USA > Nebraska > A Biographical and genealogical history of southeastern Nebraska, Vol. I > Part 27
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40
Mr. Van Valkenburg, who is of a good old Dutch family of the old York state, was born in Kinderhook, New York, December 21, 1839. His grandfather was Harry Van Valkenburg, who lived and died at Kinderhook, attaining the age of seventy. Of his two daughters and four sons, all had families, and two sons and two daughters remained in Columbia county, New York, and two went to Syracuse of the same state.
Samuel Dudley Van Valkenburg, the father of Dudley, was born in Columbia county, New York, in 1816, and died in Green county, Wisconsin, at the age of about fifty-six. He married, in 1838, Mar- garet Shufelt, who was born in 1817, and who is still living with her
348
SOUTHEASTERN NEBRASKA.
daughter in Wisconsin, bright and active, notwithstanding her many years. They were the parents of three sons and one daughter : Dudley ; Mrs. Elsie Darlington, of Buffalo county, Wisconsin; Adelbert, in Washington state; and Norman, of the same state.
Mr. Dudley Van Valkenburg had a first-class common school train- ing, and in the course of his career has taught school for twelve years. On June 1, 1862, he volunteered at Kingston, Wisconsin, in Company C, Third Wisconsin Cavalry, and served till the close of the war, for three years and sixteen days, being mustered out at Leavenworth, Kan- sas, on June 16, 1865. He was a corporal and on detached duty for nineteen months, and was lucky enough to escape all wounds and impris- onment during his many campaigns. Altogether he has been in the service of the government for fifteen years, being employed in North Dakota in erecting mills for the Indians, for four years was a mail carrier in Nebraska and Missouri, and for several years acted as super- intendent of Indian schools in Kansas. He has been in the grain-buying trade since he located permanently at Rulo, in 1892, and has an extensive and profitable business. He owns his home and seven lots in the town, and also owns a farm of two hundred and forty acres near White Cloud, Kansas, having bought it in 1890.
Mr. Van Valkenburg is a Democrat in politics. He has served as justice of the peace, was deputy sheriff for eight years, was constable two years, and for six years deputy United States marshal. 'He is a Master Mason and past master of Orient Lodge No. 13, Free and Accepted Masons, at Rulo. His wife is a member of the Eastern Star and of the Degree of Honor, and belongs to the Episcopal church.
Mr. Van Valkenburg was married in Yankton, North Dakota, November 5, 1869, to Miss Sylvania Roubidoux, who was born October 21, 1843, in St. Joseph, Missouri, a city founded by her paternal grand-
349
SOUTHEASTERN NEBRASKA.
father, Joseph Roubidoux, and one of the streets bears his name. Her parents were Farren and Elizabeth (Cedar) Roubidoux, who lost one child in infancy and reared this one daughter. Her mother was born in Council Bluffs, Iowa, in May, 1823, and married for her second hus- band Major Stephen Story, by whom she had six children. She died in Rulo, December 1, 1900. She and her first husband entered a claim on the site of the present city of St. Joseph, and she also figured as one of the earliest settlers of Richardson county, Nebraska. Her first husband, Mr. Roubidoux, died in St. Joseph in 1845, and Major Story died in Rulo, January 27, 1882, at the age of seventy-two. The latter served in the Mexican war, and at his death was the oldest white settler of Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. Van Valkenburg have two children : Vesta, at home, who is an accomplished pianist and a forceful character and energetic worker both in her home and in various social matters; Frank, the son, has for the past three years been employed in the office of the superintendent of the Burlington Railroad at Chicago.
CHARLES HARDEN.
Amongst the most pleasant rural homes of Gage county is that of Charles Harden, of Blue Springs township, it being complete in all its appointments, and a gracious hospitality adds a charm to its material comforts. Mr. Harden is a veteran of the Civil war and bears an honorable record for brave service in the cause of freedom and union, - and in the paths of peace he has also won an enviable reputation through the sterling qualities which go to the making of a good citizen.
Mr. Harden was born in Peoria county, Illinois, in 1847, and is a son of Richard Harden, a native of Brighton, England, who was
1
350
SOUTHEASTERN NEBRASKA.
seven years old on the emigration of his parents to America, the family locating in Ohio. In 1833 he went to Peoria, Illinois, and became identified with the early development of that locality, assisting in the erection of many of the first log cabins in Peoria county. He married Miss Mary Gillon, of Washington county, Iowa, who died at the age of thirty years, loved and respected by all who knew her. She left four children : Mary Jane, now deceased ; Charles; John; and Mary E. The father was again married, and by the second union had two chil- dren : Alice and Richard A. He died in Peoria county at the age of sixty-five years. By occupation he was a farmer and in politics was a Democrat.
The early life of Charles Harden was passed in a rather uneventful manner upon the home farm in Peoria county, Illinois, and his education was obtained in the public schools of that locality. He was only sixteen years of age when he entered the army, enlisting at Peoria, in May, 1864, as a private in Company E, One Hundred and Thirty-ninth Illi- nois Volunteer Infantry, with which he served until the close of the war. His command was following up Generals Price and Forrest most of the time and were on duty in Kentucky, Missouri and Arkan- sas. When hostilities ceased Mr. Harden received an honorable dis- charge and returned home to resume the more quiet pursuits of farm life.
In 1866 Mr. Harden went to Iowa, and after spending some time in Wapello county, he settled near Shenandoah in Page county. He was married in that city in 1877 to Miss Mary Beer, who has been to him a faithful companion and helpmeet. She was born in Fulton county, Illinois, and was reared and educated in that state and Iowa. Her parents were William and Adeline Beer, the former of whom is now deceased, but the latter is still living. To Mr. and Mrs. Harden were born the following children: Della; Ola, wife of O. D. Strong,
35I
SOUTHEASTERN NEBRASKA.
and lives in Little Rock, Arkansas; Nettie, who is now successfully engaged in teaching school in Gage county, Nebraska; Floy; Hattie; Madge, deceased; Lynn; and Dale, who died at the age of twenty-eight months.
Leaving Iowa in 1881, Mr. Harden and his family removed to Marshall county, Kansas, and located near Oketo, where he became the owner of a good farm of eighty acres. He sold that place in 1893 and came to Gage county, Nebraska, purchasing what is now known as the Riverside farm in Blue Springs township, which consists of one hundred and thirty acres. This he placed under a high state of cultivation and improved in a creditable manner, erecting an elegant ten-room house. He has two large orchards. Mr. Harden votes with the Democratic party and keeps up his acquaintance with his old army comrades by his membership in Scott Post No. 37. G. A. R.
W. M. FULTON.
The gentleman whose name introduces this sketch is one of the most prominent and influential citizens of Liberty township, Gage county, Nebraska, where he has made his home for the past twenty years. He was born in Center county, Pennsylvania, about fifty-four years ago, and is descended from a good old family of the central part of that state. His father, John R. Fulton, was a native of Pennsylvania and a son of Jacob Fulton, who was also born there and was of Scotch- Irish extraction. The latter was a soldier of the war of 1812. while the former aided in the preservation of the Union during the Civil war. In early manhood John R. Fulton married Elizabeth Beals, who was also born in the Keystone state, of Welsh ancestry. Many years ago
352
SOUTHEASTERN NEBRASKA.
he removed to Trego county, Kansas, where he is now living at the ripe old age of eighty-five years. By trade he is a carpenter. Through- out life he has been a faithful members of the Methodist church, in which he has served as class-leader and exhorter, and he has lead an earnest, consistent Christian life. His political support is given the Republican party. His wife, who was a most estimable lady, died in Wymore, Ne- braska, in 1884. To them were born nine children, five sons and four daughters, namely: Wesley M .; D. B .; Cannarissa; Fannie; Ben and Mary, twins; Steven Ed; Arthur, deceased; and Emma, deceased.
Mr. Wesley M. Fulton passed his boyhood and youth in Center and Indiana counties, Pennsylvania, where he was reared to habits of indus- try, his education being acquired in the public schools. He has greatly broadened his knowledge in later years by reading and experience in the business world. On the 23d of September, 1873, he led to the mar- raige altar Miss Lucinda Enterline, who was also born in Pennsylvania, and was reared and educated in Jefferson county, that state. On the paternal side she is of German descent, though her parents, Daniel and Lucinda (Shives) Enterline, were natives of Pennsylvania, the former born in Dauphin county. Both died in that state. They held member- ship in the Evangelical church, and Mr. Enterline voted with the Re- publican party. In the family were twelve children, of whom eleven reached maturity. Mr. and Mrs. Fulton have had ten children : Chandas, deceased; Lillie N .; Charles P .; W. D., editor of the Liberty Journal; John L., deceased; F. F., who is engaged in the granite and marble busi- ness in Wymore, Nebraska; Bessie L .; Wilda B .; George E .; and Ralph E.
In 1883 Mr. Fulton came to Gage county, Nebraska, and purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Liberty township, which he has converted into a very valuable property, being now worth sixty-five dol-
BENTON ALDRICH
MRS. BENTON ALDRICH
353
SOUTHEASTERN NEBRASKA.
lars per acre. There is a good bearing orchard and grove upon the place and the buildings are good and substantial. In addition to gen- eral farming Mr. Fulton carries on stock-raising and is also engaged in the real estate and insurance business, representing the Mutual Insurance. Company of Nebraska. He is an upright, reliable business man, and soon gains the confidence of all with whom he is brought in contact.
At state and national elections Mr. Fulton supports the Democratic ticket, but at local elections where no issue is involved he votes for the men who he believes best qualified for office regardless of party lines. He has been a delegate to county and congressional conventions of his party, and has taken quite an active and influential part in local politics. For thirteen years he has been a member of the school board and served two terms as assessor of Liberty township and is now serving as jus- tice of the peace. Pleasant and genial in manner, he makes many friends and is held in high regard by all who know him.
BENTON ALDRICH.
Benton Aldrich, the well known farmer and horticulturist in Wash- ington precinct, near Auburn, Nemaha county, receiving his mail by rural delivery route No. 2, has lived in the same locality for nearly forty years, coming to Nebraska in the last year of the Civil war. As he is one of the oldest citizens, so he is one of the most successful and one of the most highly esteemed. He is one of the substantial, thorough- going men who devote their best efforts to the performance of the work for which they have displayed the most aptitude, and this with Mr. Aldrich has been the free outdoor life of the farm and among the trees. He is an authority on tree culture, and is one of the leading
354
SOUTHEASTERN NEBRASKA.
apple-growers of Nemaha county. His long life of over seventy years has been filled with useful effort, and he and his wife still retain their full capacity for enjoyment of the comforts and pleasant things that surround them, and are contented and happy in every phase of their lives.
Mr. Aldrich comes of one of the oldest American families, and its members through many generations have filled positions of honor and trust and usefulness in various parts of this broad land. Authentic history states that George Aldrich, a native of England, landed in America, November 6, 1631, and first settled in Dorchester, Massa- chusetts, later in Braintree, and came to the territory which was incor- porated as the town of Mendon, before July, 1663, and he was the sixth of the pioneers of this town. All his children were born in Braintree. This progenitor of the Aldrich family in America died on March 1, 1682.
Passing over several generations in direct descent, the great-great- grandfather of our Nemaha county citizen was Benjamin Aldrich, who was born in Massachusetts. He was the second on the list of the eight grantees of the town of Westmoreland, New Hampshire, where he settled in 1741. He was driven off by the Indians before his grant was proved up, but it was renewed, and the farm thus settled remained in the possession of members of the family down to 1885. He died in Westmoreland, May 15, 1763, in the sixty-ninth year of his life.
Caleb Aldrich, the great-grandfather, was born in Walpole, Mass- achusetts, March 4, 1730, and he was a farmer and died in Westmore- land, New Hampshire, December 6, 1799, having married in 1757. Grandfather Aldrich was born in Westmoreland, New Hampshire, May 29, 1764, was a life-long farmer in that state, and died in 1842, a short time before the death of his wife in the same year. He married Sarah Brown, who was a daughter of Mr. Brown, of Salem, Massachusetts.
355
SOUTHEASTERN NEBRASKA.
They had six children: William A., a farmer, and died single at the age of twenty-eight; Alfred, mentioned below; Sarah, wife of Daniel Winchester, died at the age of seventy and was the mother of six children; Fanny had a large number of children by Samuel Mason and she died aged about sixty years; Polly died at the age of eighty, with- out children; and Sophia died without children at the age of fifty.
Alfred Aldrich, father of Benton Aldrich, was born on the old homestead in New Hampshire, March 14, 1795, and died there on March 10, 1873. He was married in 1825 to Miss Mary Farrar, who was born in Hillsboro, New Hampshire, September II, 1805, and died in Brattleboro, Vermont, October 26, 1887, and was a daughter of Isaac Farrar and his wife. Alfred Aldrich and his wife had the fol- lowing children : Alfred, born January 5, 1827, was blind from birth and died from cancer at the age of three; one died in infancy; Benton is the third; Hanson, born October 21, 1833, was accidentally killed September 25, 1847; Mrs. Mary Elsie Chickering, a widow residing at Brattleboro, Vermont, was born February 3, 1836, and has two sons and one daughter and has grandchildren by each of them; Miss Har- riet Elizabeth died in 1865; and Lina is the wife of F. D. Fisk, of Brattleboro, and has three daughters.
Benton Aldrich was born on the old farm in Cheshire county, New Hampshire, May 3, 1831. He spent one year in the academy at Sax- tons River, Vermont, and at the age of twenty left home and came west to Hudson, St. Croix county, Wisconsin, where he began the career which has eventuated so prosperously by working for various farmers. During the four and a half years that he was thus engaged he met and married his wife. He had become owner of some land in the county, and immediately after his marriage he sold at a profit and moved to Winona county, Minnesota. He settled on one hundred and
356
SOUTHEASTERN NEBRASKA.
sixty acres of wild land there, and when it came into market bought the squatter's right to it. He kept a postoffice in his log cabin, and named this office and the hamlet which grew up about it Wiscoy, which name it still retains. He improved his land, and in 1862 sold it and went to Dunn county, Wisconsin, where he farmed for two years. In the spring of 1865 he sold out and moved to Nemaha county, Nebraska, where has been the scene of his operations ever since. He bought forty acres for fifty dollars, and this tract is now a part of the four hundred and fifty acres which comprise the family estate, of which his son owns one hundred, a daughter fifty-one, Mrs. Aldrich one hundred, and of the remainder his younger son now owns a part. He resides in a house that is a composite of grotto and dugout, and is curious in ap- pearance, but has afforded his family the comforts of a home for many years. He and his wife are very contented in this modest dwelling, but they contemplate building in the near future a more commodious home, and on one of the prettiest sites to be found anywhere. This ideal spot is surrounded with groves of ornamental and fruit trees, retired from the dusty road and reached through an embowered driveway be- tween a colonade of maples which have all been planted by Mr. and Mrs. Aldrich. Mr. Aldrich is considered an authority on horticulture. He has an orchard of four thousand apple trees, and has planted over six thousand, his oldest son having two thousand. He also has a large variety of shade trees and shrubs, and he brought in a large number of red cedars in 1866, many thousands of which have since been sold. One season he sold sixteen carloads of apples, but the curculio pest has nearly ruined his orchard.
The young lady whom Mr. Aldrich married while working in Wisconsin was Miss Martha Jane Harshman, who was born in Wash- ington, Pennsylvania, March 1, 1836, and was a daughter of John and
357
SOUTHEASTERN NEBRASKA.
Hannah (Smalley) Harshman, the former a native of Washington, Pennsylvania, and the latter of Greene county, that state. They were married in 1826, the bride being seventeen and the groom twenty, and they were the parents of fourteen children, of whom an infant son was accidentally poisoned, but all the rest grew to manhood and woman- hood, and twelve were married. The son William Henry was a soldier in the Civil war, and died at Madison, Wisconsin, while still in his minority. The other children are as follows : Catherine, wife of Wheeler Barnum, died in 1888, leaving one daughter and four sons; Mrs. Eliza- beth West, a widow, living in Los Angeles, California, had twelve chil- dren and ten are living; Daniel Harshman was in the army and is now in a soldiers' home, and was the father of twelve children; Limerick, in Pierce, Wisconsin, has four children; Mrs. Margaret Dixon, a widow ; Mrs. Aldrich is the next of the children; Mary, wife of John Eubanks, in Chippewa county, Wisconsin, has two children; John, in Pierce county, Wisconsin, has three children; Hannah, wife of John Able, in Waseka, Minnesota, has seven children; Samuel McFarlane Harshman, in Montana, has four children; Romaine Amanda Morrison (her second husband Yansey), has seven children ; and Mrs. Laura Matilda Wilcox, deceased, had six children.
Mr. and Mrs. Aldrich lost two children in infancy, and their others are as follows: Karl, living on a farm adjoining liis father's, has one daughter, Elizabeth; Martha, widow of Campbell Stoddard, has one daughter and one son; Mary, wife of D. Gallup, died at the age of thirty-nine, leaving an infant which is deceased; Lina is the wife of Alfred Butterfield, a carpenter, and they live on a farm near by, and have one daughter and two sons; Alfred, lived in one of the houses on his father's farm, married Miss Cremona Jackson Rawley, from North Carolina, and they have two sons.
358
SOUTHEASTERN NEBRASKA.
Mr. Aldrich was a strong abolitionist, and since then a Republican. He served as postmaster for fourteen years, two years in Minnesota and twelve years at Clifton, but has otherwise been free from the cares of public office. He is too enthusiastic and devoted to his agricultural and horticultural duties to be concerned with other matters, and now in his old age his greatest joy is in the beauties and comforts of the home place which he has made by his past efforts. He was one of the organ- izers of the farmers' institute in southeastern Nebraska. At his home for many years was kept the Clifton Library of over seven hundred volumes, comprising the collections of about sixty families.
JAMES W. HOSFORD.
James WV. Hosford, senior partner of the well known mercantile firm of Hosford and Gagnon of Rulo, has made this town the base and center of his business operations for nearly forty-four years, and has the longest established, continuous business houses in Rulo. He began this career by itinerant merchandising on the plains before the advent of railroads, and in this branch of pioneering has perhaps seen as many varied experiences as any other man. He is a man of great ability and remarkable self-achievement, and has been going it alone ever since he was a small boy. He has gained a most creditable success, and his place in Rulo is one of honor and universal esteem.
He was born in Marion county, Ohio, January 24, 1835, being a descendant of an old American family. His great-grandfather, William Hosford, was a Scotch highlander, who died at or near Bangor, Maine, an old man and well to do for his day and generation. Grandfather William Hosford was born at Bangor, Maine, in 1767, served in the
359
SOUTHEASTERN NEBRASKA.
war of 1812, and died in Marion county, Ohio. He wedded a Maine woman, and they had five children: Horace; Asa, who served in his state legislature, and died in Galion, Ohio, at the age of eighty-three; Eri, who was driver of an old-fashioned stage with four horses, and who died at the age of seventy-five, having reared a family and amassed a fortune; Harry, deceased, who was a pioneer of Council Bluffs, Iowa; William was a farmer in Marion county, Ohio, where he died when past middle life, leaving two sons and one daughter.
Horace Hosford, the father of James W., was born in Ontario county, New York, in 1796, and died at Greencastle, Indiana, in 1861. He farmed in Marion county, Ohio, from 1833 to 1838, and he and his brother Asa also built and ran a flouring and saw mill. In 1838 he sold out and went to Shelby, Ohio, where he engaged in farming and stock-raising. He was married in 1833 to Charlotte Wilson, who was born in eastern Virginia in 1812, and at the age of eleven she was brought to Muskingum county, Ohio, by her parents, Charles and Anna Wilson. There were five children born to Horace and Charlotte Hos- ford: James W .; Eliza, wife of Harvey McConnell, died at Liberty, Nebraska, in 1889, leaving all her eleven children: Amanda, wife of B. S. Chittenden, lives at Winfield, Kansas, and has one son and one daugh- ter; Candace, wife of Edward Fairbanks, died at the age of twenty- eight, in Greencastle, Indiana, leaving no children; and Clara died in infancy.
Mr. James W. Hosford was reared on the farm and also learned the mill business. His schooling was in the very primitive log schools. with their rough seats and desks and other uncomfortable and pioneer furnishings. He left school at the age of sixteen, and when eighteen he began teaching, for two terms near Shelby, Ohio, one term in Miss- ouri, and one in Kansas. He came to Kansas City, Missouri, or rather
360
SOUTHEASTERN NEBRASKA.
at the site of the present city, in September, 1858, and spent the follow- ing winter in teaching there. He was at St. Joseph when the Hannibal and St. Joe Railroad was formally opened, in the spring of 1859, which was made the occasion of a great celebration. On May 1, 1860, he left Leavenworth, Kansas, and drove six yoke of oxen from that city to Central City, Colorado. He was seven weeks on the trip out, and there were some twenty-five wagons, thirty men and three hundred oxen in the train. He was engaged in freighting merchandise, and got good pay and had a good time. He spent the summer of 1860 in gold mining and freighting in the mountains, and on December 1, 1865, came to Rulo. He and Mr. Gagnon formed a partnership. and fifteen days later they left for Fort Laramie, Wyoming, with a large covered wagon loaded with pork from the old packing house at White Cloud, Kansas. They paid four and a half cents a pound for the pork and sold it for fifty, and during their four weeks' trip made considerable money. On their return they were delayed at Grand Island, Nebraska, on account of the deep snow, and while they were there Fort Sumter was fired upon. On their arrival in Rulo they bought and equipped three wagons and thirty-six yoke of oxen, and with loads of merchandise and provisions started out for Fort Laramie. When five hundred miles out from the Missouri they began trading, and continued their operations one hundred and fifty miles beyond Laramie, coming back by way of the present city of Cheyenne and Boulder, Colorado, where they completed their suc- cessful enterprise, and thence reached Rulo in the fall of 1861. In the following spring they freighted for the government from this place to Fort Laramie, and in the summer of 1863 hauled merchandise with eight wagons from Nebraska City to Denver. In 1864 they hauled machinery for quartz mills from Atchison, Kansas, to Central City, Colorado, and on one of the trips passed over the road just after the Indian hostilities
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.