YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

Purchased from the income
of the bequest of
WILLIAM ROBERTSON COE
Honorary M.A. 1949. for
material in the field
of American Studies.

History of
Dodge and Washington
Counties, Nebraska
And Their People

Editors

REV. WILLIAM H. BUSS, Fremont
THOMAS T. OSTERMAN, Blair

Advisory Editorial Board

L D. RICHARDS, Fremont
C D. MARR, Fremont
JAMES M. BEAVER, Scribner
W. J. CRANE, Arlington
EDMOND C. JACKSON, Blair
WM. E. SWIHART, Kennard

T. L. MATHEWS, Fremont
M. T. ZELLERS, M. D., Hooper
ROY CUSACK, North Bend
CHAS. E. MAJERS, Scribner
J. C. ELLER, Blair
C. M. WEED, Kennard

VOLUME II

THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
CHICAGO
1921

Vol. II— %

History of Dodge and
Washington Counties

Judge George L. Loomis has been a prominent and representative
member of the Nebraska bar since 1876, ranking as the pioneer attorney
in this judicial district of six counties, and is the head of the law
firm of Loomis, Laird & Loomis of Fremont, in which city he centralized
his large and important law practice until his appointment to his present
office, that of collector of internal revenue for the District of Nebraska,
his appointment to this position having been made early in the first
administration of President Wilson. In his official capacity Mr. Loomis
maintains his headquarters in the City of Omaha, but he still resides at
Fremont, where he began the practice of his profession forty-four years
ago. Mr. Loomis was born in Chautauqua County, New York, on the
28th of November, 1849, and he was reared and educated in the old
Empire State, where, in 1875, he received the degree of Bachelor of
Law, upon his graduation from Union University, Department of Law,
Albany, New York. In 1876 he established his residence at Fremont,
county seat of Dodge County, Nebraska, where success has attended
his professional activities. He has long been recognized as one of the
specially able members of the Nebraska bar, the while his law practice
came to be one of broad scope and important order. As an effective
advocate of the principles and policies for which the democratic party
stands sponsor, Mr. Loomis has been influential in political affairs in the
state. He served two terms as city attorney of Fremont, was for two
terms county attorney of Dodge County, has represented this county as a
member of the State Legislature two terms, and was for eleven years
a member of the Board of Education of his home city. His civic loyalty
has been intense, and no citizen has been more appreciative of the advan
tages and attractions of the State of Nebraska, in whose prosperity and
progress he has taken the deepest interest. Mr. Loomis was one of the
founders of the Commercial Law League of America in 1895, has served
with characteristic efficiency as a member of the Board of Directors of
Doane College at Crete, Nebraska, for twenty-three years. In his home
city he has been a director of the Commercial National Bank and the
Home Savings Bank since their organization nearly thirty years ago,
and for more than twenty years of the Equitable Building and Loan
Association. He represented Nebraska as a delegate at large to the
democratic national convention in Baltimore where Woodrow Wilson-
was first nominated for the presidency, and he has wielded much influ
ence in the councils and campaign activities of the party in his home
state. He has been long and actively affiliated with the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows and was grand master in 1889-90, grand repre
sentative to the Sovereign Grand Lodge eight years, grand instructor fif
teen years. Has been a member of the Board of Home Trustees nearly
459

460 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
twenty years and was president of the board at the time of erecting and
equipping the Odd Fellows Home at York, this state. He and his family
hold membership in the Congregational Church. Is past state regent
of Sons of the American Revolution.
On the 21st of July, 1880, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Loomis
to Miss Alice Hadley, who was born in the picturesque little City of
Hillsdale, Michigan, November 1, 1856, her parents having been pioneer
citizens of that state, where they continued to reside until their death.
Mr. and Mrs. Loomis have six children: Bayard is engaged in the
moving-picture business in the City of Omaha; Floyd is a successful
newspaper man in the City of Portland, Oregon ; Leo is the wife of Fred
C. Laird, of whom individual mention is made on other pages of this
volume; Zela H. is vice president of the Telegram Company, publishers
of the leading newspaper at Columbus, Nebraska; Howard W. is the
youngest member of the Fremont law firm of Loomis, Laird & Loomis,
and concerning him further mention is made in appending paragraphs
of this review; and Wayne is a student in the University of Nebraska
as a member of the class of 1922.
Howard W. Loomis was born at Fremont, and after here completing
the curriculum of the public schools he entered Fremont College, in
which institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1912.
In preparation for the profession of his choice he then entered the law
department of the University of Nebraska, • in which he was graduated
as a member of the class of 1915, his reception of the degree of Bachelor
of Laws being practically coincident with his admission to the bar of his
native state. He forthwith became associated with his father in active
general practice at Fremont and is now the youngest member of the law
firm of Loomis, Laird & Loomis, his father being the senior member and
the third member being Fred C. Laird, whose wife is a daughter of the
senior member of the firm, as noted in the preceding paragraph. In his
professional work Howard W. Loomis is well upholding the prestige of
the family name and is one of the leading lawyers of the younger gen
eration in his native county. The firm of which he is a member controls
a large and important law business, and incidental to the same he has
proved himself a resourceful lawyer and well fortified counselor. When
the nation became involved in the World war he promptly subordinated
his professional ambition to the call of patriotism. He entered service
in November, 1917, received his preliminary training at Camp Johnson,
and finally became a member of the American Expeditionary Forces in
France, where he was in active service fifteen months, his honorable dis
charge having been received in September, 1919, after the close of the
war and his return to his native land. He is an appreciative and popular
member of the local post of the American Legion in his home city.
Mr.' Loomis is found aligned as a stanch supporter of the principles
of the democratic party, and is affiliated with the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Alpha
Tau Omega college fraternity and the Phi Delta Phi fraternity of the
law school. He holds membership in the Congregational Church at Fre
mont, where he remains at the parental home, as his name is still found
listed on the roll of eligible young bachelors in his native county.
Ross L. Hammond. In writing of the men that have, been prominent
and influential in developing and promoting the highest and best interests
of Dodge County, special mention should be made of Ross L. Hammond
widely known as one of the most enterprising and popular newspaper

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 461
men of the state, who was editor of the Fremont Tribune for forty years,
and in addition to his duties in that capacity helped to build up an exten
sive and remunerative business by the Hammond Printing Company, of
which he was president. In October, 1919, he disposed of his principal
interests in Fremont, and is now, in 1920, located at Riverside, Califor
nia, engaged in investments and banking. A son of George and Jane
(Leech) Hammond, he was born May 13, 1861, in Le Grand, Marshall
County, Iowa, coming on both sides of the house of English colonial
stock and of honored Quaker ancestry.
Born in Jefferson County, Ohio, George Hammond migrated to
Iowa in early life, and as a pioneer settler of Marshall County bought
land and began the improvement of a homestead. He met with good
success as a farmer and stock raiser, and also engaged in mercantile pur
suits, building up a prosperous business as a dealer in lumber and grain.
A man of strong individuality, he was influential in advancing the pros
perity of Le Grand, his home town, and was identified with the estab
lishment therein of two colleges, and was a generous contributor toward
their support.
Scholarly in his tastes and ambitions, Ross L. Hammond received
his preliminary education in Le Grand, Iowa, attending the public schools
and Friends' Academy, and subsequently continuing his studies at Penn
College, in Oskaloosa, Iowa. Yielding, no doubt, to a natural tendency,
he began his connection with printing and journalism soon after leaving
college, and in September, 1879, came to Fremont to assume a position
on the Fremont Tribune, which was then owned by his father and his
brother Frank under the firm name of Hammond & Son. Becoming of
age in 1882, Mr. Hammond was admitted to partnership in the firm, and
the name was changed to Hammond Brothers. The publishing business
grew with surprising rapidity and in 1901 was incorporated, with a
paid-up capital of $100,000, the Hammond Printing Company, Mr. Ham
mond being made president of the concern. He also became officially
connected as vice president with the Hammond & Stephens Company,
an entirely separate concern, which has a capital of $50,000 and is devoted
to educational publications and supplies.
He was for twenty-five years a director of the Nebraska Building
and Loan Association, the largest financial institution of Fremont. For
several years before leaving the city he was its vice president. He was
for twenty years a member of the City Library Board and for several of
the latter years its president. He was a director of the First National
Bank and interested in several other banks of the state, and a farm
owner in Nebraska and Minnesota.
Under the wise control of Mr. Hammond the Tribune greatly pros
pered and grew in influence, and with the development of the paper, the
job printing industry grew in a corresponding manner, its business hav
ing become extensive and lucrative, it being at the present time one of
the most important industrial concerns in the city.
Mr. Hammond obtained his rudimentary knowledge of printing and
journalism on the home farm, he and his brothers having set up a small
press in their mother's pantry. Working evenings, rainy days and holi
days these enterprising boys became familiar with the art of printing, and
subsequently began the publication of the "Amateur Star," a miniature
weekly paper which they published two or three years, supplying copies
to about 150 regular subscribers.
An active and influential member of the republican party, Mr. Ham
mond served as a delegate to every state convention within the past

462 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
quarter of a century, and often assisted in the framing of the party
platforms, and as a pleasing and effective speaker has been prominent in
campaign work. He was a candidate for Congress from the Third Dis
trict in 1896, when the republican party was defeated by the fusion
element. In 1897 he was appointed postmaster at Fremont by President
McKinley and having afterwards been reappointed by President Roose
velt, served in that capacity five years, when he resigned the position,
his business requiring his entire attention. In March, 1908, Mr. Ham
mond became collector of internal revenue for the State of Nebraska,
holding the position for six years, when he resigned.
An active and influential member of the Nebraska Press Association,
Mr. Hammond served as a delegate to many meetings of the National
Editorial Association. He was long prominent in the State Association,
which he has served as secretary and as president, and was first president
of the Fremont Men's Club, which was organized by sixty of the leading
men of the city for the purpose of considering questions of interest to
the general public. In 1918 he was candidate for the United States Sen
ate, and while he polled a big vote was narrowly defeated. A highly
esteemed citizen, popular with all classes of people, Mr. Hammond and
his family were entertained, in Fremont many times at dinners given in
their honor after their decision to go to California. The climax of
this series of functions doing them honor was a public banquet given
at the Hotel Pathfinder. Two hundred prominent men and women of
the city gathered to pay testimony of the high esteem in which they were
held. A loving cup, suitably engraved, was presented as an enduring
proof of this regard. As a means of giving his friends throughout the
state a similar opportunity to attest their esteem a banquet was given at
Lincoln to him and his family under the auspices of the Nebraska Press
Association. This was a brilliant and unusual affair, attended by men
and women of prominence in and out of the editorial profession. A
gridiron performance followed the dinner in which Mr. Hammond was
given a mock trial on the charge of desertion. The indictment was pre
ferred by the governor, the chief justice of the supreme court presided,
the attorney-general and two or three former attorneys-general took part
in the prosecution and defense. While the unique affair was filled with
mirth it afforded a vehicle for giving expression of the universal regret
that Mr. Hammond was leaving Nebraska.
Mr. Hammond married in Fremont in 1885, Louise F. Reynolds and
into their home four children have made their advent, namely: Louise,
Le Ross, Howard and Constance. Fraternally Mr. Hammond is a
member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of the Modern
Woodmen of America and of the Ancient Order of United Workmen.
Religiously he was reared in the Quaker faith, being a birthright Quaker,
but for many years he has been a member of the Congregational Church,
being for a long time before leaving Fremont chairman of its board of
trustees. Joseph G. Widhelm is one of the representative business men of
the younger generation in Dodge County, where he has built up a most
prosperous enterprise as executive head, as well as founder, of the
Widhelm Remedy and Manufacturing Company, through which he has
produced a valuable line of livestock remedies and a complete line of
sanitary feeders' supplies, which he has protected with patents granted
him by this and other governments. This industry which he has estab
lished in Fremont is one of the fastest growing enterprises in the city.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 463
Mr. Widhelm was born' in Platte County, Nebraska, February 28, 1880,
and is the son of Joseph and Theresa (Weimer) Widhelm, natives of
Austria, who established their home in Platte County, Nebraska, prior to
the admission of this state into the Union and here the father developed
one of the finest farm estates in that county. Joseph G. was the fifth
son of this worthy couple. At the early age of sixteen he started out to
make his own way in the world and to achieve his heart's greatest desire,
a more advanced education. By putting in a portion of each year at
hard labor, he was enabled to spend the remainder of the year at the
Fremont College until he completed a course of study which entitled
him to a state certificate. After spending a few years in the schoolroom
as instructor he finally retired from the work and engaged in the remedy
and manufacturing business in the year of 1908. He began his business
career with only a few hundred dollars, but by making every dollar do
full duty, preparing his remedies by night and selling them by day, he
quickly forged ahead. The worth of his goods soon became evident and
their wide and ever-increasing sale attracted the attention of a number
of Dodge County's most substantial citizens who came forward and
offered to assist him in incorporating the business under the name of
the Widhelm Remedy and Manufacturing Company. In the year of
1918, he received his permit from the state and the business was incor
porated for $100,000. Joseph G. Widhelm became its first president
and general manager. The products of this plant are now1 being
shipped to all parts of the United States.
Mr. Widhelm is a liberal and progressive citizen even as he is a
business man. He is an active member of the Rotary Club, Commercial
Club and Knights of Columbus, in which last-named he has held some
of the highest offices. He also holds membership in the Modern Wood
men and the Eagles.
October 23, 1907, recorded the marriage of Mr, Widhelm to Miss
Margaret V. O'Donnell, who was born and raised in Saunders County,
Nebraska, a daughter of Thomas and Margaret O'Donnell, both natives
of Ireland. Mr. O'Donnell was for many years in the employ of the
Union Pacific Railroad Company and was one of those who took part
in the ceremony of the driving of the golden spike incidental to the join
ing of the Union Pacific with the Southern Pacific at Promontory Point,
Utah, which completed the great transcontinental line linking the east
with the west for the first time in the history of America.
Mr. and Mrs. Widhelm have two children, Virginia and Eugene.
The Marshall Family. The firm of Marshalls Nurseries, com
posed of George A., Chester C. and Harvey W. Marshall, nurserymen,
is one of the solid institutions of Arlington, and the history of their
family is interesting enough to merit special attention in a work of this
high class. They are the sons of Benjamin Clark and Catherine (Nonna-
maker) Marshall, he born in Trumbull County, Ohio, and she in Han
cock County, the same state. Both families were old established ones of
Ohio, where Benjamin C. Marshall continued to reside until 1881, at
that time he with his family coming west to Nebraska and locating
3J4 miles northeast of Arlington. There he bought land and lived on
it until 1910, and then retired, moving at that time to Arlington, where
he lived until his death wbich occurred on February 15, 1919. After the
death of his wife in 1904, he did not maintain a home of his own, but
lived with his daughters. He and his wife had nine children, eight of
whom are living, namely: Eli W., who is a stockholder of the company

464 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
of Marshalls Nurseries, and is its representative at Lincoln, Nebraska,
and he married Josie Dailey, their children being: Clark, May, Shirley,
Eula, Tina and Dorothy; Ami, who represents Marshalls Nurseries at
Bayard, Nebraska, married Minnie Marquard, and their children are:
Maude, Cora, Lula, Irma and Chet; Chester C, who is vice president
of Marshalls Nurseries, married Mary Fellers and their children are:
Gail, Leta and Eva ; George A., who is president of Marshalls Nurseries,
married Dora Goltry and their children are: Vernon, Catherine, Ruth,
Ralph and Maurice; Harvey W., who is treasurer of Marshalls Nur
series, married Allie Snodgrass and they have one child, Esther, now
¦attending National Park Seminary, Forest Glen, Maryland; Dora, who
is the widow of G. M. Whitford, who died in August, 1917, leaving her
and two children, Murray and Bernice, the three now living at Arlington ;
Lucy E., who is the wife of William A. .Whitford, a retired resident of
Arlington, and they have one child, Gladys; Austin C, who is engaged
in farming in Washington County, married Nettie McMillan and they
have six children: Leslie, Hazel, Clayton, Julia, Howard and Georgia.
Benjamin C. Marshall was a democrat in politics. His wife was a con
sistent member of the Evangelical Church. Starting out in life with a
very small capital, through persistent effort and strict economy, Mr. Mar
shall accumulated a comfortable property and died a man of means.
The elder of the Marshall children were educated in Ohio. Austin
was graduated from the Fremont, Nebraska, Normal School ; Harvey
graduated in the commercial course at the Shenandoah, Iowa, College,
and those younger than he received their education' in the schools of
Washington County, Nebraska. They were all reared on the farm, and
in 1887 the sons started in the nursery business in a small way, grafting
40,000 apple trees and a smaller number of cherry and plum trees, and
carrying a general line of small fruits, shrubbery and ornamental trees.
The firm was originally composed of C. C. Marshall, George A. Mar
shall and Harvey W. Marshall. In June, 1916, they incorporated with a
paid-up capital of $60,000, all owned by the family, and of this company
George A. Marshall is president, Chester C. Marshall is vice president
and Harvey W. Marshall is treasurer, while C. G. Marshall is secretary.
The company ships all over the United States, but the principal
trade comes from -Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota. The annual
amount of business runs from 10,000 to 20,000 orders. In 1915 they
built a modern plant at Arlington, and in 1917 they enlarged same in
order to handle the increase of business. At present their main frost
proof storage building, which is one and a half to two stories high, cov
ers a space of 140 by 160 feet. At one time they had a forty-acre apple
orchard, which during the last seven years that it was productive, bore
from 1 0,000 to 15,000 bushels annually, and they shipped a large pro
portion of these apples to Europe. This orchard, which was planted in
1893, is now, of course, practically extinct. The company have two
diplomas received from the Paris Exposition for apples there displayed,
and also a gold medal awarded them for apples in the fruit display at the
Omaha Exposition. They have Government diplomas for fruit displays
at both the Columbian and St. Louis expositions, and won nine sweep
stakes during nine years, seven years in succession and one year between,
from the Nebraska state fairs. The plant is perfect in every respect and
the brothers own from 1,200 to 1,500 acres of land near Arlington, and
this present immense business is the outgrowth of the small nursery
established with $1,000 each, given the original partners by their father.
Employment is given to as many as 100 persons, according to the season

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 465
and including salesmen and laborers. The somewhat remarkable success
attained by the Marshall family would not have been possible if the indi
vidual members had not been men of sterling character, whose efforts
have always been directed along constructive lines and with a definite
end in view. Reared by careful and high-minded parents, they have
grown into very desirable citizens and Arlington is fortunate in having
them as residents and holders of valuable property interests here.
John P. Eaton. A Dodge County pioneer, one of its oldest and
best-known citizens, an honored survivor of the Civil war, and a man
whose work and influence have always been on the better side of the
changes and developments in this section of the West.
A New Englander, he was born in New Hampshire August 18, 1843,
son of Peter and Elizazbeth (Libby) Eaton. His father was a machinist
by trade and died in New Hampshire prior to the Civil war. In the
family were the following children : Mary, James, Sarah, George, Abigail,
John, Martha and Carrie. Of these John is the only survivor. Others
of the family who also came to Nebraska were George, Martha and
Carrie. John P. Eaton had a common school education and was enrolled as
a student in Pittsfield Academy for about a year when the war broke out
and he finished his college course in the army. He was a fighting Union
soldier four, years. He enlisted August 16, 1862, in Company B of the
Twelfth New Hampshire Regiment and fought in the battle of Gettys
burg. On April 24, 1864, he was commissioned first lieutenant of Com
pany G of the First United States Volunteer Infantry. He was put in
command of that company and served in that regiment on the western
frontier until after the close of the war. He was honorably discharged
May 21, 1866, at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
He had not been out of the army long when he determined to estab
lish a home in the new country west of the Missouri River and reached
Nebraska soil in 1867, traveling by train as far as the river. He home-
steaded eighty acres in what is now section 14, township 18, range 6, in
Cotterell Township, and that land has been his home and the scene of
his activities for over half a century. His first house was a five-room
board dwelling, which subsequently gave way to the modern residence
in which he still lives.
Mr. Eaton owns 485 acres of Nebraska farm lands. For thirty-five
years he was county correspondent for the Department of Agriculture
and has always shown a willingness to exert himself for community
benefit. He organized the first school in his section of Dodge County
and for three years filled the office of county commissioner. He also
laid out the star postal route from Fremont to Glencoe. Politically he is
a republican of the same faith today as when he was fighting under the
Union flag during the administration of President 'Lincoln. He is a mem
ber of the Grand Army of the Republic of North Bend, Nebraska, is a
Mason and he and his family have long been identified with the First
Congregational Church at Fremont, Rev. W. H. Buss having been their
pastor and intimate friend for a quarter of a century.
After making his preliminary improvements on his Nebraska home
stead Mr. Eaton returned to New Hampshire and on September 10,
1868, married Miss Francena J. Sawyer. They lived happily together
for more than half a century. Mrs. Eaton was born November 4, 1845,
in the Town of Lee, New Hampshire, daughter of Jefferson and Eliza
beth Sawyer. Her parents were of Puritan ancestry and lifelong mem-

466 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
bers of the Free Will Baptist Church. Francena Sawyer inherited
strength of New England character and met all the tests of true woman
hood during her early life in New England and later among the pioneer
circumstances of Nebraska. She attended the public schools, the Walnut
Grove School of her native town and the Framingham, Massachusetts,
Normal, where she graduated, and for several years she was a teacher at
Walnut Grove in her native state and at Westboro and Charlestown in
Massachusetts. Mrs. Eaton as a bride was introduced to the pioneer environment of
Eastern Nebraska, and her first years in the state were marked by much
solitude and unavoidable privation. But she never lost the inbred refine
ment and culture acquired during early womanhood, and she made her
home and her life a source of radiating influence over an entire com
munity. She was unceasing in devotion to duty, a helpful friend and
neighbor and a conspicuous exemplar of Christian faith and fortitude.
Hers was a life of service, but it was also generously rewarded and
enriched with the essentials of human happiness. Her last years were
spent in a beautiful home which she and Mr. Eaton and their daughter
planned and which was complete with every comfort and appointment.
When she first came to Nebraska she united with the Centerville Con
gregational Church, and later with her family became active in the First
Congregational Church at Fremont. After a life of seventy-four years
five months and two days she died April 6, 1920, and she was buried
from the First Congregational Church at Fremont. Mr. and Mrs. Eaton
had one child, Gertrude Francena, who received most of her early
advantages at home and from her mother, and subsequently graduated
from the South High School of Minneapolis and from Wellesley College.
William Realph. A skillful and progressive farmer of Dodge
County, William Realph has had an extended practical experience in
everything relating to. agriculture, and is considered an authority on the
various branches of this highly important industry. He was born
October 19, 1870, in Dodge. County, Nebraska, the son of John Realph,
one of the sturdy pioneers of this section of the country.
Born and bred in Ireland, John Realph left the Emerald Isle in early
life, making his way to the United States, which was known across the
ocean as the land of plenty, and for a time was variously employed, work
ing industriously to support his wife and children. In 1870 he came by
train as far west as Omaha, Nebraska, and from there, looking for a
tract of good land, he walked into Dodge County, and having homesteaded
eighty acres of land installed his family in a dugout and began the
improvement of his newly acquired property. The country roundabout
was in its primitive condition, and the wily red man was everywhere evi
dent, while wild beasts roamed at will. Although somewhat hampered
by the lack of cash, he labored with indomitable perseverance and not
only improved a valuable homestead, but contributed his full share in
advancing the growth and prosperity of the community in which he lived.
His wife, Mrs. Bridget Realph, died on the old homestead at the ripe old
age of fourscore years. He is still living, making his home with a
daughter in Custer County, this state.
The fourth child in order of birth in a family of eight children
William Realph was brought up in pioneer days, and well remembers
when Indians were numerous, and generally peaceful. Beginning life
for himself at the age of twenty years, he selected the occupation with
which he was the most familiar as his life work, and has since been

MR. AND

MRS. HENRY PANNING

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 467
actively engaged in general farming and stock raising and feeding, finding
both pleasure and profit in his labors. His land, advantageously situated
on section 30, Logan Township, is under an excellent state of culture,
the buildings are in good repair, the farm well stocked, and everything
about the place bespeaks the ability, industry and wise supervision of the
owner. He also owns a half section of land in Colorado, near Julesburg.
Mr. Realph is a good democrat in politics and religiously is not connected
with any church organization.
Mr. Realph married in 1895 Christina Larson, and into their pleasant
home eight children have made their advent, namely: Mrs. Julia Bullock
of Julesburg, Colorado; Harvey, Bryant, Edward, John, Mabel, Floyd
and Norman, all of whom are at home with the exception of Mrs. Bul
lock. Harvey Realph, the eldest son, was drafted during the World war,
going into the Three Hundred and Fifty-Fifth Infantry, Company A,
Eighty-Ninth Division, and during the year he spent overseas took part
in various battles of note, including the engagements at St. Mihiel, on the
Meuse, and in the Argonne Forest. Returning home after the signing
of the armistice, he was discharged at Camp Funston in 1919.
Henry Panning of Winslow, now retired, belongs to the real pioneer
element of Dodge County, coming here when he was twenty years of age,
and for half a century contributing an important share in the labors by
which this wilderness region was reconstructed and made into a won
derful landscape of valuable farms and homes.
He was born April 15, 1844, in Hanover, Germany, and was eight
years of age when in October, 1852, with his parents he reached the
United States. His parents, Henry and Margaret (Wolf) Panning,
located at Watertown, Wisconsin, but left there in 1864 and with wagons
and ox teams crossed the country beyond the Missouri to Nebraska.
Henry Panning, Sr., paid $1,200 for 360 acres of land partly improved,
including a small house. At that time any amount of land was still open
for homestead settlement, but he preferred this and was willing to pay a
larger price for just what he wanted. On that farm he and his wife lived
out the rest of their years, she dying at the age of fifty-eight and he at
sixty-seven. Henry Panning early took his sons, Henry and Frederick,
into partnership with him, and their holdings increased to about 1,000
acres, were kept intact until after the death of Henry Panning, Sr.,
when the land was divided.
Henry Panning, Jr., acquired most of his education after coming
to this country and in the State of Wisconsin. He was just twenty when
he came to Nebraska and many of his youthful years were devoted to
the clearing up and improvement of the land in the community where
the family settled. He was very successful as a general farmer and stock
raiser, and continued his work in the rural district until 1916 when he
turned the management of his farm over to his sons and then built his
present home in Winslow and retired. He is one of the men of property
in Dodge County, is a stockholder in both the Winslow State Bank and
the Hooper Telephone Company, and has always assumed his share of
duties and. obligations in the community welfare. He is a stanch demo
crat and both he and his wife are valued members of the Lutheran
Church at Winslow.
Mr. Panning married Miss Meta Meyer, who was born in Olden
burg, Germany. Eleven children were born to their union, six dying
young. Those to grow up were: Mary, wife of J. G. Berght, a
farmer in Wayne County, Nebraska ; Louise, wife of Henry Kuss, man-

468 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
ager of the Nebraska & Iowa Grain Elevator at Winslow, whose indi
vidual career is sketched elsewhere; Anna, wife of Paul Schmidt, man
ager of an elevator at Thayer, Nebraska ; Frederick G. and Gustave C,
each of whom receives individual mention in this publication.
Frederick G. Panning. Thoroughly acquainted with the art and
science of agriculture carried on by the present-day methods, Frederick
G. Panning, owner of a valuable farm in Hooper Township, occupies
a noteworthy position among the active and thriving farmers of Dodge
County, his diligent toil and good management having won him an
assured success. He is a son of Henry Panning of Winslow, and an
account of this pioneer family of Dodge County is presented more in
detail elsewhere in this publication.
Mr. Panning was born in Dodge County February 14, 1874, acquired
his education in the local public schools, and the Fremont Normal School,
and worked for his father until reaching his majority. Not liking farm
life well enough to continue it, he entered merchandising, and operated
a general store at Altona, Nebraska, for sixteen years. Afterwards he
was cashier of the Farmers State Bank of Altona four years. On
account of ill health disposing of his interests in that locality Mr. Pan
ning in 1912 returned to Dodge County, and has since resumed his early
occupation and is prosperously engaged in agricultural pursuits, includ
ing general farming and stock raising. He possesses marked business
and financial ability, and is now serving as vice president of the Farmers
State Bank of Winslow, in which he is a stockholder, also stockholder in
the Hooper Mill, and is secretary and a director of the Farmers Mutual
Insurance Company.
Mr. Panning married in 1909 Miss Emma Pflueger, a native of Wayne
County, Nebraska. The seven children born to their marriage are:
Victor, Leona, Theodore, Arthur, Esther, Ruth and Ervin. In politics
Mr. Panning is a straightforward republican and religiously he and his
wife are valued members of the Lutheran Church.
Ray Hindmarsh. Actively engaged in the prosecution of one of the
most independent and important industries to which a man may devote
his time and energies, the wealth of the nation depending largely upon
the success of the farmer, Ray Hindmarsh is successfully employed in
his chosen calling on section 19, Elkhorn Township. A native of Dodge
County, he was born in Dodge, May 12, 1896, of English ancestry.
His father, Adam Hindmarsh, was born, bred and educated in New
castle, England. Desirous in early manhood of trying the hazard of
new fortunes, he immigrated to the United States, and for awhile resided
in Illinois. Coming from there to Nebraska, he took up a homestead
claim in Dodge County, and with true pioneer courage and industry began
the labor of improving his land, and placing it under culture. Suc
ceeding well in his efforts, he carried on general farming for many years,
residing in the county until his death, at the age of seventy-two years. A
man of far more than average intelligence and ability, he was active
in public affairs, and served for many terms as county assessor. He
was an active member of the Methodist Episcopl Church, and belonged
to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His wife, whose maiden
name was Sarah Harkins, preceded him to the better world, passing
away at the comparatively early age of forty-six years. She was a most
estimable woman, and helpmeet in every sense of the term.
Brought up on the homestead which he had helped to clear and
improve, Ray Hindmarsh early woke up to the fact that there was both

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 469
profit and pleasure in agricultural pursuits, and having decided to take
up farming as his chief occupation started in life for himself in 1916,
ere becoming of age. Endowed with native ability and intelligence, his
labors have been so eminently successful that he now has a valuable
farm of 360 acres, lying a mile and a half south of Arlington, a most
advantageous location. In addition to carrying on general farming,
Mr. Hindmarsh raises thoroughbred stock, including Holstein cattle and
Poland China hogs, a branch of agriculture on which he is considered
an authority, and on which he has written papers of value and interest.
He likewise feeds stock on a somewhat extensive scale, being one of,
the largest feeders in Elkhorn Township.
Mr. Hindmarsh married in Council Bluffs, Iowa, in 1916, Julia Lar
son, whose father, Nels Larson, is now a carpenter in Fremont, Nebraska.
Mr. Hindmarsh invariably supports the men and measures he deems best,
voting independent of party lines or distinctions.
Charles H. Balduff. Among the strong and influential citizens
of Dodge County the record of whose lives, have become an essential part
of the history of this section, the gentleman whose name appears above
has exerted a beneficial influence throughout the community where he
resides. His chief characteristics are keenness of perception, a tireless
energy, honesty of purpose and motive and every-day common sense,
which have enabled him not only to advance his own interests, but also to
largely contribute to the moral and material advancement of the
community. Charles H. Balduff is a native son of Dodge County, having been
born here on July 21, 1870, and is the son of Charles and Christina
(Basler) Balduff. These parents were both born in Germany, being
brought to the United States in their infancy. Here they were reared
and educated and in 1868, after their marriage they came to Dodge
County, where Mr. Balduff homesteaded a tract of land. He was a baker
by trade and after living on his land for a time he moved into Fremont
and started a bakery, his being one of the first bakeries and restaurants
in this city. He prospered in this enterprise and afterwards also engaged
in the meat business, which also proved a good investment, so that some
time before his death he was enabled to retire from active business pur
suits. He had also been interested in the ice business, and as a result of
his energetic efforts in these various lines he accumulated a valuable lot
of real estate, being numbered among the substantial citizens of the
community. He and his wife were at first members of the Lutheran
Church, but Mrs. Balduff changed her membership to the Congregational
Church. In politics Mr. Balduff was an earnest supporter of the demo
cratic party, and took an active interest in local public affairs, having
served several terms as a member of the city council and as supervisor.
To him and his wife were born seven children, six of whom are living,
namely : Charles H., Carrie, who is unmarried and lives at home ; Fred,
who. is associated with Charles H. in the meat business ; Louis M. is an
engineer and lives in Fremont; William S., who is assistant cashier for
Nye, Schneider & Company of Fremont; Amelia, who is employed in
the Commercial National Bank.
Charles H. Balduff attended the public schools, graduating from the
high school and then attended the Fremont Normal School. After com-
' pleting his education he formed a partnership with his brother Fred and
they engaged in the meat business in Fremont. They have been pros
pered in their enterprise, which they have continued to the present time,

470 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
and are numbered among the enterprising and successful merchants of
their city. Their success has been gained by close attention to business
and the wants of their customers, and they enjoy the largest volume of
business in their line in the city. Charles H. Balduff has been wisely
economical and judicious in his investments and is the owner of con
siderable valuable real estate in Fremont.
In 1900 Mr. Balduff was married to Emma Day, a native of the
State of Illinois, and the daughter of W. B. Day, now deceased, who
came to Fremont in an early day and here successfully carried on a con
tracting business. To Mr. and Mrs. Balduff have been born two
children, George and Richardson.
Mr. Balduff is independent in his political action, voting at all times
according to the dictates of his own judgment. Fraternally he is a
member of the Masonic order, in which he has attained to the degree of
a Royal Arch Mason, and he is also a member of the Royal Highlanders
and the independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which last named order
he has passed all the chairs in both branches. He is essentially a man
of affairs, sound of judgment and farseeing in what he undertakes, and
he has won and retains the confidence and esteem of all classes.
J. Frank Schwab, one of the substantial agriculturists of Dodge
County, identified with the agricultural interests of Hooper Township
for many years, belongs to a family whose persistence and energy have
been of inestimable benefit to that part of Nebraska whose strides in
growth and material progress of the best type have been a source of
credit to the community and of just pride in the commonwealth itself.
Mr. Schwab was born in Dodge County, Nebraska, in 1882, a son
of Henry Schwab and a grandson of Henry and Katherine (Veight)
Schwab. The grandparents, natives of Germany, were married in that
country, where their son Henry was born in 1852, and in 1855 came
to the United States, locating first in Dodge County, Wisconsin, and
subsequently, in 1861, coming to Dodge County, Nebraska. Here the
grandfather homesteaded 160 acres of land, on which he proved up, and
continued to be engaged in farming and the raising of livestock until
the time of his retirement, when he took up his residence at Hooper.
His death occurred at that point in 1902, when he had reached the
remarkable age of ninety-three years, his wife having passed away at
the age of seventy-two years, in 1888. Mr. Schwab was a democrat,
and he and his worthy helpmate were devout members of the Lutheran
Church and the parents of four children : Katherine, the widow of Theo
Uehling; Jacob, deceased; Adam, engaged in ranching in Colorado;
and Henry. Henry Schwab, the younger, was three years of age when
he accompanied his parents to the United States and nine years old
when the family located in Dodge County, Nebraska. He remained
with his parents on the home place, being associated with his father
in his agricultural operations, until 1874, when he bought land of his
own and followed an agricultural life until his retirement in 1910, when
he moved to Hooper, his present home. Mr. Schwab, during the active
period of his career, was a successful farmer and stock raiser and at all
times has been a man whose integrity has been impregnable. In 1874
he married Louise Weigle, daughter of George and Christina (Cramer)
Weigle, natives of Germany, who were among the first settlers of Dodge
County, coming here from Cuming County, where they had spent one
year. Mr. Weigle died in 1895, at the age of seventy-three and his wife
in 1904 at the age of seventy-five. They passed through a number of

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 471
exciting experiences on the frontier, including the Pawnee Indian raids,
in one of which the red men stole an ox from the Weigle farm. There
were nine children in the family : Pauline, the widow of Jacob Schwab ;
Godfred, who is still engaged in farming in Dodge County; Rachael, the
wife of Adam Schwab, a farmer of Colorado ; John, engaged in farming
in Dodge County ; George, who is deceased ; Mary, also deceased ; Louise,
who is now Mrs. Henry Schwab; and Gustaf, who is operating his
father's old homestead. Seven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs.
Schwab : Mannie, the wife of Henry Wagner of Hooper ;. Harry, farm
ing the old homestead ; J. Frank ; Edward H., engaged in the hardware
business at Hooper; Louise, the wife of P. J. Ewald of the Hooper
Garage.; Robert L., cashier of the Dodge County Bank of Hooper; and
Elmer A., associated with his brother-in-law, Mr. Ewald, in the garage
business at Hooper. Henry Schwab is a democrat, and in past days
was one of the influential members of his party in this locality, being a
member of the Legislature in 1887. For a period of twenty years he con
tributed to the maintaining of high educational standards through his
service as a director of School District No. 15. He is past master and
the oldest member of Hooper Blue Lodge of the Masonic fraternity.
He and his worthy and faithful wife are consistent members of Grace
Lutheran Church. J. Frank Schwab was educated in the public schools
and the normal school at Fremont and was reared to agricultural pur
suits on the home farm. In 1910 he began operations on his own account,
at the time of his father's retirement, and at the present time has a
well-cultivated farm, on which there are numerous improvements and
the most up-to-date machinery and equipment of every kind. In a capable
and well-directed manner he carries on his activities as a farmer and a
raiser of good livestock and his business affairs are conducted in a
straightforward manner that has given him an excellent reputation and
standing among those with whom he associates.
In 1917 Mr. Schwab married Anna Sommers, who was born in
Dodge County, a daughter of John Sommers. Mr. and Mrs. Schwab
have two children, Myrtle and Louis, and are members of Grace
Lutheran Church. Mr. Schwab is a Mason and an independent voter.
William C. Condit is the avowed apostle of good behavior in Dodge
County, where he is giving a vigorous and effective administration in
the office of county sheriff, a position of which he has been the efficient
incumbent since 1901 and his retention of which indicates the popular
estimate placed upon his services.
Mr. Condit was born on a -farm in Jones County, Iowa, May 12, 1874,
and is a son of William G. and Emily (Crane) Condit, the former of
whom was born, near Sunbury, Union County, Ohio, and the latter in
the State of New York, not far from the shores of Lake Ontario. The
marriage of the parents was solemnized in Iowa, to which state the father
made his way by driving overland with team and wagon, from Ohio, in
1856, he having been accompanied by his father and an older brother,
and the family having thus gained pioneer distinction in the Hawkeye
State. William G. Condit was a skillful mechanic and was injured while
working at his trade in Peoria, Illinois, the result being that he went to
Iowa and turned his attention to farm enterprise. He developed one of
the valuable farm properties of Jones County, that state, and after the
death of his wife he came to Nebraska in 1907. Later he removed to
Lebanon, Missouri, and there he died at a venerable age. He was a
republican in politics, was affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, and

472 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
both he and his wife were members of the Congregational Church. Of
the five children the sheriff of Dodge County is the eldest of the four
surviving; Ernest is a prosperous farmer in South Dakota; Bessie M. is
the wife of Orrin Reed, who is engaged in the restaurant business at
Oelwein, Iowa ; and Orrin B. resides in the southern part of the Canadian
Northwest. From this section Orrin B. enlisted in the Canadian army
in the early stages of the World war, he having accompanied his com
mand to France, where he continued in active service two years and
four months and in his arduous and perilous trench service he con
tracted rheumatism, and he was in bad physical condition when he
returned home. Orrin Condit has not failed to gain from the Canadian
government recognition of his gallant service, for after remaining for a
time in his native land after his return from France, he went to Canada
and took up pre-emption and homestead claims of 160 acres each and has
instituted the development of the property, the Canadian government
loaning to its former soldiers $8,000 to develop and improve properties
thus secured and to supply livestock.
William C. Condit acquired his early education in the public schools
of Iowa, including the high school at Anamosa, and there also he
initiated his independent career as a farmer. In 1898 he came to Fre
mont, Nebraska, where for one year he was employed at the marble
and monument works of Hodges & Baldwin, the following year having
found him employed in connection with the operations of the Frank
Davis dray line, for which service he received $20 a month. At the
expiration of one year Mr. Condit purchased this draying business, which
he successfully conducted for the ensuing six years. He then sold out,
and for the next two years he was employed as freight foreman and
baggageman at the local station of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy
Railroad. For the next eighteen months he was traveling for the firm
of Hodges & Baldwin, previously mentioned, and at the expiration of
this period he was appointed deputy sheriff of Dodge County. Seventeen
days later, taking his first insane patient to the asylum while waiting
for his train, the patient threw himself in front of the train with the
intention of committing suicide and Sheriff Condit, at the risk of his
life, threw the patient to safety and lost his own leg by the engine run
ning over it while making the rescue. After serving three years as
deputy sheriff he was, in 1901, elected sheriff, and by successive re-elec
tions he has since continued the incumbent of this office. His political
allegiance is given to the republican party, and during the period of the
nation's participation in the World war he served as chairman of the
draft board of Dodge County. He is affiliated with the Knights of
Pythias, the Royal Highlanders and the Modern Woodmen of America.
His wife holds membership in the Congregational Church.
February 8, 1898, recorded the marriage of Mr. Condit to Miss Sylvia
J. Walker, who likewise was born and reared near Anamosa, Iowa, and
the one child of this union, Wolcott B., is attending the public schools of
Fremont. Bernard Monnich. No other class of men contributed so directly
to the upbuilding, development and subsequent prosperity of any com
munity as do those who are devoting their talents and energies to the
handling of real estate. This is a line of business which requires grit,
determination and enthusiasm in order that the one engaged in it rise
above the ordinary operator and these are just the qualities needed for
the making of the aggressive and dependable citizen who can promul-

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 473
gate and carry out plans which ultimately will result in the betterment of
the majority. One of the men thus directly responsible for the attract
ing to Dodge County and its adjoining territory much of the attention it
is now enjoying, is Bernard Monnich of Hooper.
Bernard Monnich is a native son of Dodge County, where he was
born in 1869, and of which his father, Gerd Monnich, was a pioneer.
An extended notice of the Monnich family in connection with the devel
opment of Dodge County in the early days will be found elsewhere in
this work.
Brought up in Dodge County to a life of industry, Bernard Monnich
attended its schools and began at an early age -to make himself useful,
and in 1891 was able to establish his own business at Hooper, first being
a dealer in hardware. After two years in this line he branched out
and handled agricultural implements for two years. In 1897 he began
1 handling real estate, and found in it a congenial occupation, although in
the interval between then and now he was also in a garage business for
seven years in partnership with his nephew, John, they erecting the
garage at Hooper, and doing a general repair business, but in 1917 he
disposed of his interest in it so as to give all of his attention to his real-
estate operations, and is one of the leaders in this line in Dodge County.
In 1891 Mr. Monnich was united in marriage with Barbara Achling,
born in Nebraska, and they became the parents of the following children :
Qiarjottg, who is employed in the Dodge County Bank ; Dora, who is the
wife of Ward Thompson of Los Angeles, California; Bernard, who is
associated in business with his father; and Carl, who is attending the
Hooper schools. Mr. Monnich is a Blue Lodge Mason. He belongs to
Grace Lutheran Church of Hooper and is active in church work. An
independent in politics, at one time he was postmaster of Hooper,
Nebraska, but aside from that has not entered public life. Both he and
Mrs. Monnich are held in the highest esteem by their associates, and
their friends are to be found all over this region.
John G. Dykeman. If one desires to gain a vivid realization of the
rapid advance in the civilization which the last few decades have brought,
he can listen to the stories that men who are still living among us can
tell of their early experiences when the, country was new and conditions
in the part of the country were in their formative period. Conspicuous
among the silver-haired veterans of a period long pas't is the venerable
and highly-respected citizen, now living a life of honorable retirement,
to a brief review of whose career the following lines are devoted.
John G. Dykeman was born in New Jersey on January 31, 1842,
and is the son of Gilbert and Mary' (Johnson) Dykeman, who died in
New Jersey. But three years of age at the time of his mother's death
John G. Dykeman was thereafter reared by strangers. In young man
hood he went to Illinois, where he applied himself to agricultural pur
suits. In 1872 Mr. Dykeman came to Dodge County and bought 160
acres of land, to the improvement and cultivation of which he applied
himself with energy and ambition. Conditions here in those days
were comparatively primitive and farming operations were not con
ducted with the ease of later years. But his persistent efforts were
rewarded with abundant success and in 1910 he relinquished the active
labors of the farm and moved to Fremont, where he has since resided.
In 1913 he sold that farm and bought 800 acres of land near Potter,
which he now rents.
In Illinois, on December 7, 1872, Mr. Dykeman was married to Anna
M. Bull, who was born March 23, 1854, in New York state, the daugh-
Vol. II— 2

474 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
ter of Harry and Elvira (Otis) Bull, both of whom were natives of
New York state and both of whom are now deceased. Mrs. Dykeman
was reared by strangers and knows practically nothing of her parents.
She is one of three children born to them. To Mr. and Mrs. Dyke
man have been born twelve children, of which number nine are living,
namely: Mary, the wife of N. J. Gidley, who is employed in a garage
in Fremont; Allen G, a farmer near Potter, Nebraska; Lula, the
wife of Cornelius Davis, a farmer near Potter ; Elva, the wife of John
Moody, a farmer of Saunders County ; Bertha, the wife of Chris Ogard,
a farmer near Potter ; Lillian, the wife of Charles Christensen, a farmer
near Foster, Nebraska; Verna, the wife of Fred Lowdon, of Wahoo,
Nebraska; Wilma married Chas. Jennings, of Fort Wayne, Indiana;
and Clair is in the employ of the Standard Oil Company at Potter.
Mr. Dykeman and his family are identified with the Methodist
Episcopal Church, and in politics he is an earnest supporter of the
democratic party. Mr. Dykeman has played well his part at all times
in the work of upbuilding his community and has always been fully
abreast of the times, doing such good as he could in all the relations
of life, consequently he is respected and admired by all who know him,
for he is a man of sterling character and public spirit.
Herbert T. Ring. A number of the flourishing journals of the
country, especially those issued in the smaller communities, are owned,
edited and published by men who know the practical end of the business
and have reached these higher positions from the case. Understanding
every detail of the work, they know its possibilities and can meet the
problems in an efficient and satisfactory manner, and while making a
good living, also render their community a service by giving it a wide
awake organ. Belonging distinctively to this class is Herbert T. Ring
of Hooper, who owns, edits and publishes the Hooper Sentinel, a weekly
journal, and also carries on a general printing business.
Herbert T. Ring was born in Minnesota in 1882, a son of John and
Anna L. (Goode) Ring, both of whom were born in Sweden, and came
to the United States in the late '60s, locating first in Minnesota, but
later coming west to Hooper, Nebraska, where John Ring became one
of the prominent men, and served as postmaster for many years.
A child when his parents came to Hooper, Herbert T. Ring was
reared here and was graduated from the Hooper High School in 1898.
Following his graduation he began learning the printer's trade with
J. I. Broody on the Sentinel, later going with E. W. Renkin for two
years. Mr. Ring then worked for Shipley & Thompson, and then
became an employe of the Hooper post office under his father, who was
then postmaster, and held his position for nine years. In 1913 he
returned to the Sentinel under Glenn Howard, and later formed a
partnership with C. W. Sedgwick which continued a year, when Mr. Ring
bought out Mr. Sedgwick's interest. While he is a republican, Mr.
Ring conducts his paper along independent lines, and has an excellent
circulation, and the patronage of his job printing establishment is large
and steady for he turns out fine work.
In 1915 Mr. Ring was married to Elizabeth Schumacher, born in
Nebraska, and they have one son,' Theodore Herbert, who is' a brieht
little fellow. Mr. Ring belongs to the Ancient Order of United Work
men, the Knights of Pythias, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and
the Tribe of Ben Hur. Both he and his wife are charter members of
the Grace Lutheran Church of Hooper, and active in its good work

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 475
A sound, dependable and public-spirited young man, Mr. Ring is cor
rectly numbered among the representative men of Dodge County.
A. M. Tillman. A man of versatile talents and forceful individ
uality, A. M. Tillman, of Hooper, has long been identified with the
interests of Dodge County, contributing toward the advancement of its
manufacturing, agricultural and financial prosperity, and is eminently
worthy of the high position he has attained in business and social circles.
A son of the late Frank M. Tillman, he was born, August 1, 1870, in
Dodge County, Nebraska, of German and Swiss ancestry.
Born, bred and educated in Germany, Frank M. Tillman remained
in the fatherland until twenty-nine years old. Coming then to this
country, he located in Detroit, Michigan, where he subsequently married
Anna Enderley, a native of Switzerland. Settling with his bride in
Holton, Michigan, he ran a hotel there for thirteen years. In 1868 he
came with his family to Dodge County, Nebraska, and began life as a
farmer in Ridgeley Township. Moving to Hooper in 1881, he managed
the Tillman Hotel successfully for several years, being a very genial
and popular host. Retiring from active pursuits in 1888, he continued
a resident of Hooper until his death, in 1915, at the venerable age of
ninety-one years. His wife preceded him to the better world, dying in
1908, aged eighty-two years. He was a democrat in politics, and
served as county commissioner from 1873 until 1879, and also served one
or more terms as supervisor. To him and his wife seven children were
born, as follows : Joseph, deceased ; Mary, deceased, wife of Peter
Parkert, of Hooper ; Margaret, wife of Charles S. Basler, of Hooper ;
Lizzie, wife of W. F. Basler, also of Hooper ; Frank A., of Hooper, a
dealer in soft drinks ; A. M., and Catherine, wife of Edward Wiekhorst,
of Santa Ana, California, the inventor of a fruit branding machine.
Brought up and educated in -Dodge County, A. M. Tillman has been
associated with various enterprises, his first business venture having
been in connection with the making and selling of soft drinks. Con
tinuing in Hooper, he was next engaged in the hotel business, later
working as a plumber, and then being employed in the bottling business.
In 1904 Mr. Tillman was made president of the First National Bank, of
Hooper, and in that capacity had charge of its affairs until he removed
to Omaha in order that his children might have better educational
advantages. At the end of six years, Mr. Tillman settled in Knox County, this
state, and was there successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits until
1917, when he returned to Hooper, and resumed his banking business,
again becoming officially connected with the First National Bank. He
is likewise vice president of the Logan Valley Bank of Uehling, of which
he was one of the organizers, and is secretary of the Dodge County
Stock Association.
Mr. Tillman has been twice married. His first wife, whose maiden
name was Tillie von Essen, died in early womanhood, leaving two
children, namely: Luella, of San Francisco, California; and Corne
lius H., who enlisted in the World war in 1917, and served in the
Oberlin,. Ohio, Ambulance Unit until his death, January 24, 1918.
Mr. TiHman married again in 1908, Mrs. Edna (Hartung) Uehling,
and they have one child, M. Auralea Tillman. Mr. and Mrs. Tillman are
worthy and consistent attenders of the English Lutheran Church. Polit
ically Mr. Tillman supports the principles of the democratic party by
voice and vote. Fraternally he is a member of the Knights of Pythias,
and of the Fraternal Order of Eagles.

476 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Warren Merselis was not yet five years old at the time when his
parents established their home in Dodge County, where he was reared
to manhood, where he gained his early education in the schools at North
Bend and where the passing years have afforded him the opportunities
which he has so embraced as to have gained a place among the repre
sentative exponents of farm industry in Cotterell Township. His
well improved farm of eighty acres is situated in section 28 of the
township mentioned, and the pleasant home receives service on one
of the rural mail routes centering at North Bend.
Mr. Merselis was born in New York in 1887, and is a son of William
and Cora (Collins) Merselis, both likewise natives of the old Empire
State, where the father learned and followed the miller's trade. In
1891 William Merselis came with his family to North Bend, Dodge
County, where for some time he operated the flour mill. Later he here
turned his attention to farm enterprise, and he now owns an appre
ciable tract of farm land in the State of Texas, where he maintains
his residence, his wife having died in 1908, Warren Merselis being their
only surviving child. The father is a republican in political adherency
and is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, as was
also his wife.
Warren Merselis gained his initial experience in the basic industry
of agriculture through his association with the activities of his father's
farm, and since 1910 he has been engaged in farming in an independent
way. He owns eighty acres of the fine soil of Dodge County, and from
the same gains the maximum returns, as he is essentially vigorous and
progressive in the management of both the agricultural and live-stock
departments of his farm enterprise. He has had no desire for political
activity, is independent of partisan lines as a voter and he and his wife
hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church at North Bend.
The year 1910 recorded the marriage of Mr. Merselis to Miss Bertha
Wagoner, who was born in Saunders County, this state, a daughter
of Lewis Wagoner, now a resident of Fremont, Dodge County. Mr. and
Mrs. Merselis have one son, Harold.
Charles H. Brunner. In all that constitutes true manhood and
good citizenship Charles H. Brunner, one of the best known business
men in Fremont, is a notable example and none stands higher than he
in the esteem and confidence of the community honored by his citizen
ship. His career has been characterized by thrift and wisely directed
efforts and he has acquired" a fair share of this world's goods, besides
earning a reputation as a man of sterling character and public spirit.
Charles H. Brunner was born in Ottumwa, Iowa, in 1853, and is
the son of Henry and Ernestine (Denkman) Brunner, both of whom
were born in Germany. They came to the United States in their vouth
and were married here. Henry Brunner had studied medicine in Wurz-
burg and Heidelburg University, Germany, and entered upon the prac
tice of his profession in Davenport, Iowa, where he remained until 1868
when he came to Fremont, Nebraska, and practiced medicine here suc
cessfully up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1881. He was
a democrat in his political affiliations and his wife was a member of the
Congregational Church. For a short time while he was located at
Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, he served as city physician and also as
county coroner. Of the four children born to him and his wife the
following are living: Charles H., John M., who was engaged in the
banking business at Mildred and Elkhorn, Nebraska, for a number of

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 477
years, but is now living in Long Beach, California ; William R., who was
in the printing business in Fremont for a number of years, is now
retired and is living in Long Beach, California.
Charles H. Brunner was educated in the public schools of Wisconsin,
where his father was engaged in the practice of his profession, and he
then entered the University of Michigan, where he was graduated. He
then located in McGregor, Iowa, where he engaged in the drug business
for two, years, and in 1870 he came to Fremont and engaged in the same
business in partnership with Mr. Mageneau. In 1893 Mr. Brunner
bought his partner's interest in the business and conducted it alone until
1900, when, on account of ill health, he sold out and from that time
until 1918, he spent his time mainly in recovering his health. In this
he was successful and in the fall of 1918 he returned to Fremont and
purchased the drug store owned. by Mrs. Laura L. Pohl. He now has
a partner, I. H. Langjahr, but the business is conducted under the name
of Brunner Drug Company. They carry a full stock of drugs and also
carry a large line of sundries and accessories such as are usually to be
found in a well-appointed drug store, and because of the high quality
of their goods, their right prices and the courteous treatment accorded
every customer who enters their store, they enjoy a large and representa
tive patronage. Mr. Brunner is also a stockholder and director of the
Fremont National Bank, is a member of the Fremont Commercial
Clubhand the Retail Merchants' Association.
In 1888 Mr. Brunner was married to Lizzie Knoell, who was born,
reared and educated in Dodge County, the daughter of J. Knoell, one
of the early settlers and land owners of this county. Mr. Brunner is
independent in his political thought and action, voting according to the
dictates of his own judgment. Fraternally, he is a member of the
Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows. While he has never taken an active part in political affairs,
he maintains a healthy interest in the public welfare and has rendered
appreciated service as a school director. By a straightforward and
commendable course he has maintained an enviable position in the busi
ness and social circles of his adopted city, earning a reputation as an
enterprising, progressive man of affairs and a high place in the confi
dence and esteem of all who know him.
Theodore Uehling. Sixty years ago when Dodge County was
still part of the original Washington, one of the important accessions
to the citizenship of the district was the late Theodore Uehling, who
during a long life became prominent as a Nebraska pioneer and a man
fitted by character, industry and integrity to adorn the annals of early
settlement. Born in Saxe Meiningen, Germany, January 11, 1836, son of Casper
and Gottliebetta (Deusing) Uehling, German farmers, who died when
Theodore was young, he had a limited attendance at the common schools
of his native land until 1847, when at the age of eleven years he came
to America with his older brother, Frederick, who located in Wisconsin.
Theodore grew to manhood in Wisconsin and achieved American citizen
ship there. In May, 1860, shortly after his marriage he left Wiscon
sin with an ox team, and after many days' journey reached Omaha
on the second of July. From Omaha they came up into what was then
Washington County, and settled in section 18, township 19, range 9.
When Dodge County was set off from old Washington County, his loca
tion fell in the former division. After the passage of the Homestead

478 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Act he homesteaded his property and gave his labors to its development
for eighteen years. Though he came to Nebraska with only a wagon,
two yoke of oxen and $150 in money, he was able to see his affairs
prosper and everything he touched respond to the benefit of himself or
his community. He proved a true friend of education, serving as school
director for a number of years, and in 1891 was elected supervisor of
Logan Township.
January 2, 1860, Theodore Uehling married Miss Kathrina Schwab,
a native of Germany, who came to the United States in 1855. The
children born to their union were Otto, Henry, Edward, Ludwig,
Theodore, deceased, Martin A., Frederick J., Leonora L., Frank Theo.
and Louise F. Most of the living sons have special sketches in this
publication. Theodore Uehling after acquiring American citizenship allied him
self with the democratic party and cast his vote true to that allegiance
until 1897, after which he was equally stanch in his support of the
republican ticket. ' He was a Mason and a member of the Lutheran
Church. When in 1905 the Sioux City and Western Railroad built through
' his farm he accepted the opportunity and laid out a town, which bears
the name of this honored pioneer. He had seen the little community
grow to considerable proportions before his death, which occurred
February 13, 1912, at the age of seventy-six years, one month, two days.
Edward Uehling, one of the sons of the late pioneer, Theodore
Uehling, is a native son of Dodge County, has always retained more
or less interest in the land and its resources, but primarily has been a
business man. His connections for a number of years past have been
centered at the town of Uehling and his individual enterprise has done
much to prosper and develop that commercial center.
He was born at his father's home in what was then Washington but
is now Dodge County, March 13, 1863. He attended the common schools
of his home district until he was about thirteen. On leaving school
he went to work in a hardware store at Hooper, and the six years spent
there gave him a fundamental training in business. For about a year
after leaving Hooper he was with a general mercantile establishment
at Oakland, Nebraska, and then returned to the general merchandise
business at Hooper, where he remained five years. He next entered
the Dodge County Bank, of Hooper, and in 1905 he helped organize
the Farmers State Bank at Uehling and in connection with the bank
of which he was cashier handled a stock of hardware. Mr. Uehlin<*
has been cashier of the bank from its inception and has had much to do
with the financial service the institution has renderd in that community.
Its capital has always been $15,000 and while the deposits in 1906 were
only $14,000, those for 1920 showed an aggregate of $247,000.
Mr. Uehling married in July, 1890, Miss Charlotte Herre, who was
born in New Jersey. They were married at Fremont, where her father
C. F. Herre, was for many years a tailor and where he died. Mr. and
Mrs. Uehling became the parents of four children : Mrs. Vera L. Hout
the oldest, lives at Uehling; Harold T., who spent two years in the
Ordnance Department of the army and saw service of eighteen months
in France, is now connected with his father's bank, having received his
honorable discharge in May, 1919; Elletha, the third child, is a student
in the State University of Nebraska, and Clifton, the youngest is at
home.

fyi a Lo^iecu^

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 479
Mr. Uehling has always been a factor in the school affairs of his
cpmmunity, serving for a number of years on the school board of
Hooper and also at Uehling. For six years he has been treasurer of
the Town Board of Uehling. He is a member of the Masonic Lodge
and his family belong to the Congregational Church.
Martin A. Uehling. The kind of farming that gets results and
contributes to the general upbuilding and prosperity of an entire com
munity is in evidence on the place of Mr. Uehling in section 8 of Hooper
Township, Dodge County. Mr. Uehling is a veteran farmer and stock
man, and belongs to the pioneer class of Dodge County citizenship.
He was born in Dodge County August 20, 1869. More extended
reference to the Uehling family is made on other pages of this publica
tion, in sketch of his father Theodore Uehling. Mr. Uehling spent
his boyhood in a day when life was still primitive in Nebraska. He
attended the common schools and also spent one term in the Fremont
Normal School. In 1893 at the age of twenty-four he began farming
for himself and for over a quarter of a century has looked after his
crops and fields every season. His farm comprises a 160 acres, all
with high class improvements. He keeps thoroughbred and high grade
stock, both cattle and hogs, and the Sunny Slope Stock Farm has long
enjoyed a high reputation in agricultural circles.
Mr. Uehling has also given time to public affairs and at present is
county supervisor, entering the duties of his office in 1919, his term expir
ing in 1923. He is a member of the Grace Lutheran Church at Hooper,
has held all the prominent chairs in the Masonic Lodge, and he and his
wife are members of the Eastern Star. Mr. Uehling was for five or six
years Worthy Patron and Mrs. Uehling was Worthy Matron of the
Eastern Star.
March 31, 1893, the year he started farming on his own account he
also established a home of his own by his marriage to Dora Keller,
also a native of Dodge County. Her father, William Keller, is living
retired at Hooper. Mr. and Mrs. Uehling have two children, Eva
and Vyrle.
Fred Knoell has been a witness of many developments and changes
in Dodge County, and for over twenty years has been a factor in promot
ing some of these developments, particularly in his home locality of
Platte Township. He is owner of one of the good farms in section 12,
and has earned a substantial place in a community which has long
esteemed this family name.
Mr. Knoell was born in Dodge County February 18, 1878, son of
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Knoell. His father, a native of Germany, came
to Dodge County at the age of seventeen, spent an earnest and effective
life as a farmer and good citizen and died at the age of sixty-four.
Fred Knoell grew up on the old homestead, attended the district
schools and made himself helpful to his parents at the same time serv
ing a practical apprenticeship in farming, so that when he started for
himself in 1900 he was no stranger to the business of agriculture.
Mr. Knoell has a well improved eighty acres, and along with the crop
has made a specialty of Shorthorn cattle. His farm is six miles from
Fremont, and is one of the most attractive places in Platte Township.
Mr. Knoell, like many of the younger generation, is an independent
in politics. His church, affiliation is Lutheran. He married Miss Alice
Fairchild of Fremont, and they have one child now one year old.

480 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Christian Sass. In Christian Sass, Dodge County has a prac
tical and zealous farmer, and one who, for a long period, has promoted
the best interests of the community. For nearly thirty years he has
been engaged in the cultivation of the soil in Cuming Township, and
has not only developed a property that places him among the substantial
agriculturists of his community, but at the same time has conducted his
affairs in such an honorable manner as to gain him public confidence
3.no esteem
Mr. Sass was born March 19, 1868, on a farm in Dodge County,
a son of John and Sophie (Kroeger) Sass. His parents, natives of
Germany, immigrated to the United States in 1868 and made their way
to Omaha, from which point they came overland by team to Dodge
County and homesteaded on township 43, the same land as that which
now forms the farm of their son. John Sass was a man of marked
industry who worked faithfully in the development of a farm and the
•establishment of a home. He had few interests aside from his farm
and his family and did not thrust himself forward for public prefer
ment. Yet at his death, which occurred in 1900, when he was sixty-two
years of age, his community lost a good and reliable citizen and his
many acquaintances a kind and considerate friend. His widow, who
still survives him, has attained the phenomenal age of ninety-seven years.
In their family there were four children, the first two being twins:
Mary, who is the widow of George Mundlow, of Beemer, Nebraska;
Sophia, who is the wife of John Ross of that community; August, who
is engaged in agricultural pursuits near the town of West Point; and
Christian. Mr. Sass voted the republican ticket, and belonged to the
Lutheran Church, to the faith of which his worthy widow still adheres.
To the country schools of Dodge County Christian Sass is indebted
for his educational training. He was reared in an agricultural atmos
phere and it was but natural that he should adopt farming as his life
calling when he came to man's estate. He was twenty-three years of age
when he embarked upon activities of his own, and from that time to
the present has applied himself assiduously to the work of farming and
raising stock. He has a good grade of cattle and raises all the stand
ard crops and is generally accounted an able and thoroughly informed
farmer and a good judge of live stock. His property, lying in section 34,
Cuming Township, has all the ear-marks of being under good manage
ment, and his reputation in business circles is that of an honorable and
fair-dealing man. ,
Mr. Sass was married in 1891 to Miss Anna Meyer, who was born in
Germany, and to this union there have born eight children : Alma, who
is unmarried and resides with her parents ; Adelia, the wife of Herman
Horst, a Dodge County farmer; John, who is engaged in farming in
Dodge County; and Harold, Norman, Wenna, Christian and Roland,
at home. The family belongs to the Lutheran Church. Mr. Sass is an
independent voter and has never sought office.
C. Julian Koehne is the efficient and popular business manager
at Ames, Dodge County, for the Farmers' Union Co-operative Associa
tion, and his executive functions include the directing of a substantial
business in the handling of grain, lumber and farm implements and
machinery. Mr. Koehne was born at Wentworth, South Dakota, and is a son
of Frederick E. and Eunice (West) Koehne, both of whom were born
and reared in the state of Wisconsin. The father became a farmer

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 481
in South Dakota, where he remained until 1886, when he came with
his family to Dodge County, Nebraska, where he purchased a farm and
continued his successful activities as an agriculturist and stock-grower.
He and his wife still reside in this county, where he is now living
practically retired.
C. Julian Koehne accompanied his parents on their removal to Dodge
County, where he gained his initial experience in connection with busi
ness affairs, his early education having been acquired in the public
schools. For six years he was in the employ of the Nye-Snyder-Fowler
Grain & Lumber Company, and at the expiration of this period he
became associated with a leading lumber company in the state of Wash
ington. In 1918 he established his. residence at Ames, Nebraska, and
entered vigorously upon the executive duties of the responsible position
of which he is now the incumbent, and he has shown marked progressive
ness and efficiency in the handling of the business of the Farmers' Union
Co-operative Association at this point in Dodge County. It should be
noted that after the removal of the family to Dodge County, Mr. Koehne
availed himself of the advantages of the high school at Fremont, and
that later he pursued a higher course of study in the University of
Nebraska. He is a democrat in his political affiliation, and his wife is a
communicant of the Protestant Episcopal Church.
The year 1911 recorded the marriage of Mr. Koehne to Miss Delia
Tompkins, who was born and reared in the State of Washington, and
they have two children — Frederick D. and Charles Arthur.
William M. Stone. Practically all his life William M. Stone has
been a resident of Nebraska, being a representative of one of its early
families. His life has been one of signal usefulness and honor and
his memory links the later pioneer epoch inseparably with the present
era of prosperity and achievement. As a representative citizen and
enterprising business man, he has won the favorable opinion of all who
know him and it is eminently consonant that a review of his life history
be incorporated in a work of the character of the one in hand.
William M. Stone was born in Chatsworth, Illinois, on January 26,
1869, and he is the son of Addison and Catherine (Joyce) Stone. They
were natives respectively of Olean, New York, and of the State of
Maine. Leaving their respective states, they settled in Illinois soon
after the close of the Civil war and there they met and were married.
They remained in Illinois until 1872, when they came to Nebraska and-
made permanent settlement at Central City, where Addison Stone
followed mercantile pursuits during the rest of his active business life.
He was successful in his affairs and was held in high repute among his
fellows. His death occurred in 1903 and he is survived by his widow,
who still lives in Central City. They were members of the Roman
Catholic Church and in his political views Mr. Stone was a democrat.
To these parents were born four children, namely: William M., John,
who lives with his mother at Central City, is a carpenter; C. A., a
physician, who has been very successful both professionally and in his
financial affairs, lives in Hastings, Nebraska, and is the owner of sev
eral farms in Nebraska; James G. is also a successful physician and is
located at Sutton, Nebraska.
William M. Stone attended the public schools of Central City, sup
plementing this training by attendance at St. Mary's College, at
St. Mary's, Kansas, and in the Fremont Normal School. He then
engaged in teaching school, following that profession for a number of

482 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
years in Merrick County, Nebraska, and serving for one term as County
Superintendent of Schools. He also gave some attention to farming
pursuits and engaged in mercantile pursuits at Central City and Green
wood, Nebraska. In May, 1912, Mr. Stone came to Fremont and
engaged in the insurance business, to which later he added the real '
estate business. He has been eminently successful in both of these lines
and has handled a vast amount of farm and city property. He possesses
an accurate knowledge of land values and his opinions are held in high
esteem by his contemporaries. In January, 1920, Mr. Stone was chiefly
instrumental in organizing the Nebraska Land & Emigration Company,
of which he is the office manager. This company has taken over a
large amount of irrigated land in the Arkansas River Valley, and it is
their intention to sell this land in tracts of forty acres and upwards.
In 1895, Mr. Stone was married to Elizabeth C. Owens, who was
born in Canton, Ohio, and to them have been born six children, namely :
Clarence L., who is employed by the Nye-Schneider-Fowler Company;
Bernard R., who is a student in the Creighton Law School, at Omaha,
Nebraska; Mabel, a teacher in the public schools at Ames, Nebraska;
Zeta, Mary and Catherine are at home and attend the public schools.
The Stone family are members of the Catholic Church and in poli
tics Mr. Stone gives his support to the democratic party. He is a mem
ber of the Knights of Columbus, the Royal Higlanders (in which he
has passed through the chairs) and the Insurance Union of America.
A man of high moral character, persistent industry and excellent busi
ness ability, he stands "four square to every wind that blows," and
occupies an enviable position among his fellow citizens of Dodge County.
H. H. Boyd. The record of Nebraska's business men demonstrates
that none of them who have risen to enviable positions have been thus
successful unless they possessed more than average ability, and applied
to their work a conscientious thoroughness which in the end justified
the trouble and time expended. Competition is greater today than it was
in the antebellum period when such a thing as a world's shortage of food
stuffs was unbelieveable, so that greater efforts have to be made to
establish and build up desirable connections, and to maintain the excel
lence of a product which has gained favor with the public. One of the
men of Dodge County who has for some years proven himself worthy
of the trust reposed in him and measured up to the requirements of
his undertaking is H. H. Boyd, miller and manager for the Hooper
Milling Company, Incorporated, of Hooper.
H. H. Boyd was born in Randolph County, Illinois, in 1876, a son
of Fillmore and Elizabeth (Warnock) Boyd, both of whom were natives
of Illinois. Fillmore Boyd was a carpenter by trade, who died in
Illinois during 1900, aged, fifty-eight years. In his religious faith he
worshipped in accordance with the creed of the United Presbyterians
A man of upright life and sober habits, he recognized the evils of
intemperance and gave a strong support to the cause of prohibition.
Mr. Boyd came to Onawa, Iowa, from Illinois and there he
learned the milling business, but when he reached Nebraska in 1904
he was first engaged in farming. After a brief period, however he
engaged with Teeter & Emerson of North Bend, Nebraska, and remained
with that firm for eight years, leaving it for the mills at Fremont There
he was in the employ of the Brown Milling Company, Incorporated
for two years, and then came to Hooper as miller and manager for the
mills at this point. C. H. Moeller is president of /the company H T

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 483
Krueger is vice president, and Peter Parker is secretary and treasurer.
A general grain and flour business is carried on and the specialties of
the company are the Gold Drop and White Rose flours.
In 1911 Mr. Boyd was united in marriage with Margaret Tedy,
born in Nebraska, and they have two children, namely: Wendell, who
is attending school ; and Marion, who is at home. Mr. and Mrs. Boyd
belong to the Methodist Episcopal Church. Like his father, Mr. Boyd
is an ardent supporter of the principles actuating the prohibition party,
and no one is more gratified than he over the passage and ratifying of
the Eighteenth Amendment for in it he sees a fruition of years of
earnest and sincere effort on behalf of his associates and himself, and
those who were pioneers in the movement at a time when any idea of a
concerted national movement toward doing away with the liquor traffic
was scouted at even by those who would have been glad to see such
action taken. It is certain that the saloons would never have been
abolished had it not been for the years of work by these self-same
enthusiasts who, upheld by their conviction of right, labored on in
the face of almost overwhelming opposition and discouragement, and
• their reward today is not a light one, nor can anyone criticise their
satisfaction in the course of events.
Andrew P. Nelson. In section 21, Maple Township, is situated
a fine homestead farm whose general appearance clearly denotes the
enterprise and progressiveness of its owner, Andrew P. Nelson, who is
one of the representative agriculturists and stOck-growers of Dodge
County. He was born in Denmark in the year 1856, and is a son of
James C. C. and Magdalena Nelson, who immigrated to America in
1863 and established the family home in Wisconsin, where the father
found employment at farm work and began to make advancement
toward the goal of independence and prosperity. About the' year 1863
he came with his family to Dodge County, Nebraska, and took up a
homestead in Maple Township, where he reclaimed and improved a
good farm, upon which he continued to reside until 1883, when he
retired and removed to Fremont, the county seat, where he passed the
remainder of his life, his widow passing away in 1909 at a venerable
age. He was a republican in politics, was a cummunicant of the Lutheran
Church and his wife was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Of their twelve children, eight attained to years of maturity. Morris
is now serving as township supervisor and is one of the substantial
farmers of Dodge County ; Andrew P., of this review, is the next
younger; Charles G. is a -farmer near Fremont, this county; James C.
is a retired stockman, living at Grand Junction, Colorado, as is also
Frederick; Martin resides in the home of his brother, Morris; Anna is
the wife of Charles C. Johnson, of Fremont, and Otto died in 1919.
Andrew P. Nelson was about eight years of age at the time of the
family emigration from Denmark to the United States and his early
education was acquired principally in the public schools of Nebraska.
He was eight years old at the time of removal of the family to Nebraska
and has since continued to be actively identified with the farming
industry, in connection with which he has achieved substantial success.
His homestead farm comprises 120 acres, the place is well improved and
though he is living practically retired, he still remains on his farm and
gives to the same his general and effective supervision. He is a stanch
supporter of the principles of the republican party, has served as a mem
ber of the county board of supervisors, is affiliated with the Modern

484' DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Woodmen of America and his wife is an active communicant of the
Lutheran Church.
In 1887 Mr. Nelson wedded Miss Mary Hold, who was born in Ger
many and who is survived by two children — Alfred C, who has active
charge of his father's farm and Margaret E., who is the wife of
Matthew Apple, a farmer in Everett Township, Dodge County. After
the death of his first wife, Mr. Nelson married Miss Jennie Hold, who
was born in Germany and no children have been born of this union.
Duncan Livingston, who lived at Fremont over twenty years, was
undoubtedly one of the best known citizens of Dodge County. He was
a railroad man, a merchant, and was honored with some of the important
responsibilities of public affairs.
He was born in Toronto, Canada, March 19, 1862, of old Scotch
lineage, his parents being natives of Canada. When he was a boy
thirteen years old, his parents removed to South Carolina, where he
was reared and educated. After reaching manhood he went to Western
Canada, to the new province of Manitoba, and for several years followed
farming at Binscarth. Coming to Nebraska in 1894, Duncan Livingston
established his home at Fremont, and entered the service of the Chicago
& Northwestern Railroad. He was in that service for sixteen years
before he resigned, and for several years had held the position of night
yardmaster. He became well known among the railroad men making
their headquarters at Fremont. In 1910 he established himself in the
grocery business, and assisted in building up the store of which his son,
J. Stewart Livingston, is now proprietor. ,
A democrat in politics he never shirked the responsibilities of public
office, and was serving his second term as county supervisor at the time
of his death on November 29, 1915. He was first elected to this office
to represent District No. 7 in Dodge County in 1912, and in 1914 was
re-elected for a four-year term. He had more than three years to serve
at the time of his death. His associates on the Board of Supervisors
entertained the greatest respect for his judgment and gave full recogni
tion of his views in matters affecting the public interest.
He also stood high among Fremont business men, being a director
in the Fremont Dealers' Association, and a member of the Commercial
Club. ' He was a Presbyterian and for a number of years served as
trustee of the church at Fremont. Fraternally he was affiliated with
the Masonic Order, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Ancient
Order of United Workmen, and Knights of Pythias. He was a citizen of
kindly purpose, a friend to the poor and needy, and his life was such that
the city and community felt a deep sense of loss at his taking off. He
was survived by four sisters, one of whom is Mrs. William A. Carroll
of Fremont, by a brother, John Livingston, also of Fremont, and by
his aged mother, who was with him at Fremont when he died.
In 1886 Duncan Livingston married Miss Annie Peddie of Bins
carth, Manitoba. She was born in Canada and continued to make her
home at Fremont. Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Livingston
Their son Robert lost his life while a brakeman on the Northwestern
Railroad. Two other children died young, a son being burned to death
The two surviving children are J. Stewart Livingston, mentioned else
where as a Fremont business man, and Catherine, still in school.
J. Stewart Livingston. One of the energetic and progressive
citizens of Fremont, J. Stewart Livingston is a prosperous and reliable
business man of Dodge County, and as a merchant has an extensively

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 485
patronized grocery carrying all the staple and fancy groceries found in
the best establishments of that kind anywhere.
Mr. Livingston, a son of the late Duncan Livingston, was born
August 26, 1888, in Binscarth, Manitoba, and was six years of age
when his parents located at Fremont. He grew up, acquired his educa
tion in the local schools, graduating from the Fremont High School
in 1908. He soon afterward began his business career as clerk in a
grocery store, and for two years gave full measure to his routine of
work and acquired much valuable knowledge and experience at the
same time. In 1910 with his father he opened a store at the corner
of Main and Second streets, and since the death of his honored father
has had entire control of the large and constantly increasing business.
Mr. Livingston is a democrat in politics but has never been active
in political circles, his time and attention being devoted to his business
affairs. Fraternally he is a Scottish Rite Mason and a member of the
Mystic Shrine, and is affiliated with Fremont Lodge No. 514 of the Elks.
He also belongs to the Country Club, is a member of the Retail Grocers'
Association and the Nebraska State Retail Grocers' Association.
Mr. Livingston was married in 1920.
C. A. Keene. Business interests of great importance are connected
with the name of Keene in Dodge County, these including land, banking,
real estate and insurance, C. A. Keene, manager of his father's large
and valuable property, situated five miles from Fremont, on the Lincoln
Highway, having built up a very substantial business reputation.
C. A. Keene was born at Fremont, Nebraska,' in 1884, a son of Lewis
McClain and Jennie (Marr) Keene, the latter of whom was born at
Simcoe, Ontario, Canada, in 1850, and died in Nebraska in 1897. Lewis
McClain Keene has long been prominent in the affairs of Dodge County.
He was born in 1844, at Appleton, Maine, and was twenty-three years old
when he |;ame to Nebraska in 1867, with a determination to succeed in his
undertakings, and with a cash capital of $50. During his first winter
in Dodge County he operated a sorghum mill, and afterward for some
years, taught school during the winters and worked on farms during the
summers, sometimes accepting much more laborious employment. He
has been heard to say when some case of willful idleness or lack of
ambition in a young man has been brought to his attention, that if he had
followed such a method in his youth, he would never have gained the
confidence and respect of his solid, hardworking neighbors nor have
reached his state of financial independence.
After homesteading, Mr. Keene lived alone on his claim until the
land was his, and with this as a nucleus, acquired tract after tract until
he became one of the heaviest landowners in Dodge County. He still
owns 1,705 acres in addition to a large amount of fine residence property
in Fremont. His extensive and highly cultivated farm lying five miles
from Fremont, on the magnificent Lincoln Highway, has seven sets of
farm buildings. He entered into partnership with L. D. Richards, first
as Richards & Keene, later as Richards, Keene & Company, as a real
estate, insurance and investment firm, which continues and is one of
the stable business concerns of old Fremont. Mr. Keene became promi
nent also in other ways. For twenty-eight years he was president of
the Fremont National Bank and is still chairman of its board of directors.
In politics a zealous republican, he has been personally acquainted with
many of the party leaders with whom he has often been called in council,
and in earlier days served for a number of years as county clerk.

486 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Mr. Keene was married at Fremont to Miss Jennie Marr and two
children were born to them, Lewis Marr and C. A., both of Fremont.
Their mother was a devoted member of the Episcopal Church. Lewis
M. Keene has reached high distinction in Masonry, is past grand com
mander of the Knights Templar of Nebraska and has attained the thirty-
third degree. He is a life member of Fremont Lodge No. 514 Benevo
lent and Protective Order of Elks.
C. A. Keene was reared at Fremont and was graduated from the
Fremont High School in 1901, and afterward spent three years in
Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio. Upon his return to Nebraska, well
equipped for almost any line of endeavor but more closely interested in
farming than any other vocation, he found plenty of responsibility
awaiting him in the management of his father's large and valuable farm,
which commands $500 an acre.
In June, 1909, Mr. Keene was united in marriage to Miss Hazel
Rice, who was born at Ainsworth, Nebraska, and is a daughter of
Frank S. Rice. Her grandfather was Brigadier-General Samuel Rice of
Des Moines, Iowa, who was killed at the battle of Jenkins Ferry, during
the Civil war. Mrs. Keene had one younger sister, who died in childhood.
In 1910 Mr. Keene built a beautiful bungalow residence at 550 East
Fourth Street, Fremont, that he and his wife have occupied since
February 11, 1911, one of the most attractive of this class of cozy
homes in the city. Mr. Keene also owns a farm of 160 acres in Dodge
County. Like his honored father Mr. Keene has long been identified with the
Masonic fraternity. He has attained the thirty-second degree and at
present is eminent commander of Mount Tabor Commandery No. 9, and
belongs also to the Mystic Shrine. He belongs additionally to Fremont
Lodge No. 514, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. In political
life he has always been a sturdy republican but public office has never
appealed to him and just at present he finds his time fully engaged in the
stupendous work of managing a large modern farm, looking after his
father's other business matters, and paying attention to his own.
Capt. Miner H. Hinman. This gentleman was born April 5, 1836,
in Wysox, Bradford County, Pennsylvania, and died at Fremont,-
Nebraska, January 3, 1917. He was the son of a Presbyterian minister —
Abner Curtis Hinman and wife. By occupation Miner H. Hinman was
a carpenter. During the Civil war he enlisted in the Ninety-Day Men
of the Pennsylvania State Militia, and was at Antietam and Gettysburg
engagements. He then returned home and raised a company for the
One Hundred and Seventy-First Pennsylvania Volunteers and was
made its Captain. After the war ended he crossed the western plains
with a caravan of ox teams, carrying supplies and engines, and landed
at Cheyenne, Wyoming, where he took a contract for grading parts of
the Union Pacific Railroad from Cheyenne to Ogden, Utah.
He returned to Pennsylvania in 1869, and on April 8th, that vear,
married Emma A. Ackley; came to Fremont, Nebraska, engaged in
various occupations; was a county commissioner and purchased for
the county the present poor farm. He retired in 1892 from active life.
Mr. Hinman was a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons
Royal Arch Masons and Knights Templar of the Masonic Order, also
an honored member of the Grand Army of the Republic.

GUY M. HINMAN

MINER H. HINMAN

BEACH HINMAX

DODGE AND WASHINGTON -COUNTIES 487
Guy M. Hinman. The fact that Mr. Hinman is serving as mayor
of his native city bears its own significance, in attesting not only to his
ability and civic loyalty but also to the secure vantage-place that is his
in popular confidence and esteem. He is a scion of one of the honored
and influential pioneer families of Dodge County, as may be better
understood by reference to the memoir dedicated to his father, the late
Capt. Miner H. Hinman, also in this publication, in which connection
are given adequate genealogical data also.
The present progressive and popular mayor of the City of Fremont
was here born on the 11th day of April, 1873, and after having duly
availed himself of the advantages of the excellent schools of his native
city he pursued a higher academic course in Doane College at Crete, this
state. He there made not only an excellent student record but was also
a prominent figure in college athletics, especially in his effective work as
halfback on the football team. After leaving college Mr. Hinman
became bookkeeper in the Fremont National Bank, and with this institu
tion he continued his connection fifteen years. Thereafter he was asso
ciated with other banking institutions and finally he released himself
from business exactions by indulging in a six months' hunting and
fishing trip in Wyoming. Upon his return to Fremont he became asso
ciated with the Fremont Saddlery Company, a wholesale concern, and
he not only served as secretary and treasurer of this corporation but
also as its credit man. As an expert accountant he has been called upon
to do much auditing work for the leading business concerns, a service
to which he is still frequently called, but aside from his official duties as
chief executive of the municipal government of Fremont he now gives
the major part of his time to the management of his own financial and
property interests.
Mayor Hinman is unswerving in his allegiance to the republican party
and while he has never been affiliated with office-seeking proclivities, he
was made candidate for the office of mayor of his native city and was
elected April 1, 1919, for the prescribed term of two years. Since
assuming his official duties he has instituted a careful and progressive
administration that is clearly justifying his election. That the popular
mayor is "heart whole and fancy free" must be inferred from the fact
that his name is still enrolled on the list of eligible bachelors in Dodge
County. He has never abated his interest in outdoor sports and as a
hunter he has a goodly assemblage of fine trophies, including bears and
deer. He is emphatically a "booster" for his home city, county and
state, and his loyalty is marked by deep appreciation of the manifold
attractions and advantages of Nebraska. He is affiliated with both York
and Scottish Rite bodies of the Masonic fraternity, including the Fre
mont Commandery of Knights Templar, and he has served continuously
as treasurer of Fremont Lodge No. 514, Benevolent and Protective
Order of Elks, from the time of its organization.
Beach Hinman, attorney-at-law, practicing at the City of Fremont,
is a son of Minor H. Hinman, whose biographical sketch appears on
preceding pages.
He attended the University of Michigan, receiving -the degree of
Bachelor of Laws in 1895.
Politically Mr. Hinman is a supporter of the republican party and is
a member of the Masonic order.

488 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Sylvester A. Preston, M. D., now one of the representative physi
cians and surgeons engaged in practice in the City of Fremont, had
achieved marked success in the pedagogic profession prior to preparing
himself for that of which he is now an able and successful exponent.
Doctor Preston was born in the City of Toronto, Canada, and is a scion
of influential pioneer families of that immediate section of the beautiful
Province of Ontario. The date of his nativity was January 15, 1867
and he is a son of Robert S. and Isabelle (Atkinson) Preston, both of
whom were likewise natives of Toronto, where the former was born
February 28, 1837, and the latter on May 5, 1843. The parents were
reared and educated in Toronto, where their marriage was solemnized
and where they continued to reside until about 1870, when they removed
to Greensboro, North Carolina, in which state they maintained their
residence for a term of years. They finally removed to the Province of
Manitoba, Canada, where the father secured land and developed a
productive farm, though prior to that time he had followed contracting
and building and been actively identified with lumbering operations, as
the owner and operator of sawmills. Robert S. Preston continued his
residence in Manitoba until his death, July 3, 1917, and his devoted
wife did not long survive him, as she passed to the life eternal on the
15th of May of the following year. Of the four children three are
living : Dr. Sylvester A. of this review ; Eugene, engaged in the jewelry
business in the City of Vancouver, Canada; and Edgar S., residing upon
and having active management of his father's old homestead farm near
Winnipeg, Manitoba. The parents were earnest members of the' Baptist
Church, with which the family has been affiliated for several generations
— even prior to the coming of its first representatives to America.
Thomas Preston, grandfather of the doctor, was born and reared in
England and came to Ontario, Canada, about 1820. He had been a
cattle dealer in his native land and upon coming to Canada he took up
land near Toronto and developed a productive farm. He there passed
the remainder of his life, and in addition to operating his farm he was
associated with Robert F. Atkinson (maternal great-grandfather of
Doctor Preston of this sketch) in the establishing and operating of
the first sawmill in the vicinity of Toronto, this substantial old mill being
still in operation at the present time. Mr. Atkinson likewise was a native
of England, but was a lad of six years when his parents came to America
and established their home in Ontario, Canada. There he grew to man
hood and there he became prominently concerned with lumbering opera
tions, in connection with which he was concerned in the establishing of
the historic old mill mentioned above.
Doctor Preston was about four years of age at the time of the family
removal to Greensboro, North Carolina, and he there attended the
public schools until he was eligible for admission to Guilford College,
this state, where he continued his studies for some time. He accompanied
his parents on their removal to Northwestern Canada, and in 1895 he was
graduated in the provincial normal school in the City of Winnipeg
Previously to his graduation he taught school, and he continued h?s
efficient service as a teacher for ten years thereafter, his pedagogic serv
ice having been initiated in 1884. He came to Nebraska in the vear
1896 and in pursuance of a cherished ambition he entered the medical
department of the University of Nebraska, in which he was graduated as
a member of the class of 1900. After thus receiving his coveted degree
of Doctor of Medicine he engaged in practice at Howell, Colfax County
and later he was for a time retained as physician and surgeon in the

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 489
service of the United States Steel Company in the mining district of
the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. He finally returned to Nebraska,
and in September, 1908, he established his permanent residence at Fre
mont, where he has since continued in the general practice of his pro
fession and where his success and popularity are attested by the large
and representative practice which is now his. The doctor served as
local surgeon for the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad from 1903 to
1908, since which latter year his private practice has demanded his undi
vided attention, though he is medical examiner for the various fraternal
insurance orders with which he is affiliated, and was at one time city
physician of Fremont. Doctor Preston has served as president of the
Dodge County Medical Society and the Elkhorn Valley Medical Society,
and in addition to his active association with the affairs of these two pro
fessional organizations he is a member also of the Nebraska State Medi
cal Society and the American Medical Association. Unswerving in his
allegiance to the work of his profession, Doctor Preston has had neither
time nor inclination to enter the arena of practical politics, though he is
a loyal supporter of the cause of the republican party. He and his wife
are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he maintains affil
iation with the Masonic fraternity, the Knights of Pythias, the Modern
Woodmen of America, the Woodmen of the World, the Royal Neigh
bors, the Degree of Honor and the Royal Highlanders.
In 1901 was solemnized the marriage of Doctor Preston to Miss Ella
Bonine, who was born at Perry, Iowa, a daughter of Calvin L. Bonine,
now a resident of the City of Omaha. Dr. and Mrs. Preston have two
children, Robert Louis and Isabelle, both of whom are attending the
public schools of Fremont, Robert L. being a member of the class of
1922 in the high school.
Luther C. Larson. The man who possesses the initiative to enter
a new line of business generally succeeds, particularly if he is wise
enough to select something which meets with popular approval. Luther
C. Larson possessed just this quality and also grit, determination and
the ability to overcome obstacles, when he commenced handling automo
biles at Fremont, and now is doing one of the largest businesses in Dodge
County and represents a number of standard companies.
Luther C. Larson was born in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1885, a son of
L. P. and Althea (Granath) Larson, both natives of Sweden. They
were married in Kewanee, Illinois, where he had come when only twelve
years of age. In 1876 they came to Nebraska, and he was asso
ciated with Mr. Cummings in a wholesale' grocery business at Omaha,
Nebraska. Later he moved to Fremont and carried on a wholesale
liquor business until Nebraska went dry. Not only was he a successful
business man, but was also a leader in democratic politics and repre
sented Dodge County in the State Assembly in the '70s. The doctrines
of the Christian Science movement so impressed him that he adopted
them as his own. Early in life he connected himself with the Knights of
Pythias and the Elks. He and his wife became the parents of the fol
lowing children : Lida, who married John C. Hein, a confectioner ; Laura,
who is the widow of Otto Pohl, formerly a druggist of Fremont ; Louis
P., who is a manufacturer of chewing gum, lives at Chicago, Illinois;
Lillie, who married C. J. Marr of Fremont ; and Luther C, who was the
youngest. Luther C. Larson attended the Fremont schools until old enough to
go into his father's business as bookkeeper. Later he was made secre
tary and treasurer of the firm of L. P. Larson & Company, but left it
Vol. II— 3 *

490 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
in 1910 to engage in the automobile business, first representing the Stod
dard Dayton car. At present he represents the Hudson, Essex and
Overland cars and the Republic trucks, and is the oldest automobile
dealer in Fremont.
On January 15, 1910, Mr. Larson was married to Edna May Welch,
born at Fremont, a daughter of J. J. Welch, a railroad man, now of
Pierre, South Dakota. Mr. Larson is a Christian Scientist and his wife
Episcopalian. Fraternally Mr. Larson belongs to the Elks, Masons and
Knights of Pythias, and in politics he is a democrat. One of the live
young business men of the city, he sets an example others would do well
to follow, and is held in high esteem by all, with whom he is associated.
Fred Volpp. Thrift, honesty and industry have been the stepping-
stones by which many men of present day prominence have acquired
fortune and public regard, and this fact can scarcely be too often com
mented on when considering the means by which some men succeed and
others fail in their life efforts. When Fred Volpp, the leading banker
of Scribner, came to Nebraska thirty-two years ago, he was practically
empty-handed, while today he is not only at the head of one of the state's
solid, substantial banking institutions, but has many other financial
interests, and additionally he has been signally honored in the highest
governing body in the commonwealth. His whole life has been one of
cheerful industry and the rewards that have accrued have been natural
results. Fred Volpp was born April 18, 1868, in Germany, where his father,
Henry Volpp, was a farmer. He died in 1884 and the mother in 1889.
Of their eight children, Fred is the fourth in order of birth. He has
two brothers living at Bloomfield, Nebraska, and one brother, Carl, who
is a truck farmer living in Pennsylvania. He also has two sisters and
two brothers living in Nebraska. It was in his native land that Mr. Volpp
received his schooling and other training, and was twenty years old when
he came to Nebraska. He had learned the butcher's trade and opened
a shop at Wayne, which he conducted for sixteen years, retiring then
from its personal supervision, although retaining part ownership, when
he was elected county treasurer in 1900. With the greatest efficiency he
served four years in this office, after which, for nine months, he was
cashier of the First National Bank of, Bloomfield, Nebraska. In 1905
he came to Scribner and became cashier of the Scribner State Bank, in
which office he continued until 1909, when he was elected president of
the bank. He commands public confidence and under his clear-sighted
policy the institution has grown in importance and stands as one of the
bulwarks of safety and security in the state. He has additional business
interests and is officially connected with the Lion Bonding Company of
Omaha, of which he is vice president.
Not only has Mr. Volpp been successful in business but his foresight,
prudence and good judgment were early recognized in public affairs!
and the democratic party first proved its appreciation by electing him
county treasurer, as mentioned above, and in 1909 further honored him
by electing him to the State Senate, in which body he proved the posses
sion of statesman -like qualities that reflected honor both on himself and
on his constituency. Senator Volpp served four years at Lincoln and
retired from public office with an enviable record.
In 1889 Fred Volpp was united in marriage to Miss Sophie Lerner
He is a thirty-second degree Mason and a Shriner, also is an Odd
Fellow and is treasurer of the Sons of Hermann for the Stat-P" ^(
Nebraska. te ot

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 491
Arthur G. Christensen. Possessing unquestioned business ability,
integrity and judgment, Arthur G. Christensen of Fremont, vice presi
dent of the First National Bank, holds a noteworthy position in financial
circles, and is considered an authority on all questions concerned with
banks and banking. He was born August 6, 1880, in Fremont, which has
always been his home, being a son of Christian and Maria (Paulsen)
Christensen, both of whom were born in Denmark, came to this country
in early life, and were married in Nebraska, and are now living in
Fremont. Arthur G. Christensen was educated in Fremont, and soon after his
graduation from the high school, with the class of 1898, became a clerk
in the Commercial National' Bank. Proving himself eminently capable
and trustworthy, he won promotions, and on leaving the institution on
June 1, 1914, was serving as cashier. On July 1, 1914, Mr. Christensen
was made vice president of the First National Bank of Fremont, and is
still serving in that capacity, being also one of its directors, positions for
which his knowledge, experience and business judgment and sagacity
amply qualify him, and is a director in the Fidelity Trust Company.
Mr. Christensen married in 1906 Mary Roberta Hammond, a daugh-
of Frank Hammond, a prominent newspaper man of Fremont, of whom
mention is found elsewhere in this volume, and into their pleasant home
three children have made their advent, namely : Roberta, nine years old ;
William, seven years of age, and Mary Elizabeth, five years of age.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Christensen are active and valued members of the
Methodist Episcopal Church. Fraternally Mr. Chistensen is a prominent
member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, belonging to Lodge,
Chapter, Council, Commandery and the Shrine ; and he is a member and
past exalted ruler of Fremont Lodge No. 514, Benevolent and Protective
Order of Elks, of which he was secretary a number of years.
Arthur G. Schoeneck. One of the representative citizens of Scrib
ner, Nebraska, is Arthur G. Schoeneck, postmaster, who is a member of
one of the oldest settled families in Dodge County. Its history includes
much pertaining to pioneer hardships, for when the Schoenecks first
came here the country was but sparsely settled, transportation facilities
were absent and for years afterward the cultivation of the land was
carried on under difficulties.
Arthur G. Schoeneck was born in 1874, in Dodge County, the second
in his parents' family of five children. His father, Carl F., and his
mother, Emily (Radtke) Schoeneck, were both born in Germany and
were young when they came to the United States and to Dodge County,
Nebraska. Carl F. Schoeneck homesteaded within one mile of Scribner,
where he developed a fine farm and prospered as a stockman, in later
years retiring and moving into Scribner, where his death occurred in
1917, at the age of seventy-four years. Aside from Arthur G, his other
children were as follows : William, who conducts a garage at Snyder,
Nebraska ; Alma, who is deceased ; Hilda, who is the wife of Carl Bleyhl,
a farmer; and Ella, who is the wife of Sidney Spurling, a merchant at
Scribner. The mother of the above family still resides in Scribner. She
is a member of the Congregational Church.
Arthur G. Schoeneck attended the common schools in boyhood but
later went to Omaha and took a commercial course in a business college.
He remained on the home farm until he was twenty-one years of age,
after which for some years he worked as a farmer through the home
neighborhood. Later he came to Scribner and became interested in the

492 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
hardware business, subsequently entering into a business partnership in
this line, and for some years the hardware firm of Marquardt & Schoe
neck did a large business. In 1914 Mr. Schoeneck was appointed post
master and has been continued in the office ever since. He is a careful
and efficient public official.
On August 12, 1904, Mr. Schoeneck was united in marriage to Miss
Alice Clement, who was born and educated in Nebraska, and they have
four children, namely: Merton, Arthur, Marvin and William, all of
whom attend school. Mrs. Schoeneck is a member of the Roman Cath
olic Church.
Postmaster Schoeneck may be said to have been reared in the demo
cratic party for his father had always been a staunch supporter of its
principles and candidates. Prior to his appointment as postmaster,
Mr. Schoeneck had served most acceptably in other public positions, for
some years having been assessor and constable. He belongs to the order
of Royal Highlanders and also to the Sons of Hermann.
William A. Schoeneck. It has been the privilege of William A.
Schoeneck to realize many of his worthy ambitions, and through the
exercise of good judgment and business sagacity to wrest from his
opportunities financial and general success. During his career he has
been identified with diversified enterprises, and at the present time his
name is associated with the operation of a successful soft drink establish
ment at Snyder, where he is also conducting a well-patronized garage.
Mr. Schoeneck was born on a farm in Dodge County, Nebraska, in
1871, a son of Carl F. Schoeneck, a review of this family being found
elsewhere in this work in the sketch of A. G. Schoeneck. He received
his educational training in the school at Scribner, in which locality his
boyhood and youth were passed, and when he entered upon his inde
pendent career it was as a farmer on the property of his grandfather,
located near Scribner. For eleven years Mr. Schoeneck continued to
follow the pursuits of agriculture, after which he disposed of his farm
ing and stock-raising interests in the country and came to Snyder, where,
in 1904, he established himself in the liquor business. With this enter
prise he continued to be identified for twelve years, when the Eighteenth
Amendment, following the war-time prohibition act, abolished the saloon
business, and Mr. Schoeneck converted his establishment into a soft
drink parlor, which he continues to conduct with much success, having
built up a large and representative patronage in this connection. At the
same time, in partnership with John Seebeck, he opened a garage, but
later disposed of his interest in this enterprise, and, with his son, opened
another garage, under the business style of Schoeneck & Sons. This is
now enjoying a profitable trade as a garage, in addition to which the
firm acts as sales agents for Nash and Chevrolet automobiles and carries
a full and up-to-date line of standard accessories. A general repair
department is maintained, with skilled mechanics in attendance the
establishment furnishing an excellent service station for the convenience
of local or out-of-town motorists.
In 1893 Mr. Schoeneck was united in marriage with Miss Sophia
Siems, who was born in Germany, and brought to the United States in
childhood by her parents, who became farming people in Nebraska To
this union there have been born four children : Hilbert and Arlan who
are associated with their father in the conduct of the garage at Snyder-
and Norma and Eldon, who are attending school. Hilbert Schoeneck
joined the United States Air Service during the great World war as

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 493
mechanic, and was in training in Texas at the time of the signing of
the armistice. The family's religious connection is with the Lutheran
Church, the movements of which they have supported liberally.
Mr. Schoeneck is a broad-minded and progressive man, well-posted on
current events, and entertaining sensible opinions on questions of public
opinion. In political affairs he maintains an independent stand.
Charles Arnot. Two interests, those of education and finance, have
entered the career of Charles Arnot, who since 1915 has been directing
the affairs of the First National Bank of Scribner. His experience as an
educator in Nebraska began many years ago, and he still maintains a
helpful and constructive interest in school work that has done much to
advance the cause of education in Dodge County.
Mr. Arnot was born at Greenville, Virginia, and received his educa
tion in public and private schools in his native state. He was still a
young man when he migrated to Nebraska in 1887, and during the next
several years taught rural schools in Johnson and Richardson counties,
subsequently becoming an instructor in Howell's public school. In 1896
he came to Scribner as superintendent of the school here, a position which
he retained until 1901, when he resigned to take up his duties as super
intendent of schools of Dodge County, to which he had been elected.
He served in that capacity for two terms, to the great satisfaction of the
people, and in 1906 turned his attention, at least partly, to financial
matters, being the organizer in that year of the Logan Valley Bank of
Uehling. He was president of that institution for five years, and in
the meantime, in 1907, accepted the superintendency of the schools of
Schuyler City, acting in that capacity until 1915. Mr. Arnot then
became acting manager of the First National Bank of Scribner, a posi
tion which he has since retained. He is widely and favorably known in
both financial and educational circles, and is a valued and popular mem
ber of the Nebraska Schoolmasters' Club. He is also affiliated with the
Masons, the Knights of Pythias, the Modern Woodmen of America and
the Woodmen of the World. Politically he is a democrat.
In 1910 Mr. Arnot was married at Schuyler to Miss Mabel E. John
son, a daughter of Gus and Sarah L. Johnson, the former deceased, and
to this union there have been born two children : Ruth E. and Charles P.
Joseph F. Reznicek. A wide-awake, progressive business man of
Dodge, well educated and talented, Joseph F. Reznicek is a worthy rep
resentative of the men of foreign birth who have brought to their
adopted country the habits of industry, frugality and honesty that have
won them success in various fields of endeavor. He was born October
12, 1874, in Bohemia, and there spent his childhood days.
His parents, Vaclav and Magdaline Reznicek, immigrated to the
United States in 1886, coming directly to Nebraska. Purchasing land
in Saunders County, they labored unceasingly in their efforts to improve
a homestead, and on their farm reared their family of five children, all
of whom are now living.
An ambitious student, noted for his good scholarship, Joseph F.
Reznicek was given good educational advantages after coming to this
country, having attended the Joseph Medill High School in Chicago, two
years, later taking a course in the Chicago Business College, and on his
return to Nebraska studying two summers in the Fremont Normal School.
Equipped for a professional career, he taught school in Saunders County
four years, being quite successful as a teacher. Embarking then in mer-

494 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
cantile pursuits, Mr. Reznicek conducted a general store at Morse Bluff,
Saunders County, for twelve years. Selling out there in 1914, he estab
lished his present store in Dodge, putting in a well-selected stock of
general merchandise, and in its management has met with unquestioned
success, his trade being far-reaching and remunerative.
Mr. Reznicek married February 6, 1899, Anna Pavel, who was born
in Butler County, Nebraska, near Abie, and to them nine children have
been born, namely : Louis, employed in the First National Bank of Dodge ;
Joseph, a clerk in his father's store ; William, attending school near Chi
cago ; Helen, Rosie, Albin, Lucy, Marie and Tillie. A stanch republican
in politics, Mr. Reznicek has always taken a prominent part in the
administration of public affairs, while living at Morse Bluff having served
as village trustee, village clerk, village treasurer and as a school director.
He is ex-mayor of Dodge and he performed the duties devolving upon
him in that capacity with ability and fidelity. He is also ex-president
of the Dodge Community Club, organized for the purpose of advancing
the best and higher interests of the city. Religiously he is a Catholic, and
socially he is supreme president of the Catholic Workmen and one of
the board of directors of Z. C. K. J., a Bohemian Fraternal society.
George F. Wolz. One of the most important developments of
nation-wide importance is that which has brought about a recognition
of the necessity for good roads, and the consequent building of magnifi
cent highways in every state in the Union. Much remains to be done, but
the initial stage is past, and there are few who do not acknowledge the
value of what has been accomplished and plan for an extension of the
movement. One of the men who has played a very important part in
this progressive work in the State of Nebraska, is George F. Wolz ot.
Fremont, now serving as president of the Good Roads Association of
the State of Nebraska. For many years Mr. Wolz has been connected
with the business life of Fremont, was its mayor for several terms, and
his name is one which carries weight, so that his present connection is
one of great value to the people who have the welfare of the state at
heart. George F. Wolz was born in the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
on December 30, 1861, a son of George and Christianna (Basler) Wolz,
of German descent. George Wolz, Sr., died during the war of the '60s
from disabilities incurred during his period of service in the Union
army, and at that time his son, George F. Wolz, was but three years old.
The widow was later married to C. Balduff, both deceased.
When he was only six years old his mother brought George F. Wolz
to Fremont, and here he has spent practically all his life since that time.
Here he acquired his educational training, as well as that of business life,
beginning the latter as a clerk in a store, of which later he became the
proprietor, buying the business on time before he had reached his major
ity. He had no one to back him, but the man from whom he bought
knew him and his reliability, and was willing to take his notes, and this
man, like everyone else with whom Mr. Wolz has had any transactions
never had cause to regret his action in trusting to the young man's hon
esty and unusual ability.
It was in 1882 that Mr. Wolz became the owner of his own business
which was a bakery and confectionery establishment, and he remained in
one building for a period of thirty-four years, or until 1916, when he
sold so as to devote more of his time to affairs of public moment This
business was located at 530 Main Street, and was established in 1872

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 495
by C. Balduff. During the first three years Mr. Wolz had a partner,
W. S. Balduff, now of Omaha, Nebraska, but bought the interest of his
associate. As time went on Mr. Wolz gradually expanded his business
and did a very large wholesale trade. Still later he branched out as a
caterer and for years was the only man in this business at Fremont.
He did an immense business in ice cream, fruits and bakery goods. Dur
ing the life of the Commercial Club, he was among its active members
and for the past ten years has been its secretary and later president and
now commissioner.
Among the first to realize the necessity for improving the roads of
Dodge and surrounding counties, Mr. Wolz brought to bear upon the
matter the same steadiness of purpose and efficiency of method and today
has the pleasure of realizing that his efforts have borne such fruit, that
the requisite laws have been enacted, principally through his instru
mentality, and that the preliminary work has all been carried out. At
present he is president of the Good Roads Association of Nebraska, his
success in local matters having brought him to the attention of the
enthusiasts on this subject in the state, and many of his ideas have been
adopted by similar organizations in other states. For six successive
years he was mayor of Fremont, and after a lapse of several years was
again elected and served for two years more, so that much of the work
of taking the municipality out of the village class and putting it where it
belongs, among the thriving cities of the state, was done during his
administration. All of the work was not done, of course, while he was
in the office, but he laid the foundation, made the plans and assisted his
successors to bring about the ends all of the good citizens held so dear,
and his name will always be associated with constructive work in Fre
mont. He also served one term as senator from Dodge and Washington
counties in the 1913 Legislature.
On February 15, 1883, Mr. Wolz was united in marriage to Maggie L.
Pfeiffer, born at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and they have two daughters,
namely: Ida, who was born on April 4, 1885, married Glenn O. Pope,
train dispatcher at Chadron, Nebraska; and Laura, who was born on
January 14, 1891, married Ray V. Stock, assistant cashier of the Farmers
and Merchants Bank of Fremont.
Mr. Wolz has been very successful in everything he has undertaken,
and owns considerable real estate, is a director of the Farmers and Mer
chants Bank of Fremont, but devotes the greater portion of his time at
present to carrying out the plans of his association, traveling all over the
state in the interests of the good roads movement.
He is well known in fraternal orders, being a member of the Scottish
Rite, Mount Tabor Commandery, Tangier Temple, Ancient Arabic Order
Nobles of the Mystic Shrine of the Masonic fraternity, past officer of
different branches of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Knights
of Pythias, is a member of the Elks, Lodge No. 514, Rotary Club,
Travelers' Protective Association and United Commercial Travelers, past
commander of Nebraska Division and member L. D. Richards Camp
No. 5, Sons of Veterans, and many other benevolent organizations.
From the beginning of his career Mr. Wolz has maintained a high
standard of helpfulness and integrity. He has always been a hard-work
ing, clear-headed man of affairs, but, while for years he was deeply
immersed in intensely practical matters, he always found the time to devote
to his civic duties and his ability to solve problems of large moment has
brought him conspicuously before the public.

496 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Arthur Bleyhl, manager of the Farmers Union Milling and Grain
Company, at Snyder, is a worthy representative of the younger business
element of Dodge and Washington counties. To a very considerable
extent it is this element in any community, especially outside of the large
cities, which infuses spirit and zest into the activities of the place. It is
this element whose entrance upon the arena of active life dates not far
ther back than a decade of years, which monopolizes much of the vigor,
zeal and pushing energy which keep the nerves of the commercial world
ramifying through all the lesser towns of the country strung to the full
tension of strenuous endeavor. A pronounced type of the type of tireless
workers thus described, Mr. Bleyhl has done much to advance the business
interests of his company and of the community of his adoption.
Arthur Bleyhl was born on a farm in Dodge County, Nebraska, in
1893, and is a son of Albert and Katherine Bleyhl, natives of Germany.
He was reared in an agricultural atmosphere, spending his boyhood in the
country and obtaining his elementary education in the public schools of his
native county. At first it was his ambition to follow the vocation of an
educator, and with this end in view he pursued a teacher's course at the
Fremont Normal School. After graduating from that institution, he com
menced his work as an instructor, and for one year taught in the rural
schools of Boone County, then going to Dodge County, where he instructed
the mind of youth for two terms. At the end of this time, Mr. Bleyhl's
experience had convinced him that a teaching career would not prove con
genial, no matter how successful, and he therefore turned his attention in
another direction, deciding to enter business matters'. Accordingly, he
sought and obtained employment in the hardware establishment of William
J. Wolsleger at Snyder as a clerk and bookkeeper, positions which he
retained during the year that he remained in Mr. Wolsleger's service.
When he resigned these posts it was to accept the position of bookkeeper
with the Farmers Union Milling and Grain Company at Snyder in 1917.
He displayed energy, foresight, industry and fidelity, and in 1918 the
officials advanced him to the post of manager, which he has since retained.
Mr. Bleyhl is an exceptionally energetic and enterprising young man and
thoroughly competent in business transactions. The honesty of his deal
ings is fully recognized by his fellow-townsmen, and although his advent
at Snyder is of comparatively recent date, the general confidence which
he has acquired presages a successful future. Under his management the
business, in which he is a stockholder, has enjoyed a healthy and consistent
growth, its products meeting with a steady demand, and at this time six
men are given employment. Mr. Bleyhl has a number of civic, social and
business connections, and is a popular member of the local lodge of the
Hoo Hoos, the well-known lumbermen's fraternal organization.
Henry 'Sievers. Among the representative citizens of Scribner
Nebraska, none are better known or held, in higher esteem than Henry
Sievers, who is vice president of the Scribner State Bank and officially
connected with other organizations, in all of which his business sagacity is
highly valued and his sterling character recognized as a distinct asset He
has been a resident of the United States since he was fifteen years old
and of the State of Nebraska for more than fifty years.
Henry Sievers was born in Germany, December 16, 1843. His parents
were Christian and Christina Sievers, who came with their children to
the United States in 1858. Three of the children, David, William and
John, are deceased. Of the other three, Henry resides at Scribner-
Charles is a farmer in South Dakota ; and Christian is a retired resident

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 497
of Scribner. The parents located at Moline, Illinois, where the father
followed his trade of brickmaker for several years, moving then on a
farm in Rock Island County. He spent his last years with his children,
surviving to the age of eighty-seven years, the mother passing away at
the age of seventy-seven. They were faithful members of the Lutheran
Church. Henry Sievers had attended school in his native land. His first
occupation after reaching Illinois was farm work in Rock Island County,
and he continued farming in that state until 1869, when he decided to
become a resident of Nebraska. At the present time a journey from
Illinois to Nebraska is but a pleasant and comfortable railway trip of a
few hours, but fifty years ago it was a much more serious matter.
Mr. Sievers was at that time a man of family and property, and it took
much preparation before the start for the new home was made. The
family traveled into Dodge County in a pioneer covered wagon having
more or less adventure on the way but finally reaching the land that
Mr. Sievers had homesteaded. It was entirely unimproved but the
wagon sufficed for a home until a sod house could be made comfortable,
and this humble dwelling remained the home of the Sievers family for
some years.
In Illinois, in 1867, Henry Sievers was married to Ida Kleeman, also
a native of Germany, and to this marriage the following children were
born : Henry J., who is a farmer in South Dakota ; Charles, who also
lives on his farm in South Dakota; Frank, who lives retired at Huron,
South Dakota; Ferdinand, who conducts a meat market at Scribner;
Augusta, who is the wife of George Cartens, a retired farmer in South
Dakota ; Anna, who -is the wife of Henry Dringuis, a retired farmer of
Scribner ; Emil, who is a farmer in Dodge County ; Ida, who is the wife
of Dwight Martin, who is in the Government mail service at Scribner;
Walter, who lives retired at Scribner; Clara, who is the wife of Walter
Aders, in the banking business at Dix, Nebraska ; and Alexander, Edward
and Arthur, all of whom are deceased.
Although Mr. Sievers and his family did not entirely escape pioneer
hardships, they were patient, resourceful and industrious, and the home
stead was rapidly developed and through careful cultivation became one
of the most valuable farms in Dodge County. Mr. Sievers continued to
farm and raise good stock for many years, resigning his heavy duties
to younger hands at length and on retirement moved into Scribner.
Here he has continued an active business man up to the present. As
mentioned above, he is vice president of the Scribner State Bank, a solid,
prosperous financial institution of Dodge. County. He is also treasurer
of the German Mutual Insurance Company of Dodge County. For many
years he has belonged to the fraternal organization of Sons of Hermann
and takes part enjoyably in its social features. In political life he has
always been an independent voter, and every public measure designed
to permanently benefit Nebraska has his support. During his long resi
dence here he has seen so many changes and has known intimately so
many people of consequence, that his reminiscences are more' than usually
interesting. Robert C. Byers, M. D. A member of the medical profession whose
position is a highly creditable one and whose reputation is well extended
over Dodge County, Doctor Byers has practiced in this section of
Nebraska for seventeen years, and most of the time in the Nickerson
community.

498 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Doctor Byers, who comes of a family of physicians, was born in
Ontario, Canada, in 1877, a son of Dr. John N. and Jeannette (Hadwen)
Byers. His mother was a native of England. His father who was born
in Canada in 1842, completed his medical education in Victoria College
of Ontario, graduating in 1868, and was engaged in an extensive country
practice in his native province until 1900. In that year he moved to
Fontanelle, Nebraska, and continued the general practice of medicine.
He was a member of the Episcopal Church and an independent in poli
tics. The children of Dr. John N. Byers were five in number ; b. J ., a
physician in Rimbey, Alberta, Canada; George A., who is also in the
familv profession, practicing at Snyder; Bernard, a farmer in Alberta,
Canada ; Eleanor, wife of Dr. O. C. Hopper of Stanton, Nebraska, died
April 20, 1920; and Robert C. ,,*,,-
Robert C. Bvers was liberally educated and graduated in 1903 from
Western University of London, Ontario. He then came to the home of
his father at Fontanelle and was engaged in practice in that community
for four years, since which date he has looked after his professional
interests at Nickerson, and gives all his time to the busy demands of his
profession. In 1907 he married Miss Laura Sexton, daughter of Dr. and Mrs.
T. C. Sexton of Fremont, a well-known family of Dodge County.
Dr. and Mrs. Byers have four children : Margaret, born in 1909 ; Eleanor,
born in 1911 ; Patricia, born in 1917, and Robert C, born in 1919.
Doctor Byers is a member of the Elkhorn Valley, Dodge County and
State Medical Association. He is a Knight Templar Mason, a member
of the Episcopal Church in which he was reared, while Mrs. Byers
belongs to the Baptist Church of Fremont.
Wilson B. Reynolds has gained precedence as one of the most suc
cessful exponents of the insurance business in his native state, and is
one of the progressive men of affairs, of the younger generation, in his
native City of Fremont, where he was born January 19, 1888. Here he
is president of the corporation entitled Reynolds, Morrison & Rathburn
Company, which is incorporated with a capital stock of $50,000, and
which, in addition to maintaining the leading local insurance agency at
Fremont, controls a large and constantly expanding general insurance
business, with sub-agents not only in Nebraska but also in Kansas and
South Dakota. This company is conceded to be the most important and
successful concern of its kind in Nebraska, and conservative yet progres
sive policies govern all features of its widely extended service in the
domain of insurance indemnity. Mr. Reynolds is also secretary of the
Farm Home Realty Company, which is developing a splendid enterprise
in the buying and selling of western farm lands, with its general head
quarters at Fremont.
Mr. Reynolds is a son of B. W. and Mary (Davies) Reynolds, the
former of whom was born at Fremont, where his parents were num
bered among the earliest pioneer settlers, and his wife is a native of
Wales. H£ has been a specially successful business man and influential
citizen of Fremont for many years, and he is now president of the Farm
Home Realty Company, of which his son is secretary and which does an
extensive business in the handling of western land, as noted above. He
and his wife are numbered among the honored citizens of Fremont and
with them their son, Wilson B., continues to maintain his home.
He whose name initiates this review continued his studies in the
public schools of' Fremont until his graduation in the high school as a

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 499
member of the class of 1905. From the initiation of his independent
career he has been continuously identified with the insurance business.
He became secretary of the Colson-Reynolds Company, and later pur
chased the interest of Mr. Colson and effected a reorganization of the
business, under the present corporate title of the Reynolds, Morrison &
Rathburn Company. He has proved vital in his initiative and adminis
trative ability and has furthered policies that have inured greatly to the
success of the two important business enterprises with which he is
identified. He is an active and enthusiastic member of the Fremont
Commercial Club, of which he served two years as vice president, and
he was made president of the Fremont Advertising Club at the time of
its organization. He is a republican in political adherency and is affil
iated with Fremont Lodge No. 514, Benevolent and Protective Order of
Elks. William J. Wolsleger. With the coming of Herman Wolsleger to
Dodge County during the early '70s an element of strength and purpose
was added to the upbuilding forces of a promising and prosperous
community. That the ideals of work and citizenship cherished by this
frontiersman have been transmitted to those succeeding him in the race
is not questioned by those familiar with the history of the family.
Mr. Wolsleger purchased a couple of years after it was founded at
Snyder the town's first hardware establishment, and this is still being
conducted by a member of the family, the son, William J. Wolsleger, who
has also taken an important part in the various activities which have
served to develop the community.
William J. Wolsleger was born in 1875 in Dodge County, Nebraska,
a son of Herman and Clementina Wolsleger, the latter a native of Swit
zerland. Herman Wolsleger was born in Germany and was little more
than a lad when he came to the United States, his first home here being
in Illinois, where he located in 1860. During the war between the. North
and South he fought as a Union soldier for one and one-half years,
being a member of the Ninth Illinois Cavalry. During the early '70s he
made his way overland to Nebraska, where he was shortly afterward
married, and here homesteaded eighty acres in Dodge County and a like
acreage in Saunders County. During the early days he hauled ties for
the Union Pacific Railway, but his chief interest was in his farming and
stock-raising operations, in which he continued to be engaged after he
had opened a hardware store at Snyder. He was a good citizen and was
recognized as such by his fellow-citizens, who elected him to various
offices, including those of member of the Board of County Commis
sioners and road overseer. His political support was given to the princi
ples and candidates of the democratic party. He and his worthy wife
were the parents of ten children, as follows : Henrietta, the wife of Gus
Becker, a farmer carrying on operations in Dodge County ; Katie, who
is deceased; William J., of this review; Julius and Emma, who are
deceased; Lizzie, the wife of John Meyer, a farmer of Dodge County;
Carrie, the wife of Albert Orlley, a South Dakota ranchman ; Ida, the
wife of James Lynch of Omaha ; Edward, who is in the garage business
at Snyder; and Arthur, deceased.
William J. Wolsleger acquired his education in the public schools of
the rural districts of Dodge County, and as a youth became acquainted
with business methods in his father's hardware store. After conducting
this establishment for the elder man for about eight years, he bought the
business and for a time handled harness and implements in connection

500 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
with hardware. Later, however, he disposed of these lines, and at the
present time carries a general and complete line of shelf and heavy hard
ware and paints, and is doing a thriving business, necessitating the
employment of three men. During the twenty years that he has con
ducted his present establishment, Mr. Wolsleger has built up and main
tained a splendid reputation for honorable dealing and high business
principles. In 1902 Mr. Wolsleger was united in marriage with Miss Emma
Schneider, daughter of Conrad Schneider, a pioneer business man of
Snyder, and to this union there have been born six children : Magdalena,
who is attending Hardin College, at Mexico, Missouri ; Herman, who is
deceased'; two children who died in infancy; and William and Conrad,
with their parents. Mr. and Mrs. Wolsleger are consistent members and
generous contributors of the Lutheran Church. As a fraternalist,
Mr. Wolsleger holds membership in the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, of which he is financier,
and the Modern Woodmen of America, in which he is a member of the
venerable council. While he is democratic in principle, he is an inde
pendent voter. At the present time he is serving efficiently as township
clerk, and in the past has been justice of the peace two years and a member
of the city council of Snyder. He is a stanch friend of education and was
for five years treasurer of his school district. He is an enterprising and
capable man, thoroughly posted on current events and in close sympathy
with everything which tends to the development and growth of his
native county.
H. P. Weitkamp. A man of distinctive and forceful individuality,
active- and progressive, H. P. Weitkamp occupies a position of note
among the leading business men of Winslow, where he is prosperously
engaged in mercantile pursuits, owning and conducting the only hard
ware and furniture store in the place. A son of the late Herman Weit
kamp, he was born September 15, 1867, in St. Louis, Missouri, of German
ancestry. Born and bred in Westphalia, Germany, Herman Weitkamp came
with his wife, Mary Weitkamp, to the United States in 1867, and spent
the ensuing four years in St. Louis. Coming to Nebraska in 1871, he
bought land in Washington County, near Fontanelle, and was there suc
cessfully engaged in tilling the soil until his death, December 23, 1917, at
the advanced age of seventy-nine years. His wife preceded him to the
better world, dying in 1906. Four children were born into their house
hold, as follows : H. P. ; Mrs. Louis Frank, living on a farm in Washing
ton County; Mrs. Frank Krohn, whose husband is also farming in
Washington County; and W. H, living on the parental homestead, near
Fontanelle. Receiving his early education in the rural schools, H. P. Weitkamp
became familiar with the various branches of agriculture when voun°-
and choosing the free and independent occupation of a farmer beo^n life
on his own account in 1891. Renting from his father a tract of land
not far .from Etna, he continued there engaged in agricultural pursuits
for sixteen years, meeting with good success in his work. Looking for
broader fields of action at the end of that period, Mr. Weitkamp located
in Washington County, and having organized the Winslow State Bank
was actively assocated with its management four years. In 1909 still
retaining his connection with that bank, he embarked in the hardware
business, which he has managed successfully, gradually enlarging his

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 501
operations, and now is proprietor of the only hardware and furniture
establishment in Winslow. In 1919, Mr. Weitkamp, with characteristic
enterprise, established the Farmers State Bank of Winslow, of which he
is president, and is managing its affairs most ably and satisfactorily.
In February, 1891, Mr. Weitkamp was united in marriage with
Minnie Richter, who was born in Washington County, Nebraska, a
daughter of the late Herman Richter, and they have one daughter,
Esther, born in 1904. Mr. Weitkamp is independent in politics, voting
according to the dictates of his conscience, without regard -to party affilia
tions. Ever interested in local affairs, and never shirking the responsi
bilities of office, he has served as township clerk, village clerk, assessor,
road overseer, and for twenty-five years was a member of the school
board. Both he and his wife are active members of the Lutheran
Church. Henry Edelmaier. In naming the representative men of Scribner,
Nebraska* Henry Edelmaier immediately comes to mind as one who
has engaged public attention for a number of years because of business
enterprise and achievement. Mr. Edelmaier is vice president of the
Farmers State Bank at Scribner and in other ways also is a foremost
citizen. Henry Edelmaier was born April 6, 1870, in Belmont, Ohio, and is
a son of David Edelmaier, extended mention of whom will be found in
this work. His education was obtained in the public schools, supple
mented by a commercial course in the Gem City Business College at
Quincy, Illinois. He came to Washington County, Nebraska in 1887
and worked on farms by the month two years and in a brick yard and
earned money to pay for his commercial course — 1890-91.
In 1893 Mr. Edelmaier came to Scribner as office man in the Mar-
quardt & Groetche elevator, and continued in that capacity with that
firm for four years, after that going to Hada'r, Nebraska, as manager
for the Nye, Snyder, Fowler Company, operating a grain elevator and
in the lumber business. He later was stationed at Leigh, Nebraska, for
the same firm arid continued for some years. From there he went to
Hooper, Nebraska, as manager of the Farmers Grain and Stock Com
pany, from Hooper coming to Scribner, where he operated a brick yard
for one year. In 1909 he entered the First National Bank of this city as
assistant cashier, in which position he continued until inducements were
offered that led to his going back to Hooper to take charge of the Farm
ers Elevator Company, where he remained for the following four years.
In 1918 Mr. Edelmaier returned to Scribner, when he was elected
vice president of the Farmers State Bank, and he has been identified
with all that pertains to the welfare of this prosperous little city ever
since. The Farmers State Bank of Scribner, Nebraska, commenced busi
ness February 4, 1918, and the report of its condition at the close of
business November 15, 1919, shows that the institution has made safe
and steady growth, with profits beyond expectation and with equally
prosperous prospects for the future. The officers of the Farmers State
Bank are as follows.: Arthur H. Shultz, president ;. Henry Edelmaier,
vice president, and Herman F. Meyer, cashier. All are men of indepen
dent fortune and of the highest possible personal character.
In 1894 Mr. Edelmaier was united in marriage to Miss Ida S. Stoet-
zel, who was born in Nebraska and is a daughter of John Stoetzel, who
came early from Germany and was a pioneer farmer in this section of
Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. Edelmaier have three children, one son and

502 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
two daughters, namely: Raymond, who is a business man at Hooper,
Nebraska ; Gladys, who is the wife of John H. Bader, who is a success
ful farmer welfknown in Dodge County; and Helen, who resides with
her parents. All the children have been well educated and given many
advantages. Mr. Edelmaier is a Scottish Rite Mason. In politics he has
always been an outspoken republican although never willing to accept
any political office. He is looked upon as one of the sound, reliable
business men of Dodge County.
George F. Basler. The life of George F. Basler, a well-known and
public-spirited citizen of Fremont, has been such as to elicit just praise
from those who know him best, owing to the fact that he has always been
true to the trusts reposed in him and has been upright in his dealings
with his fellow men, at the same time lending his support to the advance
ment of any cause looking to the welfare of the community at large.
Mr. Basler was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1859, and is the
son of Jacob Basler. The latter was a native of Germany, who came to
the United States in young manhood and located in Philadelphia. He
has learned the trade of a stone mason, and also that of a shoe fitter,
and to the latter vocation he turned his attention during the Civil war
period. With keen foresight he had purchased a large stock of leather
and, owing to the big advance in the value of that material, he was
enabled to make considerable money. This he invested in Philadelphia
real estate, which also enhanced in value to his financial advantage. In
1868 he moved with his family to Nebraska and bought a large farm
near Nickerson, Dodge County, on which he lived for ten or fifteen
years. He then moved to Fremont and bought property, through which
he still further profited, so that he was considered a man of substantial
means. To him and his wife were born five children, of which number
George F. is the only survivor.
George F. Basler received his educational training in the public schools
of Fremont and then he engaged in the grocery business, in which he con
tinued for twenty-two years. He also served as constable for a number
of years and was appointed city clerk of Fremont, serving a short time.
For a number of years he has been employed in the plant of the Rogers
Tent and Awning Company, owned by his nephew, Henry W. Rogers,
who is represented elsewhere in this work. Mr. Basler's career has been
characterized by persistent industry and faithfulness to duty and he
enjoys the confidence of those with whom he is associated.
In 1900 Mr. Basler was married to Mayme Milland. He is a demo
crat in politics and takes an intelligent interest in the public affairs of his
community. Fraternally, he is a member of the Ancient Free and
Accepted Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Royal
Neighbors of America and, with his wife, belongs to the Order of the
Eastern Star, the Daughters of Rebekah and the Pythian Sisters. Though.
a man of unpretentious demeanor, he possesses those qualities which win
friends, and he is deservedly popular among those with whom he asso
ciates and enjoys the respect of the entire community.
George N. Parkert. The Parkert name has been one of honored
consideration in Dodge County for a long period of years, and while
some of the records of the family are given attention on other pages, the
following is devoted primarily to the career of George N. Parkert who
has achieved a distinctive success as a stock farmer and whose' well
equipped farm and attractive home are in section 13 of Everett Township

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 503
Mr. Parkert, who both on the farm and in association with progres
sive organizations illustrates the modern type of American farmer, was
born in Dodge County March 15, 1884, a son of Peter Parkert, Sr. As a
boy he attended the public schools of Hooper and acquired part of his
education at Fremont. At the age of twenty-four in 1908 he began
farming for himself, and in twelve years has done a great deal to demon
strate his abilities. For several years he specialized in Shorthorn cattle,
but more recently has made his farm notable for its Poland China hogs.
He conducts annual sales, frequented by numerous stockmen looking for
high-class hogs. He also feeds for the market.
Mr. Parkert is a stockholder in the First National Bank of Hooper,
a stockholder in the Farmers' Co-operative association, in the Dodge
County Agricultural Association of Hooper, and Hooper Milling
Company. In 1910 he married Miss Josephine Bradbury, a daughter of James
Bradbury of Hooper. The Bradburys are one of the old and solid names
in the citizenship of Dodge County. Mr. and Mrs. Parkert have one
daughter, M^xy—Georgeaft Mrs. Parkert is a member of the Grace
Lutheran Church at Hooper, while Mr. Parkert is affiliated with the
Catholics of that community. He is a member of the Knights of Colum
bus at Fremont, the Modern Woodmen of America and in politics is a
democrat. Joseph Snyder, one of the historic pioneers of Dodge County, has
lived here for over half a century, and has been a contributor as well
as a witness of the progress of development.
Mr. Snyder, who is now enjoying the comforts won by early years
of self denial and industry with home at Fremont, was born in Germany
December 28, 1842. He was eight years of age when in 1850 he came to
the United States, and lived in Illinois for the next ten years. In 1860
he went to Wisconsin, and in the meantime had served an apprenticeship
at the shoemaker's trade. In 1861 he enlisted as a Union soldier in the
Ninth Wisconsin Infantry and was in a number of battles and campaigns
until he received his honorable discharge in the fall of 1864. Having
performed his duty as a good soldier he resumed his trade, lived in Iowa
one year, and in the spring of 1866 came to Fremont, Nebraska. That
was before any railroads were built and he had some difficulty in get
ting his tools and equipment out to this frontier locality. In the absence
of tools he had to work at anything that offered. As the pioneer shoe
maker he was in business- at Fremont for five years, and among the
customers of that period he recalls that he made a pair of boots for
Mr. L. D. Richards, when that pioneer business man and citizen first
came to Dodge County. On leaving the cobbler's bench Mr. Snyder
went out to his homestead three miles east of Fremont, and during many
successive years gave his undivided time and attention to the improvement
and cultivation of his land. He went through all the years of adversity
that afflicted Nebraska farmers, involving loss from grasshoppers and
high water, and many times he worked in the fields husking corn, furnish
ing his own team and wagon at wages of 60 cents a day. He proved up
his homestead of eighty acres and subsequently bought other land at
$2.50 and $7.00 an acre until at one time he owned a complete farm of
320 acres. Some years ago he sold his land and has since lived retired
in Fremont. In 1868 at Fremont Mr. Snyder married Miss Mary Nuel. She was
born in Bavaria, Germany, and was brought to the United States when

504 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
young. They were companions on life's highway for forty years until
the death of Mrs. Snyder in 1910. Nine children blessed their home:
Josephine of Fremont; Louis, a farmer of Dodge County; Alice, who
lives in Montana; Sylvester of South Dakota; Carrie, who died in 1918;
Viola, who lives in Alaska ; Eva of Dodge County ; Albert, a resident of
Montana ; and Mollie of Omaha.
. Mr. Snyder is an honored member of the Grand Army Post of
Fremont. While living in the country he served as a director of his
home school board, was a member of the Township Board, and also jus
tice of the peace of his precinct. For a man who has lived actively nearly
fourscore years he is exceedingly well preserved.
Louis Snyder is a native of Dodge County, and during his mature
career of nearly thirty years has been a member of the farming com
munity of Elkhorn Township. He owns a well improved farm in sec
tion 16, and while he has worked out his material prosperity on the land,
he has not been unmindful of those responsibilities which come to every
good citizen and has readily co-operated with community enterprises.
He was born at Fremont September 30, 1873. His father, Joseph
Snyder, was a native of Germany but was brought to the United States
at the age of eight years. He grew up at Galena, Illinois, where General
Grant was then an obscure merchant. He learned the cobbler's trade
and from Galena entered the ranks of the Union army. After the war
he came to Nebraska and homesteaded in Dodge County.
Louis Snyder grew up on his father's farm, acquired a common
school education and at the age of twenty-one began making his own
way in the world. He worked as a farm hand and for five years operated
a hay baler, and by thrift and industry accumulated the modest capital
for the purchase of land, and for a number of years has owned a farm
of 160 acres, well improved, adapted for all the crops of this section,
and he feeds all the land produces to stock on the place. His specialty
in stock is blooded red hogs. Mr. Snyder is an independent voter, and
for one year filled the office of road overseer in his district.
February 8, 1905, he married Melia Loges at Arlington, Nebraska.
They have a family of six children, all still at home, most of them
attending school, named Joseph, Ted, Nie, Margaret, Esther and Jessie.
Peter Loges, father of Mrs. Snyder, was born in Germany and came
to the United States as a youth. He served as a Union soldier, thus
proving his sterling American citizenship. Except for his army experi
ence he was a farmer all his life. He married Marie Tews in Omaha.
She is now deceased, and of their seven children Mrs. Snyder is the
fourth. All are still living except one son.
John W. Stevenson is sole owner and active manager of the North
Bend Nursery, and his initiative and administrative ability has been sig
nificantly demonstrated in the development of this now important and
far-reaching business enterprise, which has contributed much to the pres
tige of Dodge County and the vital little City of North Bend, where
Mr. Stevenson maintains his home and business headquarters. He was
a boy at the time of the family removal to Iowa, where he grew to man
hood and became deeply imbued with the progressive western spirit.
Mr. Stevenson claims the old Buckeye State as the state of his
nativity, his birth having occurred in Muskingum County, Ohio on
February 14, 1843. He is a son of James and Eliza (Wallace) Steven
son, the former of whom was born in Ireland, of Scotch ancestry and

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 505
the latter was born and reared in Ohio, where their marriage was sol
emnized. James Stevenson was a young man when he came to the
United States and established his residence in Ohio, where he acquired
land and turned his attention to farm enterprise. In 1857 he removed
with his family to Iowa and became a pioneer settler in Delaware County.
He developed one of the excellent farms of that county and there con
tinued to maintain his home until his death in 1879, at the age of
seventy-two years, his wife having passed away in 1876, at the age of
seventy years, John W. of this review being the only survivor of their
ten children. James Stevenson was an ardent abolitionist in the climac
teric period leading up to the Civil war and his home in Ohio had been
a station on the historic "underground railroad" by means of which
many slaves were assisted to freedom. He was independent in politics
and both he and his wife were earnest members of the Reformed Pres
byterian Church.
John W. Stevenson gained his rudimentary education in his native
state and was a lad of twelve years at the time of the family removal to
Iowa, where he attended the pioneer schools and also assisted in the
reclamation and general work of the farm home. When about 23 years
of age he went to Nashville, Tennessee, where during 1866-7 he was
employed in the wholesale millinery establishment of Beard Brothers.
He then returned to Delaware County, Iowa, where for the ensuing three
years he was engaged in the grain and lumber business. For several
years thereafter he was associated with a general merchandise business
at Hopkinton, that state, and in 1879 he came to Dodge County,
Nebraska, where he purchased a tract of land and instituted its improve
ment. In 1882 he founded the North Bend Nursery, and in this con
nection he has developed a large and far-extended business, which is
conducted exclusively through the medium of mail orders and which is
of general order, though Mr. Stevenson gives special and primary atten
tion to the propagation and sale of fine strawberry plants. His nursery
utilizes twenty acres of ground, in the immediate vicinity of North Bend,
and is conducted- according to scientific methods, as well as with the
most approved of modern facilities.
As may well be expected of a man of such progressive business
policies, Mr. Stevenson is loyal and public-spirited in his civic attitude.
He has been a stanch advocate and supporter of the prohibition move
ment but is independent in politics, rather than being dominated by
strict partisanship. Both he and his wife are zealous members of the
United Presbyterian Church of North Bend, in which he is serving as
an elder and also as secretary of the Sunday school. He has given
effective service as a member of the city council of North Bend and
has otherwise done all in his power to further the civic and material
advancement and the pros'perity of his home community.
In 1882 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Stevenson to Miss Eliz
abeth Marshall, at Hopkinton, Iowa, Mrs. Stevenson having been born
in the State of Pennsylvania. They became the parents of three children :
the first child, a daughter, died in infancy ; Elsie P. is the wife of Floyd
S. Haverfield and they reside with her parents, their one child being a
daughter, Elaine ; and Edna May died at the age of five years.
Harlow J. Carpenter was one of the very first men to become
acquainted with the section of Dodge and Washington counties and
afterwards make his permanent home here. He was not only an early
settler but a man of distinction in business and civic affairs after Dodge
and Washington counties had become well settled.
Vol. II— 4

506 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
He was born in New York State in 1830. He acquired only a fair
knowledge of the fundamentals of learning, and was educated largely by
contact with the world. He was a worker, always ready to accept duties
away from the comforts of civilization. For two years of his youth
he worked on railroad construction ih Canada.
It was in 1855 when the great Kansas-Nebraska question was the
principal object of controversy in the halls of Congress that Harlow
Carpenter came to Nebraska Territory and pre-empted some land near
Fontanelle. He made the journey up the river by boat as far as Omaha.
This country was then far out on the frontier and he found it difficult
to make a living entirely from the land. To supplement his efforts as a
farmer Harlow Carpenter engaged in freighting, making several trips to
Fort Kearney and also going as far as Denver. Those who followed
him to this new country recognized his qualities of manhood and his
reliability, and at their hands he was honored with the office of county
clerk when Fremont was the county seat of Washington County. In
addition to farming he was associated with Julius Brainard as a hard
ware merchant at Fremont for about two years. Besides the county
office just named he served several terms as county commissioner and
for many years was a justice of the peace. He voted as a republican and
was an active member of the Grange. Harlow Carpenter was seventy-
three years of age when he died in 1903 and his character is still safe in
the memory of most of the older citizens of the two counties. Harlow
Carpenter married Helen Griffin, a native of Illinois. They were mar
ried in Fontanelle, Nebraska, and she died in 1914 at the age of seventy-
seven. She was a very earnest member of the Baptist Church.
Nine children were born to Harlow Carpenter and wife: Florence
and Charles F., both deceased; Lucelia, wife of James Daffer, a farmer
in Red Willow County, Nebraska; Emma, deceased; Eva, wife of Ned
Carpenter, a clothing merchant at' Denver; Elmer, connected with a
flour milling company at Omaha ; Ernest H., a well-known farmer citizen
at Fontanelle; Jessie, deceased; and Winifred, deceased wife of Henry
Brand of Fontanelle.
Ernest H. Carpenter represents a thoroughly progressive element
in the agricultural district around Fontanelle. He knows the country by
lifelong experience, is a practical farmer, an expert in the stock industry,
particularly as a grower and breeder of Duroc swine, and a very live and
capable business man and citizen.
He was born at Fontanelle August 28, 1871, and is a son of the
late Harlow J. Carpenter, whose career as one of the earliest pioneers of
Washington County is recited on the preceding page. Ernest H. Carpen
ter acquired a common school education in Washington County and for
three years taught in a country district. Leaving the schoolroom he
became associated with I. E. Cahoon in the creamery industry, and he
was a factor in the creamery business for fifteen years, havin^ charge
of cream routes. Since then he has devoted his time and energies to
his individual farming interests. Since 1908 he has specialized &in the
breeding of Duroc Jersey hogs, and for several years past has held annual
sales that have attracted buyers from all over this section of the Missouri
River Valley. Mr. Carpenter is a member of the Duroc Jersey Associa
tion and of the Washington County Breeders' Association. He is a Blue
Lodge Mason and a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and
the Royal Neighbors, and in politics follows the fortunes of the reouhliran
party. P"""can

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 507
Mr. Carpenter has an interesting family and three, of his sons were
with the colors during the World war. In 1894 he married Lena, Meier,
who was born in Washington County. Her father, Henry Meier, came
from Germany and pioneered in Washington County as early as 1868,
taking up a homestead and spending the rest of his years as a farmer.
To Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter were born five children. Ray W., who is
now connected with the State Agricultural Extension Department at
Lincoln, was in the naval aviation branch of the military, being trained
in the Great Lakes Naval Training Station and at Seattle, and was dis
charged at Seattle fourteen months after he enlisted. Ivan H., a farmer
in Dodge County, was a supply sergeant in the ammunition train of the
heavy artillery corps and was trained at Camp Taylor, Kentucky, and
Camp Kearney, California, being eight months in service and being dis
charged at Camp Kearney. Gilbert, the third son, now at home, spent
four months in the Students' Army Training Corps at the Peru Nor
mal. The two younger children are Howard and Helena, both high
school students at Fremont.
Ira E. Cahoon. A resident of Washington County forty years,
Ira E. Cahoon has made the best interests of the community his own, and
has made his initiative and business enterprise count for development of
these counties. For a quarter of a century most of his time and energies
have been devoted to the prosperous creamery plant at Fontanelle, an
industry which he founded and which he has promoted.
Mr. Cahoon was born in Massachusetts January 4, 1858, a son of
Ezarias and Fannie (Holland) Cahoon. His parents called Massachu
setts their home all their days, though his father was a seafarer and was
captain of an ocean-going vessel until he retired at the age of fifty.
Ira E. Cahoon acquired his education in the common schools of his
native state, and learned the trade of bricklayer there. It was as a
mason that he was first known in Nebraska, settling at Arlington in
March, 1880. Altogether he followed the mason's trade for twenty-two
years. In 1895 Mr. Cahoon built the plant known as the Fontanelle Cream
ery, and has made that one of the leading establishments of its kind in
eastern Nebraska. The plant has a capacity of 5,000 pounds of butter
per day. Besides the creamery industry he is also a buyer and shipper
of eggs. Mr. Cahoon owns the controlling interest in the Fontanelle
Mercantile Company, is a stockholder in the Beatrice Creamery Com
pany of Deadwood, South Dakota, a stockholder in the Baker-White
Pine Lumber Company of Oregon, and in the Goose Lake Elevator
Company in Canada. He owns a 400-acre farm in Holt County, near
O'Neill, and an orange grove in Florida. All these property interests
bespeak the energy with which he has prosecuted his affairs since com
ing to Nebraska, a comparatively poor man.
In 1883 he married Manda A. Jones, a native of Illinois. Her
father, W. R. Hamilton, was one of the early settlers of Washington
County. Mr. and Mrs. Cahoon are the parents of seven children:
Robert, a merchant at Hooper; Rossie, wife of Edward Uehling
of Hooper; Percy, who is in the motorcycle business in California; Irv
ing, proprietor of a confectionery store at West Point, Nebraska ; Parke,
interested in the creamery at Fontanelle; George Dewey, a student in
Coe College at Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Lourene, at home. The family
attend the Union Church. Mr. Cahoon is a member of the Masonic
Lodge, the Royal Highlanders, the Modern Woodmen of America and

508 • DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
politically has always cast his vote in the interests of the republican
party. Gottlieb Hartung. Representing one of those substantial families
that comprised an important colony of Washington County settlers who
came from Quincy, Illinois, Gottlieb Hartung has lived most of his life
in Washington County and a large farm with splendid improvements
demonstrate the success he has achieved here. His home is in section 21,
a mile south of the Town of Fontanelle.
Mr. Hartung was born at Quincy, Illinois, February 21, 1869, son of
Fred and Sophia (Kruger) Hartung. His parents were natives of
Germany. His father, a carpenter by trade, went to Quincy, Illinois, in
early life and both farmed and followed his trade for several years.
Subsequently he came west by prairie schooner and located among old
friends and neighbors in the Fontanelle colony, where he bought land and
continued farming and stock raising. He also built many of the homes
of the earlier settlers. He had a long and useful life and died honored
and respected at the age of sixty-nine in 1903. His widowed mother is
still living, aged eighty-five. Both were active members of St. Paul's
Lutheran Church and his father was a democrat. To their marriage
were born eight children: August, William and Julius, all farmers in
Washington County; Mary, wife of Henry Pluggy, a farmer in Wash
ington County; Lizzie, deceased; Catherine, wife of Fred Huewman,
living on a Washington County farm ; Emma, wife of Fred Brackett, a
farmer in Washington County ; and Gottlieb.
Gottlieb Hartung attended his first school in Washington County
and completed his education before he settled down to the serious
responsibilities of life. He assisted his father on the farm for a number
of years, and at the age of thirty-one established a home of his own.
His has been a record of straightforward progress and today he owns
355 acres, with fine improvements, and operated as a stock farm.
Mr. Hartung is also a member of the progressive organizations in his
section, being a stockholder of the Farmers' Union and the Fontanelle
Mercantile Company.
In 1898 he married Miss Emma Jacobs, a native of Washington
County and a daughter of Henry Jacobs. To their union were born ten
children : Agnes, Obert, Mata, Freda, Violet, Verna, Ervin and Merle, all
at home, while the youngest were twin daughters, Lorraine and Lorre'tta,
the latter being deceased. The family are members of St. Paul's Luth
eran Church. Mr. Hartung casts his vote according to the dictates of his
independent judgment. The father of a large family, he is naturally
interested in their education, and for fifteen years has served as a mem
ber of the School Board in District No. 5.
George Franke, who was brought to Washington County when a
child more than forty years ago, has securely established himself in a
community of prosperous farmers and farm owners around Fontanelle
He owns a valuable farm a mile east of the town in section 10, and while
absorbed in the duties of his farm he has found time to participate and
help influence for the good various community projects.
The Frankes, like so many of the substantial families of Fontanelle
came from Quincy, Illinois. George Franke was born at Quincy in 1873'
son of William and Anna (Stiegel) Franke. His parents were natives of
Germany and the father was a cooper by trade and was employed in that
line in a factory at Quincy, Illinois, until he came out to Washington

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 509
County in 1879. In Nebraska he applied himself successfully to general
farming and stock raising and died in 1890 at the age of fifty, his widow
surviving him until 1915, being eighty-four at the time of her death.
Of eight children six are still living : ^Adgm, a farmer in Washington
County; Louis, a Washington County farmer; Anna, widow of Henry
Neiderhof er who lives near Arlington ; Lizzie, wife of August Hartung ;
Martha, wife of Reinhart Sick of Hooper, Nebraska ; and George. The
father of these children was at one time a trustee of the Lutheran
Church at Fontanelle. In politics he was independent.
George Franke acquired his education in the schools of Fontanelle
and after the age of twenty-five became a farmer on his own account.
He has always combined cattle feeding with the raising of crops, and for
several years has specialized in .Shorthorn cattle. Like his father he is
an independent voter and he and his family are members of the Lutheran
Church at Fontanelle.
In 1897 Mr. Franke married Wilmena Kampf, who was born in
Germany, a daughter of William Kampf. Their home life has been
blessed with four children, all at home, named Wihnena, George, Chester
and Helen.
<• — —————«
William O. Anderson, whose home is in section 22 of Hooper
Township, has always looked upon Nebraska as a state of opportunities.
However, the opportunities were not the kind that a man would seek
desiring an easy life and income. He has realized his rewards at the
expense of a great deal >of labor, many sacrifices, and a persistent going
ahead and doing the duties that came nearest to him, no matter how cir
cumstances might frown and forbid.
Mr. Anderson was born on an Illinois farm in 1875 and a year later
his father, David Anderson, took his family to Iowa. W. O. Anderson
grew up in a home of simple comforts, acquired a common school edu
cation, and at the age of nineteen, with a sister and a brother aged seven
teen, came to Nebraska. His first location was in Colfax County and
having no money with which to buy land he made out as a renter for thir
teen years, gradually accumulating some capital. He remained near
North Bend as a renter until 1907 when he bought a farm in Boone
County, Nebraska, where he remained four years, when . he sold and
moved to North Bend for five years, then in 1916 he came to his present
place near Winslow and purchased 615 acres. On this land his enterprise
has greatly expanded, and he is one of the leading farmers and stock men
of the locality. In livestock he specializes in the raising of sheep.
Mr. Anderson is a stanch republican in politics, and fraternally is
affiliated with the Masons and Modern Woodmen of America. He and
his family are Methodists.
Mr. Anderson married in June, 1897, Miss Anna Banghart. They
have four children, capable young people who have grown up to appre
ciate the value of education as well as industry. These children are
Frank D., Edward L., Harvey D. and Mabel L. Frank D. enlisted
August 13, 1918, when nineteen years old at Fort Logan in the engi
neers, Camp Humphrey, Virginia, was made bayonet instructor and was
on board train to go overseas when the armistice was signed. He obtained
a release and came home. Discharged December 13, 1918.
Mrs. Anderson is a daughter of Vangilder Banghart, a pioneer of
Dodge County, who in 1868 homesteaded eighty acres in Ridgeley
Township. His first home was a dugout, but gradually he gave his fam
ily all the substantial comforts of life and made a farm that is still rated

510 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
as one of the best in that section of the country. He was one of the
early fruit growers, setting out a large orchard, and placed many shade
trees around his home. When he first came to the county his nearest
market was the little Village of Fremont, containing only a few buildings.
Vangilder Banghart was born in Ohio in December, 1835, son of
Henry and Mary A. Banghart, natives of New Jersey. Their four chil
dren were Vangilder, Isaac, Mary J. and Henry. Vangilder Banghart
lived in the Buckeye State until he was thirty years of age, and when
he reached Nebraska he was $5.00 in debt, having borrowed that sum
at Omaha. At that time he was a veteran of the Civil war, having
enlisted in 1861 in Company I of the Twelfth Ohio Infantry. He was
in a company commanded by Captain Cable, and during his first three
months' enlistment served in the West Virginia campaign. After being
discharged he again enlisted in Company G of the Second Ohio Infantry
and served with the Fourteenth Army Corps in the army of the Cumber
land. Altogether he gave three years and five months to the cause of
winning the Union. Among other battles he was at Iron Mountain,
West Liberty, Perryville, Stone River, Chickamauga and Missionary
Ridge, and went through the heat of the conflict without a wound. He
was mustered out at Columbus, Ohio, and in March, 1865, he married
Catharine A. Roat, daughter of Jacob and Nancy Roat, the former a
native of Pennsylvania and the latter of New Jersey. Mr. and Mrs.
Banghart became the parents of ten children : Thomas, Ida, William T.,
Lillie, Mrs. Anna Anderson, Jesse and Frank, both deceased, John L.,
Nellie and Roy G. The Bangharts are members of the Methodist Church.
George G. Hindmarsh was one of the capable, honest, public-spirited
citizens who gave the greater part of his life to the development of a
Dodge County farm, making a home, providing for those dependent
upon him, and associating himself with every worthy cause in his
community. He was born in Illinois and died in Dodge County January 21, 1915,
at the age of fifty-three, having come to Nebraska as a youth. On
January 1, 1888, he married Miss Emma Pollock, then sixteen years of
age. She was born in Douglas County, Nebraska, daughter of Joseph
and Elizabeth Pollock. Her father, a native of Scotland, came to the
United States at the age of eighteen, lived for a time in Illinois, from
which state he went into the Union army during the Civil war, and
after the war went west to California, but eventually settled in Douglas
County, Nebraska, where he homesteaded and where he spent the rest of
his life improving a farm. Of the eight children of Joseph Pollock and
wife Mrs. Hindmarsh is the oldest. The others were Irvin, Bert, Olive,
Nellie of Minneapolis, Leander, deceased, Allen of Minneapolis', while
the youngest died in childhood.
George Hindmarsh was a practical young farmer when he married
and during the rest of his life he looked after his landed interests,
farmed on a rather extensive scale, and converted a tract of prairie into
a farm improved with good buildings and now an attractive feature of
the landscape. A republican voter, he was always progressive in matters
of citizenship and for the last four years of his life held the office of
township assessor.
After her husband's death Mrs. Hindmarsh made her home in Arling
ton, but finally moved back to the farm to assist her son in operating
the 160 acres. The family enjoy the comforts of one of the good rural
homes of Dodge County. Mrs. Hindmarsh has shown much capability

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 511
as a business woman and practical farmer. She is the mother of nine
children: Pearl, John, Irvin, Wesley, Clarence, Stuart, Marvin, Donald
and Genevieve. Mrs. Hindmarsh has been a member of the Methodist
Church since the age of fourteen years.
Otto Langhorst, Sr., has the distinction .of having made his home
continuously on one tract of land in Washington County forty-three
years. That farm indicates the quality of enterprise, industry and good
management that have always prevailed there. The Langhorst homestead
is in section 22 of Fontanelle Township, the home being a mile and a
half south and a mile east of Fontanelle Village.
Mr. Langhorst was born in Germany October 12, 1843, son of
Henry Langhorst, a German farmer who spent all his life in the father
land. Otto Langhorst was reared and educated in his native land and
soon after his marriage started for America, reaching Washington County
May 4, 1869. To begin life in America he had come practically to the
very western frontier. After reaching Omaha he traveled to his destina
tion by wagon. For a time, having limited capital, he rented land, and
then engaged in farming on his own property. In 1877 he bought his
present place, and through all the years has handled good livestock in
connection with his crops.
In 1869, in Germany, he married Mary Brunkost. Eight children
were born to their marriage : Anna, at home ; Henry, a Washington
County farmer; Otto, A., Jr., of Fontanelle; Edward, who lives on a
farm in Dodge County; William, Albert and Louis, all at home; and
Mary, who died in infancy. The mother of these children died Septem
ber 11, 1912, at the age of sixty-six, forty-three years after her marriage,
and after she had seen her sons and daughters grow up to useful man
hood and womanhood. Mr. Langhorst is actively identified with the
Lutheran Church at Fontanelle and politically casts his vote with the
republican party.
Edward Niebaum, whose farm home is in section 9, a mile northeast
of the Town of Fontanelle, grew up in this community and has lived
here for more than half a century. He has prospered in his farm activi
ties, and has also acquired many interests to identify him with the sub
stantial citizenship of Washington County.
Mr. Niebaum was born at Quincy, Illinois, March 15, 1865, and was
brought to Washington County in 1868 as part of the Quincy colony that
began settlement here in pioneer times. His parents, Herman and
Recia (Monke) Niebaum, were born in Germany, lived on a farm near
Quincy, Illinois, for several years and in 1868 established their home in
Nebraska among many of their former friends and neighbors from
Illinois. They made the journey from Quincy by wagon and team.
Herman Niebaum for many years was an industrious farmer around
Fontanelle and died in 1892, while his widow survived him until 1912 at
the age of eighty-three. He served a number of years as a trustee of the
Lutheran Church at Fontanelle and was a republican in politics.
Edward Niebaum was educated in the common schools of Washing
ton County, finished his education in Midland College in Kansas, and for
thirty years has been practically identified with farming. He owns one
of the well-improved places of the township, and from the farm his
interest has gone out to other enterprises. He is a stockholder in the
First Bank of Nickerson, in the Great Western Tire and Body Company
of Omaha, the Lyon Bonding Company of Omaha, Blackstone Hotel,

512 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Omaha, in the Baker White Pine Lumber Company of Oregon and in
the Farmers' Union at Nickerson. In 1891 Mr. Niebaum married Miss
Anna Sprick, daughter of Henry Sprick, Sr., one of the most promi
nent of the old Quincy colony at Fontanelle, of whom a complete sketch
is found on other pages of this volume. They have four children:
Leah and Dorothy, both graduates of the Fremont High School, and
Clarence and Willis, who are still getting their education in the local
schools. The family are Lutherans and Mr. Niebaum is a republican.
William J. McVicker, who is now living practically retired in the
thriving little City of North Bend, Dodge County, was a lad of thirteen
years when, in 1864, he accompanied his parents on their immigration
to Nebraska Territory, the family home being established in Dodge
County, where he was reared to manhood under the conditions that
marked the pioneer days. Few men in Nebraska have had as wide and
varied an experience as has Mr. McVicker, for, as a skilled millwright
and practical mining engineer, he has held important executive positions
in South Africa, Australia and Mexico.
Mr. McVicker was born in New York City on November 24, 1850,
and is a son of Robert and Margaret (McKee) McVicker, both natives
of Ireland, where the former was born January 3, 1824. Robert
McVicker was reared and educated in his native land, whence, in 1850, he
came with his young wife to America and established his residence in the
City of New York. Later he was engaged in farm enterprise in New
Jersey, and finally he removed to Ohio, where he followed the same
vocation until 1864, when he came with his family to Nebraska and set
tled in Dodge County, where he reclaimed and improved a pioneer farm
and became one of the successful exponents of agricultural and livestock
industry in that county. In order to afford his children requisite educa
tional advantages he finally removed from his farm to Peru, Nemaha
County, and there he lived virtually retired until his death, at a venerable
age, his wife having passed away in April, 1875, at the age of forty-eight
years, both having been active members of the United Presbyterian
Church and his political ahegiance having been given to the republican
party. Of the seven children William J. is the eldest ; Anna is the wife
of Alonzo Tate and they reside in the State of Oklahoma; Joseph is a
resident of Long Beach, California ; James is living retired, at Schuyler,
Nebraska; Mary is the wife of William J. Gregg, a farmer near Kress,
Texas; Margaret is the wife of Edward Lippitt, a talented teacher of
music, and they reside at Liberty, Indiana ; and Hugh is night editor of
the Nebraska State Journal, in the City of Lincoln.
William J. McVicker gained the major part of his early education
in the public schools of Ohio, and supplemented this by attending the
pioneer schools of Nebraska. He early gained a. full quota of experience
in connection with the activities of his father's pioneer farm, and his
initial enterprise of independent order was made when he engaged in
farming in Cuming County. He became influential in public affairs in
Cuming County and represented that county in the Nebraska Legislature
in 1877. In the following year he went to the Black Hills, where, as a
millwright, he continued to be actively identified with mining operations
for nine years. He passed the following year in Dodge County, Nebraska
and in the meanwhile served as deputy sheriff of the county. In 1888
Mr. McVicker went to Johannesburg, South Africa, under commission
to assume charge of mills there operated by an important English min
ing syndicate. He remained three and one-half years. He then went to

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 513,
Mexico, to make an examination of mining property, and his next experi
ence was in connection with the equipping and developing of mining
properties in Australia. Incidental to this service he was enabled to
make the trip around the world. From Australia Mr. McVicker returned
to Dodge County, Nebraska, and soon afterward he here recruited and
was captain of a company for service in the Spanish-American war. He
took his command to Cuba and continued in active service one year. He
then passed three years in the handling of important construction work,
as a construction engineer, on the west coast of Africa, and in this con
nection he was absent from his home for four years. Since his return
,he has continued his residence in Dodge County and has not responded
again to wanderlust save in one instance. He represented this county
in the State Legislature for two terms. His peaceful quietude has been
broken by three years' association with mining enterprise in Nevada and
his broad experience makes him an authority in the technical details of
mining industry. Mr. McVicker is a man of broad views and well poised
intellectual powers, is a stanch democrat in politics, is affiliated with
the Modern Woodmen of America and the Ancient Order of United
Workmen, and he and his wife hold membership in the United Presby
terian Church, in the faith of which he was reared.
In April, 1872, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. McVicker to
Miss Jennie H. Miller, daughter of Robert and Jane (Bennett) Miller,
who were numbered among the very early settlers in Dodge County, where
they established their home in 1856, more than ten years before the
admission of Nebraska to statehood ; the journey from Illinois was made
with wagon and ox team, and the family arrived in Dodge County July
4th of the year mentioned, Mr. Miller having here secured land and devel
oped one of the first productive farms of the county, he having passed
away in 1911, and his wife having died the preceding year. Their names
merit enduring place on the roll of the honored pioneers of Nebraska.
In' conclusion is given brief record concerning the children of Mr. and
Mrs. McVicker : Margaret is the wife of Charles K. Watson, who is
engaged in the lumber business at North Bend ; Ella is the wife of Albert
Wood of Lead City, South Dakota ; Irma is the wife of James P. Gillis
of Boise, Idaho ; Robert, now residing at Ranger, Texas, was one of the
gallant young men who served with the American Expeditionary Force
in France during the nation's participation in the World war, and thir
teen days after his arrival in France he was taking part in the great
Argonne campaign, with which he continued forty-one days, he having
held the rank of first sergeant at the time of his discharge ; Jessie is the
wife of John Emerson, manager of the North Bend flour mills; and
Frederick is manager of a lumber yard in the City of Omaha.
Leander B. Smith, M. D. — After many years of earnest, faithful
and efficient service in the practice of his exacting profession, Doctor
Smith has well earned the retirement which he now enjoys, as the
shadows of his life lengthen from the West, where the sunset gates
are open wide. The doctor built up an excellent general practice in
Dodge County and has maintained his home at Fremont, the county seat,
since 1867, the year that marked the admission of Nebraska to the
Federal Union of commonwealths. Commanding a high- place in the
confidence and loyal friendship of the people of Dodge County, and
honored as one of the sterling pioneers of this section of the state,
Doctor Smith is entitled to special recognition in this history of Dodge
and Washington counties.

514 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Doctor Smith was born in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania, Jan
uary 27, 1846, and is a son of Isaac O. and Sarah (Bunnell) Smith,
who passed their entire lives in the old Keystone state, where the father
was a prosperous farmer in Wyoming County for many years prior to
his death, the old homestead place being still in the possession of the
family. Isaac O. Smith supported the cause of the republican party
from the time of its organization until the close of his long and useful
life, and both he and his wife were earnest members of the Methodist
Episcopal Church. Of their five children three are living, Doctor
Smith, of this review, being the eldest of this number; Malissa M. has
never married and still maintains her home in Wyoming County, Penn-,
sylvania; and Hernando C. still resides in that county, where until
recent years he continued to have the active management of the old home
farm on which he was born.
Reared to the sturdy discipline of the farm, Doctor Smith acquired
his early education in the schools of his native county, and he continued
his residence in Pennsylvania until 1867, when he came to the new state
of Nebraska and established his residence at Fremont. Here he gave
his attention principally to the drug business during the earlier period of
his pioneer experience, but finally, in consonance with his ambitious
purpose and previously formulated plans, he entered the College of
Physicians and Surgeons in the city of Keokuk, Iowa, in which institu
tion he was graduated as a member of the class of 1878 and with the
well won degree of Doctor of Medicine. He forthwith established
himself in practice at Fremont, and this city continued as the central
stage of his long and successful service in his humane profession,
to the work of which he gave his close attention until 1915, when he
retired. However, many of the families to whom he long ministered as
physician and friend, have continued to ask for his presence in times of
illness — a call which he has never refused to meet unless circumstances
made his visitation impossible. Doctor Smith is one of the veteran and
honored members of the Dodge County Medical Society, and is at the
present time one of its oldest members. He is affiliated also with the
Elkhorn Valley Medical Society, the Nebraska State Medical Society
and the American Medical Association. He served several years as city
physician of Fremont, and two terms as county coroner. He was reared
in the faith of the republican party and has never deviated therefrom.
The doctor has been affiliated with the Masonic fraternity for fully
half a century, has served as senior warden of the local lodge of Free
and Accepted Masons; is a member of Mount Tabor Commandery.
Knights Templar, in his home city; and has received the thirty-second
degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, besides being affiliated
with the Mystic Shrine and holding membership in the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows. He has for many years been an earnest member
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which his wife likewise was a
devoted adherent until her death.
The year 1878 recorded the marriage of Doctor Smith to Miss Cora
M. Albertson, who was born in Colfax County, this state, a daughter
of Alexander Albertson, who came to Nebraska Territory in 1856
and became one of the earliest settlers of Colfax County, where he
took up land and instituted the development of a farm, his death having
there occurred in 1866. Doctor and Mrs. Smith became the parents
of two sons who survive the loved wife and mother, who passed to the
life eternal in December, 1906, and whose memory is revered by all
who came within the compass of her gracious influence. Victor B

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 515 .
the elder son, resides in the City of Omaha, where he is associated with
the Omaha Bee, one of the leading newspapers of the state ; Floyd A.
is in the automobile business in Fremont.
Guy H. Teeter is identified with a line of industrial enterprise
with which his father has been prominently concerned for many years
and he is now secretary of the North Bend Milling Company, which
owns and operates a thoroughly modern merchant mill at North Bend,
Dodge County, his father being president of the company and John
A. Emerson, the treasurer, the latter being individually mentioned in
the paragraphs that immediately follow this sketch.
Guy H. Teeter was born at Hampton, Iowa, on the 5th day of
April, 1885, and is a son of John and Elizabeth (Watson) Teeter, the
former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Sheffield, England.
The father was actively" associated with milling operations for more
than sixty years, and though he is now living virtually retired at
North Bend, he is still president of the North Bend Milling Company.
He was secretary and treasurer of the company until the death of his
honored coadjutor, the 'late William Emerson, and upon the death of the
latter, in 1913, he succeeded to the presidency of the company. It is
gratifying to record that the active management of the substantial
business is now vested in the sons of the original partners. John Teeter
had broad and varied experience in connection with milling operations,
he having served an apprenticeship in the old Star & Crescent Mills in
the City of Chicago, having worked in the dressing down of the buhr
stones in mills operated under the old-time system, at Minneapolis,
Minnesota, prior to the adoption of the roller process in that great
center of the flour manufacturing industry, and as a skilled workman at
his trade he held responsible positions in turn at Waterloo and Cedar
Falls, Iowa. Later he was for fourteen years manager of the operation
of the Wahoo Mills, at Wahoo, Nebraska, and in 1902 he became allied
with the late William Emerson in the ownership and operation of the
mills at North Bend, under the present corporate title of the North
Bend Milling Company. These mills have a capacity for the daily out
put of 250 barrels of flour, steam power is used and the products are
of the highest grade, with the result that a substantial and prosperous
merchant-milling business is controlled by the company.
Guy H. Teeter gained his youthful education principally in the
public schools of Nebraska, and after having availed himself of the
advantages of the high school at Beatrice, judicial center of Gage
County, he attended the University of Nebraska for two years. He has
been actively associated with the North Bend Milling Company since
1909, and prior to that year had been for four years employed by the
firm of Nye, Snyder, Fowler Grain Company, which operates the largest
terminal grain elevator in the City of Omaha. He has been secretary of
the North Bend Milling Company since 1913. He is a member of the
directorate of the Nebraska Millers' Association, is a republican in
politics, and his Masonic affiliation includes membership in that jocund
order, the Mystic Shrine.
John A. Emerson, whose technical and executive powers have
proved of marked value in connection with the operations of the North
Bend Milling Company, at North Bend, Dodge County, is now serving
as treasurer of this representative industrial corporation and is one of
the progressive business men of the younger generation in this part
of the state.

516 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Mr. Emerson was born at LaPorte City, Iowa, on the 23d of August,
1881, and is a son of William and Alf retta (Smith) Emerson, the
former of whom was born in England and the latter in the State of
Pennsylvania. At Waterloo, Iowa, as a young man, William Emerson
learned the milling trade, and later he traveled somewhat extensively
as an expert miller in the service of the Barnard & Leas Manufacturing
Company, of Moline, Illionis. Finally he became associated with J. H.
Patterson in establishing the milling business at North Bend, Nebraska,
under the title of the North Bend Milling Company, and he continued
as president of this corporation until his death, in 1913. He was a man
of marked ability in the practical work of his chosen vocation, as well
as in connection with the directing of commercial policies, his having
been a secure vantage place as one of the prominent business men and
honored and influential citizens of North Bend, where his widow still
resides. He was a republican in politics and- held membership in the
Methodist Episcopal Church, as does also his widow. Of their children
John A., of this review, is the eldest ; Howard is employed by the North
Bend Milling Company; Harry E. is vice president of the company;
Ruth is the wife of George Snyder, a prosperous farmer in Colorado;
and Joseph and Paul are stockholders in the North Bend Milling
Company. John A. Emerson is found aligned as a supporter of the cause of
the republican party, holds membership in the Presbyterian Church, is
affiliated with the Masonic Lodge and is recognized by the milling
fraternity as one of the leading hard wheat millers of his state.
H. O. Bergquist. A prominent and prosperous member of the
farming community of Dodge County, H. O. Bergquist, of Logan
Township, is in very truth a native, and to the manner born, his birth
having occurred- May 22, 1876, on the farm which he now occupies,
and which he is managing with such marked ability and success.
Oscar A. Bergquist, his father, was born and educated in Sweden,
and early in life came with his parents, two brothers and two sisters
to the United States, and for a short time thereafter lived in Illinois.
In 1867 the father, who was a farmer by occupation, came with his
family to Dodge County, Nebraska, making the long, tedious trip with
wagons. Taking up a homestead claim in Logan Township, on section
24, he lived for a few seasons in a dugout, as did nearly all of the
pioneers at first, and began the improvement of a farm. His earnest
labors were well rewarded, and on the farm which he redeemed he
spent the remainder of his life, passing away at the age of sixty-six years.
His wife, whose name before marriage was Nellie Nelson, survived him,
and is now a resident of Hooper, this county.
Brought up on the parental homestead, where his entire life has been
spent, H. O. Bergquist began as soon as old enough to assist in the
manual labor of the home farm, and since assuming its management
has met with assured success, his improvements being of an excellent
character, while everything about the premises bears evidence of the
thrift and good judgment of the proprietor. Mr. Bergquist is a general
farmer and stock raiser, making a specialty of breeding Polled Shorthorn
cattle. Mr. Bergquist has also acquired considerable other property
being a stockholder in the Lion Bonding Company, of Omaha and in
the Logan Valley Bank, of Uehling. Mr. Bergquist is a Lutheran in
religion, and acquired his business education in the Lutheran Colleee
after attending the. Fremont Normal School. '

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 517
Mr. Bergquist married, in 1906, Edith Tunberg, the oldest daughter
of Frederick and Matilda Tunberg, Knox County farmers, who reared
a family of eleven children. Mr. and Mrs. Bergquist have two children,
Harold and Hazel, both attending school.
C. J. Schow has been a resident of Dodge County since he was a
boy of five years, has imbibed deeply of the progressiveness for which
Nebraska stands forth most distinctly and in his career as a farmer and
stock-grower he has achieved the success that marks him as. one of the
representative exponents of these basic industries in the county. He
continued to be actively associated with his father in farm operations
until the latter's death, and since that time has independently carried
forward the activities of the fine farm of 292 acres, which they together
accumulated and improved and which is attractively situated in section
25, Maple Township. The buildings and other improvements on -this
farm estate offer little suggestion of conditions that existed when the
father here established his home in a rude dugout of the type common
to the pioneer days, and the remarkable changes that have occurred,
but offer evidence of the splendid rewards which Nebraska pays to those
who earnestly and industriously call forth returns from the willing
soil of this fine commonwealth.
C. J. Schow was born in Denmark, April 28, 1871, and is a son
of John and Catherine Schow, who continued their residence in their
native land until 1876, when they immigrated to America and estab
lished their home in Dodge County, Nebraska, where they passed the
remainder of their lives, the father baying died at the age of sixty-nine
years and the mother having passed away when sixty-eight years of
age. Both were devout communicants of the Lutheran Church. As
previously noted, C. J. Schow was a lad of five years when his parents
came to Dodge County, and here he was reared on the pipneer farm,
his father having at first rented eighty acres of land and then having
purchased the property, to which he and his son continued to add until
they developed the present fine farm of 292 acres now owned by the
latter. Hans J. Schow, a brother two years older than C. J., lived
at the parental home until his death at the age of twenty. The first
team which John J. Schow owned and used in connection with the
work of the farm was a yoke of oxen, but these slow-moving animals
soon gave place to horses, while today Mr. Schow uses the best of
modern facilities in the varied operations of his farm. C. J. Schow
gained his early education in the schools of Dodge County, and that in
later years he has taken loyal interest in the public schools of the
county is shown by his having served six years as a member of the
school board of his district. He is a democrat in his political adherency
and he served two years as treasurer of Maple Township, a preferment
indicative of the unqualified confidence and esteem in which he is
held in his home community. Mr. Schow has been a member of the
board of directors of the Farmers' Union Co-operative Association of
Nickerson, Nebraska, since it began business in 1913 and he is now
president of the organization. He is also president of the Peoples
Co-operative Store of Fremont, one of the leading business houses of
the city at present doing a mercantile trade of $200,000 annually.
At Fremont, this county, in 1895, was solemnized the marriage of
Mr. Schow to Miss Christine Eidam, who was born and reared in
Dodge County, where her father, Casper Eidam, was an early settler.
Mr. and Mrs. Schow have three children: Lydia is the wife of Harry

518 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Christensen, who is engaged in farming in Dodge County; and Harry
and Marie remain at the parental home. Both C. J. Schow and his
wife are earnest communicants of the Lutheran Church.
Otto A. Langhorst. The Langhorst family became identified with
Fontanelle a few years after the establishment of the colony here and
the Langhorst farm near Fontanelle is one of the oldest places under
continuous ownership in that community. Representing the second
generation of the family in Washington County, Otto A. Langhorst
has spent all his life here and for a number of years was a leading mer
chant at Fontanelle, but has latterly found an interesting and profitable
vocation as a grower of fancy poultry.
He was born at Fontanelle November 20, 1874, son of Otto and
Mary (Brunkhorst) Langhorst. His parents were natives of Germany.
The family established themselves at Fontanelle in 1865, when Otto
Langhorst bought the land comprising the old homestead. Many years
ago he set out a good orchard, and also carried on an extensive enter
prise as a farmer and stock raiser. He has lived retired since the age
of seventy-six. His good wife, who was born in 1845, died in 1913.
Both were supporting members of the Lutheran Church. Special men
tion made of them on other pages of this volume.
Otto A. Langhorst attended the common schools of Washington
County and took a one-year commercial course in the Midland College.
After some years of general farming experience he became a clerk in
the mercantile house of Sprick & Burkheimer at Fontanelle, later bought
out the firm, and altogether continued in business for fourteen years.
He finally sold to Block & Flaton, who had previously been associated
with him. About the time he left the store, Mr. Langhorst started
the development of his noted flock of rose comb Rhode Island Red
chickens, and has been steadily at that business, for eleven years, his
farm being a highly specialized industry.
In 1902 he married Miss Emma Sprick, a member of the prominent
Sprick family of the Fontanelle community, her father, Henry Sprick,
having been one of the founders of Fontanelle of whom special men
tion is given on other pages of this volume. Mr. and Mrs. Langhorst
have four children : Marion, attending high school at Fremont ; Mildred,
Margaret and Gerald, all at home. The family are active members of
the Lutheran Church. Mr. Langhorst is venerable consul of the Modern
Woodmen of America and in politics is a republican.
Guy B. Baird, D. D. S., was formerly one of the reputable dental
surgeons of Dodge County, where he enjoyed a well-earned practice
of large proportions. He is a carefully trained and skillful operator
and one who gives conscientious service to his patients. Doctor Baird
was born on a farm in Floyd County, Indiana, in 1873, a son of William
H. H. and Nancy C. (Smith) Baird. William H. H. Baird was born in
Kentucky, and his wife was born in Illinois, and they were married in
Indiana. Two brothers of William H. H. Baird, Wesley and Thomas
Baird, were Confederate soldiers, but he was a Union man, this division
in the family being but one of the innumerable instances during that
unhappy conflict when brother was opposed to brother, and each one
was actuated by the highest of principles.
In 1889 William H. H. Baird brought his family to Nebraska, home-
steading in Box Butte County, and remaining on his claim for two
years. He then moved to a farm near Central City, Nebraska, where

MR. AND MRS. OTTO A. LANGHORST

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 519
both he and his wife later passed away, having been successful farmers.
In religious faith he was a Methodist, and she a Presbyterian. Made
a Mason in Illinois in 1884, William H. H. Baird rose in his lodge and
held a number of offices during a long period of years. In politics he
was a republican. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Baird were
as follows: Mrs. J. F. Wallace, a widow of Central City, Nebraska;
G. B. Baird, who was second in order of birth; and Frank, who is a
farmer in the vicinity of Central City.
Doctor Baird attended the public schools of Horace, Illinois, and
Chapman, Nebraska, and then spent four years on a Nebraska farm.
He matriculated at the Omaha Dental College of Omaha, Nebraska, in
1897, and then in the fall of 1900 entered the dental department of
the Northwestern University, at Chicago, Illinois, and was graduated
therefrom in 1901. On May 1 of that year he established himself in
practice at Fremont, and remained there" recognized as one of the
leaders of his profession in Dodge County until his removal to
Los Angeles.
On October 25, 1911, Doctor Baird was united in marriage with
Bertha A. Rine, born on a farm north of Fremont, a daughter of
Philip S. Rine, a prominent banker of Fremont. They have no children.
Doctor and Mrs. Baird are Christian Scientists.
In 1894 Doctor Baird was made a Mason and has risen until he is
now a Knight Templar and Shriner Mason. He had held all of the
offices in the Blue Lodge, and was eminent commander of Fremont
Commandery in 1906, and he also belongs to the Benevolent and Pro
tective Order of Elks.
For a nurnber of years he has been connected with the various
societies of his profession, and has held all of the offices in the Nebraska
State Dental Association, including that of president in 1918 and 1919,
and he also belongs to the National Dental Association. For a number
of years he has been a member of the Woodbury Study Club. A close
student, Doctor Baird has taken up much post graduate work under
Dr. E. D. Campbell, of Kansas City, Missouri, and a course under
Dr. Rupert E. Hall, of Chicago, Illinois, completing the last in 1919.
During the late war Doctor Baird did considerable missionary work
in dentistry in the various states from New York to California, and he
is extremely well known all over Nebraska. His specialty is gold
fillings and Prosthodontia, although he does a large amount of oral
surgery. A man interested in civic betterment, he was active in the
Commercial Club, while he found congenial social diversion and com
panionship in the Country Club.
At present Doctor Baird is located in Los Angeles, California, spe
cializing in Prosthodontia.
P. J. Ewald. The almost universal use of automobiles by the gen
eral public has brought into being a new line of business within recent
years, that of providing an efficient service in the way of repair work,
the handling of accessories and the selling of standard makes of these
cars. Hooper, like every other community in the country, has its repre
sentatives in this business, and one of them who has been more than
ordinarily successful because of his capability and probity, is P. J.
Ewald, senior member of the firm of Ewald & Schaub.
P. J. Ewald was born at McCloud, Minnesota, a son of Martin and
Anna (Kulbflesh) Ewald, natives of Denmark and Illinois, respectively.
Mrs. Ewald died in 1911, aged sixty-two years, but Mr. Ewald is still

520 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
living, making his home in Minnesota. When he came to the United
States in young manhood, he located in Minnesota and there was
engaged in general farming and dairying until he retired. He and his
wife had twelve children, all of whom are living. In her religious belief
Mrs. Ewald was a member of the German Methodist Church. Mr. Ewald
is a thirty-second degree Mason. He never definitely connected himself
with any political party, but voted independently.
P. J. Ewald attended the public schools and was graduated from the
high school course. After leaving school Mr. Ewald spent five years
with a dredging company, and then for a time engaged in contracting.
In 1911 he came to Hooper and was employed by Tunberg & Ruty as
floorman and repairer of automobiles. After a year Mr. Ewald bought
a half interest in the business, and eighteen months later became the
sole proprietor. Subsequently Mr. Daw bought an interest and remained
in the business for over a year, when he sold to Mr. Schaub, and the
present firm of Ewald & Schaub was organized. The firm represent
the Ford and Republic cars, carry a complete line of accessories and do
a general repairing business, and have a fine and constantly growing
trade among people who appreciate good service.
In 1913 Mr. Ewald was united in marriage with Louisa Schaub.
A sketch of her family is to be found elsewhere in this work. Mr. Ewald
is a Mason and his wife belongs to the Eastern Star, and she is also a
member of Grace Lutheran Church, of Hooper. Like his father,
Mr. Ewald is an independent voter. He is a man widely and favorably
known and has always taken an intelligent interest in civic matters,
although never willing to go into politics as an office seeker.
Herman H. F. Waterman. The manufacturing interests of a sec
tion of country are exceedingly important and their healthy growth an
indication of public prosperity. Directly connected with the growth
are the men whose knowledge, judgment, foresight and energy are
necessary in the organization and maintenance of these enterprises.
Capital with no wise directing hand would be useless and the results
of unregulated effort would be unsubstantial. Especially important are
those industries which are in any way connected with building activities
for the problems of providing proper housing facilities are increased
when the normal output of building material is disturbed. Herman
H. F. Waterman, of Hooper, brick manufacturer, is one of the men
of Dodge County who has won his way step by step to his present
position in his community, through industry, natural aptitude and per
severing effort.
Herman H. F. Waterman was born at Fontanelle, Nebraska, in 1886,
a son of Herman and Caroline (Nolte) Waterman, natives of Germany!
Herman Waterman was a brick maker, beginning his apprenticeship
to the trade when only fourteen years old, in Germany. He came to the
United States with his father, and they located in Washington County,
Nebraska, where he established a brick plant and operated it at Fon
tanelle for five years. Moving to Scribner, Nebraska, he bought the
plant owned by Mr. Romburg and conducted it for five years, and then
he came to Hooper, and in 1893 bought the brick yard at ,this point
then owned by John Heimrick, who had established it. At that time
there were four kilns, but the plant has been enlarged so that there are
now ten, all of which are in operation, and the capacity of 'the plant is
50,000 brick per day. Associated with Mr. Waterman in this business
are his son and John Edelmeier. The plant including the land covers

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 521
157 acres, and shipments are made to Wyoming, South Dakota, Iowa
and different parts of Nebraska.
Herman H. F. Waterman was married in 1909 to Emma Bayer,
born in Dodge County, Nebraska, a daughter of Henry Bayer, now a
resident of Omaha, Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. Waterman have one child,
namely, Melba, who is attending school. Mr. Waterman is an inde
pendent voter. Fraternally he belongs to the Ancient Order of United
Workmen and the Knights of Pythias. Both he and his wife belong to
Grace Lutheran Church, of Hooper.
Herman H. F. Waterman is a Dodge County man, and received his
educational training in Hooper High School, Fremont Business College
and Boyles College of Omaha, where he completed his commercial
course. The brick yards are conducted as an incorporated concern with
Herman Waterman as president ; John Edelmeier as general manager,
and Herman H. F. Waterman as secretary and treasurer.
John J. Hansen. To a stranger in Nebraska perhaps the finely
cultivated farms and sleek stock might not convey the lesson taught one
who was conversant with the history of agricultural development in
these western states, or the proof this advancement affords of the fine
quality of the character of the citizens who have brought this about.
While it is now many years since Dodge and Washington counties
were included in the class of pioneer communities, yet that day is not so
far distant that men still in the very prime of life were participants in
the most strenuous period of this constructive development. Perhaps
because of the vivid contrast afforded between those days and the
present ones, these same men are able to appreciate what they and
their contemporaries have accomplished, and to look forward into the
future and see that the time is not so far distant when a much greater
advance will be shown along all lines.
One of the constructive agriculturists of Dodge County, whose finely
cultivated rural property is the homestead of his family for two gen
erations, is John J. Hansen of section 27, Maple Township.
John J. Hansen was born on this farm on August 3, 1878, a son of
Hans and Ellen Hansen, natives of Sweden, who came to the United
States in 1852. For a period after reaching this country Hans Hansen
worked at different jobs as he found them, but finally came West to
Nebraska and bought forty acres of land, later increasing his holdings
until he owned 160 acres at the time of his demise. His widow survives
him and makes her home at Fremont.
John J. Hansen was reared on his present farm and learned under
his father's careful supervision to be a practical farmer, and in his
agricultural ventures he has been eminently successful. For the past
ten years he has been conducting the homestead and doing general farm
ing and stockraising, averaging forty head of cattle of a good grade
but no thoroughbred strains.
In 1912 Mr. Hansen was united in marriage with Miss Minnie
Harnes, who was born in Dodge County. Mr. and Mrs. Hansen have
three children, namely: Mabel, Victor and Merl. In his political
sentiments Mr. Hansen is an independent republican, but he has never
sought to come before the public for consideration for public honors,
his time being too much occupied with his agricultural work. For some
years he has maintained membership with the Modern Woodmen of
America, and finds congenial companionship among his lodge brothers.
A man of solid and dependable characteristics, Mr. Hansen is an admir-
Vol. II— 5

522 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
able type of citizen and is a credit to his state, and his parents, and is
rearing his children along the same lines followed in his upbringing so
that they, too, will be worth-while representatives of the great state they
claim as their place of birth.
Mrs. Mae Gilmore is one of the honored residents of Fremont and
a lady who possesses many of the desirable attributes of her sex. She
has reared a family of fine children, has been very active in church
work, and proven herself a kind neighbor and good friend to those in
adversity. Mrs. Gilmore was born at Fontanelle, Iowa, a daughter of Hiram
and Marie (Dearinger) Miller. Hiram Miller was born on a farm near
Pella, Marion County, Iowa, and his wife also was born in Iowa.
They were married in that state and made it their home for some time,
before coming to Nebraska. For many years Mr. Miller was a stock
man, buying and selling horses upon quite an extensive scale, and he
made a success of his undertakings. His death occurred at Omaha,
Nebraska, in 1917, but his widow survives him and still makes her
home at Omaha. In politics Mr. Miller was a democrat. Both he and
his wife early joined the Christian Church, and she still maintains her
membership in it. They had the following children: Harry, who lives
at Omaha; Dollie, who married Peter Hanson, a stationary engineer of
Omaha; Mrs. Gilmore, who was third in order of birth; Pearl, who is
unmarried, lives at Billings, Montana; Maude, who married William
Fisher of Scottsbluff, Nebraska, who runs an engine at the sugar fac
tory of that city; and Loren, who is a resident of Omaha.
Mrs. Gilmore attended the public schools of Iowa and Omaha,
Nebraska, and was brought up carefully by her parents. In 1895 she
was married to Oliver Gilmore, and they became the parents of seven
children, namely: Olive, who married Walter Schrader, a druggist of
Elkhorn, Nebraska; Lela, who is unmarried, is a stenographer and lives
at home; William, who is a brakeman, also lives at home; Dora, who
works at the canning factory at Fremont; and Murel, Norma and
Bessie, all of whom are attending school. Mrs. Gilmore was reared
in the faith of the Christian Church, and when she reached a suitable
age, joined the church. Her children belong to the Baptist Church.
Her older children are doing well, and the ones in school give promise
of being equally successful, all of which is largely due to her careful
training of them and her inculcation into their plastic minds of lessons
which cannot but result in character building and good citizenship.
W. Howard Heine, M. D. Among the dependable and skilled physi
cians of Dodge County none stands higher in public confidence and
esteem than Dr, W. Howard Heine, of Hooper. He was born at
Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1877, a son of Fred F. and Lydia (Babb)
Heine, both natives of Pennsylvania, who came to Dodge County,
Nebraska, in 1883. Fred F. Heine established himself in the plumbing
business and conducted it at Hooper until he retired, when he moved
to Omaha, Nebraska, where he and his wife are now' living. She is a
consistent Lutheran. Mr. Heine became a charter member of Hooper
Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. In politics he is a
republican. Fred F. Heine and his wife became the parents of the following
children : Dr. W. Howard, who is the eldest ; Fred, who is a locomotive
engineer at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ; Harry, who is a farmer operat-

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 523
ing near Creston, Nebraska; John, who is deceased, was killed in a
gasoline accident; Dr. Clinton, who was born in Dodge County, secured
his degree in Pharmacy at Creighton University in 1906, his scientific
degree at the Nebraska State University, and that of Doctor of Medi
cine at Rush Medical College, Chicago, Illinois, and served six months
interneship at St. Joseph Hospital, Chicago, and two years interneship
at St. Luke's Hospital, Chicago, is now in partnership with his brother,
Dr. W. Howard, at Hooper, and during the World war served one and
one-half years overseas with Base Hospital No. 53 with the rank of
captain ;• Olivia, who is the wife of Herbert Bush, a cattle and sheep
raiser of Sheridan, Wyoming; Lydia, who is a stenographer of Omaha,
Nebraska; Edith, who is a teacher in the graded schools of Omaha,
Nebraska ; and Minerva, who is a stenographer of Omaha, Nebraska.
Dr. W. Howard Heine was graduated from the Hooper High School
in 1894, and then for three years served his apprenticeship with E. L.
Geisert, a druggist, passing by examination the State Board of Phar
macy as a registered pharmacist and then for three years was manager
of Doctor Zellers' pharmacy. He then entered the medical department
of the University of Nebraska and was graduated therefrom in 1905,
with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. For the subsequent eighteen
months he served as interne in the Douglas County Hospital. Return
ing to Hooper, Doctor Heine was associated in a general practice with
Doctor Zellers for three years, and then in 1910 opened an office for
himself. Still later his brother, Dr. Clinton Heine, came into partner
ship with him, and the association is regarded as one of the strongest
medical firms in this part of the state. They have a general medical
and surgical practice. Dr. W. Howard Heine was in the United States
service during the World war and was stationed at Base Hospital No. 75,
Oglethorpe, Georgia, with the rank of captain, and received his hon
orable discharge on January 1, 1919, after which he returned to Hooper
and resumed his practice.
In 1908 Doctor Heine was united in marriage with Edgard Lyman,
born at Hooper, Nebraska, a daughter of the late Thomas Lyman,
one of the oldest pioneers of the town. Doctor and Mrs. Heine have
two children, namely: Lyman Howard, who is attending the Hooper
public schools; and Mary, who is also attending school. Doctor Heine
is a Shriner Mason. He belongs to Grace Lutheran Church, and his
wife is an Episcopalian. In politics he is a strong republican. Doctor
Heine is a man of personal charm, culture and wide intellectual inter
ests and possesses high ideals with reference to professional obligations,
living up to them to the best of his capabilities, and rendering to his
community a whole-souled service which is meeting with appreciation
to judge from the regard in which he is held by all classes.
Charles H. Pease. As one of the leading dairymen of Dodge
County, Charles H. Pease, now living retired from active business cares
in Fremont, was for many years conspicuously identified with one of
the more important and useful industries of which our country can
boast, more especially while delivering the products of his dairy in
Fremont, for on the supply of pure and wholesome milk the life and
health of this, and future generations largely depends. Coming from
honored New England ancestry, he was born, January 31, 1856, in
Appleton, Maine.
His father, Harrison C. Pease, spent the major part of his life in
Maine, his native state. He was very prominent in his community, and

524 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
was successfully engaged in business as a shoe merchant and manufac
turer, having a large factory and a well-patronized shoe store. He
was a straightforward republican ' in politics, and a member of the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He married Mary E. Keene, a
native of Maine, and of their six children five are living, as follows:
Charles H., with whom this sketch is principally concerned ; Mrs. S. G.
McAlmon, of Maine; Edwin R., a bookkeeper in Los Angeles, Cali
fornia; Carrie E., residing in Rahway, New Jersey; and Harry C, of
Maine, who was formerly there engaged in mercantile pursuits, but is
now a bookkeeper.
Having acquired a practical education in the public schools of Apple-
ton, Maine, C. H. Pease began work at an early age, and for three years
was in the employ of the American Express Company, remaining a
member of the parental household. In 1881, following the tide of
emigration westward, he located in Fremont, Nebraska, in December
of that year, and very soon after embarked in the dairy business. He
bought land near Fremont, and rented adjoining tracts, and having
purchased a goodly number of cows delivered milk in Fremont for
fourteen years. Increasing his operations, Mr. Pease sold the milk from
his fifty cows to the local creamery, and continued in his extensive and
profitable industry until 1915, when he disposed of his dairy interests,
and moved to his present home in Fremont. He is a republican in poli
tics, but not an office seeker, and is a member of the Royal Highlanders.
Mr. Pease married, in October, 1884, Edith M. Sherman, who was
born in Maine, a daughter of Judson A. Sherman, a prominent business
man, having a shoe factory in both Maine and Massachusetts. Mrs.
Pease passed to the life beyond February 21, 1915, leaving two children,
namely: Mary H., working for the Plumfield Nursery Company, of
Fremont ; and Hazel A., bookkeeper for Eddy Brothers. Both daughters
are members of the Congregational Church.
George Foster. When an ever-busy man, from the feverish turmoil
of politics and the harassing cares of business, is retired to a peaceful,
quiet and happy life, such an individual naturally excites the friendly
envy of his less-fortunate fellowmen. Without ostentation or apparent
conscious superiority, he mingles in the society of his neighbors, and
enjoys with them the affairs of the present and a pleasant retrospect of
a life well spent. In this connection mention is due George Foster, now
living retired in Scribner, who was for a number of years agent for the
Chicago & Northwestern Railroad and who filled that office with success
and capability.
Mr. Foster was born in England, March 23, 1852, son of George
Foster, a tallow chandler, who never left his native land. Fred Foster,
a brother of George of this review, came to the United States and
located at Scribner, where for a time he was identified with railroad
work, but subsequently went back to England. George Foster was edu
cated in the public schools of England and in 1873 immigrated to the
United States. For a time he worked on a farm near Cedar Bluffs
and subsequently was employed first by Jack Statts and later by H B*
Nicodemus, on farms, later going to Arlington, where he secured employ
ment on a railroad. While in this employment he came to Scribner for
the first time, but later moved on to Onawa, Iowa, and, while working
around the railroad depots, learned telegraphy. Thus he was able to
secure an appointment as agent of a railroad at Mondamin Iowa and
remained there two years. In 1889 Mr. Foster again came to Scribner

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 525
this time as depot agent for the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, and
during the five years that he remained formed numerous friendships
that have continued to the present time. At the end of the period
mentioned, he was transferred by his road to the station at Blair, and
there, likewise, he served two years. Mr. Foster then resigned his
post with the railroad and purchased 160 acres of land in Pierce
County, Nebraska. After he had farmed this property for a short time,
he conceived the idea of laying out a town thereon, which was subse
quently named Foster in his honor. Mr. Foster was able to clear quite
a handsome sum on this transaction, and while residing at Foster served
efficiently in the capacities of postmaster and assessor. When he left
Foster it was to go to Lindsay, and there he was appointed station agent
and telegrapher, a position which he held one year, being then reap
pointed agent at Scribner, where he continued to discharge the duties
of that position until 1917, at that time retiring to his comfortable
home, where he is surrounded by every modern convenience. He has
a number of important business connections and is a stockholder and
director in the Scribner State Bank. Mr. Foster is a Blue Lodge
Mason, and in politics is an independent voter.
In 1879 Mr. Foster was united in marriage with Miss Caroline
Driggs, a native of Iowa, and to this union there have been born three
children : LeRoy, who is superintendent of the Cuban Railway in Cuba ;
Fred, agent for the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad at Elwell,
Iowa; and Byrne, telegraph operator at Scribner station, who resides
with his parents.
Grover C. Spangler. It is a well-authenticated fact that success
comes as a result of legitimate and well applied energy, unflagging
determination and perseverance in a course of action when once decided
upon. She is never known to bestow her largesses upon the indolent
and ambitionless, and only those who seek her untiringly are recipients
of her blessings. In tracing the history of the influential business man
and representative citizen whose name introduces this sketch, it is plainly
seen that the prosperity which he enjoys has been won by commendable
qualities and it is also his personal worth that has gained for him the
high esteem of those who know him.
Grover C. Spangler, who owns one of the best-appointed jewelry
stores in Eastern Nebraska and who for a number of years has been a
potent factor in the commercial affairs of Fremont, was born near that
city on May 19, 1888, and is the son of L. C. and Alveretta (Bordner)
Spangler. Both of these parents were born in Pennsylvania and came to
Dodge County in an early day, their marriage occurring after their
arrival here. L. C. Spangler and a brother bought a tract of farming
land north of Fremont, but he later sold his interest at $25 an acre,
and moved to Colfax County, this state. He was a well educated man,
having graduated from college, and after his location in Colfax County
he was elected superintendent of schools. Sometime later they moved
across the river to a town called Edholm, where he engaged in the
mercantile business, establishing a large store, which he operated for
about ten years, when he was burned out. In 1900 he came to Fremont
and entered the employ of Nye, Schneider & Company, with whom he
still remains. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, while in politics he has been active in support of the demo
cratic party. He has been a prominent member of the Knights of
Pythias, having served for many years as master of finance of his lodge.

526 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
To him and his wife .were born five children, namely : Ray, who is
station agent for the Northern Pacific Railroad at Manhattan, Mon
tana; Nettie, who assists her brother in the jewelry store; Grover C,
of this sketch; Lottie is the wife of Walter Wohenburg, a professor
in Yale College, at New Haven, Connecticut; Mason, who is engaged
in the jewelry business at Scotts Bluff, Nebraska.
Grover C. Spangler received his elementary education in the public
schools of Fremont, graduating from the high school, after which he
attended technical trade schools in Chicago and Milwaukee. Then
for a short time he was employed in the jewelry trade, but soon started
into the business on his own account. During the days when he served
as an employee he worked in Fremont, Nebraska, Butte, Montana,
Livingston, Montana, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In May, 1912,
Mr. Spangler engaged in the jewelry business on his own account in
Fremont and his record since then has been one of steady and con
tinuous progress. Starting modestly, and with a small stock of goods
and a working bench as his main assets, he has advanced both in volume
of business and in popular esteem, increasing his stock and enlarging
and improving his salesroom until today he possesses one of the hand
somest stores and most complete stocks of jewelry in the State of
Nebraska. He devotes his attention closely to his business and has
reached a very comfortable station in life. In addition to his jewelry
business, Mr. Spangler also does a good deal of speculating in farm
lands, in which he has met with splendid success.
In 1914 Mr. Spangler was married to Bessie Christensen, the
daughter of C. Christensen, and they are the parents of two children,
Stephen and Joan. Fraternally, Mr. Spangler is a member of the Ancient
Free and Accepted Order of Masons and the Benevolent and Protective
Order of Elks. Personally, Mr. Spangler is affable and popular with
all classes and stands ready at all times to encourage and aid all laudable
measures and enterprises for the general good. Because of his consistent
life and his fine personal qualities, he has won the esteem and good will
of all who know him.
John Gumb. With the passage and enforcement of the Eighteenth
Amendment, the men who had formerly been engaged in the manufac
ture of beverages stronger than those now permitted, wisely turned
their attention to the production of other lines of goods and already many
of them are meeting with an astounding success. The skill and knowledge
which in the past enabled them to furnish an excellent grade of fermented
goods, are just the qualities required in the manufacture of non
alcoholic beverages and similar products. One of these energetic busi
ness men and manufacturers of Fremont, is John Gumb, secretary
of the Fremont Beverage Company.
John Gumb was born in Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, on June 29,
1860, a son of Philip and Barbara (Kobberger) Gumb, who came to the
United States in 1870, locating at Chicago, Illinois, where he received
his naturalization papers. He was a brick contractor and was engaged
in that line of business until he died, both he and his wife passing away
at Chicago. Their three children were as follows: John, whose name
heads this review; George, who died at Fremont in 1916, was in the
retail liquor trade; and P. W., who was also in the retail liquor business
is a resident of Chicago, Illinois. The parents were devout members
of the Roman Catholic Church, and the father was a democrat in
politics.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 527
Growing up in Chicago, John Gumb attended its schools, but early
learned to be self-supporting and worked at mechanical engineering,
for ten years being connected with the erection of engines of various
kinds. Later he was connected with a concern manufacturing mining
machinery, and for two years traveled through the West in its interest,
and in this way became impressed with the possibilities of this region,
so, in 1891, he came to Fremont as supervising architect of the brewery
then in process of erection, and although he had to leave to carry out a
contract for the erection of a brewery at St. Louis, Missouri, he made
arrangements to return, doing so in 1892. For the subsequent two years
he carried on a cigar business in partnership with Mr. Bridenfeldt.
Going back to Chicago, he spent four years in that city erecting breweries
and elevators. April, 1899, brought him to Fremont again, and this
time he took charge of a brewery, and has been with it ever since, form
ing a company and served as its secretary. The company is now placing
on the market a beverage that is meeting with popular favor, and also
a malt syrup that has been found to be admirable for sweetening pur
poses in the households of the country to take the place of the high-
priced sugar.
In March, 1887, Mr. Gumb was united in marriage with Elizabeth
Nuernberger, born at Peru, Illinois, and they became the parents of five
children, namely: Philip, who is in the employ of the Union Pacific
Railroad at Grand Island, Nebraska; Fritz, who is a musician of Fre
mont ; John, who is studying law at Chicago, Illinois ; Harold G, who is
attending the Shattuck School, Faribault, Minnesota; and George
Arthur, who is attending the public schools of Fremont. The family all
belong to the Episcopal Church. In his fraternal relations Mr. Gumb
maintains membership with Elks, Eagles and Woodmen of the World.
A strong democrat, Mr. Gumb served on the board of public works for
twelve years, and has always taken a prime interest in the improvement
of the city. He owns considerable property, including 120 acres of land
in Douglas County and city realty, and he is vice president of the
Arctic Creamery Company, of Fremont. While he has these other
interests, Mr. Gumb is devoting all of his time to the beverage com
pany, and has built up a trade which extends all over the state and as
far east as Sioux City, Iowa, and expects to have it expand until he
covers at least all of the Western states, for he feels that his products
possess sufficient merit to popularize them wherever he introduces
them. Benjamin W. Reynolds. Enterprising, energetic and progressive,
Benjamin W. Reynolds is a fine representative of those native-born
citizens of Fremont, Dodge County, who have spent their lives within
its boundaries, and have been actively identified with the development
and promotion of its best interests, whether relating to its agricultural,
industrial or financial affairs. A son of Wilson Reynolds, his birth
occurred in Fremont, November 11, 1860. His paternal grandfather,
Benjamin Reynolds, a native of Whitehall, New York, spent the earlier
part of his life in the Empire State, migrating to Racine County, Wis
consin, in 1836, although his death occurred in Fremont, Nebraska,
where he came when well advanced in years.
Born December 25, 1825, at Virgil Corners, New York, Wilson
Reynolds migrated to Wisconsin in early manhood, and lived there
until after his marriage. In 1857 he settled in Fremont, Nebraska,
pre-empted a claim in Dodge County, a portion of which is now the site

528 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
of the Fremont Country Club, and he subsequently built up an extensive
business as a dealer in real estate and live stock. Industrious, enter
prising, and far-seeing, he accumulated a competency, and afterward
lived retired from business pursuits in Fremont until his death, in May,
1910. He married Sarah Morilla Harmon, who was born in Warren
County, Ohio, Julv 3, 1834, a daughter of Hiram Harmon, who moved
with his family from Ohio to Racine County, Wisconsin. Two children
were born to their union, as follows: Cassius S., of Fremont, who
acquired much wealth as an extensive dealer in land and live stock, and
is now retired from active business cares; and Benjamin W., of this
brief personal recprd.
Having completed the course of study in the public schools of Fre
mont, Benjamin W. Reynolds attended the University of Nebraska in
Lincoln, for two years, and at the age of nineteen years began his career
as a stockman, for a number of years driving stock across the plains.
In addition to his large dealings in live stock, Mr. Reynolds has for
many years bought and sold real estate on an extensive scale, at the
present time being the owner of several valuable farms.
On December 29, 1880, Mr. Reynolds was united in marriage with
Mary A. Davies, and into their household three children have been born,
namely: Mary M., formerly teacher in the public schools of Baker,
Oregon, now the wife of Albert Rodamor of that city ; Wilson B., and
Cassius James, both engaged in the insurance business. A straight
forward republican in politics, Mr. Reynolds served as chairman of the
republican committee for many years, and represented his district in the
State Senate one term, during the session of 1902 and 1903. He served,
under President Taft, as postmaster at Fremont four years, and during
the World war was food administrator. Fraternally Mr. Reynolds is a
member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons, belonging
to Lodge and Chapter; and of Fremont Lodge No. 513, Benevolent and
Protective Order of Elks. He attends the Episcopal Church, while
Mrs. Reynolds worships at the Baptist Church. In 1904, at 901 North I
Street, he erected his attractive home, which is a center of social
activity. Paul L. Keller. As long as such safe, careful, conservative finan
cial institutions as the Scribner State Bank, of Scribner, Nebraska,
easily bear the strain of readjustment after a great war, the general
interests of the community may be considered in a prosperous condi
tion. This bank has large capital back of it making its resources, for
business purposes, practically illimitable, has no concealed liabilities,
and is officered and directed by men who possess the confidence and?
high esteem of their fellow citizens.
The officers of the Scribner State Bank are as follows : Fred Volpp,
president; Henry Sievers, vice president; P. L. Keller, cashier- P. l!
Bauer and W. E. Fahnestock, assistant cashiers. Deposits in this bank
are protected by Guaranty Fund of the State of Nebraska.
Paul L. Keller was born in Germany, March 6, 1891, and was
brought to the United States by his widowed mother in 1892. She is
now a resident of Bloomfield, Nebraska, and a member of the Lutheran
Church. His parents were John and Caroline (Volpp) Keller both
of whom were born in Germany, and the father died there when aged
thirty-three years. He was a stone cutter by trade and followed the
same almost all his life. His death left two little sons fatherless
namely: Fred and Paul L. Both are in the banking business the

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 529
former' being cashier of the Cheyenne County State Bank at Cheyenne
Wells, Colorado.
Paul L. Keller was as stated an infant when his mother brought
him to America. She located at first at Wayne, Nebraska, but later
removed to Bloomfield, in Knox County. Paul L. attended the public
schools at Bloomfield, then took a commercial course at Fremont College.
In 1912 he came to Scribner and entered the Scribner State Bank as
assistant cashier, seven years later, in 1919, becoming cashier, a position
for which, .both by talent and temperament, he is admirably fitted.
On August 20, 1919, Mr. Keller was united in marriage to Miss
Magdalene Wupper, who was born in South Dakota. They have a
daughter, Annette Irene. Their pleasant home at Scribner is one of
great hospitality. Mr. Keller is a thirty-second degree Mason, and
belongs to the Mystic Shrine and to other fraternal organizations. He
has never united with any political party but is not indifferent as a
citizen, on the other hand being faithful to what he believes the best
interests of Nebraska and the country at large. Mr. and Mrs. Keller
are members of the Lutheran Church, and Mrs. Keller is interested in
many benevolent enterprises connected with the church and outside that
organization. Samuel A. Zapp, secretary and general manager of the Zapp Garage,
is one of the successful men of Fremont who has made his own way in
life and not only has the satisfaction of knowing that he has gained a
material prosperity, but that he has at the same time won appreciation
from his associates for his sterling traits of character. The birth of
Samuel A. Zapp took place at Chicago, Illinois, in December, 1877. He
is a son of Charles and Dilomer (Greenwood) Zapp, natives of Holstein,
Germany, and Canada, respectively. They were married at Chicago,
and came to Nebraska about 1880, and following his arrival in this state
Charles Zapp was engaged in a contracting business, although in early
life he was a sailor. His death occurred in 1905, but his widow sur
vives him and makes her home with her son, Samuel A. She and her
husband had three children, two of whom survive, namely: Samuel A.,
who was the eldest; and George W., who is a farmer of Winnebago,
Nebraska. In religious faith Charles Zapp was a member of the German
Lutheran Church, and his wife belonged to the Methodist Episcopal
Church. His political views were such as to place him in accord with
the principles of the democratic party, and he always voted its ticket.
While he did not acquire any great amount of wealth, he was fairly
successful, and was always highly respected.
The educational training of Samuel A. Zapp was obtained at the
Emerson High School and Highland Park College of Des Moines,
Iowa, and following his completion of his courses he taught school for
a year. He then worked at the carpenter trade at Emerson, and did some
contracting, and in 1910 came to Fremont, and opened up his present
automobile business, operated as the Zapp Auto Company. In 1916 he
incorporated the business under the name of the Zapp Garage, with a
capital stock of $25,000, of which he has been secretary and general
manager since the incorporation papers were taken out. The company
sells the Dodge and Chevrolet cars.
In October, 1915, Mr. Zapp was united in marriage with Zena John-
sen, who was born in Norway. They have a little daughter, Ruth Irene,
who received first prize in the baby contest at Fremont, and is consid
ered as one of the most perfect babies in the country. Mrs. Zapp belongs

530 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
to the Lutheran Church, while Mr. Zapp affiliates with the Methodist
Episcopal Church. Fraternally he belongs to the Odd Fellows, in which
he has passed all the chairs, the Knights of Pythias and Elks. In politics
he prefers to cast his vote independently of party ties. A very hard
working man he devotes himself to his business and does not care for
outside diversions, either political or social, aside from those amuse
ments in which his family can share.
Ira F. Richardson. The science of osteopathy is not understood
by many and is misunderstood by some so that in considering the life and
work of Dr. Ira F. Richardson of Fremont, an osteopathic practitioner,
it may not be out of place to state briefly the principles upon which he
works. The motto used as the working creed of the modern osteopath
is "God has made man's body perfect; as long as the body is normal,
health will reign." Osteopaths hold that the human body contains all
the remedial agents necessary for the maintenance of health, and that
these curative fluids are distributed when and where needed, except when
such distribution is interfered with by structural disorder. The province
of the osteopath is, therefore, to restore structural harmony, so that
the inherent healing power of nature may gain control, making the
administration of drugs unnecessary. From its name it mjght be
inferred that osteopathy deals only with the adjustment of the bones.
This idea is erroneous. Muscles, ligaments, and the various organs of
the body are included in the term structure, and in seeking to restore
function, the practitioner endeavors to secure the proper adjustment
of any or all of these parts to each other in regard to position, relation
and size. Many kinds of mechanical treatments have been known and
practiced for centuries, but the osteopathic theory, both as to the cause
and the treatment of disease, differs widely from that of the older
thinkers and practitioners. Instead of working blindly for results, the
osteopath seeks to find an intelligent reason for the disorder, and much
of his treatment is based upon well-known principles of mechanics.
Ira F. Richardson was born in Sanders County, Nebraska, in 1872,
a son of George and Lizzie (Husnetter) Richardson, natives of Michigan
and Iowa, respectively. They came to Nebraska, homesteaded in Sanders
County, and lived there for a number of years. Later they moved to
Linwood, Nebraska, where the father conducted a general store, but
they are now residing at Fremont. Having been such early settlers of
.the state, they recall many interesting events of pioneer days. Both
belong to the Congregational Church. In politics Mr. Richardson is a
republican and he served as postmaster while living at Linwood.
Doctor Richardson, who is the only child of his parents, attended
the schools of Linwood, Franklin Academy, and Weeping Water
Academy. He then went into his father's store for a time, but having
decided upon a professional career, he entered the National School of
Osteopathy at Kansas City, Missouri, and was graduated therefrom
in 1900, and from the S. S. Still College of Osteopathy, Des Moines
Iowa, and after a brief period, he took a course at Hahnemann Medical
College, Kansas City, Missouri, and was graduated therefrom in 1903
Doctor Richardson then located at Fremont and since that time has been
actively engaged in practice as an osteopath, meeting with a very ^rati
fying success. ¦ &
In 1912 he was married to Nina Phillips, who was born on a farm
in Dodge County, a daughter of Ezra Phillips. Mr. Phillips was one
of the early homesteaders of Dodge County, but he and his wife are now

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 531
living retired at Fremont. Mrs. Richardson is a member of the Chris
tian Church, but Doctor Richardson is not connected with any religious
organization, although he contributes liberally to the one to which
his wife belongs. He is a Knight Templar Mason, and also belongs to
the Elks, of which he was exalted ruler in 1911 and 1912, and repre
sented the Fremont Lodge at the Grand Lodge at Portland, Oregon, in
1912. Doctor Richardson has also filled a number of offices in the
Commandery, and both he and his wife belong to the Order of Eastern
Star, and she is past matron of the Fremont Chapter of that order.
In politics Doctor Richardson is a republican, but he has never entered
public life, all of his interest being centered in the practice of his pro
fession. Not only as a practitioner does Doctor Richardson stand well
in his community, but also as a man and citizen, his earnestness and
dependability being recognized and admired, and he is justly numbered
among the worth-while persons of Dodge County.
Anthony F. Plambeck is junior member of the firm of Springer &
Plambeck, which conducts one of the leading general insurance agencies
in the City of Fremont, and he has not only achieved prominence as one
of the successful insurance men of his native city but is also a representa
tive of an honored pioneer family of Dodge County.
Mr. Plambeck was born at Fremont on the 12th of September, 1870,
and is a son of Claus H. and Anna C. (Kuehl) Plambeck, who were
born and reared in Holstein, Germany, where ]their marriage was
solemnized. Utterly opposed to the rigorous military regime in his
native land, Claus H. Plambeck decided to come to America, where he
was assured of freedom of thought and action, as well as opportunity for
the achieving of independence through personal effort. He arrived
at Fremont, Nebraska, July 5, 1869, and he and his young wife were
entirely without financial resources, though rich in good health, ambition
and earnest purpose.
Mr. Plambeck became actively identified with farm enterprise, as
one of the pioneers of Dodge County, and later he was engaged in the
mercantile business at Fremont, where also he conducted a hotel for a
number of years. A man of utmost integrity and superior mentality, he
gained and retained the confidence and esteem of the people of Dodge
County, and became influential in community affairs. He served five
years as county judge, but prior to this had engaged in the insurance
business at Fremont, a line of enterprise to which he continued to give
his attention after his retirement from the bench of the county court
and until the time of his death, in 1910, at the age of sixty-seven years.
He served also as a member of the city council, was a staunch supporter
of the cause of the democratic party, was affiliated with the Knights of
Pythias and the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and was a zealous
communicant of the Lutheran Church, as is also his widow, who still
resides at Fremont and who celebrated in 1919 the seventy-seventh
anniversary of her birth. Of their fine family of fifteen children nine are
living. Of these five live in Fremont of whom Anthony F. is the eldest ;
Frederick is associated with the Ideal Laundry, of Fremont; Jeanette
is the widow of Charles J. Johnson and resides at Fremont; Otto is a
carpenter and contractor in this city; and Ernest is connected with a
leading automobile garage here.
In the public schools of Fremont Anthony F. Blambeck continued
his studies until his graduation in the high school, as a member of the
class of 1888. Office work has engaged his attention throughout his

532 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
entire active career, and he early gained in his father's office a thorough
experience in connection with the details of the insurance business, his
continuous association with which has given him authoritative knowl
edge. In 1907 he formed a partnership alliance with D. J. Springer and
engaged in the general insurance business, under the present firm name
of Springer & Plambeck, their agency now controlling a substantial
and representative business. That Mr. Plambeck has the fullest measure
of popular confidence and good will in his native city is shown by the
fact that he has served continuously since 1914 as city treasurer of
Fremont. His political allegiance is given to the democratic party, he
is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, and he and his wife hold mem
bership in the Congregational Church.
In 1901 Mr. Plambeck was united in marriage to Mrs. Jean
(Hughes) Boyd, she being a native of Carroll County, Illinois. Mr. and
Mrs. Plambeck have no children, but Mrs. Plambeck has by her former
marriage one daughter, Jeanne Boyd, who is now a successful and popu
lar teacher of music in the City of Chicago.
William M. Sanders, who has been for nearly a quarter of a century
in continuous service as the efficient and popular county engineer of
Dodge County, and who is known as one of the representative civil
engineers of this section of the state, claims the old Keystone state
as the place of his nativity, and is, on the paternal side of English
lineage, while on the maternal side he is of Holland Dutch ancestry,
both families having early been founded in America. Mr. Sanders was
born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in April, 1857, and is a son of
Emanuel and Barbara (Kapp) Sanders, both likewise natives of Penn
sylvania, where the former was born in 1819 and the latter in 1825.
The father passed his entire life in the Keystone state, where he died in
1878. His entire active career was marked by close association with
agricultural industry and he was one of the early and influential mem
bers of the Grange or the Patrons of Husbandry in his native state.
He was a stalwart republican and served in various township offices
as one of the influential men of his community. He was a strong
abolitionist during the climacteric period culminating in the Civil war,
and he employed two substitutes to serve as soldiers in that great con
flict. Both he and his wife were zealous and devout members of the
United Brethren Church. Mrs. Sanders survived her husband by nearly
forty years, she having come to Dodge County, Nebraska, in the early
'80s and having established her home at Hooper, where she continued to
reside until her death, in 1917, at the venerable age of ninety-two years.
Of the eight children William M. of this review is the eldest of the
three now living; Jacob B. is a merchant at Hooper, Dodge County: and
John is the manager of the grain elevator in that village.
William M. Sanders is indebted to the public schools of his native
state for his early educational discipline, which included that of the high
school, and he was an ambitious youth of twenty-two years when, in
1879, he came to Dodge County, Nebraska, where for a time he worked
on a farm near Hooper. Prior to coming to Nebraska he had given
close study to and gained practical experience in surveying, and in 1880.
the year after his arrival in Nebraska, he went to the Territory of
New Mexico, where he became a Deputy U. S. Surveyor in connection
with government surveying service. He thus continued in government
employ five years, and his work was not only in New Mexico but
also in Arizona. At the expiration of the period noted, Mr Sanders

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 533
returned to Dodge County, where for a time he was engaged in the
contracting business at Hooper. In 1897 he was elected county engineer,
and of this office he has continued the incumbent during the long inter
vening period, the while it has been within his province to do a large
amount of important surveying and other professional service for the
county, his long retention of office affording the best evidence of the high
estimate placed upon his ability and service. He has held also various
township offices, including that' of assessor, and he was for six years a
member of the school board at Hooper, where he maintained his home
until his removal to Fremont, the county seat. He is unwavering in his
allegiance to the republican party and is well fortified in his political
convictions. In addition to being county engineer at the present time
he is also filling the office of highway commissioner. Mr. Sanders is
actively affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, in which he has received
the fourteenth degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, and both
he and his wife are affiliated with the adjunct organization, the Order
of the Eastern Star. Mrs. Sanders and her three younger daughters
are members of the Presbyterian Church, and the eldest daughter holds
membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church.
In 1882 Mr. Sanders was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth
McBroom, who has the distinction of having been the first white girl
born in Dodge County, where she has continuously maintained her home
and remains as a popular representative of one of the old and honored
pioneer families of the county. Her father, the late Hugh McBroom,
here established his home in 1857, ten years before Nebraska was
admitted to the Union, and he took up a tract of wild prairie land, on
Clark Creek, where he developed one of the early farms of the county,
both he and his wife having continued to reside in Dodge County until
their death. In conclusion is given brief record concerning the children
of Mr. and Mrs. Sanders : Lyman is assistant cashier in a bank at Ros-
well, New Mexico; Boyd is manager of the Pecos Valley Light and
Power Company, at Carlsbad, that state; Miss Esther remains at the
parental home and is employed as a skilled stenographer and bookkeeper ;
Ruth likewise is at home and holds a position as stenographer in an
office at Fremont; Grace is attending the public schools of Fremont;
and Frances likewise is attending school in her home city.
William J. Davies, M. D., has been a resident of Nebraska since
he was a lad of nine years, but can claim Wales as the place of his
nativity and long ancestral record, his birth having there occurred on
December 31, 1862; five years later, in 1867, marked the immigration of
his parents to the United States. He is a son of James and Mary (Wil
liams) Davies, and upon coming to this country the family residence
was first established in Wisconsin. At Columbus, that state, the father
continued to be engaged in the drug business until 1871, when he came
with his family to Nebraska and engaged in the same line of enterprise
at Fremont, where he continued to conduct a well-appointed drug store
until his death, in 1879, at the age of forty-two years. His widow
survived him by thirty years and was one of the venerable and loved
pioneer women of Fremont at the time of her death, in 1909. Of the
six children, the eldest is Mary, who is the wife of B. W. Reynolds, a
prominent citizen of Fremont; Dr. William J., of this review, was the
next in order of birth; Emily died at the age of thirty-five years;
Catherine is the wife of Charles Marshall, who is engaged in the jewelry
business at Fremont; Rupert A. resides at Arlington, Washington

534 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
County; Miss Glendora holds a clerical position in the Fremont post-
office. The father was independent in politics and within the compara
tively short period of his residence in Fremont he served for a time as
village clerk, long before the county seat of Dodge County had been
incorporated as a city. Both he and his wife were earnest members of
the Baptist Church.
Doctor Davies profited fully by the advantages afforded in the public
schools of Fremont, where he was reared to adult age, and where he
gained practical business experience in his father's drug store, he hav
ing been seventeen years of age at the time of his father's death. In
1883 he entered the celebrated Rush Medical College, in the City of Chi
cago, and in this institution he was graduated as a member of the class
of 1887, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Thereafter he was
engaged in the drug business in connection with his practice until 1893,
when he began the active practice of his profession in the City of Fre
mont, where he has since continued his humane mission and won marked
prestige in his able service in the alleviation of human suffering and
distress. Such has been his faithful stewardship that he has responded
to calls with utmost self-abnegation, has endured the winter's cold, has
traversed the worst roads, both night and day, and has not permitted
any adverse condition to baffle him in his work. No man has completed
the curriculum of Rush Medical College without coming forth admir
ably fortified for the work of his profession, but Mr. Davies has not
been content to remain in statu quo but has been a close student and
otherwise availed himself of every possible means of keeping abreast of
the advances made in medical and surgical science. He has long con
trolled a large and remunerative practice, is one of the leading physi
cians of Dodge County and in his home City of Fremont is known for
his civic loyalty and progressiveness. He has served as health officer
of Fremont and is actively identified with the Dodge County Medical
Society, of which he has served as president, besides which he is affiliated
with the Nebraska State Medical Society, the Elkhorn Valley Medical
Society and the American Medical Association. He is a democrat in
political allegiance and he attends and supports the Congregational
Church of Fremont, of which his wife is a zealous member.
In 1890 Doctor Davies wedded Miss Jessie Hinman, daughter of
Miner H. Hinman, of whom specific mention is made on other pages of
this volume. Dr. and Mrs. Davies have three children: Allen holds a
position in a banking institution at Silver Creek, Merrick County;
Martha, a graduate of Nebraska State Normal School at Fremont and
of the Thomas Training School in the City of Detroit, Michigan, is now
a popular teacher in the schools of Republican City, Harlan County
Nebraska; and Ruth, now Mrs. J. A. Maxwell, likewise a graduate of
the State Normal School at Fremont, was an efficient teacher in the
public schools at Silver Creek, Merrick County.
Charles C. Johnson. Although born on foreign soil, Charles C
Johnson was brought up and educated in this country, and in his youth
imbibed the respect for American institutions, and the knowledge and
patriotic spirit that has made him a loyal and valued citizen of the
United States, and one of the honored and respected men of Fremont
his home city He was born, January 19, 1869, in Denmark, which was
also the birthplace of his parents, G. P. and Annie (Christensen) Johnson
Some years after his marriage G. P. Johnson immigrated with his
family to the United States, locating in Casey, Iowa, in April, 1869. He

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 535
was there employed in railroad work for two years, when, in 1&71, he
came to Saunders County, Nebraska, traveling with his family in a
prairie schooner. Taking up a homestead claim, he cleared and improved
a farm, laboring diligently in his agricultural work until ready to retire
from active pursuits, when he moved to Fremont, where he spent the
closing years of his life. He was a stanch republican in politics, and a
member of the Lutheran Church, to which his wife also belonged.
Seven children were born of their marriage, three of whom are living,
as follows : Nels, a farmer, living near Fargo, North Dakota ; John,
owning and occupying the parental homestead; and Charles C. of this
sketch. After leaving the rural schools of the community in which he was
reared, Charles C. Johnson continued his studies in the Fremont Normal
School. Leaving the home farm at the age of sixteen years, he entered
the employ of the Northwestern Railroad Company, with which he
remained for fifteen years, at first being a freight handler, and later
being promoted through different departments to that of freight agent,
a position that he resigned in 1905. Locating in Fremont, Mr. Johnson
became bookkeeper for the Fremont Milling Company, of which he is
now an active member. This company was incorporated with a capital
of $35,000, and its plant has a capacity of 600 barrels a day, and makes
-and sells up to that limit, its productions being in demand throughout
Nebraska and the East. During the World war some of its productions
were bought by the Government, and sent over to France for the army
boys. Mr. Johnson is both secretary and treasurer of the company, and
is kept busily employed.
Mr. Johnson married, in April, 1894, Annie Nelson, who was born in
Fremont, Nebraska, where her father, James Nelson, located on coming
to this country from Denmark, his native land, and where he continued
his occupation of a farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have three children,
namely: Evelyn, wife of A. K. Lane of Fremont; Stanley, who enlisted
in the navy in May, 1918, and returned to Fremont in March, 1919, and
is now with the Ford Company at Des Moines, Iowa; and Howard,
attending the Fremont High School. Mrs. Lane was graduated from
the high school, and before her marriage taught school, and Mr. Lane,
who served in the navy a year, is now with Reynolds, Morrison, Rath-
burn Company. Fraternally Mr. Johnson is a member of the Indepen
dent Order of Odd Fellows, and has filled all of the offices of the
Lodge, Canton and Encampment. He and his family are members of the
Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a republican in politics but has
never sought public office, his time and energies having been wisely
devoted to his business interests, more especially since the Fremont
Milling Company took over the Brown Mill, merging the two companies
into one. Mr. Johnson is prominent in religious circles, being an active
worker in the church, and at different times has filled the pulpit very
acceptably. Edward W. Hooker. Ability to overcome obstacles and a deter
mination to get ahead have been characteristics which have worked to
the advantage of Edward W. Hooker so that he is today one of the men
of means in Dodge County and is living at Hooper retired from the
exactions of business. He was born at West Hampton, Hampshire
County, Massachusetts, on November 26, 1840, a son of Festus and Mary
B. (Strong) Hooker, farming people of Massachusetts, and a descendant
of Rev. Thomas Hooker, first minister of Hartford, Connecticut. The

536 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
great-grandfather of Edward W. Hooker was a physician and a man of
great activity, who, when over eighty years of age, pulled some of the
teeth of his great-grandson, Edward. Both parents of Edward W.
Hooker died in Massachusetts. Their children were as follows : Allen
F., who died at the age of twenty years ; Henry C, who is also deceased ;
Edward W., whose name heads this review ; Lucy A., who is the widow
of George E. Knight, resides at West Hampton, Massachusetts; Worth-,
ington, who is deceased, was a farmer in Massachusetts; and Charles H.,
who is deceased, was a farmer. Both parents were Congregationalisms.
After the organization of the republican party, the father espoused its
principles, and upheld them the remainder of his life. At one time he
was a member of the town board and was a man of considerable promi
nence in his community.
Growing up on the home farm, Edward W. Hooker, like so many of
the young men of his generation, was aroused by the outbreak of war,
and enlisted on July 17, 1862, in Company D, Thirty-Seventh Massa
chusetts Volunteer Infantry, being mustered into the service at Pittsfield,
Massachusetts, and at once was sent to Arlington Heights, Virginia. He
participated in the battles of Fredericksburg, Marye's Heights, Salem
Church and Gettysburg. In 1863 his regiment was sent to New York City
to enforce the draft, and then returned to the front, and Mr. Hooker was
in the engagements on the Rappahannock, at Mile Run, the campaign in
the Wilderness, the battles of Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg
and Fort Stephens, in the latter engagement the regiment being equipped
with Spencer rifles. For eighteen months Mr. Hooker was color bearer,
and was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant. He brought colors
from his last engagement in which he was wounded in both hands, the
enemy shot at him from the side, and the flagstaff splintered in his hands,
injuring both of them, but aside from this he escaped in spite of the
exposed position he occupied as color bearer.
Following his return from the war Mr. Hooker worked at his trade
of millwright for six years, and then in 1872 came west to Nebraska.
He had a soldier's claim and homesteaded and on it carried on general
farming and stock raising. The only work he has done at his trade since
coming to the state was the erection of his own house on his homestead.
Hardly had he managed to get things in working order than the plague
of grasshoppers descended upon him and utterly destroyed his crops
for several seasons so that in order to tide over he engaged in teaching
school. This he was able to do very efficiently for he had been well
educated in the common schools of his native place, Westfield Academy
and Willison Seminary, but as soon as he was able he resumed his farm
ing and continued it until 1907 when he retired and located permanently
at Hooper. In July, 1862, Mr. Hooker was united in marriage with Jennie E.
Clark, born at Elbridge, New York, January 15, 1841, a daughter of
Zenas S. and Eliza Clark, natives of Massachusetts. Mr. and Mrs.
Hooker became the parents of the following children : Henry C. has been
postmaster of the Leigh postoffice for eight years; Edward F. was a
farmer and died at the age of thirty-one; Anna W. died at the age of
three years; Nellie is the wife of Chester Bridgman, a farmer and stock
man of Fairmount, Nebraska; Charles S. died in childhood; and May
married J. R. Phillips, a farmer of Maple Township. Both Mr. Hooker
and his wife are devout members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He
is a republican, and he was a member of the county board of Dodge County
for six years. For many years he has been a member of Upton Post,

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 537
Grand Army of the Republic, and enjoys meeting his old comrades. He
is a stockholder in the Dodge County State Bank of Hooper, and is
otherwise interested in sound investments in this region. When his
country had need of his services as a soldier, he did not shirk his duty,
nor has he failed to render a good account of himself ever since and it
would be difficult to find a man more representative of the best and most
substantial element of the county than he.
Adolph Hagenbaumer. Out of nearly eighty years of his long and
useful life Adolph Hagenbaumer has spent more than fifty in Dodge
County, and the greater part of this time as a resident on one farm in
Hooper Township, in section 24. As a farmer he has achieved much
success, represented in extensive land holdings, and in every way has
been substantially identified with the welfare and progress of the
community. His career has been a typical American achievement, though he is
foreign born. He was born in Germany September 3, 1841, and had only
a common school education in his native land. Seeking the better and
broader opportunities of America he came to the United States in 1869,
and came direct to Fontanelle, Nebraska. All the others of his imme
diate family remained in the fatherland. He had been brought up on a
farm, and turned to agriculture as the vocation he knew most about.
For about two years he was a renter, and then with limited means he
bought 160 acres of prairie land. The first house in which he lived was
a small shack of lumber. He was a hard worker, practiced thrift, was
always a good manager, until he totaled his possessions as nearly 1,000
acres of good Nebraska soil. Most of this has since been divided among
his family, and he is now able to take life at leisure, turning over the
heavy responsibilities of the farm to his boys.
Mr. Hagenbaumer's first wife was Hannah Sigmann, whose two
children, Henry and Fred, now live in Washington County. For his
second marriage he took Charlotte Bickmier. To this union were born
eight children: Annie, John, Edwin, Augusta, William, Adolph, Louise
and Charles. The sons, William, Adolph and Charles, are still on the
home place. Mr. Hagenbaumer looks out upon many broad acres which
his diligence improved, and besides his comfortable home has a com
plete equipment of other fine buildings, making this one of the progres
sive farmsteads of Dodge County. Though he had a limited education
himself he has done much to foster the cause of good schools and for
four years was a member of the School Board of Washington County.
He and his wife are Lutherans and he is a republican voter.
Herman Waterman. Having learned the trade of a brickmaker in
his native land, and not finding there the opportunities he sought in
order to develop a paying business, Herman Waterman came to the
United States, accompanied by his father, and since that time has
become one of the substantial men of Dodge County. The opening given
him upon his arrival was not especially encouraging, but he is one of
those men who sticks to anything once he has begun, and he is now
reaping a well merited reward for his years of endeavor.
Herman Waterman was born in Germany April 14, 1856, a son of
Herman and Marie Waterman. The former was a laborer. They had
three children, namely: Fred, who is living retired at Fontanelle,
Nebraska ; Sophia, who is deceased ; and Herman, whose name heads
this review.
Vol. II— e

538 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
After coming to the United States Herman Waterman worked in a
brickyard, and then established one of his own at Fontanelle, and con
ducted it for five years, and was then connected with a similar enterprise
at Scribner for another five years. In 1893 he came to Hooper and
bought the brickyard which had been built by John Heimrick. At the
time Mr. Waterman bought the yard from Mr. Heimrick there were four
kilns, but he has so enlarged it that there are now ten kilns and the daily
capacity of the plant is 50,000 brick, which are shipped to Wyoming,
South Dakota, Iowa and Nebraska. This plant covers, with the land, 157
acres and the equipment is modern in every respect. The business has
been incorporated, with Mr. Waterman as president, his son, Herman
H. F., as secretary and treasurer, and John Edelmeier as general manager.
Mr. and Mrs. Herman Waterman became the parents of the follow
ing children : Carrie, who is the wife of Frank Wagner, a farmer, who
lives near Leigh, Nebraska ; Herman H. F., whose sketch appears else
where in this work ; John, who is employed in his father's brickyard ;
Lydia, who is the wife of R. Krebell, a farmer of Dodge County; Elbert,
who is also employed in his father's brickyard ; Dora, who is attending
school ; the next one died in infancy, and so did the youngest ; and Rose,
who was eighth in order of birth, died at the age of eighteen years.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Waterman are held in high esteem in their neigh
borhood, and their children are a credit to them and to their bringing up,
for they show that they have had careful and watchful parents who have
tried to teach them to become useful men and women.
James Balding. For upwards of forty years a resident of Dodge
County, the late James Balding of Fremont witnessed in that time many
wonderful transformations in the county, the dugouts and sod houses
of the early pioneers being replaced by substantial frame houses, while
the hamlets of those days developed into thriving villages and populous
towns. He was born July 1, 1838, in London, England, and died in
Fremont, Nebraska, May 23, 1906.
His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Balding, immigrated to the
United States in 1850 and settled on a farm in the vicinity of Mil
waukee, Wisconsin. They subsequently removed to Minnesota, and on
the farm which they improved spent their remaining years. They reared
three children, as follows: Harriet, a resident of Minnesota; Thomas, a
venerable man of fourscore and four years, was for many years a stock
broker in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he is now living retired from
active pursuits ; and James.
Twelve years of age when he came with the family to this country.
James Balding completed his early education in Wisconsin, and under
his father's instructions became familiar with the various branches of
agriculture. Locating in Fremont, Dodge County, Nebraska, in May,
1865, Mr. Balding established a meat market, which he operated suc
cessfully for a time, giving it up later to devote his attention to the buy
ing and selling of stock, an industry in which he found both pleasure and
profit. Possessing good business ability and judgment, he accumulated
a good property, including among other pieces of real estate 300 acres of
valuable land lying one mile west of Fremont. He was a stanch repub
lican in politics, and served one term as councilman.
About a year after coming to Fremont, on January 1, 1867, Mr. Bal
ding married Fannie Bullock, a native of the Empire State born
December 21, 1848. Her father, Daniel Bullock, was born in New
York State, and his wife, whose maiden name was Lettie Ross, was a

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 539
native of Canada. In the fall of 1865 they came with their family to
Dodge County, locating in Fremont, where for many years he was
employed in carrying the mail from the postoffice to the railway station
and vice versa. Of the twelve children that were born of their union
three are surviving, as follows : Melissa, living in Fremont, is the widow
of Edward Fuller, who was here engaged in the furniture business foi
many years ; Fannie, Mrs. Balding ; and Mrs. Rebecca Carter, a widow,
residing in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Four children blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Balding, three of
whom have passed to the life beyond. Jessie, the only child living, mar-*
ried Frank Fowler, president-manager of the Nye, Schneider & Fowler
Company, and they have one son, James Fowler, a student in the Fre
mont Normal School. Mrs. Balding is a faithful member of the Metho
dist Episcopal Church, of which Mr. Balding was a regular attendant,
and a generous contributor towards its support. Mrs. Balding, who
lives alone, has a fine home at 432 West Military Avenue, where she
enjoys all the comforts of life, receiving from her husband's large
estate a handsome annual income.
Dr. Samuel G. Glover, now deceased for many years, was one of
the distinguished members of the medical profession at Arlington, where
his memory is still cherished for his sympathy, his knowledge of his
calling and his real humanity. He was born in Oberlin County, Ohio,
on June 24, 1834, and died on November 14, 1907. He was educated in
Ohio, and enlisted in the Union army from Indiana, serving for three
years in a cavalry regiment and rose to be a company official.
After the close of the war he returned to Indiana and from there
moved to Altoona, Iowa, and there he conducted a drug store and prac
ticed medicine. In 1871 he came to Arlington, Nebraska, where he found
the conditions for which he was looking and here built up a large practice
and also was interested in a drug store. Still later he identified himself
with the banking business, and finally retired, living in leisure the last
years of his life. He was a skilled physician and experienced druggist
and acquired his medical training under Doctor Ross, one of the old-time
medical practitioners of Indiana.
In March, 1874, Doctor Glover was united in marriage with Jennie
Mansfield, born in Pennsylvania in 1857, a daughter of Albert and
Lydia A. (Rosa) Mansfield, both of whom were natives of Pennsylva
nia, who came to Arlington in 1870 and built the first store of this city,
in which Mr. Mansfield carried on merchandising for a few years, and
then retired. Both he and his wife died at Arlington. Of their five
children, two survive, namely: Mrs. Glover and Fred. The latter is
engaged in a draying business at Arlington, Nebraska. Dr. and Mrs.
Glover became the parents of two sons, namely : Guy L. Glover, who is
in the confectionery and ice cream business at Arlington, married Anna
Bluckett of Omaha, Nebraska, and they have one daughter, Dorothea
Glover; and Albert L., who is in the investment and loan business at
Omaha, Nebraska, married Maude Miller and they have one son, Roland
Glover. Mrs. Jennie Glover is a member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church. Doctor Glover was a well-known democrat, and was receiver
of the land office at Valentine under President Cleveland for four years.
He was a Knight Templar Mason and belonged to the Order of Eastern
Star, and Mrs. Glover still holds membership in the latter order. Begin
ning their married life as poor young people with their way to make,
Dr. and Mrs. Glover became people of ample means while still young

540 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
enough to enjoy their prosperity, and in 1884 built the comfortable
home Mrs. Glover now occupies at Arlington.
Doctor Glover came of English and Irish stock, his father, Joseph
Glover, being a native of the former country and his mother, Eliza
Glover, of the latter. They came to Nebraska during the formative
period of the commonwealth, and both died at Aurora, Nebraska.
Charles E. Abbott was graduated as member of the class of 1897
in the law department of the University of Nebraska, and on the 1st of
January of the following year he established his residence at Fremont,
judicial center of Dodge County. Within the intervening period of nearly
a quarter of a century he, has here clearly demonstrated his ability as a
lawyer and counselor, and he has long controlled a substantial and
representative law business, as one of the leading members of the
Dodge County bar. He gave about twelve years of effective service as
city attorney of Fremont and is now president of the Fremont Commercial
Club, an organization of state-wide reputation for business ideals and
progressive policies. Mr. Abbott is deeply appreciative of the advan
tages and attractions of his home city and county, and aside from the
activities of his profession he has become closely assocated with agricul
tural industry of the county, as the owner of 600 acres of valuable and
well-improved farm land. He is a stanch advocate of the principles
and policies for which the republican party stands sponsor and is affil
iated with the Masonic fraternity, the Independent Order of Odd Fel
lows and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
Mr. Abbott was born at Taylorville, Illinois, on December 1, 1871,
and is a son of Miles J. and Jennie (Scribner) Abbott. Miles J. Abbott
had been a newspaper publisher in Illinois and in 1879 he came with his
family to Nebraska and settled near Hastings, Adams County. In 1885
he moved to western Nebraska and was prominently concerned with the
organization of Hayes County, and published a weekly newspaper at
Hayes Center, the county seat, for twenty years. He engaged also in the
practice of law and was for many years one of the most prominent and
influential citizens of Hayes County, where his protracted incumbency
of public office included service as county attorney and county judge.
November 28, 1900, at Fremont, was recorded the marriage of
Charles E. Abbott to Miss Gertrude Sexton, daughter of Dr. Thomas C.
and Emma (Peters) Sexton, her father having been a pioneer physician
in Washington County, where he established his home in 1865, about two
years prior to the admission of Nebraska to statehood. Dr. and Mrs.
Sexton are now venerable and revered pioneer citizens of Fremont, and
it is practically assured that Mrs. Sexton is now the oldest native-born
citizen still residing in Dodge County. Mr. and Mrs. Abbott have two
children — Katherine and Charles Wade.
William Fried. A man of superior business ability and tact,
talented and cultured, the late William Fried was for many years actively
associated with the higher interests of Fremont, whether relating to the
advancement of its mercantile, industrial, financial or political prosperity,
and his_ death was a cause of general regret, being a loss not only to his
home city, but to the county and state. A native of Sweden, he was
born May 20, 1841, a son of Samuel Fried, and died in Fremont
Nebraska, July 21, 1914. Samuel Fried was a well-to-do merchant in
Sweden, where both he and his wife, whose name before marriage was
Carrie Sanden, were lifelong residents. They were the parents of five
children, none of whom are now living.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 541
William Fried received excellent educational advantages in his native
land, acquiring his elementary education in Wexio, and afterward attend
ing school in Stockholm. Coming when young to the United States, he
continued his studies in this country, thus preparing himself for any work
in which he might wish to engage. He first located in Henry County,
Illinois, where three of his brothers were living, Samuel, John and
Carl A. In 1863 he and his brother, Carl A. Fried, enlisted in Company
I, Illinois Engineering Corps, and served two years, taking part in sev
eral engagements of the Civil war. Being discharged from the army at
the close of the conflict, Mr. Fried took a commercial course of study
in Albion, Michigan, and for two years thereafter served as a clerk on
the Steamer Benton, plying between St. Joseph, Michigan, and Grand
Haven. In 1867 Mr. Fried and his brother, Carl A. Fried, located in Fremont,
Nebraska, and there the brother, who became a prominent and success
ful business man, passed the remainder of his life, dying at the com
paratively early age of forty-four years. William Fried settled in
Fremont soon after coming to Nebraska, and having secured a position
with Nye, Colson & Company, continued with the firm as an employee
until 1871, when he was admitted to partnership. Proving himself emi
nently capable and trustworthy, he was later made vice president of the '
firm, and when that firm was merged into the Nye, Schneider & Fowler
Company, Mr. Fried was continued as vice president of the new organi
zation, and retained the position until his death. A man of fine business
qualifications, he' accumulated a large estate, leaving his family with
abundant means.
Mr. Fried was a loyal republican in politics and influential in local
and county and state affairs. In 1891 he was elected mayor of Fremont
and served acceptably for eight years, and when, in that year, the city
insisted on his retaining the position still longer, both he and his wife
rebelled and he refused another re-election. He filled many positions of
trust and responsibility beside that of mayor, and in 1880 served as a
representative to the State Legislature. He belonged to the Grand
Army of the Republic and was a member of ' Fremont Lodge Ancient
Free and Accepted Masons; Signet Chapter No. 8, Royal Arch Masons;
Tabor Commandery No. 9, Knights. Templar ; a Scottish Rite and also a
thirty-third degree Mason. Mr. Fried owned valuable city property and
had title to considerable land in Dodge County. He was _a stockholder
in the Fremont National Bank and in the Stockyard and Land Company,
and had served as president of the Fremont Board of Trade.
Mr. Fried married, May 20, 1875, in Des Moines, Iowa, Carrie C.
Lobeck, who was born in Illinois November 29, 1857, a daughter of
Otto Lobeck. A native of Germany, Otto Lobeck immigrated to the
United States at the age of twenty years, and located first in Henry
County, Illinois, where he subsequently embarked in mercantile pursuits.
Coming from there to Nebraska, he opened a real estate office in
Omaha, and was there successfully engaged in business until his death.
His wife, whose maiden name was Anna Erickson, was born in Sweden,
and they became the parents of ten children, one of whom, Charles O.
Lobeck, who served in the United States Congress for eight years,
recently died in Omaha, where the larger part of his life was spent. Of
the four children born of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Fried, two are liv
in, namely: William, born in 1880, is engaged in the lumber and grain
business at Beemer, Nebraska, where he has an elevator; and Thyra,
wife of Walter C. Jones of Fremont, a bookkeeper. Mrs. Fried is a

542 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which she is an active
worker. She belongs to the Order of the Eastern Star, and is first
vice president of the Eastern Star Home at Fremont. She resides at
1505 North Nye Avenue, occupying a modernly constructed brick house,
her home being very pleasant and attractive.
Commodore Perry Masters. One of the important elements in any
community is that composed of men who after years of strenuous
endeavor as agriculturists have reached the time of life when they feel
justified in retiring from former activities and, being thus relieved from
the responsibilities formerly their portion, are able to give thought and
attention to civic problems with resultant good to their community. Such
a man is Commodore Perry Masters of Arlington.
Commodore Perry Masters was born in Indiana on June 5, 1856, a
son of Azariah and Sarah (Kepler) Masters. Azariah Masters was
born in Greene County, Pennsylvania, on October 8, 1831, and he is now
making his home at Arlington, Nebraska. His'wife was born in DeKalb
County, Indiana, on October 1, 1837, and died on May 5, 1909. They
were married in Indiana on April 1, 1855.
While a resident of Indiana Azariah Masters was engaged in farming,
but seeking better opportunities came west to Nebraska in 1857, and
pre-empted land to which he later added more land by purchase, living on
his land until about 1900, when he moved to Arlington, and since then
has lived retired. For a time after his retirement he retained his farm,
but later gave it to his sons. Six children were born to him and his
wife, as follows : Commodore Perry, who was the first born ; Alfred M.,
who is on his father's farm ; Mrs. J. E. Brice, whose husband is a farmer
and cattleman ; Bryan F., who is on the homestead ; Clara V., who mar
ried J. M. Marshall, a farmer of Arlington ; and one who is deceased.
Both as an Odd Fellow and democrat Azariah Masters was a well-known
man. Commodore Perry Masters was reared on a farm and attended the
rural schools, and when he attained to manhood estate he naturally
adopted farming as his life work and he followed an agricultural life
until his retirement in 1910, at which time he moved to Arlington and
here he has since lived retired. In 1914 Mr. Masters built a beautiful
home at Arlington, which is one of the best in Washington County. In
his religious faith he is a Methodist, and in political convictions a demo
crat. Although he has always taken an intelligent interest in everything
pertaining to civic affairs he has not sought office, preferring to exert
his influence from the standpoint of a private citizen.
On December 25, 1884, Mr. Masters was married to Dora Wages,
born in Wisconsin, a daughter of Gustav and Dorothea (Lubens) Wages,'
natives of France and Hanover, Germany, respectively. They came to
the United States when young people. Her death occurred in Wisconsin,
and he passed away in Iowa in 1909. They had three children, namely:
Lillie Pomroy, who lives north of Arlington ; Ernest, who is a retired
farmer of Arlington, and Mrs. Masters. Mr. and Mrs. Masters have one
daughter, Gertrude, who married F. I. Pfieffer, cashier of the First
National Bank of Arlington. It would be difficult to find a man more
highly esteemed than Mr. Masters. He has not sought to bring himself
before the public in any undue manner, but has tried to do his duty to
his fellow man and his country, and to hurt no one by word or deed thus
taking into his every-day life the religion he professes, and earning and
holding that approval which means so much to the right-minded person

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 543
Herman G. Meyer. It means something to be a successful self-
made man in the true sense. It means character, independence, poise,
self-respect and moral strength. The self-made man has behind him
developing experiences that have bestowed gifts of compassion and liberal-
mindedness that cannot be misunderstood or appreciated by one who has
never made an unaided struggle upward. A very prominent citizen of
Arlington, Nebraska, who well understands this situation is Herman G.
Meyer, vice president of the Arlington State Bank.
Herman G. Meyer was born March 25, 1871, in the Province of
Oldenberg, Germany, the youngest in a family of five children born to
Herman and Katherine (Hillen) Meyer. The father was a farmer and
both parents spent their entire lives in Germany. Mr. Meyer has three
brothers : Henry, William and John, all of whom are farmers in Ger
many; and one sister, Hermine, who is the wife of Henry Hillen, also a
German farmer.
When Herman G. Meyer was seventeen years old, he had had the
usual school privileges of his class. He was a youth filled with ambition
and believing that better opportunity to advance in life could be found
in the United States, he found a way to come to America and landed on
American soil in 1888. By the time he reached a German settlement in
Wisconsin his slender means were exhausted, but he easily secured
farm work, to which he applied himself no more faithfully than he did
to the task of learning the English language. He spent the summer in
Wisconsin, then went westward and landed in Dodge County, Nebraska,
in 1889, again without means. During the next three years while work
ing on farms in Dodge County, he learned American customs and lan
guage, while carefully saving his money. The use he put his capital to
was to attend the normal school at Fremont and afterward the State
University at Lincoln, where he made such rapid and substantial prog
ress that he secured a certificate to teach school and for years afterward
taught in country and town schools in several counties to the entire
satisfaction of all concerned. He spent nine years teaching in Nebraska,
being principal five years of this time.
In the meanwhile Mr. Meyer had progressed in citizenship as well as
materially and became influential in republicans politics but not as a
seeker for office for himself. It was in 1904 that he entered the banking
field, serving first as assistant cashier of the Snyder State Bank at Snyder,
Nebraska, for two years, then as cashier for six years, going then to
Hooper, Nebraska, where he served four years as cashier of the First
National Bank. In 1916 he came to Arlington and became financially
interested in the Arlington State Bank, of which he is vice president.
His time has been devoted mainly to the affairs of the bank for the past
four years, but he still owns a fine farm property in Dodge County.
In 1904 Mr. Meyer was united in marriage to Miss Emily McClean,
who was born in Saunders County, Nebraska, and is a daughter of
Robert McClean, a prominent farmer of Saunders County, of Scotch
ancestry. Mr. and Mrs. Meyer have two children, Gretchen and Allen,
aged respectively twelve and ten years, both of whom are doing well at
school. The family attends the Congregational Church. Mr. Meyer is
a thirty-second degree Mason, and he belongs also to the Odd Fellows
and the Modern Woodmen of America.
G. I. Pfeiffer, cashier of the First National Bank of Arlington, is
one of the most representative men of Washington County, and one
intimately associated with its growth and development, and also with

544 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
the expansion of the banking interests of this region. He was born near
Stuttgart, Germany, on January 31, 1874, a son of Solomon and Kath
erine (Wagner) Pfeiffer, both natives of Germany, where he was born
on October 12, 1833, and she on September 21 of the same year. He
died on October 15, 1916, but she survives and makes her home at
Arlington. They were married in Germany and came to the United.
States in 1881, locating first at Fontanelle, Nebraska, but in 1893 mov
ing to the vicinity of Arlington, where they bought and later developed
a farm. They had eight children, namely: Solomon, who is a retired
farmer of Arlington ; Fred C, who is a farmer of Fontanelle ; G. John,
who moved to Oklahoma, is still engaged in farming in that state;
William G, who is a blacksmith and mechanic of Arlington ; Henry, who
is on the old homestead ; G. I., whose name heads this review ; Charles,
who is a salesman of Norfolk, Nebraska; and Martha, who married
E. H. Woerner, a florist of Arlington. The parents were Lutherans in
their religious faith, and in politics the father was a democrat. When
he came to this country he was penniless, and yet when he died he was
a well-to-do man, and had made everything himself. His farm com
prised 160 acres and was well improved and in a high state of cultivation.
G. I. Pfeiffer attended the public schools and then gained a working
knowledge of business fundamentals by taking a correspondence course,
and in 1902 became bookkeeper for the First National Bank of Arlington,
rising in two years to be assistant cashier. In 1906 he became cashier
and is still holding that very responsible position. The capital stock of
the bank is $25,000, the surplus is $10,000, and the deposits are $200,000,
and this bank is recognized as one of the sound financial institutions of
Washington County.
On May 29, 1906, Mr. Pfeiffer was united in marriage with Elsie
Roberts, born in Arlington, a daughter of R. E. Roberts, who was a
pioneer freighter of this region, who came here in the '50s, walking from
St. Joseph, Missouri, to Omaha, Nebraska. Although a poor man when
he came into the state he became wealthy and at the time of his death
owned 2,000 acres of land and three elevators. Mr. and Mrs. Pfeiffer
have one son, Robert, who is now attending the State University at
Lincoln, Nebraska. During the World war he served for two years,
enlisting in the Sixth Nebraska Infantry, from which he was transferred
to the One Hundred and Ninth Military Police, Thirty-Fourth Division.
He was sent to France and was there from October, 1918, until July,
1919. During the last three months he was in France he attended the
University at Toulouse, and received credit for his work there when he
entered the University of Nebraska.
The Pfeiffer family attend the Congregational Church. Mr. Pfeiffer
belongs to the Masonic order, and has served as master of his lodge for
two years. While he is a democrat he is inclined to be independent.
For twenty-four years he has been an Odd Fellow, passed all of the
chairs in the lower lodge and was district deputy grand master of the
state. Mr. Pfeiffer was township clerk for two years and treasurer of
the village, and has been on the School Board for the past nine years, but
of 'recent years he has devoted the greater part of his time to 'his bank.
In addition to other honors conferred upon him, Mr. Pfeiffer is presi
dent of the Men's Club of the Congregational Church. Since Mr. Pfeif
fer assumed charge of the duties of cashier there has been a very mate
rial increase in the amount of business done by the bank as at that
time the deposits did not exceed $50,000, and the greater part of this
expansion is the direct result of his own efforts. He has always been

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 545
greatly interested in Arlington and Washington counties, and his excel
lent common sense and sound financial judgment are so generally recog
nized and appreciated that his advice is generally asked before any
movement of any importance is promulgated. His standing is such
that his approval of a measure is just about all that is needed to carry
it through, but he will not sanction any lavish expenditure of the people's
money, for he is conservative when it comes to finances. Such men as
Mr. Pfeiffer exert a very constructive influence in their community and
are a valuable addition to any locality.
Charles E. Majers. Possibly there is no other vocation in which
men are so certainly but quietly influential as journalism. The printed
thought that comes under the eye has a chance to make an appeal that
circumstance and the spoken word might render ineffective, and the
newspaper may have an audience of thousands where the speaker may
not have hundreds. Hence a grave responsibility rests with those who
interpret the happenings of the world to others, be they of nation-wide
interest or of affairs close at home. This responsibility is felt and
acknowledged by such able and experienced newspaper men as Charles
E. Majers, a well-known journalist, owner and editor of the Scribner
Rustler, at Scribner, Nebraska.
Charles E. Majers was born in 1889, in Taylor County, Iowa, and
is a son of Abner and Rosanna (Spencer) Majers. He was reared on
his father's farm and attended the neighborhood schools until fourteen
years of age, when he entered the office of the Free Press, at Bedford,
Iowa, to learn the newspaper business jfrom the ground up.v He
remained with the Free Press for seven years, in various capacities, then
went to Topeka, Kansas, where he remained with the Trapp Printing
Company for the next eight years. Mr. Majers then bought the Monitor,
at Harveyville, Kansas, conducted it one year and then went back to
Iowa, and for the next seven and a half years was editor of the Moorhead
Times, at Moorhead, in Monona County, Iowa, making that newspaper
one of the most reliable mediums in the state. In December, 1919,
Mr. Majers came to Nebraska and purchased the office, good will and
entire plant of the Scribner Rustler, which journal he has ably conducted
ever since. It is a large newspaper, non-political in policy, and is issued
weekly. Mr. Majers devotes his columns mainly to matters in which his
large list of subscribers are most particularly interested, but nevertheless
readers of the Rustler are kept well informed on all questions of world
wide importance. In connection with his newspaper, Mr. Majers has a
well-equipped job office that turns out work that would be creditable to
any printing establishment.
During his residence at Topeka, Kansas, Mr. Majers was united in
marriage to Miss Jennie Ferrell, and they have one daughter, Helen L.
Mr. Majers has never had any political ambitions but as a watchful
private citizen, with a sense of public responsibility, he works for what
he believes the welfare of the country, state and city. Personally he is
genial and hospitable and those who make his acquaintance on coming to
Scribner, are given a very favorable impression.
Norman E. Shaffer. Prominent in both business and public affairs
at Hooper, Nebraska, is Norman E. Shaffer, cashier of the First National
Bank of Hooper, and a former member of the State Legislature. He is
a representative of one of the substantial old families of Dodge County
that was founded here forty-four years ago. Its members have been

546 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
identified creditably with many of the developing agencies of this section,
and few families are better or more favorably known.
Norman E. Shaffer was born in Dodge County, Nebraska, in 1884,
and is a son of Jacob G. and Eliza (Winey) Shaffer. Jacob G. Shaffer
was born in Pennsylvania October 18, 1848, a son of William T. and Bar
bara Shaffer, natives of Germany. They had four children : John, Alice,
Jacob G. and Elizabeth, the only survivor being Jacob G, who lived in
his native state until 1876. When a boy he earned his first money by
picking stones from land that could not have been otherwise cultivated,
then worked as a day laborer until 1868, when he was engaged to drive
mules on the towpath along the canal, from that getting into regular
canal-boat work, keeping on until he was first made boatswain and then
captain. At that time in his neighborhood in Pennsylvania, canal traffic
was heavy and transportation by water was of more importance than
now, when much of it is diverted to the railroads.
Mr. Shaffer left the canal in 1875 and in that year was married to
Eliza Winey, who was also born in Pennsylvania. On March 18, 1876,
they came to Dodge County, Nebraska, renting a farm near Hooper, on
which they lived until 1884, when Mr. Shaffer bought 240 acres, where
he carried on general farming and stock raising very profitably for many
years. He also owned a threshing outfit and did the most of the corn
shelling in his neighborhood for a long time. In 1913 he retired from
the farm and moved to Hooper, where he is one of the men of ample
fortune, interested in numerous sound business enterprises. He is a
stockholder in the Farmers Co-operative Company of Dodge County, and
a stockholder in both the First National Bank and the Dodge County
Bank at Hooper.
To Jacob G. Shaffer and his wife the following children were born:
Dorsey, deceased ; William V., living in Lincoln, Nebraska ; Harvey W.,
who farms the old homestead; John A., who served in a United States
infantry regiment in the Great war and now with the Farmers Co-opera
tive Company of North Bend ; Norman E., cashier of the First National
Bank of Hooper; Mary, who is connected with a business house at
Hooper ; May, a trained nurse in the Methodist Episcopal Hospital at
Omaha ; Stanley, in the Government employ, is a druggist by profession :
Rose, a school teacher at Gordon, Nebraska; Clark, office man for the
Avery Harvester Company of Omaha; and Jay, who is connected with
a business house at York, Nebraska.
Norman E. Shaffer attended the local schools and assisted his father
on the home farm until twenty-one years old, then, after a commercial
and shorthand course at the Fremont Normal School, he became book
keeper for the Farmers Co-operative store at Hooper, where he remained
through 1907 and 1908, when he turned his attention again to agricul
tural pursuits and from 1909 until 1918 raised grain and fine livestock.
In the meanwhile he became prominent in democratic politics and in
1917 was elected to the State Legislature. He proved able and capable
as a statesman but political honors did not succeed in luring him from
the business field, for which he is particularly well qualified, and in 1918
he came to the First National Bank, of which he is a director, and con
tinues as cashier of this stable institution, of which his careful,' conserva
tive policy is a recognized asset.
In 1909 Mr. Shaffer was united in marriage with Miss Anna
Antoinette Monnich, who was born in Dodge County, and they have
three children, namely : Donald, Charlotte and Cornelius. Mr. and Mrs
Shaffer are members of Grace Lutheran Church. Mr. Shaffer is a

^W—

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 547
Scottish Rite Mason. In all that concerns Nebraska and Dodge counties
in particular he takes deep concern and although one of the younger
men in the county's public affairs, has made a favorable impression as
a fearless, upstanding citizen not afraid to defend his convictions on any
subject, when convinced they are right and for the general welfare.
John N. Monnich, proprietor of the Monnich Garage, is one of the
aggressive young business men of Fremont, and one who is held in high
esteem by his competitors and the public generally on account of his
fair treatment and good judgment. He was born at Hooper, Nebraska,
on January 26, 1885, a son of Herman and Margaret (Parkert) Mon
nich, natives of Iowa and Michigan, respectively, who were married in
Dpdge County, to which they had come about 1869. They are now living
on their farm north of Hooper, their residence being one of the nicest
country homes in the county. Ever since coming to Nebraska Herman
Monnich has been a farmer and stockman. In politics he is a republican.
Mrs. Monnich is a Catholic and Mr. Monnich is a member of the Lutheran
Church. They became the parents of the following children: George,
who is on the home farm ; John N., whose name heads this review ;
Bernard, who is also on the farm ; Antoinette, who married Norman
Shaffer, cashier of the First National Bank of Hooper; Edward, who
lives at Oakland, California, was in the service during the late war for
six or seven months; Ardelia, who is a trained nurse, lives at Akron,
Ohio ; and Clarence, who was in the service for nine months during the
late war, was sent overseas, participating in four big drives and at pres
ent is living with his parents. The paternal grandfather was Gerard
Monnich, born in Germany.
John N. Monnich attended the rural schools of Dodge County and
Highland Park, where he took a course in electrical engineering, after
ward finishing in the Fremont Normal School. Until he was nineteen
years of age he was engaged in farming, but then with the money he had
saved up, took his courses in electrical engineering. Completing them
he went into the automobile business at Hooper, holding an agency for
the Ford cars. As a partner in this business he had his paternal uncle,
Bernard Monnich. In 1912 he came to Fremont and established the
Ford agency and built a large brick garage with a floor space of 28,000
square feet on its two floors in 1916. At present he owns this garage and
one each at North Bend and Valley, Nebraska, being the second oldest
Ford agent in Nebraska in point of service.
In March, 1911, Mr. Monnich was united in marriage with Bertha
Olson of Fremont, a daughter of N. P. Olson. They have a daughter,
Priseilla, who was born on April 13, 1912, and a son, John Charles, born
November 10, 1920. Mr. and Mrs. Monnich belong to the First Con
gregational Church of Fremont. Mr. Monnich is a Knight Templar and
thirty-second degree Mason and a member of the Mystic Shrine. He
also belongs to Fremont Lodge No. 513, Benevolent and Protective
Order of Elks, and other fraternal organizations. A strong republican
he is now serving as a member of the board of public works of Fremont.
Beginning in a small way Mr. Monnich has expanded his business
until he owns several well-equipped garages in different communities and
gives employment to thirty-five persons. His present prosperity has not
come to him without effort, but it is all the more appreciated because it
is the result of his energy, foresight and excellent judgment, and he is
proud of it and the place he has gained in public esteem.

548 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
William J. Crane. There must be an immense amount of satisfai -
tion to a man to be able to look back over a long and well-spent life and
realize that he has attained not only to a material success, but that at the
same time he has won and held the confidence and respect of business
associates and social intimates. William J. Crane of Arlington, now
enjoying the contentment of honorable retirement, has achieved more
than ordinary success in his business ventures, and no man of Washing
ton County stands any higher in public confidence.
Mr. Crane is a New Yorker, as he was born in Owego, Tioga
County, New York, November 30, 1840, a son of John G. and Sarah
(Day) Cranej both of whom were born in New York State. John G.
Crane was born in that state on February 9, 1809, a son of Henry Crane,
a native of New Jersey, who moved to New York State at an early day
and died at Wellsville, that commonwealth, having been a shoemaker
by trade. During the second war with England he served as a soldier,
and his father was a soldier of the American Revolution. Mrs. Sarah
Day Crane was born at Gilderland, Albany, New York, in 1799. Her
father was a physician and a very wealthy man, owning a tract of land
ten miles square and including much of the present City of Albany.
John H. Crane and his wife were married in New York State on May
27, 1830. During his younger life he was a worker in the woolen mills
of his native state, but later became a minister of the Methodist Epis
copal Church and as such was stationed at different points, one being
Blossburg, Pennsylvania, but for the most part he was in his native
state, and he continued in the ministry for a long period, only leaving it
when he had reached his seventy-fifth birthday. He and his wife had
seven children, of whom three are now living, namely: Henry P., a
retired business man, who has traveled considerably and is now living at
Rochester, New York ; Sarah, who married Joel Davis, a banker of fifty
years' standing, lives at Blossburg, Pennsylvania; and William J., whose
name heads this review. When the slavery question was the living issue
of his day John G. Crane was a strong abolitionist, but later espoused the
principles of the republican party. For over sixty years he was an active
member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Growing up in his native state, William J. Crane secured his educa
tional training in the public schools, and was engaged in mercantile
pursuits when he felt the urge of patriotism which prompted his enlist
ment in the Union army in August, 1861, as a member of Company H,
Eighty-Fifth New York Volunteer Infantry, and served with his com
mand until the battle of Fair Oaks, at which time he was wounded, the
bullet passing through his left lung, and he has never recovered fully
from its effects.
In 1858 Mr. Crane went to Kansas for a period of two years, and
then returned to New York, but during that time he acquired a love for
the west, and so, in 1871, returned to it, but selected Arlington, Nebraska
as the location of his new home. The first season he was there he raised
a crop of corn but found that his health was not equal to the strain put
upon it by agricultural pursuits, and so secured the position of station
agent in the Arlington depot in 1872, and held it for three and one-half
years. In 1878 Mr. Crane embarked in a banking business and con
ducted it until 1886, when he went to Wyoming, although continuing to
maintain his residence at Arlington. He was interested in the oil fields
of that state and was the first to take machinery into them Later he
became interested in mining, this industry absorbing the major portion
of his time and attention until his retirement. The various ventures in

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 549
which Mr. Crane has been interested have proven very successful, and
Mr. Crane has reaped abundantly from his business acumen and able
handling of his large and varied affairs. Always, from the organization
of the Grand Army of the Republic, he has been a forceful factor in it,
and since 1890 has been on the committee on the finances connected with
the operation of the Old Soldiers' Homes.
In 1865 Mr. Crane was united in marriage with Miss Mary Harding,
born in Tioga County, Pennsylvania, and they became the parents of one
son, William H. Crane, who was born on December 15, 1872. He was
educated at Arlington and in Doane College, and following the comple
tion of his education he returned to Arlington and established himself
in a real estate business. Still later he went to Colorado in order to
homestead. During the Spanish-American war he served as a soldier,
but the war terminated before he was sent further south than Chicka-
mauga Park. Mrs. Crane died in 1906, a consistent member of the Con
gregational Church, and Mr. Crane maintains his connection with that
body. This church organization was started in the Crane home, and
Mr. Crane is the only living charter member of it. For over fifty years
Mr. Crane has been an Odd Fellow, and organized the lodge of that
order at Arlington in 1873. While he has always been very active in the
republican party he has never aspired to office. His residence at Arling
ton is one of the best in the city, and here he is living in comfort.
Although handicapped almost at that most important period of a
man's career, the beginning by his disability incurred during his military
service, Mr. Crane has not allowed it to hamper him unnecessarily, but
has gone straight ahead, rendering an efficient service, and bringing to
bear on each undertaking, no matter how small, the full force of an
unusually intelligent mind, with the result that in his declining years he
occupies the place in his locality to which his abilities and accomplish
ments entitle him and there are few men who have as many warm, per
sonal friends as he. Generous in his contributions to civic undertakings
Mr. Crane has always advocated those improvements which his experi
ence taught him were practical and not unduly extravagant, and his
advice is generally sought before a movement is launched, for his fellow
citizens rely on his judgment and desire his advocacy of a plan before it
is placed before the public for decisive action. Mr. Crane is an inspir
ing example to the veterans of the late war of what can be accomplished
by one who came out of his country's service in a much worse condition
that when he went into it, and the young heroes of this generation, learn
ing from him need not be discouraged but go ahead as did he, and rest
assured that they, too, can attain to ample means and prestige among their
fellows, provided of course that they are willing to put up a good fight
against the obstacles that will of course rise in their path.
W. R. Adams. Among the self-made, substantial business men of
Fremont is W. R. Adams, of the W. R. Adams Company, Incorporated,
who came to the community some years ago. Mr. Adams was born in
1865 at Laurel, Indiana. He is a son of W. D. and Nellie (Blue)
Adams. The father was born at Everton, Indiana, while the mother
came from Hamilton, Ohio. They were married in Indiana and always
lived there. Mr. Adams was a farmer and also had a sawmill.
There were six children in the family of W. D. Adams. Only three
are living today. They are : Lillian, wife of B. F. Christy, a farmer near
Oklahoma City; W. R. Adams; and Anna, wife of J..F. Kehoe of Clay
City, Indiana, president of the Kehoe Preserving Company, which raises

550 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
and preserve pimentos. The parents have gone the way of the world.
W. D. Adams was a soldier in the Civil war, and was in Morgan's raid
through Kentucky. He voted the republican ticket, and was a successful
farmer and lumberman, as stated, owning a mill and getting out much
building material in the days of the rural sawmills.
The son, W. R. Adams, was educated in the public school at Laurel
and in the Terre Haute Normal School, and his first business opportunity
was in the sawmill with his father. Later he engaged in the butcher
business in Indiana. After coming to Nebraska in 1890 he worked on
a farm for three or four years by the month until he saved enough to
engage in the butcher business in Hastings in 1894. In 1896 he started
traveling on the road buying hides and in 1898 bought a half interest in
the firm he was traveling for and devoted his time to management of
same. This firm was the Hastings Hide and Tallow Company. In 1900
Mr. Adams purchased the other members' interests and conducted the
business successfully until 1907 when he sold out and came to Fremont.
He then bought out J. H. Hoebner, who had the hide, fur and woolen
business in Fremont.
Mr. Adams at once enlarged the business and the buildings by adding
fifty feet and a second story. He buys and sells hides, furs and wool,
shipping in carload lots to the Eastern markets. He supplies tanneries
with the hides and furs. The W. R. Adams Company is incorporated as
a $100,000 concern, and Mr. Adams is its president and general manager.
He is a director in the Commercial Bank of Fremont and devotes all of
his time to his business interests. As a means of recreation he is an
enthusiastic golf player, realizing that the efficient business man must
have recreation.
On June 1, 1899, Mr. Adams married Gertrude Stilson. She is a
daughter of S. T. Stilson and was born at Earlville, Illinois. Her people
located in Cherry County, where they had a stock ranch. Now, how
ever, they live at Keisling, Washington, where they have a fruit ranch.
Mr. and Mrs. Adams are members of the Episcopal Church, while he
belongs to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Knights of
Pythias and is a Rotarian.
William E. Hilliker. One of the successful business men of
Fremont who has built up his present prosperity entirely through his
own efforts, and at the same time secured for himself the place in his
community to which he is entitled, is William E. Hilliker. He was born
at La Crosse, Wisconsin, on May 28, 1861, a son of William E. and
Cornelia (Stout) Hilliker, natives of Pennsylvania and Wisconsin,
respectively. They were married in Wisconsin, and it was from that
state that William E. Hilliker, the elder, enlisted in the Union army as a
member of the Wisconsin Twenty-Second Volunteer Infantry, and was
in the army for eighteen months, when he was honorably discharged.
Following the close of the war he returned to Wisconsin and having
previously learned the machinist trade in the shops of the Chicago. Mil
waukee & St. Paul Railroad, worked at it in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Later he moved to Reno County, Kansas, and for a time continued to
work at his trade, and then homesteaded near Hutchinson, Kansas. Still
later he moved to Red Oak, Iowa, where he died, his wife having passed
away at La Crosse, Wisconsin. They had four children, as follows :
Maggie, who married a Mr. Schwerin of Omaha, Nebraska ; William E.,
whose name heads this review ; Mark, who lives in California ; and one
who is deceased. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 551
and his wife was a Catholic. In politics he was a democrat, but he never
took any active part in public affairs, being too much occupied with his
own concerns.
William E. Hilliker, the younger, attended the public schools of
Kansas and Iowa, and when . still not much more than a lad began
handling horses, and has continued in this line ever since. In June, 1904,
he located permanently at Fremont, erecting a large barn, with a comfort
able residence nearby, and began to deal in horses and mules upon a very
large scale. Within recent years he opened up a commission business at
Omaha, Nebraska, which makes the third time he has embarked in this
line at Omaha, incorporating as the South Omaha Horse and Mule Com
pany in 1912, and when he had the business well under way, sold at a
profit in 1914. In 1917 he again sold a business he had built up, and
in 1920 he incorporated as Hilliker & Simpson. Mr. Hilliker divides his
time between Fremont and Omaha. The firm sold to the United States,
Italian and French governments over 73,000 head of horses and mules.
They handle about 2,500 per month at both places and sell locally..
In March, 1884, Mr. Hilliker was married to Catherine Talty, born
in Cass County, Iowa, and they became the parents of the following chil
dren : William, who is associated with his father in business ; Blanche,
who married A. C. Denney of Fremont ; Laura and Nellie, both of whom
are unmarried, and four who died in infancy. Mrs. Hilliker was a
Catholic and died firm in the faith of her church on August 26, 1916,
mourned by a wide circle of warm personal friends, as well as by her
family. Mr. Hilliker belongs to Fremont Lodge No. 514, Benevolent and
Protective Order of Elks. In politics he is a republican.
Frank Martin Haun. An impressive instance of the power of
innate energy, self-reliance, indomitable resolution and incessant perse
verance in moulding an unaided career is manifest in the life of Frank
Martin Haun, now a retired resident of Fremont, who during his active
career was one of the most influential and extensive farmers of Dodge
County, as well as one of its most prominent and useful citizens.
Mr. Haun was born in Houghton County, Michigan, December 11,
1867, and was still a lad when he accompanied his parents to Nebraska,
a history of the family being found elsewhere in this work in the sketch
of his father, John Haun. Frank M. acquired a public school education
and grew up in an agricultural atmosphere, and at the time that he
attained his majority entered upon a career of his own, renting from his
father a farm of eighty-seven acres. After four year of renting he pur
chased 120 acres of farm land, and this proved the nucleus for his subse
quent extensive operations which brought him steadily to the forefront
as one of the large and successful agriculturists of his day and locality.
His good management and business foresight, his constant industry and
his wise investments enabled him to accumulate a large and valuable prop
erty, and at this time he is the owner of 657 acres, of which 240 acres
are in Maple Township, 340 acres in Cotterell Township and seventy-
seven acres in Elkhorn Township. Seventy acres are in pasture land,
the rest being improved.
While engaged in general farming, Mr. Haun was also quite a feeder
of cattle, maintaining a large herd of high-grade stock. He likewise
raised chickens to a considerable extent. In all of his agricultural work
he displayed a progressive spirit that manifested itself in his willingness
to give a trial to new methods and inventions and to adopt them if they
proved practicable. While Mr. Haun's success was remarkable, it was

552 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
gained in a strictly legitimate manner, and his associates have always
known him as a man of the highest integrity. In 1919 he decided that he
had done his share of hard work and accordingly turned over active
labors to younger hands and shoulders and moved to Fremont, where
he had purchased a pleasant modern home at 1255 North Brand Street.
Here he has shown an intelligent and helpful interest in civic affairs and
has demonstrated himself as ready to give his support to all worthy
movements. Mr. Haun was married February 10, 1890, to Miss Anna Edam, and
to this union there have been born three children: Mrs. Ottilene Way-
wood of Dodge County; Mrs. Olga Emanual, residing near Webster, in
Pleasant Valley Township ; and Anna, who died in infancy. Mrs. Haun
is a member of the Christian Church, while Mr. Haun is a Catholic. In
political views Mr. and Mrs. Haun are democrats. During his resi
dence in the county Mr. Haun served on the School Board and as
treasurer thereof for twelve years. . He also took an important part in
the Liberty Loan drives in his county during the war period. His only
fraternal connection with the Knights of Columbus.
Edward F. Langhorst. In the Township of Nickerson in Dodge
County one of the capable, upright and progressive farmers is Edward
F. Langhorst, whose home is in section 13, and whose affairs as a farmer
and citizen deserves consideration in this publication.
Mr. Langhorst was born in Washington County, Nebraska, in 1877.
His father, Otto Langhorst, was a native of Germany and was one of
the earliest settlers in this section of Nebraska. He prospered as a
homesteader and land owner, and of whom complete mention is made
on other pages of this volume. Edward F. Langhorst grew up in a
home of more than average comfort, acquired a substantial education,
and started life for himself at the age of twenty-eight. He bought
some land from his father and at the present time owns 160 acres
thoroughly improved and operated as a general crop and stock farm.
February 14, 1907, Mr. Langhorst married Miss Lizzie Lallman,
who was born and reared in Washington County, where her people were
early settlers. Mr. and Mrs. Langhorst have two children, Florence
and Mabel, both at home.
In addition to looking after his farm Mr. Langhorst has taken
much interest in church and public affairs, serving as township clerk
for a long period of years. He is a republican voter and he and his wife
are members of the Lutheran Church.
Frank Theodore Uehling. The career of the honored Dodge
County pioneer, the late Theodore Uehling, in whose honor the Town
of Uehling was named, is the subject of a separate article in this work.
A son of Theodore, and his' wife Catherine (Schwab) Uehling, is
Frank Theodore Uehling, who now owns the old family homestead.
He has lived there all his life, and was born at the home place
October 26, 1877.
During his boyhood he attended the local public schools and in
preparation for a serious vocation as an agriculturist and stock man
attended two sessions of the State Agricultural College. For five years
he managed the home place for his parents, and subsequently bought out
the interests of the other heirs and has given the old farm distinction
as one of the centers of pure bred livestock in Northern Dodge County.
He has bought an additional 160 acres, making 320 acres. This is

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 553
known as the Oak Hill Stock Farm and is one of the model farms
pointed out to visitors in Dodge County.
September 12, 1908, Mr. Uehling married Miss Bertha Pauline
Von Seggern. She was born in Dodge County where her parents,
Henry and Sophia (Brockhus) Von Seggern were pioneer settlers,
they having come from Germany. Mr. and Mrs. Uehling have five
children: Thelma A., Raymond F., Lucile H., Wilma L., and Frank
Theodore, Jr. Mr. Uehling is a stanch republican in politics. He has
served as township treasurer, is secretary of the Farmers' Co-operative
and Mercantile Association of Uehling, a member of the school board,
and is a member of Oakland Lodge No. 91, Ancient Free and Accepted
Masons. Charles L. Dudley. With attractive appointments and large and
select stock, the Dudley Music Store figures as one of the popular and
prosperous retail establishments in the City of Fremont. Here is found
a general line of musical instruments, sheet music in required variety
and scope, and the various' supplemental stock that 'marks a high
grade musical emporium of modern facilities.
Mr. Dudley began selling musical merchandise soon after leaving
college. He was very fortunate in his marriage, Mrs. Dudley being an
accomplished musician as well as a thorough-going housewife and mother,
and since they came to Fremont she has been closely associated with
every phase of the developing business.
Mr. Dudley was born in Seward, County, Nebraska, October 14, 1882,
son of Rolland and Senith (Ogden) Dudley, the former a native of
Kendallville, Indiana, and the latter of the State of Ohio. They were
married at Weeping Water, Cass County, Nebraska, Rolland Dudley
having come to Nebraska in 1868, about a year after the admission of
the state to the Union. He took up and improved a homestead in
Seward County, where eventually he became the owner of a large
and valuable landed estate and was long one of the representative
farmers of the county. He is now living virtually retired, he and his
wife having a pleasant home in University Place, a suburb of the City
of Lincoln. Of the six children all are living except one, and of the
number the oldest is Raymond, an accountant in the employ of Amour &
Company at Sioux City, Iowa; Charles L. comes next in order of
birth; Lulu at home; Eugene and Clarence engaged in the automobile
business at Hastings, Adams County. The parents are members of
the Methodist Episcopal Church, while the father is a republican in
politics and is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America. He and
his wife are numbered among the honored pioneer citizens of Nebraska.
Charles L. Dudley acquired his early education in the public schools,
including the high school at Ulysses, Butler County. In 1900 he gradu
ated from Nebraska Wesleyan University at University Place. For
the eleven subsequent years he was in the employ , of the Matthews
Piano Company of Lincoln. After severing his association he was
for a short time engaged in the general merchandise business at Glen-
wood, Iowa. In 1915 he established himself in the music business at
Fremont, where he has built up a substantial and prosperous enterprise
and is numbered among the city's representative business men of the
younger generation.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Dudley are stanch republicans and take loyal
interest in the furtherance of its cause. Mrs. Dudley cast her first
vote for Mr. Harding. The only official position he has held was as a
Vol. II— 7

554 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
member of the Municipal Council while a resident of Glenwood, Iowa.
Mr. and Mrs. Dudley are active members of the Methodist Episcopal
Church. Fraternally he is a Knight Templar Mason, affiliated with
the Modern Woodmen of America and the Brotherhood of American
Yeomen. March 15, 1905, was marked by the marriage of Mr. Dudley to
Miss Ina Finch. She was born in Troy, Wisconsin, June 20, 1881,
daughter of Charles L. and Clara L. (Brigham) Finch, both natives
of Wisconsin, who removed to Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1888. Her father
was an engineer on the Burlington Railway for about twenty-three years
and subsequently in the real estate business and also operated a hotel
at Wahoo and York, Nebraska, until his death which occurred in 1917
at the age of sixty-seven. Mrs. Finch who is a member of the Reformed
Church makes her home at Fremont. Mrs. Dudley was about seven
years old when brought to Nebraska, was educated in the grammar
and high schools of Lincoln, spent three years in the Nebraska School
of Music and the old L Street Conservatory of Lincoln, and had private
instruction as well. She took a business course and was a stenographer
in the music department of the Matthews Piano Company at Lincoln
when she became acquainted with Mr. Dudley. She taught music for
about three years in Glenwood, Iowa. When they opened their store
in Fremont in 1915, Mrs. Dudley took an active share in the work and
fully shares in the credit with her husband for building up the business.
Mrs. Dudley possesses much real business ability, is a thorough musi
cian, and individually and through the store has contributed much to
the raising of sound musical standards. They now have the leading
general music store in Fremont, and their business is widely extended,
since four traveling salesmen represent the establishment over a large
Nebraska territory. Mr. and Mrs. Dudley have two children, Lavone
and Charles.
Ray Nye. Throughout the great Middle West, more especially may
hap in Nebraska and Iowa, the name of Nye is synonymous with enter
prise, influence and prosperity, in the grain marts and lumber districts
standing pre-eminent, one Theron Nye having been the founder and pro
moter of the very extensive and substantial grain and lumber business
with which his son, Ray Nye, is now actively identified.
Theron Nye was born Juiy 26, 1828, in Brookfield, Madison County,
New York, where his parents, Thomas and Anna (Gojdsmith) Nye,
located on migrating from New England to the Empire State. The
father, a soldier in the War of 1812, was a manufacturer of potash,
but never accumulated great wealth. Brought up in his native county,
Theron Nye acquired a practical education in the public schools, and
as a young man learned the druggist's trade. He afterwards embarked
in mercantile pursuits in Hubbardsville, New York, where he remained
four years. Early in 1857, responding to the lure of the then distant
West, he bade farewell to his family, and on May 1, 1857, landed in
Omaha, Nebraska, having come to that city from St. Louis, Missouri,
by boat. He was variously employed for a very short time, but finding
nothing that suited him in the line of employment, he came to Fremont
on May 27, of that year, with a limited capital of $25 at his command.
Pre-empting 160 acres of land, Theron Nye embarked in agricul
tural pursuits, and also engaged in freighting across the plains to
Denver. Hard working and thrifty, he accumulated some means, and in
1866 formed a partnership with S. B. Colson, J. T. Smith and J. G. Smith

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 555
and embarked in the lumber and grain business as head of the firm of
Nye, Colson & Company, to which William Fried was subsequently
admitted and from which the Smith brothers withdrew. In 1884
Mr. Nye sold his interests in the business to his son Ray, and in 1887
this firm together with two others was consolidated and the Nye, Wilson,
Morehouse Company was incorporated, later becoming the Nye,
Schneider, Fpwler Company, which operates grain elevators in seventy
Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota towns, along the lines of the prin
cipal railways of those states.
Active and prominent in advancing the interests of Fremont, his
home city, Theron Nye was one of the organizers of the First National
Bank of Fremont, and served as its president during the first fourteen
years of its existence. A republican in politics, he served as mayor of
Fremont two terms, and was county treasurer of Dodge County an
equal length of time. After his retirement from the firm of Nye,
Colson & Company, he lived a comparatively quiet life in Fremont
until his death, which occurred on March 6, 1901.
The marriage of Theron Nye and Caroline M. Colson was solemnized
in New York State on May 22, 1853. Two sons blessed their union,
as follows: Fred, who has passed to the life beyond, was a prominent
journalist, having served on the staff of the New York World several
years, and prior to that having edited the Omaha Republican; and Ray,
of this sketch. -The mother survived her husband a number of years,
living in Fremont until her death.
Born in Fremont, Nebraska, October 7, 1861, Ray Nye was educated
in the Fremont schools, and when a boy of fifteen years entered the
office of'Nye, Colson & Company as bookkeeper, a position that he ably
filled for six years, gaining in the time valuable business knowledge and
experience. In 1882 he was admitted to partnership in the concern,
and in 1884 bought his father's interests in the business. Three years
later that firm consolidated with the firms of W. R. Wilson & Company
and B. F. Morehouse & Company, and was incorporated as the Nye,
Wilson, Morehouse Company. In 1890 Messrs. Nye and R. B. Schneider
purchased the interests of Messrs. Wilson and Morehouse, and Mr. Nye
was made president of the new firm of the Nye & Schneider Company,
later the Nye, Schneider, Fowler Company which operates 200 or
more elevators in Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, South Dakota, and annually
handles millions upon millions of bushels of grain, and operates exten
sive lumber yards in different cities of Nebraska and nearby states.
Mr. Nye has other interests of importance and value, and for a
number of years has been a large stockholder, and the president of the.
Omaha Printing Company, one of the most extensive printing and sta
tionery manufacturing concerns in the West. He has been an impor
tant factor in promoting the highest interests of Fremont, the city in
which his entire life has been spent, and although he is a prominent
member of the republican party, he has never held any public office,
his entire time and attention having been devoted to his business affairs.
Fraternally he is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Order
of Masons, belonging to Lodge, Chapter, Commandery, and Shrine.
On November 22, 1883, Mr. Nye was united in marriage with Miss
Annie End, of Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Their only child, George Theron,
born August 30, 1884, died June 20, 1886.
Edward R. Stewart, M. D. Distinguished not only as the longest
established physician and surgeon of Blair, but for his professional
success, and his high standing as a man and a citizen, Edward R.

556 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Stewart, M. D., is a fine representative of the medical fraternity of
Washington County, and eminently worthy of the respect and esteem
so generally accorded him. A son of the late John G. Stewart, he was
born in Center County, Pennsylvania, April 8, 1862.
Born and reared at Spruce Creek, Pennsylvania,. John G. Stewart
acquired a good education when young, and being an intelligent reader
kept in touch with the topics of the day throughput his life. In 1867
he moved with his family from Tyrone, Pennsylvania, to Moweaqua,
Illinois, where he bought land, and was engaged in tilling the soil many
years. Going, in 1883, to Union Star, Missouri, he improved a farm,
and there both he and his wife spent their remaining days. He was
a republican in politics, and a member of the Presbyterian Church,' to
which his wife likewise belonged. Of the nine children born of their
union, eight grew to years of maturity, and four are living, as follows:
Maggie B., wife of S. H. Shomers, a general merchant of Linwood,
this state ; John, of Urbana, Illinois, a retired farmer ; Abraham E., a
retired farmer, lives at Nickerson, Nebraska; and Edward R., of this
sketch. One of their sons, Samuel Stewart, served in the Civil war
from 1863 until the surrender at Appomattox.
Edward R. Stewart received his preliminary education in Illinois,
and after attending, the State Normal School about a year then taught
in the public schools for a .time, and entered the Missouri Medical
College, at St. Louis, Missouri, which at that time was a department
of the Missouri State University, and was there graduated in 1887
with the degree of Doctor of Medicine.
Coming directly to Nebraska, Doctor Stewart located at Linwood,
Butler County, where he remained for four years, his pracfice being
extensive. Coming from there to Blair in 1891, the doctor soon won a
position among the leading physicians and surgeons of Washington
County, and through his professional, skill and ability which are
recognized and appreciated, has maintained it until the present writing.
While living in Linwood, he managed a drug store, and in Blair he is
owner of the Stewart Pharmacy, which is now managed by his son,
John H.
In January, 1889, Doctor Stewart was united in marriage with
Estelle Diefendorf, who was born in New York State, where her
parents spent the major part of their lives, her birth having occurred
in Canajoharie. Five children have blessed their union, namely : Ethel,
who completed her early studies in Roekford, Illinois, is now teaching
in Riverton, Wyoming, being engaged in primary and second grade work ;
John Harold, in charge of the Stewart Pharmacy, is a graduate of the
Blair High School; Donald D., of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, enlisted in
the World war October 1, 1917, trained at Camp Cody, went across in
July, 1918, joined the Thirty-second Division (as replacement man,
was in action on three fronts, Chateau Thierry, Soissons, and the
Argonne Forest, and after receiving his discharge in June, 1919, returned
home; and Keith Edward and Kenneth Arthur, twins, both pupils in
the Blair High School.
The doctor is a member of the State Medical Society, and of the
Washington County Medical Society, which he has served as president.
He is independent in politics, casting his vote for the best men and
measures regardless of party restrictions, and has served for a term as
member of the Blair City Council. Fraternally he is a member of the
Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons, of the Knights of Pythias
and of other fraternal and social organizations. Mrs. Stewart and her
children are members of the Congregational Church.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 557
John H. Witt deserves a long and worthy memory in Dodge
County for the part he played as a pioneer, developing and improving
land that never before had borne the crops of civilization. He was a
good citizen in every respect apart from his industry and success as a
business man. He favored those institutions and improvements that
raised the standard of living in the community.
His life record began in Holstein, Germany, in 1836, and after getting
a common school education he served an apprenticeship as a carpenter
and as a journeyman he traveled about and saw much of many European
communities before he came to the United States in 1865. His first
location was at Freeport, Illinois, but in 1868 he crossed the Missouri
River and homesteaded eighty acres in Dodge County. He married
about that time, but for a year kept his residence in Omaha where he
worked at his trade. He moved out to his land in 1869, and he and
his bride endured a rather lonely existence, since their little frame house
had only one other residence between it and Fremont twenty-five, miles
away. He worked hard, proved thrifty and saw his affairs prosper,
and at the time of his death in June, 1911, he was owner of 600 acres,
constituting a highly valuable estate. He was also active in association
with his fellow farmers and for twenty-five years served as treasurer
of the Farmers Club. Politically he acted with the democratic party
and as a member of the Lutheran Church.
His first wife, whom he married in 1868, was Sophie Meeves. She
died the mother of four children: Mrs. Amelia Peters, of Scribner;
Henry, of Scribner; John Witt Miller, of Leigh, Nebraska; and one
that died in infancy. For his second wife John H. Witt married Anna
Paulsen, and to their union were born fourteen children, six of whom
died in infancy, the others being: Mrs. Emma Diedrichsen, of Scribner;
Dr. Bernhard, a veterinary surgeon at Scribner ; Rudolph, who served as
a soldier in the World war; Mrs. B. Diedrichsen, of Scribner; Arnold
Reinhold in Ohio; Mrs. Erna Kellner, Scribner; and Ewald at home.
Joe 5. Cook. One of the first names to appear in the pioneer annals
of the Blair community in Washington County is that of Cook. Several
of the family have lived here as honored residents and one qf them is
Joe S. Cook, now retired, who was a gallant Union soldier in the Civil
war, came to Washington County, Nebraska, a few years later, and has
lived here more than half a century. Mr. Cook has always sustained the
character of a substantial and successful business man and the honors
and responsibilities accorded him as a citizen comprise nearly all the
offices in the gift of his home township and county.
Mr. Cook was born in Pennsylvania September 8, 1841, and is now
in the shadow of his eightieth birthday. His parents, John and Eliza
(Shoup) Cook were also native Pennsylvanians and in 1868 came out
to Nebraska and homesteaded in Washington County, where they lived
out their years. The father was a republican and both parents were
identified with the Presbyterian Church. Of their large family of eleven
children, eight are still living: Mrs. T. F. Martin, whose late husband
was a deputy county clerk of Washington County; Jane of Pender,
Nebraska; Rebecca, widow of James Hayes and now living in one of
the western states; Sue, widow of Doctor Love, a resident of Carroll,
Nebraska; Amelia, a widow living at Indiana, Pennsylvania; Joe S. ;
James, a painter and paper hanger at Pender, Nebraska; and Harriet,
also of Pender.

558 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Joe S. Cook during his youthful days in Pennsylvania had only
limited opportunities to acquire a public school education. He found
tasks to busy himself on the farm and in a country district, and was
not twenty years of age when the war broke out. He enlisted in April,
1861, at the very beginning of the struggle, joining Company F of the
Eighth Pennsylvania Reserves. He fought for the flag of the Union
three years, until honorably discharged May 30, 1864. Mr. Cook was
in some of the greatest battles of the war in Virginia, including Second
Bull Run, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, the wilderness
where he was on duty for twelve successive days, and also participated
in the seven days fighting around Richmond. He was captured there,
and for three or four months was confined in a Southern prison.
His patriotic duty discharged, Mr. Cook returned to Pennsylvania
and in 1868 came West to Washington County, Nebraska, where he
improved a homestead, shared with other pioneers in the hardships and
vicissitudes of the early years, and in all his varied relationships has
shown a prompt readiness to discharge his duties to the best of his
ability. Mr. Cook has been a resident of Blair since 1879, and is now one of
the oldest residents of that community. In November, 1865, when he
had been out of the army about a year he married Miss Harriet C. Gates,
also a native of Pennsylvania, where her parents, Peter and Nancy
(Benner) Gates spent all their lives. Mrs. Cook is a member of the
Methodist Episcopal Church while Mr. Cook still gives his preference
to the church in which he was reared, the Presbyterian. He is affiliated
with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and has long been prominent
in the Grand Army of the Republic and is Past Commander of the local
post. In politics he has been stanehly aligned with the republican party
since casting his first vote during the Civil war. Besides all the local
offices of his community, Mr. Cook was for two terms a member of the
board of county commissioners, was also county treasurer, county clerk
two terms, and for a number of years served as clerk of the district
court. He has been deeply interested in the welfare of local schools
and for twenty-two consecutive years served as a member of the home
school board.
Mr. and Mrs. Cook had four children, three of whom are still living.
The oldest is Mrs. T. F. Martin, now deputy county clerk. The second.
Miss Mary, has for over twenty years been cashier of the banking house
of E. Castetter, at Blair. The only son, William P. Cook, is cashier of a
bank at Calhoun, Nebraska.
Aaron W. Murphy. A man of versatile talents, Aaron W. Murphy,
of Fremont, has been variously employed since locating in Dodge
County, and has contributed his full share in advancing its agricultural,
industrial and material interests. Beginning life for himself poor in
pocket, but rich in energy, he has met with well deserved success in his
undertakings, and obtained a noteworthy position among the useful and
esteemed citizens of his community. A son of Isaac Murphy, he was
born May 23, 1864, in Grant County, West Virginia.
A native of West Virginia, Isaac Murphy succeeded to the occupa
tion of his ancestors, and carried on general farming for a number of
years. During the latter part of the Civil war, he enlisted in the
Union Army, and was killed very soon after his enlistment. He married
Jemima C. Crites, who was born in West Virginia, and they became the
parents of one child, Aaron 'W. Murphy, with whom this sketch is

^W7_^^-

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 559
chiefly concerned. The mother subsequently married for her second
husband T. Reel, and of that union had three children, all of whom
live in West Virginia, where her death occurred in 1913. The father
was a republican in politics, and both he and his wife belonged to the
Lutheran Church.
Educated in the rural schools of his native state, Aaron W. Murphy
remained on the farm until attaining his majority. Anxious to try
the hazard of new fortunes, he started westward, and on February 7,
1885, made his first appearance in Fremont, Nebraska. He first found
employment in a dairy, and later followed tbe carpenter's trade a while,
after which he worked in a foundry for three months. Trying to
better his fortunes, Mr. Murphy subsequently teamed for a time, and
then took contracts for putting up hay, keeping busily employed at
something all of the time. Resuming the occupation to which he was
reared, he rented a tract of land, and when he had accumulated a suffi
cient sum to warrant him in so doing, he bought land, and though he has
always lived in Fremont, engaged in farming. More recently, in associa
tion with his son, Mr. Murphy has been extensively and prosperously
engaged in the sand business, which has proved a paying proposition,
while as a farmer and stock raiser he is meeting with equally good
success. Mr. Murphy married, in 1884, Carrie E. Parks, a native of West
Virginia, and of their union three children, triplets, were born, one of
whom, a boy, died at the age of two years, and two are living, namely:
Leander Smith Murphy, formerly in the Government employ at Fort
Logan, is now in the sand business with his father; and Leona, in the
employ of Cain & Johnson, lawyers.
Politically Mr. Murphy is identified with the republican party, and
for five years served ably in the City Council, resigning therefrom to
accept his present position as county supervisor, an office which he has
filled satisfactorily for the past fourteen years, a record of service
bespeaking his ability and fidelity. Religiously he is a member of the
Christian Church, to which Mrs. Murphy likewise belongs ; and fra
ternally he belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America.
Henry Rebbe. While Henry Rebbe came to Dodge County in the
early '70s and became one of the largest land and property owners, his
life had a wide range of interest and activity outside the county. He
had the spirit of a pioneer, willing to undergo labor and risk and hard
ship, and was a splendid example of the stalwart Americanism that sub
dued the western half of the continent.
He was born in Hanover, Germany, May 12, 1841. His parents
were poor and small farmers in the old country. While Henry had
the regular common school education of Germany, his life from early
youth was one of regular toil. He was nineteen years old when in 1860
he crossed -the ocean to New York and for about two years he was a
fireman on steamships making several voyages from New York to
European ports. Following that for about a year he clerked in a store
in New York City.
At that time the Great West was a country largely unexplored and
unknown and presented every variety of fascination for the youth of
energy. Henry Rebbe responded to the call of the wild in 1863 and
went to Montana, where gold had been recently discovered, and where
a territorial organization was perfected by the first pioneers in that
year. He staked out a gold mining claim in Stinking Creek District at

560 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
what is now Virginia City. He remained there about six years, and
when he sold his interests in 1869 he left with a modest fortune to his
credit. Having spent nearly ten years engaged in strenuous work he
took a well earned vacation, returned to Germany, and there met and
on September 12, 1871, married Miss Wilmina Siever. She was born
in Germany January 12, 1853.
In March, 1872, the bride and groom set sail for the United States
and this time Mr. Rebbe came direct to Dodge County, Nebraska. He
bought 320 acres of prairie land in Maple Township. Financially he
was in a better situation than many of the early settlers, and his first
home was a comfortable frame house and much above the average of the
type found in Dodge County fifty years ago. In handling the resources
of the soil he was as successful as he had been as a miner, and from
year to year he saw his possessions broaden and expand, until at the
time of his death he was said to be the heaviest tax payer in the county.
He owned 2,440 acres of good land, most of it in Dodge County, and
also financially interested in banks and had other properties. He was
one of the hard working citizens of Dodge County for over thirty
years. With the approach of his seventieth birthday, he began arrang
ing his affairs so as to turn the active management of his lands over to
his sons, and he bought a pleasant home in the village of Hooper. He
was denied the privilege of occupying it and enjoying a few years of
leisure. He was stricken and after three days died on March 22, 1908.
He was a faithful member of the Lutheran Church, and altogether one
of the very constructive citizens of Dodge County.
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Rebbe were: Henry C, the
oldest, now makes his home with his mother and sister at Hooper and
assists in looking after the large estate; Louis J., a prominent Dodge
County farmer, concerning whom an article, appears on other pages;
Oscar and Emma, both deceased; August, a Dodge County farmer, also
mentioned elsewhere; and Katherine at home with her mother.
Mrs. Rebbe, who was the faithful companion of her husband for thirty-
seven years, since his death has lived in the pleasant home at Hooper,
has shown much skill and good judgment in the management of her
business affairs and she and her son and daughter are active in local
societies and other events of the village community.
John O. Milligan, Sr. A prominent family of Dodge County,
Nebraska, bears the name of Milligan, and it has belonged to this state
for over a half century. During this period of great development, it
has been continuously identified with leading interests in Dodge and
other counties. A well known member of this important family is
John O. Milligan, Jr., who is one of the foremost business men of
Scribner. He was born here in 1878, and is a son of John O. and Kate
L. (Neff) Milligan.
John O. Milligan, Sr., was born in Stark County, Ohio, in 1840. His
parents were Joseph and Rebecca S. (Winner) Milligan, the former
of whom was born in Ohio and the latter in Delaware. Joseph Milligan
was a farmer in Ohio until 1850, when he moved to Illinois. John O.
Milligan, Sr., was reared on the home farm but was afforded educa
tional advantages that included a course in Union College, Ohio. In
1862 he enlisted for service in the Civil war, entering Company C
Ninety-third Illinois Volunteer Infantry, was wounded in action near
Memphis, Tennessee, and was honorably discharged in 1865. He
returned to Illinois but in 1868 came to Nebraska and homesteaded in

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 561
Dodge County, proved up, and mainly devoted his attention to raising
stock until 1877. In that year he came to Scribner and opened a gen
eral mercantile store, in which he continued to be interested until 1890.
He had many additional interests, being a man of unusual business enter
prise. He became interested in the grain business and in lumber, starting
a lumber yard at Wayne, in Wayne County, and in 1884 built a flour
mill at Wakefield. He was president of the Farmers & Merchants Bank,
of Scribner, for a number of years, and was a director of the Farmers &
Merchants Bank of Fremont for thirty-eight years. For years he was
prominent in republican politics in Dodge County and was a member
of the State Legislature from 1905 until 1907. Failing eyesight caused
his practical retirement from business but he remains one of the most
highly esteemed residents of Scribner.
John O. Milligan was married in 1865 to Kate L. Neff, who was
born in Muskingum County, Ohio, and the following children were
born to them: J. L., who is a railroad man in Oklahoma; Glenn J., who
lives retired at Redlands, California; John O., who is a merchant at
Scribner; Granville W., who died in Mexico, was treasurer of the
Pan-American Railroad there; Emmett, who operates the old Milligan
ranch in Dodge County; Rena, who resides at Scribner; Dora M., who
is the wife of August Jaiser, who is an insurance and real estate broker
at Kansas City; Gertrude B., who is teaching school in Wyoming; and
Emma, who is the wife of Emil Horseman, with the Rocky Mountain
Fuel Company, at Denver, Colorado. The mother of the above family
is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The father belongs
to the Grand Army of the Republic post at Scribner.
John O. Milligan, Jr., was mainly educated in the public schools at
Wakefield, and the normal school at Fremont. From 1890 until 1905
he was associated with his father in the milling, grain and livestock busi
ness at Wakefield. In 1910 he bought the Miiligan mercantile interests
at Scribner, since which time he has devoted himself mainly to the
management of this enterprise, which has grown to large proportions
through his progressive methods. He employs nine people in his store and
implement department.
In 1910 Mr. Milligan was united in marriage to Miss Maggie Steiper,
who was born in Dodge County and is a daughter of John Steiper, a
prominent resident of Scribner, and they have four children, namely;
John O., Harlan, Arline and Burdette. Mrs. Milligan is a member
of the Congregational Church. In politics, Mr. Milligan has always been
identified with the republican party. At times he has served in local
offices and at present is a member of the town board. In addition to
other business interests, Mr. Milligan is a stockholder in the First
National Bank of Scribner, and also in the Farmers & Merchants Bank
of Fremont. An honorable, upright business man and connected only
with enterprises of worth, he stands as a representative citizen of his
native county and state.
Christopher Cusack was a pioneer of Dodge County, coming to
this section of Nebraska half a century ago, and during his lifetime
achieving all the success and honor of business and good citizenship.
For a great many years he was closely identified with the financial
affairs of the county.
He was born May 10, 1848, at Moffat, Ontario, Canada, and prac
tically all his mature life was spent in Nebraska. When he came West
in 1869 he performed among other duties those of section foreman on

562 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
the line of the Union Pacific Railroad in Wyoming. From that modest
station in life he rose through his own ability and efforts until he
became one of the substantial capitalists and influential citizens of
Dodge County. In the earlier period of his residence at North Bend
he developed a prosperous business in the buying and shipping of hogs,
and later became a dealer in lumber and agricultural implements.
In July, 1886, Christopher Cusack was elected cashier of the First
National Bank of North Bend, after having served for some time
previously as a member of its board of directors. He continued his
efficient service as cashier until 1905, when he became president of the
institution^ Of that position he continued the incumbent until Novem
ber, 1912, when he resigned owing to his seriously impaired health,
and his death occurred in the following month. The entire community
united in an expression of its sense of loss in the passing of a citizen
who had merited the fullest measure of confidence and esteem and
who had contributed much to the civic and material advancement of his
home town and county. His political allegiance was given to the republi
can party, and in a fraternal way he was affiliated with the Masonic
Order and the Ancient Order of United Workmen.
Christopher Cusack married Eliza J. Scott, who was born in the
City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, August 28, 1858, and still maintains
her home at North Bend, where she is an earnest member of the United
Presbyterian Church of the city. Mrs. Cusack's parents were pioneers
of Dodge County, and some other facts regarding their early residence
and activities are detailed on other pages of this publication.
Of the four children of Christopher Cusack the oldest is John S.,
identified with a leading commission firm at Denver, Colorado; Roy J.,
his father's successor as a banker and his career is sketched elsewhere ;
Harry C. is assistant cashier of the First National Bank of North
Bend ; and Marie I. is the wife of Russell R. Goody, cashier of the
Montrose National Bank of Montrose, Colorado.
Roy J. Cusack, who is cashier of the First National Bank of
North Bend, Dodge County, succeeded his honored father as executive
head of this substantial financial institution, of which he had previously
been cashier, and his own life has contributed to the civic and business
prestige of a family name long one of prominence and influence in
Dodge County. The part played by his father, the late Christopher
Cusack, in Dodge County, is found on the preceding page.
Roy J. Cusack was born at North Bend May 24, 1882, and in the
public schools of his native town continued his studies until he had
profited by the advantages of the high school. He also attended the
United Presbyterian College at Tarkio, Missouri, and after completing
his education began a business career as assistant cashier of the First
National Bank of North Bend. Subsequently he was promoted to cashier
and that office he filled until the retirement of his father in 1912, when
he was elected president. This representative bank of Dodge Countv
has a capital of $50,000, with surplus and profits aggregating $30,000,
and its deposits are now in excess of $400,000.
Mr. Cusack takes a lively interest in all things touching the welfare
of his home village and county and is a liberal and progressive citizen
and enterprising young business man. His political faith is that of the
republican party. He is affiliated with the Masonic Order and the
Mystic Shrine, also with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and
the Modern Woodmen of America. He was reared in the faith of the

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 563
United Presbyterian Church and his wife is an earnest communicant
of the Protestant Episcopal Church.
September 18, 1919, he married Miss Adys Huberle, who was born
at Nebraska City. She has become a popular factor in the representa
tive social activities of North Bend. They have one son, David.
James R. Smith. Washington County offers many instances of
remarkable business expansion, but in every case upon investigation it
is found that the men who have achieved such prosperity have been those
who have been willing to work hard for it, and have not sought to get
something for nothing. James R. Smith, senior member of the depend
able firm of Smith Brothers, implement dealers of Blair, is one of the
men of Nebraska who belongs to the above-mentioned class, and his
success is not confined to commercial- circles for he has been honored
by election to public office at the hands of his appreciative fellow citizens.
James R. Smith was born in County Fermanagh, Ireland, October 10,
1852, a son of Richard and Florence A. (Fife) Smith, both of whom
were born in the same county as their son. They left Ireland in 1882,
and coming to the United States, located at Burlington, Iowa, where
they spent the remainder of their lives. In his native land Richard
Smith was a gun and lockmaker, but lived practically retired after
reaching this country. He and his wife had nine children, of whom the
following four survive: James R., whose name heads this review;
Edward Robert, born January 4, 1858, came to the United States with
his parents, having been educated in Ireland and taught the gunmaking
trade, located at Blair in 1883, at first working for his brother, but is
now a partner in the firm of Smith Brothers, and is unmarried ; Emily,
who married Dan Ryder, is now a widow residing at Burlington, Iowa ;
and Florence, who married Bert Hood, a mechanic of Burlington, Iowa.
The family all belonged to the Wesleyan Methodist Church. In politics
Richard Smith was a conservative before leaving Ireland, but while
he took an intelligent interest in public affairs in the United States,
did not affiliate with any party here. He and his family came to this
country under much better conditions than many of their fellow country
men, for he was a man of ample means, as he has been very successful
as a business man, and so had been able to give his children excellent
opportunities. James R. Smith attended the schools of his own country before the
family's immigration, but learned the blacksmithing trade after his arrival
in the United States. Going to Greensburg, Ohio, he spent seven years
in a blacksmith shop there, and in 1878 came to Blair, and followed
blacksmithing for ten years, then, in 1888, he establisbed himself in
an implement business, and now he and his brother, in point of service,
are the oldest implement dealers at Blair. They carry a full- and varied
line of goods, and have built up a very wide connection, their trade
showing a steady and healthy increase.
In 1882 Mr. Smith was married to Nellie H. Stewart, who was born
in Guelph, Canada, a daughter of Peter Stewart, who came to Wash
ington County, Nebraska, at an early day, and here homesteaded. His
death, however, occurred in California, but his widow survives him and
makes her home at Blair. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have two children,
namely : Florence Maude, who is at home ; and Grover Irwin, now a
traveling salesman, is a veteran of the great war. He came to Nebraska
from Pennsylvania in order to volunteer from his native state, and
enlisted in the Sixth Infantry, but was transferred to the quartermaster's

564 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
department. After two years of service he was honorably discharged
with the rank of second lieutenant. Mrs. Smith is a member of the
Congregational Church. Well-known in Masonry, Mr. Smith was
entered as an apprentice August 15, 1885; became a fellowcraftsman,
October 7, 1885, and was given the third degree November 10, 1885. He
is now a Knight Templar, and has served his Commandery as eminent
commander. Mr. Smith also belongs to the Woodmen of .the World.
In politics a democrat, he is one of the local leaders of his party, and was
elected on its ticket commissioner of Washington County, and served
for one term. Keen, self-reliant and experienced Mr. Smith knows
his trade and how to supply its demands. Having lived at Blair during
its formative period, he takes a pride in the fact that he participated in
its constructive work, and is anxious to further its growth in the future.
C. R. Mead, D. D. S. The record of Dr. C. R. Mead proves the
value of persistent endeavor and the fact that no intelligent effort is lost.
He has so developed his natural faculties that today he is justly num
bered among the leading practitioners of his learned profession and is
recognized as one of the .public-spirited men of Blair, where for some
time he has been intimately identified with the development of this
section of the state.
Doctor Mead was born at Marengo, Iowa, on June 16, 1869, a son
of J. H. and Ellen E. (Kepner) Mead, natives of New York and Penn
sylvania, respectively. They were married at Marengo, Iowa, and
lived there during their early married life but then, in 1882 came to
Blair, Nebraska, and before his death, which occurred some years
later, he developed into a farmer and stockman of more than local
prominence and a man of large means. His widow survives him and
makes her home at Blair. They became the parents of four children,
namely: Guy K, who is manager of the Blair Garage Company of
Blair; Gertrude, who is at home; Doctor C. R., who was third in order
of birth ; and Ethel, who is at home. The family are all devoted mem
bers of the Methodist Church. The father belonged to the Masonic
Order, the Grand Army of the Republic, and was a republican. During
the war between the North and the South, he served in the Twenty-fourth
Iowa Volunteer Infantry until he was transferred to the Sixty-second
United States Colored Infantry of which he was a lieutenant.
Doctor Mead attended the public schools of Blair and Central City,
Nebraska, and he studied dentistry in the Chicago College of Dentistry,
from which he was graduated in 1898, and returning to Blair, entered
at once on the practice of his calling. Since then he has built up a large
and valuable connection and is recognized as one of the leading dentists
in this part of the state.
In 1900 Doctor Mead was married to Eda Jones, born at Fontanelle,
Nebraska. The children born of this marriage are as follows : James,
who is now in the preparatory school of the United States Navy at
Newport, Rhode Island; and Robert, Elizabeth, and Paul, all of whom
are attending school. They are all members of the Methodist Episcopal
Church. Doctor Mead has been superintendent of the Methodist
Episcopal Sunday School for twenty years. He is a Royal Arch Mason,
and belongs to the Knights of Pythias, serving as master of the former
for one term and as chancellor of the latter for three terms, and repre
sented the Blair Knights of Pythias at the grand lodge. A very strong
republican, Doctor Mead was the successful candidate of his party for
mayor of Blair in 1908, the year that the city went dry. He served

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 565
fifteen years on the school board. He has lived up to the highest stand
ards of American citizenship, and deserves the consideration accorded
him by those associated with him.
William E. Barz. In a comparative sense Nebraska is to be desig
nated as one of the younger commonwealths of the Union, even though
she has maintained the dignity of statehood for more than half a cen
tury, and it is gratifying to record that within her borders are now found
many native sons whose loyalty and eligibility are shown in their incum
bency of various offices of public trust. In Dodge County Mr. Barz has
maintained his home from the time of his birth, and here he has been
called upon to serve in various official positions, including that of
county clerk, of which he is the present efficient and popular incumbent.
Mr. Barz was born on a farm near Scribner, Dodge County, Decem
ber 15, 1884, and is a son of Carl and Anna (Ollermann) Barz, both
natives of Germany and both pioneers of Dodge County, where their
marriage was solemnized. Carl Barz was active in the development of
farm industry in this county and after having been engaged in agri
cultural pursuits a number of years he operated a brick yard at Snyder,
this county, for another term of years. He finally purchased a farm in
the State of Louisiana, and there he and his wife have resided since
1916, his attention being given mainly to the improvement and cultiva
tion of his farm. Of the two children William E. of this review is the
elder, and Ottilie is the wife of Walter Gustin, their home being now
in the States of Louisiana.
He whose name introduces this sketch acquired his preliminary edu
cation in the district schools of his native county, and thereafter he con
tinued his. studies in the Fremont Normal School and Business College.
After a due experience in connection with farm work he attended the
public schools at Snyder, and in the meanwhile clerked in a local drug
store. Thereafter he served a few years as deputy postmaster at Snyder,
and his later activities in that village were in the operation of a brick
yard, besides which he gave considerable attention to the feeding of
cattle for the market.
After removing to Fremont, the county seat, he was appointed deputy
county assessor and served in 1908-1909. His next occupation was in
connection with a lumber yard and grain elevator at Snyder, and he
has served as clerk in a number of the retail mercantile establishments
of Snyder. In 1912 he was appointed deputy county clerk and served
until 1917. Mr. Barz was elected county clerk, and the best
voucher for the ability he displayed in this office was that given in his
re-election in 1918. He has given a very efficient administration of the
multifarious affairs of this important county office and his service has
met with unequivocal popular approval.
Mr. Barz has been unwavering in his support of the cause of the
democratic party, and he is prominently affiliated with hoth the lodge and
encampment bodies of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which
he has passed the various official chairs in both, and he is identified
also with the Fraternal Order of Eagles.
In 1908 Mr. Barz was united in marriage to Miss Mary Pateidl, who
likewise is a native of Dodge County, and they have one child, Carl,
who is a student in the Fremont schools.
Otto H. Schurman, president of the Commercial National Bank
of Fremont, one of the leading financial institutions of Dodge County,
was a lad of ten years at the time of the family removal to Fremont,

566 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
where he was reared to adult age and where his entire business career
has been marked by close association with the bank of which he is now
the executive head and. of which his honored father was the founder
and first president.
Mr. Schurman was born at Pekin, Tazewell County, Illinois, August
12, 1870, and is a son of Ernest and Onnoline (Looschen) Schurman,
who were born and reared in Germany and whose marriage was solem
nized in the State of New York, whence they removed to Illinois in
1865, where the father was enabled to exchange his modest supply of
gold coin and buy "greenbacks" with a material profit. At Ottawa, that
state, he made the application and filed the papers which resulted in
his becoming a naturalized citizen of the land of his adoption, and it
may well be said that no man proved more loyal and appreciative than
did he, for in this country he found the opportunities that enabled him
to achieve large and worthy success. At Pekin, Illinois, this future
banker found employment in a wagon and hardware establishment, at
a salary of $75 a month, and he continued his residence in that state
until 1880. In the meantime his earnest and well ordered activities
in connection with business had resulted in the advancement of his
financial prosperity, and when, in the year noted, he came to Fremont,
Nebraska, he here established himself in the wholesale grocery business.
In addition to developing one of the leading wholesale industries of the
vigorous little city he soon made his influence still more pronounced, by
effecting the organization of the German-American Bank in 1889. The,
new institution received the fortifying power of his exceptional energy
and business acumen and soon took rank with the foremost institutions
of its kind in Dodge County. Eventually it was reorganized as the
Commercial National Bank, and Mr. Schurman continued as president
of the institution until his death, at the age of fifty-five years, his wife
having passed away at the same age and both having been earnest
communicants of the Lutheran Church. Mr. Schurman had a capital of
about $20,000 at the time of establishing his home at Fremont, and
through his progressive business enterprise in Nebraska he accumulated
a fortune that marked him as one of the wealthiest men of Fremont at
the time of his death, even as he was one of the most loyal and respected
citizens. His political allegiance was given to the republican party, he
was prominently affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and he beld
membership also in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Of the
three children, Otto H, of this review, is the eldest; Ernest A. is
engaged in the banking business at Elkhorn, Douglas County; and
Rudolph B. conducts a prosperous automobile business at Fremont.
In the public schools of Fremont Otto H. Schurman continued
his studies until he had profited by the advantages of the high school,
and thereafter he completed a course in a business college in this city.
He then became a bookkeeper in the bank established by his father,
and his advancement came as a matter of efficient and faithful service
rather than through paternal influence. He passed 'on through the
various stages of official promotion and finally, after the death of his
fatherv he was made president of the institution. The Commercial
National Bank bases its operations on a capital stock of $100,000, has
a surplus fund of equal amount ; its undivided profits are fully $50,000 ;
and its average deposits are in excess of $1,250,000. These figures
bear their own significance as indicating the solidity and popularity of
this old and well ordered banking institution, whose history has been
one of conservative management and cumulative success.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 567
Though unwavering in his allegiance to the republican party and
essentially progressive and public-spirited in his civic attitude, Mr. Schur
man has had no ambition for official preferment and has given close
attention to his business affairs, rather than entering the arena of
practical politics. A deep student of the history and teachings of the
time-honored fraternity, Mr. Schurman has taken great satisfaction
in his affiliation with the various bodies of both the York and Scottish
Rites, in the latter of which he has the distinction of having received the
thirty-third, or maximum, degree, the Red Cross of Constance, and
Royal Order of Scotland. He was raised to the sublime degree of
Master Mason May 19, 1909; received the capitular degree on the
16th of the following October, was made a Knight Templar on the 20th
of December of the same year, and received the thirty-second degree
of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite on the 17th of March, 1910,
while the final honor of the thirty-third degree was conferred Novem
ber 26, 1917. Mr. Schurman was for many years actively identified
with the Nebraska National Guard, from which he received his dis
charge November 5, 1892. He was treasurer of Fremont Lodge No. 15,
Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, from 1912 to 1920, was high
priest of the local chapter of Royal Arch Masons in 1914-15 ; was
captain-general of Mount Tabor Commandry, No. 9, Knights Templar,
in 1915-16, having previously held the office of generalissimo of this
commandary, and having served as its eminent commander in 1915-16.
He was reared in the faith of the Lutheran Church, but is now a mem
ber of the Congregational Church, as is also his wife.
In April, 1895, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Schurman to
Miss Myra L. Lee, daughter of Henry Lee, a prominent and influential
citizen of Fremont. Mr. and Mrs. Schurman have three daughters :
Lee Ottila is a student in Sweetbriar College, in the State of Virginia,
as is also Phyllis; and Hortense Ruth is a student in the Fremont
high school. The family is prominently identified with the Congrega
tional Church of Fremont, of which Mr. Schurman is a trustee and
also treasurer.
Henry Sprick. The early history of Fontanelle is intimately asso
ciated with the colony which in the spring of 1855 emigrated West from
Quincy, Illinois, and made the first settlements on the prairie around
what is now tbat thriving town. One of the prominent men in the
colony was the late Henry Sprick, whose early residence in Nebraska
Territory and subsequent achievements as a business man and citizen,
and all around wholesome character, entitle him to a special place in
the history of his county.
Henry Sprick was born March 1, 1826, in Westphalia, Germany, and
in 1853 settled at Quincy, Illinois, at that time a favorite colony of
Germans. He worked on the farm for a time, but in 1855 joined the
party of about fifty people who set out from Quincy in prairie schooners
drawn by oxen going to Washington County, Nebraska.- He was per
haps the only native German in the entire colony. Nebraska was then
a territory, and settlement was being attracted within the borders largely
as a result of the tremendous and vital discussion going on in Congress
over the Kansas-Nebraska bill. Henry Sprick made several trips back
and forth between the Nebraska colony and Quincy, and in 1858 he
returned to Quincy to marry Sophie Wilkening. She was born in
Germany May 30, 1837, and came with her parents, Henry Wilkening and .
wife to Quincy in 1856. After their marriage Henry Sprick and

568 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
bride made their wedding journey out to Fontanelle, Nebraska, a distance
of nearly four hundred and fifty miles, in a wagon drawn by a yoke of
oxen. Henry Sprick in the course of time became prominent in the
new community. In 1873 he was elected to the lower house of the
Nebraska Legislature, and served three successive terms. In 1878 he
was chosen a member of the State Senate, and in 1884 was a presi
dential elector on the republican ticket.
After having been active in the development of his community for
fifty years, successful in business and exemplifying a philanthropic spirit,
he passed away honored and esteemed July 21, 1906. While his first
home in Fontanelle was a log cabin, he later enjoyed the comforts of
a fine brick residence. His wife survived him about ten years, passing
away in September, 1916, at the age of eighty. Of this honored pioneer
couple portraits appear in this work.
They were the parents of ten children: Mary, wife of Christian
Sick of Sterling, Nebraska ; Henry C, who though born and reared in
Fontanelle, went back to Quincy, Illinois, some thirty years ago and
has achieved great prominence as a banker, business, man and citizen of
Quincy; Sophie, wife of Carl Krueger, a minister living in New York
State; Anna, wife of Ed Niebaum, a Washington County farmer whose
sketch appears elsewhere; Albert W., whose interests in the Fonta
nelle community are also described; Emma, wife of Otto A. Langhorst
of Fontanelle, a record of whom appears elsewhere; Clara, widow of
George D. Roth of Quincy, Illinois; Louise; George, who died in
infancy; and Alfred, who died in 1901 at the age of twenty-three. i
Albert W. Sprick, a son of the prominent Fontanelle pioneer, the
late Henry Sprick, has been a life long resident of this section of
Nebraska, is a former merchant of Fontanelle, and one of the leading
farmers and stockmen pf Washington County.
He was born at Fontanelle March 18, 1871, and has well exemplified
the high minded and progressive spirit of his family. He was educated
in the common schools of Washington County, spent one 3rear in Iowa
College at Grinnell, and completed his education with a four year
course in Midland College in Kansas. On leaving college he applied
his efforts to general farming and stock raising, but from 1898 until
1902 was a member of the well known mercantile firm of Sprick &
Berkheimer. After selling his mercantile business he resumed with
renewed energy the stock raising and farming industry and this is the
field in which his enterprise has brjjugjit him substantial material rewards.
In 1911 Mr. Sprick married 'MjJSs Bertha Westhold of Quincy,
Illinois. They are active members^ of the Lutheran Church and
Mr. Sprick, like his father, is a republican. Respected for his sound
judgment in business and public affairs and though quiet and unassum
ing he has a hbst of loyal friends and has rendered valuable service in
a public way. .He was a member in 1919 and 1920 of the Nebraska
Constitutional 'Convention and in 1920 was elected a member of the
House of Representatives in the State Legislature. Mr. Sprick occupies
his father's fine old home place at Fontanelle.
Mrs. Elizabeth A. Maxwell of Fremont is the widow of the late
Judge Samuel Maxwell, for many years one of the most prominent
jurists of the state.
Mrs. Maxwell was born in Andrew County, Missouri, September 5,
1845. Her father, Jacob Adams, was a native of North Carolina but

I'..- i..ir i

nit ill.

,/

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 569
spent his early life in Henry County, Indiana. He was a carpenter by
trade but for many years a farriier. As a pioneer Nebraskan he took
up a claim and then returned to Iowa. During his absence the claim
was jumped and when he returned he bought out the occupant in later
years. He made the journey from Iowa by wagon and passed through
Plattsmouth when it contained only two houses. Jacob Adams died at
the age of fifty-nine. He married Rachel Wyles, who became the
mother of six children, Mrs. Maxwell being the oldest.
In 1866 at Plattsmouth, Nebraska, Miss Elizabeth Adams was mar
ried to Samuel Maxwell, who was born May 20, 1825, in Lodi, New
York, his parents having come from Scotland. At the time of his
marriage Mr. Maxwell was a farmer but had studied law under his
brother and in 1866 he opened a law office in Plattsmouth and in Fre
mont in 1873, when he had been appointed district judge of the North
Platte district, which office he filled several terms, when he was made
supreme judge of the state. He then moved to Dodge County and in
this county achieved his greatest eminence as a lawyer and judge. He
was a Presbyterian, a Mason and Odd Fellow, and died February 11,
1901, at the age of seventy-six.
Mrs. Maxwell was the mother of nine children: Mrs. Maggie Fer
guson of Brookland; Henry E. of Omaha; Jacob; Elizabeth L., at
home; Andrew C. of Sioux City, Iowa; Marilla, at home; Mrs. Anna
Jefford of Jamaica, New York; Samuel of Fremont; and Sarah, at
home. Herman F. Meyer. Among the stable business men of Scribner, no
one is held in more confidence or higher esteem than Herman F. Meyer,
who is cashier of the Farmers State Bank of this* city. This institution
is one of large importance in Dodge County and its growth has been
steady and satisfactory since its organization. Its officers are all men of
ample means and banking experience, and are recognized as able, upright
business men.
Herman F. Meyer was born in 1876, in Dodge County, the second
in a family of twelve children born to J. G. and Marie (Stoever) Meyer.
Both parents were born in Germany and both came when young people
to Dodge County, Nebraska, the father in 1867 and the mother in 1869.
They were married in Dodge County, where the father secured a home
stead, proved up and for many years afterward occupied his land, in
the course of time becoming a substantial farmer and stock raiser. Since
retirement they have lived at Uehling, Nebraska.
The brothers and sisters of Mr. Meyer were as follows : Anna, who
is the wife of Charles Heneman, a banker at Spring View, Nebraska ;
Sophia, who is the wife of Joseph Marsh, a farmer near Spring View;
Mary, who is the wife of William Heneman, a ranchman near Millboro,
South Dakota; Bernard, who is a farmer in Dodge County; Matilda,
who is the wife of Lars Jorgenson of Uehling, Nebraska; Bertha, who
is the wife of Hans Jorgenson, a farmer in South Dakota ; Kate is a
student in a business college at Grand Island, Nebraska; Freda, who
is principal of the public schools at Spring View, Nebraska; Margaret,
who resides at home; and Deidrich, who is deceased. The parents are
faithful members of the Lutheran Church.
Herman F. Meyer remained at home and assisted his father on the
farm until he was twenty-eight years old. He attended the public
schools in Dodge County and afterward spent one year in" the Fremont
Normal College, where he completed a commercial course. After leav-
Vol. ii— 8

570 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
ing the farm he went to Uehlipg, and there embarked in the insurance
business, but later sold out in order to become assistant cashier of the
Farmers State Bank of Uehling, where he continued until 1918, when
he came to Scribner to accept the position of cashier in the Farmers
State Bank of this city. Mr. Meyer devotes himself closely to the
affairs of this institution. Officially and otherwise he has made many
friends since coming to Scribner, his courteous accommodation in busi
ness being appreciated, and his interest in all matters pertaining to the
welfare of the community being welcomed.
Mr. Meyer was married on June 26, 1907, to Miss Lena M. Young,
who was born at Omaha, Nebraska, and they have two children, namely :
Donald and Delma, both of whom are in school. Mr. and Mrs. Meyer
belong to the Congregational Church. Mr. Meyer belongs to Scribner
Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and to the Woodmen of the
World. Carl F. Kolterman. In mercantile circles of Blair a name that is
becoming increasingly prominent with the passing of the years is that of
Carl F. Kolterman. During the past nine years Mr. Kolterman has been
the proprietor of a variety store at Blair, and his energetic spirit, pro
gressive views and excellent management have served to introduce him
to the people of this community in a favorable light, while his ideas of
public-spirited citizenship have caused him to be a contributing factor in
the success of various movements of civic moment.
Mr. Kolterman was born at Millard, Nebraska, September 24, 1882,
a son of John Carl F. and Anna G. (Kanenbley) Kolterman, the former
a native of Pomerania, Germany, and the latter of Jersey City, New
Jersey. The father learned his trade in his native land and on coming
to the United States settled at Omaha, where he was married and where
he conducted a mill at West Point. Later he came to Blair, where he
also followed milling, and at the time of his death was one of the highly
respected citizens of his community. He was a republican in his poli
tical views, and he and Mrs. Kolterman were members of the Lutheran
Church. Mrs. Kolterman, who survives her husband, resides at Red Oak,
Iowa, with her son. The seven children, five of whom are living, are :
Carl F. ; Fred, the proprietor of Kolterman's Racket Store, at Seward,
Nebraska; Ewald W., who is a grading contractor at Lamoni, Iowa;
Herman, who met an accidental death by electrical shock while working
for his brother Carl, being then aged twenty years ; John, who conducts
a general store at Red Oak, Iowa ; Frank, who is employed by his
brother Carl ; and Ernest, who was a twin of Frank and died at the age
of nine years.
Carl F. Kolterman acquired good educational advantages in his youth,
first attending the public schools of Millard and Blair and later Dana
College at Blair for two terms. When he left school he began working
with his father, with whom he was associated until reaching the age of
twenty-one yearsf at which time he secured a position with a coal, lumber
and grain company at Scribner. Mr. Kolterman continued to be thus
occupied until 1911, when he decided he was ready to embark upon an
enterprise of his own, and accordingly established his present store at
Blair, where he-has worked out a substantial success. Mr. Kolterman
has what is known as a variety store, handling a large stock of useful
articles, modern in design and moderate in price. He has acquired the
confidence of his fellow-townsmen, a quality necessary for the conduct
of any successful commercial enterprise, and his success may be largely

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 571
i
traced to his honorable methods, ready enterprise and unfailing courtesy.
The growth and development of his business have made necessary his
close application thereto, but he is not indifferent to the responsibilities
of citizenship, and worthy measures meet with his approval and support.
He is a republican in his political views, and he and Mrs. Kolterman
are members of the Lutheran Church.
In January, 1906, Mr. Kolterman was united in marriage to Miss
Christina Von Lauken, who was born at Arthur, Illinois, daughter of
George Von Lauken, a native of Germany. To this union there have
been born three children : Carl F., Jr., born in 1907 ; Frederick, born in
1910, who are attending school ; and Herbert, born in 1918.
Ole Hansen. A real pioneer of Dodge County, Ole Hanson, who is
now retired in a comfortable home at Fremont, has known this section
of Nebraska for more than half a century and has been a participant in
its farm, rural and civic development.
He was born in Denmark February 23, 1849, and his father also came
to America. Ole, who acquired his early education in Denmark, came
to the United States in 1866 and at once located in Dodge County,
Nebraska. His brother Rasmus had preceded him five years to this
state. Ole was too young to enter a homestead, but pre-empted some
land. He had the misfortune to have his claim "jumped" and thus failing
in his first efforts to establish himself in the country he left Nebraska
and spent a year as a sailor on the Great Lakes. He then returned and
formally entered a homestead of eighty acres ten miles northwest of
Fremont. His first home in which he lived for three years was a dugout.
Later he acquired better living facilities, improved his land, put up sub
stantial buildings, and to the homestead of eighty acres added until he
had 210 acres. He went through the various hardships to which the
early settlers of this section of Nebraska were subjected, though the
country afforded a plentiful supply of wild game and there was always
enough to eat.
November 7, 1874, Mr. Hansen married Miss Hansena Anderson, a
native of Denmark. She was born in 1847 and died in 1906. During
their married life of over thirty years six children were born into their
home : Celia Olsen, who is married and lives in Colorado ; John, a farmer
in Dodge County; Edward, who lives on the homestead; Andrew, of
Dodge County; Walter, who lives near Ames; and Anna Ketrina of
Dodge County. Mr. Hansen married for his second wife Christina
Wilson, who was born in Schleswig, Germany, but recently reunited as
a Province of Denmark. She was born in 1865. In June, 1919, Mr. and
Mrs. Hansen left their home farm and moved into Fremont, where they
enjoy the comforts of a good home. Mr. Hansen is an independent voter,
a member of the Lutheran Church, and during his life in the country
gave much of his time to the welfare of schools and served fifteen years
as school director and for twenty years occupied the office of assessor.
C. Edward Hansen. Son of an old homesteader iri Dodge County,
C. Edward Hansen has chosen to remain identified with the community
in which he was born and reared and has made himself a prominent
factor in the agricultural and stock raising activities of Maple Township.
He has a well ordered and systematized farm in section 26, and besides
the daily routine of duties on the farm he has interested himself in
church, schools and other local interests.

572 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Mr. Hansen was born in Dodge County November 19, 1878. The
facts of the family history are detailed in the preceding sketch.
Mr. Hansen grew up on his father's homestead, made the best possi
ble use of his advantages in the schools, and for about twenty-five years
has been working steadily towards independence as a farm owner and
citizen. He gives much attention to fine stock, particularly thoroughbred
hogs of the Duroc and Poland China strains.
October 18, 1911, he married Mary M. Harms. They have two chil
dren, Raymond and Ruth. Mr. Hansen is a democrat in his political
affiliations and has served both on the School Board and two years as
township clerk. He and his family are members of the Danish Lutheran
Church. R. J. Murdoch, M. D. A prominent citizen of Blair, and one of the
foremost physicians and surgeons of Washington County, R. J. Mur
doch, M. D., is actively engaged in the practice of one of the most
exacting professions to which a man may devote his time and talents, and
is meeting with unquestioned success. A native of Canada, he was born
January 8, 1870, in Lanark County, of honored Scotch ancestry, his
Grandfather Murdoch, a man of culture and a native of Scotland, having
been sent by the British government to Canada at an early day to
superintend the Canadian schools.
James Murdoch, the doctor's father, spent his entire life in Canada,
during his active career having been a tiller of the soil. To him and his
wife, whose name before marriage was Elizabeth Moffatt, were born
three children, as follows : Edith, wife of C. A. Wilson of Kelowna,
Canada; R. J., of this personal review; and Maude, wife of John Black,
a farmer residing in Kelowna, Canada. Both parents were devout mem
bers of the Presbyterian Church.
Acquiring his preliminary education In the 'Winnipeg Collegiate
Institute, R. J. Murdoch subsequently entered the medical department
of the University of Nebraska, from which he was graduated in 1898,
with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Locating immediately in Peters
burg, Boone County, this state, Doctor Murdoch established a good
practice and remained there seven years, gaining experience, confidence
and skill. In 1905, desirous of broadening his field of endeavor, he
came to Blair, where he has built up a very large and lucrative patronage,
and gained an enviable reputation, not only as a physician but for his
judgment and skill as a surgeon.
The doctor is actively identified with various professional organiza
tions, belonging to the American Medical Association, the Nebraska
State Medical Society, the Elkhorn Valley Medical Society and the
Washington County Medical Association, which he has served as presi
dent. He is also a member of the County Insanity Board; is local
surgeon for the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Company, a member
of the Blair Bo?ird of Health, and during the World war served on the
Board of Draft Examiners. Fraternally the dpctor is a member of the
Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, belonging to Lodge and Chapter;
of the Knights of Pythias, of the Woodmen of the World, and the
Highlanders ; and both he and his wife are active members of the Order
of Eastern Star.
Doctor Murdoch has been twice married. He married first, in 1898
Lela Bonine, who was born in Iowa, and died in 1916 at her home in
Blair. Of the three children born of their union two are living, namely:
Evelyn M., attending Doane College in Crete, Nebraska ; and' Louis, a

(U^^U^rc

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 573
pupil in the Blair High School. The doctor married in 1917, Ruth
Palmer, who was born in Blair, a daughter of Dr. W. H. Palmer, a pio
neer physician of this place, and they have one child, Margaret. Reli
giously Mrs. Murdoch is a member of the Presbyterian Church, while
the doctor belongs to the Congregational Church.
Clark O'Hanlon. Well equipped for his chosen profession, Clark
O'Hanlon of Blair occupies a noteworthy position among the active and
successful attorneys of Washington County, his broad knowledge of
law, and his keen and lucid powers of exposition having won him an
assured place in the legal world. He was born February 24, 1869, in
Washington County, Nebraska, on the parental homestead, which was
situated just north of the present site of Blair.
His father, Richard O'Hanlon, was born, reared and married in
Washington County, Ohio. Seeking a favorable location for conducting
his chosen vocation, he came to Nebraska with his wife and their grow
ing family in 1865, and for a few months was engaged in railroad work.
In 1868 he took up a homestead claim in Washington County, and by
dint of persistent toil improved a good farm. He subsequently bought a
ranch not far from Herman and managed it successfully until 1893. His
health becoming impaired, he went South, hoping to recover his former
physical vigor, and died at Gueda Springs, Kansas, in 1897. He was a
self-made man, having begun life even with die world, and in addition to
bringing up and educating a large family of children accumulated con
siderable property, acquiring title to 280 acres of valuable land. He was
a democrat in politics and a member of the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows. The maiden name of the wife of Richard O'Hanlon was Sarah Joy.
She was also born in Washington County, Ohio, and she died in 1904 in
Hartford, Kansas. To her and her husband fourteen children were born,
ten of whom are living, Clark, the fifth child in succession of birth, being
the only one residing in Washington County, Nebraska. She was a con
sistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, but her husband was
not affiliated with any religious denomination.
Spending several years of his earlier life in Iowa, Clark O'Hanlon
attended the public schools of Herman, Nebraska, and the State Normal
School at Shenandoah, Iowa, subsequently studying law under Col. L.
W. Osburn, he was admitted to the bar in 1891 and began the practice
of his profession with his former tutor. Leaving the colonel's office in
1897, Mr. O'Hanlon established himself in Blair, and has continued in
active practice ever since, having built up an extensive and highly
remunerative clientele. In order to give proper attention to his numerous
patrons, Mr. O'Hanlon has secured a partner to assist him in his work,
and now his son is to be admitted to the firm, the firm being O'Hanlon,
Maher & O'Hanlon. In 1910 Mr. O'Hanlon helped organize the Com
monwealth Life Insurance Company of Omaha, of which he has since
been a director, and the general legal counsellor, positions that demand
considerable of his time and attention.
Mr. O'Hanlon married, in 1893, Bertie Reed, a native of Monmouth,
Illinois, and into the household thus established four children have made
their advent, namely: Reed; Philip, attending the Blair High School;
Luther, and Francis. Reed O'Hanlon, the eldest child, entered the army
as a member of the National Guard in 1916, and as lieutenant of his
company spent seven months on the border. He was afterward trans
ferred to the One Hundred and Twenty-Seventh Field Artillery, in

574 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
which he served as adjutant and as captain, being first stationed at
Camp Cody, and later at the School of Fire in Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
Going overseas in September, 1918, he was commissioned major in the
Seventh Division Regulars, while in France, and after the signing of
the armistice he had charge of over 700 of the soldiers employed in
reconstruction work, near Metz. In 1919, soon after his return home,
he, having previously studied law in the University of Nebraska, was
admitted to the bar, and is now associated in practice with his father.
An influential member of the democratic party, Clark O'Hanlon
served as county attorney from 1895 until 1899; was mayor of Blair in
1903 and 1904; and having been elected county judge in 1908, served in
that capacity until 1911, when he resigned from the bench to resume his
practice, which required his whole attention. Fraternally Mr. O'Hanlon
is a prominent member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons,
belonging to Lodge, Council, Commandery and is also a member of the
Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; and is likewise a
member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he is past
grand master. Both he and his wife are members of the Congregational
Church. Christian G Fritz. Having proven himself a reliable business man
and worthy of favors from the Government of his adopted country,
Christian G. Fritz was appointed postmaster of Hooper by President
Wilson in 1913 and has held this important office ever since. He is a
man well and favorably known all over Dodge and Washington coun
ties and deserves the confidence he inspires.
Christian G. Fritz was born in Germany May 13, 1869, a son of Fred
erick and Dorothy (Maier) Fritz, both natives of Germany, the former
of whom was a tailor by trade. They had the following children born
to them: Carl, who is a tailor of Fremont, Nebraska; Albert, who is a
barber of Hooper; Ernest, who was also a barber, was killed acci
dentally; Jacob, who is a resident of Omaha, Nebraska; and Christian
G, whose name heads this review.
In 1884 Mr. Fritz came to the United States and located in Dodge
County, Nebraska, and for two years was engaged in farm labor. From
1886 until 1888 he was in the employ of the Plambeck grocery and
crockery establishment at Fremont, and then went to Oklahoma, where
he homesteaded, but relinquished same back to the Government and
returned to Dodge County and conducted a barber shop at Hooper until
1905. He and a brother then turned their attention in another direction,
opening a bakery and restaurant that they conducted very profitably
under the name of Fritz Brothers. Mr. Fritz has also been quite exten
sively identified with the real estate operations of this neighborhood, and
has handled some large transfers. In 1913. he was appointed postmaster
of Hooper, and has since been in charge of the postoffice here, under
his systematic conduct its affairs being in excellent condition.
In 1897 Mr. Fritz was united in marriage with Martha Nehling, born
in Dodge County, a daughter of Oswald Nehling, one of the pioneers of
this region. Prominent in the ranks of the democratic party, Mr. Fritz
has held a number of local offices, including those of village trustee for
a number of years and justice of the peace. Zion Lutheran Church of
Hooper holds his membership. He belongs to the Knights of Pythias
and the Ancient Order of United Workmen.
Mr. Fritz is a man who has succeeded because he has never shirked
hard work, or failed to give honest value in return for what was accorded

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 575
him. Both as a business man and private citizen he measures up as an
honest, dependable and capable man, and it would be difficult to find one
who is more deserving of popular regard than he, for he has earned this
confidence, as well as his prosperity, through his own unaided efforts.
John Sanders. With a firm and abiding faith in the ultimate
reward of the homely virues of honest, diligence and unselfish loyalty
to the task at hand, John Sanders has developed more than average abil
ity and justifies in every transaction the confidence placed in him. He is
of a superior type of the self-reliant, clear-brained business man, and is
one of the most valued buyers and salesmen of the Nye-Schneider-Fow-
ler Company of Hooper.
John Sanders was born in Pennsylvania February 2, 1865, a son of
Emanuel and Barbara (Capp) Sanders, natives of Pennsylvania.
Emanuel Sanders was a millwright by trade, and was also engaged in
farming, and he spent his entire life in Pennsylvania, where he died at
the age of sixty-eight years. He and his wife had eleven children, three
of them living, namely: William, who is county surveyor of Dodge
County, lives at Fremont ; Jacob B. owns and operates a grocery at
Hooper; and John, who was the youngest born. In politics Emanuel
Sanders was a republican. He and his wife belonged to the United
Brethren Society.
John Sanders attended the public schools of Pennsylvania and Dodge
County, Nebraska, coming to the latter in 1882, and was employed in
farm work for a time. He then engaged with May Brothers, wholesale
grocers of Fremont, for a short time, but returned to the farm, and con
tinued to be an agriculturist for fifteen years. During that experience he
gained a thorough knowledge of grain and in 1894 decided to put this to
some practical use, so became manager for Henry Roberts of Hooper,
handling his grain and lumber business very acceptably for five years.
Leaving Mr. Roberts, he formed connections with Nye-Schneider-Fowler
and has been with this concern for nine years, devoting his attention to
buying grain, livestock and similar commodities, and selling lumber and
coal. In 1892 Mr. Sanders was united in marriage with Miss Emma Ruy>
sert, born in Nebraska, a daughter of William K. Ruysert, one of the
homesteaders of Dodge County. Mr. Sanders is a republican, but has
never sought public .office, his time being too much occupied with his
own affairs. He belongs to the Knights of the Maccabees and the
Knights of Pythias. Possessed of admirable and effective qualities and
not easily deceived in men or misled in their motives, he has been able
to render his concern a valuable service and is held by it in high esteem.
William D. Holbrook. The long and honorable career of William
D. Holbrook, who has been a resident of Dodge County for forty-two
years, has been characterized by successful achievements in the voca
tion of agriculture as well as by business success and splendid public
service in offices of marked responsibility and trust. Belonging to that
class of men who have watched the wonderful development of their sec
tion since they themselves initiated the forward movement by breaking
the sod of the prairies, he has combined his activities for personal
advancement with conscientious and able labor in behalf of his adopted
county and state and has served in both bodies of the Nebraska Legis
lature, in addition to having been a justice of the peace for thirty-two
years.

576 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Mr. Holbrook was born April 17, 1850, on a farm in Sullivan County,
Missouri, a son of William N. and Mary (Osborn) Holbrook, natives of
Virginia. His father was educated for the law in his native state,
whence he went to Indiana and subsequently to Missouri. He became
a practitioner of some reputation and at one time was district judge of
Sullivan County, in addition to which he served as county superintendent
at Milan, Sullivan County, in which community he was the owner of
valuable land. He was a Mason, fraternally, and he and his worthy wife
held membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church. They were the
parents of ten children, of whom two are living: Nancy, the wife of
Charles Kingsolver, a retired citizen of York, Nebraska ; and William D.
William D. Holbrook was educated in the public schools of Missouri
and was still a youth when, in 1863, he went to Illinois and became a
farm hand. His opportunities for advancement were few, and it was
not until he came to Dodge County, in 1878, that he really entered upon
his career. In March of that year he rented a property in section 6,
Maple Township, and broke the virgin sod of the prairie. Later .he pur
chased the land, and at this time is the owner of a finely-improved farm
of 160 acres, which boasts of the most modern equipment and improve
ments. He has been a general farmer who has kept thoroughly abreast
of the times and modern methods have always been a feature of his
work. Although primarily an agriculturist, Mr. Holbrook has not
allowed opportunities of a business character to pass unnoticed. He
assisted in the drafting of the constitution and by-laws of the Farmers
Mutual Insurance Company of Dodge County, in which he held policy
No. 1, and at this time is a stockholder in the Farmers Union Elevator
of Hooper and Ames, and in the Farmers Telephone Company of
Hooper. From early, manhood Mr. Holbrook has been interestedly active in
politics and has been a stanch and unwavering republican. After filling
several minor offices, in 1895 his fellow-citizens sent him to a seat in the
State Senate, and in 1897 he was elected a member of the House of
Representatives. He was returned to the former body in 1899, and was
again elected in 1907. His service in the Legislature was constructive
and valuable, and in addition to being the father of some very useful
legislation he was always found supporting movements making for the
betterment of his county and state and tending to advance the interests
of his constituents in an honorable way. He has likewise served as a
member of constitutional conventions of 1919 and 1920, and for thirty-
two consecutive years has been a justice of the peace. His religious con
nection is with the United Brethren Church.
Mr. Holbrook was married in 1875 to Miss Adda R. Mahan, a
native of Ohio, the ceremony being performed in Illinois. They have
been the parents of five children : Myrtle, the wife of W. A. Hough, an
agriculturist of Dodge County; Mabel, deceased, was the wife of Arthur
Bowring, a ranchman of Cherry County, this state; Edith, the wife of
D. F. Head, a Dodge County farmer; Frank, a chiropractor of Sheri
dan, Wyoming; and Ethel, the wife of C. O. Hull, connected with the
Hooper Milling Company.
H. O. L. Ollermann. A resident of Blair since September, 1881,
and consecutively identified for nearly forty years with the jewelry busi
ness in the county seat of Washington County, Mr. Ollermann repre
sents a pioneer family in Dodge and Washington counties. Apart from
their substantial enterprise as homesteaders, business men and citizens,

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 577
the Ollermanns, particularly with the older settlers, are widely known
all over this section of Nebraska on account of their musical gifts and
abilities. The Blair merchant was for many years prominent in all
musical events in his home city.'
Mr. Ollermann was born in the Province of Pomerania, Prussia,
Germany, January 5, 1855, son of Franz and Othelia (Krahn) Ollermann.
His father was a thoroughly educated musician and gave his son the
benefit of musical instruction in Germany. The father at one time was
a traveling musician with a concert band and spent one season with a
circus band. By trade he was a tailor.
The Ollermann family came to America and settled in Dodge County,
Nebraska, in 1869. They took up their residence on a homestead two and
a half miles from Snyder in section 32, township 20, range 6. The mother
lived on the homestead until her death, while Franz Ollermann died at
Scribner. They were devout Lutherans, and the father followed the
fortunes of the democratic party in politics. There were six children,
two daughters and four sons. The three now, living are : Gustav, a
farmer near St. Charles, South Dakota ; H. O. L. ; and Anna, wife of
Carl Barz, owner of extensive plantation interests and a banker at
Morganza, Louisiana.
H. O. L. Ollermann learned to play the violin when a child and at
the age of nine played for a wedding in his native country. He was
twelve when he came to America and settled on the homestead in
Nebraska. He and his three brothers and their father comprised a family
orchestra that forty years or more ago was in constant demand to play
at all the dances in Fremont and adjacent towns. They were musicians
of sound taste as well as skill in the use of their respective instruments.
After his removal to Blair H. O. L. Ollermann organized a band and
for a number of years played both in the band and orchestra. On
locating at Blair in September, 1881, he took charge of the jewelry
department of the local drug store. He had learned the jeweler's trade
in Fremont, and he was actively identified with the jewelry business at
Blair until September, 1911, when he opened a jewelry store of his own.
He now conducts the leading establishment of its kind in the county seat,
carries a large and well selected stock of jewelry of all kinds, and also
does repair work. He keeps two people employed in the business.
In 1880 at David City, Nebraska, Mr. Ollermann married Hattie S.
Woodruff, a native of Hartford, Connecticut. Four children were born
to their marriage : Parker, who served in the United States navy for five
years and is now at home assisting his father in business ; Agnes, a
teacher in the schools of Weeping Water, Nebraska ; Hermine, at home ;
and Frederick, still attending school at Lincoln, taking the agricultural
course and in his senior year.
Mr. Ollermann attends the Lutheran Church while his wife is a
Universalist. He is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fel
lows, casts his vote independently, and is a citizen who has given close
attention to business but incidentally has exercised a good influence on
the community and achieved the thorough respect and esteem of his
fellow citizens.
Ulysses S. Cain. A man of good business ability, possessing in a
large measure the energy, intelligence and tact necessary for the successful
conduct of his chosen work, Ulysses S. Cain of Fremont has built up a
large and profitable business as agent for the Central Life Insurance
Company of Des Moines, Iowa. A native of Iowa, he was born August
28, 1868, in Brooklyn, Poweshiek County.

578 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Milligan J. Cain, his father, was born and educated in Ohio, from
whence he migrated in early manhood to Iowa, where he first found
employment in a tailoring shop. He married soon after going there, and
at the outbreak of the Civil war enlisted in Company K, Thirty-Ninth
Iowa Volunteer Infantry, of which he was commissioned first lieutenant.
Returning to Brooklyn, Iowa, at the end of the conflict, he opened a
general store and meat market, but later moved to a farm lying east of
Brooklyn,' and was there engaged in agricultural pursuits for twenty
years. He lived to a good old age, dying in Brooklyn, Iowa, in 1913.
He was a republican in politics, and soon after the formation of the
Union Labor party ran on that ticket for governor of Iowa, but, naturally,
the party being new, was defeated at the polls. He was a member of
the Grand Army of the Republic, and for forty years belonged to the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Milligan J. Cain married, in Iowa, Nancy Morey, who was born
February 16, 1840, and on February 16, 1920, celebrated, in Brooklyn,
Iowa, the eightieth anniversary of her birth. Of the eleven children
born of their union eight are living, two of them being residents of
Nebraska, as follows : Edward L., of Omaha, was for twenty years over
seer of the parcel post terminal for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy
Railroad Company, and is now associated with the Jones Construction
Company; and Ulysses S., with whom this sketch is principally con
cerned. Both parents were worthy members of the Methodist Episcopal
Church. After leaving the Brooklyn, Iowa, High School, Ulysses S. Cain made
good use of every offered opportunity for advancing his knowledge,
reading and studying as time allowed, and in the fall of 1888 entered
upon a professional career, teaching in Iowa two years, and then in the
rural schools of Washington County, Nebraska, for an equal length of
time. Abandoning the desk, Mr. Cain was engaged in mercantile pur
suits in Blair, Nebraska, for three and a half years. Moving then to
Omaha, he worked first for Browning & King Clothing Company and
-for the past ten years was connected with Central Life Insurance Com
pany of Des Moines, Iowa. Coming to Fremont in 1915 Mr. Cain
accepted a general agency with the company and having made good from
the start is now district manager, having control, not only of Dodge
County, but of several adjacent counties, the territory in which he is so
successfully working.
Mr. Cain married, September 24, 1896, Harriet T. Tracy, who was
born at Mount Pleasant, Iowa, a daughter of Jonathan L. Tracy, who
moved from Ohio to Iowa, and thence to Blair, Nebraska, where he
engaged in farming and dairy business. Mr. and Mrs. Cain have two
children, namely: Stanley and Ruth. Stanley Cain was born in Blair,
Nebraska, June 6, 1897, and as a boy and youth received good educa
tional advantages, having attended the Central High School at Omaha,
and later the high schools of Morris, Minnesota, and of Fremont!
Nebraska. He subsequently studied pharmacy at Highland Park, Des
Moines, Iowa, and there afterward worked for a few years in a drug
store. At the present time he is profitably engaged with his father in
the life insurance business. He is a member of the Ancient Free and
Accepted Masons and of the Order of the Eastern Star. Ruth L. Cain
the only daughter of the parental household, is attending Wesleyan
University, in Mount Pleasant, Iowa.
Politically Mr. Cain is a stanch republican. Fraternally he belongs
to the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and to the Independent Order

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 579
of Odd Fellows; and both he and his wife are members of. the Order of
the Eastern Star. Mrs. Cain is vice president of the Rebekah Assembly
of Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. Cain are promiment members of the Meth
odist Episcopal Church, and take an active part in church and Sunday
school work.
John C. Cherny was a lad of about ten years when he accompanied
his parents on their emigration from their native Bohemia to the United
States in 1870 and the same year recorded the arrival of the family in
Saunders County, Nebraska, where the father took up a homestead and
vigorously turned his attention to the development of a productive farm.
With the passing years he became one of the successful exponents of
agricultural and livestock industry in that county, where both he and his
good wife passed the remainder of their lives on their old homestead.
They were fine representatives of that sturdy element of Bohemian citi
zenship that has played large part in the civic and industrial progress
and prosperity of Nebraska. Their names, Venzelslaus and Anna (Shav-
lich) Cherny, merit enduring place on the roll of the sterling pioneers
of Saunders County, both having been devout communicants of the Cath
olic Church and the father having supported the cause of the republican
party after he had become a naturalized citizen of the land of his adop
tion. Of the six children, John C. of this review is the eldest; Albert
remains on the old home farm ; James is a successful farmer in Dodge
County ; Anna is deceased ; Kate is the wife of F. A. Hines, a farmer
near Morse Bluff, Saunders County ; and Joseph is engaged in the insur
ance and real estate business at Walthill, Thurston County.
John C. Cherny gained his rudimentary education in his native land
and attended school when opportunity offered after the family home
had been established in Nebraska. He early began to assist in the work
of the home farm and there remained with his parents until 1880, when,
at the age of twenty years, he came to North Bend, Dodge County, where
he found employment in the lumber yard of Christopher Cusack. After
having been thus engaged two years he became a partner in the firm
of which the other members were Mr. Cusack, his former employer,
and J. Y. Smith and J. R. Acorn. After having thus been actively
engaged in the lumber and livestock business two years he sold his
interest in the business to C. L. Coleman of La Crosse, Wisconsin. He
then became associated with F. C. Cavan in purchasing the well-estab
lished implement and lumber business of J. B. Foote. The new firm
continued to control a substantial and profitable business until the part
nership alliance was severed by the death of Mr. Cavan, in 1899, and
within a short time thereafter Mr. Cherny admitted C. K. Watson to
partnership, under the firm name of Cherny & Watson. This progres
sive firm has a large and substantial business in the handling of lumber,
coal and heavy and light farm machinery and implements. In addition
to the headquarters enterprise at North Bend the firm maintains branch
yards at Rogers, Colfax County ; Morse Bluff, Saunders County ; Walthill,
Thurston County, as well as at Winnebago, that county, and at Mineola,
Iowa. This mere statement of conditions marks the firm as conducting a
business of broad scope and importance and testified to the distinctive
success that has attended the independent activities of the Bohemian
boy who was born in 1860 and was but ten years old when he came with
his parents to the state which has been the stage of his progressive move
ment in the field of normal and useful business enterprise.

580 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Mr. Cherny is one of the specially loyal and liberal citizens and busi
ness men of North Bend, and has been influential in public affairs in
Dodge County. His political allegiance is given to the republican party,
he served nine years as a member of the municipal council of North
Bend, as well as one year in the office of mayor, and he was for ten years
a member of the Board of Education, while he also gave two years of
effective service as township assessor. In his activities as a dealer in
agricultural machinery Mr. Cherny introduced the first twine-binding
reaping machine that was placed in operation not alone in Dodge County
but also the first in this section of the state. In a fraternal way he is
affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
In 1885 Mr. Cherny was united in marriage to Miss Victoria Sed-
lacek, who likewise is a native of Bohemia, and of this union have been
born five children : Mildred is a popular teacher in the public schools of
North Bend; James is bookkeeper in the office of his father's business
at North Bend; Leland J. is manager of the firm's business at Rogers;
Alice is at the parental home; and Helen is, in 1920, a student in the
University of Nebraska.
Herman Holsten. A prominent, prosperous and highly esteemed
citizen of Dodge, Herman Holsten has for upwards of thirty years been
conspicuously identified with the promotion of the financial prosperity of
his home city, and as president of the Farmers State Bank is wisely
managing one of the more prosperous and substantial institutions of the
kind in Dodge County. Of German parentage, he was born, February
24, 1867, in Benton County, Missouri.
His father, D. Holsten, was born in Germany, and as a lad of
seventeen years came to the United States in search of more favorable
opportunities for earning a living. He located in Missouri, and during
the Civil war enlisted in Company C, Missouri Cavalry, in which he
bravely served four years. Resuming his agricultural labors on leaving
the army, he remained in Missouri until 1874, when he came with his
family to Dodge County, Nebraska. Buying a tract of wild land sit
uated near Scribner, he improved a valuable ranch, on which he lived
and labored many years. Subsequently giving up the management of his
large farm, which he afterward sold, he lived retired, first in Scribner,
and then Redlands, California, where his death occurred on June 12,
1917. D. Holsten married, in Warsaw, Benton County, Missouri, Marguerite
Behrens, and they became the parents of three children, as follows:
Herman, of this sketch; Emma Diels, of Redlands, California; and a
child that died in infancy. The father was a republican in politics, and
both he and his wife were members of the German Lutheran Church.
Completing his early education in the country schools, Herman Hol
sten took a business course of six months in the Fremont Normal School.
Although he had been well trained in the agricultural arts on the home
farm, he early decided to seek some other occupation than farming, and
as a young man started out for himself. On March 1, 1889, soon after
attaining his majority, Mr. Holsten organized the Farmers State Bank
at Dodge, of which he is president, and has managed it most successfully,
and to the entire satisfaction of all connected with it. The original capi
tal of this bank was $10,000, which has been increased to $30,000, while
its individual deposits, which amounted to less than $50,000 the first
year, are now $750,000, an increase indicative of the institution's pros
perity and popularity. Mr. Holsten has made wise investments and has
valuable farming interests as well as city property.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 581
In 1891 Mr. Holsten married Ella Dierker, who was born near West-
point, Cuming County, Nebraska, being one of the ten children of Henry
and Mary Dierker, who are now living retired in Orange, California.
Mr. and Mrs. Holsten have four children, namely:' Harry, cashier in
the Farmers State Bank; Marguerite Johnson, San Bernardino, Califor
nia; Leona Stecher; and Viola, engaged in teaching. A republican in
politics, Mr. Holsten has served the Town Board for twenty years, and
has been secretary of the School Board an equal length of time. He
and his wife are members of the German Lutheran Church, but the
children belong to the Congregational Church.
William A. G. Cobb. Distinguished not only for his service in the
regular army, more especially during the Civil war, but as a man of
sterling worth and integrity, the late William A. G. Cobb, for nearly half
a century a resident of Fremont, was eminently deserving of the high
position he attained among the esteemed and valued citizens of his
community. He was born February 8, 1841, in Wurtemburg, Germany,
a son of Simon and Wilhelmina Cobb, and died at his home in Fremont,
Nebraska, April 1, 1918.
Immigrating to the United States in 1857, he first found employment
as a farm hand in Michigan, where he remained two or three years.
Going from there to Illinois he enlisted July 5, 1860, as a private in the
United States army, becoming a member of Company E.- Eighth Regi
ment, United States Infantry, which was under the command of John T.
Sprague. He then went with his comrades to Fort Leavenworth, Kan
sas, from there marching across the plains to Hatcher's Run, and a week
later continuing his journey to Fort Fillmore, New Mexico. Leaving
there in March, 1-861, with his command, he marched 700 miles across
the country to San Antonio, Texas, where the entire company of 315
men was taken by Van Dorn's Confederate brigade, and he and his
comrades were being held as prisoners when the outbreak of the Civil
war was announced.
Rejoining his regiment when paroled, Mr. Cobb took part in several
important engagements of the war, including the first battle of Bull Run,
the engagement at Fredericksburg, and the battle of Gettysburg. Soon
after the latter battle, he and his company were ordered to New York City
to suppress the draft riots. Going then to Warrenton, West Virginia,
with his command, which became the provost guard of the Ninth Corps,
he took an active part in all the movements of that organization. His
term of enlistment having expired, Mr. Cobb was honorably discharged
from the service, at Indianapolis, Indiana, on July 12, 1864, and subse
quently re-enlisted in the same company for another term of three years.
For meritorious and efficient service, he was promoted to the rank
of first sergeant, and on January 1, 1867, was made regimental commis
sary sergeant. Just after his re-enlistment Mr. Cobb joined his old
company at Baltimore, Maryland, and was detailed as clerk at the head
quarters of General Hancock, a position that he filled ably and most
satisfactorily. On July 12, 1867, his term of enlistment having expired,
he was honorably discharged from the army, at Raleigh, North Caro
lina, and returned north to resume his duties as a private citizen.
Coming to Dodge County, Nebraska, in the spring of 1869, Mr. Cobb
located in Fremont, and first clerked in a grocery, and later in a hard
ware store, entering the employ of a Mr. Carter. Taking up a claim a
short time later, he lived on his homestead three years, there beginning
the improvement of a farm. The work not proving to his liking,

582 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Mr. Cobb returned to Fremont, and ran an elevator for several years.
He subsequently bought an elevator and a lumber yard in Hooper,
Nebraska, and managed it ably for several years. Again returning to
Fremont, he established a lumber yard and built an elevator, and oper
ated both for some time. He then engaged in the horse business, but the
venture was a losing one, and he then lived retired from active business
cares until his death. He was a self-made man in every sense implied
by the term, and by his own efforts accumulated a fair share of this
world's goods, at his death leaving considerable property. He built, in
1889, the large and conveniently arranged home at 1612 East Military
Avenue, the valuable lot on which it is located containing eighteen acres
of land, and Mrs. Cobb still occupies it.
Mr. Cobb married October 9, 1870, Eliza A. Mefferd, who was born
in Logan County, Ohio, a daughter of Andrew and Nancy (Wellings-
ford) Mefferd, who came from Ohio to Dodge County, Nebraska, in the
fall of 1869. Her father first rented land, and later took a homestead
claim in Colfax County, where both he and his wife spent their remain
ing years. Mr. and Mrs. Cobb reared one child, Gustav L. Cobb, who
was born February 10, 1872, and after his graduation from the Fremont
High School attended a business college for a year. This son, who was
general passenger agent for the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad
at Chicago while the Government operated the railway, but is now in
New York City, was recently given a medal by King Albert, who
greatly appreciated the courteous attention tendered him when he traveled
over that railway while visiting this country. William Cobb was a
republican in politics, and a loyal member of the Grand Army of the
Republic. He was reared in the Lutheran Church and his wife was a
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Myron G. Snyder. For many years actively engaged in agricul
tural pursuits in Dodge County, Myron G. Snyder used excellent
judgment and good business methods in the care and management of
his farm lands, and met with such signal success that he acquired much
wealth, and is now living retired from active labor in Fremont, enjoying
all the comforts of life. He was born April 3, 1856, in New York State,
which was likewise the birthplace of his father, George Snyder.
George Snyder, who was of English ancestry, was a lifelong resident
of the Empire State, where he carried on general farming throughout his
active career. He was a steadfast republican in politics, and served as
sheriff of Herkimer County, New York. His wife, whose maiden name
was Lydia Case, was born in Massachusetts, and died on the home farm
in New York State. They became the parents of several children, as
follows : William, a soldier in the Civil war, was wounded in the battle
of Antietam and died eighteen days later, in October, 1862 ; Charles, a
resident of Herkimer, New York, visited his brother Myron in Fremont,
Nebraska, in December, 1919, and died very soon after his return home,
his death occurring January 1, 1920; Horace N., foreman of a factory
in Utica, New York; Myron G. of this sketch; and Albert E., foreman of
the Remington Gun Works at Ilion, New York.
Educated in the public schools of his native state, Myron G. Snyder
was there first engaged in tilling the soil, and later taught school there
for two years. Coming to Nebraska in the spring of 1878 he taught
school in Saunders and Dodge counties several seasons, and subse
quently worked in a store, and clerked in a bank. In 1882 he invested
a part of his savings in Fremont real estate, and later bought seventeen

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 583
acres of land in the vicinity of Fremont. Mr. Snyder met with success
in his undertakings, and having accumulated some money invested it in
a farm of 400 acres, situated two miles west of Fremont. In addition to
carrying on general farming, he made a specialty of dairying, which he
continued until moving into Fremont, in March, 1910. He has sold all
his land.
Mr. Snyder married, in 1883, Nettie N. Burt, who was born in New
York State, where her parents, Henry and Caroline Burt, were lifelong
farmers. Five children are living and two deceased of those which have
blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Snyder, namely : Frank B., of Fre
mont, is shipping clerk for the Hammond & Stevens Company, in which
he is a stockholder; George, engaged in farming in Colorado; Winifred,
living at home ; Ray H. of Fremont is in the employ of the Nye, Schnei
der & Fowler Company ; Lydia, at home ; Ethel, who married James E.
Nerray and died at the age of thirty-nine years, leaving one son EldOn ;
and Berne C, died when nineteen years old.
Politically Mr. Snyder invariably casts his vote in favor of the repub
lican party. He is liberal on local affairs.
George S. Brown. Prominent among the representatives of the
farming and stock growing industry of Dodge County, one of this coun
ty's native sons who has worked his own way to position and independence
is George S. Brown. Mr. Brown, who is the owner of a valuable prop
erty in section 12, Maple Township, was for some years an operator in
Nance County, but the call of his native soil brought him back thereto,
and in the Fremont community he is making the most of his opportuni
ties and is steadily acquiring a higher position and richer emoluments.
George S. Brown was born on his father's farm, about nine miles
northwest of Fremont, in Dodge County, in 1879, a son of David and
Catherine (Raycraft) Brown. His father was born in Ontario, Canada, •
in 1839, a son of John and Ellen Brown, the former being a native of
Erin's Isle who settled in young manhood in Canada and there passed
the rest of his life as a farmer, dying at the age of seventy-two years.
David Brown acquired a public school education in Ontario and Tor nine
years followed the vocation of educator. When he came to the United
States, in 1866, he first settled in Benton County, Iowa, and was engaged
in farming for one year, but following that moved around considerably
until 1871. In that year, after spending a short time at Fremont, he
rented a farm nine miles northwest of that city, which he later acquired
by purchase. He developed into one of the substantial agriculturists of
his community, but for several years has been in retirement, having
reached the advanced age of eighty-one years. He is a prohibitionist and
a man of integrity and probity, and is a faithful member of the Presby
terian Church. He married, in Ontario, Catherine Raycraft, who died
in 1917, at the age of seventy-two years, and to them there were born
six sons and three daughters : Alfred D., William J., Emma V., Agnes
S., Helen M., George S., Earl R., Owen D. and Ernest H. Of these
Agnes S. is deceased.
George S. Brown attended the public schools of his native community
and was given the further advantages of attendance at the normal school
at Fremont. He made his home under the parental roof until he reached
his majority, and at that time went to Nance County, where he began
operations on his own account. For sixteen years he continued in that
community, carrying on general farming and also meeting with success
in the raising of Shorthorn cattle and Poland China hogs, but eventually

584 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
disposed of his Nance County holdings and returned to Dodge County
in 1917. Here he has duplicated and even bettered, the record for agri
cultural achievement which he had made in the other community, and
today he is numbered among the most progressive and prosperous of
the agriculturists of his part of the county. His farm is modern in every
respect, and includes in its appointments all the latest machinery and
equipment, while the buildings are commodious and substantial and the
farm bears a general air of prosperity that evidences the managerial
ability of its owner.
Mr. Brown was married in 1901 to Miss Theo D. Taylor, who was
born in Illinois, daughter of Alfred J. Taylor, one of the early settlers
of Dodge County, and to this union there have been born four children :
Clara, Alta F., Ruth G. and Margaret. Mr. and Mrs. Brown are faithful
members of tbe Presbyterian Church, which they attend at Fremont, and
are liberal contributors to its movements. Mr. Brown is a stalwart pro
hibitionist and a man of sound integrity and probity of character. His
only fraternal affiliation is with the local lodge of the Royal Highlanders.
G. G. Hines. Besides its importance as a county seat and commer
cial center of Washington County, Blair is the home of some business
institutions and business men whose relations are broadly extended
beyond the limits of Washington County. One of these is G. G. Hines,
a contractor arid builder whose material achievements are represented in
the prominent architecture of both Washington and Dodge counties and
in many other sections of the state. He has been a resident of Blair for
many years, his father was a successful contractor in the west for a long
period, and the present firm of Struve & Hines enjoys the highest rating
all over the west.
G. G. Hines was born at Avoca in Shelby County, Iowa, December
10, 1876, son of T. J. and Elizabeth (Carmen) Hines. His paternal
grandfather, Thomas J. Hines, was a native of Pennsylvania and in the
early '60s came west with his family traveling in a wagon drawn by
ox team to Iowa. He homesteaded in Iowa and spent the rest of his life
there. The maternal grandfather of G. G. Hines was Doctor Carmen
a physician who practiced in Iowa for many years. Elizabeth Carmen
was born in Quincy, Illinois, and T. J. Hines was born in Warren County,
Pennsylvania. They were married at Avoca, Iowa. T. J. Hines took up
railroad contracting at a pioneer period in the construction of western
railroads. He did a large amount of contracting for the Union Pacific,
and built the stone arch over Green River in Wyoming, and also the
depots in Ogden and Logan, Utah, these being the more conspicuous
among ^he many important contracts he handled. He also built the
school building at one of the large Indian agencies in the State of
Wyoming, and in this contract used a million and a half bricks, having
established the kilns and supervised the manufacture of the brick. He
was in the business on a large scale until he lost his life in a cyclone
at Herman, Nebraska, in 1900. T. J. Hines was a Methodist, was
affiliated with the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Woodmen
of the World and the Knights of Pythias, was a republican, and took
considerable interest in politics and served two terms as sheriff of
Shelby County, Iowa. He and his wife had nine children, seven daughters
and two sons. G. G. Hines was the third in age and is the only one
now living in Nebraska. His brother, Driscoll, is a successful con
tractor at Denver.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 585
G. G. Hines finished his early education in the Omaha High School,
and subsequently took technical correspondence courses to aid him in
his profession. He learned the building trades with his father, and for
over twenty years has been engaged in contracting. Many of the
principal buildings of Blair are monuments to his enterprise, including
the Public Library, the State Bank Building, and he also erected the
first bank at Kennard, a large garage in Fremont, and the firm of
Struve & Hines now has a contract for building a large bank building
at Neeley, Nebraska.
In 1901 Mr. Hines married Alma Gochenour. She was born in
Iowa, daughter of Adam and Mary J. (Burgess) Gochenour, who came
to Blair in 1888 and the family name has been a prominent one in
that city ever since. Her father was in the butcher business in Blair
for a number of years. Both her parents died there. Mrs. Hines
was one of twins, the youngest of six children. Mr. Hines is a member
of the Congregational Church, is affiliated with the Independent Order
of Odd Fellows and with his wife is a member of the Rebekahs, and
in politics is a republican.
Fred E. Koehne. Endowed with the habits of industry and thrift,
and the keenness of intellect that win success in any line of industry,
Fred E. Koehne has made diligent use of his time and opportunities,
and having acquired sufficient wealth to assure him a comfortable income
is now living retired from active business cares in Fremont/ his home
being at 435 West Ninth Street. A son of the late Charles Koehne,
he was born July 11, 1858, in Wisconsin, coming on the paternal side
of German lineage.
Born and bred in Germany, Charles Koehne immigrated to the
United States when young, locating in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin,
where he subsequently followed the blacksmith's trade for thirty-seven
or more years, doing all kinds of pioneer work, even making nails for
the farmers' use. Coming to Dodge County, Nebraska in 1871, he
purchased 560 acres of land, paying $6.25 an acre for the larger part
of it, but never lived upon it. He afterward moved to South Dakota,
and there he and his wife spent their declining years, dying on the home
stead which he had improved. He was a republican in politics, and
while a resident of Wisconsin served many years as postmaster at
Paynesville. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary N. Meyer,
was born in Rochester, New York. Six children were born to them,
as follows : Charles, a veterinary surgeon, lives on the old homestead
in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Fred E., of whom we write; Albert, engaged
in the implement business at Oldham, South Dakota ; Caroline, a widow,
resides in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; John, who owns and operates an
elevator at Oldham, South Dakota; and Mary Ann, who lives with her
widowed sister in Milwaukee.
Brought up in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Fred E. Koehne
was educated in the district schools, and afterwards served an appren
ticeship at the wagon and carriage maker's trade, which he followed
three or four years. Migrating to South Dakota, he took up a homestead
claim on which he lived and labored seven years before selling it.
Coming to Dodge County, Nebraska in 1887, Mr. Koehne purchased
the large tract of land belonging to his father, and occupied it from
1888 until 1899, in the meantime adding each year to its improvements.
Mr. Koehne then sold the farm, receiving $300 an acre for the same
tract that his father bought for $6.25 an acre, Removing then to
Vol. II— 8

586 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Fremont, he has since lived a life of leisure, enjoying the fruits of his
earlier years of toil. He is independent in politics, and has never been
an aspirant for official honors.
Mr. Koehne married, February 25, 1880, Eunice A. V. West, who
was born in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, August 25, 1858, where
her father, Quincy P. West, was a prosperous farmer. Five children
blessed the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Koehne, four of whom are
living, namely: Charles Julian, manager of the Farmers Co-operative
Union at Ames, Nebraska ; Sadie, wife of Fred Wislicen, of Fremont,
manager of the New York Bakery; Carrie, single, is employed in the
Anderson Jewelry Store, and lives with her parents; and Freida, living
at home. Mr. Koehne and his family attend the Congregational Church,
and contribute towards its support. For upwards of a quarter of a
century Mr. Koehne has been a member of the Independent Order
of Odd Fellows, in which he has passed all the chairs ; and he, and all
of his family, with the exception of the youngest son, are members of
the Daughters of Rebekah, two of his daughters, Sadie and Carrie, are
past noble grands.
Edward C. Jackson. There is nothing in the world more beautiful
than the spectacle of a life that has reached its autumn with a harvest
of good and useful deeds. It is like the forest in October days when
the leaves have borrowed the richest colors of the light and glow in the
mellowed sheen of the Indian summer, reflecting all the radiance of their
existence. The man who has lived a clean and useful life cannot fail to
enjoy a serenity of soul, and when such a life is preserved in its strength
and integrity so that even in age its influence continues unabated, it
challenges the added admiration of those whose good fortune it is to
be brought into contact with it. Such a life has been that of Edward
Charles Jackson, for fifty years one of the substantial and enterprising
citizens of Washington County. Such a life merits a record of its deeds,
but his record is too familiar to the people of the locality of which this
history deals to require any fulsome encomium here, his life work
speaking for itself in stronger terms than the biographer could possibly
employ. Edward Charles Jackson, clerk of the district court at Blair, was
born in Columbus, Georgia on December 10, 1844, and is the son of
George H. and Harriett M. (Allen) Jackson. Both of these parents
were natives of New York State, the father having been born at Peru,
and the mother at Troy. They were married at Troy and in 1842 they
went to Columbus, Georgia, where George Jackson had a contract for
the erection of a cotton mill. In his work as a contractor he necessarilv
was located in different places from time to time, but he finally returned
to Troy, New York, and engaged in the manufacture of wagons and
buggies. Subsequently they moved to Ashton, Maryland, where they
spent their remaining years and died. They were members of the Bap
tist Church and he also held membership in the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows. He gave his political support to the republican party and
was active in public affairs, having served a number of years' as a
member of the county board at Troy. To him and his wife were born
eight children, namely: William H., of Detroit, Michigan, where he is
engaged as a landscape photographer, owning a large establishment and
enjoying a wide reputation for the excellence of his work; Edward C. ;
Mary Elizabeth, the widow of George Brown ; Frederick D., who is now
retired and living in Ashton, Maryland; Frank H., now deceased who

(i^2^Z2^Z^L £=--

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 587
was an architect in the employ of the Federal Government; Emma K.,
an artist and colorist in Detroit; Jennie, deceased; Allen, who was an
actor for many years, but is now retired and living at East Hadam,
Connecticut. Edward C. Jackson received his educational training in the public
schools of Troy, New York. His first occupation was as a wagon-
maker, which trade he learned. Later he was employed as a bookkeeper,
and also was employed as a copyist in an attorney's office. In August,
1862, Mr. Jackson enlisted as a private in Company K, Twelfth Regi
ment Vermont Volunteer Infantry, at Rutland, Vermont, with which
he served his enlistment period of nine months. He then returned to
Troy and in February, 1864, enlisted as a private in Company A, One
Hundred and Twenty-fifth Regiment New York Volunteer Infantry,
with which he served until June 14,- 1865, when he was honorably dis
charged. Mr. Jackson's army record was one of which he is deservedly
proud and in evidence of which were his promotions, on May 27, 1864,
to sergeant, on December 5, 1864, as first lieutenant, and the captaincy of
Company B on March 28, 1865. His regiment was a part of the Army
of the Potomac, with which he took part in many of the most important
engagements of that great army up to Lee's surrender.
In December, 1867, Mr. Jackson came to Nebraska, locating first
at Omaha, where he was associated with his brother in the photographic
business for three years. In 1870 he came to Washington County and
for five years was engaged in farming. In 1875 he was elected county
clerk and clerk of courts, serving as such from 1876 to 1879 and then
during 1880-81 he served as clerk of courts. From 1881 to 1887
Mr. Jackson served as deputy county treasurer, and then from 1888 to
1891 as county treasurer. Mr. Jackson was admitted to the bar in
1879 and so favorable an impression had he made on the voters of the
county that in 1893 he was elected county judge, occupying the bench
from 1894 to 1901. After his retirement from the bench, he was engaged
in the practice of law until 1911, when he again became clerk of the
district court, which office he is still filling. He has devoted himself
indefatigably to the discharge of the duties of the office and because of
his faithfulness and painstaking care of details he has not only made
himself well-nigh invaluable to the court, but has also gained the confi
dence and good will of all who have come into contact with him.
On November 28, 1867, Mr. Jackson was married" to Elizabeth Smith,
who was born in New York City, and to them have been born three
children, namely : George H., died in infancy ; Ada, died November 22,
1912, aged thirty-seven years; and Joseph, a lumber broker in
Minneapolis. Edward C. Jackson is a member of the Episcopalian Church and of
the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. In the latter order he has
attained to the degrees of Knight Templar and he has received prefer
ment in all the subordinate bodies in which he has passed the chairs.
He was grand junior deacon in the grand lodge of Masons and is now
grand commander of Knights Templar of the State of Nebraska. He
is a stanch supporter of the republican party, and while in the army he
voted for Abraham Lincoln before he was twenty-one years old. He
keeps alive his old army associations through his membership in John A.
Dix Post No. 52, Grand Army of the Republic, which he has served as
commander. In the life history of Mr. Jackson are found evidences.
of characteristics that always make for ¦ achievement — persistency

588 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
coupled with fortitude and lofty traits — and as the result of such a life
he has long been one of the best known, most influential and highly
esteemed citizens of his county.
Nathan Sampter. For many years actively identified with the
mercantile interests of Dodge County, the late Nathan Sampter dis
played marked ability and sound judgment in the management of his
business, and as one of the leading clothiers of Fremont acquired, con
siderable property. He was born November 20, 1853, in Germany,
where the days of his early boyhood were spent. At the age of thirteen
years, unaccompanied by relatives or friends, he bravely crossed the
ocean to seek a living in a land where there were fewer restrictions.
Locating in New York State, Nathan Sampter continued his studies
there for a brief time, and later attended school in Peoria, Illinois.
There, in the employ of an uncle, he became familiar with the work
associated with a clothing store, and was subsequently engaged in the
clothing business at Independence, Iowa, for five years. Coming to
Fremont, Nebraska in 1883, Mr. Sampter opened a clothing store, and
managed it with signal success until 1909, when he sold out his interests
in the establishment. He thereafter lived retired from active business
until his death, which occurred November 15, 1910, at his pleasant home
on North Nye Street. Industrious, thrifty, and a wise manager,
Mr. Sampter accumulated a fair share of this world's goods, his busi
ness having been extensive and lucrative.
Mr. Sampter married, March 26, 1888, in Fremont, Nebraska, Carrie
Myers, a native of Independence; Iowa. Her father, August Myers,
emigrated from Germany to the United States as a young man, settling
in Independence, Iowa, as a clothing merchant. Subsequently moving
to Nebraska, he spent the last thirty-two years of his life in Omaha.
He was a Democrat in politics, and a member of the Jewish Church.
Mr. Myers married Babette Baum, who was also born in Germany, and
of the seven children born to their union, Mrs. Sampter was the sixth
child in succession of birth, and one of the five now living.
Mr. and Mrs. Sampter became the parents of three children,
namely : Mrs. John Sonin, whose husband is a well known merchant of
Fremont ; Mrs. Hyman Fishgall, of Sioux City, Iowa ; and Gerald,
member of the firm with Mr. Sonin. Politically Mr. Sampter was a
sound republican ; fraternally he was a Mason ; and religiously he and
family belonged to the Jewish Church.
Alexander Thom came to Nebraska in January, 1882, and after
having long been actively and successfully identified with agricultural
and livestock industry in Dodge County he retired from the farm and
established his home at North Bend, where he has since continued to
enjoy the merited prosperity gained through former years of earnest
endeavor. He has passed the psalmist's span of threescore years and
ten and is a sterling citizen to whom is accorded the fullest measure of
popular esteem.
Mr. Thom was born in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, September 25, 1847,
and is a son of William and Christina (Chalmers) Thom, who there
passed their entire lives, the father having been fifty-three years of
age at the time of his death and the mother having passed to eternal
rest at the age of sixty-eight years. William Thom was a farmer by
vocation and both he and his- wife were zealous members of the Free
Church of Scotland, in which he served as an elder for a number of

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 589
years prior to his death. Of the six children three came to the United
States : William, who became a resident of Nebraska and whose death
occurred in a hospital at Omaha, December 13, 1919; Isabelle, who
became the wife of James Thain, of Illinois, and who was in the home
of her brother, Alexander, of this review, at the time of her death ; and
Alexander, whose name initiates this sketch. Of the other three children,
James and George died in Scotland, and there Andrew has been for half
a century pastor of a church in Stirlingshire, as a representative clergy
man of the Free Church of Scotland in that section of the land of hills
and heather.
Alexander Thom was afforded the advantages of the schools of his
native land and there continued his association with farm enterprise
until 1877, when he came to the United States and became foreman of
the large farm estate of Henry B. Sherman in Dodge County, Wis
consin. He retained this position five years, and in January, 1882, he
came to Nebraska and became associated with the firm of Smith &
Mallon, at North Bend, an important concern engaged in the importing
of horses. In the interests of this firm Mr. Thom purchased high grade
horses in Scotland and shipped the stock to the United States, his
operations in this field of enterprise having continued about four years.
He then purchased land in Dodge County and turned his attention, with
characteristic vigor and judgment, to general farming and stock-raising,
in which connection he made a specialty of raising blooded Clydesdale
horses and Chester White swine. On his farm, comprising 320 acres,
he made the best of improvements, including the erection of a barn that
is still considered the finest in the county, and he continued his active
work on the farm until 1892, since which time he has lived virtually
retired, at North Bend, his farm property still remaining in his possession.
Mr. Thom was one of the organizers and incorporators of the First
State Bank of North Bend, of which he has continuously served as
president from the inception of the enterprise and to the success of
which his mature business judgment and conservative policies have con
tributed in large degree. He is an elder and member of the board of
trustees of the United Presbyterian Church at North Bend, and as a
citizen of his adopted state he is most loyal and appreciative,
In 1887 Mr. Thom wedded Miss Margaret Agen, a native of the
state of Illinois, and she passed to the life eternal in 1892. Of the
three children of this union two died in infancy, and the one surviving
is Mabel, wife of Dr. Andrew Harvey, a representative physician at
Fremont, judicial center of Dodge County, of whom mention is made
on other pages of this work. For his second wife Mr. Thom married
Anna Collins, and she passed away a few years later, the only child
of this marriage likewise being deceased. April 15, 1913, recorded
the marriage of Mr. Thom to Laura Miller, who was born and reared
in Dodge County and who is the popular chatelaine of their pleasant
home. Mr. Thom is a radical prohibitionist in his political allegiance and
has been active and zealous in furtherance of national prohibition, the
success of the great movement being a source of marked gratification
to him. He has a high place in the confidence and esteem of his home
community and the year 1920 finds him serving his third consecutive
term as mayor of North Bend.
Robert Frahm. It is a matter of grave import to the people of a
community to know that their banking institutions are sound, that their
entire business methods are carefully and well advised, that their assets

590 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
are entirely adequate, and that the officers and directors are men of
stable character and of thorough banking experience. From the pros
perity attending the Snyder State Bank at Snyder, Nebraska, it may be
inferred that all these requirements are being held satisfactory, and
since 1919, when Robert Frahm became president, a still larger measure
of public confidence has been shown. Although Mr. Frahm is yet a
young man, he has had a large amount of banking experience.
Robert Frahm, president of the Snyder State Bank, is a native of
Nebraska, born in 1886, in Saunders County. His parents were Hans
H. and Margaretha K. Frahm, the latter of whom was born in Germany,
and the former, also of German ancestry, was a native of Illinois. From
Illinois the father came to Nebraska in 1869, locating first in Douglas
County, but one year later moving into Saunders County, where he made
his home for forty-four years. His death occurred in 1914. He
carried on farming and stockraising and prospered through industry and
frugality. The mother of Robert Frahm still survives, being a highly
esteemed resident of Snyder. He has two brothers and one sister,
namely: Elliot H., who is cashier of the Snyder State Bank; Fielda,
who is assistant cashier of the Snyder State Bank ; and Alvin, who
served as assistant cashier for years of Snyder State Bank and one
vear as cashier of Bank of Morganza, Louisiana, and is now head
bookkeeper of Scotland Lumber Company, Ravenswood, Louisiana.
Robert Frahm attended the public schools at Prague, Nebraska, had
further school privileges at Fremont, and took a commercial course in
Mosher-Lampman Business College, Omaha. His first business expe
rience was as a clerk in a general store at Memphis, and later, in the same
\ capacity was at Cedar Bluffs, Nebraska, following which he entei-ed the
Corn Exchange Bank at Spencer, in Boyd County, where he continued
one year as bookkeeper. After that he served four months as book
keeper in the Nebraska National Bank at Norfolk, Nebraska, going from
there to the First National at Pilger, in Stanton County. He was thus
well posted in Nebraska banking law before going to South Dakota,
where he was associated for two months with the Bank of Winner, and
for nine months with the First National Bank of Fairfax in Gregory
County. In 1911 he returned to Nebraska to become cashier of the
Snyder State Bank, of which he became president in March, 1919.
While the affairs of the bank engage the greater part of his time,
he gives some attention to his farm interests, mainly specializing in
hogs and poultry, growing nothing but Poland China and Chester White
hogs, and pure-blood Leghorn and Wyandotte chickens. He finds
much pleasure and needed recreation in looking after the above interests.
In 1910 Mr. Frahm was united in marriage to Miss Martha Klug.
who was born in Madison County, Nebraska, though she was reared
and educated in Boyd County, Nebraska. They have a pleasant home
and a wide social acquaintance at Snyder, and both are active members
of the Lutheran Church, in which they were reared by careful parents.
In political life Mr. Frahm has followed in the footsteps of a father
whose good judgment he had never occasion to doubt, and has been
quite prominent in local republican circles and is serving at present
as village clerk and on the school board as moderator.
Nathan H. Brown, M. D. Well equipped for the duties demanded
of the members of the medical grofession, not only by natural gifts and
temperament, but by mental training and untiring industry, the late
Nathan H. Brown, M. D., of Fremont, was for many years actively

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 591
and successfully engaged in the practice of his chosen profession, hav
ing gained the confidence and good will of the community, and his
death, which occurred while he was yet in manhood's prime, was a
cause of deep regret. A native of New York, he was born November,
30, 1851, near Saratoga, and died at his home in Fremont, Nebraska,
November 29, 1903.
But two and a half years of age when his parents moved to War-
renville, Illinois, Nathan H. Brown acquired his rudimentary education
in the public schools of Dupage County, that state. Turning his atten
tion to the study of medicine, he was graduated from the Chicago Medi
cal School, after which he took two or more post-graduate courses in
New York City. Locating in Racine County, Wisconsin, soon after
his graduation, Doctor Brown remained there for eight years, in the
meantime building up a large country practice, at first riding on horse
back, with medicines in his saddle bags, but later making his rounds
with a horse and buggy. Then, after spending a brief time in Western
Connecticut, he located in Fremont, Nebraska, in June, 1882, where
he built up an extensive and very satisfactory practice, his professional
skill and ability having won him an extensive patronage, and a position
of note among the more successful physicians and surgeons of his day.
In 1894 the doctor, accompanied by his son, crossed the ocean, and had
a most enjoyable time visiting points of interest in many parts of Europe,
taking especial interest, however, in medical and surgical methods and
institutions. Doctor Brown married, December 22, 1875, Gratia C. Hamilton,
who was born January 24, 1841, in Western New York, but at the age
of three months was taken by her parents to Wisconsin, where she was
educated. Her father, William Hughes Hamilton, became well versed
in legal lore, and was for several years engaged in the practice of law
in Racine, Wisconsin. Removing from there to Nebraska, he spent the
closing years of his life in Fremont. His wife, whose maiden name
was Adelaide Palmer, died in Wisconsin. Six children were born of
their marriage, as follows : Gratia C, now Mrs. Brown ; Alvah, a
soldier in the Civil war, was killed in battle; Harriet A., wife of James
M. Brearley, a retired railroad man of Minneapolis, Minnesota ; Martha
C, died at the age of twenty-nine years ; Stephen H., an attorney in
Washington, Kansas; and James H., engaged in the grain business at
Peoria, Illinois. Mr. Hamilton was a republican in politics, and he
and his family were Episcopalians.
Two children blessed the union of Doctor and Mrs. Brown, namely :
Francis H. and Adeline Eliza. Francis H. Brown, M. D., was educated
for a physician, and for two and a half years was engaged in practice
with his father in Fremont. He became interested in the grain business,
with which his father was also associated, and after the death of his
father gave up the practice of medicine, and has since devoted his time
and attention to the buying and selling of grain, being located in Omaha.
He married Daisy Goff, a daughter of J. W. Goff, of Fremont, and they
have one child, Francis Hilliard Brown. Adeline Eliza Brown married
F. H. Richards, of Fremont, who is in business with his father,
L. D. Richards, and they have one child, Fred H. Richards, Jr., a
bright and capable youth of eighteen years, who was graduated from
the Shattuck School, in Faribault, Minnesota, with the highest honors
of his class, and is now a student in the University of Nebraska, at
Lincoln.

592 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Mrs. Brown is a woman of talent and culture, and is held in high
esteem throughout the city, her beautiful home at 114 East Military
Avenue being ever .open to her many friends. She was educated
primarily in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, and subsequently studied for a
while in the University of Wisconsin, at Madison. She is a devout
member of the Episcopal Church, of which the doctor was an attendant.
He was a stanch democrat in politics, and a thirty-second degree Mason.
William Saeger. An active and thriving business man of Fremont,
William Saeger is identified with the mercantile and manufacturing
interests of Dodge County, being a member of the firm of Saeger & Sons,
one of the most extensive and best known cigar making concerns in
this section of the state. He was born {n Germany, a son of Henry
Saeger, and there spent a part of his early life.
Born, bred and married in Euger, Westphalia, Germany, Henry
Saeger emigrated from the fatherland to the United States in 1887,
coming directly to Fremont, Nebraska. After working in the cigar
factory of George Godfrey for a brief time, he started in business on
his own account, becoming junior member of the firm of Stork & Saeger,
continuing under that name until 1890, a period of two years. On
June 5, 1890, the present firm of Saeger & Sons was formed, and has
been actively engaged in manufacturing cigars ever since, the members
of the company comprising Henry Saeger, Sr., William Saeger, August
Saeger, Peter Saeger, and Henry Saeger, Jr.
This enterprising firm began business at the corner of Fourth Street
and Nye Avenue, and subsequently occupied the Loomis Building on
Main Street, five or six years. Its constantly increasing business
demanding more commodious quarters, Saeger & Sons erected, on the
corner of Main and Fourth streets, a large two-story factory, the larg
est cigar manufactory in the state, it having a frontage of 44 feet, and
being 120 feet deep. The entire upper floor is used for manufacturing
purposes by the firm, which also devotes the first floor of the north
part of the building to its own uses, selling the products of its factory
at retail, while the first floor of the south portion of the building is rented
to other parties. The firm carries on a very large business, both in
making and selling cigars, employing about fifty people.
Henry Saeger, Sr., married, in Germany, Johanna Schroeder, who
died in Fremont, Nebraska in 1916. Seven children were born of their
marriage, as follows : William, of this sketch ; August, born in Ger
many, is married and has four children, Alfred, Victor, Roland, and
Elsie ; Peter, born in Germany, married and has three children, Gretchen,
Hulda, and George; Henry, Jr., is married, and has one child, Warren;
Lizzie, wife of Arthur Fox, who is engaged in the laundry business
at Great Falls, Montana; Gusta, wife of Fred Moller, a mail carrier in
Fremont; and Minnie, wife of Francis Eagle, of Fremont, a traveling
salesman. Both parents united with the Lutheran Church when young.
The father, now a venerable man of eighty-five years, became quite
homesick after spending seven years in Fremont, and went back to
Germany to stay permanently, but after a short stay in his native land
decided that life in the United States was far preferable, and returned
to Fremont, where he has since lived, contented and happy.
William Saeger, married in 1891, Dora Kaufman, and into their
pleasant household nine children have made their advent, namely : Will ;
Paul; Edward; Fred; Rudolph; Homer, who secured the first prize
in the baby contest on July 4, 1918 ; Kate ; Elizabeth ; and Minnie.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 593
Mr. Saeger, who came to Fremont in 1886, a year before his father and
family came, devotes his entire time and attention to his cigar business,
which is extensive and lucrative.
Walter C. Bliss. A live, wide-awake young agriculturist of Dodge
County, Walter C. Bliss occupies a position of prominence among the
enterprising and progressive farmers of Elkhorn Township, and is held
in high esteem as a citizen of worth and ability. A son of F. C. Bliss,
he was born in 1891, at Howell, Colfax, County, Nebraska, coming from
honored New England stock.
Born and bred in Vermont, F. C. Bliss grew to manhood in New
England, and received his education in the public schools. Coming to
Colfax County, Nebraska in 1886, he took up land near Howell, and
for several years was engaged in farming. Subsequently removing to
Omaha, he embarked in the commission business as head of the live stock
firm of Bliss & Wellman, one of the best known organizations of the kind
'in the city, and in the management of its affairs is meeting with excellent
success. To him and his wife, whose name before marriage was Ada
Pattee, three children have been born, as follows : Huishel, deceased ;
H. P., of Omaha, in business with his father ; and Walter C.
Well trained in agricultural pursuits as a boy and youth, Walter
C. Bliss began life for himself with fair prospects for a prosperous
future, and his energetic labors, ability and good business tact have
already placed him among the prominent and successful agriculturalists
of Dodge County. He has 360 acres of rich and fertile land in Elkhorn
Township, on which he has made many wise improvements, his farm in
regard to its appointments and equipments being one of the best in the
community. In addition to carrying on mixed husbandry after the most
approved modern methods, Mr. Bliss makes a specialty of raising stock,
breeding about three hundred and fifty Hampshire hogs every year, and
feeding a hundred head of cattle.
Mr. Bliss married, June 24, 1914, Vivian Wright, who was born in
Richford, Vermont, and acquired her early education in the public
schools of her native state. Her father, Mathew Wright, never came
to Nebraska, but since his death her mother has made her home with
Mr. and Mrs. Bliss, who have one child, Ethlada Bliss. Ever interested
in local progress, Mr. Bliss, although not an office seeker, has served as
school director a number of terms. He is a member of the Congrega
tional Church, and Mrs. Bliss, true to the faith in which she was reared,
belongs to the Baptist Church.
Mrs. May (Smith) Morehouse. A daughter of the late Joseph
Towner Smith, Sr., Mrs. Morehouse was born in Fremont of honored
pioneer ancestry. Her father, a native of Pennsylvania, came to
Nebraska with two of his brothers long before it was admitted to state
hood. Locating in 1856 in what is now Dodge County, he helped lay out
the Town of Fremont, and was thereafter conspicuously identified with
its development and growth.
A man of distinctive and forceful individuality, Mr. Smith was con
spicuously identified with the upbuilding of Fremont, being a leading
spirit in the establishment of beneficial enterprises, and in addition to
having been the pioneer merchant of the place served as its first fire
chief, and his brother and partner, James G, was the first postmaster.
Full of energy and vim, he extended his business operations from time
to time, and through wise management and good investments accumu
lated a large estate, to a part of which Mrs. Morehouse is heir.

594 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Mr. Smith married first Charlotte Adelia Miller, who died in early
life. He subsequently married, November 25, 1882, Augusta Wilhelmine
Knopp, and into the household thus established three children were born,
as follows: May, now Mrs. Morehouse; Franklin Perry, who was born
in 1888, and died March 10, 1919; and Joseph T., who has charge of
his father's estate. A more complete sketch and a steel portrait of
Joseph Towner Smith will be found on other pages of this work.
Mrs. Morehouse received her rudimentary education in Fremont, and
after leaving the high school attended St. Mary's Boarding School in
Knoxville, Illinois, for two years, and then studied a year in Liberty,
Missouri. On June 28, 1905, she was united in marriage with Carlos
Morehouse, who was born in Hooper, Nebraska, and acquired his first
knowledge of books in the rural schools of his native county, completing
his early studies at the Culver Military Academy, in Culver, Indiana.
For two years thereafter, Mr. Morehouse was engaged in the grain
business, having an elevator at Gresham, York County ; coming from
there to Fremont, he was employed in the bottling works for a time,
after which he became a member of the firm of Wiley Morehouse &
Company, wholesale dealers in fruit, with which he was connected until
recently. Mr. and Mrs. Morehouse have three children, namely : Gene, born
September 30, 1907 ; Joseph Franklin, born in 1909 ; and Richard Car
los, born in 1911. Religiously, Mrs. Morehouse is an active member of
the Congregational Church. Mrs. Morehouse is a member of the Order
of the Eastern Star, and belongs to the Fremont Woman's Club, and to
the Charity Club.
Allen Johnson is one of the representative younger members of
the bar of Dodge County and is engaged in successful general practice
in the city of Fremont, as junior member of the firm of Cain & Johnson,
his partner being William M. Cain, of whom individual mention is made
on other pages.
Mr. Johnson was born in Dodge County, August 3, 1880, and is a
representative of a pioneer family of the county, where his father estab
lished residence in the year that marked the admission of Nebraska to
statehood. Mr. Johnson is a son of Andrew J. and Martha (Sampson)
Johnson, who were born and reared in Sweden and whose marriage was
solemnized in Dodge County, where the father established his home in
1867, the mother having come to this country in the early '70s. Andrew
Johnson came to this county with very limited financial resources, and
he took up and instituted the development of a homestead, in the mean
while adding to his revenues by working at intervals on the Union Pacific
Railroad for a period of about three years. After his marriage he and
his wife remained on his homestead farm a few years, and finally they
removed to Burt County, where Mr. Johnson purchased a goodly acreage
of land and developed a valuable farm property. There he continued to
reside until his death, November 10, 1916, at the age of sixty-seven years,
his devoted wife having passed away on the 13th of the preceding April,
aged sixty-seven years. The eldest of the four children is Charles W.,
a retired farmer residing at Oakland, Burt County; Sarah is the wife
of Charles E. Lunberry, of Craig, that county; Miss Anna C. resides
at Oakland, Burt County ; and Allen, of this review, is the youngest of
the number. Through his own ability and efforts Andrew J. Johnson
gained substantial success in connection with farm industry in Nebraska,
and he was one of its loyal and progressive citizens. His political alle-

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 595
giance was given to the republican party and he and his wife were
zealous communicants of the Lutheran Church. Though Andrew J. John
son was of Swedish birth, his paternal grandfather was an Englishman
named Allen, who left his native land on account of religious intolerance
manifested toward him and made his way to Sweden, where he became
successful in his temporal affairs and where he passed the remainder of
his life. The change of the name of his descendants to Johnson was
in consonance with the common practice in the Scandinavian countries,
where the son took as his surname the personal, or Christian name of
the father, with the additional terminal of "son." Two sisters of Andrew
J. Johnson married brothers by the name of Pollock and the two Pollock
families were the earliest settlers of Dodge County, Nebraska.
Allen Johnson was a child at the time of the family removal to Burt
County, where he was reared on the home farm and profited by the
advantages afforded in the public schools. This discipline was supple
mented by a course in the Fremont Normal School at Fremont, and in
preparation for his chosen profession he entered the law department of
the University of Nebraska, in which he was graduated as a member of
the class of 1908, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was forth
with admitted to the bar of his native state, and he has been admitted
also to practice before the Federal Courts in the state. All of these
privileges were granted him on the day of his graduation, and the next
day he opened an office at Fremont and girded himself for his profes
sional novitiate. He proved himself well fortified as a trial lawyer and
counselor, and his law business has continuously expanded in scope and
importance. Since 1917 he has been associated in practice with William
M. Cain, under the title of Cain & Johnson, and this is recognized as one
of the strong and successful law firms of Dodge County. The firm has
a representative clientage and is retained as local legal representative of
the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Company. Mr. Johnson is the
owner of valuable real estate in Fremont, including his attractive home.
He is a republican in his political allegiance and he and his wife hold
membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church of their home city.
August 2, 1908, marked the solemnization of the marriage of Mr.
Johnson to Miss Lottie Morter, who was born in Hand County, South
Dakota, a daughter of Henry and Fedora (Barr) Morter, who are now
residents of Burt County, Nebraska, where the father is a prosperous
retired farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have one child, Forrest Allen
Johnson, who was born May 13, 1917.
William H. Belknap has been a resident and active business man
of Blair for a quarter of a century and is manager of the Haller Pro
prietary Remedy Company. Mr. Belknap first came to Washington
County, Nebraska, soon after the close of the Civil war, but through
the stress of circumstances abandoned his intention of developing a
homestead and returned east to take up a business career.
He was born at Yonkers, New York, July 30, 1845, son of Charles
F. and Abigail Jane (O'Dell) Belknap. His parents were lifelong resi
dents of New York State and his father was a contractor and builder
and followed the business until his death. There were three children :
Ethelbert, a retired hat manufacturer at Yonkers; W. H., second in age;
and Mrs. Ida Morrell, who still lives in New York State. Charles F.
Belknap was the first member initiated into the Lodge of Odd Fellows
at Yonkers and was faithful and loyal to that order all the rest of his
life and was honored with all the chairs and offices. He began voting
as a whig and subsequently became a republican.

596 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
William H. Belknap acquired his early education at Yonkers, attend
ing the Star Commercial Collegiate Institute of that city. At the age
of sixteen he began work as clerk in the grocery store of Walter Pad
dock at Yonkers, but soon gave up his place behind the counter to enlist
as a soldier in Company A of the Thirteenth Regiment of New York
Militia. He was in the Hundred Day service and did picket duty and
acted as a guard on the pike road and railroads around Richmond. He
and his regiment went by boat from Fortress Monroe to New York City
for the purpose of being discharged. The boat was wrecked during the
voyage and seven lost their lives while being transferred to life boats.
Following his military experience Mr. Belknap was for two years entry
clerk with a hatter's supply house of New York.
In 1867 he came as a pioneer to Washington County, Nebraska. He
entered a homestead and earnestly devoted his time to its development
and improvement for a year and a half. There were many trials and
discouragements, and the last straw was a severe hail which completely
destroyed all his crop prospects for that year. Leaving his place in
charge of a neighbor, he returned east to better his finances. He had
paid eight hundred dollars for lumber for building purposes and has
practically nothing to show for nearly two years of hard work. He
was offered five hundred dollars for his homestead and decided to sell
it, though something interfered with carrying out the transaction and he
continued to own the land for a long period of years, until 1910, when
he finally sold the property at a hundred dollars an acre.
Mr. Belknap, after his Nebraska homesteading experience, remained
in New York State for twenty-five years and became very successful in
business, as president of the Yonkers Hat- Manufacturing Company.
Then in 1896 he returned to Nebraska and located at Blair, and has since
been manager for the Haller Proprietary Company, a company incor
porated for fifty thousand dollars capital. This company manufactures
a large line of home remedies and the product is sold and widely dis
tributed over the country.
December 22, 1867, at Woodbine, Iowa, Mr. Belknap married Miss
Emma A. Royster. She became the mother of four children, two of
whom are still living. The son Rolland is chief auditor for the Sperry
& Hutchinson Company at Yonkers, and the other son Stanley is in the
repair department of the Remington Typewriter Company in Omaha.
In 1901 at Blair Mr. Belknap married Marie F. Peterson, who was
born on a Nebraska farm. They have two children, William H. Jr., a
schoolboy, and Adeline Priseilla. Mr. Belknap and his family are all
members of the Baptist Church. He has been a loyal member of the
Masonic Order since 1866 and is also affiliated with the Grand Army
of the Republic and is a republican voter.
Otto Hoegermeyer. Located in a rich agricultural region, Otto
"Hoegermeyer stands high among the enterprising and self-reliant men
who are so ably conducting the farming interests in Everett Township,
the greater part of his land being in a yielding condition, and the improve
ments on his place being of a good, practical, and substantial character.
Although native born, his birth having occurred November 18, 1887, in
Dodge County, he is of foreign ancestry, his parents, Henry F. and Mary
Hoegermeyer, having been born on German soil.
Brought up in Germany, Henry F. Hoegermeyer was educated in
the public schools, and, in common with his youthful companions, served
the required time in the German army. He subsequently learned the

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 597
blacksmith's trade, which he followed for a while. In 1872 he came
to the United States, and having settled in Dodge County, Nebraska,
secured work on a farm. Having accumulated some money, he wisely
invested it in land, and having made good improvements on it continued
life as a farmer and stock raiser, branches of industry that proved prof
itable. On his well cultivated estate he resided until his death, in 1914.
He was not affiliated with any political party, being an independent voter.
Religiously he was a member of St. John's Lutheran Church, to which
his widow, who is now a resident of Dodge County, belongs. Nine
children were born to their union, as follows : Anna, wife of Mr. Heer-
mann, a farmer in Stanton County; Louise, wife of William Moeller,
who is engaged in farming in Dodge County; Minnie, wife of Otto
Langewisch, a Dodge County agriculturalist; Mary; Augusta; Henry, a
farmer in Cuming County; Fred, engaged in farming in South Dakota;
Herman, farming in Washington County; and Otto, subject of this
sketch ¦.
Completing his early education in the rural schools, Otto Hoeger
meyer worked with his father several seasons in the parental homestead.
Starting in life for himself in 1914, Mr. Hoegermeyer has since carried
on general farming with good results, making a specialty to some extent
of raising a good grade of stock. He is a stockholder in the Hooper
Mill and Grain Company, which is doing an extensive business. In poli
tics he is independent, as a voter being bound to no party. Religiously,
true to the faith in which he was reared, he is a Lutheran, being a trust
worthy member of St. John's Church.
Mr. Hoegermeyer married, in 1916, Lydia Whitman, who was born
in Indiana, and they have two children, Walter and Hugo.
James M. Shaffer has been actively identified with the agricultural
interests of Maple Township, Dodge County, for more than a quarter
of a century and ranks among the extensive successful farmers of the
locality. His success has been self-attained, and in its gaining he has
used strictly legitimate methods, which have served to substantially place
him high in the confidence and esteem of his associates and acquaintances.
Mr. Shaffer was born in Pennsylvania in 1863, a son of Abel and
Mary Ann (Hellwick) Shaffer, natives of the Keystone State. His
father learned the shoemaker's trade in his youth and followed that
vocation in Pennsylvania until 1878, when he came to Nebraska and
rented a farm in Dodge County. He was an industrious man and even
tually accumulated sufficient means with which to buy his land, the rest
of his life being passed in agricultural operations. He was a capable
farmer and a good judge of live stock, while his citizenship and integrity
were never questioned. In politics he was a republican, and he and his
worthy and estimable wife were members of the Lutheran Church. They
were the parents of six children: James M.; William, who is engaged
in farming in Dodge County; Emma, the widow of Joe Barner, of
Kearney, Nebraska ; Lucinda, the wife of Henry Stever, an agriculturist
of Dodge County ; Jacob, a resident of Kearney ; and Abel, deceased.
James M. Shaffer was educated in the public schools of Pennsylvania,
and was fifteen years of age when he accompanied his parents on their
overland trip to Nebraska. He was reared to agricultural pursuits and
remained on the home place with his father until he reached the age
of twenty-nine years, at that time buying 160 acres of land. From that
time to the present Mr. Shaffer has been extending his operations annu-

598 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
ally, and at this time is accounted one of the successfully substantial
farmers and stockraisers of Maple Township. He has a good grade of
live stock and his improvements and equipment indicate that he is pro
gressive in principle and that he takes a pride in his surroundings.
While farming has been his chief work, he has not let opportunity pass
him by when business prestige has been at stake, and is a stockholder
in the Union Elevator of Hooper, and the Lion Bonding Company, of
Omaha. In politics he is a republican.
Mr. Shaffer was married in 1895 to Miss Elizabeth Brugger, who
was born in Pennsylvania, and to this union there have been born two
children : LeRoy and Iva, both at home.
Charles M. Miller. Ten miles distant from North Bend, Dodge
County, is to be found the attractive rural home of Charles M. Miller,
who here has a well improved farm of 120 acres, in sections 2 and 11,
Cotterell Township. As an agriculturist and stock-grower he has well
upheld the high standards that have long been a marked feature of indus
trial enterprise in Dodge County, and his success has been substantial.
His tangible rewards are especially pleasing to note in view of the fact
that he came from Iowa to this county when a young man of twenty-one
years, driving through with a team and covered wagon and reinforced
with a capital of only ten dollars at the time when he crossed over the
Missouri River and made his appearance in Nebraska.
Mr. Miller was born in Mahaska County, Iowa, on the 7th of August,
1861, and is a son of John T. and Elizabeth Miller, who were numbered
among the sterling pioneers of Iowa, where the mother still maintains her
home, at a venerable age, the father having been a native of Terre
Haute, Indiana, and having been seventy-two years of age at the time
of his death. He reclaimed and improved a pioneer farm in Iowa and
was still a resident of Mahaska County, that state, at the time of his
death. In the public schools of the Hawkeye State Charles M. Miller acquired
his early education, and in the meanwhile he had gained a plethora of
experience in connection with the work of the home farm. He continued
to be there associated with agricultural enterprise until he had attained
to his legal majority, when, in 1882, he set forth with his team and cov
ered wagon to establish a home in Nebraska and to work his way toward
the goal of independence and enduring prosperity. Soon after his arrival
in Dodge County he purchased eight acres of wild land, in section 2,
Cotterell Township, and for this property he paid at the rate of thirty
dollars an acre. With definite plans for providing a home, the young
bachelor erected a modest dwelling and other necessary buildings on his
new farm, and valiantly began the work of bringing the land under cul
tivation. His original tract is an integral part of his present well
improved farm of 120 acres, and the modern house and other excellent
buildings give evidence of the prosperity that has attended the earnest
enterprise of Mr. Miller as an agriculturist and stock-grower. In past
years he gave special attention to the feeding of cattle and hogs for the
market, but he now limits this feature of his farm enterprise, in order
to develop to the fullest extent the agricultural resources of the land.
He is a democrat in politics and is known as a loyal and progressive
citizen of his adopted county.
Not long did Mr. Miller feel content to maintain a bachelor home
on his farm, as is shown in the fact that the vear 1884 recorded his

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 599
marriage to Miss Elizabeth Haberer, who likewise is a native of Iowa,
and who has proved a devoted companion and helpmeet. The while the
passing years have brought a fine family of eleven children into the pleas
ant home, namely: Iva, Josephine, Alfred, Elsie, Zora, Goldie, Lyda,
Sylvia, Onnie, Walter and Carl.
Don C. Van Deusen, editor and proprietor of the Pilot, the oldest
newspaper of Washington County, is one of the representative men of
Blair, whose influence is far-reaching and effective. He was born in
Beverly, Ohio, on October 12, 1871, a son of Barrett S. and Hannah
(Green) Van Deusen, born February 21, 1843, natives of Canajoharie,
New York, and Ohio, respectively. They were married in Ohio and came
to Blair, Nebraska, in 1873, and bought railroad land five miles west of
Blair. Mr. Van Deusen has retired and now lives at Blair, but continues
to own 320 acres of land, a portion of which he bought for $10 per acre.
This land was all improved by him and is now very valuable. He and
his wife became the parents of nine children, five of whom are still
living, namely : C. C, who is on the old homestead, served in the Nebraska
State Legislature for two sessions ; Don C, whose name heads this re
view ; H. G, who is living retired at Kennard ; Lena, who is now Mrs.
Henry Kasbaum and lives near Dunbar, Neb., was for a number of
years a trained nurse and lived in Omaha; and Mrs.- Don J. Gammel,
who lives at Tekamah, Nebraska, where her husband is manager of the
Farmers Elevator Company. The mother is a member of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, but the father does not belong to any religious organ
ization. During the war between the states he served as steward on
the battleships Sachem and Uncas under his brother, Maj.-Gen. George
H. Van Deusen, and was fortunate enough to be stationed at Newport
News at the time of the battle between the historic Merrimac and Mon
itor which ended the hope of the Confederacy for naval supremacy, and
was an eye-witness to what was at that time the greatest naval engage
ment of the age.
After attending the country schools of his neighborhood, Don C. Van
Deusen went to high school for one year at Omaha, completing his high
school work at Blair, where he was graduated in 1889. For the sub
sequent four years he was a student at Doane College, and while there
managed the Doane Owl, the college paper, for two years. In 1895 Mr.
Van Deusen bought the Courier at Blair and edited it until 1907, when
he sold it to T. T. Osterman, and then bought his present journal, The
Pilot, the leading republican organ in this part of the State. Within
recent years he bought the building he occupies, modernized it and now
has an up-to-date newspaper and job printing plant, fully equipped to
issue his newspaper and carry on his large job printing business. His
paper has a paidup circulation of 2,000 and is recognized to be one of the
best papers in Dodge and Washington counties.
In 1899 Mr. Van Deusen was united in marriage with Miss Min
nie Wiseman, born at Salem, Indiana, but brought to Fort Calhoun,
Nebraska, many years ago by her parents. She was assistant cashier
of the banking house of A. Castetter for eight years. There are no
children. Both Mr. and Mrs. Van Deusen belong to the Congregational
Church. He is a Mason and also connected with the Modern Woodmen
and both belong to the Order of Eastern Star. One of the leading
republicans of this locality, he was elected an alternate to the national
convention of his party held at Chicago, Illinois, in 1912.

600 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Mr. Van Deusen followed in the footsteps of his father when he
became a member of Company E, Third Nebraska Infantry, serving
under Col. Wm. J. Bryan, and as such went to Cuba during the Spanish-
American war, remaining in the service for one year. While his time
is taken up with his paper, during the late war he served as chairman
of the Four Minute Men and also as chairman of the fuel committee of
his county. He was a member of the executive committee of the local
Red Cross Chapter on the Board of Instruction for the new soldiers
and was tenor for the "Liberty Quartet," which sang all over the county
in the interest of various war activities. At present he is serving as
a member of the executive committee of the Nebraska Press Asso
ciation, and has been on the republican state central committee at differ
ent times. A forceful man, fearless and energetic, he has always been
a leader and as he knows how to handle men his work for any cause.
is very effective, and when the people of this region have in mind the
promotion of any public enterprise they try to get his endorsement and
co-operation, for they realize the value of such a service.
Fred G. Pieroe is handling with marked circumspection and efficiency
the multifarious records and other details pertaining to the office of
city clerk of Fremont and is one of the popular executives of the judicial
center and metropolis of Dodge County. He was born at Plymouth,
Pennsylvania, May 11, 1863, and is a son of James B. and Leonora
(Remmell) Pierce, the former a native of Connecticut and the latter of
Pennsylvania, where their marriage occurred and where they passed the
remainder of their lives, the father having first been engaged in farm
ing in the old Buckeye State, and later having become a successful con
tractor and builder. He learned the carpenter's trade in his youth and
thus was well fortified when he initiated independent operations as a
contractor and builder. He served two years as a member of a Penn
sylvania regiment in the Civil war, was a republican in politics, was
affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, and both he and his wife held
membership in the Presbyterian Church. , He became the owner of a
considerable amount of coal land, and the exploitation of the coal deposit
added materially to his financial prosperity. Of the six children only
two are now living, Fred G. being the elder, and his brother Harry being
a resident of Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania, where he owns and operates a
greenhouse and is successful in floriculture.
The present city clerk of Fremont acquired his youthful education
in the schools of the old Keystone State, including a course in Wyoming
Seminary, at Kingston, besides which he attended Wilkesbarre Academy
two years, and then entered LaFayette College, one of the well ordered
institutions of Pennsylvania, where he continued his studies four years
and in the civil engineering department, of which he was graduated as
a member of the class of 1885. Thereafter he was employed for a short
interval in the coal fields of West Virginia, but before the close of the
year 1885 he had accepted a position as a railroad conductor in that State.
He continued his residence in West Virginia until 1891, when he came
to Fremont, Nebraska, and entered service as a conductor on the Chi
cago & Northwestern Railroad. He continued his efficient service in
this capacity until 1913, and in the meanwhile had continuously main
tained his home' at Fremont. In the year mentioned he purchased the
popular Brunswick Restaurant in this city and he successfully conducted
the same four years, when he sold the business. For eighteen months
thereafter he was employed in the local offices of the Chicago & North-

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 601
western Railroad and for three months in the office of the state land
commissioner in the city of Lincoln. He was then elected city clerk
of Fremont, of which position he has since continued the incumbent. He
was for two years a member of the City Council and in the election
of 1919 he was the republican candidate for the office of county clerk,
his defeat having been encompassed by only 137 votes. Mr. Pierce has
long been deeply interested in the history and teachings of the Masonic
fraternity, in which he is affiliated with both York and Scottish Rite
bodies, in the former of which he is a member of the Fremont Com
mandery of Knights Templar. He still holds membership also in
Brotherhood of Railway Conductors, and he figures as one of the veteran
and retired railroad men of Nebraska, his service having been princi
pally on passenger trains. He and his wife are active members of the
Presbyterian Church in their home city, and their circle of friends is
limited only by that of their acquaintances.
In January, 1888, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Pierce to
Miss Bertha Kurtz, who likewise was born and reared in Pennsylvania,
and concerning their children brief record is given in conclusion of this
review. Russell K, who is now associated with the business of Bader t
Brothers, of Fremont, was in service during eighteen months of the
World war and for one year of this period was mess sergeant at Base
Hospital No. 49 in France. Lenora is the wife of Joseph T. Smith of
Fremont. Rebecca is the wife of Earl J. Lee, who is engaged in the
practice of law in this city. Lawrence, now a traveling salesman for
the Hoover Sweeper Company, was in service two years during the
World war, and was mess sergeant in the military base hospital at
Houston, Texas. Beth Evelyn is attending the public schools of Fremont.
Judge Conrad Hollenbeck, a resident of Dodge County almost two
score years, was during a large part of that time judge of the Sixth
Judicial District, and the distinctions achieved by him as an able lawyer,
a profound jurist and a man of affairs made him one of the State's best
known citizens. Since his death Mrs. Hollenbeck has continued to reside
at Fremont, where for many years she has exercised a prominent influ
ence in the social and civic affairs of the community and State.
The late Judge Hollenbeck was born at East Hebron, Potter County,
Pennsylvania, November 19, 1847. His first American ancestor, his
great-grandfather, came from Holland when a young man and settled
at Coxsackie, Greene County, New York, where he married. His son,
Conrad Hollenbeck, lived to the unusual age of 106 years and is buried at
Sweden Valley in Potter County, Pennsylvania. This Conrad Hollen
beck was married in Cortland County, New York, to Rebecca Edwards.
Their son, John Hollenbeck, became a prosperous farmer in Hebron,
Pennsylvania, whither he removed after his marriage with Emily Par
ker, a native of Virgil, Cortland County, New York.
A son of John and Emily (Parker) Hollenbeck, Conrad Hollenbeck,
grew up in a home equally removed from poverty and from luxury,
and his training was such as to bring out the sturdy and self-reliant qual
ities of his character. He attended a district school, and at the age of
nine years earned his first money building fires for the school teacher.
He worked on his father's farm, and in the spring of 1864 before he
was seventeen years of age he enlisted as a private at Williamsport,
Pennsylvania, in the 207th Pennsylvania Infantry. He was in the great
Battle of the Wilderness and with the army of the Potomac until Lee's
surrender. After the war he resumed his education and in June, 1869,
Vol. II— 10

602 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
graduated from the college at Mansfield, Pennsylvania. He took up
the study of law in the office of Isaac Benson at Coudersport, Pennsyl
vania, was admitted to the bar in 1871 and remained there in active
practice for six years. While in Pennsylvania he gained his first rec
ognition as a public leader, being elected to the Legislature in 1874 and
again in 1876.
May 9, 1877, he married Janet Knox at Coudersport. Their wed
ding journey brought them out to Nebraska and they arrived in Fre
mont on the 15th of May. Judge Hollenbeck came to 'Dodge County
with a proved record as a lawyer and was not long, in securing a position
of advantage and influence in the bar of this State. After some years
of private practice he was elected county attorney in 1890, and held that
office until 1895. In 1896 he sat as a delegate in the Chicago National
Convention, where Bryan was first nominated. Two years later in 1898
he was elevated to the bench as judge of the Sixth Judicial District and
discharged the duties of that position with eminent abilities for eighteen
years. He was elected chief justice of Nebraska in 1914 and served
until his death on January 21, 1915, in Lincoln, Nebraska, holding court
only five days before he died.
Mrs. Hollenbeck was born at Lisle in Broome County, New York,
April 21, 1856, and represents several family lines of great distinction
in America. Her parents were Franklin William and Catherine (John
son) Knox. Her father was a prominent Pennsylvania lawyer and a
railroad president, practiced at Coudersport, Pennsylvania, for forty-
seven years, and died at his winter home at Charlottesville, Virginia, in
1891. Catherine Johnson, mother of Mrs. Hollenbeck, was born at Lisle,
New York, graduated from the Homer Academy at Cortland and died
in 1869. Her grandfather, John Johnson, was born in Connecticut and
was a soldier in the Revolutionary war for seven years, holding the rank
of lieutenant and captain. He was at Valley Forge with Washington,
and after the war drew a pension for his service. Captain John Johnson
married Clarissa Rock. Cyrus Johnson, grandfather of Mrs. Hollenbeck,
was a captain in the War of 1812, served as a member of the New
York State Legislature and was a successful merchant of Lisle, New
York. He married Abigail Wheeler, granddaughter of a French phy
sician named Quigley, who came with General Lafayette to America at
the time of the Revolution. An uncle of Mrs. Hollenbeck was a captain
of the Civil war, so that there were three generations of her family that
gave captains to the military service of this country.
Through the paternal line she is a member of the distinguished Knox
family of America. Her great-grandfather, William Knox, married
Margaret Colton. He moved from Connecticut to Pennsylvania and built
a block house on the site of what is now Knoxville, Tioga County,
Pennsylvania. His son, James Knox, was the first white child born in
that county. James Knox married Anna Faulkner, who was born in
Otsego County, New York, in 1798. In this block house was born
Franklin W. Knox, father of Mrs. Hollenbeck, and he lived there until
one year of age. The land on which the block house was built is still
owned by members of the Knox family. Seven generations of the Knox
family have been born in America since the first ancestor came from
Scotland. Mrs. Hollenbeck was educated in a private school, in the Pennsyl
vania Female College at Philadelphia, and the interests and activities
of her life have been those of a cultured and patriotic woman. She
served as a member of the Woman's Board of Management of the Trans-

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 603
Mississippi and International Exposition at Omaha in 1898, representing
the Third Congressional District of Nebraska. She is a member of the
Charity Club, has been president of the Woman's Club, and has long
been prominent officially in the Daughters of the American Revolution,
having organized the Lewis and Clark Chapter at Fremont.
Judge and Mrs. Hollenbeck had two children: Franklin Knox, born
June 18, 1878; and Oscar Lowry, born September 13, 1884, and died
in 1885. The only son now living graduated from the Fremont High School
and the University of Nebraska in the Law Department, and was mar
ried November 15, 1905, to Mae B. Alexander, daughter of a prominent
Montana rancher and business man of Forsyth, Montana, where Frank
lin K. Hollenbeck now lives. They have five children : Thomas Alex
ander, Janet K, Gretchen L., Prudence J. and John Conrad. At the
time of his marriage Franklin K. Hollenbeck was city treasurer of Fre
mont. He also conducted a bank at Harrisburg and is now postmaster
of Forsyth, Montana.
Joseph Vincent Hinchman, M. D. A well known physician of
Blair, Joseph Vincent Hinchman, M. D., is devoted to his practice, which
is a large and lucrative one, and well deserves the reputation which he
enjoys of being one of the most able and faithful physicians of the city.
A son of John Hinchman, he was born January 14, 1846, in Rush
County, Indiana, coming, on both sides of the house, of pioneer stock.
John Hinchman was born and bred in Virginia, and as a youth came
with his parents as far west as Rush County, Indiana, where his father,
Joseph Hinchman, redeemed a homestead from the wilderness. He
assisted in the pioneer task, and subsequently bought land, and continued
in agricultural pursuits throughout his active life. He married Char
lotte Blacklidge, a native of Rush County, she having been a daughter
of John Blacklidge, who migrated from Kentucky to Indiana when the
vast forest was the happy hunting ground of the Indians, and who, by
true pioneer labor, hewed from the dense woods the farm on which
he and his faithful wife spent their remaining years. Of the five chil
dren born of their union, four are living, as follows : Joseph Vincent ;
Mrs. Nan Adams, a widow, resides in Greenfield, Indiana; J. M., also
of Greenfield, is a farmer and implement dealer; and Mrs. R. A. Gold
smith, a widow, living in Kinsley, Kansas. The father, a republican in
politics, served as county commissioner, and was a member of the Inde
pendent Order of Odd Fellows. He was not identified with any relig
ious organization, but his wife was a member of the Methodist Epis
copal Church.
Brought up and educated in his native state, Joseph Vincent Hinch
man offered his services to his country during the Civil war, enlisting
in Company B, Ninth Indiana Cavalry, and serving for eighteen months
and eighteen days. Captured by General Forrest, at Sulphur Trussell,
Alabama, he was confined as a prisoner at Cahaba, Alabama, until the
close of the conflict. Taking up the study of medicine a few years later,
he was graduated from the Indiana Medical College with the class of
1885, and during the next year was engaged in the practice of his pro
fession at Mound City, Missouri. Coming to Nebraska in the autumn
of 1886, Doctor Hinchman continued his practice at Fall City for six
years. Locating in Hebron, Thayer County, in 1892, he remained there
eleven years, after which he established himself in Blair, where he has
since built up a very satisfactory practice, and gained to an eminent
degree the confidence and respect of his fellow-men.

604 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Doctor Hinchman has been three times married. He married first, in
1867, Irene Crane, who was born in Greenfield, Indiana, and died at
Falls City, Nebraska, leaving one daughter, Mrs. Alice Headley, of
Edinburg, Texas. He married for his second wife Candace Firkins,
who bore him one child, Mrs. Helen Anderson, of McCook, Nebraska.
The doctor subsequently married Hannah Moynihan, a woman of cul
ture and refinement.
Doctor Hinchman is an active member of the Nebraska State Med
ical Society and of the Washington County Medical Society, of which
he was president two years. He was physician for seven months for
the Soldier's Home at Burkett, Nebraska, and is a valued member of
the Grand Army of the Republic, being past commander of the posts
at Hebron and at Blair. For full thirty-three years the Doctor has been
a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he has
passed all the chairs.
William H. J. Meyer. While it is truly claimed that by using
present opportunities a man may be sure that he can and will use greater
opportunities, and that in the development of his skill, judgment, ini
tiative and determination, he is taking advantage of the openings offered
by his everyday life, but if he does not possess sterling characteristics,
this is not possible. Therefore, if man is not honest, capable and men
tally alert, there is but little use to expect him to develop into a citizen
of probity, ample means and intellectual attainments. From the above
it is certain that no man is found in high position, especially in those
connected with the banking business, unless he has these qualities and
has made proper use of both small and great opportunities. Such a
man without doubt is William H. J. Meyer, vice president of the Dodge
County State Bank of Hooper, and secretary of the Fremont Joint Stock
Land Bank.
The birth of William H. J. Meyer occurred in Germany in 1878,
and he is a son of Claus and Anna (Kruse) Meyer, who came to the
United States from Germany in 1881, and located in Dodge County,
where they bought land and were engaged in carrying on general farming
and stockraising until they retired and moved to Fort Collins, Colorado,
and there they are still living in comfort after their years of toil. In
politics the father is a democrat, and both he and his wife are members
of the Lutheran Church in their religious affiliations. Their children
are as follows : Mary, who was the eldest born ; William H. J., whose
name heads this review ; Lena, who is with her parents ; Emma, who
married E. R. Brown, a Dodge County farmer; Herman, who is living
in retirement at Fort Collins, Colorado; Maggie, who is a trained nurse,
lives at Denver, Colorado ; Edith, who is in the employ of a bank at
Fort Collins, Colorado; Edward, who is now at Fort Collins, Colorado,
was in the United States service during the World war; Louise, who is
a stenographer at the Agricultural College at Fort Collins, Colorado ;
Alvina, who is with her parents ; and Bertha, who is a public school
teacher, lives with her parents.
Until he was twenty-three years old William H. J. Meyer lived with'
the family on the farm, and attended the Fremont College for two years,
following which he took a commercial course, and after he had com
pleted it, he became bookkeeper for the Farmers Grain and Stock Com
pany of Hooper and held the position for three years, when he entered
upon what was to be his life work as bookkeeper of the Dodge County
Bank at Hooper in 1905, rising to be assistant cashier, and in 1910 to

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 605
the position of cashier. In 1918 he was elected vice-president of the
bank, and is now devoting all of his time to the banking business, serv
ing the Fremont Joint Stock Land Bank as secretary, as well as dis
charging the duties pertaining to the vice presidency of the Dodge County
Bank. The latter is in very sound financial condition, having a capital
of $25,000, a surplus of $40,000, and deposits of $646,000.
Tn 1902 Mr. Meyer was united in marriage with Miss Luruqua
Bradbury, a native of Pennsylvania, daughter of James and Mary
(Sweinhart) Bradbury, of whom mention is found on other pages of
this volume. Mr. and Mrs. Meyer have one child, Darelle L., who is
attending the Hooper High School. Fraternally Mr. Meyer belongs to
the Elks of Fremont and the Modern Woodmen of America of Hooper.
In his politics he is a democrat, but aside from exercising his right of
suffrage he has not taken an active part in public life. Both he and
Mrs. Meyer are consistent members of Grace Lutheran Church of
Hooper. A sound, dependable man, Mr. Meyer gives solidity to the
banks with which he is connected. His efforts have always been directed
toward constructive citizenship, and he has contributed liberally of his
means and time to bring about developments which he has felt would
be advisable and practical, and his ideas upon public matters are gen
erally sought and followed for his good judgment and knowledge of
human nature are recognized and admired.
Charles H. Hooper. An old and substantial family of Dodge
County bears the name of Hooper, the prosperous Village of Hooper
perpetuating the memory of the father of Charles H. Hooper, of
Fremont, Richard Hooper, for whom it was named. He came to Dodge
County in 1859 and did much to aid in the material development of
this section.
Charles H. Hooper was born in Racine County, Wisconsin, Febru
ary 7, 1859, ancTwas an infant and the oldest of ten children, when his
parents, Richard and Elizabeth (Goodman) Hooper settled in Dodge
County. The father was born in County Cornwall, England, and the
mother in Derbyshire, and both came to America and settled in Wis
consin when young and married there. Richard Hooper worked for
J. I. Case as a carpenter in early days, but later became a farmer, in
which latter business he took so much interest that it determined him
to migrate to Nebraska where a poor man could secure land on reasonable
terms. The family, father, mother and infant son, set out in a covered
wagon, taking with them as many household goods as possible, and in
June, 1859, reached Fremont. The mother of Charles H. Hooper
cooked her first family meal in Nebraska where the Congregational
Church now stands.
Richard Hooper homesteaded south of Scribner and after proving
up on his tract, bought a farm north of Fremont, where he engaged in
farming and hog and cattle raising. During those early days he also
did freighting to Denver. He acquired property through his industry,
reared a large family comfortably, took an interest in public matters,
was a republican because of his hatred of slavery, and was one of the
liberal supporters of the Congregational Church to which both he and
his wife belonged. They had five sons and five daughters, as follows:
Charles H. ; Elizabeth, who is the wife of L. H. Hole, railroad man at
Lincoln; Mrs. Mary Zorn, who died in the summer of 1919; William,
who is a lawyer at Leavenworth, Kansas ; Henry, who is a farmer
near Cedar Rapids, Boone County, Nebraska; Mrs. Belle Sandusky,

606 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
who lives at Denver; John, who is a farmer northwest of Fremont;
Lennie, who is the wife of James Kervin; Lula, who is the wife of
Ora Thompson, a farmer near Ames, Nebraska ; and Richard, who is a
farmer near Cedar Rapids.
Charles H. Hooper attended school at Fremont, Nebraska, remaining
with his father on the farm until he reached his majority, when he
went into the ice business with E. N. Morse. He continued to deal in
ice for some time, then became associated with H. Furhman in the
wholesale dry goods line, remaining about seven years. Mr. Hooper
is now practically retired from business but owns some very valuable
Dodge County land, and for that northwest of Fremont has been offered
$300 an acre. He has been quite active in democratic politics and
served as deputy sheriff for five years.
On February 20, 1888, Mr. Hooper was united in marriage to Miss
Mary Savage, who was born in Nebraska, a daughter of Anton Savage
and his wife, natives of Germany. They came to Butler County,
Nebraska, in 1867, where the mother of Mrs. Hooper died, when the
father came to his daughter's home in Fremont and later died here.
Mr. and Mrs. Hooper have four children, namely : Thomas H., who
is in the automobile business at Fremont; Emma, who is the wife of
Earl Ropp, a mail 'clerk at Fremont ; Irene, who is ,the wife pf
E. C. Olson ; and Charles H., who is a farmer in South Dakota. The
family belongs to the Congregational Church. Mr. Hooper belongs to
the Odd Fellows and the Eagles and has held offices in the former
organization. In 1898 with a party of eleven others, Mr. Hooper took
charge of fifty-two cars of cattle across the Atlantic Ocean to Liver
pool, and after the delivery was made the visitors enjoyed a trip of
sixty-four days during which they visited Ireland, England and Ger
many. For four years Mr. Hooper conducted the first Business Men's
Club at Fremont.
Henry J. Lee, of Fremont, is one of the few survivors of those
Dodge County pioneers who arrived here about the time the American
Civil war was coming to a close. Most of those who came then or
somewhat later have gone. Many of them achieved only a moderate
degree of success, and never reached the full benefits of early settle
ment. Henry J. Lee's career has been conspicuous not only for his
residence of more than half a century in Dodge County but for the won
derful ability with which he has handled his business affairs. He is
still one of the leading men of Fremont and deserves all that can be
said of a man of sterling integrity and pronounced business acumen.
A son of James and Jane (Dougherty) Lee, he was born August
25, 1837, in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, and was reared there
on a farm. His father, a native of Ireland, came to the United States
when a young man and until after his marriage remained in New York
City. Subsequently buying land in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, he
improved a farm and was prosperously engaged in tilling the soil until
his death while yet in manhood's prime. He became active in republican
politics, holding many local offices, and both he and his wife were active
members of the Baptist Church. In New York City he married Jane
Dougherty, also a native of the Emerald Isle. Of their six children
three are now living, Margaret Jane, a widow living at Camptown,
Pennsylvania ; Henry J. ; and Joseph P., of Wyalusing, Pennsylvania,
who although past eighty years of age runs a foundry and sells machines,
having established an extensive and substantial business.

&#&"

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 607
After leaving the common schools of Bradford County, Henry J. Lee
completed his early studies at the Laceyville Seminary. A young man
when his father died he and his brother bought the parental home
stead and managed it successfully a number of years, teaching school
in the meantime during the long winter terms, and working on the
farm during seed time and harvest. He subsequently engaged in the
hardware business in his native state for a year.
In 1865 imbued with the restless spirit characteristic of the Ameri
cans, Mr. Lee came to Fremont, Nebraska, and during his first year in
the state freighted across the plains and during the following four
years sold goods on the road. In January, 1870, he entered the hard
ware business, buying a $4,000 stock of hardware. To this he added
by degrees and soon began a jobbing business on a small scale, increasing
as trade demanded. The first four or five years he did most of the
traveling himself, and after that put traveling representatives on the
road. In 1878 he erected a large three-story and basement- store build
ing, 125 by 33 feet, which then and for some years was one of the
most complete hardware stores in that section of the state. He con
tinued this local business at Fremont until 1917 when he sold out. In
the meantime, in 1880, with C. A. Fried, a wholesale hardware company
was organized in Omaha under the name of H. J. Lee & Company,
but soon changed to Lee, Fried & Company. From 1880 the Lee-Fried
Hardware Company,- wholesale, was operated at Omaha and continued
its growth and prosperity under that name until Mr. Fried's death a
few years later. The business then acquired the title of Lee, Glass,
Andreesen Company, and in 1917 was changed to Lee, Coyt, Andreesen
Hardware Company, and is still operated under that name. Mr. Lee
owns the building, though he sold his interest in the business in 1918.
This is one of the leading wholesale establishments of Omaha, with a
trade territory extending over Iowa, Nebraska, the Dakotas, Colorado,
Wyoming and Utah.
Mr. Lee is a stanch republican and served with credit as a member
of the school board and city council and for three years on the board of
county commissioners. March 16, 1869, he married Sophronia S. Ells
worth, who was born in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, April 1, 1849,
daughter of Charles and Ruth Ellsworth, who were both genuine Yan
kees. Mr. and Mrs. Lee had two children, Eva L. and Myra F. Eva,
widow of T. W. Miller, living with her parents, assists her father in
looking after his extensive business interests and is herself a very com
petent business woman. She has three daughters, Eva Irene, Florence
and Alice Miller. The daughter, Myra F., is the wife of Otto Schurman,
a Dodge County citizen whose career is sketched elsewhere.
Though Mr. Lee is now eighty-three years of age he is still hale
and hearty, and attends to all his private business, representing responsi
bilities of much magnitude. He was for many years past president
of the First National Bank, of which he was one of the founders, until
January, 1920, when he resigned. He is also a director and stock
holder in the Commercial National Bank. Mr. Lee has one of the
beautiful homes of Fremont. It was built in 1891 and 1892 on the
corner of Sixth and C streets.
Jacob J. Kelser, who is now living retired at North Bend, is one
of the venerable and honored pioneer citizens of Dodge County and
during his active career he did well his part in connection with the
civic, industrial and business development and advancement of this

608 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
county. He was born in Holmes County, Ohio, March 13, 1842, and is
a son of Lewis and Margaret (Spreng) Kelser, the former a native of
Alsace and the latter of the adjoining section, Lorraine, France. They
were reared and educated in their native land, their home district having
passed to Germany at the time of the Franco-Prussian war and later
having become the stage of gigantic military operation in connection
with the late World war. Lewis Kelser became a sailor in his youth
and continued to follow a seafaring life until he came to the United
States in 1824, his marriage having been solemnized in New York City,
where his wife had established her residence a short time previously.
From the Empire State the young couple removed to Ohio, and there
the father continued his active association with agricultural industry
until his death in 1852, his widow having remained on their old home
farm , for a number of years thereafter and having been a resident of
Wayne County, Ohio, at the time of her death in 1887, her religious
faith having been that of the Evangelical Church and her husband having
become an adherent of the democratic party after he gained citizenship
in the land of his adoption. Of their fine family of thirteen children
six are still living: Lena is deceased; the second child died in infancy;
Lewis, Jr., now deceased, served as a member of an Ohio regiment in
the Civil war; Catherine is deceased; Frederick is a resident of the
State of California; John is deceased; Philip, a retired clergyman of
the Methodist Episcopal Church, resides in Medina, Ohio; Jacob J.,
of this sketch, was the next in order of birth; Christian, now a resident
of Hermosa, California, was a member of the same regiment as was
the late President William McKinley in the Civil war; Sarah, the widow
of John Shearer, resides in Ohio ; Henry is a merchant at Fulton,
Michigan ; and Barbara and William are deceased.
Jacob J. Kelser was reared to manhood in the old Buckeye State,
where he duly availed himself of the advantages of the common schools
and where he continued his association with farm industry until there
came the call of higher duty, when the Civil war was precipitated on
a divided nation. He forthwith showed his patriotism by enlisting as
a member of Company H, Twenty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with
which command he continued in service three years and four months.
He lived up to the full tension of the conflict between the states of
the North and the South and took part in numerous important engage
ments, including the historic battles of Antietam and South Mountain.
While participating in the battle of Cloyd Mountain, West Virginia, he
was wounded, but he was not long incapacitated, and his service as a
gallant young soldier of the Union continued during the major part
of the great war. He received his honorable discharge in the City of
Columbus, Ohio, and thereafter supplemented his interrupted education
by attending Greensburg Seminary, in Ohio, two years. Impaired
health then led him to abandon his studies and he took charge of his
mother's old home farm, in Wayne County, Ohio. In 1867, however,
he assumed the operation of a grain elevator at Lakeville, that state,
and within the same year his marriage occurred. Thereafter he con
tinued his residence at Lakeville until 1871, when he came with his family
to Dodge County, Nebraska, and took up a homestead of eighty acres,
in Union Township. He reclaimed and improved this property and
there continued his activities as a farmer and stock-grower for seven
years, the farm having been finally sold at satisfactory profit. For
fifteen years thereafter Mr-. Kelser conducted a general store at North
Bend, and the following ten years here found him successfully engaged

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 609
in the real estate business, with which he continued his association until
his retirement. He served several years as justice of the peace, has
been unwavering in his allegiance to the republican party, is an appre
ciative and honored member of the North Bend Post of the Grand Army
of the Republic, and his wife is an active member of the Presbyterian
Church. Mr. Kelser found his loyalty again raised to a high pitch
when the nation became involved in the late World war, and he was
earnest and liberal in support of the various governmental agencies
advanced in furtherance of war preparation and exploitation.
November 28, 1867, recorded the marriage of Mr. Kelser to
Miss Marian E. Newkirk, who was born and reared in Wayne County,
Ohio, and of this union have been born six children : Grant and Emma
are deceased; Bessie is the wife of William W. Roberts, engaged in the
drug business at Fremont, judicial center of Dodge County; John N. is
conducting a meat market in that city; and Chauncey and Marian E.
are deceased, the latter having passed away in 1914.
William G. J. Dau. A purpose in life is as the helm of a ship for
it shapes direction to the goal ; it stirs ambition, arouses determination
and is the mainspring of success. It is necessary for a man to have
some definite aim in life for without it he stagnates. A number of
men whose earlier years were spent in farming, discover this when
they retire from an agricultural life and seek to find contentment in a
life of leisure, for they find that they cannot adapt themselves to their
new environment. Having always had something to work toward, some
purpose in view with each day, the hours hang heavy on their hands,
and those who are sensible, when once they realize this, do not wait,
but embark in some other line, and usually succeed in it too, for back
of them is that purpose which enables them to endure difficulties and
hardships ; take blows and rebuffs of fortune, and tolerate disappoint
ments. One of the representative and energetic men of Hooper, who,
after he had terminated his experience as a farmer, opened up a garage
and is now operating it, acting as agent for several well-known cars
and tractors and handling accessories, and doing a fine business in all
lines, is William G. J. Dau, mayor of the city.
The birth of Mr. Dau took place in Germany in 1868, and he is a
son of Peter and Marguerite (Schomacher) Dau, natives of Germany,
both of whom are deceased, he passing away in 1897, aged fifty-eight
years, and she in 1916, aged seventy-five years. They came to the
United States in 1878, and located at Fremont, Nebraska, where he
obtained employment as a brick mason for seven years, and then bought
a farm near Hooper, on which he carried on general farming and
stockraising until his death. Of the thirteen children born to him and
his wife, five survive, namely: John, who is a resident of Scribner,
Nebraska, drives a car; William G. J., who is second in order of birth;
George, who is a Dodge County farmer; Ernest, who is manager of
the elevator at Scribner, Nebraska; and Edward, who is living retired
at Hooper. Peter Dau was a democrat after coming to this country.
He and his wife belonged to the Lutheran Church and were active in it.
William G. J. Dau accompanied his parents to Dodge County,
Nebraska, and assisted his father with the farm until the latter's death,
after which he bought out the other heirs and continued to conduct it
until 1917 when he retired to Hooper. After coming here he opened
a garage which he conducts under the name' of the Farmers Garage,
and he is sales agent for the Nash automobiles and Nash and Reo trucks,
and he carries a full line of automobile accessories.

610 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
In 1894 Mr. Dau was united in marriage with Anna Studt, born in
Iowa, a daughter of John Studt, one of the early settlers of Dodge
County. Mr. and Mrs. Dau have two children, namely : Peter J . who
is with his father in the garage ; and Lillian, who is at home. Like his
father, Mr. Dau is a democrat, and he was twice elected to the State
Assembly of Nebraska, in 1915 and 1917, and served two terms. Later
he was honored by being placed on his party ticket for the office of
mayor of Hooper, and elected by a gratifying majority, and is the
present incumbent of the chair of chief executive of his municipality.
A constructive citizen, Mr. Dau has sought since he has been in office
to further practical improvements, and in spite of the restrictions of the
times, has been able to make considerable progress and has plans for
further advancement in the near future. He is a thirty-second degree
Mason, and belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America. Mrs. Dau is
a member of Grace Lutheran Church of Hooper. While Mr. Dau's
educational training was confined to the public schools of Dodge County,
he is a very well informed man, and his advice is sought and taken by a
number of his fellow citizens who recognize his sound business sense
and good judgment.
Francis M. Castetter. The Castetter family is one of the oldest
and most prominent in the history of Washington County, where they
have lived since almost the first dates of pioneer settlement. Many of
the important interests of the family are associated with the banking
house of A. Castetter at Blair, an institution that has enjoyed the highest
financial standing in the county for years and in the management of
which the heirs of the bank's founder are still active.
The founder of the family in Nebraska was the late Abraham
Castetter, who came to Washington County about 1856. He was one of
the first county clerks of the county, and for a number of years lived at
De Soto. He owned and operated one of the first flour mills in that
section of the state and in 1869 founded the Castetter banking house, an
institution which has now rounded out a full half century of service as
a factor in the business and financial community. This bank was orig
inally conducted at De Soto, and subsequently at Blair.
A son of Abraham Castetter was the late Francis M. Castetter, who
was born in De Soto, Nebraska, in 1858 and died at Blair in 1912. He
was reared and educated in Washington County, and as a young man
became actively associated with his father in the banking business, and
served as president of the bank at Blair for a number of years prior to
his death. He was prosperous and a highly regarded business man,
showing a keen interest in everything that concerned the welfare of his
community. He was a republican in politics and a member of the Wood
men of the World.
August 5, 1884, Francis M. Castetter married Anna Catharine Noble,
who during the life of her husband and since has been leader in the
social affairs of her community. She is also a director of the Castetter
banking house. Mrs. Castetter was born in Sharon, Canada, daughter
of Hiram and Jane Ann (Thompson) Noble, also natives of Canada.
Her father was a physician and surgeon, having been educated for his
profession in McGill University. He practiced for several years in
Canada and in 1870 moved to Onawa, Iowa, where he practiced for a
decade, and about 1881 established his home at Blair, Nebraska, and
devoted his professional service to that community the rest of his life.
He died at eighty-two and his wife at eighty-seven, they having cele-

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 611
brated their sixtieth wedding anniversary. Doctor Noble was a Univer-
salist and his wife a Congregationalist. Mrs. Castetter, who is an active
member of the Episcopal Church at Blair, is the mother of three daugh
ters. May Noble is at home. Shirley is the wife of George W. Donald
son, a business man of Omaha. Frances Marion was graduated from
Brownell Hall in Omaha in 1919 and also from Lincoln School at
Providence, Rhode Island.
John Cusack is one of the venerable and honored pioneer citizens of
Dodge County, where he is now living retired, at North Bend, and where
he formerly served as postmaster. He was born in the Province of
Ontario, Canada, near the Town of Moffatt, and the date of his nativity
was May 10, 1844. His parents, William and Anna (Semple) Cusack,
were born in Ireland and both were residents of Ontario, Canada, at
the time of their death, the father having passed away in 1879, at the
age of seventy-five years, and the mother having been seventy years of
age when she was summoned to the life eternal. The father was a young
man when he immigrated to Canada, where he purchased land and became
a successful exponent of farm industry. He was a man of pronounced
views and was somewhat of a reformer in his political attitude. He was
a communicant of the Catholic Church, but his wife held the faith of the
Church of England, a faith represented in the United States by the
Protestant Episcopal Church. William and Anna Cusack became the
parents of nine children: Mary and Catherine are deceased; James is a
farmer in Ontario, Canada; William remains on the old homestead
farm of his father in Ontario; Alexander is identified with mining
enterprise in British Columbia ; John, of this sketch, was the next in
order of birth ; Christopher is deceased, of whom mention is found else
where in this work ; Anna is the wife of Jerry Dion of North Bend,
Nebraska; and Sarah is the wife of George Gallop, their home being in
Ontario, Canada.
John Cusack was reared on the old home farm and is indebted to the
schools of his native province for his early educational discipline. He
remained with his parents until 1869, when he came to Nebraska and
took up a pre-emption claim in Dodge County. He began the reclaim
ing and improving of this property, in Webster Township, but he availed
himself of other means of adding to his financial resources, as shown
by the fact that for nine years he served as a railroad section foreman in
Dawson County. He finally sold his farm, and in 1881 he engaged in
the lumber and agricultural implement business at North Bend. He
continued in control of a successful business in this line about twenty
years. After selling this business he devoted his attention for some time
to the feeding of live stock for the market, and in 1906 he was appointed
postmaster at North Bend, a position of which he continued the incumbent
eight years, since which time he has lived virtually retired. He has long
been a stalwart supporter of the cause of the republican party and has
been influential in its affairs in Dodge County, though he has never
sought office. He has, however, given effective service as a member of
the Board of Education of North Bend. He and his wife are earnest
members of the United Presbyterian Church, he is affiliated with the
Masonic fraternity and both he and his wife hold membership in the
North Bend Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star.
April 22, 1872, recorded the marriage of Mr. Cusack to Miss Mary
Ann Richie, who was born in Fifeshire, Scotland, December 18, 1849,
a daughter of James and Anna (Burns) Richie, who came from Scotland

612 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
to America in 1870 and forthwith established their home in Fremont,
Dodge County ^ Nebraska, where the father purchased land and instituted
the development of a farm, besides which he continued in zealous and
faithful service as a layman clergyman of the Presbyterian Church and
temperance worker. The parents were residents of North Bend at the
time of their death. Mr. and Mrs. Cusack had five children: Anna
is the wife of T. J. Castle, a banker at North Bend; Mabel C.
holds a position in a bank at Cozad, Dawson County; Alice M. is the
efficient and popular supervisor of the primary work in the public 'schools
of the City of Lincoln ; Susie J. is the wife of C. P. Hord, who is engaged
in the banking business at Cozad, and William James died at the age
of four years.
John H. Gibson. A man of versatile talents, far-sighted and
eminently capable, John H. Gibson of Blair, president of the Farmers
State Bank, has been identified with the agricultural, industrial and
financial interests of Washington County for many years, and is widely
known in business circles throughout city and county. Of substantial
Danish ancestry, he was born September 19, 1877, in Paxton, Illinois,
where he lived until four years old.
His father, Hans Gibson, was born and reared in Jutland, Denmark.
Immigrating to the United States when young, he secured work on a
farm, and for many years was engaged in agricultural pursuits in Illi
nois, near Paxton. Accumulating money, he wisely decided to invest
it in a newer country, where land was cheaper. Coming, therefore, to
Nebraska in 1881, he bought a ranch near Hampton, Hamilton County,
and in its management met with characteristic success, remaining .upon
it until 1915. In that year, still retaining the ownership of his valuable
farm, he settled at Long Beach, California, where he is living retired
from active business cares, enjoying to the utmost the fruits of his
earlier years of toil. He is a fine example of the men who have come
to this country from across the sea, and who, by diligent labor and thrift
have arisen from a state of comparative poverty to one of affluence, he
being worth now upwards of $100,000.
Hans Gibson married, in Paxton, Illinois, Karen Rasmussen, a
native of Fyen, Denmark, and they are the parents of four children,
as follows: Mary, wife of Harold B. Larson, a wealthy citizen and
philanthropist of Hollywood, California, who was for many years asso
ciated with a fuel company in Racine, Wisconsin, and is now making
good use of the money he there acquired, giving liberally to churches and
charitable organizations; John H., of this brief sketch; Jabe B., of
Norfolk, employed in the Nebraska State Bank; and Peter H, man
aging the home farm. An independent democrat in politics, the father
served as road overseer eighteen years, and as a member of the local school
board a number of terms. He is a member of the Woodmen, and both
he and his wife are faithful members of the Danish Lutheran Church.
Obtaining his preliminary education in the rural schools, John H.
Gibson took a business course in Fremont, this state, and subsequently
became familiar with the rudiments of agriculture on the parental home
stead. Laboring faithfully; he acquired fame, especially as a corn husker,
having husked on an average over 100 bushels of corn a day. Leaving
the farm on attaining his majority, Mr. Gibson was engaged in the hard
ware business with his uncle, C. Newaman, at Hampton, this state for
seven years, and the ensuing six years again worked on the farm. Mak
ing a change of occupation and residence, he was then for four years

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 613
assistant cashier of the Rock County State Bank at Newport, Rock
County. Then, after spending a brief time in York, Nebraska, Mr. Gib
son bought an interest in the Citizens State Bank at Blair, and for five
years served as assistant cashier of that institution. On November 1,
1919, he organized, in Blair, the Farmers State Bank, which has a paid
up capital of $35,000, and in which he has a controlling interest, and has
since served acceptably as its president, an office for which he is emi
nently qualified. This bank, although comparatively new, its charter
number being 1,542, is in a highly prosperous condition, its report at
the close of business on February 14, 1920, being highly satisfactory to
all interested, including its officers and patrons.
Mr. Gibson married, in 1904, Miss Grace Miller, a native of Brad-
shaw, Nebraska, and they are the parents of two children, Forrest, born
in 1906, and Leta, four years younger than her brother. Mr. Gibson is
an independent democrat in politics, but takes no active part in political
affairs, his business demanding his time and attention. True to the
religious faith in which he was reared, he belongs to the Danish Lutheran
Church, while Mrs. Gibson is a member of the Christian Church.
James A. Murrell, retired groceryman and capitalist of Fremont,
was born November 30, 1849, at Clarksville, Clinton County, Ohio. He
is a son of Alexander and Amanda L. (Penquite) Murrell. The father
was born in Virginia and the mother in Ohio, where they married and
always lived. Mr. Murrell was a farmer in Clinton County. They had
five children and those living today are : Mrs. E. J. Mooney of Duncans-
ville, Illinois ; Mrs. M. E. Mail of Fremont, and James A. Murrell. A
brother, G. A. Murrell, who was born January 3, 1852, and died Febru
ary 18, 1920, came to Fremont April 1, 1880. He was mayor of Fre
mont and a deputy in the office of the county clerk two terms and was
then elected county clerk for two terms. He was route agent for a
creamery company about Fremont for several years. James A. Murrell's
parents were members of the Baptist Church and the father was a whig
before he became a republican.
James A. Murrell secured a common school education in Ohio, and
his first work was farming, although he clerked in a store before the
Civil war. In 1871 he went to Mingo, -Jasper County, Iowa, and bought
a farm where he lived for thirteen years. In February, 1884, he came to
Fremont and for almost eight years he clerked in the W. H. Turner
grocery store. He went into business for himself in 1892 and continued
it until 1916, when he sold and is now living in retirement.
Mr. Murrell is a member of the Board of Directors of the Fremont
State Bank, and he owns stock in other banks and in the Fidelity Trust
Company. When Mr. Murrell was only two years old his father died
and he was thus early thrown upon his own resources, and when eleven
years old he was taking care of himself. On February 17, 1876, Mr. Mur
rell married Sarah V. Rumbaugh. She was born at Lima, Ohio. Her
father, G. W. Rumbaugh, once owned the county hospital farm in Allen
County, Ohio.
Mr. and Mrs. Murrell have three children. Amanda Leta is the wife
of Dr. J. R. Bell, an Omaha dentist ; Delbert L. has a sheep ranch at Red
Elm, South Dakota; and George W. owns one-half section of land at
Faith, South Dakota. The latter enlisted in the World war, June 26,
1918, and after short training at Camp Funston and Camp Dodge he
sailed on August 17 for France. He was in the Eighty-Eighth Division
and was on the firing line the day of the signing of the armistice. He

614 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
was almost one year in the service and was wounded by shrapnel while
carrying a message on a motorcycle.
In Fremont the Murrells belong to the Methodist Episcopal Church,
and the father is a Knight Templar, thirty-second degree Mason and a
Shriner. He was king and high priest in the Royal Arch Masons and
illustrious master in the Council, and has held all chairs as a Knight
Templar. He also belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Mr. Murrell owns a modern home in Fremont and other desirable rental
property. He has been a successful business man.
Rudolph B. Schneider. The late Rudolph B. Schneider, one of the
founders and secretary and treasurer of the Nye, Schneider Company of
Fremont, was one of the biggest men this region ever produced, and his
wide-reaching operations affected all this part of the state, and always
along constructive lines. During his many years' residence at Fremont
he not only became a towering figure in its business interests, particu
larly in the grain trade, but also attained the full measure of the popular
heart and confidence of its people, and was recognized to possess in
rare degree tact, courtesy, intelligence and good judgment.
Rudolph B. Schneider was born at Beardstown. Illinois, on Febru
ary 25, 1853, youngest son of B. W. and Elizabeth (Crow) Schneider,
natives of Germany and Illinois, respectively. When he was twenty-five
years of age B. W. Schneider came to the United States, arriving here
in 1830 His death occurred in 1853 when he was forty-eight years
old, he having been born in 1805. Although still in middle age when he
died, he left a considerable fortune which he had accumulated through
his own efforts after reaching this country, in mercantile and real estate
lines. His widow died at Fremont, Nebraska, on December 12, 1884.
Their children were as follows : Mrs. Anna McPherson, who lives at
Fremont; Charles W., who is a resident of Milwaukee, Wisconsin; L. A.,
who is a druggist of Arlington, Nebraska ; and Rudolph B., whose name
heads this review.
Until he was fifteen years old Rudolph B. Schneider attended the
public schools of Beardstown, but at that time began working, and two
years later came West to Fremont, Nebraska. His first employment in
this city was with W. R. Wilson; a grocer, but after a couple of years
he returned to Illinois, and for the subsequent five years was engaged in
farming, taking charge at that time, although only eighteen, of the family
affairs, both his mother and sister being widows.
About 1877 Mr. Schneider returned to Fremont, once more resuming
his connections with Mr. Wilson, and during the six years that followed
he made himself so useful that he was taken into partnership, the new
firm becoming W. R. Wilson & Company, with headquarters at Nicker
son, Nebraska. In January, 1887, the firm of Nye, Wilson, Morehouse
Company was launched, and Mr. Schneider was one of the stockholders
and directors of the concern, which he had assisted in organizing. Upon
the retirement of Mr. Wilson and Mr. Morehouse, the Nye, Schneider
Company came into existence, of which Mr. Schneider remained secre
tary and treasurer until his death.
Mr. Schneider had other interests including large investments in the
Fremont Stock Yards and Land Company, the Fremont Foundry and
Machine Company and he was one of the stockholders of the First
National Bank and the Fremont National Bank, the Fremont Street Rail
way and other prosperous enterprises of Fremont and Dodge County.
A man of great public spirit he possessed that sense of larger responsi

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 615
bilities and broad vision which made him labor for the good of his
community and he was one of the promoters and the first president of
the Christian Park and Assembly Association of Fremont.
A strong republican he was very active in his party and served for
several years as chairman of the county central committee. In 1889 he
was chairman of the Board of Supervisors, and was on that board for a
number of years. It was while he was chairman of that board that the
new courthouse was erected, and as such rendered a capable service in
securing the best of work and materials for the building. Mr. Schneider
belonged to Centennial Lodge No. 59, Independent Order of Odd
Fellows, and also the Encampment and Canton of this order. He owned
realty at Fremont and also at Salt Lake City, Utah.
On June 29, 1882, Mr. Schneider was united in marriage at Nicker
son, Nebraska, to Miss Isabelle D. Spangler, born in Pennsylvania, a
daughter of Adam Spangler, who with their three daughters survive him.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Schneider early connected themselves with the
Methodist Episcopal Church, to which Mrs. Schneider still belongs. On
July 26, 1913. Mr. Schneider passed away from the scene of his
numerous activities, and left behind him a record for great mental
resourcefulness and surprising and big achievements. He was a man
who was thoroughly prepared to take advantage of the opportune moment,
and was not readily deceived in men or misled as to their motives. Early
in life his economic necessities were sufficiently urgent as to compel him
to increase his fortune very materially, and he never lost this vigor, but
was just as eager to make a success of his undertakings at the close of
his career as he was in young manhood. While advancing himself, he
carried others with him and not only added to their prosperity but also
so firmly impressed upon them his deep and abiding faith in the ultimate
reward of the homely virtues of honesty, direct diligence and unselfish
loyalty to the task at stake, that they never forgot the lessons taught by
his own actions.
Mr. and Mrs. Schneider became the parents of three daughters,
namely : Etta Schneider Turner, widow, who resides with her mother,
was in the government service during the late war and was sent overseas
to France; Clara and Marguerite, who are also with their mother, went
to France during the war as members of the Red Cross Canteen Depart
ment. Mrs. Schneider has a beautiful residence on Tenth Street, and
she owns stock in several concerns as well as considerable realty at Fre
mont, and is one of the most charitable ladies in the county, her benefac
tions having been especially heavy while this country was at war.
William Nichol. It was given to the late William Nichol to
render valuable service in connectiori with bridge construction enterprise
in Nebraska and also to do his part in the furtherance of agricultural
industry in this state. A man of marked ability and sterling character,
he made his life count for good in its every relation, and he was one of
the honored and influential citizens of North Bend, Dodge County, at the
time of his death, July 11, 1913, when nearly seventy-three years of age.
He served three terms as mayor of the thriving little City of North
Bend, where also he gave eleven years of effective service as a member
of the Board of Education. His political allegiance was accorded to
the republican party and he was well fortified in his opinions concerning
governmental and economic policies. He was a zealous member of the
Methodist Episcopal Church at North Bend, as is also his widow, and
he was a member of its Board of Trustees at the time of his death.

616 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
A scion of the stanchest of Scottish ancestry, Mr. Nichol was born
at Westminster, Province of Ontario, Canada, on November 20, 1840,
and in the schools of his native province he acquired his early education,
his alert mentality later enabling him to profit greatly from the lessons
gained in connection with the activities of a signally busy and useful
career. He was a son of Jonathan and Sadilano Nichol, both of whom
were born in Scotland and the Province of Ontario, Canada, having
become their place of abode upon their immigration to America. In
that province Mrs. Nichol passed the remainder of her life and there
Jonathan Nichol continued his activities as a farmer until he came to
Nebraska and became a pioneer settler in Saunders County, where he
secured land and developed a productive farm and where he continued
to reside until his death, when venerable in years.
William Nichol accompanied his father on the removal to Nebraska
and here he purchased railroad land, in Saunders County. A skilled
carpenter and bridge builder, he traveled extensively through Nebraska
for a number of years and gave his attention to the construction of
high-grade bridges, as a representative of the American Bridge Com
pany. He also developed and improved his farm property, and upon
his retirement from active business, in 1890, he established his home at
North Bend, where he passed the remainder of his life and where his
widow still resides, sustained and comforted by the companionship of
friends who are tried and true.
Mr. Nichol married December 8, 1877, Miss Sarah Wilcox, who was
born at Durnham, Ontario, March 10, 1848, where she was reared and
educated. She was a daughter of Hiram Wilcox, also a native of Can
ada, and he came to Saunders County, Nebraska, where he homesteaded
near Morris Bluff and where he died at about seventy years of age.
Mrs. Nichol 'came to Saunders County in 1877 to her brother's and was
married that same year. Mr. and Mrs. Nichol had no children, but have
reared a girl who still makes her home with Mrs. Nichol. Mrs. Nichol
is a member of the Methodist Church.
Joseph C. Newsom, editor and publisher of the North Bend Eagle,
in the vital and progressive little City of North Bend, Dodge County,
was a child of three years at the time the family home was established
in this county, and thus he gained in his childhood and youth a due
share of the inspiring western spirit, which he has effectively shown in
his business career. Personally and through the medium of his attractive
and well conducted newspaper he stands as a true apostle of progress in
his field of enterprise, and has made the North Bend Eagle one of the
representative newspapers of Dodge County. He is a son of Judge
Joseph E. Newsom, the present postmaster of North Bend, and on other
pages is given a brief record of the career and family history of his
father, so that a repetition of the data is not demanded here.
Joseph C. Newsom was born at Worthington, Indiana, November
28, 1875, but he was not long permitted to breath the air of the Hoosier
State, as his parents came to Nebraska in 1878 and established their
home in Dodge County, where they still reside. Joseph C. Newsom
received his education in the public schools of North Bend, while soon
afterward he entered upon the practical apprenticeship to the printers'
trade, a discipline that has consistently been pronounced, if carried to
proper limits, the equivalent of a liberal education. His first experience
in the "art preservative of all arts" was acquired in a printing office at
North Bend, under the direction of Elmer Davis, and later he was

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 617
employed \*o years in the office of the Fremont Herald, at the judicial
center of his home county. Soon after his return to North Bend he
purchased the plant and business of the North Bend Republican, and in
1897 consolidated with the North Bend Argus, with incidental elimina
tion of both original names and the adoption of the present title of
the North Bend Eagle. Mr. Newsom has a well equipped office
for the execution of both newspaper and job work, and the
pages of the Eagle show the best of modern linotype compo
sition, the pages being a six-column quarto edition, published on
Thursday of each week and constituting a most attractive and effective
exponent of community interests. He has served as city clerk of North
Bend and also as a member of the Board of Education. Within the
period of the nation's participation in the World war he showed his
patriotism and loyalty by leaving his family and his business and doing
effective service with the Young Men's Christian Association in France:
He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, the Modern Woodmen of
America and the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and he and his
wife hold membership in the Christian Church.
November 26, 1908, recorded the marriage of Mr. Newsom to
Miss Adda M. Guttery, who was born at Brookfield, Missouri, and who
was a child at the time of her parents' removal to Nebraska, the family
home being established in Dodge Courity. Mr. and Mrs. Newsom have
two children — Philip and Betty Jane.
John H. C. Moeller. An active, enterprising and practical farmer,
John H. C. Moeller of Cuming Township, is an able assistant in main
taining the reputation of Dodge County as a superior agricultural and
stock-raising region, his success as a husbandman being unquestioned.
A son of Casper Moeller, he was born, September 22, 1885, in Dodge
County, where he has always resided.
Born, bred and educated in Germany, Casper Moeller left his native
land in 1859, crossing the ocean in a slow-sailing vessel, and came
directly to Dodge County, Nebraska, in search of a favorable location.
Homesteading a tract of land, he improved a fine farm, and was not only
very successful as a farmer and stock-raiser, but attained a place of
prominence and influence in the community where he lived, having
served at one time as president of the Dodge County Bank, and having,
also been president of the Farmers Mutual Insurance Company. Giving
up active pursuits in 1908, he has since lived retired at his pleasant home
in Hooper. He married Joanna Langermeyer, a native of Germany, and
of their union five children were born, as follows : Henry, engaged in
farming in Dodge County; Louise, wife of Rev. J. H. Hartenberger of
Red Bud, Illinois; Caroline, wife of Amiel Neiborn, a farmer; Fred-
ericka, wife of Emil Rink, a Dodge County farmer ; and John H. C, of
whom we write. The father is an independent voter, and both he and
his wife belong to St. John's Lutheran Church.
Completing the course of study in th common schools of Dodge
County, John H. C. Moeller attended the Fremont Normal School, thus
materially advancing his education. Working with his father, he early
acquired a thorough knowledge of the modern methods of farming, and
in 1908 embarked in agricultural pursuits on his own account. He has
since carried on general farming extensively and prosperously, as a
stock raiser, making a specialty of Poland China hogs, in the raising of
which he has been very fortunate. He is also interested to some extent in
other affairs, being one of the stockholders of the Hooper mill.
Vol. II— u

618 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Mr. Moeller married February 24, 1908, Frieda Rink, who was born
in Dodge County, where her father, Jacob Rink, was a pioneer settler.
Five children have been born of the marriage of Mr. and'Mrs. Moeller,
namely: Lois, Agnes, Eugene, Elhardt and Etta May. Independent in
his political affiliations, Mr. Moeller votes according to the dictates of
his conscience. Religiously he and his wife are members of St. John's
Lutheran Church.
Casper Hoegemeyer is one of the old and honored settlers of Dodge
and Washington counties, and for nearly fifty years has applied his
industry as a farmer and stock raiser in Dodge County. His home is. in
section 36 of Cuming Township.
Mr. Hoegemeyer was born in Germany March 22, 1849, son of Casper
H. and Louise (Hilker) Hoegemeyer, both of whom spent all their lives
as German farmers. One other son Henry also came to Nebraska and
settled in Dodge County. Casper Hoegemeyer was twenty years of age
when he came to the United States in 1869, and he journeyed east by
railroad as far as Council Bluffs, Iowa, and came by boat to Washington
County. For a year or so he was employed as a farm hand, and in that
time learned the American language and rapidly adapted himself to
American ways.
Mr. Hoegemeyer in 1871 took up a homestead in Dodge County, and
by much industry and thrift improved it. He has a small frame house at
the beginning, and for nearly half a century has used his lands for general
farming and stock raising. He has also become a stockholder and
director in the Dodge County Bank of Hooper. During his long resi
dence in Dodge County Mr. Hoegemeyer has fed and fattened many
carloads of livestock for the markets.
In 1873 he married Miss Anna Mary Stork, member of a well-known
family of Washington County. To their marriage were born seven chil
dren: William, a Dodge County farmer; Christ, also a farmer in that
county; August, who has a farm in Burt County, Nebraska; Casper H.,
a farmer of Cuming County ; George, at home ; Emma, wife of H. Heits-
husen of Burt County; and Louise, wife of Emil Miller of Cuming
County. The mother of these children died September 6, 1914, more
than forty years after their marriage and after she had seen her sons
and daughters well placed in life. Mr. Hoegemeyer and family are
members of the St. John's Church. In politics he casts his ballot inde
pendently. He has been interested in the affairs of his community, par
ticularly good schools, and for a number of years was a director of
District No. 16.
Mrs. Mary C. Debel. It is a compliment worthily bestowed to say
that Washington County is honored by the citizenship of her whose
name forms the caption to this sketch, for she has achieved definite suc
cess through her own efforts and is discharging the duties of the office
which she fills to the entire satisfaction of the voters of the countv.
Mary C. Debel was born at Lincoln, Nebraska, and is the daughter
of C. M and Mary (Knudsen) Christensen, both of whom were born
in Denmark. After coming to the United States, their respective fami
lies came to Lincoln, where their marriage occurred. Mr. Christensen
was engaged in the meat business at Lincoln for some time, but later
engaged in farming, to which he devoted his efforts for seventeen years.
He also became interested in livestock, as a buyer and shipper, buving
his animals in Blair and shipping to the Omaha market. He was "sue-

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 619
cessful in his business affairs and in March, 1909, became a resident of
Blair, where he and his wife now reside. They are earnest members of
the Lutheran Church. Mr. Christensen is a democrat in politics and
fraternally is a member of the Woodmen of the World. To him and his
wife were born three children, namely: Anton, who is employed as a
chauffeur in New York City; Holger, who is manager of a Thompson
restaurant in Chicago, and Mary C., of this sketch.
Mary C. Christensen Debel received her elementary education in the
public schools, and then she attended Dana College at Blair. For a num
ber of years after leaving school she was engaged in clerical work in Blair,
and in 1918 she was elected to the office of county clerk, of which she is
the present incumbent. Thoroughly competent by natural ability and
training for the performance of her official duties, Mrs. Debel has won
the hearty commendation of all who have dealings with her office, for
the promptness, courtesy and thoroughness with which the duties of the
office are discharged.
On October 12, 1918, Mary C. Christensen was united in marriage
with Anders C. Debel, who was born in Denmark and who is now a
successful and well-known attorney at Blair and county judge of Wash
ington County, to which office he was elected in 1920. He was in the
military service during the World war, though the major portion of his
time was spent in training camps in California.
Mrs. Debel is a member of the Lutheran Church. Mr. Debel is a
democrat in his political views and he sustains. fraternal relations with
the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. Because of her charming per
sonality, her genuine worth and her business ability, Mrs. Debel has
won and retains the sincere respect and good will of all who know her.
Seymour S. Sidner. The profession of law is peculiarly a field for
men of strong personality. No other profession demands so much of
personal ability and address. A lawyer cannot buy his business and
cannot receive it by inheritance. Clients demand personal capability, so
that underlying all must be the fundamental element of good judgment
and sound principles, just as it must in all callings, and these attributes
dominate Seymour S. Sidner, one of the shrewd and successful young
attorneys of Fremont.
Seymour S. Sidner was born at Stillwater, New Jersey, on January
12, 1875, a son of John and Martha (Van Horn) Sidner, both of whom
were born in New Jersey, farming people who came to Dodge County,
Nebraska, in 1888. They are now living in retirement at Fremont.
Their children are as follows : Ida, who lives with her brother, S. S. ;
Sadie, who married Albert Lucas, lives in Oregon ; Kathryn Amelia, who
married W. A. Yoder, a high school teacher; Seymour S., whose name
heads this review; Martha, who is a teacher in the Omaha, Nebraska,
public schools; Harry J., who is a Dodge County farmer; and Clarence,
who is cashier of the First National Bank at North Bend, Nebraska.
The parents belong to the Methodist Episcopal Church, and the father is
a democrat in his political sentiments.
Seymour S. Sidner attended the Fremont public schools and the
Fremont Normal School, and then for a year he was engaged in teach
ing school, and then studied law in the office of Judge Cartright until
he was able to pass the examinations which enabled him to be admitted
to the bar in June, 1899. Following this he formed a partnership with
W. J. Cartright, and later the firm became Cartright, Sidner, Lee &
Jones, which association is- still maintained, and it is one of the strongest

620 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
in this region, and has been connected with some very important juris
prudence in this part of the state.
Mr. Sidner was married on October 31, 1899, to Myrtle Cramer,
born at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and they became the parents of four
children, namely: Arthur C, John E., Seymour S., Jr., and Robert D.,
the latter dying May 20, 1920, and the first two being in a college at
Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Well known in Masonry, Mr. Sidner belongs to
the Commandery, and is past master of Fremont Lodge, Ancient Free
and Accepted Masons. In politics a democrat, he was elected on his
party ticket county attorney for two years, and was delegate to the demo
cratic convention in San Francisco in 1920. The Rotary Club has the
benefit of his membership and he is an enthusiastic booster for Fremont
and Dodge County. Both he and his wife belong to the Presbyterian
Church. Some idea of the regard in which he is held by his fellow
citizens is shown in his selection by them in November, 1919, as a mem
ber of the constitutional convention, for they realized that in him they
would have an able representative and one who would know how to
prepare the new constitution so that there would be no future disputes
regarding the legality of its provisions. On June 1, 1920, he was
elected president of the First National Bank.
William H. Turner. With the death of William H. Turner on
February 23, 1920, Dodge County chronicled the passing of its oldest pio
neer citizen, one who had come into the wilderness of eastern Nebraska
more than sixty years ago and had been a sharer in every phase of
development from about the time Nebraska attracted the attention of
eastern settlers. He was a man who kept in close touch with passing
events. He came here when Nebraska was largely a country of Indians,
buffalo and other wild game. The rivers and the overland trails were
the only avenues of transportation. He helped build some of the pioneer
railroads of the state. He saw the various advances and improvements
in agriculture, the change from the nomadic life of the open range to
settled agriculture, witnessed the introduction of manufactures and
industry, was here when the Civil war was being fought, and saw the
close of the World war, and by his individual experience could measure
and appreciate the wonderful changes recorded between these wars.
William H. Turner was born in Massachusetts January 27, 1843,
and died when he was a little past seventy-seven years of age. His
father, John Turner, and his mother, Margaret Slee Turner, were both
natives of England, and from that country they came to the United
States in the early '30s. The father brought with him an outfit with
which he established the first knitting factory at Needham, Massachu
setts, and subsequently developed a large and important factory for the
manufacture of stockings and underwear. Here he continued to live
and operate his factory until his death. Of sixteen children born to him
and his wife the last two were William H. and Mrs; Carrie Rice, widow
of John Rice and a resident of Omaha.
Growing up in his native state William H. Turner attended the pub
lic schools, and lived there until 1856, when he went out to Dubuque, Iowa,
and a year later, in 1857, arrived on the Nebraska frontier at Fremont.
A youth willing to participate in all the arduous and hazardous under
takings of that time, he spent some five years engaged in freighting
between Fremont and Denver. He also opened and conducted the old
Valley House, a historic place of entertainment known to the travelers
of the region for years. In conjunction he conducted a stage station.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 621
All of this was in the pre-railroad era. With the construction of the
Union Pacific Railroad he took contracts for grading and supplying ties.
With the development that ensued following the building of the first
railroad, Mr. Turner engaged in the grocery business at Fremont in
partnership with Andy Brugh and E. N. Morse, and continued active in
that line for nearly a quarter of a century. For the last fifteen years of
his life Mr. Turner had lived retired. He was a man highly esteemed
for his business ability and integrity, and not less for the public spirit
that made him a working factor in all community movements and kept
him in the ranks of progressive citizenship to the close of his life. He
was deeply interested in the cause of public education and served for
many years on the school board. ' He was a member of the Masonic
fraternity and in politics a democrat.
October 12, 1869, Mr. Turner married Miss Lucinda Gilley. A few
months before his death they had quietly observed their golden wedding
anniversary. Mrs. Turner, whose parents were Elisha and Hannah
(Stanley) Gilley, resides at 405 East Fifth Street in Fremont. She. is
the mother of two daughters, and with them belongs to the Episcopal
Church. The daughter Maud is the wife of Thad Quinn, a Fremont
merchant, while Nona is unmarried and lives at home.
John Hendricksen. The little Kingdom of Denmark, small in size
and in population, but great in history, has sent to the New World
some of its best citizens, men of sturdy purpose and high aims, of
resolute principles and sound integrity, who have invaded the newer
sections and have contributed in marked degree to the work of develop
ment that has changed the face of Nature and brought forth prosperity
where only waste was known before. Denmark was the birthplace of
John Hendricksen, one of the substantial farmers of Maple Township,
Dodge County.
Mr. Hendricksen was born April 6, 1858, a son of Henry and Ger
trude Johnson, and one of seven children. He grew up in an agricul
tural atmosphere, his father being a small land owner, and was educated
in the public schools, also seeing nine months of military training in the
Danish infantry. Mr. Hendrickson was twenty-seven years of age when
he immigrated to the United States, and when he arrived in Dodge County,
Nebraska, in 1885, was without means. He secured employment as a
farm hand from Lars Olsen and continued to be thus engaged for
several years, but for a time thereafter turned his attention to railroad
ing, and in this connection worked in the states of Idaho and Washington.
Returning to Dodge County with his small savings, he invested them in
a tract of 160 acres of land, and for the next few years worked unceas
ingly until he had fulfilled his obligations. Since that time he has
acquired, through purchase, eighty additional acres, in Maple Township,
so that he is now the owner of 240 acres of valuable and productive land,
on which he carries on successful operations as a general farmer and a
raiser of a good grade of live stock. Mr. Hendricksen has splendid
improvements on his land, including a modern, commodious home,
erected in 1918. He is accounted one of the progressive agriculturists
of his community and his reputation is one that has been built substan
tially through long years of honorable dealing and fair transactions.
Mr. Hendricksen is a democrat, but has shown no inclination to partici
pate actively in political affairs, although as a good citizen he manifests
an intelligent interest in the movements which affect the welfare of his
community and state.

622 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
In 1907 Mr. Hendricksen was united in marriage with Miss Florence
Peterson, who was born in Henry County, Iowa, and they are the
parents of one child, Glen Peterson, who is attending school in Dodge
County. Mrs. Hendricksen is a member of the Fleihlars Fraternal
National Union.
Edwin L. Hustead, M. D. Speaking in the language of the day, how
poorly equipped would any modern community seem without its comple
ment of able professional men, all of whom have their place, with particu
lar stress perhaps laid on its medical men. Notwithstanding the perpet
uation of feuds and the continuation of wars, the preservation of human
life is still acknowledged the most important earthly factor of existence,
and it is to the trained medical scientist that the world turns in its times
of deep physical distress. To the growing City of Scribner, Nebraska,
have come young men of professional ability who have found here
recognition of their talent, and one of these is Dr. Edwin L. Hustead,
a skilled physician and surgeon.
Doctor Hustead was born in 1885, at Omaha, Nebraska, where his
mother still resides. He is the eldest of three children born to Charles
M. and Caroline (Zimmerman) Hustead, of German ancestry but natives
of Fort Madison, Iowa. For many years the father was a grocery mer
chant in Omaha, in which city he died in 1917. As a business man he
was held in high regard, and as a republican was frequently tendered
political honors which he would not accept. Doctor Hustead has one
sister, Elvera, and one brother, Charles M., jr., both of whom reside
at home.
After completing his public school training in the Central High School
at Omaha Edwin L. Hustead went into the offices of the Cudahy Pack
ing Company, where he remained for five years, during all this time
cherishing the intention of becoming a medical practitioner, and in a
quiet way did considerable medical reading before he entered Creighton
Medical College in 1912. After completing his studies there he was
associated with Dr. L. T. Petersen of Omaha and in 1914 came to
Scribner, where he has built up a large and Satisfying practice. He has
handled many cases with rare skill and has made an excellent impression
wherever his services have been requested. He belongs to the Dodge
County, the Nebraska State and the American Medical societies.
In 1914 Doctor Hustead was united in marriage to Miss Ida S.
Procter, who was born, reared and educated in Nebraska. They have
one daughter, Dorothy L., and one son, Arthur Procter, who contribute
greatly to the sunshine prevailing in the home. Doctor Hustead belongs
to the Masonic fraternity and to the Royal Highlanders. He has never
found time, even if he had the inclination, to be active in a political way,
not, however, being a negligent citizen, but preferably casting an inde
pendent vote. As a citizen of Scribner he takes keen interest in her
schools and moral agencies, in outdoor sports from a physician's stand
point, and in public improvements along sanitary lines.
N. M. Boggess. A gifted and accomplished musician, Prof. N. M.
Boggess, of Fremont, formerly an instructor in the Fremont College,
was endowed by nature with musical talent of a high order, and as a
teacher won an enviable reputation. Since resigning his professional
position in the college he has been actively and prosperously engaged in
business as proprietor of a finely equipped music store. A son of Henry
Boggess, he was born, December 29, 1878, in Carrollton, Illinois, and in
the Prairie State was reared and educated.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 623
Born, reared and educated in Illinois, Henry Boggess served for four
years as^a soldier during the Civil war, being a member of Company I,
Ninety-First Illinois Infantry. He took an active part in several import
ant engagements, being wounded at Elizabethtown, Kentucky, and was
there captured by Morgan's raiders, and taken to prison, but was soon
exchanged. Returning to Illinois, he settled as a farmer in White Hall
where he is now living retired from active pursuits, although he has been
connected to some extent with the postoffice the past few years. He is
a republican in politics, and a member of the Grand Army of the Repub
lic. He married Ellen Ragan, a native of St. Louis, Missouri, and of
their five sons, three are living, as follows : John, a well known horse and
stock man of White Hall, Illinois; N. M., of this sketch; and Ernest,
engaged in farming near White Hall, Illinois. Both parents are con
sistent members of the Christian Church.
Educated in the public schools of his native county, and at Shurtleff
College, in Alton, Illinois, N. M. Boggess studied music in Chicago, under
the instruction of W. S. B. Matthews, a teacher of note. Coming to
Fremont, Nebraska, in 1906, he entered Fremont College in a professional
capacity, and taught music there for seven years, being dean of his depart
ment. In 1912, a year before leaving the college, Mr. Boggess estab
lished his music store, to the management of which he has devoted his
entire attention since 1913, the business being carried on under the name
of the Boggess Music Company. He has built up a large and constantly
increasing business, handling sheet music and musical instruments of all
kinds, his stock being verv complete. Until recently he had branch stores
in both Scribner and North Bend, this state, but has closed them. He
sells music and musical instruments in all parts of Nebraska and Illinois,
having especially large sales in Greene County, Illinois, where his parents
live. Mr. Boggess married, in 1907, Kathryn Holland, who was born in
Pennsylvania, and as a child came to Nebraska with her parents. Her
father died in this state, and her mother resides in Fremont. Mr. and
Mrs. Boggess have one child, Harold, a schoolboy. Mr. Boggess is a
republican in politics, and while a resident of White Hall, Illinois, served
as a member of the City Council, and as city clerk. Both Mr. and
Mrs. Boggess are active members of the Christian Church.
August L. Rebbe. The younger generation of the intelligent and
progressive agricultural element in Dodge County is capably and worthily
represented by August L. Rebbe, who is carrying on successful operations
in farming and stock raising in section 1, Maple Township, where he is
the owner of 360 acres of valuable and highly productive land. Mr. Rebbe
has acquired his success in his home community, for he is a native son
of Dodge County, born February 28, 1880, in Maple Township, his
father being Henry Rebbe, Sr., a sketch of whose career will be found
elsewhere in this work in the review of Henry Rebbe, Jr.
Mr. Rebbe is indebted to the district schools of Maple Township for
his educational training, and to his father's instruction for his training
along agricultural lines. He was reared to habits of industry, integrity
and probity, and remained under the guidance of his parents until the
time of his marriage. Following that event, he embarked upon a career
of his own, in the same county and township, where he has since been
successful in his operations as a general farmer and a breeder of pure
bred Herefords. His farm consists of 360 acres, upon which there are
improvements and equipment of the latest kind. Aside from his agri-

624 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
cultural interests, Mr. Rebbe is a stockholder in the Dodge County Bank
of Hooper and the First National Bank, also of that place. He is a
Mason and belongs to the Mystic Shrine and the Knights of Pythias.
In politics he votes independently.
January 29, 1897, Mr. Rebbe was united in marriage with Miss Ida
Carstens, who was born November 2, 1884, in Dodge County, Nebraska,
daughter of Henry Carstens, an early settler of Dodge County, and to
this union there have been born three children — Emma, Lloyd and Car
son — all of whom reside with their parents and are attending school.
John B. Carter. At present a retired citizen of Blair, John B. Carter
has been one of the industrious men of Washington County, linking his
name with all that is admirable in farming and wise and progressive in
individual life. While general farming occupied his chief interest during
the active years of his career, he was also widely known as a breeder of
cattle, and in the field of fruit raising gained a reputation that extended
far beyond the boundaries of his own state.
Mr. Carter was born in Adams County, Ohio, May 20, 1856, a son
of Jacob and Frances L. (Harris) Carter, who were married in Ohio,
the former being a native of Ohio and the iatter of Virginia. Coming to
Nebraska in 1856, with their three children, Charles, Mary and John B.,
they secured a pre-emption claim in Washington County, on which they
proved up, and obtained land at $1.25 per acre. Here they spent the rest
of their lives in farming, gaining well-merited success and the esteem
and respect of their neighbors, and reaching advanced years; the father
dying when seventy-five years of age and the mother when she had
attained the remarkable age of ninety-two years. They were faithful
members of the Baptist Church. Mr. Carter, a democrat in politics, was
one of the early supervisors of Washington County, and in his public life
as in his private affairs gave evidence of the possession of the sturdy
traits of character inherited from his English ancestry. There were ten
children in the family, of whom five are living: Charles, who is engaged
in farming in Washington County ; Mary, the wife of Z. T. Brunton, of
Blair ; John B. ; Dora, who is unmarried and resides at Blair ; and Julia,
the wife of William J. Lippincott, a farmer of Webster County, Nebraska.
John B. Carter was an infant when brought by his parents to Wash
ington County and here his education was acquired in the public schools.
As a youth he took up farming and was his father's assistant until he
was thirty-six years of age, at which time he began independent activities
on his own account. During the long period that he followed active farm
ing, Mr. Carter made many improvements on his property, which is still
known as one of the most modern as to equipment to be found in the
county. It includes a windmill, running water in the residence and other
modern advantages, and during his occupancy its general air of pros
perity attracted much favorable comment. While he sold his farm stuff
in 1914 and located in a pleasant home at Blair, Mr. Carter retains the
ownership of 440 acres of valuable land. For a number of years Mr. Car
ter raised Polled Angus cattle, having a large herd of these registered
animals and being considered an authority upon the subject of their
breeding. He also had two acres of orchards on his farm, where he raised
all kinds of fruit, and was a frequent exhibitor thereof at state fairs, etc.
Of such a high grade was his product that during one year it took seven
first prizes at the Nebraska State Fair, while in another year his apples
took three first and four second prizes at the Iowa State Fair.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 625
Mr. Carter was married November 24, 1892, to Miss Margaret Nettie
Stilts, who was born in Washington County, Nebraska, daughter of Ela
and Margaret (McClelland) Stilts, natives of Ohio, who came to Wash
ington County in 1856 and settled on a pre-emption claim near Fort Cal
houn and later near Blair, upon which both died, he at the age of sixty-
four and his wife at seventy years. They had eleven children, of whom
five are living: Ernest, a farmer of the community of Elbert, Colorado;
Philip, a fruit farmer of Corning, California ; Mrs. John B. Carter ; Eliza,
who is single and a resident of Corning, California ; and Harry, a fruit
farmer and stock raiser of that locality.
Mr. and Mrs. Carter are members of the Baptist Church. They
belong to the Order of the Eastern Star, in which Mrs. Carter has held
all the chairs and is past matron, and Mr. Carter is likewise a Knight
Templar Mason and a Shriner. In politics he is a democrat in national
affairs, although inclined to independent views. In 1920 they built a
modern home at the corner of West Front and Second Streets, the first
tile-brick house in Blair, and it stands on the land that Mr. Carter's
father pre-empted from the Government in 1857.
T. A. F. Nusz. Recognizing the fact that in the field of journalism
there exists plenty of room for men of brains and vim, T. A. F. Nusz
early chose for his calling the newspaper profession, with what degree
of success is shown in his present well-equipped establishment at Snyder,
where he publishes the Banner and carries on a prosperous business in
job printing. He was born at Frederick City, Maryland, in 1851, a son
of George M. and Susan M. Nusz.
George M. Nusz was a brick and stone mason by trade, and brought
his family to the West in 1856, locating at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where
he met an accidental death, his widow surviving him for some years. They
were the parents of ten children: Mary, the widow of H. F. Fitch, of
Cedar Rapids, Iowa ; F. T., a harnessmaker of Bay City, Michigan ;
George D., deceased ; Henry, who died in infancy ; T. A. F. ; Lucretia,
the wife of C. C. Bushnell, a carriagemaker of Marion, Iowa; Ida, who
is deceased; Myra and Harry, who died in infancy; and Ida, the wife of
George Elkle, a merchant tailor of Cedar Rapids. The parents were
members of the English Lutheran Church, and in politics Mr. Nusz, the
elder, was a republican. In his youth he received his education in the.
schools of Baltimore, Maryland, and received a congressional appointment
to West Point, but never took advantage of this opportunity.
T. A. F. Nusz was five years of age when he accompanied his parents
to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and his education was acquired in the public
schools of that city. When he was eighteen years of age, in 1869, he
entered the job printing office of the Weekly Times, at Cedar Rapids,
and during the next fifteen years followed printing as a trade, visiting
various points in Montreal, Canada, Vermont and New York. Return
ing to Cedar Rapids, he accepted the foremanship of the Daily Republi
can, with which he remained for some years, after which he went to Des
Moines to become superintendent of the state printing office, a position
which he retained eight years. In 1900 he came to Fremont,. Nebraska,
as superintendent of the Hammond Printing Company, remaining eleven
years, after which he came to Snyder, and in 1913 leased the office of the
Snyder Banner. Here he has since been engaged in publishing a reliable
and interesting weekly- newspaper, the circulation of which has increased
steadily and the value of which as an advertising medium is generally
conceded. A well-equipped job printing office is operated, where all

626 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
kinds of high-class work is done, and Mr. Nusz has found his journalistic
and business duties sufficient to demand his entire attention to the exclu
sion of outside interests.
In 1886 Mr. Nusz married Miss Alice Goodell, who was born in Illi
nois, and who bore her husband two children: George, who died in
infancy; and Stoddard, now a resident of Fremont, who spent twenty-
three months in the medical corps of the United States Army and saw
service on the Mexican border. Mr. Nusz was again married, at Des
Moines, Iowa, to Jessie Davis, a native of Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Nusz are
members of the Christian Church, the movements of which they have
supported liberally, while he maintains an independent stand as to
political matters.
J. H. C. Meyer. A thorough-going, enterprising farmer of Dodge
County, J. H. C. Meyer is proprietor of a well-kept and well-appointed
farm in Cuming Township, where he has been profitably engaged in his
independent calling for a number of years. He was born December 27,
1879, in Germany, a son of J. H. G. Meyer.
Born, reared and educated in Germany, J. H. G. Meyer immigrated
to this country in 1879, bringing with him his wife and family, which
then consisted of five children. Coming directly to Dodge County, this
state, he bought land that was still in its primitive wildness, and having
cleared and improved a good farm was actively and successfully engaged
in tilling the soil until 1910, when he moved to Scribner, Dodge County,
where he has since lived retired from active labor. He has never been
active in local affairs, but is independent in his political relations, and
is a worthy member of the Lutheran Church, to which his good wife, who
died in 1917, aged three score and ten years, also belonged. He married
Anna Lewis, and they became the parents of six children, as follows :
Anna, wife of Chris Sass, who is engaged in farming in Dodge County ;
Mary, wife of Frank Hartung, a Colorado farmer ; Sophia, wife of John
Hargens ; Gesina, wife of Fred Kitzrow, proprietor of a bakery at
Beemer ; J. H. C, of this sketch ; and George, a prosperous farmer of
Dodge County.
Educated in the district schools of Dodge County, J. H. C. Meyer was
well drilled in the various branches of agriculture when young, and find
ing the occupation not only pleasant, but profitable, began life for himself
as a farmer at the age of twenty-six years, and having met with desired
results in his operations as a farmer and stock raiser, realizes that he
made no mistake in selecting his future occupation.
Mr. Meyer married, in 1910, Amelia Klusendorf, who was born in
Wisconsin and came to Nebraska when an infant and was educated in the
Lutheran schools. They have two children, Florence and Mildred, both
attending the Lutheran schools. Mr. Meyer invariably cast his vote for
the best men and measures, regardless of party prejudices. Both Mr. and
Mrs. Meyer are Lutherans in religion, belonging to St. John's Church.
Eric G. Erickson. A well-known and highly esteemed farmer of
Dodge County, Eric G. Erickson, of Logan Township, materially assists
in maintaining the reputation of this section of Nebraska as a good agri
cultural region, and thoroughly identifies himself with whatever will
promote the highest interests of his community. A son of the late
Ambrose Erickson, he was born, in 1864, in Buffalo, New York.
Born in Sweden, Ambrose Erickson grew to manhood in his native
country, residing there until after his marriage with Carrie Chapman.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 627
Coming to America in 1863, he stopped a short time in Montreal, Canada,
after which he lived in Buffalo, New York, for a while. Having some
means of his own, he decided to take advantage of the opportunity for
buying cheaper lands in the West, and moved to Omaha, Nebraska, from
whence he freighted out to Dodge County, Nebraska Homesteading 160
acres of land in Logan Township he began the pioneer labor of redeem
ing a farm from its primitive wildness, and in addition to carrying on
general farming worked for a few years in the Union Pacific car shops
at Omaha. He was exceedingly prosperous as an agriculturist, continu
ing as such until his death, when but three score years of age. He first
lived in a dugout, and that was replaced by a substantial log structure,
which in time gave way to a good frame house, each advancing step taken
in improving the estate betokening the owner's prosperity.
Brought up on the parental homestead, Eric G. Erickson gleaned his
early knowledge of books in the rural schools, and as a youth clerked for
a short time in a mercantile establishment. Turning his attention to agri
culture, Mr. Erickson took up a homestead claim in Box Butte County,
Nebraska, where he tilled the soil for a few seasons. Returning to Dodge
County, he was employed as clerk in a general store at Hooper for seven
years. Subsequently, responding to the lure of the land, he took charge
of his present farm in Logan Township, and in its care has shown marked
ability and excellent judgment.
Mr. Erickson married in 1883, Christina Dahl, a daughter of Peter
and Justina Dahl, neither of whom are now living. Mr. and Mrs. Erick
son are worthy and active members of the Congregational Church. Mr.
Erickson is a decided democrat in his political views, and socially he is a
member of the Farmers' Union, at Hooper. Mr. and Mrs. Erickson
have no children.
O. B. Wegner. Not only is there an immense demand for a high
grade of ice cream by the retail dealers, restaurants and hotels, but from
careful housewives who are recognizing the fact that this delicious article
is not only the best, but also, everything considered, the most economic
dessert they can furnish their families. The latter, however, are even
more particular than other consumers in their requirements for a prod
uct that may be safely used as a part of the daily menu, and the manu
facturers of the commodity who are achieving the best results are those
who are putting on the market a pure article. Such a concern is the one
operated under the caption of The Arctic Cream Company of Fremont,
of which one of the energetic officials is O. B. Wegner, a veteran of the
Great war, and one of the live, young business men of Fremont.
O. B. Wegner was born at Fremont on February 17, 1891, a son of
Rev. Herman and Mary (Fry) Wegner, natives of Germany and Illinois,
respectively. Rev. Mr. Wegner was only a lad of eight or nine years of
age when he was brought to the United States, and his parents became
early settlers of Nebraska. He became a minister of the German
Lutheran Church and has had pastorates in Saunders County and Wash
ington County, Nebraska, where he remained for five years, and at Fre
mont, where he was located for some time, and he is now in charge of a
church of his denomination at Loveland, Colorado. Of his seven chil
dren, six are living, but O. B. Wegner is the only one of them who is a
resident of Fremont. Rev. Mr. Wegner is a strong republican.
O. B. Wegner received his educational training in the grade and
high schools of Omaha, Nebraska, and after completing his schooldays,
engaged with the Toledo Scale Company at Omaha, and remained with

628 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
this concern in that city, and also at Kansas City, Missouri, Minneapolis,
Minnesota, and Duluth, Minnesota. Mr. Wegner is one of the young men
of the country who entered the United States service as a member of the
Seventy-Ninth Field Artillery, Seventh Division, attached to the medi
cal department, and was in France for six months, but in the service for
two years. Mr. Wegner received his discharge on February 22, 1919.
Prior to going into the army, Mr. Wegner had been interested in
what was then known as the Fremont Ice Cream Company. In 1918,
while he was away, the company bought another plant at Sioux City,
Iowa, and re-organized under the present name of The Arctic Cream
Company, with a capital of $100,000. This company manufactures ice
cream exclusively, and ships the product to different parts of Nebraska,
South Dakota and Iowa, in addition to doing an immense trade locally.
Mr. Wegner resumed his connections with this company upon his return
from the war, and is devoting all of his time to his duties with rela
tion to it.
In September, 1918, Mr. Wegner was married to Allie Phillips, born
near Fremont, a daughter of Ezra and Louise Phillips.
In former years Mr. Phillips was extensively engaged in farming in
Dodge County, but is now retired and living at Fremont. Mrs. Wegner
is a member of the Christian Church. Fremont Lodge No. 514, Benevo
lent and Protective Order of Elks, holds the membership of Mr. Wegner
as does the Fremont Rotary Club. Like his excellent father, Mr. Wegner
is a republican.
J. Howard Heine. A man of keen judgment, clear-headed and far-
sighted, J. Howard Heine, of Fremont, has had a varied experience in
business, and as vice president of the Farmers and Merchants National
Bank of Fremont is actively identified with the management of one of
the substantial financial institutions of Dodge County. A son of the late
John F. Heine, he was born July 20, 1873, in Philadelphia, Pennsyl
vania, of German and Scotch ancestry.
Born in Germany, June 2, 1843, John F. Heine came to America with
his parents when about four years of age, settling in Pennsylvania, near
Reading, where he followed his trade of an iron moulder. Coming to
Nebraska, he located at Hooper, Dodge County, on July 10, 1882, and
subsequently was engaged in the hardware and implement business with
his brother, George F. Heine, until his death, which occurred May 24,
1919. A sound republican in politics, he held some of the local offices.
During the last year of the Civil war he served in Company D, One Hun
dred and Ninety-Eighth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, taking an
active part in several engagements, one of the most important having
been the battle at Five Forks, and was afterwards a. prominent member
of the Grand Army of the Republic, and a delegate to several national
conventions of the organization. His wife, whose maiden name was
Sarah J. Bush, was a life-long resident of Pennsylvania, her birth occur
ring there September 12, 1850, and her death on September 16, 1881.
She was a daughter of Mathew and Julia A. Bush, also natives of Penn
sylvania. Of the six children born to Mr. and Mrs. Heine, five are
living, as follows : George W., in the hardware business at Hooper ; Laura
G, wife of J. A. Hunker, lives on a ranch near Howell, South Dakota;
J. Howard; Ada I., of Hooper; and Julia F., also of Hooper, Nebraska.
The mother was a member of the Lutheran Church, and the father was
a Catholic in religion.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 629
At the age of seventeen years, having completed his studies in the
public schools of Philadelphia and Hooper, Nebraska, J. Howard Heine
began his business life as a clerk in his father's hardware store. He
subsequently accepted a position as cashier of the First National Bank
of Hooper, and retained it until January, 1912. Going then to Twin
Falls, Idaho, he was engaged in the orchard business a short time, and
later served in the Twin Falls Courthouse as deputy county auditor, and
then as deputy treasurer. In 1914, continuing in that city, Mr. Heine
was elected county treasurer, and served in that capacity a year. Resign
ing the position, he returned to Hooper, and resumed his connection with
the First National Bank and held its cashiership two years. Mr. Heine
gave up that position to become cashier of the Farmers and Merchants
Bank- of Fremont, and on January 1, 1919, was elected vice president
of the same institution, and has since, as vice president and cashier, had
charge of the bank and its extensive financial affairs. That the bank's
business has nearly doubled in quantity and value since Mr. Heine
assumed its charge is proof of his ability, fidelity and wise judgment.
Mr. Heine married, September 6, 1897, Julia Farrell, a native of
Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, and they are the parents of three chil
dren, namely: Zita, head bookkeeper in the Farmers and Merchants
National Bank of Fremont ; Comer, a senior in the Fremont High School ;
and Phyllis, a sophomore in the same school. A republican in politics,
Mr. Heine served for two years on the Republican State Central Com
mittee, and while living in Hooper held all of the offices within the gift
of his follow townsmen. While there he organized the Hooper Stock
Show Company, the Hooper Telephone Company, and the Hooper Ice
Company. Fraternally Mr. Heine is a member of Fremont Lodge No.
514, Benovelent and Projective Order of Elks, and of the Knights of
Columbus, which he has served as district deputy. Religiously he belongs
to the Catholic Church.
Henry A. Haun has been a resident of Dodge County from the time
of his birth, which here occurred in the year 1882, and here he has become
not only a successful agriculturist but has also achieved no little promi
nence as a breeder and grower of fine Belgian draft horses and. the high
est type of shorthorn cattle. His farm comprises 400 acres, is improved
with good buildings of modern type, is supplied with the best of equip
ment and accessories for the furtherance of the general activities of, the
place, and is one of the attractive rural estates in section 2, Cotterell
Township. Mr. Haun is indebted to the public schools of Dodge County
and the State Normal School at Fremont for his youthful education and
has been independently engaged in farm enterprise since he attained to his
legal majority. He is one of the substantial and popular citizens of
Cotterell Township, where he has served as a member of the school board
of district No. 30, his political allegiance being given to the democratic
party in national affairs but in local matters his vote being cast in support
of men and measures meeting the approval of his judgment, irrespective
of strict partisan lines. He and his wife are communicants of the Catho
lic Church at Ridgeley, in which village Mrs. Haun taught school prior
to her marriage. Mr, Haun is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus.
In 1903 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Haun to Miss Nellie
O'Connor, who likewise was born and reared in Dodge County, and who
is a daughter of Matthew O'Connor. Mr. and Mrs. Haun have seven
children: Helen, Floyd, Kermit J., Charlotte, Marion, Katherine and
Regina. All except the two youngest of the children are attending school.

630 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
John Haun, father of him whose name initiates this sketch, was one
of the pioneer homesteaders in Dodge County, of whom a complete
sketch and portrait are found on other pages of this work. He and his
sons are now engaged in breeding full-blood spotted Poland-China hogs.
Grace Ballard. A wide-awake, brainy woman, full of vim and
energy, Grace Ballard, of Blair, a successful lawyer, now serving as
county attorney of Washington County, gained an almost nation-wide
reputation as one of the most enthusiastic and valuable workers in the
cause of equal suffrage, of which she is an ardent champion. A native
of Blair, she was born August 12, 1877, a daughter of the late Martin
Ballard. Born in Kentucky, Martin Ballard received excellent educational
advantages, and as a young man was admitted to the bar. Coming to
Nebraska in 1869, practiced law in Blair until 1885, being quite success
ful. His health failing, he went to Chadron, Nebraska, hoping to recuper
ate, and there continued his legal work until his death, in 1889. While
living in Blair, he served as county judge, and at the time of his death
was county attorney of Dawes County. A lawyer of much prominence,
he was financially successful, and for a number of years was in partner
ship with W. C. Walton, a well-known and popular attorney. In his
political relations, he was a republican, and much interested in public
affairs. Martin Ballard married, in Millersburg, Iowa, Sarah D. Strong, who
was born in Ohio four score years ago, and is now a resident of Blair,
having a pleasant little home on the edge of the city. She is a woman of
culture, and a worthy member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Of
the four children born into her home, three are living, namely : A. N.,
engaged in farming at Coleman, South Dakota ; Harriet N., profitably
engaged in the millinery business at Wichita, Kansas ; and Grace, of
whom we write.
After her graduation from the Blair High School, Miss Grace Ballard
continued her studies at the Nebraska State University, in Lincoln, and
at the age of eighteen years began to read law, her great ambition having
been to enter the legal profession. In September, 1911, Miss Ballard
entered the law department of the University of Nebraska, and at the
same time secured a position with the Lincoln Safety Deposit Company,
earning a salary with which she paid her college expenses. A brilliant
student, she made an excellent record in her class work, and in 1914 was
admitted to the bar.
An active supporter of equal suffrage, Miss Ballard went to Pennsyl
vania in the spring of 1915, and there championed the cause with good
effect. In the spring of 1914 she spent four months similarly engaged
in Iowa, and in January, February and March of the following year
worked in Nebraska, having been one of the prominent and popular sup
porters of the cause in the state.
In May, 1918, Miss Ballard opened a law office in Blair, and in
August, of that year, filed a petition for county attorney, and was sub
sequently elected by a majority of 200, an exceedingly large majority for
the county. She has met with almost unprecedented success, both as a
lawyer, and in her official capacity as county attorney. In 1913 she had
the honor of being elected president of her class in the law school, being
the first woman ever elected to that position, and she also has the dis
tinction of being one of the very few women in the United States to
serve as county attorney.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 631
Henry W. Rogers. Clearly defined purpose and consecutive effort
in the affairs of life will inevitably result in the attaining of a due measure
of success, but in following out the career of one who has attained suc
cess by his own efforts there comes into view the intrinsic individuality
which made such accomplishment possible, and thus there is kindled a
feeling of respect and admiration. The qualities which have made
Mr. Rogers one of the prominent and successful men of Fremont have
also brought him the esteem of his fellow townsmen, for his career has
been one of well-directed energy, strong determination and honorable
methods. Henry W. Rogers is a native of the community now honored by his
citizenship, for he was born in Fremont on May 10, 1872. He is the
son of Henry W. and Catherine D. (Basler) Rogers. Henry W. Rogers,
Sr., was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1840, and his death
occurred on November 30, 1916. He learned the vocation of a steam
engineer and for a number of years ran an engine on the Philadelphia
& Reading Railroad. Later he joined the Philadelphia fire department
and he ran the first fire steamer in that department. In 1868 he came
to Dodge County, Nebraska, and settled on Maple Creek, where he home
steaded a farm, on which he lived for about five years. He then moved
to Fremont and was here employed for a time in setting up machinery
for a harvester company, and was afterwards employed by May Brothers,
wholesale grocers, for a number of years His last employment was with
the Fremont Water Company, with whom he remained until the infirmi
ties of advancing years compelled his retirement from active affairs.
Catherine D. Basler was born on a steamer on the Atlantic Ocean while
her parents were emigrating from Germany to the United States in 1846,
and her death occurred at Fremont in December, 1904. Her marriage
to Henry W. Rogers occurred in Philadelphia. Her father, Jacob Basler,
was but a young man when he came from Germany with his young wife
and they settled in Pennsylvania. To Henry W. and Catherine D. Rogers
were born six children, namely : Jacob, who is employed as engineer by
May Brothers, at Fremont; Emma is the wife of Arthur Gwynn, a
wealthy ranchman living near Lucerne, Wyoming ; Henry W. ; Katie is
the wife of Charles Green, who runs the Green House at Fremont; Lucy
is the wife of Fred Lanz, of Columbus, Nebraska, an engineer on the
Union Pacific Railroad, and a veteran of the United States army, having
served in the Philippines and was captain of a supply company in the
army during the World war; Etta is the wife of Henry Yenney, a car
repairer on the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad at Fremont. The
parents of these children were earnest members of the Lutheran Church
and in politics the father was a democrat.
Henry W. Rogers, Jr., received his educational training in the Fre
mont public schools and the Fremont Normal School. His first employ
ment was as a newspaper carrier, by which means he was able to pay his
way through the normal school. He then went to work for the Omaha
Tent and Awning Company, with whom he remained for twelve years,
during which time, by faithful and conscientious work, he rose from a
modest position to that of manager of the Lincoln office, where he was
stationed for three years. He then traveled in the interests of this com
pany for eight years, and then for two months he served as assistant
superintendent of the George B. Carpenter Company, of Chicago, the
largest awning company in the world. In 1904 Mr. Rogers came to Fre
mont and organized the Rogers Tent and Awning Company, for the
manufacture of tents, awnings and canvas covers of every description.

632 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
He has been successful in this enterprise even beyond his expectations
and now his company is the second largest of its kind in the State of
Nebraska, their products being shipped throughout Nebraska, Kansas,
Wyoming and the Dakotas. Mr. Rogers has gained a wide reputation
because of the high quality of his products and during the past nine years
he has supplied and handled the tents for the National Power Tractor
Shows, which are exhibited in nine different states.
Fraternally Mr. Rogers is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted
Masons, in which he has attained to the thirty-second degree of the Scot
tish Rite, and to the Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic
Shrine and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, being a past noble
grand in the latter order. In his political faith he is a democrat. He
takes a keen interest in every movement for the advancement of the
community, along material, civic or moral lines, and, because of his gener
ous public spirit and his excellent personal qualities of character, he is
held in deservedly high repute among his fellow citizens.
Byron B. Hauser, M. D. Medical science has never been stationary,
but from the earliest days, advances have been made, some of which
revolutionize existing theories. Specializing observation on disease have
worked marvelous changes in treatment ; tireless theoretic experiments
have proven the truth of contentions, and only after results have been
demonstrated beyond reasonable doubt, are discoveries given to the pub
lic. In the work of the past quarter of a century are to be noticed such
practical advances as the development of bacteriology, the particularly
successful efforts to wipe out tuberculosis, bubonic plague, cholera,
diphtheria, typhoid, spinal meningitis and similar maladies, while great
control has been gained over cancer and miracles performed in connection
with the restoration of lost or diseased tissue during the late war. This
marvelous progress has not come naturally, but is the outcome of the
tireless, aggressive and self-sacrificing work of the men who have devoted
themselves to the profession of medicine. One of these men whose names
will always be connected with this most honored of all callings, especially
in Dodge County, is Dr. Byron B. Hauser, of Hooper.
Doctor Hauser was born December 29, 1871, at Yadkinville, North
Carolina, a son of Theophilus C. and Martha L. (Martin) Hauser, the
former of whom was a farmer, merchant and operator of flour mills at
Yadkinville. His death occurred in 1887 when he was seventy-seven
years old, and his wife passed away in 1904 when she was sixty-seven.
Of their children, Sidney L. died at the age of thirty-seven ; five survive :
Walter C. is a farmer of Yadkinville ; William A. is a farmer of Fuller-
ton, North Dakota; Charles M., who is a banker of High Point, North
Carolina; Sallie is the wife of Robert Dalton, of Winston-Salem, North
Carolina, a hardware merchant; and Doctor Byron B., whose name heads
this review. Doctor Hauser's father had by a previous marriage the
following children: John H., who is a farmer of Yadkinville; Martha,
who is the widow of Virgil Wilson, of Pfafftown, North Carolina; and
Amelia, who is the widow of Dr. Henry Wilson, of Fremont, Nebraska.
A man of considerable prominence, T. C. Hauser was elected to the State
Assembly of North Carolina for one term on the democratic ticket. The
mother of Doctor Hauser was a Baptist, but his father did not belong
to any religious organization.
Doctor Hauser attended the public schools of Yadkinville and Guil
ford College, and then secured his medical education at the College of
Physicians and Surgeons at Baltimore, Maryland, from which he was

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 633
graduated in 1898. For the subsequent year Doctor Hauser was engaged
in a general practice at Booneville, North Carolina, and then spent a year
at Yadkinville, North Carolina, but in 1900 came west to Nebraska and
located permanently at Hooper, where he has since been engaged in
practice, and has built up a large and profitable connection.
In 1896 Doctor Hauser was married to Rose E. Vestal, born in North
Carolina, and they became the parents of three children, namely: Byron
Terrell, who is now attending Columbia University, was in the United
States service during the late war, being trained at base hospital No. 49,
Nebraska, and was sent overseas with that contingent and served until
after the armistice was signed; Herbert S., who was also in the service,
in the naval training department of the University of Nebraska, is now
operating a ranch at Grant, Nebraska ; and George, who is with his brother
on the ranch at Grant.
Doctor Hauser has long been an enthusiastic member of the Dodge
County Medical Association, and is now serving as its president. He also
belongs to the state and national medical associations, and the Elkhorn
Medical Association. Both he and Mrs. Hauser are members of the
Society of Friends. In politics he is a democrat. Fraternally he belongs
to the Knighfs of Pythias, Odd Fellows, Maccabees, Woodmen of the
World and Modern Woodmen of America. From the beginning ,of his
professional career Doctor Hauser has lived up to the highest ethics of
his calling, and has won and retains the confidence of the public in his
skill, dependability and good judgment, and these qualities are deeply
appreciated as is shown by his increasing practice and the place accorded
him in his community.
Henry Witt. One of the good country homes of Dodge County is in
section 36 of Pebble Township, and its owner is also one of the high
class progressive farmers of the locality, Henry Witt. His home is in a
rather historic locality, at the site of what is still known by the old timers
as the Town of Pebble, which was platted even before the Town of
Scribner. Henry Witt is a son of that sterling pioneer, the late John H. Witt,
whose life story has been told on other pages. Henry Witt was born in
Dodge County on the old homestead in 1871, and came to manhood with
a good education in the local schools, and with a practical training as a
farmer. He lived at home until he was twenty-five, and then began
farming on his own account. Three years later he joined his brother
John in the operation of the Pebble Roller Mills. They were associated
in that milling enterprise for ten years and then dissolved partnership,
he returning to the farm while his brother is now a miller at Lee|
Nebraska. Henry Witt is proprietor of 120 acres where he lives and still
handles the greater share of the work himself. He keeps good live stock
and feeds practically all his crops on the place. He is a director in the
Farmers Telephone Exchange and has affiliated himself with the various
progressive organizations of the county. He served six years on the
local school board, is an independent voter in politics and is affiliated
with the Knights of the Maccabees.
In 1905 he married Miss Emma Ruff, who was born and reared in
Dodge County where her father, Charles Ruff, a native of Illinois, was
an early settler. Mr. and Mrs. Witt have five children: Sophie, John
Henry, Elsie, Willis and Louise.
Vol. II— 12

634 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Arthur K. Dame. It is well within the province of this publication
to accord specific recognition to those who stand as representative figures
in the various lines of professional activity in Dodge and Washington
counties, and in even a cursory survey it becomes evident that Arthur
K. Dame is in secure vantage place as one of the leading members of the
bar of Dodge County, with residence and professional headquarters at
Fremont, the judicial center of the county.
A scion of a family that was founded in New England in the Colonial
period of our national history, Mr. Dame was born at Orford, New
Hampshire, October 8, 1860. He is a son of Henry A. and Harriet F.
(Moulton) Dame, the former of whom likewise was born at Orford, and
the latter of whom was born at Lyman, that state, though their marriage
was solemnized at Newbury, Vermont, their residence in the old Green
Mountain state having been of comparatively brief duration. In his
native town in New Hampshire Henry A. Dame died in 1879 at the age
of fifty-one years, and his venerable widow now resides in the home of
her son, Arthur K. of this review, she having celebrated in 1919 the
eighty-first anniversary of her birth and being revered by all who have
come within the compass of her gentle and gracious influence. Arthur
K. is the elder of two children, and William M., who is in the railway
mail service, resides in the City of Lincoln, this state. Henry A. Dame
was a democrat in his political proclivities and was actively engaged in
agricultural and live stock industry during virtually his entire active
career. He served in various township offices and his religious faith was
that qf the Congregational Church. He was a son of Theodore and Lucy
(Stebbins) Dame, the former of whom was born on virtually the same
spot in which the son, Henry A., and the grandson, Arthur K, were
born — in fact that shows that the ancestral homestead in Orford, New
Hampshire, early came into the possession of the family. The fine old
residence, erected in 1817 and of the beautiful Colonial type, is a spacious
dwelling, with nine fireplaces, and is still in excellent preservation. Theo
dore Dame passed his entire life in New Hampshire, and he served either
as sheriff or deputy sheriff of his county for more than forty years. His
father, Theodore Dame, Sr., was born near Portsmouth, New Hampshire,
in 1750, and his death occurred in 1799. He was one of those who took
part in General Montgomery's historic expedition against Quebec in the
Revolutionary period, and he took part also in the battles of Benning
ton and Saratoga.
Rinaldo and Harriet (Kent) Moulton, maternal grandparents of
Arthur K. Dame of this review, likewise were natives of New Hamp
shire, where the former died in 1895, his widow having long survived
him and having been a resident of Michigan at the time of her demise,
in 1895. The lineage of the Dame family is traced back to staunch
English origin, and the first American representatives, headed by Deacon
John Dame, settled at Dover, New Hampshire, in 1627. The Moulton
family also is of English origin, and Noah Moulton, Jr., great-great
grandfather of Arthur K. Dame, served as a patriot soldier in the War
of the Revolution, in which he took part in the expedition against Que
bec, his father, Noah, Sr., having been killed while serving in this expedi
tion in the attack on Quebec. Col. Jacob Kent, Capt. Timothy Barron,
Ensign Richard Peabody and John Tillotson were other Revolutionary
patriots with whom Arthur K. Dame can claim family kinship.
Mr. Dame gained his early education in the schools of his native
state, and in 1882 he was graduated in historic old Dartmouth College,
with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Thereafter he studied law in the

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 635
office of the firm of Keating & Dickerman, of Muskegon, Michigan, and
in 1885 he was admitted to the bar of that state. For two years there
after he was engaged in practice at Menominee, Michigan, and he then,
in November, 1887, came to Fremont, Nebraska, where he has since con
tinued in the active practice of his profession and where he is now one
of the veteran members of the Dodge County bar. He is a democrat in
politics, and he is now serving his second term as municipal police judge
of Fremont. Prior to his assuming this judicial office he had served
twenty-three consecutive years as justice of the peace. In his law prac
tice he now gives his attention almost exclusively to probate business,
and he has been called upon to act as attorney for a number of large and
important estates in this section of Nebraska. With a broad and accurate
knowledge of the science of jurisprudence, Judge Dame has contributed
three valuable works to the literature of his profession. He is author
of a work entitled "Probate and Administration," which was published
in 1902, to which he added a supplement in 1909, the work meeting with
such demand that in 1915 he issued a second edition, which has had still
larger sale and which is considered a standard in the province of law
which it exploits with all of authority and conciseness. In 1918 Judge
Dame published another valuable work, entitled "Nebraska Inferior
Court Practice," and this, too, is meeting with most favorable reception on
the part of members of the bar of the state.
For fully a quarter of a century Judge Dame has maintained active
affiliation with the Nebraska state organization of the Society of the
Sons of the American Revolution, for membership in which no citizens
of the state can claim greater eligibility. He is affiliated also- with the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, including the Encampment, and the
Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Improved Order of Red
Men. Though a man of engaging social qualities, he has remained a
bachelor, a fact that does not in the least militate against his popularity
in the county that has long represented his home.
Frank Dolezal has been, save for an interval of six months passed
in the State of Utah, continuously engaged in the practice of law at
Fremont, judicial center of Dodge County, since the year 1881, and his
high reputation in his chosen profession has so far transcended local
limitation as to give him secure vantage-ground as one of the essentially
representative members of the bar of the state. His success and prestige
are the more pleasing to note by reason of the fact that he has been a
resident of the vital West since his boyhood days and is a member of a
sterling pioneer family of the State of Iowa. He controls a large and
important law practice and has appeared in much notable litigation in the
various courts of Nebraska, including the supreme court of the state and
extending also into the federal courts.
Mr. Dolezal was born in Bohemia, January 16, 1858, and is the only
child of John and Dorotha (Kubik) Dolezal, the latter of whom died in
his childhood. In 1867 John Dolezal, accompanied by his son, Frank,
then a lad of about nine years, immigrated to America and became a
pioneer settler in Jones County, Iowa, whence he later removed to Tama
County, that state, where he won substantial prosperity through his
resourceful activities as a farmer and where he continued to reside until
his death, at an advanced age. He contracted a second marriage after
coming to the United States, and his second wife lives in Tama County,
Iowa. He is survived by three children: Fannie is the wife of Joseph
Hansus, a farmer in Tama County, Iowa; Bertha resides in the City of

636 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Cedar Rapids, that state ; and Lester remains on the old homestead farm
in Tama County. The parents were Catholic people and the father was
a stanch and well fortified advocate of the principles of the republican
party, with which he continued active affiliation until his death.
Frank Dolezal is indebted to the public schools of Iowa for his early
educational discipline, and in 1879 he completed his higher course of
study in the Southern Iowa Normal Institute, at Bloomfield. On January
1st of the following year he began reading law in the office and under
the effective preceptorship of the firm of Stivers & Bradshaw, at Toledo,
Iowa, and his ambition was marked by the resolute purpose that enabled
him to make rapid progress in his absorption and assimilation of the
science of jurisprudence, with the result that he secured admission to the
Iowa bar in December, 1880. In the following January he engaged in
the practice of his profession at Fremont, Nebraska, where he became
associated with Judge Joseph E. Frick, who had been a fellow student of
law at Toledo, Iowa, but who had completed his course of technical
study one year earlier than Mr. Dolezal. The firm of Frick & Dolezal
built up a fine law business in Dodge County, and the professional
alliance continued fifteen years. The two partners then removed to Salt
Lake City, Utah, where the partnership was dissolved about six months
later. Judge Frick remaining in that state and later becoming a member
of its supreme court. Mr. Dolezal returned forthwith to Fremont, in
1897, and here he has continued in successful independent practice dur
ing the intervening years. He has been local attorney for the Union
Pacific Railroad for thirty-five years, and his general clientage has long
been of important and representative character. He is a stanch republi
can and though he has taken lively interest in party affairs he has sought
no political office, virtually the only public office which he has consented
to fill having been that of city attorney of Fremont. He is unswerving
in his devotion to the work of his profession, and to this fact has been in
large measure due the high reputation he has achieved therein. He is
affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, and is past chancellor of the Fre
mont Lodge of Knights of Pythias.
The year 1885 recorded the marriage of Mr. Dolezal to Miss Catherine
Feidler, who likewise is a native of Bohemia, and immigrated directly to
Nebraska. They have three children : Frank is a locomotive fireman on
the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad and resides at Fremont; Bessie is
the wife of Henry Ptacek, who is engaged in the cigar business in the
City of Denver, Colorado ; and Miss Elsie remains at the parental .home.
The women members of the family are communicants of the Catholic
Church. Louis J. Rebbe. Reared in an agricultural community and atmos
phere, and having all his early training along the lines of farming,
Louis J. Rebbe adopted the tilling of the soil as his vocation when he
entered upon his independent career. However, the development of his
abilities and the opening up before him of opportunities for success along
other lines of endeavor, have caused him to branch out into business
ventures, in which he has met with the same measure of prosperity that
has attended his activities in farming and stock raising.
Mr. Rebbe is one of the native sons of Dodge County, having been
born here December 20, 1873, a son of Henry Rebbe, Sr., a review
of whose career will be found elsewhere in this work in the sketch of
Henry Rebbe, Jr. Louis J. Rebbe acquired a public school education
and became his father's associate in his farming operations, remaining

MR. AND MRS. LOUIS j. REBBE

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES - 637
with his parents until the father passed away. At his death he succeeded
to a share of the home property, upon which he has made extensive and
modern improvements, making it one of the valuable properties of the
locality devoted to the industries of general farming and the raising of a
good grade of live stock. As before noted, Mr. Rebbe has not confined
his activities to the work of the husbandman, for business affaits know
him as a shrewd, far-sighted man of affairs, capable of holding his own
with others in competition, yet unquestionably honorable in all his deal
ings. He is a stockholder and vice president in the Farmers State Bank
of Ames; and his interests also include the holding of stock in the
Farmers Co-operative Store at Fremont, the Lion Bonding Company of
Omaha, and the Superior Cement Company of Superior, Nebraska.
In 1909 Mr. Rebbe married Miss Augusta Knoell, who was born in
Dodge County, Nebraska, and to this union there have been born five
children : Daisy, Velma, Katherine, Louise, who died in infancy, and
Henry. Mr. and Mrs. Rebbe are consisterit members of the Lutheran
Church, which they attend at Fremont. Fraternally Mr. Rebbe is iden
tified with the Knights of Pythias, while in political matters he takes an
independent position.
Frederic W. Button, judge of the District Court of Dodge County,
was a youth when he came with his parents to Nebraska, where he com
pleted his higher academic education and where also he prepared himself
for the legal profession, as a representative member of which he was
engaged in active practice in the City of Fremont until his elevation to
the bench of the District Court.
Judge Button was born in Grundy County, Illinois, and is a son of
Charles J. and Elizabeth (Williams) Button, the former of whom was
born in Lake County, Ohio, and the latter in the fine old seaport town of
Swansea, Glamorganshire, Wales, she having been a girl of twelve years
at the time when her parents established their home in Illinois, and her
husband likewise having been a member of a pioneer family of that
state. Charles J. Button continued his residence in Illinois until 1888,
when he came with his family to Nebraska and established his home at
Hastings, the judicial center of Adams County. He purchased a farm
in that county, but continued to maintain his residence at Hastings until
the time of his death, he having retired from active business even prior
to coming to Nebraska and having achieved substantial prosperity through
well directed industrial and business enterprise. He was a republican in
politics and was influential in community affairs in Adams County,
where he served a number of years as a member of the Board of County
Commissioners. His religious faith was that of the Protestant Epis
copal Church and his wife held membership in the Methodist Episcopal
Church. Of the two children Judge Button, of this review, is the elder ;
William F., the younger son, received the advantages of Hastings College,
became a successful member of the bar of Adams County, where he
served nine years as judge of the County Court, and he was one of the
honored and influential citizens of Hastings at the time of his death,
in 1917. Judge Frederic W. Button acquired his early education in the public
schools of his native state and after the removal of the family to
Nebraska he attended Hastings College and also Fremont College, in
which latter he completed both classical and scientific course and in
which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1896. Thereafter,
in consonance with his ambition and well formulated plans, he began

638 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
reading law in the office of a representative member of the Hastings
bar, and later he continued his studies in the law department of the
State University of Colorado. He was admitted to the bar of Nebraska
in 1893, and in 1898 he established himself in practice at Fremont, where
he has since maintained his home and where he built up a substantial ana ¦
representative law business. Prior to engaging in the practice of law he
had served two years as superintendent of the public schools of Harting-
ton, Cedar County, and after his retirement from this position he was
associated with Judge Hollenbeck in the practice of law for two years.
He then, upon the election of Judge Hollenbeck to chief justice of the
Supreme Court of the state, succeeded the latter upon the bench of the
District Court at Fremont, his appointment to this office having been
made by Governor Morehead in January, 1915, and the following year
recorded his election to the office with no opposing candidate. Well
fortified in the science of jurisprudence and by a judicial cast of mind,
Judge Button has given a signally effective administration on the bench,
and few of his decisions have met with reversal by courts of higher
jurisdiction. He had been elected to a second term in the office of
county attorney, but resigned this office to accept appointment to the
bench on which he is now serving. His judicial district comprises the
counties of Dodge, Colfax, Platte, Merrick, Nance and Boone, in each
of which he holds court. He is a stanch advocate of the basic principles
of the democratic party, and his advancement and success have been
won entirely through his own efforts, the while he has so directed his
course as to merit and receive the unqualified confidence and respect of
his fellow men. The judge is now the only representative of the imme
diate family in Nebraska, and in fact, he has no close kinsfolk. He has
become the owner of a considerable amount of real estate in Fremont,
including his modern and attractive residence.
The year 1895 recorded the marriage of Judge Button to Miss Lillie
Ruegg, who was born in the City of Milwaukee and who was a popular
piano instructor in the ' musical department of Fremont College at the
time her future husband was a student in that institution. She is still
active and is a decided success as a pianist and soloist. Mrs. Button
has made a close study of ornithology and has become specially adept
in discerning and interpreting the various bird songs and calls. She has
achieved no little reputation in this connection and is actively identified
with the Nebraska Ornithological Society, the Audubon Society in the
City of Omaha and the Wilson Ornithological Society, a national insti
tution. Judge and Mrs. Button have no children. Their home is known
for its gracious hospitality and is a center of much representative social
activity, with Mrs. Button as its gracious and popular chatelaine.
Rutherford H. Haverfield owns and conducts one of the leading
general merchandise stores in the vital little City of North Bend, Dodge
County, and has been a resident of this county from the time of his birth.
His parents here established their home within the decade following
the admission of the state to the Union, and thus he can claim a due
measure of inherited pioneer distinction.
On his father's old homestead farm near North Bend, this county,
Rutherford H. Haverfield was born on May 23, 1878, a son of Wilson
and Hannah (Griffith) Haverfield, the former of whom was born in
Harrison County, Ohio, April 2, 1842, and the latter of whom was born
in the State of Indiana in the same year, she having passed the closing
years of her life at North Bend, where she died March 18, 1903, at the

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 639
age of sixty-one years. Prior to coming to Nebraska Wilson Haver
field had been engage* in farm enterprise in Mercer County, Illinois,
whence he came to Dodge County, Nebraska, in 1876. He purchased
land not far distant from North Bend, and there became a prosperous
agriculturist and stock grower. He erected on his farm a large house,
with accommodations far superior to the average house of the locality
and period, and in this hospitable home semi-hotel entertainment was
given to many travelers who passed through the county. Wilson Haver
field remained on his farm until March, 1881, when he removed to
North Bend. Here he conducted a restaurant for a time and later a
hotel, which he made a popular place of entertainment of the traveling
public. As a civil engineer of much practical ability he served twenty-
nine years as city engineer of North Bend, where he still maintains his
home, as one of the sterling pioneer citizens of Dodge County. He is a
republican in politics and his wife was a devoted member of the Chris
tian Church. Of their seven children the eldest is Charles Elliott, a
resident of North Bend ; Kitty Louise remains with her father ; James
Edward, a painter by vocation, now resides in the City of New Orleans ;
Lena is the wife of Frederick Herf urth, a contractor engaged in business
at Fremont, judicial center of Dodge County; Ruthjerford H., of this
sketch, was the next in order of birth; Effie May is the wife of Ernest
Hahn, county treasurer of Dodge Countv, at Fremont ; and Floyd S. died
October 13, 1912, at North Bend.
Rutherford H. Haverfield acquired his youthful education in the
public schools of North Bend, where also he gained his initial experi
ence in practical merchandising. In 1900 he opened a general store at
Webster, Dodge County, where he continued the enterprise successfully
until 1908, when he sold the stock and business and found a broader field
of endeavor by opening his present well equipped general store at North
Bend, where he has built up a substantial and profitable enterprise and
is recognized as one of the progressive and representative business men
of the town. His political allegiance is given to the republican party
and he is serving at the present time as a member of the Board of
Education of North Bend. He served as captain of the North Bend
Home Guards, and is affiliated with the Woodmen of the World and
the Modern Woodmen of America, in which latter he is banker of the
local camp. Both he and his wife hold membership in the Christian
Church. The year 1901 recorded the marriage of Mr. Haverfield to Miss Bertha
M. McClure, of Creston, Iowa, and they have six children — Lorraine,
Bernice, Wilson, Donald, Stanley and Audrey. All of the children are
attending the public schools of North Bend, where Lorraine and Bernice
are, in 1920, students in the high school.
Chris L. Poulson. The little Kingdom of Denmark, small in size
and population, but great in history, her people having a record second
to none for courage, chivalry, prowess, the mastery of the professions
and arts and the handling of business and financial affairs, has sent to
Nebraska some of its best citizens, among whom may be mentioned
Chris L. Poulson, who for many years was engaged in agricultural pur
suits but is now living in retirement at Blair.
Mr. Poulson was born in Denmark, January 13, 1859, a son of Nels
and Christine Poulson, natives of the same country. In Denmark, Nels
Poulson followed the trade of carpenter, but after coming to the United
States and settling at Omaha in May, 1870, was employed for a time by

640 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
a cooperage firm, and remained in that city for four years. Of a frugal
and saving nature, while he had arrived in this country without resources,
during his residence at Omaha he was able to accumulate a property of
sufficient value to trade for eighty acres of land in Washington County,
and in the years that followed, while he was engaged in farming, he added
from time to time to his holdings that when he died, in 1914, he was
the owner of a large tract of land and accounted one of the substantial
men of his community. Following his death his widow moved to Blair,
where she died in 1915, at the home. of her son. She belonged to the
Lutheran Church, as did her husband, who was a democrat in his
political allegiance.
Chris L. Poulson, the only child of his parents, received his early
education in the schools of his native land and was eleven years of age
when he accompanied his parents to the United States. For three years
following his arrival he familiarized himself with the English language
through attendance at the Omaha public schools and when he laid aside
his school books it was to begin work on his father's farm, on which he
remained until he was twenty-two years of age. During his career as an
agriculturist, Mr. Poulson remained on one farm for a period of fort)r-
one years, during which he farmed on his own account for thirty-three
years. In the working out of his unquestioned success he made the use
of every opportunity that presented itself, but refused at all times to
take an unfair advantage. As a result he gained a reputation for fair
and honorable dealing that placed him high in the esteem of his fellow^
citizens. On May 3, 1915, Mr. Poulson retired from active pursuits and
moved to a comfortable modern home on Colfax Street, where he is sur
rounded by all the conveniences which are the award of a well-ordered,
energetic life. He is still the owner of 240 acres of highly improved
farm land in Washington County, for which he has been offered $325
an acre. How far his fortunes have advanced under the impetus of his
good management and industry may be seen in the fact that he com
menced his career by buying 160 acres of school land, the lease on which
he later surrendered, then buying land under the old system. Mr. Poul
son is a man well informed and well liked and belongs to Trap Boy
Camp No. 1295, Woodmen of the World, of Blair. He is democratic in
his political allegiance and he and the members of his family belong to
the Lutheran Church.
Mr. Poulson was married May 20, 1881, to Katherine Nielsen, a
native of Denmark, whose parents came to Washington County in 1880
and purchased farming land, on which they resided for a few years.
Then they removed to Sioux County, Nebraska, where Mrs. Nielsen
died, Mr. Nielsen then going to Nuckolls County, this state, where he
passed away. The six children of Mr. and Mrs. Poulson are : Christina,
who died in infancy; Nels N., who is engaged in farming in Washing
ton County; Sorn J., who is engaged in farming with his brother; Nelse
Martin, a farmer of Washington County; Christensen, unmarried and
residing with his parents ; and Carl Raymond, who enlisted in the United
States Aviation Corps in November, 1918, and was in training at San
Antonio, Texas, until August, 1919, since which time he has resided at
Omaha. John O'Connor claims Dodge County as the place of his nativity
and that he is not like the scriptural prophet, who was "not without honOr
save in his own country," is significantly shown by the fact that he served
as county assessor in which he fully justified the popular confidence
reposed in him. Mr. O'Connor was born in Dodge County October 27,

PODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 641
1872, and is a son of Matthew and Ellen (Martley) O'Connor, the former
of whom was born in Ireland, in 1831, and the latter in the Dominion of
Canada, their marriage having been solemnized in Dodge County,
Nebraska. Matthew O'Connor came to Nebraska Territory about the
year 1865, and he assisted in the construction of the line of the Union
Pacific Railroad, while he continued in the employ of the railroad com
pany a number of years after the great transcontinental line was in
operation. In 1870 he filed entry on a homestead claim in Dodge
County, and this he developed into one of the productive and valuable
farms of this section of the state. He continued there his activities as
one of the prosperous farmers and highly esteemed citizens of the county
until his death in 1896 and his venerable widow died May 26, 1920. They
became the parents of six sons and three daughters, all of whom are
living: John, of this review, is the eldest of the number; Retta is the
wife of James F. Reddy, a prosperous farmer in Cheyenne County ;
Abram is one of the substantial farmers of Dodge County; Milton, also
a Dodge County farmer ; Ada is a popular teacher in the public schools
at Lexington, Dawson County; Alvin holds a clerical position in a
clothing store at Fremont ; Irvin is a successful farmer in Dodge County ;
Nellie is the wife of Henry Haun, another of the prosperous farmers of
Dodge County ; and Harold, who was one of -the gallant young men who
represented Dodge County in the World war, he having entered service
in 1917 and with his command saw eighteen months overseas, the most
of this time having been passed in Germany, after the occupation of
German territory by the entente allies, and his honorable discharge hav
ing been given him in September, 1919. The loved mother was a devout
communicant of the Catholic Church, as was also the father, and the
latter was a democrat in political allegiance.
John O'Connor was reared to the sturdy discipline of the home farm
and his early educational advantages were those afforded in the district
schools. He continued his active association with agricultural industry
until he was twenty-nine years of age, and in the meanwhile had become
the owner of a farm in his native county. At the age noted he removed
to Fremont, the county seat, and he was long retained in office in his
home county. Prior to leaving the farm he had held various township
offices, and finally he was elected registrar of deeds of the county, an
office in which he served two terms of four years each. Thereafter he
was for pne year employed in the Commercial National Bank of Fre
mont and the following year found him succesfully engaged in the real
estate business. Then he was again summoned to public service, by being
elected county clerk. In this office, of which he continued tbe incum
bent five years, he gave a characteristically efficient administration, and
since 1916 served, with marked efficiency and acceptability as county
assessor, his previous official service as county clerk having rendered him
specially eligible for this post.
Mr. O'Connor has been one of the loyal and influential workers in
the local ranks of the democratic party and has served as chairman of
the Democratic County Committee of Dodge County. In connection with
his official duties he conducted a representative real estate business and
maintained also the most authoritative abstract office in the county. He
has been essentially the artificer of his own success, which has been
worthily achieved, and he is now the owner of 240 acres of good land in
his native county, as well as valuable real estate, both improved and
unimproved properties, in the City of Fremont. He and his wife are
communicants of the Catholic Church, and he is affiliated with the

642 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES,
Knights of Columbus, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Fraternal
Aid Union and the Improved Order of Red Men.
On June 3, 1903, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. O'Connor to
Miss Georgia Mowrer, who was born at Albia, Iowa, and who had been
for nearly a quarter of a century an efficient and popular clerical employe
in the Dodge County courthouse, her service having been in different
offices. Mr. and Mrs. O'Connor have one child, Wilma, a member of the
class of 1920 in the Fremont High School.
William G. Mercer. Progress brings changes, and in nothing is
this more clearly shown than in the advancement made in methods of
locomotion. The invention, improvement and final almost universal
adoption of the motor-run vehicle in place of that drawn by horses, has
resulted in the practical abolishment of establishments which formerly
were connected with the sale, care and renting of horses, and the devel
opment of modern garages. Fremont has a number of these business
enterprises, and a number of them are run by men who had the vision
and courage to make the change from one kind of commercial enterprise
to the other. One of these men is William G. Mercer, a very successful
business man of Fremont.
William G. Mercer was born at Ogdensburg, New York, on May 19,
1863, and he had the misfortune to lose both of his parents when he was
a baby, but was reared by some of his uncles and aunts. He attended
the public schools of his native state and learned the horseshoers' trade
at Ogdensburg. After he came to Fremont, on July 7, 1883, he further
increased his store of knowledge by attending night school. He worked
at his trade at Fremont from 1883 until 1917 when he opened the Mercer
Auto Parts Company and has built up a very large business. He buys
all kinds of cars, breaks them up and assembles new cars from the undam
aged parts thus secured. Not only does he own his business property,
but three other pieces of property at Fremont.
In March, 1888, Mr. Mercer was united in marriage with Arina Bohn,
and they became the parents of two children, one of whom is living,
Namely: George L., who is with his father in the Mercer Auto Parts
Company. Mrs. Mercer is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church,
but Mr. Mercer is not connected with any religious organization. He
belongs to the Knights of Pythias, the Ancient Order of United Work
men and the Royal Highlanders. In politics he is a democrat.
Mr. Mercer reached Fremont with twenty-five cents in his pocket,
and is now one of the substantial men of his community, but this pros
perity has come to him through no favors, but is the result of his own
unaided hard work, careful planning and initiative. While he has been
too much occupied with his business affairs to take any active part in
politics, aside from voting, he is interested in the advancement of the
city and county and can be counted upon to give his support to move
ments which he believes will obtain practical results and not waste the
money of the taxpayers.
George L. Mercer is one of the enterprising young business men of
Fremont who is proving his worth to his community, and doing credit to
his parents. He was born at Fremont on July 15, 1890, a son of William
G. and Anna (Bohn) Mercer, the former of whom is the originator and
owner of the Mercer Auto Parts Company of Fremont, where he and
Mrs. Mercer are still living.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 643
After having attended the Fremont High School and Normal School,
George L. Mercer gained a knowledge of the fundamentals of business
life as a hardware clerk, and remained in that line of endeavor for five
years, after which he learned horseshoeing with his father, and then
worked at his trade for seven years. When his father organized the
Mercer Auto Parts Company, George L. Mercer assisted him in it for
a year, and then established himself in the garage business as proprietor
of the Fremont Garage, but April 8, 1920, he sold his garage and joined
his father again in the management of the Mercer Auto Parts Company.
On October 27, 1913, Mr. Mercer was united in marriage with Anna
L. Godel, born at Fremont, a daughter of Henry Godel, one of the early
settlers of Fremont, who is still a resident of the city, and a man highly
respected by all who know him. Mr. and Mrs. Mercer have one child,
George L., Jr., who was born on January 27, 1916, a very bright little
fellow. Mr. and Mrs. Mercer belong to the German Salem Church of
Fremont. Fraternally Mr. Mercer is connected with Fremont Lodge No.
514, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and the Odd Fellows,
and is interested in the progress of both organizations. A leader among
the young republicans of his ward he is now chairman of the Fourth
Ward Republican Committee, and is deeply interested in public matters,
and well posted on current events.
Lucius Dunbar Richards. History is largely a record of men's
deeds and experiences, and when an individual's activities reach out and
influence the life of many communities the 'task of biography is exceed
ingly difficult. The following paragraphs while involving many matters
of great historical import to Dodge and Washington counties, neverthe
less fall short of adequately representing the career and character of the
Fremont pioneer and distinguished citizen Lucius Dunbar Richards.
Mr. Richards in his own career has been a living exemplification of
Americanism, and in that respect has been true to the record of his
ancestors who were among the early settlers of New England, and were
participants in the French and Indian war, the War of Independence and
the War of 1812. His own birth occurred on a farm at Charleston,
Orleans County, Vermont, November 26, 1847. The home being broken
up when he was eleven years of age, he left the homestead and went to
work fourteen to sixteen hours a day for neighboring farmers for board
and clothes. He also had the advantages of some limited terms of instruc
tion in the Yankee district school.
Before he was fifteen years of age on September 5, 1862, he enlisted
in Company I of the Fifteenth Vermont Infantry. He succeeded in get
ting to Brattleboro the rendezvous of the regiment, and by the interces
sion of the colonel with the United States mustering officer was accepted
in spite of his youth. His regiment was commanded by Redfield Proctor,
who was not only an able soldier but afterwards governor, secretary of
war and senator from Vermont. Young Richards served out his nine
months' term and was mustered out in August, 1863. Before going to
the front he was detailed as orderly to Colonel Proctor and this relation
ship was cemented by a lifelong friendship between the commander and
the boy soldier. Mr. Richards has a memento of Colonel Proctor's hand
writing on the discharge which reads: "No longer a soldier under my
command. May the stronger relations of friendship continue through
life is the wish of your colonel and friend."
Not satisfied with his first term of enlistment, in the summer of 1864
he re-enlisted in Company K of the Seventeenth Vermont Infantry and

644 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
carried a musket until the close of the war. He was with his regiment
in the front line before Petersburg when that stronghold fell on April 2,
1865, and when Lee surrendered he was detailed as a guard, and the regi
ment leaving soon afterward he was never relieved on his post,, until he
took it upon himself to discharge himself from that duty, the only instance
of his military career when he was not faithful to orders.
After the war he joined his mother in Michigan, worked on a farm,
and in the fall of 1865 entered Eastman's Business College at Pough-
keepsie, New York. In March, 1866, he went west to Hannibal, Mis
souri, and was employed by his uncle, F. R. Lockling, then city engineer
of Hannibal, and assisted in laying out additions to the towns along the
Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad. He also was on the railway survey
between Hannibal and Moberly. This gave him a knowledge of engi
neering. Starting for Colorado in July, 1867, he ran out of money and
stopped at Missouri Valley, Iowa, then the headquarters of construction
of the Sioux City & Pacific Railway. While he tried to qualify as an
engineer, his first work was on a pile driver, but later he accepted an
engineering job at smaller wages. In April, 1868, he was promoted to
transit man on the survey of the Sioux City & Pacific Railway from Cali
fornia Junction to Fremont. Thus a little more than half a century ago
Mr. Richards in line of duty became identified with the city of his present
residence. After this work was completed he was a member of an engi
neering party that made the., survey for what is now the Illinois Central
from Sioux City to Fort Dodge, and he then returned to the Sioux City
& Pacific road.
One morning at breakfast the superintendent of construction, Burnett,
laid an order upon his plate directing him "to take charge of all railway
work between the Missouri River and Fremont," giving him due author
ity and instructions to harmonize and bring efficiency between the track
laying, pile driving and bridge forces. This responsibility was thrust upon
the young man not yet twenty-one years of age.
Track laying was completed to Fremont in February, 1869. Going
thence to Cherokee on the Sioux City and Fort Dodge Line Mr. Rich
ards had charge of construction of a division crossing the Little Sioux
River until November, 1869, after which returning to Fremont he built
in about six weeks the first ten miles of the Fremont, Elkhorn & Mis
souri Valley Railway. Under his charge this road was completed during
1870 to West Point and early in 1871 to Wisner. During this period
Mr. Richards also surveyed and platted the towns of Scribner, Hooper
and Nickerson. Railway construction having for the time ceased he
became roadmaster and superintendent of bridges and buildings on the
line from Sioux City to Wisner, so continuing until August, 1872 Dur
ing this time he exercised his right under the land laws and homesteaded
and proved up eighty acres near Scribner. This constituted his first real
estate possession.
The young railroad builder returning from out of the West to his
native state of Vermont was married January 9, 1871, to Miss Carro E.
Hills, of Burlington. His bride returned with him to Fremont, subse
quently lived at Missouri Valley until the fall of 1872 when Mr. Richards
took his wife and child back to Burlington and accepted an advantageous
offer from the Henry Meggs' railroad interests in Costa Rica, Central
America, and for nearly two years was engaged in engineering and super
intending construction and operation of railroads in Costa Rica.
In April, 1875, he returned with his family to Fremont. Railroad
construction had absolutely ceased following the financial panic of 1873

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 645
and he was confronted with the necessity of finding some other line of
work. At that time he entered the real estate and insurance business
with W. C. Ghost as a partner for about a year, later was associated
with Mr. Reynolds, and still later the firm and corporation of Richards,
Keene & Company.
. Having reviewed briefly the experiences which preceded his permanent
residence and interests at Fremont and in Nebraska, an effort should be
made to describe in broad outlines the larger service and influence ren
dered by Mr. Richards. His dominating characteristic has always been
a constructive spirit. With other empire builders he has been best satis
fied in giving concrete reality to broad plans that affect for good the wel
fare of large regions and numerous population. This characteristic was
reinforced by his early experiences as a railroad builder, when responsi
bilities far in advance of his years were laid upon him. The group of
railroad builders with which he was mainly associated included that great
pioneer, John I. Blair, and was the group which built and owned what
afterwards became a part of the Great Northwestern system in northern
and eastern Nebraska, known for many years as the Sioux City & Pacific
and the Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley. His co-operation and
council were long valued by those roads. In compliance with the Nebraska
law his office for a considerable time was the corporate Nebraska office
of the Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley road. He was the general
agent for their state land grant lands and townsites. He supervised the
preliminary investigations and surveys in the middle '80s of a proposed
railroad northwestward from Fremont midway between the Union Pacific
and the main line of the Northwestern, which afterwards materialized
as the Scribner-Albion line of the Northwestern. He was in close touch
with the construction management when in 1886-87 the Northwestern
lines were built out from Fremont to Lincoln, Hastings, Superior and
Omaha. His constructive genius was combined with the vision of a financier
and that led him to make strong financial and business connections in
New York and New England, through which he was able to take a still
larger participation in the development of the eastern Nebraska country
and his home town in particular.
From the first he conceived that strong confidence in Fremont and the
surrounding country which their great intrinsic merit warranted. At a
time when he owned but little real estate his high public spirit led him to
work for the realization of everything calculated to develop the town and
country. One of the first fundamental resources of Fremont which he
interested himself to develop was in 1880, the dairy industry. Taking into
consideration the wide surrounding valley of hay and corn lands, he fore
saw scarcely any limit to the future of the industry. Largely through his
initiative and financial co-operation a modern brick Creamery was built
in 1880, a building of a size considered large even now. He has lived to
see the Fremont creamery industry and interests and closely related lines
developed into eight prosperous companies and plants with an annual
volume of business of more than $3,000,000.
Closely related to the dairy industry and farming generally and vital
to the best interests of Fremont was the extensive drainage of the
extremely wet valley lands adjacent to the city. Here Mr. Richards'
Skill and experience as an engineer came into play and peculiarly fitted
him to solve and direct the complicated work carried on through a period
of thirty years. His service in this connection has undoubtedly been one
of the greatest credited to his personal energies. Tributary to Fremont

646 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
were 200,000 acres of Platte and Elkhorn River valley lands, presenting
during the greater part of the year a morass unproductive of little more
than wild hay and incapable of good roads. While the engineering prob
lems involved were serious and expensive, the human elements were
equally difficult to line up, since any project however well conceived
inevitably aroused antagonism and resulted in litigation and obstruction.
Under Mr. Richards' leadership in 1886-88 the first adequate ditch was
initiated and constructed, crossing the wide flat valley diagonally from
the northwest to the southeast into the Platte a number of miles west of
Fremont and known as "the Fremont cut-off ditch." It was followed
by two other similar main cut-offs further west in the county, and more
recently by a comprehensive highly detailed ditching system for the east
ern end of Dodge and the western end of Douglas County. This latter
system involved reducing the length of the Elkhorn River by eighteen
miles and the dredging of many waterways into that river.
The culmination of his persevering efforts came in 1907 with the
organization of a special district at Fremont of fevees, dykes and diver
sion work on the Platte River to prevent the periodical river overflows
which had always distressed the southern portion of Fremont and that
general locality. This organization was made possible solely through
Mr. Richards' financial and legal support and through the large real estate
holdings he represented in that locality. The plan was effectively accom
plished by an expenditure of $100,000 and a dozen years of careful, pains
taking engineering work.
While so much is to be credited to his personal initiative and enter
prise, in all the years of his residence in Fremont Mr. Richards has
retained and advanced his influence through his faculty of leadership and
co-operation with his fellow citizens. He has always realized the power
of united effort and concentration of energies involving all the progres
sive elements of the community. In 1880 while mayor of the city he
brought about the organization of the Fremont Board of Trade, which
under the later name of Commercial Club has been an efficient body for
forty years. While even in larger cities such clubs have had alternating
periods of stagnation and feverish energy, largely through the unremit
ting efforts of Mr. Richards the Fremont organization has been kept
going and working, and now in its fortieth year is one of the strongest
and most efficient organizations of its kind in the state.
Mr. Richards for many years has been regarded as one of the fore
most business men of Nebraska. In 1885 he organized and incorporated
the first trust company in Fremont and to this corporation he turned
over the great trust and investment business he had personally built
up. For several years previously he had been doing business in twenty
counties of eastern Nebraska and western Iowa, where he was the exclu
sive confidential representative of large eastern land and farm loan
investors. He organized and conducted the first savings bank, and in
1886 organized the Fremont Stock Yards and Land Company with a
paid-up capital of $200,000, owning 1,400 acres of land adjacent to Fre-
ment for the feeding in transit of western sheep, cattle and general stock.
This company has extensive yards, covered sheds, grain elevators, three
miles of industrial railroad of its own and many other facilities. Mr.
Richards has always been the president and leading stockholder of the
company. He was largely instrumerital in the organization of the Fre
mont National Bank, in which were combined the private banking inter
ests of Richards & Keene and Hopkins & Millard.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 647
After Mr. Richards returned to Fremont to make the city his perma
nent home he resurveyed the town. He was a member of the Board of
Public Works for twenty-five years, served as surveyor of Dodge County
three years, as city engineer of Fremont, and for two terms held the
office of mayor.
His political career has some interesting incidents though as a whole
it has been subordinate to the larger affairs with which he has been
busied. In 1888 he was unanimously chosen chairman of the Republican
State Central Committee and was re-elected the following year. He was
one of the delegates at large in the national convention in 1892 when
President Harrison was renominated, and a delegate at large and chair
man of the Nebraska delegation to the Chicago convention in 1920 which
nominated Harding and Coolidge. In 1890 he was chosen the republican
candidate for governor. That year three tickets were in the field, the
populists then showing great strength. Moreover the republican candi
date showed no disposition to win at the expense of some deeply cher
ished convictions of his own, and that independence and loyalty to prin
ciples, one of his chief characteristics, was a contributing factor in the
final results of the election. True to his New England instincts he has
never neglected his duties as an American citizen. He has interested
himself in politics altogether to promote the cause of good government
and to oppose what his judgment and experience have shown him to be
unsound and essentially un-American.
During his railroading experience in Costa Rica he was made a Mason
and has had many honors of the craft. He has attained the thirty-third
honorary degree in the Scottish Rite, is past grand high priest of Grand
Royal Arch Chapter of Nebraska, past commander of Mount Tabor
Commandery No. 9, Knights Templar. He is also a past president of
the Nebraska Sons of the American Revolution, and is a past department
commander of Nebraska Grand Army of the Republic. For many years
he was a trustee of Brownell Hall, the Episcopal School for Girls at
Omaha and was also deeply interested financially and otherwise in Clem
ons Fremont College, Midland College and the Young Men's Christian
Association at Fremont.
The marriage companionship of nearly forty-five years was termi
nated by the death of Mrs. Richards in December, 1915. She was the
mother of four children : Josephine R. Sears ; Fred H., a partner with
his father ; Katharine R., wife of B. W. May, a wholesale grocer at Fre
mont ; and Redfield Proctor Richards, also associated with his father in
business. Joshua S. Devries, M. D., has been established in the general practice
of his profession at Fremont for more than thirty years and is one of
the able and honored representatives of his profession in Dodge County.
The large scope of his practice attests most fully his technical ability,
his personal popularity and his fine sense of professional stewardship.
He commands the high regard of his professional confreres and has
long been one of the influential members of the Dodge County Medical
Society, besides which he is affiliated with the Nebraska State Medical
Society, the Elkhorn Valley Medical Society, and the Missouri Valley
Medical Society. Doctor Devries has been a resident of Nebraska since
his boyhood, here he received his academic and professional education,
and here has found opportunity for the achieving success and prestige
in his chosen vocation.

648 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES ,
The lineage of the Devries family is traced back to French origin,
and representatives of the name came to America in the Colonial period
of our national history. Doctor Devries was born in Carroll County,
Maryland, September 23, 1864, and is a son of Elias Perry Devries
and Elizabeth E. (Shipley) Devries, who were born and reared in
Maryland and the latter of whom there passed her entire life, her
death having occurred in 1869. In 1878 Elias P. Devries came with
his children to Nebraska and established a home in the City of Omaha.
He was a resident of Fontanelle, Washington County, this state, at the
time of his death. He was a democrat in politics and prior to the
Civil war had been a slave owner in Maryland. His religious faith
was that of the Christian Church and he was long affiliated with the
Masonic fraternity. Of the five children, Doctor Devries, of this review,
is the younger of the two now Hving, his sister, Mary J., being the wife
of A. P. Manning, cashier of the First National Bank of South Pasadena,
California. Doctor Devries gained his rudimentary education in his native state,
and after the family removal to Nebraska he continued his studies in
the public schools of Omaha. In preparation for his chosen profession
he there entered the medical college that is now the medical department
of the University of Nebraska, and in this institution he was graduated
as a member of the class of 1888, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine.
While a student he gained a valuable clinical experience as an interne
in the Douglas County Hospital, at Omaha, his entire service in this
capacity having covered a period of twenty-two months. Within a
short time after his graduation, and before the close of the year 1888,
he came to Fremont, where he formed a professional partnership with
Dr. L. J. Abbott, with whom he was thus associated two years. Since
that time he has conducted an independent practice of general order,
has kept in touch with the advances made in medical and surgical science
and has long controlled a large and representative practice. It has
already been noted that he is actively identified with the Dodge County
Medical Society, and it may further be stated that he has served as
president of the same. His political allegiance is given to the demo
cratic party, and at one time he held the office of coroner of Dodge
County. He and his wife are communicants of the Protestant Episcopal
Church, and he is prominently affiliated with the Masonic fraternity,
in which his maximum York Rite association is with Mount Tabor
Commandery of Knights Templars, besides which he has received
the thirty-second degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, holds
membership in the Mystic Shrine and is identified also with the Inde
pendent Order of Odd Fellows.
On the 27th of August, 1889, was solemnized the marriage of Doctor
Devries to Miss Miriam Woodman, who was born in the City of Chicago.
The marriage service occurred in Trinity Cathedral of the Episcopal
diocese, in the City of Omaha. To Doctor and Mrs. Devries have been
born five children : James Arthur, who is now living at Fort Worth,
Texas, was in the government service during the nation's participation
in the World war and was for two years an instructor in the aviation
service ; Perry O. is engaged in the drug business at Fremont ; Miriam G.
is the wife of Carl Byorth, assistant postmaster at Fremont ; Herbert J.
is studying law in the University of Colorado, at Boulder, and was for
some time employed in the office of the district attorney at Sante Fe,
New Mexico; and Donald E. is a student in the Fremont High School.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 649
William M. Zellers. Hooper is so located as to afford excellent
transportation facilities, and attract to it men of brains who are handling
grain and other farm products, offering a market for the agricul
turalists of the surrounding country, and shipping a substantial amount
to the trade centers for further distribution. One of these men is
William M. Zellers, manager of the Farmers Union Elevator Company,
and a sound citizen of Dodge County.
William M. Zellers was born in Pennsylvania in 1880, a son of
Dr. M. T. Zellers, one of the best known men and eminent physicians
and surgeons of Dodge County, an extended sketch of whom appears
elsewhere in this work. Brought to Dodge County by his parents,
William M. Zellers attended the Hooper High School, Midland College
at Atchison, Kansas, and the Creighton College of Pharmacy at Omaha,
Nebraska. During 'hjs early years at Hooper, Doctor Zellers was
interested in conducting a drug store, and it was in it that the son
gained his practical experience in the drug business, remaining with it
for twelve or thirteen years. He then went into the grain trade, and
for three years was associated with the Farmers Grain & Stock Com
pany, leaving it to form connection with the Farmers Union Co-operative
Association, and in behalf of this concern went to Uehling, Nebraska,
but returned in 1917 to become manager of the Farmers Union Elevator-
of Hooper. He devotes all of his time and attention to handling grain^
lumber, -coal and livestock and feed. John Havepost is president of the
company, and George Meier is secretary, and it is admitted to be one of
the sound institutions of the county.
In 1903 Mr. Zellers was united in marriage with Nora A. Bayer,
born in Dodge County, a daughter of Henry Bayer, an early settler
of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Zellers have two children, namely : Erdine,
who is attending school ; and Clinton, who is at home. Fraternally
Mr. Zellers is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Masonic
Order. Mrs. Zellers belongs to Grace Lutheran Church of Hooper,
but Mr. Zellers is not a member of any religious organization, although
he gives his support to. the one his wife attends. A man of strong con
victions Mr. Zellers prefers to select his own candidate so votes inde
pendently. Mr. Zellers is noted for the vigorous and efficient manner
in which he carries on his business and the resourcefulness he displays
in solving the various problems presented to him, and he has fairly
earned the confidence felt in him and his abilities by the people of his
county, and this portion of the state generally.
Joseph E. Newsom has been a resident of Dodge County for more
than forty years and is thus entitled to a due measure of pioneer dis
tinction, besides which he has had marked influence in connection with
the civic and industrial development and progress of the county. He
was appointed postmaster at North Bend on the 26th of April, 1914,
and has continued the efficient and honored incumbent of this position
to the present time. Previously to assuming this position he had served
as township assessor, as judge of the police court of North Bend, as
city marshal and as justice of the peace — preferments which denote
his strong hold upon popular confidence and good will in the county
that has long represented his home and in which he was originally
engaged in farm enterprise. Judge Newsom is a loyal and vigorous
advocate of the principles of the democratic party, and is affiliated with
the local organizations; of the Masonic fraternity, the Jndependfent
Vol. II— 13

650 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Order of Odd Fellows, and the Modern Woodmen of America, while
both he and his wife hold membership in the Christian Church at North
Bend. Judge Newsom was born at Worthington, Indiana, May 17, 1844,
and is a representative of a sterling pioneer family of the Hoosier State.
He is a son of Jacob and Delitha (Miller) Newsom, both of whom were
born in North Carolina. Jacob Newsom was a lad of eight years at
the time when his parents removed to Indiana, where the father became
a pioneer farmer and where both parents passed the remainder of their
lives. Jacob Newsom became one of the substantial farmers of Greene
County, Indiana, and for many years he also owned and operated a grist
mill. He died in 1868, at the age of forty-six years, and his widow
passed away in 1882, at the age of sixty years. He was independent in
politics and was long affiliated with the Masonic fraternity. Of the
ten children Joseph E. is the eldest of the four now living; Henry J. is
a prosperous farmer in Indiana ; Celia A., the widow of Jos"eph Wingler,
still resides in Greene County, Indiana; and Nancy Jane, widow of John
H. Thompson, resides at Hooper, Dodge County, Nebraska.
The present postmaster of North Bend, Nebraska, was reared and
educated in his native state and there continued his active association
with agricultural industry until 1878, when he became a pioneer
settler in the State of Kansas. There he raised one crop and then sold
and came to North Bend, Dodge County, Nebraska, in- July, 1878, with
his family where he acquired a tract of land and engaged in general
farming, in which due success attended his energetic labors. He remained
on the farm until 1886, when he removed to the City of North Bend,
where he has since maintained his residence and where, as previously
noted, he has held various positions of public trust. As postmaster he
has given a signally efficient administration, and he takes much interest
in all things pertaining to the prosperity and progress of his home com
munity and county.
In 1869 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Newsom to Miss Sarah
J. Sargent, who likewise was born and reared in Indiana, and of this
union have been born ten children : Olive B. holds a position in the
postoffice at Wahoo, Saunders County ; Jacob A. died when about
thirty-two years of age ; Joseph C, publisher of the North Bend Eagle,
is individually mentioned on other pages of this volume ; James A.
died at ten years of age; Jessie A. is the wife of Arthur B. Skinner,
of Fremont; Bessie P. died at the age of eighteen years and Ethel L.
at the age of thirty-one years ; Minnie H. is a clerical assistant in the
North Bend postoffice ; Marie is the wife of Ernest O. Sweeney, of
Alma, Nebraska; and Henry J. is assistant postmaster at North Bend.
John McKay. In the list of business citizens of Blair who have
started as poor boys and through individual effort have advanced them
selves to positions of commercial independence, is John McKay, the
proprietor of a flourishing feed business. Mr. McKay has been a resi
dent of this city for a quarter of a century, during which time he has
made use of his opportunities to impress himself upon his community
as a sound and reliable business man and a public-spirited and con
structive citizen.
Born September 16, 1869, on Prince Edward Island, Canada, he is
a son of James and Sarah (McOuarrie) McKay, natives of the same
place. The family is of Scotch descent and is identified with the Scotch
Presbyterian Church. The parents of Mr. McKay passed their entire

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 651
lives on Prince Edward Island and in their community were known as
honest, industrious and God-fearing people. They were the parents
of four children; John; Rebecca, who is the wife of Robert Miltigan,
of Prince Edward Island; Alexander, a farmer there; and Dolland, of
Sussex, New Brunswick.
The public schools of his native community furnished John McKay
with his educational training, and when he was nineteen years of age
he came to Blair and secured a position with his uncle, John McQuarrie,
by whom he was employed for a period of eight years. He then embarked
in the feed and milling business on his own account, and from a modest
start has built up a thriving enterprise of important proportions, one
which has its recognized place in the business life of Blair. He is
energetic, thoroughly reliable and markedly progressive and has the
full confidence of his associates. While his business interests have
claimed his chief attention, he has also taken a helpful part in civic
affairs and has served as a member of the city council. In politics he
is a republican, while as a fraternalist he holds membership in the
Masons and Odd Fellows, in the latter of which he has passed through
the chairs.
In 1895 Mr. McKay was united in marriage with Miss Luttie Irmi
Newell, and to this union there have been born two children : John
Willard, a farmer in the Blair community; and Madeline, who is a
student at Ames (Iowa) College.
John Willard Newell, the father of Mrs. John McKay, was born
July 5, 1837, at Pelham, Massachusetts, a son of S. A. and Rebecca
(Hall) Newell, the former a native of Massachusetts and the latter of
Connecticut. The parents were married in Massachusetts, and in 1865
came to Nebraska and settled on a homestead, on which they lived until
reaching their declining years. The mother died in Kansas at the home
of a daughter, while the father, after his retirement, moved to Blair
and died at the home of his son. Of their ten children, six are living:
J. A., who is engaged in farming in Washington County, Nebraska;
John Willard; Mrs. Selden, a widow of Blair; Elizabeth, the wife of
J. L. Skinner, of Coffeyville, Kansas, who formerly had a large draying
outfit but is now living retired; Martha, the widow of Mr. Davis, of
Omaha ; and Myron D., proprietor of a meat market at Arlington,
Nebraska. The parents were members of the Methodist Episcopal
Church and in politics the father was a republican.
John Willard Newell received his education in the public schools of
Massachusetts, and on completing his training began to assist his father,
who was in modest financial circumstances. Times were hard in Massa
chusetts at that time, however, and the youth, finding that he was making
no progress, decided to try his fortunes in the West. To do this he had
to rely upon his own resources, for his capital was decidedly small, but
he possessed the optimism of his years and his self-reliance was great.
After getting as far as Quincy, Illinois, he took a boat for St. Louis,
and with but $30 in his pocket embarked for Leavenworth. The times
were troublous, as passions were inflamed due to the controversy
arising from the unsettled conditions that were to eventuate in the
Civil war. When he arrived at Leavenworth he found the town crowded,
and his first night's bed was the floor of a bar room. His money now
being spent he went to a Kansas farm where he worked for two weeks
and secured $10, then returning to Leavenworth he took a boat up the
river. Omaha was the destination of Mr. Newell and a young com
panion, but after sleeping on the floor of a heavily-overladen and unsafe

652 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
vessel, the partners agreed that traveling by land was more desirable,
and accordingly, after giving the porter 50 cents to unload their trunks
at Omaha, they left the vessel at Brownsville and made their way
by foot from that point to Omaha, where they arrived weary and
footsore three days later. Mr. Newell, upon his arrival at that city,
was possessed of just ten cents, but soon found employment digging a
ditch, and after two days' work received $2. For two or three days
thereafter he worked in a brick yard, but while thus engaged was
unfortunate enough to contract mumps and measles and had to give up
his position. Next he hired out on a farm, on which he worked during
the summer and followed the trade of shoemaker in the winter. In 1858
he and his partner rented a farm and raised a crop of corn that brought
them $400 in gold, and in 1859, during the gold • excitement, went to
Pike's Peak, Colorado, making the journey by wagon. Camping at
Clear Creek, the youthful associates traded with the people that were
going and coming from the gold diggings and remained there until 1861,
when they sold out and returned to Omaha. There they divided,
Mr. Newell settling at Omaha and his former partner going to Kansas.
They had the distinction of being the first settlers in Polk County,
Colorado. After his return to Omaha, Mr. Newell built a barn, but sold out
and purchased a bakery, in connection with which he had the first
cracker machine in Omaha. During 1862 he ran this establishment
both night and day in order to supply the demand, but in 1863 disposed
of his interests. Mr. Newell had some experience in freighting to
Denver, Colorado, and Nebraska City, Nebraska, and during this
period had many adventures, both exciting and interesting, the Indians
being numerous, and on occasions, very troublesome. Leaving Omaha
May 10, 1863, with a party of fourteen or fifteen, in ox-teams, he
arrived at Bannock City, Montana, in September, and then went to
Virginia City and engaged in getting out drift timber and in freighting
from Virginia City to Salt Lake City, Utah, making three trips in one
year. While on this journey to Montana, his party was attacked by a
large band of hostile Indians, who were driven off only after they had
killed three of Mr. Newell's freighting companions.
Mr. Newell returned to Omaha in 1864, and in 1865 made a trip to
Denver with a load of whiskey. His last freighting trip was made
to California in 1866. In February, 1868, he came to Washington
County and for two years had a store at Cummings City, following
which he resided on a farm near Herman for nine years. He then
moved to a farm in the vicinity of Blair, on which he made his home
and centered his activities for fifteen years, after which he engaged in
the flour and feed business at Blair and was the proprietor of this
establishment until he sold out to his son-in-law, since which time he
has lived in comfortable retirement.
Mr. Newell was married in the fall of 1865 to Miss Mary E. Wait,
who was born in Rhode Island, and to this union there were born two
children: Mrs. John McKay; and John Willard, Jr., proprietor of an
electrical supplies store at Blair. Mr. Newell has the distinction of
being the only charter member of Omaha Lodge of the Odd Fellows
fraternity now living and is one of the few living charter members of
Blair Lodge of that order, having been an Odd Fellow for fifty-eight
years, in 1920. In the year mentioned he Was given a piece of jewelry
by his lodge emblematic of long service and containing twenty-three
jewels. In politics a republican, Mr. Newell has taken an interest in

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 653
local affairs and for three or four years occupied the position of town
ship treasurer. During his long, honorable and successful career, he
has attached to himself many friends, and his life is one in which the
value of the homely virtues of honesty, perseverance and fidelity has
again been demonstrated.
Joe Stecher is one of Nebraska's famous sons, and as a farm boy
near Dodge he developed that prodigious strength and skill which enabled
him still to retain the championship of the world as a wrestler.
He was born a few miles from Dodge in Cuming County, Nebraska,
April 5, 1893. His parents, Frank and Anna Stecher, are still living,
being retired residents of Dodge. Frank Stecher was born in Bohemia
and came to the United States in 1876 at the age of twelve years. He
developed a farm from the prairie of Cuming County. a mile and a half
north of Dodge, and followed agriculture until he retired.
Joe Stecher is the youngest of three sons, and received his education
in the common schools near his father's farm. He has done a great
deal of practical farm work, not only while he lived at home with his
father, but even now is the owner of a well improved farm in Cuming
County. As a youth he easily surpassed all the neighbor boys in the
wrestling game, and for two years did a great deal, of training before
he became a professional wrestler. He has been a contender for cham
pionship honors since 1914, and has participated in about three hundred
wrestling matches. He first achieved championship honors June 4, 1915,
and by a well merited victory in New York over Ed Strangler Lewis
April 16, 1920, retained his honors. Mr. Stecher's business manager is
his brother, Antone Stecher.
December 6, 1916, Joe Stecher married Frances Ehlers, a daughter
of Claus Ehlers, a well known stock buyer and farmer at Scribner.
Mr. Stecher built his fine bungalow home in Dodge in 1917. He is an
independent voter, was reared a Catholic and is a member of the order
of Elks, while his wife belongs to the Congregational Church.
R. P. Turner. The record of R. P. Turner is that of a man who by
his own unaided efforts has worked his way from a modest beginning to
a position of comfort and influence in his community. His life has
been one of unceasing industry and perseverance and the systematic
and honorable methods he has followed have won for him the unbounded
confidence of his fellow citizens of Dodge County whose interests he
has at heart and which he seeks to promote in every practical way.
R. P. Turner was born in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, on June 2,
1874, and is the son of R. C. and Isabelle A. (Foster) Turner. Both
of these parents were natives of New York State, but were taken to
Wisconsin in an early day by their respective parents, and in the latter
state their marriage occurred. They are both now deceased. They
were members of the Presbyterian Church and in his political views the
father was a republican. Of the nine children born to them, eight are
living, namely : W. R., a farmer at Holton, Kansas ; Edith, the wife
of Alex Will, a farmer at Dennison, Kansas ; L. H., a farmer at Glen
wood, Minnesota; L. B., a farmer at Sovereign, Canada; Mrs. John
Knowles, whose husband is engaged in the shoe business at Fremont;
Mary D., the wife of E. D. Smart, an automobile dealer at Eagle, Wis
consin ; R. P., of this sketch ; Etta M., the wife of Rev. T. H. Melville,
of Pawnee City, Nebraska.

654 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
R. P. Turner received his elementary education in the district schools
of his native community, supplementing this by attendance at Carroll
College, at Waukesha, Wisconsin. His first employment was as a clerk
in a shoe store at Grand Island, Nebraska, but his vocation was inter
rupted by the outbreak of the Spanish-American war. He enlisted in
Company L, Firty-first Regiment Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and was
sent to the Philippines. After about a year's service, Mr. Turner
received an honorable discharge and again returned to the pursuits of
civil life, going on the road as a traveling salesman for a shoe house.
After following this line for eight years, he came to Fremont in 1893
and bought a shoe store, which he has owned and managed continuously
since. He has always carried a large and well selected stock of shoes
of all lines artd has enjoyed a large and representative patronage, being
numbered among the leading merchants in his line in this locality. Dur
ing the World war, Mr. Turner rendered effective service with the
Young Men's Christian Association, being in France about a year
with the American Expeditionary Forces.
In 1904 Mr. Turner was married to Bessie W. Doyle, a native of
Kentucky, and they are the parents of two children, George M. and
Kathleen, both of whom are in school. Mr. and Mrs. Turner are mem
bers of the Presbyterian Church. Politically, Mr. Truner is a republi
can and he is a member of the Spanish-American War Veterans. Earnest
effort, unabating perseverance, a laudable ambition and good manage
ment are the elements which have contributed to the splendid success
which is now his, arid because of these qualities he has won and retains
to a marked degree the confidence and good will of his fellow citizens.
George J. Haslam, M. D., B. Sc, F. A. C. S., M. R. C. S., London.
Unfaltering in his devotion to the work and service of his exacting
profession and keeping in close touch with the advances made in medical
and surgical science, Doctor Haslam has been engaged in practice
in the City of Fremont, Dodge County, since 1889, the while he has
gained specially high repute in the surgical department of his professional
service. It may consistently be said that few physicians in Nebraska
have been fortified by as fine preliminary training and education of
technical order as has Doctor Haslam, for his professional education was
obtained under most authoritative auspices in England, Ireland, and the
continent of Europe, and reinforced by effective clinical experience in
leading hospitals.
Doctor Haslam was born near Manchester, England, on the 18th of
May, 1858. He acquired his preliminary education in the Manchester
Grammar School and completed a higher academic course in the Owens
College. After graduating from the University in Ireland and from
the College of Surgeons of London, he served a period of nine years
in various internships both in England and on the continent of Europe.
In 1889 Doctor Haslam came to the United States, -and within the
same year he established his residence at Fremont, Nebraska, which has
since continued the central stage of his very successful professional
activities. He had come to America primarily to accept a position as a
member of the faculty of Shattuck Military Academy, at Faribault,
Minnesota, but upon his arrival he found that this post had been filled.
Under these conditions he returned to New York City, where he found
his available capital reduced to the lowest point, but he proved efficient
in devising ways and means and soon made his way to Nebraska, his
exchequer having shown a balance of only $53 when he arrived in

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 655
Fremont. His ability and personality forthwith gained him recognition,
and his professional success has been cumulative from that time, the
result being that he has accumulated a competency, as well as high
reputation as a physician and surgeon. Prior to coming to America he
had written and published an authoritative work on the Anatomy of
the Frog, his student work having involved a specializing in physiology.
He had lectured on physiology in Owens College at Manchester, England,
and later was scientific investigator in the University at Zurich, Switzer
land, and he had done an appreciable amount of fine surgical work prior
to coming to the United States. At the present time he specializes in
surgery, and his services in this field of practice are by no means con
fined to Dodge County. He is identified with the Nebraska State
Medical Society, the American Medical Association, is a Fellow of the
American College of Surgeons, and a member of other representative
professional organizations, and his active affiliation with these associa
tions is made to subserve his keeping fully in advance of modern medical
and surgical methods and service.
Doctor Haslam has completed the circle of York Rite Masonry, in
which his maximum affiliation is with the Fremont Commandery of
Knights Templars, and in the Scottish Rite he has received the thirty-
second degree, besides being affiliated also with Mystic Shrine, the
Knights of Pythias, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the
Royal Highlanders. As a citizen he is liberal and progressive and in
politics he maintains an independent attitude.
In 1893 was solemnized the marriage of Doctor Haslam to Miss
Mary Dern, who was born and reared at Fremont and who is a daughter
of John Dern. Mr. Dern was an early settler of Fremont and served
at one time as County Treasurer of Dodge County. He is now one of
the most prominent and influential citizens of Salt Lake City, Utah.
Doctor and Mrs. Haslam have three children : Gretchen is now teaching
in the University of Nebraska; George Alfred Haslam is at the present
time, 1920, a student in the medical department of the University of
Nebraska; and Gertrude is attending the public schools of Fremont.
Archibald H. Waterhouse. To be given the opportunity of educat
ing the youth of the land is the aim and the compensation of the true
teacher. To him it is a worth-while achievement to lead into fields
of knowledge, to develop talents that might otherwise remain dormant,
and by inspiring to onward and higher effort, bring deeper meaning
and value to life. Aside from all choice of congenial vocation and its
many pleasant aspects, the man or woman who devotes a lifetime to this
responsible work, has this idea of beneficence as a basic motive. The
world today needs true education more than ever before. There are
some sections of the country that have seemingly recognized this fact
and have called to their help teachers tried and true, and have benefited
accordingly. In this connection mention may be made of the able
superintendent of the city schools of Fremont, Nebraska, Archibald H.
Waterhouse, a veteran in the educational field.
Mr. Waterhouse was born May 2, 1858, on a farm in Berrien
County, Michigan, the third in a family of four children born to Tohn H.
and Minerva (Hanna) Waterhouse. His father was born in Vermont,
and his mother in Ohio. They both went to Indiana, met there, married
and lived there subsequently, the father being a farmer and mill man.
Later they lived in other states and the father died in Michigan and
the mother in Iowa. He was a man of some prominence in his com-

656 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
munity and was a democrat in his political views. The mother was a
devoted member of the Congregational Church and impressed her
children with the beauty of. a Christian life.
Archibald H. Waterhouse attended the country schools near his
father's Iniana farm, in boyhood, later the Rolling Prairie High School
in Laporte County, from there entering the Northern Indiana College
at Valparaiso. While doing some preliminary reading of law, as he
had made up his mind to follow the law as a vocation, he taught a few
terms of school and then took a course iri law at Ann Arbor, Michigan,
finding, however, by the time he was qualified for practice, that his
deeper interest rested in educational work. Afterward Mr. Waterhouse
taught school in great states of the Union, Indiana, Iowa and Nebraska,
coming to the last named state in 1888.
By this time Mr. Waterhouse had a creditable teaching record to
refer to. He took charge of a school at Weeping Water, in Cass
County, remaining there for seven years and then accepted the prin-
cipalship of the high school at Grand Island, and after two years was
tendered the office of principal of the high school at Lincoln, two years
later becoming principal at Omaha, where he remained nine years.
From there he came to Fremont and for twelve years has been super
intendent of the nine public schools of this city, having seventy teachers
and 2,200 pupils under his direction.
Mr. Waterhouse has been married twice, first to Henrietta Lackey,
of Washington, who died in 1892, and second to Clara E. Parkins, of
Weeping Water, Nebraska. Two daughters were born to his first
marriage: Ula, the widow of Philip H. Echols, is a resident of Fre
mont but connected with the public library at Omaha; and Ruth, who
married Edward Fredrickson and resides in Fremont. Two sons have
been born to Mr. Waterhouse's second marriage, Ronald A. and Robert
P., both of whom are attending school.
In recognition of his scholarship, in 1908 the University of Nebraska,
under Chancellor Andrews, granted Mr. Waterhouse the honorary
degree of Master of Arts.
Christian J. Christensen, the efficient and popular general man
ager of the business of the Farmers' Union Co-operative Association, at
Fremont, was a child of three years when his parents came to Nebraska,
soon after the admission of the state to the Union, and here he was
reared to manhood under the condition that marked the pioneer days.
He was born in Denmark, March 9, 1866, and is a son of R. and
Christina (Thompson) Christensen, who immigrated to America and
became pioneer settlers in Saunders County, Nebraska, in 1869. The
father there took up a homestead, and in the reclaiming and improving
of the farm he did well his part in furthering the civic and industrial
progress of that county, while he and his family had their full share
of pioneer trials and hardships. He developed one of the valuable farm
properties of that county and there remained until his death, in Decem
ber, 1919, his wife having passed away in 1903. Both were earnest
members of the Baptist Church and in politics Mr. Christensen was a
democrat. Of their children Christian J. is the eldest; Christene is the
wife of Martin Petersen, of Fremont ; Sophie is the wife of Chris Nel-
sen, a farmer in Custer County ; Arthur H. is a farmer and owns the old
home place in Saunders County ; and Charles J. is also a farmer in Saun
ders County.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 657
Christian J. Christensen was reared to the sturdy discipline of the
pioneer farm and acquired his early education in the rural schools of
Saunders County. He continued his active association with farm indus
try until 1911, and in the meanwhile had become the owner of one of
the excellent farms of Saunders County. In the year ' mentioned he
removed to Kansas, where he continued in the employ of a hardware com
pany until 1914, when he came to Fremont and assumed charge of
the business of the Farmers' Union Co-operative Association's business,
of which he has since been the efficient manager, the concern basing its
operations on a capital of $50,000, and its functions including the han
dling of grain, flour, feed, farm implements, etc.
Mr. Christensen is independent in politics and supports men and
measures meeting the approval of his judgment. He is affiliated with
the Woodmen of the World and he and his wife are members of the
Methodist Episcopal Church.
In 1895 Mr. Christensen was united in marriage to Miss Anna Bar
nett, who was born in the state of Illinois, and they have four children :
Ethel is the wife of Forrest Booth, of Fremont; Elnora is the wife of
Owen Pease, of this city; and Goldie and Lloyd remain at the parental
home, the former having attended a business college and being a com
petent stenographer.
Hon. Waldo Wintersteen. The dignity of the law is ably upheld
by the jurists of Nebraska, who, both individually and as a body, exem
plify the admirable results of long and careful training, wide and varied
experience, contact with men and affairs, and the responsibility of grave
duties. It is not an exaggeration to say that the very life of this coun
try rests upon the intelligence and incorruptibility of the bench. Like
many other sections of the state, Dodge County has been fortunate in
its jurists, and one of them who is held in high esteem and is recognized
as a man fully capable of sustaining this regard with dignified capability
is Judge Waldo Winstersteen, county judge of Dodge County.
Judge Wintersteen was born at Harrisonville, Meigs County, Ohio,
on February 1, 1864, a son of James H. and Mahala (Dunlap) Winter
steen, who, leaving Ohio in 1871, came West to Nebraska and home
steaded in Saunders County, but after about eleven years on this farm
sold it and moved to Fremont, where the father followed his trade.
He and his wife had ten children, but only four of them survive, namely :
Elizabeth, who is Mrs. Wittman, a widow of Chicago, Illinois ; Mary,
who is Mrs. Lyon, a widow of Buffalo, New York; Judge Wintersteen;
and Mrs. J. M. Shively of Fremont, her husband being the traveling
representative for the Union Pacific Railroad at that city. The parents
were active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. During the
period antedating the war between the North and the South, the father
was an abolition democrat and conducted one of the "stations" of the
"Underground Railroads." For a number of years he served as post
master at Harrisonville, and his integrity and fitness for office were so
universally conceded that, although of a different political faith, Presi
dent Lincoln continued him in office, and he was still its incumbent when
he resigned in order to go West.
Judge Wintersteen grew up in a household governed according to
high principles, and while he was attending the district schools, he was
at the same time learning to be a patriotic citizen and good man. He
later attended school at Wahoo, Fremont and Lincoln, in the intervals
between school terms, working on Nebraska farms and breaking the

658 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
prairie sod with a hand plow drawn by oxen. Coming to Fremont in
1882, the future distinguished jurist acquired a speaking acquaintance
with the general public as a clerk in a mercantile establishment owned
by Ben Davidson, and, although his ambitions soared above his occupa
tion, he gave satisfaction, for his is a nature which will not rest content
with anything but the best of service. During the winter of 1882 he
was employed by the Hammond Printing Company, and later he engaged
in house painting, and then in the spring of 1884 he entered upon a new
phase of life, for he then became a range rider in northwestern Nebraska,
and remained there as such for two years, returning to Fremont in 1886,
and then, after a brief period, went to Wymore, Nebraska, and spent
six months at that point closing out a stock of goods. Once more he
came back to Fremont, which he regarded as his home, and once more
sold goods over the counter.
During all of this period he had been making friends and impressing
people with his reliability, and in 1887 he was elected constable, thus
beginning his connection with the enforcement of the law, and discharged
the duties of that position for four years. He was also deputy sheriff
under Sheriff J. P. Mallon. From early youth he had cherished an ambi
tion, but it was years before he found the time and opportunity to indulge
it, but finally he was able to begin the study of law, with N. H. Bell
as his preceptor, and in 1895 was admitted to the bar. However, in the
meanwhile, in 1893, his fellow citizens elected him to the office of justice
of the peace, and he held it until 1897, and that same year he was hon
ored by election to the office of county judge of Dodge County and
served for four years. A vacancy occurring, Judge Wintersteen was
appointed, in 1913, to fill the unexpired term, was again elected, and
has been re-elected to succeed himself twice, without opposition, and is
the present incumbent of this high pffice.
On June 3, 1893, Judge Wintersteen was married to Grace Palmer,
born at Spirit Lake, Iowa, and they have one daughter, Ruth, who is
a graduate of the Fremont High School, and now one of the popular
public school-teachers of her native city. She prepared herself for her
entry into the educational field by taking a special course at the National
Kindergarten School at Chicago, Illinois, and is a very accomplished
young lady. Judge and Mrs. Wintersteen and their daughter are all
members of the Fremont Methodist Episcopal Church, and are recognized
as valuable adjuncts to it. Judge Wintersteen is a Mason, Modern
Woodman, Highlander, and a member of the order of Ben Hur. Always
active in politics as a democrat, in 1912 he was one of the presidential
electors to ballot in the electoral college, being the first elector of his
political faith sent from Nebraska. His election was owing to his per
sonal popularity for he ran way ahead of his ticket. Although he retains
his interest in politics, he is now devoting all of his time to the duties
of his office, which are very onerous owing to the fact that the business
of it has doubled within the past five years.
Judge Wintersteen comes of a long-lived family as his father lived
to be ninety-two years of age, dying on May 16, 19l3, his mother having
passed away in June, 1903, when she was a venerable lady. The funda
mental gauge by means of which men are judged and their value to their
community estimated at its true figure, is after all not a spectacular one,
but rather is it formulated from the effects of a man's everyday life,
and the methods he employs for enriching his generation, and the part
he plays in the economic and intellectual development of his community.
Measured by such a gauge, Judge Wintersteen is easily one of the most

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 659
important men of Dodge County, aside from the remarkable service
which he has rendered in the several offices which he has held, and his
name will always be connected with all that is progressive and sound
during the period he has been placed in a position of authority.
Roland G. Allen. This representative and honored citizen of Blair,
Washington County, has been distinctively the architect of his own for
tunes, has been true and loyal in all the relations of life and stands as
a type of that sterling manhood which ever commands respect and honor.
He is a man who would have won his way in any locality where fate
might have placed him, for he has sound judgment, coupled with great
energy and business tact, together with upright principles, all of which
make for success wherever and whenever they are rightly and persistently
applied. By reason of these principles he has won and retained a host
of friends throughout the county of his residence.
R. G. Allen is a native son of Washington County and was born on
December 20, 1880. He is the son of A. T. and Mary E. (Lamb) Allen,
the former a native, of Ohio and the latter of Kentucky. They both
came to Washington in early life and their marriage occurred here.
A. T. Allen's residence here dates from 1868 and he followed farming
here during all of his active years, being successful in his efforts, but
in 1907 he sold his farm and moved to Blair, where he and his wife are
now living. They are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church and
in political affairs he gives his support to the democratic party. They
became the parents of four children, three sons and a daughter, as fol
lows: Charles R., who is connected with the. firm of Cox, Jones and Van
Alstine Company, at Omaha, Nebraska ; Roland G, of this sketch, is
next in order of birth ; Leora died at the age of twenty-seven years ;
A. Clyde is a rural mail carrier and lives at Blair.
R. G. Allen received his educational training in the public schools
and the Fremont Normal School. He remained on his father's farm
until he was twenty-one years old, when he became connected with the
grain elevator business, serving for two years as manager of an elevator
at Herman, Washington County. Then for several years he was in
the Plateau State Bank at Herman, and in 1913 he was appointed
deputy county treasurer, serving in that position until he was elected
county treasurer in 1916. He proved to be eminently qualified for that
position and in 1918 he was again elected to the office and is its present
incumbent. In this responsible position Mr. Allen has demonstrated
business ability of the highest order and his official record has been
universally commended by the voters of the county which he serves.
On November 12, 1910, Mr. Allen was married to Mabel Lowe,
who was born in Tekamah, Burt County, and they are the parents of
a daughter, Harriett, who is now a student in the public schools. In
their religious faith Mr. and Mrs. Allen are affiliated with the Baptist
Church and in politics Mr. Allen is a strong supporter of the republican
party. Fraternally, he is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted
Masons, in which he has attained to the degrees of the Royal Arch.
While living at Herman he was secretary of the Blue Lodge and also
served as clerk of the village. He and his wife are members of the
Order of the Eastern Star. Mr. Allen is a man of likable personality,
possessing to a marked degree the characteristics which beget esteem,
confidence and friendship, and because of his success in both private and
public business affairs he is entitled to specific mention in a work of
the character of the one in hand.

660 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Ira M. Williams. Having accomplished a satisfactory work as an
agriculturist, and acquired a competency to live on, Ira M. Williams,
of Fremont, is taking life easy at the pleasant home which he erected,
in 1917, at 247 East Military Avenue, where he is enjoying to the
utmost the well-merited reward of his long continued, unremitting, but
remunerative toil. A son of the late Milton Williams, he was born in
Woodford County, Illinois, in 1862. His grandfather, Benjamin Wil
liams, migrated from Ohio to Illinois in pioneer days, and having taken
up government land, cleared and improved a homestead.
Milton Williams was a life-long resident of Illinois, always claiming
the Prairie State as his home. Joining the gold seekers in 1849, he
went to California, and as a miner in the gold fields made money and
spent it. When returning to Illinois, he walked across the Isthmus of
Panama and subsequently made the trip home by way of Cape Horn.
Resuming" his former employment, he was engaged in tilling the soil
until his death, in 1873, at a comparatively early age. He married Cor
delia De Long, who was born in Illinois, and is now residing in Fremont,
Nebraska. He was a democrat in politics, and his wife belongs to the
Methodist Episcopal Church. Of the three children born of their mar
riage, Ira M. is the only one now living.
Acquiring his elementary education in the country schcools of Illi
nois,. Ira M. Williams, who was left fatherless at a tender age, came
to Nebraska in 1876, and spent a few months in Dodge County before
going back to Illinois. In 1880, responding to the lure of the West, he
returned to Dodge County, and having bought a tract of wild land, began
its improvement. Successful in his operations, he bought, as he had
means and opportunity, until now he has large and valuable landed inter
ests in and around Dodge County, being one of the wealthy and promi
nent agriculturists of the county. He rents his land, receiving a good
annual income, and makes his home in Fremont.
Mr. Williams married, in 1890, Phoebe Scholtz, who was born in
Saunders County, Nebraska, where her father, John Scholtz, home
steaded, and on the farm, which he improved, resided until his death.
Mr. and Mrs. Williams have one child, Andrew Williams, who assists
his father in caring for his different farms. He is married, and has
one son, Howard Williams, who is a great favorite of his grandparents.
Mr. Williams is ia democrat in politics and a member of the Ancient
Free and Accepted Order of Masons.
John Henry Monke was a pioneer in Washington County, possess
ing the stalwart enterprise and robust energy necessary to successful
achievement in a section which half a century ago gave its rewards only
after strenuous toil and exertion. Those who enjoy the prosperity of
the twentieth century are under a constant debt of gratitude to such men
as John Henry Monke.
He was born in Westphalia, Germany, March 21, 1830, and lived
in the fatherland until well on towards middle age. He married Freder-
icka Tappe in 1855 and their five children were born in the fatherland.
However earnest he was about his business,. Mr. Monke could see only
meager prospects for himself and the children growing up about him,
and therefore about the year 1869 he and his wife, accompanied by
their children, started for America, landing in New Orleans. A boat
carried them up the Mississippi to St. Louis, and after about a month's
visit with relatives in that city they went on up the Missouri River to
Omaha. Leaving the river, they settled in the community of Fontanelle

MR. AND MRS. JOHN HENRY MONKE

z Si

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 661
in Washington County, and during the first year John Henry Monke
rented land from Miss Mary Kimberlain. He next strained his resources
to purchase eighty acres of land at ten dollars an acre and that was
the beginning and nucleus of the generous accumulations of land and
other property which he built up during his lifetime. He lived on the
farm until 1902 and saw his acreage and his herds of livestock increase
and prosper until at one time he owned 1400 acres. When he left the
farm he retired to Fontanelle and, honored and respected by all who
knew him, he passed away December 12, 1916, at the venerable age of
eighty-six. His wife had died January 29, 1905, aged seventy-seven.
Both were very devout Lutherans, attending church at Fontanelle.
After acquiring American citizenship, Mr. Monke voted as a republican.
He lived in Washington County over forty-five years and well repaid
his debt to America's opportunities by his constructive labors in devel
oping farms from waste land, and by discharging his varied responsibil
ities to home and community. He and his wife were the parents of
five children : Anna, who died in 1877, wife Of Rev. Henry Sohl ; Chris
tian, who died in infancy; Hannah, \yho died January 21, 1883, wife
of John Sohl, now a California fruit farmer at Napa; Sadie is the
widow of Carl Mengedoht of Washington County ; and the youngest and
only living son is Henry S. Monke, a sketch of whose career follows :
Henry S. Monke. Farming and stock raising, real estate and
other interests have given Henry S. Monke a broad field of action and
of service during his many years of residence in Washington and Dodge
counties. He was brought to the Fontanelle community as an infant
and has witnessed practically all the changes in this community for half
a century. Mr. Monke was born in Westphalia, Germany, April 1, 1869, and
was only six months old when he came to America with his parents,
Mr. and Mrs. John Henry Monke. The pioneer story of his honored
father is told on preceding pages. Henry S. Monke acquired his educa
tion in the local district schools of Washington County and also took
the commercial and normal course in Fremont College. He laid the
foundation of his success as a farmer and stock raiser, an occupation
continued until 1906, when he entered the real estate business at Fon
tanelle. He has all the qualifications to make an expert judge of real
estate values, and has made this knowledge of direct advantage to a
large clientage. Besides his beautiful modern home in Fontanelle he
and Mrs. Monke own about twelve hundred acres of valuable farm
land in Washington and Dodge counties. This land is operated by ten
ants and renters, and without deviation from strict commercial princi
ples he has managed his property interests in a way to benefit the entire
community. Mr. Monke is- a very popular citizen, active in Masonry, having
attained the thirty-second degree in Scottish Rite and is a member of
the Council Degrees of York Rite. Politically, he is a republican and
is a member of the Central Committee at Fontanelle. He and all the
members of his family are active members of the Lutheran Church.
Mr. Monke has had a very happy home life. March 10, 1896, he mar
ried Miss Lena Ruwe of Fremont. They have two children : Anna May,
born May 8, 1900, now a student in Midland College at Fremont; and
Luther, born December 1, 1902, also attending Midland College.

662 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Christian Christensen. A prominent, honored and highly esteemed
resident of Fremont, Christian Christensen, now retired from business
pursuits, has had a varied experience in life and can tell many a thrilling
tale of pioneer and frontier hardships, perils, and of labors crowned with
success. He was born, February 23, 1847, in Denmark, where his par
ents, Christen and Sophia Rasmessen, spent their entire lives.
Prior to his marriage, Christen Rasmessen was a sailor, and in that
capacity visited nearly every country on the globe. After marrying, he
was engaged in farming and gardening to a considerable extent, and
likewise carried on a good business as a fisherman. To him and his
wife four children were born, as follows : Rasmus, who immigrated to
Nebraska in 1879, took up a homestead claim in Saunders County, and
was there engaged in farming until his death, December 11, 1919; Julius,
located in Saunders County, this state,, in 1880, is there employed in
tilling the soil ; Christian, of this sketch ; and a son that died in Denmark.
Both parents were members of the Lutheran Church.
Acquiring his education in his native land, Christian Christensen was
graduated from the church, or parochial, school, under the supervision
of the minister. At the age of eighteen years (1865), impressed by the
Stories regarding the vast wealth and magnificent resources of the
United States, he immigrated to Brown County, Wisconsin, where he
worked as a farm' laborer for six months. Going in the fall of that
year to Chicago, he found employment at the carpenter's and cabinet
maker's trade, and in that capacity not only laid one of the first planks
in the Stockyards, but assisted in the construction of the water works.
Coming to Nebraska in 1867, Mr. Christensen continued at the car
penter's trade, although he had learned that of a miller in his native
country, and as an employe of the Union Pacific Railroad Company
worked for some time on the bridges between Grand Island and North
Platte. Later, working for the Government, he helped build the bar
racks at Omaha. During the Indian massacre he was working on the
railroad at Lexington, where all the trainmen were killed excepting the
conductor and an Englishman, who was left on the field for dead but
who recovered from his wounds. Mr. Christensen went to the railway
terminus, Cheyenne, where he assisted in the building of a windmill,
being all of the time harassed by the Indians, who were on the war-path.
Locating in Fremont, Dodge County, in 1874, Mr. Christensen fol
lowed his trade a short time, and in 1879 erected his beautiful home
at 306 East Fifth- Street. The ensuing year, in 1880, he put up a
large store building on Main Street, and having laid in a complete stock
of choice groceries, was there actively and prosperously engaged in mer
cantile pursuits for thirty-four consecutive years. Retiring from active
business in 1911, he has since kept busily employed in looking after his
personal affairs, as he has large property interests in Fremont, and is
a director and one of the organizers and the first vice president of the
Commercial National Bank, which office he still holds, and also one of the
organizers of the Home Savings Bank and a director in same.
An active and influential member of the democratic party, intelligently
interested in local matters, Mr. Christensen has never shirked the respon
sibilities of public office, but has rendered able and appreciated service as
a member of the City Council, as city treasurer,, and as mayor, a posi
tion that he filled one term. Fraternally, he is a member of the Inde
pendent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he has passed all of the chairs
included in its different branches, and is a charter member of Fremont
Lodge No. 514, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He also
belongs to the Country Club.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 663
On November 27, 1869, Mr. Christensen was united in marriage
with Marie Paulsen, who was born in Denmark and was there educated.
Her father, Nels P. Paulsen, came to the United States from Denmark
in 1863, locating in Omaha, where he was employed as a gardener for
a year and a half, although he had been a miller in his native country.
Subsequently buying land in Washington County, Nebraska, he was
there engaged in farming for eighteen years. Retiring then from active
pursuits, he moved with his family to Fremont, where both he and his
wife spent their remaining days. They had but three children in their
family, as follows: Mary, widow of John Hansen, lives in Blair, this
state ; Christina, wife of Christ Holstein, a farmer, living near Blair ;
and Mrs. Christensen. Eight children have been born of the marriage
of Mr. and Mrs. Christensen, namely: Josephine Johnson, of Omaha;
Nora, wife of Charles Kilpatrick, now assistant manager Lee Coyt
Andreesen Hardware Company, Omaha; Emma, who married Edward
Mills, died at the early age of thirty-one years; Walter, a banker at
Norfolk, Nebraska; Arthur, vice president of the First National Bank
of Fremont; Mabel, wife of John A. Ryan, a successful attorney of
Omaha; Bessie, wife of Grover Spangler, a jeweler in Fremont; and
Eddie, who lived but four short years.
Frank Hammond, of Fremont, president of the Fremont Manufac
turing Company, president of the Hammond Printing Company, and
president of the Equitable Building and Loan Asssociation, is one of the
most prominent and representative business men of Dodge County, and
a responsible factor in the life of his city. He was born in Marshall
County, Iowa, a son of George and Jane (Leech) Hammond, both
of whom were of Quaker stock, and migrated to Iowa from Ohio at an
early day in the history of the former state.
Until 1879 Frank Hammond remained in his native state and there
acquired a knowledge of men and affairs which enabled him, when in
that year he came to Fremont, Nebraska, to assume at once a com
manding position in the newspaper field as publisher of the weekly
Tribune in partnership with his brother, Ross Hammond. Out joi
this partnership grew the present Hammond Printing Company, although
before the present name was adopted the business had become George
Hammond & Son, pf which Frank Hammond was the junior member.
In addition to a large jobbing business the Hammond Printing Company
publish the Fremont Tribune, issuing a daily, the circulation of which
approximates 10,000. A force of 100 people are required to carry on
the business, and this company is the largest individual concern in Fre
mont. Frank Hammond was elected president of this company in Jan
uary, 1920, his associates in this company being: Ray W. Hammond,
vice president and general manager ; Lucius R. Hammond, secretary ;
and Walter B. Reynolds, treasurer, and these gentlemen, together with
Harvey C. Kendall, constitute the board of directors. The last named,
Mr. Kendall, is in charge of the advertising department, and he and
Lucius R. Hammond are new additions to the official force. Frank
Hammond is also editor-in-chief of the Tribune and divides his time
between this company and the other organizations with which he is
connected. He assisted in developing the Hammond-Stephens Company, of which
he was treasurer, but from which he has since retired, which was organ
ized for the purpose of carrying school supplies for a large territory
adjacent to Fremont, and this company is in a very flourishing condi
tion under the present sole ownership of Dan V. Stephens.

664 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Another of the leading concerns of Fremont which owes its existence
to Mr. Hammond's organizing ability is the Fremont Manufacturing
Company, formerly the Sure Hatch Incubator Company, of which
Mr. Hammond is now president. This concern was first located at
Clay Center, but in 1906 was brought to Fremont and at that time the
plant was greatly enlarged, a new building being erected with floor
space of over 100,000 square feet, and a capacity of 50,000 incubators
annually. The company's products also include family refrigerators, ice
cream cabinets, chocolate, vegetable and grocers' refrigerators. The
last named features are put out under the name of the Crystal Refrig
erator Company. Employment is given to 100 persons and the products
are sold all over the world.
Essentially a man of large affairs, Mr. Hammond has extended his
activities to include membership with the Fremont Commercial Club,
which he served as president in 1913, during which year he was also
secretary of the Board of Public Works, in the latter capacity having
supervision of all of the public improvements made in Fremont for a
period of fifteen years.
The children born to Mr. Hammond and his wife are as follows :
Ray, who is manager and vice president of the Hammond Printing Com
pany; Mary Roberta, who married A. G. Christenson of the First
National Bank of Fremont; Earl, who is treasurer of the Fremont
Manufacturing Company; Lucius R., who is secretary of the Hammond
Printing Company; and Everette, who is with the Fremont Manufac
turing Company.
Mr. HammOnd has possessed the strength of will and caliber of brain
which have made it possible for him to forge ahead and accomplish
results which would have been impossible to a man less generously
endowed. He is so many-sided in his abilities, so catholic in his sym
pathies, so deep in his understanding of human nature, that his friends
are included in every rank of life. From the time he located perma
nently at Fremont he has been called into counsel by the best elements,
and is recognized as an authority on public questions.
Herman Petersen is another of Dodge County's sterling citizens
who can claim Denmark as the place of his nativity, and he has main
tained his residence at Fremont since 1901 and who now controls a
large and prosperous business as a merchant tailor and as a dealer in
men's furnishing goods, with a trade of notably representative order.
Mr. Petersen was born in Denmark on the 10th of July, 1878, and is
a son of Herman and Cina Petersen, the former of whom passed his
entire life in his native land, where his widow still maintains her home,
she being a devout communicant of the Lutheran Church as was he also.
The father was a merchant in Denmark for a long term of years and
continued his association with this business until his death.
The only child of his parents, Herman Petersen, Jr., was afforded
the advantages of the excellent schools of his native land, where also
he served a thorough apprenticeship to the tailor's trade, at which he
became a skilled workman. He continued to work at his trade in Den
mark Until 1901, when, at the age of twenty-three years, he came to
America, where he felt assured of better opportunities for winning
independence and success in connection with business. He first settled
at Emmettsburg, Iowa, but before the close of the year 1901 he came
to Fremont, Nebraska, where he found employment at his trade and
soon established a reputation for technical ability therein. In 1906 he

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 665
expanded his field of activity by opening a small store and installing a
stock of men's furnishing goods. The success which attended the new
venture has been cumulative, and in connection with his substantial
merchant-tailoring business he now conducts a prosperous enterprise
based on his large and select stock of furnishing goods for men. Artistic
draping and workmanship in the production of men's clothing and also
high grade tailored suits for women have enabled him to gain a spe
cially representative list of patrons in this department of his business,
and he has secured place as one of the leading merchant tailors of Dodge
County. Mr. Petersen is known as a reliable and progressive business
man and as a loyal and appreciative citizen of the land of his adoption,
while he has a wide circle of friends in his home city and county. In
the Masonic fraternity he has received the chivalric degrees as a member
of the local commandery of Knights Templar, besides being affiliated
with the Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine and
with Fremont Lodge, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. His
political allegiance is given to the republican party.
In 1907 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Petersen to Miss Ida
Larsen, who was born and reared at Fremont, a daughter of Louis
Larsen, a prosperous retired farmer of this city. Mr. and Mrs. Petersen
have three chilren, whose names and respective ages, in 1920, are here
noted ; Ralph, twelve years ; Marjorie, eight years ; and Louis, six years.
Benjamin E. Krajicek, D. D. S. The dental profession is well
represented at Scribner, Nebraska, and one of its leading members is
Dr. Benjamin E. Krajicek, who devotes his entire time to his practice
which, on account of his professional knowledge and skill, has grown
to large proportions in a comparatively short period.
Doctor Krajicek was born in 1894, at Atkinson, Nebraska. His parents
were Frank and Mary Krajicek, natives of Bohemia, in Europe, from
which section they came to the United States many years ago. With
others of their countrymen, they settled in Colfax County, Nebraska,
where the father homesteaded, but, on account of unusual hardships
and fears of Indian attacks, did not prove up. He removed to Atchison,
in Holt County, where he operated a flour mill for a time, later taking
his family to Arlington, in Washington County, where he worked on
the railroad as a section foreman. He was an honest, hard-working man
all his life and a faithful Catholic. His death occurred at Arlington,
in 1913. The brothers and sisters of Doctor Krajicek are as follows : Stephen
A., who is a civil engineer with a construction company at Greybull,
Wyoming; Amy, who is the wife of C. N. Cook, a farmer near Arling
ton, Nebraska; Mary, who is the wife of Ross Marshall, a farmer near
Arlington ; Bessie, who teaches school near Fremont ; Louis, who works
for his brother-in-law, C. N. Cook ; Joe, who is a mail carrier at Arling
ton ; Frank, who operates a hotel at Reno, Nevada ; and Julia, who is
the wife of E. J. Christenson, an oil operator at Greybull, Wyoming.
The mother of the above family survives and resides at Arlington. The
father was insured in the Bankers Reserve Life Insurance Company,
showing that he was a prudent man, belonged to the Modern Woodmen
of America, and voted with the republican party.
In boyhood Doctor Krajicek attended the public schools, and in 1913
was graduated from the Arlington High school, shortly afterward enter
ing the Lincoln Dental College, from which he was graduated in 1917.
He immediately opened an office at Scribner and is very firmly estab-
Vol. II— 14

666 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
lished in the confidence of the people. He belongs to the new school
of dental practitioners, whose scientific work precedes that of the physi
cian, in many cases making that of the latter entirely unnecessary.. He
has a well located and thoroughly equipped office.
Doctor Krajicek was married in 1918 to Miss Mable Hrabak, of
Bohemian ancestry, but born and reared in Nebraska, her people having
settled in Dodge County. They are members of the Catholic Church.
Doctor Krajicek belongs to the Royal Highlanders, the Omaha Life
insurance Company, the Business Men's Accident Association and
retains membership in his old dental college fraternity, the Delta Sigma.
He is identified also with the Nebraska State Dental Society.
William Edward Vloch. Energetic and enterprising, full of vim
and push, William Edward Vloch, of Dodge, is prosperously engaged in
mercantile pursuits, as proprietor and manager of the Golden Rule Store,
having built up a highly satisfactory trade, his patrons coming from far
and wide. He was born, December 8, 1890, in Cuming County, being
the fifth child in succession of birth of the ten children born to his par
ents, Vaclav and Mary Vloch, who came from Bohemia to Nebraska,
and now, retired from agricultural pursuits, are living in Dodge.
Acquiring his preliminary education in the district schools, William
Edward Vloch completed his studies at the Fremont Normal School.
Although brought up on a farm, he didn't take, kindly to agricultural
work, and soon after leaving school entered the employ of his brother
Joe, a general merchant, with whom he remained as a clerk for twelve
years. On June 26, 1918, having obtained not only valuable experience,
but a practical insight into the modern ways of business, Mr. Vloch pur
chased his brother's interest in the Golden Rule Store, which he has
since successfully managed, retaining its old customers and adding many
new ones each season.
Mr. Vloch married, in November, 1913, Edna Yunek, and they have
one child, Wilman. In his political relations Mr. Vloch is a steadfast
republican. Ludwig Uehling. A member of that old and substantial family
of Uehlings who from pioneer days to the present have been decided
factors in the agriculture, business and civic affairs of Dodge and Wash
ington counties, Ludwig Uehling has applied his efforts almost entirely
to farming, and in that vocation has achieved most substantial success,
at the same time winning the confidence and trust of his home com-
' munity. His farm and home are in section 10 of Logan Township.
Mr. Uehling was born near Hooper in Washington County Novem
ber 8, 1865, a son of Theodore Uehling, a prominent pioneer for whom
the town of Uehling was named. A sketch of Theodore Uehling and
family is found on other pages. Ludwig Uehling attended some of the
pioneer schools of eastern Nebraska, but the best lessons were those he
learned by practical contact with the land and with men. He was
strong, self-reliant and ambitious and soon after reaching manhood had
acquired some lands for himself. He married at the age of thirty, and
since then has given a quarter of a century to the general farming and
stockraising. He has always favored good stock, and his efforts have
served to advance the standards of livestock in his section. His farm
contains a herd of ten registered Holstein cattle. He also keeps a good
grade of horses. His farm represents a growing business and a sub
stantial degree of prosperity, all of which has been won from a very
modest start.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 667
In a public way he has served his township as treasurer two years
and for many years as treasurer of the school board. In politics he
is a republican.
In 1895 Mr. Uehling married a daughter of Henry von Seggerson.
To their marriage have been born five children: Mrs. Alma Osterlow,
Edna, Orvel, Windsor and Kenneth.
Fred A. Herfurth. One of the first-class examples of the self-
reliant man who has made his own way in the world is Fred A. Herfurth,
a successful contractor and owner of a planing mill at Fremont. He
was born at Madison, Wisconsin, on June 14, 1868, a son of August
and Ida (Dienald) Herfurth, both natives of Germany, who came to
Wisconsin at an early day and were there married, and became the
parents of five children, four of whom survive, namely : Millie, who
married Earl Brink of Grand Island, Nebraska ; Mrs. Alma Leberman,
who is a widow, of Fremont; Fred A., who was third in order of
birth; and Max, who is a carriage trimmer, living at Fremont. The
parents were members of the Congregational Church. In politics the
father was a democrat. By trade he was a gunsmith and he worked
at his trade at Madison, Wisconsin, and at Fremont, Nebraska, to which
city he moved when Fred A. Herfurth was a child, and here he died
in 1884, but his widow survives him and lives at Grand Island.
Fred A. Herfurth attended the public schools of Fremont, and was
graduated from its high school course in 1894. Beginning his appren
ticeship in boyhood, Fred A. Herfurth learned the carpenter trade and
has always worked at it, developing into a contractor, and has done con
siderable building in and about Fremont. In 1907 he established a
planing mill that he sold to W. R. Reckmeyer, and in 1913 built another
mill that he is still conducting in conjunction with his contract work.
In his mill Mr. Herfurth makes fixtures of all kinds used in woodwork,
and his product is in great demand. A skilled workman himself, he
will not accept anything but first-class work and is noted for his faith
fulness in living up to the specifications of his contracts.
In March, 1913, Mr. Herfurth was married to Lena Haverfield,
born in Illinois. They have no children. Both Mr. and Mrs. Herfurth
are members of the Congregational Church and active in all of its local
organizations. While he exercises his right of suffrage Mr. Herfurth
does not give much time to politics as his business cares are exacting,
but he is interested in the progress of Fremont and willing to give his
support to those measures which will result in practical results and
not waste the people's money.
George F. Staats. A prominent and prosperous dealer in farm
lands and city property, George F. Staats, of Fremont, is actively iden
tified with a large and highly profitable industry, being one of the most
extensive dealers in realty to be found in this section of Dodge County,
he and his partner, Henry C. Dahl, having won a large patronage. A
son of the late Jeremiah F. Staats, he was born, June 12, 1866, in Taze
well County, Illinois, where his childhood days were spent.
Jeremiah F. Staats was born near Boundbrook, New Jersey, where
his father, Peter Staats, was a life-long resident. Learning the brick
layer and stone mason's trade, he followed it in his native state until
1858, when he migrated to Illinois, where he lived for fifteen years.
Coming from there to Nebraska in 1873, he bought, in Saunders County,
railroad land, giving five dollars an acre for the tract, and on the farm

668 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
that he improved resided until his death in 1898. Successful in his
undertakings, he added by purchase to his original homestead, which is
now owned by his son George, increasing its area to 400 acres. His
wife, whose maiden name was Mary E. Hoagland, was born in Bound-
brook, New Jersey, and died in Nebraska in 1903. Of the six children
born to their union, four are living, as follows: Mrs. W. J. Harmon,
of Fremont, whose husband is a retired farmer; Charles, of Omaha,
accountant for the Woodmen of the World; Louis C, of Central City,
Nebraska, a real estate agent; and George F., of whom we write. The
father was a republican in politics, and a member of the Dutch Reformed
Church. The mother, who inherited the religious faith of her father,
Christian Hoagland, was a member of the Congregational Church.
After his graduation from the Fremont Normal School in 1888,
George F. Staats turned his attention to agriculture, and for twenty
years was prosperously engaged in general farming. Wisely investing
a part of his annual profits in other tracts of land, Mr. Staats now has
title to upwards of a thousand acres, a large part of which is under
culture. On January 20, 1911, he took up his residence in Fremont,
and has since dealt extensively in real estate, making a specialty han
dling farm lands and farm loans, branches of business with which he
is familiar; and for which he is amply qualified both by knowledge and
by experience.
Mr. Staats married, in March, 1891, in Fremont, Nellie Sanderson,
who was born in Utica, New York, where her father, William Sander
son, was an early settler. Three children have blessed their union,
namely : Roy, living in Fremont ; Ruby, a teacher in the Fremont schools ;
and Mabel, attending school. A stanch republican in politics, Mr. Staats
has held several township offices, and in 1917 was elected as a represen
tative to the State Legislature. Fraternally, he is conspicuously iden
tified with the Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons, belonging
to Blue Lodge, Chapter, Council, Commandery, and to the Shrine, and is
a member of the Knights of Pythias, in which he has passed all the
chairs. Both Mr. and Mrs. Staats are faithful and valued members of
the Presbyterian Church. During the World war Mr. Staats took an
active part in the drive for bonds, and was active in Red Cross work,
giving generously of his time and money.
James C. Robertson. A representative citizen of Dodge County
who actively engaged in farm pursuits for many years, is James C.
Robertson, capitalist, who is well known in business circles at Fremont,
where he is interested in developing valuable property. Mr. Robertson
has been a resident of Dodge County since he was fifteen years of age,
found his business opportunity here, through thrift and industry built
up an ample fortune and is held in high esteem by those who have
known him for almost forty years.
James C. Robertson was born in Ayreshire, Scotland, June 22, 1866.
His parents were Robert and Elizabeth (Wilson) Robertson, natives
of Scotland, who came to Dodge County, Nebraska, in 1881, and both
died here. They had the following children : Hugh, who was an early
homesteader in Dodge County, died in 1916; Robert, who is a cabinet
maker by trade, still lives in Scotland; William, who is foreman in a
copper mill at Butte, Montana; Jane, who .is the wife of John Fer
guson, who owns a cattle ranch in Blaine County, Nebraska ; and James
C, wbo resides at 350 East Tenth Street, Fremont.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 669
James C. Robertson was reared on a farm but had excellent educa
tional advantages in Perth Academy, near Glasgow. Although he was
compelled to borrow his passage money to America, he insisted on accom
panying his parents and after reaching Nebraska proved very helpful to
his father. Before very long he had cancelled his indebtedness and then
set himself to the task of honestly acquiring land of his own. Like other
settlers of thirty or more years ago, Mr. Robertson found many hard
ships to contend with, but he persevered and finally owned a large farm
which he cultivated and improved, making it so valuable a property
that when he decided to remove to Fremont in 1918, he was able to sell
it for $50,000. He still owns about 600 acres in Nebraska and Colo
rado, together with valuable realty at Fremont.
On January 27, 1893, Mr. Robertson was united in marriage to Miss
Nellie Hastings, who was born in Illinois. Her father, A. J. Hastings,
now an octogenarian, resides in California. Mr. and Mrs. Robertson
have had the following children: Anson, who was in military training
at Cariip Custer, during the World war, is connected with a mercantile
establishment at Webster, Nebraska; Margaret, who fills a clerical posi
tion in a business house at Fremont; Bessie, who is a school teacher;
Fred, who is a student in the Fremont High School; and Walter S.,
who died of influenza in November, 1918.
After coming to Fremont, Mr. Robertson bought property and is
now having three lots near his home improved with buildings, occa
sionally doing a little carpenter work, himself. With his family he
belongs to the Presbyterian Church. In politics a republican, he has
served as assessor of the First Ward, at Fremont, and while living on
his farm was long a member of the school board at Webster.
W. F. Hemphill. D. D. S. A well known and successful dentist
of Blair, W. F. Hemphill, D. D. S., is actively identified with one of the
most important branches of surgery, its application being required at
some period of life by almost every member of the human family.
Rapid strides in dentistry have been made in recent years, elevating it
to a distinct science in which America has taken a foremost position,
American methods being used not only in this country, but in countries
across the sea. A son of Theodore Monroe Hemphili, the doctor was
born, August 7, 1892, in Litchfield, Illinois, his boyhood home.
Born and bred in North Carolina, Theodore M. Hemphill obtained
an excellent education and, having adopted a teacher's profession, fol
lowed it successfully as a professor in some of the leading schools of
Illinois and Kansas, his home at the present time being in Belleville,
Kansas. He is a man of sterling worth and ability, highly esteemed in
his community, where he occupies a place of influence. He is a repub
lican in politics, a member of the Woodmen, and belongs to the Pres
byterian Church. He married, in Illinois, Clara Hamilton, who was
born in Boston, Massachusetts, and died in Kansas in 1906. Eight chil
dren were born of their marriage, W. F., of this sketch, being the fourth
child in succession of birth.
Having laid a substantial foundation for his future education in the
public schools, W. F. Hemphill entered the dental department of Creigh
ton University, in. Omaha, Nebraska, and was there graduated with the
class of 1916. Locating in Blair soon after his graduation, Doctor
Hemphill has established a large and rapidly increasing practice, and
won for himself an assured position in the professional, business and
social circles of the city.

670 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
In March, 1917, Doctor Hemphill was united in marriage with Lola
Taylor, a native of Beatrice, Nebraska, and they have one child, Robert.
The doctor is independent in political matters ; a member of the Ancient
Free and Accepted Orders of Masons ; and both he and his wife belong
to the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Andrew Frost. Actively and successfully engaged in the prosecu
tion of a calling upon which the health, wealth and prosperity of our
great nation is in a large measure dependent, Andrew Frost holds a
noteworthy position among the foremost agriculturists of Dodge County,
and is prominent in the public affairs not only of Uehling, his home
town, but of his home district, which he now represents in the State
Legislature. A son of Mats Frost, he was born, January 25, 1862, in
Sweden, the abiding place of his ancestors for many generations.
Born and educated in Sweden, Mats Frost lived in his native land
several years after his marriage. His prospects for earning enough to
support his young and growing family not being very bright, he and
his wife, Carrie, accompanied by their children, immigrated to the United
States in 1865. Locating in Burt County, Nebraska, he homesteaded,
and lived there eighteen months. The results of his labors being unsat
isfactory, he moved to Omaha, and for five years worked in the shops
of the Union Pacific Railroad Company. Resuming his former occupa
tion, he bought land in Dodge County, just west of the present site of
Uehling, and having improved a farm, both he and his wife spent the
remainder or their days thereon, the wife passing away when seventy-six
years old, while he attained the venerable age of ninety-four years. Com
ing to this state while it was still in its primeval condition, Indians being
numerous, though not unfriendly, he lived to see the country well settled
and himself the owner of a good farm well and substantially improved.
To him and his wife five children were born, Andrew having been the
third child in order of birth.
Scarce three years of age when he came with his parents to this
country, Andrew Frost was reared in Nebraska, and while young was
initiated into the mysteries of agriculture, obtaining a practical knowledge
of its various branches. Becoming an agriculturist from choice, he has
since, with the exception of two years spent in Canada, carried on gen
eral farming and stock raising in Nebraska, and in his undertaking have
met with well deserved success. A stanch republican in politics, Mr.
Frost has been active and influential in the public affairs of Uehling,
having served on the town board, the school board, and as justice of
the peace. In January, 1919, he had the honor of being elected to the
State Legislature, where he is performing the duties devolving upon him
ably and faithfully, being ever mindful of the interests, not only of his
constituents, but of town, county and state.
Mr. Frost married, March 17, 1888, Mary Anderson, born July 16,
1869, in Dodge County Nebraska, a daughter of P. Anderson, a retired
farmer, now living in Uehling, and to them five children have been born,
namely : Hubert, an accountant in Duluth, Minnesota, served for eight
months of the World war as a chemist; Irving, of Omaha, also an
accountant, served as an electrician in the United States Army during
the World war ; Carroll, who enlisted in the Coast Artillery during that
war, is now taking a course in art and science at the University of
Nebraska; Emil, who enlisted in the Coast Artillery during the late
war, is now at borne ; and Lewis, also at home.
Mrs. Frost's father, P. Anderson, was born in Sweden March 16,
1843, and at the age of six years was left fatherless. He was brought

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 671
up and educated in his native land. In 1868, accompanied by his sister
and wife, whose maiden name was Carrie Erickson, he immigrated to
the United States. With but $100 to his name, he made his way directly
to Nebraska, coming by rail to Omaha, where he located. He home
steaded, taking up eighty acres of land, and while improving a farm
suffered all the privations and hardships of pioneer life. Markets were
few and far between, and he was forced to go to the Missouri River
for wood, a long day's trip. Succeeding in his labors, he subsequently
added to the extent of his farm by purchasing 160 acres more land, and
continued his agricultural labors until 1908. Retiring from active work
in that year, Mr. Anderson moved to Uehling, where he has a most
pleasant and attractive home. He is a republican and for several years
has been a road overseer.
Eight children have been born of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Ander
son, namely : John Albert, John Frederic and Adolph, all deceased ; Mary
Victoria, wife of Andrew Frost, of this sketch ; Maudie,. wife of Matts
Anderson, engaged in farming in Dodge County; Anna Josephine West-
lin, a widow ; Esther Margaretta, wife of August Westlin ; and Lydia
Caroline, wife of George Monnich.
John B. Van Patten. A prominent and prosperous farmer and
stockman of Dodge County, John B. Van Patten, of Fremont, has
achieved marked success in his agricultural labors, and as a man of sound
judgment and good business ability has acquired property of value,
owning not only rich farming lands, but several pieces of city property,
all of which are paying investments. He was born, December 14, 1866,
in Cayuga County, New York, which was also the birthplace of his par
ents, John A. and Lucinda (Adams) Van Patten. His grandfather,
Peter Van Patten, a native of Albany County, New York, was one of
the early settlers of Cayuga County.
John A. Van Patten was a life-long resident Of his native county,
where he was engaged in tilling the soil. A man of integrity and worth,
he won the respect of the community in which he resided. He was a
republican in politics and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
To him and his good wife four children were born, as follows: Emma,
wife of John Ingersoll, a retired farmer of Cayuga County, New York;
John B. ; George, engaged in farming in Cayuga County ; and Nettie M.,
wife of Charles Wilda, of New York, an extensive land' owner, and a
successful produce dealer.
Acquiring his early education in the rural schools of the Empire
State, John B. Van Patten spent his early life on the home farm, where
he obtained an excellent knowledge of the rudiments of agriculture. In
1886, ere attaining his majority, he decided to try life for himself in
a newer country. Making his way to Dodge County, Nebraska, he
secured a position with W. H. Turner and brother, noted stockmen, and
for fourteen years was employed in driving cattle and sheep across the
plains. Forming then a partnership with Turner Brothers, Mr. Van
Patten assumed the entire charge of the extensive business and in its
management displayed wisdom and ability. When Mr. Van Patten
arrived in Dodge County he had but fifteen dollars to his credit, but
he labored faithfully, was wise in his savings, and prudent in his expend
itures, and soon found himself in comfortable circumstances, with plenty
of work ahead of him, and no financial troubles. Using sound judgment
in his investments, Mr. Van Patten, in partnership with Ira Williams,
owns a magnificent farm near Fremont, and is managing it most sue-

672 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
cessfully. He also owns city property in Fremont, which he has always
claimed as home, his residence at 450 North Bell Street being one of
the most attractive in the community.
Mr. Van Patten married, in 1893, Hannah M. Carruthers, who was
born at White Haven, England, and came to the United States about
thirty-five years ago with her parents. Her father has passed to the
life beyond, but her mother is living, being now a resident of California.
Mr. Van Patten is a steadfast republican in politics, and Mrs. Van
Patten is a member of the Episcopal Church, having never departed
from the faith in which she was reared. They have no children, but
are always interested in advancing the welfare of the younger generation.
Charles Hrabak. Although born on foreign soil, Charles Hrabak,
a well known merchant of Dodge, was brought up and educated in this
country, and in the days of his youth imbibed the respect for American
institutions, and the knowledge and patriotic spirit, that has made him
an honored and valued citizen of the United States. A native of
Europe, he was born, December 28, 1858, in Bohemia, where he lived
as a child.
Crossing the ocean with his parents in 1867, Mr. Hrabak settled
with them in Zama County, Iowa, on August 23d, of that year, and
during the ten years he lived there completed his early education, and
also obtained a good knowledge of the various branches of agriculture.
Migrating to Kansas about 1879, he was there engaged in agricultural
pursuits for five years, and the following three years was similarly
employed in Scribner, Dodge County, Nebraska. On August 23, 1886,
Mr. Hrabak established a store in Dodge, becoming the pioneer merchant
of the town. Having very limited means at his command, he labored
industriously to get a start, among other labors having cut corn in the
fields to get sufficient money to erect a building for his stock of mer
chandise. He succeeded well in his efforts, winning a substantial patron
age, but subsequently sold his business, and is now manager for the
Ryan Company, who have an extensive trade in general merchandise.
Mr. Hrabak married, November 5, 1879, Josephine Hrutka, and of
their union nine children have been born, namely: Julia, Charles,
William, Arthur, Edna, Edward, Carrie, Mabel, and Howard. Arthur
died when two years old, Edna when six months old, Edward at the
age of one year, and Charles died at the age of thirty-six, leaving a
wife and three children. The other children are all married and success
ful. Mr. Hrabak is a sound republican in politics, and has the distinction
of having been a member of the first town board, and of the first school
board of Dodge. Fraternally he is a member of the Modern Woodmen
of America, and of the Woodmen of the World. In religion both
Mr. and Mrs. Hrabak are of the Catholic faith.
G. A. Sweet. An extensive and well-to-do agriculturist of Dodge
County, G. A. Sweet is actively and prosperously engaged in his inde
pendent occupation on one of the most attractive and desirable farms
in Elkhorn Township. Located on section 36, it comprises 360 acres of
fertile land, and, with its comfortable set of buildings, invariably attracts
attention, indicating to the observer the judicious manner in which
the owner has employed his time and means. A son of the late Perry
Sweet, he was born, December 7, 1874, in St. Joseph, Missouri, and there
obtained his elementary education.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 673
Born in Illinois, Perry Sweet grew to man's estate in his native
county, being variously employed. Subsequently migrating to Missouri,
he lived for a time in St. Joseph, from there coming with his wife and
children, in 1889, to Nebraska. Locating in Dodge County, near Fre
mont, he was there engaged in general farming until his death, when but
fifty-four years of age. His widow, Nellie Sweet, survived him, and
now makes her home with one of her sons.
A lad of fifteen years when he came with his parents to Nebraska,
in 1889, G. A. Sweet received an excellent training in the art and science
of agriculture while yet a youth, and found the occupation very con
genial to his tastes. Beginning farming on his own account in 1908,
Mr. Sweet has made wise use of every opportunity to improve his
methods, and advance his interests, as his means increased adding to
his property from time to time. He has 360 acres of well improved land
in his home farm, and also owns 800 acres of land in Colorado. He is
carrying on general farming with very satisfactory results, using the
most approved up-to-date methods, and in addition to tilling his land
is feeding cattle and hogs quite extensively, it being considered a profita
ble branch of agriculture in this state.
Mr. Sweet married, in 1910, at Council Bluffs, Iowa, Miss Phoebe
Johnson, and they have one child, Gretchen Sweet. A straightforward
republican, Mr. Sweet has served as a member of the local school board
for eight years. Fraternally he is a member of the Ancient Free and
Accepted Order of Masons, of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows,
and of the Modern Woodmen of America.
Charles McKennan. Widely known as a prosperous agriculturist,
Charles McKennan is numbered among the citizens of good standing and
high repute of Dodge County, of which he is an honored pioneer, his
farm being located in Elkhorn Township. He was born, in 1858, in
New York State, where his parents, John and Elizabeth McKennan,
were life-long residents.
Born, bred and educated in the Empire State, Charles McKennan
remained an inmate of the parental household until attaining his majority.
In 1879, following the advice of Horace Greeley, who said "Go West,
young man," he came to Nebraska, locating in Dodge County in pioneer
days, when the now flourishing' City of Fremont was a mere hamlet,
with no indication of its present prosperity. The good roads hereabout
were then but pathways, comparatively ; Indians were numerous ; and
wild game of all kinds was abundant, furnishing an ample supply of
food for the family larder. Mr. McKennan bought land at $5 an acre
soon after his arrival, but deciding it was not worth the money relin
quished it. He afterwards bought land in section 26, Elkhorn Town
ship, and by persevering industry and good management has a finely
improved estate, well adapted for his occupation of a general farmer.
Mr. McKennan married, in 1882, in Dodge County, Martha Close,
a daughter of John A. and Nancy Close, neither of whom are living.
Mr. Close came from Wisconsin to Nebraska at a very early period of
its settlement, driving the entire distance two ox teams and one cow team,
being five weeks in making the long and wearisome journey. He took up
a tract of land from the Government, near the present site of Arlington,
which had not then won a place on tbe map, on what was known as Bell
Creek, and in a few years had improved a homestead of 160 acres. He
served as a soldier in the Civil war, and was quite active in public
affairs, having served as school director, and as township assessor.

674 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
He died on the homestead at the age of seventy-two years, and his wife
lived to be seventy-four years old. Both were faithful members of the
Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. and Mrs. McKennan have six chil
dren, namely: Bessie, living in Fremont; Frank M., of Reno, Nevada;
Rollo, living in Wyoming; Edith Bricker; Gertrude, of Memphis,
Nebraska ; and John, living at home. True to the faith in which they
were reared, Mr. and Mrs. McKennan are members of the Methodist
Episcopal Church.
John Sampson. An honored representative of the early pioneers
of Dodge County, John Sampson, of Swaburg, Logan Township, is a
true type of the energetic and enterprising men who have actively
assisted in the development of this fertile and productive region, and
by his sagacity and keen foresight has at the same time been enabled
to accumulate a comfortable share of this world's wealth. A native of
Sweden, he was born April 17, 1842, being one of a family of ten
children born to his parents, Samuel and Sarah Sampson.
The second child, and eldest son, of the parental household, John
Sampson came to the United States in early life, and on June 5, 1868,
located in Fremont, Dodge County, Nebraska, where he lived and
labored for a year. In 1869 he homesteaded a part of his present farm,
and when he paid for his land had just 50 cents left to his credit. At
the end of six months, having assumed possession of the dugout, his
first home in the township, he hired fifteen acres of his land cleared,
paying $5 an acre for the work. Finding ready money very scarce,
Mr. Sampson secured a job on the railroad, and making his headquarters
in Fremont spent one night each month on his claim in order to hqld it,
walking the entire distance of twenty-five miles, and as there was no
bridge across the Elkhorn, waded the river. While improving his home
stead, Mr. Sampson suffered all the hardships and privations incident
to pioneer life, in fact meeting with more trouble than many had to
endure as, in 1873, he had the misfortune to be completely burned out
by a prairie fire, obliging him to start all over again. Among the many
cherished treasures brought with him from his old home in Sweden,
which he lost in this fire, was his large Swedish Bible. When he began
farming for himself, Mr. Sampson had but one horse, and few equip
ments, the tractors and farm machinery of the present day having been
not only unknown, but undreamed of.
Mr. Sampson was a man of push and energy, not easily discouraged,
and it is not at all surprising to learn that he became very successful
in his career, and having purchased other land has now a well cultivated
and highly improved farm of 200 acres, with fine and conveniently
arranged buildings, a productive orchard, and broad, fertile and pro
ductive fields, his estate being a credit to him, and an ornament to the
community. Mr. Sampson himself does but little active labor now,
having given up all the responsibilities of farm ownership and manage
ment to his two sons. He is a stanch republican in politics, and a
valued member of the Lutheran Church at Swaburg, which he helped
to organize and build, hauling material across the Missouri River on the
ice in 1871. He is now one of the few remaining charter members of
this church.
Mr. Sampson married, February 25, 1871, Marie Monson, who was
born in Sweden in 1853, being the youngest daughter of John and Elna
Monson, also natives of Sweden. Mrs. Sampson died August 9, 1895,
leaving eight children out of the family of ten children that blessed their

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 675
union. The children are: Alice, now Mrs. Fred Raber, of Winfred,
South Dakota; Ingrid, Victor E., Anna, Emma, Hjalmer N., Esther and
Luella. Henry M. Kidder. A survey of this publication will show that
within its pages is to be found individual recognition of the greater
number of the representative, members of the bar of Dodge County,
and a place of due relative precedence is consistently to be accorded to
Mr. Kidder; who has been a resident of Nebraska since his boyhood
and who has been engaged in the practice of his profession at Fremont,
judicial center of Dodge County, since 1912, prior to which year he had
gained secure vantage-place as one of the leading members of the bar
of Custer County.
Mr. Kidder was born in Barry County, Michigan, February 11, 1859,
and in that state he acquired his rudimentary education. ¦ He was eleven
years of age when he accompanied his parents to Nebraska, in 1870, and
his father secured a homestead near Norfolk, Madison County, where
he developed a productive farm and became one of the substantial
citizens of the county. Henry M. Kidder continued his studies in the
public schools of that county, besides which he attended for three years
a well ordered German school. At Norfolk he initiated the study of law
in the office of the firm of Wigton & Whitham, and under such able
preceptorship he made substantial progress in his assimilation of the
involved science of jurisprudence. He was admitted to the bar June 7,
1886, upon examination before Judge Tiffany, who was then presiding on
the bench of the District Court, and in the same year he became one of
the early members of the bar of Mason City, Custer County, where he
remained nine years and developed a prosperous law business. At the
expiration of this period he removed to Woodbine, Harrison County,
Iowa, but he continued in practice in the Hawkeye State only one year.
He then returned to Mason City, Custer County, but fifteen months later,
on the 1st of June, 1897, he established his residence at Scribner, Dodge
County, where he showed his versatility by entering the profession of
journalism, as editor and publisher of the Scribner Rustler, which he
conducted very successfully for twelve years, the paper having become
under his management an effective exponent of community interests, as
well as a leader in popular sentiment and action relative to political
affairs and general public interests in the county. In August, 1912,
Mr. Kidder removed to Fremont, the county seat, where he opened an
office and continued the practice of law. His professional ability has
never lacked for popular appreciation, and his success has been pro
nounced, the while his professional activities have involved his appear
ance in the courts of many Nebraska counties, including Custer, Sher
man, Greeley, Hall, Buffalo, Dawson, Dawes, Sheridan, Antelope, Thurs- .
ton, Pierce, Knox, Madison, Stanton, Cuming, Washington, Douglas,
Dodge, Colfax, Platte, Boone, Howard, Lancaster, Clay, Red Willow,
Chase and Cheyenne, as well as in Beadle, Gregory and Red Willow
counties, South Dakota. He has also presented a large number of cases
before the Supreme Court of Nebraska. He has appeared also before
the Supreme Court of Kansas, and in the courts of Kansas City and
St. Joseph, Missouri, as well as the Superior Court of that state. It is
thus evident that his law business has been of broad scope and impor
tance and that he has high standing at the bar. In 1920 he was the
republican candidate for judge of the District Court of the Sixth District
of Nebraska, his opposing candidates being Judge F. W. Button, at that

676 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
time presiding on the bench of this district, A. M. Post, and John C.
Martin. He has been influential in republican councils and campaign
work, and while a resident of Custer County he served for a time as
city clerk of Mason City, his incumbency of this position having con
tinued during the major part of his residence here. While residing
at Scribner, Dodge County, he assisted in the organization of the
Farmers Grain & Stock Company, of which he was a director for some
time, and for which he secured, from the railroad company, the site
for the company's grain elevator. He and his wife are members of the
Baptist Church, and he has passed various official chairs in the Inde
pendent Order of Odd Fellows, including the Encampment, as well as
in the Modern Woodmen of America, besides which he is affiliated
also with the Sons of Hermann.
January 5, 1887, recorded the marriage of Mr. Kidder to Miss Nora
R. Rumery, who was born in Jones County, Iowa, a daughter of
Sewell C. and Hannah (Cboper) Rumery, who came to Nebraska in
1894 and passed the closing years of their lives at Mason City, Custer
County, the father having devoted the greater part of his active career
to agricultural enterprise. Mr. and Mrs. Kidder have two children:
Olive P. became the wife of Peter C. Conroy but she now resides at
the parental home in Fremont, where she is employed by the Hammond-
Stevens Company; Minnie M. is the wife of Soren C. Hansen, of
Fremont. Reverting to the parents of Mr. Kidder, it is to be stated that he
is a son of vRev. James W. and Mary Ann (Stevens) Kidder, the former
a native of Enosburg, Vermont, and the latter of East Machias, Maine,
in which latter state their marriage was solemnized. From the Pine
Tree State they removed to Ohio, where they remained one year. They
then removed to Michigan, where for eleven years he was pastor of the
Congregational Church at Middleville. In 1870 he came with his family
to Nebraska, and assumed a pastorate at Norfolk, as the pioneer English-
speaking clergyman of that place. There he continued his ministerial
labors nine years, besides preaching at several other places in that
section of the state. He finally removed with his family to the farm
which he had secured near Norfolk, but after his retirement he returned
to that now thriving little city, where he and his wife passed the closing
years of their lives, secure in the affectionate regard of all who knew
them. They became the parents of four children : Hattie is the wife
of Andrew U. McGinnis, of Norfolk ; Mary L. is the widow of Peter C.
Stewart, who died in South Africa, and she now resides at Northfield,
Minnesota; Miss Laura A. resides at Norfolk, Nebraska, but was for
seventeen years an efficient and popular teacher in the public schools
of Fremont; and Henry M., of this review, was the second in order of
birth of the four children.
Martin Nelson, the enterprising and efficient manager of the well
equipped creamery of the Farmers Union Co-operative Company at
Fremont, was born in Denmark, October 29, 1876, and is a son of Nels
and Trine (Hendrickson) Nelson, the former of whom passed his entire
life in his native land. In 1881 the widowed mother came with- her eight
children to the United States and established her home in Dodge County,
Nebraska, where for some time she continued to give effective service
as a practical nurse, in which capacity she won the affectionate esteem of
the community. Here she passed the remainder of her life and was a
devout communicant of the Lutheran Church, as was also her husband

rM^W^^

K -

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 677
the latter having been a man of superior education and having been a
successful school teacher in Denmark at the time of his death. Of the
eight children, seven are living: Lars is a prosperous farmer near
Potter, Cheyenne County; Dora is the widow of John Madison and.
resides in the City of Omaha ; Mary is the wife of John Schon, a farmer
near St. Paul, Howard County; James is employed in the stockyards
at Omaha ; Lena is the wife of Peter J. Lorenson, of Fremont ; Nelsena
is married and now resides in Denmark ; and Martin is the subject of this
review. Martin Nelson was about five years old when he came with his mother
to Nebraska, and his youthful education was obtained in the rural
schools of Dodge County, where also he gained early experience in con
nection with farm work. He continued to be actively identified with
farm enterprise until he was nineteen years of age, when he went to
California. There he learned the technical work of the creamery busi
ness, and he continued to be employed five years in western creameries —
in California and Idaho, in which latter state he organized and success
fully operated a co-operative creamery. He then returned to Dodge
County, where he devoted the ensuing ten years to the operation of
rented farm property. He then purchased the Valentine Knoell farm,
five miles northwest of Fremont, and here he has conducted successful
activities as an agriculturist and stock grower since 1912. He still resides
on this well improved farm, to which he continued to give a general
and specially effective personal supervision, though he has had the
active management of the co-operative creamery at Fremont since May 1,
1917. His thorough technical knowledge and progressive policies have
contributed greatly to the success of this creamery, which bases its
operations on a capital stock of $35,000 and of which he is general
manager. The greater part of the high-grade butter produced at this
model creamery is shipped to the eastern markets, and the business
for 1919 aggregated fully $540,000. Mr. Nelson's farm comprises 160
acres, and for the property he has been offered $500 an acre. Mr. Nelson
has been essentially the architect of his own fortunes, as his success has
been entirely the result of his own ability and well directed efforts.
He is a republican in political allegiance and he and his wife are com
municants of the Lutheran Church.
The year 1909 recorded the marriage of Mr. Nelson to Miss Marie
Jeppeson, who was born and reared in Dodge County, a daughter of Jens
Jeppeson, who still resides on his farm, northwest of Fremont. Mr. and
Mrs. Nelson have five children : Lenta, Gladys, Leland, Marion, and
Alvina. Morris Nielsen, M. D., of Blair, occupies a noteworthy position
among the foremost physicians and surgeons of this section of the
state, and is well worthy of representation in a work of this character.
A son of Peter H. Nielsen, he was borri, October 3, 1875, in Copen
hagen, Denmark, where he lived for nine years.
Born and brought up in Denmark, Peter H. Nielsen received excellent
educational.advantages, having studied at the National School of Technol
ogy, in Copenhagen. Learning the carpenter's trade when young, he
became a master builder, and as a journeyman traveled in France and
Switzerland, following his trade in different places. In 1884 he came
with his family to the United States, locating in Omaha, Nebraska,
where he is still a resident. Poor in pocket when he located in that city,
he followed his trade steadily, and by means of industry and thrift

678 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
accumulated some property, arid is now living retired from active
labor. His wife, whose maiden name was Anna C. Madsen, was born
in Copenhagen, Denmark, and died, in November, 1915, in Omaha. She
was a member of the Lutheran Church, to which her husband also
belonged; He is a member of the Danish Brotherhood, an organization
in which he takes great interest and much pleasure.
The only survivor in a family of three children, Morris Nielsen
acquired his rudimentary education in the public schools of Omaha, and
in September, 1893, entered the Omaha Medical College. Before com
pleting his course, he was forced, on account of lack of funds, to leave
school for a time. He herded cattle, broke bronchos and freighted for
a time, and later secured a position as commercial traveler for a firm
from Scotland, and in that capacity visited many of the foreign countries.
Returning to Omaha in 1898, he resumed his studies in the Medical
Department of the University of Nebraska, and was there graduated
with the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1900.
Locating in Belden, Nebraska, in that year, Doctor Nielsen remained
there seven years, in the meantime building up a good practice. Going
to Boston, Massachusetts, in 1907, he took a post-graduate course at
Harvard University, and during the succeeding two years was asso
ciated as an assistant with Doctor Rouse, at Sioux City, Iowa. Wishing
to still further fit himself for his professional work, the doctor went
to Europe, and took post-graduate courses in two of the leading medical
institutions of that continent, one in Berlin, and the other in Vienna.
Returning to the United States, he located in Blair in the fall of 1911,
and has since continued here, his practice being extensive and highly
remunerative. Doctor Nielsen's work is so widely recognized that he
has very little leisure, his professional duties demanding all of his time.
He is a member of the American Medical Association, of the Nebraska
State Medical Association, of which he is now counselor, and of the
Washington County Medical Society.
Doctor Nielsen married, in 1903, Mary Nielsen, a native of Nebraska,
and into their household four children have been born, namely:
Morris, Jr., born in 1904; Damon Jenner, born in 1908; Vance Aubrey,
born in 1910; and Jules Peter, born in 1912. Politically the doctor is a
republican. Fraternally he is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted
Masons; of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; and of the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he is past grand. Both
he and his wife are devout members of the Episcopal Church.
William Koyen. Showing marked ability and skill in the man
agement of his agricultural interests, William Koyen occupies an hon
ored position among the industrious and progressive farmers of Dodge
County, his well-kept farm in Elkhorn Township comparing favorably
in regard to its appointments and improvements with any in the neigh
borhood. A son of Frederick and Christina Koyen, he was born, in
1875, in Wisconsin, of Danish ancestry.
Frederick Koyen, or, as the name was originally spelled Koyn, was
born in Denmark, November 28, 1848, and at the age of .twenty-one
years immigrated to the United States. Settling in Wisconsin, he was
employed in the woods, or in tilling the soil, for eleven years. Coming
from there to Dodge County, Nebraska, he bought 160 acres of raw land
which he improved and on that farm he remained until ready to retire
from active pursuits, when he removed to town. He married in New
York State, and to him and his wife, Christina Koyen, five children

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 679
were born, of whom three are living, William, Albert, and Victor E.
The wife died on the homestead aged sixty-nine years. He was an
independent voter, and a member of the Danish Lutheran Church.
Coming with his parents to Dodge County in childhood, William
Koyen obtained his early education in the rural schools, and in 1896
began life for himself as a farmer, renting land at first. Energetic and
industrious, he toiled early and late, and as his wealth accumulated
invested it wisely, and now is owner of 120 acres of rich land, on which
he is successfully engaged in general farming. He has made noteworthy
improvements on his place, having a modernly constructed home, and
all the necessary barns and outbuildings required by a practical agricul
turist. In politics Mr. Koyen is independent, voting without deference
to party lines, and in addition to having served on the local school
board has been township treasurer. He was for two terms president
of the Farmers' Co-operative Association, and was the first president
to form a company.
Mr. Koyen married, in Fremont, Nebraska, in 1897, Louisa Stiles,
who was born in Iowa, a daughter of S. F. Stiles, who settled in Fre
mont, this state, in pioneer times, and took an active and influential part
in its upbuilding, and there continued to reside until his death, at the
age of sixty-nine years. Mr. Stiles was city clerk for several years,
and also served as chief of police, and as deputy sheriff. His widow
still lives in Fremont. Mr. and Mrs. Koyen have four children, namely :
Gertrude Hanson, of Fremont ; Fred ; Francis ; and Ward. Mr. Koyen
has never joined any fraternal organization. Religiously he is a member
of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
G. A. Bushnell. A skilled mechanic, thoroughly acquainted with
all branches of the wood worker's trade, G. A. Bushnell, of Fremont,
head of the Bushnell Repair Company, has built up a thriving business
in connection with the painting and repairing of automobiles, and won
a position of prominence in the industrial circles of this part of Dodge
County, A son of Robert Lay Bushnell, he was born, July 4, 1860, in
Rock County, Wisconsin, coming from honored patriotic stock, Gen.
John Stark, of Revolutionary fame, having been his maternal great
grandfather. Robert Lay Bushnell was born, reared, and married in New York
State. Removing to Wisconsin, he bought land in Rock County, where
he carried on general farming several years. He afterwards continued
his agricultural labors in Iowa, from there going to ' South Dakota,
where he spent the closing years of his life. He married Margaretta
LeFevre who was born in New York State, and died in Mason City,
Iowa. Her father, Minard LeFevre, Mr. Bushnell's maternal grand
father, was a very prominent architect, and in addition to having fur
nished the plans for forty or more of the large and prominent buildings
of New York City, drew the plans for several of its noted church edifices,
including those for the Holy Trinity Church on Brooklyn Heights, the
wealthiest Protestant Church in the world. His designs were mainly
of the Gothic style, and the Holy Trinity Church building designs were
the last that he constructed. Of the eight children born of the union of
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Lay Bushnell, five are living, as follows : Mrs. Per-
melia Sherman, of JMason City, Iowa; Mrs. Julia Read, of Carson,
Iowa ; G. A., of this sketch ; E. E., of Fremont, working for his brother
in the repair shop; and Willie, an oil man in Los Angeles, California.

680 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Obtaining the rudiments of his education in Wisconsin, G. A. Bush
nell completed his early studies in Iowa, and subsequently learned the
carriage maker and wood worker's trade in Mason City, Iowa, where
he followed it for a while, from there going to Malvern, Iowa, where
he continued as a carriage maker. Coming to Fremont, Nebraska, in
1890, Mr. Bushnell began working for John Bunt, in the Fremont
Carriage Company, and in 1913 bought the factory, which he has trans
formed into a repair shop. From year to year he has enlarged his
operations, and is now carrying on an extensive and substantial business
as a painter and repairer of automobiles, repairing everything pertaining
to. automobiles with the exception of engine work. Having begun life
for himself with no other assets than, strong arms and an unlimited
amount of courage, he has met with excellent success in his undertakings.
Mr. Bushnell married, October 21, 1884, Minerva Edie; who was
born May 17, 1863, in Emerson, Iowa. She. graduated from the public
schools at the age of fifteen then entered Tabor College, of Iowa, and
where she finished her education ; she was one of Iowa's successful teach
ers until her marriage. Her parents, A. G. and Sarah (Gustin) Edie,
settled in Emerson on moving, in 1849, from Ohio, their native state,
to Iowa. Her father is still living on the old home place in Iowa, but her
mother has passed to the life beyond. Mr. and Mrs. Bushnell have
two children, namely: Pearl, wife of Dalton Smith, manager of the
Globe Milling Company, at Los Angeles, California; and Ralph, who is
associated in business with his father. Mr. Bushnell is a stanch republi
can in politics, and is an active and prominent member of Triumph
Lodge No. 32, Knights of Pythias, of Fremont, of which he is a very
prominent and active member and past chancellor commander, and which
he has several times represented at the Grand Lodge. Mrs. Bushnell
is past grand chief of Calanthe Temple No. 3, Pythian Sisters, of Fre
mont, and past grand chief, Nebraska, and also past supreme repre
sentative of the Pythian Sisters. She has been very active in the lodge
work and has filled the highest offices in the local, state and supreme
lodges. Morris Horstman. Well trained in modern business ways and
methods, Morris Hortman is actively identified with the advancement
of the mercantile affairs of Fremont, where he has built up an extensive
and remunerative trade as a dealer in shoes, his genial courtesy, prompt
attention to the wants of his customers, and his honesty, having won him
a highly satisfactory patronage, and given him a place of influence in the
community. He was born, July 9, 1874, in Germany, the birthplace,
likewise, of his parents, Detlef and Catherine (Braker) Horstman.
In 1885 Detlef Horstman immigrated with his family to the United
States, the land of plenty, and sometime in the '90s made his way to
Nebraska. Buying a tract of land in Dodge County, near Scribner, he
was there prosperously engaged in tilling the soil until his death, which
occurred in 1917. A man of energy and enterprise he was very success
ful in his undertakings, acquiring a good property. He was a republi
can in politics, and a member of the Lutheran Church, to which his
widow, who still lives on the old homestead, belongs.. They were the
parents of ten children, all of whom are living, Morris being the sixth
child in succession of birth.
Having completed his early education in the Avoca, Iowa, High
School, Morris Horstman then engaged in farming and during the four
years that he was thus employed gained an excellent knowledge of agri-

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 681
culture. Migrating to Nebraska, he served as a clerk in a mercantile
establishment at North Bend for seven years, and later was treasurer of
Dodge County for five years, a position of responsibility and trust that
he filled ably and faithfully. Locating in Fremont, Mr. Horstman estab
lished his present shoe store in 1915, and has since built up a large and
flourishing business, being now one of the foremost shoe merchants in
this part of Dodge County.
Mr. Horstman married, in 1901, Alvina Wickhorst, who was born
in Dodge County, Nebraska, where her father, the late Jacob Wickhorst,
was a pioneer agriculturist. Two children have been born of the union
of Mr. and Mrs. Horstman, namely: Harold, born in 1906; and Blondell,
born in 1909. Mr. arid Mrs. Horstman are regular attendants of the
Methodist Episcopal Church. Politically Mr. Horstman is an influential
member of the republican party, and his popularity as a man and a citizen
was clearly demonstrated when he was elected county treasurer by a
large majority in a district that had been under the control of the dem
ocratic party for a full quarter of a century. Fraternally, he is a member
of the Modern Woodmen of America, and of the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows.
Sireno Burnell Colson. A man of sterling and honest integrity
and worth, possessing pronounced business acumen and ability, the late
Sireno Burnell Colson was for full forty years identified with the lead
ing interests of Fremont, and while advancing his own prosperity con
tributed in no small measure toward the progress of his home city. A
son of Thomas Paine Colson, he was born in Madison County, New
York, February 3, 1828, being the lineal descendant of a member of
the Swedish Colony that settled in New Jersey in 1700. He was also of
Revolutionary stock, his grandfather, Abiah Colson, having fought in
the Revolution while serving as a member of the Sixth Massachusetts
Regiment, commanded by Colonel Millens.
A shoemaker by trade, Thomas Paine Colson followed that occupa
tion in New York State for many years, laboring industriously, but not
making very much money. In 1859, hoping to improve his financial
condition, he came with his family to Nebraska, locating in Fremont,
where he remained until his death. He married Mary Rice, the descend
ant of one of the earlier families of the Empire State, and a woman of
many virtues.
Brought up in Hamilton County, New York, Sireno B. Colson was
a delicate child, and though an ambitious student in his boyhood, was
badly handicapped by ill health. After leaving the common schools of
his neighborhood, he entered Hamilton College, but on account of his
physical condition, and his father's financial condition, he was unable to
complete the course of study therein. Subsequently working with his
father, he learned the shoemaker's trade, which he followed before
coming to Nebraska, and for about six years after the family located
in Fremont. Although short of stature, and slight of frame, Mr. Colson
was an ambitious student, and having become proficient in the study of
telegraphy, had the distinction of having been the first operator west of
the Missouri River for the Atlantic and Pacific Telegraph Company, a
position that he accepted in 1861.
In 1866 Mr. Colson was appointed local agent and telegraph operator
at Fremont, being the first to be thus appointed by the Union Pacific
Railroad Company outside of Omaha, and held the position until 1871.
In 1867, with his brother-in-law, Theron Nye, as a member of the firm
Vol. 11—15

682 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
of Nye, Colson & Company, he began dealing in grain and lumber, and
built up a large and lucrative business, which has continued in existence
until the present time, and although the firm name has been several
times changed, there has ever been a Nye at the head, Ray Nye, son
of Theron Nye, the original founder of the firm, being now senior
member of the present firm, known as the Nye, Schneider, Fowler Com
pany. Mr. Colson retained his interest in the extensive lumber and grain
business until his death, which occurred at his home in Fremont, Septem
ber 28. 1896.
An earnest worker in the republican party, Mr. Colson was elected
treasurer of Dodge County, Nebraska, in 1871, and re-elected to the
same position in 1873, that having been the only public office that he
ever held. He was one of the organizers of the First 'National Bank
of Fremont, and was serving as its vice president at the time of his
death. He never united with any religious organization, the only society
to which he belonged being the Sons of the American Revolution. At
Omaha, in the records of that society, may be found a review of the
life of Mr. Colson, contained in a paper read before the society on Feb
ruary 22, 1897.
Mr. Colson married, January 21, 1868, Miss Frances I. Reynolds,
who still survives him, residing in Fremont. She was born in Dansville,
Livingston County, New York, in 1847. Later her family moved to
Buffalo, and still later to Detroit, from whence they removed to Frernont
in 1861, two brothers and a sister having preceded them. She partici
pated in the hardships and trials that attended all the pioneers, and later
attended school at Brownell Hall in Omaha. She then taught school
in Papillion and Fremont and also for a short time at an Indian school
in Kansas, where there was an Indian insurrection which threatened to
be serious but fortunately was quelled with no loss of life. She was
married when 20 years of age, and was the mother of four children, the
eldest dying in infancy and three still living. Paul and Burnell Colson,
living in Frernont, and May Colson Knowles, residing in New York
City. Mrs. Colson was formerly a member of the Episcopal Church,
later joining the Congregational Church, and has long been a faithful
worker for the causes of prohibition and suffrage for women.
Gerhard Monnich. Noteworthy for his good citizenship and many
excellent traits of character, Gerhard Monnich, of Hooper, a retired
agriculturist, is well known throughout this part of Dodge County as
a man of honor and integrity, and as one who has contributed his full
share toward advancing the . material interests of his community. He
was born, November 23, 1854, in Germany, which was the birthplace of
his parents, Tonjes H. and Beta (Havelkamp) Monnich.
Immigrating to the United States with his family, T. H. Monnich
located in Dodge County, Nebraska, in 1869, coming by train as far
as Fremont. Taking up a homestead claim two miles north of Hooper,
he labored with true pioneer grit and courage in his efforts to clear and
improve a farm, and was thereafter engaged in mixed husbandry until
his death, in 1897, at the advanced age of eighty-one years. He was a
man of enterprise and energy, and one of the shareholders of the Farm
ers' Company of Hooper. He was a stanch democrat in politics, and
both he and his wife were Lutherans in religion. They were the parents
of four children, as follows : Gerhard, of this sketch ; Gesine, widow of
J. H. Kuhlman, of Dodge County ; Catherine, deceased ; and a child that
died in infancy.

MR. AND MRS. GERHARD MONNICH

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 683
Acquiring an excellent knowledge of the common branches of study
in the district schools, Gerhard Monnich received arf extended education
in the agricultural arts and sciences under his father's tutelage. Choosing
the occupation to which 'he was reared, he was prosperously employed
in tilling the soil, and in raising and feeding stock, until 1903. Moving
then to Hooper, Mr. Monnich has since been looking after his large land
interests, being one of the large land owners of the county, owning sev
eral farms in this county and also in Scott's Bluff County, Nebraska. He
is a man of good business ability, and one of the stockholders of the
Farmers' Union. He is a sound republican in politics, but has never
been prominent in the management of public affairs.
Mr. Monnich married, in 1903, Gesine Freese, who was born in Ger
many, August 25, 1867, and was an infant when she came to the United
States with her parents, being a daughter of John D. Freese, who set
tled in Dodge County in 1869 in pioneer days. Three children have
blessed their union, namely : Bertha, Henry and George, all attending
school in Hooper. Mr. and Mrs. Monnich are active and worthy mem
bers of the Lutheran Church.
August Westlin. During a half century of residence the name
Westlin has been constantly accumulating esteem and respect in Dodge
County due to the energies, industry and thrifty character of those who
bear that name in the agricultural community of Logan Township.
The home and farm of August Westlin, one of the progressive men
of Dodge County, is in section 4 of Logan Township. He was born
in the same county in 1876. His father, the late N. P. Westlin, was born
in Sweden in 1835. When he was thirty-two years of age he started
for the United States and came on west as far as Council Bluffs, where
his first employment was on the old asylum. In 1868 he took up his
homestead in Dodge County and in the fall of 1869 did the first breaking
of prairie sod, using an ox team. That homestead is near the present
town of Uehling.
When he departed for America Christina Nelson, whom he had
learned to love and to whom he was betrothed, had remained behind,
but on receiving word from Mr. Westlin that his affairs were prosper
ing she came on to this country in 1870 and they were married in Omaha.
Their first home was a sod house, and in 1876 they erected a more sub
stantial frame structure, the home in which August Westlin spent his
boyhood. N. P. Westlin continued his career as a successful farmer in
Dodge County until his death in 1890 and his wife passed away in
1889. They were the parents of five children : Caroline Olsen, deceased ;
Albert, who was born in Dodge County and died in 1913; August;
Olaf, associated with his brother August; and Mrs. Ellen Larson, whose
husband is a garage owner at Warsaw in Knox County.
August Westlin acquired a common school education and grew up
well trained for the vocation of farming and. stock raising. For many
years he has fed hogs and cattle for the market and is now the pros
perous owner and manager of 260 acres devoted to general farming. In
1916 he built his present home, one of the finest and most modern in
that section of the county. Mr. Westlin and family are members of the
Congregational Church and in politics he is an independent voter.
In 1902 he married Miss Esther Anderson, who was born in Dodge
County in 1877. Concerning her father, T. A. Anderson, of Uehling,
more is said on other pages. Mr. and Mrs. Westlin have two children,
Margaret and Sherman, both at home.

684 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Henry, Schmietenknop. Widely known as a prosperous agricul
turist of Everett Township, Henry Schmietenknop is numbered among
the citizens of high repute in Dodge County, . where he has lived for
upwards of a quarter of a century. He was born March 25, 1876, in
Germany, the lifelong residence of his parents, Gerhard and Anna
(Miners) Schmietenknop, who were industrious, hard-working farmers.
Bred and educated in his native country, Henry Schmietenknop
determined as a boy to find out, as soon as old enough, the truth regard
ing the wonderful stories of America's prosperity, and in 1893 left
home and friends to come to the United States. Making his way to
Nebraska, he located in Dodge County, and for a time worked for John
Heithausen. Becoming familiar with agricultural pursuits, he engaged
in farming on his own account, and met with such encouraging results
that, in 1900, he rented the farm which he still farms, it being on sec
tion 12, Everett Township. In 1911 he purchased a farm of 225 acres
in Hooper and Everett townships which he rents out. Laboring indus
triously and intelligently, Mr. Schmietenknop has carried on general
farming and stock raising most successfully, his land being well culti
vated and well improved, while his farming implements and machinery
are all that can be desired by the up-to-date agriculturist. Interested in
everything pertaining to the management of a farm, he is an active
member of the Farmers' Union at Hooper. August 4, 1898, Mr. Schmiet
enknop was united' in marriage with Anna Osterloh, who was born in
Dodge County, Nebraska, of German lineage. Her father Gerhard
Osterloh, was born in Germany, October 31, 1838, and there lived until
after his marriage with Gesine Egbers. Coming with his family to
Dodge County, Nebraska, in 1868, he homesteaded, and was thereafter
prosperously engaged in general farming and stock raising and feeding
until his death, in 1894. He was independent in politics, and an active
member of St. Paul's Lutheran Church, to which his widow belongs.
Three children have blessed the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Schmiet
enknop, namely: George, Clara and Fred. An independent voter,
Mr. Schmietenknop casts his ballot in favor of the men and measures
he deems best. Both he and his wife are valued members of the St.
Paul's Lutheran Church, and are rearing their family in the Lutheran
faith. John H. Dierks. An industrious and enterprising agriculturist,
John H. Dierks, late of Fremont, was one of the earlier settlers of
Saunders County, Nebraska, and with true pioneer courage cleared and
improved a highly productive farm. He was born November 22, 1845,
in Germany, and died in Fremont, Nebraska, October 20, 1909.
A small boy when he was brought by his parents to the United
States, Mr. Dierks was educated in the public schools of Illinois, and
having been of deeply religious nature, with strong personal convic
tions, he early determined to enter the ministry. Circumstance's changed
his plans, however, and in 1878 he made his way to Nebraska, arriving
in Saunders County with a capital of $1,500, a part of which he invested
in land, buying 160 acres of virgin soil. Laboring with unceasing toil,
he cleared and improved a good ranch, and at the end of twenty years
made his last payment on his farm, acquiring a clear title to it. His
health failing, he moved with his family to Fremont, Dodge County, in
July, 1909, and the following October passed to the life beyond.
Mr. Dierks was an earnest and devout member of the Baptist Church,
and after settling in Saunders County he and wife helped organize a

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 685
church of that denomination there. He was also influential in establish
ing a mission in Fremont, and having been made superintendent of its
Sunday school drove a distance of seven miles every Sunday in order
to assume charge of the school. Mr. Dierks paid $8.50 an acre for his
farm in 1878 and in the spring of 1919 his widow sold it, receiving $250
an acre, a decided advance in price.
Mr. Dierks married in 1870 Elise Folkers, who was born February
21, 1850, in Germany, and in 1857 was brought to this country by her
parents, Ulrich and Catherine Folkers, who located permanently in
Illinois. Six children were born of their union, four of whom are liv
ing, namely: Edward, a barber, resides in San Diego, California;
George, of Wahoo, Nebraska, is a chiropractor; Sophia, living in Fre
mont ; and Emma, wife of Frederick Thielen, foreman of a harness and
saddle factory in Lincoln, Nebraska. Mrs. Dierks is an active member
of the Baptist Church, and takes great interest in the work of the
Young Women's Christian Association. She lives at 949 North Park
Avenue, in the pleasant home which she purchased in 1913.
J. E. Lutz. A man of strong personality, enterprising and keen
sighted, J. E. Lutz, a well-known monument manufacturer and dealer of
Blair, occupies a place of prominence arid influence in the political and
business circles of the city, and is a typical representative of the men of
the day who have attained success through persevering industry and wise
management of their affairs. A son of Barnet Lutz, he was born in
1854, in Linn County, Iowa, of pioneer ancestry.
Born in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, Barnet Lutz there married
Ann Kramer, and two years after that important event migrated to
Iowa with his bride, going the greater part of the way by boat, an event
ful trip in that year of 1839, when but little was known of any part of
the country lying west of the Alleghenies. Buying a tract of Govern
ment land in Linn County, he cleared and improved a fine homestead in
the vicinity of Kenwood Park, and there resided until his death. The
little town was laid out on his farm, and he had the honor of serving as
its first mayor. He was an influential member of the republican party,
and he and his wife were active members of the Methodist Episcopal
Church. They were' the parents of eleven children, three of whom are
now living, as follows : Mrs. J. J. Wayt, of Springdale, Arkansas, where
her husband is living retired from active business ; Mrs. J. H. Smith, a
widow, living in Sigourney, Iowa; and J. E., of whom we write. In
addition to their own large family of children, the parents, in the good
ness of their hearts, brought up as their own two other children.
The tenth child in order of birth of the parental household, J. E.
Lutz, received superior educational privileges, after leaving the rural
schools of his native town having attended the Cedar Rapids High School
and Western College. He subsequently made, and saved, his first $100
as a teacher in the country schools. In 1877 he embarked in the monu
ment business at Kenwood Park, and continued in that little town until
1888. Coming to Blair, Nebraska, in that year, Mr. Lutz here established
himself in the same business, beginning in a modest way, and from year
to year has gradually enlarged his operations, having now a very large
and exceedingly prosperous business, and in addition to having been
successful himself .has helped several other men to start in the same line
of industry. Active in local affairs, Mr. Lutz, a strong republican in politics, has
served as a member of the City Council for fifteen years, and was a

686 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
candidate for delegate at large for the National Republican Convention of
1920. He took up a homestead claim in 1905 in South Dakota and he
bought land adjoining the homestead, and is now owner of 480 acres of
choice land. Fraternally Mr. Lutz is a member of the Knights of
Pythias, being past chancellor of his lodge and deputy chancellor of
the state, and is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Religiously he belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Mr. Lutz has been twice married. He married first, in 1880, Georgia
Miller, and of the three children born of their union, one is living,
Daisy, wife of Layton Morris, a professor in Columbia University.
Mrs. Georgia Lutz passed to the life beyond in 1890, while yet in early
womanhood. Mr. Lutz married in February, 1892, Mary Augusta
Campbell, a native of Pennsylvania, and they have two children living,
namely: Frank, now in business with his father; and Margaret Ann, wife
of L. Noies, who served in the World war, being sent from Camp Dodge
to the border, and who is now in the employ of Mr. Lutz.
Frank Lutz, a member of the National Guard, was sent to the border
in 1914, and was released in 1916. In 1917 he entered the World war,
being sent, on March 26 of that year, to the Fort Snelling Training
School, where, after, receiving his commission as second lieutenant, he
was transferred to Camp Miller, New York. Sailing from Hoboken on
October 14, 1917, he subsequently saw active service in France, going
over the top, and in one engagement he was slightly wounded. He
belonged to the Rainbow Division until 1918, when he was t/ransferred to
the Thirty-Second Division. Returning home, he received his discharge
in May, 1919, and has since been associated in business with his father,
as stated above. Howard Lutz, the eldest child of Mr. Lutz, served in
the United States navy before the World war. He subsequently
assumed the management of his father's homestead property in South
Dakota and was there killed in September, 1906, when but twnty-three
years of age.
Charles Ross. Inheriting in a large measure the habits of industry,
economy and thrift characteristic of a long line of honored Scotch
ancestry, Charles Ross of Blair has long been prominently identified with
the development and advancement of the manufacturing interests of this
part of Washington County, and as secretary and manager of the Blair
Horse Collar Company is carrying on art extensive and lucrative busi
ness. A son of the late Charles Ross, Sr., he was born May 2, 1867, in
Scotland, where he spent the first three years of his earthly existence.
Charles Ross, Sr., was born, bred, educated and married in Scotland.
Immigrating with his family to the United States in 1870, he located
in Des Moines, Iowa, where he followed his trade of a stone setter, for
ten years working on the state capitol. Moving to Kansas, he became a
homesteader and lived there five years. Removing then to Omaha,
Nebraska, he built the old courthouse, which was his last piece of work,
and continued his residence in that city until his death, in 1901. He
was first identified with the republican party, but subsequently sup
ported the democratic ticket. He was an active member of the Ancient
Order of United Workmen, and a devout member of the Presbyterian
Church. Charles Ross, Sr., and his wife, Eliza Ross, became the parents
of seven children, as follows : William, a merchant, lives in Colorado ;
James H, deceased; Charles, with whom this sketch is chieflv con
cerned; David, his twin brother, living in Los Angeles, California, is
employed as a mechanic in the shipyards; George, deceased; Isabelle,

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 687
wife of Jack Durham of Salt Lake City, who is in the passenger service
of the Oregon Short Line Railroad; and Robert, agent, in Columbus,
Ohio, of the Booth Packing Company.
Acquiring his elementary education in Iowa, Charles Ross subse
quently spent five years on the Kansas prairies, going there with the
family at the age of twelve years. He afterward learned the trade of a
horse collar manufacturer, which he has followed since attaining the age
of nineteen years, first establishing a small factory in Omaha. Coming
from there to Blair in 1906, Mr. Ross continued at his trade, enlarging
his operations each year, and in his large and well equipped plant now
manufactures collars of all descriptions. The business has been incor
porated, with a capital of $50,000, and Mr. Ross is secretary and man
ager of the firm. In the management of the business Mr. Ross has two
wide-awake men on the road, their territory covering the states of
Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Colorado.
Mr. Ross married, in 1889, Lizzie Forgan, a native of Scotland, and
into their pleasant home four children have been born, namely: Ralph,
with the Nebraska Power Company, in Omaha; Winfield, an attorney
in Omaha ; Grace, teaching school in Columbus ; and Kenneth, in Omaha,
with the Nebraska Power Company. All of these children were grad
uated from the Blair High School, and Ralph was later graduated
from the Armour School of Technology in Chicago; Winfield was
graduated from the Creighton Law School in Omaha, and the other
two children are graduates of the University of Nebraska in Lincoln.
Mr. Ross is a democrat in politics, and belongs to the Masonic fraternity
and to the Woodmen.
Lloyd W. Phillips. A young man of energy and enterprise, pos
sessing excellent business and executive ability, Lloyd W. Phillips is
officially connected with one of the most essential of all of the public
utilities, being general manager of the Fremont Gas, Electric Light and
Power Company. A son of the late Matthew Phillips, he was born
October 25, 1890, at Table Rock, Pawnee County, Nebraska.
Matthew Phillips was born and reared in Ohio, but as a young man
moved to Illinois, where he was variously employed for a number of
seasons. Moving to Table Rock, Nebraska, in 1875, he bought land and
was there engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death. He was a
straightforward republican in his political affiliations, a member of the
Modern Woodmen of America and belonged to the Presbyterian Church.
He married, in Illinois, Jessie Weider, who was born in that state, and is
now living in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Three children blessed their
union, as follows: Ross E., who attended the University of Nebraska
for two years and was graduated from a business college, has served as
secretary and treasurer of the Lincoln Gas and Electric Company for
the past thirteen years ; Nellie, wife of Charles Butler, who is connected
with the White Motor Truck Company in Sioux City, Iowa ; and Lloyd
W., of this brief sketch.
Acquiring his education in Nebraska, Lloyd W. Phillips was grad
uated from the Lincoln High School with the class of 1911, and the
following year became bookkeeper for the Lincoln Gas and Electric
Light Company. Continuing with the same company, he was subsequently
transferred to Fremont, and promoted to cashier, a responsible position
that he ably filled until April, 1916, when he was made secretary of the
organization. Three years later, in April, 1919, Mr. Phillips was again
advanced in position, and has since served ably and faithfully as mana-

688 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
ger, an office that he is filling with credit to himself, and to the entire
satisfaction of all concerned.
On May 13, 1916, Mr. Phillips was united in marriage with Etta
Hairhouse, who was born in Fremont, where her father, Julius T. Hair-
house, a jeweler, was an early settler. Mr. and Mrs. Phillips have one
child, William Lloyd Phillips, born in the autumn of 1919. Mrs. Phil
lips is a consistent member of the Congregational Church. Politically
Mr. Phillips invariably casts his vote with the republican party. Frater
nally he is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, belong
ing to Lodge and Chapter, and Mount Tabor Commandery No. 9, and
also to Fremont Lodge No. 514, Benevolent and Protective Order of
Elks. Andrew E. Olson. Noteworthy among the intelligent and self-
reliant men who are ably conducting the agricultural interests of Dodge
County is Andrew Olson, who owns and occupies a finely improved
farm in Logan Township and in its management is meeting with marked
success. Coming on both sides of the house of thrifty Swedish ancestry,
he was born, December 22, 1872, in Dodge County, where his entire
life has been spent.
Lars Olson, his father, was born, in 1843, in Sweden, and in 1868
immigrated to the United States, locating first in Omaha, Nebraska,
arriving there with but $5 to his name. Subsequently taking up a home
stead claim in Logan Township, he brought a wagon load of goods
across the country to the small shanty in which he was to live, and for
many years thereafter was busily engaged in the pioneer task of clearing
and improving a farm. Prospering far beyond his first expectations, he
wisely invested his accumulations in more land, and at the time of his
death, in 1916, had title to a valuable farm of 360 acres, a large part of
which was under cultivation. In 1871 he married, his wife being also
born in Sweden. She came to the United States in 1870 and was married
in Omaha. Mrs. Carrie Olson is now sixty-eight years old and still
lives on the home farm. To Mr. and Mrs. Olson three children were
born, as follows: Andrew E., of this sketch; Mrs. Frances Erickson of
Dodge County; and Mrs. Mary Erickson, also of this county.
Brought up on the parental homestead and educated in the rural
schools, Andrew E. Olson chose for his life work the free and inde
pendent occupation with which he had become familiar while working
with his father, and having inherited 120 acres of land in Logan Town
ship immediately began general farming on his own account. Indus
trious and enterprising, Mr. Olson succeeded well in his undertakings,
his land being now well cultivated and well improved, and amply sup
plied with farm buildings and farm machinery.
Mr. Olson married, in 1908, Carrie Hansen, who was born in Swe
den, where her father still resides, and they have one child, Lillian Olson,
a school girl. Politically Mr. Olson is a steadfast supporter of the prin
ciples of the republican party, and in 1918 served as moderator of
School District No. 84. Fraternally he is a member of the Woodmen of
the World and takes great interest in the order.
Clarence D. Briggs. One of the older residents of Dodge County,
Clarence D. Briggs devoted the best years of his life to farming, and
while he has experienced practically all the vicissitudes that have beset
the career of Nebraska agriculturists has persisted through bad years
as well as good, and today has all the evidences of independence and
the goodly esteem of his fellow men.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 689
Mr. Briggs, whose complete and modern farmstead is in section 34
of Logan Township, was born in Mills County, Iowa, June 26, 1859.
Five years later his father, George Briggs, drove with wagon and team
across the country and homesteaded a claim in Dodge County near the
Town of Fontanelle. The brother of George Briggs, A. C. Briggs, at
that time owned the old Logan mill on Logan Creek, one of the historic
industries of pioneer times. Though he came to Nebraska with no asset,
George Briggs made himself prosperous before he died. He passed
away at the age of seventy-one, and his wife, Henrietta Briggs, died at
the age of sixty-nine.
C. D. Briggs received his education in Dodge County and at an early
age began acquiring property for himself, though he remained at home
with his parents to the age of thirty-four. At the age of twenty-one he
bought eighty acres and he now has 500 acres, all constituting a modern
farm with high-class improvements. He has never concerned himself
with fraternal organizations, but is an active member of the Methodist
Church and a republican voter. The Briggs family belongs to the pioneer
era of Dodge County, since they came before the building of the first
railroad and when the trains ran only to Council Bluffs.
September 29, 1897, Mr. Briggs married Miss Mary Ruppert, who
was born and reared in Dodge County. To their marriage have been
born seven children, Hattie, Grace, Fern, Herbert, Earl, Lawrence and
Violet. Mrs. Briggs is a daughter of Samuel Ruppert, who was born in
Michigan October 3, 1853, and has lived in Dodge County since 1872.
His father, Henry Ruppert, came to the county in 1871 but never home
steaded, though he followed farming as well as his trade as carpenter.
He died at the age of seventy-four and his wife Catherine at seventy-two.
Samuel Ruppert from the time he came to Nebraska farmed his father's
place about tour and a half miles northeast of Hooper. In 1877 he mar
ried Sophie Gaster, who was born in Wisconsin and came to Dodge
County when about ten years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Ruppert were the
parents of eight children, three of whom died young. The others are
Mrs. Mary Briggs, Levi, Joseph, Mrs. Rosie Mortison and Elmer.
Mr. Ruppert has been a carpenter like his father and is still active in
the management of his farm of forty acres a mile from Winslow. He
is a republican voter.
Ove T. Anderson, former county clerk of Washington County, has
been a leader in politics and public affairs for a number of years, and in
his home Town of Blair is now well established in a thriving abstract,
real estate and insurance business. Mr. Anderson has spent the greater
part of his life in Nebraska and in all his varied relations has shown
those qualities that command respect and esteem.
He was born at Cedar Falls, Iowa, February 5, 1873. His parents,
James and Sophie (Peterson) Anderson, were both natives of Denmark.
His mother's family, after coming to America, adopted the name of
Goldburg. James Anderson came to the United States about 1859 or
1860, settling in Wisconsin. In 1861 he volunteered to serve his adopted
country in the Union army and was in the Fifteenth Wisconsin Infantry
and was a brave and faithful soldier four years, participating in many
of the historic battles of the war. In 1886 he was married to Sophie
Peterson. He settled and lived in Iowa several years and about 1876
homesteaded in Webster County, Nebraska. He was a resident of that
county twenty-one years, and while there took a prominent part in repub-

690 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
lican politics, holding township offices and justice of the peace. In 1895
he removed to Washington County, settled on a farm near Blair, and
after continuing his vocation as a farmer for eight years he retired and
he and his wife now live in a comfortable home in Blair. They are
active members of the Lutheran Church. Of their eight children three
are still living: Goldburg Anderson, a farmer in Washington County;
Ove T. ; and Theodore, a farmer near Blair.
Ove T. Anderson was a child when his parents moved to Nebraska
and acquired his early education in the country schools of Webster
County. He also attended Dana College at Blair and the Fremont Nor
mal School. His liberal education has fitted him for his varied duties
and responsibilities in public and business affairs. For a number of
years he confined his attention to farming and left the farm to become
deputy county clerk of Washington County. He filled that office five
years and his experience thoroughly qualified him for his duties when
he was elected county clerk. Mr. Anderson was the capable and efficient
county clerk of Washington County nine years, retiring from the court
house in January, 1919. Since then he has devoted his time to the
abstract business at Blair and has a complete record of abstracts enabling
him to furnish prompt and reliable service in that line. He does an
extensive real estate business and also represents a number of the stand
ard insurance companies. Mr. Anderson was secretary of the local
exemption board during war times and gave much of his time to patriotic
service. January 31, 1915, he was married to Margaret Nielsen, who came
with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Julius Nielsen, from Denmark to this
country when she was only three months old. They settled in Kimball
County, Nebraska, where Margaret grew to womanhood. Mr. and Mrs.
Anderson have an adopted daughter, Margaret, now three years of age.
They are members of the Lutheran Church, and politically Mr. Anderson .
has always taken a working role in the republican party. Besides his
business interests at Blair he owns farming lands in Washington County,
but these are cultivated by tenants and renters.
Rev. C. A. Beyersdorfer. All classes of citizens in the community
of Blair have recognized a source of inspiration and substantial factor in
improving the moral and civic standards of the locality in the person of
Father Beyersdorfer, pastor of the Catholic Church of Blair. Father
Beyersdorfer is a highly educated young priest, is a constructive leader,
and takes a willing interest in everything to promote the welfare of his
home town and county.
He was born at St. Louis, Missouri, November 19, 1893, son of
William and Anna (Connelly) Beyersdorfer. His father was also born
at St. Louis and his mother at Bunker Hill, Illinois. They were married
at St. Louis and lived there for many years. William Beyersdorfer for
a number of years conducted a shoe business and since then has been a
traveling salesman for a shoe house. He has been quite successful in
business. He votes independently, and he and his wife are devout Catho
lics. They have two sons, Edward William and C. A. The former is
employed in a St. Louis bank.
Father Beyersdorfer was educated in Holy Name Parochial School
at St. Louis, also attended a seminary in that city and the Kenrick Semi
nary at Webster Grove, Missouri, and on September 15, 1917, was
ordained a priest in the Good Shepherd Convent at Omaha, Nebraska.
Following that he spent a year in post graduate study in the Catholic

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 691
University of America at Washington, and on July 6, 1918, was assigned
to duty as assistant at St. Patrick's Church at Omaha. On Thanksgiving
Day of the same year he was appointed priest of the Church of St. Francis
Borgia at Blair, Nebraska, and has now rounded out two years of faithful
and fruitful labors in this community. His parish comprises about fifty
Catholic families. He has done much to upbuild and strengthen the
church and is earnestly working to establish a parochial school. Father
Beyersdorfer is a member of the Knights of Columbus.
Ernest Hahn was a lad of fourteen years at the time the family
home was established in Dodge County, and that in the passing years he
has commended himself effectively to the confidence and good will of the
people of the county is indicated in his incumbency of the office of registrar
of deeds, as well as by his former tenure of the position of county treas
urer. Mr. Hahn was born in Germany, where he received his preliminary
school discipline, which was supplemented by his attending the public
schools of Fremont after his parents here established their residence, the
family immigration to America having occurred in 1881 and the same
year having recorded their arrival in Dodge County. Mr. Hahn is a son
of Ludwig and Martha (Looschen) Hahn, and the father died within a
few years after coming to Fremont, where he became a clerk in one of
the county offices and where he was serving as deputy county treasurer
at the time of his death, in 1889, when fifty-five years of age. He was
a man of sterling character and superior mentality, was deeply appre
ciative of the land of his adoption, became aligned in the ranks of the
republican party and took much interest in community affairs. He was
a consistent communicant of the Lutheran Church, as was also his wife,
who survived him by nearly a score of years and who passed to the life
eternal in December, 1918, her memory being revered by her children
and by all others who came within the sphere of her gentle and kindly
influence. Of the nine children seven are living: Carl is engaged in the
banking business at Twin Falls, Idaho ; Ernest, of this review, was the
next in order of birth ; Julia is the wife of Harry B. Dodge, their home
being at Fremont and Mr. Dodge being an engineer on the Chicago
& Northwestern Railroad ; Fred is bookkeeper in the office of a leading
business corporation at Fremont ; Miss Lena remains at Fremont and is
a popular clerk in a local mercantile establishment ; Henrietta is the effi
cient housekeeper for her brother Fred and sister Lena ; and Emil is
secretary of the Nye, Schneider & Fowler Company, of Fremont.
After leaving school Ernest Hahn became a clerk in the offices of
the Nye, Schneider & Fowler Company. Later he was appointed deputy
county treasurer, and after retaining this position five years he was
elected county treasurer, an office of which he retained the incumbency
four years, with careful and effective administration of the fiscal affairs
of the county. In 1918 he was elected county register of deeds, and here
his administrative ability again comes into play for the benefit of the
people of the county. He is a stalwart in the camp of the republican
party and has been influential in its councils and campaign activities in
Dodge County, especially during his service as chairman of the County
Central Committee of the party.
The year 1913 recorded the marriage of Mr. Hahn to Miss Effie
Haverfield, of North Bend, Dodge County, she being a daughter of
Wilson and Hannah (Griffith) Haverfield, the former being a native of
Ohio and the latter of Illinois, in which state their marriage was solemn
ized and whence they came to Dodge County, Nebraska, in the early '70s.

692 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Mr. Haverfield is a carpenter by trade and he became one of the leading
contractors and builders at North Bend, where he still maintains his
home, and where occurred the death of bis wife. Mr. and Mrs. Hahn
have no children.
Marion E. Shipley. Among the foremost men of Dodge County, no
one has been more prominent for years past than Marion E. Shipley, a
former member of the Nebraska State Legislature, a capitalist, news
paper man and captain of industry. He comes- of English ancestry, the
well-known Town of Shipley, England, having been named in honor of
the family, the first American representative of which came very early
to the Colonies. His great-great-grandfather served under Washington
in the Revolutionary war.
Marion E. Shipley was born July 16, 1868, in Knox County, Ohio, a
son of Benedict F. and Mary C. (Anderson) Shipley. His father was
a lumberman and mill man, operating a water-power mill in Ohio and
later a steam mill sawing hardwood lumber. He disposed of his mill
interests in 1879 and came to Nebraska, buying 140 acres of land near
Fremont, in 1881 coming to Dodge County, trading his 140 acres for a
tract of eighty acres near North Bend, where he engaged in farming.
Later he moved into North Bend in order to give his children better
educational advantages than they could have in the country. Still later
he went to Wyoming and followed ranching there for some years and
finally lived retired at McMinnville, Oregon, until his death August 22,
1920. The mother of Mr. Shipley died October 4, 1902, at Green Forest,
Arkansas, where both are buried. During President Cleveland's adminis
tration Mrs. Shipley was appointed postmistress of Manville, Wyoming,
but failing health caused her to resign and her husband served in her
place. Of the five children in the family Marion E. is the eldest, the
others being as follows: Price M., who is pastor of a Free Methodist
Church at Oklahoma City ; William B., who lives at Lusk, Wyoming, is
county road engineer of Niobrara County ; Lydia Ora, who is the wife of
Monroe Dunlap, a farmer near Green Forest, Arkansas ; and Guy R.
who is a farmer and telephone man at McMinnville, Oregon. The parents
reared their children in the Methodist faith. The father was a democrat
in politics and a Royal Arch Mason and member of the Sons of the
American Revolution.
Marion E. Shipley accompanied his parents to North Bend, Nebraska,
where he completed his school attendance, and then went to work in the
printing and publishing office of the North Bend Flail, then conducted
by C. W. Hyatt. From there he went to the North Bend Eagle, under
Charles Fowler. In 1887, in partnership with his father, he bought the
Brainard Journal, which he sold three years later and then returned to
North Bend and remained until 1894, when he went to work as a printer
on the Schuyler Herald, going from there to Cedar County, Iowa, where
he bought the Stanwood Herald and conducted it for four years. Mr.
Shipley desired to return to Dodge County, however, so he once more
disposed of his newspaper interests and came back to Fremont, worked
on the Tribune until 1899., when he came to the Hooper Sentinel, which
he purchased in partnership with W. G. Thompson and conducted two
years and then sold to Mr. Thompson in order to take up an entirely
different line of business.
Mr. Shipley was one of the organizers of the Hooper Telephone
Company, in 1901, of which he has been general manager ever since and
is a heavy stockholder. This company was incorporated with a capital

Tut.g-fy&j,.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 693
of $50,000, and paid in capital of $37,000, the officers being the follow
ing capitalists: W. G. J. Dau, president ; Herman Meyer, vice president;
Norman E. Shaffer, secretary; and Henry Windhusen, treasurer.
Since 1901 Mr. Shipley has devoted the greater part of his time to
telephone and electric light business. For three and a half years he
owned the Hooper Electric Light & Power system, which he sold in
1911, and built the telephone system at Lusk, Wyoming, which he owned
and operated until 1914. He has large interests at Rushville, owning the
electric light company there, known as the Sherida Electric Service Com
pany, of which his son is in charge ; owns the Opera House at Rushville
and also a picture playhouse there, having a large amount of capital
invested there and in other profitable enterprises, being a now heavy
stockholder and a director in the Hooper Electric Light & Power Com
pany of Hooper, Nebraska.
On September 15, 1895, Mr. Shipley was united in marriage at North
Bend, Nebraska, to Miss Lessie A. Thompson, and they have one son,
Trajan C, who manages his father's interests at Rushville. Mrs. Ship
ley is a lady very highly esteemed at Hooper and is a member of the
Christian Church. Mr. Shipley is a thirty-second degree Mason and is
affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, Odd Fellows and the Knights of
the Maccabees, Modern Woodmen of America, and by virtue of his long
and honorable American ancestry is a member of the Sons of the Ameri
can Revolution.
From early manhood he has been interested in politics and in political
affiliations followed in his father's footsteps. In 1913 he was elected on
the democratic ticket a member of the State Legislature from Dodge
County, and throughout the Thirty-third Session proved himself a worthy
and useful member of that body, punctual and attentive as to his duties
and watchful over the best interests of his constituents.
Naturally his position in the community made him a leader in local
patriotic activities at the time of the World war. He did not wait to
be asked but pressed forward with all the influence at his command to
build up the local organizations for raising funds and prosecuting other
war matters. He was commissioned chairman of the Four Minute Men,
an organization at Hooper that made a splendid record. He was also
commissioned by the Governor Captain of the Home Guards and the
Home Defense Guards, and employed his knowledge of military tactics
to good advantage in drilling the company and maintaining its enthusiasm
as long as the services were required.
Herman Meyer. The. Township of Logan, Dodge County, has no
more thoroughgoing, systematic and diligent agriculturist than Herman
Meyer, who has resided on his present farm, on Hooper Rural Route
No. 1, since 1889. Mr. Meyer was born in Germany, December 20, 1855,
a son of John G. and Meta Meyer.
John G. Meyer was employed in his native land in work in caring for
the government forest, at a wage of 25 cents per day, out of which he
was expected to pay his owri board. He had no prospects of bettering
himself, and finally decided to come to the United States to seek his
fortune. In 1868, accordingly, he immigrated to this country with his
father, John Herman Meyer, the little party arrivirig in Dodge County
April 11th. They homesteaded in section 26, Cuming Township, and the
last of the little capital possessed by John G. Meyer went for the pur
chase of a cow. After many years of industrious labor, Mr. Meyer
accumulated a property approximating 1,188 acres, which went to his

694 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
sons at the time of his death, when he was seventy-five years of age. His
widow survived him to the age of eighty-three years. They were the
parents of two sons: Christoph and Herman.
Herman Meyer attended the public schools of Germany, and after
coming to the United States gained some further education in the public
schools of Dodge County. He was brought up as a farmer's son, and
has passed his entire career in agricultural pursuits, in which he has
achieved an unqualified success. In 1889 he moved to his present prop
erty, in Logan Township, where he has the best of improvements and the
most up-to-date equipment. In addition to general farming, he is largely
interested in hog raising and shipping, and this forms a large part of his
work. He has holdings in the Farmers State Bank of Uehling and the
Farmers Co-operative Association of Uehling and Hooper. As a citizen
he has faithfully discharged all duties devolving upon him, and has served
as township treasurer four years and as a member for many years of the
school boards of districts Nos. 16 and 18. He is a non-partisan voter,
and he and Mrs. Meyer belong to the Lutheran Church.
Mr. Meyer was first married to Miss Elise Brockshus, who was born
and reared in Germany, and they became the parents of two children:
George, who is engaged in farming near Wisner, Cuming County ; and
Mrs. Martha Wobken, whose husband is a farmer near Scribner, Dodge
County. Mr. Meyer's first wife died, and in April, 1897, he was united
in marriage with Miss Sophie Wobken and they are the parents of ten
children: Herbert, Christoph, Leona, Alma, Alice, Lawrence, Herman,
Myra, Gerald and Laura. The Meyer home is a pleasant and hospitable
one and is always open to the many friends of Mr. and Mrs. Meyer.
Henry H. Lueninghoener. Until he recently retired Henry H.
Lueninghoener, a prosperous farmer of Dodge County, was actively
engaged in the prosecution of his calling and has been very successful in
his operations, having made improvements of practical value on his estate,
which is one of the most attractive and productive of any in Hooper
Township. A son of the late Peter Lueninghoener, he was born May 30,
1860, in Quincy, Illinois.
Born and brought up in Germany, Peter Lueninghoener, impressed by
the wonderful stories he had heard of the glorious opportunities afforded
the poor man in America, immigrated to the United States at the age of
eighteen years, and soon secured work as a farm laborer. He lived in
Illinois until' 1868, when, with his wife and children, he came to Nebraska,
bringing with him the $800 he had accumulated by hard work. He came
up the river as far as Omaha in a steamboat, and thence made his way
to Dodge County, where he bought a tract of wild land. As his means
increased, he bought other tracts, becoming owner of 800 acres of farm
ing land ere his death, which occurred when about seventy-eight. His
wife, Anna Monke, was born in Germany, and as a lass of eighteen years
came with her parents to this country. Nine children were born to their
marriage, three sons and six daughters, a family of which they could
well be proud.
Eight years old when he came with his parents to Washington County,
Nebraska, Henry H. Lueninghoener well remembers the desolate aspect
of the country roundabout, and the arduous toil required of the cour
ageous pioneer ranchmen. Familiar with argicultural work from his
youthful days, Mr. Lueninghoener succeeded to the occupation in which
he was reared, and at the age of twenty-three years bought the farm
which he now owns, and in its management met with unquestioned sue-

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 695
cess, it now being one of the best in regard to its improvements and
appointments of any in the neighborhood. He recently turned over the
management of the farm to his son, Irvin, and retired to Fremont to live,
Mr. Lueninghoener married, in 1884, Helen Eisely, who was born in
Omaha, where her father, Carl Eisely, was an early settler, while her
mother was said to have been the first white woman to settle west of
Fontanelle, Dodge County, Nebraska. Three children blessed their union,
namely : Alma Marks, of Winslow ; Irvin, operating the home farm ; and
Gilbert, living at home. Mr. and Mrs. Lueninghoener are valued mem
bers of the Evangelical Church. Politically an independent voter,
Mr. Lueninghoener has served as a member of the local school board
for ten years.
Fred Wolf. Occupying a position of note among the active and
progressive farmers of Dodge County, Fred Wolf, of Hooper Township,
shows decided ability and skill in the management of his agricultural
interests, his farm being well improved, and furnished with good farm
buildings, and plenty of machinery of the latest approved kinds, to suc
cessfully carry on his chosen work. A son of Frederick and Dora (Full-
ham) Wolf, he was born May 9, 1865, in Dodge County, this state.
Frederick Wolf, Sr., his father, was born, reared and educated in
Germany., Desirous of establishing a home in the land of bright promise,
he immigrated to the United States, settling first in Wisconsin. Hearing
good reports regarding Nebraska, he started westward with his family,
making the journey thither, according to the custom of that day, with
ox teams, taking all of thei,r household effects, and driving two cows.
Buying land at $11 an acre, he improved a good farm, on which he and
his wife resided the remainder of their lives, his death occuring at the
age of seventy-two years, and hers at the age of seventy-three years.
Both, true to the religious faith in which they were reared, were devout
members of the Emmanuel Lutheran Church.
Brought up in Dodge County, Fred Wolf obtained a practical knowl
edge of books in the district schools, and on the home farm was well
drilled in the various branches of agriculture. Becoming a farmer from
his inherited home farm where he was born, he bought land on section 7,
Hooper Township, and immediately began its cultivation. Laboring dili
gently and intelligently, Mr. Wolf has been exceedingly prosperous in his
undertakings, the rich and fertile soil, responding to his care, yielding
abundant harvests each year, and well repaying him for his days of toil.
In addition to carrying on mixed husbandry successfully, he- pays con
siderable attention to the raising of stock, which he finds quite profitable.
He has also other interests of value, being a stockholder in the Hooper
Tile Company, and one of its organizers and directors since its organiza
tion also of the Winslow State Bank, and the Hooper Mill.
In 1890 Mr. Wolf was united in marriage to Emma Rabe, a native
of Illinois, and into their home six children have been born, namely:
Ida, wife of H. P. Bartling, a Washington County farmer; Henry F.,
engaged in agricultural pursuits in Dodge County ; Frederick H. ; Louis
E. ; George ; and Elma. Mr. Wolf is independent in politics, being bound
by no party restrictions, and though not at all active in public affairs
served for twenty-seven years as school moderator in district No. 14.
He is a valued member of the Emmanuel Lutheran Church, of which he
is a deacon, and to which Mrs. Wolf also belongs.

696 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Henry G. Kendrick. For many years engaged in the meat and live
stock business in Fremont, the late Henry G. TCendrick was a typical
representative of those eminently able and intelligent men of JDodge
County who brought to their respective callings good business methods
and wise judgment, and whose labors were crowned with success. He
was born February 6, 1861, in Pecatonica, Illinois, of honored New Eng
land ancestry, his parents having lived for many years in Boston. His
paternal ancestors originated in England and Wales, while his mother's
people emigrated- from Ireland to the United States, settling in Boston.
Educated in Illinois, Henry G. Kendrick remained in his native state
until after his marriage. Adventurous and enterprising, he came with
his young wife to Nebraska, and having decided that the opportunities for
improving his financial condition were as good in Fremont as could any
where be found, he established himself in the meat business, an industry
that proved profitable, his specialty having been the buying and selling
of live stock. Successful in his operations, he bought land and raised
and fed stock, which he shipped to Omaha and Chicago, building up a
very extensive and lucrative trade. He accumulated a fine property, and
at his death, on June 2, 1919, left a valuable estate, including among
other property a large farm in Saunders County. He was independent in
his political relations, and was never an aspirant for official honors, his
time having been devoted to his business interests.
Mr. Kendrick married, in Illinois, Elizabeth Kenney, who was born
in Stephenson County, that state, and is now living a quiet life in Fre
mont, where she has large property interests. Three children were born
of' the union of Mr. and Mrs. Kendrick, namely : Verne, living with his
mother, travels for the Cluette Peabody Company ; Pauline, employed in
an attorney's office in the courthouse ; and William, engaged in the render
ing business at Fremont. Mrs. Kendrick is a member of the Catholic
Church, to which her husband also belonged.
Charles J. Marr, president of the Marr-Hein Candy Company, a
well-established and prosperous • manufacturing concern of Fremont, is
fully entitled to designation as one of the prominent and progressive busi
ness men of the younger generation in his native city and is a member of
a representative family of Dodge County, as may be seen by reference to
the sketch of the career of his father, Charles D. Marr, on other pages
of this volume.
Charles J. Marr was born at Fremont on September 15, 1883, and
his early education was here acquired in the excellent public schools,
besides which he pursued higher studies in the Nebraska State Normal
School of this city. After leaving school he was for three years book
keeper in the office of the Fremont Foundry & Machine Company, of
which his father is president, and he then purchased the bottling works
of H. J. Archer, an enterprise which he still continues, under the title
of the Fremont Bottling Works. In 1919 he became one of the organ
izers and incorporators of the Marr-Hein Candy Company, the majority
of the capital stock being held by Mr. Hein and Mr. Marr, and, with a
well-equipped establishment with the best modern facilities, this company
now manufactures high-grade candies, with an output of about four tons
daily and with a trade that extends throughout Nebraska, as well as into
Wyoming and South Dakota. The business is constantly expanding in
scope and constitutes one of the important industrial enterprises of Fre
mont. In addition to being president of this company Mr. Marr is also
president of the Fremont Bottling Works, which likewise controls a sub-

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 697
stantial business. He is a republican in politics, is affiliated with the local
Blue Lodge, Chapter and Commandery of the Masonic Fraternity, and
also with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Fraternal
Order of Eagles. Mrs. Marr is an active member of the Christian
Science Church.
November 24, 1904, recorded the marriage of Mr. Marr to Miss Lillie
Larson, who likewise claims Fremont as the place of nativity, her father,
L. P. Larson, being one of the venerable pioneer citizens of this city,
where he is now living retired, after a specially successful career as a
prominent business man of the city. Mr. and Mrs. Marr have two chil
dren : Helen Althea, and Peter.
Fred E. Pratt. There are few residents of Dodge County who have
turned business opportunities to better account in a comparatively short
time, than Fred E. Pratt, president of the Golden Rod Creamery Com:
•pany of Fremont, and one of the most extensive hog raisers in this sec
tion of the state. He began with very small capital, and to close attention
to business, excellent judgment and native thrift may be attributed the
conspicuous success that has attended his various undertakings in
Nebraska. Fred E. Pratt was born at Woodstock, in Windsor County, Vermont,
June 20, 1863. His parents were Carlos A. and Delphine (Rickard)
Pratt, and his grandfathers were Laverne Pratt and Dr. Benjamin Rick
ard, both of whom were lifelong residents of Vermont. The father of
Mr. Pratt died on his Vermont farm in 1865, when but thirty-eight
years old, but his mother survived to be sixty-eight years of age and
passed away in 1897. Of the family of four children but two survive,
Fred E. and a daughter, Lilla D., who is the widow of F. H. Vaughn,
who died at Cheyenne, Wyoming, in the fall of 1919.
Mr. Pratt obtained his education in the public schools of Windsor
County and grew up on the home farm and continued interested iri his
native state in farming and dairying until 1897, when he came to Fre
mont. After working in a creamery plant for a short time he determined
to go into the business on his own account and matured plans that enabled
him to start the Golden Rod Creamery Company, in 1901, in rather small
quarters and with a small force of helpers. The business prospered from
the first as Mr. Pratt was experienced in this line, and soon enlarged quar
ters had to be secured and so much expansion has taken place that
Mr. Pratt now has seventy-eight men on his pay roll. He carried it on
as a private enterprise until 1919, when the business was incorporated
with capital of $300,000, with $250,000 paid in. In the meanwhile he has
invested in land in Dodge County and gone into the business of raising
hogs on a large scale, keeping exclusively to thoroughbred Red Durocs,
and averaging 1,500 head annually. He owns the large building on the
corner of Broad and Military avenues, Fremont, which he erected in
1904, devoting it entirely to business purposes.
In 1899 Mr. Pratt was united in marriage to Miss Isetta D. Doty,
who was born at Mansfield, Massachusetts, and they have one daughter,
Lura Madaline, who graduated from the Fremont High School in June,
1919, and expects to continue her education in the Northwestern Uni
versity, Chicago. Mr. Pratt and his family are members of the Con
gregational Church. Although never unduly active in the political field
and never willing to accept a public office, Mr. Pratt has continuously
supported the candidates of the republican- party. He belongs to the Elks
and the Highlanders. The family spent a recent winter in California,
making the journey in their high-powered, luxurious automobile.
Vol. II— 16

698 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
John Weigle has impressed himself upon the people of Hooper
Township as a man of worth and stability, one whose experience, enter
prise and enlightened views will add to the community's prestige and
whose agricultural abilities will serve to assist materially in an elevation
of standards. Mr. Weigle was born in Illinois, March 7, 1857, a son of
George Weigle, who was born in Germany. George Weigle, upon his
arrival in the United States in 1852 or 1853, spent two years in New York
State and a like period in Illinois, and then came to Nebraska, where he
took up a homestead. He became a successful man and died, highly
respected, at the age of seventy-two years. His wife, Christine Kramer,
is also deceased, having died when about seventy-eight years of age.
John Weigle was educated in the public schools and began his inde
pendent career at the age of twenty-six years, when he began renting
property from his father. At the time of the elder man's death, he
secured his first land, an inheritance of 160 acres, and so ably have his
affairs been managed that at the present time he is the owner of 380
acres, all in a good state of cultivation, and devoted to general farming
and the raising of live stock. Mr. Weigle came to Dodge County when
about two years of age and has made a place for himself among the sub
stantial and reliable men of Hooper Township, where his property is
located on section 11. He has excellent improvements and substantial
buildings and keeps fully abreast of all the progressive movements made
in his vocation. Mr. Weigle is a popular member of the local lodge of
the Sons of Hermann. He is an independent voter, and he and
Mrs. Weigle are consistent members of the Lutheran Church.
In 1883 Mr. Weigle married Augusta Dickman, who was born in
Germany November 4, 1866, and came to the United States when six
months old with her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Weigle are the parents of
seven children: Fredericka, Augusta, Amelia, Albert, Carrie, Minnie
and Emma. Another child, Ella, died in infancy.
Jacob Sanders. There are some very capable business men at
Hooper, who are handling the local trade so successfully that outside
custom is attracted to the city, with the result that this has come to be
recognized as one of the centers of distribution for a wide territory.
One of these men is Jacob Sanders, one of the leading grocers of Dodge
County. Jacob Sanders was born in Pennsylvania in 1859, a son of Emanuel
and Barbara (Capp) Sanders, also born in Pennsylvania, where they
passed their lives and died, he when sixty-eight years of age. By trade
he was. a millwright, and he was at one time also engaged in farming.
The children born to him and his wife were as follows : William, who is
surveyor of Dodge County, lives at Fremont ; Jacob, whose name heads
this review ; and John, who is connected with the grain and elevator busi
ness at Hooper.
Growing up in his native state, Jacob Sanders there attended the pub
lic schools and attained a working knowledge of the. fundamentals of an
education. In 1876 he came West to Nebraska, and for six years worked
for P. S. Ryan on his farm near Fremont, and then, renting land, was
engaged in farming for six years. Having saved up some money by that
time, he was able to purchase a farm of his own one-half mile south of
Hooper, and for the succeeding twelve years was engaged in general
farming and stock raising. In 1900 he moved to Hooper and buying the
stock of Hecker & Son, grocers, has since been engaged in the grocery
business with very gratifying results.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 699
In 1882 Mr. Sanders was united in marriage with Linda Hartung,
born at Watertown, Wisconsin, a daughter of William Hartung, an early
settler of Dodge County. Mr. and Mrs. Sanders have two children,
namely: William E., who is manager of the Hooper Theater and the
Hooper Bottling Works, was in the service during the late war, being
trained at the officers' training camp at Camp Taylor; and Cora, who is
the wife of Fred Duty, a jeweler of Scribner, Nebraska. Mr. Sanders
is a republican and was mayor of Hooper for fifteen years and was on the
school board for six years. Both he and Mrs. Sanders belong to Grace
Lutheran Church. He maintains fraternal relations with the Knights of
Pythias. An enterprising business man, Mr. Sanders deserves his present
prosperity and the confidence he inspires has been earned by his probity
and the interest he has always taken in civic matters, both as an official
and private citizen.
William Middaugh. Owning and occupying a well-managed and
highly productive farm in Platte Township, William Middaugh is famili
arly known throughout this section of Dodge County as a prosperous and
progressive agriculturist whose labors have been crowned with success.
A son of the late J. C. Middaugh, he was born July 11, 1872, in Mercer
County, Illinois, but the major portion of his life has been spent in Dodge
County. In 1873 J. C. Middaugh came with his family from Illinois to
Nebraska, and settled on the broad prairies of Dodge County, being one
of the earlier pioneers of the place. The neighbors were few and far
between; the range was free, there being nothing fenced; and land sold
anywhere from $3 to $5 an acre. Indians were numerous, and deer,
which furnished much of the food of the early comers, and other wild
beasts roamed at will through the country. Buying a partly improved
farm, he was engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death, at the age
of seventy-six, in his undertakings being quite successful, though in the
early stages crops were destroyed by grasshoppers for three years and by
drought, etc. Mr. Middaugh, a prominent member of the Seventh Day
Advent Church, took great interest in that organization. His wife, whose
maiden name was Nancy Braucht, survived him, and now lives with her
only daughter.
Growing to manhood on the parental homestead, William Middaugh
assisted in the almost herculean labor of improving a good farm, and as
a boy, youth, and young man, endured the hardships and privations inci
dental to life in a new country. Laboring with unceasing toil, he has
performed no inconsiderable part in helping to develop the resources of
this section of the state, and since becoming a farmer on his own account
has undergone many hardships. Persevering and energetic, Mr. Mid
daugh has courageously followed his chosen occupation, and now has a
farm of 380 acres, on which he has placed improvements of value, ren
dering it one of the most desirable estates in the vicinity. In addition to
general farming, Mr. Middaugh raises cattle, of no particular breed,
however, and has built up an extensive and profitable business as a buyer
and seller of stock, his dealings being quite remunerative.
Mr. Middaugh married, in 1899, at Fremont, Nebraska, Louise Boyd,
who was born and educated in Champaign County, Illinois, a daughter
of William Boyd, who came from Scotland to Illinois with his parents
when but five years of age, and early in life settled in Nebraska. Mr. and
Mrs. Middaugh have one child, David Middaugh. Politically Mr. Mid
daugh is identified with the republican party in local affairs, but in county

700 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
and state affairs is independent, casting his vote for the men and measures
that he deems best. True to the religion in which he was reared, he is a
Seventh Day Adventist.
J. W. Delaney. A worthy representative of the energetic, enterpris
ing and progressive men who are so ably conducting the agricultural
interests of Dodge County, J. W. Delaney, through his own efforts and
. wise management, improved one of the more valuable and attractive farm
ing estates of Elkhorn Township. He was born, January 26, 1865, in
Davenport, Iowa, a son of John and Julia Delaney.
John Delaney spent the first fourteen years of his life in Ireland.
Immigrating then to the United States, he lived in Pennsylvania about
fifteen years, being employed in the steel works. Moving from there to
Davenport, Iowa, he bought land in that vicinity, and there engaged in
farming eight years. About fifty-three years ago, soon after the close
of the Civil war, he came with his family to Nebraska, and having taken
up a homestead claim of eighty acres in Elkhorn Township, Dodge
County, redeemed a farm from its original wildness, and was subse
quently engaged in mixed husbandry until his death, at the age of seventy-
six years. His wife, who was born in Ireland, and came to the United
States as a girl of fifteen summers, died when but thirty-nine years old.
They were married in Philadelphia, and became the parents of nine chil
dren, three boys and six girls, and of these four of the girls have passed
to the life beyond.
Brought up on the parental homestead, J. W. Delaney was educated
in the rural schools of Dodge County, and in his tender years began to
assist his father in the pioneer task of clearing and improving a home
stead. He was an ambitious youth, full of push and vim, and having
determined when young to pursue the independent occupation of a tiller
of the soil, he began his agricultural operations on rented land. At the
end of six years, having been successful in his labors, Mr. Delaney pur
chased 237 acres of land near Fremont, Nebraska, and managed it for
a while. He afterwards sold it at an advantage, and bought his present
place of 160 acres, on which he has made all of the improvements, having
erected his pleasant residence, and substantial barns and outbuildings, in
addition having placed his land largely under tillage, rendering it exceed
ingly productive. Although Mr. Delaney had a hard time at first to make
both ends meet, he labored steadily, conquering all difficulties that
obstructed his pathway, and now stands in the front ranks of the pros
perous and progressive agriculturists of his community.
Mr. Delaney married, at Fremont, Nebraska, in 1901, Jessie Charles
ton, who was born and educated in Illinois, and. died on the home farm,
April 4, 1919. Three children were born of their union, namely : Mar
guerite, who lived but six years; a child that died at birth; and John
Joseph. An active and influential member of the democratic party,
Mr. Delaney has faithfully served in many important offices, having been
a member of the town board six years ; a road overseer several terms ;
and justice of the peace six years. Fraternally he belongs to Eagle
Lodge. He is not a member of any religious organization, but Mrs.
Delaney was a worthy member of the Christian Church.
H. Gus Gumpert. The true measure of individual success is deter
mined by what one has accomplished, and, as taken in contradistinction to
the old adage that a man is not without honor save in his own country,
there is a particular interest attached to the career of H. Gus Gumperti

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DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 701
since he is a native son of Dodge County, where practically his entire life
has beeri passed, and he has so directed his ability and efforts as to gain
recognition as one of the representative citizens of the community; being a
worthy scion of one of our worthy pioneer families.
H. Gus Gumpert, one of the leading merchants of Fremont, was born
in this city in 1872, and is a son of H. F. and Gretchen Gumpert, both of
whom were natives of Germany. Their marriage occurred in Fremont
in 1871 and here Mr. Gumpert established a barber shop, which he con
ducted during the greater part of his active business life, his shop being
the first of the kind in Fremont. Subsequently he engaged in the shoe
business here for a number of years, but is now retired and living in
Long Beach, California. He was a successful, self-made man and enjoyed
the respect of all who knew him. Of the three children born to him and
his wife, H. Gus is the only survivor. They were members of the Ger
man Lutheran Church and in politics Mr. Gumpert is a supporter of the
democratic party. .
H. Gus Gumpert received his educational training in the public schools,
graduating from the Fremont High School. His first employment was
with Nye, Schneider & Company, with whom he remained for five years.
He then engaged in the mercantile business in partnership with his brother
and father, some time later buying the interest of his brother in the busi
ness. The father retained his interest in the shoe business until 1914,
When he sold that to his son, who has since been sole owner of the busi
ness. Thus H. Gus Gumpert has been continuously engaged in the mer
cantile business here since 1898 and has been a witness of and a participant
in the splendid growth which has characterized this section during the
intervening years. At one time he gave serious attention to the study
of law under the direction of Judge Munger, and, though he did not fol
low that profession, his studies were of advantage to him in his future
business career. He now owns one of the largest and most complete
department stores in this section of the state and enjoys a large and
constantly growing trade. In 1915 he built a large business block, three
stories high and a half block in extent, at the corner of Main Street ,
and Fifth Avenue, and here he has a well-stocked store, carrying a large
line of goods in each department. Courteous treatment, prompt service
and right prices have been the elements which have entered into his
success and he enjoys distinctive prestige among his fellow merchants.
In 1898 Mr. Gumpert was married to Dot Glenn, who was born in
Glencoe, Nebraska, the daughter of James Glenn, a merchant and the
postmaster at Glencoe, which town was named in his honor. To Mr. and
Mrs. Gumpert has been born a daughter, Zoe, who graduated from the
Fremont High School in 1917 and remains at home. Mrs. Gumpert
and daughter Zoe are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Mr. Gumpert devotes himself to his business and has achieved a dis
tinctive success. He is progressive and up-to-date in his ideas and stands
always for the best things in the community life. Because of his success
. and high personal character he enjoys the respect of all who know him.
Dan Vorhees Stephens was named for Senator Dan Vorhees
of Indiana and from this incident one naturally concludes he must have
been born a democrat, and in the heyday of Vorhees' career. He was
born November 4, 1868, among the sycamores on Salt Creek, Indiana,
instead of on the Wabash, as was the great statesman for whom he was
named.

702 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
He was reared a Baptist in religion and a democrat in politics. He
received his early education in the common schools and at Valparaiso
College. He came to Fremont, Dodge County, Nebraska, in 1887, and
taught school for two and a half years and served four years as county
superintendent of schools. He organized the publishing house of Ham
mond & Stephens Company in 1894 and began manufacturing and pub
lishing for county and city superintendents of schools. He is president
of the company and principal owner of the business which now extends
over many states.
In 1904 he was elected a delegate to the national democratic conven
tion at St. Louis. In 1908 he was elected delegate at large and chairman
of the delegation to the democratic national convention at Denver when
Bryan was nominated for president.
In 1911 he was elected to Congress from the third congressional
district to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Congressman J. P. Latta.
He. was re-elected in 1912, 1914 and 1916, serving until March, 1919,
throughout the dramatic period of the World war. He took an active
part in the drafting and passage of all the constructive legislation that
made the winning of the war possible, such as the federal reserve act,
the draft law, the farm loan act, etc. He supported the administration
of President Wilson from the begining to the end of the war without
exception. In 1920 he was again chosen delegate at large to the national demo
cratic convention which met in San Francisco.
Mr. Stephens throughout his public service remained essentially a
business man, maintaining all his business interests in Nebraska. At
the conclusion of his term in Congress he organized the Fremont Joint
Stock Land Bank under the farm loan, act of 1916 with a capital of
$300,000. Later he purchased control of the Fremont State Bank and
consolidated the management of the Land Bank, State Bank and the
Nebraska Building and Loan Association under one head with himself
as president of the allied banks. Mr. Stephens has been active in pro
moting the public welfare as well as being a success in attending to his
own business.
In 1890 Mr. Stephens was married to Hannah Boe, daughter of
Knute Boe, an old resident of Dodge County. Mr. and Mrs. Stephens
had two children, namely: Edith, now deceased, and Estella, who is
married to Benjamin Harrison of Omaha.
Harland L. Wolcott. This family name is practically synonymous
with good farming, good citizenship and individual prosperity in Dodge
County, where it has been represented since earliest pioneer times. For
a long period of years the Wolcotts have been farmers in Hooper Town
ship, where H. L. Wolcott owns one of the best improved places in that
locality in section 25.
Harland L. Wolcott was born in Ohio August 17, 1864, and was
about two years of age when he came to Dodge County. His father
G. W. Wolcott, had first located in Dodge County in the year 1856, when
the organization of Nebraska Territory was still being discussed and
when there was a mere fringe of settlement along the western bank of
the Missouri River. G. W. Wolcott was a native of Ohio and drove to
Nebraska with a team. He squatted near Fremont, the land subse
quently becoming known as Knoell's place. He remained there keepinp-
bachelor's quarters for a year in a sod house. Leaving Nebraska he
went to the northwest, to Washington, riding horseback all the. way
/

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 703
After returning east he married Betsey Jane Baker and in 1866 again
came to Nebraska and homesteaded 160 acres near Winslow. Here he
went through the grasshopper scourge, many successive droughts, experi
encing scarcity of money and low markets for everything the land could
raise, but before his death which occurred in 1907 he was rewarded by
independent circumstances and was the owner of 480 acres. His widow
is still living, making her home with her only son and child, Harland
L. Wolcott. Harland L. Wolcott grew up on his father's farm, made good use of
such advantages as the district schools afforded, became an able assistant
to his father and for many years has carried on the homestead. In fact,
he has been doing for himself for a quarter of a century and with the
resources of 480 acres at his command has been able to carry on general
farming and stock raising on a somewhat extensive scale.
He has also shared the public spirit of his father in community rela
tionships, particularly in behalf of good schools. His father became
treasurer of the local School Board when it was first organized, and
Harland L. succeeded him in that office and has continued to serve for
thirteen years. In politics his vote is cast as a stanch republican.
In 1896 Mr. Wolcott married Eunice Bullock. Their three children,
all at home, are Grace, Harland and George.
William Henneman. One of the farms longest occupied in
Hooper Township of Dodge County is that of William Henneman, who
was born there and whose father acquired this tract as a homestead in
the very early period of settlement. For over half a century the Henne-
mans have cultivated crops in section 7 of Hooper Township, and in
every sense of the word they have been substantial citizens, good neigh
bors and upholders of the best community spirit.
William Henneman was born February 15, 1882. His father, Christie
Henneman, was born in Germany and came to this country in 1858.
Possessing little capital, he had the courage and resourcefulness to
strive to make a home in a new country, and pre-empted land in Dodge
County and in spite of many struggles and adversities lived to see his
efforts well rewarded. He died at the age of eighty years. Of his two
sons and five daughters William is the youngest.
William Henneman acquired a good education in the local schools
and as a youth acquired a thorough training as a farmer, a training
that has stood him in good stead. In 1907 he rented land from his father
and he now owns 200 acres, including the old homestead. The father
left the farm well improved, and the son has done much to increase its
productiveness and general value.
In 1911 Mr. Henneman married Lulu Panning, who was born in
Dodge County, daughter of Fred Panning, one of the early settlers.
They have one child, Lavier. Mr. Henneman is an independent voter
and is a member of the Lutheran Church.
Ernest Schmidt. With a large farm stocked with cattle, sheep and
hogs, with all needed equipment, Ernest Schmidt is an adequate pic
ture of a complete and successful Nebraska farmer, and is one of the
men relied upon to fill up the quota of agricultural production in Dodge
and Washington counties.
Mr. Schmidt whose fine farm is in section 31 of Elkhorn Township,
was born in Dodge County June 24, 1880. Many old friends recall his
father, Ernest Schmidt, Sr., one of the pioneers of Nebraska, who for

704 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
several years as a soldier in the regular army participated in the thrill
ing campaigns for the redemption of the great west.
Ernest Schmidt, Sr., came to the United States from Germany in
1849, being one of those lovers of freedom who were expelled from their
native land about that time. He landed at New Orleans and in 1853
joined the regular United States army. He was in service five years, and
was on duty at many points in the great west. He was at Salt Lake City
at the time of the great Mormon uprising. When he left the army he
started for Colorado with a pony and cart, and for a time had the experi
ences of some of the famous mining camps of the state. From Colorado
he came to Nebraska and for several years was engaged in the overland
transportation business, operating ox teams from eastern Nebraska to
Denver. He made four trips of this kind to Denver and he also freighted
goods to Grand Island and Fort Kearney. As a pioneer of Dodge County,
he bought 160 acres about 1862, and spent the rest of his life in the quiet
and industrious pursuit of agriculture. He left his farm well improved
and had lived in comfort for many years before his death at the age of
eighty-five. In Dodge County he married Augusta Miller, member of
another family of early settlers in this country, who died the same year
her husband did at the age of sixty-nine. They were members of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church.
Ernest Schmidt, Jr., was the only son in a family of seven children.
He grew up on his father's farm of 240 acres, acquired an education in
the common schools, and for the past twenty years has been devoting all
his time and energies to general farming and the feeding of cattle, hogs
and sheep. He now has 240 acres, all well improved, and with a com
plete equipment of barns, while much of the land is tiled.
In 1908 Mr. Schmidt married Anna Baltz. Their three children, all
at home, are Erna, Ernest R. and Alberta May. Mr. Schmidt is an
independent voter in politics, and is a member of the Presbyterian faith.
Gustavus S. Stiver. In proportion to its population Dodge County
has as great a number of substantial and intelligent agriculturists as any
county of its size in Nebraska, and among this number is Gustavus S.
Stiver, the owner of a farm of finely cultivated land, which, until within
a year or two ago, he operated with such judgment as to have made him,
financially, a successful and substantial man.
Mr. Stiver was born in Pennsylvania in 1856, a son of John and
Salome Stiver, natives of the Keystone State, who passed their lives
there on property of their own, devoting their careers to agricultural
work, and being people who were highly esteemed and respected in their
community. Mrs. Stiver was a member of the Lutheran Church, while
her husband belonged to the Reformed faith. He was a republican in
his political affiliation, and served creditably at various times as member
of the Board of School Directors of his township and as overseer of
roads. Of their children, two are living, Henry, who is carrying on oper
ations on his brother's farm, and Gustavus S.
Gustavus S. Stiver resided in Pennsylvania until after he had passed
his majority, at which time he turned his face to the West and first started
farming in Kansas. He remained in that state until 1889, when he
came to Nebraska and secured land in section 36, Everett Township,
which he developed into a highly productive property, and upon which
he made many improvements. He continued to be engaged in general
farming and stock raising until several years ago, when he retired from
active pursuits and rented his land to his brother. He still owns the

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DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 705
land and buildings, as well as valuable farming machinery. Mr. Stiver
farmed his property with excellent discretion, following methods that
were at once practicable and progressive, and this, combined with unfail
ing industry, won him marked success. He is a member of the Reformed
Church. In politics he is independent, voting invariably for the man in
his opinion best qualified for the position. While his education was lim
ited to the public schools of his native state, he has been a great reader
and close observer of men and things, is well posted on current matters
and is excellent company, genial and sociable. At one time he served
very capably in the office of treasurer of Everett Township.
Henry L. Gaines came to Dodge and Washington counties nearly
forty years ago, but his longest experience as a Nebraska farmer and
rancher was in Cheyenne County. More recently he has acquired and
now lives on a fine farm in section 11 of Arlington Township.
Mr. Gaines was born near Springfield, Illinois, August 5, 1844. His
father, A. C. Gaines, was a native of Kentucky and also came out to
Nebraska, where he died at the age of seventy-eight. His first wife was
Mary Sackert, who was the mother of eight children. For his second
wife he married Miss Mills. Besides Henry L. the children of the first
marriage were: Thomas R. of Kennard, Nebraska; Eliza, a widow, liv
ing at Kennard; Robert of Omaha; Mrs. Emma Byers of Boyd County,
Nebraska; and William, John and Alfred, now deceased. William was
a pioneer settler of Washington County. The two children of the sec
ond marriage are L. C. Gaines of Arlington and Oscar Gaines of
Fremont. Henry L. Gaines on leaving Illinois in 1881 located near Elk City in
Douglas County, Nebraska, renting land there four years. In Illinois he
married Miss A. Archer, and they came out to Nebraska by train. After
leaving Douglas County Mr. Gaines went to Cheyenne County and
bought a section arid a half of land, on which he prosecuted his diver
sified farming and ranching interests until 1910, when he sold and bought
a well improved place of 240 acres in Washington County.
Mr. Gaines is the father of eight children : Hattie Blanchard of Her
man, Nebraska; Harry C. of Dodge County; Edwin C. of Washington
County; Mrs. Emma Christensen of Washington County; Newton of
Fremont ; Henry L., Jr., of Omaha ; Carl A., and Lottie, at home.
John Haun. Dodge County was just within the pale of civilization
when the late John Haun cast his fortunes in the locality. Death came
to him at the end of fifty years of residence, and his name is justly
recorded in this history not only for length of residence but for the
energy with which he provided for himself and family and the good
influence he exercised as a citizen and a successful business man, and is
also remembered as one of the former sheriffs of the county.
He was born in Germany in 1837, and had gained a common school
education in his native land before he came to America. He was about
fourteen when his parents came to this country and established their
home in Michigan. From Michigan John Haun went to Wisconsin, was
married in that state, and in 1868 reached Dodge County, Nebraska. As
a youth he had learned the trade of carpenter, was a very skilled workman
and at Fremont, his first place of residence, helped put up some of the
pioneer houses. He also homesteaded, and that homestead, now owned
by his son John W„ is a highly valuable, property, showing the results of
half a century of capable management and care from the time John

706 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Haun secured the land from the Government. He developed one of the
productive farms of the county before retiring, and th'en for several years
lived at the Village of Scribner. After the death of his wife he returned
to the homestead farm and lived with his son John, W. until his death,
which occurred July 10, 1920.
He espoused the cause of the democratic party in politics and his
influence added a great deal of strength to the party in the county. He
was always regarded as one of the most capable sheriffs the county ever
had, and whether as a farmer, homemaker or citizen he enjoyed a secure
place in popular confidence and esteem. Both he and his wife were
devout Catholics.
John Haun married Theresa Ambruster, who was a native of Wiscon
sin, and died in 1915. The brief facts concerning their children are as
follows : Joseph, a resident of the State of California ; Frank, living
retired at Fremont ; Amelia, wife of John Ries of Scotia, Greeley County ;
Kate, wife of August Stoetzer of Scribner ; Mary, wife of Henry Eidam,
a Dodge County farmer ; Elizabeth, widow of Louis Steil, and now living
at the home of her brother John W., who is next in order of birth;
and Henry A., concerning whom special mention is made elsewhere in
this volume.
John W. Haun has always regarded it as an honor to claim Dodge
County as his place of birth and the scene of his activities as a success
ful farmer and stock grower. He is a son of the late John Haun, whose
career as a pioneer of the county is described above.
John W. Haun was born in Cotterell Township April 6, 1880. In
that township in section 2 and about ten miles from the City of North
Bend, he lives today enjoying the ownership of a well improved farm
of 280 acres, which includes the old homestead his father took up from
the Government half a century ago.
Mr. Haun was reared on this farm of his father, and is indebted
to the public schools of Dodge County for his early educational disci
pline. He has been independently engaged in farm enterprises since
the age of twenty-two, and his substantial success has been the direct
result of his own industry and well ordered activities. He is an inde
pendent voter in connection with local political affairs, and some of the
interests that identify him with the outside community are as a stock
holder in the Farmers' Union at North Bend and at Scribner, and a
stockholder in the Douglas Motor Company of Omaha. He is also
well known as a musician, playing the violin and clarionet, and has been an
orchestra leader for over twenty years. He also has many engagements
with his clarionet as a band man. He is affiliated with the Knights of
Columbus and he and his wife are active members of the Catholic
Church at Ridgeley.
In 1902 he married Miss Addie Feichtinger, daughter of Charles
Feichtinger of Dodge County. Mrs. Haun died six years later in 1908, and
since her death Mr. Haun's widowed sister Elizabeth has had charge of
the domestic economies of his present home. Mr. Haun has two children
Elwood and Carroll.
Henry Uehling. As one of the native-born sons of Dodge County
Henry Uehling has lived to see many wonderful changes in the develop
ment of his home community, both in numbers and class of residents and
in importance as an agricultural center. He was born November 12
1862, in Dodge County and is a son of Theodore Uehling, a pioneer who
drove through to this region with a team of oxen.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 707
During the period of his boyhood, Henry Uehling was better
acquainted with the Indians than with white people. The redskins were
peaceable and friendly and frequently stopped at the Uehling home, where
hospitality was extended them by Mrs. Uehling, and this familiarity did
not tend to increase the youth's awe of the original settlers. Every year
tribes of Indians would go west and north in the fall, on hunting expedi
tions, and in the spring would return to their camps, so that there was
almost a constant procession of the tribes coming and going. There were
very few settlers, the Uehling home eight miles north of Clark's Creek
being the first house reached from that point. With no fences, when the
early settlers desired to go anywhere they merely took the shortest route.
Omaha was the closest city of any size, and it required three days to
make the journey to that place, but of necessity all the grain was hauled
there, as the nearest mills were at De Soto and Fort Calhoun. After the
railroad was built to Fremont, that place became the destination and
distributing point of the early farmers.
The education of Mr. Uehling was acquired in the public schools of
Dodge County, and as a youth and young man was associated in farming
with his father. When he reached the age of twenty-five years he
embarked upon operations of his own, first on his father's eighty-acre
farm and later on eighty acres of his own. From this modest beginning
he has extended his activities to cover farming and stock raising on 600
acres of land, all located in Logan Township. He is engaged in general
farming and devotes a good portion of his time to the raising of thor
oughbred live stock, including Jersey hogs and Percheron horses. His
labors have been attended by satisfactory results and he is regarded as
one of the most substantial and prosperous farmers of his county. While
energetic and progressive, he is nevertheless careful and systematic in
his methods of operation, and his farm is one of the most productive
and profitable in this section. He and Mrs. Uehling are members, of the
Lutheran Church, and as a fraternalist he is affiliated with the Masons.
While he devotes his attention unreservedly to his farm, he is not indif
ferent to the duties of citizenship, and a number of years ago served
his township in the capacity of treasurer.
Mr. Uehling was married in 1886 to Miss Marguerite Snyder,
daughter of John and Barbara (Krueger) Snyder, settlers of 1874 in
Burt County, Nebraska, who are now living in retirement at Scott's
Bluff. There were seven children in the Snyder family : one who died in
infancy, Peter, Adam, Marguerite, Andrew, Conrad and Mary, deceased.
Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Uehling: Arthur, who is
engaged in farming in Dodge County; and Ira, Marie and Ernest, at
home. Louis F. Holloway. The gentleman whose life history is herewith
outlined is a man who has lived to good purpose and achieved a gratify
ing degree of success, solely by his individual efforts. By a straightfor
ward and commendable course Mr. Holloway has made his way to an
influential position in the commercial life of Fremont, winning the
hearty admiration of the people of his community and earning a repu
tation as an enterprising, progressive man of affairs which the public
has not been slow to recognize and appreciate. Those who know him
best will readily acquiesce in the statement that he is eminently deserving
of the material success which has crowned his efforts and of the high
esteem in which he is held throughout the community.

708 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Louis F. Holloway was born in Lawrence-, Kansas, December 22,
1862, and is the son of James C. and Mary A. (Roy) Holloway. The
father was a native of the State of Ohio and the mother was born in
Troy, New York, their marriage occurring after their removal to Kan
sas, in which state James C. Holloway had been sent by the Government,
for whom he was engaged in the forestry service. On the. outbreak of
the Civil war he enlisted in defense of the Union and served faithfully
for five years, holding an officer's commission. Subsequently he took up
railroad construction work and had a part in the building of the Atchi
son, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad. He and his wife are both deceased,
his death occurring at Neodesha and his wife dying in Atchison, Kansas.
In religious faith, he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church
and Mrs. Holloway was an Episcopalian. In politics he gave his support
to the republican party. They were the parents of two children, Louis
F., of this sketch, and Frederick C, who is engaged in farming at Basalt,
Colorado. Louis F. Holloway received a good practical education in the public
schools and then for four years he was engaged in teaching school in
Iowa and Nebraska. He came to the latter state in 1884 and his identi
fication with Dodge County dates from 1901, when he bought a small
hardware store in Fremont. Soon afterwards he had a partner, the firm
being known as Holloway & Felt, later Holloway & Fowler, but in
March, 1919, Mr. Holloway bought his partner's interest in the business,
which is now conducted as the L. F. Holloway Hardware Company. The
business has enjoyed a steady and healthy growth from the beginning
and is now numbered among the leading stores of the kind in Fremont.
Mr. Holloway has applied himself indefatigably to his business and has
shown an ability arid soundness of judgment that has stamped him as a
business man of substantial and permanent qualities. He carries a large,
well-selected and complete line of all kinds of hardware and his patrons
come from a wide radius of surrounding country.
In 1888 Mr. Holloway was married to Carrie E. Lewis, a native of
New York, and the daughter of James H. Lewis, who came to Nebraska
in 1882, settling at Friend, where he engaged in the grain business. To
Mr. and Mrs. Holloway have been born two children, Pearl and Ruth.
The latter became the wife of John Bader of Scribner, Dodge County,
but her death occurred on December 17, 1918. She was the mother of
two children, Margaret and Gladys, who now make their home with the
grandparents. . Politically Mr. Holloway is independent and he and his wife are
members of the Congregational Church. Fraternally he is a member of
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Ancient Order of United
Workmen and the Modern Woodmen of America. In the first named
order he has passed through all the chairs in both branches. He takes
a deep interest in all local public and commercial affairs, giving his sup
port to every movement for the upbuilding of the community. He has
been a director in the Fremont Commercial Club, president for several
terms of the Retailers' Association, a director in the Nebraska State
Hardware Association, and he has also taken an active and effective part
in the interests of the Young Men's Christian Association. In every
phase of community life he has endeavored to be a booster and as a
result of his generous spirit and his excellent personal qualities he enjoys
the confidence and good will of all who know him!

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 709
Peter F. Cary is one of the leading merchants of the thriving little
City of North Bend, Dodge County, where he conducts a well equipped
furniture store, and his is the distinction of being a representative of a
family whose name has been identified with the annals of Nebraska since
1869. He was born at Dunkirk, New York, December 31, 1857, and is
a son of Patrick and Bridget (Hayes) Cary, both natives of the Emerald
Isle. The devoted mother who would have celebrated in 1920 the eighty-
sixth anniversary of her birth, died December 25, 1919, her husband
having died in 1912, at the venerable age of eighty-five years. -
Patrick Cary was reared and educated in his native land and came
from Ireland to America in 1850. He lived for a short period in the
City of Boston, Massachusetts, later became a resident of Dunkirk,
New York, and from the old Empire State he removed to Ohio, where
the family home was maintained until 1869, when he came with his
family to Nebraska, which had gained the dignity of statehood only two
years previously. After remaining for a time in the City of Omaha
Patrick Cary took up a homestead claim in Platte County, where he
reclaimed and improved a pioneer farm and continued for many years as
a respected and influential citizen. After retiring from the farm, in
1900, he established his home at Platte Center, where he passed the
remainder of his life and whence his widow later came to the home of
their only child, Peter F., of this review, at North Bend, where she
received the deepest filial solicitude on the part of her son. She was a
devout communicant of the Catholic Church, as was also her husband,
and the latter was a democrat in his political proclivities.
Peter F. Cary received a common school education and after the
removal of his family to Nebraska he contributed his share to the
work and development of his father's old homestead farm, in Platte
County. In that county he finally purchased a furniture store at Platte
Center, and after conducting the enterprise ten years he removed to
Schuyler, Colfax County, where he was similarly engaged for the ensu
ing two years. He then sold his furniture store at that place and, in
1911, came to North Bend, where he purchased the furniture business of
Edward Davis. His store is modern in appointments, range of stock
and in service, and he controls a substantial and profitable busiriess.
Mr. Cary is independent in politics, and has served as a member of the
City Council of North Bend, besides which he held the office of coroner
while a resident of Colfax County. He is a communicant of the Catholic
Church and is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus.
Robert A. Luehrs, to a brief review of whose life and character the
reader's attention is herewith directed, is among the favorably known
and representative citizens of Dodge County. Mr. Luehrs has by his
indomitable enterprise and progressive methods contributed in a material
way to the advancement of his community, and he has ascended through
his individual efforts from the bottom of the ladder to a place of impor
tance in business circles in this locality, having ever been known as a
man of sound judgment, indefatigable industry and integrity of character.
Robert A. Luehrs was born in Kankakee, Illinois, on September 5,
1882, and is the son of Henry and Margaret (Hess) Luehrs, the former
a native of Germany and the latter born in Kentucky. Their marriage
occurred in Kankakee, Illinois, and there they have lived continuously
since. For a number of years Henry Luehrs was foreman of a brick
and tile works, but has long been engaged in the coal business. He and
his wife are members of the Baptist Church and in politics he gives his

710 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
support to the republican party. To these worthy parents were born
five children, namely: Harry, who is assistant treasurer of the State of
Illinois ; Robert A. ; Laura, the wife of George Sedorf , a farmer in
Kankakee County, Illinois; George, engaged in the banking business in
Kankakee; Edna, who is engaged in teaching school at Bisbee, Arizona.
Robert A. Luehrs attended the schools of his native community and
at the age of sixteen years he began to learn the carpenter trade, at which
he was employed until he came to Fremont in 1907. He here was
employed for a few years by his uncle, W. G. Luehrs, and then he
entered upon the business of contracting on his own account. He has
been eminently successful in this line of endeavor and for a number of
yeans has been numbered among the leading contractors of this locality,
having erected some of the finest residences and most substantial busi
ness structures in Fremont. Mr. Luehrs has contributed in a very
definite way to the welfare and upbuilding of the community in which
he lives through his policy of building residences for sale, thus inducing
many people to secure homes of their own who otherwise would never
do so. In this way he has disposed of about thirty attractive and well
arranged homes which he has built in Fremont. He also erected a splen
did home for himself at 921 North Clarkson Street, into which he
moved in October, 1919.
In 1907 Mr. Luehrs was married to Bessie Faquet, who was born
and reared in Saunders County, Nebraska, the daughter of Manassas
Faquet, who was one of the earliest pioneer settlers in Saunders County.
His death occurred in Fremont, where his widow now survives. To
Mr. and Mrs. Luehrs have been born four children, namely : Glen, Wil
bur, Arthur and Bessie. Mrs. Luehrs died on December 27, 1919. She
was a member of the Baptist Church and a woman of most excellent
qualities of character, extremely popular in all the circles in which she
moved. Mr. Luehrs also is affiliated with the Baptist Church, while in
politics he is a republican. Through his own efforts he has been a
success in business and is now the owner of two excellent farms, one
located in Dodge County and one in Merrick County, both of which he
rents. He carries to successful completion whatever he undertakes and
his business methods have ever been in strict conformity with the best
business ethics, so that he has ever enjoyed the confidence and esteem of
all who know him.
Nels M. Johnson. Many of the more enterprising and successful
business men of Nebraska are of foreign birth and breeding, and have
brought to their adopted country the habits of industry and thrift that
have gained them positions of influence, prominent among the number '
being Nels M. Johnson, of Fremont, head of the prosperous firm of
Johnson & Cheney, dealers in coal and lumber. A native of Sweden, he
was born March 9, 1873, a son of Carl and Rocina Johnson, who reared
a family of six children, four of whom are now living, as follows :
Marie, Carl and Anna, living in Sweden, and Nels M., the only member
of the family to come to America.
Carl Johnson was born in a little shack on his father's farm and was
reared in humble circumstances. Energetic and ambitious, he toiled
assiduously during his earlier years at anything he could find to do, and
began life on his own account as a hack driver. Prudently saving as
much of his earnings as he could, he was subsequently actively identi
fied with various industries, having operated a tannery, a brewery, a
creamery, and finally embarking in mercantile pursuits. Possessing

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 711
good business ability and judgment, he met with signal success in his
undertakings, becoming a fine representative of .the self-made men of
his country. Both he and his wife united with the Lutheran Church in
childhood. Brought up and educated in Sweden, Nels M. Johnson determined as
a young man to begin life for himself in a newer country, and in 1891
bade his family and friends adieu and came to the United States in search
of fortune. Locating in Osceola, Nebraska, he clerked in a mercantile
establishment long enough to become somewhat familiar with the busi
ness methods of this country, and then purchased a store in Madison,
Nebraska, where he remained for two years. Coming from there to
Fremont in 1905, Mr. Johnson, in partnership with D. W. Hotchkiss,
embarked in the lumber business, and soon established a large trade.
In 1914 George E. Cheney purchased Mr: Hotchkiss' interest in the
business, which has since been carried on under the name of Johnson &
Cheney. This firm deals extensively in lumber and coal, handling the
different grades of coal and making a specialty of building materials of
all kinds. Mr. Johnson married, in 1898, Luetta Hotchkiss, a daughter of
D. W. Hotchkiss, who is living in Fremont, retired from active pur
suits, as a dealer in coal and lumber having accumulated a competency.
Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have four children, namely: Martha, living at
home ; Edith and Stanley, attending school ; and Raymond, a bright
little fellow of two years. Fraternally Mr. Johnson is a member of the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Benevolent and Protective Order
of Elks, the Fraternal Order of Eagles, the Modern Woodmen of Amer
ica and the Turners. He also belongs to the Fremont Commercial Club.
Religiously Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are active members of the Methodist
Episcopal Church.
Trevanyon L. Mathews, while not in the pioneer class, has become
a prominent and influential personality in connection with the financial,
political and other public affairs of Nebraska, and is one of the leading
citizens of Fremont.
Mr. Mathews was born at Florence, Pennsylvania, March 1, 1849,
and moved to Illinois in 1865. His early education was acquired in the
public schools. As a youth he served an apprenticeship in a carriage
manufactory, and with this line of industrial enterprise he continued six
years, after which he was for one year a clerk in a dry-goods store.
Illinois was the stage of his early activities where he made an admirable
record of achievement prior to coming to Nebraska. In 1873 he was
appointed deputy sheriff and collector of taxes for Cass County, Illinois,
and in 1882 he was elected a member of the Illinois Legislature, his dis
trict constituting a part of the territory at one time represented by
Abraham Lincoln. He was importuned to become a candidate for a sec
ond term, but declined this honor on account of having been elected
cashier of the Cass County Bank, at Beardstown, Illinois, in 1884. In
1885 he effected a reorganization of this institution, under the corporate
title of the First State Bank of Beardstown, and it is worthy of record
that this was the first bank organized under the new state banking law
of Illinois. Today the bank is one of the strong financial institutions of
the central part of that commonwealth. Mr. Mathews was elected secre
tary of the Beardstown Building and Loan Association about the same
time he became cashier of the Cass County Bank, and he was a potent
force in furthering the success of both institutions. In 1884 he was

712 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
elected city clerk of Beardstown, an office of which he continued the
incumbent for eight years, his acceptance of the position having been
prompted by his desire to serve the city in the refunding of its bonds,
in the building of a municipal bridge, in the installation of a waterworks
system and in furthering other important public enterprises which the city
was undertaking. Mr. Mathews continued his residence at Beardstown,
Illinois, until 1892 when he came with his family to Nebraska and estab
lished his home at Fremont and the same year organized the Nebraska
State Building and Loan Association and was elected secretary and man
ager, in 1901 he was elected president and manager and continues to be
its active head. This association with its more than $3,000,000 assets is
one of the leading financial institutions of the state. Mr. Mathews is also
first vice president of the State League of Building and Loan Associa
tions. In 1899 Mr. Mathews was appointed by President McKinley
United States Marshal for the District of Nebraska and was reappointed
in 1903 and continued his tenure of office until 1906.
In 1908 Mr. Mathews was elected cashier of the Fremont Trust and
Savings Bank, of which he became president in 1913, as successor to the
late R. B. Schneider. In 1914 he reorganized the savings bank as the
Fremont State Bank, a commercial bank of which he was elected presi
dent. For several years he was a director of the First National Bank of
Fremont, and for some time served as chairman of the finance committee,
and his activities at Fremont have included also his service as a director
of the Fidelity Trust Company and a member of the directorate and also
the finance committee of the Fremont Hotel Company, which erected the
fine Pathfinder Hotel.
For many years Mr. Mathews has been active and prominent in the
work of the Nebraska Bankers Association and has held several positions
of honor and at this time is the treasurer of the Nebraska State Bankers
Protective Organization.
Always a stalwart in the ranks of the republican party and a forceful
advocate of its principles and policies, Mr. Mathews has been influential
in its councils and campaign activities, both in Illinois and Nebraska. He
served several years as a' charman of the Dodge County Republican Com
mittee and in 1899 he was asked to accept the post of chairman of the
State Central Committee of his party in Nebraska, a preferment which
he was constrained to decline, by reason of his appointment to the office
of United States marshal. Mr. Mathews has canvassed the state a num
ber of times, as a campaign speaker under the direction of the Repub
lican State Central Committee. Concerning another phase of his political
activity the following succinct record has been given: "In 1898, by
unanimous vote of the Republican State Convention of Nebraska,
Mr. Mathews was nominated for the office of state auditor. He accepted
this nomination with the understanding that the late Senator Hayward
would be nominated for governor. Senator Hayward and Mr. Mathews
together made a vigorous and effective canvass of the state, with the
result that the populist majority of the previous year was cut from 19,000
to about 2,500. It developed later that Hayward and Mathews would
have been elected had they not be sacrificed by certain interests and
influences, to secure the election of a legislature favorable to the election
of a certain prominent aspirant to the United States Senate. Mr. Mathews
is now a member of the Republican State Central Committee and treas
urer of that organization.
Mr. Mathews' Masonic affiliations are here briefly noted : Fremont
Lodge No. 15, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Signet Chapter No.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 713
8, Royal Arch Masons, of which he served one term as high priest, in
1898; Mount Tabor Commandery No. 9, Knights Templar, of which he
was eminent commander One term in 1898, and of which he served ten
terms as excellent prelate; and Arbor Vitae Chapter No. 92, Order of
the Eastern Star, of which he was a worthy patron in 1897 and 1898.
Mr. Mathews holds membership in the Fremont Commercial Club,
the Fremont Country Club, the Fremont Men's Club and the local Elks
Club. He has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church since
1872, and both he and his wife have been active and influential in the
various 'departments of church activities. He served two terms as presi
dent of the' Nebraska State Sunday School Association, and in 1894 was a
delegate to the general conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
During the late World war, Mr. Mathews was zealous in all activities
through which popular support was given to the Government, and ren
dered effective service as a speaker in all the Red Cross and loan drives,
and was one of the dependable Four Minute men whose service proved
of marked value.
At Beardstown, Illinois, September 26, 1871, was solemnized the
marriage of Mr. Mathews to Miss Louise E. Thronsbury, and they became
the parents of three children, all of whom were born in Illinois : Earl M.,
Reece L., and Florence; the last named having died at the age of two
years. Mrs. Mathews was a charter member of Arbor Vitae Chapter No. 92
of the Order of the Eastern Star, and served two terms as its worthy
matron, in 1894 and 1895. She served as grand matron of the Grand
Chapter of Nebraska in 1900 and 1901, and at the expiration of her
second term she declined re-election. During the period of the nation's
participation in the World war Mrs. Mathews served as chairman of the
Woman's Liberty Loan Committee for the Ninth District comprising
the counties of Dodge, Washington, Saunders, Thurston, Platte, Col
fax and Burt, besides which she was chairman of the knitting committee
of the Dodge County Red Cross. She is an ex-president of the Fremont
Woman's Club and has been especially active in church and club work.
Mrs. Mathews was a delegate to the Republican State Convention in
1920 and served on the committee on resolutions, and is a member of the
County Central Committee of Dodge County.
William Schuett. Dodge and Washington counties have been the
chosen home and scene of action for William Schuett for more than forty
years. Coming here practically a stranger, a man of foreign birth, with
no capital except his individual energy, he has nevertheless contrived to
prosper and make his labor and character win him success. Visible evi
dence of his prosperity is found in the extensive and well-managed farm
he owns in section 18 of Hooper Township.
Mr. Schuett i was born in Germany December 29, 1851, and lived in
his native land until he was about thirty-two years of age. In the month
of November, 1883, he reached this country and a few days after landing
reached Washington County, Nebraska. He lived in that county five
years and then came to Dodge County where he bought some land and
worked steadily in its improvement year after year until his possessions
now aggregate 398 acres, with improvements of the very best. For sev
eral years past he has done no farming himself, but has a good income
from his property which is operated through renters. Mr. Schuett is a
republican in politics.
Vol. II— 17

714 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
He married, September 14, 1883, Doris Dierks, who was born in Ger
many October 23, 1858, where she was reared and married. They are the
parents of three daughters, Lizzie, Ida and Dorothy. Lizzie married
Henry L. Krohn, of Washington County; Ida married Louis W. Moll,
of the same county; Dorothy is at home with her parents. Mr. and
Mrs. Schuett are members of the Lutheran Church.
Charles D. Marr, president of the Fremont Foundry & Machine
Company, has secure standing as one of the representative figures in
industrial and business circles in Dodge County and as one of the influen
tial citizens of Fremont, the judicial center and metropolis of the county.
He was born at Sterling, Iowa, February 21, 1856, and is a son of Solo
mon and Bridget (Haney) Marr, the former a native of Ontario, Canada,
and the latter of Ireland. The marriage of the parents was solemnized
in the Province of Ontario, Canada, whence, in 1853, they immigrated
to the West and became pioneer settlers in Iowa, where the father passed
the remainder of his life and where for many years he followed the trade
of cabinetmaker, his death having occurred, at Sterling, in 1882, and his
widow having died about three years later, in 1885, at Fremont, Nebraska.
David Marr, grandfather of Charles D., was long one of the leading
cabinetmakers in Ontario, Canada, where he had a large shop and did an
extensive business. The maternal grandparents of Mr. Marr passed
their entire lives in Ireland. Solomon Marr was a republican in politics
and his wife held membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church. Of
their six children only two are now living: William, a retired farmer,
residing at Sabula, Iowa, and Charles D., of this sketch.
In the public schools of the Hawkeye State Charles D. Marr continued
his studies until he had completed a course in the high school, and there
also he learned the sturdy trade of blacksmith, in which he became a
skilled workman, his apprenticeship having been partially served while he
was still attending school. After leaving school he did not turn atten
tion to the work of his trade but became a clerk in a mercantile estab
lishment at Fremont, Nebraska, where he established his home on April
1, 1876. He continued to be thus employed until August 1st of the follow
ing year, when he established an independent mercantile enterprise at
Schuyler, Colfax County, where he continued in business until he removed
to Blair, Washington County. In the latter place he conducted a general
store until January, 1879, when he returned to, Fremont and took charge
of the new general store of Z. Shedd. He continued as active manager
of this store until the business was sold, in 1881, and he then purchased
the fire-insurance business of L. D. Richards. In connection with this
enterprise he served six months as local agent of the American Express
Company, and from 1883 he held the post of local editor of the Fre
mont Tribune. His versatility was later shown by his having charge of
the coal and lumber office of D. Crowell at Fremont, and finally, on
September 1, 1886, he found the true initiative point in his successful
business career, for he was then elected manager of the Fremont Foundry
& Machine Company, to the business of which his able supervision and
progressive policies gave distinct impetus, with the result that the corpora
tion has long represented one of the substantial and important industrial
enterprises of Dodge County. He has been president of the company
since 1895, and its operations are based on a capital stock of $50,000.
The plant is modern in its equipment and general facilities, with boiler
shop and foundry and with facilities for the prompt execution of struc
tural and ornamental steel and iron work of the best type. The estab-

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 715
lishment retains an average corps of fifty men in its various departments,
and the business is one of substantial and prosperous order.
Mr. Marr is now one of the veterans in the business circles of Fre
mont and has always been liberal and progressive in his civic attitude.
He has served twenty years as a member of the Fremont Board of Edu
cation, and in this connection was a metpber of the building committee
that had control of the erection of the present high-grade public school
buildings of the city. He is serving at the present time as president of
the Fremont Commercial Club and is an enthusiast in the furtherance of
its progressive civic and business policies. He is also president of the
Board of Trustees of the Fremont Public Library, and no citizen is more
liberal and public-spirited in connection with community affairs in gen
eral. Mr. Marr is .a republican in his political proclivities and is affiliated
with the Woodmen of the World and the Fremont Lodge of the Benevo
lent and Protective Order of Elks, of which he was the second exalted
ruler. In 1880 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Marr to Miss Mary E.
Monroe, who was born in the City of Chicago, and of this union have
been born six children : Zach, who is superintendent of the foundry of
the Fremont Foundry & Machine Company, completed a high-school
course at Golden, Colorado, and thereafter took a course in the celebrated
Armour Institute of Technology, in the City of Chicago. Charles James
is one of the principals of the Marr-Hein Candy Company, a prosperous
manufacturing concern, and also of the Fremont Bottling Works. He
completed a course in the Fremont High School. Jennie is the wife of
Frank Blum, a farmer near Akron, Iowa. Miss Helen, who remains .at
the parental home, was afforded the advantages of the Nebraska State
Normal School at Fremont and also of those of a Catholic convent in the
City of Lincoln. She is now a successful and popular teacher in the
Fremont High School. Miss Madeline likewise attended the normal
school at Fremont, as well as the University of Nebraska and she is now
an efficient teacher in the public schools of Omaha. Lewis K., who is
now on a ranch in Wyoming, completed a course in the Fremont High
School, and was one of the gallant young men who represented Dodge
County in the nation's military service in the World war. He entered
service in July, 1916, and was with his command on the Mexican border
until he was sent to Camp Cody, where he remained until August, 1918,
when he crossed the Atlantic and became a part of the American Expedi
tionary Forces in France. He there continued in active service until the
close of the war and he returned home in May, 1919, having been dis
charged with the rank of second lieutenant.
Henry C. Dahl. An active, prominent, and valued citizen of Fre
mont, Henry C. Dahl, a widely known real estate dealer, came to this
country from a land beyond the sea when a lad in his teens, and by means
of earnest labor, keen foresight, and wise management has accumulated
a fair share of this world's goods, and acquired a pbsition of note among
the self-made men of today. He was born February 13, 1863, in Hol
stein, Germany, where his parents, Henry and Aritje (Suhl) Dahl, were
life-long residents, the father having been successfully engaged in busi
ness as an architect. He is one of a family of four children, three of
whom are living in the United States, as follows : Henry C, with whom
this sketch is chiefly concerned ; Mrs. George Basler, of Santa Ana, Cali
fornia; and Mrs. Hettie Mason, of North Bend, Nebraska.

716 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Obtaining a practical education in his native land, Henry C. Dahl
came to the United States as a youth of fourteen summers, locating in
1877 in Dodge County, Nebraska. Energetic, enterprising, and not at all
afraid of work, he had no trouble in securing a position on a farm, and
soon became familiar with the various branches of agriculture. Laboring
diligently, and prudently saving his wages, he was enabled to buy land
from time to time, and is now the owner of 560 acres of finely improved
land, a large part of which lies in Dodge County, and yields him a hand
some annual income. Moving to Fremont in 1910, Mr. Dahl lived retired
from active pursuits until 1913, when, in partnership with George F.
Staats, he opened a real estate office, and has since built up an extensive
and remunerative business, handling farm property and loans. Greatly
interested in educational matters, Mr. Dahl was instrumental in having
the college moved from Atchison to Fremont, and as one of its trustees,
and as treasurer of the Ways and Means Committee, devotes much of
his time and attention to the affairs of the institution, having himself
collected $220,000 of the half million dollar drive that is now in progress.
Mr. Dahl married, in 1885, Henrietta Schlueter, who was born in
Germany, and in 1884 came to Nebraska with her parents, locating on a
farm in Dodge County, where both her father and mother spent their
remaining years. Mr. and Mrs. Dahl have four children, namely : Harry,
engaged in farming in Dodge County; Elsie, wife of Carl Carson, a
farmer in Sidney, Nebraska; Nora, wife of Henry Wagner, who is
engaged in farming at Hooper, Nebraska ; and Clarence, employed in the
First National Bank of Hooper. True to the religious faith in which they
were reared, Mr. and Mrs. Dahl are active members of the Lutheran
Church. Politically Mr. Dahl is influential in demorcatic ranks, and is
now representing the third ward in the City Council. Fraternally he is a
member of the Modern Woodmen of America, and of the Fraternal
Order of Eagles.
Richard T. Van Metre, M. D., has been actively engaged in the
practice of his profession in the City of Fremont, judicial center of Dodge
County, since 1911, save for an interim of six months, during which, with
the rank of captain, he was in service as a member 0f the medical corps
of the United States army, in the late World war, his service having
been rendered at Fort Riley, Kansas, and Camp Pike, Arkansas, and his
discharge having been received January 2, 1919. He then returned to his
home and resumed the interrupted work of his profession. Doctor Van
Metre is a young man of distinctive professional ambition and spares
himself no effort or expense in keeping in touch with the advances made
in medical and surgical science, with the result that his technical equip
ment is always at the highest standard, with resultant success in his
well-ordered and representative practice in Dodge County. Though his
practice is of general order, he specializes in obstetrics and diseases of
children. He' is a loyal and popular member of the Dodge County Medi
cal Society, and is identified also with the Elkhorn Valley Medical Society,
the Missouri' Valley Medical Society, the Nebraska State Medical Society
and the American Medical Association.
Doctor Van Metre was born at Cedar Falls, Iowa, July 25, 1879, and
is a son of Isaiah and Elizabeth (Thompson) Van Metre, the former a
native of Virginia and the latter of Massachusetts, so that there was con
summated effective representation of the south, the east and the west
when their marriage was solemnized at States Center, Iowa. The ability
and important activities of Isaiah Van Metre marked him as one of the

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 717
honored and influential citizens of the Hawkeye State, where, in 1879,
he founded the Waterloo Tribune, of which representative newspaper,
in one of the most thriving cities of Iowa, he continued the editor and
publisher until 1904. He was a leader in the councils of the democratic
party in Iowa, and served for several years as state oil inspector. Mr. Van
Metre continued his residence at Waterloo, that state, until his death,
July 5, 1914, at the age of seventy-eight years, and his widow, who was
born in 1856, still maintains her home in that city. Mr. Van Metre was
affiliated with the Masonic Fraternity and was a zealous communicant
of the Protestant Episcopal Church, as is also his widow. Of their eight
children six are living : Margaret is the wife of Edward L. Carton, city
editor of the Waterloo Courier, at Waterloo, Iowa; Doctor Van Metre,
of this review, was the next in order of birth ; Ricker is vice president of
the Joyce-Watkins Company, lumber dealers and dealers in railway ties,
in the City of Chicago ; Virginia is the wife of John Lund, who is engaged
in the jewelry business at Kingsley, Iowa; and Horace and Morris are
twins, the former being engaged in the abstract business at Waterloo and
the latter being a student in the department of journalism of the Uni
versity of Iowa.
In the public schools of Waterloo, Iowa, Dr. Richard T. Van Metre
continued his studies until his graduation in the high school, as a mem
ber of the class of 1896. Thereafter he was for some time a student in
the University of Iowa, in the academic department, and he then entered
the medical department of the institution, in which he was graduated as
a member of the class of 1905, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine.
He had early gained varied experience in connection with his father's
newspaper business, and from 1896 until 1901, he was actively and suc
cessfully identified with newspaper work, in connection with which he
indulged itinerant propensities, as shown by his having been an attache of
the old Chicago Herald, in the western metropolis, and by his association
with newspapers in various other places in the western field.
Soon after his graduation in medicine, Doctor Van Metre engaged
in the practice of his profession at Dow City, Iowa, where he remained
until May, 1911, when he established his residence -at Fremont, Nebraska,
where he now controls an excellent practice of representative order. He
avails himself of the best standard and periodical literature of his profes
sion, and has further fortified himself by recent post-graduate work in
the New York Lying-in Hospital and the New York Post-Graduate
School of Medicine. As previously noted, his active professional work at
Fremont has been interrupted only by the period of his professional serv
ice in connection with the nation's participation in the World war. The
doctor maintains an independent attitude in politics, and he and his wife
are active communicants of the Protestant Episcopal Church of Fremont.
He is affiliated with the Masonic Fraternity, in which he is past master of
the Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons at Dow City, Iowa; and
holds membership also in the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and
Protective Order of Elks.
On January 17, 1906, was solemnized the marriage of Doctor Van
Metre to Miss Marie G. Murdock, who was born at Glendive, Wyoming,
and the one child of this union is Richard T., Jr., who was born in 1908,
and who maintains regal dominion in the pleasant home circle.
Raymond J. Middaugh, whose home is in section 10 of Platte Town
ship, has been one of the leading farmers and stockmen of Dodge County
for many years. He represents a pioneer family, the Middaughs having
come to Nebraska in the early '70s and having gone through all the

718 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
adversities of grasshoppers, drought, and other hardships that beset the
early settlers.
His father, the late John C. Middaugh, was born in Luzerne County,
Pennsylvania, in February, 1831, son of David and Elsie Middaugh, the
former a native of New Jersey and the latter of Pennsylvania. The seven
children of David Middaugh and wife were : Albert, Margaret, John,
Eliza, Ella, Mary and David. John C. Middaugh lived in Pennsylvania
until he was twenty-seven years of age. He then moved out to Mercer
County, Illinois, and not being possessed of great capital he was a farm
renter for eleven years. He was only eight years old when his parents
died, and he had a limited education and had to mold his circumstances to
suit his ambition. On June 10, 1862, he married Nancy Braucht, daughter
of David and Johanna Braucht, natives of Pennsylvania, whose children
were Mary, who died in infancy ; Nancy, George, Phoebe, Addie and
Henderson. In 1873 John C. Middaugh brought his family to Dodge County and
acquired 160 acres of partly improved land in Platte Township. Before
he died he had the farm highly developed and recognized as one of the
most productive tracts in the township. The lumber with which he built
his first home was hauled all the way from Omaha. His widow is now
living with her daughter, Mrs. Edith Kimmel, of North Bend, Nebraska.
John C. Middaugh was a member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church
and a republican voter. A brief record of his children is as follows :
George, born April 12, 1864, now deceased; Lyman, born August 19,
1866; Edith, born February 26, 1869; William, born July 11, 1872, of
whom mention is found on other pages ; Raymond J. ; and Frank, born
October 7, 1881.
Raymond J. Middaugh, who was born in Dodge County May 26,
1879, had a common school education and at the age of nineteen assumed
entire responsibility for his future. Mr. Middaugh has had a successful
career though for the most part he has been a renter of land owned by
others. He acquired an increasing equipment of tools and stock, and
farmed on rented land until 1918, when he bought 120 acres of the old
home estate. Since then he has sold this, property, and again lives on a
rented farm. He also owns a large amount of land in Colorado, though
he has never occupied it personally. Mr. Middaugh is an extensive stock
breeder, breeding cattle and hogs chiefly, and he keeps a herd of thorough
bred red hogs.
February 12, 1901, Mr. Middaugh married Miss Bertha Frantz, who
was born in Pennsylvania and was four years of age when she came with
her parents, Wesley and Amanda Frantz, to Nebraska. Her family set
tled at David City. Mr. and Mrs. Middaugh are the parents of five
children : Lucile, who died at the age of five years ; Edith, Georgia, Julia
and Jean. Mr. Middaugh is a republican voter and has served as road
« overseer of his district. He is a member of the Fremont Gun Club and
during the World war was an active and vigilant member of the Council
of Defense. He is affiliated with the orders of Knights of Pythias,
Triumph Lodge No. 32, and Elks. Mrs. Middaugh is a member of the
Baptist Church. Her parents lived in Dodge County for thirty-one vears,
and both of them are now deceased.
Philip S. Rine, president of the Farmers and Merchants National
Bank of Fremont, and a heavy landowner of Dodge County, is one of the
men who has been instrumental in advancing the interests of this part of
the state, and establishing and maintaining the prestige of Fremont. He

<%&%.*$ fa~e„

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 719
was born in Snyder County, Pennsylvania, on April 7, 1852, a son of
John M. and Mary Ann (Schnee) Rine, both natives of Pennsylvania,
where they died, she in 1865 and he in 1901. Five of their thirteen chil
dren are living, namely: Kate, who married Adam Winstrel, a farmer
and miller of Pennsylvania; Lydia, who is a widow, married Charles
Collman, and lives near Dolphin, Nebraska ; Philip S., whose name heads
this review; Sue, who married Addison Watts, a farmer of Elkhart,
Indiana; and George S., who is a farmer of Sehnsgrove, Pennsylvania.
The parents of this family were devout members of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church. A democrat in politics, John M. Rine was often elected
on his party ticket to various township offices, for he was a reliable and
trustworthy man, in whom his neighbors placed confidence. He operated
a tannery and was a man of considerable means, and also owned and
conducted a store and a farm. Boats owned by him carried lumber and
merchandise on the Pennsylvania Canal, and his own outfit freighted
these cornmodities to different points after they were landed from the
canal. John M. Rine was a s.on of George Rine, also born in Pennsyl
vania, where his parents had located upon coming to this country from
Germany at a very early day. The maternal grandfather, Philip Schnee,
was born in Pennsylvania, his family being one of the old ones of the
Keystone State.
Philip S. Rine received but a limited education in the public schools
of Pennsylvania, which was terminated when he was thirteen years old,
at which time he left school to go to work. A little later on he took a
. course of twenty-two weeks at Freeburg College in Pennsylvania. His
opportunities for obtaining work were those offered by farm labor and in
1873 he went to Michigan and spent a winter in the lumber woods of that
state, and then came to Dodge County, Nebraska, arriving at Fremont on
April 14, 1874. During his first year he worked in a lumber yard, and
then with his savings bought a team and broke up eighty acres of prairie.
His father had acquired some land in the vicinity, and with this team
Philip S. Rine began farming it. Later he bought this land from his
father on time, and still owns it. Like the majority of the pioneers of the
'70s Mr. Rine suffered from the grasshoppers and lost his crops for two
succeeding seasons. However, he was possessed of the sturdy determina
tion which is able to overcome obstacles no matter how unsurmountable
they may appear, and so he remained and was amply rewarded for he
not only succeeded in placing and keeping his original farm under cultiva
tion, but was able to buy other land until at one time he owned 1,400
acres of land, of which he still owns 560 acres, having sold some of it
within recent years. He bought it for $10 per acre and sold it in the
summer of 1919 for $260 per acre.
For many years Mr. Rine was heavily interested in stock, and con
tinued to carry, on his stock business and oversee his farm after he moved
to Fremont in 1889, at which time he erected a beautiful residence at
1450 North Beard Street, which is one of the real homes of Fre
mont. When the Farmers and Merchants Bank was organized Mr. Rine
was one of the stockholders and he has been its president for about
twelve years.
In 1875 Philip S. Rine was married to Laura Worminghouse, born
in Michigan, a daughter of William Worminghouse, who came to Dodge
County about 1868 and died here. Mr. and Mrs. Rine became the parents
of three children, namely: John, an attorney, is counsel for the Lion
Bonding Company of Omaha, Nebraska, and served that city as attorney
for eight years ; Bertha, who married Dr. G. G. Baird, one of the lead-

720 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
ing dentists of Dodge County, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this
work; and Will, who was on his father's farm, has recently moved to
Colorado. Mr. and Mrs. Rine belong to the Congregational Church. He
is a democrat, but aside from serving as a director of school district
No. 69, while on the farm, he has held no office. Fraternally Mr. Rine
belongs to Fremont Lodge No. 513, Benevolent and Protective Order
' of Elks. Always a progressive man he has reached an understanding of
the public directly and surely and is regarded as one able to give advice
it is safe to follow. Both he and his wife are convincing in their
simplicity and sincerity and give bountifully of their friendships and
confidence to those with whom they associate.
Byron N. Healy. There are many ways in which the sound men of
the country are giving their encouragement to agricultural effort and
expressing their recognition of the principle that it is and must remain
our most important industry, but the one adopted by Byron N. Healy
to render this service is of exceptional merit. For years he has been
extensively engaged in calling the attention of the public to different sec
tions of the country, and making such arrangements as will result in the
migration to them of denizens of the more congested centers. In this
way he aids in the development of whole communities, places within the
reach of persons of limited means homes of their own, and carries on a
business that is congenial and remunerative.
Byron N. Healy was born at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 7, 1853, a
son of James P. and Lucinda L. (Francisco) Healy, natives of Ireland
and Syracuse, New York, respectively, and their marriage occurred in
the latter city. For some time prior and following his marriage James
P. Healy controlled practically all of the draying business of Syracuse,
but, seeking other fields, he went west to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, at a
time when the present metropolis was in its infancy, and the commercial
life of the community was carried on in one small log store, which was
conducted by a half breed. For five years he had dealings only with
Indians, during that period acquiring ownership of a tract of land two
and one-half miles long and one and one-half miles wide, which was
covered with timber. As the new settlers came in, he sold land to them,
and developed into a man of large means, both he and his wife dying
in Wisconsin. They had nine children born to them, of whom Byron
N. Healy is the only survivor. All of their mature years they were firm
in the faith of the Presbyterian Church, and were instrumental in having
their denomination established in their home in the wilderness. He had
been reared a Catholic, but his wife's persuasions led him to adopt her
creed as his own. Generous to a fault, he gave lavishly to the support
of churches, not only of his own denomination, but others, and schools.
His political convictions, which were strong ones, led him to give his
support to the principles of the democratic party.
The educational training of Byron N. Healy was received at Racine,
Wisconsin, and he divided his early business life between railroad and
farm work. Beginning his connection with the railroad as a newsboy,
he worked his way up through the various stages until he was a con
ductor and still later, an engineer, and continued as such for twenty-two
years on the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad. In the meanwhile he
had been gaining a knowledge of men and localities, and, realizing that
deep down in the heart of every sound man lies the longing of his nature
for possession of a piece of land he can call his own, he decided to go
into the land business, and did so, first at Huron, South Dakota, but in

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 721
1904 moved his office to Fremont, Nebraska, where he has since main
tained his headquarters. For some time he was interested in Texas land,
but has now disposed of- his holdings in that state, and is now operating in
Florida, where he owns immense tracts of land. On one of his trips he
sold $630,000 worth of land, and all of it was disposed of at a very rea
sonable figure.
On October 5, 1874, Mr. Healy was married to Mary J. Thomas, born
at Yorkville, Racine County, Wisconsin, a daughter of Thomas Thomas,
an old settler of Racine County. Mr. and Mrs. Healy became the parents
of the following children: Golden Mabel, who married John P. Dick,
cashier of a bank at Hot Springs, Arkansas ; and R. Chesley, who married
Mayme Johnson, of Fremont. This young man is in charge of the
Omaha branch of the Healy Land Company, which maintains another
branch at Kansas City, Missouri, and the head office at Fremont. This
company runs its own car to the properties it has for sale, making the
trip twice a month. Like his father, the son is a splendid land man, and
has been eminently successful.
Byron N. Healy is a thirty-second degree and Shriner Mason, and
both he and Mrs. Healy belong to the Eastern Star, of which Mrs. Healy
is past matron. They belong to the Congregational Church, and are active
in its religious work. In politics Mr. Healy is a republican, but has never
had the time or inclination to come before the public for favors. He
possesses great mental resourcefulness, and has been able to attain to
surprising and big achievements. When his eyes were opened to the
opportunities of his present business, he responded in wonderful measure,
and took up its affairs in a vigorous and efficient manner, convincing those
with whom he comes into contract by his flaming sincerity and genuine
regard for their welfare.
Henry H.. Looschen. Perhaps no class of men render more con
structive service to their community than do those who are engaged in
the handling of real estate, because without their public-spirited efforts
there would be little movement in realty ; development work would not
be inaugurated or carried out and outside capital interested. Of course
there are some men in this line of business, as there are in all others, who
do not measure up to the highest standards of business probity, but to
their credit be it said that the majority of real estate men are reliable and
dependable and they form a very important element in the life of the
state. One of these energetic, alert and thoroughly honorable men who
are devoting their talents to the handling of Hooper realty is Henry H.
Looschen, a former merchant of the place, who is known all over Dodge
and Washington counties.
Henry H. Looschen was born in Germany in 1854, a son of P. O. and
Johanna (Voght) Looschen, who came to the United States in 1882,
locating at Fremont, Nebraska. While living in Germany P. O. Looschen
was a cabinetmaker and furniture dealer, but after coming here he lived
in retirement, and both he and his excellent wife died at Fremont, he
in 1890, aged eighty-five years, and she in 1898, aged eighty years. Their
children were as follows: George, whb died at Fremont in 1917, was in
the abstract and insurance business and was registrar of deeds of Dodge
County for twelve years; Henry H., who was second in order of birth;
John, who was formerly engaged in the banking business at Snyder,
Nebraska, now lives in California ; Sigmond, who was a clerk in a cloth
ing store, died in 1878; Martha, who married L, C. Hahn, is deceased,
as is her husband; Onoline Schurman, deceased, wife of Ernest Schur-

722 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
man, deceased, a former Fremont banker ; Justine, who is deceased, mar
ried Fred Meyer, a wholesale grocer; and Julia, who married August J.
Albero, a retired business man of Fremont. The family all were
Lutherans. Henry H. Looschen came to Fremont in 1872 and attended a com
mercial college of Omaha, Nebraska, so as to gain a knowledge of
American methods of doing business. For .five years he was employed in
a store at Fremont, owned by H. Fuhrman, and then came to Hooper
and in 1878 founded the store known as Henry H. Looschen, general
merchandise, and conducted it very profitably until 1892, when he sold
it so as to devote all of his attention to handling real estate and making
loans. In this undertaking he has built up a very valuable connection and
is doing a fine business.
In 1882 Mr. Looschen was united in marriage with Fredericke Heine,
a daughter of Vincent Heine, a native of Germany, and his wife Fred
ericke (Floto) Heine, also a native of Germany. They settled in Penn
sylvania upon coming to the United States in 1837, and were farmers.
She died at Hooper in 1892, aged seventy-nine years, but he passed away
in Pennsylvania in 1870, when sixty-two years old. They were Catho
lics. He was a democrat, and a strong supporter of his party principles.
Mr. and Mrs. Heine had the following children born to them : John E.,
who died at Hooper, was a hardware merchant ; August J., who died at
Hooper in 1895, was a farmer; George F., who was in the cattle busi
ness, also died at Hooper ; Fred F., who is in the employ of the United
States Government ; Carrie, who is deceased ; and Mrs. Looschen, who
is the youngest.
Mr. and Mrs. Looschen became the parents of the following children :
Julia, Delia, Henry and Howard, all of whom are deceased ; Paul, who
is assistant cashier of the Leshara State Bank of Saunders County,
Nebraska; and George H., who is assistant cashier of the Dodge County
Bank of Hooper. Both Paul and George served in the United States
army overseas during the World war. Mrs. Looschen is a Catholic. In
his political belief Mr. Looschen is a democrat. He is a Blue Lodge
Mason. A. J. Albers. Dodge County, Nebraska, enjoys a high reputation
because of the high order of her citizenship, and none of her citizens
occupies a more enviable position in the esteem of his fellow citizens than
the gentleman whose name appears at the head of this sketch. A resi
dence here of many years has given them a full opportunity to observe
him in the various lines of activity in which he has engaged and his
present high standing is due solely to the honorable and upright course
he has pursued. As a leading citizen of his community he is eminently
entitled to representation in a work of this character.
A. J. Albers was born in Germany on November 24, 1860, and is the
son of O. J. and Anna (Jansen) Albers, both of whom spent their entire
lives in their native land and are now deceased. The father was a
farmer by vocation, but also had other business interests. A. T'. was the
only child born of his first marriage. By a second union O. J. Albers
also had a son, Albert H., who is now a captain in the Sanitary Corps, a
branch of the medical department of the United States army, and is
stationed at Camp Grant, Illinois. He has been in the military service
for several years, having gone to France in June, 1917, and returning in
November, 1919, during which period he was in Berlin four months.
He was promoted to his present rank from private and it is his intention

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 723
to remain in the army. O. J. Albers and wife were members of the
Lutheran Church.
A. J. Albers remained under the parental roof until he was eighteen
years of age and received a good practical education in the public schools.
At the age mentioned he came to the United States and also secured some
education in this country. In 1882 he came to Fremont and has been
identified with this locality ever since. For a time he had been employed
in a general store at Wahoo, Nebraska, and then was employed
in the Farmers and Merchants National Bank at Fremont. He later
engaged in the general mercantile business at Scribner, Dodge County,
for about four years, but at the end of that time he again located in Fre
mont and entered the insurance business, to which he has ever since
devoted his attention. In this line he has been very successful and has
placed a vast amount of insurance throughout this community. He is
now district agent for the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company
of Milwaukee. In 1884, Mr. Albers was married to Julia Looschen, who also is a
native of- Germany, and they are the parents of one child, Jessie, who is
the wife of Albert Van Anda, assistant cashier of the Commercial
National Bank of Fremont, and has two daughters, Caroline and Frances.
Mr. and Mrs. Albers are attendants of the Congregational Church.
Fraternally Mr. Albers is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted
Masons, in which he belongs to the Blue Lodge of Master Masons, the
Chapter of Royal Arch Masons, the Council of Royal and Select Masters,
the Commandery of Knights Templar, the Consistory of the Ancient
Accepted Scottish Rite (thirty-second degree) and the Ancient Arabic
Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and he has received distinctive rec
ognition by his brethren, having passed through the chairs of the Lodge,
Chapter, Council and Commandery, and served one year as grand master
of the grand council of the State of Nebraska. He is also a. member of
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Benevolent and Protec
tive Order of Elks. Politically he is a republican, though he has not
taken an active part in political affairs. During the World war Mr. Albers
took a very active part in the war work in this community, serving as
chairman of two Liberty Loan drives, as chairman of the Four-Minute
Men and of the last Red Cross drive. In many other ways Mr. Albers
has shown a public spirited attitude toward all movements or enterprises
for the advancement of the community's best interests, and because of
these things and his business ability he enjoys to a marked degree the
respect and esteem of all who know him.
Frank W. Johnson. A man of excellent business ability and intel
ligence, Frank W. Johnson of Fremont is actively identified with the
expansion of the automobile interests of this section of Dodge County,
his largely patronized salesroom being one of the busiest places in the
city. A son of Wallace W. Johnson, he was born in 1884 in Fuller-
ton, Nance County, Nebraska, and there grew to man's estate.
Born in Wisconsin, Wallace W. Johnson there received his prelim
inary education, which was completed in the public schools of Kansas.
Moving from Kansas to Nebraska in the early '80s he took up a claim
in Fullerton, where he lived several years. Later moving his family to
Hitchcock County, Nebraska, he farmed there a number of years. He
married in Kansas, Mary Perrot, who was born in Canada of French
parents, and died in 1892 in Nebraska. Five of their seven children are
living: Ida, wife of E. H. Niles of Marietta, Kansas; Frank W., with

724 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
whom this sketch is chiefly concerned ; John J., who is now an automobile
salesman for his brother; Wallace B., who is a resident of Seattle,
Washington; and Tryphena, wife of L. D. Longmiller of Marietta,
Kansas. Completing the course of study in the public schools of Fullerton,
Frank W. Johnson entered the University of Nebraska, where he took
up the course of electrical engineering and incidentally was very active
in all athletics, being a member of the Nebraska football team of '07,
'08 and '09. Upon graduating he became engaged in the electrical engi
neering business in Omaha until 1917, when he purchased a half inter
est in the Zapp Garage in Fremont. After its incorporation he became
president of this concern. In 1918, disposing of his interest in this
business, Mr. Johnson in April, 1919, opened up his present salesrooms
on Sixth Street and has since built up a large and remunerative business
in handling the Cadillac, Buick and Oakland automobiles and the G. M. C.
truck. In fact, his business has outgrown his building and Mr. Johnson
has recently purchased ground on which he is soon to erect a two-story
sales and service station.
Mr. Johnson married on June 2, 1910, Nina Chase Hodges, who was
born in Almy, Wyoming, a daughter of Frederick and Rose (Chase)
Hodges, the former of whom was born in Vermont and the latter in
Illinois. Mrs. Johnson also attended the University of Nebraska.
Fraternally Mr. Johnson is a member of the Ancient Free and
Accepted Masons, in which he has taken the Knight Templar and
Shrine degrees, and of Fremont Lodge No. 514, Benevolent and Protec
tive Order of Elks and of the Kiwanis Club. Both he and his wife
belong to the Order of the Eastern Star and Country Club and Mr. John
son is actively connected with the Young Men's Christian Association,
being secretary of the special campaign fund committee. Mr. and Mrs.
Johnson have no children.
Joseph C. Cook has made an excellent record in the office of county
attorney of Dodge County, a position of which he has been continuously
the incumbent since 1916, and in which he has materially advanced his
reputation as a resourceful and versatile trial lawyer. He has secure
vantage place as one of the vital and successful members of the bar of
his native state and his private practice has been one of representative
order. Mr. Cook was born on his father's farm in Washington County,
Nebraska, September 1, 1875, and is a son of William S. and Jennie A.
(Unthank) Cook, whose marriage was solemnized in that county, where
they had both established residence in the pioneer days — soon after the
close of the Civil war. The father was born in Vermont, of sterling
colonial ancestry in New England, and the mother was born in the State
of Indiana. In connection with the development of his farm property
William S. Cook continued in the practice of his profession for a number
of years after coming to Nebraska, and became one Of the representative
members of the bar of Washington County, his political allegiance hav
ing been given to the republican party and he having been influential in
its local councils in Washington County, where he and his wife still
maintain their home. Of the six children, Joseph C. is the eldest of the
four now living; Cortez W. is a prosperous farmer near Arlington,
Washington County ; Roy resides in the City of Los Angeles, Calif ornia|
and is a salesman by occupation ; and Hazel is the wife of Otto Ludwig'
a successful contractor in the City of Los Angeles.

/^UlOal^c

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 725
Reared to the sturdy discipline of the home farm, Joseph C. Cook
profited fully by the advantages afforded in the public schools of his
native county, and in preparation for his chosen vocation he ambitiously
completed the prescribed curriculum of the law department of the Uni
versity of Nebraska, in which he was graduated as a member of the
class of 1895, his reception of the degree of Bachelor of Laws being
virtually coincident with his admission to the bar of his native state.
Since 1897 Mr. Cook has been continuously established in the practice, of
his profession at Fremont, the judicial center and metropolis of Dodge
County, and in addition to building up a substantial and important pri
vate practice he has been called upon to serve in various official positions
in line with the direct work of his profession. Thus it is to be noted that
for six years he served on the bench of the Police Court of Fremont,
and that his initial election to the office of county attorney occurred in
1908. He held the office for the prescribed term of four years, and after
an interval of equal duration he was again elected to this position, in
1916, while the year 1918 recorded his re-election for a term of four
years. His political views mark him as one of the stalwart and effective
advocates of the principles and policies of the republican party; he is
affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, the Improved Order of Red Men,
the Fraternal Order of Eagles, and the Benevolent and Protective Order
of Elks, and his wife is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church of Fremont.
June 15, 1897, recorded the marriage of Mr. Cook to Miss Myrtle
Wilson, who was born in the State of Kansas, and of this union were
born two children, the one surviving being Jennie, who is the wife of
Carl Nelson, of San Francisco, California. Mrs. Cook was summoned
to the life eternal May 2, 1901, and on August 2, 1905, was solemnized
the marriage of Mr. Cook to Miss Maude D. Clark, who was born near
Fullerton, Nance County, this state. The one child of this union is a
son, Morris, who is attending the public schools*
Hon. William M. Cain has been engaged in the practice of law in
Nebraska for a quarter of a century and is now one of the representative
members of the bar of Dodge County, with residence and professional
headquarters in the City of Fremont, the judicial center of the county.
Judge Cain was born in the Province of Ontario, Canada, November
15, 1868, and is a son of Dr. James B. and Mary E. (Jenkinson) Cain,
the former of whom was born in the Province of Quebec and the latter
in the vicinity of the City of London, Ontario, where their marriage was
solemnized. Doctor Cain received his professional .education in Rush
Medical College and in 1871 he removed with his family to Illinois,
where he continued in active general practice until 1880, when he came
to Nebraska and established the family home at Leigh, Colfax County,
where he continued as one of the leading physicians and surgeons of
that section of the state for many years, and moving from there to
Omaha in 1905, where he passed the remainder of his life, as, did also
his wife. Qf their three children William M. of this review is the elder
of the two surviving; Wilmot is a successful contractor at Springfield,
Illinois ; and John died in childhood. Doctor Cain was a stalwart repub
lican in politics, was long affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows, and both he and his wife were earnest members of the Methodist
Episcopal Church.

726 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
William M. Cain gained his rudimentary education in the schools of
Illinois and was a lad of eleven years at the time of the family removal
to Nebraska. He continued his studies in the public schools of Leigh
and the State University, and in preparation for his chosen profession
he entered the law department of the University of Nebraska, in which
he completed the prescribed curriculum and was graduated as a member
of the class of 1894, his reception of the degree of Bachelor of Laws soon
being followed by his admission to the bar of the state. For the ensuing
ten years he was established in practice at David City, Butler County,
and he then removed to Colfax County and engaged in practice at Schuy
ler, the county seat, where he became associated with his former law
preceptor, George H. Thomas, under the firm name of Thomas & Cain.
Through his effective professional work in two county seat cities of
Nebraska, Mr. Cain had established a high reputation as a skilled trial
lawyer and well fortified counselor, and thus he was fully fortified for
further success when, July 15, 1914, he engaged in practice at the judicial
center of Dodge County. At Fremont he is senior member of the firm
of Cain & Johnson, in which his coadjutor is Allen Johnson, and the
firm controls a substantial and representative practice of general order.
While a resident of David City Mr. Cain served two terms as prosecuting
attorney of Butler County, and he now holds the office of city attorney
of Fremont. On June 1, 1920, he was appointed by the Supreme Court
as one of the judges of the Nebraska Supreme Court Commission, which
position he still holds. He is a vigorous advocate of the cause of the
democratic party but has had no ambition for office other than that in
direct connection with the work of his profession. He and his wife are
active communicants of the Protestant Episcopal Church at Fremont.
July 12, 1893, recorded the marriage of Mr. Cain to Miss Grace M.
De Long, and she passed tp the life eternal on June 28, 1900, being sur
vived by two children, John Morley Cain, who is now reading law in the
office and under the effective preceptorship of his father ; and Marjorie,
who is the wife of Albert R. Sears, of Fremont. Mrs. Cain was a mem
ber of the Congregational Church.
On October 5, 1904, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Cain to
Mrs. Clara (De Long) Vandermeulen, a sister of his first wife, and she
is the popular chatelaine of their pleasant home. They have no children.
Fred De La Matyr, the pioneer coal merchant of Fremont, is a
man who is known all over Dodge and Washington counties as one of
the solid and dependable citizens of this region, and one who has taken
a constructive interest in its development. He was born in Dane County,
Wisconsin, in December, 1853, a son of G. W. and Catherine (Jacobs)
De La Matyr, both of whom were born in New York State, but migrated
to Wisconsin in 1852, following their marriage. In 1870 they came on
further west to Nebraska, and after a stop at Omaha, located at Fremont.
G. W. De La Matyr was a Methodist clergyman, and died in California
in 1892, but his widow survives him and makes her home at Los Angeles,
California. They had eight children, four of whom survive, namely:
Fred, who was the eldest born; Mrs. Abbie Cooley, a widow in
Los Angeles, California; Thurman E., who is an attorney of Los
Angeles ; Harry, who is a farmer of British Columbia, Canada, served
in France for two years as a member of the Canadian contingent in the
World war, and has been given a homestead for this service by the
Dominion Government. The family all belong to the Methodist Epis
copal Church. G. W. De La Matyr was a republican and a Mason. The

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 727
family originally came from France. On his mothers' side Mr. De La
Matyr comes of German and Scotch ancestry.
Growing up in Wisconsin, Mr. De La Matyr attended its public
schools and earned his first money working on a farm. For a year he
was employed in a postoffice in Wisconsin, and when he accompanied
the family to Nebraska, he secured a position in the Fremont postoffice,
and held it for some years. Leaving the Government service Mr. De La
Matyr went into the Wilson & Hopkins bank and remained with that
concern for six years. He then moved to Eureka, Nevada, and for six
months was connected with its lumber interests, and then, for two years
he was in the employ of the Union Pacific Railroad at Omaha, Nebraska.
Returning to Fremont in 1882, he established himself in his present coal
business, and has built up a fine trade, handling all kinds of coal.
In 1874 Mr. De La Matyr was married in Dodge County to Evanga-
line E. Parmele, born at Clinton, New York, and educated at Houghton
Seminary. For two years prior to her marriage she was engaged in
teaching school at Fremont. Mrs. De La Matyr belongs to the Metho
dist Episcopal Church, but Mr. De La Matyr is not connected with any
religious organization. He belongs to Fremont Lodge No. 513, Benevo
lent and Protective Order of Elks. A strong republican, Mr. De La
Matyr was elected on his party ticket as city clerk of Fremont, but dur
ing late years has devoted all of his attention to his coal business. He
has found enjoyment and recreation in driving, and takes a pride in
always having a fine selection of horses, and is always the first one to
be out with his sleigh after the initial snowfall. Mr. De La Matyr is one
of the best examples of the self-made man Dodge County affords. Begin
ning his life career with absolutely nothing but his willingness to work
and capacity for saving, he has steadily advanced until he is now one of
those who have a competency.
Harry Kroeger. Among those whose participation in agricultural
affairs in Dodge County dates from a comparatively recent period, but
who in a short time have substantially established themselves in . the
farming life of the community, is Harry Kroeger. By marked capacity
in his vocation, sound metht)ds of management and innate force of char
acter, he has already placed himself well on the road to success.
Mr. Kroeger was born in Dodge County, May 25, 1889, a son of
Chris and Sophie Kroeger. His father, a native of Germany, came to
the United States at the age of twenty-four years and became one of
the early settlers of Dodge County, where he homesteaded and proved
up on a claim, and where he passed a long and honorable career in the
pursuits of the soil. When he died, at the age of sixty-four years, his
community lost a good and reliable citizen. Mrs. Kroeger, who is a
native of Germany, survives her husband as a resident of Hooper.
Harry Kroeger received his education in the public schools of Dodge
County and was his father's associate in the work of the home farm until
he reached the age of nineteen years. At that time he became an operator
on his own account, renting land from his father, and since the latter's
death has rented land from his mother. He carries on general farming,
as well as dairying, and maintains a herd of Guernsey cattle. The land,
located in Hooper Township, is under a high state of cultivation, and its
improvements, which were installed by Chris Kroeger, are valuable and
attractive in character. Mr. Kroeger is a republican in his political views,
but has taken only a good citizen's part in public affairs. He and his
wife are consistent members of the Lutheran Church.

728 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Mr. Kroeger married Miss Clara Clark, a native of Virginia, and
they are the parents of two children : Gretchen and Narelle.
Henry Teigeler. Born and bred in a foreign land, Henry Teigeler
of Fremont, a wholesale dealer in eggs, poultry and produce, has brought
to his adopted country those habits of industry and thrift that have won
him success in the business world, and placed him in a noteworthy posi
tion among' the self-made men of whom America is so proud. A son
of the late Henry Teigeler, he was born, July 5, 1864, in Bremen, Ger
many, where he spent the first eighteen years of his life.
Henry Teigeler, Sr., was a lifelong resident of Germany. Living in
Bremen City, which is situated on both banks of the "Weser River," he
established a saloon in which he served beer, light drinks and coffee, not
only to the merchants and laborers but to the sailors, seamen and passen
gers from the boats, his place being well patronized. To him and his
wife, whose maiden name was Sophia Hahn, seven children were born,
six of whom are living, Henry being the only one in America. Two of
the boys embarked in seafaring pursuits, and one of they stayed in
Spain during the World war, while the other ran a German merchant
ship in neutral ports. Both parents were members of the Lutheran
Church, and faithfully followed its teachings.
Having obtained a practical education when young, Henry Teigeler
was employed for three and a half years by H. W. Stoever & Company, a
wholesale leaf tobacco concern, acquiring not much money, but experi
ence of value to him in his future career. In 1882, following the tide
of emigration, he came to Fremont, Nebraska, arriving here with no
other assets than a willing spirit, a courageous heart, and a keen intel
lect, ready to take advantage of every offered opportunity to advance his
financial condition. Entering the employ of Osterman & Tremain,
produce dealers, he worked for his board, it being a dull season, from
the first of November until the middle of the next April, when the firm
gave him $25 for his last month's work. Mr. Teigeler, with his very
limited capital, then went to Scribner, Nebraska, and started in business
on his own account, buying poultry, butter and eggs. Succeeding fairly
well in the venture, he enlarged his operations somewhat by buying
produce, too, in the different towns up and down the line from Scribner.
The first few hundred dollars that he accumulated while thus employed,
he had the misfortune to lose all at once, and was forced to again start
at the foot of the ladder of attainments.
Coming again to Fremont in 1894, Mr. Teigeler became associated
with the Fremont Butter and Egg Company. Subsequently acquiring
an interest in the business, a creamery was established, and George
Haskell assumed charge of its management, while Mr. Teigeler looked
after the produce end of the business. Purchasing his partner's interests,
Mr. Teigeler now operates the entire business under the name of the
Fremont Creamery Company, and has built up an extensive and lucrative
trade, shipping produce of ail kinds to the eastern markets. He is also
interested in the Beatrice Creamery Company of Chicago, through which
he does considerable business.
In 1894 Mr. Teigeler was united in marriage with Dora Romberg, a
native of Iowa, and they have three children, namely: Henry, Fred
erick and Paul, a pupil in the Fremont High School. Henry, the eldest
son, a graduate of the Fremont High School, was attending the North
western University in Evanston, Illinois, when the United States entered
the World war. From there he enlisted in Company A, Three Hundred

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 729
and Fifty-Fifth Infantry, in which he was made a sergeant, and going
with his regiment to France lost his life in the engagement on the Marne.
The American Legion Post of Fremont is named ih his honor the Henry
Teigeler, Jr., Post. Frederick, the second son, was graduated from the
Fremont High School and is now attending the Northwestern University,
where he is very active in athletics, belonging to both the football and
the basketball teams.
Mr. Teigeler has been very successful in his business undertakings,
and has accumulated considerable property, having large land interests
in Dodge County, also being vice president of the First National Bank
of Fremorit. He is a republican in politics, and when but twenty-two
years old was elected justice of the peace in Scribner, and served in that
capacity for three years. He and his family attend the Congregational
Church and generously assist in its support.
W. E. Durkee. Prominent among the men who have been inti
mately associated with the development and promotion of the industrial
and manufacturing interests of Dodge County is W. E. Durkee of Fre
mont, who is carrying on an extensive business as proprietor and mana
ger of the Globe Cornice Works, a long established industry. A son of
Charles T. Durkee, he was born in 1878 in Farmland, Randolph County,
Indiana, where his childhood days were spent.
Born and reared in New York State, Charles T. Durkee migrated to
Indiana in early manhood and there started in life for himself as a
sheet metal worker. Coming with his family to Nebraska in 1884, he
worked for Hetty &'Son a year. In 1885 he established the Globe Cor
nice Works, at Fremont, where he first located, and subsequently built
up a large and lucrative wholesale business, dealing in sheet metal. Hav
ing achieved both business and financial success, he sold his plant to
his son, and, with his wife, moved to California, where he is living retired
from business cares. He is independent in politics, supportng to some
extent the principles of the democratic party. Fraternally he belongs to
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and religiously both he and his
wife are members of the Episcopal Church. His wife, whose name
before marriage was Jennie Bond, was born in New York State, but
as a girl moved with her parents to Indiana, where her marriage was
solemnized. The only child of his parents, W. E. Durkee was educated in Fre
mont, having attended the graded, high and normal schools. Completing
his studies, he learned the metal worker's trade under his father's tuition,
and when familiar with all the details of the business bought from his
father the Globe Cornice Works, in the management of which he is meet
ing with characteristic success, each year increasing its products and
extending its trade.
Mr. Durkee married, in 1908, Eva Bremer, who was born in Iowa.
Religiously Mr. and Mrs. Durkee are worthy members of the Episcopal
Church. Mr. Durkee is a straightforward democrat in politics, and is a
member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, of the Fre
mont Commercial Club and of the Country Club.
Henry Doering. An enumeration of the enterprising and represen
tative German citizens of Dodge County would be incomplete without
special mention of Henry Doering, the successful and well-known hard
ware merchant of Fremont, for since casting his lot with us he has
stamped the impress of his individuality upon the community and
Vol. II— is

730 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
benefited alike himself and his neighbors, for while laboring for his own
advancement he has not been selfish and neglectful of his duties to the
public in general, but he always supports such measures as make for the
general good.
Henry Doering was born in Germany on August 25, 1874, and is
the son of H. Carl and Marie (Wehner) Doering. His parents spent
their entire lives in their native land. He was reared under the parental
roof and secured his educational training in the public schools. In 1904
he came to the United States and located at once in Dodge County,
Nebraska, where for a time he engaged in farming. However, he was
ambitious for a commercial career and, having been employed in the
hardware business in his native country, he naturally turned to it here.
Previous to engaging in business he attended the Fremont Normal School
for about six months in order to perfect his knowledge of the English
language. He then took employment with the Nye, Schneider & Com-
. pany elevator, and then clerked for Holloway & Fowler for about five
years. Then he began to carry out his long-cherished plans for an inde
pendent business career and opened a small hardware store in Fremont.
Success attended his efforts from the beginning and as his business grew
he increased his stock until September, 1918, when he occupied his new
store, where he has two floors stocked with a complete and well selected
stock of shelf and heavy hardware of all descriptions. He is well located
and now operates one of the best stores in his line in Dodge County.
In 1907 Mr. Doering was married to Amanda Quesner, who also is
a native of Germany, coming to the United States when a child with
her parents, who settled in North Bend, Dodge County, where her
father clerked in a mercantile business for a time. He then conducted a
mercantile business in Dodge for several years. Mr. and Mrs. Doering
are members of the Lutheran Church and Mr. Doering is independent
in his political views. Fraternally he is a member of the Knights of
Pythias. Beginning life practically at the bottom of the ladder, he has
climbed to the top with no help but a brave heart, industrious hands and
an intelligent brain, and is a living example of what may be accomplished
by perseverance and thrift, and now, because of the high ideals and
honest motives which have controlled his actions and the success which
has attended his efforts, he enjoys the esteem and good will of all who
know him.
Endell N. Leake, A. M., M. D. A widely known, highly esteemed
and eminently successful physician and surgeon of Fremont, Dr. Endell
N. Leake is engaged in the practice of a profession that is particularly
exacting in its demands upon the time, attention and energies of its
devotees, and is meeting with eminent success, his patronage being exten
sive and remunerative. A native of New York, he was born November
9, 1855, in Buffalo, a son of Rev. Robert N. Leake. His paternal grand
father, Rev. William Leake, emigrated with his family from Er ;iand to
the United States about 1845, and subsequently had charge of churches
of the Methodist Episcopal denomination in different parts of the coun
try, spending his last years in Kansas, where his death occurred at the
venerable age of ninety-one years.
Robert N. Leake was born in London, England, in 1833, and as a
lad of twelve years came with his parents to this country, where he com
pleted his early education. Entering the ministry as a young man, he
served as pastor of various Methodist Episcopal churches of central
and western New York, continuing as a minister of the gospel for full

& .i\ ,4^jJKl?K«v^

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 731
forty years previous to his death in 1907. Rev. Robert N. Leake married
Margaret Morgan, who was born in Canada in 1836, a daughter of
William Morgan, who came from England to the United States at an
early day, and settled on a farm near Darien, New York. Four children
blessed their union, as follows : Endell N. ; Charles W., a dentist in
Chicago, Illinois; Mary E., widow of Walter Calkins, resides in Syra
cuse, New York ; and Walter J., one of the leading dentists of Lockport,
New York. The father was a republican in politics, and both he and
his wife, naturally, were true and faithful members of the Methodist
Episcopal Church.
Endell N. Leake obtained his preliminary education at the Union
School, in Lockport, New York, a noted academy which drew its pupils
from every part of the state. Subsequently entering Syracuse Univer
sity, he was there graduated with the degree of Master of Arts in 1878,
and two years later, in 1880, he received the degree of Doctor of Medi
cine at the Homeopathic College and Hospital of New York City. Locat
ing in Butler, Pennsylvania, Doctor Leake remained ,there from 1881 until
1894, gaining professional knowledge and skill, and building up a large
practice. Coming from there to Fremont, Nebraska, the doctor has met
with characteristic success, both as a physician and surgeon, winning
not only a very satisfactory patronage, but an extended reputation for
professional skill and ability.
Doctor Leake married, in February, 1881, Mary A. Brownell, a native
of New York State. One child was born of their union, Margaret, who
married Elisha B. Edwards, and died in Idaho of the Spanish influenza
during the nation-wide epidemic in 1918. Doctor Leake is a member of
the County, State and American associations of Homeopathy, and while
serving as president of the State Medical Association wrote and delivered
an address that was very highly spoken of by his professional brethren
therein gathered. The doctor is independent in politics, and both he and
his wife are members of the Congregational Church.
Walter R. Reckmeyer. While there are some notable exceptions,
as a general thing the man who has* a thoroughly practical knowledge of
his business is the one who has more satisfactory results. Walter R.
Reckmeyer, owner of one of the large planing mills of Fremont, is a
carpenter by trade and there is not a single piece of work turned out
by his plant that he could not make himself, and so his customers have
the advantage of his expert supervision over all of the processes.
Walter R.. Reckmeyer was born at Fremont on November 25, 1874,
a son of Henry and Christine (Kremling) Reckmeyer, both of whom
were born in Germany, but were brought to the United States when
about twelve years of age, their parents locating in the vicinity of Quincy,
Illinois. Between 1869 and 1870 they came to Fremont, Nebraska,
where the father continued to work as a carpenter all of his life, dying
at Fremont in 1900, but the mother survives, and she and all of their
children live at Fremont. These children are: Julia, who married
Dr. McGuire Mead; Walter R., whose name heads this review; and
Clarence, who is a traveling salesman, lives with his mother. There was
one other child, but he is now deceased. Henry Reckmeyer belonged to
the Ancient Order of United Workmen. In politics he was a repub
lican. His wife early joined the Methodist Episcopal Church, and she
still maintains her membership in it.
Walter R. Reckmeyer attended the public schools of Fremont and
also its excellent normal school. When he was only thirteen years old

732 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
he began learning the carpenter trade under his father's supervision,
and has always worked in it, although later on he branched out as a
contractor. Twenty years ago he bought his present planing mill, and
turns out all kinds of wooden fixtures for the use of contractors. Employ
ment is given to four men in the mill.
On August 26, 1908, Mr. Reckmeyer was united in marriage with
Etta Miller, born at Momence, Illinois, a daughter of Henry Miller, a
retired farmer of Yutan, Nebraska. Mrs. Reckmeyer was the widow
of C. R. Phelps, and had three children by her first marriage, namely:
Dorothea, who married Al Bencelhemier of Fremont; Vada, who mar
ried J. O. Dolgane of Chappell, Nebraska; and Leona, who lives with
Mr. and Mrs. Reckmeyer. The girls are members of the Presbyterian
Church, but Mrs. Reckmeyer belongs to the Reformed Lutheran Church.
¦Fraternally Mr. Reckmeyer belongs to the Elks, the Ancient Order of
United Workmen and the Odd Fellows. While never seeking for
public office he exerts his right of suffrage and votes the republican
ticket. All that he owns today has come to him through his industry,
thrift and good business judgment, and he has not only been successful
in a material way, but has also won appreciation as a good citizen and
upright man who lives up to his contracts.
James H. Sutton. An experienced and exceedingly skillful agricul
turist, James H. Sutton's remarkable success during his active career
has been brought about by persistent- energy, well directed toil, and
exceptional business ability, his highly improved farm in Elkhorn Town
ship bearing visible evidence of -his judicious labor and wise management.
A son of the late James and Ellen Sutton, he was born, in 1864, in New
York State, where he lived until 2J^ years old when the family moved
to Illinois, where they lived until they came to Nebraska in 1870. James
Sutton made this long, tedious journey in a prairie schooner, that having
been the most expeditious mode of traveling in those days before the
western country was spanned by the network of railways that now make
journeying so rapid and pleasant. Taking up a homestead claim in
Saunders County, near Wahoo, he erected the necessary buildings, tilled
sufficient land to make a good living for his household, and continued
a resident of Saunders County until his death at the age of sixty-three
years. His wife survived him, living to the age of seventy-six years.
They were both natives of Ireland.
But six years old when his father settled in Saunders County, this
state, James H. Sutton, began as soon as old enough to assist in the
farm labors, and having taken kindly to agricultural pursuits has fol
lowed farming as his chief occupation. In 1894 he located in Dodge
County, and having purchased 480 acres of land that was still in its
primeval condition has devoted his time, attention, and means to its
management, and his labors have been well rewarded. His improve
ments, all of which he made himself, are of a substantial character, and
a large part of his land is highly productive, responding readily to
cultivation. Mr. Sutton carries on general farming and stock raising
on a somewhat extensive scale, and in addition to operating his home
farm, which is in Elkhorn Township, owns and manages a large ranch
of 2,000 acres in Holt County. Before locating in Dodge County,
Mr. Sutton had made a specialty of sheep raising and feeding, and now
pays considerable attention to that industry, keeping about one hundred
head on his home farm. From 1889 to 1896 he made five trips across
the country from Oregon and Nevada with large bands of sheep to

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 733
this county and feed for market. Enterprising and progressive, he takes
advantage of every opportunity for adding to his agricultural knowledge
and efficiency, and is an active and interested member of the Farmers
Union. He is well acquainted with the western section of our country,
in the management of his business interests having made several over
land trips to the Pacific Coast.
Mr. Sutton married Birdie Pollock, and they have two children,
namely: James A., born twenty-one years ago; and Rona, nine years
younger. Politically Mr. Sutton is a sound republican; fraternally
he is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons, and
of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Religiously he and his
family are affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal Church.
George C. Campen. To a great extent the prosperity of our great
country is due to the honest industry, the sturdy perseverance and the
wise economy which so prominently characterizes the foreign element
that has entered largely into our population. By comparison with their
old country surroundings, these people have readily recognized the fact
that in America lie the greatest opportunities for the man of ambition
and energy. And because of this many have broken the ties of home and
native land and have earnestly entered upon the task of gaining in the
new world a name and a competence. Among this class may be men
tioned George C. Campen, of Fremont, who, by indefatigable and honest
effort, has not only acquired a well-merited material prosperity, but also
richly earned the highest esteem of all with whom he has been associated.
George C. Campen was born in Denmark on July 11, 1868, and is
the son of Hans and Wilhelmina (Lefeedt) Campen. The father was
born on October 14, 1837, and died in August, 1870, and the mother,
who was born on December 21, 1841, died in Copenhagen in March, 1918.
They spent their entire lives in their native land, where the father fol
lowed the vocation of a farmer, becoming quite well-to-do. On the
paternal side, George C. ¦ Campen traces his ancestry back to Thyge
Hansen, of the sixteenth century. The paternal grandfather was George
C. Campen, who owned a large farm and over one hundred and fifty
pure bred cattle, the family occupying a position of prominence and
influence in the community. To Hans and Wilhelmina Campen were
born five children, of whom three are living, namely: Caroline became
the wife of P. B. Christenen and they remain in Denmark ; Anna became
the wife of H. Nelson, a railroad engineer at Copenhagen ; and George C.
George C. Campen was reared under the parental roof and secured
his education in the schools of his home community. At the age of
twenty years he entered the Danish army, with which he served for nine
months, and in 1890 he immigrated to the United States. He first located
in New York, where he followed the painting and decorating trade for
a year. He then located in Omaha, Nebraska, and in 1892 came to
Fremont, where he has remained ever since. Here he established him
self in the painting and decorating business and, being a good workman
in that line, he met with success from the start, gaining a good reputa
tion because of the high quality of his work. In 1905 Mr. Campen
established a store on Fifth Street, and has occupied three different
locations on that street and is now occupying a fine two-story building
erected by him for his business needs. He received a large and repre
sentative patronage and keeps from seven to twenty-five men constantly
busy on his work. As a painter and decorator he has perhaps no supe--
riors and few equals in this community and is considered a man of

734 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
original and artistic ideas. When it is remembered that Mr. Campen's
sole cash capital when he landed in New York was but $5, it can be
appreciated what he has accomplished through his energy, ability and
economy. Mr. Campen was married on December 26, 1892, to Sina Jensen,
who was born in Denmark, but who, when a child, was brought by her
mother to this country, locating in Lancaster County, Nebraska, where
she was reared and educated. She has borne her husband three children,
namely : Agnes, the wife of Harold Eling, a painter and decorator in
Fremont; Thorvald, who occupies a homestead at Opton, Wyoming;
Edith, deceased.
Mr. Campen is a republican in his political views and he and his
wife are members of the Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church. He is
a member of the Knights and Ladies of Security. Among those who
know him best he bears the reputation of a man who uses sound judg
ment in all his business affairs and who always exercises the duties of
citizenship in a conscientious manner. Because of his success and his
character, he occupies an enviable standing throughout the community.
L. H. Rogers. In the death of the late L. H. Rogers, Dodge County,
Nebraska, lost one of its representative citizens. As the day, with its
morning of hope and promise, its noontide of activity, its evening of
complete and successful efforts, ending in the grateful rest and quiet .
of the night, so was the life of this honored man. His career was a busy
and useful one, and although he devoted his attention primarily to his
individual affairs, he never allowed the pursuits of wealth to warp his
kindly nature, but preserved his faculties and the warmth of his heart
for the broadening and helpful influences of human life, being to the
end a kindly, genial friend and gentleman with whom it was a pleasure
to meet and converse. Through the years of his residence in this
locality he was ever true to all trusts reposed in him, whether of a
public or private nature, and his reputation in a business way was
unassailable. He commanded the respect of all by his upright life and
engraved his name indelibly on the pages of Dodge County's history.
L. H. Rogers was born in Fayetteville, New York, March 20, 1834,
and his death occurred in Fremont in 1903, at the age of sixty-nine
years. He was educated in the public schools of his native state, having
lived in various places owing to the fact that his father was a minister
of the Methodist Episcopal Church and was located at several points in
the central part of that state. At about the time he attained his majority,
L. H. Rogers left his native state and early in 1857 he arrived in Fre
mont, being among the earliest settlers in this locality, the town having
been established in August of the previous year. Here he engaged in
farming, which occupied his attention until 1861, when he and his
brother established the banking house of E. H. & L. H. Rogers. This
was one of the early banks of this section of the state and became the
First National Bank of Fremont, one of the most important and influen
tial financial institutions of the newly settled community. Mr. Rogers
maintained his active connection with the banking business until 1884,
when his health failed and he was compelled to relinquish his active
participation in business affairs. He and his wife did considerable
traveling during the years following, but he maintained his residence
here continually up to the time of his death. Having become identified
with the business interests of this locality in its first stages of develop
ment, he was for many years a potent influence in commercial and busi-

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 735
ness circles. He was a citizen of high civic ideals and as a citizen he
was well worthy of the unqualified confidence and esteem in which he
was universally held.
In 1864 Mr. Rogers was married to Lottie Elizabeth Heaton, who
was born September 13, 1844, in the State of Wisconsin, the daughter
of Rev. Isaac E. Heaton, whose name is linked with the earliest history
of this immediate locality. His was the first family to move to Fremont
in 1856, he preached the first sermon in Fremont, and organized the
first Congregational Church here, the seven charter members of this
society having been Reverend and Mrs. Heaton, Nathan Heaton (paternal
grandfather of Mrs. Rogers), E. H. Barnard, Mrs. Se'th Marvin,
Richard Davis and one other. The Reverend Heaton was widely known
throughout this section of the state as a Congregational minister of
ability and energy, who exerted a powerful influence on the moral
standing of the pioneer communities of that day. He was a prohibition
republican in his political views. To him and his wife were born two
children, Mrs. Rogers, who is now the oldest living pioneer settler of
Fremont, and Mary E., who was the wife of J. J. Hawthorne, formerly
of Fremont, both being now deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. Rogers two
children have been born, namely: C. I., who is now retired from busi
ness and is living in Fremont, and Belle H., who remains with her
mother. Mrs. Rogers is a member of the Congregational Church and
her children are identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Mr. Rogers took an active part in advancing the early religious life
of Fremont and he was a charter member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church here, the others being E. H. Rogers and his wife, Mrs. Wealthy
Beebe and Mrs. Mary Flor. Politically, L. H. Rogers gave his support
to the republican party and was deeply interested in the public affairs
of the community in which he lived. Mrs. Rogers has lived on the same
lot continuously since 1888, though in 1896 her present commodious and
attractive home was built. It is also worthy of note that Mrs. Rogers
still owns some of the land that her husband originally purchased here
in 1856. There are but few of the pioneer settlers of the '50s still
remaining to tell the interesting stories of the development of this
locality and to them all honor is due for the part they played in the
development of this favored community.
Fred F. Scott has been a resident of Dodge County from the time
of his birth, has here proved a successful representative of farm industry,
and here his secure place in popular confidence and esteem is indicated
by the fact that he is now serving as a member of the county board
of supervisors. Mr. Scott was born in Union Township, Dodge County, on the
20th of March, 1870, and is a son of David and Isabelle (Johnson)
Scott, who were born and reared in Ireland. Upon coming to the
United States David Scott found employment in a bottling establishment
in the City of Philadelphia, though he had learned in his native land
the trade of cooper. He came with his wife to Dodge County, Nebraska,
in the early '60s and purchased land in Union Township, at the rate of
one dollar and a quarter an acre. He improved this farm, which he
later sold, and thereafter he gave his attention to the management of
the fine farm which he owned in section 22, that township, until he
finally retired and established his home at North Bend, where his death
occurred in 1914 and where his widow still resides.

736 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Fred F. Scott gained in his boyhood and youth a goodly experience
in connection with the work and management of the home farm, and
his educational discipline was secured in the public schools of his native
county, and by one year of attendance in the Nebraska State Normal
School at Fremont. He remained at the parental home until he had
attained to his legal majority and then instituted independent opera
tions as a farmer. He utilized for this enterprise a tract of land owned
by his father, and finally he purchased also about 120 acres of addi
tional land. He continued as one of the active and successful exponents
of agricultural and live stock industry in Union Township until '1914,
when he retired and established his home at North Bend, though he still
retains ownership of his well improved farm property, which comprises
360 acres. Mr. Scott is a vigorous advocate and supporter of the cause
of the republican party and is serving his first term as a member of
the county board of supervisors. He is a stockholder in and stanch
supporter of the Farmers' Union in his native county, and is affiliated
with the Masonic fraternity and the Modern Woodmen of America.
The year 1895 recorded the marriage of Mr. Scott to Miss Mina
Hatcher, who was born in West Virginia and who was a child at the
time of the family removal to Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. Scott have
two children : Irma A., a skilled stenographer who now holds a position
in an insurance office in the City of Omaha, and Marvin F., who is
still a student in the public schools of North Bend.
Jacob R. Bader, president of the J. R. Bader Furniture Company,
of Fremont, has one of the most beautiful stores in Nebraska, and
during the years he has been connected with this city he has always
proven himself a man of probity, excellent business endowments and a
factor in the moral uplift of his community. Mr. Bader was born in
Hugsweier, Baden, Germany, on July 24, 1864, a son of Carl and Caro
line (Lieb) Bader. Carl Bader was district treasurer for forty-five
years, and both he and his wife were very ' pious, their main concern
in life being the spiritual welfare of their children. Their efforts in
this direction met with very gratifying results for three of their sons
are successful preachers, one of them now being at the head of the house
publishing all of the religious literature of his denomination. Another
son served as a missionary to India, and a daughter married a mis
sionary to India.
After attending the public schools of Germany, Jacob R. Bader came
to the United States, and took a commercial course in the business
college at Nebraska City, Nebraska. He has no degrees. After two
years' work on a Nebraska farm, Mr. Bader secured employment as a
bookkeeper in a brewery of Nebraska City, and later went into a furni
ture store of that same place as a clerk, holding that position from 1886
until 1890, and learning the business in all of its details.
In 1890 Mr. Bader came to Fremont and, after working for
M. H. Hinman, bought the business in October, 1890, taking Ernest
Eisner as a partner. Later the firm saw several changes, becoming in
turn Bader & Anderson, Bader & Rogers Furniture Co., Bader Bros.
Company, and finally the J. R. Bader Furniture Company, of which
Mr. Bader is president and owner of sixty per cent of the stock. He is
a member of the Fred Bader & Company, undertakers. His furniture
business has increased its annual sales from $11,000 to $160,000.
On May 25, 1886, Mr. Bader was married on the farm of his
father-in-law, E. Eisner, at Arlington, Nebraska, to Emma E. Eisner

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 737
whose father is one of the successful farmers of Nebraska. The follow
ing children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Bader: Carl G, who is
a minister of the gospel, married Edna McAfee of Worcester, Massa
chusetts; Ernest F., who is advertising manager of the United Phono
graph Corporation, married Nellie Baldwin; Eleanore O., who married
Clarence King, a lumberman of Sterling, Colorado; Alma E., who is a
music teacher, resides at home; Clara B., who is a student of the Art
Institute, of Chicago, Illinois; and Jean R., who is attending the Fre
mont High School.
Mr. Bader is an active republican and has never failed to vote.
He is a Methodist, and has been licensed to preach since 1886. While
he has been very successful in his enterprises there is no doubt but
that Mr. Bader takes more satisfaction in the work he has been able
to accomplish in raising the standard of morality, and bringing addi
tional souls into the fold. A man of unblemished private life, he sets
an example for others to follow, and certainly in every act practices
the religion he so fervently preaches.
Charles C. Pollard is a leading representative of the real estate
and insurance business in the City of Fremont, and his operations in
the handling of real estate extend far beyond the immediate confines
of Dodge County, though his attention is given principally to the handling
of city property and to his substantial general insurance business.
Mr. Pollard is a scion of the stanchest of colonial New England
stock and claims the old Green Mountain State as the place of his
nativity. He was born at Wilmington, Vermont, July 4, 1854, and it may
consistently be said that his patriotism and civic loyalty have ever been
in consonance with the spirit of the great national holiday which figured
as the day of his nativity. He is a son of Jonas S. and Louisa D.
(Cunningham) Pollard, both natives of the State of Massachusetts,
where the former was born November 10, 1810, and the latter March
20, 1818, their marriage having been solemnized May 16, 1844. The
parents were residents of their native state at the time of their death,
though they had lived for several years in Vermont. Mrs. Pollard
passed away in 1873, and her husband survived her by nearly a score
of years, his death having occurred in 1890. Of the five children
Charles C. is the elder of the two now living, and Joshua H. is a
machinist at Worcester, Massachusetts. Jonas S. Pollard was a man of
energy and industry, but in the cultivation of his small and none too
prolific farm in Massachusetts he was able to gain only modest pros
perity, his original dwelling on his farm having been constructed of logs
which were hewed by him. He was a stanch republican and he and his
wife were zealous members of the Congregational Church. His father,
Jonas Pollard, was born at Bolton, Massachusetts, July 12, 1778, and
was a son of William Pollard, born at Billerica, Massachusetts, August
3, 1698. Thomas, father of the last mentioned, William Pollard, was
born in Coventry, England, as was also his father, William Pollard,
who came with his family to America and settled at Billerica, Massa
chusetts, in 1692. John Cunningham, maternal grandfather of Charles
C. Pollard, was born at Phillipston, Massachusetts, and he likewise was
a representative of one of the sterling colonial families of the old
Bay State.
Charles C. Pollard acquired his early education in the public schools
at Clinton, Massachusetts, and supplemented this by continuing his
studies two winters under the direction of a private tutor. His initial

738 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
business experience was gained as an employe in a carpet factory, and
thereafter he was employed for a time in a shoe shop and grocery store
at Spencer, Massachusetts. In 1882, when twenty-eight years of age,
he came to the West, and in September of that year he established his
residence at Cherokee, Iowa, where he was employed as clerk in a store
until the spring of the following year, when he removed to what is now
the State of South Dakota. For four years he was engaged in the
lumber business at Howard, that state, which was then still a part of
Dakota Territory, and on the 1st of April, 1887, he arrived at Fremont,
Nebraska. For the ensuing eight years he had the management of a
lumber business at his place, and he then turned his attention to inde
pendent enterprise in the real estate and insurance business, with which
he has since continued his effective alliance and with marked success.
He is now one of the veteran exponents of these lines of business in
Dodge County, and his reputation, won through years of honest and
effective service, is one of the most valuable assets of his business.
Mr. Pollard has had no ambition for political activity or official prefer
ment, but is a stanch advocate of the pririciples of the republican party.
He is actively affiliated with the local Blue Lodge, Chapter, and Com
mandery of Knights Templar of the Masonic fraternity, and has served
as high priest of his chapter, besides having held official chairs in the
lodge. He has been actively identified with the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows for thirty-five years, and he and his wife are earnest
members of the Congregational Church in their home city.
October 19, 1886, recorded the marriage of Mr. Pollard to Miss
Sarah J. Harrison, who was born in the City of London, England.
John H. Hoebener. An intelligent and enterprising agriculturist
of Dodge County, John H. Hoebener has a well appointed farm in
Platte Township, on which he has erected a conveniently arranged
residence, modern in every respect, a substantial barn, and all other
necessary buildings for carrying on farming, cattle and sheep raising
after the most approved methods, everything about the premises indi
cating the thrift, industry and keen judgment of the proprietor. He
was born, July 22, 1853, in Lucerne County, Pennsylvania, a son of
J. H. and Elizabeth Hoebener, life long residents of the Keystone State.
Brought up and educated in his native county, John H. Hoebener
spent the earlier years of his life in that vicinity. Migrating to Nebraska
in 1881, he located in Dodge County, and having opened a meat shop
in Fremont continued in business nine years. Changing his occupation,
Mr. Hoebener began dealing in sheep, driving flocks of them from
Oregon, and feeding them in Fremont, where later, for a period of nine
years, he was engaged in the hide and wool business. Giving that up,
Mr. Hoebener lived retired for a while, and then bought his present farm
of 248 acres in Platte Township, two miles from town, an advantageous
location. In addition to carrying on mixed husbandry successfully he
makes a specialty of feeding cattle, hogs and sheep. In 1916 Mr. Hoebener
erected his fine residence, one of the most attractive in the township
and is constantly adding to the improvements already inaugurated.
Mr. Hoebener married, in Illinois, Anna H. Hoefer, a native of that
state, and into their household six children have made their advent
namely : Dorothy, Bertha, Frieda, Iona, Henrietta, and John. In his
political affiliations Mr. Hoebener is independent, voting for the best
men and measures. He has never aspired to public office, and belongs
to no fraternal or social organizations. Religiously he and his family
worship at the Presbyterian Church.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 739
Peter Parkert, Jr. Possessing superior business ability, enterprise
and judgment, Peter Parkert, Jr., of Everett Township, has gained a
position of prominence and influence in the financial, industrial and
agricultural interests of Dodge County, and well merits representation
in a work of this character. A son of Peter Parkert, Sr., he was born,
August 30, 1887, in Dodge County, Nebraska, which he has always
proudly claimed as home.
Born in Germany seventy-one years ago, Peter Parkert, Sr., came
to this country in early life, locating first in Michigan. Being assured
that better opportunities for advancing his interests awaited him in
the then far West, he came to Nebraska in 1869, and for a short time
worked in Fremont. Subsequently taking up a homestead claim in
Dodge County, he was prosperously engaged in farming and stock
raising until 1904, when he retired from agricultural pursuits, and took
up his residence in Hooper. He is now serving as vice president of the
First National Bank of Hooper, and is a stockholder in the Hooper
Land & Investment Company, and in the Hooper mills. He is a demo
crat in politics, and for about twenty years served as county supervisor
of Dodge County. In religion he is a Catholic.
Peter Parkert, Sr., married Mary Tillman, a daughter of Frank M.
and Anna (Enderley) Tillman, natives, respectively, of Germany and
Switzerland. After coming to this country to live, Mr. Tillman lived
first in Detroit, Michigan, where his marriage was solemnized, and later
was hotelkeeper in Holton, Michigan, for a number of years. In 1868
he settled in Dodge County, this state, and carried on farming in
Ridgeley Township until 1881, when he removed to Hooper, where his
death occurred at the age of ninety-one years, in 1915, seven years
after that of his wife, who died in 1908, aged eighty-two years. Their
children were as follows : Joseph, deceased ; Mary, now Mrs. Parkert ;
Margaret, wife of Charles S. Basler, of Hooper; Lizzie, wife of W. F.
Basler, of Hooper; Frank A., of Hooper; Catherine, wife of Edward
Wickhorst, of Santa Ana, California; and A. M., a prominent business
man of Hooper.
Of the union of Peter Parkert, Sr., and MaTy Tillman, six children
were born, as follows: George, a farmer in Dodge County; Peter, Jr.,
of this sketch ; Anna, wife of Harry Heine, a farmer, living near Madi
son, Nebraska; Ella, wife of William Schuler, ,a Dodge County farmer;
Isabelle, wife of H. R. Katz, who is engaged in farming in Dodge
County; and Julia.
After leaving the Fremont Normal' School, where he completed his
early studies, Peter Parkert, Jr., was bookkeeper for a year for the
Farmers Grain & Stock Company, at Hooper. Beginning to farm on his
own account in 1906, he made a specialty of dealing in Shorthorn
cattle for a period of six years, holding annual sales, and is still inter
ested to some extent in that industry, keeping a good grade of stock,
and feeding for the markets. He is prominent in business circles, having
served as secretary of the Farmers Grain & Stock Company until it was
sold to the Farmers Union, in which he is a stockholder; and having
been secretary of the Hooper Mill & Grain Company since its organ
ization. Mr. Parkert is also a stockholder in the First National Bank of
Hooper; a stockholder and director of the Stock Show Company of
Hooper; and one of the stockholders of the Hooper Land & Invest
ment Company. He is a democrat in politics, but is not active in public
affairs. Religiously he is a member of the Catholic Church; and fra
ternally belongs to the Knights of Columbus.

740 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Mr. Parkert married, in 1909, Miss Edith S. Drayer, a native of
Iowa. W. A. Guidinger, M. D. Engaged in the practice of one of the
most exacting of all of the higher lines of occupation, W. A. Guidin
ger, M. D., is devoting his time and energies to his professional duties,
and is meeting with gratifying success, having won an extensive patron
age, not only in Dodge, but throughout the surrounding country. A son
Of John G. Guidinger, Sr., he was born, June 11, 1882, in Colfax County,
Nebraska, on the parental homestead.
Born in Wisconsin, John G. Guidinger, Sr., selected farming as his
occupation, and in 1855 made his way to the newer country of Nebraska,
where there were large tracts of Government land for sale at a minimum
price. Settling in Colfax County, he cleared and improved a valuable
farm, on which he lived and labored many years. Having accumulated
a competency, he is now retired from active business, his home being at
Hollister, California. To him and his wife, Annie G. Guidinger, eight
children were born, two of whom, a son and a daughter, have passed
to the life beyond, while W. A., of this sketch, and his brother John,
of Fremont, are the only two sons now living in Nebraska. The mother
died when but sixty-five years old.
After leaving the rural schools, W. A. Guidinger attended the
Fremont Normal School four years, and subsequently entered the
Chicago College of Medicine and Surgery, from which he was graduated
with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Locating in Dodge in 1907,
Doctor Guidinger has labored earnestly and successfully, and has made
rapid strides in his professional career, being numbered among the
leading physicians and surgeons of Dodge County. He has won the
confidence of the general public to a marked degree, and through his
recognized skill and ability has built up a large and lucrative practice.
Doctor Guidinger married, in 1906, Minnie Johnson, who was born
in Appleton, Wisconsin, a daughter of James and Anna (Hansen)
Johnson, her father having been a millwright. The doctor is inde
pendent in politics, casting his vote for the best men and measures
regardless of party prejudices. Fraternally he belongs to the Ancient
Free and Accepted Order of Masons, and religiously he is a Con
gregationalist. Grant S. Reeder, M. D. The record made by the physicians and
surgeons of Nebraska stands to the credit of the profession, and the
men, who, sacrificing personal interests, proffered their services to the
Government, and whole-heartedly gave their time and skill to the needs
of their country in time of war, deserve special consideration on the
part of the public, although they are the last ones to even admit this
obligation. One of these patriotic young men of the profession who went
out from Dodge County, is Dr. Grant S. Reeder, of Fremont, who has
achieved more than local distinction because of his specialization on
children's diseases.
Doctor Reeder was born at Tipton, Iowa, on March 25, 1885, a son
of John W. and Sarah E. (Lee) Reeder, both natives of Ohio. John W.
Reeder came West to Iowa on October 10, 1852, and he is still living,
although eighty-four years old. His wife came to Cedar County, Iowa!
in 1849, and at the age of seventy-six years, is one of the oldest surviving
settlers of that county. They were married in Cedar County, Iowa.
Until his retirement, John W. Reeder was active as a stockman,' and is

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 741
still interested in affairs in spite of his years. After the organization
of the republican party, he espoused its principles and still adheres to
them. He was one of the organizers of the first free school west of the
Mississippi River. For many years he has maintained membership
with the Knights of Pythias. The paternal grandfather, George Reeder,
was born in Pennsylvania, and came to Iowa many years ago, and died
in that state. He was a circuit rider of the Methodist Church, and
one of the best-known men in early days in Cedar and other counties.
His farm, which he homesteaded, is now owned by Mrs. Reeder. John
W. Reeder was brought up in the faith of his father, and, while not
entering the ministry, has always been exceedingly active in church
work and is very religious. The maternal grandfather, William Lee,
was born in Virginia, from whence he moved to Ohio and later to
Iowa, where he died.
Doctor Reeder attended the public schools of Tipton, and was grad
uated from the high school of that place in 1903. He then took a
collegiate course at Cornell, Iowa, in which he was graduated in 1907,
following which he matriculated at Rush Medical College, Chicago,
Illinois, from which he was graduated in 1911, with the degree of
Doctor of Medicine.
Immediately following his graduation Doctor Reeder engaged in a
general practice at Kirkland, Illinois, but at the expiration of four
years came to Fremont, Nebraska, arriving here in the spring of 1916,
and has been engaged in the practice of his profession in this city ever
since with the exception of the time he was in the army. He enlisted
in July, 1918, and was discharged in July, 1919, having, during that
period spent six weeks at New Haven, Connecticut, in the United States
General Hospital No. 16, when he was assigned to examine the soldiers
for diseases of the lungs at Camp Funston, and in the Carolinas. Still
later he was placed in charge of convalescents, especially those suffer
ing from lung and heart trouble, and rendered a magnificent service to
the Government and soldiers.
Doctor Reeder was married on October 4, 1911, to Wilda Chace,
born at Stanton, Nebraska. They have one son, Robert Chace Reeder,
who was born on August 9, 1912, and one daughter, Jane Chace Reeder,
who was born on February 13, 1920. Both Doctor Reeder and his wife
belong to the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a member of the
Masonic fraternity, the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen
of America. While he votes the republican ticket, he is not in any
sense a politician, devoting himself to his profession. In connection
with it he maintains membership with the Dodge County Medical
Society, the Nebraska State Medical Society and the American Medical
Association, and is secretary and treasurer of the county organization.
Possessing as he does the personality which wins the confidence and
affection of children, Doctor Reeder is making considerable strides for
ward in his. special line, and patients are brought to him from a
wide territory. Conscientious as well as skilled, he gives to each little
one careful thought and attention, and his success has been really
remarkable, not only in the curing of maladies, but the prevention of
disease and the stamping out of conditions which might, if left, terminate
in serious results.
Eliphus Hibbard Rogers. Born in humble circumstances, and
reared in a school of stern experience, the late Eliphus Hibbard Rogers,
an early pioneer of Fremont, was a man of strong personality and
remarkable force of character, and through persistent effort overcame

742 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
the almost seemingly insurmountable obstacles constantly appearing in
his pathway, obtaining positions of influence in business, political and
religious circles, and becoming prominent, in the public affairs of our
country. A native of New York State, he was born, January 12, 1830,
in Litchfield, Herkimer County, a son of Rev. Lucius Carey and Fannie
(Locke) Rogers, his father, a minister in the Methodist Episcopal
denomination, having belonged to the Oneida, New York, Conference.
Manifesting a decided thirst for knowledge very early in his life,
Eliphus Hibbard Rogers was sent to a school resembling in some respects
the kindergarten schools of today, where he was regarded as an infant
prodigy, having been especially brilliant in declamation. He continued
his education in the different places in which his father was located,
taking a special course in a select school at Springfield, Otsego County.
In the summer of 1842, he entered the employ of Spencer Field, a
tavern keeper, who owned a large farm, and in addition to raising con
siderable stock, fed all of the cattle passing through the place to the
Eastern markets, and although it was a hard position for a boy of his
age he stuck to it for quite a while.
Going to Lowville, New York, in the spring of 1844, he became a
clerk in the general store of W. L. Easton, but was forced ere long to
give up the position on account of ill health. At the age of sixteen
years he began teaching school, and later was again employed for a time
as a clerk. Desirous of further advancing his education, this courageous
lad subsequently journeyed by stage over the muddy spring roads to
Cazenovia, New York, and there pursued his studies at the Cazenovia
Seminary, in the meanwhile supporting himself and paying his college
expenses, working at any honorable employment that he could find.
Going then to Columbus, Pennsylvania, Mr. Rogers accepted a posi
tion as bookkeeper in the store of his cousin, Enfield Leach, but the
long hours and his close application to the work proved too much for
his physical health and he resumed his professional labors as a teacher,
teaching winters and farming summers. Marrying soon after attaining
his majority, Mr. Rogers bought a small farm, partly on credit, and
there he and his brave young wife spent two long years, making barely
enough money to live on and pay the interest on the mortgage. Stricken
with the Western fever in the spring of 1854, he sold his farm, receiv
ing $1,500 in cash after the mortgage was paid, and journeyed to
Jo Daviess County, Illinois, where he worked as a farm hand for his
uncle, J. H. Rogers, while his wife assisted her aunt in the house.
Subsequently moving to Wisconsin, Mr. Rogers purchased eighty
acres of land in Jefferson County, and in trying to improve it used the
oxen with which he and his wife had made the trip from Illinois. At
that time his particular friend, E. H. Barnard, was employed in a real
estate office at Des Moines, Iowa, and through a lively correspondence
the two men were planning great things for their future. In the summer
of 1856 Mr. Barnard located in Omaha, Nebraska, and in October of
that year he was joined by Mr. Rogers. They^ had intended to there
establish themselves in the real estate business, but Mr. Barnard, who
was then recovering from an attack of typhoid fever, had laid out a
new town on the Platte River, about fifty miles northwest of Omaha,
and was going to settle there. Mr. Rogers decided to remain in Omaha
during the winter, and in order to eke out his income, and not encroach
on the $1,500 that he had received for his farm, he was engaged in hauling
wood until February, 1857.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 743
Going in that month to the newly laid out Town of Fremont,
Mr. Rogers secured a room in one of the three log houses already
erected, and in that room he and his wife lived until their house, which
he built with his own hands, was completed, some three months later.
Having previously studied law to good purpose, Mr. Rogers was admitted
to the bar in 1858, and that same year was elected as a representative
to the State Legislature. Going to Pike's Peak during the gold excite
ment, he located at Russell's Gulch, and having built a cabin for himself
and family began the practice of his chosen profession in earnest.
Taking charge of law cases for both the miners and the mine owners,
he built up a fair practice, and in February, 1861, was elected judge of
the Miner's Court. Returning to Fremont in June, 1861, Mr. Rogers
was kept busy for a few months attending to the farm which he had
purchased before going to Colorado. Accompanied by his family, he
then went East on a visit, and remained there during the winter of 1865
and 66. In the fall of 1866, Mr. Rogers was made a member of the
Territorial Council, and took an active part in its proceedings.
In the summer of 1866 the Union Pacific Railroad was extended
through Fremont, and Mr. Rogers, in partnership with his brother,
L. H. Rogers, embarked in the real estate business, and opened a private
bank, which has since developed into the First National Bank of Fremont.
In 1870 Mr. Rogers was a candidate for the United States Senate, but
after the first ballot withdrew his name, and Mr. Hitchock was elected
as senator. On account of ill health, Mr. Rogers, accompanied by his
wife, went to Florida for the winter of 1877, and in 1879 spent the
winter in New Mexico. Although his health was not very much improved
when he returned to Fremont, he continued at his desk throughout the
summer, but in the fall of 1880 resigned his position in the bank.
Taking his wife and daughter to Florida, he rented a house, and camped
out, hoping in that balmy climate to recover some of his former physical
vigor. In May, 1881, Mr. Rogers was appointed United States Consul
at Vera Cruz, Mexico, and having accepted the position resided there
until his death, on August 1, 1881, when his body was laid to rest on
Mexican soil.
Mr. Rogers .was a devout Christian, very active in the Methodist
Episcopal Church, and a faithful friend of the circuit riders and the
Methodist preachers, whom he gladly welcomed to his hospitable home.
He was a prominent member of the republican party, in his younger
days being what was then termed a black abolitionist. He was a man of
sterling worth and integrity, and through good management acquired
considerable wealth.
In New York State, on September 17, 1851, Mr. Rogers was united
in marriage with Lucy J. Goff, and of the children that blessed their
union, but two are now living, namely : Mrs. Ida J. Moe, of Fremont,
Nebraska; and Mrs. Joseph Yager, also of Fremont. Mrs. Moe was
born at Augusta, Oneida County, New York, May 7, 1852. She was
only six years old when she came to Fremont with her parents in 1857
and was reared here. With exceptions of time spent in school her life
has been spent in Fremont. She was educated in Houghton Seminary,
Clinton, New York. She married, October 11, 1874, Lewis S. Moe,
who was a native of Tioga County, New York, where he was reared
and educated. He was in the militia and was clerk in the Treasury
Department in Washington, D. C. After the war he came West to
Fremont and was in the show business for a time with a brother.
He later clerked and also worked for Doctor Smith. He died February

744 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
27, 1909. Mr. and Mrs. Moe have three sons. Rex R. Moe was
educated in Fremont High School and at Cornell, Iowa, and filled the
pulpit while in college; in the fall of 1890 he went to the Philippine
Islands as missionary, was in Tarlac for five years, then came home for
a year, was then in Pangasinan Province two years and in Cagayon
three years ; then in November, 1919, he came home- on a year's furlough
to visit his mother. He married Miss Belle Noyes and they have two
daughters, Corrall Eugenie and Margaret Rogers, both born in the
Philippines. Locke Barton Moe is in the laundry business at Le Grande, Oregon.
He married Ella Douglass and has one son, Lewis Douglass. Grant S.
Moe is a farmer near Central City, Nebraska. In 1911 Mrs. Moe joined
ber son in the Philippine Islands. She has always been active in the
Woman's Foreign Missionary Society here for a great many years.
Fred C. Laird, who was engaged in the practice of his profession at
Fremont, judicial center of Dodge County, until December 3, 1919,
when he entered the Government service, is a native of Fremont County,
Iowa, and has gained a place as one of the representative younger
members of the bar of Dodge County, Nebraska. He is now internal
revenue inspector under civil service, assigned to the Nebraska district.
He was born on his father's fine old homestead farm in Fremont County,
Iowa, May 22, 1880, and is a son- of Francis M. and Phoebe (Reeves)
Laird, both likewise natives of that county of the Hawkeye State, where
the respective families were founded in the pioneer period of the history
of that favored commonwealth. The father is now the owner of two
valuable farm properties in his native county, and his entire active
career was one of close association with the basic industries of agricul
ture and stock growing. Since 1893 he and his wife have maintained
their residence at Tabor, Iowa, where he ts living virtually retired,
Fred C. of this review being the elder of their two children, and Belva
being the wife of Dr. B. B. Miller, a representative physician and
surgeon at Tabor. Francis M. Laird is a stalwart democrat in politics
and has been active in local politics, besides which he has served in
various offices of public trust, including two terms of effective service
as a member of the State Legislature of Iowa. He and his wife are
earnest members of the Congregational Church. His father, John Laird,
was born and reared in Pennsylvania, and became an early settler in
Fremont County, Iowa, where he secured Government land and developed
a productive farm, the remainder of his life having been passed in that
county. Asa Reeves, maternal grandfather of Fred C. Laird, was a
native of Ohio and he likewise was a pioneer of Fremont County, Iowa,
where he reclaimed a valuable farm and where he continued to reside
until his death, he having served during practically the entire period of
the Civil war and having been wounded in battle.
Fred C. Laird gained his preliminary education in the public schools
of his native county and in 1903 he was graduated in Tabor College,
at Tabor, Iowa. In preparing himself for the profession of his choice
he entered the law department of the University of Nebraska, and in
this institution he was graduated in 1906, with the well-earned degree
of Bachelor of Laws, and with concurrent admission to the bar of the
state. His initial work in his profession was in the capital city, Lincoln
and in the nearby Village of Havelock, but after this novitiate of a few
months, he came to Fremont in December, 1906, and established 'himself
in independent practice. He developed a successful law business and

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 745
in 1913 he formed a professional alliance with George L. Loomis, with
whom he associated under the firm name of Loomis & Laird. This
firm has a substantial and well ordered law business and a clientele of
representative order. Mr. Laird is unfaltering in his allegiance to the
cause of the democratic party, and he served two years as police judge
of Fremont. Both he and his wife are members of the Congregational
Church in their home city. A scion of stanch colonial ancestry, Mr. Laird
is eligible for and is affiliated with the Society of the Sons of the
American Revolution, in which he is secretary of the local organization
at Fremont. In the Masonic fraternity he has received the chivalric
degrees and is a popular member of the Fremont Cpmmandery of
Knights Templar, and Sesostris Temple Mystic Shrine, at Lincoln,
Nebraska, while both he and his wife are active members of the local
chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star, of which he is past patron.
Mr. Laird is serving, in 1920, as secretary of Fremont Lodge, Behevolent
and Protective Order of Elks, and maintains affiliation also with the
Knights of Pythias, besides which he is a member of the Alpha Tau
Omega college fraternity.
The year 1911 was marked by the marriage of Mr. Laird to Miss
Leo Loomis, daughter of his law partner, George L. Loomis, and they
are popular factors in the representative social life of their home city.
Joseph C. Sink. An active, earnest and honest tiller of the soil,
Joseph C. Sink, of Platte Township, is numbered among the enterprising
and self-reliant men who are so ably conducting the farming interests
of this part of Dodge County, everything about his premises bearing
evidence of his wise care and supervision. A son of Abram Sink, he
was born, October 30, 1857, in Virginia, where he lived and labored for
upwards of forty years.
Abram Sink was born in Virginia ninety-nine years ago and has
there spent his unusually long life, during his active career having been
engaged in agricultural pursuits. To him and his wife, whose name
before marriage was Elizabeth Fisher, nine children were born, Joseph C.
being the fifth child of the parental household and the only one living
in Nebraska. Bred and educated in Virginia, Joseph C. Sink obtained a thorough
knowledge of agriculture while young and continued to farm there until
1900. Being seized with the wanderlust, and wishing to take advantage of
more favorable conditions for enlarging his operations, he came to
Nebraska in that year, locating in Colfax County, where he was engaged
in his chosen calling seven years. Coming to Dodge County in 1907,
Mr. Sink purchased 120 acres of land in Platte Township, near Ames, and
in its improvement has shown good judgment, the buildings being in excel
lent repair and his farm under a good state of cultivation. Having
toiled assiduously many years, Mr. Sink is now living retired from
active labor, having resigned the management of his estate to his son.
In 1879, while still a resident of Virginia, Mr. Sink married Mary
Kingry, and of their union eight children have been born, namely:
Susie McKinery, Henry, Mattie, Carl, Isaac, Rosie, Burrell, and Seyrel.
Mr. Sink is independent in politics, voting without regard to party restric
tions. Religiously, he is a Dunkard. ,
Henry Kuss. Many of the more thriving and enterprising citizens
of our great republic have been born and bred in far-off countries and
from their native lands have brought the habits of industry and perse-
Vol. II— 19

746 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
verance that have steadily overcome all obstacles that beset their path
way and won them places of note in business and industrial circles. Prom
inent among this number is Henry Kuss, a well known grain operator
and farmer of Winslow. A son of Frederick Kuss, he was born, Novem
ber 14, 1868, in Hanover, Germany, where he acquired a good education.
A native of Germany, Frederick Kuss began life for himself as a
farmer and remained in the fatherland for a number of years after his
marriage. Coming with his family to the United States in 1884, he spent
six months in Illinois, from there coming to Washington County,
Nebraska, where he resumed his agricultural labors. Meeting with
excellent results as a farmer, he accumulated a fair share of this world's
goods, and is now living in Winslow, retired from active cares. His
wife, Lena Kuss, died on the home farm, aged seventy-two years.
Bidding his parents a loving farewell in 1883, Henry Kuss immi
grated to the United States in 1883, hoping in the land of bright pros
pects to find remunerative employment. Locating first in Illinois, he
was engaged in general farming in the vicinity of Chicago for two
years, becoming accustomed to the agricultural methods used in his
adopted land. Coming to Nebraska in 1885, he worked on Kupp's
Ranch in Washington County, for six years, and was afterwards on
his father's farm two years. Giving up farming in 1907, Mr. Kuss
entered the employ of the Nebraska-Iowa Grain Company, and still
operates the elevator in Winslow, although for the past few years he
has been also engaged in agricultural pursuits, living on the farm which
he bought in 1913. He casts his vote independent of party restrictions
and has served as road overseer for several terms. In religion he is a
member of the Lutheran Church and faithful to its teachings.
Mr. Kuss married Lizzie Panning, and into their attractive home five
children have been born, namely : Lottie, Arthur, Fred, Howard and
Paul. Mrs. Kuss is a daughter of Henry Panning, Jr., and grand
daughter of Henry Panning, Sr., both natives of Germany. Henry
Panning, Sr., came with his family to the United States in 1852, and
having bought land in Dodge County, Wisconsin, improved his little farm
of forty acres, on which he lived twelve years. Migrating to Nebraska
in 1864, he located in Dodge County, very near Winslow, on the fourth
of July, and bought 320 acres of land and there improved the farm
on which he and his wife Margaret spent their remaining days, her
death occurring at the age of three score years, and his at a ripe old
age. They reared three children, as follows : Mrs. Kate Wager, deceased ;
Frederick, living on the home farm ; and Henry, Jr.
Born in Hanover, Germany, April 15, 1844, Henry Panning, Jr.,
was a lad of eight years when he accompanied his parents to Wisconsin,
where he was reared and educated. When the family came to Nebraska
he drove across the country with an ox team, traveling with a caravan
of thirteen families and being five weeks en route. Nebraska was then
very sparsely settled, Indians were plentiful, but usually friendly. There
were no railroads in this part of the country and the new settlers bravely
endured all the hardships and privations of frontier life. Mr. Panning
has seen wonderful changes in the face of the country, and in the grand
transformation has contributed his full share.
Henry Panning, Jr., married Mado Mayer, who was born in Ger
many, their marriage having been solemnized in Dodge County, Nebraska.
Eleven children were born of their union, five of whom are living, as
follows: Mary Bergt, of Altona, Wayne County, Nebraska; Fred G.,
living on the home farm in Dodge County ; Lizzie, wife of Henry Kuss,

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 747
of this sketch ; Gustaf, a resident of Dodge County ; and Anna Schmidt,
of Thayer, York County, this state. Mr. Panning is a democrat in
politics and a member of the Lutheran Church.
Thomas H. Wright. Sterling integrity, keen insight and a willing
ness to work are leading characteristics of Thomas H. Wright, one of
the successful produce merchants of Blair, and a sterling citizen of
Washington County. He was born at Abingdon, Virginia, September 30,
1871, a son of Thomas M. and Margaret J. (Neeley) Wright, both of
whom were born in Virginia. At the outbreak of the war between
the North and the South, Thomas M. Wright enlisted in the Confederate
Army and was engaged- in some of the leading battles of that great
conflict until he had the misfortune to be so severely wounded as to lose
a portion of one of his hands. Following the war he found conditions
unfavorable in his native state, and so, like a number of the Confederate
veterans, came West, locating in Washington County, March 4, 1872,
and here he bought land and was engaged in operating it until 1894,
when he moved to Kennard, where both he and his wife died. They
were consistent members of the Methodist Church. In politics he was
a democrat, and served as town assessor. He and his wife had eight
children, of whom four are living, namely: Sarah, who married J. A.
Chamberlain, a retired farmer of Norfolk, Nebraska; Thomas H., who
was second ; John B., who is a confectioner of Kennard, Nebraska ; and
Walter E., who is with the Cudahy Packing Company of Chicago, Illinois.
Thomas H. Wright attended the rural and Kennard schools, where
he gained a sound knowledge of the fundamentals of an education. His
early experience at making himself useful was gained on his father's
farm, but his actual contact with the business world was acquired as a
clerk in a general store at Kennard, and he worked as such for ten
years, and then for four years was with the Anchor Grain Company
at Wayne and Hartington, Nebraska. In 1907 he came to Blair, and
in 1913, after being connected with several lines, embarked in a poultry,
eggs and produce business, and has built up a very desirable connection,
handling all kinds of produce and shipping in carload lots to Omaha
and eastern markets.
In March, 1901, Mr. Wright was married to Dora Sherwood, who
was born in Virginia, and they have two children, namely: Margaret
and Helen, both of whom are attending the Blair public schools. Mr.
Wright has been very active in establishing the Odd Fellows, belonging
to both branches, and the Modern Woodmen of America, serving the
former as secretary and the latter as clerk. Both he and his wife belong
to the Daughters of Rebekah, and they are very zealous members of
the Methodist Episcopal Church of Blair. While he votes the repub
lican ticket, Mr. Wright has never sought public honors, as his time is
fully occupied with his business. In every respect he is a fine type of
the energetic business man of which Nebraska is so justly proud, and
he holds the esteem of his fellow citizens in a marked degree.
John Havekost. Enterprising and progressive and possessing good
business talent and tact, John Havekost, of Hooper Township, holds a
noteworthy position among the more successful farmers and stock
growers of this part of Dodge County, his large and well-kept farm.
bearing visible evidence to the most casual observer of the owner's thrift
and industry. A native of Dodge County, he was born, July 30, 1872,
in Logan Township, of German lineage.

748 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Herman Havekost, his father, was born, bred and married in Ger
many. In 1866, with his wife, Margaretta, he came to the United
States, the land of promise, and for two years lived in Newton, Iowa,
where he followed the carpenter's trade. Then, with himself, family
and household goods packed into two covered wagons, he drove, in
typical pioneer style, to Dodge County, Nebraska, camping and cooking
by the wayside. Taking up a homestead claim in Logan Township, he
first used as a dwelling place one of the wagons in which he had jour
neyed, and with the small means he had at his command began the
improving of his land. By means of sturdy labor, he met with desired
results in his undertakings, and by future investments became owner of
401 acres of land at the time of his death, which occurred at the age
of seventy-eight years and eleven months. He was very well-to-do, his
entire property having been acquired through his own efforts. His
widow, now well advanced in years, still occupies the old homestead.
The fifth child in a family of eleven children, John Havekost began
doing the chores incidental to farm life in a new country as a boy,
obtaining a practical knowledge of the rudiments of farming when
young. In 1895, soon after attaining his majority, he bought land in
Cedar County, and was there engaged in tilling the soil for fourteen years.
Returning to Dodge County in 1909, he purchased his present place of
360 acres of land in Hooper Township, and in its improvement has spared
neither time nor expense. Using excellent judgment in his work, he
has placed his land in good condition, and each year adds to its value
and attractiveness, his improvements and equipments being up-to-date
in all respects. In addition to carrying on general farming successfully,
Mr. Havekost raises Duroc Jersey hogs and feeds cattle on a somewhat
extensive scale.
Mr. Havekost married, in 1895, Gesina Suhr, a daughter of Herman
Suhr. Mr. Suhr immigrated to the United States with his family in
1884, locating in Dodge County, Nebraska, where he was engaged in
agricultural pursuits until his death, at the age of fifty-nine years.
Eight children have been born of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Have
kost, namely: Mrs. Bertha Olteman, of Dodge County; Mrs. Olga
Wurdeman, of Dodge County; Mrs. Alma Moeller, also a resident of
Dodge County ; Alvin, Harland, Bernard, Gerald and Woodrow. Politi
cally, Mr. Havekost casts his vote without regard to party lines, and
though not an office seeker has served as a member of the local school
board a number of terms. Religiously, he and his wife are active mem
bers of the Lutheran Church. Hs is a member and the president of the
Farmers Elevator Company of Hooper, and a member and director of
the state organization of the Farmers' Union.
Adolph F. Diels has been a resident of Dodge County from infancy,
as his parents established their home at Fremont in 1866, when he was
but a few months old and prior to the admission of Nebraska to state
hood. Here he is now living retired from active business, after having
been for many years engaged in the milling, grain and lumber business
at Scribner, this county.
Mr. Diels was born in the city of Brooklyn, New York, December 4,
1865, and is a son of John M. and Anna M. (Kuehn) Diels, both natives
of Holland, whence they came to America when young, their marriage
having been solemnized in Brooklyn. In 1866 they came to the Territory
of Nebraska and established their home at Fremont, where the father
opened a meat market and became one of the pioneer business men of

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 749
the vital little town. He here continued his residence until 1873, when
he removed with his family to Scribner and established himself in the
lumber and grain business, in connection with which he erected and
operated a large flour mill. He developed a prosperous business, and
was long numbered among the representative business men and influ
ential citizens of Dodge County. He lived retired during the latter
period of his life and both he and his wife died in the City of Los Ange
les, California. Of their eight children, five are living: Gustave A. is
living retired at Redlands, California, in which vicinity he is the owner
of two valuable orange groves ; John A. is living retired at Los Angeles,
that state; Adolph F., of this review, is the next younger son; Mrs.
Joseph P. Hahn, the only daughter, resides at Glendale, California; and
Henry M. owns and operates a transfer line in Kansas City, Missouri.
John M. Diels was a communicant of the Catholic Church, but his wife
was of the Protestant faith. He was a staunch democrat and while a
resident of Scribner he served as member of the village council and the
board of education.,
Adplph F. Diels acquired his early education in the public schools
of Fremont and Scribner, and as a youth he became associated with
his father's business. He finally purchased this business, and he con
tinued to operate the mill, which was kept up to the best modern stand
ard, and to deal in grain and lumber at Scribner for sixteen years, the
business having been greatly expanded and having yielded large returns
under his effective management. He finally sold the property and busi
ness and, on March 17, returned to Fremont, his boyhood home, where
he has since lived retired.
Mr. Diels is a democrat in politics, and his constructive interest
in community affairs was shown by thirteen years of service as a mem
ber of the village council and, the board of education at Scribner. He is
affiliated with the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Modern Wood
men of America, the Fraternal Order of Eagles and the Sons of Hermann,
his wife being an active communicant of the Catholic Church.
December 7, 1892, recorded the marriage of Mr. Diels to Miss Anna
Josephine Verba, who was born at Schuyler, Colfax County, this state,
a daughter of Matthew and Anna (Karel) Verba, the former a native
of Iowa and the latter of Bohemia, Mrs. Diels being the elder of their
two surviving children, and Emma being the wife of James Moore, a
merchant at Schuyler. Mr. Verba came to Nebraska in the early days
and was for many years a leading merchant at Schuyler. Mr. and Mrs.
Diels have four children: Arthur J. is attending a business college in
the City of Omaha; Victor A. and Mildred A. are students in the Fre
mont High School ; and Gladys is a grade pupil in the city schools.
Abram Castetter is one of the ablest of the pioneer citizens of
Washington County and is particularly well known for his extensive
interests as a banker and as founder of the A. Castetter banking house
of Blair. He was born in Ohio, February 13, 1831, and grew up and received
his education in his native state. A young man seeking broader oppor
tunities in the opening of a new western country, he came to Nebraska
Territory in 1856, when the interest of the nation was being turned in
this direction as a result of the discussion over the Kansas-Nebraska
Bill in Congress. His first settlement was in De Soto. In 1868 he
moved to Blair, and the following year established a bank which has
been in existence for over half a century as the banking house of
A. Castetter.

750 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
He was an active republican, served as county clerk of Washington
County, and has many business and civic interests to lend importance
to his name. He was affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows. Mr. Castetter, whose honored career came to a close on April 23,
1900, married in 1854 Helen M. Phelps of Williston, Vermont. She
followed her husband to Nebraska in 1857 and was his personal assist
ant while he was in the office of county clerk. She was one of the woman
pioneers of Washington County, and was long prominent socially. Her
death occurred May 29, 1909.
Frederick H. Claridge. Occupying a place of prominence and influ
ence in the business and financial life of Washington County, Frederick
H. Claridge, of Blair, is widely known as the president of the banking
house of A.. Castetter, which is one of the oldest institutions of the kind
in the state, it having been established in 1869. A native of Massa
chusetts, he was born in 1861 in Boston, of honored New England
ancestry. James R. Claridge, his father, was born and educated in Maine, and
as a young man went to Boston in search of congenial employment.
After his marriage he removed to Baltimore, Maryland, where he was
engaged in commercial pursuits until his death, having been employed
in foreign trade, shipping goods on ocean bound vessels. He married
Fannie R. Whipple, a native of Boston, and of the six children born
of their union, four are living, Frederick H. being the eldest child. Both
he and his wife were members of the Presbyterian Church. He was a
true blue republican in politics, and a member of the Independent Order
of Odd Fellows.
Growing to manhood in Baltimore, Frederick H. Claridge was edu
cated in its schools. Coming to Blair, Nebraska, in 1883 he entered the
banking house established by A. Castetter, the pioneer banker of this
section of the state, and has since been actively identified with the insti
tution, which he has served in various capacities, and of which he is
now president, a position of responsibility for which his knowledge,
experience and ability amply fit him.
Mr. Claridge married in 1886 Miss Helen M. Castetter, who was
born at De Soto, Nebraska, in 1862, daughter of the late Abram Castetter.
Mr. and Mrs. Claridge have no children and both are members of the
Episcopal Church. Politically, Mr. Claridge is a republican, but has
never been an aspirant for public office, his banking affairs demanding
all his attention and time.
N. T. Lund. A man of mark and unusual achievement in Washing
ton County, Nebraska, is found in N. T. Lund, county superintendent
of schools, and for a number of years engaged in educational work
in this and other sections. Since the age of fourteen years he has been
the arbiter of his own fortunes.
N. T. Lund was born in Denmark, December 13, 1874, the youngest
in a family of seven children born to Thomas J. and Dorothy (Dahn)
Lund, the others being as follows : H. T., who is a prominent citizen
of Amery, Wisconsin, a hotel proprietor and stockman ; Mrs. Marie
Fisher, a widow, who lives at Eugene, Oregon ; J. T., who is a Lutheran
minister at Hutchinson, Minnesota; Marian, who is the wife of P. J.
Ostergard, a retired minister living at Los Angeles, California; P. D.,
who is a farmer near Vermilion, South Dakota ; and A. W., who is in
charge of a Lutheran church at Minneapolis.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 751
The parents of Mr. Lund came to the United States about 1882 and
lived one year at Minneapolis, Minnesota. In Denmark the father had
been a blacksmith, but after moving to Clay County, South Dakota, he
bought a farm near Vermilion and spent the rest of his life there. The
mother died in Wisconsin. They were members of the Lutheran Church
and in politics the father was a republican.
N. T. Lund left home at the age of fourteen years and after attend
ing school in Minneapolis, came to Blair, Nebraska, in 1892, intent on
procuring a college education. After two years at Blair he spent two
terms in the Normal school at Fremont, then took charge of the Larsen
School, situated seven miles north of Fremont, which position he held
for seven years. In order to complete his college course he attended
summer school during this period at Fremont College, and later an
entire year, receiving his A. B. degree in 1903.
Mr. Lund then accepted a position on the faculty of Luther College,
Racine, Wisconsin, where he remained a year and a half. During the
next year he was out of the educational field, being associated with a
partner in a book and stationery store at Des Moines, Iowa, at the end
of which time he returned to Blair and accepted a place on the faculty
of Dana College, where he continued for the next ten years, becoming
so favorably known that in 1914 he was elected county superintendent
of Washington County. He was twice re-elected, then declined to serve
further, having made plans to retire from the educational field in favor
of an agricultural life. He owns a fine farm of 120 acres, situated south
of Blair, and he promises himself a vast amount of enjoyment in making
improvements on this land and making it a model modern farm.
In 1903 Mr. Lund was united in marriage to Miss Marie Hansen,
who was born at Hampden, Nebraska, and they have children as fol
lows : Ray, Una, Lona, Ruth, Norma, Russell and Dorothy Louise, the
last named being an infant, the older children being in school, the eldest
being in the high school. Mr. Lund and his family belong to the
Lutheran Church.
During the great war Mr. Lund was one of the active and loyal
supporters of the Government and worked unceasingly and freely in
many official positions of responsibility. He was chairman of the Coun
cil of Defense of Washington County, and was Government Appeal
Agent on the draft and also was chairman of the Junior Red Cross
Commission in Washington County. He is zealous in his support of
the republican party and in full sympathy with its claim of true Amer
icanism, for he loves his adopted country with most loyal devotion.
Edwin Diffey has been a resident of Nebraska since boyhood and
his parents here established their home about three years after the
admission of the state to the Union, so that pioneer distinction may
justly be applied in connection with the family name. He whose name
introduces this paragraph has won for himself success and prestige as
one of the progressive agriculturists and stockgrowers of Dodge County,
and his well-improved farm, comprising 160 acres, is situated in Cotterell
and Union townships.
Mr. Diffey was born in England, in the year 1863, and is a son of
Charles and Sarah (Holland) Diffey, who came from their native land
to America when their son was a child, and they arrived in Omaha,
Nebraska, in 1870. In that city the father was for a time employed as
teamster, and finally he came with his family to Dodge County and
rented a farm near the village of Webster. Here he continued opera-

752 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
tions eighteen years, at the expiration of which he took a homestead in
Holt County, where he developed and improved a good farm and where
he passed the remainder of his life, his death having occurred in 1901,
and his wife likewise having passed away. Of the five children Edwin,
of this review, is the eldest; Martha is the wife of William Hull, a
farmer in. Dodge County ; Rose is deceased ; Elizabeth is the wife of
William Butterfield and they reside in Holt County ; Fannie is the wife
of George Gans, a farmer in Howard County. The father was a repub
lican in politics and during the residence of the family in Dodge County
the mother was a zealous member of the Presbyterian Church at North
Bend. Edwin Diffey gained his early education principally in the public
schools of Dodge County and here he continued his association with the
work of his father's farm until he had attained the age of twenty-six
years, when he initiated his independent career as an agriculturist and
stockraiser. His present farm of 160 acres is one of the well improved
places of this vicinity and .in connection with diversified agriculture he
gives special attention to the raising of pure-blood Shorthorn cattle and
Poland-China hogs. His political support is given to the republican
party, he is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America, and he and
his wife hold membership in the Presbyterian Church at North Bend.
In 1891 Mr. Diffey was united in marriage to Miss Matilda Cather-
wood, daughter of Johnson Catherwood, who was a pioneer settler in
Dodge County. Mr. and Mrs. Diffey have two children : Edna is the
wife of Arthur Mapes, a prosperous young farmer of Dodge County;
and Harold is associated with the activities of the home farm, where
he remains at the parental domicile.
Henry Benner. No small amount of the development represented
in Ridgeley Township in the way of good farms, productive homesteads,
roads, schools and other facilities must be credited to members of the
Benner family, who have lived here for nearly forty years.
The family was established by John Benner, who was born in Ger
many in 1851 and married in his native land Helene Roemer. When
he was thirty-three years of age he brought his wife to the United States
and at once settled in Dodge County. Being without capital and with
out influential friends, he chose a road to prosperity by renting, and
was a farm renter seven years before he bought his first land. Before
renting, he worked three years as a farm laborer at $15 per month. He
experienced nearly all the hardships to which the farmers of Nebraska
were subjected twenty-five or thirty years ago, and sold his corn crop
for as low as eleven cents a bushel. His persistent industry has brought
its sure reward, and he acquired 275 acres of Dodge County lands, made
excellent improvements, and is now able to take life in comfort and
leisure, his only regular employment being tending his own garden. He
is a member of the Lutheran Church and an independent voter. John
Benner had six children: Charles, who died at the age of twenty-one;
Louis, who passed away at the age of thirty-three ; Henry ; Laura ; Louise,
who died at the age of fifteen; and Mrs. Carrie Joens, who lives in
South Dakota.
Of this family, Henry Benner is one of the high-class modern farmers
of Dodge County, a young man college trained and well fitted for the
responsibilities imposed upon the young men of this generation.
He was born in Dodge County September 17, 1888. He grew up
on his father's farm and after the common schools attended the Grand

ill;

»§§

MBUt

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 753
Island Business College, Highland Park College, at Des Moines, Iowa,
and spent three years in the University of Nebraska. He began farming
on his own account in 1914 and now has 140 acres devoted to crops and
livestock. He feeds some stock for market every year and runs a
small band of sheep. His farm is modern in every respect.
In 1915 he married Dora Ditson, of Lincoln, and they have one
son, Robert Edwin. Mr. Benner and family are Lutherans, while in
politics he chooses an independent course. He is now a director of his
local schools.
Joseph Roberts was a young man of twenty years when he first
made his appearance at Fremont, the judicial center of Dodge County,
and that the impression which he has here made has been most excel
lent needs no further evidence than the fact that he is now serving
as treasurer of the county.
Of sturdy English lineage, tracing back to the time when the memory
of man runneth not to the contrary, Mr. Roberts was born in the rugged
old county of Cornwall, England, on the 4th of August, 1854, and is a
son of John and Catherine (Dungey) Roberts, who passed their entire
lives on the "right little isle" of England, where the father was a
farmer by vocation. Of a family of four children Joseph Roberts, of
this review, is the youngest of the three surviving; Mary is the widow
of Louis Jennings and resides in the state of Iowa, and the elder sister,
Elizabeth, is the wife of Charles Long, a prosperous farmer of Dodge
County, Nebraska. The father achieved success in connection with his
agricultural activities and continued to reside in Cornwall until his death,
both he and his wife having been' earnest communicants of the Church
of England.
Joseph Roberts attended the schools of his native land until he was
thirteen years of age, when he was brought to the United States by
William H. Hicks, who became a farmer in the state of Illinois and
with whom he remained until he had attained to adult age. There Mr.
Roberts continued his association with agricultural pursuits until 1884,
when he came to Nebraska and purchased a farm near Fremont, Dodge
County. To the work and improvement of this farm he continued to
give his attention four years, and during the following six years he trav
eled extensively through the state as a representative of the business
of Mark M. Code, an extensive importer of horses. In the meanwhile
he sold his original farm, but after leaving the employ of Mr. Code he
purchased the well improved farm on which he still resides, a short
distance east of Fremont, the place receiving his general supervision and
affording him relaxation from his official duties as county treasurer.
Upon becoming a naturalized citizen of the United States and thereby
gaining the franchise, Mr. Roberts allied himself with the republican
party, of whose principles and policies he has since continued a loyal
advocate. He has been influential in the councils of his party in Dodge
County, and has represented the county as a member of the State Legis
lature, 1903-1905, in which connection he made a record of effective
service in behalf of his constituent district and the state at large. In
1905 he was elected to the Nebraska State Board of Agriculture and
re-elected to same and has served as president of the board for two
terms. For eight years he was a valued member of the board of county
commissioners and in 1918 further evidence of his secure place in pop
ular confidence was given by his election to the office of county treas
urer. As a citizen Mr. Roberts has been emphatically progressive and

754 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
liberal, and in this connection it should be noted that he has been spe
cially influential in connection with the promotion of effective drainage
systems through the county. He has served fourteen years as a director
of the board of drainage commissioners of the county and has been
president of the board since 1915, having been re-elected president in
1920. Within his incumbency the county has expended more than
$200,000 and thereby effected the drainage of fully 40,000 acres of land
which has been brought to a high state of cultivation. The service of
the drainage board involved the straightening of the course of the Elk
horn River, and by this means valuable land was redeemed to cultivation.
Mr. Roberts is the owner of a fine farm of 168 acres, improved with
modern buildings of the best type and yielding large returns annually.
He has made his farm enterprise specially successful, and he has availed
himself of the best of modern facilities as well as scientific methods,
and he has reason to feel gratified in the substantial prosperity which he
has won through his well ordered efforts during the period of his resi
dence in Nebraska, a state to which his loyalty is marked by deep appre
ciation of its attractions and advantages.
Within the period of his residence in America Mr. Roberts has made
two trips to his native land, and on the last occasion, in 1911, he was
accompanied by his wife. They witnessed the coronation of the present
king of England, and prior to returning home they visited Switzerland,
Belgium and Germany. While in England they met numerous kinsfolk
and other friends of earlier days.
Mr. Roberts is affiliated with the local organizations of the Inde
pendent Order of Odd Fellows and Fraternal Order of Eagles, and
both he and his wife hold membership in the Presbyterian Church of
Fremont. In 1892 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Roberts to Miss Emma
M. Hicks, who was born in Illinois and who is a daughter of William H.
Hicks, with whom Mr. Roberts came to America when a boy, as pre
viously noted. Mr. and Mrs. Roberts have no children of their own,
but their adopted son, Albert Roberts, is now married and has the active
management of the farm of his foster father.
John H. Bader. The premier honors of breeding more champion
ship hogs in the year 1919 than any other man in America rests with
John H. Bader of Dodge County. His stock farm, known and appre
ciated for its products in many states, is located in section 2 of Ridge-
ley township.
Mr. Bader is a young and enthusiastic stockman, and was born at
Toledo, Illinois, in 1883. His parents were Asa and Clara Bader. His
father was born and reared in Ohio and his mother in Illinois, where
they married. Asa Bader was a good farmer, and in 1893 came to
Wahoo, Nebraska, where he farmed until his death in 1903. He and
his wife had seven children : Elmer, a farmer at Webster, Nebraska ;
Rono, of Fremont ; Cora Bishop, of Hooper ; Delia Linquist, of Scribner ;
Lizzie Van Horn, of Fremont ; Fannie Van Horn, of Dodge ; and Tohn H.
John H. Bader received most of his early training and education in
Nebraska and began for himself in 1908. He was farming as a partner
with his mother near Hooper until after his marriage and then rented
and in 1910 bought his first land, 240 acres. Six months later he sold
that, and his present farm comprises 120 acres. On this farm he has
built the finest modern home in this section of the county. Some years
ago he purchased his first thoroughbred big type Duroc-Jersey and has

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 755
had wonderful success with this breed, and it is now the chief feature
of his business. Mr. Bader is an independent voter, a member of the
Masonic order and the Congregational Church.
Mr. Bader "married Miss Cora Hallett, a native of Toledo, Illinois.
She died in 1911, the mother of two children, Howard and Mable, who
live with their father.
John Mattson. Numbered among the prosperous agriculturists and
respected citizens of Dodge County, John Mattson is the owner of a
fine and well appointed farm, pleasantly located on section 22, in Logan
Township, where he is laboring with excellent and highly satisfactory
results as a general farmer, the land, under his gentle persuasion, yielding
profitable harvests each season. A son of the late Matts Mattson, he
was born, August 18, 1865, in Omaha, Nebraska, where the first five
years of his life were spent.
Born, bred and married in Sweden, Matts Mattson immigrated to the
United States early in 1865, and for five years thereafter followed his
trade of a stone mason in the City of Omaha. Coming with his family
to Dodge County about 1870, he secured eighty acres of land in Logan
Township, and with true pioneer courage and faith began the improve
ment of his land. His first dwelling was a rude, one-room shack, in
which he and his family lived, and in addition took for a boarder the
first school teacher employed in that district. Laboring earnestly and
faithfully, he was quite successful as a farmer, and in course of time
added materially to his landed possessions, at the time of his death,
at the advanced age of four score and four years, owning 280 acres of
rich and fertile land, the greater part of which was under culture and
with improvements of an excellent character. His wife survived him,
passing away at the venerable age of ninety years. Of the eight chil
dren that were born of their marriage, but two are now living, as fol
lows : John, the subject of this brief sketch, who was the seventh child
of the parental household in order of birth ; and Matts, of Uehling,
Nebraska. Brought up in Logan Township and educated in the public schools,
John Mattson was initiated into the mysteries of agriculture as early as
possible, beginning as a boy to assist his father on the home farm. The
free and independent occupation appealing to his tastes and temperament,
he began life as a farmer on his own account at the age of twenty-one
years, renting a piece of land from his father. Full of push and energy,
Mr. Mattson labored diligently and each year has materially added to
the value and productiveness of his farm, which is one of the best in
the community in regard to its improvements and appointments, its neat
and attractive appearance bearing evidence of his good management.
Mr. Mattson married, in 1889, Carrie Peterson, a daughter of Lars
Peterson, of Uehling, Nebraska, and they are the parents of five chil
dren, namely: Mrs. Ruby Larson, of Uehling; Josie, Marvin, Franklin
and Geneve, at home. Mr. Mattson is a strict prohibitionist in politics
and in addition ,to having served four years as township clerk was school
treasurer nine years. A member of the American Sunday School Union,
he served as Sunday school superintendent for ten years, in that capac
ity doing efficient and appreciated work.
John McQuarrie. The interesting activities of John McQuarrie, a
retired coal and lumber merchant of Blair, first touched this community
nearly fifty years ago when for a time he had his headquarters at Blair

756 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
and engaged in the real pioneer business of buying up from local hunters
quantities of prairie chicken and shipping them to market. It was some
four or five years later that Mr. McQuarrie became a permanent resident
of Blair and continued for forty years the leading coal and lumber
dealer of that community.
Mr. McQuarrie was born on Prince Edward Island December 24,
1847, son of Charles and Mary (Matheson) McQuarrie. Both his
grandfathers were natives of Scotland and his parents were born and
lived all their lives in Prince Edward Island. Charles McQuarrie was
a boat builder, was captain of sailing craft a number of years, also cul
tivated a small farm and reared his family in a rural district. He and
his wife were stanch Scotch Presbyterians. Of their eleven children five
are now living, all residents of Prince Edward Island except John. The
others are Isabelle, wife of Joe Clemens; Ann, a widow; Robert; Jane,
a widow. John McQuarrie received his early education in his native province,
and in 1868, at the age of twenty-one, left home and removed to Rhode
Island. The following year he came West to Omaha, but during that
summer found work as a farm hand near Sioux City, Iowa. He remained
there five months, being paid twenty-two dollars a month. He had come
West with about $200 and it was through the exertion of his physical
energies and taking advantage of opportunities presented by experience
that he eventually laid the foundation of a business he prosecuted to
success and which enabled him to enjoy life at ease. After leaving the
farm Mr. McQuarrie was for two and a half years in the Government
service as a carpenter. During that time he was sent to an Indian
agency in Nebraska, working there from September, 1873, until Febru
ary, 1874. Then he returned to Sioux City, Iowa, worked as a car
penter there and at Yankton, South Dakota, for a brief time, and in
the fall of 1874 paid his first visit to Blair in the novel business pre
viously referred to. In 1875 he worked as a carpenter in Omaha and
in 1876 went West to Cheyenne, Wyoming, again in the Government
service. During the summer of 1877 he was employed in helping build
Fort Custer, Montana, a memorial to the gallant General Custer who fell
in the massacre the preceding year. He worked in Montana from July
to October and then started down the Yellowstone River from Fort
Custer and on a steamer down the Missouri River, a journey of 348
miles. Having returned to Blair, Mr. McQuarrie in 1878 entered the lum
ber business, conducted a yard for handling lumber supplies, and also
sold coal, and was in the business consecutively until 1919, when he
sold out to the Christiansen Lumber Company.
In 1880 Mr. McQuarrie married Margaret Higgins. who was born
in Prince Edward Island, a daughter of Theophilus Higgins. Mr. and
Mrs. McQuarrie have had their home in Blair for a number of years.
They are parents of four children : Miss May, at home ; George, in the
automobile business at Blair ; Jeannette, a teacher at Kenesaw, Nebraska ;
and Marian, a student in the State University at Lincoln.
The family are members of the Presbyterian Church and Mr.
McQuarrie has filled various chairs in the Lodge of Odd Fellows. In
politics he has been aligned with the republican party ever since he
acquired American citizenship. While in the midst of his business
career at Blair he was elected and served two terms as a member of
the city council and for two terms was mayor of the municipality.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 757
Henry L. Beebe, whose home is in section 4 of Platte Township,
is one of the oldest native sons of Dodge County, and his father was
one of the very first white pioneers in this region of old Nebraska
Territory. H. L. Beebe has interesting memories of many things he
saw and took part in as a boy and young man. The prairies were still
covered with buffalo and wild Indians while he was growing up and
practically the entire history of Dodge County has been enrolled as a
panorama before his eyes.
Mr. Beebe was born in Dodge County March 4, 1860, just one year
before Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated president of the United States.
He is a son of Henry P. Beebe, whose record appears again and again
in connection with the early annals of Dodge County, Born in New
York State, he arrived in Nebraska Territory September 27, 1856. He
started for the country west of the Missouri from Green Bay, Wis
consin, and traveled overland with a team of horses and two teams of
oxen. Locating on a land grant of 160 acres, he built a log house, the
building in which Henry L. Beebe was born. At that time the nearest
trading point was Council Bluffs, Iowa. H. P. Beebe married Lavina J.
Hager, who was born near Montpelier, Vermont. Of the ten children
born to this pioneer couple, six are still living: Stedman P., Curtis E.,
Henry L., Mrs. Welthie S. French, Mrs. Sarah J. Howe and Mrs. Rosie
A. Bower. H. P. Beebe died at the age of seventy-two and his wife
aged fifty-nine.
During the sixties and seventies, while Henry L. Beebe was passing
through the period of youth, school facilities were very poor in his section
of Dodge County. But he had abundant opportunity to exercise his
strength and practical skill in assisting the family to make a living in
those poverty-stricken days. His present farm is a portion of the old
homestead, comprising 152 acres, and during his active life he has done
much to improve and develop its resources. For many years it was a
difficult struggle to make a living, however cheap and plentiful land was.
Mr. Beebe many times ground corn and wheat in a coffee mill and after
shelling corn by hand hauled it to market at Fort Kearney, a distance
of 150 miles, being a week on the trip and getting hardly enough money
for his crop to supply the household with groceries. There were a num
ber of winters when the Beebe household was snowed in for weeks at
a time and this family also passed through the discouraging periods of
great drought and devastation by grasshoppers. Mr. Beebe personally
witnessed the tremendous prairie fire of 1881, when thousands of tons
of hay went up in smoke. Those adversities are now largely a matter
of memory and Mr. Beebe and others who went through the trials of
that period now find themselves blessed with abundant prosperity. He
is still active, farming ninety-five acres, and does some stock raising.
Mr. Beebe is a member of the Masonic Lodge and in politics is a
republican in national affairs and an independent in county elections.
He served six years as justice of the peace of his township and for
nineteen years was a' member of his local school board.
March 25, 1902, he married Jennie Thompson. She was born in
Canada and when six months old was brought to the United States by
her parents, John and Martha (Kirk) Thompson. Her mother is still
living. Her father, who died in 1888 when about fifty years of age,
settled near Morse Bluff in Saunders County, Nebraska. Mrs. Beebe
has two brothers, Joseph and Robert Thompson. The only child of
Mr. and Mrs. Beebe is Henry A., born May 20, 1905.

758 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Claus G. Tank has become one of the successful representatives
of farm industry in the county that has been his home from the time
he was about two years old, and as an agriculturist and stockgrower in
Dodge County he is the owner of a well-improved farm of 120 acres
in section 11, Cotterell Township. Energy and good management have
brought to him substantial success and he is a citizen who has secured
place in popular esteem. He is a stockholder in the corporation owning
and operating the well equipped grain elevator at North Bend, and his
progressiveness is further shown in his being likewise a stockholder and
loyal supporter of the stock show held annually at Scribner. A dem
ocrat in politics, he takes lively interest in all things touching the welfare
and advancement of his home county, and though he has had no desire
for public office he gave most effective service during his incumbency
of the position of treasurer of School District No. 30. Mr. Tank is
indebted to the public schools of Dodge County. for his early education,
has been continuously associated with farm enterprise since boyhood
and began his independent activities as an agriculturist and stockgrower
when he was twenty-four years of age, his success having been con
tinuous and cumulative since that time.
Mr. Tank was born in Germany November 3, 1874, and thus was
about two years old when his parents immigrated to the United States
in 1876 and established their home in Dodge County, Nebraska. Here
the father was employed for seven years in the grain elevator at Fre
mont and he then purchased land and engaged actively in general farm
enterprise, in which he here continued until his death, which occurred in
1904 at the age of 56 years, his widow still continuing to maintain her
home in Dodge County and being a devout communicant of the Lutheran
Church at Fremont, as was also Mr. Tank, whose political allegiance
was given to the democratic party. Of the nine children, Claus G. is the
eldest ; Celia is a resident of North Bend ; Henry resides in Morrill
County ; Mary and Edward remain in Dodge County ; Niel, Amelia and
Emil are residents of Cheyenne County; and John is a farmer in Dodge
County. In 1902 was solemnized the marriage of Claus G. Tank to Miss Iowa
Miller, who was born in the State of Kansas, and they have four chil
dren, all of whom remain at the parental home; Glenn J., Alta C,
Edwin A. and Melvin M.
Albert E. Buchanan, M. D. Admirably fortified in personality
and technical ability are the physicians and surgeons who are upholding
the honors of their profession in Dodge County, and among the number
whose success and popularity are adequate indices of professional ability
and effective service is he whose name introduces this paragraph. Doctor
Buchanan has the distinction of being a native son of the historic Old
Dominion commonwealth, with whose civic and material affairs the
name which he bears has been identified for numerous generations. The
doctor was born in Smyth County, Virginia, August 21, 1872, and is
a son of Hickman S. and Laura (Sexton) Buchanan, both natives of
that state, where the father died in 1889, at the age of fifty-two years,
and where the widowed mother still maintains her home, at the age of
sixty-seven years (1920). Arthur E. is the eldest in a family of ten
children, all of whom are living except one. Hickman Buchanan was a
successful planter in his native state and was a man of ability and fine
personal character and standing. His political allegiance was given to
the democratic party and he held membership in the Presbyterian Church,

-%&£*\

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 759
as does also his widow. His father, Patrick C. Buchanan, was born in
1799, of Scotch-Irish ancestry, and three representatives of the name
came to America in early days, one having settled in Pensylvania, one
in Tennessee and one in Virginia.
Afforded the best of educational advantages in his youth, Doctor
Buchanan finally entered Emory & Henry College, one of the historic
and well ordered institutions of Virginia, and in the same he was grad
uated in 1896, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Thus fortified in
the academic education that has been all too frequently neglected by
aspirants for professional service, Doctor Buchanan was matriculated
in the Virginia Medical College, in the City of Richmond. In this insti
tution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1900, and after
thus receiving his degree of Doctor of Medicine, he was for three years
engaged in practice in his home state. He then, in May, 1903, came to
Nebraska and established his residence at Cedar Bluffs, Saunders County,
where he developed an excellent practice and where he continued his
activities until 1910, when he found a broader field of service, he engaging
in practice at Fremont. Here his success has been unequivocal and he
is distinctly one of the representative physicians and surgeons of Dodge
County, with a substantial practice that shows a constantly cumulative
tendency. He is actively affiliated with the Dodge County Medical
Society, of which he is president in 1920; the Elkhorn Valley Medical
Society, the Nebraska State Medical Society, the Missouri Valley Med
ical Society, and the American Medical Association. The doctor inherited
his full quota of ancestral patriotisfn, and this was distinctly shown when
the nation became involved in the great World war, for in 1918 he sub
ordinated all else to tender his professional services to the Government.
On August 1st of that year he was assigned to service at the' base hos
pital of Camp Mead, Maryland, and he continued in active base hospital
work with marked fidelity and efficiency, until he received his discharge,
December 6, 1919. He is an appreciative and valued member of the
local post of the American Legion, is affiliated with the Masonic frater
nity, in which he has received the thirty-second degree of the Ancient
Accepted Scottish Rite and in which his maximum York Rite affiliation
is with Mount Tabor Commandery of Knights Templar, at Fremont,
besides which he is identified with the adjunct organization, the Ancient
Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, as well as the Fremont
lodges of the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective
Order of Elks. The doctor is a member of the Fremont Rotary Club,
and through this and other mediums shows his civic loyalty and pro
gressiveness. He attends and supports the Congregational Church, of
which Mrs. Buchanan is an active member.
In 1901 was solemnized the marriage of Doctor Buchanan to Miss
Grace Pratt, who likewise was born and reared in Virginia, and they
have three children: George Warren is a member of the class of 1920
in the Fremont High School ; Edna Virginia is likewise a student in the
high school, as is also Laura Marie.
Gustave C. Panning. Leading an active and useful life on the
farm which he owns and occupies, and which he is so skillfully man
aging, Gustave C. Panning, of Hooper Township, is a fine represen
tative of the American yeomen, and is eminently worthy of the respect
and confidence so generously accorded him by his neighbors and friends.
A son of Henry Panning, he was born, August 11, 1877, in Dodge
County, of German lineage.

760 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
A native of Germany, Henry Panning was born, reared and edu
cated in Hanover. He immigrated to the United States, and after living
for a time in Watertown, Wisconsin, made his way to Nebraska, looat-
ing in Dodge County, where, in 1856, he settled on Government land and
after the Homestead Act was passed he homesteaded in 1863. Improv
ing his land, he carried on general farming and stock raising with the
best of results, and became prominently identified with several important
enterprises, having been one of the original stockholders of the Winslow
State Bank, and also of the Hooper Telephone Company. He married
Meta Meyer, a native of Oldenburg, Germany, and to them five children
were born, as follows: Mary, wife of J. C. Berght, who is engaged in
farming in Wayne County; Eloise, wife of Henry Kuss, manager of
the Nebraska and Iowa Grain Elevator at Winslow; Anna, wife of
Paul Schmidt, of Thayer, manager of an elevator; Frederick G., a well
known agriculturist of Dodge County; and Gustave C, with whom this
brief sketch is principally concerned.
The youngest child of the parental household, Gustave C. Panning
had ample opportunities when young for obtaining a practical education
and having finished his studies he was well drilled in the different
branches of agriculture on the home farm. Beginning farming on his
own account at the age of thirty years, he bought land on section 18,
Hooper Township, and has since devoted his time and energetic efforts
to its management. A thorough-going farmer, he has been constantly
adding to the improvements previously inaugurated, and his labors have
always proved satisfactory and remunerative, his land being in an excel
lent state of culture, and the buildings in good condition, everything
about the premises bearing visible evidence of the owner's enterprise,
intelligence and managerial ability. Mr. Panning is a good general
farmer and as a successful stock raiser handles pure-blood Shorthorn
cattle almost entirely. He is greatly interested in the advancement of
agriculture as a science, and is a stockholder in the Farmers' Union at
Winslow. Mr. Planning married, in 1907, Anna Langewish, a daughter of
William Langewish, of Dodge County, and they have three children,
namely : Floma, Elert and Florence. Politically, Mr. Panning is a stanch
republican, and religiously he and his wife are faithful members of the
Lutheran Church.
C. A. Schmidt. A man of tried and trusted integrity, C. A. Schmidt,
of Blair, president of the State Bank, has been an important factor in
promoting the financial prosperity of this section of Washington County,
and occupies a position of prominence in the business activities of the
city. He is a native-born citizen, his birth having occurred in Blair on
September 15, 1880.
His father, the late Christ Schmidt, was born in Benningen, Germany,
and as a young man, immigrated to tbe United States. He married, in
Memphis, Tennessee, Wilhelmina Ufrecht, a native of Germany, and
in 1870 came with his bride to Nebraska. Locating in Blair, he was asso
ciated for nineteen years with the Crowell Lumber & Grain Company.
Investing his money in land at the end of that time, he turned his atten
tion to agriculture, and was subsequently actively engaged in farming
until his death, in 1912, at the age of seventy-one years. He was iden
tified with the democratic party until Bryan appeared in the political
arena, after which .he voted the republican ticket. Ever interested in
local affairs, he served as councilman one or more terms. Beginning

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 761
life with but scant capital, he was fairly successful in his undertakings,
accumulating considerable property. His wife survived him and is. now
a resident of Blair. Four children were born of their union, as fol
lows: Ql±Q_JX) an architect, lives in St. Louis; Emil F., of Denver,
Colorado, is manager of a large foundry; C. A., of this brief sketch;
and Carl J., employed in the State Bank.
Completing his early studies in the city schools, C. A. Schmidt
assisted his father on the home farm for three years, and then accepted
a position in the State. Bank, with which he has been actively identified
for twenty-two years. Beginning in a minor position, h'e proved him
self faithful, trustworthy, and eminently capable, performing the duties
devolving upon him in whatever capacity he served \ with such prompt
ness and ability that he was frequently promoted. On January 1, 1906,
Mr. Schmidt was made cashier of the institution, and ten years later,
on January 1, 1916, he had the distinction of being made president of
the bank, being the youngest man in the state to hold such a responsible
position. The State Bank, which has a capital of $50,000, with surplus
and undivided profits of $50,000, receives annually, on an average,
upwards of $900,000 in deposits, it being one of the most substantial
and prosperous institutions of the kind in Washington County.
Mr. Schmidt is a steadfast republican in politics, and for twelve
years has rendered acceptable service as city treasurer. He belongs to
the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, being a Knight Templar, and is
also a member of the Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.
He has never married, but lives with his widowed mother.
Henry W. Schoettger. No one element has more to do with the
permanent prosperity of a community or section than sound banking
institutions. The history of nations is involved in financial transactions,
and no large commercial enterprises anywhere can survive without ade
quate bank securities. In this matter the progressive little city of Arling
ton, Nebraska, is amply provided for, its leading financial institution
being the Arlington State Bank, of which Henry W. Schoettger is
cashier, and is a prominent citizen in other directions.
Henry W. Schoettger was born at Quincy, Illinois, in November,
1864. His parents were William and Margaret (Toebban) Schoettger,
the former of whom was born in Germany in 1812, and the latter in
Germany in 1846. The father came to the United States in 1849, escap
ing from his native land after the Revolution of 1848. His first mar
riage took place in Germany and three children were born to that union.
He settled at Quincy, Illinois, and remained in that city and vicinity
until 1868, when he came to Nebraska and purchased a partly improved
farm in Washington County, for which he paid $15 per acre. This land
he made very valuable through cultivation and further improvement and
to his original farm kept adding other tracts until, at the time of death,
in 1894, he was a heavy landowner and a man of ample fortune.
While living in Quincy, Illinois, William Schoettger married Mar
garet Toebban for his second wife, and five children were born to this
marriage, as follows: Fred, who is engaged in farming near Enterprise,
Nebraska; Henry W., who is a representative citizen of Arlington,
Nebraska; Frank, who still lives on the old homestead; H. D., who
also resides on the old home farm; and Mrs. A. E. Woodman, who
resides at Omaha, Nebraska. In political matters, the father of Mr.
Schoettger was a staunch democrat. Both he and wife were members
of the Lutheran Church. The mother did not reach the father's advanced
age, her death occurring in 1898.
Vol. II— 20

762 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Henry W. Schoettger enjoyed school privileges at Quincy and after
ward took a special commercial course in the Gem City Business College.
After returning to Nebraska he gave his father assistance, but in 1886
became bookkeeper in the Bell Creek Valley Bank at Arlington, and
ever since has been identified with bank interests. He was one of the
founders of the Arlington State Bank, of which he is cashier. This is
¦a flourishing institution, operating with ample capital and affording
financial accommodation over a wide section. As cashier, Mr. Schoettger
is held in high regard, his strict and careful methods being recognized
by patrons as 'wise and judicious.
In 1892 Mr. Schoettger was united in marriage to Miss Emma
Ehninger, who was born at Niles, Michigan. Her parents, John and
Katherine Ehninger, were farmers near Niles, where the father died.
In 1868 the mother came to Washington County, Nebraska, and bought
land. She now resides with Mr. and Mrs. Schoettger. They have two
children, namely : George E., who is pursuing his studies in the Nebraska
State University; and Clara K, who is a student in the high school
at Arlington. The family belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Mr. Schoettger is a prominent factor in democratic politics in Wash
ington County and frequently takes part in councils and conventions with
other influential democrats. He has served at times in public office,
with complete efficiency, has been township collector and both village
and city treasurer, and because of his deep interest in educational mat
ters has accepted membership on the school board.
Jacob Kavich. Many of the more enterprising and prosperous busi
ness men of Dodge County are of foreign birth and breeding, prominent
among the number being Jacob Kavich, a well and widely known furni
ture dealer of Fremont, who has achieved success through his own efforts.
A son of the late Phillip Kavich, he was born, January 20, 1875, in
Poland, the home of his aricestors for man}' generations.
Born, reared and educated in Poland, Phillip Kavich was there
engaged in the milling business during the greater part of his life. In
1888, when well advanced in years, he came with his family to the
United States, locating in Fremont, Nebraska, where he spent the
remainder of his life, passing away in 1904. His wife, whose maiden
name was Esther Robnowich, was born in Poland, and is now living
in Fremont. She is a very pleasant and religious woman, and a devoted
member of the Jewish Synagogue, to which her husband also belonged.
Of the six children born of their union, five are living, as follows :
Henry, engaged in the furniture business at Fremont; Louis, of Omaha,
proprietor of the Bee Hive Grocery Company ; Samuel, engaged in the
furniture business at Columbus, Nebraska; Belle, wife of Max Rosen-
bloom, of Omaha, a traveling salesman ; and Jacob, of this sketch.
Having acquired an excellent knowledge of books in his native land,
Jacob Kavich attended school but six weeks after coming to Fremont.
As a lad of fourteen summers he began his business career and for
three years thereafter traveled through the country, selling goods from
a pack, and during the three years he was so employed gained business
knowledge and experience that has been of inestimable value to him
since. Giving up the pack, Mr. Kavich embarked in the furniture busi
ness, beginning in a modest way and as his means increased, gradually
enlarging his operations until now he has one of the largest and best
patronized stores of the kind in the city, his stock being large and varied
enough to suit the tastes of all customers. Beginning life for himself

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 763
without a dollar to his name, Mr. Kavich has met with genuine success
in business affairs and gained a noteworthy position among the self-
made men of our country.
On December 25, 1903, Mr. Kavich was united in marriage with
Elizabeth Pearlman, a native of Poland, and they have a fine family
of seven children, namely: Ruby, born in 1904; Dorothy, born in 1907;
Minnie, born in 1909; Libbie, born in 1911 ; Anna, born in 1913; Phillip,
born in 1915; and David, born in 1918. Mr. and Mrs. Kavich are both
members of the Jewish Synagogue. Politically, Mr. Kavich is an
adherent of no special party, voting for the best men and measures.
Fraternally, he is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen,
of the Woodmen of the World, of the Knights and Ladies of Security,
of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, and of the Independent Order of
B'nai B'rith.
Gus H. Weber. A newspaper man of wide experience and marked
ability, Gus H. Weber, editor and proprietor of the Uehling Post, has
been associated with various Nebraska journals, and has ever devoted his
thought and energy to making the papers with which he was connected
bright, readable and, above all, clean. A native of Switzerland, he was
born December 24, 1878, a son of Albert and Anna Weber, life-long
residents of that country. His father, a railroad engineer, was acci
dentally killed while yet in the prime of life. They were the parents
of seven children, of whom but two, Gus H, and his sister Emma, were
the only ones to come to America.
When but fourteen years of age Gus H. Weber, who was of an
adventurous spirit, came to the United States, and for seven months
after his arrival made his home with an uncle at Westpoint, Nebraska.
He had acquired a high school education in Switzerland and had there
attended a Conservatory of Music. Leaving his uncle's home, he joined
Ringling Brothers' Circus, and as a member of its band toured the
country for two years. Deciding to locate in Nebraska, Mr. Weber
purchased the Banner, a paper published in Snyder, and managed it
successfully for four years. The following three years he was in service
as a member of the Twenty-Second United States Infantry Band, the
greater part of the time in the Philippine Islands, and on receiving his
discharge returned to Snyder and again assumed management of the
Banner. Going to Petersburg, Nebraska, the ensuing year, Mr. Weber was
there engaged in journalistic work eight years and later was foreman
on two of the Albion, Nebraska, papers, the News and the Argos. He
subsequently worked on the Omaha Bee and the Fremont Tribune, well
known papers. From Fremont Mr. Weber came to Uehling and having
bought the Uehling Post has since edited it most successfully, the paper
under his management being one of the brightest and most newsy and
popular papers published in Dodge County.
Mr. Weber married, in 1911, at Albion, Nebraska, Mabel Cooper, a
daughter of Henry Cooper, who is living retired in Petersburg, this state,
and they are the parents of four bright, interesting children : Albert Con
rad, Francis Henry, John Pershing and Virginia Elizabeth. Mr. Weber
supports the principles of the republican party by voice and vote. Mrs.
Weber is held in high esteem by her many friends and acquaintances
and is a consistent member of the Congregational Church.

764 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
James F. Hanson, coming to Fremont from Kansas with his parents
in 1864, became one of the early settlers of the city and has, barring
absence at college, made Fremont and Dodge County his home ever
since. He was born at Wathena, Kansas, just across the river from
St. Joe, Missouri, in the stormy John Brown and anti-slavery days of
1857; and his first childhood memories are those of marching soldiers
of the Civil war times, and of his father and older brother taking their
turns in the citizens guards watching the Missouri River nights against
Missouri "bushwhackers" and a possible repetition of Quantrell's Law
rence massacre.
His parents were James C. and Ellen Christina Hanson, people of
comfortable circumstances and good education, devout members orig
inally of the Lutheran Church, who came to America and settled in Kan
sas in 1854 from a suburb of the fine capital city of Copenhagen, Den
mark. The senior Hansons lived for many years in Copenhagen. The
father was a soldier in the Danish war of 1848 with Prussia, and with
the strong French sympathies of the family, his great-uncle was a soldier
in the armies of the great Napoleon.
The Hansons were not well pleased with their first rough pioneering
and war-torn experiences in America, and in 1864 set out to find some
thing better than Kansas and Missouri seemed to afford, and found it
to their entire satisfaction, at first for a number of months in the then
small city of Omaha, and then permanently at Fremont. The family
landed first at Fremont in their "prairie schooner" drawn by four yoke
of oxen, there being no railroad; but as a Sioux Indian war was on,
they spent the fall, winter and spring of 1864-65 in Omaha, returning
to Fremont in the spring of 1865. James F. Hanson, the subject of this
sketch, then seven years old, remembers as distinctly as if it were yes
terday, the rejoicing and the public decorating of Omaha with flags and
bunting in celebration of the fall of Richmond in the spring of 1865,
and the mourning and crepe of a few days later upon the assassination
of President Lincoln. He attended the notable civic and military funeral
services for Lincoln at the Territorial Capitol building then at Omaha.
At Fremont the Hansons witnessed the great overland traffic car
ried on in prairie schooners and stages to Denver, Salt Lake and beyond ;
and the building soon thereafter of the Union Pacific Railroad up the
Platte Valley, the first Nebraska railroad. After five years the family
located on a "homestead" farm ten miles out from Fremont where the
senior Hanson, being a blacksmith by trade, conducted a shop and was
the local rural postmaster, while James F., thirteen years old, but big
for his age, did the farming. The neighborhood and postoffice were
named Jamestown, in honor of the senior Hanson, the first postmaster,
and James Beeman, an old resident of the neighborhood.
At Jamestown the Hanson family all became members of the Meth
odist Episcopal Church and were active in surrounding rural church
and Sunday school work. James F. became a Sunday school superin
tendent at seventeen and a member of the first board of trustees of
Bethel Church at nineteen, a church still existing and prospering. A
much-beloved sister of young Hanson, Marie E., died at Jamestown.
His parents died a number of years afterward at Fremont, the father
at sixty-eight years of age, the mother at eighty-one.
Mr. Hanson's education was had at the Fremont public schools and'
at Jamestown, and at seventeen years he began a five-years' course at
Doane College, Crete, Nebraska, which he pursued with increasing reg
ularity until 1880, graduating from an elective course and receiving a

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 765
diploma from that excellent school that year. Among Mr. Hanson's
educational accomplishments at Doane College was a thorough reading,
speaking and writing mastery of the German language, which he com
pleted by an after-stay of one year with the educated and noted German
families of Grosshans and Bonekemper at Sutton, Nebraska, Rev. Mr.
Bonekemper having been pastor of the German Reform Church of that
town and having been a graduate of Goettingen University of Germany.
Having completed his schooling, Mr. Hanson in 1881 became a
member of the working force of L. D. Richards, later Richards, Keene
& Co., then and since an investment concern of great strength, and of
which Mr. Hanson became a member in 1885. Richards, Keene & Co.
represented at that time millions of dollars of eastern money for farm
loan investment, great widely extended areas of farm lands in Nebraska
and Iowa, including the northeast Nebraska land grants of the old Fre
mont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley and Sioux City & Pacific railroads. -
Mr. Hanson became the main expert for the company on real estate
values and titles, and industrial and corporate organizer in the large and
public spirited activities of the company in the building up of industrial
Fremont. Mr. Hanson traveled much in this connection and his subse
quent extensive investment activities over the East and in the South and
on the Pacific Coast and Canada.
Mr. Hanson, in 1897, sold out his interest to Richards, Keene & Co.
and developed his present business of J. F. Hanson & Co., comprising
himself and his four sons, Donald E., James R., Alfred L. and Willard B.
Hanson, doing business on a very considerable scale in Nebraska, Kan
sas, Missouri, Colorado and South Dakota as conservators of estates,
financial and confidential brokers, corporate auditors and title men.
Mr. Hanson was married in 1884 to Miss Lelia Stanton Wightman.
Mrs. Hanson was of an educational family of high standing and from
a long line of New York State and Connecticut ancestors, the Wightman
family having an unbroken American genealogy from Groton, Connecti
cut, from 1632 down. Her father was a graduate of Union College,
Schenectady, New York, and bore the degrees of A. M. and Ph. D.
Her mother was a New York State college graduate with the degree
of A. M. Her father was for a number of years dean of Nebraska Wes
leyan University. Mrs. Hanson was educated in the schools of her
native New York State and of Nebraska, and took a special course of
music at Buffalo, New York.
Mr. and Mrs. Hanson's family consists of six children, all living,
namely, Grace M. Hanson, their only daughter, and Howard W., suc
cessfully engaged in farming at Davenport, Nebraska; and James R.,
Donald E., Alfred L., and Willard B., all associated with their father
in the business of J. F. Hanson & Co., of which they are members.
James R. and Donald E. became sergeant-majors 'at Camp Funston in
great war; and Donald E. was private secretary to General Wood at
the camp. Willard B. was in the radio service in the Navy.
Mrs. Hanson died, sixty years of age, on May 14, 1920, possessed
of a strong constitution that would ordinarily have guaranteed her
twenty more years of useful, happy life, but dying of a malignant incur
able disease. Besides raising her considerable family, which her friends
say she did well, she was for twenty years a power in Fremont and in
the State in defense and reclamation of helpless children and of unfor
tunate girls and women, and in support of prohibition and of salutary
public morals. She was for years a member of the executive committee
of the Nebraska Woman's Christian Temperance Union.

766 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Mr. Hanson has always taken an active interest in public affairs.
As a member of Richards, Keene & Co., Secretary of Fremont Stock
Yards & Land Co., and an executive officer for many years of the Fre
mont Commercial Club, he became a recognized local authority on manu
facturing industry and has done a great deal in the course of the years
in the industrial and general community development of Fremont, secur
ing the Nebraska enactment of helpful drainage, road making and park
laws, and playing a leading part in the organization of surrounding
drainage districts, building of dikes and levees to keep the river out of
Fremont, building good roads.
Mr. Hanson was an active adherent for a number of years of Theo
dore Roosevelt and his progressive party, sitting in the associated Repub
lican Progressive National Convention of 1916 at Chicago and being
progressive candidate that year for governor of Nebraska in that closing
period of the party's history. These progressive associations gave him
a personal acquaintance with Mr. Roosevelt and correspondence and
conferences with him.
Albert A. Nehrbas. The career of Albert A. Nehrbas, president
of the Fremont Milling Company, affords an excellent example and
incontrovertible proof of the fact that nothing is impossible to the indus
trious, thrifty and upright man in this country. Starting out in life
with absolutely nothing, having had no special training, not even the
ordinary educational advantages, backed by no capital or influence, he has
steadily advanced until today he is at the head of a large industrial
plant, and is recognized as a man of moment in his home city.
Albert' A. Nehrbas was born at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on January
21, 1868, a son of George and Rachael (Miller) Nehrbas, natives of
Germany and Pennsylvania, respectively, who were married in Penn
sylvania. In 1886 George Nehrbas brought his family to Fremont,
Nebraska, and here he worked as a carpenter, until his retirement, but
while living in Pennsylvania, he was an iron worker. Seven children
were born to him and his wife, of whom five are now living: Albert A.,
who is the eldest; Laura, who is unmarried, lives with her parents;
George, who has worked for the Fremont Tribune for thirty years;
Letitia, who married T. L. Watson, a traveling man of Kansas City,
Missouri; and Charlotte, who married David Fowler, bookkeeper for
Wiley & Moorehouse. The family all belong to the Lutheran Church.
They are strong in their support of the doctrines of the republican
party. After attending school in Pennsylvania for a brief period,
Albert A. Nehrbas began to be self-supporting as a clerk in a grocery
store, and later entered one of the rolling mills of Pittsburgh, Penn
sylvania, with which industry he was connected until the time of the
family migration to Fremont in 1886. Upon his arrival in this city he
secured employment with May Brothers, and then engaged with the
Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, remaining with it for ten years,
alternating the selling of tickets with work in the freight office. All of
this time he was saving his money with a definite end in view, and in
1902 was able to realize his ambition to own a milling business of his
own, at that time buying a substantial interest in the Fremont Milling
Company of which he is now the president. Quite recently this com
pany has acquired by purchase the property of the Brown Mill, and
consolidated the interests of the two organizations. Mr. Nehrbas is
also a heavy stockholder in the Fremont Building & Loan Association
but takes no active part in the latter, all of his energies being expended
in the conduct of his mill.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 767
Like the other members of his family Mr. Nehrbas is a republican,
but has never aspired to public, honors. Fraternally he belongs to the
Elks and Odd Fellows. Mr. Nehrbas is unmarried. From boyhood he
has striven to develop those qualities which now enable him to multiply
his productiveness and his value to his community, in his case they being
grit, vision and a really marvelous ability to overcome obstacles.
Henry Tank. There is no other occupation which yields such grati
fying results as does that of farming, and especially is this true in
Nebraska, the fertile lands of that commonwealth responding splen
didly to the care and attention lavished on them by the more progres
sive of the agriculturalists. Dodge and Washington counties form a
portion of the state that has been specially favored by natural conditions
and these in turn have been developed in a commendable manner until
this region now stands as a monument to the foresight and industry of
its pioneers. One of the men who is making a great success of his
farming and stockraising, and yet is finding time to attend to his duties
as a public-spirited citizen is Henry Tank of Maple Township.
Henry Tank was born in Dodge County, February 23, 1875, a son of
Hans and Katherine Tank, natives of Germany. Hans Tank participated
in the war between Germany and Denmark, and came to the United
States in 1869, and making his way West to Nebraska, was first in the
employ of Mr. Sievers, one of the first settlers of the county. Carefully
saving his money, Hans Tank was soon able to begin farming for him
self, and if it had not been for the forces of nature, would doubtless
have soon become independent for he was very industrious and econom
ical, but unfortunately for him he began farming at a period when this
region was liable to be afflicted with the scourge of grasshoppers, and
more than one crop was lost in this manner. Then a devastating prairie
fire wiped out all of his improvements and destroyed his crop. How
ever, he belonged to that type of self-reliant human beings who will not
allow himself to be discouraged no matter what the conditions may be,
and he went to work repairing the damages and in time prospered.
He was spared to see the neighborhood he had selected acquire a sub
stantial standing in this state and his farm become one of the valuable
ones of Dodge County, for he attained to the age of eighty-two years,
his wife passing away, however, when seventy-four. They had twelve
children, two sons and six daughters still living.
Growing up on his father's farm Henry Tank attended the local
schools and remained at home until he had attained to his majority,
at which time he began farming in partnership with his brother, the
two renting land from D. W. Dorsey for ten years and working the
160-acre farm together, but at his death Henry Tank bought his share
of the 160 acres. Later he added to his farm until he now owns 400
acres of splendidly developed and improved land, and here he is engaged
in general farming and stockraising, specializing on Red Polled cattle
and Jersey Red hogs. In addition to his farming activities, Mr. Tank
is a director of the Farmers Elevator of Nickerson, and of the First
National Bank of Ames.
Mr. Tank was united in marriage with Rose Knoell, born and
reared in Dodge County. Mr. and Mrs. Tank have seven children, as
follows: Ernest, Louie, Harold, Marie, Alice, Dorothy and Donald.
For fifteen years Mr. Tank served on the school board of his district,
and he has also been road supervisor. Interested in the progress of
his community, Mr. Tank has sought to secure for it the various

768 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
improvements necessary to bring it up to standard ideas of develop
ment, and among other things was active in promoting the organization
of the Dodge County Telephone Company of which he has been a director
for twelve years. His personal affairs and public duties have been too
arduous for him to form any fraternal affiliations, but he maintains many
warm personal attachments among the leading men of this and other
counties, and is recognized as one of the representative citizens of
Nebraska. M. R. Lippincott, a former county clerk of Washington County
and for many years engaged in the lumber and grain business at Blair,
represents the third generation of the Lippincott family in Washington
County. The Lippincotts were among the first pioneer settlers and the
family name has always enjoyed dignified associations with the best
interests of the community.
The pioneer was J. C. Lippincott, who came to Nebraska about 1858
and took up a homestead in the vicinity of Blair. He was a very poor
man when he settled in Nebraska, and he experienced many of the trials
and vicissitudes of pioneering and lived out his life in the county.
His son, Thomas P. Lippincott, was born in Washington County,
Indiana, and was a child when brought to Nebraska. He was reared on
a farm but for a number of years was engaged in the implement business
' at Blair. Successful in business affairs, he was also a leader in the
life of the community, and was elected on the republican ticket and served
one term as county clerk of Washington County. In later years he
became a socialist in politics. He was a member of the Episcopal Church.
Thomas P. Lippincott died at Blair in 1916, and his widow is still living
in that town. He married Hettie Camp, who was born near Buffalo,
New York. They were married in Blair, and she had come to Nebraska
about 1874. Of their five children three are still living: M. R. Lip
pincott, who was born at Blair in 1877 ; Lydia R., living with her mother ;
and Paul Thomas, a locomotive fireman living at Chadron, Nebraska.
M. R. Lippincott grew up in his native town, attended the grammar
and high schools, and soon after completing his education went to work
in the lumber and grain business. Almost continuously through all the
years of his manhood he has been associated with the coal, lumber
and grain company, and for a number of years past has been manager
of the Blair Elevator and Yards of that corporation. He has given his
time and energies to business affairs with marked success, and is known
as an able executive and man who accomplishes all that he undertakes.
In 1902 Mr. Lippincott married Augusta Mayle, a native of Blair.
Her father, John Mayle, was an early settler at Blair, coming from Penn
sylvania, and for many years was in the confectionery business.
Mr. and Mrs. Lippincott have two daughters, Marjorie and Pauline,
both attending the Blair schools. The family are members of the
Episcopal Church. Mr. and Mrs. Lippincott are members of the Eastern
Star chapter and he is affiliated with other branches of Masonrv. The
cause of good government and politics has always interested Mr. Lip
pincott, and he gave a very efficient administration during his term as
county clerk. He is a republican.
John G. Osterloh, One of the first pale faces to invade that
domain of the Indian in Dodge County, the part since christened Logan
Township, was the late Gerhard Osterloh, a cabin-dweller who took
up Government land and converted the same into a valuable and paying

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 769
property, and who established a precedent of life and labor since
maintained by the members of his family. One of the representatives.
of this worthy and honorable name is John G. Osterloh, a son of the
pioneer, who is carrying on extensive operations in Logan Township.
Mr. Osterloh was born in Germany, in 1866, and was two years
of age when his parents, Gerhard and Gisine Osterloh, brought him to
the United States. The family came at once to Dodge County, where
the father homesteaded a tract of eighty acres of Government land,
near what is now the Town of Hooper, not then in existence. At the
time of his arrival he possessed $200, and his first home was a cotton-
wood-board dwelling, through the yard of which the old Indian trail
passed. The Indians were still numerous, although they never made
serious trouble. Gerhard Osterloh continued to be engaged in farming
during the remainder of his life, and at his death, in 1895, was the
possessor of about three hundred acres of good land. His widow, now
well advanced in years, survives him.
John G. Osterloh grew up on the home farm in section 20, Logan
Township, and secured his education in the public schools. As a youth
he adopted farming as his life work, and at the age of twenty-four
years began farming on his own account. Later he purchased 160
acres of land from his father, and to this he has added from time to
time until he is now the owner of 750 acres. He has modern improve
ments on his property, installed by himself, and in every respect his
property is up-to-date. He has always carried on general farming, in
addition to which he has been a cattle and hog raiser of some prominence.
He has numerous business interests, and is identified financially with the
First National Bank,. of Hooper, and the Logan Valley Bank, of Uehling.
He and Mrs Osterloh are consistent members of the Lutheran Church
where Mr. Osterloh has served as chairman of the board of trustees for
a long time and also has served as Sunday school superintendent for a
number of years. As a citizen he has discharged his duties faithfully
and conscientiously, and has served as a member of the local board of
school directors for a long period and as clerk of Logan Township four
years. In 1891 Mr. Osterloh was united in marriage with Meta G. Behrens,
who was born in Germany, a daughter of Gerhart Behrens, who never
came to the United States. Four children have been born to Mr. and
Mrs. Osterloh : Bertha, the wife of Adolph Moeller, a farmer of Dodge
County; Alma, the wife of John A. Schroeder, also engaged in farming
in Dodge County ; Henry, who is carrying on agricultural' operations in
Nickerson Township, this county; and Emil, residing at home, who is
assisting his father.
A. J. Miller. Well known in financial circles as a man of keen
foresight and much ability, A. J. Miller, of Dodge County, has achieved
success in the business world through industry and meritorious work,
at the present time being president of the First National Bank, a
responsible position which he is filling with credit to himself, and to
the satisfaction of the officers of the institution, and of its numerous
patrons. A son of the late Vaclav Miller, he was born, in December,
1881, in Dodge County, which he has always claimed as home.
Born in Bohemia, Vaclav Miller immigrated to the United States,
the land of hope and promise, in early life, coming to Dodge County,
Nebraska, in 1861, soon after his arrival in New York. Taking up a
homestead claim, he improved a good farm, which he managed success-

770 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
fully for many years, subsequently living retired until his death, at the
age of seventy-two years. To him and his wife, Margaret, whose death
occurred in Dodge County, twelve children were born, a goodly number
of sons and daughters.
Acquiring a practical education in the Dodge schools, A. J. Miller
began the battle of life on his own account at the age of eighteen years,
and for four years was employed as a clerk in a general mercantile
establishment. In 1903 he began his banking career, accepting a minor
position in a local bank, receiving for his work the munificent salary
of $25 dollars a month. Faithful to the duties devolving upon him in
that capacity, he won promotion from time to time, and at the present
time is not only president of the First National Bank of Dodge County,
but has an interest in several other banks, and is an extensive and
successful dealer in real estate. The bank with which he is officially
connected was first capitalized at $10,000, which has been increased to
$50,000, and its annual deposits, which were $35,000 the first year of
its 'existence, now amount to $706,000, an increase that bears visible
evidence of the safety and popularity of the institution. The building
in which it is housed was erected in 1910, and is of modern construction,
conveniently arranged for carrying on business.
Mr. Miller married, June 30, 1901, in Omaha, Clara Schulte, who
was born and reared in Cuming County, Nebraska, and of their union
four children have been born, namely : Nitha, Roma, Gladys, and
Imogene. Active in local affairs, Mr. Miller is a member of the parochial
school board, and is serving as mayor. Fraternally he belongs to the
Catholic Workmen, the Knights of Columbus, and to the Catholic Order
of Foresters. William C. Wiley. Conspicuous among the active, wide-awake
business men who are contributing so largely toward the advancement
of the mercantile prosperity of Dodge County is William C. Wiley, of
Fremont, an official member, and general manager, of the Stacey-Wiley
Company, wholesale dealers in fruit. A son of John Wiley, he was
born, September 23, 1862, at Camptown, Bradford County, Pennsyl
vania, of Irish ancestry.
Born in County Monaghan, Ireland, John Wiley lived there until
after his marriage with Jane Dougherty, a native of the same county.
Soon after that event he immigrated, in 1848, to America, locating in
Pennsylvania, where both he and his wife spent their remaining years.
Subsequently buying a small tract of land, he improved a cozy little
farm, on which he lived and labored hard in order to support his large
family. He was a republican in politics, and both he and his wife were
faithful members of the Presbyterian Church. Of the sixteen children,
seven sons and nine daughters, eight girls and one boy are living, all
being residents of Pennsylvania with the exception of the son, William C.
Having completed his early education in the Camptown High School,
William C. Wiley, impelled by the restless spirit characteristic of the
Americans, left Pennsylvania in 1881, and coming directly to Nebraska
located in Fremont. Securing a position in the wholesale house of the
May Brothers, he continued with that firm three years, after which he
was for ten years employed in the freight depot of the Northwestern
Railroad Company, and for another ten years owned and operated a
dray line. Wise in bis savings, and prudent in his expenditures, Mr. Wiley
accumulated money, and in 1907 established himself in business as a
wholesale dealer in fruits, and met with good success in his venture.

/</™y % sUa

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 771
Admitting Carlos Morehouse as a partner in 1911, he continued the
business as head of the firm of Wiley & Morehouse until January, 1920.
This firm was then merged into a stock company, and incorporated, with
a paid up capital of $100,000, as the Stacey-Wiley Company, of which
Mr. Wiley is second vice president and general manager. Under his
superintendence an extensive business is being carried on, amounting
to $500,000 per annum. In addition to the other employes, four com
mercial salesman are kept constantly on the road, the payroll of this
enterprising firm being $2,000 each month of the year, an amount
bearing evidence of its volume of business and financial prosperity.
Mr. Wiley married, in 1887, May A. Reynolds, whose birthplace
was Devils Lake, Michigan, and of their union five children have been
born, namely: Imo, wife of Harry Prater, who is traveling for
Mr. Wiley; Nellie, wife of Fred O'Dell, a cigar manufacturer, of Fre
mont; Hazel, wife of John B. Freeman, of Fremont, a traveling sales
man ; Warren C, of Fremont, a traveling salesman, enlisted during
the World war in Company B, One Hundred and Ninth Iowa Engineers,
and served for two years, one year having been spent in France; and
Harold, who is in school. Mr. and Mrs. Wiley are members of the
Methodist Episcopal Church. Politically Mr. Wiley is a straightforward
democrat, and takes an active part in local affairs, having served as a
member of the city council six years, and in 1917 was elected mayor
of the city, a position for which he was amply qualified, and which he
filled most ably and satisfactorily. Fraternally he is a member of the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he has passed all the
chairs of the local lodge, and belongs to the grand lodge ; and is like
wise a member of Fremont Lodge No. 513, Benevolent and Protective
Order of Elks. Having had but one dollar to his name when he arrived
in Fremont in 1881, Mr. Wiley has been in truth the architect of his own
fortunes, and the above brief review of his life may well furnish to the
rising generation a forcible example of the success to be achieved by
persevering industry, thrift and good management.
C. E. Cuykendall. Active, enterprising and progressive, C. E.
Cuykendall occupies a place of prominence and influence in the indus
trial and business circles of Dodge County, in the management of his
large canning factory at Fremont showing excellent judgment and
marked ability. A son of E. C. Cuykendall, he was born December 2,
1879, in -Milford, Delaware, where his early life was passed.
A native of New York State, E. C. Cuykendall was born in Owasco,
Cayuga County, in 1832, and was there reared, educated and married.
Moving to Delaware, he was engaged in the drying of fruit for many
years, an industry that proved highly remunerative. He is still residing
in that state, a venerable and highly respected citizen, now retired from
business cares. He married Carolina Roosa, who was born in Owasco,
New York, in 1834, and is now a bright and active woman of fourscore
and six. years. Four children were born of their union, as follows :
John W., born sixty-four years ago, is prosperously engaged in the can
ning business at Atlantic, Iowa; J. R., of Hoopeston, Illinois, is likewise
engaged in the canning business ; Katherine is the wife of James Kurtz
of Dannemora, New York, who has charge of the food supplies for the
penitentiary and asylums of the county in which he lives ; and C. E., of
whom we write. The father is a democrat in politics and during his
active life served in various public offices. He is a member of the
Dutch Reformed Church, to which his wife also belongs.

772 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
C. E. Cuykendall received his elementary and academical education
in Delaware, and afterwards attended a noted institute in New York, and
completed the course of study at the Northwestern University in Chi
cago. In 1895, in partnership with his brother John he embarked in
the canning business at Atlantic, Iowa, and during the six years he
remained there became proficient in all the details connected with the
business. Coming from there to Dodge County, Nebraska, in 1901,
Mr. Cuykendall and brother John W. bought the canning factory in
Freniont, and in its management has met with unquestioned success. In
1914 the business was incorporated, with a paid-up capital of $50,000,
and Mr. Cuykendall was made vice president and manager of the com
pany. The factory, which has been recently modernized as to its equip
ments, is devoted exclusively to the canning of corn, and its annual out
put of 2,000,000 cans finds a ready market, it being extensively and
favorably known throughout the great Middle West.
Mr. Cuykendall married in 1908 at Atlantic, Iowa, Bernadette O'Don
nell, a native of Pennsylvania, and they have one daughter, Jean, born
in 1913. Mr. Cuykendall is a straightforward democrat in his political
affiliations and has rendered his fellow-citizens excellent service as a
member of the Fremont City Council. Fraternally he belongs to Lodge
No. 445, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, at Atlantic, Iowa. He
is a member of the Fremont Commercial Club and of the Rotary Club.
Religiously he is a Presbyterian and Mrs. Cuykendall is Catholic.
Ezra Phillips. Long years of industry, well-directed management
of his affairs, close application to the details of his work, and a thorough
and comprehensive knowledge thereof, combined to place Ezra Phillips
among the foremost and substantial promoters of agriculture in his part
of Dodge County. From the prairies his unaided industry brought forth
ample means, permitting his retirement to Fremont in 1908 and his
consigning to younger hands the tasks that made up the sum of his
existence for thirty-one years. He has a modern and well-furnished
home on Broad Street and is regarded as one of the financially strong
and morally high retired farmers.
Mr. Phillips was born in Pickaway County, Ohio, August 6, 1852, a
son of John M. and Sarah (Reed) Phillips, both of whom are deceased.
His father, who was reared in Ohio, passed his active career in agri
cultural pursuits in that state, and was a highly esteemed citizen of his
community, where he served twenty-seven years as a member of the
Board of Supervisors of Woodford County. He died at the advanced
age of eighty-eight years. There were seven sons and seven daughters
in the family, but Ezra is the only one now living in Dodge County.
Ezra Phillips was reared on the home farm and acquired his educa
tional training in the public schools, after leaving which he worked for a
time with his father, and later for other agriculturists in his home com
munity. Eventually he decided that better opportunities awaited him in
the West, and in 1877 made his way to Dodge County and bought 160
acres of land, a part of which has been improved, paying $9.35 per acre.
Mr. Phillips went to farming seven miles north and seven miles west of
Fremont and his industry gained him success from almost the start.
Since his original purchase he has added 120 acres to his holdings, the
greater part of this land having been secured at a purchase price of
$40 per acre. During the period of his active career he made numerous
improvements on his land, adding to its value and attractiveness, and
became known throughout his part of the county as a man dependable

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 773
and upright, one who regarded his word as he would his bond, and who
ever maintained the highest methods of farming and the noblest ideals
of home and community life. In 1908 he retired from active pursuits
and moved to Fremont, where he took up his residence at 1137 North
Broad Street, where he is surrounded by the comforts that reward the
man of industry.
In 1877, in Illinois, Mr. Phillips was united in marriage w,ith
Miss Louise Cooper, who was born in the Prairie State, and to this
union there have been born seven children : Clifford, who is looking after
some of his father's agricultural interests in Dodge County; Mrs. Effie
Bradbury, a resident of Fremont; Earl, who is also a farrner of Platte
County; Mrs. Elsie Olson, living on a farm in this county; Mrs. Nina
Richardson; Mrs. Allie Wagner of Fremont; and Mrs. Frieda Wallick.
Mr. and Mrs. Phillips are faithful members of( the Christian Church.
Fraternally he is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of
Elks and local republican politics has found a staunch supporter in him
for many years. At various times his fellow citizens have made manifest
their confidence in him by electing him to office, and he has faithfully
and efficiently discharged the duties of assessor, township clerk and
school director, having held the latter position for fifteen years.
D. Z. Mummert. A man of versatile talents, possessing a thorough
knowledge of law as well as of modern business methods, D. Z. Mum
mert of Blair occupies a place of prominence in the legal and financial
circles of Washington County, and in all respects is considered a valuable
member of his community. A son of the late S'. L. Mummert, he was
born in 1867 in Pennsylvania, where his childhood days were passed.
' S. L. Mummert, a son of George Mummert, a farmer, was born, reared
and married in Pennsylvania, the maiden name of his wife having been
Nancy Unger. Continuing in the free and independent occupation to
which he was reared, he moved with his family to Illinois, locating in
Carroll County, where both he and his wife spent their remaining days.
He was a stanch republican in politics, and an active member of the
Lutheran Church. His family consisted of three children, of whom two
are living, D. Z. of whom we write, and William D., a well-known
merchant tailor of South Dakota.
Completing his early education in the Lanark, Illinois, High School,
D. Z. Mummert remained on the home farm for awhile, but agriculture
seemingly had no charms for him. Coming to Blair, Nebraska, in 1888,
he read law under the tuition of Judge W. C. Walton to such good pur
pose that he was admitted to the bar, and in 1890 entered upon the prac
tice of his profession, for which he was well prepared, continuing in it
for three years. Opening the Citizens State Bank in 19.04, Mr. Mum
mert became its cashier, and successfully managed its affairs for ten
years. In 1915 he disposed of his interests in the institution, which he
had placed upon a substantial basis, and has since devoted his time and
abilities to the management of his financial affairs, being very successful
in either loaning or investing money. Mr. Mummert's prosperity in
life is entirely due to his efforts, as he came to Blair with a very
limited capital, and has since. accumulated a handsome property. At one
time he was quite an extensive landholder, but he disposed of the last
of it in 1918. Although he is practically retired from law, Mr. Mum
mert has charge of the legal business not only of his personal friends but
of the Citizens State Bank, and of several corporations. He is iden
tified in politics with the republican party, and he and his family attend
the Methodist Episcopal Church.

774 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Mr. Mummert married, in 1890, Mary A. Pound, who was born near
Tipton, Iowa. Her father, the late Albert O. Pound, settled in Iowa
as a young man, and after teaching school a number of terms bought
land, and subsequently carried on general farming until his death. Two
children have been born of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Mummert,
namely : David, a high school pupil ; and Gretchen, attending the grammar
school. James Tilton Young. One of the foremost osteopaths of Dodge
County, James Tilton Young of Fremont has achieved distinction in his
especial method of treating the various diseases to which human kind is
heir, oftentimes relieving the sufferings of his patients, and effecting a
permanent cure when medical aid has been of no avail. He was born
March 7, 1874, in Kansas City, Missouri, coming on the paternal side
of English ancestry.
His father, the late John Young, was born in 1850 in England, and
as a young man immigrated to the United States, settling in Missouri,
where he was engaged, principally, in general farming until his death in
1902. His wife, whose maiden name was Kesiah C. Allen, was born
in Virginia, but came to Dallas County, Missouri, where they were
married in 1872. She is still" living, making her home in Fremont,
Nebraska, with her son James. She is a consistent member of the Chris
tian Church. John Young was usually a democrat in politics. Five
children were born of their union, as follows : James Tilton, of whom
we write; Nathan M., of Paris, Missouri, a farmer; Mary E., a grad
uate nurse, living in Fremont; George J., engaged in farming in Cass
County, Missouri; and Harvey A., a newspaper man in Los Angeles,
California. Having acquired his elementary education in the common schools,
James Tilton Young attended the normal school at Stanberry, Missouri,
and the State Normal School at Warrensburg, that state. Thus equipped,
he taught school six years, having served as principal of the first consoli
dated high school established in Missouri. Resigning the position,
Mr. Young studied osteopathy in Des Moines, Iowa, and having acquired
a thorough knowledge of the art and science thereof located in Superior,
Nebraska, where he practiced successfully for five years. Coming from
there to Fremont in 1910, Doctor Young has built up a large and lucrative
practice in this city. He is active and prominent in professional organi
zations, having served as president of the State Association of Osteopathy
for two terms, and was a member of the $tate Board of Osteopathy, of
which he was secretary two years.
Doctor Young married, in 1911, Jeannette Dysart, who was born in
Ohio, a daughter of William Dysart, who, in 1881, bought land in
Superior, Nuckolls County, Nebraska, for $7 an acre, and recently sold
the same for $116 an acre. He still resides in Superior, being retired
from active pursuits. Dr. and Mrs. Young have two children, Jean,
born in 1912, and John D., born in December, 1913. Both Dr. and Mrs.
Young are members of the Congregational Church. The doctor is usually
independent in politics, voting according to the dictates of his conscience.
Fraternally he belongs to the Knights of Pythias and is an active and
prominent member of the Rotary Club.
John H. Knowles. Possessing in a large measure the energy,
ability and sound judgment that invariably commands success, John h'
Knowles was widely known as the longest established shoe dealer in

A- Cu*dtti&> abhriAJ

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 775
Fremont. He is held in high esteem in business, political and social
circles. A son of the late James Knowles, he was born in 1865 ih Upper
Sandusky, Ohio, coming on the paternal side of Irish ancestry.
Born in Ireland, James Knowles was brought up in the northern part
of the Emerald Isle, and as a young man immigrated to the United
States. He lived first in Ohio, from there moving to Wisconsin, where
he was engaged in farming a number of years, and eventually going to
Iowa, where he spent the later days of his life. He served for two or
three years as a soldier in the Civil war and was at one time taken pris
oner, but was fortunate enough to escape from his place of confinement.
He was a republican in politics ; a member of the Presbyterian Church
and belonged to the Grand Army of the Republic. He married, in Ohio,
Eliza Lowery, a native of this country, and of their eight children five
are living, as follows : John H., of whom we write ; William, a Kansas
farmer; J. D., engaged in farming in Clarinda, Iowa; Mary, wife of
L. B. Turner of Kansas, a farmer; and Elizabeth, wife of John M.
Dodge, who is engaged in mercantile pursuits in the State of Washington.
Having completed the course of study in Carroll College, Waukesha,
Wisconsin, John H. Knowles first turned his attention to agriculture,
and later clerked for awhile in a retail store. Changing his occupation,
he subsequently traveled fourteen years for a wholesale shoe house,
acquiring while thus employed a pretty good knowledge of the shoe
business. In the meantime, in 1898, Mr. Knowles and his brother Robert
opened a shoe store in Fremont, the brother assuming charge of the
store, while Mr. Knowles continued traveling. Robert Knowles
died in 1911, and John Knowles had entire charge of the estab
lishment until September, 1920, when he sold the store and is now a
traveling salesman. Mr. Knowles began business for himself with very
limited means, and by strict attention to the details of his business met
with unquestioned success in his undertakings.
Mr. Knowles married, in 1896, Margaret Turner, who was born in
Waukesha, Wisconsin, a daughter of Robert Turner, a lifelong farmer
of Wisconsin. Of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Knowles two children
have been born, namely : Isabel, who attended the University of Wooster,
in Wooster, Ohio, and now teaching in the high school in Fremont ; and
Elizabeth, a student in the Fremont High School. Independent in poli
tics, supporting' the best men and measures, Mr. Knowles has served in
the City Council, and in 1907 and 1908 represented his district in the
State Legislature. Fraternally he is a member of Fremont Lodge No.
514, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, of the Knights of Pythias,
and of the Modern Woodmen of America. Religiously Mr. and Mrs.
Knowles are members of the Presbyterian Church.
Andrew Harvey, M. D. As far back as there is any definite record
of the human race there have been men who devoted their lives to the
healing of disease, but it is only within practically recent times that the
physician has exerted himself with equally beneficent results in the
prevention of disease by the introduction of practical sanitary regula
tions and the application of discoveries relative to the cause of maladies
once believed incurable. With the expansion in the field of usefulness
has come to the members of the medical profession added esteem and
honor, and those belonging to it are easily ranked among the best citi
zens of the community in which their work is performed. Dodge County,
as one of the most progressive sections of Nebraska has some of the
eminently representative physicians and surgeons of the state, and one
of them is Dr. Andrew Harvey of Fremont.

776 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Doctor Harvey was born in Dodge County, Nebraska, on October
26, 1884, a son of Andrew and Margaret (Ritchie) Harvey. The father
was born in Ayr, Scotland, and the mother in Dundee, Scotland. About
1871 he came to the United States and located in Nebraska, and the
mother came to the state some time later, and they were here married.
Both survive and are making their home in North Bend, Nebraska, where
for a number of years the father was a farmer and engaged in raising
fruit. He and his wife belong to the Presbyterian Church. In. politics
he is a democrat and he served as mayor of North Bend for three terms.
Fraternally he belongs to the Woodmen of the World. He and his wife
became the parents of the following children : Mrs. W. A. McPherson,
whose husband is a retired farmer of Fremont; Mrs. Elizabeth Bailey,
who is a widow living at Mitchell, Nebraska; Mrs. Mary H. Robinson,
a widow residing at Ponca, Nebraska ; Mrs. J. A. Ross, whose husband
is a farmer of North Bend, Nebraska; Mrs. O. J. Waiker, whose hus
band is a lumberman of Gibbon, Nebraska; Doctor Andrew, who was
the sixth in order of birth ; Mrs. James Ferguson, whose husband is a
Dodge County farmer; and David, who lives at Lyons, Nebraska. The
paternal grandfather, Andrew Harvey, came to Dodge County, Nebraska,
in the '70s and lived on a farm in this county for many years. He
reached the advanced age of ninety-six years before he was claimed by
death. The maternal grandfather, James Ritchie, came to Dodge County,
Nebraska, at an early day. He, too, is deceased, passing away at North
Bend, Nebraska, after useful life spent as a farmer and preacher.
Doctor Harvey attended the local schools of Dodge County and North
Bend, and was graduated from the high school of the latter place in 1903,
following which he took a four-years' course in Bellevue College, from
which he was graduated in 1907 with the degree of Bachelor of Science,
and then taught for the subsequent two years. He matriculated at the
University of Nebraska, in the medical department, and was graduated
therefrom in 1913 with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Immediately
following his graduation Doctor Harvey began the practice of his pro
fession at Craig, Nebraska, where he remained for two and one-half
years, and then came to Fremont, locating permanently in this city in
November, 1915, and has built up some very excellent connections, and
his practice shows a steady and normal increase.
On October 22, 1913, Doctor Harvey was married to Mabel Thom,
born at North Bend, Nebraska, a daughter of Alexander Thom, mayor
of North Bend, president of the First State Bank of that city, and a man
of more than ordinary prestige. Dr. and Mrs. Harvey have two chil
dren, namely : Dorothy Jean and Alexander. They belong to the Pres
byterian Church. Fraternally Doctor Harvey is a Mason. Although he
exercises his right of suffrage by voting the democratic ticket, Doctor
Harvey does not take a very active part in politics, being absorbed in his
practice. Professionally he maintains membership with the Dodge County
Medical Society, the Nebraska State Medical Society, the Elkhorn
Valley Medical Society and the American Medical Association. While
living at Craig he was president of the Burt County Medical Society for
a year. A close student and conscientious practitioner, Doctor Harvey
has been very successful and has honorably won and holds the confidence
and respect of his neighborhood both as a physician and as a man.
Herman G. Sasse. Among the younger men who have assumed the
active burdens of agricultural management in Dodge County, one is
Herman G. Sasse, who has always believed that the best and fullest life

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 777
is to be found in the country. He has remained on the homestead farm,
where he grew up, arid has laid a sure foundation of success in the work
for which he was trained.
The Sasse farm is in section 26 of Maple Township. Mr. Sasse was
born there April 12, 1891, grew up with an education in the common
schools, at the age of twenty-three married and began farming for him
self. He has since operated his father's place of 280 acres, and does both
general farming and stock raising. In 1920 he purchased an improved
farm of eighty acres in Nickerson Township, Dodge County, which he
took charge of in March, 1921.
Mr. Sasse is independent in political affiliations. In 1914 he mar
ried Sarah Knoell who was born in Dodge County.
William J. Maher. One of the best known of the younger attor
neys of Washington County is William J. Maher, of Blair, an honored
native son who has always tried to measure up to the standard of correct
manhood and this locality is proud to number him among its progressive
and representative men, having always maintained his home here. In
all the relations of life he has proved true to every trust reposed in him
and no one is worthier of the high esteem in which he is held.
William J. Maher was born in Blair, Washington County, Nebraska,
on October 25, 1894, and is the son of James E. and Grace A. (Hayes)
Maher, both of whom also are natives of Washington County and are
now living in Blair. James E. Maher was born in October 27, 1858,
and is the son. of William and Catherine (Walsh) Maher, both of whom
were natives of Ireland. The father was born in 1824 and died on May
7, 1888, and the mother who was born in 1824, died in 1891. William
and Catherine Maher were married at Davenport, Iowa, where they
first settled after coming to this country, and in that city he ran a hotel
for two years. In 1858 he came to Washington County, Nebraska, and
homesteaded a farm, on which he lived for about six years, at the end
of that time moving into Blair, where they- spent the .remainder of their
lives. They were members of the Roman Catholic Church and in politics
he was a democrat. He served as a member of the City Council and
also on the School Board for several years in Blair. Of the six children
born to them, four are living, namely: Mrs. R. A. Heaton of Wahoo,
Nebraska; James E., father of William J., of this sketch; Mary, the
widow of J. T. Powers, living at Muskogee, Oklahoma ; Lizzie, the wife
of Fred Cunningham of Muskogee.
James E. Maher was educated in the public schools of Blair and on
attaining mature years he engaged in the mercantile business, which
occupied his efforts for a number of years. He was successful in busi
ness and in 1897 retired from the mercantile business and now gives his
attention to his farms, several of which he owns in this locality. In 1890
he was married to Grace Hayes, who was born and reared in Blair, the
daughter of Patrick Hayes, who was born in Ireland and came to Blair
in 1869, when the town was first started. He ran a lumber yard here
for a number of years and was successful in his business affairs. To
James E. and Grace Maher were born seven children, namely: Ruth,
the wife of Reed O'Hanlon of Blair ; William J., of this sketch ; Roland,
who is a student in the law department of Georgetown University at
Washington, D. C. ; Robert, who graduated from the Blair High School
in the spring of 1920; Charlotte, who is attending St. Mary's Academy,
Notre Dame, Indiana; James and Margaret. The family are identified
with the Catholic Church and in politics James E. Maher is a democrat.
Vol. II— 21

778 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
He has taken an active part in public affairs and served for eleven years
as a member of the Board of County Commissioners and twenty-four
years as a member of the School Board.
William J. Maher attended the public schools of Blair, followed by a
year's attendance at the University of Nebraska, and then was a student
in Creighton College, where he was graduated in 1916, with the degree
of Bachelor of Laws. Immediately thereafter he formed a law partner
ship with Clark O'Hanlon and has been actively engaged in the practice
of his profession continuously since. As a lawyer he has won the repu
tation of a safe and sound practitioner, and by a straightforward, honor
able course he has built up a good legal business, being considered one of
the leaders of the Washington County bar.
In 1915 Mr. Maher was married to Winifred Donahue, who was born
in Omaha, Nebraska, and they have one child, John Joseph. They are
members of the Catholic Church and Mr. Maher is a member of the
Knights of Columbus. He is also a member of the Gamma Eta Gamma,
a college law fraternity. Tn every respect he merits the high esteem in
which he is universally held, for he is a man of public spirit, professional
ability and exemplary character.
James J. McFarland. A man of talent and enterprise, James J.
McFarland, who has recently turned over to his son the management of
the Dodge Criterion, was for many years proprietor of that paper, and
successfully devoted all his thought and energy to making it a bright,
reliable, and above all, a clean sheet, nothing of worth being too small to
claim his attention, and no topic so large that he could not handle it intel
ligently. A son of the late A. M. McFarland, he was born March 9,
1857, in Clinton County, Indiana, where his childhood days were spent.
A pioneer of Nebraska, A. M. McFarland trekked across the country
with a colony of thirteen families from Indiana to Nebraska, camping
and cooking by the way in true pioneer style. Locating in Stanton, then
a little settlement of six families only, he took up land in what is still
called Hoosier Hollow, on Pleasant Run Creek, becoming a homesteader
in 1868, and on the farm which he reclaimed spent the remainder of
his seventy-five years of earthly life. He was a Baptist minister, and in
addition to preaching was known far and wide as the best auctioneer in
the Elkhorn Valley. His wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Couger,
attained the advanced age of seventy-nine years. Their children, eight
in number, were reared on the homestead and educated in the district
school. Well trained in agricultural pursuits under his father's instructions,
James J. McFarland spent all of his earlier life on the home farm, as a
boy doing all the chores incidental to farm life. Having a decided taste
and talent for journalism, he became familiar with its rudiments in Stan
ton, and subsequently edited and published the Stanton Democrat for
five years, and later managed the Stanton Register for twelve years,
making it one of the best papers of the kind in Stanton County.
Coming to Dodge in 1901, Mr. McFarland assumed charge of
the Dodge Criterion, and in its management met with assured success
from the start. It has a large and constantly increasing circulation its
many readers getting all of the latest reliable news in a condensed form,
whether foreign or domestic, and keeping well informed on local affairs!
Mr. McFarland recently installed his son as manager of the paper, but
still assists in the office if necessary, although he is practically retired
from active work.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 779
Mr. McFarland married, in 1878, Hannah E. Lovett of Stanton and
into the household thus established six children have been born, namely :
Lillie Daniels, living on a farm in Stanton County ; Elmer M., in charge
of the Criterion; Chester died in infancy; Orvil, who lived but eleven
years; Reginald, engaged in farming in Stanton County; and Maurice,
also a farmer in Stanton County. Mrs. McFarland passed to the life
beyond on February 15, 1919. She was a member of the Congregational
Church, to which Mr. McFarland belongs. Politically Mr. McFarland
is a republican, and although he has never held public office, he has ever
heartily endorsed all projects conducive to the advancement and pros
perity of his home town.
Elmer M. McFarland, the eldest son of his parents, began working
for himself at the age of eighteen years', being engaged in farming for
two years. Subsequently serving an apprenticeship at the printer's trade,
he followed it until 1906, when he removed to Ashland, Nebraska, where
he was in the employ of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad
Company until 1919, doing clerical work at first, but afterward having
been employed as a mechanic in the roundhouse. Resigning the position,
he bought a half interest in his father's paper, the Dodge Criterion, of
which he has now full control, in its management meeting with acknowl
edged success. He is a republican in politics, and a member of the
Highlanders. ' Elmer M. McFarland married, October 23, 1909, Jennie R. Bricker,
whose parents reside in Ashland, Nebraska, and they have one child,
Wynona, born in 1911.
John B. Janssen. The steady tides of immigration which have
flowed into the fertile states of the northwest have had their part in the
marvelous growth of this region, but they take away none of the credit
from the men who dared the hardships and endured the privations of
life in the early days, although many of them now sleep in death. One
of these men of Nebraska, now gone from this life, was John Janssen of
Dodge County, who in dying left behind him a keen appreciation of his
sterling characteristics which are not easily forgotten, any more than
they were overlooked while he was living. He was a good man, a kind
neighbor and worthy citizen, and no higher praise can be accorded
anyone. John Janssen was born in Hanover, Germany, January 15, 1841, a
son of John Henry and Katherine Janssen, natives of Germany, both of
whom died in their native land. In 1871 John Janssen came to the
United States and first stopped at Toledo, Ohio, where he secured
employment chopping wood. Later he spent a short time in Illinois,
where he was married to Katherine Brandt, a native of Illinois, and a
daughter of Henry and Mary Brandt, natives of Germany, who came to
the United States and became farmers of Illinois. After his marriage
Mr. Janssen came on west to Nebraska, and for a time lived at Fremont,
where he worked at whatever he could find to do. As soon as possible
he rented land, then bought a farm, and on it did general farming for
thirty years. Feeling that he had by this time earned a rest, he retired
and moved to Hooper, where he died November 2, 1904. He was an
independent voter. Zion Lutheran Church held his membership, and he
lived up to its creed in his every-day life.
Mr. and Mrs. Janssen became the parents of the following children :
Anna, who married Willis Marshall, a farmer of Belgrave, Nebraska,
and she died March 9, 1920; John, who is a farmer of Dodge County;

780 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Herman, who is also a farmer of Dodge County ; Emma, who is the wife
of Peter Miller, a farmer of Dodge County; Mary, who died March 1,
1906, was the wife of Gust Agers; Amelia, who is the wife of Henry
Johanning, a farmer of Dodge County; Lucy, who married George
Bower, a farmer in the vicinity of Scribner, and he died April 6, 1920;
Carrie, who died in infancy; Charles, who is an attorney; Fred, who is
also an attorney, and two who died in infancy. Fred Janssen is a veteran
of the World war, and served in Company L, Three Hundred and Fifty-
Fifth Regiment, Eighty-Ninth Division of Infantry, for six months
abroad after a training of thirteen and one-half months at Fort Funston.
For ninety-three days he was under fire and was a brave soldier. He
received his honorable discharge on June 13, 1919, and is now a member
of Hooper Post No. 18, American Legion. Charles Janssen was also in
the service as a member of the balloon corps, receiving his first training
at Omaha, Nebraska, from whence he was sent to Camp Dodge, Virginia,
where he was honorably discharged, after being in the army for eighteen
months. He, too, is a member of the American Legion.
Nathaniel W. S mails. Seventy-one years have dissolved in the
mists of the irrevocable past since Nathaniel W. Smails, one of the best
known citizens of Dodge County, first saw the light of day. He has lived
through one of the most remarkable, and in many respects the most
wonderful, epoch in the world's history. There will never be another
like it, for it embraced the period when the strong-armed homeseekers
from the eastern states invaded the great west (he being among the num
ber) and redeemed it from the wilds, bringing it up through various
stages to its present high state of civilization. To all this he has been a
most interested, and by no means a passive, spectator, having sought to
do his full share in the work of progress in the locality which he selected
as his place of abode. He talks most interestingly of the early days
when customs and manners were different in many respects, but when
real manhood and womanhood were valued at their true worth.
Nathaniel W. Smails was born in Monroe, Michigan, on August 6,
1849, and is the son of James and Margaret (Levington) Smails. Both
parents were born and reared in England, immigrated to the United States
and were married in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the officiating clergy
men being Rev. Nathaniel West, who afterwards was the first chaplain
appointed by President Lincoln. James Smails was a tailor by trade and
for a number of years followed that trade in New York. In the early
'40s he went to Michigan, living in Monroe and Coldwater, where he
was engaged as a merchant tailor until 1882, when he retired from active
business and came to Fremont, Nebraska, where he spent his remaining
years, both he and his wife being now deceased. He was a republican
in his political faith and a member of the Presbyterian Church. To
him and his wife were born nine children, of which number three are
living, namely : Nathaniel W. ; Robert L., and Abraham L., all of whom
live in Fremont and are partners in business.
Nathaniel W. Smails received a good public school education, com
pleting his studies in the high school. He then apprenticed himself to
learn the printing trade in Coldwater, Michigan, receiving $50 for a
year's work. In 1869 he came to Fremont, Nebraska, secured the owner
ship of the Nebraska Statesman and ran it until 1875. Then for a short
time he was employed on another paper here, afterwards buying the
Herald and conducting it for a short time. During this period he also
issued a daily edition for a short time. About 1904 Mr. Smails and his

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 781
two brothers, Robert L. and Abraham L., engaged in the job printing
business here and are still so engaged. They operate under the name of
the Electric Print Shop and have built up a large and representative
business in their line.
Politically Mr, Smails has been a lifelong supporter of the democratic
party and has for years taken an active part in political affairs, having
served for ten years as secretary of the Democratic State Central Com
mittee. In 1914 he was appointed postmaster of Fremont and served for
four years, then resigning. He proved himself a competent, painstaking
and courteous public official and was popular with the patrons of the
office. In 1895 Mr. Smails was married to Cora B. Kemp, a native of Minne
sota, whose family came to Fremont many years ago. Her father, who
was a lawyer by profession, was a railroad right-of-way man and. first
came through here when the railroad was being built from Dubuque to
Minneapolis. Mr. and Mrs. Smails have one child, Judith Margaret,
' who is now attending Midland College. Mrs. Smails is a member of the
Episcopal Church. A public-spirited citizen, Mr. Smails has stood at
all times for those things which make for the best phase pf community
life. The qualities of keen discrimination, sound judgment and execu
tive ability have entered very largely into his makeup and have been
contributing elements to the success which has come to him.
Frank W. Fuhlrodt. Widely and favorably known as the efficient
postmaster of Fremont, Frank W. Fuhlrodt is thoroughly acquainted
with the duties of his responsible position, his remarkable aptitude hav
ing been developed by years of consecutive service in the postoffice, dur
ing which time he familiarized himself with the work of each of its
various departments. A son of the late Conrad Fuhlrodt, he was born
April 10, 1878, in Chicago, Illinois, coming from French and German
ancestry. Born in France, Conrad Fuhlrodt came to the United States ' when
very young, and for a long time lived in Illinois. During the '70s he
moved to Chicago, from there coming, in 1878, to Fremont, Nebraska,
where he was engaged in mercantile pursuits a number of years. Mov
ing to Washington County, this state, he opened a store in Telebasta, and
in addition to running a general store also served as postmaster there
until his death. He married, in Illinois, Elizabeth Hausf eldt, a native of
Germany, and they became the parents of eight children, as follows :
Ida, wife of Henry Schafersman, a retired farmer, living near Norfolk,
Nebraska; Albert, engaged in farming at Wisner; Amelia, wife of
Arthur Lamb, a retired farmer of Albion, Nebraska ; Emma, wife of
Frank Felder, a shoe manufacturer of Seattle, Washington; Frank W.,
of this sketch; William L. of Fremont, with the Bader Furniture Com
pany.; August C, a metal worker in Seattle, Washington; and Conrad
A. of Omaha, a traveling salesman. The father was a republican in
politics, and both he and his wife were members of the Methodist Epis
copal Church.
Educated in Fremont, where his parents brought him when he was
an infant, Frank W. Fublrodt attended the public and normal schools,
and at the age of seventeen years began life as a wage earner, working
on the railroad. In September, 1903, Mr. Fuhlrodt entered the postoffice
at Fremont in a minor capacity, and through deserved prornotions has
been an active worker in all of its departments, in 1915 having been made
assistant postmaster, and on May 11, 1920, having received his appoint-

782 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
ment as postmaster, a position he is filling with credit to himself and to
the satisfaction of all concerned, having been acting postmaster since
March, 1919.
Mr. Fuhlrodt married June 15, 1904, Lucinda Mallette, who was
born in Burt County, Nebraska, a daughter of Thomas Mallette, a pros
perous farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Fuhlrodt have no children. Both attend
the Methodist Episcopal Church and contribute liberally towards its sup
port. Politically Mr. Fuhlrodt is a republican and fraternally he is a
member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and the Benevolent
and Protective Order of Elks.
Andrew Jensen. Self-acquired prosperity, liberal ideas, ambitions
expressed in promoting agriculture, education, religion and simplicity of
living, as well as unquestioned public and private integrity, constitute the
fundamentals upon which rest the enviable standing of Andrew Jensen,
a pioneer of Platte Township, Dodge County, of 1866, and at present a
retired resident of the suburbs of Fremont.
Mr. Jensen was born in the Kingdom of Denmark, July 26, 1840, and
there received his education in the public schools. He was reared to agri
cultural pursuits, and when he immigrated to the United States, in 1865,
it was with the intention of settling in a community where he could
work his way to the ownership of a farming property. Upon his arrival,
he was possessed of but six dollars, but his ambition and willingness to
work were assets that discounted his lack of financial resources, and he
made his way to Wisconsin where he began his career in this country.
In 1866 he came on to Nebraska, where he purchased the homestead of
his brother, in Platte Township, Dodge County, and here the entire
period of his active career was passed. Through industry and good man
agement he became the owner of 148 acres of valuable farming land,
which he brought to a high state of cultivation and upon which he made
modern improvements. In 1906 he retired from active farming and
moved to a home in the suburbs of Fremont, where he now has ten acres
of land, having disposed of his other property. His position in the com
munity is that of a man who has lived according to the best that he knew,
whose abilities have been trained upon the things that are worth while,
and whose general character is such as to win him those most splendid
and satisfying of rewards, the consciousness of welldoing and the esteem
of his fellow-townsmen. Mr. Jensen is a member of the Lutheran
Church, to which his family likewise belongs. Since his location in the
county he has exerted a controlling interest upon many phases of its
growth. Few happenings of moment but have profited directly or indi
rectly by his judgment or pecuniary assistance. Various township offices,
including those of road overseer for seven years, constable for one year
and member of the School Board for a long period, have been' invested
with dignity and non-partisan largeness through his occupancy. He is
an independent voter.
Mr. Jensen was first married in 1868 to Miss Dorothy Peterson, and
they became the parents of four children : Mrs. Katie Davis, a resident
of Missoula, Montana; Mrs. Bertha Patterson, who died at the age of
thirty-two years ; Mrs. Sennie Scutter of Lincoln County, Nebraska ;
and Hans, who died at the age of two years. The mother of these chil
dren died in 1878, and in 1880 Mr. Jensen married Miss Anna Jeppisen,
six children being born to this union : Dorothy and Mary, who died as
small children ; Andrea, who died in infancy ; Hans, Minnie and Andrew,
Jr., who reside with their parents.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 783
Carl Kroeger. One of the substantial and best known citizens of
the flourishing Town of Hooper Nebraska, is Carl Kroeger, who, while
having large interests in several other sections of the state, has main
tained his home here for forty years. He has also been one of the vigor
ous citizens, active in business affairs and practical in furthering the
interests of the town. Although now retired from active life, he is still
influential in the town's general affairs, concerning which his sound judg
ment is frequently consulted, the fruits of his ripened experience being
recognized as most beneficial.
Carl Kroeger was born in Holstein, Germany, in 1850. His grand
father was a lieutenant in the Danish army. His parents, Gustaf and
Amelia (Hansen) Kroeger, were born in Germany, and the mother died
there. The father, who was a tanner by trade, came to the United States
in 1881, joined his son Carl in Dodge County, Nebraska, and died here
in 1897. Of his eight children, Carl was the eldest, the others being as
follows : Amelia, who lives in Idaho ; Johanna, who is the wife of Peter
Eggers; Theodore, who is a dentist, lives in Idaho; Hermoine, who is
the widow of Hans Harlow; Herman, who is deceased; Helen, who is
the wife of William Moshage, a rancher near Wood Lake, Nebraska,
and Gustaf, who is an attorney in active practice at Boise, in Ada County,
Idaho. He and wife were members of the German Lutheran Church
and were people held in high regard in Germany.
Carl Kroeger had school privileges in his native land and then
learned the trade of a tanner. He was twenty-three years old when
he came to the United States and for one year afterward worked
in a tannery at Fremont, Ohio. In 1874 he came to Omaha, Nebraska,
and for the next six years engaged in farming near that city. In 1880 he
located at what was then the Village of Hooper, but he had the fore
sight to recognize that it offered business opportunity, and he started a
meat market, in partnership with his brother Theodore, which they con
tinued as the Hooper Market for thirteen years. When he retired from
the market business he still kept his home at Hooper, although for the
next nine years he was connected with the Heine Brothers in a cattle
ranch in Cherry County and in buying and selling as well as raising
livestock. After disposing of his ranch interests in this connection, he entered
into another ranch enterprise, in partnership with William G. J. Dau,
in Brown and Cherry counties, Mr. Kroeger subsequently buying his
partner's interest and operating alone until he saw a favorable oppor
tunity to sell. Once more he bought a ranch in Cherry County and
carried on a large and successful business until 1918, when he sold out
and retired from active business.
In 1880 Mr. Kroeger was united in marriage to Miss Emma Winkle-
man, then of Hooper but a native of Holstein, Germany, like himself,
and the following children were born to. them : Minnie, who is the wife
of William R. Hoabak, who is a banker at Dodge, Nebraska ; Gustaf and
Theodore, both of whom died in infancy; Anna, who died at the age of
four years ; and Mary, who is the wife of W. H. Rogers, manager of the
Hooper Electric Light and Power Company.
Mr. Kroeger is prominent in local politics, a strong republican, and
has served faithfully and efficiently in many offices of trust and respon
sibility. For nine years he was precinct assessor, was treasurer for
twenty years of the School Board of Hooper, has served several terms
on the Town. Board and in other ways and offices has proved his excel-

784 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
lent citizenship. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity at Hooper. He
was reared in the German Lutheran Church but has been liberal in his
support to other religious bodies and to worthy enterprises of all kinds.
Frederick E. Braucht, M. D., D. D. S. As a specialist in the treat
ment of diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat, Dr. Frederick E.
Braucht has developed a large and representative practice in the City of
Fremont, Dodge County, and is essentially one of the representative
physicians and surgeons of the state, besides which he was graduated
also from the Northwestern Dental College at Chicago.
Doctor Braucht was born in Mercer County, Illinois, February 2,
1868, and is the only child of George W. and Frances (Douglass)
Braucht, the former of whom was born in Ohio and the latter in Mercer
County, Illinois, where their marriage was solemnized, and where the
latter died in 1869, within a few months after the birth of her only
child. In 1872 George W. Braucht came to Nebraska, and with head
quarters at Fremont, engaged in the buying and shipping of horses.
Later he was for a few years engaged in farming west of Fremont, and
within this period he contracted a second marriage, Miss Kate Burner
becoming his wife. They thereafter resided at Fremont about twelve
years, and then Mr. Braucht removed to Idaho. From that state he
finally removed to the State of Washington, where he resided until July,
1919, when he returned to Fremont, where he passed the closing days
of his life in the home of his son, Doctor Braucht, of this review, his
death having occurred October 14, 1919. Of the four children of the
second marriage, three are living: Jesse, in the employ of a wholesale
millinery house in the City of Minneapolis, Minnesota; Myrtle is the
wife of Arthur Callan of Portland, Oregon; and Roy L. is manager of
a large ranch near Artois, California.
Doctor Braucht received excellent educational advantages in his
youth, including those of Battle Creek College, at Battle Creek, Michi
gan, and also those of the great University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor.
In preparation for the profession in which he has achieved unequivocal
success, he entered the celebrated Rush Medical College, in the City of
Chicago, and from this great institution he received his degree of Doctor
of Medicine in 1894, the following year having marked his graduation in
the college of dentistry. A very exceptional experience marked the prac
tical novitiate of Doctor Braucht in the work of his profession, for he
went to the Samoan or Navigators Islands, in the Southern Pacific Ocean,
where he engaged in the practice of medicine and where he remained
somewhat more than eight years. He there built up a substantial and
profitable practice, but in 1903 he returned to the United States and
engaged in practice in the City of Omaha. One year later, however, he
went to Honduras, Central America, where he remained riine months, and
after his return he was engaged in practice at Licking Valley, Pennsyl
vania, for six months. In 1906 he became superintendent of the Kansas
Sanitarium, at Wichita, and in this position he continued the incumbent
until 1909, when he became interested in gold mining in the Nome district
of Alaska, where he passed two seasons. He thereafter passed one year
at Wichita, Kansas, and he then engaged in active general practice in
Cedar County, Nebraska, where he remained until, in January, 1918, he
further diversified his somewhat remarkable experience, by entering the
medical corps of the United States army. He was assigned to service
with the signal corps of the aviation section, and in this capacity remained
at Omaha six months. He was then sent to the Government Aeronautic

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 785
School at Arcadia, California, and three months later he was transferred
to the surgical division and ordered to Letterman Hospital, at San Fran
cisco. After there. continuing in service two months he was ordered to
Camp Crain, Allentown, Pennsylvania, and he was the commanding medi
cal officer of the One Hundred and Twenty-Seventh Base Hospital when
the war closed. He arrived at his home January 7, 1919, and on the first
of the following May he established his residence at Fremont, where he
has since continued in active practice, as a specialist in treatment of dis
eases of the eye, ear, nose and throat. He had previously taken special
post-graduate courses in these special lines, at the Chicago Post-Graduate
School of Medicine and Surgery, his first work of this order having been
in 1895, and a further post-graduate course in that institution having
been completed in 1904, a four months' course. Doctor Braucht is a
close student of the best standard and periodical literature of his profes
sion, is at all times in touch with advances made in medical and surgical
science and practice, and is admirably equipped for the special line of
service to which he is devoting his attention. He is associated in prac
tice with Dr. D. G. Golding, is a member of the Nebraska State Medical
Society, and also holds membership ih the American Medical Association.
The doctor is independent in politics and while a resident of Samoan
Islands he served as a member of the Municipal Council of the city in
which he maintained his home. He was a member of the Board of
Health while engaged in practice in Cedar County, Nebraska. In the
Masonic fraternity he is affiliated with both the York and the Scottish
Rite bodies, in which latter he has received the thirty-second degree, and
also with the Mystic Shrine. At Fremont he and his wife attend and
support the Methodist Episcopal Church, and they are popular in the
representative social life of the community.
The year 1893 recorded the marriage of Doctor Braucht to Miss Mina
A. Owen, who was born at Hastings, Michigan, and they have two
children : Frederick A. is now associated with the Taylor-Jenkins Opti
cal Company in the City of Omaha, and Dorothy Frances is attending
the public schools of Fremont.
Ernest Dau. One of the chief industries of the .thriving little City
of Scribner is that pertaining to the handling of lumber, grain, coal and
live stock, and it is in this field of endeavor that Ernest Dau, manager of
the Crowell Lumber and Grain Company, has won recognition of his
business ability. He has been identified with this concern for fifteen
years, during which time he has materially developed its interests, while
at the same time advancing himself in the estimation of his associates.
Mr. Dau is a Nebraskari by nativity, born' January 27, 1880, and a
history of his parents will be found in the review of his brother, William
G. J. Dau, elsewhere in this work. His education was acquired in the
public schools of Dodge County, and as a young man he began his
career as a farmer, a vocation to which he applied himself until twenty-
three years old. In 1903 Mr. Dau disposed of his agricultural interests
and located at Scribner, where he entered the employ of the Crowell
Lumber and Grain Company, an old established and responsible con
cern which had been founded as early as 1869. A demonstration of
ability and fidelity won him promotion from the start, and eventually
he was placed in the position of manager of the business, an office of
which he is the incumbent at this time. In 1908 he resigned and engaged
in farming in this county for five years, when on account of his wife's
health he again disposed of his farming interests and again took his old

786 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
position with the Crowell Lumber and Grain Company. This company
does a large business in the handling of all kinds of lumber, grain, coal
and live stock, and Mr. Dau allows no other interests to distract his
attention from the management of the concern's affairs. In political
affairs he acts independently, giving his vote to the candidate whom he
deems best fitted for the office, irrespective of party lines. He is a Blue
Lodge Mason and has numerous friends in that order, as he has also in
business circles.
On November 6, 1907, Mr. Dau was united in marriage with Miss
Mary Soil of Blair, Nebraska, and to this union there were born three
children: Mildred, born in 1906; Catherine, in 1911 ; and Lucille, in 1915.
P. G. Johnson. Of the residents of Dodge County who have retired
from active pursuits after spending long years in agricultural operations
is P. G. Johnson. Like many of those who have won success and posi
tion in this locality, Mr. Johnson is a native of Sweden, and, also like
others, has been the architect in the rearing of his own fortune's struc
ture. At present he is the owner of a pleasant home in Fremont, where
he is surrounded by the comforts that form the awards for a life of
industry directed by a policy of integrity.
Mr. Johnson was born in Sweden, April 11, 1852, a son of Johannus
Johnson. His father joined the Swedish army in his younger years,
but later turned from a military career and took up farming, being
engaged in the pursuits of the soil until his death at the age of eighty-
five years. Of his children, Helen is deceased ; Johanna accompanied
her brother to the United States and is now a resident of Ainsworth,
Nebraska; and P. G. is a resident of Fremont. P. G. Johnson was
educated in the public schools of his native land, and was twenty-nine
years of age when he immigrated to the United States in 1881. At that
time he came to Fremont, where he resided for three years, then going
to Burt County, where he spent eight years in farming. While there, he
was married, in 1884, to Augusta Christina Carlson, who was born in
1860, in Sweden, and who came to the United States in 1881, her par
ents having passed their entire lives in their native land, where they died.
Nine children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Johnson : Mrs. Phoebe Sweet
of Dodge County ; Mrs. Helma Sight of Dodge County ; Gilbert, a
farmer of this county; Mrs. Grace Johnson and Mrs. Ruby Harris, also
residents of Dodge County ; Carl, who is engaged in agricultural opera
tions here; Mrs. Helen Kenyon, a resident of Saunders County; Emil,
who farms in Dodge County; and a child who died in infancy.
After spending eight years in Burt County, Mr. Johnson returned to
Dodge County, where, eleven years after his arrival in the United
States, he purchased a farming property. He accumulated a valuable
tract of land, upon which he made numerous improvements, and for
many years carried on farming and stock raising and became known as
one of the practical, substantial and successful agriculturists of his com
munity. With advancing years came the feeling that he had earned a
rest from his labors, and he accordingly turned his responsibilities over
to younger shoulders and removed to his present pleasant home at 1120
East First Street, Fremont. While Mr. Johnson is retired from agricul
tural pursuits, he still maintains an interest therein and is the owner of
forty acres of good Dodge County land.
. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are consistent members of the Swedish
Lutheran Church and are contributors to worthy religious and educa
tional movements. Politically he gives his support to the candidates of

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 787
the republican party. He .is a great lover of his home, and that is per
haps the reason that he is not affiliated with any fraternal or secret
order. Frederick Bader. The Bader family is one of the best-known ones
of Dodge County, and has as its representatives some of the sound and
dependable men of this region, one of them being Frederick Bader of
Fremont, who, with his brother, Jacob R. Bader, is engaged in the under
taking business under the name of Fred Bader & Company, and he is
also engaged in the jobbing of caskets under the name of the Fremont
Casket Company.
Frederick Bader was born in Hugsweier, Baden, Germany, on
November 13, 1870, a son of Carl and Caroline (Lieb) Bader, most
estimable parents who brought up their children in an atmosphere of
piety, and so turned their attention to spiritual matters that all of them
have been upright Christians, two have gone into the ministry, and two
have gone to India, one as a missionary and the other as the wife of a
missionary. ,
Up to the time he was eighteen years of age Fred Bader remained at
home and attended the public schools of his native place, but then came
to the United States, and coming west, settled in Nebraska, his arrival
at Nebraska City being in 1888. For two seasons he was employed dur
ing the winter months as shipping clerk in the sausage department of the
Chicago Packing Company, and for one summer he was on a farm in
Washington County. Mr. Bader then came to Fremont and for three
months worked in the tub factory. An opening occurring for him in the
furniture business, he went into it and remained in it through the various
changes in name and partners until he and his brother, Jacob R. Bader,
became the owners of the undertaking part of the business, in 1900, and
operated it under the name of the Bader Brothers Company. Later Fred
Bader bought an interest in the furniture business and subsequently he
and his brother purchased the stock of Mr. Rogers, conducting both the
furniture and undertaking branches under their firm name of Bader
Brothers Company. The volume of business increased to such an extent
that in 1916 the brothers decided to divide it, and Fred Bader took over
the undertaking branch, leaving his brother in charge of the furniture,
since then operating as Fred Bader & Company. As an adjunct to his
business, Mr. Bader is engaged in the jobbing of caskets under the name
of the Fremont Casket Company, and does a jobbing trade in them in
Nebraska, South Dakota and Colorado- Two men represent the latter
company on the road. Mr. Bader is a highly trained undertaker, whose
license bears the date of June 20, 1900. He is noted for his reliability in
sympathetic service and moderation in charges incurred in the hour of
bereavement. On November 26, 1895, Mr. Bader was united in marriage with
Laura Cochran, born in Ottumwa, Iowa, and they have had two children
born to them, namely: Ruth, who is connected with M. A. Disbrow &
Company of Omaha, Nebraska, was graduated from the Fremont High
School, the Northwestern University of Evanston, Illinois, and the Van
Sant Business College of Omaha, Nebraska ; and Marian, who was grad
uated from the Fremont High School, is now taking a post-graduate
course at the Midland College. Mr. Bader is a member of the Methodist
Episcopal Church. Well known in Masonry, he is a Knight Templar,
thirty-second degree and Shriner Mason, and he also belongs to the Odd
Fellows in both of its branches, the Knights of Pythias and the Modern

788 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Woodmen. For a number of years he has been a director of the Com
mercial Club, and is serving the church as treasurer. In politics he is a
republican, but has not cared to compete for public honors. In addition
to the business enterprises already mentioned, Mr. Bader is a director
of the. First National Bank of Fremont. His time and attention have
been fully occupied with his business affairs, but he and his family have
pleasant recollections of a recreation period, when for three months they
visited Europe in 1907, long before the terrible devastating war had
plunged the world into conflict and destroyed so many of the former
pleasure grounds. Both Mr. Bader and his brother are men of the
highest standing in the community in which they have worked for so
long and faithfully, and none are held in greater esteem because of
personal characteristics than these two.
Eugene L. Mahlin is another of the native sons of Nebraska who
is here making an excellent record in the practice of law, and he is one
of the representative younger members of his profession in Dodge
County, with residence at Fremont, the county seat. Mr. Mahlin was
born in Butler County, this state, August 14, 1890, and is a son of
George S. and Sadie E. (Garman) Mahlin, who were born in Pennsylva
nia and whose marriage was solemnized in the State of Illinois. Two
years later they came to Nebraska and established their residence in
Butler County, in 1884, the father having become one of the prosperous
farmers of that county, where he continued to reside until his death, in
October, 1916, his widow being now a resident of Fremont. Of the four
children, the eldest is ' Harvey, who is a farmer near Risings City, Butler
County ; Edgar F., likewise is a progressive agriculturist in that locality ;
Jay C. is engaged in the banking business at Smithfield, Gosper County;
and Eugene L., of this review, is the youngest of the four sons. George
S. Mahlin was a man of strong mentality and well fortified opinions, his
political allegiance having been given to the democratic party, he having
been affiliated with the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and his
religious faith having been that, of the Christian Church, of which his
widow 'likewise is a devoted member. He was influential in community
affairs in Butler County, where he served in various township offices, and
through his well ordered farm enterprise he achieves substantial pros
perity after coming to Nebraska.
The public schools of his native county afforded to Eugene L. Mahlin
his early educational discipline, which was supplemented by the com
pletion of the scientific course in the Fremont College at Fremont, in
which he was graduated in 1910. In consonance with his ambition and
well matured plans, he then went to the City of Omaha and completed
the curriculum of the Creighton College of Law, in which he was grad
uated as a member of the class of 1915, his reception of the degree of
Bachelor of Laws having been attended also by his admission to the
bar of his native state. He forthwith engaged in the practice of his
profession at Fremont, and here his ability and close application have
enabled him to develop a substantial and representative law business.
His valiant spirit was shown by his attending the night classes of the
law school and defraying his incidental expenses by working during the
daytime. It is needless to say that the same dauntless spirit attended his
initial efforts in establishing himself in practice, and he has made a
record of success worthily achieved. In 1916 he was elected police judge
of Fremont, and of this office he continued in tenure until he subordi
nated all personal interests to tender his services to the Government

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 789
when the nation became involved in the great World war. In 1917 he
entered the Atlantic transport service, at Norfolk, Virginia, and with
this important arm of the service he continued to be identified until the
close of the war, his honorable discharge having been received December
31, 1918. He then returned to Fremont, where he has since continued in
the independent practice of his profession. He is a popular and appre
ciative member of the American Legion, composed of those who served
in the late war, and in November, 1919, he had the distinction of being
elected commander of the Fremont Post of this fine patriotic order. He
is affiliated also with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, is a
democrat in politics and his wife is an active member of the Methodist
Episcopal Church.
In September, 1919, Mr. Mahlin wedded Miss Lula M. Walker, who
was born near the City of Peoria, Illinois, a daughter of Frederick J.
and Anna Walker, who now reside at Fremont, Dodge County, where
the father is a prosperous retired farmer.
Christ H. Christensen is one of the sturdy sons .of the far Norse-
land who has proved his constructive powers most effectively since
establishing his residence in Nebraska, where he has maintained his
home in Dodge County for fully thirty-five years. He now owns and
conducts a prosperous general insurance business in the City of Fre
mont, and in connection with this enterprise he has given no little atten
tion to the real estate business. As an insurance underwriter he repre
sents a number of the best and most popular fire, life, accident and tor
nado insurance companies, and his agency is one that controls a large
and representative supporting patronage.
Mr. Christensen was born in the Province of Vandsyssel, Denmark,
on June 18, 1862, and is a son of Christ and Mary (Petersen) Nelson,
his own surname being derived from the personal or Christian name
of his father, in accord with the ancient. Danish custom. His parents
passed their entire lives in Denmark, where the father, a man of superior
education, was long a successful teacher, as well as a citizen of promi
nence and influence in community affairs, both he and his wife having
been earnest communicants of the Lutheran Church. Of the ten children
five are now living, and two of the number reside in the United States —
Christ H. of this review, and Louis, who is engaged in the hotel business
in the City of San Francisco, California. To the excellent schools of the
Town of Sterup, in his native province, Christ H. Christensen is indebted
for his early education, besides which he had the advantages of a home
of distinctive culture and refinement. As a youth he served an appren
ticeship to the blacksmith's trade, and he continued work at his trade in
his native land until 1884, when he came to the United States, his arrival
at Fremont, Nebraska, having occurred on April 17th, of that year.
For the first few months he was employed at farm work in Dodge
County, and for four years thereafter he was employed at his trade, in
the shops of the Fremont Foundry and Machine Company. He then, in
1887, initiated an independent business as owner of a cafe and as a
dealer in cigars, which enterprise he successfully conducted at Fremont
for several years. Through this business he won substantial success,
and it may well be understood that this fact gave him special satisfaction
when he reverted to his having arrived in Fremont with an available
capital of less than $2, besides which he still owed the price of his
transportation from Denmark to America. Mr. Christensen has been
engaged in the insurance business since 1902, and his careful and progres-

790 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
sive policies have enabled him to build up a most prosperous business,
to the management of which he gives the greater part of his time,
Loyal and public spirited, he is aligned in the ranks of the democratic
party, but has had no ambition for public office. He and his wife are
devoted and influential communicants of the Danish Lutheran Church
of Fremont, of which he is not only a trustee but also the treasurer. He
is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Fraternal
Order of Eagles, in which he is secretary of the aerie at Fremont; and
the Danish Brotherhood, in which he is secretary of the local lodge. He
is well known in Dodge County and his circle of friends is limited only
by that of his acquaintances.
In 1888 Mr. Christensen was united in marriage to Miss Anna Jensen,
who likewise is a. native of Denmark, and who is a daughter of Jens
Jensen, whose death occurred in Denmark when a young man, and whose
widow later married Hans Wolf and still resides in this city. Mr. Wolf
died in Fremont in 1917. Mr. and Mrs. Christensen have three chil
dren: Lillie is the wife of Arthur W. Lucas, train dispatcher at Fre
mont for the Chi.cago & Northwestern Railroad; Alfred is assistant
cashier of the Fremont National Bank ; and Henry a registered pharma
cist for the firm of Kerlin & Christensen, one of the leading drug stores
of Fremont. He had the distinction of serving eleven months in Field
Hospital No. 12 in France during America's participation in the late
World war, and thereafter he was with the allied forced in occupying
German territory along the Rhine until June, 1919, when he departed for
home, his honorable discharge having been given on July 5th of that
year. Louis M. Warner was born and reared in Dodge County and has
never wavered in his allegiance to and appreciation of his native county
and state, within the borders of which he has found ample opportunity
for the achieving of worthy success through association with farm enter
prise. He is now one of the representative farmers of the younger gen
eration in Cotterell Township, where his operations are carried on in
section 18, his farm comprising the eighty acres that he owns and 460
acres also in this part of Dodge County. He is a son of John H.
Warner, of whom specific mention is made on other pages of this vol
ume, so that in the present connection further review of the family history
is not demanded.
Louis M. Warner was born on the old homestead farm of his father
in Everett Township, this county, and the date of his nativity was
August 11, 1881. He early gained practical experience in connection
with the operations of the home farm and his youthful education was
acquired in the excellent schools of Dodge County. He began his inde
pendent career as a farmer when he was twenty-two years of age, and
he has since improved his land in many ways, including the erection of
buildings and the providing of the various equipments that mark the
up-to-date farm. He gives his attention to diversified agriculture and
the raising of excellent grades of live stock, is loyal and liberal in com
munity affairs, is a stockholder in the Farmers' Union at North Bend,
is independent in politics and is now serving as treasurer of the School
Board of his district.
The year 1905 recorded the marriage of Mr. Warner to Miss Mabel
Snover, who was born in Dodge County and who is a daughter of Syl
vester Snover, now a resident of Fremont, the county seat. Mr. and Mrs.
Warner have five children: Hazel B., Howard L., Grace L., Bernice E.
and Irene M.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 791
James Cassell endured his full share of the hardships and trials
marking the pioneer period in the history of Nebraska, his parents having
come to Dodge County when he was a lad of six years — and within a
short time after the admission of the state to the Union. His memory
compasses the time when grasshoppers laid waste all growing crops of
the pioneer farmers and entailed privation and distress; he recalls sea
sons of drought, with attendant failure of crops, but he was reared
under the conditions that begat courage and self-reliance and in the
later years has shared in the prosperity that has attended those who
remained in Nebraska and had faith in the now great and progressive
commonwealth. He still has active supervision of his well improved
farm of 120 acres, in section 30, Elkhorn Township, as well as of the
adjoining farm of eighty acres owned by his venerable mother.
Mr. Cassell was born in Whiteside County, Illinois, July 28, 1862,
and is a son of John and Fannie (Green) Cassell, the latter of whom
still remains on the old homestead, with her son James, as one of the
most venerable and loved pioneer women of Dodge County. Jphn
Cassell was born and reared in Scotland and was about twenty-five years
of age when he came to the United States and established his residence
in Illinois, where his marriage was solemnized. In 1868, with team and
covered wagon, he brought his family overland from Illinois to the new
State of Nebraska, and he established the family home on the farm now
owned by his son James, of this sketch. He hauled lumber from Omaha
to erect the primitive dwelling on the pioneer farm and earnestly applied
himself to reclaiming the wild prairie and making his land productive.
He bravely met the trials incidental to pioneer life, but did not live to
realize the prosperity of the later years, as he died about six years after
coming to Nebraska, his wife and children being left to face the heavy
burdens entailed by his death. Indians were still much in evidence
through this section of the state and the prospect that faced the widowed
mother was not an alluring one. It has been her good fortune to witness
the splendid development and progress of Nebraska and to enjoy the
gracious rewards that, compensate for earlier trials and privations. She
is a devoted member of the Methodist Church, as was also her husband.
James Cassell acquired his early education in the pioneer schools of
Dodge County, and he reverts with satisfaction to the fact that as a boy
and youth he attended the Sunday school that was held in the old-time
railroad station at Arlington. He was but twelve years old at the time
of his father's death and yet his youthful courage and determination did
not fail in the face of the heavy responsibilities and arduous labors that
came to him. He and his mother did not leave the home farm, but he
assumed the practical management of its operation and as the years
passed by he achieved worthy and enduring success through his zealous
labors as an agriculturist and stock-grower. His appreciation of present
conditions is enhanced by his memory of those of the pioneer days, and
he is one of the loyal and public-spirited men of the county to whose
civic and industrial development he has contributed his full quota. His
farm is equipped with good buildings and he has made profitable both
the agricultural and live-stock departments of the industry to which he
has here devoted himself during his entire active career. Mr. Cassell is
not constrained by strict partisanship in politics, but supports men and
measures meeting the approval of his judgment. He has served as a
member of the Township Board and has been moderator of the School
Board of his district for thirty-six years. He and his wife, and also his

792 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
venerable mother, hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church
at Arlington and he is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America.
March 23, 1896, Mr. Cassell wedded Miss Nora Clark, who was born
and reared in Kansas, and they have three children : Edward, George and
Fannie, the daughter now being the wife of Robert Hansby of Arlington,
Nebraska. Herman . Monnich. Occupying a noteworthy position among the
esteemed and valued citizens of Everett Township, Herman Monnich
was for many years conspicuously identified with the agricultural inter
ests of this section of Dodge County, and having through wise manage
ment secured a comfortable annual income is now living retired from
active pursuits, enjoying a well-earned leisure. A son of Gerhard and
Anna (Osterloh) Monnich, he was born November 3, 1855, in Iowa
County, Iowa, where his parents lived for three years.
Born, reared and married in Germany, Gerhard Monnich immigrated
to the United States in 1854, and having taken up Government land in
Iowa was there engaged in carpentering and farming until 1857. Com
ing with his family in that year to Dodge County, he journeyed across
the intervening country with ox teams, the trip being long and tedious.
Taking up a homestead claim in what is now Everett Township, he
improved his land, and was actively employed in farming and stock
raising until his. death in 1878 at the age of sixty-three years. His wife
survived him, passing away in 1907, at the advanced age of eighty-two
years. He was a democrat in politics, and both were members of the
Lutheran Church. Of the thirteen children born of their union, four
are living, as follows : Mary, wife of Menke Von Zeggen of California ;
Herman, of this brief personal review; Bernard, residing in Hooper;
and Dora, wife of Caspar Heller of Hooper.
Having acquired a practical education in the common schools of
Dodge County, Herman Monnich, who was of an active and enterprising
disposition, turned his attention to agriculture, and having become thor
oughly familiar with its many branches, began farming on his own
account. When ready to settle permanently, he bought his present prop
erty in section 1, Everett Township, and in its improvement met with
unquestioned success, his place being one of the most attractive in the
vicinity, reflecting credit on his good judgment and ability. Mr. Mon
nich was actively engaged in general farming and stock raising until 1917,
when he gave up hard labor, and has since lived retired from active
business cares. An active and influential member of the republican
party, he has served a number of terms as county supervisor. Frater
nally he is a thirty-second degree Mason. He is not affiliated with any
religious organization, but his wife is a devout member of the Catholic
Church. Mr. Monnich married, in 1881, Margaret Parkert, and into the house
hold thus established seven children have been born, namely : George
W., managing the home farm ; John, a garage owner of Fremont ; Ber
nard, engaged in farming in Dodge County ; Nettie, wife of Norman
Schaffer of Hooper, cashier of the First National Bank ; Edward served
in the signal corps during the World war, being trained at Lincoln,
Nebraska, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and at Baltimore, Maryland, and
now a resident of Oakland, California ; Celia, a nurse, resides in Ohio ;
and Clarence, now at home, enlisted May 21, 1918, in the field artillery,
and after being trained at Camp Jackson went with his command over
seas, took part in the Argonne Forest engagements, and was discharged
from the service May 10, 1919.

H^^^5^

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 793
Fred W. Vaughan, an influential citizen of the City of Fremont and
a representative member of the Dodge County bar, has been engaged in
the practice of his profession in Nebraska for fully forty years, and his
qualities of leadership have been manifested not only in connection with
the activities of his profession but also in the field of politics and general
civic affairs, where his influence has been marked by high ideals and
utmost loyalty.
It is most gratifying to find in this vital western commonwealth of
the Union a man who can claim the stanchest of American lineage for
generations, for representatives of Colonial ancestry are all too few
in this day of rampant commercialism and heterogeneous social stand
ards. It is to be recorded that Mr. Vaughan is a scion of fine Colonial
ancestry in both the paternal and maternal lines, and that ancestors on
both sides were found aligned as patriot soldiers in the War of the Revo
lution. Richard Vaughan, great-grandfather of Fred W., was in service
in the Revolution, as a member of Capt. Peter Grant's company in the
regiment commanded by Colonel Grayson, in the Continental foot forces
commanded by Col. William Gearson. He enlisted as a private Sep
tember 1, 1777, and made a record of loyal and efficient service in the
ranks. May 1, 1789, Governor Thomas Mifflin of Pennsylvania appointed
him a lieutenant of the Fifth Company in the Second Battalion of Militia
in Luzerne County. His commission, attested by Charles Biddle, sec
retary to the governor, is now in i the possession of him whose name
introduces this sketch. Elias Vaughan, son of Lieut. Richard Vaughan,
was one of the very early settlers in the vicinity of Wyalusing, Bradford
County, Pennsylvania, where he reclaimed a farm from the virgin forest,
his land holdings being such that he was able to give to each of his sons
a farm of good area, as gauged by the standards of the locality and
period. On June 8, 1812, Elias Vaughan was commissioned deputy post
master at Asylum, Luzerne County, and his commission is still retained
as an interesting family heirloom. He likewise received appointment as
lieutenant of the Fifth Company, One Hundred and FortyrFourth Regi
ment, Pennsylvania Militia, which was a part of the Second Brigade of
the Ninth Division. . This commission, for four years' duration, was
signed by Governor Thomas McKean and Secretary T. M. Thompson.
Evander R. Vaughan, son of Elias and father of Fred W. Vaughan,
to whom this sketch is dedicated, was born and reared in the old Key
stone State, and became the founder of the family in Nebraska, where he
passed the remainder of his life, his death having occurred at Fremont
November 12, 1900. While still in his native commonwealth he was
commissioned first lieutenant of the Wyalusing and Asylum Invincibles,
attached to the Fourth Battalion of the uniformed militia of the state,
besides which, at the time of the Civil war, he enlisted for service as a
private in the military body formed to repel invasion of Pennsylvania by
Confederate troops, Governor Curtin having called for volunteers for
this temporary service.
, In 1882 Evander R. Vaughan came with his family to Nebraska and
established himself in the furniture business at Fremont. He continued
this enterprise until about 1890, when he sold the business and retired,
by reason of advanced age, and he was one of the revered citizens of
Dodge County at the time of his death.
On the maternal side Fred W. Vaughan is a scion of the seventh
generation in descent from James York, who was a member of the royal
house of Orleans and who came to America in 1635. He became seized
of a large landed estate in Connecticut. One of his descendants, Amos
Vol. II— 22

794 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
York, great-grandfather of Fred W. Vaughan, was taken prisoner by
the Indians and Tories in 1778 and all his live stock was confiscated,
besides which he suffered the indignity of being compelled personally to
drive this stock to the British lines. After being held a prisoner several
months his exchange was effected in New York, whence he made his way
on foot to Connecticut, where his death occurred a few days prior to
that of his wife, who had escaped from the fort at the time of the his
toric Wyoming massacre in Pennsylvania, she having eluded the Indians
and escaped by making her way in a canoe down the Susquehanna River
and thence to her home in Connecticut.
Evander R. Vaughan, as a young man, was united in marriage to
Miss Jessie E. Hinman, a native of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, and
she preceded her husband to eternal rest, her death having occurred, at
Fremont, October 13, 1901. Her father, Curtis Hinman, of Wysox,
Pennsylvania, was the first abolitionist in that part of the state, and his
home was a station on the famous "underground railroad," by means of
which many slaves were assisted to freedom, in Canada, prior to the
inception of the Civil war.
Fred W. Vaughan, the only child of his parents, was born in Wyalu
sing, Pennsylvania, on December 9, 1858, and he acquired his early edu
cation in the public schools of Pennsylvania and the Susquehanna Col
legiate Institute, at Towanda, that state. Thereafter he was graduated
in the Wyoming Commercial College, at Kingston, Pennsylvania, and in
August, 1879, shortly before his twenty-first birthday anniversary, he
came to Nebraska and found hospice in the home of his uncle, Beach I.
Hinman, at North Platte. There he studied law in the office of Hinman
& Neville, of which firm his uncle was the senior member, and he was
admitted to the bar of Nebraska September 28, 1881. On February 22d
of the following year he established his home at Fremont, and here he
has since continued in the active practice of his profession, as one of the
leading members of the bar of this section of the state. An effective
resume of his political career is gained by quoting from records appear
ing in a recent publication : "Mr. Vaughan had always been a democrat,
but upon the division of the party in 1892, on the silver question, he
became identified with the gold-standard wing of the party, of which he
was a representative as a member of the state central committee of
Nebraska until 1897. In the preceding year he was a delegate to the
Democratic National Convention, in Chicago, and with others of the
Nebraska delegation, he was unseated by the convention. On the
23d of the following July he was a member of a conference of forty-five
gold democrats, from the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio,
Wisconsin, Kentucky and Nebraska, who assembled to protest against
the Chicago platform of the democratic party. As a result of this con
ference was held the National Gold Democratic Convention, at Indian
apolis, in which were nominated the standard bearers of the gold or
single standard branch of the democratic party, with General John M.
Palmer as presidential nominee. Mr. Vaughan was a delegate to this
convention, and he was secretary of the Sound Money Democratic
League of Nebraska in 1895. In 1897, believing that the sound-money
democrats must choose either the free silver democratic party or the
republican party, he transferred his allegiance to the latter, with which
he has since continued his active and loyal affiliation. He wielded influ
ence in political councils, but the only office to which he was elected was
mayor of Fremont in April, 1899."

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 795
Mr. Vaughan was one of the organizers and incorporators of the
Fremont Club, and has served as president of the same. He is promi
nently identified with the Masonic fraternity, in which he has served as
grand commander of the Nebraska Grand Commandery of Knights Tem
plar. He takes deep interest in the affairs of the Society of the Sons
of the American Revolution, and was president of the Nebraska state
organization of this great patriotic order one term. He and his wife are
active members of the Presbyterian Church in their home city. He has
been for a number of years a member of the Board of Trustees of the
Fremont public library.
In 1904 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Vaughan to Miss Ora
Reynolds, daughter of M. C. Reynolds of Culbertson, Nebraska, and the
three children of this union still remain at the parental home — Maude,
Jessie and Reynolds.
Oscar Widman was reared and educated in Sweden and was a
youth of seventeen years when he established his residence in Nebraska.
Here he has gained independence and prosperity through his own efforts
and he is now one of the successful merchants of the City of Fremont,
Dodge County, where he owns and conducts a grocery store of the best
standard of equipment and service.
Mr. Widman was born in Sweden on January 6, 1868, and is a son
of Carl and Eva (Danielson) Widman, the former of whom passed his
entire life in that fair country of the far Norseland, where his widow
still resides, he having followed the carpenter's trade during his entire
active career. Of the four children three are living: Sophia is the wife
of David Saunders, a farmer in Saunders County, Nebraska; Oscar, of
this review, was next in order of birth; and Emily remains in Sweden.
The religious faith of the family has long been that of the Lutheran
Church. After having profited by the advantages afforded in the schools of
his native land, Oscar Widman, at the age of nineteen years, manifested
his youthful ambition and self-reliance by severing the home ties and
coming to America. For three years thereafter he was identified with
farm enterprise near West Point, Cuming County, Nebraska, and in
1890 he came to Fremont and began work as a railroad section hand.
While thus engaged he sent home honey to repay the amount which he
had borrowed to pay his passage to America. He continued to follow
railroad work three years and then, in 1902, became a clerk in a grocery
store at Fremont. With characteristic ambition, he applied himself to
learning all details of this line of enterprise, and in 1911 he established
his independent grocery business, in which he has since continued with
marked success, his finely appointed establishment receiving a liberal and
representative patronage.
Mr. Widman is a democrat in politics and his high standing in the
community is shown by his having been twice elected a member of the
Board of Supervisors of Dodge County, a position of which he is still
the incumbent, through election in the autumn of 1918. He is affiliated
with the local lodge of the Knights of Pythias and he and his family are
earnest communicants of the Lutheran Church.
In 1890 Mr. Widman was united in marriage to Miss Selma Swan-
son, who was born on a farm in Burt County, this state, and of the eight
children of this union six are living: Luther is employed in the office of
the Fremont Tribune; Gladys is the wife of Otto Sticker of Fremont;
Violet is a popular assistant in her father's store ; Allison died in Janu-

796 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
ary, 1920, at the age of twenty-three years; Daphne died in 1913, aged
fourteen years ; Phyllis remains at the parental home, as do also Oscar,
Jr., and Gwendolyn, who are attending school.
William H. Bradbury. Among other interests those connected
with the handling of grain are exceptionally heavy at Hooper, owing to
its location with reference to fertile farming regions and the railroads,
and some of the most enterprising of Dodge County men are engaged in
this important line, one of them being William H. Bradbury, manager of
the Latta Grain Company.
William H. Bradbury was born in Dodge County in 1874, a son of
James Bradbury, and grandson of William Bradbury, the latter being
a native of England, who came to the United States and became superin
tendent of a coal mine in Pennsylvania. He and his wife, who bore the
maiden name of Anna Markland, had fourteen children.
James Bradbury was born in 1850 in the State of Pennsylvania, where
he resided until 1874, working in the coal mines. In that year he came
to Dodge County, Nebraska, where he obtained employment in the har
vest fields during that summer, and then worked for Peter Neabose, a
contractor at Fremont. Still later he bought a farm on Maple Creek,
adding to his original purchase until he had over 400 acres and he farmed
this until 1908 when he came to Hooper where he is still living. He
married Mary Sweinhat, born in Pennsylvania, and they became the
parents of the following children : William H., who is the eldest ; Esther
is the wife of E. M. Havens; Alice, the wife of Walter Spinner; Mary
is deceased; Florence, the wife of William Meyer; Mary, the wife of
Earl Phillips ; James, a Dodge County farmer ; Fred, with his brother
James on the farm ; Charles, also a Dodge County farmer ; Josephine, the
wife of George Parker ; and Sarah, who is deceased.
William H. Bradbury remained with his parents on their farm until
1895 when he commenced farming on his own account, and was engaged
in general farming and stock raising until 1903, when he moved to Wash
ington, where he continued to be interested in agricultural matters and
handled agricultural implements for three years. Going to Spokane,
Washington, he was in the employ of Mitchell, Lewis & Staver, but in
1914 returned to Dodge County, and entered the elevator business at
Hooper for two years, being manager for the elevator owned by Henry
Roberts, and then went with his present company. This company han
dles all kinds of grain and coal, and does a big business.
In 1898 Mr. Bradbury was married to Effie Phillips, born in Nebraska,
a daughter of Ezra Phillips of Fremont. Mr. and Mrs. Bradbury have
one child, Merle, who is the wife of Jesse B. Jarvia of Fremont, in the
employ of the electric light plant of that city. Both Mr. Bradbury and
his wife are active and valued members of the Methodist Episcopal
Church. Mr. Bradbury is a republican, but aside from voting does not
participate much in politics. He maintains membership with the Knights
of Pythias. Having attended both the public schools of Dodge County
and Fremont College Mr. Bradbruy had better educational opportunities
than some, and is a well informed man on many subjects, and is inter
ested in seeing this part of the state develop.
O. A. Peterson. A man of artistic tastes and talents, handy with
chisel and tools of all kinds, O. A. Peterson of Fremont has won an
extended reputation as a skillful worker in marble and granite, and as a
manufacturer of monuments and headstones has built up a substantial

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 797
business. Like many other of Nebraska's valued citizens, he was born
on foreign soil, his birth having occurred September 14, 1874, in Sweden.
His father, Andrew Peterson, was born, reared and educated in
Sweden and is there successfully employed in agricultural pursuits, being
an extensive farmer and stock buyer. He married Christina Benson, and
to them four children have been born, as follows : Nels, engaged in
farming in Sweden; O. A., of this brief personal record; K. A., living
retired from active pursuits in Blair, Nebraska; and Anna, residing in
Sweden. Both parents are members of the Lutheran, Churcb.
Immigrating to the United States in 1897, O. A. Peterson located in
Blair, Nebraska, where he served an apprenticeship at the marble work
er's trade, acquiring proficiency in the monumental arts. Removing to
Fremont in 1908, Mr. Peterson established himself in business as a
manufacturer of monuments, and met with success from the start, it
having grown to .such proportions that, in 1914, he erected, on Main
Street, his present fine two-story, marble front business building, which
is well adapted for his work. In addition to the skilled workmen he
employs in his factory, Mr. Peterson keeps several salesmen on the road,
and sells goods throughout Nebraska, South Dakota and Iowa.
On October 8, 1918, Mr. Peterson was united in marriage with
Emma Carlson, a native of Oregon, and their pleasant home is ever open
to their many friends and acquaintances, all of whom there find a warm
welcome from the hospitable host and hostess. Both Mr. and Mrs.
Peterson are faithful members of the Lutheran Church. Politically
Mr. Peterson casts his vote with the republican party. Fraternally he is
a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of
Pythias, Woodmen of the World and the Royal Highlanders.
•John Petrow. Occupying a place of note among the more active and
prosperous business men of Fremont, John Petrow has been a conspic
uous factor in advancing the manufacturing and mercantile interests of
Dodge County, as a candy and confectionery maker and seller having
built up an exceedingly extensive and substantial trade, the toothsome
products of his factory appealing to the tastes of the old and the young,
and to the rich and the poor alike. He was born March 3, 1881, in
Greece, where his parents, Christ N. and Helen (Constantine) Petrow,
were lifelong residents. His father was a very successful business man,
in addition to having engaged in mercantile pursuits, was a farmer and
stock dealer, and at the time of his death was very well-to-do. His
family of three girls and five boys are all living, four of the boys being
in America, as follows: Nicholas of Omaha, Nebraska; John, of this
sketch; James, of Fremont; and George, engaged in the candy business
at Fort Dodge, Iowa. All of these boys are candymakers and dealers,
and all have become wealthy since coming to this country.
Educated in Greece, John Petrow immigrated to the United States
in 1899, going directly to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he and his three
brothers were all at one time engaged in manufacturing candy and con
fectionery of all kinds. Coming to Fremont, Nebraska, in 1903, Mr. Pet
row embarked in his present business, starting in on a very modest scale,
and has since increased his operations a hundred fold. He needed but
little assistance at first, but now employs eighteen people, and has started
twelve boys, former employes of his, in the same business, and all of
them are succeeding well in their undertakings. Mr. Petrow, in partner
ship with his brother James, is the owner of valuable property in the City
of Fremont, Nebraska, and in Dodge County, Nebraska.

798 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Mr. Petrow married, in Tamaqua, Pennsylvania, Vasiliky Petropoulou,
who was born in Athens, Greece, and they are the parents of three chil
dren, namely: Christ, born in 1916; Helen, born in 1917; and George,
born in 1920. True to the religious faith in which they were reared,
Mr. and Mrs. Petrow are devout members of the Greek Orthodox Church.
Fraternally Mr. Petrow is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted
Masons, in which he has taken the thirty-second degree ; of the Ancient
Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of the Knights of Pythias
and of Fremont Lodge No. 514, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
John H. Melick. A wide-awake and successful representative of
the lumber and coal interests of Dodge County, John H. Melick, of
Fremont, head of the Melick Coal & Lumber Company, is thoroughly
conversant with the business, both as to its conduct and safe advance
ment, and as general manager is keen and alert to take advantage of
offered opportunities, and broad and bright enough to handle the exten
sive trade he has so ably established. A son of J. J. Melick, he was
born, January 13, 1881, in Neligh, Nebraska, where he obtained his
first knowledge of books, and of business.
J. J. Melick was born, reared and educated in New Jersey. Industrious,
thrifty, and anxious to succeed, he labored while young at any honorable
employment, and in course of time accumulated some money. Desirous
to better his condition he came to Nebraska in 1876, locating in Neligh,
where, as he had no money, he began work as clerk in a grocery, and
was later made postmaster. When ready to establish himself in business,
he purchased a grain warehouse and later a lumber and coal yard,
and met with such almost unprecedented success from the start that
he was enabled to buy land at different times, and in a few ye?rs found
that his limited capital with which he began life had reached compara
tively large proportions, and he had acquired title to much valuable
property. Moving to Omaha in 1910, he has since carried on an exten
sive business as a dealer in real estate, and has gained a prominent
position in the industrial and financial life of the city.
J. J. Melick married Mary Trowbridge, who was born in Wisconsin,
and of their union five children have been born, as follows : John H.,
with whom this sketch is chiefly concerned ; Charles, engaged in the
coal and lumber industry at Neligh, Nebraska; Amy, wife of K. A.
Whitmer, who is managing a coal yard at Elgin, Nebraska, for
Mr. Melick ; Dema, wife of J. C. Schwichtenberg, a clothing merchant at
Norfolk, Nebraska; and Edward, of Neligh, Nebraska, a dealer in
coal and lumber. Both parents united with the Congregational Church
when young.
Becoming familiar with the details of the lumber business in early
manhood, John H. Melick worked with his father for a while, and then
embarked in the furniture, lumber and coal business in Carroll, Wayne
County, this state, remaining there until 1914. Wishing to broaden and
enlarge his scope of action, he then bought a lumber and coal business
in Fremont, and as head of the Melick Lumber & Coal Company, and
general manager of the concern, has since built up an extensive and
lucrative trade, and gained an excellent reputation for business ability
and integrity.
Mr. Melick married, in 1904, Mary Alice Cratty, a native of Elgin,
Nebraska. Mrs. Melick is a very pleasant and accomplished woman,
and an esteemed member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Melick

WILLIAM H. CLEMMONS

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 799
is a stanch republican in politics, and fraternally is a member of the
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Mr. and Mrs. Melick have
no children.
President William H. Clemmons. In the educational annals of
Dodge County, a full chapter belongs to the personality, achievements,
and influence of William H. Clemmons, late president of Fremont
College, and State Superintendent of Instruction. President Clemmons
was a native of Madison County, Ohio, and was born, April 6, 1857,
the son of William M. and Mrs. Ellen O. (Bethards) Clemmons. The
death of his mother, when he was a child, and the consequent breaking
up of his home life, resulted in his removal to Van Wert County, in
the same state, and in his being bound out to a farmer. By the strange
contract he was to remain in the service of this employer until his
majority, and at that age to receive one suit of clothes, a horse, saddle
and bridle. Being a lad of resolution, and independent mind, he
emancipated himself from this thralldom at the age of sixteen, purchasing
his freedom by clearing forty acres of timber-land, and fencing the
same into ten acre lots. This task he accomplished in a period shorter,
by six months, than the time that had been allowed him. Up to the
age of twenty-one he had been in school but two months in the year.
But being free, he took a course of study at Valparaiso College, and
received supplementary training at the Indiana State University. After
graduation, he served effectively as superintendent of schools in Tipton,
Indiana, for a period of six years, and then, interested in the West,
came to Nebraska, arriving here in 1886. After a period of preliminary
teaching in smaller places he accepted the principalship of the Fremont
Normal School, out of which he developed Fremont College, of which
he was the able and efficient president for thirty years. In the three
decades involved, his school steadily grew, multiplied its departments
and faculty, and became an institution increasingly influential, attracting
a multitude of students from all surrounding and many distant localities.
Classical, commercial and normal courses were offered ; music and art
departments were added, and in several years the student body numbered
above a thousand.
The normal department met the need of a large element of youth,
whose early educational privileges had been meagre, but who were of an
age to be serious-minded, and vigorous in application. And in conse
quence there were graduated through the years hundreds of teachers,
who rose to prominence in their profession, and many to distinction.
Over all these, President Clemmons exerted a powerful influence, and
extended the potency of his personality throughout a wide domain.
When in 1916 he was elected State Superintendent of Instruction, he
further extended his usefulness, and, in two years of incumbency,
advanced greatly the systematization of public school work in the state.
President Clemmons was a man of great firmness of character, and of
the highest ideals. His industry was marvelous, and his labors bound
less. Few men in the whole West have achieved so much in a genera
tion. And his influence upon young manhood and womanhood for
the highest ends of character, service and American citizenship cannot
be overestimated. A thorough patriot ; a faithful disciplinarian ; a man
of highest ethical and spiritual conceptions ; a lover of educational work,
and all culture, he attained a potency of influence, and won a love and
reverence, scarcely paralleled among educators. The Alumni banquets
given at each Commencement season were most memorable as testi-

800 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
monials to the gratitude and admiration, cherished by thousands of
graduates for the president of their Alma Mater.
Mr. Clemmons was married at Tipton, Indiana, October 8, 1885,
to Miss Dell U, Harding of that city, and his life-partner proved through
all his educational career a helpmeet and comforter indeed. Closely
associated in all the administration of the college, with her husband,
Mrs. Clemmons shares with him, in the honor of achievement attained,
and in the love and helpful influence, that remain forever their wealth
and distinction. President Clemmons was for years identified with the
First Congregational Church of Fremont, and when suddenly, in January,
1920, he was called to a higher world, his pastor, Rev. Wm. H. Buss,
preached his funeral sermon, in the church auditorium in which he had
worshipped for over thirty years. The memorial service was remarkable
for the vastness and personnel of the congregation. In addition to the
populace of the city, there were present a small army of students and
alumni, several representatives of the faculty of the State University,
and of the State House at the Capital. The tributes were many and
varied, and the whole occasion was ah object lesson, upon the possibili
ties of youth in America, who battling against poverty and all imaginable
difficulties, may attain eminence in scholarship and wide influence, and
wear the crown of usefulness, and public gratitude, never to be tarnished
by the flight of years.
R. H. Chappel is one of the progressive young men of the capital
city of Dodge County, where his attractively equipped book and sta
tionery store is one of the popular and prosperous retail establishments
of Frernont. Here he is also secretary of the Chappel-Stuart Printing
Company, of which more specific mention will be made in a later
paragraph. Mr. Chappel was born at Carroll, Iowa, in 1887, and is a son of
William and Ida (Mark) Chappel, the former a native of England and
the latter of Pennsylvania, in which state their marriage was solemnized,
their removal to Iowa taking place in 1883. The father was for a
number of years employed as a railroad man, and he is now living
virtually retired and resides in the home of his son, Ray M., of Fremont,
his wife having passed to eternal rest in 1917 and being survived by her
twin sons, Ray M. and R. H. The father is a republican in political
allegiance, is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and is a member
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, as was also his wife.
In the public schools of the Buckeye State R. H. Chappel continued
his studies until his graduation in the high school at Tama, as a member
of the class of 1905. For four years thereafter he was employed in the
postoffice at Tama, and then he came to Fremont, Nebraska, where
for the ensuing ten years he was in the employ of the Hammond
Printing Company. During the last six years he was manager of the
company's stationery department, and the knowledge thus gained proved
of distinct value to him when, November 2, 1915, he opened his book
and stationery store at Fremont. He initiated this enterprise with a
capital of $2,000, and the marked success that has attended the business
is now indicated by his carrying a stock valued at more than $8,000.
The establishment caters to a large and appreciative patronage of repre
sentative order and is metropolitan in its appointments and general
equipment. In the spring of 1920 Mr. Chappel became associated with his
brother, Ray M., and with E. M. Anderson and A. L. Stuart in the

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 801
organization of the Chappel-Stuart Printing Company, which is incor
porated with a capital of $50,000 and which has fitted out a thoroughly
modern plant for the execution of the best class of commercial printing,
with facilities also for book printing. An inviting field is offered the
new company and under its vigorous and progressive executive control
its success is assured. The officers of the company are as here noted:
Ray M. Chappel, president; A. L. Stuart, vice president; R. H. Chappel,
secretary; and E. M. Anderson, treasurer.
Mr. Chappel gives his allegiance to the republican party and in
his civic attitude is liberal and public-spirited. He is an influential and
popular member of the Fremont Lodge of the Benevolent and Protective
Order of Elks, of which he became exalted ruler on the 1st of April,
1920. He belongs to Fremont Lodge No. 15, Ancient Free and Accepted
Masons, Mount Tabor Commandery No. 9, and Scottish Rite and with
Lodge of Perfection No. 5. He is a member of the Rotary Club. Dur
ing the great war he saw service in camp five months. His name is still
enrolled on the list of eligible young bachelors in Dodge County!
Hamilton M. Morrow, M. D., has been engaged in the practice
of his profession in the City of Fremont since 1905, has gained secure
vantage-ground as one of the representative physicians of Dodge County
and has done some special work in diseases of children. His substantial
practice indicates the high estimate placed upon him and his ability.
Doctor Morrow was born at Ballibay, Bradford County, Penn
sylvania, April 6, 1875, and is a son of Newton and Adelaide (Nesbit)
Morrow, both of whom were born and reared in that same locality,
where the father still maintains his residence, the mother having passed
to eternal rest in March, 1916. She was a daughter of John Nesbit,
who was born at Ballibay, Ireland, and who was young at the time when
he established his residence in the vicinity of Ballibay, Pennsylvania,
where he became a 'successful farmer and where he passed the remainder
of his life. Newton Morrow has been associated with farm industry in
his native county during the entire period of his active career, and he
still owns the valuable farm that in the early days was cleared and
reclaimed by his father, Hamilton Morrow, who was born at Ballibay,
Ireland, and who was twenty-one years of age when he established
his home, in Pennsylvania, the old homestead farm having continued
as the stage of his activities during the residue of his life. . The lineage
of the Morrow family is traced back to stanch Scotch origin, but repre
sentatives of the family left Scotland and became early settlers in the
north of Ireland. Newton Morrow has long been one of the influential
men of his community, has served in various township offices in his
native county, is a republican in politics and holds membership in the
Presbyterian Church, as did also his wife. Of their children the eldest
is Mary, who is the wife of Frank R. Mitten, chief clerk in the office
of the county commissioners at Towanda, Pennsylvania ; Doctor Morrow
of this review was the next in order of birth; Andrew resides at
Towanda, Pennsylvania, and is serving as assistant county superin
tendent of schools; and Helen is a successful teacher in the schools of
Camptown, Pennsylvania.
Passing the period of his childhood and early youth on the old home
farm, Dr. Hamilton M. Morrow continued his studies in the public
schools of his native state until he had completed a course in the high
school at Camptown, and thereafter, in 1905, he was graduated in the
Susquehanna Collegiate Institute, at Towanda, Pennsylvania. For the

802 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
ensuing year he was engaged in teaching in the schools of the old
Keystone State, and he then came to Tekamah, Nebraska, where for a
year he held a clerical position in the general store conducted by the
firm of which his maternal uncles, John and William Nesbit, were
members. This occupation he held but a means to an end, for he had
determined to prepare himself for the medical profession. In the pur
suance of this ambition he availed himself of the advantages of Rush
Medical College, Chicago, one of the greatest and most celebrated medi
cal institutions of the country." He was there graduated as a member of
the Class of 1901 and shortly after thus receiving his degree of Doctor
of, Medicine he engaged in the active practice of his profession at
Tekamah, Nebraska, where he became associated in practice with his
maternal uncle, Dr. Andrew Nesbit. There he continued his successful
work in his profession for four years, at the expiration of which, in
December, 1905, he initiated practice in the broader field afforded at
Fremont and in its tributary territory in Dodge County. Here his
success has been distinctive — a due reward for his earnest service and
a voucher for his marked professional ability. The doctor served two
years as health officer of Fremont, is an active member of the Dodge
County Medical Society, of which he has served as secretary and
counselor, and while engaged in practice at Tekamah he served as
president of the Burt County Medical Society. He is president of the
Elkhorn Valley Medical Society, a member of the Nebraska State Medi
cal Society and the American Medical Association, as is he of the
Missouri Valley Medical Society.
Doctor Morrow is a stanch supporter of the cause of the republi
can party, and is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and the Inde
pendent Order of Odd Fellows, both he and his wife being active mem
bers of the Presbyterian Church. The attractive family home is at
406 East Sixth Street, where the doctor also maintains his office.
The year 1904 was marked by the marriage of Doctor Morrow to
Miss Edythe Trowbridge, who was born at Halstead, Pennsylvania,
and whose early education included the discipline of the high school,
besides which she completed a course of two years in the Moody Bible
Institute. She gave special attention to the study of both vocal and
instrumental music, and is one of the talented musicians of Fremont,
even as she is a popular factor in the representative social life of her
home city. Doctor and Mrs. Morrow have three children, all of whom
are still attending the public schools of Fremont, their names being
here entered in order of their birth : Adelaide, Hamilton, and Paul.
Harvey W. Shaffer. Farm management at its best is well exempli
fied by Harvey W. Shaffer, whose home is in section 28 of Hooper
Township. Mr. Shaffer is young, progressive, an expert not only in
handling his fields and crops, but in raising and handling livestock.
He enjoys practically a lifelong acquaintance with the agricultural
community of Dodge County. His father is the well known early
settler, Jacob Shaffer, mentioned on other pages. Harvey W. Shaffer
was born in Dodge County, April 15, 1882, and had a thorough appren
ticeship at farming on his father's place. Besides the advantages of
the country schools, he graduated in the commercial course of the
Fremont Normal School in 1905. Then starting for himself he has
made a specialty of stock- raising, and has fed many carloads for the
market. His progressiveness is not alone in evidence on his farm, but
through his active affiliation with many organizations that have the
welfare and prosperity of the farmer as their object.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 803
Mr. Shaffer is a director in the Farmers' Co-operative Association
at Nickerson, a stockholder in the Farmers' Union at Hooper, stock
holder in the Farmers State Bank and Co-operative Store at Nickerson,
in the Farmers Creamery at Fremont, and in the Farmers Union State
Exchange of Omaha. The management of the 350-acre farm owned
by his father makes his voice entitled to be heard in the organizations
as a real factor in agricultural affairs.
In 1912 he married Miss May Tookey. She was born in Illinois, but
grew up in Nebraska, being a daughter of Fred Tookey of Fremont.
To their marriage was born one daughter, Wilmetta Elizabeth. Mr. and
Mrs. Shaffer are members of the Methodist Church at Hooper and in
politics he is independent.
J. C. Nelson. Noteworthy among the active and prosperous agri
culturists of Dodge County is J. C. Nelson, a well-known resident of
Elkhorn Township, where his fine and well improved farm gives sub
stantial evidence of the excellent care and skill with which it is managed,
presenting to the passer-by a glimpse of country life as it now exists.
Like many another of our more successful and esteemed citizens, he
was born across the seas, his birth having occurred, in 1872, in Denmark,
where his parents spent their entire lives.
J. C. Nelson, it is needless to say, received a good education in his
native land, and there acquired some knowledge of agriculture. In 1890,
having determined to seek his fortune in America, he secured passage
on an ocean bound vessel, and immediately after landing in the United
States made his way to Nebraska, locating in Holstein, Adams County,
where he was employed as a farm laborer three years. Going then to
Omaha, he was variously employed for a number of years, making and
saving money. In 1904 Mr. Nelson located in Dodge County, and having
purchased 240 acres of land has since been busily employed in general
farming and dairying, in the latter industry keeping a fine line of Holstein
cattle. He' has made many and varied improvements on his home
farm, and is cultivating his land with good results, the rich and fertile
soil yielding abundant crops, well repaying him for his labors.
Mr. Nelson married, in Omaha, Matilda Kruger, who has ably assisted
him in his undertakings. He is a republican in politics, and a Lutheran
in religion. Seth F. Stiles. Distinguished not only for his active services in
many of the more important battles of the Civil war, but as a man of
sterling integrity and worth, Seth F. Stiles, late of Fremont, was held
in high respect as a man and a citizen, and it is eminently fitting that a
brief review of his life should be given in a work of this character. He
was born, January 23, 1842, in Zanesville, Ohio, and being left fatherless
when a boy fourteen years old, was taken by his mother to Iowa, where
she settled on a farm in Dallas County, and where he completed his
early education.
In 1862, inspired by patriotic enthusiasm, he enlisted in Company B,
Fourth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and with his brave comrades partici
pated in fourteen regular battles, and several skirmishes, doing his duty
willingly and faithfully. Discharged from the service after the sur
render at Appomattox, Mr. Stiles began work as a carpenter and builder,
and was busily employed in Iowa for upwards of twenty years. Com
ing to Nebraska with his family in 1887, he continued at his trade a few
years, was contractor, pension agent, chief of police, deputy sheriff.

804 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
A stanch republican in politics, Mr. Stiles had been serving as city
clerk for eight years at the time of his death, on September 20, 191 1.
Fraternally he was a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Order
of Masons, in which he had taken several degrees ; and was a member,
and past commander of Fremont Post, Grand Army of the Republic, of
which he was adjutant when the final summons came.
Mr. Stiles married, in September, 1865, three weeks after receiving
his discharge from tbe army, Frances E. Peters, who was born in
Lafayette, Indiana, a daughter of James and Mary (Simpson) Peters,
both of whom were natives of Ohio, having been born in the vicinity
of Cincinnati. Her father migrated from Ohio to Indiana, from there
going to Illinois, and later to Perry, Iowa, where both he and his wife
spent their, later years. Mr. Peters was for many years engaged in mer
cantile pursuits, and as a general merchant acquired considerable wealth,
including among other properties valuable farming lands.
Eleven children blessed the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Stiles, namely ;
Mary, wife of J. R. Gay, of Fremont; Mrs. Lois Koyen, living on a
farm lying east of Fremont; J. E., a traveling man, with headquarters
in Sacramento, California; William W., of San Francisco, California,
who has charge of the carpet department of the Sloan establishment ;
Orville D., employed in the Fremont Canning Factory, lives with his
mother; Mrs. Ethel Zachan, of San Francisco, whose husband is city
salesman for the Union Lithographing Company; and five children that
have passed to the life beyond.
Moses Theodore Zellers, M. D. Some of the most capable and
dependable physicians and surgeons have found that they could increase
their usefulness by specializing on some branch of their profession, and
one of them of Dodge County, who is making his name known in this
region as an eye, ear, nose and throat specialist, is Dr. Moses Theodore
Zellers, of Hooper.
Doctor Zellers was born at Oriental, Juniata County, Pennsylvania,
on May 15, 1861, a son of George and Rebecca (Miller) Zellers, both
natives of Pennsylvania, now deceased, the mother passing away in
1901, aged -seventy-seven years, and the father in 1907, aged seventy-
three years. By trade George Zellers was a shoemaker and he was
also engaged in farming, all of his life being spent in the Keystone State.
He and his wife had the following children: Jonas, who is a farmer
of Pennsylvania ; John, who is a farmer of Ohio ; Moses T., whose
name heads this review; and George, who is also a farmer of Pennsyl
vania. The family were Dunkards, and the men republicans.
Doctor Zellers attended the common and high schools of his native
state, and took his medical course in the Western Reserve College at
Cleveland, Ohio, from which he was graduated on March 6, 1889, with
the degree of Doctor of Medicine. In November of that same year he
came to Hooper, Nebraska, and until 1908 was in a general practice,
but since then has confined himself to diseases of the eye, ear, nose and
throat, having built up a wide connection. He has taken post-graduate
work and in 1907 studied at the Chicago Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat
College, and in 1908 went abroad to pursue his studies at Vienna,
Austria, and is now recognized as an authority on these special subjects,
being often called into consultation by others of his profession.
In 1880 Doctor Zellers was married to Alice Troutman, a native of
Pennsylvania, and they became the parents of the following children:
William M., who is manager of the Farmers' Co-operative. Association,

^\J}^tl^^

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 805
at Hooper, served during the Spanish-American war in the Third
Nebraska Volunteers under Capt. J. M. Vickers; J. Sherman, who was
graduated from the Kansas Dental College, is a dental surgeon of
Hooper, Nebraska; Henry C, who is a dental surgeon of Lincoln,
Nebraska, was graduated from the Kansa.s City Dental College, and
was for eleven months in France during the World war as a member
of the Dental Reserve Corps ; Monroe T., who was graduated from the
Hooper High School, is now a resident of Hooper ; George G, who was
graduated from the Hooper High School, was a navy cadet during the
World war, was discharged and is now a student at Lincoln Business
College, Lincoln, Nebraska; and Margaret R., who married Ca.rl von
Seggeon, owner of an elevator at Gregory, South Dakota.
Doctor Zellers is a Blue Lodge Mason. He belongs to the Dodge
County Medical Association which he served at one time as president,
the Nebraska State Medical Society and the American Medical Associa
tion. Mrs. Zellers is a member of the Lutheran Church. He is a repub
lican and during 1899 was the successful candidate of his party to the
State Assembly. It would be difficult to find' a more representative
citizen or successful professional man than he and he deserves his
present prestige for he has honorably earned it through his ability and
personality. George W. Shephard. A man of scholarly attainments, energetic
and far-sighted, the late George W. Shephard, for many years an
esteemed and highly respected resident of Fremont, was distinguished
not only as a pioneer school teacher of Saunders County, Nebraska, but
as an able assistant in developing the agricultural prosperity of that
part of the state. A native of Illinois, he was born, February 1, 1845,
in Menard County, where he acquired his preliminary education.
After his graduation from the high school, Mr. Shephard attended
the University of Illinois for a year, and subsequently taught school in
his native state for a number of terms. Coming as a young man to
Nebraska, he bought land in Saunders County, and in addition to improv
ing a good farm continued his professional labors as a teacher for
several years, teaching in all about a quarter of a century. He met with
unquestioned success in all of his undertakings, and at his death, which
occurred in Fremont, where he had lived for nearly twenty years, in
1907, he was considered quite wealthy. He was influential in public
affairs, being a prominent member of the republican party, and for two
terms represented his district in the State Legislature.
Mr. Shephard married, in 1889, Miss Grace Snyder, who was born
in New York State, and in 1870, at the age of five years, came with her
parents, F. G. and Mary (Smith) Snyder, to Saunders County,
Nebraska, where her father, who died in 1903, was for many years
prosperously engaged in tilling the soil. Mr. and Mrs. Snyder reared
five children, as follows: Mrs. Shephard; E. G. Snyder, an extensive
farmer at Cedar Rapids, Nebraska; Victor, Rudolph and James, all of
whom are single, and living with their widowed mother in Canada.
Mr. and Mrs. Snyder both united with the Methodist Episcopal Church
when young.
The union of Mr. and Mrs. Shephard was blessed by the birth of
two children, namely: James, now assistant city engineer, attended
the State Agricultural School in Lincoln; and Grace, a student in the
University of Nebraska, is a member ' of the Phi Phi Sorority.
Mrs. -Shephard, who owns valuable property both in Fremont and

806 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Saunders county, recently bought a lot, and erected a beautiful residence
at 746 East Fifth Street, Fremont, where she welcomes her friends with
a gracious hospitality.
John Edelmaier. There are many practical, sensible men who are
prospering in a business way at Hooper, Nebraska, where they are
quietly carrying on enterprises and producing standard commodities for
which at all times there is demand and ready sale. An instance is
the manufacture of brick, successfully carried on here by John Edel
maier, an experienced man in the business. While the manufacturing
of brick is a very old employment, it being remembered that in Biblical
days the requirement to "make bricks without straw" was one of the
grievances of the chosen people, it has come on down to the present
time as one of the basic industries and promises to continue so. Wood,
marble, stone, cement and steel, all enter more or less into modern
building, but brick still holds its own in all durable construction work.
John Edelmaier, who owns an extensive brick manufacturing plant
at Hooper, where he is a substantial citizen in every way, was born at
Miltonburg, Monroe County, Ohio, November 25, 1865. His parents
were David and Caroline (Knaus) Edelmaier, both of whom were born
in Germany. After coming to the United States they located on a
farm in Monroe County, Ohio, and their eldest son, John, was born
there in the same year. They had other children as follows : Carrie,
who is the wife of J. W. Sharp, a machinist, and they live in California ;
Henry, who is cashier of the Farmers State Bank at Scribner, Nebraska ;
Albert, who is a Farmer and bricklayer near Dale, in Spencer County,
Indiana ; Anna, who lives at Evansville, Indiana ; and Edward, who is
pastor of a Methodist Episcopal Church at Mount Vernon, Indiana. The
parents were members of the above church after moving to Indiana in
1870. The mother died in July, 1914. The father lives retired.
John Edelmaier was five years old when his people moved to Indiana.
He attended the public schools and also took a commercial course in
the Gem City Business College at Quincy, Illinois, so that when he came
to Washington County, Nebraska, in 1885, he was well prepared for any
business opportunity that presented itself. He worked on a farm near
Fontanelle, for a time, but later went to work in the Waterman brick
yard at Fontanelle, subsequently buying a half interest in the business.-
In 1889 the partners moved their plant to Scribner, Nebraska, Mr. Edel
maier continuing with Mr. Waterman in the business for five years, at
Scribner. Both partners proved keen, far-sighted business men and
when, in 1894, they had the opportunity to buy the brickyard of John
Heimrick, at Hooper, they took advantage of it and have been established
at this point ever since. Mr. Edelmaier is a man of progressive ideas
and soon found it advisable to greatly enlarge the plant at Hooper,
where, during the operating season, he employs from 35 to 40 first class
men. It has become one of the important industries at Hooper.
Mr. Edelmaier was married in Indiana to Miss Louise F. Kreie, who
was born at Mount Vernon, in that state, and they have one daughter,
Susanna Ruth, who resides with her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Edelmaier
attend the Methodist Episcopal Church. In politics he is a republican
as is his father, and on many occasions has been urged to accept public
office but has declined, his own business affairs sufficiently engaging
his attention. He is a stockholder in the Hooper Light & Power Com
pany and has some valuable land interests in Texas. He is a member

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 807
of the United Workmen and Knights of Pythias at Hooper. Mr. Edel
maier is numbered with the reliable business men and worthy citizens
of Dodge County.
Carl N. Ralph, D. D. S. It is stated that one of the first things
noticed about the American troops when they landed on foreign shores
was their well-cared for teeth, and a leader of the English forces is
reported as having declared that there was no doubt but that the
"Yanks" would outfight the "Tommies" because of the superiority of
their teeth which would enable them to properly digest army rations.
Back of these- magnificent young men of ours were the efficient and
conscientious members of the dental profession, who, through their
care and ability, preserved the teeth in a manner not to be equalled in
any other country in the world. Although the majority realized the
debt owned this profession, the truth was brought home through con
tact with those of other nations where this same care is not given to
the teeth with disastrous results. There probably is not a community in
the whole United States of any appreciable size which has not its com
petent, regularly qualified dental surgeon, and one of this profession at
Hooper who has fully gained the confidence of the people of Dodge
County is Dr. Carl N. Ralph.
Doctor Ralph was born in Germany in 1893, a son of Nicholas and
Dorothea (Tiegens) Ralph, natives of Germany, who came to the
United States in the early '90s and located in the vicinity of West Point,
Nebraska, where they were engaged in farming until 1905, when they
left their farm, moved to West Point and are now living there in retire
ment. They became the parents of the following children : Henry, who
is engaged in conducting the old homestead ; Katie, who is the wife of
Gus E. Grunke, a farmer of West Point, Nebraska; Marie, who is the
wife of Joseph Zich, a street car conductor of Omaha, Nebraska ; Doctor
Ralph, who was the fourth in order of birth; Ellen, who is in the
nurses training school connected with the Nicholas Senn Hospital of
Omaha, Nebraska. The parents are consistent members of the Lutheran
Church. In politics the father is a republican.
Doctor Ralph remained with his parents until he was twenty years
of age, and attended the schools of Cuming County. In 1909 he was
graduated from Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska, and located
at Hooper, where he has built up a large practice to which he devotes
all of his time, being now recognized as one of the best dentists in
Dodge County.
On December 24, 1912, Doctor Ralph was united in marriage with
Byrdee E. Zuhlke, born in Dodge County. Doctor and Mrs. Ralph
have one child, Sheridan, who is a bright little one. Like his father,
Doctor Ralph is a republican, but he has never been willing to enter
public life. He and his wife belong to the Lutheran Church.
P. Harry Larson. Possessing excellent business ability and judg
ment, P. Harry Larson holds a place of importance in the public affairs
of Fremont, as acting commissioner of the local Water, Light and
Power Company, having full charge of the plant, and in that capacity
rendering the city very satisfactory service. A son of John Larson,
he was born, December 6, 1882, in Fremont, which has always been his
home. Born in Sweden, John Larson immigrated to this country when
very young, and a short time after his arrival in the United States

808 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
located in Dodge County. He was engaged in the grocery business in
Fremont for a while, and later, in company with his brother, L. P. Larson,
was employed in the wholesale liquor business until 1892. Retiring from
active pursuits in that year, he continued his residence in Fremont until
his death, in 1894. Beginning life even with the world, he met with
good success in his undertakings, accumulating a good property. He
married, in Fremont, Louisa Larson, who is still living in this city, and
of their five children, P. Harry, is the only, survivor. The father was
independent in politics, and both he and his wife united with the
Swedish Lutheran Church when yOung.
Brought up in Fremont, P. Harry Larson was educated in the graded
and normal schools, and began life as a wage earner in the office of
the brewery with which his father and uncle were connected. He was
afterwards in the employ of the Nye, Schneider & Fowler Company
until 1916, when he was made acting commissioner of the Fremont
Water, Light & Power Company, a position that he is filling ably and
acceptably. Mr. Larson married, in 1906, Hedwig Holinberg, who was born in
Wahoo, Saunders County, Nebraska, where her parents were early
settlers. Mr. and Mrs. Larson have no children. They are both mem
bers of the Swedish Lutheran Church, having remained faithful to the
religious beliefs of their parents. A sound democrat in politics,
Mr. Larson represented the Fourth Ward in the city countil for six
years. Fraternally he is a member of the Knights of Pythias ; of the
independent Order of Odd Fellows; and of the Benevolent and Pro
tective Order of Elks.
George W. Moyer, Sr., who was born in 1843, went to Illinois with
his mother when young. He was a resourceful pioneer citizen, who was
well fortified in energy and ambition when he came to Dodge County
and began the work of reclaiming and improving a farm, having pur
chased 160 acres in section 12, Cotterell Township, and among his first
activities was the building of a modest house to serve as habitation for
his family. With the passing years, his energy and good management
brought to him abundant success in his farm enterprise and he con
tinued as one of the substantial farmers and highly esteemed citizens
of Dodge County until his death, January 23, 1904, at the venerable
age of sixty-one years. He was a democrat in politics and was earnest in
his Christian faith, as is also his widow, a member of the Christian
Church. She stills remains on the old homestead. Mrs. Moyer, whose
maiden name was Sabra Mark, was born in Kentucky April 1, 1862,
and reared in Indiana. They were married September 25, 1889, and
became the parents of seven children : John, who is now a resident
of Lodgepole, Cheyenne County; Mrs. Margaret Matthews resides in
the City of Fremont, judicial center of Dodge County ; Mrs. Iva Johnson
and her husband reside on one of the excellent farms of Dodge County ;
Mrs. Myrtle Bishop is a resident of Beatrice, Gage County; Theodore,
George W. Jr., and Harry, remain on the old honiestead with their
mother and have active management of the farm, which is devoted to
' diversified agriculture and to the raising and feeding of a due comple
ment of live stock, including Duroc-Jersey hogs. George W. Moyer, Jr.,
is well upholding the prestige of the family name and is one of the
vigorous and popular exponents of farm industry in Dodge County,
where he was born in the year 1898 and where his educational advan
tages were those offered in the excellent public schools.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 809
Grove H. Rathbun, M. D. Among the prominent and esteemed
citizens whom Fremont has been called upon to mourn within the past
few years none are more genuinely missed than Grove H. Rathbun, M. D.,
an able and skilful physician and surgeon, whose professional services
are entitled to honorable recognition and praise. A native of Iowa,
he was born, December 3, 1881, in Bedford, Taylor County, and died
in Clarkson Hospital, Omaha, Nebraska, September 5, 1919, while
yet in manhood's prime, his death being a loss not only to his immediate
family and friends, but to the entire community and the medical
profession. Brought up in Iowa, Grove H. Rathbun was graduated from the
Exira High School, and at the age of fifteen years was ambitious to
enter a medical college. Being altogether too young to do so, he
began the study of medicine under private tutorship, and in 1902 was
graduated from the Omaha Medical College with the degree of Doctor
of Medicine. Doctor Rathbun began the practice of his profession in
South Dakota, connected with a hospital at Lead and had charge of
the hospital at Roubiax, and also being physician for the mining com
panies of those places. He subsequently located at BellefoUrche, South
Dakota, where associated with Dr. L. J. Townsend, of Sioux City,
Iowa, where he remained seven years, having a large private practice,
and doing much surgical work in the local hospital.
Coming to Fremont in 1912, the doctor confined his practice exclu
sively to surgery and consultation, in both of which he had a fine
reputation, his skill as a surgeon being widely known, and his diagnosis
of the different diseases to which human flesh is heir being unexcelled.
Some time prior to his death, Doctor Rathbun purchased a large and
conveniently arranged building on Nye Avenue, and after having it
equipped with all the modern appliances used in surgery, performed
there all of his operations, which were many, and ofttimes very serious.
A man of brilliant intellect, he was considered an authority on medical
and surgical matters, and at the time of his death was enjoying a large
and lucrative practice. In August, 1918, he entered the service, and as
the armistice was signed just after he had received orders to go across
the sea he was discharged in December, 1918.
In February, 1903, he married, in Lead, South Dakota, Mollie
McArthur, who was born in that city, and completed her early educa
tion in the State Normal School, at Spearfish, South Dakota. Her
father, John McArthur, was born in Nova Scotia, and as a young man
came to the United States. He located in Lead, South Dakota, where
he was engaged as a mining engineer and in iater life, mining con
tractor in South Africa. His wife, whose maiden name was Margaret
Johnston, was born and reared in Scotland, and is now living with
Mrs. Rathbun. Three children blessed the union of Doctor and
Mrs. Rathbun, namely: Grove A., born February 13, 1904; Jeanne,
born April 13, 1906; and Sanford, born February 24, 1911. Mrs. Rath
bun is a member of the Episcopal Church. The doctor, who had taken
several post-graduate courses, belonged to all of the medical societies
and associations, arid was a member of Fremont Lodge No. 514, Benevo
lent and Protective Order of Elks.
Samuel I. Block. The commercial enterprise of Fremont owes a
great deal to the progressive spirit and energy of Samuel I. Block,
who came to this Nebraska city twelve years ago and began on a modest
scale the merchandising career which has steadily expanded until it
Vol. 11—23

810 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
is one of the best stores in Dodge County. He specializes in women's
ready-to-wear garments and his success has been due to his correct
estimate of the tastes and demands of the people of Dodge County
who have given him a splendid patronage.
Mr. Block was born in Poland in 1886, coming to America at the
age of twenty, and has shown great ability in adapting himself and
assimilating himself with American life and customs. His parents
were C. H. and Bertha (Yorckshire) Block who spent all their lives
in. Poland and were of the Jewish faith. Three of their eight children
came to the United States. Harry I., a prominent merchant of North
Platte, Nebraska ; Samuel I. ; and Edith, wife of a merchant at
St. Joseph, Missouri. On account of the World war the children in
America did not receive news of the death of their parents during
the influenza epidemic in 1917 until nearly two years later.
Samuel I. Block was educated in the schools of his native country,
and came to America with neither capital nor any knowledge of American
ways and customs. His first location was at Gouverneur, New York,
and he sold goods from a pack until he had accumulated the capital
necessary to bring him to the West. In August, 1908, he arrived at
Fremont and on the third of that month opened his first store with a
modest stock of merchandise valued at $1,500. He worked, studied the
local situation, and proved his ability to adapt himself to changing
circumstances. Consequently he saw his business steadily grow and
expand, and his store now meets the exclusive demands of a large
part of the population for ready-to-wear garments and furnishings.
In 1912 Mr. Block married Libbie Brown who was born at Nebraska
City and was educated in Omaha. Her parents were Henry and
Mollie Brown. Her father was a furniture man and died at St. Louis,
while her mother is still living at Omaha. Mr. and Mrs. Block have
two children, Milton, a schoolboy, and Florence, who was horn in 1918.
The family are members of the Jewish Church. Mr. Block is affiliated
with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, with the Elks, is a member
of the Fremont Commercial Club and the Young Men's Christian Asso
ciation. Since coming to Dodge County his prosperity has been repre
sented not only by a steady growth of his mercantile enterprise, but he
has been enabled to purchase, and still owns, two farms and one of the
comfortable residences of the Town of Fremont.
Charles J. Robinson. Among the essentials which contribute to
the enjoyment of mankind, not the least is that which caters to our
entertainment. In this connection the motion picture industry, com
paratively a new enterprise, has come to occupy an important place.
As one of the pioneers in this field at Blair, Charles J. Robinson has
won his way to success and position, and his Home Theater is one of the
most popular and best patronized family amusement places of the city.
Mr. Robinson's career has been one in which poverty and affluence
have both had a part and in which success has come only after much
discouragement and the overcoming of numerous obstacles.
Born January 7, 1861, in York County, Pennsylvania, Mr. Robinson
is a son of James W. and Catherine (Overlander) Robinson, natives of
Pennsylvania. His father entered the Union army at the outbreak of
the Civil war, and fought with bravery and fidelity until stricken by
typhoid fever, subsequently passing away in a Southern hospital, in
1865. Mrs. Robinson, a member 'of the Presbyterian Church, survived
her husband until 1870. They were the parents of four children:

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 811
Catherine, who married Elijah Heffner of York County, Pennsylvania;
Charles J.; George W., a farmer of Moorfield, Nebraska; and A. M.,
a railroad man of Arlington, this state.
Charles J. Robinson was but four years of age at the time of his
father's death and as his mother possessed no resources he was placed
in an institution at Mount Joy, near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where
he received his education and remained until he was sixteen years of
age. At that time he left the Soldiers' Orphans Home and walked a
distance of twenty-seven miles to the farm of his uncle. He had been
promised the sum of $100 for a year's work, but after he had faithfully
fulfilled his part of the contract, his relative refused to pay him for
his work. Chafing under a spirit of injustice, the youth left his uncle's
farm and accepted employment with a Mr. Gamble, for whom he worked
three years and seven months at a wage varying from $4 to $8 per month.
At this time many ambitious young men were turning their faces
toward the West, and in 1882 Mr. Robinson gave up his Pennsylvania
farm work for the uncertainties of a new country. His first settlement
was in Henderson County, Illinois, where he secured employment on a
farm, but after working for three months was stricken with fever and
ague, and at one time his case was so serious that all hope was given
up for his recovery. However, he managed to pull through, and in
September, 1882, again took up his journey, eventually arriving in
Seward County, Nebraska, with the sum of $4, borrowed capital. Here
he found employment putting up windmills in the country districts,
working three weeks at a wage of $9 per week, and during the next
period of his training had various experiences, in which were included
work in a restaurant and a clerkship in a dry goods store for one year.
He was also employed by George W. Gibbs, a wholesale boot and shoe
dealer, after leaving whom he went to Holt County, Nebraska, with
the intention of taking up a homestead. Upon his arrival, however,
the proposition did not look attractive, and after he had spent all of
the money he had made he went to Albion, Nebraska, and worked on a
farm for one month, securing in this manner the sum of $19. Later he
went to Grand Island and then to Ord, Nebraska, where be worked
in the general store of Perry & Cover for one year, being later with
R. Harris & Company. He first came to Blair in 1886, but subse
quently removed to Herman, where he was engaged in farming for a
year. He also worked for five years in a general store at Spiker,
Nebraska, and a peddling outfit was his next means of income, he
traveling through the country districts around Arizona, Burt County,
Nebraska, and also conducted a store in Burt County.
Selling out his Arizona interests, Mr. Robinson came to Washing
ton County, where he was married August 13, 1894, to Miss Marrilla J.
Newkirk, a daughter of Clifton and Mary Katherine (Ray) Newkirk,
the former a native of Lawrence County, Indiana, and the latter of
Jackson County, that state. The parents of Mrs. Robinson were married
in Indiana and came to Washington County, Nebraska, in 1869, home
steading a farm on which they spent the balance of their lives. Of the
eight Newkirk children, six are living: A. B., who lives on his farm in
Washington County; Mrs. Robinson; Edward, a farmer cf Washington
County; Henry C, a farmer of Revinna, South Dakota; Vernon, of
Montrose, Minnesota; and Elizabeth, the wife of Dr. W. H. Pruner, a
surgeon of Omaha. Mr. Newkirk was a soldier in the Union army
during the Civil war from October, 1861, until February, 1862, when he
was wounded and secured his honorable discharge because of disability.
He carried the bullet in his body until his death.

812 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Three sons have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Robinson: Raymond
Harold, born May 9, 1895, who was in the Sandstorm Division of the
United States Expeditionary Forces during the World war for twenty-
two months and went to France, although he did not reach the front
lines before the signing of the armistice ; Edward James, born August 27,
1897, who was an aerial gunner during the World war and had training
at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station and at Pensacola, Florida;
and Clifton N., born November 25, 1902, who enlisted for four years
in the United States Navy as an aerial photographer, and is now attend
ing the United States Government School at Washington, D. C.
Following his marriage, Mr. Robinson located at Arlington, Nebraska,
where he was engaged in the hotel business for one year, after which
he purchased a farm and engaged in agricultural pursuits for eight
years. Returning to Blair at that time he established himself in business
as the proprietor of a grocery, but after one and one-half years disposed
of his interest therein to take advantage of the larger opportunities
offered by the motion picture industry. Buying the Home Theater in
1907, he has since built up a large and profitable patronage which appre
ciates his efforts to give it wholesome, clean and enjoyable entertainment
at popular prices. Mr. Robinson has made himself a recognized fixture
in business circles of Blair, not alone through his theater, but through
his transactions iri real estate. Some years ago he began to engineer
transactions in the realty field and each year has seen the further
increase and development of his operations in this line. He oscupies a
place high in the esteem of his associates and in the confidence of his
fellow citizens.
F. W. Arndt. A prosperous hardware merchant of Blair, and one
of its substantial and prominent business men, F. W. Arndt has built
up a large and lucrative trade, his upright and honorable transactions,
and his ready willingness- to oblige all patrons, having won him an
extensive business. A son of the late Bernard Arndt, he was born,
May 4, 1862, in Cincinnati, Ohio, of German parentage.
Born and bred in Germany, Bernard Arndt immigrated to this
country soon after his marriage, and with his bride settled in Cincinnati,
Ohio, where he remained as a cigar manufacturer until 1871. Coming
in that year with his family to Blair, Nebraska, he continued the manu
facture of cigars during the remainder of his active life, and subse
quently continued a resident of the city until his death, at the advanced
age of ninety-four years. He was a republican in politics, and a mem
ber of the Lutheran Church, which, at his death in December, 1919,
lost one of its most respected and valued members. His wife, whose
maiden name was Dorothea Albrecht, was born in Germany, and died
in 1910, in Blair, Nebraska. Eight children were born of their marriage,
three of whom are living, as follows: F. W., the special subject of
this sketch; Mrs. Londelius, living in Spokane, Washington, where
her husband owns a fruit ranch; and Mrs. Fred Michael, Tekamah,
Nebraska. Attending first the public schools of Cincinnati, F. W. Arndt com
pleted his early education in the public schools of Blair. His first
salaried occupation was that of a clerk in a . mercantile establishment.
Giving up that position, he learned the sheet metal trade, which he
followed for nine years. Embarking then in the hardware business,
he was in partnership with G. G. Lundt for fifteen years, when, in 1903,
he bought his partner's interest in the firm, and has since conducted

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 813
the business alone. Enterprising and progressive, he has enlarged his
operations, having added an auto salesroom and shop, in which he
handles the Dodge and Nash cars, having a large salesroom and a ware-
room. He has three floors in the hardware department, and carries an
extensive and varied line of hardware and electric supplies, endeavoring
to keep in stock everything required in his line in an up-to-date establish
ment. Mr. Arndt is a member of the Blair Commercial Club, and of the
State Hardware Association, in each of which he takes much interest.
In 1886 Mr. Arndt was united in marriage with Sophie E. Riddler,
who was born in Fort Calhoun, Nebraska. Her father, the late James S.
Riddler, served in the Regular Army during his earlier life, being
stationed at Fort Calhoun at an early day. He served in the cavalry, a
military branch in which he was ever interested. After leaving the
army, Mr. Riddler engaged in contracting and building, and in addition
to erecting many of the church edifices in Blair put up many of the
Government buildings in the Indian Agency near Sioux City, Iowa.
Mr. and Mrs. Arndt are the parents of three children, namely : Wilfred
B., in business with his father; Mrs. Josephine Bunting, whose husband
is a jeweler in Akron, Iowa ; and Dorrette, wife of H. H. Struve, a book
keeper in Omaha. Mr. Arndt is a sound republican in politics, and has
rendered acceptable service as councilman. Serving as director on the
board of the Columbia Life Insurance Company of Fremont, Nebraska,
also Nebraska Retail Hardware Mutual Insurance Company. Aggres
sive pusher in any enterprise tending to upbuilding of his home city.
John H. Warner. The retired farmer of ample means is very often
the most useful citizen of a community in which he takes up his resi
dence. Very often he will be found to be a stockholder in the town's
soundest business concerns, and these are apt to prosper., for the farmer,
in transferring his interests from rural to urban life, does not lose his
personality. If he has been able to make his undertakings along agri
cultural lines profitable, the same good judgment will make him careful,
observing and prudent in relation to the town's affairs and .enterprises.
One of the well-known retired farmers and useful, highly respected
citizens of Hooper, Nebraska, is John H. Warner, who has been a resi
dent of Dodge County since he was eleven years of age.
John H. Warner was born at Henderson, in Knox County, Illinois,
May 13, 1855, the eldest of six children born to Lewis and Mahala
(McCoy) Warner, natives of Indiana. Lewis Warner was a farmer
in Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Missouri. During the Civil war he served
in the Missouri State Militia, and afterward moved with his family to
Dakota, and from there, in 1866, came with their household goods in a
covered wagon to Dodge County. Here he secured land which, in the
course of time, and after many family hardships, became of some value,
and he carried on general farming and raised stock as did his neighbors.
He was a man of sterling character, was a member of the Christian
Church, was a justice of the peace for many years and as a republican
was elected several terms as a county commissioner. On account of
failing health he finally sold his farm and moved to Brownsville, Oregon,
where he died March 28, 1900, aged sixty-eight years. In Illinois he
married Mahala McCoy, who survived him, her death occurring February
28, 1911, at the age of seventy-six years. Besides John H. they had the
following children: William, who is deceased; Mary Jane, who is the
wife of Frank Watson, a farmer near Brownsville, Oregon ; Robert E.,
who is a rancher and lumberman in Oregon ; and Myra and Sarah, both
of whom died in infancy.

814 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
John H. Warner was eleven years old when the family came to
Dodge County and he has a very vivid recollection of early days here.
He assisted his father after his period of school attendance was over,
then bought land for himself and for many years was one of the busy and
prosperous farmers and stock raisers of the county. In 1910 he decided
to give up the hard duties that had engaged him so long and take life a
little easier, a resolution that met with the approval of his family.
Mr. Warner was married in 1879 to Miss Clara Mitchell, who was
born in Pennsylvania, a daughter of Jeremiah and Amelia (Boyer)
Mitchell, who came to Dodge County in 1877. Both are deceased. The
following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Warner : Maude, who is
the wife of Charles Hansen, a farmer near Dickson, Nebraska ; Lewis,
who is a farmer near North Bend ; Harvey E., who is a farmer in
Dodge County; Mabel, who is the wife of William Van Horn, a farmer
near Haxtum, Colorado ; Ray, who is a farmer near North Bend ; Myrtle,
who is the wife of John Schmela, a veterinary surgeon at Spencer,
Nebraska ; and Merle, who is a student in the Hooper High School.
Mr. Warner has always voted the republican ticket. He has never
desired political honors and has never accepted any office except that of
school director of District No. 75, in which he served many years before
coming to Hooper. He is a stockholder in the Farmers Union Elevator
at Hooper. This is one of the fine, typical families of Dodge County.
David Brown. As the woodman in clearing his land leaves here
and there some stalwart maple or cedar, which long years after stands
alone in the midst of some green and fertile field, a solitary remembrance
of the past, so the relentless Reaper, in his grim harvest of men, has
spared here and there a pioneer who forms a connecting link between
the past and the present. David Brown, now retired from active affairs,
is one of the surviving pioners of Dodge County, where he came in
1871 and where for many years he was engaged in successful farming
operations. Mr. Brown was born in Ontario, Canada, in 1839, a son of John
and Ellen Brown, the former a native of Ireland, who emigrated to
Canada and died there at the age of seventy-two years. David Brown
was given a common school education in Canada, where for nine years
he was engaged in teaching school. Coming to the United States in
1866, he first located in Benton County, Iowa, where he was engaged in
farming for one year. Following this, he was unsettled for a time, mov
ing from place to place in search of a location that would satisfy him,
and in 1871 decided upon Dodge County. For a short time he lived at
Fremont, but eventually moved to a farm fifteen miles northwest of that
city, which he at first rented. Later he became the owner thereof
through purchase, and as the years passed not only improved his own
land and kept pace with the ever-changing developments of his county's
history, but also played his own part well in assisting the advancement
of the forces of education and religion and serving for a number of
years as a member of the School Board. He is a Presbyterian in his
religious affiliation, his wife having passed away in that faith in 1917, at
the age of seventy-two years. In the evening of life, Mr. Brown stepped
aside from the path of active labor, to allow younger men to assume the
burdens and exercise their ambitions. Although he has passed the
Psalmist's threescore and ten by a large margin, he still maintains an
interest in the work of the property, as well as in other matters of
importance occurring about him.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 815
Mr. Brown was married in Ontario, Canada, to Catherine Raycraft,
and to this union there were born six sons and three daughters : Alfred
D., William J., Emma V., Agnes S., who is deceased; Helen M., George
S., Earl R., Owen D. and Ernest H. These children have all been given
excellent educational advantages and have been reared to habits of indus
try, integrity and sobriety, their father having always been a stanch
adherent of prohibition, not only personally but as a national measure.
Owen D. Brown, son of David Brown, was born on his father's
farm in Dodge County, Nebraska, in 1885, and received his education in
the public schools. Reared as an agriculturist, he adopted that vocation
upon attaining years of maturity, and for the past six years has been
operating successfully a highly productive farm in section 4, Maple
Township. Mr. Brown is accounted one of the progressive agriculturists
of the younger generation in his community, where he has been a repre
sentative of the highest type of agricultural citizenship. He is frater
nally affiliated with the Masons, holds membership in the Presbyterian
Church, and as a voter maintains an independent attitude.
In 1914 Mr. Brown was united in marriage with Miss Arvida Maryott,
who was born in Dodge County, and to this union there have been born
two children : Oravetta and Dorathea.
Edward N. Morse came to Nebraska almost immediately after the
close of his loyal service as a soldier of the Union in the Civil war, and
nearly two years before Nebraska was admitted to the Union. He was
one of the pioneer merchants of Fremont, and for over half a century
until his death one of the city and county's ablest business men and most
public spirited citizens, fully earning the high esteem paid him during his
lifetime and the many tributes of honor given after his death.
He was born in 1846 in Knox County, Illinois, where he was reared
and educated. His parents were Nelspn D. and Amanda (Glass) Morse,
the former a native of New York State and the latter of Ohio. They
were married in Illinois. Nelson D. Morse was a stonemason by trade,
and was a very prominent member of the Masonic fraternity, serving as
grand master of the Grand Lodge of Illinois as well as lecturer of the
Grand Lodge. In 1848 he went out to California and while on the
Pacific Coast organized a number of pioneer Masonic lodges. He died
when his son Edward was a boy. The only other child is Mrs. Emma J.
Brown, a widow living in Iowa. The mother died in Iowa, and was a
devout member of the Christian Church.
Edward N. Morse was about fifteen years old when the Civil war
began. As soon as he became eligible in 1863 he enlisted in Battery H of
the Second Illinois Light Artillery. He served two years until the close
of the war, and was in a number of campaigns including the great battle
of Franklin, Tennessee. After his honorable discharge he returned to
Illinois, but two weeks later came to Nebraska Territory in 1865. The
work that brought him to the territory was employment during the con
struction of the Union Pacific Railroad. He was practically without
financial resources when he came here, and his individual earning power,
his prestige as a loyal citizen, and his great capacity for friendship gave
him the advantages that made him successful when he established one
of the pioneer mercantile enterprises at Fremont. For several years he
continued his business as a merchant at the little village, but in 1868
began supplying -in a modest way the local demands for ice. Probably
no other business man of the state had a longer continuous connection
with the ice business than Mr. Morse, who founded and until his death

816 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
was nominally head of the Fremont Ice and Sand Company. He was its
principal owner, as well as president ?nd general manager. The busi
ness is a corporation with capital of $18*000. He was also a director in
the First National Bank of Fremont, a stockholder in the Pathfinder
Hotel, and was owner of a large amount of valuable real estate in his
home city.
By many years of hard work Mr. Morse thoroughly satisfied his
modest and honorable ambition for material accumulations, and all the
time he gave something of himself and his influence to the welfare of
friends and community. He was an unfaltering democrat in politics,
served several terms on the Municipal Council of Fremont, but his
greatest hobby was education and for about thirty years he was a mem
ber of the Board of Education and its president at the time of his death.
He was a valued member of the Fremont Commercial Club, serving at
one time as president. In Masonry he was secretary of the local lodge
several years, was active in various Masonic bodies, and a thirty-second
degree Scottish Rite Mason and Shriner. He was also a member of the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and for fifteen years commander of
the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic and for an equal time a
member of the Soldiers' Relief Committee of Dodge County.
His prominence as a business man and a citizen can be well under
stood even from this brief outline of his activities. He was at once one
of the oldest and best known men of Fremont, and the community felt
a large sense of loss when the news came of his death at San Diego,
California, June 30, 1920.
In October, 1870, he married Miss Emma J. Goodman, who died in
1886. She was the mother of five children, but onlv one is now living,
Edna, wife of William S. Balduff of Fremont. In 1887 Mr. Morse
married Miss Lillian L. Green, who keeps her home at 320 West Mili
tary Avenue in Fremont. She became the mother of six children, five
of whom are living, as follows : Harry S., who was the active associate
of his father in business, and for several years executive manager of the
Fremont Ice and Sand Company; Jennie C, formerly a popular teacher
in the Fremont schools, is the wife of Alfred Carstens of Fremont ; May,
who gave much of her time to her father's business until his death;
Edith M., who is secretary for the Fremont superintendent of schools;
and Robert S. Robert S. enlisted in July, 1917, for service in the
World war and was with the colors twenty-three months, though an
attack of influenza prevented him from accompanying his regiment over
seas. He has a soldier's land claim near Baggs, Wyoming. He is now
married and living in Fremont and connected with the Fremont Ice and
Sand Company.
Dan Swanson. One of the most prominent men of Dodge County
is Dan Swanson, member of the Lower House of the State Assembly,
and commissioner of public lands and buildings, with headquarters at
Fremont. He is one of the best-known men in this part of the state, and
has not only acquired distinction as a public official of unquestioned
probity, but also as a business man of recognized acumen, much of his
efforts as such being directed along the line of extensive realty operations.
Mr. Swanson was born in Sweden on May 1, 1857, a son of Swan
Pierson and Maria (Anderson) Swanson, both of whom were born and
reared in Sweden, where they rounded out their useful' lives, he being
an extensive landowner and farmer and a man of prominence locally.
He and his wife had eight children, of whom three are now living,

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 817
namely : Matilda, who is unmarried, lives in Sweden ; Amelia, who is
also unmarried and a resident of Sweden ; and Dan, whose name heads
this review. The parents belonged to the Lutheran Church. At one time
the father was very wealthy, but lost some of his means as he grew older.
Growing up in his native land Dan Swanson acquired an excellent
educational training in the public schools and Lund University at Lund,
Sweden, and after completing his studies became a clerk in a general
store. In 1877 he came to the United States, and for a time after land
ing worked in a tobacco store in Connecticut. However, one of his sisters
had located in Nebraska, and Mr. Swanson joined her and lived at
Wahoo, although he had the misfortune to lose his sister within two
weeks after they were reunited. During the time he was at that point
he was engaged in clerking, but in 1892 came to Dodge County and
obtained employment in the store owned by Mr. Bloomenthal at Fre
mont, where he remained for six or seven years, and was promoted to
be manager of this large department store. His attention was then turned
toward real estate, and he gained a working knowledge of the business
with Richard Keen & Company, and he maintained his connections with
this concern until he was elected to the Legislature in 1900 and served"
in it for one term. He was then appointed postmaster of Fremont in
January, 1903, and served in that office for eight years and three months.
Mr. Swanson then went into the real estate business and carried it on
very profitably as secretary and treasurer of the Fremont Real Estate
Company, and was discharging the duties of these positions when, in
1918, he was elected commissioner of public lands and buildings. In
1920 he ran for re-election as commissioner of public lands and buildings
without opposition with reference to his nomination on the republican
ticket. In this election he received the largest vote for re-election of any
candidate in the state, his majority being 110,744 votes.
In March, 1884, Mr. Swanson was united in marriage with Matilda
Streed, born in Sweden, who came to the United States with her parents
when she was only six years old. They settled at Wahoo. Mrs. Swanson
is a daughter of John Streed, who was a merchant tailor of Wahoo for
many years. Following the death of his wife, Mr. Streed returned to
Sweden and died there. Mr. and Mrs. Swanson became the parents of
three sons, namely: Fred W., who is bookkeeper and assistant manager
of the Fremont Beverage Company of Fremont; Carl, who is employed
in the state engineering department at Lincoln, Nebraska ; and Ray, who
was employed in the Ashland Bank for a number of years, is now
engaged in conducting large realty operations. The family are Luth
erans. Mr. Swanson has always been active in state and iocal politics
in the republican party, and has served as chairman of the County Cen
tral Committee of this party. Since his election as commissioner he has
devoted his care and attention to the duties appertaining to it and is ren
dering a very satisfactory service. One of the acts of Mr. Swanson was
to raise the school tax assessments from $624,312 to $2,380,522, making
an annual increase for the state of nearly $105,374. He is a man of broad
vision and one who cannot be swerved from a position when he is con
vinced that his stand is the right one, and he believes that the respon
sibility rests upon him to see to it that the interests of the general public
be protected and he is utterly fearless in living up to his own conception
of his duty. Such men as he are very valuable adjuncts to the state, and
Mr. Swanson's record proves that he is worthy of all the confidence
reposed in him by his fellow citizens.

818 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Perry Selden. The record of pioneer activities and personalities in
Washington County must always give an important place to the late
Perry Selden. He was an early freighter over the great plains, located
in Washington County soon after the close of the Civil war, and his
name is especially associated .with the community of Blair where
Mrs. Selden is still living and Blair is also the home of his daughter,
Mrs. L. A. Williams.
Perry Selden was born at Hornellsville, New York, May 2, 1842.
When he was twelve years of age his parents came West and settled at
Omaha, then a river town and an outfitting post for the caravans of
commerce and travel that started for the West and Northwest. Perry
Selden received his early education in Michigan, but could not long be
kept out of the current of western life which surged through Omaha.
At the age of eighteen he began driving freighting wagons to the Far
West, and he also carried mail over the plains. He was engaged in this
adventurous occupation until 1867, when he returned to Omaha. He
completed his education with one year in Grinnell College.
In 1869 Perry Selden came to Washington County and homesteaded
and in a few years had achieved a place of leadership in county affairs.
Besides farming he engaged in the newspaper business and was editor
and proprietor of the Blair Pilot for a number of years. A stanch
republican, he was elected to the Legislature in 1876 and he also held the
office of county judge of Washington County. Judge Selden is remem
bered as a man absolutely fearless, honest, straightforward, possessing
sound judgment in business and his record is one that can be recalled
with distinct pride. He was superintendent of the Yankton Indian
Agency Government School at Yankton, South Dakota, and Mrs. Selden
was matron from 1884 to 1888. Judge Selden's death occurred Septem
ber 16, 1896. He was affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
On April 9, 1869, Judge Selden married Eliza Newell, member of an
even earlier family of settlers in Washington County. She was born at
Amherst, Massachusetts, October 12, 1843, a daughter of Samuel and
Rebecca (Hall) Newell. Her parents settled in Washington County,
Nebraska, in 1865, when she was twenty-two years of age, and her
father homesteaded and became one of the very substantial farmers in
the Blair community, where he lived out his life.
Mr. and Mrs. Selden became the parents of four children, only two
of whom are now living, Mrs. L. A. Williams of Blair and J. W. Selden,
a lawyer at Tacoma, Washington.
Minnie A. Selden was born April 28, 1870, on the homestead of her
Grandfather Selden, who settled there in 1854 and which has since been
incorporated in the City of Omaha. Miss Selden was reared and edu
cated at Blair and on August 16, 1893, became the wife of Lyman A.
Williams. Mr. Williams was born at Middleton, Wisconsin, November 24, 1869,
and came to Blair in 1891. He was well educated and for several years
was a successful teacher in the schools of Scribner and Blair, and Mrs.
Williams also did work as a teacher in the schools of these communities.
Mr. Williams had completed his education in the Plattville State Normal
of Wisconsin. After the death of Judge Selden he was editor of the
Blair Pilot for a number of years, also served as mayor of the town, and
for a number of years has enjoyed a distinctive success in the insurance
field. He was formerly general superintendent of agencies for the Guar
antee Fund Life Insurance Company and for the past seven or eight

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 819
years has maintained his business headquarters at Omaha, and directs
the agency work of his company in the states of Iowa and Nebraska.
Mr. Williams also owns two farms in Western Nebraska and another
farm in California.
The two children of Mr. and Mrs. Williams are Bert Selden Williams,
born June 17, 1900, and Letha A.," born March 8, 1911. The daughter is
still in school. The son Bert, now attending the State University of
Nebraska at Lincoln, is also working with his father in the insurance
business. Bert Williams was in training for a time at Fort Sheridan
and also as a member of the Student Army Training Corps at Lincoln.
On August 31, 1918, he married and has a son, George Bert.
Mr. Williams is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and
Shriner and has been deeply interested in the success of the republican
party and has participated in several local campaigns. Mrs. Williams is
a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. She and her mother have
long been prominent in fraternal and social and educational affairs at
Blair. Mrs. Williams is a member of the Eastern Star and a past matron
of the Chapter, present secretary, also served as Grand Martha for one
year. She and her mother are members of the Daughters of the Ameri
can Revolution and both are active in the work of the Woman's Relief
Corps, one of the strong organizations in Blair. Mrs. Williams has been
president of the local corps about seven years. Both are members of
the Rebekahs and have filled the various chairs in that order. Mrs. Wil
liams took a prominent part in the organization of the Woman's Auxil
iary to the American Legion and served as county chairman of the Red
Cross after the close of the great war.
Rev. A. M. Andersen, of Blair, is one of the oldest and most promi-
ment ministers of the Danish Lutheran Church in the West. More than
forty years ago he did his first missionary work among the scattered
communities of western Nebraska. He first came to Blair in the early
'80s, and while his duties have called him away from Washington County
at different times, his chief interests and work have centered at Blair.
Rev. Mr. Andersen was the founder of Dana College at Blair, and for
a number of years has been editor of the Danskeren, published at Blair
by the Danish Lutheran Publishing House, a journal of wide circulation
throughout the West.
Rev. Mr. Andersen was born in Denmark March 8, 1847, son of
Anders Jorgensen and Maren (Andersen) Andersen. His parents, who
spent all their lives on a farm in Denmark, were devout Lutherans, and
had seven children, five sons and two daughters. Three are still living.
Therkel was for many years a teacher in a private school in Denmark
and is now retired. The second is Rev. A. M. Andersen, and the third
is Jens, a retired wheelwright still living in Denmark.
A. M. Andersen acquired a public school education in Denmark,
attending a high school at Ryslinge Fuen. He was a young man of
twenty-five when he came to the United States in 1872. His first destina
tion was Madison, Wisconsin, but during the summer he worked on a
farm in Orfordville, in Rock County, and in the fall erf 1872 he removed
to Minneapolis and there took up active study in preparation for the
ministry of the Danish Lutheran Church. He spent two terms in a
seminary, and in 1874 took examination and was ordained to the min
istry October 11, 1874. While preaching during the summer he taught
a term of school at Elmdale, Minnesota, and when ordained the church
gave hirn a missionary assignment in Nebraska. For a year and a half

820 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
he was located at Dannebrog in Howard County, Nebraska, having
charge of the local church and being missionary pastor for five other
churches at a distance of from 10 to 120 miles from Dannebrog. It was
a new country and Mr. Andersen's duties involved strenuous labor and
all the difficulties of pioneer travel. He frequently rode great distances
on horseback, and also had a buggy to which he hitched a mule. On
leaving Nebraska he was pastor of a church at Racine, Wisconsin, two
and a half years, but in the fall of 1879 returned to Nebraska and located
in Burk County. In 1882 he began his work at Blair, and the following
year moved his family to that city, built a home, and also erected the
first church of his denomination. Soon afterward he entered the work
of organizing an institution of higher learning. He secured a donation
from local citizens to the amount of $3,000, while the church board fur
nished about $4,000. This was the fund with which Trinity Seminary
and Preparatory School was established, though the first real work of
instruction was done in Mr. Andersen's own home in 1884. He contin
ued as president of the college from its beginning until 1889. On retiring
from that post he took charge of a church at Hampton, in Hamilton
County, Nebraska, where he remained five years. On returning to Blair
he became a member of the theological faculty of the college, and con
tinued in that work until the school was taken over by another branch of
the church and given its present name of Dana College. For a time
Mr. Andersen was pastor of a church at Viborg, South Dakota, and on his
return to Blair he became editor of the Danskeren.
The Danskeren was established in 1892 and is one of the oldest pub
lications of the Danish Lutheran Church in the western states. It was
for a time published twice a week and has a circulation between 3,000
and 4,000 copies. Mr. Andersen for a number of years has devoted his
time and energies to this publication, though he has also performed inci
dental work of importance in connection with other departments of his
church. In politics he is a republican.
March 5, 1875, Mr. Andersen married Laurina Marie Larsen, a native
of Denmark. They are the parents of seven children : Agnes Christina,
wife of George W. Larsen, a farmer at Beresford, South Dakota; Andrew
M., a farmer at Wakonda, South Dakota; Silas C, studying medicine
at the University of Minnesota ; Miss Emma A., at home ; Anton M., pro
prietor of a men's furnishings store at Ringsted, Iowa; Ruthven C, a
teacher in the schools of Washington County; and Allen Emil, a student
in the Nebraska State University at Lincoln.
Harry Higley was one of the very successful business men and lead
ing citizens of Blair for a number of years. Besides the importance
attaching to his individual career, his name is interesting since it recalls
one of the very first pioneer families of Washington County. The Hig-
leys have been well known in this section of the state for sixty years.
Harry Higley was born at Waukesha, Wisconsin, September 12,
1861, son of Thomas and Sarah E. (Welch) Higley. His parents were
natives of Wisconsin, and about 1862 they came west and settled in
Washington County, Nebraska. Thomas Higley was postmaster of a
town in Washington County during the Civil war. For many years he
was a successful merchant, and he died at Kearney, while his wife passed
away at Blair. She was an active member of the Congregational Church.
They were the parents of four sons, the only one now living being
Vernon, a resident of Davenport, Iowa, who for twenty-four years has
been employed in the United States Arsenal at Rock Island.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 821
Harry Higley grew up in Washington County when it was a pioneer
region, acquired a common school education in the schools of that time,
and his mature years were a progressive record of sound business
achievement. For a number of years before his death he was proprietor
of a high-class confectionery and wholesale ice cream business at Blair.
Mr. Higley's death on March 3, 1919, was a severe blow to the com
munity in which he had lived for many years. He was one of the promi
nent Masons in Washington County, had filled all the chairs in the Blue
Lodge, was an eminent commander of Knights Templar Commandery,
also a Shriner, and was affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows and Knights of Pythias. Mrs. Higley is an active member of
the Eastern Star and is one of the officials of her Chapter. Both
Mr. and Mrs. Higley were identified with the Episcopal Church.
Some years before his death Mr. Higley built a large home on South
Street and Mrs. Higley still occupies that residence in Blair.
Mr. Higley was twice married, his wives being sisters. His first wife
was Mary E. Cain, and after her death he married Miss Sadie Cain, on
June 8, 1904. By the first union he had five children, and the two now
living are Mrs. Eva Cook, a clerk in the Blair postoffice ; and Myron E., a
salesman living at Ogden, Utah. Mrs. Sadie Higley was born at O'Neill,
Nebraska, and has the distinction of having been the first girl born in
that town. She is a daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (Miller) Cain,
who still live at O'Neill. Her father is a retired farmer and has been
identified with agricultural affairs in Nebraska for a long period of years.
He was born in Ireland and his wife in England. Mrs. Higley is the
second of three living children. Her older sister is Mrs. John Ratter-
man, of Columbus, , Nebraska, and her younger sister, Elizabeth, is a
stenographer at Los Angeles, California. Mrs. Higley's parents are
active members of the Catholic Church, and her father is a republican.
Mrs. Mary M. Siekkotter, a resident of Blair, is a daughter of the
late Soren Jensen, long prominently identified with the agricultural com
munity of Washington County. Mrs. Siekkotter's first husband was John
Reeh, whose citizenship in Washington County also deserves some refer
ence on these pages.
John Reeh was born in Germany in 1870, and the following year his
parents brought him to the United States. The family were early set
tlers in Washington County, and his father was an honored resident of
Blair at the time of his death. John Reeh took up the vocation of farm
ing and acquired and managed some important interests in Washington
County. He was a man of good judgment, successful and a highly
esteemed friend and neighbor. He died in 1903. He was a member of
the German Lutheran Church and the Modern Woodmen of America.
Mrs. Siekkotter by her marriage to John Reeh had three children:
Lyle, employed in the State Bank of Blair ; Blanche, a successful teacher
in the schools of Tekamah, Nebraska, and Odella, who graduated from
the Blair High School in 1920.
In 1905 Mrs. John Reeh was married to Mr. Charles Siekkotter of
Blair. Mr. Siekkotter was the owner of some extensive and valuable
farming lands in Sarpey County, Nebraska, and managed that property
until his death, which occurred in 1908. Mr. and Mrs. Siekkotter had
one daughter, Gladys,. now attending school. Mr. Siekkotter was a mem
ber of the Lutheran Church, and his widow and children are members
of the Baptist faith. In politics he was a republican.

822 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
The parents of Mrs. Siekkotter, Soren and Anna Sina (Jensen)
Jensen, were both natives of Denmark. They came to the United States
when young people, settled at Omaha, and when most of eastern
Nebraska was still a wilderness they located on a homestead in Wash
ington County. Her father became one of the well-to-do farmers of the
region and spent his last years in comfort and the enjoyment of the
fruits of his early trials and labors. He died in 1917, and his widow is
still living at Blair. They had thirteen children, all of whom are still
living, and including them and their children and grandchildren there are
now a hundred descendants of this worthy couple of Danish pioneers
in Washington County. Soren Jensen was a member of the Danish
Lutheran Church and a democrat in politics.
Frank Jahnel. Formerly engaged in agricultural jursuits in
Washington County for many years, and now well known in insurance
circles of Blair and the surrounding country, Frank Jahnel is accounted
as one of the successful retired farmers and leading representatives of
fire risk companies in his locality. His career has been one in which
hard work, enlightened views and sound integrity have all played a
prominent part, and the not inconsiderable success that has come to him
has been well and fairly earned.
Mr. Jahnel was born in Barlt, Holstein, Germany, December 8, 1851,
a son of Frank and Margaret (Kruetzfield) Jahnel, both of whom passed
their entire lives in Germany and died in the faith of the Lutheran
Church. The father, a man of excellent education, was a school teacher
throughout his life. Mr. Jahnel has one brother, August, who when last
heard from was still a resident of Germany. Frank Jahnel, of this review,
secured his education in the public schools of Germany, and had passed
his majority, in 1873, when he came to the United States. At first he
made settlement in Missouri, where he remained about two months,
then came to Nebraska and located at Grand Island, working there two
years, when he went to Omaha and clerked a couple of years. He then
located on tax title land in Washington County, from which he secured
two crops while breaking it. Later Mr. Jahnel secured other land,
adding to his holdings from time to time as his resources increased, and
at present is the owner of 600 acres of well-cultivated property lying in
Washington County. In 1907, after his long and successful career as
an agriculturist, he retired from operations as a tiller of the soil and
took up his home at Blair, where he occupies a modern and comfortable
residence. At the time of his arrival he began selling fire insurance, and
at the present time is the accredited representative of the Columbia
Underwriters Farm Insurance Company of Omaha and the German
Mutual Fire Insurance Company. He has built up an excellent farm
insurance business, which not only adds to his income, but occupies his
energetic mind. All that Mr. Jahnel owns in the world he has made
himself, for he has never relied upon others, preferring to depend upon
his own ability, the strength of his mind and the skill of his hands. He
is a faithful member of the Lutheran Church. In politics a republican,
he has been a prominent and leading factor in his party in the com
munity for many years, and for twenty-five years was school treasurer.
For six years he was a member of the Board of County Commissioners,
during which time the new courthouse was erected, and in 1903 and
1905 he was sent as the representative of his district to the Nebraska
General Assembly, in which body his work was constructive and bene
ficial. He is a member of the Masons.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 823
Mr. Jahnel was married in 1876, at Omaha, to Miss Bertha M. Mun-
ster, who was born in Holstein, Germany, and to this union there were
born eight children : Fritz, who is carrying on operations on his father's
farm; Frank, who owns a farm in Washington County; Willie, who is
farming on his father's property ; Lena, who married O. E. Anderson, a
farmer of Wisconsin ; Dora, who married Charles Cravens, a farmer of
Pierce County, Nebraska; Rosie, who married Ed Mathiesen, in the
clothing business at Blair; Elsie, the wife of Elmer Miller, a farmer of
Washington County; and Christ, farming on his father's property. The
mother of these children died July 16, 1907, and October 8, 1908,
Mr. Jahnel married Mrs. Sophia (Benck) Alberts, a widow, at Sterling,
Illinois. Mrs. Alberts was born in Marne, Holstein, Germany, November
1, 1851, and came to the United States in 1873, first settled at Sterling,
Illinois, but later, in 1908, came to Nebraska. By her former marriage
she has two sons: John, auditor for a wholesale house at Chicago; and
Albertus, a fruit rancher of Santa Ana, California.
Rainsford C. Brownell was a lad of twelve years at the time his
parents came to Nebraska and established the family home in Saunders
County, where he was reared to adult age, was afforded the advantages
of the public schools of the period and where he eventually became a suc
cessful exponent of farm industry, besides which he became a leader in
the breeding and raising of fine standard-bred horses in Nebraska. After
retiring from his farm he established his residence at North Bend, Dodge
County, where he has since remained and where he is a popular and
influential citizen.
Mr. Brownell was born in the Province of New Brunswick, Canada,
on January 12, 1860, and is a son of John H. and Mary (Taylor)
Brownell, who were born and reared in the province and who were
honored pioneer citizens of Saunders County, Nebraska, at the time
of their deaths, the father having passed away in 1886, at the age of
seventy-four years, and the mother having been eighty-six years of age
at the time of her death, in 1904. In New Brunswick John H. Brownell
had not only followed farm enterprise but had also operated a sawmill
and was a successful representative of the lumber business in his com
munity. In 1872 he came with his family to Nebraska and purchased a
tract of land in Saunders County, where he devoted the remainder of
his active life to agricultural pursuits and the raising of live stock. He
was a republican in his political allegiance, was affiliated with the Masonic
fraternity and both he and his wife held membership in the Methodist
Episcopal Church. While a resident of his native province he served
for some time as justice of the peace. His son, William J. Brownell, was
a sea captain for many years and was a resident of New Brunswick at
the time of his death. He was the father of ten sons and one daughter,
and of the number four are living, Rainsford C, whose name introduces
this sketch; H. C, engaged in tbe r6al estate business in the City of
Denver, Colorado; A. R., living retired at Aurora, Hamilton County,
Nebraska ; and T. C, a resident of Hay Springs, Sheridan County, where
he is living retired.
Rainsford C. Brownell early began to contribute his quota to the work
of his father's farm in Saunders County, where also he initiated in due
time his independent career as an agriculturist and stock grower. There
he eventually became the owner of a well improved landed estate of 640
acres, and substantial success attended his progressive activities as a
representative of farm enterprise. He achieved special reputation in the

824 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
raising of standard-bred horses, and from his farm went forth some of
the finest horses that have maintained the reputation of Nebraska in turf
events. Thus it may be noted that Mr. Brownell raised and owned the
famous gelding, "Spill," which made a splendid record and won more
cash prizes on the turf than any other horse in Nebraska. On his farm
property Mr. Brownell made the best of modern improvements, and in
all ways he exemplified the most scientific and advanced methods and
policies applied to farm industry. He remained on the farm until 1912,
when he removed to North Bend, Dodge County, where he has since
lived retired, though he still owns his valuable farm property in Saun
ders County. He has taken loyal and vital interest in the welfare and
progress of his attractive home city of North Bend, where he served
three terms as mayor and gave a most progressive and satisfactory admin
istration. He is unwavering in his allegiance to the republican party and
has been influential in its local' councils, as shown by the fact that in
1895 he was elected to represent Saunders County in the State Legisla
ture, in which he served one term. In that county he served as a member
of the School Board of his district, and within the period of his residence
at North Bend he has given effective service as a member of its Board
of Education. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, including the
Mystic Shrine, and is identified also with the Modern Woodmen of
America. He and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal
Church. The year 1904 recorded the marriage of Mr. Brownell to Mrs. Cede-
lia (Easom) Collins, who was born and reared in Nebraska and who is
a daughter of the late William H. Easom. Mr. and Mrs. Brownell have
one son, Donald L., who is attending the public schools of North Bend.
Mrs. Brownell by her former marriage has a daughter, Miss Agnes
Collins, who is a teacher of French in the schools of Lafayette, Indiana.
William Douglas Gross. Among the best-known families of
Blair, Nebraska, is that bearing the name of Gross, which was founded
in this state by William Douglas Gross, one of the early settlers of the
state and long a resident of Blair, where he was well known as a public
official. He was born at Hillsboro, County Albert, New Brunswick,
Canada, on April 13, 1837, a son of Richard and Mary (Steeves) Gross.
The Gross family was long associated with the history of the American
colonies, and Richard Gross, grandparent, was born at Hingham, Massa
chusetts, and was reared there, but in young manhood he moved to New
Brunswick, Canada, and there rounded out his useful life. Mrs. Gross
was a descendant of Henrick Steeves, who with his seven sons founded
the Village of Hillsboro.
Growing up in his native village William D. Gross attended its schools
and learned the carpenter trade, which he followed at Hillsboro, New
Brunswick; Boston, Massachusetts, and Omaha, Nebraska, coming west
to the latter city in 1868. In 1869 he moved on a homestead in Grant
Precinct, Washington County, proving it up in 1872. In the meanwhile
he was engaged during the winter months in working for the Union
Pacific Railroad in the extension of its tracks and the erection of neces
sary sheds.
In 1873 Mr. Gross moved to Blair, where he embarked in the hotel
business and carried it on for many years, and at the same time he
became interested in different enterprises, which, together with his
agricultural holdings gained him a wide acquaintance throughout Wash
ington and adjoining counties.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 825
During the war between the states Mr. Gross served as sergeant of
Company E, Third Massachusetts Cavalry, from April 1, 1864, until
October 8, 1865, and was honorably discharged at Fort Leavenworth,
Kansas. During his period of service he was with General Sheridan
in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia.
A republican, stanch in his support of the principles of that party,
he became a leading figure in it, and was acting mayor of Blair during
one year, and was a member of its city council for a number of years.
In 1881 he was elected sheriff of Washington County, and held that
office for four years, proving himself a fearless and competent official,
and also during his second term in the same office. During 1896-1897
and 1897-1898 he was supervisor of Blair, representing it on the county
board. He was a Mason, belonging to Howard Lodge No. 15, Hills
boro, New Brunswick, and he was also a member of the post at Blair
of the Grand Army of the Republic.
On November 15, 1865, Mr. Gross was married at Hillsboro, New
Brunswick, to Maria Theresa Martin, a daughter of George Martin,
of Saint John, New Brunswick. Mr. and Mrs. Martin died when
Mrs. Gross was a child. They were of Irish descent and were very
early settlers of New Brunswick.
Mrs. Gross was a brave woman, and used to remain alone with her
little children when Mr. Gross was away from home working on the
railroad, at a time when the surrounding country was practically unset
tled. Mr. Gross died November 4, 1904, after an illness extending over
ten years, but his widow survives him and is very well known in this
region, particularly because of her hospitality and her thoughtfulness to
those who are deprived of active participation in the life of the com
munity by reason of disability. She is a member of the Eastern Star
and the Woman's Relief Corps.
Anna Gross, daughter of William D. Gross and his wife, was one
year old when brought by her parents to Omaha, Nebraska. On Septem
ber 25, 1884, she was married to James H. Stewart, a son of James S.
Stewart, one of the pioneers of Washington County. She was graduated
from the Blair city schools, and for many years has taken a constructive
part in their development. Her two daughters are Abbie and Mar
guerite, both of whom were graduated from the Blair High School and
the University of Nebraska, and both are well known among the alumni
of the latter institution. Abbie Stewart was married to Lyle D. Milliken,
a son of James Milliken, of Fremont, Nebraska, where the family is
well known both socially and in a business way. Mr. and Mrs. Milliken
have one son, James Stewart Milliken, named for his two grandfathers,
James Stewart and James Milliken. Marguerite has also studied at
Columbia Univeristy, New York City, and the University of Colorado,
and is now a very successful teacher of home economics in the Smith-
Hughs schools of Wyoming and Nebraska. The second daughter of
William D. Gross and his wife is Miss Frances Gross, an educator
of Omaha, Nebraska, and one of the principals of its city schools. She
has been connected with the schools of Blair and Lincoln, Nebraska.
She belongs to the Eastern Star at Blair. Both she and her sister are
members of the Daughters of the Revolution, she maintaining member
ship with Isaac Saddler, and Mrs. Stewart with Nikumi Chapter,.
Daughters of the American Revolution.
These ladies are entitled to membership in this organization through
members of the Gross family. Two brothers, Isaac and Edmund Gross,
came from England to Massachusetts in the seventeenth century, receiv-
Vol. II— 24

826 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
ing grants of land, and their descendants served in the American Revolu
tion. This land, received by Isaac in 1636, and by Edmund in 1639,
was around Hingham and Andover, Massachusetts. Their line of the
family descends direct from Isaac Gross, and another Isaac Gross was
one of Major Thaxter's company in the Crown Point Expedition of 1756.
W. W. Wilkinson. Of the men who have lent dignity of character,
excellence of labor and largeness of general co-operation to affairs in
Washington County for a considerable period, few are more widely
known or generally respected in their neighborhood than W. W. Wilkin
son, now Hving at Blair. It has been the privilege of this man to have
lived close to the heart of nature, to have partaken generously of her
awards and to have responded with enthusiasm and clear judgment to
her opportunities for advancement.
Mr. Wilkinson comes of sturdy and honorable lineage and one which
has furthered the universal gospel of industry. He was born at Elk City,
Nebraska, in 1876, a son of Thomas and Lucy (Jackson) Wilkinson,
natives of England, who upon their arrival in the United States, about
1865, settled near Elk City. In that community Thomas Wilkinson
purchased land at from $2.50 to $5 per acre and continued to be engaged
in agricultural pursuits until moving to Blair, about 1886, in which
year he retired. He continued to make Blair his home during the
remainder of his life and died in July, 1912, since which time his worthy
widow, who survives him, has made her home with her daughter at
Omaha. They were the parents of four children : Ida, who married
J. F. Smith, engaged in the manufacture of brick at Omaha; Emma,
who married Herman Shields, also engaged in the brick business in that
city; Nettie, who died in 1913, as the wife of George B. Dyball, of
Omaha ; and W. W. The parents were faithful members of the Epis
copal Church. Thomas Wilkinson joined the Masonic fraternity at an
early day and was a, member thereof throughout his life. A democrat
in politics, he took an active interest in civic affairs and served as post
master at Blair under the administration of President Cleveland, in
addition to which he was a member of the board of county commis
sioners for a number of years and of the board of school directors. He
was a well-to-do, self-made man and one who had the respect and
esteem of the people of his community. A more complete sketch of
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Wilkinson appears elsewhere in this publication.
W. W. Wilkinson attended the public schools of Blair and Wesleyan
University, Lincoln, but after two years in the latter institution, returned
to his home town, where he assisted his father and also worked in the
postoffice. At the end of his father's term as postmaster the young
man began to give his undivided attention to agricultural pursuits, in
which he engaged until 1920, at that time retiring and renting his farm
in Washington County. When he gave up active pursuits he moved to
Blair, where he now occupies the attractive and comfortable home in
which his parents formerly lived. He is a Royal Arch Mason and takes a
keen interest in fraternal work, and in political matters maintains an
independent attitude.
In 1901 Mr. Wilkinson was united in marriage with Miss Mae
Pierce, who was born at Blair, daughter of E. C. Pierce, one of the
earliest undertakers of the state, who is now living in retirement at
Blair. Three children have been born to this union : Marjorie, born in
1902; Alice, born in 1906; and Thomas, born in 1909, the latter two

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 827
now attending school. Mrs. Wilkinson, a woman of numerous graces
and accomplishments, is an active member of the Episcopal Church and
belongs to the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Maurice Meherns. In nearly every community are individuals
who, by innate ability and sheer force of character, win for themselves
conspicuous places in public esteem. Such a one is the well-known
gentleman whose name appears above, who has been identified with
the history of Washington County for about forty years, practically his
entire life having been spent here. His mature years have been closely
interwoven with the material growth and development of the county,
while his career as a progressive man of affairs and an able public
official has been synonymous with all that is upright and honorable in
citizenship. Maurice Meherns was born in Harrison County, Iowa, on November
29, 1875, and is the son of Gayhart and Lucy (Pipher) Meherns, the
former a native of Germany and the latter of Tennessee. The father
came to Washington County, Nebraska, in young boyhood and received
the major part of his educational training in the public schools here.
He was married in Blair and for a time devoted his energies to farming.
He then engaged in the flour and feed business in Blair, which he
successfully conducted up to 1910, when he retired from active business
pursuits, and he and his wife are making their home at Long Beach,
California. They are members of the Church of Christ and in politics
he is a republican. They became the parents of five children, as follows :
MaUrice is the immediate subject of this sketch ; Zena became the wife
of J. H. Warrick, a farmer at Lorenzo, Nebraska; W. H. and Alex,
both of Minneapolis, Minnesota ; and Tressa, who is the wife of Ross
VanLiew, a farmer near Blair.
Maurice Meherns was reared under the parental roof and secured
his education in the public schools. His boyhood years were spent on a
farm, and to that vocation he devoted his energies until 1905, when he
engaged in the flour and feed business with his father. Five or six
years later he entered the employ of an oil company, and while thus
employed, in 1916, he was elected to the office of Sheriff of Washington
County, entering the office in January, 1917. So satisfactory was his
discharge of his official duties that two years later he was elected to
succeed himself, and is thus the present incumbent of the office. His
official career has been characterized by the faithful performance of
his duties, and he has won the confidence and respect of the people of
Washington County thereby.
In March, 1898, Mr. Meherns was married to Ella Reed, who came
to Washington County a number of years prior thereto with her parents,
both of whom are now deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. Meherns have
been born four children, Sterling, Maude, Milford and Helen. Politi
cally Mr. Meherns gives his support to the democratic party and frater
nally is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the
Woodmen of the World. He is a member of the Baptist Church, but
his wife is affiliated with the Church of Christ. Such, in brief, has
been the record of Mr. Meherns, than whom a more whole-souled or
popular man it would be difficult to find within the borders of Wash
ington County, where he has labored not only for his own individual
advancement, but also for the improvement of the entire community,
whose interests he has ever had at heart.

828 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
E. B. Carrigan. It is a well-attested maxim that the greatness of a
state or nation lies not in the machinery of government, nor even' in
its institutions, but rather in the sterling qualities of the individual
citizen, in his capacity for high and unselfish effort and his devotion
to the public welfare. In these particulars he whose name appears
at the head of this review has conferred honor and dignity on his county
and community, and as an elemental part of history it is consonant that
there should be recorded a resume of his career, with the object in view
of noting his connection with the progress of one of the most flourishing
and progressive sections of the commonwealth, as well as his official
relations with the administration of the legal affairs of his county.
E. B. Carrigan was born in De Soto, Washington County, Nebraska,
on the 5th day of November, 1869, and is the son of John and Carrie L.
(Palmer) Carrigan, the former a native of Maryland and the latter of
Pennsylvania. They were married in Illinois and in about 1867 came
to Washington County. While living in Bureau County, Illinois, Mr. Car
rigan had studied law and been admitted to the bar, and he first entered
upon the practice of his profession in De Soto, Nebraska. Subsequently
he moved to Blair and took a prominent part in the early history of
that city. He built one of the first houses in that city and remained
closely identified with the interests of that community up to the time of
his death. In the practice of the law John Carrigan early gained a
leading position at the bar of his own county, and eventually he became
celebrated throughout the state because of his special success in the
practice of criminal law. For many years he was connected with many
of the most important and celebrated cases in the courts of this and
other counties, and at the time of his death he was engaged in the
celebrated Ketcham murder case. In politics he gave his support to the
democratic party. His death occurred on April 21, 1880, and he is
survived by his widow, who still resides at Blair. They were the
parents of two children, the subject of this sketch and Nora, the wife
of Robert Smock, a merchant in Spokane, Washington.
E. B. Carrigan received his education in the public schools at Blair,
graduating from the high school, and he then entered Northwestern
College in Iowa, where he was graduated. He then gave his attention
to the study of law, and in 1892 was admitted to the bar, since which
time he has continuously been identified with the active professional
life of this county. He soon gained an enviable reputation as a success
ful practitioner and enjoyed a large clientele. For twelve years he
served as county attorney, and in 1918 was elected county judge, enter-.
ing upon his official term in 1919. Since occupying the bench, Judge
Carrigan has won the commendation of all classes by his fair and impar
tial rulings and his rendered decisions have been models of clearness
and learning.
On .August 3, 1892, Judge Carrigan was married to Frances Lawson,
a native of Pennsylvania, and they have become the parents of three
children, namely: Phyllis, the wife of H. C. Morttock, an oil • geologist
at Chelsey, Oklahoma; Lila, the wife of G. L. Dixon, who is engaged
in the insurance business at Blair; and Jack, who is a student in the
law department of Michigan University, at Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Judge Carrigan is a republican in his political views and he holds
fraternal relations with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and
the Knights of Pythias. Mrs. Carrigan is a member of the Methodist
Episcopal Church. Judge Carrigan possesses in a high degree the
elements that make men succesful, pre-eminent among his qualities

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 829
being that sound judgment which is ordinarily called common sense.
He has the ability to grasp facts and infer their practical significance
with almost unerring certainty, his good judgment extending to men as
well as to related facts, for he possesses a keen insight into human
nature. In all the relations of life he has displayed that public spirit
and unswerving integrity that has commended him to the confidence
and respect of all who know him.
P. T. Mitterling came to Fremont, Dodge County, about the time
of attaining to his legal majority, and after here being identified with
business enterprises for many years he was finally recognized as a
specially eligible candidate for the office of clerk of the district court,
to which position he was elected in 1916 and the duties of which he
assumed at the beginning of the following year. His facility in handling
the work of this office has fully justified the popular choice which com
posed his installation therein, and he is one of the well known and
distinctively popular officials of the county.
Mr. Mitterling was born at Richfield, Pennsylvania, December 21,
1867, and is a son of George S. and Margaret (Wise) Mitterling, who
likewise were born and reared in the old Keystone State, whence they
came to Nebraska in 1888 and established their home at Fremont, where
they still reside, in an attractive home at 105 East Twelfth Street, the
father having passed the four-score milepost on the journey of life
and being now retired from active business. George S. Mitterling fol
lowed the carriagemaker's trade in Pennsylvania for some time, and
there also he operated and owned a flour mill prior to coming to
Nebraska, besides which he served for a short time as a member of a
Pennsylvania regiment in the Civil war. During his active career at
Fremont, Nebraska, he followed the carpenter's trade and became a
successful contractor and builder. He is a republican of the stanchest
loyalty, is affiliated with the Grand Army of the Republic, and both he
and his wife are earnest members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
For several years Mr. Mitterling gave efficient service as street Com
missioner of Fremont, and within his regime was effected noteworthy
improvement of the thoroughfares of the city. Of the six children
only two are living and the subject of this review is the elder, the younger
son being Dr. E. S. Mitterling, an osteopathic physician, who is engaged
in the practice of his profession at Webster City, Iowa.
The public schools of his native state afforded P. T. Mitterling his
early educational discipline, and after coming to Nebraska with his
parents in 1888, he attended Fremont College for a time. His initial
business experience was gained as clerk in a shoe store in the City of
Elkhart, Indiana, and in Fremont, Nebraska, he became a popular
salesman in the shoe store of J. Knowles, his service in this capacity
continuing until he was elected to his present office, that of clerk of the
district court, in 1916. He is a candidate for re-election without opposi
tion. His political faith is that of the republican party, and he is
affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Benevolent
and Protective Order of Elks and the Fraternal Order of Eagles. He
still clings to the independence of bachelorhood and resides with his
venerable parents in their pleasant home at Fremont.
James Bradbury. After years of sincere and earnest endeavor,
James Bradbury is now enjoying his ease and comfort at Hooper
where he is regarded as one of the representative men of the place

830 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
and a constructive element among its citizens. He was born in Schuyl
kill County, Pennsylvania, March 5, 1850, a son of William and Anna
(Marland) Bradbury, natives of Great Britain. William Bradbury
became a superintendent of a coal mine in Pennsylvania after his arrival
in the United States. He came to this country after his marriage, which
occurred over 100 years ago. His wife was an orphan girl when he
married her, and they became the parents of fourteen children, three
of whom survive, namely : Mary Ann, who is the wife of James Bracey,
of Pennsylvania; William, who is a mechanic; and James, whose name
heads this review.
James Bradbury was reared in his native state, where he attended
the public schools and Mount Pleasant Seminary, and he worked around
the coal mines, first as a mule driver and later as stationary engineer,
and he also learned the carpenter trade. In 1874 he left Pennsylvania
for Dodge County, Nebraska, and during the season worked in the
harvest fields. He then came to Fremont and was employed by Peter
Neabose, a contractor, and while with him assisted in the erection of
the old Kittle Opera House and the Anderson store.
Mr. Bradbury, however, had come West with the idea of securing
land, and after he had secured a little money from his carpenter work
he came to Maple Creek and rented for a few years when he bought
eighty acres of land, paying ¦ $10 an acre, and began farming. He
kept on addirig to his farm until he had over 400 acres, and carried on
general farming and stockraising until 1908, when he retired, moved
to Hooper, and has maintained his residence there ever since.
On June 29, 1874, Mr. Bradbury was united in marriage with Mary
Sweinhart, a native of Pennsylvania, born February 16, 1849, a daughter
of Fred and Esther (Steirley) Sweinhart, both natives of Pennsyl
vania, where they died, and where he worked as a carriage maker.
Mr. and Mrs. Sweinhart had the following children: Mrs. Bradbury,
and Elmyra and Howard, both of whom are deceased. The children
born to Mr. and Mrs. Bradbury are as follows : William, who is
manager of the Latta Grain Company of Hooper; Esther, who is the
wife of E. M. Havens of Hooper; Alice, who is the wife of Walter
Skinner, a Dodge County farmer ; May, who is deceased ; Luruqua,
the wife of William Meyer, vice president of the Dodge County State
Bank; Mary, the wife of Earl Phillips, a farmer of St. Edwards,
Nebraska; James, who is a Dodge County farmer; Fred, who is with
his brother James on the farm ; Charles, who is a Dodge County farmer ;
Josephine, the wife of George Parker, a Dodge County farmer; and
Sarah, deceased.
Mr. Bradbury cast his first vote for General Grant for the presi
dency, and has continued to support the principles of the republican
party ever since. For twenty-five years he has been a director of
District No. 38. In religious belief Mrs. Bradbury supports the creed
of the German Reformed Church, while he is a Methodist. They are
fine people in every respect and have brought. up a family of children
who do them credit and are a valuable addition to the several com
munities in which they have settled.
Frederick E. Calkins, M. D. The technical ability and loyal
stewardship that insure success and prestige in the exacting profession
of medicine have been significantly exemplified in the career of Doctor
Calkins, who is one of the representative physicians and surgeons of
Dodge County, where he has been established in practice at Fremont, the

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 831
county seat, since 1902, and where he has developed a substantia^ and
profitable professional business.
Doctor Calkins was born at Wyoming, Jones County, Iowa, October
7, 1866, and is a son of Kirkland James Calkins and Lorilla (Williams)
Calkins, who were born in the State of New York and whose marriage
was solemnized at Wyoming, Iowa, prior to the Civil war — a fact that
indicates that they were pioneer settlers of the Hawkeye State. When
the Civil war was precipitated on the nation, Kirkland J. Calkins enlisted
in Company K, Twenty-Fourth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, with which
regiment he served during the entire period of the conflict between the
states of the North and the South, principally as a member of the gallant
forces commanded by General Grant. After the war he continued his
residence in Iowa until 1873, when he came with his family to Nebraska
and took a homestead claim in Polk County. There he reclaimed and
developed a good farm and continued his residence a number of years,
when he retired, and he died February 14, 1920. His wife resides at
York, the judicial center of the Nebraska county of that name. Of the
five children, Doctor Calkins of this review, is the eldest ; Lucy is the
wife of Mark Ravenscroft of York, who is an extensive land owner;
Dr. Albert E. is a dentist by profession and is engaged in practice at
York; Dr. Charles A. is a dentist at York; and Dr. Royal W. is a
physician and surgeon of Cortez, Colorado. The father is a republican
in politics, is affiliated with the Grand Army of the Republic, and he
achieved substantial success through his active association with farm
industry. He is a son of Samuel Calkins, who was an early settler in
Illinois, where he passed the major part of his life. Royal S. Williams,
maternal grandfather of Doctor Calkins, was a pioneer in Iowa, where
he continued to reside until his death.
Doctor Calkins obtained his early education in the public schools of
Wyoming, Iowa, and those of York County, Nebraska, he having been
about seven years old when the family came to this state. He finally
returned to Iowa and completed a course in the high school at Wyoming,
and in pursuance of his ambitious purpose he entered the medical
department of the University of Iowa, in which he was graduated as a
member of the Class of 1899 and with the well won degree of Doctor
of Medicine. His professional novitiate was served at York, Nebraska,
and later he engaged in practice at Hill City, South Dakota. There he
remained until 1902, when he came to Fremont, Nebraska, where he
has since been engaged in general practice and where his noteworthy suc
cess represents the result of his ability, close application and effective
ministrations. He has served fully fifteen years as county physician,
of which office he is now the incumbent, and for a number of years
he was local surgeon for the Union Pacific Railroad. He is state medi
cal director of the Modern Woodmen of America, and is an active
member of the Dodge County Medical Society and the Nebraska State
Medical Society. He is affiliated with the local Blue Lodge and Chapter
of the Masonic fraternity and is a very active member and a past
chancellor commander of Triumph Lodge No. 32 of the Knights of
Pythias, Fremont, Nebraska, which he represented in the Grand Lodge
of the state for eight years. He was a member of the medical board
during the World war, devoting the greater part of his time to its work
for several months, neglecting his private practice. His political allegi
ance is given to the republican party.
The year 1900 was marked by the marriage of Doctor Calkins to
Miss Elizabeth T. Dickerson, who was born and reared in Dodge County,

832 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
where her father settled in the pioneer days. She is a daughter of
Edward Dickerson, who came to Nebraska in the Territorial period
and who in the later '50s was engaged in overland freighting from
Fremont to, Denver, Colorado. Doctor and Mrs. Calkins have no
children. Edwin W. Martin, M. D., is consistently to be designated as the
dean of the medical profession in Dodge County, where he is still
engaged in active general practice and where he has maintained his resi
dence at Fremont, the county seat, since 1886. Here he has achieved
the success that has not only been his due as an able and faithful physi
cian and surgeon, but has also gained inviolable place in the confidence
and high regard of his fellow citizens.
Doctor Martin, in both the paternal and maternal lines, is a scion
of fine old Kentucky ancestry, and is himself a native son of the Blue-
grass State, within whose borders were born his grandfathers, William
Martin and David Sellara, who there passed their entire lives. Doctor
Martin was born near Cynthiana, Kentucky, March 11, 1845, and is a
son of M. D. Martin and Zarilda Ann (Sellars) Martin, who continued
their residence in that state during their entire lives, the father having
passed away in 1915 and the mother in 1918, both having been of
venerable age at the time of death. Of their ten children Doctor Martin
is the eldest of the four survivors; Emma is the wife of Rev. E. W.
Elliott, who is a clergyman of the Christian Church, and they reside
at Glasgow, Kentucky ; Belle is the wife of James G. Van Daren, a
retired farmer residing at Cynthiana, Kentucky; and George P. is a
farmer near Frankfort, that state. The parents were earnest members
of the Christian Church, and the father was affiliated with the Masonic
fraternity and was a stalwart democrat in politics. He served three
terms in the Kentucky Legislature, and was one of the honored and
influential citizens of his county, where he gave his active life to agricul
tural industry.
Doctor Martin acquired his early education in the schools of his
native city, and prior to preparing himself for his profession he had
had a number of years' experience in retail mercantile business. Finally
he entered one of the leading medical colleges in the City of Cincinnati,
Ohio, and after his gr'aduation in 1881, he was for five years engaged in
practice in his native place, Cynthiana, Kentucky.. He then, in 1886,
came to Nebraska and established his permanent home at Fremont,
which has been the central stage of his earnest and successful profes
sional activities during the intervening years. The doctor was burdened
with an indebtedness of about $4,000 when he arrived at Fremont, and
for a time he was compelled to travel on foot in ministering to his
patients. He frequently traversed many miles in this way, but he did
not need the muscular exercise to heighten his efficiency in his profes
sional work, so that he did not deem it inconsistent when he was able
to provide a horse and vehicle as a means of transportation in his visita
tions. He has long controlled a good practice of a representative
type, and has the affectionate regard of the community in which his
able ministrations have been given. He is essentially one of the repre
sentative physicians of Dodge County, has served as president of the
Dodge County Medical Society, in the affairs of which he continues
to take deep interest, and he is affiliated also with .the Nebraska State
Medical Society and the American Medical Association. The doctor
is the owner of a fine farm of 160 acres near Fremont, and in this

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 833
city, in addition to his attractive home property he is the owner of six
houses, all in the same block. He is a democrat by conviction and
ancestral predilection, is loyal and liberal as a citizen but has never
desired public office, as he considers his profession worthy of his undi
vided time and attention, the while he trusts that he may be able to
continue his humane ministrations until the close of his life.
The year 1866 recorded, the marriage of Doctor Martin to Miss
Julia Doyle, who was born at Concord, Kentucky, and they have. two
children: Kate is the wife of Albert O. Morse, of Omaha, who has
been for twenty years associated with the Nebraska Telephone Com
pany ; and M. Dell, who resides at Fremont, is the widow of Edward C.
Blakesley. Mr. and Mrs. Morse have an adopted daughter, Kate, who is
six years old in 1920. Mrs. Blakesley has one son, Edwin W., who is
now a student in the Iowa State Agricultural College at Ames. Doctor
and Mrs. Martin are members of the Christian Church.
John W. Goff. A representative citizen of Dodge County, J. W. Goff
has gained distinction not only for his activity and prominence in the
business life and public affairs of Fremont, his home city, but for his
service as a brave and courageous soldier in the Civil war. He was
born March 4, 1843, in Oneida County, New York, coming on the
paternal side of New England ancestry.
His father, Henry Goff, was born and bred in Connecticut. Moving
to New York, he bought land in Oneida County, and was there pros
perously engaged in agricultural pursuits during his remaining years.
He was identified with the Whigs until the formation of the republican
party, when he became one of its ardent supporters. He was a strong
abolitionist and prior to the Civil war was associated with the "Under
ground Railway." He married Elizabeth Sturdevant, a native of the
Empire State, and of their eight children, two are living, as follows:
James, a retired farmer of Waterloo, Iowa; and John W., the subject
of this sketch. Both parents were faithful members of the Methodist
Episcopal Church.
Brought up. in New York State, John W. Goff was educated in the
public schools and at different academies, and afterwards taught school
three years, during vacations assisting in the labors of the home farm.
Enlisting in 1862 in Company G, one Hundred and Forty-Sixth New
York Volunteer Infantry, he served three years in the Civil war, during
the last ten months of the time having been confined in Andersonville
Prison. He took part in many of the important battles of. the war,
including among others, the engagements at Fredericksburg, Chancellors-
ville and the battle of the Wilderness. While in prison Mr. Goff suf
fered untold privations, and when at the end of the war he was released,
was unconscious. Recovering consciousness, he found himself in the
Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, from whence he was sent
home, arriving there in a very weak and debilitated condition.
Subsequently Mr. Goff attempted to resume his studies for a college
course, but his health would not permit. Having partially recovered
his former physical vigor, he took a commercial course of study, and
later taught bookkeeping and mathematics in both Utica, New York, and
the neighboring city, Syracuse. Coming to Fremont, Nebraska, on March
1, 1869, to visit E. H. Rogers, a pioneer banker of the city, he was
induced to accept a position in his friend's banking institution, and has
remained here since. Resigning his position as bookkeeper with
E. H. Rogers & Company in 1872, Mr. Goff was for three years asso-

834 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
ciated with Nye, Colson & Company, dealers in grain and lumber, but
left that firm to enter the employ of L. D. Richards. Proving himself
eminently capable and trustworthy, he was later admitted to partner
ship with his employer, becoming a member of the firm of Richards,
Keene & Company, and on the incorporation of this firm was inade its
vice president, which position he now holds.
Mr. Goff was at one time vice president of the Western Trust &
Security Company, which was organized to make real estate loans, and
which was later taken over by Richards, Keene & Company, and he
was also vice president of the Security Savings Bank, which was formed
in connection with the Western Trust & Security Company and was
located in the rooms occupied by Richards, Keene & Company. On the
removal of the Security Savings Bank to the rooms of the Fremont
National Bank Mr. Goff became its president, which position he held
for several years.
Mr. Goff married Miss Myra Gilley, a native of Maine, and they
have two children, Daisy L., wife of Frank H. Brown, a member of
the Omaha and Chicago Grain exchanges ; and Erma, wife of Fayette
Leard, financial manager of the jobbing house of the Milligan Grocery
Company, of Springfield, Missouri. A prominent member of the repub
lican party, Mr. Goff has served two terms as city clerk, and as city
assessor for the same length of time. Fraternally he is a member of
the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and belongs to the Grand
Army of the Republic. He is a member of the Country Club, which
he has served as president two years, and is very fond of golf, being,
as he says, "an enthusiastic, if not a good, player."
Mr. Goff is a very pleasing speaker, and had the* distinction of being
selected to deliver the address at the centennial anniversary of Lincoln,
an address spoken of in very complimentary terms by the newspapers',
and he was urged to repeat the address at other places. He has also
lectured to large audiences on his experiences at Andersonville, his
talks being always interesting and entertaining.
At seventy-seven years he. is still actively engaged in business, and
attributes his good health largely to his life-long habit of alternating
work with play.
John Sonin. The history of every community reveals the fact
that its real progress is the result of the vision and faith of a few men
who in spite of obstacles and discouragements were willing to go ahead
and invest heavily in its realty, and to develop enterprises which could
not help but advance it in every way. This determination and enthusiasm
on the part of a few have always resulted in prosperity for the many,
and Fremont is no exception to this long ago proven fact. In the past
each step forward has been taken through the efforts of the men who
had the real good of the community at heart ; the same is true of condi
tions today, and viewing the future in the light shed by events of the
time gone by the responsibility will still rest on the shoulders of similar
good citizens. One of these men of moment of the recent past, the
active present and likely future is John Sonin, one of the leading mer
chants of Fremont, who through his purchase in January, 1920, of the
Gumpert Building adjoining his present store building secures a site
for what he intends will be the finest department store building in this
portion of the state. In commenting upon his purchase, one of the larg
est realty deals ever consummated in the business district of Fremont,
Mr. Sonin said:

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 835
"I have great faith in the future of Fremont, and for that reason
made the purchase," in these pregnant words thus placing himself in the
foremost ranks of the worth-while citizens and constructive business
men of Dodge County.
John Sonin is of European birth, and was born in April, 1881, a
son of B. and Rose (Ginsberg) Sonin, also natives of Europe, who came
to the United States in 1896, seeking a refuge from oppressive condi
tions in their native land, and a country in which their children would
be given opportunities to develop. They located in, Grand Island,
Nebraska, where the father was engaged in the clothing business for
two years, and in 1898 came to Fremont and opened a clothing store
that he conducted until his death. Of his six children, John Sonin is the
only one living in Fremont.
John Sonin attended the public schools of Grand Island and Fre
mont, and at the same time made himself useful in his father's store,
in this way learning the business thoroughly. In 1904 he went into
business for himself, and now has one of the best clothing stores in
this part of the state, his establishment occupying two stories and
basement. His trade is a very large one and comes from a wide terri
tory surrounding Fremont as well as from the city itself. He is also
a stockholder in several of the banks of Fremont, is prominent in
commercial club work and owns improved farms in Nebraska and
Colorado which he rents.
In August, 1910, Mr. Sonin was united in marriage with Hazel
Sampter, born at Fremont, a daughter of Nathan Sampter, one of the
early clothing merchants of Fremont. Mr. and Mrs. Sonin have no
children. Mr. Sonin belongs to Temple Israel of Omaha, Nebraska.
Well known in Masonry, he is a thirty-second degree and Shriner
Mason. He also belongs to Fremont Lodge No. 514, Benevolent and
Protective Order of Elks, and the Knights of Pythias, and Woodmen of
America, and is very popular in all of these organizations. Having been
brought up in a republican household, he learned his political sentiments
as a child, and his experiences of mature years have but strengthened
his love for the republican party.
Mr. Sonin is an earnest, purposeful man, deeply interested in the
progress of Fremont and willing to do everything in his power to prove
that his faith in its future is justified.
George Turner. Although he no longer is in the ranks of the
living, the influence of George Turner is felt in the actions of those
with whom he formerly associated, and his name is connected with
much of the constructive work of Fremont, where so many years were
spent by him. He was born in England on September 5, 1829, and he
died at Fremont, -Nebraska, on June 10, 1870. On April 13, 1856, he
was united in marriage with Nancy S. Gilley, who was born in Maine
on January 12, 1834, and still survives, although now eighty-six years old.
But a baby when he was brought to the United States by his parents,
George Turner was reared at Needham, Massachusetts, and there he
received his educational training. His father established the first knit
ting factory at Needham, and in it he gave employment to about forty
men, manufacturing underwear. He was much interested in the dis
covery of gold in Colifornia, and had he been younger, doubtless would
have made the trip, but instead, encouraged his son, George, to do so.
He was a most excellent man and very religious, belonging to the
Baptist Church.

836 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
George Turner went to California by the long route around Cape
Horn, and was meeting with considerable success when his claim was
washed away in a flood, and left him bankrupt. In about 1853. or
1854, he returned to Massachusetts, and, following his marriage, decided
to come West. He and his wife first located at Dubuque, Iowa, but
after a year, came to Nebraska, and after a brief period went on to
Omaha, which continued to be their home until 1858, when they returned
to Fremont and filed on a claim, the site of their farm being now
included in the city limits. Mr. Turner gave the right-of-way to the
Union Pacific Railroad through his property, but before the building
of the road he was engaged in freighting to Pike's Peak from Fremont
for a number of years. Mrs. Turner still resides in the large brick house
at 78 South C Street that was built on the homestead, and she still
owns the greater portion of the lots platted from the farm, also about
seventy acres unplatted. Later in life Mr. Turner embarked in a whole
sale and retail grocery business with W. R. Wilson. They were very
prosperous and Mr. Turner maintained these connections until his death.
A strong democrat, he was the nominee of his party for State Senator,
but was defeated, although his personal popularity caused him to run
far ahead of his ticket. He was very active in civic affairs, gave liber
ally to charitable movements, and it is said of him that no one in need
ever appealed to him in vain. Although many years have passed since
his death, his memory is still cherished by those who had the privilege
of meeting and associating with him.
Mr. and Mrs. Turner became the parents of the following children:
George Alfred Turner, who is a pioneer of Hot Springs, South Dakota,
having located there in 1880, and owns a large ranch in the vicinity of
that city; Edward Gilley Turner, who is living in the vicinity of Waldo,
Oregon, was extensively engaged in copper mining in that vicinity for
a number of years; Nannie E., who married Frank L. Joy, has three
children, and now lives with her mother, Mrs. Turner. The children of
Mrs. Joy are as follows: Mrs. Ruth Hopkins, who lives at Pasco,
Wyoming, where her husband is employed by the Middle-West Oil
Company; Marvin A. Joy, who is with the Baush Manufacturing Com
pany of New York City; and Marion, who is attending school at Fre
mont. For many years Mrs. Turner has been a consistent worker in
the Episcopal Church, is very generous in her donations to it, and is
interested in its good work. Not only is the Turner family one of the
pioneer ones in this neighborhood, but it is also one of the most promi
nent, and its representatives are living up to, the name in every respect.
Charles Lester Wallingford. A prominent, prosperous and pro
gressive agriculturist of Elkhorn Township, Charles Lester Wallingford
is a typical representative of those citizens of Dodge County that came
here poor in pocket but rich in energy, ambition and ability, and who,
by persevering labor and efficient management, have steadily climbed the
ladder of attainments, reaching one of its higher rungs through their
own efforts. A son of the late James G. Wallingford, he was born
August 10, 1864, in Muscatine County, Iowa.
A native of England, James G. Wallingford studied when young for
the ministry, but never filled a regular charge. His father was a native
of England and was a Baptist minister. He came to the United States
and was engaged in ministerial work in Nebraska in an early day. After
coming to the United States, James G. Wallingford lived first in Ohio,
from there going to Illinois, and thence to Iowa, where he was engaged

CHARLES L. WALLINGFORD

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 837
in agricultural pursuits until his death, when but fifty-three years old.
His wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Painter, came to Iowa in
1885, where her death occurred at the venerable age of four score years.
Acquiring a practical education in the common schools, Charles
L. Wallingford remained in his native state until 1882. Coming to
Nebraska in that year, with just $2.50 to his name, he secured employ
ment in Fremont, and was afterwards variously employed in that vicinity
for several years, nine months of the time working on a farm. Gaining
a good knowledge of many of the branches of agriculture, Mr. Walling
ford began farming on his own account in 1891, buying in Knox County
160 acres of land. Disposing of that he returned to Dodge County
and rented land for two years. He subsequently bought land in Boone
County, but never lived on it. In 1900 Mr. Wallingford purchased 160
acres of unimproved land in section 30, Elkhorn Township, and in its
improvement has spared neither time, labor, nor expense. Laboring
wisely and unceasingly, he has now one of the choice farms of the
County, it being highly cultivated and yielding abundantly of the crops
common to this part of the state.
Mr. Wallingford married, in 1895, Nettie Harkins, who was born in
Dodge County, Nebraska, where her parents, William and Rosie Har
kins, improved a homestead from its original condition, and on the
farm which they cleared spent the remainder of their lives. Mr. and
Mrs. Wallingford have six children : Lyda, James, Jessie, Pearl, Louis,
and Hazel. Mr. Wallingford is a steadfast republican in politics, and
has rendered good service as road overseer and as township clerk.
Fraternally he is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons.
A loyal citizen of Dodge County, and one of its most persistent boosters,
he has so thoroughly identified himself with its interests that he never
visited the scenes of his childhood for a period of thirty-six years,
being then recalled, in 1919, by the death of his brother, who was killed
by lightning. Frederick Moller, Sr. In touching upon the life history of the
gentleman whose name forms the caption to this sketch and who is one
of the best known and most highly esteemed citizens of Fremont, the
writer aims to avoid extravagant praise, yet he desires to hold up for
consideration those facts which have shown the distinction of a true,
useful and honorable life — a life characterized by perseverance, energy,
broad charity and well defined purpose. To do this will be but to
reiterate the dictum pronounced upon the man by the people who have
known him long and well.
Frederick Moller, Sr., was born in Hamilton, Canada, on October
25, 1857, and is the son of John and Lizzie (Senges) Moller. Both of
these parents were born and reared in Germany, but immigrated to the
United States and were married in New York State. Subsequently
they moved to Canada, but came back to New York City, and thence
went to Philadelphia, where they remained until they came to Fremont,
Nebraska. Here Mr. Moller homesteaded and pre-empted tracts of
land, to the improvement and cultivation of which he devoted himself
for several years. Then selling his rights in this land, he moved into
Fremont and engaged in the mercantile business on Broad Street for
some time. By trade he was a pocketbook maker and dyer, but never
followed that line of work after coming to this locality. He and his
wife were members of the Lutheran Church and in politics he was a
democrat. Fraternally he was affiliated with the Independent Order of

838 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
i
Odd Fellows and the Improved Order of Red Men. To him and his
wife were born five children, three of whom are living, namely : John,
of Fremont, who followed the barber's trade, but is now well-to-do and
retired; Frederick, the subject of this review; and Leopold, who accum
ulated considerable property through his gardening operations and is
now retired.
Frederick Moller received his educational training in the public
schools, of Fremont to the age of twelve years, when he entered the
office ef the Fremont Herald to learn the printing trade, and it is worthy
of note that he was the first boy to sell newspapers on the streets of
Fremont. He worked at the printing trade until twenty-one years
of age, when he learned the trade of a barber, at which he worked for
fourteen years. Since then, for almost twenty years, he has been carry
ing mail in this city and is numbered among the oldest employes of the
Fremont postoffice. During these years, in storm and sunshine, he has
faithfully served the public and his courtesy and careful attention to
duty has not been unappreciated by those whom he has served.
On June 15, 1884, Mr. Moller was married to Mary Dierks, who
was born in Monee, Illinois, the daughter of John and Gesche Catherine
(Behrens) Dierks. Both of her parents were born in Germany and
came to Nebraska in 1871. Here Mr. Dierks engaged in the elevator
business for a number of years at Fremont, but both he and his wife
are now deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. Moller have been born three
children, namely : Leonard, who was a traveling salesman, died on
March 1, 1919; Gesche became the wife of Fred Lueders, a carpenter
and harnessmaker in Fremont, and they have two children, Wade
Frederick and Mary Anna ; Gerald, who for two years has been a letter
carrier in the postoffice.
Mr. and Mrs. Moller are members of the Congregational Church,
and in his political views Mr. Moller supports the republican party.
He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In his early
life he was a successful hunter and has killed practically all kinds of
game to be found here including such as deer and antelope. In
athletic sports he was greatly interested in playing semi-professional
base ball, foot racing, trap shooting, and while in training was very
successful, winning many first and second prizes. Always quiet and
unostentatious in manner, he nevertheless has left the impression of
his strong individuality upon all who came in contact with him, and he
enjoys a deservedly high standing among his fellow citizens.
William A. Shaffer. A resident of Dodge County for forty-two
years, and during a large part of this time personally identified with
the agricultural activities of the thriving community of Everett Town
ship, William A. Shaffer holds a position second to none as a thorough
farmer and breeder of high grade live stock. His career has been one
in which success has come as a direct result of well-directed enterprise
and unfaltering industry, and the integrity that has guided his actions
in the winning of material prosperity has served also to gain him a
position in the unqualified esteem of his fellow-citizens.
Mr. Shaffer was born in Pennsylvania, January 11, 1872, a son of
Abel and Mary Ann (Hellwick) Shaffer, who were also born in that
state. Abel Shaffer learned the shoemaker's trade in his youth, and
followed that occupation in the Keystone State until 1878, when he came
to Nebraska and rented a farm in Dodge County. A man of industry, he
eventually accumulated means sufficient to buy a farm, and during the

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 839
rest of his life he applied himself to the vocations of farming and stock
raising, becoming known as a capable farmer and a good judge of live
stock. As a citizen he stood high, and his integrity was inviolate.
Politically, while not a seeker for honors, he was a stanch republican,
and he and Mrs. Shaffer, a most estimable woman, were faithful mem
bers of the Lutheran Church. They were the parents of six children ;
James M., who is successfully engaged in farming in Maple Township,
Dodge County ; William A. ; Emma, the widow of Joe Barner, of
Kearney, Nebraska; Luzetta, the wife of Henry Stiver, who is engaged
in farming in Dodge County ; Jacob, a resident of Kearney ; and Abel,
who is deceased.
William A. Shaffer was about six years of age when he accompanied
his parents and brothers and sisters in their long and arduous journey
across the country from Pennsylvania to Nebraska, and in the new com
munity of Dodge County acquired his education in the district schools.
He was only twenty years old when he began an independent career as
the owner of land, and from that time to the present he has extended
the scope of his activities until now he is known for his accomplish
ments as a general farmer and a breeder of a good grade of live stock.
He has splendid improvements on his property, which is modern in
every respect, and is a stockholder in the Farmers Union of Hooper and
a member of the Omaha Stock Exchange. Mr. Shaffer has given all
of his attention to the farm, taking little part in public affairs, although
he feels a loyal pride in the prosperity and welfare of the community
he has helped to build. The respect which is accorded him by his neigh
bors and fellow-citizens in general is proof of his worth. He votes
independently. Mr. Shaffer was married January 31, 1897, to Vilimina K. Schafer,
who was born in Dodge County, January 15, 1876, and they are the
parents of two children : Alois Raymond, who is connected with the
Goodyear Tire Company; and Dorothy Fern, -who resides with her
parents. Mrs. Shaffer belongs to the Christian Science Church.
H. Charles Hansen. In the life history of H. Charles Hansen,
one of the substantial agriculturists of Maple Township, Dodge County,
the young can see what industry and temperance can accomplish; the
farmer, the mechanic, the professional man, all can learn the results
of energy and the possibility of the combination of a substantial success
with unsullied citizenship. Mr. Hansen is one of the worthy sons of
Denmark now numbered among the valued citizens of Dodge County,
and was born January 11, 1866, his father, now deceased, having been
Rasmus H. Hansen, a farmer who never left his native land. Of the
children, one, N. Lena, still resides in Denmark, and four came to the
United States: H. Charles: Fred, a resident of Omaha; Peter, of
Tennessee; and Chris, of Oklahoma.
H. Charles Hansen was educated in the public schools of his native
land, and was still a young man when he immigrated to the United
States in 1887. At the time of his arrival he was possessed of $4.50,
of which amount he spent $4 for a pair of boots. Thus he began his
career in this country with the sum of 50 cents, but he was likewise the
possessor of ambition and willingness to work, and these proved suffi
cient to get him started on the road to independence. Making his way
to Nebraska, Mr. Hansen settled in Dodge County, where for the next
three years he worked in the field as a farm hand. He then started
independent operations as a renter, which continued to be his status for

840 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
seven years, and he then purchased his first property, a tract of 100 acres.
This he subsequently sold, then purchasing the 160-acre tract which
comprises his present farm in Maple Township, section 12. For the
greater part he applies himself to general farming, in which he has won
much success, although he has also been prosperous in his experiments
in raising live stock. He has splendid improvements on his land, includ
ing large and substantial buildings and the most modern equipment and
up-to-date accessories. Mr. Hansen is a republican, and belongs to the
Danish Brotherhood and the Modern Woodmen of America. He is a
great friend of education and for four years served as a member of
the board of school directors.
In 1893, at Fremont, Nebraska, Mr. Hansen was united in marriage
with Katie Hansen, who was born in Denmark, and to this union there
have been born two children; Roy and Edel, both residing with their
parents. Fred Osterloh. Of the agriculturists who have assisted in sus
taining the integrity of the farming and stockraising interests of Dodge
County during an extended period of years mention is due Fred Osterloh,
the owner of a well-cultivated and valuable farming property lying in
section 26, Cuming Township. Mr. Osterloh has passed his entire career
in this county, where he is well known, and his manner of conducting his
affairs has so met with the approval of his associates that he is held in
general esteem as a man, citizen and farmer.
Fred Osterloh was born on a farm in Dodge County October 22, 1873,
a son of Henry and Anna (Egbers) Osterloh. The parents, natives
of Oldenburg, Germany, immigrated to the United States during the
'60s, at which time they made their way across country to Omaha, and
then drove overland to Dodge County, where the father took up a
homestead. During the early years, when the crops were small and
money not easily secured, he added to his income by freighting with an
ox-team, but in later years his well-developed farm paid him well for
his labors and he was able to' furnish himself with many of the comforts
of life, the farming advantages being added each year and the improve
ments progressing in modernity. Henry Osterloh passed away on this
farm in 1903, at the age of sixty-eight years, while his widow survived
him until 1917 and was seventy- seven years of age at the time of her
death. They were faithful members of the Lutheran Church, and
Mr. Osterloh was- independent in his political views. There were six
children in the family : Fred, Catherine, who is the wife of Henry
Peters, a farmer in Washington County, this state, and four deceased.
Fred Osterloh was given his educational training in the public schools
of the rural districts of Dodge County, and passed his boyhood in much
the same manner as ' other farmer's sons of his day and community.
He continued to reside under the parental roof, and it was not until he
was twenty-seven years of age that he began farming operations on his
own account. In 1901 he was united in marriage with Miss Marie
Romberg, who was also born in Dodge County, and to this union there
have been born eight children : Christina, William, Martin, Anna, Her
bert, Elmer, Marguerite, and Glenville.
Mr. Osterloh devotes his activities to carrying on general farming
and also raises a good grade of stock, for which he finds a ready and
satisfying market. He has a number of business interests and is a
stockholder in the Douglas Motor Company of Omaha. His record in
husiness affairs has given him a good reputation among his associates,

IRVING I. POLLOCK

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 841
and this statement holds good also as to his status as a citizen, for
he has always discharged his duties in a conscientious manner. He is
an independent voter and is rather a farmer than a politician, but at this
time is the incumbent of the office of Clerk of Cuming Township.
Victor E. Koyen. An industrious and well-to-do farmer of Elkhorn
Township, Victor E. Koyen, who succeeded to the ownership of the
parental estate, is interested in mercantile pursuits as well as agricultural,
having a well patronized store on his farm. A son of the late Frederick
and Christina Koyen, he was born March 31, 1881, on Washington
Island,' in Lake Michigan, of thrifty Danish ancestry.
Born in Denmark, November 28, 1848, Frederick Koyen remained
in his native land until attaining his majority. Coming then to this
country, he located in Wisconsin, where he worked as a lumberman and
farmer for eleven years. He then came to Dodge Cbunty, Nebraska,
and bought 160 acres of prairie land in Elkhorn Township, which he
improved. He there carried on general farming until ready to give up
active pursuits, when he removed to town, and spent his later years of
life enjoying the fruits of his early labors. His wife, whom he married
in the Empire State, died on the home farm at the age of sixty-nine
years. Their children were five in number, and three of them, William,
Albert and Victor E., are living. The father was independent in politics,
and a member of the Danish Lutheran Church, to which his wife also
belonged. Choosing the independent occupation with which he became familiar
in early life, and having been but a child when he came with his parents
to Dodge County, Victor E. Koyen was educated in the district schools
and began farming on his own account about. 1906. Since assuming
possession of the parental homestead he has added to the. improvements
previously inaugurated, and now has , a conveniently arranged dwelling
house, modern in every respect.
The land is well improved and most of it tiled, everything about the
premises giving evidence of the owner's prosperity and wise management.
On the first day of January, 1906, Mr. Koyen was united in marriage-
with Anna Benson, who was born in St. Louis, Missouri, came with
her parents to Dodge County, Nebraska, in pioneer days, and was then
living in Fremont, where their marriage was solemnized. Two children
have blessed their union, Bernice J. and Rodney Victor. Mr. Koyen is
a stanch republican in politics, and both he and his wife are valued
members of the Baptist Church.
Irving J. Pollock has been a resident of Dodge County from the
time of his birth and is a representative of a well known pioneer family
of Nebraska. He is also one of the substantial arid prominent, exponents
of agricultural and live stock industry in his native county, where he
owns and resides upon a well improved farm estate of 220 acres, and is
one of the influential citizens of Elkhorn Township, where his homestead
place is situated in section 25.
Mr. Pollock was born in Elkhorn Township, Dodge County, October
19, 1872, and is a son of Joseph and Elizabeth Pollock, whose marriage
was solemnized in this county. Joseph Pollock was born and reared in
Scotland, a scion of the staunchest of Scottish ancestry, and he was
eighteen years of age when he came to America and settled in White
side County, Illinois, where he became actively identified with farm
industry and whence he went forth as a gallant young soldier of the
Vol. II— 25

842 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Union in the Civil war, a service in which he proved most effectively
his loyalty to the land of his adoption. He was twenty-one years of
age when he came to Nebraska and settled on a pioneer farm three miles
west of the present Village of Arlington, but in Dodge County, that
village being in Washington County. In the early period of his residence
in Nebraska he followed the line of construction on the Union Pacific
Railroad as far westward as Cheyenne, this state, and had charge of
the eating house maintained for the construction men. He developed
and improved his farm in Dodge County and was still the owner of a
good farm of 160 acres at the time of his death in 1899, when sixty-four
years of age, his wife passing away at the age of fifty years and both
having been active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Of
their eight children the subject of this review was the second in order
of birth and of the number, seven, one having died at the age of twenty-
eight, are now living (1920). The father held a secure place in pop
ular confidence and esteem and was one of the honored citizens and
pioneers of Dodge County, where he served for some time in the office
of justice of the peace.
Irving J. Pollock received his early education in the public schools
of Dodge County and as a youth gained full fellowship with the work
of the home farm, a preliminary experience that well fortified him for
his later and independent activities as an agriculturist and stock-grower.
His fine farm estate of 220 acres bears every evidence of thrift and
good management, and is devoted to diversified agriculture and the
raising and feeding of a due complement of live stock for the market.
In politics Mr. Pollock is a democrat, and he has given effective and loyal
service as township clerk, as road overseer and as a member of the
school board of his district. He and his wife hold membership in the
Methodist Episcopal Church, and he is affiliated with the Modern Wood
men of America.
In 1896 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Pollock to Miss Esther
DeLong, and they have eight children: Joseph, Nellie, Mildred, Gladys,
James, Ivan, Dorothy, and Esther. Nellie, the eldest daughter, is the
wife of Fred Brown, and they maintain their home in the City of Fre
mont, Dodge County.
E. C. Diers. The experiences of those men who are numbered
among the pioneers of Nebraska form an interesting part of the history
of each division of the state. Through the efforts of these sturdy men
present conditions have been developed, and it is only fair to render
to them the credit which is their due. Among these residents of Dodge
County who belong to the pioneer class is E. C. Diers of section 32,
Nickerson Township, whose finely developed farm of 880 acres demon
strates the value of careful farming and intelligent use of the facilities
at hand. He is a native son of Nebraska, having been born at West
Point, Cuming County, November 13, 1868. His father, Charles Diers,
and his mother, Ernestine Diers, were natives of Germany, who came
to the United States in 1868 and settled in Cuming County, Nebraska,
where they homesteaded. The father was a farmer and stockman, but
had retired, and he died in Pasadena, California. His widow survives him.
Remaining on his father's farm until he was twenty-one years old,
and during his youth attending the district schools and acquiring a
practical working knowledge of farming, Mr. Diers then began to
work on his own account, and came to Dodge County during its pioneer
period. At the time he came here the Indians were still hostile and

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 843
there were no facilities other than natural ones offered the men brave
enough to take up homesteads, but those who did so and persisted until
they proved up and developed their claims have been amply rewarded
and are now men of means and high standing in their community. The
original homestead of Mr. Diers has been increased until it now con
tains 880 acres. While all of his stock is of a good grade, he does not
handle thoroughbred strains. Nearly all of his stock is bred on his
farm, and he raises all of his feed. He averages about three carloads
of sheep annually.
Mr. Diers was married to Erma Levy, born and reared in Saunders
County. They have two children, Walter C. and Eugene Donald, both
of whom are at home. In his political faith Mr. Diers is an independent
democrat, but aside from exercising his right of suffrage he does not
participate in politics. In the Congregational Church he finds a medium
for the expression of his religious faith, and he is a liberal contributor
to the local church. Fraternally he is an Odd Fellow. His accounts of
really thrilling experiences with the Indians are well worth preservation.
He was born in a dugout, and if his children had to go through the
hardships he and his wife took as a part of their everyday life, they
would feel that fate was according them an unfair portion, and yet
both Mr. and Mrs. Diers realize that these very hardships played an
important part in the development of their characters, and that without
them they might not today be what they most certainly are, self-reliant
and dependable citizens of a mighty commonwealth.
Henry Knoell. In connection with his progressive farm enterprise
Mr. Knoell is proving himself fully equipped with success-winning
qualifications and is to be classed among the substantial and popular
representatives of the basic industries of agriculture and stock-growing
in his native county, where he is a scion of a sterling pioneer family.
His farm of 160 acres consists of rich valley land in section 2, Platte
Township, Dodge County, and he is making it one of the model places
of the township. The farm has good buildings, and its general appear
ance gives full evidence of thrift and prosperity.
Mr. Knoell was born in Nickerson Township, this County, August
29, 1871, and is a son of Christopher and Dora (Strom) Knoell, whose
marriage was solemnized at Fremont, the judicial center of the county.
Christopher Knoell was born in Germany and was fourteen years of
age when the family came to America and established a home in the
State of Wisconsin, where he was reared to adult age and where he
continued to be employed, principally at farm work, until he became
one of the pioneer settlers of Dodge County, Nebraska. Here he rented
land for some time, and eventually he purchased land until he was the
owner of seven quarter-sections. He was one of the prosperous farmers
of the county for many years prior to his death, when well advanced in
age. His wife died in 1901. The subject of this review was the eldest
of their seven children, all of whom are living.
Henry Knoell was reared to the sturdy discipline of the farm and
gained his early education in the public schools of his native county.
In 1900 he rented land and engaged in farming in an independent way,
and with increasing resources he finally purchased his present farm,
which he has since operated with unequivocal success, the place being
devoted to diversified agriculture and the raising of live stock of good
grades. Mr. Knoell maintains an independent attitude in politics, and
the only office in which he has consented to serve was that of school

844 ' DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
director of his district, a position of which he continued the incumbent
from 1917 until 1920. He is affiliated with the Fraternal Order of
Eagles. March 7, 1900, recorded the marriage of Mr. Knoell to Miss Mary
Hoffman, who likewise was born and reared in Dodge County, and their
pleasant home is still brightened by the presence of their seven children,
namely: Theodore, Lora, Henry R., Raymond, Mabel, Herbert and
Marian. Clara, the eldest in order of birth, died at the age of seventeen
years. Eric Olson. Among the many successful agriculturists who are
quietly pursuing the even tenor of their way in the counties wherein
they were born is Eric Olson, of Logan Township, who during his active
career has been a tiller of the soil, and in his chosen occupation has
found both pleasure and profit. A son of the late Matts Olson, he was
born December 13, 1873, in Dodge County, coming from pioneer stock.
Born and bred in Sweden, where his birth occurred in 1841, Matts
Olson, who was not at all satisfied with his future prospects in his native
land, immigrated to the United States in 1868, and having secured
employment on the Union Pacific Railroad, which was then in process
of construction, worked on it as far westward as Salt Lake City. He
subsequently worked for a time in Omaha, but about 1870, finding himself
$50 in debt, he decided to turn his attention to agriculture. Coming,
therefore, to Dodge County, he homesteaded eighty acres of land in
Logan Township and built the sod house in which he and his family
first lived. Industrious and thrifty, he not only improved his homestead
property, but through his agricultural operations was enabled from time
to time to purchase other tracts, and at the time of his death, at the
age of seventy-three years, owned 718 acres of good land. He married
in 1871, and reared a family of six children and a step-son, as follows:
Eric, the special subject of this sketch; Willie, of Pleasant Valley;
Mrs. Mary A. Anderson, of Iowa; Alfred, of Burt County, Nebraska;
Mrs. Christie Erickson, of Dodge County; Mrs. Glen Carson, of Burt
County; and A. B. Jacobs, of Thurston County, Nebraska. In politics
the father was independent, voting for the best men and measures
regardless of party restrictions. The mother died in Dodge. County at a
good old age.
Acquiring his education in the rural schools of Dodge County,
Eric Olson began working as a boy on the parental homestead, and
finding that occupation congenial to his tastes has since continued in it.
Starting for himself at the time of his marriage he rented land of his
father and in its management was quite successful. When he had
accumulated a sufficient sum to warrant him in so doing he bought land,
and has now a well improved and well equipped farm of 118 acres, and
being a skillful and practical farmer, systematic and thorough in his
methods, he is being amply rewarded for his labors, his land, yielding
abundant crops each year.
Mr. Olson married, in 1903, Hilda Lundberg, who was born in
Sweden and as a child was brought by her parents to Fremont, Nebraska,
where she grew to womanhood. Mr. and Mrs. Olson have three children :
Geraldine, Evelyn and Howard. As a prosperous farmer and stock
raiser Mr. Olson, who is a man of strict integrity and a trustworthy
citizen, has the esteem and respect of the community in which he
resides and in the advancement of which he takes a genuine interest.
He is independent in politics, and for several years served acceptably
as a member of the local school board.

UsWl>C^~«~<^-' &-<zLo£ca— J?(//2AA^U^Vl<.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 845
Henry Bohling, late of Logan Township, was for many years well
known throughout this part of Dodge County as an industrious and
prosperous farmer, a highly respected citizen, a kind neighbor and a
loving husband and father, and his death, which occurred September 30,
1918, at the homestead where he had so long resided, was a cause of
general regret, being mourned not only as a loss to his family but to the
entire community. He was born May 5, 1862, in Germany, where he
was reared and educated.
Immigrating to this country at the age of nineteen years, Mr. Bohling
came directly to Dodge County, Nebraska, and after working three
years for Mrs. Panning went to Washington County, where he was
busily employed, for two years. Starting in life on his own account
then, he rented the farm in Logan Township now occupied by his widow
and children, and meeting with success in its supervision subsequently
bought the place. He added to the improvements previously inaugurated,
erected substantial farm buildings and a good residence, and continued
his operations as a farmer and stock raiser, in the prosecution of his
calling meeting with highly satisfactory results, his valuable farm of
215 acres being at the time of his death one of the most desirable pieces
of property in the neighborhood. His first house was a mere shack,
and the one he erected was a modernly built structure, furnished with
all the comforts, necessities and conveniences commonly found in the
homes of the more progressive and successful agriculturists of today.
Mr. Bohling married, April 10, 1888, Caroline Seabuhr, who was
born in Washington County, Nebraska, where her parents, Christopher
and Mary Seabuhr, natives of Germany, located on coming to Nebraska
from Wisconsin, their first home in America. Twelve children were
born of their union, namely: Mrs. M. Katt, Mrs. Lizzie Prigge, and
Mrs. Minnie Katt, of Washington County; and Dorothy, Henry, Louis,
Adolph, Willie, Lena, Emil, Otto, and Alma, living at home. Mr. Bohling
was independent in politics, voting for men and measures he deemed
best, and was a faithful member of St. Paul's Lutheran Church, to which
Mrs. Bohling also belongs.
Mrs. Florence Addie Winkelman is one of the successful business
women of Dodge County, and is proving that her sex is no bar to her
entering into competition with men and setting a pace for them that
many find difficult to keep up. She is a worthy daughter of her father,
the late Gideon West, who will long be remembered as a man of sterling
character and fine business ability. At the time" of his demise he was
serving Fremont as city marshal, and was the owner of a large amount
of realty in the city and Dodge County.
Gideon West was born in Canada while his mother was there on a
visit but was taken to Vermont in infancy, where he spent his childhood
days. From there he came West to Wisconsin, and thence to Nebraska,
where he arrived in 1867. During the war between the North and the
South he served in the Union army and held the rank of sergeant. His
enlistment took place from Wisconsin and he was disabled and honorably
discharged at the end of nine months. This military service resulted
in subsequent ill health, and doubtless terminated his life, for he passed
away in the latter 70s.
After coming to Nebraska he met and was married to Martha Jensen,
born near Copenhagen, Denmark. Her parents brought her to the
United States when she was six years of age, and they lived at Fre
mont, Nebraska, for a number of years, but later moved to Iowa and

846 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
there died. Mr. and Mrs. West became the parents of two children,
Florence A., whose name heads this review ; and Lila, who married Ray
Pankow, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Both Mr. and Mrs. West were
consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal Church from an early
age, and brought up their daughters in the same faith. Mr. West was a
Mason and one of the most prominent men in the fraternity in Dodge
County. His was the first Masonic funeral ever held in the county,
and one of the first held in the Methodist Episcopal Church. When he
died Mr. West owned a half a square of property in Fremont and farm
land in Dodge County, and acquired that property during the last few
years of his life.
When Mr. and Mrs. West were young married people Mr. West
had a long period of illness, and his devoted wife threw herself into
the breach and did washing in order to supply the necessities of life, not
only doing it cheerfully and willingly, but so acceptably that she built
up a large connection and made money. After her husband's death she
so managed her property that she has become very wealthy and now
owns five farms. Later she was married to Charles A. Devine, and they
live at North Bend, Nebraska.
Florence A. West was married to Frank Winkelman, of Fremont, a
railroad conductor, who later became a merchant. He died on January
14, 1918. They became the parents of the following children : Gideon
W., who is a farmer of Saunders, Nebraska ; Jennie Edith, who married
J. R. Carroll, of North Platte, Nebraska; Tyrone, who married George
Devine, lives on a farm near North Bend, Nebraska ; and Richard A.,
who is attending high school.
Mrs. Winkelman is a very shrewd business woman and knows how to
make her effort pay her a good return. She owns and operates a high-
class, modern rooming house at 140 East Second Street, and has other
city and farm realty. Being an excellent judge of real estate, she does
considerable in this line, and during the summer of 1919 handled two and
one-half sections of farm land in Kimball County, Nebraska, in such a
way as to treble her money and awaken the admiration of some of the
most astute realty operators of the state.
She and her family belong to the Episcopal Church. For a number
of years she has been very active in the local chapter of the Eastern Star,
and holds the degree of honor in the Ancient Order of United Work
men and is a past grand of this order for the State of Nebraska.
It is such capable women as Mrs. Winkelman who are proving to
their communities that they are fully competent to handle any problems.
While she has been so successful in business life, Mrs. Winkelman has
not neglected any of her home responsibilities but has reared a family
of fine children.
Lars Peterson. Having accomplished a satisfactory work in his
free and independent occupation and acquired a competency to live on
in his declining years, Lars Peterson, a retired farmer of Uehling, is
now enjoying a well-earned leisure. Born in Sweden in 1841, he
remained there twenty-two years.
After a long and tedious ocean voyage he landed in New York on
July 14, 1863. Proceeding westward, he arrived in Chicago with $5.00
in gold in his pocket, which he soon changed into scrip, receiving $7.50
in that currency. Here he worked at his trade as a carpenter until 1864.
In that year he was one of three Swedes selected to find a favorable
location for a colony of their countrymen. Going to Omaha, he was

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 847
there told that the only land available for that purpose lay west of
Columbus, but as the Indians in that locality were very hostile the com
mittee decided to form a settlement in Logan Valley instead. The ven
ture proved successful, and Mr. Peterson is now the only survivor of the
founders of that settlement.
His father, who followed him to this country in 1864, came to
Nebraska, where he took up a homestead claim and carried on general
farming with good results, residing on his ranch until his death, at the
age of seventy-eight years. His wife, Justine Peterson, survived him,
living to be eighty-two years old.
Taking up a homestead claim in Dodge County, Lars Peterson went
from Chicago by rail to St. Joseph, Missouri, and thence by boat to
Omaha, Nebraska, and before leaving for the farm homestead at Logan
Valley, Nebraska, he spent his last $10.00 for flour, purchasing 200
pounds, an amount that by strict economy lasted him and his bride, whom
he married in Omaha, a long time. He cleared and improved his home
stead of 160 acres, and lived upon it until he had accumulated a suffi
cient sum to warrant him in giving up active labor, and since 1898 has
lived retired, having a most desirable home in Uehling, Nebraska.
Mr. Peterson married October 10, 1864, in Omaha, Hanna Anderson,
and to them several children have been born, namely : Peter, who died
at the age of fourteen years, having accidentally shot himself ; Carrie
Mattson, wife of a Dodge County farmer; Anna Bennett, living in Cali
fornia; Mary Peterson, of Los Angeles, California; Clara Taylor, also
living in Los Angeles ; Turah, who died at the age of twenty years ;
Elmer, living on the parental homestead ; Lillie, wife of Dr. Chris John
son, a veterinary surgeon living near Uehling; and Roy, a resident of
California. Mr. Peterson has traveled in the west, after retiring from
the farm, having spent five years in Denver before settling permanently
in Uehling. He is a never changing republican in politics and a member
of the Lutheran Church.
Frank B. Knapp, president of the Fidelity Trust Company of Fre
mont, was born at Sloan, Iowa. He was engaged in the banking business
at Cedar Bluffs, Nebraska for several years. He came to Fremont in
1910 as cashier of the First National Bank, later became president of
the Fidelity Trust Company, and is an officer or director in a number
of Nebraska banks and financial institutions. Mr. Knapp was married
to Lula A. Meeker, of Wahoo, Nebraska. Of this union one child,
a daughter, Marjorie, was born, and is living with her parents.
James C. Badger, the popular and efficient postmaster at Arlington,
Washington County, was about ten years of age at the time of the family
removal from Michigan to this progressive Nebraska county, his birth
having occurred near Niles, the Metropolis of Berrien County, Michigan,
on January 12, 1870. His father, William D. Badger, was likewise a
native of that county, where he was reared and educated and where was
solemnized his marriage to Miss Margaret Mead. She was born in the
State of New York and was young at the time of her parents' removal
to Michigan. In his native county William D. Badger continued his
active association with farm enterprise until 1880, when he came with
his family to Nebraska and established a home in Washington County,
he having been a resident of Arlington since the autumn of that year.
Here he was for ten years successfully engaged in the buying and ship
ping of grain and live stock as junior member of the firm of Shepard &

848 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Badger, and he then became one of the organizers of the Belle Creek
Valley Bank at Arlington. He continued as one of the executive officials
of the institution until it was reorganized as the First National Bank.
His political allegiance is given to the democratic party, and he is affil
iated with the Masonic fraternity. Of their two children the subject of
this review is the elder, and the younger is O. D. Badger, who is
employed in a general merchandise establishment at Arnold, Custer
County. In his youth the father received not only the advantages of
the public schools of Michigan, but also those of the great University of
Michigan, of the Eastman Business College in the City of Poughkeepsie,
New York. He has been influential in politics in Washington County
and has been known for his civic loyalty and public spirit.
James C. Badger acquired his rudimentary education in the public
schools of Michigan, and after the family removed to Nebraska he con
tinued his studies in the schools at Arlington, his higher academic train
ing having been received in the celebrated Notre Dame University at
South Bend, Indiana. As a youth he became associated with his father's
banking business, and thereafter he was for one year employed in the
Government military postoffice service in the State of Utah. After his
return to Arlington he held a position in what is now the First National
Bank for a period of about ten years, and for one year thereafter he was
in the Pullman car service of the Union Pacific and Chicago & North
western Railroad. In 1915 he was appointed postmaster at Arlington,
of which position he has since continued the incumbent and in which he
has given a most effective and popular administration.
Mr. Badger has been active and influential in the councils and cam
paign activities of the democratic party in Washington County, and he
is actively affiliated with the Masonic fraternity.
In 1892 was recorded the marriage of Mr. Badger to Miss Honora
Fink, daughter of John Fink, a well-known citizen of Washington
County. Mr. and Mrs. Badger have two children, Ralph and Loren,
both of whom are still attending school at the time of this writing in 1920.
Laurence M. Peterson. While the art of preserving and repairing
the teeth was known in a crude form by the very ancient peoples, it has
been only within recent years that dental surgery has received the con
sideration it has always merited on account of its importance, and conse
quently men of much greater intellectual attainments have been attracted
to the profession, which now includes some of the ablest men of the
country. One of the skilled and dependable operating dentists of Dodge
and Washington counties, who draws his patients from both localities, is
Dr. Laurence M. Peterson of Arlington.
.Doctor Peterson was born at Arlington in 1894, a son of J. A. and
Emma J. (Gustafson) Peterson, natives of Sweden and Iowa, respec
tively. J. A. Peterson came to the United States in 1868, locating in
Iowa, where he remained for four years, and then came west to Nebraska
and settled permanently at Arlington, which still continues to be his
home. He is now in the employ of a hardware and general store at
Arlington. The children born to him and his wife were as follows:
Bernita, who is now engaged in teaching at Scottsbluff, Nebraska ; L. M.,
who was the second in order of birth ; Erma M., who is in her brother's
office; and Theodore R. and J. Rodney, both of whom are attending the
Arlington schools. The parents of these children are members of the
Congregational Church, and the father is a republican in politics and a
member of the Modern Woodmen in his fraternal affiliations.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 849
After completing his high school course at Arlington, Doctor Peterson
entered the dental department of the Nebraska State University and was
graduated therefrom in 1917, with the degree of Doctor of Dental Sur
gery and as a member of the Greek letter fraternity, Beta Theta Pi.
Immediately following his graduation Doctor Peterson iocated at Arling
ton, where he has built up a valuable practice and has firmly established
himself in the confidence of the public. He is a Blue Lodge Mason.
Like his father he is a republican, and also like the elder man he has not
aspired to public honors, all of his energy being conserved for the prac
tice of his profession. However, like all intelligent men, he realizes the
need for a constructive interest in civic affairs by the best element of
any locality, and so stands ready to do his part in keeping Arlington in the
front .rank among similar municipalities along all lines.
William Schafersman. The claim of William Schafersman upon
the good will and consideration of his fellow townsmen at Blair is based
upon many years of effective work as an agriculturist, upon his merito
rious record as a citizen and upon his activity in promoting education
and kindred accompaniments of advanced education. While he is now
employed in the produce business, Mr. Schafersman is still the owner of
a splendid farm in the vicinity of Herman, and the business with which
he is identified keeps alive his interest in things agricultural.
Born at Quincy, Illinois, June 23, 1868, Mr. Schafersman is a son of
Gottlieb and Hannah (Westerbech) Schafersman, natives of Germany.
Hjs father left his native land at the age of twenty-one years, in order
to escape the hated compulsory military service, and on arriving in the
United States became employed as a laboring man, accepting such honor
able work as fell to his hands. He was living in Illinois when the Civil
war came on, and while he had left the home of his birth because he did
not want to be forced into the army, in the land where his inclinations
were given consideration he voluntarily offered his services to the country
of his adoption and was accepted as a member of Company H, Sixteenth
Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, a regiment with which he served
four years. He took part in many of the hardest-fought engagements of
the great struggle, and was slightly wounded at Gettysburg and Bull
Run. After receiving his honorable discharge he returned to his home
in Illinois, but in 1868 turned his face to the West and settled at Blair,
in which community he bought 200 acres of school land at $7.00 an
acre. Mr. Schafersman lived to see this land increase many times in
value, and under his good management and industry it flourished and
became splendidly productive. He was a man of integrity and fidelity
to trust and had the esteem and respect of all with whom he came in
contact. His religious faith was that of the German Lutheran Church,
and his political belief that of the democratic party. He and his worthy
wife were the parents of six children, William being the second in order
of birth, and two others live in Washington County, Edward, proprietor
of a general store at Telbasta, Nebraska, and Minnie, the wife of August
Carlston, a farmer near the Village of Dale.
William Schafersman received his education in the country school of
his locality, to reach which he was compelled to walk three miles, and as
a youth adopted farming as his life work. He was engaged in farming
successfully until his fortieth year, and is still the owner of a large and
highly productive property near Herman, for which he paid at the rate
of $35 an acre, while this land is now worth $300 an acre. When he
gave up active participation in farming work he identified himself with

850 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
the produce business at Herman, and continued therein for eleven years,
coming to Blair in July, 1918, and associating himself as clerk with the
produce business of Mr. Wright. In 1920 he took the management of
the Valley Poultry Company of Blair, Nebraska. He is regarded as one
of the substantial men of his community and as a citizen who backs
worthy measures with his means, abilities and time. Mr. Schafersman is
a member of the Lutheran Church, as is his wife, who belongs to the
Rebekahs and the Knights and Ladies of Security, of which her husband
is also a member. He is also an Odd Fellow. In civic life he has taken
an active and prominent part. As a democrat he was elected to the office
of road overseer for nine years, subsequently serving four years as
mayor of Herman. He has been successful in his affairs and has varied
interests, among them a directorship in the Farmers State Bank.
In the spring of 1896 Mr. Schafersman was united in marriage with
Miss Reka Richter, who was born in Washington County, Nebraska, a
daughter of Herman Richter, one of the early farmers of the county. To
this union there has come one daughter, Opal, who is attending the public
school. E. S. Beaty. It is nearly forty years since E. S. Beaty came to the
Blair community, arriving here with practically no assets except his skill
and experience in his trade. He has been building bridges and doing
other contracting and construction work ever since, is active head of the
Beaty Contracting Company, and is widely known as a most substantial
business man and one whose success is the product of his own energies
and initiative.
Mr. Beaty was born in Massachusetts December 10, 1855, a son of
J. J. and Mary F. (Snowden) Beaty. His mother was a native of Boston
and his father of Nova Scotia, and they were married in Medford,
Massachusetts. After a number of years in Massachusetts the family
emigrated to the Northwest in 1857, settling in Minnesota Territory.
J. J. Beaty developed a pioneer homestead in that territory, though in
the east he had been a carpenter and contractor. When the Civil war
came on he enlisted in Company E of the Eleventh Minnesota Infantry,
and served as second lieutenant during the last ten months of the war.
He was also a county surveyor in Minnesota and held other minor
offices, was a stanch republican in politics, a Mason and a member of the
Episcopal Church. Of a family of twelve children eight are still living,
E. S. being the sixth in age.
E. S. Beaty was an infant when the family moved to Minnesota, and
his first recollections were of that pioneer country. He acquired a dis
trict school education, grew up on a farm, but also learned the carpenter's
trade, and early in life began taking independent contracts.
On moving to Blair in 1883 Mr. Beaty was for eleven years foreman
of railroad bridge construction. He then set up in business as an inde
pendent contractor, building bridges for railroads and the county, and
finally incorporated the Beaty Contracting Company, with a capital of
$25,000. This is a family corporation and Mr. Beaty is now to a large
extent retired, having turned the active management of the business over
to his son.
He married in 1884, in Iowa, Miss Lucretia Maun. She is a native
of Nebraska and her father, John Maun, was a Nebraskan of prominence,
a thoroughly well educated man who was in the newspaper business, an
Indian agent, a druggist, and spent his last years on a farm. He had
been educated for the Catholic priesthood. Mr. and Mrs. Beaty have

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 851
two children. The son Mark, now in business with his father, is a grad
uate of the high school and of the Armour Institute of Technology at
Chicago. The daughter, Enid, is a graduate of the Blair High School
and of the Roekford Woman's College in Illinois, and is the wife of
Fred Rankin of Sioux City, Iowa. Mr. Rankin served as a lieutenant
in the World war, having been trained at Camp Grant and also at the
School of Fire at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Mrs. Beaty and her children
are Catholics. Mr. Beaty is a prominent Mason, having filled all the
chairs in the lodge, past high priest of the Royal Arch Chapter, past
eminent commander of the Knights Templar, and is also a Mystic
Shriner. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and a
republican in politics. In 1900 Mr. Beaty built the beautiful home in
Blair where he and his family reside, and he also owns some valuable
farm lands in Washington County.
Eugene W. Burdic The value in business of concentrating one's
forces upon a given line of activity, of correctly gauging its importance
among the needs of the world, and keeping pace with the ever-changing
conditions surrounding it, is confirmed anew in the success of E. W. Bur
dic, vice president of the Plateau State Bank of Herman. A resident
of Washington County since 1877, in his earlier years he was interested
in farming, merchandise and stock shipping, but for many years has
centered his attention in financial matters.
Mr. Burdic was born November 16, 1861, in Steuben County,
Indiana, and was a lad of fifteen years when brought to Nebraska in
1877 by his parents, Fred and Ann Burdic, natives of Indiana, who
settled in Washington County, near Herman. There the father rounded
out a long and honorable career in the pursuits of agriculture, and died
at the age of seventy-four years, highly esteemed and refpected. The
widow still survives. There were four children in the family: R. L., a
resident of Ashland, Oregon ; E. W. ; Mrs. Maude Hasbrook of Hood
River, Oregon ; and Alva, who is deceased.
E. W. Burdic received his education in the public school at Herman,
and when about twenty-three years of age began farming on his own
account. After two years spent in agricultural activities, he turned his
attention to merchandising and the shipping of stock, pursuits which he
followed for eighteen years at Herman. At the end of that time he
purchased an interest in the Plateau State Bank, of which institution
he has been vice president ever since, and to the success of which he
has contributed materially by his good judgment, foresight and natural
business ability. Mr. Burdic is a Knight Templar Mason and Shriner
and a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. In
political matters he considers the character of the aspirants for office
and is not bound by party lines. He has rendered efficient and con
scientious service to his community in public positions for many years,
having been for fourteen years a member of the Board of County Com
missioners, a member of the Board of School Directors for upwards of
twenty years, and a member of the town board for a long period.
Mr. Burdic was united in marriage March 12, 1885, with Miss Cora
Rose, who was born at Omaha, Nebraska, but reared in Washington
County, a daughter of S. C. and Mattie Rose, the latter of whom makes
her home with Mr. and Mrs. Burdic, Mr. Rose being deceased. In the
Rose family there were five children: George, Edward, Eugene, Cora
and Jessie. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Burdic:
Earl, Lloyd, Neil and Gretchen.

852 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
C. Henry Petersen. A well-known and prosperous business man
of Washington County, C. Henry Petersen has achieved success in the
various lines of industry with which he has been associated, his keen
• foresight and earnestness of purpose having proved his chief assets dur
ing his career as a farmer, stockraiser and merchant. He was born in
1873 in Clinton County, Iowa, a son of Nichols D. and Margaret
Petersen, natives of Germany.
Born in 1842, Nichols Petersen remained in Germany until attaining
his majority. In 1865, following the footsteps of many of his com
panions, he immigrated to the United States, settling first in Iowa, where
he was employed in general farming and stock raising, and was also
engaged in business at Bennington, Nebraska, where he owned and oper
ated a meat market. Coming from Clinton County, Iowa, to Washing
ton County in 1876, he was here a resident until his death, on January
1, 1916. He was a democrat in politics, and both he and his wife united
with the Lutheran Church at Bennington, this state. They were the
parents of six children, as follows : Peter C, of Bennington, Nebraska,
a butcher ; C. Henry ; Catherine, widow of John Missf eldt ; John of Ben- *
nington, a well-known garage man ; William, engaged in farming in
Washington County, Nebraska; and Emma, wife of Richard Johnson,
who is engaged in farming in Douglas County, this state.
Obtaining a practical education in the rural schools of Washington
County, C. Henry Petersen acquired valuable knowledge and experience
in the art of agriculture on the home farm. Finding the work profitable
as well as agreeable, he carried on general farming for several years,
making a specialty of raising a good grade of stock. Locating in Wash
ington in 1916, Mr. Petersen opened a store, and having put in a com
plete stock of general merchandise has since been actively and prosper
ously engaged in mercantile pursuits, his trade being large and constantly
increasing. He has acquired considerable property, owning land in
Cheyenne County, Nebraska, and being a stockholder in the Omaha
Wholesale Grocery.
Mr. Petersen married, in 1893, Mary Voss, a native of Ohio, and
into their home circle ten children have made their advent, namely:
Alvina, wife of Charles Wrick, a farmer in Washington County ; Clara,
postmistress in Washington; Dora and Celia, in Omaha; Carl, engaged
in agricultural pursuits in Washington County ; Catherine, working in
her father's store; Herbert; Otto; Louise; and Lorraine. Mr. Petersen
is independent in politics, voting according to his convictions, regardless
of party affiliations.
W. L. Japp. The man who today owns Washington County farm
land is to be accounted one of the most fortunate men of Nebraska.
This is one of the great agricultural states of the Union, and its present
state of fertility has been brought about through the efforts of the men
who have devoted their time and energy to the development of its natural
resources. One of the men who has borne his part in the establishment
and maintenance of this supremacy is W. L. Japp, of Richland Town
ship, owner of 200 acres of valuable farm land in section 3..
W. L. Japp was born in Dodge County, Nebraska, in 1876, a son of
John and Christine Japp, natives of Germany. John Japp came to the
United States when a young man and homesteaded in Dodge County,
Nebraska. At the time of his death he owned 1,200 acres of land, and
was a man of prominence in Dodge and Washington counties. His death
took place in 1879, but his widow survives him and lives in Dodge
County, being now seventy-five years old.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON1 COUNTIES 853
Until he was twenty-one years old W. L. Japp remained at home
and secured his education in the district schools of Dodge County. When
he reached his majority he began farming for himself, first on land he
rented from his father, but later he bought his present farm, and on it
he is carrying on a general farming and stockraising business, and has
been very successful. He has made improvements upon his place and it
is now in good condition and reflects credit upon his skill as a farmer.
Mr. Japp was married to Dora Harder, a daughter of Joseph Harder
of Dodge County, now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Japp have twelve chil
dren, as follows: John, August, Emil, George, Edward, Ernest, W. L.,
Kate, Minnie, Emma, Lora and Lizzie. In politics Mr. Japp is an
independent thinker and voter. His elder sons are engaged in farming
in the same neighborhood as he, while the younger ones are on the farm
with him, and all of them are doing well. They are held in high respect
in their community as hard-working and thrifty men and good citizens.
Harvey C. Kendall, advertising manager and director of the Fre
mont Evening Tribune, is one of the leading business men and public-
spirited citizens of Fremont, who has done much for the advancement
along industrial civic lines of this locality. He was born in Iowa County,
Wisconsin, in 1885, a son of William H. and Minnie (Hoskins) Kendall.
They were born in Iowa County, Wisconsin, where they lived for many
years engaged in farming, but in 1905 he sold his farm and retired to
Dodgeville, Wisconsin, where he and his wife are still living. They had
four children born to them: Alma, who married John Campbell, mayor
of Dodgeville, died in 1918; Harvey C, who was second in order of
birth; James H., who is treasurer of Iowa County, Wisconsin, is the
youngest man ever elected to such an office in Wisconsin ; and Dr. Charles
H., who is practicing dentistry at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was graduated
from the Northwestern University at Evanston, Illinois, and was presi
dent of his class during his senior year. Mr. and Mrs. Kendall are con
sistent and earnest members of the Congregational Church. He is a
republican in politics. He has been fairly successful in his undertak
ings, and has won the confidence of his fellow citizens. The paternal
great-grandfather, Henry Kendall, founded the family in this country
when he came from England to the United States and located in Iowa
County, Wisconsin, about seventy years ago. When he settled there he
was one of the very earliest pioneers in the county, and became one of its
prominent men, always holding some of the township offices. Possessed
of sterling traits of character, principal among which was strict integrity,
he stated in his will that all of his debts must be paid first of all. The
maternal grandfather, William Hoskins, was also an Englishman, born
in Cornwall, England, and he, too, was an early settler of Iowa County,
Wisconsin. .
Mr. Kendall's first occupation was in newspaper work, at which time
he was in the employ of his uncle in North Dakota. Six years later he
returned to Wisconsin and became the manager of the Dodgeville
Chronicle, which has the largest circulation of any weekly newspaper in
Wisconsin. While in North Dakota Harvey C. Kendall met Alice McKay, to
whom he was married September 11, 1912, and in January, 1913, he
moved to Fremont to become manager of the Fremont Herald. Later
he went with the Hammond Printing Company and held the position of
advertising manager for three years. He resigned his position with the
Tribune at that time and organized the Golden Rod Ice Cream Company,

854 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
incorporating it at $50,000, and F. E. Pratt is its president ; Carl Thomsen
is vice president, and Mr. Kendall was secretary and general manager.
The company ships its product all over Nebraska, Iowa and South
Dakota, and is represented on the road by two traveling salesmen. In
January, 1920, Mr. Kendall sold his interests in the Golden Rod Ice
Cream Company and purchased a substantial interest in the Hammond
Printing Company. He was elected a director of the firm and adver
tising manager for its publication, the Fremont Evening Tribune, which
position he now holds. Mr. Kendall has other interests, owning stock
in several concerns, and his nice modern residence.
Fraternally Mr. Kendall is a Knight Templar Mason. He also
belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America, Ancient Order of United
Workmen and other similar organizations. Always interested in the
work of the Young Men's Christian Association, he is now serving as
one of the directors of the association at Fremont, is president of the
Fremont Boy Scout Council, is secretary of the Fremont Aerial Club,
and is a member and official of the Fremont Rotary Club and an active
member of the Commercial Club. He is one of the officials of the Con
gregational Church. During the late war he served as county merchant
representative, and took a very active part in all of the war drives. A
strong republican, he served as chairman of the county central committee
and as chairman of the congressional committee of the Third District of
Nebraska of his party. Mr. Kendall is a man of more than ordinary
strength of will and is oftentimes called into counsel with other repre
sentative men of his community. Having devoted much thought to cur
rent events, he is recognized as an authority on public questions and
local politics. Among other qualities without doubt he is possessed of
grit, vision and a really marvelous ability to overcome obstacles, and he
has contributed of them freely to civic undertakings as well as to the
advancement of his own interests.
E. P. Hanson. Strict attention to business and undaunted faith in
his ability to succeed have been influential factors in the rise of E. P.
Hanson, president of the Herman State Bank. His original business
.equipment consisted of a good name, a fair endowment of intellect and
a practical education, and with these he has worked his way to business
and financial prominence among the people of his community.
Mr. Hanson was born on a farm in Washington County, Nebraska,
May 4, 1870, a son of H. V. and Anna Hanson. His father, a native of
Sweden, came to the United States a poor young man in 1865, and after
four years in Utah settled in Washington County and purchased a
relinquishment of eighty acres. For his first board home he hauled
lumber all the way from Omaha, but in later years this residence was
replaced by a more commodious and pretentious one, for Mr. Hanson
rose rapidly in fortune through his industry and good management, and
at the time of his death in 1902, when he was sixty-four years of age,
was the owner of 720 acres of land and considered one of the successful
men of his locality. His wife, Anna, died when forty-two years of age,
leaving six children : Mrs. R. B. Wilson, a resident of Omaha ; E. P. ;
Mrs. Dr. J. F. Peddlef ord of South Dakota ; Mrs. Swan Johnson, living
on the old homestead in Washington County ; E. A., a former banker of
Decatur, this state, now deceased; and Francis, a member of the First
Nebraska Volunteer Infantry, who met his death in the Philippines
April 27, 1899.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 855
After attending the local schools E. P. Hanson pursued a course at
the normal school at Fremont, from which he was duly graduated, and
at the age of nineteen years entered upon a career of his own. He
farmed until he reached the age of twenty-eight years, at which time he
became a salesman on the road for the Cudahy Packing Company, with
which concern he remained three years, then entering the employ of the
Standard Oil Company, with which he remained five years. Mr. Hanson
then spent one year at the Exposition grounds, Omaha, following which
he came to Herman, and in 1907 founded the Herman State Bank, of
which he is president. This institution has an excellent standing among
the financial concerns of the county, and is capitalized at $50,000. A
large part of the confidence placed in it by the people of this community
is by reason of their faith in Mr. Hanson's motives, which have always
been found above board and free from double dealing. He has various
farming interests in Washington and Thurston counties, and is a member
of the board of directors of the First National Bank of Decatur. As a
fraternalist he is a thirty-second degree Mason and a Shriner, and a
member of the Knights of the Maccabees, in both of which orders he
has numerous friends.
In 1901 Mr. Hanson was united in marriage with Lucy D. Cooper,
who was born and reared at Cameron, Missouri, and to this union there
has been born one son, Howard, who is still attending school.
Hiram Jefferson Rosenbaum. For thirty years Hiram Jefferson
Rosenbaum was numbered among the industrious farmers, good citizens,
trusted friends and neighbors of Washington County. His life record is
one to be remembered in his community. Besides Mrs. Rosenbaum and
his children he left material evidences of his activity in a substantial
farm property and country home, now occupied by Mrs. Rosenbaum.
This farm home is in Arlington Township, section 1, a half mile
north and five miles east of Arlington.
Mr. Rosenbaum was born in Washington County, Virginia, a son of
Joel and Nancy (Ramsey) Rosenbaum. His father was a Virginia
farmer and at one time held the office of constable. The family were
Presbyterians in religion.
Hiram Jefferson Rosenbaum in 1874 married Sarah Garrett, who
was born in the same county as himself. The following year, in 1875,
they came out to Washington County, Nebraska. They first bought land
near Fort Calhoun, where they remained eight years, after which they
removed to the community west of Kennard where Mr. Rosenbaum spent
the rest of his years. A carpenter by trade, which he had learned in
Virginia, he used that trade during many seasons in Nebraska, also cul
tivated his farm, and built up a considerable business in fire insurance.
He identified himself from the first with the progressive element of the
community, and was a very popular and highly esteemed citizen. He
died in 1916 at the age of sixty-one. Fraternally he was affiliated with
the Woodmen of the World, Modern Woodmen of America and the
Knights of Pythias. Mrs. Rosenbaum is a member of the Baptist Church.
To their marriage were born ten children: Carrie, wife of Reese
French, a Washington County farmer; Joe, who farms the old home
stead • Edward, in the real estate business at Omaha ; Mattie, widow of
Tens Hoteling of Oklahoma ; Nancy, wife of Charles Robinson, a farmer
at Denver, Colorado; Buck, a farmer near Kennard; May, wife of
Charles Peterson of Kennard ; Jesse, a railroad man living at Spokane,
Washington ; Hiram B., a prospector near Spokane ; and John, a sales
man for the Goodyear Tire Company of California.

856 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Thomas T. Osterman, proprietor of the Tribune, of Blair, has been
enrolled in the printing and newspaper service since boyhood. With all
his devotion to this profession, he has likewise been a leader in politics
and in the civic affairs of his home community.
He was born at Fremont, Nebraska, June 9, 1876, fourth among the
ten children of Charles Osterman and Catharine Kerl. His father was
born in Germany in 1840, came to America at the age of sixteen, and was
identified with the pioneers at Fontanelle, Nebraska. Mr. Osterman's
mother was born near Jefferson City, Missouri. Her half-brother,
Simon Kerl, was a noted author and grammarian, and was private
secretary to the secretary of the treasury in Abraham Lincoln's cabinet.
At the age of thirteen, when in the seventh grade of the old Fremont
Central School, Tom Osterman went to work in the office of the Flail,
to learn the printer's trade. When three years later he left home he was
competent as a compositor and in other branches of printing, and as a
journeyman he worked in a number of eastern Nebraska towns. In
1895 he leased a weekly paper at Arlington, and at that time was regarded
as the youngest editor in Nebraska. The lease terminated in 1896 and
in September of that year he began his long and permanent connection
with Blair, where he became foreman of the Courier. He was in charge
of the business while its editor was in the South during the Spanish-
American war in 1898.
In 1903 Mr. Osterman was appointed deputy county clerk. He
resigned that office March 1, 1904, to assume the ownership of the
Blair Republican, changing its name to the Blair Democrat. In 1907
he purchased the Courier, consolidating the two papers. In 1912 a
building and lot was purchased in the central business part of the city,
to which the Democrat was moved. It was published under that title
until 1917 when Mr. Osterman participated in the purchase of the
Tribune and has since used the latter name for his publication.
Always active in politics as a stanch democrat, in recognition of the
services he had rendered the party in Washington County Mr. Osterman
was appointed postmaster at Blair on the recommendation of Congress
man C. O. Lobeck and took charge of the office July 1, 1914. While this
necessitated turning over the active management of his newspaper to
others, he has found time to keep in touch with its conduct and policies
and has never for a moment lost sight of its welfare nor allowed it to
lag in a single particular. A second commission as postmaster was given
Mr. Osterman under date of October 3, 1918, Congressman Lobeck
informing him of his reappointment with the announcement that "The
department had not a single mark against his record."
Something should also be said of Mr. Osterman's influential activi
ties in civic affairs. With the aid of his newspaper he has worked stead
ily for the betterment of the community. In a great measure his
persistent efforts were responsible for the organization of Blair's present
Chamber of Commerce, and it is a source of personal satisfaction to him
that the local Commercial Club has brought about an extensive program
of paving and sewer construction 'at Blair, to say nothing of the many
other aids the chamber has rendered the city since its organization a
few years ago.
Mr. Osterman has been interested in lodge work, being a Mason,
Odd Fellow and Knight of Pythias, and for the last two years has been
chancellor commander of Garfield Lodge No. 6, Knights of Pythias, at
Blair, during which time the lodge has enjoyed an unprecedented growth
in membership.

THOMAS T. OSTERMAN

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 857
a da^Xte^of ^ Irf'^ u^*™ married Miss Minnie A- Parish,
died during 1 1\ ?VPansh-. Their only child was born in 1901 and
Theo M rff rw rl?V?Ve- epide-mic in 1905' Mr' Osterman's brother,
Nebraska t^^' 1S Servm^ his fourth term as a member of the
22TP T Representatives and is minority floor leader. Mer-
fnr Z™ T& CZUnty and he is Prominently mentioned as a candidate
for democratic gubernatorial honors in 1922.
NenV;I;H0VENDi:CK Wa-S b°m in Wa^ington County about the time
H drllf SfeTS *J W°-rSt era 0f vici^itudes through grasshop
pers, drought and other adversities. His people were early settlers here
and Sv0^15,0™, Cfl0rtS JaVC been PUt f0rth as a P-ctkal rarrn;
and largely on the land where he was born and reared. He has shared
in the great prosperity of modern times and is owner of one of the
highly improved places in Richland Township, in section 24
He was born October 24, 1875, son of Herman Henry Hovendick
Mis father a native of Germany, came to the United States in 1858 and
for several years lived m Quincy, Illinois, a community from which came
many of the early colonists of Dodge and Washington counties. He was
employed as a teamster there and when the Civil war broke out he
enlisted in an Illinois regiment and gave valiant service to the Union
cause Several years after the war, in 1869, he came to Nebraska and
settled on land now included in the farm of his son, F. J. Hovendick
His first purchase was a relinquishment of eighty acres, and later he
added another eighty acres and gave to this farm the best efforts of his
im? He llVed there honored and respected until his death on May 11
1917, at the age of seventy-eight. He was married in Quincy and his
wife died in 1903. In the family were five sons and four daughters.
F. J. Hovendick grew up on the home farm, acquired a common
school education. At the age of twenty-one he entered the employment
of his father, and nine years later took entire charge of the place and has
lived there ever since. He now owns 120 acres and has been a very
successful stock raiser, that being the most profitable branch of his
enterprise. Mr. Hovendick had a place on his local school board for seventeen
years. He is a member of the non-partisan league, which expresses most
of his views on politics and economic subjects. He and his family are
members of the Lutheran Church.
May 6, 1908, Mr. Hovendick married Miss Frieda Tranton, daughter
of the late August Tranton. She was four years old when her father
died, and her mother is now Mrs. Emma Hawk. The children of Mr. and
Mrs. Hovendick, all at home, are Francis, Opal and Herman.
Christopher C. Crowell. Of all the names associated with the
commercial and civic history of Blair from pioneer times to the present
that of Crowell has been perhaps most distinctive of widespread com
mercial enterprise, affairs and movements of first magnitude in the
community and this section of the state. In earlier generations the
Crowells were a wealthy and prominent family of Massachusetts and
later they supplied capital and personal initiative to the great task of
railroad building in the Missouri Valley, both in Iowa and Nebraska. A
member of the same group of capitalists and railroad builders was the
Colonel Blair for whom the county seat of Washington County was
named.

Vol. II— 26

858 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
While his life for the most part was spent in Massachusetts, Prince
S. Crowell, father of C. C. Crowell, was the first of the family whose
name deserves recognition in the history of Washington County. He
was of old Puritan stock and a lineal descendant of Elder Brewster, the
first churchman in the New World. C. C. Crowell's grandfather,
Capt. David Crowell, was in the War of 1812, and his father, Christopher,
was in the War of the Revolution. Thus the Crowell family story goes
back well to the beginning of American history. Prince S. Crowell was
a man of remarkable business ability and unusual energy, and those
qualities were transmitted to the succeeding generation. In younger
years he commanded one of the first merchant vessels sailing from
American ports to China. He retired from the sea quite young to
become a shipbuilder, and he constructed a great many vessels in his
home town of East Dennis, Massachusetts, that contributed to the prestige
of 4:he American merchant marine in the early half of the nineteenth
century. Some years later Prince Crowell became interested with John F. Blair
and others in a construction company which built many of the railroads
developing the western country. Some of these pioneer railroad lines
were the Chicago, Iowa & Nebraska, from Clinton to Cedar Rapids ; the
Cedar Rapids & Missouri River, from Cedar Rapids to Council Bluffs ;
The Sioux City & Pacific in Iowa, from Missouri Valley to Sioux City;
all of which are now integral parts of the Chicago & Northwestern
system. In Nebraska this company built the Fremont, Elkhorn & Mis
souri Valley Railroad. Prince Crowell was president of two banks, and
in Massachusetts conducted a large marine insurance. He was a
devoted friend of the public school system, was a radical abolitionist,
and his home was the meeting place of such historic personages as
William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips, the Burleighs, Lucy Stone,
Anna Shaw and others who molded the thought and action of that
generation. Though of a retiring disposition, his power was neverthe
less a strong factor in public affairs. He amassed a large fortune through
his personal efforts and was ever a liberal supporter of all charitable
movements. A son of this New England capitalist was the late Christopher C
Crowell, Sr., many of whose life activities were identified with Blair
and vicinity. He was born at East Dennis, Massachusetts, May 19, 1844,
and was educated in the common schools and in Eastman's Business Col
lege at Poughkeepsie, New York. After leaving school he was clerk in
a ship chandlery store at Boston, and at the age of twenty-four entered
the fish oil manufacturing business at Portland Harbor, Maine.
It was in 1869 that Christopher C. Crowell removed to Nebraska.
He lived a short time in Omaha, and then rented and operated for a
year a flouring mill near De Soto in Washington County. Locating at
Blair, he engaged in the grain business and during his lifetime developed
the extensive business now represented by the Crowell Lumber and
Grain Company and Crowell Elevator Company, which during his life
time operated lumber yards and elevators at fifteen different points in
Nebraska along the Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley Railroad.
He maintained a home in Los Angeles, California, a number of years
before his death, which occurred in California in April, 1910. Even at
that distance he maintained a deep personal interest in the welfare of the
towns in Nebraska where his business intersts lay. He was one of the
first men to undertake to utilize the salt springs at Lincoln for making
commercial salt. Thinking he would have to pay royalties for the benefit

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 859
of some of the state officials who had the leasing of the lands under
control, he abandoned this enterprise. In the contemplated salt manu
facturing venture he was associated with Thomas F. Hall of Omaha,
and both were important witnesses later in the impeachment trial of
Governor David Butler. His political record shows a noteworthy inde
pendence. He was first a republican, later a labor party advocate, for a
single campaign was a democrat and after 1884 was a stanch prohibi
tionist. In 1900 he was the candidate of his party for treasurer of
Nebraska, and served as the first full term mayor of Blair in 1870. He
was a pioneer in the prohibitionist movement and he left a fund of
$10,000 in trust to be used for the purpose of promoting the interests
of the prohibition party. The trustee of this fund was his son, C. C.
Crowell, Jr., who used the money to the best advantage and has had the
satisfaction of seeing the results which his father so ardently desired in
his lifetime.
December 5, 1867, Christopher C. Crowell, Sr., married Polly D.
Foster. She likewise was of Mayflower ancestry, and her grandfather
at one time was a slave owner in the Town of Brewster. The old house
of the Fosters in Brewster was later owned and occupied by a descendant
of one of these slaves, and was one of the oldest residences in the state.
Christopher C. Crowell and wife had eight children, two of whom died
in infancy. Those to reach mature years were Grace E., Edwin F.,
C. C, Jr., Lydia S., Nathan and Harland. Of these Lydia is the wife
of L. M. Weaver, a wealthy rancher and sheep man of Spokane, Wash
ington, and whose father was a Nebraska pioneer, serving as a member
of the first Constitutional Convention. Harland Crowell is a fruit
farmer at Olympia, Washington. Nathan is a former banker and lives
at Stuart, Nebraska.
Since the death of his father Christopher C. Crowell, Jr., has been
at the helm of the business affairs of the Crowell Lumber and Grain
Company and the Crowell Elevator Company. The Crowell estate is
still intact and as manager of the business he has greatly enlarged it.
There are now twenty-three stations where they operate lumber yards
or elevators in Nebraska controlled by these companies.
Mr. Crowell was born in Blair July 6; 1874, was well educated and
practically grew up in the atmosphere of his father's business and was
thoroughly qualified for the responsibilities that have devolved upon him
during the last ten years. He began business personally with the com
pany in 1894.
He married Augusta Saare, of Newman Grove, Nebraska. They
have four children : Herman and C. C. Ill, both students in the Nebraska
Wesleyan University at University Place, and Mildred and Pauline,
attending the public schools of Omaha, where the family have their
city home.
John Rosenbaum, who is now living practically retired in the Village
of Kennard, Washington County, is one of the pioneers who did effec
tive service in connection with the civic and industrial development of
this county, where he remained and improved an excellent farm and
became one of the representative agriculturists and stock growers of the
county. His loyalty as a citizen has been unstinted and marked by liber
ality and public spirit, while he has so ordered his course in all the
relations of life as to retain secure place in the confidence and good will
of the community in which he has long maintained his home.

860 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Mr. Rosenbaum claims the historic old Dominion State as the place
of his nativity, and was there reared and educated, he having been a
child at the time of his mother's death and his father having there
remained until he, too, passed away. Mr. Rosenbaum is a son of Joel
and Nancy (Ramsey) Rosenbaum, and his father's active career was
marked by close association with farm enterprise in Virginia, where he
died when about sixty-seven years of age. He was a republican in poli
tics and he and his wife held membership in the Baptist Church. They
became the parents of five children: Hiram J., who came to Washing
ton County, Nebraska, in 1871, and is one of the well-known pioneer
citizens of the county ; John, immediate subject of this sketch, the next
in order of birth; Aaron, who still resides in the State of Virginia;
Caroline, who died in that state; and Emanuel, who came to Nebraska
in 1882 and here passed the remainder of his life.
John Rosenbaum was born in Washington County, Virginia, on
August 30, 1850, and there received his early education in the common
schools of the period, he having been about eleven years old at the
inception of the Civil war and having been deeply impressed with the
struggle that brought so much of disaster and devastation to his native
state. In 1872, shortly after attaining to his legal majority, he came to
Washington County, Nebraska, where he purchased a tract of wild land
and stanehly girded himself for the arduous work of reclaiming a
productive farm. With the passing years generous success attended his
efforts as an agriculturist and stock grower, with the result that he is
now one of the substantial men of the county, where he still retains a
valuable and well-improved landed estate of 180 acres, though he removed
from his farm to Kennard in 1912 and has since lived virtually retired.
His political allegiance is given to the democratic party, he is affiliated
with the Modern Woodmen of America, and his wife is an active member
of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Kennard.
On March 22, 1887, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Rosenbaum
to Miss Ruth MeCann, who likewise was born in Washington County,
Virginia, and whose parents, Isaac and Margaret (Wright) MeCann,
became early settlers of Washington County, Nebraska, where he was a
successful farmer at the time of his death at the age of seventy-two
years, and his wife was seventy-six years of age at the time of her
death. Mr. and Mrs. Rosenbaum have seven children : Jasper H., Clyde,
Ethel, Blanche, Hazel, Glenn and Roseoe. All of the sons are actively
identified with farm enterprise in their native county, and in this con
nection, as well as in loyal citizenship, they are well upholding the honors
of the family name. Ethel is the wife of Dudley P. Rosenbaum, a car
penter and contractor, residing at Arlington, Washington County ; Blanche
is the wife of Frank Naeve, who resides at Kennard ; and Hazel is the
wife of Samuel Wright, who is prominently associated with the grain
and elevator business at Kennard.
Edward Pilcher. The late Edward Pilcher was for many years
one of the leading citizens of Washington County, and after he had
retired from the agricultural labors with which he had occupied him
self he moved to Blair, although he did not enter its business life. He
was not born in this country, but became one of its most devoted adher
ents, and exemplified in his life and associations the principles upon
which the government is founded.
Edward Pilcher was born in England, October 22, 1833, a son of
George and Mary Pilcher, who were born, lived and died in England.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 861
When only a lad Edward Pilcher came to the United States all by him
self, and until he enlisted for service during the war between the two
sections of the country, lived in New York. After a military service of
one year he was honorably discharged, and then began looking about him
for a good opening. This he found in Washington County, although his
resources were nearly exhausted by the time he reached his destination.
Here he homesteaded and for many years continued to conduct the farm
he proved up. In 1903 he left the farm, moved to Blair, and there he
died, August 17, 1904. Both he and his wife were members of the Bap
tist Church. In politics he was a republican, and he served on the school
board for fifteen years.
In 1865 Mr. Pilcher was married to Mary Teeter, who was born in
Pennsylvania, a daughter of David and Teressa (Raidey) Teeter, both
of whom were born in Pennsylvania, where he died, his widow then
coming to Nebraska, where she passed away. On both sides of the
family the ancestry is of German origin. Mr. Teeter had four children,
and his widow, when she married again, had four more children. Mr. and
Mrs. Pilcher became the parents of twelve children, six of whom sur
vive, namely: Jane, who married Del Ballard, a Dakota farmer; Dora,
who married Mike Wilson, a Nebraska farmer; Grace, who married
Burdett Hancock, a farmer, resides at Cuming; Edward C, who lives
on the old homestead ; Charles, who is engaged in farming in the vicinity
of the old homestead; and Lloyd L., who is living on a portion of the
homestead. When Mr. and Mrs. Pilcher began their married life they were poor,
and for years they had to work very hard, but in time they prospered
and became the owners of a large amount of land, some of which has
been sold, but Edward C. owns the homestead. ' Mrs. Pilcher maintains
her residence at Blair, where she is very highly regarded. She is proud
of her children, all of whom are doing very well, and looks back with
pride on the days when she was able to render so much assistance to her
husband in his uphill climb to prosperity.
Norman Wilkins. Born and reared on a Nebraska farm, herding
cattle in Washington County when most of the land was unfenced, and
after experiences in other vocations and seeing a good deal of the world
Norman Wilkins made the happy choice of farming as his steady voca
tion, and has seen his affairs prosper until he is now one of the substan
tial land owners and good citizens of Blair Township, his home being in
section 17, three miles west and one mile south of Blair.
He was born in Washington County November 11, 1873, and after
getting his early education left home and for about three years traveled
over the country, most of the time as a railroader. About sixteen years
ago he started for himself and is now living on one of his father's farms,
comprising 200 acres. Besides the general farm management he is spe
cializing in thoroughbred livestock, Hereford cattle and Poland China
hogs. Mr. Wilkins married Sophie Rathman. Her father, George Rathman,
was an early settler in Washington County and died during the Spanish-
American war. Mr. and Mrs. Wilkins have two children : Norman, Jr.,
born July 4, 1918, and Marietta, born May 28, 1920. Mr. Wilkins and
family are members of the Christian Church. He is a thirty-second
degree Scottish Rite Mason, and for several years has interested himself
in the cause of public education as a member of the school board.

862 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Mannasses'Fauquet. The success of -men in business or any voca
tion depends upon character as well as upon knowledge, it being a self-
evident proposition that integrity of motive and action is the best policy.
Business demands confidence, and where that is lacking business ends. In
every community some men are known for their upright lives, strong
common sense and moral worth rather than for their wealth or political
standing. Their neighbors and acquaintances respect them, the young
generations heed their example, and when they "wrap the drapery of
their couches about them and lie down to pleasant dreams," posterity
listens with reverence to the story of their quiet and useful lives. Among
such men of a past generation in Nebraska was the Mannasses Fauquet
who was not only a progressive man of affairs, successful in material
pursuits, but a man of modest and unassuming-demeanor, of a high type
of mental calibre, a reliable, self-made man, a friend to the poor, char
itable to the faults of his neighbors and always ready to unite with them
in every good work, and active in the support of. laudable public enter
prises. He was a man who in every respect merited the high esteem in
which he was universally held, for he Was a man of public spirit,
exemplary character and business ability.
Mannasses Fauquet was born in the Province of Picardy, France,
on January 8, 1840, and his death occurred at his home in Fremont,
Nebraska, on October 5, 1916. He was reared and educated in his native
land until 1858, when, at the age of eighteen years, he came to the
United States, locating first in Ohio, where he iearned the trade of a
cooper. Subsequently he entered the oil business, drilling wells for
different companies, and at length became manager of one of the most
successful of the oil concerns. He was successful not only as a work
man and a manager of men, but he also possessed a business acumen and
shrewdness that enabled him to make use of opportunities for business
advancement. He lived in Ohio and West Virginia until 1872, when he
moved to Saunders County, Nebraska, where he bought eighty acres of
land, comprising the present site of Cedar Bluffs. Some time later this
land was sold to a railroad company and Mr. Fauquet bought a larger
place, on which they lived for fourteen years and to the improvement
and cultivation of which he devoted himself with energy and splendid
financial results. Then, selling that place, he bought another farm near
Wahoo, Saunders County, and lived there until 1910, when he and his
wife moved to Wahoo, where they resided three years. Then, in 1913,
they came to Fremont, where Mrs. Fauquet still lives. For several years
prior to Mr. Fauquet's death he and his wife had spent their winters in
the South, spending one winter in Florida and three in Texas. When
they came to Nebraska their total cash capital was $1,700, and with this
nucleus Mr. Fauquet by persistent and well-directed industry succeeded
in accumulating a handsome property and was able to spend his last
years free from any necessity for active participation in business affairs,
enjoying that rest which he had so richly earned.
In 1865 Mr. Fauquet was married to Mary J. Prince, who was born
and reared in West Virginia, the daughter of Hubbard and Elizabeth
(Kincheloe) Prince, both of whom were natives of eastern Virginia,
though they spent practically all of their lives in West Virginia.
Mr. Prince was a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, though
he afterward transferred his labors to the Baptist Church. In connec
tion with his religious work he also carried on agricultural pursuits.
To Mr. and Mrs. Fauquet were born seven children, of which number
six are living, namely : Cleophine, who is the wife of Alfred Softley, of

C^4fc^ ^x^Z^u^'

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 863
Dodge County ; Emile, who is a graduate of the Nebraska State Univer
sity, is now living on his mother's farm in Saunders County; Arsene W.,
who is a graduate of the Nebraska State University, is now a college
professor at Sioux Falls, South Dakota ; Bertha is the wife of William
Luehrs, a farmer in Dodge County; Ernest has moved to a large farm
which he owns near Mason City, Nebraska ; and Ephriam J. is a farmer
in Dodge County.
Mr. Fauquet was a supporter of the republican party and formerly
took an active interest in political affairs. In an early day he served as
postmaster of Cedar Bluffs. Religiously he and his wife were earnest
and f aithf ul members of the Baptist Church, to which they gave gener
ously. During the Civil war Mr. Fauquet rendered good service as a
teamster, and was always a loyal and stanch supporter of the govern
ment of his adopted country. One special phase of his makeup was
recognized by all who became acquainted with him, namely, the keen
quality of his mind. Though he possessed but an ordinary education, he
wrote many articles for the newspapers, and wrote in an attractive and
graceful style that always rendered his articles interesting. Had he pos
sessed a more complete education he undoubtedly would have occupied a
definite position in the literary field, for he was a keen and analytical
thinker and possesses naturally strong powers of expression. By a
straightforward and commendable course Mr. Fauquet made his way
from a modest beginning to a respectable position in the business world,
winning the hearty admiration of his fellow citizens and earning a repu
tation as an enterprising, progressive man of affairs and as a broad-
minded, charitable and upright citizen, which the public was not slow
to recognize and appreciate. He was a man whom to know was to
respect and admire, and his loss was keenly felt by a large circle of
friends and acquaintances.
Louis Christensen. At the age of fourscore Louis Christensen
has a retrospect of half a century spent in Washington County, and that
half century has been well employed and involves many years of fruitful
labor, well ordered industry, and a giving of service both to further his
own ambitions and benefit his community.
Now retired from the heavy responsibilities of farming, Louis Chris
tensen was born in Denmark April 2, 1840. He and his brother came
to the United States by the way of Canada in 1862, and located at Mon
mouth, Illinois. Louis Christensen almost immediately signalized his
loyalty to his adopted country, enlisting and serving in the Union army
with Company I of the Sixty-First Illinois Regiment. After the war
he continued to live and work at Monmouth until 1870, when with a
team of mules and a covered wagon he made the interesting and lengthy
overland journey to Washington County, Nebraska. He took. up his
homestead near the Town of Washington, acquiring at first only forty
acres, but eventually extended his land holdings until he is now the
prosperous owner of 480 acres of well-improved land.
Two years before coming to Nebraska, in 1868, he married Miss Anna
Paulsen, at Omaha, Nebraska. She died in 1891, the mother of three
children : F. W. Christensen, whose career is briefly noted on other pages ;
Mary, who died at the age of twenty-six ; and George, who lives on the
home farm in Washington County.
For a number of years past Mr. Christensen has lived in the Town
of Washington, and his sons have taken over the management and work
of the farm. He was always a hard worker, and deserves all the credit

864 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
for his prosperity. The first home he owned in Washington County
was a little one-story frame board shack, but many years ago that was
replaced by a modern farm home surrounded with a group of other
buildings. Mr. Christensen has performed his duties (as a citizen
through his record as a Union soldier and through the quiet and effective
management of his private affairs. He has always cast his vote as a
republican and is a member of the Lutheran Church.
John Finegan. The career of John Finegan since coming to Dodge
and Washington counties represents real achievement. An Irish youth
recently arrived, he recommended himself by his willingness to do hard
work and was satisfied with the slow but sure progress of laying a foun
dation and accumulating capital. The rewards have come in later years
in the possession of valuable farming land and an extensive business as
a stock raiser.
Mr. Finegan, whose home is in section 32 of Nickerson Township,
Dodge County, was born in County Galway, Ireland, September 23, 1864.
He grew up and received his education in his native country and at the
age of twenty years came to the United States, going directly to Wash
ington County, Nebraska. For a number of years he was employed as a
farm hand, using his limited savings to purchase lands and gradually
getting the equipment to start farming on his own account in Dodge
County. The years have brought a steady increase of prosperity until
he now owns 257 acres in Dodge and Washington counties and recently
he completed a modern home, one of the best in this section. The first
year he came to the land he set out an orchard and for many years has
had abundance of fruit. He is one of the successful sheep growers of
Dodge County and he also feeds hogs and cattle.
Mr. Finegan married Miss Julia Delaney, a native of Dodge County,
member of the well-known Delaney family of Dodge County (to whom
reference will be found on other pages of this edition). They have six
children: Gertrude, Julia, Agnes, John, James and Edward, all of whom
live with their parents and have a part in the management of the house
hold and the farm. Mr. Finegan is a democratic voter, a member of
the Catholic Church, and for a number of years has given much of his
thought and time to the affairs of the local school district. He is affiliated
with the Modern Woodmen of America and the Knights of Columbus.
Harry L. Swan. In journalistic circles of Washington County a
name that has become well and favorably known is that of Harry L.
Swan, publisher and proprietor of the Herman Record. In something
over three years Mr. Swan has so managed the affairs of this weekly
that he has made it an important factor in the molding of public opinion,
and at the same time has established himself firmly in the confidence of
the community as a man of breadth of view and sound judgment.
He was born in New York state in 1859, a son of Samuel P. and
Calista (Crandall) Swan, natives of New York, the former of whom
died when sixty-five years of age and the latter at the age of seventy-
three years. On both sides of the family the ancestry is traced back to
pre-Revolutionary days. Taken to Missouri in boyhood, Harry L. Swan
received his education in the public schools of that state, and at the age
of nineteen years entered upon his career in southwestern Missouri,
where he taught in the rural district for two years. He also conducted
small country nwspapers from 1880 to 1890, and in the latter year went
to Denver, where he was associated with several city papers. In 1885

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 865
he accepted a position with the Associated Press, and continued with
that organization until coming to Herman in May, 1918. At that time
he purchased the Record, a weekly publication, of which he has been
the owner and publisher ever since. He is furnishing his readers with
a well-edited, well-printed and entirely reliable paper, and has the sup
port of a large subscription list and of advertisers who have found his
publication a valuable and business-bringing medium. While Mr. Swan
is a democratic voter, his paper maintains an independent stand as to
party matters. He is a member of the Masonic Lodge, the Sons of the
American Revolution, the Woodmen of the World and the Brotherhood
of American Yeomen, while Mrs. Swan belongs to the Order of the
Eastern Star and the Neighbors of Woodcraft.
In 1886, at Schell City, Missouri, Mr. Swan was united in marriage
with Sarah A. Herrick, and to this union there have been born seven
children : Herrick, a resident of Billings, Montana ; Robert, Ernest and
Harry L., Jr., all of whom reside with their parents; Helen and Maude,
who died in infancy; and Eula, deceased, who was the wife of Harold
Gorham. Henry Mencke. Only those who come into personal contact with
Henry Mencke, of Blair, scion of one of the worthy old families of
Washington County, and one of the popular and successful attorneys of
this locality, can understand how thoroughly nature and training, habits
of thought and action have enabled him to succeed in his life work and
made him a fit representative of the enterprising class of professional
men to which he belongs. He is a fine type of the sturdy, progressive
American of today, doing thoroughly and well the work that he has to
do, and because of his ability and character he enjoys an enviable reputa
tion among his fellowmen.
Henry Mencke was born in Washington County on June 28, 1876,
and is the son of Claus and Tina (Rathmann) Mencke, both of whom
were born in Germany, and who now live in Blair. Claus Mencke came
to Washington County in 1869, bought land and devoted himself to its
improvement and cultivation for a number of years. He was elected
sheriff of Washington County, and so satisfactory was his service that
he was retained in the office for the unusual period of twenty-two years.
He is now a bonded abstracter and is numbered among the leading citi
zens of Blair. He is a democrat in politics and a member of the Modern
Woodmen of America. To him and his wife were born seven children,
five of whom are living, as follows: Henry, the subject of this sketch;
Bessie, who is engaged in the millinery business at Tekamah, Nebraska ;
George, who is engaged in the lumber business at Seattle, Washington ;
Emma, the wife of E. J. Lazure, who is engaged in the grocery business
at Florence ; and John, a bookkeeper at Brush, Colorado.
Henry Mencke was reared at home and attended the public schools,
graduating from the Blair High School, in addition to which he took a
commercial course in a business college. He then read law and in 1900
was admitted to the bar. During the following years he was variously
engaged, being in the lumber business for a year or two, then spending
six years in the banking business in Buffalo County, was deputy sheriff
under his father for about a year, and four years was deputy county
treasurer. In 1912 Mr. Mencke entered upon the active practice of law
at Blair, and during the subsequent years he has enjoyed a large and
lucrative business. Well versed in the principles of law, a constant stu
dent of the latest coyrt decisions and keen and sagacious in his compre-

866 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
hension of a case, he is considered one of the leaders among the attorneys
of the Washington County bar.
In 1900 Mr. Mencke was married to Eliza McCoy, who was born in
Missouri, and they have a son, Ralph W., born on August -27, 1901.
Mr. and Mrs. Mencke are active members of the Methodist Episcopal
Church. Mr. Mencke is a democrat in his political views and fraternally
he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Mod
ern Woodmen of America. He has served as city attorney of Blair four
years and in other ways his popularity among his fellow citizens has been
recognized. He is a public-spirited, unassuming, conservative, genteel
gentleman whom to know is to respect and admire.
Gabriel Richard Stewart, who is familiarly known as "Dick"
Stewart in his home community in Washington County, came with his
parents to Nebraska prior to the admission of the state to the Union, and
in his youth he gained a plethora of experience in connection with life
on the frontier. In 1883 he engaged in farm' enterprise in Washington
County, where he continued his successful activities as an agriculturist
and stock-grower until 1913, since which year he has lived retired in the
attractive Village of Kennard, this county.
Mr. Stewart was born in Champaign County, Illinois, on December
29, 1854, and is a son of David M. and Nancy (Barnes) Stewart, both
of whom were born in the State of Ohio. In the pioneer days the
father became actively identified with the great western cattle industry,
in connection with which he drove cattle from Indian Territory and Kan
sas into Nebraska, as well as from Texas to Nebraska. In 1861 David
M. Stewart came with his family to Nebraska and established a home
at Omaha. Thereafter he was for some time engaged in overland freight
ing from Omaha to Denver and Salt Lake City, and he was one of the
first to make a cattle trail from Texas to Omaha. He died at the early
age of thirty-five, and his widow passed the closing period of her life
in Washington County, where she died at the age of sixty-two years. Of
the children the subject of this review is the eldest; Alma H. is the
widow of Rufus Clair and resides at Blair, Washington County; Charles
F. is deceased ; Jacob A. operates a grain elevator in York County. After
the death of her first husband Mrs. Stewart became the wife of Jonathan
Alloway, and two sons of this marriage survive her — Oliver S., engaged
in the oil business at Enid, Oklahoma, and Simon B., a telegraph opera
tor residing at Dayton, Iowa. The father of Mr. Stewart was a demo
crat in politics and the mother was a zealous member of the Free
Methodist Church.
Gabriel Richard Stewart was a lad of seven years at the time when
the family home was established in Omaha, and he gained his early edu
cation in the public schools of Nebraska Territory. When eleven years
old he made one trip with his father to Kansas, to procure 250 steers
that were to be broken and used for freighting. After the death of his
father Mr. Stewart was given charge of the live stock of Sheely Brothers,
who then conducted the largest butchering business in the City of Omaha.
Thereafter he was engaged in running cattle to the Omaha and Winne
bago Reservation in the employ of Edwin Loveland, and in 1873 he came
to Washington County and became associated with his stepfather, Jona
than Alloway in farm enterprise. At this time he purchased land in the
county, but in 1876 he began as a cowboy on the range in western
Nebraska for the firm of Keith & Barton, of North Platte. In 1883 he
returned to Washington County, where he married Miss Lucy Magee, a

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 867
native of Pennsylvania, and they established their home on the farm, to
which he later added until he had a total of 160 acres. He developed one
of the well-improved and valuable farm properties of this county and
still owns the same. Here he continued his active operations as an
agriculturist and a grower of good grades of live stock for fully thirty
years, and his energy and good management brought him a generous
measure of prosperity with the advancing years. Upon retiring from his
farm he established his residence in the Village of Kennard, as pre
viously stated .in this article, and here he and his wife have an attractive
home in which they delight to extend welcome to their many friends.
Mr. Stewart is a stanch democrat in politics, is affiliated with the Masonic
Fraternity and the Modern Woodmen of America, and his wife holds
membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church. To them have been
born five children : Belle is the wife of Claar LeCrone, who is engaged
in the sawmill business at Kennard ; Edna is the wife of William Nelson,
and they reside on her father's old borne farm ; Jennie became the wife of
David Pritchard and is now deceased; Winnie is the wife of Soren C.
Cook, engaged in the real-estate business at Kennard; and Donivan C,
who is now identified with farm enterprise in Washington County, was
for fourteen months in service in the United States navy at the time of
the late World War. He went to Manilla, Philippine Islands, China
Sea and Siberia, and returning home received his honorable discharge at
Denver before he was eighteen years old, he having enlisted before he
was seventeen years of age.
Edmund R. Gurney, who is now president of the Lion Bonding
& Surety Company in the City of Omaha, has been a resident of
Nebraska since boyhood, and here he has found ample opportunity for
his effective activities in connection with business enterprises of impor
tant order. He has been specially influential in connection with banking
enterprise and is known as one of the representative and influential fig
ures in the financial circles of the state, with a record of splendid achieve
ment in the development and managing of strong banking institutions.
Though his activities are now centered in the City of Omaha, he ren
dered so valuable a service in connection with the affairs of the First
National Bank of Fremont, Dodge County, of which institution he is still
vice president, that it is but consonant that in this publication be entered
a brief review of his career. \
Mr. Gurney was born at Monticello, Iowa, on May 22, 1870, and is
a son of Mark and Emma (Goodrich) Gurney, who were born in Massa
chusetts but whose marriage was solemnized in Iowa, prior to the Civil
war. Mark Gurney developed a prosperous enterprise as a manufacturer
of furniture at Monticello, Iowa, and after his retirement from active
business he came to Nebraska in 1883, and settled in Cedar County,
where he made investment in real estate. Later he removd with his wife
to Kansas, where they passed the remainder of their lives and where
he was serving as county judge of Graham County at the time of his
death. Mr. Gurney was a man of fine mentality and sterling character,
was prominently affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, in which he
passed various official chairs, including those of the Knights Templar
order, and in politics he was a stanch advocate of the cause of the repub
lican party. Of the four children Edmund R., of this review, was the
third in order of birth, and of the number one other likewise is a resi
dent of Nebraska ; Clara, who is the wife of B. H. Williamson, of Arling
ton, Washington County.

868 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Edmund R. Gurney gained his preliminary educational discipline in
the public schools of his native state and was a lad of thirteen years at
the time of the family removal to Nebraska, where he continued his
studies in the schools of Cedar County, besides having been for one year
a student in> Fremont College, of which William H. Clements was then
the executive head. His first remunerative occupation was that of teach
ing in the schools of Nebraska, and after having served two years as
principal of the high school at Ponca, Dixon County, he initiated his
banking career by taking a position as assistant cashier of a bank in the
little Village of Dixon, that county, where he thus continued his services
three years. His initiative energy, his ambition and his resourcefulness
were then shown by his effecting the organization of the Laurel State
Bank at Laurel, Cedar County, and under his five years' regime as cashier
of this institution it developed a prosperous business. Upon leaving
Laurel Mr. Gurney purchased control of the Merchants State Bank of
Winside, Wayne County, and he continued as president of this bank for
three years. In January, 1904, he came to Fremont and as vice presi
dent assumed forceful executive functions in connection with the First
National Bank, the affairs of which were greatly advanced under his
vigorous and progressive administration. He still holds the office of
vice president of this institution, which continued to receive the major
part of his time and attention until January 1, 1919, when he was elected
president of the Lion Bonding & Surety Company of Omaha, to which
representative financial institution he has since given characteristically
effective promotive service, his connection with the corporation marking
still further advance in his peculiarly successful career as a constructive
force in financial affairs. This company bases its operations on a capital
stock of $600,000, its surplus fund aggregating $400,000, and its business
being disseminated over fifteen states of the middle west and southwest.
Mr. Gurney is actively interested also in the First Bank of Nickerson,
Dodge County; the Scribner State Bank of Scribner, this county; the
First State Bank of North Bend, this county; the Farmers State Bank
of Ames, likewise in Dodge County; and the Arlington State Bank at
Arlington, Washington County. The success that has attended the earn
est and prolific activities of Mr. Gurney is the more gratifying to con
template by reason of the fact that his advancement has been entirely
due to his own ability and efforts.. He has manifested a fine sense of
personal stewardship in connection with his various banking enterprises,
and has also been conspicuous for his civic liberality and progressiveness
— especially in connection with the furtherance of the general advance
ment of the City of Fremont, where he still maintains active executive
connection with the First National Bank, though he now resides in the
City of Omaha.
Well fortified in his opinions concerning governmental and general
economic policies, Mr. Gurney has always given unwavering allegiance
to the republican party and has been active in its service. In 1916 he
was a delegate at large from Nebraska to the Republican National Con
vention in the City of Chicago, where he served as chairman of the
Nebraska delegation. He has been for a number of years treasurer of
the State Central Committee of his party in Nebraska. In a fraternal
way he is actively affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and with the
Knights of Pythias.
In the year 1893 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Gurney to Miss
Minnie Reynolds, who was born in the State of Pennsylvania, and they
have five children : Norris is superintendent of the Baker White Pine

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 869
Lumber Company of Baker, Oregon ; Clair, who served nearly two years
in the Marine Corps during the nation's participation in the World war,
is now assistant cashier of the First National Bank of Fremont ; Marion
is a member of the class of 1921 in the University of Nebraska, and
Theodore and Louise continue to impart youthful buoyancy in the
parental home. Mr. and Mrs. Gurney hold membership in the Presby
terian Church.
R. G. Wiese. just half a century ago the Wiese family put in its:
first crop in the soil of Washington County, and through all successive
years they have been here, have contended with the difficulties of soil
and climate and economic conditions, and have contrived to prosper and
achieve something creditable to their name.
One of the prominent representatives of the family is R. G. Wiese,
owner of a large and valuable farm in Richland Township, in section 15.
He was born in Germany March 23, 1865, and just a year later his
parents, Asmus and Dorothy Wiese, set out for the United States. The
first three years they lived in Iowa. In Germany they were like many
others, poor, living from day to day and when they came to America
they did not possess money enough to pay their passage across. This
passage money was furnished by a brother of Asmus, Hans Wiese, who
had come to America some years before and lived at Davenport, Iowa.
He was the only other member of the Wiese family to come to this
country. Asmus Wiese in 1869 came to Nebraska. He rented some land
and in 1870 put in his first crop. For about eight years he provided for
his family by renting and then bought eighty acres, and from that time
forward his affairs were moderately prosperous and at one time he owned
400 acres. Altogether he has been a very successful citizen, and is still
living, making his home with his son R. G, and was ninety-two years
of age on November 2, 1920. His wife died at the age of forty-nine.
They had four children, two of the sons, Henry and George, being
deceased, while the only living daughter is Mrs. Katrine Japp.
R. G. Wiese grew up in Washington County from the age of five
years and shared with the family in some of their early hardships. He
has done well in his mature career, and at the present time owns a farm
of 320 acres, devoted to crops and live stock. He is also a director and
treasurer of his local school board and1 has filled that office for a num
ber of years. He is a republican voter, he and his family are. Lutherans
and his is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America.
In 1888, at Blair, Nebraska, Mr. Wiese married Lena Schlapkohl,
who died August 3, i900, the mother of five children: Claus, Rudolph,
Bertha, Amanda and Mata, all living except Mata. For his present wife
Mr. Wiese married Lena Harder, a daughter of Joseph and Christina
Harder, of Blair. To this union were born eight children, all at home,
named Herman, August, Arthur, Clarence, Christina, Asmus, Dorothy
and Henry.
John H. Grimm. Washington County has profited by the stable
citizenship and faithful industry of the Grimm family since the '60s.
Practically all bearing the name have been interested in agriculture, but
their services have been extended also to politics, education, religion and
society. John H. Grimm, a resident of Blair, and for many years known
as a prominent farmer and stockman, represents the second generation
of his family in the county. He was born at Blair in 1872, and is a son
of Hans and Elizabeth (Harders) Grimm.

870 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
To the man who took up his abode in the prairies of the central west
more than a half a century ago was vouchsafed a wealth and diversity
of experience beside which that of those active in the twentieth century
pales in insignificance. If the men of the frontier suffered, they also
lived, and their existence was turned to far higher purpose than the mere
getting and parading of wealth and its luxuries. In those days a code of
honor prevailed which made it possible for a man to borrow money
without putting up gilt-edged securities, and instances were rare in which
the debt was not paid as agreed upon. These and other advantages of a
non-commercial age are recalled in the life of the late Hans Grimm,
whose earthly pilgrimage passed by sixty-eight milestones, and who
became one of the substantial and highly respected agriculturists of
Washington County.
Hans Grimm was born May 6, 1841, in Germany, and was about
twenty-four years of age when he came to the United States and located
at Blair. At the time of his arrival he had but small means, but his
judgment was good and his foresight accurate, and he began buying
land at the city limits. During the early years he experienced all the
hardships of the frontier, but as time went on his resources increased,
as did his comforts, and he continued to add to his holdings while
employing himself in cultivating the soil and feeding cattle and other
stock. Through wise investment and marked industry be became one of
the large land-holders of his community, as well as a citizen who was
held in the highest esteem, his declining years being crowned with the
love and respect of all who knew him. At his death he left his eight
children an inheritance of money, as well as a heritage of ability and an
honorable name, and each of the children has put his inheritance to good
use and has upheld the name of what is known as one of Washington
County's most highly esteemed families.
Hans Grimm passed to his final rest in 1909. He was married at
Blair in 1869 to Elizabeth Harders, who was born in Germany March 29,
1842, and died in 1903, and they became the parents of eight children,
of whom seven are living: C. H., who occupies the old home place near
Blair ; Dr. P. G., a physician and surgeon of Spirit Lake, Iowa ; John H. ;
Louis, who occupies a farm north of Blair; Dr. Arthur, a dental prac
titioner of New York City ; Edward, who occupies a farm in Washing
ton County; and Mrs. K. A. Petersen, of Blair.
John H. Grimm was educated in the public schools of Blair, and
when entering upon his independent career chose the vocation of farming
as his life work. He has been engaged therein throughout his career,
and at this time is the owner of three large farms in Washington County,
all of which are highly improved and in an excellent state of develop
ment. Mr. Grimm has made a specialty of raising live stock, and in
1920 shipped twenty-seven carloads of cattle to the market. He is a
man of the highest integrity and enjoys the confidence of his associates
in business life and in several social and civic bodies to which he belongs.
He is unmarried and makes his home at Blair in a comfortable and
modernly-furnished residence.
James B. Anderson, M. D., has been since 1912 engaged in the
practice of his profession at Kennard and is one of the able and repre
sentative physicians and surgeons of Washington County. He was born
at Buffalo, Dallas County, Missouri, on October 17, 1887, and is a son
of Rev. Moses Anderson and Maria (Burns) Anderson, the former a
native of Missouri and the latter of Illinois. The father went to Iowa

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 871
in the pioneer days, and at Red Oak, that state, he received his higher
educational training. He became a clergyman of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, and held pastoral charges both in Colorado and Nebraska, to
which latter state he came as a pioneer. His political allegiance is given
to the republican party, and he holds membership in the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows. Of the children James B. is the only son ; Nellie
P. is the wife of Roy Beman, who is engaged in the drug business at
Ceresco, Saunders County, Nebraska ; and Faye, Elsie and Carroll remain
at the parental home at Ceresco, the father having had pastoral charge of
a number of churches in different counties in Nebraska.
In the public schools of this state Doctor Anderson continued his
studies until he had completed the curriculum of the high school at York,
where also he attended York College one year. In preparation for his
chosen profession he entered the medical department of Creighton Uni
versity in the City of Omaha, and iri this institution he was graduated as
a member of the class of 1910. After thus receiving his well earned
degree of Doctor of Medicine he was engaged in practice at Arcadia,
Valley County, about one year, and on January 15, 1912, established his
residence at Kennard, where he was associated in practice with Dr. Wil
liam H. Pruner, Sr., until the death of the latter in 1915. Since that
time he has continued in the control of a large and representative general
practice, with high reputation in his exacting profession, and active as a
member of the Washington County Medical Society, besides which he is
a member also of the Elkhorn Valley Medical Society, the Nebraska State
Medical Society and the American Medical Association. The doctor is
a stalwart advocate and supporter of the principles of the democratic
party, is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the
Masonic Fraternity, in which latter he has received the Knights Templar
degree, and he and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal
Church in their home village.
In October, 1910, was solemnized the marriage of Doctor Anderson
to Miss Cleo Pruner, daughter of his former and honored professional
associate, Dr. William H. Pruner, Sr., and the three children of this
union are Ella Sue, James B., Jr., and Robert P., the two older being
students in the public schools of Kennard at the time of this writing, in
1920. Chris Schumacher. Some of the best farms and some of the best
farmers in Dodge and Washington counties are to be found in Richland
Township of the latter county. One of the country places that immedi
ately attract attention in that locality is the farm of Chris Schumacher
in section 16. He has lived in this locality all his life and has always
exemplified the qualities of the sound agriculturist and public-spirited
citizen. He was born in this county July 17, 1880. His father, Henry Schu
macher, was a native of Germany and was an early settler around Fort
Calhoun, where he started as a worker, until he was able to homestead
and acquire property of his own.
¦ Chris Schumacher, as a boy, acquired a common school education and
established a home of his own in 1904 by his marriage with Miss Louise
Stender, of Washington County, daughter of Chris and Charlotte Stender.
Mr. and Mrs. Schumacher have three children, all at home, Henry,
Doretta and Freddie.
The farm which Mr. Schumacher so industriously and intelligently
manages comprises 290 acres, with good improvements and highly pro-

872 DODGE AND. WASHINGTON COUNTIES
ductive. He has been interested in the affairs of the community, serving
on the school board for twelve years, is a member of the Farmers Union
of Washington, casts his vote independently and ' affiliates with the
Lutheran Church.
William Jahnel, one of the prosperous farmers and business men
of Washington County, is a son of Frank Jahnel, who came to this sec
tion of Nebraska more than forty years ago and is a retired citizen of
Blair. William Jahnel was born in Washington County in 1880. The story
of his family appears on other pages. While he had only the advantages
of the common schools, he has always shown that progressiveness which
has made him an interested student of local conditions and has kept him
in touch with the leading issues of the time. He grew up at home,
worked with and for his father, and since 1908 has been established for
himself on the old homestead of his father, where he has 240 acres,
exemplifying some of the best equipment and some of the best live stock
and crops in Richland Township. His farm is in section 11 and is two
miles east and a mile and a half south of Kennard. The chief feature
of his live-stock farming is a herd of Polled Shorthorn cattle.
Besides his farm he has co-operated with other citizens to secure bet
ter marketing and other economic advantages, and is president of the
Farmers Grain and Lumber Company of Kennard and also one of the
organizers and president of the Home State Bank of Kennard. Just
recently he was elected and began his service as a director of the home
school. Mr. Jahnel is a republican and is affiliated with the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows.
In 1906 he married Margaret Kahlke, who was born in Holstein,
Germany, the same section from which the Jahnel family came.
The Kahlkes came to the United States, where the mother died at the
age of seventy-three, and her father then went back to Germany. Mr. and
Mrs. Jahnel have five children, all at home, named Bertha, Frank, Helen
and Margaret and Marian, twins.
Nickels Petersen. While the life record of Nickels Petersen has
been closed, his family are still prominently represented in Washington
County, and the farm where he spent so many industrious years is still
a substantial evidence of his character and enterprise. This fine old
country home is one mile north and two and a half miles east of Wash
ington in Richland Township, section 27.
Mr. Petersen was born in Germany in 1842, and was reared and
educated in his native land, where he acquired the habits of thrift asso
ciated with the German people. In 1866 he came to America and for
the first ten years lived in Clinton County, Iowa. He saw his efforts
prosper in a moderate degree in Iowa and when he came to Nebraska in
1876 he was able to buy a quarter section of land at $10 an acre. It was
a tract of prairie but had no improvements. He broke the virgin sod,
erected a house and other buildings, cultivated and harvested many suc
cessive crops, and was esteemed as a prosperous farmer and good citizen
of that locality for forty years. About five years after coming to
Nebraska Mr. Petersen bought eighty acres adjoining the 160 acres, in
section 34. He died January 1, 1916. He was a democrat in voting and ¦
a member of the Lutheran Church.
While living in Iowa he married Margaret Rathgens, who is still
living on the home farm. Twelve children were born to tbeir marriage,

@<ZtQjkAAfo

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 873
five of whom died in infancy, while the daughter, Mrs. Kopke, is also
deceased. The six children living are: Peter C, a marketman at Ben
nington, Nebraska; C. H., a merchant at Washington; Mrs. John Mis-
feldt,_ a widow living at Bennington ; John F., in the garage business at
Bennington; William, who is a practical farmer at home with his mother;
and Mrs. Richard Jansen, wife of a farmer in Douglas County, Nebraska.
Oliver C. Roberts. Scarcely any feature of the landscape seems to
more forcibly impress a traveler from other lands with the wealth and
abundance of the vast western section of the United States than the
number of great elevators that line the railroads and often seem to
dominate every other business in some communities. The name of
Roberts has been identified with grain and elevator interests in Wash
ington County, Nebraska, for many years,. and to this line' of commercial
life Oliver C. Roberts, formerly mayor of Arlington, devotes much
attention. Oliver C. Roberts was born on a farm one mile east of Arlington,
Nebraska, February 14, 1870, and is a son of Robert Ellis and Nancy
Jane (Sage) Roberts, the former of whom was born in Wales and the
latter in the State of Indiana. The father came to Washington County
in the early '5Qs and homesteaded here, for some years afterward freight
ing between Council Bluffs and Denver. He was a man of foresight
and great business enterprise. Not satisfied with his original home
stead, he kept on acquiring land, and at the time of his death owned
1,560 acres in Washington County. Later he werit into the grain busi
ness, purchasing a mill and 160 acres of land, but later sold the land for
$2,000 and moved the mill in 1880 to Arlington, where it subsequently
was destroyed by fire, entailing a. loss of $20,000. He owned three ele
vators, situated at Kennard, Washington and Arlington. He was con
sidered one of the county's most substantial citizens at the time of death,
which occurred December 25, 1910, when aged eighty-two years. After
disposing of a large amount of his property and retiring from active
business life he made a visit to his old home in Wales. He was influential
in democratic politics and was one of the early members of the Odd Fel
lows at Arlington.
Robert Ellis Roberts married Nancy Jane Sage, who died July 5,
1915. Of their ten children, Oliver C. is the third in order of birth, the
others being as follows: Mrs. F. P. Van Wickle, whose husband is in
the grain business at York, Nebraska ; Mrs. N. P. Borick, whose husband
is in the real-estate business at Arlington ; Will E., who is in Montana
engaged in the harness and saddlery business ; Mrs. G. I. Pfeiffer, whose
husband is cashier of the First National Bank of Arlington ; Mrs. J. A.
Dixon, whose husband is at the head of the telephone company at
Arlington ; Ray F., who is a traveling man ; and three who are deceased.
The mother of the above family was a member of the Congregationalist
Church. Oliver C. Roberts completed the public school course at Arlington,
then took a commercial course in the Lincoln Business College, and sub
sequently spent ten weeks in 1887 in the Fremont Normal College. He
was associated with his father in the grain business until the latter's
death, when he took over the elevator interests of the estate and continues
their management. He has other interests and owns 480 acres of fine
land in Brown County, South Dakota.
In 1892 Mr. Roberts was united in marriage to Miss Laura Louise
Fitch, who was born in Iowa and is a daughter of Ambrose T. Fitch.
vol. ii— 2rr

874 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
They have three children. The eldest daughter is the wife of C. I.
White, who is connected in business with the Burroughs Stock Food
Company; Dorothea is a student in Midland College at Fremont; and
Lawrence Gilbert is attending the Nebraska State University. The
family attends the Congregational Church. Mr. Roberts belongs to the
Odd Fellows and has passed through the chairs of the local lodge. In
political life he has always been active in the democratic party, and at
one time his political friends elected him mayor of Arlington. He con
sented to serve but one year, during which time he gave the city a
first-class business administration.
W. J. McCann. Nearly fifty years a resident of Washington County,
where he was reared from early childhood, William J. McCann has
spent a busy life, most of the time as an agriculturist, and is still giving
his time and labors to the operation of a valuable and systematically
handled farm in Richland Township, section 11. His home is three
miles east and a half mile south of Kennard.
Mr. McCann was born in Washington County, Virginia, January
29, 1868, a son of Isaac and Margaret McCann, natives of the same
state. His father was a planter, served in the Civil war and early in
1872 came to Nebraska and acquired land near Arlington, from which
he retired in 1900, moving to Kennard. There the mother died in 1916.
They were the parents of eight children, William J. being the oldest. x
William J. McCann was four years of .age when he came west, grew
up in Washington County, and after getting an education in the com
mon schools worked for his father and others, but since the age of
twenty-two has been going it alone. He lived for thirty-five years in
Arlington Township, but his home is now in Richland Township. He
left the farm in December, 1909, and for a time was employed by the
telephone company and in other occupations. In 1916 he returned to
the land, and has continued farming during this modern period of high
prices and a shortage of farm labor. He has 120 acres, well improved
and modern in every respect. Mr. McCann was elected a member of his
local school board in 1920. He votes independently and is affiliated with
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Modern Woodmen of
America. Mrs. McCann is a member of the Baptist Church.
In 1892 he married Miss Mamie Blazier, who died in August, 1910,
the mother of four children, two of whom are living, Gladys, now a music
teacher at Omaha, and Gertrude, at home. The mother of Mamie
Blazier is still living. In 1912 Mr. McCann married Hettie Rodman
and they have two young children, Florence and lone.
August Kahnk. While he is a native of Illinois, August Kahnk has
spent practically all his life in Washington County, and the farm where
he grew to manhood is the scene of his present industrious efforts. The
buildings and other improvements on that land are to be credited jointly
to the enterprise of Mr. Kahnk and his father. The substantial farm
home is in section 16 of Richland Township, a mile east and two and a
half miles north of Washington.
Mr. Kahnk was born in Illinois in 1867. His father, John C. Kahnk,
was born and married in Germany, and in 1865 brought his family to
the United States, living in Illinois, where his first employment was in
a paper mill. In 1869 he came to Washington County, traveling to
Omaha by railroad, and then freighted his goods overland to his desti
nation twenty miles away. He did not choose to locate on public lands

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 875
and homestead, but bought a piece of school land at a dollar an acre.
His first home was only a board shack, and while his early life was not
greatly in contrast with that of the other pioneers, he had to make shift
with practically no capital and very few facilities for farming and living.
It is said that for a number of days the sole diet of the Kahnk family
was turnips. But better days came with the passing years, larger com
forts, and John C. Kahnk enjoyed much prosperity before his death,
which occurred at the age of sixty-seven. He acquired the ownership of
120 acres. His wife died in 1916 at the age of eighty-eight. They had
five children: John and Dolf, both deceased; August; Peter, who was
drowned at the age of three years ; and Mrs. Anna Cornelius, a resident
of Douglas County.
August Kahnk, only surviving son, grew up on the home farm,
attended the local schools and worked for his father to the age of twenty-
three, after which he took over the management of the farm and has
conducted it successfully ever since. Mr. Kahnk is an independent
voter and a member of the Lutheran faith.
He married for his first wife Anna Matthesen, who died the mother
of four children: John, Mata and Margaret, all at home, and Gustaf,
deceased. Mr. Kahnk married for his second wife, Lena Matthesen, and
to their union were born nine children, all of who remain in the home
circle. Their names are Gustaf, Anna, Louis, Harry, Marie, Albert,
Lillian, Arthur and Clara.
Chris Paulsen. Agriculture is now generally recognized as the
most important of all of the basic industries, for upon the production
of the farmer depends practically all business operations. Therefore
much credit must be accorded the man who tills the soil and handles
the difficult problems of securing labor and marketing his produce.
Nebraska has some of the most industrious and successful of these
agriculturalists, and among them one deserving of mention in a work
of this high character is Chris Paulsen of Blair Township.
Chris Paulsen was born in Germany in 1864, a son of John and
Catrina Paulsen, both of whom were born in Germany, where they
died, he when seventy-two years of age and she when sixty-three. They
were farming people, hard-working and honest, and brought up their
four children to habits of thrift and industry. Of .these children Chris
Paulsen is the only one who came to the United States.
The arrival of Chris Paulsen in this country was in 1892, and he
came here with the purpose of acquiring land of his own, something he
could not do in his own country with his lack of capital. Going west to
Nebraska, he rented land in the vicinity of Calhoun for two years, and
then was able to buy his present 120-acre farm in Blair Township, and
at once began to improve the property. The present substantial house
and barns have been built by him, and he has put up fences and bought
machinery, and is now carrying on his farm operations in a thoroughly
modern manner. .
In February, 1892, Mr. Paulsen was united in marriage with Marga
rita Schrader, also born in Germany, and they became the parents of
the following children: Charles and May, who are at home, and one
that died in infancy. While Mr. Paulsen had had experience in farming
in Germany, conditions were so different when he reached this country
that he deserves a great deal of credit for what he has been able to
accomplish since coming here. He is now accounted one of the best
farmers in his part of the county, and his neighbors are adopting many

876 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
of his methods, for they see that they are excellent. A man of strong
personality, Mr. Paulsen likes to choose his own candidates and so has
remained an independent voter.
Otto F. Olsen, editor and publisher of the Kennard Weekly News,
in connection with which he conducts a well equipped job-printing
department, is one of the progressive and influential young business men
of the Village of Kennard, Washington County, where he holds in 1920
the office of water commissioner of the municipality and where he is a
stalwart and effective advocate and supporter of all measures and enter
prises tending to advance the civic and material welfare of the village
and the county. -
Mr. Olsen was born at Fremont, judicial center of Dodge County,
Nebraska, May 3, 1894, and is a son of Zacharia and Mary Anna
(Christiansen) Olsen, who now reside at Kennard, where the father, a
shoemaker by trade, conducts a repair shop in which he has developed
a prosperous business. Of the eight children in the family four are
living : Anna, the wife of Henry Hansen, a farmer in Washington
County ; Jennie, the wife of Harry R. Redfield, manager of the Western
Union Telegraph Company's office at Fremont; Otto F., of this sketch,
the next in order of birth ; and Ruby, an assistant in her brother's print
ing office. The father is independent in politics, and both he and his
wife are members of the Seventh Day Adventist Church.
Otto F. Olsen acquired his early education in the public schools
of Fremont, and in 1907 he entered upon an apprenticeship to the
printer's trade in the office of the Kennard Enterprise, then published
by E. L. Tiffany. Within the ensuing seven months he gained no little
proficiency as a compositor, and in 1908 took a position in the Danish
Lutheran Publishing House at Blair, the judicial center of Washington
County. He continued his connection with this representative concern
until 1914, when he assumed charge of the office of the Superior Daily
Express, at Superior, Nuckolls County. In the following year, how
ever, he came to Kennard and founded the Kennard Weekly News,
the first edition of which appeared on the 14th of June of that year.
He has made this paper an effective exponent of the interests of the
community and has gained for it a representative circulation throughout
the territory normally tributary to Kennard. His office is modern in
equipment and service and its job department receives a substantial
supporting patronage.
In politics Mr. Olsen is not constrained by strict partisan lines, and
his paper likewise is independent in the domain of politics. He is
serving as water commissioner of Kennard, as previously stated, arid
he is a vigorous advocate of progressive policies in connection with
all municipal affairs. Both he and his wife are communicants of the
Danish Lutheran Church.
October 21, 1914, recorded the marriage of Mr. Olsen to Miss
Minnie Rphwer, daughter of Carl Rohwer, of Washington County, and
the two children of this union are Lucille Marian and Vera Louise.
E. V. Heath. One of the oldest farms under continuous cultiva
tion in Washington County is two miles west of Blair in section 8 of
Blair Township. Its present owner and occupant is E. V. Heath and
family. Mr. Heath was born in Illinois in 1861, and three years later his
parents, Marvin and Lucy Heath, came to Nebraska. His father was a

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 877
native of Pennsylvania. Coming to Nebraska, they settled in Burt
County, where he homesteaded and where he lived until his death at the
age of sixty-five. His wife passed away at the age of seventy-four.
E. V. Heath was one of a family of ten children. The Heaths were
among the pioneers of the country west of the Missouri River, lived
here in buffalo and Indian days and when there were no railroads and
the scarcely recognized trails were traveled either by wagons or riders
on horseback.
In 1881 Mr. Heath married Mary Raver, who was born in Wash
ington County, a daughter of H. J. Raver and wife, who came to
this region in 1858. Mr. and Mrs. Heath had eight children: Burt,
now manager of the Nebraska Power Company garage at Omaha;
Elmer, chef in a cafe on Broadway, New York City; Charles, who
served as an engineer in the late war and lives in Wyoming; Vera, wife
of Thomas Griffin, of Wood Lake, Nebraska; Harry, a garage owner
at Brownlee, Nebraska ; Oria ; Earl and Vernie, both at home.
Mr. Raver was born August 24, 1836, at Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
At the age of twenty, he went with his parents to Des Moines, Iowa,
and there married Sarah Mann. To this union seven children were
born. Mrs. Raver died January 2, 1918, at the age of seventy-eight.
Mr. Raver died April 21, 1918, at the age of eighty-one. He came
to Washington County in 1858 from St. Louis by way of Omaha, up
the river on a steamboat, and from Omaha traveled to his destination
by ox team. Mr. Raver witnessed the first legal execution in Omaha
during the summer of 1863. Their first home was a dugout containing
one room and situated about five miles west and north of Blair. Later
he lived for five years in the Missouri River bottom and later returned
to the homestead. Just fifty years have passed since Mr. Raver moved
to the place where Mr. and Mrs. Heath now live. At that time the
landscape showed no trees, and there were no other evidences of culti
vation and civilization such as mark this farm today. Mr. Raver set
out the orchard which is still bearing. Much of the land in the Heath
farm was broken out by Mr. Heath himself.
Mr. and Mrs. Heath are proud of the fact that two of their sons
were enrolled in the cause of democracy during the World war.
Corp. Charles W. Heath entered the service July 17, 1917, at Fort
Logan, and was assigned as a truck driver. He went overseas as
corporal of Company F of the Tenth Engineers, and was assigned the
task of sawing lumber near the front lines. He was in the service
twenty-one months and was honorably discharged at Camp Funston
on February 22, 1919.
The other son, Corp. Elmer H. Heath, entered the army March
4, 1918, was trained at Fort Riley and went overseas June 13, 1918,
landing in Italy, and being with the first American troops sent to that
quarter of the allied front. He was with the Thirtieth ambulance
section, with the First Army Corps, and was on duty until the armistice
of November 11th. His unit carried 1936 wounded men off the field
in seven days. He received the Italian war cross for bravery, and
was discharged June 10, 1919. He then re-enlisted at Camp Dix,
New Jersey, and is now in the Medical Corps.
William Murley. An honored veteran of the Union army during
the Civil war still living in Washington County, William Murley has
been a Nebraskan for over thirty years, and his earnestness and industry
have brought him many of the substantial rewards of good citizenship.

878 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
He was born in England in 1842, and at the age of eight years
was brought to the United States by his father, John Murley, who
settled in Wisconsin. John Murley was a miner and was employed in
the mines of Wisconsin until he was killed at the age of fifty-five.
William Murley and five brothers entered the Union army, and while
they participated in some of the hardest fought campaigns of the war
not one was wounded. William Murley was in Company I of the Six
teenth Wisconsin Infantry, and was all through from the beginning to
the end, being under the commands of Grant and Sherman. After
the war he took a homestead near Schuyler, Wisconsin, in 1871, and
at that time married Miss Louise John. To their marriage were born
three children, James, Hattie and Annie. Mrs. Murley died in 1882.
Mr. Murley moved to Washington County in 1888, bought land
in the county, and now enjoys the comforts of a good home in section
23 of Arlington Township, his being the first house north of Dale Store.
In 1917 he married Mary Googen, whose family were pioneers of
Washington County. Her parents came here about 1866, were home
steaders, and went through all the experiences of pioneering. Her
father died at the age of seventy-five and her mother is now living
at Elk City in Douglas County.
Fred Heuermann. The enterprise that manifests itself in good
farms, good livestock and good homes, and the co-operative movements
that advance and improve the general welfare is typical of the career
of Fred Heuermann, one of the very well known citizens of Washington
County. Mr. Heuermann for many years has been a livestock breeder and
farmer, interested in other lines of business, and has a complete and
adequate country home and farm in section 10 of Arlington Township,
located three miles east of the Village of Arlington.
Mr. Heuermann was born in Ohio in 1868, son of D. B. and Louise
(Strobmann) Heuermann. His parents were both natives of Germany,
settled in Ohio when they came to America, and were early settlers in
Nebraska. Fred Heuermann was reared and educated in Washington
County, attending country schools, and has been in business for himself
since the age of twenty-three. For several years he specialized in the
raising of Shorthorn cattle on his farm, and his chief business has been
the breeding and feeding of hogs and cattle. Among other features of
his farm is a fine orchard, which was set out by his father. Mr. Heuer
mann is vice president and a director of the Farmers Lumber & Grain
Company, and for ten years served as director of School District No. 4.
In 1909 he was elected a member of the Board of County Commissioners,
and gave much of his time to the duties of that office for nine years.
He owns a modern country home, built in 1915.
In 1893 he married Kate Hartung, a native of Washington County
and a daughter of Fred Hartung, of an old and well known family of
the county. To their marriage were born eleven children, nine of
whom are still living: Florence, who was a graduate of Nicholson
Hospital at Omaha and died in November, 1919; Edna, wife of Alfred
Smith, a farmer in Washington County; Emma, who is taking the
nurse's training course at Nicholson Hospital in Omaha ; Chester, Lotta,
Arthur, Fred, Jr., Mattie, Lucile and Elva, all at home with their
parents; and Dorothy, who died in infancy. The family are members
of St. Paul's Lutheran Church. Mr. Heuermann is active in the repub
lican party, serving as township committeeman.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 879
Hans Hansen. Many years of earnest and well directed labor have
brought Hans Hansen the merited reward of substantial property inter
ests and the substantial esteem of the community in which he lives.
Just outside the city limits of Arlington is the Hansen farm, which
was cleared from the condition of timber and brush by his labors and
made productive.
Mr. Hansen was born in Denmark in 1861 and was twenty-one years
of age when he arrived in the United States in 1882. For about a
year he lived around Chester, Pennsylvania, and then came out and
joined the people of Dodge County, which was still a comparatively
new district. Without capital, he was unable to buy land and satisfied
himself with the slow but sure route to independence as a farm worker,
and continued his employment with others until 1904. Most of that
time, especially after his marriage, he rented land.
Mr. Hansen married Christina Madsen, a native of Denmark, and
the only member of her family to come to this country. Her father
was Johan Madsen. She came over on the same boat with her husband,
and they were married at Fremont March 19, 1885. Six children have
been born to their union: Marie, of Fremont; Mrs. Nellie Phillips,
of Wahoo, Nebraska ; Mrs. L. W. Weigand, of Central City, Nebraska ;
Fern, of Fremont; Julius, at home; and Agnes, of Fremont.
The eighty-acre farm adjoining Arlington Mr. Hansen has improved
with good buildings, and for many years has been a successful general
farmer and dairyman. He began life with only a common school educa
tion, but has made the best possible use of all his opportunities. He
is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America and the Danish
Brotherhood, is a member of the Congregational Church at Arlington,
and is a republican voter.
Cortez U. Cook. By no means all the young men in Washington
and Dodge counties are being recruited into the trades and professions
and other activties of urban life. The business of farming offers sub
stantial rewards sufficient to hold and draw young men to this oldest
of all professions and vocations.
One of the younger men actively identified with the agricultural
affairs of Washington County is Cortez U. Cook, owner of a valuable
farm in section 20, Arlington Township, a mile east and a mile south
of the Village of Arlington.
¦ Mr. Cook, who was born in Washington County in 1881, is a son
of W. S. and Jennie (Unthank) Cook. His father, who was born
in Iowa, studied law under Judge Walton and for many years prac
ticed as an attorney in Washington County with offices at Arlington.
After he retired from his profession he gave general oversight to his
landed interests until his death, November 17, 1920. The Unthank
family is one of the oldest in this section of Nebraska. Jennie Unthank
was seven years of age when in 1855, her parents, Mr. and Mrs. John
A. Unthank, migrated from Indiana, her native state, to Washington
County, Nebraska Territory. Her father homesteaded, and besides
farming conducted one of the pioneer elevators of the county at Old
Bell Creek. W. S. Cook and wife had four children: Joseph C, of
Fremont ; Cortez U. ; Roy R., a lawyer and real estate man at Los Angeles,
California; and Hazel, wife of Otto Ludwig, a carpenter and mason at
Los Angeles.
Cortez U. Cook acquired his early education in the public schools
of Arlington and has given his best energies and efforts to farming

880 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
since 1900. In 1917 he began the development of a herd of Duroc Jersey
hogs, and has made that one of the important features of his farm
enterprise. His interests have extended to other affairs, and he is a
stockholder in the Farmers Lumber & Grain Company's elevator at
Arlington, the Nebraska Foundry & Manufacturing Company at Fre
mont, and the Waterloo Creamery of Omaha. The scene of Mr. Cook's
well ordered industry as a farmer and stockman is known as the Golden
Gate Farm. In politics he is a republican, as was his father.
Mr. Cook married Amy Krajick, of a family whose history is given
on other pages. To their marriage were born four children, three still
at home, named William, Lawrence, Mabel and Raymond. Raymond
Cook passed away on the 25th of October, 1920.
John Blaco is another of the representative men who have gained
substantial prosperity through association with agricultural and live
stock enterprise in Washington County, where he has maintained his
residence since the spring of 1883 and where he is now living virtually
retired in the Village of Kennard.
Mr. Blaco was born in Lancashire, England, on the 28th of January,
1869, and is a son of John and Jane (Burkett) Blaco, who there passed
their entire lives, the father having been a farmer by vocation, and
both of whom were devoted communicants of the Church of England.
Two of their sons came to America, and both are residents of Wash
ington, County, Nebraska, Richard being one of the representative
farmers in the vicinity of Kennard.
John Blaco was reared and educated in his native land and was
about twenty-three years of age when he severed the home ties and
came to America. On the 21st -of April, 1883, he arrived at Blair, the
judicial center of Washington County, Nebraska, and for the ensuing
four years was employed at farm work in this county. He then initiated
his independent activities as a farmer, and with the passing years he
accumulated and improved a valuable farm property of 240 acres,
which he still owns and to the active management of which he gave his
effective attention until 1914, when he removed to the Village of
Kennard, where he has since maintained his home and where he has
one of the modern and attractive residences of the community. In his
farm enterprise Mr. Blaco made a specialty of feeding cattle for the
market, and at all times he kept a good grade of livestock. He was one
of the organizers of and is a substantial stockholder in the Home State
Bank at Kennard, is also a stockholder in the Farmers Grain & Lumber
Company of this place and has been from the time of its organization a
stockholder of the Blair Telephone Company at the county seat, of
which corporation he is a director.
A staunch supporter of the cause of the republican party, Mr. Blaco
has been somewhat active in political affairs of local order and served
four years as a member of the Board of County. Commissioners of
Washington County. He has always given effective co-operation in the
support of enterprises and measures advanced for the general good of
the community, and is deeply appreciative of the advantages that have
enabled him to win independence and prosperity within the period of
his residence in Nebraska, to which state he came as a young man of
most limited financial resources but with a full endowment of energy,
ambition and integrity of purpose. He is serving his third term as
master of the Masonic Lodge at Kennard, and is affiliated also with
the local camp of the Modern Woodmen of America. Reared in the

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 881
faith of the established Church of England, he has retained the faith
in America as a communicant of the Protestant Episcopal Church, his
wife being a member of the Christian Church.
_ On January 13, 1887, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Blaco to
Miss Mattie Robertson, at that time a resident of Blair, Washington
County, though she claims Kentucky as the state of her birth. She
came with her parents to Nebraska when she was six years old. Mr. and
Mrs. Blaco have but one child, Blanche, who is the wife of Leonard E.
Peterson, of Sidney, Cheyenne County, Nebraska, where he is associated
with a leading mercantile establishment.
Buck Rosenbaum is a native son of Washington County, Nebraska,
and has here proved his ability and enterprise in connection with suc
cessful farm industry. Mr. Rosenbaum and his wife are the owners of a
well improved farm estate of eighty acres, as well as of a modern and
attractive residence and twelve acres in the Village of Kennard, where
he established his home on removing from his farm in 1917. He is
one of the popular and progressive young men of his native county.
Mr. Rosenbaum was born on his father's jfarm in Washington
County, August 9, 1881, and is a son of H. J. and Sarah (Garrett)
Rosenbaum, both of whom were born in Washington County, Virginia,
where they were reared and educated and where their marriage was
solemnized. In 1871 the parents came to Washington County, Nebraska,
where the father bought land near Fort Calhoun and developed one of
the excellent pioneer farms of the county. He was one of the well
known and highly respected pioneer citizens of this county at the time
of his death, which occurred February 8, 1915, the date of his birth
having been September 10, 1848. His widow still remains on the old
homestead farm. Mr. Rosenbaum was a democrat in political adherency
and was affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, the Modern Woodmen
of America and the Woodmen of the World. Of the children the eldest
is John, who is now a resident of the City of Spokane, Washington;
Carrie is the wife of G. R. French, a farmer in Washington County;
Martha is the widow of James Hotele and resides in this county ; Minnie
is the wife of Charles Robinson, and they reside in the State of Colorado ;
J. D. Lives at Spokane, Washington; Joseph R. is a successful farmer
in Washington County; Edward maintains his home in the City of
Omaha ; Buck, of this review, was the next in order of birth ; May is the
wife of Chris Peterson, of Kennard; arid Binkley resides at Spokane,
Washington. Buck Rosenbaum is indebted to the district schools of Washington
County for his early education, and on the home farm he gained in his
youth the experience that well equipped him for independent farm enter
prise when he initiated his activities as an agriculturist and stock-
grower when twenty-four years of age. He made a genuine success
in this important field of industrial enterprise, and made his farm a
center of vigorous and progressive activities with a due combination of
agriculture and the raising of good grades of live stock. He is a
stockholder of the Farmers Grain & Elevator Co-operative Company at
Kennard, is an independent voter in politics and is affiliated with the
Modern Woodmen of America.
In 1905 Mr. Rosenbaum wedded Miss Emma Japp, who likewise
was born and reared in Washington County and who is a daughter of
John and Catherine (Weise) Japp, sterling pioneers of this county.
Mr. and Mrs. Rosenbaum have two children: Ida and Harry.

882 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Martin T. Cederlind, cashier of the Home State Bank at Kennard,
one of the substantial financial institutions of Washington County, is a
native of Nebraska and a member of a family whose name has been
identified with the history of this state for more than forty years. He
was born on his father's old homestead farm near Newman Grove,
Madison County, Nebraska, on the 18th of February, 1892, and is a
son of Alfred and Louise (Lyon) Cederlind, who were born and reared
in Sweden. They established their residence at Omaha, Nebraska, in
1875, in which city they were married. Within a short time thereafter
they removed to Madison County, where the father purchased land
near Newman Grove and developed a fine farm, a property which he
still owns, though he has lived virtually retired since 1911. His political
support is given to the republican party and he and his wife are
members of the Free Mission Church. Of their seven children the
subject of this sketch was the fifth in order of birth.
Martin T. Cederlind passed his boyhood days on the old home farm
and acquired his preliminary education in the district schools. Later
he attended the Nebraska State Normal School at Wayne, as well as
the one at Fremont, in which latter he took a course in the commercial
department. For one year he was a teacher in a district school near
Newman Grove, and he then took a clerical position in the general
offices of the Union Pacific Railroad in the City of Omaha. Later
he assumed a similar position in the general offices of the Great Northern
Railroad at St. Paul, Minnesota, where he continued his services three
years. For the ensuing year he was employed as bookkeeper in a lead
ing department store in the same city, and in 1917 he accepted the
position of which he has since continued the efficient and popular
incumbent, that of cashier of the Home State Bank at Kennard, with
the upbuilding of the substantial business of which institution he has
been closely and effectively identified. This bank, organized and incor
porated in 1915, bases its operations upon a capital stock of $15,000,
has a surplus of $4,000, and its depostits in 1920 are somewhat in
excess of $100,000.
Mr. Cederlind takes loyal interest in all things pertaining to the
welfare and advancement of his home village and county, is a republican
in politics, is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and
1 Masons, and both he and his wife hold membership in the Methodist
Episcopal Church at Kennard.
The year 1915 recorded the marriage of Mr. Cederlind to Miss
Donna Cunningham, who was born and reared in Washington County,
where her father, Charles C. Cunningham, is a substantial and pros
perous citizen, his attention being given largely to the growing and
feeding of cattle, in which he conducts business upon a somewhat
extensive scale. Mr. and Mrs. Cederlind have three children : Eldon C,
Willis J. and Irvin M.
Lewis E. Ward, who came to Nebraska in the year 1879 and for
a time was in the employ of one of the leading attorneys at Blair,
judicial center of Washington County, eventually became one of the
leading merchants at Kennard, this county, where he built up a large
and prosperous hardware business, with which he continued his active
association until the spring of 1920, when he sold the stock and business
and removed to Firth, Lancaster County, where he is now associated
with his son, Homer E., in the drug business. A man who achieved
success and influence during the many years of his residence in Wash-

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 883
ington County, where his circle of friends is limited only by that of
his acquaintances, it is but due that Mr. Ward be accorded recognition
in this publication.
Lewis E. Ward was born in Branch County, Michigan, on the 29th
of May, 1860, a son of Robert and Sarah (Freeman) Ward, who were
sterling pioneers of that beautiful county in the southern part of the
Wolverine State, both having been natives of the State of New York.
In the old Empire State the father learned the trade of shoemaker,
and this he followed successfully in the early period of his residence
in Michigan. He also owned and developed a good farm in Branch
County, where he and his wife continued to reside until their death,
when venerable in years. Both were consistent members of the Presby
terian Church. The father was a stanch republican in politics and
served many years as 'a justice of the peace. Of the five children the
subject of this review is now the only one living.
The public schools of his native county afforded Lewis E. Ward his
early education, which was supplemented by a course in what is now
Valparaiso University at Valparaiso, Indiana. He came to Nebraska
in 1879, as previously noted, and in 1888 he engaged in independent
farm enterprise in Washington County. After having been for eight
years one of the vigorous and successful exponents of agricultural and
live-stock industry in this county Mr. Ward removed to the Village
of Kennard, where in 1896 he purchased the hardware stock and busi
ness of Martin Hansen. He developed a substantial and prosperous
enterprise in the handling of heavy shelf hardware, and he continued
as one of the leading representatives of this line of enterprise in Wash
ington County until 1920, when he sold his business to E. O. Fair-
child, his removal from the community having been greatly regretted
by his many friends in both business and social circles. Mr. Ward
was known as one of the liberal and progressive citizens of the county
and assisted in the organization of the Grange, in the affairs of which
he was active and influential. In politics he votes for men and measures
meeting the approval of his judgment, rather than being constrained by
strict partisanship. He has passed the official chairs in the Modern
Woodmen of America and his wife is an active member of the Methodist
Episcopal Church.
In 1881 occurred the marriage of Mr. Ward to Miss Emily Renshaw,
a resident of Michigan, though she was born in England, and of this
gracious union have been born six children : Merton C. and Carl H. are
associated with business activities at Kennard; Homer E. is engaged
in the drug business at Firth, Lancaster County ; Mildred is the wife of
Ferdinand Ziegler, a farmer near St. Paul, Howard County; Leland E.
holds a position in a hardware store at Kennard ; and Nina A. is at the
time of this writing, in 1920, a successful and popular teacher in the
public schools of Fort Calhoun, Washington County.
Charles C. Cunningham. A life long resident of Eastern Nebraska,
son of a Nebraska pioneer and old soldier, Charles C. Cunningham has
had a varied experience but chiefly as a farmer and stockman. He is
owner of one of the fine country homes in Washington County, located
in section 12 of Arlington Township, five and a half miles east of
Arlington Village.
He was born in Douglas County, Nebraska, in 1868, son of William
G. and Eliza (Wetz) Cunningham, the former a native of Virginia and
the latter of Iowa. William G. Cunningham though a native of Vir-

884 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
ginia came West early in life, and when the Civil war came on enlisted
with a regiment of Nebraska cavalry and saw much frontier and other
army duty. He was once wounded. As a pioneer of the country
west of the Missouri he was engaged in freighting from Omaha out to
Salt Lake City. He conveyed a number of herds of cattle across the
plains, and also freighted with ox teams. On returning to Omaha he
frequently walked the entire distance. Later he homesteaded in Douglas
County, and in 1870 traded his homestead there for a homestead in
Washington County, where for many years he was an esteemed and
useful citizen, engaged in farming and stock raising. He died in
May, 1920, at the age of ninety-four, being at that time one of the
oldest surviving western pioneers. He was a Baptist in religion and a
democrat in politics. In his family were six children : Mamie, wife of
Jake Stewart, an elevator man at Charleston, Nebraska; Minnie,
deceased ; Charles C. ; Frank, a retired resident of Blair ; O. A., a
Washington County farmer; and Emma, wife of Elmer Bates, a Wash
ington County farmer.
Charles C. Cunningham grew up in Washington County, attended
the common schools, and for three years of his early life was associated
with his brother, Frank, in operating a store at Washington. When
he sold out his mercantile interests he turned to general farming, and
for the past thirty years has devoted his time and energies to his
business as a farmer and the general improvement of his locality.
In 1889 Mr. Cunningham married Ethel Robertson, a native of
Kentucky and a daughter of William Robertson, who took his family
out to Perkins County, Nebraska. Four children have been born to
Mr. and Mrs. Cunningham: Ellis, a farmer in Washington County;
Donna, wife of M. T. Cederlind, the Kennard banker; and William and
Marie, the former an employe of the Home State Bank at Kennard and
the latter a teacher living at home. The family are members of the
Methodist Church at Kennard. Mr. Cunningham is independent in
politics, and is a member of the Masonic Lodge and the Modern Wood
men of America.
Edward F. Cushman, the efficient and popular station agent for
the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad at Kennard, Washington County,
has been a resident of Nebraska since he was a lad of fifteen years, save
for one year passed in Wyoming and Utah, and for twenty-seven years
(1920) he has been in active railway service. He was born at Ironton,
Wisconsin, June 19, 1873, and is a son of Charles and Almira (Warner)
Cushman, the former of whom was born in Ohio, where he was reared
and educated, and the latter was born in the State of New York.
From, Ohio the father removed to Wisconsin, where he engaged in the
work of his trade, that of carpenter, and became a successful con
tractor and builder. He founded the town of Lime Ridge, Wisconsin,
gave to the village its name and served as its first postmaster. His
political allegiance was that of the republican party, and his wife was
a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church for many years, though
she was a birthright member of the Society of Friends. The parents
were residents of Wisconsin at the time of their death. In addition to
Edw'ard F., parents are survived by six' other children: Charles,
railroad agent at Hooper, Nebraska; Blanche, who is the wife of
Edward Trucks, engaged in the real estate business at Meadow Grove,
Nebraska; Julia, widow of Roseoe J. Sanders, of Hastings, Nebraska,
who now resides in Colorado ; Belle, wife of R. L. Bohn, retired business

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 885
man, who resides in the Town of Lime Ridge, Wisconsin; Nelson
Ackley, owner of the Cushman Poultry Ranch of Reedsburg, Wisconsin ;
and Wellington B., ticket agent for the Missouri Pacific at Independence,
Kansas. Edward F. Cushman gained his preliminary education in the public
schools of Wisconsin and after coming to Nebraska in 1888, he con
tinued his studies in the high school at Hastings and later in that
at Wisner, besides having attended the Western Normal College in the
City of Lincoln. Fqr a time he was employed at farm work near
Hastings, and he then learned the trade of telegraph operator £t
Wisner, Cuming County. He has continued for twenty-seven years in
the service of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad as operator and
station agent and was for one year employed as a relief telegraph
operator for the Union Pacific Railroad in Utah and Wyoming. For
three years he was operator in the Northwestern Railroad station
at Scribner, Dodge County, and he was then assigned to duty as station
agent at Snyder, that county, where he remained until he was trans
ferred to a similar position at Anoka, Boyd County, where he remained
three years. For six months thereafter he was station agent at Pierce,
judicial center of the Nebraska county of the same name, and for a
similar period he served as station agent at Cornlea, Platte County,
when in August, 1911, he came to Kennard and assumed his present
position. Mr. Cushman is a stanch republican, and while a resident of Anoka
he served as a member of the village board of trustees. At the time of
this writing he is a valued member of the Board of Education of
Kennard. He is a past master of the Blue Lodge body of the Masonic
fraternity, past senior warden of the Chapter of Royal Arch Masons,
and actively affiliated also with Blair Commandery of Knights Templar
at Blair, Nebraska, besides which he holds membership in the adjunct
organization, the Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine
and is also a member of the Woodmen of the World. Both he and
his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church in their
home village and Mr. Cushman is a member of the Order of Railway
Telegraphers. In 1899 was recorded the marriage of Mr. Cushman to Miss Lulu
Osborn, who was born and reared in Nebraska, and their home is
brightened by the presence of their two children: Loraine and Gail.
Harry C. Blaco. The year 1920 finds Mr. Blaco giving efficient
and progressive administration as mayor of Kennard, Washington
County, and he is one of the substantial and influential citizens of
his native county, where he still owns and gives a general supervision
to his fine farm property, besides which he> controls a prosperous busi
ness at Kennard, where he is engaged in the handling of farm imple
ments and machinery.
Mr. Blaco was born on his father's old homestead farm in Washing
ton County, and the date of his nativity was August 28, 1872. He is a
son of Richard and Eliza A. (McFadden) Blaco, the former a native
of England and the latter of the State of Iowa. Richard Blaco came
to Washington County, Nebraska, in 1870, and here purchased a relin
quishment to a claim of land, to the development and improvement of
which he directed his attention with marked energy and discrimination.
He eventually became the owner of one of the large and valuable
landed estates of the county and was a citizen of prominence and

886 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
influence in the county, as shown by his having been chosen to serve
not only as county commissioner but also as a member of the State
Legislature, his political alignment having been with the republican
party. He achieved abundant success through his well ordered activities
as an agriculturist and stock-raiser, and was one of the honored pioneer
citizens of Washington County at the time of his death, in September,
1906, his wife having passed away in 1899 and having been a devoted
member of the Presbyterian Church. Of the children Harry C. of this
review, is the eldest; Nellie is the wife of Harry Wardell, a farmer
near Creighton, Knox County ; Myrtle is the wife of Herman O. Wulff,
who is engaged in the mercantile business at Benson, Douglas County;
Bessie E. is the wife of Albert L. Cook, a teacher in the public schools
at Benson and former superintendent of schools of Washington County ;
and Gertrude is the widow of Joseph C. Neal, of Kennard.
Harry C. Blaco is indebted to the public schools of Washington
County for his early educational discipline, and from his boyhood
he has been closely associated with farm industry, his entire career in
this connection having been marked by connection with the operations
of the fine old home farm on which he was born and reared and of which
he is now the owner, he having been the only son and having acquired
his sisters' interest in the property after the death of his honored father.
This well improved and admirably managed farm property comprises
240 acres and constitutes one of the model farms of Washington
County, the same being devoted to diversified agriculture and to the
raising and feeding of excellent types of live stock. Mr. Blaco continued
his residence on the farm until February, 1917, when he removed to
the Village of Kennard, where he has since been established in the farm
implement and machinery business, in which he handles both heavy
and light implements and machinery demanded in connection with
modern farm operations. He is also a director of the Farmers Grain &
Lumber Company at Kennard and of the Farmers Grange & Mutual
Insurance Company of Washington, Burt County, besides which he
is a director and influential member of the county Grange of the
Patrons of Husbandry. His political allegiance is given to the repub
lican party, and his popularity in his home community needs no further
voucher than his incumbency of the office of mayor of Kennard, and
his being also a member of the Board of County Commissioners, in
which latter office he is serving his first term at the time of this writing,-
in the spring of 1920. He is also a member of the republican committee
of Richland Township. Mr. Blaco is affiliated with both the Lodge
and Encampment bodies of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows
and also with the local camp of the Modern Woodmen of America,
in which he has passed the various official chairs, as has he also in the
Odd Fellows Lodge. His wife holds membership in the Presbyterian
Church. April 26, 1899, recorded the marriage of Mr. Blaco to Miss Merie
Johnson, who was born and reared in Douglas County, and who is a
leader in the social activities of her home community. They have no
children. Herman Jungbluth. A disciple of modern farming, who does his
farming with his brain as well as his brawn, Herman Jungbluth has lived
his life in Washington County, and while others of the family have
gone into business and acquired substantial positions he has been well
satisfied in the exercise of his business capabilities as a farmer and

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 887
stockman. His well improved and handsome home is in section 22 of
Arlington Township, half a mile west of Dale.
He was born in Washington County March 14, 1881, a son of
Bernard H. J. and Ida (Fisher) Jungbluth, the former a native of
Germany and the latter of Toledo, Ohio. Bernard Jungbluth located
in Chicago in 1871 and was employed in the McCormiek Harvester
Company's plant when the historic fire swept over that city in 1871.
Some years later, in 1878, he came out to Washington County, Nebraska,
bought land and for many years was engaged in general farming and
stock raising. For eight years he also operated at Arlington what was
known as the Arlington Steam Brickyard, and made great quantities of
brick, part of which was used in building the residence on his home
farm. He was a democrat, and he and his wife were members of ihe
Catholic Church at Fremont. They were the parents of five children :
Bertha, wife of S. R. Batson, a traveling salesman living at Lincoln;
Herman; Julian, a farmer in Washington County; Zella, wife of
F. J. Emerson, who is vice president of the Union Stock Yards Bank
at South Omaha; and Wilma, wife of Robert Kimball, manager of a
wholesale tire company at Lincoln.
Herman Jungbluth acquired a public school education in Wash
ington County, attended the Lincoln Business College, and at the age
of twenty-eight became an independent farmer. While he has grown
many successive crops, his big interest as a farmer is the breeding and
raising of livestock. Since 1917 he has taken great pains and expended
a large amount of capital in developing a fine herd of choice hogs.
First he bred the Duroc Jersey, but now has laid the nucleus of a herd
of Poland Chinas. He is also an extensive feeder for the market, and
during the last year fed five hundred cattle and fifteen hundred sheep.
He has given all the extensive equipment and facilities to his farm.
He is a member of the Farmers Union and is a stockholder in the
Mid-West Creamery at Omaha.
In 1909 Mr. Jungbluth married Mata Oft, of Bennington, Nebraska.
They have four children : Kermit, born in 1910 ; Sylvia R. ; Vernon,
born in 1913 ; and Bernard, born iri 1916. Mr. Jungbluth is a Catholic,
while Mrs. Jungbluth is a Lutheran. Politically he is independent in
voting. George B. Riker is one of Blair's most substantial business men,
and his business career has been accompanied by an equally praise
worthy record in every matter affecting the general welfare and the
progress of his community. Mr. Riker has lived in Washington County
many years and first came to Blair as a railroad man. After giving up
his duties with the railroad company he took up the real estate busi
ness, and his many years of experience make him one of the best
judges of realty values in this section of Nebraska.
Mr. Riker was born in New York State in 1865, son of George
W. and Angeline E. (Benedict) Riker. The Riker family is of remote
German ancestry, but was established in this country in the early part
of the eighteenth century. Mr. Riker's paternal grandfather, Henry
Riker, was a native of New York State, and his maternal grandfather,
Smith Benedict, was also a New Yorker. Both parents were born in
New York State, were married there, and in 1871, moved west to
Iowa and settled on a farm. They lived out their lives as agriculturists.
The father was devoted to the republican party in politics, and his
wife was a member of the Presbyterian Church. They had three

888 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
children. The oldest, Smith H., is in New York City with the A'meri-
can Telephone & Telegraph Company, the second is George B., and
the third is Adeline S., wife of R. T. Huston, a farmer and livery 'man
at Russell, Iowa.
George B. Riker was six years of age when the family settled
on the Iowa farm. He had considerable experience in the tasks of
the field and at the same time acquired an education in country schools.
As a youth he learned telegraphy and at the age of sixteen was first
regularly employed on a railroad. He was in the railroad service eleven-
years, enjoying well deserved promotions, and the last four years was
joint ticket agent at Blair, Nebraska.
Leaving the railway company he entered the real estate business
with Charles McMenemy in 1892. Mr. McMenemy was a veteran
citizen and business man of Blair, having established his home there in
1868, a year before the town was laid out. Mr. Riker was associated
with Mr. McMenemy for sixteen years, until the iatter's death. In
1901 S. W. Chambers came into the firm, and since then the business
has been conducted as Riker & Chambers. Mr. Riker is still doing
business in the same room where he started nearly thirty years
ago. He handles general real estate, and in former years has done a
great deal of immigration and colonizing work, selling large tracts
of Colorado and South Dakota lands. He still handles some large
bodies of land in Eastern Colorado and also does a large business in
farm loans.
In 1886 Mr. Riker married Dora Marquis, a native of Iowa, daughter
of Samuel N. and Rachel Marquis. Her parents died in Iowa, where
her father was a farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Riker have one son, Atlee C.
Riker, now assistant cashier of the Wyoming National Bank at Casper,
Wyoming. Mr. Riker is fraternally affiliated with the Masonic Order and the
Modern Woodmen of America. He and his wife belong to the Eastern
Star and he is worthy patron of the Chapter. He is also a member of
the Order of Railway Telegraphers and in politics casts his vote as a
republican. For one term he rendered some creditable service to Blair
as a member of the City Council, and it was during his term that the
municipal plant was erected.
Israel C. Eller. The most elaborate history is necessarily an
abridgement, the historian being compelled to select his facts and mate
rials from a multitude of details. So in every life of honor and useful
ness the biographer finds no dearth of incident, and yet in summing up
the career of any man the writer needs touch only the most salient
points, giving only the keynote of his character, eliminating much that
is superfluous. Consequently in calling the reader's attention to the
life record of I. C. Eller, the well known and able lawyer of Blair,
no attempt shall be made to recount all the important acts in his
useful life, for it is deemed that only a few of them will suffice to
show him to be eminently worthy of a place in a work of this character.
Mr. Eller has been a resident of Washington County forty years,
arid his residence is an important fact in the county history because
of his enviable position as a lawyer, his efficient services in several
county offices and as a member of the 1907 Legislature. He was born
in Jefferson County, Iowa, on December 17, 1853, and is the son of
Harvey and Mary Caroline (Vannoy) Eller. Both of these parents
were born and reared in Wilkes County, North Carolina, the father's

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 889
birth having occurred on March 24, 1819, and the mother's on February
18, 1823. They are both deceased, the father dying on November 4,
1906, at Hedrick, Iowa, and the mother on January 18, 1904, at the
same place. They were married in North Carolina, and in 1852 moved
to Jefferson County, Iowa, where the father applied himself to farming.
The family was a large one and the trip was made in a "prairie
schooner," the typical conveyance used by the pioneer emigrants of
those days. Harvey Eller was a poor man at the time he located in
Iowa, but he was energetic, industrious and ambitious. For a time
after settling in Jefferson County he rented a farm, which he operated
so successfully that at length he was enabled to buy land, which he
improved and sold at a profit, eventually buying a farm of a 160 acres,
which he improved and to the cultivation of which he devoted himself
with gratifying success until he was able to retire from active business
affairs sometime prior to his death. This last farm is the 160 acres on
which the town of Farson, Iowa, is now located. He and his wife were
members of the Missionary Baptist Church ; in politics he gave his sup
port to the republican party, and during the Civil war he was a strong
supporter of "the Union.
To Harvey and Mary C. Eller were born fifteen children, ten sons
and five daughters, all of whom grew to years of maturity, and of this
number eight sons and two daughters are now living. Only three of
the children have ever been identified with Washington County, Israel C,
now being the only one. The survivors are as follows : William H.,
who was first a minister of the Baptist Church and later a successful
lawyer, was an early settler of Washington County, coming here in
1876, but in 1893 he returned to North Carolina and now lives at
Greenboro, that state ; Cleveland is a general merchant at David City,
Nebraska; James Anderson is a successful market gardener at Glen
wood, Iowa ; Jesse F. is engaged in the real estate business at Red Bluff,
California; I. C. is the immediate subject of this sketch; Mrs. Mattie
C. Dickins is a widow and lives at Farson, Iowa; Thomas A. is a
retired farmer living at Stratton, Nebraska; Jacob H. is a successful
merchant at Clay Center, Nebraska; Margaret is the wife of Edward
Delos Davis, a farmer at Hedrick, Iowa ; Otis R. is United States postal
clerk at Lincoln, Nebraska.
I. C. Eller received his elementary education in the public schools
of Iowa, and then for three years was a student in Central University
at Pella, Iowa. After teaching one term of school he came to Blair,
Nebraska, and applied himself to the reading of law under the direction
of his brother William, who at that time had relinquished the work
of the ministry and was practicing the legal profession at Blair. In
February, 1883, he was admitted to the bar at Tekamah and immediately
thereafter entered upon the practice of law at Blair. He was soon
afterward elected clerk of the District Court, which office he held for
eight years, and after the expiration of his official term he resumed
practice, which commended his attention until 1908, when again he
was appointed clerk of the District Court, serving as such three years.
He then was appointed to the office of county judge, of which he was
the incumbent by election thereafter for eight years, and since then he
has devoted himself to office practice chiefly. Judge Eller in addition
to high qualifications as a case lawyer enjoys a wide reputation as an
accurate and reliable examiner of abstracts of titles, one of the most
important departments of law office work. As a lawyer, Judge Eller
won a reputation as a sound and safe practitioner. Years of conscien-
Vol. 11—28

890 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
tious work have brought with them not only increase of practice and
reputation, but also that growth in legal knowledge and that wide and
accurate judgment the possession of which constitutes marked excellence
in the profession. In discussions of the principles of law he is noted
for clearness of statement and candor. His zeal for a client never
leads him to urge an argument which in his judgment is not in harmony
with the law, and in all the important litigations with which he has been
connected no one has ever charged him with anything calculated to
bring discredit upon his profession.
When Washington and Bent counties chose Mr. Eller as their repre
sentative in the Legislature for the session beginning in 1907 they
bestowed that responsibility upon a well trained lawyer with a broad
knowledge of public affairs and public men in Nebraska. He entered
the Legislature therefore with a prestige that enabled him to exercise
an influence throughout the memorable session, and his record therein
is one that reflects credit on his home community. It has been gen
erally conceded that this session Was prolific of more progressive
laws than any previous or subsequent sessions. It is not inappropriate
to name some of the laws passed by that Legislature. They included
the Railway Commission Bill, the Primary Election Bill, the legislation
providing a fifteen per cent cut on express rates, a two-cent fare for
railroads — bills which in themselves comprise a program that only
occasionally can be credited to the legislative output of any state.
On November 3, 1886, Mr. Eller was married to Ella E. Kemp,
who was born near East Troy, Wisconsin, and to their union four
children were born, two of whom are living : Mary Louise is the wife of
Harry L. Morris, who was manager of the city electric light plant of
Blair from the time it was established to April, 1920, when he resigned
and has since been manager of the Blair Canning Factory; Francis
Pauline is the wife of Ralph J. Roush,. who was manager of a tire and
automobile accessory store at Fort Dodge, Iowa, for two years, but
now resides in Des Moines.
Judge Eller is a member of the Baptist Church, while his wife was
a member of the Congregational Church up to the time of her death,
which occurred June 14, 1914, the daughters- also being affiliated with
the latter denomination. The judge is a member of the Ancient Free
and Accepted Masons and Mhe Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
In the local lodge of the later order he has been honored by being
passed through the chairs several times, and has been a trustee of the
lodge for thirty successive years.
Politically he is an earnest supporter of the republican party, and
has been active in public affairs, having served on the county and state
central committees of his party. Locally he has served as member of
the school board and as city clerk. Strong and forceful in his rela
tions with his fellowmen, he has not only made his presence felt, but
has also gained the good will and commendation of his associates and
the general public, ever retaining his reputation among men for integrity
and high character.
Bern hard Abels has been one of the substantial business men and
popular and influential citizens of Kennard, Washington County, since
the year 1891, and is a son of John B. and Anna (Behrens) Abels, who
passed their entire lives in Germany, and four of whose sons are resi
dents of Nebraska : Bernhard, of this review ; George, a retired farmer
residing at Papillion, Sarpy County; Henry, a market gardener at

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 891
DeBolt Place, Douglas County; and Anton, employed in a meat market
in the City of Omaha.
Bernhard Abels was born in Minsen, Germany, on the 19th of
February, 1855, and was there reared and educated. In 1881 he
immigrated to America, and in the same year came to Nebraska,
where for two years he was employed as a laborer in the City of
Omaha. Thereafter he was engaged in business as a market gardener
at Happy Hollow, near that city, for seven years, and in 1891 he came
to Kennard, Washington County, where he purchased the hardware
stock and business of George Jessen. For the ensuing thirteen years
he continued as a dealer in hardware and furniture, and he then sold
his stock and business and engaged in the confectionery business, in
which he has since successfully continued, with a weli stocked and
appointed establishment that caters to a representative patronage and
with special attention given to the manufacturing and sale of high-
grade ice cream during the summer months.
:- An independent voter in politics, Mr. Abels has always been loyal
and public-spirited in his civic attitude, and in addition to having served
three years as township clerk he was for twelve years a member of
the board of trustees of the Village of Kennard. He has passed the
official chairs in the local camp of the Modern Woodmen of America,
in which he holds the position of manager in 1920, and he and his
wife are communicants of the German Lutheran Church at Blair, the
county seat.
In 1882 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Abels to Miss Johanna
Dannanmann, who likewise was born and reared in Germany, and they
have three children : Ella, the wife of James Edwards, of Cleveland,
Ohio; Bertha, the wife of William P. Seybold, assistant superintendent
of the Ford automobile assembling plant of the City of Omaha; and
Tillie, the wife of Robert L. Patrick, superintendent of one of the
leading dairy concerns in Omaha.
M. H. Mueller. Born and reared and having lived in Washington
County forty years, M. H. Mueller has labored faithfully at the vocation
of agriculture since early youth, has experienced some of its unpleasant
features, but on the whole his career has been marked by growing
success and the enjoyment of the many advantages now characteristic
of the country life of Washington County.
Mr. Mueller, whose home is in .section 22 of Richland Township,
two miles north and a mile and a half east of Washington, was born
in Washington County July 24, 1879. His father, Michael Mueller,
a native of Germany, came to the United States in 1864, at the age
of twenty-two. He possessed a fair education, and at that time was a
young man of ambition and industry, although all the capital he pos
sessed when he reached Council Bluffs, Iowa, was 50 cents. Out of
necessity he immediately went to work, and most of the time he lived
in Iowa ; his work was in a brick yard. In 1867 he came to Washington
County, Nebraska, and took up a homestead of eighty acres. His
equipment to begin farming consisted of an old team, a wagon and
plow, and he had to improvise a harrow to tying together quantities
of plum brush with which he dragged his fields. In those early days
Omaha was the principal market, and it was a two days' trip to that
city. There followed many years of very slow advancement, due to
grasshoppers, drought and other plagues, but eventually he possessed a
farm of 300 acres and had all those things which moderate ambition

892 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
craves. He died in Washington County in 1913, at the age of seventy-
two. His widow, still living, bore the maiden name of Anna M. Kahnk>
and they were married in Washington County. The father was a
member of the Masonic Order. There were just two children, M. H.
and Mrs. Anna M. Wesemann, wife of a Washington County farmer.
M. H. Mueller grew up on his father's homestead and became well
acquainted with its duties even when a boy. He attended the common
schools and at the age of twenty-six started for himself, but his work
has always been on the homestead. His father had given the land a
great deal of improvement, including buildings, and had also set out
many trees. Mr. Mueller is a republican in politics, he and his wife
are Lutherans in religion, and since 1917 he has served as a director of
his home school district.
In 1906 he married Caroline D. Logemann, who was born in Douglas
County, Nebraska, daughter of William and Sophia Logemann, early
settlers of that county. Mrs. Mueller was the second of three children,
the others being Marie and August. Mr. and Mrs. Mueller were married
January 10, 1906, and they have two sons, still at home, Ervin and
Arthur. George T. Hedelund. Prominent among the younger generation
of active and progressive men who are contributing largely toward
the advancement of the financial interests of Washington County is
George T. Hedelund, who is widely known as cashier of the State
Bank at Washington. A native of Nebraska, he was born January 1,
1895, in Blair, coming on both sides of the house from honored Danish
ancestry. J. S. and Dorothy Hedelund, his parents, were born, brought up
and married in Denmark. Hoping to better his fortunes, J. S. Hede
lund came with his family to the United States in the latter part of
the '80s, taking a step that he never regretted, although it had taken
him quite a while to make up his mind to forsake his native land.
Locating in Washington County, Nebraska, he was for thirty years
janitor of the schools in Blair. He became identified with the demo
cratic party in politics, and both he and his wife belonged to the
Danish Lutheran Church. Eleven children blessed their marriage, as
follows: Soren, of Fergus Falls, Minnesota, pastor of the Episcopal
Church ; John S., engaged in the grain business at Omaha ; Mary, wife
of J. B. Dickson, a linotype operator in Omaha ; Albert, associated with
the United Grain Company in Omaha; Electa, wife of Frank Nelson,
who is with the Lyman Sand Company; Anna, wife of H. W. Lang,
foreman of the Union Pacific Shops at Omaha ; Martin J., of Omaha,
with the Bankers Mortgage & Loan Company; George T., of whom
we write; Gertrude, in the employ of the Omaha Taxi Company at
Omaha ; Carrie, connected with the Pacific Storage Company of Omaha ;
and Dorothy, with the Nebraska & Iowa Steel Tank Company.
Acquiring his early education in Blair, George T. Hedelund was
graduated from the high school with the class of 1912, and later con
tinued his studies in Dana College. Beginning life for himself as a
teacher, he taught in the Blair High School two years. Abandoning
his profession, he was in the employ of the Crowell Grain & Lumber
Company for a year, and later served as assistant cashier of the. Citizens
Bank of Blair for four years, gaining in the meantime knowledge and
experience of value. Coming from there to Washington County
Mr. Hedelund assumed his present responsible position as cashier of the

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 893
Washington State Bank on May 1, 1919, and has since performed the
duties devolving upon him in that capacity ably and faithfully. This
bank, of which Mr. Hedelund is a director and a stockholder, has a
paid up capital of $15,000; a surplus fund of $3,000; and individual
deposits of $190,000.
Mr. Hedelund married in September, 1917, Vera McCracken, a
daughter of John McCracken, of Blair. Mr. Hedelund is a republican
in politics, but has never been an aspirant for official honors, his time
and energies being devoted to the interests of the bank with which
he is officially connected. He has had some experience in naval affairs,
having served five months in the United States Navy. Mrs. Hedelund
is a consistent member of the Danish Lutheran Church.
J. F. McCann.', Those who own and cultivate the land are very
properly entrusted with other responsibilities in the business and social
life of the community. J. F. McCann had made a reputation as a suc
cessful farmer before he became identified with several community
enterprises in Arlington Township, where he has lived and become well
known for many years. His home is in section 12, five miles east of
Arlington, on the Blair highway.
Mr. McCann was born in Virginia February 4, 1871, but has spent
most of his life in Nebraska. His parents, Isaac and Margaret McCann,
were also natives of Virginia. His father was a Virginia farmer,
served in the Civil war, and in March, 1872, came out to Nebraska,
traveling by train as far as Omaha, where he was met by some friends.
He never homesteaded, but bought land near what was known as Bell
Creek, now Arlington. In that community he lived forty years, until
his death in 1913, and had brought his affairs to a high degree of
prosperity. His wife died in 1916. His accumulations at one time
aggregated 460 acres, most of which he divided among his children
before his death. Tbe children number eight: William, of Washing
ton County; Mrs. Ruth Rosenbaum, of Washington County; J. F. ;
Henry, a farmer and stockman in Canadian County, Oklahoma; Mrs.
Lydda Demaree, wife of a Scottsbluff farmer ; Mrs. Salley Weidner,
the deceased wife of a farmer of Washington County; Mrs. Dell
Whorlow, of Washington County; and Delmar, deceased.
J. F. McCann was about a year old when brought to Nebraska, and
he grew up on his father's farm and acquired a common school educa-
tion. At the age of twenty-one he began on his own responsibility
and after working for a time for his father, rented some of the home
stead. When he married he bought, forty acres, and now has a well
improved and ably managed farm of eighty acres, devoted to general
farming and some stock raising. Mr. McCann helped organize the Blair
Telephone Company in 1902. He also became a charter member of
the Home State. Bank of Kennard, which was chartered and began
business in 1915. He served as its vice president three years. He
also helped organize the Farmers Grain & Lumber Company of Kennard.
Other interests to which he has directed his time have been particularly
the cause of education. He served as a member of the school board
for several years. Politically he is independent and is affiliated with
the Masons and Modern Woodmen of America.
In 1895 Mr. McCann married Miss Mertie LeCrone, whose father,
John LeCrone, was a native of Illinois, spent many years in Washing
ton County but is now living in Alfalfa County, Oklahoma. Mr. and
Mrs. McCann have six children, all at home, named Addie, Lyle, Lloyd,
Alice, Leroy and Lester.

894 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Dervie Hall is, with but one exception, entitled to the distinction
of being the oldest business man at Kennard, Washington County, in
point of continuous identification with representative business activities
in this thriving village. He was born in Denmark in 1874, and was
there reared and educated, besides which he there learned the painter's
trade. He is a son of Jens and Margaret (Jensen) Hall, the former
of whom is a carpenter by trade, though he is now engaged in farm
enterprise in Denmark, where he served in the national army and took
part in the war with Germany when the latter empire encroached upon
the rights of sturdy little Denmark. His wife died at the age of
thirty-five years, a devout member of the Lutheran Church, as is he also.
Of the children, the subject of this sketch and two of his brothers,
Fred and Martin, came to the United States, where all have won inde
pendence and prosperity, Fred being now engaged in farming near
Irvington, Douglas County, Nebraska, where he also continued to work
at his trade, that of painter, and Martin being a carpenter and builder
at Elkhorn, Iowa.
Dervie Hall was about eighteen years of age when he came to
America and established his residence at Hampton, Iowa, in 1892. He
there followed his trade until the following year, when he came to
Nebraska and worked at his trade in the City of Omaha. Before the
close of that year, however, he came to Washington County and engaged
in business as a painter and decorator in the new Village of Kennard,
besides which he was here associated with his brother Fred in the
general merchandise business, of which they disposed at the expiration
of five years. Dervie Hall thereafter opened another store, which he
still conducts and in which he handles groceries, paints and wall paper.
He also owns and operates a well equipped greenhouse in the village,
besides which he is serving as justice of the peace. He is a republican
in politics, is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America and he
and his wife are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church
in their home village, where they hold an inviolable place in popular
esteem. In 1894 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Hall to Miss Sarah
J. McCracken, who was born in the State of Virginia, a daughter of
Frank McCracken, who settled in Washington County, Nebraska, in
1883. A great-uncle of Mrs. Hall married a daughter of the famous
Indian chief, Blackhawk. Mr. and Mrs. Hall have three children:
Angie, who remains at the parental home and has active charge of her
father's store ; Wilbur, a painter by trade and vocation and now at
home in Washington County, was in the aviation service of tile Govern
ment during the World war and was stationed in Texas the greater
part of the time, he having made a trip across the continent on a
motorcycle; and Elsie, in 1920, a student in the Kennard High School.
George Menking owns and conducts a modern garage which gives
to the Village of Kennard, Washington County, the most approved
facilities in connection with the automobile business, and in addition to
carrying a full line of supplies and accessories and maintaining a well-
equipped repair department Mr. Menking is also local agent for the
celebrated Buick and Chevrolet automobiles.
Mr. Menking was born in the immediate vicinity of the City of
Cincinnati, Ohio, on September 1, 1871, and is a son of Frederick and
Dora Menking, who came to Nebraska and established their residence
in Washington County in 1872, the father here taking up a homestead

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 895
and developing one of the excellent farms of the county, where both he
and his wife passed the remainder of their lives, his death occurring in
1908 and his widow having passed away in 1912. They were honored
pioneer citizens of the county, were earnest communicants of the Luth
eran Church, and Mr. Menking was affiliated with the lodge of the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Arlington, his political support
having been given to the republican party. Of the six children the first
born, Sophia is deceased; Frederick C. conducts a garage at Arlington,
this county ; William is engaged in the same line of enterprise at Geneva,
Fillmore County ; Lena is deceased ; George, of this review, was the next
in order of birth; Edward is engaged in farming near Fort Morgan,
Colorado. George Menking was not yet one year old at the time of the family
removal to Washington County, where he was reared on his father's
farm and where he gained his early education in the rural school of Dis
trict No. 10. His initial activities of independent order were in con
nection with farm enterprise, with which he here continued his active
association until 1909, when he engaged in the agricultural implement
business at Kennard. Later he turned his attention to the automobile
business, and his garage is now one of the representative business estab
lishments in this thriving village, he having sold his implement business.
Mr. Menking is a loyal supporter of the cause of the republican
party, is serving as a member of the Kennard Board of Education and
is affiliated with the local organizations of the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows and Modern Woodmen of America.
In the year 1892 Mr. Menking was united in marriage to Miss Eliza
beth French, who was born and reared in Washington County, and they
have four children : Bertha is the wife of Harry Edward, a farmer near
Herman, this county;' Ethel is the wife of Arthur Andressen, who is
engaged in farming near Lyons, Bert County ; Lola is the wife of Frank
Vibrial, assistant cashier of the Farmers and Merchants Bank at Ken
nard; and Keith is attending the public schools of Kennard.
Homer A. Wright, who is now engaged in business at Kennard,
Washington County, has been a resident of this place sinCe 1896 and has
been here identified with varied lines of business enterprise. He was
born in New York in 1862, a son of Thomas and Phoebe (Rogers)
Wright, both of whom passed their entire lives in the old Empire State,
where the father was engaged in farm enterprise during the greater part
of his active career. His political allegiance was given to the democratic
party, and both he and his wife were members of the Presbyterian
Church. The public schools of his native state afforded Homer A. Wright
his youthful education, and upon coming to Nebraska in 1896 he became
associated with his brother, Charles L., in the general merchandise busi
ness at Kennard, his brother having later returned to the State of New
York, where he is still giving his attention to this line of business. The
store at Kennard was conducted under the firm name of Wright Brothers
for eight years, and after his retirement from this business Mr. Wright
served one year as mail carrier on a rural route. For five years there
after he was in the employ of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, and
he then established himself in the draying business at Kennard, in which
line of enterprise he developed a prosperous business and continued the
same for five years. He is now one of the well known business men and
popular citizens of Kennard. He is independent in politics, is a mem-

896 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
ber of the Christian Church, and his wife holds membership in the
Church of God. His marriage to Miss Mary Jane Jones occurred in
1908, but no children were born of this union.
Emil Gottsch. A resident of Washington County for thirty years,
Emil Gottsch discovered some real opportunities in this Nebraska coun
try, though almost entirely through the avenue of hard work and his
own initiative, and has attained a position as one of the prominent farm
ers and citizens of Richland Township. His farm is in section 35 and
his home a half mile north and three miles east of the Town of
Washington. Mr. Gottsch was born in Germany in 1870 and acquired most of his
education in that country. He had only the advantages of the common
schools. At the age of fifteen he came to America and for four years
lived in and around Davenport, Iowa, and from there came to Wash
ington County. His parents, Frederick and Anna Gottsch, followed
their son to America seven years later, and the mother died in 1916.
Frederick Gottsch now lives with his daughter. Emil Gottsch, after
coming to Washington County made his work available to others as a
farm hand for many years. With a modest equipment and capital he
rented farms for seven years, and since then has been on the way to
independence as a land owner and agriculturist. He has 160 acres in
his farm, practically all well improved and highly cultivated. The cyclone
of 1913 destroyed all the buildings on the farm, but these have been
replaced with structures of a most substantial character. He raises a
good deal of stock and carries on diversified operations.
For nine years Mr. Gottsch served as a member of his local school
board. He is a republican, is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of
America and is a member of the Christian Church of Bennington.
He married Hattie Dornacker, a native of Washington County and
daughter of the late Nick Dornacker, who was born in Germany and was
an early settler in Washington County. Mr. and Mrs. Gottsch had
eleven children, one of whom died in infancy. The others, all at home,
are Theresa, Louis, Lillie, Fredie, Helen, Irene, Francis, Herbert,
Earline and Henrietta.
A. J. Cameron, M. D. Twenty years of effort to maintain the health
of a large part of the population of Herman and community have drawn
the career of Dr. A. J. Cameron within the fold of a large and emphatic
need, giving him an increasing outlet for a wealth of professional and
general usefulness.
He was born at Watford, Ontario, Canada, May 17, 1875, a son of
Donald and Mary (Kline) Cameron. His father, a native of Scotland,
went to Canada in young manhood and there passed the rest of his life
in agricultural pursuits, dying at the age of seventy-five years.
Mrs. Cameron still survives. Doctor Cameron is the third youngest in a
family of four sons and six daughters. One daughter died at the age
of thirty, seven of the children live in Canada, and Doctor Cameron and
his sister, Mrs. Spears of Detroit, are the only ones in the United States.
A. J. Cameron attended the public schools of his native place and
began teaching school at the age of seventeen years. After three years
as an educator he again attended high school for one year, and then
entered the University of Toronto, where he pursued a four-year course
and graduated in 1900, with the degree of M. D., C. M. On September
25th of the same year he embarked upon the practice of his profession

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 897
at Herman. The doctor has a well-equipped office and appliances for
the most delicate and exacting demands of his profession. He has been
deservedly successful, is thorough, and energy and enthusiasm enable
him to carry a heavy burden of indispensable service to the community.
During the period of the World war Doctor Cameron was a member of
the Medical Advisory Board of Washington County, and later volun
teered and was commissioned a captain in the Medical Corps, United
States Army, and had a regular assignment of duty for six months. He
was in New York on his way overseas when the armistice was signed.
Doctor Cameron is a member of the County, State and American Medi
cal Associations, and the Elkhorn and Missouri Valley Medical Associa
tion. He is a past master of Landmark Lodge, Ancient Free and
Accepted Masons, a Knight Templar and a Shriner, and also a member
of Omaha Lodge, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
September 18, 1901, Doctor Cameron married Miss Mamie B. Eccles
of Watford, Ontario, where she was reared and' educated. They have
one daughter, M. Evelyn, now in high school. Mrs. Cameron is a mem
ber of the Order of Eastern Star.
Doctor Cameron has filled various public offices with efficiency and
conscientiousness and has been a member of the village board for six
years and of the Board of School Directors for a like period. As a
voter, he maintains an independent stand. Personally he is a man of
rare discretion, tact and helpfulness, an earnest and painstaking expo
nent of the best tenets of medical science, and an indefatigable seeker
after those things which produce health and therefore happiness to the
human race.
Leslie T. Berry now owns the controlling interest in the Kennard
Co-operative Store, a well-equipped general merchandise establishment
in his native Village of Kennard, and is one of the popular and progres
sive young business men of Washington County. He was born at Kennard
on October 8, 1898, and is a son of Charles and Elizabeth (Leasburg)
Berry, the former a native of the State of Virginia and the latter of
Denmark, their marriage having been solemnized in Washington County.
The father was reared and educated in the historic Old Dominion State
and was a young man when he came to Nebraska and settled in Wash
ington County. He was one of the early business men of Kennard,
where he developed a substantial and prosperous enterprise as a dealer
in agricultural implements and machinery and where he became a stock
holder in the Farmers and Merchants Bank. He was one of the. honored
and representative citizens of Kennard at the time of his death, in 1900,
and his widow still resides in this village, she being a communicant of
the Lutheran Church and he having held membership in the Metho
dist Episcopal Church. Mr. Berry was a stanch democrat, was affiliated
with the Modern Woodmen of America and was a loyal and public-
spirited citizen who commanded unqualified popular esteem. Of the
four children, the eldest is Charlotte, who is now serving as postmistress
at Kennard; Ellen is a clerk in the Kennard Co-operative Store, as is
also Charles; and Leslie T., of this review, is the youngest of the
number. The public schools of Kennard afforded Leslie T. Berry his earlier
education, which was supplemented by his completing a business course
in the Nebraska State Normal School at Fremont. For a time thereafter
he was in the employ of A. Kroigard, a merchant at Kennard, and he
then took a clerical position in the Farmers and Merchants Bank of this

898 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
village, in which institution he continued his effective service until
February, 1919, when he purchased the controlling interest in the Ken
nard Co-operative Store, to the management of which he has » since
devoted his attention with characteristic energy and good judgment. His
political allegiance is given to the republican party, and he is affiliated
with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen
of America. Gustave E. Kronberg is distinctively one of the representative busi
ness men of the younger generation in his native county and is the
efficient and popular cashier of the Farmers and Merchants Bank of
Kennard, Washington County, where he is also a stockholder in the
Farmers Co-operative Company's general merchandise store.
Mr. Kronberg was born on his father's farm near Blair, judicial
center of Washington County, on January 31, 1882, and is a son of Olaf
and Matilda Kronberg, both natives of Sweden. Upon coming to
Nebraska the father first located in the vicinity of Florence, Douglas
County, and within a comparatively short time thereafter he came to
Washington County and purchased land near Blair, where he reclaimed
a productive farm and achieved substantial and .well merited prosperity.
He is now living retired at Blair, is independent in politics and is a
zealous communicant of the Lutheran Church, as was also his wife, who
died in 1911, at the age of sixty-two years.
Gustave E. Kronberg was reared to the sturdy discipline of the home
farm and gained his early education in the public schools of Washington
County. He remained on the home farm until 1906, when he took a
position in the employ of R. E. Roberts, operator of the grain elevator at
Kennard. He was thus engaged about one year, and in 1907 he assumed
the position of bookkeeper in the Farmers and Merchants Bank of Ken
nard, of which institution he was made assistant cashier in 1909 and of
which he has been the cashier since 1915. This substantial bank bases
its operation upon a capital stock of $30,000, its surplus fund is $7,000,
and its deposits at the time of this writing, in 1920, are somewhat in
excess of $290,000. Mr. Kronberg is a member of the American Bankers
Association, is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, is
independent in his political attitude, and is one of the wide-awake and
progressive young men of Washington County. He and his wife hold
membership in the Lutheran Church.
In 1910 Mr. Kronberg was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth
Kempcke, who was born in Douglas County, this state, where her father
is a representative farmer, and the two children of this union are Lester
and Twila.
Fred E. Jungbluth. For twenty years Fred E. Jungbluth has
carried some of the heavy burdens of farm enterprise in his particular
section of Washington County. Nearly all his undertakings have pros
pered and his net experience constitutes a fine farm home and a position
among the capable men of affairs of Washington County. His farm is
a mile and a half south of Dale in section 35 of Arlington Township.
Mr. Jungbluth was born in Washington County in 1881, a son of
Joseph and Nellie (Renard) Jungbluth. While his father was born in
Germany his mother was born in Wisconsin. Joseph Jungbluth came to
Washington County in May, 1871, was an early settler and went through
all the trials and hardships of pioneering. He was a farmer and stock
raiser, and was actively affiliated with the Catholic Church. In his

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 899
family were five children : Delia, wife of Clayton Beck, a stockman at
Harold, South Dakota ; Fred E. ; Minnie, wife of Otto Siesch, a farmer
of Washington County ; Alfonso ; and Gus, deceased. Alfonso for two
years was with the colors during the late war. He was trained at Camp
Cody, and was honorably discharged at Camp Dodge. He was both in
the machine gun and cavalry branches of the service, being a member of
Company H of the One Hundred and Twenty-Seventh Machine Gun
Battalion. While he went overseas he was never in action on the front
line. He is now completing his education in Midland College at Fremont.
Fred E. Jungbluth was educated in Washington County and took a
thorough business course in the Nebraska Business College at Omaha
for two years. In 1901 he began farming, and has kept steadily at this
occupation through subsequent years. He has his land well improved
and handles much livestock, but for several years has featured mules.
He is a members of the Farmers' Union and of Washington Hall.
In 1903 Mr. Jungbluth married Mellie Johnson, who was born in
Denmark, a daughter of J. P. Johnson. To their marriage were born
seven children : Chester, Frances and Lloyd, still at home ; Erma, who
died at the age of ten years ; Mildred, who died aged twenty-one months ;
Allen, who died at the age of ten months ; and Marjorie, the youngest
of the children, is at home. The family are members of the Kountz
Memorial Church of Omaha. Mr. Jungbluth is affiliated with the Wood
men of the World, votes independently, and is treasurer of his school
district, No. 41.
Austin W. Beales. One of the first points to attract settlement in
Washington County was historic old Fort Calhoun, a frontier post that
prior to and during the Civil war period guarded this portion of the
Missouri River Valley from Indian incursions. The site of that old
Indian post is on the land now known as the Austin W. Beales farm,
which adjoins the Village of Fort Calhoun on the east. At one time
Fort Calhoun Village was a place of considerable population and trade.
This interesting and historic farm is now owned and occupied by
Mrs. Hannah Beales, widow of the late Austin W. Beales. The latter
was an old soldier and Nebraska pioneer. He was born in England in
1836 and at the age of ten years came to the United States. As early as
1856 he was in Nebraska, at Fort Calhoun, and later he went into the
army and served as a Union soldier during the Civil war. During 1865-
66 he was engaged in freighting across the plains to Denver, but after
his marriage he settled down on his land and continued the occupation
of farming until his death in January, 1912. He was a highly esteemed
citizen, a successful man in managing his affairs, left a well-improved
property and had also given much of his time to public affairs. He
was a school director for a number of years, also served as city clerk,
and was a member of the Masonic Order. He had homesteaded 158
acres in 1864 and proved up on it in 1869, and continued to own it
until 1885, when he traded it to the Newton Clark heirs as part pay
ment on his farm he owned at the time of his death.
In April, 1868, Austin W. Beales married Miss Hannah Hall, who is
also a pioneer of Washington County. She was born at Springfield,
Ohio in 1849, and came to Nebraska June 7, 1857. Her father, John A.
Hall ' was born at Zanesville, Ohio, in 1816, was a saddler by trade, and
on coming to Nebraska first settled at Florence and his later years were
spent at farming near Herman. He died in February, 1874. John A.
Hall married Catherine C. Mitchell, and they were the parents of two

900 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
sons and four daughters. The oldest daughter is Mrs. Catherine Bailey
of New York City.
Mrs. Beales for more than half a century has lived in the environ
ment of Fort Calhoun, and here she reared her children. To her mar
riage with Mr. Beales six children were born : Elizabeth, born in 1869 and
died in 1870; Catherine C, born November 10, 1871, still at home; Sarah
C, born October 29, 1874, wife of Fred H. Frahm, of Fort Calhoun ; Isabel
C, born March 6, 1880, died in October, 1884; Park G, born April 23,
1883, at home with his mother on the farm; and J. Howard, born June
18, 1886, living near Fort Calhoun.
Elmer M. Miller. Just a mile west of Kennard in Richland Town
ship appears the prosperous home and farm of Elmer M. Miller, one of
the stanch and progressive citizens of Washington County. Mr. Miller
has spent practically all the days of his life in one community, and has
found here ample opportunity to busy him usefully and with a degree
of credit to himself and to the community.
He was born near Kennard, son of Nels and Christena (Christensen)
Miller. His parents were both natives of Denmark, though his father
was born in the old German Province of Schleswig. Nels Miller came
to this country from Denmark in 1872 and was an early arrival in
Washington County, where he married and where he bought and
improved a tract of railway land. He proved an industrious and capable
citizen, and was frequently honored in his community, serving on the
school board, as township assessor and as director of the local cemetery.
He was a member of the Methodist Church at Kennard, and as a repub
lican attended several state conventions as a delegate. His widow is still
living at Kennard at the age of sixty-three. There was one other son,
Leonard N., who graduated in medicine from Creighton University of
Omaha in 1908 and enjoyed an extensive and growing practice as a
physician at Carthage, South Dakota, until his death.
Elmer M. Miller acquired his early education in the Kennard schools
and since the age of twenty-one has been doing for himself and has been
developing more and more extensive interests as a farmer. He is a
dairyman, stock raiser and feeder and has a highly improved farm in
section 6. Politically he gives his allegiance to the republican party, is a
member of the Royal Arch Chapter of Masons, the Modern Woodmen
of America, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows,, and he and his
family attend the Methodist Episcopal Church.
In 1898 Mr. Miller married Elise Jahnel. Their three children are
Leonard, Marvin and Bernice, all at home.
William E. Swihart, who is now living retired in the Village of
Kennard, is one of the venerable and sturdy pioneer citizens of Wash
ington County, and was a lad of eleven years when his parents came to
this county and became pioneers of Nebraska Territory, nearly a decade
prior to the admission of the state to the Union. He has had broad and
varied experience in connection with pioneer life in the west, and as a
skilled artisan at the blacksmith's trade he for many years conducted a
shop and worked mightily at his forge in the village in which he now
maintains his home.
Mr. Swihart was born in Stark County, Ohio, March 24, 1847, and
is a son of Israel and Mary (Brewster) Swihart, the latter a descendant
of Nathaniel Brewster, one of the Pilgrim Fathers who came to America
on the first voyage of this historic ship Mayflower. Israel Swihart was

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 901
born in Pennsylvania, a representative of a sterling family, of German
lineage, that was early found in the old Keystone State, and his wife was
a native of Ohio, where their marriage was solemnized and whence they
removed to Indiana when their son William E. of this review was a boy.
In 1854 they numbered themselves among the pioneers of Dubuque
County, Iowa, where the father followed the blacksmith trade and also
operated a sawmill. In 1858 he came with his family to Nebraska and
settled in the old Town of De Soto, Washington County, where he
arrived on the 5th of May. He became a prominent and influential citi
zen of the pioneer community, where his versatility was shown in his
following the blacksmith trade, in his serving several terms as sheriff of
the county, and in his serving also as a minister of the Christian Church,
of which both he and his wife were devout members. At the time of the
discovery of gold in the Black Hills he joined in the stampede to the new
field, where he erected the fourth house at Lead City, a place now known
as Lead. He there engaged in mining with marked success, and also
served as notary public. After selling his interests in that locality he
went to Hot Springs, South Dakota, where he was engaged in the raising
and feeding of cattle until "rustlers" stole so much of his stock as to
make his operations unprofitable. He then returned to Lead City, and
there his death occurred in 1896, when he was about eighty-seven years
of age, his remains being brought back to Kennard, Nebraska, where
they were laid to rest beside those of his wife, in the cemetery which he
himself had laid out a number of years previously, his wife having died
when about forty-eight years of age. They were numbered among the
organizers and charter members of the Christian Church at De Soto, and
in politics he was a stalwart republican. Of the three children William
E. of this review is the eldest; Nancy E. is the wife of Ezra Spink of
Council Bluffs, Iowa; and John H. is now a farmer at La Junta.
William E. Swihart received the advantages of a good home, but,
reared under pioneer conditions, his entire attendance in school in his
youth did not exceed a year in duration, his broader education having
been gained through self -discipline and in the stern school of experience.
He learned the blacksmith trade under the direction of his father at
De Soto, and as a young man he entered a claim to a homestead in
Washington County two and one-half miles northeast of Kennard. After
going to the Black Hills with his father he lost this property. He was
but fourteen years old at the inception of the Civil war, but before its
close he entered service in defense of the Union by enlisting in the First
Nebraska Black Horse Battalion, which later became a part of the
First Nebraska Volunteer Infantry. He participated in several skirmishes
and continued in service, principally in Nebraska, until the close of the
war. From what is now the State of South Dakota, after a varied experi
ence in the Black Hills district, Mr. Swihart returned to Washington
County, Nebraska, and opened a blacksmith shop at Kennard, where he
continued to work vigorously at his trade until 1902, when he retired.
He has served as township assessor, as census enumerator and as justice
of the peace, with secure place in the confidence and good will of the com
munity that has represented his home during the major part of his life.
His political allegiance is given to the republican party, he holds mem
bership in the Christian Church, and he is affiliated with the Grand
Army of the Republic and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
In 1867 Mr. Swihart married Miss Sarah E. Allen, who was born in
the State of Illinois and whose death occurred in 1901. Of their eight
children six are living: Charles H. is a prosperous farmer in Knox

902 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
County; Pearl is the wife of Elmer Wild of Fremont, Dodge County;
Jessie E. is the wife of Charles A. Olson of Los Angeles, California;
John A. is his father's successor as the village blacksmith at Kennard ;
Mark I. is engaged in farming in Wayne County'; and Grace is the wife
of George A. Rathman, who conducts an automobile garage at Blair,
Nebraska. In 1904 Mr. Swihart was united in marriage to Mrs. Sarah E. French,
widow of James R. French. She was born in Kentucky, a daughter of
Taylor B. Meadows, who was killed in battle in the Union army in
1863. Four children by her first marriage are living : G. R. is a success
ful farmer in Washington County ; Elizabeth is the wife of George
Menken of Kennard ; Thomas E. conducts a meat market in this village ;
and Taylor is a farmer near Herman, Washington County.
Magnus Johnson is the son of one of the early pioneers of Wash
ington County, has lived in the county himself for over half a century,
has been successfully identified with farming, banking and public affairs,
and is undoubtedly one of the best known and most highly esteemed
residents of Blair.
He was born in Sweden February 25, 1856, only child of Mous and
Anna Johnson. His parents immigrated to the United States in 1865,
when he was nine years of age, and for two or three years lived in
Omaha. It was in i868 that the Johnson family homesteaded in Wash
ington County, and the parents spent the rest of their lives on their
homestead, seeing their efforts rewarded with a comfortable home before
their deaths. They were active members of the Lutheran Church, and
the father after acquiring American citizenship voted as a republican.
Magnus Johnson from the age of twelve lived on a Nebraska farm
and supplemented his education acquired at Omaha in country schools.
He began his career as a practical farmer, and his enterprise was chiefly
directed to agricultural lines and he lived on the farm until 1913, when
he moved to Blair. A man of substantial property interests, well known
for his integrity of character and good business judgment, Magnus
Johnson has had many interests in his home community. He helped
organize the Farmers and Merchants Bank of Kennard, and has been its
president since its organization twenty-one years ago. At Blair he served
a term as mayor, and for four years was a member of the County Board
of Washington County and was on the school board about twenty-four
years when on the farm.
In 1882 Mr. Johnson married Miss Anna Anderson, a native of
Sweden. They have five children: Nellie C, who married Al Payne
of Chelsea, Oklahoma ; Ida, at home ; Emma, who has been employed
in railroad service for fourteen years and while the Government had
charge of the railroads she was employed as one of the officers of
the railroad administration at Washington, District of Columbia, and still
has that position ; Alma, wife of Robert Foley, a Washington County
farmer; and Lawrence William, the only son, who was the soldier repre
sentative of the family during the World war. He was in the field artil
lery with the One Hundred and Twenty-Seventh Regiment, was in
training and in service two years, went overseas but was not put on the
front line of action prior to the signing of the armistice.
Mrs. Johnson is a member of the Lutheran Church while Mr. Johnson
attends the Episcopal Church. In politics he is a stanch republican.

WILLIAM H. BUSS

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 903
F. W. Christensen. One of the live and enterprising farmers and
stockmen of Washington County is F. W. Christensen, whose thoroughly
improved and systematized farm is in section 26 of Arlington Township,
his home being just a half mile south of Dale Store.
Mr. Christensen was born in Washington County August 16, 1870,
son of Lewis Christensen. Mr. Christensen grew up and acquired a
public school education in Washington County and for a number of
years was associated with his father on the farm. In 1900 he began
doing for himself, purchasing 157 acres, all of which he has now devoted
to the purposes of general farming. He is also a stockholder in the
Farmers Livestock Exchange at Omaha. He is a member of the Metho
dist Church at Elk City and is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of
America. For a number of years he served as school director and has
been deeply interested in all matters of community progress.
November 7, 1900, Mr. Christensen married Emma Gaines, daughter
of H. L. Gaines of Washington County, whose career has been described
elsewhere. Mr. and Mrs. Christensen have three children, all at home:
Mary Irene, Glen Leroy and Loren William.
Rev. William Henry Buss. The publishers welcome this opportunity
to tell briefly something concerning the life and service of the supervising
editor of this history, Rev. William Henry Buss, who has been a part
of the community at Fremont for more than a quarter of a century.
He was born in Lamberhurst, Sussex County, England, February
6, 1852, and in the following year his parents, Rev. Henry and Char
lotte (Miles) Buss, came to the United States. His father, a Congre
gational minister, gave a pioneer service to his church in Wisconsin and
Illinois, his pastorates covering a period of forty years. Both parents
died in Aurora, Illinois, at a ripe old age.
William H. Buss acquired his early education in Wisconsin and
Illinois, and his higher education in Wheaton College in Illinois and
Oberlin College in Ohio. He took the four-year classical course at
Oberlin, graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1879, and
ranking fifty iri his class of fifty members. In his junior year he was
elected class poet, and his commencement composition was an "Ode to
Oberlin." Mr. Buss was not supplied with liberal funds to attend col
lege, and practically paid his way, serving as clerk, accountant and school
teacher. Immediately on leaving Oberlin he entered the Chicago Theo
logical Seminary, taking the three years' divinity course including
Hebrew. The expenses of his senior year at the Theological Seminary
were defrayed from his returns from missionary preaching in Chicago.
He was graduated in 1882 with the degree Bachelor of Divinity.
Rev. Mr. Buss was ordained a minister of the Congregational Church
at Burlington, Iowa, June 6, 1882, and for two years was the assistant
pastor of the First Congregational Church of that city in association
with Rev. Dr. William Salter. He then organized a new church and
built a new house of worship at West Burlington, where he served until
February, 1887, when he was called to the pastorate of the Deadwood
Congregational Church, in which he continued until October, 1890.
It was in that month, just thirty years ago, that he accepted a call
to the First Congregational Church of Fremont, Nebraska, where he
served eleven consecutive years. In 1901 he was summoned to the pas
torate of a church at Aurora, Illinois, but was recalled to Fremont Janu
ary 1, 1906. Rev. Mr. Buss has served as a delegate to national and
international councils of his denomination at Syracuse and Boston, also

904 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
as a delegate to an international convention of Christian Endeavor at
Baltimore, and has twice delivered the annual baccalaureate sermon at
the University of Nebraska. He managed the fortieth and the fiftieth
anniversaries of the Fremont church, which were elaborately celebrated
and has been closely identified with the' religious, civic and educational
affairs of the city for twenty-six years.
During his pastoral work he has composed and published many
poetical writings, not a few of which have attracted wide attention. In
1917 he contested with 400 competitors for the price of $100 offered by
Hon. John D. ' Haskell, president of the Farmers' National Bank of
Wakefield, Nebraska, for the best state hymn that should be written by
a Nebraska author in honor of the semi-centennial of the commonwealth.
Mr. Buss won the prize, which naturally brought him congratulations
from all over the West. The "Hymn to Nebraska" was set to music by
John Prindle Scott of New York City and has been sung not only dur
ing the anniversary celebration but also by great numbers of school chil
dren in various parts of the state ever sirice. His gifts as a poet were
additionally inspired during the World war, when he composed many
poems on various phases of the war situation and upon prominent Ameri
can persons and events. Many of these were published in the local press
and by outside journals. Mr. Buss has a collected volume of poems now
ready for publication.
October 29, 1885, at Burlington, Iowa, he married Miss Annie Rachel
Woepking, who has been from the beginning a true helpmeet, comfort
and inspiration in all his labors. Their family consists of one daughter
and two sons. Edith Emily is a business accountant and a church choir
soloist. Ralph Harold is master of the department of discounts and col
lateral in the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. William Kenneth, the
other son, was with the United States Marines during the World war,
is now local adjutant of the American Legion Post at Fremont, and a
salesman and accountant in his native city.
In the spring of 1917 Rev. Mr. Buss, suffering with an affliction
of his eyes and having served in the gospel ministry for thirty-six years,
decided to resign from his pastorate and undergo special treatment. The
First Congregational Church accepting the resignation expressed great
love and appreciation of the extended pastorate and unanimously elected
him pastor emeritus for life. He is now living in comparative retirement,
much improved in health, and his memories of the past and the love of
his people fill his heart with gratitude and joy, intangible assets that he
regards as the truest wealth. But he is not allowed to be idle, is con^
stantly called upon for special sermons and all varieties of pastoral work,
and the early evening of a useful life he still finds richly fraught with
the gladness of the service of mankind.

Mrs. Dora Luse, whose home is in section 9 of Blair Township, two
miles west of the Town of Blair, is the widow of the late George Luse,
and was herself born in Dodge County and represents one of the earliest
families to settle in this section of Nebraska.
Her father, H. J. Raner, was a native of Ohio, and on going west
first settled in Lynn County, Iowa. For a time he lived in St. Louis and
in 1859, with his wife, whom he married in Iowa, came in a covered
wagon to Washington County, Nebraska. He homesteaded eighty acres,
and began life there practically without capital. He and his wife made
their first home in a dugout. Experiencing low markets, drought, grass-

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 905
hoppers and other plagues that beset the early settlers, he went steadily
ahead and achieved notable success. He early began to acquire more
land, trading a threshing machine for some and paying $8 an acre for
other tracts and at the time of his death had 400 acres. Despite the hard
work he did and the hardships he passed through he lived to a good old
age and passed away April 27, 1917, at the age of eighty-two. H. J.
Raner married Sarah Mann, who died January 2, 1917, at the age of
seventy-seven. They were the parents of seven children: Stephen, a
farmer in Brown County, Nebraska ; Mrs. Mary Heath, wife of a Wash
ington County farmer; Delbert, a broom-maker by trade, living at Her
man; Mrs. Dora Luse; Charles, deceased; Mrs. Lora Steed, of Blair;
and Theodore, deceased.
At Blair in 1894 Miss Dora Raner became the wife of George Luse.
Mr. Luse grew up in Pennsylvania, and at the age of fifteen went out to
northwestern Nebraska, locating in Cherry County. He came to Wash
ington County about twenty-five years ago, and during his married life
successfully and profitably managed the farm where Mrs. Luse and her
family now reside. They had four children : Gladys Peterson, of Wash
ington County; Harry, of Washington County; Adelbert, deceased; and
Georgia, at home with her mother.
William R. Goll. Prominent among the reliable business citizens
who have maintained the prestige and business integrity of Fort Calhoun
during a long period of years is William R. Goll, the proprietor of a
modern pharmacy. Mr. Goll has not alone been prominent in business
affairs, but in public life as well, having been formerly postmaster here
for nearly a quarter of a century and at present acting efficiently in the
capacity of city treasurer.
Mr. Goll was born on a farm in Washington County, Nebraska, in
1864, a son of Jacob J. and Margaret (Frees) Goll, natives of Holstein,
Germany. His father on first coming to the United States in 1827 set
tled in Pennsylvania, but later moved to Cal Junction, Iowa, and in 1847
or 1848 came to Washington County, Nebraska. He located or pre
empted a claim near Blair, when Nebraska was still a territory. He
being one of the first to locate in this section and continued to live
on the same farm and received title from the Government. He was
married in 1862. Later in life they were numbered among the sub
stantial agricultural people of their region, owning 100 acres of land
and carrying on farming and stock raising on a large scale. It happened
that father Goll had located his claim before this region had been sur
veyed by the Government, and had erected his log house on a site
which proved to be immediately upon the corners of four sections,
making it necessary for the surveyors to plant their stake in the middle
of his home. In later years this historic old log house was replaced by
a more modern one, and finally Mr. and Mrs. Goll retired entirely from
active pursuits and moved to Blair, where the father passed away at the
age of eighty years and the mother when she was seventy-two years of
age. They were faithful members of the Lutheran Church, and in poli
tics Mr. Goll was a republican. He held office on several occasions, hav
ing been school moderator and director of Goll School, District No. 12
in Washington County, the school having been erected in his honor.
There were seven children in the family, of whom four are living at this
time: Amelia and Mary, who are unmarried and reside at Blair;
Matilda, the wife of Mr. Linstrom, of that place ; and William R.
Vol. II— 29

906 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
William R. Goll attended the country schools and resided on the
home farm until he was seventeen years of age, at which time he decided
to make his own way in the world. For seven and one-half years he was
employed by Dr. S. B. Taylor, of Blair, in his drug store, and during
this time took a business and pharmacy course at Elliott's Business Col
lege, Burlington, Iowa, graduating in the latter study in 1887. Later he
went to Pueblo, Colorado, where he worked in a wholesale drug house,
and then went to Pilger, where he was employed for one year by C. W.
Howe. Coming to Fort Calhoun in 1891, he became postmaster here
and held that position for twenty-four years. In March, 1891, he brought
in a drug stock which he had purchased and established himself in the
drug business. He now conducts a general pharmacy, compiling prescrip
tions and handling A. D. S. drugs, and has built up an excellent patronage
through his thorough knowledge of his calling, his business perspicacity
and a courteous and obliging personality that readily makes friends.
Mr. Goll has long been a prominent figure in the ranks of the republican
party in this section, and after serving fifteen years in the capacity of
city treasurer resigned in January, 1921. He belongs to the Masons and
the Modern Woodmen of America, and Mrs. Goll is an Adventist.
On December 31, 1890, Mr. Goll was united in marriage with Miss
Sadie M. Conger, a native of Illinois, and three children have been born
to them: Harold, in the United States postoffice at Omaha; Walter
Creighton, attending the Omaha Medical College ; and Willard, at home.
Frank C. Adams. Like the majority of his contemporaries in the
field of journalism in the smaller cities of Nebraska Frank C. Adams
began his connection with newspaper work at the case. Throughout a
somewhat extended career he has been identified with the printing busi
ness, largely in association with newspapers, and the varied experience
which he gained in numerous communities has been of no little value to
him in his work of producing the Fort Calhoun Chronicle, of which he
has been the editor and publisher since his arrival in this city in 1915.
Mr. Adams was born on a farm in Sherman Township, Washington
County, Nebraska, in 1876, a son of J. K. and Elizabeth (Love) Adams;
the former born in Pennsylvania and the latter in Scotland. From
Pennsylvania, where they were married, the parents removed first to
Wisconsin and then to Iowa, where the father engaged in farming and
stock raising until 1869, when he took up a homestead in Sherman Town
ship, Washington County, Nebraska. He continued his farming opera
tions there for fourteen years, but his wife died in 1881, at the age of
forty years, and two years later he went to Tekamah and embarked in
the drug business, being associated therein with his brother, Robert L.
After eight years of this association it was mutually terminated and
Mr. Adams removed to Lyons, this state, where he is still engaged in
business as the proprietor of a pharmacy known as Adams Drug Store.
He is eighty-three years of age, but still active in attending to the daily
routine of his duties. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows and of the Presbyterian Church, and in politics is a republican.
Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Adams : A. C, engaged in the
drug business at Omaha; R. W., an insurance man of Boise, Idaho;
Maria, the widow of William Scott, of Tekamah ; and Frank C.
Frank C. Adams received his education in the public schools of Lyons,
Nebraska, and at Bellevue College, which he attended two years, and
then began to learn the printing business of M. W. Warner, of Lyons.
After he had been employed by Mr. Warner for two years he went to

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 907
Bentley, Iowa, where he conducted The Argus, and later went to Atlanta
and was the proprietor of the Atlanta Record. Subsequently he worked
on the Fremont Tribune and following this the Tekamah Herald and
the Pender Times, and then spent four years in job shops of Qmaha.
Next he went to Bloomfield, where he was proprietor of the Journal for
one year, and in 1915 came to Fort Calhoun and founded the Chronicle,
which he has conducted to the present time. This is a well-printed, well-
edited weekly publication, which by reason of its reliability, cleanness
and interesting character has attained a large circulation at Fort Calhoun
and in the country surrounding, while as an advertising medium it is
accounted to be valuable. In connection with his newspaper Mr. Adams
operates an up-to-date and well-equipped job printing department, where
high-class work of all kinds is done. He is likewise interested in han
dling local real estate, being associated in this business with W. P. Cook.
Mr. Adams was married in 1899 to Miss Tessie Cleveland, who was
born in Burt County, Nebraska, and to this union there have been born
five children : DeLena, residing at Lyons ; Robert and Julia, residing
with their parents ; Ruth, who lives at Omaha ; and Giles, at home. The
family holds membership in the Presbyterian Church at Fort Calhoun.
Fraternally Mr. Adams is identified with the Modern Woodmen of
America, while his political adherence is given to the republican party.
Since coming to Fort Calhoun he has served efficiently as postmaster
two years.
J. F. Japp. Since earliest pioneer times in Washington County one
of the very prominent families has been that of Japp. A prominent
representative of that name today in the argicultural enterprise of Rich
land township is J. F. Japp, whose home is in section 22, a mile and a
half east and two and a half miles north of the Town of Washington.
Mr. Japp, whose life of earnest effort and successful enterprise has
been entirely spent in Washington County, was born on the site of his
present home September 24, 1869, oldest of the twelve children of John
and Catherine Japp. His mother is still living. John Japp, a native of
Germany, came to the United States with all his capital comprising only
$70. As a pioneer in Nebraska he homesteaded eighty acres of prairie
land, and a very modest frame structure furnished the first habitation
for him and his family. The nearest town to his place of settlement was
old Fort Calhoun, and he took his grain to be ground at the grist mill
in that village. While he always remained a farmer his life's industry
was well rewarded and at one time he owned 960 acres. He and his
family were active members of the Lutheran Church. John Japp died
at the age of seventy-nine years.
J. F. Japp has always lived close to the home environment, and
after being educated in the local schools he assisted in the work of the
farm and at the age of twenty-six established a home of his own, buying
land from his father. He has 160 well-cultivated acres and handles a
considerable amount of live stock every year. Mr. Japp is an independent
in politics. In December, 1898, he married Bertha Schroeder, who was born in
Germany and at the age of two years was brought to the United States
by her parents. Her father, Peter Schroeder, is a retired farmer at
Brunswick, Antelope County, Nebraska. Eight children have been born
to Mr. and Mrs. Japp, and they are all in the home circle. Their names
are Dorothy, Minnetta, Meta, John, Pauline, Olga, Sylvia and Leonard.

908 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Chris Wrich. In section 16 of Richland Township, a mile east and
two and a half miles north of Washington, is a farm and home which
shows the evidence of the thrifty labors of two generations of the Wrich
family. The present owner and occupant is Chris Wrich, who has lived
there practically all his life and whose years have borne every token of
industry and good citizenship.
Mr. Wrich was born in Washington County in 1874, son of Carsten
and Marie Wrich. His father came from Germany to the United States
in 1869, and made his first settlement at old Fort Calhoun. He possessed
less than $50 when he reached Nebraska, and for the first five years he
lived at Calhoun Village and found varied employment in the life and
affairs of this district. He then bought eighty acres of state school land,
and with that as a foundation he developed his land holdings until at the
time of his death his estate comprised 800 acres, including several very
high-grade farms. He died at the age of eighty-three and his wife is
also deceased. They were the parents of four sons and one daughter.
Carsten Wrich put up on his first farm a rude board barn and house, but
eventually erected a very substantial home, with all the comforts of good
living. Chris Wrich had all the experiences of the average farm boy,
attended district school, and helped his father in the fields, and since the
age of twenty-seven has been doing for himself as a successful general
farmer and stock raiser. He has also served on the school board as clerk
for a number of years, is a democratic voter, and he and his wife are
affiliated with the Lutheran Church.
In 1899 Mr. Wrich married Miss Emma Kuhr. The four children
born into their home are Mary, Margaret, Dora and Alma.
Hans Wrich has spent nearly all his life in the community where
he still lives and since early infancy has been associated with the rural
environment of Dodge and Washington counties. His life has been one
of strenuous effort, particularly in the years when he had to combat
those vicissitudes so well known to the Nebraska farmer, but in more
recent times has seen his affairs grow and prosper and is now the con
tented owner of a fine farm property in Richland Township of Wash
ington County, located in section 22.
Mr. Wrich was born in Germany February 27, 1869, son of Carsten
and Marie Wrich. A few months after his birth his parents started for
America. They completed their journey at Fort Calhoun, Nebraska, and
the father had only $75 when he reached there. For three years he
worked out by day and month wages, then rented land two years, after
which he secured eighty acres of school land in township 17, and put up
for the accommodation of his family an old country style house of plain
boards. As he improved his land he bought more and at one time owned
840 acres. He was always busy as a farmer and stockman, never held
any public offices, and was one of the prosperous citizens of the county
when he died in 1914 at the age of eighty-three. His wife died at the
age of eighty-four.
Hans Wrich grew up on his father's homestead, learned the lessons
taught in the common schools, and assisted his father in proportion to his
growing strength on the farm. At the age of twenty-six he started for
himself, buying a tract of 170 acres of improved land and gradually
increasing his holdings until he now has 410 acres, all in Washington
County and devoted to general farming and stock raising. Mr. Wrich,
like his father, has never dabbled in politics, and gives his vote to the

l/> -€y^-n^^cT

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 909
man or principle which he deems most worthy. He is affiliated with the
Modern Woodmen of America.
In 1895 Mr. Wrich married Bertha E. Kuhr, member of one of the
older families of Dodge and Washington counties. Mr. and Mrs. Wrich
are the parents of six children : Chris, a farmer near Oram, Nebraska ;
George, at home; William, who died at the age of eighteen years; Otto
and Marie, both at home ; and Herman, who died at the age of ten years.
Joseph Towner Smith. While it was a real distinction that he
arrived at Fremont in 1856 among the very first settlers, it was the
character and capabilities of Joseph Towner Smith that made his career
impressive as one of the real pioneers. At the time of his death he was
the largest taxpayer in Dodge County, and for upwards of half a cen
tury the name of Towner Smith possessed a significance due as much to
his character as to his extensive possessions. He was a shrewd and far-
sighted business man, very plain and unassuming, and his life illustrated
the possibilities of substantial achievement without superficial show.
He was born November 28, 1831, in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania,
and died at Fremont, Nebraska, November 12, 1902. His father, Tilton
Smith, was a native of Orange County, New York, while his mother,
Catherine Draper, was born in Otsego County, New York. They were
married in Luzerne, now Wyoming, County, Pennsylvania, and of
their family three sons became identified with the pioneer life of eastern
Nebraska. Towner Smith grew up and acquired his early education in Pennsyl
vania. On October 28, 1856, he crossed the Missouri River into Nebraska
at Omaha. His companion in travel was his brother, Charles A. They
proceeded up the Nebraska side of the river to Fremont, where their
older brother, Judge James G. Smith, had preceded them several months,
in time to help lay out the Town of Fremont in August of that year.
Towner Smith saw the village when it contained only a few log houses
and dugouts. It was a real frontier community, surrounded by a greater
Indian population than whites. It was only in that year that any of the
permanent settlements were established in this part of Nebraska Terri
tory. Preparatory to approaching winter the three brothers constructed
a dugout 8x12 feet, and here they had their home and headquarters
during the winter of 1856-57. During the spring and summer of the
following year the brothers erected a hewed log house, 16x24 feet.
This by virtue of its service was one of the real historic landmarks of
early Fremont, serving as residence, boarding house, postoffice, store
and trading house for both whites and Indians. In 1858 Towner Smith
and his brother, James G., opened the first store in Fremont, and James
was appointed the first postmaster. This store was on the corner of
Military and Broad streets, but later they erected a store building at
Sixth and Broad in block 125, opposite the present postoffice building
and on the site now occupied by Hammond & Stephens' large publishing
house. For many years Towner Smith and his brother, Judge James G,
were together in the merchandise business. James G. Smith removed
from Fremont to Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 1906, and later lived in
Los Angeles, where he died July 5, 1915. The other Smith brother,
Charles A., died in Fremont October 2, 1916.
After Towner Smith and his brother James dissolved partnership,
the former devoted his time to his extensive landed interests and for
many years did a large business buying and selling lands. His invest
ments were varied and his acute judgment made him almost invariably

910 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
successful in his investments. He owned much Chicago property, coal
lands in Missouri, and other interests besides those in his home county.
An early settler who had known Towner Smith from the time he
came west paid this significant tribute to him: "He was a great saver
but was generous to people whom he knew to be in need. Whenever he
performed an act of kindness it was done without ostentation and many
deeds of this nature never came to the public notice. He was scrupu
lously honest and whatever he said could be depended ori." He was
never actively affiliated with lodge or church, but contributed to causes
represented by such organizations, was a republican in politics, and for
several years represented the third ward in the City Council. He was
one of the founders and was the first chief of the Fremont fire depart
ment. Undoubtedly the substantial character of Towner Smith entered
into the very foundation of the modern City of Fremont, and it was his
good fortune to see that community grow from an outpost of the wilder
ness into one of the real cities of the state.
The first wife of Towner Smith was Charlotte Adelia Miller. On
November 25, 1882, he married Augusta Wilhelmina Knopp, a native of
Nebraska, who died July 8, 1889. To this marriage were born three
children: Charlotte, wife of Carlos Morehouse of Fremont; Franklin
Perry, who was born in 1888 and died March 10, 1919; and Joseph T., Jr.
Joseph T. Smith. A successful young business man who has always
counted it a part of his good fortune that his destiny has been allied
with the City of Fremont, Joseph T. Smith is a son of the late Towner
Smith, and was born at Fremont November 22, 1886.
He acquired his early education in the Fremont High School, spent
three years in the Culver Military Academy at Culver, Indiana, and nine
months in the Fremont Normal School. His education finished he was
connected with the Fremont State Bank until reaching his majority and
for the past thirteen years has had full charge of the J. T. Smith Estate,
Incorporated, which owns and controls the widely scattered and valuable
properties accumulated chiefly during the lifetime of the late Towner
Smith. Included in the estate are some valuable coal properties in Mis
souri conducted as Smith, Marriott & Company of Moberly, Missouri,
of which Mr. Smith is president. Mr. Smith has shown executive and
financial ability of a high order in the management of this estate, but as
a business man has not neglected the claims and duties of good citizenship.
September 6, 1917, he joined the colors and trained as a soldier for
the World war at Camp Funston, Kansas. He was in the army eleven
months, being corporal of his company, and received an honorable dis
charge on account of ill health July 26, 1918. Following his military
service he spent five months recuperating in California, and after partly
recovering his physical vigor returned to his home in Fremont. In 1910
he built at 1452 North Park Avenue a very attractive home, planning it
after some of the beautiful modern houses of Southern California.
This home was in readiness for the reception of his bride, Leonora K.
Pierce, whom he married June 21, 1911. Mrs. Smith was born in West
Virginia, daughter of Frederick G. and Bertha E. Pierce. Their only
daughter, Marjorie Elizabeth Smith, was born in 1912. Mr. and Mrs.
Smith are active members of the Presbyterian Church and he is a trustee
of the church and secretary of the Sunday school. Well known in
social and fraternal life, he is a member of the Fremont Commercial
Club, the Country Club, is affiliated with the Masonic order, the Benevo
lent and Protective Order of Elks, and since the war has been active in

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 911
American Legion work. He is a republican, and during the primary
campaigns of 1920 was secretary of the "Leonard- Wood-for-President-
Club." Christof Bergmann is a Washington County pioneer. His home has
been here for over forty years. His activities for the most part have been
identified with the land, and in earlier years he experienced all the hard
ships and ups and downs of the Nebraska farmer. He was persistent,
hard working and eventually saw the sun of prosperity shine upon his
efforts and is now well satisfied to enjoy the comforts won by earlier
years and allows the responsibilities of farming to rest upon the sturdy
shoulders of his son.
Mr. Bergmann was born in Hanover, Germany, in 1845, and was
reared and educated in his native country. At the age of twenty-three
he came to America, and from 1870 for nine years lived in Chicago. He
was in that city at the time of the great fire of 1871. His chief employ
ment while there was with an express company.
In 1879 Mr. Bergmann came to Nebraska, bringing his family. He
did not homestead, but soon after coming bought eighty acres of unim
proved land. He gave that farm its substantial improvements, and still
lives there. His home adjoins the Town of Washington on the east,
and is located in section 32 of Richland Township. Mr. Bergmann out
of his personal experiences is able to appreciate the wonderful contrast
in conditions affecting the farmer. In the early days he was hardly able
to sell corn even at 10 cents a bushel, and he sold his hogs for $3.80 a
hundred. He and some of the other early settlers in the locality usually
did their trading at Omaha, many miles away.
In Chicago in 1873 Mr. Bergmann married Mary Seedorf, who was
also a native of Hanover. Five children were born to their marriage:
Mrs. Emma Rathmann, living near Bloomfield, Nebraska; Mrs. Mary
Cunningham, -whose home is near Kennard in Washington County ; Chris,
at home, looking after his father's farm ; Margaretha, also at home ; and
Mrs. Adela Goedeker, of Washington County. Mr. Bergmann is a
democratic voter. For two years he served as a member of his local
school board.
Carl F. Puls. Through all the years of his mature life Carl F. Puis
has been identified with one prosperous agricultural community of Wash
ington County, Richland Township, where he owns a well-improved farm
in section 26.
The esteem paid him as a good citizen has been acquired in the same
county where he was born and reared. Mr. Puis was born in Washing
ton County February 9, 1875, son of Carl and Margaretha Puis. His
father, a native of Germany, came to the United States in 1866, a poor
man, and for two years worked out for day and month wages in Scott
County, Iowa. By dint of much saving he accumulated the modest fund
that enabled him to come to Nebraska and homestead eighty acres of raw
land in Washington County. On this land he built a humble board
shack, but eventually saw his efforts meet their proper rewards, although
he suffered many hardships. Before his death he owned 200 acres in
Washington County. He died January 19, 1912, at the age of seventy-
eight, and his wife passed away November 1, 1895, at the age of fifty-
four. They had nine children, three of whom died in infancy, and the
six still living are: August Adolph, a Wisconsin farmer; Mrs. Herman
Klindt, of Washington County ; Carl F. ; Martha Hiese, of Cuming

912 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
County, Nebraska; F. J., who lives on the old homestead farm; and
Mrs. Emma Echtemkamp, of Boone County.
Carl F. Puis was reared on the farm, acquired a common school edu
cation, and worked with his father for a number of years, helping
improve and operate the land. At the age of twenty-nine he bought some
land from his father and in that one locality has continued his enterprise
as a general farmer and stockman, and at the same time has manifested
a commendable interest and public spirit in connection with all progres
sive affairs in his locality.
April 20, 1904, Mr. Puis married Miss Dorthea M. Wiese. They
have four children, all at home, named Rheinhardt, Margarthea, Louie
and Anita. Mr. Puis is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of Amer
ica, in which he has held the various chairs and is now past consul, and
is a member of the Royal Neighbors of America. His interest in good
schools led him to retain his position as director of his local district for
a number of years. For two years he served as township assessor and
for a long time was road overseer. He is a republican voter.
George M. Antill is one of the highly respected business men of
Blair, where he has lived a number of years and where his efforts have
brought him commendable success and a place of confidence in his
community. Mr. Antill has been the architect of his own fortunes. He was a
small boy when his father died, and he had to make the best of his own
opportunities from early youth. He was born in Monroe County, Ohio,
March 15, 1875, son of Samuel Hudson and Mary J. (Torchey) Antill.
In 1880, when he was five years of age, his parents left Ohio and moved
to Iowa, where his father died a year later. The Antills were farming
people. Of ten children five are still living, George being the eighth in
order of birth. His father was a Mason, a democrat in politics and a
member of the Christian Church.
George M. Antill was about six years of age when his father died.
He had a very limited education in the country schools of Iowa, and had
to practice self-reliance and contrive means to support himself at a very
early age. He learned the cabinet-maker's trade in Iowa, and followed
it for four years. Following that he was a shipping clerk in a whole
sale fruit house at Omaha, and then came to Blair, where he has become
extensively interested in the sale of real estate. He also operates a
garage, though real estate is his chief business. Mr. Antill has sold great
quantities of Colorado lands to individual settlers and is still heavily
interested in that state.
Henry Westphalen is able to record a residence in Dodge County
of forty years, and those have been the most productive and successful
years of his life. He is one of the leading farmers of Ridgeley Town
ship, his home being in section 26.
He was born in Wisconsin in 1860. His father, John Westphalen,
was a native of Germany and an early settler of Wisconsin, where he
lived a number of years. About 1880 he came to Dodge County,
Nebraska, and bought eighty acres near Scribner. At the time of his
death he owned 200 acres.
Henry Westphalen! was twenty years of age when, he came to
Nebraska, had a common school education and some knowledge of farm
ing, and has turned those advantages to good account in his work as an
agriculturist and his varied relations with the community. He owns a

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 913
farm of 200 acres, and has put its improvements among the very best.
He is a republican voter and a member of the Lutheran Church.
His first wife was a Miss Roemer, who at her death left two children.
For his second wife he married Alice Roemer, and they have five children.
Thomas T. Wilkinson. The Civil war was still in progress when
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Wilkinson came West to seek a home in the
sparsely settled country of Nebraska. They shared in practically all
the experiences of the frontier. They came to Nebraska poor, had to
depend upon their thrift and exertions to provide a living for themselves
and their children, and it is a tribute to their substantial virtues that they
subsequently achieved a gratifying degree of prosperity and independence.
Mr. Wilkinson enjoyed the comforts and fruits of his early toil
for a number of years before his death, and Mrs. Thomas Wilkinson,
whose home is at Blair, is one of the interesting pioneer women who can
recount some of the hardships and struggles the early settlers went
through. Thomas Wilkinson was born in England July 1, 1838, son of James
and Sarah Wilkinson, life-long residents of England. His father was a
worker in a clothing factory in England. Thomas Wilkinson came to
America when a young man of about seventeen, and for several years
followed the trade of painter and paperhanger. He lived in northern
Illinois, not far from Chicago, and in 1859 married at Barrington, Illi
nois, Miss Lucy S. Jackson. She was born in England September 3,
1840, daughter of John and Sarah Ann Jackson. The Jackson family
left Lincolnshire and came to the United States about 1842, locating in
Illinois. John Jackson was a veterinary surgeon. Of his nine children
Mrs. Thomas Wilkinson is the only one now living. Her parents both
spent their last years in Elk City, Nebraska.
After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Wilkinson spent two years at
Lake Providence, Louisiana, where he followed his trade. With the
breaking out of the Civil war he returned north, resumed his residence
in Illinois, but in 1864 started west to Elk City, Nebraska. They reached
their destination July 27, 1864. They brought with them the two children
born in Illinois, Ida and Emma. The wagon and team that carried the
family from Illinois to Nebraska represented a large part of the fortune
of Thomas Wilkinson, and consequently when one of his horses died
soon after coming here it was a calamity such as can hardly be under
stood at this late date. Later he bought another horse from the Govern
ment and named it Sam. At that time land was cheap, selling from
$2.50 to $5 an acre, the same land that fifty years later commands a
price of between $250 and $300 an acre. Mr. and Mrs. Wilkinson
acquired a tract of railroad land, and at the price of great self-denial
and close economy they eventually paid for their property. Mrs. Wilkin
son tells many anecdotes showing that the high cost of living was a
problem even more troublesome in those days than at present. Mr. Wil
kinson at one time traded a good watch for a bushel of potatoes. There
was also a scarcity of labor. Mr. Wilkinson sometimes employed Indian
squaws to husk his corn. Indians frequently came to the Wilkinson
home, begging Mrs. Wilkinson for beef and corn, but would never accept
pork. This original home of Mr. and Mrs. Wilkinson in Nebraska was
twenty-five miles from Omaha, then a small town. Mrs. Wilkinson was
a champion butter-maker in her neighborhood, and the surplus of this
product she sold in Omaha. Gradually their affairs prospered and in
1887 they were able to retire from their farm and move to Blair, where

914 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
they enjoyed the comforts of a good town home. At Blair Mr. Wilkin
son passed away July 18, 1912, nearly forty years after he had come to
Nebraska. After Mr. and Mrs. Wilkinson settled in Nebraska two other children
were born to them at Elk City, Nettie .and William. Of their four chil
dren the oldest is Ida, wife of J. F. Smith, who is in the brick business
at Omaha. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have four children, named Harry, Wil
liam, Ralph and Marvel. The second daughter, Emma, is the wife of
Herman Shields, also a brick man at Omaha. Mr. and Mrs. Shields
had two children, their daughter Mildred being a high school girl. Their
other daughter, Lucy Louella, married Clarence Simpson, of Blair, and
she died November 3, 1918, her only child, Lu Ella Ruth, surviving and
living in Blair. Mrs. Wilkinson's daughter Nettie is now deceased. Her
only son is William W. Wilkinson, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere
in this publication.
The late Thomas Wilkinson was an active member of the Episcopal
Church, a democrat in politics, and throughout his life was deeply inter
ested in local affairs. He served a term of the County Board of Super
visors and was also a member of the school board at Blair. He was
postmaster under Cleveland's administration from 1893 to 1896. Mr. Wil
kinson became a Master Mason at Algonquin, Illinois, in September,
1860, and was loyally affiliated with that order the rest of his life. While
living near Fremont he became a charter member of the lodge there,
subsequently a charter member of the lodge at Waterloo, Nebraska, and
finally a member of Blair lodge and the Royal Arch Chapter. Though
he went through some difficult struggles during his early years in
Nebraska Mr. Wilkinson always had a great faith in the future of the
country, and invested wisely in land and left a large estate.
William Voss. Through a long period of years the Voss family has
been substantially identified with the farming interests of Richland Town
ship, Washington County, and representing this name is William Voss,
Jr., whose effective management is given to a fine farm in section 14,
two miles east and two and a half miles south of Kennard.
He was born in Washington County in 1884, son of William Voss, Sr.
After completing his education in4he local schools the son remained at
home until 1914, when he took charge of one of his father's farms and
now has 120 acres devoted to crops and live stock. Most of the sub
stantial improvements on the land were placed there by his father.
March 23, 1910, William Voss, Jr., married Bertha Koepke, daughter
of William Koepke, one' of the early settlers of Washington County.
They have five children, Katherine, Dorothy, John, Wilma and Aveline.
Mr. Voss is an independent voter in politics and a member of the
Lutheran Church.
Mrs. Rose McGiverin, whose beautiful home is situated on East
Sixth Street in the City of Fremont, judicial center of Dodge County,
has been a resident of Nebraska for more than forty years, and few
have manifested deeper interest in the civic and material development
and progress of this commonwealth. Mrs. McGiverin has been specially
prominent and influential in various fraternal and general civic organi
zations, as well as a leader in social activities. A woman of fine intel
lectuality and gracious personality, she finds ample demand upon her
time and attention in connection with the various social and benevolent
organizations with which she is identified, and her beautiful home is a
center of generous hospitality.

%. f^a^th 0?'iL

¦<*W€SL*t1^t^-

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 915
Mrs. McGiverin was born in Green Lake County, Wisconsin,
December 19, 1857, and is a daughter of Ray and Phoebe (Clark) Sax-
ton, both natives of the State of New York and both representatives of
families founded in America in the early colonial period of our national
history. The marriage of the parents was solemnized in the State of
Ohio, but later they numbered themselves among the pioneers of Green
Lake County, Wisconsin, where Mr. Saxton developed and improved a
farm, as did he later one of the valuable farms of Minnesota, where both
he and his wife passed the closing years of their lives. In his youth
Mr. Saxton learned the mason's trade, but the greater part of his active
life was devoted to farm enterprise. On the paternal side Mrs. McGiv
erin is a great-granddaughter of Ezekiel Pearce, who was a resident of
Rhode Island when he enlisted in the Continental line and entered
service in the War of the Revolution. He served with utmost patriotism
and loyalty and was severely wounded in one of the battles marking the
progress of the great struggle for national independence. Though he
lived several years after the close of the war, his death was the distinct
sequel of the wounds he had received in battle. Representatives of the
Pearce family likewise were patriotic soldiers in the Revolutionary war,
and thus strongly fortify Mrs. McGiverin's credentials as a member of
the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Mrs. McGiverin received her early education in the schools of Wis
consin and by the self-discipline gained through comprehensive reading
and study she has become a woman of distinctive culture and fine mental
poise. In 1876 was solemnized her marriage to Francis McGiverin, and
three years later they came to Nebraska. From Wisner, Cuming County,
they proceeded by stage to Stanton, the judicial center of Stanton
County, where they established their home. There they remained twelve
years, and they then came to Fremont, where Mrs. McGiverin has since
maintained her home. Of this union were born two children: Ethel is
the wife of Paul Colson of Fremont ; and Daisy, who became the wife of
Charles Derick, was a resident of this city at the time of her death.
Mrs. McGiverin was a member of the first Chautauqua class formed
at Stanton, this state, and she is one of the two original members of the
American Historical Association from Fremont, the other being George
L. Loomis. She has taken specially lively interest in the affairs of that
noble patriotic organization, the Society of the Daughters of the Ameri
can Revolution, and has served as regent of the Lewis & Clark Chapter
of this organization at Fremont, She is one of the influential members
of this chapter, and has been active and prominent also in the Order of
the Eastern Star, in which she served two years as treasurer of the
Grand Chapter of Nebraska. In the Daughters of Rebekah, an adjunct
of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, she served one year as vice
president and one year as president of the state organization of the order
in Nebraska. She is actively identified with the Ladies' Charity Club of
Fremont, as well as with the Woman's Club, of which she was the
organizer and of which she has served as president. She has been very
active in the home-service section of the Civilian Relief Department of
the American Red Cross and to its work gave the major part of her
time and attention during the period of America's participation in the
great World war and is continuing in the care of the discharged soldiers
at the present time (1920). Her influence was potent also in the local
activities of the Red Cross and other war-time organizations and services.
Having traveled extensively through the Orient and Europe in 1900 on
a Mediterranean cruise and in 1910 having spent five months in Ger-

916 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
many and the British Isles, Mrs. McGiverin has a great deal of data,
especially on Belgium and France, and when the war came on she was
familiar with those countries, which was a great help to her in her war
and Red Cross work. She has been one of the leading members of the
Physical Research Club of Fremont, and has taken loyal interest in all
things pertaining to the social and material welfare of the community.
While a resident of Stanton she was a member of the Congregational
Church of that place, but she is not actively identified with any church
at the present time. A woman of high ideals, her life has been one of
gracious service, and to her is accorded the affectionate regard of the
community in which she has so long maintained her home.
William Osterman, a retired farmer of Arlington, and formerly
quite prominent in the agricultural life of Washington County, was
born in Germany on May 9, 1852, a son of Karl and Rachel (Sprick)
Osterman, both of whom were born in Westphalia, Germany. Coming
to Washington County, Nebraska, in 1857, he pre-empted land and con
tinued to live on his homestead until his death. He and his wife had
six children, of whom two survive, namely : Mary, who married Samuel
S. Dugan of Shawnee, Oklahoma; and William. Karl Osterman was
a democrat in politics. He and his wife were consistent members of the
Lutheran Church. Although he began his struggle with the world with
out any capital, he died a man of some means.
William Osterman attended the schools of Washington County and
took a course at the first college established in Nebraska, which was
located at Fontanelle. When the time arrived for his selection of a life
occupation he selected that of farming, and was engaged in that line of
endeavor throughout the remainder of his active career, always operat
ing on his own property, and he still owns the old family homestead.
In 1915 he left the farm and came to Arlington, where he has since
been numbered among the worth-while men of this locality.
In March, 1880, Mr. Osterman was united in marriage with Louise
Ruwe, a daughter of William Ruwe, a prominent farmer and pioneer of
Washington County. The children born of this marriage are as follows :
William, who is on his father's farm, was educated at Arlington and in
the Fremont Normal School ; Harry Roseoe, who was also educated at
Arlington and in the Fremont Normal School, was formerly a farmer,
but has left that occupation and is now employed at Arlington; and
Alice, who was educated at Arlington, is unmarried and living at home.
Although he was born and reared a Lutheran, Mr. Osterman is now
attending the services of the Congregational Church. He is a democrat
in his political convictions, and has served on the federal jury and on
the School Board, occupying the latter office for over fifteen years.
Through persistence and hard work Mr. Osterman has made a success
in life, and now owns many acres of well-improved land, a beautiful
residence at Arlington and the Terry Hotel building at ' Fremont.
Mr. Osterman's success has not come to him through any spectacular
operations, but is simply the result of whole-hearted endeavor along
legitimate and congenial lines. What he accomplished anyone can do
if he is only willing to work hard, apply himself and save his money.
Mrs. Mary Van Anda. Daughter of a Nebraska pioneer, Mrs. Van
Anda since her marriage has been identified with the farm and rural
life of Dodge County, has seen some capable children grow up in this
community and is widely known for the effective part she has played as
a home maker.

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 917
She was born in Camden County, Missouri, in 1861. Her father,
George W. Mitchell, was born and reared in Jackson County, Kentucky.
He was an expert cabinet-maker by trade, also a farmer and a Methodist
minister. He was honored five years by service in the Missouri State
Legislature. For five years he was in the army as a Union soldier, and
while protecting the frontier paid his firse visit to Dodge County in 1865.
He was also a Mason. He married Louise Jane Wilson, of Nashville,
Tennessee, and Mrs. Van Anda was one of ten children.
Mrs. Van Anda was married at Fremont February 22, 1883. She
became the mother of nine children : George E., of Arlington, Nebraska ;
James C, of Fontanelle; Carmi Huston, of Centerville, South Dakota;
John L. ; Catherine, at home ; Ralph W., of the Moody Bible Institute ;
Francis W., Fletcher W. and Merrill C!, at home with their mother.
When they married Mr. and Mrs. Van Anda moved on a farm, and
Mr. Van Anda was one of the hard working and prosperous citizens of
the community until his death October 25, 1909. Since then Mrs. Van
Anda has kept her home on the old homestead of sixty-five acres. She
is a member of the Methodist Church and her husband was a republican
voter. Asa Dixon, Jr. A live, wide-awake man, energetic and progressive,
Asa Dixon, Jr., of Blair, a well-known operator in real estate, began life
for himself when young, and in the course of his active career has
steadily followed the pathway leading onward and upward to success.
A son of Asa Dixon, Sr., he was born, March 21, 1877, in Washington
County, Nebraska, of pioneer stock.
Born and educated in Peoria, Illinois, Asa Dixon, Sr., served as a
soldier in the Civil war, enlisting in Company C, Twenty-second Iowa
Volunteer Infantry, and was with Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley
campaign. Being seriously wounded at the seige of Vicksburg, he was
confined in a hospital four months. Recovering his health, he again
entered the service and fought bravely until the close of the conflict,
having the distinction of being the youngest soldier in his regiment. He
came to Nebraska in 1865, took up a homestead claim in Washington
County, and in addition to carrying on general farming successfully was
engaged in the real estate business at Blair for about thirty years.
Retired from active business, he is now a resident of California. He
belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic, and is a consistent member
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, though in his earlier life he was a
preacher in the United Brethren Church.
Asa Dixon, Sr., married, in 1866, in Nebraska, Alice Manigal, who
was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and came with her parents to Washington
County, Nebraska, in 1864. She passed to the life beyond on October
28, 1918. Of the fifteen children born of their marriage, twelve are
living, as follows : Mrs. T. E. King of Los Angeles, California ; James
M., engaged in the real estate business in Blair; Frank, formerly a farmer
in Tekamah, Nebraska, is now living retired in Los Angeles ; Mrs. L. E.
Robinson, also a resident of Los Angeles ; Emil of Blair, a dealer in real
estate; Asa, Jr., of this sketch; Oscar, operating a laundry in Blair;
Wallace P., a well-known real estate dealer at Tekamah; Charles, who
has served as a mail clerk in Los Angeles for fifteen years ; Mrs. William
Nichols, also of Los Angeles; Mrs. Russell Thapp, whose husband is
pastor of the First Christian Church at Seattle, Washington; and Fred,
who has a studio at Carnegie Hall, New York City, was the third man in
the United States to make records for self-playing pianos.

918 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
After his graduation from the Blair High School, Asa Dixon, Jr.,
embarked in agricultural pursuits, and for twelve years carried on gen
eral farming and stock raising and dealing. Establishing himself in
Blair in 1910, he has since been busily and prosperously engaged in
business as a real estate dealer, his operations extending throughout
Nebraska, and even to the Pacific Coast, as he has sold some land in
California. He is interested in lands on his own account, and by wise
investments has acquired a goodly property.
Mr. Dixon married, in 1895, in Blair, Jessie Sheets, who was born
in 1877 in Washington County, Nebraska, on the farm of her father,
Henry Sheets. Five children have been born into their household, namely :
Gifford of Blair, now an insurance agent, was for three years state
manager for the National Auto Insurance Company ; Arthur, engaged in
the insurance business at Blair; Mrs. D. D. Kinyoun, whose husband
is engaged in farming at Formoso, Kansas; and Mildred and Jennie,
attending school. Politically Mr. Dixon is a steadfast democrat, and
fraternally he belongs to the Knights of the Maccabees. Religiously he
is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and has ever been active
and prominent in church and Sunday school work. Mrs. Dixon is a
member of the Roman Catholic Church, and faithful to its teachings.
Mrs. Mary Barry. All of the farm land is not owned by men, for
some of the most successful farmers of the country are women, and one
who has achieved a gratifying success in agriculture is Mrs. Mary Barry
of section 26, Blair Township, Washington County, Nebraska. She is
the widow of Michael Barry, and a daughter of James Manny, a native
of Ireland, who came to the United States at an early day and settled
first in New Jersey, from whence he came to Nebraska, making the trip
early in 1865. As far as St. Joseph, he made the trip by water, but on
account of the shallows at that point was forced to conclude the journey
with wagons, to Calhoun. The first winter the family lived in a log
cabin, near Calhoun fort, where the overland travelers stopped on their
way to the Black Hills and further West. In the spring the family
moved on a farm and at that time had an ox team and one cow. They
underwent hardships, including trouble from unfriendly Indians, but in
time prospered, and when the father died he owned 400 acres of land
in Washington County and 320 acres in Kimball and Antelope counties.
He passed away when he was fifty-five years old, his widow surviving
him until she was sixty-eight years old. Mrs. Barry is the only one of
their children living, as her brother, James, was shot while on duty as
a watchman at Benson, and her sister, Johanna, died in 1907.
Michael Barry was born in Canada, and came to the United States
in 1856, first living for a time at Omaha, Nebraska, and then going on a
farm near Calhoun, his father, Thomas Barry accompanying him when
he located on this farm. In 1880 he and Mrs. Barry were married and
they became the parents of the following children : Thomas ; Mrs. James
Thompson ; Mrs. Edgar Rose ; Joseph ; Mrs. Jim Sip ; James and John,
who are a,t home; Paul, who lives in Dodge County: Bryan, who is at
home; Grace, who is a trained nurse of Chicago, Il^piois; and Charles,
who is also at home. Mr. Barry was a Catholic. For some years he was
a member of the School Board of his district, and for many years was
road overseer.- He was an independent voter. Fraternally he main
tained membership with the Woodmen of the World. His death occurred
January 17, 1913, and in his passing his community lost a good citizen,
and his family a kind and loving husband and father. Since his death

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 919
his widow and several of her sons are conducting a 160-acre farm, where
they live, and another farm of 120 acres in the neighborhood, and are
doing very well with their work. They are fine people in every respect
and stand pre-eminently well with all who know them.
Albert F. Gericke. A prominent and prosperous citizen of Elk
horn Township, Albert F. Gericke is closely identified with the agricul
tural and industrial interests of this part of Dodge County, being profit
ably engaged in general farming on the parental homestead, which he is
managing with ability and success. A son of Charles L. and Frederica
Gericke, he was born August 28, 1884, in Dodge County, which has always
been his home.
Born March 15, 1845, and brought up in Germany, Charles L. Gericke
was early impressed with the superior advantages America offered the
laboring man, and in 1868 immigrated to the United States. After spend
ing a while in Illinois, in 1870 he made his way to Fremont, Nebraska,
where he worked a time, then rented and spent about a year in the
employ of the Government, freighting on the plains. Returning to
Nebraska in 1884, he bought 120 acres of prairie land in Dodge County
and immediately began the improvement of a ranch. He succeeded well
in his undertakings, and as his wealth increased he invested in other tracts
of land. At his death, which occurred May 28, 1913, he had title to
240 acres of rich and arable land, much of which was under cultivation.
His wife, Frederica Weierhausen, was born in Germany January 13,
1860, and came to the United States in 1876, settling in Fremont,
Nebraska, where she married Charles L. Gericke in 1880. To them
were born six children, as follows : Will, a professor in the University
of California; Ernest, of Nickerson, Nebraska; Emma, living at home;
Frieda, also at home ; Louise Katherine, who died at thirteen years ; and
Albert F., unmarried, is the subject of this brief sketch. Charles L.
Gericke was an active member of the Evangelical Church.
Acquiring a substantial education in the district schools, Albert F.
Gericke became thoroughly familiar with agricultural labor while young,
and having decided that farming was not only an agreeable but a profit
able occupation he selected it as his own, and since the death of his
father has carried on mixed husbandry on the home place, in its man
agement displaying rare discrimination and judgment. Mr. Gericke
makes a specialty of raising Poland China hogs and Shorthorn cattle, a
branch of industry in which he is meeting with characteristic success.
Taking a keen interest in everything pertaining to the advancement of
agriculture Mr. Gericke is one of the wide-awake members of Dodge
County Farm Bureau and of the Farmers' Union. A stanch republican
in politics, he has held various township offices, performing the duties
devolving upon him ably and promptly. Religiously he belongs to the
German Evangelical Church.
John A. Van Anda came to Nebraska in the year following that
which marked the admission of the state to the Union and he was one
of the honored pion^: citizens of Fremont, Dodge County, at the time
of his death, July fPf 1903. He had given valiant service as a soldier
in the Civil war and was a young man of sterling character and ambi
tious purpose when he numbered himself among the pioneer settlers in
Dodge County, Nebraska, where he did well his part in connection with
social and industrial development and progress and where he ever com
manded inviolable place in popular confidence and esteem.

920 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Mr. Van Anda was born at Mount Vernon, Ohio, March 15, 1840,
and thus was sixty-three years of age when he died. He acquired his
early education in the schools of the old Buckeye State and his youthful
ambition had been to prepare himself for the medical profession, but
enlisting in the service of his country prevented the realization of this
laudable purpose. He was twenty-two years of age when, in September,
1861, he tendered his aid in defense of the Union. He had in the mean
time become a resident of Iowa, and there he enlisted in Company H,
Twelfth Iowa Volunteer Infantry. He proceeded with his regiment to
the front and took part in the historic battle of Shiloh, in connection
with which he was captured by the enemy, April 6, 1862. He was held
as a prisoner of war for seven months, within which he endured the
hardships and horrors of infamous old Libby Prison, at Richmond,
Virginia, where his physical powers ebbed to the lowest point, with the
result that when he was paroled and taken to Annapolis, Maryland, it
was supposed that his death was imminent. He recuperated, however,
sufficiently to be transferred to a government hospital at St. Louis, Mis
souri, where, during his period of convalescence, he assisted in the care
of other patients in the institution. After receiving his honorable dis
charge Mr. Van Anda returned to Iowa, where he remained until March,
1868, when he came to the new state of Nebraska, and filed entry on a
homestead of eighty acres, fifteen miles northwest of Fremont. He
remained on this pioneer farm until he had perfected his title to the
property, after which he purchased another farm, upon which likewise
he made good improvements. He continued his active association with
farm enterprise in Dodge County until 1880, and in the meanwhile had
gained financial independence, though he had no monetary resources
when he came to the state. In the year mentioned he removed with his
wife to Fremont, and in this city he passed the remainder of his life in
well earned retirement.
Mr. Van Anda was a stalwart republican, and was actively affiliated
with the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic, as well as the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He was for several years engaged
in the retail grocery business at Fremont, but he lived retired from active
business during the closing period of his life. He was fully forty years
a member of the official board of the Methodist Episcopal Church and
was influential in all departments of the work of the church of this
denomination at Fremont. Mrs. Van Anda, who still retains her home
in this city, has likewise been zealous in church work and is one of the
revered members of the local Methodist Church.
The year 1870 recorded the marriage of Mr. Van Anda to Miss
Elvina Taggart, who was born February 6, 1845, in the City of Cleve
land, Ohio, a daughter of Henry and Mary (Walker) Taggart. The
parents were born near Concord, New Hampshire, and were representa
tives of fine old colonial families of New England. Their marriage was
solemnized in their native state, and after removing to Ohio Mt. Taggart
became a successful contractor, he having learned both the carpenter's
and the cooper's trades and his father having been a shipbuilder in New
Hampshire. Mr. Taggart became a pioneer settler in Iowa, where he
purchased and improved a farm, in Dubuque County, and there he and
his wife passed the remainder of their active lives, though the death of
both occurred at Colorado Springs, Colorado. Their religious faith was
that of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mrs. Van Anda is the eldest
of a family of five children, of whom three are living. She was edu
cated in the public schools and at Epworth Seminary, in Dubuque

DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 921
County, Iowa, and in that county she had been a successful and popular
teacher for six years prior to her marriage. John A., the only child of
Mr. and Mrs. Van Anda, is assistant cashier of the Commercial National
Bank of Fremont, the maiden name of his wife having been Jessie
Albers and they have two children, Caroline M. and Francis E.
Mrs. Van Anda had her full share of pioneer experiences in Dodge
County and takes pleasure in having a witness of the splendid develop
ment of the county and its attractive judicial center, the while she has a
wide circle of friends in the community that has long represented her
home.

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