History of Nemaha County, Kansas, Part 56

Author: Tennal, Ralph 1872-
Publication date: 1916
Publisher: Lawrence, Kan., Standard Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 964

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dren, as follows: William, a farmer of Nemaha township; Henry F .. with whom this review is directly concerned ; Lizzie, living in Oklahoma City, Okla .; Herman, Nemaha township; Christ, Nemaha township; Albert, Manhattan, Kans .; Edith, Chicago, Ill .; Mrs. Emma Peake, of Manhattan, Kans .: Alvin, also living at Manhattan; August, residing in South Dakota; Mary and Christ, deceased. The mother of these children was born in Germany and died in 1902 at the age of forty-five years. Both parents lie buried in the Lutheran cemetery in Nemaha township.

Henry F. Katz was reared on his father's farm and attended Prairie Grove Public School in District No. 65. He succeeded to the home place by inheritance and purchase and is now the owner of 257 acres in sec- tion 12, Nemaha township. In former years he was an extensive feeder of cattle and hogs.

Mr. Katz was married in 1908 to Miss Elvina Korber and this union has been blessed with four children, as follows: Maleda, born March 21, 1909; Mildred, born March 22, 1911, and Doretta, born June 15, 1913, and a son born in January, 1916. Mrs. Katz was born in Dubois, Neb., May 13, 1889, and is a daughter of Fred and Theresa (Poppe) Korber, natives of Germany, and who reared a family of eight children, of whom six are living. Mr. and Mrs. Korber, resided on a farm near the Katz place in Nemaha township. Mr. Korber died January 27, 1916, aged sixty-one years.

Mr. Katz is allied with the Republican party and he and the family are members of the Lutheran church. Mr. Katz is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America lodge at DuBois, Neb.

Conrad Droge .- During the fifty years of Conrad Droge's residence in America he has amassed a comfortable fortune and held one of the highest offices within the gift of the people of Nemaha county, Kans. Like other German immigrants to the United States, Mr. Droge landed on our hospitable shores a poor man, blessed with robust health and strength and imbued with an ambition to succeed. He has accomplished his desires and is now one of the old pioneer settlers of Kansas who has assisted in developing one of the best counties of a great State and taken his place among the leaders of his home county.

Conrad Droge was born in Hanover, Germany, January 14, 1844, and is a son of Henry and Louise (Bunnenberg) Droge, who lived and died in their native land and reared a family of three children, as fol- lows: Henry, deceased; Conrad, the subject of this review; William, a farmer in Pawnee county, Nebraska. Conrad Droge was reared on his father's farm in Hanover, Germany, and in 1866 crossed the ocean in search of fortune in America. He worked as farm hand in Illinois for one year and then came to Seneca, Kans., in 1867, where he was · employed as laborer and clerked in a general store for four years. His desire had always been to own a farm of his own, and during his years of hard work at wages he carefully saved his money and in 1873 he

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invested his cash capital in 130 acres of unimproved land in section 4, Nemaha township. During his first year on the farm he broke up part of it and built a shanty as a domicile. This shanty was soon super- seded by a commodious stone house which makes his home today. He has added to his holdings until he now owns 370 acres of land in Kansas and Nebraska.

Mr. Droge was married on August 7, 1874, to Miss Sophia Poppe, and this marriage has resulted in the birth of nine children, six of whom are living, as follows: Emma, at home; William, a farmer in Nebraska ; Henry, farming in Montana ; Herbert, George and Freda, at home. The mother of these children was born in Hanover, Germany, January II, 1858, a daughter of Henry Poppe, who left the Fatherland in 1870 with his family and settled in Nemaha county, Kansas.

Mr. Droge is a Republican and has always taken an active and in- fluential part in political and civic affairs in Nemaha county. He was elected to the office of county commissioner in 1893 on the Republican ticket and has served faithfully and capably for six years. He has also served the people of his township as trustee and school director and is usually found in the forefront of all good movements. He and Mrs Droge and the children are members of the Evangelical Lutheran church and contribute of their substance to the support of this church. Mr. Droge is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons.

Moses Henton Allison, farmer and stockman, Nemaha township, was born on a farm in McDonough county, Illinois, January 16, 1843, and is a son of Thomas and Martha (Humphrey) Allison, natives of Pennsylvania and Ohio respectively. Thomas Allison, his father, was born in 1811, in Pennsylvania, a son of William Allison, who married a Miss Haynes, and was of Scotch descent, the family being an old one in America. The Allisons migrated to Illinois and from that State, Thomas Allison migrated to Iowa in an early day, and operated a flour- ing mill at Council Bluffs, where he died in 1871. Thomas and Martha Allison were the parents of three children, as follows: William, dead; Moses Henton, with whom this review is concerned; Augustav, Cole- raine, Minn. The mother of these children was born in 1820, and died at the home of her son, Moses H., in 1884. Both parents were mem- bers of the Presbyterian church.

Moses H. Allison was educated in the Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, High School, and enlisted in the Third Iowa regiment of artillery at Council Bluffs, Iowa, in 1864, but was never engaged in battle. In 1869, he and his brother, William, inherited 480 acres of land in sections 5, 6, 7 and 8 in Nemaha township, Nemaha county, Kansas, and he came West to develop his land. He built his home on that part of the tract, lying in section 5, erecting a stone house and other farm buildings. Mr. Allison prospered in Kansas and owned considerable land at one time, but has sold off a part of his holdings, and now owns 160 acres. He is an ex- tensive breeder of Shorthorn cattle and has exhibited his fine live stock

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at the county fairs with great success, and has carried away the sweep stake prizes and other secondary awards. He is also a breeder of stand- ard Percheron horses, and takes a just and abiding pride in his fine live stock.

Mr. Allison was married November 7, 1872, to Miss Emma Berger, and to this union have been born three children, namely: Roland, a farmer in Nemaha township; Marsh, farming in Nemaha township; Martha, at home with her parents. Mrs. Allison was born January 30, 1850, in Crawford county, Pennsylvania, and is a daughter of Marcus and Emily (Scoville) Berger, natives of New England, who immigrated to Kansas in 1870, and settled on a farm in Washington township, Ne- maha county, where they died.

Mr. Allison is a member and a supporter of the Nemaha County Fair Association, is a Republican in politics, and has filled the local of- fices of road overseer, school director, and township treasurer, and is a member of the Farmers' Union.

Charles H. Bell .- The reviewer, in tracing the life career of Charles H. Bell, Union veteran, pioneer, and large landed proprietor of Nemaha county, Kansas, must necessarily begin with his birth in Indiana, and trace his rise from workman to his present position of wealth and pres- tige, which he is now enjoying after a long life time of ceaseless endeavor. We must follow his wanderings from the old home in Indiana to the bat- tlefields of the South where he risked his life and limb in defense of the Union ; go with him to the gold fields and the wide reaches of the great California valley-to the mountains where he delved for the precious metals; thence to the flat lands of the valleys where he followed the vocation of rancher ; thence to southwest Missouri, and lastly to Kansas, where his later fortunes were cast with final success.

Charles H. Bell of Oneida was born in St. Joseph county, Indiana, August 31, 1845, and is a son of Samuel and Sarah (Harris) Bell, natives of Massachusetts and Pennsylvania respectively, and descendants of old American Colonial stock. The grandfather of Sarah (Harris) Bell was born in Scotland, and her grandmother was born in Germany. Samuel Bell was a pioneer settler in Indiana and was also one of the first home- steaders in Buchanan county, Missouri. He preempted land on the pres- ent site of St. Joseph, and later returned to St. Joseph county, Indiana, where he died in 1848. His widow reared the large family of thirteen children and two nieces in Indiana. She was a remarkable woman. She went to Colorado when seventy years of age and homesteaded land, cre- ating a farm, which was her home until her death in 1901, when she de- parted this life at the great age of eighty-two years.

Charles H. Bell attended school in a log school house which was fitted up with slab benches. His father died when he was three years old, and his mother, of necessity, reared the family of thirteen children left fatherless. Charles remained at home until he was seventeen years old and then enlisted February, 1862, in Company I, One Hundred Fifty-

CHARLES H. BELL.

MRS. CHARLES H. BELL.

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HISTORY OF NEMAHA COUNTY

fifth Indiana regiment of volunteers. He was decidedly under the required age for enlistment, and also had a younger brother, John, in the army, and two older brothers, Stuart and Jacob, also fought in defense of the Union. His service was in Virginia and the Southeast, and he served creditably until his honorable discharge from the service in November, 1865, in Delaware. After working on the home farm for another season, he went to Illinois and hired out as a farm hand at $26 per month for two years, and then crossed the continent to California. When he arrived on the coast, he spent two months in the gold mines, but taking a dislike to the work, he secured employment on a ranch where he was employed until 1875. He then rented 3,000 acres of land in partnership with Henry Cooper, with whom he raised crops of wheat and barley for two years. His first year's work was a total loss ; the hot winds coming and destroy- ing the crops. Time was extended to them, however, and with help from their creditors, they made good during the second year, and were able to clear $1,500 each above all indebtedness. Mr. Bell then sold his half in- terest in the lease to a Mr. Goble, and returned home for a visit. It was well that he did so because his former partner and Mr. Goble went broke that same year on account of hot winds and another drought. After a six months' visit among the old home scenes he went to Newton county, Missouri, and bought 200 acres of land, including forty acres of timber, which was partly improved by two small log cabins. In 1878 he rented his Newton county farm, and spent the season in logging and clearing his forty-acre tract of timber. He again moved to his farm in the following autumn, and remained tilling his acreage until 1881, at which time he sold out and came directly to Nemaha county, Kansas. On his way he drove 100 head of cattle which he traded for 140 acres of land and assumed a mortgage of $1,000. The first farm which he owned in this county had a frame house of five rooms and a barn 16x20 feet. He rented this farm to his brother, William, for a year, and then' returned to Missouri and worked out by the month. At the end of a year, he again came to Ne- maha county and traded his farm to John Boxwell for 100 acres near Oneida, Boxwell assuming the $1,000 mortgage. He erected a nine room house with two cellars underneath at a cost of $1,800 and built a barn 50x32 feet. A cyclone came along in 1896 and entirely destroyed his barn and damaged his house to the extent of $500, the strong wind tear- ing down the chimneys and denuding the walls of plastering. Strange to relate, one of his horses, which was in the barn, escaped injury. Mr. Bell soon repaired the damage to the premises, and resided on the place until 1901. In the meantime, in 1895, he had purchased 160 acres which ad- joined his first farm, and, in 1896, added eighty acres, and in 1901, bought 120 acres also adjoining. He erected two barns, 52x46 feet and 32x52 feet in dimensions, and also built an eight-room house, which is the present residence. This fine home is modernized and fitted with electric lights in all buildings on the place. Mr. Bell is an extensive dealer in Shorthorn cattle, and deals in feeders and stockers. He is one of the

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largest cattlemen in Nemaha county. The last addition which he made to his holdings was a tract of 160 acres in Adams township, and he now owns 625 acres in all.

Mr. Bell was married, in 1879, to Miss Lottie Cawyer, born in Mis- souri in 1861, and who departed this life in 1880, leaving one child, Mrs. Bertha Hoops, who lives in Montgomery county, Kansas, and has six children. In 1882, Mr. Bell married Miss Maggie Quimby, who has borne him six children, as follows: Mrs. Bessie Lenhart, Rock Spring, Wy .; Abbie; Hilbert C .; Edna; Wayne, and Orville. Mrs. Bell was born in Wayne county, Illinois, March 10, 1866, and came with her parents to Missouri in 1878.

Charles H. Bell is a Republican in politics, and he and Mrs. Bell are affiliated fraternally with the Knights and Ladies of Security. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. Mr. Bell has the very re- markable record of having never been sick, and is strong and hearty at the age of seventy-one years. During the past forty years the doctor's bill for medical services for his family has not exceeded fifty dollars.

John J. Skoch, owner and manager of 160 acres of excellent farm land in section 25, Clear Creek township, Nemaha county, Kansas, is a Bohemian by birth, and is a son of Frank Skoch, who resides on a farm adjoining that of his son.

Frank Skoch was born at Trabre, Bohemia, in January, 1843, and is a son of Frank and Mary (Schmach) Skoch. He immigrated to Amer- ica in 1870, and worked in the ore mines near Alleghany, Pa., until 1877, when he came West to Nemaha county, Kansas. During the first seven years of his residence in this county, he rented land, and was en- abled to buy 160 acres in Clear Creek township, where he is now resid- ing. He was married when a young man to Anna, daughter of Frank and Kathrine (Kaulhaus) Bustrice, and who was born November II, 1846. To this union have been born nine children, namely: John J., the subject of this review; Frank, a farmer in Clear Creek township; Mrs. Mary Droppleman, Phillips county, Kansas; Mrs. Anna Mitchell, Clear Creek township; Mrs. Barbara Mulrine, St. Bridget, Kans .; Mrs. Maggie Engelken, Marshall county, Kansas; Josephine, a teacher for the past fifteen years, now teaching in Marshall county; Venzle, on the home place ; Mrs. Rosa Oldenburg, Marion township.

John J. Skoch was born June 20, 1869, in Bohemia, and was one year old when his parents left Bohemia, and came to Pennsylvania. . He was reared to young manhood on his father's farm in Nemaha county, and began his own career as a farm hand, starting to work for $17 per month, and later receiving $22 per month. In 1890, he rented forty acres from his father and others in Clear Creek township for one year, then worked out until 1893. His first purchase of land was in section 28, Clear Creek township, where he bought eighty acres, which he farmed for eight years, and then traded for his present farm of 160 acres in section 25. Mr. Skoch has a neat seven room farm residence,

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painted a straw color, and his home is located about ten miles north- west of Seneca. He keeps high grade stock on his place, and has about one acre of orchard.

John J. Skoch was married, in 1893, to Anna, daughter of Bernard and Elizabeth (Starmann) Dropplemann, and she was born in Dod- dridge county, West Virginia, where she resided until 1891, and then came to Kansas to keep house for her brother, who was farming in Marshall county, Kansas. Bernard Dropplemann was born in 1809 in German; immigrated to America and died at his home in Doddridge county, West Virginia, in 1894. His wife, Elizabeth, was born in Holland in 1823, and died in 1908. They were the parents of twelve children, three of whom are deceased.

Five children have been born to John J. Skoch and wife, namely: Mrs. Ernestine Bergmann, Clear Creek township, born November 20, 1894, taught school for three years; Edward, born May 13, 1896; Albert, born November 2, 1899; Edna, born March 12, 1896; Emma, born June IO, 1908.

Mr. and Mrs. Skoch and the children are loyal members of the Catholic church. Mr. Skoch is affiliated with the Knights of Colum- bus, the Catholic Mutual Benefit Association, and he and his family are prominent socially in the county. Mr. Skoch is one of the Democratic leaders of the county, and has always taken an active and influential part in civic and political affairs. He has held office in his township for the past twenty years, and has held the post of central committee- man for his party; filled the post of road overseer and township treas- urer. He is now a member of the school board of district 56. Mr. Skoch is one of the best known men of Nemaha county, and is a wide awake citizen who takes a keen interest in community matters, and is greatly interested in the welfare of the people of Nemaha county.

John T. Baker, successful farmer of Nemaha township, was born in Nemaha county, Kansas, January 1, 1878, and is a son of August and Margarette (Quirk) Baker. August Baker was born in Germany in 1842 and came to America with his mother, first settling in New York State. Later, August Baker came to Kansas with a family by. the name of Sly, who had adopted him after the demise of his parents in the early fifties. He died at the home of his son, December 31, 1915. The mother of John T. Baker was twice married, and died about 1895.

John T. Baker was reared on the farm which he now owns and is cultivating 200 acres of land in section 16, Nemaha township. He was married in 1897 to Bertha Hartman and seven children have blessed this union, namely : Irene, Mary, John, Bertha, Edith, Alice and Edward. Mrs. Baker was born in Nemaha township in 1875 and is a daughter of Fred and Bertha Hartman, at present living on a farm in Nemaha town- ship, where Mrs. Hartman died November 11, 1915.

Mr. and Mrs. Baker are members of the Catholic church and take an active interest in the social and religious affairs of this strong religious

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organization. Mr. Baker has taken a prominent and influential part in the affairs of the Democratic political organization in his township and county and served for eight years as treasurer of Nemaha township. He is now serving as a member of the school board of District No. 28.

John F. Kerl, Union veteran, and farmer of Nemaha township, was born in New York City, N. Y., August 3, 1847, and is a son of Lewis and Martha (Ketchum) Kerl, natives of Germany. Lewis Kerl, his father, was born in Hanover, Germany, in 1816, and became a skilled cabinet maker. When a young man he emigrated from the Fatherland to New York and followed his trade of cabinet maker in that city with considerable success. He made furniture for some of the distinguished New York people of his time, and it is recorded in the family archives that this skilled mechanic made a bedstead for the home of John Jacob Astor which cost $136 in the making. He also plied his trade in the city of Pittsburg, Pa., until 1880, when he immigrated westward to Pawnee county, Nebraska, where he farmed until his demise in 1905. This was not his first experience in farming, however, as he had farmed to some extent in the vicinity of Pittsburg. There were eleven children born to Lewis and Martha Kerl, of whom four are deceased. Martha, wife of Lewis Kerl, was born in Prussia in 1826 and departed this life in 1900. When she was three years of age her parents emi- grated from Germany to New Jersey, where her father became a large land owner and died there after several years' residence.

John F. Kerl attended the public schools of Beaver county, Penn- sylvania, and at the president's call for troops with which to quell the rebellion of the Southern States, he enlisted in Company C, Fifty-sixth Pennsylvania infantry, and his command saw much active service in the eastern division of the Union armies under Gen. U. S. Grant. He was discharged from the infantry service in 1863, and re-enlisted in the Sixth heavy artillery regiment and saw service in the southeast and the Car- olinas and was engaged in several battles until his final discharge in 1864. After the war, Mr. Kerl learned the blacksmith's trade in the town of Harmony, Pa., and worked at his trade until 1881, when he abandoned it entirely and has since devoted himself to farming pursuits. Mr. Kerl migrated to Kansas in 1879 and bought eighty acres of land in section 6, Nemaha township, this county, and the years which have passed since that time have seen his fortune improve until he has be- come the owner of 448 acres of western lands.

John F. Kerl has been twice married, his first marriage occurring in 1873 with Agnes Hebberling, a native of Pennsylvania, who died in 1876 at the age of twenty-one years, leaving three children, as follows: Wilbert, living in Nebraska; John, a farmer in Clear Creek township; Emanuel, a farmer of Richardson ocunty, Nebraska. March 25, 1877, Mr. Kerl married Miss Mary A. Myers, who was born at Pitts- burg, Pa., December 18, 1856, and has borne him eight children, as follows: Mrs. Florence Wright, Nemaha county, Kansas; Mrs. Mar-

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garet Westfall, Idaho; Edward, farming in Clear Creek township; Eva, wife of J. Lockard, (see sketch) ; Mrs. Anna Boren, Nebraska; Grant, living in Pawnee county, Nebraska ; Lawrence and Ralph.

Mr. Kerl is an independent Republican voter who refuses to wear the party yoke and judges the various candidates for office according to their personal qualifications. He and Mrs. Kerl are members of the Evangelical Lutheran church and he belongs to no secret order but the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization whose membership, year by year, as the once mighty host of tried and true veterans are one by one going to their reward, is growing smaller and smaller. To the mind of the reviewer there is nothing in the life of the aged parent of which his posterity can take greater or more lasting and enduring pride than the fact that the father of the family shouldered a musket and marched under the Stars and Stripes to battle for the preservation of the Union.

August Korber is one of the most conspicuous farmers of Nemaha county. He comes from excellent German stock, of which he is justly proud. His father, Henry Korber, was born in Germany in 1826. When a young man, he left his native province of Hanover, and sailed for America to search for a livelihood in the great land of the free, and found employment near Chicago where he worked for several years. We read every day now about this great metropolis of the West, but to realize the changing times through which Henry Korber passed, it might be interesting to state that when he settled near Chicago in the early days, he could have bought eighty acres of land, which now lies in the heart of Chicago's business district at a price of $150. Now a front foot of a city lot would bring several hundred times that price. He came to Nemaha county, Kansas, in 1856, and purchased 160 acres in Nemaha township, section 12. On this rough land he built a rude log cabin, and established himself to withstand the hard, cold winters of Kansas. He broke up his land with a yoke of plodding oxen, and where he spent a whole day driving the leisurely animals along the fur- row, modern tractors now rattle over the ground in a fraction of the time required under the old way. Mr. Korber saw many changes in his lifetime, and one of these was in the growth of commercial facilities in Nemaha county. When he came to Kansas, his nearest trading points were White Cloud, Kans., and St. Joseph, Mo., but in his life- time, he saw the territory around him develop and attract business interests, until it became surrounded with towns filled with stores and business houses. Mr. Korber was a farmer of excellent ability and un- usually good judgment, which accounts for his success. He contin- vally made improvements on his farm, and increased his holdings grad- ually until, at the time of his death, he owned 1,120 acres of fertile farm land in Kansas and Nebraska. He was an active farmer until 1898, when declining years forced him to retire. In 1900, he moved to Bern, and the following year, in 1901, he died.

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The mother of the subject of this biography, Theresa (Irsik) Korber, was born in Germany in 1838, and she came to America at an early age. She is now living in Bern, Kans. Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Korber, all except one of whom are living.

August Korber was born February 9, 1871, in Nemaha township, Nemaha county, Kansas. He was reared on his father's farm in Ne- maha township, and from his parents he learned the essentials of suc- cessful farming, which have helped to make him one of the most suc- cessful men in his township. Save for a rudimentary schooling at dis- trict 52, Mr. Korber spent his time on the farm. At the death of his father, he became heir to one half section of land, which, though it was unimproved, was of excellent fertility. From the profits on this land, Mr. Korber has increased his holdings to 500 acres. He has always been proud of his farm, and has taken great interest in keeping its ap- pearance up to a high standard. In 1913, Mr. Korber erected an eight room residence on his place, which is one of the finest houses in his dis- trict, being strictly modern, with an electric light plant operated in connection. The house, because of its white color, is exceedingly at- tractive to travelers, and they invariably pause to look at the place. Mr. Korber spent $3,600 on his residence, and has spared no pains to make his home convenient in every respect. On his farm, he keeps a fine line of graded stock, in which he takes great pride. On his land, which is in section 14, he has forty acres in natural timber of advanced growth.

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History of Nemaha County, Kansas, Part 56

Author: Tennal, Ralph 1872- Publication date: 1916 Publisher: Lawrence, Kan., Standard Publishing Company Number of Pages: 964

Author: Tennal, Ralph 1872-
Publication date: 1916
Publisher: Lawrence, Kan., Standard Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 964