History of western Nebraska and its people, Vol. III, Part 1

Author: Shumway, Grant Lee, 1865-
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Lincoln, Neb., The Western publishing & engraving co.
Number of Pages: 1056

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Gc 978.2 Sh 9h v.3 1192387

GENEALOGY COLLECTION

ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01065 1443

HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA AND ITS PEOPLE

BANNER, BOX BUTTE, CHEYENNE, DAWES, DEUEL, GARDEN, KIMBALL, MORRILL, SCOTTS BLUFF, SHERIDAN, AND SIOUX COUNTIES. A GROUP OFTEN CALLED THE PANHANDLE OF NEBRASKA

GRANT L. SHUMWAY, SCOTTSBLUFF, NEBRASKA EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

V. 3

ISSUED IN THREE ROYAL OCTAVO VOLUMES VOLUME III.

ILLUSTRATED

THE WESTERN PUBLISHING & ENGRAVING COMPANY LINCOLN, NEBRASKA 1921

THE TORCH PRESS CEDAR RAPIDS IOWA

H. M. Sender _125.00 ( 3 Vol 8

1192387

BIOGRAPHIES OF SOME MEN PROMINENT IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF WESTERN NEBRASKA

BERTON KENYON BUSHEE, banker and statesman, has had a career significantly marked by courage, self reliance, marked in- itiative and executive ability, which bring nor- mally in their train a full measure of success. He has begotten the popular confidence and esteem that are important along the line of enterprise in which he has engaged and led to his election to high office in political life and he thus has secured status as a representa- tive figure in the financial and political life of western Nebraska and the Panhandle. No further voucher for him is needed than the statement that he is president of the Citizens State Bank, of Kimball. It has been through the effective policies inaugurated by Mr. Bushee that the Citizens Bank has increased its deposits and business within the late years and materially assisted in the development of Kimball county.

Berton Bushee was born at Dartford, Wis- consin, May 3, 1871, the son of Ezra Kenyon and Alzina Spooner Bushee. He was reared in the beautiful little town surrounded by its encircling hills, attended the public schools until the family came to Nebraska in 1888. The father came to the Panhandle with his family when this section of the state was a veritable wilderness, settlers were few and great stretches of unbroken prairie stretched for miles. Ezra Bushee filed on a homestead in what is now Kimball county and at once began the arduous task of breaking his land and establishing a home for the family. Young Berton assumed his share of the burdens of a frontier farm and became sturdy and self-re- liant. As soon as the young man attained his majority he filed on a homestead of his own in 1892, proved up on it and engaged in ranch- ing and frontier farming for several years. At the same time he was offered and accepted a position to teach school in Kimball county, thus earling a livelihood during the lean years of farm life. In 1898 Mr. Bushee engaged in merchandising in Kimball, met with success in his enterprise, became recognized as one of the leading business men of Kimball, not dis- posing of his interests in this line until 1915.

From first coming to this section of the state Mr. Bushee entered into the civic life of his community and the Panhandle. He was elected superintendent of schools of the county, serving three terms from 1896 to 1900 and from 1902 to 1903, an office which he filled with great efficiency to his own credit and the benefit of the educational interests of this section.

From time to time as he could buy to ad- vantage Mr. Bushee increased his land hold- ings around Kimball and is one of the large landed proprietors of the southwest today. His business life was but a start in a rising commercial career for Mr. Bushee became interested financially in the Citizens State Bank, bought a controlling interest of its stock and became the executive head of the insti- tution which is regarded as one of the safest and soundest banks in Nebraska. Interested in the welfare of his community both as a land- holder and banker it was but natural that Mr. Bushee should enter public life to take care of and improve such interests. He entered pol- itics more than twelve years ago as a member of the Nebraska House of Representatives, serving from 1908 to 1912, then was elected to the State Senate, has proved such an able statesman and materially assisted in placing so many excellent laws upon the statute books that he has been reelected and is still serving. During the session of the legislature in 1919- 1920 Mr. Bushee had the honor of being elect- ed president of the senate, and as presiding officer of that body won a wide reputation as a legislator and leader of men.

In politics Mr. Bushee has been a consistent member of the Republican party. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, of the Knights of Pythias and the Masonic order. With his wife Mr. Bushee is a mem- ber of the Methodist church.

April 4, 1894, ocurred the marriage of Ber- ton Bushee and Miss Ruth Cunningham, the event taking place at Sidney Draw. Mrs. Bushee was the daughter of George H. and Martha Cunningham, the father was a Mis- sourian, while the mother was a native of

HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA

Maine. They came to western Nebraska at an early day and were well known pioneers of the Panhandle. Two children have been born to this union, Helen Bernice and Elizabeth Ruth.

As one of the representative business men and legislators, and progressive, public-spir- ited citizens of Kimball county, Mr. Bushee merits special recognition in the annals of the Panhandle and this section in the opening up and development of which he has taken such an energetic and active part.

BENJAMIN F. GENTRY. - Common- wealths have great need of capable men of broad vision and conscientious purpose, who will take time to study various problems of public necessity and serve faithfully for the general welfare. In Benjamin F. Gentry, western Nebraska has such a man. He is prominently identified with the state's vast ir- rigation projects, and is proud of the fact that he was one of the two men who plowed the first furrow for irrigation purposes in his part of the state. He is known all over Scotts- bluff county through serving in public ca- pacities, and is active in the business life of Gering in the line of abstracts and real estate.

Benjamin Franklin Gentry was born in Nodaway county, Missouri, March 24, 1861, the son of William E. and Rebecca (Wiles) Gentry, the former of whom was probably born in Kentucky and the latter in Indiana. The father of Mr. Gentry served in the Civil War for a short time, returning then to his home and succumbing to an attack of sickness. Benjamin F. was then nine months old, the youngest of his parents' three children. The others survive : Milton, who is in the teaming business at Weeping Water, Nebraska, and Rachel Catherine, the widow of J. W. Hostet- ter. She resides at Omaha and has property in Cass county, Nebraska. After the death of the father, the mother moved with her chil- dren to Mills county, Iowa, and subsequently to Cass county, Nebraska, where she died in 1917. Her second marriage was to Mattis Akeson, and they have had two children : Thor W., a farmer near Weeping Water, and Em- ma, the wife of James Breckenbridge, a farm- er living near Manley, Nebraska. She was an admirable woman in every way and was a devoted member of the Christian church.

Mr. Gentry remained at home and attended the public schools in Cass county until he was fourteen years old, when he went to live with an uncle, Captain Isaac Wells on a farm one mile from Plattsmouth, Nebraska, where he

later attended high school. After taking a commercial course in the college at Valparaiso, Indiana, he worked for six months as a deputy collector in the office of the county treasurer of Cass county. Mr. Gentry then went to Hamilton county, Nebraska, where he handled grain for W. H. Newell and Company of Plattsmouth, until 1886, when he came to what is now Scottsbluff county, which at that time was Cheyenne county, as Scottsbluff coun- ty was not yet organized, and homesteaded, continuing to live on his farm until he was elected county clerk, in the fall of 1888, being the first man elected to that office, when he came to Gering, where he has resided ever since. He served two terms as county clerk, and while in office became interested in the abstract business, which led to his purchase in 1909 of the O. W. Gardner Scottsbluff Ab- stract Company. M1. Gentry has since given close attention to this important business, also handling a large amount of real estate in city and county, nevertheless he has found the time to accept responsibility in connection with the great irrigation projects that are interest- ing progressive men all over the state. He has been a director of a number of the ditch commissions, and is serving as such at pres- ent in reference to the Minatare ditch in Scottsbluff county. During a long directorate, he assisted in the building of what is known as the "nine-mile ditch." He is a member of the school board, on which, he has given careful, honest service for thirty years.

On November 30, 1890, Mr. Gentry was united in marriage to Miss Cora E. Johnson, who was born in Cass county, Nebraska, near Weeping Water, a daughter of Daniel D. and Elizabeth A. (Lathrop) Johnson. Mrs. Gen- try's mother was born in Ohio and died near Weeping Water, Nebraska. The father was born in Pennsylvania. After marriage he moved to Iowa and during the Civil War served three years as a member of the Twen- ty-ninth lowa volunteer infantry, suffering wounds at Helena, Arkansas. After the close of the war he came with his family to Ne- braska and homesteaded on the present site of Wabash, Nebraska. He survives and makes his home at Scottsbluff, Scottsbluff county. Mr. and Mrs. Gentry have four children : Har- old E., who was educated in the State Uni- versity at Lincoln, is chief chemist for the ' Great Western Sugar Company ; Willard Max, a graduate of the Wesleyan University at Lincoln, will enter the medical profession ; and Elizabeth, a student in both universities at Lincoln. Mrs. Gentry is a member of the

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

where he remained until he was elected county Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Gentry be- longs to the Masonic fraternity and to the Eastern Star as does Mrs. Gentry. Politically he is a Republican.

AMON R. DOWNER, who is serving in his second consecutive term as treasurer of Scottsbluff county, belongs to old pioneer stock, and his business interests have al- ways been centered here. Although young in years for the heavy responsibilities of his of- fice, he was not without official experience when first elected, and the efficient, careful, methodical performance of his public duties has afforded universal satisfaction.

Amon R. Downer was born in Hitchcock county, Nebraska, October 8, 1891, the elder of two sons born to Marion R. and Jennie (Ball) Downer. Mr. Downer's brother, Mar- vin T., entered military service in September, 1917, and was sent to Europe as an army truck driver, with the American Expeditionary Forces. The parents of Mr. Downer were born in Iowa and came from there to Nebraska, where his father homesteaded in the eighties. He was a Republican in politics and he be- longed to the Methodist Episcopal church. The mother of Mr. Downer, who is now the wife of W. R. Wolffenden, a merchant, resides at Gering. Her father, James Ball, came to Ne- braska soon after the close of the Civil War, in which he had participated as a soldier and suffered from wounds. He homesteaded in this county and lived here the rest of his life, his death occurring in 1916, one of the old veterans of the Grand Army.

Amon R. Downer was educated in the public schools of Gering and in the State University at Lincoln, where he was a student two years. Afterward he was employed for some months in the construction department of the Union Pacific Railroad, and then went into the office of the county treasurer as clerk and deputy. In 1917 he was elected treasurer and re-elected in 1918 and is still serving.

In 1915 Mr. Downer was united in marriage to Miss Bertie Margaret Lackey, who was born at Elmwood, Nebraska. She is a daughter of Andrew and Eliza (Campbell) Lackey, na- tives of Toronto, Canada, who came to Ne- braska in 1879 and homesteaded. The father died in 1904 but the mother still lives at Ger- ing. They had fourteen children of whom eight survive. Mr. and Mrs. Downer had one child, Virginia Bess, who died in infancy. They belong to the Methodist Epicopal church. He is a Scottish Rite Mason and has been secre-

tary of his lodge. Politically he is a Republi- can.

VALLE B. KIRKHAM, one of the popular officials of Scottsbluff county, now serving in his second term as county clerk, was born at Orrick, in Ray county, Missouri, March 14, 1883. When he came to Nebraska, he brought with him no capital except an excellent educa- tion, even a technical one. He has made his own way in the world and in such a manner as to command the respect and confidence of his fellow-citizens, and in large measure he has their friendly esteem.

The Kirkhams, in the person of David R. Kirkham, grandfather of Valle B., came many years ago from Virginia to Missouri and be- came a tobacco manufacturer there. On the maternal side, the Blythes, were of Tennessee, and from that state the grandfather, Riley Blythe, came to western Missouri, where he acquired 1500 acres of land. He became a man of political significance, served two terms in the state legislature and afterward was elected to the state senate. Mr. Kirkham's parents are C. R. and Elizabeth (Blythe) Kirkham, the former of whom was born sev- enty years ago at St. Louis, Missouri, and the latter near Orrick, where they yet reside. The mother is a member of the Christian church. The father is a Democrat in politics and for many years has been an Odd Fellow. Prior to 1874, when he moved to Ray county, he was associated with his father in the tobacco manu- facturing business at St. Louis. Of his family of eight sons and daughters, the following are living: W. H., county surveyor and a civil engineer, who lives at Richmond, Missouri; A. L., a farmer near Orrick ; Valle B., who re- sides at Gering, Nebraska ; Pattie, the wife of W. P. Wolfe, living near Orrick ; Dallas, mar- ried Claud Heather, who is a farmer in Ray county ; Ross, who is a farmer near Orrick, and Lillian, is a teacher at Orrick.

After completing the high school course at Richmond, Missouri, Valle B. Kirkham spent three years in the state normal school at War- rensburg, six months in the state university, and then took a special course in pharmacy, at Highland Park, Des Moines, Iowa. For some years afterward he divided his attention be- tween farm labor and railroad work with a civil engineering outfit, but in none of these activities did he accumulate a perceptible for- tune. It was in 1908 that he came to Scotts- bluff county, accepting a job in the Irrigation Bank, an association which continued for seven and a half years, going from there to the Great Western Sugar Company's office,

HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA

clerk in 1916. His administration of the office was so satisfactory that he was reelected in the fall of 1918, his popularity being demon- strated by the fact that he was elected in a Republican county with a majority of two hundred and seventy votes in 1916, and of four hundred and seventy in the second cam- paign.

On June 19, 1913, Mr. Kirkham was united in marriage to Miss Willie Gordon. She was born at Fort Smith, Arkansas, and is a daugh- ter of Richmond and Lillie Gordon, retired residents of that place. Mr. Gordon has been an educator during the greater part of his life. Mr. and Mrs. Kirkham had one child, Vivian Lucile, who died when aged six months. They are members of the Christian church. He be- longs to the Odd Fellows, both subordinate lodge and Encampment, and has a Grand Lodge degree. During the continuance of the World War, he served freely on the local draft board and contributed to its maintenance in many patriotic ways.

ROBERT G. NEELEY. - In the younger generation of business men in Nebraska will be found those who, like Robert G. Neeley, register of deeds for Scottsbluff county, early take an understanding interest in public af- fairs, cultivating serious political convictions, thereby raising the standard of true citizen- ship, and inevitably become useful and influ- ential in their communities. The broadening effect of this wider vision may be seen in what this younger generation is accomplishing.

Robert G. Neeley was born in the Mitchell valley, Scottsbluff county, Nebraska, Decem- ber 12, 1894, the son of Robert F. and Jennie (Yates) Neeley, natives of Missouri, who now reside at Gering, where Mr. Neely is engaged in the real estate business. He was the founder of the Gering National Bank and for some years was president of the institu- tion. Prior to that he was in the cattie busi- ness and dealt in real estate in Mitchell val- ley. To his first marriage, with a Miss Bur- gess, two sons were born: Franklin E., cashier of the Gering National Bank, and A. Raymond, a druggist at Gering. A son and a daughter have been born to his present mar- riage : Robert G., register of deeds, who lives at Gering, and Mildred, the wife of E. S. Slafter, who conducts a garage business at Dubois, Wyoming.

Robert G. Neeley obtained his education in the public schools of Gering. For two years he was employed in the Gering National Bank, for the next two years was in the office of the present county judge, for one year served as

deputy county clerk, and for more than a year filled office as deputy register of deeds. With this thorough experience in county offices, he was particularly well equipped when he was elected register of deeds in 1918. He is one of the most popular of the county officials, those doing business with his office always finding exact knowledge and courteous treat- ment.

On April 14, 1917, Mr. Neeley was united in marriage to Miss Eunice M. Barton, who was born near Council Bluffs, Iowa, a daugh- ter of Samuel and Mary Elberta (Heft) Bar- ton. The father was born in England and the mother in Illinois. They came to Nebraska in 1902 and Mr. Barton is carrying on extensive farming enterprises near Gering. Mr. and Mrs. Neeley are members of the Christian church, in which they are somewhat active, and they take part in the pleasant social life of the city. Mr. Neeley is a Republican in his polit- ical views but is not illiberal, hence he has many political as well as personal friends.

WILLIAM H. LAMM. - Public service carries with it the supposition of business effi- ciency, as well as sterling character, and the progressive little city of Gering has no more trustworthy public official than William H. Lamm, who has been postmaster since 1915. Mr. Lamm followed agricultural pursuits dur- ing a large portion of his life, and school teaching also in early manhood, and in every line of endeavor in which he has been engaged, has commanded the respect and confidence of his fellow citizens. The Gering post office is a busy place, but under Mr. Lamm's administra- tion, the work is expedited, and the service entirely satisfactory because of his practical ideas and careful, methodical oversight.

William H. Lamm was born at Thayer, in Union county, Iowa, April 22, 1877, the eldest of nine children born to William and Jane. (Knotts) Lamm, both born in 1854 in Iowa, the former near Madison and the latter near Burlington. Her death occurred November 4, 1918. In addition to William H., their chil- dren are: Ernest F., a farmer near Glendo, Wyoming ; Bert, a farmer near Meridian, Ida- ho; Bertha, the wife of John M. Gross, farmer and stockman, near Glendo; Bess, the wife of Joseph E. Nisley, farmer, near Gering; Car- mie, the wife of Harry C. Barton, assistant cashier of the First National Bank of Gering; Lauretta, the wife of Ivor C. Davies, a drug- gist at Gering; True R., a farmer and stock- raiser near Glendo; and Grace, the wife of Peter B. Schmidt, employed in the First Na- tional Bank of Scottsbluff. He entered the

Rustampton

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

National army in 1918, and was in training at Camp Funston when he received his honorable discharge. The father of Mr. Lamm is one of the capitalists of Scottsbluff county, to which he came in 1904. He purchased a sec- tion of irrigated land and still owns a part of it together with other valuable properties. He has been one of the sound disciples of Democ- racy in the county, but has never accepted a public office. He is a member of the Christian church.

William H. Lamm first attended the coun- try schools near his father's farm in Iowa, then Palmer College at Marshalltown, and Capital City Commercial College at Des Moines, Iowa. He, as the eldest of the family, early took on responsibility, assisted his father in his agricultural industries, and for several years engaged also in teaching school in Iowa, during one year teaching at Thayer. In April, 1904, he came to Scottsbluff county, and from that time until 1915 was mainly occupied with farm activities, although, during three years of this period he served as deputy sheriff. From early manhood he had interested himself intelligently in public affairs, believing good citizenship demanded such a course. He has always been identified with the Democratic party and is fully in accord with the present administration at Washington. In 1915 he was called from his farm to become postmas- ter of Gering and, as indicated above, has ful- filled every expectation.

On May 13, 1911, Mr. Lamm was united in marriage to Miss Maude L. Abbott, who was born in Indiana. They have two children : Thelma Maxine, who attends school, and Ly- man Abbott, who celebrates his fifth birthday in May, 1919. Mr. and Mrs. Lamm are mem- bers of the Christian church. Fraternally he is a Mason and belongs also to the Woodmen of the World.

RODOLPHUS M. HAMPTON, president of the First National Bank of Alliance, is one of the early settlers of Box Butte coun- ty. No history of the county would be com- plete without the name of R. M. Hampton, for he has been a resident of this section for thirty-five years. He has lived to see the wide open prairies developed into a smiling green countryside dotted with prosperous towns that are the barometer of prosperity and success. In all movements for opening up the country, the building of railroads, villages and cities he has taken an active and aggressive part and it is such men who have made history in the Panhandle.

Mr. Hampton was born in New Lexington,

Ohio, November 14, 1861, the son of Will- iam and Mary (Young) Hampton, the fifth of seven children born to his parents. The father owned an eighty acre farm in the Buckeye state and there the boy was reared. He attended the country schools near his home and being assigned the usual tasks to a small boy on the farm grew up sturdy and self-reliant. While still a small lad of twelve he began to earn money for himself by digging coal at Moxahala, Ohio, which was not far from his home, but as he was paid by the bushel he did not make more than sixty-five cents a day. After completing his education Mr. Hampton, at the age of twenty followed the pedagogic profession for five years, in both the country and city schools. He was ambitious to succeed in the world, and after reading of the many openings for a young, vigorous man in the new country in the west came to Nebraska in 1885 to learn what fortune might have in store for him on the plains. There were scarcely more than fifty families in what is now Box Butte coun- ty when Mr. Hampton arrived, so that he set- tled down in a locality where habitations were few, comfort and conveniences scarce and the elements of civilization at their lowest, but the tide of immigration was setting toward the upper Platte valley in the middle eighties, and within a few months after his arrival the population had more than doubled. Soon after reaching the present Box Butte county, Mr. Hampton selected a pre-emption and tim- ber claim and broke out ten acres on each and putting up a "soddy" he kept "bachelor hall" as he expresses it. He realized that he was not cut out for a frontier farmer, so sought a professional life, forming a partner- ship in a law firm with James H. Danskin, opening an office at Hemingford. The new firm was kept busy with the many land cases arising over confused titles, where contests had been filed. Many land sharks tried to secure title to land that had been filed on by bone fide settlers previously and used every pretext to obtain possession. Because of this many lively legal contests ensued, but the firm of Hampton and Danskin did their best for the honest settlers and as a result had a fine practice. They tried cases at Hay Springs, Rushville, Chadron, Hemingford and Non- pariel. The present territory of Box Butte county was at that time included in Dawes county with the seat of justice at Chadron, but in 1887, Box Butte was erected as a separ- ate county and the seat of justice located at Nonpariel, so the young lawyers moved their

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History of western Nebraska and its people, Vol. III, Part 1

Author: Shumway, Grant Lee, 1865- Publication date: 1921 Publisher: Lincoln, Neb., The Western publishing & engraving co. Number of Pages: 1056

Author: Shumway, Grant Lee, 1865-
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Lincoln, Neb., The Western publishing & engraving co.
Number of Pages: 1056