USA > Nebraska > A Biographical and genealogical history of southeastern Nebraska, Vol. I > Part 19
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Mr. Zook is a member of the Brethren church and his wife of the Christian church. In 1897 he paid eleven hundred and fifty dollars for a ten-acre tract in Verdon, which was then a ploughed field, and after taking out a sixty-six foot strip for a street, he built his fine house of two stories and attic, containing nine rooms, with modern high ceil- ings and all the conveniences that mark the twentieth century resi- dence. He has a barn twenty-four by thirty-two, and several other buildings. He has now one of the delightful homes of Verdon. There
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is a large lawn before the house, which is almost surrounded by shrub- bery and orchards. Both he and his wife are now passing their old age in comfort and amid surroundings that are fit rewards for previous lives of honorable effort.
W. H. WALKER.
WV. H. Walker, justice of the peace of Beatrice, Nebraska, is one of the well known and honored old settlers of Gage county. He was one of the first merchants of Beatrice to operate a general store, and he located in Gage county in 1867, since which time he has made it his home. Judge Walker has a war record which commenced August 16, 1862, when he enlisted in Company E, Ninety-third Illinois Volunteer Infantry, Colonel Putman and Captain Wilkerson commanding. Col- onel Putman was killed at Missionary Ridge and succeeded by N. C. Buzwell. Mr. Walker participated in many of the leading battles of the war, including Champion Hills, Black River Bridge, siege of Vicks- burg, Missionary Ridge and the famous march to the sea, participated in the grand review at Washington and was honorably discharded June 5, 1865.
Mr. Walker was born at Vandalia, Fayette county, Illinois, June 25, 1838, a son of Absalom and Mary (Walker) Walker. Absalom Walker was a soldier in the war of 1812 and the Black Hawk war. He was born in Kentucky, coming of a family noted for courage and in- tegrity. The mother was born in Illinois, her parents being early set- tlers of Fayette county, Illinois. The children born to these parents were: W. H .; Jeremiah, who died in the service; Louise, deceased; Ben- jamin F., also deceased. The father died in Illinois. For a number of
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years he was a prominent farmer and took active part in local affairs; while fraternally he was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
After Mr. W. H. Walker returned to Illinois he lived for two years in that state and then removed to Gage county, Nebraska, first working upon a stock farm, but later opened the first general store in Beatrice, Nebraska. On account of his military experience he was made instruc- tor of military tactics in the public schools of Beatrice, and he is . a charter member of the G. A. R. post of Beatrice and has held all the offices pertaining thereto. While living in Illinois in 1866 he was married to Miss Maria Terry, a daughter of Peter Terry. She died in December, 1874, leaving four children, namely: Mary E .; Katy B .; Ora B .; and Cora B. Later Mr. Walker married Miss Jennie M. Scott. of Beatrice, and three children have been born of this union, namely : Pearl, Eddie and William H., Jr. Mr. Walker is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he is very popular. His wife is a consistent member of the Baptist church, which Mr. Walker also attends. He is a man who has won his way through his own unaided efforts, and he can well be proud of his record both as a business man and a soldier. He is a Republican and has served in various minor offices. In January, 1902, he was elected justice of the peace and January, 1904, was re-elected to same office.
J. W. ASHENFELTER.
J. W. Ashenfelter, chief of police of Beatrice, Nebraska, and one of the leading men of that city, was elected to that responsible office in the spring of 1901. Chief Ashenfelter was born in Jo Daviess county, Illinois, in 1853, and is a son of Joseph Ashenfelter, a native of Mont-
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gomery county, Pennsylvania, who came of German ancestors and was a miller by trade. He married Margarette Weeks, born in Huntington county, Pennsylvania. The parents came to Illinois in 1852, settling in Ogle county, whence they removed to Jo Daviess county, and later moved to Jackson county, Iowa. But in 1859 they returned to Illinois, and in 1865 moved to Iowa and in 1866 moved to Cherokee county, Kansas, and in the fall of 1866 the father went back to Washington county, Iowa. From 1870 to 1877 he lived in Richardson county Ne- braska, and later settled at Turner, Oregon. He died at the age of eighty-two years, and his wife died there at the age of seventy-nine years. Both belonged to the German Baptist church. Five children were born to these parents, four of whom grew up, namely: John W .; Anna Lichty, of Falls City, Nebraska; Elizabeth, of Oregon; Jacob B., of Turner, Oregon.
Mr. J. W. Ashenfelter was reared and educated in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska, as his father moved from one place to the other, and he at the same time learned the trade of miller from his father. He was married in 1876 to Miss Lucinda Z. Carter, of Falls City, Nebraska, a daughter of Dr. James Carter, now deceased, who was a soldier in the Civil war. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Ashenfelter, namely : Ellsworth, who is cashier in Klin's store of Beatrice; J. Levett, traveling salesman; John A., a railroad man; and Viola. Mr. Ashen- felter is a Republican, and fraternally is a member of the Ancient Order fo United Workmen. In his official capacity he displays great effi- ciency, but he has held positions of like character before, having served as deputy sheriff of Gage county for four years. He located in Gage county on October 20, 1881, although he has been a resident of Ne- braska for thirty-three years. His force at present consists of himself, ex-chief J. T. More, an able officer with a good record, and W. G.
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Hall, also a most excellent official. The police justice is J. A. Callison, who is noted for his just decisions, which seldom are overruled.
WILLIAM M. TAYLOR.
William M. Taylor, commander of Scott Post No. 37, Blue Springs, Nebraska, and district commander of southeastern Nebraska, is one of the best known men in this section of country, and is also a distinguished veteran of the Civil war. His enlistment took place in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, July 15, 1863, when he entered Company A, Twenty-seventh Pennsylvania Cavalry, under Captain Morgan and Colonel Greenfield. After nine months' service he was honorably dis- charged, but he veteranized on January 27, 1864, for three years or during the war. At the close of the war he was again honorably dis- charged, and left the service with an excellent record, although much of his service consisted in skirmish and guard duty.
His birth occurred in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, Septem- ber 8, 1843, and he was a son of Isaac Taylor, born in Todd, Pennsyl- vania. Isaac was a son of John, a native of Germany. Isaac Taylor was reared in Pennsylvania and there married Nancy Elias, who was born in Todd, a daughter of Henry Elias, also of German descent.
Our subject received an excellent education in Pennsylvania, and he then studied for the ministry of the Methodist church, his first charge being the circuit in Fulton county, Pennsylvania. He was transferred from one place to another, and from Pennsylvania was transferred on account of ill health to Nebraska, being the only preacher in Frontier county for two years. After several changes he finally was located at Blue Springs, and had charge of the Methodist church there for two
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years, when he retired from the ministry, and has since then devoted his attention to farming.
When he was twenty-four years of age, he was married in Pennsyl- vania to Miss Jennie Dunlet and she is a daughter of Donald and Mary Dunlet. Mrs. Taylor died, leaving one child, Alvah O., of Helena, Mon- tana. Mr. Taylor married in Jefferson county, Pennsylvania, February 12, 1874, Lydia F. Wilson, a daughter of Captain John G. Wilson and Amanda F. Wilson. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor have had the following children Belle W .; C. B., of Sheridan, Wyoming; Denver W., of Sheridan, Wyoming; Eric A., of Oketo, Kansas; Mary D., of Gage county ; Lawrence E. at school; Lulu A. at school; and the youngest a boy in school.
For thirty-three years Mr. Taylor has been a Mason, he is a mem- ber of the Order of Odd Fellows, Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Knights of Pythias and Grand Army of the Republic, and has been very active in the latter organization. He has also been prominent in Republican politics, and served as police judge of Blue Springs, notary public for six years, and always lends his influence towards the meas- ures he believes best for the development and advancement of the city. As a religious worker, he has always been zealous, successful and sin- cere, and while not now in charge of any church, his thoughts and efforts are employed in his Master's work, and he is one of the pillars of his denomination, and justly regarded as one of the best examples of a devoted Christian man and loyal citizen.
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GEORGE LUM.
George Lum, dealer in lumber, was the first business man to estab- lish himself in Verdon, where he settled and began his prosperous busi- ness career about twenty-two years ago. The second man to open a shop in the village was Charles Oathout, a blacksmith, and the third was Hopper and Carroll, general merchandise. Mr. Lum has had a busy and successful life, one marked with enterprising effort and good busi- ness management and foresight, and he has taken a prominent part in public and material affairs concerned with the development of this town of Verdon.
He was born in Oswego county, New York, October 15, 1836, being a son of Ransom Lum, who was born near Decatur, New York, in 1797, and died on his farm in Oswego county in 1845. Ransom Lum was one of the five sons and some three daughters, whose father was a well-to-do farmer. Ransom married a Miss Prindle, who was a widow many years and died in 1880. They had seven children : Aurelia, the wife of O. B. Wright, lives in Litchfield, Michigan, and has one son and one daughter : Julia, the first wife of Nathaniel Stewart, died without issue; Abel, at Steinauer, Nebraska, has one son; Clark, who died in Verdon in 1894, left two sons and one daughter; Electa, the second wife of Nathaniel Stewart, died leaving one son, Clark A. Stewart, a physician in New York; George is the sixth child; and Charles died in his seventeenth year.
Mr. George Lum was reared on the farm in New York until he was eighteen years old. In 1855 he went to Boone county, Iowa, and began farming on three hundred and twenty acres of government land, which he bought at one dollar and a quarter an acre, paying in- terest at the rate of ten per cent. He and his two brothers "batched" for two or three years while engaged in this work. One brother had a
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half section and another a quarter section. After coming to Verdon in 1882 he built his lumber yard and office and sheds, one hundred and fifty-two by twenty-six feet, and his more recent addition is fifty by eighty feet. He carries a stock valued at about six thousand dollars. The business at Verdon is carried on under the name of George Lum and Son, and the yard at Steinauer as M. H. Lum and Company. Mr. Lum also owns three quarter sections of land in Nebraska. He was one of the founders and the first president of the first bank in Verdon, named the Farmers' State Bank of Verdon, which is now the Verdon State Bank and is owned by the Hall Brothers, to whom it was sold sixteen months after it was opened. Mr. Lum erected his good home in Verdon in 1883, but he has since changed it considerably and made a number of improvements. In 1890 he was one of a party of lumber- men of the northwest who took an excursion to California and Old Mexico and many other points in the west, leaving Minneapolis in January and returning in March. It was a most delightful trip, filled with many occasions of interest, and the various scenes of the daily panorama of travel from indelible and happy memory pictures in Mr. Lum's mind. A most joyous part of the journey was a ride by steamer from Puget Sound to San Diego in southern California.
On August 6, 1861, Mr. Lum enlisted at Des Moines, Iowa, for three years' service in the Union cause. He became corporal of Com- pany D, Second Iowa Cavalry, and after thirty-seven months of cam- paigning was mustered out at Davenport, Iowa, with a most creditable record as a patriot and soldier. He has been a stanch Republican since arriving at majority, although he usually votes for the man he believes the best representative of the people's interests. He served as president of the town board for four years.
Mr. Lum was married in Boone county, Iowa, in January, 1865,
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to Miss Laura E. Shepard, who was born in Genesee county, New York, a daughter of Chauncey and Laura (Bristol) Shepard, the former a native of Connecticut and the latter of Genesee county, New York. Her parents were farmers, and she was one of seven children, four of whom were reared: Chauncey K. Shepard, who died in Summer- town, Tennessee; Frances C., wife of Abel Lum, mentioned above; Eliza A., widow of Amos Cooper, of Forest City, Missouri; and Mrs. George Lum. Mr. and Mrs. Lum became the parents of five children : Fred B., who died at the age of three years; Gertrude L., at home, who was obliged to leave school on account of failing health; Clyde V., who is a graduate of the Gem City Business College and is in business with his father; Harry C., who is in the class of 1907 at Doane Col- lege in Crete, Nebraska: and Roy E., who is in the same college and in the class of 1908.
MRS. ELIZA C. SMITH.
Mrs. Eliza C. Smith, a widow of South Auburn, Nebraska, has known Southeastern Nebraska from girlhood to the present time, and this state has been the theatre of her worthy and successful efforts in combatting with material things and winning a prosperity which few men can equal. Both Mrs. Smith and her mother have been women of unusual energy and business acumen. Deprived of their husbands before provision had been made for the future welfare of their fami- lies, they set to work, and Mrs. Smith by her own unaided effort, to make a living in competition with the hardier sex. Mrs. Smith was left a widow and. in debt not more than twenty-five years ago, and since then she has built up one of the finest ranching properties in west-
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ern Nebraska, and owns a model ranch of large dimensions and worth thousands of dollars, besides valuable real estate and other property in Colorado and in this part of the state. She deserves and receives great credit for what she has accomplished in the face of obstacles, and she ranks as one of the foremost business women of the state.
Mrs. Smith was born in Miami county, Ohio, about fifty years ago. Her father, William Smith, was born in London, England, in April, 1818, and was married there in 1846 to Miss Elizabeth Smith (no relation), who was born near London in 1828. They came to America by sailing vessel in 1851, having a long and tempestuous voyage of nine weeks, in the course of which their fourth child was born, and buried in the sea, and a little son also died on ship, while their little daughter died soon after landing in New York. Their children were Elizabeth Sara, born December 6, 1846, and was killed in a sugar cane mill near Brownville, Nebraska; Benjamin John, born July 2, 1848, died at the age of fourteen and was buried at Howe; Eliza B., born January 27, 1850; the infant son mentioned above; Mrs. E. C. Smith is the fifth; William B., born in Ohio, July 28, 1855, died March 15, 1868. Mr. William Smith died in Ohio at the age of thirty-seven, leaving his widow with but little property. In the spring of 1858 she came to Brownville, Nebraska, and was soon afterward married to George Wheeler, who was an early emigrant from England of Kansas. There were five children born of this marriage: Frank Wheeler, born in 1859, is a farmer near Glen Rock, Nebraska; George Wheeler, born March 15, 1862, is a farmer near Howe, and has a large family; Rosa May, the wife of James Penney, near Howe, has three children; and twins who died in infancy. The mother of these children died in the present home of Mrs. E. C. Smith, April 3, 1897, and Mr. Wheeler died here March 23, 1898, when about seventy-three years old. These parents
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had inherited no money, and the fine property which they left was the direct result of their industry and persevering toil. They owned at their death a half section of land in two farms, eighteen city lots and three dwellings.
Mrs. Smith was reared to the rugged life of the farm, having been accustomed from childhood to working in the field and meadow as well as in the house. On March 7, 1875, she was married, at the age of twenty-two, to John Cochran. They settled in western Ne- braska, where their first and only child was born, Daisy Alice, the wife of Joseph E. Trinnier, in Cheyenne county, Nebraska, and their two sons are Marvin, three years old and weighs fifty pounds, and Thurston, two years old and weighs forty pounds. Mr. Trinnier is an educated man and a great reader, and is successful in his business enterprises.
Mrs. Smith was soon left a widow and in debt, and in the emergency, with the courage and physical strength native to her, she, with the help of her maid servant, began running a ranch house and feeding station in Cheyenne county, Nebraska. There she took in from fifteen to one hundred a per day, and had soon paid her debts. Her con- tinued prosperity is evidenced by the fact that she is now owner of a ranch of twelve hundred and eighty acres. Besides this she fenced and occupied government land while she was running her stock ranch. She raised both cattle and horses, and had some fine stock. She con- tinued the eating house on the old stage route from Sidney to Black Hills, at which she sheltered and fed both men and stock. She was engaged in these enterprises for about seventeen years. She also owned another ranch which she sold for thirteen thousand dollars, and she owns property in Denver worth ten thousand dollars. At present she leases her ranch, and is in the main retired from active effort, giv-
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ing her attention to the oversight of her accumulations. She has been able to retire in good season and has many years in which to enjoy the comforts which her industry has given her. She now occupies the place in South Auburn where her step-father settled in 1893, consisting of a large cottage home, barns and the vacant lots across the street.
JAMES MONROE BURRESS.
James Monroe Burress, real estate dealer, and excursion agent for the Rock Island System and the Missouri Pacific, at Auburn, Nebras- ka, is one of the representative citizens of the town in which he lives.
Mr. Burress is a native of Missouri. He was born in Mount Pleasant, in Miller county, October 1, 1848, the son of Missouri par- ents. His father, Thomas Burress, was born in Hickory county, Missouri, in 1826, and died at Glen Rock, Nemaha county, Nebraska, in February, 1897. Andrew Jackson Burress, the grandfather of our subject, was a Virginian by birth, and was one of the pioneers of Mis- souri, where he died at the age of forty-eight years. Grandmother Burress was a native of Nova Scotia. She lived to be over seventy years of age, and died in Windsor, Missouri. Their children were: Thomas; Burrel G., who died in Pueblo, Colorado; John W., who died in Se- dalia, Missouri, in March, 1903, leaving one son and two daughters; James Monroe, of Windsor, Missouri, has a wife and two daughters; Andrew Jackson, of Glen Rock, Nebraska; Polly, wife of Sylvester Cotton; and Sarah, wife of W. J. Livingston, of Windsor, Missouri.
Thomas Burress, the eldest of the above named family, married Charlotte Williams, in Mount Pleasant, Missouri, about 1847. The only child of this union was James Monroe, the subject of this sketch,
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and the young mother died when he was three months old, leaving him to the care of his grandmother, with whom he remained five years, until his father married again. For his second wife the father married Julia .A. Swift, who bore him five children, two sons and three daugh- ters, namely: John G., a grain merchant of Cook, Nebraska, is married and has a family of two sons and two daughters; Nancy F., who died at the age of eighteen years; Sarah, wife of J. N. Simmons, of Glen Rock, Nebraska, has two sons and one daughter; B. N., a miller and merchant of Auburn, has four sons living; and Charlotte L., who resides with her mother, the latter being now past seventy-five years of age.
James Monroe Burress passed his days until he was fifteen years of age much as other Missouri boys of that time, attending the district school. Then, in 1863, with the consent of his father, he hired to a neighbor to drive cattle to Denver and Central City, Colorado, receiv- ing as compensation his board and twenty dollars per month. This trip consumed three months and twenty days, was attended with some interesting experiences, and brought to him not only a good time but also good health, for he was far from being a rugged boy when he left home. He followed this business of driving cattle west for three sum- mers, sometimes receiving as high as seventy-five dollars per month. At one time his party was attacked by the Indians, who made an at- tempt to rob their wagons. Fortunately, just at this time, a band of scouts or soldiers were seen approaching in the distance, and the red men made a hasty retreat.
Mr. Burress married, March 1, 1870, in Nebraska, Miss Louise Bourlier, who was born in Ripley county, Ohio, in 1851, daughter of James Bourlier, a native of France. Mr. Bourlier was a farmer. He came with his family by boat from Ohio to Nebraska in 1860. It was
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in 1856 that the Burress family came to Nebraska. James Bourlier died at the age of sixty-nine years, on his farm, near Julian, in Nemaha county, and his wife died about four years later, at the age of seventy years. They were the parents of four sons and four daugh- ters, as follows : Frederick Bourlier, who lives on a farm near the old home, has four sons and three daughters; Kate Bretty, a widow resid- ing in northwestern Nebraska; Emile Bourlier, of Oklahoma, has two sons and one daughter; Mrs. Burress; Ellen Handley; Fanny Tobin, of Sidney, Nebraska, has a daughter and one son; August Bourlier, on the old homstead; and James Bourlier, a farmer at Fort Worth.
Mr. Burress has one hundred and fifty acres, improved with build- ings, etc., at Glen Rock, Nebraska; one hundred and sixty acres, well improved, in Custer county, Oklahoma, and eighty acres in Wyoming. He is vice president of the Hart Mountain Oil & Development Com- pany, organized to operate in the Big Horn basin, Wyoming. He re- sides in Auburn, in a beautiful residence on the corner of Second and Fifth avenues.
Politically Mr. Burress is a Republican, and at various times has served in local office, ever performing his public service with fidelity. In the fall of 1891 he was elected county clerk, and then re-elected, serving two terms. Also he filled the offices of road overseer, assessor and constable. At one time he was a candidate for the office of state senator, on the independent ticket, but was defeated. Fraternally Mr. Burress is a Knight Templar Mason, a Knight of Pythias and a Modern Woodman. Both he and Mrs. Burress are members of the Presbyterian church.
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JOHN PALMER.
John Palmer, who is one of the prominent farmers of Namaha county, Nebraska, with his productive and beautiful farmstead situated three quarters of a mile west of Peru, has been a resident of this section of Southeastern Nebraska for thirty-five years, ever since 1869. He was born in Lincolnshire, England, January 9, 1839.
His father, John Palmer, was born in the same place, and was one of the sturdy yoemanry of England, and was an industrious farmer there, but was in poor circumstances when he decided to come to America in 1857. He and his family embarked on the ship George Washington, and were twenty-four days en route to Boston, whence he went to St. Louis, where his family joined him. He worked for some time as a farm hand, and was also a tenant farmer for about four years. He then went to the mountains of Idaho, but in 1869 came to Nemaha county, Nebraska, and was located for a time on Dr. Neal's farm. He later bought eighty acres for fourteen hundred dollars, and this place is still owned by his son Phillip, whose history will be found below and in which connection will be noted other facts of the family history. The wife of Jolin Palmer, Sr., was Eleanor Dove, and their nine children were all born before they left England.
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