who  was  graduated  in  the  Beatrice  high  school 
in  1904,  remains  at  the  parental  home  and  is  a 
popular  factor  in  the  representative  social  ac- 
tivities of  her  home  city,  and  Walter  H.,  who 
is  associated  with  his  father  in  business,  is 
more  specifically  mentioned  in  the  following 
paragraph : 

Walter  H.  Kors,  junior  member  of  the  firm 
of  M.  L.  Kors  &  Son,  was  born  at  Beatrice, 
February  14,  1887,  and  here  received  his  early 
education  in  the  public  schools.  As  a  youth 
he  began  to  assist  in  the  work  of  his  father's 
store,  in  which  he  continued  his  activities  as 
an  efficient  and  ])opular  salesman  until  he  was 


admitted  to  partnership  in  the  business,  in 
1909,  since  which  time  he  has  continued  as  his 
father's  valued  coadjutor  in  the  management  of 
the  large  and  prosperous  business.  He  is  one 
of  the  progressive  and  public-spirited  business 
men  of  the  younger  generation  in  Beatrice, 
has  been  a  member  of  the  city's  volunteer  fire 
department  for  fully  fifteen  years,  is  a  Repub- 
lican in  politics,  is  affiliated  with  the  Tribe  of 
Ben  Hur  and  he  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church.  In  1911  Mr.  Kors  wedded 
Miss  Mamie  Wolf,  who  was  born  in  Blakely 
township,  this  county,  where  her  parents,  Ma- 
rion F.  and  Lydia  V.  (Graves)  Wolf,  settled 
in  the  pioneer  days.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kors  have 
two  children  —  Robert  Walter,  born  Decem- 
ber 12,  1912,  and  Lois  Ethel,  born  November 
7.  1913. 

Martin  L.  Kors  has  not  confined  his  senti- 
ment and  action  to  mere  personal  advancement 
but  has  at  all  times  stood  sponsor  for  civic  loy- 
alty and  progressiveness.  He  has  served  three 
terms  as  a  member  of  the  county  board  of 
supervisors  and  for  a  long  period  of  years  as  a 
valued  member  of  the  Beatrice  board  of  edu- 
cation, of  which  he  was  president  three  terms. 
His  political  allegiance  is  given  to  the  Repub- 
lican party,  he  is  affiliated  with  the  Masonic 
fraternity  and  he  and  his  family  hold  member- 
ship in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church.  In 
1905  Mr.  Kors  erected  his  beautiful  and  mod- 
ern residence,  on  East  Court  street,  and  the 
same  is  a  home  known  for  its  gracious  hospital- 
ity and  good  cheer.  The  son,  Walter  H.,  like- 
wise erected  an  attractive  home,  in  1911,  and 
upon  his  marriage  he  and  his  wife  there  estab- 
lished their  residence. 

FRANK  R.  SHELLEY,  who  is  now  presi- 
dent and  general  manager  of  the  Northwestern 
Business  College,  in  the  city  of  Beatrice,  and 
whose  vigorous  and  well  ordered  policies  are 
greatly  enhancing  the  usefulness  of  this  ex- 
cedent  institution,  is  a  scion,  in  the  third  gen- 
eration, of  one  of  the  honored  pioneer  families 
of  Gage  county,  where  the  paternal  grand- 
father settled  about  five  years  prior  to  the  ad- 
mission of  Nebraska  to  statehood.  On  other 
pages  adequate  review  of  the  family  history  is 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


679 


given  in  the  sketch  dedicated  to  the  late  James 
W.  Shelley,  father  of  the  subject  of  this  arti- 
cle, and  thus  a  repetition  of  the  data  is  not 
here  demanded. 

Frank  R.  Shelley  was  born  in  Rockford 
township,  this  county,  March  7,  1891,  and  is  a 
son  of  James  W.  and  Mary  (Bailey)  Shelley. 
His  preliminary  education  was  acquired  in  the 
district  schools  and  thereafter,  depending 
largely  on  himself  to  provide  the  necessary 
incidental  expenses,  he  completed  a  course  in 
the  Beatrice  high  school,  in  which  he  was  grad- 
uated as  a  member  of  the  class  of  1912.  Am- 
bitious and  indefatigable  as  a  student,  Mr. 
Shelley  later  applied  himself  with  characteristic 
diligence  to  regular  courses  of  study  in  a 
leading  correspondence  school  and  he  has  car- 
ried his  studies  forward  to  the  point  where  he 
is  entitled  to  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts. 
In  this  connection  he  studied  both  law  and 
salesmanship,  besides  taking  specific  efficiency 
courses  that  have  tended  to  mature  his  powers 
along  constructive  and  executive  lines.  Mr. 
Shelley  devoted  one  year  to  teaching  district^ 
school  and  then  became  clerk  in  a  grocery  store. 
Finally  he  was  made  manager  of  a  mercantile 
establishment  at  Tecumseh,  Johnson  county, 
and  after  his  retirement  from  this  position  he 
became  a  salesman  of  memberships  in  the 
Northwestern  Business  College.  After  eigh- 
teen months  of  successful  work  in  this  capacity 
he  purchased,  in  February,  1916,  an  interest  in 
this  excellent  institution,  which  is  incorporat- 
ed under  the  laws  of  Nebraska  and  of  which 
he  has  been  president  and  general  manager 
since  April  1,  1917.  The  school  had  fallen 
somewhat  below  standard  in  its  work  and  man- 
agement when  he  assumed  the  management  of 
its  afifairs  and  he  has  successfully  applied  his 
energies  in  bringing  maximum  efficiency  into 
all  departments  of  the  school  work,  in  making 
the  institution  a  valuable  adjunct  to  practical 
and  effective  educational  work  in  this  section 
of  the  state  and  in  so  exploiting  the  school  as 
to  gain  to  it  a  substantial  and  appreciative 
supporting  patronage.  In  the  college  is  re- 
tained a  corps  of  well  qualified  instructors,  the 
material  facilities  and  general  accessories  are 
of    the    best    standard,    and    Mr.    Shelley    has 


formulated  and  carried  forward  an  advertising 
campaign  that  is  resulting  in  greatly  increasing 
the  enrollment  of  students  —  of  which  depart- 
ment of  the  executive  service  he  has  had  per- 
sonal charge.  An  enthusiast  in  his  work  and 
in  making  his  school  a  medium  for  practical 
education,  the  development  of  efficiency  and 
the  upbuilding  of  character,  he  has  been  in- 
strumental in  making  the  Northwestern  Bus- 
iness College  a  prosperous  and  worthy  institu- 
tion. He  is  president  also  of  Fairbury  Busi- 
ness College,  at  Fairbury,  Nebraska.  A  young 
man  of  vital  energy  and  ambition,  he  recog- 
nizes no  such  word  as  failure,  and  in  his  pres- 
ent field  of  endeavor  he  has  found  ample  scope 
for  achievement  of  high  value.  In  politics  he 
is  aligned  in  the  ranks  of  the  Republican  party, 
and  both  he  and  his  wife  hold  membership  in 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  church.  Mr.  Shelley 
is  now  (spring  of  1918)  in  the  government 
employ  at  Waco,  Texas,  where  he  is  serving 
as  a  clerk  in  the  aviation  corps. 

January  31,  1917,  recorded  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Shelley  to  Miss  Eva  L.  Knox,  daughter 
of  C.  D.  Knox,  of  this  county,  and  they  are 
popular  figures  in  the  representative  social 
life  of  the  Gage  county  metropolis. 

PETER  E.  BENSON.  —  In  Greek  mythol- 
ogy the  Fates  are  three  goddesses  who  are 
supposed  to  influence  the  destinies  of  men. 
One  goddess  draws  out  the  threads  of  life,  the 
second  weaves  the  dark  and  light  threads,  and 
the  third  takes  her  shears  and  clips  oflf  the  ends. 
There  would  seem  to  be  a  grain  of  truth  in  this 
superstitution  as  we  look  at  the  warp  and  woof 
in  the  lives  of  men.  It  looks  as  though  fate 
rather  than  self  had  made  us  the  individuals 
we  are.  But,  nevertheless,  we  are  confronted 
by  the  fact  that  we  are  the  creatures  of  chance, 
in  that  other  individual  lives  have  influenced 
our  own.  Their  actions  have  had  much  to  do 
with  ours  and  Mr.  Peter  F.  Benson  is  con- 
fronted with  the  fact  that  his  living  in  this 
land  of  opportunity  is  an  attendant  result  of 
his  brother,  Fred  Benson,  having  immigrated 
to  this  country  some  years  previously.  To 
speak  in  a  chronological  manner,  Peter  E.  Ben- 
son  was   born   in    Denmark,   April    10,    1848. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


and  is  the  son  of  Neils  and  Mary  Benson. 
Neils  Benson  was  born  January  21,  1804,  and 
taught  school  in  his  native  land ;  his  death  oc- 
curred in  March,  1888-  His  wife  was  born 
February  24,  1819,  and  died  in  1904.  They 
were  the  parents  of  twelve  children,  four  of 
whom  make  their  home  in  their  native  land, 
the  others  are  deceased  with  the  exception  of 
Peter  E.  Benson,  of  this  sketch. 

In  1868  Fred  Benson,  the  brother  of  Peter, 
left  his  native  land  and  came  to  the  United 
States.  He  worked  as  a  laborer  for  some 
time  and  in  1878  he  came  to  Gage  county,  Ne- 
braska, and  purchased  land.  Here  he  re- 
mained until  his  death,  in  1892.  As  stated 
above,  the  coming  of  Mr.  Benson's  brother  to 
the  United  States  had  much  to  do  with  his  de- 
cision to  come  also.  When  he  came,  in  1872, 
he  landed  in  New  Jersey,  where  he  was  em- 
ployed in  a  brickyard;  from  1874  to  1875  he 
worked  in  the  South  Manchester  silk  mills,  in 
Connecticut,  and  he  then  went  to  Ohio,  where 
he  worked  as  a  farm  hand. 

September  25,  1875,  in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  Pe- 
ter Benson  married  Anna  Peterson.  This  mar- 
riage was  the  culmination  of  a  romance  start- 
ed while  Mr.  Benson  was  working  in  New  Jer- 
sey. His  wife  is  a  native  of  Denmark,  born 
November  3,  1852,  and  upon  coming  to  this 
country  she  settled  in  New  Jersey,  her  mother 
joining  her  after  a  few  years. 

After  the  marriage  of  these  young  people 
they  moved  to  Clinton  county,  Iowa,  where 
Mr.  Benson  was  employed  in  a  saw  mill.  Af- 
ter ten  years  of  residence  there  he  came  to 
Gage  county  and  rented  the  present  farm  from 
his  brother  Fred.  After  his  brother's  death, 
the  property  became  his  own  and  he  has  con- 
tinued to  do  a  general  farming  business.  Nine 
children  have  been  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ben- 
son, five  of  whom  are  living:  Anna  M.,  is  a 
school  teacher  at  Columbus,  Nebraska  ;  she  was 
educated  in  the  high  school  of  Odell  and  the 
Peru  Normal-  Charles  E.,  sociological  exam- 
iner in  the  service  of  United  States,  is  located 
at  Camp  Greenleaf,  Georgia.  He  was  at  one 
time  professor  of  Cape  Girardeau,  Missouri, 
schools  and  of  the  high  school  of  Kearney,  Ne- 
braska.    His  education  was  received  at  the  Ne- 


braska State  University  and  the  Nebraska  State 
Normal    School   at   Peru.     He   is   married   to 
Miss  Lulu  Linder,  of  Upland,  Nebraska.     The 
next  child  is  Rosa  C,  wife  of  John  E.  Hay-        ] 
worth,  living  at  Omaha,  Nebraska.     Amelia  is        I 
the  wife  of  Fisher  Musser,  living  at  Fairbury,        i 
Nebraska.     Fred  C,  a  teacher,  remains  at  the 
parental    home.     Mr.    Benson    has    given    his 
children   the   best    of   educational   advantages 
and  they  are  taking  their  places  in  the  world's 
work  in  a  highly  satisfactory  manner. 

Mr.  Benson  in  politics  is  an  independent 
Republican.  He  has  never  sought  any  politi- 
cal honors,  being  content  to  devote  his  time 
to  his  home  and  family. 

ALDEN  C.  BRADLEY.  — In  the  city  of 
Beatrice,  the  attractive  metropolis  and  judicial 
center  of  Gage  county,  a  portion  of  which 
municipality  occupies  land  once  owned  by  his 
father,  Mr.  Bradley  is  giving  efficient  service 
as  a  mail  carrier,  and  he  is  one  of  the  well 
known  and  distinctly  popular  citizens  of  the 
county  that  has  represented  his  home  since  he 
was  a  lad  of  twelve  years. 

Mr.  Bradley  was  born  in  LaPorte  county, 
Indiana,  on  the  6th  of  January,  1860,  and  is  a 
son  of  Taylor  and  Emily  C.  Bradley,  the  for- 
mer of  whom  was  born  in  Pennsylvania  and 
the  latter  in  Indiana,  where  her  parents  settled 
in  the  pioneer  period  of  the  history  of  the  tine 
old  Hoosier  commonwealth.  In  Indiana,  Tay- 
lor Bradley  continued  to  be  associated  with 
agricultural  industry  until  1864,  when  he  came 
with  his  family  to  the  west  and  became  one  of 
the  early  pioneer  settlers  of  Nebraska  Terri- 
tory. He  established  his  home  in  the  village 
of  Fort  Calhoun,  Washington  county,  where 
he  continued  his  activities  as  a  miller  until 
1873.  He  then  removed  to  Gage  county,  where 
he  obtained  a  tract  of  land  and  instituted  the 
reclamation  and  development  of  a  farm.  He 
was  successful  in  his  activities  during  the  pass- 
ing years  and  3  portion  of  the  land  once  owned 
by  him  is  now  included  within  the  corporate 
limits  of  the  city  of  Beatrice,  as  previously 
stated  in  this  context.  Both  he  and  his  wife 
continued  their  residence  in  Gage  county  until 
their  death,  and  their  names  merit  place  ou  the 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


681 


enduring  roster  of  the  honored  pioneers  of 
the  county. 

Alden  C.  Bradley  was  but  four  years  of  age 
at  the  time  of  the  family  removal  to  Nebraska 
Territory,  and  thus  he  early  gained  experience 
in  connection  with  the  conditions  and  influ- 
ences of  the  pioneer  days.  His  youthful  edu- 
cation was  acquired  in  the  schools  of  Wash- 
ington and  Gage  counties,  and  he  continued 
his  allegiance  to  the  great  fundamental  in- 
dustry of  agriculture  until  1895,  when  he  as- 
sumed a  clerical  position  in  the  postofifice  at 
Beatrice.  His  service  in  connection  with  the 
local  postofifice  administration  has  continued 
during  the  long  intervening  period  of  nearly  a 
quarter  of  a  century  and  since  1895  he  has 
been  one  of  the  most  popular  members  of  the 
force  of  city  mail  carriers,  his  circle  of  friends 
in  Gage  county  being  coincident  with  that  of 
his  acquaintances. 

Mr.  Bradley  gives  his  political  allegiance  to 
the  Republican  party,  he  and  his  wife  hold 
membership  in  the  Congregational  church,  and 
he  maintains  active  afifiliation  with  the  Royal 
Highlanders,  the  Improved  Order  of  Red  Men 
and  the  Fraternal  Aid  Union.  Mr.  Bradley 
has  seen  Beatrice  develop  from  a  mere  frontier 
village  into  a  progressive  and  attractive  city 
with  metropolitan  facilities  and  beautiful 
homes.  He  and  his  wife  have  no  children  but 
their  pleasant  home  is  known  for  its  gracious 
hospitality,  which  is  generously  extended  to 
friends  both  old  and  young. 

In  the  year  1887  Mr.  Bradley  wedded  Miss 
Alice  Herron,  who  was  born  in  Iowa,  and  who 
was  a  girl  when  she  came  with  her  parents  to 
Gage  county,  where  her  marriage  was  solemn- 
ized and  where  she  is  popular  in  the  social  cir- 
cles of  her  home  city. 

CHARLES  O.  GUDTNER  —  The  vigor- 
ous and  productive  industry  that  is  the  normal 
forerunner  of  worthy  success  has  been  sig- 
nificantly exemplified  in  the  career  of  this 
sterling  citizen  of  Beatrice,  where  he  conducts 
the  largest  and  most  effectively  equipped  black- 
smith and  repair  shop  in  the  city  and  where 
he  has  brought  its  efficiency  of  service  up  to 
such  a  high  standard  that  he  receives  a  most 


substantial  and  representative  supporting  pat- 
ronage, his  establishment  having  the  best  of 
facilities  for  the  handling  of  general  repair 
work  on  wagons,  carriages,  and  automobiles, 
as  well  as  those  requisite  to  the  other  phases 
of  expert  blacksmith  work. 

Mr-  Gudtner  was  born  at  Elmwood,  Peoria 
county,  Illinois,  on  the  6th  of  July,  1863,  and 
is  a  son  of  David  and  Sarah  (Robey)  Gudtner, 
the  former  of  whom  was  born  in  Pennsylvania 
and  the  latter  at  Hagerstown,  Wayne  county, 
Indiana,  in  which  state  their  marriage  was 
solemnized.  David  Gudtner,  a  skilled  black- 
smith and  wagonmaker  by  trade,  came  with 
his  family  to  Nebraska  in  1870  and  became  one 
of  the  pioneer  exponents  of  his  sturdy  voca- 
tion at  Beatrice,  which  was  then  a  small  vil- 
lage. On  his  arrival  in  the  future  metropo- 
lis of  Gage  county  he  made  provision  for  the 
temporary  domiciling  of  the  family  by  estab- 
lishing a  camp  on  the  present  site  of  the  Union 
Pacific  Railroad  station,  and  this  continued  to 
be  the  family  abiding  place  until  he  could 
provide  a  house.  For  a  time  Mr.  Gudtner  was 
here  employed  at  his  trade  in  the  shop  of  a 
man  named  Snow,  and  as  soon  as  it  became 
expedient  he  established  a  shop  of  his  own. 
He  developed  a  substantial  business  as  a  pio- 
neer blacksmith  and  wagonmaker  in  this  sec- 
tion of  the  state,  his  skill  insuring  at  all 
times  the  best  type  of  workmanship  and  his 
policies  being  such  as  to  gain  to  him  unquali- 
fied popular  confidence  and  esteem.  He  was 
earnest  and  liberal  as  a  citizen  and  his  abiding 
human  sympathy  caused  him  to  aid  in  chari- 
table and  benevolent  movements,  as  well  as 
to  assist  in  an  individual  way  those  who  were 
less  fortunate  in  life.  He  was  a  stalwart  ad- 
vocate of  the  principles  of  the  RepubHcan  par- 
ty, was  long  and  actively  affiliated  with  the 
Masonic  fraternity  and  both  he  and  his  wife 
were  zealous  members  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal church.  He  was  a  member  of  a  fam- 
ily that  was  founded  in  America  many  gener- 
ations ago  and  was  a  scion  of  sturdy  Holland 
Dutch  stock.  He  and  his  devoted  wife  con- 
tinued their  residence  in  Beatrice  until  their 
death,  he  having  passed  away  about  the  year 
1905  and  she  in   1908,  their  names  meriting 


682  HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


683 


a  place  of  honor  on  the  roll  of  the  sterling 
pioneers  of  Gage  county,  where  they  lived  and 
labored  to  goodly  ends.  Of  their  nine  chil- 
dren five  are  now  living,  namely :  Mary,  who 
is  the  widow  of  George  Metzger  and  maintains 
her  home  at  Beatrice ;  Jennie,  who  is  the  wife 
of  Albert  Sponsler,  of  San  Francisco,  Califor- 
nia; Charles  O.,  who  is  the  immediate  subject 
of  this  sketch ;  Nellie,  who  is  the  wife  of  James 
McMahill,  of  San  Fancisco,  California ;  and 
George,  who  resides  at  Long  Beach,  that  state. 

Charles  O.  Gudtner  was  a  boy  of  about 
seven  years  at  the  time  of  the  family  removal 
to  Gage  county,  and  he  is  indebted  to  the 
pioneer  schools  of  Beatrice  for  his  early  edu- 
cational training.  Here  as  a  youth  he  learned 
the  blacksmith  trade  by  serving  a  through  ap- 
prenticeship in  the  shop  conducted  by  George 
Metzger,  at  the  corner  of  Sixth  and  Court 
streets.  In  1887  he  went  to  Sheridan  county, 
Kansas,  where  he  took  up  a  homestead  claim 
of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  established  a 
modest  bachelor's  home  on  the  place  and  in- 
stituted its  reclamation  and  improvement.  He 
remained  on  his  Kansas  claim  until  he  had  per- 
fected his  title  thereto,  and  later  he  sold  the 
property  in  an  advantageous  way.  In  1892 
Mr.  Gudtner  returned  to  Beatrice  and  resumed 
the  work  of  his  trade.  His  capitalistic  in- 
vestment in  opening  his  shop  was  only  eighty- 
five  dollars  and  though  the  city  had  at  the  time 
thirteen  other  blacksmith  shops  he  had  gained 
reputation  for  skill  in  his  vocation  and  was  so 
well  and  favorably  known  in  the  county  that 
he  soon  developed  a  prosperous  business.  He 
now  has  the  largest  blacksmithing  establish- 
m.ent  in  the  city  and  in  the  same  gives  employ- 
ment to  a  corps  of  seven  efficient  assistants  — 
a  condition  that  indicates  the  broad  scope  and 
relative  importance  of  his  well  ordered  indus- 
trial enterprise- 

As  a  man  of  indefatigable  industry  and  pro- 
gressive ideas,  Mr.  Gudtner  has  achieved  sub- 
stantial success  in  business,  the  while  he  has 
exemplified  the  civic  loyalty  that  denotes  the 
ideal  citizen,  his  political  allegiance  being  given 
to  the  Republican  party. 

In  1890  was  solemnized  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Gudtner  to  Miss  Nettie  Smith,  who  was 


born  and  reared  in  Kansas,  a  representative 
of  one  of  the  pioneer  families  of  the  Sunflower 
state,  and  they  have  one  son,  Frederick,  who  is 
now  actively  associated  with  his  father's  bus- 
iness enterprise  and  who  is  well  upholding  the 
family  prestige  for  skill  in  the  work  of  the 
blacksmith  trade. 

SAMUEL  S.  PHEASANT,  who  is  the 
owner  of  a  valuable  landed  estate  of  four  hun- 
dred acres  in  Gage  county,  as  well  as  the  old 
homestead  farm  upon  which  he  was  reared 
and  on  which  he  now  resides,  in  Section  1, 
Jefferson  township,  Jefferson  county,  is  a 
representative  of  one  of  the  well  known  terri- 
torial pioneer  families  of  southeastern  Ne- 
braska, and  his  association  with  Gage  county 
is  such  as  fully  to  justify  his  recognition  in 
this  history,  his  home  farm  being  nine  miles 
distant  from  Beatrice,  from  which  city  he  re- 
ceives service  on  rural  mail  route  No.  1.  Mr. 
Pheasant  was  born  in  Benton  county,  Iowa, 
September  15,  1859,  and  was  abovit  seven  years 
old  when,  in  1866,  his  parents  came  to  Ne- 
braska territory  and  established  their  home 
on  the  farm  which  is  his  present  place  of  resi- 
dence. He  is  a  son  of  Edwin  and  Isabel  (Gar- 
ton)  Pheasant,  the  former  of  whom  was  born 
in  New  York  city,  January  10,  1820,  and  the 
latter  of  whom  was  born  in  Indiana,  their  mar- 
riage having  been  solemnized  in  the  state  of 
Illinois,  in  1845.  As  a  boy  Edwin  Pheasant 
found  employment  in  the  factory  of  his  uncle, 
James  Watson,  who  was  engaged  in  manufac- 
turing wooden  pumps  in  the  state  of  New 
York,  and  in  1835  he  accompanied  his  uncle 
to  Illinois,  where  he  became  associated  with 
the  latter  in  farm  enterprise  and  where  he  was 
reared  to  manhood  under  the  conditions  mark- 
ing the  pioneer  period  of  the  history  of  that 
state.  After  his  marriage  he  there  engaged  in 
farming  in  an  independent  way,  but  a  few 
years  later  he  removed  with  his  family  to 
Iowa  and  became  one  of  the  pioneers  of  Ben- 
ton county.  There  he  continued  his  active 
association  with  farm  enterprise  for  fourteen 
years,  and  on  the  14th  of  June,  1866,  he  and 
his  family  arrived  at  Beatrice,  Nebraska  Ter- 
ritory.    In  the  following  September  the  fam- 


684 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


ily  removed  to  the  tract  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  of  land  which  he  had  secured  in 
Section  1,  Jefiferson  township,  Jefferson 
county,  just  over  the  Hne  from  Gage  county. 
Later  he  added  to  this  estate  by  the  purchasing 
of  eighty  acres  in  Section  5.  Lincohi  township, 
Gage  county,  and"  with  the  passing  years  his 
well  ordered  industry  was  crowned  with  sub- 
stantial success,  involving  the  development  of 
one  of  the  valuable  farm  properties  of  this 
section  of  the  state.  Edwin  Pheasant  re- 
mained on  his  old  homestead  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  October  14,  1898,  his  wife 
having  passed  away  in  June,  1896,  and  both 
having  been  earnest  members  of  the  Primitive 
Church  of  Christ.  They  were  charter  mem- 
bers of  the  Christian  church  at  Beatrice.  Of 
their  children  the  subject  of  this  review  is  the 
youngest,  and  concerning  the  others  the  fol- 
lowing brief  data  are  available :  Ellen,  who 
became  the  wife  of  A.  R.  Francis,  is  deceased, 
as  are  also  James  and  John;  Mary  is  the  wife 
of  James  McNeen,  of  La  Junta,  Colorado ; 
Laura  became  the  wife  of  J.  G.  Lawrence  and 
was  a  resident  of  Beatrice,  Nebraska,  at  the 
time  of  her  death,  which  occurred  October  27, 
1917. 

Samuel  S.  Pheasant  was  seven  years  old 
when  he  gained  his  initial  experience  in  con- 
nection with  pioneer  farm  enterprise  on  the 
homestead  which  is  now  his  place  of  abode, 
and  his  early  education  was  acquired  in  the 
pioneer  schools  of  Jefferson  county.  He  has 
had  no  inclination  to  sever  his  allegiance  to 
the  fundamental  industries  of  agriculture  and 
stock-growing  in  his  mature  years  and  through 
the  medium  thereof  has  achieved  large  and 
worthy  success.  The  homestead  on  which  he 
lives  and  which  is  modern  in  all  of  its  im- 
provements, comprises  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres,  and  the  remainder  of  his  large  landed 
estate,  of  about  four  hundred  and  sixty  acres, 
is  in  Lincoln  township,  Gage  county.  Mr. 
Pheasant  has  exemplified  the  utmost  progres- 
siveness  as  a  citizen  and  man  of  affairs  and 
while  he  has  had  no  desire  for  political  prefer- 
ment he  gives  staunch  allegiance  to  the  Re- 
publican party,   both  he  and  his   wife  being 


active  members  of  the  Primitive  Church  of 
Christ,  as  was  also  his  first  wife. 

In  January,  1884,  Mr.  Pheasant  wedded 
JMiss  Eugenia  Pittinger,  daughter  of  Benjamin 
F.  and  Amanda  (Holeman)  Pittinger,  who 
established  their  home  in  Gage  county  in  1874 
and  who  here  passed  the  residue  of  their  lives. 
Mrs.  Pheasant  was  summoned  to  the  life  eter- 
nal on  the  30th  of  October,  1895,  and  is  sur- 
vived by  three  children :  Guy  L.  is  one  of  the 
progressive  young  farmers  of  Lincoln  town- 
ship. Gage  county,  and  on  the  19th  of  Oc- 
tober, 1910,  he  wedded  Miss  Mary  E.  Mc- 
Clure.  daughter  of  James  L.  and  Lucy  (Mc- 
Michael)  McClure,  of  Gage  county,  the  one 
child  of  this  union  being  Harold  E. ;  Mary  i- 
the  wife  of  Floyd  L.  Marco,  of  Beatrice ;  and 
Samuel  E.  remains  at  the  paternal  home. 

June  18,  1897,  recorded  the  marriage  of 
]\Ir.  Pheasant  to  Miss  Rhoda  Potts,  daughter 
of  Jonathan  J.  and  Elizabeth  Potts,  who  set- 
tled in  Jefferson  county,  Nebraska,  in  1866, 
Mr.  Potts  having  previously  served  as  a 
valiant  soldier  of  the  Union  in  the  Civil  war. 
Of  the  second  marriage  of  Mr.  Pheasant  no 
children  have  been  bom. 

ALBERT  KUHLMANN.  — The  melting 
pot  of  America  has  been  receiving  immigrants 
from  every  country  in  the  world  and  is  turn- 
ing out  a  new  nationality  —  the  American 
He  is  endowed  with  the  industry  of  the  Ger- 
man, the  stolidness  of  the  Scotch,  the  wit  of 
the  Irishman,  the  idealism  of  the  Italian,  the 
orientalism  of  the  Jap  and  the  stubborness  and 
frankness  of  the  English.  Such  a  combination 
will  conquer  the  world  through  love  and  jus- 
tice. Albert  Kuhlmann  is  a  native  of  Ger- 
many—  the  great  empire  that  has  poured  so 
many  of  its  sons  into  the  great  melting  pot  of 
America  to  form  a  new  nation.  His  father 
and  mother,  Ernest  and  Sophia  (Jordan) 
Kuhlmann  were  born  in  Germany  and  immi- 
grated to  this  country  in  their  early  married 
life,  when  Albert  Kuhlmann,  who  was  born 
January  15,  1874,  was  just  a  tiny  baby  in  arms. 
Ernest  Kulhmann  was  born  August  25,  1846, 
in  Hanover,  Germany,  and  upon  his  arrival  in 
America  he  settled  in  Illinois.     Later  he  moved 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


685 


to  Missouri,  and  in  1881  he  came  to  Richard- 
son county,  Nebraska,  where  he  purchased  land 
in  Barada  township  and  where  he  is  still  con- 
tinuing his  farming  operations.  His  wife, 
Mrs.  Sophia  Kuhlmann,  was  born  May  19, 
1849,  and  passed  away  Dtecember  26,  1893. 
They  were  the  parents  of  the  following  chil- 
dren, all  of  whom  were  born  in  this  country 
with  the  exception  of  the  oldest.  Albert,  with 
whom  this  sketch  deals ;  Emma,  is  the  wife  of 
Otto  Scharinghausen  of  Jansen,  Nebraska  ;  and 
Henry  resides  in  Richardson  county,  Nebraska- 
Three  more  children  were  born,  but  are  de- 
ceased. 

Albert  Kuhlmann  was  educated  in  the  rural 
schools  of  Barada  township,  Richardson  coun- 
ty and  after  choosing  his  life  vocation  and 
working  for  himself,  he  continued  his  alle- 
giance to  farm  industry.  He  married  Sophia 
Hartman,  February  3,  1898.  Mrs.  Kuhlmann 
was  born  in  Barada  township,  Richardson 
county,  December  20,  1877.  Her  parents,  Leo- 
pold and  Sophia  (Gretchmann)  Hartman  were 
of  German  birth  and  lineage.  They  came  to 
Nebraska  and  the  father  became  a  prosperous 
farmer  in  Richardson  county.  Both  are  now 
deceased.  They  were  the  parents  of  eleven 
children. 

Six  children  have  come  to  bless  the  home  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kuhlmann  —  Edward,  Minnie, 
Emma,  Amanda,  Alvin,  and  Elsie.  All  are  at 
the  parental  home  and  are  receiving  proper 
education  to  fit  them  to  take  their  share  in  the 
world's  work  and  enrich  the  civic  and  social 
life  by  their  good  works. 

The  politics  of  Mr.  Kuhlmann  are  of  the  in- 
dependent Republican  order.  He  has  served 
on  the  school  board  of  District  No.  130,  for 
eleven  years. 

In  1904  Mr.  Kuhlmann,  his  wife  and  fam- 
ily came  to  Gage  county,  where  he  purchased 
one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land,  in  Glen- 
wood  township.  He  has  made  improvements 
on  the  farm  buildings  for  the  better  conducting 
of  his  farming  work.  He  and  his  family  are 
members  of  the  Lutheran  church. 

PERCY  J.  SMETHERS,  a  representative 
retired  farmer  now  residing  in  the  city  of  Be- 


atrice, established  his  home  in  Gage  county 
forty  years  ago  and  through  his  energy  and 
progressiveness  he  developed  and  improved  one 
of  the  fine  farm  estates  of  Glenwood  township. 
He  was  born  in  Lee  county,  Illinois,  on  the 
30th  of  September,  1856,  and  is  a  son  of  Josiah 
and  Mary  (Hill)  Smethers,  who  were  born 
and  reared  in  Pennsylvania  and  who  came  to 
Gage  county,  Nebraska,  in  1878,  the  father 
taking  up  a  tract  of  land  on  the  Otoe  Indian 
reservation  and  having  reclaimed  the  same  into 
a  productive  farm.  Upon  his  retirement  from 
the  farm  he  established  his  home  in  the  village 
of  Lanham,  this  county,  and  there  he  and  his 
wife  passed  the  remainder  of  their  lives,  hon- 
ored as  sterling  pioneer  citizens  of  the  county. 
Of  their  eight  children  five  are  living:  Cin- 
derella is  the  wife  of  B.  C.  Burkett,  a  retired 
farmer  residing  in  the  village  of  Odell,  this 
county;  Percy  J.,  of  this  review;  is  the  next 
younger;  Harvey  M.  is  prominently  indentified 
with  mercantile  enterprise  in  the  city  of 
Beatrice;  James  is  employed  as  a  skilled  iron 
worker  in  the  same  city;  and  Oscar  Leon 
resides  in  Wyoming.  The  father  was  a 
Democrat  in  politics  and  he  and  his  wife  were 
consistent  members  of  the  English  Lutheran 
church.  Their  marriage  was  solemnized  in 
Luzerne  county,  Pennsylvania,  and  in  1853 
they  immigrated  to  Lee  county,  Illinois,  where 
they  continued  to  reside  until  their  removal  to 
Nebraska,  as  already  noted. 

Percy  J.  Smethers  acquired  his  early  educa- 
tion in  the  public  schools  of  his  native  county 
and  was  twenty-two  years  of  age  when  he  ac- 
companied his  parents  to  Nebraska,  in  1878. 
On  the  Otoe  Indian  reservation,  in  what  is  now 
Glenwood  township.  Gage  county,  he  purchased 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land,  and  here 
he  reclaimed  and  developed  the  fine  farm  on 
which  he  continued  to  reside  for  thirty-one 
years.  His  original  house  was  little  more  than 
a  hut,  and  was  built  at  a  cost  of  forty-five 
dollars,  and  this  constituted  the  family  home 
for  seven  years.  He  then  erected  a  substantial 
and  commodious  farm  house,  and  he  also  erect- 
ed other  good  buildings  on  his  homestead.  In 
buying  his  original  farm  Mr.  Smethers  paid 
for  the  same  at  the  rate  of  three  and  one-half 


686 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


tlollars  an  acre.  In  1909  he  sold  the  property 
for  one  hundred  dollars  an  acre.  As  a  farmer 
lie  gave  his  attention  to  diversified  agriculture 
and  the  raising  of  good  live  stock,  besides 
developing  a  prosperous  dairying  business. 
Upon  selling  his  old  homestead  he  purchased 
forty  acres  of  land  lying  adjacent  to  the  city 
of  Beatrice,  and  in  the  spring  of  1917  he  sold 
this  property  for  two  hundred  and  fifty  dol- 
lars an  acre-  He  still  owns  a  well  improved 
farm  of  eighty  acres  in  Glenwood  township. 

In  1877  Mr.  Smethers  wedded  Miss  Mary 
Uhl,  who  was  born  in  Lee  county,  Illinois, 
June  17,  1857,  a  daughter  of  the  late  Hiram 
and  Margaret  (Wilhelm)  Uhl,  the  latter  of 
whom  died  in  1858,  and  two  of  her  four  chil- 
dren are  still  living.  Mr.  Uhl  ultimately  con- 
tracted a  second  marriage,  when  Nancy 
Hughes  became  his  wife,  and  of  this  union 
were  born  four  children.  Concerning  the 
children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smethers  the  follow- 
ing brief  record  is  given :  Nettie  is  the  wife  of 
W.  A.  Seitz  and  they  reside  in  the  state  of 
Montana ;  Elroy  resides  in  the  city  of  Lincoln, 
Nebraska;  Maevi  became  the  wife  of  Horace 
Loeber,  who  passed  away  November  26,  1917. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smethers  are  earnest  and 
zealous  members  of  the  Christian  church  and 
he  is  a  valued  member  of  the  church  choir. 
In  politics  he  gives  his  support  to  the  cause  of 
the  Democratic  party  and  while  residing  on 
his  farm  he  served  for  several  years  as  town- 
ship clerk. 

GEORGE  T.  STEPHENSON,  who  is  now 
living  practically  retired  in  the  thriving  little 
city  of  Wymore,  has  been  an  influential  and 
valued  citizen  whose  varied  activities  along 
civic  and  business  lines  have  been  so  wisely  and 
honorably  directed  as  to  make  them  prolific 
in  the  furtherance  of  the  general  wellbeing 
of  the  community.  His  spirit  of  personal 
stewardship  has  been  exemplified  in  his  civic 
loyalty,  as  well  as  in  his  large  and  worthy 
achievement  as  a  man  of  broad  and  varied 
interests,  and  none  is  more  essentially  entitled 
to  recognition  in  this  history  of  Gage  county. 

George  F.  Stephenson  was  born  in  Floyd 
■county,  Iowa,  on  the  22d  of  June,   1862,  and 


is  a  son  of  Thomas  and  Mary  A-  (McCune) 
Stephenson,  both  natives  of  Ireland.  Thomas 
Stephenson,  who  was  born  in  the  year  1828, 
was  reared  and  educated  in  his  native  land, 
and  the  year  1840  recorded  him  as  a  resident 
of  the  state  of  New  York.  There  was  solem- 
nized his  marriage  to  Miss  Mary  A.  McCune, 
who  had  come  from  the  fair  old  Emerald 
Isle  to  the  United  States  in  company  with 
her  parents,  the  year  of  her  nativity  having 
been  1827.  Prior  to  the  Civil  war  Thomas 
Stephenson  and  his  wife  numbered  them- 
selves among  the  pioneers  of  Iowa,  where  he 
turned  his  attention  to  agricultural  pursuits. 
When  the  Civil  war  was  precipitated  on  the 
nation  he  showed  his  intrinsic  loyalty  to  the 
land  to  which  he  had  come  as  a  youth,  for 
he  tendered  his  services  in  defense  of  the 
Union  by  enlisting  in  the  Thirteenth  Iowa 
Volunteer  Infantry.  With  this  command  he 
served  faithfully  and  gallantly  during  his 
term  of  enlistment,  and  it  may  be  specially 
noted  that  he  was  with  General  Sherman  in 
the  Atlanta  campaign  and  in  the  subsequent 
and  memorable  march  to  the  sea.  After  the 
close  of  the  war  he  continued  his  farming 
operations  in  Iowa  until  1866,  when  he  came 
to  Richardson  county,  Nebraska,  and  again 
girded  himself  for  pioneer  responsibilities  and 
service.  In  1878  he  came  to  Gage  county  and 
here  he  purchased  from  the  government  two 
hundred  acres  of  wild  and  untrammeled  prai- 
rie land,  and  to  this  embryonic  farm,  in  Sicily 
township,  he  brought  his  family  by  means  of 
a  team  and  "prairie  schooner."  He  developed 
a  finely  productive  farm  property,  and  in  the 
meanwhile  he  and  his  wife  endured  their  full 
share  of  the  privations  and  vicissitudes  that 
so  distinctly  marked  the  pioneer  era  in  Gage 
county  history.  They  lived  upright  and 
righteous  lives,  were  true  to  all  the  respon- 
sibilities that  devolved  upon  them  and  gave  to 
their  children  the  goodly  heritage  of  noble 
thoughts  and  noble  deeds,  though  they  had 
naught  of  the  spirit  of  self-glorification  or 
any  desire  to  divert  themselves  from  the  even 
tenor  of  their  way.  They  were  sterling 
pioneer  citizens  who  commanded  unequivocal 
esteem,    and    Mr.    Stephenson    was    sixty-six 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


687 


years  of  age  at  the  time  of  his  death  in  1894. 
His  widow  has  attained  to  the  age  of  ninety- 
one  years  and  is  a  resident  of  Lincoln,  this 
state.  Thomas  Stephenson  was  aligned  in 
the  ranks  of  the  Democratic  party,  was  affili- 
ated with  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fel- 
lows and  his  wife  is  a  member  of  the  Bap- 
tist church.  Of  their  eight  children  six  are 
now  living:  William,  a  retired  farmer,  resides 
at  DuBois,  Pawnee  county ;  George  T.,  of  this 
review,  was  the  next  in  order  of  birth ;  Riley 
is  engaged  in  ranching  in  jMontana ;  Alice  is 
the  widow  of  Albert  Clayton  and  resides  in 
the  capital  city  of  Nebraska;  Emma  is  the 
wife  of  John  W.  Cutshall,  a  farmer  of  Pawnee 
county,  this  state;  and  Martha  is  the  wife  of 
John  K.  Campbell,  who  is,  in  1918,  principal 
of  the  public  schools  of  Wymore,  Gage  coun- 
ty- 
George  T.  Stephenson  passed  the  period 
of  his  childhood  and  early  youth  on  his 
father's  farm,  and  in  the  meanwhile  he  profited 
duly  by  the  advantages  of  the  district  schools- 
He  was  a  lad  of  four  years  at  the  time  of  the 
family  removal  to  Nebraska,  and  he  contin- 
ued his  studies  in  the  schools  of  Gage  coun- 
ty, besides  which  he  took  a  course  in  the  well 
ordered  business  college  at  Lawrence,  Kansas. 
He  proved  and  tested  his  scholastic  acquire- 
ments by  devoting  his  attention  to  teaching 
for  several  years,  and  in  1891  he  established 
his  residence  at  Wymore,  where  he  engaged 
in  the  hardware  and  agricultural-implement 
business.  He  developed  a  substantial  and 
prosperous  enterprise  in  this  important  line 
of  trade,  and  continued  the  business  for  a 
period  of  ten  years.  Thereafter  he  was  for 
several  years  engaged  extensively  in  the  real- 
estate  business,  in  which  connection  he  devel- 
oped a  large  and  prosperous  enterprise  in  the 
handling  of  both  farm  and  village  properties. 
The  progressiveness  and  loyalty  of  Mr. 
Stephenson  have  been  demonstrated  also  in 
other  alHances  of  important  order.  He  was 
the  organizer  of  the  Wymore  Building  &  Loan 
Association,  of  which  he  became  secretary, 
and  with  this  vital  corporation  he  continued 
his  connection  until  1917,  when  he  resigned 
his   position   as    secretary.     He    is    vice-presi- 


dent of  the  First  National  Bank  of  Wymore 
and  is  the  owner  of  valuable  farm  property 
in  Gage  county. 

The  political  predilections  of  Mr.  Stephen- 
son are  indicated  in  the  unswerving  allegi- 
ance which  he  has  given  to  the  Democratic 
party,  and  he  has  given  yeoman  service  in  be- 
half of  its  cause.  He  served  for  a  number 
of  years  as  tax  collector  of  Wymore  township 
and  also  gave  effiecient  service  in  the  office 
of  city  treasurer  of  Wymore.  He  is  affiliated 
with  the  local  lodge  of  the  Masonic  fraternity 
and  has  passed  the  various  official  chairs  in 
the  same,  as  has  he  also  in  the  Wymore  camp 
of  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  .America. 

In  March,  1889,  was  solemnized  the  mar- 
riage of  Mr.  Stephenson  to  Miss  Nellie  Beer, 
and  they  have  two  children :  Bernice  is  the 
wife  of  Myrle  C.  Evans,  efficiency  expert  in 
the  employ  of  a  Chicago  electric-light  corpor- 
ation ;  and  Doane,  who  was  in  the  employ  of 
the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  Railroad, 
at  Wymore,  is  now  at  Fort  Logan,  in  the 
service  of  the  United  States.  Mrs.  Stephen- 
son was  born  in  Illinois  and  is  a  daughter 
of  William  and  Adeline  Beer,  who  were  born 
in  Pennsylvania  and  who  came  from  Illinois 
to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  in  1880,  the  re- 
mainder of  their  lives  having  been  passed  in 
this  county- 

ISAAC  W.  BURCH  has  continuously 
maintained  his  home  in  Beatrice  since  1877 
and  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  he 
has  been  a  member  of  the  force  of  city  mail 
carriers,  a  veteran  in  this  branch  of  service 
and  a  citizen  whose  circle  of  friends  is  coinci- 
dent with  that  of  his  acquaintances. 

Mr.  Burch  was  born  in  Cambridge.  Wash- 
ington county.  New  York,  December  11,  1848, 
and  is  a  son  of  Lorenzo  and  Hannah  M. 
(Durfee)  Burch,  both  of  whom  passed  their 
entire  lives  in  that  county  of  the  old  Empire 
state,  where  the  respective  families  were 
founded  in  an  early  day.  Mr.  Burch  was 
reared  to  the  sturdy  discipline  of  the  home 
farm  and  acquired  his  youthful  education  in 
the  common  schools  of  his  native  county.  Up- 
on attaining  to  his  legal  majority  he  engaged 


688 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


in  working  on  a  farm  by  the  month,  and  he 
was  twenty-four  years  of  age  when,  in  1873, 
he  made  his  first  visit  to  Gage  county,  Ne- 
braska. Two  months  later  he  returned  to 
New  York  state,  but  in  1877  he  came  again 
to  Gage  county  and  established  his  home  at 
Beatrice,  his  memory  thus  having  an  indelible 
impression  of  the  progressive  movements  that 
have  resulted  in  the  development  of  the 
frontier  village  into  one  of  the  attractive  and 
prosperous  cities  of  the  state.  On  the  1st  of 
July,  1891,  Mr.  Burch  entered  the  employ  of 
the  government  as  a  city  mail  carrier  in 
Beatrice,  and  of  this  position  he  has  since 
continued  the  efficient  and  popular  incumbent, 
few  citizens  of  the  county  being  better  known 
or  held  in  higher  esteem.  His  political  allegi- 
ance is  given  to  the  Republican  party  and  he 
takes  a  lively  interest  in  all  things  touching 
the  welfare  and  advancement  of  his  home 
city.  His  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Mary  B.  Hill,  likewise  was  born  and  reared 
in  Cambridge,  Washington  county.  New 
York,  and  she  has  gained  a  wide  circle  of 
friends  within  the  long  period  of  her  residence 
in  Beatrice.     They  have  no  children. 

FR-A-NK  MASEK,  a  retired  farmer  living 
in  Odell,  Nebraska,  is  the  owner  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty-two  acres  of  land,  in  Pad- 
dock and  Glenwood  townships.  Mr.  Masek 
is  of  the  true  pioneer  type, —  a  type  exempli- 
fying both  brains  and  brawn.  It  needs  a 
character  which  can  stand  the  hard  knocks 
of  privation  and  loneliness,  and  which  can, 
with  determined  will  and  unswerving  purpose, 
persist  when  others  would  fail-  Such  a  per- 
sonality is  Frank  Masek,  a  native  born 
Bohemian.  He  was  born  in  the  village  of 
Horcic,  Pilsen,  Bohemia,  March  20,  1847. 
His  parents,  Joseph  and  Mary  (Machasek) 
Masek,  were  born  in  Bohemia  and  lived  all 
their  lives  in  that  Slav  country, —  one  of  little 
opportunity  and  few  great  achievements.  These 
good  people  were  the  parents  of  twelve  chil- 
dren and  Joseph  Masek  plied  his  trade  of 
carpenter  all  of  his  life.  But  of  more  ven- 
turesome blood  were  his  two  sons  Frank  and 
William,  who  longed  for  new  fields  of  service 


and  opportunity.  June  24,  1867,  the  day  af- 
ter Frank  Masek's  marriage  to  Josephine 
Smola,  this  young  Bohemian  couple  sailed  for 
the  United  States,  a  land  that  to  them  was 
one  with  unknown  tongue,  unknown  customs 
and  unknown  opportunities,  but  they  faltered 
not,  being  ready  to  meet  their  destiny  as  it 
came.  When  only  six  days  from  land,  the 
ship  caught  fire.  So  great  was  the  fire  that 
men  and  women  were  kneeling  all  over  the 
deck,  praying  that  God  would  save  them.  Life 
belts  were  put  on,  in  expectation  that  any 
minute  the  passengers  would  have  to  take  to 
the  open  sea,  but  the  fire  was  finally  extin- 
guished and  they  were  spared  to  reach  their 
destinations.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Masek,  with  the 
brother,  William  Masek,  who  came  two  years 
later,  located  at  St.  Louis,  Missouri.  For 
twelve  years  the  family  home  was  maintained 
in  that  city  and  Mr.  Masek  worked  in  the 
stone  quarries. 

In  1879  Mr.  Masek,  with  his  wife  and  three 
children,  came  to  Nebraska  to  start  life 
afresh  on  the  soil.  He  had  saved  six  hundred 
dollars  while  in  St.  Louis  and  expected  to 
buy  land-  The  first  year  he  rented,  but  the 
next  year  he  purchased  one  hundred  and 
si.xty  acres  of  land  from  his  brother  William, 
who  had  purchased  this  land  but  had  not 
tried  to  improve  it.  All  that  Frank  Masek 
possessed  was  a  pair  of  horses  and  a  wagon ; 
he  had  no  tools  to  work  with,  no  spade  nor 
hoe,  only  his  strong  hands  and  a  determina- 
tion to  make  good.  This  land,  which  to-day 
is  so  well  cultivated  and  dotted  with  farm 
homes,  barns  and  silos  and  stocked  with 
herds  of  cattle  and  hogs,  was  then  one  vast 
expanse  of  prairie.  As  far  as  the  eye  could 
reach  no  human  habitation  could  be  seen. 
There  was  no  shelter  for  the  people  who  had 
brought  their  all  to  "pioneer"  in  Gage  coun- 
ty. Very  soon  they  had  their  rude  sod  hut 
and  a  shelter  for  their  horses,  and  were  tilling 
the  soil. 

As  the  country  was  being  settled,  the  chil- 
dren needed  schools  in  which  to  receive  the 
rudiments  of  education.  The  county  seemed 
unable  or  too  listless  to  give  financial  aid  to 
tlds  district  for  a  school.     Then  Frank  Masek, 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


689 


with  his  own  hand  and  the  help  of  neighbors, 
built  the  first  sod  hut  used  for  a  school.  It 
was  in  Section  7,  Paddock  township. 

The  marriage  of  Frank  Masek  and  Jose- 
phine Smola  occurred  in  Bohemia,  June  23, 
1867.  Mrs.  Masek  shared  with  her  husband 
all  of  his  labors  of  the  early  days  and  lived 
to  see  the  fruit  of  all  of  their  striving.  They 
became  the  parents  of  nine  children,  seven  of 
whom  are  living.  The  mother  passed  away  in 
1903.  Brief  re:ord  concerning  the  children 
is  here  given :  William,  born  in  St.  Louis, 
Mo.,  in  1870,  married  J\Iiss  Rosa  Murphy, 
and  is  now  deceased ;  Mary  is  the  wife  of 
Frank  Hajek,  living  in  section  5,  Paddock 
township;  Anna  is  the  wife  of  Joseph  Hajek, 
of  Glenwood  township ;  Joseph  died  in  infan- 
cy ;  Carrie  is  the  wife  of  John  Boch  and  they 
live  near  Oketo,  Kansas ;  Frank  resides  near 
Odell,  Nebraska,  in  Paddock  township;  Jo- 
seph is  deceased ;  John  is  living  in  Glenwood 
township;  Minnie  is  housekeeper  for  her  fath- 
er. 

In  1912  Mr.  Masek  retired  from  active 
farming  and  bought  property  in  Odell,  where 
he  now  lives  with  his  daughter  Minnie.  In 
politics  he  has  voted  the  Democratic  ticket. 
He  has  held  township  offices,  was  road  over- 
seer and  on  the  school  board  in  Paddock 
township.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Catholic 
church,  which  receives  liberally  of  his  means. 
He  is  owner  of  two  hundred  and  fifty-two 
acres  of  land  at  the  present  time,  but  has 
owned  many  more  acres.  He  bought  land  as 
fast  as  he  could  and  gave  it  to  his  children, 
who  are  farming  all  through  the  neighboring 
townships.  He  is  a  shareholder  in  the  State 
Bank  of  Odell  and  the  Farmers'  Lumber 
Yard. 

EDWARD  F.  DAVIS  is  one  of  the  more 
venerable  of  the  well  known  pioneer  citizens 
residing  in  the  city  of  Beatrice,  and  his 
career  has  been  one  marked  by  diversified  ex- 
perience as  well  as  by  the  achievement  of 
worthy  success.  With  marked  vigor  of  men- 
tal and  physical  faculties,  though  he  has 
passed  the  eightieth  milestone  on  the  journey 
of  life,  Mr.  Davis  still  gives  a  general  super- 


vision to  his  various  property  interest,  the 
while  he  keeps  in  full  touch  with  current  events 
and  takes  lively  interest  in  all  things  pertain- 
ing to  the  county  and  city  in  which  he  has 
long  retained  his  residence.  Mr.  Davis  was 
born  in  Herkimer  county,  New  York,  June 
17,  1836,  received  in  the  old  Empire  state 
his  early  educational  training,  in  the  common 
schools,  and  as  a  boy  and  youth  he  there 
gained  experience  not  only  in  farm  work  but 
also  in  the  operation  of  boats  on  the  old  Erie 
canal.  Later  he  was  ernployed  as  inspector 
of  street  improvements  in  New  York  city,  and 
this  position  he  retained  until  a  short  time 
before  his  removal  to  the  west.  In  1876  Mr. 
Davis  left  the  national  metropolis  and  came 
to  Gage  county.  After  devoting  about  two 
years  to  farm  enterprise  in  Riverside  town- 
ship he  removed  to  Beatrice  and  became 
owner  and  manager  of  the  Davis  House, 
which  was  for  many  years  one  of  the  leading 
hotels  of  the  city,  the  building  being  still 
owned  by  him,  at  the  corner  of  Third  and  Ella 
streets,  and  being  kept  in  good  repair  as  a 
rooming  house.  He  is  the  owner  of  other 
productive  real-estate  in  Beatrice,  as  well  as 
his  attractive  home,  at  901   Lincoln  street. 

Mr.  Davis  had  the  distinction  of  casting 
his  first  presidential  vote  for  General  John 
C.  Fremont,  the  first  candidate  placed  in  nom- 
ination by  the  newly  organized  Republican 
party,  and  he  has  voted  for  each  presidential 
canchdate  of  that  party  during  the  long  in- 
tervening years,  never  wavering  in  his  belief 
in  the  basic  principles  for  which  the  party  has 
ever  stood  sponsor.  Mr.  Davis  made  a  re- 
markable record  of  efficiency  during  his  in- 
cumbency of  the  office  of  sherifif  of  Gage 
county.  He  was  elected  sherifif  in  1885  and 
continued  in  service  until  1900.  He  carries 
himself  with  the  vital  erectness  of  a  man 
many  years  his  junior  and  with  much  of  dis- 
tinction, is  genial  and  tolerant,  broad-minded 
and  well  fortified  in  his  convictions,  and  he 
has  the  high  regard  of  the  community  in 
which  he  has  so  long  maintained  his  home. 

The  year  1862  recorded  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Davis  to  Miss  Helen  M.  Ferguson,  who 
was  born  in  Herkimer  county,  New  York,  on 


690 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


the  3d  of  October,  1842,  and  who  continues 
as  the  gracious  and  popular  chatelaine  of  their 
pleasant  home.  Of  their  four  children  only 
one  is  living,  Miss  Nellie,  who  remains  at 
the   parental  home. 

ARMSTRONG  O.  BURKET,  senior  mem- 
ber of  the  firm  of  Burket  &  Feldkirchner, 
which  is  successfully  engaged  in  the  retail 
coal  business  in  the  city  of  Beatrice,  came  to 
Gage  county  thirty  years  ago  and  was  for- 
merly established  as  one  of  the  representative 
exponents  of  farm  industry  in  Glenwood 
township.  He  is  now  one  of  the  prominent 
business  men  and  most  insistently  loyal  and 
progressive  citizens  of  Beatrice,  a  leader  in 
movements  tending  to  advance  the  civic  and 
material  prosperity  of  Gage  county  and  its 
fine  judicial  center,  and  he  is  specially  entitled 
to   recognition   in   this   history. 

Mr.  Burket  was  born  on  a  farm  near 
Dixon,  Lee  county,  Illinois,  December  29, 
1863,  and  is  a  son  of  Henry  and  Mary  Jane 
(Crawford)  Burket,  both  natives  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, their  marriage  having  been  solemnized 
in  1848.  Henry  Burket  became  a  pioneer 
farmer  in  Lee  county,  Illinois,  where  he  won 
independence  and  prosperity  through  his 
earnest  and  honorable  endeavors  and  where 
both  he  and  his  wife  passed  the  remainder  of 
their  lives.  On  the  old  homestead  farm  in 
Lee  county,  Illinois,  Armstrong  O.  Burket 
gained  in  his  boyhood  and  youth  the  sturdy 
discipline  that  well  matured  his  physical 
powers  and  that  gave  him  enduring  apprecia- 
tion of  the  dignity  and  value  of  honest  toil. 
He  profited  duly  by  the  advantages  afforded 
in  the  public  schools  of  his  native  county  and 
there  he  continued  his  association  with  farm 
enterprise  until  1887,  when  he  came  to  Gage 
county,  Nebraska,  and  purchased  a  tract  of 
land  on  that  part  of  the  Otoe  Indian  reserva- 
tion that  is  now  included  in  Glenwood  town- 
ship. There  he  developed  a  good  farm  and 
there  he  continued  his  successful  activities  as 
an  a$:riculturist  and  stock-grower  for  a  period 
of  seventeen  years.  For  the  ensuing  six 
years  he  gave  his  attention  to  effective  service 
a.':   manager   of  the   Farmers'   Elevator   Com- 


pany at  Odell.  He  established  his  residence  in 
Beatrice,  and  finally,  in  January,  1912,  after 
spending  eighteen  months  traveling  for  the 
Root  Grain  Company  in  Nebraska,  Missouri, 
Kansas  and  Colorado,  he  became  associated 
with  his  brother-in-law,  E.  Feldkirchner,  in 
establishing  the  coal  business  which  they  have 
since  successfully  conducted  under  the  firm 
title  of  Burket  &  Feldkirchner,  with  well 
equipped  headquarters  at  222  Ella  street. 

The  political  allegiance  of  Mr.  Burket  is 
given  to  the  Democratic  party,  he  is  affiliated 
with  the  Masonic  fraternity  and  both  he  and 
his  wife  are  zealous  members  of  the  First 
Christian  church  of  Beatrice,  in  which  he 
holds  the  office  of  elder. 

On  the  23d  of  December,  1886,  was  solem- 
nized the  marriage  of  Mr.  Burket  to  Miss  Ora 
E.  Feldkirchner,  who  was  born  and  reared  in 
Lee  county,  Illinois,  and  they  have  an  inter- 
esting family  of  four  children:  Hazel  is  the 
wife  of  H.  F.  Grafif,  of  Beatrice ;  Neva  is  a 
trained  nurse  by  profession  and  resides  in  the 
city  of  Lincoln ;  Lulu  is  a  successful  and 
popular  teacher  and  at  the  time  of  this  writ- 
ing, in  1918,  is  teaching  in  the  public  schools 
of  Spalding,  Greeley  county ;  and  Bessie  was 
a  member  of  the  class  of  1917  in  Doan  Col- 
lege,   at    Crete,    Saline   county. 

DANIEL  ALBERT.— Few  families  have 
given  more  aggressive  and  successful  demon- 
stration of  the  splendid  potentiality  of  agri- 
cultural and  live  stock  enterprise  in  Gage 
county  than  that  of  which  Daniel  Albert  is 
a  popular  representative,  he  being  a  son  of 
Henry  Albert,  an  honored  and  influential 
citizen  of  whom  specific  mention  is  made  on 
other  pages.  Daniel  Albert  rents  from  his  fath- 
ei  two  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land  in  Sec- 
tion 26,  Clatonia  township,  and  as  a  vigorous 
and  discriminating  young  farmer  and  liberal 
citizen  he  is  well  upholding  the  prestige  of 
the  family  name.  He  was  born  on  his 
father's  old  homestead  farm,  in  Clatonia  town- 
ship, November  18,  1884,  and  his  early  educa- 
tional advantages  included  those  of  the  high 
school  in  the  village  of  Clatonia,  as  well  as  a 
course    in    a    business    college    in   the   city    of 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


691 


Lincoln.  He  has  had  no  desire  to  sever  his 
association  with  farm  enterprise  and  in  con- 
nection with  the  same  is  achieving  substantial 
success.  His  father  gave  him  excellent  op- 
portunities for  independent  activities  after  he 
had  attained  to  the  age  of  twenty  years,  for 
it  was  at  this  juncture  in  his  career  that  he 
assumed  virtual  control  of  his  present  large 
and  well  improved  farm,  which  he  maintains 
under  conditions  that  reveal  thrift  and  good 
judgment,  the  while  he  has  shown  his  pro- 
gressiveness  by  adding  materially  to  the  im- 
provements on  the  farm,  which  is  given  over 
to  diversified  agriculture  and  the  raising  of 
excellent  types  of  live  stock.  In  politics  Mr. 
Albert  gives  his  support  to  the  Republican 
party,  he  is  affiliated  with  the  Modern  Wood- 
men of  America,  and  both  he  and  his  wife 
hold  membership  in  the  ^lethodist  Episcopal 
church. 

On  the  15th  of  February,  1912,  Mr.  Albert 
married  ]\Iiss  Scenta  Krauter,  who  likewise 
was  born  and  reared  in  Clatonia  township  and 
who  is  a  daughter  of  Edward  and  Gezena 
(Carstens)  Krauter,  natives  of  Illinois,  the 
father  being  still  a  resident  of  Clatonia  town- 
ship and  the  mother  being  deceased.  Mr- 
and  ]\Irs.  Albert  have  two  children, —  Henry 
K.  and  Zena  Bernice. 

STEPHEN  V.  SHAW.  — One  of  Gage 
county's  pioneer  settlers  and  one  who  has  con- 
tributed his  full  share  to  bringing  about  pres- 
ent-day conditions  is  Stephen  V.  Shaw,  who 
is  residing  on  the  farm,  in  Section  21,  Adams 
township,  which  has  been  his  home  for  fifty 
years.  Mr.  Shaw  was  born  in  Dutchess 
county.  New  York,  January  4,  1844.  His 
father,  Stephen  P.  Shaw,  was  born  in  the  same 
county,  July  31,  1801,  and  he  became  a  far- 
mer in  his  native  state.  After  a  short  resi- 
dence in  Connecticut  he  became  a  pioneer  set- 
tler in  Somers  township,  Kenosha  county, 
Wisconsin.  In  1857  he  and  his  family  started 
overland  for  Nebraska  Territory  in  true  pio- 
neer fasliion,  driving  ox  teams.  There  was  a 
train  of  six  wagons,  and  of  the  twenty-one 
persons  who  made  up  the  party  ten  are  still 
living.      Mr.    Shaw    located    and    maintained 


squatter's  sovereignty  on  eighty  acres  of  land 
in  what  was  then  known  as  Clay  county,  Ne- 
braska (now  Gage  county).  From  timber  on 
the  south  branch  of  the  Nemaha  river  he  cut 
and  hewed  the  logs  with  which  to  build  the 
first  house  that  was  to  be  the  family  home. 
He  helped  organize  the  first  school  district  in 
Adams  township,  and  this  is  now  District  No. 
51.  Until  his  death,  which  occurred  April  1, 
1863,  Stephen  P.  Shaw  made  his  home  on 
this  pioneer  farm.  His  wife,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Hannah  Hicks,  was  likewise  a  na- 
tive of  Dutchess  county.  New  York,  where  she 
was  bom  February  10,  1801,  and  she  died  in 
Gage  county,  Nebraska,  February  22,  1886. 

Of  their  children  the  following  record  is 
given :  William  H.  was  killed,  at  St.  Louis, 
during  the  Civil  war;  Egbert,  who  also  was  a 
soldier  in  the  Civil  war,  died  at  Adams,  Gage 
county,  in  1895 ;  Mrs.  Margaret  A.  Gale  is  de- 
ceased; Mrs.  Emily  Silvernail  resides  at 
Adams,  this  county ;  Mrs.  Elmira  Lyons  is  de- 
ceased, as  is  also  Mrs.  Hannah  Noxon;  Mrs. 
Rebecca  Silvernail  resides  at  Indianola,  Ne- 
braska; James  I.,  who  was  a  soldier  in  the 
Civil  war,  lives  at  St.  Cloud,  Florida;  and 
Stephen  V.  is  the  immediate  subject  of  this 
sketch. 

The  first  childish  recollections  of  Stephen 
V.  Shaw  are  those  of  his  home  in  the  Nutmeg 
state.  He  also  remembers  the  trip  to  Wiscon- 
sin, and  he  was  a  boy  of  thirteen  years  when 
the  trip  was  made  to  Nebraska  Territory.  It 
was  the  6th  of  July,  1857,  when  they  reached 
the  banks  of  the  Nemaha  river,  where  the 
home  was  established.  After  a  trip  across  the 
prairies  of  Illinois  and  Iowa,  the  family 
crossed  the  Missouri  river  on  a  flat-boat.  As 
a  boy  Mr.  Shaw  had  received  such  schooling 
as  circumstances  would  permit,  and  at  the  age 
of  sixteen  years  he  had  completed  his  studies 
in  the  schools  of  Nebraska  City.  He  con- 
tinued to  assist  in  the  development  and  im- 
provement of  the  home  farm  until  he  arrived 
at  his  majority,  when  he  made  a  prospecting 
trip  to  Colorado,  where  he  remained  one  year. 
Upon  returning  to  Gage  county  he  engaged  in 
farming.  He  homesteaded  a  tract  of  land  on 
Section  21,  Adams  township,  and  on  this  place 


692 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


Stephen  P.  Shaw 


Mrs.  Stephen  P.  Shaw 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stephen  V.  Shaw 


694 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


he  has  continued  to  maintain  his  home  for  fifty 
years. 

On  November  8,  1866,  Mr.  Shaw  married 
Miss  Minerva  Hand,  who  was  born  in  Niag- 
ara county,  New  York,  May  24,  1850,  and 
who  passed  away  on  December  7,  1908.  Mrs. 
Shaw  was  a  daughter  of  WilHam  and  Anna 
(Scott)  Hand,  natives  of  New  York  state. 
William  Hand  died  on  board  a  vessel  while 
with  the  colony  en  route  for  Wisconsin  and 
was  buried  in  the  lake.  This  was  during  the 
epidemic  of  cholera,  to  which  he  succumbed. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Shaw  became  the  parents  of 
nine  children :  Louis  V.  resides  in  Custer 
county,  Nebraska ;  Katie  is  at  home  with  her 
father;  Almira  H.  is  the  wife  of  J.  C.  Boyd, 
a  farmer  of  Sherman  township;  Mrs.  Ada 
McKnight  resides  at  Adams,  this  county ;  Mrs. 
Alice  KaufTman  is  a  resident  of  Havelock,  Ne- 
braska ;  Mrs.  Carrie  E.  Palmer  lives  at  Chap- 
pell,  Nebraska ;  May  R.  and  Charles  E.  are  at 
home ;  and  Eva  Rae  resides  in  the  city  of  Lin- 
coln, this  state. 

Mr.  Shaw  has  been  an  eye  witness  to  all  the 
changes  that  have  taken  place  in  this  county, 
and  has  always  done  his  share  in  the  march  of 
progress.  In  1862-1863  he  freighted  out  of 
Nebraska  City  with  oxen.  In  December,  1864, 
he  drove  to  Colorado,  distributing  goods 
along  the  way.  When  the  local  Presbyterian 
church  was  organized,  in  1860,  his  mother  was 
made  superintendent  of  the  Sunday  school, 
and  she  continued  to  hold  that  position  until 
her  death. 

In  both  paternal  and  maternal  lines  Mr. 
Shaw's  ancestors  participated  in  the  Revolu- 
tionary war.  He  has  every  reason  to  be  proud 
of  the  record  of  the  family  in  Gage  county, 
and  he  is  held  in  highest  esteem  by  all  with 
whom  he  has  come  in  contact. 


HENRY  KASPAREK.—  The  untimely 
death  of  Henry  Kasparek  called  from  earthly 
activities  one  of  the  younger  business  men  of 
Odell, —  one  who  for  fifteen  years  had  given 
his  best  energies  to  the  moral,  social  and  com- 
mercial uplift  of  his  community.  Mr. 
Kasparek  was  born  at  Chicago,  Illinois.  April 
11,  1874.     He  was  a  son  of  Adolph  Kasparek, 


who  was  a  native  of  Bohemia  and  who  be- 
longed to  that  class  of  foreign-born  citizens 
who  have  done  much  for  the  development  of 
Nebraska.  Henry  Kasparek  was  a  child  of 
two  years  when  the  family  home  was  estab- 
lished in  Jefferson  county,  Nebraska.  Reared 
on  a  farm,  he  early  learned  those  lessons  of 
industry  and  enterprise  which  are  of  such 
value  as  to  assure  success  in  any  and  every 
walk  of  life. 

In  1900  Henry  Kasparek  came  to  Odell  and 
purchased  the  business  conducted  by  one  of 
Odell's  pioneer  citizens,  Frank  J.  Truxaw. 
Until  his  death,  April  8,  1914,  Mr.  Kasparek 
gave  his  best  efforts  to  make  a  place  for  him- 
self in  the  business  affairs  of  Odell.  Success^ 
had  crowned  his  efforts,  as  may  be  seen  by 
the  neatly  arranged  place  of  business  he  had 
established.  His  chosen  line  was  the  furni- 
ture and  undertaking  business,  in  connection, 
with  which  he  handled  a  full  line  of  linoleums,, 
rugs,  and  musical  instruments.  A  complete 
and  extensive  stock  of  goods  was  carried,  and 
the  faith  and  trust  reposed  in  him  by  the  peo- 
ple of  the  community  were  unbounded.  Since- 
his  death  his  widow  has  continued  the  busi- 
ness, employing  a  capable  manager  to  handle 
her  affairs. 

As  a  companion  and  helpmeet  Mr-  Kasparek 
chose  for  his  wife  Miss  Anna  Tejcka,  a  na- 
tive of  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  her  parents 
having  been  early  settlers  in  Sicily  township. 
Mrs.  Kasparek  is  a  daughter  of  Frank  and 
Josephine  (Prucha)  Tejcka,  natives  of 
Bohemia.  The  father  is  deceased  and  the 
mother  still  resides  on  the  old  home  place,  in 
Sicily  township. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kasparek  became  the  parents 
of  four  sons,  who  with  their  mother  occupy 
a  beautiful  home  in  Odell.  The  names  of 
these  boys  are  Frank,  Clarence,  Vernon  and 
Everett.  Mr.  Kasparek  was  a  faithful  mem- 
ber of  the  Christian  church  of  Odell,  having- 
joined  that  church  April  14,  1908.  He  was- 
also  a  member  of  the  Odell  lodges  of  the  I. 
O.O.F.  and  the  Z.  C.  B.  A.  He  was  a  de- 
voted husband  and  father,  an  energetic  busi- 
ness man  and  a  first-class  citizen,  a  man  who- 
stood   for  progress,  and   real   friendship,   and_ 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


695 


one  who  thought  more  of  others  than  of  him- 
self. He  Hved  an  unselfish  life,  and  was  one 
whom  his  family  and  the  community  could  ill 
afford  to  lose. 

PHILIP  A.  BINDERNAGEL.— A  mem- 
ber of  one  of  the  honored  pioneer  families  of 
Gage  county,  Mr.  Bindernagel  has  here  main- 
tained his  home  from  the  time  of  his  birth 
and  he  is  now  numbered  among  the  successful 
and  representative  agriculturists  and  stock- 
growers  of  his  native  township,  his  well  im- 
proved and  ably  managed  farm  of  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  being  situated  in  Section  35, 
Blakely  township,  and  being  a  part  of  the 
large  landed  estate  of  the  family. 

Mr.  Bindernagel  was  born  in  Blakely  town- 
ship on  the  25th  of  November,  1874,  and  is 
a  son  of  Philip  and  Margaret  (Marschel) 
Bindernagel,  concerning  whose  other  children 
brief  mention  may  here  be  made,  the  subject 
of  this  review  having  been  the  second  in 
order  of  birth ;  Rosa  now  presides  over  the 
domestic  economies  of  her  father's  pleasant 
home  in  the  city  of  Beatrice,  having  assumed 
this  responsibility  after  the  death  of  her 
mother;  David  M.  is  numbered  among  the 
progressive  farmers  of  Lincoln  township,  this 
county;  Elizabeth  is  the  wife  of  George  W. 
Stevens,  of  Lincoln  township;  Caroline  died 
in  the  year  1909;  and  Emma  is  the  wife  of 
L.   K.    Stevens,  of  Blakely  township. 

Philip  Bindernagel  was  born  in  Germany, 
on  the  28th  of  January,  1838,  and  there  con- 
tinued his  residence  until  1852,  when  he 
established  his  home  in  the  city  of  London, 
England,  where  he  found  employment  at  his 
trade,  that  of  baker.  A  few  years  thereaf- 
ter he  came  to  America  and  engaged  in  the 
work  of  his  trade  in  New  York  city,  and  in 
1866  he  came  to  Nebraska  Territory,  and 
numbered  himself  among  the  pioneers  of 
Gage  county.  He  entered  claim  to  a  home- 
stead of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  in  Filley 
township,  and  here  he  endured  the  full  tension 
of  hardships  and  deprivations  incidental  to 
life  on  the  virtual  frontier.  The  passing 
years,  marked  by  his  indefatigable  and  earn- 
est application,  brought  to  him  independence 


and  definite  prosperity,  as  is  clearly  demon- 
strated by  the  fact  that  he  is  now  the  owner 
of  a  valuable  landed  estate  of  four  hundred 
and  eighty  acres  in  Blakely  township,  this 
county,  and  an  equal  amount  in  Sherman 
county,  Kansas.  He  gave  earnestly  and  effect- 
ively of  his  energies  and  abilities  in  further- 
ing the  social  and  industrial  development  and 
progress  of  the  county,  has  ever  commanded 
the  confidence  and  good  will  of  his  fellow 
citizens  and  in  his  venerable  years  he  is  living 
in  well  earned  retirement  in  his  attractive 
home  in  the  city  of  Beatrice.  He  has  been  a 
lifelong  communicant  of  the  Lutheran  church, 
as  was  also  his  devoted  wife,  who  was  his 
true  helpmeet  in  the  days  of  their  early 
struggle  to  make  for  themselves  a  home  and 
a  place  of  independence  in  Nebraska,  the  state 
having  been  admitted  to  the  Union  about  one 
year  after  they  had  established  their  residence 
on  the  pioneer  farm  in  Gage  county.  Mrs- 
Bindernagel  was  born  in  Germany  on  the  22d 
of  October,  1850,  and  was  summoned  to  the 
life  eternal  on  the  23d  of  February,  1913,  her 
memory  being  revered  by  those  who  came 
within  the  compass  of  her  gentle  influence. 
On  other  pages  of  this  work  appears  a  specific 
record  of  the  career  of  Philip  Bindernagel. 

Philip  A.  Bindernagel  supplemented  the  dis- 
cipline of  the  district  schools  by  attending  the 
Beatrice  high  school,  and  in  1907  he  rented 
of  his  father  his  present  farm,  which  he  has 
made  a  model  of  thrift  and  prosperity  and 
upon  which  he  has  made  many  excellent  im- 
provements, including  the  erection  of  his 
commodious  modern  house  and  a  barn  thirty- 
two  by  thirty-four  feet  in  dimensions,  with 
an  eighteen-foot  wing.  He  takes  loyal  in- 
terest in  all  things  touching  the  walfare  of  his 
native  county  and  home  community,  is  a 
Republican  in  politics  and  both  he  and  his 
wife  are  earnest  communicants  of  the  Luth- 
eran church. 

February  26,  1908,  recorded  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  Bindernagel  to  Miss  Bertha  Erosions, 
who  was  born  in  Northumberland  county, 
Pennsylvania,  where  she  was  reared  and 
educated  —  a  daughter  of  Charles  Brosious, 
who   likewise  was  born   in  the  old   Keystone 


696 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


state.  Mr.  Bindernagel  made  the  acquaint- 
ance of  his  wife  while  he  was  visiting  in 
Pennsylvania,  and  there  their  marriage  was 
solemnized.  They  have  had  two  children, 
Orval  Philip  born  November  5,  1910,  and 
Louise  A.  born  November  21,  1915. 

JOSEPH  KROTZ.— Among  the  citizens 
of  foreign  birth  who  have  done  much  toward 
the  upbuilding  of  Gage  county,  Nebraska, 
none  deserve  more  credit  than  those  sturdy 
men  and  women,  natives  of  Bohemia,  who 
came  to  Nebraska  in  the  late  70s,  and  became 
instrumental  in  converting  into  productive 
farms  and  beautiful  homes  the  raw  prairies 
that  had  but  recently  been  occupied  by  the 
Indians.  To  this  class  belongs  Joseph  Krotz. 
In  the  province  of  Bohemia,  dual  monarchy 
of  Austria-Hungary,  there  lived  one  Vencel 
Krotz,  who,  having  heard  favorable  reports 
of  America  from  friends  and  neighbors  who 
had  found  in  the  "land  of  the  free"  the  op- 
portunities that  were  not  obtainable  in  their 
native  land,  gathered  his  family  and  a  few 
earthly  goods,  and  crossed  the  ocean.  He 
made  his  way  to  Washington  county,  Iowa, 
where  many  of  his  countrymen  had  settled, 
and  arrived  in  that  state  in  1867.  Eleven 
years  later  we  find  him  again  seeking  a  new 
home,  this  time  where  he  knew  land  could  be 
had  at  much  cheaper  price  than  in  the  more 
thickly  settled  region  of  Iowa.  The  first 
year  the  family  lived  at  the  old  town  of 
Charleston,  in  Gage  county,  and  then  he 
purchased  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of 
raw  prairie  land  in  what  is  now  Glenwood 
township.  The  first  home  was  a  sod  house 
and  in  this  the  family  resided  while  initiating 
the  work  of  conquering  the  virgin  Nebraska 
soil.  Air.  Krotz  prospered,  and  here  he  made 
his  home  until  he  was  called  from  his  earthly 
labors. 

The  maiden  name  of  the  first  wife  of 
Vencel  Krotz,  was  Catherine  Kumbera,  who 
passed  away  in  their  native  land.  Later 
he  there  married  a  second  time,  Miss  Anna 
Soper  becoming  his  wife.  She  still  resides  on 
the  old  home  farm  in  Glenwood  township. 
The   two  children    of   the   first   marriage   are 


Mary,  who  is  the  wife  of  Fred  Hofifmeister, 
of  Imperial,  Chase  county,  Nebraska,  and 
Joseph,  who  is  the  immediate  subject  of  this 
sketch.  Of  the  children  of  the  second  mar- 
riage it  is  to  be  recorded  that  John  is  a  farmer 
of  Paddock  township;  Anna  is  the  wife  of 
William  Hohl,  of  Prague,  Saunders  county, 
Nebraska;  and  Frances  is  the  wife  of  Frank 
Benda,  on  the  old  home  place  in  Glenwood 
township. 

Joseph  Krotz  was  but  four  years  of  age 
when  the  family  home  was  established  in  the 
new  world,  he  having  been  born  in  Bohemia, 
the  land  of  his  fathers,  on  the  21st  of  May, 
1863.  When  the  home  was  transferred  from 
Iowa  to  Nebraska  he  was  a  boy  of  fifteen 
years.  He  gave  valuable  assistance  in  trans- 
forming the  Indian  lands  to  productive  pro- 
perty. Remaining  with  his  parents  until  his 
thirty-first  year,  Joseph  Krotz  was  then  as- 
sisted by  his  father  in  the  purchase  of  the 
farm  on  which  he  began  farming  on  his  own 
account.  Mr.  Krotz  made  further  preparation 
for  a  home  of  his  own  by  his  marriage,  on 
May  21,  1894,  to  Miss  Carrie  Bednar,  also  a 
native  of  Bohemia,  where  she  was  born 
November  4,  1872.  Her  parents  were  among 
the  early  settlers  of  Nebraska  and  a  record 
of  them  will  be  found  elsewhere  in  this  his- 
tory. Mr.  Krotz  has  met  with  success  in  his 
farming  operations,  and  to-day  is  the  owner 
of  seven  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  valu- 
able land.  For  several  years  he  has  made 
a  specialty  of  raising  pure-bred  Aberdeen 
Angus  cattle,  and  in  the  spring  of  1918  he 
had  forty  head  of  fine  registered  stock  in  his 
yards  just  south  of  Odell. 

Mr.  Krotz  and  family  occupy  a  beautiful 
home  in  Odell,  and  in  the  household  are  three 
happy  children, —  Marcellus,  Laird  and  Eve- 
lyn. The  family  are  communicants  of  the 
Catholic  church,  the  faith  of  which  was  the 
religion  of  the  parents  of  both  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Krotz.  In  politics  Mr.  Krotz  is  a  Democrat, 
but  he  has  never  desired  or  held  any  office, 
preferring  to  devote  his  entire  time  to  his 
business  aff'airs,  in  which  he  has  met  with 
goodly  success.  There  was  no  railroad  in  the 
vicinity    when    the    Krotz    family    located    on 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


697 


what  had  been  the  Otoe  Indian  reservation. 
Odell  was  not  in  existance.  The  old  town  of 
Charleston  had  been  located,  but  in  later 
years  it  was  abandoned.  The  old  site  of 
Charleston  and  land  on  which  William  Le 
Gourgue  founded  the  town  now  belongs  to 
Mr.  and  ]\Irs.  Krotz.  Mr.  Krotz  has  seen  the 
wild,  unbroken  prairie  develop  into  beautiful 
homes  and  farms,  and  in  this  splendid  trans- 
formation he  has  done  his  full  share. 


THOMAS  REMMERS  was  a  vigorous 
and  ambitious  young  man  of  twenty-three 
years  when  he  came  to  Gage  county,  in  the 
year  in  which  Nebraska  was  admitted  to 
statehood.  None  has  borne  with  greater 
fortitude  and  determination  the  trials  and 
vicissitudes  of  pioneer  life  on  the  western 
frontier,  and  it  is  gratifying  to  record  that 
the  passing  years  have  brought  to  him  a  gen- 
erous measure  of  prosperity.  He  accumulated 
and  developed  a  fine  landed  estate  in  this 
county  and  continued  his  active  association 
with  farm  enterprise  until  1906,  since  which 
time  he  and  his  wife  have  lived  retired  in  the 
city  of  Beatrice,  in  enjoyment  of  good  health 
and  the  gracious  rewards  of  former  years  of 
earnest  endeavor,  their  attractive  home  being 
at  1009  High  street. 

Mr.  Remmers  was  born  in  East  Friesland, 
a  district  in  the  extreme  northwestern  part  of 
the  province  of  Hanover,  Germany,  and  the 
date  of  his  nativity  was  September  16,  1843. 
He  is  a  son  of  John  and  Catherine  (Henrechs) 
Remmers,  and  his  father  followed  farm  enter- 
prise and  operated  a  brick  yard  in  East  Fries- 
land  until  financial  reverses  overtook  him,  and 
in  1868  he  came  with  his  family  to  America. 
Near  the  city  of  Springfield,  Illinois,  he  and 
his  adult  sons  found  employment  in  a  harvest 
field,  and  while  thus  engaged  he  suffered  a 
sunstroke  that  caused  his  death.  In  the 
autumn  of  the  same  year  (1868)  the  bereaved 
widow  came  with  her  six  children  to  the  new 
state  of  Nebraska,  and  later  she  became  the 
wife  of  John  Filers,  the  closing  years  of  her 
life  having  been  passed  at  Sterling,  Johnson 
county,  where  she  died  in   1883,  when  about 


sixty-three  years  of  age.  For  generations  the 
earnest  religious  faith  of  the  family  has  been 
that  of  the  Lutheran  church. 

Thomas  Remmers  acquired  his  youthful 
education  in  his  native  land  and  was  twenty- 
two  years  of  age  when  he  came  to  America, 
the  family  following  two  years  later.  After 
passing  a  few  weeks  at  Springfield,  Illinois, 
he  came  to  Nebraska.  He  arrived  at  Ne- 
braska City  on  the  4th  of  July,  1866,  and  later 
in  the  month  he  joined  a  freighting  outfit  with 
which  he  made  the  arduous  overland  trip  to 
Fort  Laramie  and  D'enver,  as  driver  of  an  ox 
team.  He  arrived  once  more  in  Nebraska 
City  in  the  middle  of  the  following  November, 
and  he  then  found  employment  at  farm  work, 
at  fifty  cents  a  day  and  board,  he  having  been 
nine  dollars  in  debt  when  he  first  arrived 
in  Nebraska  City.  In  the  spring  of  1867  Mr. 
Remmers  came  to  Gage  county  and  entered 
claim  to  a  homestead  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  of  untrammeled  prairie  land,  in  Han- 
over township.  His  first  house  was  a  rude 
dug-out,  which  later  gave  place  to  a  log  house, 
and  in  the  latter  he  continued  to  maintain 
bachelor's  hall  until  his  marriage,  in  1871,  to 
Airs.  Sophia  Day,  widow  of  Benjamin  Day. 
Mrs.  Remmers  was  born  in  Hanover  Ger- 
many, in  1845,  a  daughter  of  John  and  Maria 
Yelkin,  and  she  was  a  child  of  eighteen  months 
when  the  family  came  to  the  L'nited  States 
and  located  near  Springfield,  Illinois.  She 
was  there  reared  to  the  age  of  twelve  years 
and  then  came  with  her  parents  to  Nebraska 
City,  the  family  home  later  having  been 
established  on  a  pioneer  farm  in  Nemaha 
county,  where  she  was  reared  to  adult  age 
and  where  she  became  the  wife  of  Benjamin 
Day.  Mr.  Day  died  a  few  years  later,  leaving 
his  widow  with  two  children, —  John,  who  is 
now  a  resident  of  Adams,  Gage  county,  and 
Ida,  who  is  the  wife  of  Frederick  Schuster,  of 
Beatrice.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Remmers  have  five 
children :  Henry,  John  and  William  are  all 
prosperous  and  representative  farmers  in  Han- 
over tonship;  Mary  is  the  wife  of  Harms  D. 
Harms  and  they  reside  on  her  father's  old 
homestead  farm,  in  Hanover  township ;  and 
Catherine  is  the  wife  of  Frederick  Damerow, 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


a  successful  farmer  residing  a  few  miles  south 
of  Beatrice. 

In  their  primitive  pioneer  home  i\Ir-  and 
Mrs.  Remmers  bravely  faced  the  hardships 
and  privations  of  the  early  days  when  they 
were  striving  to  make  their  way  forward  to- 
ward the  goal  of  prosperity,  and  their  de- 
voted companionship  has  continued  during  the 
long  intervening  years.  In  taking  his  young 
wife  to  the  new  home  j\Ir.  Remmers  used  a 
wagon  and  ox  team.  He  finally  provided  one 
horse,  but  had  no  buggy.  He  later  traded 
oxen  for  another  horse,  and  the  harness  for 
the  new  team  consisted  only  of  hames  and 
chains.  From  his  farm  he  took  a  quantity  of 
butter  to  Lincoln,  where  he  sold  the  same  for 
a  sufficient  sum  to  enable  him  to  buy  a  har- 
ness for  his  team.  The  little  log  cabin  con- 
stituted the  family  domicile  many  years,  and 
though  humble  it  was  the  abode  of  happiness 
and  known  for  its  hospitality.  Coffee  was 
made  ready  for  use  by  pounding  the  same 
into  fragments,  but  eventually  the  household 
was  provided  with  a  coffee-mill.  Indefati- 
gable industry  and  good  management  brought 
cumulative  success  to  Mr.  Remmers  and  even- 
tually he  became  the  owner  of  a  valuable  farm 
property  of  eight  hundred  acres,  all  of  which 
he  has  sold  to  his  children  with  the  exception 
of  forty  acres,  which  he  still  retains. 

Mr.  Remmers  was  one  of  the  honored  and 
influential  citizens  of  Hanover  township  until 
he  and  his  wife  removed  to  Beatrice,  and  he 
was  called  upon  to  serve  in  various  positions 
of  public  trust.  He  was  township  assessor 
five  years,  tax  collector  three  years  and  served 
many  terms  as  road  overseer.  During  the 
long  period  of  his  residence  on  the  farm  he 
only  twice  had  to  call  for  the  ministrations  of 
a  physician  for  himself,  and  he  and  his  good 
wife  are  now  hale  and  hearty,  and  in  the 
gracious  twilight  of  their  long  and  earnest 
lives  find  that  their  lines  are  cast  in  pleasant 
places.  Both  are  active  members  of  the  Ger- 
man Lutheran  church  and  in  a  fundamental 
way  he  gives  his  allegiance  to  the  Democratic 
party.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Remmers  have  been 
true  apostles  of  social  and  industrial  progress 
in  Gage  county  and  here  their  circle  of  friends 


is  limited  only  by  that  of  their  acquaintances. 
Mr.  Remmers  related  that  in  1868,  when  his 
nearest  neighbor  was  two  miles  distant,  four 
Indians  called  at  his  home  and  demanded  pro- 
visions- He  supplied  them  and  they  then  took 
their  departure. 

JOHN  E.  CARSTEN.— Measured  by  its 
rectitude  and  worthy  achievement,  the  life 
of  the  late  John  E.  Carsten  counted  for  much, 
and  his  character  was  the  positive  expression 
of  a  strong  and  noble  nature.  He  established 
his  home  in  Gage  county  nearly  half  a  cen- 
tury ago,  did  well  his  part  in  developing  the 
resources  of  this  section  of  the  state  and  in 
supporting  civic  progress.  He  reclaimed  and 
improved  one  of  the  fine  farms  of  Clatonia 
township  and  was  one  of  the  substantial  and 
influential  citizens  of  Clatonia  township,  he 
having  removed  from  his  farm  to  the  village 
of  Clatonia  about  three  months  prior  to  his 
death,  which  occurred  July  15,  1908,  and  his 
widow  still  maintains  her  home  in  that  vil- 
lage,—  one  of  the  gracious  and  revered  pioneer 
women  who  bore  her  full  share  in  the  trials 
and  struggles  of  the  early  days. 

Mr.  Carsten  was  born  in  the  province  of 
Hanover,  Germany,  on  the  24th  of  February, 
1843.  He  was  the  eldest  of  five  children  born 
to  John  M.  and  Gesche  (Eschen)  Carsten, 
the  latter  of  whom  died  in  Germany  and  the 
former  of  whom  passed  the  closing  period  of 
his  life  in  Gage  county,  Nebraska.  The  subject 
of  this  memoir  was  reared  to  the  discipline  of 
the  farm  and  gained  in  the  schools  of  his  na- 
tive land  his  early  educational  training.  In 
1866,  as  a  young  man  of  twenty-one  years,  he 
entered  the  Hanovarian  army  and  assisted 
the  Germans  in  their  conflict  with  Austria  and 
participated  in  various  engagements,  including 
the  battle  of  Langensalza.  He  completed  his 
military  service  before  the  close  of  1866,  and 
in  the  same  year  immigrated  to  America,  em- 
harking  in  the  port  of  Bremen  and  landing 
in  that  of  New  York  city  about  three  weeks 
later.  Continuing  his  way  to  the  west,  he 
located  in  Schuyler  county,  Illinois,  in  which 
state  he  continued  his  association  with  farm 
enterprise  until  1873,  when  he  came  with  his 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


699 


family  to  Nebraska  and  became  one  of  the 
pioneers  of  Gage  county.  From  the  Burling- 
ton &  Missouri  River  Railroad  Company  he 
purchased,  at  seven  dollars  an  acre,  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  raw  prairie  land, 
in  Section  11  Clatonia  township,  four  and 
one-half  miles  northeast  of  Clatonia.  He 
developed  his  farm,  made  the  best  of  im- 
provements on  the  same,  adding  eventually  to 
the  area  of  his  landed  estate  in  Clatonia  town- 
ship. He  lived  up  to  the  full  tension  of 
pioneer  experience  and  in  making  his  way  to 
the  goal  of  independence  and  material  suc- 
cess he  ever  attributed  much  of  credit  to 
the  earnest  cooperation  of  his  devoted  wife, 
who  was  a  veritable  helpmeet  and  who  re- 
mained his  cherished  companion  until  the  close 
of  his  life.  ]Mrs-  Carsten  owns  the  attractive 
home  which  she  occupies  in  the  village  of 
Clatonia  and  also  an  interest  in  the  two  Gage 
county  farms  which  are  now  operated  by  her 
sons. 

At  Rushville,  Illinois,  on  the  12th  of  March, 
1868,  was  solemnized  the  marriage  of  Mr. 
Carsten  to  Miss  Mary  Schmid,  who  was  born 
in  Germany,  on  the  1st  of  February,  1847, 
and  whose  parents,  Jurgen  and  Etta  (Golden- 
stein)  Schmid,  there  passed  their  entire  lives. 
Mrs.  Carsten  was  reared  and  educated  in  her 
native  land  and  was  a  young  woman  of  eigh- 
teen years  when  she  came  to  the  United 
States,  in  the  autumn  of  1866.  She  establish- 
ed her  residence  in  Illinois  and  there  she  and 
her  husband  remained  until  after  the  birth 
of  their  first  two  children,  who  accompanied 
them  in  1873  to  Nebraska  and  were  reared 
to  maturity  in  Gage  county,  where  were  born 
the  younger  children.  George  J.,  eldest  of  the 
children,  was  born  in  Schuyler  county,  Illinois, 
on  the  24th  of  February,  1869,  and  is  now  a 
resident  of  Stockton,  Kansas,  where  he  fol- 
lows the  vocation  of  farming;  Lillie  G.,  who 
was  born  July  15,  1873,  was  an  infant  at  the 
time  of  the  family  removal  to  Nebraska,  and 
she  is  now  the  wife  of  Harry  Hersema,  of 
Clatonia  township;  Arthur  E.,  who  was  born 
August  16,  1876,  is  a  resident  of  Mountain 
View,  Oklahoma;  Mary  Anetta,  Born  April 
12,   1879,  is  the  wife  of  J.   H.   Claussen  and 


they  reside  in  Danforth,  Illinois ;  Theodore 
Frederick,  born  January  31,  1881,  is  engaged 
in  the  banking  business  at  Hallam,  Lancaster 
county,  Nebraska;  Alvin  Benjamin,  who  was 
born  October  27,  1882,  resides  upon  and  has 
the  active  management  of  the  old  homestead 
farm,  in  Clatonia  township ;  and  Emma  F., 
born  June  29,  1885,  remains  with  her  widowed 
mother. 

John  E.  Carsten  was  progressive  both  in 
his  individual  activities  as  an  agriculturist  and 
stock-grower  and  also  in  his  civic  attitude. 
His  course  was  guided  and  governed  by  the 
highest  integrity  and  he  commanded  the  un- 
qualified respect  and  confidence  of  all  who 
knew  him.  He  was  zealous  in  giving  to  his 
children  the  best  possible  educational  advan- 
tages and  was  influential  in  community  af- 
fairs. He  was  a  Republican  in  politics,  and 
he  was  called  upon  to  serve  as  assessor  of 
Clatonia  township,  as  a  member  of  the  town- 
ship election  board  and  as  a  member  of  the 
school  board  of  his  district.  He  was  a  most 
earnest  and  active  member  of  the  German 
Methodist  Episcopal  church  of  Clatonia  town- 
ship, of  which  he  was  one  of  the  founders  and 
of  which  he  served  many  years  as  a  trustee, 
his  widow  continuing  an  earnest  member  of 
the  same  religious  organization.  The  name 
of  Mr.  Carsten  merits  enduring  place  on  the 
roster  of  the  honored  pioneers  of  Gage  coun- 
ty and  his  memory  is  cherished  by  those  who 
came  within  the  compass  of  his  unassuming 
and  kindly  influence. 

JOHN  TJADEN.  —  The  march  of  civiHza- 
tion  has  ever  been  westward,  and  in  reviewing 
the  career  of  John  Tjaden  one  is  impressed 
with  such  trend  of  advancement  as  manifested 
in  the  individual  person.  Mr.  Tjaden's  par- 
ents. Harm  and  Antgie  (Fahsler)  Tjaden 
were  born  and  reared  in  Germany  and  about 
the  year  1870  they  left  their  native  land  and 
came  west  to  America,  first  settling  in  Mis- 
souri and  later  in  Richardson  county,  Nebras- 
ka. Here  Harm  Tjaden  engaged  in  farm  en- 
terprise and  later  he  removed  to  jMarshall 
county,  Kansas,  where  he  purchased  land  and 
continued    his    farming    activities.     His    wife 


"00 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


died  in  February,  1913,  and  since  1917  he  has 
lived  retired  in  the  city  of  Beatrice,  Nebraska. 
Of  the  family  of  ten  children  eight  are  living: 
William.  George,  and  Flora  reside  in  Kansas, 
where  Flora  makes  her  home  with  her  broth- 
er William;  Henry  resides  at  Wymore,  Gage 
county,  Nebraska;  Margaret  is  the  wife  of  J. 
J-  Remers  and  they  live  in  Kansas;  John  is 
the  subject  of  this  sketch;  Anna,  the  second 
of  the  name,  is  the  wife  of  W.  C.  Ehnen,  a 
farmer  of  Barneston  township ;  Emma  is  the 
wife  of  John  Ubben,  and  they  live  in  Kansas ; 
and  Anna  (first  of  the  name)  and  Meta  are 
deceased.  Harm  Tjaden  is  a  Republican  in 
politics.  He  disposed  of  his  land  in  Kansas 
and  Nebraska  and  is  now  retired  from  active 
life,  to  enjoy  the  reward  of  his  past  labor  as  a 
pioneer  of  Nebraska  and  Kansas. 

John  Tjaden  was  born  December  31,  1879, 
and  received  his  education  in  the  district 
schools  of  Kansas.  From  his  boyhood  he  has 
been  identified  with  agricultural  pursuits  — 
tirst  in  his  apprenticeship,  during  which  he 
was  employed  as  a  farm  hand,  and  later  in 
conducting  operations  on  his  own  land. 

February  12,  1902,  John  Tjaden  married 
Miss  Rena  Agnes  Ehnen,  who  was  born  Jan- 
uary 4,  1883,  in  Illinois,  the  daughter  of 
Rempt  Ehnen.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Tjaden  became 
the  parents  of  four  children,  of  whom  three  are 
living:  Eleanora  Meta  was  born  September  12, 
1911;  Harm  Wilke  was  born  February  21, 
1916;  Relma  Rosella  was  born  January  14, 
1917;  and  Relma  Antgie,  died  at  the  age  of 
three  months. 

John  Tjaden  owns  two  hundred  and  eighty 
acres  of  land  in  Gage  county  and  eighty  acres 
in  Kansas-  He  is  a  vigorous  and  progressive 
young  farmer  and  is  devoting  all  of  his  time 
to  his  successful  industrial,  enterprise.  In 
1914  he  built  a  beautiful  farm  house  on  his 
home  place,  in  Section  33,  Barnston  township, 
and  he  has  thus  provided  an  attractive  home 
for  his  family,  besides  giving  evidence  of  his 
progressiveness  and  definite  prosperity.  It  is 
his  earnest  desire  to  give  to  his  children  good 
educational  advantages  and  also  the  refining  in- 
fluence of  an  ideal  home  life.  In  politics  Air. 
Tjaden  is  independent,     lie  and  his  wife  hold 


membership  in  the  Lutheran  church.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Farmers  Union,  an  organiza- 
tion which  has  in  its  membership  the  best  ele- 
ment of  the  yeomanry  of  the  county  and  which 
ir  doing  much  in  promoting  the  advancement 
and  best  interests  of  the  farmers  of  Gage 
county. 

ADDISON  P.  KELLEY,  who  is  the  effi- 
cient and  popular  manager  of  the  general-de- 
livery department  of  the  postoffice  in  the  city 
of  Beatrice,  was  born  at  Marengo,  McHenry 
county,  Illinois,  April  16,  1855,  and  is  a  son  of 
Henry  D.  and  Roxcey  A.  (Sponable)  Kelley, 
the  former  a  native  of  Danby,  Rutland  county, 
Vermont,  and  the  latter  of  Eden  township, 
Seneca  county,  Ohio,  their  marriage  having 
been  solemnized  in  AIcHenry  county,  Illinois, 
where  Mrs.  Kelley's  parents  settled  when  she 
was  eight  years  of  age.  Henry  D.  Kelley  was 
reared  and  educated  in  the  old  Green  Moun- 
tain state  and  was  twenty-one  years  of  age 
when  he  established  his  residence  in  Illinois. 
In  that  state  he  continued  his  association  with 
farm  enterprise  until  1872,  when  he  came 
with  his  family  to  Nebraska.  Later  he  took 
up  a  homestead  claim  in  Phillips  county,  Kan- 
sas, where  he  improved  a  good  farm  and 
where  he  and  his  wife  passed  the  remainder 
of  their  lives.  Mr.  Kelley  became  one  of  the 
prominent  and  influential  citizens  of  Phillips 
county,  was  a  successful  exponent  of  farm  in- 
dustry, and  served  for  a  time  as  postmaster 
of  the  village  of  Myrtle.  His  political  alle- 
giance was  given  to  the  Republican  party  and 
his  wife  was  an  earnest  member  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  church.  Concerning  their 
children  the  following  brief  data  are  available : 
George  C.  is  deceased,  John  died  in  infancy : 
Frank  is  a  successful  carpenter  and  contractor 
in  the  city  of  Beatrice ;  Addison  P.,  of  this 
review,  was  the  next  in  order  of  birth ;  Wil- 
liam D.  is  a  prosperous  farmer  in  Morgan 
county,  Kansas ;  Jennie  C.  is  the  widow  of 
Ray  P.  Foy  and  resides  at  Beatrice,  her  two 
children  being  Mrs.  Taylor  M.  Cain  of  Ogden, 
Utah,  and  Charles  H.,  who  is  a  railroad  man, 
residing  at  Laramie,  Wyoming;  May,  next 
younger  of  the  children  of  the  Kelley  family. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


701 


is  the  wife  of  W.  E.  S.  Kuhn,  of  Fort  Mor- 
gan, Colorado;  and  Edson  M.  was  killed  in  a 
railroad  accident,  when  about  thirty-two  years 
of  age.  Daniel  Kelley,  grandfather  of  the 
subject  of  this  review,  was  born  in  Rutland 
county,  Vermont,  and  passed  the  closing  years 
of  his  life  at  Prospect  Park,  Illinois.  The 
maternal  grandfather,  Christopher  Sponable, 
was  born  in  Ohio  and  became  a  pioneer  set- 
tler in  Illinois,  in  1832.  He  became  a  man  of 
wealth  and  influence,  accumulated  an  exten- 
sive farm  property  in  Illinois  and  at  one  time 
was  the  owner  of  eleven  acres  of  land  lying 
adjacent  to  Wabash  avenue  in  the  city  of  Chi- 
cago —  property  now  of  prodigious  value. 

Addison  P.  Kelley  acquired  his  early  edu- 
cation in  the  public  schools  of  McHenry  coun- 
ty, Illinois,  and  in  1872  he  came  to  Gage  coun- 
ty, Nebraska,  where  he  found  prompt  requisi- 
tion for  his  services  as  a  teacher  in  the  dis- 
trict schools,  his  pedagogic  career  having  been 
initiated  when  he  was  eighteen  years  of  age. 
In  Gage  county  his  professional  services  in- 
cluded a  year  of  successful  teaching  in  the 
schools  of  Beatrice,  he  having  taken  prepara- 
tory normal  study  at  Vinton,  Iowa.  His  am- 
bition was  to  fit  himself  for  the  medical  pro- 
fession but  upon  the  death  of  his  father  he 
was  thrown  upon  his  own  resources,  besides 
assisting  in  the  support  of  his  widowed  moth- 
er and  the  younger  children.  On  the  1st  of 
September,  1894,  Mr.  Kelley  began  his  serv- 
ice in  the  Beatrice  postoffice,  with  which  he 
has  since  continued  his  connection  without  in- 
terruption and  in  which  he  now  has  charge  of 
the  general-delivery  department,  his  advance- 
ment having  been  won  through  efficient  serv- 
ice and  his  long  experience  making  him  an 
authority  in  connection  with  postal  affairs  in 
Beatrice  and  its  various  rural  mail  routes- 

In  politics  Mr.  Kelley  is  a  staunch  Repub- 
lican, he  holds  membership  in  the  Centenary 
]\Iethodist  Episcopal  church  in  Beatrice,  and 
is  prominently  affiliated  with  the  Independent 
Order  of  Odd  Fellows  and  the  Masonic  fra- 
ternity, in  the  former  of  which  he  has  passed 
the  official  chairs  not  only  in  the  lodge  but 
also  in  the  encampment  body. 

In    1904    Mr.    Kelley    wedded    Miss    Mary 


Nicodemus,  who  was  born  in  Bedford  county, 
Pennsylvania,  and  whose  death  occurred  in 
1911,  no  children  having  been  born  of  this 
union. 

LEWIS  RATHBUN  was  born  in  Henry 
county,  Illinois,  June  8,  1861,  and  is  a  son  of 
James  Rathbun,  of  whom  mention  is  made 
elsewhere  in  this  volume.  Reared  on  a  farm 
in  his  native  state,  he  was  a  young  man  of 
twenty-two  years  when  he  came  to  Gage  coun- 
ty. He  has  always  been  engaged  in  farming 
and  is  now  operating  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  belonging  to  his  father.  He  is  prac- 
tical in  his  methods  and  meeting  with  the  suc- 
cess which  always  comes  to  the  man  who  is 
industrious. 

Mr.  Rathbun  was  married  to  Miss  Anna 
Hebel,  a  native  of  Bohemia,  Germany,  and  a 
daughter  of  Joseph  and  Mary  Hebel,  who  are 
mentioned  elsewhere.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rathbun 
are  the  parents  of  six  children :  Bertha  is  the 
wife  of  Joseph  Kasparek,  of  Odell ;  Lee  is  in 
the  national  army,  at  Camp  Pike ;  Elmer  is 
married  and  lives  at  Anamosa,  Iowa ;  and  Ar- 
thur, Jesse,  and  Genevieve  are  at  the  parental 
home. 

Mr.  Rathbun  is  a  Democrat.  He  has  been 
road  overseer  for  ten  years,  and  a  member  of 
the  school  board  for  seven  years.  He  is  also 
a  director  of  the  Cemetery  Association.  His 
home  is  in  the  corporate  limits  of  Odell. 

OWEN  L.  SAVAGE  clearly  manifests  his 
progressivenes  in  his  effective  management  of 
his  well  equipped  meat  market  in  the  city  of 
Beatrice,  and  the  efficiency  of  the  service  has 
gained  to  the  market  a  substantial  and  repre- 
sentative supporting  patronage.  This  well  or- 
dered business  establishment  is  located  at  513 
Ella  street- 
Mr.  Savage  was  born  in  Putnam  county, 
Illinois,  on  the  25th  of  August,  1862,  and  is  a 
son  of  Hiram  and  Angeline  (Angle)  Savage, 
both  of  whom  were  born  and  reared  in  Penn- 
sylvania, where  their  marriage  was  solem- 
nized and  whence  they  removed  to  Illinois,  in 
which  state  they  maintained  their  residence 
until  the  spring  of  1868,  when  they  came  to 


702 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


the  newly  admitted  state  of  Nebraska  and 
numbered  themselves  among  the  pioneer  set- 
tlers of  Gage  county.  They  located  on  an 
unimproved  and  not  large  tract  of  land,  near 
the  present  village  of  Dewitt,  where  they  es- 
tablished their  residence  on  the  21st  of  March, 
1868,  and  the  father  began  the  reclamation 
and  improvement  of  this  farm,  on  which  he 
continued  his  operations  until  1875,  when  he 
removed  with  his  family  to  Beatrice,  which 
was  then  a  mere  village.  Here  Hiram  Sav- 
age served  for  many  years  in  the  office  of  con- 
stable and  he  was  the  incumbent  of  this  posi- 
tion at  the  time  of  his  death.  He  died  when 
about  seventy-one  years  of  age  and  his  wife 
passed  away  when  she  was  about  the  same 
age,  both  having  been  members  of  the  Meth- 
dist  Episcopal  church  and  his  political  support 
having  been  given  to  the  Republican  party. 
The  father  of  Hiram  Savage  was  born  and 
reared  in  Pennsylvania,  of  Irish  lineage,  and 
he  sacrificed  his  life  while  serving  as  a  soldier 
of  the  Union  in  the  Civil  war,  he  having  been 
killed  in  an  engagement  near  Cottonwood 
Grove,  Arkansas.  Of  the  eight  children  of 
Hiram  and  Angeline  Savage  four  are  living: 
Milo  is  a  resident  of  Seattle,  Washington; 
Owen  L.,  of  this  review,  is  the  next  younger : 
Nancy  Ellen  is  the  wife  of  Schuyler  Jackson, 
of  Beatrice;  and  George  W.,  who  resides  at 
El  Paso,  Texas,  is  a  passenger  conductor  on 
the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  a  lad  of  five 
years  at  the  time  of  his  parents'  removal  to 
Nebraska,  and  he  was  reared  under  the  con- 
ditions and  influences  of  the  pioneer  days,  his 
early  educational  advantages  having  been 
those  of  the  public  schools.  He  was  ten  years 
old  when  the  family  home  was  established  in 
Beatrice,  and  as  a  youth  he  here  attended 
school  during  the  winters,  and  in  the  summer 
seasons  gave  his  attention  to  the  herding  of 
cattle  on  the  prairies.  In  the  establishment 
of  Bradt  Brothers  he  finally  learned  the 
butcher's  trade,  and  he  worked  in  the  meat 
market  of  this  firm  for  eighteen  months,  be- 
sides having  been  employed  about  one  year 
on  the  ranch  owned  by  the  brothers.  Finally 
he  engaged  in  the  meat-market  business  in  an 


independent  way  and  he  is  now  one  of  the 
veteran  representatives  of  this  important  line 
of  business  enterprise  in  Beatrice,  his  market 
having  been  conducted  in  the  present  location 
since  1910  and  the  establishment  being  defin- 
itely metropolitan  in  appointments  and  service. 
In  1886  Mr.  Savage  wedded  Miss  Emma 
Jackson,  who  was  born  in  the  city  of  Roch- 
ester, New  York,  and  whose  parents  came 
to  Nebraska  about  1870,  she  being  a  daughter 
of  the  late  William  Jackson,  a  resident  of 
Thayer  county  at  the  time  of  his  death.  ]\Ir. 
and  Mrs.  Savage  became  the  parents  of  four 
children,  of  whom  only  one  is  living.  Pearl 
Lorene,  who  is  the  wife  of  William  H. 
Schwartz,  the  latter  being  associated  with  Mr. 
Savage  in  the  conducting  of  the  meat  market. 
Mr.  Savage  and  his  wife  and  daughter  are 
all  active  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church,  he  is  a  Republican  in  politics,  is  a 
loyal  citizen  who  takes  deep  interest  in  com- 
munity affairs,  and  he  is  affiliated  with  the 
Modern  Woodmen  of  America,  the  Knights 
&  Ladies  of  Honor,  the  Royal  Neighbors  and 
the  Royal  Highlanders.  His  success  repre- 
sents the  concrete  results  of  his  own  efiforts 
and  he  is  one  of  the  representative  business 
men  of  the  Gage  county  metropolis. 

HENRY  RICE. —  An  honored  soldier  of 
the  Civil  war  and  an  early  settler  of  Gage 
county  is  the  subject  of  this  review,  and  by  his 
own  efiforts  he  has  made  the  success  that  en- 
ables him  to  spend  the  evening  of  life  in  well 
earned  rest  from  active  labors. 

Henry  Rice  was  born  at  Hagerstown,  Mary- 
land, September  20,  1842,  a  son  of  Henry  and 
Hannah  (Friedly)  Rice,  who  likewise  were 
natives  of  Maryland,  the  father  having  died 
June  30,  1842,  about  three  months  before  the 
son  Henry  was  born.  Henry  Rice  was  but 
little  past  two  years  of  age  when  he  was  be- 
reft also  of  his  mother.  He  then  fell  to  the 
kindly  care  of  an  aunt,  Catherine  Rice,  by 
whom  he  was  taken  to  Ogle  county,  Illinois, 
and  there  reared  to  manhood.  He  attended 
the  public  schools,  which  education  was  sup- 
plemented by  a  course  in  Rock  River  Semi- 
narv,  at   Mount   Morris,   Illinois.     He  was  a 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


703 


704 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


student  in  this  institution  when  arose  the  dark 
cloud  that  threatened  to  disrupt  the  Union. 
Having  watched  the  course  of  events,  his 
patriotism  was  aroused  to  responsive  protest, 
and  December  12,  1863,  he  enlisted  in  Com- 
pany D,  Fourth  Illinois  Cavalry,  with  which 
he  served  in  defense  of  the  Union  during  the 
Civil  war.  His  service  covered  a  period  of 
nearly  three  years,  and  he  was  mustered  out 
at  Houston,  Texas,  his  honorable  discharge 
having  been  given  in  June,  1866. 

He  took  part  in  fifty-eight  engagements  and 
skirmishes,  the  principal  ones  being  Vicks- 
burg,  Red  River  campaign,  and  Hood's  cam- 
paign against  Nashville.  He  rendered  valued 
service  in  guarding  the  Memphis  &  Charles- 
ton, the  Mississippi  Central,  and  the  Mobile 
&  Ohio  Railroads.  He  was  distinguished  for 
coolness  and  bravery  in  time  of  battle  and  re- 
turned home  unhurt,  though  he  was  often  in 
the  thickest  of  the  fight.  When  he  started  out 
for  himself  in  life  after  returning  from  the 
war  Mr.  Rice  took  up  the  noble  profession  of 
teaching  school,  and  for  eight  years  he  de- 
voted his  attention  to  this  service,  readily  im- 
parting to  others  the  knowledge  he  had  gained 
and  carefully  saving  his  earnings.  In  1874 
he  was  thus  enabled  to  engage  in  agricul- 
tural pursuits  and  to  purchase  eighty 
acres  of  land  in  Ogle  county,  Illinois.  In 
1883  he  sold  out  in  Illinois  and  came  to  Gage 
county,  Nebraska,  where  he  purchased  two 
hundred  and  forty  acres,  Qn  which  stood  a 
little  shanty  and  a  small  boatd  stable.  He 
immediately  set  to  work  developing  and  im- 
proving the  farm  and  in  due  time  it  became 
one  of  the  finest  farms  of  Paddock  township. 
Until  fifteen  years  ago  he  was  actively  en- 
gaged in  general  farming,  since  which  time  he 
has  lived  retired,  having  placed  the  mantle  on 
the  shoulders  of  his  sons,  who  operate  the 
farm. 

March  25,  1874,  Mr.  Rice  was  united  in 
marriage  to  Miss  Mary  J.  Hitt,  a  native  of 
New  York  state,  where  she  was  bom  Sep- 
tember 21,  1846,  a  daughter  of  Samuel  and 
Janet  (Campbell)  Hitt,  who  became  residents 
of  Ogle  county,  Illinois,  in  1856.  August  1, 
1917,  Mr.  Rice  was  called  upon  to  mourn  the 


loss  of  his  wife,  who,  for  more  than  forty- 
four  years  had  been  a  loving  companion  and 
helpmeet.  She  bore  her  husband  three  sons : 
Charles  E.  and  Andrew  are  unmarried  and 
operate  the  old  home  farm ;  George,  who  mar- 
ried Hazel  Brooks,  operates  the  Brooks  farm 
in  Sicily  township. 

Mr.  Rice  is  a  Republican  in  politics  and 
maintains  pleasant  relations  with  his  old  army 
comrades  by  membership  in  Reserve  Post, 
No.  148,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  at 
Odell.  Mr.  Rice  has  contributed  much  to  the 
growth  and  development  of  Gage  county  and 
in  all  these  years  of  peace  he  has  been  as  true 
and  loyal  as  when  he  was  following  the  stars 
and  stripes  on  the  battlefields  of  the  South. 

FRANK  H,  WANDERSEE  was  born  in 
Beatrice,  Nebraska,  August  4,  1879,  and  in  the 
spring  of  1880  his  parents  established  their 
home  in  Sicily  township.  Here  he  was  reared 
to  manhood  and  here  he  has  continuously 
resided  in  his  present  neighborhood.  Mr. 
Wandersee  is  a  son  of  Frank  Wandersee, 
whose  record  appears  elsewhere  in  this 
volume. 

Frank  H.  Wandersee  was  educated  in  the 
public  schools  of  Gage  county,  and  spent  his 
boyhood  days  between  the  district  schoolroom 
and  his  father's  farm,  early  learning  the  best 
methods  of  tilling  the  soil  and  the  proper  care 
of  crops  and  live  stock,  so  that  when  he  ar- 
rived at  young  manhood  he  was  in  position  to 
assume  the  responsible  duties  of  a  farmer  on 
his  own  account-  Mr.  Wandersee  is  now 
farming  a  quarter-section  of  land,  in  Section 
8,  Sicily  township,  and  is  meeting  with  the 
success  that  always  comes  to  the  man  who 
is  industrious  and  efficient. 

Mr.  Wandersee  made  preparation  for  a 
home  of  his  own  when  he  chose  for  a  wife  and 
helpmeet  Miss  Susan  Lewis,  of  Carlton,  Ne- 
braska. She  is  a  daughter  of  George  G. 
Lewis,  whose  record  appears  elsewhere  in  this 
volume.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wandersee  have  two 
children, —  Edna  and  LeRoy. 

GEORGE  G.  LEWIS  is  one  of  Sicily  town- 
ship's  successful    farmers,   and   he   owns   and 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


705 


resides  on  a  valuable  farm  of  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres,  in  Section  20.  ]\Ir.  Lewis 
was  born  in  Mills  county,  Iowa,  September 
28,  1866,  and  is  a  son  of  George  W.  and  Maria 
( Waitt)  Lewis,  the  former  of  whom  was  born 
in  Illinois  and  the  latter  in  Ohio.  The  mar- 
riage of  the  parents  occurred  in  Mills  county, 
Iowa,  they  having  been  children  when  their 
parents  there  became  pioneer  settlers.  George 
W.  Lewis  was  a  successful  farmer,  owning 
land  in  Mills  county,  Iowa,  where  both  he 
and  his  wife  remained  until  their  death. 

On  the  old  home  farm  in  Mills  county, 
Iowa,  George  G.  Lewis,  the  subject  of  this 
record,  was  reared.  At  the  age  of  nineteen 
years  he  became  a  farmer  on  his  own  account, 
but  he  continued  to  make  his  home  under  his 
father's  roof  until  he  had  attained  to  the  age 
of  twenty-three  years-  He  then  came  to  Ne- 
braska, and  for  two  years  he  operated  a  farm 
in  Sicily  township.  Gage  county.  He  then 
moved  to  Thayer  county,  Nebraska,  and 
bought  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  raw 
prairie  land,  entirely  unimproved.  For  four- 
teen years  he  lived  on  this  farm,  which  he 
then  sold.  He  then  came  again  to  Gage 
county,  where  he  purchased  his  present  farm. 
Here  he  has  since  been  successfully  engaged 
in  general  farming  business. 

In  Gage  county  Mr.  Lewis  married  Miss 
]\Iattie  C.  Heddings,  who  was  born  in  Seneca 
county,  Ohio.  Her  parents,  Jacob  and  Mary 
(Grill)  Heddings,  came  to  Gage  county  more 
than  fifty  years  ago,  when  their  daughter  was 
one  year  of  age,  and  were  among  the  earliest 
settlers  near  Blue  Springs.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Lewis  became  the  parents  of  six  children : 
Susan  is  the  wife  of  Frank  H.  Wandersee,  of 
Sicily  township;  Ceola  is  the  wife  of  J.  D. 
Snyder,  of  Blue  Springs,  this  county ;  Howard 
is  married  and  lives  in  the  city  of  Beatrice ; 
Jessie  is  teaching  in  the  schools  of  Gage 
county ;  and  Mamie  and  Fay  are  at  home. 

Though  they  lived  several  years  outside  of 
the  county,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lewis  began  their 
domestic  career  within  the  borders  of  the 
township  where  they  now  live,  and  they  are 
here  held  in  high  esteem  by  a  host  of  neigh- 
bors and  other  friends- 


LEE  L.  CHAPMAN,  the  efficient  and  pop- 
ular foreman  of  the  freight  department  at  the 
Beatrice  station  of  the  Chicago,  Burlington 
&  Ouincy  Railroad,  was  born  at  Metamore, 
^Voodford  county,  Illinois,  on  the  30th  of 
March,  1858,  and  is  a  son  of  John  and  Verona 
(  Kellogg)  Chapman,  both  natives  of  the  state 
of  \'ermont  and  both  representatives  of  sterl- 
ing old  families  of  New  England.  John 
Chapman  was  about  seventy-eight  years  of 
age  at  the  time  his  death  and  his  venerable 
widow,  who  was  born  at  Stowe,  Lamoille 
county,  Vermont,  October  25,  1834,  now  main- 
tains her  home  at  Beatrice,  Nebraska.  He 
was  a  son  of  Simon  Chapman,  who  removed 
in  an  early  day  from  the  old  Green  Mountain 
state  to  Ohio,  where  he  passed  the  remainder 
of  his  life.  John  Chapman  removed  from 
Ohio  to  Illinois  about  the  year  1852,  and 
though  he  was  a  shoemaker  by  trade,  he  our- 
chased  land  in  Woodford  county,  Illinois,  and 
there  turned  his  attention  to  agricultural  pur- 
suits. In  1885  he  came  with  his  family  to 
Gage  county,  Nebraska,  where  he  purchased 
land  and  where  he  became  a  substantial  farm- 
er and  highly  esteemed  citizen.  About  one 
year  prior  to  his  death  he  removed  to  the  city 
of  Beatrice.  He  was  a  man  of  fine  mentality 
and  most  gracious  personality.  He  was  rear- 
ed in  the  faith  of  the  Universalist  church  and 
as  a  splendid  vocalist  he  sang  in  church  choirs 
for  many  years.  His  political  allegiance  was 
given  to  the  Democratic  party  and  he  was  in- 
sistently loyal  and  public-spirited  as  a  citizen. 
He  was  the  owner  of  two  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  of  land  in  Gage  county  at  the  time  of 
his  death,  and  the  property  is  still  owned  by 
his  family,  his  widow  owning  an  additional 
tract  of  eighty  acres  of  land  in  Woodford 
county,  Illinois.  Of  their  eight  children 
seven  attained  to  years  of  maturity  and  six 
are  now  living,  the  subject  of  this  review 
having  been  the  second  in  order  of  birth; 
Jesse  is  a  carpenter  by  trade  and  lives  at 
Saybrook,  Illinois ;  Smith  is  a  skilled  mechanic 
and  is  employed  in  one  of  the  leading  indus- 
trial establishments  in  the  city  of  Beatrice; 
Verna  is  the  wife  of  C.  B.  Bell,  of  this  city; 
Percival  J.  has  the  active  management  of  his 


706 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


father's  old  homestead  farm,  in  Sicily  town- 
ship ;  and  Grace  is  the  wife  of  T-  J.  Sample, 
of  Beatrice. 

Lee  L.  Chapman  acquired  his  early  educa- 
tion in  the  public  schools  of  Illinois  and  there 
supplemented  this  discipline  by  a  course  in 
an  academy.  He  was  reared  on  his  father's 
farm  and  was  twenty-seven  years  of  age  when 
he  accompanied  his  parents  to  Gage  county, 
Nebraska.  Here  he  was  associated  with  farm 
enterprise  one  year  and  then  he  found  em- 
ployment in  the  Beatrice  freight  office  of  the 
Chicago,  Burlington  &  Ouincy  Railroad,  he 
having  been  foreman  of  the  local  freight  de- 
partment for  somewhat  more  than  fifteen  years 
and  having  proved  a  most  efficient  and  popular 
executive  in  this  field  of  service. 

In  1883  Mr.  Chapman  wedded  Miss 
Frances  A.  Van  Meter,  who  was  born  in  the 
state  of  Indiana,  and  they  have  two  children : 
Dale  R.,  who  resides  in  Beatrice  and  is  in  the 
employ  of  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy 
Railroad  Company,  married  Miss  Laura  Yule, 
and  they  have  three  children, —  Glenn,  Helen, 
and  Donald  L. :  Jessie  is  the  wife  of  L.  J. 
Griesel,  who  is  engaged  in  the  banking  busi- 
ness at  University  Place,  Nebraska. 

In  politics  Mr.  Chapman  is  found  aligned 
as  a  staunch  supporter  of  the  cause  of  the' 
Democratic  party,  he  is  affiliated  with  the 
Woodmen  of  the  World,  and  both  he  and 
his  wife  are  most  zealous  members  of  the 
Presbyterian  church  in  their  home  city,  he  be- 
ing a  deacon  in  the  same. 

LAMMERT  W.  FRERICHS  came  to  Gage 
county  in  1882  and  acquired  a  tract  of  raw 
prairie  land  in  Logan  township.  His  finan- 
cial resources  were  limited  but  he  had  the 
genius  of  industry  and  perseverance,  as  well  as 
mature  judgment,  so  that  he  proved  successful 
in  his  farm  enterprise,  the  successive  years  of 
earnest  and  constructive  application  bringing 
to  him  cumulative  prosperity.  He  is  now  the 
owner  of  a  valuable  landed  estate  of  eight 
hundred  acres,  in  Logan  township,  and  the 
various  farms  included  in  this  property  are 
under  the  able  management  of  his  sons,  he 
and  his  wife  having  lived  retired  in  the  city 


of  Beatrice  since  the  spring  of  1917,  and  their 
pleasant  home  being  at  820  Market  street. 

Mr.  Frerichs  was  born  in  the  province 
of  Hanover,  Germany,  September  19,  1845, 
was  there  reared  and  educated  and  there 
gained  his  initial  experience  in  farm  enter- 
prise. In  1866,  shortly  after  attaining  to  his 
legal  majority,  Mr.  Frerichs  came  to  America, 
proceeded  to  the  state  of  Illinois  and  found 
employment  on  a  farm  near  Mount  Sterling, 
Brown  county.  Later  he  was  similarly  en- 
gaged in  Adams  county,  that  state.  After  his 
marriage  he  became  the  owner  of  a  farm  of 
forty  acres,  in  Hancock  county,  Illinois,  and 
there  he  continued  his  activities  as  an  agri- 
culturist until  1882,  when  he  came  with  his 
family  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  and  pur- 
chased one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  un- 
improved land  in  Logan  township.  On  the 
embryonic  farm  he  erected  a  frame  house,  six- 
teen by  twenty-six  feet  in  dimensions,  and  as 
success  attended  his  strenuous  activities  as  an 
agriculturist  and  stock-grower  he  not  only 
made  the  best  of  improvements  on  his  home- 
stead but  also  gradually  added  to  the  area  of 
his  landed  estate,  which  is  now  one  of  the  val- 
uable properties  of  Logan  township. 

At  Carthage,  Illinois,  March  20,  1869,  was 
solemnized  the  marriage  of  Mr.  Frerichs  to 
Miss  Maria  H.  Rankin,  who  likewise  was 
born  and  reared  in  Hanover,  Germany,  and 
who  came  to  the  United  States  in  1867,  their 
acquaintanceship  having  been  formed  near 
Mount  Sterling.  Illinois.  Mrs.  Frerichs  has 
proved  a  true  helpmeet  to  her  husband  and 
shares  with  him  in  the  rewards  that  have 
crowned  their  years  of  earnest  endeavor.  Con- 
cerning their  children  the  following  brief 
record  is  properly  given  at  this  point:  Polk 
and  his  wife  reside  on  one  of  his  father's 
farms  in  Logan  township,  all  except  one  of 
the  other  sons  being  likewise  in  charge  of 
farm  properties  owned  by  their  father  in  that 
township ;  Lammert,  Jr.,  and  his  wife  have 
four  children ;  Gerhard  and  his  wife  likewise 
have  four  children ;  John  is  the  father  of  three 
children ;  William  is  a  representative  farmer 
in  Franklin  county  and  is  the  father  of  eight 
children ;    Maria    became    the    wife    of    John 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


707 


Fritzen  and  is  now  deceased,  being  survived  by 
six  children ;  Lena  is  the  wife  of  Diedrich 
Ordman,  of  Logan  township,  and  they  have 
ten  children ;  Alice  married  O.  Zimmerman, 
a  farmer  in  Logan  township  and  they  have  five 
children ;  Annie  is  the  wife  of  Thomas  Trau- 
ernicht,  of  Logan  township,  and  they  have 
three  children ;  and  Gracie  died  in  childhood. 

Mr.  Frerichs  lived  up  to  all  civic  respon- 
sibilities incidental  to  increasing  prosperity 
and  was  one  of  the  liberal  and  progressive 
men  of  Logan  township  while  there  actively 
engaged  in  farm  industry.  His  political  alle- 
giance is  given  to  the  Democratic  party,  and 
and  while  on  the  farm  he  served  one  year  as 
tax  collector,  while  for  fifteen  years  he  was 
treasurer  of  his  school  district.  Both  he  and 
his  wife  are  earnest  communicants  of  the 
Lutheran  church. 

WILLLA.M  N.  FARLOW,  now  sole  owner 
of  the  prosperous  and  important  industrial 
enterprise  conducted  under  the  title  of  the 
Beatrice  Brick  Works,  is  essentially  one  of 
the  progressive  business  men  and  representa- 
tive citizens  of  the  Gage  county  metropolis 
and  judicial  center.  He  gained  as  a  child  his 
initial  experience  in  connection  with  pioneer 
life  in  the  west,  and  thus  it  is  but  natural  that 
he  should  exemplify  in  his  personality  the 
vital  spirit  that  has  significantly  characterized 
those  reared  under  the  inspiring  and  sturdy 
discipline  of  the  great  empire  of  the  west- 

At  Miamistown,  Indiana,  on  the  old  Miami 
Indian  reservation,  Mr.  Farlow  was  born  on 
October  10,  1852,  and  he  has  the  distinction 
of  being  a  scion  of  one  of  the  old  and  honored 
pioneer  families  of  the  Hoosier  state,  his 
grandfather,  Simeon  Farlow,  having  been 
born  in  North  Carolina,  of  English  ancestry, 
and  having  become  a  very  early  settler  of 
Indiana,  where  the  history  of  the  state  records 
that  he  was  an  earnest  and  self-sacrificing 
pioneer  clergyman  and  gave  much  time  to 
preaching  to  and  otherwise  aiding  the  Indians. 
He  whose  name  introduces  this  article  is  a 
son  of  John  and  Lydia  (Goodwin)  Farlow, 
the  former  a  native  of  Wayne  county,  Indiana, 
and   the   latter  of   the   state   of  Ohio.       The 


marriage  of  the  parents  was  solemnized  in 
Indiana  and  there  they  continued  their  resi- 
dence until  1856,  When  they  numbered  them- 
selves among  the  pioneers  of  Taylor  county, 
Iowa.  There  for  a  time  John  Farlow  clerked 
in  a  general  store  and  later  he  turned  his  at- 
tention to  farm  enterprise  in  that  county, 
where  he  achieved  success  and  was  influential 
in  community  affairs.  He  passed  the  closing 
years  of  his  long  and  useful  life  at  Beatrice, 
Nebraska,  where  he  died  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
two  years  and  where  his  widow  still  resides, 
she  having  celebrated  her  eighty-fourth  birth- 
day anniversary  in  1917. 

William  N.  Farlow  was  about  four  years 
of  age  at  the  time  of  his  parents  removal  to 
Iowa,  where  he  was  reared  under  the  condi- 
tions and  influences  of  frontier  life  and  where 
he  gained  his  early  education  in  the  common 
schools  of  the  period,  his  more  advanced 
education  having  been  obtained  in  the  Iowa 
Agricultural  College,  at  Ames.  For  eight 
years  he  did  successful  service  as  a  teacher 
in  the  schools  of  Taylor  county,  that  state, 
and  thereafter  he  held  for  two  years  the  posi- 
tion of  bookkeper  in  a  leading  bank  at  Bed- 
ford, the  county  seat.  He  then  became  cash- 
ier of  a  bank  in  the  village  of  Conway,  in 
the  same  county,  and  this  incumbency  he  re- 
tained two  years.  In  1892  Mr.  Farlow  came 
to  Nebraska  and  established  his  residence  in 
Beatrice,  where  he  engaged  in  the  real-estate 
and  abstract  business  and  developed  a  pros- 
perous enterprise.  In  1909  he  became  one 
of  the  stockholders  and  the  manager  of  the 
Beatrice  Brick  Company,  and  since  1912  he 
has  owned  the  major  portion  of  the  stock  in 
the  business.  The  well  equipped  and  effec- 
tively conducted  manufacturing  plant  has  a 
capacity  for  the  output  of  thirty  thousand 
brick  daily,  employment  is  given  to  an  aver- 
age force  of  twenty  men  and  the  high-grade 
products  find  ready  demand  in  connection  with 
building  operations  through  Gage  and  ad- 
joining counties,  the  business  being  one  of 
substantial   order. 

In  Taylor  county,  Iowa,  January  12,  1882, 
recorded  the  marriage  of  Mr.  Farlow  to  Miss 
Jennie  Griffith,  who  was  born  and  reared  in 


708 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


that  count}',  a  daughter  of  the  late  David  and 
Adehne  (Johnson)  Griffith,  natives  respec- 
tively of  Pennsylvania  and'  Ohio  and  number- 
ed among  the  sterling  pioneers  of  the  Hawk- 
eye  state.  Mr.  and  Mrs-  Farlow  have  three 
children,  of  whom  Orville  W.,  the  eldest,  is 
married  and  associated  with  his  father  in  the 
brick  business;  Dale  remains  at  the  parental 
home,  and  is  a  graduate  of  the  Beatrice  high 
school ;  Vera,  the  only  daughter,  is  the  wife 
of  Guy  Magee,  of  Fremont,  this  state. 

In  politics  Mr.  Farlow  is  an  advocate  and 
supporter  of  the  cause  of  the  Democratic 
party,  and  while  residing  in  Taylor  county, 
Iowa,  he  served  four  years  as  county  record- 
er. Both  he  and  his  wife  hold  membership 
in  the  Christian  church,  and  their  pleasant 
home  is  marked  by  distinctive  culture  and 
refinement.  In  1917  Mr.  Farlow  erected  as 
the  family  residence  his  present  modern  and 
attractive  brick  bungalow,  which  is  situated 
at  the  corner  of  Eighth  and  Beaver  streets, 
and  is  one  of  the  beautiful  homes  of  Beatrice. 
]\Ir.  Farlow  is  a  Knight-Templar  Mason. 

WILLIAM  I.  REED,  a  prosperous  agri- 
culturist of  Gage  county,  was  born  in  Menard 
county,  llinois,  August  26,  1863,  and  is  a 
son  of  Andrew  Jackson  Reed  and  Sarah  Jane 
(Sheneman)  Reed.  Andrew  Jackson  Reed 
was  born  in  Kentucky,  in  1844,  and  when  an 
infant  was  brought  to  Illinois  by  his  widowed 
mother,  who  lost  her  husband  when  the  child 
was  six  weeks  old.  He  received  his  educa- 
tion in  Illinois  and  later  followed  farming  in 
that  state  until  1878,  when  he  moved  to  Nod- 
away county,  Missouri.  Andrew  J.  Reed  re- 
mained in  Missouri  until  1883,  in  which  year 
he  came  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska.  Here  he 
remained  several  years,  and  he  then  returned 
to  Missouri,  but  later  he  removed  to  Topeka, 
Kansas,  where  he  died  at  the  home  of  one  of 
his  sons,  at  an  advanced  age.  His  wife,  who 
was  born  in  Wayne  county,  Ohio,  died  at 
F'attonsburg,  Missouri.  Mr-  and  Mrs.  Reed 
w  ere  the  parents  of  five  children :  Charles  L., 
who  was  formerly  register  of  deeds  of  Gage 
county,  Nebraska,  is  now  living  in  Arkansas ; 
Laura,  the  widow  of  Del  Wiiitmarsh,  resides 


at  Blackwell,  Oklahoma ;  William  lies  is  the 
subject  of  this  sketch;  Frank  C.  lives  at  Pat- 
tonsburg,  Missouri;  and  Lulu  is  the  wife  of 
John  Frazier,  of  Interior,  Washington. 

William  lies  Reed  was  reared  on  a  farm  in 
Illinois  and  gained  his  early  education  in  the 
public  schools  of  Menard  county,  that  state. 
When  fifteen  years  old  he  went  with  his  par- 
ents to  jMissouri,  and  with  them  he  came  to 
Gage  county,  Nebraska,  in  1883.  Here  he  rent- 
ed land  in  Sicily  township,  where  he  continued 
farming  operations  several  years.  He  later 
bought  eighty  acres  near  Odell,  and  there  he 
lived  eight  years.  At  the  expiration  of  this 
period  he  purchased  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  in  Section  22,  Sicily  township,  where  he 
now  lives.  At  that  time  the  farm  was  very 
well  improved,  but  Mr.  Reed  has  added  to  the 
improvements  until  he  now  has  a  home  that 
i.s  up-to-date  in  every  particular,  his  house 
being  lighted  by  electricity  and  heated'  by 
furnace,  so  that  he  and  his  family  enjoy  the 
comforts  of  a  city  home.  Mr.  Reed  does  a 
general  farming  business  and  has  been  very 
successful.  He  is  a  Republican  and  has  held 
several  township  ofifices.  He  is  now  a  mem- 
ber of  the  school  board. 

William  lies  Reed  wedded  Miss  Addie  Clay- 
ton, daughter  of  Isaac  R.  Clayton,  a  record 
of  whom  appears  elsewhere  in  this  volume. 
Air.  and  Mrs.  Reed  are  the  parents  of  six 
children  —  Ollie  C,  wife  of  Frank  Gish,  of 
Rockford  township ;  Fred  Lee,  manager  of  the 
Farmers'  Lumber  Company  of  Wymore,  this 
county;  Ada  V.,  wife  of  Christmas  Roberts, 
of  Wymore;  Nora  E.,  wife  of  Raymond  Salis- 
bury, who  has  recently  established  himself  on 
a  cattle  ranch  near  Long  Pine,  Brown  county; 
and  Clarence  M.  and  Ethel  Lucile,  at  home. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Reed  are  members  of  the  Bap- 
tist church. 

FRANK  P.  WICKHAM  has  built  up  in 
the  city  of  Beatrice  a  very  prosperous  and 
vital  enterprise  in  the  handling  of  newspapers,, 
magazines,  stationery,  etc.,  and  his  attractive- 
ly equipped  establishment  is  located  at  116>< 
North  Sixth  street.  He  has  the  local  agency 
for  all  metropolitan  newspapers  circulated  in 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


709 


the  city  and  keeps  in  stock  a  fine  line  of  sta- 
tionery and  various  office  supplies,  besides  pre- 
senting for  the  consideration  of  his  patrons  all 
of  the  current  popular  magazines  and  other 
periodicals.  Mr.  Wickham  is  a  native  son  of 
Gage  county  and  is  a  scion  of  a  family  that 
was  founded  in  Nebraska  in  the  territorial 
days. 

j\Ir.  Wickham  was  born  in  Blakely  town- 
ship, this  county,  on  the  28th  of  April,  1871, 
and  is  a  son  of  Horace  M.  and  Isabelle 
(Alexander)  Wickham,  both  natives  of  Ohio, 
the  former  having  been  born  near  Newark  and 
the  latter  near  fronton,  that  state.  Horace 
M.  Wickham  gained  a  wealth  of  frontier  ex- 
perience. From  Ohio  he  removed,  in  1845, 
to  Holt  county,  Missouri,  and  from  the  latter 
state  he  went  to  Iowa  in  1857-  March  30, 
1859,  recorded  his  arrival  in  Gage  county, 
Nebraska, —  nearly  a  decade  prior  to  the  ad- 
mission of  the  state  to  the  Union.  For  eight 
years  thereafter  he  was  actively  engaged  in 
freighting  operations  across  the  plains  and 
about  1866  he  took  up  a  homestead  of  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres,  in  Blakely  town- 
ship. On  this  pioneer  farm  he  erected  a 
little  log  house,  and  eventually  he  developed 
the  place  into  one  of  the  valuable  and  well 
improved  farm  properties  of  the  county.  He 
was  twice  married,  and  his  first  marriage  was 
the  first  ceremony  of  the  kind  to  be  performed 
ii'  Gage  county, —  May  8,  1859.  His  second 
marriage  was  to  Mrs.  Isabelle  (Alexander) 
Beebe,  and  her  first  husband  and  their  only 
son  were  killed  in  an  Indian  raid,  in  1864. 
Of  the  first  marriage  was  born  also  a  daugh- 
ter, Rua  Beebe,  and  her  husband,  Mr.  Conally, 
is  a  prosperous  farmer  in  York  county,  Ne- 
braska. Horace  M.  and  Isabelle  Wickham 
became  the  parents  of  two  children,  of  whom 
the  subject  of  this  review  is  the  younger; 
Clarissa  became  the  wife  of  James  Nelson  and 
her  death  accurred  at  Beatrice,  in  April,  1907. 
The  parents  were  active  members  of  the 
jMethodist  Episcopal  church.  Mrs.  Wickham 
passed  to  the  life  eternal  in  the  year  1873 
and  her  husband  was  one  of  the  venerable  and 
honored  pioneer  citizens  of  Gage  county  at 
the  time  of  his  death,  in  1906. 


Horace  M.  Wickham  contributed  his  quota 
to  the  civic  and  industrial  development  and 
progress  of  Gage  county,  was  a  man  of  ability 
and  sterling  character  and  was  influential 
in  public  affairs  in  the  county.  He  was  in- 
dependent in  politics  and  he  served  in  various 
local  offices  of  trust,  including  that  of  county 
supervisor,  of  which  he  continued  the  incum- 
bent twelve  years.  His  father,  Thomas 
Wickham,  was  born  and  reared  in  Ohio  and 
became  a  pioneer  settler  in  Missouri,  where 
he  passed  the  remainder  of  his  life. 

Frank  P.  Wickham  found  the  period  of  his 
childhood  and  youth  compassed  by  the  be- 
nignant influences  of  the  home  farm  and  his 
early  education  was  acquired  in  the  public 
schools  of  Gage  county-  He  continued  his 
active  association  with  farm  enterprise  until 
1907,  when  he  removed  to  Beatrice.  Here  he 
conducted  for  the  ensuing  four  years  a  billard 
and  pool  room,  and  he  then  sold  the  business 
and  established  his  present  thriving  enterprise, 
to  which  he  gives  his  undivided  attention.  He 
is  the  owner  of  his  attractive  residence  pro- 
perty in  Beatrice  and  also  a  well  improved 
farm  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  in 
Sicily  township.  His  political  allegiance  is 
given  to  the  Democratic  party,  he  is  affiliated 
with  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows, 
including  the  adjunct  organization,  the 
Daughters  of  Rebekah,  and  also  with  the 
Modern  Woodmen  of  America,  the  Fraternal 
Order  of  Eagles  and  the  Royal  Neighbors,  he 
and  his  family  holding  membership  in  the 
Christian  church. 

The  year  1894  recorded  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Wickham  to  Miss  Martha  Howard,  who 
was  born  in  Hancock  county,  Illinois,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Jasper  N.  Howard,  who  is  a  representa- 
tive farmer  in  Thayer  county,  Nebraska,  since 
1910.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wickham  have  one 
child,  Norva,  who  now  holds  a  responsible 
position  in  the  office  of  the  Von  Steen  Lumber 
Company,  and  who  is  one  of  the  popular 
factors  in  the  social  life  of  Beatrice. 

CHARLES  N.  AUSTIN,  who  is  the  effici- 
ent and  valued  foreman  of  a  department  in 
the  important  manufacturing  establishment  of 


710 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


the  Dempster  Company,  at  Beatrice,  is  a  mem- 
ber of  an  honored  pioneer  family  that  was 
founded  in  Gage  county  nearly  a  decade  be- 
fore the  admission  of  Nebraska  to  statehood, 
and  adequate  data  concerning  the  family  are 
given  in  the  article  dedicated,  on  other  pages 
of  this  work,  to  his  father,  the  late  Homer  B- 
Austin,  who  was  one  of  the  very  first  settlers 
in  what  is  now  the  city  of  Beatrice. 

Charles  N.  Austin  was  born  at  Austinburg, 
Ashtabula  county,  Ohio,  on  the  21st  of  May, 
1855,  and  his  early  education  was  received 
principally  at  Augusta  and  Galesburg,  Illinois. 
He  was  about  two  years  old,  however,  when 
bis  parents.  Homer  B.  and  Mary  A.  (Dunbar) 
Austin  came  to  the  Nebraska  Territory,  in 
1857,  the  father  erecting  a  small  cabin  on  the 
homestead  claim  which  he  entered  near  the 
present  village  of  Pickrell  and  then  turning 
his  attention  to  breaking  his  land  and  develop- 
ing a  frontier  farm,  he  having  been  one  of  the 
earliest  settlers  of  the  county.  Later  he  re- 
turned with  his  family  to  Ohio  and  for  a 
number  of  years  prior  to  returning  to  the  west 
the  family  home  was  maintained  in   Illinois. 

Charles  N-  Austin  has  been  continuously  a 
resident  of  Gage  county  since  1890  and  for 
six  years  he  was  here  employed  in  a  leading 
nursery.  About  1895  he  established  his  resi- 
dence in  Beatrice,  and  for  virtually  a  score 
of  years  he  has  here  been  in  the  employ  of 
the  Dempster  Company,  with  which  represen- 
tative industrial  concern  he  now  holds  a  re- 
sponsible department  foremanship,  as  previous- 
ly intimated. 

On  the  7th  of  March,  1876,  was  recorded 
the  marriage  of  Mr.  Austin  to  Miss  Stella 
Hall,  who  was  born  at  Seneca,  Missouri,  near 
the  Oklahoma  line,  and  who  is  a  daughter 
of  William  G.  and  Margaret  R.  (Roberts) 
Hall,  the  former  of  whom  was  born  near  the 
historic  old  city  of  Vincennes,  Indiana,  and 
the  latter  of  whom  was  born  in  Missouri,  from 
which  state  they  came  to  Nebraska  in  1887, 
here  passing  the  remainder  of  their  Jives. 
John  A.  Hall,  a  brother  of  Mrs.  Austin,  now 
resides  in  the  city  of  San  Francisco  and  is  in 
the  civil  service  department  of  government 
service.     He  was   a   member  of  Company   C. 


First  Nebraska  Volunteer  Infantry,  in  the 
Spanish-American  war,  thereafter  served  two 
years  in  the  regular  army,  in  Alaska  and 
Hawaii,  and  he  has  been  a  resident  of  San 
Francisco  since  the  time  of  the  great  earth- 
quake in  that  city. 

Concerning  the  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Austin  the  following  brief  record  is  consistent- 
ly entered :  Harry  A.  is  now  a  member  of  the 
American  army  preparing  for  service  in  the 
great  world  war  and  at  the  time  of  this  writ- 
ing, in  the  spring  of  1918,  he  is  with  his  com- 
mand at  Deming,  New  Mexico.  He  enlisted 
in  the  Nebraska  National  Guard  on  the  28th 
of  July,  1910,  and  in  his  present  company 
he  holds  the  office  of  first  lieutenant.  He  was 
married  January  2,  1918,  to  Miss  Selena 
Brown,  of  Crab  Orchard,  Johnson  county. 
Louis  is  a  member  of  the  class  of  1919  in 
the  Beatrice  high  school ;  Mary  R.  likewise  is 
attending  the  public  schools  of  Beatrice. 

In  politics  Mr-  Austin  is  aligned  staunchly 
in  the  ranks  of  the  Republican  party,  and  he 
has  been  actively  affiliated  with  the  Independ- 
ent Order  of  Odd  Fellows  since  May  28,  1876. 
He  has  been  specially  active  in  the  affairs  of 
this  admirable  fraternal  order  and  is  past 
grand  of  his  lodge.  He  is  identified  also 
with  the  Woodmen  of  the  World.  He  has 
served  twenty-two  years  as  a  member  of  the 
volunteer  fire  department  of  Beatrice  and  he 
and  his  wife  are  active  members  of  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  church. 

JOHN  SHALLA.—  One  of  the  substantial 
agriculturists  of  Gage  county  is  John  Shalla, 
owner  of  an  excellent  farm  of  four  hundred 
acres  in  Section  3,  Paddock  township.  A 
native  of  Iowa,  he  was  born  in  Johnson  coun- 
ty, near  Iowa  City,  on  December  20,  1864. 
His  parents.  Vencil  and  Barbara  (Yarosh) 
Shalla  were  born  in  Bohemia  where  their 
marriage  was  solemnized,  and  where  they 
made  their  home  until  1864,  when  they  sought 
a  home  in  the  United  States,  settling  in  Iowa. 
Soon  afterward  Mr.  Shalla  bought  forty  acres 
of  land  near  Richmond  in  Washington  county 
and  engaged  in  farming,  where  he  remained 
until    1878,    when   he    came    to   Gage   county. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


711 


Nebraska  and  took  a  homestead  in  Paddock 
township,  south  of  the  site  of  the  present  vil- 
lage of  Odell.  He  also  took  one  hundred  and 
twenty  acres  as  a  homestead  for  his  son  John, 
who  was  then  only  fourteen  years  of  age. 
Two  years  later  Mr.  Shalla  sold  his  land  and 
bought  two  hundred  acres  in  Sections  3  and 
10,  Paddock  township,  the  land  being  wholly 
^mimproved.  To  the  improvement  and  cul- 
tivation of  this  land  Mr.  Shalla  gave  his  full 
time  and  attention  until  he  retired  from  the 
farm  to  make  his  home  in  Odell,  where  he 
pased  away  in  1912  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
four  years.  His  widow  still  resides  in  Odell 
and  is  now  ( 1918)  in  her  seventy-second  year. 
They  were  among  the  first  families  on  the  Otoe 
Indian  reservation  and  contributed  their  share 
toward  transforming  the  wild  land  to  the 
beautiful  farms  and  homes  we  see  to-day. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Shalla  were  members  of  the 
Catholic  church.  They  reared  a  family  of 
eight  children  as  follows :  Anna,  born  in 
Bohemia,  is  the  wife  of  Joseph  Pecka,  a 
farmer  in  Marshall  county  Kansas;  John  is 
the  immediate  subject  of  this  record;  Joseph 
is  a  farmer  in  Gage  county ;  Mary  is  the  wife 
of  Tony  Hirmon,  of  Wymore,  this  county 
Emma  is  the  wife  of  Frank  Hirmon,  of  Odell 
Fannie  is  the  wife  of  Charles  Costel,  of  Odell 
Nettie  is  the  wife  of  Henry  Monsterman,  of 
Gage  county;  Tena  is  the  wife  of  Harry 
Meyer,  residing  near  Lanham ;  and  two  chil- 
dren died  in  infancy,  one  in  Washington  coun- 
ty, Iowa,  and  one  in  Gage  county- 
John  Shalla,  the  eldest  son  of  this  pioneer 
family,  was  a  lad  of  fourteen  when  the  home 
was  established  in  Nebraska.  Reared  on  the 
farm  and  under  the  pioneer  conditions,  he 
learned  the  lessons  of  industry,  and  when  a 
young  man  of  twenty-one  years  he  began 
farming  for  himself.  The  first  three  years  he 
spent  in  Kansas,  and  he  then  returned  to 
Paddock  township  and  purchased  an  improved 
farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres.  Here 
he  has  been  successful  in  his  farm  enterprise, 
as  is  attested  by  the  fact  that  he  is  now.  the 
owner  of  four  hundred  acrps  of  valuable  land 
in  Section  3.  He  follows  the  best  methods  of 
planting  and  liarvesting,  and  his  is  one  of  the 


best  improved  tracts  of  land  in  the  township. 
^Ir.  Shalla  completed  the  preparations  for  a 
home  of  his  own  by  his  marriage  to  Miss 
Fannie  Hirmon,  a  native  of  Washington 
county,  Iowa.  They  have  four  children: 
Mary  is  the  wife  of  John  Cacek,  a  farmer  of 
Paddock  township;  and  John  W.,  Emma  and 
Edward  remain  at  the  parental  home. 

Mr.  Shalla  has  been  a  member  of  the  dis- 
trict school  board  for  the  past  eight  years. 
He  is  a  very  progressive,  up-to-date  farmer, 
and  any  worthy  cause  always  has  his  hearty 
endorsement. 

RICHARD  ROSSITER.  — In  according 
recognition  to  the  early  pioneer  settlers  of 
Gage  county  mention  should  be  made  in  this 
publication  of  Richard  Rossiter,  who  came 
with  his  family  to  Nebraska  in  the  early  terri- 
torial days.  Mr.  Rossiter  was  born  in  Somer- 
setshire, England,  where  he  married  Mary 
Green  and  where  two  of  their  children  were 
born.  About  1856  he  came  with  his  family  to 
America  and  settled  in  Illinois,  where  he  ob- 
tained employment  on  a  dairy  farm.  In  the 
spring  of  1862  he  moved  with  his  family  to 
Nebraska  and  obtained  a  homestead  claim  of 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  virgin  prairie 
land  in  Gage  county,  eight  miles  northwest  of 
Beatrice,  which  city  at  that  time  was  unmarked 
by  a  single  building.  On  this  land  he  built  a 
log  cabin  of  the  true  pioneer  type,  with  a  dirt 
floor,  and  then  turned  himself  vigorously  to 
reclaiming  his  land  to  cultivation.  He  was  at 
the  time  one  of  the  very  few  men  in  the 
county  owning  a  team  of  horses,  and  he  al- 
ways prided  himself  thereafter  upon  keeping 
good  horses.  A  man  of  strong  individuality, 
sterling  character,  and  mature  judgment,  he 
made  good  use  of  the  opportunities  here  pre- 
sented, and  at  the  time  of  his  death  he  was  the 
owner  of  a  valuable  landed  estate  of  more 
than  seven  hundred  acres,  comprising  four 
well  improved  farms  in  Gage  county.  Mr. 
Rossiter  had  never  attended  school  a  day  in 
his  life,  but  his  mental  alertness  enabled  him 
in  large  measure  to  overcome  this  youthful 
handicap,  and  he  was  known  as  a  man  of 
superior  business  judgment  and  acumen.     In 


712  HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


713 


the  early  days  he  raised  live  stock,  and  his 
children  assisted  in  herding  the  cattle  on  the, 
plains,  there  having  been  at  the  time  no  re- 
strictions on  the  use  of  government  land. 
This  strong  and  worthy  pioneer  continuea 
his  residence  in  Gage  county  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  January  7,  1902,  and  he 
was  at  the  time  eighty-three  years  of  age.  His 
widow,  who  remains  on  the  old  homestead, 
celebrated  the  ninety-third  anniversary  of  hei 
birth  in  October,  1917.  She  is  not  only  one 
of  the  revered  but  undoubtedly  also  one  of 
the  most  venerable  pioneer  women  of  this 
county,  which  she  has  seen  developed  from  a 
frontier  wild  to  its  present  state  of  prosperity. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rossiter  became  the  parents 
of  seven  children,  of  whom  the  following 
brief  data  are  given :  Charles  is  a  prospector 
and  miner  in  British  Columbia ;  Frances  is  the 
wife  of  F.  E.  Quackenbush,  of  Keota,  Colo- 
rado; Anna  is  the  wife  of  Prather  Dolan,  a 
farmer  living  near  Hoag,  Gage  county ;  Sarah 
is  the  widow  of  George  M.  Morey  and  resides 
at  Pleasanton,  Iowa ;  Edgar  is  a  prosperous 
farmer  in  Gage  county,  and  concerning  him  a 
record  appears  elsewhere  in  this  volume ;  and 
Hattie  and  Sidney  reside  with  their  widowed 
mother  on  the  old  homestead  in  Gage  county. 
Mrs.  Rossiter's  maiden  name  was  Mary  Green 
and  she,  like  her  husband,  was  born  in  Som- 
ersetshire, England. 

JOHN  W.  EHMEN  was  born  and  reared 
on  the  farm  which  is  now  the  stage  of  his 
successful  activities  as  an  agriculturist  and 
stock-grower,  and  he  is  the  fortunate  owner 
of  this  valuable  and  well  improved  landed 
estate  of  two  hundred  acres,  in  Section  27, 
Hanover  township.  He  was  born  February 
10,  1882,  and  is  a  son  of  William  and  Emke 
(Johnson)  Ehmen,  of  whom  specific  mention 
is  made  on  other  pages,  in  the  sketch  of  their 
son  Henry  W.  In  the  same  connection  are 
given  portraits  of  the  parents,  the  insertion  of 
the  same  being  made  as  a  filial  tribute  on  the 
part  of  John  W.  Ehmen. 

John  W.  Ehmen  has  from  his  boyhood  been 
associated  with  the  activities  of  the  farm  of 
which  he  is  now  the  owner  and  liis  earlv  edu- 


cation was  acquired  in  the  public  schools  of 
Hanover  township.  He  takes  loyal  interest  in 
all  things  pertaining  to  the  communal  welfare, 
has  given  eflfective  service  as  road  overseer,  is 
a  Republican  in  politics,  and  both  he  and  his 
wife  hold  membership  in  the  Lutheran  church. 
In  1905  Mr.  Ehmen  wedded  Miss  Emke 
Busboom,  who  was  born  in  the  state  of  Kansas 
and  whose  father,  John  Busboom,  is  now  a 
prosperous  farmer  of  Gage  county,  ;n  Filley 
to\vnship.  ]\Ir.  and  Mrs.  Ehmen  have  five 
children,  — ■  William,  John,  Emke,  Tida  and 
Henry. 

EARL  C.  JEWELL.— True  versatility,  as 
well  as  progressive  and  well  directed  business 
policies,  has  been  manifested  by  Mr.  Jewell 
in  his  independent  career  as  a  representative 
of  farm  enterprise  in  his  native  county.  In 
Sections  19  and  20,  Grant  township,  he  is 
now  the  owner  of  a  well  improved  landed 
estate  of  two  hundred  acres.  In  1902  he 
began  raising  pure-bred  Duroc-Jersey  swine, 
and  his  discrimination  and  good  judgment 
have  brought  him  to  the  front  as  one  of  the 
most  successful  exponents  of  this  line  of  farm 
enterprise  in  this  section  of  Nebraska.  Fur- 
ther interest  attaches  to  his  career  by  reason  of 
his  being-  a  scion  of  a  family  that  has  given 
honored  and  influential  pioneers  to  Gage 
county  and  that  was  founded  in  America  in 
the  colonial  period  of  our  national  history,  the 
Jewell  lineage  tracing  back  to  staunch  English 
origin. 

On  his  father's  old  homestead  farm  in  Grant 
township,  this  county,  Mr.  Jewell  was  born 
July  29,  1886,  and  he  is  the  youngest  of  the 
four  children  of  George  W.  and  Martha 
(  Carpenter)  Jewell.  William,  firstborn  of  the 
children,  died  in  infancy  and  the  second, 
to  whom  was  given  the  same  name,  William, 
now  owns  and  resides  upon  the  old  home 
farm ;  Bertha  is  the  wife  of  William  Mcjunk- 
in,  of  Dewitt,  Saline  county. 

George  W.  Jewell  was  born  in  Ohio  and 
was  sixty-three  years  of  age  at  the  time  of 
his  death,  which  occurred  November  21,  1910. 
Staunchly  patriotic,  when  the  Civil  war  was 
precipitated    upon    the    nation    he    went    forth 


714 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


as  a  loyal  young  soldier  of  the  Union,  his 
service  having  been  as  a  member  of  Com- 
pany E,  Second  Illinois  Cavalry,  with  which 
gallant  command  he  lived  up  to  the  full  ten- 
sion of  the  conflict  through  which  the  integ- 
rity of  the  Union  was  preserved.  After  the 
war  he  continued  his  residence  in  Grundy 
county,  Illinois,  until  1870,  when,  accompanied' 
by  his  wife  and  their  one  child,  he  drove  over- 
land with  team  and  wagon  to  Gage  county, 
Nebraska.  He  became  one  of  the  pioneer 
settlers  of  Grant  township  and  developed  one 
of  the  fine  farms  of  that  part  of  the  county, 
his  old  homestead  being  eligibly  situated  near 
the  village  of  Dewitt.  He  was  a  Repubhcan 
in  politics  and  was  affiliated  with  the  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic-  His  cherished  and 
devoted  wife  was  likewise  born  in  Ohio  and 
she  was  about  fifty-two  years  of  age  at  the 
time  of  her  death,  in  1902,  both  having  been 
earnest  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church. 

Earl  C.  Jewell  was  reared  on  the  old 
homestead  farm  and  his  early  educational 
advantages  were  those  afforded  in  the  public 
schools  of  Grant  township.  He  continued  to 
be  associated  with  his  father  in  farm  industry 
until  the  death  of  the  latter  and  about  two 
years  later,  in  1912,  he  purchased  his  present 
farm,  from  his  uncle,  Samuel  V.  Jewell,  an- 
other of  the  sterling  pioneers  of  the  county. 
He  has  since  made  numerous  improvements  on 
the  place,  which  is  three-fourths  of  a  mile  east 
of  Dewitt,  Saline  county,  and  here,  in  con- 
nection with  diversified  agriculture,  he  has 
become  specially  prominent  and  succesful  in 
the  raising  of  fine  live  stock  and  poultry.  On 
his  exhibits  of  Barred  Rock  poultry  he  has 
won  ribbons  at  poultry  shows  held  in  the  Ne- 
braska cities  of  Lincoln,  Grand  Island,  Hast- 
ings, Omaha  and  Kearney,  as  well  as  at  St. 
Joseph,  Missouri,  and  in  1917  he  made  a 
splendid  exhibit  at  the  great  poultry  show  in 
the  city  of  Chicago.  Among  the  prizes  he 
has  won  on  poultry  and  Duroc-Jersey  swine 
may  be  noted  five  silver  cups  and  a  five-piece 
silver  tea  set.  His  interest  in  poultry-breed- 
ing has  been  unwavering  since  his  boyhood 
davs,  he  has  made  a  close  and  careful  studv 


of  the  same,  uses  the  best  of  modern  facilities 
and  scientific  methods  in  his  poultry  enter- 
prise, and  his  success  in  the  same  has  been 
of  unequivocal  order.  As  a  progressive  and 
liberal  citizen  he  takes  active  interest  in  pub- 
lic affairs,  especially  those  of  a  local  order, 
and  is  a  staunch  supporter  of  the  cause  of  the 
Republican  party.  Both  he  and  his  wife  hold 
membership  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church  at  Dewitt  and  they  are  popular  factors 
in  the  social  activities  of  the  community. 

September  21,  1907,  recorded  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  Jewell  to  Miss  Clara  Foster,  who  was 
born  at  Dewitt,  Saline  county,  and  is  a  daugh- 
ter of  William  H,  and  Margaret  (Reinwald) 
Foster.  Mr.  Foster  was  born  and  reared  in 
Illinois  and  in  the  pioneer  days  came  with 
his  widowed  mother  and  her  three  other 
children  to  Saline  county,  Nebraska,  where  he 
has  since  maintained  his  home,  he  and  his 
wife  being  now  residents  of  Dewitt.  Mrs. 
Foster  was  born  in  the  Province  of  Ontario, 
Canada,  and  there  her  marriage  was  solemniz- 
ed May  24,  1882,  Mrs.  Jewell  being  the  eldest 
of  the  three  children.  Mr.  and  Airs.  Jewell 
have  two  children, —  Lucille,  who  was  born 
June  25.  1908,  and  Mvian,  who  was  born  July 
28,   1915. 

JOHN  LENERS  has  been  a  resident  of 
Gage  county  since  1878  and  though  his  finan- 
cial resources  were  most  limited  at  the  time 
of  his  immigration  from  Illinois  to  Nebraska 
he  had  the  most  generous  measure  of  energy, 
ambition,  and  self-reliance,  so  that  he  has 
achieved  large  and  worthy  success  through  his 
association  with  farm  enterprise  in  this  coun- 
ty, where  he  is  now  the  owner  of  a  valuable 
farm  estate  of  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres, 
in  Logan  and  Filley  township,  his  attractive 
homestead,  improved  with  handsome  build- 
ings erected  by  him,  being  situated  in  Section 
1,  Logan  township. 

Mr.  Leners  was  born  in  the  Province  of 
Hanover,  Germany,  November  21,  1853,  and 
is  a  son  of  Renken  and  Etta  Leners,  who 
came  to  America  in  1858  and  settled  in  Adams 
county,  Illinois,  where  they  passed  the  re- 
mainder of  their  lives  and  where  the   father 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


became  a  prosperous  farmer.  Both  were  earn- 
est communicants  of  the  Lutheran  church. 

John  Leners  was  five  years  of  age  at  the 
tnne  of  the  family  immigration  to  the  United 
States  and  was  reared  and  educated  in  Adams 
county,  lUinois.  There  he  continued  to  be  as- 
sociated with  farm  industry  until  1878,  when, 
at  the  age  of  twenty-four  years,  he  came  to 
Gage  county,  in  company  with  his  brother 
Renken.  For  a  few  years  he  here  carried  on 
farm  activities  on  rented  land,  and  the  splen- 
did advancement  which  he  has  made  in  the 
intervening  years  is  shown  significantly  in  his 
ownership  of  one  of  the  model  farm  estates  of 
the  county.  Here  he  gives  his  attention  to 
diversified  agriculture  and  to  the  raising  of 
■excellent  types  of  live  stock.  In  the  early 
days  Mr.  Leners  had  his  full  quota  of  struggle 
in  overcoming  obstacles  and  adverse  condi- 
tions, over  which  he  has  triumphed,  and  in 
■contradistinction  to  the  high  prices  paid  for 
food  products  at  the  present  period  of  world 
warfare,  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  in  the 
pioneer  days  Mr.  Leners  sold  his  corn  for  ten 
■cents  a  bushel  and  hogs  at  less  than  two  dol- 
lars per  hundredweight.  His  political  alle- 
giance is  given  to  the  Republican  party  and 
he  and  his  wife  are  active  members  of  the 
Lutheran  church. 

In  Adams  county,  Illinois,  in  1874,  Mr. 
Leners  wedded  Miss  Marie  Schuster,  who 
was  born  in  Germany,  a  daughters  of  Mene 
•Schuster,  her  parents  having  been  pioneers  in 
Gage  county,  where  they  settled  in  1865,  about 
two  years  prior  to  the  admission  of  Nebraska 
to  the  LTnion.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Leners  became 
the  parents  of  a  fine  family  of  twelve  children, 
■of  whom  the  firstborn,  Etta,  met  a  tragic 
■death,  she  having  been  killed  by  lighting  when 
sixteen  years  of  age ;  Grace  is  the  wife  of  J. 
G.  Carstens,  of  Hanover  township;  Renken  J. 
is  a  farmer  in  Holt  township ;  Menne  died  at 
the  age  of  twenty-eight  years;  Henry  is  a 
farmer  in  Filley  township ;  Amanda  died  at 
the  age  of  eight ;  Annie  is  the  wife  of  Menne 
Zimmerman,  of  Hanover  township;  Etta 
(second  of  the  name)  is  the  wife  of  M.  Ecker- 
ly,  of  Beatrice ;  Johanna  is  the  wife  of  George 
;Schmidt,  of  Hooker  township;  and  Amanda, 


Ortman    and    Marie    remain    at    the    parental 
home. 


JOHN  SINGLETON.  —  No  man  living  in 
Gage  county  has  the  honor  of  being  an  earlier 
settler  on  what  was  once  the  Otoe  Indian 
reservation  than  John  Singleton,  who  is  now 
living  retired  in  the  village  of  Odell.  He  also 
has  the  distinction  of  being  a  son  of  parents 
who  were  among  the  early  families  in  a  new 
country.  He  was  the  first  white  child  born 
in  Fremont  county,  Iowa,  where  his  birth  oc- 
curred October  25,  1842.  He  is  the  son  of 
Andrew  Jackson  Singleton  and  Elizabeth 
(Hanna)  Singleton,  the  former  born  in  Ken- 
tucky and  the  latter  in  Tennessee. 

Andrew  J.  Singleton  married  in  Indiana 
and  in  1841  he  and  his  wife  moved  to  Fre- 
mont county,  Iowa,  where  they  were  among 
the  first  settlers.  Mr.  Singleton  engaged  in 
farming  and  followed  that  vocation  through- 
out his  life. 

John  Singleton  spent  his  boyhood  days  on 
the  Iowa  farm  and  was  married  in  that  state. 
In  1873  he  came  to  Nebraska  and  took  squat- 
ter's claim  to  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of 
land  in  the  Otoe  Indian  reservation,  this  land 
being  later  included  in  what  is  now  Glenwood 
township.  Gage  county.  His  first  house  was 
built  of  logs  and  was  fourteen  by  sixteen  feet 
in  dimensions.  Here  he  and  his  wife  lived 
for  more  than  three  years.  Mr.  Singleton 
eventually  built  a  good  frame  house,  and 
he  and  his  wife  remained  on  the  farm  until 
1892,  when  they  moved  to  Odell.  Up  to  about 
ten  years  ago  Mr.  Singleton  continued  his  ac- 
tive association  with  farm  enterprise  but  since 
that  time  he  has  lived  a  retired  life-  Mr.  Sin- 
gleton and  his  brother-in-law  were  the  first 
two  settlers  in  Glenwood  township,  and  at  that 
time  there  were  but  three  houses  between  Mr. 
Singleton's  place  and  the  town  of  Beatrice. 
Mrs.  Singleton  has  also  a  very  interesting  pio- 
neer record.  She  was  Miss  Sarah  F.  Good 
and  was  born  May  12,  1844,  at  Fort  Cofifey, 
on  the  Arkansas  river,  in  the  Indian  Territory. 
Her  father,  Rev.  W.  H.  Good,  was  a  Meth- 
odist minister  connected  with  the  Indianapolis 
conference  and  was  sent  as  missionary  to  the 


716 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Indians :  he  located  in  Indian  Territory  in 
1843.  Later  he  returned  to  Indiana,  whence 
he  was  sent  as  a  misionary  to  the  Indians  in 
Nebraska.  His  last  days  were  spent  in  In- 
diana. His  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Sarah  Pearson,  was  born  in  Indiana,  and  she 
was  a  resident  of  lier  native  state  at  the  time 
of  her  death. 

]\Ir.  and  Mrs.  Singleton  were  married  in 
Freinont  county,  Iowa,  and  she  accompanied 
her  husband  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  where 
she  shared  his  pioneer  experiences.  They  be- 
came the  parents  of  five  children :  Maggie  is  the 
wife  of  E.  T.  Joy,  of  University  Place,  Ne- 
braska ;  Bessie  is  the  wife  of  P.  B.  Laird,  of 
Tabor,  Iowa;  Frances  is  the  wife  of  T.  H. 
Ellis,  of  Eugene,  Oregon;  William  resides  at 
Fairbury,  Nebraska ;  and  Eleanor  is  the  wife 
of  Anton  Beza,  a  merchant  at  Odell,  Gage 
county. 

Mr.  Singleton  and  his  wife  are  enjoying 
the  evening  of  life  in  a  comfortable  home  in 
Odell.  He  is  a  man  of  distinguished  bearing, 
typical  of  the  southern  reared  gentleman.  Mr. 
Singleton's  grandfather  was  a  slave-holder  in 
^lissouri  in  the  early  days.  Mr.  Singleton 
is  a  Democrat,  and  he  and  his  wife  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church. 


CHRIST  J.  MEINTS,  whose  well  improved 
homestead  farm  is  situated  in  Section  26.  Han- 
over township,  has  by  his  own  ability  and 
energy  achieved  large  success  in  connection 
with  farm  enterprise  in  this  county  and.  now 
venerable  in  years,  he  is  living  virtually  re- 
tired from  the  arduous  labors  which  so  long 
marked  his  career- 
Mr.  Meints  was  born  in  East  Friesland, 
province  of  Hanover,  Germany,  on  the  28th 
of  December,  1834,  and  there  he  was  reared 
and  educated.  In  the  same  province  was  sol- 
emnized his  marriage  to  IMiss  Rika  Dorn.  and 
thev  came  to  America  in  1865,  arriving  at 
Golden.  Illinois,  two  weeks  prior  to  the  assas- 
sination of  President  Lincoln.  In  his  native 
land  Mr.  ;Meints  had  learned  the  carpenter's 
trade  and  this  he  followed  after  establishing 
his  home  in   Illinois,  besides  which  he  did  ex- 


pert service  in  brick-laying  and  plastering 
in  that  state  until  1883,  when  he  came 
to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  which  state 
he  had  previously  visited,  this  action  having 
been  prompted  by  a  request  made  to  him  by 
former  residents  of  Illinois  who  wished  him 
to  do  some  building  work  for  them.  He  final- 
ly became  so  favorably  impressed  that  he 
decided  to  establish  his  home  in  the  county — • 
an  action  that  he  has  never  regreted.  He 
purchased  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  un- 
improved land  in  Section  26,  Hanover  town- 
ship, where  he  has  since  maintained  his  home, 
and  his  ability  as  a  carpenter  is  shown  in  the 
substantial  and  attractive  type  of  the  buildings 
which  he  has  erected  on  his  home  farm.  He 
brought  to  bear  marked  energy  and  business 
sagacity  in  his  activities  as  a  farmer  and  even- 
tually accumulated  a  valuable  estate  of  five 
hundred  and  sixty  acres,  a  considerable  por- 
tion of  which  he  retains,  the  remainder  hav- 
ing been  sold  to  his  sons.  His  devoted  wife 
passed  to  eternal  rest  in  1907,  a  devout  mem- 
ber of  the  Lutheran  church,  as  is  he  also.  Of 
their  children  the  eldest  is  Henry,  a  prosper- 
ous farmer  in  Logan  township ;  Maggie  is  the 
wife  of  Broer  Gronewold,  of  Dawson  county; 
John  was  a  resident  of  Holt  township  at  the 
time  of  his  death ;  Bruno  is  a  successful  farm- 
er in  Logan  township ;  Christina  is  the  wife 
of  Ben  Aden,  of  Dawson  county ;  Heye  is  a 
substantial  farmer  in  Holt  township ;  Addie  is 
the  wife  of  Louis  Stevens,  of  Hanover  town- 
ship. 

Though  he  has  passed  the  age  of  four  score 
years  Mr.  Meints  is  hale  and  active  and  con- 
tinues to  find  occasion  for  practical  service 
about  his  farm,  as  may  be  inferred  when  it 
is  noted  that  recently  he  used  a  trowel  active- 
ly and  effectively  in  the  construction  of  a  ce- 
ment floor  in  one  of  the  buildings  on  his  farm. 
His  son-in-law.  Louis  Stevens,  has  the  active 
management  of  the  farm  and  is  more  specific- 
ally mentioned  in  appending  paragraphs. 

Louis  Stevens  was  born  in  the  province  of 
Hanover,  Germany,  January  29,  1878,  and 
has  been  a  resident  of  Gage  county  since  1895. 
In  1901  was  solemnized  his  marriage  to  Miss 
.Xddie  Meints,  and  they  have  seven  children  — 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


717 


Grace,  Mabel,  Christ,  Elmer,  John,  Henry,  and 
Emma. 

Mr.  Stevens  is  a  progressive  exponent  of 
farm  enterprise,  is  a  Republican  in  politics 
and  he  and  his  wife  are  active  communicants 
of  the  Lutheran  church. 

JOHN  H.  ZIMMERMAN.  — Eligibly 
situated  in  Section  22,  Blakely  township,  is 
the  excellent  farm  which  is  being  successfully 
operated  by  Mr.  Zimmerman  and  that  is  a  part 
of  the  estate  of  his  honored  father,  the  late 
John  A.  Zimmerman,  who  was  one  of  the  ster- 
ling pioneers  of  Gage  county. 

John  H.  Zimmerman  was  born  on  the  old 
homestead  farm  of  his  father,  in  Blakely  town- 
ship, this  county,  April  3,  1883.  and  is  the 
eldest  of  the  children  of  John  A.  and  Helen 
(Riesen)  Zimmerman,  brief  record  concern- 
ing the  other  children  being  here  given :  Mary 
is  the  wife  of  Henry  vonSteen,  of  Blakely 
township;  Anna  is  the  wife  of  Dr.  H.  G.  Pen- 
iier,  a  representative  physician  and  surgeon 
of  Plymouth,  Jefferson  county ;  John  H.  is 
farming  the  old  homestead  place,  where  also 
remain  the  widowed  mother  and  the  daugh- 
ters, Helen  and  Alice ;  Louis  E.,  the  youngest 
of  the  number,  died  in  infancy- 
John  A.  Zimmerman  was  born  near  the  city 
of  Dantzic,  western  Prussia,  on  the  6th  of 
September,  1857,  and  he  came  to  the  L^nited 
States  in  the  summer  of  1876.  He  first  lo- 
cated at  Mount  Pleasant,  Iowa,  but  in  the  fol- 
lowing year,  in  company  with  his  parents,  he 
became  a  member  of  the  staunch  Mennonite 
colony  that  established  residence  in  Gage  coun- 
ty, Nebraska.  He  and  his  father  obtained 
land  in  Sections  29  and  30,  Blakely  township, 
and  with  the  passing  years  he  gained  place 
as  cne  of  the  substantial  agriculturists  and 
stock-growers  of  the  county.  He  was  a  citi- 
zen of  upright  character  and  splendid  energy, 
so  that  he  achieved  large  and  worthy  success, 
the  while  he  commanded  the  confidence  of  all 
who  knew  him.  He  was  the  owner  of  a  val- 
uable landed  estate  of  four  hundred  and  twen- 
ty-five acres  at  the  time  of  his  death,  which 
occurred  July  10,  1914,  and  was  an  earnest 
member  of  the   Mennonite  church,  as   is  also 


his  widow,  she  likewise  having  been  born  near 
Dantzic,  Germany,  and  the  date  of  her  na- 
tivity having  been  August  24,  1861. 

John  H-  Zimmerman  acquired  his  earlier 
education  in  the  district  schools  and  supple- 
mented this  by  attending  the  public  schools 
in  the  city  of  Beatrice.  He  has  traveled 
through  various  states  of  the  west  and  south 
but  his  observations  have  only  caused  him  to 
be  the  more  appreciative  of  his  native  county 
and  its  attractions  and  advantages,  so  that 
after  his  marriage,  in  1907,  he  here  initiated 
his  independent  career  as  a  farmer  and  stock- 
grower,  in  which  field  of  industrial  enterprise 
he  is  fully  upholding  the  high  prestige  of  the 
family  name.  He  is  a  member  of  the  school 
board  of  his  district,  is  a  Republican  in  poli- 
tics, and  is  an  alert  and  progressive  citizen  and 
farmer  of  the  younger  generation  in  his  native 
county. 

November  21,  1907,  recorded  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  Zimmerman  to  Miss  Marie  Penner, 
who  was  born  and  reared  in  this  county  and 
is  a  daughter  of  Gerhard  and  Anna  (Froese) 
Penner,  sterling  pioneer  citizens  who  now 
maintain  their  home  in  the  city  of  Beatrice. 
Mrs.  Zimmerman  was  graduated  in  the  Be- 
atrice high  school  and  prior  to  her  marriage 
had  been  a  successful  and  popular  teacher  in 
the  district  schools  of  her  native  county.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Zimmerman  have  three  children — • 
Carl  H.,  Robert  G.,  and  Hugo  J. 

ALBERT  C.  PFEFFERMANN,  a  farmer 
of  Lincoln  township,  was  born  January  7, 
1873,  in  Livingston  county,  Illinois,  and  he 
is  a  son  of  Stormeus  and  Sarah  T.  (Thomas) 
Pfeffermann. 

Stormeus  Pfeffermann  was  born  in  Ger- 
many, in  December,  1833.  He  was  a  tailor 
by  trade  and  before  coming  to  America  worked 
at  his  trade  in  Germany.  In  1862  Mr.  Pfef- 
fermann came  to  the  L'nited  States  and  settled 
in  Livingston  county,  Illinois,  but  within  a 
short  time  thereafter  he  enlisted  in  the  de- 
fense of  the  Union  in  the  Civil  war.  He 
continued  in  service  until  the  close  of  the  war, 
and  upon  his  return  to  Illinois  he  engaged  in 
farming.     He  there  continued  his  farm  enter- 


718 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


prise  until  1892,  when  he  came  with  his  family 
to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  and  bought  three 
hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land  in  Lincoln 
township,  besides  which  he  became  the  owner 
of  an  additional  tract  of  land  near  Diller, 
Jefferson  county.  For  this  land  Mr-  Pfeffer- 
mann  paid  from  ten  to  fourteen  dollars  an 
acre.  During  the  intervening  years,  between 
1892  and  1918,  this  land  has  increased  in  value 
more  than  ten  times  its  cost  at  time  of  pur- 
chase, and  Mr.  Pfeffermann  is  still  the  owner 
of  about  six  hundred  and  forty  acres. 

Albert  C.  Pfeffermann  was  educated  in  the 
public  schools  of  Illinois.  As  a  young  man  he 
applied  himself  to  farm  work  in  that  state 
until  1892,  when  he  came  with  his  parents  to 
Nebraska.  In  1894  Albert  C.  and  his  brother, 
Edward,  began  farming  on  the  home  place,  in 
Lincoln  township.  They  were  thus  associated 
one  year  and  Albert  C.  Pfeffermann  then  re- 
turned to  Illinois.  In  his  native  state  he  re- 
mained only  a  short  time,  however,  and  he 
then  came  again  to  Nebraska  and  to  the  home 
place  upon  which  he  now  resides. 

On  March  9,  1898,  Albert  C.  Pfeffermann 
was  united  in  marriage  to  Ada  Seabert,  of 
Livingston  county,  Illinois,  and  to  them  have 
been  born  five  children  —  Elma,  Floyd,  Dor- 
othy, Sadie,  and  Bernetta. 

Mr.  Pfeffermann  is  a  Republican  in  politics 
and  at  one  time  he  was  assessor  of  Lincoln 
township.  He  was  one  of  the  organizers  of 
the  Ellis  State  Bank,  in  1907,  and  is  now  vice- 
president  of  that  institution.  He  is  also  a 
stockholder  and  director  of  the  Farmers'  Ele- 
vator  Company   of   Ellis. 

THOMAS  C.  HAGERMAN  came  to  Gage 
county  forty  years  ago  and  has  here  won  sub- 
stantial success  through  his  long  and  energetic 
association  with  agricultural  and  live-stock  in- 
dustry, of  which  he  has  been  a  representative 
exponent  in  Filley  township,  where  he  owns  a 
well  improved  and  valuable  landed  estate  of 
eleven  hundred  and  twenty-five  acres  —  one 
of  the  best  farm  properties  in  this  part  of  the 
county-  Since  1910  he  has  lived  retired  in 
the  village  of  Filley,  where  he  owns  an  attrac- 
tive and  modern  residence  property,  the  fine 


modern  house  having  been  erected  by  him  at 
the  time  when  he  left  the  farm. 

Mr.  Hagerman  was  born  in  Washington 
county,  Maryland,  January  7,  1851,  and  is  a 
son  of  William  A.  and  Hettie  (Mickley)  Ha- 
german, both  natives  of  Pennsylvania,  the  lat- 
ter having  been  born  in  Adams  county,  near 
the  city  of  Gettysburg.  The  father  was  a 
brickmaker  by  vocation  in  earlier  years  but 
eventually  became  one  of  the  substantial  farm- 
ers of  Maryland,  where  both  he  and  his  wife 
passed  the  closing  years  of  their  lives.  Thom- 
as C.  Hagerman  was  reared  on  the  old  home 
farm  in  Maryland  and  is  indebted  to  the  public 
schools  of  his  native  county  for  his  early  edu- 
cational discipline.  In  1878,  as  a  young  man 
of  twenty-seven  years,  he  came  to  Gage  coun- 
ty, Nebraska,  and  purchased  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  of  raw  prairie  land  in  Filley  town- 
ship. Within  a  short  time  thereafter  he  re- 
turned to  Maryland,  but  in  1883  he  came  again 
to  Gage  county,  where  he  began  the  develop- 
ment and  improvement  of  his  farm.  A  few 
years  later  he  purchased  an  adjoining  tract 
of  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  and  after 
living  on  this  place  a  few  years  he  returned 
to  his  original  farm,  in  order  to  be  in  the  Fil- 
ley school  district  and  permit  his  children  to 
attend  the  village  schools.  He  continued  his 
vigorous  and  successful  operations  as  an  agri- 
culturist and  stock-grower  until  his  retirement 
to  the  village  of  Filley,  as  previously  noted, 
and  he  gave  special  attention  to  the  raising  of 
high-grade  swine,  in  which  department  of 
farm  enterprise  he  was  particularly  successful. 

In  the  year  1872  was  solemnized  the  mar- 
riage of  Mr.  Hagerman  to  Miss  Mary  Hutzell, 
who  likewise  was  born  and  reared  in  Mary- 
land, and  concerning  the  children  of  this  un- 
ion the  following  record  is  given.  Nannie  is 
the  wife  of  J.  J.  Williamson  and  they  reside 
near  Merriman,  South  Dakota;  Alice  became 
the  wife  of  E.  W.  Starlin,  and  is  now  de- 
ceased ;  Ada  is  the  wife  of  Earl  Norcross,  of 
Filley ;  Luther  resides  upon  and  has  charge  of 
the  old  home  farm,  the  maiden  name  of  his 
wife  having  been  Eva  Clark;  and  W.  C,  who 
married  Joyce  Clark,  resides  on  one  of  his 
father's   farms. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


719 


Mr-  Hagerman,  a  man  of  sterling  character 
and  marked  ability,  has  shown  distinctive  loy- 
alty and  public  spirit  as  a  citizen,  is  a  Repub- 
lican in  politics  and  is  serving,  in  1917-1918, 
as  mayor  of  the  village  of  Filley,  besides 
which  he  held  for  twelve  years  the  position  of 
member  of  the  school  board.  Both  he  and  his 
wife  are  earnest  members  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church. 

JOHN  G.  CARSTENS,  whose  excellent 
farm,  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  is  in 
Section  14,  Hanover  township,  is  a  progres- 
sive exponent  of  agricultural  and  live-stock 
industry  and  is  one  of  the  representative  citi- 
zens of  his  community.  He  was  born  in 
Adams  county,  Illinois,  September  12,  1873, 
and  is  a  son  of  George  and  Juliana  (Bauer) 
Carstens,  both  of  whom  were  born  in  Ger- 
many —  the  former  in  the  year  1828  and  the 
latter  on  the  22d  of  December,  1841.  Both 
passed  the  closing  years  of  their  lives  in  Gage 
county,  Nebraska,  where  the  father's  death  oc- 
curred in  October,  1909,  and  that  of  the  moth- 
er on  the  9th  of  February,  1917.  •  George 
Carstens  came  to  the  United  States  in  the 
year  1857  and  settled  in  Illinois.  After  hav- 
ing there  been  employed  for  a  time  as  a  farm 
hand  he  purchased  a  small  farm  in  Adams 
county,  and  he  continued  his  residence  in  Illi- 
nois until  1890,  when  he  came  with  his  family 
to  Nebraska  and  purchased  three  hundred  and 
twenty  acres  of  land  in  Gage  county.  He 
made  this  one  of  the  fine  farm  properties  of 
Hanover  township  and  continued  to  be  asso- 
ciated with  its  management  until  the  time  of 
his  death.  He  was  a  Democrat  in  his  politi- 
cal adherency  and  both  he  and  his  wife  were 
communicants  of  the  Lutheran  church.  Of 
their  eight  children  all  are  living  except  one: 
Minnie  is  the  wife  of  George  Ortgiesen,  a 
farmer  in  Franklin  county,  this  state ;  Richard 
is  now  a  resident  of  Madison  county ;  Herman 
is  engaged  in  farming  three  and  one-half  miles 
east  of  Beatrice ;  John  G.,  of  this  review,  was 
the  next  in  order  of  birth ;  Christopher  resides 
on  his  farm  in  Saline  county;  Paul  lives  on 
his  father's  old  homestead  farm  and  his  sister 
]\Iary  remains  with  him. 


John  G.  Carstens  acquired  his  youthful  edu- 
cation in  the  public  schools  of  Illinois  and  was 
sixteen  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  the  family 
removal  to  Nebraska.  On  the  old  home  place 
in  Hanover  township  he  continued  to  assist 
his  father  in  the  operation  of  the  farm  until 
he  was  twenty-four  years  of  age,  when  he  be- 
gan his  independent  operations  as  an  agricul- 
turist and  stock-grower,  a  field  of  industrial 
enterprise  in  which  his  success  has  been  on  a 
parity  with  the  energy  and  progressiveness 
that  have  marked  his  course. 

In  the  year  1899  Mr.  Carstens  wedded  Miss 
Maggie  Leners,  who  was  born  and  reared  in 
this  county  and  whose  parents  still  reside  on 
their  old  home  farm,  in  Logan  township.  Mrs. 
Carstens  is  a  daughter  of  John  Leners,  who 
was  born  in  Germany  and  who  came  to  Gage 
county  in  the  '70s,  becoming  one  of  the  pio- 
neer settlers  in  Logan  township.  Mr.  and 
Mrs-  Carstens  have  seven  children,  all  of  whom 
still  remain  members  of  the  gracious  home  cir- 
cle, namely:  Juliana,  Marie,  George,  John,. 
William,  Ranken,  and  Anna. 

A  loyal  supporter  of  measures  and  move- 
ments advanced  for  the  general  good  of  the 
community,  Mr.  Carstens  maintains  an  inde- 
pendent attitude  in  politics,  and  he  has  been 
called  upon  to  serve  as  township  assessor,  as- 
well  as  a  member  of  the  school  board  of  his. 
district.  He  has  made  many  excellent  im- 
provements on  his  farm,  including  the  erection 
of  an  attractive  house  of  modern  design  and 
appointments,  and  also  a  barn  that  meets  the 
requirements  of  an  up-to-date  farm,  this  lat- 
ter building  having  been  erected  in  1915. 

HARM  M.  DeBUHR.  —  From  East  Fries- 
land,  a  picturesque  district  in  the  extreme- 
northwestern  angle  of  the  province  of  Han- 
over, Germany,  have  come  an  appreciable  num- 
ber of  well  known  and  representative  citizens, 
of  Gage  county,  both  in  the  present  and  ear- 
lier generations.  In  that  district  of  Germany 
Harm  M.  DeBuhr  was  born  June  12,  1865, 
and  he  was  ten  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  the 
family  immigration  to  America.  The  gener- 
ous measure  of  his  achievement  is  demonstrat- 
ed in  his  ownership  of  a  fine  landed  estate  of" 


720 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


four  hundred  and  twenty  acres  in  Gage  coun- 
ty, and  his  attractive  homestead  farm  is  situat- 
ed in  Section  22,  Hanover  township.  He  is 
a  son  of  Menne  J.  and  Jennie  (Harms)  De- 
Buhr,  both  natives  of  Germany,  where  the 
latter  passed  her  entire  life.  Menne  DeBuhr 
was  born  December  30,  1822,  and  was  a  resi- 
dent of  the  state  of  lUinois  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  in  1887.  After  the  death  of  his  wife 
he  continued  to  be  identified  with  business 
enterprise  in  East  Friesland  until  1875,  when 
he  came  with  his  children  to  the  United  States 
and  established  a  home  in  Champaign  county, 
Illinois,  in  which  state  he  passed  the  remainder 
of  his  life,  he  having  been  a  wagonmaker  by 
tiade.  Of  the  five  children  three  are  living, 
the  subject  of  this  sketch  being  the  youngest ; 
Rixty  is  the  wife  of  George  E.  Zimmerman, 
of  Hanover  township,  who  is  individually  men- 
tioned on  other  pages ;  and  Antye  is  the  wife 
of  Martin  Hendricks,  a  farmer  in  Illinois. 
The  parents  were  lifelong  members  of  the 
Lutheran   church. 

Harm  M.  DeBuhr  gained  his  rudimentary 
education  in  his  native  land  and  was  ten  years 
old  when  he  accompanied  his  father  to  Amer- 
ica, his  educational  training  having  been  com- 
pleted in  the  public  schools  of  Illinois.  In 
that  state  he  continued  his  association  with 
farm  enterprise  until  1885,  when  he  came  to 
Nebraska  and  established  his  home  in  Gage 
county.  Here  he  farmed  on  rented  land  for 
nine  years,  and  he  then  purchased  eighty  acres 
in  Hanover  township,  after  having  accum- 
ulated sufficient  money  to  partially  pay  for 
the  same-  Later  he  sold  this  property  and 
purchased  his  present  homestead  place,  which 
then  comprised  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
and  to  which  he  has  gradually  added  until  he 
now  owns  a  valuable  farm  estate  of  four  hun- 
dred and  twenty  acres  in  Hanover  township. 
Mr.  DeBuhr  has  erected  good  farm  buildings 
on  his  homestead,  the  small  house  that  was  on 
the  place  when  he  purchased  the  property 
having  been  supplanted  by  a  commodious  and 
attractive  modern  residence,  and  scrupulous 
care  having  been  given  to  keeping  the  farm 
property  up  to  the  best  standard  throughout. 
\\'hilc   thus   furthering  through   well   directed 


industry  and  enterprise  his  personal  advance- 
ment, Mr.  DeBuhn  has  at  all  times  been  mind- 
ful of  his  civic  responsibilities  and  has  given 
his  cooperation  in  the  furtherance  of  those 
things  that  have  tended  to  conserve  the  gen- 
eral wellbeing  and  progress  of  the  commun- 
ity. He  is  independent  in  politics,  is  now 
serving  as  a  member  of  the  school  board  of 
his  district,  has  been  road  overseer  in  his  pre- 
cinct and  his  high  place  in  popular  confidence 
and  esteem  is  indicated  by  his  being  the  in- 
cumbent, in  1917-1918,  of  the  office  of  town- 
ship treasurer.  He  is  a  vigorous  and  success- 
ful exponent  of  agricultural  and  live-stock  in- 
dustry and  is  essentially  one  of  the  represen- 
tative citizens  of  Hanover  township.  He  and 
his  wife  are  zealous  communicants  of  the 
Lutheran  church. 

In  1889  Mr.  DeBuhr  wedded  Miss  Minnie 
Ehman,  whose  father,  the  late  William  Eh- 
man,  was  numbered  among  the  honored  pio- 
neers of  Gage  county,  adequate  data  concern- 
ing the  family  being  given  on  other  pages,  in 
the  record  concerning  Henry  W.  Ehman,  a 
brother  of  Mrs.  DeBuhr.  In  the  concluding 
paragraph  of  this  article  is  given  brief  record 
concerning  the  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  De- 
Buhr : 

Menne,  who  is  a  prosperous  farmer  in  Han- 
over township,  married  Miss  Katie  Walken, 
and  they  have  two  children.  Harm  and  Trinty ; 
William,  a  representative  farmer  of  the  young- 
er generation  in  Hanover  township,  wedded 
Johannah  Zimmerman ;  John  is  a  farmer  in 
Hanover  township  and  the  maiden  name  of  his 
wife  was  Bena  Huls ;  Henry,  Amka,  Jergen, 
Bernhard,  Trinty.  and  Martin  remain  at  the 
parental  home. 

FRANK  ^V.  MUMFORD  was  born  and 
reared  on  the  fine  old  homestead  farm  to  the 
management  of  which  he  is  now  giving  his  ef- 
fective attention,  the  same  comprising  three 
hundred  and  twenty  acres,  in  Section  4,  Logan 
township,  in  which  township  he  individually 
owns  also  eighty  acres  aside  from  the  undivid- 
ed family  estate.  He  is  a  scion  of  a  sterling 
pioneer  family  that  was  founded  in  Gage  coun- 
ty prior  to  the  admission  of  Nebraska  to  state- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


721 


hood,  and  to  his  father,  John  B.  Mumford,  a 
merited  tribute  is  paid  in  a  review  on  other 
pages   of  this  work. 

Frank  W.  Mumford  was  born  August  17, 
1868,  and  was  reared  under  the  conditions 
that  marked  the  early  pioneer  era  in  Gage 
county  history.  He  profited  by  the  advantages 
of  the  district  schools  of  the  locality  and  pe- 
riod, and  he  has  become  one  of  the  represen- 
tative exponents  of  agricultural  and  live-stock 
industry  in  his  native  township,  besides  which 
he  has  been  for  a  score  of  years  successfully 
identified  with  the  buying  and  shipping  of  live 
stock,  the  specific  executive  management  of 
this  enterprise  being  vested  in  his  partner, 
who  maintains  headquarters  in  the  village  of 
Pickrell.  In  the  early  days  Mr.  Mumford 
herded  cattle  on  the  open  prairies,  his  activi- 
ties in  this  line  having  been  initiated  when  he 
was  a  boy  and  having  continued  about  six 
years,  during  which  he  moved  the  cattle  about 
over  a  radius  of  many  miles.  He  has  re- 
tained the  deepest  interest  in  fine  live  stock  in 
the  varied  lines  and  he  and  his  cousin,  George 
L.,  are  associated  in  the  ownership  of  the  fine 
pacing  stallion,  "Budweiser,"  nine  years  old 
(1918),  sired  by  Roy  Nerval  and  the  dam 
by  Dr.  Vincent.  Mr.  Mumford  purchased  this 
animal  in  1913,  from  a  man  named  Bud 
Weiser,  at  Pickrell,  the  stallion  having  at  the 
time  been  in  service  on  a  rural  mail  route. 
The  new  owners  put  the  stallion  into  training 
and  in  the  first  year,  in  turf  competitions,  he 
won  eight  out  of  the  twelve  races  in  which  he 
was  entered.  In  the  season  of  1917,  at  Spring- 
field, Illinois,  he  made  a  record  of  2:07^. 

Mr.  Mumford  is  a  progressive  and  up-to- 
date  farmer,  is  a  Democrat  in  politics,  served 
four  years  as  assessor  of  Logan  township,  and 
for  twenty  years  as  school  director  of  his  dis- 
trict. 

December  18,  1895,  Mr.  Mumford  wedded 
Miss  Bertha  Hansbearry,  who  was  born  in 
Nemaha  county,  this  state,  and  they  have  three 
children  —  Luther  Warren,  Frank  Morris,  and 
John  William  Walter.  The  sons  are  attend- 
ing, in  1918,  the  public  schools  in  the  city  of 
Beatrice. 


FRED  D.  VAN  LIEW,  who  owns  and 
operates  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  in  Section  13,  Rockford  township,  was 
born  in  Jerseyville,  Illinois,  July  17,  1871. 
He  is  a  son  of  Fred  and  Elizabeth  (  Stout) 
\'an  Liew.  His  paternal  grandparents  were 
Jeremiah  and  Becky  Van  Liew,  who  became 
residents  of  Jerseyville,  Illinois,  when  the 
father  of  our  subject  was  about  seventeen 
years  of  age.  There  he  grew  to  manhood  and 
there  he  was  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits 
until  1879,  when  he  came  to  Gage  county, 
Nebraska,  and  purchased  two  hundred  acres 
of  land  one  mile  south  of  Beatrice,  in  River- 
side township.  Nine  years  later  he  moved 
to  Beatrice,  where  he  resided  until  his  death, 
at  the  age  of  seventy-two  years-  His  wife  al- 
so passed  away  in  Beatrice,  when  about  the 
same  age  as  was  her  husband  at  the  time  of 
his  death.  They  became  the  parents  of  seven 
children,  three  of  whom  died  in  childhood. 
The  four  surviving  children  are  John,  of 
Pawnee  county,  Nebraska;  Mrs.  J.  B.  Smith, 
of  Platte  City,  Missouri;  Fred  D.,  subject  of 
this  review ;  and  Frank,  of  Beatrice,  this  coun- 
ty- 

Fred  D.  Van  Liew  came  to  Gage"  county 
when  a  lad  of  seven  years.  Pioneer  condi- 
tions were  still  in  evidence  on  every  hand. 
Beatrice,  the  county  seat,  was  only  a  small 
village.  He  attended  school  in  Beatrice  and 
when  a  young  man  worked  by  the  month  on  a 
farm.  Then  for  four  years  he  was  employed 
in  the  mechanical  department  of  the  Atchison,. 
Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Railroad.  Five  years  ago 
he  purchased  his  present  farm,  to  the  improve- 
ment and  cultivation  of  which  he  is  devoting 
his  energies  with  good  success. 

Mr.  Van  Liew  chose  as  a  wife  and  helpmeet 
Miss  Jennie  Nemec,  a  native  of  Pawnee  coun- 
ty, Nebraska,  and  a  daughter  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Joseph  Nemec,  who  still  reside  in  that  county. 
The  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Van  Liem  has  been 
blessed  with  two  children  whose  names  are 
Frances  and  William-  The  parents  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Baptist  church. 

Mr.  Van  Liew  has  witnessed  many  changes 
ir  Gage  county  since  he  came  here  as  a  boy. 
Though  he  was  elsewhere  for  a  few  years,  he 


722 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


has  returned  to  devote  his  time  to  farming 
and  to  rear  his  children  in  the  county  where 
his  own  boyhood  days  were  passed. 

JOHN  L.  WILSON  is  an  honored  and  rep- 
resentative citizen  whose  memory  and  ex- 
perience touch  the  pioneer  conditions  and  ex- 
periences of  Gage  county  history,  and  he  re- 
sides on  his  fine  homestead  farm,  in  Section 
33,  Hanover  townshiy 

John  Leander  Wilson  was  born  in  Lawrence 
county,  Ohio,  December  24,  1846,  and  is  a  son 
of  John  and  Elizabeth  (Pethoud)  Wilson, 
the  former  a  native  of  Pennsylvania  and  the 
latter  of  Ohio.  As  a  young  man  John  Wil- 
son followed  the  trade  of  moulder  but  eventu- 
ally he  became  associated  with  agricultural 
industry  in  Ohio,  where  he  remained  until 
1858,  when  he  came  with  his  family  to  Ne- 
braska Territory  and  settled  in  Gage  county, 
as  one  of  the  earliest  pioneers  of  what  is  now 
Logan  township.  In  Section  4,  that  township, 
he  became  the  owner  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  of  land,  which  he  obtained  by  buying  a 
land  warrant  issued  by  the  government  to  a 
soldier  who  had  served  in  the  Mexican  war. 
John  Wilson  and  his  family  lived  up  to  the 
full  tension  of  frontier  life  and  eventually  he 
effected  the  reclamation  and  improvement  of 
his  pioneer  farm,  which  is  now  owned  by  the 
subject  of  this  review.  The  original  family 
domicile  was  a  primitive  log  house,  and  this 
was  utilized  several  years,  a  more  pretentious 
dwelling  being  then  provided.  John  Wilson 
here  continued  to  reside  until  his  death,  Oc- 
tober 26,  1867,  the  year  that  marked  the  ad- 
mission of  Nebraska  to  statehood,  and  his 
widow  attained  to  venerable  age,  her  death 
having  occurred  June  22,  1892,  both  having 
been  earnest  members  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal church.  This  revered  pioneer  couple 
became  the  parents  of  twelve  children  :  Mary, 
who  became  the  wife  of  Frederick  Hansen, 
died  in  1916,  her  home  having  been  in  the 
state  of  Iowa ;  Eliza  is  the  widow  of  Louis 
Graves  and  lives  in  Colorado;  John  L.,  im- 
mediate subject  of  this  sketch,  was  the  next  in 
order  of  birth;  Alexander  is  a  resident  of 
Colorado    and    Thomas    of    Oregon;    Sarah, 


whose  death  occurred  in  1907,  in  Missouri, 
was  the  wife  of  Oliver  Hansen;  Maria,  the 
wife  of  George  Gates,  died  in  1876;  Francis 
M.  was  a  resident  of  Brown,  Nemaha  county, 
Nebraska,  at  the  time  of  his  death ;  Andrew  J. 
is  a  resident  of  Clay  Center,  Kansas ;  James 
I.  maintains  his  home  at  Goldfield,  Colorado ; 
Joseph  died  in  Gage  county,  in  June,  1917, 
aged  fifty-two  years ;  Rebecca  is  the  wife  of 
James  William  Pell  and  they  reside  in  the 
state  of  Iowa. 

John  L.  Wilson  was  a  youth  of  eleven  years 
at  the  time  of  the  family  removal  to  the  wilds 
of  Nebraska  Territory  and  was  reared  under 
the  conditions  and  influences  of  the  pioneer 
farm  in  Gage  county,  the  while  he  attended 
the  primitive  schools  of  Gage  county  when  op- 
portunity offered.  The  years  1877  and  1878 
he  passed  in  freighting  operations  in  localities 
farther  to  the  west,  and  upon  his  return  to 
Gage  county  he  purchased  eighty  acres  of  land 
in  Section  23,  Hanover  township,  where  he 
has  since  maintained  his  residence  and  where 
he  has  developed  one  of  the  well  improved 
farm  estates  of  the  county,  as  a  successful 
agriculturist  and  stock-grower.  His  home 
farm  comprises  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
and  he  owns  also  the  old  homestead  farm  of 
his  father,  in  Logan  township,  this  place,  like- 
wise having  an  area  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres. 

In  the  year  1883  Mr.  Wilson  married  Misa 
Lucy  Wilson,  who  was  born  in  Ohio  and  is  a 
daughter  of  William  and  Elizabeth  (Steine) 
Wilson,  the  former  a  native  of  Maryland  and 
the  latter  of  Virginia.  From  Ohio  the  par- 
ents of  Mrs.  John  L.  Wilson  removed  to 
Iowa,  as  pioneers  of  that  state,  and  in  1881 
they  came  to  Gage  county  and  settled  in  Rock- 
ford  township,  where  they  passed  the  remain- 
der of  their  lives.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wilson  be- 
came the  parents  of  five  children,  of  whom 
two  died  in  early  childhood,  the  surviving 
children,  Lee,  Glenn,  and  Neola,  remaining 
at  the  parental  home  and  being  representatives 
of  the  third  generation  of  the  Wilson  family 
in  this  county. 

Mr.  Wilson,  though  he  has  passed  the  span 
of  three  score  years  and  ten,  is  still  vigorous 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA  723 


John  L.  Wilson 


"24 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


and  in  the  best  of  health,  has  no  desire  to  lay 
aside  the  labors  and  responsibilities  incidental 
to  the  management  of  his  farm,  and  continues 
to  take  vital  interest  in  community  atifairs. 
In  politics  he  is  aft  independent  Democrat,  and 
in  the  past  he  has  given  effective  service  as  a 
member  of  the  county  board  of  supervisors, 
as  well  as  the  board  of  trustees  of  Hanover 
township.  After  serving  forty  years  as  a 
member  of  the  school  board  of  his  district  he 
relinquished  the  office,  by  refusing  again  to 
appear  as  a  candidate  for  the  same.  There 
are  few  citizens  of  Gage  county  who  have 
lived  as  great  a  number  of  years  within  its 
borders  as  has  Mr.  Wilson,  and  he  has  con- 
tributed his  full  quota  to  civic  and  industrial 
progress  and  prosperity  in  this  now  favored 
section  of  the  state.  He  is  one  of  very  few 
remaining  territorial  pioneers  of  the  county, 
is  well  known  and  has  a  host  of  friends. 

CHARLES  W.  KING.  —  The  late  Charles 
Willis  King  was  born  in  Wayne  county,  Mich- 
igan, on  the  1st  of  December,  1824,  and  was  a 
son  of  C.  F.  and  Harriet  (Northrup)  King. 
He  attended  the  common  schools  of  l\Iichi- 
gan  and  was  a  boy  when  he  accompanied  his 
parents  to  Illinois,  the  family  home  being  es- 
tablished in  Rock  Island.  In  Illinois  Mr. 
King  was  reared  to  manhood,  and  there  was 
solemnized  his  marriage  to  ]\Iiss  Candace 
Stansell,  a  daughter  of  James  and  Catherine 
(Brittain)  Stansell,  natives  of  Michigan, 
where  Mrs.  King  was  born  July  31,  1849. 

Charles  Willis  King  farmed  in  Illinois  until 
1876,  when  he  came  with  his  family  to  Gage 
county,  Nebraska,  and  located  on  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres  of  wild  land  in  Filley 
township.  This  property  he  developed  into 
a  productive  farm  and  here  he  and  his  wife 
lived  for  many  years.  They  finally  sold  the 
farm  and  bought  land  near  Beatrice,  the  coun- 
ty seat.  There  they  remained  until  nine  years 
ago,  when  Mr.  King  sold  the  property  and 
moved  to  Beatrice,  where  he  established  his 
home  at  1015  Market  street.  He  was  in  very 
poor  health  at  the  time,  as  he  was  afflicted 
with  asthma,  lie  made  several  trips  to  Cali- 
fornia and  other  jjlaces  in  the  west  in  search 


of  health.  While  on  one  of  these  trips  Mr. 
King  purchased  some  land  in  Montana,  and 
this  his  widow  still  owns.  In  the  summer  of 
1915,  while  attending  to  his  affairs  in  Mon- 
tana, Mr.  King's  health  became  worse  and 
he  returned  to  Beatrice,  where  he  died  on  De- 
cember 12th  of  that  year. 

In  early  life  Mr.  King  was  a  member  of  the 
Methodist  church,  but  during  the  latter  years 
of  his  life  he  belonged  to  no  church  organiza- 
tion, though  he  always  held  family  prayers  in 
his  home  and  was  a  great  reader  of  his  Bible. 
He  was  a  good  Christian  man  and  was  very 
highly  respected  in  the  community  in  which 
he  lived. 

]\Ir.  and  Mrs.  King  became  the  parents  of 
twelve  children:  Chester  F.  resides  in  Fil- 
ley, this  county ;  Bertha  died  at  the  age  of 
nine  years;  Jesse  J.  is  a  farmer  in  Filley  town- 
ship; Lemuel  resides  in  Beatrice;  Charles  is 
a  farmer  in  Filley  township;  Fred  is  in  Mon- 
tana ;  Hattie  is  the  wife  of  Thomas  Armstrong, 
of  Beatrice;  Myrtle  is  the  wife  of  Oscar 
Wemm,  of  Beatrice ;  Edward  is  a  farmer  in 
Sherman  township  ;  Albert  resides  in  Beatrice ; 
Gertrude  died  at  the  age  of  three  years ;  and 
Daisy  died  at  the  age  of  two  years. 

Mrs.  Charles  W.  King  has  continued  to 
make  her  home  in  Beatrice  since  the  death  of 
her  husband,  and  is  a  noble  woman  who  is 
loved  and  esteemed  by  all  who  know  her.  She 
if-  a  member  of  the  Methodist  church. 

CHARLES  HENTGES  is  another  of  the 
honored  pioneer  citizens  who,  after  winning 
through  association  with  productive  farm  in- 
dustry a  large  measure  of  success,  has  found 
it  his  good  fortune  to  have  a  pleasant  home  in 
the  attractive  city  of  Beatrice,  where  in  re- 
tu-ement  from  active  labors  he  is  living  in  ease 
and  comfort,  secure  in  the  independence  that  is 
justly  his  due. 

Mr.  Hentges  is  a  native  of  the  historic 
Grand  Duchy  of  Luxemburg,  which  has  been 
at  different  periods  been  under  the  domination 
of  Germany,  Spain,  France,  Austria,  and  the 
Netherlands,  and  which  became  a  Belgian 
province  in  1830.  In  this  now  independent 
and  interesting  province  of  Europe  Mr.  Hent- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


ges  was  born  January  16,  1839,  a  son  of 
Matthias  and  Anna  Mary  (Stumpf)  Hentges, 
who  there  passed  their  entire  lives-  Reared 
and  educated  in  his  native  land,  Mr.  Hentges 
there  continued  his  residence  until  1869,  when, 
at  the  age  of  thirty  years,  he  immigrated  to 
the  United  States.  A  stranger  in  a  strange 
land,  but  well  endowed  with  ambition  and  self- 
reliance,  he  made  his  way  to  the  state  of  Illi- 
nois, where  he  found  employment  at  farm 
work,  at  wages  ranging  from  eighteen  to 
twenty  dollars  a  month.  After  being  thus  en- 
gaged four  years  he  rented  land  in  Livingston 
county,  that  state,  where  he  continued  inde- 
pendent farm  enterprise  until  1877,  when  he 
came  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  his  arrival  in 
Beatrice  taking  place  shortly  before  Christ- 
mas of  that  year.  In  thus  preparing  himself  to 
assume  pioneer  responsibilities  Mr,  Hentges 
brought  with  him  a  team  and  wagon,  a  few 
household  goods  and  fifty  dollars  in  money. 
He  was  accompanied  by  his  wife  and  their 
two  small  children,  and  it  may  well  be  under- 
stood that  without  delay  productive  activity 
became  imperative  on  his  part.  He  rented  a 
farm  in  Midland  township,  but  as  he  could 
not  gain  possession  of  either  the  house  or  the 
land,  he  and  his  family  installed  themselves 
in  an  old  shanty  in  the  vicinity.  This  flimsy 
shelter  was  soon  afterward  subjected  to  the 
forces  of  a  heavy  blizzard,  and  the  roof,  cov- 
ered merely  with  building  paper,  finally  be- 
came so  weighted  with  snow  that  it  fell  in, 
though  the  members  of  the  family  fortunately 
escaped  more  than  minor  injuries  through  the 
accident.  In  the  bleak  little  building  the  only 
fuel  obtainable  was  green  wood,  which  was 
burned  in  the  cook  stove,  and  Mr.  Hentges 
relates  as  one  of  his  experiences  at  this  time 
that  he  and  his  faithful  wife  would  each  take 
one  of  their  little  children  on  their  laps  and 
hold  the  tiny  feet  in  the  oven  of  the  stove  to 
keep  the  youngsters  warm.  Four  years  after 
coming  to  Gage  county  Mr.  Hentges  and  his 
brother  Nicholas  each  purchased  one  hundred 
acres  of  land  in  Hanover  township,  and  he 
then  turned  his  energies  to  breaking  the  raw 
prairie  and  bringing  the  land  under  cultiva- 
tion.    His  first  house  on  the  new  farm  was  a 


board  shanty  of  two  rooms,  and  this  continued 
to  be  the  family  domicile  for  six  years.  He 
then  made  an  appreciable  addition  to  the  build- 
ing and  with  increasing  prosperity  he  pur- 
chased an  additional  tract  of  one  hundred 
acres.  He  diligently  applied  himself  to  farm 
industry  on  this  place  for  ten  years,  at  the  ex- 
piration of  which  he  sold  the  property  and 
bought  a  well  improved  farm  in  Misland  town- 
ship. After  remaining  about  eight  years  on 
this  place  ]\Ir.  Hentges  and  his  wife  removed 
to  the  city  of  Beatrice,  where  he  has  since 
lived  practically  retired,  and  they  own  their 
attractive  home  property,  at  1503  Court  street. 
Mr.  Hentges  still  owns  a  valuable  farm  of 
two  hundred  and  forty  acres  in  Midland  town- 
ship, the  same  being  in  charge  of  his  sons, 
and  the  family  estate  includes  also  another 
farm,  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  in  the 
same  township,  the  same  having  been  pur- 
chased with  money  which  Mrs.  Hartges  in- 
herited from  her  father's  estate  in  Illinois. 

In  the  year  1871,  at  Pontiac,  Livingston 
county,  Illinois,  Mr.  Hentges  married  Miss 
Anna  Baumann,  on  whose  father's  farm  her 
husband  found  his  first  employment  upon  com- 
ing to  America.  Mrs.  Hentges  likewise  was 
born  in  Luxemburg,  Germany,  and  she  was  a 
child  at  the  time  her  parents  came  to  the 
United  States  and  settled  in  Illinois.  Mr. 
and  Airs.  Hentges  became  the  parents  of  five 
children,  the  first  born,  Anna,  having  become 
the  wife  of  Frederick  Winkle  and  their  home 
having  been  at  Beatrice  at  the  time  of  her 
death ;  Katie  is  the  widow  of  Hanson  Day, 
who  met  his  death  in  an  automobile  accident, 
in  the  summer  of  1917,  and  she  now  resides  in 
Beatrice;  Charles  and  Theodore  have  the  ac- 
tive management  of  their  father's  fine  farm  in 
Alidland  township  ;  and  Emma  is  the  wife  of 
John  Benton,  of  Midland  township.  Mr.  and 
Airs.  Hentges  point  with  justifiable  pride  to 
the  fact  that  they  now  (1918)  have  nine 
grandchildren  and  two  great-grandchildren. 
Both  are  devout  communicants  of  the  Catholic 
church  and  in  politics  he  gives  his  support 
to  the  cause  of  the  Democratic  party.  This 
venerable  couple  bore  their  full  share  of  hard- 
ships and  perplexities  in  the  pioneer  days.     In 


726 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


coming  to  Gage  county  from  Illinois  they 
brought  as  provisions  a  sack  of  beans  and  a 
quantity  of  ham.  They  extended  their  credit 
in  securing  two  bushels  of  wheat,  had  the 
same  ground  in  the  old  mill  at  Beatrice,  and 
these  meager  provisions  constituted  virtually 
the  entire  contents  of  the  family  larder  during 
the  first  winter  and  spring  —  until  Mr.  Hent- 
ges  could  raise  some  produce  on  the  farm 
which  he  rented.  In  the  early  days  the  re- 
vered pioneer  physician.  Dr.  Hufif,  attended  the 
Hentges  family  in  case  of  illness  and  as  there 
was  no  available  money  to  pay  his  moderate 
fees  the  doctor  kindly  consented  to  take  his 
pay  in  wheat.  Mr.  Hentges  retains  splendid 
mental  and  physical  vigor,  but  his  wife  is  in 
impaired  health,  as  she  has  endured  two 
strokes  of  paralysis.  Their  home  is  known 
for  its  generous  and  unpretentious  hospitality 
and  they  are  always  ready  to  extend  welcome 
to  their  host  of  friends,  especially  those  who 
with  them  endured  the  trials  of  the  pioneer 
days- 

HENRY  REMMERS  is  proving  himself 
one  of  the  vigorous  and  successful  exempli- 
fiers  of  farm  enterprise  in  his  native  county 
and  township,  and  has  made  excellent  im- 
provements on  his  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres,  in  Section  24,  Hanover  township, 
the  same  being  an  integral  part  of  the  landed 
estate  of  his  father,  Thomas  Remmers. 

Henry  Remmers  was  born  on  his  father's 
old  homestead  farm  in  Hanover  township,  and 
the  date  of  his  nativity  was  January  4.  1874. 
He  gained  his  youthful  education  in  the  local 
schools  and  continued  to  be  associated  with 
the  work  of  the  home  farm  until  he  attained 
to  his  legal  majority,  when  he  initiated  inde- 
pendent operations  on  his  present  farm,  on 
which  he  has  erected  a  modern  house  and 
more  recently  a  large  barn  of  the  best  type. 
His  political  support  is  given  to  the  Democra- 
tic party  and  he  and  his  wife  hold  member- 
ship in  the  Lutheran  church. 

In  1896  was  solemnized  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Remmers  to  Miss  Kate  Parde,  who  was 
born  in  Illinois,  and  whose  father,  William 
Parde,  is  made  the  subject  of  individual  men- 


tion on  other  pages  of  this  volume.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Remmers  have  eight  children,  Thomas, 
Matilda,  William,  John  Benjamin,  Henry, 
Heye,  Diedrick,  and  Alfred.  All  of  the  chil- 
dren remain  at  the  parental  home  except  the 
one  daughter,  who  is  the  wife  of  John  Bus- 
boom,  of  Logan  township. 

SAMUEL  H.  McKINNEY  was  born  at 
Lanora,  Kansas,  on  the  2d  of  May,  1885,  and 
is  a  son  of  William  and  Elizabeth  (Decker) 
McKinney.  William  McKinney  was  born  at 
Sandusky,  Ohio,  October  14,  1840,  and  is 
now  living  retired  in  the  city  of  Beatrice,  Ne- 
braska. His  wife,  who  was  born  at  Dayton, 
Ohio,  April  10,  1842,  was  about  forty-five 
years  of  age  at  the  time  of  her  death,  which 
occurred  at  Lanora,  Kansas.  The  parents  of 
William  McKinney  were  Thomas  E.  and 
Mary  (Adams)  McKinney,  the  former  having- 
been  of  Irish  and  the  latter  of  German  de- 
scent. They  came  from  their  native  countries 
to  the  United  States  when  they  were  young 
folk,  and  eventually  they  settled  in  Buchanan 
county,  Iowa,  five  miles  distant  from  the  site 
of  the  present  fine  little  city  of  Independence. 
On  his  father's  farm  in  Iowa  William  McKin- 
ney grew  to  manhood,  and  he  was  a  youth  of 
nineteen  years  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  war. 
His  youthful  loyalty  and  patriotism  were  not 
long  to  lack  definite  expression,  for,  on  the 
11th  of  August,  1862,  he  enlisted  in  Company- 
H,  Twenty-seventh  Iowa  Volunteer  Infantry, 
with  which  he  went  forth  in  defense  of  the 
L'nion.  After  serving  six  months,  he  received 
an  incidental  injury,  at  Memphis,  Tennessee, 
and  was  discharged  for  disability.  On  his  re- 
covery he  again  enlisted,  this  time  in  Company 
D,  Forty-seventh  Iowa  Volunteer  Infantry. 
At  the  expiration  of  his  one  hundred  days'  en- 
listment he  received  an  honorable  discharge, 
at  Davenport,  Iowa,  and  returned  to  his  old 
home  in  Buchanan  county.  There  he  was  en- 
gaged in  farming  until  1876,  when  he  removed 
to  Norton  county,  Kansas,  remaining  there 
until  he  came  to  Nebraska,  about  thirty  years 
ago.  He  settled  in  Beatrice,  where  he  has 
since  resided.  His  wife  died  before  he  left 
Kansas,  leaving  a  family  of  seven  children,  all 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


727 


but  one  of  whom,  Axie,  the  eldest  daughter, 
are  living.  William  A.  resides  in  Beatrice, 
Nebraska;  Nancy  Edith  is  the  wife  of  Wil- 
liam ]\Ioore,  of  North  Platte,  Nebraska;  Earl, 
a  Methodist  minister,  resides  at  Edmonton, 
Canada ;  L.  L.  is  a  farmer  near  Logan,  Ne- 
braska ;  Charles  A.  is  a  resident  of  Beatrice ; 
and  Samuel  H-,  subject  of  this  review,  is  su- 
perintendent of  the  Gage  county  poor  farm, 
Three  of  these  sons,  Earl,  L.  L.,  and  Charles 
A.,  saw  service  in  the  Philippine  war.  Their 
father,  who  is  now  blind  and  receives  a  pen- 
sion of  thirty-six  dollars  a  month  from  the 
government,  resides  with  his  son,  Charles,  in 
Beatrice. 

Samuel  H.  McKinney  spent  his  early  years 
on  a  farm.  His  educational  advantages  were 
few  and,  added  to  this  seeming  misfortune,  his 
mother  died  when  he  was  only  three  years  of 
age.  Sometimes,  however,  by  our  very  lack 
of  those  things  which  seem  most  desirable  we 
are  being  fitted  for  our  place  in  life.  When 
Mr.  McKinney  took  charge  of  the  Gage  coun- 
ty poor  farm,  in  March,  1917,  his  former  life 
had  peculiarly  trained  him  for  the  position. 
His  sympathies  had  been  broadened  by  the 
privations  of  his  childhood,  and  his  efficiency 
in  handling  the  material  side  of  his  work  had 
been  developed  by  his  service  of  seven  years 
as  custodian  of  the  Beatrice  National  Bank 
Building,  at  Beatrice,  this  county,  where  his 
work  was  so  satisfactory  that  no  complaint 
was  ever  entered  during  the  entire  time  of  his 
service.  For  the  two  years  following  this, 
and  immediately  prior  to  entering  upon  his 
present  duties,  he  had  charge  of  the  largest 
cell  rooms  in  the  Canyon  City  prison  in  Colo- 
rado, where  he  had  under  his  care  three  hun- 
dred prisoners.  In  this  way  he  was  enabled 
to  know  at  first  hand  the  modern  methods  of 
caring  for  a  public  institution.  His  work 
here  also  was  so  satisfactory  as  to  be  com- 
mended by  Warden  John  Cleghorn.  At  the 
Gage  county  poor  farm,  which  consists  of  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres,  and  which  houses 
about  fourteen  inmates  at  the  present  time, 
\lr.  McKinney  has  seen  the  lack  of  many  con- 
veniences which  he  feels  the  public  owes  to 
those    unfortunate    enough    to    be    made    its 


charges.  For,  as  he  says,  "The  nation,  state, 
and  county  provide  quite  comfortable  quarters 
for  those  who  by  their  own  acts  of  wilfulness 
have  been  taken  in  charge  and  confined  in 
prisons  and  jails  as  punishment  for  crimes 
committed.  Why  should  the  public  not  be 
willing  to  make  comfortable  the  unfortunate 
ones  who,  not  by  choice,  but  often  from  cir- 
cumstances not  of  their  own  making,  are 
obliged  to  be  inmates  of  alms  houses?"  It 
is  largely  due  to  his  influence  that  as  many  of 
the  improvements  as  the  community  feels  able 
to  provide  are  now  being  made. 

On  August  27,  1903,  in  Cheyenne,  Wyom- 
ing, Mr.  McKinney  wedded  Miss  Emma  Jane 
Dillon,  daughter  of  Zecharia  and  Nannie 
(Harper)  Dillon  who  now  reside  at  Benton 
City,  Missouri.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  McKinney 
have  four  children :  Harry  William,  Pearl 
Etta,  Thomas  Wallace,  and  Ralph  Emerson. 
His  wife  is  a  member  of  the  Baptist  church, 
and  Mr.  McKinney  is  a  Master  Mason,  a 
member  of  Beatrice  Lodge,  No.  26.  It  need 
not  be  repeated  that  any  man  capable  of  filling 
the  position  occupied  by  I^Ir.  McK-irjtiey  is 
of  value  in  any  community. 

JOHN  FOSSLER,  JR.,  is  the  owner  of  a 
well  improved  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  in  Section  10,  Logan  township,  and 
stands  representative  of  the  energy  and  pro- 
gressiveness  that  make  for  substantial  success 
in  connection  with  the  basic  industries  of  agri- 
culture and  stock-growing.  On  other  pages 
adequate  record  concerning  the  family  is  given 
in  the  sketch  of  the  career  of  his  father,  John 
Fossler,  Sr. 

Mr.  Fossler  was  born  in  Germany,  on  the 
1st  of  December,  1866,  and  was  about  one 
year  old  at  the  time  of  the  family  immigration 
to  the  LTnited  States,  his  mother,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Ehe  Jansen  Liiken,  having 
died  six  weeks  after  the  family  home  had  been 
established  in  the  state  of  Missouri,  within  a 
short  time  after  arrival  in  this  country.  The 
infant  son  John,  of  this  review,  was  taken  in- 
the  home  which  the  father  had  established. 
After  the  lapse  of  a  few  years  the  father  con- 
tracted a  second  marriage  and  when  the  son 


728 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


was  about  seven  years  old  he  was  taken  into 
the  home  of  which  the  father  had  estabhshed. 
It  was  a  singular  condition  that  came  into  evi- 
dence at  this  juncture,  for  in  thu  mterval  of 
separation  the  boy  had  learned  the  German 
dialect  spoken  by  the  family  by  which  he  had 
been  reared  to  that  age  and  the  same  was  so 
different  from  that  spoken  by  his  father  that 
he  was  not  able  to  understand  the  latter's 
conversation.  He  was  seven  years  old  when 
he  accompanied  his  father  to  Nebraska  and 
remained  at  the  home  in  Nemaha  county  until 
he  had  attained  to  the  age  of  seventeen  years, 
when  he  came  with  his  father  to  Gage  county, 
his  education  in  the  meanwhile  having  been 
that  afiforded  in  the  common  schools.  His  in- 
dependent activities  as  a  farmer  in  Gage  coun- 
ty began  by  his  effecting  a  Scully  lease,  and 
with  success  attending  his  well  directed  ener- 
gies he  finally  purchased  his  present  farm, 
upon  which  he  has  made  good  improvements. 
In  local  affairs  he  is  not  restricted  by  partisan 
lines,  as  he  gives  his  support  to  men  and 
measures  that  meet  the  approval  of  his  judg- 
ment, but  for  president  he  votes  for  the  Re- 
publican candidate.  He  and  his  wife  hold 
membership  in  the  Hanover  Lutheran  church. 
April  11,  1890,  recorded  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Fossler  to  Miss  Gretje  Leners,  who  was 
born  in  Hancock  county,  Illinois,  August  1, 
1871,  and  whose  parents  removed  to  Gage 
county  in  1878,  she  having  here  been  reared 
and  educated;  of  her  father,  Renken  Leners, 
special  mention  is  made  elsewhere  in  this  vol- 
ume. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fossler  have  five  chil- 
dren: John,  who  is  engaged  in  farming  in 
Hooker  township,  married  Miss  Sophie  Rade- 
macher;  Amanda  is  the  wife  of  John  Rade- 
macher.  likewise  a  farmer  in  that  township; 
and  Renken,  Ehe  Emma  and  Etta  Mary  are 
the  younger  members  of  the  parental  home 
■circle. 

GEORGE  1!.  REYNOLDS  is  another  of 
the  venerable  and  revered  pioneers  who  have 
played  a  worthy  part  in  the  development  and 
progress  of  Gage  county,  where  his  activities 
have  included  both  mercantile  enterprise  and 
fp.nn  industry,  ami  since  I'W  he  has  lived  in 


well  earned  retirement,  his  pleasant  home  be- 
ing at  1005  Market  street  in  the  city  of  Be- 
atrice. He  came  to  Gage  county  in  the  year 
following  that  of  the  admission  of  Nebraska 
to  statehood,  and  in  all  the  long  intervening- 
years  he  has  here  stood  exponent  of  the  best 
type  of  citizenship. 

Mr.  Reynolds  was  born  in  Sullivan  county, 
New  York,  August  19,  1834,  his  parents  hav- 
ing been  pioneer  settlers  of  that  section  of  the 
Empire  state,  where  his  father  reclaimed  ,i 
productive  farm  from  the  forest.  Mr.  Rey- 
nolds is  a  son  of  Andrew  and  Catherine  ( Van 
Benschoten)  Reynolds,  both  likewise  natives 
of  the  state  of  New  York,  the  latter  having 
been  a  daughter  of  Garrett  Van  Benschoten, 
who  was  a  scion  of  one  of  the  sturdy  Holland 
Dutch  families  early  founded  in  that  common- 
wealth and  who  was  a  valiant  soldier  of  the 
Continental  line  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution. 
The  parents  of  Mr.  Reynolds  passed  the  clos- 
irig  period  of  their  lives  on  their  old  home- 
stead, in  Fallsburg  township,  SulHvan  county, 
where  the  father  died  in  1876,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-four  years,  and  the  mother  in  the  fol- 
lowing year,  at  the  age  of  eighty-three  years, 
both  having  been  members  of  the  Baptist 
church.  The  subject  of  this  review  is  the 
youngest  son  in  a  family  of  five  sons  and 
three  daughters,  and  is  the  only  member  of  the 
family  now  living.  Dr.  H.  M.  Reynolds,  of 
whom  specific  mention  is  made  on  other  pages, 
,vas  a  member  of  the  townsite  company  that 
founded  the  now  vital  and  prosperous  city  of 
Beatrice,  Nebraska. 

In  the  common  schools  of  his  native  county 
George  B.  Reynolds  acquired  his  earlier  edu- 
cation, which  was  supplemented  by  higher 
academic  study  in  a  well  ordered  institution 
at  Bethany,  Pennsylvania.  He  was  an  ambi- 
tious student  and  at  the  age  of  eighteen  years 
he  began  teaching  in  the  schools  of  his  native 
state,  his  pedagogic  service  having  continued 
during  several  winter  terms  of  school- 
On  the  28th  of  December,  1858,  was  solem- 
nized the  marriage  of  Mr.  Reynolds  to  Miss 
Stella  B.  Sherwood,  who  likewise  was  a  native 
of  Sullivan  county.  New  York,  where  she  was 
born  .\ngust  22,   1837,  the  eldest  daughter  of 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


"29 


Bradley  B.  and  Eliza  (Burr)  Sherwood,  na- 
tives of  Connecticut  and  early  settlers  of  Sul- 
livan county.  New  York.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sher- 
wood came  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  about 
1880,  and  both  passed  the  closing  years  of 
their  lives  at  Beatrice,  Mrs.  Sherwood  having 
been  past  seventy  years  of  age  at  the  time  of 
her  death  and  her  husband  having  lived  to  be 
more  than  eighty  years  of  age. 

After  his  marriage  Mr.  Reynolds  continued 
his  residence  in  his  native  county  until  the 
autumn  of  1868,  when,  in  company  with  his 
wife  and  two  sons  he  came  to  Nebraska  and 
numbered  himself  as  one  of  the  pioneer  mer- 
chants of  Beatrice.  In  the  capital  town  of 
Gage  county  he  built  up  a  large  and  pros- 
perous general  merchandise  business,  and  this 
he  conducted  until  1883,  having  in  the  mean- 
while taken  up  a  homestead  of  eighty  acres 
and  having  perfected  his  title  to  the  same,  this 
property  being  that  on  which  the  thriving  vil- 
lage of  Cortland  is  now  established.  Upon 
retiring  from  the  mercantile  business  Mr. 
Reynolds  purchased  an  unimproved  farm  of 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  in  Section  15, 
Lincoln  township,  and  he  reclaimed  this  land, 
made  the  best  of  improvements  on  the  place 
and  there  continued  his  activities  as  a  progres- 
sive agriculturist  and  stock-grower  for  seven- 
teen years.  He  purchased  the  property  for 
twelve  and  one-half  dollars  an  acre  and  in 
1900  sold  the  same  for  one  hundred  and  twenty 
dollars  an  acre.  In  the  latter  year  he  and  his 
wife  removed  to  Beatrice,  where  he  has  since 
lived  retired,  and  the  supreme  loss  and  be- 
reavement in  his  life  came  when  his  devoted 
companion,  who  had  been  his  true  helpmeet 
for  more  than  half  a  century,  passed  to  the  life 
eternal,  Mrs.  Reynolds'  death  having  occurred 
February  2,  1915,  and  her  memory  resting  as 
a  benediction  upon  all  who  had  come  within 
the  compass  of  her  gentle  and  gracious  influ- 
ence. She  was  a  devout  member  of  the  Pres- 
byterian church,  of  which  her  husband  likewise 
has  been  an  active  member  for  many  years. 
Of  their  six  children  only  one  is  now  living, 
Stella  E.,  who  is  the  widow  of  Harry  Davis 
and  who  now  remains  with  her  father  in  their 
pleasant  home  in  Beatrice. 


In  politics  Mr.  Reynolds  was  for  many 
years  affiliated  with  the  Republican  party,  but 
in  later  years  he  has  given  his  allegiance  to 
the  Democratic  party.  Under  the  old  super- 
visor system  he  represented  Lincoln  township 
on  the  county  board  of  supervisors,  and  he 
served  one  term  as  city  treasurer  of  Beatrice. 
His  earnest  desire  to  further  true  democratic 
government  led  him  to  identify  himself  with 
the  Farmers'  Alliance  and  the  People's  Inde- 
pendent party  during  the  period  when  these 
organizations  were  influential  in  the  west.  He 
has  lived  and  labored  to  goodly  ends  and  may 
look  back  with  satisfaction  upon  a  career 
marked  by  earnest  and  worthy  endeavor. 

DORR  D.  BRAINARD.— One  of  the 
younger  men  of  Gage  county  who  has  won  a 
place  in  the  business  circles  of  his  community 
is  Dorr  D.  Brainard,  manager  of  an  undertak- 
ing and  furniture  business  at  Odell,  Nebraska. 
A  native  of  Seward  county,  Nebraska,  he  was 
born  September  8,  1880.  His  parents,  Everett 
and  Eliza  (Osborne)  Brainard,  were  natives 
of  Galesburg,  Illinois,  and  came  to  Seward 
county  in  1880.  They  cast  in  their  lot  with 
the  pioneers  of  that  county,  where  Mr.  Brain- 
ard was  a  successful  farmer  until  he  retired. 
They  still  make  their  home  in  the  county. 

Dorr  D.  Brainard  was  reared  on  a  farm  in 
his  native  county,  and  after  attending  the 
country  school  he  continued  his  studies  in 
the  Tamora  high  school.  Mr.  Brainard's  ini- 
tial work  in  the  business  world  was  as  a  clerk 
for  S.  R.  Anstine,  with  whom  he  remained 
three  years.  He  then  gave  his  attention  to 
farming  until  1909,  when  he  became  a  clerk 
for  W-  W.  S'cott,  of  Beatrice,  Nebraska,  where 
he  was  employed  for  five  years  and  learned  all 
the  phases  of  the  business.  On  April  14,  1914, 
Mr.  Brainard  was  called  to  take  charge  of  the 
business  of  Henry  Kasparek,  at  Odell,  Mr. 
Kasparek  having  passed  away  on  the  8th  day 
of  that  month.  Mr.  Brainard  demonstrated 
his  ability  to  such  an  extent  that  his  services 
have  since  been  retained  as  manager  of  the 
business.  He  is  thoroughly  familiar  with 
every  detail  of  the  furniture  business,  and  the 
concern  by  which  he  is  employed,  as  well  as 


730 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


the  community  he  serves,  has  profited  by  his 
abihty  in  his  chosen  field.  The  finest  automo- 
bile hearse  in  Gage  county  is  the  one  owned 
by  Mrs.  Kasparek,  and  it  is  called  to  serve  a 
wide  territory  in  the  southwest  part  of  Gage 
county. 

Mr.  Brainard  was  united  in  marriage  to 
Miss  Jeanette  Atherton,  of  Winfield,  Kansas. 
She  lived  at  Wilber,  Nebraska,  at  the  time  of 
her  marriage.  She  and  her  husband  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Methodist  church  and  he  is  a 
member  of  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America. 

CHARLES  HUGHES  is  a  member  of  that 
sterling  contingent  of  retired  farmers  living  in 
the  city  of  Beatrice  and  has  been  a  resident  of 
Gage  county  for  nearly  thirty  years, —  a  state- 
ment that  indicates  clearly  that  he  is  entitled 
to  pioneer  honors. 

Mr.  Hughes  was  born  in  New  York  city, 
September  18,  1857,  a  son  of  Henry  and  Isa- 
bella (Suffers)  Hughes,  the  former  a  native 
of  the  old  Empire  state  and  the  latter  of  the 
city  of  Glasgow,  Scotland.  The  subject  of 
this  review  was  a  child  when  his  parents  re- 
moved to  Illinois  and  settled  in  Will  county, 
where  he  was  reared  to  adult  age  and  where 
he  was  afforded  the  advantages  of  the  public 
schools.  In  1879  he  came  to  Gage  county, 
Nebraska,  and  purchased  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  of  land  in  Filley  township,  not  the 
least  improvement  having  been  made  on  the 
place  and  the  survey  of  the  township  having 
not  yet  been  completed.  Applying  himself 
with  characteristic  energy  and  nerve,  Mr. 
Hughes  made  each  successive  year  count  in 
the  improving  of  his  farm  property  and  in 
making  his  well  ordered  farm  enterprise  pro- 
ductive of  returns.  He  developed  one  of  the 
valuable  farms  of  Filley  township,  and  in  later 
years  gave  much  attention  to  stock-raising  in 
connection  with  his  agricultural  activities- 
When  he  came  to  the  county,  Filley  township 
was  traversed  by  no  railroad  and  the  present 
city  of  Beatrice  was  but  a  small  village.  Mr. 
Hughes  remained  on  his  farm  until  1912,  since 
which  time  he  has  lived  practically  retired  in 
the  city  of  Beatrice,  where  he  and  his  wife 
have    an    attractive    home,    at    601    Eleventh 


street.  He  is  the  owner  of  two  farms, —  two 
hundred  acres  in  Logan  township  and  two 
hundred  and  forty  in  Filley  township.  He  is 
a  stockholder  of  the  Beatrice  State  Bank  and 
is  one  of  the  substantial  citizens  of  the  county, 
a  man  who  has  achieved  success  through  his 
own  well  directed  endeavors.  His  politiaal 
support  is  given  to  the  Republican  party  and 
he  is  affiliated  with  the  Independent  Order  of 
Odd  Fellows  and  Benevolent  &  Protective 
Order  of  Elks. 

In  1886  Mr.  Hughes  wedded  Miss  Ada 
Cowen,  who  was  born  in  Illinois,  a  daughter 
of  the  late  John  and  Ruth  Cowan.  She  came 
to  Gage  county  in  1876,  with  her  mother,  and 
settled  in  Filley  township.  The  venerable 
mother  now  lives  in  Johnson  county.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Hughes  have  but  one  child,  Frank  D., 
who  is  serving  as  deputy  clerk  of  the  district 
court  of  Gage  county:  he  married  Miss  Inez 
Sloneger  and  they  have  one  child,  Ruth  Eliza- 
beth. 

JOHN  LE  POIDEVIN,  retired  farmer,  of 
Odell,  Nebraska,  is  one  of  the  old  pioneers 
of  Nebraska  and  Gage  county.  The  present 
generation  is  enjoying  the  fruits  of  the  labors 
of  the  early  men  and  women  who  came  to  till 
the  soil  and  build  the  villages  and  cities.  These 
men  struggled  and  labored  with  nature,  to 
wrest  from  her  the  treasures  of  wheat  and 
corn  and  to  give  to  their  posterity  broad  and 
fertile  lands  to  till.  One  of  these  men  who 
braved  the  hardships  of  pioneer  days  is  John 
Le  Poidevin.  He  was  born  April  19,  1842, 
on  the  island  of  Guernsey,  in  the  English 
Channel,  England,  and  is  the  son  of  Job  and 
Rachel  (Cohn)  Le  Poidevin.  (See  Thomas 
Le  Poidevin  sketch  in  this  volume  for  the 
family  history.) 

The  early  years  of  Mr-  Le  Poidevin's  life 
were  spent  on  a  farm,  where  he  was  con- 
tinuously learning  the  art  and  industry  of 
agriculture,  thus  fortifying  himself  for  the 
duties  and  responsibilities  of  later  life.  In 
1868  he  came  to  Beatrice,  Nebraska,  where  he 
worked  as  a  laborer.  It  was  here,  March  19, 
1873,  he  married  Ophelia  A.  Martin.  After 
their  marriage,  these  two  young  persons,  with 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


^31 


hearts  full  of  hope  and  courage,  took  a  home- 
stead in  Saline  county  and  began  to  develop 
this  tract  of  unbroken  prairie.  They  remained 
on  this  homestead  fifteen  years,  and  then,  in 
1888,  they  purchased  from  the  government 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  on  the 
Otoe  Indian  reservation,  later  buying  an  ad- 
ditional forty  acres  and  bringing  the  total 
area  up  to  two  hundred  acres.  They  improv- 
ed this  land,  building  their  house,  barns,  fences 
and  outbuildings,  and  soon  had  the  pleasure  of 
seeing  acres  of  waving  grain  where  formerly 
wide  stretches  of  prairie  had  been.  Mr.  Le 
Poidevin  specialized  in  Chester  White  hogs. 
They  retired  from  active  farming  in  1913  and 
moved  to  Odell,  where  Mr.  Le  Poidevin  owns 
a  pleasant  home.  Mrs.  Le  Poidevin  shared 
in  all  of  the  labors  of  her  husband  and  her 
untiring  energy  and  helpfulness  at  all  times 
made  it  possible  for  him  to  be  successful  in  his 
work.  She  was  born  in  Essex,  New  York, 
December  3,  1855,  and  came  to  Beatrice  in 
1870.  Hiere  she  lived  with  her  brother  until 
she  married  John  Le  Poidevin.  Her  death 
occurred  September  11,  1916.  Ten  children 
were  born  to  this  union  as  follows:  Lillie  B. 
and  Alfred,  both  deceased ;  Clem,  who  married 
Nellie  Zugmier  and  lives  in  Glenwood  town- 
ship;  Mrs.  Minnie  M-  Showers,  of  Odell; 
Phoebe  A.,  wife  of  W.  Zugmier,  of  Odell; 
Etta,  who  died  in  infancy;  Bertha  R.,  who  is 
deceased ;  Herbert,  who  is  farming  in  Glen- 
wood township;  Job  E.  who  married  Hazel 
Edington,  and  is  farming  the  old  homestead 
of  his  father;  and  Grace,  who  is  the  wife  of 
O.  Martin,  of  Lincoln,  Nebraska. 

The  Democratic  party  receives  the  support 
of  Mr.  Le  Poidevin.  He  has  sought  no  politi- 
cal honors,  but  devoted  his  entire  time  to  his 
farm  and  family.  He  is  a  shareholder  in 
grain-elevator  and  lumber  company  of  Odell 
and  is  a  citizen  who  has  given  of  his  life  to 
the  creation  of  a  great  agricultural  community. 

JOSEPH  SHALLA.—  The  farmers  of  our 
nation  are  the  men  who  constitute  the  basic 
element  in  our  industrial  and  commercial  life. 
Joseph  Shalla,  a  farmer  of  Barneston  town- 
ship, owns  five  hundred  and  eighty  acres  of 


land,  well  improved  and  in  a  high  state  of 
cultivation,  and  is  bearing  his  share  of  the  re- 
sponsibilities incidental  to  providing  the  neces- 
sities of  life.  He  has  a  farm  that  is  well  im- 
proved with  a  comfortable  house  and  the  vari- 
ous buildings  requisite  for  the  care  of  his  live- 
stock and  agricultural  products.  Mr.  Shalla 
was  born  December  28,  1866,  in  Iowa  county, 
Iowa,  the  son  of  Vencil  and  Barbara  Shalla. 
For  a  complete  history  of  this  farmily  see 
John  Shalla  sketch  in  another  portion  of  this 
volume. 

In  1876  Joseph  Shalla's  parents  established 
their  home  in  Gage  county  and  in  this  locality 
they  reared  their  children.  Joseph  attended 
the  district  school  and  when  he  reached  man- 
hood he  continued  his  alliance  with  farm  in- 
dustry. In  1890  he  purchased  eighty  acres  of 
land,  and,  in  consonance  with  his  means  and 
opportunities,  he  has  since  added  to  his  land 
until  he  is  now  the  owner  of  five  hundred  and 
eighty  acres  of  land  in  Barneston  township- 

In  1888  Joseph  Shalla  married  Miss  Emma 
Roch,  a  daughter  of  John  Roch,  who  was  an 
early  settler  of  Saline  county  and  who  later, 
in  1887,  took  up  his  residence  upon  a  farm  in 
Gage  county.  His  daughter  Emma  was  born 
in  Saline  county,  and  continued  her  education 
in  Gage  county,  where  was  solemnized  her 
marriage  to  Mr.  Shalla  and  they  are  the  par- 
ents of  four  children :  Bessie,  the  first  born, 
is  now  the  wife  of  William  Phlhal,  who  is  a 
farmer  in  Liberty  township.  Next  in  order 
is  Emma,  who  is  the  wife  of  Fred  Wier,  a 
farmer  of  Liberty  township.  Elsie  and  Mabel 
are  still  under  the  parental  roof  and  doing 
their  share  of  the  home  duties. 

Mr.  Shalla  was  brought  up  in  the  Catholic 
church,  in  which  he  has  been  a  communicant 
all  these  years,  and  his  children  attend  the 
Baptist  Sunday  school.  The  Republican  party 
receives  the  vote  of  Mr.  Shalla  and  he  is  a 
progressive  farmer  who  has  won  success  in 
life  by  dint  of  hard  labor  and  faithfulness  to 
work. 

CHARLES  C.  GAFFORD,  M.  D.,  was  the 
first  physician  to  locate  in  what  is  now  the 
city  of  Wymore,  Gage  county.     Dr.   Gafford 


732 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


was  born  at  Des  Moines,  Iowa,  February  23, 
I860,  a  son  of  James  and  Dorcas  (Sherwood) 
Gafford,  natives  of  Maryland  and  New  York, 
respectively.  The  marriage  of  the  parents 
was  solemnized  in  Ohio,  and  the  father  there- 
after was  engaged  in  the  furniture  and  under- 
taking business  in  Des  Moines,  Iowa ;  Indian- 
apolis, Indiana ;  and  Hiawatha,  Kansas.  He 
died  in  Kansas,  at  the  age  of  eighty-four 
years,  and  his  wife  was  seventy-two  years  of 
age  when  she  was  called  to  her  final  rest.  Dr. 
Charles  C.  Gafford  was  one  of  a  family  of 
eleven  children  and  his  boyhood  days  were 
spent  largely  at  Hiawatha,  Kansas,  where  he 
attended  the  public  schools.  He  prepared 
for  his  profession  at  the  Keokuk  Medical  Col- 
lege, Keokuk,  Iowa,  in  which  institution  he 
was  graduated  in  1881.  In  that  year  he  came 
to  Wymore,  then  a  new  town,  and  here  he 
had  the  distinction  of  becoming  the  first  physi- 
cian and  surgeon  of  the  vital  little  village, 
which  has  been  developed  into  a  fine  commun- 
ity. 

Dr.  Gafford  has  taken  a  keen  interest  in  all 
civic  affairs  of  the  community  and  has  served 
as  mayor  of  Wymore.  In  1887-1888  he  repre- 
sented Gage  county  in  the  lower  house  of  the 
state  legislature,  in  which  he  served  as  chair- 
man of  the  committee  on  asylums.  Along 
strictly  professional  lines  he  is  a  member  of 
the  American  Medical  Association,  the  Gage 
County  Medical  Society  and  the  International 
Association  of  Railroad  Surgeons.  For  thir- 
ty-six years  Dr.  Gafford  has  been  division 
surgeon  for  the  Burlington  Railroad,  and  this 
is  a  longer  continuous  service  than  that  of  any 
other  Burlington  surgeon  west  of  the  Missouri 
river. 

Dr.  Gafford  married  Miss  Mary  Fenton, 
a  native  of  New  York.  They  have  one  child. 
Miss  Grace. 


JACOB  TAYLOR.  —  The  late  Jacob  Tay- 
lor was  born  in  Lancashire,  England,  Septem- 
ber 3,  1827,  a  son  of  John  and  Ann  (Green- 
halgh)  Taylor,  who  spent  their  entire  lives  in 
their  native  land,  as  did  all  of  their  ten  chil- 
dren except  their  son  Jacob,  the  honored  sub- 
ject of  this  memoir.     Jacob  Taylor  acquired 


his  education  in  the  schools  of  his  native  land 
and  as  a  young  man  he  there  learned  the  car- 
penter's trade,  under  the  instruction  of  his 
father.  Later  he  became  a  machinist  and  as 
such  he  was  employed  until  he  came  to 
America.  He  sailed  from  Liverpool  on  the 
15th  of  October,  1858,  and  after  a  voyage  of 
six  weeks  he  landed  at  New  Orleans.  Going 
from  there  to  Peoria,  Illinois,  he  stayed  for  a 
time  with  an  uncle,  John  Greenhalgh,  and  then 
proceeded  to  Wyoming,  Stark  county,  Illinois. 
His  financial  resources  at  the  time  were 
summed  up  in  the  amount  of  about  sixty  dol- 
lars. He  became  a  successful  farmer  and  the 
owner  of  a  valuable  Illinois  farm.  In  1876 
he  came  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  where  he 
invested  in  land,  his  older  son  coming  here 
and  taking  charge  of  the  property.  In  1882 
Mr.  Taylor  came  with  his  family  to  this 
county  and  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits  in 
Sicily  township.  Later  he  retired  to  Wymore. 
There  he  built  the  large  house,  opposite  the 
old  Touzalin  Hotel,  and  in  this  pleasant  home 
he  and  his  wife  spent  the  remaining  years  of 
their  lives. 

In  England  was  solemnized  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Taylor  to  Miss  Alice  Howarth,  and  they 
became  the  parents  of  seven  children  —  Mrs. 
John  L.  Dawson,  of  Wymore ;  Mrs.  J.  E. 
Kelly,  of  University  Place,  Nebraska ;  Edwin, 
residing  in  Elk  county,  Kansas ;  Albert,  of 
Kansas  City,  Missouri ;  Sherman,  of  Wymore ; 
John,  of  Lincoln,  Nebraska ;  and  James,  de- 
ceased. 

Mr.  Taylor  possessed  those  sterling  quali- 
ties of  character  that  won  for  him  many 
friends,  all  of  whom  held  him  in  the  highest 
esteem.  He  displayed  keen  discrimination  in 
business,  and  became  a  man  of  affluence,  own- 
ing over  one  thousand  acres  of  land  in  Gage 
county.  He  voted  the  Republican  ticket  and 
took  an  active  interest  in  the  political,  social, 
and  educational  welfare  of  the  county,  where 
members  of  his  family  still  reside  and  are  up- 
holding the  honors  of  the  name. 

GEORGE  W.  REIFF.— The  day  of  the 
unskilled  farmer  has  passed  and  the  day  of 
the  educated  farmer  has  dawned.     The  farm- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


733 


Jacob  Taylor 


734 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


er  of  to-day  and  of  the  future  must  be  familiar 
with  the  latest  and  most  improved  methods 
of  intensive  cultivation  and  animal  husbandry, 
besides  giving  a  businesslike  management  of 
his  debits  and  credits.  Such  a  one,  who  has 
received  the  education  necessary  to  carry  on 
his  farming  operations  in  a  businesslike  man- 
ner, is  George  ReifT,  of  Section  26,  Rockford 
township. 

Mr.  Reiff  was  born  in  Woodford  county, 
Illinois,  December  28,  1882,  and  is  the  son  of 
Andrew  and  Catherine  (Mast)  Reiff.  Andrew 
Reiff  was  born  August  4,  1855,  and  died  June 
11,  1911.  His  wife  was  born  January  1,  1860, 
and  is  a  daughter  of  Abraham  and  Barbara 
(Apple)  Mast. 

Andrew  Reiflf  was  a  son  of  Joseph  Reifif, 
who  was  a  farmer  in  Illinois  and  Gage  county, 
as  well.  He  owned  considerable  land  in 
Gage  county  and  died  at  Beatrice.  Andrew 
Reiff  was  married  in  Illinois  to  Catherine 
Mast  and  for  a  number  of  years  farmed  eighty 
acres  of  land  there.  After  selling  this  proper- 
ty, in  1884,  he  came  to  Gage  county  and  pur- 
chased two  hundred  acres  of  land  in  Rockford 
township,  from  Esquire  Alberts.  From  time 
to  time  he  purchased  more  of  the  fertile  land, 
imtil  he  owned  one  thousand  acres.  On  the 
farm  where  he  resided  he  built  a  beautiful 
home  and  it  is  surrounded  with  evergreens, 
making  the  cool  shade  in  summer  and  break- 
ing the  "northwester"  of  the  winter.  His 
widow,  at  the  present  time,  lives  in  Beatrice. 
They  were  the  parents  of  five  children,  as  fol- 
lows: Frank  was  killed  December  11,  1912  by 
a  tree  which  he  was  felling:  his  widow,  Maude 
(Shock)  Reifif  and  their  two  children,  Eunice 
and  Andrew,  reside  in  Beatrice;  George  W. 
is  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  William  lives 
north  of  Holmesville;  Alice,  is  the  wife  of 
Joseph  Nickey,  living  in  Monticello,  Minne- 
sota, a  farmer,  also  a  graduate  of  an  agri- 
cultural college ;  Pearl  is  at  home  with  her 
mother,  in  Beatrice. 

Andrew  Reifif  had  started  life  with  prac- 
ti:ally  nothing  and  at  his  death  was  a  man  of 
wealth,  gained  through  his  industry  and 
carefulness  in  every  detail.     His  religious  faith 


was  that  of  the  Dunkard  church  and  in  politics 
he  was  a  Republican. 

George  Reiff  was  educated  in  the  education- 
al institutions  of  Gage  county,  graduating  in 
the  district  school  and  also  the  Northwestern 
Business  College  at  Beatrice.  His  education 
was  rounded  out  by  his  attending  the  Ne- 
braska Agriculutural  College,  at  Lincoln. 

February  5,  1908,  Mr.  Reifif  was  married  to 
Clara  Lewis,  who  was  born  March  26,  1885, 
in  Richardson  county,  Nebraska.  She  is  a 
daughter  of  John  and  Anna  (Williams)  Lewis, 
who  are  farming  in  Blue  Springs  township, 
where  they  located  after  coming  from  Yates 
Center,  Kansas. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Reii?  are  the  parents  of  one 
child,  Grace,  born  in  1912.  They  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Methodist  church  and  attend  the 
services  in  Holmesvile.  Mr.  Reifif  votes  the 
Republican  ticket.  His  farming  operations, 
in  Section  26,  Rockford  township,  are  along 
general  lines  with  the  exception  of  the  full 
blooded  Rhode  Island  Red  poultry  which  he 
raises  and  of  which  he  is  justly  proud. 

L.  L.  McKEEVER,  who  is  engaged  in 
general  farming  in  Sicily  township,  was  born 
in  Woodford  county,  Illinois,  May  22,  1874, 
and  is  a  son  of  J.  H.  and  Harriet  (Burley) 
McKeever. 

J.  H.  McKeever  was  born  in  Kirkville, 
Ohio,  and  removed  to  Woodford  county, 
Illinois,  in  1866,  in  company  with  his  wife  and 
their  two  children.  At  the  outbreak  of  the 
Civil  war  Mr.  McKeever  enlisted  in  an  Ohio 
regiment  of  volunteers  and  served  four  years, 
leaving  his  wife  and  two  children  at  home 
while  he  was  thus  gallantly  serving  in  de- 
fense of  the  nation's  integrity.  After  the  war 
Mr.  McKeever  was  engaged  in  farming  in 
Woodford  county,  Illinois,  until  1882,  when 
he  came  to  Nebraska  with  team  and  covered 
wagon  and  settled  on  one  hundred  and  twenty 
acres  of  land  which  he  had  purchased,  in  what 
is  now  Section  33,  Sicily  township.  This  land 
he  bought  from  a  Mr.  McGinnis,  who  had 
homesteaded  it.  Later  he  bought  additional 
land,  and  at  one  time  he  owned  four  hundred 
and    twenty    a~res    in    this    county.     In    1893 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


'35 


Mr.  and  Mrs-  McKeever  retired  and  moved 
to  Wymore,  Nebraska,  where  they  Hved  until 
the  death  of  Mrs.  McKeever,  which  occurred 
in  1915.  Afterward  Mr.  McKeever,  not  car- 
ing to  live  alone,  went  to  the  National  military 
home  at  Leavenworth,  Kansas,  where  he  now 
resides.  He  was  one  of  Gage  county's  early 
settlers  and  highly  respected  citizens.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  McKeever  were  the  parents  of  six 
children,  the  first  two  having  been  born  in 
Ohio  and  the  others  in  Illinois :  Charles  is 
living  in  Arkansas ;  Ida  resides  in  Colorado ; 
Mary  died  September  2,  1894;  L.  L.  is  the 
subject  of  this  review;  and  Laura  is  the  wife 
of  Thomas  Sipe,  of  Colorado. 

L.  L.  McKeever  came  to  Nebraska  with  his 
parents  as  a  child  and  has  passed  most  of  his 
life  on  the  farm  which  is  now  his  home.  He 
received  his  early  education  in  the  public 
schools  of  Gage  county  and  has  always  fol- 
lowed farming.  Mr.  McKeever  chose  as  his 
wife  Miss  Lettie  Clarridge,  of  Fairfield,  Iowa. 
Mrs.  McKeever  is  a  daughter  of  Mace  and 
Louise  Clarridge,  who  were  born  in  Ohio  and 
passed  the  closing  years  of  their  lives  in  Iowa, 
where  the  father  was  a  successful  farmer  and 
honored  pioneer.  Mr.  and  Mrs-  McKeever 
have  had  five  children,  of  whom  those  living 
are :  Helen,  Lester,  Ross,  and  Raymond. 

Eighteen  years  ago  Mr.  McKeever  came 
into  possession  of  the  home  farm,  on  which 
he  has  since  lived.  This  is  one  of  the  finest 
farms  in  Sicily  township,  well  improved  and 
equipped  with  a  good  house  and  other  excel- 
lent farm  buildings.  Mr.  McKeever  is  a 
Republican,  but  holds  no  political  office,  de- 
voting his  entire  time  to  his  farm,  on  which 
he  is  making  a  success.  He  is  affiliated  with 
the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows  and 
both  he  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the 
adjunct  organization,  the  Daughters  of  Re- 
bekah. 

LENHARD  KOENIG.— One  of  the  fine 
landed  estates  of  Blakely  township  is  that 
owned  by  Mr.  Koenig,  the  same  comprising 
two  hundred  acres  and  being  eligibly  situated 
in  Section  15,  about  six  miles  distant  from  the 
city  of  Beatrice.     He  is  one  of  the  energetic 


and  successful  agriculturists  of  Gage  county 
and  is  a  substantial  and  popular  citizen  special- 
ly entitled  to  recognition  in  this  work.  The 
fifth  in  order  of  birth  of  the  nine  children  of 
Theodore  and  Margaret  Koenig,  Lenhard 
Koenig  was  born  in  Maryland,  on  the  12th 
of  September,  1870.  His  father  was  born  in 
Germany  and  came  to  America  when  fourteen 
years  of  age.  He  became  a  skilled  workman 
at  the  cooper's  trade  and  followed  the  same  in 
Maryland  for  a  long  term  of  years.  In  1877 
he  came  with  his  family  to  Gage  county  and 
here  he  purchased  a  pioneer  farm  in  Blakely 
township.  He  reclaimed  his  land  to  cultiva- 
tion, made  good  improvements  on  the  place 
and  there  continued  his  activities  until  1890, 
when  he  removed  to  Montana.  There  he  con- 
tinued operations  as  a  farmer  until  his  death, 
in  1907,  at  the  age  of  seventy-nine  years.  His 
widow  still  resides  in  Montana  and  is  a  devout 
communicant  of  the  Lutheran  church,  as  was 
also  Mr.  Koenig  himself,  both  having  aided 
in  organizing  the  church  of  this  denomination 
in  Blakely  township. 

Lenhard  Koenig  was  a  lad  of  about  seven 
years  at  the  time  of  the  family  removal  to 
Gage  county,  where  he  was  reared  on  the 
pioneer  farm  and  where  his  early  educational 
advantages  were  those  afforded  in  the  district 
schools.  He  gained  first  knowledge  of  all  details 
of  farm  work  and  thus  fortified  himself  well 
for  his  independent  activities  of  later  years. 
At  the  age  of  twenty-eight  years  Mr.  Koenig 
married  Miss  Hannah  Buss,  who  was  born  in 
Adams  county,  Illinois,  and  who  is  a  daughter 
of  Henry  G.  Buss,  a  sterling  Gage  county 
pioneer  of  whom  mention  is  made  elsewhere 
in  this  volume.  Mr.  Koenig  purchased  his 
present  farm  in  1905  and  upon  the  same  he  has 
made  extensive  improvements,  so  that  it  con- 
stitutes one  of  the  model  places  of  Blakely 
township.  He  has  been  one  of  the  world's 
vigorous  and  indefatigable  workers  and 
through  his  well  directed  energies  has  achiev- 
ed definite  and  well  merited  prosperity,  the 
while  he  has  so  ordered  his  course  as  to  re- 
tain the  unqualified  confidence  and  respect  of 
his  fellow  men,  his  wife  having  been  his  de- 
voted helpmeet  in  all  that  this  gracious  scrip- 


736 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


tural  term  implies.  He  is  one  of  the  leading 
stockholders  of  the  farmers  co-operative  ele- 
vator company  at  Hoag  and  is  serving  as  a 
director  of  the  same.  Though  he  has  mani- 
fested no  ambition  for  political  office  of  any 
kind  he  gives  loyal  support  to  the  cause  of 
the  Democratic  party  and  as  a  citizen  shows 
a  true  sense  of  the  stewardship  that  personal 
success  involves.  He  and  his  wife  have  seven 
children,  all  of  whom  remain  at  the  parental 
home,  namely:  Lydia,  Dora,  Martha,  Theo- 
dore, Albert,  Lenhard,  Jr.,  and  Helen. 

ELMER  E.  CHAMBERLIN  was  born  in 
New  York  state,  February  8,  1861,  and  is  a 
son  of  William  and  Nancy  Maria  (Carswell) 
Chamberlin.  William  Chamberlin  was  born 
January  10,  1824  in  New  York  state,  his 
father,  Andrew  Chamberlin,  having  been  born 
in  New  Jersey  and  having  eventually  settled 
in  New  York,  where  he  followed  agricultural 
pursuits  until  his  death.  His  son  William 
was  reared  and  educated  in  the  old  Empire 
state  and  took  unto  himself  as  his  wife  Nancy 
Maria  Carswell,  a  daughter  of  David  and 
Martha  Carswell,  natives  of  New  York  state, 
where  they  spent  their  lives,  as  representatives 
of  agricultural  enterprise.  William  Chamber- 
lin and  his  wife  were  well-to-do  farming  folk 
and  gave  their  sons  and  daughters  good  edu- 
cational advantages.  William  passed  away 
January  23,  1890,  and  his  wife,  born  April  21, 
1828,  was  laid  to  rest  January  30,  1892.  Seven 
children  were  born  to  them,  five  of  whom  are 
living,  as  follows :  Mary  is  the  wife  of  H.  R- 
Cleveland,  a  retired  farmer  living  in  Minne- 
apolis, Minnesota;  Elmer  E.  is  the  immediate 
subject  of  this  sketch;  James  married  May 
Terry  and  is  farming  in  Blue  Springs  township : 
they  have  two  children  Marguerite  and  Fran- 
cis; Francis,  next  in  order  of  birth  of  the  chil- 
dren, is  unmarried  and  is  a  school  teacher  at 
Phoenix,  Arizona ;  Charles  is  a  wealthy  retired 
farmer  living  at  Salem,  New  York. 

Elmer  Chamberlin  was  reared  and  educated 
in  New  York  state,  attending  the  rural  schools 
and  supplementing  this  discipline  by  attending 
Washington  Academy,  at  Salem.  New  York. 
In   1885  he  came  to  Gage  county,  Neliraska, 


and  rented  land,  having  practically  no  finan- 
cial reserve  but  unbounded  faith  in  himself 
and  the  land  he  was  tilHng.  For  ten  years  he 
continued  renting  and  then,  in  1895,  he  pur- 
chased the  nucleus  around  which  his  further 
acquisitions  of  land  have  gathered,  until  he 
h  now  the  owner  of  nine  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  in  Blue  Springs  township,  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  in  Rockford  township  and  a 
section  of  land  in  Canada. 

July  11,  1888,  Mr.  Chamberlin  married  Anna 
I.  Tobyne,  who  was  born  in  Gage  county,  a 
daughter  of  James  Tobyne. 

In  the  years  that  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chamberlin 
have  been  increasing  their  land  holdings,  sons 
and  daughters  have  grown  up  around  them 
and  they  have  given  all  of  them  the  best  of 
educations.  Two  have  graduated  from  Nebraska 
University  and  the  three  younger  are  now  at- 
tending the  same  institution.  They  are  as  fol- 
lows :  Warren  E.,  born  in  April,  1889,  is  farm- 
ing some  of  his  father's  land  in  Blue  Springs 
township;  William,  born  in  1891,  is  teller  of 
the  City  National  Bank,  Lincoln,  Nebraska; 
Guy  is  athletic  coach  at  Lexington,  Nebraska ; 
Francis  and  Ramona  (twins)  and  Truman  are 
attending  the  L^niversity  of  Nebraska  at  the 
time  of  this  writing. 

Mr.  Chamberlin  has  devoted  his  time  and 
energies  to  farm  enterprise  and  has  never 
sought  any  political  office.  He  is  an  independ- 
ent Republican  in  politics  and  he  and  his  wife 
are  members  of  the  ^Methodist  church  at  Blue 
Springs ;  they  are  valued  members  of  their 
community. 

LLOYD  L.  STROUGH  is  one  of  the  enter- 
prising farmers  of  the  younger  generation  in 
Holt  township,  where  he  is  giving  his  atten- 
tion to  agricultural  and  live-stock  industry  on 
a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  of 
which  he  owns  eighty  acres,  in  Section  33- 
He  was  born  in  Holt  township,  this  county,  on 
the  26th  of  February,  1883,  and  is  a  son  of 
John  and  Sarah  (Bowers)  Strough,  of  whom 
mention  is  made  on  other  pages  of  this  work. 

Lloyd  L.  Strough  was  reared  on  the  old 
homestead  farm  which  is  his  present  place  of 
residence  and  progressive  activities  as  a  farm- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


737 


cr,  and  in  addition  to  having  received  the  ad- 
vantages of  the  district  schools  and  the  pubHc 
schools  at  Beatrice  he  also  completed  an  ef- 
fective course  in  the  Beatrice  Business  College. 
He  initiated  his  independent  career  as  a 
farmer  shortly  after  attaining  his  legal  ma- 
jority. He  rented  land  from  his  father  and 
in  1917  he  purchased  from  the  latter  eighty 
acres  of  his  present  well  improved  farm.  In 
addition  to  his  successful  agricultural  enter- 
prise, he  is  proving  very  successful  also  as  a 
breeder  and  grower  of  Poland-China  swine. 
His  political  allegiance  is  given  to  the  Repub- 
lican party  and  he  and  his  wife  hold  member- 
ship in  the  Methodist  church. 

On  the  27th  of  November,  1907,  Mr.  Strough 
wedded  Miss  May  Rhodes,  who  was  born  in 
Pawnee  county,  this  state,  a  daughter  of 
Julius  Rhodes,  who  is  one  of  the  substantial 
farmers  of  that  county.  ]\Ir.  and  Mrs.  Strough 
have  two  children, —  Keith  and  Lauren. 

GEORGE  W.  NICHOLAS.— Though  Mr. 
Nicholas  is  now  serving  as  postmaster  of  the 
village  of  Dewitt,  Saline  county,  he  is  entitled 
to  recognition  in  this  history,  for  not  only 
is  he  a  native  of  Gage  county  and  a  repre- 
sentative of  one  of  its  sterling  pioneer  families 
but  is  also  the  owner  of  a  fine  farm  on  Sec- 
tion 30,  Grant  township,  his  farm  being  about 
one  and  one-half  miles  distant  from  the  vil- 
lage of  Dewitt,  where  he  resides  and  is  a 
prominent  and  influential  citizen. 

Mr.  Nicholas  was  born  on  the  old  home- 
stead farm  of  his  father,  in  Grant  township, 
Gage  county,  and  the  date  of  his  nativitiy  was 
March  29,  1870.  He  was  the  fifth  in  order 
of  birth  of  the  family  of  Robert  and  Mary 
Ann  (Plucknett)  Nicholas,  of  whom  a  record 
will  be  found  on  other  pages  of  this  volume- 
George  W.  Nicholas  gained  his  early  educa- 
tion in  the  pioneer  schools  which  his  father 
aided  in  organizing  in  Grant  township,  and 
his  independent  career  as  a  farmer  was  ini- 
tiated when  his  father  gave  him  a  farm  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty  acres,  a  property  which  he 
still  owns,  and  upon  which  he  continued  his 
successful  activities  as  an  agriculturist  and 
stock-grower   until    1903.     He   then    removed 


to  Dewitt  and  engaged  in  the  buying  and 
shipping  of  live  stock,  in  which  he  continued 
for  ten  years.  In  1915,  Mr.  Nicholas  was  ap- 
pointed postmaster  of  Dewitt,  which  position 
he  still  holds.  He  has  given  a  most  effective 
administration,  and  from  the  Dewitt  postoffice, 
service  is  now  given  on  four  rural  free-de- 
livery routes.  In  politics  Mr.  Nicholas  is  a 
stalwart  advocate  and  supporter  of  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  Democratic  party,  and  he  has 
been  influential  in  its  affairs  in  Gage  and 
Saline  counties.  He  has  served  four  years  as 
village  treasurer  of  Dewitt  and  has  been  spe- 
cially active  and  liberal  in  support  of  measur- 
es advanced  for  the  general  good  of  the  com- 
munity. He  and  his  wife  are  communicants 
of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  church,  and  he  af- 
filiates with  the  ^Masonic  fraternity,  the  Mo- 
dern Woodmen  of  America,  and  the  Ancient 
Order  of  L'nited  Workmen.  It  is  worthy  of 
note  that  Mr.  Nicholas  had  the  distinction  of 
killing  the  last  deer  that  appeared  within  the 
borders  of  Gage  county, — in  1883. 

On  September  12,  1894,  was  solemnized  the 
marriage  of  Mr.  Nicholas  to  Miss  Agnes  I. 
Aloore,  who  was  born  in  Jones  county,  Iowa, 
and  whose  parents,  Thomas  and  Louisa  (Mil- 
ligan)  Moore,  removed  from  that  state  to 
Gage  county,  Nebraska,  in  1882.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Nicholas  became  the  parents  of  two  children; 
George  W.  and  Wallace  ]M.  the  latter  of  whom 
died  in  childhood ;  George  W.,  Jr.,  was  gra- 
duated in  the  Beatrice  high  school  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  class  of  1912,  and  was  one  of  the 
foremost  players  on  its  football  team.  He  is 
now  assisting  his  father  by  his  efficient  ser- 
vices as  deputy  postmast  at  Dewitt. 

JAMES  P.  SAUNDERS.— The  metewand 
by  which  are  gauged  personal  ability  and  pop- 
ularity will  find  no  indirection  or  obscurity 
of  application  when  brought  to  bear  in  the 
determining  of  the  status  of  James  P.  Saun- 
ders, who,  served  from  1916  until  the  spring  of 
1918  as  mayor  of  the  city  of  Beatrice.  This 
former  chief  executive,  who  gave  such  admir- 
able administration  of  the  municipal  govern- 
n:ent  of  the  Gage  county  metropolis,  is  a 
citizen  who  has  here  maintained  his  home  for 


738 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


thirty-eight  years  and  who  has  staged  his  var- 
ious productive  activities  —  as  a  business  man 
and  as  a  pubhc  official  —  in  such  a  way  as  to 
inure  greatly  and  conspiciously  to  the  further- 
ance of  civic  and  material  development  and 
progress  in  the  city  and  county  in  which  he 
justly  claims  pioneer  honors.  He  has  held 
various  local  offices  of  public  trust  and  as 
mayor  stood  exponent  of  those  vital  and  pro- 
gressive policies  that  inevitably  conserve  the 
best  interests  of  the  community. 

A  scion  of  the  staunchest  of  colonial  New 
England  stock,  Mr.  S'aunders  reverts  with  a 
due  measure  of  pride  to  the  fact  that  he  can 
claim  the  old  Pine  Tree  state  as  the  place  of 
his  nativity.  He  was  born  in  Hancock  county, 
]\Iaine,  on  the  2d  of  September,  1852,  and  is  a 
son  of  Thaddeus  S.  and  Eliza  Jane  (Doyle) 
Saunders.  Born  and  reared  in  Maine,  Thad- 
deus S.  Saunders  there  learned  the  trade  of 
ship  carpenter  and  became  thus  actively  as- 
sociated with  the  maritime  interests  of  his 
native  commonwealth.  In  the  little  seaport  city 
of  Kittery,  Maine,  he  worked  at  his  trade  in 
the  United  States  navy  yard  during  the  clim- 
acteric period  of  the  Civil  war,  and  in  this 
connection  it  is  interesting  to  record  that  he 
assisted  in  the  construction  of  the  historic 
battleship  "Kearsarge."  In  1867  Mr.  Saund- 
ers removed  with  his  family  to  Bradford,  Stark 
county,  Illinois,  and  there  he  continued  to  fol- 
low the  trade  of  carpenter  until  his  death,  at 
the  age  of  fifty-eight  years.  His  widow  long 
survived  him  and  about  1882  came  with  one 
of  her  daughters  to  join  her  son  James  P.,  of 
this  review,  in  Nebraska,  where  she  lived  to 
attain  to  the  venerable  age  of  eighty-two  years, 
her  death  having  occurred  at  Lodgepole, 
Cheyenne  county.  Of  the  seven  children  five 
attained  to  maturity,  and  of  this  number  three 
sons  and  one  daughter  are  now  living- 
James  P.  Saunders  is  indebted  to  the  public 
schools  of  his  native  state  for  his  preliminary 
educational  discipline,  which  was  then  supple- 
mented by  his  attending  a  seminary  at  Bucks- 
port.  He  was  a  lad  of  about  fifteen  years  at 
the  time  of  the  family  removal  to  Illinois,  and 
there  he  worked  with  his  father  at  the  car- 
penter's trade  until  he  could  provide  ways  and 


means  for  acquiring  higher  academic  school- 
ing. This  he  achieved  by  entering  Lombard 
College,  at  Galesburg,  Illinois,  and  in  this  in- 
stitution he  continued  his  studies  two  years. 
For  the  ensuing  two  years  he  found  employ- 
ment in  connection  with  the  bridge  department 
of  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Ouincy  Railroad, 
and  he  devoted  the  major  part  of  his  time 
during  the  next  four  years  to  the  reading  of 
law,  in  the  office  and  under  the  preceptorship 
of  Benjamin  F.  Thompson,  of  Bradford,  Il- 
linois. The  ambition  of  the  embryo  lawyer 
led  him  then  to  come  to  the  west  with  the  de- 
termination to  apply  for  admission  to  the  bar 
of  Nebraska.  In  the  year  1880  Mr.  Saunders 
arrived  in  Beatrice,  which  was  then  little  more 
than  a  straggling  frontier  village,  and  here  he 
entered  the  law  office  of  Bush  &  Rickards, 
where  he  continued  his  technical  studies  about 
one  year.  He  then  initiated  his  service  in  con- 
nection with  public  affairs  in  Gage  county  by 
accepting  a  position  in  the  office  of  the  county 
clerk  and  recorder,  J.  E.  Hill  being  the  county 
clerk  at  the  time.  A  year  later  Mr.  S'aunders 
became  associated  with  the  abstract  office  and 
business  of  John  Ellis,  and  about  two  years 
thereafter  he  identified  himself  with  the  Gage 
County  Abstract  Company,  in  which  connec- 
tion he  compiled  an  entire  new  and  complete 
set  of  abstract  books  and  made  the  record 
effectively  and  authoritatively  cover  the  entire 
county.  With  this  company  he  continued  his 
connection  until  1893  and  in  the  following  year, 
with  the  best  of  records  and  facilities,  he  es- 
tablished himself  independently  in  the  abstract 
business,  as  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Saunders 
&  Emery,  in  which  his  coadjutor  was  George 
E.  Emery.  To  this  successful  enterprise  Mr. 
Saunders  continued  to  give  his  attention  almost 
exclusively  until  1898,  when  he  was  elected 
city  treasurer,  an  office  of  which  he  continued 
the  incumbent  four  years  and  in  which  he  ably 
and  carefully  administered  the  fiscal  affairs 
of  the  city.  Thereafter  he  served  four  years 
as  deputy  county  treasurer,  and  it  is 
worthy  of  special  note  that  the  entire 
management  and  work  of  the  office 
were  reposed  in  him  during  this  in- 
terval, as  the  regular  incumbent  of  the  office 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


'39 


of  treasurer  gave  virtually  no  attention  to  the 
executive  details  of  the  office.  After  his  re- 
tirement from  this  responsible  position  Mr. 
Saunders  resumed  his  activities  in  the  abstract 
business,  and  to  the  same  he  gave  his  time 
until  popular  appreciation  of  his  character  and 
ability  brought  him  again  into  public  service, 
by  his  election  to  the  office  of  mayor  of  Beat- 
rice in  the  year  1916.  With  characteristic  loyal- 
ty and  vigor  Mr.  Saunders  gave  effective  ad- 
ministration in  the  position  of  mayor  of 
Beatrice,  and  under  his  regime  many  improve- 
ments were  effected  in  the  public  utilities  and 
other  departments  of  the  municipal  govern- 
ment. 

The  political  allegiance  of  Mr.  Saunders  has 
never  swerved  and  he  has  been  active  and  in- 
fluential in  the  local  councils  of  the  Republi- 
can party.  He  served  two  years  as  a  member 
of  the  board  of  education  of  Beatrice  and 
prior  to  his  election  to  the  mayoralty  he  had 
been  for  four  years  a  progressive  and  valued 
member  of  the  city  council.  During  one  year 
of  his  incumbency  he  was  president  of  the 
council.  He  served  for  a  short  time  also  as 
city  clerk,  to  fill  a  vacancy  in  this  office.  Mr. 
Saunders  has  taken  at  all  times  the  most  lively 
interest  in  all  things  pertaining  to  his  home 
city  and  county  and  in  1896  he  executed  a 
complete  and  reliable  map  of  Gage  county,  the 
same  having  been  authoritative  and  having 
continued  in  use  until  1916,  when  he  again 
brought  to  bear  his  cartographic  skill,  by  mak- 
ing a  new  and  authoritative  map  which  gives 
all  details  normally  pertaining  to  such  pro- 
ductions and  which  also  covers  most  fully  the 
platting  of  the  city  of  Beatrice  and  the  smaller 
municipalities  of  the  county.  Since  1893  Mr. 
Saunders  has  been  in  active  affiliation  with 
Beatrice  Lodge,  No.  26,  Ancient  Free  &  Ac- 
cepted Masons. 

On  the  13th  of  March,  1882,  Mr.  Saunders 
married  Miss  Anna  Coe,  who  was  born  in 
Knox  county,  Illinois,  a  daughter  of  Ebenezer 
and  Mary  (Brown)  Coe,  both  natives  of  Ohio. 
In  1879  Ebenezer  Coe  came  with  his  family  to 
Gage  county  and  established  his  residence  at 
Beatrice,  where  he  engaged  in  business  at  his 
trade,   that   of   cabinetmaker.        He    was    an 


honored  factor  in  community  affairs  and  both 
he  and  his  wife  were  active  in  church  work, 
both  having  attained  to  advanced  age  and 
both  having  been  sterling  pioneer  citizens  of 
Beatrice  at  the  time  of  their  death.  Mrs. 
Anna  (Coe)  Saunders  acquired  her  earlier 
educational  discipline  in  Illinois  and  continued 
her  studies  in  the  Beatrice  schools  after  the 
family  removal  to  Gage  county.  She  was 
loved  by  all  who  came  within  the  compass 
of  her  personal  influence  and  her  death  oc- 
curred June  17,  1909.  Of  the  four  children 
one  died  in  infancy  and  the  others  survive  the 
loved  mother:  Marie  is  the  wife  of  W.  L- 
Lee,  of  Beatrice;  Thaddeus  E.,  who  was  grad- 
uated in  the  University  of  Nebraska,  was 
holding  a  responsible  business  position  at  the 
time  when  the  United  States  declared  war 
against  Germany,  and  he  promptly  evinced  his 
patriotism  by  enlisting  as  a  private  in  the  na- 
tional army,  in  which  he  has  won  promotion  to 
the  rank  of  lieutenant,  being  stationed,  at  the 
opening  of  the  year  1918,  with  his  command 
at  Camp  Lewis,  Washington ;  and  Helene,  the 
youngest  of  the  children,  is  the  wife  of  Charles 
Pyle,  of  Beatrice. 

On  the  17th  of  June,  1915,  was  solemnized 
the  marriage  of  Mr.  Saunders  to  Mrs.  Bertha 
E.  (Clemens)  Cone,  of  Lincoln,  Nebraska,  she 
having  been  born  in  Pennsylvania  and  being 
a  distant  kinswoman  of  the  late  and  distin- 
guished author  best  known  as  Mark  Twain. 
Mrs.  Saunders  is  the  gracious  and  popular 
chatelaine  of  the  attractive  home,  is  a  leader 
in  the  representative  social  activities  of  the 
community  and  is  an  earnest  communicant  of 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  church. 

FREEMAN  E.  CLAYTON  is  a  member  of 
a  well  known  pioneer  family  of  Gage  county 
and  has  become  a  successful  exponent  of  farm 
industry  in  Sicily  township,  where  he  gives 
his  attention  to  the  operation  of  a  well  im- 
proved domain  of  three  hundred  and  forty- 
five  acres.  Of  the  family  history  due  record 
is  given  on  other  pages,  in  the  sketch  dedicat- 
ed to  Isaac  R.  Clayton,  father  of  him  whose 
name  introduces  this  paragraph. 

Freeman    E.    Clayton    was    born    in    Stark 


740 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


county,  Illinois,  on  the  30th  of  Alay,  1874,  and 
was  a  child  at  the  time  when  the  family  came 
to  Nebraska  and  settled  in  Gage  county.  Here 
he  was  reared  on  the  pioneer  farm,  the  while 
he  profited  by  the  advantages  of  the  district 
schools.  Of  the  large  tract  of  land  on  which 
he  prosecutes  his  vigorous  operations  as  an 
agriculturist  and  stock-grower  he  purchased 
one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  his  father, 
the  latter  having  developed  in  the  early  days  a 
productive  farm  from  the  virgin  prairie  in  this 
part  of  the  county.  On  his  home  place  M'.". 
Clayton  has  good  buildings,  including  an  at- 
tractive farm  residence,  the  buildings  having 
been  erected  by  his  father. 

In  politics  Mr-  Clayton  gives  his  support  to 
the  cause  of  the  Republican  party,  he  is  affiliat- 
ed with  the  Wymore  camp  of  the  Modern 
Woodmen  of  America  and  he  and  his  wife 
hold  membership  in  the  Baptist  church. 

In  the  year  1898  Mr.  Clayton  wedded  Miss 
Helen  E.  Armstrong,  who  was  born  in  Canada, 
and  they  have  five  children, —  Loren  Herbert, 
William  Homer,  Gilbert  LeRoy,  Frederick 
Randolph  and  Paul  Morris. 

FRANK  MOSELEY  was  an  honored  re- 
presentative of  the  class  of  sturdy  men  who 
came  to  Gage  county  in  the  early  stages  of 
its  history  and  contributed  toward  the  develop- 
ment that  has  made  it  foremost  among  the 
agricultural  sections  of  the  state. 

Frank  Moseley  was  born  in  Lee  county,  Illi- 
nois, October  1,  1852,  a  son  of  Joseph  and 
Margaret  (Moore)  Moseley,  natives  respec- 
tively of  England  and  Pennsylvania.  Joseph 
Moseley  was  a  farmer  and  spent  his  last  days 
in  Lee  county,  Illinois,  where  he  was  number- 
ed among  the  pioneers  of  that  section  of  the 
state.  His  death  occurred  in  1886.  The 
maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Margaret  Clin- 
ton, and  she  was  twice  married,  her  first  hus- 
band having  been  named  Moore.  Two  of  her 
sons,  John  Moore  and  William  Moseley  were 
soldiers  in  the  Civil  war.  Mrs.  j\Io.seley 
passed  the  closing  period  of  her  life  in  Thayer 
county,  Nebraska. 

Frank  Moseley  was  reared  and  educated  in 
his  native  countv,  and   in    1876  he  became  a 


resident  of  Page  county,  Iowa.  There  he 
married  and  in  1879  he  became  a  resident 
of  Thayer  county,  Nebraska,  where  he 
lived  until  1883.  He  then  came  to  Gage  coun- 
ty and  bought  land  in  Paddock  township. 
This  he  improved  and  developed  and  at  his 
death,  which  occurred  May  10,  1915,  he  was 
one  of  the  extensive  land  owners  of  the  town- 
ship where  he  had  lived  for  thirty-two  years. 
In  Page  county,  Iowa,  on  the  26th  of 
November,  1879,  Frank  Moseley  married  Miss 
Lovisa  Beer,  a  daughter  of  William  Beer.  The 
children  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Frank  Moseley 
are  as  here  noted :  Nellie  M.  is  the  wife  of 
Fred  Drake,  a  resident  of  Idaho ;  Fred  R-, 
married  Jessie  Long  and  they  live  in  Idaho; 
Ida  J.  is  the  wife  of  Dr.  E.  L.  Feese,  of 
Wymore,  Gage  county ;  Paul  F.  is  a  farmer  of 
Paddock  township  and  is  individually  repre- 
sented on  other  pages  of  this  volume;  Maude 
M.  is  the  wife  of  Dr.  T.  L.  Cartney,  of  Idaho; 
and  Max  J-  remains  with  his  widowed  mother. 
After  the  death  of  Mr.  Moseley  the  estate 
was  divided  among  his  children  and  his  widow 
now  resides  in  Idaho,  where  all  except  two  of 
her  children  have  found  homes. 

RAY  C.  HEFFELFINGER,  manager  of 
the  Beatrice  Hide  Company,  is  to  be  designated 
not  only  as  one  of  the  representative  business 
n-en  of  the  younger  generation  in  the  fair 
metropolis  of  Gage  county  but  also  has  the 
distinction  of  being  mayor  of  this  city,  an 
office  which  he  assumed  in  April,  1918.  His 
election  to  this  important  executive  position 
in  connection  with  the  municipal  government 
of  Beatrice  attests  alike  to  his  ability  and  his 
personal  popularity.  His  administration  as 
mayor  is  certain  to  be  marked  by  the  loyalty 
and  progressiveness  that  have  signally  char- 
acterized his  business  career. 

Mr.  HefFelfinger  was  born  at  Geneseo,  Illi- 
nois, on  the  27th  of  January,  1887,  and  is 
a  son  of  Bell  M.  and  Louisa  (Wagner)  Hefl^el- 
finger,  whose  marriage  was  solemnized  at  Gen- 
eseo and  who  became  the  parents  of  six  chil- 
dren, namely :  Otis  R-,  of  Beatrice ;  Roy  W.,  of 
Minneapolis,  Minnesota;  Harlan  W.,  of  Super- 
ior, Nebraska;  Ray  C,  subject  of  this  review; 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


'41 


Flossie,  wife  of  Pearl  F.  Ahlquist,  of  Buhl, 
Idaho;  and  Percy  F.,  of  Beatrice.  Of  Otis  B. 
and  Percy  F.  individual  mention  is  made  on 
other  pages,  of  this  volume. 

Bell  M.  Heffelfinger  claimed  the  old  Buck- 
eye state  as  the  place  of  his  nativity  and  was 
there  reared  and  educated.  He  was  born  at 
Wooster,  Ohio,  on  the  9th  of  November,  1859, 
and  as  a  young  man  he  followed  farm  enter- 
prise in  Ohio,  as  did  he  later  in  Illinois,  in 
which  latter  state  his  marriage  occurred,  as 
previously  noted  in  this  context.  In  1888  he 
came  with  his  family  to  Nebraska,  and  there- 
after he  maintained  his  residence  at  Grand 
Island,  this  state,  until  1889,  when  he  came  to 
Gage  county  and  established  himself  in  the 
wholesale  meat  business  and  the  buying  and 
shipping  of  live  stock.  With  these  important 
lines  of  enterprise  he  continued  to  be  success- 
fully identified  until  his  death,  which  here  oc- 
curred on  the  24th  of  January,  1908.  His 
widow  still  maintains  her  home  in  Beatrice. 

Ray  C.  Heffelfinger  was  educated  in  the 
public  schools  of  Beatrice  and  in  the  Beatrice 
Business  College.  After  leaving  school  he 
became  associated  with  his  father's  wholesale 
meat  and  live-stock  business,  and  with  this 
enterprise  he  continued  his  connection  until 
1911,  when  he  purchased  and  assumed  control 
of  the  business  of  the  Beatrice  Hide  Company 
Of  this  business  he  is  the  general  manager 
and  under  his  vigorous  direction  the  enterprise 
has  been  signally  prosperous.  Mr.  Heffel- 
finger is  the  owner  of  a  well  improved  farm 
of  eighty  acres,  in  Riverside  township,  this 
property  having  been  purchased  by  him  in 
the  winter  of  1916. 

Alayor  Heffelfinger  has  been  unswerving  in 
his  allegiance  to  the  Republican  party  and  has 
been  active  in  its  local  ranks,  as  a  citizen  of 
distinctive  loyalty  and  public  spirit.  In  .\pril, 
1918,  the  popular  estimate  placed  upon  him  was 
significantly  shown  in  his  election  to  the  of- 
fice of  mayor  of  Beatrice,  and  he  assumed  the 
functions  of  this  municipal  post  on  the  9th  of 
April,  1918-  He  holds  membership  in  the 
Royal  Highlanders  and  he  and  his  wife  affili- 
ate with  the  First  Christian  church  of  Beatrice. 

On  the  27th  of  lulv,  1911,  was  solemnized 


the  marriage  of  Air.  Heft'elfinger  to  Miss  Edith 
Brandt,  daughter  of  John  and  Mary  Brandt, 
of  Beatrice,  and  the  two  children  of  this  union 
are  Edna  Louise  and  Clift'ord  John. 

LLOYD  H.  TILTON  is  successfully  con- 
ducting operations  as  an  agriculturist  and 
stock-grower  in  his  native  township  and  stages 
his  activities  on  the  old  homestead  farm,  in 
Section  15,  Filley  township,  which  was  the 
place  of  his  birth,  the  date  of  his  nativity  hav- 
ing been  February  5,  1877.  His  parents,  Cur- 
tis and  Olive  (Burright)  Tilton,  were  born 
and  reared  in  Ogle  county,  Illinois,  where 
their  marriage  was  solemnized  and  where  they 
continued  their  residence  until  the  Centennial 
year,  1876,  when  they  came  to  Nebraska  and 
established  their  home  on  a  pioneer  farm  of 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  which  the  father 
reclaimed  and  improved  and  to  which  he 
added  until  he  was  the  owner  of  a  valuable 
property  of  two  hundred  and  forty  acres.  He 
was  one  of  the  vigorous  farmers  and  repre- 
sentative citizens  of  Filley  township  and  re- 
mained on  his  old  homestead  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  September  11,  1916,  his  widow 
having  passed  away  on  the  11th  of  the  follow- 
ing month.  Curtis  Tilton  was  a  Republican 
in  politics  and  the  high  regard  in  which  he 
was  held  in  his  home  community  was  shown 
in  his  having  been  called  upon  to  serve  two 
terms  as  township  clerk  and  one  term  as  rep- 
resentative of  Filley  township  on  the  county 
board  of  supervisors.  He  was  affiliated  with 
the  Masonic  fraternity,  was  a  member  of  the 
Christian  church  and  his  wife  held  member- 
ship in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church.  They 
became  the  parents  of  seven  children,  all  of 
whom  are  living,  and  of  the  number  Lloyd  H.. 
of  this  review,  is  the  eldest;  Mabel  G.  is  the 
wife  of  Frederick  Cornelius  and  they  reside 
at  University  place,  Lancaster  county ;  Earl  is 
a  resident  of  the  city  of  Beatrice  and  Ralph  of 
Lincoln  ;  and  Frank,  Andrew,  and  Leon  W. 
continue  to  be  associated  with  farm  enterprise 
in  Filley  township. 

Lloyd  H.  Tilton  profited  duly  by  the  ad- 
vantages afforded  in  the  district  schools  and 
at  the  age  of  twenty  }-ears  he  initiated  his  in- 


742 


IISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


743 


dependent  operations  as  a  farmer,  though  he 
remained  at  the  parental  home  for  two  years 
thereafter.  At  the  age  of  twenty-two  years 
he  bought  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres,  in  Filley  township,  and  there  he  con- 
tinued his  operations  until  after  the  death  of 
his  father,  when  he  purchased  and  returned  to 
the  old  homestead  farm  on  which  he  was  born 
and  reared,  the  fine  old  place  being  endeared 
to  him  by  many  gracious  memories  and  asso- 
ciations. He  accords  allegiance  to  the  Repub- 
lican party,  is  affiliated  with  the  Masonic  fra- 
ternity, and  he  and  his  wife  are  members  of 
the  Christian  church  in  the  village  of  Filley. 
On  the  21st  of  December,  1899,  Mr.  Tilton 
wedded  Miss  Grace  Clark,  who  was  born  at 
Mansfield,  Ohio,  and  whose  parents,  Jacob 
and  Jennie  Clark,  are  now  residents  of  the 
state  of  California.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Tilton  have 
an  interesting  family  of  seven  children  — 
Cloyd,  Merl,  Pearl,  Ruth,  Clarence,  Marie, 
and  Thelma. 


FRANCIS  A.  MILLER,  residing  at  620 
North  Sixth  street,  Beatrice,  is  an  influential 
business  man  and  citizen  who  is  descended 
from  a  long  line  of  colonial  and  Revolutionary 
ancestry  which  reaches  back  into  the  earliest 
history  of  our  nation.  The  individual 
branches  have  entwined  themselves  into  the 
web  and  woof  of  our  nation,  having  taken 
active  part  in  public  affairs  of  a  civil  nature, 
as  well  as  in  the  wars  which  have  been  fought 
during  the  development  of  our  country  from 
its  earliest  colonizing  period  to  the  present. 
Mr.  Miller  is  of  the  tenth  generation  in  de- 
scent from  John  Thurston,  who,  with  his  wife, 
Margaret,  came  to  Dedham,  Massachusetts, 
May  10,  1637,  from  Wrentham,  Suffolk 
county,  England,  said  John  Thurston  having 
been  baptized  in  that  town,  January  13,  1601. 
Mr.  Miller  is  a  product  of  English,  Scotch, 
and  Irish  descent.  His  grandfather,  Abijah 
Thurston  Miller,  eighth  generation,  married, 
on  January  1,  1721,  Betsey  Lermond,  daugh- 
ter of  John  and  Nancy  (Burd)  Lermond. 
Nancy  Burd  was  born  in  1772,  on  Fox  Island, 
her  father  having  emigrated  from  Scotland, 
and  having  been  killed  by   Indians,   in   1776. 


Vina  Thurston,  seventh  generation,  married, 
December  19,  1793,  Jesse  Miller,  whose  mother 
was  Thankful  Gilmore,  of  Irish  descent.  One 
of  their  children  was  Abijah  Thurston  Miller, 
referred  to  above. 

Horace  Miller,  father  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  was  born  October  16,  1834,  on  a  New 
England  farm,  near  Whitefield,  Maine.  At 
different  times  he  followed  the  vocation  of 
farming,  learned  the  trade  of  a  cooper,  taught 
school,  mined  in  California,  in  which,  at  that 
time,  far  remote  region  he  was  residing  dur- 
ing the  progress  of  the  Civil  war.  He  was  for 
many  years  a  Methodist  local  preacher.  He 
married  Olive  Chase  Fuller,  October  12,  1870, 
at  McMinville,  Tennessee,  they  having  been 
schoolmates  while  attending  Kents  Hill  Acad- 
emy. While  living  in  Cumberland  county, 
Tennessee,  four  children  were  born  to  them, 
namely :  Francis  A.,  the  eldest ;  Edna  L., 
wife  of  Robert  Stratford,  residing  in  Beatrice, 
and  being  engaged  in  the  jewelry  business ; 
Julius  Gilmore,  who  lost  his  life  while  serving 
his  country  as  a  member  of  Company  C,  First 
Nebraska  Volunteer  Infantry,  his  death  oc- 
curring at  Honolulu,  Hawaii,  while  he  was 
en  route  to  the  Philippines ;  Howard  V.,  who 
graduated  from  ^Yesleyan  University,  Univer- 
sity Place,  Nebraska,  in  1918. 

The  mother  of  this  family  was  born  in  New 
Sharon,  Maine,  June  2,  1835.  Her  great- 
grandfather, Elisha  Fuller,  and  his  son,  Aaron 
Fuller  (I),  each  served  his  country  with 
credit  during  the  Revolutionary  war.  Her 
father,  Aaron  Fuller  II,  turned  out  as  mem- 
ber of  militia  during  the  War  of  1812,  doing 
guard  duty  at  Portland,  Maine.  Lie  also  was 
a  Methodist  minister,  during  those  early  times 
when  that  arduous  religious  duty  required  the 
traveling  of  a  circuit,  and  he  was  a  well  known 
and  valuable  citizen  of  his  times.  Much 
of  the  time  when  his  family  of  eight  chil- 
dren was  growing  to  maturity,  his  home  was 
at  North  Livermore,  Maine,  where  he  com- 
bined the  occupations  of  farmer  and  minister. 
Miss  Fuller  received  her  education  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  her  native  state,  and  at  Kents 
Hill  Academy,  Kents  Hill,  Maine.  She  was 
for  a  number  of  years  a  successful  teacher  in 


744 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Maine,  and  later  in  Illinois.  In  her  early 
years  she  united  with  the  Methodist  church, 
in  \vhi:h  she  retained  her  membership 
throughout  a  long  and  active  life.  She  was  at 
all  times  an  active  and  persistent  student  of 
both  the  religious  and  political  affairs  of  the 
coimtry,  and  was  always  able  to  discuss  these 
affairs  with  a  keen  intelligence.  She  retained 
to  the  full  this  faculty  until  her  demise,  which 
occurred  at  Arapahoe,  Nebraska,  March  23, 
1915,  she  then  being  in  her  eightieth  year. 

Francis  A.  Miller,  named  in  honor  of  the 
first  Methodist  bishop,  Francis  Asbury,  was 
born  April  26,  1872,  near  Howard  Springs, 
Cumberland  county,  Tennessee.  His  attend- 
ance at  school  there  was  limited,  but  fortu- 
nately his  father  and  mother  made  good  that 
defect,  and  when,  at  the  age  of  ten  years,  he 
removed  with  them  to  Sandwich,  Illinois,  he 
was  able  to  take  the  place  in  the  public  schools 
to  which  his  age  would  entitle  him.  When  he 
was  thirteen  years  of  age,  in  1885,  his  par- 
ents removed  to  Arapahoe,  Furnas  county, 
Nebraska,  where  his  schooling  was  finished 
by  his  graduation  from  the  high  school,  at  the 
age  of  sixteen  years.  September  30,  1890,  he 
came  to  Beatrice,  where  he  has  since  resided. 
He  worked  at  his  trade  as  a  printer  for  seven 
years,  clerked  in  a  grocery  store  nearly  four 
years,  later  engaging  in  the  business  success- 
fully on  his  own  account,  beginning  December 
5,  1900,  and  continuing  to  the  present  time. 

November  20,  1895,  Mr.  Miller  married 
Nellie  Robbins,  who  was  born  at  Dwight, 
Illinois,  a  daughter  of  William  H.  and 
Carrie  (Horton)  Robbins.  The  marriage 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robbins  was  solemnized  Sep- 
tember 13,  1870,  at  Poughkeepsie,  New  York. 
William  H.  Robbins  was  born  in  Saratoga 
county,  New  York,  Januar>'  14,  1844,  a  son  of 
Richard  Robbins,  who  was  born  in  England, 
January  12,  1805,  and  Sarah  (Deth)  Robbins, 
who  was  born  in  England,  June  7,  1809. 
Mrs.  Carrie  Robbins  was  born  in  Poughkeep- 
sie, New  York,  a  daughter  of  Smith  Horton 
and  Mary  (Riggs)  Plorton,  who  were  married 
in  Fishkill,  New  York,  September  4,  1848. 
Mr.  and  i\Irs.  Robbins  made  their  home  in 
Dwight,  Illinois,  later  removing  to  Steele  City, 


Nebraska,  and  in  1884  he  engaged  in  business 
in  Beatrice.  Mr.  Robbins  was  a  territorial 
pioneer  of  Nebraska,  having  engaged  in 
freighting  across  the  plains  before  the  rail- 
roads were  across  the  state  of  Iowa. 

Four  children  have  been  born  to  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Miller,  and  they  have  all  received  their 
education  in  the  public  schools  of  Beatrice, 
and  are,  as  they  graduate,  supplementing  this 
with  advanced  work  in  higher  places  of  learn- 
ing. Dorothy  Robbins,  a  graduate  of  the 
Beatrice  high  school,  class  of  1914,  was  gradu- 
ated in  1918  from  Doane  College,  Crete,  Ne- 
braska, with  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts. 
Horace  Gilmore  Miller,  of  the  class  of  1917, 
Beatrice  high  school,  is  a  member  of  the  1921 
class  at  Doane  College.  Lennond  Horton 
Miller  is  a  member  of  the  1920  class  of  the 
Beatrice  high  school,  and  Ruth  Eleanor  Miller 
attends  the  sixth  grade  of  the  Beatrice  public 
schools. 

Mr.  Miller  has  at  all  times  taken  an  active 
interest  in  matters  of  a  public  nature,  never, 
however,  having  been  a  candidate  for  public 
office,  except  to  serve  as  member  of  the  school 
board  for  four  years,  1914-1918,  during  two 
years  of  which  time  he  was  president  of  the 
board.  He  was  a  member  of  the  building  com- 
mittee and  served  for  a  period  of  seven  years 
on  the  board  of  directors  of  the  Mary  Young 
Alen's  Christian  Association,  when  it  was 
first  organized.  With  his  family  he  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  First  Congregational  church,  and 
he  has  in  turn  been  trustee  and  treasurer  of 
that  organization.  He  states  his  politics  as 
being  progressive  Republican,  is  a  member  of 
Beatrice  Lodge,  No.  26,  Ancient  Free  &  Ac- 
cepted Masons,  and  the  Nebraska  Society 
Sons  of  the  American  Revolution.  During 
the  present  war  he  is  active  in  what  has  been 
termed  "the  third  line  of  defense,"  serving  on 
various  committees,  assisting  in  the  food  ad- 
ministration, being  a  member  of  the  Home 
Guards,  and  keeping  himself  generally  useful. 

DELL  B.  COLGROVE  is  a  native  son  of 
Gage  county  and  is  successfully  operating  a 
farm  of  seven  hundred  and  ten  acres  in  Pad- 
dock township.  He  was  born  in  this  township, 
March  3,  1890,  a  son  of  James  F.  and  Eliza- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


745 


iDeth  (With)  Colgrove,  a  record  of  whom  ap- 
pears elsewhere  in  this  volume. 

Dell  B.  Colgrove  was  reared  on  his  father's 
farm  in  Paddock  township,  attended  the  pub- 
lic schools,  and  when  old  enough  assisted  his 
father  in  the  operation  of  the  farm.  He  came 
into  possession  of  four  hundred  and  seventy 
acres  of  the  estate  and  has  recently  purchased 
the  two  hundred  and  forty  acres  where  his 
father  settled  when  he  came  to  the  county,  in 
187cS.  He  is  one  of  the  extensive  stock  far- 
mers of  the  county,  the  only  son  in  the  family 
who  carries  on  stock  farming  in  much  the  same 
manner  as  did  his  father. 

Mr.  Colgrove  married  Miss  Celia  Etta 
Whitton,  who  was  born  in  Gage  county,  a 
•daughter  of  the  late  Richard  Whitton,  an 
•early  settler  of  the  county.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Col- 
grove have  two  children,  Eugene  and  Thelma. 
A  third  child,  Beulah,  is  deceased. 


BENJAMIN  A.  BRUBAKER,  who  has 
prestige  as  one  of  the  substantial  farmers  of 
Rockford  township,  is  here  the  owner  of  a 
well  improved  landed  estate  of  three  hundred 
and  twenty  acres,  in  Sections  16,  21,  and  22, 
and  his  is  the  further  distinction  of  being  a 
member  of  one  of  the  sterling  pioneer  families 
of  Gage  county,  which  has  been  his  home 
-since  he  was  a  youth  of  sixteen  years. 

Mr.  Bruhaker  was  born  in  Greene  county, 
Tennessee,  September  2,  1863,  and  is  a  son  of 
Peter  and  Delilah  (Watenbarger)  Brubaker, 
the  former  a  native  of  Virginia  and  the  latter 
of  Tennessee.  Peter  Brubaker  was  ten  years 
old  at  the  time  of  the  family  removal  to  Ten- 
nessee, where  he  was  reared  and  educated  and 
where  his  marriage  was  solemnized.  There 
he  continued  his  activities  as  a  fanner  until 
1879,  when  he  came  with  his  family  to  Ne- 
braska and  numbered  himself  among  the  pio- 
neers of  Gage  county.  For  the  first  year  he 
rented  land  near  the  village  of  Dewitt  and  he 
then  purchased  eighty  acres  in  Rockford  town- 
ship where  he  developed  a  productive  farm. 
After  he  had  attained  to  advanced  age  he 
lived  for  some  time  in  the  village  of  Holmes- 
ville,  but  he  passed  the  closing  period  of  his 
long  and  useful  life  in  the  home  of  his  son 


Benjamin,  of  this  review.  He  was  seventy- 
three  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  his  death 
and  his  widow  attained  to  the  venerable  age 
of  eighty-two  years,  she  having  been  one  of 
the  revered  pioneer  women  of  the  county  at 
the  time  of  her  demise :  both  were  most  earn- 
est members  of  the  Brethren,  or  Dunkard, 
church,  and  Henry  Brubaker,  a  brother  of 
Peter,  was  the  founder  of  the  church  of  this 
denomination  in  Gage  county,  where  he  estab- 
lished his  home  in  1876  and  where  he  did 
much  to  foster  the  development  of  the  very 
appreciable  and  valued  Dunkard  colony  that 
has  been  representative  in  social  and  indus- 
trial development  in  the  county.  The  subject 
of  this  review  is  the  youngest  in  a  family  oi 
seven  children ;  Susan  is  the  wife  of  Noah 
Wrightsman,  who  is  mentioned  on  other 
pages ;  Mary  became  the  wife  of  William  H. 
Root  and  was  a  resident  of  this  county  at  the 
time  of  her  death ;  Martha  is  the  wife  of 
George  A.  Hill  and  they  reside  in  the  state  of 
Kansas ;  Henry  D.  is  a  farmer  in  that  state ; 
John  was  a  resident  of  Gage  county  at  the 
time  of  his  death,  which  resulted  from  injuries 
received  when  he  was  kicked  by  a  mule. 

Benjamin  A.  Brubaker  passed  the  period  of 
his  childhood  and  youth  on  his  father's  farm 
in  Tennessee,  was  afforded  the  advantages  ol 
the  district  schools  and  was  a  lad  of  sixteen 
years  at  the  time  of  the  family  removal  to 
Gage  county,  in  1879.  He  here  continued  to 
be  associated  with  the  activities  of  his  father's 
farm  until  he  had  attained  to  the  age  of 
twenty-one  years,  when  he  purchased  a  farm 
near  Blue  Springs.  He  made  good  improve- 
ments on  this  place  and  there  continued  his 
residence  four  years,  at  the  expiration  of 
which  he  purchased  his  father's  farm,  where 
he  made  a  home  for  his  venerable  parents  until 
the  close  of  their  lives,  according  to  them  the 
filial  solicitude  that  was  so  essentially  their 
due.  He  has  since  added  to  the  area  of  his 
farm  estate,  which  now  comprises  three  hun- 
dred and  twenty  acres  and  gives  every  evi- 
dence of  thrift  and  prosperity. 

Mr.  Brubaker  has  given  efficient  service  as 
a  member  of  the  school  board  of  his  district 
and  has  otherwise  shown  loyal  interest  in  com- 


746 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


munity  affairs,  his  political  support  being 
given  to  the  Republican  party  and  both  he  and 
his  wife  being  active  members  of  the  Church 
of  the  Brethren. 

In  1890,  was  recorded  the  marriage  of  Mr. 
Brubaker  to  Miss  Sarah  McPheron,  who  was 
born  in  Tennessee  and  whose  father,  James 
M  McPheron,  is  now  a  resident  of  Holmes- 
ville,  Gage  county.  Mr.  and  Mrs..  Brubaker 
have  six  children,  all  of  whom  remain  at  the 
parental  home  except  the  eldest,  Anna,  who 
is  the  wife  of  David  M.  Frantz,  a  successful 
farmer  in  Rockford  township.  The  children 
of  the  parental  home  circle  are  John,  May, 
(wife  of  Roy  Shaffer),  Florence,  Ray,  and 
Lois. 

JAMES  F.  COLGROVE.  —  One  of  the 
earliest  settlers  on  what  was  formerly  the 
Otoe  Indian  reservation  was  James  F.  Col- 
grove,  who  came  to  Gage  county  in  1878  and 
who  for  many  years  was  one  of  its  substantial 
farmers  and  stock  men.  He  was  born  in 
Steuben  county,  New  York,  July  31,  1853,  a 
son  of  Andrew  and  Almira  (Baxter)  Col- 
grove,  natives  of  New  York  state.  The  par- 
ents of  Mr.  Colgrove  lived  at  different  time  in 
Indiana,  Ohio,  Missouri,  and  Illinois,  and 
their  last  days  were  spent  at  Marysville,  Kan- 
sas. 

James  F.  Colgrove  received  his  education 
in  the  various  states  where  his  parents  lived, 
and  was  the  third  in  a  family  of  nine  children. 
Irle  came  to  Gage  county  in  1878  and  pur- 
chased one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  in 
Paddock  and  Sicily  townships.  This  land 
was  wholly  unimproved,  as  it  had  been 
but  recently  opened  for  settlement  and  had 
been  a  part  of  the  Otoe  Indian  reservation. 
Without  capital,  but  with  that  perseverance 
and  ambition  which  always  augur  for  success, 
Mr.  Colgrove  became  one  of  the  extensive 
land-owners  and  stock  men  of  the  county.  He 
owned  more  than  two  thousand  acres  in  Gage 
county,  besides  land  in  Oklahoma  and  Texas. 
ITe  has  lived  retired  for  several  years,  and  is 
making  his  home  at  the  present  time  in  Okla- 
homa. 

April  16,  1874,  Mr.  Colgro\e  married  Miss 


Mary  With,  a  daughter  of  John  W.  and  Eli- 
zabeth (Clark)  With.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Col- 
grove became  the  parents  of  the  following 
children:  John  W.  married  Delia  Smith  and 
resides  at  Linn,  Kansas ;  Willie  M.  was  killed 
in  a  runaway  accident  at  Wymore,  when 
eleven  years  of  age ;  James  A.  is  a  farmer  near 
Barneston,  Gage  county ;  Charles  H.  married 
Lena  Fisher  and  resides  in  Washington 
county,  Kansas ;  Edward  F.  is  a  farmer  in 
Paddock  township ;  Elizabeth  A.  died  in  in- 
fancy ;  Elmer  L.  married  Myrtle  Burdette,  and 
resides  in  Texas ;  Dell  B.  is  individually  men- 
tioned on  other  pages;  and  Nell  J.,  is  the  wife 
of  Owen  Brown,  of  Linn,  Kansas. 

LYSANDER  H.  BARDWELL.  —  The 
record  of  this  gentleman  furnishes  a  forcible 
illustration  of  the  power  of  industry  and  self- 
reliance,  he  having  risen  by  successive  steps 
from  moderate  circumstances  to  his  present 
position  of  affluence.  He  was  born  in  Onon- 
daga county.  New  York,  October  7,  1844,  a 
son  of  Orren  Bardwell,  who  was  a  native  of 
Massachuetts  and  when  ten  years  of  age  was 
taken  by  his  parents  to  New  York  state.  Here 
he  was  reared  and  became  a  successful  farmer. 
He  passed  away  in  that  state,  at  tlie  age  of 
ninety-three  years.  The  mother  of  our  sub- 
ject was  in  her  maidenhood  Arvilla  Bostwick, 
a  native  of  New  York.  She  died  at  the  age 
of  thirty-five  years.  The  paternal  grand-par- 
ents were  natives  of  Massachuetts.  They 
were  Zenus  and  Polly  Bardwell.  The  latter 
lived  to  the  age  of  one  hundred  and  one  years. 

Lysander  Holland  Bardwell  grew  to  man- 
hood in  New  York  state,  and  at  the  age  of 
twenty-four  years  came  west  and  established 
a  home  in  Holt  county  Missouri,  where  he 
farmed  for  seven  years.  In  1878  he  became 
a  pioneer  settler  of  Gage  county,  Nebraska, 
where  he  purchased  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  of  wild  land  in  Paddock  township.  This 
land  had  but  recently  been  opened  for  settle- 
ment, having  been  part  of  the  Otoe  Indian 
reservation.  Mr.  Bradwell  built  his  first 
house  by  setting  poles  in  the  ground  and  fas- 
tening boards  to  them,  with  one  door  and  one 
window.     The  roof  was  made  of  boards  with 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


747 


strips  of  paper  to  cover  the  cracks.  In  this 
house  the  family  hved  the  first  winter.  The 
stable  was  built  in  much  the  same  manner,  the 
roof  being  thatched  with  grass  cut  from  the 
prairie  in  the  month  of  January.  Water  was 
obtained  by  cutting  through  the  ice  on  the 
•creek,  for  household  use  and  stock.  At  that 
time  corn  was  selling  for  fifteen  cents  a  bushel, 
and  to  provide  for  his  family  Mr.  Bardwell 
would  go  to  the  settlement  north  of  him  and 
husk  corn,  receiving  as  his  pay  every  seventh 
bushel.  He  at  one  time  cut  and  traded  hall 
a  cord  of  wood  for  a  half-gallon  of  syrup,  a  lit- 
tle sugar  and  a  package  of  soda.  His  nearest 
neighbor  was  five  or  six  miles  away,  and  there 
was  only  one  or  two  houses  between  his  farm 
Beatrice. 

Mr.  Bardwell  was  united  in  marriage  to 
Miss  Clara  Rice,  who  like  himself  was  born 
in  Onondaga  county.  New  York.  She  was  one 
of  the  pioneer  women  of  Paddock  township, 
and  that  first  winter,  while  living  in  that  primi- 
tive dwelling,  she  was  called  to  her  final  rest. 
Mr.  Bardwell  was  left  with  four  children,  the 
youngest  but  a  few  weeks  old.  Two  years 
after  his  wife's  death  he  married  a  widow,  a 
sister  of  L.  S.  Austin,  one  of  the  early  settlers 
of  Sicily  township.  She  passed  away  some 
years  ago. 

As  the  years  passed  and  his  financial  re- 
sources increased,  Mr.  Bardwell  added  to  his 
original  purchase  and  to-day  he  is  the  owner 
•of  four  hundred  acres  of  valuable  land,  well 
improved,  —  a  worthy  monument  to  his  un- 
faltering zeal.  His  children  are  four  in  num- 
ber: Leroy  is  married  and  living  in  Okla- 
homa ;  Frank  is  married  and,  with  a  family  of 
four  children,  lives  in  Middleton,  Idaho ;  Ezra, 
with  his  wife  and  three  children,  resides  in 
Tabor,  Iowa.  The  fourth  child,  bereft  of  its 
mother  when  a  few  weeks  old,  was  adopted 
into  the  family  of  L.  S.  Austin,  and  is  known 
as  Orren  Emory  Austin;  he  lives  in  Dakota. 

Mr.  Bardwell  is  one  of  the  few  remaining 
real  early  settlers  of  Paddock  township.  He  has 
done  his  share  to  bring  about  present  day  con- 
ditions, and  will  soon  leave  the  farm  to  enjoy 
a  well  earned  rest,  and  will  make  his  home  in 
Odell.  Nebraska. 


GEORGE  F.  MILLER  is  the  owner  of  a 
well  improved  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty  acres  in  Section  5  Highland  township, 
and  is  one  of  the  energetic  and  successful  agri- 
culturists and  stock-growers  of  this  part  of 
the  county.  In  addition  to  this  homestead 
farm  he  owns  also  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  in  Kearney  county.  Mr.  Miller 
was  born  in  Lancaster  county,  Nebraska,  July 
2,  1879,  a  son  of  Fritz  and  Anna  (Hempke) 
Miller,  he  being  the  second  eldest  of  the  four 
surviving  members  of  the  family  of  child- 
ren; Theodore  is  a  successful  farmer  in 
Kearney  county;  Mrs.  Anna  Menner  resides 
at  Dorchester,  Illinois ;  and  Laura  maintains 
her  home  in  Kearney  county. 

Fritz  Miller  was  born  in  Germany,  in  1836, 
and  was  a  young  man  when  he  immigrated  to 
the  United  States  and  found  employment  as 
a  farm  workman  in  Illinois.  Later  he  gained 
pioneer  experience  in  Iowa,  where  he  worked 
on  the  farm  of  an  Irishman  and  where  he 
gained  his  first  colloquial  use  of  the  English 
language,  which  he  had  previously  been  unable 
to  speak.  In  Iowa  he  met  and  married  Miss 
Anna  Hempke,  who  was  born  in  Germany,  in 
1842,  and  came  to  America  when  young.  In 
1878  Fritz  Miller  numbered  himself  among 
the  pioneers  of  Lancaster  county,  Nebraska, 
where  for  the  ensuing  seventeen  years  he  was 
engaged  in  farming,  his  farm  having  been  one- 
third  of  a  mile  north  of  Hickman.  He  then 
removed  with  his  family  to  Kearney  county, 
where  he  improved  a  good  farm  and  where  his 
death  occurred  in  1898,  his  widow  having  sur- 
vived him  by  a  decade  and  having  passed  away 
in  1908. 

George  F.  Miller  early  gained  full  fellow- 
ship with  arduous  toil,  as  he  was  a  mere  boy 
when  he  began  to  assist  his  father  in  the  work 
of  the  home  farm,  the  while  he  availed  him- 
self as  fully  as  possible  of  the  advantages  af- 
forded in  the  district  schools.  In  1905  he 
rented  land  from  his  widowed  mother,  in 
Kearney  county,  and  initiated  his  independent 
activities  as  a  farmer.  Energy  and  close  ap- 
plication brought  tangible  returns  and  his  suc- 
cess increased  from  year  to  year.  On  the  5th 
of  March,  1914,  Mr.  Miller  purchased  of  Wil- 


'48 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Ham  Wagner  his  present  farm  in  Gage 
county,  the  place  having  been  well  improved 
but  having  received  under  his  control  further 
improvements  of  substantial  order,  including 
the  erection  of  an  excellent  modern  barn  that 
is  fifty-two  by  fifty-four  feet  in  lateral  dimen- 
sions. Mr.  Miller  is  vigorous  and  resourceful 
in  all  departments  of  farm  enterprise,  main- 
tains his  land  under  effective  cultivation  and  is 
a  successful  grower  of  short-horn  Durham 
cattle  and  Duroc-Jersey  swine.  He  has  won 
advancement  through  his  own  well  directed 
industry  and  has  placed  himself  in  secure 
status  as  one  of  the  successful  exponents  of 
farm  industry  in  his  native  state.  He  has 
had  no  desire  for  public  office,  is  independent 
in  politics  and  is  liberal  in  support  of  meas- 
ures projected  for  the  communal  welfare.  He 
and  his  wife  hold  membership  in  the  Presby- 
terian church. 

On  the  18th  of  February,  1905,  Mr.  Miller 
married  Miss  Lizzie  Scheneman,  who  was 
born  in  Germany,  on  the  9th  of  November, 
1879,  and  who  was  a  child  at  the  time  when 
the  family  home  was  established  in  Gage 
county,  Nebraska,  she  being  a  daughter  of 
Gottfried  and  Anna  Scheneman.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Miller  have  three  children, —  Ernest, 
Viola  and  Ruby. 

WILLIAM  RIGGERT  is  one  of  the  suc- 
cessful and  up-to-date  farmers  of  Glenwood 
township,  where  he  owns  and  operates  a  valu- 
able farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres. 
He  was  born  in  the  province  of  Hanover, 
Germany,  on  the  24th  of  January,  1869.  His 
parents,  John  and  Dora  (Maas)  Riggert,  were 
likewise  natives  of  Hanover,  Germany,  in 
which  countn'  they  passed  their  entire  lives. 
They  were  the  parents  of  six  children,  five  of 
whom  are  living.  William  of  this  review  and 
his  sister,  Mrs.  Herman  Dunker,  of  Lundell, 
Kansas,  are  the  only  representatives  of  the 
immediate  family  who  are  living  in  America. 

William  Riggert  was  a  young  man  of  seven- 
teen years  when  he  came  to  the  United  States, 
and  for  six  years  thereafter  he  found  employ- 
ment as  a  hired  man  on  a  farm.  During  this 
time  he  carefully  saved  his  earnings  and  finally 


he  began  farming  for  himself.  He  rented' 
land  for  four  years,  and  for  twenty-one  years 
he  has  owned  and  cultivated  his  present  farm, 
which  is  equipped  with  a  good  set  of  buildings, 
all  of  which  have  been  put  on  the  place  by  its 
present  owner. 

For  a  companion  and  helpmeet,  Mr.  Riggert 
married  Miss  Mary  Loemker,  a  native  of 
Washington  county,  Kansas,  a  record  of  the 
family  being  found  on  other  pages,  in  a  sketch 
of  Ernst  Loemker,  a  farmer  of  Paddock  town- 
ship. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Riggert  have  one  child, 
Raymond.  Their  religious  faith  is  expressed 
by  membership  in  the  Lutheran  church,  and  in 
politics  Mr.  Riggert  is  a  Republican.  Though 
he  has  never  aspired  to  public  office  he  is 
serving  efficiently  as  moderator  of  his  school 
district. 

Coming  to  America  with  no  capital  except  a 
willingness  to  work  and  a  determination  to 
own  a  home  of  his  own,  so  characteristic  of 
his  race,  Mr.  Riggert  has  every  reason  to  be 
proud  of  his  record,  for  to-day  he  is  one  of  the 
substantial  men  of  Gage  county. 

FREDERICK  L.  ROOT  is  consistently  to 
be  designated  as  one  of  the  representative 
farmers  of  the  younger  generation  in  his  na- 
tive county  and  is  conducting  his  operations 
on  a  part  of  the  old  homestead  on  which  he 
was  born,  in  Section  36  Rockford  township, 
where  he  received  eighty  acres  from  his 
father's  estate  and  has  since  added  by  the  pur- 
chase of  an  adjoining  tract  of  equal  area.  He 
was  born  on  the  26th  of  September,  1881,  and 
is  a  son  of  the  late  William  H.  Root,  an  hon- 
ored pioneer  to  whom  a  memoir  is  dedicated 
on  other  pages  of  this  work.  The  subject 
of  this  review  was  reared  on  the  farm  which 
is  now  his  home  and  is  indebted  to  the  public 
schools  for  his  early  education.  He  has  never 
had  desire  to  sever  his  association  with  farm 
enterprise  and  is  making  himself  known  as  a 
progressive  and  successful  agriculturist  and 
stock-raiser. 

In  1906  Mr.  Root  married  Miss  Ida  Falwell, 
who  likewise  was  born  and  reared  in  this 
county,  and  they  have  four  children,  —  Ruth,. 
Marion,  Addie  and  Gertrude. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


749 


GILBERT  R.  SHELLEY  is  one  of  the  rep- 
resentative agriculturists  and  stock-growers 
of  the  younger  generation  in  his  native  county 
and  is  giving  his  attention  to  the  management 
of  the  fine  old  homestead  farm  of  four  hun- 
dred acres,  in  Section  19,  Rockford  township, 
which  was  the  place  of  his  birth,  the  date  of 
his  nativity  having  been  December  17,  1888. 
He  is  a  son  of  James  W.  Shelley  and  a  brother 
of  Frank  R.  Shelley,  owner  and  executive 
head  of  the  Beatrice  Business  College,  a  sketch 
of  the  latter's  career  being  offered  on  other 
pages,  with  due  incidental  record  concerning 
the  family  history,  so  that  a  repetition  of  the 
data  is  not  here  demanded.  Gilbert  Shelley 
gained  his  initial  experience  of  practical  order 
in  connection  with  the  work  of  the  farm  which 
is  now  his  home,  and  in  the  meanwhile  he 
made  good  use  of  the  advantages  afforded  in 
the  public  schools  of  his  native  county.  He 
remained  at  the  parental  home  until  he  had  at- 
t  ined  to  his  legal  majority  and  for  seven 
years  thereafter  he  conducted  farming  oper- 
ations on  land  which  he  leased.  In  1916  he 
assumed  control  of  the  landed  estate  of  his 
father  and  he  is  directing  his  energies  spe- 
cially to  making  the  place  a  thoroughly  modern 
and  scientific  stock  farm,  his  energy  and  pro- 
gressiveness  offering  assurance  of  cumulative 
success  in  this  important  field  of  industrial 
enterprise.  His  political  allegiance  is  given 
to  the  Republican  party  and  he  and  his  wife 
are  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church. 

In  1910  Mr.  Shelley  wedded  Miss  Bessie 
Kennedy,  who  likewise  was  born  and  reared 
in  this  county,  and  they  have  a  winsome  little 
•daughter,  Geraldine. 

FRED  H.  TURNER,  who  is  engaged  in 
general  farm  enterprise  in  Sicily  township,  is 
operating  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of 
land,  this  farm  having  been  the  home  of  the 
Turner  family  since  pioneer  days  in  Gage 
county. 

Mr.  Turner  was  born  in  \\'yandot  county, 
Ohio,  August  20,  1870,  and  is  a  son  of  the 
late  Alva  Turner,  of  whom  further  mention 
is  made  in  a  biography  prepared  for  William 


R.  McKinley,  of  Beatrice,  a  half-brother  of 
the  subject  of  this  sketch.  Fred  H.  Turner 
was  only  a  boy  when  the  family  home  was  es- 
tablished in  Gage  county  and  amid  the  pio- 
neer conditions  he  was  reared  to  young  man- 
hood on  the  farm  which  is  now  his  home. 
When  a  young  man  he  spent  four  years  in 
Colorado  and  Wyoming  at  a  "cattle  puncher." 
Returning  to  Gage  county,  he  took  up  the 
occupation  to  which  he  had  been  reared  and 
for  several  years  he  has  successfully  operated 
the  home  farm. 

For  a  companion  and  helpmeet  Mr.  Turner 
married  Miss  Effie  Floyd,  a  native  of  Gage 
county,  and  they  have  become  the  parents  oi 
three  children :  Floyd  H.,  Fern  and  May. 
Mrs.  Turner  is  a  member  of  the  United 
Brethern  church. 

Mr.  Turner  is  a  Republican  in  politics,  but 
the  emoluments  of  public  office  have  had  no  at- 
traction for  him,  as  he  has  preferred  to  de- 
vote his  time  and  energy  to  his  private  indus- 
trial and  business  affairs.  He  has  been  an 
eye-witness  of  the  vast  changes  that  have 
taken  place  in  Gage  county  and  this,  together 
with  the  fact  that  the  Turner  family  has  con- 
tributed its  share  to  the  development  of  the 
community,  makes  a  publication  of  this  order 
of  especial  interest  to  him  and  his  family.  He 
is  affiliated  with  the  Independent  Order  of 
Odd  Fellows  and  the  Modern  Woodmen  of 
America,  of  which  latter  he  has  been  a  mem- 
ber for  twenty-seven  years. 

JOHN  SCHEIDELER  was  a  pioneer 
farmer  in  Paddock  township,  and  contributed 
his  share  to  the  upbuilding  of  Gage  county,  — 
a  sterling  citizen  to  whom  a  tribute  should  be 
given  in  this  history.  Mr.  Scheideler  was 
born  in  Westphalia,  Germany,  July  8,  1847,  and 
as  a  soldier  he  did  valiant  service  for  his  na- 
tive land  in  her  war  with  France  in  1866. 
Soon  after  this  he  came  to  the  United  States, 
working  in  New  York  for  a  time.  He  then 
came  west  and  located  in  Waukesha  county, 
Wisconsin.  In  1879  he  became  a  resident 
of  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  where  he  purchased 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  raw  prairie 
land   in    Section    14,   Paddock   township.     He 


750 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


immediately  began  the  improvement  of  the 
place.  His  first  abode, — that  in  which  all  of 
his  children  were  born  —  was  a  rock  house 
which  still  stands.  In  1882  he  returned  to 
Wisconsin  and  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss 
Anna  Eoibl,  who  was  born  at  Eagle,  that 
state,  October  31,  1860.  She  came  with  her 
husband  to  the  pioneer  home  in  Gage  county, 
and  as  the  years  passed  she  assisted  him  in  the 
development  of  the  farm.  To  this  worthy 
couple  were  born  nine  children,  as  follows : 
Catherine  is  the  wife  of  Alfred  Barnes,  a 
railroad  man  residing  at  Norfolk,  Nebraska; 
Edward  is  a  farmer  in  Gage  county;  Anton 
is  a  business  man  of  Wymore,  this  county, 
and  at  the  present  time  (1918)  is  a  member  of 
the  county  board  of  supervisors;  John  is  a 
farmer  in  Gage  county;  Herbert  is  in  the  na- 
tional army  and  is  now  a  corporal  in  his  com- 
pany, located  at  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah ;  Henry 
is,  at  the  time  of  this  writing,  about  to  enter 
the  aviation  school  of  the  United  States  army 
at  Chicago ;  Albert  and  Carl  are  at  home ; 
Mary,  the  youngest,  is  the  wife  of  Clay  Cole, 
manager  of  the  Kriter  elevator  in  Paddock 
township.  The  father  of  these  children,  after 
a  useful  life,  passed  away  January  21,  1907, 
on  the  farm  where  he  had  lived  twenty-eight 
years. 

Mr.  Scheideler  came  west  in  search 
of  health  and  while  he  found  this  climate 
better  than  Wisconsin  or  Iowa,  yet  he  was 
never  a  really  healthy  man.  He  and  his 
wife,  by  diligence  and  careful  management, 
developed  a  valuable  farm  from  the  virgin 
prairie  where  they  cast  in  their  lot  with  the 
early  settlers  on  the  Indian  reservation.  A 
commodius  frame  house  had  just  been  com- 
pleted on  the  farm  when  Mr.  Scheideler  was 
called  to  his  final  rest.  His  widow  occupies 
the  home  and  delights  in  recounting  experi- 
ences of  the  early  days,  including  the  hard- 
ships and  pleasures  incidental  to  rearing  her 
children.  Her  family  is  one  of  which  she 
may  well  be  proud.  The  husband  and  father 
was  a  loyal  citizen  of  his  native  land  and  their 
boys  have  been  quick  to  respond  when  the  na- 
tion is  endangered  and  their  services  are 
needed  to  defend  the  country.     The  members 


of  this  family  are  communicants  of  the  Cath- 
olic church.  John  Scheildeler  will  always  be 
remembered  as  a  loving  father,  a  faithful  hus- 
band, an  honorable  citizen  and  a  loyal  friend. 


S.  E.  GIDDINGS  was  a  lad  of  twelve  years 
when  he  accompanied  his  parents  to  Nebraska, 
in  1874,  and  he  figures  as  a  scion  of  one  of 
the  specially  well  known  and  highly  honored 
pioneer  families  of  Gage  county,  where  his 
father  achieved  large  success  in  connection 
with  farm  enterprise,  as  will  be  noted  in  the 
memoir  dedicated  to  him  —  the  late  Harvey 
W.  Giddings  —  on  other  pages  of  this  work. 
He  whose  name  initiates  this  paragraph  was 
long  numbered  among  the  representative  agri- 
culturists and  stock-growers  of  the  county 
and  is  now  living  retired  in  the  city  of  Bea- 
trice, where  he  has  an  attractive  residence  and 
where  he  finds  activity  and  profit  in  the  man- 
agement of  his  well  equipped  feed  yard,  which 
is  supplied  with  excellent  sheds  and  is  largely 
used  by  farmers  visiting  the  city,  three  city 
lots  being  owned  by  Mr.  Giddings. 

Mr.  Giddings  was  born  in  Warren  county, 
Illinois,  on  the  28th  of  July,  1862,  and  is  a 
son  of  Harvey  W.  and  Rebecca  E.  (McClure) 
Giddings,  both  of  whom  passed  the  closing 
years  of  their  lives  in  Gage  county,  adequate 
record  concerning  the  family  being  given  in 
the  previously  mentioned  memoir,  dedicated 
to  Harvey  W.  Giddings.  The  subject  of  this 
review  was  fourteen  years  old  when  the  fam- 
ily home  was  established  in  Gage  county,  and 
here  he  received  the  advantages  of  the  district 
schools,  as  well  as  of  the  Beatrice  high  school. 
From  his  boyhood  he  was  closely  associated 
with  his  father's  agricultural  and  dairying  en- 
terprise, conducted  on  an  extensive  scale,  and 
in  Filley  township  he  is  still  the  owner  of  a 
finely  improved  and  valuable  farm  estate  of 
two  hundred  and  twenty-seven  acres.  Here 
he  conducted  a  substantial  and  prosperous 
business  as  an  agriculturist  and  stock-grower, 
with  his  live-stock  enterprise  carried  on  in  an 
extensive  way,  and  he  made  excellent  build- 
ing improvements  on  his  model  farm,  to  which 
he  still  gives  his  personal  supen'ision,  as  he 
has  not  found  it  expedient  to  rent  the  prop- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


751 


erty  and  has  placed  the  same  in  charge  of  a 
capable  man  whom  he  employs  by  the  year. 
Mr.  Giddings  remained  on  the  farm  until 
1908,  when  he  removed  with  his  family  to 
Beatrice,  where  he  has  since  maintained  his 
residence,  —  a  citizen  who  is  well  known  in 
the  county  and  whose  circle  of  friends  is  coin- 
cident with  that  of  his  acquaintances. 

The  year  1888  recorded  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Giddings  to  Miss  Mollie  Pilcher,  who  like- 
wise was  born  in  the  state  of  Illinois,  and 
whose  death  occurred  in  August  of  the  fol- 
lowing year.  Mollie,  the  one  child  of  this 
union,  is  now  the  wife  of  John  Rae,  a  repre- 
sentative business  man  of  Sterling,  Colorado. 
In  1891  was  solemnized  the  marriage  of  Mr. 
Giddings  to  Miss  Clara  Hollingworth,  who 
was  born  and  reared  in  Gage  county.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Giddings  had  three  children:  Har- 
old is  a  soldier  in  the  national  army,  as  a  mem- 
ber of  Company  C,  Fifth  United  States  In- 
fantry, stationed  at  the  time  of  this  writing 
(spring  of  1918)  on  the  Mexican  border.  His 
early  education  included  a  course  in  a  business 
college  and  he  is  twenty-four  years  of  age. 
Katherine,  who  was  graduated  in  the  Beatrice 
high  school  and  was  for  two  years  a  student 
in  Wesleyan  University  at  Lincoln,  Nebraska, 
passed  away  December  4,  1917 ;  Oliver  H.  is  a 
student  in  the  Beatrice  high  school. 

In  politics  Mr.  Giddings  is  a  staunch  Re- 
publican, and  he  is  affiliated  with  the  Royal 
Highlanders  and  the  Modem  Woodmen  of 
America,  his  wife  being  identified  with  the 
Royal  Neighbors  and  both  being  active  mem- 
bers of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church. 

JOSIAH  YOUNG,  who  is  one  of  the  rep- 
resentative exponents  of  farm  industry  in 
Lincoln  township,  was  born  in  Clinton  county, 
Iowa,  December  20,  1864, — a  date  that 
clearly  indicates  that  he  is  a  scion  of  a  pio- 
neer family  of  the  Hawkeye  state.  He  is  a 
son  of  Josiah  and  Mary  Ann  (Corbin)  Young 
His  father  was  born  in  Connecticut,  on  the 
20th  of  July,  1823,  and  as  a  young  man  he 
found  employment  in  the  woolen  mills  in  the 
state  of  Rhode  Island.  In  1854  Josiah  Young, 
Sr.,  numbered  himself  among  the  pioneers  of 


Iowa,  where  he  obtained  land  and  turned  his 
attention  to  farm  enterprise.  His  marriage 
to  Miss  Mary  Ann  Corbin  was  solemnized 
May  23,  1854,  and  she  shared  with  him  in 
the  trials  and  vicissitudes  of  pioneer  life  in 
Iowa.  They  became  the  parents  of  six  chil- 
dren, of  whom  four  are  living,  —  William  H., 
of  Prescott,  Iowa ;  Emily,  wife  of  Charles 
Smith,  of  Hiawatha,  Kansas;  Josephine,  wife 
of  Ransom  Leonard,  of  Holstein,  Iowa;  and 
Josiah,  Jr.,  the  immediate  subject  of  this  re- 
view. 

Mrs.  Mary  Ann  (Corbin)  Young  had  three 
brothers  who  gave  valiant  service  as  soldiers 
of  the  Linion  in  the  Civil  war.  These  loyal 
men  were  William,  Royal  and  Charles  Cor- 
bin, all  of  whom  enlisted  at  the  outbreak  of 
the  war  and  all  of  whom  served  until  its 
close. 

He  whose  name  initiates  this  article  was 
reared  and  educated  in  Iowa,  and  there  he 
eventually  instituted  his  independent  career 
as  a  farmer.  He  rented  land  about  ten  years 
and  then,  in  1891,  he  there  purchased  forty 
acres  of  land,  upon  which  he  made  good  im- 
provements. He  later  sold  this  property  at  a 
distinct  financial  profit,  and  in  1905  he  came 
to  Gage  county,  Nebraska  and  purchased  his 
present  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres, 
in  Lincoln  township.  Here  he  is  meeting  with 
merited  success  in  his  farm  enterprise  and  he 
is  one  of  the  valued  citizens  of  his  com- 
munity. 

In  politics  ]\Ir.  Young  is  a  Democrat,  but 
since  coming  to  Nebraska  he  has  never  desired 
or  held  public  office  of  any  kind,  as  he  has 
preferred  to  give  his  undivided  time  and  at- 
tention to  the  management  of  his  farm  and 
business  affairs.  He  became  a  member  of  the 
Masonic  fraternity  while  still  a  resident  of 
Iowa,  and  he  now  maintains  his  Masonic  af- 
filiation in  the  city  of  Beatrice.  Both  he  and 
his  wife  hold  membership  in  the  Christian 
church.  Since  establishing  his  home  on  his 
present  farm  Yir.  Young  has  shown  his  en- 
terprise and  progressiveness  by  erecting  on 
the  same  good  buildings,  including  an  attrac- 
tive residence. 

November  20,  1888,  recorded  the  marriage 


752 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


of  Mr.  Young  to  Miss  Edith  Wilson,  daughter 
of  William  R.  Wilson,  of  Prescott,  Iowa.  Of 
the  children  of  this  union  Ralph  H.  and  Mary 
Edith  died  in  infancy ;  Blanche,  who  was  born 
October  26,  1889,  is  the  wife  of  C.  S.  Weigle, 
of  Gage  county;  Josiah  R.  was  born  Decem- 
ber 22,  1891 ;  Jesse  O.,  who  was  born  April 

14,  1896,  and  Charles  R.,  who  was  born  March 

15,  1899  are  showing  their  patriotism  under 
the  present  conditions  of  warfare  by  serving 
as  members  of  the  United  States  naVy ;  and 
Harry  L.  was  born  February  11,   1907. 

ANTHONY  W.  SNYDER. —  Years  of 
toil  and  industry  enable  the  subject  of  this  rec- 
ord to  spend  the  declining  years  of  his  life  in 
honorable  retirement,  surrounded  with  all  the 
necessities  and  many  of  the  luxuries  of  the 
present  day.  Mr.  Snyder  was  born  at  Dayton, 
Ohio,  August  27,  1837.  He  is  a  son  of  Eli 
and  Barbara  (Manning)  Snyder,  the  former 
born  at  Baltimore,  Maryland,  January  4,  1808, 
and  the  latter  at  Harrisburg,  Pennsylvania,  in 
181 1.  The  father  died  in  1885,  and  the  mother 
was  called  to  her  final  rest  in  1891. 

Anthony  W.  Snyder  was  reared  on  a  farm 
and  secured  the  advantages  of  the  common 
schools.  When  the  Civil  war  threatened  to 
disrupt  the  Union  he  volunteered  for  one  hun- 
dred days'  service,  enlisting  in  April,  1861,  in 
Company  G,  Seventh  Indiana  Volunteer  In- 
fantry. At  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  ser- 
vice he  returned  home  arid  engaged  in  farm- 
ing, in  Miami  county,  Ohio.  In  1870  Mr. 
Snyder  came  to  Nebraska  and  located  in  Gage 
county.  Here  he  leased  land  in  Adams  town- 
ship for  several  years.  In  1891  he  purchased 
one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  in  Section  33, 
that  township,  and  this  property  he  still  owns. 
He  is  the  owner  also  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  in  Sherman  county,  Kansas,  and  foi 
years  was  engaged  in  farming  in  that  state. 
Returning  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  he  suc- 
cessfully conducted  his  farming  interests  until 
1907,  when  he  laid  aside  the  active  work  of 
the  fields  and  retired  to  Adams. 

February  26,  1863,  recorded  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  Snyder  to  Miss  Christina  Van  Dusen, 
who  was  born  in  Connecticut,  December  26, 


1841,  her  parents,  Edward  and  Marie  (Bev- 
ins)  Van  Dusen,  having  spent  their  entire 
lives  in  Connecticut. 

The  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Snyder  has  been 
blessed  with  eight  children:  Charles  and  Jo- 
seph E.  reside  in  Dewey  county,  Oklahoma; 
Hattie  is  the  wife  of  Daniel  Dellahant,  ol 
Beatrice,  Nebraska;  Harry  is  engaged  in 
agricultural  pursuits  in  Lancaster  county. 
Nebraska  ;  Richard  operates  the  home  farm  in 
Adams  township;  William  F.  resides  in 
Dewey  county,  Oklahoma;  Nellie  is  the  wife 
of  W.  C.  Silvernail,  of  Phillips,  Nebraska; 
and  Myrtle  is  the  wife  of  A.  P.  Wiar,  of 
Adams. 

In  politics  Mr.  Snyder  is  non-partisan,  vot- 
ing for  men  and  measures  he  considers  best. 
In  1903  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  county 
board  of  supervisors,  on  the  Democratic  ti:ket, 
and  in  this  office  he  served  one  term.  He 
keeps  in  touch  with  his  old  comrades  by  mem- 
bership in  Sargeant  Cox  Post,  No.  100,  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic,  at  Adams. 

Forty-eight  years  have  passed  since  Mr. 
Snyder  cast  in  his  lot  with  Gage  county,  Ne- 
braska, and  in  all  those  years  he  has  always 
been  faithful  to  every  duty  and  trust.  He 
merits  most  fully  this  recognition  in  the  his- 
torical records  of  his  adopted  county. 

GEORGE  E.  HORRUM.  — Fifty  years 
have  come  and  gone  since  the  subject  of  this 
record  came  to  Gage  county.  He  was  born 
October  20,  1859,  at  Manchester,  Indiana,  and 
is  a  son  of  L.  R.  and  Elsie  (Sayers)  Horrum. 
L.  R.  Horrum  was  born  in  Dearborn  county, 
Indiana,  June  28,  1830.  As  a  boy  and  youth 
he  learned  the  trade  of  harnessmaking,  and  he 
followed  this  trade  at  Manchester,  Indiana, 
until  1867,  when  he  located  at  Sterling,  Illi- 
nois. Residing  there  one  year,  he  came  to 
Gage  county,  Nebraska,  in  1868,  the  year  after 
the  admission  of  Nebraska  to  statehood,  and 
thereafter  he  farmed  in  Adams  township  until 
1883,  when  he  again  took  up  the  trade  he  had 
learned  in  his  youth.  In  this  line  of  business 
he  continued  until  his  death,  which  occurred 
September  18.  1913.  Mrs.  Elsie  (Sayers) 
Horrum  was  bom  at  Oxford,  Ohio,  March  19. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


1833,  a  daughter  of  Dr.  Sayers,  who  later  re- 
moved to  Manchester,  Indiana.  The  pater- 
nal grandfather  of  George  E.  Horrum  was 
Daniel  Hon-um,  who  was  a  native  of  Ver- 
mont and  who  located  in  Dearborn  county, 
Indiana  at  an  early  date,  he  having  been  a 
pioneer  farmer  of  that  county  and  having  de- 
voted his  entire  active  career  to  the  basic  in- 
dustr}'  of  agriculture. 

George  E.  Horrum  came  to  Nebraska  with 
his  parents  in  1868,  and  attended  the  pioneer 
district  schools  of  Gage  county  in  the  acquire- 
ment of  his  youthful  education.  On  reaching 
man's  estate  he  chose  the  occupation  to  which 
he  had  been  reared,  and  he  continued  to  fol- 
low farm  enterprise  until  1892,  when  he  es- 
tablished his  residence  at  Adams,  this  county, 
where  he  has  since  been  successfully  engaged 
in  the  harness  buusiness. 

On  September  20,  1883,  George  E.  Hornmi 
was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Sarah  A.  Bry- 
son,  a  daughter  of  Silas  Bryson,  whose  record 
appears  elsewhere  in  this  volume.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Horrum  are  the  parents  of  two  children  : 
Pet  is  the  wife  of  W.  H.  Coleman,  superin- 
tendent of  schools  at  Crawford,  Nebraska ; 
and  Clara  is  the  wife  of  William  Pittam,  of 
Savoy,  Montana.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Horrum  are 
members  of  the  Methodist  Epicopal  church, 
in  which  they  take  a  commendable  interest. 
In  politics  Mr.  Horrum  is  a  Republican  and 
fraternally  he  is  affiliated  with  the  Adams 
lodge  of  Ancient  Free  &  Accepted  Masons. 
Mr.  Horrum  has  lived  to  see  many  changes 
in  Gage  county  since  he  came  here  as  a  lad  of 
ten  years,  and  he  has  done  his  full  share  to 
bring  about  the  present  high  state  of  develop- 
ment. 


WILLIAM  H.  MILLER.  —  A  worthy  rep- 
resentative of  the  agricultural  and  financial 
interests  of  Gage  county  is  the  gentleman 
whose  name  introduces  this  record.  A  native 
of  Pennsylvania,  Mr.  Miller  was  born  at 
White  Haven,  Carbon  county.  May  8,  1858. 
His  parents,  William  M.  and  Martha  (Stiver) 
Miller,  were  likewise  natives  of  the  Keystone 
state,  the  former  having  been  bom  September 
.26,  1826,  and  the  birth  of  his  wife  having  oc- 


curred December  25,  1826.  They  became 
residents  of  Illinois  in  1869  and  both  passed 
the  remainder  of  their  lives  in  that  state.  The 
death  of  the  father  occurred  October  12, 
1901,  and  that  of  the  mother  in  1883. 

William  H.  Miller  was  reared  on  a  farm 
in  Illinois  and  acquired  his  education  in  the 
public  schools.  He  was  engaged  in  farming 
in  the  Prairie  state  until  1884,  when  he  came 
to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  and  purchased  land 
in  Nemaha  township.  In  1900  he  removed  to 
his  present  fine  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres,  in  Lincoln  township,  where  he  has  made 
good  improvements  and  is  meeting  with  suc- 
cess in  his  undertakings. 

Mr.  Miller  made  complete  the  arrangements 
for  a  home  by  his  marriage,  May  25,  1882,  to 
Miss  Emma  Frazier,  a  daughter  of  Louis 
and  Elizabeth  Frazier,  of  Illinois.  The  home 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Miller  has  been  blessed  by 
the  birth  of  six  children :  James  Leroy  is  a 
farmer  near  Ellis ;  Linda  May  is  the  wife  of 
W.  F.  Walsh,  of  Omaha;  Amy  is  the  wife  of 
John  Fitzgerald,  of  Omaha ;  Raymond  F.  lives 
in  Lincoln  township ;  Guy  G.  is  at  the  parental 
home ;  and  Orin  R.  runs  a  store  at  Ellis. 

In  1907  Mr.  Miller  assisted  in  the  organi- 
zation of  the  Ellis  State  Bank,  and  later  he 
became  president  of  the  same,  a  position  in 
which  he  served  three  years.  He  is  still  a 
stockholder  and  director  of  this  flourishing  in- 
stitution. He  exercises  his  right  of  franchise 
by  supporting  men  and  measures  for  which 
the  Republican  party  stands  sponsor,  and 
while  he  has  had  no  ambition  for  public  office 
his  civic  loyalty  was  shown  in  three  years  of 
most  efifective  service  in  the  position  of  treas- 
urer of  his  township.  He  is  affiliated  with 
the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America  and  both 
he  and  his  wife  are  rhembers  of  the  Royal 
Neighbors.  Mr.  Miller  has  given  close  at- 
tention to  his  various  industrial  and  business 
interests  and  is  one  of  the  substantial  and 
valued   citizens   of   Lincoln   township. 

GEORGE  H.  JONES  was  one  of  the  hon- 
ored pioneers  who  won  individual  success  and 
furthered  industrial  and  civic  advancement 
through  his  association  with   farm  enterprise 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


ill  Gage  county,  and  it  is  most  fitting  that  in 
this  history  be  entered  a  tribute  to  his  mem- 
ory.    He  was  born  near  Bangor,  Maine,  De- 
cember 23,  1847,  a  son  of  Cyrus  Jones,  and  in 
his  character  and  achievement  he  showed  forth 
the   sterhng  traits   that   have  so   significantly 
marked  the  sons  of  New  England.     His  father 
likewise  was  a  native  of  the  old  Pine  Tree 
state  and  was  a  scion  of  a  family  that  was 
founded  in  New  England  in  the  colonial  era, 
the    lineage   being   traced    to    staunch    Welsh 
origin.     At  the  age  of  eleven  years  George  H. 
Jones  came  with  his  widowed  mother  to  the 
west  and  the  home  was  established  near  Dixon, 
Illinois,  where  he  was  reared  to  manhood  on 
a  pioneer  farm.     As  a  young  man  he  went  to 
Jones   county,   Iowa,   where  he  amplified   his 
pioneer    experience    as    an    agriculturist,    and 
where  his  marriage  was  solemnized  in   1867. 
Thereafter  he  continued  to  be  concerned  with 
farming  at  intervals  in  Iowa  and  at  others  in 
Illinois,  until    1872,   when  he  came   with   his 
family  to  Nebraska  and  took  up  a  homestead 
•of  eighty  acres  in  Section  30,  Highland  town- 
ship,   Gage   county.     Here   he   continued    his 
activities    as    a    progressive    and    successful 
farmer  until   1888,  when  he  removed  to  the 
village  of  Cortland  and  engaged  in  the  gen- 
eral   merchandise    business.     There    he    con- 
tinued successfully  in  this  line  of  enterprise 
until   his   death,   which  occurred  August  22, 
1910.     His  well  improved  farm  of  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres  is  that  of  which  his  son 
Cyrus  P.  now  has  the  management  and  of  this 
son,  as  well  as  of  the  elder  son,  Frank  \V., 
specific  mention  is  made  on  other  pages  of  this 
volume. 

Mr.  Jones  was  a  man  of  high  standing  in 
the  community  and  did  well  his  part  in  fur- 
thering the  general  advancement  of  Gage 
county  along  both  civic  and  material  lines.  His 
political  support  was  given  to  the  Republican 
party,  he  was  affiliated  with  the  Modern  Wood- 
men of  America,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death 
he  was  a  deacon  of  the  Congregational  church 
at  Cortland,  where  his  widow,  likewise  a  de- 
voted member,  still  maintains  her  home. 

December  25,  1867,  recorded  the  marriage 
■of  Mr.  Jones  to  Miss  Augusta  J.  Whitcomb, 


who  was  born  near  Meshoppen,  Wyoming 
county,  Pennsylvania,  May  15,  1847,  a  daugh- 
ter of  George  P.  and  Christina  (Kintner) 
Whitcomb.  Mr.  Whitcomb  was  born  in 
Massachusetts,  March  17,  1816,  and  was  one 
of  the  honored  pioneers  and  prosperous  farm- 
ers of  Gage  county  at  the  time  of  his  death, 
in  1873.  His  wife  was  born  in  Wyoming 
county,  Pennsylvania,  April  22,  1826,  and  she 
passed  the  closing  years  of  her  life  at  Bea- 
trice. Gage  county,  Nebraska,  where  she  died 
in  1901.  The  parents  of  Mrs.  Jones  came  to 
this  county  and  settled  on  a  homestead  of 
eighty  acres,  one  and  one-half  miles  south- 
west of  Beatrice.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jones  be- 
came the  parents  of  seven  children,  of  whom 
four  survive  the  honored  father:  Frank  W. 
is  represented  on  other  pages;  Elva  is  the 
wife  of  James  E.  McCormick,  of  Clatonia; 
Cyrus  P.  has  charge  of  the  old  homestead 
farm;  and  Verna  remains  with  her  widowed 
mother  in  their  attractive  home  at  Cortland. 


CYRUS  HOUGHTON,  a  retired  farmer, 
residing  at  Blue  Springs,  was  bom  in  Will 
county,  Illinois,  November  18,  1853,  and  is  a 
son  of  Rudolphus  and  Sarah  (Capron) 
Houghton,  who  came  to  Illinois  when  Chicago 
was  only  a  small  city,  and  at  a  very  low  figure 
he  was  offered  land  on  which  a  part  of  the 
city  now  stands.  This  land  he  refused  to 
purchase,  as  it  was  too  marshy  for  farming 
purposes.  Mr.  Houghton  then  went  to  Will 
county,  Illinois,  where  he  engaged  in  farming 
and  where  he  died  in  1869,  his  wife  having 
passed  away  several  years  previously. 

Cyrus  Houghton  was  but  sixteen  years  of 
age  at  the  time  of  his  father's  death  and  was 
left  with  very  little  means.  He  managed  to 
purchase  a  team  of  horses  and  began  teaming, 
—  first  in  Gilman  and  later  in  Paxton  and 
other  towns  in  Illinois.  Mr.  Houghton  finally 
bought  forty  acres  of  land  in  Will  county, 
where  he  farmed  for  some  time.  Being  in 
poor  health,  he  was  advised  by  his  physician 
to  go  west.  He  disposed  of  his  interests  in 
Illinois  and  started  for  Beatrice,  Nebraska, 
where  he  spent  the  winter.  The  following 
spring  Mr.  Houghton  determined  to  remain  in 


756 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Nebraska  and  bought  eighty  acres  of  land  on 
Section  34,  Rockford  township.  Gage  county, 
on  which  was  built  a  shanty  twelve  by  four- 
teen feet  in  dimensions  with  a  dirt-covered 
log  addition.  This  he  afterward  replaced  with 
a  frame  building,  and  in  later  years  he  built 
a  still  better  house,  as  well  as  other  good 
farm  buildings.  He  later  bought  an  addi- 
tional eighty  acres  of  land,  adjoining  that  of 
his  first  purchase  and  here  he  continued  farm- 
ing for  many  years.  He  and  his  family  saw 
some  very  hard  times  in  the  early  pioneer 
days,  owing  to  drought  several  years  in  suc- 
cession, and  it  took  a  good  deal  of  determin- 
ation and  struggle  to  pull  through. 

In  1916  Mr.  Houghton  left  the  farm  and 
after  spending  some  time  in  Biloxi,  Missi- 
ssippi, he  returned  to  Gage  county,  in  June, 
1917.  Here  he  has  since  lived,  making  his 
home  in  Blue  Springs,  where  he  owns  a  com- 
fortable residence. 

Cyrus  Houghton  was  united  in  marriage  to 
Miss  Hannah  Jones,  of  Will  county,  Illinois, 
she  being  a  daughter  of  David  and  Mary 
Jones.  To  this  unoin  was  born  three  children  : 
Belle  is  the  wife  of  Levi  Miller,  of  Beatrice; 
Pearl  is  the  wife  of  Clarence  Jones,  of  Holmes- 
ville,  this  county ;  and  Ralph  D.  has  the  man- 
agement of  the  home  farm,  in  Rockford 
township.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Houghton  are 
members  of  the  Methodist  church,  and  in 
politics  he  is  a  Republican.  He  is  also  an 
ardent  advocate  of  the  prohibition  movement. 

ERNST  H.  SPILKER.  — The  vital  energy 
and  good  judgment  which  Mr.  Spilker  has  ap- 
plied in  connection  with  farm  industry  have 
made  him  one  of  the  specially  successful  rep- 
resentatives of  this  important  line  of  enter- 
prise in  Gage  county,  and  he  is  the  owner  of 
a  valuable  landed  estate  of  three  hundred  and 
twenty  acres,  in  Section  12,  Grant  township, 
eighty  acres  of  his  well  improved  farm  prop- 
erty being  situated  just  to  the  south  of  the 
corporate  limits  of  the  village  of  Dewitt,  Sa- 
line county. 

Mr.  Spilker  was  born  in  the  fine  old  prov- 
ince of  Westphalia,  Germany,  on  the  11th  of 
December,  1873,  and  is  the  youngest  of  the 


eight  children  born  to  Henry  A.  and  Louisa 
(Fromme)  Spilker.  The  eldest  of  the  chil- 
dren, Karl,  died  in  Germany;  William  is 
another  of  the  prosperous  farmers  of  Grant 
township;  Frederick  died  when  about  fifty- 
five  years  of  age;  Louisa  is  the  wife  of  Henry 
Damkroger,  of  Holt  township ;  Carolena  is  the 
wife  of  Henry  Bergmyer,  of  Grant  township; 
Henry  died  when  about  thirty  years  of  age ; 
Christian  is  a  resident  of  Holt  county,  this 
state. 

Henry  A.  Spilker,  a  member  of  a  family 
established  for  many  generations  in  West- 
phalia, Germany,  was  bom  February  3,  1828, 
and  his  death  occurred  October  14,  1906.  His 
wife  was  born  February  18,  1831,  and  passed 
to  the  life  eternal  on  the  19th  of  May,  1910. 
In  1883  Henn'  A.  Spilker,  accompanied  by  his 
wife  and  their  four  children,  came  from  Ger- 
many to  America  and  forthwith  made  his  way 
to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  where  he  purchased, 
at  the  rate  of  thirty  dollars  an  acre,  the  pres- 
ent fine  homestead  farm  of  his  son  Ernst  H., 
of  this  review.  Minor  improvements  had 
been  made  on  the  property,  and  with  character- 
istic thrift  and  discrimination  he  carried  for- 
ward the  development  of  the  farm,  upon  which 
he  eventually  erected  modern  buildings,  be- 
sides setting  out  trees,  and  also  planted  one- 
half  of  an  acre  with  catalpa  seeds,  one  hun- 
dred trees  which  now  average  fully  thirty 
feet  in  height.  Mr.  Spilker  was  a  man  of 
indomitable  energy  and  with  the  aid  of  his 
devoted  wife  and  his  sons  and  daughter  he 
made  his  old  homestead  one  of  the  model 
famis  of  Gage  county.  He  achieved  substan- 
tial prosperity  and  manifested  his  paternal 
loyalty  and  stewardship  by  assisting  each  of 
his  children  to  gain  a  good  start  in  life  upon 
reaching  maturity,  though  to  compass  this 
end  he  was  at  times  compelled  to  borrow  the 
requisite  money.  Sturdy  and  unassuming,  he 
made  his  life  count  in  productive  activity,  or- 
dered his  course  upon  a  high  plane  of  integ- 
rity and  commanded  the  respect  of  his  fellow 
men.  He  was  liberal  in  support  of  measures 
and  agencies  for  the  conserving  of  the  general 
welfare  of  the  community  and  he  continued 
his    active    association    with    farm    enterprise 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


until  within  a  few  years  of  his  death.  Both 
he  and  his  wife  were  devout  comnnniicants  of 
the  Lutheran  church  and  he  aided  generously 
in  the  organizing  and  support  of  the  church 
of  this  denomination  in  Grant  township.  It 
is  interesting  to  record  that  at  the  time  of  his 
wife's  death  their  grandchildren  numbered 
fifty-two  and  their  great-grandchildren  fifteen. 

Ernst  H.  Spilker  acquired  his  rudimentary 
education  in  his  native  land  and  was  a  lad  oi 
nine  years  at  the  time  when  the  family  home 
was  established  in  Gage  county.  Here  he 
supplemented  his  mental  discipline  by  attend- 
ing the  district  schools  and  he  early  began  to 
lend  his  aid  in  the  work  of  the  home  farm, 
upon  which  he  has  remained  until  the  present 
time,  his  father  having  given  to  him  the  old 
homestead  when  he  was  twentjf-three  years 
of  age.  In  1907  Mr.  Spilker  purchased  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  in  Scotts 
Blufi^  county,  and  this  property,  which  he  pur- 
chased for  seventy-five  dollars  an  acre,  he  sold 
in  1913  at  the  rate  of  one  hundred  and  fifteen 
dollars  an  acre.  On  the  old  homestead  he  has 
erected  one  of  the  most  modern  and  attractive 
farm  residences  in  the  county,  the  house  hav- 
ing eleven  rooms  and  being  equipped  with 
electric  lights,  steam  heat,  hot  and  cold  run- 
ning water,  and  the  best  type  of  modern  bath- 
room. Within  the  past  fifteen  years  he  has 
expended  fully  six  thousand  dollars  in  mak- 
ing improvements  on  his  farm  and  he  is  known 
as  one  of  the  wide-awake  and  progressive  agri- 
culturists and  stock-growers  of  the  county, 
with  secure  place  in  popular  confidence  and 
good  will. 

In  1896  Mr.  Spilker  wedded  Miss  Mary 
Meier,  who  was  born  in  Germany  and  who 
was  twenty-nine  years  of  age  at  the  time  of 
her  death,  October  24,  1903.  She  came  with 
her  parents  to  America  in  1881  and  her  father, 
Ernst  Meier,  became  one  of  the  prosperous 
farmers  of  Gage  county,  where  he  established 
his  home  in  Clatonia  township  and  where  he 
passed  the  remainder  of  his  life,  his  widow, 
whose  maiden  name  was  Mary  Pohlmann,  be- 
ing now  a  resident  of  Jefferson  county.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Spilker  became  the  parents  of  two 
children,  Sophia  and  Martha,  both  of  whom 


remain  at  the  paternal  home.  On  the  10th  of 
February,  1905,  Mr.  Spilker  married  Miss 
Anna  Tegeler,  who  was  born  in  Clatonia 
township,  this  county,  on  the  18th  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1886,  a  daughter  of  Frederick  and 
Charlotte  (  Schnele)  Tegeler.  who  came  to  this 
county  from  Germany  in  1882,  Mr.  Tegeler 
having  been  one  of  the  representative  farmers 
of  Clatonia  township  at  the  time  of  his  death 
and  his  widow  remaining  on  the  old  home- 
stead place.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Spilker  have  four 
children,  —  Amanda,  Paul,  Benjamin  and 
Esther. 

In  politics  Mr.  Spilker  is  found  staunchly 
aligned  in  the  ranks  of  the  Republican  party 
and  he  served  three  terms  as  assessor  of  Grant 
township.  He  and  his  wife  are  earnest  com- 
municants of  the  German  Lutheran  church  in 
their  home  township  and  he  has  served  since 
1907  as  a  member  of  its  board  of  trustees. 
The  old  homestead  farm  which  he  received 
from  his  father  comprises  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres,  and  through  his  own  ability  and 
resources  he  has  accumulated  and  paid  for 
the  remainder  of  his  now  large  and  valuable 
landed  estate.  He  is  one  of  the  shareholders 
in  the  farmers'  co-operative  grain  elevator  in 
the  village  of  Dewitt,  where  he  also  assisted 
in  the  organization  of  the  Farmers'  &  Mer- 
chants' Bank,  his  stock  in  which  he  later  sold. 
On  his  fine  farm  he  keeps  the  best  of  live 
stock,  and  at  the  time  of  this  writing,  in  the 
winter  of  1917-1918,  he  has  nearly  two  hun- 
dred head  of  Hampshire  swine.  A  man  oi 
splendid  energy,  he  has  achieved  large  and 
worthy  success,  the  while  he  has  so  ordered 
his  course  as  to  prove  a  valuable  citizen  and 
command  the  respect  and  confidence  of  those 
with  whom  he  has  come  in  contact  in  the 
varied  relations  of  life. 


_  ELMER  L.  ROOT  is  a  son  of  the  late  Wil- 
liam H.  Root,  to  whom  a  memorial  tribute  is 
given  on  other  pages  of  this  volume,  and  he  is 
doing  well  his  part  in  upholding  the  prestige 
of  the  family  name  in  connection  with  farm 
industry  and  civic  aflairs,  his  base  of  oper- 
ations being  the  farm  of  one  hundred  acres 
which  he  inherited  from  his  father's  estate,  in 


758 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Rock  ford  and  Sherman  townships,  and  his 
home  place,  improved  with  excellent  buildings, 
being  situated  in  Section  30,  Sherman  town- 
ship. 

Mr.  Root  was  bom  in  Rockford  township, 
this  county,  March  9,  1888,  was  afforded  the 
advantages  of  the  public  schools  and  has  been 
actively  allied  with  farm  enterprise  from  the 
time  of  his  youth  to  the  present.  He  married, 
in  1910,  Miss  Sadie  Ault,  likewise  a  native  of 
this  county,  and  she  is  the  popular  chatelaine 
of  their  attractive  home. 

WILLIAM  CRAIG.  — For  thirty-six  years 
William  Craig  has  been  an  honored  citizen  of 
Gage  county,  residing  at  Blue  Springs.  He 
is  descended  from  staunch  Pennsylvania 
stock,  his  father,  Thomas  Craig,  having  been 
born  in  Northampton  (now  Carbon)  county, 
that  state,  in  1797.  As  a  young  man  he  en- 
gaged in  farming  for  a  time  and  later,  for 
nearly  quarter  of  a  century,  conducted  a  hotel 
at  Lehigh  Water  Gap,  besides  operating  a 
general  merchandise  store  at  the  same  place. 
He  was  also  the  owner  of  a  stage  line  running 
from  Mauch  Chunk  and  Easton,  as  well  as 
being  extensively  engaged  in  boating  and 
transporting  lumber  from  his  mills,  on  the 
upper  Lehigh,  over  the  Lehigh  Coal  &  Navi- 
gation Company's  canal,  to  Easton,  Mauch 
Chunk  and  other  points.  He  owned  and  op- 
erated his  own  boats  and  made  considerable 
money  in  the  enterprise.  He  owned  three 
saw  mills  and  an  immense  tract  of  timber  land 
During  the  memorable  freshet  of  1841  he  lost 
heavily  in  boats  and  lumber,  and  his  entire 
store  and  contents  were  washed  away.  He 
continued  as  a  hotelkeeper  until  about  four 
years  before  his  death,  which  occurred  in 
1839.  The  maiden  name  of  his  second  wife, 
who  was  the  mother  of  William  Craig,  was 
Catherine  G.  Hagenbuch.  She  was  a  native 
of  Lehighton,  Pennsylvania,  her  death  occur- 
ring at  Lehigh  Gap,  in  1871.  She  was  the 
mother  of  six  children,  all  of  whom  lived  to 
maturity.  The  maiden  name  of  the  first  wife 
of  Thomas  Craig  was  Kuntz  and  of  the  two 
children  of  this  union  one  died  in  childhood, 
the  other  growing  to  manhood.     The  ]iaternal 


grandfather  of  our  subject  was  Thomas 
Craig,  who  was  a  native  of  Northampton 
county,  Pennsylvania  and  who  served  as  a 
general  in  the  Revolutionary  war;  he  lived  to 
the  ripe  old  age  of  ninety  years. 

The  subject  of  this  review  was  born  at  Le- 
high Gap,  Pennsylvania,  April  22,  1841.  His 
early  education  was  acquired  in  his  native  vil- 
lage, later  he  became  a  student  at  Allentown 
Seminary  and  he  completed  his  education  in 
the  agricultural  college  of  Center  county, 
Pennsylvania  (now  the  Pennsylvania  State 
College).  He  then  began  teaching,  and  later, 
in  company  with  his  brother,  Colonel  John 
Craig,  he  engaged  in  the  general  merchandise 
business  at  Lehigh  Gap.  To  this  enterprise 
he  added  the  business  of  boat  building  and 
railroad  contracting.  These  interests  he  op- 
erated extensively  and  successfully,  and  also 
dealt  largely  in  lumber,  railroad  ties  and  coal, 
at  the  same  place,  until  the  fall  of  1882.  The 
family  was  widely  and  favorably  known ; 
three  of  his  brothers  served  as  members  of  the 
Pennsylvania  legislature,  two  of  them  being 
elected  to  the  state  senate. 

Mr.  Craig,  in  1882,  came  to  Nebraska  and 
established  himself  in  the  stove  and  hardware 
business  at  Blue  Springs,  where  his  progres- 
siveness  and  reliability  gained  him  an  envi- 
able place  in  the  community.  When  the 
Farmers'  Elevator  Company  was  organized, 
sixteen  years  ago,  he  assumed  the  position  of 
manager,  which  executive  post  he  has  held 
continuously  since. 

On  September  26,  1866,  was  solemnized  the 
marriage  of  Mr.  Craig  to  Miss  Mattie  Gish, 
who  was  born  at  Berlinsville,  Pennsylvania, 
January  29,  1844,  a  daughter  of  Abram  and 
Elizabeth  (Hummel)  Gish,  natives  of  the  Key- 
stone state,  where  the  father  was  a  man  of 
prominence  as  a  farmer  and  merchant.  The 
l)arents  of  Mrs.  Craig  both  passed  their  entire 
lives  in  Pennsylvania,  the  death  of  the  father 
occurring  in  1878,  and  that  of  the  mother  in 
1884. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Craig  became  the  parents  of 
the  following  named  children:  Annie,  un- 
married, is  a  teacher  in  the  Wymore  schools ; 
W.  .\.  married  Miss  Alice  \Ye\ch  and  resides 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


759 


at  Rochester,  New  York ;  F.  G.  married  ]\Iiss 
Elsie  Noah  and  resides  in  Lincohi,  Nebraska ; 
Jesse  V.  married  Miss  Beatrice  Fenton  and 
resides  in  Lincohi,  Nebraska ;  and  Martha  E., 
unmarried,  is  a  teacher  in  the  schools  of 
Omaha.  The  mother  of  these  children  was 
called  to  her  final  rest  in  1914. 

Mr.  Craig  cast  his  first  presidential  vote  for 
McClellan,  and  now  supports  the  Democratic 
ticket.  He  has  been  called  to  public  office 
and  gave  effiicient  service  as  a  member  of  the 
school  board  many  years.  In  1888  he  was 
elected  and  served  as  mayor  of  Blue  Springs. 
He  has  also  served  as  treasurer  of  the  town- 
ship and  city.  Mr.  Craig  has  won  and  held 
the  esteem  of  the  people  of  the  community  in 
which  for  thirty-six  years  he  has  lived  and 
labored  and  in  which  his  influence  and  sup- 
port have  always  been  on  the  side  of  those 
things  which  are  best. 

It  is  a  matter  of  definite  record  that  the 
Craig  family  name  has  been  worthily  linked 
with  the  annals  of  American  history  from  the 
colonial  period,  and  it  is  specially  pleasing  and 
consistent  to  enter  in  this  work  a  record  con- 
cerning a  distinguished  Revolutionary  pa- 
triot of  the  ancestral  line  of  William  Craig  of 
Gage  county.  It  was  General  Craig,  then  a 
lieutenant-colonel  on  the  staff  of  General 
Washington,  to  whom  the  noble  Quaker 
woman  of  historic  note,  Mrs.  Lydia  Darragh, 
reported  the  intended  surprise  attack  that 
would  be  attempted  by  the  British  commander. 
General  Howe,  upon  the  forces  of  General 
■  Washington  that  were  encamped  above  Phila- 
delphia, the  timely  information  resulting  in 
the  frustration  of  General  Howe's  plan.  Of 
this  Revolutionary  incident  definite  mention 
is  made  in  an  old  history  which  was  published 
in  1827  and  which  is  now  in  the  possession  of 
\\'illiam  Craig,  of  this  review.  From  this  old 
history  the  following  quotations  are  taken : 
"Colonel  Craig  was  also  with  General  Wash- 
ington encamped  at  White  Marsh,  fourteen 
miles  above  Philadelphia.  It  was  through 
him  Mrs.  Lydia  Darrah,  of  Philadelphia, 
conveyed  to  General  Washington  warning  of 
General  Howe's  intended  attack  on  December 
2,  1777,  she  having  heard  the  order  read  for 


the  attack,  through  the  keyhole  of  the  door  in 
the  chamber  of  her  house.  The  British  troops 
marched  out  of  the  city  as  planned,  to  attack 
by  surprise,  defeat  and  capture  the  army  and 
take  General  Washington  prisoner.  Finding 
General  Washington  fully  prepared,  and  can- 
nons mounted,  the  attack  was  not  made,  and 
the  British  marched  back  again,  —  as  General 
Howe  expressed  it,  'like  a  parcel  of   fools.'  " 


P.  M.  ANDERSON,  who  conducts  a 
thoroughly  well  ordered  automobile  garage  in 
the  village  of  Filley,  was  born  in  Schleswig- 
Holstein,  Germany,  on  the  15th  of  December, 
1867,  a  son  of  Marcus  and  Marie  (Rasmus- 
sen)  Anderson,  both  likewise  natives  of  that 
district,  which  was  formerly  a  part  of  Den- 
mark. There  they  continued  their  residence 
until  1871,  when  they  came  to  the  United 
States  and  settled  at  Princeton,  Illinois.  Later 
they  removed  to  the  city  of  Chicago,  where 
they  remained  six  years.  Marcus  Anderson 
then  engaged  in  farming  enterprise  near 
Princeton,  Illinois,  where  he  remained  until 
the  spring  of  1883,  when  he  came  with  his 
family  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  where  he 
purchased  a  farm  and  turned  his  attention  with 
characteristic  vigor  to  agricultural  and  live- 
stock industry.  Later  he  sold  his  farm  and 
purchased  another,  in  Thayer  county,  but 
eventually  he  returned  to  Gage  county,  where 
he  passed  the  closing  years  of  his  life.  He 
had  no  financial  resources  when  he  came  to 
America  but  by  energy  and  good  management 
he  here  gained  independence  and  a  gracious 
measure  of  prosperity.  The  children  of  his 
first  marriage  were  four  sons  :  Nis  is  a  farmer 
in  Cheyenne  county,  this  state;  Andrew  An- 
derson is  serving  in  1918  as  county  treasurer 
of  Gage  county;  P.  M.,  of  this  review,  was 
the  next  in  order  of  birth ;  and  L.  C.  owns  and 
operates  a  well  improved  farm  four  miles 
north  of  Filley,  this  county.  For  his  second 
wife  the  father  wedded  Margaret  Hendrick- 
son,  and  they  became  the  parents  of  two 
children:  Anna,  who  is  the  wife  of  George 
Hendrickson,  of  Broken  Bow,  Custer  county ; 
and  Marie,  who  is  the  wife  of  Henry  Rem- 
mers,  of  Firth,  Lancaster  county.     The  father 


760 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


was  a  Republican  in  politics  and  his  religious 
faith  was  that  of  the  Lutheran  church. 

P.  M.  Anderson  acquired  his  youthful  edu- 
cation in  the  public  schools  of  Illinois  and  Ne- 
braska, besides  completing  an  effective  course 
in  a  business  college  in  the  city  of  Beatrice. 
His  independent  career  has  been  marked  in 
earlier  years  by  close  and  successful  associ- 
ation with  farm  enterprise,  and  he  is  now  the 
owner  of  a  well  improved  farm  of  eighty 
acres,  north  of  Filley,  and  another,  of  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres,  south  of  this  village. 
In  1909  Mr.  Anderson  removed  from  his  farm 
to  the  village  of  Filley,  where  he  engaged  in 
the  buying  and  shipping  of  live  stock  and  later 
in  the  agricultural  implement  business.  He 
now  has  a  well  equipped  automobile  garage 
and  as  local  agent  for  the  popular  Overland 
automobiles  he  has  developed  a  prosperous 
business.  He  still  continues  to  handle  agricul- 
tural implements  and  is  one  of  the  substantial 
and  representative  business  men  of  this  at- 
tractive Gage  county  village.  In  politics  Mr. 
Anderson  is  a  staunch  Republican,  and  he  has 
served  as  treasurer  of  Filley  township,  as  well 
as  township  assessor.  He  is  an  active  com- 
municant of  the  German  Lutheran  church,  as 
was  also  his  wife,  whose  death  occurred  June 
2,  1911. 

In  October,  1S95,  was  solemnized  the  mar- 
riage of  Mr.  Anderson  to  Miss  Christina  Jen- 
sen, who  was  born  in  Denmark,  and  who  is 
survived  by  one  child,  Blanche,  the  latter  be- 
ing now  the  wife  of  Edward  Protsman,  a  rep- 
resentative farmer  of  Filley  township,  and 
their  only  child  being  a  son,  Harold. 

JULIUS  NEUMANN.  — The  enduring 
satisfaction  of  successful  achievement  right- 
fully belongs  to  Julius  Neumann,  for  along 
well  defined  lines  of  enterprise  he  has  ad- 
vanced until  he  now  holds  a  prominent  posi- 
tion in  the  commercial  circles  of  Gage  county. 

Mr.  Neumann  was  born  at  Longenglons- 
heim,  Bingen  on  the  Rhine,  July  7,  1848.  His 
father,  Gottlieb  Neumann,  was  born  July  26, 
1790,  and  as  a  young  man  served  in  the  Ger- 
man army.  Later  he  held  a  government  posi- 
tion until  he  was  sixty-eight  years  of  age.     In 


1857  he  immigrated  to  America  and  settled  on 
a  farm  near  Cambridge,  Henry  county,  Illi- 
nois, and  there  his  death  occurred  December 
25,  1861.  His  wife,  who  bore  the  name  of 
Catherine  Kehl,  was  born  at  Meisenheim,  Ger- 
many, March  18,  1805,  and  died  August  4, 
1880,  the  last  years  of  her  life  being  spent  in 
the  home  of  her  son  Julius.  Of  the  family  of 
twelve  children,  nine  sons  and  three  daughters, 
all  grew  to  maturity.  Four  of  the  sons  each 
served  full  three  years  in  the  Civil  war. 
Frederick  and  Valentine  were  in  the  Forty- 
second  Illinois  Infantry,  Charles  in  the  Sev- 
enth Illinois  Cavalry,  and  Jacob  in  the  Forty- 
eighth  Illinois  Cavalry.  All  of  the  sons  are 
living  except  Valentine,  who  died  in  May, 
1917.  The  oldest  lives  in  the  city  of  Omaha, 
at  the  age  of  eighty-five  years.  Julius  was  the 
second  youngest. 

Julius  Neumann  acquired  his  education  in 
the  public  schools  of  Cambridge,  Illinois,  and 
when  a  young  man  of  twenty-one  he  found 
employment  in  a  mercantile  establishment  in 
Henry  county,  that  state.  He  was  in  business 
in  several  places  in  that  state  and  finally  es- 
tablished himself  in  business  in  San  Jose, 
Illinois.  March  19,  1882,  he  came  to  Wy- 
more.  Gage  county,  Nebraska.  Here  he  built 
a  fine  brick  block,  on  Niagara  avenue,  and 
here  he  has  been  engaged  successfully  in  busi- 
ness since  that  time.  Seventeen  years  ago  he 
erected  his  present  business  block,  a  two-story 
building  with  one  hundred  foot  frontage,  the 
main  floor  being  occupied  by  his  business  es- 
tablishment, in  which  is  the  largest  stock  of 
general  merchandise  in  the  city.  The  uppei 
story  is  used  as  offices  by  professional  men, 
besides  providing  headquarters  for  the  local 
Masonic  bodies. 

June  3,  1874,  recorded  the  marriage  of  Mr. 
Neumann  to  Miss  Amelia  Wellmeyer,  who 
was  born  at  Wapello.  Iowa,  September  1, 
1854.  a  daughter  of  W.  H.  and  Elizabeth  Well- 
meyer, natives  of  C-ermany.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Neumann  are  the  parents  of  seven  children : 
B.  W.  is  married  and  resides  in  Philadelphia, 
where  he  is  engaged  in  the  laundry  business ; 
Clarice  is  the  wife  of  Fred  J.  Kelly,  Chan- 
cellor of  the   University   of   Kansas,  at   Law- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


761 


rence ;  Mahlon  ].,  who  married  Miss  Bertha 
Pirie,  is  associated  with  his  father  in  business ; 
Gertrude  is  the  wife  of  Harry  W.  Hinman,  an 
instructor  in  the  Case  technical  school  at  De- 
troit, Michigan ;  Wilhelmina  is  the  wife  of 
Dr.  D.  M.  Ausmus,  of  Nashville,  Tennessee; 
Cecil  H.  married  Miss  Edith  Kruger,  and  he 
is  associated  with  his  father's  business ;  War- 
ren R.  is  a  student  in  the  University  of  Kan- 
sas. 

The  religious  views  of  Mr.  Neumann  coin- 
cide with  the  teachings  of  the  Methodist 
church,  in  which  he  and  his  wife  are  active 
workers  and  liberal  supporters.  In  politics  he 
is  a  "dyed-in-the-wool"  Democrat,  and  he  has 
served  efficiently  as  mayor  of  Wymore  for 
three  terms,  besides  having  been  a  member  of 
the  municipal  council  and  the  school  board 
for  many  years.  He  is  affiliated  with  the 
blue  lodge,  the  chapter,  and  the  council  of 
the  Masonic  fraternity. 

Mr.  Neumann  has  always  upheld  those 
things  which  he  thought  were  best  for  his  city 
and  state,  and  for  thirty-six  years  he  worked 
in  implacable  opposition  to  the  saloon  and 
liquor  traffic.  While  he  has  made  a  signal 
success  of  his  own  business,  he  has  not  been 
remiss  in  any  duty  incidental  to  the  religious, 
educational,  and  general  civic  uplift  of  his 
community,  and  he  is  held  in  the  highest  es- 
teem by  all  who  know  him.  Mr.  Neumann  is 
proud  to  have  been  born  in  Germany,  the  land 
of  his  fathers,  but  is  as  loyal  an  American  as 
were  his  brothers  who  served  three  years  for 
the  preservation  of  the  Union  during  the  Civil 


JOHN  C.  EMERY,  who  holds  the  position 
of  bookkeeper  for  the  well  known  firm  of  Kil- 
patrick  Brothers,  of  Beatrice,  gained  in  his 
youth  a  wide  and  varied  experience  in  con- 
nection with  pioneer  activities  in  the  west,  and 
he  is  a  scion  of  the  staunchest  of  American 
stock  of  English  strain.  Mr.  Emery  was  bom 
at  Lawrence,  Kansas,  December  23,  1861,  and 
this  date  indicates  conclusively  that  his  par- 
ents, Charles  N.  and  Mary  (Benson)  Emery, 
v.'ere  numbered  among  the  pioneers  of  the 
Sunflower    state,    the    father    having    been    a 


native  of  Augusta,  Maine,  and  the  mother  of 
the  city  of  Dublin,  Ireland.  The  father  of 
Charles  N.  Emery  was  of  English  ancestry 
and  became  a  pioneer  representative  of  lum- 
bering enterprise  in  the  old  Pine  Tree  state, 
besides  which  he  went  forth  as  a  loyal  soldier 
in  the  war  of  1812. 

Charles  N.  Emery  immigrated  to  Kansas 
in  1853,  and  in  the  years  that  followed  he 
lived  up  to  the  full  tension  of  frontier  and 
pioneer  life.  He  engaged  in  overland  freight- 
ing to  Denver  and  to  the  mountain  regions  of 
the  west,  and  on  the  4th  of  May,  1858,  at 
Lawrence,  Kansas,  was  solemnized  his  mar- 
riage to  Miss  Mary  Benson,  who  had  come 
with  two  of  her  brothers  to  the  United  States 
and  who  had  lived  in  Brooklyn,  New  York, 
and  Chicago,  Illinois,  prior  to  her  removal  to 
Kansas.  In  1864  Charles  N.  Emery  and  his 
family  removed  to  Liberty  Farm,  Kansas,  and 
on  the  9th  of  August  of  that  year  their  little 
home  was  burned  by  a  band  of  marauding 
Indians.  Removal  was  then  made  to  Kear- 
ney, Nebraska,  and  in  July,  1867,  the  family 
home  was  established  at  Beatrice,  Gage 
county  —  in  the  year  that  marked  the  admis- 
sion of  Nebraska  to  statehood.  Here  Charles 
N.  Emery  and  his  wife  passed  the  remainder 
of  their  lives,  as  sterling  pioneers  of  the 
county,  and  his  death  occurred  in  1897,  his 
widow  having  died  in  1907.  In  a  recapitu 
latory  way  and  as  incidental  to  the  stirring 
frontier  experiences  of  these  honored  pio- 
neers, it  may  be  stated  that  from  March,  1862, 
until  the  spring  of  1864,  Mr.  Emery  was  in 
charge  of  the  Thirty-two  Mile  Creek  station 
on  the  eastern,  or  Fort  Kearney,  division  of 
the  great  stage  line,  and  in  the  latter  year  he 
took  the  management  of  the  Liberty  Farm 
station,  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Little  Blue 
river.  As  before  stated,  this  station  was 
burned  by  the  Indians  during  their  historic 
raid  in  August,  1864,  and  several  other  sta- 
tions on  the  stage  line  likewise  were  destroyed 
at  this  period.  In  the  spring  of  1865,  after 
new  stations  had  been  built  by  the  stage  com- 
pany, Mr.  Emery  was  placed  in  charge  of  the 
station  at  Fort  Kearney,  where  he  remained 
until    the    eastern    division    of    the    line   was 


762 


HISTORY  OF  waGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


abandoned  by  the  stage  operators  —  after  the 
completion  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  from 
Omaha  to  Fort  Kearney.  Mr.  Emery  proved 
a  most  valuable  and  resourceful  employe  of 
the  stage  company,  as  he  was  a  fine  judge  of 
horses  and  when  occasion  required  could 
mount  the  box  of  a  stage  and  ably  drive  a 
four  or  six  horse  team.  He  and  his  wife  kept 
an  eating  station  that  became  famed  for  its 
effective  service  and  was  much  appreciated 
by  the  travelers  who  passed  over  the  stage 
route  in  those  early  days.  Mrs.  Emery  was 
an  excellent  cook  and  the  provender  which  she 
set  forth  cheered  many  a  weary  sojourner. 
Incidentally  the  historic  frontier  character, 
Ben  Holliday,  one  of  the  best  of  the  early 
stage  operators,  stopped  at  the  Emery  station 
on  Two  Mile  Creek  for  breakfast  one  morn- 
ing, while  on  one  of  his  stage  trips  from  Cali- 
fornia eastward.  This  hardy  pioneer,  who 
had  been  reared  on  the  frontier,  had  an  in- 
ordinate fondness  for  the  old-time  "corn 
dodgers,"  and  after  Mrs.  Emery  had  set  forth 
for  his  delectation  a  goodly  supply  of  his 
favorite  frontier  delicacies  he  threw  on  the 
table  a  twenty-dollar  gold  piece  as  his  per- 
sonal tribute  to  Mrs.  Emery  and  her  culinary 
skill. 

John  C.  Emery  acquired  the  most  of  his 
early  education  in  a  Catholic  school  at  Atchi- 
son, Kansas,  and  as  a  boy  and  youth  he  ac- 
companied his  father  on  the  latter's  freighting 
expeditions  over  the  plains  and  prairies,  the 
experience  having  been  one  to  which  he  re- 
verts with  marked  satisfaction  in  this  later 
era  of  opulent  prosperity.  In  coming  to  Gage 
county  the  family  journeyed  more  than  two 
hundred  miles  in  a  covered  wagon,  and  after 
the  home  had  been  established  in  Beatrice  he 
was  enabled  to  supplement  his  education  by 
attending  the  high  school.  In  1879  he  became 
deputy  county  clerk,  under  the  regime  of  Cap- 
tain Hill,  and  for  a  number  of  years  he  held 
a  position  in  the  office  of  the  county  recorder 
of  Gage  county.  A  skilled  bookkeeper  and 
accountant,  he  has  for  several  years  past  held 
a  position  in  the  representative  business  house 
of  Kilpatrick  Brothers. 

In    1881    Mr.    Emery   wedded    Miss    Helen 


Jaynes,  who  was  born  at  Oshkosh,  Wisconsin, 
on  the  3d  of  January,  1861,  a  daughter  of  the 
late  Henry  C.  Jaynes,  who  came  to  Gage 
county  in  1871  and  became  a  pioneer  settler 
in  W'ymore  township,  he  having  been  a  gradu- 
ate of  the  University  of  Wisconsin.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Emery  have  two  children.  Mollie  is 
the  wife  of  Edward  W.  Clack,  of  Edgar,  Clay 
county,  where  he  is  engaged  in  the  real-estate 
business.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Clack  reside  within 
seven  miles  of  the  place  where  her  paternal 
grandfather's  stage  station  was  burned  by  the 
Indians,  in  1864,  as  noted  in  a  preceding  para- 
graph. Robert  J.  Emerj',  the  only  son,  is  now 
(spring  of  1918)  first  lieutenant  of  Company 
C,  One  Hundred  and  Thirty-fourth  United 
States  Infantry,  and  has  been  assigned  to 
duty  as  instructor  at  the  officers'  training 
school  at  Camp  Cody,  New  Mexico.  In  this 
connection  it  is  interesting  to  record  that  out 
of  a  total  of  five  hundred  and  twenty-five  men 
he  was  one  of  three  who  successfully  passed 
the  examination  that  determined  his  eligibility 
for  this  post  of  instructor,  all  three  of  the  suc- 
cessful aspirants  having  been  Gage  county 
boys.  Robert  J.  Emery  married  Miss  Mabel 
Willis,  of  Beatrice,  and  they  have  one  son, 
Robert  J.,  Jr. 

Mrs.  Emerv  is  an  earnest  communicant  of 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  church,  and  he  is  af- 
filiated with  the  Royal  Arcanum  and  the  Mod- 
ern Woodmen  of  America. 


ERWIN  W.  SCHAEFER  has  distinct 
vantage-ground  as  one  of  the  vigorous  and 
representative  business  men  in  the  city  of 
Beatrice,  where  he  is  treasurer  and  general 
manager  of  the  Sanitary  Dairy,  a  corporation 
that  has  developed  a  substantial  and  impor- 
tant  industrial  enterprise. 

Mr.  Schaefer  was  born  in  the  fair  little  re- 
public of  Switzerland,  and  the  date  of  his 
nativity  was  May  28,  1873.  He  is  a  son  of 
Joseph  and  Mary  (Schlup)  Schaefer,  the 
father  having  been  a  farmer  and  also  having 
developed  in  Switzerland  a  prosperous  busi- 
ness in  the  handling  of  such  waste  materials 
as  copper,  iron,  etc.  The  mother  served  for 
twenty-si.x  years  as  postmistress  at  Animann- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Ervvin  W.  Schaefer 


764 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


segg,  Switzerland,  a  picturesque  village  among 
the  snow-capped  mountains.  The  subject  of 
this  review  is  a  member  of  a  family  of  eight 
children,  all  of  whom  are  living,  and  he  is  the 
only  one  of  the  number  in  the  United  States, 
the  others  all  remaining  in  Switzerland. 

Erwin  W.  Schaefer  was  afforded  the  ad- 
vantages of  the  notably  excellent  schools  of 
his  native  land,  where  he  completed  a  course 
in  the  high  school  at  Solothurumswitz  and 
also  gave  special  attention  to  the  study  of 
French.  He  is  thus  conversant  with  the  Ger- 
man, French,  and  English  languages.  After 
leaving  school  Mr.  Schaefer  found  employ- 
ment in  a  mercantile  establishment,  and  he 
was  an  ambitious  young  man  of  twenty-five 
years  when  he  severed  the  home  ties  and  set 
forth  to  make  for  himself  a  place  of  inde- 
pendence in  America.  He  came  to  the  United 
States  in  the  year  1898  and  established  his 
residence  in  the  city  of  Milwaukee,  Wiscon- 
sin, where  for  three  years  he  was  employed 
in  connection  with  the  brewery  industry.  He 
then  established  in  that  city  a  creamery  busi- 
ness and  after  conducting  the  same  several 
years  he  engaged  in  the  same  line  of  enter- 
prise at  Sheboygan,  Wisconsin.  There  he 
continued  his  activities  in  a  successful  way 
until  1912,  when  he  came  to  Gage  county, 
Nebraska,  and  became  head  butter  and  ice- 
cream maker  for  the  Beatrice  Poultry  &  Cold 
Storage  Company,  of  which  Henry  Fishbach 
is  the  executive  head.  This  alliance  he  con- 
tinued until  1917,  on  the  1st  of  January  of 
which  year  was  effected  the  organization  of 
the  Sanitary  Dairy,  which  was  incorporated 
with  a  capital  stock  of  twenty-five  thousand 
dollars  and  of  which  he  has  been  treasurer  and. 
general  manager  from  the  beginning.  The 
capital  stock  is  now  one  hundred  thousand 
dollars.  He  has  a  thorough  and  comprehen- 
sive knowledge  of  the  dairy  business  and  his 
executive  ability  and  progressive  policies  have 
brought  about  the  substantial  development  of 
the  business  of  the  company  with  which  he  is 
now  identified.  Mr.  Schaefer  is  distinctly 
loyal  and  appreciative  in  his  civic  attitude 
and  in  his  political  allegiance  he  is  aligned  in 
the    ranks   of   the   Republican   i)arty.      He   is 


affiliated  with  the  Beatrice  lodge  of  the 
Benevolent  &  Protective  Order  of  Elks  and 
he  and  his  wife  are  communicants  of  Christ 
church,  Protestant  Episcopal,  in  their  home 
city. 

November  4,  1899,  recorded  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  Schaefer  to  Miss  Emma  Schiltnicht, 
who  likewise  is  a  native  of  Switzerland  and 
who  established  her  residence  in  Milwaukee, 
Wisconsin,  upon  coming  to  America,  one  of 
her  brothers  being  now  pastor  of  the  German 
Reformed  church  at  Jackson,  that  state.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Schaefer  have  two  children,  Her- 
bert and  Eleanor.  Herbert  is  one  of  the  gal- 
lant young  sons  of  Gage  county  who  has  en- 
tered the  nation's  service  in  connection  with 
the  great  European  war.  He  is  a  sergeant  in 
the  signal  corps  of  the  United  States  army 
and  at  the  time  of  this  writing,  in  the  spring 
of  1918,  he  is  with  his  command  "somewhere 
in  France."  Miss  Eleanor  Schaefer  is  a 
student  in  the  Beatrice  high  school. 

JOSEPH  J.  WILL  is  one  of  the  substan- 
tial farmers  of  Rock  ford  township,  where  he 
owns  his  home  place  of  eighty  acres,  in  Sec- 
tion 16,  and  also  utilizes  an  adjoining  tract  of 
eighty  acres,  which  he  rents.  He  is  a  son  of 
the  late  PVank  M.  Will,  to  whom  a  memoir  is 
dedicated  on  other  pages  of  this  volume,  so 
that  further  review  of  the  family  history  is 
not  demanded  in  the  present  article. 

Joseph  J.  Will  was  born  in  Woodford 
county,  Illinois,'  on  the  13th  of  September, 
1870,  and  he  was  twenty-one  years  of  age 
when  he  came  with  his  parents  to  Gage 
county.  His  principal  educational  advantages 
in  his  youth  were  those  afforded  by  the  dis- 
trict schools  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-three 
years  he  engaged  in  independent  farming  ac- 
tivities on  land  which  he  rented  in  Rock  ford 
township.  In  the  spring  of  1917  he  purchased 
his  present  farm  home,  and  those  familiar 
with  his  energy  and  progressiveness  can  give 
assurance  that  cumulative  success  will  be  his 
and  that  the  same  will  be  manifested  in  the 
judicious  improvements  which  he  will  make 
from  time  to  time  upon  his  farm  property  — 
given  over  to  diversified  agriculture  and  stock- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


765 


raising.  He  is  known  for  his  unremitting  in- 
dustry and  expresses  himself  in  deeds  rather 
than  words,  both  in  the  handhng  of  his  busi- 
ness affairs  and  as  a  loyal  citizen.  Office- 
seeking  proclivities  have  never  been  his  but  he 
gives  his  political  support  to  the  Democratic 
party. 

In  1896  Mr.  Will  married  Miss  Helen  Beam, 
who  was  born  and  reared  in  this  county,  and 
their  five  children  are  Plarry,  Frank,  Roy, 
Ra)'mond,  and  \''ivian. 

CHARLES  A.  MILLER.  — One  of  the 
}'ounger  men  of  Gage  county  who  is  meeting 
with  success  in  his  chosen  calling  is  Charles 
A.  Miller,  who  owns  and  operates  a  farm  of 
two  hundred  and  six  acres,  in  Section  35. 
Sicily  township. 

Mr.  Miller  was  born  in  Stephenson  county, 
Illinois,  April  2L  1873,  a  son  of  Eli  and  Eliza- 
beth (Sheetz)  Miller,  who  are  now  residents 
of  Wymore,  Gage  county,  and  whose  record 
appears  elsewhere  in  this  volume.  Charles  A. 
Miller  was  ten  years  old  when  the  home  was 
established  in  Gage  county.  Here  he  was 
reared  on  his  father's  farm  and  educated  in 
the  public  schools.  On  reaching  man's  estate 
he  became  a  farmer,  and  for  thirteen  years  he 
has  owned  his  present  place,  which  is  devoted 
to  general  farming.  His  farm  is  well  im- 
proved and  he  is  progressive  in  his  methods, 
is  industrious,  and  is  meeting  with  success. 

Mr.  Miller  completed  arrangements  for  a 
home  of  his  own  by  his  marriage  to  Miss 
Cora  Pyle,  a  native  of  Illinois,  and  a  daughter 
of  Samuel  L.  Pyle,  who  is  represented  on 
other  pages  of  this  volume. 

Mr.  Miller  is  a  Democrat  in  politics  and 
served  four  years  as  clerk  of  Sicily  township. 
Fraternally  he  is  associated  with  the  Royal 
Highlanders,  and  he  is  one  of  the  substantial 
men  of  his  township. 

FRED  A.  WRIGHT.  — As  a  scion  of  one 
of  the  honored  and  influential  pioneer  families 
of  his  native  county  and  as  one  who  has  here 
achieved  a  place  of  precedence  in  connection 
with  banking  enterprise,  Mr.  Wright  is  entitled 
to  special   recognition  in  this  history.     He  is 


associated  with  his  father  in  the  ownership 
and  conducting  of  the  Citizens'  State  Bank  of 
Virginia,  of  which  he  is  cashier,  and  he  is 
numbered  among  the  popular  and  representa- 
tive business  men  of  the  younger  generation 
in  the  vital  little  town  of  Virginia. 

Mr.  Wright  was  born  on  his  father's  old 
homestead  fami  near  Hoag,  this  county,  on 
the  2d  of  April,  1880,  and  is  a  son  of  Amos 
L.  and  Clara  (Wickham)  Wright,  who  now 
maintain  their  home  in  the  village  of  Vir- 
ginia, this  county,  the  subject  of  this  review 
being  their  youngest  child  and  only  son ;  Fran- 
ces A.,  elder  of  the  two  daughters,  is  the 
widow  of  Joseph  E.  Penry,  and  resides  at  Bos- 
tonia,  California,  she  having  three  sons ;  Bes- 
sie, the  younger  daughter,  is  the  wife  of 
William  Holm,  a  merchant  at  \'irginia,  this 
county,  and  they  have  two  daughters. 

Amos  L.  Wright  was  born  in  Menard 
county,  Illinois,  Februarj'  27,  1844,  and  was 
there  continuously  identified  with  farm  enter- 
prise from  his  boyhood  until  1866,  when  he 
came  to  Nebraska  Territory  and  entered  claim 
to  a  homestead  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
in  Section  10,  Blakely  township.  Gage  county. 
He  developed  one  of  the  well  improved  farms 
of  that  township  and  remained  on  this  old 
homestead  until  1886,  when  he  purchased  an 
entire  section  of  land  to  the  south  of  the  vil- 
lage of  Virginia,  this  county,  this  estate  com- 
prising the  south  half  of  Section  14  and  the 
north  half  of  Section  23,  Sherman  township. 
He  made  the  best  of  improvements  on  this 
extensive  tract  and  became  one  of  the  leading 
exponents  of  agricultural  and  live-stock  in- 
dustry in  that  section  of  the  county.  In  1890 
he  retired  from  the  farm  and  he  and  his  wife 
have  since  resided  at  Virginia.  Mrs.  Wright 
was  born  in  Holt  county,  Missouri,  July  27, 
1848,  and  her  marriage  was  solemnized  in 
Gage  county,  Nebraska.  She  is  a  zealous 
member  of  the  Christian  church  and  her  hus- 
band is  a  Republican  in  politics. 

Fred  A.  Wright  has  never  regretted  the 
sturdy  discipline  which  he  gained  in  connec- 
tion with  the  activities  of  the  home  farm  and 
has  retained  full  appreciation  of  the  dignity 
and  value  of  honest  toil.    In  addition  to  profit- 


766 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


ing  by  the  advantages  of  the  pubhc  schools  he 
completed  a  course  in  a  business  college  at 
Davenport,  Iowa,  and  in  1899  he  became  as- 
sociated with  his  father  in  the  grain  and  lum- 
ber business  at  Virginia.  Shortly  after  his 
marriage,  in  1903,  he  assumed  the  active  man- 
agement of  his  father's  farm,  where  he  con- 
tinued his  productive  enterprise  as  an  agri- 
culturist and  stock-grower  until  the  autumn 
of  1912,  when,  as  a  medium  of  experience,  he 
assumed  a  clerical  position  in  the  Union  State 
Bank  of  Beatrice.  With  this  institution  he 
continued  his  service  until  April,  1914,  when 
he  purchased  the  bank  at  Spring  Ranch,  Clay 
county.  Of  this  bank  he  had  the  active  man- 
agement until  March,  1915,  when  he  formed 
a  partnership  with  Robin  A.  Nickell  and  pur- 
chased the  Bank  of  Cortland,  and  in  Novem- 
ber, 1917,  he  severed  his  connections  there 
and  became  cashier  of  the  Citizens'  State 
Bank  of  Virginia.  He  is  the  owner  of  a  well 
improved  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  in  Section  22,  Sherman  township,  and  is 
one  of  the  vigorous  and  resourceful  business 
men  of  his  native  county.  He  takes  deep  in- 
terest in  all  things  pertaining  to  his  home  vil- 
lage and  served  as  mayor  at  Cortland  in  1916, 
his  political  allegiance  being  given  to  the  Re- 
publican party  and  he  and  his  wife  being 
members  of  the  Christian  church  in  the  vil- 
lage of  Virginia.  ;\t  Virginia  he  is  a  popular 
member  of  the  camp  of  the  Modern  Wood- 
men of  America. 

January  6,  1903,  recorded  the  marriage  oi 
Mr.  Wright  to  Miss  Ethel  C.  Edwards,  who 
was  born  at  Webb  City,  Missouri,  a  daughter 
of  John  W.  and  Mary  (Trauber)  Edwards, 
natives  of  Illinois  and  early  settlers  of  Eu- 
reka Springs,  Arkansas,  where  they  still  re- 
side. To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wright  have  been  born 
three  children :  Faye  was  born  in  1905  and 
died  in  1908,  and  the  two  surviving  are  Dor- 
othy, born  December  13,  1908,  and  Dale  E., 
born  July  9,  1915. 

A  review  of  the  career  of  Amos  L.  Wright, 
father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  appears 
on  other  pages  of  this  volume. 


JACOB  S.  DAWSON  was  born  in  Stark 
county,  Illinois,  May  13,  1883,  and  is  a  son 
of  John  L.  Dawson,  of  whom  individual  men- 
tion is  made  elsewhere  in  this  volume. 

Jacob  S.  Dawson  was  brought  to  Nebraska 
by  his  parents  when  he  was  three  years  of  age, 
and  he  received  his  early  education  in  the 
country  schools  of  Gage  county.  He  re- 
mained with  his  father  on  the  home  farm,  in 
Sicily  township,  until  eleven  years  ago.  Then 
his  father  retired  and  removed  to  Wymore  to 
make  his  home.  Jacob  S.  Dawson  remained 
on  the  farm  and  he  now  owns  this  old  home 
place,  of  one  hundred  and  seventy  acres,  in 
Section  25,  Sicily  township.  He  has  made 
many  improvements  on  this  farm,  building 
additions  to  the  barns  and  erecting  two  silos. 
He  now  has  as  fine  a  set  of  farm  buildings  as 
can  be  found  in  the  county.  Flis  home  is 
modern  in  every  particular,  being  lighted  with 
electricity  and  heated  by  funiace.  Here  he 
and  his  family  are  thus  able  to  enjoy  the  con- 
veniences of  a  city  home,  though  residing  on 
the  farm.  Mr.  Dawson  does  a  general  farm- 
ing business,  and  raises  and  feeds  cattle 'and 
hogs  for  the  market,  somewhat  extensively. 
He  is  numbered  among  Gage  county's  pros- 
perous citizens  and  representative  farmers. 

Mr.  Dawson  chose  as  his  wife  Miss  Grace 
Roberts,  daughter  of  J.  W.  Roberts,  of 
Bameston  township.  Gage  county.  They  are 
the  parents  of  four  children,  Dean,  Donald. 
Marguerite,  and  Gerald.  ]\Ir.  and  Mrs.  Daw- 
son are  members  of  the  Methodist  church  at 
\Vymore.  Mr.  Dawson  is  independent  in 
politics  and  gives  his  support  to  the  men  and 
measures  meeting  the  approval  of  his  judg- 
ment. At  Wymore  he  is  affiliated  with  the 
lodge  of  Ancient  Free  &  Accepted  Masons. 

JAMES  LONG,  a  successful  farmer  of 
Sicily  township,  was  born  December  20,  1860, 
at  Peoria,  Illinois,  and  is  a  son  of  John  and 
Mary  (Dalton)  Long,  who  were  natives  of 
Ireland  and  came  to  America  at  an  early  date, 
settling  in  Illinois.  John  Long  died  when  his 
son  James  was  a  small  child  and  his  widow 
thereafter  moved  to   Mason   county,   Illinois, 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


767 


near  Forest  City,  where  she  bought  eighty 
acres  of  land.  Here  James  Long  grew  to  man- 
hood, attending  school  when  he  could,  and 
working  on  the  farm.  There  he  married  Miss 
Maggie  Brown,  whose  parents  died  when  sh& 
was  a  child,  she  having  been  reared  by  her 
foster  father,  Martin  Hood,  of  Mason  county. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Long  came  to  Gage  county, 
Nebraska,  in  the  early  '80s  and  settled  on 
Sicily  creek,  in  Sicily  township.  Their  first 
home  was  a  log  house,  and  at  that  time  Mr. 
Long's  worldly  goods  consisted  of  one  team  of 
horses,  a  few  farming  tools,  and  seventy-iive 
dollars  in  cash.  He  later  bought  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  of  slightly  improved  land  in 
Elm  township,  and  he  farmed  this  for  twelve 
years.  He  then  bought  his  present  farm,  of 
two  hundred  and  eighty  acres,  in  Section  29, 
Sicily  township.  He  is  a  prosperous  farmer 
of  marked  energy  and  progressiveness  and  is 
a  valued  citizen  of  Sicily  township. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Long  became  the  parents  of 
five  children,  as  follows:  James  is  a  farmer  in 
Elm  township.  Ella  is  the  wife  of  Roy  Car- 
penter, of  Omaha,  Nebraska ;  May  is  the  wife 
of  Milo  Carpenter,  of  Beatrice,  Nebraska ; 
Earl  died  at  the  age  of  fourteen  years ;  Leo  is 
associated  with  his  father  in  the  operation  of 
the  home  farm. 

Mr.  Long  is  a  Democrat  in  politics,  and  is 
at  present  a  member  of  the  school  board  of  his 
district.  He  and  his  family  are  members  of 
the  Catholic  church. 


JOHN  T.  LePOIDEVIN  was  born  in 
Gage  county,  Nebraska,  September  9,  1872,  a 
son  of  Thomas  LePoidevin,  of  Beatrice,  a 
record  of  whom  appears  elsewhere  in  this 
volume. 

John  T.  LePoidevin  was  reared  on  a  farm 
and  attended  country  school  in  Gage  county. 
As  a  young  man  he  farmed  with  his  father  on 
the  home  place,  and  later  he  rented  some  land 
from  his  father  and  began  farming  for  him- 
self. In  1910  Mr.  LePoidevin  purchased  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  in  Section  5, 
Rock  ford  township,  and  this  property  he  has 
since  greatly  improved,  having  remodeled  the 
house  and  erected  some  new  buildings,  with 


the  result  that  he  now  has  one  of  the  best  im- 
proved farms  in  the  county.  Starting  with  no 
unusual  advantages,  Mr.  LePoidevin  has 
through  his  own  ef^'orts  made  a  success  of  his 
chosen  calling. 

Mr.  LePoidevin  was  united  in  marriage  to 
Miss  Lottie  Kettering,  daughter  of  John  Ket- 
tering, of  Monmouth,  Illinois.  To  this  union 
have  been  bom  five  children  —  Hazel,  Loree, 
Verna,  Marjorie,  and  Eva. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  LePoidevin  are  members  of 
the  Christian  church  of  Beatrice,  and  are  regu- 
lar attendants.  He  is  a  Republican  and  has 
been  a  member  of  the  school  board,  the  cause 
of  education  finding  in  him  a  stalwart  cham- 
pion. 

SILAS  F.  RICHARDS  was  ten  years  old 
at  the  time  when  his  parents  established  their 
residence  in  Gage  county,  in  1872,  and  here  he 
was  reared  to  manhood  on  the  pioneer  farm 
of  his  father,  the  late  George  F.  Richards,  to 
whom  a  memoir  is  dedicated  on  other  pages  of 
this  volume.  Mr.  Richards  has  permitted  no 
futilities  to  mark  his  career  as  one  of  the  pro- 
gressive exponents  of  farm  industry  in  Gage 
county  and  is  to-day  the  owner  of  an  excel- 
lently improved  estate  of  two  hundred  and 
forty  acres,  in  Sherman  township,  his  at- 
tractive home  being  situated  in  Section  17, 
about  seven  miles  distant  from  Holmesville, 
which  is  his  postoiihce  address. 

Mr.  Richards  was  born  in  Rock  Island 
county,  Illinois,  March  2,  1863,  and  in  his 
native  county  he  received  his  rudimentary 
education,  which  was  supplemented  by  his  at- 
tending the  schools  of  Gage  county  after  the 
family  home  had  here  been  established  in 
Rockford  township.  He  continued  to  be  asso- 
ciated with  the  work  of  his  father's  farm  until 
he  had  attained  to  the  age  of  twenty-two  years, 
and  for  several  years  thereafter  he  farmed  on 
rented  land.  His  energy  and  good  manage- 
ment brought  to  him  cumulative  success  in  the 
passing  years,  and  this  is  significantly  attested 
by  his  ownership  of  his  present  fine  farm  es- 
tate, which  he  has  improved  with  good  build- 
ings and  on  which  he  gives  his  attention  to 
diversified  agriculture  and  the  raising  of  good 


768 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


types  of  live  stock.  He  takes  loyal  interest  in 
community  affairs  and  in  politics  is  staunchly 
arrayed  with  the  Democratic  party. 

The  year  1886  recorded  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Richards  to  Miss  Minnie  Leming,  who 
was  twelve  years  of  age  when  her  parents 
came  from  Indiana  to  Gage  county,  she  hav- 
ing been  born  in  La  Porte,  Indiana,  January 
27,  1871,  and  being  a  daughter  of  John  and 
Margaret  (Lukemire)  Leming,  who  were  born 
in  Ohio  and  whose  marriage  was  solemnized 
in  Indiana.  Upon  coming  to  Gagfe  county  Mr. 
Leming  engaged  in  farming  in  Sherman  town- 
ship, where  he  passed  the  remainder  of  his 
life.  His  death  occurred  November  6,  1903, 
and  his  widow  now  lives  in  the  home  of  one 
of  her  sons,  at  Belgrade,  Nance  county,  Ne- 
braska. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Richards  have  six  chil- 
dren :  Ralph  is  married  and  resides  in  the  city 
of  Beatrice;  Edna  is  the  wife  of  Clarence 
Bryant,  of  Wymore,  this  county ;  Fay  is  mar- 
ried but  remains  with  his  parents,  as  his 
father's  effective  assistant  in  the  work  and 
management  of  the  home  farm ;  Blanche  is 
the  wife  of  Cecil  Snyder,  of  Wymore,  this 
county;  and  Glenn  and  Forrest  are  the 
younger  members  of  the  parental  home  circle. 

HARLEY  J.  SHAW  is  an  honored  pioneer 
whose  association  with  Nebraska  was  initiated 
several  years  prior  to  the  admission  of  the 
state  to  the  Union  and  his  experiences  in  the 
early  days  involved  specially  close  association 
with  the  Otoe  Indians,  whose  language  he 
learned  to  speak.  His  reminiscences  pertinent 
to  life  on  the  frontier  are  most  graphic  and 
interesting,  even  as  are  those  pertaining  to 
his  gallant  service  as  a  soldier  of  the  Union 
in  the  Civil  war.  His  patriotism  at  that 
climateric  period  was  on  a  parity  with  that 
shown  by  both  his  paternal  and  maternal 
grandfathers,  each  of  whom  was  a  valiant 
soldier  in  the  earlier  wars  in  which  the  na- 
tion was  involved,  the  paternal  grandfather 
having  servtd  in  the  war  of  1812  and  the 
maternal  grandfather.  Colonel  Renaulds,  hav- 
ing served  as  an  officer  in  the  command  of 
General  Washington  in  the  war  of  the  Revo- 
lution :  he  was  a  man  of  splendid  vigor  and 


attained  to  the  patriarchal  age  of  one  hundreQ 
and  four  years. 

Harley  J.  Shaw  was  born  in  Onondaga 
county,  New  York,  December  25,  1844,  and 
is  now  the  only  survivor  in  a  family  of  five 
children,  of  whom  he  was  the  firstborn.  He  is 
a  son  of  Samuel  and  Lydia  (Renaulds)  Shaw, 
whose  marriage  was  solemnized  in  Onondaga 
county,  whence,  in  1847,  they  removed  to 
Wisconsin,  where  they  became  pioneers  and 
where  they  lived  at  intervals  in  the  now  pros- 
perous little  cities  of  V/aupaca,  Green  Bay, 
and  Stevens  Point.  After  remaining  six  years 
in  Wisconsin  they  returned  to  the  state  of 
New  York,  and  about  the  time  of  the  Civil 
war's  inception  they  came  to  Nebraska  Ter- 
ritory and  became  residents  of  Gage  county. 
Here  Samuel  Shaw  secured  a  claim  on  Cub 
creek  and  instituted  the  reclamation  of  a  farm. 
He  went  forth  from  his  frontier  farm  to  give 
two  years  of  service  as  a  soldier  of  the  Civil 
war.  He  enlisted  as  a  member  of  the  First 
Nebraska  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  after  the 
close  of  the  war  he  conducted  for  ten  years 
the  government  flour  mill  and  saw  mill  at 
Blue  Springs,  on  the  Otoe  Indian  reservation. 
Both  he  and  his  wife  attained  to  the  psalmist's 
span  of  three  score  years  and  ten  and  both 
were  residents  of  Gage  county  at  the  time  of 
death. 

Harley  J.  Shaw  was  three  years  old  at  the 
time  of  the  family  removal  to  Wisconsin,  and 
thus  was  nine  years  of  age  when  was  made 
the  return  to  New  York  state,  where  he  ac- 
quired his  youthful  education  in  the  schools 
of  Navrino,  CJnondaga  county,  and  where  he 
was  reared  to  manhood.  He  was  not  yet 
seventeen  years  old  at  the  inception  of  the 
Civil  war,  but  his  youthful  patriotism  was 
not  long  to  be  curbed,  for,  in  January,  1862, 
at  Syracuse,  he  enlisted  in  Battery  F,  Third 
New  York  Light  Artillery.  He  was  mustered 
in  at  Palace  Garden,  New  York  city,  and 
thence  proceeded  with  his  command  to  the 
city  of  Washington.  The  command  was  en- 
gaged with  the  heavy  artillery  forces  at  Fort 
Corcoran  and  later  served  under  General  Mc- 
Clellan  in  the  second  battle  of  Bull  Run.  The 
military  career  of  Mr.  Shaw  included  partici- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Harley  J.  Sha 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


pation  in  General  Burnside's  expedition  to 
New  Berne,  North  Carolina;  in  the  battle  of 
Kingston,  where  his  horse  was  shot  from 
under  him  in  a  desperate  charge  in  which  his 
command  operated  the  first  gun  in  holding 
the  bridge ;  engagements  at  Whitehall,  Golds- 
boro,  and  Little  Washington ;  and  the  conflict 
at  Plymouth,  where  he  gave  distinguished  evi- 
dence of  his  valor.  Thereafter,  under  Fos- 
ter's command,  Mr.  Shaw  was  detailed  as  a 
sailor  and  started  for  Hilton  Head,  South 
Carolina,  where  he  passed  the  historic  naval 
vessel  known  as  "Old  Ironsides."  He  was 
under  Gilmore  at  the  siege  of  Charleston,  be- 
ing under  fire  for  a  period  of  three  months, 
and  his  service  was  further  continued  in 
action  at  Wagner,  Gregg,  James  Island,  Jack- 
sonville, Florida,  and  Savannah,  Georgia.  He 
was  at  Savannah  when  his  term  of  enlistment 
expired,  but  he  continued  in  active  service 
through  the  engagements  of  Honey  Hill,  Fort 
Telego,  and  Seabrook  Island.  In  the  many 
and  spirited  encounters  in  which  he  took 
part  i\Ir.  Shaw  escaped  without  a  wound,  and 
besides  this  he  was  never  ill  or  otherwise  in- 
capacitated and  never  failed  to  respond  to 
roll  call.  He  was  mustered  out  of  service  at 
Hilton  Head,  South  Carolina,  where  also  he 
received  his  honorable  discharge,  on  the  14th 
of  March,  1865.  He  is  one  of  the  veteran 
and  honored  members  of  Rawlins  Post  of  the 
Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  in  the  city  of 
Beatrice,  and  has  passed  various  official 
chairs  in  the  same. 

After  the  close  of  the  war  Mr.  Shaw  re- 
turned to  his  native  county,  and  in  the  follow- 
ing autumn  he  joined  his  parents  in  Nebraska 
Territor>'.  In  the  winter  of  1865-1866  he  be- 
came associated  with  his  father  in  the  opera- 
tion of  the  government  mills  on  the  Otoe  In- 
dian reservation,  and  it  was  in  this  winter  that 
he  cast  his  first  vote,  this  ballot  bein^  inci- 
dentally in  support  of  adoption  of  tfie  con- 
stitution on  which  was  based  tiie  demand  of 
the  territory  for  admission  to  statehood.  In 
the  spring  of  1866  Mr.  Shaw  took  up  a  home- 
stead in  Section  19,  Rockford  township,  and 
on  this  place,  which  he  developed  most  ef- 
fectively,  he   continued   his   residence   thirty- 


five  years.  Since  1908  he  has  resided  on  his 
present  farm  of  eighty  acres,  in  Section  19, 
Sherman  township. 

In  1867  Mr.  Shaw  wedded  Miss  Flora  An- 
drews, who  was  bom  in  the  state  of  New  York 
and  whose  death  occurred  in  1884.  Of  the 
children  of  this  union  the  eldest  is  Lovilla, 
who  is  the  widow  of  Frank  Bishop,  and  re- 
sides at  Tate,  Pawnee  county ;  Corey  R.  died 
in  1887,  having  been  shot  by  accident;  Miles 
S.  is  engaged  in  farming  in  Blue  Springs 
township;  Addie  E.  is  the  wife  of  Frederick 
Sage,  of  Boulder,  Colorado;  and  Ralph  died 
in  infancy.  For  his  second  wife  Mr.  Shaw 
married  Miss  Mary  L.  Berry,  who  was  born 
in  Iowa,  and  she  passed  to  the  life  eternal  in 
1910.  They  became  the  parents  of  the  follow- 
ing named  children :  Clement  is  an  electrician 
and  is  serving  as  such  in  the  European  war; 
Bernard  is  a  resident  of  Tate,  Pawnee  county , 
Dell  remains  with  her  father,  as  does  also 
Hazel ;  Lottie  died  in  childhood ;  and  Harley 
is  with  the  LTnited  States  forces  in  the  Euro- 
pean war. 

Few  had  broader  or  more  varied  frontier 
experience  than  did  this  sterling  pioneer,  and 
few  had  closer  association  with  the  Indians, 
among  whom  he  moved  as  a  valued  friend  and 
whose  language  he  acquired.  He  was  asso- 
ciated with  freighting  enterprise  in  the  early 
days,  between  St.  Joseph,  Missouri,  and 
Brownville  and  Lincoln.  Nebraska,  and,  he 
grappled  duly  with  the  hardships  entailed  by 
drought  and  grasshoppers.  He  has  always 
been  a  stalwart  advocate  of  the  principles  of 
the  Republican  party,  has  been  on  many  occa- 
sions a  delegate  to  its  conventions  in  Gage 
county,  and  has  served  in  various  township 
offices  —  an  upright  and  loyal  citizen  who 
commands  secure  place  in  popular  esteem  and 
good  will.  He  is  an  active  member  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church. 

FREDERICK  STEINMEYER.  —  This 
sterling  pioneer,  now  living  retired  in  the  vil- 
lage of  Clatonia,  is  another  of  those  sturdy 
and  industrious  men  who  bore  the  full  heat 
and  burden  of  the  day  in  connection  with  the 
social   and   industrial   development   and   prog- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


771 


ress  of  Gage  county  in  the  early  days  and  he 
is  especially  entitled  to  recognition  in  this 
work. 

Mr.  S'teinmeyer  was  born  in  the  province 
of  Hanover,  Germany,  February  25,  1841,  and 
is  a  son  of  Joseph  H.  and  Elizabeth  (Fra- 
diker)  Steinmeyer,  who  immigrated  with  their 
children  to  America  in  the  late  '50s  and  estab- 
lished their  home  in  Scioto  county,  Ohio.  Con- 
cerning the  family  history  adequate  data  are 
given  on  other  pages — -in  the  sketch  of  John 
H.  Steinmeyer,  of  Beatrice,  the  youngest  of 
the  surviving  sons,  as  well  as  in  mention  of 
other  members  of  this  influential  pioneer  fam- 
ily. Frederick  Steinmeyer  gained  his  early 
education  in  his  native  land  and  was  a  youth 
of  sixteen  years  at  the  time  of  the  family  im- 
migration to  the  United  States.  Thereafter  he 
was  associated  with  farm  industry  in  Ohio 
until  the  precipitation  of  the  Civil  war,  when 
he  enlisted  as  a  member  of  Company  B.  Fifty- 
sixth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry.  He  was  with 
his  command  in  all  of  the  important  battles 
and  minor  engagements  in  which  it  was  in- 
volved in  Mississippi  and  other  southern 
states,  and  he  was  at  New  Orleans,  Louisiana, 
when  he  received  his  honorable  discharge,  in 
November,  1864.  He  then  returned  to  Scioto 
county,  Ohio,  but  ten  months  later,  in  the 
autumn  of  1865,  he  came  to  Nebraska  Terri- 
tory. He  located  at  Nebraska  City  and  later 
became  one  of  the  pioneers  of  Gage  county. 
In  April  ,1866,  he  entered  a  homestead  claim 
in  Section  28,  Clatonia  township,  one  mile 
south  of  the  present  village  of  Clatonia.  At 
Nebraska  City  he  purchased  an  ox  team,  which 
he  drove  through  to  Gage  county  and  utilized 
in  the  breaking  of  his  land,  his  first  house  hav- 
ing been  a  rude  dugout  of  the  type  common 
to  that  early  period.  In  this  primitive  domi- 
cile was  maintained  the  family  home  for  six 
years,  and  then  removal  was  made  to  a  frame 
house  which  he  erected  on  Clatonia  creek, 
where  he  had  available  timber.  He  remained 
on  his  original  homestead  twenty-six  years  and 
eventually  added  to  his  landed  estate  by  pur- 
chasing land  from  the  Chicago  &  Rock  Island 
Railroad  Company,  the  line  of  which  passed 
through  his  farm  in  such  a  way  as  to  require 


the  removal  or  demolishing  of  the  farm  house. 
He  bought  more  land  and  removed  back  from 
the  bottoms  of  the  creek,  made  excellent  im- 
provements on  his  property  and  continued  his 
activities  as  one  of  the  successful  and  repre- 
sentative farmers  of  the  county  until  1912, 
since  which  year  he  has  lived  retired  in  the  at- 
tractive and  modern  house  which  he  erected 
in  the  village  of  Clatonia.  He  is  still  the 
owner  of  a  valuable  landed  estate  of  three 
hundred  and  seventy-five  acres  and  is  a  ven- 
erable pioneer  who  commands  the  fullest  mea- 
sure of  popular  esteem.  In  politics  Mr.  Stein- 
meyer is  a  loyal  Republican,  he  is  affiliated 
with  the  post  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Re- 
public in  the  village  of  Dewitt,  and  he  and  his 
wife  are  earnest  members  of  the  German 
Methodist  church. 

Februar)'  15,  1867,  recorded  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Steinmeyer  to  Miss  Mary  Frye,  of  Scioto 
county,  Ohio,  to  which  state  he  returned  for 
achieving  the  gracious  companionship  which 
has  continued  for  more  than  half  a  century. 
Mrs.  Steinmeyer  was  born  in  Ohio,  December 
23,  1851,  and  is  a  daughter  of  Henry  and  Ali- 
nora  (Schafifer)  Frj'e,  who  likewise  were  bom 
and  reared  in  that  state  and  who  became  the 
parents  of  ten  children,  Mrs.  Steinmeyer  hav- 
ing been  the  second  in  order  of  birth  and  her 
parents  having  come  to  Gage  county  in  1868, 
but  finally  having  settled  at  Martel,  Lancaster 
county,  where  they  passed  the  remainder  of 
their  lives.     . 

Of  the  seven  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Steinmeyer  the  first,  Lena,  died  in  infancy; 
Sarah  is  the  wife  of  Philip  F.  Wullschleger, 
of  University  Place,  Nebraska;  Martha  con- 
ducts a  millinery  store  at  Clatonia  and  also 
has  the  active  supervision  of  the  parental 
home;  John  F.  is  individually  mentioned  on 
other  pages;  Agnes  is  the  wife  of  Felix  F. 
Noble,  of  Haxton,  Colorado,  their  marriage 
having  been  solemnized  on  the  golden-wedding 
anniversary  of  her  parents,  February  15,  1917; 
Frank  is  a  prosperous  farmer  of  Grant  town- 
ship, as  is  also  Wesley  D.,  who  likewise  is 
mentioned  individually  in  this  publication. 

Mr.  Steinmeyer  recalls  that  when  he  and 
other  members  of  the  family  came  to  the  fron- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


tier  wilds  of  Gage  county  their  financial  re- 
sources were  very  limited,  so  that  the  brothers 
had  to  do  work  for  others,  including  the  saw- 
ing of  wood,  it  having  fallen  to  the  subject  of 
this  review  to  solicit  such  work  from  the 
neighbors  and  his  exactness  in  the  use  of  Eng- 
lish having  been  so  lacking  at  that  time  that 
his  customary  cjuery  was :  "Have  you  any 
woods  to  saw?"  He  has  had  in  his  active 
career  full  fellowship  with  honest  toil  and  en- 
deavor and  well  merits  the  gracious  prosperity 
that  attends  the  gentle  evening  of  his  life  and 
that  of  his  devoted  wife,  who  has  been  his 
true  helpmeet.  They  were  the  first  bride  and 
groom  to  establish  a  home  in  Clatonia  town- 
ship and  during  the  long  intervening  period  of 
half  a  century  they  have  here  had  a  circle  of 
friends  limited  only  by  that  of  their  ac- 
Cjuaintances. 

SHERMAN  TAYLOR,  one  of  the  substan- 
tial citizens  of  Gage  county,  was  for  many 
years  successfully  engaged  in  agricultural  pur- 
suits, and  for  the  past  ten  years  he  has  been 
a  resident  of  Wymore,  where  he  has  con- 
tributed in  many  ways  toward  the  upbuilding 
of  commercial  and  industrial  enterprises. 

Sherman  Taylor  was  born  in  Stark  county. 
Illinois,  September  3,  1865,  and  is  a  son  of 
Jacob  Taylor,  mentioned  elsewhere  in  this 
volume.  Reared  on  a  farm  in  Illinois,  he 
there  attended  the  public  schools,  and  in  1882 
he  came  with  his  parents  to  Gage  county.  He 
attended  the  Nebraska  State  University,  at 
Lincoln,  and  when  twenty-one  years  of  age  he 
began  his  independent  career  as  a  farmer. 
For  eighteen  years  he  operated  a  large  farm 
in  Paddock  and  Sicily  townships,  where  he 
was  an  extensive  feeder  of  cattle  —  to  the 
number  of  four  or  five  hundred  each  year. 
His  industry  and  his  intelligently  directed  ef- 
forts were  crowned  with  goodly  success  and 
in  1908  he  removed  to  Wymore,  where  he  oc- 
cupies a  beautiful  home  which  he  erected  for 
his  family.  Indolence  and  idleness  being  for- 
eign to  his  nature,  he  has  from  time  to  time 
identified  himself  with  many  enterprises  that 
have  benefited  the  city  of  Wymore. 

Air.  Taylor  organized  the  Farmers'  &  Mer- 


chants' Bank  of  Wymore  and  became  its  first 
president.  He  has  continued  as  a  member  of 
its  board  of  directors,  helping  to  shape  its  pol- 
icy, and  it  is  one  of  the  strong  financial  insti- 
tutions of  Gage  county.  Of  this  banking  cor- 
poration he  is  still  serving  as  president.  He 
built  several  business  blocks,  having  faith 
in  the  community  and  being  desirous  of  aid- 
ing its  growth  and  development  by  judicious 
investment  of  his  capital.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  building  committee  and  had  active 
charge  of  the  erecting  of  the  beautiful  edifice 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  of  ^^'y- 
more.  of  which  he  and  his  family  are  mem- 
bers. 

Mr.  Taylor  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss 
Lena  Swik,  and  to  them  have  been  born  five 
children :  Martha  is  the  wife  of  Paul  F.  Mose- 
ly,  a  prosperous  young  farmer  of  Paddock 
township,  where  he  operates  one  of  Mr.  Tay- 
lor's farms ;  Sherman,  who  married  Miss 
Gladys  McMaken,  is  operating  an  ice  plant  at 
Blue  Springs,  this  county;  Elsie  and  Edwin 
are  still  under  the  parental  roof ;  and  Harold 
died  at  the  age  of  two  years. 

Mr.  Taylor  exercises  his  right  of  franchise 
by  voting  for  men  he  deems  best  fitted  to 
serve  the  public,  and  in  favor  of  all  measures 
which  he  believes  are  for  the  good  of  the 
public.  The  city  of  Wymore  was  but  one 
year  old  when  Mr.  Taylor  first  saw  it,  and  he 
has  been  a  witness  of  the  changes  which  have 
taken  place  incidental  to  the  development  and 
upbuilding  of  this  attractive  little  city,  besides 
which  he  has  been  a  prominent  factor  in  help- 
ing to  bring  about  present-day  conditions.  In 
his  own  aft'airs  he  has  builded  wisely  and  well, 
and  he  is  held  in  unqualified  esteem  by  all  who 
know  him. 


HARVEY  R.  ESSAM.  — The  subject  of 
this  sketch  is  a  native  son  of  Gage  county, 
who  has  elected  to  remain  within  its  borders 
and  who  is  here  meeting  with  a  good  degree 
of  prosperity. 

Mr.  Essam  was  born  on  the  fami  which  is 
now  his  home,  in  Logan  township,  his  natal 
day  having  been  February  20,  1883.  He  is  a 
son  of  James  Essam,  of  whom  extended  men- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


773 


tion  is  made  on  other  pages  of  this  volume. 
Reared  on  the  farm,  he  attended  the  pubhc 
schools  in  the  acquirement  of  an  education, 
this  being  supplemented  by  attendance  at  the 
Northwestern  Business  College  at  Beatrice. 
'As  a  young  man  he  took  up  the  occupation 
of  farming  and  upon  the  settlement  of  his  fath- 
er's estate,  he  came  into  possession  of  eighty 
acres  of  the  old  homestead. 

Mr.  Essam  chose  as  his  wife  Miss  May 
Higgins,  who  likewise  is  a  native  of  Gage 
county.  She  is  a  daughter  of  C.  K.  Higgins,  a 
record  of  whom  appears  elsewhere  in  this  vol- 
ume. 

I\Ir.  and  Airs.  Essam  are  loyal  members  of 
the  Methodist  church.  Their  entire  lives  thus 
far  have  been  spent  in  the  neighborhood  where 
they  now  make  their  home,  and  both  represent 
families  who  for  many  years  have  been  active 
factors  in  the  moral  and  material  upbuilding 
of  Gage  county. 

HENRY  FISHER,  who  is  giving  his  vig- 
orous energies  to  the  management  of  his  well 
improved  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres,  in  Section  25,  Holt  township,  and  who 
is  a  member  of  a  sterling  pioneer  family  of 
the  county,  was  born  on  his  father's  old  home- 
stead farm,  in  Section  36,  Holt  township,  on 
the  4th  of  January,  1874.  He  is  the  eldest  of 
six  children  born  to  Frederick  and  Mary  E. 
(Boward)  Fisher,  and  the  second  child,  Re- 
becca, is  now  the  wife  of  William  Conklin, 
of  Highland  township ;  Lena  is  the  wife  of 
Lewis  Cornelius,  of  Holt  township ;  Lydia  is 
the  wife  of  Charles  Lewis,  of  Billings,  Mon- 
tana ;  Bertha  died  in  childhood ;  and  Hattie  is 
the  wife  of  John  Barnard,  of  Midland  town- 
ship. 

Frederick  Fisher  was  born  in  Germany,  in 
1844,  and  was  a  youth  of  twenty  years  when 
he  came  to  the  United  States  and  settled  in 
Illinois,  where  he  found  employment  at  farm 
work.  There  his  marriage  was  solemnized, 
his  wife  having  been  bom  in  the  state  of  Mary- 
land, in  1835,  and  in  1871  they  became  pioneer 
settlers  in  Gage  county,  where  he  purchased 
eighty  acres  of  school  land,  in  Section  36, 
Holt  township.     He  developed  one  of  the  ex- 


cellent farms  of  the  township  and  there  con- 
tinued to  reside  until  his  death,  in  1907,  his 
widow  still  remaining  on  the  old  home  place. 

Henry  Fisher  is  indebted  to  the  district 
schools  of  Holt  township  for  his  youthful  edu- 
cation and  has  been  actively  concerned  with 
farm  enterprise  from  his  boyhood  to  the  pres- 
ent. His  present  farm,  which  he  rents  from 
his  mother,  is  a  part  of  the  valuable  landed 
estate  accumulated  by  his  father,  and  as  a 
progressive  agriculturist  and  stock-grower  he 
is  fully  upholding  the  honors  of  the  family 
name.  He  is  independent  in  politics,  is  af- 
filiated with  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd 
Fellows,  and  he  served  six  years  as  road  over- 
seer in  Holt  township. 

February  8,  1894,  recorded  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Fisher  to  Miss  Cora  Langley,  who  was 
born  at  Nebraska  City,  this  state,  a  daughter 
of  George  and  Maria  (Mason)  Langley,  who 
were  natives  of  Illinois  and  who  came  to  Ne- 
braska about  1879 ;  in  1882  they  came  to  Gage 
county  and  they  passed  the  remainder  of  their 
lives  on  their  farm  in  Holt  township,  north  of 
Pickrell.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fisher  have  four  chil- 
dren; Laura  is  the  wife  of  James  Carbough, 
a  farmer  of  Highland  township ;  Clarence  is  a 
prosperous  young  farmer  of  Holt  township, 
on  the  farm  of  his  paternal  grandmother ; 
and  Rena  and  Mary  remain  at  the  parental 
home. 


ELI  MILLER,  a  retired  farmer  residing 
at  Wymore,  has  been  a  resident  of  Gage 
county  since  pioneer  times.  He  assisted  in 
the  county's  development  and  met  with  the 
success  that  enables  him  to  spend  the  evening 
of  his  life  in  the  enjoyment  of  a  well  earned 
rest. 

Mr.  Miller  was  born  in  Medina  county, 
Ohio,  August  2,  1842.  a  son  of  J.  C.  and  Eliz- 
abeth (Claus)  ^Miller,  natives  of  Pennsyl- 
vania. The  paternal  grandfather  was  Jonas 
Miller  and  the  great-grandfather  Miller  was  a 
native  of  Switzerland. 

When  Eli  Miller  was  three  years  old  his 
parents  moved  to  Illinois,  becoming  early  set- 
tlers in  Stephenson  county  where  they  were 
farming  people,  their  last  days  being  spent  in 


774 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Gage  county,  Nebraska.  Here  they  died  at 
the  home  of  their  daughter  Mrs.  Boyd,  in 
Paddock  township,  the  father  reaching  the 
advanced  age  of  ninety-three  years,  while  the 
age  of  the  mother  was  eighty-four  years  at 
the  time  of  her  death. 

Eli  Miller  spent  his  boyhood  days  in  Steph- 
enson county,  Illinois,  where  he  was  reared  on 
a  farm  and  attended  the  public  schools.  At 
the  age  of  twenty-one  years  he  engaged  in 
farming,  and  eventually  he  purchased  land 
upon  which  he  successfully  carried  on  agricul- 
tural pursuits  in  that  county  until  1884,  when 
he  came  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  and 
bought  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  in  Barnes- 
ton  township.  The  improvements  on  this 
place  were  those  to  be  found  here  in  those 
pioneer  days,  but  Mr.  Miller  industriously  be- 
gan the  further  improvement  of  his  place  and 
brought  the  land  to  a  high  state  of  cultivation. 
He  erected  substantial  buildings  and  con- 
tinued to  reside  on  his  farm  until  eleven  years 
ago,  when  he  removed  to  Wymore,  where  he 
has  since  lived  in  honorable  retirement. 

For  a  companion  and  helpmeet  ]Mr.  Miller 
wedded  Miss  Mary  Elizabeth  Sheetz,  who 
was  born  in  Stephenson  county,  Illinois,  March 
18,  1842,  and  of  this  union  four  children  have 
been  born :  Elsie  is  the  wife  of  George  Shad, 
of  Wymore;  Charles  A.  is  a  farmer  in  Sicily 
township;  Marshall  M.,  owns  and  operates 
the  old  home  farm;  and  Emma  remains  with 
her  parents,  at  Wymore. 

Mr.  Miller  exercises  the  right  of  franchise 
in  support  of  the  men  and  measures  of  the 
Democratic  party  but  has  never  aspired  to 
public  office,  as  he  has  preferred  to  give  his 
time  and  attention  to  his  own  affairs,  in  con- 
nection with  which  he  has  won  a  worthy  suc- 
cess. 


LOUIS  RICHARDS  has  the  distinction  of 
being  a  native  son  of  Gage  county  and  a  rep- 
resentative exponent  of  agricultural  and  live- 
stock industry  in  Sherman  township,  where 
he  has  conducted  operations  since  1906  on  the 
Wilkinson  farm,  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres,  in  Section  19.  Pertinent  to  the  history 
of  the  Richards  family  adequate  data  are  given 


on  other  pages,  in  the  memoir  dedicated  to  his 
father,  the  late  George  F.  Richards. 

On  the  old  homestead  farm,  in  Rock  ford 
township,  where  his  parents  established  their 
residence  in  1872,  Louis  Richards  was  born 
June  20,  1875,  and  thus  he  was  ushered  into 
the  world  under  the  conditions  that  marked 
this  section  of  the  state  in  the  middle-pioneer 
era.  He  was  afforded  the  advantages  of  the 
local  schools  and  he  was  a  vital  and  ambitious 
youth  of  eighteen  years  at  the  time  of  his 
father's  death.  Thereafter  he  remained  with 
his  widowed  mother  and  gave  his  attention  to 
the  work  of  the  home  farm  until  his  marriage, 
since  which  time  he  has  been  independently 
engaged  in  farm  enterprise,  with  success  that 
attests  his  energy  and  executive  ability.  He 
is  always  ready  to  give  his  support  to  those 
measures  and  agencies  that  tend  to  advance 
the  communal  welfare  and  is  independent  in 
politics. 

In  the  year  1896  Mr.  Richards  married  Miss 
Mary  Winrick,  who  likewise  is  a  native  of 
this  county  and  whose  father,  Joseph  Winrick, 
now  a  resident  of  the  state  of  Washington, 
conducted  for  many  years  a  barber  shop  in 
the  city  of  Beatrice.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Richards 
have  two  children,  — •  Orville  and  Ethel. 

HERMAN  H.  PENTERMAN.  —  Among 
the  many  prosperous  farmers  and  land-own- 
ers of  Gage  county  mention  should  be  made 
in  this  history  of  Herman  H.  Penterman, 
owner  of  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of 
valuable  land  in  Nemaha  township,  besides 
other  land  holdings  outside  the  state  of  Ne- 
braska. Mr.  Penterman  was  born  February 
19,  1863,  in  the  province  of  Hanover,  Ger- 
many, and  is  a  son  of  Herman  H.  Wilbrand 
Penterman  and  Anna  Marie  (Adelharit)  Pen- 
terman, who  became  the  parents  of  four  chil- 
dren, and  who  passed  their  entire  lives  in 
Germany.  The  subject  of  this  review  left  his 
native  land  in  1884  and  soon  after  his  arrival 
in  the  United  States  he  found  employment  as 
a  farm  hand  in  Illinois.  Eventually  he  en- 
gaged independently  in  farm  enterprise  in 
that  state,  where  he  continued  operations  until 
1892.      He  then   came   to   Gage   county,   Ne- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


775 


Herman  H.  Penterman 


776 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


braska,  and  bought  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  of  land  in  Section  15,  Nemaha  town- 
ship. Later  he  bought  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  in  Section  22,  and  on  this  property  he 
has  made  extensive  improvements. 

On  the  4th  of  December,  1890,  Mr.  Penter- 
man  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Marie 
Sachtleben,  who  was  born  in  Germany,  Oc- 
tober 14,  1867,  and  who  came  to  America 
with  her  parents  when  she  was  but  one  year 
old.  She  was  a  daughter  of  John  Sachtleben, 
further  record  of  the  family  being  given  in 
the  sketch  of  Henry  H.  Sachtleben,  else- 
where in  this  volume.  Mrs.  Penterman 
passed  away  on  the  28th  of  February,  1907. 
To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Penterman  were  born  seven 
children :  Dorothy  is  the  wife  of  John  Olson, 
of  Lincoln,  Nebraska;  Edwin  is  at  home; 
Adele  is  the  wife  of  Emmit  Damrow ;  and 
Louis,  Ella,  Emma,  and  Louisa  are  at  the 
paternal  home. 

In  politics  Mr.  Penterman  is  an  indepen- 
dent voter,  and  he  and  his  family  are  members 
of  the  German  Lutheran  church. 


FRANK  SHALLA  is  one  of  the  early  set- 
tlers of  Glenwood  township,  and,  though  his 
financial  condition  was  not  very  flattering 
when  he  arrived  here,  forty  years  ago,  he  has 
by  industry  and  good  management  become  one 
of  the  wealthy  men  and  extensive  land  own- 
ers of  Gage  county. 

Frank  Shalla  was  born  in  the  province  of 
Bohemia,  Austria-Hungary,  May  22,  1853,  a 
son  of  John  and  Catherine  (Skala)  Shalla, 
natives  of  Bohemia,  who,  in  1856,  came  to 
America  and  settled  in  Johnson  county,  Iowa. 
There  John  Shalla  bought  forty  acres  of  land, 
and  on  this  was  maintained  the  family  home 
until  the  removal  to  Washington  county, 
Iowa,  near  the  town  of  Richmond,  where  Mr. 
Shalla  and  his  wife  made  their  home  on  a 
farm  of  forty  acres  during  the  remainder  of 
their  lives. 

Frank  Shalla  was  reared  on  the  pioneer 
farm  in  Iowa,  and  in  Washington  county, 
that  state,  he  married  Miss  Mary  Malisky, 
who  was  born  in  Bohemia,  August  25,  1855,  a 
daughter  of  Vancel  and  Wilnia  (Hraby)  Mal- 


isky. Her  parents  came  from  their  native 
land  to  America  in  1865  and  spent  the  rest  of 
their  lives  in  Washington  county,  Iowa. 

In  1879  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Frank  Shalla  came 
to  Gage  county  and  purchased  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  of  wild,  unimproved  land  in 
Glenwood  township,  —  on  what  had  been  the 
Otoe  Indian  reservation,  which  had  been  re- 
cently opened  for  settlement. 

He  filed  entry  on  a  quarter-section,  and 
agreed  to  pay  four  and  one-half  dollars  an 
acre  for  the  land.  His  cash  capital  was  three 
hundred  dollars,  and  after  purchasing  lumber 
for  a  home,  and  a  cow,  some  tools,  and  feed  for 
his  team,  his  money  was  all  gone.  Some  time 
later,  when  a  payment  was  to  be  made  on  the 
land  and  other  persons  were  about  to  lay 
claim  to  the  place,  Mr.  Shalla  went  to  Beatrice 
and  borrowed  four  hundred  dollars  from  Mr. 
Hugh  J.  Dobbs,  the  author  of  this  history,  and 
thus  he  was  able  to  protect  his  interests  and 
save  his  farm. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Shalla  were  among  the  first 
settlers  to  locate  in  their  present  neighborhood, 
and  neighbors  were  few  and  far  between.  It 
might  1)6  interesting  to  the  present  generation 
to  know  something  concerning  the  conditions 
that  existed  then  and  something  about  the 
hardships  of  those  early-day  pioneers.  The 
first  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Shalla  was  a  rough 
board  shanty,  fourteen  by  eighteen  feet  in  di- 
mension and  ten  feet  high.  The  lath  was 
split  by  hand  from  hickory  and  ask  logs  and 
was  plastered  with  yellow  clay,  which  was  then 
whitewashed.  A  very  comfortable  home  was 
thus  provided,  —  one  that  was  warm  in  win- 
ter and  cool  in  summer.  To  get  money  to  pro- 
vide food  for  his  family  Mr.  Shalla  would 
leave  his  wife  and  two  children  alone  and  go 
thirty-five  miles  to  find  work.  But  the  thought 
of  some  day  having  a  good  home  of  their  own 
helped  him  and  his  devoted  wife  to  overcome 
all  obstacles,  and  they  have  lived  to  see  the 
country  converted  into  beautiful  farms  with 
good  homes,  and  dotted  here  and  there  with 
thriving  villages  and  towns.  In  this  work  of 
transformation  Frank  Shalla  and  his  family 
have  contributed  their  full  share.  Mr.  Shalla 
to-dav    is    the   owner   of    three   hundred    and 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


twenty  acres  of  splendid  land,  equipped  with 
a  good  set  of  buildings,  and  he  has  also  di- 
vided six  quarter-sections  of  land  among  his 
children. 

]\Ir.  and  Mrs.  Shalla  ha\'e  become  the  par- 
ents of  eleven  children :  John  JM.  is  a  suc- 
cessful farmer  of  Paddock  township,  as  is 
also  Frank  R. ;  Vancel  was  killed  by  a  train, 
in  1906,  leaving  a  v.-idow  and  two  children  ; 
Tony  is  in  Glenwood  township  and  ^Milton  at 
Odell;  Mary  is  the  wife  of  Ed.  Pribyl,  of 
Marshall  county,  Kansas ;  William  and  Joe 
reside  ■  in  Glenwood  township ;  and  Charles 
and  Christina  are  still  at  the  parental  home. 
C)ne  child,  named  Joe,  died  at  the  age  of  ten 
months. 

In  politics  Mr.  Shalla  is  a  Democrat,  and, 
though  he  has  never  aspired  to  or  held  public 
ol^ce  in  the  generally  accepted  meaning  of 
that  term,  he  has  not  been  remiss  in  the  du- 
ties of  a  voter  and  citizen,  and  has  given  effic- 
ient service  as  moderator  of  the  school  district, 
treasurer  of  the  same  and  as  road  overseer. 
The  success  that  has  come  to  Mr.  Shalla  is  the 
result  of  his  own  industry  and  intelligently 
directed  efforts,  and  his  life  has  been  so  or- 
dered that  he  can  look  upon  the  past  without 
regret  and  forward  to  the  future  without  fear. 

RICHARD  WHITTON.  —  The  subject  of 
this  memoir  was  one  of  the  honored  pioneers 
and  public-spirited  citizens  of  Barneston  town- 
ship. He  was  bom  at  Enniskerry,  County 
Wicklow,  Ireland,  February  17,  1846,  and  was 
a  son  of  William  and  Hannah  Ann  ( Buckley) 
Whitton,  who  immigrated  to  America  in  1848 
and  after  a  short  stay  in  Philadelphia  estab- 
lished their  home  in  Watertown,  Wisconsin. 
The  father  died  when  Richard  was  sixteen 
years  old.  The  son  remained  with  his  wid- 
owed mother,  helping  her  to  care  for  a  family 
of  five  children  until  he  was  27  years  old. 
He  then  left  home  and  went  to  Illinois,  where 
he  worked  on  a  farm.  He  told  his  mother 
that  if  she  ever  needed  help  to  let  him  know. 
She  called  on  him  just  once  and  he  sent  her 
fifteen  dollars,  the  sum  she  asked  for. 

In  1878  Mr.  Whitton  came  to  Gage  county, 
Nebraska,  and  purchased  eighty  acres  of  land 


in  Barneston  township.  This  section  of  the 
county  had  but  recently  opened  for  settlement 
and  was  a  part  of  the  Otoe  Indian  reservation. 
I~Ie  bought  forty  acres  more  when  he  was  able, 
made  good  improvements  on  his  land  and  con- 
tinued to  be  engaged  in  farming-  until  his  death, 
June  3,  1915.  He  was  a  charter  member  of  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  church  at  Wymore,  and 
a  member  of  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd 
Fellows,  Vv  ith  which  he  became  affiliated  when 
he  was  twenty-one  years  of  age. 

August  13,  1884,  recorded  the  marriage,  at 
Wymore,  of  Mr.  Whitton  to  Miss  Lucinda 
Mathews,  who  was  born  in  Warren  county, 
Pennsylvania,  December  22,  1860,  a  daughter 
of  Ansel  K.  and  Barbara  (Dias)  Mathews, 
who  were  natives  of  Pennsylvania,  and  who, 
in  1868,  became  residents  of  Fremont  county, 
Iowa :  in  1882  they  settled  in  Barneston  town- 
ship. Gage  county,  Nebraska.  They  were 
residents  of  Wymore,  this  county,  at  the  time 
of  their  death. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Whitton  became  the  parents 
of  six  children :  Richard  Ansel  Harrison 
married  Sadie  Bucy,  and  they  reside  in  Colo- 
rado ;  Celia  Etta,  is  the  wife  of  Dell  B.  Col- 
grove,  of  Paddock  township ;  Hannah  Bar- 
bara, is  the  wife  of  \\'illard  Fowler,  of  Atch- 
ison, Kansas;  Misses  Julia  Fern,  Ruth  Eliza- 
beth and  Laura  Rose  Estelle  are  with  their 
mother  on  the  old  farm. 

Richard  Whitton  was  a  ver>'  public-spirited 
citizen,  always  ready  to  serve  his  community 
when  duty  called  him.  He  was  school  treas- 
urer for  twenty-one  years,  and  a  moderator 
for  over  thirty-one  years.  He  was  township 
treasurer  several  years  ,and  active  in  the  pub- 
lic affairs  of  the  county. 

GEORGE  F.  RICHARDS.  —  In  the  spring 
of  the  year  1872  it  was  no  stately  caravan  that 
made  its  appearance  in  Gage  county  to  herald 
the  arrival  of  the  late  George  F.  Richards,  for, 
with  his  wife  and  children,  he  had  made  the 
overland  trip  from  Rock  Island  county,  Illi- 
nois, with  the  then  familiar  transportation 
equipment  of  team  and  covered  wagon,  — 
virtually  the  old-time  "prairie  schooner"  out- 
fit.    Mr.     Richards    here    purchased    of    his 


778 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


brother-in-law,  Noyes  Elliott,  an  embyonic 
farm  of  eighty  acres,  in  Rockford  township. 
After  making  plans  for  the  reclamation  and 
improvement  of  this  property  Mr.  Richards 
returned  with  his  family  to  Illinois,  and  the 
little  itinerant  group  transported  by  the  same 
team  and  wagon  arrived  at  Oskaloosa,  Iowa, 
in  time  to  celebrate  at  that  point  the  4th  of 
July.  The  journey  was  thence  continued 
back  to  the  old  home  in  Illinois,  and  in  the 
following  autumn  the  journey  to  Gage  county 
was  again  made  and  the  home  was  established 
on  the  pioneer  farm.  Mr.  Richards  utilized 
characteristic  energy  and  circumspection  in  the 
development  of  his  farm,  and  the  little  one- 
room  house  which  he  erected  as  the  family 
domicile  is  now  an  integral  part  of  the  com- 
modious and  attractive  house  which  marks 
his  old  homestead  and  which  is  still  occupied 
by  the  venerable  widow  of  ]\Ir.  Richards,  she 
having  here  maintained  her  residence  for  the 
long  period  of  more  than  forty-five  years.  Mr. 
Richards  continued  as  one  of  the  representa- 
tive farmers  and  valued  citizens  of  Rockford 
township  until  his  death,  which  occurred  No- 
vember 27,  1893,  and  he  is  entitled  to  this 
tribute  for  the  efifective  part  which  he  played 
in  connection  with  the  civic  and  industrial  ad- 
vancement of  Gage  county.  His  political  al- 
legiance was  given  to  the  Democratic  party 
and  he  was  a  man  whose  character  and  ability 
gained  to  him  unqualified  popular  esteem. 

In  Rock  Island  county,  Illinois,  Mr.  Rich- 
ards settled  when  he  was  a  young  man.  He 
was  born  in  Clermont  county,  Ohio,  May  31, 
1837,  a  son  of  James  and  Rachel  (Disney) 
Richards,  who  were  natives  of  Marjdand  and 
who  became  pioneers  in  the  Buckeye  state, 
where  they  passed  the  residue  of  their  lives. 
In  Rock  Island  county,  Illinois,  Mr.  Richards 
continued  his  association  with  agricultural  en- 
terprise until  his  removal  to  Nebraska,  and 
there,  on  the  12th  of  August,  1858.  he  wedded 
Miss  Hannah  Elliott,  who  was  born  in  Al- 
leghany county,  New  York,  February  17,  1841, 
and  who  was  but  three  years  old  when  her 
parents  removed  to  Illinois,  in  1844,  and  set- 
tled on  a  farm  in  Rock  Island  county,  near 
the  Mercer  county  line.     They  made  the  long 


overland  trip  with  team  and  wagon  and  while 
en  route  over  the  Illinois  prairies,  when  in 
the  vicinity  of  La  Salle,  they  gained  news  of 
the  capture  of  the  murderers  of  Colonel  Dav- 
enport, who  had  been  killed  on  July  4th  of  that 
year.  Mrs.  Richards  was  reared  under  the 
influences  of  the  pioneer  farm  in  Illinois  and 
thus  was  the  better  fortified  when,  in  later 
years,  she  was  called  upon  to  meet  the  trials 
and  vicissitudes  of  pioneer  life  in  Nebraska, 
where  she  bravely  took  up  her  duties  as  chate- 
laine of  the  modest  little  home  and  cared  for 
her  family  with  unceasing  devotion.  This 
venerable  pioneer  woman  recalls  many  inter- 
esting incidents  relative  to  the  pioneer  days  in 
Gage  county,  and  not  the  least  of  these  was 
that  the  first  crop  which  her  husband  raised 
on  the  new  farm  was  entirely  destroyed  by 
grasshoppers.  She  has  lived  to  enjoy  the 
opulent  prosperity  that  now  marks  this  favored 
section  of  the  state  and  in  the  tranquil  evening 
of  her  life  finds  that  her  "lines  are  cast  in 
pleasant  places."  In  this  concluding  para- 
graph is  given  brief  record  concerning  her 
children :  Sarah,  who  became  the  wife  of 
Frank  W.  Lillie,  is  deceased;  Silas  F.  is  a 
prosperous  farmer  in  Sherman  township  and 
is  individually  mentioned  on  other  pages; 
Clarence  is  a  resident  of  the  city  of  Omaha; 
Nellie  died  at  the  age  of  sixteen  years ;  Jennie 
is  the  wife  of  John  Leming,  of  Belgrade, 
Nebraska ;  Louis  is  a  representative  farmer  in 
Sherman  township  and  is  the  subject  of  a  per- 
sonal sketch  elsewhere  in  this  volume ;  and 
the  seventh  child  died  in  infancy. 

LOUIS  KLOEPPER.  —  In  Clatonia  town- 
ship Mr.  Kloepper  is  the  owner  of  a  well  im- 
proved farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
and  he  has  long  been  numbered  among  the 
substantial  farmers  of  the  county  that  has  been 
his  home  from  childhood  and  to  which  he 
came  with  his  parents  prior  to  the  admission 
of  Nebraska  to  statehood.  In  later  years  he 
has  given  special  attention  to  the  breeding  of 
red  polled  Durham  cattle  and  Duroc-Jersey 
swine,  and  in  this  department  of  fann  enter- 
prise he  has  been  notably  successful. 

Mr.    Kloepper   was   bom   near   Portmouth, 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


779 


Ohio,  on  the  31st  of  March,  1862,  and  is  a  son 
of  Henry  and  Mary  (Keller)  Kloepper,  con- 
cerning whose  nine  children  the  following 
brief  record  may  be  given :  Henry  is  a  resi- 
dent of  Holt  county,  this  state;  John  is  de- 
ceased; William  is  living  retired  in  the  city 
of  Lincoln,  Nebraska;  Mrs.  Lena  Gutzmer 
and  her  husband  reside  in  Lincoln,  Nebraska ; 
Herman  is  a  resident  of  Clatonia  township ; 
Charles  is  deceased;  Louis,  of  this  review,  was 
the  next  in  order  of  birth;  Frank  is  deceased; 
and  Mrs.  Anna  Sable  is  a  resident  of  the  state 
of  Kansas.  The  father  was  born  and  reared 
in  Hanover,  Germany,  the  year  of  his  birth 
having  been  1835,  and  he  was  a  young  man 
when  he  came  to  America  and  established  his 
residence  in  Ohio.  There  he  followed  various 
lines  of  work  until  1866,  when  he  set  forth 
with  his  family  for  Nebraska  Territory.  Pro- 
ceeding to  St.  Louis,  the  family  came  by  steam- 
boat up  the  Missouri  river  to  Nebraska  City, 
and  from  that  point  the  journey  was  continued 
by  team  and  wagon  to  Martel,  Lancaster 
county.  There  the  family  remained  one  year 
and  the  father  then  took  up  a  homestead  of  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  in  what  is  now  Clato- 
nia township.  Gage  county.  This  land,  consti- 
tuting the  southeast  quarter  of  Section  33,  he 
broke  up  by  means  of  ox  teams,  and  the  orig- 
inal family  home  was  a  primitive  dugout  of  the 
type  used  by  many  of  the  other  pioneer  set- 
tlers, Nebraska  City  at  that  time  being  the 
nearest  market,  and  a  week  or  more  being  re- 
quired to  make  the  trip  to  and  from  that  trad- 
ing point  with  the  ox  team.  Henry  Kloepper 
and  his  brave  and  devoted  wife  passed  through 
the  hardships  and  trials  incidental  to  droughts 
and  grasshopper  scourges  in  the  early  days, 
but  looked  with  hope  and  confidence  to  the 
future  and  finally  found  their  eft'orts  crowned 
with  peace  and  prosperity.  Air.  Kloepper 
continued  as  one  of  the  honored  pioneer  farm- 
ers of  the  county  until  his  death,  in  1895,  and 
both  he  and  his  wife  were  earnest  members 
of  the  German  Methodist  church.  Mrs.  Kloep- 
per was  born  in  Germany  and  was  a  young 
girl  when  she  made  the  voyage  to  America  and 
joined  her  brother  in  Ohio,  where  her  mar- 
riage was  later  solemnized.     She  was  nearly 


seventy  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  her  death, 
in  1901. 

Louis  Kloepper  was  about  four  years  old 
at  the  time  of  the  family  removal  to  Nebraska 
and  was  reared  to  maturity  on  the  pioneer 
farm  in  Clatonia  township,  his  early  education 
having  been  gained  in  the  primitive  log-cabin 
school  house  and  by  instruction  received  in 
the  home  of  John  Henry  Steinmeyer.  As  a 
boy  he  assisted  in  keeping  the  oxen  in  the  fur- 
row while  his  father  was  plowing  and  with 
increasing  capacity  he  assumed  his  full  share 
of  the  labors  of  the  farm.  In  1887,  after  hav- 
ing previously  farmed  on  land  rented  from  his 
father,  he  purchased  from  the  latter  his  pres- 
ent well  improved  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres,  and  thus  he  has  continued  a  resi- 
dent of  Clatonia  township  since  his  boyhood, 
the  while  he  has  won  success  and  independ- 
ence through  his  well  directed  industry.  He 
is  a  Republican  in  politics,  is  affiliated  with 
the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America  and  he  and 
his  wife  are  active  members  of  the  German 
Methodist  church  in  Clatonia  township,  he 
being  a  trustee  of  the  same. 

In  August,  1887,  Mr.  Kloepper  wedded  Miss 
Carrie  Menke,  daughter  of  the  late  Henry 
Menke,  to  whom  a  memoir  is  dedicated  on 
other  pages  of  this  volume.  Mrs.  Kloepper 
was  born  near  Portsmouth,  Ohio,  February  9, 
1866,  and  was  a  child  at  the  time  of  her  par- 
ents' removal  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska. 
Arthur,  firstborn  of  the  four  children  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Kloepper,  died  at  the  age  of  twenty 
years ;  Lulu  remains  at  the  parental  home,  as 
does  also  Norma;  and  Jennie  died  at  the  age 
of  two  years.  In  1907  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kloep- 
per adopted  two  children,  Henry  and  Grace, 
whom  they  are  rearing  as  their  own  and  who 
accord  to  them  true  filial  affection. 

RAYMOND  LANCASTER.  — The  fam- 
ily tree  of  Raymond  Lancaster  is  rooted  in  the 
mother  country  of  England,  from  which  the 
grandparents  migrated  to  America  and  set- 
tled in  Macoupin  county,  Illinois.  The  fam- 
ily tree  has  spread  out  amongst  the  American 
born  to  such  an  extent  that  it  is  now  more 
American  than  English  in  its  branches.     Ray- 


780 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


mond  Lancaster  is  a  son  of  \\'illiam  and  Mary 
(Hovey)  Lancaster.  William  Lancaster  was 
a  son  of  Frank  and  Harriet  Lancaster,  and 
was  a  lad  of  six  years  when  his  parents  came 
from  England  to  this  country.  The  parents 
used  their  talents  and  energies  in  winning  to 
fertility  the  willing  soil  of  Alacoupin  county, 
Illinois,  in  which  state  they  passed  the  remain- 
der of  their  lives.  They  left  their  sons  and 
daughters  to  play  equally  useful  parts  on  the 
stage  of  life's  activities.  Their  son  William 
married  ]\Iary  Hovey.  who  was  born  in  Massa- 
chusetts and  came  to  Illinois  with  her  par- 
ents. William  and  Mary  (Hovey)  Lancaster 
became  the  parents  of  seven  children,  five  of 
whom  are  living.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lancaster 
continued  their  residence  in  Illinois  until  their 
death. 

Raymond  Lancaster  was  born  June  21,  1865, 
in  Macoupin  county,  Illinois.  There  he  attended 
the  district  schools,  and  early  began  to  assist 
his  father  in  the  work  of  buying  and  feeding 
large  herds  of  cattle  for  the  market.  When 
he  started  out  from  the  parental  home  he  fol- 
lowed the  same  line  of  enterprise  in  an  inde- 
pendent way.  In  1887  he  came  to  Gage 
county,  Nebraska,  where,  in  company  with  his 
brother  Edward,  he  engaged  in  feeding  cat- 
tle, near  Holmesville.  In  1900  he  purchased 
two  hundred  acres  of  land,  in  Section  20, 
Rock  ford  township,  and  here  he  has  since 
successfully  given  his  time  and  attention  to 
genernl  farming. 

In  Gage  county,  in  1890,  was  solemnized  the 
marriage  of  Raymond  Lancaster  to  Miss  Net- 
tie Gripe,  who  was  born  April  6,  1868,  in  Ma- 
coupin county,  Illinois.  She  is  a  daughter  of 
Adam  and  Susan  ( Troyer )  Gripe,  who  are 
residents  of  Rockford  township.  Mr.  and 
]\Irs.  Lancaster  have  four  children :  William 
A.  is  married  and  has  two  children.  Dean  and 
Everett;  Ruth  is  at  the  parental  home;  Leta 
is  the  wife  of  George  L.  Harris,  farmer  of 
Rockford  township;  and  Arless  is  at  home. 

Mr.  Lancaster  and  family  are  members  of 
the  Brethern  church,  and  Mr.  Lancaster  votes 
the  Democratic  ticket.  He  has  never  sought 
political  honors,  his  time  being  devoted  en- 
tirely to  his  farming  operations. 


S.  B.  AYRES,  a  veteran  and  popular  loco- 
motive engineer  on  the  line  of  the  Union  Pa- 
cific Railroad,  maintains  his  home  in  the  city 
of  Beatrice  and  is  familiarly  known  to  his 
host  of  friends  as  "Curly"  Ayres.  He  has 
the  distinction  at  the  present  time  of  being 
the  only  living  witness  of  the  historic  Indian 
massacre  at  Fort  Kearney,  Nebraska,  and  his 
reminiscences  relative  to  other  incidents  of  the 
pioneer  days  are  specially  graphic  and  inter- 
esting. 

]\Ir.  Ayres  was  bom  in  Wyoming  county, 
Pennsylvania,  on  the  4th  of  August,  1848, 
and  is  a  son  of  J.  L.  and  Patience  M.  (Vin- 
cent) Ayres,  both  natives  of  the  state  of  New 
York  and  both  of  staunch  Scottish  lineage, 
both  families  having  been  founded  in  New 
England  in  the  early  colonial  period  of  our 
national  history.  After  their  marriage  the 
parents  of  the  subject  of  this  review  removed 
from  the  old  Empire  state  to  Pennsylvania, 
where  they  remained  until  coming  to  the  west 
as  pioneers,  the  father  having  attained  to  the 
patriarchal  age  of  ninety-three  years  and  the 
mother  having  been  eighty-six  years  of  age 
at  the  time  of  her  death.  J.  L.  Ayres  became 
one  of  the  very  early  settlers  of  Gage  county, 
Nebraska,  where  he  established  his  residence 
in  1857  and  where  he  obtained  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  of  land  in  recognition  of  his 
gallant  service  as  a  soldier  in  the  Mexican 
war.  He  remained  on  his  frontier  farm  about 
eighteen  years  and  then  removed  to  Beatrice, 
where  he  and  his  wife  passed  the  remainder 
of  their  long  and  worthy  lives,  both  having 
been  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church  and  he  having  been  first  a  Whig  and 
later  a  Democrat  in  politics.  Of  the  seven 
children  four  are  living:  A.  W.  is  a  pros- 
perous rancher  and  cattle-grower  near  Doug- 
las, Wyoming ;  George  is  a  hardware  merchant 
at  Deadwood,  South  Dakota  ;  S.  B.  is  the  im- 
mediate subject  of  this  sketch;  and  Mrs. 
Amanda  Reed  is  the  one  surving  daughter. 

S.  B.  Ayres  was  a  lad  of  nine  years  when 
the  family  home  was  established  in  Gage 
county,  and  in  the  pioneer  schools  he  obtained 
his  educational  di.scipline  thereafter,  it  having 
been  his  privilege  to  walk  a  distance  of  foui 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


781 


and  one-half  miles  from  his  home  to  attend 
school  at  Blue  Springs.  As  a  3'outh  he  be- 
came a  driver  of  a  stage  on  one  of  the  old- 
time  routes,  and  for  some  time  he  was  in  the 
employ  of  the  quartermaster's  department  of 
the  government  service.  He  went  farther  to 
the  west  and  for  fifteen  years  was  engaged  in 
teaming  and  other  occupations,  he  having  been 
only  sixteen  years  of  age  when  he  left  the 
parental  home  to  assume  his  independent 
activities.  In  1872  Mr.  Ayres  identified  him- 
self with  railway  service,  by  taking  a  position 
as  locomotive  firemen  on  the  Union  Pacific. 
In  the  following  year  his  ability  led  to  his  ad- 
vancement to  the  position  of  engineer  and  dur- 
ing the  long  intervening  years  he  has  con- 
tinued as  a  locomotive  engineer  on  the  lines 
of  the  Union  Pacific,  with  a  record  that  re- 
flects honor  upon  him  and  that  marks  him  as 
one  of  the  veterans  in  the  employ  of  this 
great  railroad  company.  He  still  owns  his 
father's  old  homestead  farm,  in  Island  Grove 
township,  and  in  his  youth  he  gained  wide 
and  varied  experience  in  connection  with  fron- 
tier life.  In  this  connection  it  may  be  noted 
that  he  was  the  second  person  to  be  engaged 
as  mail  carrier  in  this  part  of  Nebraska,  he 
having  taken  the  mail  on  horseback  from  Ne- 
braska City  to  Beatrice  and  also  between  St. 
Joseph,  Missouri,  and  Beatrice,  and  to  White 
Cloud,  Kansas.  He  was  in  close  touch  with 
the  various  Indian  troubles  of  1864,  and  with 
the  Apache  outbreak  in  Wyoming,  in  1869, 
besides  having  been,  as  previously  intimated, 
a  witness  of  the  Indian  massacre  at  Fort 
Kearney.  He  established  his  residence  in 
Beatrice  in  1884,  and  in  1890  he  wedded  Miss 
Lucy  Uter,  who  was  born  in  Ripley  county, 
Indiana,  a  daughter  of  Otto  and  Hannah 
(Clark)  Uter.  Mr.  Uter  was  born  and  reared 
in  Germany  and  upon  coming  to  America  he 
settled  in  Indiana,  having  learned  in  his  na- 
tive land  the  trade  of  harnessmaker.  For  a 
time  he  was  employed  at  the  Long  View  In- 
sane Asylnm,  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  and  finally 
he  came  with  his  family  to  the  west  and  be- 
came a  pioneer  farmer  in  Marshall  county, 
Kansas,  where  he  and  his  wife  passed  the  rest 
of  their  lives.     Thomas  Clark,  father  of  Mrs. 


Uter,  was  born  on  the  island  of  St.  Helena, 
and  became  well  acquainted  with  the  great 
Napoleon  when  that  historic  man  was  held  in 
captivity  at  St.  Helena.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ayres 
liave  two  children :  Vern  Uter  Ayres,  who  was 
born  May  24,  1891,  was  graduated  in  the  Beat- 
rice high  school,  attended  the  L^niversity  of 
Nebraska  one  year  and  at  the  time  of  this 
writing  he  is  in  one  of  the  training  camps  in 
which  the  flower  of  young  American  manhood 
is  being  prepared  for  service  in  the  great 
European  war.  He  is  now  at  TalHaferro 
Field,  No.  1,  Fort  Worth,  Texas.  He  has 
been  twice  promoted,  having  won  his  com- 
mission as  lieutenant  at  Fort  Sheridan,  near 
Chicago,  Illinois,  and  he  is  now  an  aeroplane 
instructor  at  Talliaferro  Field.  Prior  to  en- 
tering the  governrpent  military  service  he  had 
been  for  two  years  a  student  in  the  Chicago 
Medical  College.  Ruth  was  graduated  in  the 
Beatrice  high  school,  as  a  member  of  the 
class  of  1917,  and  remains  at  the  parental 
home.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ayres  and  their  daugh- 
ter are  members  of  the  Christian  church. 

In  politics  Mr.  Ayres  is  a  Democrat,  and  he 
has  been  long  affiliated  with  the  Masonic  fra- 
ternity, his  local  membership  being  in  the 
blue  lodge  and  chapter  in  Beatrice  and  the 
chapter  of  the  Order  of  the  Eastern  Star,  in 
which  his  wife  served  eight  years  as  treasurer. 
He  has  been  an  active  member  of  the  Brother- 
hood of  Locomotive  Engineers  since  1878  and 
has  passed  the  various  official  chairs  in  the 
same. 


FRANK  W^'\NDERSEE.  —  The  home 
farm  of  Frank  Wandersee  presents  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  little  village,  and  one  can  hardly 
realize  the  changes  that  have  taken  place  since 
he  and  his  wife  came  here,  thirty-nine  years 
ago.  His  life  record  emphazises  what  may 
be  accomplished  by  a  willingness  to  work  and 
a  determination  to  succeed. 

Mr.  Wandersee  was  born  in  the  province 
of  Pomerania,  Germany,  November  10,  1853. 
His  father,  Martin  Wandersee,  passed  his  en- 
tire life  in  Germany.  Mr.  Wandersee  does 
not  remember  ever  having  seen  his  mother 
nor  does  he  know  her  family  name.     He  was 


782 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


reared  and  educated  in  his  native  land  and 
when  nineteen  years  of  age  came  to  the 
United  States,  saihng  from  Bremen  and  land- 
ing in  New  York  city,  after  a  voyage  of  eleven 
days.  His  wordly  possessions  were  only  a 
few  dollars,  and  it  was  necessary  for  him  to 
find  employment  that  would  yield  him  a  living. 
He  made  his  way  to  Rochester,  New  York, 
and  for  five  years  thereafter  he  was  employed 
at  farm  labor,  in  the  meanwhile  learning  the 
language  and  customs  of  the  country  of  his 
adoption.  In  1877  he  made  his  way  west- 
ward to  Nebraska,  and  here  for  two  years 
he  worked  at  whatever  he  could  find  to  do,  at 
Beatrice.  An  old  settler,  John  Ellis,  owned 
considerable  land  in  Gage  county,  and  he  pre- 
vailed upon  Mr.  Wandersee  to  purchase  two 
hundred  acres  in  Section  17,  Sicily  township. 
This  Mr.  Wandersee  did  in  the  fall  of  1878, 
and  in  the  spring  of  1879,  he  established  him- 
self on  the  farm.  The  only  improvements  at 
that  time  were  a  little  upright  board  shanty  — 
made  of  native  cottonwood  lumber,  the  logs 
having  been  sawed  at  Blue  Springs  —  and  a 
prairie  stable  made  of  poles  set  in  the  ground 
and  covered  with  hay.  Some  time  later  he 
sold  forty  acres  of  this  land,  but  in  a  few  years 
he  bought  an  additional  eighty  acres,  so  that 
to-day  he  is  the  owner  of  two  hundred  and 
forty  acres  of  excellent  land.  He  raises  the 
cereals  best  adapted  to  the  soil  and  climate 
and  in  his  pastures  are  found  a  good  grade  of 
cattle,  each  branch  of  his  business  yielding 
him  a  substantial  income. 

At  Beatrice,  in  1878,  Mr.  Wandersee  mar- 
ried Miss  Caroline  Wandersee,  who  was  born 
in  the  same  German  province  as  was  her  hus- 
band, her  natal  day  being  July  31,  1850.  She 
was  reared  in  her  native  land  and  came  to 
America  two  years  after  Mr.  Wandersee 
crossed  the  ocean.  She  has  been  with  her 
husband  all  of  these  intervening  years,  shar- 
ing in  the  trials  and  hardships  of  the  early 
days  as  well  as  in  the  hopes  realized  and  the 
pleasures  that  have  come  to  them. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wandersee  have  become  the 
parents  of  eight  children,  as  follows :  Frank 
H.,  who  married  Miss  Susan  Lewis,  is  a 
farmer  in  Sicily  township;  Henry  A.  married 


Miss  Augusta  Kauffman  and  is  a  farmer  in 
Kansas ;  Edward,  Nellie,  Ben  and  Annie  all 
remain  at  the  parental  home ;  Albert  died  at 
the  age  of  two  and  one-half  years  ;  and  Emma, 
who  became  the  wife  of  J.  B.  West,  died  in 
June,  1917,  leaving  four  children,  one  of 
whom,  a  winsome  little  child,  is  in  the  home 
of  the  maternal  grandparents.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Wandesee  were  reared  in  the  Lutheran  faith 
and  belong  to  the  church  of  that  denomination 
at  Beatrice. 

In  Sicily  township  are  left  but  few  of  the 
old  settlers  who  were  here  when  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Wandersee  settled  on  the  new  farm.  The 
success  that  has  come  to  this  sterling  pioneer 
couple  was  won  through  their  own  efforts,  as 
they  started  out  empty-handed.  They  are 
folk  of  genuine  personal  worth  and  are  held 
in  high  esteem  by  all  who  know  them. 

JOHN  H.  HELMKE  is  one  of  the  sub- 
stantial and  honored  citizens  of  Gage  county 
who  has  accumulated  in  Nebraska  a  large  and 
valuable  landed  estate.  In  this  county  he  is 
the  owner  of  four  hundred  acres  of  well  im- 
proved and  productive  land  in  Highland  town- 
ship, including  his  attractive  home  place,  in 
Section  29,  and  in  Holt  county  he  owns  three 
hundred  and  twenty  acres.  On  his  homestead 
he  has  as  his  efficient  coadjutor  in  agricul- 
tural and  live-stock  enterprise  his  youngest 
son,  and  they  give  each  season  an  average  of 
one  hundred  acres  to  the  raising  of  corn. 

]\Ir.  Helmke  was  born  in  the  province  of 
Hanover,  Germany,  which  has  given  a  fine 
quota  of  sterling  citizens  to  Gage  county,  and 
the  date  of  his  nativity  was  June  18,  1854. 
He  received  his  early  education  in  the  excel- 
lent schools  of  his  native  land  and  there,  in 
accord  with  governmental  rules,  he  served  a 
term  in  the  German  army  as  a  youth.  He  is  a 
son  of  Henry  and  Margaret  (Schluter) 
Helmke,  who  passed  their  entire  lives  in  Ger- 
many, where  the  father  was  a  prosperous 
Hanovarian  farmer:  he  was  born  in  1826  and 
died  in  1906,  his  wife  having  been  born  in 
1828  and  her  death  having  occurred  in  1904. 
Of  the  twelve  children  the  firstborn  died  in 
infancy  and  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  the 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA  783 


Me.  and  Mrs.  John  H.  Helmke 


784 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


next  in  order  of  birth ;  Alice  is  the  wife  of 
John  Freese  and  they  remain  in  Germany; 
Henry  is  a  prosperous  farmer  of  Clatonia 
township,  Gage  county;  Dietrich  resides  in 
his  native  land,  as  does  also  Herman ;  William 
is  a  resident  of  Murray  county,  Minnesota. 
Frederick  is  deceased;  Mrs.  Rebecca  Schale 
remains  in  Germany;  Dora  and  Martha  are 
deceased;  and  Frederick  (second  of  the 
name)  is  a  resident  of  Murray  county,  Minne- 
sota. 

John  H.  Helmke  was  an  ambitious  and  self- 
reliant  young  man  of  about  twenty-nine  years 
when  he  severed  the  ties  that  bound  him  to  the 
fatherland  and  came  to  America,  in  the  spring 
of  1883.  He  settled  in  Lancaster  county,  Ne- 
braska, and  he  came  to  Gage  county  in  1890. 
After  having  been  employed  the  first  year  as 
a  farm  hand  he  rented  a  farm  in  Highland 
township,  where  he  continued  his  activities 
under  these  conditions  for  the  ensuing  four 
years.  He  then  purchased  his  present  home- 
stead place  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres, 
upon  which  he  erected  good  buildings  and 
made  other  improvements  that  mark  it  as  one 
of  the  model  farms  of  Highland  township. 
With  the  increasing  prosperity  resulting  from 
his  indefatigable  efforts,  Mr.  Helml<e  contin- 
ued by  degrees  to  make  further  investments 
in  Gage  county  land,  and  here  his  now  ex- 
tensive farm  property  is  unexcelled  in  general 
im.provements,  in  productiveness  and  in  gen- 
eral evidences  of  thrift  and  prosperity.  On 
his  Holt  county  land  he  likewise  has  made 
good  improvements,  and  the  same  is  under  the 
active  management  of  his  two  sons.  As  a  loyal 
citizen  he  has  done  his  part  in  supporting 
movements  for  the  general  good  of  the  com- 
munity ;  he  is  independent  in  political  affiliation 
and  he  and  his  wife  are  earnest  communicants 
of  the  Lutheran  church  in  Clatonia  township. 

On  the  same  vessel  that  transported  Mr. 
Helmke  to  America  in  1883  came  Miss  Mar- 
tha Warnke,  who  was  born  in  Hanover,  Ger- 
many, December  11,  1862,  and  their  mutual 
regard  reached  its  climax  when,  on  the  9th 
of  March,  1884,  their  marriage  was  solem- 
nized, in  Gage  county.  Their  gracious  union 
has  been  blessed  bv  these  children  :  Ella  is  the 


wife  of  Henry  Messman,  of  Highland  town- 
ship; Margaret,  who  became  the  wife  of 
George  Oltman,  of  this  county,  is  deceased,  as 
is  also  Henry,  the  next  in  order  of  birth ; 
John  and  Richard  have  supervision  of  their 
father's  farm  property  in  Holt  county ;  Lena 
is  housekeeper  for  her  brother  John ;  and 
Herman  and  Amelia  remain  at  the  parental 
home.  In  1891  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Helmke  made 
a  most  pleasing  visit  to  their  native  land, 
where  they  renewed  the  associations  of  their 
earlier  years,  but  the  experience  did  not  in 
the  least  abate  their  appreciation  of  America 
and  of  the  state  and  county  of  their  adoption. 

GEORGE  S.  HARRIS,  who  resides  in  a 
beautiful  home  at  Blue  Springs,  is  one  of  the 
early  settlers  of  Gage  county  and  for  many 
years  was  actively  engaged  in  fanning  and 
stock-raising,  meeting  with  the  success  which 
enables  him  to  lay  aside  active  labor  and  live 
in  honorable  retirement. 

Mr.  Harris  is  a  native  of  Ireland,  born 
April  6,  1833.  His  parents,  John  and  Alar- 
garet  (Monroe)  Harris,  immigrated  from  the 
Emerald  Isle  to  America  in  1853  and  after  a 
residence  of  seven  years  in  Ohio  settled  in 
LaPorte  county,  Indiana.  John  Harris  be- 
came a  successful  farmer,  and  he  continued 
his  residence  in  Indiana  until  his  death.  His 
widow  was  killed  in  a  cyclone,  near  Holmes- 
ville,  Nebraska,  in  1904.  Both  were  members 
of  the  Christian  church  and  were  persons  of 
sterling  character. 

George  S.  Harris  was  the  third  in  a  family 
of  ten  children  and  was  reared  on  a  farm  in 
Indiana,  where  he  attended  the  public  schools 
until  he  had  attained  to  the  age  of  seventeen 
years.  He  then  found  employment  as  clerk 
in  a  grocery  and  dry-goods  store,  and  he  held 
this  position  seven  years.  In  1876  he  was 
united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Aminta  Harpster, 
who  was  born  in  Seneca  county,  Ohio,  a 
daughter  of  Frederick  Harpster. 

In  1877  Mr.  Harris  and  his  young  wife 
came  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  and  here  he 
secured  a  lease  on  eighty  acres  of  state  land. 
In  the  spring  of  1878  he  settled  on  the  land  and 
began  farming.     He  later  bought  the  property 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


and  there  he  continued  operations  until  1883, 
when  he  sold  the  farm  and  purchased  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  near  Barneston.  This 
place  was  the  stage  of  his  activities  as  a  farmer 
and  stock  man  until  he  retired  to  Blue  Springs, 
in  1897.  For  ten.  years  after  coming  to  Blue 
Springs  he  bought  and  shipped  stock.  Mr. 
Harris  is  to-day  the  owner  of  two  good  farms, 
—  one  of  two  hundred  and  twenty-two  acres 
in  Blue  Springs  township,  and  a  tract  of  two 
hundred  and  forty  acres  in  Rockford  town- 
ship. In  the  early  days  he  hauled  hogs  to 
jNIarysville,  Kansas,  thirty  miles  away  and 
sold  them  for  two  dollars  and  seventy-five 
cents  a  hundred  weight.  Rather  than  sell 
corn  for  fifteen  cents  a  bushel  he  fed  it  to  his 
live  stock  and  no  doubt  reaped  a  better  return 
than  from  its  sale.  In  1898  Mr.  Harris  was 
associated  in  the  organization  of  the  Blue 
Springs  State  Bank,  of  which  he  has  since 
continued  a  stock-holder  and  director. 

Mr.  Harris  is  a  Republican  in  politics  and 
efficiently  served  as  member  of  the  school 
board.  Fraternally  he  holds  membership  in 
the  Masonic  and  Odd  Fellows  lodges,  with 
which  latter  fraternity  he  has  been  affiliated 
since  he  was  twenty-one  years  of  age.  He 
holds  office  in  each  of  the  lodges.  With  no 
unusual  advantages  at  the  beginning  of  his 
career,  by  industry  and  good  management  he 
has  accummvdated  a  competence  which  places 
him  among  the  men  of  influence  in  Gage 
county. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Harris  are  the  parents  of  two 
daughters :  Ada  is  the  wife  of  Homer 
Knight,  head  miller  at  Black  Brothers'  mills 
at  Blue  Springs,  and  they  have  two  children, 
Ehvood  H.,  and  lielen  M.,  and  the  younger 
daughter  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Harris  is  Mabel, 
who  still  remains  at  the  parental  home. 

THEE  T.  JURGENS,  who  has  won  inde- 
pendence and  prosperity  through  his  own 
ability  and  well  directed  efTorts,  is  now  the 
owner  of  a  valuable  landed  estate  of  five  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres  in  Gage  county,  and  his 
attractive  homestead  farm  is  in  Section  36, 
Hanover  township.  He  was  born  in  the  prov- 
ince   of    Hanover,    Germany,    November    20, 


1868,  the  third  in  order  of  birth  of  the  five 
children  born  to  Thee  H.  and  Anna  (Dutz- 
nian)  Jurgens,  the  former  of  whom  was  born 
in  1833  and  the  latter  in  1830.  The  parents 
were  in  most  modest  financial  circumstances 
in  their  native  land  and  finally,  about  1882, 
they  came  to  America  and  established  their 
home  in  Gage  county,  where  the  father  still 
resides,  the  mother  having  passed  away  in 
1913.  After  farming  on  rented  land  a  num- 
ber of  years  Thee  H.  Jurgens  purchased 
eighty  acres  in  Hanover  township,  where  he 
reclaimed  and  improved  a  good  farm,  the  same 
being  now  owned  by  his  youngest  son,  John 
T.,  with  whom  he  makes  his  home.  He  is 
one  of  the  honored  pioneer  citizens  of  Gage 
county  and  is  an  earnest  member  of  the  Ger- 
man Lutheran  church,  as  was  also  his  wife. 

Thee  T.  Jurgens  early  began  to  make  his 
own  way  in  life  and  of  the  family  record  in 
his  youth  it  may  be  said,  as  Abraham  Lincoln 
spoke  of  his  own  family,  that  it  constituted 
"the  short  and  simple  annals  of  the  poor." 
He  was  afforded  in  his  native  land  but  lim- 
ited educational  advantages,  but  in  the  inter- 
vening years  he  has  profited  fully  by  the  les- 
sons gained  under  the  direction  of  the  wise 
headmaster,  experience,  .\fter  the  family 
home  had  been  established  in  Gage  county  Mr. 
Jurgens  herded  cattle  on  the  prairies  and 
worked  as  a  farm  hand,  taking  no  time  for 
recreation  but  working  diligently  and  with 
ever  quickening  ambition.  Finally  he  rented 
a  farm,  and  later  he  made  his  first  purchase 
of  land,  —  a  tract  of  eighty  acres,  in  Hanover 
township.  This  was  the  nucleus  around  which, 
with  increasing  prosperity,  he  has  evolved  his 
present  well  improved  and  valuable  landed 
estate  of  five  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  and  on 
his  homestead  place  he  erected  in  1915  his 
present  cohimodious  and  attractive  house, 
which  is  modern  in  design  and  appointments. 
The  other  farm  buildings  are  of  excellent 
order  and  the  entire  appearance  of  his  farm 
property  gives  evidence  of  thrift  and  pros- 
perity. 

In  1895  was  solemnized  the  marriage  of  Mr. 
Jurgens  to  ^liss  Elsabe  Johnson,  who  was 
born   and   reared   in   this   county,   where   her 


786 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


father,  William  Johnson,  settled  about  1872 
and  where  he  became  a  substantial  farmer: 
he  was  born  in  Germany  and  upon  coming  to 
America  settled  in  Illinois,  where  he  remained 
until  his  removal  to  Nebraska.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Jurgens  have  nine  children,  all  of  whom  re- 
main at  the  parental  home:  Thee  J.,  Anna, 
William,  Henry,  Marie,  Grace,  Tina,  Theda, 
and  Elsie. 

Mr.  Jurgens  is  a  staunch  supporter  of  the 
cause  of  the  Republican  party  and  has  held 
various  township  offices,  including  that  of 
treasurer.  He  and  his  family  are  active  mem- 
bers of  the  German  Lutheran  church  and  the 
pleasant  home  is  known  for  its  gracious  hospi- 
tality and  good  cheer. 

WILLIAM  R.  ROOT  was  one  of  those 
strong  and  resourceful  young  men  who  did 
well  his  part  in  connection  with  civic  and  in- 
dustrial development  and  progress  in  Gage 
county  in  the  pioneer  period  of  its  history, 
and  he  was  one  of  the  substantial  landholders 
and  farmers  of  the  county  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  which  occurred  on  the  29th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1915. 

Mr.  Root  was  born  in  the  state  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, April  18,  1855,  and  was  there  reared 
and  educated.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  years 
he  turned  his  face  to  the  west  and  made  his 
way  to  Montgomery  county,  Iowa,  where  he 
found  employment  at  farm  work  and  where 
he  later  engaged  in  farming  in  an  independent 
way.  There  he  continued  his  residence  until 
1878,  when  he  came  to  Nebraska  and  estab- 
lished his  permanent  home  in  Gage  county.  He 
purchased  eighty  acres  of  unimproved  school 
land,  in  Section  36,  Rockford  township,  and 
here  he  developed  and  improved  a  fine  farm, 
the  while  he  bore  with  fortitude  the  discour- 
agements and  trials  that  faced  him  in  his  ad- 
vancing course,  and  with  determined  purpose 
continued  his  worthy  endeavors  until  he  had 
become  the  owner  of  a  well  improved  farm 
estate  of  two  hundred  acres.  After  his  re- 
tirement from  the  arduous  labors  that  were 
so  long  his  portion  he  passed  the  closing  years 
of  his  life  in  the  home  of  his  son  Elmer  L.,  of 
whom  individual  mention  is  made  on  other 
pages. 


Mr.  Root  was  signally  loyal  and  true  in  all 
the  relations  of  life,  and  thus  merited  and  com- 
manded the  high  regard  of  his  fellow  men. 
His  first  wife  died  when  comparatively  a 
young  woman  and  left  him  with  small  chil- 
dren, and  later  he  endured  the  bereavement 
of  losing  by  death  his  second  wife.  His  landed 
estate  was  devised  to  his  surviving  children. 
Frederick  L.  and  Elmer  L.  are  both  represen- 
tative young  farmers  of  this  county  and  both 
of  them  are  specifically  represented  elsewhere 
in  this  publication.  In  politics  Mr.  Root  gave 
his  allegiance  to  the  Republican  party. 

As  a  young  man  Mr.  Root  married  Miss 
Anna  Wenrick,  who  likewise  was  born  in 
Pennsylvania,  and  she  is  survived  by  three 
sons,  Frederick  L.,  Elmer  L.,  and  Charles  L. 
For  his  second  wife  Mr.  Root  wedded  Miss 
Mary  Brubaker,  who  was  bom  in  the  state 
of  Tennessee  and  whose  parents  were  pio- 
neers of  Gage  county.  She  passed  to  the  life 
eternal  in  1894,  and  the  one  child  of  this 
union,  Grant  L.,  died  at  the  age  of  eleven 
years. 

FRED  KLALTS.— The  subject  of  this  sketch 
is  a  well-to-do  farmer  residing  on  Section  33, 
Paddock  township,  where  he  owns  and  oper- 
ates a  valuable  farm  of  two  hundred  and  forty 
acres.  This  place  has  been  the  home  of  the 
Klaus  family  for  the  past  twenty-six  years. 
The  parents,  Henry  and  Elizabeth  (Loemker) 
Klaus,  were  born  in  the  province  of  Hanover, 
Germany  and  were  married  there.  In  1880 
they  came  to  the  United  States  and  made  their 
way  to  Washington  county,  Kansas,  where 
some  of  their  relatives  had  established  homes 
on  what  had  been  an  Indian  reservation.  After 
a  short  stay  Henry  Klaus  decided  to  try  other 
means  to  make  a  living  for  his  family,  and 
went  to  Cleveland,  Ohio,  where  for  three  years 
he  found  employment  as  teamster  for  a  large 
casket  manufacturer.  In  1883  he  again  came 
to  Kansas  and  after  renting  land  for  a  time 
he  there  purchased  eighty  acres.  Erecting  a 
little  frame  house  of  but  one  room,  he  set 
about  to  develop  a  farm.  Six  years  later  he 
crossed  the  line  into  Gage  county,  Nebraska, 
and  purchased  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres. 
This  was  an  improved  farm,  though  none  of 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


787 


the  old  buildings  remain  at  the  present  time, 
as  they  have  been  replaced  by  more  modern 
and  substantial  structures. 

Henry  Klaus,  who  was  born  December  23, 
1840,  and  thus  is  now  in  his  seventy-eighth 
year,  still  makes  his  home  on  the  farm.  His 
wife,  born  August  3,  1833,  passed  away  March 
21,  1913.  In  this  family  were  four  children, 
all  born  in  Germany.  Three  are  still  living, 
one  having  passed  away  in  the  old  country. 
Mary  is  the  widow  of  Fred  Wasserman  and 
resides  with  her  son  in  Bameston  township. 
Lizzie  is  the  wife  of  Fred  Schramm,  residing 
in  Washington  county,  Kansas ;  Fred,  the 
youngest,  was  born  June  18,  1871.  He  was 
reared  on  a  farm  and  has  always  been  with 
his  father.  Several  years  ago  he  bought 
the  old  home  place  and  he  has  been  operating 
it  since  that  time. 

Fred  Klaus  married  Anna  Riggert,  who  was 
born  in  Washington  county,  Kansas,  and  is  a 
daughter  of  August  and  Minnie  (Germer) 
Riggert,  natives  of  Germany.  The  parents 
were  among  the  early  settlers  of  Washington 
county,  Kansas,  where  the  father  still  resides, 
but  the  mother  has  passed  away.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Fred  Klaus  are  the  parents  of  eight  chil- 
dren, all  under  the  parental  roof.  Their 
names  are:  Martin,  Minnie,  Anna,  Herbert, 
Ernst,  Martha,  Sophia  and  Olinda.  The  fam- 
ily are  members  of  the  Lutheran  church  and 
are  among  the  highly  esteemed  people  of  the 
community.  Mr.  Klaus  votes  the  Republican 
ticket  and  has  been  a  member  of  the  school 
board  many  years. 

THOMAS  WILLIAMS.  —  Coming  with 
his  parents  to  Nebraska  in  the  year  that 
marked  the  admission  of  the  state  to  the 
Union,  the  late  Thomas  Williams  was  at  the 
time  a  young  man  whose  character,  education 
and  ambitious  purpose  well  equipped  him  for 
assuming  the  duties  and  responsibilities  of  the 
pioneer.  He  reclaimed  and  developed  one  of 
the  excellent  farms  of  the  county  and  since 
his  death,  which  occurred  April  29,  1913,  his 
widow  has  remained  on  the  old  homestead, 
in  Section  6,  Logan  township,  and  has  proved 
efficient  and  successful  in  its  management. 


Thomas  Williams  was  born  in  England, 
August  13,  1841,  a  son  of  Thomas  and 
Mary  Williams,  who  came  to  America  in 
1850  and  established  their  residence  in  the 
state  of  New  York,  whence  they  later  re- 
moved to  Walworth  county,  Wisconsin.  The 
family  home  was  thereafter  maintained  in  the 
Badger  state  until  1867,  when  removal  was 
made  to  the  new  state  of  Nebraska.  Thomas 
Williams,  Sr.,  purchased  three  hundred  acres 
of  land  in  Gage  county  and,  with  the  aid  of 
his  sons,  began  the  reclaiming  and  improving 
of  the  proprety,  both  he  and  his  wife  having 
passed  the  remainder  of  their  lives  on  this 
pioneer  homestead.  The  subject  of  this 
memoir  acquired  his  rudimentary  education  in 
his  native  land  and  was  about  nine  years  of 
age  at  the  time  of  the  family  immigration  to 
the  United  States.  He  thereafter  attended 
school  at  Water\'ille,  New  York,  and  as  he 
was  a  man  of  studious  habits,  reading  wisely 
and  well  in  later  years,  he  rounded  out  a  broad 
and  symmentrical  education.  With  charac- 
teristic vigor  and  ability  he  identified  himself 
with  progressive  farm  industry  after  coming 
to  Gage  county,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death 
he  was  the  owner  of  an  admirably  improved 
and  productive  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres,  —  the  homestead  on  which  his 
widow  still  resides  and  one  that  is  endeared 
to  her  by  the  gracious  memories  and  associ- 
ations of  the  past.  Mr.  Williams  was  a  man 
of  the  highest  principles  and  exemplified  the 
best  in  communal  citizenship.  His  political 
allegiance  was  given  to  the  Republican  party 
and  while  he  had  no  ambition  for  public  of- 
fice his  civil  loyalty  was  shown  in  his  efficient 
service  as  a  member  of  the  school  board  of  his 
district.  Lie  was  reared  in  the  faith  of  the 
Church  of  England  and  in  America  continued 
his  affiliation  with  the  United  States  church 
of  the  same  faith,  the  Protestant  Episcopal, 
his  widow  being  an  active  member  of  the  Bap- 
tist church,  with  which  she  has  been  identi- 
fied since  her  girlhood. 

On  the  11th  of  January,  1870,  was  solemn- 
ized the  marriage  of  Mr.  Williams  to  Miss 
Elizabeth  Horton,  who  was  born  at  Burling- 
ton, Wisconsin,  and  whose  education  was  re- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


ceived  in  the  schools  of  Kenosha  county,  that 
state.  She  is  a  daughter  of  Richard  and  Jane 
(Lloyd)  Horton,  both  natives  of  Wales,  the 
father  having  been  of  English  and  the  mother 
of  Welsh  ancestry.  Upon  coming  to  the 
United  States  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Horton  first  es- 
tablished their  home  in  Racine  county,  Wis- 
consin, but  later  they  removed  to  Kenosha 
county,  where  he  became  the  owner  of  a  large 
landed  estate  and  was  a  successful  farmer, 
both  he  and  his  wife  having  continued  their 
residence  in  Wisconsin  until  their  death.  Of 
their  six  children  all  are  living  except  one: 
Frank  resides  at  Union  Grove,  Wisconsin; 
Harvey  is  a  resident  of  Racine  county,  that 
state  ;  Miss  Mary  maintains  her  home  at  Union 
Grove;  Nellie  is  married  and  resides  in  the 
city  of  Boston,  Massachusetts ;  and  Mrs.  Wil- 
liams, widow  of  the  subject  of  this  memoir, 
is  the  eldest  of  the  number. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Williams  became  the  parents 
of  a  fine  family  of  three  sons  and  five  daugh- 
ters :  Rose  is  the  wife  of  John  Day,  a  retired 
farmer  residing  in  the  village  of  Adams,  this 
county ;  Mary  Jane  is  the  wife  of  John  Win- 
kle, of  Midland  township;  Frank  Eugene  is 
a  prosperous  farmer  in  Logan  township,  as  is 
also  Richard;  Nellie  is  the  wife  of  Ohn  Ger- 
man, of  Midland  township;  Rebecca  is  the 
wife  of  Clarence  Taylor,  of  the  same  town- 
ship; Iva  is  the  wife  of  Arthur  Heaston,  of 
Riverside  township;  and  Thomas  remains 
with  his  widowed  mother,  he  having  active 
charge  of  the  old  home  farm. 

JOSEPH  CACEK,  Jr.  —  When  a  lad  six- 
teen years  of  age  the  subject  of  this  record 
kept  bachelor  hall  in  a  shanty  about  the  size 
of  a  chicken  coop,  and  with  oxen  broke  the 
land  which  his  father  had  recently  purchased 
in  Paddock  township.  This  was  the  year  fol- 
lowing the  opening  of  the  Otoe  Indian  reserva- 
tion for  settlement.  When  he  was  twenty- 
one  years  of  age  that  shanty  again  served  as 
his  home  while  he  was  breaking  the  prairie 
land  he  had  recently  purchased  for  himself. 
Mr.  Cacek  is  a  member  of  one  of  the  pio- 
neer families  of  Paddock  township,  being  a 
son  of  Joseph  Cacek,  whose  record  appears 
elsewhere  in  this  volume. 


Mr.  Cacek  was  born  in  Bohemia,  Novem- 
ber 11,  1862.  He  was  but  five  years  old  when 
the  family  home  was  made  in  America,  his 
parents  becoming  early  settlers  in  Gage 
county,  Nebraska.  His  boyhood  and  youth 
were  spent  in  this  county.  When  twenty-one 
years  of  age  Mr.  Cacek  became  the  owner  and 
began  the  improvement  of  a  new  farm  in 
Paddock  township,  and  on  this  place  he  re- 
sided nine  years.  To-day  he  is  the  owner  of 
one  hundred  and  twenty-one  acres,  having 
given  his  eldest  son  a  farm  of  eighty  acres. 
The  home  of  our  subject  is  one  of  the  best  in 
the  township.  Cement  walks  around  the 
house,  good  fences  and  splendid  buildings  are 
evidences  of  the  thrift  and  enterprise  of  the 
owner. 

Mr.  Cacek  completed  arrangements  for  his 
home  by  marriage  to  Miss  Pauline  Synovec, 
also  a  native  of  Bohemia.  They  have  four 
children,  as  follows  :  Joseph  married  Cather- 
ine Varuska  and  they  have  two  children, 
Arthur  and  Agnes.  Frank  married  Mary 
Dovrak  and  they  have  four  children,  Anna, 
Harry,  Eugene  and  Rudolph.  Victor  and 
Anna  remain  at  the  parental  home. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cacek  were  reared  in  the 
faith  of  the  Catholic  church,  but  at  the  present 
time  are  members  of  none,  though  they  now 
incline  towards  Protestanism.  In  politics  he 
is  a  Democrat.  For  forty  years  Mr.  Cecek  has 
been  a  resident  of  Paddock  township  and  he 
has  contributed  his  full  share  to  the  march  of 
progress  from  the  days  of  the  sod  house  and 
ox  team  to  those  of  the  beautiful  homes  and 
the  automobiles  of  the  present  time. 

HOWARD  CARPENTER,  who  is  now  a 
progressive  and  successful  farmer  and  stock- 
grower  in  Rockford  township,  has  been  a  resi- 
dent of  Gage  county  since  childhood  and  is  a 
scion  of  the  third  generation  of  the  family  in 
this  section  of  Nebraska.  Details  concerning 
the  family  history  appear  on  other  pages,  in 
the  sketch  of  the  career  of  his  father,  J.  D. 
Carpenter. 

Howard  Carpenter  was  born  in  Butler 
county,  Kansas,  August  27,  1883,  and  was 
about  five  years  old  at  the  time  of  the  family 
removal  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  where  he 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASK.- 


was  reared  on  his  father's  fann  and  acquired 
his  early  education  in  the  pubHc  schools.  He 
has  had  no  inclination  to  abate  his  fealty  to 
the  basic  industries  of  agriculture  and  stock- 
raising  and  through  the  medium  of  the  same 
has  achieved  in  his  independent  operations 
definite  success.  His  well  improved  farm 
comprises  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  and 
is  situated  in  Section  2  Rock  ford  township, 
about  seven  and  one-half  miles  distant  from 
the  city  of  Beatrice,  which  is  his  postoffice 
address,  —  rural  mail  route  No.  5.  In  poli- 
tics Mr.  Carpenter  is  found  aligned  in  the 
ranks  of  the  Democratic  party  and  his  pro- 
gressiveness  touches  not  only  his  activities  as 
a  farmer  but  also  as  a  citizen. 

May  3,  1909,  recorded  the  marriage  of  Mr. 
Carpenter  to  Miss  Mabel  Sallie  Armstrong, 
who  likewise  is  a  native  of  Nebraska,  her 
father,  William  Armstrong,  having  been  a 
pioneer  of  Gage  county  and  a  prosperous 
farmer.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Carpenter  have  four 
children,  — •  Hazel,  Roy,  Merle  and  Ruth. 

ANDREW  I.  LAYTON.  — The  subject  of 
this  record  is  operating  a  tract  of  eighty  acres 
belonging  to  his  father-in-law,  in  Section  12, 
Glenwood  township. 

Andrew  I.  Layton  is  a  native  of  Mattoon, 
Illinois,  a  son  of  Henry  and  Martha  Layton, 
who  spent  their  last  days  at  Odell,  Nebraska. 
Mr.  Layton  married  Alice  Rathbun,  a  daughter 
of  James  Rathbun,  who  is  mentioned  elsewhere 
in  this  volume.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Layton  are  the 
parents  of  three  children :  Arthur,  Ralph 
and  Martha,  all  under  the  parental  roof. 

JOHN  FOSSLER  was  one  of  the  vener- 
able and  honored  pioneer  citizens  of  Nebraska 
at  the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  Oc- 
tober 13,  1906,  at  his  pleasant  farm  home,  in 
Section  10,  Logan  township.  He  had  the 
sterling  attributes  of  character  that  make  for 
usefulness  in  connection  with  the  productive 
activities  of  life  and  in  Gage  county  he  de- 
veloped a  fine  farm  property.  He  was  born 
in  Friesland,  Province  of  Hanover,  Germany, 
January'  20,  1838,  and  thus  he  was  nearly 
seventy  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  his  death. 


Mr.  Fossler  was  reared  and  educated  in  his 
native  land  and  upon  coming  to  America,  in 
1876,  he  found  employment  at  farm  work 
near  Brownville,  Missouri,  in  which  state  he 
continued  his  residence  a  number  of  years 
and  in  which  he  was  twice  married,  the  one 
surviving  child  of  the  first  marriage  being 
John,  who  is  now  a  prosperous  farmer  in 
Logan  township,  Gage  county,  there  having 
been  no  children  of  the  second  marriage.  In 
1871  Mr.  Fossler  came  to  Nebraska  and  es- 
tablished his  residence  in  Nemaha  county, 
where  he  engaged  in  farm  enterprise  and 
where  he  encountered,  as  did  the  average  pio- 
neer, much  loss  and  hardship  incidental  to 
droughts  and  grasshopper  scourges.  In  1883 
he  came  with  his  family  to  Gage  county  and 
his  financial  resources  at  the  time  were  such 
that  he  was  able  to  make  nearly  full  payment 
upon  purchasing  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
of  land  in  Logan  township.  Later  he  bought 
another  farm  of  equal  area,  in  Section  11,  and 
he  was  the  owner  of  both  of  these  properties 
at  the  time  of  his  death.  His  original  Gage 
county  farm  was  unbroken  prairie,  with  a 
little  shanty  and  log  stable,  when  it  came  into 
his  possession.  With  the  passing  years  he  re- 
claimed the  place  to  effective  cultivation  and 
made  excellent  improvements  in  the  way  of 
buildings,  the  attractive  house  which  he  built 
being  still  the  home  of  his  widow.  He  gave 
his  attention  principally  to  the  raising  of 
grain  and  his  energy  and  good  management 
brought  to  him  independence  and  prosperity, 
while  he  at  all  times  commanded  the  unquali- 
fied respect  and  confidence  of  his  fellow  men. 

Taking  loyal  interest  in  communal  affairs, 
Mr.  Fossler  was  well  fortified  in  his  political 
convictions  and  was  aligned  in  the  ranks  of 
the  Republican  party.  He  served  in  1900  and 
1901  as  road  supervisor  but  he  had  no  am- 
bition for  public  office  or  political  preferment. 
He  was  an  earnest  communicant  of  the  Lu- 
theran church,  as  is  also  his  widow,  the  latter 
having  shared  with  him  in  the  trials  and  hard- 
ships of  pioneer  life  in  Nebraska. 

The  third  marriage  of  Mr.  Fossler  was  sol- 
emnized in  1875,  when  Miss  Anna  Luppen 
became  his  wife.     She  likewise  was  bom  in 


790 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


John  Fossler 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Mrs.  Anna  Fossler 


792 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Friesland,  Germany,  the  date  of  her  nativity 
having  been  September  25,  1850.  Her  par- 
ents passed  their  entire  lives  in  their  native 
province  and  her  mother  attained  to  the  re- 
markably venerable  age  of  ninety-five  years. 
In  conclusion  of  this  memoir  is  given  brief 
record  concerning  the  children  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Fossler:  George  remains  with  his 
mother  on  the  old  homestead  and  has  the 
active  management  of  the  same ;  Jerrj'  died 
September  1.  1917,  at  the  age  of  thirty-three 
years ;  Anna  is  the  wife  of  George  Folkerts, 
of  Logan  township;  Ella  remains  with  her 
widowed  mother;  Sarah  is  the  wife  of  Wil- 
liam Jurgens,  of  Logan  township;  Emma  is 
the  wife  of  John  Leners,  of  the  same  town- 
ship ;  and  Annie  died  at  the  age  of  seventeen 
years. 

JOHN  C.  MEINTS  was  a  member  of 
one  of  the  representative  German  pioneer 
families  of  Gage  county,  and  he  here  won  for 
himself  a  high  place  in  popular  esteem  and  as 
a  citizen  of  ability  and  loyalty,  his  productive 
activities  having  been  varied  and  having  in- 
cluded close  association  with  farm  enterprise. 
He  retired  from  the  office  of  deputy  clerk  of 
Gage  county  within  a  short  time  prior  to  his 
death,  which  occurred  October  9,  1914,  and 
he  was  engaged  in  the  general  merchandise 
business  in  the  village  of  Pickrell  during  the 
last  two  years  of  his  life,  he  having  been  act- 
ively assisting  in  the  store  only  a  few  days 
prior  to  his  death,  though  he  had  not  estab- 
lished his  home  in  that  village.  Concerning 
the  Meints  family  adequate  record  is  given  on 
other  pages  of  this  history. 

John  C.  Meints  was  born  in  the  province 
of  Hanover,  Germany,  September  6,  1862, 
and  he  died  about  one  month  after  he  had 
celebrated  the  fifty-second  anniversary  of  his 
birth,  he  having  been  a  son  of  Christian  J. 
and  Grace  (Dorn)  Meints,  who  came  to 
America  when  he  was  a  child  and  established 
their  home  in  Adams  county,  Illinois,  where 
he  was  reared  and  educated.  He  was  sixteen 
years  of  age  when  he  came  with  his  parents 
to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  and  his  father  lo- 
cated on  a  pioneer  farm  in  Hanover  township. 


About  one  year  later  he  found  employment  as 
clerk  in  a  mercantile  establishment  at  Be- 
atrice, and  in  1888  he  established  his  residence 
at  Filley,  this  county,  where  for  two  years 
he  conducted  a  general  store.  Shortage  of 
crops  brought  financial  depression  in  that  lo- 
cality and  resulted  in  the  failure  of  his  busi- 
ness. Under  these  conditions  Mr.  Meints  re- 
turned to  Beatrice,  and  there  he  continued  as 
a  salesman  in  the  store  of  Emil  Lang  until 
1895,  when  he  rented  land  in  Hanover  town- 
ship and  engaged  in  farming  in  an  independent 
way.  There  he  continued  his  activities  until 
1900,  when  he  removed  to  his  father's  farm, 
in  Holt  township.  There  he  gave  his  atten- 
tion to  diversified  agriculture  and  stock- 
growing  until  1912,  when  he  was  appointed 
deputy  county  clerk,  under  the  administration 
of  J.  C.  Penrod.  In  the  same  year  he  pur- 
chased a  half  interest  in  a  general  merchan- 
dise store  at  Pickrell,  but  he  continued  a  resi- 
dent on  the  farm  until  his  death.  He  was  a 
man  of  strong  mentality  and  well  fortified 
convictions,  was  a  Republican  in  politics,  was 
a  member  of  the  Sons  of  Hermann,  and  was 
an  earnest  communicant  of  the  German  Lu- 
theran church,  as  is  also  his  widow,  who  main- 
tains her  home  in  the  village  of  Pickrell.  After 
the  death  of  the  subject  of  this  memoir,  his 
widow  continued  the  mercantile  business  at 
Pickrell  for  three  years,  at  the  expiration  of 
which  she  sold  the  same. 

October  19,  1884,  Mr.  IMeints  wedded  Miss 
Elizabeth  R.  Zimmerman,  who  was  born  in 
Hanover,  Germany,  October  11,  1863,  a 
daughter  of  R.  R.  and  Johanna  E.  (Bless) 
Zimmerman,  and  she  was  fourteen  years  of 
age  when  she  came  with  her  parents  to 
America,  further  mention  of  the  family  be- 
ing made  on  other  pages,  in  the  sketch  of  the 
career  of  her  brother,  George  E.  Zimmerman. 
Of  the  nine  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Meints 
two  died  in  infancy;  Christian  J.  is  a  farmer 
in  Nemaha  county ;  Richard  is  similarly  en- 
gaged near  Virginia,  Gage  county;  Henry 
and  George  J.  likewise  are  exponents  of  farm 
enterprise  in  Gage  county,  the  former  in 
Hanover  township,  and  the  latter  near  the 
village    of    Adams;   Johanna    is    the   wife   of 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


793 


P.  Heist,  whose  farm  is  west  of  Pickrell ; 
John  was  killed  in  an  automobile  accident,  in 
1916,  at  the  age  of  nineteen  years;  and  Grace 
F.  is  the  wife  of  William  J.  Parde,  a  farmer 
in  Hanover  township. 

FRANK  LISEC  — The  province  of  Bo- 
hemia, in  the  dual  monarchy  of  Austria- 
Hungar)',  has  furnished  large  numbers  of  in- 
dustrious citizens  who  have  in  a  large  measure 
aided  in  transforming  Nebraska  from  a  pio- 
neer region  to  the  high  state  of  development 
of  the  present  day.  One  of  these  is  Frank 
Lisec,  an  industrious  farmer  of  Section  33. 
Sicily  township.  He  is  a  native  of  Bohemia, 
his  natal  day  having  been  August  22,  1869, 
and  is  a  son  of  Albert  and  Maria  (Moravec) 
Lisec,  who  came  to  America  when  their  son 
Frank  was  but  fifteen  months  old.  They  set- 
tled in  Washington  county,  Iowa,  where  they 
resided  two  years.  They  then  came  to  Sa- 
line county,  Nebraska,  and  numbered  them- 
selves among  the  early  settlers  of  that  section 
of  the  state.  Pioneer  conditions  were  in  evi- 
dence on  every  hand  and  their  first  home  was 
a  sod  house  with  sod  roof  and  with  no  floor 
except  the  earth.  They  were  honest  and  in- 
dustrious folk  and  they  spent  the  remainder 
of  their  lives  in  that  county. 

Frank  Lisec  was  reared  on  the  farm  in  Sa- 
line county,  where  he  remained  with  his  father 
and  gave  him  the  benefit  of  his  services  until 
he  was  twenty-five  years  of  age.  He  then 
began  his  independent  career  as  a  farmer,  on 
an  improved  tract  of  eighty  acres  which  he 
purchased  from  his  father  and  on  which  he 
made  his  home  for  nine  years.  Sixteen  years 
ago  he  came  to  Gage  county  and  purchased 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  his  present 
farm.  By  industry  and  good  management  he 
has  extended  its  area  until  he  is  now  the 
owner  of  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres, 
the  place  being  equipped  with  a  good  set  of 
buildings,  all  of  which  have  been  put  there  by 
Mr.  Lisec.  Here  he  is  engaged  in  general 
farming  under  most  favorable  conditions  and 
his  success  has  been  excellent. 

For  a  companion  and  helpmeet  Mr.  Lisec 
married   ]\Iiss   Annie   Hlavac,   who   was   born 


at  Fort  Dodge,  Iowa,  a  daughter  of  Frank 
and  Maria  (Hlatky)  Hlavac.  The  parents 
were  natives  of  Bohemia  and  after  coming  to 
America  the  father  worked  in  the  iron  mines 
of  Missouri,  later  living  in  Wisconsin  and 
Iowa  and  still  later  settling  in  Saline  county, 
Nebraska,  where  he  is  still  living,  at  the  age 
of  seventy-six,  his  wife  having  passed  away 
about  one  year  ago.  .The  home  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Lisec  has  been  made  happy  by  the  birth 
of  six  children :  Robert,  Joseph,  Stephen, 
Alice,  Natalia,  and  Frankie,  all  of  whom  are 
still  under  the  parental  roof. 

Mr.  Lisec  is  one  of  the  progressive,  indus- 
trious, and  public-spirited  citizens  of  Gage 
county,  and  is  contributing  his  full  quota  to- 
ward all  measures  for  the  upbuilding  of  the 
community  in  which  he  lives. 

FRANK  J.  TRUXAW.  — The  gentleman 
whose  name  introduces  this  record  was  one 
of  the  pioneer  merchants  of  Odell,  and  by 
good  management  and  close  application  he 
achieved  a  success  which  enabled  him  to  retire 
with  a  competence. 

Frank  J.  Truxaw  is  a  native  of  Austria- 
Hungary —  born  in  the  province  of  Bohemia, 
December  5,  1856.  His  parents,  Frank  and 
Maria  (Folda)  Truxaw,  were  natives  of  the 
same  province,  and  in  1861  came  with  their 
family  to  the  United  States,  settling  in  Wash- 
ington county.  Iowa,  where  they  were  farm- 
ing people  and  where  they  spent  the  remain- 
der of  their  lives. 

Frank  J.  was  one  of  a  family  of  four  chil- 
dren, all  of  whom  are  still  living.  He  was 
reared  on  a  farm  and  when  a  young  man  he 
learned  the  butcher  business,  at  Washington, 
Iowa.  In  1881  he  came  to  Gage  county  and 
erected  the  fifth  new  building  in  the  new  town 
of  Wymore,  where  he  opened  a  butcher  shop. 
In  the  fall  of  1883,  he  established  himself  in 
the  same  line  of  business  at  Odell,  and  for 
many  years  he  was  one  of  the  leading  business 
men  of  the  town.  He  early  realized  the  value 
of  fama  lands  and  invested  in  land  whenever 
the  opportunity  offered.  He  has  owned  and 
improved  several  tracts  in  Gage  county,  as 
well  as  in  other  parts  of  the  country.     He  is 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


now  the  owner  of  six  hundred  and  forty 
acres  in  Phillips  county,  Kansas,  where  he 
was  the  first  to  introduce  alfalfa  in  the  Prairie 
Dog  valley,  the  growing  of  this  now  being  a 
great  source  of  income  to  the  people  of  that 
county. 

Mr.  Truxaw  was  married  to  Miss  Anna 
Sadel,  a  native  of  Bohemia.  Her  parents, 
Vancel  and  Mary  ( Jarors)  Kredjl,  were  early 
settlers  of  Washington  county,  Iowa,  where 
both  passed  the  remainder  of  their  lives. 
After  coming  to  America  they  changed  the 
spelling  of  the  family  name  to  Sadel.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Truxaw  are  the  parents  of  three 
children :  Miss  Mae  remains  at  the  parental 
home;  William  is  married  and  is  postmaster 
at  Crosby,  Texas,  where  he  is  also  prominent- 
ly identified  with  a  telephone  company; 
Emma  is  the  wife  of  Ted  Krueger,  of  Green 
Bay,  Wisconsin. 

Mr.  Truxaw  and  his  wife  and  daughter 
occupy  a  beautiful  home  in  Odell,  where  for 
thirty-five  years  he  has  been  the  leader  in 
commercial  and  social  interests  of  the  town. 
He  is  a  Democrat  in  politics  and  served  for 
years  on  the  town  board.  Mrs.  Truxaw  is 
a  communicant  of  the  Catholic  church. 

HERMAN  F.  GIESMANN  has  been  a 
resident  of  Nebraska  since  1891  and  here  he 
has  so  availed  himself  of  opportunities  and 
so  effectively  applied  himself  that  he  is  now 
the  owner  of  a  well  improved  farm  estate  of 
three  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  eligibly  sit- 
uated in  Section  18,  Holt  township.  He  was 
born  in  East  Friesland,  in  the  extreme  north- 
western part  of  Hanover,  Germany,  and  the 
date  of  his  nativity  was  August  6,  1866.  He 
is  a  son  of  Frederick  and  Johanna  (Jung) 
Giesmann,  who  passed  their  entire  lives  in 
Germany,  where  the  father  was  a  farmer  by 
vocation.  Frederick  Giesmann  and  his  wife 
both  died  in  the  year  1895,  he  having  been 
seventy-eight  years  of  age  and  his  wife  hav- 
ing been  about  six  years  his  junior.  Of  their 
eight  children  one  is  deceased  and  three  re- 
main in  Germany.  Those  who  live  in  the 
United  States,  in  addition  to  the  subject  of 
this   review,   are    Mrs.    Franz   Haferman,   of 


Nemaha  county,  Nebraska ;  John,  who  is  a 
resident  of  Sterling,  Johnson  county,  this 
state;  and  Enno,  who  maintains  his  home  at 
Humboldt,  Richardson  county. 

Herman  F.  Giesmann  acquired  his  early 
education  in  the  excellent  schools  of  his  na- 
tive land,  where  in  his  youth,  in  accordance 
with  the  laws  of  the  nation,  he  served  three 
years  in  the  German  army.  He  continued  to 
be  identified  with  agricultural  operations  in 
Germany  until  1891,  when,  at  the  age  of 
twenty-four  years,  he  came  to  the  United  States 
and  established  his  residence  in  Johnson  coun- 
ty, Nebraska.  After  there  working  one  year  on 
a  farm  he  was  similarly  employed  two  years 
in  Nemaha  county,  after  which  he  there 
rented  a  farm  for  one  year.  He  then  returned 
to  Johnson  county,  but  after  having  farmed 
on  rented  land  for  one  year  he  came,  in  1895, 
to  Gage  county.  Two  and  one-half  miles 
southeast  of  the  village  of  Adams  he  rented 
land  and  engaged  in  independent  farm  enter- 
prise. In  1898  he  leased  a  farm  in  Hanover 
township,  where  he  continued  operations  five 
years.  He  then,  in  1903,  purchased  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres  in  Holt  township,  and 
this  constitutes  the  nucleus  around  which, 
with  increasing  prosperity,  he  has  evolved  his 
present  fine  landed  estate  of  three  hundred 
and  twenty  acres.  He  has  made  substantial 
improvements  on  the  property,  including  the 
erection  of  a  large  and  modern  bam,  and  he 
gives  his  attention  to  diversified  agriculture 
and  the  raising  of  good  live  stock,  usually 
having  an  average  of  about  sixty  head  of 
cattle  and  about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
head  of  swine.  He  is  a  shareholder  in  the 
farmers'  grain  elevator  company  at  Pickrell, 
which  village  is  his  postoffice  address.  His 
]iolitical  affiliation  is  with  the  Republican 
party  and  he  and  his  wife  hold  membership 
in  the  German  Lutheran  church. 

On  the  16th  of  November,  1894,  the  twen- 
tieth anniversary  of  the  birth  of  his  bride, 
Mr.  Giesmann  married  Miss  Adelheid 
Schmidt,  who  was  born  in  Gennany  on  the 
16th  of  November,  1874,  and  who  was  about 
two  years  old  when,  in  1876,  her  parents, 
Brunke  and  Christena    (Kuper)    Schmidt,  es- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


795 


tablished  their  home  in  Johnson  county,  Ne- 
braska, where  they  passed  the  rest  of  their 
Hves  and  where  the  father  became  a  prosper- 
ous farmer,  their  family  having  comprised 
five  sons  and  one  daughter.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Giesmann  have  ten  children,  all  of  whom  re- 
main at  the  parental  home  —  Johanna,  Her- 
man, Frederick,  Christena,  Gesiena,  William, 
Emma,  John,  Dora,  and  Henry. 

GEORGE  I.  THOMAN,  a  farmer  of 
Sicily  township,  was  born  July  21,  1877,  at 
Freeport,  Illinois.  He  is  a  son  of  Moses  and 
Susan  (Snyder)  Thoman.  Moses  Thoman 
was  born  and  reared  in  Pennsylvania  and 
thence  moved  to  Greene  county,  Indiana, 
where  he  followed  his  trade,  that  of  carpen- 
ter. He  later  went  to  Illinois  and  settled  in 
Stephenson  county.  In  1883  he  came  to  Ne- 
braska and  settled  in  Gage  county.  He  lo- 
cated on  the  northwest  quarter  of  Section  24, 
Sicily  township,  where  his  son  George  now 
resides.  This  land  formerly  belonged  to 
Jacob  Thoman,  a  brother  of  Moses,  and 
when  the  latter  there  established  his  resi- 
dence the  place  was  improved  only  with  a  very 
small  frame  house  and  a  prairie  stable,  while 
only  thirty-five  acres  of  the  land  had  been 
broken.  Moses  Thoman  engaged  in  farming 
and  had  continued  operations  only  a  few 
years  when  he  had  a  stroke  of  paralysis.  As 
a  result  of  this  affliction  he  was  an  invalid 
for  more  than  twenty  years.  Eleven  years 
ago  he  removed  to  Blue  Springs,  and  here  his 
death  occurred  three  years  later.  His  widow 
still  maintains  her  home  in  the  town  of  Blue 
Springs.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thoman  were  the 
parents  of  five  children,  one  of  whom  died  in 
childhood ;  Louisa  and  Elmeda  reside  at  Blue 
Springs;  George  I.  is  the  subject  of  this  re- 
view ;  and  Alvin  resides  in  the  city  of  Beatrice. 
George  I.  Thoman  came  to  Gage  county 
with  his  parents  when  he  was  about  six  years 
of  age.  He  received  his  education  in  the 
country  schools  of  the  county  and  as  a  boy 
and  young  man  was  associated  with  his  father 
in  farm  enterprise.  For  the  past  fifteen  years 
he  has  owned  and  operated  the  farm  on  which 
he  now  lives  and  which  for  so  many  years 
has  been  the  home  of  the  Thoman  family. 


November  12,  1902,  recorded  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  Thoman  to  Miss  Ida  Cooper,  daughter 
of  Benton  and  Sarah  (Conover)  Cooper,  who 
are  now  residents  of  Blue  Springs.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Thoman  have  three  children  —  Esta, 
Vera,  and  Glenn. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thoman  are  members  of  the 
United  Brethren  church,  and  he  is  affiliated 
with  the  lodge  of  the  Independent  Order  of 
Odd  Fellows  at  Blue  Springs.  In  politics  he 
is  a  Republican,  and  he  is  serving  at  the  time 
of  this  writing  as  a  member  of  the  school 
board. 


JAMES  M.  McPHERON.  —  Among  those 
who,  with  patriotic  zeal  and  utter  disregard 
of  self,  left  all  to  go  forth  in  defense  of  their 
country  when  the  Civil  war  burst  upon  the 
nation,  was  James  M.  McPheron,  who  is  now 
living  retired  in  the  village  of  Holmesville. 

]\Ir.  McPheron  is  a  native  of  Tennessee, 
born  in  Greene  county,  June  25,  1844.  His 
parents,  Robert  and  Malissa  Frances  (Ward) 
McPheron,  were  natives  of  South  Carolina, 
and  were  of  Irish  and  Scotch  descent.  They 
passed  away  in  Greene  county,  Tennessee. 
James  M.  was  reared  on  a  farm  in  his  native 
county,  fifty  miles  east  of  Knoxville.  Not 
yet  twenty-one  years  of  age  when  the  Civil 
war  broke  out,  he  enlisted  in  the  Union  army, 
in  Company  I,  Twenty-third  Illinois  Volun- 
teer Infantry  and  for  four  years  he  valiantly 
defended  the  stars  and  stripes.  He  was  under 
General  Sheridan  all  through  the  Shenandoah 
campaign  and  the  siege  of  Richmond,  and  his 
command  captured  Fort  Gregg,  the  last  Con- 
federate stronghold  taken  before  peace  was 
declared.  He  saw  Lee  and  Grant  shake  hands 
at  the  surrender.  He  was  a  good  soldier,  al- 
ways at  the  post  of  duty,  and  went  through 
the  terrible  conflict  unscathed.  He  received 
an  honorable  discharge  at  the  close  of  the  war 
and  then  returned  to  Tennessee,  where  he  be- 
came a  farmer  in  Hawkins  county.  There 
he  remained  until  1885,  when  he  came  to  Ne- 
braska and  purchased  eighty  acres  of  land  in 
Rockford  township,  Gage  county.  This  farm 
was  the  stage  of  his  activities  until  he  retired 
from  active  labors  and  moved  to  Holmesville, 


796 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


797 


where  he  resides  in  one  of  the  most  attractive 
and  comfortable  homes  in  the  village. 

In  Hawkins  county,  Tennessee,  Mr.  Mc- 
Pheron  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Rachel 
Berry,  a  native  of  that  county,  and  a  daughter 
of  Thomas  and  Sarah  (Everhardt)  Berry, 
both  natives  of  Tennessee.  The  home  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  McPheron  was  blessed  with  four 
children,  all  of  whom  are  still  living,  well  es- 
tablished in  homes  of  their  own,  and  all  liv- 
ing within  a  few  miles  of  their  parents.  They 
are:  J.  H.,  of  Rockford  township;  Sarah, 
the  wife  of  B.  A.  Brubaker,  of  Rockford  town- 
ship ;  Ulysses  G.,  of  Sherman  township ;  and 
Ellen,  the  wife  of  Miles  Shaw,  of  Blue 
Springs  township. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  McPheron  are  devoted  mem- 
bers of  the  Church  of  the  Brethren.  Though 
past  the  psalmist's  allotted  span  of  three  score 
years  and  ten,  j\Ir.  and  Mrs.  McPheron  are 
in  good  health,  enjoying  the  fruits  of  their 
former  years  of  toil. 

EVAN  WILLIAMS.  — In  the  year  1867, 
which  marked  the  admission  of  Nebraska  to 
the  Union  and  its  attendant  emergence  from 
the  territorial  regime,  Evan  Williams,  then  a 
youth  of  about  nineteen  years,  accompanied 
his  parents  on  their  immigration  to  the  new 
commonwealth  and  the  family  became  num- 
bered among  the  honored  and  valued  pioneers 
of  Gage  county.  Here  Mr.  Williams  has  con- 
tinued his  residence  during  the  long  interven- 
ing period.  He  is  the  owner  of  a  finely  im- 
proved farm  property  in  this  county,  but  is 
now  living  virtually  retired  in  the  city  of 
Beatrice,  where  he  and  his  wife  occupy  the 
attractive  residence  which  he  erected  at  1211 
Market  street  and  which  is  a  home  known 
for  its  generous  and  gracious  hospitality.  As 
a  sterling  citizen  who  commands  unequivocal 
popular  esteem  and  as  one  of  the  representa- 
tive pioneers  of  Gage  county,  Mr.  Williams 
is  eminently  entitled  to  recognition  in  this 
publication. 

As  both  his  personal  and  family  names  imply, 
Evan  Williams  is  a  scion  of  Welch  ancestry, 
and  he  was  the  first  of  the  children  bom  to 
his    parents    after    their    immigration     from 


Wales  to  America,  four  children  having  been 
born  prior  to  this  removal  from  the  ancestral 
country.  Mr.  Williams  was  born  in  Oneida 
county,  New  York,  on  the  30th  of  April,  1848, 
and  thus  the  spring  of  1918  recorded  his 
attaining  to  the  scriptural  age  of  three  score 
years  and  ten.  He  is  a  son  of  Thomas  M. 
and  Mary  (James)  Williams,  both  of  whom 
were  bora  and  reared  in  Wales,  where  their 
respective  parents  passed  their  entire  lives. 
Thomas  M.  Williams  was  bom  May  21,  1814, 
and  was  one  of  the  venerable  and  revered 
pioneer  citizens  of  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  at 
the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1886, 
his  loved  and  devoted  wife,  who  was  born  in 
June,  1814,  having  survived  him  by  about  one 
year,  she  having  passed  to  eternal  rest  in 
1887.  In  the  '40s  Thomas  M.  Williams,  in 
company  with  his  wife  and  their  four  chil- 
dren, embarked  on  a  sailing  vessel  of  the  type 
common  to  that  day  and  set  forth  to  establish 
their  new  home  in  the  United  States.  The 
vessel  had  a  tempestuous  voyage  and  was 
much  delayed  in  reaching  its  destination,  the 
severe  storm  which  it  encountered  en  route 
having  swept  away  much  of  the  goods  stored 
on  deck,  including  a  large  part  of  the  little 
personal  effects  of  the  Williams  family.  Mrs. 
Williams  became  severely  ill  on  the  voyage 
and  more  than  a  year  passed  ere  she  regained 
her  health  sufficiently  to  leave  her  bed  for 
any  appreciable  interval.  The  family  settled 
in  the  state  of  New  York,  where  the  father 
applied  himself  to  such  occupation  as  he  could 
secure,  and  by  day's  work  he  thus  provided 
for  his  family  until  1856,  when  he  removed 
with  his  family  to  the  west  and  became  a  pio- 
neer in  Wisconsin.  There  he  rented  land  and 
continued  his  active  association  with  agricul- 
tural industry  until  1867,  when  he  came  with 
his  family  to  the  new  state  of  Nebraska  and 
established  a  home  in  Gage  county.  In  Logan 
township,  as  now  constituted,  he  settled  on  a 
pioneer  farm  of  two  hundred  and  forty  acres, 
which  property  he  purchased  for  the  sum  of 
eight  hundred  and  seventy-five  dollars.  Soon 
afterward  he  entered  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  of  land  in  Logan  township  for  his  son 
Evan  and  when  the  latter  attained  to  his  ma- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


jority  the  land  was  deeded  to  him.  When  Mr. 
WilHams  came  into  possession  of  his  property 
in  Gage  county  only  ten  acres  of  the  land  had 
been  broken,  but  with  the  passing  years  he 
improved  the  place  in  excellent  manner  and 
developed  the  same  into  one  of  the  productive 
and  valuable  farm  estates  of  this  section  of 
Nebraska.  Here  he  and  his  wife  passed  the 
residue  of  their  lives  and,  after  having  en- 
dured their  full  share  of  the  hardships  and 
vicissitudes  incidental  to  pioneer  life,  they 
came  into  the  full  enjoyment  of  the  gracious 
rewards  of  former  toil  and  endeavor.  In 
their  native  land  both  had  become  communi- 
cants of  the  Church  of  England  and  after 
coming  to  this  country  they  allied  themselves 
with  the  American  representative  of  the  same 
faith,  the  Protestant  Episcopal  church.  In 
politics  Mr.  Williams  gave  his  support  to  the 
cause  of  the  Republican  party  and  as  a  broad- 
minded  and  progressive  citizen  he  took  lively 
interest  in  communal  affairs.  He  served  a 
number  of  terms  as  a  member  of  the  school 
board  of  his  district,  but  he  had  no  ambition 
for  public  office.  He  had  but  small  financial 
resources  when  he  came  to  Gage  county  but 
so  effectively  did  he  avail  himself  of  the  splen- 
did opportunities  afforded  in  the  development 
of  the  natural  resources  of  the  county  that  he 
acquired  a  competency,  with  status  as  one  of 
the  substantial  citizens  of  the  county.  Of  the 
ten  children  of  these  honored  pioneers  only 
four  are  now  living  —  Evan,  who  is  the  im- 
mediate subject  of  this  review;  Misses  Mary 
A.  and  Rosa  S.,  who  maintain  a  pleasant  home 
in  the  city  of  Beatrice ;  and  Ada,  who  is  the 
wife  of  William  R.  Pethoud,  a  substantial 
farmer  of  Holt  township. 

Evan  Williams  was  about  eight  years  old 
at  the  time  of  the  family  removal  from  the 
old  Empire  state  to  Wisconsin,  where  he  was 
reared  to  adult  age  under  the  conditions  and 
influences  of  the  farm  and  where  he  made 
good  use  of  the  advantages  afforded  in  the 
schools  of  Walworth  and  Kenosha  counties, 
which  he  attended  principally  during  the  win- 
ter terms.  y\s  a  young  man  of  about  nineteen 
years  he  accompanied  his  parents  to  Gage 
county,  Nebraska.     He  continued  his  father's 


able  and  valued  assistant  in  the  improving 
and  cultivation  of  the  old  homestead  farm, 
and  upon  the  death  of  his  father  he  came  into 
possession  of  this  valuable  property.  He  is 
now  the  owner  of  a  finely  improved  landed 
estate  of  six  hundred  and  forty  acres  in 
Logan  township  and  also  an  additional  tract 
of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  in  the  same 
township.  In  addition  to  his  extensive  opera- 
tions as  a  general  agriculturist  Mr.  Williams 
has  also  been  a  prominent  and  successful  ex- 
ponent of  the  live-stock  industry.  He  was 
formerly  engaged  extensively  in  the  raising 
of  live  stock  under  the  commission  system, 
and  prior  to  leaving  his  farm  he  there  main- 
tained at  times  as  many  as  eight  hundred 
sheep,  thirty-five  head  of  cattle,  and  sixteen 
horses.  He  remained  on  the  old  homestead 
until  the  time  when  he  established  his  residence 
in  the  city  of  Beatrice,  where  he  has  since 
lived  retired,  save  that  he  continues  to  give  a 
general  supervision  to  the  management  and 
direction  of  the  extensive  operations  of  his 
valuable  farm  estate,  which  is  recognized  as 
one  of  the  best  in  Gage  county. 

Mr.  Williams  has  ever  been  found  arrayed 
as  a  stalwart  and  uncompromising  advocate 
and  supporter  of  the  cause  of  the  Republican 
party,  and  while  he  has  not  manifested  any 
ambition  for  public  office  his  civic  loyalty 
caused  him  to  give  characteristically  effective 
service  during  the  three  years  that  he  was  a 
member  of  the  school  board  of  the  old  home 
district  and  the  one  term  that  he  was  incum- 
bent of  the  office  of  road  supervisor. 

On  the  17th  of  June,  1903,  was  solemnized 
the  marriage  of  Mr.  Williams  to  Miss  Clara 
R.  Pettegrew,  who  was  born  in  the  state  of 
Illinois  and  who  is  a  daughter  of  the  late 
James  M.  and  Rachel  C.  (Simmons)  Pette- 
grew, the  former  a  native  of  Indiana  and  the 
latter  of  Pennsylvania.  Within  a  short  time 
after  their  marriage  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pettegrew 
removed  from  Indiana  to  Illinois,  and  there 
Mrs.  Williams  was  born.  In  1868  James  Pet- 
tegrew came  with  his  family  to  the  new  state 
of  Nebraska  and  established  the  home  in 
Gage  county.  He  settled  in  Hanover  town- 
ship, where  he  became  the  owner  of  two  sec- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


799 


tions  of  land,  a  portion  of  which  he  acquired 
through  the  medium  of  college  script.  He  re- 
claimed and  developed  one  of  the  best  farm 
properties  in  the  county  in  his  day  and  gen- 
eration, and  here  his  death  occurred  in  1872. 
His  widow  long  survived  him  and  was  vener- 
able in  age  at  the  time  of  her  demise,  in  1910. 
These  honored  pioneers  became  the  parents 
of  five  children,  of  whom  Mrs.  Williams  was 
the  fifth  in  order  of  birth;  Alice  M.  is  the 
widow  of  Moru  Loverige  and  resides  in  the 
state  of  Washington ;  Frank  M.  is  a  repre- 
sentative farmer  in  the  vicinity  of  Oklahoma 
City,  Oklahoma;  Hattie  A.  is  the  widow  of 
Stewart  Lunbeck  and  resides  at  Beatrice;  and 
James  Frederick  is  engaged  in  the  wholesale 
furniture  business  in  the  city  of  Omaha.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Williams  have  no  children. 

FRANK  M.  WILL,  whose  death  occurred 
in  the  year  1909,  came  to  Gage  county  in  the 
year  1891  and  thereafter  continued  his  suc- 
cessful association  with  farm  enterprise  in 
Rock  ford  township  until  he  was  called  from 
the  stage  of  life's  mortal  endeavors,  at  the  age 
of  seventy  years. 

Mr.  Will  was  a  scion  of  a  family  early 
founded  in  the  historic  Old  Dominion  state, 
and  claimed  the  same  as  the  place  of  his  na- 
tivity, his  birth  having  occurred  in  Franklin 
county,  Virginia,  October  30,  1838.  He  was 
reared  to  manhood  in  Virginia,  and  in  Ro- 
anoke county,  that  state,  was  solemnized  his 
marriage  to  Miss  Eliza  Houtz,  who  was  born 
and  reared  in  that  county  and  who  survived 
him  by  eight  years,  her  death  having  occurred 
on  the  old  homestead  farm  in  Rockford  town- 
ship, on  the  11th  of  November,  1917.  From 
Virginia  Mr.  Will  removed  to  Woodford 
county,  Illinois,  where  he  continued  his  alle- 
giance with  farm  industry  until  1891,  when 
he  came  to  Nebraska  and  purchased  two  hun- 
dred acres  of  land  in  Gage  county.  There- 
after he  continued  as  one  of  the  substantial 
farmers  of  Rockford  township  until  his  death 
His  political  support  was  given  to  the  Demo- 
cratic party  and  both  he  and  his  wife  were 
members  of  the  church  of  Brethren  in  Christ 
—  unassuming    and    worthy    folk    who    lived 


righteous  lives  and  merited  the  unqualified 
esteem  in  which  they  were  held.  Mrs.  Will 
had  one  son  by  her  first  marriage,  and  this 
son,  Charles  E.  Colwell,  is  a  resident  of  Be- 
atrice, this  county.  By  the  second  marriage 
were  born  the  following  named  children ; 
John  and  William  H.,  who  reside  upon  the 
old  home  farm  in  Rockford  township;  Joseph 
J.,  of  whom  individual  mention  is  made  on 
other  pages ;  Ida  M.,  who  is  housekeeper  for 
her  brothers  on  the  old  home  farm  of  the 
parents ;  Bert,  who  likewise  is  a  farmer  in 
Rockford  township;  and  Minnie,  who  is  the 
wife  of  Dr.  L.  L.  Noble,  a  representative 
physician  engaged  in  practice  at  Holmesville, 
this  county. 

JOHN  T.  WHALEN  is  giving  special  at- 
tention to  the  feeding  of  cattle,  and  in  this  de- 
partment of  farm  enterprise  he  is  conducting 
operations  on  a  large  scale,  in  connection  with 
diversified  agriculture.  In  his  vigorous  con- 
ducting of  his  industrial  activities  he  rents 
four  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land,  in 
Sections  26,  33  and  35,  Highland  township, 
and  he  is  one  of  the  county's  progressive  breed- 
ers of  Holstein  cattle. 

Mr.  Whalen  was  born  in  Woodford  county, 
Illinois,  February  6,  1863,  the  fourth  in  a 
family  of  eleven  children,  all  of  whom  are  liv- 
ing except  three.  He  is  a  son  of  John  and 
Margaret  (Hollenhan)  Whalen,  who  were 
born  in  Ireland  and  whose  marriage  was 
solemnized  in  the  state  of  Massachusetts, 
whence  they  removed  in  an  early  day  to  Illi- 
nois. John  Whalen  served  as  a  section  fore- 
man on  the  Hne  of  the  Illinois  Central  Rail- 
road for  a  number  of  years,  and  was  thus  en- 
gaged at  the  time  the  road  was  being  con- 
structed through  Woodford  county.  In  1884 
he  came  with  his  family  to  Gage  county  and 
rented  land  in  Section  12,  Holt  township.  He 
passed  the  closing  period  of  his  life  at  Cort- 
land, and  was  eighty -two  years  of  age  at  the 
time  of  his  death,  in  1906,  his  wife  having 
passed  away  in  1899,  at  the  age  of  sixty-two 
years.  Both  were  earnest  communicants  of 
the  Catholic  church,  in  which  connection  it 
should   be    noted    that    they    were   numbered 


800 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


among  the  organizers  of  the  church  of  this 
denomination  at  Cortland. 

John  T.  Whalen  was  reared  on  his  father's 
farm  in  McLean  county,  Illinois,  and  his  early 
education  was  received  in  the  public  schools 
of  Livingston  and  McLean  counties.  He  was 
twenty-one  years  of  age  when  he  accompanied 
his  parents  to  Nebraska,  and  in  Gage  county 
he  assisted  his  father  in  the  work  of  the  pio- 
neer farm  until  he  had  attained  to  the  age  of 
twenty-three  years,  when  he  initiated  his  in- 
dependent operations  as  an  agriculturist  and 
stock-grower.  During  the  intervening  years 
he  has  conducted  his  operations  on  rented 
land  and  in  1907  he  established  his  residence 
on  his  present  farm,  which  is  owned  by  Mrs. 
Lena  F.  Warren,  of  Omaha.  In  consonance 
with  his  progressive  policies  he  has  made 
numerous  improvements  on  the  place,  includ- 
ing the  construction  of  a  modern  silo,  which 
has  a  capacity  of  two  hundred  and  sixteen 
tons  and  which  is  owned  by  him.  The  only 
interruption  of  his  activities  in  connection 
with  farm  enterprise  was  a  period  of  about 
ten  years,  during  which  he  was  engaged  in 
the  general  merchandise  business  at  Cortland, 
where  for  four  years  he  had  charge  of  the 
grain  elevator  and  for  four  years  did  a  suc- 
cessful business  in  the  buying  and  shipping  of 
live  stock.  Mr.  Whalen  was  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal organizers  of  the  Farrners'  Elevator 
Company  and  the  Farmers'  State  Bank  at 
Cortland,  and  he  has  been  president  of  the 
Elevator  Company  from  the  time  of  its  or- 
ganization. A  man  of  energy  and  progressive- 
ness,  Mr.  Whalen  has  applied  himself  dili- 
gently and  consecutively  and  has  won  through 
his  own  efforts  a  goodly  measure  of  success, 
the  while  he  has  the  confidence  and  good  will 
of  those  with  whom  he  has  come  in  contact 
in  either  business  or  social  relations.  His 
political  allegiance  is  given  to  the  Democratic 
party,  he  is  affiliated  with  the  Knights  of 
Columbus,  and  he  and  his  wife  are  communi- 
cants of  the  Catholic  church,  as  members  of 
St.  James  parish  at  Cortland. 

On  the  16th  of  February,  1888,  was  sol- 
emnized the  marriage  of  Mr.  Whalen  to  Miss 
Etta  Crosbv,  who  was  born  in  LaSalle  county, 


Illinois,  a  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Jemima 
(Morrison)  Crosby,  who  were  born  and 
reared  in  the  state  of  New  York,  where  their 
marriage  occurred.  From  Illinois  Mr.  Crosby 
removed  with  his  family  to  Missouri,  in  which 
state  his  wife  died,  and  later  he  came  with  his 
six  children  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  the 
remainder  of  his  life  having  been  passed  in 
Holt  township,  where  he  became  a  prosperous 
farmer.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Whalen  became  the 
parents  of  six  children :  Virgie  T.  is  a  clerk 
in  the  Klein  department  store  in  the  city  of 
Beatrice ;  Martin  G.  died  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
seven  years  ;  Jemima  M.  remains  at  the  par- 
ental home ;  Francis  T.  is  a  successful  farmer 
in  Section  34,  Highland  township ;  and  Bern- 
ard D.  and  Mary  C.  are  members  of  the  par- 
ental home  circle. 

FREDERICK  T.  SONDEREGGER.  of 
Beatrice,  was  born,  in  Jefferson  county,  Ne- 
braska, December  8,  1882,  son  of  Carl  Son- 
deregger,  of  whom  mention  is  made  on  other 
pages  of  this  volume.  Frederick  received  his 
early  education  in  the  public  schools  of  Jef- 
ferson county,  and  later  went  to  Europe, 
where  he  studied  in  Switzerland.  He  re- 
mained in  Europe  for  eight  years  and  in  the 
meanwhile  took  a  special  course  in  the  study 
of  the  nursery  and  seed  industry.  Upon  his 
return  from  Europe,  Mr.  Sonderegger  became 
associated  with  his  father  in  the  nursery  and 
seed  business  in  Beatrice,  and  with  this  en- 
terprise he  has  been  identified  continuously 
since  that  time. 

On  .\ugust  30,  1912,  Mr.  Sonderegger 
wedded  Miss  Harriet  Sonderegger,  who  is 
a  native  of  Switzerland,  a  daughter  of  Mein- 
rad  Sonderegger,  of  that  fair  republic.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Sonderegger  are  the  parents  of  three 
children  —  Frederick,  Arnold,  and  Margaret. 

Mr.  Sonderegger  is  a  Democrat  in  politics, 
but  has  never  sought  public  office,  preferring 
rather  to  devote  all  his  time  to  the  nursery 
and  seed  business,  in  connection  with  which  he 
i^  making  a  pronounced  success  and  has  gained 
place  among  the  prominent  young  business 
men  of  Beatrice.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sonderegger 
are  members  of  the  Lutheran  church,  of  the 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


801 


faith  as  represented  by  this  denomination  in 
Switzerland. 


ANTON  SCHEIDELER.  — For  the  past 
seven  years,  Mr.  Scheideler  has  been  conduct- 
ing a  bilHard  hall  in  the  city  of  Wymore  and 
is  well  known  for  his  progressive  spirit.  Air. 
Scheideler  was  bom  August  28.  1887,  in  Gage 
county,  Nebraska,  and  is  the  son  of  John  and 
Anna  ( Loibl)  Scheideler.  A  sketch  of  John 
Scheideler  appears  elsewhere  in  this  volume. 

Anton  Scheideler  was  educated  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  Gage  county,  and  after  finishing 
his  education  farmed  for  some  years  previous- 
ly to  his  coming  to  Wymore,  in  1911,  and 
opening  the  billiard  hall.  He  has  an  up-to-date 
establishment  and  sells  tobacco,  cigars,  and 
confectionery  in  connection  with  his  billiard 
hall. 

February  11,  1914,  was  solemnized  the  mar- 
riage of  Air.  Scheideler  and  Miss  Nina  Aliller, 
of  Blue  Springs,  the  home  and  birthplace  of 
the  bride.  Her  father,  Oliver  Miller,  resides 
in  Blue  Springs,  and  for  a  number  of  years 
has  been  employed  by  the  Burlington  Rail- 
road. Two  children,  Ruth  and  Ollie,  have 
come  to  bless  the  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Scheideler. 

Mr.  Scheideler  votes  the  Democratic  ticket, 
is  serving  his  community  as  one  of  the  county 
supervisors,  and  is  always  taking  a  keen  in- 
terest in  all  civic,  social,  and  political  affairs. 
Airs.  Scheideler  is  a  member  of  the  Christian 
church  and  he  is  affiliated  with  the  Inde- 
pendent Order  of  Odd  Fellows. 


WILLIAAI  A.  McMICHAEL.  — Among 
the  many  progressive  farmers  of  Blue  Springs 
township,  Mr.  McAIichael  is  considered  to 
have  done  his  share  in  adding  to  the  general 
prosperity  of  the  township. 

William  A.  AIcAIichael  was  born  in  Ireland, 
August  12,  1849,  and  is  the  son  of  Andrew 
and  Elizabeth  (Anderson)  McAIichael.  They 
were  natives  of  Ireland  and  were  tillers  of  the 
soil.  Andrew  McAIichael  died  in  the  home 
country  and  after  his  death,  his  wife  immi- 
grated to  the  United  States.     She  established 


her  home  in  Pennsylvania,  where  she  passed 
the  remainder  of  her  life. 

It  was  in  1867  that  William  AIcMichael  lo- 
cated in  Pennsylvania,  upon  his  arrival  in 
this  land  of  opportunity.  For  a  short  time  he 
was  employed  as  a  farm  hand,  but  within  the 
year  he  moved  to  Indiana,  where  he  remained 
until  his  coming  to  Gage  county. 

The  marriage  of  William  A.  AIcMichael 
and  Aliss  Nancy  Jane  Harris  was  solemnized 
September  8,  1870.  She  is  a  sister  of  George 
S.  Harris,  whose  sketch  appears  elsewhere  in 
this  volume.  Concerning  the  children  of  Air. 
and  A'Irs.  A'IcAiichael  the  following  record  is 
entered :  Annabelle  is  the  wife  of  Pedro 
Gumaer,  of  Wymore  township ;  Alaggie  Alay 
is  the  wife  of  P.  R.  Lewis,  of  Blue  Springs 
township ;  Lizzie  Jane  is  the  wife  of  Elton 
Smith,  of  Blue  Springs  township. 

In  1878  Air.  McAIichael  came  to  Blue 
Springs  township,  where  for  nine  years  he 
rented  land  before  purchasing  eighty  acres  of 
land,  at  twenty  dollars  an  acre.  Eleven  years 
later  he  sold  the  property  for  thirty  dollars 
an  acre.  He  then  purchased  one  hundred 
acres  of  land  in  Section  16,  Blue  Springs 
township,  later  selling  twenty  acres  of  this 
farm.  Here  he  now  resides  in  his  newly  built 
home,  equipped  with  all  of  the  conveniences 
to  make  life  worth  living. 

The  Republican  party  receives  the  political 
support  of  Air.  AIcMichael  and  he  and  his 
wife  are  members  of  the  Presbyterian  church. 

DAVID  N.  BURROUGHS  gained  place 
as  one  of  the  enterprising  business  men  of  Be- 
atrice, where  his  activities  have  been  of  im- 
portant scope  in  the  buying  and  shipping  of 
live  stock,  in  which  special  field  he  has  given 
in  later  years  much  attention  to  the  handling 
of  horses  and  mules,  of  which  he  purchased 
six  hundred  head  in  the  winter  of  1917-1918. 

Air.  Burroughs  was  born  in  Alills  county, 
Iowa,  on  the  22d  of  August,  1869,  and  is  a 
son  of  William  and  Sarah  (Purcell)  Bur- 
roughs, who  came  to  Nebraska  in  the  pioneer 
days  and  took  a  homestead  claim  in  Jefferson 
county.  William  Burroughs  was  born  in  the 
state  of  New  York  and  his  widow  is  a  native 


802 


HISTORY  OK  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


of  Kentucky.  Mrs.  Burroughs  is  a  daughter 
of  Andrew  Purcell,  and  in  1918  she  resides  in 
the  city  of  Beatrice.  She  is  eighty-one  years 
of  age  at  the  time  of  this  writing,  in  the 
spring  of  1918,  and  is  held  in  affectionate  re- 
gard in  the  county  that  has  so  long  represent- 
ed her  home.  The  late  William  Burroughs 
came  with  his  family  to  Jefferson  county,  Ne- 
braska, in  1878,  and  later  he  established  his 
residence  upon  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  in  Gage  county.  He  developed 
this  into  one  of  the  fine  farms  of  the  county 
and  there  he  continued  his  activities  until  he 
sold  the  property  and  removed  to  the  village 
of  Fairbury.  Later  he  established  a  home  in 
Beatrice,  and  here  he  passed  the  remainder 
of  his  long  and  useful  life.  William  and 
Sarah  Burroughs  became  the  parents  of  six 
children:  Louise  is  the  wife  of  Thomas 
Roach,  who  has  long  been  in  railway  service 
in  the  city  of  Omaha ;  May  is  the  widow  of  R. 
H.  Robinson  and  resides  in  the  city  of  Be- 
atrice; Mattie  is  the  wife  of  Wallace  Weigel, 
yardmaster  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  at 
Beatrice ;  David  N.  was  the  next  in  order  of 
birth  and  is  the  immediate  subject  of  this  re- 
view ;  Henry  Bryson  is  a  resident  of  Kansas 
City,  Missouri ;  and  Delia  is  the  wife  of  Frank 
Pickner,  of  Omaha. 

David  N.  Burroughs  acquired  his  youthful 
education  in  the  public  schools  of  Beatrice  and 
after  leaving  school  he  was  identified  with  the 
meat-market  business  four  years.  He  then 
turned  his  attention  to  the  buying  of  horses 
and  mules,  and  in  this  specific  line  of  enter- 
prise he  has  conducted  a  prosperous  business 
for  fully  a  quarter  of  a  century.  He  has 
gained  recognition  as  one  of  the  most  pro- 
gressive and  authoritative  buyers  of  such  stock 
in  this  section  of  Nebraska,  and  his  operations 
have  reached  large  volume  in  connection' with 
the  national  preparation  for  participation  in 
the  great  world  war. 

In  1892  was  recorded  the  marriage  of  Mr. 
Burroughs  to  Miss  Rebecca  A.  Busey,  who 
was  born  in  the  state  of  Iowa,  a  daughter  of 
John  A.  and  Anna  (Beals)  Busey,  natives  of 
Pennsylvania:  Mr.  Busey  was  engaged  in 
farm  enterprise  in  Iowa  until  1888,  when  he 


came  with  his  family  to  Gage  county  and  ac- 
quired land  which  he  reclaimed  and  improved 
into  a  productive  farm,  his  father,  who  like- 
wise bore  the  name  of  John,  having  been  a 
very  early  settler  of  this  county,  where  he  ac- 
quired many  hundred  acres  of  land,  the  estate 
being  divided  among  his  children  after  his 
death.  For  seventeen  years  John  A.  Busey 
father  of  Mrs.  Burroughs,  served  as  a  guard 
at  the  Nebraska  state  penitentiary,  at  Lincoln, 
and  he  was  the  incumbent  of  this  position  at 
the  time  of  his  death.  His  wife  is  still  living. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Burroughs  have  three  chil- 
dren — -  Rolland  and  Bryson  A.  are  now  resi- 
dents of  the  state  of  Wyoming,  and  Gladys  is 
attending  the  public  schools,  as  a  student  in 
the  high  school. 

Mr.  Burroughs  is  a  stalwart  in  the  camp  of 
the  Republican  party,  and  he  served  for  short 
and  varying  intervals  as  an  extra  deputy  sher- 
iff of  Gage  county.  He  is  affiliated  with  the 
Fraternal  Order  of  Eagles. 

HENRY  H.  FEERHUSEN.  — In  the 
years  that  have  passed,  many  illustrious  citi- 
zens have  gone  to  their  reward,  but  the  im- 
press of  their  lives  and  the  evidence  of  their 
labors  are  to  be  found  on  every  hand.  Among 
the  number  whose  lives  and  deeds  should  be 
recorded  in  this  history  of  Gage  county  is  he 
whose  name  initiates  this  memoir.  Henry  H. 
Feerhusen  was  born  at  Alton,  Illinois,  on 
December  12,  1861.  His  parents,  Otto  and 
Frances  (Schoen)  Feerhusen,  were  natives 
of  Germany,  and  in  1864  they  came  from  Illi- 
nois to  Nebraska  Territory.  They  became 
residents  of  Nebraska  City,  but  were  farming 
people  and  thus  well  equipped  for  pioneer  ex- 
perience and  responsibilities.  They  spent  the 
remainder  of  their  lives  in  this  state. 

Henry  H.  Feerhusen  was  the  oldest  of  a 
family  of  seven  children.  Pie  was  early 
taught  the  value  of  industry,  and  when  quite 
young  was  thrown  upon  his  own  resources. 
When  he  left  home  he  went  in  debt  for  a  pair- 
of  overalls  and  a  jacket.  He  was  the  sole 
possessor  of  one  shoe  and  one  boot,  but  was 
fortified  in  undaunted  determination  to  suc- 
ceed.    In  1885  Mr.  Feerhusen  came  to  Gage 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Henry  H.  Ff.erhusen 


804 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


county,  Nebraska,  and  began  farming  as  a 
renter  in  Adams  township.  By  carefully  sav- 
ing his  earnings  he  was  able  to  invest  in  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land,  wholly  unim- 
proved. He  set  to  work  improving  and  de- 
veloping a  new  farm,  and  as  the  years  passed 
he  prospered  in  his  undertaking.  At  the  time 
of  his  death  he  was  the  owner  of  four  hundred 
acres  of  valuable  land,  with  a  good  set  of 
buildings.  He  dealt  extensively  in  cattle  — 
buying,  feeding,  and  shipping  —  and  in  his 
undertakings,  by  the  display  of  good  judg- 
ment, he  was  able  to  accumulate  a  competence. 
For  a  vi'ife  and  helpmeet  Mr.  Feerhusen 
chose  Miss  Louisa  Staack,  who  was  born  in 
Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania,  August  2,  1869, 
a  daughter  of  Henry  and  Lydia  (Cook) 
Staack,  both  natives  of  Germany.  The  par- 
ents came  to  Nebraska  about  forty  years  ago 
and  located  at  Nebraska  City,  where  they 
were  residing  at  the  time  of  their  death. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Feerhusen  became  the  par- 
ents of  seven  children,  as  follows:  Forrest 
died  in  1912,  at  the  age  of  twenty-three  years  ; 
Jesse  died  in  1890,  at  the  age  of  six  months  ; 
Victor  remains  at  home  with  his  mother;  Ira 
died  in  1912,  at  the  age  of  eighteen  years :  Lee 
is  at  home;  Harriet  is  attending  the  Adams 
schools;  and  Velura  is  at  the  maternal  home. 
The  death  of  the  sons  Forrest  and  Ira,  both 
of  whom  passed  away  in  1912,  was  a  very 
severe  blow  to  the  family.  They  had  become 
of  great  assistance  to  their  father  and  were 
good  judges  of  live  stock  as  well  as  well 
versed  in  the  best  methods  of  farming.  Grief 
over  the  loss  of  these  two  boys  no  doubt  has- 
tened the  death  of  Mr.  Feerhusen,  who  passed 
away  April  14,  1914.  His  widow  still  resides 
on  the  old  home  farm,  which  is  managed  by 
her  two  sons,  Victor  and  Lee.  She  is  doing 
all  in  her  power  to  accomplish  what  was  the 
ambition  of  her  husband,  and  her  surviving 
children  are  being  given  ever)'  possible  ad- 
vantage. 

Mr.  Feerhusen  was  a  devoted  member  of 
the  German  Lutheran  church,  and  in  politics 
he  cast  his  ballot  for  the  men  and  measures 
of  the  Republican  jxirty.  He  rendered  effi- 
cient service  as  a  nicniljer  of  the  school  board, 


the  cause  of  education  finding  in  him  a  stal- 
wart champion.  Henry  H.  Feerhusen  was 
one  whose  life  measured  up  to  the  full  stan- 
dards of  citizenship  and  manhood,  and  his 
passing  called  from  earthly  activities  one 
whom  his  family  and  the  community  could  ill 
aft'ord  to  lose. 

GERD  GERDES  has  maintained  his  home 
in  the  United  States  for  more  than  half  a 
century,  and  in  Gage  county  he  has  done  his 
full  share  of  the  reclamation  and  development 
work  that  has  made  it  possible  for  the 
younger  generation  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  the 
labors  of  the  early  settlers.  Gerd  Gerdes  was 
born  November  9,  1851,  in  East  Friesland. 
Germany,  and  he  came  with  his  parents,  Gerd 
and  Trintye  (Janssan)  Gerdes,  to  America, 
the  family  having  settled  in  Missouri.  Con- 
cerning the  family  ample  record  is  given  on 
other  pages  of  this  history,  in  the  sketch  of 
John  L.  Gerdes. 

The  section  of  Missouri  in  which  the 
Gerdes  family  established  a  home  upon  com- 
ing to  the  United  States  was  still  in  a  wild 
and  uncultivated  condition,  the  homes  of  only 
a  few  straggling  settlers  dotting  the  rolling 
prairies.  In  1882  Gerd  Gerdes  and  his 
brother,  John  L.  Gerdes,  came  to  Gage  county, 
Nebraska,  and  purchased  land  in  section  2>2. 
Barneston  township.  In  1883  they  came  to 
build  their  homes  upon  their  newly  purchased 
land.  A  sod  house,  thatched  barn  and  the 
rude  implements  of  agriculture  were  the 
means  by  which  they  set  to  work  to  wrest 
from  nature  her  treasures  of  wheat  and  corn. 
As  the  years  have  passed  and  science  has 
helped  the  strong  arm  of  the  farmer,  the  land 
has  been  more  easily  tilled  and  more  pro- 
ductive each  successive  vear. 

Mr.  Gerdes  has  added  to  his  original  pur- 
chase and  is  now  the  owner  of  two  hundred 
acres  of  finely  cultivated  land.  The  crude  sod 
hut  and  barn  have  been  replaced  by  a  good 
modern  house  and  other  excellent  farm  build- 
ings that  show  the  thrift  and  prosperity  of 
the  owner.  The  rude  farm  implements  have 
been  replaced  by  the  modern  ones,  which 
make  the  work  easier  and  more  etTective. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


805 


Under  President  Cleveland's  administra- 
tion Mr.  Gerdes  was  postmaster  of  Aurich, 
Nebraska,  and  for  many  years  he  served  as 
township  treasurer.  He  is  now  a  member  of 
the  district  school  board.  In  politics  Mr. 
Gerdes  is  an  advocate  of  the  principles  of  the 
Democratic  party,  but  he  is  independent  in 
his  views,  and  feels  that  if  this  party  does  not 
advance  as  good  a  man  for  candidate  as  the 
opposing  party,  he  will  vote  for  the  better 
man,  regardless  of  his  party.  Mr.  Gerdes' 
sister,  a  widow,  is  making  her  home  with  him 
and  presides  over  the  domestic  economies  of 
the  pleasant  farm  residence. 

J.  D.  CARPENTER  is  the  owner  of  a  well 
improved  farm  estate  of  two  hundred  and 
forty  acres  in  Rock  ford  township  and  while 
he  has  lived  virtually  retired  for  the  past 
decade,  he  has  been  a  specially  successful  ex- 
ponent of  agriculture  and  live-stock  industry 
in  the  county  that  has  represented  his  home 
for  somewhat  more  than  thirty  years.  He 
now  resides  in  the  city  of  Beatrice. 

Mr.  Carpenter  was  born  in  Washington 
county,  Maryland,  May  12,  1851,  and  is  a  son 
of  Jeremiah  and  Susan  (Cross)  Carpenter, 
the  former  of  whom  was  born  in  Lancaster 
county,  Pennsylvania,  in  1819,  and  who  at- 
tained to  the  patriarchal  age  of  ninety-eight 
years,  his  wife  having  been  bom  at  Boones- 
boro,  Maryland,  in  1833,  and  having  been 
summoned  to  eternal  rest  in  1902,  he  having 
survived  her  by  about  seven  years.  Their 
marriage  was  solemnized  at  Greencastle, 
Pennsylvania,  and  in  that  locality  they  con- 
tinued to  reside  until  they  had  reared  their 
children  to  adult  age.  After  the  Civil  war,  in 
the  early  '70s,  they  came  to  the  west  and 
numbered  themselves  among  the  pioneers  of 
Gage  county.  Jeremiah  Carpenter  purchased 
a  farm  near  Pickrell  and  there  continued  his 
activities  for  a  term  of  years,  both  he  and  his 
wife  having  been  residents  of  the  village  of 
Ellis  at  the  time  of  their  death  and  he  having 
been  nearly  eighty  years  of  age  when  he  left 
his  farm  and  retired  from  the  active  labors 
that  had  long  been  his  portion.  This  sterling 
pioneer  couple  became  the  parents  of   seven 


sons  and  two  daughters  and  concerning  those 
now  living  the  following  brief  record  is  avail- 
able: Henry,  who  was  for  many  years  en- 
gaged in  contracting  and  building  and  who  also 
achieved  success  as  an  apiarist,  is  now  living 
retired  in  Los  Angeles,  California ;  Jonathan, 
a  stonemason  and  contractor,  resides  at  Lib- 
erty, Gage  county ;  Theodore  is  a  retired 
farmer  residing  in  Beatrice;  Levi  is  engaged 
in  farming  near  Polo,  Illinois ;  J.  D.,  of  this 
review,  was  the  next  in  order  of  birth ;  Martin 
L.  is  a  retired  farmer  residing  in  the  city  of 
Beatrice. 

In  his  earlier  life  Jeremiah  Carpenter  was 
a  Democrat  in  politics,  but  he  transferred  his 
allegiance  to  the  Republican  party  about  the 
time  of  its  organization  and  ever  afterward 
supported  its  principles.  His  father,  Henry 
Carpenter,  was  born  in  Lancaster  county, 
Pennsylvania,  and  continued  a  resident  of  the 
old  Keystone  state  until  his  death. 

J.  D.  Carpenter  gained  his  early  education 
in  the  schools  of  Maryland  and  northern  Illi- 
nois, and  his  first  independent  work  in  his 
youth  was  that  of  canvassing  in  the  rural 
districts  of  Illinois.  With  the  funds  thus  ac- 
quired he  purchased  ten  acres  of  land  in 
Noble  county,  that  state,  and  after  having  cut 
and  sold  the  timber  on  this  tract  he  went  to 
Minnesota,  where  he  worked  in  the  pine  for- 
ests, in  connection  with  pioneer  lumber  opera- 
tions. There  he  was  thus  engaged  during  the 
winter  seasons  for  a  period  of  about  five  years, 
and  in  the  summers  he  was  employed  on 
steamboats  plying  the  Mississippi  river.  From 
Minnesota  he  went  to  Iowa,  where  he  re- 
mained two  years,  and  he  then  purchased  land 
in  Butler  county,  Kansas,  where  he  continued 
his  activities  as  a  farmer  for  the  ensuing 
thirteen  years.  In  1886  he  came  to  Nebraska 
and  established  his  permanent  home  in  Gage 
county,  where  he  purchased  a  partially  im- 
proved farm  of  eighty  acres,  in  Lincoln  town- 
ship. Two  years  later  he  bought  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  in  Rock  ford  township.  He 
has  since  added  to  his  holdings  until  he  now 
has  a  valuable  estate  of  two  hundred  and 
forty  acres.  He  now  rents  his  farm  property 
and,  as  before  stated,  is  living  practically  re- 


806 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASIC\ 


tired.  Me  erected  the  present  buildings  on  his 
farm  and  has  made  it  one  of  the  attractive 
rural  domains  of  the  county. 

In  1882  Mr.  Carpenter  wedded  j\Iiss  Eliza- 
beth H.  Sutton,  who  was  born  in  Appanoose 
county,  Iowa,  a  member  of  a  sterling  pioneei 
family  of  that  commonwealth,  and  of  the  five 
children  of  this  union  three  are  living :  How- 
ard is  individually  mentioned  on  other  pages 
of  this  volume;  Forrest  is  engaged  extensively 
in  cattle  raising  in  Kearney  county ;  Walter 
met  his  death  in  an  automobile  accident,  in 
1917;  Alilo  is  a  resident  of  Logan  township; 
and  one  child  died  in  infancy.  Mrs.  Carpenter 
was  called  to  the  life  eternal  March  10,  1917, 
a  gentle  and  gracious  woman  whose  memory 
is  cherished  by  all  who  knew  her,  and  she 
was  a  devoted  member  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal church. 

The  character  and  ability  of  Mr.  Carpenter 
have  made  him  influential  in  community  af- 
fairs during  the  years  of  his  residence  in  Gage 
county,  and  he  has  served  as  road  overseer, 
besides  having  held  for  a  term  of  years  the 
office  of  justice  of  the  peace,  which  under 
his  administration  was  made  to  justify  its 
name.     In  politics  he  is  a  staunch  Republican. 

WILLIAM  P.  PARDE  is  another  of  those 
vigorous  and  honored  pioneers  whose  achieve- 
ment of  success  and  independence  has  been 
coincident  with  the  development  and  progress 
of  Gage  county,  and  he  is  to-day  the  owner  of 
a  valuable  landed  estate  of  five  hundred  and 
forty  acres.  Though  he  is  now  living  practi- 
cally retired,  he  still  remains  on  his  fine  farm, 
in  Section  29,  Hanover  township. 

Like  so  many  other  representative  citizens 
who  early  established  residence  in  Hanover 
township,  Mr.  Parde  was  born  in  the  prov- 
ince of  Hanover,  Germany,  the  date  of  his 
nativity  having  been  May  6,  1842.  He  was 
reared  and  educated  in  his  native  land  and 
was  an  ambitious  and  self-reliant  young  man 
of  twenty-five  years  when  he  came  to  the 
United  States.  He  had  no  financial  resources 
but  had  the  sturdy  courage  and  determination 
that  make  for  advancement.  Proceeding  to 
Quincy,  Illinois,  he  thereafter  was  engaged  in 


railroad  construction  work  for  four  years, 
within  which  period  he  accumulated  sufficient 
capital  to  justify  him  in  renting  land  in  Adams 
county,  Illinois,  where  he  engaged  in  farming. 
In  that  state  he  continued  his  activities  as  an 
agriculturist  until  1885,  when  he  came  with 
his  family  to  Nebraska.  He  rented  land  five 
years  and  then  purchased  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  of  unimproved  land  in  Section  32, 
Hanover  township.  Gage  county.  He  ener- 
getically initiated  and  carried  forward  the  de- 
velopment of  his  farm,  to  the  area  of  which 
he  added  within  a  few  years,  by  the  purchase 
of  one  hundred  acres,  in  Section  29  of  the 
same  township.  The  passing  years  crowned 
his  earnest  endeavors  with  constantly  increas- 
ing success,  and  he  now  owns,  as  before  stated, 
a  fine  farm  estate  of  five  hundred  and  forty 
acres  —  all  in  Hanover  township. 

Prior  to  his  immigration  to  America  Mr. 
Parde  has  gained  a  devoted  companion  and 
helpmeet,  by  his  marriage  to  Miss  Tata  Dorn, 
who  was  born  in  the  province  of  Hanover 
on  the  12th  of  February,  1833.  She  shared 
with  him  the  trials  and  vicissitudes  of  the 
years  in  which  he  was  striving  to  win  inde- 
pendence, and  November  25,  1914,  they  had 
the  pleasure  of  celebrating  their  golden  wed- 
ding anniversary,  the  occasion  having  been 
made  a  notable  one  by  the  appreciative  inter- 
position of  their  children  and  their  many 
friends.  Both  are  earnest  communicants  of 
the  German  Lutheran  church  in  their  home 
township,  and  in  politics  Mr.  Parde  is  a 
staunch  Democrat.  For  the  past  thirty  years 
he  has  been  physically  handicapped,  as  he  was 
so  injured  while  at  work  with  a  threshing  ma- 
chine as  to  necessitate  the  amputation  of  his 
right  arm.  For  years  after  this  deplorable 
accident,  however,  he  continued  his  active 
labors,  and  that  with  remarkable  facility.  His 
parents,  Peter  and  I-Catie  Parde,  joined  him  a 
few  years  after  he  came  to  this  country  and 
they  passed  the  closing  years  of  their  lives  at 
Golden,  Illinois.  In  conclusion  is  given  brief 
record  concerning  the  children  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Parde :  Henry  died  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
one  years ;  Peter  died  in  childhood ;  John  W. 
is  deceased  and  is  the  subject  of  a  memoir  ap- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


807 


pearing  on  other  pages  of  this  work ;  Theda 
is  the  wife  of  Henry  W.  Ehmen,  of  Hanover 
township ;  Heye  is  a  farmer  in  this  township ; 
Kate  is  the  wife  of  Henry  Remmers,  of  the 
same  township;  Grace  is  the  wife  of  WilHam 
Gronewold,  of  Hanover  township ;  and  Peter, 
who  has  the  active  management  of  the  old 
homestead  farm,  is  the  youngest  of  the  num- 
ber: he  wedded  Miss  Anna  Diutsman  and 
they  have  four  children  —  William,  Dena, 
John,  and  Grace. 

ERNST  I,OEMKER.  —  Prominent  among 
the  successful  farmers  and  business  men  of 
Gage  county  may  properly  be  named  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch,  who  owns  and  operates  a 
farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  in  Sec- 
tion 34,  Paddock  township.  He  is  identified 
also  with  the  financial  interests  of  the  county, 
being  vice-president  and  a  member  of  the 
board  of  directors  of  the  State  Bank  of  Odell. 

Mr.  Loemker  was  born  in  Hanover,  Ger- 
many, November  9,  1869.  His  parents,  Fred 
and  Clara  (Daniel)  Loemker,  were  also  na- 
tives of  Hanover,  were  reared  and  married 
there  and  in  1871,  having  heard  of  the  favor- 
able opportunities  to  be  found  in  America, 
came  with  their  family  to  the  United  States. 
They  made  their  way  to  the  interior  of  the 
country  and  located  on  a  tract  of  land  in 
Marshall  county,  Kansas.  When  the  Otoe 
Indian  reservation  was  opened  for  settlement 
Fred  Loemker  there  purchased  a  quarter- 
section  of  land,  wholly  unimproved.  The  fam- 
ily set  about  developing  a  new  farm  and  amid 
the  pioneer  conditions  of  those  days  they 
labored  and  prospered.  With  the  help  of  his 
sons  the  father  accumulated  over  five  hundred 
acres  of  land.  He  now  resides  on  the  place 
which  has  been  the  family  home  for  many 
years,  just  over  the  line  in  Washington  county, 
Kansas.  They  owned  land  in  three  counties, 
Marshall  and  Washington  counties  in  Kansas 
and  Gage  county,  Nebraska.  The  wife  and 
mother  passed  away  in  December,  1916. 

The  children  of  this  family  were  seven  in 
number,  as  follows :  Henry  is  a  farmer  of 
Washington  county,  Kansas ;  Ernst  is  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch;  Thomas  grew  to  maturity 


and  married,  but  is  now  deceased ;  Mary  is  the 
wife  of  William  Riggert,  of  Glenwood  town- 
ship; Sophia  is  the  wife  of  Albert  Sohl,  of 
Marshall  county,  Kansas ;  Louise  is  the  wife 
of  Otto  Meyer,  of  Washington  county,  Kan- 
sas ;  and  Caroline  remains  with  her  father. 

Ernst  Loemker  remained  at  home  and  as- 
sisted in  the  work  of  the  farm  until  he  was 
twenty-eight  years  of  age,  when  he  married 
and  came  into  possession  of  his  present  farm 
of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres.  This  was 
part  of  the  property  purchased  by  his  father. 
It  was  improved  with  a  set  of  buildings,  but 
these  have  given  place  to  more  commodious 
and  substantial  structures. 

Mr.  Loemker  married  Miss  Dora  Riggert, 
who  was  born  in  W^ashington  county,  Kansas, 
a  daughter  of  Henry  and  Dora  (Stolte)  Rig- 
gert. Her  parents  were  bom  in  Germany  and 
came  to  the  United  States  about  the  same  time 
as  the  Loemker  family.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Loem- 
ker are  the  parents  of  seven  children,  all  still 
at  home.  They  are :  Clara,  Olga,  Caroline, 
Elza,  Walter,  Winnie,  and  Harold. 

Mr.  Loemker  is  one  of  the  successful  gen- 
eral farmers  of  his  township  and  takes  a  keen 
interest  in  all  things  that  have  to  do  with  the 
upbuilding  of  his  community.  The  family 
are  members  of  the  German  Lutheran  church, 
and  in  politics  Mr.  Loemker  is  a  Republican. 
He  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  Odell 
State  Bank  and  has  been  vice-president  since 
that  time. 

GEORGE  FAXON.  — One  of  the  early 
settlers  of  Gage  county  who  gave  years  of 
earnest  labor  to  the  development  of  the  com- 
munity in  which  he  lived,  the  late  George 
Faxon  merits  a  tribute  in  this  work.  He  was 
born  in  Geneseo,  Illinois,  November  20,  1853, 
a  son  of  John  W.  and  Acenath  (Olds)  Faxon, 
who  settled  in  Oskaloosa,  Iowa,  where  the 
father  was  a  merchant  for  several  years.  In 
1880  the  family  came  to  Gage  county,  Ne- 
braska, and  purchased  a  half-section  of  prairie 
land  in  Glenwood  township.  This  was  im- 
proved and  developed  into  a  valuable  tract  and 
in  later  years  the  parents  moved  to  Beatrice, 
where  both  passed  away. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


George  Faxon  came  into  possession  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  the  old  farm  and 
he  successfully  carried  on  agricultural  pur- 
suits until  his  death,  April  12,  1912.  In  1883 
he  was  married,  at  Franklin  Grove,  Lee 
county,  Illinois,  to  Miss  Sarah  Burket,  a  sis- 
ter of  A.  O.  Burket,  of  Beatrice.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Faxon  became  the  parents  of  five  chil- 
dren:  Mary  A.  is  the  wife  of  J.  Lyndes,  of 
Wyoming;  John  died  at  the  age  of  two  years ; 
Cheney  L.,  George  H.,  and  Egbert  R.  are  at 
home  with  their  mother  and  are  operating  the 
farm  of  two  hundred  acres,  just  outside  the 
limits  of  Lanham. 

George  Faxon  was  a  loyal  citizen,  a  good 
neighbor,  a  loving  husband  and  father,  and 
Gage  county  lost  one  of  her  best  men  when 
he  was  called  to  his  final  rest.  He  was  a  Re- 
publican in  politics,  and  was  affiliated  with  the 
Ancient  Order  of  United  Workmen.  Mrs. 
Faxon  is  an  active  member  of  the  Christian 
church. 


WILLIAM  H.  RUYLE,  whose  death  oc- 
curred on  the  16th  of  November,  1914,  was  a 
resident  of  Gage  county  for  more  than  thirty 
years  and  became  one  of  the  prominent  and 
successful  representatives  of  agricultural  and 
live-stock  industry  in  this  section  of  Ne- 
braska. He  gave  special  attention  for  many 
years  to  the  raising  of  excellent  types  of  live 
stock  and  made  large  shipments  of  the  same 
annually,  his  finely  improved  homestead  farm 
having  been  situated  in  Section  35,  Logan 
township,  and  comprising  three  hundred  and 
twenty  acres,  besides  which  he  was  the  owner  of 
fully  five  hundred  acres  in  Sherman  township. 
A  man  of  sterling  character  and  marked 
energy,  he  did  well  his  part  in  furthering  the 
advancement  of  farm  enterprise  in  the  county, 
the  while  he  stood  exponent  of  loyal  and  pro- 
gressive citizenship. 

The  father  of  Mr.  Ruyle  was  born  at  Knox- 
ville,  Tennessee,  in  the  year  1824,  and  was 
about  eight  years  old  when  his  parents  re- 
moved to  Illinois,  in  1832,  and  numbered 
themselves  among  the  pioneers  of  Scott 
county.  The  father  of  the  subject  of  this  me- 
moir was  reared  and  educated  in  Illinois,  was 


one  of  the  historic  California  argonauts  of 
1849,  and  after  his  return  to  Illinois  he  be- 
came the  owner  of  a  very  large  and  valuable 
landed  estate,  in  Jersey  county,  where  he 
raised  fine  horses  and  cattle  on  an  extensive 
scale  and  where  he  was  influential  in  commun- 
ity affairs.  He  served  as  county  commis- 
sioner and  was  a  Democrat  in  politics.  His 
wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Mary  J.  El- 
liott, was  born  in  1836,  on  Chamteau  island, 
in  the  Mississippi  river,  above  St.  Louis,  and 
both  continued  their  residence  in  Illinois  until 
their  death.  They  became  the  parents  of  eight 
children  —  William.  H.,  EHzabeth,  Annie, 
Laura,  Louis,  Edward,  and  Oliver. 

William  H.  Ruyle  was  born  in  Jersey 
county,  Illinois,  on  the  14th  of  April,  1856, 
and  was  there  reared  and  educated.  He  re- 
mained on  his  father's  farm  until  he  had  at- 
tained to  his  legal  majority,  and  in  1877  he 
visited  Wyoming,  Colorado,  and  New  Mexico. 
In  New  Mexico  he  became  the  owner  of  a 
pioneer  ranch,  but  he  soon  returned  to  Illi- 
nois, where  he  continued  his  association  with 
farm  industry  until  1880,  when  he  came  to- 
Gage  county  and  settled  in  Logan  township, 
where  he  developed  one  of  the  fine  farm  es- 
tates of  the  county,  besides  becoming  specially 
successful  as  a  buyer  and  shipper  of  live 
stock.  In  politics  he  held  to  the  faith  of  the 
Democratic  party  and  he  consented  to  serve 
in  minor  offices  in  his  township,  including- 
those  of  tax  collector  and  school  director. 

On  the  10th  of  October,  1878,  Mr.  Ruyle 
wedded  Miss  Nettie  Bateman,  who  was  born 
in  Jersey  county,  Illinois,  on  the  26th  of  Oc- 
tober, 1858,  a  daughter  of  William  and  Julia 
(Cowan)  Bateman,  who  came  to  Gage  county, 
Nebraska,  in  1880  and  settled  in  Logan  town- 
ship, where  they  passed  the  remainder  of 
their  lives,  their  children  having  been  nine  in 
number.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ruyle  became  the  par- 
ents of  seven  children,  all  of  whom  are  living, 
namely:  Eva  J.,  Clarence  L.,  William  L., 
Herbert  R.,  George  W.,  Lloyd  O.,  and  Arthur. 
Of  Herbert  R.  individual  mention  is  made  on 
other  pages  of  this  volume.  Mrs.  Ruyle 
passed  to  the  life  eternal  on  the  10th  of  June, 
1896,  and  eventually  Air.  Ruyle  contracted  a 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


second  marriage,  when  Miss  Minnie  Girl  be- 
came his  wife,  she  still  remaining  on  the  old 
homestead  farm  in  Logan  township.  Of  this 
union  were  born  seven  children,  all  of  whom 
are  living  except  one  —  Carl,  Lulu,  Minnie, 
Julia,  Thomas   (deceased),  Etta,  and  Helen. 

ROBERT  G.  GILMORE,  who  is  now  liv- 
ing in  well  earned  retirement  and  generous 
prosperity  in  the  city  of  Beatrice,  is  one  of 
the  most  venerable  and  honored  of  the  early 
pioneer  settlers  of  Gage  county  and  is  entitled 
to  special  recognition  in  this  history,  for  he 
has  done  well  his  part  in  the  development  of 
the  resources  of  the  county  and  in  aiding  in 
civic  and  industrial  progress. 

Mr.  Gilmore  was  born  in  Venango  county, 
Pennsylvania,  July  28,  1839,  a  son  of  William 
and  Jane  (Dickeye)  Gilmore,  both  likewise 
natives  of  the  old  Keystone  state,  the  formei 
being  of  Irish  ancestry  and  the  latter  of  Ger- 
man lineage.  William  Gilmore,  who  was  born 
in  1803,  became  a  successful  farmer  in  Ve- 
nango county,  and  there  his  death  occurred 
in  1861.  His  widow  survived  him  by  nearly 
forty  years  and  continued  her  residence  in 
Pennsylvania  until  her  death,  February  15, 
1897,  her  birth  having  occurred  in  February, 
1817.  They  became  the  parents  of  eight  chil- 
dren :  Adam  C.  was  a  resident  of  Kansas  at 
the  time  of  his  death,  in  1875 ;  Robert  G.,  of 
this  review,  was  the  next  in  order  of  birth; 
Ira  B.,  who  was  born  in  1841,  resides  in 
Chicora,  Butler  county,  Pennsylvania ;  Quin- 
ton  B.,  who  was  born  in  1843,  died  in  Penn- 
sylvania, in  1911  ;  Sarah  Jane  is  the  widow  of 
J.  R.  Adams  and  resides  at  LTtica,  Pennsyl- 
vania ;  Agnes  Imelda  is  the  widow  of  S.  P. 
]\IcCracken  and  she  likewise  maintains  her 
home  at  Utica ;  William  Walker  Gilmore  is  a 
carpenter  by  trade  and  is  identified  with  the 
oil  industry  in  Pennsylvania ;  Ann  Eliza  is 
the  wife  of  William  Whitman,  of  Plum,  Ve- 
nango county,  Pennsylvania.  The  father  was 
originally  a  Whig  and  later  a  Republican  in 
politics,  and  he  and  his  wife  were  earnest 
members  of  the  Presbyterian  church.  He  re- 
claimed a  good  farm  in  a  heavily  timbered  sec- 
tion of  Venango  county  and  was  in  the  prime 


of  life  at  the  time  of  his  death.  He  is  a  son 
of  Bruce  Gilmore,  and  the  ancestral  line  is 
traced  back  from  Ireland  to  staunch  Scotch 
origin. 

Robert  G.  Gilmore  early  gained  full  fellow- 
ship with  the  arduous  work  of  the  pioneer 
farm  in  Pennsylvania  and  his  youthful  educa- 
tion was  acquired  principally  in  a  primitive 
log  school  house.  He  continued  his  associa- 
tion with  agricultural  industry  in  his  native 
county  until  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  war, 
when  he  subordinated  all  personal  interests  to 
tender  his  aid  in  defense  of  the  Union.  In 
August,  1861,  he  enlisted  as  a  private  in  Com- 
pany D,  Eighty-third  Pennsylvania  Volunteer 
Infantry,  which  was  assigned  to  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac  and  with  which  he  participated 
in  many  important  battles,  as  well  as  minor 
engagements.  He  was  with  his  regiment  at 
the  siege  of  Yorktown,  the  engagement  at 
Hanover  Court  House,  the  seven  days'  fight 
before  Richmond,  the  second  battle  of  Bull 
Run,  and  the  battles  of  Antietam,  Fredericks- 
burg, Chancellorsville,  Gettysburg,  Rappa- 
hannock Station,  the  Wilderness,  and  Spott- 
sylvania,  in  which  last  mentioned  conflict  he 
received  two  severe  wounds.  Here  also  he 
was  captured  by  the  enemy,  and  it  was  there- 
after his  portion  to  endure  for  three  and  one- 
half  mouths  the  horrors  and  privations  that 
have  made  the  name  of  Libby  Prison  odious 
in  he  history  of  the  war  between  the  North 
and  the  South.  His  exchange  was  finally  ef- 
fected and  his  service  as  a  gallant  soldier  of 
the  Union  covered  a  period  of  three  years  and 
one  month,  with  honorable  discharge  granted 
to  him  September  20,  1864. 

After  the  close  of  a  military  career  that 
shall  ever  reflect  honor  on  his  name,  Mr.  Gil- 
more returned  to  his  native  county  and  re- 
sumed his  active  association  with  farm  enter- 
prise. In  1875  he  came  to  Nebraska  and  in 
Highland  township.  Gage  county,  entered 
claim  to  a  homestead  of  eighty  acres,  in  Sec- 
tion 28.  With  characteristic  energy  and  re- 
sourcefulness he  applied  himself  to  the  de- 
veloping and  improving  of  his  pioneer  farm, 
and  eventually  he  figured  as  the  owner  of  a 
fine    farm   estate   of   one   hundred   and   sixty 


810 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


ROP.EST    G.    Gil. MORE 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


811 


Mrs.  Robert  G.  Gilmore 


812 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


acres,  the  excellent  buildings  which  he  erected 
showing  that  cumulative  prosperity  had  at- 
tended his  earnest  efforts.  He  remained  on 
his  old  homestead  until  1892,  since  which  time 
he  and  his  wife  having  maintained  their  resi- 
dence in  the  attractive  home  which  he  pro- 
vided in  the  city  of  Beatrice. 

September  24,  1867,  recorded  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  Gilmore  to  ^Miss  Lucy  M.  Clough,  who 
was  bom  and  reared  in  Pennsylvania  and  is  a 
daughter  of  Horace  P.  and  Ann  (Brown) 
Clough,  natives  respectively  of  New  York  and 
Pennsylvania,  in  which  latter  state  the  father 
became  a  prosperous  farmer.  He  finally  re- 
moved with  his  family  to  Illinois,  where  his 
wife  died,  and  in  1875  he  came  to  Gage  county, 
Nebraska,  and  purchased  the  pioneer  farm  on 
which  he  passed  the  remainder  of  his  life. 
He  was  born  in  July,  1815,  and  died  in  Au- 
gust, 1891.  His  wife  was  born  in  June,  1813, 
and  died  in  1867,  both  having  been  members 
of  the  Free  Will  Baptist  church :  of  their  ten 
children  only  four  are  now  living,  their  daugh- 
ter Lucy  M.,  wife  of  the  subject  of  this  re- 
view, having  been  bom  July  21,  1841,  and  she 
and  her  husband  having  celebrated  on  the  24th 
of  September,  1917,  their  golden-wedding  an- 
niversary, which  was  made  notable  by  their 
entertaining  a  company  of  about  forty  of  their 
kinsfolk  and  other  friends  and  marked  a 
pleasing  event  in  the  social  calendar  of  Gage 
county  for  that  year.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gilmore 
became  the  parents  of  five  children :  Marietta 
A.,  who  was  born  November  4,  1868,  died  in 
May,  1873  ;  William  B.,  who  was  born  June 
4,  1870,  is  now  successfully  engaged  in  the 
live-stock  business  at  Loveland,  Colorado ; 
Flora,  who  was  born  November  18,  1872,  is 
the  wife  of  O.  L.  Stewart,  engaged  in  the 
mercantile  business  in  Beatrice;  Leonard  B., 
who  was  born  June  18,  1875,  lives  upon  and 
has  the  active  management  of  his  father's  old 
homestead  farm;  and  Horace  Clinton,  born 
January  5,  1880,  holds  the  position  of  foreman 
with  the  Independent  Lumber  Company  at 
Montrose,  Colorado. 

Mr.  Gilmore  has  continued  his  unfaltering 
allegiance  to  the  Republican  party  from  the 
time  when  he  cast  his  first  presidential  vote, 


for  Abraham  Lincoln,  in  1860.  While  on  his 
farm  he  served  in  various  township  offices, 
as  well  as  a  member  of  the  school  board  of 
his  district,  and  in  the  spring  of  1884  he  was 
appointed  postmaster  at  Barkey,  a  position  of 
which  he  continued  the  incumbent  eight  years. 
He  was  formerly  affiliated  with  the  Grand 
Army  Post  at  Cortland  and  passed  the  various 
official  chairs  in  the  same,  as  has  he  also  in 
Rawlins  Post,  No.  35,  Grand  Army  of  the 
Republic,  with  which  he  has  been  affiliated 
since  removing  to  Beatrice  and  of  which  he  is 
past  commander.  Pie  attends  and  supports 
the  First  Baptist  church,  of  which  his  wife  is 
an  active  member,  and  both  are  honored  and 
venerable  pioneer  citizens  of  the  county  that 
has  represented  their  home  for  more  than  two 
score  years. 

JOHN  CACEK.  —  A  man  who  has  made 
good  use  of  his  opportunities  and  by  intelli- 
gently directed  efforts  has  become  one  of  the 
substantial  men  of  his  community  is  John 
Cacek,  a  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  residing  in 
Section  6,  Paddock  township.  He  was  born 
in  the  province  of  Bohemia,  Austria-Hungary, 
November  17,  1865.  He  was  less  than  two 
years  of  age  when  the  family  immigrated  to 
America  and  was  a  boy  of  nine  when  the  home 
was  established  in  Gage  county,  Nebraska. 
Reared  on  his  father's  farm,  amid  the  pioneer 
conditions  that  existed  in  those  times,  he 
early  learned  the  lessons  of  thrift  and  indus- 
try which  have  been  so  valuable  to  him  in 
later  life.  At  the  age  of  twenty-five  years  he 
came  into  possession  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty  acres  of  land,  a  part  of  his  father's 
estate,  and  he  is  to-day  the  owner  of  five  hun- 
dred and  twenty  acres  in  Gage  county,  and 
rive  hundred  and  sixty  acres  in  Jefferson 
county,  Nebraska.  His  home  farm  is  in  Sec- 
tion 6,  Paddock  township,  and  consists  of  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land,  improved 
with  a  nice  home  for  the  family  and  with  good 
barns  and  outbuildings  for  the  shelter  of  his 
stock  and  machinery. 

For  a  helpmeet  Mr.  Cacek  chose  Miss  Mary 
Hebel.  She  was  born  in  Saline  county,  Ne- 
braska,   November    14,    1872,    a   daughter   of 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


813 


Joseph  and  Mar}-  (Mahajek)  Hebel,  whose 
record  appears  elsewhere  in  this  volume. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cacek  are  the  parents  of 
eight  children :  John,  Jr.,  married  Mary 
Shalla  and  operates  one  of  his  father's  farms, 
in  Paddock  township,  and  Charles,  Emma, 
Albert,  Joseph,  Mary,  Ralph,  and  Alvin  are 
still  under  the  parental  roof.  The  family  are 
communicants  of  the  Catholic  church  and  Mr. 
Cacek  votes  the  Democratic  ticket.  He  is  serv- 
ing his  third  year  as  a  member  of  the  school 
toard  of  his  district,  the  cause  of  education 
finding  in  him  a  stalwart  champion. 

Mr.  Cacek  and  his  family  have  worked 
hard  and  by  carefully  saving  his  earnings,  and 
by  judicious  investments  in  farm  lands,  he  is 
to-day  one  of  the  substantial  men  of  Gage 
countv. 


HENRY  DAMKROGER  is  one  of  the 
progressive  and  substantial  farmers  and  stock- 
men of  Holt  township  and  is  a  popular  and  in- 
fluential citizen  who  is  well  entitled  to  recog- 
nition in  this  history.  In  Gage  county  he  is 
the  owner  of  a  valuable  landed  estate  of  eight 
hundred  and  forty  acres,  besides  which  he  has 
one  hundred  acres  in  Jeliferson  county  and  a 
farm  of  two  hundred  acres  in  Saline  county. 
He  is  one  of  Gage  county's  most  extensive  and 
successful  stock-growers,  and  each  successive 
year  he  feeds  on  his  farm  estate  an  average 
of  about  thirty-five  head  of  cattle  and  three 
hundred  head  of  swine.  His  homestead  place 
is  attractively  situated  in  Section  7,  Holt  town- 
ship, about  seven  and  one-half  miles  distant 
from  the  village  of  Dewitt,  which  is  his  post- 
office  address.  In  1908  Mr.  Damkroger  erect- 
ed on  this  model  homestead  a  modern  house  of 
fourteen  rooms,  and  the  same  is  one  of  the 
most  attractive  rural  homes  of  the  county,  the 
house  being  equipped  with  its  own  electric- 
lighting  system  —  that  known  as  the  Delco  — 
and  other  facilities  and  appointments  being 
likewise  of  the  most  approved  and  modern 
type.  Mr.  Damkroger  has  served  as  township 
treasurer,  township  assessor,  and  as  a  member 
of  the  school  board  of  his  district.  He  is  a 
stalwart  Republican  in  politics  and  he  and  his 
wife  are  zealous  communicants  of  the  Luth- 


eran church.  He  was  one  of  the  organizers 
of  the  church  of  this  denomination  in  Grant 
township,  having  been  one  of  its  eight  charter 
members  and  having  served  many  terms  as  a 
member  of  its  board  of  trustees.  He  is  presi- 
dent of  the  Farmers'  &  Merchants'  State  Bank 
at  Dewitt,  Saline  county,  a  position  which  he 
has  held  for  several  years,  besides  which  he  is 
a  stockholder  in  the  farmers'  elevator  com- 
panies at  Dewitt  and  Pickrell,  and  secretary 
of  the  German  Mutual  Fire  Insurance  Asso- 
ciation of  Clatonia. 

Mr.  Damkroger  was  born  in  the  province  oi 
Westphalia,  Germany,  April  30,  1858,  and  is 
a  son  of  William  and  Louisa  (Schlake)  Dam- 
kroger, of  whose  nine  children  he  was  the 
sixth  in  order  of  birth;  Mrs.  Mary  Dorfler 
resides  at  Beatrice,  this  county,  being  the  wife 
of  John  Dorfler;  Louisa  is  the  wife  of  Carl 
Weber,  of  Holt  township;  Charlotte  is  the 
wife  of  John  Schuermann,  a  farmer  near  De- 
witt, Saline  county;  Anna  is  the  wife  of  Wil- 
liam Schuermann,  of  the  same  county;  Fred- 
erick is  a  retired  farmer  residing  at  Clatonia, 
Gage  county;  John  F.  is  a  representative 
farmer  of  Grant  township ;  Frank  resides  at 
Wakefield,  Kansas;  and  William  was  killed 
by  accident  when  on  a  hunting  expedition. 
The  father  was  born  in  the  year  1833  and 
continued  his  residence  in  Germany  until 
1879,  when  he  came  with  his  family  to  America 
and  numbered  himself  among  the  pioneers  of 
Gage  county.  In  Grant  township  he  pur- 
chased railroad  land,  at  eight  dollars  an  acre, 
and  he  reclaimed  and  improved  one  of  the  ex- 
cellent farms  of  that  township,  where  he  con- 
tinued to  reside  until  his  death,  which  oc- 
curred in  1907.  his  wife  having  survived  him 
by  about  two  years  and  having  been  sum- 
moned to  eternal  rest  August  2,  1909,  at  the 
age  of  seventy-three  years,  both  having  been 
devout  communicants  of  the  Lutheran  church, 
and  their  names  meriting  enduring  place  on 
the  roll  of  honored  pioneers  of  Gage  county. 

Henry  Damkroger  was  reared  and  educated 
in  his  native  land  and  was  a  youth  of  seven- 
teen years  when  he  came  to  the  United  States, 
in  1874,  his  brother  Frederick  having  come  in 
the  preceding  year.     Landing  in  the  port  of 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUxNTY,  NEBRASKA 


New  York  city,  he  forthwith  set  forth  for  Ne- 
braska. When  he  arrived  in  the  city  of  Lin- 
cohi  he  found  his  financial  resources  entirely 
exhausted,  and  from  a  cousin  residing  in  that 
city  he  borrowed  the  sum  of  five  dollars, 
which  enabled  him  to  continue  his  journey  to 
Dewitt,  Saline  county.  After  coming  to  Ne- 
braska Mr.  Damkroger  worked  one  year  as  a 
farm  hand,  and  thereafter  he  was  employed 
three  years  as  clerk  in  a  general  store  at  De- 
witt. Between  the  years  1874  and  1878  he 
saved  from  his  earnings  the  sum  of  six  hun- 
dred dollars,  and  of  this  he  expended  two 
hundred  dollars  in  making  the  trip  to  Ger- 
many and  inducing  his  parents  to  join  him. 
With  the  remaining  four  hundred  dollars  he 
purchased  cattle,  and  he  grazed  his  herd  over 
the  prairies  in  Gage  and  Saline  counties,  be- 
sides taking  additional  cattle  to  feed  and  herd 
on  contract.  The  late  William  Steinmeyer 
lent  him  money  to  purchase  his  first  team 
of  horses,  and  he  then  engaged  independently 
in  general  farming  and  stock -growing  in  Gage 
county.  It  was  a  modest  beginning,  but 
energy,  ambition,  and  good  management 
brought  returns,  the  while  in  his  career  suc- 
cess has  been  synonymous  with  honor.  To  the 
earnest  co-operation  and  wise  counsel  of  his 
devoted  wife  he  attributes  in  large  measure 
the  success  that  has  attended  his  productive 
activities  as  a  member  of  the  world's  great 
army  of  workers.  His  paternal  devotion  has 
been  shown  in  his  having  aided  all  of  his 
children  to  get  a  start  in  life,  besides  having 
given  them  excellent  educational  advantages. 
Of  his  financial  status  an  idea  is  conveyed  in 
the  statement  that  for  the  year  1916  he  paid 
an  income  taxe  of  one  hundred  and  two  dol- 
lars. 

In  September,  1882,  was  solemnized  the 
marriage  of  Mr.  Damkroger  to  Miss  Louisa 
Spilker,  who  was  born  April  5,  1854,  and  who 
is  a  daughter  of  Henry  Spilker,  detailed  men- 
tion of  the  family  appearing  on  other  pages,  in 
the  sketch  of  the  career  of  her  brother,  Ernest 
H.  Spilker.  Of  the  eleven  children  born  to 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Damkroger  two  died  in  infancy ; 
Sophia  is  the  wife  of  Herman  F.  Siems,  of 
Grant  township ;  Louisa  is  the  wife  of  H.  O. 


Waldo,  of  Dewitt,  Saline  county;  Lena  is  the 
wife  of  J.  J.  Kruescher,  a  merchant  at  Dewitt ; 
Charlotte  is  the  wife  of  George  Pohlman,  of 
Grant  township;  Catherine  remains  at  the 
parental  home ;  Henry  W.  has  entered  the  na- 
tional army  in  preparation  for  service  in  the 
great  European  war  and  at  the  time  of  this 
writing,  in  the  winter  of  1917-1918,  is  sta- 
tioned at  the  army  cantonment  of  Camp 
Funston,  Kansas;  and  Herman,  Frederick, 
and  Lavina  are  the  younger  members  of  the 
gracious  home  circle. 

CHARLES  ARMSTRONG  was  born  in 
County  Tyrone,  Ireland,  October  20,  1858,  a 
son  of  Andrew  and  Elizabeth  Armstrong,  who 
passed  their  entire  lives  in  Ireland.  Four 
children  of  this  family  came  to  America,  their 
first  home  being  in  Linn  county,  Iowa,  and 
later  they  all  became  residents  of  Gage  county, 
Nebraska.  Kate  became  the  wife  of  William 
Hommersham  and  they  lived  in  Gage  county 
for  several  years.  They  now  are  residents 
of  Missouri. 

The  subject  of  this  record  was  eighteen 
years  of  age  when  he  came  to  the  United 
States  and  joined  his  brothers,  who  were  liv- 
ing in  Linn  county,  Iowa.  In  1880,  he  came 
to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  and  located  on 
eighty  acres  of  land  which  he  purchased  and 
upon  which  his  home  has  been  maintained 
ever  since  that  time ;  but  little  improvement 
had  been  made  on  the  place  and  Mr.  Arm- 
strong has  provided  a  comfortable  home  for 
his  family  besides  which  he  has  recently 
erected  a  new  barn  and  provided  other  good 
buildings  for  the  shelter  of  grain  and  stock. 
He  is  progressive  and  up-to-date  in  his  meth- 
ods and  has  added  to  his  original  purchase 
until  to-day  he  is  the  owner  of  two  hundred 
acres  of  valuable  land. 

At  Vinton,  Iowa,  was  solemnized  the  mar- 
riage of  Charles  Armstrong  and  Miss  Agnes 
Whelan,  who  is,  like  her  husband,  a  native  of 
the  Emerald  Isle  and  who  came  to  the  United 
States  when  a  young  lady  of  eighteen  years. 
She  supplemented  the  education  she  received 
in  her  native  land  by  attendance  at  Coe  Col- 
lege, Cedar  Rapids,  Iowa,  and  thereafter  she 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


815 


was  engaged  in  teaching,  being  thus  employed 
at  the  time  of  her  marriage. 

The  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Armstrong  has 
been  blessed  with  eight  children ;  Kate  is  still 
under  the  parental  roof  ;  Minnie  died  in  in- 
fancy ;  Andrew,  married  Flo  Wilson  and  is 
engaged  in  farming  in  Gage  county ;  Bessie 
Viola,  Alex  George,  Joseph,  William  F.,  and 
Charles  Edward  all  remain  at  the  parental 
home. 

The  religious  faith  of  the  family  is  that  of 
the  Methodist  Epicopal  church,  and  Mr.  Arm- 
strong exercises  his  right  of  franchise  in  sup- 
port of  men  and  measures  advanced  by  the 
Democratic  party.  While  not  an  aspirant  for 
public  ofifice,  he  has  rendered  efificient  service 
as  a  member  of  the  school  board  of  his  dis- 
trict. 

RALPH  A.  DUIS.  — Germany  has  fur- 
nished some  most  valuable  citizens  to  Ne- 
braska and  one  of  the  number  is  Ralph  A. 
Duis,  who  is  one  of  the  substantial  farmers  of 
Glenwood  township. 

Mr.  Duis  was  born  in  the  province  of  Han- 
over, Germany,  April  24,  1867.  His  parents, 
Pabe  and  Engel  Duis,  spent  their  entire  lives 
in  their  native  land,  the  father  passing  away 
at  the  age  of  eighty-five  years  and  the  mother 
being  seventy-five  years  of  age  when  she  was 
called  to  the  home  beyond. 

Reared  and  educated  in  his  native  land,  Mr. 
Duis  was  twenty-two  years  old  when  he  sought 
a  home  in  America.  The  first  year  he  worked 
as  a  hired  man  on  a  farm  in  Atchison  county, 
Missouri,  after  which  he  came  to  Gage  county, 
Nebraska,  where  for  five  years  he  operated  a 
rented  farm  near  Wymore.  He  carefully 
saved  his  earnings  until  he  was  able  to  pur- 
chase a  farm  of  eighty  acres  near  Wymore. 
Five  years  were  spent  in  developing  this  place, 
which  he  then  sold.  He  thereupon  purchased 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  in  Glenwood 
township,  where  he  has  resided  and  success- 
fully carried  on  agricultural  pursuits  for  the 
past  seventeen  years. 

In  Atchison  county,  Missouri,  was  cele- 
brated the  marriage  of  IMr.  Duis  to  Miss 
Johanna  Luben,  who  is  also  a  native  of  Ger- 


many, and  who  came  to  America  the  same 
year  as  did  her  husband.  They  have  become 
the  parents  of  fourteen  children,  and  the  fam- 
ily circle  has  been  untouched  by  the  hand  of 
death.  Pabe  is  married  and  is  farming  in 
Washington  county,  Kansas ;  Minnie  is  the 
wife  of  August  Adam,  of  Glenwood  town- 
ship ;  Tina  is  now  Mrs.  Nienober,  of  Wash- 
ington county,  Kansas  ;  John  is  at  home ;  Han- 
nah is  now  Mrs.  Wieters,  of  Glenwood  town- 
ship ;  and  Tillie,  Anna,  Dora,  Rosa,  Rudolph, 
Alfred,  William,  Harold  and  Elmer  are  still 
under  the  parental  roof. 

The  family  are  members  of  the  Lutheran 
church  and  the  father  votes  the  Democratic 
ticket.  Aside  from  two  thousand  dollars 
which  Mr.  Duis  inherited  from  his  parents, 
his  success  is  the  result  of  his  own  efforts. 
His  prosperity  is  attested  by  the  fact  that  he 
has  two  hundred  acres  of  valuable  land,  equip- 
ped with  a  good  house  and  other  requisite 
farm  buildings.  Mr.  Duis  and  his  family  are 
among  the  highly  respected  residents  of  Gage 
county. 

WILLIAM  H.  JEWELL.  — In  Section  20 
of  Grant  township.  Gage  county,  is  the  home 
of  William  H.  Jewell,  who  is  one  of  Gage 
county's  many  prosperous  farmers  and  stock- 
growers,  and  a  native  son  of  the  county.  Mr. 
Jewell  was  bom  on  the  old  homestead  of  his 
father  in  Clatonia  township,  January  25,  1872, 
and  is  the  eldest  of  the  three  surviving  chil- 
dren of  George  W.  and  Martha  (Carpenter) 
Jewell ;  Bertha,  the  only  daughter,  is  the  wife 
of  W.  E.  Mcjunken,  of  Dewitt,  Saline  county ; 
and  Earl  C.  is  individually  mentioned  on  other 
pages  of  this  volume. 

George  W.  Jewell  was  born  in  Ohio,  on  the 
25th  of  April,  1845,  and  thence  removed  with 
his  parents  to  Illinois  when  a  youth.  The 
Jewell  family  is  of  Scotch-Irish  origin,  having 
been  founded  in  America  in  colonial  days. 
George  W.  Jewell,  as  a  valiant  soldier,  served 
in  the  Second  Illinois  Cavalry  in  the  Civil 
war,  and  thereafter  he  continued  his  residence 
in  Illinois  until  1870,  when  he  came  to  Ne- 
braska and  numbered  himself  among  the  pio- 
neers of  Gage  county.     He  reclaimed  a  home- 


816 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


stead  in  Clatonia  township,  and  later  bouglit 
tlie  southeast  quarter  of  Section  20,  on  which 
the  subject  of  this  review  now  resides.  Here 
he  made  his  home  until  his  death,  which  oc- 
curred November  21,  1910,  his  wife  having 
passed  away  in  1902.  Mr.  Jewell  was  a  citi- 
zen who  did  his  part  well  in  the  furtherance 
of  civic  and  industrial  progress,  and  was  one 
of  the  honored  pioneers  of  the  county  at  the 
time  of  his  death.  He  was  a  Republican  in 
politics  and  was  affiliated  with  the  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic. 

William  H.  Jewell  recalls  among  the  varied 
experiences  of  his  boyhood  and  youth  the 
herding  of  cattle  on  the  open  prairies  of  this 
part  of  tlie  state,  and  he  has  more  than  once 
expressed  in  later  years  a  wish  that  he  might 
once  more  look  upon  the  untrammeled  plains 
and  the  native  prairie  grass.  As  a  boy  he 
remembers  that  the  Indians  were  still  much 
in  evidence  in  this  part  of  Nebraska,  and  that 
three  Indian  trails  traversed  the  old  home 
farm.  Mr.  Jewell  acquired  his  early  educa- 
tion in  the  pioneer  schools,  which  were  well 
conducted,  and  upon  attaining  his  legal  ma- 
jority he  rented  from  his  father  the  old  home 
place,  which  was  sold  in  1875.  It  was  at  this 
time  that  his  father  bought  the  farm  on  which 
Mr.  Jewell  now  lives,  and  which  he  has  greatly 
improved.  Here  he  continues  to  conduct  his 
energetic  and  .successful  activities  as  a  farmer 
and  a  breeder  and  raiser  of  pure-blood  Duroc- 
Jersey  swine. 

March  16,  1898,  recorded  the  marriage  oi 
Mr.  Jewell  to  Miss  Mildred  L.  Brown,  who 
was  born  in  Essex  county.  New  York,  and 
who  came  with  her  parents  to  Nebraska  in 
1887,  the  family  home  having  been  established 
in  Saline  county,  where  her  father  died  in 
1902,  at  the  age  of  sixty-five  years.  Mrs. 
Jewell  is  a  daughter  of  Ezra  and  Mary 
(Thompson)  Brown,  who  were  born  and 
reared  in  the  old  Empire  state,  and  since  the 
death  of  the  honored  father  the  now  venerable 
mother  has  lived  in  the  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Jewell,  who  accord  her  filial  solicitude.  Con- 
cerning the  three  children  born  to  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Jewell  the  following  data  are  available: 
■George  E.  was  born  October  28,  1902 ;  Lucille 


was  born  October  15,  1904,  and  died  on  the  23d 
of  the  following  January ;  and  Kenneth  Wil- 
liam was  born  July  25,  1910. 

In  politics  Mr.  Jewell  is  unfaltering  in  his 
allegience  to  the  Republican  party,  and  in  a 
fraternal  way  he  is  affiliated  with  the  Modern 
Woodmen  of  America,  the  Royal  Highlanders, 
and  the  Royal  Neighbors,  his  wife  likewise 
being  identified  with  the  two  last  mentioned 
organizations,  and  they  are  active  members  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  church. 

IRA  BOYD.  — The  cost  of  production  of 
those  commodities  raised  on  a  farm,  due  to 
the  price  of  land,  cost  of  labor  and  machinery, 
etc.,  requires  that  the  successful  farmer  of  to- 
day must  possess  business  ability  as  definitely 
as  must  the  merchant  or  banker.  The  farmer 
who  makes  use  of  the  best  methods  of  tilling 
the  soil  or  who  seeks  to  improve  the  grade 
of  live  stock  raised  on  his  farm,  not  only  as- 
sures himself  better  returns  for  his  own  time 
and  investment  but  becomes  a  public  bene- 
factor in  his  community. 

One  of  the  younger  farmers  and  stockmen 
of  Gage  county  who  is  demonstrating  his  abil- 
ity as  a  business  man  is  Ira  Boyd,  owning 
and  operating  a  tract  of  one  hundred  acres  in 
section  21,  Sherman  township. 

He  is  a  native  of  Iowa,  born  in  Linn  county, 
October  19,  1880,  a  son  of  Otho  Boyd,  who  is 
mentioned  elsewhere  in  this  volume.  Re- 
maining on  the  home  farm,  he  assisted  in  its 
operation,  and  was  assisted  by  his  father  in 
purchasing  the  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres 
which  he  has  operated  for  several  years.  He 
has  erected  a  splendid  set  of  buildings  on  the 
place,  making  it  one  of  the  best  in  the  town- 
ship. Aside  from  the  cultivation  of  those 
crops  best  adapted  to  the  soil  and  climate  he 
makes  a  specialty  of  raising  pure-blooded  Red 
Polled  cattle,  Percheron  horses  and  Duroc- 
Jersey  hogs,  from  the  sale  of  which  he  adds 
materially  to  his  income.  He  is  deserving  of 
much  credit  for  the  eiTort  displayed  to  raise 
the  standard  of  live  stock  in  his  county. 

Mr.  Boyd  completed  arrangements  for  a 
home  of  his  own  by  his  marriage,  in  1910, 
to  Miss  Bertha  Horst,  of  Kansas.     They  are 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


817 


the  parents  of  five  children :  Ruth,  Dehnar, 
Walter,  Elva  and  Allen.  The  family  are 
members  of  the  Dunkard  church  and  in  poli- 
tics Mr.  Boyd  is  a  Republican. 

JOHN  E.  REMMERS.  — There  have  been 
many  who  have  achieved  substantial  success 
in  connection  with  farm  industry  in  Gage 
county,  but  few  have  won  more  noteworthy 
success  through  this  basic  medium  than  has 
John  E.  Remmers,  who  is  still  the  owner  of 
nine  hundred  acres  of  well  improved  and  valu- 
able land  in  the  county,  though  he  is  now  living 
practically  retired  and  in  the  enjoyment  of 
the  gracious  rewards  that  have  attended  his 
earnest  and  well  directed  endeavors  in  the 
past.  Since  the  spring  of  1918  he  has  main- 
tained his  residence  in  Lincoln,  the  beautiful 
capital  city  of  Nebraska,  where  his  home  is  at 
No.  2054  South  Seventeenth  street. 

Mr.  Remmers  was  born  in  the  province  of 
Hanover,  Germany,  on  the  6th  of  November, 
1850,  and  is  a  son  of  John  and  Katherine 
Remmers,  of  whom  specific  mention  is  made 
on  other  pages  of  this  work,  in  the  sketch 
dedicated  to  Thomas  Remmers,  of  Beatrice. 
John  E.  Remmers  acquired  his  early  educa- 
tion in  his  native  land  and  was  about  seven- 
teen years  of  age  when,  in  1868,  he  accom- 
panied his  parents  on  their  immigration  to 
America.  After  remaining  a  few  months  in 
Illinois  the  family  came  to  Nebraska,  before 
the  close  of  the  year  1868,  and  in  the  new  state 
John  Remmers  established  himself  as. a  pio- 
neer of  Gage  county.  He  became  one  of  the 
representative  farmers  of  Hanover  township, 
and  on  the  old  home  farm  John  E.  Remmers 
gave  vigorous  aid  in  the  work  of  reclamation 
and  development,  besides  which  he  attended 
for  a  time  a  pioneer  school  conducted  in  a 
nice  dug-out  structure  in  Logan  township. 
He  remained  at  the  parental  home  until  the 
autumn  of  1871,  when  he  filed  chim  to  a 
homestead  of  eighty  acres  in  Nemaha  town- 
ship. On  this  property  he  made  the  best  of 
improvements  and  after  developing  the  place 
'nto  a  productive  farm  he  finally  exchanged 
the  property  for  a  tract  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  in  Section  12  of  the  same  township. 


In  1890  he  removed  to  section  11  of  that 
township,  where  he  erected  a  commodious  and 
modern  house,  a  good  barn  and  other  farm 
buildings.  Here  he  continued  to  give  his  per- 
sonal attention  to  his  extensive  farm  enter- 
prise until  1911,  when  he  laid  aside  to  a  large 
degree  the  labors  that  has  long  been  his  por- 
tion, and  shifted  the  responsibilities  upon 
younger  shoulders.  He  was  distinctly  success- 
ful in  his  activities  as  a  vital  exponent  of 
agricultural  and  live-stock  industry  and,  as 
previously  noted,  he  is  to-day  the  owner  of  a 
valuable  landed  estate  of  nine  hundred  acres 
in  the  county  which  claims  him  as  one  of  its 
sterling  pioneers.  He  was  loyal  and  progres- 
sive as  a  citizen  during  the  entire  period  of 
his  residence  in  Gage  county,  served  three 
years  as  assessor  of  Nemaha  township,  and 
was  always  ready  to  give  his  support  to  meas- 
ures and  enterprises  tending  to  advance  the 
communal  welfare.  His  political  allegiance 
is  given  to  the  Republican  party  and  he  and 
his  family  are  earnest  communicants  of  the 
Lutheran  church. 

September  18,  1878,  recorded  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  Remmers  to  Miss  Rena  Steinmann, 
who  was  born  in  the  state  of  Illinois,  on  tfie 
10th  of  February,  1859.  Her  parents,  Henry 
and  Rachel  (Yelken)  Steinmann,  were  na- 
tives of  Germany  but  their  marriage  was 
solemnized  in  the  state  of  Illinois.  Henry 
Steinmann  immigrated  to  America  about  the 
year  1845  and  established  his  residence  in  Illi- 
nois. There  he  remained  until  1864,  when 
he  came  with  his  family  to  Nebraska  Terri- 
torj'  and  became  one  of  the  early  settlers  of 
Nemaha  county.  He  was  a  man  of  superior 
education  and  marked  progressiveness,  so  that 
he  became  influential  in  civic  affairs  in  the 
pioneer  period  of  Nebraska  history.  He  as- 
sisted in  the  organization  and  initial  develop- 
ment of  the  city  of  Lincoln,  and  there  aided 
in  selecting  the  site  of  the  state's  capitol  build- 
ing. He  and  his  wife  became  the  parents  ol 
nine  children,  of  whom  seven  are  living,  and 
by  a  previous  marriage  Mrs.  Steinmann  was 
the  mother  of  three  children.  Mr.  Steinmann 
died  in  the  year  1890,  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
two    years,    and    his    venerable    widow,    who 


818 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


celebrated  in  1917  the  eighty-fifth  anniversary 
of  her  birth,  now  resides  in  the  home  of  her 
daughter  Rena,  wife  of  the  subject  of  this 
review.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Remmers  are  the  par- 
ents of  three  children :  Catherine  remains  at 
the  parental  home;  Henry  is  a  prosperous 
farmer  in  Section  12,  Nemaha  township,  Gage 
county;  and  Ma"ry  L.  is  the  wife  of  Frank  F. 
Pape,  a  farmer  in  Section  7.  Nemaha  town- 
ship, this  county. 

GEORGE  T.  MITCHELL.  — A  resident 
of  Gage  county  for  thirty-nine  years,  George 
T.  Mitchell  now  lives  retired  in  a  comfortable 
home  in  Wymore.  He  was  born  at  Leslie, 
Michigan,  June  30,  1855.  His  parents,  Elisha 
and  Elizabeth  (Roberts)  Mitchell,  were  na- 
tives of  New  York  and  England  respectively. 
They  were  married  in  Michigan,  where  the 
father  had  gone  when  a  young  man,  and  to 
that  state  the  mother  was  brought  by  her  par- 
ents when  she  was  a  little  girl.  In  the  Wol- 
verine state  they  made  their  home  until  1876, 
when  they  became  residents  of  Adair  county, 
Iowa,  and  there  they  both  passed  away,  he 
having  reached  the  age  of  eighty-two  years 
and  his  wife  having  been  ninety-five  years  of 
age  when  she  was  called  to  her  final  rest. 

In  the  common  schools  of  Michigan  and 
Iowa  George  T.  Mitchell  received  his  youthful 
education  and  he  was  reared  to  the  sturdy  dis- 
cipline of  the  farm.  When  he  reached  man- 
hood he  became  a  farmer  on  his  own  account, 
in  Adams  county,  Iowa.  In  1881  he  came,  in  a 
"prairie  schooner,"  to  Nebraska,  with  Gage 
county  as  his  destination.  He  purchased  one 
hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land  in  Sec- 
tion 33,  Bameston  township,  this  tract  being 
in  the  Otoe  Indian  reservation,  which  had  been 
opened  up  for  settlement  only  a  few  years  be- 
fore. His  first  home  was  a  sod  house,  in  which 
he  lived  for  two  years, and  during  the  first  year 
he  kept  "bachelor's  hall."  He  later  added  forty 
acres  to  his  holdings,  and  for  fourteen  years 
he  was  successfully  engaged  in  developing  and 
cultivating  this  farm.  He  then  sold  the  prop- 
erty and  purchased  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  in  Section  1  of  the  same  township.  Here 
for   twenty   years    he   devoted   his    time    and 


energies  to  general  farming  and  stock-raising. 
For  the  past  nine  years  he  has  lived  retired, 
although  he  states  that  he  would  like  to  be 
back  on  the  farm  and  be  "one  of  the  boys." 

In  Gage  county  was  celebrated  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  Mitchell  and  Miss  Martha  With,  a  na- 
tive of  Maryland  and  a  daughter  of  John  and 
Sarah  (Clark)  With.  The  parents  of  Mrs. 
Mitchell  were  natives  of  Maryland  and  be- 
came early  settlers  of  Bureau  county,  Illinois. 
In  the  fall  of  1880  they  came  to  Gage  county, 
Nebraska,  and  settled  in  Paddock  township, 
where  they  passed  the  remainder  of  their 
lives. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mitchell  became  the  parents 
of  nine  children,  seven  of  whom  are  living, 
as  follows :  Bert,  who  married  Mabel  Con- 
over,  is  a  farmer  in  Bameston  township ; 
George,  who  married  Maggie  Noe,  likewise 
is  a  farmer  in  Barneston  township ;  Ora,  who 
married  Ida  Yaney,  is  farming  in  the  state  of 
Kansas ;  Lizzie  is  the  wife  of  Elza  HoUings- 
worth.  of  Wymore,  Nebraska;  WaUer,  who 
married  Zula  Yaney,  is  a  farmer  in  Kansas ; 
Maude,  is  the  wife  of  Will  Jones,  a  merchant 
of  Wymore ;  and  Miss  Myrtle  is  still  at  the 
parental  home. 

Mr.  Mitchell  exercises  his  right  of  fran- 
chise in  support  of  men  and  measures  of  the 
Republican  party.  While  on  the  farm  he  ren- 
dered efficient  service  as  a  member  of  the 
school  board  and  also  as  treasurer  of  his 
township.  Fraternally  he  is  affiliated  with 
Barneston  Lodge  No.  165,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.  As 
an  early  settler  and  one  who  has  contributed 
his  full  share  to  the  development  and  progress 
of  Gage  county,  Mr.  Mitchell  is  entitled  to 
much  credit,  the  while  he  deserves  the  success 
that  has  come  to  him. 


DANIEL  GOODMAN.  —  On  the  rolls  of 
noble  citizens  of  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  and 
honored  veterans  of  the  Civil  war,  mention 
must  be  made  of  Daniel  Goodman. 

A  native  of  Pennsylvania,  Mr.  Goodman 
was  born  in  Northumberland  county,  on  the 
1st  of  April,  1847.  His  parents,  Daniel  and 
Catherine  (Wagner)  Goodman,  likewise  were 
natives  of  Pennsylvania,  and  they  spent  their 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


819 


Daniel  Goodman  and  Family 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


entire  lives  in  the  old  Keystone  state.  They 
reared  a  family  of  fourteen  children  —  ten 
sons  and  four  daughters.  Daniel  Goodman 
spent  his  boyhood  days  on  a  farm  in  his  native 
county,  and  though  he  vi^as  only  a  boy  when 
the  storm  of  civil  war  burst  upon  the  nation, 
his  patriotism  was  aroused  and  he  displayed 
his  loyalty  by  enlisting,  in  February,  1863,  in 
Company  I,  Forty-ninth  Pennsylvania  Volun- 
teer Infantry.  Flis  regiment  participated  in 
the  battles  of  Cold  Harbor,  Spottsylvania 
Court  House,  Winchester,  and  other  engage- 
ments, the  last  days  of  his  service  being  around 
Petersburg.  When  success  crowned  the  Union 
arms  he  was  one  of  those  who  marched  in  the 
Grand  Review  at  Washington,  the  greatest 
military  pageant  ever  witnessed  on  the  wes- 
tern hemisphere.  When  his  nation  no  longer 
needed  his  services,  Mr.  Goodman  went  to 
Stephenson  county,  Illinois,  and  turned  his 
energies  to  the  more  peaceful  occupation  of 
farming.  Seeking  better  opportunities,  he 
came  to  Nebraska  in  1874,  and  settled  in  Otoe 
county.  Here  the  grasshoppers  took  his  crop, 
and  he  returned  to  Illinois,  where  he  lived  for 
several  years.  In  1891,  Mr.  Goodman  again 
came  to  Nebraska,  and  at  this  time  he  settled 
in  Adams  township.  Gage  county.  Five  years 
later  he  moved  to  another  farm,  in  Section  3, 
that  township,  and  here  he  successfully  carried 
on  farm  enterprise  until  his  death,  which  oc- 
curred February  22,  1911. 

On  February  1,  1881,  at  Freeport,  Illinois, 
was  solemnized  the  marriage  of  Mr.  Goodman 
to  Miss  Emma  Reed,  who  was  born  in  Schuyl- 
kill county,  Pennsylvania,  a  daughter  of  Dan- 
iel and  Mary  (Henry)  Reed,  likewise  natives 
of  Pennsylvania.  Mrs.  Goodman's  parents 
spent  their  last  days  in  Otoe  county,  Ne- 
braska. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Goodman  became  the 
parents  of  one  daughter,  Essie,  wife  of  O.  W. 
Vanderpool,  who  resides  on  the  Goodman 
farm.  They  are  the  parents  of  four  children: 
Emma  Goldie,  Maude  Annette,  Nada  Irene, 
and  Russell  Oyd. 

Mr.  Goodman  was  always  a  staunch  Repub- 
lican, and  he  was  a  member  of  the  GranO 
Army  of  the  Republic,  belonging  to  Sergeant 
Cox   Post,   No.    100,   at  Adams,   this   county. 


He  was  a  good  citizen,  a  loving  husband  and 
father,  and  was  always  as  faithful  in  the  days 
of  peace  as  when  he  loyally  served  his  coun- 
try on  the  battlefields  of  the  South. 

RAYMOND  WEINER.  —  Among  the 
many  Bohemian  farmers  who  have  settled  in- 
Gage  county  and  have  become  successful 
farmers,  Raymond  Weiner  must  be  mentioned. 
Bohemia,  the  land  of  his  birth,  is  one  of  the 
prominent  Slavonic  countries  of  Europe,  and 
had  a  university,  at  Prague,  as  early  as  1348. 
\Miile  its  civilization  is  old  and  mature,  its  in- 
ternal and  external  strife  for  liberty  has  kept 
the  common  people  from  enjoying  the  ad- 
vantages which  are  given  to  the  people  of  the 
United  States.  It  is,  perhaps,  because  of 
these  reasons  that  so  many  of  Bohemia's  sons 
have  immigrated  to  this  country.  Raymond 
Weiner  was  born  in  1857,  a  son  of  William 
and  Frances  (Bartershesky)  Weiner,  who 
were  well-to-do  farmers  of  their  native  Bo- 
hemia. Their  three  sturdy  sons  were  born 
in  Bohemia  and  received  their  education 
there.  William  Weiner  immigrated  with  his- 
family  to  this  country  in  1875,  and  they  set- 
tled at  Wilber,  Saline  county,  Nebraska.  Two 
years  later  they  came  to  Sicily  township,  Gage 
county,  and  their  earnings  which  they  brought 
with  them  they  invested  in  four  hundred  and 
eighty  acres  of  land.  After  the  death  of  Wil- 
liam Weiner,  in  1907,  this  land  was  divided 
between  his  three  sons,  - —  William,  Jr.,  who 
died  in  December,  1917,  was  at  the  time  a  re- 
tired fanner;  Raymond  is  the  subject  of  this 
sketch;  and  Edward  died  in  1915. 

Raymond  Weiner,  with  his  original  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres  of  land  as  a  nucleus 
around  which  to  acquire  more  land,  has  added 
to  his  holdings  until  he  now  owns  six  hundred 
and  forty  acres  of  land.  His  three  oldest  sons 
each  has  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  and  is 
farming  the  same. 

In  1885  Raymond  Weiner  and  Anna  Cack 
were  joined  in  holy  wedlock.  Mrs.  Weiner 
was  born  in  Michigan,  and  is  a  daughter  oi 
Bohemian  parents,  Joseph  and  Anna  (Jepla) 
Cack.  Joseph  Cack  was  a  native  of  Bohemia 
and  was  farming  in  Michigan  before  his  ar- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


821 


rival  in  Gage  county,  in  1873.  In  his  ear!)( 
manhood  he  served  in  the  Bohemian  navy  and 
in  after  years,  when  prosperity  had  smiled 
upon  him,  the  longing  to  visit  to  his  old  home 
was  so  insistent  that  he  returned  to  Bohemia. 
There  he  was  called  to  his  last  home,  never 
returning  to  the  land  of  his  adoption.  He  was 
ninety-one  years  of  age. 

Nine  children  have  been  born  to  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Raymond  Weiner:  Raymond,  Jr.,  Joe 
and  John  are  each  farming  one  hundred  and 
twenty  acres  of  land  in  Sicily  township,  these 
farms  having  been  received  from  their  father ; 
and  Frank,  Willie,  Mary,  Anna,  Bessie  and 
Francis  are  still  under  the  parental  roof  and 
enjoying  educational  privileges  that  shall  fit 
them  for  their  future  work. 

For  forty  years  Mr.  Weiner  has  dealt  ex- 
tensively in  cattle,  feeding  and  raising  them  in 
great  lots,  and  he  has  been  very  successful  in 
his  farm  enterprise.  His  home  and  the  build- 
ings that  adorn  his  land,  radiate  the  prosperity 
and  taste  of  their  owner,  not  alone  in  an  orna- 
mental but  also  in  a  useful  way.  All  this 
shows  the  long  years  of  hard  labor  expended 
in  accumulating  this  property,  which  is  a  mon- 
ument to  Mr.  Weiner's  thorough  devotion  to 
his  work. 

FRANCIS  M.  CHAMP.— The  late  Francis 
Marion  Champ,  who  became  one  of  the  sub- 
stantial framers  and  highly  esteemed  citizens 
of  Gage  county,  was  born  in  Pickaway  county, 
Ohio,  on  the  26th  of  August,  1849,  and  was 
one  of  the  seven  children  of  John  and  Sarah 
Ann  (Hobbs)  Champ.  He  was  seven  years 
of  age  at  the  time  of  his  parents'  removal  to 
Champaign  county,  Illinois,  where  his  father 
engaged  in  farm  enterprise.  In  that  county 
Francis  M.  Champ  was  reared  and  educated 
and  there  he  continued  to  be  associated  in  the 
work  of  the  home  farm  until  the  time  of  his 
marriage,  in  1873.  It  was  during  the  '80s 
that  Nebraska  lands  were  fast  being  settled 
by  men  coming  from  Illinois  and  other  states, 
and  a  most  valuable  contribution  to  the  settle- 
ment of  the  state  in  that  period  was  that 
given  by  Illinois.  In  1885  Mr.  Champ  came 
with  his   family  to   Gage  county  and  rented 


land  in  Paddock  township,  where  the  passing 
years  brought  prosperity  to  him  in  connection 
with  his  well  ordered  farm  enterprise.  In 
1901  he  purchased  eighty-three  acres  of  land 
in  that  township,  and  here  he  continued  to  re- 
side until  his  death,  which  occurred  March 
27,  1917.  At  the  time  when  Mr.  Champ  pur- 
chased this  farm  only  a  portion  of  the  same 
was  available  for  cultivation  and  no  definite 
improvements  had  been  made  in  the  matter  of 
buildings.  With  characteristic  energy  and 
good  judgment  he  brought  every  acre  under 
effective  cultivation  and  productiveness,  be- 
sides which  he  made  all  requisite  improve- 
ments on  the  place,  the  same  continuing  as 
the  residence  of  his  widow. 

In  politics  Mr.  Champ  customarily  sup- 
ported the  candidates  of  the  Republican  party, 
and  for  some  time  he  served  as  assessor  of  his 
township.  He  was  a  man  of  sterling  char- 
acter and  commanded  the  unqualified  esteem 
of  all  who  knew  him.  Mr.  Champ  maintained 
active  affiliation  with  the  Knights  &  Tadies  of 
Security,  and  of  this  organization  his  widow 
also  is  a  member. 

In  the  year  1873  was  solemnized  the  mar- 
riage of  Mr.  Champ  to  Miss  Ruth  Ann  Duvall, 
who  was  born  in  Washington  county,  Pennsyl- 
vania, on  the  2d  of  March,  1852,  and  who  was 
the  third  in  order  of  birth  of  the  eight  children 
of  Isaac  and  Sarah  Ann  (Long)  Duvall.  In 
1858,  when  Mrs.  Champ  was  six  years  of  age, 
her  parents  removed  to  Illinois,  where  the 
father  became  a  prosperous  farmer.  In  the 
concluding  paragraph  of  this  memoir  is  en- 
tered brief  record  concerning  the  children  ol 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Champ. 

Cora  B.,  who  became  the  wife  of  George  F. 
Wierman,  is  deceased  and  her  daughter  Eva 
now  resides  in  the  home  of  her  maternal 
grandmother,  Mrs.  Champ;  Annaretta  be- 
came the  wife  of  Charles  Bell  and  she  like- 
wise has  passed  to  the  life  eternal;  William 
N.  remains  with  his  widowed  mother  and  has 
active  management  of  the  farm;  George  re- 
sides near  Diller,  this  state ;  Lewis  is  a  farmer 
in  Paddock  township ;  Grace  is  the  wife  of 
Burrell  M.  Ellis,  of  Paddock  township ;  Logan 
is  a  resident  of  the  state  of  Wyoming;  and 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Hattie  is  the  wife  of  Wilbur  Burkett,  their 
home  being  in  South  Dakota. 

JOHN  D.  S'CHOCK.  —  One  of  the  finest 
homes  in  Blue  Springs  is  that  of  John  D. 
Schock,  who  is  now  living  in  honorable  retire- 
ment. Mr.  Schock  was  bom  in  Seneca  county, 
Ohio,  September  25,  1849.  His  father.  George 
Schock,  was  born  in  Union  county,  Pennsyl- 
vania, in  1819,  and  when  a  young  man  he 
learned  the  carpenter's  trade.  He  became  an 
early  settler  of  Seneca  county,  Ohio,  near  the 
town  of  Bellevue.  There  he  bought  land  and 
became  a  successful  farmer.  He  continued 
his  residence  in  S'ene:a  county  until  1872,  when 
he  sold  his  property  there  and  bought  a  farm 
in  St.  Joseph  county,  Michigan,  near  Three 
Rivers.  This  latter  farm  was  the  stage  of 
his  endeavors  until  he  retired  from  active 
life.  In  1900  he  became  a  resident  of  Blue 
Springs,  Nebraska,  where  his  last  days  were 
spent  and  where  he  had  often  visited  his  sons, 
the  latter  having  lived  in  Gage  county  for  a 
number  of  years.  The  grandfather  of  our 
subject  was  John  Schock,  a  native  of  Union 
county,  Pennsylvania,  born  about  1778.  In 
1815  John  Schock  became  one  of  the  pioneer 
settlers  of  Seneca  county,  Ohio.  The  maiden 
name  of  the  mother  of  the  subject  of  this  re- 
view was  Lucy  A.  Ware.  She  was  born  in 
Lehigh  county,  Pennsylvania,  and  in  1814, 
when  ten  years  of  age,  accompanied  her  par- 
ents to  Seneca  county,  Ohio.  There  she  was 
reared  to  adult  age  and  there  she  met  and  mar- 
ried George  Schock.  She  accompanied  her 
husband  on  the  removal  to  Michigan  and  later 
to  Gage  county,  her  death  occurring  at  Blue 
Springs. 

John  D.  Schock  was  reared  on  a  farm  in 
Seneca  county,  Ohio,  and  when  a  boy  of  nine- 
teen he  came  to  Nebraska  for  the  benefit  of  his 
health.  He  here  employed  himself  at  any- 
thing he  could  find  to  do,  and  one  of  the  first 
jobs  he  found'  was  helping  to  dig  the  mill 
race  for  the  first  dam  built  on  the  Blue  river 
at  Blue  Springs.  He  thereafter  secured  three 
yokes  of  open  and  engaged  in  breaking  prairie. 
Though  only  a  poor  boy,  working  by  day  and 
month,  he  donated  twenty-five  dollars  toward 


building  the  first  Methodist  church  at  Beatrice, 
besides  which  he  secured  the  contract  for  haul- 
ing material  used  in  the  erecting  of  that 
church.  He  was  not  old  enough  to  take  a 
homestead  but  he  purchased  a  land  warrant 
held  by  a  soldier  of  the  war  of  1812.  On  this 
land  he  erected  a  one-story  frame  house  four- 
teen by  twenty-two  feet  in  dimensions,  and 
there  he  engaged  in  farming.  When  the  town 
of  M^ymore  was  founded  he  gave  the  undi- 
vided one-half  of  forty  acres  to  start  the  town, 
and  some  of  the  finest  residences  as  well  as 
some  of  the  business  blocks  of  Wymore  are  on 
the  land  where  he  once  carried  on  farming 
pursuits.  In  1881  he  sold  the  remainder  of  his 
one  hundred  and  sirty  acres  to  the  Lincoln 
Land  Company.  In  the  same  year  he  pur- 
chased a  fann  in  Blue  Springs  township,  and 
here  he  continued  to  be  successfully  engaged 
in  farming  until  1901,  when  he  sold  the  prop- 
erty. After  a  year  spent  in  traveling  he 
erected  his  present  residence  in  Blue  Springs, 
where  he  now  lives  in  the  enjoyment  of  well 
earned  rest  and  comfort. 

In  1873  Mr.  Schock  returned  to  Ohio  and 
was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Susan  B.  Snave- 
ly,  a  native  of  Lebanon  county,  Pennsylvania. 
They  have  become  the  parents  of  six  children, 
two  of  whom  are  living:  Charles  W.,  who  as 
a  young  man  manifested  unusual  mechanical 
talent  and  who  is  now  engaged  in  the  manu- 
facture of  special  machinery,  electrical  instru- 
ments, etc.,  is  married  and  resides  in  Minne- 
apolis, Minnesota ;  Hettie  Maude  is  the  widow 
of  Frank  Riefif,  residing  in  Beatrice. 

In  point  of  continuous  residence  few  men 
in  the  south-central  part  of  the  county  have 
been  here  longer  than  Mr.  Schock.  Blue- 
Springs  contained  three  log  cabins  when  he  ar- 
rived. His  first  home  in  the  county  is  still 
doing  service  as  a  residence  and  the  cellar  he- 
bricked  up  more  than  forty-five  years  ago  is 
still  m  service. 

i\Ir.  Schock  was  a  Republican  for  many 
years,  but  he  voted  for  Woodrow  Wilson  twice- 
and  hopes  to  do  so  again.  He  has  never  as- 
pired to  nor  held  public  office.  He  was  one 
of  the  organizers  of  the  Farmers'  Elevator 
Company  of  Blue  Springs,  served  as  its  treas- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


823 


iirer  ten  years,  and  was  the  main  factor  in  or- 
ganizing the  Gage  County  Insurance  Company, 
several  years  ago.  Coming  to  Gage  county 
when  pioneer  conditions  were  to  be  seen  on 
every  hand,  he  has  contributed  his  full  share 
toward  bringing  about  present-day  conditions, 
and  in  his  ventures  he  has  been  successful, 
justly  deserving  to  spend  his  declioing  years 
in  the  enjoyment  of  a  well  earned  rest. 

CHRISTIANAS  L.  HUTCHINSON.  — 
Industry  and  intelligently  directed  effort  in 
past  years  make  it  possible  for  the  subject  of 
this  record  to  live  retired,  surrounded  by  all 
the  necessities  and  many  of  the  comforts  and 
luxuries  of  life.  A  native  of  Pennsylvania, 
Christianas  Lupardus  Hutchinson  was  born  in 
Berks  county,  June  5,  1854,  a  son  of  John  S. 
and  Sarah  (Van  Hart)  Hutchinson.  John  S. 
Hutchinson,  who  was  a  native  of  New  "S'ork 
state  and  of  English  parentage,  was  left 
an  orphan  when  a  child.  He  grew  to  manhood 
in  his  native  state  and  as  a  young  man  he  mar- 
ried Miss  Sarah  Van  Hart,  who  was  born  in 
New  Jersey  of  Holland  Dutch  descent.  In 
1856  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hutchinson  immigrated  to 
Illinois  and  settled  in  Champaign  county, 
where  he  became  a  successful  farmer  and 
where  both  he  and  his  wife  both  passed  the  re- 
mainder of  their  lives. 

Christianas  L.  Hutchinson  grew  to  manhood 
in  Illinois,  attended  district  school  and  under 
the  instructions  of  his  father  learned  the  best 
methods  of  agriculture.  In  his  native  county 
Air.  Hutchinson  married  Miss  Anna  Johnston, 
\\-ho  was  born  in  Illinois  and  who  is  a  daugh- 
ter of  Hale  and  Lucy  Johnston,  the  former 
born  in  New  Hampshire  and  the  latter  a  native 
of  Ohio.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Johnston  were  early 
settlers  in  Champaign  county,  Illinois,  and  both 
have  passed  to  the  life  eternal.  Mr.  Hutchin- 
son was  engaged  in  farming  in  Illinois  until 
1888,  when  he  came  with  his  family  to  Gage 
county,  Nebraska.  Here,  in  1885,  he  had  pur- 
chased two  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land, 
in  Paddock  township.  This  land  was  partially 
improved  and  he  went  to  building,  plow- 
ing and  planting,  —  a  sturdy  exponent  of  civic 
and  industrial  progress.     He  devoted  his  time 


and  energy  to  making  his  one  of  the  finely  im- 
proved farms  of  the  township,  and  there  re- 
mained until  his  removal  to  the  village  of 
Odell.  For  the  past  twelve  years  Mr.  Hutchin- 
son has  lived  a  retired  life,  but  had  his  "girls 
been  boys"  he  would  probably  still  be  on  the 
farm.  The  family  occupy  a  comfortable  home 
in  Odell.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hutchinson  have  two 
daughters  —  Ella  May,  at  home,  and  Anna 
Belle,  wife  of  Howard  Drake,  a  farmer  in 
Paddock  township. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hutchinson  attend  the  Meth- 
odist church,  though  their  religious  beliefs 
coincide  with  the  teachings  of  the  Presbyterian 
church.  In  politics  Mr.  Hutchinson  is  a  Re- 
publican and  he  has  served  efficiently  as  a 
member  of  the  town  council  and  the  school 
board. 

With  no  special  advantages  except  ambition 
and  a  desire  to  succeed,  and  coming  to  this 
county  when  his  possessions  consisted  of  a 
team  of  horses  and  four  hundred  dollars  in 
money,  the  passing  years  have  brought  suc- 
cess to  Mr.  Hutchinson  and  for  thirty  years 
he  has  been  a  valuable  and  valued  member  of 
his  community. 

LON  W.  EPARD  has  been  a  resident  of 
Gage  county  since  he  was  a  youth  of  twenty- 
years  and  for  the  past  twenty-two  years  he 
has  resided  on  his  present  fine  homestead  farm 
of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  in  Section  9, 
Logan  township.  He  was  born  in  Clark 
county,  Ohio,  December  9,  1861,  and  is  a  son 
of  Simon  and  Thurzy  Jane  (Anderson) 
Epard,  both  of  whom  were  born  and  reared  in 
the  old  Buckeye  state,  whence  they  came  to 
Gage  county  in  1880,  the  father  having  for 
years  thereafter  been  engaged  in  farming  in 
Logan  township,  and  having  finally  removed 
to  the  state  of  Kansas,  both  he  and  his  wife 
being  now  venerable  residents  of  Colby,  that 
state,  —  the  former  having  attained  to  the  age 
of  eighty-five  years  (1918)  and  his  wife  being 
about  one  year  his  junior. 

Lon  W.  Epard  was  reared  on  the  old  home 
farm  in  Ohio,  where  he  acquired  his  early 
education  in  the  public  schools,  and  after  com- 
ing with  his  parents  to  Gage  county  he  assisted 


824 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


his  father  in  the  work  and  management  of  the 
latter's  farm  until  he  initiated  his  independent 
career  as  a  farmer.  He  follows  the  even  tenor 
of  his  way  as  a  substantial  farmer  in  Logan 
township  and  he  and  his  wife  are  held  in  high 
esteem  in  the  community.  In  addition  to  his 
home  farm  he  is  the  owner  of  a  recently  ac- 
quired farm  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres, 
Logan  township.  Mr.  Epard  is  aligned  with 
the  Democratic  party  and  he  served  ten  years 
as  a  member  of  the  school  board  of  his  dis- 
trict. 

In  1888  Mr.  Epard  married  Miss  Ida  N. 
Mumford,  who  was  born  and  reared  in  Logan 
township  and  who  is  a  daughter  of  John  B. 
Mumford,  of  whom  personal  mention  is  made 
elsewhere  in  this  volume.  ]\Ir.  and  Mrs.  Epard 
have  one  son,  J.  B.,  who  was  named  in  honor 
of  his  maternal  grandfather  and  who  lacked 
but  four  days  of  being  eligible  for  the  second 
draft  made  in  the  recruiting  of  American  sol- 
diers for  the  great  European  war  in  which  the 
nation  has  become  involved. 

IRA  N.  PICKETT,  M.  D.,  is  a  pioneer  phy- 
sician of  Gage  county,  and  one  who  is  posses- 
sed of  those  reliable  qualities  and  faithful  de- 
votion to  duty  that  make  for  benignant  service 
to  humanity.  He  has  endeared  himself  to  the 
people  of  his  community  and  he  has  also  es- 
tablished an  enviable  reputation  among  his 
professional  confreres  in  the  state. 

Dr.  Pickett's  ancestors  were  natives  of 
Frnnce  and  the  name  was  originally  spelled 
Piquette.  Because  of  religious  persecutions, 
the  family  immigrated  to  England  and  in  the 
early  part  of  the  seventeenth  century  repre- 
sentatives of  the  name  came  to  America  and 
settled  in  North  Carolina.  William  Pickett, 
father  of  Dr.  Ira  N.  Pickett,  was  born  in 
North  Carolina  and  there  married  Miss  Cyrene 
Cook,  also  a  native  of  that  state.  They  later 
became  residents  of  Hamilton  county,  Indi- 
ana, where  Mr.  Pickett  engaged  in  farming. 

Dr.  Ira  N.  Pickett  was  born  in  Indiana, 
June  20,  1852,  and  when  he  was  but  three  years 
of  age  his  father  and  mother  both  passed 
away,  their  deaths  occurring  only  three  months 
apart.     One  of  the  Doctor's  earliest  recollec- 


tions was  that  of  his  father  holding  him  to  the 
window  to  show  him  something  in  an  apple 
tree.  The  dogs  had  treed  a  coon  and  his 
father  was  calling  his  attention  to  it.  On  a 
recent  visit  to  the  old  home  place  the  Doctor 
ate  apples  from  this  same  tree,  which  had  been 
bearing  for  more  than  sixty  years. 

Dr.  Pickett  received  a  common-school  educa- 
tion in  Indiana  and  attended  Whittier  Acad- 
emy, at  Salem,  Henry  county,  Iowa.  He  be- 
gan the  study  of  medicine  at  Red  Oak,  Iowa, 
and  later  returned  to  Indiana  and  entered  the 
College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  at  Thorn- 
town,  that  state,  from  which  institution  he  was 
graduated.  Dr.  Pickett  went  with  the  early 
immigration  into  Statiford  county,  Kansas,  and 
established  himself  for  the  practice  of  medi- 
cine on  that  western  frontier,  in  what  was 
afterward  called  Stafford  county,  his  advent 
there  being  before  county  organization  was 
effected.  In  the  fall  of  1880  Dr.  Pickett  re- 
turned to  Red  Oak,  Iowa,  where  he  remained 
until  the  spring  of  1883,  when  he  sought  a  lo- 
cation in  Nebraska.  He  went  as  far  as  Grand 
Island  on  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  but  find- 
ing no  suitable  location  he  turned  his  course 
toward  southeastern  Nebraska.  At  Lincoln, 
while  waiting  for  a  train,  the  Doctor  was  ac- 
costed by  a  man  who  inquired  his  business,  and 
upon  being  told  he  was  a  physician  looking  for 
a  location,  he  was  advised  by  the  gentleman 
to  come  to  Gage  county  and  open  an  office  in 
the  new  town  of  Filley.  This  gentleman  was 
Elijah  Filley,  who  had  that  day  made  the  trip 
to  Lincoln  for  the  purpose  of  filing  papers  for 
the  establishment  of  the  town  which  bears  his 
name.  The  young  physician  accompanied  his 
newly  found  friend  home  and  for  three  years 
practiced  medicine  at  Filley,  the  while  he 
l)oarded  at  the  home  of  the  founder  of  the 
town.  In  the  spring  of  1886  Dr.  Pickett  es- 
tablished himself  at  Odell,  Nebraska,  where 
he  has  devoted  himself  to  the  practice  of  his 
profession,  through  the  medium  of  which  he 
has  endeared  himself  to  the  people  of  the  com- 
munity. Here  the  Doctor  has  for  the  past 
thirty  years  served  his  people  with  ability,  loy- 
alty and  untiring  devotion  to  duty. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


825 


Dr.  Pickett  was  united  in  marriage  to  Mrs. 
]\Iinnie  Colby,  of  Ridout,  Illinois. 

Dr.  Pickett  was  reared  in  the  faith  of  the 
Society  of  Friends,  and  while  no  organiza- 
tion of  that  faith  exists  at  Odell,  he  has  never 
seen  fit  to  change  his  affiliations.  In  politics 
the  principles  of  the  "Bull  Moose"  wing  of  the 
Republican  party  have  his  endorsement.  Since 
its  organization,  ten  years  ago,  Dr.  Pickett  has 
been  a  member  of  the  Gage  County  Board  of 
Health.  Various  business  enterprises  have 
profited  by  Dr.  Pickett's  co-operation  and  sup- 
port, and  they  have  had  to  do  with  the  up- 
building of  the  town.  Among  these  are  the 
Odell  Vinegar  Company,  of  which  he  was 
president  for  several  years.  He  was  one  of 
the  promoters  and  has  been  a  director  in  the 
Odell  Lumber  Company.  In  strictly  profes- 
sional lines  the  Doctor  is  affiliated  with  the 
American  Medical  Association,  the  Missouri 
\'alley  Medical  Society,  the  Nebraska  State 
^Medical  Society,  of  which  he  was  president 
in  1913,  and  at  the  present  time  (1918)  he  is 
serving  as  president  of  the  Gage  County  Medi- 
cal Society.  Fraternally  Dr.  Pickett  is  a  Ma- 
son and  at  one  time  he  was  worshipful  master 
of  the  Odell  Lodge  of  Ancient  Free  &  Ac- 
cepted Masons. 

In  all  things  that  have  had  to  do  with  the 
moral,  educational  and  material  uplift  and  ad- 
vancement of  .Gage  county.  Dr.  Pickett  has 
given  hearty  support.  Only  three  men  are 
now  in  business  in  the  town  of  Odell  who  were 
here  at  the  time  Dr.  Pickett  arrived,  more 
than  thirty-two  years  ago.  All  these  years 
he  has  been  popular  with  his  townsmen,  both 
as  a  physician  and  as  a  citizen. 

PAUL  F.  MOSELEY  is  one  who  can  claim 
Gage  county  as  the  place  of  his  nativity,  his 
birth  having  occurred  in  Paddock  township, 
March  15,  1888.  He  is  a  son  of  Frank  Mose- 
ley,  of  whoiu  a  memoir  appears  elsewhere  in 
this  volume.  Reared  on  his  father's  farm, 
Paul  F.  jMoseley  spent  his  boyhood  days  be- 
tween his  studies  in  the  district  school  and  his 
father's  home,  where  as  a  boy  he  assisted  in 
the  lighter  duties  connected  with  the  operation 
of  a  large  farm.     As  his  strength  increased  he 


assumed  more  largely  the  heavier  duties,  and 
thus  when  he  reached  young  manhood  he  was 
so  well  versed  in  the  best  methods  of  tilling  the 
soil  and  planting  and  harvesting  crops  that  he 
was  admirably  fortified  when  he  became  a 
farmer  on  his  own  account.  He  is  to-day  op- 
erating a  farm  of  four  hundred  acres  belong- 
ing to  his  father-in-law,  and  is  the  owner  of 
eighty  acres  adjoining  this  tract.  Aside  from 
planting  those  cereals  best  adapted  to  the  soil 
and  climate  he  also  raises  stock  of  all  kinds, 
making  a  specialty  of  breeding  and  raising 
pure-bred  Short-horn  cattle,  and  having  at  the 
time  of  this  writing  thirty  head  of  registered 
animals  on  the  place.  Both  branches  of  his 
business  are  bringing  him  good  returns. 

Mr.  Mosely  married  Miss  Martha  Taylor, 
who  was  born  in  Gage  county,  and  who  is  a 
daughter  of  Sherman  Taylor,  her  father  being 
individually  represented  on  other  pages  of 
this  history.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Moseley  belong  to 
the  younger  generation  of  Gage  county's  citi- 
zens, both  are  natives  of  the  county  and  both 
belong  to  pioneer  families  which  have  done 
much  to  bring  about  the  county's  development 
along  every  line  of  industry.  Mrs.  Moseley 
is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  church  at  Wy- 
niore  and  her  husband  is  serving  the  third 
year  as  a  member  of  the  school  board  of  his. 
district. 


TOBE  PABEN  was  bom  in  Hanover,  Ger- 
many, November  13,  1853.  His  parents  were 
Henry  and  Mary  (Gerdes)  Paben.  When  he 
was  but  ten  years  old  his  father  died,  and  the 
lad  was  thrown  on  his  own  resources.  Later 
his  mother  remarried ;  and  after  the  death  of 
her  second  husband,  Wert  Buss,  she  and  her 
son  came  alone  to  this  country,  settling  in 
Adams  county,  Illinois.  Here  the  mother  died. 

Mr.  Paben  was  only  fourteen  years  of  age 
at  the  time  of  his  arrival  in  America,  but  he 
at  once  started  to  work  on  a  farm,  in  which 
employment  he  continued  until  1873,  when  he 
joined  the  United  States  Regular  Amiy,  serv- 
ing until  1878,  in  Texas  and  New  Mexico,  and 
fighting  in  the  Indian  wars.  He  completed 
his  enlistment  with  credit  and  was  given  an 
honorable  discharge.     Having  thus  given  his 


826 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


service  to  his  country,  he  returned  to  his  home 
in  Illinois,  where  he  operated  a  rented  farm 
for  two  years.  Then,  feeling  that  urge  which 
has  prompted  men  to  leave  old  countries  for 
new  and  which  is  the  moving  cause  of  emigra- 
tion from  older  settlements  to  newer,  he  came 
to  Nebraska,  and  took  up  a  homestead  in  Chey- 
enne county.  He  first  lived,  as  nearly  all  of 
the  other  settlers  did,  in  a  sod  house,  and  this 
was  later  replaced  by  one  of  stone,  showing 
clearly  how  the  new  country  changed  quickly 
from  a  group  of  crude  settlements  into  a  well 
ordered  farming  district.  Ten  years  later,  in 
1890,  he  drove  with  a  team  to  Lawrence,  Mis- 
souri, where  he  remained  for  three  years.  From 
there  he  drove  to  Bates  county,  Missouri,  and 
after  remaining  there  for  three  years  he  went 
to  Lyons,  Kansas.  He  lived  there  for  seven 
years,  and  then  returned  to  Nebraska,  settling 
this  time  in  Logan  township,  Gage  county. 
Here  he  owns,  in  Section  15,  a  good  farm  of 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  well  cultivated 
land,  improved  with  the  good  buildings  typi- 
cal of  our  best  farms.  He  has  served  since 
residing  here  as  a  member  of  the  school 
board,  and  for  the  past  seven  years  has  been 
township  treasurer. 

Mr.  Paben  married  Marie  Flessner,  a  native 
of  Flanover,  Germany,  and  she  is  now  de- 
ceased. Four  children  were  born  of  this  mar- 
riage, three  of  whom  are  living  in  Gage 
county,  Nebraska:  Henry,  who  is  not  mar- 
ried; Alaria,  who  is  married;  Frank,  who  is 
married  and  resides  in  Beatrice.  The  place 
of  abode  of  Menne,  the  other  child,  is  not  at 
present  known  by  his  father.  For  his  second 
wife  Mr.  Paben  married  Engel  (Flessner) 
Johnson,  who  although  bearing  the  same  name 
as  his  former  wife  was  in  no  way  related  to 
her.  She  is  a  native  of  Germany  and  came 
to  this  country  when  nine  years  of  age,  with 
her  parents,  Gerhard  and  Hannah  Flessner. 
They  too  settled  in  Adams  county,  Illinois: 
her  father  is  still  living,  aged  eighty-seven 
years.  By  a  former  marriage,  with  Benjamin 
Johnson,  Mrs.  Paben  became  the  mother  of 
three  children,  two  of  whom  are  living:  Wert, 
who  is  married  and  resides  in  Gage  county, 
and    Lena,    who    is    married    and    resides    in 


Lyons,  Kansas ;  Hannah,  is  deceased.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Paben  have  a  family  of  six  children, 
all  but  one  of  whom  reside  in  Gage  county: 
Misses  Anna  and  Tena,  are  at  home;  Ekie, 
who  is  married,  is  also  at  the  parental  home; 
George,  who  is  married,  and  Bertha,  who  is 
married,  both  reside  in  Gage  county;  and 
Sena,  who  is  married,  resides  in  Lancaster 
county.  The  family  are  members  of  the 
Lutheran  church. 

It  can  appropriately  be  said  of  Mr.  Paben 
that  he  is  one  of  the  great  "world's  vanguard," 
for  he  has  been  in  many  parts  of  the  country 
when  in  their  frontier  stage,  has  shared  with 
other  pioneers  the  hardships  which  beset  the 
settlers  of  western  Nebraska  in  the  early  '80s, 
and  has  done  his  part  in  making  Nebraska  a 
better  country  for  those  who  will  come  aftei 


CHRISTIAN  HAVERLAND.  —  The  Hfe 
record  of  Christian  Haverland  exemplifies 
what  may  be  accomplished  by  industry  and 
perseverance  and  will  serve  as  an  inspiration 
for  those  who  are  willing  to  work,  to  apply 
themselves  industriously  and  to  improve  their 
opportunities. 

The  subject  of  this  memoir  was  born  in 
Germany,  June  22,  1836,  and  there  made  his 
home  until  1869,  when  he  decided  to  seek  a 
home  in  America.  December  26,  1855,  he 
married  Miss  Dora  Brower,  and,  after  a  voy- 
age of  fourteen  days  on  the  steamship  "Ger- 
many" they  landed  in  New  York  city  on  the 
10th  of  June.  They  immediately  started  foi 
Illinois,  arriving  in  Woodford  county  on  the 
15th  of  the  same  month.  During  the  first 
year  he  worked  on  the  railroad  by  the  month 
and  engaged  in  such  other  work  as  would  se- 
cure him  an  honest  livelihood.  He  then  rent- 
ed land  and  engaged  in  farming.  He  remained 
in  that  county  until  1881,  when  he  came  to 
Gage  county,  Nebraska,  and  rented  land  in 
Riverside  township,  where  he  lived  five  years. 
He  then  removed  to  Sicily  township  where  he 
had  bought  land  three  years  previously  and 
where  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  days, 
his  death  having  occurred  October  31,  1916. 
The  wife  he  married  .in  Germany  and  who 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA  827 


Christian  Haverland 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


accompanied  him  to  America  passed  away  in 
Woodford  county,  Illinois,  in  December,  1874, 
and  in  December,  1875,  he  was  united  in  mar- 
riage to  Miss  Elizabeth  Sherling.  Of  the  first 
marriage  two  children,  Emma  and  William, 
were  born  in  Germany  and  Louis  was  born  in 
Illinois.  These  three  children  still  make  their 
home  on  the  farm  in  Sicily  township.  To  the 
second  marriage  were  born  three  children : 
Herman  resides  in  Burbank,  Cahfornia;  Min- 
nie is  a  resident  of  Lincoln,  Nebraska;  and 
Frederick  died  at  the  age  of  twenty-six  years. 
When  Mr.  Haverland  arrived  in  America 
his  possessions  in  worldly  goods  consisted  of 
one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  in  money,  but 
he  was  possessed  of  sterling  integrity  and  a 
determination  to  win,  with  the  result  that  he 
made  a  success  of  life.  He  was  a  good 
Christian  man  and  loyal  citizen.  Pioneer  con- 
ditions still  existed  in  Gage  county  when  he 
came  here  and  he  did  his  full  share  to  help 
make  it  a  better  place  in  which  to  live.  Three 
children,  unmarried,  still  continue  to  make 
their  home  on  the  farm  where  the  father 
spent  so  many  years  and  they  are  not  only  ap- 
preciative of  the  fact  that  he  left  them  a 
splendid  property  and  home,  but  also  cherish 
his  memory  and  hold  in  loving  remembrance 
the  name  of  one  who  commanded  the  respect 
and  unqualified  esteem  of  all  who  knew  him. 
His  sons  and  daughters  to-day  occupy  an  en- 
viable place  in  the  community.  The  two  sons 
in  Gage  county  carry  on  their  agricultural 
pursuits  and  continue  in  the  noble  line  of 
productive  endeavor  followed  so  earnestly  and 
efifectively  by  their  honored  father. 

HENRY  KRUEGER  belongs  to  that  ster- 
ling and  industrious  class  of  citizens  which 
Germany  has  furnished  to  the  United  States, 
his  birth  having  occurred  in  the  Province  of 
Hanover,  Germany,  March  10,  1853,  and  his 
parents,  Christ  and  Margaret  Krueger,  having 
spent  their  entire  lives  in  their  native  land. 
When  a  young  man  of  eighteen  years  Henry 
Krueger  came  to  the  L^nited  States,  and  his 
first  American  experience  v/as  gained  during 
sixteen  months  passed  on  a  farm  at  Downer's 
Grove,  near  Chicago,  Illinois.     He  then  came 


to  Kansas  and  worked  on  a  farm  near  Han- 
over, in  Washington  county.  Carefully  sav- 
ing his  earnings,  he  finally  was  able  to  pur- 
chase one  hundred  and  seventy-five  acres  in 
Glenwood  township.  Gage  county,  Nebraska, 
just  outside  the  corporate  limits  of  Odell. 
Here  he  was  successfully  engaged  in  farming 
for  several  years.  Six  years  ago  he  purchased 
two  hundred  and  forty  acres  in  the  same  town- 
ship, and  here  he  now  makes  his  home.  He 
is  the  owner  of  four  hundred  and  fifteen  acres 
of  land,  and  this  statement  indicates  the  pros- 
perity that  has  come  to  him,  and  that  entirely 
through  the  earnest  efforts  and  careful  man- 
agement of  himself  and  his  good  wife. 

Mr.  Krueger  married  Miss  Caroline  Shatta, 
who  is  a  native  of  Marshall  county,  Kansas, 
and  of  German  descent.  Concerning  their 
children  the  following  record  is  given :  Katie 
is  the  wife  of  Henry  Bachhouse,  of  Horton, 
Kansas  ;  Lena,  is  the  wife  of  Howard  Avey,  of 
Beatrice,  Nebraska ;  Henry  is  a  farmer  in 
Glenwood  township ;  Lizzie,  is  the  wife  of  Fay 
Phillips,  a  farmer  in  Paddock  township ;  and 
Dora,  Fred,  John,  Tracy,  Frank,  and  Jesse 
are  all  at  home.  The  family  attend  the  Chris- 
tian church.  In  politics  Mr.  Krueger  is  a 
Democrat.  He  has  no  reason  to  regret  coming 
to  America,  for  heie  he  has  found  an  oppor- 
tunity the  old  world  could  not  offer,  and  has 
been  a  very  successful  man. 

HERBERT  R.  RUYLE,  whose  pleasant 
home  is  at  1518  Elk  street  in  the  city  of  Bea- 
trice, is  a  representative  of  one  of  the  well 
known  families  of  Gage  county  and  on  other 
pages  of  this  publication  is  given  adequate 
record  concerning  the  family  history,  these 
data  appearing  in  the  memoir  dedicated  to  his 
father,  the  late  William  H.  Ruyle. 

He  whose  name  initiates  this  sketch  has  won 
high  reputation  through  his  service  as  a  public 
auctioneer,  and  has  conducted  innumerable 
auction  sales  throughout  this  section  of  the 
state.  He  was  born  in  Logan  township,  this 
county,  on  the  23d  of  March,  1885,  and  was 
reared  to  manhood  on  his  father's  farm  in 
Gage  county,  Nebraska,  his  common  school 
education    having    been    supplemented    bv    a 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


829 


course  in  a  business  college  in  Beatrice,  and  a 
course  in  agriculture  at  the  University  of  Ne- 
braska. His  independent  activities  as  a 
farmer  were  initiated  in  this  county  and  were 
continued  four  years,  at  the  expiration  of 
which  he  went  to  Franklin  county,  where  he 
engaged  in  the  buying  and  shipping  of  live 
stock  and  also  in  farm  auctioneering.  His 
facility  as  an  expert  auctioneer  has  substantial 
basis,  for  in  1907  he  was  graduated  in  the 
Jones  Auctioneering  College,  in  the  city  of 
Chicago.  Mr.  Ruyle  continued  his  residence 
in  Franklin  county  until  October,  1915,  when 
he  established  his  residence  in  the  city  of  Be- 
atrice. 

February  16,  1907,  recorded  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  Ruyle  to  Miss  Ina  A.  Jeflfries,  who  was 
bom  at  Springfield,  Illinois,  on  the  4th  of  June, 
1886,  a  daughter  of  William  B.  and  Martha 
(Eester)  Jefifries,  natives  respectively  of 
Tennessee  and  Illinois,  in  which  latter  state 
their  marriage  was  solemnized,  and  whence 
they  came  to  Nebraska  and  settled  in  Gage 
county  in  1886,  their  home  at  the  present  time 
being  on  a  farm  a  few  miles  east  of  Beatrice. 
Of  the  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jeffries  the 
eldest  is  Edith,  who  is  the  wife  of  Earl  Wright, 
of  Peru,  this  state ;  Mrs.  Ruyle  was  the  next 
in  order  of  birth ;  William  E.  is  a  farmer  in 
Rockford  township ;  Lillie  E.  is  the  wife  of 
Thomas  Dunn,  of  the  same  township;  and 
Frances  remains  at  the  parental  home.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Ruyle  have  four  children :  Edna 
E.,  Everett  H.,  Jeanette  I.  and  Martha  L. 

In  politics  Mr.  Ruyle  is  numbered  among  the 
loyal  supporters  of  the  cause  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party  and  he  and  his  wife  are  members 
of  the  Centenary  Alethodist  Epicopal  church 
in  Beatrice.  In  addition  to  his  substantial 
auctioneering  business  Mr.  Ruyle  is  the  owner 
of  a  well  improved  farm,  in  Rockford  town- 
ship. 

OLIVER  C.  MUMFORD,  whose  home- 
stead farm,  an  integral  part  of  the  undivided 
family  estate,  is  situated  in  Section  4,  Logan 
township,  is  one  of  the  vigorous  and  popular 
young  representatives  of  farm  enterprise  in  his 
native  county,  adequate  record  concerning  the 


family  history  being  given  on  other  pages  of 
this  publication,  —  in  the  sketch  of  the  career 
of  G.  L.  Mumford. 

Oliver  C.  Mumford  was  born  in  Logan 
township,  on  the  26th  of  August,  1887,  and 
was  reared  to  the  benignant  discipline  of  the 
farm,  the  while  he  made  proper  use  of  the  ad- 
vantages of  the  public  schools  of  his  home 
township.  His  entire  adult  career  has  been 
marked  by  consecutive  association  with  farm 
enterprise  on  land  comprising  a  part  of  the 
estate  of  his  father,  and  in  his  progressive  op- 
erations as  an  agriculturist  and  stock-grower 
he  now  utilizes  an  adequate  area  of  land.  Mr. 
Ivlumford  is  a  fancier  of  fine  horses  and  is  the 
owner  of  a  standard-bred  horse  to  which  he 
has  given  the  name  of  "Fred  Hill,"  this  animal 
having  made  a  turf  record  of  19)4  ;  the  horse 
was  sired  by  "Milton  Cook,"  and  its  dam  was 
"Alice  Hill."  Mr.  Mumford  takes  deep  inter- 
est in  all  things  touching  the  wellbeing  of  the 
county  in  which  he  was  bom  and  reared  and 
with  the  history  of  which  the  family  name  has 
been  worthily  linked  since  the  early  pioneer 
days.  In  politics  he  gives  his  allegiance  to  the 
Democratic  party. 

January  22,  1913,  recorded  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Mumford  to  Miss  Ginevra  Nietman,  who 
was  born  in  the  city  of  Beatrice,  this  county,  a 
daughter  of  H[enr\'  and  Minnie  (Jens)  Niet- 
man, both  of  whom  were  born  in  Germany 
and  both  of  whom  were  children  at  the  time 
of  the  immigration  of  the  respective  families 
to  the  United  States.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Neitman 
came  to  Gage  county  in  the  '80s  and  she  is  now 
deceased,  Mr.  Nietman  being  now  retired  from 
active  business  and  still  retaining  his  residence 
at  Beatrice.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mumford  have  a 
winsome  little  daughter,  Kathryn  Loraine,  wh.^ 
was  born  December  23,  1914.  Mr.  Mumford 
is  affiliated  with  the  Fraternal  Order  of  Eagles 
and  his  v/ife  is  a  member  of  the  Lutheran 
church. 

STEPHEN  A.  SMITH,  —  Since  the  pio- 
neer days  the  subject  of  this  review  has  been 
a  resident  of  Gage  county  and  not  only  has  he 
been  witness  of  the  changes  that  have  taken 
place  but  has  also,  for  forty-eight  years,  been 


830 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


an  active  force  in  bringing  about  our  present 
day  development. 

Stephen  Allen  Smith  was  born  in  AIcAIinn 
county,  Tennessee,  March  17,  1845,  and  is  the 
son  of  Elijah  S.  and  Mary  J.  (Winton)  Smith, 
the  former  a  native  of  North  Carolina  and  of 
English  descent,  the  latter  born  in  Tennessee, 
in  which  state  they  were  married  April  4,  1844. 
In  1849  they  moved  to  Illinois  and  became  pio- 
neer settlers  of  McDonough  county,  where 
Elijah  S.  Smith  achieved  substantial  success  as 
:a  farmer.  They  spent  the  remainder  of  their 
lives  in  this  county,  living  retired  in  later  years 
at  Goodhope,  Illinois,  where  they  both  passed 
away. 

The  boyhood  days  of  Stephen  A.  Smith  were 
spent  on  the  Illinois  farm  and  his  early  educa- 
tion was  gained  in  the  public  schools  of  the 
neighborhood,  this  discipline  being  supple- 
mented by  his  attending  a  college  at  Burling- 
ton, Iowa.  When  a  young  man  of  twenty-one 
years  he  began  his  independent  career,  — 
working  on  a  farm  by  the  month,  and  in  those 
days  one  dollar  a  day  was  considered  large 
wages  for  the  service  which  he  thus  rendered. 

In  1870  Mr.  Smith  came  to  Nebraska  in 
true  pioneer  style.  He  drove  overland  with 
team  and  covered  wagon  and  crossed  the  Mis- 
souri river  at  Nebraska  City.  After  reaching 
the  Nebraska  side  he  started  west,  and  the 
wind  was  blowing  such  a  gale  that  he  saw 
plows  and  harrows  left  in  the  fields  and  nearly 
covered  with  sand.  This  could  not  have 
proved  a  very  encouraging  sight,  but  he 
pressed  on  and  arrived  at  Beatrice,  Gage 
county  on  the  19th  of  April.  He  found  lodg- 
ing at  Blythe's  bakery  and  hotel  and  the  next 
morning  started  for  Sicily  township,  intend- 
ing to  follow  the  ridge  south  from  Beatrice. 
It  was  snowing  and  blowing  so  badly  that 
he  could  hardly  see,  and  after  many  hours  he 
came  to  a  road.  This  he  followed,  and  to- 
ward evening  he  could  see  ahead  of  him,  signs 
of  a  settlement.  As  he  drew  near  he  found 
he  had  returned  to  Beatrice,  from  the  west, 
as  he  had  traveled  in  a  circle  during  the  storm. 
Again  he  stayed  all  night  in  the  same  place  as 
the  night  before.  The  next  day,  under  more 
favorable  circumstances,  he  reached  his  des- 


tination in  Sicily  township,  where  he  and  his 
brothers  had  bought  three  hundred  and  twenty 
acres  of  wild,  unbroken  prairie.  Mr.  Smith 
set  resolutely  to  work  to  make  a  home.  After 
ten  years  he  sold  his  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  there  and  moved  to  Blue  Springs  town- 
ship, where  his  wife  had  inherited  a  tract  of 
land.  For  many  years  Mr.  Smith  conducted 
a  nursery  on  his  farm,  and  thus  he  aided  and 
encouraged  in  no  small  degree  the  planting 
of  trees,  both  fruit  and  ornamental.  His 
landed  possessions  in  Gage  county  were  three 
hundred  and  twenty  acres,  in  Blue  Springs 
township,  and  he  also  owns  land  in  Kansas 
and  Canada.  ■ 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smith  have  for  several  years 
past  made  visits  to  Canada  during  the  succes- 
sive summers  and  have  there  spent  several 
weeks  in  recreation  and  looking  after  their  in- 
vestments. 

On  November  11,  1874,  was  solemnized  the 
marriage  of  Mr.  Smith  to  Miss  Henrietta 
Tobyne,  who  was  born  in  Ogle  county,  Illi- 
nois, July  19,  1855.  She  is  a  daughter  ot 
James  N.  and  Caroline  (Zeitz)  Tobyne,  the 
former  born  in  Canada,  the  latter  in  Ger- 
many. Mrs.  Smith's  parents  became  resi- 
dents of  Gage  county.  May  19,  1868:  they  set- 
tled in  Blue  Springs  township,  where  the 
father  became  an  extensive  land  owner,  and  in 
this  township  they  both  passed  the  remainder 
of  their  lives.  Mr.  Tobyne  died  at  the  age  of 
sixty-one  years,  and  his  wife  was  sixty-two 
years  of  age  at  the  time  of  her  death. 

Three  children  came  to  make  the  home 
happy  for  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smith :  Leslie  Allen 
died  at  the  age  of  twenty-two  years;  Lenley 
Elton  married  Miss  Lizzie  McMichaels  and  he 
is  a  farmer  in  Blue  Springs  township;  and 
Miss  Estelle  A.  remains  with  her  parents. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smith  are  members  of  the 
Methodist  church,  in  which  they  have  been 
active  workers  for  many  years.  In  politics 
Mr.  Smith  was  a  Democrat  for  many  years, 
but  he  is  now  inclined  to  vote  for  men  and 
measures,  regardless  of  party.  In  recent  years 
he  has  given  his  support  to  the  prohibition 
movement,  the  cause  of  temperance  finding  in 
him   a     stalwart    champion.     He    served    as 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  XKBRASKA 


831 


treasurer  of  his  school  district  while  residing 
in  Sicily  township,  as  did  he  also  after  remov- 
ing to  Blue  Springs  township  and  while  here 
living  on  his  farm.  When  the  Fanners'  Grain 
Company  of  Blue  Springs  was  organized,  six- 
teen years  ago,  Mr.  Smith  was  one  of  its 
founders,  and  he  has  served  as  its  president 
since  that  time. 

]\Ir.  Smith  and  his  wife  and  daughter  oc- 
cupy a  beautiful  home  in  Blue  Springs,  sur- 
rounded with  all  the  necessities  and  many  of 
the  luxuries  of  life,  and  though  retired  from 
the  active  labors  of  former  years  Mr.  Smith 
still  keeps  in  touch  with  affairs  connected  with 
the  Grain  Company  and  otherwise  gives  his 
supervision  to  his  investments.  He  is  one 
of  Gage  county's  most  respected  citizens,  and 
the  success  and  honor  that  have  come  to  him 
are  justly  deserved. 

FRED  N.  CRANGLE,  an  active  and  repre- 
sentative business  man  at  Blue  Springs,  was 
born  in  Henry  county,  Illinois,  January  2, 
1874.  He  is  a  son  of  William  F.  Crangle,  of 
Beatrice,  (a  sketch  of  whom  appears  on  other 
pages  of  this  history.) 

Fred  N.  Crangle  came  to  Nebraska  with  his 
parents  when  a  child,  and  received  his  early 
education  in  the  country  schools  of  Gage 
county,  after  which  he  took  a  course  in  the 
Northwestern  Business  College  of  Beatrice. 
He  followed  farming  in  Gage  county  for  a 
number  of  years.  In  1910  Mr.  Crangle  moved 
to  Butler  county,  Kansas,  where  he  bought  a 
ranch  of  nine  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  which 
he  still  owns,  besides  being  the  owner  of  land 
in  Sedgwick  county,  that  state.  For  four 
years  Mr.  Crangle  was  traveling  salesman  for 
the  International  Harvester  Company,  and  at 
one  time  he  was  assistant  state  manager  in 
Kansas  for  that  company.  In  1915  he  re- 
turned to  Beatrice,  but  soon  afterward  he 
moved  to  Blue  Springs  and  began  work  foi 
Black  Brothers'  Mill  Company,  in  charge  of 
their  grain  elevator.  By  this  company  he  is 
still  employed. 

On  June  8,  1898,  Mr.  Crangle  was  united  in 
marriage  to  Miss  Nettie  A.  Cavett,  daughter 
of  Reuben  and  Calista  Cavett.     Mrs.  Crangle 


was  born  in  Illinois  and  came  to  Gage  county 
with  her  parents  in  1882.  Mr.  Cavett  now 
makes  his  home  with  the  Crangle  family  in 
Blue  Springs.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Crangle  are  the 
parents  of  four  children :  Paul,  Beulah,  Bes- 
sie, and  Abbie. 

In  politics  Mr.  Crangle  is  a  Republican.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  Royal  Highlanders  at  Bea- 
trice, and  he  and  his  family  are  members  of 
the  ]\Iethodist  church. 

Mr.  Crangle  has  been  a  very  successful  man 
and  now  owns  several  hundred  acres  of  land 
in  Kansas,  besides  a  nice  home  in  the  town 
of  Blue  Springs. 

THEODORE  BOHNSTEDT  maintains 
representative  status  as  one  of  the  prominent 
and  influential  exponents  of  farm  industry  in 
Hanover  township,  where  his  attractive  home- 
stead place  is  situated  in  Section  10,  and  as  a 
substantial  and  honored  citizen  of  the  county 
he  merits  specific  recognition  in  this  publica- 
tion. 

Mr.  Bohnstedt  was  born  in  Richland 
county,  Illinois,  August  10,  1862,  and  is  a  son 
of  Charles  and  Mary  E.  (Capel)  Bohnstedt, 
the  former  a  native  of  Germany  and  the  latter 
of  the  state  of  Pennsylvania.  The  marriage 
of  the  parents  was  solemnized  in  Zanesville, 
Ohio,  and  within  a  short  time  thereafter  they 
removed  to  Richland  county,  Illinois,  where 
Charles  Bohnstedt  purchased  a  farm  of  eighty 
acres.  He  became  one  of  the  successful  farm- 
ers and  representative  citizens  of  Richland 
county  and  there  continued  his  residence  until 
his  death,  which  occurred  June  9,  1915,  his 
widow  being  still  a  resident  of  the  county  in 
which  they  established  their  home  many  years 
ago.  Mr.  Bohnstedt  was  a  Democrat  prior 
to  the  Civil  war  and  thereafter  transferred  his 
allegiance  to  the  Republican  party.  His  re- 
ligious faith  was  that  of  the  Evangelical 
church,  his  widow  now  being  a  member  of  the 
United  Brethren  church.  He  finally  traded 
his  farm  for  property  in  the  village  of  Olney, 
Illinois,  where  he  passed  the  residue  of  his 
life.  He  was  a  son  of  Charles  Bohnstedt, 
who  established  the  family  home  in  Pennsyl- 
vania upon  coming  to  America,  but  who  later 


832 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


removed  to  Ohio  and  finally  to  Illinois,  in 
which  state  his  death  occurred.  David  Capel, 
maternal  grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this 
review,  was  a  native  of  France  and  after  com- 
ing to  the  United  States  he  established  his 
home  in  Pennsylvania,  whence  he  later  re- 
moved to  Ohio,  where  he  passed  the  rest  of  his 
hfe. 

Theodore  Bohnstedt  was  reared  and  edu- 
cated in  Illinois  and  was  twenty-three  years  of 
age  when,  in  1885,  he  came  to  Nebraska  and 
established  his  home  in  Gage  county.  For 
two  years  he  was  here  employed  by  William 
Townsend,  one  of  whose  daughters  he  event- 
ually wedded,  and  after  thus  taking  to  him- 
self a  wife  he  resided  one  year  in  the  city 
of  Beatrice.  He  then  turned  his  attention  to 
farm  industry',  and  since  1909  he  has  rented 
and  conducted  progressive  farm  enterprise  on 
the  half  section  of  land  which  he  rents  of 
Robert  Littlejohn.  He  follows  a  vigorous 
course  in  his  operations  as  an  agriculturist 
and  stock-grower  and  makes  his  business  en- 
terprise one  of  definitely  successful  order. 

In  May,  1887,  was  solemnized  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  Bohnstedt  to  Miss  Mary  Townsend,  a 
daughter  of  the  late  William  Townsend,  to 
whom  a  memoir  is  dedicated  on  other  pages  of 
this  volume.  Of  the  ten  children  born  to  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Bohnstedt  eight  are  living:  Harry 
L.  is  a  skilled  mechanic  and  is  employed  in 
an  electric-light  plant  at  Oak,  Nebraska  ;  and 
the  other  children  remain  at  the  parental  home, 
—  Hazel,  Velma,  Puane,  Alaude,  I\label,  Mar- 
jorie  and  Preston. 

In  politics  Mr.  Bohnstedt  is  found  aligned 
as  a  staunch  supporter  of  the  cause  of  the 
Democratic  party  and  though  he  has  had  no 
ambition  for  official  prefennent  of  any  kind  he 
has  shown  his  civic  loyalty  by  eflfective  service 
as  road  supervisor  and  as  a  member  of  the 
school  board  of  his  district. 

GEORGE  N.  PENCE  was  twenty-four 
years  of  age  when  he  came  from  the  old  Buck- 
eye state  to  Gage  county,  in  1885 ;  and  his 
activities  since  that  time  have  shown  signifi- 
cantly that  a  generous  measure  of  prosperity 
has  been  here  possible  of  achievement  on  the 


part  of  the  man  of  industry  and  integrity  who 
will  apply  himself  diligently  along  the  line  of 
agricultural  and  live-stock  enterprise.  He 
owns  and  has  made  excellent  improvements 
upon  his  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres, 
in  Section  18,  Logan  township,  where  he  is 
now  living  practically  retired,  the  farm  being 
rented  to  a  good  tenant. 

George  Newton  Pence  was  born  in  Adams 
county,  Ohio,  on  the  13th  of  August,  1861, 
and  is  a  son  of  Louis  and  Harriet  (Mowry) 
Pence,  who  passed  their  entire  lives  in  that 
fine  old  commonwealth.  Mr.  Pence  was 
reared  and  educated  in  Ohio  and  there  con- 
tinued his  association  with  agricultural  pur- 
suits until  1885,  when  he  came  to  Gage 
county  and  found  employment  at  farm  work, 
at  a  compesation  of  eighteen  dollars  a  month. 
He  carefully  conserved  his  earnings  during 
the  eight  years  he  was  thus  engaged  and  then 
turned  his  attention  to  independent  activities 
on  a  rented  farm.  Finally  he  purchased  his 
present  homestead,  in  1902,  and  he  has  de- 
veloped the  same  into  one  of  the  excellent 
farms  of  Logan  township,  all  of  the  buildings 
on  the  place  having  been  erected  by  him  and 
unequivocal  success  having  attended  his  ef- 
forts during  his  active  career  as  a  progressive 
and  substantial  exponent  of  farm  enterprise 
in  Gage  county.  He  is  aligned  in  the  ranks 
of  the  Democratic  party,  has  been  liberal  in 
support  of  measures  and  enterprises  projected 
for  the  general  good  of  the  community  but  has 
had  no  ambition  for  political  activity  or  of- 
ficial preferement. 

In  1889  Mr.  Pence  married  Miss  Clara  B. 
Mumford,  who  was  born  and  reared  in  this 
county  and  who  is  a  daughter  of  the  late  John 
B.  Mumford,  an  eariy  settler  and  honored 
pioneer  of  the  county.  Mrs.  Pence  passed  to 
the  life  eternal  in  1901  and  is  survived  by  one 
son,  Albert,  who  is  a  successful  famier  in 
Logan  township. 

WALTER  V.  LANCASTER,  who  is  now 
living  retired  in  the  city  of  Beatrice,  his  pleas- 
ant home  being  at  625  North  Eighth  street, 
held  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  a  place  of 
prominence  as  one  of  the  representative  farm- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


833 


ers  of  this  county,  and  he  is  still  the  owner 
of  a  valuable  farm  property  of  two  hundred 
and  forty  acres,  in  Holt  township. 

Walter  Vivian  Lancaster  was  born  in  Ma- 
coupin county,  Illinois,  August  15,  1863,  and 
is  a  son  of  William  Lancaster,  whose  father, 
Frank  Lancaster,  was  a  pioneer  settler  in  the 
state  of  Illinois,  adequate  record  concerning 
the  family  history  being  given  on  other  pages 
of  this  publication,  in  the  sketch  dedicated  to 
Raymond  Lancaster,  a  brother  of  him  whose 
name  introduces  this  article.  Walter  V. 
Lancaster  was  reared  and  educated  in  his  na- 
tive county,  where  he  attended  the  district 
schools  and  later  the  village  schools  of  Girard. 
He  assisted  his  father  in  farm  operations  and 
upon  attaining  to  his  legal  majority  he  came 
to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  and  purchased  his 
present  landed  estate  of  two  hundred  and 
forty  acres,  in  Holt  township,  the  farm  having 
been  reclaimed  and  measureably  improved. 
He  made  this  one  of  the  model  farms  of  the 
township  and  there  developed  a  most  pros- 
perous enterprise  along  the  lii;es  of  diversi- 
fied agriculture,  stockgrowing  and  dairying, 
special  success  having  attended  his  activities 
as  a  feeder  and  shipper  of  cattle,  in  which  field 
of  enterprise  his  operations  were  conducted  on 
a  somewhat  extensive  scale.  •  After  remaining 
on  his  farm  for  twenty-five  years  he  removed 
to  Beatrice  and  his  younger  son  now  has  the 
active  management  of  the  farm. 

Mr.  Lancaster  has  shown  lively  interest  in 
the  things  that  touch  the  communal  welfare,  is 
a  staunch  suppoiter  of  the  principles  of  the 
Democratic  party,  and  in  addition  to  having 
served  three  years  as  clerk  of  Holt  township 
he  served  many  years  as  school  director  of  his 
district  while  still  residing  on  his  farm. 

In  Illinois,  in  1884,  was  solemnized  the 
marriage  of  Mr.  Lancaster  to  Miss  Alice 
Barnes,  who  was  born  in  Mason  county,  that 
state,  a  daughter  of  George  and  Clarissa 
(Hovey)  Barnes,  natives  respectively  of  Ver- 
mont and  Massachusetts  and  both  young  at 
the  time  of  the  removal  of  the  respective  fam- 
ilies to  Macoupin  county,  Illinois.  In  that 
county  was  recorded  the  marriage  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Barnes  and  eventually  they  removed 


to  Mason  county,  that  state,  where  he  en- 
gaged in  farming.  In  that  county  Mrs. 
Barnes  remained  until  her  death  and  her  hus- 
band passed  the  closing  years  of  his  life  with 
his  daughter,  in  Gage  county,  Nebraska.  The 
paternal  grandfather  of  Mrs.  Lancaster  was 
Nathaniel  Barnes  and  her  maternal  grand- 
father, Daniel  Gilbert  Hovey,  was  a  minute- 
man  who  gave  patriotic  service  as  a  soldier  in 
the  war  of  the  Revolution.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Lancaster  are  zealous  members  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  church  and  they  have  a  wide 
circle  of  friends  in  their  home  city  and  county. 
They  have  two  children :  Clark  is  a  skilled 
mechanic  and  he  and  his  wife,  whose  maiden 
name  was  May  Evans,  reside  with  his  parents, 
their  children  being  Mabel  and  Eunice;  Oscar 
W.,  who  has  charge  of  his  father's  farm,  mar- 
ried Miss  Maude  Ford  and  they  have  three 
children, — Eliza,  Beatrice  and  William  Wal- 
ter. 

ROBERT  C.  HEMPHILL.  — The  late 
Robert  C.  Hemphill  was  one  of  the  gallant 
patriots  who  fought  to  save  our  country  from 
dissolution  when  its  integrity  was  menaced  by 
armed  rebellion,  and  who  fought  equally  well 
in  the  great  nature-conflict  necessary  to  re- 
deem the  prairies  and  make  them  blossom  as 
the  rose.  Mr.  Hemphill  served  in  the  Civil 
war  for  three  years,  in  the  Army  of  the  Po- 
tomac, as  a  member  of  Company  F,  Thirteenth 
Pennsylvania  Cavalry.  He  served  his  country 
faithfully.  There  were  no  brilHant  attacks  or 
high-handed  captures  to  his  credit,  but  he 
knew  all  of  the  hardships  and  privations  the 
soldier  had  to  undergo  to  be  at  hand  when  his 
country  nee<led  him.  But  with  all  of  the  hard- 
ships came  the  glory  at  the  end,  when  his  coun- 
try was  united  in  body  and  spirit.  He  was 
honorably  discharged  May  2,  1865. 

Robert  Hemphill  was  born  April  24,  1841, 
in  Cumberland  county,  Pennsylvania.  On  the 
13th  of  February,  1868,  he  married  Margaret 
J.  Brown  and  to  this  union  were  born  nine 
children,  eight  of  whom  are  living:  Robert 
B.  is  a  resident  of  Riverside  township.  Gage 
county;  Ella  O.  is  the  wife  of  W.  P.  Car- 
rithers,    of    Beatrice;    William    J.    resides    at 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


835 


Lincoln,  Nebraska ;  Bessie  died  November  30, 
1899;  Walter  C.  resides  in  Lincoln  township, 
this  county;  Helen  M.  is  the  wife  of  C.  H. 
Lunbeck,  living  at  Blue  Springs,  Nebraska ; 
Carrie  B.  is  the  wife  of  Lewis  Sears,  of  Ball- 
ston  Spa,  New  York ;  Charles  V.  lives  in 
Lincoln  township,  Gage  county ;  and  Agnes 
O.  is  the  wife  of  Ralph  Clark,  of  Riverside 
township. 

In  1883  Robert  C.  Hemphill  came  with  his 
family  to  Beatrice,  Nebraska,  and  purchased 
land  southwest  of  the  city,  in  what  is  now 
Elm  township.  He  came  in  the  days  when  the 
pioneer  front  guards  had  opened  the  way  but 
when  there  was  need  for  men  of  determined 
spirit  and  a  willingness  to  make  sacrifices  for 
the  upbuilding  of  a  great  agricultural  com- 
munity. He  continued  his  successful  farm 
enterprise  until  1908,  when  he  retired  and  es- 
tablished his  home  in  the  city  of  Beatrice, 
where  he  remained  until  his  death,  January 
24,  1918.  He  was  an  honored  member  of 
Rawlins  Post,  No.  35,  Grand  Army  of  the 
Republic,  at  Beatrice,  and  just  before  his  de- 
mise he  was  elected  commander  of  the  post, 
though  he  officiated  at  only  one  meeting  after 
his  election. 

When  Mr.  Hemphill  and  his  wife  came  to 
this  county,  in  1883,  they  allied  themselves 
with  the  Presbyterian  church.  In  1888  he 
was  elected  ruling  elder,  and  for  thirty  years 
he  filled  this  place  with  true  Christian  faith- 
fulness. In  its  support  this  church  received 
liberally  of  his  time  and  money  at  all  times. 
He  was  interested  also  in  his  township  and 
county,  and  when  they  needed  a  man  to  be  a 
servant  of  the  people  he  gave  of  his  time  and 
ability  to  such  service.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  Gage  county  board  of  supervisors  and  was 
county  assessor  for  five  years.  In  this  latter 
capacity  he  became  specially  well  known  to 
many  of  the  residents  of  the  county. 

Mr.  Hemphill's  devoted  wife  was  born  in 
Cumberland  county,  Pennsylvania,  in  1846, 
and  she  passed  to  her  reward  September  17, 
1909.  Two  sons,  Walter  C,  and  Charles  V., 
purchased  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land 
in  Section  28,  Lincoln  township,,  in  1911. 
These  two  brothers  are  farming  these  acres 


jointly.  They  were  just  lads  when  they  ar- 
rived in  Gage  county  and  have  spent  the 
greater  part  of  their  lives  here.  Walter  C. 
was  born  Februar}'  20,  1875,  and  Charles  V. 
was  born  March  1,  1881,  both  being  natives  of 
Cumberland  county,  Pennsylvania.  They  re- 
ceived their  education  in  the  district  schools 
and  have  devoted  their  time  to  the  tilling  ot 
the  soil.  They  are  successful  farmers,  hav- 
ing improved  their  farm  with  not  only  utility 
in  view  but  beauty  as  well.  The  commodious 
house  and  barn  well  attest  to  their  ability  and 
progressiveness.  On  their  farm  they  feed  a 
good  many  cattle  for  the  market  each  year 
and  this  business  is  done  on  a  somewhat  ex- 
tensive scale. 

Charles  V.  Hemphill  married  Miss  Maude 
Wells,  of  Jefferson  county,  Nebraska,  and 
they  have  four  children,  Neva,  Ruby,  Dorothy, 
and  Clark  —  all  at  home  with  their  parents. 

Walter  C.  Hemphill  is  still  a  bachelor  and 
shares  the  home  with  his  brother  and  family. 
These  two  young  men  are  valued  members  of 
their  community,  conduct  their  farming  op- 
erations in  a  strictly  businesslike  manner  and 
they  are  keeping  abreast  of  the  time  along 
agricultural  lines.  They  are  Republicans  in 
politics. 

ANTON  DVORAK.  — The  subject  of  this 
record  is  a  prosperous  farmer  residing  in  Glen- 
wood  township.  He  was  born  in  Bohemia. 
Germany,  February  1,  1866.  His  parents, 
Frank  and  Frances  Dvorak,  also  natives  of 
Bohemia,  came  to  the  United  States  in  1876 
and  settled  in  Richardson  county,  Nebraska, 
where  the  father  became  a  prosperous  farmer 
and  extensive  land  owner.  Both  passed 
away  in  Richardson  county,  the  father  at  the 
age  of  seventy  years  and  the  mother  at 
seventy-five.  They  were  the  parents  of  four 
sons,  all  of  whom  are  living:  Frank,  resides 
in  Pawnee  county,  Nebraska,  and  Adolph  in 
Missouri ;  Anton  is  the  subject  of  this  sketclj ; 
and  John  lives  in  Chicago. 

Anton  Dvorak  was  ten  years  old  when  the 
home  was  transferred  to  the  New  World,  and 
until  the  age  of  twenty -two  he  remained  on 
his  father's  farm  in  Richardson  county.     He 


836 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


than  began  his  independent  career  as  a  farmer 
on  land  given  him  by  his  father.  He  had  a 
team  of  horses,  a  few  tools,  and  with  this  equip- 
ment he  went  to  work.  He  was  the  owner  of 
two  hundred  acres  in  Pawnee  county  when, 
twenty-two  years  ago,  he  came  to  Gage  county 
and  purchased  his  present  farm  of  three  hun- 
dred and  twenty  acres.  He  also  helped  his  son 
buy  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres. 
He  is  engaged  in  general  farming  and  has  one 
of  the  well  improved  properties  of  the  town- 
ship. 

In  Richardson  county,  he  was  married  to 
Miss  Antonia  Svarckop.  She  was  born  in 
Bohemia,  in  August,  1S68,  a  daughter  of 
Hynek  and  Barbara  Svarckop,  who  came  from 
their  native  land  many  years  ago  and  were 
farming  people  of  Richardson  county,  where 
both  passed  the  rest  of  their  lives. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dvorak  are  the  parents  of  six 
children :  Mary,  is  the  wife  of  Frank  Cacek  ; 
Frank,  a  farmer  of  Glenwood  township ;  Anna, 
Charles,  Amos  and  Blanche  are  still  under  the 
parental  roof.  The  family  are  Presbyterians 
in  religious  belief  and  Mr.  Dvorak  votes  with 
the  Democratic  party  in  national  affairs,  while 
at  local  elections  he  is  independent  of  partisan 
lines.  He  is  a  good  farmer,  a  first-class  citi- 
zen and  has  a  host  of  friends. 


BRUNE  C.  MEINTS  has  been  a  resident 
of  Nebraska  since  he  was  fourteen  years  of 
age  and  due  record  concerning  the  family  his- 
tory appears  on  other  pages,  in  the  sketch  dedi- 
cated to  his  father,  Christ  J.  Meints.  He 
whose  name  initiates  this  paragraph  acquired 
his  youthful  education  in  the  district  schools 
of  Nebraska  and  was  reared  under  the  con- 
ditions and  influences  of  the  pioneer  days.  He 
was  born  in  Adams  county,  Illinois,  October 
21,  1867,  and  he  has  been  consecutively  asso- 
ciated with  farm  industry  in  Nebraska  from 
his  youth  to  the  present  time.  Definite  suc- 
cess has  crowned  his  activities  as  an  agricul- 
turist and  stock-grower  and  he  is  now  the 
owner  of  a  well  improved  farm  estate  of  two 
hundred  and  forty  acres,  in  Logan  township, 
where  his  attractive  home  is  located  in  Sec- 
tion 16.     On  his  homestead  he  has  erected  ex- 


cellent buildings,  including  a  commodious  farm 
residence,  and  he  has  long  been  known  as  one 
of  the  progressive  farmers  and  substantial  and 
public-spirited  citizens  of  Logan  township. 
He  is  staunchly  arrayed  as  a  supporter  of  the 
cause  of  the  Republican  party  and  while  he 
has  not  sought  political  preferment  his  insist- 
ent interest  in  local  affairs  has  been  shown 
in  the  effective  service  he  has  given  as  road 
supervisor,  of  which  position  he  is  the  incum- 
bent at  the  time  of  this  writing.  Both  he  and 
his  wife  are  active  communicants  of  the  Han- 
over Lutheran  church,  as  was  also  his  first 
wife. 

In  1891  Mr.  Meints  wedded  Miss  Grace 
Ihnen,  who  likewise  was  born  in  Adams 
county,  Illinois,  and  who  was  a  daughter  of 
Onke  Ihnen,  who  was  a  successful  merchant 
in  Illinois  and  who  died  in  Butler  county,  Ne- 
braska, where  he  had  become  a  successful 
farmer.  To  this  marriage  were  bom  eight 
children:  Christ  is  married  and  resides  on  a 
farm  northwest  of  the  village  of  Pickrell,  this 
county;  Onie  is  married  and  is  engaged  in 
farm  enterprise  in  Logan  township ;  and 
Henry,  Jennie,  Grace,  William,  John,  and 
Brune  remain  as  .members  of  the  home  circle. 
The  mother  of  these  children  passed  away  in 
1909.  Mr.  Meints  later  married  Miss  Mary 
Hattesohl,  a  native  of  Wisconsin,  and  she  is 
the  popular  head  of  the  domestic  affairs  of  the 
pleasant  home. 

JOSEPH  CACEK.  —  Born  in  Bohemia,  in 
1832,  and  reared  to  manhood  in  his  native 
land,  the  late  Joseph  Cacek  married  Miss  Anna 
Tepla,  who  was  born  in  Bohemia  in  1840. 
Mr.  Cacek's  patriotism  is  shown  by  the  fact 
that  he  served  eight  years  in  the  military  or- 
ganization of  his  country,  —  four  years  on 
land  and  four  in  the  navy.  In  1867  he  came 
with  his  family  to  America  and  they  resided 
in  the  city  of  Detroit,  Michigan  until  1874, 
when  he  became  a  pioneer  settler  of  Gage 
county,  Nebraska,  locating  at  Clatonia.  Five 
years  later  he  bought  land  in  Paddock  town- 
ship, and  etsablished  a  home  on  the  northeast 
quarter  of  Section  8.  Here  he  built  a  frame 
house,  and.  with  the  help  of  his  family,  began 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


837 


the  development  of  a  fami.  As  the  years 
passed  he  succeeded,  and  he  made  additional 
investments  in  land,  becoming  one  of  the  well- 
to-do  men  of  the  county.  Mr.  Cacek  made 
three  trips  to  the  old  country  and  on  one  of 
these  journeys  he  passed  away,  in  1912,  his 
wife  having  died  in  1896.  Mr.  Cacek's  suc- 
cess was  due  to  his  own  and  his  family's  ef- 
forts, as  he  landed  in  America  with  but 
twenty-five  cents.  He  lived  to  be  seventy 
years  old  and  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  the 
members  of  his  family  all  well  established  in 
homes  of  their  own. 

To  this  worthy  couple  was  bom  four  chil- 
dren, as  follows :  Joseph  and  John,  farmers 
in  Paddock  township ;  Mrs.  Rimund  Weiner, 
of  Sicily  township,  and  Mrs.  Joseph  Bures,  of 
Glenwood  township.  The  parents  were  com- 
municants of  the  Catholic  church,  and  in  the 
upbuilding  of  Gage  county  they  did  their  full 
share. 


CHARLES  H.  HOLLINGWORTH  is  a 
member  of  a  representative  Gage  county  fam- 
ily concerning  which  adequate  record  is  given 
on  other  pages  of  this  work,  and  he  was  born 
on  the  fine  old  homestead  farm  which  is  now 
his  place  of  residence,  in  Section  32  Rockford 
township,  the  date  of  his  nativity  having  been 
March  12,  1865,  which  signifies  emphatically 
that  his  parents  were  numbered  among  the  ter- 
ritorial pioneers  of  the  county.  He  remained 
with  his  parents  on  the  old  home  place  until 
their  death  and  then  came  into  possession  of 
ninety-two  acres  of  the  property,  his  fine  home 
being  the  substantial  stone  house  that  was 
erected  more  than  forty  years  ago,  by  his 
brother  Alfred  C,  of  whom  mention  is  made 
elsewhere  in  this  volume.  This  house  is  one 
of  the  veritable  landmarks  of  this  section  of 
the  state  and  Mr.  Hollingworth  takes  much 
satisfaction  in  the  fact  that  he  is  able  to  uphold 
the  prestige  of  the  family  name  in  connection 
with  loyal  citizenship  and  constructive  farm 
industry  in  Gage  county,  where  he  was  reared 
under  the  influences  of  the  pioneer  days  and 
where  he  gained  his  early  education  in  the  com- 
mon schools  of  the  period.  His  political  alle- 
giance is  given  to  the  Democratic  party  and 


he  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Christian 
church  in  the  city  of  Beatrice. 

In  1892  was  solemnized  the  marriage  of  Mr. 
Hollingworth  to  Miss  Anna  L-  DeWitt,  who 
was  born  in  Montgomery  county,  Illinois,  and 
they  have  but  one  child,  Jessie  L.,  who  at- 
tended the  Wesleyan  University  at  Lincoln, 
this  state,  and  who  is  now  a  successful  and 
popular  teacher  in  the  public  schools  at 
Holmesville,  not  far  distant  from  the  old 
homestead. 

Mr.  Hollingworth's  first  school  teacher  was 
Hugh  J.  Dobbs,  the  author  of  this  history  of 
Gage  county,  and  he  recalls  with  humorous 
appreciation  that  on  one  occasion  Mr.  Dobbs 
disciplined  him  for  some  youthful  prank  or 
remissness  by  making  him  stand  at  a  knot  hole 
in  a  log  and  hold  his  toe  in  the  aperture,  as  a 
matter  of  punishment. 

CHARLES  N.  HINDS,  cashier  of  the 
Hinds  State  Bank  of  Odell,  is  a  native  of 
Iowa,  born  near  Postville,  November  2,  1871,  a 
son  of  Edwin  B.  Hinds,  a  record  of  whom  ap- 
pears elsewhere  in  this  volume. 

Charles  Norton  Hinds  was  a  lad  of  nine 
years  when  the  family  home  was  transferred 
to  Odell,  Nebraska,  where  he  attended  the 
public  schools  and  was  a  member  of  the  first 
graduating  class  of  Odell  high  school,  in  1891. 
In  1895  he  received  the  degree  of  Bachelor 
of  Arts  from  the  University  of  Nebraska,  at 
Lincoln,  and  in  1896  the  degree  of  Master  of 
i\rts  was  conferred  upon  him  by  the  same 
institution.  Thereafter  he  was  professor  of 
history  at  York  College,  York,  Nebraska,  for 
one  year.  Then,  for  five  years,  he  was  in 
the  office  of  the  register  of  deeds  at  Beatrice, 
after  which  he  organized  the  Commercial 
State  Bank  at  Barneston  and  became  cashier. 
In  1903  he  returned  to  Odell  and  became 
cashier  of  the  Hinds  State  Bank,  of  which  his 
father  is  president  and  principal  owner. 

He  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Jessie 
A.  Walker,  a  native  of  Wisconsin  and  they 
are  the  parents  of  these  children :  Clarence 
E.,  Lulu  A.,  Hazel  D.,  William  Walker,  Ed- 
win Shaw  and  James  Pershing. 

Both    by    education    and    temperment    Mr. 


838 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Hinds  is  well  qualified  for  the  executive  posi- 
tion of  which  he  is  the  incumhent  in  the  Hinds 
State  P.ank.  He  has  a  genial  disposition, 
which  begets  friendship  and  good  will,  and 
at  the  same  time  possesses  that  dignity 
and  bearing  whi:h  inspire  confidence.  He 
is  a  personal  friend  of  General  John  J.  Persh- 
ing, who  was  commander  of  the  Nebraska 
T.Tniversity  Battalion  for  four  years  while  he 
was  a  lieutenant  in  the  United  States  army, 
and  Air.  Hinds  passed  through  the  grades  of 
service  and  attained  the  rank  of  first  lieuten- 
ant of  Company  B.  He  has  been  solicited  to 
enter  the  service  of  Uncle  Sam  and  been  ten- 
dered prominent  positions  in  the  army  by  his 
old  friend,  who  now  commands  the  United 
States  forces  on  the  battlefields  of  Europe. 

Mr.  Hinds  is  a  Republican  in  politics  and 
fraternally  is  a  member  in  good  standing  of 
the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows  and 
the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America  lodges  of 
Odell. 

NOAH  WRIGHTSMAN,  a  substantial  re- 
tired farmer  residing  in  the  attractive  village 
of  Holmesville,  has  been  a  resident  of  Gage 
county  since  1888  and  has  here  won  independ- 
ence through  his  active  alliance  with  farm  in- 
dustry. He  was  born  in  one  of  the  eastern 
counties  of  Virginia,  January  23,  1848,  and  is 
a  son  of  Samuel  and  Annie  (Wirtz)  Wrights- 
nian,  who  likewise  were  natives  of  the  historic 
Old  Dominion  state. 

Noah  Wrightsman  acquired  his  youthful 
education  in  his  native  state  and  was  seventeen 
years  old  when  he  accompanied  his  parents  to 
Macoupin  county,  Illinois,  where  his  father 
engaged  in  farming,  the  parents  having  passed 
the  remainder  of  their  lives  in  that  county. 
When  Noah  attained  to  the  age  of  twenty 
years  his  father  "gave  him  his  time,"  and  for 
the  ensuing  six  years  he  was  employed  by  the 
month  at  farm  work.  He  then  engaged  in 
farming  for  himself,  in  Macoupin  county,  Illi- 
nois, where  he  continued  his  activities  until 
1888,  when  he  came  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska, 
and  bought  eighty  acres  of  land  in  Rock  ford 
township.  He  improved  the  l)uildings  on  the 
place,    erected    new    buildings    and    eventually 


developed  one  of  the  fine  farm  properties  of 
the  township,  where  he  still  retains  ownership 
of  the  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres, 
besides  which  he  owns  two  residence  proper- 
ties at  Holmesville  and  a  tract  of  land  in 
Thomas  county,  Kansas.  He  retired  from  his 
farm  in  1908  and  has  since  maintained  his 
residence  in  Holmesville. 

In  the  year  1875  was  solemnized  the  mar- 
riage of  Mr.  Wrightsman  to  Miss  Susan  Bru- 
baker,  of  Tennessee,  in  which  state  she  was 
born  and  reared,  and  she  is  a  sister  of  Benja- 
min A.  Brubaker.  a  well  known  farmer  of 
Rockford  township.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wrights- 
man have  three  children :  Harvey  P.,  of 
Holmesville,  is  married  and  has  two  children ; 
Elmer  C,  who  is  married  and  has  six  children, 
is  associated  with  his  bachelor  brother,  Otis 
F.,  in  the  operation  of  their  father's  farm.  Mr. 
Wrightsman  is  a  Republican  in  politics  and  he 
and  his  family  are  members  of  the  Church  of 
the  Brethren,  commonly  designated  as  the 
Dunkard  church. 


JOHN  APPLEBEE  was  a  youth  of  four- 
teen years  when  he  came  with  his  parents  to 
Nebraska  Territory  and  during  the  long  inter- 
vening years  he  has  maintained  his  residence 
in  Gage  county,  where  he  has  been  an  appre- 
ciative witness  of  the  splendid  march  of  de- 
velopment and  progress,  in  which  he  himself 
has  played  a  sturdy  and  worthy  part.  In  Sec- 
tion 16,  Hanover  township,  he  is  the  owner 
of  the  farm  of  eighty  acres  upon  which  he  re- 
sides, and  which  is  a  part  of  the  old  home 
place  of  his  father.  This  he  utilizes  in  his 
farm  operations. 

Mr.  Applebee  was  born  in  La  Salle  county, 
lUinois,  July  20,  1851,  and  is  a  son  of  John 
and  Ella  (Denton)  Applebee,  both  natives  of 
the  state  of  New  York,  their  marriage  having 
been  solemnized  in  Illinois.  In  the  latter  state 
John  Applebee,  Sr.,  continued  his  association 
with  farm  industry  until  1865,  when  he  came 
with  his  family  to  Nebraska  Territory  and 
became  a  pioneer  settler  of  Gage  county.  His 
household  effects  were  shipped  by  rail  and 
river  to  Nebraska  City,  from  which  point  he 
transported  them  to  C>age  county  bv  team  and 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


830 


TOHX    Al'FLEIlEE 


840 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


wagon.  He  settled  on  the  fami  now  owned  by 
his  son  John,  girded  himself  vigorously  for 
the  arduous  work  in  hand,  and  eventually  re- 
claimed and  improved  his  land.  This  hon- 
ored pioneer  passed  the  closing  period  of  his 
life  in  the  home  of  his  son  William,  of  Filley, 
this  county,  and  attained  to  the  patriarchal 
age  of  ninety-two  years,  his  wife  having 
passed  away  on  the  old  homestead  place,  at 
the  age  of  eighty- four  years.  Concerning 
their  children  the  following  brief  data  are 
available :  William  is  deceased ;  Edward  is  a 
farmer  in  Hanover  township;  John,  subject 
of  this  review,  was  the  next  in  order  of  birth ; 
Jennie  is  the  wife  of  Alfred  Boyer,  of  Vir- 
ginia, this  county;  Hannah  became  the  wife 
of  Frank  Boyer  and  her  death  occurred  sev- 
eral years  ago ;  James  is  a  resident  of  Nemaha 
township ;  and  Jesse  maintains  his  home  in  the 
city  of  Beatrice. 

He  whose  name  initiates  this  article  ac- 
quired his  early  education  in  the  schools  of 
Illinois  and  Gage  county  and  was  reared  to 
manhood  on  the  farm  which  he  now  owns 
and  occupies.  He  was  still  a  young  man  when 
he  relieved  his  father  to  a  large  extent  of  the 
management  of  the  farm  and  since  the  prop- 
erty came  into  his  possession  he  has  made 
numerous  improvements  on  the  same.  He  has 
borne  his  share  of  the  heavy  labors  involved 
in  the  developing  of  a  farm  from  the  primi- 
tive wilds,  encountered  his  measure  of  hard- 
ships and  reverses,  but  has  reason  to  take  just 
pride  in  the  material  prosperity  that  has 
crowned  his  efforts.  In  the  early  days  he  wit- 
nessed the  ravages  of  many  prairie  fires  and 
was  often  called  upon  to  plow  around  his 
stacks  of  grain  to  save  them  from  such  con- 
flagrations. As  a  youth  he  worked  at  times 
for  other  pioneers  of  the  county,  as  did  also 
his  father,  and  at  times  they  would  go  to 
points  twelve  or  more  miles  distant  in  the 
morning  hours,  apply  themselves  to  work  dur- 
ing the  day  and  return  to  the  home  at  night. 
He  recalls  the  depredations  and  havoc 
wrought  in  the  historic  grasshopper  scourge 
of  1872-1873,  when  the  insects  were  so  thick 
in  the  harvest  fields  as  to  obscure  the  bundles 
of  grain.     He  followed  in  many  a  harvest  the 


old-time  reaper  and  bound  the  grain  by  hand, 
and  for  three  years  the  family  home  was  pro- 
vided with  water  from  what  was  ironically 
termed  a  dry-land  well  —  three  barrels  on  a 
wagon,  by  means  of  which  water  was  hauled 
from  a  spring  two  miles  distant.  The  com 
raised  on  the  Applebee  farm  in  the  pioneer 
era  was  frequently  sold  for  ten  cents  a  bushel, 
and  the  great  change  in  conditions  is  shown  in 
the  fact  that  in  the  summer  of  1917  Mr.  Ap- 
plebee sold  a  load  of  corn,  at  Pickrell,  for  one 
hundred  and  thirteen  dollars  and  forty  cents, 
to  realize  which  return  in  the  early  days  it 
would  have  been  necessary  to  sell  fully  a 
thousand  bushels.  Under  primitive  conditions 
Mr.  Applebee  applied  himself  earnestly  and 
vigorously,  and  his  attitude  under  the  present 
conditions  of  opulent  prosperity  in  the  county 
has  not  changed,  as  he  continued  to  have  the 
deepest  appreciation  of  the  dignity  and  value 
of  honest  toil  and  endeavor.  His  political  al- 
legiance is  given  to  the  Republican  party,  but 
he  has  never  been  diverted  from  the  even 
tenor  of  his  way  by  any  ambition  for  politi- 
cal activity  or  public  office. 

Mr.  Applebee  was  twenty-one  years  of  age 
at  the  time  of  his  marriage  to  Miss  Elizabeth 
Griffin,  and  her  death  occurred  in  1887.  Of 
their  children  the  first  two  died  in  infancy; 
Emma  is  the  widow  of  Albert  Brinton,  of 
Hanover  township ;  Elmer  is  a  farmer  in  the 
same  township;  Walter  resides  in  the  village 
of  Pickrell;  and  Viola  is  the  wife  of  Pearl 
Stanley,  of  Beatrice.  The  second  marriage  of 
Mr.  Applebee  was  with  Miss  Ida  Post,  who 
was  born  in  Illinois,  and  she  presides  most 
graciously  over  their  pleasant  and  hospitable 
home;  Of  their  children  two  died  in  in- 
fancy, and  those  surviving  are  Pearl  (the 
wife  of  Jesse  Green,  of  Haxton,  Colorado), 
Mary,  Edna,  Annie,  Clyde,  Esther,  Ruby, 
Hazel,  Erma,  and  Myrtle. 

LEWIS  C.  McCEUNG  is  consistently  to  be 
designated  as  one  of  the  representative  expon- 
ents of  farm  industry  in  Sherman  township, 
where  he  is  carrying  forward  his  progressive 
operations  as  an  agriculturist  and  stock-grower 
with  a  well  improved  estate  of  four  hundred 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


841 


acres,  owned  by  himself  and  his  wife,  their 
pleasant  home  being  in  Section  8  of  the  town- 
ship mentioned,  and  the  same  being  known  for 
its  generous  hospitality  and  good  cheer. 

Air.  McClung  was  born  in  Johnson  county, 
this  state,  on  the  30th  of  January,  1878,  and 
on  other  pages  of  this  volume  is  given  ade- 
quate record  concerning  the  family,  he  being 
a  son  of  the  late  Justin  O.  McClung,  to  whom 
a  memoir  is  thus  given. 

Mr.  McClung  was  reared  on  his  father's 
farm  in  Filley  township,  this  county,  and  at- 
tended schools  in  the  village  of  Filley.  At 
the  age  of  twenty-six  years  he  married  and  en- 
gaged in  independent  farm  operations  in 
Sherman  township,  where  he  has  since  con- 
tinued his  successful  activities  and  won  for 
himself  secure  vantage-place  as  an  energetic 
and  progressive  farmer  and  public-spirited 
citizen.  His  wife  received  three  hundred  and 
twenty  acres  of  land  as  a  heritage  from  the 
estate  of  her  father  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mc- 
Clung have  since  added  to  its  area  until  they 
have  one  of  the  best  farm  properties  in  Sher- 
man township.  They  are  active  members  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  and  in  poli- 
tics he  gives  a  basic  allegiance  to  the  Republi- 
can party. 

In  the  year  1904  Mr.  McClung  wedded  Miss 
Cora  Chichester,  who  was  born  in  Filley  town- 
ship, this  county,  a  daughter  of  Samuel  and 
Martha  (Forbes)  Chichester,  who  were  na- 
tives of  Illinois  and  who  became  pioneer  set- 
tlers in  Gage  county,  where  both  died  wher, 
Mrs.  McClung  was  a  child,  she  having  been 
reared  in  the  home  of  William  Reed,  another 
pioneer  of  the  county.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  McClung 
have  no  children. 


JOSEPH  SHALLA.  — Born  on  his  fath- 
er's farm  in  Glenwood  township,  where  his 
boyhood  days  were  spent  in  attending  the  pub- 
lic schools  and  receiving  instruction  in  the  best 
methods  of  agriculture  under  the  direction  of 
his  father,  the  subject  of  this  review  wisely 
chose  the  occupation  to  which  he  had  been 
reared  and  for  the  past  three  years  has  been 
operating  a  farm  of  one-hundred  and  sixty 
acres  in  Section  16,  Glenwood  township. 


Joseph  Shalla  was  bom  August  3,  1893  and 
February  10,  1915,  he  married  Miss  Jennie 
Pribyl,  a  daughter  of  Milton  and  Mary  (Bed- 
nar)  Pribyl. 

Mr.  Shalla,  though  still  a  young  man,  is 
making  a  success  of  his  farming  venture  and 
is  becoming  one  of  the  substantial  citizens  of 
Glenwood  township,  where  his  entire  life  thus 
far  has  been  passed. 

AUGUST  ADAM.  — A  native  son  of  Gage 
county  and  a  representative  of  one  of  its  early 
pioneer  families  is  August  Adam,  who  owns 
and  operates  an  excellent  farm  of  two  hun- 
dred acres  in  Glenwood  township.  He  was 
born  on  his  father's  farm  in  this  township,  De- 
cember 4,  1887,  a  son  of  Ernst  Adam,  of  whom 
individual  record  is  made  on  other  pages.  His 
boyhood  days  were  spent  on  the  home  farm, 
where  he  learned  the  best  methods  of  agri- 
culture under  the  direction  of  his  father  and 
he  attended  the  public  schools  to  acquire  his 
education.  He  inherited  his  farm  from  the 
estate  of  his  parents  and  has  been  operating 
this  for  the  past  six  years.  An  excellent  set 
of  buildings  has  been  put  on  the  place  since  it 
came  into  his  possession  and  he  is  one  of  the 
successful  young  farmers  of  the  county. 

Mr.  Adam  married  Miss  Minnie  Duis,  who 
likewise  was  born  in  this  county  and  who  is  a 
daughter  of  Ralph  A.  Duis.  Of  her  father  per- 
sonal record  is  given  elsewhere  in  this  volume. 
Two  children,  Martha  and  Walter,  have  come 
to  bless  the  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Adam.  The 
family  are  members  of  the  Lutheran  church 
and  are  among  the  highly  respected  people  of 
the  community. 

HENRY  MENKE.  —  This  publication  ex- 
ercises one  of  its  most  important  functions 
when  it  accords  tribute  to  those  worthy  pio- 
neers who,  after  having  contributed  their  full 
quota  to  the  civic  and  industrial  development 
and  progress  of  Gage  county,  have  passed  from 
the  stage  of  life's  mortal  endeavors  and  rest 
from  their  labors  after  having  proved  steward- 
ship that  well  merits  the  commendation  of 
"Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant." 

Mr.  Menke,  who  long  held  status  as  one  of 


842 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


the  representative  agriculturists  and  stock- 
growers  of  Gage  county,  was  born  in  Wurtem- 
berg,  Germany,  December  4.  1832,  and  he  was 
a  youth  at  the  time  of  the  family  immigration 
to  America,  his  'father  having  previously  taken 
part  in  the  revolutionary  movement  in  Ger- 
many. The  family  home  was  established  in 
Ohio,  where  the  parents  passed  the  remainder 
of  their  lives,  as  sterling  pioneers  of  the  old 
Buckeye  state.  Henrj'  Menke  was  given  the 
advantages  of  the  schools  of  his  native  land 
until  the  time  of  the  family  removal  to  the 
United  States.  About  the  year  1880,  he  came 
to  Nebraska  and  purchased  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  of  land  in  Section  33  Clatonia 
township.  He  developed  this  into  one  of  the 
productive  and  well  improved  farms  of  the 
county,  there  passed  the  residue  of  his  life,  and 
there  his  widow  still  maintains  her  home.  He 
erected  good  buildings  on  the  farm,  set  out 
trees  and  in  time,  by  his  thrift  and  enterprise, 
made  it  one  of  the  model  farms  of  Clatonia 
township.  Here  his  death  occurred  Septem- 
ber 20,  1915,  and  his  name  and  memory  are 
revered  in  the  community  that  so  long  repre- 
sented his  home.  He  was  a  man  of  strong 
intellectuality,  well  fortified  in  his  convictions 
concerning  public  policies,  was  a  Republican 
in  politics,  and  while  he  had  no  desire  for  of- 
ficial preferment  he  consented  to  serve  for  a 
number  of  years  in  the  position  of  road  over- 
seer in  his  township.  He  was  a  most  earnest 
and.  devout  member  of  the  German  Methodist 
church,  as  is  also  his  venerable  widow,  and  he 
gave  zealous  and  effective  service  as  a  local 
preacher  of  this  denomination.  Ordering  his 
life  upon  the  highest  plane  of  integrity  and 
honor,  he  vi^as  essentially  one  of  the  world's 
productive  workers  during  the  course  of  a 
long  and  vigorous  career. 

As  a  young  man  Mr.  Menke  wedded  Miss 
Mary  Neimeyer,  of  Ohio,  she  having  been 
born  in  Germany  and  her  death  having  occur- 
red in  Ohio,  in  1861.  Of  the  four  children  of 
this  union  the  following  brief  data  are  avail- 
able: Frederick  is  a  merchant  in  the  city  of 
Portsmouth,  Ohio ;  Mrs.  Lizzie  Schmidt  re- 
sides at  Friend,  Saline  county,  Nebraska ; 
Henry,    Jr.,    is    deceased,    he    having   been    a 


clergyman  of  the  Presbyterian  church ;  and 
Emma  is  the  wife  of  William  Werner,  their 
home  being  near  Portsmouth,  Ohio. 

On  the  1st  of  January,  1865,  was  solemn- 
ized the  marriage  of  Mr.  Menke  to  Miss  Eliza 
Knapp,  who  was  born  in  Germany,  May  15, 
1843,  a  daughter  of  Henry  and  Caroline 
(  Schocke)  Knapp.  She  was  but  a  small  child 
when  her  parents  came  from  Germany  to 
America  on  a  sailing  vessel,  and  eleven  weeks 
elapsed  ere  the  family  disembarked  in  the 
port  of  New  York  city,  whence  removal  was 
made  to  Ohio,  the  family  home  having  been 
established  in  Lawrence  county,  that  state, 
when  Mrs.  Menke  was  a  child  of  four  years 
and  her  parents  having  there  passed  the  re- 
mainder of  their  lives,  her  father  having  been 
for  many  years  employed  in  connection  with 
the  operation  of  the  iron  furnaces  in  that  sec- 
tion of  the  state.  Of  the  ten  children  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs  Menke  two  died  in  infancy,  and  of 
those  who  attained  to  adult  age  the  following 
record  is  given  in  conclusion  of  this  brief  me- 
moir: Caroline  is  the  wife  of  Lewis  Klopper, 
of  Caltonia  township;  Matilda  is  the  wife  oi 
William  Daubendick,  of  South  Bend,  Iowa ; 
Catherine  is  the  wife  of  John  H.  Wayman,  of 
Clatonia  township,  and  he  is  individually  men- 
tioned on  other  pages  of  this  work ;  Eliza  is 
the  wife  of  R.  H.  Kane,  a  merchant  at  Desh- 
ler,  Thayer  county,  Nebraska  ;  Rosa  is  the  wife 
of  Lewis  Wayman,  of  Holt  county,  this  state; 
Edward  is  a  resident  of  Hebron,  Nebraska; 
Nettie  is  the  wife  of  Frank  Steinmeyer,  of 
Grant  township;  and  Albert  remains  with  his 
widowed  mother,  as  manager  of  the  old  home 
farm. 


GERHARD  L.  FRERICHS  was  born  on 
the  farm  which  is  now  the  stage  of  his  inde- 
pendent activities  as  one  of  the  representative 
young  exponents  of  agricultural  and  livestock 
industry,  in  Section  22,  Logan  township,  the 
date  of  his  nativity  having  been  October  8, 
1889,  and  he  being  a  son  of  L.  W.  Frerichs, 
concerning  whom  individual  mention  is  made 
on  other  pages  of  this  volume.  The  early 
educational  discipline  of  Mr.  Gerhard  L.  Frer- 
ichs was  acquired  in  the  district  and  German 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


843 


schools,  and  his  judgment  has  caused  him  to 
pay  unfaUering  allegiance  to  farm  enterprise. 
In  1910  he  married  and  then  became  a  part- 
ner of  his  father  in  conducting  the  operations 
of  the  well  improved  farm  estate.  In  the 
spring  of  1917  his  father  retired  and  removed 
to  the  city  of  Beatrice,  and  the  subject  of  this 
review  has  since  continued  his  successful  and 
progressive  activities  in  the  control  and  man- 
agement of  the  finely  improved  farm  of  three 
hundred  and  twenty  acres,  upon  which  his 
father  settled  more  than  thirty-five  years  ago. 

Mr.  Frerichs  takes  loyal  interest  in  com- 
munity afifairs  but  has  had  no  desire  for  po- 
litical activity  or  public  office.  He  and  his 
wife  are  active  members  of  the  Lutheran 
church. 

In  1910  Mr.  Frerichs  wedded  Miss  Gret- 
chen  Meints,  a  member  of  a  well  known  pio- 
neer family  of  which  specific  representation  is 
given  elsewhere  in  this  work,  she  being  a 
daughter  of  Henry  Meints  and  a  granddaugh- 
ter of  Christ  Meints.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Frerichs 
have  four  children :  Marie,  Abbie,  Lammert 
and  Katrina. 


HENRY  WIETERS,  who  is  one  of  the  sub- 
stantial representatives  of  farm  industry  in 
Glenwood  township,  was  born  in  Germany, 
September  2,  1857,  and  when  a  young  man  he 
served  in  the  German  army,  in  the  same  regi- 
ment in  which  the  present  Kaiser  William 
was  a  captain.  When  twenty-nine  years  of 
age  he  came  to  the  United  States,  and  for 
several  years  thereafter  he  worked  in  the  lum- 
ber yard  of  his  brother  William,  at  Lanham, 
Kansas.  Twenty  years  ago  he  purchased  his 
present  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
on  Section  20,  Glenwood  township,  where  he 
has  made  extensive  improvements,  including 
a  good  house  and  barns,  and  here  he  success- 
fully carries  on  general  farming. 

He  married  Miss  Louise  Ritter,  a  native  of 
the  province  of  Hanover,  Germany.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Wieters  are  the  parents  of  six  children: 
Henry,  who  married  Miss  Hannah  Duis,  is  at 
the  home  assisting  in  the  operation  of  the 
farm;  Sophia  is  the  wife  of  Pape  Duis,  a 
farmer  of  Washington  county,  Kansas  ;  Louise 


is  the  wife  of  Fred  Sheele,  of  Lanham,  Gage 
county ;  and  Minnie,  Annie  and  Caroline  are 
at  home. 

Mr.  Wieters  and  his  family  are  members  of 
the  Lutheran  church,  and  in  politics  he  is  Re- 
publican. He  is  a  good  fanner,  a  good  neigh- 
bor and  a  loyal  citizen  and  he  is  held  in  high 
regard  by  all  who  know  him. 

TONY  SHALLA  was  born  on  the  farm,  in 
Glenwood  township,  which  has  been  the  home 
of  his  parents  since  1879,  his  natal  day  having 
been  March  29,  1882.  He  is  a  son  of  Frank 
Shalla,  whose  life  record  is  given  in  other 
pages  of  this  book.  Tony  was  reared  on  the 
farm,  attended  the  public  schools  and  as  a  boy 
assisted  in  the  work  about  the  farm.  As  his 
years  and  strength  increased  he  gradually  as- 
sumed the  heavier  burdens  connected  with  the 
farm,  giving  his  father  the  benefits  of  his  la- 
bors until,  on  reaching  man's  estate  and  de- 
ciding upon  agricultural  pursuits  as  his  voca- 
tion in  life,  he  was  assisted  by  his  father  in 
purchasing  the  farm  which  has  been  the  scene 
of  his  successful  activities  for  the  past  ten 
years.  He  is  the  owner  of  two  hundred  and 
forty  acres,  well  improved,  and  gives  his  at- 
tention to  general  farming. 

For  a  companion  and  helpmate  he  chose 
Miss  Matilda  Zaribnicky,  who  was  born  in 
Gage  county,  a  daughter  of  Frank  Zaribnicky, 
a  farmer  of  Paddock  township.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Shalla  are  the  parents  of  five  children ;  Elsie, 
William,  James,  Wilma  and  Martha. 

EDWARD  BAUMAN  is  to  be  considered 
fortunate  in  that  he  is  the  owner  of  a  well 
improved  landed  estate  in  Holt  township, 
where  his  attractive  homestead  place  is  eli- 
gibly situated  in  Section  '9  and  where  he  is 
giving  his  attention  most  successfully  to  di- 
versified agriculture  and  to  the  raising  of 
high-grade  Durham  cattle.  In  addition  to 
owning  four  hundred  acres  of  the  valuable 
land  of  Gage  county  he  has  also  a  farm  of 
one  hundred  and  si.xty  acres  near  Cheyenne, 
Kansas. 

Mr.  Bauman  was  born  in  the  province  of 
Hanover,  (jcrmany,  to  which  Gage  county  is 


844 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


845 


indebted  for  a  goodly  number  of  representa- 
tive citizens  in  past  as  well  as  the  present  gen- 
erations, and  the  date  of  his  nativity  was  Au- 
gust 24,  1862.  He  is  a  son  of  Reiner  and 
Fannie  (Buhr)  Bauman,  of  whose  five  chil- 
dren the  eldest  is  Tillie,  wife  of  Heye  P. 
Parde,  of  Hanover  township,  this  county ; 
Anna  is  the  wife  of  Heye  Werts  and  they  re- 
side in  the  state  of  California;  Tena  is  the 
wife  of  Herman  Wolken,  of  Hanover  town- 
ship ;  the  subject  of  this  review  is  the  young- 
est of  the  number  and  the  only  son  :  and  one 
daughter  died  in  infancy. 

In  the  year  1864  Reiner  Bauman  immi- 
grated with  his  family  to  America  and  settled 
in  Adams  county,  Illinois,  his  wife  having 
died  •  there  about  two  weeks  later.  Subse- 
quently Mr.  Bauman  contracted  a  second  mar- 
riage and  of  the  same  were  born  two  children, 
both  of  whom  are  deceased.  Mr.  Bauman. 
continued  his  activities  as  a  farmer  in  Illinois, 
but  shortly  before  his  death  he  purchased  land 
in  Hanover  township.  Gage  county,  Nebraska: 
as  he  had  made  no  payment  on  the  purchase 
price  the  land  reverted  to  the  former  owner 
upon  the  death  of  Mr.  Bauman,  when  he  was 
about  seventy-two  years  of  age. 

Edward  Bauman  was  reared  to  adult  age  in 
Illinois,  and  his  early  educational  advantages 
were  those  of  the  district  schools.  In  1885  he 
came  to  Gage  county,  and  here  he  continued 
his  activities  as  a  farmer  on  rented  land  in 
Hanover  township  about  fifteen  years.  He 
then  purchased  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
in  Section  30,  that  township,  but  this  property 
lie  later  sold,  after  having  made  numerous  im- 
provements on  the  same.  In  1900  he  pur- 
chased his  present  fine  home  farm,  to  which 
he  removed  in  1902,  and  in  accumulating  his 
valuable  landed  estate  and  bringing  the  same 
to  its  present  condition  of  thrift  and  prosper- 
ity he  has  depended  entirely  upon  his  own 
ability  and  well  ordered  industry,  his  financial 
resources  having  been  ver}'  limited  when  he 
came  to  Gage  county  as  a  young  man  of  am- 
bition and  dauntless  determination.  Mr.  Bau- 
man assisted  in  the  organization  of  the  Far- 
mers' State  Bank  of  Pickrell,  and  is  now  presi- 
dent  of   this   substantial   financial   institution. 


In  politics  he  designates  himself  an  inde- 
pendent Republican  and  he  attends  and  sup- 
ports the  German  Lutheran  church,  of  which 
his  wife  is  a  zealous  member. 

On  the  11th  of  March,  1888,  Mr.  Bauman 
married  Miss  Fannie  Zimmerman,  who  was 
born  in  Logan  township,  this  county,  March 
28,  1867,  a  daughter  of  Tamme  Zimmerman, 
a  sterling  pioneer  of  Gage  county.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Bauman  have  two  children  —  Reiner, 
who  is  a  progressive  farmer  in  Holt  township  ; 
and  Thomas,  who  remains  at  the  parental 
home  and  assists  his  father  in  the  manage- 
ment and  work  of  the  farm. 

ALBERT  HUBKA.  — The  late  Albert 
Hubka,  a  man  of  strong  individuality,  fine 
mentality  and  sterling  character,  was  a  pio- 
neer settler  in  Nebraska  and  through  his  well 
directed  activities  in  connection  with  farm  en- 
terprise he  achieved  large  and  worthy  success. 
At  the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  in 
Sherman  township,  Gage  county,  in  1898,  he 
was  the  owner  of  a  valuable  landed  estate  of 
several  hundred  acres,  and  as  a  man  of  up- 
rightness and  constructive  energy,  as  well  as  a 
loyal  and  public-spirited  citizen,  he  is  properly 
accorded  a  tribute  in  this  publication.  His  es- 
tate was  largely  represented  in  valuable  land  in 
Sections  1  and  12,  Sherman  township,  and  his 
sons  are  in  their  generation  well  upholding  the 
honors  of  the  family  name. 

Albert  Hubka  was  born  in  Bohemia,  April 
22,  1846,  and  was  a  member  of  a  family  of 
twelve  children,  of  whom  six  attained  to  years 
of  maturity,  two  of  his  brothers  likewise  hav- 
ing become  residents  of  Nebraska.  Mr.  Hubka 
was  a  son  of  Joseph  and  Anna  (Blaha)  Hubka, 
who  passed  their  entire  lives  in  Bohemia.  Al- 
bert remained  at  the  parental  home  until  he 
was  a  youth  of  fourteen  years,  and  he  passed 
the  following  five  years  in  another  section  of 
the  German  empire,  in  the  meanwhile  receiv- 
ing good  educational  advantages.  About  the 
time  of  the  Franco-Prussian  war  he  came  to 
America  and  after  remaining  for  a  time  in 
Baltimore,  Maryland,  he  came  to  the  west.  He 
passed  a  short  interval  in  the  city  of  Chicago 
and  then  went  to  Richland  county,  Wisconsin, 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


he  having  been  a  successful  teacher  during  the 
period  of  his  residence  in  Chicago.  Finally 
he  came  to  Nebraska  and  took  up  a  homestead 
of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  in  Pawnee 
county.  There  he  continued  farm  operations 
about  fourteen  years,  and  in  1871  he  ex- 
changed his  pioneer  farm  in  that  county  for 
four  hundred  and  eighty  acres  in  Sherman 
township,  Gage  county.  He  improved  this 
land  into  one  of  the  fine  farm  properties  ol 
the  county  and  became  specially  successful  as 
an  agriculturist  and  stock-grower,  giving  spec- 
ial attention  for  a  number  of  years  to  the 
raising  of  high-grade  horses.  He  accumu- 
lated a  substantial  fortune,  was  true  and 
loyal  in  all  of  the  relations  of  life  and  com- 
manded unqualified  popular  esteem.  His  po- 
litical support  was  given  to  the  Democratic 
party  and  while  he  was  frequently  importuned 
to  accept  local  offices  he  decHned  all  such 
overtures,  save  that  he  gave  effective  service  as 
director  and  treasurer  of  his  school  district, 
he  having  declined  to  accept  the  office  of  town- 
ship treasurer  when  urged  to  become  the  in- 
cumbent thereof. 

In  1867  Mr.  Hubka  wedded  Miss  Mary 
Kovanda,  who  was  born  in  Bohemia,  May  2, 
1847,  a  daughter  of  Albert  and  Fanny  Ko- 
vanda, with  whom  she  came  to  Pawnee  county, 
Nebraska,  in  1867.  Mrs.  Hubka  still  sur- 
vives her  husband  and  now  maintains  her 
home  in  the  village  of  Virginia,  this  county, 
as  one  of  the  venerable  and  loved  pioneer 
women  of  this  section  of  the  state.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Hubka  became  the  parents  of  eight  chil- 
dren, all  of  whom  are  living :  Frank  is  a  pros- 
perous farmer  in  Elm  township;  Joseph  S. 
is  individually  mentioned  on  other  pages  of 
this  work ;  Annie  is  the  wife  of  Joseph  S. 
Stanek,  of  Sherman  township,;  Frances  is  the 
wife  of  John  I-Ienzel,  of  Virginia,  this  county ; 
James  is  a  farmer  in  Washington  county ; 
Emil  is  engaged  in  farm  enterprise  in  Sher- 
man township ;  Emily  is  the  wife  of  George 
Henzel,  of  Sherman  township;  and  Julia  is 
the  wife  of  Charles  Kozak,  of  Filley  town- 
ship. 

Mr.  Hubka  not  only  won  for  himself  sub- 
stantial  success   but   also   assisted   all   of   his 


sons  in  gaining  a  secure  start  on  the  road  to 
independence  and  prosperity. 

THOMAS  W.  STANOSHECK,  president 
of  the  State  Bank  of  Odell,  is  a  native  of 
Iowa,  born  at  Iowa  City,  November  10,  1859. 
His  parents  were  Albert  and  Pauline  Stan- 
osheck,  who  were  natives  of  Poland  and  who, 
in  1857,  immigrated  to  America,  locating  at 
Iowa  City,  where  they  spent  the  remainder  of 
their  lives. 

Reared  in  his  native  city,  Thomas  Stano- 
sheck  attended  the  public  and  parochial 
schools,  and  in  1884  he  and  his  brother,  Frank 
J.,  came  to  the  new  town  of  Odell,  Nebraska, 
with  a  small  stock  of  goods  and  opened  up  a 
general  merchandise  store.  For  thirteen 
years  he  successfully  continued  in  this  line  of 
enterprise,  and  then,  in  1897,  he  retired  and 
devoted  his  time  to  looking  after  his  invested 
interests,  having  purchased  a  large  amount  of 
farm  lands.  In  1908  he  became  one  of  the 
organizers  of  the  State  Bank  of  Odell,  and  of 
the  same  he  has  been  president  since  1913. 
He  now  gives  close  attention  to  his  executive 
duties  iti  connection  with  this  institution  and 
to  the  supervision  of  his  fine  landed  estate  of 
eight  hundred  acres,  —  comprising  well  im- 
proved farms. 

Mr.  Stanosheck  was  united  in  marriage  to 
Miss  Abbie  Murphy,  a  native  of  New  York 
state,  and  a  sister  of  J.  E.  Murphy  of  Odell, 
who  has  furnished  a  record  of  the  Murphy 
family.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stanosheck  have  be- 
come the  parents  of  three  children :  William 
F.  is  married  and  resides  in  Odell.  where  he  is 
cashier  of  the  State  Bank;  Lillie  and  Gene- 
vieve are  at  home. 

Mr.  Stanosheck  is  interested  in  various  en- 
terprises which  have  to  do  with  the  growth  of 
the  town.  He  is  president  of  the  Odell  Lum- 
ber Company  and  also  of  the  Farmers"  Eleva- 
tor Company. 

The  religious  views  of  our  subject  coincide 
with  the  teachings  of  the  Catholic  church  and 
in  politics  is  a  Democrat.  He  has  never  as- 
pired to  nor  held  public  office,  preferring  to 
give  his  time  and  attention  to  his  own  aflfairs, 
in  which  he  has  been  very  successful.     Odell 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


847 


was  but  two  years  old  when  he  arrived  and 
became  one  of  its  first  merchants,  and  for 
thirty-four  years  he  has  been  an  important 
factor  in  its  business  development. 

JOSEPH  HUBKA  has  through  his  own 
ability  and  energetic  efforts  accumulated  one 
of  the  large  and  valuable  landed  estates  of  Fil- 
ley  township  and  is  one  of  the  successful  and 
representative  agriculturists  and  stock-grow- 
ers of  Gage  county,  his  attractive  home  place 
being  in  Section  33,  about  one  mile  distant 
from  the  village  of  Filley. 

Mr.  Hubka  was  born  in  Bohemia,  Austria- 
Hungary,  January  25,  1867,  and  is  a  son  of 
Michael  and  Veronika  Hubka,  who  came  to 
the  United  States  in  1883  and  settled  in  Paw- 
nee county,  Nebraska,  where  the  father  became 
a  successful  farmer;  after  his  retirement  from 
active  labor  he  removed  to  the  village  of 
Table  Rock,  that  county,  where  he  passed  the 
remainder  of  his  life  and  where  his  widow 
still  resides. 

Joseph  Hubka  gained  his  youthful  educa- 
tion in  the  schools  of  his  native  land  and  was 
sixteen  years  old  when  he  accompanied  his 
parents  on  their  immigration  to  America.  He 
assisted  his  father  in  the  reclaiming  of  the 
home  farm  in  Pawnee  county  and  also  fovmd 
employment  as  a  farm  hand.  He  could  not 
at  the  time  speak  the  English  language  and 
this  proved  somewhat  of  a  handicap,  his 
wages  for  the  first  year  having  been  only  ten 
dollars  a  month  and  the  highest  wages  he  at 
any  time  received  during  eight  years  of  em- 
ployment as  a  fann  worker  having  been 
seventeen  dollars  a  month.  In  the  meanwhile 
he  gave  virtually  all  of  his  earnings  to  his 
father  and  mother.  When  he  was  twenty- 
four  years  of  age  his  father  assisted  him  in 
buying  eighty  acres  of  land  in  Pawnee  county, 
and  incidentally  he  assumed  an  indebtedness 
of  five  hundred  dollars.  On  this  farm,  to 
which  he  later  added  eighty  acres,  he  con- 
tinued his  operations  fourteen  years,  after 
which  he  sold  the  property.  On  the  22d  of 
February,  1903,  he  came  to  Gage  county  and 
purchased  two  hundred  and  thirty-five  acres 
of  land  in  Filley  township,  where  he  has  since 


continued  his  notably  successful  activities 
along  the  line  of  diversified  agriculture  and 
stock-growing.  In  1918  he  added  to  his  es- 
tate by  the  purchase  of  another  valuable  farm 
in  Filley  township,  this  place  comprising  three 
hundred  and  twenty  acres.  His  home  farm  in 
early  days  was  owned  by  that  honored  pioneer, 
the  late  Elijah  Filley,  in  whose  honor  the 
township  and  village  of  Filley  were  named. 
Mr.  Hubka  is  a  man  whose  word  is  as  good 
as  any  bond  that  was  ever  issued,  and  he  com- 
mands the  unqualified  respect  of  all  who  know 
him.  His  career  has  been  marked  by  earnest 
and  diligent  application  and  he  has  well  earned 
the  gracious  rewards  of  independence  and 
prosperity.  In  politics  he  is  independent  of 
strict  partisan  lines  and  he  is  always  ready  to 
do  his  part  in  supporting  movements  and 
measures  tending  to  conserve  the  general  well- 
being  of  the  community. 

In  Pawnee  county  was  solemnized  the  mar- 
riage of  Mr.  Hubka  to  Miss  Anna  Richly,  who 
likewise  is  a  native  of  Bohemia,  and  concern- 
ing their  children  the  following  brief  record 
is  given:  Lillie  is  the  wife  of  Amos  Fritz, 
of  Pawnee  county ;  Frank  conducts  an  auto- 
mobile garage  in  the  village  of  Filley ;  Emma 
is  a  student  (1918)  in  the  Nebraska  State 
Normal  School  at  Peru ;  and  Clement,  James 
and  Joseph  remain  at  the  parental  home. 

JAMES  RATHBUN.  —  For  thirty-six 
years  the  subject  of  this  review  has  been  a 
resident  of  Glenwood  township,  Gage  county 
and  in  the  work  of  development,  from  pioneer 
times  to  the  present  day,  Mr.  Rathbun  has  con- 
tributed his  full  share. 

James  Rathbun  was  born  in  Washington 
county,  Ohio,  November  28,  1828,  and  is  des- 
cended from  a  family  founded  in  New  Eng- 
land may  generations  ago.  The  father  of  our 
subject  was  Ebenezer  Rathbun,  who  was  born 
in  \'ermont,  where  he  was  reared  to  manhood. 
As  a  young  man  he  went  to  Washington 
county,  Ohio,  where  he  married.  In  1840 
he  located  in  La  Salle  county,  Illinois,  and 
after  a  few  years  there  and  in  Peoria  county 
he  made  permanent  location  in  Henry  county, 
where  he  became  a  successful  farmer  and  land 


848 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


owner.  He  was  amongst  the  first  white  set- 
tlers of  that  county  and  there  spent  the  re- 
mainder of  his  hfe,  passing  away  in  1874.  The 
mother  of  our  subject  bore  the  maiden  name 
of  ]\Iartha  Hall.  She  was  a  native  of  Ireland 
and  when  a  girl  was  brought  to  America  by 
her  parents,  who  settled  in  Ohio.  She  died  in 
Henry  county,  Illinois,  in  1878. 

James  Rathbun  was  a  lad  of  twelve  sum- 
mers when  the  home  was  established  in  Illi- 
nois, where  he  grew  to  manhood  and  became 
a  farmer.  He  bought  and  improved  a  tract 
of  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  in  Henrj' 
county,  where  he  resided  until  1882,  when  he 
came  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  and  in  Sec- 
tion 1,  Glenwood  township  purchased  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres  of  land,  the  same  having 
been  partly  improved.  As  time  passed  he 
brought  the  land  to  a  high  state  of  cultivation 
and  made  good  improvements.  He  has  made 
his  home  on  this  place  continuously  for  thirty- 
six  years.  That  he  has  been  successful  is  in- 
dicated in  the  fact  that  to-day  he  owns  three 
hundred  and  twenty  acres  in  Glenwood  and 
Paddock  townships  and  formerly  owned  two 
hundred  and  forty  acres  in  Kansas :  this  prop- 
erty he  has  sold  to  three  of  his  sons,  who  now 
make  their  homes  on  the  land. 

February  25,  1858,  was  solemnized  the  mar- 
riage of  James  Rathbun  and  ]\Iary  Wolfe,  who 
was  born  in  Knox  county,  Ohio,  June  24,  1836, 
a  daughter  of  Peter  and  Jane  (Biggs)  Wolfe. 
natives  of  Knox  county,  Ohio,  and  early  set- 
tlers in  Henry  county,  Illinois,  where  they 
passed  away.  Mrs.  Rathbun  was  called  to  the 
home  beyond  in  1895,  and  was  the  mother 
of  the  following  named  children:  Frank, 
George  and  Charles  are  married  and  reside  on 
farms  near  Hollenburg,  Kansas ;  Lewis  is  a 
farmer  residing  in  Odell ;  John  is  a  farmer  ol 
Paddock  township;  Alice,  is  the  wife  of  A. 
I.  Layton,  operating  the  home  farm ;  Lizzie  is 
the  wife  of  Charles  !\lort,  of  Nebraska  City; 
and  Carrie  is  the  wife  of  Ira  Hageman,  of 
Beatrice. 

Mr.  Rathbun  has  reached  the  venerable 
age  of  ninety  years,  has  lived  to  see  his  sons 
and  daughters  establi.shed  in  life  and  can  look 
on  the  past  without  regret  and  to  the  future 
without  fear.     He  is  a  Democrat  in  politics. 


FRED  EGGERT  came  to  Gage  county  soon 
after  his  immigration  from  Germany  to 
America,  and  was  a  vigorous  and  ambitiouus 
youth  of  seventeen  years  when  he  thus  set 
forth  to  seek  his  fortunes  in  the  United  States. 
It  was  in  the  year  1882  that  he  arrived  in 
America  and  made  his  appearance  in  Gage 
county.  He  was  dependent  entirely  upon  his 
own  exertions  in  making  advancement  to- 
ward the  goal  of  independence  and  was  bur- 
dened by  an  indebtedness  of  one  hundred  and 
fifteen  dollars  at  the  time  of  his  arrival  in  this 
county.  For  several  years  thereafter  he  was 
employed  at  farm  work,  at  wages  varying 
from  six  to  ten  dollars  a  month,  but  his  fru- 
gality and  careful  saving  of  his  earnings  soon 
permitted  him  to  free  himself  from  debt  and 
justify  him  in  beginning  independent  oper- 
ations as  a  farmer  on  rented  land.  He  finally 
purchased  a  farm  in  Saline  county,  where  he 
continued  his  operations  eight  years.  In  1912 
he  purchased  his  present  homestead  farm  of 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  the  same  con- 
stituting the  southwest  quarter  of  Section  34, 
Logan  township,  and  here  he  has  made  many 
improvements  of  the  best  order,  including  the 
erection  of  a  large  barn  and  the  remodeling 
and  enlarging  of  the  house.  Without  preten- 
tiousness or  flourish  of  any  kind  Air.  Eggert 
has  devoted  himself  earnestly  to  productive 
enterprise  as  a  farmer  and  has  won  worthy 
success,  the  while  he  has  commanded  the  full- 
est measure  of  popular  esteem.  His  political 
activities  are  confined  to  the  casting  of  his 
ballot  in  support  of  the  cause  of  the  Repub- 
lican party  and  of  men  and  measures  meeting 
his  approval  as  a  loyal  citizen.  Both  he  and 
his  wife  are  consistent  communicants  of  the 
Lutheran  church. 

In  this  county  was  recorded  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  Eggert  to  Miss  Lizzie  Daubendick, 
who  had  been  his  boyhood  schoolmate  in  Ger- 
many, she  having  been  born  and  reared  in  the 
same  community  as  was  he,  in  Westphalia,  and 
having  been  a  young  woman  when  she  accom- 
panied her  parents  to  America,  the  family 
home  having  been  established  in  Clatonia 
township,  this  county.  Air.  and  Mrs.  Eggert 
have  five  children:  Mar^-  is  the  wife  of  Hans 
Sclimohr,  a  prosperous  farmer  of  this  county; 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


&49 


Henry  is  successfully  engaged  in  farm  enter- 
prise in  Logan  township;  Annie  is  the  wife 
of  John  King,  of  Sanborn,  Iowa ;  and  Fred, 
Jr.  and  Carl,  who  are  twins,  are  the  younger 
members  of  the  parental  home  circle. 

Adverting  to  the  early  period  of  the  life 
history  of  Mr.  Eggert,  it  may  be  noted  that  he 
was  born  ;n  the  province  of  Westphalia,  Ger- 
many, on  the  9th  of  May,  1864,  and  that  he 
was  but  three  years  old  at  the  time  of  his 
mother's  death,  he  having  no  remembrance 
of  ever  having  seen  his  father,  as  he  was 
reared  in  the  home  of  friends  of  the  family. 
He  was  given  the  advantages  of  the  schools 
of  his  native  place  and  there  continued  his 
residence  until  ambition  spurred  him  to  come 
to  the  United  States,  where  he  felt  assured 
of  better  opportunities  for  the  winning  of 
prosperity  through  his  own  efforts.  He  has 
made  the  passing  years  count  in  productive 
industry  and  is  one  of  the  substantial  farmers 
of   Logan  township. 

FRANK  BURES,  who  passed  away,  in 
Paddock  township.  May  1,  1915,  was  one  of 
Gage  county's  successful  farmers  and  sub- 
stantial citizens.  A  native  of  Iowa,  he  was 
born  in  Jones  county,  October  3,  1868,  and 
was  a  son  of  Frank  and  Anna  Bures,  of  whom 
mention  is  made  in  a  sketch  written  for  Joseph 
Bures,  of  Glenwood  township.  Reared  to  the 
life  of  the  farm,  in  Iowa  and  in  Gage  county, 
Nebraska,  Frank  Bures,  as  a  young  man, 
learned  the  trade  of  blacksmith,  at  which  he 
worked  for  a  few  years  in  Odell.  He  then 
purchased  a  farm  in  Section  7,  Paddock  town- 
ship, and  this  he  brought  to  a  high  state  of 
cultivation,  with  due  attendant  success  mark- 
ing his  varied  farm  activities. 

For  a  companion  and  helpmeet  Mr.  Bures 
chose  Miss  Anna  Lisec,  a  native  of  Saline 
county,  Nebraska,  where  she  was  born  March 
10,  1875.  She  is  a  sister  of  Frank  Lisec,  of 
Sicily  township.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bures  became 
the  parents  of  four  children:  Albert  died  in 
infancy ;  and  Frank,  Mary  and  James  are  with 
their  mother  on  the  farm,  the  sons  carrying 
on  the  work  which  has  fallen  upon  their 
shoulders    since    the    death    of    their    father. 


Frank  is  serving,  in  1918,  his  second  year  as 
assessor  of  Paddock  township,  his  father  hav- 
ing served  as  assessor  of  this  township  for 
three  years. 

The  late  Frank  Bures  was  a  good  farmer, 
a  loyal  citizen,  a  loving  husband  and  father, 
and  in  his  passing  the  community  was  bereft 
of  a  man  whom  it  could  ill  afford  to  lose. 

WILLIAM  PIEPER,  who  rents  from  his 
father  a  well  improved  farm  of  one  hundred 
and  sixty-one  acres  in  Section  4,  Holt  town- 
ship, is  another  of  the  native  sons  of  Gage 
county  who  is  here  exemplifying  the  best  tra- 
ditions and  also  modern  policies  in  progres- 
sive agriculture  and  stock-raising.  He  was 
born  in  Grant  township,  this  county,  July  8, 
1892,  and  is  the  eldest  of  the  seven  children 
born  to  Henry  and  Louisa  (Bushe)  Pieper; 
Ernest,  the  second  son,  has  become  a  member 
of  the  national  army  being  trained  for  partici- 
pation in  the  appalling  European  war,  and  at 
the  time  of  this  writing  he  is  stationed  in  a 
training  camp  in  New  Mexico,  in  the  winter 
of  1917-1918;  Minnie,  Sophia  and  Helen  re- 
main at  the  paternal  home;  Emma  is  being 
reared  in  the  home  of  her  uncle,  Frederick 
Rishe,  in  the  city  of  Lincoln,  this  state;  and 
Hilda  is  in  the  home  of  her  uncle  Frederick 
Pieper,  in  Grant  township. 

Henry  Pieper,  father  of  the  subject  of  this 
review,  was  born  in  Germany,  about  1850, 
and  was  a  lad  of  about  fifteen  years  when  he 
came  with  kinsfolk  to  the  United  States  and 
settled  in  Gage  county.  Thereafter  he  was 
employed  about  nine  years  as  a  farm  hand, 
and  in  the  meanwhile  he  was  careful  in  saving 
his  earnings,  his  ambition  being  to  establish 
himself  eventually  as  an  independent  farmer. 
Finally  he  purchased  eighty  acres  of  land  in 
Section  2,  Grant  township,  and  of  the  splendid 
success  that  has  since  attended  his  energetic 
and  well  ordered  endeavors  no  further  voucher 
need  be  given  that  the  statement  that  he  is 
now  the  owner  of  a  valuable  landed  estate  of 
four  hundred  and  ten  acres  —  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  in  Grant  township ;  the  one 
hundred  and  sixty-one  acres  farmed  by  his 
son  William,  of  this  review,  in  Holt  township ; 


850 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


and  eighty  acres  in  Scotts  Bluff  county.  He 
still  resides  on  his  fine  homestead  farm  in 
Grant  township,  his  devoted  wife  having  died 
in  1908,  as  the  sequel  of  an  operation  for  ap- 
pendicitis. She  was  born  in  Germany  and  was 
thirty-seven  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  her 
death.  She  was  a  devoted  member  of  the 
Evangelical  Lutheran  church,  in  which  her 
husband  likewise  holds  membership. 

William  Pieper  was  reared  on  the  home 
farm  and  gained  his  youthful  education  in  the 
district  schools  of  Grant  township.  He  initi- 
ated his  independent  career  as  a  farmer  in 
1915,  when  he  rented  from  his  father  his 
present  farm,  and  he  is  proving  himself  one 
of  the  aggressive  and  successful  agriculturists 
and  stock-growers  of  the  younger  generation 
in  his  native  county.  In  the  season  of  1917 
he  obtained  from  seventy-one  acres  a  yield 
of  corn  that  averaged  thirty  bushels  to  the 
acre,  and  in  the  live-stock  department  of  his 
farm  enterprise  he  is  giving  special  attention 
to  the  raising  of  Duroc-Jersey  swine.  Mr. 
Pieper  is  an  industrious  and  ambitious  young 
man  who  is  always  ready  to  do  his  share  in  the 
furthering  of  movements  and  enterprises  for 
the  general  good  of  the  community,  his  politi- 
cal support  being  given  to  the  Republican  party 
and  both  he  and  his  wife  holding  membership 
in  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  church. 

October  4,  1917,  recorded  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Pieper  to  Miss  Dora  Tiemann,  who  is  the 
popular  mistress  of  their  pleasant  home,  which, 
under  her  regime,  is  truly  worthy  of  the  name 
of  home.  Mrs.  Pieper  was  born  in  Grant 
township,  this  county,  near  Clatonia,  and  is  a 
daughter  of  the  late  Henry  Tiemann,  the 
mother,  whose  maiden  name  was  Anna  Dar- 
nauer,  remaining  on  the  old  homestead  farm 
with  her  two  sons,  Mrs.  Pieper  having  been 
the  fourth  in  a  family  of  five  children. 

JOFIN  BARRATT.  —  Not  only  historic 
interest  but  much  of  romance  attaches  to  the 
career  of  this  venerable  and  honored  pioneer, 
who  became  a  resident  of  Gage  county  nearly 
ten  years  prior  to  the  admission  of  Nebraska 
to  statehood  and  who  is  still  the  owner  of  a 
fine  landed  estate  in  the  county,  the  same  com- 


prising two  hundred  and  seventy  acres,  in 
Grant  and  Blakely  townships,  his  original 
homestead  entry,  in  the  former  township,  hav- 
ing been  the  twenty-ninth  recorded  within  the 
limits  of  that  now  opulent  division  of  the 
county.  In  the  gracious  twilight  of  a  long 
and  useful  life  he  is  living  retired  in  the  vil- 
lage of  Dewitt,  Saline  county  —  about  two 
miles  distant  from  his  old  Gage  county  home- 
stead. 

John  Barratt  was  born  in  Somersetshire, 
England,  on  the  5th  of  December,  1837,  and  , 
is  the  younger  in  a  family  of  two  children,  his 
brother,  William,  liaving  continued  to  reside 
in  England  until  his  death,  as  did  also  the 
parents,  John  and  Uriscilla  A.  (Barratt)  Bar- 
ratt, both  likewise  natives  of  Somersetshire, 
where  the  father  followed  the  trade  of  black- 
smith in  connection  with  farm  enterprise.  The 
parents  were  devout  communicants  of  the 
Church  of  England  and  the  son  John  has  con- 
tinued to  hold  earnestly  to  the  ancestral  faith, 
he  being  a  zealous  communicant  of  the  Pro- 
testant Episcopal  church,  as  was  also  his  wife. 

He  to  whom  this  review  is  dedicated  was 
reared  on  the  old  home  farm  in  England  and 
was  given  the  advantages  of  the  parish  schools. 
When  eighteen  years  of  age,  in  1856,  he 
severed  the  home  ties  and  set  forth  to  seek  his 
fortunes  in  the  United  States.  Making  the 
voyage  across  the  Atlantic  on  a  sailing  ves- 
sel of  the  type  common  to  that  period,  he 
landed  in  the  port  of  New  York  city  in  May 
of  the  year  mentioned.  Thence  he  proceeded 
to  Ohio,  where  he  remained  a  few  months,  and 
he  then  made  his  way  to  Wisconsin.  There 
he  remained  until  1858,  when  he  set  out  for 
the  western  frontier.  He  walked  the  greater 
part  of  the  distance  from  Wisconsin  to  Ne- 
braska Territory,  and  when  he  arrived  in 
Gage  county,  in  August,  1858,  his  capitalistic 
resources  were  represented  in  the  sum  of  little 
more  than  one  hundred  dollars.  He  came  to 
Gage  county  in  company  with  his  cousin, 
George  Grant,  and  the  latter's  family,  this 
cousin  having  been  one  of  the  first  settlers  on 
Turkey  creek,  and  Grant  township  having 
been  named  in  his  honor.  He  was  one  of  the 
most   influential   pioneers   of   that   section   of 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA  851 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  Barratt 


852 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


the  county,  as  data  appearing  in  the  history 
of  the  county  clearly  indicate. 

While  he  was  thus  facing  the  responsibilities 
and  labors  of  a  pioneer  Mr.  Barratt  manifest- 
ed his  unqualified  loyalty  to  the  land  of  his 
adoption  after  the  Civil  war  had  been  pre- 
cipitated upon  the  nation.  On  the  30th  of 
October,  1862,  he  enlisted  in  Company  F, 
Second  Nebraska  Cavalr\',  and  with  this  com- 
mand he  took  part  in  the  battle  of  \Miitestone 
Hill,  but  his  principal  service  wUs  in  connec- 
tion with  minor  engagements  and  skinnishes 
on  the  frontier.  In  December,  1863,  he  re- 
ceived his  honorable  discharge,  and  upon  his 
return  to  Gage  county  he  built  a  log  cabin  on 
the  homestead  claim  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  to  which  he  had  previously  made  entry. 
He  provided  for  his  needs  by  working  as  a 
farm  hand  and  in  the  meanwhile  gave  as  much 
attention  as  possible  to  the  reclaiming  of  his 
own  land.  He  became  a  member  of  the  terri- 
torial militia  and  when,  on  the  7th  of  August, 
1864,  the  govemor  of  the  territory  called  out 
troops  to  repel  a  fomiidable  Indian  outbreak 
Mr.  Barratt  was  elected  orderly  sergeant  of 
Company  C,  with  which  he  served  six 
months  —  principally  in  guarding,  the  road 
for  the  passage  of  the  United  States  mail.  He 
escaped  injury  during  this  service,  as  had  he 
previously  while  with  the  cavalry  command, 
and  his  company  did  not  come  into  active  con- 
flict with  the  marauding  Indians. 

Energetically  continuing  the  improvement 
of  his  farm,  Mr.  Barratt  met  with  cumulative 
success  in  the  passing  years  and  became  spe- 
cially prominent  as  a  stock-grower  in  Grant 
township,  where  he  gave  particular  attention 
to  the  raising  of  Poland-China  swine.  He  did 
well  his  part  in  furthering  the  civic  and  indus- 
trial development  of  Gage  county,  made  ju- 
dicious investments  in  additional  land  and 
finally  developed  one  of  the  well  improved  and 
valuable  farm  properties  of  the  county  —  the 
landed  estate  which  he  still  retains  in  his  pos- 
session, besides  being  the  owner  of  his  resi- 
dence and  other  property  in  the  village  of  De- 
witt,  where  he  established  his  home  on  his  re- 
tirement from  the  fami,  in  1903.  He  was 
active  and  influential  in  communal  affairs,  was 


one  of  the  organizers  of  the  district  school  in 
the  vicinity  of  his  home  farm  and  sen'ed  as  a 
director  of  the  same  from  1870  until  his  re- 
moval to  Dewitt,  more  than  thirty  years  later. 
He  has  continuously  giyen  his  earnest  allegi- 
ance to  the  Republican  party  and  is  one  of  the 
appreciated  and  honored  members  of  the  old 
pioneer  association  of  Lincoln  and  of  the 
post  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic  in 
Dewitt. 

Mr.  Barratt's  reminiscences  concerning  con- 
ditions and  incidents  of  the  early  pioneer  days 
are  most  graphic  and  interesting,  and  in  this 
connection  the  following  record  is  well  worthy 
of  perpetuation  in  this  connection.  On  the 
7th  of  August,  1867,  he  and  three  other  men 
were  quartered  in  a  house  on  the  Oak  Grove 
ranch,  in  Nuckolls  county,  together  with  three 
women  and  one  or  more  children,  when  the 
place  was  approached  by  a  party  of  thirty-five 
Indians  who  asserted  that  they  were  hunting 
for  a  band  of  Pawnee  Indians.  M.  C.  Kelley 
and  J.  H.  Butler,  the  other  two  men,  went  out 
for  a  parley  with  the  Indians,  by  whom  they 
were  shot  dead.  As  one  of  the  four  guards 
for  the  women  and  children.  Mr.  Barratt  piled 
bags  of  flour  against  the  doors  and  succeeded 
in  keeping  the  bloodthirsty  Indians  at  bay 
until  they  were  driven  off  on  the  approach  of 
the  returning  wagon  train  from  Denver,  Colo- 
rado, a  few  hours  after  the  massacre  of  the 
two  men.  v, 

Mr.  Barratt  recalls^  that  in  August,  1866. 
this  section  of  the  state  was  visited  by  a 
veritable  scourge  of  grasshoppers,  which  laid 
havoc  to  all  vegetation  and  left  not  a  blade  of 
corn  in  the  fields.  They  next  attacked  the 
onion  beds  and  after  eating  the  tops  Mr.  Bar- 
ratt states  that  they  would  hold  each  other 
down  in  order  that  they  might  feast  on  the 
onion  roots.  In  May,  1872,  while  Mr.  Bar- 
ratt was  visiting  his  old  home  in  England, 
Gage  county  was  visited  by  a  hail  storm  of 
such  remarkable  severity  that  even  fish  in  the 
streams  were  killed.  He  has  shot  prairie 
chickens  on  the  site  of  the  present  thriving 
and  beautiful  city  of  Beatrice  and  there  are 
few,  if  any,  of  the  incidents,  trials,  and  hard- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


853 


ships  of  the  pioneer  days  with  which  he  is 
not  famihar  through  personal  experience. 

On  March  17,  1867,  was  solemnized  the 
marriage  of  Mr.  Barratt  to  Miss  Annie  E. 
Wheeler,  who  was  born  in  London,  England, 
November  1,  1840,  a  daughter  of  Charles  and 
Annie  (Pierce)  Wheeler,  and  who  came  to 
Nebraska  in  1866,  in  company  with  an  uncle 
and  aunt  and  one  of  her  brothers  and  a  cousin, 
she  having  been  in  the  home  of  her  uncle,  in 
Saline  county,  at  the  time  of  her  marriage. 
Mrs.  Barratt  proved  a  most  faithful  and  de- 
voted wife  and  mother  and  was  loved  by  all 
who  came  within  the  sphere  of  her  gentle  and 
gracious  influence,  she  having  been  summoned 
to  the  life  eternal  December  31,  1914.  In  the 
concluding  paragraph  of  this  article  is  given 
brief  record  concerning  the  children  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Barratt. 

William,  who  is  a  prosperous  farmer  in 
Smith  county,  Kansas,  married  Miss  Myrtle 
Quinn,  a  native  of  Cass  county,  Nebraska,  and 
they  have  four  children — -Mabel  F.,  Audrey, 
Ella  Beatrice,  and  Mildred  Pauline.  Ella  is 
the  wife  of  Edgar  Coke,  of  Dewitt,  and  with 
them  resides  her  venerable  father.  Robert 
resides  upon  and  has  the  active  management 
of  his  father's  old  homestead  farm  in  Gage 
county  :  he  wedded  Miss  Nettie  Wolf  and  they 
have  two  children  —  John  F.  and  Lloyd  E. 
Nellie  died  in  infancy.  George,  who  is  a  rep- 
resentative farmer  of  Blakely  township,  mar- 
ried Miss  Millie  Moore,  and  they  have  three 
children  —  Georgia  M.,  Birdie  I.,  and  Wini- 
fred D.  Ilarry,  the  youngest  of  the  children 
of  the  honored  subject  of  this  review,  died  at 
the  age  of  five  years. 

JOHN  F.  BURBANK  came  with  his  par- 
ents to  Nebraska  in  the  spring  of  1883,  and 
has  here  achieved  marked  success  in  connec- 
tion with  the  basic  industries  of  agriculture 
and  stock-growing.  He  was  twenty-three 
years  of  age  when  he  came  to  this  state  and 
he  continued  for  some  time  to  be  associated 
with  farming  in  Sarpy  county,  where  he  was 
continued  in  independent  farm  enterprise 
until  1900.  He  then  came  to  Gage  county 
and  purchased  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres 


of  land  in  Section  29,  Filley  township,  this 
farm  having  been  developed  and  improved 
by  that  sterling  pioneer,  the  late  John  Wesley 
Wright,  to  whom  a  memoir  is  dedicated  on 
other  pages  of  this  work.  On  this  farm  Mr. 
Burbank  continued  his  successful  enterprise 
as  an  agriculturist  and  stock-grower  until  the 
spring  of  1918,  when  he  sold  the  property  to 
advantage,  and  he  now  resides  in  the  village 
of  Filley.  He  is  a  Republican  in  his  political 
proclivities  and  as  a  citizen  has  always  stood 
exponent  of  loyalty  and  progressiveness. 

Mr.  Burbank  was  born  in  Peoria  county, 
Illinois,  on  the  2d  of  November.  1860,  and 
concerning  his  father,  Benjamin  F.  Burbank 
and  the  family  history  in  general,  adequate 
data  appear  on  other  pages,  in  the  sketch  dedi- 
cated to  his  brother  C.  A.  Burbank.  He  was 
reared  on  the  home  farm  in  Illinois  and  his 
early  educational  advantages  were  those  af- 
forded in  the  public  schools.  He  has  never 
faltered  in  his  allegiance  to  agricultural  indus- 
try and  through  the  medium  of  the  same  has 
won  success  worthy  of  the  name.  In  Stark 
county,  Illinois,  Mr.  Burbank  wedded  Miss 
Rosa  Schanck,  who  was  born  in  that  county, 
and  she  passed  to  the  life  eternal  in  1907,  be- 
ing survived  by  one  daughter,  Loisa,  who  is 
the  wife  of  J.  C.  Perky,  of  Filley.  In  1911 
Mr.  Burbank  contracted  a  second  marriage, 
when  JMiss  Alaude  Eaton  became  his  wife. 
Mrs.  Burbank  was  born  in  the  state  of  Mis- 


FRANK  R.  SHALLA.  —  Among  the  na- 
tive sons  of  Gage  county  who  have  chosen  to 
remain  within  its  borders  and  who  are  meeting 
with  success,  Frank  R.  Shalla  merits  definite 
recognition.  He  is  a  son  of  Frank  Shalla,  a 
pioneer  of  Gage  county,  whose  record  appears 
elsewhere  in  these  pages.  Born  in  a  primi- 
tive pioneer  home  in  Section  36,  Glenwood 
township,  on  April  14,  1880,  Frank  R.  Shalla 
spent  his  boyhood  days  in  the  usual  manner  of 
farm  lads,  his  time  being  divided  between  his 
studies  in  the  district  school  and  such  farm 
tasks  as  his  young  strength  permitted.  He 
was  one  of  a  family  of  eight  boys  and  learned 
the  necessity  and  value  of  industry.     When 


854 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


twenty-one  years  of  age  he  began  working  by 
the  month  for  others,  and  when  he  was  twenty- 
five  years  old  his  father  assisted  him  in  the 
purchase  of  eighty  acres  of  land  in  Section 
29,  Paddock  township,  where  he  bought  an 
adjoining  eighty  acres.  The  place  contained 
some  improvements,  but  the  buildings  were 
in  a  run-down  condition.  For  thirteen  years 
he  has  been  building  upon  and  otherwise  im- 
proving the  place,  and  it  is  to-day  one  of  the 
valuable  farms  of  the  township.  As  his  re- 
sources increased  Mr.  Shalla  made  addition 
to  his  land  holdings  by  the  purchase  of  eighty 
acres  in  Section  32. 

Mr.  Shalla  completed  arrangements  for  a 
home  by  his  marriage  to  Miss  Clara  Pribyl, 
who  likewise  was  born  in  Gage  county,  and 
who  is  a  daughter  of  Tony  Pribyl,  a  pioneer 
of  Paddock  township  and  now  a  resident  of 
Kansas.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Shalla  are  the  parents 
of  five  children,  —  Ella,  Sylvia,  Edward, 
Anna  and  Vera.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Shalla  are 
members  of  no  church,  although  reared  in  the 
Catholic  faith.  Mr.  Shalla  expresses  his  ideas 
of  religion  when  he  says  he  believes  in  truth, 
friendship  and  love,  —  and  membership  in  no 
earthy  tabernacle  could  assure  happiness  in 
this  world  or  any  world  to  come  more  than 
obedience  to  the  doctrine  implied  by  those 
three  words. 

Mr.  Shalla  is  independent  in  politics.  He 
has  served  as  a  member  of  the  school  board, 
and  as  treasurer  of  the  school  district,  in  both 
of  which  positions  he  rendered  efficient  ser- 
vice. 

FRED  RIGGERT.  —  One  of  the  finest  of 
farm  properties  in  Paddock  township  is  the 
home  of  the  subject  of  this  record,  who  was 
born  in  Marshall  county,  Kansas  March  S, 
1881.  His  parents,  Aitgust  and  Minnie  (Ger- 
mer)  Riggert,  both  natives  of  Hanover,  Ger- 
many, came  to  America  when  they  were 
young  people,  and  were  married  in  Marshall 
county,  Kansas,  where  August  Riggert  took 
up  a  homestead  and  became  one  of  the  pio- 
neer fanners  of  that  county.  He  was  a  suc- 
cessful man  in  his  business  ventures,  devoting 
the  active  years  of  his  life  to  agricultural  pur- 


suits, and  is  now  living  retired  on  his  farm, 
having  become  one  of  the  extensive  land  own- 
ers of  his  county.  His  wife  has  passed  away, 
and  they  were  the  parents  of  ten  children: 
Anna  is  the  wife  of  Fred  Klaus,  of  Paddock 
township;  Fred,  was  next  in  order  of  birth; 
Sophia  is  the  wife  of  Ernest  Adam  of  Glen- 
wood  township;  Mrs.  Fred  Gleue  and  Mrs. 
Adolph  Stohs  reside  in  Marshall  county,  Kan- 
sas ;  Christ  remains  on  the  home  farm ;  Mrs. 
Freda  Stohs  lives  in  Kansas ;  and  Miss  Clara 
is  at  the  paternal  home.  Two  children  died 
when  young. 

Fred  Riggert  was  reared  on  his  father's 
farm  in  Marshall  county,  Kansas,  acquired  his 
education  in  the  public  schools,  and  under  the 
instruction  of  his  father  he  learned  those  les- 
sons of  industry  and  thrift  which  have  been 
of  great  value  in  after  years. 

When  twenty-two  years  of  age  he  started 
his  independent  career  as  a  farmer.  For  the 
first  seven  years  he  rented  land,  and  in  1910 
he  purchased  his  present  farm,  upon  which  he 
has  erected  as  fine  a  set  of  farm  buildings  as 
can  be  found  anywhere.  An  atmosphere  of 
thrift  and  prosperity  pervades  the  place  and 
easily  convinces  the  observer  of  the  progres- 
sive and  practical  methods  of  its  owner.  Aside 
from  the  raising  of  cereals  best  adapted  to  the 
soil  and  climate,  Mr.  Riggert  deals  in  stock 
of  a  good  grade,  both  branches  of  his  business 
yielding  him  a  substantial  income. 

For  a  companion  and  helpmeet  Mr.  Riggert 
chose  Miss  Mary  Adam,  of  Glenwood  town- 
ship, a  daughter  of  Ernst  and  Elizabeth  (Dan- 
iel) Adam,  of  whom  mention  is  made  else- 
where in  this  volume.  In  January  1915,  Mr. 
Riggert  was  called  upon  to  mourn  the  loss  of 
his  wife,  who  was  the  mother  of  six  children, 
—  Elsie,  Edwin,  Martha,  Alfred,  Clara  and 
Paul.  For  his  second  wife  Mr.  Riggert 
wedded  Miss  Lena  Adam,  a  sister  of  his  first 
wife,  and  they  are  the  parents  of  one  child, 
Lillian. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Riggert  are  members  of  the 
Lutheran  church,  the  faith  of  which  was  held 
by  their  parents.  Mr.  Riggert  casts  his  vote 
in  support  of  the  men  and  measures  of  the  Re- 
publican party  and  is  ser\'ing  as  director  of  his 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


855 


school  district.  He  is  one  of  the  substantial 
citizens  of  his  community  and  any  worthy 
cause  for  the  social,  moral  or  material  benefit 
of  Gage  county  has  his  hearty  support. 

HENRY  J.  SIEMS.  — One  of  the  most 
original  and  attractive  rural  homes  in  Gage 
county  is  the  beautiful  bungalow  which  adorns 
the  fine  farm  of  Mr.  Siems,  in  Section  22, 
Grant  township.  This  artistic  structure  was 
designed  and  erected  by  Mr,  Siems,  who  has 
had  much  experience  as  a  mechanic  and  as  con- 
tractor and  builder,  and  he  has  also  made  other 
improvements  that  mark  his  farm  as  one  of 
the  most  attractive  in  the  county.  He  is  the 
owner  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  the 
productive  land  of  Grant  township  and  the 
same  represents  his  heritage  from  the  estate 
of  his  father,  who  was  one  of  the  sterling  pio- 
neers of  Gage  county, 

Henry  J,  Siems  was  born  at  Lincoln,  Logan 
county,  Illinois,  on  the  2d  of  August,  1873, 
and  thus  was  about  two  years  of  age  when  his 
parents  came  to  Nebraska,  in  the  spring  o' 
1876,  He  is  a  son  of  Claus  and  Lena  (Welt- 
zein)  Siems,  both  natives  of  Germany,  the 
former  having  been  born  in  the  province  of 
Hanover,  February  11,  1841,  and  the  latter 
in  Alecklenburg,  August  18,  1849 :  their  mar- 
riage was  solemnized  at  Lincoln,  Illinois,  Mrs. 
Seims  having  been  a  child  of  five  years  when 
she  came  with  her  widowed  mother  to  the 
United  States  and  the  home  having  been  es- 
tablished in  Wisconsin,  whence  removal  was 
later  made  to  Illinois. 

Claus  Siems  was  reared  and  educated  in 
his  native  land,  where  also  he  served  an  ap- 
prenticeship to  the  trade  of  cabinetmaker.  He 
became  an  expert  artisan  and  was  a  vigorous 
and  self-reliant  young  man  when  he  came  to 
America  and  established  his  residence  at 
Fond  du  Lac,  Wisconsin.  There  he  was  em- 
ployed in  a  sash  and  door  factory  for  three 
years  and  for  ten  years  thereafter  he  was  em- 
ployed in  a  furniture  establishment  at  Lincoln, 
Illinois.  In  1876,  as  before  noted,  he  came 
with  his  family  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska, 
and  incidental  to  leasing  a  tract  of  land  in 
Grant  township  he  gained  practical  experience 


in  farm  enterprise.  In  1881  he  began  oper- 
ations on  land  which  he  purchased  in  the  same 
township,  and  as  a  pioneer  he  developed  one 
of  the  fine  farm  properties  of  the  county.  He 
eventually  accumulated  an  estate  of  four  hun- 
dred and  eighty  acres,  of  which  the  present 
homestead  of  his  son  Henry  J.  is  an  integral 
part.  His  mechanical  skill  enabled  him  to 
effect  readily  a  better  order  of  improvements 
on  his  farm,  in  the  matter  of  buildings  and  ap- 
purtenances, and  he  was  known  as  a  citizen 
of  energy  and  progressiveness,  of  strong  mind 
and  of  utmost  integrity  in  all  of  the  relations 
of  life.  He  was  a  loyal  Democrat  in  his  po- 
litical adherency  and  the  religious  faith  of  the 
entire  family  has  been  that  of  the  Lutheran 
church.  After  the  death  of  his  first  wife  he 
contracted  a  second  marriage,  but  of  this  union 
no  children  were  born.  Of  the  first  marriage 
were  born  five  sons  and  two  daughters,  and 
of  the  number  the  subject  of  this  review  is  the 
eldest.  Louise  (Siems)  Eckel  died  February 
8,  1911,  at  the  age  of  twenty-eight  years, 
Louis  and  Anna  Siems  are  the  other  living 
children. 

Henry  J,  Siems  was  reared  under  the  en- 
vironment and  influences  of  the  pioneer  farm, 
and  in  the  meanwhile  h.e  made  good  use  of  the 
advantages  afTorded  in  the  district  schools  of 
Grant  township.  He  virtually  inherited  much 
of  the  mechanical  talent  and  proclivities  of  his 
father  and  was  but  fifteen  years  of  age  when 
he  began  effective  work  at  the  carpenter's 
trade.  Thereafter  he  continued  to  devote  the 
major  part  of  his  time  and  attention  to  car- 
penter work  in  this  county  until  the  early  '90s, 
when  he  went  to  Bern,  Nemaha  county,  Kan- 
sas, and  established  himself  in  business  as  a 
contractor  and  builder.  There  he  remained 
ten  years,  within  which  period  he  erected  a 
large  number  of  the  business  and  residence 
buildings  that  still  mark  that  progressive  vil- 
lage. It  may  incidentally  be  noted  also  that 
he  was  the  contractor  who  erected  the  edifice 
of  the  Catholic  church  at  Dawson,  Richard- 
son county,  Nebraska,  In  1905  Mr.  Siems 
removed  to  Seneca,  Kansas,  where  he  oper- 
ated a  well  equipped  planing  mill  until  1909, 
when  he  disposed  of  his  interests  at  that  place 


856 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


and  went  to    the   city    of    Denver,    Colorado. 
There  he  continued  as  a  successful  contractor 
in  the    erection    of    high-grade    houses    until 
1913,  when,  after  the    death    of    his    father, 
which   occurred   November  22,    1911,   he   re- 
turned  to  Gage  county  and  took   possession 
of  the  farm  which  he  had  inherited.     Here  he 
has   since   continued   his   successful   activities 
as  an  agriculturist  and  stock-grower,  but  he 
has  by  no  means  lost  interest  in  practical  me- 
chanics.    In  1916  he  designed  and  erected  the 
beautiful  and  modern  bungalow  that  now  con- 
stitutes the  family  home,  and  this  building  is 
of  brick  and  concrete  construction,  in  which 
connection  it  is  interesting  to  record  that  Mr. 
Siems  manufactured    the    brick    and    cement 
blocks  used  for  the  purpose,  as  well  as  the 
mechanism  demanded  in  their  production.    He 
has  further  improved  the  place  by  erecting  a 
model  poultry  house  of  cement  and  a  machine 
shop  of  concrete  blocks.     He  has  invented  a 
sanitary  school-house  seat  of  entire  steel  con- 
struction, and  another  product  of  his  inven- 
tive genius  is  a  brick-cleaning  machine  that 
is  now  in  use  in  the  Argo  smelters  at  Denver, 
Colorado.     His     most     important     invention, 
however,  was  the  cast  stone-block  system  and 
mechanism    for    the    moulding    of    concrete 
blocks,  the  same  being  versatile  and  accurate, 
as   it   will   produce  concrete  blocks   or   fence 
posts  of  any  desired  size,  as  well  as  window 
sills  and  tank  staves.     For  the  manufacturing 
of  concrete  products  by  his  special  system  Mr. 
Siems  maintains  his  own  well  equipped  plant 
on  his  farm,  and  he  is  making  plans  to  manu- 
facture on  a  large  scale  and  to  ship  his  pro- 
ducts to  distant  points,  as  well  as  meeting  the 
requirements  of  a  more  localized  trade.     On 
his  farm  is  a  valuable  deposit  of  fine  sand  and 
gravel  for  use  in  connection  with  architectural 
purposes   and   from  the  same  he  sells  about 
400  wagon  loads  annually,  and  the  output  is 
increased  every  year.     Mr.  Siems  has  been  at 
all  times  energetic  and  ambitious,  and  this  was 
significantly  shown  in  his  youth  by  his  attend- 
ing the  Beatrice  Business  College  for  one  term, 
though  in  his  studies  he  was  handicapped  by 
having  previously  received  only  the  discipline 
of  the  district  schools,  besides  having  found  it 


incumbent  upon  him  to  apply  himself  vigor- 
ously to  work  on  the  home  farm.  His  early 
farm  experience,  however,  comes  into  practical 
use  at  the  present  time,  as  he  is  not  only  a 
skilled  mechanic  of  much  inventive  ability  but 
is  also  a  well  fortified  and  practical .  farmer. 
He  is  affiliated  with  the  Modem  Brotherhood 
of  America  in  the  city  of  Denver,  Colorado. 
February  10,  1896,  recorded  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  Siems  to  Aliss  Anna  Poppe,  who  was 
born  in  Nemaha  county,  Kansas,  May  20, 
1877,  and  who  was  reared  on  the  pioneer  fami 
of  her  parents,  Frederick  and  Amalia  (Wiese- 
deppe)  Poppe,  who  are  natives  of  Germany 
and  who  are. now  residing  in  the  village  of 
Bern,  Kansas.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Siems  have 
three  children,  all  of  whom  remain  at  the  par- 
ental home  and  contribute  to  its  prevading  at- 
mosphere of  good  cheer  and  generous  hospi- 
tality, their  names  being  here  entered  in  re- 
spective order  of  their  birth  :  Herman,  Wilma 
and  George. 

WILLIAM  H.  SHALLA  is  one  of  the  suc- 
cessful young  farmers  of  Glenwood  township. 
He  was  born  on  his  father's  homestead  in  this 
township,  August  25,  1888,  a  son  of  Frank 
Shalla,  whose  life  record  is  given  elsewhere 
in  this  volume. 

William  H.  Shalla  was  reared  on  the  fami, 
assisted  in  its  cultivation,  and  five  years  ago 
he  married  and  his  father  helped  him  pur- 
chase the  one'  hundred  and  sixty  acre  farm 
upon  which  he  is  now  residing. 

He  married  Miss  Agnes  Juricek,  a  native 
of  Saline  county,  and  a  daughter  of  Frank 
Juricek,  who  is  retired  and  living  in  Crete, 
Nebraska.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Shalla  have  one  son, 
Harry  W. 

ERNST  ADAM.  — The  subject  of  this  rec- 
ord is  the  oldest  of  a  family  of  seven  children 
born  to  Ernst  and  Elizabeth  (Daniel)  Adam. 
The  father  was  born  in  Schlazian,  Germany, 
February  18,  1845,  and  when  a  young  man  of 
twenty-five  came  to  the  United  States  and 
found  employment  at  farm  labor,  first  in  Iowa 
and  later  in  Nebraska.  He  carefully  saved 
his  earnings  and  in  the  early  '80s  purchased 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


85/ 


land  in  Glenwood  township,  Gage  county.  He 
became  one  of  the  successful  farmers  and  ex- 
tensive land  owners  of  the  county,  his  posses- 
sions at  the  time  of  his  death  being  more  than 
five  hundred  acres.  His  death  occurred  on 
the  farm,  December  26,  1914.  His  wife  also 
was  a  native  of  Germany,  where  she  was  born 
in  1859.  and  her  death  occurred  on  the  farm 
in  Glenwood  township,  in  1891,  both  having 
been  earnest  members  of  the  Lutheran  church. 
Following  is  a  brief  record  concerning  their 
children :  Ernst,  Herman  and  August  are 
farmers  in  Glenwood  township,  on  land  left 
them  by  their  father ;  Lena,  is  the  wife  of  Fred 
Riggert,  of  Paddock  township,  his  first  wife 
having  been  Mrs.  Riggerts  sister  Mary,  who 
died  three  years  ago;  one  child  of  the  family 
died  in  infancy ;  and  a  son,  Henry,  died  at  the 
age  of  six  years. 

Ernst  Adam,  the  oldest  of  the  children  above 
mentioned,  was  born  on  the  farm  in  Glenwood 
township,  November  3,  1883,  was  educated  in 
the  public  schools  and  inherited  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  of  land  from  his  father.  On 
this  place  he  has  erected  a  splendid  set  of 
buildings  and  here  he  carries  on  general  farm- 
ing and  stock-raising. 

Mr.  Adam  married  Miss  Sophia  Riggert, 
who  was  born  in  Washington  county,  Kansas, 
a  daughter  of  August  Riggert.  Further  men- 
tion of  the  family  is  made  in  the  sketch  of 
Fred  Riggert,  on  another  page.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Adam  have  six  children :  Alvin,  Herbert, 
Raymond  Helen,  Hilda  and  an  infant  born 
April  5,  1918.  The  family  attend  the  Luth- 
eran church. 


C.  A.  BURBANK,  who  is  numbered  among 
the  progressive  farmers  of  Filley  township, 
v.as  born  in  Marshall  county,  Illinois,  Janu- 
ary 23,  1865,  and  is  a  son  of  Benjamin  Frank- 
lin Burbank,  who  was  born  in  Oxford  county, 
Maine,  September  22,  1832,  a  son  of  Israel 
and  Rhoda  (Hatch)  Burbank,  who  likewise 
were  natives  of  the  old  Pine  Tree  state,  where 
they  passed  their  entire  lives  and  where  they 
reared  their  children  on  a  little  farm  of  twelve 
and  one-half  acres,  in  the  midst  of  the  pine  for- 
ests. Benjamin  F.  Burbank  had  limited  educa- 


tional opportunities  in  his  youth  but  early 
learned  the  lessons  of  practical  and  productive 
industry.  In  1855  he  went  to  Peoria  county, 
Illinois,  where  he  engaged  in  farm  enterprise. 
In  1861  he  rem.oved  to  Marshall  county,  that 
state,  where  he  continued  his  activities  as  a 
farmer  for  many  years.  He  owned  land  not 
only  in  that  county  but  also  in  Stark  county, 
property  which  he  sold  in  1883,  when  he  came 
to  Nebraska  and  purchased  an  entire  section  of 
land  in  Sarpy  county.  He  gave  his  supervision 
to  the  development  of  this  land  and  he  now, 
at  the  venerable  age  of  eighty-five  years 
(1918)  makes  his  home  with  his  sons  in  Gage 
county.  He  represents  the  sterling  character 
so  typical  of  the  sons  of  New  England  and  is 
a  man  v.-ho  has  ever  commanded  the  confi- 
dence and  high  esteem  of  his  fellow  men.  His 
political  support  is  given  to  the  Republican 
party  and  while  he  has  not  become  actively 
affiliated  with  any  church  organization  he  has 
been  a  close  student  of  the  Bible  and  has  deep 
reverence  for  the  spiritual  verities  of  the 
Christian  faith  and  practice.  As  a  young  man 
he  married  Miss  Caroline  Hovenden,  who  was 
born  in  England  and  who  was  a  girl  when  she 
caine  with  her  widowed  mother  to  America, 
the  family  home  being  established  in  Peoria 
county,  Illinois.  Mrs.  Burbank  was  about 
sixty-seven  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  her 
death,  in  1903,  and  she  is  survived  by  six 
children :  John  F.  and  C.  A.  are  substantial 
farmers  of  Gage  county;  A.  G.  is  engaged 
in  the  banking  business  at  Cordova,  Seward 
county;  Eva  is  the  wife  of  Oscar  Harlan,  of 
Lincoln,  this  state;  Carrie  is  the  wife  of 
Charles  Owen,  of  South  Omaha :  and  Wil- 
liam H.  is  a  farmer  in  Sherman  township. 
Gage  county. 

C.  A.  Burbank  gained  his  early  education 
in  the  public  schools  of  Illinois  and  at  the 
age  of  twenty-two  years  he  left  the  home  farm 
of  his  father,  in  Sarpy  county,  Nebraska,  to 
engage  in  farm  enterprise  in  an  independent 
way.  He  purchased  in  that  county  eighty 
acres  of  land,  but  ten  days  later  he  sold  the 
same  at  a  profit  of  one  thousand  dollars.  He 
then  purchased  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty  acres  in  the  same  county,  and  there  he 


858 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


continued  his  operations  until  1900,  when  he 
came  to  Gage  county  and  purchased  his  pres- 
ent attractive  homestead  farm,  of  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres,  in  Section  21,  Filley 
township.  The  inferior  buildings  on  the  farm 
he  has  since  replaced  with  thoroughly  modern 
structures,  including  a  commodious  house,  of 
modern  design  and  facilities,  an  excellent  barn 
and  other  substantial  farm  buildings.  The 
fine  orchard  which  he  planted  on  this  farm  is 
now  giving  substantial  fruitage  each  successive 
season,  and  other  improvements  likewise  de- 
note his  enterprise  and  progressiveness  as  an 
exponent  of  modern  farm  enterprise.  He 
takes  loyal  interest  in  community  afifairs  and 
is  ready  to  do  his  part  in  the  furtherance  ot 
enterprises  and  measures  advanced  for  the 
general  good.  His  political  allegiance  is  given 
to  the  Republican  party. 

In  the  year  1888  was  recorded  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  Burbank  to  Miss  Margaret  L.  Turley. 
who  was  born  in  Morgan  county,  Illinois,  and 
who  was  left  an  orphan  in  her  early  childhood, 
she  having  been  a  resident  of  Nebraska  for 
half  a  century.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Burbank  have 
three  sons,  all  of  whom  are  associated  in  the 
work  and  management  of  the  home  farm  — 
Herbert  Benjamin,  Harry  Harlan,  and  Charles 
Albion. 


ALEX  ARMSTRONG.  — The  subject  of 
this  memoir  was  bom  in  County  Tyrone,  Ire- 
land, June  3,  1857,  a  son  of  Andrew  and  EHza- 
beth  Armstrong,  who  likewise  were  natives  of 
the  Emerald  Isle,  where  they  spent  their  en- 
tire lives.  Of  their  children  three  sons  and  a 
daughter  came  to  the  United  States.  John 
and  Alexander  died  in  Gage  county,  Nebras- 
ka ;  Kate  became  the  wife  of  William  Hom- 
mersham  and  resides  in  Missouri;  Charles  is 
a  prosperous  farmer  of  Paddock  township, 
and  is  individually  mentioned  elsewhere  in 
this  volume. 

Alex  Armstrong  was  a  lad  of  eighteen  years  ^• 
when  he  came  to  the  United  States  and  be- 
came a  farmer  in  Linn  county,  Iowa.  In 
1880  he  came  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  and 
purchased  an  improved  farm  of  eighty  acres 
in  Paddock  township.     He  was  a  successful 


farmer,  and  as  his  resources  increased  he 
added  to  his  original  purchase,  owning  at  the 
time  of  his  death  two  hundred  acres,  finely 
improved  and  constituting  one  of  the  valuable 
farms  of  the  township.  He  finally  retired 
from  active  work  on  the  farm  and  established 
his  home  in  the  village  of  Odell,  where  his 
death  occurred  August  8,  1910. 

At  Cedar  Rapids,  Iowa,  on  the  8th  of  Au- 
gust, 1890,  Mr.  Armstrong  was  united  in  mar- 
riage to  Miss  Rachel  Whelan,  who  was  bom 
in  Ireland,  a  daughter  of  William  and  Eliza- 
beth Whelan,  both  natives  of  Ireland.  The 
father  was  an  officer  in  the  British  army  and 
fought  in  the  conflict  in  Afghanistan.  On  the 
return  of  the  army  to  England  he  was  among 
the  few  who  were  ushered  into  the  presence 
of  Queen  Victoria,  who  presented  him  with  a 
gold  medal,  as  a  reward  for  bravery  displayed 
on  the  field  of  battle.  He  died  in  his  native 
land,  and  his  wife  passed  away  at  Cedar 
Rapids,  Iowa. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Armstrong  became  the  par- 
ents of  three  children :  Minnie,  born  July  29, 
1891,  became  the  wife  of  Erskine  Colgrove, 
and  she  passed  away  December  21,  1910; 
Agnes,  born  December  4,  1893,  and  John, 
born  August  22,  1898,  still  remain  with  their 
mother.  John  married  Miss  Gertrude  Bar- 
nadt.  After  the  death  of  her  husband  Mrs. 
Armstrong  returned  to  the  farm,  which,  with 
the  help  of  her  children,  she  has  since  con- 
ducted. Both  she  and  her  son  display  excep- 
tional business  ability  in  connection  with  agri- 
cultural pursuits.  The  husband  and  father 
was  reared  in  the  faith  of  the  Wesleyan 
Methodist  church.  He  was  a  loyal  citizen,  a 
loving  husband  and  father,  and  a  substantial 
citizen  whose  death  marked  a  loss  to  the  com- 
munity as  well  as  to  his  own  family. 

THOMAS  D.  MOSBY.  — Among  the 
early  settlers  of  Gage  county  mention  should 
be  made  of  Thomas  Davis  Mosby,  owner  of 
two  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land  in  Sec- 
tions 26  and  35,  Adams  township.  Mr.  Mosby 
was  born  in  Spencer  county,  Indiana,  January 
6,  1852,  and  is  a  son  of  L.  L.  and  Mary  L. 
(Adams)    Mosby.      His    father   was   born   in 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


859 


Alex.  Armstrong 


860 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Kentucky,  in  1820,  and  as  a  young  man  moved 
to  Indiana,  where  he  followed  farming  until 
his  death,  which  occurred  in  1856.  The 
mother  of  our  subject  was  born  in  Kentucky, 
and  her  death  occurred  in  Adams,  Nebraska, 
December  2,  1900.  Mr.  and  Airs.  Mosby  were 
the  parents  of  three  children  :  Thomas  Davis, 
the  subject  of  this  review ;  Charles  J.,  owner 
and  manager  of  the  Adams  Hotel  at  Adams, 
this  county ;  and  G.  L.,  a  carpenter  at  Adams. 

Thomas  Davis  Mosby  was  educated  in  the 
public  schools  in  Indiana,  and  in  that  state  he 
followed  farming  until  1871.  He  then  re- 
moved to  Missouri,  where  he  continued  farm 
enterprise  until  1876,  and  in  that  year  he  came 
to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  and  settled  in  Sec- 
tion 26,  Adams  township,  where  he  has  lived 
continuously  for  more  than  forty-one  years. 
On  August  15,  1877,  Mr.  Mosby  was  united  in 
marriage  to  Miss  Naomi  Adams,  daughter  of 
John  O.  and  Letitia  (Harris)  Adams,  and  to 
this  union  seven  children  were  born.  Lulu  is 
the  wife  of  Arthur  Campbell,  of  Adams ;  Julia 
Frances  is  the  wife  of  Claud  Campbell,  of 
Virginia,  this  county;  Samuel  A.  married 
Clarinda  Whittaker  and  they  reside  at  Adams  ; 
Mattie  Alice  is  the  wife  of  Frank  Van  Fossen, 
of  Adams ;  Thomas  O.  died  December  5,  1883  ; 
Georgia  A.  is  at  home ;  and  Edna  Isabelle  died 
March  15,  1917. 

John  O.  Adams,  father  of  J\Irs.  Mosby  was 
the  first  permanent  settler  in  Gage  county  and 
a  record  of  him  is  given  elsewhere  in  this 
volume. 

Thomas  D.  Mosby  is  a  Republican  in  poli- 
tics and  has  served  on  the  school  board  of  his 
district  for  several  years.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mos- 
by are  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church,  in  which  they  are  ])oth  faithful  work- 
ers, and  they  are  numbered  among  the  best 
people  of  the  community  in  which  they  have 
so  long  maintained  their  home  and  in  which 
they  are  held  in  very  high  esteem  by  all  who 
know  them. 


JAMES  C.  GALLOWAY  was  not  only  one 
of  the  early  and  honored  pioneer  settlers  of 
Gage  county,  but  he  also  made  large  and  valu- 
able contribution   to  the   social  and   iiKhistrial 


development  and  progress  of  this  now  favored 
section  of  the  state.  He  was  a  member  of  a 
family  founded  in  America  many  generations 
ago,  and  the  same  was  true  of  his  wife,  both 
families  having  had  nuich  to  do  with  pioneer 
activities  as  the  course  of  empire  made  its  way 
to  the  western  portions  of  our  national  do- 
main. The  subject  of  this  memoir  was  one  of 
the  representative  pioneer  citizens  of  Adams 
township.  Gage  county,  where  he  established 
his  home  nearly  half  a  century  ago  and  where 
he  continued  to  reside  until  the  close  of  his 
long  and  useful  life,  his  death  having  occur- 
red September  9,  1892. 

Mr.  Galloway  was  born  near  Jonesboro, 
Tennessee,  on  the  17th  of  July,  1836,  and  as  a 
youth  he  accompanied  his  parents  on  their  im- 
migration to  Macoupin  county,  Illinois,  where 
his  father  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits. 
Mr.  Galloway  had  the  true  pioneer  instinct,  as 
shown  by  the  fact  that  in  1861  he  set  forth 
with  a  wagon  and  ox  team  to  make  an  explor- 
ing expedition  to  the  western  lands  being 
opened  to  settlement.  He  continued  his  jour- 
ney westward  until  he  arrived  in  California, 
and  such  were  the  conditions  at  the  time  that 
he  encountered  many  perils  from  attack  by 
marauding  Indians,  as  well  as  danger  from 
depredations  of  wild  beasts.  He  walked  vir- 
tually the  entire  distance  on  the  long  overland 
journey,  and  after  making  careful  observations 
he  finally  returned  to  Illinois.  There,  in  1872, 
was  solemnized  his  marriage  to  Miss  Eliza- 
beth Scott,  and  in  1874  the  young  couple,  with 
their  infant  son,  set  forth  with  a  team  and  cov- 
ered wagon  for  Gage  county,  Nebraska.  Here 
Air.  Galloway  purchased,  at  the  rate  of  fifteen 
dollars  an  acre,  a  tract  of  land  in  Section  26, 
Adams  township,  this  being  the  old  homestead 
on  which  his  widow  and  two  of  their  sons  still 
reside.  Mr.  Galloway  bent  his  energies  to  the 
improving  of  his  farm  and  the  passing  years 
brought  to  him  a  generous  measure  of  pros- 
perity. From  the  wild  prairie  he  eventually 
developed  a  fine  landed  estate  of  three  hundred 
and  twenty  acres,  and  his  widow  still  retains 
the  ownership  of  this  valuable  property.  On 
the  old  homestead,  as  previously  intimated, 
Mr.  Galloway  remained  until  his  death.     He 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


861 


was  enterprising  and  progressive  in  his  farm 
enterprise  and  left  to  his  sons  the  gracious 
heritage  of  a  good  name  and  the  record  of  a 
useful  and  successful  life.  Mr.  Galloway  was 
always  ready  to  give  his  support  to  measures 
tending  to  advance  the  civic  and  material  wel- 
fare of  the  community  and  he  so  ordered  his 
life  as  to  retain  the  unqualified  confidence  and 
■  good  will  of  his  fellow  men.  His  political  al- 
legiance was  given  to  the  Democratic  party 
and  he  was  affiliated  with  the  Masonic  fra- 
ternity. The  land  which  he  purchased  for  fif- 
teen dollars  an  acre  is  to-day  valued  at  one 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars  an  acre. 

As  previously  noted,  the  marriage  of  Mr. 
Galloway  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Scott  was  solemn- 
ized in  1872.  Mrs.  Galloway,  now  venerable 
in  years,  is  a  representative  of  a  family  that 
has  been  one  of  not  a  little  distinction  and  in- 
fluence in  connection  with  pioneer  history  in 
various  states  of  the  west  and  middle  west. 
Members  of  the  Scott  family  were  early  set- 
tlers in  Illinois,  and  in  the  early  part  of  the 
nineteenth  century  the  father  of  Mrs.  Gallo- 
way, in  company  with  his  brother  John,  drove 
an  ox  team  and  cart  from  Kentucky  to  Ohio 
and  thence  into  Illinois.  The  forests  of  Ohio 
were  dense  and  only  a  few  Indian  trails 
marked  the  route  to  settlements  and  Indian 
trading  stations.  The  Scott  brothers  were 
numbered  among  the  earliest  settlers  of  what 
is  now  Scott  county,  Illinois,  and  the  county 
was  named  in  honor  of  John  Scott,  the  elder 
of  the  two  brothers.  James  C.  Scott,  father  of 
Mrs.  Galloway,  became  a  substantial  farmer  in 
Scott  county,  Illinois,  and  there  Mrs.  Galloway 
was  born,  on  the  6th  of  July,  1845.  Her 
father  was  a  native  of  Kentucky  and  her 
mother,  whose  maiden  name  was  Mary  Cow- 
hick,  was  born  in  Ohio.  They  continued  their 
residence  in  Scott  county,  Illinois,  until  the 
close  of  their  lives.  Mrs.  Galloway  remains 
on  the  old  homestead  that  is  endeared  to  her 
by  the  gracious  memories  and  associations  of 
the  past,  and  she  is  still  able  to  direct  many  of 
the  domestic  economies  of  the  household.  She 
is  one  of  the  revered  pioneer  women  of  Adams 
township,  where  she  bore  with  her  husband 
the  trials  and  hardships  of  the  pioneer  days. 


This  honored  pioneer  couple  became  the  par- 
ents of  four  sons:  Lee  and  James  remain 
with  their  widowed  mother  on  the  old  home- 
stead and  have  the  active  supervision  of  the 
well  ordered  farm;  Scott  died  when  about  six 
years  of  age;  and  Charles  M.  resides  in  the 
village  of  Adams,  this  county. 

James  E.  Galloway  was  born  and  reared  on 
the  fine  farm  which  is  now  his  home  and  in 
the  management  of  which  he  is  well  upholding 
the  prestige  of  the  name  which  he  bears.  He 
was  born  May  9.  1876,  and  received  his  early 
education  in  the  public  schools  of  his  native 
township.  After  the  death  of  his  father  he 
and  his  brothers  assumed  the  active  manage- 
ment of  the  farm,  and  he  and  his  brother, 
Charles  M.,  still  have  the  same  in  charge,  the 
while  they  carry  forward  the  various  depart- 
ments of  the  farm  enterprise  with  marked 
energy  and  progressiveness.  James  E.  Gallo- 
way has  lived  on  this  farm  from  the  time  of 
his  birth  and  has  stated  that  he  feels  that  he 
is  almost  a  part  of  it.  He  has  shown  much 
circumspection  in  his  agricultural  enterprise 
and  also  in  stocking  the  farm  with  pure-bred 
cattle  and  other  excellent  live  stock.  His  po- 
litical allegiance  is  given  to  the  Democratic 
party,  but  he  has  had  no  desire  for  public  of- 
fice of  any  kind. 

GEORGE  BARN.-\RD.  —  The  prosperity 
of  Gage  county  is  due  largely  to  the  industry 
displayed  and  the  success  achieved  by  those 
of  its  citizens  who  are  engaged  in  the  noble 
occupation  of  tilling  the  soil.  Among  this 
number  should  be  mentioned  George  Barnard, 
who  for  thirty-five  years  has  given  his  best 
effort  to  the  agricultural  development  of  his 
adopted  county. 

Mr.  Barnard  is  a  native  of  Tennessee,  his 
birth  occurring  near  Tazewell,  in  Claiborne 
county,  December  11,  1862,  a  son  of  John  and 
Delia  C.  (Webb)  Barnard,  both  of  whom 
were  natives  of  Tennessee.  The  father  met 
his  death  in  1877,  by  a  fall  from  a  horse.  His 
widow  now  resides  in  Kentucky.  They  were 
the  parents  of  ten  children,  two  of  whom, 
James  and  George,  are  residents  of  Gage 
county. 


862 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


George  Barnard  was  reared  and  educated  in 
his  native  state,  and  was  a  lad  of  fifteen  years 
when  he  was  bereft  of  his  father.  In  1883  he 
came  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  and  there- 
after he  condticted  farming  operations  on 
leased  land,  in  Hanover,  Logan  and  Midland 
townships,  until  1900.  Having  carefully  hus- 
banded his  earnings,  he  then  purchased  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres,  and  as  his  financial 
resources  increased  he  added  to  his  holdings, 
until  today  he  is  the  owner  of  four  hundred 
acres  in  Midland  township.  Beginning  his 
career  empty-handed,  he  has  by  diligence  and 
intelligently  directed  efforts  acquired  a  valu- 
able estate.  His  farm  is  well  improved  and 
everything  about  the  place  is  substantial.  The 
buildings  and  neat  appearance  display  the 
thrift  and  good  judgment  of  its  owner. 

April  3,  1879,  Mr.  Barnard  was  united  in 
marriage  to  Miss  Belle  Day,  who  was  bom  in 
Greene  county,  Tennessee,  December  29,  1862, 
and  to  this  union  have  been  born  eight  chil- 
dren :  William  C.  is  a  farmer  in  Logan  town- 
ship ;  Mary  is  the  wife  of  Charles  Le  Poidevin, 
of  Midland  township ;  John,  Woodson,  James, 
and  Roy  also  are  farmers  of  Midland  town- 
ship ;  Zella  is  at  home,  and  one  child  died  in 
infancy.  The  religious  faith  of  the  family  is 
that  of  the  Christian  church,  of  which  they 
are  devoted  members.  In  politics  Mr.  Bar- 
nard is  a  Democrat.  The  allurements  and 
emoluments  of  pviblic  office  have  no  charms 
for  him,  as  he  prefers  to  give  his  time  and  at- 
tention to  his  business  interests,  of  which  he 
has  made  a  decided  success. 

LOUIS  WERNER. —  One  of  the  noble 
and  well  ordered  institutions  of  Nebraska  is 
the  Home  for  the  Feeble  Minded,  at  Beatrice, 
and  of  the  same  Mr.  Werner  has  been  the  effi- 
cient and  honored  steward  since  1908,  his 
residence  in  the  county  having  covered  a  pe- 
riod of  more  than  forty  years.  He  was  born 
in  Alsace-Lorraine,  France,  October  6,  1853, 
and  the  province  of  his  nativity,  now  again  the 
stage  of  terrific  warfare,  passed  under  the 
dominion  of  Germany  at  the  time  of  the 
Franco-Prussian  war.  He  is  a  son  of  Freder- 
ick and   Dorothy    (Weil)    Werner,  both  like- 


wise natives  of  Alsace-Lorraine,  where  the 
former  was  born  in  1809  and  the  latter  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1810,  their  marriage  having  been  sol- 
emnized about  1836  and  both  having  passed 
dieir  entire  lives  in  their  native  province, 
where  the  father  died  in  1868  and  the  mother 
in  1886.  Frederick  Werner  served  seven 
years  in  the  French  army  and  thereafter  he 
followed  the  carpenters  trade,  in  which  con- 
nection he  became  a  successful  contractor  and 
erected  a  number  of  important  public  build- 
ings, churches,  etc.  Of  the  five  children  the 
subject  of  this  review  is  the  younger  of  the 
two  survivors,  and  his  brother,  Charles,  re- 
sides in  the  historic  old  city  of  Strassburg, 
capital  of  Alsace-Lorraine.  The  parents  were 
devout  communicants  of  the  Lutheran  church 
and  the  paternal  grandfather  of  the  subject 
of  this  review  was  Jacob  Werner,  who  like- 
wise was  a  carpenter  by  trade  and  vocation. 

Louis  Werner  was  reared  and  educated  in 
his  native  province  and  there  he  learned  the 
trade  of  carpenter  with  such  a  measure  of  effi- 
ciency as  to  be  able  to  uphold  the  ancestral 
prestige  of  the  family  name  in  this  connec- 
tion. In  1871  he  came  to  the  United  States 
and  established  his  residence  in  New  York 
city.  There  he  followed  his  trade  for  the  en- 
suing six  years,  at  the  expiration  of  which,  in 
1877,  he  came  to  Nebraska,  with  Gage  county 
as  his  destination.  In  the  following  year  he 
purchased  twenty  acres  of  land,  in  Midland 
township,  and  there  he  continued  to  maintain 
his  home  for  thirty-two  years,  giving  his  at- 
tention to  farm  enterprise  and  eventually  de- 
veloping a  good  property,  which  he  still  owns. 
Upon  leaving  the  farm  Mr.  Werner  removed 
to  Beatrice  and  resumed  the  work  of  his 
trade.  Here  he  continued  his  activities  as  a 
contractor  and  builder  until  1908,  since  w,hich 
time  he  has  served  continuously,  through  suc- 
cessive reappointments,  as  steward  of  the  Ne-~ 
braska  Home  for  the  Feeble  Minded,  his  re- 
tention of  the  office  affording  the  best  evidence 
of  the  efficiency  of  his  administration.  He  is  a 
Democrat  in  his  political  adherency  and  served 
two  years  as  a  member  of  the  county  board  of 
supervisors.  His  religious  faith  is  that  of  the 
Lutheran    church,    his    wife    having    been    a 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


863 


communicant  of  the  Catholic  church,  as  are 
also  their  children. 

In  1875  Mr.  Werner  wedded  Miss  Nepo- 
niocena  Musialowska,  who  was  born  in  Po- 
land and  whose  death  occurred  in  1894.  Con- 
cerning the  children  of  this  union  the  follow- 
ing brief  record  is  available :  Josie  is  the  wife 
of  Albert  Hetherington,  of  Beatrice ;  Sophia 
Anna  remains  with  her  father ;  Mary  is  the 
wife  of  Michael  Rooney,  a  farmer  in  the  state 
of  Wyoming;  Lulu  remains  at  the  paternal 
home ;  Leo  is  associated  with  his  father-in-law, 
Louis  Graff,  in  the  lumber  business  at  Be- 
atrice; Nettie  is  employed  in  the  office  of  a 
leading  trade  journal  in  the  city  of  Lincoln ; 
and  Dorothy  is  the  wife  of  Edwin  Graff,  of 
Blakely  township. 

MARTIN  V.  B.  NICHOLS,  one  of  the 
well  known  and  highly  honored  citizens  crl 
Beatrice,  was  born  at  Newark,  New  York, 
March  17,  1835,  a  son  of  Samuel  F.  Nichols, 
M.  D.,  who  was  a  representative  physician  in 
Wayne  county.  New  York.  In  1844  Dr. 
Nichols  removed  with  his  family  to  Wiscon- 
sin, where  he  platted  the  village  of  Albany 
and  became  the  virtual  founder  of  the  same. 
There  he  organized  the  Northwestern  Stage 
Company,  which  has  continued  operations  for 
more  than  half  a  century,  and  he  became  one 
of  the  prominent  and  influential  citizens  of  the 
Badger  state,  his  wife  having  been  a  membei 
of  a  prominent  fainily  in  Wayne  county.  New 
York,  one  of  her  brothers  having  been  super- 
intendent of  the  historic  old  Erie  canal,  be- 
sides having  served  as  a  member  of  the  state 
senate  of  New  York.  The  maiden  name  of 
Mrs.  Nichols  was  Julia  A.  Bartle. 

Martin  Van  Buren  Nichols  was  afforded  the 
advantages  of  the  common  schools  of  his 
native  state,  and  also  attended  an  academy  at 
PlattevHle,  Wisconsin,  in  whirh  state  he  later 
was  a  student  in  Beloit  College.  As  a  youth 
he  became  associated  with  the  stage  company 
organized  by  his  father  at  Black  River  Falls, 
Wisconsin,  and  in  1858,  he  was  placed  in 
charge  of  the  company's  business,  as  general 
manager  in  Minnesota,  Iowa,  and  Wisconsin. 
He  eventually  became  one  of  the  largest  stock- 


holders of  this  pioneer  corporation,  the  North- 
western Stage  Company,  which  later  assumed 
control  of  the  business  of  the  El  Paso  Stage 
Company,  operating  in  the  southwest.  In  1878 
the  Northwestern  Stage  Company  operated 
the  most  expeditious  mail  service  ever  given 
to  the  government  by  a  stage  line  —  this  opera- 
tion having  been  between  Los  Angeles  and 
Soledad,  California.  During  the  climacteric 
period  of  the  Civil  war  Mr.  Nichols  served  as 
provost  marshal  in  Minnesota,  the  stage  com- 
pany with  which  he  was  identified  having  at 
the  time  been  running  stages  through  the 
Winnebago  Indian  reservation,  and  the  his- 
toric New  Ulm  massacre  having  there  taken 
place  within  this  period.  Mr.  Nichols  loaded 
wagons  with  arms  and  munitions  and  set  forth, 
as  pro\ost  marshal,  for  Mankato.  En  route 
he  encountered  his  own  men  and  stock  and  as 
the  men  were  fleeing  to  a  point  of  safety  he 
ordered  them  all  to  turn  back,  the  little  band 
which  was  thus  reinforced  having  thereafter 
taken  general  part  in  conflict  with  the  insubor- 
dinate Indians. 

In  1867  Mr.  Nichols  came  to  Nebraska  and 
for  a  time  he  maintained  his  residence  at  Ne- 
braska City,  as  representative  of  the  North- 
western Stage  Com.pany.  In  1869  he  removed 
to  Osage,  Iowa,  and  thei-e  the  family  home 
was  maintained  for  the  ensuing  nineteen 
years.  He  continued  his  active  association 
with  the  operation  of  stage  lines  until  the  con- 
struction of  railroads  caused  the  business  to 
wane,  the  Northwestern  Stage  Company  hav- 
ing been  the  first  to  establish  stage  service  be- 
tween Nebraska  City  and  Beatrice,  and  the 
organization  of  the  company  being  still  main- 
tained, with  Mr.  Nichols  as  general  manager. 

Mr.  Nichols  held  the  responsible  post  of 
general  manager  of  the  Northwestern  Stage 
Company  during  the  years  in  which  it  was 
conducting  active  and  important  operations  in 
many  states  of  the  west  and  northwest.  Pass- 
engers were  conveyed  in  "Concord  coaches" 
and  stages,  and  the  company  became  asso- 
ciated with  the  El  Paso  Stage  Company  in 
operations  in  Te^as  and  other  southern  states 
after  the  close  of  the  Civil  war,  their  mail  re- 
ceipts at  this  period  running  as  high  as  one 


864 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


million  dollars  annually  and  the  express  busi- 
ness handled  being  correspondingly  large.  At 
the  time  when  the  Missouri,  Kansas  &  Texas 
Railroad  was  in  process  of  construction  the 
Northwestern  Stage  Company  operated  a  line 
of  stages  between  Fort  Scott,  Kansas,  and 
Austin,  Texas,  and  between  Little  Rock  Arkan- 
sas, and  Hot  Springs.  In  this  enterprise  were 
utilized  Concord  coaches  with  six-horse  teams, 
and  ambulances  for  the  sick  were  provided  by 
the  company.  This  line  was  in  operation  at 
the  time  when  the  epidemic  of  epizootic  swept 
over  virtually  the  entire  country,  and  all  of  its 
horses  were  afflicted  with  the  malady,  with, 
however,  very  few  fatal  cases,  owing  to  the 
wise  policies  adopted  in  caring  for  the  ani- 
mals. The  horses,  when  so  badly  afflicted 
with  phleghm  in  the  throat  that  they  could 
hardly  breathe  and  could  move  only  with  dif- 
ficulty, were  harnessed  to  the  stages  and 
started  forth  on  a  slow  walk.  After  going 
four  or  five  miles  they  would  sweat  profusely 
and  become  so  limbered  up  that  they  could 
thereafter  proceed  along  their  regular  route. 
After  their  journey  was  completed  they  would 
be  carefully  blanketed  and  each  horse  be  given 
a  good  dose  of  whisky  and  pepper.  After  eat- 
ing they  would,  in  three  or  four  hours,  again 
be  in  the  same  condition  as  on  the  previous 
day,  and  could  not  eat  or  drink.  The  epidemic 
continued  about  two  months  but  by  following 
the  system  described  the  stage  company  not 
only  saved  its  horses  but  continued  to  use  them 
in  the  active  service.  For  service  in  Nebraska 
the  company  first  stocked  its  line  for  the 
passenger  and  mail  transportation  between  St. 
Joseph,  Missouri,  and  Omaha,  Nebraska,  and 
the  route  was  along  the  river  on  the  Kansas 
side.  Much  of  the  road  along  this  route  was 
in  very  bad  condition,  and  two  days  and  one 
night  were  demanded  in  making  the  stage 
journey  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles.  Mr. 
Nichols  made  an  admirable  record  in  handling 
the  important  transportation  service  of  the 
pioneer  days,  and  it  is  pleasing  to  enter  these 
brief  details  concerning  that  period. 

During  the  period  of  his  residence  in  Be- 
atrice Mr.  Nichols  has  been  distinctly  the  ad- 
vocate  and    supporter   of   civic   and   material 


progress.  Here  he  has  serv'ed  as  president  ot 
the  Union  Savings  Bank,  and  at  the  present 
time  he  is  vice-president  of  the  First  National 
Bank.  He  is  a  staunch  advocate  of  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  Republican  party  and  he  and  his 
wife  hold  to  the  faith  of  the  Presbyterian 
church. 

In  June,  1865,  Mr.  Nichols  married  Miss 
Frances  A.  Lindsley,  daughter  of  Charles  H. 
and  Sylvia  (Willard)  Lindsley,  of  Rochester, 
Minnesota,  and  the  three  children  of  this  union 
are  Stella,  who  is  the  wife  of  Charles  H.  Van 
Arsdale,  of  Beatrice;  Samuel  F..  of  whom 
specific  mention  is  made  on  other  pages ;  and 
Grace,  who  is  the  wife  of  Walter  S.  McLucas, 
president  of  the  Commerce  Trust  Company, 
of  Kansas  City,  Alissouri. 

Mr.  Nichols  gained  wide  and  varied  expe- 
rience in  connection  with  pioneer  life  on  the 
frontier  and  it  is  interesting  to  record  that  he 
became  closely  associated  with  the  interests  of 
Nebraska  in  the  year  that  marked  the  admis- 
sion of  the  territor}'  to  statehood.  He  is  one 
of  the  venerable  pioneer  citizens  of  Beatrice 
and  it  is  most  consistent  to  pay  to  him  this 
tribute  in  the  history  of  the  county  and  the 


BYRON  P.  ZUVER.  —  In  the  years  that 
have  passed,  many  of  the  illustrious  citizens  of 
Gage  county  have  gone  to  their  reward.  The 
impress  of  their  lives  and  the  evidences  of 
their  labors  are  felt  on  every  hand,  and  lesson 
and  incentive  are  given  in  reviewing  the  life 
records  of  such  noble  men  of  the  past.  The 
following  is  a  copy  of  the  record  prepared  for 
a  former  publication  of  Gage  county  personal 
histories,  and  the  context  fully  merits  repro- 
duction in  this  volume. 

"The  grandparents  upon  the  paternal  side 
of  the  family  of  which  Byron  P.  Zuver  is  a 
member  were  Henry  and  Margaret  (Schnei- 
der) Zuver;  upon  the  maternal  side,  John  and 
Elizabeth  (Zuver)  Kerns.  Both  these  families 
were  of  Holland  Dutch  origin,  and  representa- 
tives of  both  became  residents  of  America 
prior  to  the  Revolutionary  war.  The  history 
of  the  Kerns  family  in  America  dates  back  to 
1727.     The  two  families  included  within  their 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


865 


circles  a  large  number  of  children,  of  whom 
were  Solomon  Zuver  and  Julia  Ann  Kerns,  the 
father  and  mother  of  Byron  P.  Zuver.  Solo- 
mon Zuver  was  born  in  the  year  1819,  in 
Pennsylvania,  and  his  wife  was  bom  in  Ohio. 
They  were  united  in  marriage  in  1839,  in 
Wayne  county,  Ohio,  whither  the  father  of 
our  subject  had  accompanied  his  parents.  Of 
this  union  there  were  born  five  children,  the 
eldest  of  these  being  Byron  P.  The  others 
were  Sarah,  John  H.,  George  W.,  and  Henry. 
The  last  named  died  when  quite  young;  John 
H.  departed  this  life  in  1883,  in  Sonoma 
county,  California  ;  Sarah  resides  in  Los  An- 
geles, that  state;  and  George  W.  lives  near 
Adams,  Nebraska. 

"Solomon  Zuver  became  prosperous  in  his 
farming  and  mercantile  business,  which  very 
rapidly  expanded,  and  in  a  short  time  he  be- 
came comparatively  well-to-do,  but  reverses 
followed  rapidly  upon  the  heels  of  success, 
owing  to  some  unfortunate  transactions,  and 
his  fortune  melted  away,  leaving  him  nothing 
but  the  unsubstantial  memory  and  sometimes 
bitter  reflections  of  baffled  hopes  and  desires. 
In  1855,  a  poor  man  and  starting  life  the  sec- 
ond time,  he  moved  to  Cerro  Gordo  county, 
Iowa,  where  he  was  one  of  the  early  pioneers. 
He  there  engaged  in  keeping  hotel,  and  by  the 
summer  of  1864  he  had  so  succeeded  in  busi- 
ness as  to  be  able  to  make  a  somewhat  ex- 
tended trip  to  the  Pacific  coast  and  through 
the  northwestern  states.  Upon  his  return 
home  he  removed  to  Kansas,  where  he  lived 
until  October  5,  1878,  when  he  departed  this 
life,  at  the  age  of  fifty-eight  years.  He  was 
married  three  times,  but  had  no  children  by 
the  last  two  marriages. 

"Byron  P.  Zuver  was  born  November  8, 
1840,  in  Wayne  county,  Ohio.  After  the  re- 
moval of  the  family  to  Iowa  he  attended  the 
common  schools,  and  in  the  winter  of  1860  he 
taught  school.  He  left  the  teacher's  desk  to 
attend  classes  of  Western  College,  in  Linn 
county,  Iowa.  April  28,  1861,  he  enlisted  in 
Company  D,  Twelfth  Iowa  Volunteer  Infan- 
try, being  the  first  to  enlist  from  this  county. 
Owing  to  the  fact  that  only  three-months  men 
could  be  utilized  to  advantage,  he  was  obliged 


to  re-enlist,  on  the  20th  of  September,  186L 
The  organization  of  this  company  for  service 
was  at  Cedar  Rapids,  where  the  ladies  of  the 
city  presented  them  with  a  silken  flag  that  was 
afterwards  carried  into  the  conflict  and  became 
a  source  of  inspiration  and  courage  to  the 
jaded  and  weary  soldiers.  From  that  city  they 
went  to  Dubuque,  and  November  28th  they 
proceeded  by  railroad  to  St.  Louis,  where  they 
were  stationed  until  January  28,  1862.  They 
then  went  to  Smithland,  Kentucky,  thence  to 
Fort  Henn,',  which  was  reached  February  6th, 
and  that  very  day  the  fort  surrendered.  Mr. 
Zuver  was  an  active  participant  in  the  battle 
and  splendid  victory  of  Fort  Donelson.  At 
Mineral  Landing  they  took  the  boats  for  Pitts- 
burg Landing,  where  they  arrived  March  20th, 
and  on  the  6th  of  the  following  month  they 
were  in  the  battle  of  Shiloh.  On  the  evening 
of  that  day  several  regiments  were  taken  pris- 
oners, among  them  the  Twelfth  Iowa,  which 
had  been  in  the  conflict  all  day  and  which 
fought  to  the  bitter  end,  in  the  portion  of  the 
field  known  by  the  enemy  as  Hornet's  Nest 
and  Hell's  Hollow. 

"The  prisoners  —  among  them  Mr.  Zuver  — 
were  hurried  off  to  Corinth  and  thence  to 
Memphis ;  from  Memphis  they  were  trans- 
ferred successively  to  Granada,  Jackson,  and 
Meridian,  Mississippi,  and  finally  to  Mobile, 
Alabama,  where  they  were  put  upon  boats  and 
sent  to  Tuscaloosa,  Alabama,  their  arrival  at 
this  point  occurring  on  the  tenth  day  of  their 
imprisonment.  It  was  the  great  misfortune  of 
these  prisoners  to  be  under  the  charge  of  the 
notorious  tyrant,  Henry  Wirz,  of  Anderson- 
ville  Prison  fame,  and  from  him  they  suffered, 
directly  or  indirectly,  the  most  scandalous 
treatment  and  untold  brutality.  Leaving  Tus- 
caloosa, they  were  then  taken  to  Montgomery, 
Alabama,  and  there  they  were  paroled,  on  the 
22d  of  May.  Mr.  Zuver  rejoined  the  army, 
on  the  30th  of  the  same  month,  at  Huntsville, 
Alabama,  and  as  a  paroled  prisoner-of-war  he 
was  sent  to  Nashville,  Louisville,  Cairo,  and 
finally,  on  the  10th  day  of  July,  to  Benton 
Barracks,  at  St.  Louis,  Missouri.  Here  he 
remained  until  the  reorganization  of  the  regi- 


866 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


ment,  on  the  first  day  of  January  of  the  fol- 
lowing year —  1863. 

"Leaving  St.  Louis  on  the  9th  of  April,  Mr. 
Zuver  with  his  regiment  started  once  more  to 
the  front.  Their  first  battle  was  that  of  Grand 
Gulf,  Louisiana,  and  this  was  speedily  fol- 
lowed by  the  engagements  at  Fort  Gibson, 
Raymond,  Jackson,  Clinton,  Edmund  Station, 
Champion  Hills,  Black  River  Bridge.  They 
then  went  on  to  the  seige  of  Vicksburg,  near 
which  city  they  remained  until  its  fall,  July  4, 
1863.  They  next  engaged  in  the  eight  days' 
seige  of  Jackson,  Mississippi,  which  fell  in 
the  same  month.  Next  was  the  battle  of  Bran- 
don, which  was  fought  on  the  19th  of  July. 
Returning  to  Vicksburg,  they  were  stationed 
there  until  the  Canton  expedition,  in  October, 
in  which  they  took  part.  In  the  next  month 
they  went  back  to  Memphis,  guarding  the 
Memphis  &  Charleston  Railroad,  and  in  this 
work  the  regiment  continued  during  the  win- 
ter of  1863-1864,  at  Chewalla,  Tennessee. 

"On  Christmas  day  of  the  year  1863  Mr. 
Zuver  re-enlisted  as  a  veteran,  and  February 
1,  1864,  he  started  once  more  for  Vicksburg, 
where  the  regiment  was  engaged  in  guard 
duty  at  the  Black  River  Bridge  until  the  4th 
of  March.  The  next  four  days  were  spent  at 
Vicksburg,  and  March  8th  they  left  for  home, 
arriving  at  Davenport,  Iowa,  on  the  22d 
After  much  needed  rest  and  recreation,  they 
reassembled  at  Davenport  on  the  26th  of 
April,  proceeding  immediately  to  Memphis, 
where  they  arrived  May  1st  and  were  engaged 
in  picket  duty  until  the  16th.  Active  hostili- 
ties for  this  company  re-commenced  with  the 
battle  of  Tupelo,  which  lasted  from  the  13th 
to  the  16th  of  July.  This  was  the  occasion 
when  the  Twelfth  Iowa  Regiment  covered  it- 
self with  a  mantle  of  glory  that  can  never 
grow  old  or  dim;  they  were  the  heroes  of  the 
day.  Upon  the  22d  they  were  back  to  Mem- 
phis and  on  the  31st  of  the  same  month  they 
started  out  for  the  Oxford  expedition.  At 
this  period  Mr.  Zuver  was  detailed  for  pro- 
vost duty  part  of  the  time,  at  Holly  Springs, 
and  also  took  part  in  the  battles  of  Abbeville 
and  Tallahatchie,   Mississippi. 

"The  regiment  returned  to  Memphis  on  the 


30th  of  Augtist  and  then  proceeded  to 
Duval's  Bluff,  on  the  8th  of  September,  thence 
to  Brownsville  on  the  11th,  then  leaving  to 
go  on  the  "Pap"  Price  expedition,  in  which 
they  followed  Price  and  his  forces  for  three 
hundred  and  fifty  miles.  Landing  at  Cape 
Girardeau,  Missouri  on  the  5th  of  October, 
they  went  to  St.  Louis ;  thence  to  Jefiferson 
City,  arriving  on  the  18th ;  thence  by  cars  to 
LaMine  Bridge,  where  they  set  forth  on  the 
march  to  the  scene  of  action.  On  the  way 
they  passed  through  Sedalia,  Lexington  and 
Independence,  arriving  on  the  battlefield  of 
the  Big  Blue  on  the  24th  of  the  same  month, 
—  just  after  the  fight  was  over.  From  that 
place  they  went  to  Santa  Fe,  Kansas,  reaching 
Harrisonville,  Missouri,  on  the  26th.  They 
left  again  on  the  30th,  for  St.  Louis,  via  Se- 
dalia. 

"Upon  the  8th  of  November  Mr.  Zuver 
voted  in  the  capitol  building  of  Missouri  and 
in  favor  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  This  is  mem- 
orable to  him  as  being  his  first  presidential 
vote.  He  was  twenty-four  years  of  age  at 
the  time.  Leaving  St.  Louis  on  the  23d,  he 
]3roceeded  with  his  regiment  to  Cairo,  which 
was  reached  in  four  days ;  thence  on  to  Nash- 
ville. December  15th  and  16th  he  and  his 
brave  comrades  were  again  under  fire  and 
added  fresh  laurels  to  those  already  won. 
After  this  they  went  on  the  Hood  expedition. 
Mr.  Zuver's  regiment  belonged  to  the  Six- 
teenth Army  Corps,  which  became  known  by 
the  opprobrious  appellation  "Smith's  Guer- 
rillas." The  expedition  was  continued  to  the 
Tennessee  river,  where  they  arrived  January 
2,  1865.  On  the  10th  they  were  at  Eastport, 
Mississippi,  where  they  remained  the  7th  ot 
February.  Then  they  went  to  Paducah, 
Cairo,  Memphis,  Vicksburg  and  New  Orleans, 
in  which  last  named  city  they  arrived  on  the 
21st.  During  this  time  Mr.  Zuver,  being  de- 
tached from  his  regiment,  was  transferred  to 
the  ordnance  department  of  the  division,  as 
ordnance  sergeant,  in  which  service  he  re- 
mained until  near  the  close  of  the  war. 

"From  Lake  Pontchartrain  they  left  for 
Alobile  Bay,  and  thence  went  to  Spanish 
Fort.     They  participated  in  the  seige  of  that 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


867 


fort  and  also  that  of  Fort  Blakesley,  which 
fell  April  10,  1865,  and  was  the  cause  of  the 
evacuation  of  Mobile  the  next  day.  Thence 
they  marched  to  Montgomery,  Alabama, 
which  was  reached  upon  the  25th.  During 
the  said  march  they  learned  of  Lee's  sur- 
render, and  shortly  afterward  of  Johnston's. 
During  the  summer  and  fall  of  1865  they  did 
duty  at  Selma  and  Talladega,  and  they  then 
took  up  their  march  to  Memphis,  Tennessee, 
proceeding  onward  to  Demolis,  Meridian  and 
Corinth,  at  which  last  point  they  arrived 
January  3,  1866.  Mr.  Zuver  returned  to  his 
company  on  the  19th  of  July,  1865,  with  the 
rank  of  sergeant.  Leaving  Memphis  on  the 
18th,  they  reached  Cairo  on  the  20th  and 
Davenport  on  the  23d.  The  regiment  was 
mustered  out,  to  date  the  20th  of  January, 
and  was  paid  ofif  on  arrival  at  Davenport, 
where  the  gallant  comrades,  had  marched, 
labored,  fought  and  suffered  together  so  long, 
answered  the  words  of  command  for  the  last 
time,  bade  each  other  their  aft'ectionate  fare- 
wells, and  disbanded. 

"Mr.  Zuver  was  in  the  service  of  his  coun- 
try during  a  period  of  four  years  and  four 
months.  Within  this  time  he  marched  over 
four  thousand  miles,  in  all  weathers,  suffering 
from  heat  and  dust,  frost  and  wet,  passing 
over  roads  rough,  hard  and  rocky,  and 
through  streams  and  swamps,  or  plodding 
wearily  through  deep  clay  and  mud,  —  no 
easy  task  or  pleasant  journey.  It  is  some- 
what remarkable  that  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
^Ir.  Zuver  was  so  long  in  the  service,  so  often 
an  active  combatant,  so  often  engaged  in  lesser 
hand-to-hand  conflicts,  he  sustained  only  one 
wound,  and  that  of  a  comparatively  slight  na- 
ture, — •  this  occurring  at  the  battle  of  Shiloh. 
He  kept  a  very  careful  record  of  all  the  hap- 
penings and  circumstances  of  any  importance 
from  the  first  to  the  last  of  his  military  ex- 
perience and  has  since  written  a  very  com- 
plete, accurate  and  interesting  history  of  Com- 
pany D,  Twelfth  Iowa  Veteran  Volunteers, 
besides  which  he  has  received  the  honor  of  an 
appointment  as  a  member  of  the  regimental 
historical  committee. 

"After  the  war  Mr.  Zuver  returned  to  Ma- 


son City,  Iowa,  and  engaged  as  clerk  in  a 
mercantile  house,  but  in  the  fall  of  1866  he 
engaged  in  the  hotel  business  at  Waterloo, 
Iowa.  There  he  continued  until  the  spring 
of  the  following  year,  when  he  came  with  his 
brother,  George  W.,  to  Nebraska  City,  where 
he  arrived  on  the  1st  of  July,  reaching  Brown- 
ville  the  next  day.  During  the  summer  he  en- 
gaged in  farming,  and  in  the  winter  in  teach- 
ing school.  Upon  the  17th  of  July,  1867,  Mr. 
Zuver  took  a  homestead  in  Hooker  township, 
Gage  county,  and  it  was  during  this  time 
that  he  became  acquainted  with  Miss  Nancy 
Adams,  the  daughter  of  John  O.  Adams, 
the  first  settler  of  Gage  county,  whose  rec- 
ord appears  elsewhere  in  this  volume.  Oc- 
tober 16,  1873,  Mr.  Zuver  and  Miss  Nancy 
Adams  were  joined  in  holy  wedlock.  Nancy 
Adams  was  bom  October  16,  1842,  in  Du- 
Bois  county,  Indiana,  where  she  continued 
to  make  her  home  until  she  was  fourteen 
years  of  age,  when  she  came  with  her 
parents  to  Nebraska  Territory,  in  1857. 
Her  education  was,  by  force  of  circumstances, 
quite  meager  so  far  as  schooling  went,  al- 
though she  has  earnestly  endeavored  to  make 
up  for  any  loss  in  that  direction.  The  first 
school  in  upper  Nemaha  Valley  was  held  in 
the  house  of  her  father,  who  did  everything 
in  his  power  to  advance  the  interests  of  the 
young  people. 

"Mr.  Zuver  owned  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  of  land  in  Hooker  township  and  two 
hundred  and  forty  acres  in  Adams  township, 
where  he  resided.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  Post  No.  100,  Grand  Army  of  the  Re- 
public, at  Adams,  of  which  he  was  com- 
mander for  two  years  and  adjutant  for  a  num- 
ber of  years.  For  several  years,  he  was  jus- 
tice of  the  peace  in  Hooker  township  and  also 
in  Adams  township.  He  served  also  as  town- 
ship assessor  and  deputy  county  assessor,  as 
well  as  a  member  of  the  petit  jury  and  the 
United  States  circuit  jury.  For  a  number  of 
years  he  was  appointed  by  the  governor  as  the 
register  of  voters.  It  is  hardly  necessary 
after  the  foregoing  military  and  official  rec- 
ord to  state  that  in  political  matters  Mr.  Zu- 
ver was  an  uncompromising  Republican  and 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


that  all  of  his  influence  and  energy  were  at  its 
service. 

"An  intimation  has  already  been  made  to 
the  effect  that  Mr.  Zuver  has  made  a  reputa- 
tion as  a  writer  upon  the  thrilling,  painful  and 
patriotic  history  of  the  war.  To  this  de- 
partment of  literature  he  added  that  of  a 
writer  of  travels.  The  productions  of  his  pen 
in  this  department  are  very  interesting,  be- 
cause he  is  a  man  of  keen  perceptions  and 
knows  what  to  observe  and  how  to  observe 
it,  and  what  is  perhaps  more  rare,  how  to 
present  it.  In  1884  he  made  a  trip  to  Cali- 
fornia, and  concerning  the  journey  he  sup- 
plied the  columns  of  the  Beatrice  Express 
with  regular  letters  of  deep  interest.  Com- 
ment on  such  history  is  superfluous ;  it  is  its 
own  compliment  as  to  the  character  of  Mr. 
Zuver  and  the  estimation  in  which  he  was 
held  by  his  fellow  men." 

Mr.  Zuver  continued  a  resident  of  Gage 
county  until  his  death,  which  occurred  March 
21,  1893.  From  1880  until  his  death  he  was 
in  the  United  States  railway  service.  His 
wife  passed  away  April  28,  1898.  The  chil- 
dren born  to  this  worthy  couple  were  six 
in  number:  Georgia  L.  died  at  the  age  of 
thirteen  years ;  Mary  A.  and  Martha  are 
twins,  the  former  being  the  wife  of  Daniel  E. 
Tracey,  of  whom  special  mention  is  made  on 
other  pages  of  this  volume,  and  the  latter  be- 
ing the  wife  of  E.  H.  Whittemore,  of  Adams, 
this  county ;  Anna  and  John  A.  died  in  infancy  ; 
and  Byron  P.  is  a  resident  of  Ellendale,  North 
Dakota. 

CHRIST  SPILKER.  — In  virtually  the 
center  of  a  fine  landed  estate  of  somewhat 
more  than  five  hundred  acres,  in  Section  17, 
Holt  township,  is  situated  the  beautiful  mod- 
ern farm  home  of  Mr.  Spilker,  and  the  at- 
tractive residence  combines  with  the  group 
of  other  high-grade  farm  buildings  to  give 
to  the  place  the  semblance  of  a  little  village. 
Here  Mr.  Spilker  is  living  retired  from  active 
labor  since  the  time  when  he  was  incapacitated 
by  a  paralytic  stroke,  on  the  21st  of  February, 
1912,  but  he  bears  his  infirmity  with  fortitude 
and  equanimity,  his  mental  faculties  are  un- 


impaired and  he  takes  lively  interest  in  the 
supervision  of  the  general  activities  of  his 
fine  estate,  as  well  in  community  affairs,- — -a 
man  who  has  won  success  through  vigorous 
and  well  ordered  endeavor  and  who  has  so 
ordered  his  course  as  to  merit  and  receive  the 
high  regard  of  his  fellow  men.  In  Gage 
county  Mr.  Spilker  is  the  owner  of  a  finely 
improved  estate  of  eight  hundred  and  eighty 
acres,  —  five  hundred  and  sixty  acres  in  Sec- 
tion 17,  Holt  township,  and  the  remaining 
thi-ee  hundred  and  twenty  acres  in  Midland 
township,  four  miles  north  of  the  city  of  Bea- 
trice. 

Mr.  Spilker  was  born  in  Westphalia,  Ger- 
/nany,  July  18,  1870,  and  is  a  son  of  Henry 
and  Louisa  (Frome)  Spilker,  who  were  hon- 
ored pioneers  of  Gage  county  and  concerning 
whom  specific  mention  is  made  on  other  pages, 
in  the  sketch  of  the  career  of  their  son  Ernst  H. 

Christ  Spilker  acquired  his  rudimentary 
education  in  the  common  schools  and  was 
twelve  years  of  age  at  the  time  when  the  fam- 
ily home  was  established  in  Gage  county, 
where  he  has  maintained  his  residence  during 
the  intervening  years  and  where  his  prosper- 
ity has  been  won  entirely  through  his  own  ef- 
forts, save  that  his  father  gave  to  him  the 
sum  of  fifteen  hundred  dollars  as  a  basis  for 
his  independent  activities.  He  was  reared  to 
adult  age  on  the  old  homestead  farm  near 
Clatonia  and  later  the  family  lived  not  far  dis- 
tant from  his  present  fine  farm  estate  in  Holt 
township.  As  a  youth  he  attended  the  district 
schools  of  Gage  county  and  he  has  never 
wavered  in  his  allegiance  to  farm  industry, 
through  the  medium  of  which  he  has  won  suc- 
cess of  most  substantial  and  worthy  order. 
In  1891  Mr.  Spilker  purchased  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  of  land  in  Holt  township,  and 
after  there  conducting  operations  a  few  years 
he  sold  the  property  to  his  brother  Frederick. 
In  the  meanwhile  he  had  purchased  other  farm 
property  in  the  same  township,  and  his  good 
judgment  has  been  significantly  manifested  in 
his  further  accumulation  of  Gage  county  land, 
as  well  as  in  the  progressive  policies  he  has 
followed  in  all  departments  of  his  fami  enter- 
prise.    He  has  been  influential  in  community 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


869 


affairs  of  public  order,  has  served  as  treasurer 
of  Holt  township,  is  a  Republican  in  his  po- 
litical proclivities,  and  he  and  his  wife  are 
communicants  of  the  German  Lutheran 
church.  His  farm  in  Holt  township  is  one 
of  the  finest  in  this  part  of  the  county,  all 
parts  of  the  estate  being  kept  in  the  best  of 
order  and  the  buildings  being  of  most  modern 
type,  the  attractive  family  residence,  of  eight 
rooms,  having  furnace  heat.  Mr.  Spilker  is 
one  of  the  principal  stockholders  of  the  Farm- 
ers' State  Bank  at  Pickrell  and  is  serving  as 
vice-president  of  the  same. 

On  the  1st  of  June,  1892,  was  solemnized 
the  marriage  of  Mr.  Spilker  to  Mrs.  Mary 
(Tiemann)  Spilker,  widow  of  his  brother 
Henry,  who  had  met  death  as  the  result  of 
injuries  received  when  he  was  kicked  by  a 
mule.  Mrs.  Spilker's  marriage  to  Henry 
Spilker  occurred  March  6,  1891,  and  his  death 
occurred  only  a  few  months  later,  the  only 
child  of  this  union  being  Henry,  who  married 
Lydia  Obring  and  who  is  now  engaged  in 
farming  in  Holt  township.  Mrs.  Spilker  was 
bom  in  Germany,  January  4,  1874,  and  was 
eleven  years  of  age  when  she  came  to  Gage 
county,  in  1885,  in  company  with  one  of  her 
kinswomen.  She  is  a  daughter  of  William 
and  Anna  (Daubendick)  Tiemann,  who  came 
to  this  county  in  1888,  and  who  removed,  in 
1907,  to  Kansas,  in  which  state  they  have  since 
maintained  their  residence.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Spilker  have  a  fine  family  of  eight  children, 
all  of  whom  remain,  in  1918,  members  of  the 
ideal  home  circle,  their  names  being  here  en- 
tered in  respective  order  of  birth :  William, 
Herman,  Ernest,  John,  Frederick,  Charles, 
Louisa  and  Anna. 


GEORGE  C.  BURROWS.  —  A  brief  rec- 
ord of  the  Burrows  family  cannot  fail  to  be 
of  interest  to  the  readers  of  this  volume,  as 
its  members  have  faithfully  served  state  and 
nation  in  times  of  both  war  and  peace. 

George  C.  Burrows  was  born  in  Chautauqua 
county.  New  York,  May  27,  1859.  His 
father,  Jay  Burrows,  likewise  was  a  native 
of  the  Empire  State,  born  in  the  little  town  of 
Mayville,   at  the  head  of   Lake  Chautauqua, 


oMarch  4,  1837.  As  a  young  man  Jay  Bur- 
rows learned  the  printer's  trade,  which  he  fol- 
lowed until  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  war. 
Having  watched  the  course  of  events,  his  pa- 
triotic spirit  was  aroused,  and  he  enlisted  in 
the  Ninth  New  York  Cavalry,  with  which  he 
faithfully  followed  the  stars  and  stripes  for 
three  years,  being  mustered  out  at  the  close  of 
hostilities,  as  a  lieutenant.  In  1865  he  re- 
moved with  his  family  to  Iowa,  where  he  fol- 
lowed agricultural  pursuits  until  1880.  He 
then  became  a  resident  of  Filley  township. 
Gage  county,  Nebraska.  In  1879  he  had  pur- 
chased a  relinquishment  on  the  last  homestead 
taken  in  Gage  county.  He  was  engaged  in 
farming  this  tract  for  ten  years.  Mr.  Bur- 
rows founded  and  organized  the  Farmers' 
Alliance  in  Nebraska,  and  in  1890  he  moved 
to  Lincoln  and  edited  and  published  the  Farm- 
ers' Alliance  official  paper,  continuing  in  this 
connection  until  shortly  before  his  death, 
which  occurred  January  16,  1900.  In  New 
York  state  he  married  Lucinda  Walker,  who 
passed  away  in  1894.  Of  their  children, 
Charles  E.  died  in  childhood ;  George  C.  is  the 
subject  of  this  review ;  Frank  E.  is  a  resident 
of  Augusta,  Kansas ;  James  B.  lives  at  Paul, 
Idaho;  :\Iary  B.  is  the  wife  of  L.  H.  Boggs, 
of  Beatrice,  Nebraska;  Lucinda  B.  is  the  wife 
of  William  Axling,  of  Tokio,  Japan,  and  they 
have  devoted  their  lives  to  missionary  work ; 
Sara  A.  is  the  wife  of  J.  B.  Lobell,  of  Denver, 
Colorado;  and  Carrie  died  in  childhood. 

George  C.  Burrows  was  a  young  man  of 
twenty-one  years  when  the  family  home  was 
transferred  to  Nebraska.  His  education  was 
acquired  in  the  common  schools  of  Iowa  and 
Nebraska,  and  he  became  a  farmer  on  his 
father's  place.  On  October  16,  1884,  he  was 
united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Sarah  J.  Long,  a 
daughter  of  Jacob  and  Catherine  (Stahr) 
Long.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Long  came  to  Gage 
county  in  1880,  and  bought  land  in  Filley 
township.  The  father  died  August  27,  1888, 
and  the  mother  passed  away  May  11,  1906. 
They  were  the  parents  of  six  children:  Elias, 
was  a  soldier  in  the  Civil  war  and  died  in  the 
army  hospital  at  Madison,  Wisconsin,  in  1865 ; 
Alvin,    died    in    childhood;   John,    resides    at 


870 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Idaho  Falls,  Idaho ;  Mary  died  in  infancy ; 
Mrs.  George  C.  Burrows  was  the  next  in 
order  of  birth ;  and  William  died  May  28, 
1917. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Burrows  have  been  bom 
six  children:  Earl  C.  married  Miss  Mabel 
Gulp,  and  they  reside  in  Adams,  this  county ; 
Jessie  died  at  the  age  of  seventeen  years; 
Herbert  W.  died  in  childhood;  Chase  W.  en- 
listed as  a  volunteer  in  Company  F,  One  Hun- 
dred and  Thirty-Fourth  Regiment  United 
States  Army,  and  is  now  at  Camp  Cody,  New 
Mexico:  he  was  elected  by  a  large  majority 
to  the  State  Legislature  and  had  the  distinc- 
tion of  being  the  youngest  member  of  that 
body  during  the  session  of  1917-1918;  Leslie 
W.  is  a  member  of  the  same  military  company 
as  his  brother  Chase;  and  Miss  Nina  C,  is 
still  under  the  paternal  roof. 

Mrs.  Burrows  is  a  member  of  the  Method- 
ist church,  and  in  politics  Mr.  Burrows  is  a 
Democrat.  For  thirty-eight  years  he  has 
been  a  resident  of  Gage  county,  where  he  is 
well  and  favorably  known,  and  where  he  has 
always  taken  a  prominent  part  in  supporting 
those  things  which  have  to  do  with  the  up- 
building of  the  community. 

PERRY  L.  BOWER,  market  gardener  and 
greenhouse  proprietor  in  the  city  of  Beatrice, 
was  born  in  Jefferson  county,  Nebraska,  Sep- 
tember 6,  1871,  and  is  a  son  of  Henry  T.  and 
Mary  A.   (Norman)  Bower. 

Henry  T.  Bower  was  born  in  Ohio,  June  3, 
1844.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  he  enlisted  in  an 
Ohio  battery  of  light  artillery,  and  he  served 
as  gunner  until  the  close  of  the  war,  in  1865. 
Mr.  Bower  came  to  Nebraska  in  1869,  settling 
in  Jefferson  county,  where  he  took  a  home- 
stead. At  that  time  the  nearest  town  to  this 
pioneer  farm  was  Beatrice,  about  twenty  miles 
distant,  where  he  went  for  the  family  mail, 
often  making  the  trip  on  foot.  A  few  years 
later  a  postoffice  was  established  at  Bower, 
Jefferson  county,  and  this  was  named  for  Mr. 
Bower.  When  he  first  located  in  Jefferson 
county  he  hauled  lumber  and  provisions  from 
Nebraska  City  with  ox  team,  and  it  took  one 
week   to   make   the   round   trip.     Mr.    Bower 


lived  on  the  homestead  until  1899,  when  he 
retired  and  moved  to  Fairbury,  Jefferson 
county,  where  he  now  makes  his  home.  Mr. 
Bower  had  three  brothers  and  three  sisters. 
Fred  and  Harlow  are  deceased;  Arthur  is 
living  in  Missouri;  Mary  is  the  widow  of 
Henry  Quayle  and  resides  in  Ohio ;  Miss  Ella 
Bower  is  a  resident  of  Corvallis,  Oregon ;  and 
Mrs.  Minnie  Huff  lives  in  Ohio.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Henry  T.  Bower  became  the  parents  of 
three  children :  Lavinia  is  deceased ;  Rena 
is  the  wife  of  W.  J.  Moss,  an  attorney  at 
Fairbury,  Nebraska ;  and  Perry  L.  is  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch. 

Perry  L.  Bower  was  educated  in  the  coun- 
try schools  of  Jefferson  county,  and  as  a  boy 
and  youth  he  worked  on  the  farm  with  his 
father.  Later  he  farmed  for  himself  in  that 
county.  In  1908  he  came  to  Beatrice  and  en- 
gaged in  market  gardening.  About  two  years 
ago  Mr.  Bower  built  a  beautiful  home  and 
greenhouse  at  739  West  Scott  street,  the  green- 
house being  one  of  the  most  complete  and 
modern  establishments  of  its  kind  to  be  found 
in  the  state.  The  building  is  of  concrete  and 
steel  construction,  heated  with  hot  water,  with 
about  seven  thousand  feet  under  glass.  Here 
Mr.  Bower  raises  winter  vegetables  for  the 
market,  making  a  specialty  of  strawberries 
and  early  vegetables. 

Mr.  Bower  owns  twenty  acres  of  land  and 
has  about  five  acres  of  this  under  irrigation. 
using  the  Skinner  system  of  irrigation,  and  he 
has  it  so  arranged  that  he  can  use  either  water 
pumped  from  his  own  well  by  gas  engine  or 
that  obtained  by  direct  connection  with  the 
Beatrice  city  water  system. 

On  July  18,  1899,  Mr.  Bower  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Miss  Ethel  Rutledge,  daughter 
of  Thomas  J.  and  Delilah  (Fred)  Rutledge, 
of  Jefferson  county.  They  are  the  parents  of 
four  children  —  Albert  L.,  Harold  O.,  Thelma 
I.,  and  Hugh  T. 

Thomas  J.  Rutledge,  father  of  Mrs.  Bower, 
died  at  Fairbury,  Nebraska,  in  April,  1905,  at 
the  age  of  seventy-seven  years.  His  wife 
I)assed  away  in  November,  1907,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-seven  years.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rutledge 
were  the  parents  of  seven  children:    Irving  is 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


871 


Perry  L.  Bower 


872 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


deceased ;  William  11.  is  a  resident  of  Arling- 
ton, Kansas ;  Alice  is  the  widow  of  William 
Montgomery  and  lives  at  Houston,  Texas ; 
Mary  is  the  wife  of  Aaron  Cowles,  of  Fair- 
bury,  Nebraska ;  Ethel  is  the  wife  of  the  sub- 
ject of  the  sketch ;  and  Misses  Ella  and  Belle 
Rutledge  reside  at  Fairburj^,  this  state. 

JOHN.  R.  SPEALMAN.  — After  one  has 
spent  many  years  in  honest  toil,  to  win  a  com- 
petence for  old  age  and  to  rear  sons  and 
daughters  who  are  willing  to  give  of  their 
very  best  in  the  upholding  of  the  principles 
that  are  for  the  advancement  of  mankind,  it 
is  with  pleasure  that  such  a  person  looks 
cheerfully  upon  the  past  and  confidently  to  the 
future.  There  is  also  a  pleasure  in  knowing 
that  all  the  struggling  and  striving  has  not 
been  in  vain ;  that  our  ideals,  our  principles, 
are  being  realized  in  our  posterity  and  that 
they  are  taking  up  the  burden  where  we  laid 
it  down,  with  a  surer  vision  and  a  greater 
strength. 

John  R.  Spealman  and  his  wife  are  hon- 
ored citizens  of  Wymore,  where  they  are 
living  a  retired  life,  after  years  of  active 
farming  in  Marshall  county,  Kansas. 

John  Spealman  was  born  in  La  Salle  county, 
Illinois,  July  18,  1848,  and  is  a  son  of  Henry 
and  Sarah  Ann  (Richart)  Spealman,  who  be- 
came pioneers  of  Marshall  county,  Kansas. 
Henry  Spealman  was  born  in  Germany,  Feb- 
ruary 15,  1820,  a  son  of  John  Spealman,  and 
his  wife  was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  November 
15,  1828.  They  were  joined  in  holy  wedlock 
June  24,  1847,  in  the  state  of  Pennsylvania, 
where  Henry  Spealman  had  settled  upon  his 
arrival  in  this  land  of  freedom.  With  hearts 
full  of  courage  and  beating  with  abounding 
pulse  of  youth,  they  started  their  home  life  in 
La  Salle  county,  Illinois,  where  they  tilled 
the  soil  and  where  sons  and  daughters  were 
growing  up  around  them.  Later  they  re- 
moved to  Lee  county,  that  state,  and  in  1886 
they  moved  to  Marshall  county,  Kansas,  and 
homesteaded  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of 
land.  Henry  Spealman  and  his  wife  shared 
the  .privations  of  the  pioneer  life,  and  their 
sons  and  daughters  also  participated  in  these 


early  experiences,  the  while  they  grew  strong 
in  mind  and  body  and  were  prepared  to  meet 
the  new  difficulties  of  a  more  advanced  civili- 
zation. November  1,  1896,  Henry  Spealman 
was  laid  to  rest,  and  May  7,  1898,  his  wife  fol- 
lowed him  to  the  life  eternal.  They  were  the 
parents  of  nine  children,  seven  of  whom  are 
living:  John  R.  is  the  subject  of  this  sketch; 
George  A.  died  in  Illinois ;  James  Edwin  is  a 
farmer  of  Osborne  county,  Kansas ;  Armenta 
F.  died  in  August,  1879;  William  Henry  is  a 
farmer  in  Marshall  county,  Kansas;  Rachel 
Mary  is  the  wife  of  J.  E.  Daily,  a  retired 
farmer  of  Marysville,  Kansas ;  Andrew  is  a 
farmer  in  Colorado;  Clara  B.  is  the  wife  of 
P.  T.  Burk,  a  retired  farmer  of  Marysville, 
Kansas ;  Marcus  F.  is  farming  the  old  home- 
stead in  Marshall  county,  Kansas. 

John  R.  Spealman  was  educated  in  Lee 
county,  Illinois  and  in  1875  he  married  Miss 
Sarah  M.  Cass,  who  was  bom  in  that  county, 
in  1857,  she  being  a  daughter  of  Aaron  Jef- 
ferson Cass  and  Sarah  Jane  (Wheeler)  Cass, 
the  former  born  in  1830,  in  Steuben  county. 
New  York,  and  the  latter  bom  in  1840,  in 
Bangor,  Maine.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cass  were 
early  settlers  of  PawPaw,  Lee  county,  Illinois, 
and  in  1870  they  homesteaded  near  Frankfort, 
Marshall  county,  Kansas.  There  they  con- 
tinued their  farming  operations  until  their 
death.  Mr.  Cass  died  August  30,  1910,  and 
his  wife  died  in  1890.  Of  their  seven  chil- 
dren six  are  living:  Sarah  is  the  wife  of 
John  R.  Spealman,  subject  of  this  sketch; 
Aaron  Jacob  is  deceased ;  Edwin  B.  is  a 
farmer  near  Casey,  Iowa ;  John  Franklin  is 
a  farmer  near  F"  rank  fort,  Kansas ;  Miles 
Diton  is  a  farmer  near  Onaga,  Kansas: 
Martha  Ann  is  the  wife  of  A.  C.  Scoville,  a 
carpenter  at  Frankfort,  Kansas ;  and  Ida  May 
makes  her  home  in  Topeka,  Kansas. 

Mrs.  Spealman  was  a  young  girl  when  her 
parents  established  the  home  in  Kansas  and 
that  she  imbibed  the  principles  of  that  state  is 
attested  by  the  fact  that  for  many  years  she 
has  been  an  ardent  worker  in  the  Women's 
Christian  Temperance  Union.  For  eight 
years  she  has  been  county  president  of  the  or- 
ganization  and   she   is   also   president   of   the 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


873 


local  chapter.  Her  influence  in  political  cir- 
cles has  borne  fruit,  as  is  seen  by  the  state 
prohibitory  amendment  passed  by  a  Nebraska 
legislature.  She  has  done  more  for  the  pro- 
hibition cause  in  the  southeastern  part  of  Ne- 
braska than  has  any  other  woman,  and  as 
much  as  any  other  woman  in  the  entire  state. 
Her  time  and  her  talents  are  given  unstint- 
ingly  for  the  righteous  cause  of  making  this 
nation  free,  —  free  from  moral  sins  as  well 
as  physical  bondage  to  other  nations.  Such 
a  mother,  with  such  ideals,  can  not  help  but 
give  to  the  world  sons  and  daughters  who 
will  carr}'  the  light  of  truth  and  civilization 
in  a  higher  and  better  way.  Four  children 
have  been  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Spealman : 
The  firstborn  is  John  Franklin,  who  was 
afforded  the  advantages  of  the  Wymore 
schools  and  finished  his  education  by  attend- 
ing the  Nebraska  Medical  College.  For  eigh- 
teen years  he  practised  medicine  in  Lincoln, 
where  he  was  city  physician  for  two  years  and 
city  health  officer  for  a  number  of  years.  He 
served  his  country  on  the  border,  in  the  Mexi- 
can trouble,  and  since  our  participation  in  the 
great  European  conflict  he  has  subordinated 
all  else  to  give  his  time  and  service  to  the 
nation.  He  is  in  command  of  Field  Hospital, 
No.  166,  sanitary  train  of  the  Forty-second 
Division  of  the  Rainbow  Forces  of  the  United 
States  in  France.  He  was  formerly  in  charge 
of  the  Nebraska  field  hospital  corps  of  the  Na- 
tional Guard,  with  the  rank  of  major.  The 
division  of  which  Major  Spealman  is  in  charge 
has  won  commendatory  mention  from  Secre- 
tary' of  War  Baker.  Major  Spealman  married 
Miss  Ruth  Holmes  and  they  have  two  daugh- 
ters, Sarah  and  Edith.  The  next  child  of  jMr. 
and  Mrs.  John  R.  Spealman  is  Ernest  Garfield, 
who  is  an  attorney  at  Stalkton,  Kansas ;  he 
was  educated  in  the  Wymore  schools  and  the 
Nebraska  State  University,  at  Lincoln,  in  which 
he  was  graduated.  Cora  Belle,  who  died  in 
1915,  was  the  wife  of  Andrew  Alexander,  of 
Lincoln,  and  she  is  survived  by  one  daughter, 
Phyllis  Belle.  Henry  Jeft'erson  Spealman  has 
active  charge  of  the  original  eighty-acre  home- 
stead of  his  father  in  Marshall  countv,  Kan- 


In  1866  John  R.  Spealman  came  to  Marshall 
county,  Kansas,  and  when  of  sufficient  age  he 
there  homesteaded  eighty  acres  of  land.  He 
added  unto  his  land  holdings  until  he  had  ac- 
quired four  hundred  acres.  In  1888  he  re- 
tired to  Wymore,  where  he  is  now  making  his 
home  and  where  his  sons  and  daughters  have 
received  the  advantages  of  the  excellent  pub- 
lic schools.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Spealman  have  rea- 
son to  be  proud  of  their  children  and  also  are 
to  be  commended  for  their  efforts  in  the  work 
of  reform  in  behalf  of  th'e  people  of  their  state 
and  nation.  Both  are  members  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  church,  and  are  active  in  all 
of  its  social  and  missionary  affairs.  Frater- 
nally they  are  members  of  the  Knights  & 
Ladies  of  Security,  in  which  organization 
they  have  held  all  official  positions.  It  is 
men  and  women  like  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Spealman, 
— •  willing  to  give  their  lives  that  great  princi- 
ples may  live  —  who  are  the  ones  that  bring 
truth  and  righteousness  to  the  world. 

CHESTER  F.  KING,  who  resides  in  the 
village  of  Filley,  was  born  in  Rock  Island 
county,  Illinois,  November  23,  1867,  and  is  a 
son  of  Charles  W.  and  Candace  (Stenzell) 
King,  a  sketch  of  whom  appears  elsewhere 
in  this   work. 

Chester  F.  King  was  nine  years  of  age  at 
the  time  of  the  family  removal  to  Gage 
county,  where  he  was  reared  under  the  condi- 
tions that  marked  the  pioneer  epoch  and  where 
he  attended  the  district  schools  at  intervals 
until  he  had  attained  to  the  age  of  twenty- 
four  years.  Finally  he  devoted  several  years 
to  independent  farm  enterprise  in  Filley  town- 
ship. His  political  allegiance  is  given  to  the 
Republican  party. 

July  4,  1891,  :Mr.  King  wedded  Miss  Stella 
Pittman,  who  was  bom  in  Knox  county,  Illi- 
nois, and  their  marriage  was  the  first  one  per- 
formed in  the  new  court  house  of  Gage 
county.  Of.  this  union  have  been  born  eight 
children :  Charles  Francis  died  at  the  age  of 
sixteen  years ;  the  second  child  died  in  in- 
fancy ;  Effie  is  a  popular  teacher  in  the  schools 
of  her  native  county,  as  is  also  Hazel ;  Chester 
remains  at  the  parental  home;  Jesse  died  at 


874 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


the  age  of  two  years ;  Mildred  remains  with 
her  parents;  and  the  eighth  child  died  in  in- 
fancy. 

WILLIAM  E.  BRYSON.  — After  years 
of  industry  which  netted  him  a  competence, 
Mr.  Bryson  is  now  living  retired  at  University 
Place,  Lancaster  county,  Nebraska.  He  is  a 
native  of  Ohio,  bom  in  Morgan  county,  Sep- 
tember 16,  1858,  and  is  a  son  of  the  late  Silas 
and  Clarinda  (Young)  Bryson,  to  whom  a 
memorial  tribute  is  given  on  other  pages  of 
this  volume.  On  April  1,  1862,  the  Bryson 
family  arrived  in  Johnson  county,  Nebraska. 
Here  William  E.  Bryson  was  reared  on  the 
pioneer  farm,  and  four  years  later  removal 
was  made  to  Gage  county.  His  boyhood  be- 
ing passed  in  the  usual  manner  of  farm  lads, 
—  in  that  his  time  was  divided  between 
studies  in  the  district  school,  the  pleasures 
of  the  playground  and  doing  such  tasks  on 
the  home  farm  as  his  age  would  permit.  As 
his  years  and  strength  increased  he  assisted 
more  largely  in  the  work  of  development 
and  cultivation  of  the  pioneer  farm.  When 
a  young  man  he  purchased  three  hundred 
and  twenty  acres  in  Sections  23  and  24,  Adams 
township,  and  as  the  years  passed  he  improved 
and  cultivated  this  tract  until  it  became  one 
of  the  valuable  properties  of  the  town- 
ship. No  better  improved  place  could  be 
found  in  Adams  township,  and  on  this  farm 
he  continued  to  labor  until  1908,  when  he  re- 
tired to  the  village  of  Adams.  Later  he 
moved  to  his  present  abode  in  University 
Place.  Mr.  Bryson  has  sold  his  farm  in  Gage 
county,  and  his  time  now  is  partly  given  to 
superintending  a  ranch  in  Thomas  county, 
Kansas,  the  same  comprising  two  sections  of 
land. 

On  September  21,  1881,  Mr.  Bryson  mar- 
ried Miss  Etta  Bryson,  a  daughter  of  David 
and  Elizabeth  Bryson,  who  were  early  set- 
tlers in  Gage  county.  The  father  is  deceased 
these  many  years.  The  mother,  who  has 
reached  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-three 
years,  resides  (1918)  at  Adams.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Bryson  have  become  the  parents  of 
seven  daughters;  Kate  is  the  wife  of  J.  A. 


Miller,  of  St.  Louis,  Missouri ;  Dell  is  the  wife 
of  Paul  Pillsbury,  of  Chico,  California;  Lois 
is  the  wife  of  C.  S.  Woten,  of  San  Francisco; 
Jessie  E.  is  the  wife  of  Shirley  Marshall,  and 
they  reside  at  Hastings,  Nebraska ;  Mae  is  the 
wife  of  W.  A.  Gray,  of  Lincoln,  Nebraska; 
and  Nell  and  Mildred  remain  at  the  parental 
home. 

The  Brj'son  family  were  among  the  early 
settlers  of  Gage  county,  and  contributed  in 
large  measure  to  its  development  and  upbuild- 
ing. By  industry  and  the  careful  husband- 
ing of  his  resources  William  E.  Bryson  is  en- 
abled to  lay  aside  the  heavier  labors  and  du- 
ties and  to  live  in  ease  and  comfort.  He  and 
his  wife  are  members  of  and  active  workers 
in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  and  they 
ha\e  a  host  of  friends  in  Gage  county,  as  well 
as  in  the  community  in  which  they  now  reside. 

EZRA  LePOIDEVIN  purchased  in  1916 
an  excellent  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres,  in  Section  26,  Holt  township,  and  is 
giving  his  characteristically  vigorous  super- 
vision to  its  improvement  and  management, 
the  while  he  exercises  similar  prerogatives  in 
connection  with  a  farm  of  equal  area  which  he 
rents  from  the  L.  E.  Austin  estate,  in  Section 
36  of  the  same  township.  He  may  well  take 
pride  in  his  status  as  one  of  the  successful  ex- 
ponents of  farm  enterprise  in  his  native  county 
and  he  is  one  of  the  progressive  agricultur- 
ists and  stock-raisers  of  the  younger  gener- 
ation in  his  native  county. 

^Ir.  LePoidevin  was  born  in  Midland  town- 
ship, this  county,  March  28,  1880,  and  is  a 
son  of  Thomas  LePoidevin,  concerning  whom 
individual  mention  is  made  on  other  pages. 
Reared  to  the  sturdy  discipline  of  the  home 
farm  the  subject  of  this  review  early  learned 
the  value  and  consistency  of  honest  toil  and 
endeavor,  the  while  he  profited  fully  also  by 
the  advantages  afforded  in  the  district  schools. 
His  inclinations  and  tastes  have  led  him  wise- 
ly to  accord  unwavering  allegiance  to  the  basic 
industries  with  which  he  is  now  identified  and 
in  connection  with  which  he  is  making  suc- 
cess not  an  accident  but  a  logical  result.  He 
is  loyal  in  support    of    those    measures    and 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


875 


movements  which  make  for  the  advancement 
of  the  general  welfare  of  the  community,  is  a 
Republican  in  politics  and  he  and  his  wife 
hold  membership  in  the  Christian  church. 

December  22,  1909,  Mr.  LePoidevin  wedded 
Miss  Bessie  Essam,  who  likewise  was  bom 
in  Midland  township,  where  her  father  is  a 
representative  fanner,  her  mother  being  now 
deceased.  Mrs.  LePoidevin  is  a  daughter  of 
Jacob  and  Mollie  (Bartram)  Essam,  both  of 
whom  were  born  and  reared  in  Illinois.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  LePoidevin  have  two  children, — 
Irma,  bom  February  7,  1912,  and  Irene,  born 
March  3,  1913. 


JAMES  CRAWFORD.  —  Among  the  men 
of  Gage  county  who  fought  gallantly  in  the 
Civil  war  and  who  have  now  passed  to  their 
reward,  may  justly  be  mentioned  the  late 
James  Crawford.  In  1863,  when  he  was  only 
seventeen  years  old,  James  Crawford  enlisted 
in  Company  G.  Sixty-fourth  Illinois  Volun- 
teer Infantry,  and  he  became  one  of  Yale's 
famed  sharpshooters.  He  was  involved  in 
many  a  battle  ere  the  end  of  the  war.  At 
Kenesaw  Mountain  twenty-two  of  his  com- 
pany were  killed  and  it  seemed  as  though  the 
enemy  was  to  win  the  day,  but  the  "Boys  in 
Blue"  fought  bravely  and  finally  won  the 
victory.  Mr.  Crawford  was  also  with  Sher- 
man on  the  famous  march  through  Georgia  to 
the  sea.  He  was  wounded  twice  and  was 
taken  to  the  military  hospital  at  Springfield, 
Illinois. 

James  Crawford  was  born  in  New  York 
city,  October  10,  1846,  and  was  a  son  of  Wil- 
liam and  Mary  (Quinn)  Crawford,  who  were 
born  in  County  Kerry,  Ireland,  and  were  land 
owners  in  the  Emerald  Isle,  but  they  became 
convinced  that  the  hospitable  shores  of  the 
United  States  offered  better  opportunities 
than  their  native  land.  In  1845  they  came  to 
New  York  city,  and  for  a  number  of  years 
William  Crawford  conducted  a  steamship  busi- 
ness between  Brooklyn  and  New  York.  Later 
he  operated  an  omnibus  line.  He  continued 
to  reside  in  New  York  city  until  his  death. 

The  Crawford  family  lineage  traces  to  the 
famous    Robert    Brace,    of    Scotland,    James 


Stuart  being  the  descendant  who  founded 
the  family  in  Ireland,  and  he  having  been  be- 
headed because  of  his  religious  views,  in  the 
early  part  of  the  fifteenth  century. 

James  Crawford  received  his  education  in 
Illinois  and,  as  before  noted,  he  enlisted  from 
that  state  for  service  in  the  Civil  war.  When 
the  war  had  ceased  and  the  men  were  again 
able  to  go  back  to  the  peaceful  occupations  of 
office  and  farm,  Mr.  Crawford  came  back  and 
began  to  study  to  fit  himself  more  efficiently 
for  his  life  work.  In  March,  1870,  he  mar- 
ried Miss  Lavina  McDonald,  who  lived  only 
three  months  after  their  marriage. 

In  1871  Mr.  Crawford  came  to  Gage 
county,  Nebraska,  and  purchased  land  in  Sec- 
tion 22,  Wymore  township,  where  he  gave 
many  years  to  successful  farm  enterprise,  his 
death  having  occurred  May  19,  1914.  On  the 
31st  of  August,  1875,  at  Blue  Springs,  this 
county,  was  solemnized  the  marriage  of  Mr. 
Crawford  to  Miss  Carrie  Lott,  and  their 
gracious  companionship  continued  unbroken 
for  nearly  half  a  century,  the  ties  being 
severed  only  by  the  death  of  the  devoted  hus- 
band and  father.  They  reared  their  sons  and 
daughters  to  lives  of  honor  and  usefulness, 
and  concerning  the  children  brief  record  may 
consistently  be  entered  at  this  point:  Frank 
E.  is  at  the  time  of  this  writing,  in  the  spring 
of  1918,  a  member  of  the  fine  military  forces 
which  the  nation  is  preparing  for  participa- 
tion in  the  great  European  war  and  he  is  sta- 
tioned with  his  command  at  Deming,  New 
I^Iexico,  where  he  is  captain  of  Company  F, 
One  Hundred  and  Thirty- fourth  Regiment  of 
the  United  States  Amiy.  Captain  Crawford 
acquired  his  preliminary  education  in  the  dis- 
trict schools  of  Gage  county,  and  supplemented 
this  by  attending  the  high  school  at  Wymore. 
Later  he  took  up  the  study  of  law,  and  in 
1901  he  was  graduated  at  the  law  department 
of  the  University  of  Nebraska.  Thereafter 
he  was  engaged  in  the  practice  of  of  his  pro- 
fession at  Wymore  until  he  became  a  mem- 
ber of  the  patriotic  military  organization  which 
is  destined  to  bring  the  greatest  honor  to  the 
American  anns  in  connection  with  the  great 
world  war.     Alice,  the  elder  daughter  of  the 


876 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


honored  subject  of  this  memoir,  is  the  wife 
of  W.  C.  Bagwell,  an  insurance  agent,  and 
they  reside  in  the  city  of  Omaha,  ]\Irs.  Dag- 
well  being  a  graduate  nurse  and  having  fol- 
lowed the  work  of  her  profession  prior  to  her 
marriage.  Mary  E.,  the  younger  daughter, 
is  the  wife  of  Robert  Jones,  a  skilled  ma- 
chinist, and  they  reside  at  Wymore,  this 
county.  Harry  remains  with  his  widowed 
mother  on  the  old  home  farm  and  has  the 
active  management  of  the  same.  Ralph  is 
identified  with  bridge  building  operations  in 
the  service  of  the  Chicago,  Burlington  & 
Quincy  Railroad. 

Mrs.  James  Crawford  is  a  representative  ol 
one  of  the  honored  territorial  pioneer  fami- 
lies of  Gage  county.  She  was  bom  at  Blue 
Springs,  this  county.  May  3,  1862,  and  is 
the  youngest  of  the  children  of  James  Mon- 
roe Lott  and  Sarah  L.  (Knight)  Lott.  The 
father  was  born  in  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  in 
1826,  and  his  death  occurred  in  1870,  his  wife 
having  been  born  in  Ohio,  in  1832,  and  she 
having  passed  to  the  life  eternal  in  the  year 
1909 ;  their  marriage  was  solemnized  in  Iowa 
and  in  1862  they  came  to  Nebraska  Territory 
and  numbered  themselves  among  the  pioneer 
settlers  in  Sicily  township.  Gage  county, 
where  Mr.  Lott  entered  claim  to  a  homestead 
of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  and  where  he 
and  his  wife  bore  their  full  share  of  the  hard- 
ships and  arduous  labors  incidental  to  the  re- 
claiming and  improving  of  a  pioneer  farm,  the 
while  they  reared  their  children  carefully  and 
well,  inculcating  in  them  the  highest  of  ideals 
and  principles  and  fortifying  them  for  the 
duties  of  later  years,  much  of  this  responsi- 
bility resting  upon  the  devoted  mother,  as  the 
father  was  in  the  very  prime  of  life  at  the  time 
of  his  death,  which  occurred  on  his  home 
farm.  Mr.  Lott  was  a  man  of  education  and 
superior  intellectual  ken,  and  was  preparing 
himself  for  the  ministry  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  in  the  winter  of  1870.  He  was  a  Re- 
publican in  politics  and  as  a  citizen  he  was 
influential  in  community  affairs  in  the  pioneer 
period  of  Gage  county's  history.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.   Lott  became  the  parents  of   four  chil- 


dren, of  whom  the  youngest  is  Carrie,  widow 
of  the  subject  of  this  memoir.  The  other 
surviving  children  are  Augustine  and  Olive 
M.  Augustine,  whose  first  wife  was  Dollie 
Wymore,  chose  Miss  Ada  Nichols  for  his 
second  wife,  and  he  is  a  blacksmith  by  trade, 
though  at  the  present  time  he  is  operating  a 
saw  mill  in  the  great  lumbering  district  of  the 
state  of  Washington.  Olive  M.  is  the  wife  of 
D.  E.  Moore,  who  is  a  veteran  of  the  Civil 
war  and  who  is  now  living  retired  at  Napanee, 
Nebraska.  All  of  the  children  were  reared  in 
the  faith  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church, 
for  the  ministry  of  which  their  father  was  pre- 
paring himself,  and  Mrs.  Crawford  is  an  earn- 
est member  of  this  church.  She  has  the  dis- 
tinction of  having  been  the  first  white  child 
born  in  Blue  Springs  township,  this  county, 
and  she  acquired  her  education  in  the  schools 
of  the  county,  all  of  her  life  thus  far  having 
been  passed  within  its  gracious  borders,  so 
that  she  knows  well  the  history  of  this  section 
of  the  state  and  is  deeply  interested  in  al\ 
things  touching  the  welfare  of  her  native 
county. 

James  Crawford,  to  whom  this  memoir  is 
dedicated,  was  a  gentleman  of  distinctive  cul- 
ture and  of  high  ideals,  —  a  man  who  ac- 
counted well  for  himself  in  all  of  the  relations 
of  life.  He  was  an  appreciative  and  valued 
member  of  Coleman  Post,  No.  115,  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic,  and  he  served  seven 
years  as  a  lieutenant  in  the  Nebraska  state 
militia.  He  took  lively  interest  in  all  that  con- 
cerned the  fine  state  of  his  adoption  and  was 
a  member  of  the  Nebraska  State  Historical 
Society.  For  thirty-nine  years  he  served  as 
a  member  of  the  school  board  of  his  district, 
and  it  is  probable  is  that  a  record  for  such  ser- 
vice during  so  prolonged  a  period  can  be 
claimed  in  connection  with  few,  if  any,  other 
citizens  of  Gage  county.  Mr.  Crawford 
held  for  two  terms  the  office  of  county  com- 
missioner, he  was  a  stalwart  Republican  in 
politics,  was  always  alert  and  ready  to  aid  in 
the  furtherance  of  civic  and  material  progress, 
and  was  a  valued  citizen  who  will  long  be  re- 
membered by  his  suning  comrades  of  the 
Civil  war  and  by  his  host  of  other  friends. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


877 


CARL  I.  WHYMAN.  — In  Section  27, 
Adams  township,  on  the  outskirts  of  the  town 
of  Adams,  may  be  found  the  beautiful  resi- 
dence of  Carl  I.  Whyman,  farmer  and  busi- 
ness man  and  a  representative  of  one  of  Gage 
county's  most  prominent  and  influential  pio- 
neer families.  Mr.  Whyman  was  bom  at 
Adams,  this  county,  on  July  9,  1882,  and  is  a 
son  of  Frank  E.  and  Mary  (Windle)  Why- 
man.  Frank  E.  Whyman  is  a  native  of 
Pennsylvania,  born  July  25,  1854,  and  he  re- 
ceived his  early  education  in  the  schools  of 
his  native  state.  As  a  youth  of  fourteen 
years  he  came  with  his  parents  to  Nebraska 
and  the  family  home  was  established  in  Adams 
township.  Gage  county,  —  in  1868.  The 
father  homesteaded  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  of  land,  which  he  reclaimed  and  im- 
improved.  Frank  E.  Whyman  eventually 
bought  land  and  engaged  in  independent  farm 
enterprise.  He  thus  continued  his  activities 
until  1882,  when  he  disposed  of  his  land  and 
engaged  in  the  drug  business  in  the  village  of 
Adams.  In  this  business  he  continued  for 
some  time  and  he  then  sold  out  and  engaged 
in  the  furniture  and  undertaking  business,  also 
buying  and  selling  live-stock.  In  1914  Mr. 
\Miyman  disposed  of  his  business  in  Gage 
county,  and  removed  to  Boise  City,  Idaho, 
where  he  now  makes  his  home.  He  is  a  son 
of  Charles  A.  and  Amelia  (Allen)  Whyman, 
who  were  natives  of  England  and  who  came 
to  the  United  States  in  1852 :  Charles  A.  Why- 
man  passed  to  the  life  eternal  March  23,  1911. 
The  following  extract  is  taken  from  an  article 
which  appeared  in  the  Adams  newspaper  at 
the  time  of  his  death: 

"Charles  Whyman  was  bom  April  15,  1827, 
at  Great  Bowden,  Leicestershire,  England.  He 
was  the  youngest  son  of  eleven  children  born 
to  Henry  and  Anne  Whyman.  He  was  left 
fatherless  at  the  age  of  twelve,  which  threw 
him  upon  his  own  resources,  with  the  care  of  a 
widowed  mother.  This,  together  with  the 
rigid  conditions  of  England  at  that  time,  de- 
veloped in  him  a  spirit  of  integrity  seldom  met 
with  and,  with  the  prayers  of  a  Christian 
mother,  as  a  young  man  of  twenty  he  conse- 
crated himself  to  Christ,  beginning  his  life  of 


service  at  that  time  by  entering  the  Congrega- 
tional church,  and  that  actively  as  an  earnest 
Sabbath-school  teacher,  one  of  a  company  ol 
young  men  who  regularly  taught  in  several 
villages  each  Sabbath.  He  married  Amelia 
Allen,  in  the  Butler  Avenue  Congregational 
church  of  Leamington,  June  27,  1851.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Whyman  removed  immediately  to 
Mrs.  Whyman's  childhood  home  at  Galbally, 
Ireland,  where  they  resided  about  fifteen 
months,  and  where  their  first  daughter,  Mary, 
was  born.  In  the  fall  of  1852  they  embarked 
for  America,  which  at  that  time  meant  a  voy- 
age of  thirty-two  days  on  a  sailing  vessel. 
They  came  to  Pennsylvania  and  settled  in  Erie 
county,  where  they  remained  until  1868,  when 
they  came  to  Nebraska  with  twelve  children, 
and  settled  on  a  homestead,  in  Nemaha  town- 
ship. Gage  county.  Here  they  were  welcomed 
by  the  hardy  pioneers,  and  met  the  hardships 
with  them.  Many  may  remember  the  "Old 
Log  schoolhouse'  church  services.  Father  Why- 
man  reading  a  sermon.  In  1887  Air.  Whyman 
united  with  the  Presbyterian  church  of  Adams. 
Mr.  Whyman's  life  has  been  one  of  activity 
as  a  farmer  and  merchant.  He  lived  in  the 
Adams  vicinity  for  forty-three  years.  About 
four  years  ago  he  removed  to  the  home  of  his 
daughter,  Mrs.  Cora  Cofifman,  where  on  the 
morning  of  March  23,  1911,  he  passed  peace- 
fully to  the  home  he  had  longed  for,  just  ten 
years  after  the  wife  and  mother  departed. 
Ten  of  the  fourteen  children,  forty-four  grand 
children,  and  seventeen  great-grandchildren 
are  left  to  mourn  the  loss  and  cherish  the 
memory  of  a  noble  father." 

Carl  I.  Wyman  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools  of  Adams,  and  is  a  graduate  of  the 
Adams  high  school.  As  a  young  man  he 
clerked  in  a  general  merchandise  store  in 
Adams,  and  later  he  bought  an  interest  in  a 
furniture  and  undertaking  business,  with  his 
father.  This  enterprise  he  continued  to  con- 
duct until  1914,  and  in  the  same  he  is  still  in- 
terested. In  1914  Mr.  Whyman  bought  sixty 
acres  of  land  in  Section  27,  Adams  township, 
and  here  he  and  his  family  now  make  their 
home,  in  a  comfortable  modem  residence.     He 


878 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


is  actively  engaged  in  farming  and  stock- 
raising. 

November  27,  1902,  Mr.  Whyman  married 
Miss  Mary  Ellen  Meyer,  a  daughter  of  the 
late  Adolphus  Meyer.  Mrs.  Whyman  passed 
away  on  June  28,  1907,  and  is  survived  by 
three  children.  Bertha,  Ruth  and  Harold,  all 
at  home.  On  April  21,  1908,  Mr.  Whyman 
was  united  in  marriage  to  Mrs.  Eliza  A.  Gar- 
rison, a  sister  of  his  former  wife,  and  to  this 
union  one  child  has  been  bom,  Josephine. 

Mr.  Whyman  is  one  of  a  family  of  eleven 
children,  as  follows :  George  E.,  of  Adams, 
Nebraska;  Ralph  W.  and  Arthur,  of  Lincoln; 
Harry,  deceased;  Eve,  wife  of  George  F. 
Bates,  of  Canby,  Oregon;  Estella,  wife  of 
Hugh  Jones,  of  Monticello,  Utah;  Annie,  wife 
of  Earnest  DeHaj/en,  a  soldier  in  the  engi- 
neering corps  of  the  United  States  Army ; 
Esther  and  Mildred,  of  Boise,  Idaho;  and 
Rose,  wife  of  Charles  M.  Galloway,  of  Adams, 
Nebraska. 

In  politics  Mr.  Whyman  is  a  Republican, 
and  he  and  his  family  are  members  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church  of  Adams,  where 
they  are  numbered  among  the  most  progres- 
sive and  esteemed  citizens. 


JOHN  BRADDOCK  has  proved  himself 
energetic  and  forward-looking  in  his  activities 
as  a  farmer  and  is  one  of  the  representative 
agriculturists  and  stock -growers  of  Filley 
township,  where  his  attractive  homestead  is 
situated  in  Section  13.  He  is  a  scion  of  a 
sterling  pioneer  family  of  the  Hawkeye  state 
and  was  born  in  Marshall  county,  Iowa,  Oc- 
tober 16,  1853,  a  son  of  Martin  and  Dehlah 
(Lepley)  Braddock,  who  were  bom  and 
reared  in  Ohio,  where  their  marriage  was  sol- 
emnized and  whence  they  removed  to  Iowa  in 
1850.  They  remained  for  a  time  in  Mahaska 
county  and  then  removed  to  Marshall  county, 
where  Martin  Braddock  entered  claim  to  gov- 
ernment land,  perfected  title  to  the  same  and 
developed  a  good  farm,  both  he  and  his  wife 
having  there  passed  the  remainder  of  their 
lives,  the  subject  of  this  review  having  been 
the  second  of  their  eleven  children,  of  whom 
eight  are  living.     Martin  Braddock  made  the 


overland  trip  to  Iowa  with  team  and  wagon 
and  on  his  arrival  his  available  capital  was 
represented  in  the  sum  of  sixty-five  cents. 
By  energy'  and  good  management  as  a  pioneer 
farmer  he  achieved  independence  and  well 
merited  prosperity,  and  his  political  support 
was  given  to  the  Democratic  party,  his  wife 
having  been  a  member  of  the  Christian  church. 
Mr.  Braddock  was  a  son  of  William  Braddock, 
who  was  born  in  New  England,  of  sterling 
colonial  ancestry,  his  father  having  come  to 
America  from  England.  William  Braddock 
became  a  pioneer  in  Ohio,  where  he  and  his 
wife  passed  the  residue  of  their  lives.  John 
Lepley,  maternal  grandfather  of  the  subject 
of  this  sketch,  was  born  in  Pennsylvania  and 
was  a  resident  of  Ohio  for  many  years  prior 
to  his  death. 

John  Braddock  acquired  his  early  education 
in  the  public  schools  of  his  native  county  and 
there  continued  his  association  with  agricul- 
tural pursuits  until  1883,  when  he  came  to 
Gage  county,  Nebraska,  and  purchased  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land,  of  which 
sixty-five  acres  had  been  broken,  a  small 
house  having  been  erected  on  the  place.  Since 
that  time  he  has  erected  excellent  farm  build- 
ings and  made  many  other  improvements,  be- 
sides which  he  has  added  to  the  area  of  his 
farm  estate  until  he  now  has  a  valuable  prop- 
erty of  two  hundred  and  forty  acres,  devoted 
to  diversified  agriculture  and  to  the  raising  of 
good  live  stock,  including  white-face  cattle  that 
are  bred  largely  from  registered  stock.  He  is 
liberal  and  progressive  as  a  citizen  and  in 
politics  gives  his  allegiance  to  the  Democratic 
party. 

In  1890  Mr.  Braddock  wedded  Miss  Sarah 
Woods,  ^vho  was  bom  in  Johnson  county, 
Iowa,  and  whose  death  occurred  in  Febraary, 
1893.  She  is  sur\'ived  by  two  sons,  Ray  and 
Frank,  both  active  young  exponents  of  farm 
enterprise  in  Gage  county.  In  1900  was  re- 
corded the  marriage  of  Mr.  Braddock  to  Miss 
Edna  May  Hogle,  who  was,  like  himself,  bom 
in  Marshall  county,  Iowa,  and  they  have  three 
daughters  —  Bessie,  Blanche,  and  Marjorie  — 
all  members  of  the  United  Brethren  church. 
Mrs.  Braddock  is  a  birthright  member  of  the 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA  879 


Mr,  and  Mrs.  John  Braddock 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Society  of  Friends,  and  Mr.  Braddock  is  af- 
filiated with  the  lodge  of  Ancient  Free  &  Ac- 
cepted Masons  in  the  village  of  Filley. 

AMESBURY  LEE,  M.  D.  —  Gage  county 
claims  as  one  of  its  representative  physicians 
and  surgeons  Dr.  Lee,  who  is  a  young  man  of 
excellent  professional  attainments  and  whose 
success  is  attested  by  his  substantial  and  im- 
portant general  practice,  as  well  as  his  un- 
equivocal personal  popularity.  He  maintains 
his  residence  and  professional  headquarters 
in  the  attractive  village  of  Pickrell,  in  Holt 
township. 

Dr.  Lee  was  born  in  Jefferson  county.  New 
York,  November  6,  1886,  and  is  a  son  of 
George  A.  and  Mary  (Jackson)  Lee,  of  whose 
three  children  he  was  the  second  in  order  of 
birth ;  Chlevera  is  the  wife  of  G.  Bowles,  of 
Theresa,  Jefferson  county,  New  York;  and 
Irving  died  in  infancy. 

George  A.  Lee  was  born  in  England  and 
was  a  marble-cutter  by  trade.  He  followed 
his  trade  in  Jeff'erson  county,  New  York, 
where  both  he  and  his  wife  died.  Dr.  Lee  hav- 
ing been  doubly  orphaned  when  he  was  a  lad 
of  seven  years  and  thus  having  little  definite 
knowledge  concerning  the  family  history  of 
either  of  his  parents.  He  was  reared  in  the 
home  of  kinsfolk  and  at  the  age  of  thirteen 
years  he  began  to  assist  in  the  general  mer- 
chandise store  of  his  uncle,  John  Lee,  at 
Triumph,  La  Salle  county,  Illinois.  His 
rudimentary  education  was  acquired  in  the 
public  schools  of  his  native  state  and  there- 
after he  continued  his  studies  in  those  of  Illi- 
nois until  he  had  completed  the  curriculum 
of  the  high  school.  In  consonance  with  his 
ambition  and  well  formulated  plans  he  en- 
tered, in  1902,  the  pharmacy  department  of 
Valparaiso  Univeristy,  at  Valparaiso,  Indiana, 
where  he  continued  his  technical  studies  one 
year.  Thereafter  he  was  employed  in  a  drug 
store  in  the  city  of  Chicago,  and  in  1905,  he 
came  to  Gage  county  and  assumed  a  similar 
position  in  the  establishment  of  the  I\I.  E. 
Schultz  Drug  Company,  at  Beatrice.  In  the 
following  year  he  took  a  position  in  a  drug 
store  in  the  city  of  Omaha,  and  there,  in  1906, 


he  was  matriculated  in  Creighton  Medical  Col- 
lege, in  which  he  completed  his  professional 
education  and  was  graduated  as  a  member  of 
the  class  of  1910.  The  Doctor  depended  en- 
tirely upon  his  own  resources  in  defraying 
the  expenses  of  his  professional  education  and 
thus  he  applied  himself  with  all  of  earnestness 
and  assiduousness  until  he  had  won  his  coveted 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine.  Shortly  after 
his  graduation  Dr.  Lee  returned  to  Gage 
county,  and  he  has  since  been  engaged  in  the 
active  and  successful  practice  of  his  profession 
at  Pickrell.  He  is  an  appreciative  and  popu- 
lar member  of  the  Gage  County  Medical  So- 
ciety and  holds  membership  also  in  the  Ne- 
braska State  Medical  Society  and  the  American 
Medical  Association.  His  political  allegiance 
is  given  to  the  Republican  party,  he  has  re- 
ceived the  thirty-second  degree  of  the  Ancient 
Accepted  Scottish  Rite  of  Masonry,  his  maxi- 
mum York  Rite  affiliation  being  with  the  com- 
mandery  of  Knights  Templars  at  Lincoln  and 
his  ancient-craft  affiliation  with  Lodge  No.  2, 
at  Lincoln.  He  and  his  wife  are  popular  fig- 
ures in  the  social  life  of  their  community  and 
their  attractive  home,  a  modern  bungalow 
erected  by  the  Doctor,  is  a  center  of  gracious 
hospility. 

May  27,  1912,  Dr.  Dee  wedded  Miss  Cecil 
Mayer,  who  was  born  at  Beatrice,  this 
county,  where  her  parents,  Joseph  and  Julia 
(Meyers)  Mayer,  still  reside,  Mr.  Mayer  being 
a  prominent  and  influential  citizen  and  having 
served  at  one  time  as  mayor  of  the  city.  Dr. 
and  Airs.  Lee  have  one  child,  Amesbury,  Jr., 
who  was  born  October  6,  1914. 

CHARLES  A.  JACKSON.  — The  late 
Charles  A.  Jackson  was  one  of  the  early  set- 
tlers of  Beatrice,  Nebraska,  where  for  many 
years  he  was  engaged  in  the  drug  business. 
He  came  to  Gage  county,  in  1874,  from  Cur- 
ran,  Illinois.  Mr.  Jackson  was  actively  iden- 
tified with  the  civic  and  business  development 
of  Beatrice  and  contributed  his  share  to  the 
advancement  and  upbuilding  of  the  little  rural 
hamlet  until  it  became  the  beautiful  and  pros- 
perous little  western  city  of  the  present  day. 

]\Ir.  Jackson  was  born  in  Canandaigua,  New 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


881 


York,  March  2,  1841,  and  he  was  reared  as 
the  youngest  child  of  a  widowed  mother.  Al- 
though he  had  no  father's  hand  to  guide  him, 
his  mother  gave  him  good  educational  ad- 
\antages  and  in  the  old  Empire  state  he  grew 
to  adult  age.  Some  time  during  his  early  man- 
hood he  went  to  Curran,  Illinois,  where  he 
held  various  positions  of  trust.  There,  in 
turn,  he  taught  school,  was  connected  with 
the  general  merchandise  business,  was  a  rail- 
road station  agent,  and  served  as  the  post- 
master of  Curran. 

After  the  Civil  war  there  was  a  great  immi- 
gation  movement  trending  to  the  west.  In 
this  general  emigration  from  Illinois,  Mr. 
Jackson  came  to  Beatrice,  Nebraska,  where 
he  and  George  W.  Hinkle  formed  a  partner- 
ship and  engaged  in  the  drug  business.  This 
partnership  was  dissolved  a  few  years  later, 
and  Mr.  Jackson  continued  the  enterprise. 
For  more  than  thirty  years  he  devoted  his  en- 
tire time  to  the  conducting  of  his  prosperous 
business.  After  he  and  his  young  bride  came 
to  Beatrice  he  built  a  spacious  house,  and  in 
this  attractive  old  home  Mrs.  Jackson  still  re- 
sides. It  has  withstood  effectually  the  disin- 
tegrating influences  of  the  passing  of  years 
and,  after  several  remodelings,  is  now  a  sub- 
stantial and  essentially  modern  dwelling. 
When  it  was  first  built  it  was  pointed  out  as 
the  nicest  home  in  Beatrice.  In  this  home 
the  death  of  Mr.  Jackson  occurred  September 
3.  1907. 

At  Curran,  Illinois,  on  the  10th  of  October, 
1872,  was  solemnized  the  marriage  of  IMr. 
Jackson  to  Miss  Ann  Kelly,  who  was  born 
on  a  farm  near  that  place  and  who  is  a  daugh- 
ter of  Jonathan  and  Sarah  (Cook)  Kelly.  Her 
parents  were  children  at  the  time  when  the 
respective  families  became  numberd  among 
the  pioneers  of  Illinois,  the  Kellys  having 
come  from  North  Carolina  and  the  Cooks 
from  Tennessee.  John  Kelly,  grandfather  of 
Mrs.  Jackson,  settled  in  Illinois  in  1819,  when 
that  now  great  and  prosperous  state  was  still 
on  the  very  frontier,  and  there  he  bore  the 
full  heat  and  burden  of  the  day  as  a  sterling 
pioneer  who  did  well  his  part  in  the  forward- 
ing of  the  march  of  civilization  and  progress. 


He  hewed  from  the  forest  the  logs  with  which 
to  build  his  pioneer  cabin,  and  this  was  the 
first  log  cabin  to  be  erected  in  what  is  now 
the  fair  capital  of  Illinois,  —  the  city  of 
Springfield.  In  May,  1821,  was  held  in  this 
cabin  the  first  session  of  court  in  Sangamon 
county,  and  the  building  has  consequently  been 
definitely  memorialized  in  the  recorded  history 
of  Illinois. 

In  addition  to  holding  for  many  years  a  se- 
cure place  as  one  of  the  representative  business 
men  and  influential  citizens  of  Beatrice, 
Charles  A.  Jackson  further  aided  in  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  interests  of  Gage  county, 
for  he  became  the  owner  of  a  valuable  landed 
estate  of  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  in 
Filley  township.  He  was  a  thorough  consci- 
entious and  successful  business  man,  gave 
close  attention  to  his  business  but  was  always 
ready  to  give  his  influence  and  co-operation  in' 
the  support  of  measures  advanced  for  the 
general  good  of  his  home  city  and  county. 
He  commanded  unqualified  popular  esteem 
and  was  one  of  the  honored  pioneer  citizens 
of  the  county  at  the  time  of  his  death.  Mrs. 
Jackson  is  an  active  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jackson  became  the  parents 
of  two  children,  but  both  died  in  infancy. 
They  adopted  three  children,  and  of  these  the 
only  survivor  is  Mrs.  Alice  Park,  of  Ash- 
grove,  Missouri.  Mrs.  Park  was  born  near 
Diller,  Gage  county,  and  she  became  the  wife 
of  William  Jamison,  whose  death  occurred 
in  1916.  The  one  child  of  this  union  is  John 
Jamison,  who  now  resides  in  the  home  of  Mrs. 
Jackson.  In  October,  1917,  Mrs.  Alice  Jami- 
son became  the  wife  of  Walter  Park,  and  they 
now  reside  at  Ashgrove,  Missouri. 

WILLIAM  KRAMER.  — Within  the  fifty- 
two  years  of  William  Kramer's  residence  in 
America  he  has  attained  through  indefatigable 
industry  a  substantial  fortune.  In  these  years 
of  earnest  endeavor  he  endured  many  depri- 
vations and  hardships  of  which  the  younger 
generation  can  have  but  slight  comprehension. 
Like  many  other  Gemian  immigrants  to  the 
United  States,  Mr.  Kramer  was  a  poor  man 


882 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


financially  when  he  landed  on  our  hospitable 
shores,  but  he  was  blessed  with  robust  health 
and  strength  and  was  imbued  with  an  ambition 
to  win  success  in  the  land  of  his  adoption. 
He  has  accomplished  his  purpose  and  is  now 
one  of  the  wealthy  farmers  in  Nemaha  town- 
ship, Gage  county. 

Hanover,  Germany,  has  given  many  of  its 
industrious,  ambitious  men  to  people  the 
United  States  and  dot  its  fertile  lands  with 
houses,  barns,  silos  and  herds  of  cattle.  It 
was  in  Hanover,  Germany,  on  the  24th  day  of 
June,  1848,  that  William  Kramer  first  saw  the 
light  of  day.  He  is  a  son  of  Herman  and 
Mary  (Tellkamp)  Kramer,  who  were  the  par- 
ents of  seven  children,  —  six  sons  and  one 
daughter.  William  was  the  sixth  son  bom 
and  the  daughter  was  the  youngest  child.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Herman  Kramer  remained  in  their 
home  country  until  their  death. 

In  1866,  William  Kramer,  when  only  eigh- 
teen years  of  age,  heard  of  the  vast  oppor- 
tvmities  offered  in  the  United  States  for  men 
of  energy  and  a  knowledge  of  farming,  so  he 
left  the  paternal  fireside  and  took  passage  on  a 
sailing  vessel  bound  for  the  New  World.  The 
voyage  took  nearly  two  months  on  the  slow 
cumbersome  ship  of  that  day,  —  a  voyage  that 
can  now  be  made  within  six  days'  time.  Mr. 
Kramer  first  located  in  Washington  county, 
Illinois,  where  he  labored  as  a  farm  hand.  He 
remained  there  some  time  and  then  went  to 
Menard  county,  Illinois,  where  he  rented  land 
for  nearly  eleven  years.  It  was  in  this  county 
that  he  married,  and  there  his  children  were 
born. 

At  this  time  in  the  world's  history  Nebraska 
was  fast  being  settled  by  men  coming  from  the 
eastern  states,  and  the  men  were  coming  from 
Illinois  in  great  numbers.  Mr.  Kramer  heard 
of  the  vast,  fertile  lands  and  decided  to  come 
and  purchase  some  of  this  land.  In  1886  he 
arrived  with  his  family  in  Nemaha  township, 
Gage  county,  where  he  purchased  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  of  land,  in  Section  3.  He 
made  all  of  the  improvements  on  the  farm  and 
has  set  out  two  or  three  acres  of  grove  trees. 
From  time  to  time  as  he  was  able,  he  has 
added  to  this  original  one  hundred  and  sixty 


acres  until  he  now  (1918)  owns  nine  hundred 
and  seventy  acres  of  land  in  Nemaha  town- 
ship. 

When  Mr.  Kramer  chose  Wilhelmina 
Sachtleben  as  his  wife,  he  chose  a  woman 
who  has  been  truly  a  helpmeet  to  him.  She 
has  worked  steadily  and  faithfully  by  his 
side,  helping  him  in  all  of  his  plans  for  the 
acquiring  and  improving  of  their  broad  acres. 
Their  marriage  was  solemnized  March  18, 
1875,  in  Menard  county,  Illinois.  Mrs. 
Kramer  was  born  in  Germany  and  upon  com- 
ing to  this  country  she  settled  in  Illinois.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Kramer  have  two  sons  and  three 
daughters :  Anna  is  the  wife  of  Rev.  M. 
Lehnenger,  living  near  Plymouth,  Nebraska ; 
John  is  at  home  and  assists  his  father  in  the 
work  and  management  of  the  farm ;  Henry  is 
operating  a  grain  elevator  at  Firth,  Lancaster 
county ;  Maggie  is  the  wife  of  James  Ikerd, 
of  Lancaster  county;  and  Minnie  is  the  wife 
of  Fred  Hochheim,  a  farmer  in  Highland 
township.  Gage  county.  All  of  the  children 
have  received  good  educational  advantages 
and  are  doing  well  their  part  in  the  world's 
work.  They  were  reared  in  the  Lutheran 
faith  and  in  their  youth  the  parental  home 
was  always  open  to  their  friends. 

While  Mr.  Kramer  has  always  been  a  busy 
man,  he  has  had  time  to  devote  to  the  inter- 
ests of  the  community  at  large.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  school  board  from  1887  to 
1914,  devoting  his  energies  to  the  furtherance 
of  the  educational  advantages  of  his  district. 
He  served  as  road  overseer  for  some  time, 
and  did  his  work  faithfully  and  well.  His 
political  views  are  in  harmony  with  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  Democratic  party  and  it  receives 
his  support.  The  Kramer  farm  is  known  foi 
its  fine  breed  of  Short-horn  cattle,  in  which 
their  owner  takes  a  great  deal  of  pride.  On 
his  good  Nebraska  corn  he  has  always  fed  a 
great  many  cattle  for  market. 

WILLIAM  R.  McKINLEY,  who  is  now 
living  virtually  retired,  in  the  city  of  Beatrice, 
was  a  young  man  of  twenty-one  years  when 
he  came  to  Gage  county,  fully  forty  years 
ago,  and  he  was  long  and  successfully  identi- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


883 


fied  with  farm  industry  in  this  section  of  the 
state,  his  experience  covering  fully  the  ex- 
igencies and  labors  incidental  to  reclaiming  a 
pioneer  farm.  Mr.  McKinley  is  a  bachelor 
and  it  is  a  matter  of  supreme  satisfaction  and 
pride  to  him  that  he  has  remained  constantly 
with  his  loved  mother,  to  whom  he  has  accord- 
ed the  utmost  fihal  devotion  and  solicitude 
and  whose  gentle  presence,  after  she  was  ven- 
erable in  years  and  in  impaired  health,  rested 
as  a  gracious  benediction  upon  him  and  upon 
their  pleasant  home,  at  1208  Ella  street,  Be- 
atrice, until  she  passed  to  the  life  eternal,  her 
death  having  occurred  May  6,  1918. 

Mr.  McKinley  was  born  at  Farmer  City, 
Illinois,  on  the  20th  of  July,  1856,  and  is  a 
son  of  John  Wesley  McKinley  and  Julia 
(Hays)  McKinley,  the  former  of  whom  like- 
wise was  a  native  of  Farmer  City,  where  he 
was  born  June  3,  1831,  a  representative  of 
one  of  the  sterling  pioneer  families  of  that 
part  of  Illinois.  John  W.  McKinley  was 
reared  and  educated  in  Illinois  and  there 
learned  the  trade  of  harnessmaker,  but  fol- 
lowed farming  in  that  state  until  his  death,  he 
having  passed  away  April  26,  1865.  His  wife 
was  bom  in  Butler  county,  Pennsylvania,  was 
reared  and  educated  at  Bellefontaine,  Ohio, 
and  in  the  winter  of  1854-1855  she  became  a 
resident  of  Devvitt  county,  Illinois,  where, 
July  4,  1855,  was  solemnized  her  marriage  to 
John  Wesley  McKinley,  who  was  in  the  very 
prime  of  his  useful  manhood  at  the  time  oi 
his  death.  The  children  of  this  union  were 
four  in  number,  William  R.,  of  this  review, 
being  the  eldest;  the  other  surviving  son, 
Charles  S.,  who  was  born  October  1,  1858, 
was  taken  into  the  home  of  his  maternal 
grandparents  after  the  untimely  death  of  his 
father,  and  was  by  them  reared  and  educated, 
in  Illinois:  he  is  now  a  resident  of  Fowler, 
Colorado;  and  Lincoln  and  Joseph  died  in 
infancy.  On  the  30th  of  April,  1868,  Mrs. 
Julia  (Hays)  McKinley  became  the  wife  of 
Alba  C.  Turner,  of  Upper  Sandusky,  Ohio, 
and  there  they  continued  to  reside  until  the 
spring  of  1878,  when  they  numbered  them- 
selves among  the  pioneers  of  Gage  county, 
Nebraska.     For  three  years  they  maintained 


their  residence  in   Sicily  township,   near  the 
village  of   Blue  Springs,  and  they  then  pur- 
chased  eighty   acres   of    land   in    Section   20, 
that  township.     This  land,   which  was  unre- 
claimed  and   entirely  without   improvements, 
challenged   their   energy   and   resourcefulness 
to  the   fullest  extent  in  the  early   days,  and 
their  original  dwelling  was  a  primitive  dug- 
out, built  in  a  bank  of  earth  and  then  boarded 
up,    the    domicile    having    been    fourteen    by 
twenty  feet  in  dimensions.     Later  a  tract  of 
forty  acres  was  added  to  the  pioneer  farm, 
and  on  this  old  home  place  the  death  of  Mr. 
Turner   occurred    September   11,    1885.     The 
widow   and   children   remained   on   the    farm 
until  1909,  when  they  removed  to  the  village 
of  Wymore,  and  four  years  later  removal  was 
made  to  the  city  of  Beatrice,  where  the  home 
has  since  been  maintained.     After  the  death 
of  Mr.  Turner  his  widow  and  her  eldest  son, 
William   R.   McKinley,  purchased  an  adjoin- 
ing tract  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  and 
thus  the  farm  was  made  one  of  the  well  im- 
proved and  valuable  places  of  Sicily  township, 
the  property  being  still  in  possession  of  the 
family  and  being  now  under  the  efficient  man- 
agement of   Fred   H.   Turner,   a   son   of   the 
second  marriage,   he   being  the  elder  of   the 
two  children  of  his  mother's  second  marriage 
and  the  younger,  Lucy,  being  now  the  wife 
of    James    M.    Skinner,    of    Beatrice.      Lucy 
Turner's   first   husband   was   Frank   L.   Gray 
and  they  became  the  parents  of  two  children  — • 
William  L.  and  Nettie,  the  latter  having  from 
infancy   been   in   the   home   of   her   maternal 
grandmother  and  her  devoted  "Uncle  Will," 
by   whom   she   was   reared   to   maturity:   she 
was    afforded    the    advantages    of    the    Gage 
county  schools  and  is  now  a  successful  and 
popular  teacher  in  the  public  schools  of  Be- 
atrice.    Mr.  McKinley,  as  before  stated,  con- 
stantly remained  with  his  loved  mother,  who 
cared  for  him  with  the  utmost  devotion  dur- 
ing his  childhood  and  to  whom  he  found  it  a 
matter  of  great  satisfaction  to  pay  the  tribute 
of  filial  love  and  attention  which  was  so  emi- 
nently her  due  in  the  gracious  evening  of  her 
long  and  earnest  life.     She  was  born  January 
19,   1837,  and  thus  was  eighty-one  years  of 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


age  at  the  time  of  her  death.  This  gentle  and 
revered  pioneer  woman  had  been  in  impaired 
health  for  several  years,  but  her  alert  men- 
tality enabled  her  to  enjoy  the  peace  and  pros- 
perity that  attended  her  and  to  appreciate  the 
fact  that  her  lines  were  "cast  in  pleasant 
places"  in  the  county  in  which  she  endured 
her  full  quota  of  the  hardships  and  trials  in- 
cidental to  pioneer  life,  her  circle  of  friends 
having  been  limited  only  by  that  of  her  ac- 
quaintances and  she  having  been  tenderly 
cared  for  by  her  devoted  son. 

JOHN  W.  CAMPBELL  is  the  owner  of 
one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land  in  Sec- 
tion 33,  Adams  township,  and  is  successfully 
engaged  in  farm  enterprise,  in  which  he 
makes  a  specialty  of  raising  thoroughbred 
Polled  Durham  cattle  and  Duroc-Jersey  hogs. 

Mr.  Campbell  is  a  native  of  Rockford,  Illi- 
nois, where  he  was  born  July  7,  1866,  son  of 
George  W.  Campbell,  whose  record  appears 
elsewhere  in  this  volume.  John  W.  Campbell 
was  two  years  old  when  his  parents  came  to 
Nebraska  and  established  the  family  home  in 
Gage  county.  On  his  father's  farm,  which 
has  been  the  home  of  the  family  for  almost 
fifty  years,  he  grew  to  young  manhood.  Re- 
ceiving a  good  education  in  the  schools  of 
Adams,  he  taught  school  for  two  years,  read- 
ily imparting  to  others  the  knowledge  he  had 
acquired.  As  his  years  and  strength  increased 
he  assumed  more  largely  the  arduous  duties 
and  tasks  incident  to  the  work  on  the  home 
farm,  and  in  1900  he  purchased  the  old  home 
place.  Since  that  time  he  has  directed,  with 
marked  progressiveness  and  success,  the 
varied  operations  of  his  excellent  farm.  On 
the  place  substantial  improvements  have  been 
made  by  him,  and  to-day  it  is  one  of  the  most 
valuable  farm  properties  in  Adams  township. 

On  September  18,  1890,  was  solemnized 
the  marriage  of  John  W.  Campbell  and  Miss 
Eliza  E.  Key.  Mrs.  Campbell  was  born  in 
Illinois  and  was  a  giri  of  ten  years  of  age 
when  she  accompanied  her  parents  to  Iowa, 
where  she  was  reared  and  educated,  and 
where  her  marriage  occurred.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Campbell  became  the  parents  of  six  children  . 


Darwin  H.,  a  machinist  and  motorcycle  in- 
structor, is  doing  valiant  service  for  his  coun- 
try "somewhere  in  France" ;  Edna  is  de- 
ceased ;  and  Otto,  Vera,  Raymond,  and  El- 
vessa  remain  at  the  parental  home. 

Mr.  Campbell  and  his  family  are  members 
of  the  Methodist  church.  In  politics  he  gives 
his  support  to  the  Republican  party.  He 
capably  served  as  assessor  of  his  township 
and  for  fourteen  years  .he  has  been  secretary 
of  the  Adams  school,  which  is  the  only  A- 
grade  normal  training  high  school  in  the 
county,  outside  of  Beatrice.-  Fraternally  Mr. 
Campbell  is  a  Mason  and  member  of  the 
Royal  Highlanders.  In  all  things  pertaining 
to  the  moral,  social,  and  material  uplift  of 
his  community  he  is  always  ready  to  give  his 
influence  and  co-operation. 

GUY  S.  ATKINS.  — Near  the  village  of 
A-dams,  Nebraska,  in  Section  34,  Adams  town- 
ship, may  be  found  Guy  S.  Atkins,  a  vigorous 
\-oung  farmer  who  operates  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  of  land  belonging  to  David  F. 
Bryson.  Mr.  Atkins  was  born  at  Sterling, 
Johnson  county,  Nebraska,  on  the  3d  of 
January,  1893,  and  is  a  son  of  Ulysses  Alden 
Atkins  and  Harriet  C.  (McClung)  Atkins. 
Ulysses  A.  Atkins  was  born  at  Minonk,  Illi- 
nois, May  9,  1862,  and  he  was  about  nine 
years  old  when  he  came  with  his  parents  to 
Johnson  county,  Nebraska,  where  they  arrived 
April  20,  1871.  He  attended  the  public 
schools  of  Johnson  county  and  assisted  his 
father  on  the  farm  until  he  was  twenty-one 
years  of  age,  when  he  rented  land  and  began 
farming  on  his  own  account,  in  Johnson 
county.  In  1889  Mr.  Atkins  came  to  Gage 
county  and  bought  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  of  land  in  Hooker  township.  There  he 
remained  until  1913,  when  he  sold  out  and 
bought  eighty  acres  in  Section  1,  Hanover 
township  —  a  property  which  he  still  owns. 
In  1908  Mr.  .\tkins  retired,  and  he  now  makes 
his  home  in  the  town  of  Adams,  where  he 
owns  a  comfortable  residence  property.  On 
December  25,  1882,  Ulysses  A.  Atkins  was 
united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Harriet  C.  Mc- 
Clung,   a    daughter   of    Alexander   and   Jane 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


(Matthews)  McClung,  and  of  this  union  were 
born  six  children :  Cora  is  the  wife  of  Harry 
Hillman,  of  Adams,  this  county ;  Viva  is  de- 
ceased ;  Ruth  is  an  art  teacher  at  Vancouver, 
Washington;  Guy  S.  is  the  subject  of  this 
review ;  and  Harold  and  Alden  J.  reside  at 
Adams. 

Guy  S.  Atkins  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools  of  i\dams,  and  he  followed  farming 
with  his  father  until  1909.  In  1910  he  rented 
land  on  Section  34,  Adams  township,  where 
he  now  lives.  On  June  13th,  1911,  Mr.  At- 
kins was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Velma  L. 
Bryson,  eldest  daughter  of  David  F.  and  Mar- 
tha Br)'son,  of  whom  record  will  be  found 
elsewhere  in  this  volume.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  At- 
kins are  the  parents  of  four  children,  Rome 
Belmont,  Polly  Madge,  Valeria  Juanita,  and 
Arline  Genevieve. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Atkins  are  members  of  the 
Methodist  church  of  Adams,  and  in  politics 
Mr.  Atkins  is  an  independent  voter  who  casts 
his  ballot  for  the  man  rather  than  for  the 
party. 

ALBERT  O.  ULRICH.  —  This  successful 
and  representative  farmer  of  Gage  county 
may  well  consider  that  his  "lines  are  cast  in 
pleasant  places,"  for  independence  and  pros- 
perity have  crowned  his  energetic  endeavors 
and  he  is  the  owner  of  a  model  farm  estate  of 
two  hundred  and  forty  acres  in  Section  18, 
Grant  township,  as  well  as  three  hundred  and 
twenty  acres  in  Deuel  county,  this  state. 

Mr.  Ulrich  was  born  in  Livingston  county, 
Illinois,  on  the  12th  of  March,  1870,  and  is  a 
son  of  Charles  G.  and  Johannah  (Graff)  Ul- 
rich, who  came  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska, 
when  the  subject  of  this  review  was  a  lad  of 
twelve  years,  more  specific  mention  of  the 
parents  being  incidentally  given  on  other 
pages  of  this  work,  as  the  family  has  been  one 
closely  and  worthily  identified  with  civic  en- 
terprise and  industrial  activities  in  this  county. 
Albert  O.  Ulrich  acquired  his  early  educa- 
tion in  the  schools  of  his  native  state  and  later 
continued  his  studies  in  the  district  schools 
of  Gage  county,  where  he  was  reared  on  the 
home  farm  of  his  father,  in  Grant  township. 


He  has  not  found  it  expedient  or  a  matter  of 
inclination  to  sever  his  active  association  with 
farm  enterprise  in  the  succeeding  years  and 
he  purchased  his  present  attractive  farm  in 
Grant  township  in  1903.  Here  his  progres- 
siveness  and  cumulative  success  are  shown  not 
only  in  the  general  thrift  that  characterizes 
all  parts  of  the  farm  but  also  in  the  splendid 
improvements  which  he  has  made,  including 
the  erection  of  a  handsome  and  modern  house 
of  ten  rooms,  placed  on  a  fine  site  in  the  cen- 
ter of  a  field  and  one  and  one-half  miles  dis- 
tant from  the  village  of  Dewitt,  Saline  county. 
On  the  place  Mr.  Ulrich  has  erected  also  a 
large  barn  of  modern  type,  as  well  as  minor 
farm  buildings.  He  utilizes  in  his  agricultural 
and  stock-raising  operations  the  best  of  mod- 
ern accessories  and  has  proved  himself  a 
leader  in  farm  enterprise  in  this  part  of  the 
county. 

Mr.  Ulrich  is  a  stalwart  advocate  of  the 
cause  of  the  Republican  party  and  his  ability 
and  popularity  marked  him  as  specially  eli- 
gible when  he  was  made  his  party's  candidate 
for  treasurer  of  Grant  township,  an  office  to 
which  he  was  elected  in  1914.  Later  he  was 
elected  for  a  second  term,  and  he  is  giving  a 
careful  and  effective  administration  of  the 
fiscal  affairs  of  the  township.  Both  he  and 
his  wife  are  earnest  communicants  of  the  Lu- 
theran church  and  their  attractive  home  is 
known  for  its  generous  hospitality  and  good 
cheer. 

October  6,  1897,  recorded  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Ulrich  to  Miss  Laura  M.  Meyer,  who 
was  born  in  Marshall  county,  Illinois,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Edward  and  Emma  (Hanan)  Meyer, 
the  former  of  whom  is  deceased  and  the  lat- 
ter of  whom  resides  on  the  old  home  farm  in 
Adams  county,  Nebraska.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ul- 
rich have  six  children,  all  of  whom  are,  in 
1918,  still  members  of  the  happy  home  circle, 
namely:  Meta,  Carl,  Edward,  Gertrude,  Jo- 
hannah, and  Herbert. 

MAURICE  KIRBY.  — :\Ir.  and  Mrs. 
Maurice  Kirby  have  a  valuable  farm  estate  of 
three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  in  Sicily 
township,   and    for   nearly   thirty   years   they 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


have  been  identified  with  the  agricultural  life 
of  their  community.  They  are  both  natives  of 
the  Emerald  Isle,  that  land  of  bouyant  and 
generous  people  who  have  for  so  many  years 
tried  to  get  their  rights  and  freedom  as  a 
free-governing  people,  but  who  are  still  under 
the  ntlership  of  England. 

Maurice  Kirby  was  born  January  1,  1852, 
in  County  Limerick,  Ireland,  and  is  the  only 
child  born  to  Maurice  and  Johanna  (O'Mal- 
ley)  Kirby,  who  passed  their  entire  lives  in 
Ireland,  where  the  father  devoted  his  active 
life  to  tilling  the  soil.  When  Maurice  Kirby 
was  nineteen  years  of  age  he  left  his  aged 
parents  and  set  out  to  see  the  world.  Coming 
to  America,  he  first  settled  in  Detroit,  Michi- 
gan. He  there  remained  only  a  short  time 
and  then  went  to  Pennsylvania,  where  he  was 
employed  for  six  years  as  a  stone  cutter. 

In  1878  Mr.  Kirby  came  to  Gage  county, 
Nebraska,  and  for  fifteen  years  thereafter  he 
was  foreman  of  John  Fitzgerald's  ranch.  In 
1889  he  purchased  his  present  three  hundred 
and  twenty  acres  of  land  in  Sicily  township, 
but  he  did  not  establish  his  residence  on  the 
place  until  March  9,  1898. 

February  7,  1887,  holy  wedlock  united  the 
lives  of  Maurice  Kirby  and  Ellen  Quinn. 
Mrs.  Kirby  was  born  in  Ireland,  and  is  a 
daughter  of  Patrick  and  Alice  (Hawley) 
Quinn,  who  were  tillers  of  the  soil,  and  who, 
no  doubt,  experienced  the  oppression  inci- 
dental to  the  landlord  system  by  which  Eng- 
land has  handicapped  the  toilers  of  Ireland. 
While  her  people  have  been  oppressed,  Ireland 
has  not  lost  her  individuality  or  her  propen- 
sity for  fun  and  wit.  Two  brothers  and  one 
sister  of  Mrs.  Kirby  make  their  home  in  the 
United  States  —  John  Quinn  and  Maurice 
Quinn,  the  latter  a  machinist  Hving  at  Scran- 
ton,  Pennsylvania,  and  Margaret,  wife  of 
Charles  Harms,  of  Omaha,  Nebraska. 

Eleven  children  were  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Kirby,  and  of  the  number  seven  are  living: 
Alice  is  a  stenographer,  employed  in  the  city 
of  Omaha ;  Johanna  is  a  clerk  in  Neumann's 
store  at  Wymore.;  Maurice  William  remains 
on  the  home  farm;  and  Ed  J.  and  Ella 
(twins),  John  and  Jeannette  are  all  under  the 
parental  roof  and  attending  school. 


Mr.  Kirby  has  a  nice  residence  and  other 
farm  buildings,  and  his  place  is  fully  equipped 
with  the  necessary  farm  machinery  and  im- 
plements. His  vote  is  given  to  the  Demo- 
cratic party,  he  has  served  his  township  as 
treasurer  and  is  now  its  efficient  road  over- 
seer. Both  he  and  his  wife  are  communicants 
of  the  Catholic  church,  in  the  faith  of  which 
they  were  reared,  even  as  they  are  rearing 
their  children  in  the  same  faith. 

JOSEPH  H.  SCHEVE.  — In  the  all  im- 
portant domain  of  basic  industry  Mr.  Scheve 
is  consistently  to  be  designated  as  one  of  the 
foremost  agriculturists  and  stock-growers  of 
his  native  county,  where  he  is  the  owner  of  a 
splendidly  improved  landed  estate  of  seven 
hundred  and  sixty  acres,  his  attractive  home- 
stead farm  being  eligibly  situated  in  Section 
22,  Blakely  township,  and  comprising  three 
hundred  and  twenty  acres.  Under  the  able 
supervision  of  Mr.  Scheve  is  conducted  the 
cultivation  of  fully  one  thousand  acres  of  the 
excellent  land  of  Gage  county,  the  same  be- 
ing devoted  primarily  to  the  raising  of  wheat, 
corn,  oats,  and  alfalfa. 

On  the  old  homestead  that  is  now  his  place 
of  residence  Joseph  H.  Scheve  was  bom 
March  20,  1882,  and  he  is  a  son  of  John  and 
Marie  (Meyer)  Scheve,  of  whose  eleven  chil- 
dren he  is  the  third  in  order  of  birth  of  five 
now  living;  Anna  is  the  wife  of  John  Meyer, 
of  Thayer  county,  this  state ;  Henry  is  a  rep- 
resentative farmer  of  Jefferson  county;  Mar- 
tha resides  in  the  home  of  her  sister  Amanda, 
who  is  the  youngest  of  the  children  and  who  is 
the  wife  of  John  Kuchenbecker,  of  Ruskin, 
Nuckolls  county,  Nebraska. 

John  Scheve  was  a  native  of  Germany, 
where  he  was  bom  April  28,  1842,  and  where 
he  was  reared  and  educated.  About  the  year 
1865  he  came  from  his  native  land  to  the 
United  States  and  settled  in  Bremer  county, 
Iowa,  where  he  worked  two  years  as  a  farm 
hand,  besides  showing  his  ambition  by  study- 
ing English  and  other  branches  under  the 
preceptorship  of  a  leading  teacher  in  that  sec- 
tion of  the  Hawkeye  state.  In  the  autumn  of 
1867,  the  year  that  marked  the  admission  of 
Nebraska  to  statehood,  Mr.   Scheve  came  to 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  Scheve 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Gag-e  county  and  purchased  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  of  unbroken  prairie  land  in  what 
is  now  Blakely  township.     He  lived  up  to  the 
full  tension  of  the  pioneer  life,  and  in  this  con- 
nection it  may  incidentally  be  recorded  that  in 
the  early  days  he  aided  in  fighting  prairie  fires 
on   the   site   now   occupied   by   the   postoffice 
building  in  the  city  of  Beatrice.     He  managed 
to  provide  himself  with  an  ox  team,  and  this 
he  used  in  the  breaking  of  his  land,  as  well  as 
in  other  farm  activities.     While  this  work  was 
in  progress  he   found   diversion  by  an  occa- 
sional friendly  game  of  cards  with  other  pio- 
neers, and  his  genial  and  kindly  nature  gained 
to  him  the  lasting   friendship  of  those   with 
whom  he  came  in  contact  in  both  the  early  and 
later  days.    John  Scheve  was  a  man  of  sterling 
character  and  his  energy  and  persistence  were 
on  a  parity   with  his   resolute  purpose.     He 
labored  early  and  late  in  reclaiming  and  im- 
proving his   farm,  and  his   early  crops   were 
taken  overland  to  Nebraska  City,  which  was 
then  the  nearest  market  point.    He  added  from 
time  to  time  to  his  landed  possessions  and  be- 
came eventually  one  of  the  most  substantial 
and  progressive  farmers  of  the  county.     He 
had  mature  judgment  and  understood  the  true 
values  of  Nebraska  land,  so  that  he  accumu- 
lated property  of  this  kind  not  only  in  Gage 
county  but  also  in  Jefferson  county,  and  in 
Cheyenne  county,  Kansas,  his  landed  estate  at 
the  time  of  his  death  having  comprised  two 
thousand    seven    hundred    and   twenty    acres. 
Mr.  Scheve  was  a  leader  in  the  civic  as  well  as 
the  industrial  development  and  upbuilding  of 
Gage  county,  was  called  upon  to  serve  in  var- 
ious minor  offices  of  public  trust  and  was  un- 
wavering in  his  allegiance  to  the  Republican 
party.     Both  he  and  his  wife  were  most  ear- 
nest and  devout  communicants  of  the  German 
Lutheran  church  and  he  was  the  organizer  of 
the  church  of  this  denomination  in  his  pre- 
cinct.   He  continued  to  reside  on  his  attractive 
old  homestead,  the  present  abiding  place  of  his 
son  Joseph,   of   this   review,   until  his   death, 
which  occurred  October  9,   1911,  only  a  few 
months  prior  to  his  seventieth  birthday  anni- 
versary, his  cherished  and  devoted  wife  hav- 
ing passed  away  on  the  9th  of  the  preceding 


July,  so  that  in  death  these  honored  pioneers 
were  not  long  divided,  Mrs.  Scheve  having 
been  born  in  the  province  of  Hanover,  Ger- 
many, on  the  15th  of  June,  1841,  and  having 
preceded  her  husband  to  eternal  rest  by  ex- 
actly one  month.  Their  engagement  to  be 
married  was  formed  in  Germany,  but  not  until 
about  1866  did  Mrs.  Scheve  find  it  expedient 
to  come  to  America  and  join  her  fiance,  their 
marriage  having  been  solemnized  in  Iowa, 
shortly  prior  to  their  coming  to  the  new  state 
of  Nebraska. 

On  the  old  homestead  farm  which  he  now 
occupies  and  which  came  as  his  heritage  at 
the  time  of  the  death  of  his  parents,  Joseph 
H.  Scheve  was  reared  to  manhood,  and  in 
addition  to  receiving  in  his  youth  the  ad- 
vantages of  the  public  schools  of  his  native 
county  he  completed  a  course  in  the  North- 
western Business  College,  at  Beatrice.  He  has 
gained  precedence  as  one  of  the  most  progres- 
sive and  successful  agriculturists  and  stock- 
growers  of  the  younger  generation  in  Gage 
county  and  has  made  his  homestead  place  a 
veritable  model.  In  addition  to  remodeling 
and  enlarging  the  substantial  house  erected  by 
his  father  he  has  erected  on  the  place  two 
modern  silos  and  made  other  excellent  im- 
provements of  permanent  order,  including  the 
building  of  large  sheds  for  the  care  of  his 
cattle.  He  is  giving  special  attention  to  the 
breeding  of  shorthorn  cattle,  and  in  the  season 
of  1917  has  had  upon  his  farm  twenty-five 
head  of  purebred  stock  of  this  type. 

Mr.  Scheve  has  marked  his  appreciation  of 
the  advantages  and  attractions  of  his  native 
county  by  his  unfaltering  civic  loyalty  and  his 
productive  activities  along  industrial  lines. 
He  has  taken  active  part  in  public  affairs  of  a 
local  order  and  has  held  some  manner  of  town- 
ship office  almost  continuously  since  he  at- 
tained to  his  legal  majority.  He  is  now  serv- 
ing as  treasurer  of  Blakely  township,  of  which 
office  he  became  the  incumbent  in  1915.  He 
is  one  of  the  stockholders  in  the  cooperative 
farmers'  grain  elevator  in  the  village  of  Hoag. 
His  political  allegiance  is  given  to  the  Repub- 
lican party  and  he  and  his  wife  hold  member- 
shij)  in  the  German  Lutheran  church. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


May  7,  1908,  recorded  the  marriage  of  Mr. 
Scheve  to  Miss  Maria  Wollenburg,  who  like- 
wise was  born  and  reared  in  Gage  county,  she 
being  a  daughter  of  William  and  Wilhelmina 
(Aleyer)  Wollenburg,  who  were  born  in  Ger- 
many and  who  became  pioneers  of  Blakely 
township.  Gage  county,  where  Mr.  Wollen- 
burg reclaimed  and  improved  the  old  home- 
stead farm  on  which  his  widow  still  resides. 
Mr.  and  J\Irs.  Scheve  have  four  children  — 
Josephine,  Edward,  A'vin,  and  William. 

In  a  reminiscent  way  it  may  be  stated  that 
the  father  of  Mr.  Scheve  was  a  man  of  ex- 
ceptional physical  strength  and  weighed  more 
than  two  hundred  pounds,  though  he  was  re- 
markably alert  and  vigorous.  He  purchased 
and  placed  in  operation  on  his  farm  one  of 
the  first  self-raking  harvesting  machines  in- 
troduced into  Gage  county,  and  on  one  occa- 
sion when  he  had  the  harvester  in  commission 
he  was  caused  some  disquietude  when  a  band 
of  fifteen  hundred  Indians  gathered  at  his 
farm  to  witness  the  marvelous  working  of  the 
machine.  The  Indians  were  on  their  way  to 
the  west  and  at  first  their  appearance  on  the 
scene  caused  some  consternation  to  Mr. 
Scheve,  but  in  their  gutteral  language  and  by 
their  sign  language  they  assured  him  of  their 
friendship,  as  well  as  their  curiosity,  and  they 
finally  passed  on  without  molesting  him  in  the 
least.  He  and  a  man  named  Harvey  were  as- 
sociated in  the  buying,  ownership,  and  opera- 
tion of  the  first  threshing  machine  ever  used 
in  this  county. 

MRS.  SARAH  J.  EASTMAN  is  one  of 
the  loved  pioneer  women  of  Gage  county,  and 
is  a  sister  of  Hugh  J.  Dobbs,  the  author  of 
this  history.  A  record  of  the  family  appears 
elsewhere  in  this  volume. 

In  December,  1880,  Miss  Sarah  Dobbs  be- 
came the  wife  of  Matthew  Weaverling,  who 
was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  in  1845,  and  who 
became  a  resident  of  Nebraska  in  1869,  when 
he  settled  in  Lancaster  county.  In  1875  he 
came  to  Gage  county,  where  he  became  one  of 
the  early-day  school  teachers.  In  1878  he 
was  elected  county  superintendent  of  schools, 
and  by  re-election  he  held  this  office  six  years. 


In  1883  he  bought  and  removed  to  a  farm  near 
Barneston,  and  soon  afterward  he  purchased 
the  Barneston  Star,  of  which  he  continued 
the  editor  and  publisher  until  his  death,  which 
occurred  April   18,    1895. 

]\Ir.  Weaverling  was  a  prominent  figure  in 
the  educational,  political,  and  social  life  of  his 
adopted  county.  He  was  a  member  and  an 
active  worker  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church.  Concerning  the  children  born  to  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Weaverling  the  following  brief  rec- 
ord is  entered:  Ray  W.  Weaverling  is  a 
traveling  salesman  for  a  hardware  concern 
and  lives  at  Huron,  South  Dakota.  He  mar- 
ried Miss  Alice  Parker,  of  Beatrice,  and  they 
have  three  children  —  Ralph  W.,  Robbin  Dale, 
and  Carrol  Louise.  Charles  S.  Weaverling 
died  in  the  year  1912.  Ralph  E.  Weaverling, 
a  graduate  of  the  law  department  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Nebraska,  class  of  1910,  is. success- 
fully practicing  his  profession  at  North  Bend, 
this  state.  He  married  Miss  Beatrice  Moffit, 
of  Lincoln,  a  graduate  of  the  University  of 
Nebraska,  and  they  have  two  children,  Elea- 
nor and  Ralph  W. 

October  1,  1901,  Mrs.  Weaverling  became 
the  wife  of  Leonard  A.  Eastman,  a  native  of 
Minnesota.  He  is  engaged  in  brick  and  cement 
contracting.  By  a  former  marriage  he  had 
four  children :  Grace  M..  Guy  B.,  Roy  L., 
and  Hazel.  These  are  all  at  home  except  Roy 
L.,  who  is  in  the  United  States  Army  and 
now  in  active  service  in  France.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Eastman  are  held  in  high  esteem  in  Be- 
atrice, where  they  have  an  attractive  home  at 
1401  High  street. 

JAMES  H.  FREEMAN  is  a  native  son  of 
Gage  county,  a  scion  of  one  of  its  foremost 
pioneer  families,  and  in  his  individual  versa- 
tility he  has  been  successful  along  varied  lines 
of  productive  endeavor.  At  the  present  time 
he  is  one  of  the  leading  real-estate  dealers  en- 
gaged in  business  in  the  city  of  Beatrice,  his 
operations  being  of  broad  scope  and  impor- 
tance and  having  included  eft'ective  service  in 
promoting  desirable  immigration  not  only  into 
Nebraska,  ]\Iissouri,  and  Texas,  but  also  into 
the  Canadian  northwest. 


890 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


The  pages  of  this  pubhcation  in  which  is 
outlined  the  general  history  of  Gage  county 
give  due  consideration  to  the  interesting  fact 
that  the  first  tract  of  land  entered  under  the 
provisions  of  the  United  States  homestead  act 
was  that  obtained  in  Gage  county  by  the  late 
Daniel  Freeman,  father  of  him  whose  name 
initiates  this  review,  and  on  this  first  home- 
stead thus  obtained  James  H.  Freeman  was 
born  February  27,  1870,  a  son  of  Daniel  and 
Agnes  (Suiter)  Freeman.  However,  there  is 
consistency  in  amplifying  the  data  by  incor- 
porating in  this  article,  with  minor  elimina- 
tion and  paraphrase,  quotations  from  an  old- 
time  issue  of  the  Beatrice  Daily  and  Weekly 
Uxpress : 

"One  of  the  events  connected  with  the  early 
settlement  of  Gage  county,  and  one  which  will 
eventually  fomi  a  page  of  national  history,  is 
the   taking   up   of   the   homestead    of    Daniel 
Freeman,  the  first  under  the  homestead  act 
passed  by  the  United  States  congress.     The 
securing  of  the  first  homestead,  or  the  filing  of 
the    first    application,   by    Mr.    Freeman    was 
more  by  accident  than  design.    The  homestead 
act  was  approved  on  the  20th  of  May,  1862, 
and  took  effect  January   1,   1863.     In  July, 
1862,    Mr.    Freman    purchased    a    'squatter's 
right,'  which  he  held  until  the  31st  day  of  De- 
cember following.     The  government  land  of- 
fice was  located  at  Brownville,  and  on  Decem- 
ber 31st  Mr.  Freeman  went  to  that  place  to 
make  an  entry  and  file  his  application  under 
the  homestead  law.    At  this  time  he  had  been 
regularly  enlisted  in  the  United  States  army, 
and    was   in    Nebraska   Territory    on    special 
duty.    He  was  under  orders  to  report  to  head- 
quarters and  was  therefore  in  some  haste  to 
file   his   application.      While   at  the   hotel    in 
Brownville  he  was  introduced  to  a  young  man 
who  was  to  be  clerk  or  assistant  to  the  land- 
office  receiver.    By  this  young  man  Mr.  Free- 
man  was   informed  that,  the  next  day  being 
New  Year's,  and  consequently  a  holiday,  the 
office  would  not  be  open.     Mr.  Freeman  stated 
the  urgency  of  his  business  and  that  he  was 
ordered  to  report  to  the  army  headquarters 
without    delay,    after   which   he   said   that    it 
would  be  a  great  accommodation  to  him  if  he 


could  file  his  application  before  leaving  for  the 
army.  Upon  this  representation,  made  on  the 
evening  of  his  arrival  at  Brownville,  Mr.  Free- 
man met  with  exceptional  consideration,  as  the 
clerk  sent  for  the  register  of  the  land  office 
and  before  12:05  o'clock  on  the  morning  of 
January  1st  Mr.  Freeman  had  made  his  filing 
on  the  first  homestead  ever  taken  under  the 
homestead  act." 

The  above  mentioned  entry  was  recorded  in 
the  archives  of  the  United  States  land  office  in 
the  city  of  Washington  on  the  6th  of  January, 
1870,  after  Nebraska  had  attained  to  the  dig- 
nity of  statehood,  and  is  filed  as  "Homestead 
certificate  No.  1,  application  No.  1."  The 
homestead  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
thus  distinguished  above  all  others  in  Amer- 
ican annals  is  situated  in  Section  26,  town  4 
north,  of  range  5  east  of  the  sixth  principal 
meridian,  and  about  four  miles  west  of  Bea- 
trice, which  city  was  a  frontier  village  at  the 
time  when  Mr.  Freeman  made  the  historic 
entry.  The  homestead,  in  the  valley  of  Cub 
creek,  became  the  nucleus  of  the  extensive  and 
valuable  landed  estate  which  Mr.  Freeman 
eventually  accumulated  and  improved  in  Gage 
county. 

Daniel  Freeman  was  born  in  Preble  county, 
Ohio,  April  26,  1826,  and  his  death  occurred 
December  30,  1908.  He  was  a  son  of  Samuel 
and  Phoebe  (Willis)  Freeman,  natives  respec- 
tively of  Vermont  and  Ohio,  and  in  1835  the 
family  home  was  established  at  Abingdon, 
Knox  county,  Illinois,  where  Samuel  Freeman 
became  a  citizen  of  prominence  and  influence : 
he  was  a  successful  merchant  and  also  de- 
veloped a  prosperous  enterprise  in  the  extend- 
ing of  financial  loans,  his  operations  having  in- 
cluded loaning  money  to  the  government  at  the 
time  of  the  Civil  war.  Samuel  Freeman  died 
in  Knox  county,  Illinois,  February  6,  1887, 
one  of  its  most  honored  pioneers,  and  his 
widow  survived  him  by  a  number  of  years. 

Daniel  Freeman,  second  in  a  family  of  six 
sons  and  one  daughter,  was  about  ten  years  old 
at  the  time  of  the  family  removal  from  Ohio 
to  Knox  county,  Illinois,  in  which  state  he  was 
reared  and  educated.  Concerning  him  the  fol- 
lowing interesting  statements  have  been  made: 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


891 


"About  the  time  of  the  Civil  war  he  became 
connected  with  the  interests  of  the  government, 
and  was  sent  to  the  west  and  southwest.  While 
thus  engaged  he  traveled  over  a  large  portion 
of  the  undeveloped  western  country,  becoming 
one  of  the  most  familiar  characters  of  this 
section.  He  was  peculiarly  adapted  for  com- 
ing in  contact  with  unruly  frontiermen  and  the 
native  Indians,  nature  having  endowed  him 
with  an  unusually  commanding  physique,  the 
nobility  of  which  was  heightened  by  his  mili- 
tary bearing,  the  while  his  keen  black  eye 
seemed  to  penetrate  through  hidden  things. 
For  weeks  at  a  time  he  rode  over  the  wilds  of 
the  west,  acting  as  a  watch  against  the  wary 
Indians,  leaving  his  saddle  only  to  obtain  food 
and  sleep  and  making  the  saddle  his  pillow  as 
he  slept  on  the  hard  ground.  Such  was  the 
character  of  his  experience  that  he  had  a  wide 
range  of  information  and  an  unlimited  knowl- 
edge of  the  country  in  which  he  took  up  his 
permanent  residence  before  the  close  of  the 
war."  Mr.  Freeman  reclaimed  and  developed 
one  of  the  large  and  valuable  landed  estates  of 
Gage  county  and  was  to  the  close  of  his  long 
and  useful  life  numbered  among  the  honored 
and  influential  pioneer  citizens  of  the  county. 
His  ser\'ice  as  a  soldier  in  the  Civil  war  cov- 
ered a  period  of  three  years,  during  which  he 
was  a  member  of  the  Seventeenth  Illinois  Vol- 
unteer Infantry.  In  1864  he  established  his 
permanent  home  on  his  historic  claim  in  Gage 
county  and  there  he  maintained  his  residence 
many  years,  the  while  he  bore  his  full  share 
of  the  responsibilities  and  trials  incidental  to 
pioneer  life.  He  ser\'ed  two  terms  as  sherilT 
of  the  county,  and  also  held  the  offices  of 
coroner  and  justice  of  the  peace.  His  was  a 
noble  figure  in  the  history  of  the  county,  the 
territory  and  the  state,  and  every  record  touch- 
ing Gage  county  should  pay  to  his  memory  a 
tribute  of  honor.  His  political  support  was 
given  to  the  Democratic  party  and  he  and  his 
wife  were  earnest  and  tolerant  in  their  abid- 
ing Christian  faith  and  practice. 

The  first  marriage  of  Mr.  Freeman  was  to 
Miss  Elizabeth  Wilber,  whose  death  occurred 
in  1861,  at  Rock  Island,  Illinois.  She  was  sur- 
vived by  three  children,  —  Julia   F.,   Charles 


and  Loretta,  the  last  named  becoming  the  wife 
of  Martin  Rich.  February'  8,  1865,  recorded 
the  marriage  of  Mr.  Freeman  to  Miss  Agnes 
Suiter,  of  Scott  county,  Iowa,  where  she  was 
born  and  reared,  the  date  of  her  nativity  hav- 
ing been  November  16,  1843.  This  revered 
pioneer  woman  still  resides  in  Gage  county 
and  owns  the  fine  old  homestead  place  which 
her  husband  secured  in  the  early  territorial 
days,  as  previously  noted,  the  same  being  in 
Blakely  township.  Mrs.  Freeman  is  a  daugh- 
ter of  John  and  Eliza  (Wright)  Suiter,  who 
were  numbered  among  the  early  settlers  of 
Scott  county,  Iowa,  the  farmer's  father,  Philip 
Suiter,  having  settled  at  LeClaire,  that  county, 
when  the  place  was  a  mere  Indian  village,  the 
same  having  been  named  in  honor  of  Antoine 
LeClaire,  who  was  Indian  agent  to  the  Sac  and 
Fox  tribes.  Mrs.  Freeman  received  good  edu- 
cational advantages  in  her  youth  and  after 
coming  with  her  husband  to  Gage  county  she 
had  the  distinction  of  being  the  first  teacher  in 
Blakely  township,  her  first  school  having  been 
held  in  a  private  house.  Of  the  children  of 
Daniel  and  Agnes  (Suiter)  Freeman  all  are 
living  except  Daniel,  who  died  at  the  age  of 
three  years ;  Eliza  is  the  wife  of  D.  Webster 
Carre,  of  Beatrice;  Samuel  is  a  prosperous 
farmer  in  Jefferson  county ;  James  H.,  of  this 
review,  was  the  next  in  order  of  birth ;  John 
is  a  substantial  farmer  near  Beatrice;  Frank 
and  LeClaire  remain  with  their  widowed 
mother  on  the  fine  old  homestead  farm ;  and 
Agnes  is  the  wife  of  Clifford  Quackenbush, 
another  of  the  progressive  farmers  of  this 
county. 

James  H.  Freeman  passed  the  period  of  his 
childhood  and  early  youth  on  the  old  home 
farm  and  in  the  meanwhile  profited  by  the  ad- 
vantages afforded  in  the  public  schools.  After 
leaving  the  parental  home  he  was  for  a  time 
identified  with  newspaper  work  at  Beatrice, 
and  thereafter  he  gave  six  months  to  the  read- 
ing of  law.  Later  he  took  up  the  study  of 
medicine  and  he  so  fortified  himself  that 
though  he  did  not  receive  a  medical  diploma 
he  was  engaged  in  successful  practice  four 
years.  For  the  past  decade  he  has  been  one 
of  the  most  aggressive  and  influential  expon- 


892 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


ents  of  the  real-estate  business  in  Beatrice,  and 
his  operations  now  extend  to  wide  limits,  as 
noted  in  an  earlier  paragraph  of  this  article. 
As  a  business  man  and  public-spirited  citizen 
he  is  well  upholding  in  Gage  county  the  honors 
of  the  family  name,  and  his  political  allegiance 
is  given  to  the  Democratic  party.  It  is  a  mat- 
ter of  record  that  no  other  man  in  Beatrice  has 
handled  and  sold  as  large  an  amount  of  land 
as  has  Mr.  Freeman,  and  he  is  an  authority  in 
all  details  pertaining  to  the  real-estate  business. 
In  1891  Mr.  Freeman  wedded  Miss  Lelah 
Hare,  who  was  born  in  the  city  of  Phila- 
delphia, Pennsylvania,  a  daughter  of  William 
N.  and  Eliza  Hare,  who  came  to  Nebraska  in 
1879  and  settled  at  Pawnee,  Mr.  Hare  having 
been  an  architect  by  profession.  Of  the  four 
children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Freeman  three  are 
living:  Laura  is  the  wife  of  T.  J.  Long,  who 
is  engaged  in  the  drug  business  at  Mitchell, 
South  Dakota ;  Alice  is  a  popular  teacher  in 
the  public  schools  of  that  place ;  and  Bobbie 
Josephine  remains  at  the  parental  home,  she 
being  at  the  time  of  this  writing  a  student  in 
the  public  schools  of  Beatrice. 

FRANK  N.  HOFFSTAEDT  has  the  intel- 
lectual attainments  and  business  acumen  which 
make  possible  the  effective  accomplishment  of 
results  along  any  line  in  which  he  may  direct 
his  energies,  and  none  can  doubt  his  progres- 
siveness  and  leadership  as  an  exponent  of  agri- 
cultural and  live-stock  industry  in  the  state 
that  has  been  his  home  since  his  young  man- 
hood. Here  he  is  the  owner  of  one  of  the  fine 
landed  estates  of  this  section  of  Nebraska,  and 
the  same  comprises  four  hundred  acres,  —  two 
hundred  and  forty  in  Highland  township  and 
one  hundred  and  sixty  in  Section  13,  Clatonia 
township.  His  homestead  place,  of  eighty 
acres,  is  one  of  the  best  improved  and  most 
attractive  rural  demesnes  in  the  county  and  is 
situated  in  Section  18,  Highland  township. 
This  is  a  part  of  the  estate  locally  known  as  the 
old  Uplinger  ranch,  and  here  Mr.  Hoffstaedt 
has  made  the  best  of  modern  improvements,  in- 
cluding the  erection,  in  1900,  of  his  handsome 
residence,  which  in  facilities  and  appointments, 
as  well  as  architectural  design  and  construc- 


tion, is  of  the  most  modern  type.  Mr.  Hoff- 
staedt gives  special  attention  to  the  breeding 
and  raising  of  short-horn  cattle  and  is  equally 
vigorous  and  progressive  in  directing  the  agri- 
cultural department  of  his  farm  enterprise. 
He  is  a  stockholder  and  director  of  the  Farm- 
ers' State  Bank  at  Clatonia  and  is  essentially 
one  of  the  influential  and  representative  citi- 
zens of  the  county. 

Mr.  Hoffstaedt  was  born  in  Winnebago 
county,  Illinois,  August  2,  1855,  and  is  the  eld- 
est in  a  family  of  seven  children ;  George  W. 
died  at  Lincoln,  Nebraska ;  Theresa  became  the 
wife  of  J.  P.  Ticknor  and  is  now  deceased; 
Addie  is  the  wife  of  J.  I.  Kemp,  of  Omaha; 
Frederick  J.  is  a  resident  of  Phoenix,  Arizona  ; 
Anna  is  the  wife  of  Eugene  Richardson  and 
they  reside  in  the  city  of  Omaha;  and  David 
died  in  Pasadena,  California.  Frederick  Hoff- 
staedt, father  of  the  subject  of  this  review,  was 
born  in  Prussia,  Germany,  in  1822,  and  was  a 
resident  and  honored  pioneer  of  Lancaster 
county,  Nebraska,  at  the  time  of  his  death,  in 
1895.  He  came  to  America  when  a  young 
man  and  first  settled  in  Winnebago  county,  Illi- 
nois. Later  he  became  a  pioneer  in  Minne- 
sota, where  he  entered  a  homestead  claim.  He 
perfected  his  title  to  this  homestead  and  after 
having  there  given  his  attention  to  farming 
for  a  few  years,  he  continued  his  active  alli- 
ance with  farm  industry  in  Winnebago  county, 
Illinois,  until  1882,  when  he  came  with  his 
family  to  Nebraska  and  established  his  home 
in  Lancaster  county.  There  he  reclaimed  and 
improved  a  productive  farm  and  there  he  con- 
tinued his  residence  until  his  death.  His  wife, 
whose  maiden  name  was  Gertrude  Hauser, 
likewise  was  a  native  of  Germany,  and  she 
passed  to  the  life  eternal  in  Lancaster  county, 
and  was  about  sixty-three  years  of  age  at  the 
time  of  her  death. 

Frank  N.  Hoffstaedt  was  reared  to  adult  age 
in  his  native  county,  where  he  early  learned  the 
varied  details  of  farm  work  and  where  he  ac- 
quired his  preliminary  education  in  the  district 
schools.  In  1876  he  entered  Northwestern 
College,  at  Naperville,  Illinois,  and  in  this  ex- 
cellent institution  he  continued  his  higher 
academic  studies  three  vears.  In  1878  he  came 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


to  Lincoln,  Nebraska,  and  in  Lancaster  county 
he  found  exigent  demand  for  his  services  as  a 
teacher  in  the  district  schools.  His  success  in 
the  pedagogic  profession  was  unequivocal  and 
he  continued  as  a  teacher  in  the  district  schools 
for  a  period  of  ten  years,  in  the  meanwhile  be- 
coming successfully  identified  with  farm  enter- 
prise. He  continued  his  residence  in  Lancas- 
ter county  until  1892,  when  he  came  to  Gage 
county  and  purchased  a  farm  three  miles  north 
of  Clatonia.  Three  years  later  he  purchased 
his  present  fine  homestead  farm,  and  his  suc- 
cess is  attested  not  only  in  his  possession  of  a 
large  and  valuable  landed  estate  but  also  in  the 
admirable  improvements  which  he  has  made 
on  his  property.  From  the  time  of  coming 
to  Nebraska  Mr.  Hoffstaedt  served  consecu- 
tively as  a  member  of  the  school  board  until 
1914,  and  has  served  in  other  official  positions 
in  both  Lancaster  and  Gage  counties.  He 
takes  deep  interest  in  all  things  touching  the 
well-being  of  his  home  county  and  state  and  is 
well  fortified  in  his  opinions  concerning  eco- 
nomic and  governmental  polity.  He  has  given 
ettective  campaign  service  in  behalf  of  the  Re- 
publican party  but  has  manifested  no  ambition 
for  political  preferment  of  an  official  order. 
He  is  a  stockholder  of  the  Farmers'  Grain  & 
Coal  Company  of  Cortland,  which  operates 
the  modern  elevator  in  that  village  and  also 
conducts  a  substantial  business  in  the  handling 
of  coal  and  lumber.  He  and  his  wife  are 
active  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church  at  Hallam  and  he  is  a  trustee  of  the 
same. 

August  2,  1887,  recorded  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Hofifstaedt  to  Miss  Diena  Schmidt,  who  is 
a  daughter  of  the  late  Jergen  and  Etta 
Schmidt,  of  whom  incidental  mention  is  made 
on  other  pages,  especially  in  connection  with 
the  sketch  of  the  career  of  John  Carstens,  who 
married  their  daughter  Mary.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Hoftstaedt  became  the  parents  of  five  children : 
Harold  died  at  the  age  of  five  years ;  Roy  and 
Etta  remain  at  the  parental  home ;  Esther  died 
at  the  age  of  ten  years ;  and  Estella  is  the 
youngest  member  of  the  gracious  home  circle. 
Miss  Etta  Hofifstaedt  was  graduated  in  the 
Beatrice  high  school,  and  in   1918  she  is  a 


member  of  the  senior  class  in  Central  Wes- 
leyan  College,  at  Warrenton,  Missouri. 

WEITJE  G.  COOPER  owns  and  resides 
upon  a  fine  farm  estate  of  three  hundred  and 
twenty  acres,  and  his  attractive  home  is  in 
Section  36,  Nemaha  township.  He  is  essen- 
tially one  of  the  representative  agriculturists 
and  stock-growers  of  this  part  of  the  county 
and  has  given  special  attention  to  the  breeding 
and  feeding  of  live  stock  for  the  market. 

Mr.  Cooper  was  born  in  Atchison  county, 
Alissouri,  on  the  4th  of  March,  1874,  and  is  a 
son  of  Gerd  and  Rixtie  (Harms)  Cooper,  of 
whose  thirteen  children  three  died  in  infancy. 
Concerning  the  other  children  the  following 
brief  data  are  available:  John  is  deceased, 
Thomas  is  a  resident  of  Atchison  county,  Mis- 
souri ;  Mrs.  Tillie  Bowers  lives  in  the  vicinity 
of  Filley,  Gage  county,  Nebraska ;  Hennan  is 
deceased ;  Eilert  remains  in  Atchison  county, 
Missouri;  Weitje  G.,  of  this  review,  was  the 
next  in  order  of  birth;  Heibie  is  the  wife  of 
J.  Heyen,  a  farmer  near  Filley,  this  county; 
John  resides  in  Atchison  county,  Missouri ; 
George  maintains  his  home  in  Gage  county, 
Nebraska;  and  Rosa  is  deceased. 

Gerd  Cooper,  father  of  him  whose  name  in- 
troduces this  review,  was  born  in  Straukhavtlt, 
Germany,  on  the  13th  of  January,  1837,  and  in 
his  native  land  he  was  identified  with  farm 
enterprise  until,  as  a  young  man,  he  immi- 
grated to  the  United  States  and  settled  in  John- 
son county,  Nebraska,  in  the  early  pioneer 
days.  Later  he  removed  to  Atchison  county, 
Missouri,  where  he  passed  the  remained  of  his 
life,  his  death  having  occurred  June  13,  1907. 
A  man  of  energy  and  ability,  he  achieved  defi- 
nite success  and  at  the  time  of  his  death  he  was 
the  owner  of  a  large  and  valuable  landed  es- 
tate. On  the  14th  of  March,  1861,  was 
solemnized  the  marriage  of  Gerd  Cooper  to 
Miss  Rixtie  Harms,  who  was  born  in  Han- 
over, Germany,  February  28,  1844,  and  who 
survived  her  husband  by  a  period  of  seven 
years,  she  having  been  summoned  to  the  life 
eternal  on  the  12th  of  June,  1914. 

Weitje  G.  Cooper  was  reared  to  the  sturdy 
discipline  of  the  farm  and  received  the  advan- 


894 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


tages  of  the  public  schools.  He  remained  at 
the  parental  home  until  1895,  when  he  began 
farming  on  his  own  account,  in  which  enter- 
prise he  rented  land  from  his  father,  in  Atch- 
ison county.  Missouri.  There  he  continued 
his  activities  until  1905,  when  he  came  to  Ne- 
braska and  purchased  two  hundred  and  forty 
acres  of  partially  improved  land  in  Gage 
county.  He  is  now  the  owner  of  three  hun- 
dred and  twenty  acres,  showing  that  he  had 
added  to  his  original  holdings  in  Nemaha  town- 
ship, and  in  the  developing  and  improving  of 
this  valuable  farm  estate  he  has  shown  splen- 
did enterprise  and  progressiveness.  In  1915 
he  erected  his  present  handsome  farm  house, 
which  contains  nine  rooms  and  which  is  mod- 
ern in  architectural  design,  as  well  as  in  all 
appointments  and  equipments.  The  house  is 
heated  by  furnace,  has  circulating  hot  and  cold 
water,  and  is  supplied  with  its  own  system  of 
lighting,  by  acetylene  gas. 

March  4,  1895,  recorded  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Cooper  to  Miss  Anna  Heyen,  who  like- 
wise is  a  native  of  Atchison  county,  Missouri, 
where  she  was  born  October  1,  1873.  She  is 
a  daughter  of  Heye  J.  and  Gobke  (Heyen) 
Heyen.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cooper  have  four  chil- 
dren, —  Heiko,  Frank,  Freda  and  John. 

In  politics  Mr.  Cooper  gives  his  allegiance  to 
the  Democratic  party  and  in  his  civic  relations 
he  is  liberal  and  public-spirited.  He  is  now 
serving  as  a  member  of  the  school  board  of  his 
district,  and  he  and  his  wife  are  commuicants 
of  the  German  Lutheran  church. 


HERMAN  WEIBE  has  been  a  resident  of 
Gage  county  since  1894  and  is  a  brother  of 
Gerhard  Weibe,  of  whom  specific  mention  is 
made  on  other  pages,  with  adequate  review  of 
the  family  history.  Mr.  Weibe  is  the  owner 
of  a  fine  farm  property  in  Midland  township 
and  is  a  substantial  and  honored  citizen  who 
well  merits  recognition  in  this  history.  He 
was  born  in  the  province  of  Danzig,  Prussia, 
February  3,  1850,  and  acquired  his  early  edu- 
cation in  the  schools  of  the  city  of  Danzig.  He 
accompanied  his  parents  on  their  removal  to 
Russia,  and  there  he  was  identified  with  the 
general  merchandise  business  for  a  quarter  of 


a  centur)'.  In  this  enterprise  he  was  asso- 
ciated with  his  brother  Gerhard  and  he  came 
to  Nebraska  in  1894.  In  1896  he  purchased 
his  present  finely  improved  farm  estate,  of  two 
hundred  and  eighty  acres,  where  he  is  living 
virtually  retired,  his  sons  having  the  active 
management  of  the  farm,  which  they  rent.  Un- 
qualified success  has  attended  the  activities  of 
Mr.  Weibe  as  one  of  the  progressive  expon- 
ents of  farm  industry  in  this  county,  and  he 
has  given  his  attention  to  diversified  agricul- 
ture and  stock-growing,  besides  having  de- 
veloped a  prosperous  dairy  enterprise,  with  a 
fine  herd  of  Holstein  cows.  He  has  erected 
modem  buildings  on  his  farm  and  the  attrac- 
tive home  is  one  of  the  model  rural  residences 
of  the  county.  In  political  matters  he  is  inde- 
pendent, and  he  and  his  family  are  active  mem- 
bers of  the  Mennonite  church. 

In  1875  Mr.  Weibe  married  Miss  Wilhel- 
mina  Hein,  and  she  died  in  Russia,  in  1882,  the 
two  sun'iving  children  being  John,  who  is  as- 
sociated in  the  management  of  the  home  farm, 
and  Mary,  who  is  the  wife  of  Franz  Albrecht, 
a  farmer  residing  eight  miles  west  of  Beatrice. 
In  1885  Mr.  Weibe  contracted  a  second  mar- 
riage, when  Miss  Gertrude  Epp  became  his 
wife,  she  likewise  having  been  bom  in  Ger- 
many. Of  the  children  of  this  union  brief  rec- 
ord is  given  in  conclusion  of  this  article :  Her- 
man is  a  successful  school-teacher  in  the  fine 
Mennonite  institution  known  as  Bethel  College, 
at  Newton,  Kansas,  his  education  having  in- 
cluded courses  in  the  University  of  Nebraska, 
the  University  of  Wisconsin  and  the  Univer- 
sity of  Illinois ;  Jacob  is  one  of  the  lessees  of 
his  father's  farm  property ;  Gertrude  is  the 
wife  of  Aaron  Claassen,  a  farmer  ten  miles 
south  of  Beatrice ;  Elizabeth  remains  at  the 
parental  home;  William  and  Ernest  are  asso- 
ciated in  the  operation  of  the  home  farm ;  and 
Helena  and  Katie  likewise  are  at  home,  though 
both  are,  in  1918,  students  in  the  Beatrice 
high  school. 

FRANK  M.  BARMORE.  — One  of  the 
early  settlers  of  Gage  county,  and  one  who 
was  numbered  among  the  most  respected  and 
honored  citizens  of  the  community  in  which 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


he  lived  was  Frank  M.  Barmore.  Mr.  Bar- 
more  was  bom  at  Buchanan,  Berrien  county, 
Michigan,  on  the  11th  of  September,  1862,  and 
was  a  son  of  Horace  C.  and  Mary  (Curtis) 
Barmore.  Horace  C.  Barmore  was  born  in 
New  York  state,  in  December,  1829,  and 
moved  to  Michigan  when  a  young  man.  There, 
in  the  pioneer  days,  he  worked  in  the  making 
of  potash.  In  1859  was  recorded  the  mar- 
riage of  Horace  C.  Barmore  and  Mary  Curtis, 
of  Michigan,  and  to  this  union  were  born  six 
children :  Carrie  B.  resides  in  the  city  oi 
Chicago;  Frank  M.  is  the  subject  of  this 
memoir;  William  A.  is  a  resident  of  Texas; 
Charles  L.  and  Walter  H.  live  in  Gage  county, 
Nebraska,  as  does  also  Florence,  who  is  the 
wife  of  Perry  Disher.  In  the  fall  of  1863, 
Horace  C.  Barmore  started  west  and  he  and 
his  family  arrived  in  Gage  county,  Nebraska, 
on  December  4th  of  that  year.  He  took  a 
homestead  in  Section  33,  Adams  township, 
and  lived  on  the  place  a  number  of  years.  His 
death  occurred  at  Adams,  in  1889.  At  one 
time  Mr.  Barmore  was  engaged  in  freighting 
across  the  plains  from  Nebraska  City  to  Fort 
Kearney.  His  widow  survived  him  by  many 
years,  and  passed  away  in  1911.  Her  father 
came  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  in  1860,  and 
here  he  took  a  homestead,  besides  which  he 
built  the  first  house  ever  erected  in  the  town 
of  Adams,  this  county.  He  passed  to  the  life 
eternal  in  1876. 

Frank  M.  Barmore  was  united  in  marriage 
September  9,  1886,  to  Miss  Mollie  O.  Bryson, 
a  daughter  of  Silas  and  Clarinda  (Young) 
Bryson,  of  whom  a  record  will  be  found  on 
other  ])ages  of  this  volume.  ^Ir.  and  Mrs. 
Barmore  became  the  parents  of  three  sons  and 
five  daughters,  as  follows :  Melvin  C,  of 
Adams,  this  county;  John  W.,  of  Chicago; 
Mrs.  Ray  Braddock,  of  Filley,  Gage  county; 
Mrs.  Clay  Campbell,  of  Lincoln,  Nebraska ; 
and  Irene,  Eunice,  Lora  and  Eugene,  at  home 
with  the  widowed  mother.  The  husband  and 
father  passed  away  on  the  1st  of  March,  1916. 
The  following  extract  is  taken  from  a  notice 
which  appeared  in  the  Adams  paper  at  the 
time  of  Mr.  Barmore's  death:  "Frank  M. 
Barmore    was    bom    in    Buchanan,    Berrien 


county,  Michigan,  September  11,  1862.  The 
following  fall  he  was  brought  by  his  parents 
to  this  vicinity,  then  a  part  of  Nebraska  Ter- 
ritory, reaching  the  Nemaha,  December  4, 
1863.  His  boyhood  was  spent  on  the  family 
homestead  southwest  of  Adams,  where  he 
grew  to  manhood,  getting  his  schooling  in 
books  in  the  district  school,  and  in  the  sterner 
school  of  work  and  experience  he  studied  on 
his  father's  farm,  where  he  and  his  younger 
brother  Will,  much  eariier  than  most  boys, 
shouldered  a  large  share  of  the  men's  work 
and  responsibility,  because  of  a  lame  father, 
who  was  unable  to  follow  a  team  or  do  many 
of  the  other  tasks  on  a  farm.  He  was  mar- 
ried September  9,  1886,  to  Miss  Mollie  C. 
Bryson,  who  had  been  a  girlhood  friend  and 
schoolmate.  In  this  neighborhood  they  built 
a  home,  which  was  ever  a  bright  center  of  love 
and  confidence  to  the  family  and  of  cheery 
hospitality  to  friends  and  acquaintances.  Mr. 
Barmore  belonged  to  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church  of  which  he  was  ever  a  faithful  and 
consistent  member.  His  faith  in  Christ  cheered 
and  sustained  him,  and  remained  bright  and 
clear  as  his  physical  powers  failed.  His  death 
brings  deep  sorrow  not  only  to  the  family 
group  but  also  to  a  wide  circle  of  friends,  many 
of  whom  have  known  him  from  boyhood,  and 
none  knew  him  but  to  esteem  him  more  highly 
as  the  years  passed  by.  He  was  one  of  na- 
ture's noblemen  in  the  truest  sense,  —  brave, 
generous,  manly,  his  was  the  soul  of  honor  and 
his  friends  and  friendships  were  sacred  to 
him." 

Mrs.  Barmore  makes  her  home  in  the  com- 
munity where  she  was  born  and  reared  and 
where  she  and  her  husband  spent  most  of 
the  years  of  their  married  life. 

OTIS  B.  HEFFELFINGER.  — Of  the 
business  men  and  farmers  in  Gage  county  none 
is  more  worthy  of  consideration  in  this  his- 
tory than  Otis  B.  Heffelfinger,  business  man, 
and  live-stock  dealer.  Mr.  Heffelfinger  was 
born  in  Whiteside  county,  Illinois,  on  January 
5,  1881,  a  son  of  Bell  M.  and  Louise  (Wag- 
ner) Fleffelfinger,  of  whom  a  record  will  be 
found  in  other  pages  of  this  volume.     (See 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


897 


sketch  of  Ray  C.  Heffelfinger).  The  subject 
of  this  review  came  to  Nebraska  with  his  par- 
ents in  1887,  at  the  age  of  six  years.  Their 
first  home  in  the  west  was  at  Grand  Island. 
Nebraska,  and  later  in  Adams  covmty,  where 
they  remained  only  a  short  time  before  coming 
to  Beatrice.  ]\lr.  Hefifelfinger  received  his 
education  in  the  public  schools  of  Beatrice,  and 
thereafter  he  was  associated  with  his  father 
in  meat-market  enterprise,  and  also  in  farm- 
ing and  stock-raising  until  his  father's  death. 
Since  that  time  he  has  conducted  the  farming 
and  stock  business  on  his  own  account,  and 
he  is  associated  with  H.  L-  Goble  in  the  meat- 
market  business  in  the  city  of  Beatrice,  where 
they  do  a  large  business  in  both  wholesale  and 
retail  lines.  Near  the  city  of  Beatrice,  Mr. 
Hefifelfinger  is  the  owner  of  a  small  tract  of 
land,  where  he  has  his  home,  and  where  he 
conducts  his  live-stock  activities.  He  feeds 
each  year  a  large  number  of  both  cattle  and 
hogs  for  the  market,  and  is  making  a  great 
success  of  his  chosen  occupation.  The  meat 
market  is  conducted  under  the  firm  name  of 
Goble  &  Hefifelfinger. 

On  January  15,  1901,  Mr.  Hefifelfinger  was 
united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Efifie  Veon  a 
daughter  of  John  and  Hulda  (Burner)  Veon, 
of  Beatrice,  Nebraska,  and  to  this  union  have 
been  born  six  children,  —  Gussie  L.,  Robert 
L.,  Marion  B.,  Belle  M.,  Harold  E.,  and  Ruth 
E.  —  all  of  whom  are  at  the  parental  home. 

Mrs.  Hefifelfinger  has  three  brothers  and  one 
sister,  as  follows :  John,  of  Oxford,  Ne- 
braska ;  Henry,  and  Russell,  both  of  Beatrice ; 
and  Laura,  wife  of  Herbert  Palmer,  of  Bea- 
trice. 

In  politics  Mr.  Hefifelfinger  is  a  Republican, 
but  he  has  never  sought  public  office,  prefer- 
ring to  give  his  whole  time  and  attention  to  his 
business.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hefifelfinger  have  a 
beautiful  little  home  in  the  south  part  of  the 
city  of  Beatrice  and  have  hosts  of  friends  in 
the  community  in  which  they  live. 

ALBERT  BEDNAR.  —  In  1876,  the  year 
that  marked  the  centennial  of  the  national  in- 
dependence of  the  United  States,  Albert  Bed- 
nar  and  his  wife  numbered  themselves  among 


the  pioneer  settlers  of  Nebraska.  They  first 
located  temporarily  near  Wilber,  the  county 
seat  of  Saline  county,  and  in  the  spring  ot 
1880  established  themselves  on  an  embryonic 
farm  near  the  town  of  Wymore,  Gage 
county  —  on  what  had  but  recently  been  a 
part  of  the  Otoe  and  J^Iissouri  Indian  reser- 
vation. Here  Mr.  Bednar,  with  the  help  of 
his  wife  and  family,  reclaimed  from  the  un- 
trammeled  prairie  a  fertile  farm.  Not  a  fur- 
row had  been  turned  on  the  land  and  no  im- 
provements of  any  kind  had  been  made.  The 
coyote  and  the  Indian  were  the  only  habitues 
It  was  truly  virgin  soil. 

Undaunted  by  the  prospects,  Mr.  Bednar, 
with  a  yoke  of  oxen  and  a  breaking  plow 
broke  sod.  built  a  sod  house  for  his  family, 
and  then  turned  vigorously  to  the  reclaiming 
and  cultivation  of  his  pioneer  farm.  He  soon 
came  to  be  one  of  the  representative  expo- 
nents of  agricultural  industry  in  his  com- 
munity. His  energy  and  good  management 
brought  to  him  a  generous  measure  of  success 
in  his  passing  years.  Through  his  well  directed 
activities  he  eventually  not  only  accumulated 
a  large  and  valuable  landed  estate  in  Gage 
county,  but  in  all  of  the  relations  of  life  he 
so  ordered  his  course  as  to  merit  and  receive 
the  unqualified  confidence  and  good  will  of  his 
fellow  men.  He  contributed  his  full  share  to 
the  civic  and  industrial  development  of  the 
county;  took  a  loyal  interest  in  all  matters 
touching  its  communal  welfare,  but  never 
sought  or  desired  public  office.  In  his  political 
views  he  was  non-partisan.  His  early  re- 
ligious faith  was  that  of  the  Catholic  church, 
but  on  coming  to  America  he  did  not  affiliate 
with  any  church. 

Albert  Bednar  was  born  April  23,  1837,  in 
Pistina,  Bohemia.  ,  By  trade  he  was  a  skilled 
cabinetmaker.  He  was  actively  engaged  in  his 
vocation  while  in  Bohemia,  but  after  coming 
to  America  he  devoted  almost  his  entire  time 
to  farming  and  stock-raising.  In  August, 
1863,  was  solemnized  his  marriage  to  Jo- 
hanna Peroutka.  It  was  a  matter  of  great 
gratification  to  I\Ir.  Bednar  that  he  lived  to 
celebrate  his  golden  wedding  anniversary,  an 
occasion  on  which  the  children,  grandchildren, 


898 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


and  friends  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bednar  united 
to  pay  the  aged  couple  a  lasting  and  well  de- 
served tribute. 

In  1908  this  honored  pioneer,  having  already 
accumulated  a  competency,  his  health  failing 
him,  left,  though  somewhat  reluctantly,  the 
farm  in  Sicily  township  that  had  been  the 
home  for  over  a  quarter  of  a  century  —  the 
farm  which  by  his  labor  he  had  converted 
from  raw  prairie  into  fertile  fields,  the  farm 
where  he  had  witnessed  his  children  grow  to 
manhood  and  womanhood  —  and  removed  to 
the  village  of  Odell.  Here  were  spent  the 
closing  years  of  his  life  and  on  the  21st  day  of 
September,  1914,  he  passed  away  —  a  man 
who  had  accounted  well  for  himself  to  the 
world  in  which  he  lived  and  labored  to  goodly 
ends.     He  is  buried  in  the  Odell  cemetery. 

His  widow,  Mrs.  Johanna  Bednar,  now  ven- 
erable in  years,  was  born  in  Hatina,  Bohemia, 
in  1840.  Since  the  death  of  her  husband  she 
makes  her  home  with  one  of  their  sons,  Peter 
Bednar,  near  Barneston,  Nebraska.  To  her 
thrift,  industry,  and  undaunted  courage  much 
credit  is  due  for  her  husband's  success  and 
prosperity.  With  a  family  of  six  little  chil- 
dren she  braved  the  perils  of  an  ocean  voyage 
from  the  old  world  to  the  new,  and  endured 
the  many  subsequent  hardships  incident  to 
pioneer  life.  Her's  is  the  distinction  of  being 
the  mother  of  ten  children,  nine  of  whom  she 
reared  to  manhood  and  womenhood.  Felix,  a 
son,  died  in  infancy,  in  November,  1876,  and  is 
buried  in  Saline  county ;  Lillie  died  September 
28,  1891 ;  Theresa,  who  later  became  the  wife 
of  Frank  Zaribnicky,  died  March  10,  1894; 
Frances,  later  Mrs.  Vincent  Marek,  died  Feb- 
ruary 26,  1917;  Ferdinand,  the  oldest  membei 
of  the  family,  is  a  prosperous  farmer  in  Sicily 
township ;  Mary,  the  widow  of  Milton  Prebyl, 
resides  on  her  farm  near  Barneston,  Ne- 
braska; Carrie  is  the  wife  of  Joseph  Krotz, 
of  whom  individual  mention  is  made  on  other 
pages  of  this  work ;  Peter  is  a  substantial 
farmer  near  Barneston,  Nebraska;  and  Eman- 
uel is  similarly  engaged  near  Wymore,  Ne- 
braska. James  E.  is  engaged  in  the  practice  of 
law  in  the  city  of  Omaha,  and  is  individually 
mentioned  on  other  pages  of  this  volume. 


WILEIAM  N.  REVIS.  — While  not  a  na- 
tive born  Nebraskan,  Mr.  Revis  says  that  in 
all  his  life  he  never  tilled  better  land  than  can 
be  found  in  Gage  county.  After  a  residence 
of  one  year  in  Lancaster  county,  he  came  to 
Adams  township.  Gage  county.  The  work  of 
subduing  the  prairies  was  so  hard  and  the  food 
so  scarce  this  first  summer  that  Mr.  Revis 
gave  out  completely.  He  continued  his  stay 
in  Gage  county  eight  years,  then  he  returned 
to  Illinois.  He  was  bom  in  Montgomery 
county,  Illinois,  October  9,  1855,  a  son  of 
Ewen  and  Jane  (Greer)  Revis.  Ewen  Revis 
was  bom  in  Kentucky  and  went  to  Illinois 
with  his  parents  with  horses  and  mde  wagon, 
the  wheels,  which  were  hewn  from  the  trunk  of 
a  tree.  As  a  famier  he  aided  in  opening  the 
way  for  future  generations.  His  death  oc- 
curred in  1877.  H[is  wife,  Jane  (Greer)  Revis, 
likewise  was  bom  in  Kentucky  and  her  par- 
ents were  pioneer  settlers  in  the  state  that 
reared  Abraham  Lincoln.  She  passed  away 
in  1876. 

After  his  first  experience  in  Nebraska,  Wil- 
liam Revis  remained  for  three  years  in  the 
state  that  had  been  his  boyhood  home,  but  he 
then  decided  that  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  of- 
fered the  best  opportimities  for  farming. 

November  28,  1878,  he  married  Chloe  B. 
Ellis,  who  was  born  December  30,  1860,  in 
Montgomery  county,  Illinois.  Her  parents, 
Jeremiah  and  Henrietta  (Holcombe)  Ellis, 
were  born  in  New  York  and  Ohio  respectively, 
and  after  coming  to  Illinois  they  there  re- 
mained until  1881,  when  they  came  to  Gage 
county,  Nebraska.  Here  they  purchased  land 
for  six  dollars  an  acre.  They  continued  their 
farming  operations  all  of  their  life.  After 
their  death,  Mrs.  Revis  inherited  forty  acres 
of  the  Revis  farm,  located  in  Section  5,  Adams 
township. 

The  following  named  children  were  born 
to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Revis:  Ethel  Ann  died  in 
infancy;  Berge  is  living  at  home;  Emery  is 
living  in  Nemaha  township,  this  county; 
Bertha  is  the  wife  of  Edgar  Sims,  and  they 
reside  in  Wright  county,  Iowa;  Earl  lives  in 
Adams  township;  and  Jane  is  at  home  with 
her  parents. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


In  politics  Mr.  Revis  is  a  Democrat,  but  he 
is  prone  to  cast  an  independent  vote,  prefer- 
ring men  and  measures  to  strict  party  lines. 
He  and  his  wife  attend  the  Baptist  church, 
which  has  their  liberal  support. 

CHARLES  S.  CURRY,  M.  D.  — One  of 
the  younger  members  of  the  medical  profes- 
sion in  the  city  of  Beatrice  is  the  subject  of 
this  sketch,  Dr.  Charles  Samuel  Curr}^  Dr. 
Curry  was  born  in  the  village  of  Clayton, 
Adams  county,  Illinois  on  the  30th  day  of 
July,  1873.  He  is  a  son  of  Benjamin  A.  and 
Lucy  (Hopkins)  Curry,  both  of  English  des- 
cent. His  father  was  born  in  Kentucky  in 
1825  and  in  1837  he  was  taken  by  his  parents 
to  Illinois.  The  family  was  amongst  the  ear- 
liest settlers  of  Adams  county  and  was  well 
connected  and  highly  respected. 

Benjamin  A.  Curry  obtained  title  to  a  consid- 
erable tract  of  land  in  the  immediate  vicinity 
of  Clayton,  his  patent  to  a  portion  of  it  being 
signed  by  Franklin  Pierce,  president  of  the 
United  States.  At  the  time  of  his  death,  which 
occurred  on  the  29th  day  of  June,  1915,  when 
he  was  just  closing  his  ninetieth  year,  he  was 
one  of  the  wealthy  farmers  of  Adams  county. 
Doctor  Curry's  mother,  Lucy  (Hopkins) 
Curry,  was  bom  in  the  state  of  Ohio,  in  1840. 
She  was  a  woman  of  great  refinement.  She 
was  reared  in  the  state  of  Illinois  and  became 
the  wife  of  Benjamin  A.  Curry  in  1858.  She 
died  in  1881,  at  the  age  of  forty-one  years,  and 
when  her  son  Charles  S.  was  in  the  eighth  year 
of  his  age. 

Six  children 'were  the  fruit  of  this  marriage, 
—  four  daughters  and  two  sons.  The  daugh- 
ters are  Mrs.  Linnie  A.  Wilson  and  Mrs.  Dora 
A.  Cain,  both  of  Clayton,  IlHnois ;  Mrs.  Nel- 
lie P.  Potter,  of  Chicago,  Illinois ;  and  Mrs. 
Carrie  A.  Andrews,  of  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 
The  sons  are  Edgar  T.  Clayton,  the  leading 
hardware  merchant  of  Clayton,  and  Dr. 
Charles  Samuel  Curry,  of  Beatrice. 

Dr.  Curry  was  brought  upon  his  father's 
farm  and  learned  the  occupation  of  a  farmer. 
In  the  schools  of  his  native  village  he  obtained 
a  good  education,  and  was  graduated  in  the 
high  school  in  1890.     He  then  conceived  the 


idea  of  entering  upon  a  business  life  and  ac- 
cepted employment  in  connection  with  a  string 
of  dry-goods  stores  owned  by  his  uncle,  A.  C. 
Majors,  at  Chillicothe,  Missouri,  Herrington, 
Kansas,  and  Hennessey,  Oklahoma  —  in  each 
of  which  he  remained  six  months. 

In  the  autumn  of  1896  Dr.  Curry  entered 
classical  Rush  Medical  College,  Chicago,  Illi- 
nois, from  which  institution  he  graduated  in 
1900.  Almost  immediately  he  located  at  Bea- 
trice in  the  practice  of  his  profession  and  here 
he  has  since  been  engaged  constantly  in  that 
useful  and  benevolent  calling. 

After  locating  in  Beatrice,  August  6,  1900, 
he  returned  to  Illinois,  in  November  of  that 
year,  and  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Ada 
Willa  Hiles,  an  accomplished  and  very  ami- 
able young  lady.  Through  many  excellent 
qualities  of  heart  and  great  worth  of  character 
they  have  m.ade  for  themselves  a  large  place 
in  the  social  life  of  the  city  of  Beatrice. 

Dr.  Curry  is  now  well  established  in  his 
professional  work.  He  has  a  large  and  an  in- 
creasing business.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Gage  County  Medical  Society,  the  Nebraska 
State  Medical  Society  and  the  American  Medi- 
cal Association.  He  is  the  local  medical  ex- 
aminer for  a  number  of  life  insurance  com- 
panies including  the  Bankers'  Life  of  Lincoln, 
Nebraska,  the  Pacific  Mutual  of  New  York, 
the  Union  Central,  the  Phenix  Mutual  and  the 
Metropolitan.  He  is  also  a  member  of  the 
Gage  county  pension  board  and  the  county 
insanity  commission.  He  is  district  surgeon 
for  the  Union  Pacific  Railway  Company  and 
a  member  of  the  local  advisory  board  for  the 
United  States  government. 

Dr.  Curry  has  a  large  and  an  increasing 
business  and  is  much  esteemed  not  only  by  the 
public  at  large  but  also  by  his  professional 
brethren,  which  is  the  acid  test  of  a  physi- 
cian's abilities  and  integrity  of  character. 

JOHN  F.  STEINMEYER.  — He  whose 
name  introduces  this  article  is  a  member  of  a 
family  whose  name  has  been  long  and  prom- 
inently identified  with  the  activities  of  agri- 
cultural and  live-stock  industry  in  Gage  county 
and  adequate  record  concerning  the  family  ap- 


900 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


pears  on  other  pages,  in  connection  with  the 
review  of  the  career  of  his  honored  father, 
Frederick  Steinmeyer.  In  Clatonia  township 
John  F.  Steinmeyer  now  rents  from  his  father 
a  fine  farm  of  one  hundred  and  fifty-two  acres, 
and  here  he  is  vigorously  and  successfully 
carrying  forward  operations  as  an  agricultur- 
ist and  stock-raiser  and  as  one  of  the  repre- 
sentative farmers  of  the  younger  generation 
in  his  native  township. 

On  the  old  homestead  farm,  in  Section  28, 
Clatonia  township,  Mr.  Steinmeyer  was  born 
March  10,  1880,  and  here  he  was  reared  to 
manhood  under  invigorating  and  benigant  in- 
fluences, in  the  meanwhile  making  good  use  of 
the  advantages  aflforded  in  the  local  schools. 
He  continued  to  be  associated  with  his  father 
in  farm  operations  until  1901,  and  since  that 
time  he  has  conducted  independent  enterprise 
as  a  farmer,  his  unequivocal  success  attesting 
to  the  energy  and  good  judgment  which  he  has 
brought  to  bear.  He  has  leased  and  operated 
his  present  farm  since  1907  and  in  the  mean- 
while has  made  numerous  improvements  on 
the  place,  including  the  erection  of  a  modern 
house  and  barn,  as  well  as  corn  cribs  and  other 
minor  farm  buildings.  In  the  live-stock  de- 
partment of  his  farm  enterprise  he  gives  spec- 
ial attention  to  the  raising  of  high-grade  Po- 
land-China-swine.  He  is  a  Republican  in  his 
political  proclivities  and  he  and  his  wife  hold 
membership  in  the  German  Methodist  church. 

February  19,  1908,  recorded  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  Steinmeyer  to  Mrs.  Minnie  (Strouck- 
meyer)  Unbefunde,  who  was  born  in  High- 
land township,  this  county,  and  who  is  a 
daughter  of  August  and  Catherine  (Albert) 
Strouckmeyer.  Her  first  husband  was  Fred- 
erick Unbefunde,  who  is  survived  by  their 
two  children.  Alma  and  Emma,  both  of  whom 
remain  with  their  mother  and  both  of  whom 
are  attending  school. 

FREDERICK  W.  WINTER,  M.  D..  a  rep- 
resentative physician  at  Wymore,  was  born 
September  28,  1852,  and  is  a  son  of  William 
and  Wilhelmina  (Fiegenbaum)  Winter.  Wil- 
liam Vv'inter  was  born  at  Lippe-Detmoid,  Ger- 
many, July  31,  1825,  and  came  to  the  United 


vStates  in  1842.  His  wife  was  bom  in  Ger- 
many. July  27,  1833,  and  died  March  19,  1917. 
After  coming  to  America  both  families  settled 
in  Warren  county,  Missouri,  where  William 
Winter  and  Wilhelmina  Fiegenbaum  met  for 
the  first  time;  shortly  after  their  marriage  they 
moved  to  Iowa. 

William  Winter  was  a  soldier  in  the  war 
with  Mexico  and  was  given  government  land 
in  Iowa  in  consideration  of  his  services.  In 
1857  he  was  ordained  a  minister  of  the  Ger- 
man Methodist  church,  his  first  charge  being 
at  Rock  Island,  Illinois,  and  his  last  charge  was 
at  Davenport,  Iowa,  where  he  died  February 
21,  1882.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Winter  became  the 
parents  of  nine  children,  of  whom  Dr.  Fred- 
rick W.  is  the  eldest.  Adolph  Fiegenbaum, 
father  of  Mrs.  William  W^inter,  was  born  in 
Germany,  December  17,  1792,  and  came  to  the 
United  States  in  1833,  settling  in  Missouri. 
Later  he  removed  to  Garner,  Iowa,  and  there 
his  death  occurred  January  7,  1877.  His 
wife,  Christina  Wilhelmina,  was  born  in  Ger- 
many, in  1796,  and  died  in  Iowa,  January  17, 
1871. 

Dr.  Frederick  W.  Winter  was  educated  at 
Muscatine,  Iowa,  where  he  was  graduated  in 
the  high  school  as  a  member  of  the  class  of 
1866.  He  was  at  one  time  superintendent  of 
schools  at  Gamer,  Iowa,  a  position  he  retained 
two  years.  He  studied  medicine  in  Iowa  State 
Medical  College  and  was  graduated  with  the 
class  of  1880.  The  same  year  he  moved  to 
Kansas  and  began  the  practice  of  medicine  at 
Junction  City,  where  he  remained  one  year. 
In  1882  Dr.  Winter  came  to  Wymore,  Ne- 
braska, and  here  he  has  practiced  his  profes- 
sion continuously  from  that  year  to  the  present 
time. 

On  October  26,  1885,  Dr.  Winter  was 
united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Lida  P.  Bennett, 
daughter  of  James  Bennett,  Jr.  To  this  union 
were  born  five  children,  as  follows,  Ralph  B., 
of  Adams,  this  county;  Mary  Irene,  a  teacher 
of  schools  at  Casper,  Wyoming;  Wilhelm 
Waldo,  Elsie  Amelia,  at  home ;  and  Louis  E., 
now  in  the  United  States  army. 

James  Bennett,  Jr.,  father  of  Mrs.  Winter, 
was  born  in  New  York  state,  November  26. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


901 


1840.  He  came  to  Wymore  in  1882  and  in 
1884  was  followed  by  his  family.  He  was  a 
brick  mason  and  brick  manufacturer,  and  he 
followed  this  business  after  coming  to  Ne- 
braska. He  assisted  in  erecting  some  of  the 
first  brick  buildings  in  the  city  of  Wymore. 
Mr.  Bennett  married  Miss  Eliza  Hollenbeck, 
who  was  born  November  12,  1839.  They  were 
the  parents  of  four  children,  two  of  whom  are 
living,  —  Lida,  wife  of  Dr.  Winter,  of  this 
review,  and  Frances  B.  Horham,  a  widow, 
living  in  Lincoln,  Nebraska.  Mr.  Bennett 
died  in  May,  1897. 

Dr.  Winter  is  a  Republican  and  he  was 
for  six  years  a  member  of  the  Wymore  school 
board.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
church,  is  a  Mason  and  belongs  to  several  fra- 
ternal insurance  societies.  He  is  also  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Nebraska  State  Homoeopathic 
Medical  Society  and  the  American  Institute 
of  Homoepathy.  Dr.  Winter  has  always  en- 
joyed a  large  practice  and  is  held  in  very  high 
esteem  in  the  community  in  which  he  lives. 


LEWIS  D.  LENGER  was  until  recently 
the  owner  of  one  of  the  well  improved  and 
ably  managed  farms  of  his  native  county  and 
became  known  as  one  of  the  aggressive  and 
successful  younger  exponents  of  agricultural 
and  live-stock  industry  in  Midland  township, 
which  represented  his  place  of  residence  from 
the  time  of  his  birth  and  in  which  he  was  a 
scion  of  a  pioneer  family  that  was  here 
founded  prior  to  the  admission  of  Nebraska 
to  statehood.  Mr.  Lenger  was  born  on  his 
father's  old  homestead  farm,  in  Section  2, 
:>Iidland  township,  on  the  9th  of  July,  1880, 
and  is  a  son  of  Herman  B.  and  Charlotta 
Louise  (Brand)  Lenger,  both  of  whom  were 
born  in  Germany  and  both  of  whom  were  resi- 
dents of  Gage  county  at  the  time  of  their  death. 
The  marriage  of  the  parents  was  solemnized  in 
Warren  county,  Missouri,  and  in  1866  they 
came  to  Nebraska  Territor)'  and  numbered 
themselves  among  the  pioneer  settlers  of  Gage 
county,  the  journey  to  the  new  home  having 
been  made  with  a  wagon  and  a  team  of  army 
mules,  which  outfit  afiforded  transportation  for 
the  parents  and  their  four  children,  as  well  as 


a  small  supply  of  household  eft'ects.  With  the 
funds  which  he  had  previously  accumulated, 
Herman  B.  Lenger  was  enabled  to  make  par- 
tial payment  on  a  quarter-section  of  land  which 
he  here  purchased  for  twelve  hundred  dollars, 
in  Midland  township,  and  later  he  added  to  his 
farm  property  by  buying,  for  three  hundred 
dollars,  a  relinquishment  of  a  claim  to  an  ad- 
joining tract  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres. 
He  reclaimed  and  improved  a  good  farm,  he 
and  his  wife  endured  their  full  quota  of  the 
hardships  and  trials  incidental  to  pioneer  life, 
but  substantial  prosperity  eventually  crowned 
their  earnest  endeavors,  both  having  remained 
on  the  old  homestead  until  their  death.  Of 
their  ten  children  seven  are  living:  Herman 
H.  is  a  retired  farmer  residing  in  the  village 
of  Odell,  this  county;  Lena  M.  is  the  wife  of 
P.  M.  Roush  and  they  reside  on  their  well  im- 
proved fruit  farm,  near  Canyonville,  Oregon; 
Lottie  married  J.  B.  Renard,  of  Odell,  this 
county;  Minnie  C.  is  the  wife  of  Samuel  C. 
Gockley,  a  farmer  and  fruit-grower  in  the  vi- 
cinity of  Wenatchee,  Chelan  county,  Washing- 
ton ;  William  J.  owns  one  of  the  excellent 
farms  of  Gage  county  and  there  maintains  his 
home,  five  miles  west  of  the  village  of  Pick- 
rell ;  John  A.  lives  in  the  home  of  his  brother 
\Mlliam  J. ;  and  Lewis  D.,  of  this  review,  is 
the  youngest  of  the  number.  The  parents 
were  zealous  members  of  the  Church  of  the 
Brethren  and  the  father  gave  not  only  an  acre 
of  ground  as  a  site  for  the  church  of  this  de- 
nomination in  Midland  township  but  also  an 
equal  amount  for  a  cemetery,  with  stipula- 
tion that  no  charge  should  be  made  for  inter- 
ments in  the  same.  He  was  a  man  of  indomit- 
able industry',  of  mature  judgment  and  of  those 
sterling  principles  that  make  for  the  highest 
type  of  citizenship,  his  political  allegiance  hav- 
ing been  given  ot  the  Republican  party.  He 
was  a  young  man  when  he  came  to  America, 
his  parents  having  passed  their  entire  lives  in 
Gemiany.  His  wife's  parents  were  pioneer 
settlers  in  Johnson  county,  Nebraska,  and 
there  both  were  killed  by  lightning  while  they 
were  driving  in  a  spring  wagon,  on  their  way 
from  a  visit  to  the  parents  of  the  subject  of 
this  sketch. 


902 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Lewis  D.  Lenger  acquired  his  early  educa- 
tion in  the  Mount  OHve  school,  in  District  No. 
11,  Midland  township,  and  he  early  became 
familiar  with  the  varied  details  of  farm  en- 
terprise. In  initiating  his  independent  activi- 
ties as  an  agriculturist  and  stock-grower  he 
purchased  a  part  of  the  farm  of  his  brother 
Herman,  and  to  the  same  he  added  until  he 
had  an  admirably  improved  and  valuable 
landed  property  of  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
six  acres,  in  Section  2,  Midland  township.  He 
here  gave  his  attention  to  diversified  agricul- 
ture and  the  raising  of  good  types  of  live  stock, 
in  which  latter  department  he  made  a  specialty 
of  raising  sheep  and  swine.  He  is  imbued 
with  the  vital  spirit  of  the  west  and  is  liberal 
and  progressive  as  a  citizen,  his  political  sup- 
port being  given  to  the  Republican  party.  He 
has  not  been  ambitious  for  political  activity 
or  public  office  but  has  given  effective  service 
as  a  member  of  the  school  board  of  his  district. 
Both  he  and  his  wife  are  active  members  of 
the  Church  of  the  Brethren. 

Januar)'  1,  1908,  recorded  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Lenger  to  Miss  Willa  Coonley,  who  was 
born  in  Beatrice,  and  reared  on  her  father's 
farm  near  Pickrell,  this  county,  where  hei 
father,  O.  G.  Coonley,  is  now  living  retired. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lenger  have  one  child.  Lea 
Louise,  who  was  born  December  22,  1911. 

In  December,  1917,  Mr.  Lenger  sold  his 
farm  and  moved  to  Beatrice.  At  the  time  of 
this  writing  he  is  manager  of  the  Pickrell  Live 
Stock  Shipping  .A.ssociation.  of  Pickrell,  this 
county. 

WILLIAM  W.  \MCK  is  a  well-to-do 
farmer,  and  is  farming  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  of  land  in  Section  19,  Sicily  town- 
ship. This  land  is  the  homestead  of  his  par- 
ents, Andrew  and  Maria  Elizabeth  (Heimlich) 
Wick,  who  came  to  Gage  county  in  1883  and 
purchased  this  land,  upon  which  they  made 
their  home  until  they  were  called  to  the  life 
eternal.  Andrew  Wick  was  born  in  Baden, 
Germany,  in  1834,  and  was  a  son  of  Sabas- 
tian  Wick,  who  also  was  born  in  Germany, 
and  who  came  with  his  family  to  America. 
He    settled    in    Ohio    in    1833.    and    there    he 


tilled  the  soil  until  1863,  when  he  removed  to 
Indiana,  where  he  again  beguiled  nature  to 
yield  her  corn  and  wheat,  and  where  he  and 
his  wife  passed  the  remainder  of  their  lives. 
Their  son,  Andrew,  the  father  of  William  W. 
Wick,  was  a  baby  in  arms  when  his  parents 
immigrated  to  the  United  States,  and  in  his 
early  manhood  he  lived  in  Ohio  where  he 
married  Maria  Elizabeth  Heimlich,  who  was 
born  in  that  state,  in  1836,  a  daughter  of  Ger- 
man emigrants  who  had  first  lived  in  Pennsyl- 
vania and  then  moved  to  Ohio,  where  they 
were  farmers  in  Morrow  county,  and  where 
they  passed  their  last  days. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Andrew  Wick  moved  from 
Ohio  in  1863  and  settled  near  Bourbon,  Indi- 
ana, on  a  farm  of  eighty  acres.  They  bought 
sixty  acres  more  of  the  fertile  land,  making 
in  all  one  hundred  and  forty  acres  that  they 
owned  in  Indiana.  In  1883  they  came  to  Sic- 
ily township.  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  and 
purchased  the  land  which  their  son  William 
W.  now  owns.  For  many  years  they  lived  on 
this  homestead.  Mr.  Wick  died  in  1894  and 
his  widow  passed  away  in  1915,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-nine  years.  They  were  the  parents 
of  thirteen  children,  and  those  surviving  have 
taken  their  places  in  the  world,  to  enrich  the 
communities  in  which  they  live:  John  and 
Charles  are  twins,  the  former  residing  in  Kan- 
sas and  the  latter  in  Bourbon,  Indiana ;  Cath- 
erine is  with  her  brother  William,  of  this 
sketch ;  Mary  who  is  deceased,  was  the  wife 
of  M.  Yowell,  living  in  Oklahoma;  Lena  is  the 
wife  of  Henry  Kelver,  a  retired  farmer  living 
in  Plymouth,  Indiana;  Henry  L.  is  a  farmer 
east  of  Holmes ville.  Gage  county ;  Caroline  is 
the  wife  of  M.  E.  Kerr,  a  school  teacher  of 
Bourbon,  Indiana;  William  W.  is  the  subject 
of  this  review ;  A.  C.  is  a  farmer  in  Elm  town- 
ship, this  county ;  Anna,  is  the  wife  of  F.  H. 
Kimmerling,  a  retired  farmer  of  Beatrice;  R. 
J.  is  a  bachelor  and  lives  with  his  brother  Wil- 
liam ;  Philip  died  in  infancy ;  and  M.  A.  is  a 
farmer  in  Sicily  township,  this  county. 

William  Wick  was  a  lad  of  fifteen  years 
when  his  parents  came  to  Gage  county  and 
here  he  finished  his  education  in  the  district 
schools.     He  has  devoted  his  time  exclusively 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


903 


to  his  farming  interests.  He  is  a  member  of 
the  Lutheran  church  and  votes  the  Democratic 
ticket.  He  has  served  as  town  clerk  and  is 
ahve  to  the  best  interests  of  his  community. 

GEORGE  L.  ROE,  M.  D.,  who  has  for 
more  than  thirty  years  been  engaged  in  the 
practice  of  his  profession  in  Gage  county,  has 
maintained  his  residence  in  the  city  of  Bea-  . 
trice  since  1886.  Prior  to  this  he  had  been  a 
pioneer  physician  and  surgeon  at  Odell,  this 
county,  where  he  had  established  his  residence 
in  1881.  Dr.  Roe  served  seventeen  years  as 
official  physician  and  surgeon  of  Gage  county 
and  for  an  equal  period  as  city  physician  of 
Beatrice.  He  held  for  twenty-four  consecu- 
tive years  a  position  as  a  member  of  the  United 
States  board  of  pension  examining  surgeons 
for  Gage  county,  and  at  the  expiration  of  this 
long  period  he  resigned  the  post.  The  Doctor 
holds  membership  in  the  Gage  County  Medical 
Society,  the  Nebraska  State  Medical  Society, 
and  the  American  Medical  Association. 

Dr.  George  Lowry  Roe  was  born  in  the 
state  of  Indiana,  September  13,  1858,  and  is  a 
son  of  Samuel  Lowr)-  Roe  and  Mary  Eliza- 
beth (Henley)  Roe,  natives  respectively  of 
Kentucky  and  Virginia.  The  parents  passed 
the  closing  years  of  their  lives  in  Adams 
county,  Illinois,  Samuel  L.  Roe  having  been 
a  soldier  of  the  Union  in  the  Civil  war. 

Dr.  Roe  acquired  his  early  education  in 
Louisville,  Kentucky,  and  Quincy,  Illinois.  In 
1878  he  was  graduated  in  the  Louisville  Medi- 
cal College,  and  after  thus  receiving  his  degree 
of  Doctor  of  Medicine  he  engaged  in  practice 
at  Clayton,  Illinois,  where  he  remained  until 
he  came  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  and  en- 
gaged in  practice  as  one  of  the  pioneer  phy- 
sicians in  the  new  town  of  Odell,  his  removal 
to  Beatrice  having  occurred  in  1886,  as  previ- 
ously noted.  The  representative  character  of 
his  clientage  during  the  long  intervening  years 
best  attests  to  his  professional  ability  and  per- 
sonal popularity. 

Dr.  Roe  has  served  as  medical  advisor  and 
examiner  of  the  official  draft  board  of  Gage 
county  since  the  nation  entered  the  great 
European  war,  and  in  May,  1918,  he  tendered 


his  services  to  the  government  for  professional 
identification  with  the  military  activities  of 
the  country  in  a  more  direct  way.  His  only 
son  is  at  the  time  of  this  writing  serving  as  a 
soldier  with  the  American  expeditionary  forces 
in  France. 

Dr.  Roe  is  a  Democrat  in  politics,  and  is 
affiliated  with  the  Masonic  fraternity,  the  In- 
dependent Order  of  Odd  Fellows  and  the  Fra- 
ternal Order  of  Eagles.  His  wife,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Ida  L.  Thompson,  was  born 
at  Elkhorn,  Wisconsin,  and  they  have  two 
children ;  Marie  L.  is  the  wife  of  Frederick 
Nichols,  of  Beatrice,  and  Samuel  Lowry  Roe, 
as  previously  stated,  is  a  soldier  with  our  na- 
tional forces  in  France. 

PERCY  F.  HEFFELFINGER.  —  One  of 
the  native  sons  of  Gage  county  who  has  elected 
to  remain  within  its  borders  and  who  is  meet- 
ing with  success  in  his  occupation  is  Percy 
F.  Heffelfinger,  who  operates  a  fann  of  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  in  Midland  town- 
ship. He  was  bom  in  Beatrice,  this  county, 
June  3,  1892,  and  is  a  son  of  Bell  M.  and 
Louise  Hefifelfinger,  whose  record  appears 
elsewhere  in  this  volume. 

In  the  acquirement  of  his  early  education, 
Percy  F.  Hefifelfinger  attended  school  in  his 
native  city.  On  January  4,  1909,  Mr.  HeiTel- 
finger  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Nellie 
Ray,  who  likewise  is  a  native  of  Gage  county 
and  who  is  a  daughter  of  Ira  and  Millie 
(Ayers)  Ray,  natives  of  Illinois,  who  became 
residents  of  Gage  county  at  an  early  date  and 
owned  and  developed  the  farm  which  is  now 
the  home  of  their  daughter  Nellie  (Mrs.  Hef- 
felfinger). Mr.  Ray  passed  away  on  this  farm 
October  3,  1908,  and  his  widow  now  resides 
in  Lincoln.  They  became  the  parents  of  six 
children,  of  whom  three  are  living:  Nellie, 
wife  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch ;  Edward  D., 
a  machinist,  residing  in  the  city  of  Lincoln; 
and  Fred,  now  a  soldier  in  the  national  army, 
he  being,  at  the  time  of  this  writing,  stationed 
at  Kelley  Field,  Texas.  The  three  deceased 
children  were  Lou  Emma,  Lester  and  Allen 
Henrj'. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  HefTelfinger  are  the  parents  of 


904 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


905 


three  children:  Ray,  Anita,  and  Emia  Dean. 
Mr.  Heffelfinger  follows  general  farming,  em- 
ploying up-to-date  methods,  and  is  meeting 
with  that  success  which  comes  as  the  result  of 
industry  and  thoughtfully  applied  efforts.  He 
is  independent  in  politics.  Mrs.  Heffelfinger 
is  a  member  of  the  Christian  church  at  Bea- 
trice. 

JOHN  F.  BOESIGER.  —  Among  the  many 
prosperous  farmers  in  Nemaha  township, 
Gage  county,  mention  should  be  made  of  John 
F.  Boesiger,  agriculturist,  grower  of  purebred 
shorthorn  cattle,  and  owner  of  three  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  of  well  improved  land,  in 
Sections  11  and  12. 

Mr.  Boesiger  was  born  February  5,  1877, 
in  Lancaster  county,  Nebraska,  and  is  a  son 
of  Frederich  and  Anna  (Egger)  Boesiger. 
The  father  was  born  in  Switzerland,  October 
IS,  1843,  and  the  mother  also  was  a  native  of 
Switzerland,  v/here  she  was  born  March  18, 
1852.  Frederich  Boesiger  left  his  native  coun- 
try at  the  age  of  nineteen  years  and  after  his 
arrival  in  America  he  settled  near  Blooming- 
ton,  Illinois,  where  he  worked  as  a  farm  hand. 
He  remained  in  Illinois  until  about  1871,  when 
he  came  to  Nebraska  and  settled  in  Lancaster 
county,  where  he  still  resides.  When  Mr. 
Boesiger  first  came  to  the  state  he  purchased 
a  small  tract  of  land,  and  by  careful  manage- 
ment and  economy  he  added  to  his  holdings 
until  he  became  the  owner  of  two  thousand 
six  hundred  acres  of  good  agricultural  land 
in  Lancaster  and  Gage  counties.  This  he  di- 
vided among  his  children.  He  is  also  a  stock- 
holder in  the  Bank  of  Cortland,  Gage  county. 
He  now  makes  his  home  with  his  youngest 
son. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Frederich  Boesiger  became 
the  parents  of  twelve  children,  concerning 
whom  brief  record  is  here  entered :  David  is  a 
farmer  in  Nemaha  township,  Gage  county; 
Mary  is  the  wife  of  W.  C.  Luckey,  of  Prince- 
ton, Buda  township,  Lancaster  county ;  John 
F.  is  the  subject  of  this  review;  Mrs.  Fannie 
Loesing  resides  at  Hickman,  Lancaster  county  ; 
Rudolph  lives  in  Lancaster  county ;  Emma  ia 
the   wife   of    George   Hickman,   a    farmer   in 


Highland  township.  Gage  county;  Fred,  Jr., 
is  a  farmer  near  Princeton,  Lancaster  county ; 
Ella  is  the  wife  of  Fred  Morimer,  of  High- 
land township,  Gage  county;  George  is  de- 
ceased ;  William  is  living  near  Princeton,  Lan- 
caster county;  and  two  children  died  in  in- 
fancy. The  wife  and  mother  passed  away 
June  8,  1916.  She  was  a  member  of  the  Con- 
gregational church,  as  is  also  her  husband, 
who  is  now  venerable  in  years. 

John  F.  Boesiger  has  always  followed  farm- 
ing. He  received  his  education  in  the  dis- 
trict schools  of  Lancaster  county  and  contin- 
ued to  assist  his  father  on  the  farm  until  he 
was  twenty-six  years  of  age,  when  he  became 
the  owner  of  his  present  farm  home,  and  be- 
gan operations  for  himself.  This  farm  he  has 
greatly  improved.  In  1904  he  erected  a  fine 
new  house  of  eight  rooms,  a  modem  barn 
thirty-eight  by  forty  feet  in  dimensions,  and 
also  a  silo,  thirty-six  by  nineteen  feet  in  dimen- 
sions. He  is  a  breeder  of  fine  pure-bred  cattle, 
feeds  both  cattle  and  hogs  for  the  market,  and 
has  made  a  great  success  of  his  chosen  occu- 
pation. 

January  1,  1902,  recorded  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Boesiger  to  Miss  Hannah  Meyers,  who 
was  born  in  Lancaster  county,  this  state,  and 
who  is  a  daughter  of  Henry  and  Sophia 
(Menke)  Meyers.  Mr.  Meyers  is  now  de- 
ceased and  his  widow  continues  to  make  her 
home  in  Lancaster  county.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Boesiger  are  the  parents  of  three  childem, 
Evelyn,  Helen  and  Mildred,  all  at  home. 

In  politics  Mr.  Boesiger  is  a  Republican  of 
independent  proclivities  and  he  usually  casts 
his  vote  for  the  man  rather  than  observing 
strict  party  lines.  He  is  a  member  of  Firth 
Lodge  No.  Forty-seven,  Independent  Order  of 
Odd  Fellows,  at  Firth,  and  the  family  are 
members  of  the  Congregational  church.  In 
connection  with  this  review  are  consistently 
given  portraits  of  the  parents  of  Mr.  Boe- 
siger. 

WILLIAM  MANGUS,  whose  death  oc- 
curred in  the  year  1904,  established  his  resi- 
dence in  Gage  county  in  1881  and  became  one 
of  the  successful  farmers  and  highly  honored 


906 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


citizens  of  Sherman  township,  where  he  lived 
a  righteous  and  productive  life  and  made  for 
himself  secure  place  in  popular  confidence  and 
esteem.  As  one  of  the  sterling  pioneers  of 
the  county  he  is  properly  given  a  memorial 
tribute  in  this  history. 

A  scion  of  a  family  that  was  founded  in  the 
historic  Old  Dominion  in  the  colonial  days, 
William.  Mangus  was  born  in  Virginia,  Octo- 
ber 20,  1832,  and  in  that  fine  old  common- 
wealth his  parents,  Michael  and  Sarah  (Sho- 
walter)  Mangus,  passed  their  entire  lives,  the 
father  having  been  a  farmer  by  vocation. 
Reared  and  educated  in  his  native  state,  Wil- 
liam Mangus  gained  in  his  youth  such  exper- 
ience as  to  cause  him  naturally  to  turn  to  agri- 
cultural pursuits  in  initiating  his  independent 
career,  and  after  his  marriage  he  engaged  in 
farming  in  Roanoke  county,  Virginia.  When 
the  Civil  war  was  precipitated  he  was  loyal  to 
the  cause  of  the  Confederacy  and,  in  1862,  he 
enlisted  in  Company  E,  Forty-second  Virginia 
Infantrj-,  with  which  he  served  in  the  com- 
mand of  General  Stonewall  Jackson  until  the 
death  of  that  gallant  officer.  He  took  part  in 
the  battles  of  Chancellors  ville,  McDowell 
Mountain,  Middletown  and  Peterburg,  and  at 
the  battle  of  the  Wilderness  he  was  so  severely 
wounded  that  he  was  thereafter  confined  to 
the  hospital  for  two  months.  He  then  re- 
joined his  regiment,  and  while  with  the  com- 
mand in  the  Shenandoah  valley  he  was  cap- 
tured by  the  enemy.  He  was  held  as  a  pris- 
oner of  war  for  three  months,  at  the  expira- 
tion of  which  his  exchange  was  effected.  An 
attack  of  typhoid  fever  made  it  impossible  for 
him  to  join  his  regiment  until  the  following 
year,  and  after  recuperating  he  continued  in 
active  service  until  shortly  before  the  fall  of 
Petersburg,  when  he  was  honorably  dis- 
charged, at  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  en- 
listment. He  continued  his  farm  enterprise  in 
Roanoke  county  until  the  close  of  the  war  and 
in  1866  he  removed  with  his  family  to  Macou- 
pin county,  Illinois,  where  he  was  similarly 
engaged  for  the  ensuing  four  years.  He  then 
removed  to  Christian  county,  that  state,  where 
he  continued  his  active  association  with  farm 
enterprise  until   1881,  when  he  came  with  his 


family  to  Nebraska  and  settled  in  Gage  county. 
At  the  rate  of  ten  dollars  an  acre  he  purchased 
eighty  acres  of  partially  improved  land  in 
Shennan  township,  and  his  energy  and  ability 
brought  to  him  large  and  substantial  success 
during  the  passing  years,  as  shown  by  the  fact 
that  at  the  time  of  his  death  he  was  the  owner 
of  a  valuable  landed  estate  of  four  hundred 
acres.  He  was  a  stalwart  in  the  local  ranks 
of  the  Democratic  party  and  was  influential  in 
community  affairs  in  his  township,  where  he 
held  minor  official  positions,  including  that  of 
school  director. 

November  6,  1859,  recorded  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  Mangus  to  Miss  Catherine  Garst,  who 
was  bom  in  Roanoke  county,  Virginia,  Decem- 
ber 9,  1840,  and  who  survived  him  by  more 
than  a  decade,  she  having  been  one  of  the 
revered  pioneer  women  of  Gage  county  at  the 
time  when  she  was  summoned  to  eternal  rest, 
in  February,  1916.  She  was  a  daughter  of 
George  and  Catherine  (Marka)  Garst,  both 
natives  of  the  state  of  Pennsylvania.  To  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Mangus  were  born  twelve  children : 
John  H.,  born  May  2,  1860,  died  December  5, 
1860;  Sarah  E.,  born  December  28,  1861,  is 
the  widow  of  Enos  Rishel  and  resides  at  Mc- 
Cook,  Nebraska;  Rebecca  J.,  born  December 
1,  1864,  is  the  wife  of  J.  W.  Martin,  of  Sher- 
man township.  Gage  county ;  George  W.,  born. 
May  7,  1866,  is  a  farmer  in  Sherman  county, 
Kansas ;  Jerry  T.  is  individually  represented  on 
other  pages  of  this  volume  ;  Joseph  and  Josiah, 
(twins)  were  born  August  17,  1871:  Josiah 
died  September  19,  1871,  and  Joseph  is  a  resi- 
dent of  Gage  county ;  E.  B.  was  born  March  7, 
1869;  Mary  E.  was  born  January  29,  1873, 
and  is  the  wife  of  Gustavus  A.  Erickson,  of 
Gage  county ;  Catherine,  born  April  14,  1876, 
is  the  wife  of  John  Lidgard,  of  Gage  county: 
C.  E.,  born  August  16,  1879,  resides  in  Gage 
county;  and  William,  born  February  7,  1882, 
resides  in  Delta  county,  Colorado. 

FRED  A.  HARPER.  — The  agricultural 
interests  of  Gage  county  find  a  worthy  repre- 
sentative in  Fred  A.  Harper  who  owns  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  in  Section  20, 
Adams  township. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


907 


He  was  bom  in  a  brick  house  in  the  city  of 
Liverpool,  England,  at  six  o'clock  in  the 
morning  of  January  3,  1843,  and  his  parents 
Allen  and  Mary  (Hopley)  Harper,  also  were 
natives  of  England.  In  1848,  with  their  fam- 
ily of  four  children,  they  came  to  America  and 
settled  on  a  farm,  in  McLean  county,  Illinois, 
after  a  short  stay  in  New  York  state.  When 
the  Civil  war  broke  out,  Allen  Harper  enlisted 
in  the  Thirty-second  Illinois  Volunteer  Infan- 
try. He  became  a  captain,  and  while  in  de- 
fence of  his  adopted  country  he  was  taken 
sick  with  typhoid  fever  and  received  an  hon- 
orable discharge.  His  last  days  were  passed 
at  the  home  of  his  son,  in  Jefiferson  county, 
Nebraska,  where  he  died  in  1888,  at  the  age  of 
sixty-eight  years.  His  widow  died  in  1891, 
at  the  age  of  seventy-one  years.  They  were 
the  parents  of  the  following  named  children : 
Mrs.  Elizabeth  JMayberry,  deceased ;  Fred  A., 
subject  of  this  sketch;  Mrs.  William  Groves, 
of  Marshall  county,  Kansas ;  Allen,  deceased ; 
Samuel,  a  resident  of  Illinois;  Joseph,  de- 
ceased; and  Mrs.  Richard  Newcomb,  of  Cali- 
fornia. 

Fred  A.  Harper  was  a  lad  of  five  years 
when  the  family  home  was  transferred  to 
America.  He  was  reared  on  a  farm  in  Illi- 
nois, attended  district  school,  in  the  acquire- 
ment of  an  education,  and  when  he  became  a 
man  he  wisely  chose  for  a  life  work  the  oc- 
■cupation  which  he  had  learned  in  his  younger 
days.  His  home  remained  in  Illinois  until 
December  13,  1887,  when  he  came  to  Nebraska 
and  bought  a  farm  in  Jefferson  county.  He 
.successfully  operated  this  until  1893,  when  he 
traded  it  for  his  present  farm,  moving  to 
Adams  township  on  December  13th  of  that 
year.  He  has  had  made  such  improvements  as 
were  needed,  transforming  it  to  a  valuable 
tract.  Mr.  Harper  has  done  general  farming, 
and  pa3's  particular  attention  to  the  feeding 
•of  swine,  both  branches  of  the  business  prov- 
ing profitable. 

As  a  helpmeet  Mr.  Harper  chose  Miss  Cas- 
sandra Mayberry,  their  wedding  being  cele- 
brated July  18,  1870.  Mrs.  Harper  was  bom 
January  17,  1849,  in  Hamilton  county,  Illi- 
nois,  in  the   district  known   as   Egypt.     Her 


parents  were  William  and  Caroline  (Mc- 
Eroom)  Mayberry,  natives  of  Illinois,  and  of 
German  and  French  descent,  both  are  now  de- 
ceased. 

The  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Harper  has  been 
blessed  with  seven  children  as  follows :  Stella 
is  the  wife  of  W.  Barmore,  of  Adams;  Eliza 
is  the  wife  of  F.  Perry,  a  farmer  of  Adams 
township;  John  F.  who  operates  his  father's 
farm,  married  Miss  Clara  Silver,  whose  par- 
ents were  homesteaders  in  Gage  county ;  Ira 
Arthur,  who  lives  in  HoUenberg,  Kansas,  mar- 
ried Minnie  Hildebrand,  of  Adams;  Jessie  L. 
is  the  wife  of  A.  Robb,  residing  at  Filley,  Ne- 
braska ;  and  two  children  died  in  infancy. 

In  politics  Mr.  Harper  endorses  the  princi- 
pals of  the  Republican  party,  and  he  has  served 
efficiently  as  a  member  of  the  school  board 
of  his  district.  He  is  a  member  of  the  lodge 
of  the  Independant  Order  of  Odd  Fellows  at 
Adams.  In  every  relation  of  life  Mr.  Harper 
has  measured  up  to  the  full  standard  of  citi- 
zenship. While  the  active  work  of  the  farm 
has  been  shifted  to  younger  shoulders,  he  still 
is  interested  in  all  those  things  which  have  to 
do  with  moral  and  material  uplift  of  his  com- 
munity. 

HERMAN  A.  KROESE.  —  Holland  is  a 
country  that  is  noted  for  its  thrifty  and  in- 
dustrious people.  While  it  is  a  small  nation 
geographically,  it  has  won  a  place  in  the  wo]:ld 
as  a  nation  of  intensive  farming  and  other  pro- 
ductive industries.  Its  sons  who  immigrate  to 
the  United  States  bring  with  them  methods  of 
farming  which,  when  applied  to  our  broad 
acres,  makes  them  specially  successful  and 
prosperous  farmers. 

Herman  A.  Kroese  is  a  Hollander  by  birth 
and  an  American  by  adoption.  He  was  born 
May  2,  1863,  in  Elburg,  Holland.  His  par- 
ents, with  their  eleven  children,  left  the  spot- 
less town  of  Elburg,  Holland,  in  1881,  to  seek 
in  the  United  States  greater  opportunities  for 
advancement.  Lancaster  county,  Nebraska, 
was  selected  for  their  farming  operations  and 
they  located  on  a  farm  near  Panama,  that 
county.  They  remained  on  this  farm  until 
their  death.     These  good  people,  Jannes  and 


908 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Gerritje  (Dul)  Kroese,  were  born  in  Holland. 
Jannes  was  born  February  17,  1832,  and  his 
death  occurred  August  2,  1916.  His  wife  was 
born  April  23,  1841,  and  her  death  occurred  a 
few  months  prior  to  that  of  her  husband  — 
May,  28,  1916.  Thirteen  strong,  robust  sons 
and  daughters  were  reared  on  the  farm  near 
Panama,  Nebraska.  They  have  all  taken  their 
places  in  the  world's  work,  as  farmers  and  as 
artisans  of  various  sorts. 

Herman  A.  Kroese  was  seventeen  years  old 
when  his  parents  migrated  to  the  broad  prair- 
ies of  Nebraska.  They  toiled  to  subdue  the 
wild  fertile  lands  and  wrest  from  nature  her 
treasures,  as  well  as  to  develop  strong  minds 
and  bodies  for  their  children.  The  early  edu- 
cation of  Herman  A-  Kroese  was  received  in 
Holland  and  upon  his  arrival  in  Nebraska  he 
helped  his  father  on  the  farm.  After  he 
passed  his  majority  he  worked  among  the 
farmers  as  a  farm  hand,  continuing  in  this 
work  until,  in  1888,  he  was  employed  as  a 
clerk  in  the  general  merchandise  store  at  Hol- 
land,   Nebraska. 

At  this  period  of  life  he  wedded  Ida  Boeve, 
their  marriage  having  been  solemnized  on  the 
26th  day  of  February,  1891.  Mrs.  Kroese 
was  the  daughter  of  Dutch  parents  who  had 
immigrated  to  this  country  from  Holland  and 
settled  in  Iowa,  and  she  was  born  January  18, 
1872.  Her  parents,  Lewis  and  Hattie  (Stuu- 
rop)  Boeve,  helped  to  build  up  the  agricultural 
wealth  of  Iowa.  Mrs.  Kroese  was  a  member 
of  the  Dutch  Reformed  church,  was  a  devoted 
mother  and  was  a  true  helpmeet  to  her  hus- 
band. Her  death  occurred  in  Kansas.  March 
18,  1903.  Six  children  were  born  to  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Kroese,  and  concerning  them  the  fol- 
lowing brief  record  in  consistently  given: 
Hattie  is  the  wife  of  G.  Wubbels,  living  in 
Lancaster  county,  Nebraska;  Louisa  is  the 
wife  of  H.  Kamp,  of  Adams  township,  Gage 
county;  John  and  Edna  remain  at  home  with 
their  father;  Adrian  is  deceased;  and  Arthur 
is  with  his  uncle,  L.  H.  Kroese. 

After  Mr.  Kroese's  marriage,  in  1891,  he 
rented  land  from  his  father  for  two  years. 
In  1893  he  purchased  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  of  lancl  in  Norton  county,  Kansas,  and 


fourteen  years  were  spent  on  this  farm,  where 
his  children  were  born,  and  the  children  at- 
tended the  rural  schools  of  the  vicinity.  In 
1907,  about  four  years  after  the  death  of  his 
wife,  Mr.  Kroese,  with  his  family  of  children, 
returned  to  Nebraska,  and  he  purchased  one 
hundred  and  seventy  acres  of  land  in  section 
3,  Adams  county-  He  is  still  owner  of  his- 
land  in  Kansas. 

A  modern  residence  is  occupied  by  Mr. 
Kroese  and  his  son  and  daughter  who  re- 
main at  home  with  him.  The  house  is  lighted 
by  gas,  is  steam  heated,  and  is  provided  with 
running  hot  and  cold  water.  Such  a  home  a 
prosperous  farmer  can  truly  enjoy  after  years 
of  hard  labor. 

In  politics  Air.  Kroese  is  independent  in  his 
thinking  and  voting.  He  believes  that  the 
man  and  not  the  party  is  to  be  chosen  as  the 
servant  of  the  people  in  the  legislative  and 
other  governmental  bodies.  His  religious 
views  are  in  accord  with  the  faith  of  the  Dutch 
Reformed  church,  which  receives  of  his  lib- 
eral support. 

ISAAC  H.  BRUBAKER,  owner  and  man- 
ager of  the  Farmers  Feed  Yard,  212  South 
Fourth  street,  Beatrice,  was  born  in  Cass 
county,  Indiana,  December  17,  1860,  and  is  a 
son  of  Abraham  and  Martha  (Parker)  Bru- 
baker. 

Abraham  Brubaker  was  born  in  Pennsyl- 
vania in  1811.  He  moved  to  Indiana  and  later 
to  Illinois.  By  his  marriage  to  Miss  Martha 
Parker,  of  Ohio,  were  born  fourteen  children 
a.'  follows:  Stephen,  living  in  Iowa;  Jacob, 
a  Union  soldier,  who  was  taken  prisoner  and 
died  in  Andersonville  prison,  in  1865 ;  Han- 
nah, wife  of  William  Parker,  of  Tennessee; 
Mary,  widow  of  Wilson  Dunniston,  now  mak- 
ing her  home  in  Kansas  City,  Missouri;  Jo- 
seph and  Solomon,  of  Indiana;  Alva,  of  Bige- 
low,  Kansas;  David,  of  Hendley,  Nebraska; 
Jennie,  Martha,  and  Angeline,  deceased;  Isaac 
H.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch;  Henry,  of  Colo- 
rado; and  Ella,  widow  of  William  Woodburn,. 
late  of  Kansas. 

Abraham  Brubaker  came  to  Nebraska  in 
1886  and  settled  in  Furnas  county,  where  he 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


909 


died  in  1901.  His  widow  passed  away  in 
1903. 

Isaac  H.  Brubaker  was  educated  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  IlHnois,  and  followed  farming 
in  that  state  until  1879,  when  he  came  to  Ne- 
braska and  settled  in  Gage  county,  where  he 
bought  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land, 
in  Glenwood  township.  Several  years  ago  Mr. 
Brubaker  removed  to  the  city  of  Beatrice, 
where  he  bought  the  Farmers  Feed  Yard, 
which  he  now  manages.  He  has  recently  pur- 
chased thirteen  acres  of  land  in  Section  35, 
Midland  township,  on  which  he  has  built  a 
comfortable  residence,  and  where  he  makes 
his  home. 

In  1903  Mr.  Brubaker  married  Miss  Eliza- 
betli  Alder,  of  Beatrice.  They  are  the  parents 
of  two  children,  Richard  and  Grace.  Mr.  and 
Mrs-  Brubaker  are  members  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church,  and  take  a  great  interest  in 
church  work. 

HERMAN  F.  SIEMS.  — It  is  a  privilege 
at  this  point  to  direct  attention  to  another  of 
the  native  sons  of  Gage  county  who  has  here 
achieved  success  and  prominence  as  a  repre- 
sentative agriculturist  and  stock-grower,  Mr. 
Siems  being  the  owner  of  three  hundred  and 
twenty  acres  of  excellent  land  in  Grant  town- 
ship, his  homestead  farm,  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty-eight  acres,  being  in  Section  16,  and 
his  second  farm,  of  one  hundred  and  sixty-two 
acres,  being  in  Section  21.  Both  places  are  un- 
der his  direct  and  characteristically  able  man- 
agement and  are  given  over  to  diversified 
agriculture  and  stock-growing. 

On  his  father's  old  homestead  farm  in  Sec- 
tion 23,  Grant  township,  Herman  F.  Siems 
was  born  March  22,  1877,  a  date  that  indi- 
cates that  he  is  a  scion  of  one  of  the  pioneer 
families  of  the  county.  His  father,  Claus 
Siems,  came  to  Gage  county  in  the  spring  of 
1876,  and  eventually  he  developed  and  im- 
proved one  of  the  fine  farm  properties  of 
Grant  township,  he  having  reclaimed  from  the 
prairie  fully  two  hundred  and  forty  acres  of 
land  and  having  become  one  of  the  successful 
and  representative  farmers  and  stock-growers 
of  the  county,  where  he  continued  to  maintain 


his  home  until  his  death,  in  1913,  his  fine  farm 
estate  having  been  that  on  which  the  subject 
of  this  sketch  was  born  and  reared. 

Claus  Siems  was  born  in  the  province  of 
Hanover,  Germany,  February  11,  1841,  and 
after  leaving  school  he  served  a  thorough  ap- 
prenticeship to  the  trade  of  cabinetmaker.  In 
his  native  land  he  continued  to  follow  his 
trade  until  his  immigration  to  America,  and 
for  three  years  after  his  arrival  in  the  land 
of  his  adoption  he  was  employed  in  a  sash 
and  door  factory  at  Fond  du  Lac,  Wisconsin. 
Thereafter  he  was  for  ten  years  employed  at 
his  trade  at  Lincoln,  Logan  county,  Illinois, 
where,  on  the  19th  of  February,  1873,  he 
wedded  Miss  Lena  Weltzein,  who  was  born 
in  Mecklenburg,  Germany,  August  18,  1849, 
and  who  was  but  five  years  old  when  she  ac- 
companied her  widowed  mother  to  the  United 
States.  Mr-  and  Mrs.  Siems  became  the  par- 
ents of  six  sons  and  two  daughters  —  all  of 
whom  are  living  —  and  of  the  number  the 
subject  of  this  sketch  was  the  third  in  order 
of  birth.  The  devoted  wife  and  mother,  who 
is  now  deceased,  shared  fully  with  her  hus- 
band in  the  trials  and  hardships  of  pioneer  life 
after  they  had  established  their  home  in  Gage 
county,  both  having  been  active  members  of 
the  German  Lutheran  church  and  his  political 
support  having  been  given  to  the  Democratic 
party. 

Reared  under  the  influences  of  the  pioneer 
farm  and  profiting  duly  by  the  advantages  af- 
forded in  the  English  and  German  schools  of 
the  locality,  Herman  F.  Siems  early  began  to 
lend  effective  aid  in  the  work  of  his  father's 
farm,  so  that  he  learned  in  the  passing  years 
all  details  of  farm  industry.  In  1907  he  pur- 
chased his  present  fine  farm,  commonly  known 
as  the  old  Ellis  place  and  long  prominent  in 
having  a  large  white  house  which  was  for 
many  years  the  only  one  of  this  color  in  the 
locality.  As  a  farmer  he  has  added  to  the 
honors  of  the  family  name,  as  has  he  also  as  a 
loyal  and  progressive  citizen,  his  political  sup- 
port being  given  to  the  Democratic  party  and 
he  and  his  wife  holding  to  the  faith  of  the 
Lutheran  church. 

In    1904   Mr.    Siems   married   Miss   Sophia 


910 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Uamkroger,  who  likewise  was  born  and  reared 
ir  Gage  county  and  who  is  a  daughter  of  the 
late  Henry  Damkroger,  an  honored  pioneer 
of  the  county.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Siems  have  six 
children,  all  of  whom  remain  members  of  the 
cheery  home  circle,  namely:  Martha,  Elmer, 
Lawrence,  Elsie,  Arthur,  and  Laura. 

JOHN  A.  BRYSON,  farmer  and  stock- 
raiser  in  Section  35,  Adams  township,  has  the 
distinction  of  being  a  native  of  Gage  county, 
Nebraska,  and  a  member  of  one  of  the  most 
widely  known  and  respected  families  of  Adams 
township. 

Mr.  Bryson  was  born  in  Adams  township, 
this  county,  on  May  12,  1869,  a  son  of  Silas 
and  Clarinda  (Young)  Bryson,  of  whom  men- 
tion is  made  elsewhere  in  this  volume.  John 
A.  was  educated  in  the  district  schools  of 
Gage  county  and  as  a  boy  and  young  man  he 
worked  with  his  father  on  the  farm.  Later 
he  rented  land  and  was  here  engaged  in  farm- 
ing for  himself  until  1899,  when  he  went  to 
Oklahoma,  in  which  state  he  continued  farm- 
ing until  1903.  He  then  returned  to  Gage 
county,  Nebraska,  and  farmed  on  rented  land 
until  the  spring  of  1908,  when  he  again  went 
to  Oklahoma,  where  he  remained  until  1911- 
Coming  back  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  in 
that  year,  he  engaged  in  farming  and  stock- 
raising  on  Section  35,  Atlams  township  where 
he  has  remained  to  the  present  time.  Mr. 
Bryson  is  making  a  success  of  his  chosen 
calling,  and  at  the  present  time,  in  connection 
with  his  brother,  David  F.,  is  feeding  a  large 
herd  of  cattle  for  market. 

Mr.  Bryson  was  united  in  marriage  Feb- 
ruary 8,  1893,  to  Miss  Evalena  A.  Reynolds, 
a  daughter  of  J.  S.  and  Sarah  (Thompson) 
Reynolds,  and  of  this  union  have  been  born 
five  children,  as  follows:  George  W.  died  in 
childhood ;  Lilah  L  is  a  teacher  in  the  Johnson 
county  schools ;  and  Hugh,  Charles,  and  Zella 
are  at  home. 

J.  S'.  Reynolds,  father  of  Mrs.  I'ryson,  was 
born  in  West  Virginia,  in  May.  1839.  and 
followed  farming  and  the  carpenter  trade  in 
Iowa  until  1861,  when  he  enlisted  in  the  Un- 
ion army  and  served  throughout  the  war.     He 


was  mustered  out  in  1865,  and  thereafter  in 
Iowa  he  again  took  up  the  carpenter  trade, 
which  he  followed  until  1878.  He  then  came 
to  Nebraska  with  his  family  and  settled  in 
Otoe  county,  where  he  stayed  only  one  year. 
In  1879  he  came  to  Gage  county  and  here  he 
followed  farming  for  twenty  years.  Going 
to  Oklahoma  in  1899,  he  there  bought  land 
and  he  remained  there  until  his  death,  in  1908. 
Mrs.  Reynolds  is  a  native  of  Indiana,  born 
April  15,  1850,  a  daughter  of  Garret  Thomp- 
son- She  now  makes  her  liome  at  Pond 
Creek,  Oklahoma. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bryson  are  members  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church  at  Adams,  in 
which  they  are  both  devoted  workers.  In 
politics  Mr.  Bryson  is  a  Prohibitionist  and 
he  is  very  enthusiastic  in  the  furtherance  of 
the  party  cause. 

COLONEL  JOHNSON  HIATT.  — The 
history  of  nations  is  but  the  composite  assem- 
bling of  the  histories  of  individual  persons, 
each  of  whom,  in  working  out  his  destiny, 
co-ordinates  with  others  in  making  the  history 
of  the  community,  the  county,  the  state,  the 
nation.  Few  men  in  Gage  county  have  had  in 
life  a  closer  personal  and  ancestral  touch  and 
asssociation  with  events  of  historic  import- 
ance than  has  Colonel  Johnson  Hiatt,  who  is 
an  honored  and  influential  citizen  of  Odell  and 
who  is  familiarly  known  throughout  this  sec- 
tion of  Nebraska. 

The  si.xth  in  a  family  or  seventeen  children. 
Colonel  Johnson  Hiatt  was  bom  at  Sidney, 
Fremont  county.  Icwa,  in  the  year  1859,  and 
he  is  a  son  of  Joseph  anad  Martha  Ann  (Es- 
tes)  Hiattt.  His  parents  were  numbered 
among  the  early  pioneer  settlers  of  the  Hawk- 
eye  state,  which  was  little  more  than  an  un- 
trammeled  wilderness  when  they  there  estab- 
lished their  home,  in  1851.  upon  removal  from 
Illinois.  Joseph  Hiatt  was  born  in  Peoria 
county,  Illinois,  on  the  27th  of  December,, 
1826,  and  was  a  son  of  Jesse  Hiatt,  the  family 
name  of  whose  wife  was  Proctor.  Jesse 
Hiattt  was  a  soldier  in  the  war  of  1812  and 
thereafter  became  one  of  the  very  early  set- 
tlers in  the  state  of  Illinois.  His  father  was  a 
birthright  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends,. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


911 


Colonel  Johnson  Hiatt  and  Wife 


912 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


or  Quakers,  and  his  religious  faith  did  not 
permit  him  to  give  military  service.  Under 
these  conditions  he  paid  a  fourfold  tax  in  lieu 
of  such  service,  at  the  time  of  the  war  of  the 
Revolution.  As  recognition  is  taken  of  the 
lives  and  deeds  of  such  worthy  men  and  wo- 
men as  the  ancestors  of  the  subject  of  this  re- 
view, it  becomes  evident  that  they  did  a  noble 
part  in  connection  with  laying  broad  and  deep 
the  foundations  of  our  nation,  gave  loyally  to 
upholding  the  principles  of  democracy,  and 
aided  in  the  conquering  of  the  wilderness  as 
the  great  march  of  progress  made  its  west- 
ward way.  Mrs.  Martha  Ann  (Estes)  Hiatt, 
mother  of  Colonel  Hiatt  of  this  review,  was 
born  in  Clinton  county,  Missouri,  on  the  12th 
of  January,  1884,  and  was  a  daughter  of  the 
celebrated  Joel  Estes,  in  whose  honor  Estes 
Park,  Colorado,  was  named,  he  having  been 
the  first  white  man  to  discover  and  exploit 
this  region,  which  is  full  of  nature's  wonder 
and  which  now  attracts  thousands  of  visitors 
each  year.  The  marriage  of  Joseph  Hiatt 
and  Martha  Ann  Estes  was  solemnized  in  Il- 
linois, on  the  30th  of  November,  1850,  and  in 
the  following  year,  as  before  stated,  they  es- 
tablished their  home  in  Fremont  county,  Iowa, 
where  all  of  their  seventeen  children  were 
bom.  On  the  30th  of  November,  1900,  this 
venerable  and  noble  pioneer  couple  celebrated 
their  golden-wedding  anniversary,  and  the  oc- 
casion was  made  a  notable  one,  as  fourteen  of 
their  married  children,  with  their  respective 
families,  and  also  one  unmarried  daughter, 
came  from  far  distant  points  to  pay  a  tribute 
of  honor  and  affection,  this  having  been  the 
first  family  reunion  to  be  held  in  fifteen 
years.  One  daughter  and  her  husband  came 
from  London,  England,  where  they  were  en- 
gaged in  missionary  work,  to  be  present  at  this 
memorable  celebration  and  family  reunion. 
At  this  remarkable  gathering  of  a  remarkable 
family,  old  times,  stories,  and  incidents  were 
recalled  in  pleasing  reminiscence,  and  thus 
were  brought  back  to  memory  the  joys,  the 
sorrow,  the  hardships  and  the  happy  associ- 
ations of  days  long  past.  Joseph  and  Martha 
A.  (Estes)  Hiatt  lived  long  and  useful  lives 
and  gave  to  the  world  sons  and  daughters  of 


whom  they  had  every  reason  to  be  proud  when 
the  gracious  evening  of  their  lives  began  to 
show  the  lengthened  shadows  from  the  sunset 
gates  of  the  golden  west.  Joseph  Hiatt 
passed  from  the  stage  of  life's  mortal  en- 
deavors on  the  19th  of  February,  1914,  at  the 
age  of  eighty-six  years,  his  loved  and  devoted 
wife  having  passed  to  the  life  eternal  Decem- 
ber 20,  1907.  They  were  earnest,  unassuming 
folk  of  noble  character  and  exemplified  in 
their  daily  lives  the  best  ideals  of  the  gentle 
religious  faith  to  which  they  adhered,  that  of 
the  Society  of  Friends. 

Colonel  Johnson  Hiatt  is  thus  shown  to  be 
a  true  scion  of  fine  pioneer  stock,  and  in  his 
native  state  he  was  reared  and  educated  under 
the  conditions  of  the  pioneer  era.  He  was  an 
ambitious  youth  of  eighteen  years  when,  in 
1877,  he  came  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  and 
entered  claim  to  a  homestead  on  the  Otoe  In- 
dian reservation,  which  had  recently  been 
opened  to  settlement.  There  were  no  roads, 
no  houses  in  sight  and  no  improvements  made 
on  the  land  which  he  determined  to  reclaim 
into  a  productive  farm.  In  that  early  period 
of  his  residence  in  Gage  county  Colonel  Hiatt 
followed  the  Indian  trails  to  the  little  village 
of  Charleston,  where  he  obtained  his  mail  and 
his  necessary  supplies.  Charleston  is  now  one 
of  the  vanished  towns  of  this  part  of  the 
state,  and  it  was  situated  one  mile  south  of 
the  present  thriving  town  of  Odell.  Though 
a  mere  youth.  Colonel  Hiatt  girded  himself 
valiantly  for  the  responsibilities  and  services 
of  a  pioneer,  and  it  was  his  to  know  and 
experience  all  of  the  incidental  loneliness, 
privation  and  hardships  incidental  to  the 
early  days  on  the  old  Otoe  reservation.  He 
endured  all  and  faltered  not  in  his  resolute 
purpose,  with  the  result  that  the  passing  years 
rewarded  him  with  generous  prosperity,  so 
that  to-day  he  is  one  of  the  substantial  land- 
holders and  influential  citizens  of  Gage 
county.  It  may  consistently  be  said  that  the 
community  would  have  lost  much  had  his  life 
and  labors  found  another  stage  of  activity  than 
this,  in  which  he  has  pressed  forward  to  the 
goal  of  worthty  prosperity.  Colonel  Hiatt 
or  added  from  time  to  time  to  the  area  of  his 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


913 


original  homestead,  and  to-day  he  is  the  owner 
of  a  well  improved  and  valuable  landed  estate 
of  eight  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  —  in  Elm, 
Glenwood  and  Paddock  townships.  In  July, 
1911,  he  removed  from  his  farm  to  the  village 
of  Odell.  He  bought  land  adjoining  the  town 
and  has  here  platted  and  developed  an  attrac- 
tive addition  to  the  village,  the  same  being 
known  as  Hiatt's  addition  and  having  proved 
a  distinct  gain  to  Odell,  as  well  as  an  evidence 
of  the  progressiveness  of  Colonel  Hiatt,  who 
has  been  successful  in  the  development  of  the 
addition.  Though  he  is  retired  from  active 
farm  enterprise  he  gives  his  attention  to  the 
buying  and  selling  of  cattle  and  hogs.  For 
fully  thirty  years  he  has  been  a  buyer  and 
shipper  of  cattle,  his  shipments  having  been 
made  principally  to  Kansas  City  and  St.  Jo- 
seph, Missouri. 

On  the  6th  of  April,  1881,  was  solemnized 
the  marriage  of  Colonel  Hiatt  to  Miss  Ade- 
laide Upson,  who  was  born  at  Rockford,  II- 
Hnois,  March  11,  1859.  and  who  is  a  daughter 
of  Lyman  D.  and  Lucina  (Miller)  Upson.  Her 
parents  removed  from  the  state  of  New  York 
to  Illinois,  and  later  they  came  to  Gage  county, 
Nebraska,  where  Mr.  Upson  took  a  homestead 
in  the  former  Otoe  Indian  reser\'ation,  but  his 
death  occurred  three  years  later.  To  Colonel 
and  Mrs.  Hiatt  have  been  born  ten  children, 
concerning  whom  brief  record  is  here  given : 
The  first  child  died  in  infancy ;  Joseph  is  a 
resident  of  Glenwood  township;  Mrs.  Ruth 
A.  Moffat  and  her  husband  reside  five  miles 
west  of  Odell ;  Wilber  is  in  Elm  township ; 
Miles  Cleveland  resides  in  Glenwood  town- 
ship; Clarence  W.  remains  at  the  parental 
home ;  Mrs.  Grace  Thompson  lives  east  of  the 
city  of  Beatrice ;  Mary  E.  is  at  home  and  is  a 
popular  teacher  in  the  district  schools,  as  is 
also  George  D.,  who  likewise  is  a  member  of 
the  parental  home  circle ;  and  Caroline  S.  is  the 
youngest  of  the  children  at  the  pleasant  home. 

Colonel  Hiatt  gives  his  allegiance  to  the 
Democratic  party  and  while  he  had  had  no 
ambition  for  public  office  he  gave  efficient  ser- 
vice as  treasurer  of  his  school  district  while 
residing  on  his  farm.  He  is  affiliated  with 
the  Masonic  fraternity,  including  the  order  of 


the  Eastern  Star,  and  he  holds  membership 
also  in  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America. 
Mrs.  Hiatt  is  affiliated  with  the  local  chapter 
of  the  Eastern  Star  and  also  with  the  Royal 
Neighbors,  and  both  she  and  her  husband  hold 
membership  in  the  Christian  church. 

ROBERT  W.  SABIN  is  one  of  the  best 
known  and  most  highly  respected  citizens  of 
Gage  county.  He  came  to  Beatrice  from  Ill- 
inois in  August,  1878,  and  has  since  main- 
tained a  continuous  residence  here.  He  found 
Beatrice  an  overgrown  village  of  two  thousand 
inhabitants,  while  all  Gage  county  contained 
less  than  twelve  thousand.  He  has  seen  the 
county  expand  to  more  than  thirty  thousand 
and  Beatrice  develop  from  a  mere  western  vil- 
lage into  a  modern  city  of  twelve  thousand 
people. 

Mr.  S'abin  was  born  in  a  log  cabin  in  Knox 
county,  Ohio,  near  the  city  of  Mount  Vernon, 
February  9,  1850.  When  he  was  but  eighteen 
months  old  his  parents  moved  from  Ohio  to 
McLean  county,  Illinois,  and  located  on  a  farm 
near  the  city  of  Blooniington,  where  his  early 
life  was  spent.  When  opportunity  offered  he 
attended  the  country  schools  of  his  neighbor- 
hood, and  by  the  time  he  attained  his  ma- 
jority he  had  acquired  a  good  common-school 
education.  He  then  entered  the  Illinois  State 
Normal  School,  located  at  Normal,  a  suburb 
of  Blooniington,  and  later  he  attended  Wesley- 
an  College,  graduating  from  the  law  depart- 
ment of  that  institution  in  the  class  of  1877. 
In  November  of  that  year  he  opened  a  law 
office  at  Minonk,  Woodford  county,  Illinois, 
where  he  continued  in  the  practice  of  his  pro- 
fession for  ten  months.  He  then  came  to  the 
rising  city  of  Beatrice,  in  search  of  fortune 
and  professional  distinction.  Here  he  engaged 
in  the  general  practice  of  the  law  and  de- 
veloped into  an  excellent  trial  lawyer.  Dur- 
ing his  forty  years'  practice  at  the  bar  of  Gage 
county  he  has  successfully  transacted  a  very 
large  volume  of  legal  business,  both  civil  and 
criminal.  His  practice  has  extended  to  all  the 
courts  of  the  state  and  to  the  federal  courts, 
and  on  account  of  his  abilities  as  a  lawyer 
and   his   standing  at   the   bar   he   has   always 


914 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


commanded  the  respect  of  the  courts  and  of 
his  professional  associates. 

In  1883  Mr.  Sabin  was  elected  district  at- 
torney of  the  old  First  judicial  district,  which 
then  comprised  the  counties  of  Richardson, 
Nemaha,  Johnson,  Gage,  Jefferson,  Saline, 
Thayer,  and  Fillmore,  and  he  discharged  the 
duties  of  his  office  with  great  credit  to  him- 
self and  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  public  at 
large.  During  his  incumbency  he  tried  and 
convicted  Jackson  Marion  for  the  murder  of 
John  Cameron,  in  1872 ;  he  tried  and  convict- 
ed Enoch  Bradshaw  for  the  murder  of  H.  C. 
Voorhees,  and  also  tried  the  case  of  the  State 
of  Nebraska  vs.  William  H.  Reed,  for  wife 
murder. 

Marion  was  sentenced  to  be  hanged.  On 
appeal  the  sentence  was  reversed  and  a  new 
trial  awarded  him.  He  was  again  convicted 
of  murder  in  the  first  degree  and  sentenced  to 
he  hanged.  On  appeal  the  sentence  was  af- 
firmed by  the  supreme  court,  and  on  the  25th 
day  of  March,  1887,  he  was  executed  in  the 
old  jail  yard,  this  being  the  first  and  only 
legal  execution  in  Gage  county. 

In  the  Reed  case  the  jury  on  the  first  trial 
disagreed,  but  on  the  second  trial  the  defend- 
ant was  convicted  of  manslaughter  and  was 
sentenced  to  ten  years  in  the  penitentiary. 
Bradshaw  was  given  a  life  sentence  in  the 
penitentiary  and  afterward  pardoned  by  the 
governor  of  the  state  and  set  free. 

Mr.  Sabin's  successful  trial  of  these  cases 
and  many  others  gave  him  a  standing  at  the 
bar  as  trial  lawyer  of  which  any  attorney 
might  feel  justly  proud.  Since  1883  he  has 
been  counsel  for  one  side  or  the  other  in  a 
large  number  of  criminal  cases  in  the  Gage 
county  courts,  including  sixteen  murder  trials. 

In  1892  Mr.  Sabin  was  elected  county  at- 
torney of  Gage  county,  and  he  served  one 
term  in  that  important  office.  He  has  held 
also  the  office  of  city  attorney  of  Beatrice  for 
six  years,  and  in  all  these  positions  he  has 
acquitted  himself  as  a  lawyer  of  marked  abil- 
ity. 

Mr.  Sabin's  parents  were  Daniel  Sabm  and 
Rhoda  (Williams)  Sabin.  His  father  was  of 
pure  English  stock,  his  ancestry  reaching  back 


to  the  Puritans  of  New  England.  He  was  a 
physician  by  profession  and  was  also  a  farmer 
and  a  preacher.  He  was  a  man  of  great  en- 
ergy. For  his  preaching  he  took  no  pay, 
holding  that  a  man  who  made  a  daily  living 
otherwise  than  by  preaching  ought  not  to 
charge  for  filling  the  pulpit  on  Sunday.  He 
was  a  great  reader  and  a  deep  Bible  student, 
and  for  many  years  he  carried  on  an  active 
practice  as  a  physician,  at  the  same  time 
farming  extensively.  Robert  W.  Sabin's 
mother  was  of  Scotch-Irish  stock.  Her  great- 
grandfather, Ebenezer  Williams,  was  a  Rev, 
olutionary  soldier  and  fought  with  great  credit 
in  that  war  for  human  liberty.  She  was  a 
literary  woman  and  took  time  from  her  house- 
hold duties  to  read  good  and  instructive  books. 
Dr.  and  Rhoda  Sabin  were  the  parents  of 
eleven  children,  the  subject  of  this  sketch  be- 
ing their  ninth  child.  Two  of  their  four  sons 
were  physicians  and  two  lawyers.  In  the 
mother's  family  there  were  several  lawyers ; 
one  brother,  Robert  E.  Williams,  for  whom 
Mr.  Sabin  was  named,  was  a  distinguished 
member  of  the  bar  at  Bloomington,  Illinois. 
On  the  14th  day  of  February,  1878,  Mr. 
Sabin  married  Miss  Mary  Louise  Carlock, 
who  had  been  born  and  reared  in  the  country 
near  Bloomington,  Illinois.  Six  months  after 
their  marriage  this  young  husband  and  wife 
came  to  Beatrice  and  immediately  became 
factors  in  the  social  life  of  the  city.  They 
have  for  many  years  been  active  members  of 
the  Christian  church  of  Beatrice  and  are  much 
esteemed  for  their  social  and  neighborly  qual- 
ities and  worth  of  character.  Six  children 
have  been  the  fruit  of  this  marriage,  of  whom 
five  are  living,  two  sons  and  three  daughters. 
The  elder  son,  Ralph  L.  Sabin,  is  married 
and  lives  in  Washington,  D.  C.  The  younger 
son,  Robert  L.  Sabin  also  is  married  and  he 
lives  in  Kansas  City,  Missouri.  Both  are  ac- 
tive and  prosperous  business  men.  Gertrude, 
the  oldest  daughter,  is  the  wife  of  Earl  M. 
Marvin,  publisher  of  the  Beatrice  Daily  Sun  ; 
Louise,  the  second  daughter,  is  the  wife  of 
Dr.  F.  W.  Buckley,  of  Beatrice,  who  recently 
went  to  France  as  a  surgeon  in  the  American 
expeditionary  army,  and  when  last  heard  from 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


915 


was  at  Verdun;  Hazel,  the  youngest  daugh- 
ter, is  at  home  with  her  parents. 

A'Ir.  and  Mrs.  Sabin  live  in  a  pleasant  home 
at  the  corner  of  Seventh  and  Grant  streets, 
and  they  are  here  spending  the  afternoon  of 
their  lives,  surrounded  by  their  family  and 
by  friends  who  are  tried  and  true. 

C.  A.  GARRISON.  —  A  fine  farm  of  two 
hundred  acres,  in  Sections  28  and  29,  Adams 
township,  reflects  credit  upon  the  owner,  Mr. 
Garrison,  who  is  one  of  the  progressive  and 
up-to-date  farmers  and  stock  men  of  Gage 
county. 

Mr.  Garrison  is  a  native  of  the  neighbor- 
ing state  of  Iowa,  his  birth  having  occurred, 
in  Wapello  county,  April  18,  1870.  His  fath- 
er, Silas  J.  Garrison,  was  born  in  Dearborn 
county,  Indiana,  January  10,  1846.  Reared 
in  his  native  state,  Silas  J.  Garrison  took  up 
farming  when  a  young  man,  and  made  it  his 
life  work.  He  had  three  brothers,  Sylvester, 
Robert,  and  Herod,  who  served  as  soldiers  in 
the  Civil  war.  The  last  named  was  a  physi- 
cian who  gave  his  best  efforts  to  care  for  and 
heal  the  sick  and  wounded  during  that  terri- 
ble war.  In  spite  of  his  able  services,  his 
two  brothers  died  during  the  war.  After  the 
war  Dr.  Garrison  located  at  Chicago,  Illinois, 
and  practiced  his  profession.  He  also  be- 
came president  of  and  a  lecturer  in  the  Ben- 
nett Medical  College.  The  father  of  these 
boys  was  in  poor  health,  a  sufferer  from  rheu- 
matism, and  Silas  J.  remained  at  home  to  care 
for  his  parents.  He  also  rendered  valuable 
aid  to  the  widows  of  his  brothers. 

In  1873  S'il'as  J.  Garrison  brought  his  fam- 
ily to  Gage  county,  arriving  here  April  22, 
of  that  year.  He  settled  on  the  farm  that  is 
now  the  home  of  his  son.  He  hauled  lumber 
from  Lincoln  to  build  the  first  home  of  the 
family,  a  frame  house,  twelve  by  fourteen 
feet  in  dimensions.  The  people  from  whom 
he  bought  the  land  had  a  crop  growing  and 
he  gave  them  ten  dollars  for  the  privilege  of 
erecting  his  cabin.  He  devoted  several  years 
to  improving  and  cultivating  this  tract,  built 
substantial  buildings  and  set  out  trees,  making 
it  a  valuable  property.     He  later  bought  an- 


other farm  in  this  township,  and  he  retired 
from  the  active  work  of  the  fields  several  years 
before  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1912. 
The  mother  of  our  subject  was  Lucy  A.  (Cad- 
well)  Garrison.  She  was  born  in  Ohio,  Jan- 
uary 22,  18-14,  and  was  reared  in  Indiana,  ac- 
companying her  parents  there  when  a  little 
girl.  She  survived  her  husband  and  passed 
away  in  1917.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Garrison  were 
the  parents  of  five  children,  of  whom  C.  A., 
the  subject  of  this  review  is  the  eldest.  Alvin 
L.  and  Clifford  E.  are  deceased;  Estella  H., 
wife  of  J.  A.  Atkins,  is  deceased;  and  Royal 
V.  is  a  resident  of  Adams,  Nebraska. 

C.  A.  Garrison  was  three  years  of  age  when 
the  home  was  established  in  Gage  county.  He 
acquired  his  education  in  the  district  schools 
and  in  the  high  school  at  Adams,  also  attend- 
ing the  Lincoln  Normal  School.  In  1891  he 
began  farming  as  a  renter,  and  so  carefully 
did  he  conserve  his  earnings  that  in  1906  he 
was  able  to  purchase  eighty  acres  of  land  in 
Elm  township,  which  he  operated  for  seven 
years.  Upon  the  death  of  his  father  he  in- 
herited eighty  acres  of  the  old  place,  and  the 
next  year  he  moved  to  the  old  farm.  He  has 
since  disposed  of  his  land  in  Elm  township, 
and  he  now  owns  two  hundred  acres  in  Adams 
township.  Mr.  Garrison  leases  other  land  in 
addition  to  his  own  and  farms  four  hundred 
and  forty  acres.  Aside  from  general  farm- 
ing he  also  raises  pure-bred  Hampshire  hogs 
and  Percheron  horses,  both  branches  of  his 
business  yielding  him  good  returns. 

In  1901  occurred  the  marriage  of  C.  A.  Gar- 
rison and  Miss  Mary  Isley,  who  was  born  in 
Hawkins  county,  Tennessee,  a  daughter  of 
David  and  Martha  (Walker)  Isley.  Mrs. 
Garrison's  brother  Jasper  lived  in  Gage  coun- 
ty and  with  him  she  made  her  home  several 
years  prior  to  her  marriage.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Garrison  have  three  children,  Dwight.  Ruby, 
and  Ruth,  all  under  the  parental  roof.  The 
family  attend  the  Methodist  church,  of  which 
they  are  all  members.  In  politics  Mr.  Garri- 
son is  a  Democrat.  He  is  one  of  the  substan- 
tial men  of  Gage  county  and  enjoys  the  es- 
teem and  good  will  of  all  with  whom  he  has 
come  in  contact. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


CHARLES  A.  MILLER  — One  of  the 
sterling  pioneer  citizens  who  achieved  suc- 
cess and  prosperity  by  coping  vigorously  with 
the  opposing  forces  incidental  to  the  devel- 
opment of  a  productive  farm  from  the  virgin 
prairie  soil  of  Gage  county,  Mr.  Miller  ac- 
quired and  improved  one  of  the  large  landed 
estates  of  Clatonia  township  and  continued  as 
one  of  the  active  agriculturists  and  stock- 
growers  of  this  township  until  1911,  since 
which  time  he  has  lived  retired  in  the  village 
of  Clatonia,  where  he  erected  a  modern  and 
attractive  house, —  a  pleasant  home  in  which 
he  and  his  wife  are  enjoying  the  rewards  of 
former  years  of  earnest  endeavor. 

Mr.  Miller  was  born  in  Lippe,  Germany,  on 
the  6th  of  December,  1851,  a  son  of  Fred- 
erick and  Charlotte  (Hartmann)  Miller,  he 
being  the  eldest  of  the  three  children  and  the 
only  son ;  his  elder  sister,  Minnie,  who  became 
the  wife  of  Bernard  Mooberg,  is  deceased; 
and  Martha  is  the  wife  of  William  Sang,  of 
Lancaster  county,  this  state.  Mr.  Miller  was 
about  four  years  old  when  he  aci;ompanied  his 
parents  to  America  and  the  family  home  was 
established  at  Freeport,  Illinois,  Where  the 
father  engaged  in  the  work  of  his  trade,  that 
of  wagonmaker.  In  1878  Frederick  Miller 
came  with  his  family  to  Gage  county  and  two 
miles  north  of  Clatonia  he  purchased  land, 
though  he  never  engaged  personally  in  farm- 
ing, the  place  having  been  turned  over  to  his 
only  son:  he  and  his  wife  passed  the  remain- 
der of  their  lives  in  this  county,  as  honored 
pioneer  citizens. 

Charles  A.  Miller  has  achieved  prosperity 
entirely  through  his  own  ability  and  efforts, 
and  when  but  fourteen  years  of  age  he  began 
working  as  farm  hand  in  Illinois.  His  initial 
service  included  the  planting  of  corn,  which 
he  dropped  by  hand  and  covered  by  throwing 
earth  over  the  grain  with  his  foot.  For  this 
work  he  received  fifty  cents  a  day,  and  his 
recompense  for  nine  months  work  was  not 
given  in  cash  but  in  four  loads  of  corn.  Dur- 
ing the  winter  months  as  a  boy  and  youth  he 
attended  school  at  Davis,  Illinois,  and  he  was 
twenty-six  years  of  age  when  he  accompanied 
his  parents  to  Gage  county,  where  it  devolved 


upon  him  to  break  up  and  otherwise  improve 
the  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  which 
his  father  purchased  in  Clatonia  township,  the 
nearest  market  points  at  that  time  having  been 
the  villages  of  Cortland  and  Wilber.  Each  of 
his  parents  attained  to  the  age  of  three  score 
years  and  ten,  his  mother  having  passed 
away  in  1893,  and  the  father  in  1894.  Both 
were  earnest  members  of  the  German  Metho- 
dist church. 

Prior  to  coming  to  Nebraska,  Mr.  Miller 
had  gained  pioneer  experience  in  Oregon,  to 
which  state  he  made  his  way  in  1874.  He 
found  employment  on  a  farm  near  the  city  of 
Portland  and  received  compensation  of  four 
hundred  dollars  a  year,  paid  in  gold.  He 
remained  in  Oregon  four  years  and  then  re- 
turned to  Illinois,  whence,  soon  afterward,  he 
came  to  Nebraska.  Industry  and  good  man- 
agement brought  to  him  cumulative  success  in 
connection  with  farm  enterprise  in  Gage 
county,  and  he  eventually  accumulated  a  val- 
uable and  well  improved  landed  estate  of  three 
hundred  and  twenty  acres,  in  Section  11,  Cla- 
tonia township.  This  property  he  has  sold  to 
his  children.  He  used  much  discrimination  in 
the  improvement  of  his  farm  property  and  on 
the  same  set  out  both  fruit  and  shade  trees. 
One  spring  he  planted  sixty-five  dollars'  worth 
of  fruit  trees,  a  portion  of  which  are  still  in 
bearing.  Mr.  Miller  has  contributed  his  share 
to  the  general  development  and  progress  of 
Gage  county,  is  a  Republican  in  politics  and 
both  he  and  his  wife  hold  membership  in  the 
German   Methodist   church. 

March  13,  1878,  recorded  the  marriage  of 
]\Ir.  Miller  to  Miss  Sophia  Hanfichmeier,  who 
was  born  in  Stephenson  county,  Illinois,  April 
23,  1857.  a  daughter  of  Frederick  and  Amelia 
(Meyer)  Hanrichmeier,  who  were  natives  of 
Germany  and  whose  marriage  occured  in 
1851,  in  Illinois,  where  they  passed  the  re- 
mainder of  their  lives  and  where  Mr.  Han- 
richmeier eventually  became  the  owner  of  a 
valuable  farm  of  three  hundred  and  twenty 
acres.  He  was  born  February  2,  1828,  and  in 
1848  he  passed  seven  weeks  in  making  the 
voyage  across  the  Atlantic  to  America,  on  a 
sailing  vessel.     In  Stephenson  county.  Illinois, 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


917 


his  first  farm  was  one  of  forty  acres,  and  on 
this  homestead  he  maintained  his  residence 
twenty  years,  removal  having  then  been  made 
to  a  new  house  which  he  erected  on  the  op- 
posite side  of  the  road.  He  died  March  29, 
1908,  and  his  widow  passed  away  Jvme  23. 
1914,  she  having  been  born  in  Lippe-Dtetmold, 
Germany,  August  26,  1833 :  of  their  nine 
children — ^  three  sons  and  six  daughters  — 
Mrs.  Miller  was  the  third  in  order  of  birth. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Miller  became  the  parents  of 
six  children:  Paul  is  a  prosperous  farmer  two 
miles  north  of  Clatonia;  Minnie  is  the  wife  of 
Charles  C.  Houpt,  of  Clatonia  township ; 
Charles  is  a  resident  of  Kansas  and  Frederick 
of  Texas;  Wesley  is  a  teacher  in  the  public 
schools  at  Doniphan,  Missouri ;  and  Herbert 
is  attending  school  at  Warrington,  Missouri, 
his  plans  being  to  locate  on  a  farm  in 
Colorado. 

JERRY  T.  MANGUS,  whose  fine  farm 
home  is  situated  in  Section  24,  Midland  town- 
ship, has  won  large  and  worthy  success 
through  his  association  with  farm  enterprise 
in  the  county  that  has  represented  his  home 
since  he  was  about  fourteen  years  of  age,  and 
as  one  of  the  substantial  and  well  known 
citizens  of  the  county  he  merits  recognition  in 
this  history.  He  is  a  son  of  the  late  William 
Mangus,  to  whom  a  memoir  is  dedicated  on 
other  pages,  so  that  further  review  of  the 
family  genealogy  is  not  demanded  at  this 
juncture.  Mr.  Mangus  was  born  in  Macou- 
pin county,  Illinois.  October  19,  1867,  and 
there  he  acquired  in  the  public  schools  his 
early  education.  In  1881  he  came  with  his 
parents  to  Gage  county  and  his  father  pur- 
chased a  farm  in  Sherman  township,  so  that 
Jerry  T.  had  ample  opportunity  to  gain  fel- 
lowship with  arduous  toil  in  connection  with 
the  development  and  general  operations  of  the 
pioneer  farm.  He  attended  school  when  op- 
portunity afforded  and  finally  he  engaged  in- 
dependently in  farm  operations.  For  four 
years  he  farmed  on  rented  land  and  he  then 
purchased  two  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  in 
IMidland  township,  where  he  has  since  con- 
t;inued  his  earnest  and  fruitful  activities.     In 


obtaining  this  property  he  assumed,  as  may 
be  inferred,  an  appreciable  indebtedness,  but 
his  energy  and  good  management  not  only 
enabled  him  eventually  to  relieve  himself  en- 
tirely of  such  financial  obligation  but  also  to 
make  the  admirable  improvements  that  mark 
his  estate  as  one  of  the  model  farms  of  the 
county,  his  attractive  residence  being  one  of 
the  best  rural  homes  in  Midland  township, 
and  all  other  farm  buildings  provided  by  him 
being  of  consonant  order.  As  an  exponent 
of  farm  industry  Mr.  Mangus  has  wisely  di- 
versified his  activities  and  has  made  himself 
successful  both  as  an  agriculturist  and  as  a 
raiser  of  good  types  of  horses,  cattle  and 
swine.  In  politics  he  is  to  be  designated  as 
an  independent  Republican,  and  while  he  takes 
loyal  interest  in  communal  affairs  and  is  lib- 
eral in  supporting  measures  and  enterprises 
advanced  for  the  general  good,  he  has  man- 
ifested no  ambition  for  public  office.  He  is 
affiliated  with  the  Masonic  fraternity  and  he 
and  his  wife  hold  membership  in  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  church. 

On  the  20th  of  December,  1893,  was  sol- 
emnized the  marriage  of  Mr.  Mangus  to 
Miss  Elvina  Reed,  who  was  born,  April  2, 
1871,  in  the  state  of  Iowa,  and  who  was  a  girl 
when  she  came  with  her  parents  to  Gage 
county,  in  the  early  '80s,  her  father.  Enos 
Reed,  having  been  a  native  of  Illinois  and 
having  become  one  of  the  substantial  farmers 
of  Gage  county.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mangus  be- 
came the  parents  of  seven  children,  of  whom 
five  are  living:  Orville,  who  was  born,  Feb- 
ruary 26,  1895,  and  who  was  associated  with 
his  father  in  the  work  and  management  of  the 
home  farm,  is,  in  the  spring  of  1918,  in  the 
national  military  forces  preparing  for  service 
in  the  European  war,  and,  as  a  member  of 
Battery  C,  Second  Artillery,  is  stationed  at 
Fort  McArthur,  California;  Josephine  died 
January,  4,  1916,  at  the  age  of  nineteen  years; 
Oscar,  who  remains  at  the  parental  home,  was 
born  March  23,  1899;  Wilda  was  born  in 
December  18,  1901 ;  Louise  was  seven  years 
old  at  the  time  of  her  death,  in  1910;  John 
Thurston  was  born  February  12,  1912;  and 
LeNore  was  born  June  5,  1917. 


918 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


919 


EDWIN  B.  HINDS.  — A  native  of  the 
Green  Moimtain  state,  the  subject  of  this 
biography  was  born  in  Windham  county, 
Vermont,  November  21,  1842.  He  is  a 
son  of  Charles  C.  and  Lorena  (Burke) 
Hinds,  who  were  natives  of  Vermont  and 
who  left  their  New  England  home  in  1855 
and  became  residents  of  Clayton  county, 
Iowa.  Here  the  father  passed  away  March 
21,  1877,  having  rounded  out  sixty-eight  years 
of  a  busy  and  honorable  life.  His  estimable 
wife  did  not  long  survive  the  shock  of  his 
death,  her  death  occurring  on  the  14th  of  the 
following  August,  when  she  was  sixty-two 
years  of  age.  They  were  the  parents  of  two 
children :  Edwin  B.  and  Charles  C,  the  latter 
heroically  giving  up  his  life  for  his  country  in 
the  Civil  war:  he  died  May  14,  1863,  at 
Grand  Gulf,  Mississippi.  He  was  a  member 
of  Company  B,  Twenty-first  Iowa  Volunteer 
Infantry. 

Edwin  B.  Hinds  was  a  boy  of  thirteen  when 
the  home  was  established  in  Iowa  and  his  ed- 
ucation, which  was  begun  in  his  native  state, 
was  continued  in  the  public  schools  of  Iowa. 
When  the  Civil  war  broke  out  he  longed  to 
take  part  in  it  and  he  had  not  yet  reached  his 
majority  when  he  enlisted,  in  August,  1862, 
as  a  private  in  Company  M,  First  Iowa  Cav- 
alry, and  for  three  years  and  six  months  he 
faithfully  served  the  Union  cause  on  many  a 
hard  fought  battle  field,  his  military  record  as 
a  brave  and  efficient  soldier  being  one  of  which 
he  may  well  be  proud.  He  took  part  in  the 
battles  of  Prairie  Grove,  Little  Rock,  Camden 
and  many  others,  and  was  with  General  Cus- 
ter through  Texas.  He  was  mustered  out  in 
March,  1866,  and  returned  home  without  a 
scar,  although  he  took  part  in  every  battle  in 
which  his  regiment  participated. 

Mr.  Hinds'  early  education  was  supplement- 
ed by  a  course  at  Eastman's  Business  Col- 
lege, Chicago,  after  which  he  engaged  as  a 
clerk  in  a  general  merchandise  store,  later 
turning  his  attention  to  agricultural  pursuits. 
Winding  up  his  affairs  in  Iowa,  he  decided  to 
seek  a  home  farther  west,  and  in  May,  1881, 
he  went  to  Washington  county,  Kansas,  but 
not  finding  a  suitable  location  he  came  to 
Odell,   Nebraska,  then  a  small  village  where 


the  railroad  was  just  being  built.  Here  he 
established  a  hardware  business  which  he  suc- 
cessfully conducted  for  several  years.  He 
also  invested  in  farm  lands  and  in  1903  he 
entered  the  banking  business,  as  president  o£ 
Hinds  State  Bank,  of  which  he  has  continued 
the  head  and  principal  owner.  It  is  one  of  the 
strong  financial  institutions  of  Gage  county 
and  though  its  president  is  still  active  in  its 
management,  the  active  afifairs  of  the  bank  are 
under  the  supervision  of  his  son,  Charles  N., 
a  worthy  young  man  who  is  mentioned  else- 
where in  this  volume. 

December  1,  1870,  was  solemnized  the  mar- 
riage of  Mr.  Hinds  and  Miss  Sarah  Shaw,  a 
native  of  Clayton  county,  Iowa,  and  a  daugh- 
ter of  the  late  John  Shaw. 

Mr.  Hinds  has  taken  an  active  interest  in 
all  things  pertaining  to  the  welfare  of  the  com- 
munity. In  1893-95  he  served  in  the  lower 
house  of  the  state  legislature,  and  in  1895  was 
chairman  of  the  railroad  committee.  He  was 
the  first  director  of  the  school  board  of  the 
Odell  district  and  served  about  twenty  years 
as  treasurer  of  the  board.  He  is  affiliated  with 
Reserve  Post,  No.  148,  Grand  Army  of  the 
Republic,  and  with  Odell  Lodge  No.  97,  In- 
dependent Order  of  Odd  Fellows.  Mrs.  Hinds 
is  an  active  member  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal church. 


PERCY  J.  CHAPMAN.  —  The  history  of 
the  early  ■80s  in  Gage  county  is  made  up  of 
the  rapid  settlement  of  its  lands  by  the  num- 
bers of  people  who  came  at  this  time  to  make 
their  home  upon  her  soil.  One  of  the  young 
men  who  c?.me  with  his  parents  to  Gage  coun- 
ty is  Percy  J.  Chapman,  who  is  one  of  Blue 
Springs    township's    representative    citizens. 

Percy  Chapman  was  born  July  31,  1871,  in 
Woodford  county,  Illinois,  where  his  parents, 
John  and  Verona  (Kellogg)  Chapman,  had 
lived  for  forty  years  previously  to  their  com- 
ing to  Gage  county  to  make  their  home.  John 
Chapman  was  born  in  1825,  in  Connecticut, 
and  in  the  early  days  of  our  nation's  history 
his  parents  immigrated  to  the  state  of  Ohio, 
where  he  received  his  education  and  learned 
the     shoemaker's     trade.     In     A'ermont     Mr. 


920 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Chapman  was  married  to  Verona  Kellogg, 
who  was  born  in  1834,  in  that  state.  In  the 
early  '40s  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chapman  moved  to 
Illinois  and  for  forty  years  they  labored  to 
win  the  living  which  would  give  their  sons 
and  daughters,  growing  up  around  them, 
strong  minds  and  strong  bodies.  In  1885,  af- 
ter disposing  of  their  land  in  Illinois,  they 
came  to  Gage  county,  where  John  Chapman 
purchased  two  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of 
land  and  tilled  it  until  his  retirement  to  Be- 
atrice. He  passed  from  this  life  in  1903.  His 
wife,  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-four  years, 
is  still  residing  in  Beatrice.  For  further  fam- 
ily history  see  Lee  L.  Chapman  sketch  in  this 
volume. 

The  fourteen  years  of  Percy  J.  Chapman's 
Hfe  spent  in  Illinois  were  under  the  parental 
roof,  learning  the  lessons  of  childhood  under 
their  direction  and  that  of  the  school  teacher 
at  the  district  school.  He  remained  with  his 
parents  on  the  farm  until  his  marriage,  in 
1895,  to  Millie  M.  Swett,  who  was  born  in 
Gage  county.  She  is  a  daughter  of  Merton 
L.  and  Mary  (LaGorgue)  Swett,  the  former 
born  in  1850,  in  Wisconsin,  and  the  latter 
1853,  in  Iowa.  They  commenced  their  home 
building  in  Gage  county,  where  they  married 
in  1873,  and  this  was  the  home  until  1914, 
when  Mr.  Swett  retired  to  live  in  Beatrice, 
where  he  is  still  making  his  home.  His  wife 
passed  away  in  1908.  Five  children  were 
born  to  them,  three  of  whom  are  living  — 
Millie  M.,  wife  of  Percy  J.  Chapman;  Effie, 
wife  of  W.  H.  Reid,  living  in  Sicily  township ; 
and  Hattie,  the  v/ife  of  E.  W.  Calkins,  also  in 
Sicily  township. 

Mr.  Chapman  has  recently  purchased  the 
home  farm  where  he  lives  and  he  is  doing  a 
general  farming  business,  keeping  a  good 
grade  of  cattle  and  hogs.  His  lodge  affilia- 
tions are  with  the  Ancient  Free  &  Accepted 
Masons,  his  political  views  are  in  harmony 
with  the  Democratic  party,  and  he  is  serving 
as  township  assessor  at  the  present  time 
(1918).  He  and  his  wife  arc  members  of  the 
Brethren  church.  Three  children,  Clarence, 
Wesley,  and  Myrtle,  have  come  to  bless  this 


home  and  are  being  educated  to  fill  their  places 
in  the  world. 

HIRAM  SIZER  BARNUM,  the  subject  of 
this  sketch,  was  born  at  Buffalo,  New  York, 
November  11,  1837.  His  ancestry  runs  back 
to  two  well  known  New  England  families,  the 
Jjarnums  and  Howards.  His  paternal  grand- 
parents, Eli  Barnum  and  Mary  (Dibble)  Bar- 
num,  were  both  natives  of  the  state  of  Con- 
necticut. They  were  born  and  reared  in  the 
city  of  Danbury  and  were  married  there.  Af- 
ter their  marriage,  in  1810,  they  emigrated 
to  Trumbull  county,  Ohio,  where  they  pur- 
chased land  in  the  deep  woods,  three  miles 
from  the  nearest  settler.  This  they  cleared 
and  finally  developed  into  a  good  farm.  They 
also  erected  a  flouring  mill,  on  a  stream  known 
as  Eagle  creek.  Their  home  was  always  the 
abode  of  free-hearted  hospitality  and  the  scene 
of  many  a  cheerful  gathering.  Here  EH  Bar- 
num passed  away  ar  the  age  of  seventy-six 
years,  and  his  wife,  Mary,  surviving  him,  died 
at  the  age  of  eighty-five  years. 

Hiram  Barnum,  their  son,  was  born  on  his 
father's  Trumbull  county  farm  in  1811,  and 
obtaining  a  good,  usable  education,  on  reach- 
ing his  majority,  he  made  his  way  to  Buffalo, 
New  York,  where  he  began  life  as  a  broker. 
Here  he  met  and  married  Miss  Irena  How- 
ard, a  member  of  the  well  known  Howard 
family  of  Vermont.  Five  children  were  the 
fruit  of  this  marriage,  three  sons  and  two 
daughters.  The  daughters,  Lucy  and  Mary, 
both  died  in  childhood.  The  sons  were  EH 
Howard  Barnum,  Hiram  S'izer  Barnum,  and 
Samuel  H.  Barnum.  The  oldest  son,  EH,  af- 
ter serving  through  the  great  Civil  war  with 
an  Illinois  regiment  and  accompanying  Sher- 
man on  his  "march  to  the  sea,"  died  many 
years  ago  in  Illinois.  Samuel  H.  Barnum,  the 
youngest  son,  lost  his  life  in  the  ranks  of  the 
Union  army  in  the  terrible  battle  of  Chancel- 
lorsville,  in  May,  1863. 

When  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  one 
year  old,  his  parents  moved  from  New  York 
to  Trumbull  county,  Ohio,  then  to  Akron,  in 
Summit   county,   and    returning   to    Trumbull 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


921 


county,  finally  settled  on  the  ancestral  estate 
of  the  Barnum  family,  where  they  remained 
until  both  had  paid  the  last  great  debt  of  na- 
ture, Hiram  passing  away  at  the  age  of  sev- 
enty-six years  and  his  venerable  wife  at  the 
age  of  ninety-three. 

Hiram  Sizer  Barnum  remained'  with  his 
parents  until  the  spring  of  1859,  when,  accom- 
panied by  his  cousin,  Eli  B.  Hendy,  he  crossed 
the  Missouri  river  at  Nebraska  City,  on  the 
20th  day  of  April,  and  entered  the  new  terri- 
tory of  Nebraska.  After  several  days  spent 
there  in  inquiry  and  deliberation,  they  resolved 
to  investigate  the  region  of  country  known 
as  the  valley  of  the  Big  Blue  river.  Moving 
westward,  the  cousins,  on  May  24th,  came  to 
Blue  Springs,  in  Gage  county.  On  all  their 
long  journey  they  found  little  but  a  broad  ex- 
panse of  unbroken  prairie,  diversified  to  some 
extent  by  stream  and  wood,  with  here  and 
there,  along  the  timbered  water-courses,  a 
squatter  on  the  public  domain.  At  that  time 
there  were  not  to  exceed  one  hundred  white 
people  in  all  Gage  county,  and  save  the  smil- 
ing face  that  nature  wore,  there  was  nothing 
to  attract  the  young  and  aspiring.  But  the 
spell  of  the  wide,  rolling  prairie,  the  dark-blue 
sky  and  the  far  mystery  of  distances  fell  upon 
them,  and  these  young  men,  with  the  previ- 
sion of  the  true  pioneer,  resolved  to  cast  their 
lots  with  the  handful  of  settlers  whom  they 
found  here  clinging  to  the  very  rim  of  civiliza- 
tion. Both  were  poor,  but  they  possessed  the 
ahhemy  of  youth,  which,  like  the  philosopher's 
stone,  turns  everything  it  touches  into  silver 
and  gold.  They  settled  on  vacant  tracts  of 
prairie  land  in  Blue  Springs  township,  about 
two  miles  north  of  Blue  Springs,  and  at  once 
became  identified  with  the  destiny  of  Gage 
county  and  of  the  great  territory  of  which  it 
formed  a  part.  Mr.  Hendy,  shortly  after  his 
arrival  here,  married  Caroline  C.  Coffinberry, 
a  member  of  a  pioneer  family  of  Rockford 
township,  and  was  one  of  the  early  sheriffs 
of  Gage  county.  Years  ago  he  returned  to 
New  Jersey  to  live,  and  there,  at  a  ripe  old 
age  and  much  respected,  he  passed  away  sev- 
eral years  ago.  Mr.  Barnum  except  for  a 
temporary  residence  in  another  county  of  the 


state,  has  always  remained  a  citizen  of  Gage 
county.  Though  stricken  with  age  and  weak- 
ness, he  is  still  a  living  representative  of  that 
heroic  band  of  pioneers  who  were  the  first 
to  brave  the  dangers  and  hardships  attending 
the  early  settlement  of  Gage  county. 

Mr.  Barnum  has  always  led  the  life  of  a 
farmer  or  a  business  man.  The  single  excep- 
tion to  this  is  his  service  in  the  army  during 
the  Civil  war.  On  the  1st  day  of  September, 
1861,  he  enlisted  in  Company  C,  Curtis  Horse, 
a  Nebraska  military  organization  which  was 
afterward  united  with  the  Fifth  Iowa  Cavalry, 
and  he  served  as  a  soldier  in  defence  of  the 
Union  until  November  11,  1862,  when  he  was 
honorably  discharged,  for  disabilities  received 
in  the  line  of  duty,  at  Hieman,  in  the  state  of 
Kentucky. 

]Mr.  Barnum  acquired  title  to  one  hundred  and 
twenty  acres  of  land  in  Blue  Springs  township, 
where  he  resided  until  1870,  when  he  sold  his 
stock  and  farm  produce  and  with  the  proceeds 
purchased  lumber  at  Brownville,  on  the  Mis- 
souri river,  which  he  hauled  to  Blue  Springs 
with  wagons,  a  distance  of  seventy  miles,  and 
erected  a  small  house  in  that  village.  He  al- 
so built  a  rough  stable  for  his  own  use.  There 
being  at  that  time  no  accommodations  for 
travelers  at  Blue  Springs,  Mr.  Barnum  hos- 
pitably opened  his  house  and  barn  to  trav- 
elers, and  gradually  this  expanded  until  it  be- 
came a  business  of  considerable  importance. 
"Barnum's  Pioneer  Livery  Stable"  at  Blue 
Springs  was  known  far  and  wide  in  this  sec- 
tion of  country,  and  his  home  for  many  years 
partook  of  the  nature  of  a  wayside  inn.  In 
1899  Mr.  Barnum  sold  his  business  in  Blue 
Springs  and  moved  to  Beatrice,  where  he  pur- 
chased a  residence  on  East  Court  street,  where 
he  now  resides. 

On  the  19th  day  of  April,  1863,  Mr.  Bar- 
num married  Mrs.  Myra  (Shelley)  Rappleye, 
who  was  the  daughter  of  Francis  and  Fanny 
(Hollingsworth)  Shelley,  pioneer  settlers  of 
Rockford  township.  She  was  born  in  Der- 
byshire, England,  and  came  with  her  parents 
to  America  when  a  girl  fourteen  years  of  age. 
She  was  a  very  capable  woman,  and  the  ob- 
•  ject  of  the  affection  of  a  large  circle  of  rela- 


922 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


tives  and  friends.  She  died  at  Beatrice  on 
the  15th  day  of  December,  1913,  leaving  be- 
hind her  the  memory  of  a  beautiful  life.  The 
fruit  of  this  marriage  was  two  sons  and  two 
daughters.  One  son,  Samuel,  died  in  infancy. 
The  other,  Eli  Howard  Barnum,  was  born  at 
Blue  Springs,  grew  to  manhood  there,  and  in 
1892,  married  Miss  Clara  Robertson.  He  is 
now  a  member  of  a  well  known  stock-commis- 
sion firm  in  Omaha.  The  daughters,  Kate 
and  Rosa,  were  both  for  some  years  school 
teachers.  The  elder  daughter,  Kate,  in  1891, 
married  Josiah  A.  Van  Orsdel,  at  Blue  Springs. 
and  almost  immediately  they  left  for  Chey- 
enne, Wyoming,  where  Mr.  Van  Orsdel  en- 
gaged in  the  practice  of  law.  He  was  for 
some  years  attorney  general  of  the  state  of 
Wyoming  and  associate  justice  of  the  supreme 
court  of  that  state.  For  the  past  ten  years 
he  has  been  associate  justice  of  the  court  of 
appeals  of  the  EHstrict  of  Columbia  and  lives 
the  greater  part  of  the  year  in  Washington, 
When  not  engaged  in  official  duty,  his  home  is 
in  Beatrice,  where  he  owns  an  elegant  resi- 
dence, at  the  corner  of  Thirteenth  and  Wash- 
ington streets.  The  younger  daughter,  Rosa, 
in  1901,  married  Dr.  B.  L.  Spellman,  a  lead- 
ing dentist  in  the  city  of  Beatrice.  They  live 
in  a  pleasant  home  at  the  corner  of  Tenth  and 
Ella  streets. 

Mr.  Barnum  in  his  old  age  is  surrounded 
by  his  children  and  grandchildren,  who  ten- 
derly watch  over  his  declining  years  and  with 
great  solicitude  minister  to  his  every  want. 
Behind  him  lie  many  years  of  honorable  and 
blameless  life,  and  with  an  unfaltering  trust 
in  Almighty  God  he  approaches  the  time  when 
he  may  wrap  the  drapery  of  couch  around 
him  and  lie  down  to  pleasant  dreams. 

ALVIN  D.  SPENCER.  — The  Hfe  story 
of  Alvin  D.  Spencer,  banker,  ex-representa- 
tive, and  ex-senator,  is  a  record  of  the  doings 
of  a  successful  man  of  affairs  who  has  won 
his  place  in  the  citizenship  of  Barneston  by 
virtue  of  a  decided  ability  of  a  high  order. 

Mr.  Spencer  was  born  in  Jo  Daviess  county, 
Illinois,  November  21,  1870,  and  is  the  young- 
est son  of  Oscar  and  Mary  (Daniels)  Spencer. 


Oscar  Spencer  was  born  in  1833,  in  Jefferson 
county,  New  York,  the  son  of  Samuel  Spen- 
cer, who  also  named  Jefferson  county.  New 
York,  as  his  birthplace.  Samuel  Spencer  was 
a  cooper  by  trade  and  followed  his  trade  all 
of  his  life,  the  latter  years  were  spent  in  Lin- 
coln, Nebraska,  where  his  decease  occurred  in 
1899.  His  son,  Oscar  Spencer,  was  given  a 
very  good  education,  fitting  him  for  his  life 
work  of  bookkeeper.  For  a  few  years  was  a 
school  teacher  in  New  York,  but  later  took 
up  bookkeeping  at  Freeport,  Illinois,  with  a 
harvester  company.  September  19,  1854,  he 
married  Mary  Daniels,  who  was  the  daughter 
of  Joseph  and  Mary  (Tucker)  Daniels.  She 
was  born  in  Jefferson  county,  which  was  also 
the  birthplace  of  her  parents.  I\Ir.  Daniels 
was  a  cooper  by  trade  and  was  laid  to  rest 
in  Adams,  New  York. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Oscar  Spencer,  in  1862,  came 
to  Jo  Daviess  county,  Illinois,  and  first  lo- 
cated in  Nora,  Illinois,  where  they  remained 
for  some  years.  Mr.  Spencer  then  was  em- 
ployed in  the  thriving  city  of  Freeport,  same 
county,  as  a  bookkeeper.  As  the  years  pro- 
gressed, four  sons  were  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Spencer,  as  follows :  Jay  A.  is  in  the  hard- 
ware business  at  Barneston,  Nebraska;  Edson 
R.  is  in  the  wholesale  casket  and  undertaking 
supplies  business  at  Des  Moines,  Iowa ;  Evelyn 
O.  is  in  the  same  business,  located  at  Wichita, 
Kansas;  Alvin  D.  is  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 

In  1877  Oscar  Spencer  came  to  Lincoln,  Ne- 
braska, and  was  employed  as  a  bookkeeper  in 
the  McCormick  Harvesting  Machine  Com- 
pany's general  agency.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  Ancient  Free  &  Accepted  Masons  and  he 
and  his  wife  were  members  of  the  Methodist 
church.  His  life  was  an  inspiration  to  his 
sons,  who  have  taken  their  positions  in  the 
world  of  affairs.  Both  he  and  his  good  wife 
are  deceased.  The  former  died  in  Lincoln, 
and  the  latter  at  Barnston,  in  1909. 

Alvin  D.  Spencer  attended  the  public  schools 
of  Lincoln  and  his  education  was  supplement- 
ed by  a  course  at  the  F.  F.  Roos  Business 
College  at  Lincoln,  which  fitted  him  for  his 
life  work  of  bookkeeper  and  banker. 

For  a  number  of  years   Mr.   Spencer  was 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


923 


employed  as  bookkeeper  in  McCormick  Har- 
vester Company's  main  office  at  Lincoln.  In 
this  position  he  was  so  capable  and  rendered 
such  efficient  service  that  he  was  elected  the 
cashier  of  the  forenamed  company  in  1896. 
He  continued  in  this  position  until  he  severed 
his  connections  with  the  McCormick  Harvester 
Company,  in  1898,  and  purchased  the  Bank 
of  Barneston,  at  Barnestone,  Nebraska.  This 
institution  is  capitalized  at  $5,000;  with  a  sur- 
plus of  $1,000:  undivided  profits,  $1,425;  de- 
posits, $140,000.  For  a  number  of  years.  Mr. 
Spencer  was  the  owner  of  the  Spencer  Eleva- 
tor at  Barneston,  but  he  has  discontinued  this 
business  and  confines  his  efforts  to  the  bank- 
ing business. 

In  Lincoln,  Nebraska,  January  25,  1893,  was 
solemnized  the  marriage  of  Alvin  D.  Spencer 
and  Miss  Emma  Glover.  She  is  the  daughter 
of  Peter  and  Mary  (Crawford)  Glover,  farm- 
ers in  Lancaster  county.  Mrs.  Spencer  was 
born  March  22,  1873,  in  Malcomb,  and  was 
educated  at  Lincoln  institutions  of  learning. 
No  children  have  been  born  to  this  union. 

Mr.  Spencer  exercises  his  right  of  fran- 
chise by  voting  the  Republican  ticket  and  up- 
holding its  principles  in  national,  state,  and 
local  affairs.  In  1900  the  voters  of  district 
No.  34,  composed  of  Gage  and  Saline  coun- 
ties, elected  Mr.  Spencer  to  represent  them 
in  the  twenty-seventh  session  of  the  house  of 
representatives.  In  1916  he  was  elected  state 
senator,  from  the  Fourteenth  district,  com- 
posed of  Gage  and  Pawnee  counties.  In 
these  two  houses  of  our  law-making  institu- 
tion he  served  his  people  faithfully  and  well, 
looking  after  the  best  interests  of  his  district 
and  the  state  at  large. 

He  has  served  as  treasurer  and  clerk  and 
village  trustee  for  years  and  is  now  clerk.  He 
has  also  been  justice  of  the  peace  of  Barne- 
ston township  and  a  member  of  the  local  school 
board.  In  all  of  these  positions,  he  has  shown 
a  rare  genius  of  administering  the  affairs  of 
his  fellow  voters  in  a  highly  efficient  manner. 

Mr.  Spencer  is  a  member  of  the  Ancient 
Free  &  Accepted  ]\Iasons  and  in  this  great  fra- 
ternal organization  he  has  received  the  thir- 
ty-second   degree    of   the    Scottish    Rite.     He 


and  his  esteemed  wife  affiliate  with  the  Pres- 
byterian church  and  are  giving  of  their  time 
and  talents  unstintingly. 

IRA  W.  EVANS,  D.  V.  S'.,  Beatrice,  Ne- 
braska, was  born  in  Fillmore  county,  Nebras- 
ka, December  8,  1886,  a  son  of  C.  L.  and  Lucy 
(Ward)   Evans. 

C.  L.  Evans  was  born  in  Ohio  and  when  a 
young  man  moved  to  Iowa,  where  he  engaged 
in  farming-.  About  forty-five  years  ago  Mr. 
Evans  came  to  Fillmore  county,  Nebraska, 
where  he  took  a  homestead  near  what  is  now 
the  town  of  Geneva.  A  few  years  later  Mr. 
Evans  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Lucy 
Ward,  of  Geneva,  Nebraska,  and  to  this  union 
were  born  six  children:  Albert,  superintend- 
ent of  schools  at  Dow  City,  Iowa ;  Le  Roy,  of 
Fairbury,  Nebraska ;  Jay,  a  merchant  of  La 
Porte,  Indiana;  Dr.  Ira  W.,  of  Beatrice,  Ne- 
braska ;  Mary,  widow  of  W.  L.  Martin,  living 
in  Omaha,  Nebraska;  and  Iva,  wife  of  Wil- 
liam Bennett,  of  Iowa.  C.  L.  Evans  has  now 
retired  and  makes  his  home  in  Omaha,  Ne- 
braska.    His  wife  passed  away  July  27,  1915. 

Dr.  Ira  W.  Evans  was  educated  jin  the 
schools  of  Geneva,  Nebraska,  and  is  a  graduate 
of  the  Kansas  City  Veterinary  College,  class 
of  1915.  He  began  the  practice  of  his  pro- 
fession in  Bruning,  Nebraska,  in  1915,  and 
remained  there  until  April,  1917,  when  he 
moved  to  Beatrice,  where  he  has  built  up  a 
fine  practice,  where  he  enjoys  the  confidence 
of  the  people,  and  where  he  is  considered  one 
of  the  leading  veterinarians  in  the  community. 

ARON  E.  CLAASSEN  is  consistently  to 
be  designated  as  one  of  the  sterling  pioneer 
citizens  of  Gage  county,  is  a  man  of  vigorous 
mentality  and  impregnable  integrity  and 
through  his  own  well  directed  endeavors  he 
has  become  one  of  the  representative  exponents 
of  agricultural  and  live-stock  enterprise  in 
Gage  county,  where  he  is  the  owner  of  a  val- 
uable landed  estate  of  seven  hundred  and 
twenty  acres,  his  finely  improved  homestead 
farm  being  situated  in  Section  18,  Riverside 
township,  five  miles  west  of  the  city  of  Be- 
atrice. Mr.  Claassen  still  gives  a  general  su- 
pervision   to    his    extensive     farm    interests, 


924 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


though  the  active  management  of  the  farms  is 
now  reposed  in  his  sons,  who  are  well  up- 
holding the  industrial  and  civic  prestige  of  the 
family  name.  He  has  much  of  his  land  un- 
der a  high  state  of  cultivation  and  also  makes 
a  specialty  of  breeding  and  raising  the  best 
type  of  Hampshire  swine. 

Mr.  Claassen  was  born  in  the  west  Prussian 
province  of  Dantzic,  Germany,  May  28,  1850, 
and  is  a  son  of  John  and  Catherine  (Entz) 
Claassen,  of  whose  three  children  he  is  the 
firstborn,  his  father  having  been  twice  mar- 
ried and  having  passed  his  entire  life  in  that 
section  of  the  German  empire.  After  his  death 
his  widow  came  with  her  three  children  to 
America,  in  1874,  and  after  remaining  for  a 
time  in  Canada  she  became  a  member  of  the 
company  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight 
Mennonites  who  founded  a  colony  at  Mount 
Pleasant,  Iowa,  and  she  passed  the  closing- 
years  of  her  life  in  Beatrice,  where  she  died 
at  the  age  of  seventy-three  years,  she  having 
been  a  devout  member  of  the  Mennonite 
church,  as  was  also  her  husband.  The  subject 
of  this  sketch  was  reared  and  educated  in  his 
native  land  and  was  twenty-four  years  of  age 
when  he  accompanied  his  widowed  mother  to 
America.  He  remained  for  a  time  with  the 
Mennonite  colony  at  Mount  Pleasant,  Iowa, 
and  then  set  forth  to  seek  a  location  in  which 
he  might  successfully  initiate  his  independent 
activities  as  a  farmer.  In  this  quest  he  trav- 
eled through  Minnesota,  Kansas,  and  Nebras- 
ka, and  finally,  in  1876,  he  and  his  brother 
Jacob  purchased  a  section  of  land  in  Riverside 
township.  Gage  county,  his  present  homestead 
farm  being  a  part  of  this  tract.  The  brothers 
here  continued  to  be  closely  associated  in 
their  farm  enterprise  for  seven  years,  and  in 
the  meanwhile  both  married.  The  passing 
years,  marked  by  diligent  and  well  directed 
application  and  progressive  policies,  have 
brought  generous  prosperity  to  the  honored 
subject  of  this  review,  and  the  tangible  evi- 
dence is  afforded  in  his  ownership  of  his  pres- 
ent large  and  well  improved  landed  estate. 

On  the  9th  of  January,  1879,  was  solem- 
nized the  marriage  of  Mr.  Claassen  to  Miss 


Anna  Jansen,  who  has  proved  a  devoted  wife 
and  helpmeet  and  the  gracious  mother  of  their 
fine  family  of  children.  Mrs.  Claassen  was 
born  in  Prussia,  Germany,  March  23,  1856, 
and  was  a  child  of  six  months  when  her  par- 
ents, Cornelius  and  Helena  (VonRiesen)  Jan- 
sen, removed  to  Russia,  where  she  was  reared 
and  educated.  In  1873  Mr.  Jansen  came  with 
his  family  to  America  and  settled  near  Ber- 
lin, Waterloo  county,  Ontario,  Canada,  whence 
he  later  removed  to  Mount  Pleasant,  Iowa,  as 
a  member  of  the  previously  mentioned  Men- 
nonite colony.  In  1876  he  came  with  his  fam- 
ily to  Gage  county,  where  he  became  an  ex- 
tensive land  owner  but  made  his  home  in  Be- 
atrice. Here  he  and  his  wife  passed  the  re- 
mainder of  their  lives.  They  became  the  par- 
ents of  six  children :  Margaret  died  in  child- 
hood ;  Peter,  who  is  now  living  retired  in  the 
city  of  Beatrice,  was  long  numbered  among 
the  leading  ranchers  of  the  state  and  is  an  in- 
fluential citizen  who  represented  in  the  state 
senate  the  district  comprising  Gage,  Pawnee, 
and  Jefferson  counties;  Mrs.  Claassen  was 
next  in  order  of  birth ;  John  is  now  a  resident 
of  Saskatchewan,  Canada ;  Miss  Helen  main- 
tains her  residence  in  Beatrice ;  and  Cornelius, 
who  was  formerly  a  popular  teacher  in  the 
public  schools  of  Beatrice,  is  now  a  resident  of 
Pasadena,  California.  In  politics  Mr.  Claas- 
sen is  a  liberal  Republican,  more  for  the  man 
than  party,  and  as  a  citizen  he  has  been  most 
liberal  and  progressive.  Both  he  and  his  wife 
are  earnest  members  of  the  Mennonite  church 
and  their  sterling  attributes  have  gained  and 
retained  to  them  the  high  regard  of  all  who 
know  them.  Of  their  ten  children  the  first 
two  died  in  infancy ;  Cornelius  is  cashier  of 
the  Peters  Trust  Company,  in  the  city  of  Oma- 
ha ;  John  J.  has  active  management  of  the  old 
homestead  farm ;  Aron  J.  is  a  successful 
farmer  in  Lincoln  township;  Daniel  died  at 
the  age  of  ten  years ;  Anna  is,  in  1918,  a  stu- 
dent in  the  University  of  Nebraska,  at  Lin- 
coln ;  Catherine  is  a  student  in  a  hospital  for 
trained  nurses,  in  the  city  of  Omaha;  the  ninth 
child  died  in  infancy;  and  Margaret  remains 
at  the  parental  home. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


925 


JASPER  H.  PENCE  is  a  successful  ex- 
ponent of  farm  enterprise  in  Logan  township, 
where  he  is  the  owner  of  a  good  farm  of  one 
hundred  acres,  in  Section  5,  and  where  he  is 
conducting  well  ordered  operations  as  an  agri- 
culturist and  stockgrower.  He  was  born  in 
Adams  county,  Ohio,  November  24,  1857,  was 
reared  to  the  sturdy  discipline  of  his  father's 
farm  and  received  in  his  youth  the  advantages 
of  the  common  schools,  his  parents,  Harrison 
and  Mary  J.  Pence  having  passed  their  en- 
tire lives  in  Adams  county,  Ohio,  and  having 
been  representatives  of  sterling  pioneer  fam- 
ilies of  the  Buckeye  state. 

In  his  native  state  Jasper  H.  Pence  contin- 
ued his  alliance  with  farm  enterprise  until 
1884,  when  he  came  to  Nebraska  and  estab- 
lished his  residence  in  Gage  county.  For  sev- 
eral years  thereafter  he  was  engaged  in  farm- 
ing on  rented  land  and  he  then  purchased  for- 
ty acres,  to  which  he  later  added  an  adjoining 
forty  acres.  He  made  improvements  on  this 
property  and  upon  selling  the  same  he  pur- 
chased his  present  homestead,  upon  which  he 
has  since  continued  his  successful  enterprise 
as  a  substantial  farmer,  the  while  he  is  known 
for  his  sterling  integrity  and  for  his  loyalty 
as  a  citizen.  His  political  allegiance  is  given 
to  the  Democratic  party  and  he  and  his  wife 
became  in  their  youth  active  members  of  the 
Church  of  the  Brethren,  with  which  he  has 
continued  his  earnest  affiliation. 

As  a  young  man  of  twenty-six  years  Mr. 
Pence  wedded  Miss  Mary  E.  Roush,  who  like- 
wise was  born  in  Ohio,  and  her  death  occurred 
December  24,  1900.  She  is  survived  by  four 
children  —  Walter  S.,  Grace,  Edna,  and  Clif- 
ford D. 


HERMAN  CARSTENS  is  the  owner  of  a 
line  farm  of  six  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  in 
Sections  11,  12,  and  13,  Riverside  township, 
where  in  addition  to  general  agricultural  pro- 
duction he  gives  attention  also  to  the  raising 
of  Poland-China  swine  and  graded  short-horn 
cattle. 

Mr.  Carstens  was  born  in  Adams  county, 
Illinois,  November  14,  1869,  and  is  a  son  of 
George    and    Hattie    (Harmke)    Carstens,   to 


whom  four  children  were  born.  After  the 
death  of  his  first  wife  George  Carstens  wedded 
Miss  Lulu  Bowser,  and  of  this  union  were 
likewise  born  four  children.  George  Carstens 
was  born  in  Oldenburg,  Germany,  in  October, 
1828,  and  was  one  of  the  venerable  and  hon- 
ored citizens  of  Gage  county  at  the  time  of 
his  death,  in  1910.  He  came  to  America  in 
the  year  1858  and  after  remaining  for  a  time 
in  Brown  county,  Illinois,  he  removed  to  Clay- 
ton township,  Adams  county,  that  state,  where 
he  became  a  prosperous  farmer.  In  1890  he 
came  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  and  settled 
in  Hanover  township,  where  he  became  the 
owner  of  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of 
land  and  where  he  continued  his  association 
with  farm  industry  until  his  death,  his  religi- 
ous faith  having  been  that  of  the  Lutheran 
church.  Of  the  children  of  his  first  marriage 
the  eldest  is  Anna,  wife  of  Bartdel  Aden,  of 
Hanover  township;  Minnie  is  the  wife  of 
George  Ordgisen,  of  Hildreth,  Franklin  coun- 
ty ;  Richard  is  a  resident  of  Meadow  Grove, 
Madison  county ;  and  Herman,  of  this  review 
is  the  youngest,  he  having  been  two  years  old 
at  the  time  of  his  mother's  death.  John  G., 
eldest  child  of  the  second  marriage,  is  a  farm- 
er of  Adams  township ;  Christopher  W.  is  a 
resident  of  Jefferson  county;  Paul  is  a  sub- 
stantial farmer  in  Hanover  township  and  with 
him  remains  his  sister,  Mary,  the  mother  hav- 
ing died  in  1916,  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight 
years. 

Herman  Carstens  was  a  young  man  at  the 
time  of  the  family  removal  to  Gage  county  and 
he  was  assisted  by  his  father  in  gaining  a 
start  as  an  independent  farmer.  In  1901  he 
purchased  a  portion  of  his  present  well  im- 
proved farm  estate  and  to  the  area  of  the 
same  he  has  since  added  until  he  now  has  one 
of  the  valuable  farm  properties  of  the  county. 
In  politics  he  is  a  Republican  and  he  served 
for  a  nimiber  of  years  as  treasurer  of  River- 
side township,  an  office  which  he  resigned  in 
1916.  He  and  his  wife  are  active  communi- 
cants of  the  Lutheran  church. 

April  14,  1892,  recorded  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Carstens  to  Miss  Anna  Schuster,  who  was 
born  in  Adams  county,  Illinois,  November  9, 


926 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


927 


1870.  Of  this  union  have  been  born  nine 
children:  George  is  a  successful  farmer  in 
Riverside  township ;  Henry  was  drowned  in 
Blue  river,  July  13,  1913 ;  Mary  is  the  wife 
of  Heye  Schuster,  of  this  county ;  and  Ella, 
Minnie,  Leah,  Paul,  John  H.,  and  Emma  re- 
main at  the  parental  home. 

WALTER  E.  HOYLE  is  numbered  among 
the  progressive  and  successful  exponents  of 
farm  industry  in  Holt  township,  where  he  is 
the  owner  of  the  northwest  quarter  of  Section 
14,  and  where  he  is  giving  his  attention  to 
diversified  agriculture  and  stock-growing  and 
makes  a  specialty  of  raising  graded  Duroc- 
Jersey  swine.  He  was  born  in  Lee  county, 
Illinois,  January  17,  1876,  a  son  of  Solomon 
and  Elizabeth  (Fritz)  Hoyle,  of  whose  six 
children  the  eldest  is  Cora,  wife  of  Ed.  C. 
Willie,  of  ]\Iidland  township ;  Jennie  B.  is  the 
wife  of  Benjamin  Wheeler,  of  Delta,  Colo- 
rado; Passamore  is  a  substantial  farmer  in 
Holt  township ;  Walter  E.,  of  this  review,  was 
the  next  in  order  of  birth ;  Eugene  likewise 
is  identified  with  farm  enterprise  in  this 
county;  and  Margaret  is  the  wife  of  Albert  J. 
Reedy,  of  Lincoln,  this  state. 

Solomon  Hoyle  was  born  in  Somerset 
county,  Pennsylvania,  in  1835,  and  from  the 
old  Keystone  state  he  went  to  Illinois,  where 
he  remained  until  1879,  when  he  came  with 
his  family  to  Gage  county  and  purchased  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  in  Hanover 
township.  There  his  death  occurred  in  the 
following  year,  and  his  widow,  who  was  born 
in  Somerset  county,  Pennsylvania,  November 
1,  1856,  later  became  the  wife  of  Frederick 
Schober,  both  being  now  deceased,  her  death 
having  occurred  in  1912.  The  one  surviving 
child  of  this  marriage  is  Julia,  wife  of  Howard 
Rutter,  a  farmer  in  Lincoln  township,  this 
county.  Frederick  Schober,  was  a  soldier 
of  the  Union  in  the  Civil  war.  By  his  first 
marriage  he  became  the  father  of  three  chil- 
dren. The  parents  of  Mr.  Hoyle  were  earnest 
members  of  the  United  Brethren  church  and 
their  remains  rest  in  the  cemetery  in  Holt 
township. 

Walter  E.  Hoyle  was  three  years  of  age 


when  his  parents  came  to  Gage  county,  and 
here  he  was  reared  on  the  farm,  in  the  mean- 
while profiting  by  the  advantages  afforded  in 
the  district  schools.  He  has  followed  farming 
during  his  entire  active  career  and  purchased 
his  present  farm,  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres,  in  1909,  since  which  time  he  has  made 
excellent  improvements  on  the  place.  He  is 
independent  in  politics  and  he  and  his  wife 
are  members  of  the  United  Brethren  church, 
in  which  he  is  serving  as  trustee. 

September  25,  1907,  Mr.  Hoyle  wedded 
Miss  Bessie  Rutter,  who  was  born  and  reared 
in  this  county  and  who  is  a  daughter  of  Clar- 
ence H.  and  Ermina  (Flowers)  Rutter,  who 
now  reside  on  their  farm  south  of  Beatrice, 
Mrs.  Rutter  being  a  daughter  of  the  late  John 
Flowers,  one  of  the  well  known  pioneers  of 
Gage  county.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hoyle  have  three 
children,  — •  Ermina,   Ralph  and  Luther. 

CONRAD  W.  FRITZ  is  one  of  the  enter- 
prising and  successful  farmers  of  Hooker 
township,  where  his  well  improved  homestead, 
in  Section  23,  gives  full  evidence  of  thrift  and 
efifective  management. 

Conrad  William  Fritz  was  born  in  the  city 
of  Joliet,  Illinois,  November  14,  1879,  and  is  a 
son  of  Frederick  and  Johanna  (  Hacke)  Fritz, 
both  natives  of  Germany.  The  father  was 
born  in  1834  and  was  a  resident  of  Gage  coun- 
ty at  the  time  of  his  death,  September  13, 
1907,  his  widow,  who  was  born  in  1842,  re- 
maining with  her  son  Conrad  W.  on  the  old 
homestead  farm.  Frederick  Fritz  came  to  the 
L'nited  States  shortly  before  the  outbreak  of 
the  Civil  war  and  his  deep  loyalty  to  the  coun- 
try of  his  adoption  was  shown  in  his  three 
years  of  gallant  service  as  a  Union  soldier. 
He  enlisted  in  Company  F,  Twenty-ninth  Wis- 
consin Infantry,  and  with  the  same  he  contin- 
ued in  service  until  he  was  so  severely  wound- 
ed as  to  incapacitate  him  and  to  result  in  his 
honorable  discharge.  He  later  established  his 
residence  in  Illinois,  where  his  marriage  was 
solemnized  and  where  he  was  employed  two 
years  as  a  guard  in  the  state  penitentiary  at 
Joliet.  He  then  turned  his  attention  to  farm- 
ing, in  Will  county,  Illinois,  and  in   1890  he 


928 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


came  with  his  family  to  Gage  county,  Ne- 
braska, where  he  purchased  a  farm  of  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres,  in  Hooker  township. 
He  erected  a  good  house  and  made  other  ex- 
cellent improvements  on  the  place  and  con- 
tinued as  one  of  the  representative  farmers 
and  highly  esteemed  citizens  of  Hooker  town- 
ship until  his  death.  He  was  a  Republican 
in  politics,  was  affiliated  with  the  Grand  Army 
of  the  Republic  and  was  a  Lutheran  in  his  re- 
ligious faith,  his  widow  being  a  member  of 
the  German  Methodist  Episcopal  church.  Of 
the  five  children  the  subject  of  this  review  is 
the  youngest  of  the  four  who  survive  the  hon- 
ored father;  Amelia  is  the  wife  of  Edward 
Gingery,  of  Filley  township;  George  is  a 
farmer  near  Crab  Orchard,  Johnson  county; 
and  John  is  engaged  in  farming  in  Hooker 
township. 

Conrad  W.  Fritz  gained  his  early  education 
in  the  public  schools  of  Illinois  and  later  at- 
tended those  of  Hooker  township.  Gage  coun- 
ty, he  having  been  about  ten  years  of  age  at 
the  time  of  the  family  removal  to  Nebraska. 
He  has  been  actively  identified  with  farm  en- 
terprise since  his  early  youth  and  has  been 
specially  prosperous  in  his  independent  activi- 
ties as  an  agriculturist  and  stock-grower.  He 
owns  eighty  acres  of  land  in  Section  14,  Hook- 
er township,  and  here  he  has  erected  good 
farm  buildings,  the  place  being  a  part  of  the 
old  home  farm  of  his  parents  and  his  residence 
being  the  commodious  house  erected  by  his 
father.  He  owns  also  an  interest  in  the  re- 
mainder of  the  old  homestead  of  his  father. 

In  1902  Mr.  Fritz  married  Miss  Hattie  I. 
Kritner,  who  was  born  at  Sterling,  Johnson 
county,  this  state,  and  they  have  four  children 
—  Elise,  Milda,  Florence,  and  Virgie. 

Mr.  Fritz  has  been  influential  in  public  af- 
fairs in  Hooker  township,  is  a  stalwart  ad- 
vocate of  the  cause  of  the  Republican  party 
and  has  served  as  a  member  of  the  county 
Republican  committee.  He  served  two  years, 
1912-1913,  as  township  assessor,  and  in  1916 
was  reelected  to  this  office,  for  a  term  of  two 
years.  He  has  served  nine  years  as  school 
director  and  was  reelected  to  this  office  in 
1917,  for  another  term  of  three  years.     He  is 


affiliated  with  the  Modern  Woodmen  of 
America  and  he  and  his  wife  are  active  mem- 
bers of  the  German  Methodist  Episcopal 
church. 


WILLIAM  KREBS'BACH  is  a  vigorous 
and  ambitious  young  man  who  has  through 
his  own  exertions  achieved  substantial  success 
and  gained  for  himself  secure  status  as  a  rep- 
resentative agriculturist  and  stock-grower  ol 
Gage  county.  His  well  improved  farm  com- 
prises one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  and  is  sit- 
uated in  Section  14,  Sherman  township. 

Mr.  Krebsbach  was  born  in  Polk  county, 
Nebraska,  May  19,  1880,  and  the  somewhat 
limited  educational  advantages  which  he  there 
received  have  been  effectively  supplemented 
by  well  ordered  self-discipline,  with  the  re- 
sult that  he  has  in  large  degree  made  good 
this  early  handicap.  He  is  a  son  of  John  and 
Gertrude  (Smith)  Krebsbach,  the  former  of 
whom  was  born  in  Germany  and  the  latter  in 
the  state  of  Wisconsin,  where  their  marriage 
was  solemnized  and  whence  they  came  to  Ne- 
braska and  became  pioneer  settlers  in  Polk 
county.  There  John  Krebsbach  entered  claim 
to  a  homestead  and  he  continued  his  alliance 
with  farm  industry  in  this  state  until  about 
1905,  when  he  sold  his  farm  in  Polk  county 
and  removed  to  El  Campo,  Texas,  near  which 
place  he  engaged  in  farming.  He  is  now  suc- 
cessfully engaged  in  the  banking  and  invest- 
ment business  at  El  Campo.  He  is  a  Repub- 
lican in  politics  and  he  and  his  wife  are  com- 
municants of  the  Catholic  church.  Of  their 
thirteen  children  seven  are  hving  and  of  the 
number  the  subject  of  this  review  is  the  only 
one  residing  in  Gage  county. 

William  Krebsbach  continued  his  residence 
in  his  native  county  until  1898,  when  he  came 
to  Gage  county,  where  for  the  ensuing  two 
years  he  was  employed  by  the  month  at  farm 
work.  For  fourteen  years  thereafter  he 
farmed  on  land  which  he  rented  from  D.  S. 
Dalbey,  and  in  1910  he  purchased  his  present 
farm,  which  has  since  been  the  stage  of  his 
aggressive  and  successful  activities  as  an  agri- 
culturist and  stock-grower.  He  gives  his  al- 
legiance to  the  Republican  party  and  he  and 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


929 


his  wife  are  members  of  the  Christian  church. 
November  21,  1900,  recorded  the  marriage 
of  Air.  Krebsbach  to  Miss  Ida  Erickson,  and 
they  have  four  children  —  John  Peter,  Ida 
Belle,'  Maynard,  and  Wilma. 

HANS  ANDERSEN  came  to  Gage  county 
when  a  young  man  and  by  his  vigorous  and 
progressive  activities  as  a  farmer  he  achieved 
such  success  as  to  enable  him  at  the  present 
time  to  live  in  well  earned  retirement  from 
the  active  labors  that  were  long  his  portion. 
He  still  retains  ownership  of  his  well  im- 
proved farm  estate  of  two  hundred  acres,  in 
Hooker  township,  but  in  1909  he  purchased 
six  acres  of  land  in  the  village  of  Filley  and 
on  the  same  erected  the  attractive  and  modern 
home  in  which  he  and  his  wife  have  since  re- 
sided. 

Mr.  Andersen  was  born  in  Denmark,  on  the 
21st  of  April,  1855,  and  is  a  son  of  Nils  An- 
dersen, who  was  born  in  1830  and  who  passed 
the  closing  years  of  his  life  in  Gage  county, 
where  he  died  on  the  3d  of  February,  1917, 
his  vocation  having  been  that  of  farming  dur- 
ing his  entire  active  career.  Upon  coming  to 
Gage  county  he  rented  land  and  he  was  en- 
gaged in  farming  on  land  obtained  under 
Scully  lease  at  the  time  of  his  death,  this  farm 
being  in  Filley  township,  where  his  widow 
still  remains  on  the  place.  The  subject  of  this 
sketch  is  the  eldest  in  a  family  of  three  chil- 
dren ;  Marie  is  the  wife  of  John  H.  Moller,  of 
Bruce,  Wisconsin,  where  her  husband  holds 
the  office  of  postmaster  and  is  engaged  in  the 
real  estate  business ;  and  the  third  child  died 
in  infancy.  After  the  death  of  his  first  wife 
the  father  contracted  a  second  marriage,  and 
his  widow  still  resides  on  the  farm  which  he 
operated  in  Gage  county,  as  previously  noted, 
the  five  children  of  the  second  marriage  all 
surviving  the  honored  father.  Mr.  Andersen 
was  a  Democrat  in  politics  and  was  a  member 
of  the  Lutheran  church. 

Hans  Andersen  was  reared  and  educated 
in  his  native  land  and  was  twenty-three  years 
of  age  when  he  became  a  resident  of  Gage 
county,  in  1878.  For  two  years  he  was  here 
employed  by  the  month  at  farm  work,  and 


he  then  initiated  the  independent  farm  opera- 
tions that  led  ultimately  to  his  achieving  large 
and  substantial  success.  His  civic  loyalty  has 
been  of  the  highest  order,  his  political  support 
is  given  to  the  Republican  party  and  he  has 
served  as  road  supervisor,  as  well  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  school  board.  Both  he  and  his  wife 
are  communicants  of  the  Lutheran  church  but 
in  their  home  village  they  attend  and  support 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  church.  The  maiden 
name  of  Mrs.  Andersen  was  Marie  Nelsen, 
and  she  was  born  and  reared  in  Denmark, 
where  her  parents  passed  their  entire  lives. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Andersen  have  no  children. 

JAY  P.  AND  MASON  D.  CLOUGH, 
popular  representatives  of  one  of  the  honored 
pioneer  families  of  Gage  county,  were  closely 
associated  in  operating  two  hundred  and  twen- 
ty acres,  in  Highland  township,  until  the  for- 
mer entered  the  service  of  the  nation  in  con- 
nection with  its  participation  in  the  great 
world  war,  as  will  be  more  fully  noted  in  a 
later  paragraph.  In  Section  21,  this  township. 
Jay  P.  Clough  was  born  on  the  12th  of  No- 
vember, 1885,  a  son  of  Marion  M.  and  Ellen 
H.  (Dodge)  Clough,  of  whose  eight  children 
he  was  fifth  in  order  of  birth ;  Nettie  E.  is  the 
wife  of  William  J.  Leopold,  of  Orleans,  Har- 
lan county;  Alta  P.  is  the  wife  of  Ariel  A. 
Gillespie,  of  Cortland,  Gage  county ;  Mary  V. 
is  the  wife  of  Thomas  Walter  Sargent,  of 
Highland  township;  Florence  is  deceased,  as 
are  also  Dessa  A.  and  John  R. ;  and  Mason 
D.,  who  was  born  May  28,  1890,  became  the 
able  coadjutor  of  his  brother  Jay  P.  in  well 
ordered  operations  as  agriculturists  and  stock- 
growers. 

Marion  M.  Clough,  a  man  of  marked  ability 
and  sterling  character,  became  one  of  the  ex- 
tensive stock-growers  and  ranch  men  of  Gage 
county  and  was  a  renter  of  Scully  land  —  of 
seven  hundred  and  twenty  acres  in  Highland 
township.  He  was  born  in  Venango  county, 
Pennsylvania,  March  3,  1834,  a  son  of  Horace 
P.  and  Ann  (Brown)  Clough,  both  natives  of 
the  state  of  New  York;  the  mother  died  in 
Illinois,  in  1867,  and  the  father  passed  the 
closing  years  of  his  life  in  Gage  county,  Nebras- 


930 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


ka,  where  he  died  at  a  venerable  age.  Alariori 
M.  Clough  was  reared  on  the  home  farm,  re- 
ceived the  advantages  of  the  common  schools 
and  at  the  age  of  fifteen  years  initiated  an 
apprenticeship  to  the  carpenter's  trade.  In 
1854  he  engaged  in  the  work  of  his  trade  in 
Henry  county,  Illinois,  and  in  1859  he  estab- 
lished his  residence  at  Sparta,  Monroe  county, 
Wisconsin,  where  he  was  actively  identified 
with  the  lumber  business  until  the  outbreak 
of  the  Civil  war.  In  August,  1861,  he  en- 
listed as  private  in  Company  A,  Third  Wis- 
consin Cavalry,  and  with  his  command  he  was 
assigned  to  the  Army  of  the  Frontier.  He 
participated  in  several  of  the  historic  battles 
in  which  this  army  was  involved,  including 
the  ten  days'  conflict  incidental  to  the  raid  of 
General  Price  in  Missouri.  While  engaged 
in  repelling  bushwhackers  his  horse  was  shot 
from  under  him,  but  he  was  neither  wounded 
nor  captured.  He  was  made  corporal  of  his 
company,  in  1862  was  promoted  sergeant  and 
he  was  mustered  out  with  the  rank  of  orderly 
sergeant,  his  honorable  discharge  having  been 
granted  in  February,  1865. 

After  the  close  of  the  war  Mr.  Clough  en- 
gaged in  overland  freighting  from  Fort  Leav- 
enworth, Kansas,  to  Denver,  Colorado.  After 
one  year  of  activity  along  this  line  he  engaged 
in  farming  and  stock-growing  in  southwestern 
Missouri,  where  he  remained  until  1873,  when 
he  and  his  wife  established  their  home  in  Gage 
county,  Nebraska.  Here  he  reclaimed  a  farm 
in  Highland  township,  besides  becoming  one 
of  the  leading  stock  raisers  and  dealers  of  this 
county.  He  remained  an  honored  and  influ- 
ential citizen  until  his  death,  which  occurred 
May  10,  1903,  his  widow  having  passed  away 
December  14,  1916.  Mr.  Clough  had  broad 
and  varied  experience  in  life  on  the  frontier 
and  as  a  pioneer  in  Nebraska.  He  was  affiliat- 
ed actively  with  Monitor  Post,  No.  84,  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic,  at  Cortland,  and  both 
he  and  his  wife  were  active  members  of  the 
Congregational  church,  of  which  he  served  as 
a  deacon  for  a  long  term  of  years.  The 
Clough  family  was  founded  in  America  in. the 
colonial  days  and  Horace  Clough,  grandfath- 


er of  Marion  M.,  was  a  native  of  New  Hamp- 
shire. 

December  2,  1865,  Marion  M.  Clough  wed- 
ded Miss  Ellen  H.  Dodge,  whose  acquaintance 
he  formed  while  serving  as  a  soldier  of  the 
Union,  in  Missouri.  She  was  born  in  Vernon 
county,  Missouri,  July  2,  1847,  a  daughter 
of  Edward  and  Phoebe  (Austin)  Dodge,  na- 
tives of  New  Hampshire,  the  latter  having 
been  a  daughter  of  Daniel  Austin,  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  Harmony  Mission  for  the 
Osage  Indians  and  a  man  prominent  in  the 
pioneer  history  of  Missouri. 

Jay  P.  and  Mason  D.  Clough  have  passed 
their  entire  lives  thus  far  in  Gage  county  and 
have  upheld  the  honors  of  the  family  name, 
both  as  progressive  farmers  and  as  liberal  and 
public-spirited  citizens.  The  brothers  in  their 
business  alliance  proved  specially  successful 
agriculturists  and  stock-growers  and  they  have 
a  wide  circle  of  friends  in  their  native  county, 
where  both  received  excellent  educational  ad- 
vantages. 

At  the  time  of  this  writing,  in  the  spring  of 
1918.  Jay  P.  Clough  is  serving  his  country  in 
connection  with  its  participation  in  the  terrific 
European  conflict.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
signal  corps  being  prepared  for  active  service 
at  the  aviation  field  maintained  in  the  gov- 
ernment camp  at  Greenfield,  South  Carolina, 
and  ere  this  work  is  issued  from  the  press  he 
will  have  undoubtedly  been  called  to  service  on 
the  battlefields  of  France. 

On  the  fourth  of  December,  1917,  Mason 
D.  Clough  married  Miss  Bernice  M.  Culp,  who 
v/as  born  at  Princeton,  Lancaster  county,  Ne- 
braska, September  1,  1895.  She  is  a  daughter 
of  George  and  Mary  E.  (Connor)  Culp,  na- 
tives respectively  of  Pennsylvania  and  Iowa. 
Mr.  Culp  is  living  in  Gage  county  and  is 
eighty  years  of  age  (1918).  He  was  a  vahant 
Union  soldier  in  the  Civil  war.  His  wife 
died  in  1901,  at  the  age  of  forty-two  years. 

GEORGE  W.  CAMPBELL.  —  Among  the 
early  settlers  of  Adams  township  may  be  men- 
tioned the  venerable  pioneer  whose  name  in- 
troduces this  review,  and  none  is  more  worthy 
of  recognition  in  this  history  than  he.     A  na- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA  931 


Mr.  and  AIrs.  George  W.  Campbell 


932 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


tive  of  the  Keystone  state,  Mr.  Campbell  was 
born  on  a  farm  in  East  Smithfield  township, 
Bradford  county  Pennsylvania,  on  May  the 
3d,  1835.  He  is  a  son  of  George  W.  and  Har- 
riet (Kingsley)  Campbell,  also  natives  of 
Bradford  county,  and  of  German  and  Scotch 
Irish  descent  respectively.  The  father  con- 
ducted a  saw  mill  for  a  number  of  years, 
though  later  he  became  a  farmer,  and  he  and 
his  wife  spent  their  entire  lives  in  Bradford 
county,  Pennsylvania. 

The  subject  of  this  record  spent  his  boy- 
hood days  in  his  native  county,  attended 
country  school  until  he  had  attained  the  age  of 
fifteen  years,  and  in  the  meanwhile  he  worked 
in  the  saw  mill  and  on  the  fann.  At  the  age 
of  twenty  he  married  Miss  Mary  Dewey,  who 
was  born  in  Chenango  county,  Pennsylvania, 
August  4,  1834,  a  daughter  of  John  and  Polly 
(Holmes)  Dewey,  both  natives  of  New  York 
state.  As  a  girl  Mrs.  Campbell  was  bereft  of 
her  father  and  thereafter  she  made  her  home 
with  a  sister  in  Bradford  county,  Pennsyl- 
vania, where  she  taught  school.  She  is  a 
third  cousin  of  Admiral  Dewey,  the  hero  of 
Manila  Bay  in  the  Spanish-American  war. 

The  year  after  his  marriage  Mr.  Campbell 
removed  to  Illinois  and  settled  in  Carroll 
county.  While  a  resident  there,  a  cloud  arose 
which  threatened  to  disrupt  the  Union,  and 
when  President  Lincoln  made  the  first  call  for 
volunteers  Mr.  Campbell  responded  by  enlist- 
ing in  Company  B,  Seventh  Illinois  Cavalry. 
The  members  of  this  company  were  mustered 
in  at  Camp  Butler,  Springfield,  Illinois,  and 
from  that  place,  by  way  of  Cairo,  they  went 
to  Bird's  Point,  Missouri,  where  they  joined 
the  forces  of  General  Grant,  under  whose 
command  they  did  skirmish  duty  and  were 
ordered  to  Shiloh,  reaching  that  place  just 
after  the  famous  battle.  They  took  part  in  the 
first  expedition  against  Vicksburg,  but  lack  of 
supplies  forced  them  to  return  to  LaGrange, 
Tennessee.  They  were  then  placed  on  guard 
of  the  Tennessee  river,  but  the  approach  of 
Price  caused  them  to  fall  back  to  Corinth, 
and  they  took  part  in  the  second  battle  at  that 
place.  The  winter  of  1862  they  spent  in  camp 
at  LaGrange,  Tennessee,  and  in  the  spring  of 


1863  they  opened  the  Grayston  raid,  of  sixteen 
days.  In  six  days  of  that  time  Company  B, 
Seventh  Illinois  Cavalry,  rode  four  hundred 
and  twenty-five  miles  by  itself,  fighting  all 
along  the  way.  At  the  siege  of  Port  Hudson 
they  guarded  the  road  with  much  credit  and 
then  took  boats  to  ]\Iemphis.  They  then  went 
to  Colliersville,  Tennessee,  and  while  on  picket 
duty  there  Mr.  Campbell,  with  twenty-five  of 
the  forty-nine  men  thus  engaged,  was  cap- 
tured during  the  fight  of  November  3,  1863. 
There  were  five  hundred  Union  men  against 
tAo  thousand  Confederates.  The  prisoners 
were  taken  to  Cahoba,  Alabama,  where  they 
were  kept  until  April,  1864,  when  they  were 
transferred  to  Andersonville  Prison.  The  hor- 
rors of  this  place  could  not  be  exaggerated, 
awful  suiTering,  unmitigated  by  a  gleam  of 
humanity  on  the  part  of  their  captors,  made 
the  lives  of  the  weary  victims  a  wretched  mock- 
ery. Nauseous  food,  impure  water,  crowded 
and  vermin-infested  quarters,  contributed  to 
disease  and  death,  which  took  away  all  but 
eight  of  the  company  of  twenty-six.  Mr. 
Campbell  and  his  companions  were  kept  there 
until  August,  1864,  when  they  were  removed 
to  Charleston.  There  they  were  kept  four 
\\'eeks,  and  they  were  then  taken  to  Florence, 
where  Mr.  Campbell  was  released  on  sick  par- 
ole. Upon  regaining  his  health  Mr.  Campbell 
went  to  Annapolis,  Marjdand,  and  from  there 
he  made  his  way  to  his  father's  home,  in 
Pennsylvania,  where  he  arrived  in  January 
1865.  In  April  of  that  year  Mr.  Campbell  re- 
ceived his  honorable  discharge,  after  having 
served  three  years  and  six  months.  Four 
hundred  and  seventeen  days  of  that  time,  how- 
ever, he  was  held  as  a  captive  of  the  enemy. 
After  returning  to  his  family,  in  Illinois,  Mr. 
Campbell  was  unable  to  work  for  about  one 
)ear,  but  gradually  he  resumed  farming. 

In  the  spring  of  1868,  accompanied  by  his 
wife  and  their  two  children,  Mr.  Campbell 
started  for  the  west  and  located  in  Nebraska, 
the  prairies  of  the  new  state  being  largely  un- 
settled at  that  time.  He  homesteaded  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  acres  in  section  33,  Adams 
township.  Gage  county.  During  the  first  year 
in  the  state  Mr.  Campbell  and  his  family  lived 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


93S' 


in  a  covered  wagon,  and  with  a  team  of  mules 
and  one  yoke  of  oxen  he  broke  the  prairies  on 
his  own  land,  beside  which  he  worked  for 
neighbors.  Nebraska  City  was  the  nearest 
trading  point,  and  Mr.  Campbell  hauled  freight 
from  that  place  to  Beatrice,  the  county  seat, 
which  was  only  a  little  village  at  that  time. 
From  Nebraska  City  Mr.  Campbell  hauled 
Cottonwood  lumber  to  build  his  first  house. 
He  resolutely  set  to  work  improving  and  de- 
veloping his  farm,  and  he  is  to-day  one  of  the 
few  homesteaders  who  still  reside  on  the  same 
farms  which  they  obtained  in  the  early  pioneer 
days.  On  his  present  fine  farm  he  has 
lived  for  fifty  years,  during  which  time  he 
has  prospered. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Campbell  were  born  six 
children :  Dewey  is  residing  at  Buffalo,  Wyo- 
ming; Nettie  and  Hattie  are  deceased;  John 
resides  in  Adams,  this  county ;  E.  W.  is  a  resi- 
dent of  Clarion,  Iowa ;  and  George  B.  lives  at 
Fort  Morgan,  Colorado. 

Some  years  ago  Mr.  Campbell  let  the  mantle 
of  intelligently  directed  industry  fall  upon  his 
son  John  W.,  who  now  owns  and  operates  the 
old  home  place  in  his  own  behalf.  George  W. 
Campbell  and  his  wife  still  reside  on  the  old 
home  place,  where  they  have  lived  and  labored 
side  by  side  all  these  years,  that  their  children 
and  their  children's  children  might  reap  the 
benefit. 

Mr.  Campbell  has  always  taken  a  deep  inter- 
est in  the  affairs  of  his  community  and  has 
maintained  pleasant  relationship  with  his  army 
comrades  by  membership  in  Sergeant  Cox 
Post,  No.  100.  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  at 
Adams.  In  the  Civil  war  it  took  men  of  heart, 
brains  and  heroism  to  bear  the  brunt  of  the 
conflict,  the  toil  and  suffering  in  camp  and  on 
the  march  and  to  face  starvation  in  prison, 
but  Mr.  Campbell  was  one  of  those  valiant 
souls,  and  his  life  as  a  pioneer  in  Gage  county 
reveals  the  same  characteristics  as  were  dis- 
played by  him  during  the  days  when  he  fought 
for  the  preservation  of  the  Union. 

JOHN  M.  MARTIN,  as  noted  in  the  me- 
moir dedicated  to  his  honored  father,  the  late 
Thomas   ^I.    Martin,   on   other  pages   of  this 


publication,  remains  with  his  widowed  mother 
on  the  old  homestead  farm,  of  which  he  has 
the  active  management,  the  same  being  one  of 
the  fine  landed  estates  of  Sherman  township. 
On  this  farm  Mr.  Martin  was  born  Septem- 
ber 16,  1872,  and  his  early  educational  ad- 
vantages were  those  afforded  in  the  public 
schools  of  his  native  township.  He  learned 
under  the  direction  of  his  father  the  valuable 
lessons  of  practical  industry  and  gained  inci- 
dentally a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  various 
details  of  farm  enterprise.  He  has  had  no 
desire  to  sever  his  allegiance  to  the  great  basic 
industry  under  the  influence  of  which  he  was 
thus  reared  and  he  now  rents  from  his  mother 
the  old  homestead  farm,  in  the  operations  of 
which  he  is  proving  himself  a  most  aggressive 
and  successful  exponent  of  agricultural  and 
live-stock  enterprise,  the  while  he  is  upholding 
the  civic  and  industrial  prestige  of  a  family 
name  that  has  been  worthily  linked  with  the 
history  of  Gage  county  during  the  entire  peri- 
od  of  Nebraska   statehood. 

Mr.  Martin  is  one  of  the  influential  and 
popular  citizens  of  Sherman  township,  and 
has  served  as  a  member  of  the  school  board, 
an  office  of  which  he  has  been  the  efficient  in- 
cumbent ten  years.  In  the  city  of  Beatrice  he 
is  affiliated  with  Aerie  No.  351  of  the  Frater- 
nal Order  of  Eagles. 

February  16,  1898,  recorded  the  marriage 
of  i\Ir.  Martin  to  Miss  Nellie  Lash,  who  like- 
wise was  born  in  this  county,  and  they  have 
one  child,  Margaret,  who  is,  in  1918,  a  student 
in  the  public  schools  at  Holmesville. 

FRANK  SCHOEN  is  the  fortunate  owner 
of  a  remarkably  fine  farm  property  of  three 
hundred  and  thirty  acres,  improved  with  the 
best  farm  buildings  to  be  found  in  Hooker 
township,  where  his  attractive  homestead  is 
in  Section  27.-  This  distinct  evidence  of  pros- 
perity is  the  more  pleasing-  to  note  by  reason 
of  the  fact  that  ;\Ir.  Schoen  was  dependent 
entirely  on  his  own  ability  and  efforts  in  mak- 
ing his  way  to  the  goal  of  independence.  He 
was  born  in  the  district  of  Friesland,  province 
of  Hanover,  Germany,  on  the  27th  of  Septem- 
ber,  1867,  a  son  of  Ahrend  and  Tina   (John- 


934 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


son)   S'choen,  who  passed  their  entire  Hves  in 
that  section  of  the  German  empire. 

Frank  Schoen  was  reared  and  educated  in 
his  native  province  and  at  the  age  of  seven- 
teen years  he  severed  the  home  ties  and  set 
forth  to  seek  his  fortunes  in  the  United  States. 
For  eight  years  after  his  arrival  he  was  em- 
ployed at  farm  work  in  IlHnois,  and  in  1892 
he  came  to  Nebraska  and  established  his  resi- 


management,  and  he  stands  forth  as  one  of  the 
representative  agriculturists  and  stock-growers 
of  Hooker  township,  as  well  as  a  substantial 
and  popular  citizen.  He  is  a  Republican  in 
politics  but  has  held  no  public  office  save  that 
of  road  supervisor.  He  is  vice-president  of 
the  Adams  State  Bank. 

As  a  young  man  Mr.  Shoen  married  Miss 
Mary  Rathe,  who  was  born  in  the  vicinity  of 


dence  in  Gage  county.  For  the  ensuing  nine 
years  he  farmed  on  a  Scully  lease,  in  Hanover 
township,  and  he  then  purchased  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  in  Hooker  township  —  the 
present  Stevens  farm.  In  1909,  after  selling 
this  farm,  he  purchased  his  present  fine  estate 
of  three  hundred  and  thirty  acres,  the  build- 
ings, as  intimated  previously,  being  of  model 
order,  the  farm  having  woven-wire  fences,  and 
an  attractive  evergreen  grove  adding  to  the 
beauty  of  the  place.  The  same  thrift  and  in- 
dustry which  enabled  Mr.  Schoen  to  accumu- 
late this  property  are  brought  to  bear   in  its 


the  city  of  Chicago,  Illinois,  and  they  have 
three  children:  Frank  F.  is  a  member  of  the 
military  forces  being  prepared  for  service  in 
the  great  European  war  and  at  the  time  of  this 
writing,  in  the  spring  of  1918,  he  is  stationed 
with  his  command  at  Deming,  New  Mexico ; 
and  Henry  and  Louis  remain  at  the  parental 
home. 

JAMES  E.  BALDERSON  is  another  of 
the  honored  citizens  who  is  a  member  of  one 
of  the  sterling  pioneer  families  of  Gage  county 
and  who  has  here  achieved  large  and  worthy 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


935 


success  as  a  vigorous  exponent  of  farm  in- 
dustry. He  is  the  owner  of  a  valuable  landed 
estate  of  four  hundred  acres,  in  Section  21, 
Highland  township,  and  is  now  living  virtu- 
ally retired,  his  sons  having  the  active  man- 
agement of  his  farms. 

Mr.  Balderson  was  born  in  Morgan  county, 
Ohio,  April  1,  1850,  a  son  of  George  and 
Sarah  (Davis)  Balderson,  of  whose  family  of 
fourteen  children  eleven  attained  to  maturity, 
as  here  noted:  Mary,  who  became  the  wife 
of  Alvin  White,  was  a  resident  of  Fairbury, 
Nebraska,  at  the  time  of  her  death ;  Rhoda  is 
the  wife  of  A.  B.  McNickle,  of  Ashland,  Kan- 
sas ;  Alexander  was  a  resident  of  Highland 
township,  Gage  county,  at  the  time  of  his  de- 
mise;  James  E.,  of  this  review,  was  the  next 
in  order  of  birth ;  Scott  resides  in  the  city  of 
Beatrice,  this  county;  Frank  is  employed  in  a 
hospital  at  Hastings,  this  state;  George  re- 
sides at  Pickrell,  Holt  township;  Mrs.  Anna 
Groff  was  a  resident  of  Fairbury  at  the  time 
of  her  death ;  Jacob  is  an  influential  citizen  ol 
Wilber,  Saline  county,  where  he  is  serving  as 
mayor,  in  1917-1918;  Mrs.  Alice  Clark  is  a  res- 
ident of  Austin,  Minnesota;  and  ]\Irs.  Martha 
Snoker  resides  in  the  city  of  Lincoln,  Neb- 
raska. 

George  Balderson  was  born  in  Muskingum 
county,  Ohio,  September  5,  1819,  and  in  the 
old  Buckeye  state  his  marriage  to  Miss  Sarah 
Davis  was  solemnized  in  1841.  his  wife  having 
been  born  in  Maine,  in  1821.  Mr.  Balder- 
son engaged  in  farming  in  Morgan  county, 
Ohio,  and  in  1864  he  removed  with  his  fam- 
ily to  Whiteside  county,  Illinois,  where  he  re- 
mained similarly  engaged  until  1872,  when  he 
came  with  his  family  to  Nebraska  and  num- 
bered himself  among  the  pioneer  settlers  of 
Gage  county.  In  Highland  township  he  pur- 
chased eighty  acres  of  wild  land,  in  Section  6, 
and  here  he  planted  trees  and  made  other  sub- 
stantial improvements,  the  while  he  soon 
brought  his  land  under  eft'ective  cultivation. 
It  is  generally  conceded  that  he  was  the  first 
settler  to  erect  a  frame  house  between  Neb- 
raska City  and  Gage  county,  and  in  the  early 
days  his  home  was  the  stopping  place  of  so- 
journers who  required  accommodations  for  a 


night  or  more,  few  of  the  pioneer  homes  hav- 
ing facilities  adequate  to  extend  such  hospital- 
ity. From  Nebraska  City  he  transported  by 
team  and  wagon  his  household  effects,  which 
had  been  shipped  from  the  old  home  in  Illinois. 
Mr.  Balderson  was  a  man  whose  character 
and  mentality  well  equipped  him  for  leader- 
ship in  community  affairs  and,  as  a  stalwart 
Republican,  he  always  took  deep  interest  in 
political  and  governmental  matters.  He  gave 
able  assistance  in  the  establishing  of  schools 
and  churches  and  in  laying  out  the  township 
of  Highland.  In  coming  to  Gage  county  he 
transported  his  family  by  means  of  three  cov- 
ered wagons,  and  he  was  one  of  the  sterling 
pioneers  who  aided  greatly  in  furthering  the 
development  and  progress  of  Gage  county. 
He  passed  the  closing  years  of  his  life  in  the 
home  of  his  daughter  Mary,  Mrs.  Alvin 
White,  at  Fairbury,  Jefferson  county,  where 
his  death  occurred  January  15,  1899.  His 
loved  and  devoted  wife  passed  to  eternal  rest 
April  8,  1897,  she  having  been  a  member  of 
the  Baptist  church  and  he  having  been  a  birth- 
right member  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  com- 
monly designated  as  Quakers.  The  lineage 
of  the  Balderson  family  is  traced  back  to 
staunch  Scottish  origin  and  the  founders  of 
the  American  branch  were  two  brothers  who 
came  to  this  country  in  the  colonial  days,  both 
becoming  citizens  of  prominence  and  influence. 
James  E.  Balderson  acquired  his  rudimen- 
tary education  in  the  schools  of  Ohio  and  was 
about  fourteen  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  the 
family  removal  to  Illinois,  where  he  was 
reared  to  adult  age.  Within  a  few  weeks 
after  he  had  attained  his  legal  majority  he 
came  with  his  parents  to  Gage  county,  and 
about  one  year  later,  at  the  age  of  twenty-two 
years,  he  here  obtained  a  homestead  claim  of 
eighty  acres,  in  Section  8,  Highland  town- 
ship. He  reclaimed  and  improved  this  farm 
under  the  conditions  that  obtained  in  the  pio- 
neer days  and  had  his  full  share  of  hardships 
and  trials.  His  energy  and  thrift  were  shown 
in  the  excellent  improvements  which  he  made 
on  his  original  homestead  and  increasing 
prosperity  in  the  passing  years  enabled  him  to 
add  gradually  to  his  landed  estate  until  he  be- 


936 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


came  the  owner  of  his  present  large  and  val- 
uable farm  property  in  Highland  township. 
In  his  years  of  active  farm  enterprise  he  be- 
came specially  prominent  and  successful  as  a 
breeder  and  grower  of  fine  Hereford  cattle, 
and  his  herds  attracted  much  attention.  He 
customarily  shipped  about  two  car  loads  of 
cattle  annually,  after  bringing  the  same  into 
the  best  of  condition  by  judicious  methods  of 
feeding.  He  has  not  been  circumscribed  by 
mere  individual  advancement  but  has  given 
his  support  to  movements  and  enterprises  pro- 
jected for  the  general  good  of  the  community, 
though  never  a  seeker  of  public  office.  His 
political  allegiance  is  given  to  the  Republican 
party. 

January  18,  1883,  recorded  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Balderson  to  Miss  Rebecca  Johnson,  who 
likewise  is  a  native  of  Morgan  county,  Ohio, 
where  she  was  born  June  30,  1861,  a  daughter 
of  Paten  and  Isabel  (Blake)  Johnson,  the 
former  of  whom  was  born  in  Pennsylvania, 
in  June,  1803,  and  the  latter  of  whom  was 
born  the  state  of  Maine.  Mr.  Johnson,  whose 
father,  William,  was  a  native  of  Ireland,  was 
a  resident  of  Pennsylvania  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  June  28,  1871,  and  his  widow  passed 
away  April  4,  1889,  she  having  been  his  sec- 
ond wife  and  Mrs.  Balderson  having  been  the 
ninth  of  their  twelve  children.  Mr.  and  Mrs 
Balderson  have  three  children :  James  F.  is 
a  progressive  farmer  of  Colorado ;  Pearl  L. 
is  also  in  Colorado;  and  Lester  B..  who  re- 
mains at  the  parental  home,  has  the  active 
management  of  the  old  homestead  farm. 

GEORGE  G.  DOUGLAS,  M.  D.,  was  en- 
gaged in  the  successful  general  practice  of  his 
profession  at  Cortland,  this  county,  from  1904 
until  the  spring  of  1918,  and  was  essentially 
one  of  the  representative  physicians  and  sur- 
geons of  Gage  county,  even  as  he  was  one  of 
the  most  liberal  and  progressive  citizens  of  the 
vital  little  city  in  which  he  maintained  his 
residence.  He  is  now  established  in  practice 
at  Elmwood,  Cass  county. 

Dr.  Douglas  was  born  in  Adams  county, 
Illinois,  on  the  30th  of  June,  1863.  and  is  a 
son    of    William    and    Emma     (McMurray) 


Douglas,  the  former  of  whom  was  born  in 
Washington  county,  Kentucky,  and  the  latter 
in  Adams  county.  Illinois,  where  his  parents 
settled  in  the  pioneer  days.  William  Douglas 
was  a  child  at  the  time  when  his  parents  im- 
migrated from  Kentucky  and  became  pioneer 
settlers  in  Adams  county,  Illinois,  in  1832,  and 
there  he  was  reared  to  manhood.  .  In  Illinois 
he  continued  his  activities  as  a  farmer  until 
1869,  when  he  removed  with  his  family  to 
Nodaway  county,  Missouri,  where  he  became 
a  substantial  farmer  and  where  he  passed  the 
remainder  of  his  life.  He  was  born  January 
16.  1831,  and  his  death  occurred  December  29, 
1888.  His  parents,  Joseph  and  Jeanette  (Mc- 
Murray)  Douglas,  were  born  and  reared  in 
Virginia,  the  former  having  been  a  son  of 
Joseph  Douglas,  Sr.,  whose  father,  Hugh,  was 
born  and  reared  in  Scotland  and  established 
his  residence  in  Rockingham  county,  Virginia, 
in  1740.  Thus  it  appears  that  Dr.  Douglas 
is  not  only  a  scion  of  one  of  the  fine  colonial 
families  of  the  historic  Old  Dominion  but 
also  traces  his  ancestry  back  to  staunch  Scotch 
origin  on  both  the  paternal  and  maternal  sides. 
His  mother  was  born  December  23,  1838,  and 
passed  to  the  life  eternal  August  14,  1899. 
She  was  born  at  LTpper  Alton,  Illinois,  and 
was  a  daughter  of  Rev.  Wilson  McMurray 
and  Georgia  Ann  (Parrish)  McMurray,  both 
natives  of  Kentucky,  ^Ir.  McMurray  having 
been  a  pioneer  clergyman  of  the  Methodist 
church  in  Illinois.  It  is  worthy  of  historic 
note  in  this  context  that  the  first  turnpike  road 
in  Kentucky  was  constructed  in  1837  by  a 
paternal  great-uncle  of  Dr.  Douglas.  Wil- 
liam and  Emma  (McMurray)  Douglas  be- 
came the  parents  of  six  children :  William  S. 
is  a  farmer  in  Canadian  county,  Oklahoma; 
Joseph  E.  is  engaged  in  the  practice  of  law 
at  Plattsmouth,  Nebraska;  Rev.  Fletcher  D., 
a  clergyman  of  the  ]\Iethodist  Episcopal 
church,  is,  in  1918,  pastor  of  a  church  at 
Mound  City,  Missouri;  Mrs.  Evelyn  Murray 
is  deceased,  and  left  two  children,  Muriel  and 
Alma,  the  latter  making  her  home  with  Dr. 
Douglas  of  this  review ;  Dr.  Douglas  was  the 
next  in  order  of  birth;  and  Frederick  E.  died 
when  alKiut  thirtv-five  vears  of  aee. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


937 


Dr.  Douglas  was  a  lad  of  about  six  years  at 
the  time  of  the  family  removal  to  Nodaway 
■county,  Missouri,  where  he  was  reared  to 
adult  age  on  the  home  farm  and  where  he 
made  good  use  of  the  advantages  of  the 
schools  of  the  locality  and  period,  as  shown  by 
the  fact  that  as  a  youth  he  gave  three  years 
to  successful  service  as  a  teacher  in  the  dis- 
trict schools.  Thereafter  he  supplemented  his 
academic  education  by  attending  Amity  Col- 
lege, at  College  Springs,  Iowa,  and  in  prep- 
aration for  his  chosen  profession  he  entered, 
in  1888,  the  Missouri  Medical  College,  in  the 
city  of  St.  Louis.  In  this  institution  he  was 
graduated  as  a  member  of  the  class  of  1891, 
and  after  thus  receiving  his  degree  of  Doctor 
of  Medicine,  he  engaged  in  practice  at  Ra- 
venswood,  Missouri,  where  he  remained  until 
1904,  when  he  came  to  Gage  county,  Neb- 
raska, and  established  his  residence  at  Cort- 
land. Here  he  built  up  a  large  and  represent- 
ative practice  and  in  the  meanwhile  he  has 
kept  in  close  touch  with  the  advances  made  in 
medical  and  surgical  science,  with  full  ap- 
preciation of  his  professional  stewardship  and 
responsibilities.  He  removed  to  Elmwood, 
Cass  county,  in  the  spring  of  1918  and  is  there 
continuing  his  successful  professional  activ- 
ities. 

In  1917  Dr.  Douglas  became  associated 
with  Paul  Schultz  and  A.  J.  Goodban  in  organ- 
izing a  company  that  installed  a  thoroughly 
modern  electric-lighting  system  in  Cortland, 
and  he  became  secretary  and  treasurer  of  this 
company.  Mr.  Schultz  is  presidlent  of  the 
corporation  and  Mr.  Goodban  its  general  man- 
ager. In  other  ways  Dr.  Douglas  showed  his 
civic  loyalty  and  progressiveness  and  took  a 
lively  interest  in  community  affairs  in  general. 
His  political  allegiance  is  given  to  the  Repub- 
lican party,  he  holds  membership  in  the  Amer- 
ican Medical  Association  and  the  Nebraska 
State  Medical  Society  and,  while  a  resident  of 
Cortland,  was  prominently  identified  with  the 
Gage  County  Medical  Society.  He  is  affili- 
ated with  the  Masonic  fraternity,  and  he  and 
his  wife  hold  membership  in  the  Congrega- 
tional church. 

On  the  20th  of  June,   1894,  Dr.   Douglas 


wedded  Miss  Martha  Hilton,  who  was  born 
and  reared  in  Cass  county,  Nebraska,  a  daugh- 
ter of  George  and  Letta  (Irwin)  Hilton,  pi- 
oneers of  that  county,  where  they  have  resided 
at  Elmwood  since  their  retirement  from  their 
old  home  farm.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Douglas  be- 
came the  parents  of  three  children,  of  whom 
only  the  second,  Ellen,  is  living.  Leland  died 
at  the  age  of  twelve  years  and  James  at  the 
age  of  one  year. 

SAMUEL  R.  SAIITH  properly  gains  rec- 
ognition in  this  history  by  reason  of  his  secure 
standing  as  a  representative  farmer  and  citi- 
zen of  Filley  township,  where  his  pleasant 
rural  home  is  established  in  Section  21.  He 
was  born  at  Peoria,  Illinois,  September  26, 
1857,  and  is  a  son  of  John  R.  and  Sarah 
(Bateman)  Smith,  the  former  of  whom  was 
born  in  Switzerland,  in  1816,  and  the  latter  of 
whom  was  born  in  the  state  of  Ohio,  in  1823. 
The  death  of  the  father  occured  December  4, 
1888,  and  that  of  the  mother  in  December, 
1890.  The  marriage  of  the  parents  was  sol- 
emnized in  Ohio  and  after  their  removal  to 
Illinois  the  father  was  for  a  number  of  years 
engaged  in  the  boot  and  shoe  business  at 
Peoria,  he  having  been  one  of  the  sterling  pi- 
oneer merchants  of  that  now  vigorous  city, 
where  he  and  his  wife  settled  at  the  early  peri- 
od when  the  chief  transportation  facilities  of 
Illinois  were  those  of  lake  and  river  naviga- 
tion. John  R.  and  Sarah  (Bateman)  Smith 
continued  to  maintain  their  home  at  Peoria 
until  their  death  and  were  venerable  and  hon- 
ored pioneer  citizens  of  that  place.  Mr.  Smith 
was  a  Democrat  in  politics  and  was  affiliated 
with  the  Masonic  fraternity,  his  wife  having 
been  an  active  member  of  the  Presbyterian 
church.  They  became  the  parents  of  five 
children,  of  whom  four  are  living:  Fannie 
J.  is  a  widow  and  resides  in  the  city  of  Peoria, 
Illinois ;  Samuel  R.,  of  this  sketch,  was  the 
next  in  order  of  birth ;  Mrs.  Nellie  M.  Lee 
resides  in  the  city  of  Chicago,  where  her  hus- 
band is  engaged  in  mercantile  business;  and 
Efifie  D.  is  the  wife  of  William  Burt,  a  pros- 
perous  farmer  near  Decatur,  Illinois. 

S.  R.  Smith  is  indebted  to  the  public  schools 


938 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


939 


of  his  native  city  for  his  early  educational 
advantages,  and  after  leaving  school  he  was 
there  employed  eight  years  in  a  grain  ware- 
house. In  December,  1886,  he  came  to  Gage 
county,  Nebraska,  and  in  Filley  township  he 
purchased  an  unimproved  farm  of  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres.  He  vigorously  insti- 
tuted the  reclamation  and  development  of  his 
land,  erected  a  good  house  and  other  farm 
buildings,  and  on  his  farm  he  gained  his  initial 
experience  in  harnessing  a  horse,  so  that  it 
may  be  readily  seen  that  he  was  a  novice  in 
farm  enterprise,  this  slight  initial  handicap 
having,  however,  been  efifectually  counter- 
balanced by  his  initiative  and  administrative 
ability  and  determined  purpose.  He  now  has 
a  valuable  farm  estate  of  four  hundred  acres 
and  his  generous  success  has  been  won  entire- 
ly through  his  own  ability  and  well  directed 
endeavors.  His  farm  property  is  well  im- 
proved and  he  gives  his  attention  to  diversi- 
fied agriculture  and  the  raising  of  good  live- 
stock. 

November  18,  1880,  recorded  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  Smith  to  Miss  Ella  M.  Yates,  who  was 
born  in  Illinois,  August  12,  1863,  a  daughter 
of  John  C.  and  Jane  (Hargadine)  Yates,  the 
former  a  native  of  West  Virginia  and  the  lat- 
ter of  Ohio,  their  marriage  having  been  sol- 
emnized in  Illinois,  where  they  passed  the  re- 
mainder of  their  lives.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smith 
became  the  parents  of  two  children,  the  first- 
born, Willard,  having  died  at  the  age  of  twenty 
years,  and  Verna  M.  being  the  wife  of  L.  C. 
Roberts,  their  one  child  being  a  winsome  little 
daughter.  Helen  Elizabeth. 

In  a  fraternal  way  Mr.  Smith  is  affiliated 
with  the  Highlanders  and  the  Royal  Arcanum, 
and  in  politics  he  gives  his  allegiance  to  the 
TR,epublican  party. 

JOHN  C.  BOYD  is  a  representative  of  one 
of  the  well  known  families  of  Gage  county 
and  has  here  achieved  distinctive  success  as 
an  exponent  of  farm  enterprise,  his  well  im- 
proved farm,  comprising  one  hundred  and 
twenty  acres,  being  situated  in  Section  15, 
Sherman  township.  He  has  been  a  resident 
of  this  county  since  his  boyhood  and  is  a  son 


of  Otho  Boyd,  of  whom  individual  mention 
is  made  on  other  pages,  so  that  further  review 
of  the  family  history  is  not  here  demanded. 

John  C.  Boyd  was  born  in  Linn  county, 
Iowa,  December  8,  1873,  and  was  about  nine 
years  old  at  the  time  of  the  family  removal 
to  Gage  county.  Here  he  was  reared  on  the 
old  homestead  farm  of  his  father,  in  Sherman 
township,  and  in  the  meanwhile  he  made  good 
use  of  the  advantages  afforded  in  the  local 
schools.  He  has  never  wavered  in  his  alle- 
giance to  the  basic  industries  of  agriculture 
and  stock-growing  and  in  his  independent  op- 
erations as  a  farmer  he  has  for  more  than 
twenty  years  utilized  land  which  he  has 
rented  from  Ford  Lewis,  besides  having  ac- 
cumulated and  made  the  best  of  improve- 
ments upon  his  home  farm,  his  ownership  of 
which  gives  concrete  evidence  of  the  success 
that  has  attended  his  well  ordered  activities  in 
diversified  agricultural  enterprise  and  in  the 
raising  of  good  grades  of  live  stock,  in  which 
latter  department  he  makes  a  specialty  of 
raising  pure -bred  Duroc-Jersey  swine. 

In  politics  Mr.  Boyd  is  aligned  with  the  Re- 
publican party,  and  his  interest  in  community 
affairs  has  been  shown  by  his  effective  ser- 
vice as  a  member  of  the  school  board  of  his 
district.  On  one  occasion  he  was  elected  to 
the  office  of  constable,  but  he  refused  to 
qualify  for  and  assume  the  duties  of  this  po- 
sition. He  and  his  wife  hold  membership  in 
the  Brethren  church. 

In  1900  Mr.  Boyd  wedded  Miss  Daisy 
Swarts,  who  was  born  in  Champaign  county, 
Illinois,  and  whose  death  occurred  in  1909. 
She  is  survived  by  three  children, — Clarence 
Raymond,  and  Thelma  and  Inez,  who  are 
twins.  In  1913  was  solemnized  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  Boyd  to  Miss  Almira  Shaw,  who  was 
born  and  reared  in  Gage  county  and  is  a 
representative  of  one  of  the  earliest  territorial 
pioneer  families  of  this  now  favored  section  of 
Nebraska,  her  paternal  grandparents,  Stephen 
P.  and  Hannah  (Hicks)  Shaw  having  settled 
in  Gage  county  in  1857  and  having  here  passed 
the  remainder  of  their  lives.  Stephen  V.  Shaw, 
father  of  Mrs.  Boyd,  was  bom  in  Dutchess 
county.  New  York,  January  4,  1844,  and  when 


940 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


he  was  six  years  old  the  family  removed  to 
Wisconsin,  from  which  state  they  came  to  Ne- 
braska Territory  and  settled  in  Gage  county 
when  he  was  thirteen  years  of  age.  In  1864 
he  went  to  Colorado,  where  he  was  associated 
with  prospecting  and  mining  operations  about 
one  year.  He  then  returned  to  Gage  county 
and,  in  1866,  he  married  Miss  Minerva  Hand, 
daughter  of  William  and  Annie  (Scott) 
Hand,  who  likewise  came  to  Nebraska  Ter- 
ritory in  1857  and  who  settled  near  Nebraska 
City.  After  his  marriage  Mr.  Shaw  engaged 
in  farm  enterprise  in  Adams  township,  where 
he  reclaimed  and  developed  one  of  the  valuable 
farm  properties  of  the  county  and  became  one 
of  the  honored  and  influential  citizens  of  his 
community.  Of  the  nine  children  of  the  Shaw 
family  the  following  brief  data  are  available. 
(See  also  Shaw  family  history.)  Louis  V.  is 
a  prosperous  farmer  near  Berwyn,  Custer 
county,  Nebraska ;  Katie  is  a  successful  and 
popular  teacher  in  the  schools  of  Gage  county 
and  at  the  time  of  this  writing,  in  the  spring 
of  1918,  is  teaching  in  the  public  schools 
near  Liberty ;  Almira,  wife  of  Mr.  Boyd,  was 
the  next  in  order  of  birth;  Ada  M.  is  the  wife 
of  Miles  W.  McKnight,  of  Adams  township ; 
Alice  H.  is  the  wife  of  Truman  Bert  Kauff- 
man,  of  Havelock,  Lancaster  county;  Edna 
is  the  wife  of  Clarence  Von.  Palmer,  of  Chap- 
pell,  Deuel  county ;  May  remains  at  the  paren- 
tal home;  Charles  is  a  successful  farmer  in 
Adams  township ;  and  Rae  is  employed  as  a 
stenographer  in  the  offices  of  the  board  of  edu- 
cation of  the  city  of  Lincoln.  Of  the  second 
marriage  of  Mr.  Boyd  no  children  have  been 
bom.  For  the  past  twenty  years  Mrs.  Almira 
Boyd  has  been  an  active  worker  in  the 
Women's  Christian  Temperance  Union.  She 
was  state  secretary  of  the  Nebraska  organiza- 
tion for  two  years,  and  for  the  past  thirteen 
years  she  has  been  recorder  and  secretary  of 
the  Gage  county  organization  of  this  splendid 
body. 

JAMES  A.  THOM  has  shown  distinctive 
progressiveness  and  executive  ability  in  con- 
nection with  his  well  ordered  activities  as  an 
agriculturist   and   stock-grower   in   his   native 


county,  and  his  fine  farm  estate  of  four  hun- 
dred and  sixty  five  acres,  in  Sherman  town- 
ship, is  given  to  diversified  agruculture  and  to 
the  raising  of  live  stock,  including  Hereford 
cattle  and  Poland-China  swine.  Of  the  Thorn 
family  history  specific  data  are  given  on  other 
pages,  in  the  memoir  dedicated  to  his  honored 
father,  the  late  Peter  C.  Thorn. 

Mr.  Thorn  was  born  in  Sherman  township, 
this  county,  on  the  18th  of  January,  1872,  and 
in  addition  to  receiving  in  his  youth  the  ad- 
vantages of  the  local  schools  he  completed  a 
course  of  higher  study  in  the  normal  school 
at  Peru,  Nemaha  county.  At  the  age  of 
eighteen  years  i\Ir.  Thom  began  a  practical 
apprenticeship  to  the  trade  of  telegraphy,  and 
thereafter  he  served  nine  years  as  telegraph 
operator  and  station  agent  in  the  employ  of 
the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Railroad  Com- 
pany. He  then  resumed  his  active  alliance 
with  farm  enterprise  and  brought  to  bear  the 
specific  knowledge  which  he  had  earlier  gained 
in  connection  with  the  work  of  the  old  home 
farm  on  which  he  was  reared.  He  has  made 
each  successive  year  count  in  worthy  achieve- 
ment as  a  farmer  and  has  made  excellent  im- 
provements on  his  fine  rural  estate,  his  home- 
stead being  in  Section  20,  Sherman  township. 

November  1,  1894,  recorded  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  Thom  to  Miss  Emma  H.  Gramenz, 
daughter  of  William  and  Minnie  (Menchau) 
Gramenz.  Mr.  Gramenz  was  born  and  reared 
in  Germany  and  as  a  young  man  he  was  a 
soldier  in  the  German  army,  with  which  he 
participated  in  the  Franco-Prussian  war  and 
was  with  the  victorious  forces  that  entered  the 
city  of  Paris,  he  having  been  a  lieutenant  of 
liis  command.  In  1872  he  came  to  the  United 
States  and  settled  at  Rock  Island,  Illinois.  He 
worked  as  a  brickmaker,  accumulated  a  com- 
petency, and  he  and  his  wife  now  maintain 
their  home  in  California,  Mrs.  Gramenz  hav- 
ing been  born  at  Coal  Valley,  Illinois.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Thom  have  two  children  —  Harold, 
who  was  born  February  10,  1900.  and  Minnie, 
who  was  born  November  1.  1905.  The  son 
was  graduated  in  the  Beatrice  high  school,  as 
a  member  of  the  class  of  1918. 

In   the   village   of   Fliley   Mr.   Thom   is  af- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


941 


filiated  with  the  lodge  of  Ancient  Free  &  Ac- 
cepted ]\Iasons,  and  in  politics  he  gives  his  al- 
legiance to  the  Republican  party. 

JAMES  W.  GISH  is  numbered  among  the 
representative  exponents  of  farm  industry  in 
Rockford  township,  where  his  fine  homestead 
farm  of  two  hundred  and  forty  acres  is  sit- 
uated in  Section  33.  besides  which  he  is  the 
owner  of  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  located  about  two  miles  east  of  his  home 
place.  Mr.  Gish  was  born  in  Roanoke,  Wood- 
ford county,  Illinois,  July  2,  1860,  and  is  a 
son  of  William  A.  and  Sarah  E.  (Statler) 
Gish,  both  natives  of  Roanoke,  Virginia,  their 
marriage  h?.ving  been  solemnized  at  Salem, 
that  state.  William  A.  Gish  became  a  pioneer 
farmer  in  Woodford  county,  Illinois,  where 
he  continued  his  activities  until  1892,  when 
he  came  to  Nebraska  and  purchased  a  large 
farm  in  Gage  county.  Upon  retiring  from 
active  labors  he  established  his  residence  at 
Juniata,  Adams  county,  and  he  and  his  wife 
died  in  1904;  they  were  killed  in  a  terrific 
storm,  at  Bloomington,  Franklin  county,  Ne- 
braska. They  became  the  parents  of  a  fine 
family  of  eighteen  children,  and  of  the  num- 
ber nine  are  living.  Mr.  Gish  was  a  Demo- 
crat in  politics  and  he  and  his  wife  held  mem- 
bership in  the  Brethren  church.  Both  were 
representatives  of  sterling  families  early  found- 
ed in  Virginia,  and  their  parents  passed  their 
entire  lives  in  the  historic  Old  Dominion. 

James  W.  Gish  gained  his  initial  experience 
of  practical  order  in  connection  with  the  work 
of  the  old  home  farm  in  Illinois,  was  afforded 
the  advantages  of  the  public  schools  and  in 
later  years  he  has  not  faltered  in  his  allegiance 
to  the  basic  industries  of  agriculture  and  stock- 
growing,  through  the  medium  of  which  he  has 
achieved  unequivocal  success.  He  has  been  a 
resident  of  Gage  county  since  1883  and  is  a 
progressive  farmer  and  valued  citizen  of  Rock- 
ford  township.  He  is  independent  in  politics 
and  he  is  an  active  member  of  the  Brethren 
church. 

In  1884  Mr.  Gish  wedded  Miss  Mary  J. 
Reifif,  who  died  in  1905,  at  the  age  of  thirty- 
nine  years.     She  was  a  daughter  of  Joseph 


and  Mary  Reiff,  concerning  whom  specific 
mention  is  made  on  other  pages,  in  the  sketch 
of  the  career  of  John  B.  Reiff.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Gish  became  the  parents  of  seven  children : 
Frank  is  engaged  in  farming  in  Rockford 
township ;  Mabel  is  the  wife  of  Robert  H. 
Steinmeyer,  cashier  of  the  Holmesville  State 
Bank ;  Flora  is  the  wife  of  Oscar  Frantz,  an- 
other of  the  prosperous  farmers  of  Rockford 
township ;  Ethel  is  the  wife  of  Arthur  M.  Mil- 
ler, residing  one-half  mile  west  of  Holmes- 
ville ;  Clayton  W.  is  employed  in  farming  the 
home  place ;  Ray  and  Maude  remain  at  the 
paternal  home. 

WILLIAM  H.  PARDE  is  vigorously  and 
successfully  carrying  forward  his  operations 
as  an  agriculturist  and  stock-grower  on  his 
excellent  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres, 
in  Section  34,  Hooker  township,  and  his  status 
as  a  citizen  is  such  as  to  entitle  him  to  special 
recognition  in  this  history.  He  was  born  in 
Adams  county,  Illinois,  in  1873,  and  is  a  son 
of  Heye  and  Tuter  (Bowman)  Parde,  who 
were  born  in  Germany  and  who  became  resi- 
dents of  Illinois  upon  coming  to  America.  In 
1887  Heye  Parde  came  with  his  family  to  Gage 
county  and  settled  in  Hanover  township,  where 
he  eventually  became  the  owner  of  four  hun- 
dred and  fifty  acres  of  land  and  developed  one 
of  the  valuable  farm  properties  of  the  county, 
his  political  allegiance  having  been  given  to 
the  Democratic  party  and  he  and  his  wife 
having  been  zealous  members  of  the  Luther- 
an church.  Of  their  eight  children  five  are 
living:  Peter  is  a  farmer  in  Hooker  town- 
ship; William  H.,  of  this  review,  was  the 
next  in  order  of  birth ;  Edward  is  a  farmer 
in  Hooker  township ;  Herman  lives  on  his 
father's  old  homestead  farm ;  Kate  is  the  wife 
of  John  Stevens,  likewise  a  prosperous  farmer 
of  this  county;  Anna  is  the  wife  of  John  Deitz- 
man,  a  farmer  in  Hooker  township. 

William  H,  Parde  acquired  his  early  educa- 
tion in  the  schools  of  Illinois  and  Gage  county, 
he  having  been  about  fourteen  years  old  at 
the  time  of  the  family  removal  to  Nebraska,  as 
noted  above.  He  continued  to  be  associated 
with  his  father  in  farm  enterprise  until  he  had 


942 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


attained  to  the  age  of  twenty-two  years,  when 
he  purchased  a  farm  of  eighty  acres.  Later 
he  estabHshed  his  residence  on  his  present 
fine  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  and 
he  is  one  of  the  successful  and  energetic  ex- 
ponents of  agricuhural  and  live-stock  enter- 
prise in  Gage  county.  He  is  a  Republican  in 
politics,  has  served  two  years  as  road  super- 
visor, and  he  and  his  wife  hold  membership 
in  the  Hanover  Lutheran  church. 

In  1896  Mr.  Parde  wedded  Miss  Christina 
Eilers,  who  was  born  at  Petersburg,  Illinois,  a 
daughter  of  Fritz  Filers,  who  is  now  a  pros- 
perous farmer  in  Hooker  township.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Parde  have  five  children  —  Heye,  ]\Iin- 
nie,  Tillie,  Frederick,  and  William  H..  Jr. 

OTHO  BOYD  has  been  for  many  years  a 
vigorous  and  successful  exponent  of  agricul- 
tural and  live-stock  industry  in  Gage  county 
and  accumulated  a  large  and  well  improved 
landed  estate  in  Sherman  township,  his  pleas- 
ant home  place  being  in  Section  16,  on  rural 
mail  route  No.  1  from  the  village  of  Virginia. 

Mr.  Boyd  was  born  at  Canton,  Illinois,  De- 
cember 3,  1851,  and  is  a  son  of  John  and 
Susan  (Teach)  Boyd,  the  former  of  whom 
was  born  in  Maryland,  a  son  of  William  Boyd, 
who  came  from  England  to  that  state  and  who 
there  passed  the  residue  of  his  life.  Mrs. 
Susan  (Teach)  Boyd  was  born  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, a  daughter  of  Peter  and  ]\iargaret 
Teach.  John  Boyd,  who  was  a  shoemaker  by 
trade,  established  his  residence  in  Illinois  in 
the  '40s,  and  in  1865  he  removed  with  his  fam- 
ily to  Iowa,  where  he  purchased  two  hundred 
acres  of  land  and  developed  a  valuable  farm 
property.  In  1882  he  came  to  Gage  county, 
Nebraska,  where  he  made  investment  in  a 
tract  of  four  hundred  and  eighty  acres  of  land, 
nearly  all  of  which  was  unbroken  prairie.  This 
he  reclaimed  and  improved  and  in  this  county 
he  and  his  wife  passed  the  remainder  of  their 
lives,  both  having  been  earnest  members  of 
the  Dunkard  church  and  he  having  been  a  Re- 
publican in  politics.  Of  the  children  the  fol- 
lowing brief  record  is  available :  Sarah  is  the 
wife  of  Lawrence  Thornton,  M.  D.,  who  is 
now  living  virtually  retired  in  the  village  of 


Virginia,  this  county ;  Otho,  of  this  review, 
was  the  next  in  order  of  birth ;  Margaret  is  the 
wife  of  Ira  R.  Grover,  a  farmer  of  Sherman 
township;  Peter  is  a  retired  farmer  residing 
in  Iowa ;  Nettie  is  the  wife  of  William  H.  But- 
terfield,  of  Sherman  township;  David  lives  in 
Sherman  township;  and  Martha  is  the  wife  of 
David  Kesler,  of  Sherman  township. 

Otho  Boyd  gained  his  early  education  in 
the  schools  of  Illinois  and  Iowa  and  has  been 
actively  concerned  with  farm  industry  from 
his  youth.  L^pon  coming  to  Gage  county  he 
bought  a  farm  in  Sherman  township,  and  to 
the  same  he  later  added  from  time  to  time 
until  he  had  a  valuable  estate  of  six  hundred 
acres  —  one  of  the  fine  rural  domains  of  this 
section  of  the  state.  He  has  won  success  en- 
tirely through  his  own  ability  and  well  ordered 
eflforts  and  is  one  of  the  substantial  and  hon- 
ored citizens  of  Gage  county.  In  the  live- 
stock department  of  his  extensive  farm  opera- 
tions he  has  given  special  attention  to  the 
raising  of  Red  Polled  cattle  and  Duroc- Jersey 
swine,  most  of  his  cattle  and  swine  being  reg- 
istered stock.  He  has  sold  to  his  children  all 
but  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  his  fine 
landed  estate  and  is  to  live  in  semi-retirement 
from  the  cares  and  labors  that  have  so  long 
been  his  portion.  Mr.  Boyd  is  a  loyal  advo- 
cate of  the  principles  of  the  Republican  party, 
has  served  as  road  supervisor,  and  for  twelve 
years  he  was  a  member  of  the  school  board 
of  his  district.  He  and  his  family  hold  mem- 
bership in  the  Dunkard  church. 

In  1873  was  solemnized  the  marriage  of  Mr. 
Boyd  to  Miss  Lucy  Cobaugh,  who  was  born 
in  Pennsylvania,  a  daughter  of  Paul  Cobaugh, 
who  removed  with  his  family  to  Iowa  in  1864 
and  who  passed  the  closing  years  of  his  life  in 
the  Gage  county  home  of  his  daughter,  Mrs. 
Boyd.  In  conclusion  is  entered  brief  record 
concerning  the  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Boyd: 
John  C.  is  a  progressive  farmer  in  Sherman 
township ;  Susan  is  the  wife  of  Amos  C.  Kin- 
zie,  of  the  same  township ;  Ernest  is  now  a  res- 
ident of  Pratt  county,  Kansas;  Martin  E.  is 
farming  in  Sherman  township;  Stella  is  the 
wife  of  David  J.  Holsinger,  of  Sherman  town- 
ship. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


943 


ABRAHAM  L.  THORNBURG  has  been  a 
resident  of  Gage  county  from  the  time  of  at- 
taining to  his  legal  majority  and  is  a  scion  of 
one  of  the  honored  pioneer  families  that  was 
here  founded  in  the  territorial  era.  He  is  a 
representative  farmer  in  Midland  township 
and  his  landed  estate  in  its  very  appearance 
indicates  the  prosperity  that  has  attended  his 
activities  as  an  agriculturist  and  stock-grower. 
Abraham  Lincoln  Thornburg  was  born  in 
Midland  township,  on  the  10th  of  July,  1865, 
and  is  a  son  of  Job  Alexander  Thornburg  and 
Sarah  Jane  ( Craig)  Thornburg,  both  of  whom 
were  born  and  reared  in  Indiana,  the  former 
having  been  a  cousin  of  John  D.  Thornburg, 
of  whom  specific  mention  is  made  on  other 
pages,  with  incidental  record  concerning  the 
family  history.  The  parents  of  the  subject  of 
this  review  came  to  Gage  county  in  the  spring 
of  1863,  and  the  death  of  the  father  occurred 
ill  the  following  year,  his  venerable  widow  be- 
ing now  a  resident  of  Delaware  county,  In- 
diana. Of  the  two  children  one  died  in  early 
childhood.  Upon  coming  to  Gage  county  Job 
A.  Thornburg  took  up  a  homestead  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty  acres,  in  Midland  town- 
ship, and  here  he  provided  a  pioneer  dug-out 
to  serve  as  a  residence  until  he  could  complete 
his  log  house.  In  the  latter  home  his  death 
soon  occurred  and  his  widow  then  returned  to 
the  old  home  in  Indiana,  taking  with  her  her 
infant  son,  Abraham  L.,  who  thus  missed  in 
his  boyhood  the  experiences  of  pioneer  life  in 
his  native  county.  His  venerable  mother  is  a 
devoted  member  of  the  Christian  church,  as 
was  also  the  father,  who  was  a  comparatively 
young  man  at  the  time  of  his  death. 

He  whose  name  initiates  this  review  was 
reared  and  educated  in  Delaware  county,  In- 
diana, and  upon  attaining  to  the  age  of  twen- 
ty-one years  he  returned  to  Nebraska  and  as- 
sumed control  of  the  farm  property  that  had 
been  obtained  by  his  father  in  the  territorial 
days.  This  property  comprises  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres,  and  he  owns  also  a  farm  of 
eighty  acres,  south  of  Beatrice,  in  Sicily  town- 
ship. With  the  vital  ambition  and  energy  of 
youth  Mr.  Thornburg  began  the  work  of  im- 
proving his  farm  and  bringing  the  same  under 


effective  cultivation.  Each  successive  year  of 
application  marked  a  distinct  advancement  and 
he  now  has  one  of  the  well  improved  and 
valuable  farm  properties  of  his  native  county, 
the  same  being  given  over  to  diversified  agri- 
culture and  stock-growing.  His  present  house 
was  erected  in  the  late  "80s  and  has  since  been 
notably  improved,  while  the  other  farm  build- 
ings likewise  indicate  thrift  and  prosperity. 
His  political  allegiance  is  given  to  the  Repub- 
lican party  and  his  wife  and  children  hold 
membership  in  the  Christian  church,  which  he 
attends  and  supports. 

In  1878  Mr.  Thornburg  wedded  Miss  Adelia 
Le  Poidevin,  a  daughter  of  Thomas  Le  Poide- 
vin,  of  whom  mention  is  made  on  other  pages, 
and  of  the  four  children  of  this  union  three 
are  living:  Clifford  is  a  member  of  the  na- 
tional army  preparing  for  service  in  the  great 
European  war  and  at  the  time  of  this  writing, 
in  the  spring  of  1918,  is  stationed  with  his 
command  at  Deming,  New  Mexico,  he  being 
twenty-seven  years  of  age;  Guy,  who  is  twen- 
ty-five years  of  age  and  who  married  Miss 
Grace  Spitznogle,  is  associated  in  the  manage- 
ment of  his  father's  farm,  as  is  also  Ferris, 
who  is  twenty-two  years  of  age. 

WILLIAM  T.  FRY,  a  man  of  broad  men- 
tal ken  and  mature  judgment,  has  achieved 
success  through  his  association  with  agricul- 
tural and  live-stock  enterprise  in  Gage  county 
and  his  well  improved  farm  property  is  sit- 
uated in  Section  15,  Rockford  township.  He 
was  born  in  Keokuk  county,  Iowa,  July  29,. 
1864,  his  parents,  John  and  Sarah  (Coffman) 
Fry,  having  been  pioneer  settlers  of  that  sec- 
tion of  the  Hawkeye  state  and  both  having 
been  born  in  the  picturesque  mountain  town 
of  Staunton,  Virginia  —  the  father  in  1822  and 
the  mother  in  1831.  The  marriage  of  the  par- 
ents was  solemnized  at  Harper's  Ferry,  Vir- 
ginia, and  thereafter  Mr.  Fry  continued  to  be 
identified  with  farm  industry  in  Virginia  for 
several  years.  In  1854  he  numbered  himself 
among  the  early  settlers  of  Keokuk  county, 
Iowa,  the  overland  trip  having  been  made  with 
team  and  wagon.  He  purchased  land  and  im- 
proved a  good  farm,  and  there  he  continued 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


his  residence  until  1880,  when  he  came  to  Paw- 
nee county,  Nebraska,  where  he  passed  the 
residue  of  his  Hfe,  his  death  having  occurred 
in  1900  and  that  of  his  wife  in  1914.  Of  their 
eight  children  seven  are  living:  Frank  is  a 
farmer  in  Sherman  township.  Gage  county; 
Cyrus  is  a  farmer  in  Iowa ;  David  is  engaged 
in  farming  near  Belleville,  Kansas ;  Nettie  is 
the  wife  of  Isaac  B.  Niswander,  of  Guthrie, 
Oklahoma;  Jennie  is  the  wife  of  Henry  :M. 
Flora,  a  substantial  farmer  of  Chase  county, 
Nebraska,  where  he  served  four  years  as  coun- 
ty treasurer;  WilHam  T..  of  this  sketch,  was 
the  next  in  order  of  birth;  and  Wesley  is  a 
prosperous  farmer  in  Pawnee  county,  this 
state.  Mary,  the  second  child,  died  in  Vir- 
ginia. The  parents  were  zealous  members  of 
the  Brethren  church  and  the  father  held  to  the 
faith  of  the  Democratic  party,  under  the  influ- 
ences of  which  he  was  reared.  He  was  a  son 
of  Rudolph  Fry,  who  passed  his  entire  life  in 
A'irginia  and  whose  parents  were  natives  of 
Germany.  Christian  Cofifman,  maternal  grand- 
father of  the  subject  of  this  review,  was  born 
in  Virginia,  in  1769,  his  parents  having  come 
from  Germany  and  become  colonial  settlers  of 
the  historic  Old  Dominion. 

William  T.  Fry  made  good  use  of  the  ad- 
vantages afforded  in  the  district  schools  of  his 
native  state  and  later  he  completed  normal  and 
commercial  courses  in  Holton  University, 
Kansas.  After  the  family  removal  to  Ne- 
hraska  he  was  for  some  time  employed  as  clerk 
in  a  general  store  and  also  as  assistant  post- 
master at  Imperial,  Chase  county.  He  home- 
steaded  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land 
there  and  for  a  few  years  thereafter  he  farmed 
on  land  rented  from  his  father,  in  Pawnee 
county.  He  finally  purchased  the  eighty  acres 
in  Pawnee  county,  and  after  selling  this  prop- 
erty he  bought  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of 
his  present  valuable  landed  estate  in  Gage 
county,  where  he  now  owns  a  half-section  of 
the  valuable  land  of  Rockford  township  —  a 
property  accumulated  entirely  through  his  own 
ability  and  well  ordered  activities. 

In  1896  Mr.  Fry  wedded  Miss  Ella  Dor- 
rance,  who  was  born  in  Pawnee  county 
state,   a   daughter   of   John    G 


this 
and   Florence 


Dorrance,  who  there  homesteaded  in  1867  and 
who  are  now  venerable  and  honored  pioneer 
citizens  of  that  county,  living  at  Pawnee  City. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fry  have  five  children  —  John, 
Wesley,  Vera,  Chester,  and  Lawrence. 

Mr.  Fry  is  liberal  and  progressive  as  a  citi- 
zen, is  a  Republican  in  politics  and  is  now 
serving,  1918,  as  a  member  of  the  official  board 
of  Rockford  township,  besides  which  he  has 
been  for  fifteen  years  a  valued  member  of  the 
school  board  of  his  district.  In  connection  with 
his  well  directed  farm  enterprises  he  raised  a 
goodly  amount  of  cattle  and  swine,  making  a 
specialty  of  raising  the  full-blood  Poland-China 
hogs.  He  and  his  wife  are  earnest  members 
of  the  Brethren  church.  Mrs.  Fry  was  grad- 
uated in  the  high  school  at  Pawnee  City  and 
prior  to  her  marriage  had  been  for  six  years 
a  popular  teacher  in  the  schools  of  her  native 
county. 

EHME  WALLMANN.  —  Through  his  own 
energy  and  well  ordered  activities  Mr.  Wall- 
mann  has  become  one  of  the  substantial  and 
representative  exponents  of  farm  enterprise  in 
Gage  county,  where  he  has  maintained  his 
home  since  1883  and  where  he  is  now  the  own- 
er of  a  valuable  farm  estate  of  six  hundred 
acres,  his  attractive  homestead  place  being  in 
Section  11,  Logan  township. 

Mr.  Wallmann  was  born  in  the  eastern  part 
of  Germany,  on  the  30th  of  May,  1857,  and  is 
a  son  of  Jeremiah  and  Annie  (Miller)  Wall- 
mann, both  of  whom  passed  their  entire  lives 
in  Germany,  where  the  father  was  a  farmer  by 
vocation.  The  subject  of  this  review  is  the 
one  surviving  of  the  two  children  of  his  fath- 
er's first  marriage  and  of  the  four  children  of 
the  second  marriage  two  are  living  —  George, 
a  retired  farmer  in  the  state  of  Missouri,  and 
Alma,  who  is  »the  wife  of  Benjamin  Omman, 
of  Hanover  township.  Gage  county,  Nebraska. 
The  parents  were  earnest  communicants  of  the 
Lutheran  churcli,  and  the  father  died  in  the 
year  1880. 

Ehme  Wallmann  gained  his  youthful  educa- 
tion in  the  schools  of  his  native  land  and  was  a 
young  man  of  twenty-three  years  when  he 
came  to  America,  in  1880,  and  established  his 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


945 


residence  in  Johnson  county,  Nebraska.  There 
he  was  employed  at  farm  work  until  1883, 
when  he  came  to  Gage  county  and  purchased 
eighty  acres  of  land  in  Logan  township.  In 
acquiring  this  property  he  was  able  to  make 
only  partial  payment,  but  he  had  full  confi- 
dence in  his  ability  to  win  through  energy  and 
resolute  industry  eventual  success.  On  his 
farm,  which  was  at  the  time  unbroken  prairie, 
he  erected  a  little  house  of  one  room  and  in 
this  little  domicile  he  and  his  wife  provided 
also  accommodation  for  the  school  teacher 
who  was  making  her  home  with  them.  He 
soon  built  a  new  house,  but  July  24,  1898, 
this  was  destroyed  by  fire.  He  then  erected 
his  present  attractive  and  comfortable  house 
of  eight  rooms,  and  with  increasing  prosper- 
ity he  has  erected  other  farm  buildings  of 
substantial  and  modern  type,  the  while  he  has 
developed  to  the  best  standard  his  large  and 
valuable  farm  property.  Mr.  Wallmann  is  in- 
dependent in  politics  and  he  and  his  wife  are 
active  communicants  of  the  Lutheran  church, 
in  which  he  holds  the  office  of  clerk.  He 
served  five  years  as  road  supervisor  and  two 
years  as  township  assessor,  these  preferments 
indicating  the  confidence  and  esteem  reposed 
in  him  in  his  home  community. 

On  May  1,  1884,  Mr.  Wallmann  wedded 
Miss  Margaret  Jurgens,|a-  daughter  of  Thee 
Jurgens,  of  whom  mentfdji  is  made  on  other 
pages.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wallmann  have  a  fine 
family  of  ten  children:  Jerry  has  charge  of 
his  father's  farm  in  Filley  township;  Annie 
is  the  wife  of  Thees  Busboom,  of  Logan  town- 
ship;  Thee  is  a  farmer  in  Logan  township; 
George  in  Logan  township;  John  in  Hanov- 
er township;  and  the  children  who  remain  at 
the  parental  home  are:  Henry,  Ehme,  Jr., 
Theodore,  WiUiam,  and  Richard. 


JAMES  E.  BROWN,  who  has  been  a  resi- 
dent of  Gage  county  for  nearly  two  score 
years  and  who  has  contributed  worthily  to  the 
advancement  of  farm  industry  in  the  county, 
has  lived  virtually  retired,  in  the  city  of  Bea- 
trice, since  1901,  and  he  and  his  wife  have  a 
large  and  attractive  residence  at  702  North 
Eighth   street,   where  they   are   enjoying  the 


gracious   peace   and   prosperity  that  properly 
crown  the  earnest  activities  of  former  years. 
James  Edward  Brown  was  born  in  Stephen- 
son county,  Illinois,  on  the  9th  of  September, 
1845,  and  is    a    son    of    William   and    Lydia 
(Hatch)   Brown,  the  former  a  native  of  Ire- 
land and  the  latter  of  the  state  of  New  York. 
William  Brown  was  six  years  old  at  the  time 
of  the  family  immigration  from  the  Emerald 
Isle   to   America,   and   in    1838  he  became  a 
pioneer   settler   in   Wisconsin.     Later   he   re- 
moved   to    Illinois    and    purchased    land    in 
Stephenson  county,  where  he  became  a  suc- 
cessful  farmer  and  where  bo^h  he  and  his 
wife  passed  the  residue  of  their  lives,  his  death 
having  occurred  in  1871.     Of  the  seven  chil- 
dren  only   three   are   now   living.     James   E. 
Brown  was  reared  to  the  sturdy  discipline  of 
the  farm,  received  his  early  education  in  the 
common    schools    of    his    native    state,    and 
though  he  was  not  yet  sixteen  years  of  age 
at  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  war  his  youthful 
patriotism  was  of  insistent  order  and  was  not 
long  to   be   denied   expression.     About   three 
months    after   his    eighteenth    birthday    anni- 
versary   Mr.   Brown,   a   remarkably   vigorous 
youth  who  was  six  feet  in  height  and  weighed 
two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds,  tendered  the 
full  force  of  his  brain  and  brawn  in  defense  of 
the  integrity  of  the  nation.     On  the  26lh  of 
December,    1863,  he  enlisted  as  a  private  in 
Company  D,  Forty-sixth  Illinois  Volunteer  In- 
fantry, George  C.  Crane  having  been  captain 
of   the  company.      With   this   command    Mr. 
Brown  'proceeded  to  the  front  and  with  the 
same  he  continued  to  serve  for  a  number  of 
months  after  victory  had  crowned  the  Union 
arms,   as   he   was   mustered   out   January  20, 
1866,  his  honorable  discharge  having  been  re- 
ceived on  the  2d  of  the  following  month.     He 
took  part  in  the  historic  Red  River  campaign, 
the  siege  and  capture  of  Mobile,  and  in  vari- 
ous   other   active    engagements,    and   he   was 
favored    in    never   having   been    wounded   or 
captured.     His  fine  physical  powers  stood  him 
well    in    the    arduous    service    incidental    to 
marches  and  campaign  activities,  and  during 
his  entire  period  of  service  he  endured  only 
minor  illness,  which  did  not  long  incapacitate 


946 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


947 


him,  he  having  been  mustered  out  at  Baton 
Rouge,  Louisiana,  and  having  then  returned 
to  his   home,   in   Stephenson  county,   IlHnois, 
where  he   found  employment  at   farm  work. 
In  1871  he  went  to  Story  county,  Iowa,  where 
he  purchased  eighty  acres  of  land,  for  which 
he  paid  twenty  dollars  an  acre.     There  he  con- 
tinued development  work  and  farni  enterprise 
for  the  ensuing  four  years,  at  the  expiration  of 
which   he   sold   the   property   at   the   rate   of 
twenty-five    dollars    an    acre.     Thereafter   he 
farmed  on  rented  land  in  Stephenson  county, 
Illinois,  until  1883,  when  he  came  to  Nebraska 
and    established    his   permanent    residence    in 
Gage  county.     In  Holt  township,  at  a  point 
three    miles    west   of    the   present    village   of 
Pickrell,  he  purchased  one  hundred  acres  of 
unimproved  land,  and  in  the  spring  of  the  fol- 
lowing year  he  brought  his  family  to  the  new 
home,  the  domicile  of  the  family  for  the  first 
summer  having  been  a  crude  shanty,  fourteen 
by  sixteen  feet  in  dimensions.     In  the  follow- 
ing autumn  Mr.  Brown  purchased  an  adjoin- 
ing tract  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  and 
he  then  erected  a  good  frame  house  as  a  home 
for  his   family.     He  gained  secure  status  as 
one  of  the  substantial  and  progressive  expon- 
ents of  farm  industry  in  the  county,  made  the 
best  of   improvements  on  his   land  and  con- 
tinued to  reside  on  the  old  home  place  until 
1901,  since  which  time,  as  previously  stated, 
he  has  lived  retired  in  the  city  of  Beatrice. 

On  the  8th  of  February,  1871,  was  solemn- 
ized the  marriage  of  Mr.  Brown  to  Miss  Mary 
E.  Fuller,  of  Stephenson  county,  Illinois.  Mrs. 
Brown  was  born  February  18,  1849,  in  Jef- 
ferson county.  New  York.  She  is  a  daughter 
of  Jacob  and  Lydia  (Spencer)  Fuller,  both 
natives  of  Vermont  Mr.  Fuller  died  in  Jef- 
ferson county.  New  York,  and  his  widow 
later  removed  with  her  children  to  Stephenson 
county,  Illinois,  where  she  passed  the  remain- 
der of  her  life.  Mrs.  Brown,  a  woman  of  gen- 
tle and  winning  personality,  proved  a  true 
helpmeet  to  her  sturdy  young  husband  and 
their  companionship  during  the  long  interven- 
ing years  has  been  ideal  in  all  relations.  They 
have  three  daughters:  Dora  is  the  wife  of 
David  Neher,  and  they  reside  on  her  father's 


old  homestead  farm  in  Holt  township,  their 
three  children  being  Leslie,  Charlotte  and 
Violet;  Mary  Jeanette,  the  second  daughter 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brown,  is  the  wife  of  Jacob 
Meyer,  of  Beatrice,  and  they  have  two  chil- 
dren,— DeLysle  and  Ruth;  Ida,  youngest  of 
the  daughters,  is  the  wife  of  A.  Blaine  Ozman, 
a  prosperous  farmer  in  Holt  township,  and 
they  have  two  children,  Dwight  and  Evelyn. 

Though  he  has  passed  the  psalmist's  span 
of  three  score  years  and  ten,  Mr.  Brown  re- 
tains splendid  physical  vigor  and  is  erect  and 
active,  with  a  commanding  physique  that  the 
passing  years  have  touched  most  lightly.  He 
is  aligned  as  a  staunch  supporter  of  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  Republican  party  and  while  on 
his  farm  he  served  as  a  member  of  the  school 
board  of  his  district,  having  invariably  de- 
clined to  become  a  candidate  for  any  other 
office.  Mr.  Brown  vitalizes  the  memories  of 
his  youthful  military  career  by  his  affiliation 
with  Rawlins  Post,  Grand  Army  of  the  Re- 
public, in  his  home  city.  He  and  his  wife 
are  earnest  members  of  the  Congregational 
church,  and  they  have  inviolable  place  in  the 
esteem  an  affection  of  a  host  of  friends  in 
Gage  county. 


JACOB  P.  SAUSMAN.  — As  a  dealer  in 
creamery  products,  poultry,  flour,  and  feed, 
Mr.  Sausman  has  built  up  a  prosperous  en- 
terprise in  the  village  of  Cortland  and  he  is 
a  popular  member  of  one  of  the  sterling  pio- 
neer families  of  Gage  county. 

Mr.  Sausman  was  born  at  Lena,  Stephenson 
county,  Illinois,  December  11,  1859,  and  is  a 
sen  of  John  L.  and  Caroline  (Shearer)  Saus- 
man, the  only  other  child  having  been  Joseph, 
who  died  when  about  fifty-six  years  of  age. 
John  L.  Sausman  was  born  in  L'nion  county, 
Pennsylvania,  February  18,  1834,  and  his 
death  occurred  May  25,  1904.  During  the 
period  of  his  residence  in  Illinois  he  followed 
the  trade  of  stonemason,  and  on  the  10th  of 
March,  1875,  he  established  the  family  home 
on  a  pioneer  farm  one  mile  east  of  Cortland, 
Gage  county.  Here  he  continued  his  active 
association  with  farm  enterprise  until  1880, 
when    he    removed    to    the    city    of    Beatrice, 


948 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


where  he  passed  the  remainder  of  his  hfe. 
He  reclaimed  his  farm  from  the  virgin  prairie 
and  made  good  improvements  on  the  place, 
this  property  having  been  sold  by  him  in  1881. 
During  the  remainder  of  his  active  career  he 
followed  his  trade  and  was  a  successful  con- 
tractor in  Beatrice.  He  was  a  gallant  soldier 
of  the  Union  in  the  Civil  war,  his  service  hav- 
ing been  with  the  Forty-si.xth  Illinois  Volun- 
teer Infantry,  in  which  he  enlisted  in  1861. 
He  participated  in  the  battle  of  Shiloh,  in 
which  he  received  a  wound  of  minor  order, 
and  after  serving  three  years  he  reenlisted 
as  a  veteran,  so  that  he  continued  as  a  soldier 
of  the  Union  during  virtually  the  entire  period 
of  the  war.  He  was  in  later  years  an  hon- 
ored and  influential  member  of  the  post  of 
the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic  at  Beatrice. 
He  was  a  son  of  Joseph  and  Hannah  Saus- 
man,  the  former  of  whom  was  born  in  France, 
whence  he  came  with  his  parents  to  America 
when  he  was  a  boy.  He  was  reared  in  the 
state  of  Pennsylvania,  where  his  marriage  was 
solemnized,  and  finally  he  removed  with  his 
family  to  Illinois  and  became  a  pioneer  farm- 
er in  Stephenson  county,  where  he  and  his 
wife  passed  the  residue  of  their  lives.  ]\Irs. 
Caroline  (Shearer)  Sausman  was  born  in 
Cumberland  county,  Pennsylvania,  October  6, 
1835,  a  daughter  of  Jacob  and  Fannie  (Bi- 
celine)  Shearer,  likewise  natives  of  that  state, 
and  her  death  occurred  at  Beatrice,  Nebraska, 
April   14,   1894. 

Jacob  P.  Sausman  was  reared  and  educated 
in  Illinois  and  in  Jo  Daviess  county,  that 
state,  he  gained  early  experience  in  connection 
with  farm  work.  He  was  fifteen  years  of  age 
when  he  accompanied  his  parents  to  Gage 
county,  Nebraska,  and  here  he  gave  effective 
aid  in  the  reclaiming  and  improving  of  the 
home  farm,  eighty  acres  of  which  he  event- 
ually purchased.  In  1884  he  sold  his  farm 
and  removed  to  Cortland,  where  he  established 
a  draying  business.  Later  he  was  employed 
four  years  as  a  traveling  representative  of  the 
International  Harvester  Company,  after  hav- 
ing previously  been  engaged  for  a  number  of 
years  in  the  coal  and  farm-implement  business 
at  Cortland.     In  1905  he  established  his  pres- 


ent creamery  business  in  Cortland,  after  hav- 
ing previously  had  charge  of  the  Cortland 
station  of  the  Beatrice  Creamery  Company, 
and  in  his  enterprise  in  the  handling  of  cream- 
ery products,  poultry,  flour,  and  feed  he  has 
developed  a  substantial  and  prosperous  busi- 
ness. In  politics  he  is  a  stalwart  Republican 
and  he  served  from  19Q4  to  1906,  inclusive,  as 
deputy  assessor  of  Highland  township.  He 
is  afflliated  with  the  Masonic  fraternity  and 
the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America. 

On  the  18th  of  November,  1880,  Mr.  Saus- 
man wedded  Miss  Villetia  Batten,  who  was 
born  at  Ottawa,  Illinois,  January  25,  1859, 
a  daughter  of  William  and  Mary  (Hayward) 
Batten,  natives  respectively  of  Maine  and  Ver- 
mont. The  parents  of  Mrs.  Sausman  came 
from  Illinois  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  in 
July,  1871,  and  the  father  entered  claim  to  a 
homestead  one  mile  east  of  Cortland,  where  he 
developed  a  productive  farm,  both  he  and  his 
wife  having  passed  the  remainder  of  their 
lives  in  this  county.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sausman 
have  two  children ;  and  both  were  graduated 
in  the  Cortland  high  school.  Albert  L.,  who 
was  born  April  23,  1883,  conducts  a  barber 
shop  in  Cortland,  the  maiden  name  of  his  wife 
having  been  Ethel  Fink.  Una,  who  was  born 
August  8,  1898,  is  the  wife  of  Alvin  Jung- 
meyer,  who  conducts  an  automobile  garage  at 
Cortland. 


CHRISTIAN  F.  FRY.  —  In  Section  30, 
Sherman  township  is  situated  the  handsome 
and  productive  farm  of  Mr.  Fry,  who  has 
been  a  resident  of  Gage  county  since  1888 
and  who  has  won  prosperity  through  his  own 
efi^orts.  He  was  born  in  Agusta  county,  Vir- 
ginia, January  22,  1851,  and  is  a  son  of  John 
and  Sarah  (CofTman)  Fry,  who  likewise  were 
natives  of  the  historic  Old  Dominion  state, 
where  the  father  was  born  in  1822  and  the 
mother  in  1831.  In  1854  John  Fry  removed 
with  his  family  to  Keokuk  county,  Iowa,  the 
long  overland  trip  having  beeh  made  with 
team  and  wagon,  and  he  became  one  of  the 
pioneer  farmers  of  that  section  of  the  Hawk- 
eye  state.  In  1880  he  came  with  his  family 
to  Pawnee  county,  Nebraska,  and  in  this  state 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


949 


he  passed  the  remainder  of  his  Hfe,  his  death 
having  occurred  in  1900  and  that  of  his  widow 
in  1914,  both  having  been  zealous  members  of 
the  Church  of  the  Brethren.  Of  their  eight 
children  all  are  living  except  one  and  further 
data  concerning  the  family  is  given  on  other 
pages,  in  the  sketch  of  the  career  of  William 
T.  Fry. 

The  subject  of  this  review  was  an  infant 
at  the  time  of  the  family  removal  to  Iowa, 
where  he  received  his  early  education  in  the 
pioneer  schools,  and  he  was  twenty-six  years 
of  age  when  he  accompanied  his  parents  to 
Pawnee  county,  Nebraska.  There  he  contin- 
ued his  association  with  agricultural  industry 
until  1888,  when  he  came  to  Gage  county  and 
purchased  eighty  acres  of  land  in  Sherman 
township,  fifty  acres  of  the  land  having  been 
broken.  To  this  original  homestead  he  has 
since  added  until  he  now  has  a  well  improved 
farm  of  one  hundred  and  fifty-six  acres,  the 
buildings  being  of  excellent  order  and  he 
having  shown  progressiveness  and  good  judg- 
ment in  the  planting  of  shade  trees  which  are 
now  well  matured,  as  is  also  his  orchard', 
which  likewise  was  set  out  by  him.  He  has 
taken  loyal  interest  in  community  affairs  and 
served  fifteen  years  as  a  member  of  the  school 
board  of  his  district.  In  politics  he  is  inde- 
pendent of  strict  partisan  lines  and  supports 
the  men  and  measures  meeting  the  approval 
of  his  judgment.  His  farm  is  devoted  to  di- 
versified agriculture  and  to  the  raising  of 
good  grades  of  cattle  and  swine.  Pertinent 
to  the  high  prices  obtaining  at  the  present 
time,  it  is  interesting  to  record  that  in  the 
earlier  period  of  his  farm  activities  in  Gage 
county  Mr.  Fry  sold  corn  at  the  rate  of  ten 
cents  a  bushel  and  hogs  for  three  and  one- 
half  dollars  per  hundred  weight.  He  and  his 
family  hold  earnestly  to  the  faith  of  the 
Church  of  the  Brethren. 

At  North  English,  Iowa,  in  1874,  Mr.  Fry 
wedded  Miss  Sarah  Ann  Miller,  who  was 
born  in  Rockingham  county,  Virginia,  June 
30,  1853,  a  daughter  of  Noah  and  Frances 
(Huflfman)  Miller,  who  removed  to  Keokuk 
county,  Iowa,  in  1856  and  who  there  passed 
the  remainder  of  their  lives.     Mr.  Miller  was 


a  miller  by  trade  as  well  as  name  but  after 
going  to  Iowa  he  gave  his  attention  to  agri- 
cultural pursuits.  Of  his  twelve  children  all 
are  living  except  two  and  Mrs.  Fry  is  the  eld- 
est of  the  number.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fry  have 
had  four  children :  John  N.  is  employed  as 
a  railway  mail  clerk,  with  headquarters  in  the 
city  of  Omaha;  Minnie  became  the  wife  of 
Ulysses  G.  McPheron  and  was  a  resident  of 
Sherman  township  at  the  time  of  her  death; 
Samuel  E.  is  employed  as  a  railway  mail 
clerk,  out  of  the  city  of  Lincoln ;  and  Ola  M. 
is  the  wife  of  Robert  M.  Jenkins,  a  prosper- 
ous farmer  in  Rockford  township. 

JOHN  T.  BUS'BOOM  came  to  Gage  coun- 
ty in  the  year  1900  and  purchased  a  fine  farm 
of  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  the  same 
comprising  the  west  half  of  Section  7,  Filley 
township.  He  has  remodeled  and  otherwise 
improved  the  buildings  that  were  on  the  place 
and  has  erected  other  buildings,  with  the  re- 
sult that  thrift  and  prosperity  mark  his  estate 
as  one  of  the  model  farms  of  Filley  town- 
ship. Here  he  is  successfully  carrying  for- 
ward his  progressive  activities  as  an  agricul- 
turist and  stock-grower  and  stands  well  to  the 
front  as  one  of  the  substantial  and  represen- 
tative exponents  of  farm  industry  in  Gage 
county,  as  well  as  a  liberal  and  public-spirited 
citizen. 

Mr.  Busboom  was  born  in  Ost  Friesland, 
province  of  Hanover,  Germany,  on  the  29th  of 
May,  1855,  and  is  a  son  of  Thees  and  Imke 
(Adams)  Busboom,  who  came  to  the  United 
States  in  1868  and  established  their  residence 
in  Adams  county,  Illinois,  whence  they  later 
removed  to  Champaign  county,  that  state, 
where  they  passed  the  remainder  of  their  lives 
and  where  the  father  became  a  prosperous 
farmer. 

John  T.  Busboom  acquired  his  rudimentary 
education  in  his  native  land  and  was  thirteen 
years  of  age  at  the  time  of  the  family  immi- 
gration to  America.  He  was  reared  to  adult 
age  on  the  farm  of  his  father  and  in  the  mean- 
while profited  by  the  advantages  of  the  public 
schools  of  Illinois.  There  he  eventually  be- 
came the   owner   of  a  good   farm,   in  Cham- 


950 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


paign  county,  where  he  continued  his  activi- 
ties until  1900,  when  he  sold  his  farm  prop- 
erty and  came  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska, 
where  he  has  since  been  actively  and  success- 
fully engaged  in  farming,  as  previously  noted 
in  this  context,  his  farm  being  now  looked  up- 
on as  one  of  the  finest  in  Gage  county.  In 
politics  Mr.  Busboom  is  independent  and  he 
and  his  wife  hold  membership  in  the  Lutheran 
church. 

In  Champaign  county,  Illinois,  March  10, 
1882,  Mr.  Busboom  wedded  Miss  Tida  Duits- 
man,  who  was  born  in  Germany,  and  they 
have  six  children :  Thees  is  a  successful 
farmer  in  Logan  township ;  Gertrude  is  the 
widow  of  Menne  J.  Leners  and  they  reside 
with  her  parents;  Emma  is  the  wife  of  John 
Ehman,  of  Hanover  township;  Gepke  is  the 
wife  of  Paul  Beahr,  of  Hanover  township; 
Thelka  is  the  wife  of  Thee  Wallman,  of  Lo- 
gan township;  and  John  J.,  who  married  Miss 
Tillie  Remmers,  is  associated  in  the  manage- 
ment of  his  father's  farm. 

JOSEPH  S.  HUBKA  owns  and  gives  his 
active  supervision  to  his  well  improved  farm 
estate  of  four  hundred  and  thirty-four  acres 
and  his  attractive  homestead  is  situated  in 
Section  12,  Sherman  township.  He  is  a  scion 
of  a  sterling  pioneer  family  of  Nebraska  and 
on  other  pages  is  dedicated  a  memoir  to  his 
father,  the  late  Albert  Hubka,  so  that  further 
review  of  the  family  history  is  not  here  de- 
manded. 

Joseph  S.  Hubka  was  born  in  Pawnee  coun- 
ty, Nebraska,  in  the  year  1871,  and  was  reared 
to  the  sturdy  discipline  of  his  father's  farm 
properties  in  Pawnee  and  Gage  counties,  the 
while  he  made  in  his  youth  good  use  of  the  ad- 
vantages afforded  in  the  public  schools.  When 
he  had  attained  to  the  age  of  twenty-five  years 
his  father  gave  to  him  his  present  homestead 
place,  which  comprised  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres,  and  to  the  area  of  the  same  he  has  since 
added  until  he  now  has  a  valuable  farm  prop- 
erty of  four  hundred  and  thirty-four  acres, 
improved  with  good  buildings  and  devoted  to 
diversified    agriculture    and    stock-growing. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-five  years  Mr.  Hubka 


assumed  connubial  responsibilities,  by  his  mar- 
riage to  Miss  Frances  Vavruska,  who  was 
born  in  Marshall  county,  Kansas,  and  they 
became  the  parents  of  four  children:  Ernest 
was  a  member  of  the  class  of  1917  in  the 
University  of  Nebraska;  Latimer  is  attending 
the  local  schools;  Elbert  died  at  the  age  of 
seven  years ;  and  Elmer  is  the  youngest  mem- 
ber of  the  home  circle. 


OSCAR  J.  HAUPT.  — The  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  of  excellently  improved  land 
that  comprise  the  northwest  quarter  of  Section 
20,  Highland  township,  constitute  the  attrac- 
tive farm  owned  and  operated  by  Mr.  Haupt, 
who  is  one  of  the  representative  agriculturists 
and  stock-raisers  of  the  younger  generation 
in  his  native  county.  He  was  born  in  High- 
land township,  June  30,  1884,  and  is  a  son  of 
Julius  and  Catherine  (Pfieffer)  Haupt,  of 
whose  six  children  the  first,  Matilda,  died  at; 
the  age  of  twenty  years;  Augusta  is  the  wife 
of  Henry  Cramer,  of  Stockton,  Kansas;  Rosa 
has  supervision  of  the  domestic  economies 
and  social  amenities  of  the  home  of  her  broth- 
er Oscar  J. ;  Charles  is  a  prosperous  farmer 
in  Clatonia  township;  Oscar  J.,  was  next  in 
order  of  birth ;  Arthur  is  engaged  in  farm  en- 
terprise  in   Highland   township. 

Julius  Haupt  was  born  in  Switzerland,  Jan- 
uary 12,  1844,  and  was  about  nineteen  years 
of  age  when  he  left  that  fair  little  republic  and 
came  to  the  United  States.  At  Peoria,  Illinois, 
he  found  employment  at  his  trade,  that  of 
blacksmith,  in  the  shops  of  the  Avery  Manu- 
facturing Company,  which  was  at  that'  early 
period  conducting  operations  on  a  small  scale. 
While  he  was  thus  engaged,  was  solemnized,, 
at  Peoria,  the  marriage  of  Mr.  Haupt  to  Miss 
Catherine  Pfieffer,  who  was  born  in  Hessen, 
Germany,  April  17,  1844,  and  who  was  a  young 
woman  when  she  came  to  America,  her  father, 
Conrad  Pfieffer,  having  later  come  to  this 
country  and  having  passed  the  closing  years 
of  his  life  in  the  home  of  his  son  Henry,  in 
Gage  county,  Nebraska,  where  he  died  at  the 
patriarchal  age  of  ninety-three  years.  Julius 
Haupt  and  his  wife  came  to  Gage  county 
about  1875.  and  here  he  obtained  a  homestead 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


951 


of  eighty  acres,  in  Section  18,  Highland  town- 
ship. He  endured  his  full  share  of  the  trials 
and  hardships  that  fell  to  the  lot  of  the  pio- 
neers of  this  locality,  but,  with  the  devoted 
cooperation  of  his  wife,  he  pressed  forward 
until  he  achieved  substantial  prosperity.  He 
was  the  owner  of  a  valuable  Gage  county  es- 
tate of  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  at  the 
time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  December 
30.  1916,  his  wife  having  passed  away  on  the 
8th  of  November  of  the  preceding  year,  and 
both  having  been  charter  members  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church  at  Clatonia. 

Oscar  J.  Haupt  early  began  to  assist  in  the 
work  of  the  home  farm  and  after  having  prof- 
ited fully  by  the  advantages  of  the  district 
schools  he  completed  a  course  in  the  Beatrice 
Business  College.  Soon  afterward  he  began 
farming  in  an  independent  way,  and  his  en- 
ergy and  progressiveness  are  bringing  to  him 
success  in  this  great  basic  field  of  industry. 
In  1916  he  purchased  his  present  farm,  to  the 
improvements  of  which  he  has  added  material- 
ly, and  as  he  remains  a  bachelor  he  is  favored 
in  having  as  the  chatelaine  of  his  pleasant 
home  his  sister  Rosa.  He  is  a  stockholder  of 
different  corporations,  is  a  Republican  in  pol- 
itics and  he  and  his  sister  attend  and  support 
the  Congregational  church  at  Cortland. 

The  father  of  Mr.  Haupt  gave  to  the  utmost 
of  his  ability  in  fostering  the  civic  and  mater- 
ial development  of  Gage  county,  and  in  the 
early  days  commonly  walked  from  his  farm 
to  Wilber  to  secure  his  mail.  With  hoe  and 
spade  he  aided  other  pioneers  in  improving 
the  roads  of  his  township,  and  as  a  skilled  ar- 
tisan at  the  blacksmith  trade  he  found  much 
demand  for  his  services,  specially  in  the  pio- 
neer days. 

JOHN  N.  MUMFORD  is  a  representative 
of  one  of  the  well  known  families  of  Gage 
county  and  concerning  the  family  history  ade- 
quate mention  is  made  on  other  pages,  in  the 
sketch  of  G.  L.  Mumford.  He  has  gained  sub- 
stantial place  as  one  of  the  aggressive  and 
successful  exponents  of  agricultural  and  live- 
stock industry  in  his  native  township  of  Logan, 
where  he  was  born  June  3,  1880.     It  is  inter- 


esting to  record  that  Mr.  Mumford  resides 
upon  the  old  homestead  upon  which  his  father 
settled  in  1865,  in  Section  8,  Logan  township, 
and  that  he  has  active  charge  of  the  fine  farm 
estate  left  by  his  honored  father. 

Mr.  Mumford  acquired  his  preliminary  ed- 
ucation in  the  district  schools  and  thereafter 
continued  his  studies  in  the  public  schools  of 
the  city  of  Beatrice  until  his  graduation  in  the 
high  school,  as  a  member  of  the  class  of  1901. 
He  has  had  no  desire  to  sever  his  allegiance 
to  the  great  basic  industries  of  agriculture  and 
stock-growing  and  in  his  successful  farm  op- 
erations he  now  utilizes  an  area  of  three  hun- 
dred and  twenty  acres,  of  which  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  are  individually  owned  by  him. 
Mr.  Mumford  is  found  staunchly  arrayed  in 
the  ranks  of  the  Democratic  party,  and  he  is 
actively  affiliated  with  Beatrice  Lodge,  No. 
619,  Benevolent  &  Protective  Order  of  Elks. 

In  1910  Mr,  Mumford  wedded  Miss  Flor- 
ence Thacker,  whose  father,  John  Thacker, 
was  an  early  settler  of  Beatrice,  where  for 
many  years  he  owned  and  conducted  a  drug 
store.  Like  her  husband,  Mrs.  Mumford  was 
graduated  in  the  Beatrice  high  school,  and  she 
is  the  popular  chatelaine  of  their  pleasant 
home.     They  have  no  children. 

ANTON  HURTZ,  of  Wymore  township, 
has  lived  in  Gage  county  for  the  past  thirty 
years  and  is  one  of  its  representative,  success- 
ful farmers.  In  Rhineland,  Germany  was  es- 
tablished a  home  by  Peter  and  Anna  Mary 
(Roab)  Hurtz,  who  tilled  the  soil  and  who 
there  reared  their  sons  and  daughters,  six  of 
whom  are  living,  as  follows :  Joseph  is  a  farm- 
er in  Sicily  township.  Gage  county;  Anton 
is  the  immediate  subject  of  this  sketch;  Frank 
is  a  farmer  in  Wymore  township;  Jacob  re- 
sides in  Wisconsin,  where  he  is  a  farmer; 
and  Mary  and  John  are  residents  of  Wymore 
township,  this  county.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Peter 
Hurtz  left  the  homeland  with  their  children  in 
1882  and  sailed  for  the  hospitable  shores  of 
the  United  States.  For  two  years  after  their 
arrival  they  made  their  home  in  New  York 
city,  and  before  coming  to  Gage  county,  in 
1887,  they  lived  for  a  short  time  in  Chicago. 


952 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,   NEBRASKA 


953 


In  Gage  county  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
of  land,  in  Wymore  township,  were  purchased 
and  here  the  family  home  was  established,  the 
parents  having  remained  on  this  farm  until 
they  were  called  to  the  life  eternal.  Mr. 
Hurtz  was  eighty-three  years  old  at  the  time 
of  his  death,  his  wife  having  passed  away 
October  6,  1888. 

Anton  Hurtz  was  born  in  Germany,  and 
the  year  of  his  nativity  was  1862.  He  learned 
the  baker's  trade  before  leaving  the  father- 
land with  his  parents.  In  New  York  he 
worked  as  a  tanner  and  since  his  arrival  in 
Gage  county  he  has  devoted  his  time  to  farm- 
ing. In  this  connection  he  has  indeed  much 
to  show  that  he  has  been  a  successful  farmer, 
for  he  owns  in  1918  five  hundred  and  thirty 
acres  of  well  improved  and  valuable  land. 

In  1892  Anton  Hurtz  married  Miss  Anna 
Paul,  a  daughter  of  John  G.  and  Juliana 
(Walter)  Paul,  natives  respectively  of  Zanes- 
ville,  Ohio,  and  Germany.  For  a  number  of 
years  John  G.  Paul  followed  farming  indus- 
try in  Illinois  and  in  1883  he  came  to  Nebraska 
and  located  in  Gage  county,  west  of  Blue 
Springs.  There  he  continued  to  reside  on  his 
farm  until  he  retired  from  active  farming  and 
removed  with  his  wife  to  Beatrice.  Of  their 
children  brief  record  is  here  given :  John  A. 
IS  deceased ;  Anna  is  the  wife  of  Anton  Hurtz, 
subject  of  this  sketch ;  Charles  is  living  near 
Guthrie,  Oklahoma;  Amanda  remains  with 
her  parents ;  Joseph  is  in  the  automobile  busi- 
ness at  Los  Angeles,  California;  Rosa  is  the 
wife  of  George  Krai,  an  insurance  agent  at 
Hastings,  Nebraska  ;  Ellen  is  the  wife  of  Floyd 
Churchill,  a  farmer  near  Pierre,  South  Da- 
kota. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Paul  are  communicants 
of  the  Catholic  church  and  their  children  also 
are  members  of  that  church. 

Anton  Hurtz  votes  the  Democratic  ticket 
and  has  served  his  township  in  a  highly 
satisfactory  manner  as  a  member  of  the  town- 
ship board  for  four  years,' as  well  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  school  board  of  his  district.  A  new 
barn  has  been  built  to  accommodate  the  large 
amount  of  stock  and  cattle  that  Mr.  Hurtz 
owns,  and  his  commodious  and  well  built  house 
provides  an  ideal  home.     The  sons  and  daugh- 


ters have  been  reared  in  the  faith  of  the 
Catholic  church  and  are  receiving  the  educa- 
tional advantages  that  shall  fully  fit  them  for 
their  future  careers.  The  children  are  as  fol- 
lows:  Julia  Helena  is  attending  college  at 
Hastings,  Nebraska;  John  Albert  is  attending 
school  at  Beatrice;  Amanda  and  Mary  Kath- 
erine  are  attending  school  at  Wymore;  Wil- 
liam Joseph,  Karl  Jacob,  Walter  George,  and 
Francis  are  attending  the  district  school ;  and 
Paul,  the  youngest  of  the  number,  is  still  at 
home,  awaiting  his  turn  to  attend  school.  Mr. 
Hurtz  and  his  son  Albert  are  members  of  the 
Knights  of  Columbus. 

ANTON  OLTMANS,  a  retired  farmer  and 
honored  citizen  of  Cortland,  was  a  young  man 
of  twenty-four  years  when  he  immigrated 
from  Germany  to  the  United  States  and  it  has 
been  entirely  through  his  own  ability  and  well 
ordered  endeavors  that  he  has  achieved  the 
goal  of  prosperity  and  well  merited  indepen- 
dence. He  was  born  in  East  Friesland,  Ger- 
many, March  18,  1842,  a  son  of  Dietrich  and 
Margaret  G.  (Clausen)  Oltmans,  of  whose 
nine  children  he  was  the  second  in  order  of 
birth ;  the  eldest,  Dietrich,  Jr.,  still  lives  in 
Germany;  Oltman  is  a  prosperous  farmer  of 
Gage  county,  his  homestead  being  in  High- 
land township,  to  the  west  of  Cortland ;  Anne 
became  the  wife  of  John  Neff  and  was  a  resi- 
dent of  Logan,  Illinois,  at  the  time  of  her 
death ;  Margaret  is  the  widow  of  Jacob  John- 
son and  resides  at  Lincoln,  Illinois ;  Hilda  is 
the  widow  of  Harm  Van  Horn  and  lives  at 
Pekin,  Illinois;  Jacob  is  a  farmer  near  Lin- 
coln, that  state,  as  is  also  George;  and  Lubbo 
maintains  his  residence  in  Colorado.  The  sub- 
ject of  this  review  came  to  America  in  1866 
and  about  1872  the  parents  and  other  mem- 
bers of  the  family  joined  him  in  Illinois,  where 
both  the  father  and  mother  passed  the  re- 
mainder of  their  lives. 

Anton  Oltmans  was  reared  and  educated  in 
his  native  land  and  in  1866  he  set  forth  for 
America.  He  made  the  voyage  on  a  sailing 
vessel  and  while  en  route  the  ship  sprung  so 
serious  a  leak  that  all  on  board  had  to  assist 
in  the  operation  of  the  pumps,  in  order  to  keep 


954 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


the  vessel  from  sinking,  six  weeks  having 
elapsed  ere  Mr.  Oltmans  disembarked  in  the 
port  of  New  York  city.  He  thence  proceeded 
to  Illinois,  where  he  found  work  at  chopping 
wood,  shucking  com,  etc.  He  finally  was  en- 
abled to  engage  in  independent  farm  enter- 
prise in  that  state,  where  he  continued  his  res- 
idence until  1881,  in  February  of  which  year 
he  arrived  in  Gage  county.  Here  he  pur- 
chased, at  the  rate  of  seven  dollars  an  acre, 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  raw  prairie 
land  in  Section  6,  Highland  township,  four 
miles  west  of  Cortland.  On  the  place  he  built 
a  frame  house  of  one  story,  sixteen  by  thirty- 
two  feet  in  dimensions,  and  he  then  turned 
himself  vigorously  to  breaking  his  land  and 
making  it  available  for  cultivation.  With  the 
passing  of  years  he  made  the  best  of  improve- 
ments on  his  farm  and  by  indefatigable  in- 
dustry and  good  management  achieved  sub- 
stantial and  worthy  success.  He  remained  on 
the  farm  until  1914,  since  which  time  he  has 
lived  in  well  earned  retirement,  his  attractive 
residence  in  Cortland  being  one  of  the  modern 
homes  of  this  village.  Energy  and  stability 
have  marked  his  career  and  his  course  has  been 
governed  by  those  principles  of  integrity  that 
always  bring  in  their  train  the  full  measure  of 
popular  respect  and  good  will.  He  is  now  the 
owner  of  a  valuable  landed  estate  of  seven 
hundred  and  twenty  acres  in  Nebraska,  the 
major  part  of  the  same  being  in  Gage  county 
As  a  loyal  and  appreciative  citizen  of  the  land 
of  his  adoption  Mr.  Oltmans  gives  his  politi- 
cal support  to  the  Republican  party,  and  both 
he  and  his  wife  are  earnest  members  of  the 
Methodist    Episcopal   church. 

April  6,  1870,  recorded  the  marriage  of  Mr. 
Oltmans  to  Miss  Kate  Rademaker,  who  was 
born  in  Friesland,  Germany,  April  5,  1849, 
and  she  was  eighteen  years  of  age  when  she 
came  to  America  and  established  her  residence 
at  Pekin,  Illinois,  her  widowed  mother  and 
others  of  the  children  having  later  come  to 
this  country.  She  is  a  daughter  of  Rient  and 
Kate  (Rieken)  Rademaker,  who  became  the 
parents  of  one  son  and  four  daughters,  all  of 
the  children  having  finally  established  homes 
in  the  United  States  and  the  loved  mother  hav- 


ing been 
her  death, 


resident  of  Illinois  at  the  time  of 
In  conclusion  is  given  brief  record 
concerning  the  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Olt- 
mans: Diedrich  A.  is  a  progressive  farmer 
in  Highland  township ;  Mrs.  Katherine  Poth- 
ast,  a  widow,  resides  in  the  city  of  Beatrice, 
this  county;  Margaret  is  the  wife  of  William 
Lucke  and  they  are  residents  of  Colorado; 
the  fourth  child  died  in  infancy ;  Rient  H.  is  a 
prosperous  farmer  in  Highland  township; 
Anton,  Jr.,  is  a  salesman  in  one  of  the  leading 
mercantile  establishments  in  the  city  of  Beat- 
rice ;  Folkert  R.  remains  at  the  parental  home ; 
Sophia  is  the  wife  of  Theodore  Nannen  and 
they  reside  in  the  state  of  Iowa ;  Jacob  resides 
upon  and  has  the  active  management  of  his 
father's  old  homestead  farm,  in  Highland 
township;  and  Theresa  is  the  wife  of  Dr.  R. 
V.  Alldritt,  of  Lincoln,  Nebraska. 

FRANK  R.  TILTON,  a  progressive  far- 
mer of  the  younger  generation  in  Filley  town- 
ship, is  a  younger  brother  of  Lloyd  H.  Tilton, 
who  is  individually  mentioned  on  other  pages, 
with  due  incidental  record  concerning  the 
family,  which  has  been  associated  with  the  civ- 
ic and  industrial  activities  of  Gage  county  for 
more  than  forty  years.  Frank  R.  Tilton  was 
born  on  his  father's  old  homestead  farm,  in 
Section  14,  Filley  township,  November  30, 
1888,  and  is  a  son  of  the  late  Curtis  Tilton,  an 
honored  pioneer  of  the  county.  After  com- 
pleting the  curriculum  of  the  district  schools 
Mr.  Tilton  further  fortified  himself  by  taking 
a  course  in  a  business  college  in  the  city  of 
Beatrice.  He  early  gained  familiarity  with 
the  various  departments  of  farm  industry  and 
has  now  control  of  a  well  improved  farm  of 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  in  Section  25, 
Filley  township,  eighty  acres  being  owned  by 
him  and  the  property  being  a  part  of  the  well 
improved  landed  estate  left  by  his  father.  He 
is  a  Republican  in  his  political  adherency  and 
he  and  his  wife  hold  membership  in  the  Chris- 
tian church  in  the  village  of  Filley. 

August  27,  1914,  was  recorded  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  Tilton  to  Miss  Delia  M.  Saum,  who 
was  born  at  Warrensburg,  Illinois,  a  daughter 
of  Frank  and  Mary  (Kerwood)   Saum,  now 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


955 


residents  of  Filley.     Mr.  and  Mrs.  Tilton  have 
two  children, —  DeVer  and  Le  Vern. 


EMIL  HUBKA  was  born  July  3,  1882,  on 
the  fine  farm  that  is  now  his  home,  in  Section 
1,  Sherman  township,  and  he  is  a  son  of  the 
late  Albert  Hubka,  an  honored  pioneer  to 
whom  a  memoir  is  dedicated  on  other  pages  of 
this  volume.  Emil  Hubka  has  been  from  boy- 
hood actively  associated  with  the  operations 
of  his  present  farm,  and  succeeded  to  the  own- 
ership of  the  place,  which  comprises  two  hun- 
dred and  forty  acres,  improved  with  good 
buildings  and  showing  every  evidence  of  thrift 
and  good  management.  He  is  a  Democrat  in 
his  political  proclivities  but  has  had  no  am- 
bition for  public  office  of  any  kind. 

In  1907  was  recorded  the  marriage  of  Mr. 
Hubka  to  Miss  Carrie  Sikyta,  who  likewise 
was  born  and  reared  in  this  county,  her  father, 
Frank  Sikyta,  being  a  substantial  farmer  in 
Johnson  county,  this  state.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Hubka  have  five  children, —  Evelyn,  Georgia, 
Emil,  Jr. ;  Walter,  and  Marvin. 


HORACE  M.  MILLER  has  found  in  the 
village  of  Filley  ample  scope  for  the  manifest- 
ing of  his  exceptional  initiative  and  executive 
ability,  in  the  management  of  the  well  ordered 
grain  elevator,  as  local  representative  of  the 
Central  Granaries  Company,  of  Lincoln.  He 
is  essentially  one  of  the  most  vital  and  pro- 
gressive business  men  and  loyal  citizens  of  the 
village  and  his  success  in  connection  with  the 
productive  activities  of  life  has  been  won  en- 
tirely through  his  own  ability  and  efiforts. 

Mr.  Miller  was  born  in  Campbell  county, 
Tennessee,  on  the  18th  of  July,  1871,  and  is 
a  son  of  John  H.  and  Frances  (Shepherd) 
Miller,  both  of  whom  were  born  in  the  year 
1849, —  the  former  in  Tennessee  and  the  lat- 
ter in  Virginia.  The  father  is  now  a  sub- 
stantial exponent  of  farm  enterprise  in  Rich- 
ardson county,  Nebraska,  where  he  established 
his  residence  in  1884.  He  and  his  wife  be- 
came the  parents  of  nine  children,  of  whom 
the  subject  of  this  sketch  is  the  eldest ;  Charles 
resides    at    Rulo,    Richardson    countv ;    Tames 


is  a  drug  clerk  in  the  city  of  Chicago ;  Robert 
is  a  telegraph  operator  and  is  now  residing  in 
New  Mexico ;  Jacob  is  associated  in  the  work 
of  his  father's  farm ;  Josephine  is  the  wife  of 
R.  Seymour  Coupe,  a  farmer  in  Richardson 
county ;  Laura  is  the  wife  of  Louis  C.  Schnell, 
of  Boise.  Idaho;  Annie  is  married  and  lives  in 
the  city  of  Portland,  Oregon ;  Bessie  is  the 
wife  of  Charles  A.  Conn,  of  Seattle,  Wash- 
ington. 

John  H.  Miller  was  reared  and  educated  in 
Tennessee  and  is  a  son  of  Ashby  Miller,  who 
removed  to  that  state  from  Virginia  and  who 
became  a  prosperous  farmer :  he  was  influen- 
tial in  local  politics  and  served  many  years  as 
justice  of  the  peace.  James  Shepherd,  mater- 
nal grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this  review, 
was  a  native  of  Virginia  and  became  a  sub- 
stantial farmer  in  Tennessee,  where  he  lived 
until  his  death.  John  H.  Miller  followed  the 
business  of  brickmaking  in  his  native  state 
and  in  1884  he  came  with  his  family  to  Neb- 
raska and  engaged  in  farming  in  Richardson 
county,  where  he  and  his  wife  still  maintain 
their  home.  He  is  a  Republican  in  politics, 
formerly  served  as  a  member  of  the  Tennessee 
National  Guard,  at  the  close  of  the  Civil  war, 
and  he  and  his  wife  hold  membership  in  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church. 

Horace  M.  Miller  acquired  his  earlier  edu- 
cation in  the  schools  of  his  native  state  and 
was  thirteen  years  old  at  the  time  of  the  family 
removal  to  Nebraska.  Here*  he  continued  his 
studies  in  the  public  schools  at  Rulo,  Richard- 
son county,  and  at  that  place  he  was  there- 
after employed  several  years  as  clerk  in  a  mer- 
cantile establishment.  Thereafter  he  there 
served  six  years  as  assistant  postmaster  of 
Rulo,  after  which  he  learned  the  trade  of  tel- 
egraphy and  for  a  time  served  as  an  operator 
for  the  Burlington  Railroad.  He  then  turned 
his  attention  to  the  grain  business,  at  Rulo, 
where  he  remained  until  1898,  when  he  came 
to  Gage  county  and  took  charge  of  the  grain 
elevator  at  Filley,  as  representative  of  the  Cen- 
tral Granaries  Company,  of  Lincoln.  He  has 
since  retained  this  position  and  has  made  an 
admirable  record,  few  of  the  agents  of  this 
representative    Nebraska    corporation    having 


956 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


handled  for  it  a  larger  amount  of  grain  than 
has  the  popular  agent  at  Filley. 

On  the  1st  of  November,  1891,  Mr.  .Miller 
wedded  Miss  Laura  A.  Rickabaugh,  who  was 
born  in  the  state  of  Ohio,  a  daughter  of  Henry 
Ri:kabaugh,  who  came  to  Nebraska  in  1886. 
but  who  later  returned  to  Ohio,  where  he  still 
resides  and  where  occurred  the  death  of  his 
wife.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Miller  have  been  born 
nine  children :  Maude  A.  is  the  wife  of  Clif- 
ford Armstrong,  who  is,  in  1918,  a  student  in 
a  leading  medical  college  in  the  city  of  Chi- 
cago ;  Helen  is  a  popular  teacher  in  the  schools 
of  Gotthenburg,  Dawson  county,  Nebraska : 
John  is  a  student  in  the  Nebraska  State  Nor- 
mal School  at  Peru;  and  Ruth,  Frederick, 
Gertrude,  Robert,  Howard  and  Mildred  re- 
main at  the  parental  home.  Mrs.  Miller  is  an 
active  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church  and  is  a  popular  figure  in  the  leading 
social  activities  of  her  home  community. 

Mr.  Miller  is  past  master  of  the  local  lodge 
of  Ancient  Free  &  Accepted  Masons  and  is 
affiliated  also  with  the  Modern  Woodmen  of 
America  and  the  Ancient  Order  of  United 
Workmen.  His  political  allegiance  is  given  to 
the  Republican  party  and  he  has  given  loyal 
and  characteristically  efficient  service  as  a 
member  of  the  village  council  of  Filley,  of 
which  he  was  president  for  several  terms,  be- 
sides which  he  has  been  a  valued  member  of 
the  school  board,  of  which  he  is  serving  in 
1918  as  moderator.  He  has  given  to  his  chil- 
dren the  best  of  educational  advantages,  two 
of  the  number  having  completed  courses  in 
the  state  normal  school  at  Peru  and  another 
of  them  being  there  a  student  at  the  time  of 
this  writing,  as  noted  previously.  The  same 
provision  will  be  made  for  the  higher  educa- 
tion of  the  younger  children,  and  in  no  one 
sense  can  paternal  stewardship  be  shown  more 
effectively  than  in  this  direction. 

JOHN  A.  EPARD,  a  representative  farmer 
of  Logan  township,  is  a  well  known  citizen 
who  can  c'aim  the  fine  old  P>uckeye  state  as 
the  place  of  his  nativity.  He  was  born  in 
Clark  enmity.  Ohio,  on  the  21st  of  December. 
18.^7,  and  in  tlie  same  county  were  lioni  also 


his  parents,  Simon  and  Jane  (Anderson)  Ep- 
ard,  representatives  of  pioneer  families  of  that 
section  of  Ohio  and  now  venerable  citizens  of 
Colby,  Kansas,  the  father  having  celebrated 
in  1917  his  eighty-second  birthday  and  the 
mother  her  eighty-first.  This  sterling  couple 
came  to  Gage  county  about  1877,  and  Simon 
Epard  here  farmed  on  rented  land  for  a  num- 
ber of  years.  He  then  removed  to  Thomas 
county,  Kansas,  and  took  up  a  homestead  farm 
near  Colby,  the  county  seat,  in  which  attrac- 
tive little  city  he  and  his  wife  have  lived  re- 
tired for  a  number  of  years.  From  Ohio  Mr. 
Epard  removed  to  Illinois,  and  from  the  latter 
state  he  came  to  number  himself  among  the 
pioneers  of  Nebraska.  He  and  his  wife  be- 
came the  parents  of  five  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters, all  of  whom  are  living  except  one  son : 
John,  of  this  review,  is  the  eldest  of  the  num- 
ber ;  Lon  is  a  prosperous  farmer  in  Logan 
township;  Emma  is  the  wife  of  John  Gardi- 
ner, president  of  an  insurance  company  in  the 
city  of  Denver,  Colorado ;  Samuel  is  a  pros- 
perous farmer  in  Thomas  county,  Kansas ; 
Darwin  is  engaged  in  the  banking  business  at 
Colby,  that  county ;  and  Nancy  is  the  wife  of 
John  Gillespie,  a  farmer  of  the  same  county. 
Simon  Epard  still  owns  his  valuable  farm  of 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  in  Thomas 
county,  Kansas,  as  well  as  his  residence  prop- 
erty and  other  realty  in  Colby.  He  is  a  Dem- 
ocrat in  politics  and  his  wife  is  a  member  of 
the  Christian  church.  His  father,  Samuel  Ep- 
ard, was  a  native  of  Maryland,  and  became  a 
pioneer  settler  in  Ohio,  and  he  passed  the 
closing  years  of  his  life  in  Indiana. 

John  Epard  acquired  his  youthful  education 
in  the  schools  of  Ohio  and  Illinois  and  at  the 
age  of  twenty-one  years  he  came  to  Gage 
county,  Nebraska,  where  for  a  number  of 
years  thereafter  he  farmed  on  rented  land.  He 
purchased  forty  acres  in  Logan  township  in 
the  second  year  of  his  residence  in  the  county, 
his  profits  from  his  farm  operations  the  first 
season  having  been  four  hundred  dollars.  He 
is  now  the  owner  of  a  well  improved  and  pro- 
ductive farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
in  Logan  townshiii,  as  well  as  a  half-section 
of  land  in  Thomas  county,  Kansas,  near  Col- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


957 


by.  He  is  a  Democrat  in  politics  and  takes 
loyal  interest  in  community  affairs,  though 
never  an  aspirant  for  public  office  of  any  kind. 
Air.  Epard  still  permits  his  name  to  remain 
enrolled  on  the  list  of  eligible  bachelors  in 
Gage  county. 

FRANK  H.  BROWN,  who  is  a  stockholder 
of  the  Farmers"  Grain  &  Coal  Company  of 
Cortland  and  who  has  active  management  of 
this  representative  industrial  corporation,  has 
the  distinction  not  only  of  being  a  native  son 
of  Nebra.;ka  but  also  of  being  a  scion  of  a 
family  that  was  here  founded  in  the  early  ter- 
ritorial era  —  nearly  ten  years  prior  to  the  ad- 
mission of  the  state  to  the  Union.  He  was 
born  at  Cook,  Johnson  county,  Nebraska, 
March  13,  1868,  and  is  a  son  of  Robert  S.  and 
Rachel  (Bentz)  Brown.  Robert  S.  Brown  was 
born  on  a  farm  near  Thompson,  Windham 
county,  Connecticut,  on  the  2nd  of  November, 
1836,  a  son  of  James  and  Sarah  (Shelly) 
Brown,  who  were  representatives  of  families 
that  were  founded  in  New  England  in  the 
colonial  epoch  of  our  national  history  and 
who  were  venerable  citizens  of  Tecumseh, 
Johnson  county,  Nebraska,  at  the  time  of  their 
death.  Reared  on  a  farm  and  given  the  ad- 
vantages of  the  common  schools  of  Connecti- 
cut, Robert  S.  Brown  was  seventeen  years  of 
age  when  he  began  his  apprenticeship  to  the 
trade  of  blacksmith,  in  which  he  became  a 
skilled  artisan.  In  April,  1858,  a  few  months 
after  attaining  to  his  legal  majority,  he  ac- 
companied his  parents  on  their  removal  to 
Nebraska  Territory.  From  Brownville,  Nema- 
:ia  county,  they  eventually  removed  to  Johnson 
county,  and  there,  in  1863,  Robert  S.  Brown 
:ook  up  a  homestead  claim  one  and  one-half 
niies  northwest  of  the  present  village  of  Cook. 
He  began  the  reclamation  of  his  frontier  farm 
3ut  as  a  means  of  support  continued  to  follow 
;he  work  of  his  trade.  He  built  a  little  log 
;hop  on  the  route  of  the  old-time  freighting 
ine  between  Nebraska  City  and  Beatrice,  and 
lere  he  did  valuable  service  in  shoeing  the 
lorses  and  doing  repair  work  for  the  over- 
and  freighters.  In  1865  he  hauled  from  St. 
roseph,  Missouri,  with  horse  teams  one  of  the 


first  threshing  machines  brought  into  south- 
eastern Nebraska.  His  hearing  became  im- 
paired when  he  was  a  youth  and  this  fact  ren- 
dered him  ineligible  for  service  as  a  soldier  in 
the  Civil  war,  but  as  a  workman  at  this  trade 
he  was  able  to  do  his  part  in  furtherance  of  the 
Union  cause,  as  he  did  much  repair  work  and 
horseshoeing  for  the  military  forces  operating 
in  this  section  of  the  country.  Robert  S.  Brown 
developed  his  homestead  of  one  hundred  and 
s^.xty  acres  into  one  of  the  valuable  farms  of 
Johnson  county  and  he  continued  to  give  to 
the  same  his  active  supervision  until  1900, 
when  he  removed  to  the  village  of  Cook,  that 
county,  where  he  is  now  living  virtually  re- 
tired, as  one  of  the  venerable  and  hon- 
ored pioneers  of  Nebraska  and  as  one  of 
the  oldest  exponents  of  the  sturdy  trade 
of  blacksmith  in  the  entire  state,  his  work 
at  his  trade  having  been  continued  to 
a  greater  or  less  extent  during  his  entire 
active  career.  His  wife,  who  has  been  his 
devoted  companion  and  helpmeet  for  more 
than  half  a  century,  was  born  in  Ohio,  August 
12,  1843,  and  was  a  child  at  the  time  of  the 
family  removal  to  Nebraska  territory,  her 
father,  John  Bentz,  having  become  one  of  the 
early  settlers  near  Sterling,  Johnson  county, 
where  he  reclaimed  a  farm  from  the  prairie 
wilds  and  where  he  passed  the  residue  of  his 
life. 

Robert  S.  and  Rachel  (Bentz)  Brown  be- 
came the  parents  of  six  children,  all  of  whom 
were  born  on  the  old  homestead  farm  in  John- 
son county :  Gustie  is  the  wife  of  J.  Y.  Hunt, 
of  Cook,  that  county;  Thaddeus  B.  died  when 
about  twenty  four  years  of  age ;  Frank  H.,  of 
this  review,  was  the  next  in  order  of  birth ; 
Lucy  is  the  wife  of  Daniel  Vliet,  of  Cook,  this 
state ;  William  S.  is  engaged  in  the  black- 
smithing  business  at  Cortland,  Gage  county; 
and  Bert  B.  follows  the  vocation  of  electrician 
at  Cook,  Johnson  county. 

Reared  to  the  sturdy  discipline  of  the  fron- 
tier farm,  Frank  H.  Brown  grew  strong  of 
mind  and  physical  powers,  his  early  educa- 
tion having  been  gained  in  the  district  schools 
of  Johnson  county.  He  continued  to  be  asso- 
ciated in  the  work  of  the  home  farm  until  his 


958 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


marriage,  in  1888,  and  thereafter  he  was  en- 
gaged in  independent  farm  enterprise  in  his 
native  county  until  1900,  when  he  became  as- 
sociated with  the  conducting  of  a  lumber  busi- 
ness at  Cook.  In  November,  1906,  he  came  to 
Gage  county  and  estabHshed  his  residence  at 
Cortland,  and  here  he  has  had  since  1910  the 
management  of  the  well  equipped  lumber 
yards  of  the  Farmers'  Grain  &  Coal  Com- 
pany. A  substantial  and  progressive  business 
man  and  valued  citizen,  he  commands  unqual- 
ified popular  confidence  and  esteem. 

On  the  21st  of  September,  1888.  Mr.  Brown 
wedded  ^Miss  Flora  Godfrey,  a  daughter  of 
John  W.  and  Sarah  (Woods)  Godfrey,  who 
were  born  in  Ohio  and  came  from  Illinois  to 
Johnson  county,  Nebraska,  in  1879,  establish- 
ing their  home  near  Vesta.  The  only  child  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brown  is  a  daughter,  Elsie  M., 
who  was  graduated  in  the  high  school  at  Cook 
and  who  remains  at  the  parental  liome,  as  a 
popular  factor  in  the  social  life  of  the  conv 
munity. 

In  politics  Mr.  Brown  accords  allegiance  to 
the  Republican  party,  and  he  is  serving  in 
1917-1918  as  master  of  Highland  Lodge,  No. 
194,  Ancient  Free  &  Accepted  Masons,  be- 
sides maintaining  affiliation  with  the  Modern 
Woodmen  of  America. 

HARRY  E.  SACKETT.  — Gage  county  is 
signally  favored  in  the  personnel  of  its  bar, 
and  the  representative  lawyers  here  engaged 
in  active  practice  are  well  upholding  the  pres- 
tige of  their  profession,  both  in  character  and 
achievement.  He  whose  name  initiates  this 
paragraph  has  been  engaged  in  the  active  gen- 
eral practice  of  his  profession  at  Beatrice, 
judicial  center  of  the  county,  since  1898,  and 
is  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Sackett  &  Brew- 
ster, which  controls  a  large  and  important  law 
business,  retains  a  representative  clientage  and 
has  had  to  do  with  much  important  litigation 
in  the  various  courts  of  this  section  of  the 
state.  This  history  properly  accords  recog- 
nition to  Mr.  Sackett  as  one  of  the  able  and  in- 
fluential members  of  the  Gage  county  bar  and 
as  a  loyal  and  progressive  citizen  of  the  city 
of  Beatrice. 


Mr.  Sackett  was  born  on  the  parental  home- 
stead farm  near  Warren,  Trumbull  county, 
Ohio,  on  the  10th  of  October,  1874,  and  is  a 
son  of  Oliver  P.  and  Mary  (Evans)  Sackett. 
the  former  of  whom  passed  the  closing  years 
of  his  life  at  Beatrice,  Nebraska,  where  he 
died  in  1913,  his  loved  and  devoted  wife  hav- 
ing preceded  him  to  the  life  eternal,  and  the 
family  home  having  been  at  Cameron,  Mis- 
souri, at  the  time  of  her  demise.  The  late 
Oliver  P.  Sackett  was  born  in  Connecticut  and 
was  a  scion  of  one  of  the  sterling  English 
families  that  was  founded  in  New  England 
in  the  early  colonial  epoch  of  our  national 
history,  his  grandfather,  Benjamin  Sackett, 
having  been  a  patriot  soldier  in  the  war  of 
the  Revolution.  During  the  greater  part  of 
his  long  and  useful  life  Oliver  P.  Sackett  con- 
tinued his  allegiance  to  the  great  fundamental 
industry  of  agriculture,  and  he  was  a  success- 
ful farmer  in  Ohio,  whence  he  finally  removed 
with  his  family  to  Clinton  county,  Missouri, 
where  he  continued  his  residence  until  1903. 
In  that  year  he  came  to  Gage  county,  Ne- 
braska, here  passing  the  residue  of  his  life, 
as  previously  noted.  The  original  American 
progenitors  of  the  Sackett  family  came  to  this 
country  in  1630,  and  in  the  early  and  later 
generations  members  of  the  family  have  stood 
exponent  of  sterling  worth  and  lofty  pa- 
triotism, the  subject  of  this  review  being  eligi- 
ble for  membership  in  the  Society  of  the  Sons 
of  the  American  Revolution. 

Harry  E.  Sackett  acquired  his  preliminary 
educational  discipline  in  the  public  schools  of 
Missouri,  Ohio  and  Nebraska.  With  deep  ap- 
preciation of  the  exacting  demands  in  pre- 
paring himself  for  the  legal  profession,  Mr. 
Sackett  did  not  falter  in  his  application  to 
technical  study  and  finally  was  matriculated 
in  the  law  department  of  the  University  of 
Nebraska,  in  which  he  was  graduated  as  a 
member  of  the  class  of  1898,  his  reception  of 
the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Laws  being  virtually 
coincident  with  his  admission  to  the  Nebraska 
bar.  After  his  graduation  Mr.  Sackett  began 
his  professional  novitiate  at  Beatrice,  where 
he  has  continued  in  the  practice  of  law  during 
the  intervening  years  and  where  he  has  de- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA  959 


Harry  E.  Sackett 


960 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


veloped  a  substantial  practice  of  essentially 
representative  order,  the  character  of  his 
clientele  giving  the  best  assurance  of  his  abil- 
ity as  a  trial  lawyer  and  w^ell  fortified  coun- 
selor. He  is  senior  member  of  the  law  firm 
of  Sackett  &  Brewster,  in  which  his  confrere 
is  Captain  Charles  L.  Brewster. 

Mr.  Sackett  is  a  prominent  figure  in  the 
local  camp  of  the  Republican  party  but  has 
only  once  appeared  as  a  candidate  for  public 
office  not  directly  in  line  with  his  profession, 
he  having  given  four  years  of  specially  effect- 
ive administration  in  the  office  of  prosecuting 
attorney  of  Gage  county.  His  secure  place 
in  popular  confidence  and  good  will  was  shown 
in  his  election  to  the  Nebraska  state  senate,  in 
1907,  and  he  proved  one  of  the  influential 
working  members  of  the  upper  house  during 
the  legislative  term  for  which  he  was  elected. 
He  was  assigned  to  membership  on  important 
senate  standing  committees  and  introduced  a 
number  of  bills  that  came  to  enactment  as 
representative  of  wise  legislation  in  behalf  ot 
his  constituent  district  and  the  state  at  large. 
He  has  been  influential  in  the  councils  and 
campaign  activities  of  the  Republican  party 
in  Nebraska,  and  in  1912  he  was  a  delegate 
at  large  from  this  state  to  the  Republican  Na- 
tional Convention,  held  in  Chicago.  Mr. 
Sackett  is  a  member  of  the  directorate  of  the 
Beatrice  Building  &  Loan  Association.  He 
and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Christian 
church  in  their  home  city,  and  he  is  affiliated 
with  the  Masonic  fraternity,  including  the 
local  commandery  of  Knights  Templars,  as 
well  as  with  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  Amer- 
ica and  the  Royal  Highlanders. 

On  the  27th  of  September,  1899,  was 
solemnized  the  marriage  of  Mr.  Sackett  to 
Miss  Hermina  Reynolds,  daughter  of  the  late 
Dr.  Hennan  M.  Reynolds,  to  whom  a  memoir 
is  dedicated  on  other  pages  of  this  work,  the 
Doctor  having  been  one  of  the  most  honored 
and  influential  pioneers  of  Beatrice  and  the 
first  mayor  of  the  city.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sack- 
ett have  three  children, — Dean  R.,  Harn'  E., 
Jr.,  and  Mary  Louise. 

GEORGE  S.  BURGER.  —  On  his  well  im- 
proved farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres, 


in  Section  7,  Grant  township,  Mr.  Burger  is 
proving  specially  successful  and  influential  as 
a  breeder  of  short-horn  cattle  of  the  best  type, 
and  through  his  activities  he  is  doing  much  to 
raise  the  grade  of  cattle  in  the  county  that  has 
represented  his  home  since  he  was  a  lad  of 
eleven  years  and  in  which  he  is  a  representa- 
tive of  an  honored  pioneer  family,  a  brief  trib- 
ute to  his  father,  John  L.  Burger,  appearing 
elsewhere  in  this  history  and  giving  adequate 
data  concerning  the  family.  Mr.  Burger  is  an 
active  member  of  the  Nebraska  Short-horn 
Breeders'  Association  and  from  his  fine  herd 
of  shorthorns  he  has  made  numerous  sales  for 
breeding  purposes  in  Gage  county.  The  lead- 
er of  his  herd  is  "Double  Sultan,"  a  son  of  the 
celebrated  "Victor  Sultan."  He  initiated  his 
activities  in  the  breeding  of  pure-bred  short- 
horn cattle  in  1907,  has  used  the  most  careful 
methods  and  policies  in  the  connection,  and 
has  become  one  of  the  leading  exponents  of 
this  important  phase  of  industrial  enterprise 
in  this  section.  He  raises  annually  an  average 
of  about  fifty  head  of  the  pure-bred  short- 
horn stock  and  is  known  also  as  a  successful 
grower  of  sheep. 

Mr.  Burger  was  born  in  Grundy  county,  Illi- 
nois, on  the  22d  of  May,  1866,  about  one 
year  after  the  immigration  of  his  parents  from 
Germany  to  America,  and  he  is  the  first  of  the 
five  children  to  have  been  born  in  the  United 
States.  He  gained  his  early  education  in  the 
schools  of  his  native  county  and,  as  previously 
noted,  was  eleven  years  of  age  when  the  fam- 
ily came  to  Gage  county,  in  1877.  Here  he 
was  reared  to  manhood  on  his  father's  pioneer 
farm,  in  Clatonia  township,  and  in  the  mean- 
while he  profited  by  the  advantages  afforded 
in  the  schools  of  the  locality.  He  continued 
to  be  associated  in  the  work  and  management 
of  the  home  farm  until  1894,  when  he  rented 
land  from  his  father  and  initiated  his  inde- 
jiendent  activities  as  an  agriculturist  and  stock- 
grower.  About  the  year  1899  he  purchased 
from  his  father  his  present  farm  of  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres,  and  the  improvements 
which  he  has  since  made  on  the  property  mark 
it  as  one  of  the  model  stock  farms  of  the 
county, — -an  attractive  rural  home  that  can 
not  fail  to  challenge  admiration  and  that  gives 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


961 


every  indication  of  thrift  and  prosperity.  His 
success  has  been  the  direct  result  of  indefat- 
igable energy  and  perseverance  and  in  a^ldi- 
tion  to  his  fine  homestead  farm  he  is  the  owner 
of  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land  in 
Lincoln  county,  this  state.  He  is  one  of  the 
stockholders  of  the  farmers'  cooperative  ele- 
vator company  at  Dewitt  and  is  always  ready 
to  lend  his  influence  in  the  furtherance  of 
measures  advanced  for  the  general  good  of 
the  community.  He  is  independent  in  poli- 
tics and  has  served  continuously  since  1901  as 
a  member  of  the  school  board  of  District  No. 
149.  Both  he  and  his  wife  are  communicants 
of  the  German  Lutheran  church. 

On  the  25th  of  February,  1891,  was  solem- 
nized the  marriage  of  Mr.  Burger  to  Miss 
Anna  B.  Ulrich,  who  was  born  in  Illinois,  July 
9,  1864,  a  daughter  of  Charles  G.  Ulrich,  a 
sterling  Gage  county  pioneer  of  whom  inci- 
dental mention  is  made  on  other  pages,  especi- 
ally in  the  sketch  dedicated  to  his  son  Edward. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Burger  have  four  children, — 
Albert  F.,  Emma,  Elmer  and  Erna, —  all  of 
whom  remain  at  the  parental  home  except 
Albert  F.,  who  is  engaged  in  a  garage  at  De- 
witt, Saline  county. 

SAMUEL  W.  BEAM,  a  retired  farmer  and 
venerable  citizen  of  Beatrice,  has  been  a  resi- 
dent of  Nebraska  for  somewhat  more  than 
thirty  years  and  the  prosperity  which  attends 
him  represents  the  results  of  his  productive 
farm  activities  in  former  years.  A  scion  of  a 
family  that  was  early  founded  in  Pennsylvania 
and  that  traces  lineage  back  to  German  origin, 
Mr.  Beam  was  born  in  Franklin  county,  Penn- 
sylvania, April  20,  1836,  and  is  a  son  of  John 
and  Nancy  (Woolford)  Beam,  both  likewise 
natives  of  the  old  Keystone  state,  where  the 
father  became  a  substantial  farmer  and  where 
he  passed  his  entire  life,  the  mother  having 
survived  him  and  having  been  in  the  home  of 
one  of  her  daughters,  in  Ohio,  when  she 
passed  to  the  life  eternal.  Of  the  eight  chil- 
dren the  subject  of  this  sketch  is  the  eldest  of 
the  three  now  living;  William  is  a  farmer  near 
Desler,  Ohio;  and  Rebecca,  a  widow,  resides 
in   the   city   of   Fort   Wayne,   Indiana.     John 


Beam  was  a  member  of  the  German  Reformed 
church  and  his  wife  a  communicant  of  the 
Lutheran  church.  He  was  a  son  of  Christian 
Beam,  who  passed  his  entire  life  in  Pennsyl- 
vania and  whose  parents  were  natives  of  Ger- 
many. 

Samuel  W.  Beam  was  reared  on  his  fath- 
er's farm  and  gained  his  youthful  education 
in  the  common  schools  of  his  native  county. 
He  continued  his  association  with  farm  indus- 
try in  Pennsylvania  until  1870  when  he  re- 
moved to  Ogle  county,  Illinois,  where  he  rent- 
ed land  and  was  actively  engaged  in  farming, 
near  Polo,  for  eleven  years.  He  then  pur- 
chased a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  twenty 
acres  in  Illinois,  where  he  continued  his  activ- 
ities six  years,  and  in  1887  he  came  to  Ne- 
braska and  rented  a  farm  in  Gage  county.  This 
farm,  owned  at  the  time  by  Frederick  Bachle, 
continued  as  the  stage  of  his  productive  labors 
for  five  years,  at  the  expiration  of  which  he 
purchased  a  half-section  of  land  in  Jefferson 
county.  This  property  he  developed  into  one 
of  the  valuable  farms  of  that  county  and  there 
he  continued  his  residence  until  1898,  since 
which  year  he  has  lived  retired  in  the  city  of 
Beatrice. 

The  year  1861  recorded  the  marriage  of  Mr. 
Beam  to  Miss  Ephia  McKeefer,  who  likewise 
was  born  and  reared  in  Pennsylvania,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Jeremiah  and  Lydia  (Rose)  McKeefer, 
who  were  residents  of  that  state  during  their 
entire  lives.  Of  the  remarkable  and  interest- 
ing family  of  fifteen  children  born  to  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Beam  al!  are  living  except  two:  Mrs. 
Laura  Stauffer  resides  in  the  state  of  Illinois; 
Mrs.  Louisa  Graybill  is  a  resident  of  Polo, 
that  state;  Mrs.  Lizzie  Gilbert  likewise  lives 
in  Illinois ;  Mrs.  Orpha  Hamilton  is  a  resident 
of  San  Diego,  California;  Mrs.  Annie  Morris 
lives  at  Holmesville,  Gage  county,  Nebraska ; 
Samuel  is  a  successful  farmer  residing  one-half 
mile  south  of  Beatrice;  Mrs.  EUa  Will  lives 
near  Holmesville,  this  county;  Howard  B.  is 
a  farmer  near  Holmesville ;  Mrs.  Ida  Elwood 
is  the  wife  of  a  farmer  in  the  same  locality; 
Frank  likewise  is  a  farmer  near  Holmesville; 
Harry  is  associated  with  farm  enterprise  near 
Beatrice:  Clara  is  the  wife  of  H.  E.  Hill,  of 


962 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Beatrice;  and  Grant  also  remains  in  Gage 
county.  The  devoted  wife  and  mother  was 
summoned  to  eternal  rest  on  the  6th  of  March, 
1905,  she  having  been  an  earnest  member  of 
the  Christian  church,  as  is  also  Mr.  Beam. 

Mr.  Beam  has  been  significantly  loyal  in  all 
of  the  relations  of  life  and  has  shown  a  high 
sense  of  personal  stewardship.  Lasting  honor 
is  his  for  the  service  which  he  rendered  as  a 
valiant  soldier  of  the  Union  in  the  Civil  war. 
In  1862  he  enlisted  in  Company  H,  One  Hun- 
dred and  Twenty-sixth  Pennsylvania  Volun- 
teer Infantry,  with  which  he  served  nine 
months, —  until  the  expiration  of  his  term  of 
enlistment.  In  1864  he  again  enlisted  and  his 
service  from  this  time  forward  covered  a  peri- 
od of  eight  months.  He  took  part  in  the  sec- 
ond battle  of  Bull  Run,  in  1862,  and  also  in  the 
battles  of  Fredericksburg  and  Chancellorsville. 
as  well  as  in  various  minor  engagements. 
Under  his  second  enlistment  he  participated 
in  the  battle  of  Bermuda  Hundred,  Virginia, 
and  in  the  battle  of  Petersburg.  He  was  cor- 
poral of  his  company  during  his  first  term  of 
enlistment.  He  is  affiliated  with  the  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic  and  is  a  Republican  in 
his  political  proclivities. 

JACOB  S.  DELL  is  a  popular  member  of  a 
well  known  pioneer  family  concerning  which 
adequate  mention  is  made  on  other  pages,  in 
the  sketch  of  the  career  of  his  brother,  Joseph 
C.  Dell,  and  he  himself  is  numbered  among 
the  representative  exponents  of  agricultural 
and  live-stock  industry  in  the  county  that  has 
been  his  home  since  his  boyhood.  Mr.  Dell 
is  the  owner  of  an  excellent  farm  of  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  acres,  in  Section  15.  Rock- 
ford  township,  a  property  which  was  pur- 
chased by  him  in  1904  and  upon  which  he  has 
made  many  modren  improvements.  He  and 
his  wife  are  prominent  and  zealous  members 
of  the  Church  of  the  Brethren,  commonly  des- 
ignated as  the  Dunkard  church,  and  he  is 
assistant  pastor  of  the  South  Beatrice  church 
of  this  denomination. 

^Ir.  Dell  was  born  in  Owen  county,  Indiana. 
May  11,  1868,  and  in  the  following  year  his 
parents   removed  to   Iowa,   where  the   family 


home  was  maintained  until  1876,  when  re- 
moval was  made  to  Gage  county,  Jacob  S. 
having  been  at  the  time  a  lad  of  six  years.  He 
was  reared  on  his  father's  farm  in  Rockford 
township  and  after  having  profited  by  the  ad- 
vantages of  the  old  Rock  school  he  was  for 
two  years  a  student  in  a  school  of  higher  aca- 
demic order  at  McPherson,  Kansas.  He  has 
been  an  ordained  clergyman  of  the  Brethren 
church  since  1897  and  has  given  earnest  and 
effective  service  in  the  ministry.  He  is  a 
broad-minded  and  progressive  citizen. 

In  1905  was  solemnized  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Dell  to  Miss  Naomi  Cullen,  daughter  of 
James  K.  Cullen,  who  was  born  in  Virginia 
and  who  came  with  his  family  to  Gage  county 
in  1885.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dell  have  four  chil- 
dren,—  Pauline,  Dwight,  Dorothy  and  Violet. 

OLTMAN  OLTMANS,  who  is  living  prac- 
tically retired  on  his  attractive  homestead  farm 
of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  in  Section  8, 
Highland  township,  is  also  the  owner  of  a 
well  improved  estate  of  equal  area  in  Nuckolls 
county.  He  came  to  America  as  a  young  man 
with  virtually  no  financial  resources  and 
through  his  own  energy  and  ability  has 
achieved  substantial  and  worthy  success. 

Mr.  Oltmans  was  born  in  the  province  of 
Hanover,  Germany,  November  18,  1844,  and 
there  he  was  reared  and  educated.  In  1866 
he  was  a  soldier  in  the  war  between  Germany 
and  Austria,  and  he  saw  four  days'  of  specially 
active  conflict  with  the  forces  opposed  to  the 
Hanoverian  regiment  of  which  he  was  a  mem- 
ber. In  1866,  shortly  after  attaining  to  his 
legal  majority,  he  made  the  voyage  to  Ameri- 
ca on  a  sailing  vessel,  and  the  ship  required 
seven  weeks  and  three  days  to  complete  the 
trip  across  the  Atlantic.  He  was  accompanied 
by  his  sister  Hilda  and  soon  after  their  arrival 
they  proceeded  to  Logan  county,  Illinois,  where 
he  found  employment  as  a  farm  hand.  There 
he  continued  his  active  association  with  farm 
enterprise  until  the  spring  of  1880,  when  he 
came  to  Gage  county,  where  he  arrived  in 
February  of  that  year.  He  purchased  eighty 
acres  of  unimproved  land  in  Highland  town- 
ship, and  that  constituted  the  nucleus  around 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


963 


which  he  has  developed  his  splendid  Gage 
county  farm  of  the  present  day,  his  farm  of 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  in  Nuckolls 
county  having-  been  purchased  in  1905  and  one 
of  his  sons  having  active  management  of  the 
same.  \\'ith  him  success  has  not  came  as  an 
accident  but  has  been  the  result  of  earnest  and 
persistent  industry,  so  that  he  is  the  more  ap- 
preciative of  the  gracious  prosperity  that  is 
now  his  portion.  He  is  fervently  loyal  to  the 
land  of  his  adoption,  with  realization  of  the 
fact  that  here  he  has  found  opportunities  for 
winning  independence  and  substantial  suc- 
cess, and  in  both  spirit  and  action  he  exempli- 
fies the  true  American  ideals  of  citizenship. 
His  political  support  is  given  to  the  Demo- 
cratic party,  and  he  and  his  wife  are  zealous 
members  of  the  German  Methodist  Episcopal 
church  in  their  home  precinct,  he  having  been 
one  of  the  organizers  of  the  same. 

I\Iiss  Ella  Decker  was  born  in  Germany. 
I\Iay  23,  1852,  and  she  was  a  girl  when  she 
came  to  the  United  States.  In  Illinois,  on  the 
23d  of  March,  1875,  she  became  the  wife  of 
JNIr.  Oltmans,  and  she  has  proved  a  true  help- 
meet to  him  in  the  years  that  have  marked 
his  advancement  toward  the  goal  of  prosper- 
ity. In  conclusion  is  given  brief  record  con- 
cerning their  children :  Richard  is  a  resident 
of  Texas ;  Rinehart  has  charge  of  his  father's 
farm  in  Nuckolls  county ;  Oltman  Frederick 
is  associated  with  his  brother  in  the  operation 
of  the  farm  in  Nuckolls  county;  William  and 
George  are  prosperous  farmers  in  Highland 
township ;  and  Herman  and  Nettie  remain  at 
the  parental  home. 

FRANK  C.  CROCKER  is  another  of  the 
native  sons  of  Gage  county  whose  civic  and  in- 
dustrial loyalty  is  manifested  in  his  successful 
activities  as  a  representative  of  farm  enter- 
prise, his  well  improved  homestead  farm  be- 
ing situated  in  Section  16,  Filley  township, 
where  he  carries  forward  progressive  and  vig- 
orous work  in  the  line  of  diversified  agricul- 
ture and  is  proving  specially  successful  also 
in  the  breeding  and  raising  of  cattle  and  swine 
of  superior  order.  He  was  born  in  Filley 
township,  on  the  1st  of  May,  1877,  and  ade- 


quate data  concerning  the  family  history'  are 
given  in  the  sketch  dedicated  to  his  father, 
Hiram  P.  Crocker,  on  other  pages  of  this  vol- 
ume. 

]\Ir.  Crocker  gained  his  preliminary  educa- 
tion in  the  district  schools,  later  attended  the 
village  schools  at  Filley  and  thereafter  com- 
pleted a  course  in  the  Beatrice  Business  Col- 
lege. He  has  never  wavered  in  his  allegiance 
to  the  basic  industries  with  which  he  became 
familiar  in  his  boyhood,  and  has  proved  a 
most  successful  and  aggressive  exponent  of 
farm  enterprise  in  his  native  county. 

In  1900  was  recorded  the  marriage  of  Mr. 
Crocker  to  Miss  Dora  Belle  Bowen,  who  was 
born  at  Shawnee,  Perry  county,  Ohio,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Richard  and  Elizabeth  (Morgan)  Bow- 
en,  who  were  born,  reared,  and  married  in 
Wales  and  who  established  their  home  in  Ohio 
upon  coming  to  the  United  States :  in  the  '80s 
they  came  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  and  set- 
tled in  Midland  township,  where  the  father 
eng-aged  in  farming  and  where  both  he  and 
his  wife  pased  the  remainder  of  their  lives. 
Of  their  nine  children  eight  are  living,  Mrs. 
Crocker  having  been  the  fifth  in  order  of  birth. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Crocker  have  five  children  — 
Paul,  Elton,  Margaret,  Harold,  and  Edith. 

Mr.  Crocker  is  a  Republican  in  politics  and 
he  and  his  wife  are  active  members  of  the 
Christian  church  in  the  village  of  Filley.  He 
has  attained  to  marked  prominence  and  influ- 
ence as  a  successful  breeder  and  grower  of  fine 
live  stock  and  served  five  years  as  president 
of  the  Nebraska  S'wine  Breeders'  Association, 
besides  which  he  was  for  two  years  a  member 
of  the  state  live-stock  commission,  under  the 
administration  of  Governor  Moorehead,  he 
having  been  influential  in  effecting  the  estab- 
lishing of  this  commission  or  board,  which 
has  done  much  to  advance  the  live-sto:k  in- 
dustry in  the  state.  Mr.  Crocker's  operations 
are  conducted  on  the  fine  farm  of  three  hun- 
dred and  twenty  acres  which  he  recently  pur- 
chased from  his  father,  and  upon  an  adjoining 
tract  of  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  that 
he  rents.  He  is  an  extensive  breeder  of  pure- 
blood  Duroc-Jersey  swine,  his  business  in  the 
handling  of  this  fine  type  of  swine  being  the 


964 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


largest  of  all  private  sales  enterprises  of  the 
kind  in  the  entire  west  and  having  given  him 
wide  reputation  in  farm  industrial  circles.  He 
ships  from  his  farm  the  finest  types  of  Duroc- 
Jersey  swine  into  all  parts  of  the  west,  and 
has  made  this  department  of  his  farm  enter- 
prise a  specialty  for  fully  fifteen  years.  He 
feeds  an  average  of  more  than  one  hundred 
head  of  cattle  each  year  and  he  is  a  leader  in 
advanced  farm  enterprise  in  this  favored  sec- 
tion of  his  native  state.  He  and  his  family 
occupy  the  pleasant  old  homestead  in  which 
he  was  born  and  reared,  and  his  progressive- 
ness  is  shown  not  only  in  his  individual  ac- 
tivities but  also  in  his  insistent  civic  loyalty. 
About  1908  Mr.  Crocker  began  zealous  work 
to  bring  about  legislative  action  for  the  pro- 
viding of  a  fund  to  be  used  in  driving  hog 
cholera  from  the  state,  and  finally  an  appro- 
priation of  five  thousand  dollars  was  made  by 
the  legislature  for  this  purpose.  Later  Mr. 
Crocker  was  equally  influential  in  obtaining  a 
legislative  appropriation  of  fifteen  thousand 
dollars  to  be  used  in  the  establishing  and 
maintaining  of  a  state  laboratory  in  which  a 
serum  should  be  manufactured  for  application 
in  rendering  swine  immune  from  the  cholera. 
In  short,  it  may  consistently  be  said  that  no 
other  man  in  the  state  has  done  more  to  fur- 
ther the  swine  industry  within  its  limits  than 
has  he,  and  his  eflforts  in  the  suppression  of 
hog  cholera  have  been  specially  potent  and 
beneficent. 


Here  for  the  ensuing  three  years  he  was  em- 
ployed at  farm  work  in  Hanover  township,  and 
thereafter  he  was  engaged  in  independent  fartn 
operations  on  land  which  he  held  under  a 
Scully  lease  until  1905,  when  he  purchased 
his  present  fine  farm  of  two  hundred  acres, 
in  Section  18,  Filley  township.  Of  the  build- 
ings on  the  place  when  he  bought  the  property 
there  is  remaining  only  the  main  part  of  the 
house,  which  he  has  so  remodeled  and  im- 
proved as  to  make  it  one  of  the  attractive 
rural  homes  of  the  township,  besides  which 
he  has  erected  other  farm  buildings  of  model 
type, — all  standing  in  evidence  of  his  progress- 
iveness  and  good  management  as  an  agricul- 
turist and  stock-grower.  For  the  first  year 
of  his  residence  in  Gage  county  Mr.  Wiese  re- 
ceived wages  of  only  sixteen  dollars  a  month, 
and  what  he  has  achieved  in  the  intervening 
years  is  shown  definitely  in  his  ownership  of 
his  present  valuable  farm  property.  Mr. 
Wiese  gives  loyal  support  to  the  Republican 
party  and  he  served  several  years  as  treasurer 
of  his  school  district.  Both  he  and  his  wife 
are  earnest  communicants  of  the  Lutheran 
church. 

In  Johnson  county,  this  state,  was  solemn- 
ized the  marriage  of  Mr.  Wiese  to  Miss  Grace 
Aden,  who  was  born  in  Adams  county,  Illi- 
nois, January  15,  1870,  a  daughter  of  Fokke 
and  Anke  (Behrens)  Aden,  now  residents  of 
Johnson  county,  Nebraska.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Wiese  have  two  sons,  John  and  Frank. 


GERD  B.  WIESE  is  another  of  the  repre- 
sentative farmers  of  Gage  county  who  claims 
the  district  of  Ostfriesland,  Province  of  Han- 
over, Gennany,  as  the  place  of  his  nativity, 
his  birth  having  there  occurred  on  the  19th 
of  September,  1869,  and  his  parents,  Bohle 
and  Sarke  (Loschen)  Wiese,  having  there 
passed  their  entire  lives.  In  the  schools  of 
his  native  land  Mr.  Wiese  gained  his  early 
education  and  there  also  he  gained  his  early 
experience  in  coimection  with  agricultural 
pursuits.  He  was  twenty-two  years  of  age 
when  he  severed  the  home  ties  and  came  to 
the  United  States,  in  1892,  and  in  that  year 
was  recorded  also  his  arrival  in  Gage  county. 


JOHN  L.  FRERICHS  is  giving  his  atten- 
tion to  the  management  of  a  well  improved 
farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  belong- 
ing to  his  father,  in  Section  29,  Logan  town- 
ship, and  his  pleasant  home  receives  mail  ser- 
vice on  rural  route  No.  3  from  the  city  of 
Beatrice.  He  was  born  in  Illinois,  June  22, 
1881,  and  is  a  son  of  Lammert  W.  Frerichs, 
concerning  whom  individual  mention  is  made 
on  other  pages  of  this  work,  so  that  further 
review  of  the  family  history  is  not  required 
in  the  ]irescnt  connection. 

John  L.  Frerichs  was  about  one  year  of  age 
at  the  time  of  the  family  removal  to  Gage 
county,  and  here  he  was  reared  on  his  father's 
farm   in   Logan  township,  while  his  youthful 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


965 


Gerd  B.  Wiese  and  Family 


966 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


education  was  obtained  in  the  public  schools  of 
the  locality.  For  the  past  fifteen  years  he  has 
been  engaged  in  farming  enterprise  in  an  in- 
dependent way,  and  since  1906  he  has  resided 
on  this  farm,  which  has  been  improved  with 
good  buildings  since  he  assumed  control  and 
which  gives  palpable  evidence  of  thrift  and 
good  management.  Air.  Frerichs  is  independ- 
ent in  politics,  is  serving  as  township  clerk,  to 
which  office  he  was  elected  in  1916,  and  is  also 
a  director  of  school  district  No.  115,  both  he 
and  his  wife  being  members  of  the  Lutheran 
church. 

Air.  Frerichs  chose  as  his  wife  Miss  Fannie 
Schuster,  daughter  of  Evert  and  Anna  Schus- 
ter, and  the  three  children  of  this  union  are 
Marie,  Evert,  and  Willis. 

LAMMERT  FRERICHS  has  all  depart- 
ments of  his  farm  enterprise  well  organized 
and  is  one  of  the  progressive  agriculturists 
and  stock-growers  of  the  younger  generation 
in  Logan  township,  his  well  improved  farm 
of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  being  situat- 
ed in  Section  31  and  being  a  part  of  the  large 
estate  owned  by  his  father,  L.  W.  Frerichs, 
of  whom  individual  mention  is  made  on  other 
pages. 

Lammert  Frerichs  attended  in  his  youth  the 
public  schools  and  also  well  ordered  German 
schools,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  years 
he  began  his  independent  operations  on  his 
present  home  place,  his  success  being  shown 
by  the  very  appearance  of  the  farm,  which 
is  kept  up  to  the  best  modern  standard.  As  a 
progressive  citizen  he  gives  his  support  to  the 
cause  of  the  Democratic  party,  and  he  and  his 
wife  are  active  communicants  of  the  Lutheran 
church. 

In  1909  Air.  Frerichs  married  Aliss  Cath- 
erine Jobman,  who  was  born  in  Dawson  coun- 
ty, this  state,  and  whose  father,  John  Jobman, 
now  resides  in  the  city  of  Beatrice.  Air.  and 
Airs.  Frerichs  have  four  children  —  Lammert, 
Jr.,  John,  Pope,  and  Reinhard. 

JOSEPH  S.  STANEK.  — In  Section  24. 
Sherman  township,  is  located  the  attractive 
and    well    ordered    homestead    farm    of    Air.- 


Stanek,  who  is  a  native  son  of  Nebraska  and 
a  representative  of  a  pioneer  family  of  Pawnee 
county.  He  was  born  in  that  county,  on  the 
11th  of  Alay,  1871,  and  is  a  son  of  Anton  and 
Anna  (Kovanda)  S'tanek,  both  natives  of  Bo- 
hemia, where  they  were  reared  to  maturity, 
both  having  been  young  folk  when  they  came 
to  the  United  States.  In  1867,  the  year  that 
marked  the  admission  of  Nebraska  to  state- 
hood. Anton  Stanek  numbered  himself  among 
the  pioneers  of  Pawnee  county,  where  he  re- 
claimed and  improved  a  farm  and  met  his  full 
share  of  the  hardships  that  fell  to  the  lot  of 
the  early  settlers  of  Nebraska.  He  won  suc- 
cess and  prosperity  through  his  industry  and 
good  management  and  continued  his  residence 
in  Pawnee  county  until  his  death,  his  widow 
being  now  a  resident  of  Humboldt,  Richardson 
county.  Of  their  six  children  the  subject  of 
this  review  is  the  eldest ;  Albert  is  deceased ; 
Frank  and  James  are  engaged  in  farm  enter- 
prise in  Pawnee  county ;  Fannie  remains  with 
her  widowed  mother ;  and  Annie  is  the  wife 
of  Frederick  Fridley,  of  Humboldt,  this  state. 

Joseph  S.  Stanek  was  born  in  the  pioneer 
dugout  which  at  the  time  constituted  the  home 
of  his  parents,  and  was  reared  under  the  con- 
ditions marking  the  pioneer  days,  his  early 
educational  advantages  having  been  those  of 
the  district  schools.  His  father  was  killed  in 
a  railroad  accident  and  Joseph  S.,  as  eldest  of 
the  children,  thereafter  assumed  the  manage- 
ment of  the  home  farm  and  the  providing  for 
his  mother  and  the  other  members  of  the  fam- 
ily. At  the  age  of  twenty-nine  years  he  en- 
gaged independently  in  farm  industry  in  his 
native  county,  and  two  years  later  he  pur- 
chased his  present  farm  and  became  one  of 
the  enterprising  and  industrious  agriculturists' 
of  Gage  county,  his  well  directed  energies 
having  brought  to  him  a  generous  success  and 
having  marked  him  as  a  thorough-going  farm- 
er. Pie  is  independent  in  politics  and  gives  his 
support  to  men  and  measures  meeting  the  ap- 
proval of  his  judgment.  He  served  ten  years 
as  a  member  of  the  school  board  of  his  dis- 
trict and  is  a  citizen  who  commands  high  es- 
teem. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-eight  years  Air.  Stanek 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


967 


wedded  ]\Hss  Anna  Hubka,  daughter  of  Albert 
Elubka,  of  whom  mention  is  made  on  other 
pages,  and  the  one  child  of  this  union  is  a  son, 
Eester. 

It  may  consistently  be  stated  that  the  father 
of  jNIr.  Stanek  was  a  mason  by  trade,  and  that 
in  the  early  period  of  his  residence  in  Ne- 
braska he  supplemented  his  income  by  work 
at  his  trade.  In  this  connection  he  frequent- 
ly walked  to  Brownville  and  Lincoln  to  find 
employment  at  his  trade,  and  he  received  com- 
pensation of  five  dollars  a  day,  which  he  used 
in  providing  for  his  family.  He  assisted  in 
the  building  of  the  state  penitentiary  in  the 
city  of  Lincoln.  He  worked  at  intervals  in 
Iowa  also,  and  once  when  he  and  his  partner 
were  ready  to  cross  the  Missouri  river  they 
found  the  ferry  out  of  commission,  under 
which  conditions  they  placed  their  clothing  on 
their  shoulders  and  swam  the  entire  distance 
across  the  stream.  In  his  pioneer  home  his 
wife  used  a  coffee-mill  to  grind  corn  for  food. 

In  1917  ;\Ir.  Stanek  purchased  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  of  land  in  Saskatchewan,  Can- 
ada, where  he  will  farm  during  the  summer 
seasons,  returning  to  Gage  county,  during 
the  winter  months. 

JOHN  D.  THORNBURG.  — In  the  year 
that  marked  the  admission  of  Nebraska  to 
statehood  Mr.  Thornburg  numbered  himself 
among  the  pioneer  settlers  in  Gage  county 
and  during  the  long  intervening  period  of  half 
a  century  he  has  continuously  held  precedence 
as  one  of  the  representative  citizens  and  farm- 
ers of  Midland  township,  where  he  is  now  the 
owner  of  a  well  improved  landed  estate  of 
two  hundred  acres.  He  endured  his  share 
of  the  hardships  and  trials  incidental  to  pio- 
neer life,  did  well  his  part  in  the  furtherance 
of  civic  and  material  development  and  progress 
and  is  a  sterling  citizen  to  whom  it  is  gratify- 
ing to  accord  recognition  in  this  publication. 

Mr.  Thornburg  was  born  in  Randolph  coun- 
ty. Indiana,  July  30,  1846,  and  is  a  son  of 
John  L.  and  Harriet  (Diggs)  Thornburg,  the 
former  of  whom  was  born  in  Ohio  and  the 
latter  in  Pennsylvania,  their  marriage  having 
been  solemnized   in   the   Hoosier   state.     lohn 


L.  Thornburg,  who  was  born  in  the  year  1821 
and  whose  death  occurred  in  1911,  was  reared 
and  educated  in  Indiana  and  was  a  scion  of 
a  sterling  pioneer  family  of  that  state.  He  was 
a  son  of  Joab  A.  and  Betsy  (Holoway)  Thorn- 
burg, the  former  of  whom  likewise  was  born  in 
Ohio,  his  father,  Isaac  Thornburg,  having  been 
one  of  the  very  early  settlers  in  the  old  Buck- 
eye state  and  having  served  as  a  soldier  in  the 
war  of  1812.  John  Diggs,  maternal  grandfath- 
er of  the  subject  of  this  review,  was  a  native  of 
England  and  became  a  pioneer  settler  in  Ohio, 
to  which  state  he  removed  from  Pennsylvania. 
John  L.  Thornburg  was  a  lad  of  seven  years 
at  the  time  of  his  parents'  removal  from  Ohio 
to  Indiana,  where  he  grew  to  man's  estate  and 
where  he  continued  his  alliance  with  farm  in- 
dustry until  he  removed  with  his  family  to 
Iowa.  He  thus  became  a  pioneer  of  the 
Hawkeye  state,  as  did  he  later  of  Nebraska, 
to  which  latter  commonwealth  he  came  in 
1869.  He  made  Gage  county  his  destination, 
purchased  land  in  Rockford  township  and  here 
he  developed  a  productive  farm.  Eventually 
he  sold  the  property  and  removed  to  Kansas, 
in  which  state  he  and  his  wife  passed  the  re- 
mainder of  their  lives,  theirs  having  been  the 
distinction  of  being  pioneers  in  each  of  three 
now  opulent  states  of  the  west.  Both  were 
birthright  members  of  the  Society  of  Friends, 
to  which  gracious  faith  they  adhered  all  their 
lives.  In  politics  Mr.  Thornburg  was  origin- 
ally an  old-line  Whig,  but  he  espoused  the 
cause  of  the  Republican  party  at  the  time  of  its 
organization  and  thereafter  supported  its 
principles  until  his  death.  Of  his  nine  children 
five  are  now  living, —  Mrs.  Olive  Moore,  of 
Morgan  county,  Kansas;  John  D.,  the  immed- 
iate subject  of  this  sketch ;  Mrs.  Lydia  Stapes, 
a  resident  of  Iowa;  Mrs.  Rachel  Fetrel,  of 
Washington  county,  Kansas ;  and  Mrs.  Cath- 
erine Henry,  who  maintains  her  home  in  the 
state  of  Idaho. 

John  D.  Thornburg  was  reared  on  the  old 
home  farm  in  Indiana  and  acquired  his  early 
education  in  the  common  schools  of  that  state. 
He  was  eighteen  years  of  age  at  the  time  of 
the  family  removal  to  Iowa,  in  1864,  and  there 
he  remained  until  1867,  when  he  came  to  the 


968 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


new  state  of  Nebraska  and  numbered  himself 
among  the  pioneers  of  Gage  county.  He  en- 
tered claim  to  a  homestead  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  in  Section  25,  Midland  township, 
and  here  he  has  resided  during  the  passing 
years,  which  have  brought  to  him  a  generous 
measure  of  success  and  prosperity,  as  well  as 
inviolable  place  in  the  confidence  and  esteem 
of  all  who  know  him.  On  his  embryonic  farm 
he  provided  as  his  first  domicile  a  rude  dug- 
out of  the  type  common  to  the  early  pioneer 
days,  and  later  he  manifested  his  enterprise, 
as  well  as  his  increasing  prosperity,  by  erect- 
ing his  present  attractive  residence,  as  well  as 
other  excellent  farm  buildings.  He  has  been 
a  vigorous  and  resourceful  exponent  of  agri- 
cultural and  live-stock  industry  in  this  section 
of  the  state  and,  as  before  stated,  is  now  the 
owner  of  a  fine  farm  property  of  two  hundred 
acres.  He  has  given  special  attention  to  the  rais- 
ing of  full-blood  Red  Polled  cattle.  Mr.  Thorn- 
burg  recalls  that  when  he  first  established  his 
home  on  his  present  farm  his  nearest  neighbor 
was  sixteen  miles  distant,  and  he  has  done  his 
share  in  bringing  about  the  marvelous  chang- 
es that  have  been  wrought  in  the  intervening 
years.  His  courage  has  been  on  a  parity  with 
his  ambitious  purpose  and  he  never  faltered 
in  the  face  of  difficulties  and  reverses  while  he 
was  striving  to  reclaim  and  develop  his  farm 
and  to  aid  in  civic  and  material  advancement, 
his  devoted  wife  having  been  his  earnest  help- 
meet and  coadjutor.  His  political  allegiance 
is  given  to  the  Republican  party  and  his  civic 
loyalty  has  been  shown  in  his  effective  service 
as  township  assessor,  of  which  office  he  was 
the  incumbent  for  two  years,  and  as  a  member 
of  the  school  board  of  his  district.  He  has 
been  for  many  years  an  active  member  of  the 
Christian  church,  of  which  his  wife  likewise 
was  an  earnest  adherent. 

In  1865  was  solemnized  the  marriage  of  Mr. 
Thornburg  to  Miss  Mary  E.  Ford,  who  like- 
was  born  in  Indiana.  She  was  a  daughter  of 
Dr.  R.  and  Elizabeth  (Bricker)  Ford,  who 
were  residents  of  Iowa  at  the  time  of  their 
death.  The  supreme  loss  and  bereavement  in 
the  life  of  Mr.  Thornburg  was  that  entailed 
in  the  death  of  his  loved  wife,  who  was  sum- 


moned to  eternal  rest  on  the  22nd  day  of  Oc- 
tober, 1915,  and  whose  memory  is  revered  by 
all  who  came  within  the  compass  of  her  gentle 
influence.  Of  their  nine  children  six  are  liv- 
ing: Alonzo  U.  is  a  "prosperous  farmer  in 
Osborn  county,  Kansas;  Elvin  A.  is  engaged 
in  farm  enterprise  in  the  state  of  Oregon ; 
Rosanna  is  the  wife  of  Elmer  E.  Phillips,  of 
Custer  county,  Nebraska ;  Frank  V.  has  active 
charge  of  his  father's  farm,  in  association  with 
his  younger  brother,  and  is  also  the  owner  of 
a  farm  of  ninety  acres,  in  ]\Iidland  township ; 
Miss  Pearl  remains  at  the  parental  home;  and 
Charles  E.  is  associated  in  the  work  and  man- 
agement of  the  home  farm. 

CHRISTIAN  ANDERSEN.  — The  well 
ordered  farm  of  Mr.  Andersen  comprises  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  and  is  situated  in  Sec- 
tion 35,  Hooker  township.  He  purchased 
this  property  in  1884,  the  land  having  at  the 
time  been  entirely  unimproved,  and  with  the 
passing  years  he  has  reclaimed  the  farm  most 
effectively  and  made  it  one  of  the  valu- 
able places  of  Hooker  township.  He  has  pro- 
vided excellent  buildings  and  unequivocal  suc- 
cess has  attended  his  activities  as  an  agricul- 
turist and  stock-grower.  Mr.  Andersen  is 
consistently  to  be  designated  as  a  pioneer  citi- 
zen of  Nebraska,  in  which  state  he  has  main- 
tained his  home  for  nearly  half  a  century  and 
in  which  he  has  stood  exponent  of  loyal  and 
appreciative  citizenship.  His  political  support 
is  given  to  the  Republican  party  and  he  and 
his  wife  are  earnest  members  of  the  Lutheran 
church. 

Mr.  Andersen  was  born  and  reared  in  Den- 
mark, the  date  of  his  nativity  having  been 
September  2,  1842.  He  is  a  son  of  Nis  and 
Eliza  (Gissen)  Andersen,  the  latter  of  whom 
died  in  Denmark.  Nis  Andersen  came  to  the 
United  States  in  1881  and  he  passed  the  re- 
mainder of  his  life  in  Illinois,  his  vocation  in 
his  native  land  having-  been  that  of  a  farmer. 
Of  the  six  children  the  subject  of  this  sketch 
is  the  younger  of  the  two  surviving,  and  An- 
drew is  living  retired  in  Bureau  county,  Illi- 
nois. 

Christian  .\ndersen  gained  his  early  educa- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


969 


tion  in  the  schools  of  his  native  land,  and  there 
he  served  on  two  different  occasions  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Danish  army.  He  came  to  the 
United  States  in  1871,  and  for  some  time  he 
found  employment  in  the  city  of  Chicago,  af- 
ter which  he  was  for  seven  years  engaged  in 
farming  in  Bureau  county,  Illinois,  in  which 
state  he  resided  for  a  total  of  twelve  years. 
It;  the  autumn  of  1884  he  came  to  Nebraska, 
and  here  his  energy,  industry,  and  ability 
have  gained  to  him  substantial  prosperity,  he 
having  been  for  many  years  one  of  the  suc- 
cessful farmers  of  Gage  county. 

In  1872  Mr.  Andersen  wedded  Miss  Mary 
C.  Hendricksen,  who  likewise  was  bom  in 
Denmark,  a  daughter  of  Peter  Hendricksen, 
who  there  passed  his  entire  life.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Andersen  became  the  parents  of  six  chil- 
dren and  concerning  them  brief  record  is  here 
given:  Christina  is  the  wife  of  T.  Thomp- 
son, a  farmer  in  Filley  township ;  Matta  is  the 
wife  of  Harry  Yohe,  of  the  same  township; 
Peter  R.,  who  is  an  active  manager  of  his 
father's  farm, '  married  Anna  Christiansen, 
whose  death  occurred  November  29,  1915,  and 
who  is  survived  by  three  children  —  Marion, 
Howard,  and  Julia ;  Anna  is  the  wife  of  Wood 
Eovett,  of  Johnson  county ;  Andrew  is  en- 
gaged in  farming  in  Hooker  township;  and 
Millie  is  the  wife  of  Carl  Sorensen,  of  Filley 
township. 

AUGUST  HASENOHR  is  another  of  the 
sterling  citizens  given  to  Gage  county  by  the 
great  empire  of  Germany,  and  in  the  state  of 
his  adoption  he  has  through  his  own  ability 
and  energy  so  taken  advantage  of  opportuni- 
ties as  to  win  for  himself  substantial  prosper- 
ity. He  came  to  Gage  county  shortly  after 
attaining  to  his  legal  majority  and  here  he 
found  employment  at  farm  work.  What  the 
intervening  years  credit  to  him  in  achieve- 
ment is  shown  in  his  ownership  at  the  present 
time  of  a  valuable  landed  estate  of  six  hun- 
dred and  forty  acres, —  comprising  two  dilTer- 
ent  farms  in  Gage  county  and  one  —  of  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  —  near  Dewitt,  Sal- 
ine county.  His  fine  homestead  farm,  com- 
prising one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  is  one  of 


the  model  places  of  Holt  township  and  is  sit- 
uated in  Section  8,  about  four  miles  distant 
from  the  village  of  Pickrell,  which  is  his  post- 
office  address.  On  this  homestead  Mr.  Hasen- 
ohr  has  made  the  best  of  modern  improve- 
ments, his  barn,  thirty-six  by  forty-four  feet 
in  dimensions,  having  been  erected  in  1910, 
and  the  following  year  having  recorded  the 
erection  of  his  handsome  farm  residence  of 
twelve  rooms. 

Mr.  Hasenohr  was  born  in  the  province  of 
Westphalia,  Germany,  January  22,  1866,  and 
is  a  son  of  Herman  and  Elizabeth  (Saving) 
Hasenohr,  who  passed  their  entire  lives  in 
that  section  of  Germany:  of  their  seven  chil- 
dren the  subject  of  this  review  is  the  only  one 
in  the   United   States. 

August  Hasenohr  was  reared  and  educated 
in  his  native  province,  where  his  father  was  a 
prosperous  farmer,  and  in  1888,  at  the  age  of 
twenty-two  years,  he  severed  the  ties  that 
bound  him  to  home  and  fatherland,  in  order 
that  he  might  win  for  himself  independence 
and  prosperity  in  the  United  States.  Soon 
after  his  arrival  he  came  to  Gage  county,  and 
for  the  first  summer  he  was  employed  on  a 
farm  in  Holt  township.  His  previous  exper- 
ience well  fitted  him  for  independent  enter- 
prise as  an  agriculturist  and  stock-grower,  and 
as  his  financial  resources  were  not  sufficient 
to  justify  him  in  purchasing  a  farm,  he 
achieved  the  desired  end  to  a  certain  extent 
by  renting  land  near  Pickrell,  where  he  con- 
tinued farming  under  these  conditions,  and 
with  cumulative  success,  until  1897,  when  he 
made  his  first  purchase  of  land, —  a  farm  of 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  in  Section  15, 
Holt  township.  There  he  continued  his  resi- 
dence until  1908,  when  he  removed  to  his  pres- 
ent homestead  farm.  With  increasing  pros- 
perity Mr.  Hasenohr  continued  to  make  judi- 
cious investment  in  Gage  county  land,  and  he 
is  at  the  present  time  the  owner  of  a  valuable 
and  well  improved  Gage  county  estate  of  four 
hundred  and  eighty  acres,  as  previously  inti- 
mated in  this  article.  He  is  one  of  the  sub- 
stantial stockholders  in  the  farmers'  grain 
elevator  at  Pickrell,  is  a  Republican  in  poli- 
tics,   and   is    honored   as   a    loyal   and   liberal 


970 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


citizen,  as  well  as  a  man  of  sterling  character 
and  worthy  achievement.  Both  he  and  his 
wife  are  active  communicants  of  the  German 
Lutheran  church. 

February  19,  1886,  recorded  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  Hasenohr  to  Miss  Carolina  Tesmann, 
and  about  two  years  later  she  accompanied 
him  on  his  immigration  to  America.  She  was 
born  in  Westphalia,  Germany,  July  27,  1859, 
and  has  been  to  her  husband  a  true  companion 
and  helpmeet  during  the  years  that  have 
marked  his  steady  advancement  toward  the 
goal  of  prosperity.  Of  the  seven  children  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hasenohr  the  first  two  were 
born  in  Germany:  William  is  now  a  success- 
ful farmer  east  of  the  city  of  Beatrice ;  Anna 
is  the  wife  of  Henry  Henke,  of  Otoe  county, 
this  state ;  Theodore  is  a  progressive  farmer 
in  Holt  township  and  Frederick  near  Dewitt, 
Saline  county;  Lillie  is  the  wife  of  Dick  Helm- 
ke,  of  Holt  township ;  and  Alfred  and  Oscar 
remain  at  the  parental  home. 

BRUNO  J.  BUHR  is  the  owner  of  a  farm 
of  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  in  Section 
24,  Hanover  township,  has  been  a  resident  of 
Gage  county  since  he  was  two  years  of  age 
and  his  present  farm  is  a  part  of  the  excellent 
landed  estate  accumulated  by  his  father,  who 
was  a  sterling  pioneer  of  the  county.  He  gives 
his  attention  to  diversified  agriculture  and 
stock-raising,  and  in  his  farm  enterprise  is  dis- 
tinctly energetic  and  progressive,  so  that  suc- 
cess comes  to  him  as  nomial  perogative. 

Mr.  Buhr  was  born  in  Atchison  county, 
Missouri,  October  19,  1878,  and  is  a  son  of 
John  G.  and  Grace  (Holz)  Buhr,  both  of 
whom  were  born  and  reared  in  Germany.  In 
America  their  original  home  was  in  Illinois, 
where  Mr.  Buhr  was  engaged  in  Farming  for 
a  few  years,  after  which  he  removed  to  Mis- 
souri and  continued  in  the  same  basic  line  of 
enterprise,  as  did  he  later,  for  one  year,  in 
Kansas.  He  came  to  Gage  county  about  the 
year  1S80,  and  after  farming  for  a  time  on 
rented  land  he  purchased  one  hundred  acres 
in  Hanover  township,  where  he  later  bought 
an  additional  tract,  of  one  hundred  and  twenty 
acres.     He  reclaimed  his  farm  from  the  virgin 


prairie,  made  good  improvements  on  the 
place  and  on  the  old  homestead  both  he  and 
his  wife  passed  the  remainder  of  their  Hves, 
both  having  been  zealous  members  of  the  Ger- 
man Lutheran  church.  Of  their  eight  chil- 
dren five  are  living :  Annie,  who  resides  on 
her  farm  in  Filley  township,  is  the  widow  of 
Albert  Lukin ;  John  J.  is  a  prosperous  farmer 
in  Logan  township;  Albert  J.  is  a  farmer  in 
Norton  county,  Kansas ;  Gerd  is  engaged  in 
successful  fami  enterprise  in  Hanover  town- 
ship ;  and  the  subject  of  this  review  is  the 
youngest  of  the  number. 

Bruno  J.  Buhr  acquired  his  early  education 
in  the  district  schools  and  thereafter  continued 
to  be  associated  with  his  father  in  the  manage- 
ment of  the  home  farm,  which  he  finally  pur- 
chased, by  acquiring  the  interests  of  the  other 
heirs,  in  1907.  He  permits  nothing  to  deflect 
him  from  his  close  application  to  the  work  and 
management  of  his  farm  but  is  loyal  and  pub- 
lic-spirited as  a  citizen,  his  political  support 
being  given  to  the  Democratic  party  and  he 
and  his  wife  being  active  communicants  of  the 
German  Lutheran  church. 

The  year  1904  recorded  the  marriage  of  Mr. 
Buhr  to  Miss  Grace  Ackermann,  who  was 
born  and  reared  in  this  county,  a  daughter  of 
John  and  Geska  (Schuster)  Ackermann,  who 
here  established  their  home  in  the  pioneer 
days.  Of  the  seven  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Buhr  all  are  living  save  one  and  the  names 
of  the  surviving  children  are  here  entered  in 
respective  order  of  birth :  Grace,  Geska,  John, 
Tillie,  Menna  and  Rosie. 

JESTUN  O.  McCLUNG  was  in  the  very 
prime  of  his  vigorous  and  useful  manhood 
when  he  was  called  from  the  stage  of  life's 
mortal  endeavors,  in  1892,  at  the  age  of  forty- 
five  years,  and  just  prior  to  his  demise  he  had 
purchased  the  farm  of  fifty-five  acres,  in  Sec- 
tion 32,  Filley  township,  on  which  his  widow 
still  maintains  her  home. 

Jestun  Otto  IMcClung  was  born  in  Muskin- 
gum county.  Ohio,  on  the  6th  of  September, 
1846.  and  was  twelve  years  of  age  when  his 
jiarents  removed  to  ^Missouri,  where  he  was 
reared   to  adult  age  and  where  he  completed 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA  971 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  G.  Buhr 


972 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


his  school  work.  As  a  young  man  he  came 
to  Nebraska  and  leased  a  farm  in  Lancaster 
county.  Later  he  was  engaged  in  farming 
under  similar  conditions  in  Johnson  county, 
and  finally  he  came  to  Gage  county,  where  he 
became  a  farmer  on  rented  land  in  Filley 
township.  He  was  industrious  and  progres- 
sive and  his  success  was  shown  when  he  final- 
ly purchased  a  farm  of  his  own,  but  his  death 
occurred  shortly  afterward,  before  he  had 
removed  with  his  family  to  the  place.  He 
was  a  man  of  sterling  character,  commanded 
unqualified  popular  esteem  and  was  a  loyal  and 
progressive  citizen  of  the  state  and  county  of 
his  adoption.  His  political  support  was  given 
to  the  Republican  party  and  he  was  a  member 
of  the  Baptist  church,  as  was  also  his  widow, 
who  now  holds  membership  in  the  Christian 
church. 

After  the  death  of  her  husband  Mrs.  Mc- 
Clung  removed  with  her  four  sons  to  the 
farm  which  he  had  purchased,  and  here  she 
has  maintained  her  residence  for  a  quarter  of 
a  century.  Within  this  period  excellent  im- 
provements have  been  made  on  the  farm, 
which  is  well  managed  and  yields  good  re- 
turns. 

In  Lancaster  county,  this  state,  the  year 
1877  recorded  the  marriage  of  Mr.  McClung 
to  Miss  Albertina  Krantz,  who  was  born  in 
Jefiferson  county,  Wisconsin,  a  daughter  of 
William  Krantz.  She  was  a  child  when  her 
parents  came  to  Nebraska  and  numbered  them- 
selves among  the  pioneers  of  Johnson  count>', 
and  when  she  was  but  five  years  old  her 
mother  died.  Her  father  later  contracted  a 
second  marriage,  and  when  Mrs.  McClung 
was  twelve  years  old  she  came  to  Gage  county 
to  make  her  home  with  the  family  of  Lucius 
Filley,  with  whom  she  remained  two  years. 
In  the  meanwhile  she  had  duly  profited  by  the 
advantages  of  the  pioneer  schools,  and  after 
leaving  the  home  of  Mr.  Filley  she  went  to 
Lancaster  county,  where  she  met  and  finally 
became  the  wife  of  Mr.  McClung,  with  whom 
she  returned  to  Gage  county.  With  all  of 
maternal  devotion  she  has  reared  her  four 
sons,  each  of  whom  accords  to  her  the  fullest 
measure  of  filial   love   and   solicitude  and   all 


of  whom  are  now  well  established  in  life : 
Louis  is  a  prosperous  farmer  in  Sherman 
township :  John  B.  is  a  resident  of  the  state 
of  California ;  Guy  is  in  Franklin  county,  Ne- 
braska ;  and  Claton  C.  remains  with  his  moth- 
er and  has  a:tive  management  of  the  farm. 

Mrs.  McClung's  memory  touches  the  pio- 
neer period  in  Nebraska  history  and  she  re- 
calls that  when  she  was  a  child  the  Indians 
not  infrequently  called  at  the  home  of  her 
father.  In  Gage  county,  as  a  girl,  she  as- 
sisted in  fighting  prairie  fires,  and  she  drove 
Mr.  Filley's  ponies  to  Beatrice  when  the  pres- 
ent attractive  city  was  a  mere  village  with 
much  of  the  present  business  and  residence 
district  marked  by  sloughs  and  pond-holes. 
She  remembers  incidents  relative  to  the  trip 
which  she  made  with  her  parents  from  Wis- 
consin to  Nebraska,  the  journey  having  been 
made  with  wagon  and  ox  team  and  a  cow 
having  been  tied  behind  the  wagon.  In  ford- 
ing a  river  en  route  the  life  of  the  cow  was 
nearly  sacrificed,  as  it  narowly  escaped  drown- 
ing. Mrs.  McClung  finds  pleasure  in  remi- 
niscences concerning  the  early  days,  especially 
in  view  of  the  fact  that  she  has  been  a  witness 
of  the  various  stages  of  progress  that  have 
brought  opulent  civic  and  industrial  prosper- 
ity to  this  section  of  the  comonwealth. 

JOSEPH  L.  WEBB,  M.  D.,  attained  to 
more  than  local  prestige  in  the  exacting  pro- 
fession that  had  been  so  signally  dignified  and 
honored  by  the  services  of  his  father,  the  late 
Dr.  Joseph  Luther  Webb,  who  was  one  of 
the  leading  pioneer  physicians  and  most  in- 
fluential citizens  of  Gage  county  and  to  whom 
a  memorial  tribute  is  entered  on  other  pages 
of  this  publication,  so  that  further  review  of- 
the  family  history  is  not  here  demanded.  It 
may  be  said,  however,  that  few  families  have 
been  more  prominently  and  worthily  identi- 
fied with  civic  and  material  development  and 
progress  in  this  favored  section  of  Nebraska 
than  that  of  which  the  subject  of  this  review 
is  a  popular  representative.  Though  une- 
quivocal success  had  been  his  in  the  practice 
of  his  profession  and  as  a  factor  in  its  edu- 
cational   work.    Dr.   Joseph    Lewis   Webb   re- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


973 


tired  from  active  practice  in  the  spring  of 
1914,  in  order  that  he  might  give  his  personal 
supervision  to  the  development  and  manage- 
ment of  one  of  the  large  and  valuable  farm 
properties  near  his  native  city  of  Beatrice, 
and  on  this  estate,  in  Riverside  township,  he 
now  maintains  his  residence.  In  his  farm  en- 
terprise he  is  bringing  to  bear  the  most  ap- 
proved scientific  methods  and  the  most  mod- 
ern facilities,  and  his  executive  ability  is  such 
that  he  has  made  the  farm  a  veritable  model 
in  general  efficiency  of  operation,  as  it  is  also 
in  its  improvements,  the  while  he  is  giving 
special  attention  to  the  raising  of  pure-bred 
live  stock  and  also  the  better  types  of  graded 
sto:k. 

Dr.  Joseph  Lewis  Webb,  third  son  of  the 
late  Dr.  Joseph- Luther  Webb  and  Kate  Louise 
(Sheppard)  Webb,  was  born  at  Beatrice,  this 
county,  January  25,  1884.  His  early  educat- 
tional  advantages  were  those  afforded  in  the 
public  schools  of  his  native  city,  which  was 
then  a  mere  village,  and  he  had  also  the  fos- 
tering influences  of  a  home  of  distinctive  cul- 
ture and  refinement.  He  prosecuted  higher 
academic  studies  in  Highland  Park  College, 
Des  Moines,  Iowa,  and  in  Cotner  University, 
at  Lincoln,  Nebraska.  In  preparation  for  his 
chosen  profession  he  attended  first  the  Lincoln 
Medical  College,  in  the  capital  city  of  his  na- 
tive state,  and  later  the  Bennett  Medical  Col- 
lege, in  the  city  of  Chicago,  in  which  latter 
institution  he  was  graduated  as  a  member  of 
the  class  of  1906  and  from  which  he  received 
his  degree  of  Doctor  of  ^ledicine.  After  a 
period  devoted  to  travel.  Dr.  Webb  engaged 
in  the  practice  of  his  profession  at  Hebron, 
judicial  center  of  Thayer  count>%  Nebraska, 
but  later  he  returned  to  Chicago  and  became 
an  attache  of  the  general  staff  of  the  Jefferson 
Park  Polyclinic  &  Hospital,  where  he  gained 
broad  and  varied  clinical  experience  and  where 
he  remained  thus  engaged  about  two  years,  in 
the  meanwhile  having  been  retained  to  give 
courses  of  lectures  before  the  students  of  his 
alma  mater,  Bennett  Medical  College  and  also 
those  of  the  Jefferson  Park  Hospital  training 
school  for  nurses.  After  severing  these  rela- 
pany  A,  Eighteenth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry, 


tions  the  Doctor  again  spent  some  time  in 
travel  and  then  he  returned  to  Beatrice  and 
became  associated  with  his  father  in  active 
general  practice.  His  technical  attainments 
here  further  brought  to  him  recognition  in 
connection  with  educational  work  in  his  pro- 
fession, as  he  was  called  upon  to  deliver  lec- 
tures before  the  students  of  the  Lincoln  Med- 
ical College  at  Lincoln,  Nebraska,  and  also 
those  of  the  Mennonite  Hospital  Training 
School  for  Nurses,  at  Beatrice.  As  a  prac- 
titioner he  added  to  the  prestige  of  the  family 
name  in  Gage  county,  where  his  father  had 
for  many  years  held  precedence  as  one  of  the 
leading  physicians  and  surgeons  of  this  sec- 
tion of  the  state,  and  finally,  as  previously 
noted,  he  withdrew  from  active  professional 
work  to  give  his  attention  to  his  farm  inter- 
ests. The  Doctor  is  a  Republican  in  politics 
and  his  is  a  most  vital  interest  in  all  things 
touching  the  welfare  and  advancement  of  his 
native  city  and  county,  his  attitude  being  that 
of  a  broad-gauged  and  public-spirited  citizen. 
August  16,  1905,  recorded  the  marriage  of 
Dr.  Webb  to  Miss  Iva  M.  Gamble,  of  Beat- 
rice, she  being  a  daughter  of  George  W.  Gam- 
ble, a  member  of  a  well  known  pioneer  family 
that  early  made  settlement  northwest  of  Be- 
atrice. Dr.  and  Mrs.  Webb  have  three  chil- 
dren, whose  names  and  respective  dates  of 
birth  are  here  indicated:  Joseph  Lewis,  Jr., 
February  16,  1907;  George  Harold,  February 
11,  1911;  and  Edna  Katherine,  September  8 
1914. 


JAMES  FISHER  is  another  of  the  ster- 
ling citizens  who  has  won  success  and  inde- 
pendence through  long  continued  association 
with  farm  enterprise  in  Gage  county,  and  his 
present  attractive  home  farm,  of  one  hundred 
and  forty  acres,  is  situated  in  Section  4,  Sher- 
man township. 

Mr.  Fisher  was  born  in  Bohemia,  Germany, 
March  1,  1857,  was  there  reared  and  educated 
and  was  twenty-two  years  of  age  when  he  came 
to  the  United  States.  He  landed  in  the  port  of 
New  York  city  and  his  financial  resources  were 
at  such  low  ebb  that  he  was  compelled  to  bor- 
row twenty-four  dollars  to  pay  his  railroad  fare 


974 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


L 


to  Nebraska.  Upon  arriving  in  this  state  he 
settled  in  Johnson  county,  where  he  was  em- 
ployed for  the  following  three  months  at  farm 
work,  with  a  compensation  of  but  eight  dollars 
a  month.  He  was  so  frugal  that  he  soon  was 
able  to  pay  the  debt  which  he  had  incurred 
in  coming  to  Nebraska,  and  after  having 
worked  about  eight  years  as  a  farm  employe 
he  had  saved  one  hundred  dollars,  besides  hav- 
ing become  the  owner  of  a  small  house.  He 
sold  the  house  nn.l  v.'ith  the  one  liimdred  dol- 
lars thus  added  to  his  savings  he  purchased 
a  lease  on  school  land,  incidentally  assuming 
a  debt  of  two  hundred  dollars.  After  his  mar- 
riage he  continued  his  operations  on  this  land 
eight  years,  and  he  then  sold  the  lease  and  pur- 
chased one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  in  Filley 
township,  Gage  county.  This  was  wild  prai- 
rie land,  in  Section  1,  and  on  the  place  he 
erected  a  house  and  other  modest  farm  build- 
ings. There  he  continued  his  activities  as  a 
farmer  and  stock-grower  for  ten  years,  and  in 
1910  he  purchased  his  present  well  improved 
homestead  farm,  besides  which  he  owns  eighty 
acres  in  Filley  township  and,  in  1917,  gave  a 
farm  of  eighty  acres  to  one  of  his  sons.  Mr. 
Fisher  endured  his  full  share  of  the  hardships 
incidental  to  pioneer  life  and  recalls  that  in 
the  early  days  he  sold  wheat  for  only  thirty 
cents  a  bushel.  After  his  marriage  he  and  his 
wife  occupied  for  some  time  a  little  frame 
house  that  was  only  fourteen  by  sixteen  feet 
in  dimensions,  and  that  afforded  entirely  in- 
adequate protection  during  the  cold  winters, 
the  walls  of  the  little  dwelling  being  fre- 
quently covered  with  frost,  so  cold  was  the 
interior  of  the  building.  Mr.  Fisher  has  been 
unremitting  in  his  industry  and,  in  the  face  of 
many  handicaps,  has  achieved  substantial  suc- 
cess. 

In  Johnson  county  was  solemnized  his  mar- 
riage to  Miss  Anna  Brush,  who  likewise  was 
born  in  Bohemia,  and  they  have  four  children: 
Frank,  who  is  a  successful  fariiKr  in  Filley 
township  is  married  and  has  two  cliildren ; 
Rudolph  and  his  wife  reside  on  another  excel- 
lent farm  in  Filley  township;  Joseph,  who  is 
married  and  has  one  child,  is  a  prosperous 
farnuT   in    Sherman   lnwiishi]):   and    Helen    i>- 


the  wife  of  Frank  Hubka,  of  Sherman  town- 
ship, they  having  one  child. 

Mr.  Fisher  is  a  loyal  citizen  of  the  county 
and  state  in  which  he  has  found  opportuni- 
ties for  the  winning  of  independence  and 
prosperity  and  though  in  a  basic  way  he  sup- 
ports the  cause  of  the  Democratic  party  he  is 
not  restricted  by  partisan  lines  in  local  aft'airs 
and  gives  his  support  to  men  and  measures 
meeting  the  approval- of  his  judgment. 

GEORGE  yi.  STEECE  is  lawyer  by  pro- 
fession but  has  proved  his  versatility  by  his 
specially  successful  activities  in  connection  with 
farm  industry  in  Gage  county,  where  he  owns 
and  operates  a  splendidly  improved  farm  of 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  in  Section  25, 
Logan   township. 

Mr.  Steece  was  born  in  Lalwrence  county, 
(^hio,  on  the  2d  of  July,  1852,  and  is  a  son  of 
.Archibald  and  Helen  (Sterne)  Steece,  the 
former  of  whom  was  born  in  Ohio,  in  1824 
and  died  in  1900,  and  the  latter  of  whom  was 
born  in  Virginia,  she  having  celebrated  her 
eighty-seventh  birthday  anniversary  in  1918 
and  being  still  a  resident  of  Gage  county. 
The  marriage  of  the  parents  was  solemnized 
in  Lawrence  county,  Ohio,  where  the  father 
followed  the  trade  of  iron  moulder.  He  went 
forth  as  a  valiant  soldier  of  the  Union  when 
the  Civil  war  was  precipitated  on  the  nation. 
In  response  to  President  Lincoln's  first  call, 
he  enlisted,  in  1861,  as  a  member  of  Com- 
pany A,  Eighteenth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry, 
with  which  command  he  proceeded  to  the 
front  and  continued  in  active  service  one  year 
and  four  months,  at  the  expiration  of  which 
he  was  given  an  honorable  discharge,  on  ac- 
count of  physical  disability.  After  the  war 
he  continued  his  residence  in  Ohio  until  1877, 
when  he  removed  with  his  family  to  Benton 
county,  Iowa,  and  in  1881  he  came  with  his 
family  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  where  he 
purchased  the  homestead  now  owned  by  his 
son  George  M.,  the  immediate  subject  of  this 
sketch,  who  is  the  only  child.  On  this  farm 
Mr.  Steece  passed  the  remainder  of  his  life, 
and  he  achieved  success  in  connection  with 
farm  enterprise  in  this  county.  He  was  a 
l\epiih]ican  in  politics,  and  was  affiliated  with 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


975 


the  Grand  Army  of  the  RepubHc,  his  widow 
being  an  earnest  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church.  Archibald  Steece  was  a 
son  of  George  Steece,  who  was  born  in  ]\Iary- 
land,  and  who  became  a  successful  manufac- 
turer of  pig  iron  in  Ohio,  later  following  the 
same  line  of  enterprise  in  jMissouri,  where 
his  death  occurred,  the  family  lineage  tracing 
back  to  staunch  Holland  Dutch  origin.  Wil- 
liam Stenie,  maternal  grandfather  of  the  sub- 
ject of  this  review,  was  bom  in  A'irginia  and 
removed  thence  to  Ohio  in  1847.  He  became 
a  successful  and  influential  exponent  of  the 
iron  industry  in  the  Buckeye  state,  where  he 
passed  the  closing  years  of  his  life. 

George  M.  Steece  acquired  his  early  edu- 
cation in  the  public  schools  of  his  native  state 
and  finally  he  entered  the  law  department  of 
tlie  celebrated  University  of  Michigan,  at  Ann 
Arbor,  from  which  he  received  his  degree  of 
Bachelor  of  Laws  upon  his  graduation  as  a 
member  of  the  class  of  1873.  For  two  years 
thereafter  he  was  engaged  in  the  practice  of 
his  profession  at  Vinton,  Iowa,  and  in  1881 
he  accompanied  his  parents  on  their  removal 
to  Gage  county,  where  he  has  since  been  in 
active  charge  of  the  farm  purchased  by  his 
father.  He  has  erected  all  of  the  present 
farm  buildings,  which  are  of  model  type,  and 
is  one  of  the  successful  agriculturist  and  stock- 
growers  of  the  county. 

In  1879  Mr.  Steece  wedded  Miss  Eva  Gam- 
ble, who  was  born  in  Wabash  county,  Indiana, 
a  daughter  George  and  Mary  (Squire)  Gam- 
ble, the  former  a  native  of  \'irginia  and  the 
latter  of  Kentucky.  ]\Ir.  and  Mrs.  Gamble 
finally  removed  with  their  family  to  Iowa, 
where  the  death  of  the  latter  occurred,  and 
he  was  a  resident  of  Colorado  at  the  time  of 
his  death.  Both  he  and  his  wife  were  of 
Scotch-Irish  ancestry.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Steece 
have  five  children:  Lottie  is  the  wife  of  Dav- 
id Thompson,  of  Riverside  township ;  Jessie 
J.  is  the  wife  of  James  C.  Carmichael,  who 
rents  and  operates  the  farm  of  Mr.  Steece ; 
Louis  is  an  agent  for  the  Metropolitan  Life 
Insurance  Company,  in  the  city  of  Beatrice ; 
Guy  is  engaged  in  farming  in  Logan  town- 
ship :   and   Florence   is   the   wife   of   C.   Peter 


Jensen,  likewise  a   farmer  in  this  township. 

In  politics  Mr.  Steece  is  a  staunch  Repub- 
lican, thoroughly  fortified  in  his  convictions 
concerning  economic  and  governmental  poli- 
cies, and  he  has  held  various  township  offices, 
including  that  of  assessor,  of  which  he  is  the 
incumbent  in  1918.  He  passed  one  summer 
in  Omaha  as  an  attache  of  the  meat  inspec- 
tion service  of  the  agricultural  department  of 
the  government,  and  it  should  be  noted  that 
prior  to  coming  to  Nebraska  he  was  for  two 
years  editor  and  publisher  of  the  Benton 
County  Democrat,  at  Vinton,  Iowa.  On  his 
farm  he  gives  special  attention  to  the  raising 
of  pure-blood  Jersey  cattle.  He  is  affiliated 
with  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America  and 
he  and  his  wife  are  active  members  of  the 
Methodist   Episcopal   church. 


J.  J.  KING  is  one  of  the  vigorous  and  suc- 
cessful farmers  of  Filley  township,  where  he 
conducts  operations  as  an  agriculturist  and 
stock-grower  on  three  hundred  and  twenty 
acres  of  rented  land,  besides  being  the  owner 
of  his  attractive  little  homestead  farmi,  of 
thirty  acres,  in  Section  32.  He  is  a  son  of 
Charles  W.  King,  of  whom  specific  mention  is 
made  on  other  pages,  so  that  further  review 
of  the  family  history  is  not  here  demanded. 

Mr.  King  was  born  in  Rock  Island  county, 
Illinois,  on  the  23d  of  ^March,  1871,  and  was 
five  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  the  family  re- 
moval to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  where  he 
was  reared  on  a  farm  and  received  the  ad- 
vantages of  the  local  schools.  As  a  young 
man  he  engaged  in  independent  farming  on 
rented  land  in  Filley  township,  and  in  1905 
he  purchased  his  present  homestead  place  of 
thirty  acres,  upon  which  he  continues  to  make 
excellent  improvements  from  time  to  time. 
He  is  a  Republican  in  politics  and  he  and  his 
wife  are  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church. 

In  1912  was  recorded  the  marriage  of  Mr. 
King  to  Miss  Emma  Shelton,  who  was  born 
in  the  city  of  Knoxville,  Tennessee,  and  wha 
is  the  popular  chatelaine  of  their  pleasant 
home.     They  have  no  children. 


976 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


MARTI K  FRITZEN  makes  each  succes- 
sive year  count  in  productive  activity  and  cum- 
ulative prosperity  in  connection  with  the  var- 
ied operations  on  the  farm  of  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  which  is  his  place  of  residence, 
in  Section  21,  Logan  township,  the  property 
belonging  to  his  father,  Lammert  Fritzen,  an 
honored  pioneer  of  the  county. 

Martin  Fritzen  was  born  in  Adams  county, 
Illinois,  on  the  26th  of  January,  1873,  and  was 
only  a^boy  at  the  time  of  the  family  removal 
to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  where  he  was 
reared  on  his  father's  farm  and  where  he 
profited  duly  by  the  advantages  afforded  in 
the  district  schools  of  Logan  township.  At 
the  age  of  twenty-four  years  he  began  farm- 
ing in  an  independent  way,  and  his  energy 
and  good  judgment  have  brought  to  him  a 
generous  measure  of  success  in  his  operations 
as  an  agriculturist  and  stock-grower.  He  re- 
calls the  conditions  that  obtained  in  the  pio- 
neer period  of  Gage  county  history  and  as  a 
boy  he  herded  cattle  over  the  prairies,  when 
settlers  were  few  and  widely  separated.  Mr. 
Fritzen  is  a  Democrat  in  politics  and  has  been 
called  upon  to  serve  in  the  offices  of  justice 
of  the  peace  and  road  supervisor,  in  each  of 
which  he  acquitted  himself  with  characteris- 
tic ability  and  fidelity.  Both  he  and  his  wife 
are  active  communicants  of  the  Lutheran 
church. 

In  1899  Mr.  Fritzen  wedded  Miss  Ricka 
Buss,  who  likewise  is  a  native  of  Adams  coun- 
ty, Illinois,  and  they  have  seven  children :  An- 
nie, Lammert,  Gerhard,  Otto,  IMartin,  Jr.. 
Carl,  and  John,  all  of  whom  remain  members 
of  the  ideal  family  circle  nf  the  parental  home. 

WILLIAM  R.  JONES.  — Though  he  has 
not  advanced  far  beyond  the  psalmist's  span 
of  three  score  years  and  ten  and  has  the  men- 
tal and  physical  vigor  that  belies  even  this  age, 
Mr.  Jones  has  the  enviable  distinction  of  be- 
ing at  the  present  time  the  earliest  settler  of 
Beatrice  now  living  within  its  gracious  borders. 
He  was  a  lad  of  eleven  years  when  he  ac- 
companied his  parents  on  their  immigration 
to  Nebraska  Territor>',  in  1857,  and  the  fam- 
ily home  was  in  that  year  established  in  Gage 


county, — a  full  decade  prior  to  the  admission 
of  the  state  to  the  Union.  It  can  thus  be 
realized  that  the  memory  of  this  honored 
pioneer  compasses  virtually  the  entire  gamut 
that  has  been  run  in  the  development  of  this 
section  of  Nebraska  from  a  prairie  wilderness 
to  a  populous  and  opulent  district  of  a  great 
commonwealth,  and  it  is  gratifying  to  him 
that  he  has  been  able  to  play  a  part  in  the  civic 
and  industrial  progress  and  upbuilding  of  Gage 
county. 

Mr.  Jones  was  born  in  Lawrence  county, 
Ohio,  on  the  9th  of  September,  1846,  and  is 
a  son  of  Samuel  and  Rebecca  (Pethoud) 
Jones,  the  former  of  whom  was  born  in  Gray- 
son county,  Virginia,  of  staunch  Welsh  line- 
age, and  the  latter  of  whom  was  bom  in 
Lawrence  county,  Ohio,  where  her  parents 
settled  in  the  early  pioneer  days.  The  parents 
of  Mr.  Jones  continued  their  residence  in 
Ohio  until  1855,  when  they  started  for  the 
west.  After  remaining  six  months  in  Platte 
county,  Missouri,  they  continued  their  journey 
to  Jefferson  county,  Kansas,  where  they  re- 
mained until  September  1st,  1857,  when,  with 
the  primitive  equipment  of  team  and  wagon^ 
they  set  forth  on  the  overland  journey  to 
Gage  county,  Nebraska,  which  at  that  time 
was  on  the  veritable  frontier.  Their  first  din- 
ner in  this  county  was  eaten  while  they  were 
encamped  on  the  banks  of  Blue  river,  and  on 
the  occasion  of  the  eleventh  anniversary  of  the 
birth  of  their  son  William  R.,  of  this  review. 
Samuel  Jones  entered  a  pre-emption  claim  in 
what  is  now  Midland  township.  Gage  county, 
and  here  he  eventually  became  the  owner  of 
three  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land,  an  ap- 
preciable part  of  which  he  brought  under  ef- 
fective cultivation.  In  1860,  however,  he  went 
to  Nuckolls  county,  where  he  remained  about 
one  year,  during  which  he  operated  a  pioneer 
ranch  on  the  overland  stage  route.  He  then 
returned  to  his  Gage  county  farm  and  here, 
save  for  a  short  interval  during  which  he  con- 
ducted a  livery  business  in  the  city  of  Lincoln, 
he  passed  the  residue  of  his  life,  his  death 
having  occurred  in  1872,  when  he  was  but 
forty-six  years  of  age.  His  widow  survived 
him  by  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  centurj'  and 


fllSTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


William  R.  Jones 


978 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


was  a  resident  of  Idaho,  at  the  time  of  her 
death,  in  1900,  she  having  been  one  of  the 
revered  pioneer  women  of  Gage  county.  Her 
father,  John  Pethoud  was  the  first  person  to 
make  settlement  in  what  is  now  Midland 
township,  this  county,  where  he  established 
his  home  in  April,  1857,  a  number  of  his  des- 
cendants being  still  residents  of  the  county 
and  further  data  concerning  the  family  ap- 
pearing in  other  articles  of  this  publication. 

William  R.  Jones  was  reared  under  the  in- 
vigorating discipline  of  the  pioneer  farmstead 
and  his  educational  advantages  after  coming 
to  Gage  county  were  limited  to  the  primitive 
schools  maintained  by  the  early  settlers.  At 
the  age  of  twenty  years  he  took  unto  himself 
a  wife,  and  finally  they  established  their  resi- 
dence on  a  homestead  which  he  obtained  in 
Section  11,  Midland  township.  He  made  good 
improvements  on  this  farm  and  brought  it 
into  an  excellent  state  of  productiveness.  In 
1S76  he  sold  this  property  and  purchased  land 
in  Section  24  of  the  same  township,  where  he 
eventually  developed  a  fine  landed  estate  of 
two  hundred  and  twenty  acres  and  where  he 
successfully  continued  his  operations  as  an 
agriculturist  and  as  a  breeder  and  grower  of 
the  better  types  of  cattle  until  1897,  since  which 
time  he  and  his  wife  have  maintained  theii 
residence  in  the  city  of  Beatrice,  their  pleas- 
ant home  being  at  513  West  Ella  street.  While 
on  the  farm  Mr.  Jones  also  gave  special  atten- 
tion to  the  breeding  of  high-grade  road  horses, 
including  those  of  standard  breeding.  For 
three  years  he  also  kept  on  his  fami  a  well 
ordered  dairy,  from  which  he  supplied  milk  to 
a  representative  list  of  patrons  in  Beatrice.  He 
continues  to  hold  possession  of  his  fine  farm 
property  and  in  his  retirement  is  far  from  in- 
active, as  he  gives  much  of  his  time  and  at- 
tention to  tlie  buying  of  poultry.  Though  he 
celebrated  in  1917  his  seventy-first  birthday 
anniversary  ^Mr.  Jones  has  the  bearing  and 
vigor  of  a  man  twenty  years  his  junior,  and 
the  passing  years  have  failed  to  implant  a 
single  gray  thread  in  his  abundant  head  of 
hair.  His  reminiscences  concerning  the  early 
pioneer  days  are  most  graphic  and  of  surpass- 
ing historic  interest.     Apropos  of  this  state- 


ment the  following  brief   record  is   specially 
worthy  of  reproduction  in  this  article: 

"After  the  Indian  massacre  occurred  on  the 
Little  Blue  river  Mr.  Jones  was  among  the 
first  to  witness  the  horrors  of  that  awful  scene 
and  to  aid  in  burying  the  unfortunate  victims. 
As  an  old  resident  of  the  county  he  is  most 
intimately  acquainted  with  its  history  and  no 
citizen  has  witnessed  with  greater  satisfaction 
the  gradual  march  of  development  and  pro- 
gress. He  is  interested  in  all  matters  pertain- 
ing to  church,  school  and  state,  and  has  given 
earnest  support  to  measures  advanced  for  the 
general  good  of  the  community." 

Mr.  Jones  has  never  wavered  in  his  loyal  al- 
legiance to  the  Democratic  party  and  he  has 
been  long  and  prominently  affilliated  with  the 
Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  through 
active  membership  in  all  of  its  branches.  He  is 
a  member  of  the  Knights  of  Pythias  and  the 
Improved  Order  of  Red  Men.  Though  he  has 
been  liberal  and  progressive  as  a  citizen  Mr. 
Jones  has  not  been  greatly  afflicted  with  am- 
bition for  public  office,  and  his  civic  loyalty 
was  the  principal  cause  of  his  becoming  a  can- 
didate for  the  office  of  county  sherifif,  to  which 
he  was  triumphantly  elected  in  1888  and  in 
which  he  continued  to  give  admirable  adminis- 
tration for  a  temi  of  two  years. 

September  15,  1866,  recorded  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  Jones  to  Miss  Hester  A.  Henton,  who 
was  born  near  Des  Moines,  Iowa,  November 
23,  1846,  that  city  having  then  been  little  more 
than  a  frontier  military  post.  She  is  a  daugh- 
ter of  the  late  James  M.  and  Susan  (Prim) 
Henton,  the  former  a  native  of  Tennessee  and 
the  latter  of  Illinois,  and  her  parents  were 
numbered  among  the  earliest  settlers  of  Polk 
county,  Iowa.  The  father  of  Mrs.  Henton 
erected  and  occupied  the  first  house  in  Spring- 
field, the  capital  of  Illinois.  In  1855  Mr.  Hen- 
ton came  with  his  family  to  Nebraska  and  set- 
tled in  Pawnee  county,  where  he  surveyed  and 
defined  the  town  of  Table  Rock.  Both  he  and 
his  wife  passed  the  remainder  of  their  lives 
in  Nebraska.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jones  became 
the  parents  of  ten  children,  and  concerning  the 
six  now  living  the  following  brief  record  is 
available;     Minnie   L.   is   the   wife  of   Ralph 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


979 


Lee,  of  Lincoln,  this  state;  Susan  is  the  wife 
of  John  Graves,  of  Fort  Milton,  Colorado ; 
Ruhama  is  the  wife  of  John  P.  Vandel,  of 
Bridgeport,  Nebraska ;  Hester  A.  is  the  wife 
of  O.  E.  Carney,  of  Omaha;  Rebecca  is  the 
wife  of  Harr}'  K.  Davis,  of  Lawrence,  this 
state;  and  Willie  Ethel  is  the  wife  of  B.  R. 
Crone,  of  Beatrice. 

W1LLL\M  L.  COLLINS  has  been  a  resi- 
dent of  Gage  county  since  1885  and  here  has 
won  for  himself  substantial  prosperity  through 
his  eiTective  association  with  the  great  and 
basic  industries  of  agriculture  and  stock-grow- 
ing. His  excellent  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  is  situated  in  Section  31,  Sherman 
township,  and  is  equipped  with  good  buildings 
and  other  improvements  of  permanent  order, 
all  of  which  represent  the  tangible  results  of 
his  own  efiforts  and  enterprising  policies.  Mr. 
Collins  is  a  scion  of  old  and  honored  South- 
ern ancestry,  both  his  paternal  and  maternal 
forebears  having  been  prosperous  planters,  his 
grandfather  on  the  paternal  side  having  been 
Mahlon  Collins,  who  passed  his  entire  life  in 
Mrginia,  and  his  maternal  grandfather,  John 
Woodruff  having  lived  throughout  his  entire 
life  in  North  Carolina. 

William  L.  Collins  was  born  in  Grayson 
county,  Virginia,  Februarj-  6,  1855,  and  is  a 
son  of  John  C.  and  Caroline  (WoodrufT )  Col- 
lins, the  former  of  whom  was  born  in  that 
same  county,  February  16,  1831,  and  the  latter 
of  whom  was  born  in  that  part  of  Ashe  coun- 
ty. North  Carolina,  that  is  now  included  in 
Alleghany  county,  the  date  of  her  nativity 
having  been  June  24,  1837,  and  her  death  hav- 
ing occurred  February  14.  1913,  her  husband 
having  survived  her  and  his  death  having  oc- 
curred November  7,  1915.  Their  marriage 
was  solemnized  in  Ashe  county  and  there  Mr. 
Collins  became  a  successful  planter,  both  hav- 
ing remained  residents  of  \"irginia  until  the 
close  of  their  lives.  Of  their  three  children 
the  subject  of  this  sketch  is  the  eldest ;  Frank- 
lin P.  is  a  successful  agriculturist  in  Carroll 
county,  Virginia ;  and  Isaac  R.  came  to  Gage 
county,  Nebraska,  in  the  spring  of  1917.  he 
being  now   engaged   in   farming  in   the   same 


township  as  is  his  brother.  The  mother  was 
an  earnest  member  of  the  Primitive  Baptist 
church  and  was  a  woman  of  gentle  and  grac- 
ious personality.  The  father  was  a  man  of 
broad  views,  was  the  owner  of  a  good  farm 
property  at  the  time  of  his  death,  and  in 
politics  he  never  wavered  in  allegiance  to  the 
Democratic  party. 

In  the  schools  of  the  historic  Old  Dominion 
state  William  L.  Collins  gained  his  youthful 
education  and  there  he  continued  his  alliance 
with  agricultural  enterprise  until  1883,  when 
he  came  to  Nebraska  and  located  in  Richard- 
son county.  There  he  remained  until  1885, 
when  he  came  to  Gage  county  and  purchased 
a  farm  of  eighty  acres,  in  Sherman  township. 
Later  he  purchased  an  additional  tract  of  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres,  which  constitutes 
the  area  of  his  present  attractive  farm  estate, 
the  place  having  been  entirely  without  im- 
provements when  it  came  into  his  possession. 
He  had  the  most  limited  of  financial  resources 
when  he  came  to  this  county  and  by  his  well 
ordered  activities  as  an  agriculturist  and 
stock-growers  he  has  won  place  among  the 
prosperous  citizens  and  representative  farm- 
ers of  Sherman  township.  He  is  a  Democrat 
in  politics,  has  served  as  a  member  of  the 
school  board  of  his  district  and  also  as  road 
supervisor,  and  both  he  and  his  wife  are  ac- 
tive members  of  the  Evangelical  church.  In 
a  fraternal  way  he  is  afifiliated  with  the  Mod- 
ern Woodmen  of  America  and  the  Ancient 
Order  of  United  Workmen. 

November  20,  1879,  recorded  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  Collins  to  Miss  Polly  Andrews,  who 
likewise  is  a  native  of  Grayson  county,  Vir- 
ginia, and  who  is  a  daughter  of  John  and 
Catherine  Andrews.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Collins 
became  the  parents  of  four  children :  Porter 
is  engaged  in  independent  farm  enterprise  not 
far  from  his  parents'  home;  Cora  died  at  the 
age  of  twenty-one  years;  John  is  associated  in 
the  work  and  management  of  the  home  farm; 
and  Lythia  died  at  the  age  of  five  years. 

JOHN  R.  MONTGOMERY  is  the  owner 
of  eighty  acres  of  well  improved  land  in  Sec- 
tion   15,    Holt   township,   where   he  leases   an 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


additional  tract  of  equal  area,  and  where,  in 
addition  to  raising  the  agriculutiiral  products 
best  adapted  to  this  locality,  he  is  giving 
special  attention  to  the  raising  of  fine  Chester 
White  swine,  his  breeding  of  this  type  of 
stock  having  been  initiated  in  1914. 

Mr.  Montgomery  was  born  in  Sullivan 
county,  Missouri,  September  9,  1859,  and  is 
the  eldest  in  a  family  of  five  children;  James 
is  another  of  the  prosperous  farmers  of  Holt 
township;  Dr.  William  P.,  an  able  physician 
and  surgeon,  is  now  actively  identified  with 
farm  enterprise  in  Holt  township ;  Caroline  is 
deceased;  and  Maude  is  employed  in  one  of 
the  leading  hospitals  in  the  city  of  Lincoln. 

John  R.  IVlontgomery  is  a  son  of  Andrew 
L.  and  Mary  (Beall)  Montgomery,  the  for- 
mer of  whom  was  born  in  Wayne  county, 
Ohio,  July  11,  1837,  and  the  latter  in  the  state 
of  Illinois,  in  August,  1839.  Andrew  L. 
Montgomery  and  his  wife  were  numbered 
among  the  territorial  pioneers  of  Lancaster 
county,  Nebraska,  where  they  established  their 
residence  in  1864.  Mr.  Montgomery  entered 
claim  to  a  homestead  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres,  near  the  present  village  of  Hick- 
man, and  there  he  continued  his  activities  as 
a  pioneer  farmer  until  1870,  when  he  came 
with  his  family  to  Gage  county.  He  became 
the  owner  of  a  large  landed  estate  in  this 
county,  where  he  and  his  wife  still  reside, 
and  where  he  is  still  the  owner  of  fully  three 
hundred  acres,  the  remainder  of  his  land  hav- 
ing been  divided  among  his  children.  He  is 
a  son  of  John  and  Mary  (Shatow)  Alontgom- 
ery,  who  were  born  respectively  in  Maryland 
and  Pennsylvania,  and  who  passed  the  closing 
years  of  their  lives  in  Ohio.  Andrew  L. 
Montgomery  and  his  wife  now  reside  in  the 
village  of  Pickrell  and  are  honored  pioneer 
citizens  of  Gage  county. 

John  R.  Montgomery  was  about  four  years 
old  at  the  time  of  the  family  removal  to  Ne- 
braska Territory  and  his  early  education  was 
acquired  in  the  pioneer  schools  of  Lancaster 
and  Gage  counties.  He  early  began  to  assist 
his  father  in  the  farm  operations  and  since 
1895  he  has  conducted  independent  operations 
on   his   present    farm,   eighty   acres   of   which 


was  given  to  him  by  his  father  in  May,  1914. 

On  the  5th  of  January,  1887,  Mr.  Mont- 
gomery' wedded  Miss  Celia  Smith,  who  was 
born  in  Putnam  county,  Illinois,  a  daughter 
of  Edward  and  Artie  (Wardlaw)  Smith,  who 
now  reside  at  Cortland,  Gage  county,  Nebras- 
ka, the  father  having  retired  from  the  work 
of  his  trade,  that  of  blacksmith.  Mr.  and 
]\Irs.  Montgomery  have  six  children:  Cecila 
is  the  wife  of  Fred  Busboom,  of  Cozad,  Daw- 
son county,  this  state;  Ralph  is  identified 
with  farm  enterprise  in  Holt  township ;  Ho- 
mer resides  in  the  village  of  Pickrell ;  Edward 
remains  at  the  parental  home;  Mildred  is  the 
wife  of  E.  Rudder,  of  Highland  township; 
and  Irene  is  the  youngest  member  of  the  pa- 
rental home  circle. 

In  politics  Mr.  ^Montgomery  is  staunchly 
aligned  in  the  ranks  of  the  Democratic  party 
and  he  has  been  influential  in  community  af- 
fairs. In  1908  he  was  elected  a  member  of 
the  county  board  of  supervisors,  in  which 
position  he  served  one  term,  besides  which  he 
served  four  years  as  clerk  and  treasurer  of 
Holt  township,  his  retirement  from  this  dual 
oflrce  having  occurred  in  1917.  He  is  af- 
filiated with  the  Ancient  Order  of  L'nited 
Workmen  and  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd 
Fellows. 


THOMAS  ACTON.  — The  life  story  of 
Thomas  Acton  is  made  specially  interesting 
by  reason  of  the  fact  that  he  came  to  the 
L^nited  States  with  scarcely  a  dollar  in  his 
possession  but,  after  years  of  untiring  dili- 
gence, has  acquired  more  than  an  ordinary 
competence,  not  considering  that  he  and  his 
good  wife  have  reared,  given  a  good  educa- 
tional advantages  to  and  instilled  high  ideals 
ii:  seven  sons  and  four  daughters,  who  are 
fast  taking  up  their  life  work  in  their  own 
homes,  ready  to  enrich  the  communities  in 
which  they  live. 

Thomas  Acton  was  born  in  Ontario.  Can- 
ada, and  is  a  son  of  Abraham  and  Elizabeth 
(  Kidd)  Acton,  who  were  natives  of  the  Emer- 
ald Isle  and  who  in  their  early  life  come  to 
Canada.  Abraham  Acton  was  a  son  of  Frank 
-Acton,    who   remained    in    Ireland   all    of   his 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


hfe.  He  and  his  son  Abraham  were  active 
members  of  the  Orangemen,  that  body  of 
Protestant  Irishmen  which  had  for  its  pur- 
pose the  overthrow  of  the  Catholic  domina- 
tion in  the  civic  and  rehgious  life  of  the  Emer- 
ald Isle.  Abraham  Acton  and  Elizabeth 
(Kidd)  Acton  were  the  parents  of  five  chil- 
dren, two  of  whom  are  living  —  George,  of 
Summerfield,  Kansas,  and  Thomas,  the  sub- 
ject of  this  review.  Mrs.  Elizabeth  (Kidd) 
Acton  passed  away  in  1844  and  in  1849  Abra- 
ham Acton  married  the  second  time.  Of  this 
union  seven  children  were  born. 

In  1864  Mr.  Thomas  Acton  left  Canada 
for  the  United  States,  and  he  chose  for  his 
home  the  thriving  city  of  Builington,  Iowa. 
In  Iowa  he  worked  five  years  in  logging 
camps,  clearing  the  rich  fertile  soil  for  the 
farmer  who  would  soon  follow  with  his  im- 
plements of  agriculture.  From  1869  to  1885 
he  operated  a  farm  in  Iowa,  and  he  then  re- 
moved with  his  family  to  Kansas,  where  he 
homesteaded  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of 
land,  in  Uogan  county. 

In  1876,  at  Rockport,  Missouri,  culminated 
the  romance  of  Thomas  Acton  and  Letitia 
Patience  —  in  their  marriage  and  the  joining 
of  their  lives  "till  death  us  do  part."  Sons 
and  daughters  came  to  them  until  eleven  of 
them  were  gathered  in  the  home,  and  con- 
cerning these  children  record  is  here  offered: 
Gertrude  is  the  wife  of  Albert  H.  Arneal.  a 
farmer  of  Rawlins  county,  Kansas ;  George 
is  a  farmer  by  occupation  ;  Winnie  is  the  wife 
of  D.  D.  Hannah,  a  hardware  salesman,  liv- 
ing at  Hiawatha,  Kansas ;  Thomas  is  farming 
in  Gage  county;  Mabel  is  the  wife  of  E.  C. 
Lasher,  engaged  in  the  nursery  business  at 
Hutchins,  Kansas ;  John  remains  on  the  farm 
with  his  father ;  Arthur  and  Robert  likewise 
are  at  home ;  Nellie  is  a  teacher  in  the  Wy- 
more  schools;  Fred  is  attending  school  at  Lin- 
coln, Nebraska ;  and  Frank  is  at  home  with 
his  parents.  The  mother  of  this  interesting 
family  of  children  was  born  in  Canada  in  the 
year  1859. 

In  1890  ^Ir.  Acton  came  with  his  family  to 
Island  Grove  township.  Gage  county,  and 
purchased  eighty  acres  of  land  —  the  nucleus 


around  which  so  many  additional  acres  have 
since  been  gathered.  He  is  the  owner  of  five 
hundred  and  forty  acres  of  well  improved 
land,  the  greater  share  of  which  is  in  a  state 
of  intensive  cultivation.  The  home  farm  is 
improved  with  a  commodious  and  modern 
house  and  the  numerous  other  buildings  which 
make  a  progressive  farmer's  place  look  like  a 
small  village. 

Mr.  Acton  and  his  family  are  members  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  and  he  is  in- 
dependent in  politics,  preferring  that  the  pub- 
lic official  should  be  the  man  best  fitted  for  the 
office,  irrespective  of  party  affiliations. 

CYRUS  P.  JONES,  who  rents  from  his 
father's  estate  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  six- 
ty acres,  the  southwest  quarter  of  Section  21, 
Highland  township,  is  one  of  the  able  and 
popular  exponents  of  farm  industry  in  his 
native  county,  is  a  member  of  the  Gage  Coun- 
ty Fair  Association  and  has  been  specially 
successful  and  prominent  in  the  raising  of 
pure-bred  and  registered  Poland-China  swine, 
in  which  conection  it  may  be  noted  that  he  is 
a  valued  member  of  the  Poland-China  Asso- 
ciation of  Nodaway  county.  From  his  farm 
he  has  exhibited  fine  specimens  of  Poland- 
China  swine  at  the  Gage  county  fairs  and  also 
at  the  state  fair  in  the  city  of  Lincoln,  his 
last  exhibit  having  been  made  in  1912  and  he 
having  received  many  premiums,  including 
first,  second,  and  third  prizes  on  his  exhibits. 
In  later  years  he  has  not  made  such  displays 
of  his  fine  stock,  owing  to  the  exigent  de- 
mands made  upon  him  in  the  management  of 
his  farm,  but  he  continues  as  one  of  the  coun- 
ty's extensive  shippers  of  hogs,  many  having 
been  shipped  for  breeding  purposes  into  dif- 
ferent states  of  the  union. 

Mr.  Jones  was  born  on  the  pioneer  home- 
stead of  his  father  in  Highland  township,  and 
the  date  of  his  nativity  was  August  17,  1877. 
To  his  father,  the  late  George  H.  Jones,  a 
special  memoir  is  dedicated  on  other  pages,  so 
that  further  review  of  the  family  history  is  not 
here  demanded.  Mr.  Jones  early  began  to 
aid  in  the  work  of  the  home  farm  and  in  the 
meanwhile  profited  by  the  advantages  afi^ord- 


982 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


ed  in  the  district  schools,  after  which  he  at- 
tended the  high  school  at  Cortland.  In  that 
village  he  thereafter  clerked  for  a  time  in 
his  father's  general-merchandise  store,  but  the 
vigorous  life  of  the  farm  had  greater  appeal 
to  him  and  after  having  been  employed  one 
year  at  farm  work  he  rented  land  and  en- 
gaged in  farming  in  an  independent  way,  in 
the  meanwhile  maintaining  for  the  first  year 
bachelor's  hall  on  the  farm.  He  has  always 
taken  much  interest  in  fine  live  stock  and  as  a 
grower  of  pure-bred  Poland-China  swine  he 
has  used  marked  discrimination  in  selection 
of  breeding  stock,  so  that  his  success  has  been 
very  pronounced  in  this  interesting  depart- 
ment of  farm  enterprise.  He  is  a  Republican 
in  politics  and  he  and  his  wife  are  members 
of  the  Congregational  church,  he  having  aid- 
ed in  the  organization  of  the  church  of  this 
denomination  in  his  home  precinct. 

May  4,  1899,  Mr.  Jones  wedded  Miss  Nettie 
Goodban,  who  was  born  in  Highland  town- 
ship, June  23,  1875,  a  daughter  of  John  S. 
Goodban,  who  is  individually  mentioned  else- 
where in  this  work.  ]\Irs.  Jones  was  grad- 
uated in  the  Cortland  high  school  and  prior 
to  her  marriage  was  a  teacher  in  a  district 
school  for  one  term.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jones 
have  five  children,  all  of  whom  remain  at  the 
parental  homes  —  Ethel  V.,  Milford  E.,  Clar- 
ence R.,  Neva  F.,  and  Howard  L. 

JOHN  ACKERMAN,  who  holds  secure 
status  as  one  of  the  representative  farmers  of 
Logan  township,  with  an  attractive  homestead 
in  Section  9,  was  born  near  Lebanon,  Mis- 
souri, October  3,  1854,  and  is  a  son  of  Harmon 
and  Franka  ( Reiser)  Ackerman,  who  came 
from  Germany  to  America  in  the  '40s  and 
established  their  home  in  Missouri.  In  that 
state  the  father  rented  land  and  engaged  in 
farming,  but  a  few  years  later  he  removed 
with  his  family  to  Adams  county,  Illinois, 
where  he  was  similarly  engaged  at  the  time 
of  the  Civil  war,  in  which  he  served  one  year 
as  a  member  of  an  Illinois  regiment  of  volun- 
teer infantry.  Of  the  five  children  of  Har- 
mon and  Franka  (Reiser)  Ackerman  the  sub- 
ject  of   this   review   is  youngest   of  the   three 


now  living;  IVIaggie  is  the  wife  of  William 
Miller,  a  farmer  near  Sterling,  Johnson  coun- 
ty, Nebraska ;  and  Albert  is  a  prosperous  farm- 
er in  the  same  county.  The  devoted  mother 
of  these  children  died  at  Lebanon,  Missouri, 
and  the  father  later  contracted  a  second  mar- 
riage, of  the  children  of  which  six  are  living. 
Harmon  Ackerman  was  a  sincere  member  of 
the  Lutheran  church,  as  was  also  each  of  his 
wives,  and  in  politics  he  was  aligned  with 
the  Republican  party.  Through  his  own  abil- 
ity and  eflforts  he  achieved  independence  and 
prosperity  and  he  was  the  owner  of  a  valuable 
farm  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  in  Liv- 
ingston county,  Illinois,  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  which  occurred  in  1914,  when  he  was 
eighty-eight  years,  seven  months  and  seven- 
teen days  of  age.  He  reclaimed  and  improved 
his  farm  and  was  one  of  the  venerable  and 
honored  citizens  of  Livingston  county  at  the 
time  when  he  passed  from  the  stage  of  life's 
mortal  endeavors.  He  was  a  son  of  Frank 
Ackerman,  who  passed  his  entire  life  in  Ger- 
many. 

John  Ackerman  was  reared  on  the  home 
farm  of  his  father  and  in  his  youth  his  edu- 
cational advantages  were  very  limited.  He 
did  not,  in  fact,  attend  school  until  he  had  at- 
tained to  the  age  of  nineteen  years,  but  in  the 
great  school  of  experience  he  has  largely  over- 
come the  handicap  of  earlier  years.  Mr.  Ack- 
erman continued  his  association  with  farm  en- 
terprise in  Illinois  until  1877,  when  he  came 
to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  and  purchased  six- 
ty-six acres  of  land.  On  this  pioneer  farm 
he  erected  a  house  and  barn  of  modest  type 
and  finally  he  sold  the  property,  for  five  hun- 
dred dollars.  For  the  ensuing  five  years  he 
farmed  on  land  which  he  rented  from  Claus 
Zimmerman,  and  he  then  purchased,  at  eight 
dollars  an  acre,  a  tract  of  eighty  acres  in  Lo- 
gan township,  this  property  being  still  owned 
by  him.  He  purchased  his  present  home  place, 
fur  a  consideration  of  thirty-two  hundred 
dollars,  and  since  that  time  he  has  expended 
fully  seven  thousand  dollars  in  improvements 
of  a  permanent  order. 

In  1877  ]Mr.  Ackerman  wedded  Miss  Geska 
Schuster,  who  was  born  in  Germanv.  a  daugh- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


983 


ter  of  Mena  Schuster,  she  having  been  eight 
years  old  when  the  family  came  to  the  United 
States  and  settled  in  Adams  county,  Illinois. 
Concerning  the  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ack- 
erman  the  following  brief  record  is  entered : 
Frances  is  the  wife  of  John  Buhr,  of  Logan 
township :  Mena  is  identified  with  farm  activi- 
ties on  his  father's  property ;  Grace  is  the 
wife  of  Bruno  J.  Buhr,  of  Hooker  township; 
Harmon  is  a  resident  of  Hanover  township; 
and  Hannah  and  Geska  remain  at  the  parental 
home.  Mr.  Ackerman  is  an  independent  Re- 
publican in  politics  and  he  and  his  wife  are 
active  communicants  of  the  Hanover  Lutheran 
church. 

FLOYD  G.  PLUCKNETT.  —  It  is  special- 
ly pleasing  to  a*ccord  in  this  volume  recogni- 
tion to  Mr.  Plucknett,  for  he  is  a  native  of 
Gage  county  and  a  scion  of  one  of  its  honored 
and  influential  pioneer  families,  besides  having 
distinct  precedence  as  one  of  the  progressive 
and  substantial  exponents  of  farm  industry  in 
Grant  township,  where  he  is  the  owner  of  a 
finely  improved  farm  of  one  hundred-'  and 
eighty-five  acres,  in  Sections  28  and  29.  It 
was  on  this  farm  that  he  was  born,  and  the 
date  of  his  nativity  was  April  6,  189L  He  is 
a  son  of  George  A.  and  Olivia  (Benjamin) 
Plucknett  and  a  grandson  of  the  late  William 
Plucknett,  who  was  a  native  of  England  and 
who  became  a  resident  of  Gage  county,  Ne- 
braska Territory,  in  1861 :  here  he  accum- 
ulated and  developed  one  of  the  largest  and 
most  valuable  landed  estates  of  the  county 
and  was  an  honored  citizen  who  did  much  to 
further  the  civic  and  industrial  progress  and 
upbuilding  of  this  favored  section  of  the  state. 
The  subject  of  this  review  was  but  one  year 
old  at  the  time  when  his  father  was  killed  by 
accident,  and  his  mother  later  became  the  wife 
of  Michael  Seidles,  their  home  being  now  at 
Superior,  Nuckolls  county.  Of  the  two  chil- 
dren of  the  first  marriage  the  one  surviving 
is  he  whose  name  initiates  this  review,  the  oth- 
er child,  a  daughter,  having  died  in  infancy. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Seidles  became  the  parents  of 
four  children,  of  whom  three  are  living. 

Floyd  G.  Plucknett  was  about  six  years 
old  at  the  time  of  his  mother's  second  mar- 


riage and  he  was  reared  principally  on  the 
farm  of  his  stepfather,  in  Nuckolls  countq, 
his  early  educational  advantages  having  been 
those  of  the  public  schools  and  he  having  con- 
tinued to  assist  his  stepfather  in  the  work  and 
management  of  the  farm  in  Nuckolls  county 
until  he  had  attained  to  the  age  of  twenty 
years.  For  one  year  thereafter  he  farmed  in- 
dependently on  land  which  he  rented  in 
Nuckolls  county  and  upon  reaching  his  legal 
majority  he  came  into  his  heritage,  in  his 
present  farm,  an  integral  part  of  the  original 
landed  estate  of  his  paternal  grandfather.  He 
forthwith  assumed  control  with  marked  ener- 
gy and  progressiveness  and  his  previous  ex- 
perience admirably  fortified  him  for  success- 
ful farm  enterprise.  In  1911  he  improved 
his  farm  by  the  erection  of  his  modern  house, 
and  in  the  following  year  he  erected  a  large 
barn,  the  place  being  now  one  of  the  model 
farms  of  Grant  township  and  being  the  stage 
of  his  vigorous  and  successful  activities  as  an 
agriculturist  and  stock-grower,  in  which  lat- 
ter department  he  is  giving  special  attention 
to  the  raising  of  pure-bred  Poland-China 
swine.  Returning  to  his  native  county  in 
1910,  Mr.  Plucknett  is  well  upholding  the 
prestige  of  a  family  name  that  has  been  sig- 
nally prominent  and  honored  in  the  annals  of 
Gage  county  history.  His  political  allegiance 
is  given  to  the  Republican  party  and  he  and 
his  wife  hold  the  faith  of  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal church,  in  which  faith  he  was  reared. 

December  25,  1910,  recorded  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  Plucknett  to  Miss  Julia  Rosling,  who 
was  born  and  reared  in  Nuckolls  county,  and 
who  is  a  daughter  of  the  late  William  T.  and 
Ada  (Sage)  Rosling.  By  this  marriage  one 
child  was  born,  on  January  23,  1918.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Plucknett  have  an  adopted  daugh- 
ter. Grace  M.,  who  completes  the  immediate 
family  circle  in  the  attractive  and  hospitable 
home.  Mr.  Plucknett  takes  loyal  interest  in 
community  affairs  and  in  the  general  well-be- 
ing of  his  native  county.  While  he  has  no 
ambition  for  public  office  he  consented  to  ac- 
cept the  position  of  road  overseer,  of  which 
office  he  is  the  incumbent  at  the  time  of  this  ' 


984 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


DICK  OLT-MANS  has  won  for  himself 
distinct  independence  and  prosperity  smce 
coming  to  Gage  county,  more  than  thirty  years 
ago,  and  he  is  now  well  established  as  one  of 
the  substantial  agriculturists  and  stock-grow- 
ers of  Logan  township,  where  he  is  the  owner 
of  an  excellently  improved  farm  estate  of  four 
hundred  and  eighty  acres,  his  homestead  being 
in  Section  16. 

Mr.  Oltmans  was  born  in  the  eastern  part 
of  Gennany,  July  27,  1867,  and  is  a  son  of 
Diedrick  and  Elizabeth    (Johnson)    Oltmans, 
who,  now   venerable   in   years,   still  maintain 
their  home  in  their  native  land,  though  it  has 
on    two    occasions    been    their   privilege    and 
pleasure  to  visit  the  home  of  their  son  Dick 
since   he    established    his    residence    in    Gage 
county.     Of  their  ten  children  only  four  are 
living,  Heye,  eldest  of  the  number,  remaining 
in  Germany;  Dick,  of  this  review,  being  the 
next  younger;  Maggie  being  the  wife  of  John 
Heffling,  a  farmer  in  Hanover  township,  this 
county;   and   Anton,   remaining  in   Germany. 
The  parents  have  been  lifelong  members  of 
the  Lutheran  church.    The  subject  of  this  re- 
view bears  the  full  name  of  his  grandfather, 
Dick  Oltmans,  who  came  from  Germany  to 
America  many  years  ago  and  who  passed  the 
closing  years  of  his  life  in  the  state  of  Illinois. 
Dick  Oltmans  was  in  his  youth  afforded  the 
advantages  of  the  schools  of  his   fatherland 
and   was   a   vigorous  .lad  of    fourteen  years 
when  he  came  to  the  United  States.    In  Logan 
county,  Illinois,  he  found  employment  at  fann 
work,  and  for  some  time  he  received  compen- 
sation  of   only  twenty-five  cents  a   day.     In 
that  state  he  continued  to  be  employed  by  the 
month  as  a  farm  hand  until  he  came  to  Ne- 
braska   and    established    his    home    in    Gage 
county,  in   1886.     He  here  purchased  a  team 
and    for  the   first   season    used   the   same    in 
breaki.ng  land  for  others.    The  succeeding  sea- 
son found  him  engaged  in  independent  farm- 
ing on   rented   land,   though  he  continued  to 
work  for  others  at  intervals,  in  breaking  land, 
in  order  to  provide  for  his  needs.    In  1895  he 
purchased  one  hundred  and   sixty  acres  and 
.  by  strenuous  industry  and  good  management 
he  evcnlually  i)aiil  for  this  ]inii)crty.     lie  next 


bought  and  paid  for  an  additional  tract,  of 
eighty  acres,  and  with  increasing  prosperity 
he  continued  to  make  judicious  investments  in 
excellent  farm  land  in  Logan  township  until 
he  now  has  a  valuable  farm  estate  of  four 
hundred  and  eighty  acres,  as  previously  noted. 
He  has  erected  good  buildings  on  his  home- 
stead and  is  one  of  the  energetic  and  success- 
ful farmers  of  the  county. 

In  1892  Mr.  Oltmans  married  Miss  Lena 
Frerichs,  daughter  of  L.  W.  Frerichs,  of 
whom  individual  mention  is  made  on  other 
pages,  and  of  this  union  have  been  born  the 
following  named  children:  Diedrick  is  mar- 
ried and  is  engaged  in  farming  near  the  vil- 
lage of  Pickrell ;  Lambert  is  farming  near 
Adams,  this  county;  Harmpn  is  identified 
with  farm  enterprise  near  Pickrell;  Marie  is 
the  wife  of  George  Meints,  of  Hooker  town- 
ship;  and  Elizabeth,  Ella,  Wilhelm,  Heye, 
Annie,  and  Anton  remain  at  the  parental 
home. 

In  politics  Mr.  Oltmans  is  a  Democrat  and 
he  has  served  in  various  minor  offices  of  local 
order.  He  and  his  wife  are  active  communi- 
cants of  the  Hanover  Lutheran  church. 

ISAAC  R.  CLAYTON.  — The  subject  of 
this  record  is  one  of  those  who  have  reached 
the  goal  after  years  of  toil,  labor  and  anxiety 
and  all  the  attendant  incidents  of  a  busy  life 
and  have  now  retired  from  active  service. 

Isaac  Randolph  Clayton  is  a  native  of  Illi- 
nois, born  at  Trivoli,  Peoria  county,  August 
10,  1844.  His  parents  were  Ezekiel  and 
Phoebe  ( Randolph )  Clayton,  the  former  of 
whom  was  born  in  New  York  city  and  the 
latter  in  Plainfield,  New  Jersey.  In  1839 
they  drove  overland  with  a  team  of  horses  and 
settled  in  Peoria  county,  Illinois.  In  1868 
they  moved  to  Canton,  Illinois,  where  they  both 
passed  away. 

Young  Clayton  was  reared  on  a  fami  in 
what  was  then  a  pioneer  district  in  Illinois.  He 
acquired  a  limited  education  in  the  district 
schools  and  early  in  life  began  to  assist  in  the 
operation  of  the  home  farm.  In  February 
1865,  he  enlisted  in  Company  A,  One  Hun- 
dred   and    Fiftv-first    Illinois    Volunteer    In- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  Is.\.\c  R.  Clayton 


986 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


fantry,  with  which  he  served  one  year  in  de- 
fense of  the  Union  in  the  Civil  war.  There- 
after he  was  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits 
in  Peoria  and  Stark  counties,  Illinois,  until 
1883,  when  he  came  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska, 
and  bought  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  in 
Section  26  Sicily  township.  Not  a  furrow 
had  been  turned  nor  a  stick  in  the  way  of  im- 
provement. He  arrived  in  the  month  of  March 
and  in  five  days  had  erected  a  house  and 
moved  into  it.  He  assiduously  set  about  im- 
proving and  cultivating  this  tract  and  as  the 
years  passed  he  prospered.  In  1912  he  re- 
tired to  Wymore,  —  the  owner  of  two  hun- 
dred and  forty  acres  of  valuable  land. 

October  10,  1866,  Mr.  Clayton  married 
Miss  Emma  Littell,  who  was  bom  in  New 
York  city,  November  28,  1845,  a  daughter  of 
Isaac  F.  and  Addie  (Gibson)  Littell,  natives 
of  New  Jersey  and  New  York  respectively. 
They  became  early  settlers  of  Illinois  where 
both  passed  away. 

Following  is  a  brief  record  concerning  the 
children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Clayton :  Abbie, 
is  the  wife  of  W.  I.  Reed,  a  farmer  of  Sicily 
township :  Hattie  is  the  wife  of  Frank  E. 
James,  of  Greeley,  Colorado ;  Freeman  F.  is 
operating  the  old  farm;  Phoebe  is  the  wife  of 
L.  E.  Kelley,  an  implement  dealer  at  Wymore, 
Albert  Vi^as  killed  in  a  runaway  accident,  and 
his  widow,  who  was  Miss  Alice  Stevenson,  re- 
sides in  Lincoln ;  she  has  two  daughters,  — 
May  is  superintendent  of  schools  at  Mullen. 
Nebraska  and  Mabel  is  principal  of  schools 
at  Alliance,  Nebraska;  Charles,  the  youngest 
son  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Clayton  was  killed  by 
lightning,  leaving  a  widow,  who  resides  in 
Blue  Springs  with  her  daughter,  the  latter 
having  been  only  ten  days  old  when  her  father 
was  killed.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Clayton  have 
twenty-five  grandchildren  and  four  great- 
grandchildren. 

In  1911  the  people  of  Gage  county,  recog- 
nizing his  ability,  elected  Mr.  Clayton  to  rep- 
resent them  in  the  lower  house  of  the  state 
legislature.  He  served  on  the  soldiers'-relief, 
finance  and  other  committees.  He  strongly 
advocated  in  speech  and  ballot  those  measures 
he  thought  were  for  the  good  of  the  people 


and  as  firmly  opposed  those  measures  he  con- 
sidered wrong.  He  took  a  firm  stand  in  op- 
position to  the  bill  permitting  Sunday  baseball 
and  has  never  regretted  any  vote  that  he  has 
cast.  While  living  on  his  farm  he  served 
fourteen  years  on  the  school  board,  ten  years 
as  justice  of  the  peace,  two  years  as  county 
supervisor,  and  one  term  as  township  treas- 
urer. Mr.  Clayton  is  a  firm  believer  in  the 
doctrines  of  the  Baptist  church,  of  which  he 
and  his  wife  are  members  and  in  which  he  is 
serving  as  deacon.  A  stalwart  champion  of 
the  cause  of  temperance,  he  has  never  taken  a 
drink  of  alcoholic  liquor  nor  played  a  game  of 
cards.  His  sons  and  sons-in-laws  all  have  the 
same  record  concerning  these  vices.  Neither 
he  nor  his  wife  inherited  a  penny,  and  the 
success  which  has  come  to  them  is  due  entirely 
to  their  own  perseverance  and  industry.  They 
met  with  severe  reverses  during  their  early 
married  life  while  living  in  Illinois  and  ir, 
Nebraska,  and  in  the  latter  state  they  endured 
the  hardships  and  privations  incident  to  a 
pioneer  country,  but  they  met  all  obstacles  un- 
flinchingly, and,  with  that  determination  and 
ambition  which  assure  success,  theirs  has  been 
a  good  fight,  crowned  with  victory.  They  oc- 
cupy a  beautiful  home  in  Wymore,  surrounded 
with  all  the  necessities  and  many  of  the  luxu- 
ries of  life.  Their  happiest  hours  are  when, 
once  a  year,  a  reunion  of  the  family  is  held. 

Mr.  Clayton  wears  the  little  bronze  button 
signifying  membership  in  the  Grand  Army 
Republic  and  he  maintains  pleasant  relations 
with  his  old  army  comrades  by  membership  in 
Coleman  Post,  No.  115,  of  Wymore.  Thus 
we  offer  the  life  record  of  one  who  has  meas- 
ured up  to  the  highest  standard  of  manhood, 
and  it  would  not  be  possible  to  find  a  more 
respected  citizen  then  he  or  a  more  highly  es- 
teemed family  than  his. 

GEORGE  F.  BURGER.  — In  Section  19, 
Clatonia  township,  George  Frederick  Burger 
is  the  owner  of  two  hundred  and  forty  acres 
of  land,  besides  which  he  has  a  landed  estate 
of  four  hundred  and  eighty  acres  in  Clay 
county.  Kansas,  the  latter  property  being  im- 
proved   with    two    distinct    groups    of    farm 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRx\SKA 


987 


buildings  and  being  under  the  direct  manage- 
ment of  his  sons,  John  A.  and  Carl  S.  Rela- 
tive to  the  family  history  adequate  record  is 
given  in  the  sketch  of  George  S.  Burger,  on 
other  pages  of  this  work,  and  representatives 
of  the  name  have  played  a  worthy  part  in 
the  social  and  industrial  development  of 
Gage  county,  where  the  family  home  was  es- 
tablished in  the  pioneer  days. 

George  F.  Burger  was  born  in  Bavaria, 
Germany,  April  3,  1863,  a  son  of  John  L.  and 
Margaret  M.  (Rueter)  Burger,  and  he  was 
two  years  old  at  the  time  of  the  family  immi- 
gration to  America.  He  was  reared  and  edu- 
cated in  the  state  of  Illinois  and  was  fourteen 
years  of  age  when  he  accompanied  his  parents 
to  Gage  county,  Nebraska.  He  continued  to 
assist  in  the  work  of  the  home  farm  until  his 
marriage,  in  1887,  and  thereafter  he  farmed 
on  land  rented  from  his  father  until  1890. 
when  he  purchased  a  farm  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty  acres  near  his  present  homestead 
in  Clatonia  township,  his  father  having  given 
him  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  and  he 
having  purchased  an  additional  one  hundred 
and  twenty  acres.  When  he  located  on  his 
present  home  farm  the  same  had  buildings 
representing  an  investment  of  about  five  hun- 
dred dollars,  and  since  that  time  he  has  shown 
his  progressiveness  by  making  the  best  of 
permanent  improvements,  including  the  erec- 
tion, in  1901,  of  a  commodious  and  modern 
house  of  nine  rooms,  he  having  expended 
fully  five  thousand  dollars  in  buildings  and 
other  improvements  on  the  place,  besides  hav- 
ing shown  equal  progressiveness  in  the  im- 
proving and  developing  of  his  farm  property 
in  Kansas,  where  he  made  his  first  investment 
in  1907.  Mr.  Burger  has  been  recognized  as 
a  specially  energetic  and  enterprising  farmer 
and  has  given  particular  attention  to  the  rais- 
ing of  high-grade  swine,  of  which  he  ships 
an  average  of  a  carload  each  year. 

Mr.  Burger  is  independent  in  politics,  and 
he  and  his  wife  are  communicants  of  the  Lu- 
theran church.  He  is  one  of  those  vigorous 
men  who  have  made  full  use  of  the  advantages 
offered  in  connection  with  the  development  of 
the  natural  resources  of  Gage  county,  and  is 


one  of  the  substantial  citizens  of  the  county. 
April  15,  1887,  Mr.  Burger  wedded  Miss 
Minnie  Ulrich,  who  was  born  in  Illinois, 
Januarj'  20,  1867,  a  daughter  of  Charles  Ul- 
rich, who  became  a  pioneer  of  Gage  county, 
other  pages  of  this  work  giving  interesting  in- 
formation concerning  the  Ulrich  family.  Of 
the  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Burger  the  eld- 
est is  Margaret,  who  is  the  wife  of  John 
Rehms,  of  Clatonia  township;  John  A.  and 
Carl  S.  have  charge  of  their  father's  exten- 
sive farm  property  in  Kansas,  as  previously 
noted,  and  they  have  an  efficient  coadjutor  in 
the  person  of  their  younger  brother  Walter; 
Anna  is  the  wife  of  August  Hinke,  of  Saline 
county ;  and  Herman  and  Edward  remain  at 
the  parental  home. 

IRA  D.  BONEBRIGHT,  who  conducts  a 
well  equipped  general  merchandise  store  in 
the  village  of  Cortland  and  is  one  of  the  rep- 
resentative merchants  and  citizens  of  this 
thriving  town,  was  born  in  Putnam  county, 
Missouri,  Januarj-  17,  1878,  a  son  of  Joseph 
and  Barbara  ( Stoneking)  Bonebright,  He 
was  the  fourth  in  a  family  of  twelve  children, 
the  firstborn,  Nevada,  having  died  in  child- 
hood; John  S.  is  a  prosperous  contractor  and 
builder  at  Cortland;  Henry  C.  served  as  a 
soldier  in  the  Spanish-American  war;  Lillie 
is  the  wife  of  Bert  J.  Deming,  of  Cortland; 
Etta  resides  at  Wichita,  Kansas;  Mattie  re- 
sides in  the  city  of  Des  Moines,  Iowa ;  Zuna 
is  the  wife  of  Amos  Larson,  of  Salt  Lake 
City;  William  A.  resides  in  Oklahoma  City, 
Oklahoma ;  and  Anna,  Garfield,  and  Charles 
are  deceased. 

Joseph  Bonebright,  who  was  born  July  11, 
1848,  came  with  his  family  from  Missouri  to 
Gage  county  in  1883,  and  he  established  a 
draying  business  at  Cortland.  He  was  a  sub- 
stantial and  progressive  citizen,  a  Republican 
in  politics,  and  here  served  in  the  office  of 
constable.  He  assisted  in  the  construction  of 
the  line  of  railroad  through  the  village.  He 
and  his  wife  are  now  residents  of  ^Vichita, 
Kansas.  His  parents  were  natives  of  Penn- 
sylvania and  became  pioneer  settlers  in  Put- 
nam county,  Missouri,  where  thev  continued 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


to  reside  until  their  death,  the  father  having 
been  John  Bonebright  and  the  family  name  of 
the  mother  having  been  Roberts.  The  mother 
of  the  subject  of  this  review  was  born  at  Ma- 
comb, McDonough  county,  Illinois,  Januan' 
1,  1851. 

Ira  D.  Bonebright  was  a  lad  of  about  five 
years  at  the  time  when  the  family  home  was 
established  at  Cortland,  and  here  he  was  af- 
forded the  advantages  of  the  public  schools. 
From  1896  to  1911  he  was  associated  with  his 
father  in  the  draying  business  and  he  then 
entered  into  partnership  with  John  Bunte. 
with  whom  he  has  since  been  successfully  en- 
gaged in  the  general  merchandise  business, 
each  department  of  their  well  appointed  es- 
tablishment being  well  stocked  and  the  trade 
of  the  firm  being  of  substantial  and  repre- 
sentative order.  In  addition  to  his  activities 
in  this  field  of  enterprise  Mr.  Bonebright  is  a 
stockholder  in  the  Farmers'  Lumber  Com- 
pany of  Cortland  and  the  Cortland  Telephone 
Company.  Liberal  and  loyal  as  a  citizen,  he 
is  a  supporter  of  the  cause  of  the  Republican 
party,  he  and  his  wife  being  members  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church  and  he  being  af- 
filiated with  the  Alasonic  and  Eastern  Star 
fraternities. 

October  30,  1902,  recorded  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Bonebright  to  Miss  Ida  H.  Bunte,  who 
was  born  at  Davis,  Stephenson  county,  Illi- 
nois, a  daughter  of  Henry  and  Minnie 
(Wendt)  Bunte,  who  came  to  Gage  county 
about  1887,  Mr.  Bunte  having  thereafter  been 
a  principal  in  the  mercantile  firm  of  Smith  & 
Company,  at  Cortland,  for  twenty  years :  his 
wife  is  deceased  and  he  now  resides  in  the 
home  of  his  son  John,  who  is  associated  with 
Mr.  Bonebright  in  business,  as  previously 
noted,  the  firm  name  being  Bonebright  & 
Bunte.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bonebright  have  four 
children  —  John  A.,  Norris  E.,  Marvin  A., 
and  Carl  P. 

GEORGE  FOLKERTS  is  one  of  a  ven,' 
appreciable  contingent  of  Gage  county  citi- 
zens who  claim  the  fair  district  of  Ost  Fries- 
land,  province  of  Hanover,  Germany,  as  the 
place  of  their  nativity,  he  having  there  been 


born  on  the  18th  day  of  April,  1874,  a  son  of 
Cobus  and  Kate  Folkerts,  who  there  passed 
their  entire  lives.  Mr.  Folkerts  was  reared 
and  educated  in  his  native  land  and  was  sev- 
enteen years  of  age  when  he  came  to  the 
United  States  and  found  employment  at  farm 
work,  in  Champaign  county,  Illinois,  as  did 
he  later  in  Kossuth  county,  Iowa.  From  the 
Hawkeye  state  he  came  to  Gage  county,  Ne- 
braska, in  1895,  and  after  having  been  for 
some  time  employed  as  a  farm  hand  he  en- 
gaged in  independent  farm  enterprise  on 
rented  land.  After  the  lapse  of  three  years 
he  purchased  his  present  farm,  of  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres,  in  Section  26,  Logan 
township,  and  he  showed  his  energy  and  pro- 
gressiveness  by  putting  the  buildings  on  the 
place  into  good  order,  the  same  having  been 
permitted  to  become  somewhat  dilapidated. 
In  addition  to  using  this  now  well  improved 
property  in  connection  with  his  well  ordered 
agricultural  and  live-stock  enterprise  Mr. 
Folkerts  also  uses  a  half  section  of  land,  in 
Logan  township,  which  he  holds  under  Scully 
lease.  He  owns  a  modern  threshing  outfit 
and  operates  the  machine  in  the  threshing  of 
his  own  grain  and  that  of  neighboring  farmers 
who  assist  him  at  threshing  time.  The  enter- 
prising spirit  and  good  judgment  of  Mr.  Fol- 
kerts were  shown  distinctly  in  his  providing 
of  this  independent  threshing  machine,  as  he 
never  has  to  wait  for  service  on  the  part  of 
another  and  is  thus  able  to  thresh  his  grain 
at  the  most  opportune  time  and  to  get  the  full 
returns  from  the  crop. 

(3n  September  19,  1898,  was  recorded  the 
marriage  of  Mr.  Folkerts  to  Miss  Annie  Foss- 
ler,  a  native  of  Nemaha  county,  this  state,  and 
a  daughter  of  John  Fossler,  of  whom  mention 
is  made  on  other  pages.  The  four  children 
of  this  union  are  Katie,  John,  Cobus,  and 
Herman. 

Not  only  in  his  personal  aft'airs  is  Mr.  Fol- 
kerts alert  and  progressive,  but  also  in  his 
attitude  as  a  citizen,  and  he  gives  his  political 
support  to  the  Democratic  party.  He  com- 
mands unqualified  esteem  and  has  ser^'ed  as 
justice  of  the  peace,  as  has  he  also  as  school 
director  of  his  district.     His  substantial  sue- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


cess  rqjresents  the  direct  results  of  his  own 
well  directed  endeavors  and  he  is  one  of  the 
representative  farmers  and  citizens  of  Logan 
township. 

EDWARD  G.  CROOK,  whose  finely  man- 
aged homestead  farm  is  situated  in  Section 
23,  Filley  township,  was  bom  in  Franklin 
county,  Virginia,  on  the  5th  of  February,  1871, 
and  is  a  son  of  Robert  T.  and  Elizabeth 
(Fisher)  Crook,  both  likewise  natives  of  the 
historic  Old  Dominion  state.  The  mother 
died  in  Kansas,  at  the  age  of  sixty-three  years, 
and  the  father  maintains  his  home  in  Gove 
county,  that  state,  he  having  celebrated  in 
1918  the  seventy-second  anniversary  of  his 
birth.  The  parents  came  to  Nebraska  in  1889 
and  continued  their  residence  in  Gage  county 
until  1894,  and  the  following  two  years  they 
passed  at  Eaola,  Kansas,  after  which  they  re- 
turned to  Gage  county.  In  1908  Robert  T. 
Crook  established  his  residence  in  Gove 
county,  Kansas,  where  he  is  the  owner  of  an 
excellent  farm  and  where  he  is  now  living 
virtually  retired.  His  father,  Edwin  Crook, 
a  prosperous  planter  in  Virginia,  attained  to 
the  patriarchal  age  of  ninety-six  years.  Mr. 
Crook  has  never  wavered  in  his  allegiance  to 
the  Democratic  party  and  is  an  earnest  mem- 
ber of  the  Dunkard  church,  as  was  also  his 
wife.  Of  their  nine  children  all  are  living 
except  one. 

Edward  G.  Crook  acquired  his  youthful 
education  in  the  public  schools  of  Virginia 
and  was  a  youth  of  eighteen  years  when  he 
accompanied  his  parents  on  their  removal  to 
Nebraska.  Upon  attaining  to  his  legal  major- 
ity he  found  employment  at  farm  work,  by 
the  month,  and  he  was  thus  engaged  for  a 
period  of  five  years.  For  seven  years  there- 
after he  farmed  on  rented  land  in  Gage 
county  and  he  then  purchased  a  portion  of  his 
present  farm  estate,  of  four  hundred  and 
eighty  acres,  which  he  has  developed  into  one 
of  the  fine  farm  properties  of  Filley  township 
and  upon  which  he  has  erected  various  build- 
ings of  model  order. 

In  1897  Mr.  Crook  wedded  Miss  Minnie 
Erickson,  a  daughter  of  Peter  Erickson,  who 


established  his  residence  in  Gage  county  in 
1883  and  whose  death  here  occurred  in  1900, 
he  having  become  one  of  the  prosperous 
farmers  of  the  county.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Crook 
have  five  children,  all  of  whom  remain  at  the 
parental  home  —  George,  Roy,  Edward,  Ma- 
bel, and  Ever. 

Mr.  Crook  is  a  Democrat  in  politics,  is  af- 
filiated with  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  Amer- 
ica, and  his  wife  is  a  member  of  the  Christian 
church.  He  has  through  his  own  efforts  and 
ability  achieved  substantial  success,  as  he  had 
naught  of  financial  reinforcement  when  he 
initiated  his  independent  career  and  assumed 
an  appreciable  indebtedness  when  he  made 
the  purchase  of  his  original  farm  of  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres,  the  nucleus  of  his  pres- 
ent fine  landed  estate.  As  an  agriculturist 
and  stock-grower  he  employs  progressive 
ideas  and  policies  and  in  the  live-stock  depart- 
ment of  his  farm  enterprise  he  gives  special 
attention  to  the  raising  of  Poland-China  swine 
of  the  best  type. 

LEONARD  GRIESER  is  a  representative 
of  that  fine  German  element  of  citizenship 
that  has  contributed  much  to  the  social  and 
material  development  and  progress  of  Gage 
county  and  is  one  of  the  substantial  farmers 
of  Highland  township,,  his  estate  comprising 
five  hundred  and  fifty  acres  and  his  home 
place  being  in  Section  11,  besides  which  he  is 
the  owner  of  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  in  Lancaster  county. 

Mr.  Grieser  was  born  in  the  Kingdom  of 
Bavaria,  Gemiany,  October  28,  1849,  a  son  of 
Frederick  and  Mary  (Kline)  Grieser,  of 
whose  four  children  he  is  the  eldest,  the  sec- 
ond being  Mrs.  Margaret  Richards,  of  Chris- 
tian county,  Illinois,  where  also  resides  the 
younger  sister,  Mrs.  Catherine  Neihard,  John, 
the  youngest  of  the  children,  having  died  in 
childhood.  Frederick  Grieser  was  born  No- 
vember 20,  1823,  and  he  was  a  resident  of 
Cortland,  Gage  county,  at  the  time  of  iiis 
death,  February  26,  1904.  In  1852  he  immi- 
grated with  his  family  to  the  United  States 
and  established  his  home  in  Franklin  county, 
Missouri,    where    he    became    a    prosperous 


990 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


farmer  and  where  he  continued  his  residence 
until  iSS4,  when  he  came  to  Gage  county,  Ne- 
braska, where  he  hved  practically  retired  until 
his  death,  their  son  Leonard,  of  this  review, 
having  leased  one  acre  of  ground  from  his 
farm  as  a  home  for  his  parents,  and  the  site 
of  their  house  being  now  marked  by  a  fine 
evergreen  tree,  which  constitutes  a  gracious 
memorial  to  them.  Mrs.  Grieser  was  born 
March  5,  1818,  and  preceded  her  husband  to 
eternal  rest  by  only  a  few  months,  her  death 
having  occurred  in  November,  1903 :  both 
were  earnest  communicants  of  the  Lutheran 
church  and  exemplified  their  Christian  faith  in 
their  daily  lives. 

Leonard  Grieser  was  not  yet  three  years 
old  at  the  time  of  the  family  immigration  to 
America  and  he  was  reared  to  manhood  on  the 
old  homestead  farm  in  Missouri,  his  educa- 
tional advantages  having  been  those  of  the 
common  schools  of  the  locality  and  period. 
He  was  but  twelve  years  old  at  the  time  of  the 
outbreak  of  the  Civil  war  but  before  the  close 
of  the  great  conflict  he  had  opportunity  of 
manifesting  his  youthful  loyalty  to  the  Union, 
for  in  November,  1864,  at  Pacific,  Missouri, 
he  enlisted  in  Company  H,  Fifty-fourth  Mis- 
souri Volunteer  Infantry,  with  which  he  par- 
ticipated in  a  number  of  skirmishes  and  in 
suppressing  the  encroachments  of  the  historic 
"bushwhackers"  who  infested  Missouri.  Mr. 
Grieser  was  one  of  the  youngest  soldiers  in 
his  company,  and  on  one  occasion  while  he 
was  on  picket  duty  an  officer  asked  him  if  he 
could  shoot.  The  youth  replied  by  suggesting 
that  the  officer  move  to  a  point  two  hundred 
yards  distant  and  he  would  show  him  his 
adeptness.  The  challenge  was  not  accepted, 
for  the  officer  realized  that,  like  the  average 
Missourian  of  the  day,  the  young  soldier  was 
certain  to  be  a  good  marksman.  After  the 
close  of  the  war  Mr.  Grieser  served  a  few 
months  as  locomotive  fireman  on  the  line  of 
the  Illinois  Central  Railroad,  and  he  recalls 
that  his  duties  were  arduous,  as  wood  was  still 
used  as  fuel  in  the  engines.  He  did  not  long 
deny  allegiance  to  farm  industry,  however, 
and  from  1868  until  1877  he  was  engaged  in 
fanning  in  Christian  county,  Illinois.     In  the 


latter  year  he  numbered  himself  apiong  the 
pioneers  of  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  his  origi- 
nal farm,  a  part  of  his  present  landed  estate 
in  Highland  township,  having  comprised  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  and  the  locality  hav- 
ing been  practically  an  untrammeled  prairie, 
with  no  trees  and  with  no  settlement  on  the 
site  of  the  present  thriving  village  of  Cort- 
land, the  town  site  of  which  is  partially  on  the 
fami  of  ^Ir.  Grieser  who  was  prominently 
identified  with  the  founding  of  the  village, 
worked  zealously  to  compass  this  end  and 
contributed  ten  acres  as  a  part  of  the  site  of 
the  embrj'onic  village.  Industry  and  good 
management  have  brought  to  him  large  and 
well  earned  prosperity,  and  he  did  his  full 
share  in  furthering  the  civic  and  industrial  de- 
velopment of  Highland  township,  endured  the 
trials  and  responsibilities  of  pioneer  life  and 
has  continued  as  one  of  the  substantial  agri- 
culturists and  stock-growers  of  the  county, 
besides  which  he  has  for  many  years  given 
special  attention  to  the  drilling  of  wells,  with 
a  record  of  having  drilled  a  greater  number 
than  any  other  one  man  in  Nebraska.  Though 
he  has  now  retired  from  active  labor  in  con- 
nection with  farm  operations  he  still  continues 
his  enterprise  as  a  well  driller,  and  has  been 
identified  with  the  same  for  fully  thirty-five 
years. 

In  leaving  Illinois  for  the  west  Mr.  Grieser 
and  his  wife  set  forth  to  establish  a  home  in 
Texas,  and  they  made  the  long  overland  jour- 
ney with  a  team  and  a  covered  wagon.  En 
route  they  passed  through  Gage  county  and  its 
judicial  center,  the  town  of  Beatrice,  being 
much  impressed  with  the  attractions  and  ad- 
vantages of  this  section  of  Nebraska.  Upon 
their  arrival  in  Texas  they  were  discouraged 
with  the  outlook  and  reverted  with  apprecia- 
tion to  the  conditions  in  Gage  county,  with  the 
result  that  they  soon  started  forth  with  their 
team  and  wagon  with  Gage  county  as  their 
destination,  their  entire  journeying  having 
covered  a  period  of  six  months  and  their 
arrival  in  Gage  county  on  the  return  trip  hav- 
ing occurred  in  March.  Mr.  Grieser  recalls 
many  interesting  incidents  relative  to  the  long 
and     weary    overland    journev    made    under 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


991 


primitive  frontier  conditions.  Many  nights 
while  en  route  he  sat  up  with  his  gun  at  hand, 
to  guard  his  horses  from  attack  by  wolves,  es- 
pecially in  Indian  Territory.  His  first  eighty 
acres  of  land  in  Gage  county  was  purchased 
from  the  railroad  company,  at  the  rate  of  six 
dollars  an  acre,  and  of  the  great  changes  that 
have  since  been  wrought  an  idea  is  conveyed 
in  the  fact  that  in  later  years  he  has  paid  as 
much  as  one  hundred  and  thirt)'-seven  and 
one-half  dollars  an  acre  for  some  of  the  land 
now  owned  by  him  in  Highlana  township. 
His  political  allegiance  is  given  to  the  Repub- 
lican party,  he  has  ser\'ed  as  clerk  and  assessor 
of  Highland  township  and  was  for  twenty- 
five  years  a  member  of  the  school  board  of 
District  No.  55.  At  Cortland  he  is  affiliated 
with  the  lodge  of  Ancient  Free  &  Accepted 
Masons,  in  which  he  has  passed  the  various 
official  chairs,  and  in  the  city  of  Beatrice  he 
is  affiliated  with  Rawlings  Post,  No.  36, 
Grand  Army  of  the  Republic. 

(October  28,  1874,  recorded  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Grieser  to  Miss  Kate  Kerr,  who  has 
proved  his  devoted  companion  and  helpmeet 
during  the  intervening  period  of  nearly  half  a 
century.  Mrs.  Grieser  was  born  in  Christian 
county,  Illinois,  April  7,  1859,  her  parents, 
John  and  Elizabeth  (Hopper)  Kerr,  natives 
of  Kentucky,  having  been  pioneers  of  Illinois, 
where  they  remained  until  their  death,  Mrs. 
Greiser  being  the  younger  of  their  two  chil- 
dren and  the  elder,  Cassius,  having  been  a 
resident  of  Pana,  Illinois,  at  the  time  of  his 
death.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Grieser  have  a  fine  fam- 
ily of  six  sons :  Albert  is  one  of  the  success- 
ful farmers  of  Highland  township,  where  he 
owns  eighty  acres  in  Section  24;  Oscar  like- 
wise is  a  progressive  farmer  of  the  same  town- 
ship, as  are  also  Ernest  and  Harry,  the  former 
of  whom  has  active  charge  of  the  old  home 
farm ;  Ralph  is  identified  with  farm  enterprise 
in  Lancaster  county ;  and  Frank  is  similarly 
engaged  in  Highland  township.  All  of  the 
sons  received  good  educational  advantages 
and  all  but  two  are  fanning  land  owned  by 
their  father. 

Mr.  Grieser  is  a  substantial  stockholder  of 
the  Bank  of  Cortland,   of  which  he  is  vice- 


president  and  in  the  same  village  he  is  a  stock- 
holder of  the  Farmers  Elevator  &  Grain  Com- 
pany. In  a  reminiscent  way  it  may  be  stated 
that  Mr.  Grieser's  first  house  on  his  Gage 
county  farm  was  a  little  frame  building  only 
ten  by  fourteen  feet  in  dimensions,  and  for 
some  time  no  floor  was  provided  except  the 
earth.  In  the  passing  years  he  has  made  ex- 
cellent improvements  on  all  of  his  farms  and 
has  been  progressive  and  energetic  in  his  ac- 
tivities as  an  agriculturist  and  stock-grower. 
In  the  early  days  he  hauled  his  farm  produce 
to  Firth,  Lancaster  county,  a  distance  of  eight 
miles,  and  at  one  time  he  had  no  available 
money,  so  that  lie  was  compelled  to  become  in- 
debted to  the  owner  of  one  of  the  mercantile 
establishments  at  Firth  in  the  sum  of  sixteen 
dollars,  which  covered  the  purchase  of  food 
supplies  that  lasted  the  family  during  an  en- 
tire summer,  within  which  only  twenty-five 
cents'  worth  of  sugar  was  used  in  the  home. 
Meat  for  the  larder  was  supplied  principally 
by  the  shooting  of  prairie  chickens,  which 
were  plentiful  along  the  roads  and  in  the  fields. 
Mr.  Grieser  frequently  staked  out  his  cows  on 
the  site  of  the  present  village  of  Cortland  and 
at  daylight  he  often  stood  with  gun  in  hand 
before  his  pioneer  house  to  protect  the  cows 
and  calves  from  attack  by  wolves.  He  and  his 
wife,  in  short,  lived  up  to  the  full  tension  of 
pioneer  life  and  it  has  been  theirs  to  receive 
in  later  years  gracious  rewards  for  their 
earnest  and  honorable  labors  in  the  past. 

LEWIS  H.  LAFLIN.  — There  are  few 
men  living  in  our  midst  to-day  who  were  on 
Gage  county  earlier  than  was  Lewis  H.  Laflin. 
He  has  remained  for  sixty-one  years  on  the 
farm  upon  which  he  now  resides,  in  Johnson 
county.  He  came  to  this  part  of  the  country 
in  May,  1S57,  —  a  full  decade  before  Nebraska 
was  admitted  to  statehood.  These  were  the 
days  when  the  Indian  and  the  buffalo  was  still 
supreme  upon  the  prairies,  and  when  few 
white  men  dared  to  push  the  frontier  line 
farther  west. 

One  of  the  resolute  and  valiant  pioneers  of 
Gage  and  Johnson  counties,  Nebraska,  was  the 
mother  of  Lewis  H.  Laflin.  This  noble  woman 


992 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


came  to  this  county  in  1857.  She  was  the 
widow  of  Parley  Laflin,  who  was  bom  near 
Rochester,  New  York,  in  1799.  Parley  Laflin 
followed  contracting  and  the  lumber  and  mill 
business  in  the  state  of  New  York  for  many 
years.  At  one  time  he  was  employed  on  the 
construction  of  the  old  Erie  canal.  Finally 
he  removed  with  his  family  to  Illinois,  and  as  a 
pioneer  of  that  state  he  built  his  log  cabin  in 
the  clearing  made  for  the  purpose,  after  which 
he  turned  his  attention  to  tilling  the  soil.  Mr. 
Laflin  bought  and  sold  cattle  on  a  large  scale. 
He  frequently  walked  the  distance  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  his  home  in 
Rock  Island  county,  Illinois,  to  Chicago,  driv- 
ing his  cattle  ahead  of  him  to  the  market.  This 
was  before  Chicago  had  any  stock  yards  to 
accommodate  the  incoming  cattle.  Mr. 
Laflin's  death  occurred  in  1849.  He  and  his 
devoted  wife  became  the  parents  of  four  chil- 
dren,—  Catherine  E.,  George  P.,  Lewis  H., 
and  Joseph  K.  George  P.  was  a  resident  of 
Oklahoma  at  the  time  of  his  death,  in  1905. 

In  1857,  several  years  after  her  husband's 
death,  Mrs.  Laflin  came  with  her  children  to 
Nebraska  Territory.  Here  she  entered  a  pre- 
emption claim,  and  the  same  now  lies  within 
the  borders  of  Johnson  county.  '  She  also 
owned  land  in  Gage  county,  and  the  same  is 
now  a  portion  of  the  city  of  Beatrice,  known  as 
Croppey's  Addition.  For  nearly  twenty 
years  this  plucky  woman  labored  to  win  her 
livelihood  from  the  wild  and  unbroken  prairies, 
and  year  by  year  she  brought  more  of  the 
land  to  productiveness.  Her  death  occurred 
in  1886,  in  Johnson  county. 

Lewis  H.  Laflin  was  born  in  Rock  Island 
county,  Illinois,  August  21,  1842.  He  received 
the  educational  advantages  the  locality  and 
period  afforded,  and  these  were  meagre,  as 
there  were  very  few  schools  estabHshed.  He 
was  fifteen  years  old  upon  his  arrival  in  Ne- 
braska and  was  just  the  right  age  to  help  his 
brave  and  determined  mother.  In  1860  he 
was  freighting  across  the  plains  with  an  ox 
team,  his  route  being  from  Brownville.  Ne- 
braska, to  Julesburg,  Colorado.  He  was  in- 
terrupted in  his  work  by  his  responding  to  the 
call  of  patriotism  when  the  Civil  war  menaced 


the  integrity  of  the  nation.  In  1862  he  en- 
listed in  Company  I,  First  Nebraska  Volun- 
teers, under  Colonel  Robert  R.  Livingston. 
This  company  was  engaged  in  a  number  of 
battles.  In  August,  1864,  Mr.  Laflin  was  cap- 
tured by  the  Confederate  General  Shelby,  at 
Grand  Prairie,  Arkansas.  He  was  held  as  a 
prisoner  of  war  for  five  months,  and  then, 
with  other  Union  soldiers,  was  exchanged. 
Thereafter  he  continued  in  his  country's  ser- 
vice until  the  close  of  the  war.  He  was  hon- 
orably discharged  October  24,  1865,  at  Fort 
Leavenworth,  Kansas,  after  having  served 
three  years  and  eighteen  days.  After  the  sur- 
render of  Generals  Lee  and  Johnston,  Mr. 
Laflin  was  in  a  number  of  skirmishes  with  the 
Indians.  He  returned  to  his  home  in  John- 
son county,  where  he  farmed,  besides  which 
he  continued  his  work  of  freighting  across 
the  plains.  Oxen  were  used  in  the  summer 
work  and  horses  in  the  winter. 

November  1,  1866,  Mr.  Laflin  married  Miss 
America  K.  Scott,  who  was  born  August  10, 
1846  in  Anderson  county,  Kentucky.  Her 
parents  were  Charles  and  Elizabeth  Jane 
Scott,  and  they  were  the  parents  of  six  othei 
children,- — -John  R,  and  James  G.  are  de- 
ceased ;  Elmer  H.,  resides  at  Bruce,  Wiscon- 
sin ;  Catherine  E.,  the  wife  of  E.  S.  Carnes,  is 
deceased ;  Margaret  E.  is  deceased ;  and  Eliza- 
beth is  the  wife  of  Riley  Antle,  of  Nebraska 
City,  Nebraska.  Mrs.  Laflin  spent  many  happy 
years  with  her  husband  and  family,  devoting 
all  of  her  time  to  their  care  and  comfort.  Her 
death  occurred  on  the  5th  day  of  July,  1905. 
She  was  the  mother  of  ten  children,  five  of 
whom  survive  her:  Edith  is  the  wife  of  D. 
M.  Lovett,  of  Johnson  county;  Catherine  re- 
mains at  home  with  her  father ;  Guy  F.  resides 
in  Johnson  county ;  Clay  lives  in  Gage  county ; 
and  E.  B.,  lives  at  Crab  Orchard,  Johnson 
county. 

Lewis  H.  Laflin  bore  his  full  share  of  the 
hardships  and  labors  incidental  to  pioneer  life 
in  southeastern  Nebraska  and  pressed  steadily 
forward  toward  the  goal  of  worthy  prosperity. 
To  the  original  farm  he  added  gradually,  as 
his  resources  and  opportunities  justified,  and 
he  is  to-day  the  owner  of  a  valuable  landed 


^Luy^.']f,-lpfL^ 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


995 


estate,  —  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  in  Gage 
county  and  four  hundred  and  eighty  acres  in 
Johnson  county. 

Mr.  Laflin  has  at  all  times  shown  himself 
loyal  and  public-spirited  as  a  citizen  and  he 
gives  his  allegiance  to  the  Republican  party. 
He  has  been  influential  in  community  affairs, 
served  six  years  as  a  member  of  the  official 
administrative  board  of  Johnson  county,  and 
in  1873  he  was  elected  representative  of  his 
constitutency  in  the  lower  house  of  the  Ne- 
braska legislature,  in  which  he  made  a  char- 
acteristically excellent  record  of  service.  He 
is  affiliated  with  Lodge  No.  175,  Ancient  Free 
&  Accepted  Masons,  at  Filley,  and  he  has 
been  for  years  an  earnest  and  faithful  mem- 
ber of  the  Baptist  church. 


JOHN  T.  DORN  has  effectively  proved  his 
energy  and  resourcefulness  in  connection  with 
farm  industry  in  Gage  county  and  is  the 
owner  of  a  well  improved  fami  of  two  hun- 
dred and  forty  acres,  in  Section  13,  Logan 
township.  Mr.  Dorn  was  born  in  Adams 
county,  Illinois,  September  16,  1864,  and  is  a 
son  of  Thomas  H.  and  Ock  Johanna  (Heren) 
Dorn,  both  natives  of  Friesland,  province 
of  Hanover,  Germany,  where  their  marriage 
was  solemnized.  L^pon  coming  to  America  the 
parents  remained  for  a  time  in  the  city  of  New 
Orleans,  Louisiana,  and  they  then  removed  to 
Illinois,  where  the  father  engaged  in  farm  en- 
terprise and  threshing  for  a  number  of  years. 
For  a  time  thereafter  he  conducted  a  small 
general  store  in  a  rural  district  and  also  de- 
voted his  attention  to  the  reclaiming  of  a  farm 
in  Brown  county,  Illinois.  He  eventually  be- 
came the  owner  of  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty  acres  in  the  county  mentioned,  and  in 
1882  he  came  to  Nebraska  and  purchased  two 
hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land  in  Gage 
county,  the  only  improvements  on  the  place 
having  been  a  little  log  house  and  a  straw 
barn.  He  developed  the  farm  and  his  success 
was  such  that  he  and  his  devoted  wife  passed 
the  closing  years  of  their  lives  in  well  earned 
peace  and  prosperity.  Of  their  ten  children 
six  are  living:  Herman  is  a  resident  of 
Franklin  county,  this  state;  John  T.,  of  this 


review,  was  the  next  in  order  of  birth ;  Thomas 
is  a  farmer  in  Logan  township.  Gage  county ; 
Jerusha  is  the  wife  of  William  Frerichs,  of 
Franklin  county;  George  is  engaged  in  farm 
enterprise  in  Filley  township ;  Henry  is  a 
farmer  in  Franklin  county.  The  parents  were 
zealous  members  of  the  Lutheran  church  and 
the  father  was  a  Republican  in  his  political 
adherency. 

John  T.  Dorn  acquired  his  early  educa- 
tion in  the  public  schools  of  Illinois  and  Ne- 
braska and  has  been  from  his  youth  continu- 
ously associated  with  farm  industry.  For 
three  years  he  farmed  on  land  which  he  rented 
near  Sterling,  Johnson  county,  and  he  next 
rented  a  farm  owned  by  Glaus  Zimmerman,  in 
Logan  township,  Gage  county.  With  but  lim- 
ited capital  he  shov/ed  his  self-reliance  by  buy- 
ing, largely  on  credit,  a  farm  of  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres,  of  Julius  Barnard,  and  after 
seeing  his  way  clear  toward  the  goal  of  inde- 
pendence he.  added  to  his  farm  property  by 
purchasing  of  Charles  Hughes  a  tract  of  eighty 
acres.  He  has  made  excellent  improvements 
on  his  farm,  including  the  erection  of  a  mod- 
ern house,  barn  and  other  buildings,  and  he 
has  shown  marked  discrimination  in  the  di- 
recting of  the  various  departments  of  his  farm 
enterprise.  He  raises  good  grades  of  cattle 
and  swine  and  in  the  season  of  1917  he  de- 
voted two  hundred  acres  of  his  land  to  corn. 
His  political  support  is  given  to  the  Republi- 
can party  and  he  and  his  wife  are  active  com- 
municants of  the  Hanover  Lutheran  church. 

In  the  year  1888  was  solemnized  the  mar- 
riage of  Mr.  Dorn  to  Miss  Tena  Agena,  who 
was  born  m  the  state  of  Illinois  and  who  is  a 
daughter  of  Gade  and  Margaret  (Ackerman) 
Agena,  natives  of  Germany.  Mr.  Agena  was 
a  child  of  nine  years  when  he  accompanied  his 
parents  on  their  immigration  to  America  and 
he  was  reared  and  educated  in  Illinois.  His 
wife  was  five  years  old  when  her  parents  came 
to  the  United  States.  In  1876  Mr.  Agena 
came  to  Nebraska  and  numbered  himself 
among  the  pioneers  of  Gage  county,  where  he 
rented  a  small  farm  the  first  year.  Later  he 
removed  to  Sterling,  Johnson  county,  where 
he  passed  the  remainder  of  his  life.    Mr.  and 


996 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Airs.  Dorn  have  eight  children :  Hanna  is  the 
wife  of  Ufka  Harms,  of  Filley  township; 
Alargaret  is  the  wife  of  Jerry  Wallman,  of 
Filley  township;  Thomas,  who  married  Miss 
Etta  Heits,  is  a  fanner  in  Logan  township ; 
and  Gade  J-.  Lena,  Frances  Emma,  Grace 
Lottie,  and  John  remain  at  the  parental  home. 

JOHN  L.  BURGER  —  This  venerable  and 
honored  pioneer  citizen  is  now  living  virtually 
retired  on  the  old  homestead  farm  which  has 
been  his  place  of  abode  for  forty  years  and 
which  is  one  of  the  fine  farm  properties  of 
Clatonia  township.  He  reclaimed  his  land 
from  the  virgin  prairie  brought  to  bear  daunt- 
less energy  and  determination  and  in  further- 
ing his  own  advancement  and  prosperity  he 
contributed  his  full  share  to  the  social  and 
material  development  and  upbuilding  of  the 
county.  A  sterling  citizen  who  can  look  back 
upon  many  years  of  earnest  and  productive 
industry,  he  is  specially  entitled  to  recognition 
in  this  historj'. 

John  L.  Burger  was  born  in  the  Kingdom 
of  Bavaria,  Germany,  on  the  24th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1836,  was  reared  and  educated  in  his 
native  land,  where  his  marriage  was  solemn- 
ized and  where  was  born  the  first  of  his  five 
children. 

In  1865  Mr.  Burger  immigrated  with  his 
family  to  the  United  States  and  for  the  ensu- 
ing twelve  years  he  was  engaged  in  farming 
in  the  state  of  Illinois.  In  1877  he  came  with 
his  family  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  where, 
at  the  rate  of  ten  dollars  an  acre,  he  purchased 
the  farm  now  owned  and  operated  by  his  son 
Leonard.  No  improvements  had  been  made 
on  the  place  and  he  erected  as  the  family 
domicile  a  frame  house  of  one  story,  twenty- 
six  feet  squaie.  He  broke  the  prairie  soil 
and  with  the  successive  years  made  each  count 
in  achievement  and  increasing  prosperity.  He 
made  good  improvements  of  a  permanent 
order,  including  the  erection  of  the  present 
commodious  house  in  which  he  remains  with 
his  son  Leonard  and  the  latter's  family,  and 
he  had  the  satisfaction  of  reclaiming  and  de- 
veloping one  of  the  valuable  farm  properties 
of  Clatonia  township.     In  1897  he  abated  hi3 


more  strenuous  activities  and  in  the  gracious 
evening  of  a  long  and  worthy  life  he  is  living 
virtually  retired  on  his  old  homestead  place. 
He  assisted  in  the  organization  of  the  German 
Lutheran  church  at  Clatonia,  and  is  still  one 
of  the  revered  and  active  communicants  of 
the  same,  his  wife  likewise  having  been  zeal- 
ous in  church  work. 

In  Bavaria,  Germany,  was  solemnized  the 
marriage  of  Mr  Burger  to  Miss  Barbara 
Renter,  who  was  there  born  on  the  24th  ot 
October,  1837,  and  their  devoted  companion- 
ship was  sundered  only  when  the  loved  wife 
and  mother  passed  to  eternal  rest,  her  death 
having  occurred  September  8,  1907.  Of  the 
five  children  the  eldest  is  Frederick,  who  is 
one  of  the  substantial  fanners  of  Clatonia 
township  and  who  is  the  only  one  of  the  chil- 
dren born  prior  to  the  family  immigration  to 
the  United  States;  George  S.  is  individually 
mentioned  on  other  pages  of  this  volume; 
John  and  Leonard  are  prosperous  farmers  of 
Clatonia  township;  and  Margaret  is  the  wife 
of  H.  Luetkemier,  a  retired  farmer  of  that 
township. 

WESLEY  D.  STEINMEYER.  — One  of 
the  progressive  farmers  of  the  younger  gen- 
eration in  his  native  county,  Mr.  Steinmeyer 
is  gi\ing  his  attention  most  vigorously  to  the 
operation  of  a  fann  of  one  hundred  acres,  in 
Grant  township,  and  of  the  tract  he  rents 
eighty  acres  from  his  father,  Frederick  Stein- 
meyer, who  is  an  honored  pioneer  citizen  of 
the  county,  and  who  is  individually  mentioned 
in  this  publication,  so  that  further  review  of 
the  family  histon,'  is  not  demanded  in  this 
article. 

On  the  old  homestead  fann  of  his  father, 
one  mile  south  of  Clatonia  and  in  the  town- 
ship of  the  same  name,  Wesley  D.  Steinmeyer 
was  born  November  19,  1889,  and  after  hav- 
ing profited  by  the  advantages  of  the  district 
schools  he  furthered  his  intellectual  discipline 
by  attending  ihe  high  school  in  the  village  of 
Clatonia.  He  has  from  his  boyhood  been  asso- 
ciated with  the  fann  industry  of  his  father 
and  after  his  marriage  he  rented  from  his 
father  eighty  acres  in  Section  3  Grant  town- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


997 


ship,  besides  which  he  utiHzes  an  additional 
twenty  acres  which  he  rents  from  other  per- 
sons. He  keeps  in  conformity  with  the  best 
modern  and  scientific  pohcies  in  the  various 
departments  of  farm  enterprise  and  in  this 
connection  and  as  a  loyal  citizen  he  is  fully 
upholding  the  prestige  of  a  name  that  has  been 
signally  prominent  and  honored  in  the  annals 
of  Gage  county  history.  His  political  alle- 
giance is  given  to  the  Republican  party  and 
he  and  his  wife  hold  membership  in  the  Ger- 
man Methodist  church. 

October  2,  1912,  recorded  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Steinmeyer  to  Miss  Mary  Anna  Oltmans, 
the  fourth  in  order  of  birth  of  the  seven  chil- 
dren of  Lubbo  and  Mary  (Cieglowsky)  Olt- 
mans, who  now  reside  in  the  state  of  Colorado. 
Mrs.  Steinmeyer  was  born  at  Hartsburg,  Illi- 
nois, and  in  1900  accompanied  her  parents, 
who  are  natives  of  Germany,  on  their  removal 
to  Nebraska,  the  family  home  being  estab- 
lished on  a  farm  in  Lancaster  county.  Later 
Mr.  Oltmans  removed  with  his  family  to  Wal- 
lace, Lincoln  county,  and  in  1906  the  family 
established  a  home  in  Colorado,  where  the 
parents  have  since  resided.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Steinmeyer  have  one  child,  Glenn  Wesley, 
who  was  born  June  20.  1917. 

WILLIAM  E.  ROBBINS,  who  is  now  sec- 
retary of  the  Farmers'  Grain,  Lumber  &  Coal 
Company,  which  operates  the  large  and  well 
equipped  grain  elevator  at  Cortland  and  con- 
trols a  substantial  and  important  business  in 
the  handling  of  grain,  coal,  and  lumber,  is  con- 
sistently to  be  designated  as  one  of  the  most 
progressive  exponents  of  agricultural  and  live- 
stock enterprise  in  Gage  county  as  well  as  one 
of  the  influential  and  public-spirited  citizens 
of  this  favored  section  of  the  state,  he  having 
represented  Gage  county  as  a  member  of  the 
Nebraska  legislature.  He  is  the  owner  of 
three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  valuable 
land  in  Highland  township,  this  fine  estate 
comprising  the  west  half  of  Section  27  and 
being  eligibly  situated  fourteen  miles  north  of 
Beatrice  ;  four  and  one-half  miles  southwest  of 
Cortland;  and  six  and  one-half  miles  east  of 
Clatonia. 


Mr.  Robbins  was  born  near  Hastings,  Mills 
county,  Iowa,  November  18,  1869,  and  is  a  son 
of  Henry  C.  and  Mary  J.  (Barrett)  Robbins, 
of  whose  four  children  he  is  the  eldest ;  Jo- 
seph H.,  who  now  resides  in  Los  Angeles, 
California,  is  the  owner  of  the  remaining  half 
of  Section  27,  Highland  township.  Gage 
county,  this  entire  section  having  been  pur- 
chased by  the  honored  father  about  thirty 
years  ago :  and  Ralph  E.  and  Frank  A.  still 
reside  at  Hastings,  Iowa,  as  do  also  the  ven- 
erable parents,  who  are  numbered  among  the 
honored  pioneer  citizens  of  that  section  of  the 
Hawkeye  state. 

Henry  C.  Robbins,  a  scion  of  a  sterling 
Scotch  family  that  sent  representatives  to 
America  many  generations  ago,  was  born  at 
Nelsonville,  Ohio,  November  9,  1845,  and  he 
there  became  a  prosperous  miller  and  mer- 
chant. When  the  Civil  war  was  precipitated 
he  responded  to  President  Lincoln's  first  call, 
by  enlisting,  in  1861,  in  Company  A,  Ninety- 
second  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry.  He  served 
during  virtually  the  entire  course  of  the  war, 
took  part  in  many  important  battles,  besides 
innumerable  engagements  of  minor  order,  and 
was  with  Sherman  on  the  historic  march  from 
Atlanta  to  the  sea.  After  the  close  of  the  war 
he  numbered  himself  among  the  pioneers  of 
Mills  county,  Iowa,  and  he  achieved  remark- 
able success  in  connection  with  his  well  or- 
dered industrial  and  business  activities  in  that 
state,  where  he  accumulated  a  large  amount 
of  valuable  land.  His  mature  judgment  led 
him  also  to  make  investments  in  land  in  Colo- 
rado and  Nebraska,  and  at  the  present  time  he 
is  still  the  owner  of  one  thousand  acres  —  in 
Iowa  and  Colorado.  He  has  been  one  of  the 
most  progressive,  liberal,  and  influential  citi- 
zens of  Mills  county,  Iowa,  where  he  and  his 
wife  still  reside  on  their  fine  old  homestead 
farm,  though  he  is  now  living  virtually  retired. 
Mrs.  Robbins  was  born  June  1,  1852,  in  Iowa, 
where  her  parents  were  very  early  settlers. 
]Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robbins  are  zealous  members  of 
the  Presbyterian  church  and  his  political  alle- 
giance is  given  to  the  Republican  party. 

On  the  old  homestead  farm  which  was  the 
place  of  his  nativity  William  E.  Robbins  was 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


reared  to  adult  age,  and  after  completing  the 
curriculum  of  the  public  schools  he  attended 
the  Western  Normal  College  at  Shenandoah, 
Iowa,  and  also  Tabor  College,  at  Tabor,  that 
state.  In  1891  he  came  to  Gage  county,  Ne- 
braska, where,  as  previously  intimated,  his 
father  had  become  the  owner  of  the  entire 
area  of  Section  27,  Highland  township.  Lo- 
cating on  this  land  Mr.  Robbins  eventually 
received  through  inheritance  the  west  half  of 
the  section,  and  it  may  consistently  be  said 
that  this  he  has  developed  into  one  of  the 
finest  farm  estates  in  this  section  of  Nebraska. 
In  1908  he  erected  on  his  farm  a  thoroughly 
modern  house  and  barU;  the  house  being  of 
attractive  architectural  design  and  having  nine 
rooms,  the  same  being  equipped  with  a  system 
which  supplies  hot  and  cold  running  water 
throughout  the  building  and  also  with  its  in- 
dependent gas-lighting  plant.  On  the  place 
Mr.  Robbins  has  made  many  other  noteworthy 
improvements  of  permanent  order,  including 
the  setting  out  of  both  fruit  and  ornamental 
trees,  and  the  farm  is  given  over  to  scientific 
agriculture  of  diversified  order  and  to  the 
raising  of  the  best  types  of  live  stock,  includ- 
ing short-horn  cattle  and  Duroc-Jersey  hogs. 
Mr.  Robbins  is  a  director  of  the  Bank  of 
Cortland,  besides  being  one  of  the  principal 
stockholders  of  the  Farmers'  Grain,  Lumber 
&  Coal  Company,  of  Cortland,  of  which  he  is 
secretary. 

On  the  22d  of  December,  1891,  was  sol- 
emnized the  marriage  of  Mr.  Robbins  to  Miss 
Nannie  Norton,  who  was  bom  on  a  farm  near 
Malvern,  Mills  county,  Iowa,  a  daughter  of 
Horace  A.  and  Delilah  (Tubbs)  Norton,  the 
former  a  native  of  the  state  of  New  York 
and  the  latter  of  Ohio.  Mrs.  Robbins  and  her 
twin  brother,  Vv'illiam,  were  born  March  6, 
1868,  the  fifth  in  order  of  birth  in  a  family  of 
twelve  children,  of  whom  eight  are  living. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robbins  have  reared  two  chil- 
dren—  a  son  and  daughter  —  William  Jean, 
and  Lena. 

In  a  generic  way  i^Ir.  Robbins  is  a  staunch 
advocate  of  the  principles  of  the  Republican 
party,  but  in  local  afTairs,  where  no  specific 
issues  are  involved,  he  is  not  constrained  by 


strict  partisan  lines.  He  served  three  terms 
as  clerk  of  Highland  township  and  in  the  ses- 
sions of  1903  and  1905  he  represented  Gage 
county  in  the  state  legislature.  He  proved  an 
active  and  discriminating  legislator,  introduced 
and  championed  a  number  of  important  bills, 
one  of  which,  as  enacted,  has  proved  of  great 
benefit  to  the  citizens  of  Gage  county,  through 
the  reducing  of  the  expense  of  administering 
the  various  departments  of  county  and  town- 
ship government  and  thus  bringing  a  reduc- 
tion also  in  the  general  taxes.  It  was  largely 
through  his  determined  and  able  efforts  that 
the  legislature  enacted  what  is  known  as  the 
Ramsey  bill,  which  compels  the  railroad  com- 
panies traversing  Nebraska  to  give  on  their 
lines  sites  for  grain  elevators  wherever  there 
is  a  legitimate  demand  for  the  same.  Mr. 
and  ]Mrs.  Robbins  are  active  members  of  the 
Congregational  church  of  Highland  and  he  is 
a  member  of  its  board  of  trustees.  They  are 
popular  leaders  in  the  best  social  activities  of 
the  community  and  delight  in  extending  the 
hospitality  of  their  beautiful  home  to  their 
host  of  friends. 


DANIEL  NICEWONGER,  a  retired  far- 
mer and  merchant  residing  in  the  village  of 
Pickrell,  is  one  of  the  substantial  and  honored 
citizens  well  worthy  of  .special  recognition  in 
this  history,  besides  which  he  has  the  dis- 
tinction of  being  a  member  of  one  of  the  well 
known  pioneer  families  of  Gage  county.  He 
was  born  in  Ogle  county,  Illinois,  October  27, 
1866,  a  son  of  Jacob  and  Susannah  (Mock) 
Nicewonger,  and  is  the  youngest  in  a  family 
of  five  children ;  Alexander  was  a  resident  of 
Nebraska  at  the  time  of  his  death  and  is  sur- 
vived by  five  children ;  Mary  is  the  widow  of 
Zachariah  French  and  remains  in  Ogle  county, 
Illinois,  she  havmg  become  the  mother  of  six 
children,  of  whom  four  are  living;  Jennie  re- 
sides in  the  city  of  Omaha,  is  the  wife  of 
Theodore  Wakenight  and  of  her  nine  children 
seven  are  living;  William  H.  and  his  family 
reside  in  Buffalo  county.  Nebraska,  where  he 
is  a  prosperous  fanner,  and  he  has  two  chil- 
dren. 

Jacob    Nicewonger    was    born    in    Bedford 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


999 


county,  Pennsylvania,  September  1,  1827,  and 
was  one  of  the  venerable  pioneer  citizens  of 
Gage  county,  Nebraska,  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  June  3,  1900.  His  wife,  who  was  bom 
in  Bedford  county,  Pennsylvania,  August  24. 
1832,  died  March  8,  1893,  she  having  been  a 
Dunkard  in  her  religious  faith  and  a  member 
of  a  family  that  was  founded  in  America  in 
the  early  colonial  period  of  our  national  his- 
tory. Jacob  Nicewonger  removed  from  the 
old  Keystone  state  to  Illinois  and  engaged  in 
farming  in  Ogle  county.  There  he  remained 
until  1873,  when  he  came  with  his  family  to 
Gage  county,  Nebraska,  making  the  overland 
trip  with  team  and  covered  wagon,  and  in 
numbering  himself  among  the  pioneer  farmers 
of  the  county  he  purchased  eighty  acres  of 
school  land  two  miles  southeast  of  the  present 
village  of  Pickrell.  He  reclaimed  and  im- 
proved this  farm,  in  Holt  township,  and  in 
later  years  he  purchased  an  additional  eighty 
acres.  About  fifteen  years  prior  to  his  death 
he  retired  from  the  active  labors  that  had  long 
been  his  portion  and  he  passed  the  closing 
years  of  his  life  in  the  village  of  Pickrell. 

Daniel  Nicewonger  was  about  seven  years 
old  at  the  time  of  the  family  removal  to  Gage 
county,  where  he  was  reared  on  the  pioneer 
farm  and  profited  by  the  advantages  offered 
in  the  district  schools  of  Holt  township.  He 
continued  to  assist  in  the  work  and  manage- 
ment of  the  home  farm  until  after  he  had  at- 
tained to  his  legal  majority  and  he  then  began 
farm  operations  in  an  independent  way.  He 
continued  as  one  of  the  successful  exponents 
of  farm  industry  in  Holt  township  until  1891, 
when  he  became  associated  with  his  brother 
William  H.  in  establishing  a  general  merchan- 
dise business  at  Pickrell.  The  brothers  built 
up  a  prosperous  enterprise  and  continued  their 
partnership  about  five  years.  Daniel  Nice- 
wonger then  purchased  his  brother's  interest, 
after  which  he  individually  continued  the  busi- 
ness until  1901,  when  he  sold  the  same.  He 
has  since  lived  virtually  retired  at  Pickrell. 
He  is  a  stockholder  in  the  Dempster  Manufac- 
turing Company.  In  1905  he  purchased  eighty 
acres  of  land  in  Section  28,  Holt  township, 
and  this  property,  for  which  he  paid  fifty-five 


hundred  dollars,  he  sold  in  1916,  for  a  con- 
sideration of  ten  thousand  dollars.  He  is  the 
owner  of  two  business  buildings  at  Pickrell, 
as  well  as  of  his  fine  residence  property  in  this 
village,  where  he  is  honored  as  a  loyal  and 
public-spirited  citizen  and  where  he  has  served 
for  the  past  four  years  as  a  member  of  the 
village  board  of  trustees.  He  is  a  Republican 
in  politics  and  he  and  his  wife  are  active  mem- 
bers of  the  United  Brethren  church,  Mrs. 
Nicewonger  being  also  a  member  of  the  war- 
time organization  of  the  Red  Cross  in  the  city 
of  Beatrice. 

April  12,  1893,  Mr.  Nicewonger  wedded 
Miss  Alta  Robinson,  who  was  born  in  Piatt 
county,  Illinois,  a  daughter  of  Isaac  and  Isabel 
(Watson)  Robinson,  natives  respectively  of 
Ohio  and  Illinois.  From  Illinois  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Robinson  removed  to  Missouri  and  from  the 
latter  state  they  came  to  Gage  county  in  1891, 
establishing  their  home  at  Pickrell,  Mr.  Rob- 
inson having  been  about  seventy-four  years 
of  age  at  the  time  of  his  death  and  his  ven- 
erable widow  being  now  a  resident  of  the  city 
of  Beatrice.  Of  their  three  children  Mrs. 
Nicewonger  was  the  second  in  order  of  birth ; 
Ernest  is  a  resident  of  northwestern  Canada 
and  Carl  is  engaged  in  the  teaming  business 
at  Beatrice.  No  children  have  been  bom  to 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Nicewonger,  but  they  greatly 
enjoy  extending  the  hospitality  of  their  plea- 
sant home  to  the  young  folk  of  the  community, 
as  well  as  to  their  many  friends  of  their  own 
generation. 


LEWIS  M.  WARFORD.  — In  attempting 
to  preserve  the  life  records  of  the  men  of  Gage 
county  who  have  contributed  to  the  welfare 
of  the  community  in  which  they  lived,  mention 
should  be  made  of  Lewis  M.  Warford.  In 
his  passing  from  earthly  activities,  on  the  1st 
of  May,  1908,  his  family  lost  a  loving  husband 
and  father  and  his  neighbors  a  loyal  citizen 
and  good  friend. 

Mr.  Warford  was  born  near  Toledo,  Ohio, 
October  8,  1849,  and  was  a  boy  when  his 
parents  removed  to  Red  Oak,  Iowa.  Here  he 
was  reared  on  a  fann  and  attended  the  public 
schools.     He  engaged  in  farming  pursuits  and 


1000 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


1001 


as  a  youth  went  to  Andrew  county,  Missouri, 
where  he  remained  until  1885,  when  he  came 
to  Gage  county.  In  1892  he  purchased  land 
in  Section  10,  Rockford  townsliip,  which  was 
his  home  until  his  death. 

Mr.  Warford  was  united  in  marriage,  Aug- 
ust 20,  1868,  to  Miss  Sarah  E.  Dobbs,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Russell  L.  and  Cynthia  (Hurst)  Dobbs. 
Mrs.  Warford  was  bom  in  Andrew  county, 
Missouri,  May  22,  1851,  and  is  a  cousin  of 
Hugh  J.  Dobbs,  the  author  of  this  history  of 
Gage  county. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Warford  became  the  parents 
of  six  children :  Clarence  T.  of  Curtis,  Ne- 
braska; Sylvester  P.  of  Lincoln,  Nebraska; 
Fletcher  L.,  of  Chappell,  this  state;  May,  the 
wife  of  LeRoy  Brugh,  of  ^Midland  township: 
Eunice,  the  wife  of  Milo  Brugh,  of  Beatrice: 
and  one  who  died  in  infancy. 

Mrs.  Sarah  E.  (Dobbs)  Warford  still  re- 
sides on  the  home  farm  in  Rockford  town- 
ship and  owns  also  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  in  Cheyenne  county,  Kansas.  She 
has  long  been  an  earnest  member  of  the  Chris- 
tian church,  and  still  retains  affiliation  with 
the  church  of  this  denomination  in  Andrew 
county,  Missouri,  the  place  of  her  birth.  Her 
husband  was  a  Republican  in  politics. 

BENJAMIN  C.  ALBERT.  —  Farm  indus- 
try in  Gage  county  has  many  successful  ex- 
ponents who  can  claim  the  county  as  the  place 
of  their  nativity,  and  of  this  number  Benja- 
min C.  Albert  is  one.  He  is  giving  his 
energetic  and  effective  activities  to  the  man- 
agement of  a  fine  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  which  he  rents  from  his  father,  in 
Clatonia  township,  and  on  other  pages  of  this 
volume  is  given  an  interesting  review  of  the 
career  of  his  father,  Henry  Albert,  so  that  a 
repetition  of  the  family  data  is  not  demanded 
in  this  connection. 

Mr.  Albert  was  bom  on  the  old  homestead 
farm,  in  Clatonia  township,  August  16,  1880, 
and  after  having  duly  profited  by  the  advan- 
tages of  the  public  schools  of  the  locality  he 
completed  a  course  in  the  Beatrice  Business 
College,  in  which  he  was  graduated  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  class  of  1901.     For  one  year  there- 


after he  held  the  position  of  bookkeeper  in 
the  office  of  the  Duluth  Van  &  Transfer  Com- 
pany, in  the  city  of  Duluth,  Minnesota,  but  his 
absence  did  not  cause  him  to  abate  his  appre- 
ciation of  the  attractions  and  advantages  of 
his  native  state  and  county,  as  evidenced  in 
his  having  returned  to  Gage  county  in  1903 
and  having  initiated  independent  enterprise  as 
an  agriculturist  and  stock-grower  on  his 
present  farm.  His  success  offers  the  best 
voucher  for  his  ability  and  progressive  policies 
in  connection  with  farm  enterprise  and  in  his 
home  county  his  circle  of  friends  is  limited 
only  by  that  of  his  acquaintances.  He  is  one 
of  the  stockholders  in  the  farmers'  co-opera- 
tive grain  elevator  at  Clatonia,  he  is  in- 
dependent in  politics,  and  he  is  known  as  a 
liberal  and  public-spirited  citizen. 

On  the  11th  of  October,  1909,  Mr.  Albert 
wedded  Miss  Leona  Gielday,  of  Lawton, 
Oklahoma.  She  was  bom  in  Lincoln,  Ne- 
braska, and  is  a  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Irene 
(Rutherford)  Gielday,  who  were  bom  in  Ger- 
many, Mr.  Gielday  having  come  to  Nebraska 
and  having  thereafter  served  a  number  of 
years  as  a  locomotive  engineer  on  the  Burling- 
ton &  Missouri  River  Railroad.  He  filed  en- 
try on  a  timber  claim  in  Red  Willow  county, 
this  state,  and  there  he  died  as  the  result  of 
injuries  received  while  in  railway  service,  his 
widow  being  now  a  resident  of  Torrington, 
Laramie  county,  Wyoming.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Albert  have  two  children  —  Donald  Henry 
and  Morris  Byron. 

POPE  FRERICHS  is  a  member  of  one  of 
the  well  known  families  long  identified  with 
farm  industn.'  and  civic  advancement  in  Gage 
county,  and  he  is  well  upholding  the  prestige 
of  the  name  which  he  bears,  as  he  is  a  pro- 
gressive and  successful  agriculturist  and  stock- 
grower,  with  operations  staged  on  a  farm  of 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  belonging  to  his 
father,  in  Section  14,  Logan  township.  Of  the 
family  history  due  record  is  made  on  other 
pages  of  this  work,  in  the  sketch  dedicated  to 
L.  W.  Frerichs,  father  of  him  whose  name  in- 
troduces this  paragraph. 

Pope  Frerichs  was  born  in  Hancock  county, 


1002 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Illinois,  August  30,  1875,  and  was  six  years 
old  at  the  time  when  the  family  home  was  es- 
tablished in  Gage  county.  Here  he  was  reared 
on  his  father's  farm  and  gained  his  youthful 
education  in  the  district  schools.  He  has  been 
engaged  in  independent  farm  enterprise  since 
he  was  eighteen  years  of  age  and  his  farm  is 
improved  with  good  buildings.  He  utilizes 
also  an  adjoining  tract  of  eighty  acres,  which 
he  owns. 

In  politics  Mr.  Frerich  is  aligned  in  the 
ranks  of  the  Democratic  party  and  the  popular 
estimate  placed  upon  his  character  and  ability 
was  shown  in  his  having  been  called  upon  to 
serve  in  the  office  of  township  clerk,  of  which 
position  he  was  the  incumbent  seven  years. 
Both  he  and  his  wife  are  active  members  of 
the  Lutheran  church. 

In  1900  Mr.  Frerichs  married  Miss  Matilda 
Zimmerman,  daughter  of  Tamme  Zimmerman, 
who  is  individually  mentioned  on  other  pages. 
They  have  no  children. 

CURTIS  O.  MARTIN.  — In  Section  26, 
Nemaha  township,  resides  Curtis  O.  Martin, 
who  is  one  of  Gage  county's  most  prosperous 
farmers  and  who  is  the  owner  of  six  hundred 
acres  of  land  in  the  county,  all  well  improved. 
Mr.  Martin  was  born  December  12,  1868,  in 
Marshall  county,  Indiana,  a  son  of  Jacob  and 
Sarah  E.   (Groves)   Martin. 

Jacob  Martin,  father  of  our  subject,  was 
a  native  of  Ohio.  He  was  born  April  5,  1846. 
He  received  his  early  education  in  the  public 
schools  of  his  native  state  and  as  a  young  man 
he  followed  farming  in  that  state.  When  the 
Civil  war  broke  out  Mr.  Martin  enlisted  in 
the  Indiana  Volunteer  Infantry  and  served 
for  some  time.  After  his  term  of  service  in 
the  Union  anny  he  returned  to  Indiana  and 
farmed  until  1872,  when  he  came  with  his 
family  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska.  They  came 
by  train  to  Nebraska  City  and  thence  drove  to 
a  point  one-half  mile  north  of  the  town  of 
Adams,  Nebraska,  where  Jacob  Martin  rented 
what  was  known  as  the  Stephen  Disher  fann. 
The  same  year  he  bought  eighty  acres  in  Sec- 
tion 14,  Nemaha  township,  where  he  remained 
the  balance  of  his  life.    Mr.  Martin  was  a  ver>' 


successful  fanner,  and  from  time  to  time 
bought  additional  land  until  at  the  time  of  his 
death  he  was  the  owner  of  one  thousand  acres 
of  good  agricultural  land.  He  passed  away 
September  28,  1910.  His  wife  was  born  in 
Indiana  January  4,  1845,  and  died  September 
3,  1907.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Martin  were  the  par- 
ents of  two  children — -Curtis  O.,  the  subject 
of  this  review ;  and  Harry  I.,  who  resides  in 
Sheridan,  Wyoming. 

Curtis  O.  Martin  received  his  education  in 
the  district  schools  of  Nemaha  township,  Gage 
county,  and  assisted  his  father  on  the  farm. 
Upon  the  death  of  his  father  he  inherited  six 
hundred  acres  of  the  estate.  This  he  has 
greatly  improved  and  he  now  owns  one  of  the 
most  valuable  and  well  improved  farm  prop- 
erties in  the  township.  In  politics  Mr.  Martin 
is  a  Republican,  and  he  is  now  serving  as  town- 
ship clerk  and  as  treasurer  of  the  district 
school  board. 

On  March  2,  1904,  was  recorded  the  mar- 
riage of  Curtis  O.  Martin  and  Miss  Mae 
Culp,  a  native  of  Ohio  and  daughter  of  An- 
drew J.  and  Sophia  (Maddox)  Culp,  who 
also  were  natives  of  Ohio.  The  Culp  family 
came  to  Nebraska  in  1888,  and  settled  in  Lan- 
cester  county.  Later  they  moved  to  Gage 
county.  Mr.  Culp  passed  away  on  April  13, 
1915,  and  his  widow  now  makes  her  home  in 
Lincoln,  Nebraska.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Martin  are 
the  parents  of  eight  children,  as  follows : 
Thelma,  Orville,  Irene,  Bethel,  Kenneth,  Har- 
old, Keith,  and  Glenn  all  at  home. 

RALPH  G.  ELLIS  has  proved  himself  the 
possessor  of  those  qualities  of  manhood  which 
have  enabled  him  to  become  one  of  the  useful 
young  farmers  of  Midland  township.  He  is 
a  native  of  Illinois,  born  in  Woodford  county, 
that  state,  in  1883.  He  is  a  son  of  Thomas 
and  Laura  J.  (Billinger)  Ellis,  a  record  of 
whom  is  to  be  found  on  another  page  of  thi«i 
history. 

Ralph  G.  Ellis  was  nine  years  old  when 
he  came  with  his  parents  to  Gage  county.  His 
boyhood  days  were  spent  on  the  farm,  where 
he  received  instructions  from  his  father  as  to 
best  methods  of  planting  and  caring  for  crops. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


1003 


He  attended  the  public  schools  and  also  took 
a  complete  course  at  Beatrice  Business  Col- 
lege. On  February  23,  1905,  Mr.  Ellis  mar- 
ried !^liss  Lillian  F.  Wilson,  a  daughter  of 
Robert  and  Mary  (Reed)  Wilson,  a  record  of 
whom  appears  elsewhere  in  this  volume.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Ellis  have  three  children :  Francis, 
Howard  B.,  and  Marion  W. 

Mr.  Ellis  is  the  owner  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  of  valuable  land,  is  engaged  in 
general  farming  and  is  meeting  with  success 
in  his  undertakings.  He  and  his  wife  are 
members  of  the  Baptist  church  and  in  politics 
he  is  a  Republican. 

WILLIAM  F.  CRANGLE.  —  At  this  time, 
during  the  greatest  conflict  the  world  has  ever 
known,  we  honor  more  and  more  the  remaining 
members  of  the  famous  old  guard  that  saved 
our  Union  in  the  '60s.  These  men,  who  were 
then  in  the  flush  of  their  young  manhood,  and 
who  fought  to  preserve  the  integrity  of  the 
nation,  are  to-day  well  past  the  three-score 
years  and  ten,  but  their  hearts  still  beat  with 
ardent  loyalty  and  patriotism  as  they  see  the 
young  men  of  the  present  generation  respond- 
ing to  their  country's  call.  Mr.  Crangle 
served  all  through  the  Civil  war  and  made  a 
record  that  shall  ever  reflect  honor  upon  his 
name.  He  enlisted  as  a  private  in  Company 
A,  Forty-second  Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry, 
and  ere  he  was  mustered  out,  in  1864,  he  had 
been  promoted  to  the  rank  of  corporal.  He 
immediately  re-enlisted  in  the  Sixth  Regiment 
United  States  Veteran  Volunteers,  in  which 
he  attained  the  rank  of  seargent  and  with 
which  he  served  during  the  closing  period  of 
the  war.  He  received  his  honorable  discharge 
August  6,  1866. 

After  these  years  spent  in  his  country's 
service,  Mr.  Crangle  returned  to  Illinois, 
where  he  tilled  the  soil  until  1873,  when  he 
received  from  the  government  a  homestead 
in  Adams  county,  Nebraska,  near  the  little 
town  of  Glenville.  He  spent  a  few  years  of 
hard  pioneer  life  there  and  then  returned  to 
Illinois,  but  in  March,  1883,  he  came  again  to 
the  fertile  land  of  Nebraska,  this  time  locating 
in  Gage  county.     He  purchased  three  hundred 


and  twenty  acres  of  land  in  Sections  23  and 
25  Rock  ford  township.  This  place  was  his 
home  until  he  gave  up  active  farming  and  re- 
tired, in  1905,  to  Beatrice,  the  county  seat,  in 
which  city  he  now  makes  his  home.' 

Mr.  Crangle  is  a  native  of  Saxony,  Ger- 
many, where  he  was  born  October  2,  1841, 
and  he  came  to  this  country  with  his  mother 
and  step-father,  Levi  Ehrlich,  in  1853.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Ehrlich  settled  in  Henry  county,  Illi- 
nois, where  they  passed  the  remainder  of  their 
lives.  Mrs.  Ehrlich  died  at  the  age  of  forty- 
eight  years  and  her  husband  was  sixty  years 
of  age  at  the  time  of  his  death. 

The  marriage  of  William  Crangle  and  Mrs. 
Abby  J.  Sears,  widow  of  Allen  Sears,  former- 
ly of  Wisconsin,  was  solemnized  March  3, 
1870.  To  this  union  were  born  six  children: 
Lora  E.  is  the  wife  of  J.  H.  McKinney,  of 
Springfield,  Arkansas ;  Schuyler  C.  lives  at 
Mankato,  Kansas ;  Fred  N.  is  a  resident  of 
Blue  Springs,  Gage  county ;  Aurelia  A.  is  the 
wife  of  J.  B.  Graves,  of  Ogden,  Utah;  Mina 
is  deceased ;  and  Chester  is  a  resident  of 
Ogden,  Utah.  Mrs.  Crangle  passed  to  the 
life  eternal  November  11,  1891. 

August  25,  1893,  recorded  the  marriage  of 
Air.  Crangle  to  Miss  Anna  Rothrock,  daugh- 
ter of  George  and  Catherine  (Warwick)  Roth- 
rock, natives  of  Indiana.  This  union  has  been 
blessed  with  three  children,  Lila  E.,  Bertha 
A.,  and  Neta  N.,  all  of  whom  are  with  their 
parents,  in  Beatrice. 

Politically  Mr.  Crangle  votes  the  Republi- 
can ticket  and  is  a  member  of  the  Grand  Army 
Republic,  Rawlins  Post,  No.  35  at  Beatrice. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  Baptist  church. 

FRED  H.  BARNES.  —  The  men  who  are 
the  sons  of  pioneers  look  with  pride  upon  their 
ancestry,  and  it  is  well  that  they  do,  as  all  of 
the  progress  of  the  world  has  been  stimulated 
by  the  pioneers  —  be  they  pioneers  of  a  coun- 
try or  industry  or  principle.  Fred  Hall  Barnes, 
whose  life  review  we  are  scanning,  is  the  son 
of  Francis  M.  and  Mary  Jane  (Dripps) 
Barnes.  Francis  Barnes  was  bom  May  1, 
1833,  in  the  city  of  Baltimore,  Maryland,  and 
in  1842  he  was  taken  to  the  city  of  St.  Louis, 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  Willi.-\m  F.  Crangle 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


1005 


Missouri,  by  his  parents,  William  and  Linda 
Barnes,  who  passed  the  remaining  years  of 
their  life  in  that  city. 

Francis  M.  Barnes  attended  the  St.  Louis 
public  schools  and  laid  the  foundation  upon 
which  he  built  the  structure  of  his  life  and 
principles.  In  1854  he  went  to  Kansas  City, 
where  he  engaged  in  the  transfer  business, 
and  in  1858  he  came  to  Richardson  county, 
Nebraska.  Thereafter  he  was  engaged  in 
freighting  from  the  Missouri  river  to  the 
mountains  until  1870,  when  he  removed  his 
home  and  family  and  settled  at  what  is  now 
the  town  of  Barneston,  which  was  named  in 
his  honor.  Upon  his  arrival  upon  the  Otoe 
Indian  reservation  lands  he  forthwith  became 
aware  of  the  fact  that  there  were  more  red- 
skins than  ''pale-faces"  and  had  soon  estab- 
lished a  trading  post  to  barter  with  the  Indians 
for  the  things  which  they  had  in  exchange  for 
the  beads  and  clothing  which  the  white  man 
had.  He  developed  a  prosperous  mercantile 
and  live-stock  business. 

November  16,  1856,  in  Kansas  City,  Mis- 
souri, was  solemnized  the  marriage  of  Francis 
Barnes  and  Miss  Mary  Jane  Dripps,  who  was 
born  at  Bellevue,  Nebraska,  November  15. 
1827,  the  daughter  of  Major  Andrew  and 
Mary  Dripps,  the  latter  having  been  an  Otoe 
Indian  woman.  Major  and  Mrs.  Andrew 
Dripps  moved  to  Missouri  and  purchased  land 
which  to-day  is  the  site  of  the  modern  city  of 
Kansas  City.  Mr.  Dripps  was  associated  with 
the  men  who  banded  themselves  into  a  cor- 
poration to  plat  the  land  of  his  farm  into  lots 
and  sell  to  the  people  who  were  rushing  to  the 
west.  Mr.  Dripps  realized  that  this  was  a 
strategic  point  on  the  Missouri  river  for  a 
thriving  city,  but  it  is  possible  to  believe  that 
he  never  had  any  Utopian  ideas  of  Kansas 
City  as  it  is  to-day.  Mrs.  Mary  Jane  Barnes 
is  now  past  ninety  years  old  and  has  the  dis- 
tinction of  being  the  oldest  living  person  born 
on  Nebraska  soil.  Her  home  is  made  in 
Barneston,  from  which  her  companion  passed 
away  Augxist  18,  1916,  after  sixty-one  years 
of  happy  companionship.  They  were  the  par- 
ents of  the  following  children :  Gertrude  died 
at  the  age  of  twelve  years ;  William  is  living 


retired  at  Guthrie,  Oklahoma ;  Charles  G.  is 
retired  and  lives  at  Red  Rock,  Oklahoma ; 
Emmett  F.  is  a  farmer  near  Ponca  City,  Okla- 
homa;  Katie  is  the  wife  of  Lymond  Dickie, 
Ottawa,  Kansas ;  and  Fred  Hall  Barnes  is  the 
subject  of  this  review.  Of  the  parents  fur- 
ther mention  is  made  in  the  historical  depart- 
ment of  this  volume  —  specially  in  connection 
with  the  record  of  Barneston. 

As  intimated  above,  Francis  M.  Barnes  was 
honored  by  the  little  city  of  Barneston  being 
named  in  commemoration  of  himself.  For 
many  long  years  he  was  allied  with  all  of  the 
civic,  religious,  and  social  life  of  his  commu- 
nity and  was  instrumental  in  giving  his  sup- 
port to  many  worthy  causes.  He  was  a  char- 
ter member  of  the  first  lodge  of  the  Inde- 
pendent Order  of  Odd  Fellows  organized  in 
Kansas  City  and  he  was  also  an  honored  mem- 
ber of  the  Masonic  fraternity. 

Fred  Hall  Barnes,  the  son  of  this  illustrious 
couple  who  allied  themselves  with  so  many 
of  the  first  things  of  our  western  country's 
history,  was  born  near  St.  Deroin,  in  Richard- 
son county,  Nebraska,  July  2,  1868,  and  came 
with  his  parents  to  Gage  county  in  1870.  He 
has  grown  up  with  the  country  and  is  familiar 
with  all  of  the  varying  changes  which  have 
come  during  his  life.  The  education  which 
he  received  in  the  Barneston  schools  was  sup- 
plemented by  study  at  St.  Benedict's  College 
at  Atchison,  Kansas,  and  the  Blake  Private 
School  at  Beatrice.  From  the  years  1892  to 
1898  he  was  connected  with  the  bank  at 
Barneston,  first  as  bookkeeper  and  finally  as 
president  of  the  institution.  He  severed  his 
connections  with  this  business  in  1898.  He 
and  his  venerable  mother  have  about  four  hun- 
dred acres  of  land  in  Barneston  and  Liberty 
townships  and  this  is  rented. 

The  political  sentiments  of  Mr.  Barnes  are 
in  harmony  with  the  principles  of  the  Repub- 
lican party.  He  was  once  elected  town  trea- 
surer, but  did  not  accept  the  position.  He  is 
a  member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity,  including 
the  chapter  of  Royal  Arch  Masons,  and  also 
is  identified  with  the  Ancient  Order  of  United 
Workmen. 


1006 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


MICHAEL  KRUEGER.  — The  stor>-  of  a 
nation  is  indissolubly  linked  with  and  made  up 
of  the  individual  stories  of  the  men  who  make 
up  the  composite  whole.  Likewise  the  history 
of  one  nation  is  linked  with  the  history  of 
another.  The  United  States  has  been  the 
haven  of  the  poor  and  the  oppressed,  either 
religiously  or  economically,  from  the  Old 
World.  The  Old  World  countries  have  been 
settled  so  long  and  their  farming  land  culti- 
vated so  intensively  that  there  are  no  great 
opportunities  for  advancement  for  the  indi- 
vidual person,  such  as  the  United  States  af- 
fords. That  many  men  have  attested  to  this 
is  seen  in  the  fact  that  millions  of  immigrants 
flock  to  our  shores. 

The  German  immigrant  is  agriculturally  in- 
clined and  does  his  work  in  a  highly  produc- 
tive manner.  One  of  these  men  who  came 
here  to  secure  a  livelihood  such  as  his  native 
land  could  not  give,  was  the  late  Michael 
Krueger.  His  birth  date  was  October  3,  1853, 
and  he  was  bom  in  Stettin,  Germany,  where 
the  first  seventeen  years  of  his  life  were 
spent.  In  1870  his  parents  and  their  children 
left  their  native  land  and  located  in  Michigan 
City,  Indiana,  where  they  lived  until  coming 
to  Nemaha  township.  Gage  county,  Nebraska. 

In  Michigan  City  Michael  Krueger  worked 
in  the  car  shops,  then  he  removed  to  Syca- 
more, Indiana,  where  he  was  employed  by  a 
harvester  company.  But  he  was  not  content 
to  work  as  a  laborer,  nor  were  his  brothers,  so 
they  decided  to  come  to  Nebraska  and  buy  the 
wild  lands  and  go  to  farming.  Consequently, 
the  year  1876  found  the  Krueger  family  on 
their  way  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska.  The 
land  in  Section  9,  Nemaha  township,  was  se- 
lected after  many  days  of  looking  over  the 
lands  and  their  respective  advantages  through- 
out the  countr)'.  They  paid  nine  dollars  an 
acre  for  the  land  and  the  three  brothers,  Gott- 
lieb, August,  and  Michael,  decided  to  farm  the 
land  in  partnership.  Their  father  and  mother 
also  settled  on  this  section,  but  the  father  was 
not  able  to  farm,  as  he  had  lost  his  left  leg. 

The  one-room  shanty  was  soon  built  and 
they  had  to  prepare  for  the  breaking  of  the 
land.     Michael  Krueger  and  his  brother  Au- 


gust went  on  foot  to  Kansas  City,  Missouri, 
to  purchase  a  team  of  horses.  They  slept 
wherever  night  overtook  them.  In  a  haystack 
or  strawstack  was  the  best  shelter  from  the 
wind  and  cold.  Their  journey  home  was  not 
so  long  or  tedious,  as  they  were  able  to  ride 
horseback. 

The  parents  of  Michael  Krueger  were  Au- 
gust and  Dorothy  (Doring)  Krueger.  They 
were  both  born  in  Germany  and  spent  their 
latter  years  on  their  farm  in  Nemaha  town- 
ship. August  Krueger  was  born  April  10, 
1812,  and  died  in  1890.  His  wife  was  bom 
October  3,  1814,  and  died  February  22,  1886. 
They  were  the  parents  of  the  following  chil- 
dren :  William  is  deceased ;  Gottfried  married 
a  sister  of  Mrs.  Michael  Krueger,  and  she 
lives  in  Nemaha  township ;  Mrs.  Mary  Amdt 
resides  at  Michigan  City,  Indiana ;  Mrs.  Min- 
nie Hanson  lives  in  Orange,  California; 
Michael,  with  whom  this  sketch  deals,  is  de- 
ceased ;  August  is  living  at  Firth,   Nebraska. 

In  1882  Michael  Krueger  married  Miss 
Alarie  Ruter,  and  eight  children  were  born  to 
this  union:  William  is  living  at  Sidney,  Ne- 
braska ;  Carl  resides  in  Nemaha  township. 
Gage  county ;  John  resides  in  Section  5,  Ne- 
maha township ;  Anna  is  the  wife  of  R.  Wil- 
cox, of  Nemaha  township;  Michael  remains 
in  Nemaha  township ;  Maggie  is  at  the  mater- 
nal home ;  Fred  is  running  the  home  farm  for 
his  mother;  and  Katherine  is  likewise  at 
home. 

The  mother  of  this  interesting  family  was 
born  in  Westphalia,  Germany,  October  22, 
1859.  In  1881  she  came  to  the  United  States 
in  company  with  her  sister,  Mrs.  Pape.  They 
came  to  Gage  county,  where,  in  1882,  she  mar- 
ried Mr.  Krueger.  Her  parents  remained  in 
their  native  land  and  after  her  mother's  death 
her  father,  William  Ruter,  came  to  Nemaha 
township,  in  1885.  Here  he  remained  until 
his  death,  in  1911.  He  was  born  in  1820  and 
was  an  old  man  upon  his  arrival  in  this  coun- 
try but  lived  to  be  ninety-one  years  old.  He 
had  a  family  of  seven  children,  three  of  whom 
are  in  Nemaha  township  —  Mrs.  H.  Pape, 
Mrs.  Michael  Krueger,  and  Mrs.  Gottfried 
Krueger. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


1007 


Mrs.  Michael  Krueger  is  a  very  energetic 
woman  and  very  businesslike.  Her  youngest 
son,  Fred,  is  running  the  farm  for  her,  and 
keeps  good  grade  of  cattle  and  hogs.  In  1916 
Mrs.  Krueger  built  a  large  barn,  fifty  by  fifty- 
two  feet  in  dimensions,  and  in  this  way  they 
are  able  to  accommodate  a  large  number  of 
cattle  and  to  store  their  hay. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Krueger  early  professed  the 
faith  of  the  Lutheran  church,  of  which  they 
became  communicants.  They  labored  hard  in 
this  land  of  their  adoption  and  at  the  time  oi 
Mr.  Krueger's  death  he  owned  eight  hundred 
acres  of  land,  which  has  been  divided  among 
the  children. 

WILEIAM  M.  KERK  is  a  prosperous 
farmer  in  Nemaha  township  who  came  to  Gage 
county  when  a  mere  lad,  and  who  has  become 
the  owner  of  five  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of 
well  improved  land. 

Youth  is  well  said  to  be  the  springtime  of 
life.  It  is  then  that  the  blood  runs  warm  in 
the  veins,  when  obstacles  are  met  with  the 
fresh  courage  that  is  ready  to  conquer  them. 
If  it  were  not  for  the  youth  in  the  world  there 
would  be  no  progress,  and  no  new  lands  opened 
up,  as  middle  age  is  content  to  remain  in  one 
place  and  condition. 

William  Kerk  was  bom  in  Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania,  December  16,  1865,  and  is  the 
son  of  John  K.  and  Sarah  (Fowler)  Kerk. 
John  Kerk  was  a  famier  and  bird-cage  maker. 
Philadelphia,  the  city  which  was  founded  by 
William  Penn,  was  the  birthplace  and  abiding 
place  of  John  Kerk  until  1877,  when  he  went 
with  his  family  to  southern  Texas,  where  he 
expected  to  farm.  But  death  intervened  and 
his  life  was  snuft'ed  out,  in  August,  1877, 
shortly  after  his  arrival  in  Texas.  He  was 
born,  in  vVugust,  1821,  in  Philadelphia,  and 
was  a  son  of  a  German  immigrant  who  had 
come  to  this  country  in  the  early  part  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  His  wife,  Sarah  A. 
(Fowler)  Kerk,  was  bom  November  10, 
18.37,  in  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania.  After 
her  husband's  death,  in  Texas,  she  took  her 
family  of  nine  children  and  returned  to  Phila- 
delphia.   She  lived  to  see  her  family  as  grown 


men  and  women  in  homes  of  their  own,  then 
she  was  called  up  higher.  Her  death  occurred 
the  moming  after  the  sinking  of  the  Maine 
in  Havana  harbor,  in  1898.  Her  parents  were 
emigrants  from  the  Emerald  Isle. 

William  Kerk  was  a  lad  of  eleven  years 
when  the  big  adventure  of  going  to  Texas  was 
laid.  This  ended  unhappily,  but  the  lad  Wil- 
liam had  imbibed  the  wanderlust  and  was  no 
more  content  to  stay  in  prosaic  Philadelphia. 
In  1882,  when  only  seventeen  years  of  age,  he 
came  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  and  for  a 
number  of  years  he  worked  as  a  farm  laborer 
in  the  vicinity  of  Cortland.  Many  a  day  has 
he  shucked  corn  on  the  treeless  prairie  when 
the  snow  was  knee-deep  —  and  this  for  the 
munificent  sum  of  two  and  one-half  cents  a 
bushel.  He  also  remembers  the  herds  of 
sheep  he  cared  for  on  the  wild  prairie  for 
Frank  Holt,  in  whose  honor  Holt  township 
was  named. 

In  1887  Mr.  Kerk  rented  land  in  Nemaha 
township,  north  of  Pickrell,  and  he  farmed 
this  land  for  three  years,  saving  enough  money 
to  buy  land  for  himself.  He  purchased  his 
first  land  in  Lancaster  county,  Nebraska,  near 
Hickman.  It  was  wild,  uncultivated  land  and 
had  no  improvements  on  it.  He  had  to  build 
his  own  house,  a  shelter  for  his  cattle  and 
start  the  long,  tedious  task  of  turning  wild 
land  into  broad,  productive  acres.  This  he 
accomplished,  and  for  twenty-two  years  he 
lived  on  this  farm.  In  1912  he  sold  this  farm 
and  purchased  his  present  farm,  in  Nemaha 
township.  Gage  county.  He  has  made  im- 
provements on  the  land  to  make  it  more  com- 
fortable and  useful  for  his  work.  In  1917  he 
purchased  two  hundred  acres  of  land  from 
Z.  S.  Branson,  making  five  hundred  and 
twenty  acres  of  land  that  he  is  farming. 

The  marriage  of  William  Kerk  and  Louisa 
C.  Koontz  was  solemnized  March  2,  1888. 
Mrs.,  Kerk  was  bom  July  22,  1868,  in  Galena, 
Illinois.  Her  parents,  Frank  and  Julia  (Beal) 
Koontz,  came  to  Lancaster  county,  Nebraska, 
in  1867  and  homesteaded.  They  were  asso- 
ciated with  all  of  the  early  endeavors  of  de- 
velopment, taking  an  active  interest  in  all 
things  for  the  upbuilding  of  a  great  agricul- 


1008 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


tural  county.  When  the  first  railroad  was 
built  into  Lincoln,  Mr.  Koontz  helped  in  its 
construction.  This  railroad  was  the  Burling- 
ton, and  it  still  continues  its  way  into  Lincoln, 
Nebraska.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Koontz,  who  are 
now  both  deceased,  were  the  parents  of  nine 
children.  Louisa  Koontz  was  born  and  edu- 
cated in  Lancaster  county  and  has  been  a  de- 
voted helpmeet  to  her  husband,  aiding  him  in 
all  of  the  ways  in  which  a  good  woman  knows 
how  to  assist.  One  child,  Irene,  born  in  19n, 
is  the  light  of  their  home. 

Mr.  Kerk  is  a  breeder  of  Hereford  cattle, 
beginning  his  herd  of  thoroughbred  stock  in 
1916.  His  farm  is  very  advantageously  situ- 
ated, so  that  he  is  able  to  feed  many  cattle  for 
the  market.  He  has  a  spring  of  running  water 
where  the  cattle  can  get  pure,  fresh  water  at 
all  times  of  the  year.  This  spring  has  been 
visited  by  the  farmers  during  the  drouths  in 
years  past,  when  their  own  wells  refused  to 
give  water  for  their  cattle. 

In  politics,  Mr.  Kerk  is  an  independent 
thinker,  but  he  feels  that  Democratic  prin- 
ciples are  the  truest.  He  is  a  man  who.  when 
a  mere  lad,  grasped  the  opportunity  of  his 
day  and  has  worked  faithfully  to  overcome 
the  obstacles  which  came  in  his  way. 

THOMAS  S.  ELLIS.  — In  the  death  of 
Thomas  S.  Ellis,  which  occurred  in  Beatrice, 
May  7,  1915,  Gage  county  lost  one  of  its  rep- 
resentative citizens  and  extensive  land-owners. 
A  native  of  New  Jersey,  he  was  bom  in  Som- 
erset county,  and  when  four  years  old  he  was 
taken  by  his  parents  to  Illinois,  where  he  re- 
ceived a  common-school  and  college  education 
and  became  a  farmer.  He  attended  college  at 
Naples,  Illinois. 

On  June  5,  1874,  Mr.  Ellis  was  united  in 
marriage  to  Miss  Laura  J.  Billinger,  a  daugh- 
ter of  William  and  Sarah  (McManus)  Bil- 
linger. In  1892  he  came  to  Gage  county,  Ne- 
braska, and  purchased  land  in  Section  18, 
Midland  township.  He  was  successfully  en- 
gaged in  farming  until  his  death.  He  pros- 
pered, and  added  to  his  land  holdings,  being 
the  owner  of  four  hundred  and  eighty  acres. 
His  parents  were  John  and  Mary  Ellis,  who 


came  to  Gage  county  in  1890,  and  the  father 
passed  away,  at  Beatrice,  in  December  of  that 
year,  the  mother's  death  occurring  in  Decem- 
ber, 1891. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thomas  S.  Ellis  became  the 
parents  of  three  children :  John  T.  is  a  suc- 
cessful farmer  in  this  county ;  Ralph  G.  is  a 
farmer  in  Midland  township ;  and  Mary  E. 
resides  in  Beatrice. 

Mrs.  Ellis  makes  her  home  in  Beatrice,  at 
822  North  Eleventh  street.  She  is  a  member 
of  the  Christian  church.  Mr.  Ellis  was  a  Re- 
publican in  politics  and  he  devoted  all  of  his 
active  life  to  farm  enterprise. 

William  and  Sarah  (McManus)  Billinger, 
parents  of  Mrs.  Ellis,  were  united  in  marriage 
in  the  year  1841.  He  was  born  at  Pittsburgh, 
Pennsylvania,  April  1,  1819,  and  his  death 
occurred  April  9,  1911.  His  wife  was  bom  in 
Butler  county,  Ohio,  October  1,  1819.  After 
their  marriage  they  removed  to  Illinois,  the 
journey  being  made  with  a  team  and  covered 
wagon.  They  settled  in  McLean  county,  that 
state,  where  Mr.  Billinger  was  engaged  in 
farming  for  some  time.  Removal  was  then 
made  to  Woodford  county,  Illinois,  where  he 
became  a  prosperous  farmer  and  honored  citi- 
zen. He  and  his  wife  were  members  of  the 
Presbyterian  church.  Of  their  ten  children 
six  are  living  in  1918. 

ARTHUR  C.  SONDEREGGER,  of  Be- 
atrice, Nebraska,  was  born  in  Jefferson  county, 
this  state,  on  the  23d  of  October,  1888,  and  is 
a  son  of  Carl  Sonderegger,  of  whom  mention 
is  made  on  other  pages  of  this  volume. 

Arthur  C.  Sonderegger  received  his  early 
education  in  the  public  schools  of  Jefferson 
county  and  later  went  with  his  brother  Ernest 
to  Europe,  where  they  studied  for  two  years, 
taking  a  special  course  in  German  and  study- 
ing the  nursery  and  seed  business  in  Germany 
and  Switzerland.  Upon  returning  to  the 
United  States  Mr.  Sonderegger  became  asso- 
ciated with  his  father  and  brothers  in  the 
nursery  and  seed  business  in  Beatrice,  where 
they  own  and  conduct  the  Sonderegger  Nurs- 
ery and  Seed  House,  one  of  the  largest  of  its 
kind  in  this  part  of  the  country. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


1009 


On  October  20,  1915,  Mr.  Sonderegger  was 
united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Ruth  Atwater,  of 
Beatrice,  she  being  a  daughter  of  William  At- 
water, who  is  engaged  in  the  house-moving 
business  in  that  city.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sonder- 
egger  are  the  parents  of  one  child,  Phyllis. 
Mrs.  Sonderegger  is  a  member  of  the  Presby- 
terian church  and  her  husband  of  the  Chris- 
tian church.  They  are  very  highly  respected 
in  the  community  in  which  they  live,  and  are 
numbered  among  the  influential  families  in 
this  part  of  the  state. 

HENRY  JURGENS  is  the  owner  of  a 
valuable  farm  property  of  eight  hundred  acres 
in  Gage  county  and  the  same  represents  the 
tangible  results  of  his  own  ability  and  energy 
as  applied  to  agricultural  and  live-stock  in- 
dustry, for  when  he  established  his  residence 
in  the  county  his  financial  resources  were  not- 
able only  for  their  absence  and  at  first  he 
found  employment  at  farm  work.  Such  a 
stor}'  of  success  and  advancement  as  has 
marked  his  career  in  Nebraska  is  a  matter  for 
general  as  well  as  individual  satisfaction  and 
pride.  The  fine  homestead  place  of  Mr.  Jur- 
gens  is  situated  in  Section  11,  Logan  town- 
ship. .He  was  born  in  Hanover,  Gemiany, 
January  20,  1859,  and  is  a  son  of  T.  H.  and 
Annie  (Duitsman)  Jurgens,  who  were  num- 
bered among  the  pioneer  settlers  of  Gage 
county,  where  the  father  became  a  prosperous 
farmer  and  where  he  still  resides,  at  the  ven- 
erable age  of  eighty-four  years  (1918),  his 
wife  having  passed  to  eternal  rest  several 
years  ago.  Of  their  five  children  four  are 
living.  Mr.  Jurgens  is  a  Republican  in  poli- 
tics and  is  an  earnest  member  of  the  Lutheran 
church,  as  was  also  his  wife. 

Henry  Jurgens  acquired  his  early  education 
in  the  schools  of  his  native  land  and  has  been 
a  resident  of  Gage  county  since  1881.  For 
three  years  he  was  here  employed  at  farm 
work  by  the  month,  and  for  the  ensuing  five 
years  he  farmed  on  rented  land.  He  then 
purchased  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  on 
which  he  was  able  to  make  partial  payment, 
and  with  increasing  prosperity  he  continued 
to  buy  more  land  until  he  now  has  one  of  the 


large  and  valuable  farm  properties  of  the 
county.  On  his  homestead  place  he  has  erect- 
ed excellent  buildings,  including  the  spacious 
and  attractive  house,  which  he  built  in  the 
year  1890.  His  estate  is  situated  in  Logan, 
Hooker,  and  Nemaha  townships.  Mr.  Jur- 
gens is  essentially  liberal  and  public-spirited 
as  a  citizen,  is  an  independent  Republican  in 
politics,  and  both  he  and  his  wife  are  zealous 
communicants  of  the  Hanover  German  Lu- 
theran church,  he  having  been  a  member  of 
the  building  committee  that  had  in  charge  the 
erection  of  the  present  fine  church  edifice. 

In  1884  was  solemnized  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Jurgens  to  Miss  Mary  Kruse,  who  had 
come  to  this  county  in  the  preceding  year 
She  was  bom  and  reared  in  Germany  and  is 
a  daughter  of  Martin  Kruse,  who  there 
passed  his  entire  life.  In  conclusion  is  given 
brief  record  concerning  the  children  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Jurgens :  Thea  has  active  charge 
of  his  father's  farm  in  Hooker  township; 
Rena  is  the  wife  of  John  Ideus,  of  Logan 
township;  Annie  is  the  wife  of  Thomas 
Schuster,  of  Logan  township ;  Theada  is  the 
wife  of  Christ  Meints  and  they  reside  on  her 
father's  farm  in  Nemaha  township ;  Martin 
remains  at  the  parental  home ;  Fannie  is  the 
wife  of  George  Paben,  of  Logan  township; 
and  Grace  and  Llenry  are  the  younger  mem- 
bers of  the  parental  home  circle. 

JOHN  J.  CLANCY  is  a  farmer  owning 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  in  Sec- 
tion 15,  Elm  township.  He  is  of  Irish  paren- 
tage, his  parents  coming  from  Ireland. 
America  has  ever  received  of  the  best  blood 
of  the  Old  World  and  Ireland  has  given  of  her 
sons  as  liberally  as  the  rest. 

John  J.  Clancy  was  born  in  Mason  county, 
Illinois,  July  .31,  1863,  and  is  a  son  of  John 
and  Catherine  (Devin)  Clancy.  John  Clancy, 
Sr.,  was  born  in  County  Waterford,  Ireland, 
in  1831  and  when  twenty-two  years  of  age  he 
started  to  seek  his  fortune  in  the  New  World, 
arriving  in  Illinois  in  1853.  Before  farming 
for  himself  he  served  his  apprenticeship  as  a 
farm  employe.  His  wife,  Catherine  (Devin) 
Clancv,  came  from  the  Emerald  Isle  when  a 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  Henry  Jurgens 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


1011 


young  lassie  and  settled  with  her  parents  in 
Peoria,  Illinois.  After  her  marriage  to  John 
Clancy  she  remained  his  faithful  companion 
until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1896,  and 
she  then  came  to  Beatrice,  Nebraska,  spending 
the  remainder  of  her  days  with  her  son  John. 
She  was  born  in  1821  and  died  in  1901.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Clancy  were  members  of  the  Catholic 
church.  Of  the  three  children  born  to  them, 
only  John  J.,  the  subject  of  this  review,  sur- 
vives. 

John  J.  Clancy  was  born  on  the  home  farm 
in  Illinois,  received  his  early  education  in  the 
rural  schools  and  as  a  youth  assisted  his  father 
on  the  farm.  In  1888  he  came  to  Gage  county, 
Nebraska,  settling  in  Elm  township,  where  he 
rented  his  present  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  for  twenty-five  years.  He  pur- 
chased this  land,  from  the  Schock  estate,  in 
1914.  He  has  made  improvements  on  the 
farm,  erected  a  large,  modem  barn  and  has 
otherwise  made  many  other  provisions  to 
make  his  work  more  efficient. 

February  16,  1890,  John  J.  Clancy  took  Miss 
Ella  Hood  as  his  wife.  She  was  born  in 
Mason  county,  Illinois,  and  is  a  daughter  of 
Martin  and  Ellen  (Horan)  Hood.  Her  par- 
ents were  both  born  in  Ireland.  Her  father, 
Martin  Hood,  was  born  in  1829,  in  County 
Galloway,  Ireland.  He  farmed  in  Illinois 
previously  to  his  coming  to  Elm  township, 
Gage  county,  in  1884.  He  spent  his  later 
years  in  Beatrice,  where  he  died,  in  1912,  aged 
eighty-three  years.  His  wife,  Ellen  (Horan) 
Hood,  was  born  near  Aughrim,  County  Gallo- 
way, Ireland,  in  1835,  and  she  died  in  1893. 
They  were  devout.  God-fearing,  industrious 
people  of  the  Catholic  faith. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  J.  Clancy  became  the 
parents  of  two  children:  Guy  T.  remains  at 
home  with  his  parents,  and  Donald  Martin  is 
deceased. 

Mrs.  Clancy  was  educated  in  the  high  school 
of  Creston,  Iowa,  and  the  Business  College  of 
Beatrice,  Nebraska.  For  six  years  prior  to 
her  marriage  she  taught'  school  in  Gage  and 
Jefferson  counties. 

Mr.  Clancy  is  shareholder  of  the  Farmers' 
Elevator  Company  at  Diller,  Nebraska.     Out- 


side of  this  his  interests  have  centered  in  his 
home  and  farm.  He  and  his  wife  are  com- 
municants of  the  Catholic  church,  and  he  votes 
the  Democratic  ticket.  He  is  a  successful 
farmer  and  a  valued  member  of  his  com- 
munity. 

FRANK  J.  HUBKA,  a  progressive  farmer 
living  in  Elm  township,  is  a  native  of  Ne- 
braska. He  was  born  in  Pawnee  county,  and 
is  a  son  of  Bohemian  parents,  who  came  to 
the  United  States  and  settled  in  Pawnee 
county  in  the  verj'  earliest  days  for  the  set- 
tling of  Nebraska.  These  parents,  Albert  and 
Mary  (Kovanda)  Hubka,  are  mentioned  else- 
where in  this  volume. 

Frank  J.  Hubka  was  born  December  28, 
1869,  in  Pawnee  county,  and  received  the  edu- 
cation of  the  district  schools.  His  early  years, 
up  to  his  marriage,  were  spent  with  his  father 
in  the  tilling  of  the  soil.  In  1892  he  rented 
land  from  his  father,  and  by  dint  of  harCi 
labor  and  sacrifice  he  was  eventually  able  to 
purchase  land  for  himself.  This  was  his 
present  four  hundred  and  eighty  acres  of  land 
in  Elm  township.  Gage  county.  At  the  time 
of  this  purchase  he  went  into  debt  for  seven 
thousand  dollars,  but  he  knew  what  Nebraska 
land  was  and  knew  that  in  a  very  short  while 
he  would  be  able  to  cancel  his  indebtedness. 
He  stocked  his  farm  with  the  well  known 
Hereford  cows  and  from  every  dollar's  worth 
of  corn  that  he  fed  them  he  realized  a  good 
profit.  In  this  way  he  has  been  able  to  meet 
his  obligation  and  to  broaden  out  his  estate  to 
include  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land 
in  Section  15,  Elm  township.  On  this  broad 
acreage  Mr.  Hubka  is  enabled  to  feed  many 
cattle  for  market  every  year. 

On  the  13th  day  of  February,  1892,  Frank 
J.  Hubka  married  Anna  Vavruska,  who  has 
shared  with  him,  in  his  work  and  civic  activ- 
ities, as  well  as  all  of  his  hardships  and  joys. 
Three  children  have  come  to  bless  their  mar- 
riage: Emily  is  the  wife  of  John  S.  Bures, 
living  in  Elm  township ;  Rudolph  is  at  home ; 
and  Albert  is  attending  business  college  at 
York,  Nebraska,  in  1918. 

Mrs.  Frank  J.  Hubka  was  born  March  11, 


1012 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


1871,  in  Marshall  county,  Kansas,  near  Marys- 
ville,  the  county  seat.  Her  parents,  John  and 
Katherine  (Janacek)  Vavruska,  were  natives 
of  Bohemia,  joining  a  great  migration  of  their 
people  to  this  section  of  the  country.  They 
were  farmers,  but  are  now  retired,  living  in 
Wilber,  Nebraska. 

Mr.  Hubka  has  taken  more  than  a  casual 
interest  in  his  township.  While  he  is  kept 
very  busy  in  the  managing  of  his  farm  he  is 
able  to  devote  a  portion  of  his  time  to  the  in- 
terests of  the  township  at  large.  Upon  his 
arrival  in  the  township  he  was  made  a  director 
of  the  school  board  of  his  district  and  he  has 
filled  that  position  all  of  these  years.  He  at 
one  time  was  the  township  clerk  and  for  the 
past  four  years  has  served  as  township  trea- 
surer. He  is  independent  in  politics,  voting 
for  the  right  man  for  the  place  rather  than 
the  party's  man. 

GEORGE  W.  STEINMEYER.  —  A  native 
son  of  Gage  county  who  is  making  good  use 
of  his  opportunities  and  who  is  contributing 
in  no  small  way  to  the  development  of  the 
natural  resources  of  this  great  state  is  George 
W.  Steinmeyer.  He  was  born  in  Clatonia 
township,  December  29,  1877,  a  son  of  John 
H.  Steinmeyer,  of  whom  mention  is  made  on 
other  pages  of  this  volume.  He  was  reared 
on  the  farm,  his  early  education  being  supple- 
mented by  attendance  at  Wesleyan  University, 
at  Lincoln.  On  returning  from  school  he  be- 
came assistant  cashier  of  the  Farmers  & 
Merchants  Bank  at  De  Witt.  In  1905  he  or- 
ganized and  became  cashier  of  the  State  Bank 
of  Holmesville,  continuing  in  that  position 
until  1911.  In  1910  he  became  associated  with 
others  in  erecting  and  equipping  the  hydro- 
electric plant  at  Holmsville,  which  furnishes 
electricity  to  Wymore,  Blue  Springs,  and  Be- 
atrice. This  concern  has  been  under  his 
supervision  since  it  was  established.  This  en- 
terprise is  of  inestimable  value  to  the  com- 
munities which  it  serves  and  the  promoter, 
Mr.  Steinmeyer,  deserves  much  credit. 

October  14,  1915,  Mr.  Steinmeyer  married 
Miss  Hazel  Phillips,  daughter  of  J.  T.  Phil- 
lips, of  Lincoln. 


Mr.  Steinmeyer  represented  his  county  in 
the  state  legislature  in  1915  and  is  a  staunch 
Republican.  Fraternally  he  belongs  to  the 
.\ncient  Free  &  Accepted  Masons,  and  the 
Benevolent  &   Protective  Order  of  Elks. 

FRANK  F.  PAPE.  —  One  of  Gage  county's 
prosperous  tenant  farmers  is  Frank  F.  Pape, 
residing  on  Section  7,  Nemaha  township, 
where  he  farms  two  hundred  and  forty  acres 
of  land.  Mr.  Pape  was  born  February  16, 
1883,  in  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  and  is  a  son 
of  Henry  and  Charlotte  (Rueter)  Pape.  He 
was  the  eldest  of  three  children,  his  sister 
Lena,  wife  of  William  Hasenohr,  living  near 
Beatrice,  and  his  brother,  Charles,  being  at 
home  with  his  parents.  Henry  Pape,  the 
father  of  our  subject,  was  born  November  24, 
1850,  in  Prussia,  Germany,  and  is  a  son  of 
Henry  and  Charlotte  ( Buschman)  Pape. 
Henry  Pape  was  a  farmer  and  miner  in  his 
native  land  until  1880,  when  he  immigrated  to 
America,  and  settled  in  Gage  county,  Ne- 
braska, where  he  purchased  eighty  acres  of 
railroad  land,  for  which  he  paid  ten  dollars  an 
acre.  He  had  but  little  money  and  the  pur- 
chase of  this  land  put  him  pretty  badly  in 
debt,  but  by  hard  work  and  strict  economy  he 
was  finally  able  to  clear  off  the  encumbrance, 
and  from  time  to  time  he  has  bought  addition- 
al farm  land  until  at  the  present  time  he  is 
the  owner  of  three  hundred  and  thirty-three 
acres  of  good  agricultural  land.  Mr.  Pape 
is  also  a  stockholder  in  the  Farmers  Co- 
operative Association  of  Cortland,  Nebraska. 
He  made  extensive  improvements  on  his 
farms  and  in  1914  he  retired.  By  a  previous 
marriage,  in  1874,  to  Margaret  Schaffer,  a 
native  of  Germany,  who  died  in  1880,  Mr. 
Pape  had  three  sons :  Henry  and  William,  of 
Nemaha  township,  and  Fred,  in  the  implement 
business  at  Pickrell,  this  county. 

Frank  S.  Pape  was  educated  in  the  district 
schools  of  Nemaha  township,  and  assisted  his 
father  on  the  farm  until  he  started  farming  on 
his  own  account.  On  December  25,  1913,  Mr. 
Pape  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Marie  L. 
Remmers,  a  native  of  Nemaha  township, 
Gage    county,    and    a    daughter   of    John    E. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


1013 


Remmers,  of  whom  a  record  will  be  found  on 
other  pages  of  this  publication.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Pape  are  members  of  the  German  Lutheran 
church,  and  in  politics  Mr.  Pape  is  an  inde- 
pendent voter. 

HIRAM  P.  CROCKER.  — In  this  semi- 
centennial history  of  Nebraska  and  Gage 
county  is  is  specially  gratifying  to  accord 
merited  recognition  to  the  sterling  and  hon- 
ored pioneer  citizen  whose  name  initiates  this 
paragraph  and  who  is  now  living  virtually  re- 
tired. Mr.  Crocker  came  to  Gage  county  first 
in  1874,  and  in  that  year  he  here  secured  a 
tract  of  unimproved  land,  but  not  until  two 
years  later  did  he  here  establish  his  home. 
His  financial  resources  when  he  located  in 
the  county  were  summed  up  in  twenty-five 
dollars,  aside  from  the  landed  investment, 
and  he  thus  lived  up  to  the  full  tension  of  pio- 
neer life  during  the  period  of  reclaiming  his 
land  and  bringing  the  same  into  effective  cul- 
tivation. Further  interest  attaches  to  his 
career  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  he  is  a  scion 
of  an  honored  family  that  was  founded  in 
New  England  in  the  early  colonial  period  of 
our  national  histon^. 

The  original  American  progenitors  of  the 
Crocker  family  were  William  and  John 
Crocker,  and  the  subject  of  this  review  is  a 
lineal  descendant  of  William  Crocker.  Wil- 
liam and  John  set  sail  from  the  south  of  Eng- 
land for  America  in  the  year  1634,  and  the 
little  vessel  on  which  they  took  passage  lost 
its  way  and  was  greatly  delayed  in  the  voyage 
across  the  Atlantic.  The  brothers  established 
their  residence  in  the  historic  Cape  Cod  dis- 
trict of  Massachusetts,  and  the  name  has 
long  been  one  of  prominence  and  influence  in 
that  section  of  the  old  Bay  state.  William 
Crocker  married  and  reared  a  large  family  of 
children.  He  became  one  of  the  extensive 
land  owners  on  Cape  Cod  and  history  records 
that  the  first  law  suit  tried  in  that  district  was 
that  in  which  he  successfully  brought  charge 
against  a  man  for  stealing  certain  property 
from  him.  The  culprit  was  convicted  and  his 
penalty  was  being  flogged,  the  verdict  of  the 
court  being  in  the  application  of  a  designated 


number  of  lashes  to  the  back  of  the  mal- 
efactor. Samuel  Crocker,  a  grandson  of  Wil- 
liam, was  a  gallant  soldier  of  the  Continental 
Line  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  in  which 
he  served  as  colonel  of  a  regiment  of  Massa- 
chusetts troops. 

Hiram  P.  Crocker  was  born  in  Erie  county. 
New  York,  on  the  22d  of  July,  1839,  and  is  a 
son  of  Oscar  F.  C.  and  Abigail  (Weather- 
low)  Crocker,  both  of  whom  passed  their  en- 
tire lives  in  the  old  Empire  state,  where  the 
former  was  bom  July  10,  1810,  and  the  latter 
about  the  year  1815,  her  parents  having  been 
of  German  ancestry.  Oscar  F.  C.  Crocker 
learned  in  his  youth  the  trade  of  tanner,  but 
eventually  he  abandoned  the  work  of  his 
tra,de  to  turn  his  attention  to  agricultural  pur- 
suits. Of  the  family  of  two  sons  and  two 
daughters  Hiram  P.,  of  his  review,  is  the 
eldest,  and  he  remained  at  the  parental  home 
until  he  had  attained  to  the  age  of  thirteen 
3'ears,  when  he  became  a  member  of  the 
family  circle  of  his  maternal  grandfather,  in 
the  same  township.  He  remained  with  his 
grandfather  seven  years,  and  in  the  mean- 
while continued  to  attend  the  common  schools 
when  opportunity  afforded.  This  educational 
discipline  was  supplemented  by  a  course  of 
study  in  an  academy  at  Yorkshire,  Cattarau- 
gus county.  New  York.  After  leaving  the 
academy  he  was  for  three  years  employed  by 
the  month,  by  two  of  his  maternal  uncles, 
and  he  then  assumed  charge  of  his  father's 
homestead  farm. 

On  the  6th  of  October,  1864,  was  solem- 
nized the  marriage  of  Mr.  Crocker  to  Miss 
Ella  L.  Cheney,  who  was  bom  at  Holland, 
Erie  county.  New  York,  March  20.  1846,  a 
daughter  of  Joseph  and  Sylvia  E.  (Pickard) 
Cheney.  Mr.  Cheney  was  born  at  Freedom, 
Cattaraugus  county,  New  York,  on  the  28th 
of  June,  1819,  and  his  wife  was  bom  in 
Springfield,  Otsego  county,  that  state,  March 
5,  1824.     His  death  occurred  June  9,  1884. 

Soon  after  his  marriage  Mr.  Crocker  be- 
came actively  associated  with  the  management 
of  the  homestead  farm  of  his  father-in-law, 
and  tliere  he  remained  until  1869,  when  he  re- 
moved to  Warren  county,  Illinois.     There  he 


1014  HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Hiram  }'.  Crocker 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


1015 


continued  to  be  engaged  in  farming  until  the 
spring  of  1874,  when  he  came  to  the  new  state 
of  Nebraska  and,  after  a  survey  of  different 
localities,  decided  in  favor  of  Gage  county, 
where  he  purchased  six  hundred  and  forty 
acres  of  land  in  Section  16,  Filley  township, 
the  township  having  then  been  known  by  the 
name  of  Mud  Creek.  After  securing  this 
property  Mr.  Crocker  returned  to  Illinois,  but 
in  the  spring  of  1876  he  came  with  his  family 
to  Gage  county,  where  he  rented  a  partially 
improved  farm,  near  Beatrice,  until  he  could 
prepare  his  own  land  for  cultivation  and  there 
erect  a  house  and  other  necessary  buildings. 
Within  the  first  year  Mr.  Crocker  broke  one 
hundred  and  thirty  acres  of  the  virgin  prairie 
soil  of  his  farm,  besides  erecting  a  small 
house  in  the  spring  of  1877,  at  which  time  the 
family  home  was  here  established.  With  the 
passing  years  he  made  each  successive  season 
give  forth  bounties  from  his  farm,  and  de- 
veloped the  place  gradually  until  it  is  now  one 
of  the  model  farms  of  the  county.  In  the 
winter  of  1883-1884  he  sold  three  hundred 
and  twenty  acres  of  the  land,  but  he  is  still 
the  owner  of  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres 
of  finely  improved  farm  land  in  Gage  county. 
His  character  and  ability  have  been  so  appre- 
ciated that  he  has  been  frequently  impor- 
tuned to  become  a  candidate  for  local  office  of 
public  trust,  but  he  has  declined  to  give  favor- 
able consideration  to  such  overtures,  though 
he  has  been  an  active  and  loyal  supporter  of 
the  cause  of  the  Republican  party  from  the 
time  when  he  cast  his  presidential  vote,  in 
support  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  He  is  afifiliated 
with  the  Masonic  fraternity,  and  his  wife,  who 
was  his  devoted  companion  and  helpmeet  for 
almost  fifty  years,  was  a  zealous  member  of 
the  Christian  church,  their  gracious  compan- 
ionship having  been  severed  when  the  loved 
wife  and  mother  was  summoned  to  eternal 
rest,  her  death  having  occurred  on  the  30th  of 
September,  1912.  Mr.  Crocker  is  now  living 
retired  and  in  his  venerable  years  he  resides  in 
the  home  of  his  son  Lloyd,  at  Beatrice,  where 
he  is  accorded  the  fullest  measure  of  filial  so- 
licitude. Of  the  three  children  the  eldest, 
Frank,  resides  upon  and  has  charge  of  the  old 


homestead  farm ;  Lloyd  is  individually  men- 
tioned in  an  article  immediately  following  this  ; 
and  Dr.  Dorr  Crocker  is  a  representative 
physician  and  surgeon  at  Centralia,  Wash- 
ington. 

LLOYD  CROCKER.  — In  the  foregoing 
context  has  been  given  a  succinct  review  of  the 
career  of  Hiram  P.  Crocker,  father  of  him 
whose  name  introduces  this  article,  and  thus 
it  is  unnecessary  to  give  further  recapitula- 
tion of  the  family  history.  Lloyd  Crocker 
has  been  a  resident  of  Gage  county  from  the 
time  of  his  birth  and  in  addition  to  having 
the  distinction  of  being  a  scion  of  one  of  the 
honored  pioneer  families  of  this  favored  sec- 
tion of  the  state  he  has  also  made  for  himself 
secure  vantage-ground  as  one  of  the  repre- 
sentative members  of  the  bar  of  his  native 
county,  with  a  large  and  important  practice, 
and  with  residence  and  professional  head- 
quarters in  the  city  of  Beatrice,  the  attractive 
capital  and  metropolis  of  the  county. 

On  the  old  homestead  farm  in  Filley  town- 
ship, this  county,  Mr.  Crocker  was  bom  on 
the  3d  of  December,  1879,  and  his  boyhood 
and  early  youth  were  compassed  by  the  in- 
vigorating influences  of  the  home  farm,  the 
while  he  continued  his  studies  in  the  public 
schools  until  he  had  completed  the  curriculum 
of  the  high  school  in  the  village  of  Filley.  In 
pursuance  of  higher  academic  discipline  he 
then  entered  Wesleyan  University,  at  Lincoln, 
Nebraska,  and  in  this  institution  he  was 
graduated  in  1902,  with  the  degree  of  Bach- 
elor of  Arts.  In  preparation  for  his  chosen 
profession  he  then  was  matriculated  in  the  law 
department  of  the  University  of  Nebraska, 
and  in  1906  he  received  from  this  university 
the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Laws,  with  virtually 
concomitant  admission  to  the  bar  of  his  native 
state.  In  July  of  the  following  year  Mr. 
Crocker  formed  a  partnership  with  Samuel 
Killen,  with  whom  he  was  associated  in  prac- 
tice at  Beatrice  for  the  ensuing  year.  Since 
that  time  he  has  conducted  an  individual  law 
practice,  and  has  been  concerned  with  much 
important  litigation  in  the  courts  of  this  sec- 
tion of  the  state,  with  a  record  that  marks  him 


1016 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


as  one  of  the  resourceful  trial  lawyers  and 
able  counselors  at  the  bar  of  Gage  county. 
As  a  staunch  supporter  of  the  cause  of  the 
Republican  party  Mr.  Crocker  was  with  the 
minority  organization  in  Gage  county  the  year 
he  ran  for  county  attorney,  and  thus  normal 
political  exigency  compassed  his  defeat,  as  it 
did  also  on  the  two  occasions  when  he  was  its 
candidate  for  county  judge. 

In  1906  was  solemnized  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Crocker  to  Miss  Maude  Bowen,  who  was 
born  in  Pottawattamie  county,  Iowa,  her 
father,  Richard  Bowen,  a  native  of  Wales, 
having  become  a  prosperous  farmer  in  Iowa, 
whence  he  eventually  came  to  Gage  county, 
Nebraska,  where  he  was  associated  with  the 
same  fundamental  industry  until  his  death. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Crocker  have  three  children  — 
Rachel,  Arlo,  and  Eloise.  The  family  is  one 
of  prominence  and  distinctive  popularity  in 
the  social  activities  of  Gage  county  and  its 
attractive  judicial  center. 

EILERT  HARMS  has,  after  years  of 
tilling  the  soil  and  undergoing  the  privations 
necessary  to  own  and  operate  the  number  of 
acres  of  land  that  he  does,  removed  to  Firth, 
Nebraska,  and  is  successfully  conducting  a 
leading  lumber  business  in  this  thriving  town. 
The  early  years  of  Mr.  Harms'  life  were  spent 
in  the  crudest  of  surroundings  and  under  the 
most  simple  conditions.  A  life  of  this  kind 
always  makes  strong  minds  and  bodies  that 
are  able  to  cope  with  the  problems  that  con- 
front men.  Eilert  Harms'  parents  were  Ger- 
man immigrants  who  came  to  this  land  of 
opportunity  in  1856.  'ihey  settled  in  Peters- 
burg, Menard  county,  Illinois,  remained  there 
a  few  years  and  then  started  for  the  fertile 
lands  of  Missouri.  They  homesteaded  land  in 
Atchison  county,  where  they  remained  the 
rest  of  their  lives.  Ten  children  were  born  to 
them.  Eilert,  with  whom  this  sketch  directly 
deals,  and  Mrs.  Fannie  Johnson,  living  in 
Franklin  county,  Nebraska,  are  the  only  ones 
who  survive.  The  parents,  John  O.  and  Ma- 
tilda (Rodemaker)  Hanns,  were  born  in  Ger- 
many. John  O.  was  born  in  1825  and  died  in 
1907:  his  wife  was  born  in  1826  and  died  in 


1906.  They  were  industrious  people,  they 
reared  a  large  family  of  children,  and  they 
labored  to  forward  the  march  of  civilization 
in  Missouri. 

Eilert  Harms  was  born  in  Menard  county, 
Illinois,  shortly  after  his  parents'  arrival  in 
this  land  of  opportunity.  As  a  lad  he  went 
with  his  parents  to  Atchison  county,  Missouri. 
There  was  very  little  opportunity  for  educa- 
tion in  those  early  days.  There  were  no 
schools  in  these  new  districts  and  even  where 
one  was  built,  the  boys  were  given  very  little 
opportunity  to  attend.  Mr.  Harms  thus  re- 
ceived little  education  of  the  kind  learned  from 
books.  He  remained  with  his  parents,  learn- 
ing the  art  of  farming  at  his  own  father's 
home,  and  when  he  decided  on  a  vocation  for 
himself  he  was  equipped  with  the  knowledge 
necessary  to  become  a  successful  fanner. 

In  1881  Mr.  Harms  purchased  land  in  Sec- 
tion 6,  Adams  township.  Gage  county,  al- 
though he  did  not  come  to  live  on  and  improve 
his  land  until  1885.  With  a  good,  strong  team 
of  mules  he  made  the  journey  and  upon  his 
arrival  he  built  his  shanty  and  bought  the 
necessary  implements  for  farming.  When  all 
this  was  done  he  had  not  money  left  to  do  any 
more.  But  his  heart  was  young,  his  young 
wife  was  at  his  side  to  share  his  hardships 
and  his  joys,  and  they  bravely  set  to  work  to 
win  the  wild  lands  to  productivity.  During 
all  of  the  intervening  years  Mr.  Harms  has 
continued  to  increase  his  land  holdings,  until 
to-day  he  owns  six  hundred  and  forty  acres 
of  land,  in  Gage  and  Lancaster  counties. 

Eilert  Hamis  was  married  in  August,  1884, 
to  Anna  Hackman,  who  was  born  December 
12,  1864,  in  Nemaha  county,  Nebraska.  Her 
parents,  who  were  of  German  birth,  settled  in 
Nemaha  county  when  land  values  were  low 
and  when  hard  labor  was  required  to  gain  the 
necessities  of  Hfe.  Mrs.  Harms'  father, 
Charles  Hackman,  was  born  in  Germany  and 
died  in  1865,  in  Nemaha  county,  Nebraska. 
His  widow,  Louisa  Hackman,  lives  near  Fil- 
ley.  Gage  county. 

Three  children  have  been  born  to  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Harms:  Lulu  is  the  wife  of  A.  Krue- 
ger.  on  the  old  home  place  in  Adams  town- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUXTY,  NEBRASKA 


1017 


ship;  John  E.,  who  is  in  the  lumber  business 
at  Firth,  Lancaster  county,  married  Miss 
Fannie  Graff;  Harry  H.,  who  resides  in  Lan- 
caster county,  married  Miss  Goldie  Burch- 
man. 

These  children  have  all  received  good  edu- 
cational advantages.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Harms 
wanted  their  children  to  have  the  opportunities 
of  education  which  they  were  not  able  to  get 
in  their  own  youth.  After  finishing  their  work 
in  the  district  schools  the  sons  and  daugh- 
ter were  allowed  to  go  to  the  high  school.  To 
do  this  properly  and  with  the  proper  surround- 
ings Mr.  Harms  moved  to  Firth,  in  1907,  and 
gave  his  children  ever)'  chance  for  advance- 
ment. When  he  first  came  to  Firth  he  did 
not  devote  himself  to  any  work  outside  of  the 
supenasion  of  his  farms  until  1911,  when  he 
purchased  the  business  of  the  Farmers'  Lum- 
ber Company,  which  he  is  now  successfully 
conducting  with  his  son,  John  E.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Harms  are  members  of  tlie  Lutheran 
church,  which  receives  liberally  of  their  sup- 
port. The  principles  of  the  Democratic  party 
are  upheld  by  the  vote  of  Mr.  Harms. 


JOHN  G.  WIEBE.  — Among  the  pioneer 
business  men  of  Beatrice  who  have  been 
called  from  earthly  activities  mention  should 
be  made  of  John  G.  Wiebe.  He  was  born  in 
Germany,  January  16,  1835.  He  came  to 
America  in  August,  1876,  and  after  a  short 
stay  at  Mount  Pleasant,  Iowa,  he  came  to  Be- 
atrice, in  1877,  and  established  himself  in  the 
lumber  business.  He  conducted  this  enter- 
prise until  his  death,  which  occurred  January' 
20,  1911.  The  firm  still  retains  the  name  of 
its  founder. 

In  April,  1864,  Mr.  Wiebe  was  united  in 
marriage  to  Miss  Lisette  Penner,  a  native  of 
Germany,  and  a  daughter  of  Andreas  Pen- 
ner, the  Penner  family  coming  to  America  at 
the  same  time  Mr.  Wiebe  did  :  they  were  mem- 
bers of  the  Mennonite  colony  which  came  to 
this  country  on  account  of  religious  persecu- 
tion. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wiebe  were  born  seven 
children,  four  of  whom  are  still  living:     Mrs. 


Henry  Wiebe,  of  Blakely  township;  Henry; 
Anna;  and  Mrs.  J.  H.  Penner,  of  Beatrice. 

John  G.  Wiebe  was  a  good  business  man 
and  a  good  citizen.  His  passing  was  a  loss  to 
his  family  and  to  the  community.  He  was  a 
devoted  member  of  the  Mennonite  church  and 
in  politics  was  a  Republican.  His  son  Henrj- 
was  born  in  Danzig,  Germany,  January  6, 
1871.  He  was  educated  in  the  Beatrice  pub- 
lic schools  and  entered  the  lumber  business 
with  his  father.  He  and  William  Hamm  are 
now  the  owners  of  the  business  conducted 
under  the  title  of  the  J.  G.  Wiebe  Lumber 
Company. 

JOHN  L.  DAWSON.  — When  we  hear 
the  name  of  a  famous  general  or  a  titled  sol- 
dier our  thoughts  instantly  revert  to  the  in- 
spiring scenes  of  the  particular  battlefield  on 
which  he  distinguished  himself  as  a  com- 
mander; but  the  honored  title  expresses  still 
more  thqn  the  military  prowess  and  skill  of 
the  bearer  —  it  is  a  still  broader  term  and 
marks  the  loyal  devotion  and  dauntless  cour- 
age of  thousands  of  brave  men  without  whose 
daring  deeds  the  title  could  never  have  been 
won.  A  general  may  possess  military  genius, 
but  if  his  commands  do  not  fall  on  the  ears  of 
tried  and  true  men,  men  of  intrepid  daring 
and  unconquerable  zeal,  of  devotion  to  cause 
and  utter  disregard  of  self,  then  his  genius 
avails  him  naught.  One  of  the  bravest  of  the 
brave  soldiers  who  helped  maintain  the  honor 
of  the  famous  generals  during  the  Civil  war, 
and  forever  placed  a  grateful  country  under 
obligations  to  him  because  of  his  zeal  in  her 
behalf,  is  the  gentleman  in  whose  honor  we 
write  this  sketch.  He  has  distinguished  him- 
self not  only  by  his  honorable  and  ardent 
career  as  a  soldier  but  he  has  also  proved 
himself  in  every  sense  a  noble,  patriotic,  in- 
dustrious, intelligent,  and  progressive  citi- 
zen —  one  whose  name  deserves  to  be  handed 
down  in  history. 

Mr.  Dawson  was  born  on  a  farm  in  Stark 
county,  Illinois,  September  9,  1840.  His  par- 
ents were  William  and  Amelia  (Donnan) 
Dawson,  the  former  of  Irish  descent  and  the 
latter  a  native  of  Maryland.    They  accompan- 


1018 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


1019 


ied  their  respective  parents  to  Ohio  and  there 
met  and  married.  In  1836  they  became  pio- 
neer settlers  of  Henry  county,  Illinois,  and 
later  moved  to  Stark  county,  where  they  spent 
the  remainder  of  their  lives.  They  crossed 
the  Illinois  river  at  Peoria  when  that  place 
contained  but  one  store,  a  blacksmith  shop,  and 
a  few  shanties.  Here  John  L.  Dawson  was 
reared  and  when  a  young  man  he  responded  to 
his  country's  call  and  enlisted,  July  6,  1862, 
as  a  private  in  Company  E,  One  Hundred  and 
Twelfth  Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry.  For 
three  years  he  served  with  this  regiment  and 
he  was  mustered  out  of  service  at  the  expira- 
tion of  his  term  of  enlistment,  at  Greensboro, 
North  Carolina,  June  30,  1865.  Some  of  the 
important  conflicts  in  which  he  participated 
were  the  siege  of  Knoxville  and  the  engage- 
ments at  Camp  Arthur,  Resaca,  Utah  Charge, 
Franklin,  and  Nashville.  After  the  last 
named  engagement  his  regiment  was  sent  to 
Alexandria,  near  Washington,  where  they 
camped  until  they  were  transferred  to  Fort 
Fisher.  There  they  remained  until  the  close 
of  the  war.  He  was  a  good  soldier,  always 
found  at  his  post  of  duty,  and  when  the  war 
was  over  he  returned  to  his  father's  home  in 
Stark  county,  Illinois.  In  that  county  he  en- 
gaged in  farming  and  became  the  owner  of 
one  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land. 

In  1888  Mr.  Dawson  came  to  Gage  county, 
Nebraska,  and  purchased  four  hundred  acres 
of  land,  in  Wymore  and  Sicily  townships.  An 
orchard  and  a  little  shanty  were  the  only  im- 
provements, but  he  set  himself  to  building  and 
improving,  and  for  twenty-eight  years  he  suc- 
cessfully carried  on  his  agricultural  pursuits. 
He  then  retired  to  Wymore,  where  he  now  re- 
sides in  a  beautiful  home,  surrounded  by  the 
necessities  and  luxuries  which  he  justly  de- 
serves. 

In  Stark  county,  Illinois,  on  the  2d  of  Feb- 
ruar)',  1871,  Mr.  Dawson  was  united  in  mar- 
riage to  Miss  Elizabeth  Taylor,  a  native  of 
England.  She  is  a  daughter  of  Jacob  Taylor, 
whose  record  appears  elsewhere  in  this  vol- 
ume. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dawson  have  become  the 
parents  of  three  children:  William  A.,  a 
furniture  dealer  of  Wymore;  Jacob  S.,  a  far- 


mer of   Sicily  township;  and  Ethel,  wife  of 
Charles  Rossiter,  of  Wymore. 

The  family  attend  the  Methodist  church,  of 
which  Mrs.  Dawson  is  a  member.  In  politics 
Mr.  Dawson  votes  with  the  Republican  party, 
which  he  considers  to  have  always  been  the 
party  of  progress  and  reform.  The  lapel  of 
his  coat  is  adorned  with  the  bronze  emblem 
which  signifies  that  the  wearer  not  only  served 
his  country  as  a  soldier  but  maintains  associa- 
tion with  his  army  comrades  as  a  member  of 
the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic.  He  be- 
longs to  Coleman  Post,  No.  115,  of  Wymore. 
Like  many  other  defenders  of  the  nation  in 
the  Civil  war,  Mr.  Dawson  has  felt  the  ef- 
fects of  service.  In  his  own  words :  "Six 
months  at  a  stretch  living  on  fat  pork  and 
hard  tack  did  not  do  me  any  good."  To  those 
brave  boys  of  1861-1865  the  nation  owes  a 
debt  of  gratitude  that  never  can  be  paid.  Mr. 
Dawson  has  been  as  loyal  to  duty  and  citizen- 
ship in  days  of  peace  as  when  he  followed  the 
stars  and  stripes  on  the  battlefields  of  the 
South. 

THOMAS  VASEY,  a  successful  farmer 
of  Sicily  township,  is  a  native  of  England, 
who  immigrated  to  this  country  with  his  par- 
ents in  1883  and  he  has  since  become  one  of 
the  influential  farmers  and  citizens  of  Gage 
county. 

Thomas  Vasey  was  born  in  Scarborough, 
England,  January  9,  1857,  and  is  a  son  of 
Thomas  and  Hannah  (Dowsland)  Vasey. 
Thomas  Vasey,  Sr.,  was  born  in  England,  No- 
vember 23,  1822,  and  his  wife,  Hannah 
(Dowsland)  Vasey,  was  likewise  a  native  of 
England,  where  she  was  born  October  17, 
1822.  They  had  become  the  parents  of  eight 
children  ere  they  left  their  native  land  to  cast 
in  their  fortunes  with  the  people  of  the  United 
States.  In  the  spring  of  1883  they  took  pass- 
age for  our  shores,  and  after  their  arrival 
they  remained  in  Illinois  for  the  summer 
months:  in  the  fall  they  located  in  Gage 
county,  Nebraska,  where  Thomas  Vasey,  Sr., 
rented  land.  September  13,  1888,  the  loved 
wife  and  mother  passed  to  the  life  eternal, 
and  July  11,  1894,  Thomas  Vasey,  Sr.,  was 


1020 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


laid  to  rest.  Concerning  their  children  the 
following  brief  record  is  consistently  entered : 
William  died  in  England;  Jane  died  in  Okla- 
homa ;  George  is  a  farmer  of  Alma,  Nebraska ; 
Frank  is  a  retired  farmer  residing  in  Beatrice, 
Gage  county,  Dowsland  is  a  farmer  in  Liberty 
township,  this  county;  Mary  is  the  widow  of 
David  Akers  and  resides  in  Illinois ;  John  is 
in  the  dairy  business  at  Beatrice ;  Elizabeth  is 
the  wife  of  James  Langdale,  an  employe  of 
the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  at  Beatrice,  and 
he  has  three  sons  in  the  war  service  in  which 
the  United  States  is  taking  prominent  part; 
and  Thomas  is  the  inmiediate  subject  of  this 
sketch. 

Thomas  Vasey  received  his  education  in 
the  schools  of  England  and  attended  the  rural 
school  of  Holmesville  for  three  months  after 
his  arrival  in  Gage  county.  April  6,  1897,  he 
married  Miss  Cordelia  Jones,  who  was  born 
in  Wales  and  who  is  a  daughter  of  George  U. 
and  Anna  (Cooperj  Jones.  Mr.  Jones  was 
bom  in  the  Cymrian  district  of  Wales,  July 
13,  1842,  and  his  wife  was  born  in  Flint, 
Wales,  the  place  of  her  nativity  having  been 
in  Hope  parish  and  the  date  of  her  birth  July 
29,  1842.  Their  marriage  was  solemnized  at 
Chester,  Wales,  September  10,  1865,  and  in 
1871  they  came  to  the  United  States.  Mr. 
Jones  first  located  at  Shenandoah,  Schuylkill 
county,  Pennsylvania,  where  he  remained  ten 
years.  He  then  removed  to  Racine,  Wiscon- 
sin, but  about  six  months  later  he  located  in 
Ohio,  where,  as  a  carpenter  and  builder  he 
found  employment  in  connection  with  work  on 
the  state  capitol,  in  the  city  of  Columbus.  He 
continued  his  activities  as  a  contractor  and 
builder  until  he  came  to  Gage  county,  Ne- 
braska, where  he  purchased  land.  He  gradu- 
ally added  to  his  landed  estate,  by  buying  land 
near  Wymore,  and  in  this  part  of  the  county 
he  passed  the  remainder  of  his  life,  his  death 
having  occurred  November  13,  1906.  Mr. 
Jones  was  a  very  well  educated  man  and  never 
ceased  adding  to  his  fund  of  knowledge  by 
wide  reading  and  keeping  abreast  of  the  times. 
In  Wales,  before  he  sailed  for  this  country, 
he  was  contributing  some  of  his  original 
poetrv   and   other  writings  to  a   local  paper. 


He  served  Gage  county  in  the  legislature  from 
1897  to  1901.  His  parents,  Ellis  and  Jane 
Jones,  were  born  in  the  town  of  Flint,  Hope 
parish,  and  spent  all  of  their  lives  in  their 
native  land.  His  wife,  Anna  (Cooper)  Jones, 
is  a  daughter  of  Captain  William  Cooper, 
an  Englishman,  and  Elizabeth  (Davis) 
Cooper,  who  was  of  Welsh  parentage.  Mrs. 
Jones  is  still  living  and  resides  in  the  home  of 
Mrs.  Vasey. 

No  children  have  been  born  to  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Vasey.  Giving  close  attention  to  his 
farming  interests,  Mr.  Vasey  does  a  general 
farming  business  on  eighty  acres,  which  he 
purchased  in  1909  the  same  being  in  Section 
13,  Sicily  township.  Mr.  Vasey  has  served  for 
the  past  six  years  as  road  overseer.  His  po- 
litical views  are  in  harmony  with  the  tenets  of 
the  Republican  party,  which  receives  his  vote. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  United  Brethren 
church,  while  his  wife  is  a  member  of  the 
Presbyterian  church. 

ARTHUR  T.  TART.  —  The  business  suc- 
cess achieved  by  Arthur  T.  Tart,  proprietor  of 
the  "All  Night  and  All  Day  Garage,"  112-14- 
16-18  North  Seventh  street,  Beatrice,  is  an 
illustration  of  what  can  be  accomplished  by 
the  individual  who  grasps  the  opportunities  of 
his  day. 

Mr.  Tart  was  born  August  9,  1873,  in  Kan- 
kakee, Illinois,  and  is  a  son  of  Stephen  and 
Nettie  (Plughes)  Tart,  of  whose  two  children 
he  is  the  firstborn ;  the  younger,  Belle  A.,  was 
born  in  1874  and  died  in  1893. 

Stephen  Tart,  father  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  was  born  in  Alburg,  Vermont,  Decem- 
ber 6,  1839.  He  was  a  son  of  Peter  and  Ros- 
lia  (Terrien)  Tart.  Peter  Tart  was  descend- 
ed from  French  ancestors  who,  in  the  early 
history  of  the  New  World,  when  both  religious 
and  economic  oppression  in  the  Old  World 
forced  so  many  to  leave,  came  to  Canada  to 
live.  After  he  had  participated  in  the  Revo- 
lutionary war  in  Canada  Peter  Tart  came  over 
into  the  United  States.  Suffering  from  a 
wound  which  he  had  received,  he  was  cap- 
tured, but  later  he  made  his  escape.  For 
vears  after  the  war  he   farmed  in  Vermont. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


1021 


The  latter  part  of  his  hfe  was  spent  in  Kan- 
kakee, IlHnois,  where,  just  before  rounding 
out  a  century  of  years,  he  passed  to  his  re- 
ward. He  was  ninety-nine  years  of  age  and 
his  wife  ninety-eight  at  the  time  of  their 
death. 

Stephen  Tart,  the  father  of  Arthur  T. 
Tart,  received  his  early  education  in  Bourbon- 
nais,  Illinois,  a  French  settlement  two  miles 
north  of  Kankakee.  In  1861,  when  Civil  war 
rent  our  nation  in  twain,  he  responded  to  the 
call  to  arms.  He  was  a  member  of  Battery  I. 
First  Illinois  Light  Artillery,  having  enlisted 
at  Chicago.  In  the  battle  of  Shiloh  he  was 
wounded,  but  later  he  was  able  to  again  ren- 
der active  service  in  the  preservation  of  the 
integrity  of  the  nation. 

After  the  war  Stephen  Tart  engaged  in  the 
hotel  business,  which  he  successfully  con- 
ducted. Politics  soon  absorbed  a  good  deal 
of  his  time  and  attention.  In  1889  he  was 
elected  county  assessor  and  collector  in  Kan- 
kakee county,  Illinois.  He  was  a  staunch  Re- 
publican, faithfully  voting  that  ticket.  De- 
cember 6,  1870,  he  married  Miss  Nettie 
Hughes,  a  daughter  of  Henry  Hughes,  at 
Joliet,  Illinois.  Mrs.  Tart  was  born  in  New 
York  city,  in  1852.  In  1901  Mr.  Tart  re- 
moved with  his  family  to  Beatrice,  Nebraska, 
and  here  his  death  occurred  in  1906.  His 
wife  survives  him  and  is  living  with  her  son 
Arthur.  Mrs.  Tart  is  a  member  of  the 
Episcopal  church.  She  is  a  sister  of  Charles 
Hughes,  in  whose  biography,  on  other  pages, 
is  given  a  full  account  of  the  Hughes  family. 

Arthur  T.  Tart  was  reared  in  Kankakee,  111- 
i?-iois,  where  he  received  his  early  education  in 
the  parochial  schools.  Later  he  supplemented 
this  discipline  by  attending  a  private  college  in 
Bourbonnais,  Illinois.  When  he  was  twenty 
years  old  he  was  a  traveling  salesman  for  a 
wholesale  merchandise  firm  of  Lynn,  Massa- 
chusetts: this  was  in  1893.  From  1898  to 
1901  he  was  employed  by  the  government,  in 
the  forest- reserve  department. 

As  early  as  1883  Mr.  Tart  had  been  to 
Beatrice,  Nebraska,  to  visit  his  uncles,  Charles 
and  Edward  Hughes.  In  1901,  when  contem- 
plating a  change  in  his  business  life,  he  lo- 


cated at  Beatrice,  with  his  parents.  At  this 
time  he  was  employed  as  a  salesman  for  a 
firm  in  Kansas  City,  ]\Iissouri. 

June  30,  1904,  recorded  the  marriage  of 
Arthur  Tart  to  Miss  Emily  E.  Floyd,  of  Good- 
land,  Kansas.  She  was  the  mother  of  two 
children,  Arthur  F.  H.  and  Henry  S.,  who 
are  at  home  with  their  father.  ]\Irs.  Tart's 
death  occurred  in  1910.  Louise  Floyd,  the 
sister  of  Emily  Floyd,  both  daughters  of  H. 
H.  and  Amanda  (Mahan)  Floyd,  became  the 
wife  of  Mr.  Tart  in  1915.  She  was  born  at 
Abilene,  Kansas.  One  child,  Emily  Isabelle, 
has  come  to  bless  this  union. 

Arthur  T.  Tart  has  had  long  years  of  ex- 
perience as  a  salesman,  having  traveled  and 
sold  goods  in  every  state  in  the  Union.  His 
experience  along  this  line  made  him  see 
the  possibilities  of  an  all-night  and  all-day 
garage,  and  in  August,  1916,  he  opened  the 
first  all-night  garage  in  Beatrice,  where  his 
dream  of  success  in  this  line  of  enterprise  has 
been  realized.  He  installed  an  all-night  force 
and  soon  demonstrated  the  fact  that  night 
work  was  as  important  as  day  work.  He  has 
a  large  building,  one  hundred  by  one  hundred 
and  forty  feet,  fronting  on  North  Seventh 
street.  In  this  he  is  able  to  meet  all  the  needs 
of  his  patrons  as  to  storage,  repairs,  gasoline, 
accessories,  etc.  He  carries  a  well  stocked 
line  of  accessories  and  electrical  goods. 

Mr.  Tart  is  an  independent  voter,  exercising 
his  franchise  in  support  of  the  man  and  not 
the  party.  He  is  affiliated  with  the  Modern 
Woodmen  of  America,  the  Elks,  and  United 
Commercial  Travelers.  He  is  a  member  of 
the  Episcopalian  church. 

Mr.  Tart  is  well  known  for  his  many  ex- 
cellent qualities,  his  genial  disposition,  and 
sound  business  principles.  He  saw  the  oppor- 
tunity and  grasped  it,  and  he  now  has  a  well 
established  business  that  is  worthy  of  his 
time  and  talent. 


JOSEPH  LEGGETT.  — The  late  Joseph 
Leggett  was  one  of  the  gallant  soldiers  of  the 
LTnion  in  the  Civil  war,  was  an  early  trans- 
continental freighter,  was  a  successful  far- 
mer in  Gage  county,  and  was  a  valued  citizen 


1022  HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Mrs.  Joseph  Leggett 


Joseph  Leggett 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


1023 


of  his  community.  The  story  of  the  pioneers 
of  the  west  is  an  interesting  one,  full  of 
thrills,  and  marked  by  as  many  blood-curdling 
scenes  as  those  depicted  in  any  moving-picture 
play,  so  dear  to  the  hearts  of  the  "movie 
fans." 

Mr.  Leggett,  in  his  work  as  a  freighter  from 
Omaha  to  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah,  drove  a  good, 
sturdy  team  of  oxen.  Most  of  the  time  on  his 
journeys  to  and  from  Salt  Lake  City  he  had 
only  the  elements  to  contend  with  —  the  op- 
pressive heat  in  summer  and  the  severe  cold 
and  the  snow  storms  in  winter.  But  occa- 
sionally the  Indians  interfered  with  the  white 
man's  trespassing  on  their  happy  hunting 
grounds.  It  was  a  band  of  this  sort  of  In- 
dians that  surprised  and  captured  Mr.  Leg- 
gett on  one  of  his  journeys,  just  as  he  was 
reaching  the  top  of  the  mountains.  He  made 
his  escape  from  them  in  a  very  novel  manner. 
They  were  taking  him.  on  foot  back  to  their 
camp,  and  when  they  came  to  a  ravine  he 
pretended  that  he  did  not  know  how  to  cross, 
motioning  them  that  they  should  go  first. 
This  they  did,  without  any  questions,  and  ere 
they  knew  what  had  happened  he  had  shot 
three  of  them.  The  other  two  raced  for  their 
lives,  and  Mr.  Leggett  was  left  to  find  his  way 
back  to  his  wagon  and  oxen.  Again,  on  an- 
other occasion,  an  Indian  furtively  stole  upon 
him  while  he  was  feeding  his  oxen  in  a  grassy 
meadow.  They  looked  into  each  other's  eyes 
at  the  same  moment.  The  Indian  wounded 
Mr.  Leggett  in  the  arm  before  he  could 
reach  for  his  firearm,  but,  nevertheless,  the  life 
of  the  Indian  was  the  forfeit,  as  Mr.  Leggett's 
aim  was  true  and  deadly.  Such  experiences 
as  these  were  of  common  occurrence  in  the 
early  days,  and  Mr.  Leggett  loved  to  recount 
them. 

Joseph  Leggett  was  born  in  Ohio,  February 
20,  1841.  His  parents,  Joseph  and  Mahala 
(Pufifunbarger)  Leggett,  had  crossed  the 
mountains  from  Maryland  to  farm  the  fertile 
lands  of  Ohio,  where  they  reared  seven  chil- 
dren in  their  pioneer  home.  Joseph  Leggett 
was  the  third  child  and  was  reared  with  his 
brothers  and  sisters  in  the  old  Buckeye  state. 


where  he  acquired  his  youthful  education  in 
the  common  schools  of  the  period. 

When  the  Civil  war  rent  our  nation  asunder 
Mr.  Leggett  responded  to  the  call  of  patriot- 
ism and  fought  throughout  the  conflict  that 
preserved  the  Union.  After  the  war  he  es- 
tablished his  residence  in  Illinois. 

The  marriage  of  Joseph  Leggett  to  Eliza 
C.  Magee  was  solemnized  at  Springfield,  Illi- 
nois, February  3,  1870.  They  settled  on  a 
farm,  and  they  continued  to  pursue  agricul- 
tural acti\ities  in  Illinois  until  their  coming 
to  Gage  county,  Nebraska.  Upon  their  arrival 
here,  October  9,  1883,  they  purchased  eighty 
acres  of  land  in  Glenwood  township,  three 
miles  northwest  of  Odell.  This  was  wild 
prairie  land,  and  here  they  made  their  home 
for  a  ntmiber  of  years,  reclaiming  the  wild 
prairies  to  fruitfulness  and  improving  their 
farm  with  a  good  house,  barn,  and  other  build- 
ings. When  Mr.  Leggett  sold  this  farm  he 
purchased  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  in  Sec- 
tion 4  of  the  same  township,  and  here  he  con- 
tinued his  farm  operations  until  his  retirement 
to  Odell,  in  1908.  In  this  village  his  death  oc- 
curred the  26th  day  of  August,  1910. 

Mrs.  Eliza  C.  Leggett,  the  widow  of  Joseph 
Leggett,  was  born  in  Chillicothe,  Ohio,  Au- 
gust 23,  1853.  Her  parents,  Ezekiel  and 
Elizabeth  (Grey)  Magee,  were  born  and 
reared  in  Ohio  and  thence  removed  to  Illinois 
in  1856.  Mrs.  Leggett  was  a  small  child  at 
the  time  of  this  removal  and  she  was  reared 
and  educated  in  Illinois,  where  she  remained 
until  she  came  with  her  husband  to  Gage 
county,  Nebraska.  « 

Mrs.  Leggett  is  spending  many  hours  a  day 
knitting  for  our  soldiers  boys  "somewhere  in 
France."  In  this  connection  it  is  interesting 
to  note  that  she  did  knitting  for  the  "boys  in 
blue"  during  the  Civil  war.  Her  half-brother 
and  an  uncle,  James  Grey,  fought  in  defense 
of  the  Union.  Her  uncle  was  captured  by  the 
enemy  and  was  incarcerated  in  Andersonville 
Prison,  where  so  many  soldiers  were  starved 
to  death.  He  finally  succeeded  in  making  his 
escape  from  the  prison  by  swimming  for  five 
miles    up   a    stream.      When   his    escape   was 


1024 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


him,  but  they  went  down  stream  instead  of  up, 
noted,  posses  of  men  were  sent  to  recapture 
and  thus  he  was  enabled  to  get  a  good  start 
of  his  captors. 

Eight  children  were  bom  to  ^Ir.  and  Mrs. 
Leggett:  George  H.,  who  was  born  Novem- 
ber 26,  1872,  is  living  at  Diller,  Jefferson 
county;  Joseph  L.,  who  was  born  February  1, 
1874,  resides  at  Odell,  Gage  county;  James 
W.,  bom  May  1,  1877,  is  living  at  Elk  City, 
Kansas;  Ida  M.,  born  May  3,  1879,  is  the  wife 
of  F.  Novotny,  of  Elm  township;  Nina  O., 
born  August  23,  1881,  if  the  wife  of  Edward 
Novotny,  of  Elm  township;  Truda  A.,  born 
October  7,  1883,  is  the  wife  of  George  Saffell, 
of  Elm  township;  Emma,  bom  March  25, 
1885,  became  the  wife  of  William  Novotny, 
and  is  now  deceased ;  and  Everett,  born  Jan- 
uary 14,  1890,  lives  at  Fairbury,  Jefferson 
county. 

Mr.  Leggett  was  a  Democrat  in  politics  and 
was  always  a  loyal  and  public-spirited  citizen. 
Mrs.  Leggett  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church. 

HENRY  E.  HARMS.  —  Agriculture  is  the 
foundation  of  all  prosperity,  and  among  the 
men  of  Adams  township  who  are  following 
every  requirement  as  tillers  of  the  soil,  men- 
tion should  be  made  of  Henry  E.  Harms,  who 
owns  and  operates  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  of  land  in  Section  14.  He  was  four 
years  old  when  brought  to  Gage  county,  and 
his  boyhood  days  were  spent  on  a  farm  in 
Hanover  township.  After  he  became  a  man 
he  worked  as  a  laborer  in  Adams  for  six 
years.  He  then  became  a  farmer  on  Bear 
creek  and  successfully  tilled  the  soil  as  a 
renter,  carefully  saving  his  earnings  until  he 
was  able  to  purchase  his  present  farm,  in 
1909.  This  is  one  of  the  well  improved  farms 
in  this  section  of  the  county,  and  the  modem 
house  and  other  substantial  buildings  have  all 
been  put  here  by  the  present  owner. 

Henry  E.  Harms  was  born  in  Holt  county, 
Missouri,  May  24,  1877,  and  is  a  son  of  Weike 
and  Mary  (Thieman)  Hamis,  natives  of  Illi- 
nois. The  mother  died  in  Missouri.  The 
father  came  to  Gage  county  in  1881,  and  was 


a  farmer  in  Hanover  township  until  his  death, 
in  1884,  at  the  age  of  forty-two  years.  Weike 
Harms  was  married  three  times  and  became 
the  father  of  seven  children  —  John,  de- 
ceased ;  Henry  E.,  of  this  sketch ;  Herman,  a 
resident  of  Johnson  county,  Nebraska ;  Eilert, 
of  Oklahoma;  John,  of  Chase  county,  Ne- 
braska ;  Louise,  deceased ;  and  a  daughter  who 
died  in  infancy. 

Henry  E.  Harms  completed  his  arrange- 
ments for  a  home  of  his  own  by  his  marriage, 
on  October  14,  1897,  to  Miss  Johanna  Rapp, 
who  was  born  in  Iowa,  a  daughter  of  Garret 
and  Dina  (Klein)  Rapp,  the  former  a  native 
of  Holland,  the  latter  of  the  state  of  Iowa: 
they  were  early  settlers  in  Gage  county,  where 
they  still  make  their  home.  The  home  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Henr)'  E.  Harms  has  been  made 
happy  by  the  birth  of  four  children,  as  fol- 
lows :    Weike,  Garret,  Fred,  and  Henry. 

Mr.  Harms  is  a  good  fanner  and  a  good 
neighbor.  His  prosperity  has  come  to  him 
through  his  own  efforts  and,  with  a  good  wife 
and  fine  children,  he  has  every  reason  to  be 
a  happy  man. 

WILLIAM  HAMM.  —  The  business  inter- 
ests of  Beatrice  have  a  worthy  representative 
in  the  gentleman  whose  name  introduces  this 
review  and  who  is  senior  member  of  the  J.  G. 
Wiebe  Lumber  Company.  A  native  of  Ger- 
many, he  was  bom  April  11,  1859.  His  par- 
ents were  Peter  and  Emily  (Siemens)  Hamm, 
who  came  from  their  native  land  in  1880  and 
were  making  their  home  in  Beatrice  at  the 
time  of  their  death,  which  occurred  Novem- 
ber 26,  1882,  both  being  suffocated  by  coal 
gas.  The  father  was  bom  in  1820,  and  was 
a  merchant  in  Germany.  The  date  of  the 
mother's  birth  was  July  30,  1832.  They  were 
parents  of  five  children:  Agatha,  William, 
and  John,  all  unmarried,  reside  in  Beatrice; 
Emily  is  the  wife  of  Dr.  S.  K.  Mosiman, 
president  of  Bluffton  College,  at  Bluffton, 
Ohio :  and  Helen  is  the  wife  of  William  Pen- 
ner,  of  Gage  county. 

The  paternal  grandparents  of  William 
Hamm  were  William  and  Catherine  (Goosen) 
Hamm,  who  lived  and  died  in  Germany.    The 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


1025 


maternal  grandparents  were  C.  W.  and 
Amalie  (Thiessen)  Siemens,  and  they  too 
died  in  Germany. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  reared  and 
educated  in  his  native  land,  where  also  he 
gained  experience  in  the  general  merchandise 
business.  In  1879  he  came  to  America  and  in 
1880  he  entered  the  employ  of  J.  G.  Wiebe. 
After  seven  years  of  faithful  service  he  was 
made  a  member  of  the  firm.  In  1900  J-  G. 
Wiebe  retired  from  business  and  his  son, 
Henry  Wiebe,  succeeded  him  as  a  member  of 
the  firm,  William  Hamm  and  Henry  Wiebe 
being  now  sole  proprietors.  Out  of  deference 
and  respect  to  the  founder  of  the  business  the 
firm  name  remains  the  same  as  it  has  been  for 
over  forty  years.  Mr.  Hamm  is  familiar  with 
all  phases  of  the  lumber  business  and  is  a 
valued  member  of  commercial  life  of  his 
adopted  city.  His  religious  belief  is  that  of 
the  Mennonite  church,  which  was  the  church 
of  his  fathers.    In  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

CHARLES  C.  SONDEREGGER,  of-  Be- 
atrice, was  bom  in  Jefterson  county,  Ne- 
braska, April  15,  1877,  and  is  a  son  of  Carl 
Sonderegger,  of  whom  mention  is  made  on 
other  pages  of  this  history.  The  subject  of 
this  sketch  was  educated  in  the  public  schools 
of  Jefferson  county,  and  after  leaving  school 
he  engaged  in  the  nursery  business  with  his 
father,  in  Beatrice,  where  they  now  have  a 
large  nursery  known  as  the  Sonderegger 
Nursery  and  Seed  House.  This  nursery  is 
one  of  the  largest  in  the  state,  and  they  enjoy 
a  very  prosperous  business. 

November  8,  1904,  Mr.  Sonderegger  was 
united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Anna  M.  Jones, 
who  was  bom  in  Winterset,  Iowa.  She  is  a 
daughter  of  Morris  Jones,  who  came  with  his 
family  to  Nebraska  a  number  of  years  ago 
and  settled  in  Saline  county.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Sonderegger  are  the  parents  of  two  children : 
Carl,  bom  April  4,  1909,  and  Morris,  born 
February  21,  1912.  Mrs.  Sonderegger  is  a 
member  of  the  Methodist  church  and  her  hus- 
band of  the  Christian  church.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Benevolent  &  Protective  Order  of 
Elks  and  of  the  Beatrice  Commercial  Club, 


having  served  on  the  official  board  of  the  last 
named  organization  for  four  years.  In  poli- 
tics J\lr.  Sonderegger  is  a  Republican,  but  he 
has  no  desire  for  political  office,  preferring 
to  devote  his  entire  time  to  the  nursery  and 
seed  business. 

JOHN  HEETLAGE,  who  owns  and  oper- 
ates a  splendid  farm  of  eighty  acres  in  Sec- 
tion 17,  Adams  township,  is  in  every  respect 
a  self-made  man.  A  native  of  Germany,  he 
was  born  November  30,  1861.  His  parents 
were  Meinert  and  Fannie  (Beurkmeyer) 
Heetlage,  and  both  passed  their  entire  lives 
in  Germany.  Of  their  five  children  three  are 
still  living.  John  was  the  only  one  of  the 
family  to  come  to  America.  He  left  his  na- 
tive land  in  1883  and  after  two  years  spent  in 
Michigan  he  came  to  Nebraska  and  worked 
as  a  farm  hand,  later  renting  land  and  engag- 
ing in  farming.  In  1901  he  bought  his  present 
farm.  A  nice  house  and  other  farm  buildings 
which  he  has  erected  make  this  a  desirable 
place  to  live. 

On  the  16th  of  March,  1890,  Mr.  Heetlage 
was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Dena  Van 
Engen,  who  was  bom  in  Holland,  a  daughter 
of  Garret  and  Gertrude  (Shoemaker)  Van 
Engen.  To  this  union  have  been  bom  three 
children,  Marion,  Grace,  and  Frederick,  the 
son  being  deceased.  The  family  are  members 
of  the  Dutch  Reformed  church  at  Pella,  Ne- 
braska, the  teachings  of  which  are  the  guiding 
motives  of  their  daily  life. 

Mr.  Heetlage  casts  his  vote  for  the  Repub- 
lican party.  A  stranger  in  a  strange  land, 
with  willing  hands  and  determination  to  suc- 
ceed, he  has  every  reason  to  be  proud  of  his 
own  accomplishment  as  well  as  of  the  land 
where  such  achievements  are  possible.  By 
industry  and  good  management  he  has  arrived 
at  a  position  in  the  affairs  of  his  adopted 
country  which  commands  for  him  the  respect 
and  esteem  of  all  who  know  him. 

HARRY  T.  F.  DAVIS.  —  The  late  Harry 
Davis  was  a  successful  and  representative 
farmer  of  Elm  township,  where  from  his 
youth  he  gave  himself  vigorously  and  loyally 


1026  HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  Harry  T.  F.  Davis 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


1027 


to  the  basic  industries  of  agriculture  and  stock- 
growing.  In  1889  Mr.  Davis  first  rented  from 
his  father  the  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty- 
acres  in  Section  6,  Elm  township,  and  in  1893 
he  purchased  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  in 
Section  7.  He  continued  to  farm  these  two 
tracts  of  land  until  1905,  when  he  sold  the 
land  in  Section  7  and  purchased  the  land  which 
he  had  previously  rented  and  which  had  been 
owned  by  his  father.  In  connection  with  ag- 
ricultural enterprise  Mr.  Davis  was  an  ex- 
tensive buyer  and  feeder  of  cattle,  which  he 
sent  by  the  carload  to  the  city  markets.  He 
remained  actively  in  charge  of  his  farm  until 
his  death,  which  occurred  August  14,  1907. 

Mr.  Davis  was  born  March  5,  1867,  in 
Utica,  New  York,  and  was  a  son  of  Edward 
F.  and  Helen  (Ferguson)  Davis.  (See 
sketch  in  this  volume  for  complete  history  of 
this  family.)  Harry  Davis  was  nine  years  old 
when  his  parents  moved  to  Beatrice,  Nebras- 
ka. In  the  public  schools  of  Beatrice  he  re- 
ceived his  early  education,  and  he  was  well 
known  to  the  older  settlers.  In  his  youth  he 
built  a  sand  boat  —  said  to  be  the  first  one 
launched  upon  the  Blue  river  at  Beatrice. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  Davis  and  Gladys 
Lillie  was  solemnized  October  20,  1894,  and 
concerning  their  children  the  following  record 
is  given :  Hazel  is  the  wife  of  W.  Patton,  a 
farmer  living  at  Diller,  Jefferson  county ; 
Ruth,  who  is  a  graduate  of  the  Diller  high 
school,  is  teaching  school  near  Odell,  Gage 
county,  at  the  time  of  this  writing;  Elizabeth, 
a  graduate  of  the  Diller  high  school,  remains 
at  home ;  and  Fay  is  attending  school  at  Steele 
City,  Jefiferson  county. 

Mrs.  Gladys  (Lillie)  Davis  was  born  June 
8,  1873,  in  Ogle  county,  Illinois,  and  is  a 
daughter  of  Jacob  and  Maria  (Harleman) 
Lillie.  Jacob  Lillie  was  born  in  1836,  in  Penn- 
sylvania. He  was  a  cabinetmaker  and  after 
locating  at  Rochelle,  Illinois,  he  built  a  shop 
for  his  headquarters  in  making  furniture,  cof- 
fins, and  wagons.  He  was  an  expert  painter 
and  found  use  for  his  talent  outside  of  the 
shop.  In  1878  there  came  to  Mr.  Lillie  the 
lure  of  nature  and  a  desire  to  go  back  to  the 
soil.     Accordingly  he  and  his  family  started 


across  the  prairies  with  team  and  a  covered 
wagon,  to  locate  in  Gage  county.  His  farm 
was  in  Section  1,  Elm  township,  but  he  lived 
only  one  year  after  his  arrival.  He  was  a  well 
known  member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity. 
Upon  his  death  his  widow,  Mrs.  Maria  Lillie, 
was  left  with  her  children  in  a  strange  coun- 
try and  among  strangers,  but  she  remained  to 
see  them  all  grown  to  maturity  and  established 
in  homes  of  their  own.  She  was  bom  in 
Pennsylvania,  in  1832,  and  died  in  1898,  aged 
sixty-five  years.  Three  of  her  four  children 
are  living :  Dexter  Lillie,  of  McDonald,  Kan- 
sas, owns  in  that  locality  an  entire  section  of 
land  and  is  well  known  as  a  breeder  and 
grower  of  thoroughbred  live  stock ;  Stella  is 
the  wife  of  Fred  Reynolds,  who  is  employed 
in  machine  shops  at  Steele  City,  Nebraska; 
and  Gladys  is  the  widow  of  the  subject  of  thisi 
memoir. 

Mr.  Davis  took  loyal  interest  in  community 
affairs  and  was  a  Republican  in  politics.  Mrs. 
Davis  holds  to  the  Lutheran  faith  and  is  a 
communicant  of  Trinity  Lutheran  church  in 
the  city  of  Beatrice. 

FERNANDO  HOYLE,  a  successful  farm- 
er of  Logan  township,  was  born  in  Dupage 
county,  Illinois,  September  15,  1872.  His 
parents,  William  and  Sarah  (Mommart) 
Hoyle,  were  natives  of  Pennsylvania.  His 
father  was  born  in  1827  and  died  in  Gage 
county,  Nebraska,  in  1891.  His  mother  was 
born  in  1831  and  died  in  Gage  county,  Ne- 
braska, in  1911.  William  Hoyle  moved  from 
Pennsylvania  to  Illinois  many  years  ago  and 
in  1876  came  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  with 
his  family,  in  a  covered  wagon.  He  settled  in 
Midland  township,  where  he  bought  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres  of  land  and  later  eighty 
acres  additional,  all  of  which  he  owned  at  the 
time  of  his  death. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hoyle  were  the  parents  of 
ten  children,  six  of  whom  are  now  living: 
Mary,  wife  of  S.  T.  Turner,  of  South  Dakota; 
Ezra,  of  Beatrice;  Fannie,  wife  of  Isaac 
Stewart,  of  Alvin,  Texas ;  Fernando,  of  Be- 
atrice; Ira,  of  Oklahoma;  and  Emory,  of 
Sioux  Citv,  Iowa. 


1028 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Fernando  Hoyle  was  educated  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  Gage  county.  He  has  always 
followed  fanning,  renting  land  for  several 
years.  Some  years  ago  he  purchased  eighty 
acres  of  land  in  Midland  township,  but  this 
he  later  sold,  and  bought  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  in  Section  32,  Logan  township. 
This  farm  he  has  improved,  building  a  good 
house,  barn  and  other  farm  buildings. 

In  1898  Mr.  Hoyle  was  united  in  marriage 
to  Aliss  Grance  Hileman,  a  native  of  Tecum- 
seh,  Johnson  county,  Nebraska.  Mrs.  Hoyle 
was  bom  Febrtiary  24,  1876,  and  is  the  daugh- 
ter of  Milton  and  Delphine  (Hudson)  Hile- 
man. 

Milton  Hileman  was  born  in  Pennsylvania, 
moved  to  Indiana  many  years  ago  and  from 
there  to  Illinois,  whence  he  later  came  to  Ne- 
braska. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hileman  now  make 
their  home  in  Colorado. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fernando  Hoyle  became  the 
parents  of  five  children,  three  of  whom  are 
living:  Theodore,  born  March  4,  1904: 
Vivian,  born  February  13,  1908;  and  Evelyn, 
born  March  19,  1914.  Roland  and  Eunice  are 
deceased. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hoyle  are  members  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church.  Mr.  Hoyle  is  a 
Republican.  He  served  as  clerk  of  Logan 
township  two  years  and  has  been  a  member  of 
the  school  board  for  the  past  nine  years.  He 
is  a  very  successful  farmer  —  one  who  by 
honesty,  economy,  and  hard  work  has  pros- 
pered. 

HENRY  ESSAM,  a  fanner  of  Riverside 
township,  was  born  in  Fulton  county,  Illinois, 
April  13,  1861,  and  is  a  son  of  James  Essam, 
a  sketch  of  whom  is  to  be  found  elsewhere  in 
this  volume. 

Henry  Essam  attended  school  in  Fulton 
and  Schuyler  counties,  Illinois,  and  later  in 
Gage  county,  Nebraska.  He  came  to  Ne- 
braska with  his  parents  when  a  youth  of  nine- 
teen years  and  remained  at  home  until  1887, 
when  he  went  to  Colorado,  where  he  took  a 
pre-emption  claim.  After  proving  up  on  this 
land  he  returned  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska, 
and  farmed  his  father's  land.     In  1902  Mr. 


Essam  bought  eighty  acres  on  Section  1, 
Riverside  township.  This  land  was  at  one 
time  owned  by  Rev.  A.  L.  Tinkham,  a  pioneer 
Methodist  preacher  who  came  to  the  county 
at  a  very  early  date.  On  this  farm  Mr.  Tink- 
ham built  a  small  house  of  hand-hewed  timber 
and  native  lumber,  and  the  building  is  still 
standing.  Mr.  Essam  has  greatly  improved 
the  farm,  has  built  a  new  house  and  other 
buildings  and  now  owns  one  hundred  and 
ninety-eight  acres  of  land. 

Henry  Essam  married  Miss  Josie  Curry,  of 
Schuyler  county,  Illinois,  and  to  them  was 
born  one  daughter,  Susan,  who  is  the  wife  of 
Roy  Barnard,  a  prosperous  farmer  in  Mid- 
land township. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Essam  are  members  of  the 
Christian  church.  In  politics  Mr.  Essam  is  a 
Democrat,  and  he  has  been  a  member  of  the 
school  board  for  several  years.  He  is  one  of 
Gage  county's  good,  substantial  farmers,  and 
through  his  own  efi'orts  and  the  assistance  of 
a  good  wife  he  has  been  blessed  with  pros- 
perity. 

JAMES  R.  C.  FIELD.  — The  history  of 
the  city  of  Beatrice  would  be  incomplete  with- 
out due  recognition  of  the  men  who  have  been 
its  public  servants.  The  man  who  is  specially 
fitted  by  temperament  and  education  to  fill  a 
position  of  public  trust,  creditably  and  ap- 
proved by  all,  is  a  rare  one,  but  when  he  does 
fill  his  office  with  a  high  degree  of  efficiency 
the  public  shows  its  appreciation  by  re-electing 
him  to  the  same  position.  This  efficiency  has 
been  demonstrated  by  James  Field,  as  he  has 
been  a  familiar  figure  in  the  city  hall  of  Be- 
atrice for  many  years. 

Mr.  Field  is  a  descendant  of  the  staunch 
and  sturdy  men  who  came  over  in  the  May- 
flower and  gave  to  the  world  their  ideas  of 
freedom,  both  religiously  and  economically, 
and  who  fought  that  democracy  might  live. 
He  was  born  in  Branford,  Connecticut,  July 
12,  1844,  and  is  a  son  of  Danford  and  Lu- 
cretia  (Griswold)  Field.  Danford  Field  was 
bom  in  Killingworth,  Connecticut,  in  1805. 
In  his  youth  he  learned  the  shoemaker's  trade, 
which  he  followed  until  he  took  up  farming. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


1029 


His  death,  in  1891,  in  Connecticut,  was  the 
end  of  a  long,  useful  life  of  eighty-six  years. 
His  wife  died  in  1876,  at  the  age  of  sixty-six 
years.  They  were  the  parents  of  thirteen 
children,  three  of  whom  are  living,  namely: 
Virginia,  of  Clifton  Springs,  New  York ;  Har- 
riet, widow  of  Elmer  Hurst,  at  one  time  a 
very  prominent  lawyer  of  Rock  Island,  Illi- 
nois ;  and  James  R.  C,  with  whom  this  sketch 
directly  deals. 

James  R.  C.  Field  received  his  early  educa- 
tion in  Branford,  Connecticut,  and  as  a  boy 
helped  his  father  on  the  farm.  For  two  years 
previously  to  1866,  when  he  came  west  to 
Rock  Island,  Illinois,  he  clerked  in  a  store. 
Upon  his  arrival  in  Rock  Island  he  drove  a 
notion  wagon  and  he  was  so  successful  in  his 
work  that  for  nine  years  he  continued  in  this 
enterprise.  At  the  end  of  that  time  he  was 
employed  in  his  uncle's  store,  where  he  re- 
mained until  his  coming  to  Gage  county,  Ne- 
braska, in  1883.  He  purchased  land  in  Glen- 
wood  township  but  lived  at  Odell,  Nebraska, 
from  which  place  he  was  able  to  conduct  his 
farming  operations.  In  1890  he  removed  to 
Beatrice,  and  since  then  has  continuously 
made  his  home  here  and  been  intimately  asso- 
ciated with  civic  affairs. 

In  October,  1874,  Mr.  Field  was  united  in 
marriage  to  Jennie  E.  Campbell,  who  was  bom 
January  21,  1853,  and  is  a  daughter  of  W.  L. 
and  Martha  A.  Campbell.  Of  this  union  five 
children  were  bom :  Bert  C.  is  a  traveling 
salesman,  living  at  Sterling,  Colorado ;  Charles 
A.  is  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  gasoline 
engines,  at  Jackson,  Michigan ;  Martha  is  the 
wife  of  Ellsworth  Jones,  of  Oklahoma  City, 
Oklahoma ;  Harry  C.  died  April  28,  1897 ;  and 
Jennie  M.  died  in  infancy. 

Mr.  Field  is  a  Republican  voter  and  he  is 
noted  for  his  integrity  and  upright  conduct 
in  every  official  capacity  in  which  he  has 
served  his  fellow  men.  He  has  been  a  mem- 
ber of  the  city  council  and  the  school  board, 
and  he  was  the  city  water  commissioner  from 
1904  to  1911.  He  faithfully  served  in  this  ca- 
pacity and  then  was  elected  city  commissioner. 
He  is  affiliated  with  the  Ancient  Free  &  Ac- 
cepted Masons  and  the  Independent  Order  of 


Odd  Fellows.     In  the  latter  organization  he 
has  held  every  office  in  his  local  lodge. 

HARVEY  M.  SMETHERS,  of  Beatrice, 
was  born  in  Lee  county,  Illinois,  March  15, 
1863.  The  sketch  of  his  brother,  P.  J. 
Smethers,  elsewhere  in  this  volume,  gives  due 
data  concerning  the  family. 

Harvey  M.  Smethers  received  his  education 
in  Illinois  and  after  coming  to  Nebraska  he 
attended  the  public  schools  of  Gage  county. 
In  1885  he  located  in  Beatrice,  this  county, 
where  he  clerked  in  a  store  for  one  year.  He 
engaged  in  the  general  merchandise  business 
with  W.  J.  Dunnick,  under  the  firm  name  of 
Smethers  &  Dunnick.  After  a  short  time  Mr. 
Dunnick  sold  his  interest  in  the  business  to  A. 
H.  Bmbaker,  and  the  business  continued  in 
the  name  of  Smethers  &  Brubaker  for  one 
year,  when  Mr.  Smethers  sold  his  interest  in 
the  enterprise  and  engaged  in  farming.  He 
continued  farming  operations  only  a  short 
time  and  then  returned  to  Beatrice  and  en- 
tered the  hardware  and  implement  business. 
Later  he  engaged  in  the  pump  and  wind-mill 
business,  which  he  later  sold,  and  thereafter 
he  was  employed  by  the  Dempster  Mill 
Manufacturing  Company  for  many  years,  as 
traveling  salesman.  Upon  severing  his  con- 
nection with  the  Dempster  Mill  Manufactur- 
ing Company,  Mr.  Smethers  went  to  Wyoming, 
where  he  was  engaged  in  drilling  for  oil,  for 
about  two  years.  He  then  retumed  to  Be- 
atrice and  became  manager  of  the  Dempster 
Mill  Manufacturing  Company's  retail  depart- 
ment, which  position  he  has  occupied  for  the 
past  twelve  years. 

In  December,  1887,  Mr.  Smethers  was 
united  in  marriage  to  Margaret  Rosella  Dun- 
nick, daughter  of  George  F.  Dunnick,  a  far- 
mer in  Kansas,  where  Mrs.  Smethers  was 
born.  Mr.  Dunnick  later  came  to  Nebraska 
and  resided  in  Beatrice.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Smethers  became  the  parents  of  three  chil- 
dren: Lillian  Eunice  is  the  wife  of  Clyde  A. 
Scott,  of  Omaha,  Nebraska;  Bertha  Grace 
died  in  childhood ;  and  Harvey  Donald  died 
at  the  age  of  ten  years.  The  wife  and  mother 
passed  away  in  1891.     In  1893  Mr.  Smethers 


1030  HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


1031 


wedded  Alda  Millie  Randall,  daughter  of 
Charles  Randall,  who  was  born  in  Boston, 
]\Iassachusetts,  and  who  came  to  the  west  and 
settled  in  Kansas  many  years  ago:  there  he 
engaged  in  farming  and  later  he  came  to  Ne- 
braska, where  he  now  makes  his  home  in  Be- 
atrice. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smethers  have  no  chil- 
dren. They  are  members  of  the  Christian 
church  and  Mr.  Smethers  is  a  Democrat  in 
his  political  allegiance. 

J.  M.  BURNHAM.  —  For  thirty-four  years 
the  subject  of  this  record  has  been  editor  and 
publisher  of  The  IVymorean,  at  Wymore, 
Gage  county. 

He  is  a  native  of  Ogdensburg,  New  York, 
and  is  a  son  of  C.  A.  and  Mary  J.  (EUison) 
Burnham,  also  natives  of  the  Empire  state. 
The  father  loyally  defended  the  Stars  and 
Stripes  as  a  soldier  for  three  years  jn  the 
Civil  war,  and  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of 
captain.  After  the  war  he  became  a  resident 
of  Monona  county,  Iowa,  where  he  became  an 
extensive  dealer  in  cattle.  His  last  days  were 
spent  in  Wymore,  Gage  county,  Nebraska, 
where  he  had  lived  retired  after  1882.  His 
wife  is  still  living  and  is  making  her  home 
with  her  son  J.  M.,  of  this  review. 

J.  M.  Burnham  received  his  education  in 
the  schools  of  Iowa.  In  1882  he  came  to  Wy- 
more and  began  his  newspaper  career,  being 
employed  first  on  the  Leader,  and  later  on  the 
Wvmore  Reporter.  He  associated  himself 
with  The  Wymorean  when  that  paper  started 
and,  as  above  stated,  has  edited  and  published 
it  for  the  past  thirty-four  years. 

The  Wymorean  is  published  weekly  and  its 
owner  enjoys  a  liberal  patronage  from  the 
people  of  Wymore  and  surrounding  territory. 
The  office  of  The  Wymorean  is  equipped  with 
a  full  complement  of  printing  material  for  a 
general  job-printing  business  and  the  ordi- 
nary modern  inventions  connected  with  the 
"art  preservative." 

Mr.  Burnham  married  Miss  Luella  R.  Ake, 
of  Muscatine,-  Iowa,  and  they  are  the  parents 
of  one  son,  E.  M. 

Mr.  Burnham  is  a  Republican  in  politics, 
and   however  much   he  may   differ   in   views 


with  the  readers  of  his  paper  in  political  senti- 
ment, all  are  compelled  to  acknowledge  and 
respect  and  sincerity  of  its  principles. 

WTLLIAM  WOLLENBURG.  — The  late 
William  Wollenburg,  whose  death  occurred  on 
the  22d  of  December,  1915,  was  a  young  man 
when  he  came  with  his  wife  from  Wisconsin 
to  Gage  county,  more  than  forty  years  ago, 
and  here  his  sterling  character  and  productive 
ability  made  him  a  valued  factor  in  the  fur- 
therance of  social  and  industrial  progress.  He 
became  one  of  the  successful  agriculturists 
and  stock-growers  of  Blakely  township,  was 
influential  in  the  communal  life,  commanded 
unqualified  popular  esteem,  and  achieved 
large  and  worthy  success,  his  widow  and  two 
of  his  children  now  maintaining  their  resi- 
dence on  his  old  homestead  farm  in  the  town- 
ship mentioned. 

Mr.  Wollenburg  was  bom  in  Brandenburg, 
Germany,  June  14,  1850,  a  son  of  Christian 
and  Ricka  (Holmichal)  Wollenburg,  of  whose 
nine  children  he  was  the  fifth  in  order  of 
birth:  of  the  children  three  daughters  and  one 
son  are  now  living.  Mr.  Wollenburg  acquired, 
his  early  education  in  the  schools  of  his  native 
land  and  was  a  youth  of  seventeen  years  when 
he  came  with  his  parents  to  America,  the  fam- 
ily home  being  established  in  Wisconsin,  where 
his  father  and  mother  pased  the  remainder  of 
their  lives.  After  his  marriage  William  Wol- 
lenburg continued  his  activities  as  a  farmer  in 
Wisconsin  until  1877,  when  he  came  with  his 
wife  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  and  estab- 
lished his  residence  on  the  farm  where  his 
widow  now  lives  —  the  northeast  quarter  of 
Section  4,  Blakely  township.  This  now  well 
improved  and  valuable  farm  of  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  he  purchased  at  the  rate  of 
ten  dollars  an  acre,  and  in  a  conservative  way 
the  valuation  at  the  present  time  is  fully  one 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars  an  acre.  The  land 
was  raw  prairie  at  the  time  when  he  acquired 
the  same  and  with  the  passing  years  he  made 
the  best  of  improvements  on  the  property,  in- 
cluding the  erection  of  the  substantial  build- 
ings and  the  setting  out  of  many  fine  trees  that 
are  now  of  goodly  size.    As  a  citizen  Mr.  Wol- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


lenburg  manifested  his  stewardship  in  hberal- 
ity  and  progressiveness,  supported  generously 
educational  and  religious  activities  and  took 
loyal  interest  in  public  affairs  of  a  local  order. 
He  was  a  zealous  communicant  of  the  Lu- 
theran church,  as  is  also  his  widow,  and  he 
aided  generously  in  the  erection  of  two 
churches  of  this  denomination  in  Blakely 
township.  That  distinctive  success  attended 
his  well  ordered  endeavors  is  shown  in  the 
fact  that  at  his  death  he  was  the  owner  of  a 
landed  estate  of  six  hundred  and  forty  acres, 
a  portion  of  which  is  in  Jefferson  county.  He 
was  a  specially  progressive  farmer,  a  leader 
in  community  affairs,  and  upon  retiring  from 
his  farm,  in  1909,  he  removed  with  his  wife  to 
Plymouth,  Jefferson  county,  where  he  had 
purchased  an  attractive  residence  property  and 
where  he  became  a  substantial  stockholder  in 
the  Plymouth  State  Bank.  There  he  remained 
until  his  death,  after  which  his  widow  returned 
to  Gage  county  and  established  her  home  on 
her  present  fine  farm. 

In  the  year  1874  was  solemnized  the  mar- 
riage of  Mr.  Wollenburg  to  Miss  Wilhelmina 
Mayer,  who  was  bom  in  Wurtemburg,  Ger- 
many, October  18,  1848,  a  daughter  of  Jacob 
and  Katherine  (Schmidt)  Meyer.  She  came 
with  her  parents  to  the  United  States  in  1860 
and  the  family  home  was  established  in  Dodge 
county,  Wisconsin,  where  the  parents  passed 
the  remainder  of  their  lives.  Mrs.  Wollen- 
burg is  the  youngest  of  the  three  children,  her 
brother,  Charles,  being  now  a  resident  of  Kay 
county,  Oklahoma,  and  her  sister,  Reicka,  be- 
ing the  wife  of  Philip  Boiler,  of  Dodge  county, 
Wisconsin.  Jacob  Meyer  was  bom  July  18, 
1788,  and  his  death  occurred  in  1875.  By  his 
first  marriage  he  became  the  father  of  three 
children,  —  Jacob,  Louis  and  Katherine,  all  of 
whom  are  deceased  and  the  last  named  of 
whom  was  the  wife  of  Frank  Kuhn.  The 
second  wife,  Katherine,  mother  of  Mrs.  Wol- 
lenburg, was  bom  in  1805,  and  passed  to  the 
life  etemal  in  1867.  In  conclusion  of  this 
brief  memoir  is  given  the  following  record 
concerning  the  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wol- 
lenburg :  Helena  is  the  wife  of  Michael  Esch. 
a    fanner    near    McCook,    Redwillow    county, 


Nebraska;  William  is  a  representative  farmer 
of  Jefferson  county;  Minnie  is  the  wife  of 
Daniel  Esch,  a  prosperous  farmer  near  Hoag, 
Gage  county;  Carl  is  conducting  successful 
farm  enterprise  in  Blakely  township;  Clara 
remains  with  her  widowed  mother;  Mary  is 
the  wife  of  Joseph  Scheve,  who  is  mentioned 
elsewhere  in  this  volume ;  and  Henry  has  the 
active  charge  of  the  old  home  farm,  where 
he  resides  with  his  mother  and  his  sister 
Clara,  all  being  active  members  of  the  Luth- 
eran church  and  all  popular  in  the  social  life 
of  the  communit}'. 

GEORGE  F.  HARPSTER.-The  state  oi 
Pennsylvania  includes  the  land  deeded  to  Wil- 
liam   Penn   when    King   Charles   of    England 
owed  him  such  a  large  debt  he  could  pay  it  no 
other  way.     This  transaction  also  afforded  a 
means  of  getting  rid  of  a  bothersome  sect,  the 
Quakers,    or    members    of    the    Society    of 
Friends,    who    were    getting    altogether    too 
powerful  in  England.     King  Charles  believed 
he  was  sending  away  only  the  scum  of  his  em- 
pire to  the  New  World,  but  no  better  blood 
and  better  citizens  have  come  to  people  our 
shores  than  the  Quakers  who  settled  in  Penn- 
sylvania.    From  this  line  of  sturdy  folk  came 
the   forbears   of   George  Harpster,   who  was 
born    in    Knoxville,    Marion    county,    Iowa, 
October  14,  1858.    His  parents,  Frederick  and 
Mary  A.    (Yarger)    Harpster,  were  both  na- 
tives  of    Pennsylvania   and   their   parents    in 
turn  were  born  in  Pennsylvania.     Frederick 
Harpster  was   the  son   of   George   Harpster, 
whose    birthplace    was    the    forenamed    state 
and  who  eventually  secured  and  farmed  gov- 
emment  land  in  Seneca  county,  Ohio.     The 
perilous    journey   to   the   Buckeye    state    was 
made   on    foot,    and   the    family    drove   their 
cattle  ahead  of  them.     They  started  with  a 
number  of  milch  cows,  but  ere  they  arrived 
they    had    only    one    cow    as    an    adjunct    in 
starting   their    farming   operations.      We   can 
see  from  this  incident  what  a  perilous  journey 
it  was.     George  Harpster  and  his  good  wife 
spent  the  rest  of  their  lives  on  their  land  in 
Seneca  county,  Ohio,  where  they  were  laid  to 
rest. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


1033 


Frederick  Harpster,  the  father  of  George  F. 
Harpster,  was  born  in  the  Keystone  state  and 
endured  the  hardships  of  pioneer  life  in  Ohio. 
It  was  in  that  state  that  he  married  Mary  A. 
Yarger,  who  was  bom  in  Pennsylvania,  a 
daughter  of  G.  F.  and  Benivel  Yarger,  whose 
migrations  were  from  their  birthplace  in 
Pennsylvania  to  Ohio  and  thence  to  Indiana, 
where  they  passed  the  remainder  of  their 
lives.  Mr.  Yarger  was  a  tailor,  and  plied  his 
trade  at  Carey,  Ohio,  but  farmed  after  his  re- 
moval to  Indiana. 

In  1857  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Frederick  Harpster 
moved  to  Knoxville,  Iowa,  where  he  followed 
his  trade,  that  of  tinner,  and  later  he  moved 
to  Glasgow,  Iowa,  where  he  was  employed  in 
the  same  way.  It  was  here,  in  1862,  that  he 
died.  Two  children,  Mrs.  George  Harris,  and 
George  F.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  were  his 
only  children.  The  second  marriage  of  Mrs. 
Harpster  was  to  Casper  Zerman  and  the  two 
surviving  children  of  this  marriage  are  Frank, 
who  is  employed  by  a  publishing  firm  in  To- 
ledo, Ohio ;  and  Flora,  wife  of  A.  L.  Taylor, 
a  harnessmaker  living  in  New  York.  Their 
mother  is  making  her  home  with  them. 

After  the  death  of  his  father  George  F. 
Harpster  hved  with  his  mother  and  stepfather 
until  1871,  when  he  came  to  Blue  Springs, 
Nebraska.  From  Marysville,  Kansas,  the 
journey  was  made  in  the  old-fashioned  double- 
teamed  stage.  Mr.  Harpster  remained  two 
years  on  the  farm  in  Gage  county  and  then 
went  to  Ohio,  where  he  remained  until  1880, 
when  he  again  came  to  Blue  Springs,  where 
for  fourteen  years  he  was  employed  by  the 
Roderick  Brothers  in  their  general  merchan- 
dise store.  He  then  engaged  in  business  for 
himself,  for  five  years,  being  thus  established 
at  Glenwood,  Iowa.  With  three  hundred  dol- 
lars to  start  on  in  the  way  of  money,  but  with 
a  good  deal  of  energy  and  self-reliance,  Mr. 
Harpster  purchased  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  of  land  near  Blue  Springs  in  1890,  and 
to  this  he  has  added  from  time  to  time  until 
he  now  has  two  hundred  and  eighty-five  acres. 
He  has  continued  to  prosper  and  has  now  a 
nice  home,  with  commodious  buildings  on  his 
farm,  close  to  the  city  of  Blue  Springs. 


In  1881  the  marriage  of  Mr.  George  Harp- 
ster and  Ida  ]\liller  was  solemnized.  She  is  a 
daughter  of  John  and  Electa  (Shattuck)  Mil- 
ler, natives  respectively  of  Germany  and  Ver- 
mont:  they  were  married  in  Waukon,  Iowa, 
and  in  1882  homesteaded  in  South  Dakota, 
where  they  remained  until  their  death  and 
where  they  are  both  laid  to  rest.  Mrs.  Harp- 
ster was  bom  in  Waukon,  Allamakee  county, 
Iowa,  July  6,  1863.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Harpster 
have  three  children :  Myrtle  is  at  home  with 
her  parents;  Bert  is  living  at  Dawson,  Ne- 
braska; and  Leafy  is  the  wife  of  Perry 
Schoenholz,  of  St.  Paul,  Minnesota,  where  he 
formerly  was  employed  as  superintendent  of  a 
bakery,  but  is  now  the  manager  of  the  Puri- 
tan Milk  Company. 

Mr.  Harpster  is  affiliated  with  the  Ancient 
Free  &  Accepted  Masons,  while  he  and  his 
wife  are  both  members  of  the  Order  of  the 
Eastern  Star  and  members  of  the  Presbyterian 
church.  His  political  views  are  in  harmony 
with  the  principles  of  the  Republican  party, 
he  is  a  valued  citizen  and  is  definitely  worthy 
of  the  title  of  self-made  man. 

WENDEL  KNOCHEL  is  a  prosperous 
farmer  of  Lincoln  township,  where  he  is 
farming  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of 
land,  in  Sections  23  and  24.  Mr.  Knochel  was 
born  November  21,  1859,  in  Erie  county, 
Pennsylvania,  and  is  a  son  of  Michael  and 
Mary  (Bage)  Knochel.  They  were  both  born 
in  Germany  and  they  both  came  to  this  coun- 
try two  or  three  years  before  their  marriage. 
They  were  married  in  Erie  county,  Pennsyl- 
vania, where  they  lived,  tilling  the  soil,  until 
1871,  when  they  removed  to  Logan  county, 
Illinois.  The  rich,  fertile  lands  of  Nebraska 
attracted  them,  and  in  1880  they  purchased 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  in  Lin- 
coln township.  Gage  county.  Michael  Knochel 
spent  the  remainder  of  his  days  at  this  home, 
and  his  death  occurred  June  11,  1912.  His 
wife,  who  was  born  in  1831,  survives  him,  be- 
ing now  eighty-seven  years  old.  She  resides 
at  Beatrice,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Catholic 
church,  as  was  also  her  husband. 

The  year  1880,  when  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Michael 


1034 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Knochel  came  to  Gage  county,  their  oldest  son, 
Wenclel,  had  just  passed  his  majority.  He 
helped  his  parents  on  the  farm  until  his  mar- 
riage to  Elizabeth  Eckstein,  which  occurred 
September  23,  1896.  She  was  born  in  Rulo, 
Richardson  county,  Nebraska,  June  24,  1866. 
Her  parents,  Henry  and  Christina  (Rieff) 
Eckstein,  were  natives  of  Germany.  Henry 
Eckstein  was  seventeen  and  his  future  wife, 
Christina  Rieff,  was  eight  years  old  when 
they  left  Gemiany.  They  were  married  in 
Indiana,  and  came  to  Rulo,  Richardson  county, 
Nebraska,  in  1865.  Mr.  Eckstein  plied  his 
trade  as  a  carpenter  until  his  death.  Three 
children  were  bom  to  this  union  —  Henry, 
Jacob,  and  Elizabeth,  and  Jacob  is  now  a  suc- 
cessful farmer  in  Elm  township.  Gage  county. 
After  the  death  of  Mr.  Eckstein,  which  oc- 
curred in  1866,  his  widow  returned  to  Indiana, 
where  she  married  Theophilus  Van  Hessche, 
a  widower  with  two  daughters.  To  this  union 
seven  children  were  born.  Mrs.  Eckstein-Van 
Hessche  died  July  18,  1911. 

Mr.  Knochel  devotes  his  entire  time  to  his 
farming  and  is  ever  ready  for  the  newest  and 
best  ways  of  doing  things.  By  his  marriage 
two  children,  Grace  and  Clement,  have  come 
to  bless  his  home.  Mr.  Knochel  and  his  fam- 
ily are  members  of  the  Catholic  church.  In 
politics  he  votes  the  Democratic  ticket. 


ANTON  BEZA.  — There  seems  to  be  a 
law  of  continuity  of  events  that  brings  mem- 
bers of  the  same  foreign  nation  to  certain  por- 
tions of  a  state  or  county  in  America.  There 
is  a  continuity  of  relationships  that  brings 
these  people  to  one  spot.  The  people  from 
Bohemia  have  settled  in  great  numbers  near 
and  in  Odell,  Nebraska,  and  it  is  to  be  sup- 
posed that  the  law  forenamed  has  had  much 
to  do  to  draw  one  after  the  other  of  the  same 
nationality  to  this  favored  jiortion  of  Gage 
county. 

Anton  Beza,  a  general  merchant  of  ( )(lell, 
Nebraska,  is  a  son  of  Bohemian  parents.  He 
was  born  May  27,  1891,  in  Ashton,  Sherman 
county,  Nebraska.  His  parents.  Vincent  and 
Mary  (Suchanek)  Ik'za,  have  lived  in  Ne- 
braska   for   nearly    forty    years,    liaving   emi- 


grated from  their  birthplace  in  Bohemia.  Vin- 
cent Beza  was  bom  in  1857  and  all  of  these 
years  has  plied  his  trade  of  wagonmaker, 
learned  in  the  homeland.  His  wife  was  born 
in  1867  and  thus  on  the  date  of  her  marriage, 
in  1883,  she  was  only  sixteen  years  of  age. 
They  were  married  in  St.  Paul,  Nebraska,  and 
five  children  have  been  bom  of  this  union. 
The  children  have  all  received  liberal  educa- 
tional advantages,  in  the  city  of  Ashton,  Ne- 
braska. Two  of  the  sons  entered  the  serv'ice 
of  the  United  States,  ready  to  give  of  their 
life  blood,  if  need  be,  to  protect  the  land  and 
principles  of  their  adoption,  in  connection 
with  the  great  world  war.  Vincent  F.  is  a 
merchant  in  Bellwood,  Nebraska;  Marie  E. 
is  clerking  in  a  department  store  at  Fullerton, 
Nebraska ;  Leon  R.,  of  the  United  States  medi- 
cal corps  at  Camp  Funston,  Kansas,  was  re- 
cently discharged  on  account  of  physical  dis- 
ability; Anton  is  the  subject  of  this  sketch; 
Alphonso  is  on  the  United  States  dreadnought 
"North  Dakota,"  now  located  "somewhere 
across  the  seas." 

Anton  Beza  received  his  education  in  the 
Ashton  public  schools  and  was  graduated  from 
the  high  school  in  1904.  He  has  since  lived 
the  life  of  the  average  American  youth.  First 
he  clerked  for  two  years  in  Ashton ;  then  he 
went  from  place  to  place,  clerking  in  different 
stores.  The  little  city  of  Filley,  where  he 
worked  for  Mr.  E.  W.  Starlin,  was  one  of  the 
places  he  was  thus  employed  previously  to  his 
finding  the  place  and  the  conditions  that  so 
pleased  him  as  to  lead  him  to  make  a  pemia- 
nent  location  and  establish  himself  in  business. 
He  first  opened  a  grocery  store  in  Odell,  but 
he  has  added  to  his  store  until  now  he  includes 
general  merchandise. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  Beza  to  Eleanor 
(Singleton)  Porter  was  solemnized  Septem- 
ber 29,  1913.  One  daughter,  Velma  M.,  aged 
three  years  and  six  months  (1918),  has  come 
to  bless  their  home.  Mrs.  Beza  was  born  July 
5,  1882,  in  Glenwood  township,  this  county, 
and  is  a  daughter  of  John  W.  and  Sarah  F. 
Singleton.  (See  history  of  this  family  in  an- 
other portion  of  this  volume.)  Her  first 
marriage,  to  Porter  Collins,  was  in   l'>0.3,  and 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


1035 


two  children  were  born  to  them  —  Esther, 
aged  thirteen  years,  and  Dorothy,  aged  eleven 
years.  These  two  little  girls  are  in  the  home 
of  their  stepfather  and  are  receiving  their 
education  at  Odell. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Beza  attend  the  Methodist 
church.  Mr.  Beza  is  a  member  of  a  Western 
Brotherhood  Association  of  Bohemians,  known 
as  the  Z.  C.  B.  J.     He  is  a  Democrat  in  poli- 


WILLIAM  T.  DAY  has  proved  himself 
one  of  the  resolute  and  self-reliant  men  who 
can  master  opposing  forces  in  life  and  wrest 
from  the  hands  of  fate  a  goodly  measure  of 
success  and  prosperity,  the  while  ordering  a 
course  in  such  a  way  as  to  merit  and  receive 
the  confidence  and  good  will  of  men.  •  ^Ir. 
Day  has  been  a  resident  of  Gage  county  since 
the  year  1887  and  has  here  accumulated 
through  his  own  ability  and  efforts  one  of  the 
fine  farm  properties  of  the  county.  He  was 
left  an  orphan  when  he  was  only  three  years 
of  age  and  has  made  his  own  way  in  life  since 
he  was  a  lad  of  ten  years.  It  may  well  be 
understood  that  under  such  conditions  his 
early  educational  advantages  were  limited,  but 
his  alert  mind  and  determined  purpose  have 
enabled  him  to  overcome  largely  this  youthful 
handicap,  for  he  has  profited  greatly  from  the 
lessons  learned  in  the  stern  school  of  exper- 
ience. He  is  one  of  the  representative  ex- 
ponents of  farm  industry  in  Bamston  town- 
ship and  is  a  citizen  who  fully  merits  recog- 
nition in  this  history. 

William  T.  Day  was  born  near  Fredericks- 
town,  Missouri,  on  the  1st  of  March,  1863, 
and  is  a  son  of  Charles  and  Sarah  Ann  (Mc- 
Crary)  Day.  Charles  Day  was  a  native  of 
the  state  of  Pennsylvania  and  became  a  resi- 
dent of  Missouri  prior  to  the  Civil  war.  He 
was  a  farmer  in  Missouri  and  had  previously 
owned  land  and  been  engaged  in  agricultural 
pursuits  in  Tennessee,  where  he  resided  a 
number  of  years  and  where  he  became  the 
owner  of  a  number  of  slaves.  He  was  a 
Democrat  in  politics  and  he  and  his  wife  held 
membership  in  the  Baptist  church,  he  having 
passed   the  closing  year   of   his   life  in   ^lis- 


souri  and  his  wife  having  died  in  Tennessee. 
They  became  the  parents  of  six  children  and 
of  the  number  the  subject  of  the  review  is  the 
only  one  living  in  Nebraska. 

William  T.  Day  was  taken  as  a  child  from 
Missouri  to  Tennessee,  the  former  home  ot 
his  parents,  and  there  he  was  reared  to  adult 
age,  his  educational  advantages,  as  previously 
stated,  having  been  somewhat  meager.  He 
early  learned  the  dignity  and  value  of  honest 
toil  and  became  one  of  the  world's  productive 
workers  while  he  was  still  a  youth.  In  1887 
Mr.  Day  came  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  and 
at  the  time  of  his  arrival  in  this  state  his 
capitalistic  resources  were  represented  in  the 
sum  of  only  one  hundred  dollars.  There  is 
a  generous  measvire  of  lesson  and  incentive  in 
the  record  of  his  achievement  since  that  time, 
for  he  has  pressed  steadily  forward  and  has 
reached  the  goal  of  independence  and  sub- 
stantial prosperity.  In  Bamston  township  he 
is  now  the  owner  of  the  fine  Riverside  Ranch, 
which  comprises  two  hundred  and  fifty-three 
acres  and  is  one  of  the  splendidly  improved 
and  valuable  farm  properties  of  Gage  county, 
the  place  being  devoted  to  diversified  agricul- 
ture and  to  the  raising  and  feeding  of  cattle 
and  hogs,  of  which  Mr.  Day  makes  appreci- 
able market  shipments  each  year.  The  beau- 
tiful family  home  is  a  throughly  modern  house 
that  was  erected  by  Mr.  Day  in  the.year  1915, 
on  the  banks  of  the  Blue  river,  and  the  other 
farm  buildings  are  of  excellent  order,  the 
home  farm  being  in  Section  12  of  the  town- 
ship mentioned. 

In  furthering  his  individual  advancement 
and  success  Mr.  Day  has  also  been  mindful  of 
his  civic  responsibilities  and  has  given  his  co- 
operation in  the  advancing  of  measures  and 
enterprises  projected  for  the  general  good  of 
the  community.  His  political  allegiance  is 
given  to  the  Republican  party  but  he  has  not 
been  a  seeker  of  public  office  of  any  kind.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  Baptist  church  and  his 
wife  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  church  but 
as  there  are  no  churches  of  these  denomin- 
ations in  their  home  district  they  attend  and 
support  the  Presbyterian  church. 

In  May,  1884,  was  solemnized  the  marriage 


1036 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


103/ 


of  Mr.  Day  to  ]\Iiss  Sarah  Harnian,  who  was 
born  in  Claiborne  county,  Tennessee,  on  the 
9th  of  January,  1868.  Of  this  union  have 
been  born  fourteen  children,  and  of  the  num- 
ber all  are  living  except  three:  Lulu  is  a 
popular  teacher  in  the  village  schools  at 
Adams:  Julia  is  the  wife  of  Byron  Saylors, 
of  Rosalie,  Thurston  county ;  Charles  is  a 
successful  farmer  in  Gage  county;  William  L. 
was  residing  at  University  Place,  this  state, 
at  the  time  when  he  entered  the  United  States 
navy,  for  service  in  the  great  European  war; 
Jesse  was  a  student  at  Iowa  College,  Grin- 
nell,  Iowa,  but  in  the  spring  of  1918  he  too 
became  a  member  of  the  United  States  navy, 
he  being  stationed  at  the  time  of  this  writing 
at  the  training  quarters  at  Charleston,  South 
Carolina;  John,  Silas  and  Roy  and  Ray 
(twins)  are  at  the  parental  home;  Leona  died 
at  the  age  of  thirteen  years ;  Darline  and  Es- 
telle  are  at  home  and  are  attending  school ; 
Henry  E.  died  at  the  age  of  fourteen  months ; 
and  one  child  died  in  infancy. 

J.  W.  BRIDENTHAL.  — When  Gage 
county  land  was  fast  being  peopled  by  the 
farmers  coming  from  Iowa,  Illinois,  Indiana, 
Ohio,  and  various  other  eastern  states,  as  well 
as  foreign  countries,  a  family  by  the  name  of 
Bridenthal  came  and  set  up  their  home  in  our 
midst.  Of  J.  W.  Bridenthal,  the  head  of  this 
family,  it  was  said:  "Of  the  countless  num- 
bers who  have  gone  to  settle  up  the  new  west 
few  have  been  more  enthusiastic,  more  thor- 
oughly absorbed  with  the  thought  that  they 
were  working  for  the  future  as  well  as  foi 
their  own  interests  than  has  the  gentleman  of 
whom  mention  is  here  made."  As  the  years 
have  progressed  it  would  seem  that  this  were 
a  prophecy  of  a  life  purpose  fulfilled  —  a  life 
which  has  so  lately  been  dJ-awn  to  a  close. 

J.  W.  Bridenthal  was  born  at  Chambers- 
burg.  Pennsylvania,  April  28,  1836,  and  died 
December  7,  1917.  In  1845  the  parents  oi 
Mr.  Bridenthal  left  their  farming  interests  in 
Pennsylvania  and  removed  to  Wayne  county, 
Ohio,  where  he  received  the  education  the 
locality  and  period  afforded.  In  comparison 
with  the  opportunities  of  to-day,  these  were 


meager  indeed.  In  his  early  manhood  he 
started  a  slow  process  of  getting  farther  and 
farther  west,  being  located  in  different  coun- 
ties of  Indiana  and  Illinois,  and  in  1884  he 
made  his  last  removal,  arriving  in  Gage 
county  on  the  4th  of  April  that  year. 

In  Warren  county,  Illinois,  where  he  had 
lived  from  1860  until  his  coming  to  Gage 
county  in  1884,  he  met  the  companion  of  his 
many  useful  and  happy  years.  This  compan- 
ion, who  was  Miss  Eleanor  Butler,  was  bom 
in  Plymouth,  Marshall  county,  Indiana.  Her 
parents,  Isaac  and  Ann  h.  (Jones)  Butler, 
were  natives  of  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania 
respectively.  Their  married  life  commenced 
in  Ohio,  and  after  there  continuing  to  make 
their  home  for  some  time,  they  moved  to  In- 
diana. Later,  in  1864,  they  removed  to  War- 
ren county,  Illinois.  In  this  county  they 
passed  the  remainder  oi  their  lives  and  there 
both  were  laid  to  rest. 

The  marriage  of  J.  W.  Bridenthal  and  Miss 
Eleanor  Butler  was  solemnized  at  Plymouth, 
Marshall  county,  Indiana,  on  the  26th  of 
October,  1860,  and  for  over  fifty-seven  years 
their  lives  were  spent  in  happy  companion- 
ship. Six  children  were  born  to  them,  four 
of  whom  are  living,  as  follows:  Lake,  a 
farmer  residing  in  Wymore,  was  for  some 
years  a  banker  in  the  city  of  Wymore,  one  of 
the  most  attractive  in  Gage  county;  Mae,  the 
\vife  of  C.  W.  Robertson,  who  for  twenty-five 
years  operated  a  dry-goods  and  grocery  store 
in  Wymore,  is  now  living  at  Lincoln,  this 
state ;  Charles,  a  traveling  salesman  for  the 
great  wholesale  house  of  Sprague,  Warner  & 
Company,  of  Chicago,  resides  in  Minneapolis, 
Minnesota;  Richard,  for  many  years  an  em- 
ploye of  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy 
Railway  Company,  married  Mary  Owens  and 
resides  in  Wymore,  their  one  child  being  Ken- 
neth D. 

When  Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  W.  Bridenthal 
arrived  in  Gage  county  they  purchased  land 
in  Sicily  township  and  there  they  continued 
their  farming  operations  until  1904,  when  they 
moved  to  Wymore,  where  Mrs.  Bridenthal 
still  makes  her  home.  Mr.  Bridenthal  voted 
the  Democratic  ticket  and  for  a  number  of 


1038 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


years  served  his  community  as  county  super- 
visor, he  having  been  for  some  time  the  chair- 
man of  the  county  board  of  supervisors.  His 
life  was  an  exceptionally  unselfish  one,  and  its 
greatest  distinction  was  that  he  was  always 
thinking  of  others  and  not  how  much  he 
could  get  by  giving  the  minimum  in  return. 
Such  a  life  leaves  its  benignant  impress  upon 
many  loving  friends  and  relatives,  as  well  as 
upon  the  community  in  general. 

NORTON  S.  CALL.A.ND  —War  is  some- 
times inevitable,  and  cruel  and  heartless  as  its 
ravages  are  known  to  he,  it  is  sometimes  the 
only  resort  by  which  the  rights  of  a  people 
can  be  protected  and  maintained.  When  the 
cause  is  in  and  for  the  right,  then  to  partici- 
pate in  it  becomes  most  honorable  and  praise- 
worthy. We  have  always  taken  great  pleasure 
in  giving  credit  where  credit  is  due,  and  we 
never  fail  to  recognize  and  appreciate  the  im- 
measureable  honor  due  to  those  whose  valor 
gained  for  us  the  national  integrity  which  we 
now  enjoy.  In  the  gentleman  whose  name 
introduces  this  record  we  find  another  one  of 
those  brave  and  valiant  men  who  went  forth 
in  defense  of  the  Union  in  the  climacteric 
period  of  the  Civil  war  and  whom  it  is  our 
delight  to  honor. 

Mr.  Calland  is  a  native  of  the  Buckeye 
state,  his  birth  having  occurred  in  Noble 
county,  Ohio,  May  7,  1845.  His  parents  were 
Robert  and  Nancy  (Caple)  Calland,  the  for- 
mer of  whom  was  born  in  Scotland  and  the 
latter  in  Ireland.  They  were  among  the  early 
settlers  of  Noble  county,  Ohio,  where  the 
father  took  up  a  homestead  and  where  he 
and  his  wife  spent  the  remainder  of  their 
lives.  Robert  Calland  was  twice  married  and 
became  the  father  of  fourteen  children  —  ten 
by  the  first  marriage  and  four  by  the  second. 
He  was  a  local  preacher  in  the  Wesleyan 
church,  but  after  the  war  he  became  identi- 
fied with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church.  He 
was  a  Republican  in  politics  and  served  as 
justice  of  the  peace  for  twenty  years.  He 
was  a  successful  man  and  owned  four  hun- 
dred acres  of  land.  The  paternal  grandpar- 
ents of  Norton   S.  Calland  died  in  Ohio  and 


the  maternal  grandfather,  Nathaniel  Caple, 
also  passed  away  in  Noble  county,  Ohio. 

Norton  S.  Calland  spent  the  days  of  his 
boyhood  on  a  farm  in  his  native  county  and 
acquired  his  education  in  the  schools  of  Sum- 
merfield.  He  was  only  a  boy  when  the  dark 
cloud  gathered  and  the  Civil  war  broke  upon 
the  nation.  Watching  the  course  of  events, 
his  patriotic  spirit  was  aroused,  and  in  Au- 
gust, 1862,  though  not  yet  eighteen  years  of 
age.  he  enlisted  in  Company  D,  Ninety-second 
Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  for  two  years 
and  ten  months  he  followed  the  flag  in  defense 
of  the  Union.  Among  the  many  engagements 
in  which  this  regiment  participated,  some  of 
the  more  important  ones  were  those  of  Chicka- 
mauga  and  Missionary  Ridge.  Mr.  Calland 
was  with  Sherman  when  the  famous  "march 
to  the  sea"  was  inaugurated.  After  leaving 
Atlanta  Mr.  Calland  was  detailed  on  a  forag- 
ing campaign,  and  while  thus  engaged  and 
detached  from  the  Union  army,  he  was  cap- 
tured by  the  enemy,  March  3,  1864.  He  was 
held  a  prisoner  until  the  2d  of  the  following 
April.  He  spent  twenty-one  days  in  Salisbury 
Prison  and  seven  days  in  Uibby  Prison.  The 
horrors  of  those  pens  have  never  been  ex- 
aggerated. The  suffering  was  awful,  unmiti- 
gated by  a  gleam  of  humanity  on  the  part  of 
their  captors,  and  made  the  lives  of  the  weary 
victims  a  wretched  mockery.  Nauseous  food, 
impure  water,  crowded  and  vermin-infested 
quarters,  contributed  to  disease  and  death, 
which  took  away  many  a  valiant  Union  sol- 
dier. Mr.  Calland  was  fortunate  enough  to 
be  held  but  a  short  time.  After  serving  his 
country  two  years  and  ten  months  he  returned 
to  his  native  county  and  took  up  the  peaceful 
pursuit  of  farming. 

In  March,  1870,  was  solemnized  the  mar- 
riage of  Mr.  Calland  and  Miss  Sarah  M. 
Houston,  a  native  of  New  York  state.  Their 
home  has  been  blessed  by  the  birth  of  seven 
children,  six  of  whom  are  living — ^  Cora,  a 
widow,  residing  in  Spokane,  Washington; 
Charles,  a  railroad  employe  at  San  Francisco, 
California ;  Kirby,  a  large  land-owner  in 
South  Dakota ;  Edward,  a  farmer  of  Gage 
county;   Alma,   the  wife  of    Perry   Black,   of 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


1039 


Grand  Island,  Nebraska ;  and  Mabel,  the  wife 
of  John  Greenwood,  of  Parsons,  Kansas. 

In  1882  Mr.  Calland  came  to  Nebraska  and 
purchased  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  un- 
improved land  in  Highland  township,  and 
until  1897  he  devoted  his  energies  to  the  im- 
provement and  cultivation  of  this  tract.  He 
conducted  his  agricultural  operations  on  a 
very  large  scale,  as  he  leased  two  thousand 
acres  of  land  and  became  one  of  the  most  ex- 
tensive farmers  of  Gage  county.  He  met 
with  marked  success,  and  in  1897  he  retired  to 
Beatrice,  where  he  has  since  made  his  home. 

The  religious  views  of  Mr.  Calland  coincide 
with  the  teachings  of  the  Methodist  church, 
of  which  he  is  a  member.  In  politics  he  has 
always  been  a  Republican. 

Mr.  Calland  is  one  of  those  who  can  doubly 
appreciate  the  patriotism  manifested  by  the 
young  men  of  America  at  the  present  time, 
when  they  are  giving  themselves  earnestly  to 
making  up  the  fine  national  army  for  tiie  coun- 
try's participation  in  the  great  European  war. 
This  attitude  can  buMfecall  vividly  to  his  mind, 
the  time  when,  as  a  boy  of  seventeen,  he 
subordinated  all  personal  interests  to  respond 
to  the  call  of  patriotisrai,  by  tendering  his  ser- 
\'ices  in  defense  of  the  Union.  To  these  men 
of  to-day,  as  to  the  boys  of  1861  to  1865,  the 
country  owes  a  debt  of  gratitude  it  can  never 
repay. 

ARTHUR  GRONE.  — The  story  of  Ar- 
thur Grone's  early  life  is  definitely  connected 
with  that  of  his  father,  John  Grone,  who  was 
born  in  Bremen,  Germany,  October  14,  1824. 
John  Grone  sailed  from  that  land  of  many 
Germanic  states,  with  as  many  rulers  and  op- 
pressors, to  the  free  land  of  the  United  States, 
which  is  united  under  one  chosen  ruler,  the 
president.  He  was  a  lad  of  fourteen  when,  in 
company  with  an  aunt,  he  landed  in  New  York 
city.  During  the  next  eight  years  he  spent  his 
time  in  learning  the  language  and  customs  of 
the  new  land.  He  was  for  some  time  an  ap- 
prentice to  a  tailor.  In  1846  this  fearless 
young  man  made  his  way  to  the  wilds  of  Wis- 
consin. Amongst  her  virgin  forests  the  bear 
and  the  wolf  were  stalking  their  prey,  the  deer 


blithely  fleeing  from  an  imaginary  foe ;  but 
the  advent  of  the  settlers  soon  struck  terror  to 
these  denizens  of  the  forest.  Mr.  Grone  par- 
ticipated in  many  a  chase  of  the  deer  and 
bear,  bearing  them  triumphantly  to  his  home. 
Only  one  other  white  settler  was  in  the  valley 
where  he  lived :  the  other  inhabitants  of  those 
parts  were  the  Indians,  who  still  lived  in  theii 
tepees  and  followed  their  nomadic  ways. 
Among  these  surroundings  of  nature  in  her 
purity  and  strength,  Mr.  Grone  reared  a  fam- 
ily of  fourteen  children.  The  mother  of  this 
large  and  interesting  family  was  Wilhelmina 
( Albertus)  Grone,  who  was  born  in  Germany, 
August  11,  1835,  and  who  came  to  the  United 
States  when  a  young  girl.  She  was  her  hus- 
band's companion  and  helpmeet  for  many 
years,  and  the  gracious  ties  were  broken  only 
by  death. 

John  Grone  removed  with  his  family  to 
Iowa  in  1874,  and  in  1886  they  came  to  farm 
in  Fillmore  county,  Nebraska.  The  farming 
activities  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  Grone  covered 
nearly  a  half-century  and  were  brought  to  a 
close  in  1894,  when  they  retired  and  moved  to 
Bruning,  Thayer  county,  Nebraska,  where 
the  death  of  Mrs.  Grone  occurred,  August  14, 
1906.  Mr.  Grone  passed  away  October  9, 
1917,  at  a  patriarchal  age. 

Arthur  Grone  was  born  in  Sauk  county, 
Wisconsin,  August  1,  1867,  and  was  the  tenth 
in  order  of  birth  of  the  fourteen  children  born 
to  his  parents.  He  was  a  young  man  upon  his 
arrival  with  his  parents  in  Nebraska.  He 
spent  the  following  twenty  years  farming  dif- 
ferent rented  tracts  of  land,  in  different  lo- 
calities, the  last  tract  of  land  thus  rented 
having  been  owned  by  his  father,  in  Fillmore 
county.  It  was  here  he  made  a  good  start  to- 
ward the  success  shown  in  his  ownership  of 
his  present  fine  landed  estate.  He  purchased 
two  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land  in  Elm 
township,  Gage  county,  in  1906,  and  in  the 
following  year  he  came  to  make  his  home  on 
these  broad  acres.  He  has  remodeled  his 
house  and  barn  to  meet  the  needs  of  his  home 
and  his  farming  operations.  He  is  raising 
high-grade  Poland-China  hogs,  which,  when 
put  upon  the  market,   will  bring  two  dollars 


1040 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


10+] 


for  every  dollar's  worth  of  corn  he  has  fed 
them. 

Mr.  Grone  was  married  September  18,  1889, 
to  Frances  J.  Clark,  who  was  born  December 
17,  1871,  in  Macedonia,  Pottawattamie  county, 
Iowa.  Her  parents,  Ellis  P.  and  Mary  E. 
(Cisna)  Clark,  were  born  in  Kentucky  and 
Ohio  respectively.  The  father  was  bom  in 
1838  and  died  May  24,  1913.  The  mother  was 
born  in  1852  and  died  July  22,  1900,  in  He- 
bron, Nebraska.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Clark  went  to 
Iowa  during  the  great  Chicago  fire  of  1871. 
From  1886  to  1889  they  farmed  in  Norton 
county,  Kansas,  and  they  then  moved  to 
Thayer  county,  Nebraska.  After  several  other 
changes  they  finally  adopted  Nebraska  as  their 
home,  and  here  their  death  occurred.  They 
were  the  parents  of  eleven  children.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Grone  have  four  children :  Alma  M.  is 
the  wife  of  E.  Dougherty,  living  in  Bruning, 
Nebraska ;  Florence  is  the  wife  of  L.  Rich- 
ardson, of  Elm  township.  Gage  county ;  and 
Frank  and  Violet  L.  remain  at  the  parental 
home. 

i\Ir.  Grone  is  a  Democrat  in  politics  and  has 
served  as  road  overseer.  He  is  afifiliated  with 
the  Woodmen  and  his  wife  holds  membership 
in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church. 

WILLIAM  J.  DOBBS,  who  is  living  re- 
tired in  the  city  of  Beatrice,  is  a  representa- 
tive of  one  of  the  most  prominent  and  hon- 
ored territorial  pioneer  families  of  this  sec- 
tion of  Nebraska  and  proper  review  of  the 
family  history  is  given  on  other  pages,  both  in 
a  specific  way  and  in  connection  with  the  gen- 
eral history  of  the  county,  prepared  by  Hugh 
J.  Dobbs,  a  younger  brother  of  the  subject 
of  this  review.  The  family  home  was  es- 
tablished in  Gage  county  in  the  early  terri- 
torial days  and  the  name  of  Dobbs,  as  repre- 
sented in  the  various  generations,  has  been 
one  indicative  of  large  and  benignant  influ- 
ence in  the  annals  of  Gage  county.  Thus  it 
is  specially  gratifying  to  be  able  to  incorpor- 
ate in  this  volume  an  individual,  though  neces- 
sarily brief,  review  of  the  career  of  William 
T.  Dobbs,  who  was  a  lad  of  eleven  years  at 


the  time  the  family  home  was  established  in 
Gage  county,  — ■  nearly  sixty  years  ago. 

Mr.  Dobbs  was  born  in  Taney  county, 
Missouri,  April  16,  1848,  a  son  of  Fidillo  H. 
and  Mary  Jane  (Shullenbarger)  Dobbs,  con- 
cerning whom  proper  record  is  given  else- 
where in  this  work.  Mr.  Dobbs  gained  his 
rudimentary  education  in  Missouri  and,  as  be- 
fore stated,  was  eleven  years  of  age  at  the  time 
of  the  family  immigration  to  Nebraska  Terri- 
tory, in  1859.  He  was  reared  to  manhood 
under  the  conditions  and  influences  of  the 
pioneer  farm  of  the  frontier,  his  father  having 
obtained  land  in  Rock  ford  township.  Gage 
county,  and  having  there  instituted  the  recla- 
mation and  development  of  a  fann  at  a  time 
when  settlers  were  few  and  widely  separated 
and  when  Indians  were  still  much  in  evidence 
in  this  section.  William  J.  Dobbs  attended 
the  primitive  schools  maintained  by  the  early 
settlers,  and  was  signally  favored  in  being 
reared  in  a  home  of  refined  influences.  In 
1868  he  took  up  a  homestead  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty  acres,  in  Rockford  township,  and 
with  the  passing  years  he  well  upheld  the 
honors  of  the  family  name  both  as  a  success- 
ful farmer  and  as  a  broad-minded  and  pro- 
gressive citizen.  He  developed  one  of  the 
valuable  farm  properties  of  Gage  county  and 
remained  on  his  old  homestead  until  1901, 
when  he  retired  from  the  active  labors  and 
responsibilities  that  had  so  long  been  his  por- 
tion. For  three  years  thereafter  he  resided 
in  the  village  of  Blue  Springs,  and  he  then 
removed  to  the  city  of  Beatrice,  where  he  and 
his  wife  now  occupy  their  beautiful  home,  at 
1001  Market  street,  where  they  delight  to  wel- 
come the  hosts  of  friends  they  have  drawn 
about  them  during  their  many  years  of  resi- 
dence in  this  county.  Mr.  Dobbs  still  owns 
a  well  improved  landed  estate  of  two  hundred 
and  sixty-nine  acres  in  Gage  county,  and  he 
long  held  precedence  as  one  of  the  most  ag- 
gressive and  successful  exponents  of  agricul- 
tural and  livestock  industry  in  Rockford  town- 
ship. Though  he  has  had  no  ambition  for 
public  office  of  any  kind  he  has  been  liberal 
in   the   support  of   measures   and  movements 


1042 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


advanced  for  the  general  good  of  his  com- 
munity and  of  the  county,  and  has  given  his 
allegiance  to  the  Republican  party,  both  he 
and  his  wife  having  been  for  many  years 
active  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church. 

In  the  year  1873  Mr.  Dobbs  vi^edded  Miss 
Clara  Richards,  who  was  born  in  the  state 
of  Pennsylvania,  a  daughter  of  William  and 
Jane  (Trowbridge)  Richards,  the  former  a 
native  of  Ohio  and  the  latter  of  West  Vir- 
ginia. In  1859  ^Ir.  Richards  came  with  his 
family  to  Nebraska  Territory  and  he  was 
numbered  among  the  early  settlers  of  Pawnee 
county,  —  a  sterling  pioneer  who  contributed 
his  full  quota  to  the  development  and  progress 
of  southeastern  Nebraska.  In  conclusion  is 
given  brief  record  concerning  the  children  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dobbs:  Dora  is  the  wife  of 
E.  E.  Tombaugh,  of  Hereford,  South  Dakota ; 
Burton  H.  is  a  resident  of  Beloit,  .Wisconsin ; 
Luella  is  the  wife  of  Charles  Cavett,  of  Blue 
Springs,  Gage  county;  Kate  is  the  wife  of  H. 
H.  Dann,  of  Beatrice;  Alice  is  at  home;  and 
Chester  B.  is  in  the  United  States  Marine 
service,  being  at  Paris  Island  at  the  time  of 
this  writing,  in  the  spring  of  1918. 

DAVID  H.  MICHAEL.  — The  village  of 
Liberty,  Nebraska,  has  for  its  postmaster  a 
man  who  has  been  very  successful  in  his  farm- 
ing operations  during  his  twenty  years'  resi- 
dence in  Gage  county.  Mr.  Michael  came 
from  Warren  county,  Illinois,  in  which  county 
he  was  born,  October  24,  1852.  His  parents, 
David  K.  and  Cynthia  (Lieurance)  Michael, 
were  bom  in  North  Carolina  and  Ohio  re- 
spectively. The  parents  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
David  K.  Alichael  had  migrated  from  their 
respective  states  and  were  early  pioneers  of 
Illinois,  giving  their  lives  in  the  reclaiming  of 
the  wild  fertile  lands  to  productivity.  In  their 
adopted  state  of  Illinois  these  young  peo])le 
met  and  were  joined  in  holy  wedlock.  In 
1852  David  K.  JMichael  went  to  California, 
where  he  remained  three  years,  but  he  dis- 
covered, as  did  many  another,  that  the  gold 
did  not  grow  on  the  trees  and  that  the  soil 
of  his-adopted  state,  Illinois,  would  still  yield 


her  treasures  of  wheat  and  corn.  Upon  his 
return  he  purchased  land,  and  he  continued 
his  farming  pursuits  the  rest  of  his  life.  His 
parents,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  Michael,  left 
Illinois  and  moved  to  Missouri,  arriving  there 
during  the  great  pro-slavery  agitation  in  that 
state,  before  the  Civil  war,  and  there  they 
passed  the  remainder  of  their  lives. 

Six  children  were  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
David  K.  Michael,  three  of  whom  survive 
them,  as  follows:  David  H.,  the  subject  of 
this  review ;  Perr}%  a  farmer  in  Pawnee 
county,  Nebraska ;  and  Douglas,  likewise  a 
resident  of  that  county.  The  mother,  Cynthia 
(Lieurance)  Michael,  was  the  daughter  of 
Elijah  and  Eliza  Lieurance,  who  had  tilled  the 
soil  in  Ohio  prior  to  their  removal  to  Warren 
county,  Illinois. 

David  H.  Michael  made  good  use  of  his  op- 
portunities for  education,  for,  after  finishing 
his  high-school  work,  he  attended  Abbingdon 
College,  in  Knox  county,  Illinois. 

In  1874  Mr.  Michael  was  united  in  mar- 
riage to  Miss  Angle  Sailor,  who  was  born  May 
8,  1853,  in  Knox  county,  Illinois.  In  the 
Buckeye  state  a  home  had  been  established  by 
the  union  of  Jeremiah  and  Priscilla  (Mason) 
Sailor,  who  were  natives  of  that  state,  but  not 
content  with  their  opportunities  in  their  natal 
state  they  established  their  home  in  Knox 
county,  Illinois.  They  were  tillers  of  the  soil 
and  lived  happy,  useful  lives,  giving  sons  and 
daughters  to  the  world  to  carry  on  the  march 
of  civilization. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  David  H.  Michael  have  four 
children,  all  of  whom  received  educational  ad- 
vantages fitting  them  for  their  duties  in  the 
world.  The  firstborn  is  Ethel,  who  is  the  wife 
of  J.  F.  Spence,  an  employe  in  the  government 
printing  office,  Washington,  D.  C. ;  Kathryn  is 
assistant  postmaster  at  Liberty,  Nebraska ; 
Mabel  remains  at  the  parental  home ;  and  Van 
D.  is  fanning. 

In  1892  Mr.  Michael,  with  his  wife  and 
family,  came  to  Pawnee  county,  Nebraska,  and 
for  a  number  of  years  he  rented  land,  but  tht 
rich  soil  of  Pawnee  county  soon  gave  such 
returns  for  his  labor  that  he  was  enabled,  in 
1900,  to  purchase  eighty  acres  of  land  in  that 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


1043 


county.  Later  he  added  another  eighty  acres. 
He  finally  sold  his  land  holdings  in  Pawnee 
county  and  moved  to  Missouri,  but  there  he 
remained  only  a  few  months.  Upon  his  re- 
turn he  purchased  three  hundred  and  twenty 
acres  in  Liberty  township,  Gage  county,  and 
he  still  retains  the  ownership  of  this  property. 
Mr.  Michael  has  taken  a  keen  interest  in 
political  affairs  and  is  a  staunch  supporter  ol 
the  Democratic  party.  In  1915  he  was  ap- 
pointed postmaster  at  Liberty  and  his  second 
daughter  is  assistant  postmaster.  With  his 
family  he  attends  and  supports  the  Christian 
church. 

RUPERT  C.  PEARSON.  —  The  life  rec- 
ord of  Rupert  C.  Pearson  is  one  of  varied 
activities  and  he  is  interested  in  and  manager 
of  the  Adams  Mercantile  Company,  in  the 
thriving  village  of  Adams.  Mr.  Pearson  was 
born  at  Indianola,  Iowa,  August  7,  1859.  His 
parents  were  Allen  and  Nancy  (Henderson) 
Pearson,  the  former  born  in  Indianapolis,  In- 
diana, in  1819,  and  the  latter  born  in  Louis- 
ville, Kentucky,  in  1826.  The  father  was  a 
farmer  until  1874,  when  he  came  to  Nebraska 
and  engaged  in  the  hardware  and  lumber  busi- 
ness at  Sterling,  Johnson  county,  where  he 
remained  until  his  death,  in  1892.  There  his 
wife  passed  away,  in  1882.  They  were  the 
parents  of  thirteen  children  six  of  whom  are 
living. 

Rupert  C.  Pearson  was  reared  under  the 
parental  roof  and  after  coming  to  Nebraska 
he  attended  school  at  Sterling  for  a  short 
time,  after  which  he  became  identified  with 
his  father's  business.  In  1878,  he  entered  the 
hardware  business  on  his  own  account,  con- 
ducting the  same  for  about  nine  years.  In 
1890  Mr.  Pearson  came  to  .A.dams,  Nebraska, 
and  bought  grain  for  the  Norcross  &  Wore 
Company.  Later  he  engaged  in  mercantile 
business,  and  for  a  time  he  was  cashier  of  the 
Farmers'  State  Bank.  He  was  also  interested 
in  ranches  in  the  western  part  of  the  state. 
For  the  benefit  of  his  wife's  health  he  moved 
to  California,  and  there  he  was  in  the  fruit 
business  for  a  time.  In  1913  he  returned  to 
Adams  and  assumed  the  management  of  the 


Adams  Mercantile  Company,  with  which  he  is 
still  identified. 

In  November,  1884,  Mr.  Pearson  married 
Miss  Carrie  Grey,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania, 
born  in  1855.  She  was  the  mother  of  one 
son,  A.  Grey  Pearson,  who  has  served  four 
years  in  the  marine  corps  in  the  service  of  his 
country.  Mrs.  Pearson  was  called  to  her  final 
rest  in  1914. 

Mr.  Pearson  is  a  member  of  the  Presby- 
terian church,  and  in  politics  is  a  Democrat. 
Fraternally  he  belongs  to  the  Independent 
Order  of  Odd  Fellows  and  Modern  Woodmen 
of  America.  In  1898  he  enlisted  in  Company 
I,  Second  Nebraska  Volunteer  Infantry,  and 
with  the  command  he  saw  some  months  of 
service  in  the  war  with  Spain.  Mr.  Pearson 
is  a  loyal,  progressive  citizen  and  has  done 
much  to  advance  the  interests  of  his  com- 
munity. He  has  erected  three  residence 
properties  in  Adams,  and  any  worthy  cause 
has  his  endorsement. 


HENRY  H.  SACHTLEBEN.  —  Among 
the  prosperous  farmers  of  Nemaha  township. 
Gage  county,  mention  should  be  made  in  this 
publication  of  Henry  H.  Sachtleben,  who 
makes  his  home  in  Section  14  of  that  town- 
ship. Mr.  Sachtleben  is  the  owner  of  nine 
hundred  acres  of  land,  all  in  Gage  county,  and 
all  of  this  he  has  accumulated  through  his  own 
efforts,  having  started  life  as  a  poor  boy.  Mr. 
Sachtleben  was  born  September  16,  1853,  in 
the  province  of  Hanover,  Germany,  and  is  a 
son  of  John  and  Minnie  (Mollman)  Sacht- 
leben. He  is  one  of  a  family  of  six  children, 
as  follows :  Wilhelmina  Kramer,  of  whom 
record  will  be  found  on  other  pages  of  this 
volume;  Henry  LI.,  of  this  review;  Herman, 
of  Menard,  Illinois ;  Maggie,  deceased ;  Mrs. 
Jennie  Steinman,  of  Republic  county,  Kansas ; 
and  Lizzie,  deceased  wife  of  H.  Penterman. 

John  Sachtleben  was  born  in  Germany, 
about  1839,  and  died  in  1890.  In  1868  he  left 
Germany  and  came  with  his  family  to  America. 
He  settled  in  Illinois,  where  he  passed  the  re- 
mainder of  his  life.  Llis  widow  later  came  to 
Gage  county,  where  she  died  in  1903,  at  the 
age   of   seventy-seven   years,      Mr.   and    Mrs. 


1044 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Sachtleben  were  members  of  the  Lutheran 
church. 

The  subject  of  this  review  worked  as  a  farm 
hand  in  Ilhnois,  and  attended  school  in  that 
state.  His  father  being  a  poor  man,  it  be- 
came necessary  for  him  to  make  his  own  way 
from  his  boyhood.  In  the  spring  of  1885  Mr. 
Sachtleben  came  to  Nebraska  and  settled  in 
Nemaha  township.  Gage  county,  where  he 
bought  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land, 
in  Section  14,  this  being  his  present  home 
farm.  At  the  time  of  purchase  only  ninety 
acres  of  this  land  were  under  cultivation,  and 
Mr.  Sachtleben  set  to  work  improving  -the 
property,  making  extensive  improvements  on 
the  land  itself  as  well  as  by  erecting  new  build- 
ings, and  from  time  to  time  he  has  bought 
more  land  until  at  the  present  time  he  is  the 
owner  of  nine  hundred  acres  of  land  in  Gage 
county,  all  well  improved.  Mr.  Sachtleben  is 
numbered  among  the  very  successful  farmers 
of  the  county.  He  is  also  interested  as  a  stock- 
holder in  the  Farmers'  Elevator  Companies  at 
Cortland  and  Firth,  Nebraska.  He  is  also 
vice-president  of  the  Firth  Bank.  In  politics 
Mr.  Sachtleben  is  an  independent  Democrat, 
and  he  and  his  family  are  members  of  the 
Lutheran  church. 

On  March  8,  1883,  occurred  the  marriage 
of  Mr.  Sachtleben  to  Miss  Lizzie  Vesselmann, 
who  was  born  in  Germany,  January  20,  1862, 
a  daughter  of  Henry  and  Mary  (Middlekamp) 
Vesselmann,  natives  of  Germany,  where  they 
passed  their  entire  lives.  Mrs.  Sachtleben 
came  to  America  in  1879  and  settled  in  Illi- 
nois. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sachtleben  are  the  par- 
ents of  five  children,  as  follows:  John,  a 
farmer  in  Nemaha  township;  Minnie,  wife  of 
C.  Jutson,  of  Nemaha  township;  Harry,  at 
home;  Emma,  wife  of  William  Packard,  liv- 
ing near  Cortland,  Nebraska;  and  Carl,  at 
home. 

GEOGRE  W.  SPIEGEL.  — The  metro- 
politan facilities  of  the  city  of  Beatrice  are 
definitely  enhanced  by  the  well  ordered  auto- 
mobile garage  and  salesrooms  of  Mr.  Spiegel, 
who  has  provided  his  establishment  with  the 
best  equipped  repair  and  service  departments 


and  who  has  developed  a  large  and  substantial 
business  in  the  handling  of  the  celebrated 
Overland  automobiles,  for  which  he  is  dis- 
tributor in  this  section  of  the  state,  his  an- 
nual business  now  showing  an  average  aggre- 
gate of  about  five  hundred  thousand  dollars 
and  his  establishment  showing  at  all  times  a 
large  assortment  of  the  Overland  cars,  so  that 
he  is  able  to  make  quick  deliveries  in  connec- 
tion with  sales.  He  has  brought  to  bear  in 
the  enterprise  a  dynamic  energy  and  progres- 
siveness  and  is  one  of  the  most  successful  ex- 
ponents of  the  automobile  industry  in  south- 
eastern Nebraska. 

Mr.  Spiegel  was  born  in  the  city  of  Fort 
Dodge,  Iowa,  on  the  4th  of  June,  1881,  and 
is  a  son  of  Emil  F.  and  Mary  (Gunther) 
Spiegel,  who  were  born  and  reared  in  Illinois, 
where  their  marriage  was  solemnized.  In 
1878  the  father  purchased  a  tract  of  land  near 
Fort  Dodge,  Iowa,  where  he  developed  a  valu- 
able farm  property  and  where  he  became  a 
substantial  and  influential  citizen.  He  is  now 
li%'ing  virtually  retired  in  the  city  of  Los 
Angeles,  California,  his  wife  having  passed  to 
the  life  eternal  in  April,  1916,  a  zealous  com- 
municant of  the  German  Lutheran  church,  of 
which  he  also  is  an  active  adherent,  his  politi- 
cal allegiance,  fortified  by  well  ordered  con- 
victions, being  given  to  the  Republican  party. 
Of  the  two  children  the  subject  of  this  review 
is  the  younger,  and  Edward  W.  is  associatea 
with  the  Peters  Pump  Company,  of  Kewanee, 
Illinois.  Frederick  Spiegel,  grandfather  of 
the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born  and  reared 
in  Germany,  where  he  learned  the  miller's 
trade.  In  1865  he  established  his  residence  in 
Illinois,  after  having  been  compelled  to  borrow 
sufficient  money  to  defray  the  cost  of  his  voy- 
age to  America,  and  by  his  ability  and  well 
directed  efforts  he  gained  definite  independ- 
ence and  prosperity,  both  he  and  his  wife  hav- 
ing passed  the  remainder  of  their  lives  in  Illi- 
nois. 

Frederick  Gunther,  maternal  grandfather 
of  Mr.  Spiegel,  came  from  Germany  to  Amer- 
ica and  established  his  residence  in  Illinois  in 
1870.  A  mason  by  trade,  he  there  turned  his 
attention  eventually  to  the  manufacturing  of 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA  1045 


George  W.  Spiegel 


1046 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


brick,  in  which  Hne  of  enterprise  he  was  en- 
gaged eighteen  years.  In  1880  he  engaged 
also  in  the  manufacturing  of  pumps  and  wind- 
mills, at  Kewanee,  and  from  a  small  incep- 
tion he  developed  this  into  one  of  the  large 
and  important  manufacturing  industries  of 
that  section  of  Illinois.  He  continued  as  the 
executive  head  of  the  business  until  his  death 
and  the  large  plant  and  business,  basing  op- 
erations upon  a  capital  of  two  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars,  are  still  owned  by  the  members 
of  his  family,  the  products  of  the  factory  be- 
ing now-  shipped  to  all  parts  of  the  United 
States  and  Canada. 

George  \V.  Spiegel  is  indebted  to  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  Kewanee,  Illinois,  for  his  early 
educational  discipline,  and  there  he  was 
graudated  in  the  high  school,  as  a  member  of 
the  class  of  1898.  Thereafter  he  was  for  ten 
years  a  traveling  representative  and  salesman 
for  a  leading  piano  house,  and  within  this 
period  he  efficiently  covered  territory  in  Illi- 
nois, Wisconsin,  South  Dakota,  Kansas  and 
Colorado,  with  an  admirable  record  for  suc- 
cessful salesmanship. 

In  1908  Mr.  Spiegel  associated  himself  with 
the  Wyllis-Overland  Automobile  Company  by 
taking  a  position  in  its  sales  agency  in  the  city 
of  Lincoln,  Nebraska.  There  he  remained 
until  June,  1915,  when  he  came  to  Beatrice  and 
established  his  present  agency  for  the  same- 
company.  Mr.  Spiegel  is  a  young  man  of 
marked  progressiveness  and  his  activities 
along  this  line  touch  not  only  his  own  busi- 
ness but  also  mark  his  attitude  as  a  loyal  and 
public-spirited  citizen.  He  is  actively  affili- 
ated with  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fel- 
lows, in  which  he  has  passed  the  various  of- 
ficial chairs,  and  he  is  a  member  also  of  the 
United  Commercial  Travelers'  Association. 

In  1907  was  recorded  the  marriage  of  Mr. 
Spiegel  to  Miss  Anna  Monroe,  who  was  bom 
in  the  state  of  Wisconsin  and  who  has  the  dis- 
tinction of  being  a  lineal  descendant  of  James 
Monroe,  fifth  president  of  the  United  States. 
Mrs.  Spiegel  is  a  daughter  of  Rev.  Michael 
Benson,  who  has  been  for  more  than  half  a 
century  pastor  of  the  First  Methodist  church 
at   Eau   Claire,   Wisconsin,   and   who,   at   the 


venerable  age  of  seventy-eight  years,  is  serving 
in  1917-18  as  president  of  the  Wisconsin  Min- 
isterial Association.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Spiegel 
are  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church  in  their  home  city  and  are  popular 
figures  in  the  representative  social  activities  of 
the  community.  They  have  one  son,  Frederick 
G.,  who  was  born  in  the  year  1911. 

JACOB  HEYEN.  — The  people  of  Filley 
township  have  every  reason  to  be  proud  of  the 
fine  farms  that  are  to  t^e  found  so  plentifully 
scattered  over  its  broad  acres,  and  its  repu- 
tation as  an  agricultural  and  stock-raising  dis- 
trict is  enviable.  Among  those  who  have  done 
not  a  little  to  maintain  a  high  standard  in  this 
respect  is  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 

It  was  in  1904  that  Mr.  Heyen  came  to  Gage 
county  and  purchased  his  present  farm.  It 
was  originally  known  as  the  King  farm,  hav- 
ing been  developed  by  Charles  W.  King,  an 
early  settler  of  Gage  county.  Mr.  Heyen  has 
erected  a  new  house  and  new  bams  and  has  a 
very  fine  property,  the  farm  consisting  of  two 
hundred  and  eighty  acres. 

Mr.  Heyen  is  a  native  of  Missouri,  bom  in 
Atchison  county,  October  28,  1870.  His  par- 
ents were  Hl^^e  J.  and  Grace  (Folkerts) 
Heyen,  natives  of  Germany.  The  mother  is 
deceased.  The  father  rhakes  his  home  with  a 
daughter  in  Gage  county.  Jacob  Heyen  is  the 
oldest  of  four  children,  three  of  whom  are 
living.  A  sister,  Anna,  is  the  wife  of  W.  G. 
Cooper,  residing  in  Nemaha  township.  His 
brother,  Frank,  resides  in  Atchison  county, 
Missouri.  One  child,  likewise  named  Frank, 
died  in  infancy. 

Our  subject  was  reared  in  his  native  county 
and  acquired  his  education  in  the  public 
schools.  He  followed  mercantile  pursuits  in 
Langdon,  Missouri,  before  coming  to  Gage 
county. 

February  27,  1895,  Mr.  Heyen  was  united  in 
marriage  to  Miss  Hiebe  Cooper,  and  of  this 
union  have  been  born  five  children.  Their 
names  are :  George,  Matilda,  Juanita,  Hemiie, 
and  Frank. 

Mr.  Heyen  devotes  his  energies  to  general 
farming  and  stock-raising  and  is  one  of  the 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


1047 


prosperous  men  of  his  adopted  county.  The 
family  are  members  of  the  German  Lutheran 
church  and  Mr.  Heyen  exercises  his  right  of 
franchise  in  support  of  men  and  measures  as 
advocated  by  the  Democratic  party. 


of  teaching  prior  to  her  marriage.  Mr.  Bry- 
son  is  meeting  with  success  in  his  farming 
operations  and  readily  gives  his  endorsement 
to  those  projects  which  have  to  do  with  the 
uplift  of  his  community. 


GUY  R.  BRYSON  is  operating  a  farm  in 
Adams  township  and  is  meeting  with  success. 
He  is  a  native  of  Ohio,  his  birth  having  oc- 
curred in  Athens  county,  October  17,  1879. 
He  is  a  son  of  David  W.  and  Elizabeth  (Bor- 
der) Bryson.  The  father  was  born  in  Athens 
county,  Ohio,  February  1,  1837.  During  the 
Civil  war  he  served  in  the  home  guards.  He 
was  a  farmer  all  his  life.  In  1880  he  came  to 
Gage  county  and  engaged  in  fanning  land 
where  the  town  of  Adams  now  stands.  He 
passed  away,  in  Adams  township,  September 
17,  1882.  Mr.  Bryson  was  a  member  of  the 
Methodist  church.  In  1856  he  married  Miss 
Elizabeth  Border,  who  was  bom  in  Ohio,  De- 
cember 28,  1832.  She  now  makes  her  home 
with  her  son  Guy.  She  has  reached  the  age 
of  eighty-four  years,  is  enjoying  good  health 
and  finds  employment  and  pleasure  in  piecing 
quilts.  She  became  the  mother  of  ten  chil- 
dren, as  follows:  Lois,  wife  of  Nat.  Shaw,  of 
Adams,  Nebraska;  Mrs.  William  E.  Bryson, 
of  University  Place,  Nebraska ;  Florence,  de- 
ceased;  Mrs.  Mary  Applebee,  of  Maryville, 
Missouri ;  Elmer  A.,  of  Chicago ;  Archibald 
C,  of  Adams ;  Herbert,  of  Lincoln,  in  the 
United  States  railway  mail  service;  Harry, 
deceased ;  Mrs.  Bertha  Dixon,  of  Adams ;  and 
Guy  R. 

Guy  R.  Bn'son  came  to  Gage  county  with 
his  parents  when  a  child.  He  was  reared  on 
a  farm  and  wisely  chose  agriculture  as  an 
occupation.  On  Juae  13,  1901,  he  married 
Miss  Marie  De  Young,  a  native  of  Iowa,  and 
a  daughter  of  John  and  Clara  (Post)  De- 
Young,  natives  of  Holland,  and  Iowa  respec- 
tively. Mr.  De  Young  came  with  his  family 
to  Nebraska  in  1897,  settling  in  Lancaster 
county.  Later  he  conducted  a  hardware  store 
in  Adams,  Gage  county,  and  he  and  his  wife 
are  now  residents  of  Emporia,  Kansas.  Mrs. 
Bryson  attended  the  State  Normal  school  at 
Peru,  Nebraska,  and  followed  the  profession 


JOHN  A.  REULING.  —  When  a  truly 
able  and  gifted  man  find?  his  niche  in  the 
world  of  business  and  finance,  his  success  is 
certain  and  definite.  There  is  no  miscalcula- 
tion about  his  being  adapted  to  his  surround- 
ings —  a  really  successful  person  becomes 
more  so  when  he  has  found  the  proper  line  of 
endeavor  in  which  to  exercise  inherited  and 
developed  talents.  Truly  successful  men  are 
those  who  have  studied  themselves  and  their 
aptitudes,  physical,  mental,  and  moral,  and 
when  they  have  found  their  vocation  they  are 
successful  in  it  because  of  their  love  for  and 
knowledge  of  it.  John  A.  Reuling,  successful 
financier  and  business  man,  is  one  who  has 
found  his  true  potential  and  developed  himself 
and  his  powers  to  the  fullest  extent. 

John  A.  Reuling,  president  of  the  First  Na- 
tional Bank  of  Wymore,  was  bom  in  Musca- 
tine, Iowa,  August  23,  1866,  a  son  of  John  A. 
and  Louisa  (Schnier)  Reuling,  both  natives 
of  Germany.  John  A.  Reuling,  Sr.,  came  to 
the  United  States  when  a  boy  of  fourteen 
years  and  located  at  Burlington,  Iowa,  where 
he  learned  the  baker's  trade  and  finally  en- 
gaged in  business.  Later  he  moved  to  Mus- 
catine, Iowa,  where  for  many  years  he  carried 
on  a  very  successful  business.  The  time  that 
prosperity  smiled  upon  him  with  no  uncertain 
smile  was  when  two  railroads  were  being 
built  through  Muscatine  and  brought  many 
laborers  and  artisans  of  every  sort  to  the  little 
village.  The  railroad  service  made  the  little 
village  grow  and  prosper,  and  Mr.  Reuling's 
business  prospered  accordingly.  He  had 
started  at  the  lowest  rung  of  the  ladder  and 
through  persistent  effort,  hard  work  and 
snatching  opportunity  by  the  forelock,  he  re- 
tired from  business  with  more  than  an  ordi- 
nary competence. 

In  Iowa  Mr.  Reuling  married  Miss  Louisa 
Schnier,  who  was  born  in  Germany  and  who 
came  to  Iowa  with  her  native-born  German 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


parents.  Eight  children  were  born  to  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Reuling,  as  follows :  James  R.,  a  retired 
capitalist,  living  at  Muscatine,  Iowa ;  George 
W.,  a  grocery  merchant  in  Muscatine,  Iowa ; 
John  A.,  subject  of  this  sketch;  Walter  E., 
professor  in  the  machinery  department  of  the 
University  of  Michigan;  Anna  M.,  wife  of  J. 
W.  Page,  an  assessor  at  Joplin,  Missouri; 
Lucy  E.,  wife  of  E-  R.  Reinement,  in  the  dry- 
goods  business  at  Muscatine;  Nellie  and  Ella 
are  single  and  live  at  Muscatine,  Iowa.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Reuling  were  members  of  the  Lu- 
theran church  and  the  Democratic  party  re- 
ceived the  vote  of  Mr.  Reuling.  He  was  a 
self-made  man  and  a  public-spirited  citizen, 
who  took  a  lively  interest  in  all  movements 
for  civic  bettemient.  He  served  on  the  Mus- 
catine city  council  for  some  time.  Both  he 
and  his  wife  died  and  were  laid  to  rest  at 
Muscatine,  Iowa. 

John  A.  Reuling,  with  whom  this  sketch 
deals,  received  his  education  in  his  native  city 
and  was  there  graduated  from  the  high  school 
in  1885.  The  first  work  Mr.  Reuling  tried 
after  starting  work  for  himself  was  in  a  com- 
mission house,  but  he  did  not  remain  long 
with  this  concern,  his  ambitions  being  along 
a  different  line.  In  his  home  town  he  was 
then  employed  by  a  successful  jeweler,  who 
taught  him  the  trade,  and  for  twenty  years 
Mr.  Reuling  devoted  his  entire  energies  to 
this  work.  He  was  in  Fort  Scott.  Kansas,  for 
some  time  and  then  came  to  Wymore,  Ne- 
braska, in  1891,  and  started  a  jewelry  store. 
This  business  he  continued  until  1910.  In 
1902  he  became  interested  in  the  Wymore 
State  Bank,  of  which  corporation  he  was  vice- 
president.  When  the  institution  was  reorgan- 
ized as  a  national  bank  and  incorporated  as  the 
City  National  Bank,  he  was  elected  its  presi- 
dent. In  1910  the  City  National  Bank  and 
the  First  National  Bank  corporations  com- 
bined under  the  corporate  name  of  First  Na- 
tional Bank,  and  Mr.  Reuling  discontinued 
his  jewelry  business  to  devote  his  entire  time 
to  his  banking  business,  as  the  president  of 
the  First  National  Bank.  The  building  in 
which  they  did  business  was  completely  de- 
stroyed by  fire  in   1914. 


In  1893  Mr.  John  Reuling  and  Sara  E. 
Deemer  were  united  in  marriage.  Mrs.  Reul- 
ing is  a  daughter  of  John  A.  and  Elizabeth 
(Erwin)  Deemer.  Her  parents  moved  to 
Iowa  from  Indiana,  where  Mr.  Deemer  was 
engaged  in  the  lumber  business.  His  eldest 
son,  Horace  E.  Deemer,  was  elected  to  the 
supreme  court  of  Iowa,  in  which  capacity  he 
distinguished  himself.  No  children  have  been 
born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Reuling.  Mrs.  Reuling 
was  brought  up  in  the  gentle  faith  of  the  So- 
ciety of  Friends  and  still  remains  a  member  of 
the  organization.  Her  husband  was  confirmed 
in  the  Lutheran  church  and  is  still  a  communi- 
cant of  same.  Politically  he  allies  himself 
with  the  Republican  party  and  he  has  served 
three  terms  as  mayor  of  Wymore,  also  one 
term  as  the  city  treasurer. 

The  First  National  Bank  of  Wymore,  of 
which  Mr.  Reuling  is  president,  has  a  capital 
of  $50,000,  with  undivided  profits  and  surplus 
of  $16,000,  the  average  deposits  being 
$500,000.  He  devotes  his  entire  time  to  his 
banking  interests  but  during  this  time  of  the 
world  war  he  has  effected  an  organization 
which  has  for  its  goal  the  supplying  of  funds 
for  the  war  and  for  army  supplies.  He  is  also 
chairman  of  the  Gage  County  Bankers'  Pa- 
triotic Association,  orsfanized  in  the  fall  of 
1917. 

Mr.  Reuling  was  the  first  president  and  one 
of  the  organizers  of  the  Farmers'  Grain,  Lum- 
ber &  Coal  Company  of  Wymore,  also  presi- 
dent of  the  Building  &  Loan  Association.  He 
is  affiliated  with  the  York  Rite  bodies  of  the 
Masonic  fraternity  and  also  with  the  Mystic 
Shrine.  He  has  served  as  master  of  his  Ma- 
sonic lodge,  as  high  priest  in  his  local  chapter 
of  Royal  Arch  Masons,  and  as  thrice  illus- 
trious master  of  the  council  of  Royal  &  Select 
Masters.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Independent 
Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  in  which  he  is  trea- 
surer of  his  lodge,  and  is  also  a  member  of 
the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America. 

ARCHIE  C.  HITT.  — The  late  Archie  C. 
Hitt  was  born  in  Delaware  county.  New  York, 
May  13,  1848.  The  Empire  state  was  the 
home  of  the  Hitt  family  for  many  years,  his- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


1049 


parents,  Samuel  and  Jeannette  (Campbell) 
Hitt,  were  likewise  born  in  Delaware  county, 
the  fomier  on  the  16th  day  of  September, 
1812,  his  death  occurring  July  10,  1883,  in 
Odell,  Nebraska.  The  mother  was  born  May 
15,  1812,  and  died  January  7,  1877.  Samuel 
Hitt  was  a  lumberman  in  the  early  days  when 
he  lived  in  Delaware  county.  That  county 
to-day  hears  the  lumberman's  ax  no  more,  as 
it  is  densely  settled  and  covered  with  factories 
of  every  sort.  But  the  men  like  Mr.  Hitt 
blazed  the  way  that  the  factory  might  in  its 
turn  be  raised.  In  this  county  was  solemnized 
the  marriage  of  Samuel  Hitt  and  Jeannette 
Campbell,  and  their  three  children  were  there 
born.  In  1855  they  removed  to  Ogle  county, 
Illinois,  and  there  Mr.  Hitt  engaged  in  fann- 
ing. In  that  county  they  laid  the  wife  and 
mother  to  rest,  in  1877.  In  1883  the  father 
and  sons  came  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  lo- 
cating in  Odell.  Shortly  after  their  arrival 
Samuel  Hitt  passed  to  the  life  eternal,  his 
death  occurring  on  the  10th  day  of  July,  1883. 
Of  the  three  children  the  following  brief  rec- 
ord is  offered:  Mary  J.  is  the  wife  of  H. 
Price,  living  in  Paddock  township,  this  county  ; 
Archie  C.  is  the  subject  of  this  memoir;  and 
George  B.  has  later  mention  in  this  sketch. 

Archie  C.  Hitt  was  married  to  Etta  Shafer 
in  Ogle  county,  Illinois.  She  was  bom  De- 
cember 5,  1859,  in  Delaware  county.  New 
York,  a  daughter  of  I.yman  and  Jane 
Shafer.  Her  father  likewise  was  engaged 
in  the  lumber  business  in  New  York.  He 
later  farmed  in  Ogle  county,  Illinois,  and  also 
farmed  for  some  time  in  Mississippi,  going  to 
the  latter  state  in  1898.  In  1907  he  came  to 
Beatrice,  Nebraska,  where  he  made  his  home 
until  his  death,  September  6,  1914.  Mr. 
Shafer  was  born  in  1829,  and  his  wife,  Mrs. 
Jane  Shafer,  was  born  in  1837 :  she  makes 
her  home  with  her  oldest  daughter,  Mrs. 
Archie  Hitt. 

In  1883  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Archie  Hitt  came  to 
Elm  township,  Gage  county,  and  purchased 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land,  in  Section 
24.  Mr.  Hitt  pursued  his  farming  operations 
on  this  land  until  his  death.  May  18,  1899. 
Four   children    came   to   bless   this   home,   as 


follows  :  Jennie  is  the  wife  of  Frank  J.  Kauf- 
man, of  Elm  township;  .Alvin  also  resides  in 
this  township;  Cora  is  the  wife  of  H.  L. 
Raney,  living  south  of  Wymore,  this  county ; 
and  Archie  D.  is  at  home  with  his  widowed 
mother.  When  Mr.  Hitt  died  he  left  a  burden 
of  debt  on  the  farm.  His  widow,  with  the 
children,  did  the  farm  work  and  paid  the  in- 
debtedness. She  even  worked  in  the  field  to 
compass  this  worthy  end. 

George  B.  Hitt,  the  brother  of  Archie  Hitt, 
was  born  in  Delaware  coimty.  New  York, 
January  6.  1850,  and  is  now  engaged  in  farm- 
ing one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  in 
Section  24,  Elm  township,  just  south  of  the 
.Archie  Hitt  farm.  The  two  brothers  worked 
constantly  in  partnership  and  since  Archie's 
death  George  Hitt  has  helped  Mrs.  Hitt  with 
her  farming  and  makes  his  home  with  her  and 
her  family. 

George  Hitt's  early  life  was  spent  in  Dela- 
ware county.  New  York,  and  Ogle  county, 
Illinois,  and  since  then  he  has  farmed  the 
present  land,  with  the  exception  of  one  year, 
1883-1884,  when  he  farmed  in  Marshall 
county,  Kansas.  Mr.  Hitt  has  never  married. 
He  votes  the  Republican  ticket  and  takes  an 
active  interest  in  all  local  civic  affairs. 

WILLIAM  M.  EBY,  who  is  living  retired 
on  his  farm  in  Glenwood  township,  was  born 
in  Lebanon  county,  Pennsylvania,  January  18, 
1847.  His  father,  Moses  Eby,  was  likewise  a 
native  of  Lebanon  county,  Pennsylvania, 
where  he  was  born  November  11,  1826.  In 
1850  Moses  Eby  became  a  pioneer  settler  in 
La  Salle  count)^  Illinois,  where  he  located  on 
a  farm  near  where  the  city  of  Mendota  was 
afterward  built.  He  was  a  successful  farmer 
and  his  last  days  were  spent  at  Freeport,  Illi- 
nois, where  he  passed  away  in  1908,  at  the  age 
of  eighty-two  years.  The  maiden  name  of  his 
wife  was  Sarah  Haak.  She  was  born  in  Le- 
banon county,  Pennsylvania,  and  passed  away 
at  the  old  home  in  La  Salle  county,  Illinois, 
December  9,  1876.  They  were  the  parents  of 
five  children.  William  M.  is  the  eldest,  be- 
sides being  the  only  son ;  two  daughters,  Ade- 
line and  Ida  died  in  young  womanhood ;  and 


1050 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


1051 


the  two  suniving  daughters  are  Mrs.  George 
Betz,  of  Princeton,  Illinois,  and  Airs.  Philip 
Betz,  of  Storm  Lake,  Iowa. 

William  M.  Eby  was  three  years  old  when 
the  family  settled  in  Illinois,  where  his  boy- 
hood days  were  spent  in  the  usual  manner  of 
fprm  lads  of  that  period  —  attending  the  public 
schools  and  assisting  in  the  work  of  the 
farm.  On  reaching  manhood  he  purchased 
land  and  engaged  in  farming  in  an  independent 
way.  He  continued  his  farm  enterprise  in 
Illinois  until  1885,  when  he  came  to  Ne- 
braska. The  first  year  he  spent  in  Odell,  and 
in  1886  he  bought  his  present  farm,  upon 
which  he  has  lived  continuously  since  that 
time.  The  improvements  on  the  place  were  of 
a  ver\'  primitive  order,  but  these  were  replaced 
with  the  buildings  that  now  adorn  the  prop- 
erty and  which  are  among  the  best  in  the 
township.  Though  this  farm  has  always  been 
his  home  he  has  rented  his  land  year  after  year 
for  sixteen  years,  .in  the  meanwhile  he  con- 
ducted a  general  merchandise  store  at  Lan- 
ham,  and  since  severing  his  connection  with 
mercantile  pursuits  he  has  lived  retired. 

While  a  resident  of  Illinois  Mr.  Eby  was 
united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Malinda  Eckert,  a. 
native  of  La  Salle  county,  that  state.  She 
was  bom  May  7,  1852,  a  daughter  of  Jonas 
and  Nancy  (Erb)  Eckert,  who  were  natives 
of  Lebanon  county,  Pennsylvania,  and  who, 
in  1849,  became  residents  of  La  Salle  county, 
Illinois,  where  they  passed  the  remainder  of 
their  lives.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Eby  became  the 
parents  of  seven  children:  Ed  is  in  the  em- 
ploy of  the  LTnited  States  postoffice  depart- 
ment, as  clerk  in  the  postoffice  at  Lincoln,  Ne- 
braska ;  Ida  is  the  wife  of  Ed  Jeffreys ;  Wil- 
liam is  deceased ;  Mrs.  I.  E.  Faulder  lives  in 
Riverside  township ;  Henry  is  a  resident  of 
Beatrice;  Laura  is  the  wife  of  Clarence  Ruyle. 
of  Bookwalter,  Nebraska;  and  one  child  died 
in  infancy. 

Mr.  Eby  came  to  Glenwood  township  when 
conditions  were  far  dififerent  than  those  of  the 
present  day,  and  in  the  work  of  transforma- 
tion he  has  taken  an  active  interest  and  part. 
He  is  a  Republican  in  politics  and  has  served 
as  treasurer  of  his  township,  but  the  emolu- 


ments of  public  office  have  had  no  attraction 
for  him,  and  close  application  to  his  own  af- 
fairs has  brought  him  the  success  that  enables 
him  to  put  aside  the  active  work  of  former 
years  and  enjoy  a  well  earned  rest. 

FRANK  STRAUCH  was  born  in  Germany 
on  the  28th  of  June,  1854,  a  son  of  Karl  and 
Elizabeth  Strauch.  Karl  Strauch  was  born  in 
Germany  in  1828,  and  died  January  1,  1892. 
His  wife  was  born  in  1831  and  died  in  1881. 
They  became  the  parents  of  ten  children,  three 
of  whom  are  still  living :  Frank,  of  Bameston, 
Nebraska,  is  the  immediate  subject  of  this 
sketch;  Agnes  first  wedded  August  Walters, 
who  died  many  years  ago,  and  she  is  now  the 
wife  of  August  Dierich.  their  home  being  in 
Germany:  and  William  is  a  farmer  in  Ger- 
many. 

Frank  Strauch  came  to  the  United  States 
and  arrived  in  Burlington,  Iowa,  on  May  15, 
1881,  with  only  forty  dollars  in  money.  He 
stayed  in  Iowa  only  a  short  time  and  then 
came  to  Nebraska,  where  he  worked  on  farms. 
By  hard  work  and  strict  economy  he  saved 
three  hundred  dollars,  and  in  1883  he  came  to 
Gage  county  and  bought  eighty  acres  of  land 
on  the  Otoe  Indian  reservation,  making,  out 
of  his  savings,  a  small  payment  on  this  land. 
Mr.  Strauch  improved  this  property  and  made 
the  farm  his  home  for  twenty-five  years.  In 
1899  he  retired,  and  he  has  since  made  his 
home  at  Bameston,  this  cotinty. 

On  January  23,  1891-,  Mr.  Strauch  was 
united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Ida  Volkmer, 
daughter  of  Ferdinand  and  Caroline  (Rei- 
schel)  Volkmer,  who  came  tO'  the  United 
States  from  Germany  in  1881.  On  their 
passage  over  they  were  shipwrecked  and  had 
some  very  thrilling  experiences.  Ferdinand 
Volkmer  settled  in  Burlington,  Iowa,  and  for 
many  years  worked  for  the  Chicago,  Burling- 
ton &  Quincy  Railroad  Company. 

Frank  Strauch  and  wife  have  no  children. 
They  are  members  of  the  Catholic  church. 
Mr.  Strauch  is  a  Democrat  and  served  as 
township  assessor  of  Liberty  township  in  1899 
and  1900.  The  township  was  always  consid- 
ered strongly  Republican,  but  Mr.  Strauch  was 


1052 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


elected  on  the  Democratic  ticket,  which  goes 
to  show  his  standing  in  the  community  in 
which  he  lives.  Mr.  Strauch  has  never  had 
the  advantages  of  an  English  education,  but 
through  hard  work  and  study  has  educated 
himself. 

ISAAC  KILER,  a  retired  farmer,  living  in 
Barneston,  has  been  allied  with  the  agricul- 
tural life  of  Gage  county  for  the  past  thirty- 
five  years.  He  is  now  enjoying  the  rest  earned 
after  years  of  hard  labor,  in  winning  the  wild 
prairie  to  fertility  and  helping  to  build  up  a 
great  agricultural  community. 

Isaac  Kiler  was  born  February  13,  1844,  in 
Richland  county,  Ohio,  and  is  the  son  of  John 
and  Elizabeth  (Hassinger)  Kiler.  John  Kiler 
was  bom  in  Germany,  in  1815,  a  son  of  John 
Kiler,  a  German  farmer  who  came  to  Rich- 
land county,  Ohio,  in  1819,  and  endured  all  the 
vicissitudes  of  the  early  sailing-ship  voyage, 
rude  log  cabins  and  the  felling  of  the  forests 
to  make  a  home  and  clearing  a  space  of  ground 
for  the  growing  of  grain  for  the  sustenance  of 
life.  These  staunch  and  brave  men  who  en- 
dured the  hardships  of  those  early  years  of 
our  nation's  history  gave  to  their  posterity 
brain  and  brawn  to  build  up  the  nation  which 
is  to-day  the  vital  exponent  of  the  democracy 
man.  In  these  rude  surroundings,  and  close 
to  the  things  of  nature,  John  Kiler,  Jr.,  grew 
to  manhood  and  he  then  took  as  his  wife 
Elizabeth  Hassinger,  who  was  a  native  of 
Ohio,  bom  in  1824.  In  1848  they  moved,  with 
rude  ox  team,  over  hill  and  valley  to  the  state 
of  Michigan  and  again  built  the  log  cabin,  in 
the  clearing  of  the  pine  forests  of  Michigan. 
Sons  and  daughters  to  the  number  of  eight 
came  to  bless  them,  but  ere  they  had  reached 
manhood  and  womanhood  the  wife  and  mother 
passed  away,  in  1858.  Leaving  the  remains  of 
his  loved  companion  and  selling  his  property, 
Mr.  Kiler  moved  with  his  family  to  Benton 
county,  Iowa.  Three  children  of  this  family 
are  living,  as  follows  :  Mrs.  Greenly,  a  widow, 
residing  in  Belle  Plaine,  Iowa ;  Isaac,  subject 
of  this  sketch ;  and  William,  a  farmer  near 
Dodge  City,  Kansas. 

John  Kiler  was  married  the  second  time,  to 


Miss  Sarah  Shaver,  who.  bore  him  five  chil- 
dren, four  of  whom  are  living,  as  follows : 
lona,  residing  in  the  state  of  Washington; 
John,  a  farmer  near  Superior,  Nebraska; 
Charles,  a  traveling  m.an ;  and  Mrs.  Nettie 
Lutz,  living  in  Washington.  The  last  days  of 
John  Kiler  were  spent  in  the  home  of  his  son 
Isaac,  of  this  sketch,  and  he  passed  away 
January  1,  1889. 

Isaac  Kiler  received  his  early  education  in 
Michigan  and  Benton  county,  Iowa.  He 
helped  his  father  on  the  farm  until  his  mar- 
riage, in  1870,  to  Miss  Clara  Severance,  who 
was  born  in  Marion  county,  Ohio,  a  daughter 
of  Frank  and  Elizabeth  Severance.  Mr.  Sev- 
erance died  in  Michigan,  where  he  was  a  farm- 
er, and  his  wife  died  at  the  home  of  her 
daughter,  Mrs.  Kiler.  Five  children  of  this 
family  are  living:  Emily,  the  widow  of  Wil- 
liam Smith,  resides  at  McCook,  Nebraska; 
Phila  is  the  wife  of  Charles  Smith,  a  painter 
at  Beatrice,  Nebraska;  Lucy  is  the  wife  of 
T.  S.  Jones,  a  breeder  of  stock  at  Wessington 
Springs,  South  Dakota ;  E.  W.  is  employed  by 
the  Burlington  Railroad,  in  Wyoming;  and 
Clara  is  the  wife  of  Isaac  Kiler,  subject  of 
this  sketch. 

In  1883  Isaac  Kiler  and  his  family  came  to 
Gage  county  and  here  he  purchased  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres  of  land,  in  Liberty  town- 
ship. This  land  had  never  had  a  furrow 
turned  nor  been  the  habitation  of  a  white 
man.  Mr.  Kiler  and  his  wife  made  the  im- 
provements and  continued  their  farming  op- 
erations until  they  retired,  in  1906.  One  child, 
P.  M.,  was  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kiler  and 
he  is  now  operating  the  farm  in  Liberty  town- 
ship. He  married  Frances  Gallogly,  and  they 
have  two  children,  Thelma  and  Bernice. 

Isaac  Kiler  is  one  who  started  with  no 
money  but  with  much  of  ambition  and  deter- 
mination to  succeed  and  make  the  most  of  his 
opportunities.  In  connection  with  his  farm 
in  Liberty  township,  Mr.  Kiler  owns  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres  of  land  in  Kansas.  He 
loves  to  review  the  early  day  experiences  and 
lie  tells  of  the  trip  he  made  from  Council 
Bluffs,  in  April,  1864,  with  a  lot  of  horses 
that    he    took    overland    to    Salt    Lake    City, 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


1053 


arriving  —  after  many  long  weary  days  and 
nights  on  the  trackless  plains,  under  the 
stars  —  June  1,  1864,  in  Salt  Lake  City,  and 
in  Sacramento,  California,  June  2Sth.  There 
were  no  hospitable  roofs  under  which  he  could 
remain  at  night,  biit  only  the  broad,  virgin 
country  with  not  a  human  habitation  in  sight 
for  miles  and  miles.  Then  there  were  the 
hostile  Indians  and  the  wild  animals  constant- 
ly stalking  the  venturesome  traveler.  Before 
returning  to  Iowa,  Mr.  Kiler  worked  for  two 
and  one-half  years  in  the  lumber  yards  and 
saw  mills. 

The  politics  of  Mr.  Kiler  are  in  accord  with 
the  Republican  party  and  he  and  his  wife  are 
valued  members  of  their  community. 

EDWARD  NOVOTNY,  a  famer  of  Elm 
township,  was  bom  in  this  township  July  15, 
1884,  and  is  a  son  of  John  and  Rose  Novotny, 
all  of  whose  four  children  are  living.  John 
Novotny  was  bom  in  Bohemia,  as  was  also 
his  wife.  He  retired  from  active  farming  and 
is  now  living  in  Wymore,  this  county. 

Edward  Novotny  has  spent  all  of  his  life 
in  the  county  of  his  birth.  He  received  his 
education  in  the  rural  school  of  district  No. 
118,  and  has  learned  the  art  of  farming  in  the 
hard  school  of  experience.  He  has  learned 
nature's  whims  and  is  able  to  make  his  broad 
acres  yield  their  treasures  of  wheat  and  corn. 

On  the  23d  day  of  August,  1881,  in  Sanga- 
mon county,  Illinois,  was  bom  Nina  A.  Leg- 
gett,  who  became  the  wife  of  Edward  Novot- 
ny, their  marriage  having  been  solemnized 
July  17,  1903.  Mrs.  Novotny  is  a  daughter  of 
Joseph  and  Eliza  C.  (Magee)  Leggett.  (See 
the  sketch  of  Joseph  Leggett  for  a  complete 
history  of  this  family.)  After  their  marriage 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Novotny  came  to  their  present 
fami,  in  Elm  township,  and  they  have  labored 
together  toward  the  goal  of  success  and  inde- 
pendence. Six  children  have  come  to  bless 
their  union,  and  all  remain  at  the  parental 
home,  their  names  and  respective  dates  of 
birth  being  here  noted :  Hilda  E.,  September 
14,  1905;  Lila  M.,  October  21,  1907;  Muriel 
A.,  March  6,  1910;  Lawrence  E.,  October  24, 


1912:  lona  E.,  July  13,  1914;  Donald  L.,  De- 
cember 28,  1915. 

Mr.  Novotny  is  a  Republican  and  has  served 
effectively  as  a  member  of  the  school  board, 
of  which  he  is  now  the  treasurer.  He  is  a 
shareholder  of  the  Odell  Farmers'  Elevator  & 
Lumber  Company,  and"  also  is  interested  in 
the  local  telephone  company.  Mr.  Novotny 
received  from  his  father  the  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  of  land  which  he  owns,  as  his  share 
of  the  estate.  He  is  a  successful  farmer  and 
is  interested  in  all  of  the  civic  developments 
of  his  locality. 

FREDERICK  KRACKE,  SR.  —  This  pop- 
ular pioneer  citizen  of  Gage  county  was 
another  of  the  sturdy  young  men  who  came 
to  this  section  of  Nebraska  in  the  early  days 
and  by  indomitable  energy  and  perserverance 
pushed  forward  to  the  goal  of  large  and  well 
merited  success.  Upon  coming  to  the  county, 
from  Iowa,  in  1879,  he  purchased,  at  the  rate 
of  twelve  dollars  an  acre,  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  in  Section  31  Clatonia  township, 
only  two  acres  of  the  tract  having  been  broken. 
On  this  pioneer  farm  he  and  his  brother  Her- 
man continued  their  vigorous  operations  four 
years,  and  he  then  married  and  purchased  the 
eighty  acres  that  constitutes  his  present  finely 
improved  and  attractive  homestead  place,  in 
Grant  township.  In  1885  he  erected  on  this 
farm  a  frame  house  of  two  rooms,  and  this 
later  gave  place  to  his  present  commodious 
and  modern  residence.  He  continues  to  hold 
secure  place  as  one  of  the  representative  farm- 
ers of  this  county,  where  he  is  now  the  owner 
of  three  hundred  acres,  in  Section  6,  Grant 
township,  besides  which  he  owns  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  in  Jefferson  county,  two 
hundred  acres  in  Saline  county,  and  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres  in  the  San  Luis  valley  of 
Colorado.  He  is  specially  prominent  in  Gage 
county  industry  as  a  breeder  of  fine 'Durham 
cattle  and  Chester  White  swine.  Of  all  that 
he  has  achieved  through  personal  ability  and 
energy  it  is  sufficient  to  say  that  when  he  ar- 
rived in  the  United  States,  as  a  German  youth 
of  sixteen  years,  his  financial  resources  were 


1054 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


1055 


summed  up  in  a  single  gold  piece  of  twenty 
dollars,  while  at  the  present  time  he  is  the 
owner  of  a  valuable  landed  estate  aggregating 
over  one  thousand  acres  in  area. 

Mr.  Kracke  was  born  in  the  province  of 
Hanover,  Germany,  December  23,  1853,  and 
there  he  received  the  advantages  of  the  ex- 
cellent national  schools.  In  1870,  at  the  age 
of  sixteen  years,  he  severed  the  gracious  home 
ties  and  set  forth  to  seek  his  fortunes  in  the 
United  States.  For  the  first  two  years  he 
worked  on  a  farm  in  Ohio,  and  he  then  went 
to  Jackson  county,  Iowa,  where  he  was  simi- 
larly employed  for  the  ensuing  seven  years,  his 
wages  at  the  start  having  been  but  ten  dollars 
a  month.  At  the  expiration  of  this  period  he 
came  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska.  He  is  presi- 
dent of  the  Earmers'  Co-operative  Elevator  at 
Dewitt,  Saline  county  and  is  one  of  the  sub- 
stantial and  influential  citizens  of  this  section 
of  the  state. 

Reverting  to  the  family  history  it  may  be 
noted  that  Mr.  Kracke  is  a  son  of  Frederick 
and  Mary  (Oldman)  Kracke,  both  of  whom 
passed  their  entire  lives  in  Germany,  where 
the  father  was  a  farmer.  Frederick  Kracke 
was  born  in  1812  and  died  in  1889;  his  wife 
was  bom  in  1818  and  died  in  1886,  both  hav- 
ing been  devout  communicants  of  the  Luth- 
eran church.  Of  the  children  William,  Henry 
and  Dorothy  (Mrs.  Michaelis)  died  in  Ger- 
many; Herman  now  resides  at  Clatonia,  Gage 
county ;  the  subject  of  this  review  was  the 
next  in  order  of  birth;  Dietrich  resides  near 
Plymouth,  Jefi'erson  county;  Margaret,  who 
became  the  wife  of  Henry  Kracke,  died  in 
Germany,  as  did  also  Sophia  (Mrs.  Bucholz)  ; 
and  August  still  resides  in  his  native  land. 

On  the  12th  of  March,  1884,  Mr.  Kracke 
married  Miss  Adeline  Meyer,  who  was  born 
in  Hanover,  Germany,  December  4,  1866,  a 
daughter  of  Cord  and  I\Iartha  (Boese)  Meyer, 
with  whom  she  came  to  America  in  1882,  the 
family  home  being  forthwith  established  in 
Gage  county,  where  her  parents  passed  the 
remainder  of  their  lives,  the  father  having 
become  a  prosperous  farmer  of  Clatonia  town- 
ship. Of  the  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kracke 
Benjamin  and  Frederick,  Jr.,  are  progressive 


farmers  of  the  younger  generation  in  Grant 
township,  and  Werner  is  similarly  engaged  in 
Saline  county ;  Lena  is  the  wife  of  George 
Huneke,  of  Saline  county ;  and  the  younger 
children,  who  remain  members  of  the  gracious 
home  circle,  are  Gustav,  Herman,  Emil  and 
Emma. 

Loyal  in  all  ways  to  the  land  of  his  adop- 
tion and  appreciative  of  the  opportunities  here 
afforded  him,  Mr.  Kracke  has  shown  this  in 
his  civic  liberality  and  progressiveness.  He 
is  a  staunch  supporter  of  the  principles  of  the 
Republican  party  and  while  he  has  no  ambi- 
tion for  office  he  was  elected  assessor  of  Grant 
township  in  1909.  He  held  this  position  two 
years  and  then  resigned,  on  account  of  im- 
paired health.  For  fully  fifteen  years  past  he 
has  been  a  valued  member  of  the  school  board 
of  District  No.  149,  and  he  has  at  all  times 
been  found  ready  to  give  his  influence  and  co- 
operation in  the  support  of  measures  and  en- 
terprises advanced  for  the  general  good  of  the 
community.  He  and  his  wife  are  zealous 
communicants  of  the  Lutheran  church  and 
their  pleasant  home  is  known  for  its  generous 
hospitality  and  good  cheer. 

EDWARD  G.  RATHBUN  left  the  distinct 
imprint  of  his  life  upon  Gage  county  history. 
He  was  a  farmer  who  combined  with  his  prac- 
tical business  affairs  that  rare,  upright  char- 
acter that  helped  to  mould  the  nation's  life. 
^Ir.  Rathbun  was  a  son  of  Job  B.  and  ?^Iaria 
(Brown)  Rathbun.  Job  B.  Rathbun  was 
bom  in  Steuben  county.  New  York,  and  was 
reared  to  manhood  in  his  native  state.  After 
his  marriage  to  Maria  Brown  they  remained 
for  a  short  while  in  their  home  county,  but 
they  were  soon  located  in  Ogle  county,  Illi- 
nois, tilling  the  soil,  their  home  being  near  the 
thriving  little  city  of  Rochelle.  In  1871  they 
traversed  the  prairies  to  seek  newer  fields  of 
labor,  and  located  this  time  in  Johnson  county, 
Nebraska.  They  later  moved  to  De  Witt, 
where  Mrs.  Rathbun's  death  occurred,  in  1881. 
Mr.  Rathbun  was  an  extensive  land-owner, 
having  at  one  time  owned  three  thousand 
acres  of  land.  This  great  acreage  was  accu- 
mulated from  the  hard  labor  of  Mr.  Rathbun 


1056 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


and  his  wise  use  of  the  fertile  lands  of  his 
adopted  state,  where  he  remained  until  his 
death.  He  was  the  father  of  seven  children, 
only  three  of  whom  are  living:  Fannie  is  the 
wife  of  Charles  Ojers,  of  Lincoln  township, 
who  is  individually  represented  on  other 
pages  of  this  volume;  Clarence  resides  at  De 
Witt,  Nebraska;  and  the  address  of  Charles 
E.  is  unknown  to  members  of  the  family  in 
Nebraska. 

Edward  G.  Rathbun,  the  subject  of  this 
memoir,  was  born  December  25,  1863,  in 
Rochelle,  Ogle  county,  Illinois,  and  when  just 
a  lad  he  participated  in  the  great  adventure  of 
crossing  the  plains  in  a  covered  wagon  and 
sleeping  under  the  stars.  His  early  years 
were  spent  in  Johnson  county,  Nebraska,  and 
in  1880  he  came  to  Gage  county  to  till  some 
of  her  fertile  soil. 

It  was  in  this  county,  February  27,  1887, 
that  he  married  Nellie  E.  Whipple.  After 
their  marriage  he  farmed  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  of  land  northeast  of  Ellis,  Ne- 
braska, and  he  and  his  young  wife  shared  to- 
gether the  vicissitudes  of  the  early  farmers  on 
unbroken  land.  In  1892  they  purchased  land 
adjoining  the  village  limits  of  Ellis,  in  Section 
20,  Lincoln  township.  He  continued  to  add 
to  his  land  holdings  until  he  had  several  hun- 
dred acres.  Mr.  Rathbun  passed  away  Jan- 
uary 7,  1913. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rathbun  became  the  parents 
of  eight  children,  as  follows :  Edna  is  the 
wife  of  Rev.  J.  H.  Bankson,  of  Reynolds, 
Nebraska ;  Olive  died  in  infancy ;  Stella  is 
the  wife  of  H.  C.  Clausen,  of  Anderson,  In- 
diana; Julia  is  the  wife  of  C.  L.  McClure,  of 
Ellis,  Nebraska,  farming  the  home  place;  the 
next  child,  a  son,  died  in  infancy;  Viola  is  the 
wife  of  L.  A.  Peckham,  living  near  Pawnee 
City,  Nebraska;  Rose  and  Rulo  remain  at 
home  with  their  mother.  Mrs.  Rathbun,  the 
mother  of  these  children,  was  born  March  23, 
1870,  near  St.  Charles,  Illinois,  and  is  the 
only  child  of  Frank  and  Mary  (Vinecke) 
Whipple.  At  the  age  of  fifteen  years  Mrs. 
Rathbun  came  to  Beatrice,  Gage  county,  where 
she  remained  in  the  home  of  her  maternal 
grandfather,  Benjamin  Vinecke,  until  the  time 


of  her  marriage.  Mrs.  Rathbun  is  the  owner 
of  137  acres  of  land  in  Lincoln  township  and 
is  also  a  shareholder  in  the  Ellis  Farmers' 
Grain  Elevator.  She  is  a  member  of  the 
Methodist  church,  and  she  and  her  husband 
donated  to  the  Methodists  of  Ellis  the  lots  for 
the  erection  of  their  house  of  worship.  They 
were  also  very  zealous  in  the  organizing  of  the 
church  and  always  gave  liberally  of  their 
means  in  the  support  of  church  work. 

The  Prohibition  party  received  the  support 
of  Mr.  Rathbun's  vote.  In  his  early  years  the 
Republican  party  had  received  his  vote,  but  he 
realized  that  the  prohibition  principles  were 
of  high  value  to  the  community  and  the  coun- 
try and  gave  to  it  his  staunch  allegiance.  He 
was  affiliated  with  the  Ancient  Order  of 
United  Workmen. 


DAVID  M.  BINDERNAGEL  is  an  ener- 
getic farmer  living  in  Lincoln  township.  He 
is  interested  in  the  breeding  of  Duroc- Jersey 
hogs  and  is  known  through  the  county  as  the 
man  who  took  first  and  second  prizes  on  his 
Duroc-Jersey  sows  which  he  exhibited  at  the 
Gage  county  fair.  He  also  was  awarded  a 
silver  cup  for  the  best  litter  of  pigs.  He  has 
made  a  specialty  of  breeding  Duroc-Jersey 
swine  since  1914  and  has  a  strain  of  hogs  that 
has  taken  national  prizes. 

Mr.  Bindernagel  is  a  native  Gage  county 
boy,  and  was  born  in  Section  36,  Blakely  town- 
ship, November  10,  1876.  His  parents,  Philip 
and  Margaret  (Marshall)  Bindernagel,  reside 
in  the  city  of  Beatrice,  and  are  specifically 
mentioned  elsewhere  in  this  volume. 

Mr.  Bindernagel  received  his  education  in 
the  rural  school  of  his  district  and  attended 
the  high  school  at  Beatrice  for  a  short  time. 
His  farming  operations  for  himself  began 
in  1907,  when  he  rented  his  present  farm  from 
his  father.  He  has  made  improvements,  in- 
cluding the  erection  of  a  modern  house  and 
good  barns.  At  the  present  time  he  is  farm- 
ing one  hundred  and  ninety  acres  of  land  — 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  from  his  fathers 
estate  and  thirty  acres  from  that  of  his  father- 
in-law,  Harvey  O.  Mason. 

I\Iarch  6,  1912,  David  M.  Bindernagel  mar- 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


1057 


ried  Miss  Gertrude  M.  Mason,  who  was  bom 
July  23,  1890,  in  Lincoln  township,  this  county. 
She  is  a  daughter  of  Har\'ey  O.  Mason,  whose 
personal  and  family  record  is  given  on  other 
pages  of  this  work.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Binder- 
nagel  have  one  child,  Marjorie  Rose,  born 
March  4,  1913. 

The  school  directors  of  his  district  feel 
themselves  fortunate  to  have  Mr.  Bindernage! 
on  their  board.  He  has  served  a  number  of 
times  as  road  overseer.  In  politics  he  is  a  Re- 
publican, and  he  and  his  wife  are  communi- 
cants of  the  Trinity  Lutheran  church. 

GEORGE  BAKER.  — The  story  of  what 
has  been  accomplished  by  George  Baker  dur- 
ing nearly  forty  years  of  residence  in  Gage 
county  demonstrates  that  Nebraska  is  still  a 
region  of  opportunities.  From  a  boy  with 
twenty-five  dollars  in  his  pocket  to  the  status 
of  a  citizen  owning  two  hundred  and  eighty 
acres  of  valuable  land,  is  a  summary  of  the 
life  and  achievement  of  Mr.  Baker.  His  fine 
landed  estate  is  located  in  Gage  and  Jefferson 
counties  and  all  of  the  land  is  under  intensive 
and  effective  cultivation,  his  home  farm  being 
in  Elm  township.  Gage  county. 

George  Baker  was  bom  in  the  state  of 
Michigan  and  is  a  son  of  John  and  Elizabeth 
(Hable)  Baker,  both  natives  of  Germany. 
John  Baker  was  born  in  the  year  1827  and 
upon  immigrating  from  Germany  to  the  United 
States  he  settled  in  Michigan.  In  Berrien 
county,  that  state,  he  wedded  Mrs.  Elizabeth 
(Hable)  Neice,  who  was  born  in  Grossbeck, 
Germany,  March  27,  1830,  and  whose  first 
marriage  was  solemnized  in  her  native  land. 
As  the  wife  of  Mr.  Neice  she  became  the 
mother  of  three  children- — -William  and  Peter 
Neice,  of  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  and  Mary, 
who  is  the  wife  of  George  Rynerson,  of  South 
Dakota.  After  the  death  of  her  first  husband 
Mrs.  Neice  became  a  resident  of  Berrien 
county,  Michigan,  where,  as  above  noted,  she 
became  the  wife  of  John  Baker.  Under  crude 
conditions  John  Baker  thereafter  conducted 
farming  operations  in  Michigan,  of  which 
state  he  was  a  pioneer.  He  died  in  1887  and 
George,  subject  of  this  sketch,  is  his  only  son. 


George  Baker  was  born  on  his  father's  farm 
in  Berrien  county,  Michigan,  August  3,  1865, 
and  left  the  parental  roof  when  he  was  four- 
teen years  of  age.  In  1879  he  came  to  Gage 
county,  Nebraska,  where  he  lived  with  his 
two  half-brothers,  William  and  Peter  Neice. 
In  1888  Mr.  Baker  rented  eighty  acres  of  land 
upon  which  the  plow  of  man  had  never  turned 
a  furrow.  He  rented  this  tract  from  his 
mother,  who  had  purchased  it  after  her  hus- 
band's death.  It  was  on  this  farm  that  Mr. 
Baker  suffered  all  of  the  labors,  hardships, 
and  privations  which  gave  him  the  experience 
to  become  a  good  farmer.  He  built  a  small 
house  and  bought  a  team  to  break  the  land. 
The  second  year  of  his  stay  he  had  eighty 
acres  planted  in  com,  and  the  yield  was  only 
one-half  bushel  of  com.  In  the  succeeding 
winter  he  had  to  borrow  money  to  buy  com 
for  his  horses.  The  following  year  he  put  in 
his  crop  again,  expecting  mother  nature  to 
yield  a  good  crop,  and  she  did.  He  made  his 
start  with  his  herd  of  cattle  by  taking  hay  to 
the  markets  at  Beatrice  and  exchanging  it  for 
six  head  of  calves.  Thus,  little  by  little,  was 
the  foundation  laid  for  success  and  the  ac- 
cumulating of  his  broad  acres  and  well  im- 
proved home.  Mr.  Baker's  mother  kept  house 
for  him  for  twelve  years,  spending  her  last 
days  in  his  home,  where  her  death  occurred 
in  1908. 

June  13,  1894,  Mr.  Baker  married  Miss 
Emma  Dewey,  and  they  have  three  children : 
Harry,^  born  January  27,  1897 ;  Nellie,  born 
January  31,  1903;  and  Hattie,  born  April  28, 
1908.  The  children  are  all  at  home  with  their 
parents.  Mrs.  Emma  Baker  was  born  on  a 
farm  near  Roseville,  Illinois.  She  is  one  of 
the  five  daughters  born  to  I.  B.  and  Mary  J. 
(Sponge)  Dewey.  Her  father  was  born 
October  12,  1837,  in  Jefferson  county,  New 
York.  He  was  a  veteran  of  the  Civil  war,  in 
which  he  served  three  years  and  three  months 
in  defense  of  his  country's  integrity.  After 
the  war  he  followed  agricultural  pursuits  until 
his  retirement  to  a  home  in  Beatrice,  in  1895. 
]Mr.  Dewey  came  to  Nebraska  in  1880,  and  his 
death  occurred  December  7,  1910,  at  Hutchin- 
son, Kansas.    He  was  a  second  cousin  of  Ad- 


1058 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


miral  Dewey,  of  Spanish-American  war  fame. 
His  wife,  Mrs.  Mary  (Sponge)  Dewey,  was 
born  December  9,  1839,  in  Anderson  county, 
Indiana. 

Mrs.  Emma  (Dewey)  Baker  was  educated 
in  the  Fairbury  pubhc  schools  and  at  one  time 
she  was  a  pupil  of  Dr.  Hepperlen,  of  Beatrice, 
when  he  taught  the  rural  school  near  Ply- 
mouth, Nebraska.  Mr.  Baker  is  a  Republi- 
can and  loyally  supports  the  party  ticket.  He 
is  affiliated  with  the  Modern  Woodmen  of 
America.  He  is  a  shareholder  of  the  grain 
elevators  located  at  Diller  and  Harbine,  Ne- 
braska. 

HENRY  W.  EHMEN,  who  is  one  of  the 
progressive  agriculturists  and  stock-raisers  of 
Hanover  township,  is  here  the  owner  of  a  half 
section  of  land,  all  in  one  body,  and  the  three 
hundred  and  twenty  acres,  in  Sections  27  and 
28,  constitute  one  of  the  model  fanns  of  the 
county. 

Mr.  Ehmen  was  born  in  Adams  county,  Illi- 
nois, July  22,  1866,  a  son  of  William  and 
Ehmke  (Johnson)  Ehmen,  both  natives  of 
Germany,  where  the  former  was  born  May  25, 
1845,  and  the  latter  on  the  19th  of  September, 
1841,  their  marriage  having  been  solemnized 
at  Golden,  Adams  county,  Illinois,  and  Mrs. 
Ehmen  having  been  a  young  woman  when  she 
came  from  Germany  to  the  United  States. 
William  Ehmen  was  twelve  years  old  when  he 
accompanied  his  parents  to  America  and  was 
reared  to  manhood  in  the  state  of  Illinois. 
There  he  continued  his  active  association  with 
farming  until  1869,  when  he  came  with  his 
family  to  Gage  county  and  numbered  himself 
among  the  pioneer  farmers  of  Hanover  town- 
ship, where  he  developed  a  good  farm  and 
where  he  continued  to  reside  until  his  death, 
February  14,  1906.  His  widow  remains  with 
her  son  John  on  the  old  homestead,  she 
being  a  devout  communicant  of  the  Lutheran 
church,  as  was  also  her  husband.  Of  their  six 
children  Henry  W.  of  this  review,  is  the  eld- 
est; Trinke  became  the  wife  of  Wilke  T.  Jur- 
gens  and  her  death  occurred  several  years  ago ; 
Minnie  is  the  wife  of  Harm  DeBuhr,  of  Han- 
over township  ;  Jennie  is  the  widow  of  John 


W.  Parde  and  resides  in  Hanover  township; 
Ida  is  the  wife  of  Bernard  H.  S'iefkes,  of 
whom  mention  is  made  on  other  pages ;  and 
John  has  the  management  of  his  father's  old 
home  farm. 

Henry  W.  Ehmen  was  three  and  one-half 
years  of  age  at  the  time  of  the  family  removal 
to  Gage  county,  and  here  he  was  reared  on 
the  pioneer  farm,  the  while  he  made  proper 
use  of  the  advantages  afforded  in  the  district 
schools  of  Hanover  township.  His  father  ac- 
cumulated a  large  landed  estate  and  when  the 
subject  of  this  review  was  twenty-six  years  of 
age  he  purchased  of  his  father  a  farm  of  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres.  On  the  place  was  a 
primitive  house,  fourteen  by  sixteen  feet  in 
dimensions,  and  this  Mr.  Ehmen  remodeled 
and  equipped  as  his  original  domicile.  He 
now  has  on  the  farm  a  large  and  modem 
house,  besides  other  excellent  farm  buildings 
that  likewise  indicate  his  thrift  and  progres- 
siveness.  His  political  support  is  given  to  the 
Republican  party  and  he  and  his  wife  are 
active  members  of  the  Lutheran  church. 

In  1892  Mr.  Ehmen  wedded  Miss  Tina 
Parde,  daughter  of  William  and  Theda  Parde, 
residents  of  Hanover  township.  ]\Irs.  Ehmen 
was  born  at  Golden,  Adams  county,  Illinois, 
and  was  thirteen  years  old  when  the  family 
came  to  Gage  county.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ehmen 
became  the  parents  of  nine  children,  seven  of 
whom  are  living:  Tete  is  the  wife  of  Henry 
F.  Schuster,  of  Logan  Township;  and  Wil- 
liam, Katie,  Henry,  Minnie,  Grace  and  John 
remain  at  the  parental  home. 

FRED  W.  FRISBIE.  — The  Frisbie  fam- 
ily has  kept  a  record  of  the  family  tree  from 
the  beginnings  of  their  family  in  the  New 
World,  when  Edward  Frisbie,  a  native  of  Den- 
mark, traversed  the  seas  in  the  latter  part  of 
the  seventeenth  century  to  cast  his  lot  with 
the  colonists  in  America.  This  family  here 
established  itself  in  the  early  history  of  this 
nation  and  has  taken  an  active  part  in  the  up- 
building of  its  industrial  and  civil  institutions. 

Fred  W.  Frisbie,  a  descendant  of  this  long 
line  of  American  ancestors,  was  born  April  8, 
1875,  in  Cook  county,  Illinois.    He  is  a  son  of 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


1059 


William   Ehmen 


1060 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


William  and  Libbie  (Peet)  Frisbie,  who  have 
been  prominently  identified  with  the  agricul- 
tural and  social  life  of  Elm  township,  Gage 
county,  Nebraska.  William  Frisbie  is  a  son 
of  Frederick  and  Polly  (Ludington)  Frisbie, 
who  were  natives  of  New  York  and  moved  to 
Lorain  county,  Ohio,  in  1843.  Later  they  re- 
moved to  Cook  county,  Illinois,  following 
agricultural  pursuits  in  both  of  these  states. 
Frederick  Frisbie  was  married  three  times, 
and  his  third  wife,  Polly  (Ludington)  Frisbie, 
was  the  mother  of  William  Frisbie.  These 
good  people  were  laid  to  rest  in  Cook  county, 
Illinois.  Their  son  William  was  bom  Novem- 
ber 21,  1827,  at  Hannibal,  New  York,  and 
shared  with  them  their  migrations  to  Ohio 
and  Illinois.  November  9,  1852,  he  married 
Mary  Ann  Smith,  to  whom  no  children  were 
bom,  and  whose  death  occurred  many  years 
ago.  The  marriage  of  William  Frisbie  and 
Libbie  Peet  was  solemnized  September  13, 
1870,  in  Cook  county,  Illinois.  Six  children 
were  born  of  this  union,  and  three  of  the  num- 
ber are  living,  namely:  Albert,  residing  in 
Elm  township.  Gage  county;  William,  living 
in  Jefferson  county,  near  Diller ;  and  Fred  W., 
the  subject  of  this  sketch.  The  three  deceased 
are  Charles,  Marguerite,  and  Emma.  Emma 
was  the  wife  of  Elmer  Greider  and  left  two 
children. 

William  Frisbie  farmed  in  Cook  county, 
Illinois,  many  years  and  there  accumulated  a 
considerable  acreage  of  fertile  land.  In  1878 
or  1879  he  made  several  trips  through  Kansas 
and  Nebraska,  looking  for  a  new  location  for 
a  home,  and  in  1883  he  moved  to  Elm  town- 
ship. Gage  county,  upon  the  portion  of  land 
that  suited  him  better  than  any  other  lands  he 
had  investigated.  A  small  one-room  house  ac- 
commodated his  family  in  those  early  years, 
but  as  prosperity  smiled  upon  him  he  added 
to  the  original  structure,  which  is  situated  on 
the  old  trail  running  northeast  and  southwest 
from  Beatrice  to  Diller.  Mr.  Frisbie's  last 
days  were  spent  in  this  home  and  he  was  called 
to  his  reward  April  8,  1906,  the  birth  anniver- 
sary of  his  son  Fred  W.,  subject  of  this 
sketch.     His  wife,  Mrs.  Libbie   (Peet)    Fris- 


bie, was  born  in  Sullivan,  Ohio,  May  20,  1844, 
and  died  May  12,  1903. 

Fred  W.  Frisbie  is  now  farming  the  old 
homestead,  of  which  he  came  into  possession 
in  1905.  He  has  spent  the  greater  part  of  his 
life  on  this  farm  and  is  conducting  a  general 
farming  business.  He  has  high-grade  Short- 
horn cattle  and  Duroc- Jersey  and  Hampshire 
hogs.  He  has  made  improvements  on  the 
farm,  building  two  new  bams,  a  silo,  and  a 
hay  bam. 

December  24,  1901,  Fred  W.  Frisbie  mar- 
ried Miss  Zaidee  Dowling,  who  was  born  May 
11,  1882,  in  Scott  county,  Iowa.  Her  par- 
ents, James  C.  and  Mary  W.  (Madden) 
Dowling,  were  bom  in  London,  England,  and 
Iowa,  respectively.  Mr.  Dowling  was  a  farm- 
er in  Iowa  for  many  years  but  in  1881  he 
and  his  wife  went  to  Colorado,  where  they 
spent  their  remaining  days.  After  their  death, 
their  daughter  Zaidee  came  to  live  with  her 
maternal  grandfather,  Henry  Madden.  After 
finishing  her  education  she  taught  school  until 
her  marriage  to  Mr.  Frisbie.  Of  this  union 
have  been  born  six  children,  all  remaining  at 
home  with  their  parents.  They  are:  Ralph, 
Nellie,  Leonard,  Donald,  Norman  D.,  and 
Helen  Elizabeth,  the  last  named  having  been 
born  March  28,  1918. 

The  politics  of  Mr.  Frisbie  are  in  accord 
with  the  principles  of  the  Republican  party, 
he  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church,  and  is  affiliated  with  the  Modern 
Woodmen  of  America. 

JOHN  E.  ANDERSON.  —  Sweden  is  a 
land  of  long,  cold  winters  and  short,  cool  sum- 
mers, where  the  fjords  and  glaciers  combined 
with  the  mountains  make  a  scenery  pictur- 
esque and  grand.  It  is  not  the  grandeur  of 
Italy  with  its  sunshine  and  flowers  but  the 
grandeur  of  nature  in  its  sterner  moods. 
From  this  land  of  Sweden  has  come  the  man 
whose  name  heads  this  review,  and  he  was 
born  May  13,  1862.  His  father,  Andrew  An- 
derson, was  a  mechanic  and  carpenter  and 
lived  his  life  in  his  native  northland,  as  did 
also  his  wife,  who  was  called  to  eternal  rest 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


1061 


when  her  son  John  E.,  of  this  sketch,  was  a 
lad  of  seven  years.  Although  he  had  no 
mother  to  guide  and  comfort  him,  the  lad's 
father  was  both  mother  and  father  to  him. 
Of  the  seven  children,  three  are  living  in 
Gage  county,  namely :  Anton,  who  is  farming 
in  Elm  township;  Charles,  who  makes  his 
home  with  his  brother  Anton ;  and  John,  who 
is  the  subject  of  this  review.  Peter,  Amanda, 
and  Tilda  (a  widow)  are  still  in  Sweden. 

In  1882  John  E.  Anderson  took  passage 
upon  an  ocean  liner  for  the  United  States  and 
upon  his  arrival  he  worked  in  the  coal  mines 
of  Pennsylvania.  A  portion  of  the  following 
year  he  spent  in  railroad  construction  work 
in  Michigan,  and  also,  from  Odell,  Nebraska, 
he  assisted  in  the  construction  of  the  railroad 
line  nmning  south  into  Kansas.  After  this 
work  was  finished  he  was  employed  by  John 
Fitzgerald,  on  his  ranch,  which  is  now  owned 
by  Frank  Hubka.  For  the  munificent  sum  of 
twenty  dollars  a  month,  he  built  fences,  hauled 
lumber,  helped  in  the  building  of  the  house, 
barn,  etc.,  besides  breaking  wild  prairie  land. 
November  28,  1889,  John  E.  Anderson  mar- 
ried Elizabeth  Kroschewski,  who  was  born  in 
Germany,  in  1868,  and  who  made  the  journey 
to  this  country  with  an  older  sister,  in  1884. 
They  came  directly  to  Gage  county,  where 
both  married.  The  older  sister  is  Mrs.  Witt- 
kowski.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Anderson  have 
been  bom  eight  children  all  of  whom  are 
under  the  parental  roof  —  Charles  H.,  Bertha, 
Mary,  Amanda,  Alice,  Martha,  Cecelia,  and 
Orin  J. 

After  their  marriage  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ander- 
son worked  for  three  years  for  David  Fitz- 
gerald, the  former  as  a  laborer  and  the  latter 
in  the  home.  After  leaving  this  employment, 
Mr.  Anderson  rented  land  in  Elm  and  Sicily 
townships.  In  1899  he  rented  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  of  land  in  Section  1,  Elm  town- 
ship and  in  1901  he  purchased  the  same,  this 
place  having  since  continued  to  be  the  family 
home.  At  the  time  when  Mr.  Johnson  pur- 
chased this  land  it  did  not  seem  a  very  prom- 
ising investment,  with  its  cockle-burrs,  sun- 
flowers, etc.  But  the  years  have  passed  and 
Mr.  Anderson  has  won  the  land  to  fertility 


and  profitable  productiveness.  Mr.  Ander- 
son's family  are  of  the  Catholic  faith  and  he 
is  a  supporter  of  the  political  principles  of  the 
Republican  party. 


ROBERT  S.  JONES  was  born  in  Gage 
county,  Nebraska,  November  7,  1882,  record 
of  the  family  history  appearing  in  the  sketch 
of  John  S.  Jones,  elsewhere  in  this  volume. 

Mr.  Jones  was  educated  in  the  district 
schools  of  Gage  county  and  the  Wymore  high 
school.  He  has  always  followed  farming.  On 
September  5,  1906,  Mr.  Jones  was  united  in 
marriage  to  Miss  Ella  A.  Jones,  who  was  bom 
at  Barrett,  Kansas,  a  daughter  of  O.  R.  and 
Amanda  Jones.  O.  R.  Jones  came  to  Gage 
county  many  years  ago  and  at  one  time  owned 
the  land  on  which  the  town  of  Wymore  now 
stands.  Several  years  ago  he  sold  his  Gage 
county  land  and  moved  to  Kansas,  where  he 
owned  fifteen  hundred  acres  of  land,  and 
where  his  death  occurred  in  1913.  His  widow 
still  makes  her  home  in  that  state. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robert  S.  Jones  are  the  par- 
ents of  four  children  whose  names  and  respec- 
tive ages,  in  1918,  are  here  noted:  Kenneth, 
eight  years  ;  Gertrude,  six  years  ;  Willard,  four 
years ;  and  Elizabeth,  two  years.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Jones  are  members  of  the  Methodist 
church.  He  is  a  Mason,  and  in  politics  is  a 
Republican.  Mr.  Jones  has  served  on  the 
school  board  for  six  years.  He  is  the  owner 
of  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land  in 
Barneston  township,  and  sixty  acres  near  Wy- 
more, where  he  makes  his  home.  Mr.  Jones 
does  a  general  farming  business,  raises  cattle 
and  live  stock  of  all  kinds,  and  buys  and  ships 
stock.  He  has  made  a  success  of  life,  and  is 
one  of  Gage  county's  prosperous  farmers. 


HURAM  LACY.  — With  no  unusual  ad- 
vantages at  the  beginning  of  and  no  spectac- 
ular phases  during  his  career,  Huram  Lacy 
has  reached  the  goal  of  success  and  is  to-day 
one  of  the  men  of  afifairs  in  Gage  county.  His 
natal  day  was  April  25,  1850,  and  the  place  of 
his  birth  was  in  the  ferry  house  at  Daven- 
port,   Iowa,    on    the   ground    where    Colonel 


1062 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


1063 


Davenport  lived  and  where  his  murder  oc- 
curred on  July  4,  1845. 

Mr.  Lacy's  father,  Huram  Lacy,  Sr.,  was  a 
native  of  Kentucky  and  became  a  river  man 
on  the  Mississippi.  At  the  time  of  the  birth 
of  his  son  he  was  operating  a  ferry  at  Daven- 
port. His  death  occurred  in  Henry  county, 
Iowa,  in  1857.  The  maiden  name  of  the 
mother  of  our  subject  was  Anna  Workman 
and  she  was  a  native  of  Tennessee.  After 
the  death  of  her  husband  she  and  her  children 
became  residents  of  Kansas,  and  in  1863  they 
came  to  Richardson  county,  Nebraska.  Her 
last  days  were  spent  at  the  home  of  her  son 
John  near  Colorado  Springs,  Colorado. 

Huram  Lacy,  the  subject  of  this  review, 
spent  his  boyhood  days  in  Kansas  and  Ne- 
braska, and  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  years  he 
became  a  fanner  in  Richardson  county,  Ne- 
braska. In  1877  Mr.  Lacy  came  to  Gage 
county  and  purchased  eighty  acres  of  unim- 
proved Indian  land,  in  Section  2,  Paddock 
township,  and  on  March  4,  1878,  he  located 
on  this  farm,  which  has  since  continued  the 
stage  of  his  activities.  His  first  home  was  a 
small  frame  shanty  now  used  for  the  shelter 
of  stock.  His  present  commodious  frame 
house  is  among  the  best  in  the  township.  Mr. 
Lacy  is  the  owner  of  three  hundred  and  six 
acres  of  valuable  land,  —  an  evidence  of  his 
success  in  his  chosen  calling. 

September  16,  1873,  Mr.  Lacy  was  united 
in  marriage  to  Miss  Frances  Johnson,  who 
born  at  St.  Joseph,  Missouri,  a  daughter  of 
Alexander  and  Mary  Johnson,  both  of  whom 
have  been  deceased  several  years.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Lacy  became  the  parents  of  thirteen  chil- 
dren :  Mattie,  James,  Craig,  Alice,  Mary  and 
Alexander  are  still  under  the  paternal  roof; 
Joseph  is  in  the  national  army  and  in  the 
spring  of  1918,  was  located  at  Camp  Fre- 
mont, California;  Adra  is  the  wife  of  L.  C. 
Wykoff,  of  lola,  Kansas;  Bertha  is  the  wife 
of  E.  A.  Gaukel,  Red  Oak.  Iowa;  Roy, 
married  and  in  the  employ  of  the  Burling- 
ton Railroad,  lives  at  Wymore,  Gage  county; 
W.  J.  is  in  the  national  army  at  Fort  Riley. 
Two  children  died  in  infancy. 

Mr.   Lacv   is   a   member  of   the   Christian 


church  at  Wymore.  In  recent  years  Mr.  Lacy 
has  voted  the  Democratic  ticket.  He  has 
served  his  township  in  an  official  capacity  on 
several  occasions,  doing  efficient  service  as  a 
member  of  the  school  board,  road  overseer 
and  township  assessor.  His  name  is  on  the 
membership  roll  of  the  Independent  Order  of 
Odd  Fellows  at  Wymore,  and  he  is  a  member 
also  of  the  Knights  &  Ladies  of  Security. 

Mr.  Lacy  located  on  his  farm  in  the  same 
year  that  the  land  in  that  part  of  the  county 
was  opened  for  settlement.  There  were  no 
district  schools  in  his  locality  at  that  time  and 
no  houses  nearer  than  Blue  Springs.  In  all 
the  work  of  development  and  progress  he  has 
contributed  his  full  share,  and  he  is  possessed 
of  those  qualities  of  heart  and  mind  which 
make  his  place  in  the  community  an  enviable 
one. 


JOHN  C.  HOOD,  a  representative  farmer 
of  Elm  township,  was  born  April  15,  1869,  in 
Mason  county,  Illinois.  He  is  a  son  of  Martin 
and  Ellen  (Horn)  Hood,  of  whose  seven  chil- 
dren four  are  living,  namely :  Thomas,  a  resi- 
dent of  Fremont  county,  Iowa;  Ellen,  the 
wife  of  John  J.  Clancy,  of  Elm  township, 
whose  sketch  appears  elsewhere  in  this  vol- 
ume; John  C,  the  subject  of  this  review; 
Dora,  the  wife  of  A.  J.  Jamison,  a  farmer  in 
Elm  township.  An  adopted  daughter,  Mag- 
gie Brown,  is  now  the  wife  of  James  Long,  of 
Sicily  township.  The  deceased  children  were 
Mary,  Lizzie  and  Julia. 

Martin  Hood  was  born  November  29,  1836, 
in  Ireland  and  in  1850,  with  two  brothers,  he 
left  the  Emerald  Isle  and  located  at  New 
Orleans.  Thence  they  went  to  Peoria,  Illi- 
nois, where  Martin  worked  as  a  grader  on  the 
construction  of  a  railroad.  By  frugal  habits 
and  the  saving  of  his  earnings  he  was  soon 
enabled  to  purchase  land  near  Peoria,  Illinois. 
He  farmed  also  at  Chillicothe,  Illinois,  and  in 
Mason  county,  "that  state.  Finally  he  went  to 
Union  county,  Iowa,  where  he  remained  less 
than  one  year,  and  then,,  in  1882,  he  came  to 
Beatrice,  Nebraska,  where  he  was  located  until 
he  purchased  the  old  home  farm  in  Section  9, 
Elm  township.  Twelve  dollars  an  acre  was  paid 


1064 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


for  this  land,  which  the  plow  of  man  had  never 
touched,  and  now,  after  years  of  toil  and  labor 
it  is  worth  ten  times  that  amount.  In  1900 
Mr.  Hood  retired  from  active  farming  and 
removed  to  Beatrice,  where  he  passed  away 
May  27,  1913.  His  wife,  Mrs.  Ellen  (Horn) 
Hood,  was  born  in  County  Galloway,  Ireland, 
October  31,  1831.  Coming  to  America  with 
her  sisters,  in  1847,  they  chose  as  their  home, 
Peoria,  Illinois,  where  she  met  and  married 
Martin  Hood,  with  whom  she  shared  many 
long  years  of  happy  companionship.  Her  life 
was  drawn  to  a  close  February  24,  1893.  These 
good  people  were  devout  members  of  the  Cath- 
olic church  and  gave  liberally  of  their  time 
and  means  in  support  of  the  church. 

When  John  C.  Flood  was  thirteen  years  old 
his  parents  came  to  Gage  county.  Here  he  at- 
tended the  district  schools  and  he  completed 
his  education  by  attending  the  business  col- 
lege at  Janesville,  Wisconsin,  where  he  pur- 
sued his  studies  of  telegraphy  and  typewriting. 
For  three  months  he  was  employed  by  the 
Chicago,  Burlington  &  Ouincy  Railroad  Com- 
pany, but  he  had  to  resign  his  position  because 
of  the  financial  stress  of  President  Cleveland's 
administration,  which  caused  so  much  panic 
in  financial  circles  and  big  corporations.  Mr. 
Hood  returned  to  his  father's  farm,  and  since 
that  time  he  has  continued  his  farming  op- 
erations. After  his  parents'  death  he  was  ap- 
portioned his  share  of  the  estate  and  he  has 
since  purchased  eighty  acres  from  his  sister 
Ellen,    (Mrs.  John  J.  Clancy.) 

At  Beatrice,  Nebraska,  July  4,  1899,  was 
solemnized  the  marriage  of  John  C.  Hood  to 
Miss  Katherine  Madden,  who  was  bom  May 
IS,  1877,  in  St.  Joseph,  Missouri,  and  who  was 
a  daughter  of  Michael  and  Bridget  (Murray) 
Madden,  natives  of  Ireland.  •  Michael  Madden 
was  a  bridge  contractor  and  he  continued  his 
residence  at  St.  Joseph  until  his  death.  Mrs. 
Katherine  (Madden)  Hood  passed  to  the 
life  eternal  on  the  25th  of  May,  1912,  and  she 
is  survived  by  three  children,  who  remain  with 
their  father  on  the  farm,  and  whose  names  and 
respective  dates  of  birth  are  here  noted :  La- 
vina,  March  31,  1900;  Mildred,  April  11,  1901 ; 
Dyle,  July  1,  1906. 


In  politics  Mr.  Hood  is  independent,  —  he 
votes  for  the  right  man  instead  of  merely  the 
party  candidate.  His  religious  faith  is  that 
of  the  Catholic  church  and  his  fraternal  asso- 
ciation is  with  the  Knights  of  Pythias. 

ERNEST  L.  SONDEREGGER  was  bom 
in  Jefferson  county,  Nebraska,  March  9,  1885, 
and  is  a  son  of  Carl  Sonderegger,  whose  rec- 
ord appears  on  other  pages  of  this  volume. 
Ernest  L.  Sonderegger  received  his  early  edu- 
cation in  the  public  schools  of  Jefferson 
county,  and  in  the  Beatrice  Business  college. 
He  later  went  to  Germany  and  Switzerland, 
where  he  studied  Gemian  and  also  gained  ex- 
pert knowledge  of  the  nursery  and  seed  busi- 
ness. After  returning  to  the  United  States 
Mr.  Sonderegger  became  associated  with  his 
father  in  the  seed  business  in  Beatrice,  and  he 
has  continuously  followed  that  business.  The 
Sonderegger  Nursery  &  Seed  Company  is  one 
of  the  largest  and  most  complete  of  its  kind 
in  the  country,  and  controls  a  very  large  busi- 
ness, there  being  a  heavy  demand  for  the  con- 
cern's nursery  stock,  and  seeds  being  shipped 
almost  to  all  parts  of  the  world. 

October  15,  1913,  Mr.  Sonderegger  was 
united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Helen  Loeber,  of 
Beatrice.  She  is  a  daughter  of  a  former 
banker  of  Hebron,  this  state.  Mrs.  Sonder- 
egger was  educated  in  the  Beatrice  schools  and 
is  a  graduate  of  the  high  school  of  this  city. 
She  was  at  one  time  a  teacher  in  the  public 
schools. 

In  politics  Mr.  Sonderegger  is  an  independ- 
ent Republican,  but  he  has  had  no  desire  for 
public  office.  He  devotes  his  entire  time  to 
the  nursery  business,  having  charge  of  the 
seed  department.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sonderegger 
are  members  of  the  Christian  church  of  Bea- 
trice. 

EMERY  S.  ELEIS,  whose  well  improved 
farm,  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  is  sit- 
uated in  Section  16,  Midland  township,  has 
been  a  resident  of  Gage  county  from  his  boy- 
hood days  and  is  a  representative  of  one  of 
the  prominent,  honored  and  influential  pioneer 
families  of  this  section  of  the  state,  his  father 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA  1065 


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Hr        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^1 

^^^^^^^l^^^^l 

^^^^^^^^^K                                   aft 

UPIK          "^^k        -^ 

Emery  S.  Ei,lis 


1066 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


having  at  one  time  been  the  owner  of  three 
thousand  acres  of  land  in  Gage  county  and 
having  conducted  extensive  operations  in  the 
raising  and  shipping  of  live  stock  as  well  as 
along  agricultural  lines.  The  eldest  in  a  fam- 
ily of  three  sons  and  two  daughters,  Emery  S. 
Ellis  was  bom  in  Woodford  county,  Illinois, 
on  the  6th  of  August,  1867,  and  he  is  a  son  of 
Joseph  and  Margaret  (Miller)  Ellis,  the  for- 
mer of  whom  was  bom  in  Yorkshire,  Eng- 
land, on  the  3d  of  April,  1844,  and  the  latter 
of  whom  was  bom  in  Butler  county,  Ohio,  in 
1840,  she  having  been  a  daughter  of  Alexander 
and  Eliza  Miller  and  having  been  a  young 
woman  at  the  time  of  the  family  removal  to 
Illinois,  where  was  solemnized  her  marriage 
to  Joseph  Ellis,  who  was  at  the  time  a  gallant 
young  veteran  of  the  Union  ser\'ice  in  the 
Civil  war. 

Joseph  Ellis  acquired  his  rudimentary  edu- 
cation in  his  native  land  and  was  about  eight 
years  old  when,  1852,  he  came  with  his  par- 
ents, John  and  Mary  (Nettleton)  Ellis,  to  the 
United  States,  and  settled  in  the  state  of  New 
Jersey,  whence,  in  1857,  removal  was  made 
to  Illinois,  his  parents  having  been  mem- 
bers of  sterling  old  families  long  established 
in  Yorkshire,  England.  Upon  the  removal  to 
Illinois  the  family  settled  in  Woodford  county, 
where  John  Ellis  purchased  and  developed  a 
good  farm  and  where  he  and  his  wife  passed 
the  remainder  of  their  lives,  the  father  having 
been  a  communicant  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land and  later  of  the  American  representative 
of  the  same  faith,  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
church,  while  the  mother  was  a  member  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  church.  Joseph 
Ellis  attended  school  in  New  Jersey  and  was 
about  thirteen  years  old  at  the  time  of  the  fam- 
ily removal  to  Illinois,  where  at  the  age  of 
seventeen  years  he  showed  his  distinctive  loy- 
alty to  the  land  of  his  adoption  by  enlisting, 
in  August,  1861,  as  a  member  of  Company  B, 
Forty-seventh  Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry, 
which  was  assigned  to  the  Army  of  the  West 
and  with  which  he  participated  in  many  en- 
gagements, including  the  battle  of  Corinth, 
Mississippi,    in    which    Mr.    Ellis    received    a 


severe  wound  in  the  right  arm.  After  leav- 
ing the  hospital  he  rejoined  his  regiment  and 
took  part  in  the  battle  of  Vicksburg,  he  hav- 
ing been  present  at  the  capitulation  of  that 
city.  Thereafter  he  took  part  in  the  battles 
at  Lake  Chicot,  Arkansas,  and  Tupelo  and 
Abbeyville,  Mississippi,  and  after  having 
served  gallantly  and  faithfully  for  three  years 
and  two  months  he  received  his  honorable  dis- 
charge, in  October,  1864,  at  Springfield,  Illi- 
nois. It  may  consistently  be  noted  at  this 
point  that  in  later  years,  after  his  removal  to 
Gage  county,  Nebraska,  he  became  an  active 
and  honored  member  of  the  post  of  the  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic  at  Dewitt,  Saline 
county,  a  village  not  far  distant  from  his 
homestead  farm  in  Gage  county. 

After  the  close  of  the  war  Mr.  Ellis  con- 
tinued his  association  with  farm  enterprise  in 
Illinois  until  1872,  when  he  came  to  Nebraska 
and  numbered  himself  among  the  pioneers  of 
Gage  county.  Fie  first  purchased  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres  of  land  in  Grant  town- 
ship, and  as  a  grower  and  shipper  of  cattle  he 
gradually  increased  the  area  of  his  landed  es- 
tate until  he  became  the  owner  of  fully  three 
thousand  acres,  his  average  annual  shipment 
of  cattle  to  the  eastern  markets  having  for  a 
term  of  years  been  about  twenty  carloads.  He 
made  the  best  of  improvements  upon  his  farm 
property  and  made  his  homestead  place  one 
of  the  model  farms  of  the  county.  In  grad- 
ually limiting  his  live-stock  operations  he  dis- 
posed of  much  of  his  land,  but  he  continued 
to  be  recognized  as  one  of  the  most  substan- 
tial and  influential  representatives  of  farm  in- 
dustry in  the  county,  commanding  unequi- 
vocal popular  esteem  and  having  become  a  di- 
rector of  the  People's  Bank  of  Beatrice,  of 
which  his  brother  John  was  president.  Mr. 
Ellis  was  unswerving  in  his  allegiance  to  the 
Republican  party.  He  died  March  25,  1915, 
and  his  widow  now  maintains  her  home  in  the 
city  of  Beatrice.  Of  their  four  children  who 
attained  to  maturity  the  subject  of  this  review 
is  the  eldest,  as  previously  noted :  Frank  O. 
resides  in  the  city  of  Beatrice,  where  he  is  en- 
gaged in  teaming;  Harry  O.  is  a  resident  of 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


1067 


Kansas  City,  Missouri;  Laura  E.  is  the  wife 
of  Frank  Sankey,  of  Harbine,  Jefferson 
county. 

Emery  S.  Ellis,  the  immediate  subject  of 
this  review,  was  a  lad  of  five  years  when  he 
accompanied  his  parents  on  their  removal  to 
Gage  county  and  here  he  early  gained  practical 
experience  through  his  association  with  his 
father's  extensive  operations  as  an  agricul- 
turist and  stock-grower,  the  while  he  duly 
availed  himself  of  the  advantages  of  the  local 
schools.  He  has  wisely  continued  his  active 
identification  with  fami  enterprise  during  the 
long  intervening  years  and  is  one  of  the  pro- 
gressive and  successful  agriculturists  and 
stock-growers  of  IMidland  township,  his  well 
improved  farm  comprising  the  southwest 
quarter  of  Section  16.  He  raises  good  grades 
of  cattle  and  swine  in  connection  with  his  agri- 
cultural operations,  is  a  vigorous  and  well 
poised  business  man  and  both  as  a  farmer  and 
a  liberal  citizen  he  is  fully  upholding  the  pres- 
tige of  a  name  that  has  been  significantly 
prominent  and  honored  in  connection  with 
the  annals  of  Gage  county.  He  has  never 
manifested  any  ambition  for  political  prefer- 
ment but  is  aligned  staunchly  in  the  ranks  of 
the  Republican  party.  He  is  affiliated  with 
the  Knights  of  Pythias  and  both  he  and  his 
wife  hold  membership  in  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal church. 

On  the  9th  of  March,  1898,  was  recorded 
the  marriage  of  ]\Ir.  Ellis  to  Miss  Caroline 
Moshel,  daughter  of  Ludwig  ]\loshel.  concern- 
ing whom  individual  mention  is  made  on  other 
pages  of  this  work.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ellis  have 
an  interesting  family  of  five  children  and  all 
remain,  in  1918,  members  of  the  gracious  home 
circle,  namely :  Edith  E.,  Caroline  M.,  Kath- 
erine  L.,  Bertha  L.  and  Lulu  E. 

FRED  J.  WOODS,  M.  D.,  of  Barneston. 
who  has  here  been  established  in  the  practice 
of  his  profession  for  more  than  twenty  years, 
was  born  near  Springfield,  Illinois,  March  22, 
1867,  and  is  a  son  of  James  and  Henrietta 
(Thumbles)  Woods,  both  now  deceased. 
James  Woods  was  born  in  Indiana,  in  1813, 
and  for  a  number  of  vears  he  made  his  home  in 


Illinois,  where  he  followed  the  trade  of  cab- 
inetmaker. In  1868,  with  a  covered  "prairie 
schooner,"  Mr.  Woods  took  his  family  and  all 
of  his  earthly  possessions  and  started  across 
the  plains  of  Iowa.  He  crossed  the  Missouri 
river  into  Nebraska,  to  locate  in  Otoe  county, 
near  the  present  village  of  Dunbar.  In  those 
early  days,  after  the  close  of  the  civil  war, 
there  was  a  great  deal  of  unrest  amongst  the 
people  of  the  United  States  and  the  new  state 
of  Nebraska  was  just  being  peopled  by  the 
sturdy  and  courageous  men  and  women  who 
dared  to  brave  pioneer  hardships.  After 
farming  for  some  time  in  Otoe  county  Mr. 
Woods  removed  to  Syracuse,  that  county, 
where  he  died  in  1873.  His  wife,  Henrietta 
(Thumbles)  Woods,  was  born  in  Germany, 
in  1823,  and  their  marriage  was  solemnized  in 
Illinois,  where  ten  children  were  born  to  them. 
Five  of  the  children  are  living,  namely  :  George 
H.,  a  Civil  war  veteran,  now  residing  in 
Louisville,  Nebraska;  Eva,  the  wife  of  George 
Creighton,  a  retired  farmer  at  Livingston, 
Wyoming;  Augusta,  wife  of  J.  R.  Raney,  living 
near  Lincoln,  Nebraska ;  Laura,  wife  of  W.  R. 
Parkins,  operating  a  fruit  ranch  at  Kerman, 
California;  and  Dr.  Fred  J.,  with  whom  this 
sketch  deals.  The  parents  were  strong  re- 
ligious characters,  and  reared  their  children  in 
the  way  that  they  should  go,  believing  that  "as 
the  twig  is  bent  the  tree  inclines."  They  were 
members  of  the  Methodist  church.  Mrs. 
\\'oods  passed  to  her  reward  in  1917,  having 
attained  the  venerable  age  of  ninety-four  years. 
Hers  was  a  life  spent  in  Christian  service,  and 
her  memory  rests  as  a  benediction  upon  the 
lives  which  were  so  near  and  dear  to  her. 

Dr.  Fred  -J.  Woods  received  much  of  his 
early  education  in  the  schools  of  Weeping 
Water,  Nebraska,  and  the  high  school  at 
Syracuse,  Otoe  county.  In  preparing  for  his 
chosen  profession  he  entered  the  Lincoln 
Medical  College,  in  the  capital  city  of  Ne- 
braska, and  in  the  same  he  was  graduated  in 
1897,  with  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine. 
Soon  after  his  graduation  he  came  to  Barnes- 
ton,  where  he  has  been  established  in  success- 
ful practice  during  the  intervening  years  and 
where  his  ability  and  character  mark  him  as 


1068 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


1069 


one  of  the  representative  physicians  and  sur- 
geons of  Gage  county. 

January  4,  1891,  at  Aubury,  Nebraska,  was 
solemnized  the  marriage  of  Dr.  Woods  to  Miss 
Rose  Schull,  who  was  bom  March  10,  1868, 
in  southern  Missouri,  and  who  is  a  daughter 
of  Dr.  H.  I.  and  Lydia  (Reynolds)  Schull, 
the  former  born  in  Indiana  and  the  latter  in 
Missouri.  Dr.  Schull  is  now  retired  from 
active  work  and  resides  at  Auburn,  Nebraska. 
He  practised  medicine  in  Missouri  until  1888, 
when  he  came  to  Auburn,  Nebraska,  where  he 
continued  the  work  of  a  successful  physician 
until  1903,  when  he  retired.  His  wife  died 
June  29,  1913.  They  had  seven  children,  three 
of  whom  are  living:  John  C,  farmer  and  at- 
torney, of  Clinton,  Oklahoma;  Laura,  the  wife 
of  G.  H.  Walters,  Lincoln,  Nebraska,  a  book- 
keeper in  the  employ  of  the  Nebraska  Loan  & 
Investment  Company ;  and  Rose,  wife  of  Dr. 
Woods,  of  this  review.  Doctor  Schull  was  in 
service  in  the  commissary  department  during 
the  Civil  war. 

Dr.  and  Mrs.  Woods  have  two  children: 
Hope  is  the  wife  of  Luther  E.  Jones,  who  is 
engaged  in  the  hardware  and  automobile  busi- 
ness in  Densmore,  Canada,  and  they  have 
three  children,  Dean,  Dale  and  Katheryn.  The 
younger  child  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Woods  is 
Harold,  who  is  now  attending  the  Nebraska 
State  Medical  College,  at  Omaha,  and  is  in  his 
junior  year   (1918.) 

Dr.  Woods  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic  fra- 
ternity, including  the  lodge  of  Ancient  Free  & 
Accepted  Masons,  the  Chapter  of  Royal  Arch 
JNIasons,  and  the  Commandery  of  Kinghts 
Templars.  He  is  affiliated  also  with  the  Royal 
Neighbors,  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America 
and  the  Royal  Highlanders.  He  is  a  member 
of  the  Nebraska  State  Medical  Society.  The 
political  views  of  Dr.  Woods  are  well  forti- 
fied, he  has  served  as  Mayor  of  Barneston, 
and  in  1914  he  was  a  candidate  for  state 
senator  on  the  ticket  of  the  Progressive  party. 

'  HENRY  FOCKEN,  whose  civic  and  in- 
dustrial status  is  indicated  by  his  ownership 
of  four  hundred  acres  of  valuable  Nebraska 
land,  has  been  a  resident  of  Gage  county  since 


1883  and  has  here  won  his  present  independ- 
ence and  prosperity  entirely  through  his  own 
industry  and  well  ordered  activities  in  con- 
nection with  farm  enterprise.  In  Section  17 
Highland  township  he  has  a  well  improved 
landed  estate  of  two  hundred  and  forty  acres, 
and  three  miles  south  of  Cortland  he  owns 
a  well  improved  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres. 

In  the  picturesque  district  of  East  Fries- 
land,  Prussia,  Germany,  Henry  Focken  was 
born  January  11,  1846,  a  son  of  Henry  and 
Hilka  (Barthles)  Focken,  the  former  of  whom 
passed  his  entire  life  in  Germany.  In  1873 
the  widowed  mother,  in  company  with  one 
daughter,  came  to  America  and  joined  her  son 
George,  who  was  then  a  resident  of  Logan 
county,  Illinois,  and  who  is  now  deceased, 
there  being  only  two  living  of  the  family  of 
seven  children,  —  Henry,  of  this  review,  and 
John,  who  remains  in  Germany.  The  father 
was  fifty-nine  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  in  1869,  and  the  mother  passed  the 
closing  years  of  her  life  in  Illinois,  where  she 
died  in  1881,  when  about  sixty-two  years  of 
age. 

Henry  Focken  was  reared  and  educated  in 
his  native  land  and  was  an  ambitious  and 
sturdy  young  man  when,  in  1873,  he  came  to 
the  United  States  and  settled  in  Illinois.  There 
he  found  employment  at  farm  work  and  final- 
ly he  began  independent  operations  as  a  farm- 
er in  Logan  county,  that  state.  After  having 
been  thus  engaged  four  years  he  came,  in 
1883,  to  Nebraska,  and  purchased  from  the 
railroad  company  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  of  land  in  Highland  township,  Gage 
county,  he  having  paid  nineteen  dollars  an 
acre  for  this  property,  —  the  nucleus  of  his 
present  large  landed  estate  in  that  township. 
Applying  himself  earnestly  and  indefatigably, 
and  carefully  conserving  his  financial  returns, 
Mr.  Focken  reclaimed  his  original  farm  to 
cultivation  and  with  increasing  prosperity 
made  judicious  investments  until  he  accumu- 
lated his  present  valuable  landed  estate  in  this 
county.  His  first  house  was  a  rude  pioneer 
shack  which  long  since  gave  place  to  his  pres- 
ent  commodious   and   attractive   farm  house, 


1070 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


and  he  has  made  excellent  improvements  on 
all  of  his  farm  property,  including  the  erection 
of  good  buildings  and  the  providing  of  other 
facihties  that  denote  thrift  and  prosperity.  On 
his  original  homestead,  which  is  still  his  place 
of  residence,  he  set  out  trees  that  are  now  of 
large  diameter  and  add  materially  to  the  at- 
tractions of  the  place.  His  political  support 
is  given  to  the  Democratic  party  and  he  and 
his  wife  are  members  of  the  German  Method- 
ist church. 

On  the  24th  of  April,  1879,  Mr.  Focken 
married  Miss  Deborah  Rocker,  who  came 
from  Gennany  to  America  on  the  same  ship 
as  did  her  future  husband,  their  acquaint- 
anceship having  been  fonned  on  the  voyage 
Of  their  children  Henry,  Jr.,  is  a  prosperous 
farmer  in  Holt  county ;  John  is  similarly  en- 
gaged in  Highland  township,  Gage  county ; 
George  resides  at  Hallan,  Lancaster  county ; 
Martin  is  associated  in  the  work  and  man- 
agement of  his  father's  home  farm;  and 
Hulda,  Lacetta  and  Edward  likewise  remain 
members  of  the  parental  home  circle. 


WILLIAM  PALMER.  —  In  the  early  days 
of  Nebraska  history  men  were  of  the  opinion 
that  the  vast  rolling  prairies  were  primarily 
available  only  as  a  range  for  vast  herds  of 
cattle,  and  the  cattle  industry  became  one  of 
great  importance  and  volume.  Incidentally 
was  developed  a  branch  of  enterprise  in  which 
the  state  can  still  claim  precedence,  ■ — ■  that  of 
buying  cattle  in  large  numbers  for  the  eastern 
markets.  One  of  the  many  men  who  have 
dealt  extensively  in  the  feeding,  buying  and 
selling  of  cattle  is  William  Palmer,  who  is 
well  known  throughout  this  section  of  the 
state  and  at  the  nearby  markets  of  Omaha, 
St.  Joseph,  Missouri,  and  Grand  Island.  He 
is  at  the  present  time  (1918)  selling  his  herd 
of  registered  Aberdeen  Angus  cattle,  prepara- 
tory to  retirement  from  active  work. 

Mr.  Palmer  was  born  January  27,  1863,  in 
Marshall  county,  Kansas,  where  his  parents, 
David  and  Sarah  (Jemmerson)  Palmer  were 
then  conducting  a  roadhouse  and  ranch  on  the 
trail  from  St.  Joseph,  Missouri,  to  Pike's 
Peak,  Colorado.     Many  weary  travelers  spent 


a  night  or  two  at  the  Palmer  roadhouse,  re- 
freshing themselves  and  their  animals,  and  re- 
maining only  long  enough  to  be  able  to  con- 
tinue their  wild  rush  to  the  gold  fields  of 
Pike's  Peak.  Visions  of  wealth  and  affluence 
glittered  before  their  eyes,  but  many  a  man 
came  back  with  a  broken  heart,  after  a  fruit- 
less search  for  the  elusive  metal.  David  Pal- 
mer was  a  native  of  Indiana,  and  was  a  son  of 
Eli  Palmer,  who  came  to  Nebraska  in  a  very 
early  day,  his  death  occurring  in  1867.  Mrs. 
David  Palmer  likewise  was  bom  in  Indiana 
and  was  a  daughter  of  G.  F.  Jemmerson,  who 
was  born  in  England  and  who  came  as  a  pio- 
neer to  Nebraska,  where  he  passed  away  in 
1878. 

The  marriage  of  David  Palmer  and  Sarah 
Jemmerson  was  solemnized  at  Nebraska  City, 
Nebraska,  and  their  home  for  some  time,  as 
before  mentioned,  was  in  Marshall  county, 
Kansas.  In  1863  they  came  to  Gage  county 
and  purchased  land,  Mr.  Palmer  here  con- 
tinuing his  pioneer  farm  enterprise  until  he 
met  a  tragic  death,  by  accidentally  drowning 
in  the  Blue  river,  June  23,  1876.  Five  chil- 
dren were  born  to  them,  as  follows :  David, 
is  a  farmer  of  Rocky  Ford,  Colorado;  Fan- 
nie is  the  wife  of  W.  C.  Evans,  a  traveling, 
man,  and  they  make  their  home  at  Barneston, 
Gage  county;  Flora  is  the  wife  of  Scott  Mc- 
Farland,  a  retired  farmer,  living  a  at  Barnes- 
ton ;  Nettie  is  the  wife  of  C.  M.  McNew,  a 
farmer  of  Shroyer,  Kansas  ;  and  William  is  the 
subject  of  this  review. 

The  early  days  of  William  Palmer's  life 
were  spent  amongst  the  crude  but  stirring  and 
romantic  surroundings  of  the  early  pioneer 
days,  when  the  sod  house  and  the  ox-drawn 
vehicle  were  common  sights.  The  wild  rush 
of  the  gold-seekers  also  made  its  impress 
upon  his  young  mind,  but  these  experiences 
were  all  "stones  of  the  fates,"  projected  to 
mould  a  life  in  a  certain  direction.  In  very 
early  boyhood  William  Palmer  was  selecting 
cattle  for  their  fitness  as  beef  or  milk  quali- 
ties, this  foreshadowing  his  predilection  of  the 
later  years. 

In  1883  the  holy  bonds  of  marriage  joined 
the  lives  of   William'  Palmer  and   Miss   Ella 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


1071 


Evans.  She  passed  to  her  reward  in  1900, 
leaving  two  children,  Roy  W.,  who  is  an  elec- 
trical engineer  in  Arizona,  and  Lula,  who  is 
the  wife  of  Frank  Condefer,  a  member  of  the 
police  force  of  Los  Angeles,  California.  The 
second  marriage  of  Mr.  Palmer  was  solemn- 
ized in  1903,  when  Mrs.  Minnie  V.  Livery 
Ijecame  his  wife.  Her  maiden  name  was  Min- 
nie Mayne,  and  she  was  bom  at  Tiffin,  Seneca 
county,  Ohio,  a  daughter  of  Henry  and  Mary 
(Kaul)  Mayne,  the  former  a  native  of  Mary- 
land and  the  latter  of  Pennsylvania.  Mr. 
Mayne  early  became  a  merchant  in  Ohio  and 
in  1869  he  and  his  wife  became  pioneer  set- 
tlers of  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  where  he  took 
up  a  homestead.  Both  he  and  his  wife  died 
at  Blue  Springs,  this  county. 

With  three  hundred  and  fifty  acres  of  land 
in  Liberty  township.  Gage  county,  and  four 
hundred  acres  of  land  in  Washington  county, 
Kansas,  it  is  plain  to  be  seen  that  Mr.  Palmer 
has  loved  his  work  and  has  proved  that  with 
determination  to  succeed  a  man  can  start  with 
nothing  and  acquire  a  substantial  competence. 

JOHN  W.  JONES,  deceased,  was  bom  in 
Denbighshire,  Wales,  December  20,  1854,  and 
died  December  28,  1917.  ]\Ir.  Jones  was  edu- 
cated in  Wales,  and  in  1880  came  to  America, 
settling  in  Gage  county,  Nebraska.  He  and 
his  brother  came  to  Nebraska  as  bachelors  and 
l^ought  eighty  acres  of  land  in  Gage  county. 
At  the  time  of  his  death  John  W.  Jones  was 
the  owner  of  six  hundred  and  eighty  acres  of 
land  and  he  left  each  of  his  children  a  farm 
of  eighty  acres. 

In  1885  Mr.  Jones  was  united  in  marriage 
to  Miss  Mary  Humphreys,  a  native  of  Wales. 
Mrs.  Jones  was  the  daughter  of  Richard  and 
Jane  Humphreys,  both  of  whom  died  in  Wales. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jones  became  the  parents  of 
four  children :  John  D.,  Robert  H.,  Thomas 
C.  and  Jennie  E.,  wife  of  H.  D.  Lloyd.  All  re- 
side in  Bameston  township.  The  parents  were 
members  of  the  Welsh  church,  of  which  Mr. 
Jones  was  a  deacon  for  about  eighteen  years. 
Mr.  Jones  was  a  Republican  in  politics.  For 
a  number  of  years  he  was  president  of  the 
Farmers'  Lumber,  Grain  &  Coal  Company.  He 


was  a  self-made  man  and  accumulated  a  nice 
estate. 

Thomas  C.  Jones  was  born  in  Gage  county 
and  received  his  education  in  the  Wymore 
schools,  graduating  from  the  high  school  of 
that  place.  He  has  always  followed  farming, 
and  recently  he  has  greatly  improved  his  farm 
building  a  fine  new  house  about  three  years 
ago. 

In  1913  Thomas  C.  Jones  was  united  in 
marriage  to  Miss  Mary  R.  Jones,  daughter  of 
John  R.  Jones,  who  came  to  Gage  county  in 
1880,  and  who  here  became  the  owner  of 
four  hundred  and  eighty  acres  of  land. 

Thomas  C.  Jones  and  wife  are  the  parents 
of  two  children:  Mary  Eleanor  and  Lucile 
Jane.  The  family  are  members  of  the  Welsh 
church.  Mr.  Jones  is  a  Republican,  and  he  is 
president  of  the  Farmers'  Union.  At  one  time 
Mr.  Jones  served  as  manager  of  the  Farmers' 
Shipping  Association.  He  now  buys,  feeds 
and  sells  cattle  and  hogs  quite  extensively, 
shipping  mostly  to  the  market  at  St.  Joseph, 
Missouri.  Mr.  Jones  is  the  owner  of  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  in  Barneston 
township. 

CHARLES  A.  WIBLE  is  a  son  of  a  Civil 
war  veteran,  Robert  B.  Wible,  who  farmed  in 
Elm  township.  Robert  B.  Wible  was  bom 
October  1,  1843,  in  Pennsylvania  and  was  a 
son  of  Andrew  and  Sarah  (Kilbourgh)  Wible, 
who  were  farmers  in  Illinois,  to  which  state 
they  removed  from  Pennsylvania,  where 
Andrew  Wible  had  located  upon  his  arrival 
from  Germany,  his  birthplace :  he  was  bom 
December  30,  1816,  and  in  1856  removed  to 
Illinois,  where  his  death  occurred  June  24, 
1890. 

Robert  B.  Wible  enlisted  in  the  Civil  war, 
in  the  teamster  service,  and  was  faithful  to  his 
duty  during  the  entire  war.  After  the  sword 
and  musket  had  been  laid  aside  by  the  nation 
and  the  plow  was  again  placed  in  the  furrow 
Mr.  Wible  went  to  Nodaway  county,  Mis- 
souri, where  for  fourteen  years  he  followed 
his  agricultural  activities.  In  1882  he  came 
to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  and  purchased  land 
five  miles   southeast   of   Ellis,   where  he  re- 


1072 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


mained  until  his  retirement :  he  then  removed 
to  Beatrice,  in  1902,  and  he  passed  away  Aug- 
ust 7,  1909.  His  widow  still  resides  in  Bea- 
trice. In  Nodaway  county,  Missouri,  October 
27,  1878,  Robert  B.  Wible  was  united  in  mar- 
riage to  Clara  Martin,  who  was  born  in  that 
county,  February  1,  1861,  a  daughter  of  John 
and  Mary  (Pitman)  Martin.  John  Martin 
died  at  Elk  City,  Kaosas,  and  his  widow  is' 
now  living  in  Kingfisher,  Oklahoma.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Robert  B.  Wible  were  the  parents  of  two 
children:  Emma  was  born  July  26,  1879,  and 
is  the  wife  of  Jesse  Pearce,  who  is  farming 
the  old  Wible  homestead:  and  Charles  A.  is 
the  immediate  subject  of  this  sketch. 

Charles  A.  Wible  was  born  July  23,  1882, 
in  Elm  township,  and  was  educated  in  the  dis- 
trict school.  July  21,  1902,  he  married  Miss 
Barbara  Grabber,  who  was  born  March  22, 
1885,  in  Gage  county.  '  Her  parents  were 
Joseph  and  Barbara  ( Stuber)  Grabber,  who 
were  married  in  April,  1872.  Mr.  Grabber 
was  born  January  28,  1834,  and  died  January 
3,  1918,  at  his  daughter's  home.  Mrs.  Grab- 
ber was  born  March  15,  1849,  and  died  Sep- 
tember 13,  1908.  Mrs.  Charles  A.  Wible  was 
the  seventh  in  a  family  of  eleven  children. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wible  are  the  parents  of  four 
children:  Emma,  Charles,  Clara,  and  Doro- 
thy. Mr.  Wible  is  renting  one  hundred  and 
twenty  acres  of  land  from  his  mother  and  is 
doing  a  general  farming  business.  In  poli- 
tics he  classifies  himself  as  an  independent 
Republican.  His  views  are  influenced  by  the 
character  of  the  man  and  not  the  party  which 
he  follows.  Mrs.  Wible  is  a  member  of  the 
Catholic  church. 

HENRY  A.  LaSELLE.  —  In  the  year 
1867,  which  marked  the  admission  of  Ne- 
braska as  one  of  the  sovereign  states  of  the 
Union,  this  venerable  and  revered  citizen  of 
Beatrice  established  his  home  in  the  beautiful 
little  city  in  which  he  still  resides,  though  at 
that  time  the  capital  of  Gage  county  was  a 
mere  straggling,  frontier  village.  Prior  to 
this,  as  a  youth,  Judge  LaSelle  had  gained  in- 
timate experience  in  connection  with  pioneer 
life  in  the  west  and  before  coming  again  to 


this  portion  of  our  national  domain  he  had 
given  to  his  native  land  the  loyal  and  valiant 
service  of  a  patriot  soldier  of  the  Union  dur- 
ing virtually  the  entire  period  of  the  Civil 
war.  In  the  midst  of  the  clamour  and  devast- 
agon  of  the  great  European  war  in  which  the 
United  States  has  become  involved  at  the  time 
of  this  writing,  it  is  grateful  to  revert  to  the 
strong  and  noble  young  men  who  went  forth 
in  defense  of  our  national  integrity  and  honor 
when  the  Civil  war  was  precipitated,  and  to 
mark  with  renewed  appreciation  the  lofty  pa- 
triotism of  those  who  went  forth  in  that  strug- 
gle, especially  in  view  of  the  fact  that  each 
year  records  a  definite  loss  in  the  ranks  of  the 
now  venerable  citizens  who  had  been  soldiers 
of  the  Union  in  the  historic  conflict  between 
the  states  of  the  north  and  the  south. 

Judge  LaSelle,  a  man  of  strong  intellect- 
uality and  marked  ability,  contributed  in  the 
early  days  to  the  march  of  development  and 
progress  in  Nebraska  and  he  has  continued 
the  exemplar  of  high-minded  and  liberal  civic 
ideals  during  the  long  intervening  period. 
Though  the  year  1918  has  recorded  the  eigh- 
tieth anniversary  of  his  birth,  he  has  the  verve 
and  enthusiasm  of  a  man  many  years  his 
junior  and  does  not  consent  to  divorce  himself 
from  practical  business  activities  and  efifective 
communal  service.  He  still  gives  his  atten- 
tion to  well  ordered  real-estate  operations  and 
since  1910  has  been  the  incumbent  of  the  of- 
fice of  justice  of  the  peace.  Even  these  few 
preliminary  statements  give  assurance  that  this 
honored  pioneer  is  one  specially  entitled  to 
recognition  in  this  historj'  of  Gage  county  and 
the  state  of  Nebraska. 

Henry  A.  LaSelle  was  born  in  Madison 
county,  New  York,  on  the  5th  of  August, 
1838,  and  is  a  son  of  Mason  A.  and  Dorcas 
(Conant)  LaSelle,  both  of  whom  passed  their 
entire  lives  in  that  county,  where  the  respec- 
tive families  were  founded  in  the  pioneer 
period  of  the  history  of  the  Empire  state,  be- 
sides which  both  found  representation  in  the 
colonial  settlement  of  America.  Mason  A. 
LaSalle  gave  his  entire  active  life  to  the  basic 
industry  of  agriculture  and  was  one  of  the 
venerable  and  honored  citizens  of  his  native 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


1073 


Henry  A.  LaSelle 


1074 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


county  at  the  time  of  his  death,  which  occured 
March  18,  1875,  his  devoted  wife  having 
passed  to  eternal  rest  in  the  year  1866.  Of 
their  six  sons  and  five  daughters,  five  are  now 
living,  and  of  the  number  the  subject  of  this 
review  was  the  fourth  in  order  of  birth. 

Tlie  childhood  and  early  youth  of  Henry  A. 
LaSelle  were  compassed  by  the  invigorating 
environment  and  discipline  of  the  old  home- 
stead farm  in  ATadison  county,  New  York,  and 
his  district-school  education  was  supplemented 
by  a  course  in  Hamilton  Academy,  at  Hamil- 
ton, New  York.  In  1856,  at  the  age  of  eigh- 
teen years,  Mr.  LaSelle  initiated  his  pioneer 
experience  in  the  great  west,  as  in  that  year 
he  located  in  Fayette  county,  Iowa,  where  he 
assisted  in  the  original  development  work  of  a 
new  farm,  besides  finding  requisition  for  his 
services  as  a  teacher  in  the  pioneer  schools, 
this  being  his  initial  service  in  the  pedagogic 
profession.  In  1859  he  returned  to  his  native 
state,  where  he  added  to  his  scholastic  re-in- 
forcement  by  continuing  his  studies  for  two 
years  in  the  historic  Oneida  Conference  Sem- 
inary, at  Cazenovia.  Thereafter  he  continued 
to  give  his  attention  principally  to  teaching, 
until  there  came  to  him  the  opportunity  of 
voicing  his  ardent  patriotism  in  direct  military 
service  after  the  Civil  war  had  been  precipi- 
tated on  a  divided  nation. 

In  August,  1862,  Mr.  LaSelle  enlisted  as  a 
private  in  Company  D,  One  Hundred  and 
Fourteenth  New  York  Volunteer  Infantry, 
commanded  by  Colonel  Elisha  B.  Smith,  and 
with  this  gallant  regiment  he  lived  up  to  the 
full  tension  of  vigorous  campaign  activities 
incidental  to  the  operations  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  the  Gulf.  Always  to  be  found  at  the 
post  of  duty,  he  was  made  a  non-commissioned 
officer  and  in  his  earnest  and  efficient  service 
gained  the  unequivocal  commendation  of  his 
superior  officers,  the  while  he  had  the  con- 
fidence and  respect  of  his  comrades  in  arms. 
He  was  finally  assigned  to  detached  commis- 
sary duty  in  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  where 
he  had  charge  of  thirteen  hundred  men,  but 
near  the  close  of  the  war  he  rejoined  his  regi- 
ment, while  it  was  in  service  under  General 
Hancock    in   the    Shenandoah   valley   of   Vir- 


ginia. After  the  assassination  of  President 
Lincoln  the  regiment  proceeded  to  the  na- 
tional capital,  were  it  was  assigned  to  guard 
duty  during  the  period  in  which  the  assassin. 
Booth,  was  captured  and  tried,  and  finally  it 
was  Mr.  LaSelle's  privilege  to  participate  with 
his  regiment  in  the  Grand  Review  of  the  vic- 
torious Union  troops  in  Washington,  after  the 
close  of  the  war.  He  then  returned  with  his 
comrades  to  New  York  state,  and  there,  in  the 
city  of  Elmira,  he  received  his  honorable  dis- 
charge in  June,  1865.  As  a  soldier  he  par- 
ticipated in  General  Banks'  expedition  to  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico  and  in  the  Teche  campaign 
to  the  west  of  New  Orleans.  With  his  com- 
mand he  was  continuously  under  fire  for  forty- 
two  days,  incidental  to  the  siege  and  final 
capture  of  Port  Hudson,  and  he  took  part  also 
in  the  battle  of  Donaldsonville  and  in  the 
Franklin  expedition  to  Sabine  Pass,  in  the 
meanwhile  participating  in  numerous  engage- 
ments of  minor  order. 

Mr.  LaSalle  passed  the  winter  of  1865-1866 
in  the  city  of  New  York,  but  in  the  early  spring 
was  called  home  to  the  bedside  of  his  dying 
mother,  who  passed  away  March  20,  1866. 
In  April,  1866,  Mr.  LaSelle  again  set  forth 
for  the  west,  and  he  first  located  at  St.  Joseph, 
Missouri,  where  he  passed  about  one  year, 
giving  his  attention  to  railroad  work  and  real- 
estate  operations.  In  the  meanwhile  he 
visited  Nebraska,  which  was  soon  to  pass  from 
territorial  to  state  regime,  and  in  this  sojourn 
he  entered  claim  to  a  tract  of  government 
land  near  Beatrice,  Gage  county,  the  future 
city  having  at  that  time  been  a  little  frontier 
hamlet  with  about  twenty  buildings,  a  few  of 
them  primitive  business  establishments.  In 
addition  to  his  homestead  claim  Mr.  LaSelle 
secured  land  by  purchase  also,  and  besides 
making  provision  for  the  improving  of  his 
land  he  purchased  a  stock  of  general  mer- 
chandise and  engaged  in  business  as  one  of 
the  pioneer  merchants  of  Beatrice,  where  he 
continued  operations  in  this  line  about  fifteen 
years,  his  store  having  stood  on  the  site  now 
occupied  by  the  depot  of  the  Chicago,  Bur- 
lington &  Quincy  Railroad.  In  1882  Mr.  La- 
Selle initiated    operations    in    the    real-estate 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


1075 


business,  and  through  this  medium  he  assisted 
in  bringing  many  desirable  settlers  to  this  sec- 
tion of  the  state,  besides  contributing  in  a  gen- 
eral way  to  civic  and  industrial  progress.  He 
still  continues  a  representative  of  this  line  of 
enterprise,  but  does  not  attempt  to  carry  on 
operations  as  actively  as  in  former  years.  As 
before  noted,  he  has  served  since  1910  as  jus- 
tice of  the  peace,  and  he  has  made  the  office 
justify  its  name.  A  man  of  broad  mental 
ken,  he  decides  each  case  according  to  the  dic- 
tates of  justice  and  equity  and  without  fear 
or  favor,  so  that  very  few  of  his  rulings  have 
met  with  reversal  by  courts  of  higher  juris- 
diction. 

Judge  LaSelle  cast  his  first  presidential  vote 
in  1860.  for  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  when  on 
furlough  from  service  in  the  Civil  war,  in  1864. 
he  voted  for  the  martyred  president  again,  on 
the  occasion  of  his  second  election.  Since  that 
time  he  has  never  failed  to  support  every  presi- 
dential candidate  of  the  Republican  party  and 
thus  all  of  the  presidential  candidates  of  the 
party  save  its  very  first,  General  John  C. 
Fremont,  has  found  him  aligned  as  a  staunch 
supporter.  He  perpetuates  the  most  gracious 
memories  and  association  of  his  military  career 
by  retaining  affiliation  with  Rawlins  Post, 
Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  in  which  noble 
patriotic  organization  at  Beatrice  he  has  been 
an  influential  and  honored  member  during 
virtually  the  entire  period  of  its  history.  He 
has  been  for  many  years  a  zealous  member  of 
the  Presbyterian  church,  as  was  also  his  wife. 

In  the  year  1875  was  solemnized  the  mar- 
riage of  Judge  LaSelle  to  Mrs.  Elizabeth 
(Campbell)  Crawford,  widow  of  William  G. 
Crawford,  of  Council  BluiTs,  Iowa.  She  was 
born  in  Brown  county,  Ohio,  and  was  a 
daughter  of  Martin  M.  and  Sarah  B.  (Walker) 
Campbell.  After  her  first  marriage  she  and 
her  husband  resided  for  a  time  in  Nebraska, 
in  the  territorial  days,  and  Mr.  Crawford 
served  as  a  member  of  the  territorial  legisla- 
ture in  1857-1858.  Soon  thereafter  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Crawford  established  their  residence  at 
Council  BlufTs.  Iowa,  where  he  continued  in 
the  practice  of  his  profession  until  his  death,  as 
one  of  the  representative  members  of  the  bar 


of  Iowa.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Crawford  became 
the  parents  of  one  daughter,  Kittie  C.  The 
Craw  fords  were  neighbors  and  close  friends 
of  the  late  General  Grenville  M.  Dodge,  and 
upon  the  completion  of  the  Union  Pacific 
Railroad  j\Iiss  Kittie  C.  Crawford  accom- 
panied the  General  over  the  line  to  the  Pacific 
coast,  as  guest  on  his  private  car,  besides  which 
General  Dodge  also  entertained  Mrs.  Craw- 
ford and  her  husband.  Judge  LaSelle,  after 
her  second  marriage.  Of  this  second  union 
no  children  were  bom,  but  the  closest  of  ties 
link  Mr.  LaSelle  and  his  stepdaughter,  who 
has  ever  accorded  to  him  the  utmost  filial  af- 
fection. The  supreme  loss  and  bereavement 
in  the  long  and  useful  life  of  Judge  LaSelle 
came  when  his  gracious  and  devoted  wife  was 
summoned  to  eternal  rest,  her  death  having  oc- 
curred January  11,  1916,  and  her  memory  be- 
ing revered  by  all  who  came  within  the  sphere 
of  her  gentle  and  kindly  influence. 

JAMES  M.  HOWE,  a  prosperous  farmer  in 
Section  8,  Liberty  township,  was  born  May  22, 
1885,  near  Tuscola,  Illinois,  and  is  a  son  of 
William  and  Harriet ,{  Lester)    Howe. 

William  Howe  was  born  in  Bourbon  county, 
Kentucky,  in  1828,  and  died  in  1892.  He  was 
a  farmer,  and  at  the  time  of  the  gold  excite- 
ment in  California  he  went  to  that  state,  in 
1850.  There  he  prospered  for  a  time,  return- 
ing to  Illinois  with  about  four  thousand  dol- 
lars. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Howe  became  the  par- 
ents of  eight  children,  as  follows :  James  M., 
the  subject  of  this  review ;  John  S.,  of  Miles 
City,  Montana;  Perry,  of  Tuscola,  Illinois; 
Etta,  wife  of  James  Drennen,  of  Osceola, 
Iowa;  Efifie,  wife  of  J.  C.  Reed,  professor  of 
schools  at  White  City,  Wisconsin;  Charles, 
a  farmer  near  Champaign,  Illinois ;  Leona, 
wife  of  W.  H.  Joseph,  of  Tuscola,  Illinois; 
and  Lora,  wife  of  William  Robertson,  an  at- 
torney at  Mount  Vernon,  Ohio. 

William  Howe  was  a  Republican  and  for 
several  j'ears  was  supen'isor  for  his  district. 
He  came  to  Illinois  in  very  moderate  circum- 
stances and  was  a  very  successful  farmer.  The 
American  progenitors  of  the  Howe  family 
were  natives  of  England  and  came  to  America 


1076 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


and   settled   in   Kentucky   about   the  time   of 
Daniel  Boone. 

James  M.  Howe  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools  of  Tuscola,  Illinois,  and  remained  in 
that  state  until  1883,  when  he  came  to  Ne- 
braska and  settled  in  Gage  county.  In  1883 
he  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Lulu  Long- 
shore, of  Kansas.  She  was  born  in  Madison 
county,  Iowa,  a  daughter  of  Samuel  Long- 
shore, who  was  a  hamessmaker  by  trade  and 
who  was  a  captain  in  the  Civil  war,  during  the 
entire  period  of  which  he  valiantly  served,  he 
having  enlisted  in  1861. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  James  M.  Howe  are  the  par- 
ents of  five  children :  Ethel,  wife  of  Roy 
Palmer,  a  civil  engineer  living  in  Los  Angeles, 
Cahfomia;  Roy  W.,  on  his  father's  farm; 
Merle,  wife  of  Charles  H.  Stoll,  an  attorney 
of  Long  Island,  New  York ;  and  Frank  R., 
now  (spring  of  1918)  located  at  Camp  Dick, 
New  Jersey.  Frank  R.  Howe  is  a  graduate 
of  Plattsburg,  New  York,  training  camp  and 
also  of  Manhattan,  Kansas,  Military  School. 
He  is  now  a  lieutenant  and  expects  to  go  to 
France  in  the  aviation  corps.  He  was  em- 
ployed in  the  National  City  Bank  of  New  York 
for  about  two  years.  James  B.,  the  young- 
est of  the  children,  is  attending  school  and 
living  at  home. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Howe  are  members  of  th5 
Presbyterian  church.  He  is  a  Mason,  belong- 
ing to  the  lodge  of  the  Ancient  Free  &  Ac- 
cepted Masons  at  Barneston  and  to  the  Chap- 
ter of  Royal  Arch  Masons  and  the  Council  of 
Royal  and  Select  Masters  at  Wymore,  this 
county.  He  ser\'ed  as  supervisor  during 
1890-1891  and  1892.  In  1883  Mr.  Howe 
bought  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  gov- 
ernment land,  and  he  has  added  to  this  from 
time  to  time  until  he  now  owns  eight  hundred 
and  eighty  acres.  He  has  improved  this  land, 
has  erected  a  fine  farm  home  and  good  farm 
buildings  and  does  a  general  farming  business. 
He  is  president  of  the  Commercial  Bank  of 
Barneston. 


JOHN  E.  JONES  a  pioneer  and  successful 
farmer  in  Section  8,  Barneston  township,  was 
born  in  Wales,  August  30,  1854,  son  of  Evan 


and  Martha  (Jones)  Jones,  both  of  whom 
passed  their  lives  in  Wales,  where  Mr.  Jones 
was  a  farmer  and  well-to-do  citizen.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Evan  Jones  had  six  children,  as  follows: 
Richard  G.,  a  stock  man  in  Alberta,  Canada ; 
Edward  C,  a  farmer  in  Alberta,  Canada ;  Jane 
married  and  living  in  Wales;  John  E.,  of 
this  sketch  ;  and  two  others,  who  live  in  Wales. 

John  E.  Jones  was  educated  in  Wales,  and  af- 
ter coming  to  America  attended  school  in  Iowa, 
where  he  established  his  residence  in  1872. 
He  worked  on  farms  and  in  1879  he  came  to 
Gage  county,  where  he  bought  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  of  land,  for  which  he  paid  the  Gov- 
ernment three  and  one-half  dollars  an  acre. 
This  land  is  in  Section  8,  Barneston  township, 
where  he  now  makes  his  home,  and  he  has  de- 
veloped the  property  into  a  valuable  farm. 

In  1891  Mr.  Jones  was  united  in  marriage 
to  Miss  Sarah  A.  Jones,  and  further  record 
concerning  her  family  will  be  found  in  the 
sketch  of  John  S.  Jones,  elsewhere  in  this 
volumn. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  E.  Jones  are  the  parents 
of  three  children, —  Amwell  E.,  county  agent 
of  Jewell  county,  Kansas.  E.  G.,  now  in  Lin- 
coln college,  learning  telegraphy  with  the  in- 
tention of  soon  going  into  the  army  as  oper- 
ator ;  and  Evan,  in  Wymore  high  school. 

Mr.  Jones  and  family  are  members  of  the 
Welsh  church,  and  in  politics  Mr.  Jones  is  a 
Republican.  He  is  now  the  owner  of  two 
hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land,  which  he  has 
accumulated  by  his  own  elTort,  and  he  has  on 
the  property  good  buildings  and  other  im- 
provements. 

ISAAC  REID  —  The  subject  of  this  record 
was  born  in  Whiteside  county,  Illinois,  De- 
cember 13,  1859.  His  parents  George  and 
Rachel  (Gibler)  Reid,  were  natives  of  Ohio, 
in  which  state  their  marriage  was  solemnized. 
Soon  after  this  event  they  became  residents  of 
Whiteside  county,  Illinois,  where  the  father 
purchased  a  farm,  and  there  they  made  their 
home  until  1877,  when  they  came  to  Gage 
county,  Nebraska.  Here  Mr.  Reid  became  a 
successful  farmer,  spending  the  rest  of  his 
days  in  Island  Grove  township.     He  and  his 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


107; 


wife  were  members  of  the  Methodist  church 
and  in  politics  he  was  a  Republican.  He  served 
in  various  township  officers,  including  those  of 
justice  of  the  peace  and  road  overseer.  Of 
the  seven  children  five  are  still  living:  Chris- 
tian, a  farmer  of  Island  Grove  township ;  Wil- 
liam, a  resident  of  Thomas  county,  Kansas ; 
John,  of  Phillips  county,  Kansas ;  Isaac,  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch  ;  and  James,  of  Oklahoma. 

Isaac  Reid  was  a  young  man  of  eighteen 
years  when  the  home  was  established  in  Ne- 
braska and  his  education  had  been  acquired 
in  the  public  schools  of  Illinois.  On  reaching 
manhood  he  became  an  independent  farmer 
and  he  is  to-day  the  owner  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty  acres,  with  good  improvements,  all  of 
which  have  been  placed  here  by  him.  He  does 
general  farming  and  is  meeting  with  deserved 
success.  His  farm  is  in  Island  Grove  town- 
ship. 

February  6,  1896,  Mr.  Reid  was  united  in 
marriage  to  Miss  Beryl  Avison,  who  was  born 
in  Sangamon  county,  Illinois,  a  daughter  of 
George  and  Ann  Elizabeth  ( Ayre )  Avison, 
natives  of  England,  the  former  bom  in  Lin- 
colnshire and  the  latter  in  Yorkshire.  The 
home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Reid  has  been  blessed 
with  one  child,  George,  who  is  still  under  the 
parental  roof.  The  members  of  the  family  are 
all  members  of  the  Christian  church  and  all 
active  workers  in  the  same.  In  politics  Mr. 
Reid  is  a  Republican  and  he  has  rendered  ef- 
ficient service  as  a  member  of  the  school  board 
and  as  road  overseer.  Mr.  Ried  is  a  progres- 
sive and  public-spirited  in  citizenship,  success- 
ful as  an  agriculturist  and  can  always  be  relied 
upon  to  give  his  support  to  any  worthy  cause. 

JOHN  FRITZEN  was  seventeen  years  of 
age  when  he  came  with  his  parents  to  Gage 
county  and  in  here  initiating  his  independent 
career  as  a  fanner  virtually  his  sole  equipment 
consisted  of  a  team  of  horses  that  had  been 
given  to  him  b)'  his  father.  Of  his  achieve- 
ment in  the  intervening  years  tangible  evi- 
dence is  given  in  his  ownership  of  a  well  im- 
proved farm  estate  of  four  hundred  acres,  in 
Logan  township,  his  home  place,  comprising 
two  hundred  and  forty  acres,  being  in  Section 


15,  and  the  remaining  constituent  portion  of 
his  estate  being  the  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres,  in  Section  21,  in  the  same  town- 
ship, which  is  operated  by  his  older  son. 

Mr.  Fritzen  was  born  in  Brown  county,  Illi- 
nois, on  the  28th  of  February,  1865,  and  is  a 
son  of  Lammert  and  Sophia  (Rines)  Fritzen. 
the  former  of  whom  was  born  in  Friesland, 
Province  of  Hanover,  Germany,  and  the  lat- 
ter of  whom  was  likewise  a  native  of  Ger- 
many, their  marriage  having  been  solemnized 
in  Brown  county,  Illinois.  Lammert  Fritzen 
was  reared  and  educated  in  his  native  prov- 
ince and  was  sixteen  years  of  age  when  he 
came  to  the  United  States  and  settled  in 
Brown  county,  Illinois.  There  he  continued 
his  association  with  fann  enterprise  until 
1882,  when  he  came  with  his  family  to  Ne- 
braska and  rented  a  fami  in  Gage  county. 
Later  he  purchased  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres,  in  Logan  township,  and  this  he 
developed  into  one  of  the  excellent  farms  of 
that  township.  After  his  retirement  from  the 
farm  he  established  his  residence  in  the  city 
of  Beatrice,  and  he  is  now  living  in  the  home 
of  his  son  John,  of  this  review,  vigorous  and. 
alert  in  both  physical  and  mental  powers  and 
constantly  finding  opportunity  to  do  active 
work  about  the  farm,  though  he  celebrated  in 
1917  the  seventy-seventh  anniversary  of  his 
birth,  his  loved  wife  having  passed  away  at 
the  age  of  sixty  years,  a  lifelong  member  of 
the  Lutheran  church,  of  which  he  likewise  is 
a  zealous  communicant.  His  parents,  John 
and  Etta  (Boden)  Fritzen,  passed  the  closing 
years  of  their  lives  in  Gage  county. 

John  Fritzen  acquired  his  early  education 
in  the  public  schools  of  Illinois  and  there 
learned  in  his  youth  the  varied  details  of  farm 
industr}.-.  After  coming  to  Gage  county  he 
assisted  in  the  work  of  his  father's  farm,  do- 
ing efifective  service  in  connection  with  its 
reclamation  and  development,  and  at  the  age 
of  twenty-two  years  he  began  independent  op- 
erations as  a  farmer,  as  previously  intimated 
in  this  article.  When  he  became  the  owner 
of  his  present  fine  homestead  farm  the  build- 
ings on  the  place  were  of  insignificant  order, 
but  he  has  erected  a  modern  house,  barns  and 


1078 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


1079 


other  buildings  that  mark  the  place  as  being 
one  of  the  best  improved  farms  of  Logan 
township.  The  old  house  is  now  used  as  a 
granary  and  the  original  prairie  stable  that  was 
on  the  place  is  still  standing.  Mr.  Fritzen  has 
been  an  energetic  and  successful  agriculturist 
and  stock-grower,  has  had  no  desire  to  extend 
his  influence  along  political  lines  or  to  serve 
in  public  office,  but  he  has  been  loyal  and  lib- 
eral in  support  of  measures  projected  for  the 
general  good  of  the  community  and  is  inde- 
pendent in  his  political  attitude.  His  civic 
loyalty  caused  him  to  give  effective  service 
when  he  was  called  upon  to  assume  the  po- 
sition of  school  director,  and  the  same  was 
true  in  connection  with  his  service  as  road 
overseer  in  his  township.  Both  he  and  his 
wife  were  reared  in  the  faith  of  the  Lutheran 
church,  of  which  she  was  a  devoted  member 
until  her  death,  June  13,  1905,  and  of  which 
he  continues  an  active  adherent. 

In  1894  Mr.  Fritzen  married  Miss  Marie 
Frerichs,  who  was  born  in  Illinois  and  reared 
in  Gage  county,  Nebraska.  She  is  a  daughter 
of  L.  W.  Frerichs,  of  whom  specific  mention 
is  made  on  other  pages.  She  is  survived  by 
six  children :  Lammert  J.,  as  before  intimated, 
has  the  active  management  of  the  second  farm 
owned  by  his  father  in  Logan  township ;  Wil- 
liam is  associated  in  the  management  of  the 
homestead  place ;  Sophia  is  the  wife  of  Fred- 
erick Lineman,  a  farmer  in  Hanover  town- 
ship ;  and  ]\Iarie,  Lena  and  John,  Jr.,  remain 
at  the  paternal  home. 

JOHN  A.  McMURRAY.  — The  home  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  A.  McMurray  has  been 
established  in  Section  15,  Liberty  township, 
for  the  past  thirty-five  years  and  while  they 
have  contributed  of  their  best  to  the  agricul- 
tural and  social  growth  of  the  community, 
they  have  also  grown  in  the  esteem  and 
friendship  of  their  fellows.  They  have  reared 
a  family  of  six  children,  five  of  whom  are 
living  and  honorably  filling  their  places  in 
life.  The  firstborn  was  William,  who  was 
called  to  his  eternal  home  at  the  age  of  fif- 
teen years ;  Lawrence  was  the  next  in  order 
of  birth  and  he  is  a  prosperous  farmer  of  Lib- 


erty township ;  Frances  is  the  wife  of  J.  R. 
Spicer,  a  merchant  of  Beatrice;  George  is  a 
farmer  of  Liberty  township ;  and  Aruthr  is 
farming  one-half  mile  east  of  his  father's 
home  place. 

John  A.  McMurray  was  born  February  14, 
1842,  in  Washington  county,  New  York,  the 
place  of  his  birth  being  the  old  homestead  of 
his  parents,  William  and  Maria  (Taylor)  Mc- 
Murray. The  old  homestead  is  now  owned 
by  William  M.  McMurray,  the  only  other  liv- 
ing son  of  the  five  children  born  to  this 
couple.  William  McMurray  was  born  in 
Washington  county.  New  York,  the  son  of 
Francis  McMurray,  a  scion  of  Scotch-Irish 
ancestors  who  came  to  this  country'  when 
General  George  Washington  was  president  of 
the  new  republic  and  who  established  a  home 
in  Washington  county,  New  York,  where  the 
family  tree  has  been  continuously  represented 
to  this  day.  William  McMurray,  the  father 
of  John  A.  McMurray,  became  a  very  suc- 
cessful farmer  and  left  to  his  sons  a  heritage 
that  helped  them  to  their  success  in  life.  He 
married  Maria  Taylor,  the  daughter  of  John 
Taylor,  who  was  born  in  Ireland  and  who 
came  to  Washington  county.  New  York, 
where  he  farmed  and  where  his  death  occured. 
John  Taylor  was  only  eighteen  years  of  age 
at  the  time  of  his  coming  and  here  he  married. 
His  daughter,  Maria  (Taylor)  McMurray, 
and  her  husband  spent  their  lives  on  the  home- 
stead in  New  York. 

John  A.  McMurray  was  educated  in  the 
schools  of  Argyle,  New  York  and  in  the 
Argyle  Academy.  In  1862  he  was  united  in 
marriage  to  one  who  has  been  his  loved  com- 
panion for  more  than  fifty-six  years,  —  Mary 
J.  McFadden,  who  was  born  in  Argyle,  New 
York,  the  only  child  of  Isaiah  and  Margaret 
(McFadden)  McFadden,  who  are  long  since 
deceased.  In  1867,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  McMurray 
left  their  friends  and  relatives  in  the  old  Em- 
pire state  and  cast  in  their  lot  with  the  farm- 
ers of  Jasper  county,  Iowa.  There  they  con- 
tinued their  fanning  operations  until  1883, 
when  they  came  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska, 
and  established  their  home  on  Section  15,  Lib- 
erty   township,    where    Mr.    McMurray    pur- 


1080 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


chased  from  the  government  three  hundred 
and  twenty  acres  of  land.  The  scenes  and 
condtions  of  that  day  were  quite  different  from 
those  which  meet  their  gaze  to-day.  No  more 
do  the  sod  houses  grace  the  soil,  but  well  built, 
modern  houses ;  no  more  the  oxen,  but  the 
automobile ;  no  more  the  wild  prairie,  but  now 
the  broad  fields  of  waving  grain. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  McMurray  are  members  of 
the  Congregational  church  and  for  many  years 
Mr.  McMurray  has  been  a  stalwart  of  the 
Republican  party,  retaining  the  same  political 
views  as  his  father  before  him.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  district  school  board  and  with  his 
good  wife  is  enjoying  the  esteem  and  friend- 
ship of  their  associates  of  many  years  in  Gage 
county. 

BENJAMIN  KROOS  is  a  prosperous 
farmer  of  Riverside  township,  where  he  is 
the  owner  of  four  hundred  and  twenty  acres 
of  land.  He  was  born  in  Westphalia,  Ger- 
many, May  8,  1859,  and  is  a  son  of  Stephen 
and  Elizabeth  (Leiwesmeier)  Kroos,  who 
passed  their  entire  lives  in  their  native  land, 
where  the  father  was  a  farmer.  Stephen 
Kroose  was  born  in  1810  and  died  in  1877; 
his  wife  was  born  in  1824  and  died  in  1902. 
They  were  devout  members  of  the  Catholic 
church.  Of  the  six  children  born  to  them  two 
have  established  their  homes  in  the  United 
States,  —  Benjamin,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  and  Henry,  who  lives  in  Oklahoma 
City,  Oklahoma.  Joseph,  Anna,  Stephen  and 
Mar\'  still  live  in  their  native  country. 

Benjamin  Kroos  was  educated  in  his  native 
land  and  at  his  father's  side  he  learned  the 
art  of  intensive  farming.  When  he  arrived 
in  the  United  States,  in  1881,  he  very  easily 
procured  work  as  a  farm  hand  in  Logan 
county,  Illinois.  In  1886  he  came  to  Gage 
county,  where  he  farmed  on  rented  land  until 
1890,  when  he  purchased  the  Moses  farm,  in 
Section  36,  Riverside  township.  In  1893  he 
sold  this  land  and  purchased  land  in  Thayer 
county,  where  he  was  engaged  in  farming 
until  1896,  when  he  returned  to  Gage  county. 
For  four  years  he  rented  land  in  Lincoln  town- 
.sliip.     In  1900  he  purchased  his  present  farm. 


of  four  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  and  since 
then  he  has  confined  his  efforts  to  the  upbuild- 
ing of  a  large,  well  cultivated  fann  property. 

May  6,  1889,  Benjamin  Kroos  married  Miss 
Lina  Grabber,  who  was  bom  in  Illinois,  Jan- 
uary 2,  1868.  She  is  a  daughter  of  Joseph 
and  Lena  (Simon)  Grobher,  the  former  of 
whom  was  born  in  1834  and  died  January  3, 
1918,  at  Charles  Wible's  home.  The  mother 
was  born  in  1834  and  died  June  12,  1871. 
Joseph  Grabber  was  married  the  second  time, 
to  Barbara  Stueher  ( See  Charles  Wible  sketch 
for  further  history.)  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kroos 
became  the  parents  of  five  children :  Amelia 
died  at  the  age  of  four  years ;  and  George, 
Lewis,  Joseph  and  Elizabeth  are  at  the  par- 
ental home.  The  children  have  received  good 
educational  advantages,  and  the  three  sons  are 
helping  their  father  with  his  extensive  farming 
operations. 

.Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kroos  and  family  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Catholic  church  at  Beatrice,  and 
his  political  views  are  in  hannony  with  the 
principles  of  the  Republican  party. 

RENKEN  LENERS  was  a  lad  of  seven 
years  at  the  time  when  his  father  immigrated 
to  America  from  the  picturesque  province  of 
Friesland,  in  the  extreme  northeastern  part 
of  the  Province  of  Hanover,  Gennany,  where 
he  was  born  July  12,  1851.  Little  could  the 
wide-eyed  boy  have  anticipated  that  destiny 
had  it  in  store  for  him  not  only  to  become  a 
pioneer  of  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  but  also 
to  achieve  here  secure  vantage-ground  as  one 
of  the  substantial  farmers  and  valued  citi- 
zens of  Logan  township,  where  his  admirably 
improved  farm,  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres,  is  situated  in  Section  10.  Mr.  Leners 
is  a  son  of  Renken  and  Etta  (Schwers))  Len- 
ers, the  latter  of  whom  died  in  Germany. 
Renken  Leners,  Sr.,  came  to  America  in  1858 
and  settled  in  Adams  county,  Illinois,  where 
he  acquired  land  and  eventually  became  a  suc- 
cessful farmer.  There  he  continued  his  resi- 
dence until  his  death. 

He  whose  name  initiates  this  article  ac- 
quired his  early  education  in  the  schools  of 
Illinois,  where  also  he  became  familiar  with  the 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA  1081 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  Renken  Leners 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


various  details  of  farm  work.  In  1878,  in 
company  with  his  younger  brother,  John,  he 
came  to  Gage  county,  and  in  shipping  their 
household  goods  the  two  received  an  aggre- 
gate rebate  of  cost  in  the  sum  of  thirty  dol- 
lars. The  brothers  divided  this  sum,  and  the 
amount  received  by  Renken  represented  at  the 
time  his  sole  cash  capital,  though  his  posses- 
sions included  three  mules,  some  hogs,  a  few 
chickens  and  a  small  assortment  of  tools  and 
implements,  all  brought  from  Ilhnois.  He 
had  rented  before  coming  to  Gage  county  a 
tract  of  land  in  Hanover  township,  the  same 
having  been  owned  by  a  man  residing  at 
Galesburg,  Illinois.  In  a  primitive  pioneer 
home  he  installed  his  household  goods  and 
with  his  wife  and  their  three  children  to  spur 
his  eflforts,  he  vigorously  prosecuted  his  activi- 
ties as  a  pioneer  farmer,  with  determination 
to  win  independence  and  definite  prosperity. 
When  he  finally  purchased  his  present  farm 
the  land  was  raw  prairie,  and  he  has  developed 
the  place  into  one  of  the  fine  farm  properties 
of  the  county.  His  first  plow  was  purchased 
of  John  Wagner,  at  Beatrice,  and  before  tak- 
ing it  home  he  made  a  trial  of  the  implement 
by  plowing  along  the  road  by  the  site  of  the 
present  Beatrice  National  Bank  on  the  one 
side  and  the  Paddock  hotel  on  the  other.  At 
that  time  there  were  no  buildings  there,  and 
Court  street  was  like  a  country  road.  He 
had  his  share  of  hardships  and  reverses  in- 
cidental to  pioneer  life,  with  losses  by  drought 
and  grasshopper  scourge,  but  he  was  not  to 
be  dismayed  and  pressed  forward  earnestly 
to  the  goal  of  prosperity.  He  has  aided  in 
the  general  progress  of  the  county  along  civic 
and  industrial  lines  and  has  been  at  all  times 
firmly  entrenched  in  popular  confidence  and 
good  will  in  his  home  community.  His  politi- 
cal support  is  given  to  the  Republican  party, 
he  served  twenty-five  years  as  school  director 
of  his  district,  and  both  he  and  his  wife  be- 
came earnest  communicants  of  the  Lutheran 
church  while  still  in  youth.  He  has  been  a 
trustee  and  treasurer  of  the  church  for 
twenty-five  years. 

In  Adams  county,  Illinois,  was  solemnized 
the  marriage  of  Mr.  Leners  to  Miss  Amanda 


Schuster,  who  was  bom  in  Germany,  Januarj' 
21,  1849,  and  the  supreme  loss  and  bereave- 
ment in  his  life  came  when  his  devoted  wife 
was  summoned  to  eternal  rest,  on  the  26th  of 
Januan'.  1915.  They  became  the  parents  of 
nine  children :  Renken,  Jr.,  remains  at  the 
paternal  home;  Maggie  is  the  wife  of  John 
Fossler,  of  Logan  township ;  Menne  died  at 
the  age  of  five  j'ears;  John  R.,  the  maiden 
name  of  whose  wife  was  Emma  Fossler,  is  a 
farmer  in  Logan  township ;  Etta  is  the  widow 
of  Martin  Kaspers  and  is  housekeeper  for 
her  father  —  she  has  a  daughter,  Amanda, 
born  January  19,  1905 ;  Menne,  who  is  a  far- 
mer in  Logan  township,  married  Miss  Sarah 
Cramer;  and  three  died  in  childhood. 


JOHN  L.  GERDES.  — In  East  Friesland, 
Germany,  the  family  home  of  Gerd  and  Trin- 
tae  (Janssen)  Gerdes  was  established,  and 
there  Gerd  Gerdes  plied  his  trade  of  shoe- 
maker, bending  over  his  bench  day  by  day. 
Many  of  his  friends  and  acquaintances  were 
leaving  the  homeland  for  the  shores  of  Amer- 
ica, where  it  was  said  there  were  vast  fertile 
lands  to  be  tilled  and  won  to  cultivation  if  one 
were  willing  to  work  hard  and  long.  Mr. 
Gerdes  decided  that,  with  his  sons'  help,  he,, 
too  could  win  a  better  living  in  the  New  World. 
Consequently,  in  1869,  they  had  settled  on  a 
farm  in  Missouri,  and  until  his  death  he  there 
tilled  the  soil.  His  wife,  Trintae  (Janssen) 
Gerdes,  bore  him  seven  children,  four  of  whom 
are  living:  Teta  is  a  widow  and  makes  her 
home  with  her  brother  Gerd,  who  is  a  farmer 
of  Barneston  township;  Tena  is  the  widow  of 
John  Helmrics  and  lives  in  Barneston  town- 
ship; and  John  L.  is  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 

John  L.  Gerdes  was  born  March  10,  1848,  in 
East  Friesland,  Germany,  and  was  a  young 
man  of  twenty-one  years  when  his  parents  es- 
tablished their  home  in  Missouri.  He  helped 
with  the  farming  of  his  father's  land  and  later 
purchased  land  for  himself.  This  he  farmed 
until  his  coming  to  Gage  county,  in  1883.     In 

1882  he    had    purchased    one    hundred    and 
twenty  acres  in  Barneston  township,  and   in 

1883  came  to  improve  it  and  make  it  yield  its 
treasures  of  wheat  and  corn. 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


1083 


In  1886  Mr.  Gerdes  chose  as  his  wife  Miss 
Grace  Boschen,  who  is  a  native  of  Gennany 
and  who  came  to  this  country  in  1886.  They 
are  the  parents  of  ten  children :  Gerd  L.,  the 
firstborn,  is  at  the  parental  home,  as  is  also 
John  O. ;  Lubbe  operates  one  of  his  father's 
farms ;  Henry,  Fred,  Tena,  William,  Carl, 
Ida,  and  Marie  are  all  under  the  parental  roof 
and  taking  their  share  of  the  burden  of  tiUing 
the  soil  and  at  the  various  other  responsi- 
bilities of  the  farm  and  the  home. 

Mr.  Gerdes  and  his  family  are  members  of 
the  Lutheran  church  and  the  local  edifice, 
dedicated  to  the  worship  of  God,  is  on  five 
acres  of  land  donated  by  Mr.  Gerdes.  In 
politics  Mr.  Gerdes  follows  the  lead  of  the 
Democratic  party  and  he  has  served  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  school  board  of  his  district  for 
twenty  years. 

Mr.  Gerdes,  exemplifies  the  fact  that  a  man 
can  become  more  than  ordinarily  well-to-do 
if  he  is  made  of  the  right  stuff  and  is  willing 
to  sacrifice  present  pleasure  for  future  good. 
From  time  to  time  Mr.  Gerdes  has  added  to 
his  original  purchase  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty  acres  and  he  is  now  the  sole  owner  of 
four  hundred  and  thirty-five  acres  in  Gage 
county  and  two  hundred  acres  in  Kansas.  The 
days  when  he  established  his  home  in  Gage 
county  were  the  days  of  hard  struggles  against 
the  whims  and  caprices  of  nature  and  the 
loneliness  of  the  pioneer  days.  He  is  now 
enjoying  the  fruits  of  those  early  days  of 
labor,  and  his  posterity  will  not  only  enjoy 
them  also  but  will  be  able  to  carry  on  his 
work  with  newer  methods  and  greater  oppor- 
tunities for  service  to  mankind. 


WIENS  BROTHERS.  — Jacob  and  Frank 
Wiens  are  two  energetic  young  farmers,  joint- 
ly operating  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres 
of  land  in  Sections  24  and  25,  Lincoln  town- 
ship. They  are  specializing  in  dairying  and 
the  feeding  of  beef  cattle  for  the  market,  and 
are  the  rising  dairy  farmers  of  their  township. 
They  are  the  sons  of  Peter  and  Anna  (Jan- 
sen)  Wiens.  Peter  Wiens  is  a  native  of  Ger- 
many, where  he  was  born  October  16,  1850, 
and  his  wife  was  bom  June  9,  1860.     In  1888 


Mr.  Wiens  with  his  young  wife  and  their  two 
children  came  across  the  Atlantic  and  cast  in 
their  lot  with  the  many  other  immigrants  of 
German  extraction  in  Gage  county,  Nebraska. 
Upon  his  arrival  in  the  county-  he  was  em- 
ployed by  his  brother-in-law,  Jacob  Claassen, 
as  a  laborer  on  the  farm.  Later  he  rented 
land  until  he  was  able  to  purchase  one  hun- 
dred and  seventy-eight  acres,  in  Blakely  town- 
ship, where  he  is  now  doing  a  general  farming 
business.  Since  the  arrival  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Wiens  in  this  country  nine  more  children  have 
been  born  to  them,  and  all  of  the  eleven  chil- 
dren are  living :  John  is  a  farmer  in  Midland 
township;  Mary  is  the  housekeeper  for  her 
brothers  Jacob  and  Frank;  Jacob  is  one  of 
the  two  subjects  of  this  sketch;  Peter  is  living 
in  Hubbell,  Thayer  county ;  Herman  resides  at 
Bayard,  Morrill  county ;  Frank  is  the  associate 
subject  of  this  review ;  and  Henry,  Agatha, 
Ernest,  Gerhard,  and  Anna  are  at  home  with 
their  parents. 

Jacob  Wiens  was  born  September  25,  1887, 
in  Riverside  township,  and  his  brother  Frank 
was  born  September  24,  1893,  in  Saline  county, 
Nebraska.  The  brothers  received  the  educa- 
tional advantages  of  the  rural  schools  and 
German  parochial  schools,  and  they  became 
experienced  farmers  by  helping  their  father 
in  his  farming  operations.  The  farmer  is  the 
most  necessary  individual  in  our  social  organi- 
zation, as  we  are  constantly  in  need  of  food 
and  clothing  and  the  farmer  is  growing  the 
food  for  the  men  who  are  turning  his  raw  ma- 
terials into  the  manufactured  articles.  These 
two  young  men  are  doing  the  share  of  the  work 
most  necessary,  "behind  the  lines,"  for  the 
conduct  of  the  great  world  war  in  which  we 
are  engaged.  They  are  Republicans  in  poli- 
tics and  are  members  of  the  Mennonite  church. 

JOHN  R.  SIBLE.  —  As  one  of  the  many 
thrifty  Bohemian  farm.ers  who  have  settled  in 
Elm  township.  Gage  county,  John  R.  Sible 
merits  representation  in  this  history.  Mr. 
Sible  was  bom  March  6,  1874,  in  Johnson 
county,  Iowa,  and  came  to  Gage  county  with 
his  parents  when  he  was  a  child  of  four  years, 
so  it  can  well  be  said  that  he  is  essentially  a 


1084 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 
Frank  and 


Gage  county  man.  His  parents 
Anna  (Sible)  Sible,  are  natives  of  Bohemia 
and  are  farming  land  in  Section  27,  Elm  town- 
ship. Frank  Sible  was  born  in  Bohemia,  May 
28,  1843,  and  is  a  son  of  Joseph  and  Katie 
Sible,  who  left  their  native  home,  among  the 
Slavonic  peoples  of  central  Europe,  and  cast 
in  their  fortunes  with  the  farming  people  of 
Johnson  county,  Iowa.  When  they  retired 
from  active  farming  their  home  was  made  in 
Iowa  City,  Iowa,  from  which  place  they  were 
called  to  the  life  eternal. 

In  1879  Frank  Sible  came  with  his  family 
to  Gage  county,  Nebraska  and  purchased  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  wild  land  in  Elm 
township.  He  built  a  board  shanty  and  con- 
structed a  sod  bani  for  his  cattle  and  beasts 
o.f  burden.  He  and  his  wife  were  willing  to 
deprive  themselves  of  comforts  and  luxuries 
for  the  present,  that  the  future  might  bring 
greater  ease  and  prosperity.  They  are  to- 
day enjoying  the  fruits  of  their  frugality  and 
labors  of  those  early  years.  Their  marriage 
was  solemnized  in  1870,  in  Iowa.  Mrs.  Sible 
is  a  daughter  of  James  and  Josephine  Sible, 
who  were  natives  of  Bohemia  and  had  tilled 
the  soil  in  Iowa  prior  to  coming  to  Gage 
county,  where  they  passed  the  remainder  of 
their  lives.  They  have  three  sons,  —  Frank, 
living  at  Odell ;  John,  the  subject  of  this  re- 
view ;  and  George,  likewise  a  resident  of  Gage 
county.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Frank  Sible  have  re- 
tired from  active  farming  and  now  reside  in 
the  village  of  Odell.  They  have,  as  the  years 
have  passed,  added  to  their  land  holdings  until 
now  they  own  four  hundred  acres  of  land. 
Both  are  members  of  the  Catholic  church. 

John  R.  Sible  spent  his  boyhood  and  young 
manhood  in  the  home  of  his  parents  and  helped 
in  the  winning  of  of  the  wilderness  to  produc- 
tivity. He  is  now  operating  one  hundred  and 
twenty  acres  of  his  father's  landed  estate.  He 
has  made  extensive  improvements  on  his  farm 
and  each  year  is  feeding  great  numbers  of 
cattle  for  the  market. 

November  22,  1899,  recorded  the  marriage 
of  John  R.  Sible  and  Miss  Bessie  Kunc  and 
they  became  the  parents  of  four  children,  of 
whom    the    second    child    is    deceased.     The 


others  —  Mabel,  Irma,  and  Sylvia  —  are  re- 
ceiving all  of  the  educational  advantages  of 
the  public  schools.  Mrs.  Sible  was  born  in 
Bohemia,  June  28,  1876.  Her  parents  are  re- 
tired farmers  living  at  Wilber,  Nebraska.  She 
is  a  daughter  of  Frank  and  Anna  (Broz) 
Kunc,  who  came  from  Bohemia  and  who  set- 
tled in  Johnson  county,  Nebraska,  about  1893. 
They  continued  their  farming  operations  until 
their  retirement  to  Wilber. 

The  political  views  of  Mr.  Sible  are  inde- 
pendent, that  is  to  say  that  the  character  of  the 
man  that  is  put  up  by  either  party  has  more 
weight  in  gaining  Mr.  Sible's  vote  than  the 
party  that  is  vouching  for  his  eligibility  to  the 
office.  With  the  members  of  his  family  he 
holds  to  the  faith  of  the  Catholic  church. 


MATTHEW  W.  RYAN,  superintendent  of 
schools  at  Barneston,  Nebraska,  was  born  in 
Port  Henry,  New  York,  April  23,  1880.  He 
is  the  son  of  Patrick  B.  Ryan  and  Margaret 
(Cleary)  Ryan. 

Both  Patrick  B.  Ryan  and  Margaret  Cleary 
came  from  Ireland  with  their  parents  in  1835 
and  settled  in  New  York  state,  where  they 
received  their  early  education  and  where  they 
were  married.  Patrick  B.  Ryan  moved  with 
his  family  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  in  the 
year  1883  and  settled  on  a  farm  two  miles 
west  of  Liberty,  where  he  resided  until  the 
time  of  his  death,  in  1915.  Margaret  Ryan 
is  still  living  and  makes  her  home  with  her 
son  Matthew.  Of  their  children  five  are  liv- 
ing: Mrs.  P.  Carver,  of  Burchard,  Nebraska; 
Mrs.  M.  J.  Carver,  of  Bassett,  Nebraska, 
Mrs.  Tim  Rawley,  of  Barneston;  Mrs.  George 
Humphrey,  of  Fairbury,  Nebraska ;  and 
Matthew  W.  Ryan,  of  Barneston,  Nebraska. 
In  1911  Matthew  W.  Ryan  was  married  to 
Jessie  Irwin,  of  Hubbell,  Nebraska.  They 
have  one  boy,  Irwin,  now  three  years  of  age 
( 1918) .  Mr.  Ryan  is  the  owner  of  his  father's 
old  homestead,  but  devotes  his  entire  time  to 
his  profession. 

Matthew  Ryan  was  educated  in  school  dis- 
trict No.  126,  Gage  county,  was  graduated 
from  the  Liberty  high  school,  and  in  1907  was 
graduated  from  the  Peru  State  Normal.     He 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


1085 


was  then  superintendent  of  schools  at  Greeley, 
Nebraska,  for  three  years.  Later  he  attended 
two  years  at  the  Nebraska  State  University. 

CLARENCE  L.  SHAFER.  — That  Gage 
county  ofTers  splendid  inducements  to  those 
who  wish  to  engage  in  agricultural  pursuits  is 
attested  by  the  fact  that  many  of  her  native 
sons  have  chosen  to  remain  within  her  bor- 
ders and  by  improving  their  opportunities 
have  been  rewarded  with  success.  Among 
this  number  mention  should  be  made  of  the 
gentleman  wliose  name  introduces  this  record. 

Clarence  L.  Shafer  was  born  on  the  farm 
which  is  now  his  home,  his  natal  day  being 
September  17,  1871.  His  parents  were  D.  W. 
and  Mary  (Spitznale)  Shafer,  the  fomier  of 
whom  was  born  in  Ohio,  and  the  latter  in 
Virginia. 

In  1867,  the  year  that  Nebraska  became  a 
state,  D.  W.  Shafer  came  west,  making  the 
trip  in  true  pioneer  style,  in  a  covered  wagon, 
and  he  established  a  home  in  Gage  county. 
He  took  a  homestead  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres,  eighty  of  which  lay  in  Gage  county  and 
eighty  in  Pawnee  county.  As  we  hear  the 
few  early  settlers  recount  the  story  of  pioneer 
times,  marked  by  hardships  and  privations,  it 
is  only  just  to  such  men  that  a  record  be 
made  of  their  achievements  and  success. 
From  a  wild  and  unbroken  prairie  D.  W. 
Shafer  developed  a  good  farm.  He  reared  a 
family  of  eight  children,  and  made  his  home 
on  the  old  farm  as  long  as  he  lived,  his  death 
occurring  here  June  24,  1911,  at  the  age  of 
sixty-eight  years.  He  was  born  July  8,  1843. 
His  wife,  who  was  bom  December  22,  1849, 
passed  away  October  24,  1912.  Both  were 
members  of  the  Christian  church  and  were 
people  of  real,  genuine  worth.  Of  their  eight 
children  seven  are  living:  Auta  is  the  wife  of 
Leon  Doty,  and  they  reside  in  Pawnee  county  ; 
Cora  is  the  wife  of  Rev.  Sherman  McClure, 
who  is  a  minister  of  the  Christian  church,  now 
located  at  Deming,  New  Mexico,  and  who  for 
two  years  was  state  evangelist  for  Nebraska ; 
Clarence  L.,  the  subject  of  this  review,  was 
next  in  order  of  birth ;  O.  D.  is  a  farmer  near 
Belgrade,  Nance  county,  Nebraska  ;  John  is  a 


professor  in  the  schools  of  Grand  River, 
Iowa;  Estella  is  the  wife  of  Thomas  Thomas, 
a  farmer  at  Litchfield,  Nebraska  ;  and  Lois  is 
the  wife  of  Orva  Ripley,  of  Beatrice,  Ne- 
braska. 

Clarence  L.  Shafer  was  reared  on  the  farm, 
attended  the  public  schools  in  the  acquire- 
ment of  an  education,  this  being  supplemented 
by  his  attending  Cotner  University,  of  Beth- 
any, Nebraska,  for  one  year.  He  chose  for 
a  life  work  the  calling  to  which  he  had  been 
reared  and  as  a  boy  under  the  instructions  of 
his  father  began  learning  the  best  methods  of 
tilling  the  soil,  planting,  cultivating,  and  har- 
vesting crops,  so  that  as  he  reached  man's 
estate  he  was  well  fortiiied  for  becoming  a 
farmer  on  his  own  account.  He  is  the  owner 
of  a  valuable  tract  of  three  hundred  and  sixty 
acres,  eighty  of  which  are  in  Gage  county,  the 
balance  lying  across  the  line  in  Pawnee 
county.  Aside  from  raising  the  cereals  best 
adapted  to  soil  and  climate,  he  deals  in  regis- 
tered Hereford  cattle,  and  both  branches  of 
his  business  yield  him  substantial  income.  He 
is  progressive  and  practical  in  his  methods 
and  on  his  place  are  to  be  found  three  sets  of 
farm  buildings. 

As  a  companion  and  helpmeet  Mr.  Shafer 
chose  Miss  Lora  Free!,  a  native  of  Missouri, 
who  passed  away  in  1901,  leaving  two  chil- 
dren: Opal,  the  wife  of  Russell  Welsh,  on 
one  of  Mr.  Shafer's  farms  in  Pawnee  county; 
and  Hubert,  still  at  home  engaged  in  farm- 
ing for  himself.  Mr.  Shafer's  second  mar- 
riage was  with  Miss  Alma  Paulsen,  a  native 
of  Davenport,  Iowa,  and  they  have  four  chil- 
dren :     Dale,  Glenn,  Evelyn,  and  John. 

The  family  are  members  of  the  Christian 
church  and  in  politics  Mr.  Shafer  is  inde- 
pendent. 

FREDERICK  D.  KRITER,  a  successful 
farmer  and  one  of  the  old-time  residents  of 
Paddock  township,  is  a  steriing  citizen  who 
well  merits  recognition  in  this  history.  Mr. 
Kriter  was  born  in  Lake  county,  Illinois,  No- 
vember 14,  1860,  a  son  of  George  Kriter,  who 
was  a  native  of  Alsace-Lorraine.  When  a 
young  man  of  thirty-two  years  of  age  George 


1086  HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


1087 


Kriter  came  to  America  and  settled  in  Lake 
county,  Illinois,  where  he  worked  at  his 
trade  —  that  of  carpenter.  He  was  employed 
in  Chicago  when  the  population  of  that  city 
was  numbered  by  thousands  instead  of  the 
millions  of  to-day.  From  Illinois  Mr.  Kriter 
moved  to  Minnesota,  and  in  that  state  enlisted 
in  a  regiment  of  Minnesota  volunteer  infantry, 
with  which  he  served  three  years  in  the  Union 
army  during  the  Civil  w&r.  He  was  in  sev- 
eral battles  and  received  injuries  which  com- 
pelled him  to  enter  a  hospital  at  Washington, 
D.  C,  where  his  family  joined  him  later. 
Among  the  earliest  recollections  of  tlie  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch  are  those  of  the  two  win- 
dows in  the  room  where  they  stayed  in  Wash- 
ington and  from  which  they  could  hear  the 
roar  of  cannon.  One  daughter  was  bom  dur- 
ing the  family's  stay  in  the  capital  city.  After 
the  war  Mr.  Kriter  returned  to  Minnesota, 
where  he  joined  his  brother-in-law  on  a  farm 
near  Fairbault.  During  the  last  three  years 
of  their  residence  in  Minnesota  the  grass- 
hoppers destroyed  their  crops,  and  Mr.  Kriter 
moved  with  his  family  to  Marshall  county, 
Kansas.  They  were  very  poor  and  Mr. 
Kriter  and  family  worked  at  anything  to  be 
found.  On  the  anniversary  of  Mrs.  Kriter's 
birthday  they  came  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska, 
June  14,  1880,  and  here  he  took  squatter's 
claim  to  forty  acres  of  land  in  Section  10, 
Paddock  township.  On  the  day  of  their  ar- 
rival the  family  planted  some  tomatoes  and 
other  garden  truck  and  prepared  to  make  their 
home.  Their  first  abode  was  a  tent,  which 
was  later  blown  away  in  a  wind  storm.  They 
then  built  a  dug-out,  on  the  south  slope  of  ^ 
hill  where  the  present  house  stands.  Too  poor 
to  buy  the  land,  they  held  squatter's  sover- 
eignty for  two  years.  Then  they  were  able  to 
enter  the  land  and  make  a  payment  on  the 
same.  A  better  house  was  later  erected  and 
as  soon  as  circumstances  justified  such  action 
Mr.  Kriter  bought  an  additional  forty  acres, 
adjoining  his  original  farm.  Here  he  made 
his  home  until  his  death,  which  occurred  when 
he  was  fifty-five  years  of  age.  He  had,  in  the 
meanwhile,  taken  a  homestead  in  Kansas,  but 
he  died  before  he  had  proved  up  on  the  prop- 


erty. His  son  proved  up  on  the  land  by  com- 
plying with  the  law  in  regard  to  duration  of 
abode  on  the  property. 

George  Kriter  was  united  in  marriage  to 
Barbara  Erb,  who  likewise  was  bom  in  Al- 
sace-Lorraine and  who  had  come  to  America 
with  her  parents  when  a  child.  She  had  the 
experience  of  being  left  alone  with  a  family 
of  children  while  her  husband  was  with  the 
anny  at  the  front.  She  shared  with  him  the 
hardships  of  the  early  pioneer  days,  aided 
in  establishing  their  home,  and  became  one  of 
Gage  county's  pioneer  women.  Here  she  re- 
sided until  the  time  of  her  death,  at  the  age 
of  forty-nine  years.  For  many  years  Mrs. 
Kriter  and  her  husband  were  members  of  the 
Lutheran  church,  but  before  her  death  she 
joined  the  Methodist  church.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Kriter  were  the  parents  of  seven  children,  as 
follows :  Frederick  D. ;  Emma,  wife  of  A.  N. 
Horn,  of  Emporia,  Kansas ;  Lena,  wife  of 
Daniel  Wagner,  of  Quincy,  Kansas ;  Edith, 
deceased  wife  of  Thomas  Bloomfield;  Charles, 
who  died  at  the  age  of  twenty-four  years  ; 
George,  of  Oklahoma ;  and  Mary,  wife  of  E. 
C.  Marks,  of  Emporia,  Kansas. 

Frederick  D.  Kriter  accompanied  his  par- 
ents on  their  several  removals  and  was  a 
young  man  of  twenty  when  they  came  to  Gage 
county.  At  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  found 
employment  with  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad 
for  about  three  months,  and  he  then  became  a 
member  of  a  construction  crew  engaged  in 
building  the  Burlington  Railroad.  He  was 
one  of  the  gang  who,  on  that  memorable  Sun- 
day, drove  the  last  spike  of  the  line  extending 
the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  Railroad 
from  the  Missouri  river  to  Denver,  Colorado. 
After  two  years  of  this  work  Mr.  Kriter  pur- 
chased eighty  acres  in  Section  11,  Paddock 
township,  adjoining  his  father's  farm.  For 
thirty-five  years  he  has  been  one  of  the  suc- 
cessful farmers  of  the  township.  After  the 
death  of  his  parents  he  purchased  the  interest 
of  the  other  heirs  and  became  the  owner  of 
the  old  home  place.  This  he  further  im- 
proved, and  the  present  buildings  have  all  been 
erected  by  him,  replacing  the  humbler  ones 
erected  by  his  father.     Mr.  Kriter  is  to-day 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


the  owner  of  five  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of 
vakiable  land,  which  places  him  among  the 
men  of  affluence  in  his  adopted  county. 

For  companion  and  helpmate  Mr.  Kriter 
chose  Miss  Lillie  Baughman,  who  was  bc/n 
at  Effingham,  Illinois,  a  daughter  of  Philip  and 
Jemima  Baughman,  now  deceased.  To  this 
union  seven  children  were  born :  Nellie  is  the 
wife  of  Frank  Fulton,  of  Wymore,  this 
county;  George,  Minnie,  and  Luella  are  at 
home;  Elsie  is  the  wife  of  Earl  Slocum,  of 
Diller,  Nebraska ;  and  Fred  and  Jesse  are  at 
the  parental  home.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kriter  are 
members  of  the  Methodist  church  and  in 
politics  Mr.  Kriter  is  a  Republican.  He  has 
served  fourteen  years  as  member  of  the  school 
board  of  his  di.strict,  and  has  filled  also  the 
position  of  road  overseer.  At  Wymore  he  is 
a  member  of  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd 
Fellows,  including  the  adjunct  organization, 
the  Daughters  of  Rebekah,  and  also  of  the 
Knights  &  Ladies  of  Security.  By  industry 
and  careful  management  Mr.  Kriter  has 
achieved  success,  and  his  support  for  a  worthy 
cause  can  always  be  relied  upon. 

RICHMOND  KIVETT.  — One  of  the 
earliest  settlers  of  Gage  county  was  Richmond 
Kivett,  who  was  called  from  his  labors  March 
6,  1880.  In  the  year  1867  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rich- 
mond Kivett  came  to  Gage  county  and  settled 
on  a  homestead  in  Section  24,  Liberty  town- 
ship, and  Mrs.  Kivett  has  continuously  made 
her  home  upon  this  same  land  since  those  far- 
away pioneer  days. 

Richmond  Kivett  was  born  May  16,  1834, 
in  Tennessee,  and  August  24,  1856,  he  mar- 
ried Miss  Nancy  Johnson,  who  is  a  daughter 
of  William  and  Elizabeth  (Sharp)  Johnson, 
the  former  bom  in  Georgia  Purchase  and  the 
latter  in  Tennessee.  They  farmed  in  Tennes- 
see, where  were  born  their  children,  three  of 
whom  ar  living — Mrs.  Kivett,  the  widow  of 
the  subject  of  this  memoir;  William  H.,  re- 
tired and  living  in  Missouri ;  and  Elizabeth, 
the  widow  of  Joseph  Vittoe,  residing  in  Colo- 
rado. 

For  some  time  prior  to  establishing  his 
home  in  Gage  county  Richmond  Kivett  farmed 


in  Tennessee,  where  he  also  operated  a  saw 
mill.  He  caine  with  his  family  to  Gage  county 
and  homesteaded  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
in  Liberty  township.  His  sons  and  daughters 
grew  to  maturity  upon  Gage  county  soil,  par- 
ticipating in  the  young  life  and  duties  of  their 
associates.  They  are  as  follows :  Milton  and 
Alvis,  who  are  at  home,  operating  the  farm 
for  their  mother,  are  not  married ;  Rosanna 
is  the  wife  of  E.  H.  Lynch,  residing  in  Ore- 
gon ;  Rhoda  is  the  wife  of  L.  S.  Dalton,  a 
farmer  of  Randolph,  Nebraska;  Nathaniel  C. 
is  a  large  cattle  man  of  Austin,  Nevada; 
Henry  Sherman  is  a  farmer  near  Freedom, 
Nebraska;  Bertha  E.  is  the  wife  of  I.  M. 
Fisher,  residing  near  Liberty,  Gage  county ; 
and  Nathan  R.  is  a  cigar  maker  at  Wilber, 
Saline  county. 

Richmond  Kivett  added  to  his  land  holdings 
as  the  years  of  his  residence  in  Gage  county 
increased,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death  he 
owned  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land. 
He  was  a  Republican  in  politics  and  was  a  man 
who  was  loved  by  all  his  neighbors  and 
friends.  He  did  not  live  to  see  the  progress 
that  time  has  made  in  the  county,  but  his  sons 
have  taken  the  burden  where  he  laid  it  aside 
and  have  continued  to  add  to  the  material  and 
civic  wealth  of  the  county.  They  have  re- 
placed the  crude  sod  house  with  a  home  of 
substantial  proportions  and  conveniences  and 
have  provided  the  other  necessary  fann  build- 
ings, to  accommodate  their  growing  herds  of 
cattle  and  their  productions  of  wheat  and 
corn.  Their  mother,  with  the  days  of  youth 
gone  by  and  the  sunset  side  of  life  still  so 
bright  and  joyous,  is  still  their  housekeeper, 
still  their  guide  and  counselor.  For  over  a 
half  century  she  has  made  Gage  county  her 
home,  her  interests  have  been  tangibly  con- 
nected with  the  interests  of  the  county  and  she 
has  always  taken  a  keen  interest  in  all  of  its 
affairs. 

HARRY  H.  DARNER.  —  One  of  the  suc- 
cessful farmers  of  Island  Grove  township  is 
the  subject  of  this  record  and  he  has  been  a 
resident  of  Gage  county  for  thirty-four  years. 

Harry  H.  Darner  was  born  in  Washington 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


1089 


county,  Iowa,  December  6,  1858,  a  son  of  An- 
drew and  Jane  (Haywood)  Darner.  The 
father  was  a  native  of  the  Buckeye  state,  born 
near  Zenia,  Ohio,  April  17,  1817,  while  the 
birth  of  the  mother  occurred  in  New  Jersey, 
December  13,  1817.  They  were  united  in 
marriage  in  Ohio  and  became  residents  of 
Washington  county,  Iowa,  in  1848.  In  early 
life  Mr.  Darner  was  a  carpenter,  and  he 
worked  at  that  trade  until  1861,  when  he  ptir- 
chased  a  fann  and  turned  his  attention  to 
agricultural  pursuits.  In  1884  he  came  to 
Nebraska,  establishing  his  home  at  Blue 
Springs,  Gage  county.  He  passed  away  at  the 
home  of  his  son  Harry  H.,  November  14, 
1900.  The  mother  was  called  to  her  final  rest 
June  9,  1897.  They  were  members  of  the 
Baptist  church  and  in  politics  he  was  a  Demo- 
crat. He  was  a  successful  man  and  was  self- 
made.  Of  the  eight  children  four  are  living: 
Amelia  is  the  wife  of  Robert  A.  Wilson,  of 
Blue  Springs ;  Sarah  is  the  wife  of  J.  F.  Rob- 
ertson, a  government  inspector,  residing  at 
South  Omaha;  Charles  J.  is  a  farmer  in  Clay 
county,  Kansas;  and  Harry  H.  is  the  subject 
of  this  sketch. 

Harry  H.  Darner  was  reared  on  a  fann  in 
his  native  county,  attended  the  district  schools 
and  became  a  farmer.  In  1884  he  came  to 
Gage  county,  and  at  Blue  Springs  he  found 
employment  as  a  teamster.  He  finally  pur- 
chased eighty  acres  of  land  in  Island  Grove 
township,  his  resources  being  at  such  a  low 
ebb  that  he  was  obliged  to  buy  on  time.  By 
industry  and  good  management  he  has  suc- 
ceeded in  making  his  tract  one  of  the  valuable 
farms  of  the  township.  He  has  erected  excel- 
lent buildings  and  made  other  good  improve- 
ments and  is  engaged  in  general  farming.  He 
has  extended  the  area  of  his  acreage  by  an 
additional  purchase  and  is  now  the  owner  ol 
a  quarter-section  of  land. 

February  25,  1899,  Mr.  Darner  was  united 
in  marriage  to  Miss  Lena  Sandritter,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Henry  and  Margaret  (Yetter)  Sand- 
ritter, natives  of  Germany,  who  came  to  Gage 
county  in  1868  and  took  up  a  homestead  in 
Blakely  township:  a  number  of  years  later 
they  moved  to  Blue  Springs,  where  their  last 


days  were  spent.  Mr.  Sandritter  was  born  in 
Waldolph,  Baden,  Germany,  May  17,  1830. 
He  came  to  America  in  1854  and  resided  in 
Illinois  until  coming  to  Nebraska.  He  was  a 
stone  mason  by  trade  and  among  other  struc- 
tures in  Gage  county  which  he  helped  to  build 
is  the  Burwood  hotel  at  Beatrice.  In  1861, 
at  Peoria,  Illinois,  he  enlisted  for  service  in 
the  Civil  war,  and  he  rendered  valiant  aid  as 
a  soldier  of  the  Union  until  1865.  He  died  at 
Blue  Springs,  November  6,  1903.  His  wife 
was  bom  at  Volmervelen,  Germany,  in  1837, 
and  passed  away  November  17,  1913. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Darner  have  two  children : 
Mabel  is  the  wife  of  R.  L.  Emhart,  a  farmer 
of  Island  Grove  township,  and  they  have  three 
children  :  Neva,  Hope,  and  Wayne.  Pearl  L. 
is  the  wife  of  L.  W.  Hinnenkamp  and  is  the 
mother  of  one  child,  Neta. 

Mr.  Darner  and  his  family  are  members  of 
the  Evangelical  church  and  in  politics  he  is  a 
Republican.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Darner  were  the 
first  members  of  the  Zion  church  and  in  the 
same  he  was  class  leader  for  many  years.  He 
is  one  of  the  trustees  of  the  church  and  has 
thus  served  from  the  time  of  its  organization. 
The  year  after  he  moved  to  the  farm  Mr. 
Darner  helped  to  build  the  "Union  Hall,"  an 
old  landmark  of  Island  Grove  township.  Fra- 
ternally he  is  a  member  of  the  Independent 
Order  of  Odd  Fellows.  He  has  efficiently 
served  as  justice  of  the  peace,  assessor,  and 
member  of  the  school  board,  the  cause  of 
education  finding  in  him  a  stalwart  champion. 
Progressive  in  citizenship,  he  has  rendered 
valuable  service  in  all  movements  for  the  pub- 
lic good  and  he  and  his  family  are  held  in  the 
highest  of  esteem  by  all  who  know  them. 

JOSEPH  BURES  is  a  progressive  young 
farmer  of  Glenwood  township  and  by  inde- 
fatigable industry  and  faithfulness  to  his 
work  he  has  risen  to  a  prominent  place  in  the 
agricultural  circles  of  his  township.  Mr. 
Bures  is  a  son  of  Frank  and  Anna  (Nespor) 
Bures,  who  was  born,  reared  and  educated  in 
Bohemia,  their  married  life  commencing  in 
the  homeland,  in  1856.  In  1861  they  left  their 
native  land,  filled  with  ambition  to  better  their 


1090 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


condition  by  coming  to  the  land  where  there 
have  always  been  great  opportunities  for  the 
hard-working  and  faithful  man.  They  first 
made  their  home  in  Jones  county,  Iowa,  where 
they  rented  land  until  1875,  when  they  estab- 
lished their  home  as  pioneers  in  Saline  county, 
Nebraska.  In  1879  they  came  to  Gage  county 
and  purchased  land  in  Paddock  township. 
Here  Mr.  Bures  continued  his  earnest  labors 
until  he  sold  his  land  to  his  son  Joseph,  the 
subject  of  this  sketch.  Frank  Bures  was  born 
in  Bohemia,  December  5,  1832,  and  makes  his 
home  with  his  son  Joseph.  His  wife,  who 
was  born  February  5,  1839,  and  who  for  sixty 
years  was  her  husband's  constant  companion, 
passed  to  her  reward  August  17,  1916.  Mrs. 
Bures  was  a  faithful  member  of  the  Catholic 
church  and  imbued  her  sons  with  the  love  of 
the  church  and  of  the  God  whom  s\\e  wor- 
shiped. Of  the  three  children  two  are  living, 
Frank  being  deceased;  John  .resides  in  Elm 
township;  and  Joseph  is  the  subject  of  this 
sketch. 

Joseph  Bures  was  born  February  4,  1873, 
in  Jones  county,  Iowa,  and  was  about  seven 
years  old  when  his  parents  established  their 
home  in  Paddock  township.  Gage  county.  He 
remained  under  the  parental  roof  until  he  was 
27  years  of  age.  His  education  was  received 
in  the  district  schools  and  he  served  his  ap- 
prenticeship as  a  farm  hand  for  two  or  three 
seasons  ere  he  launched  on  a  farming  career 
for  himself.  In  1900  he  purchased  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres  in  Paddock  township, 
and  here  he  farmed  until  1905,  when  he  sold 
the  property  and  purchased  his  present  home 
farm,  in  Section  2,  Glenwood  township.  He 
has  built  a  large,  modern  house  and  made 
various  other  improvements  in  his  farm  build- 
ings. In  1908  he  purchased  two  hundred  acres 
in  Section  12,  and  this  he  is  farming  in  con- 
junction with  his  home  place. 

April  7,  1899,  Mr.  Bures  married  Mary 
Cacek,  who  is  a  daughter  of  Bohemian  parents 
who  came  to  Gage  county  to  farm  and  to  rear 
their  children.  Mary  (Cacek)  Bures  was  a 
schoolmate  of  her  husband's  and  the  friend- 
ship which  had  grown  between  the  young  girl 
and   the  ungainly,   growing  lad   ripened   into 


love,  their  marriage  being  the  culmination  of 
their  early  friendship.  Mary  Cacek  was  bom 
June  11,  1880,  in  Gage  county,  and  is  a 
daughter  of  Joseph  and  Anna  (Teple)  Cacek, 
natives  of  Bohemia.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bures  be- 
came the  parents  of  six  children :  Joseph, 
Albert,  Clara,  Rosa,  and  Charles  are  under 
the  parental  roof,  and  Anton  is  deceased. 

Mr.  Bures  is  a  breeder  of  Chester  White 
hogs  and  is  farming  his  land  in  a  very  efiBcient 
manner.  His  home  is  among  the  many  nice 
ones  of  the  township.  In  politics  Mr.  Bures 
votes  the  Democratic  ticket  and  he  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Catholic  church.  He  is  affilia!ted 
with  the  Z.  C.  B.  J.,  a  Bohemian  brotherhood. 

WILLIAM  E.  RIFE,  city  treasurer  of  Be- 
atrice, has  for  the  past  thirteen  years  been 
closely  identified  with  the  business  interests 
of  the  city  and  county.  He  was  born  at 
Seneca,  La  Salle  county,  Illinois,  February  11, 
1867,  a  son  of  Ephraim  and  Savilla  (Cochran) 
Rife,  the  former  born  in  Pennsylvania,  in 
1834,  the  latter  born  in  New  York,  in  1844. 
The  parents  married  in  Illinois  and  there 
Ephraim  Rife  became  a  farmer  and  merchant. 
He  remained  in  the  state  of  Illinois  until  1881, 
when  he  came  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska,  and 
purchased  a  farm  of  two  hundred  and  forty 
acres,  five  miles  east  of  Wilber,  where  he  re- 
sided three  years.  He  then  traded  for  a  fami 
near  Adams,  where  the  family  made  their 
home  two  years.  On  disposing  of  this  tract 
the  parents  moved  to  Lincoln,  where  they  re- 
sided five  years,  and  they  then  became  resi- 
dents of  Red  Cloud,  Nebraska,  where  they 
spent  their  remaining  days,  the  father  passing 
away  in  1896,  and  the  mother  surviving  until 
1913.  Ephraim  Rife  was  a  successful  man 
in  business  and  he  and  his  wife  were  lifelong 
members  of  the  Methodist  church.  Eleven 
children  were  born  to  them  and  eight  of  the 
number  are  now  living:  John  H.,  a  mer- 
chant in  western  Nebraska;  Samuel  L.,  a  busi- 
ness man  of  Bridger,  Montana ;  William  E.,  of 
this  review ;  Katura,  married  and  residing  in 
Seattle,  Washington ;  Grace,  the  wife  of  G.  L. 
Griffis,  vice-president  of  the  Blue  Valley  Mer- 
cantile Company,  at  Beatrice;  Susan,  the  wife 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


1091 


of  Mr.  Bauffman,  residing  at  San  Francisco, 
California ;  Elmer  Roy,  in  the  employ  of  the 
Standard  Oil  Company  at  Red  Cloud,  Ne- 
braska ;  and  Lydia,  the  wife  of  Rev.  I.  F. 
Roach,  of  Oklahoma  City,  who  for  five  years 
was  pastor  of  the  Methodist  church  at  Lincoln, 
Nebraska. 

Wilham  E.  Rife  was  reared  on  a  farm,  ac- 
quired his  education  in  the  public  schools,  and 
followed  farming  until  he  was  twenty-eight 
years  of  age.  He  then  engaged  in  business  at 
Red  Cloud,  Nebraska,  making  his  home  there 
for  ten  years.  He  then,  in  1905,  came  to  Be- 
atrice and  became  one  of  the  promoters  of  the 
Blue  Valley  Mercantile  Company,  with  which 
wholesale  concern  he  was  actively  connected, 
as  a  buyer,  until  1916.  He  is  still  a  member 
of  the  board  of  directors  of  the  company.  In 
1916  he  established  mercantile  stores  at  Cla- 
tonia  and  Pickrell,  and  these  are  still  con- 
ducted by  him. 

In  December,  1916,  Mr.  Rife  was  appointed 
city  commissioner  of  Beatrice,  to  fill  the 
vacancy  caused  by  the  death  of  Mr.  G.  P. 
Reynolds,  and  was  made  treasurer  at  the  same 
time.  At  the  election  in  April,  1918,  Mr.  Rife 
was  duly  elected  to  the  same  office,  a  fact 
which  attests  to  the  confidence  and  esteem  in 
which  he  is  uniformly  held. 

In  1889,  at  IJncoln,  Nebraska,  was  sol- 
emnized the  marriage  of  William  E.  Rife  and 
Miss  Magdaline  Wooden,  a  native  of  Des 
Moines,  Iowa,  and  they  became  the  parents  of 
seven  children:  George  Edward,  of  Denver, 
Colorado,  is  now  in  the  militar}'  service  of  the 
United  States  and  is  located  at  Newport  News, 
Virginia,  at  the  time  of  this  writing;  Grace 
Bell  is  the  wife  of  Henry  Doerch,  manager  of 
Mr.  Rife's  store  at  Pickrell:  Beulah  Irene  is 
a  bookkeeper  in  the  Beatrice  City  Hall ;  Floyd 
Ivan  is  at  Deming,  New  Alexico,  in  the  service 
of  the  United  States;  Pearl  Le  Van  died  in 
infancy;  Lydia  Mae  is  at  home;  and  William 
E.,  Jr.,  also  is  under  the  parental  roof. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rife  are  members  of  the 
Methodist  church  and  Mr.  Rife  is  affiliated 
with  the  Masonic  fraternity ;  the  Independent 
Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  of  which  he  is  deputy 
grand  master ;  the  Fraternal  Order  of  Eagles ; 


the  Royal  Highlanders ;  and  the  Modern 
Woodmen  of  America.  He  and  his  wife  also 
affiliate  with  the  Daughters  of  Rebekah  and 
the  Order  of  the  Eastern  Star.  Mr.  Rife  is  a 
Republican  in  politics  and  is  one  of  the  sub- 
stantial men  of  the  city,  where  his  support  can 
be  depended  on  for  any  measure  that  is  of 
benefit  to  the  people  of  the  community. 

DENNIS  MAGNER  has  been  a  resident 
of  Gage  county  for  fifty  years,  and  is  still  en- 
gaged in  agricultural  pursuits  in  Island  Grove 
township,  as  one  of  the  sterling  pioneers  of 
the  county. 

Dennis  Magner  was  born  in  County  Cork, 
Ireland,  in  September,  1833,  and  is  a  son  of 
David  and  Margaret  (Landers)  Magner,  who 
spent  their  entire  lives  in  the  Emerald  Isle  and 
who  were  the  parents  of  eight  children,  Den- 
nis being  the  only  one  now  living;  John  and 
Winnie  came  to  America  about  1848,  settling 
in  Iowa,  where  they  spent  the  rest  of  their 
lives.  Dennis  Magner  came  to  the  United 
States  in  1851  and  after  a  residence  of  nine 
years  in  Chicago  he  located  in  Iowa,  making 
his  home  there  until  1868,  when  he  came  to 
Gage  county,  Nebraska.  Here  he  secured  a 
homestead  in  Island  Grove  township,  and  this 
has  been  his  home  continuously  since  pioneer 
days.  He  came  to  the  county  the  next  year 
after  Nebraska  had  become  a  state,  and  pioneer 
conditions  were  to  be  found  on  every  hand. 
He  set  about  improving  his  farm,  tilling  the 
soil,  planting  and  harvesting,  and  he  has  met 
with  that  success  which  properly  rewards  in- 
telligently directed  eft'ort.  He  is  to-day  the 
owner  of  four  hundred  acres  of  good  land. 

Mr.  Magner  was  married,  in  Ohio,  in  1859, 
to  Miss  Margaset  Shannahan,  a  native  of  Ire- 
land, and  this  union  has  been  blessed  with 
seven  children,  four  of  whom  are  living: 
Margaret  became  the  wife  of  Mr.  Betro  and 
resides  in  the  state  of  Washington  ;  Edmund 
resides  at  Maple  Falls,  Washington  ;  and  Anas- 
tasia  and  John  F.  are  at  the  parental  home. 

The  family  are  communicants  of  the  Catho- 
lic church  at  Wymore  and  in  politics  Mr. 
Magner  is  a  Republican.  With  no  unusual  ad- 
vantages at  the  beginning  of  his  career,  ex- 


1092 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


cept  a  laudable  ambition  and  a  determination 
to  succeed,  the  advancement  of  Mr.  Magner 
has  come  to  him  as  the  result  of  his  own  ef- 
forts. He  is  now  living  practically  retired, 
having  placed  labor's  burden  on  younger 
shoulders,  and  he  is  enjoying  the  rest  which  he 
justly  deserves. 


WILLIAM  L.  DEWEY.  — A  native  of 
Gage  county,  and  a  representative  of  one  of  its 
pioneer  families.  William  L.  Dewey  was  born 
on  a  farm  on  Wolf  creek,  August  13,  1866. 
His  father,  Timothy  Dewey,  was  born  in  Ohio 
and  in  1859  came  to  Gage  county,  Nebraska 
Territory,  where  he  took  up  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  of  land.  After  proving  up  on  this 
land  he  made  his  home  in  Iowa  four  years. 
Returning  to  Gage  county,  he  became  a  suc- 
cessful farmer  and  here  he  passed  the  re- 
inainder  of  his  days.  He  disposed  of  his 
homestead  and  purchased  land  in  the  Otoe  In- 
dian reservation,  but  later  he  returned  to 
Island  Grove  township  and  purchased  the 
land  where  his  son  William  L.  now  resides. 
He  and  his  brother  William  were  here  during 
the  Indian  uprising,  and  were  among  the  very 
early  settlers  of  the  county,  sharing  in  all  of 
the  hardships  and  pioneer  experiences  of  those 
times.  He  was  a  cousin  of  Admiral  George 
Dewey,  who  won  fame  at  the  battle  of  Manila 
Bay,  that  memorable  May  1,  1898.  The  pro- 
genitors of  the  Dewey  family  came  to  America 
during  the  colonial  period  of  our  nation's  his- 
torj'.  The  mother  of  our  subject  was  Mar- 
garet (  Pilcher)  Dewey,  a  native  of  Connecti- 
cut, and  of  her  six  children,  five  are  living: 
I\Irs.  Minnie  Titus  resides  in  Iowa;  William 
L.  is  the  subject  of  this  sketch ;  Selicia  is  the 
wife  of  Louis  Curry,  a  merchant  at  Stroud, 
Oklahoma;  Charles  is  a  farmer  in  Oklahoma; 
and  Belle  remains  in  Gage  county. 

William  L.  Dewey  was  reared  and  educated 
in  Gage  county  and  took  up  farming  as  a  life 
work,  wisely  choosing  the  occupation  for 
which  he  had  been  fitted  under  the  direction 
and  teaching  of  his  father.  In  October,  1913, 
he  i)urchased  the  interest  of  the  other  heirs 
and  became  owner  of  the  old  home  farm  in 
Island  Grove  township,  where  he  successfully 


carries  on  general  farming  and  stock-raising. 

In  1891  Mr.  Dewey  was  united  in  marriage 
to  Miss  Anna  Retchless,  a  native  of  New 
York  state  and  a  daughter  of  William  Retch- 
less, who  settled  in  Pawnee  county,  Nebraska, 
in  1877.  In  1887  Mr.  Retchless  became  a 
resident  of  Gage  county,  where  he  passed  the 
remainder  of  his  life. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dewey  became  the  parents  of 
six  children :  Charles  is  a  resident  of  Armour, 
Nebraska,  where  he  conducts  an  elevator  and 
is  agent  for  the  Missouri  Pacific  Railroad; 
Fannie  and  Herbert  are  at  home;  Nellie  is 
the  wife  of  Steve  Rotney,  of  the  state  of 
Washington ;  and  Hattie  and  George  are  the 
younger  children.  In  August,  1908,  Mr. 
Dewey  was  called  upon  to  mourn  the  loss  of 
his  wife,  and  her  death  called  from  earth  a 
devoted  wife  and  loving  mother. 

Mr.  Dewey  is  a  Republican  in  politics  and 
has  served  in  various  township  offices.  He  is 
a  member  of  Liberty  Lodge,  No.  152,  Ancient 
Free  &  Accepted  Masons,  and  his  life  is  defi- 
nitely guided  by  the  benevolent  teachings  of 
this  time-honored  fraternity.  He  is  progres- 
sive in  his  methods  and  is  a  successful  farmer 
and  stock-raiser. 

FRANK  DVORAK.  —  On  the  fami  known 
as  "Sunny  Slope,"  in  Section  29,  Glen  wood 
township,  live  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Frank  Dvorak. 
This  farm  was  owned  by  O.  J.  Lyndes,  of  Be- 
atrice, until  1914,  when  Mr.  Dvorak  purchased 
it  and  established  his  home  upon  the  veritable 
"Sunny  Slope."  Since  1915  he  has  been  doing 
a  general  farming  business,  and  he  is  one  of 
the  progressive  exponents  of  farm  industry  in 
Gage  county. 

Frank  Dvorak  was  born  February  18,  1891, 
at  Table  Rock,  Pawnee  county,  Nebraska,  and 
is  a  son  of  Anton  and  Antonia  (Svarscop) 
Dvorak.  Anton  Dvorak,  who  was  bom  in 
1865,  in  Bohemia,  came  with  his  parents  to  this 
country  in  1874,  and  the  family  settled  in 
Pawnee  county,  where  the  parents  farmed 
until  their  death.  For  further  family  history 
reference  may  be  made  to  the  sketch  of  Anton 
Dvorak,  on  other  pages  of  this  volume. 

Frank   Dvorak  received  the  education  and 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY.  NEBRASKA 


1093 


the  opportunities  of  the  average  lad  of  to-day, 
when  we  have  free  schools  and  text-books  of 
excellent  order.  After  finishing  his  schooling 
he  chose  farming  as  his  calling  in  life  and 
chose  as  his  home  the  sunniest  spot  in  Glen- 
wood  township,  known  as  "Sunny  Slope." 

To  share  his  home  with  him  he  chose  Miss 
Anna  Zaribnicy,  and  their  marriage  was  sol- 
emnized May  11,  1915.  Mrs.  Dvorak  is  a 
daughter  of  Frank  and  Theresa  (Bednar) 
Zaribnicy,  the  former  a  farmer  of  Glenwood 
township,  and  the  latter  deceased.  Mr.  Zarib- 
nicy married  for  his  second  wife,  Miss  Anna 
Kalsus.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dvorak  are  members 
of  the  Presbyterian  church  and  the  Demo- 
cratic party  receives  his  political  support. 

AMOS  SPROWLS.  —  For  thirty-two  years 
Amos  Sprowls  has  been  a  resident  of  Gage 
county,  and  in  the  work  of  development  he 
has  contributed  his  full  share.  Mr.  Sprowls 
is  a  native  of  the  old  Keystone  state,  born 
September  7,  1835,  and  is  the  only  survivor  of 
a  family  of  nine  children  bom  to  William  and 
Anna  (Montgomery)  Sprowls,  both  natives  of 
Pennsylvania,  where  they  spent  their  entire 
lives.  The  father  was  a  farmer  and  made  a 
specialty  of  raising  Spanish  Merino  sheep, 
being  a  good  judge  of  those  animals  and  well 
versed  in  proper  methods  of  breeding  and 
raising  them.  He  brought  his  flock  to  a  high 
standard,  and  the  subject  of  this  sketch  recalls 
that  at  one  time  his  father  had  a  flock  of 
two  hundred  ewes,  each  yielding  six  pounds 
of  wool.  The  paternal  grandfather,  Arthur 
Sprowls.  was  a  native  of  Ireland,  and  during 
the  days  of  the  American  Revolution  he  went 
to  England,  expecting  to  immigrate  to 
Ainerica,  but  it  was  two  years  before  he  could 
get  passage,  owing  to  the  war.  He  finally 
succeeded  in  securing  passage  on  a  sailing 
vessel,  and  he  became  an  early  settler  of 
Pennsylvania,  where  he  purchased  one  hun- 
dred acres  of  land  and  where  he  spent  the  re- 
mainder of  his  life.  The  maternal  grandfather 
of  our  subject  was  Hugh  Montgomery,  who 
'»'as  bora  in  Belfast,  Ireland.  He  was  a 
weaver  by  trade  and  at  his  death  was  a  man  of 
considerable  wealth. 


Amos  Sprowls  spent  his  boyhood  days  on  a 
farm  in  his  native  state  and  his  public-school 
education  was  supplemented  by  a  course  in 
Waynesburg  College,  his  studies  here  being 
interrupted  by  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  war, 
when  he  was  compelled  to  return  home.  His 
two  younger  brothers,  George  and  Jesse  M., 
entered  the  Union  army  and  Jesse  was  killed 
at  Gettysburg.  George  was  wounded  and 
taken  prisoner,  sent  to  Andersonville  and  then 
to  Richmond,  where  he  was  released,  and  the 
transport  boat  on  which  he  was  returning  to- 
his  home  was  sunk,  and  he  lost  his  life. 

In  1866  was  solemnized  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Sprowls  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Enlow,  who 
was  born  in  Pennsylvania  and  whose  ancestors 
were  of  English  descent.  After  a  married  life 
of  almost  a  half  century  Mrs.  Sprowls  was 
called  to  the  home  beyond,  in  1914,  having  be- 
come the  mother  of  five  children,  namely: 
Thomas  Willard  Sprowles,  of  Chicago,  Illi- 
nois, where  he  is  connected  with  the  Butler 
Memorial  House,  was  formerly  in  active  ser- 
vice as  a  clergyman  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal church.  He  was  educated  at  historic 
Washington  and  Jefferson  College,  in  Penn- 
sylvania, and  Nebraska  Wesleyan  University, 
at  Lincoln.  The  other  children  —  Luella 
Martha,  William  Enlow,  Horace  Alvin,  and 
Francis  \'ernon  —  all  remain  at  the  paternal 
home. 

The  religious  faith  of  the  family  is  that  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  and  in  poli- 
tics Mr.  Sprowls  is  a  Democrat.  He  came  to 
Gage  county  in  1886  and  purchased  240j/$ 
acres  of  land,  on  which  he  has  made  substan- 
tial improvements,  his  farai  being  to-day  one 
of  the  valuable  properties  of  Island  Grove; 
township.  In  all  work  of  improvement  and 
progress  Mr.  Sprowls  has  taken  an  active  in- 
terest, and  for  many  years  he  has  held  secure 
place  as  one  of  the  representative  agricultur- 
ists of  Gage  county. 


M.  H.  FREEL.  —  The  subject  of  this  rec- 
ord is  one  of  the  self-made  men  of  Gage 
county,  and  he  owns  and  operates  a  well  im- 
proved fami  in  Island  Grove  township. 

M.  H.  Freel  is  a  native  of  Wayne  county, 


1094 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Iowa,  where  he  was  born  in  1852,  a  son  of 
Benona  and  Margaret  (Prentice)  Freel,  na- 
tives of  Indiana.  They  were' married  in  Illi- 
nois and  became  residents  of  Nebraska  before 
the  Civil  war.  They  settled  in  Richardson 
county,  where  they  resided  for  many  years. 
They  then  came  to  Gage  county,  where  their 
last  days  were  spent.  They  were  members  of 
the  Methodist  church  and  in  politics  Mr. 
Freel  was  a  Republican.  Of  the  thirteen 
children  six  are  now  living. 

M.  H.  Freel  was  only  a  boy  when  the  home 
was  established  in  Nebraska,  and  he  was 
reared  on  a  pioneer  fann.  He  attended  the 
public  schools,  and  when  he  became  a  man  he 
chose  the  calling  to  which  he  had  been  reared, 


and  became  a  farmer.  In  1876  he  married 
Miss  Sarah  Main,  a  native  of  Iowa,  and  while 
they  have  not  been  blessed  with  children  jf 
their  own  they  have  reared  five  children.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Freel  are  members  of  the  Christian 
church  and  in  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

Mr.  Freel  is  the  owner  of  two  hundred 
acres  of  valuable  fami  land,  well  improved, 
and  his  success  has  been  achieved  through  his 
own  efforts.  Having  come  to  Nebraska  when 
this  state  was  a  pioneer  district,  he  has  been 
an  eye-witness  of  the  innumerable  changes 
that  have  taken  place,  and  in  this  work  of 
transformation  he  has  contributed  his  full 
share. 


INDEX 


ACKERMAN,  John,  98 
Acton,   Frank    W.,    4; 
Acton,  Thomas,    980 
Adam,  August,    841 
Adam,  Ernst,    856 
Adams,  John    O.,    34 
Adams,  Nelson,    352 
Aden,    Bartlet,    560 
Albert,  Benjamin    C, 
Albert,  Daniel,    690 
Albert,  Henry,    472 
Albert,  William    K., 


Albn 


Fran 


365 


Andersen,  Chr 


968 


Hans,    929 
Alex   L.,    636 
John    E. 
John    L.,    373 


060 


814 


709 


Ande 
Ande 

Anderson,  P.  M.,  7! 
Anthony,  Levi,  257 
Applebee,  John,  838 
Armstrong,  Alex,  85 
Armstrong,  Charles, 
Ashby,  William  H.. 
Atkins,  Guy  S.,  884 
Austin,  Charles  N., 
Austin,  Homer  B.,  543 
Ayres,    S.   B.,    780 


Babcock,    Albert   H.,   335 
Baker,    George,    1057 
Balderson,    James    E.,    934 
Bardwell,    Lysander     H.,     746 
Barmore,    Frank   M.,    894 
Barnard,  George,  861 
Barnes,    Fred    H.,    1003 
Barnum,    Hiram     S.,    920 
Barratt,    John,    850 
Bates,    Charles    O      332 
Bauman,    Edward,  843 
Beam,    Samuel    W.,    961 
Bednar.  Albert,    897 
Bednar,   James    E.,    529 
Benson,  Peter  E.,  679 
Beran,  Anton,    666 
Beran,  Frank,    445 
Beza,    Anton,    1034 
Bibb,    Robert    S.,    334 
Bigler,   Elwood,  530 
Bindernagel,  David    M.,    1056 
Bindernagel,  Philip,   584 
Bindernagel,  Philip   A.,   695 
Black,    W.    C,    Jr.,    597 
Blakely,    Nathan,    153       ' 
Boesiger,    John    F.,    903 
Boggs,  Charles    S.,    623 
Boggs,  James   F.,    608 
Boggs,   Lewis    B.,    414 
Bohnstedt,    Theodore,    831 
Bonebright,    Ira   D.,   987 
Bonham,   Charles   F.,   431 


Boyd,  Ira,    816 
Boyd,  John    C,    939 
Boyd,  Otho,    942 
Boyer,    A.    L.,    546 
Braddock,   John,   878 
Bradley,   Alden   C,   680 
Brainard,   Dorr  D.,    729 
Brewster,    Ananias,    630 
Bridenthal,    J.    W.,    1037 
Brodhead,   William   H.,    143 
Brown,  Frank    H.,    957 
Brown,  Harry    R.,    486 
Brown,  James    E.,    945 
Brown,  Mentor    A.,    247 
Brubaker,  Benjamin    A.,    745 
Brubaker,  Isaac    H.,    908 
Brugh,    Leroy,    620 
Bryson,   David     F.,     486 
Bryson,  Guy    R.,    1047 
Bryson,  John    A.,    910 
Bryson,   Silas,    479 
Bryson,  William    E.,    874 
Buhr,    Bruno   J.,    970 
Bull,    Stephen,   647 
Burbank,   C.    A.,    857 
Burbank,  John    F..    853 
Burch,    Isaac    W.,    687 
Bures,  Frank,   849 
Bures,  Joseph,    1089 
Burger,  George   F.,   986 
Burger,  George    S.,    960 
Burger,  John   L.,    996 
Burgess,   John   W.,    508 
Burke,    Thomas    F.,   332 
Burket,    Armstrong    O.,    690 
Burnham,    J.    M.,     1031 
Burroughs,    David   N.,    801 
Burrows,    George    C,    869 
Busboom,    John    T.,    949 
Bush,    James    E.,    335 


812 


Cacek,  Joseph,    836 
Cacek,  Joseph,    Jr.,    788 
Callan,    Thomas    R.,    676 
Calland,   Norton   S.,    1038 
Campbell,  George    W.,  '  930 
Campbell,  John  W.,  884 
Carpenter,  Howard,    788 
Carpenter,  J.  D.,  805 
Carsten,    John    E.,    698 


Her 


925 


Carstens,  John    G.,    719 
"C.   B.    R.   E.",   328 
Chamberlin,  Elmer  E.,  736 
Champ,    Francis    M.,    .■?2l 
Chapman,  Lee    I,.,    703 
Chapman,  Percy  J.,   919 
Chittenden,    Frank    J.,    624 


Claassen,  Aron  E.,  923 
Clancy,    John    J.,    1009 
Clark,  Victor  F.,  462 
Clayton,  Freeman    E..    739 
Clayton,  Isaac    R.,    984 
Clough,  Jay    P.,    929 
Clough,  Mason   D.,    929 
Cobbey,    Joseph    E.,    336 
Colby,   Leonard   W.,  496 
Colby,   Marie  Mailer  Colby,   497 
Coleman,   Theodore,   245 
Colgrove,   Dell    B„    744 
Colgrove,  James    F.,    746 
Collins,    William   L.,    979 
Cook,  Daniel  W.,    338 
Cook,  Harrison    F.,    138 
Cooper,  Joseph,    616 
Cooper,  Weitje    G.,    893 
Craig,    William,    758 
Cramer,    Eilert    D.,    572 
Crangle,    Fred    N.,    831 
Crangle,  William  F.,    1003 
Crawford,    James,    875 
'Cripe,    Adam,    552 
Crocker,  Frank   C,   963 
Crocker,   Hiram    P.,    1013 
Crocker,   Lloyd,     1015 
Crook,    Edward    G.,    989 
Cullen.    James    K.,    634 


Cun 


Mar 


594 


Curry,    Charles    S.,    899 


Dalbey,    Dwight    S.,    489 
Damkroger,    Henry,    813 
Darner,    Harry    H.,    1088 


Dar 


575 


Davis,    Edward    F.,    689 
Davis,   Harry   T.    F.,    1025 
Dawson,  Jacob    S.,    766 
Dawson,  John    L..    1017 
Day,    William    T..    1035 
Dean,    Smith    C.    B.,    331 
De  Bolt,   Walter   H.,    478 
De  Buhr,   Harm  M.,    719 
Dell,  Jacob    S.,    962 
Dell,  Joseph    C,    396 
Dewey,    William    L.,     1092 
Dobbs,   Fidillo    H.,    609 
Dobbs,  Hugh    J.,    586 
Dobbs,  Thomas    F.,    587 
Dobbs,  William    J.,     1041 
Dole,  Elbert    J.,    529 
Dole,  Edward  W.,  607 
Dole  Floral    Company,    430 
Dole,  Sophia    H.,    384 
Dorn,   John   T.,   995 
Dorsey,   Charles  G.,    157 
Douglas,    George   G.,    936 
Drummond,    Bernard    E.,    634 
Duis,    Ralph    A.,    815 
Dvorak,  Anton,    835 
Dvorak,   Frank,   1092 


1096 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Eastman,   Sarah  J.,  8S9 
Eby,    William   M.,    1049 
Ehmen,   Henry  W.,   1058 
Ehman,  John    W.,    713 
Eggert,   Fred,    848 
Eickmann,    Martin    F.,    40 


Eli; 


488 


155 


Ellis,    Emery   S.,    1064 
Ellis,  Ralph    G.,    1002 
Ellis,  Thomas  S.,  1008 
Emery,   Charl 
Emery,  John  C,   761 
Enlow,   Oliver  M.,   331 
Epard,  John  A.,   956 
Epard,  Lon   W.,    823 
Erickson,    Gustavus    -N 
Essam,    Harvey    R.,    7 
Essam,  Henry,    1028 
Essam,  Jacob,    507 
Evans,    Ira    W.,    923 


Fall,    Clifford   P.,   367 
Farlow,    William    N.,    707 
Faulder,    David    S.,    617 
Faxon,    George,   807 
Feerhusen,    Henry    H.,   802 
Field,    James    R.    C,    1028 
Filley,    Elijah,    353 
Fishbach,    Henry,   513 
Fisher,  Henry,    773 
Fisher,  James,    973 
Focken,    Henry,    1069 
Folkerts,   George,   988 
Forbes,   William    M.,    332 
Fossler,  John,    789 
Fossler,  John,  Jr.,   727 
Freel,    M.    H.,    1093 
Freeman,  Daniel,    116 
Freeman,  James  H.,   889 
Frerichs,   Gerhard  L.,   842 
Frerichs,  John    L.,    964 
Frerichs,  Lammert,    966 
Frerichs,  Lammert   W.,   706 
Frerichs,  Pope,    1001 
Frisbie,    Fred   W.,    1058 
Fritz,    Conrad    W.,    927 
Fritzen,  John,     1077 
Fritzen,    Martin,    976 
Fry,   Christian    F.,    948 
Fry,  William    T.,    943 
Fuller,     John     N.,     561 
Fulton,    John    B.,    522 

Gafford,  Charles  C,   731 
Gale,   Clarence   W.,    635 
Gale,  George,    166 
Galloway,  James  C,    860 
Galloway,  James  E.,  861 
Garrison,    C.    A.,    915 
Gerdes,    Gerd,    804 
Gerdes,  John   L.,   1082 
Gessell,    Lemuel    P.,    646 
Giddings,  Harvey  W.,   567 
Giddings,  S.    E..    750 
Giesmann,    Herman   F.,    794 
Gilmore,    Robert   G.,    809 
Gish,   James   W..    941 
Goodban,  John     S.,    366 
Goodman,  Daniel,  818 
Graf,    David,    503 
Graflf,  Clarence    W.,    345 
Graff,  Louis,    518 
Graflf,  Philip,    526 
Graham,    Francis   M.,   258 


Grant,    Richard    W.,    578 
Gray,   Alfred    H.,    627 
Grieser,    Leonard,    989 
GriflSths,  David  G.,  570 
Griggs,  Kirk,    511 
Griggs,  Nathan   K.,    329 
Grone,    Arthur,    1039 
Gronewold,    John    J.,    675 
Gudtner,    Charles    O.,    681 


FUL 


546 


Ha 


Andr 


J.,    332 


Hall,    C.    A.,    574 
Hamm,    William,    1024 
Hardy,    Albert,    332 
Harms,   Eilert,    1016 
Harms,  Harm   D.,   559 
Harms,   Henry    E-,     102 
Harper,    Fred    A.,    906 
Harpster,  George    F.,    1 
Harpster,  Solomon,    37: 


Har 


5ton,    Salmasius   B 
George    S.,    784 


826 


Hasenohr,    August,    969 
aaupt,   Oscar   J.,   950 
Haverland,    Chr 
Hawes,    Carl,    659 
Hazen,   Solon   M.,  255 
Hazlett,    Alfred,    384 
Hebel,   Joseph,    532 
Heetlage,   John,    1025 
Heffelfinger,  Otis   B.,    895 
Heflfeltinger,   Percy    F.,    90, 
Heffelfinger,   Ray   C,   740 
Helmke,    John    H.,    782 
Hemphill,    Robert   C,   833 
Hentges,    Charles,    724 
Hepperlen,    Harry    M.,    362 
Hereth,   John 


Her 


iiey. 


525 


Hevelone,    Elmer    L.,    475 
Hewett,   Obediah    B.,    135 
Heyen,    Jacob,    1046 
Hiatt,   Colonel  Johnson,  910 
Hibbert,    Thomas    E.,    536 
Higgins,   Calvin   K..   655 
Hilton,   George    B.,    664 
Hinds,  Charles    N.,    837 
Hinds,  Edwin    B.,    919 
Hite,    Charles  R.,   388 
Hitt,    Archie    C,    1048 
Hoffstaedt,    Frank    N.,    892 
Hollingworth,    Charles    H., 
Hollingsworth,    Joseph,    156 
Holm,    William,    351 
Ho6d,    John    C,    1063 
Horn,  Charles   P.,   656 
Horner,    Henry,    630 
Horrum,   George   E.,    753 
Houghton,    Cyrus,    755 
Howe,    James    M.,    1075 
Howey,    Frederick   H.,    369 
Hoyle,   Fernando,    1027 
Hoyle,  Walter    E.     927 
Hubka,  Albert,    845 
Hubka,  Emil,   955 
Hubka,  Frank  J,     1011 
Hubka,  Joseph,    847 
Hubka,  Joseph    S.,    950 
Hughes,    Charles,    730 
Hunkle,    George,    505 
Kurtz,   Anton,   951 
Hutchinson,    Christianas    L., 


Jackson,    Charles    A.,    880 
Jamison,    Andrew  J.,   606 
Janzen,    Henry,    580 
Jewell,    Earl    C,    713 
Jewell,   William    H.,    815 
Johnson,    C.    C,    346 
Johnston,    George    M.,    583 
Jones,  Cyrus    P.,     981 
Jones,  Frank  W.,   378 
Jones,  George  H,.   754 
Jones,  John    E..    1076 
Jones,  John    S.,    501 
Jones,  John   W.,    1071 
Jones,  Robert    S.,     1061 
Jones,   Samuel,    163 
Jones,    William    R.,    976 
Jurgens,   Henry,    1009 
Jurgens,  John    T.,    642 
Jurgens,  Thee    T.,    785 


Henr 


599 


Kasi 

Kelley,    Addison    1 
Kerk,    William    M 
Kidd,    Albertus    I 
Kiler,    Isaac,    1052 
Kilpatrick    Brothe 
King,  Charles    W.,    724 
King,   Chester    F.,    873 
King,  J.   J.,   975 
King,  John  E.,   571 
Kinney,   John    F.,    130 
Kirby,    Maurice,   885 
Kivett,    Richmond,    108S 
Klaus,    Fred,    786 
Klein,  Jacob,    419 
Klein,  Jacob    A.,    568 
Kloepper,  Louis,  778 
Knochel,    Wendel,    1033 
Knox,  Charles    D.,    470 
Knox,  Clarence    B.,   657 
Koenig,    Lenhard,    735 
Kors,    Martin    L.,    677 
Kracke,    Frederick,    Sr., 
Kramer,    William,    881 
Krapp,    John,    649 
Krauter,    John    F..    651 
Krebsbach,    Willi 
Kriter,    Frederick  D.,    10 
Kroese,    Herman    A.,    90 
Kroos,     Benjamin,     1080 
Krotz,    Joseph,    696 
Krueger,  Henry,    828 
Krueger,  Michael,    1006 
Kuhlmann,    Albert,    684 


Lacy,    Huram,    1061 
Laflin,    Lewis   H.,   991 
La    Forge,    Curtis    C,    668 
Lancaster,  Raymond,    779 
Lancaster,  Walter   V.,    832 
La    Selle,    Henry    A.,    1072 
Lawrence,   James   G.,    531 
Layton,   Andrew   I.,   789 
Lee,    Amesbury,    880 
Lefferdink,    Frank    E.,    523 
Lcggett,   Joseph,    1021 
Leners,  John,    714 
Leners,  Renken,     1080 
Lenger.    Lewis    D.,    901 
Le  Poidevin,  Charles   C,    560 
Le  Poidevin,   Ezra,    874 
Le  Poidevin,  John,    730 
Le  Poidevin,  John    T.,    767 


928 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


1097 


Le  Poidevin,  Thomas,    500 
Lewis,  Ford,    555 
Lewis,   George    G.,    704 
Lillie,    William    F.,    654 
Lisec,    Frank,    793 
Loemker,    Ernst,    807 
Long.    James,    766 
Loomis',    Gilbert   T.,    136 
Lyndes,   O.   J.,   644 

McCandless,    Arnott  D.,   432 
McCann,    John    R.,    454 
McClung,  Jestun  O.,  970 
McClung,   Lewis    C,    840 
McColl,    Charles   J.,    506 
McConihe,    John,    132 
McGirr,   Frederick    O.,    542 
McGirr,  John   I.,    509 
McGirr,  Virgil    E.,    482 
McKeever,    L.   L.,   734 
McKenna,  William  T.,  470 
McKinley,   Willi'am    R.,    882 
McKinney.    Samuel    H.,    726 
McKissick,    John    W.,    468 
McLaughlin,  James  B.,  385 
McMichael,    William    A.,    801 
McMurray,    John    A.,    1079 
McPhenm,  James    M.,    795 
McPheron,  Ulysses    G..    576 
Magner,   Dennis,   1091 
Mangus,  Jerry    T.,    917 
Mangus,  Joseph,     477 
Mangus,  William,    905 
Marples,  James  W.,  593 
Martin,  Curtis   O.,    1002 
Martin,  John    M.,    933 
Martin,  Thomas  M.,  400 
Masek,    Frank,   688 
Mason,  Harvey   O.,    471 
Mayborn,    Thomas,    660 
Meints,    Brune   C,    836 
Meints,  Christ    J.,    716 
Meints,  John   C,    792 
Menke,   Henry,   841 
Menter,  John  H.,  457 
Merchant,    I.    T.,    485 
Merrick,    Homer   J..    390 
Messmore,   Frederick  W.,   437 

Meyer,    Frank,  628 

Michael,  David  H.,   1042 

Milburn,    Albert    T.,    519 

Miller,  Albert,    443 

Miller,  Charles   A.    (Clatonia),   916 

Miller,  Charles    A.    (Sicily),    765 

Miller,  EH,  773 

Miller,   Francis  A.,    743 

Miller,  George    F.,    747 

Miller,   Horace    M.,    955 

Miller,  William    H.,    754 

Milligan,  Joseph,    139 

Mitchell,    George   T.,    818 

Mittan,    Isaac    B.,    661 

Montgomery,  John   R.,  979 

Moore,    William    C,    429 

Moschel.    Ludwig,    569 

Moseby,    Thomas    D.,    858 

Moseley.    Frank,    740 

Moseley,  Paul  F.,  825 

Mowry,   Samuel,  397 

Mulligan,    William    A.,    541 

Mumford,  Charles    B.,    458 

Mumford,  Eugene    P.,    405 

Mumford,  Frank  W.,   720 

Mumford,  George    L.,    663 


Mumford,    Isma     P.,     161 
Mumford,  John  N.,  951 
Mumford,  Oliver    C,    829 
Murdock,    Charles    M.,    440 
Murphy,  George    A.,    334 
Murphy,  John     E.,     455 

Nelson,   Joseph   R.,    135 
Neumann,   Julius,   760 
Nicewonger,     Daniel,     998 
Nicholas,  George    W.,    737 
Nicholas,   Robert,   403 
Nichols,  Martin    V.    B.,    863 
Nichols,   Samuel     F.,     667 
Noble,   Lucien   L-,   579 
Novotny,  Anton,    464 
Novotny,  Edward,    1053 

OjERS,    Charles   H.,   407 
Oltmans,  Anton,    953 
Oltmans.  Dick,    984 
Oltmans,   Oltman,    962 
Overbeck,    Frank,    439 
Ozman,  William  L.,   636 

Paben,   Tobe,   825 
Packer,  James,  672 
Paddock,   Algernon    S.,    164 
Palmer.  Aaron,    426 


Pah 


Wi 


Pape.    Frank   F.,    1012 
Parde.  John   W.,    576 
Parde,  William    H.,   94 
Parde,  William    P.,   80( 
Parker,  Hiram   W.,    15 
Parker,  John    B.,    581 
Pearson,    Rupert    C,     : 
Pease,    Robert,    553 
Pemberton,    Leander    IV 
Pence,   George    N.,    83: 
Pence,  Jasper    H.,    925 


H., 


Pethoud,  Francis  M.: 
Pethoud,  James  K.  1 
Pethoud,  John,  510 
Pfeffermann,  Albert 
Pfeffermann.  Sturme 
Pheasant,  Samuel  S., 
N.,    824 


683 


Pickett, 
Pieper.    William,    849 
Pike,    Bennett,     140 
Pitts,    George    W.,    467 
Plucknett,    Floyd    G.,    983 
Poeverlein,    Leonard,    383 
Pothast,    Frederick    L..    401 
Prout,    Frank    N.,    333 
Pyle,    Samuel    L.,    565 

Rains,    George   O.,   616 
Ramsey,   Joseph   H.,   603 
Rathbun,  Edward    G.,    1055 
Rathbun.  James,    847 
Rathbun,  Lewis,  701 
Reed,  John   Q.,   646 
Reed.  William    I..    708 
Reedy,    Andrew  J.,    437 
Reents,    J.    B.,    446 
Reid,    Isaac,    1076 
Reiff,   George    W.,    732 
Reiff,  John  B.,  615 
Reimer.    Heinrich,    517 
Remmers,   Henry,    726 


Renard,    John    B.,    460 
Reuling,   John   A.,    1047 
Revis,    William    N.,   898 
Reynolds,  George   B.,   728 
Reynolds,  Herman    M.,    145-421 
Rice,    Henry,    702 
Richards,  George   F.,    777 
Richards,  Louis,    774 
Richards,   Silas  F.,  767 
Richards,  William    H.,    333 
Riechers,   John,   540 
Rife,    William    E.     1090 
Riggert,   Fred,  854 
Riggert,  William,    748 
Rinaker,    Samuel,    356 
Robbins,   William    E.,    997 
Roe,    George   L.,    903 
Root,   Elmer    L.,    757 
Roi)t,  Frederick  L.,   748 
Root,  William  R.,  786 
Roper.    Fordyce,    158 
Rossiter,   Edgar,    551 
Rossiter,  Richard,    711 
Roszell,   Ralph    R.,    669 
Roszell.  William   F.,   666 
Rothrock,   Edgar,   591 
Ruth,    Samuel   D.,  467 
Rutherford,   Jacob    S.,    625 
Ruyle,    Herbert    R.,    828 
Ruyle,   William   H.,   808 
Ryan,    Matthew   W.,    1084 
Ryhd,   Victor   E.,    559 

Sabin,   Robert  W.,  913 
Sachtleben,  Henry  H.,   1043 
Sackett,    Harry    E.,    958 
Saunders,   James   P.,    737 
Eausman,    Jacob    P..    947 
Savage,  Owen  L.,  701 
Schaefer,    Erwin    W.,    762 
Scheideler,    Anton,    801 
Scheideler,  John,    749 
Scheve,   Joseph   H..   886 
Schick,    John    L.,    595 
Schlosser,  Jesse  L.,   519 
Schock,   John    D      822 
Schoen,    Frank,    933 
Schowengerdt,    Frank  T.,    389 
Seymour,    Silas   A.,    640 
Shafer,    Clarence    L.,    1085 
Shalla,    Frank,    776 
Shalla,  Frank    R.,    853 
Shalla,  John,     710 
Shalla,  John   M.,    674 
Shalla,  Joseph     (Barnston).     731 
Shalla,  Joseph    (Glenwood),   841 
Shalla,  Tony,    843 
Shalla,  William   H.,    856 
Shaw,  Harley  J.,    768 
Shaw,  Stephen   V.,    691 
Shelley,  Frank    R.,    678 
Shelley,  Gilbert  R.,    749 
Shelley,  James   W.,    481 
Sherwood.   Abijah   S,.  668 
Sible,    John    R.,    1083 
Siefkes,   Bernard  H.,    578 
Siems,  Henry   J.,   855 


Her 


909 


Singleton,    John,    715 
Smethers,  Harvey  M.,    10, 
Smethers,  Percy  J.,   685 
Smith,  C.    M.,    670 
Smith,  Frederick  J.,   638 
Smith,  James    A.,    335 


1098 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Smith,   Samuel    R..    937 
Smith,   Stephen   A.,  .829 
Snyder,   Anthony  W.,   753 
Sonderegger,  Arthur    C,    1008 
Sonderegger,   Carl,    375 
Sonderegger,  Charles  C,   1025 
Sonderegger,  Ernest    L.,    1064 
Sonderegger,  Frederick   T.,    80( 
Spealman,  John   R.,   872 
Spellman,  Burt   L.,    618 
Spellman,  Clemens  A.,  618 
Spencer,   Alvin   D..   922 
Spiegel,    George    W.,    1044 
Spilker,  Christ,  868 
Spilker,  Ernst  H.,  756 
Sprowls,    Amos,    1093 
Stanek,    Joseph    S.,    966 
Stanosheck,  Thomas  W.,  846 


Star 


Calv 


348 


Steece,    George    M.,    974 
Steinmeyer,  Benjamin    F.,    37 
Steinmeyer,  Frederick,    770 
Steinmeyer,  George    W.,    101: 
Steinmeyer,  J.     Henry,     549 
Steinmeyer,  John    F.,    899 
Steinmeyer,  Robert    H.,    396 
Steinmeyer,  Wesley    D.,    996 
Stephenson,   George   T.,    686 
Strauch,    Frank,    1031 
Strough,   Lloyd   L.,   736 
Strough,   John,    435 

Tart,  Arthur  T.,  1020 
Taylor,  Jacob.  732 
Taylor,  Sherman,    772 
Theasmeyer,    George    E.,    641 
Thom,  James  A.,   940 
Thom,  Peter  C,   651 
Thoman,   George 


Thornburg,  Abraham    L.,    943 
Thornburg,  John  D.,   967 
Tilton,  Frank    R.,    954 
Tilton,  Lloyd  H.,   741 
Tinkham,    Albert    L.,     159 
Tjaden,    John,    699 
Towle,    Albert,    133 
Townsend,  Oliver,     137-553 
Townsend,  William,    632 
Tracey,   Daniel    E.,    544 
Troemper,    Henry    J.,    492 
Truxaw,  Frank  J.,  793 
Turner,    Fred   H.,    749 
Tyler,    William    B.,    253 

551 

Van   Boskirk,   Fred  F.,   572 
Van  Home,    George   H.,    598 
Van  Liew,   Fred   D.,    721 
Vasey,   Thomas,    1019 
Von   Steen,  John  H.,  491 


Wal 


Ehj 


944 


Wandersee,  Frank, 

781 

Wanderi 

iee,  Frank 

H., 

Warford 

,,   Lewis  M 

:.,  99< 

Warren, 

Clarence 

S., 

Waymar 

,,   John   H. 

,    658 

Webb,  Joseph    L.. 

972 

Webb,  Joseph    L., 

Sr., 

Weiner, 

Raymond, 

820 

Werner, 

Louis,   86 

Weston, 

Jefferson  B.,  14 

Whalen, 

John  T., 

799 

Whitton, 

Richard, 

777 

Whymaii 

1,    Carl    I.. 

877 

795 


Wickham,     Frank    P.,     708 
Wiebe,  Gerhard,    671 
Wiebe,  Henry  J.,   374 
Wiebe,  Herman,    894 
Wiebe,  Jacob    W.,    539 
Wiebe,  John    G.,    1017 
Wiens  Brothers,     1083 
Wiens,  Frank,    1083 
Wiens,  Jacob,    1083 
Wiese,    Gerd    B.,    964 
Wieters,    Henry,    843 
Will,  Frank    M.,    799 
Will,  Joseph   J.,    764 
Williams,  Evan,    797 
Williams,  Thomas,    787 
Williamson,    Henry,    534 
Wilson,  James  R.,  639 
Wilson,  John    L.,    722 
Wilson,  Robert  A.    254 
Winter,  Frederick  W.,  900 
Wise,    Bayard    T.,    139 
Wolken,   Herman,   573 
Wollenburg,  Carl    F.,    446 
Wollenburg,  William,     1031 
Woods,   Fred  J.,   1067 
Wright,  Amos    L.,    417 
Wright,  Fred  A.,   765 
Wright,  John    W.,    425 
Wrightsman,    Noah,   838 

Young,  Josiah,  751 
Yule,  John  T.,  521 
Yule,  Thomas,    344 

Zimmerman,   George  E.,   571 
Zimmerman,  John   H.,    717 
Zimmerman,  Tarame   R.,   382 
Zuver,  Byron  P.,  864 
Zuver,  James    B.,    675 


PORTRAITS 


Adams,  John  O.,  348 
Adams,  Nelson,  352 
Albert,  Henry,  473 
Anthony,  Levi,  257 
Applebee,  John,  839 
Ar-ka-ke-ta.  86 
Armstrong,   Alex,   859 

Barratt,    John,    851 
Barratt,   Mr 


851 

Bauman,  Edward.  844 
Bauman,   Mrs.   Edward.   844 
Bednar,  Albert,    896 
Eednar,  Mrs.   Albert,   896 
Blakely,  Nathan,    154 
Blakely,  Margaret    C,    155 
Boesiger.  Frederich.    904 
Boesiger,  Mrs.   Frederich,  904 
Bower.   Perry   L.,   871 
Boyd.   John   C.  and   Family,  938 
Braddock,  John,    879 
Braddock,  Mrs.    John,    879 
Bradley,   James,  321 
Brodhead,   William   H.,    144 
Brown,  James    E.,    946 
Brown,  Mrs.    James    E.,    946 
Bryson,  David    F.,    487 
Bryson,  Mrs.   David   F.,   487 
Bryson,  Silas,    480 
Bryson,  Mrs.    Silas,    480 
Buhr,  John  G.,   971 
Buhr,  Mrs.   John   G.,   971 
Burt,    Francis.    33 

Campbell.   George  W.,   931 
Campbell.    Mrs.    George    W.,    931 
Clark,   William.   26 
Clayton,  Isaac    R.,    985 
Clayton,  Mrs.    Isaac    R.,    985 
Colby,   Leonard    W.,    494 
Colby,  Mrs.   Leonard  W..  496 
Coleman,    Theodore,    244 
Cook,  Daniel    W.,    339 
Cook,  Harrison   F.,    138 
Crangle,  William    F.,    1004 
Crangle,  Mrs.    William    F.,    1004 
Crocker,    Hiram    P.,    1014 
Cumingi   Thomas  B.,    34 

Davis,    Harry    T.    F.,    1026 
Davis,   Mrs.   Harry   T.    F.,    1026 
Dawson,  John    L.,    1018 
Dauson.  Mrs.   John    L.,    1018 
Day,    William    T.    and    Family,    1036 

Smct.    Peter  J.,    77 
P:      IS,  Fidillo    H.,    610 
Dubbs,  Hugh  J.,   Frontispiece 
•„  Mary   J.,    611 
bs,  William    J.,    1040 
'-'-s,  Mrs.    William    J.,    1040 
as,    Stephen    A.,    32 

b,BY.   William    M.,   1050 


Eby,  Mrs.  William  M.,  1050 

Ehmen,  William,    1059 

Ehmen,  Mrs. 

William,    1059 

Ellis,    Emery 

S.,    1065 

Fall,    Cliffo 

RD  P.,    368 

Feerhusen,    H 

enry    H.,    803 

Ferguson,    Fe 

nner,    320 

Fishbach,    He 

iry,    515 

Focken,  Henr 

y,    1068 

Focken,  Mrs. 

Henry,    1068 

Fossler,  John 

790 

Fossler,  Mrs. 

Anna,   791 

Freeman,    Dar 

iel,    116 

Fremont,    Job 

n    C,    74 

Fritzen,  John 

1078 

Fritzen,  Mrs. 

John,    1078 

Gage,   Willia 

M    D.,    37 

Gale,  George, 

167 

Gale,  Mrs.    Ge 

orge,    167 

Gilmore,   Robert    G.,    810 

Gilmore,   Mrs. 

Robert   G.,    811 

Goodman,    Da 

liel,    and    Family,    8 

Graf,  David, 

504 

Graf,  Mrs.    David,    504 

Graff,    Philip. 

527 

Graham,   Fran 

is    M..    258 

Graham,   Hann 

ah   R.,  258 

Harden,    Edward    R.,    322 
Harpster,    Solomon,    372 
Harpster.    Mrs.    Solomon,   372 
Haverland.     Christian,     827 
Hazen,    Solon    M.,    256 
Helmke,  John   H.,   783 
Helmke.    Mrs.  John    H.,    783 
Hemphill,   Robert    C,    834 
Hemphill,  Mrs.    Robert    C,    834 
Hepperlen,    Harry    M.,    363 
Hiatt,    Colonel   Johnson,    911 
Hiatt,  Mrs   Colonel  Johnson,    911 
Hibbert,  Thomas   E.,   537 
Hinds,  Edwin   B,  918 
Hinds,  Mrs.   Edwin  B.,  918 
Hoyle,    Walter   E.    and   Family,   926 
Hurtz,   Anton,   952 
Hurtz,   Mrs.   Anton,   952 

J.iCK,   Fulton,   547 
Jones,  William   R.,   977 
Jurgens,    Henry,    1010 
Jurgens,    Mrs.    Henry,    1010 

KiNNETY,  Hannah  D.,    131 
Kinney,   John    F..    131 
Kinney,    Julia    Beatrice,    120 
Kracke,    Frederick,    Sr.,    1054 
Kracke.    Mrs.    Frederick,    Sr.,    1054 
Kriter,  Frederick  D.,   1086 
Kriter,   Mrs.   Frederick  D.,    1086 

Lacy,   Huram,   1062 


Lacy,   Mrs.    Hurman,   1062 
Laflin,    Lewis  H.,   993 
La  Selle,  Henry  A.,  1073 
Leggett,   Joseph,    1022 
Leggett,    Mrs.    Joseph,    1022 
Leners,    Renken,    1081 
Leners,   Mrs.   Renken,   1081 
Lewis,   Ford,   557 
Lewis,   Meriwether,   26 

McCandless,  Arnott  D.,  433 

McConihe,  John,   132 

McLaughlin,  James  B.  and  Family,  387 

Mason,   Oliver  P.,   325 

Merrick,    Homer   J.,    392 

Merrick,   Lucy  A.,  393 

Messmore,   Frederick   W.,   438 

Metcalf,  Julia   Beatrice,    124 

Miller,    Albert,    444 

Miller,  Mrs.  Albert,  444 

Mittan,  Isaac  B.,  662 

Mittan,  Mrs.  Isaac  B.,  662 

Moore,   William    C,   428 

Moore,    Mrs.    William    C,    428 

Mowry,    Samuel,    398 

Mowry,  Mrs.  Samuel,  398 

Mumford,   Elizabeth,    161 

Murphy,  John  E.,  456 

Murphy,    Mrs.   John    E.,   456 

Nelson,  Joseph  R.,  135 
Nicholas,   Robert,  402 
Nicholas,  Mrs.  Robert,  402 
Novotny,    Anton,    465 
Novotny,   Mrs.   Anton,   465 

OjERS,   Charles  H.,  408 
Ojers,   Mrs.   Charles   H.,   408 

Packer,  James,   673 
Packer,   Mrs.  James,  673 
Parde,   John    W.,    577 
Parker,    Hiram    W.,    157 
Pemberton,    Leander  M.,   589 
Penterman,  Herman   H.,   775 
Pethoud,   James   K.    P.,   452 
Pethoud,  Mrs.  James  K.  P.,  452 
Pfeffermann,    Sturmeus,    622 
Pfeffermann,    Mrs.    Sturmeus,    622 
Pheasant,   Samuel  S.,  682 
Pheasant,  Mrs.   Samuel  S.,  682 
Pike,  Bennett,  141 
Pyle,  Samuel  L.,  566 
Pyle,  Mrs.   Samuel  L.,  566 

Reents,  Rev.  J.  B.,  447 
Renard,    John    B.,    461 
Renard,   Mrs.  John   B.,   461 
Reynolds,    Herman    M.,    146 
Rice,  Henry,  703 
Rinaker,   Samuel,   357 
Rossiter,   Richard,   712 
Rossiter,    Mrs.    Richard,    712 


1100 


HISTORY  OF  GAGE  COUNTY,  NEBRASKA 


Sackett,  Harry  E.,  959 
Schaefer,    Erwin   W.,    763 
bcheve,    John,    887 
Scheve,    Mrs.   John,   887 
Schoen.   Frank  (Residence),  934 
Shaw,  Harley  J.,   769 
Shaw,    Stephen  P.,  692 
Shaw,   Mrs.    Stephen    P.,  692 
Shaw,   Stephen   V.,   693 
Shaw,    Mrs.    Stephen    V.,    693 
Snyder,  Anthony  W.,  752 
Snyder,    Mrs.    Anthony    W.,    752 
Sonderegger,  Carl,  377 
Spiegel,    George   W.,    1045 
Steinmeyer,   William,    380 
Steinmeyer,   Mrs.   William,   380 


Stotsenberg,   John  M.,    314 

Warford,  Lewis  M.,   1000 

Warford,   Mrs.  Lewis  M.,  lOOO 

Webb,  Dr.   Joseph  L.,   Sr.,  413 

Taylor,   Jacob.    733 

Wiese,   Gerd  B.  and  Family,   ':t 

Theasmeyer,   George   E.,   643 

Williams,    Evan,    796 

Tneasmeyer,   Mrs.  George   E.,  643 

Williams,    Mrs.    Evan,    796 

Thom,    Peter    C,    652 

Wilson,   Amelia,    255 

Thom,    Mrs.    Peter   C,    652 

Wilson,  John    L.,   723 

Tilton,    Curtis,    742 

Wilson,    Robert  A.,  255 

Tilton,    Mrs.    Curtis,    742 

Wollenburg,   William,    1030 

Towle,    Albert,    133 

Wollenburg,    Mrs.    William,    103 

Towle,    Katie,    134 

Wright,  Amos   L.,  418 

Townsend,   Oliver,    137 

Wright,    Mrs.   Amos   L.,    418 

Townsend,   William,   633 

Wright,  John  W.,  424 

Tyler,    Rebecca,   254 

Tyler,   William  B.,   254 

Young.   Brigham,    75 

4242