USA > Nebraska > A Biographical and genealogical history of southeastern Nebraska, Vol. I > Part 31
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
403
SOUTHEASTERN NEBRASKA.
fered from sunstroke. He never fully recovered and it has bothered him more or less ever since. On account of this stroke he was in the hospital for some time, and when sufficiently recovered was honorably discharged and returned home to Illinois.
Lewis Achenbach was born in Germany on September 1I, 1838, and he was a son of John J. and Mary ( Badenbender) Achenbach. In 1852 the family came to the United States from Bremen on a sail- ing vessel, which consumed nine weeks in a stormy voyage. They landed in New York and proceeded at once to Waukegan, Lake county, Illinois. Both parents died in that state. Nine children were born to these parents, of whom the following served in the Civil war. Leonard was in an Illinois regiment and is now deceased: Edgar was also in an Illinois regiment, and Lewis.
Lewis Achenbach was but fourteen years of age when he left Germany, where he had studied in his native language, and after coming to America he pursued his education still further and learned the cooper's trade. About the time he was enabled to earn good wages at his calling, he enlisted, and when he returned to his old home he found himself troubled by ill health. In order to improve it he removed to Flody county, Iowa, where he worked upon a farm until 1869, and then located in Brownville, Nebraska. This climate not seeming to suit him he made another change, settling in Vesta, Johnson county, Nebraska; again removed and remained at Turkey creek, Pawnee county, until 1883, when he came to Beatrice, and has since made his home in this city.
In 1868 he was married in Floyd county, Iowa, to Lienan Estella Conlee, who was born at Alton, Illinois, but was reared and educated at Galena, Illinois. She is a daughter of John H. Conlee, a prominent citizen of Galena, Illinois, and an old friend and neighbor of General
404
SOUTHEASTERN NEBRASKA.
Grant. Mr. Conlee was at one time sheriff of Jo Daviess county, Illinois, and was United States marshal. He enjoyed the privilege of being present at the celebrated debate at Freeport, Illinois, between . . Lincoln and Douglas in 1858. As he was a warm personal friend of President Lincoln his smypathies of course were with that great man, although he also admired the ability of Stephen A. Douglas. By call- ing he was a merchant, and was very successful in all his ventures. He was born in Kentucky and married Mary Crowder, a native of Kentucky, whose father was a Revolutionary soldier. Mr. Conlee died at the age of eighty-two years. He was member of the Masonic fra- ternity. His wife died at the age of seventy-seven years. Twelve children, six sons and six daughters, were born to Mr. and Mrs. Con- lee. Of them, Alexander served in Company K, Ninety-sixth Illi- nois Volunteer Infantry; Thomas A. served in Company K, Ninety. sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry; and William served in the One Hundred and Forty-second Illinois Volunteer Infantry.
Mrs. Achenbach was one of the early pioneers of Floyd county and is a lady of pleasing manner and disposition. She has borne hier husband the following children : Leone E. Fairchilds, of Orleans, Ne- braska; June A .; Jessie L. Reid, of Chicago; Lewis Elbert; Alexander, deceased. Mr. Achenbach is a member of Rawlins Post No. 35, and fraternally he is a member of the Modern Woodman and Woodman of the World.
405
SOUTHEASTERN NEBRASKA.
JOSEPH LESCHER.
Joseph Lescher, one of the well known and highly respected vete- rans of the Civil war residing at Beatrice, Nebraska, was born in Berks county, Pennsylvania. He is a son of Dr. Jacob Lescher, who was one of the substantial men of Lancaster county, and who married Maria Bricker, also born in Pennsylvania. They had the following children : Samuel, who was a surgeon of a colored brigade; Elvira; Mary Rebecca; Maria ; John J., a physician ; George; William, who was blind; Elizabeth, who lives in Beatrice; and Joseph.
Joseph Lescher was reared in Pennsylvania, whence he went to Dayton, Ohio, and then he removed to Mt. Carmel, Illinois, and in 1884 located in Beatrice, Nebraska.
The war record of Mr. Lescher is one of which he well may be proud. He enlisted in Illinois, in August, 1862, Company B, Eighty- seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry, Colonel Crebbs and Captain W. T. Prunty commanding. For three years he was a gallant soldier. He participated at Sabine Crossroads under General Banks, and took part in many battles and skirmishes during his term of service. Mr. Lescher was married to Libby A. Ogborn, who was born at Liverpool, Madison county, Ohio, a daughter of Joseph Ogborn. Her father died in Perry county, Illinois. During his life he was a man of upright character and sterling principles and was deeply mourned after his demise. He married Sarah Foulke, a lady of character and great in- telligence. Mrs. Sarah Ogborn was born near Cincinnati, Ohio, and her father was a native of Pennsylvania while her mother came of a Virginia family. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Ogborn, namely: Lafayette, of Kingston, Indiana, and postal clerk for thirty-five years, was a gallant soldier in Company G, Twelfth Illinois Volunteer Infantry; John also served in the Union army; Mrs. Lescher.
406
SOUTHEASTERN NEBRASKA.
Mrs. Ogborn resides with her daughter in Beatrice, where John also makes his home. She was born in 1823.
By occupation Mr. Lescher is a carpenter and builder, and has been very successful in his business transactions, firmly establishing himself in the confidence of the community. Mrs. Lescher is a mem- ber of the State Relief Corps, of which she is state deputy, and she is ex-vice president of the local W. R. C .. Both she and her husband are well and favorably known throughout the entire county, and are repre- sentatives of the best interests of Nebraska.
HENRY S. MEYERS.
Henry S. Meyers, who resides just outside of Falls City, is one of the prominent and successful farmers of Richardson county, with a record for efficiency, honesty, integrity, and prosperous results in all his dealings with his fellow citizens and in his individual work. He was born in Carroll county, Illinois, June 4, 1864, and comes of a family that has long been resident in the United States, and whose individual members have been worthy and upright men and women in what ever sphere their abilities or inclinations have led them to act.
His great-grandfather was Jacob Meyers, a German, who crossed the Atlantic and became a successful farmer in Somerset county, Penn- sylvania, where has been the principal seat of the family ever since. Jacob Meyers had eighteen children in all, and five of the sons became ministers of the German Baptist church, which has been the religious faith of the family to the present time. He died in old age, survived by his widow, and length of years was vouchsafed to all their de- scendants.
407
SOUTHEASTERN NEBRASKA.
Martin Meyers, the grandfather of Mr. H. S. Meyers, was born in Somerset county, April 11, 1812. He was married in 1833 to Sarah Witts, who was born in November, 1820, a daughter of George Witts. She was married at the age of thirteen and was a mother at fifteen, and all of her fifteen children grew up, their names being as follows: Mary, born in 1835 and died in 1903; William, living in Morrill, Kansas; Elizabeth, of the same place, and the mother of seven living children; Adaline Smith, of Morrill, the mother of eight chil- dren; Elias S., mentioned below; Lydia, of Washington, Kansas, and mother of four children; Martin, a farmer near Morrill; Rebecca, of Hiawatha, Kansas; Harriet Springer; Sarah Springer, of Morrill; George and Michael, twins, the former deceased; David, postmaster at Morrill; Anna Beard, deceased; Susan Slifer, of Oneida, Kansas. The father of this family died in 1895, his being the first death, and two of the children died in the same year, and his wife died in 1898. These worthy grandparents began life without money, and in addition to rear- ing and providing well for their children, left an estate valued at twenty-two thousand dollars. Martin Meyers was a self-educated man, of large and generous mind. He taught fourteen terms of school after his marriage, and was also a preacher in the German Baptist church for many years, and liad also been a surveyor.
Elias S. Meyers, the father of Henry S. Meyers, was born in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, May 24, 1845, settled in Carroll coun- ty, Illinois, in 1862, and was an early settler of Richardson county, Nebraska, in the year 1870, being now retired from farming life and residing in Falls City. He was married in Carroll county to Miss Susan Sipe, who was born in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, January 6, 1844. The Sipes were prominent people of that county and state, and nearly all lived long as well as useful lives. Mr. and Mrs. E. S.
408
SOUTHEASTERN NEBRASKA.
Meyers began live as tenant farmers in Carroll county, and made a successful record while living there. On coming to Nebraska they bought one hundred and twelve acres of prairie land at twelve dollars an acre, and worked hard for the improvement and cultivation of the place. The grasshopper plague was the most serious setback to their prosperity, but they have in the main been successful, and are now re- tired from active labor.
Henry S. Meyers is the only child of his parents. He has a fine lot of land, and in 1901 erected a fine two and a half story residence, sixty by thirty-four feet, where he has a most happy and comfortable home. He has a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Richardson county, Ohio township, and his wife has one hundred and sixty acres as a gift from her father. There are eighty acres in the home place, and his farming operations are conducted with gratifying success.
Mr. Meyers married, March 16, 1886, Miss Laura Maddox, a daughter of William Maddox. She was educated in the district school one half mile north of her present home, and has lived in this county all her life. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Meyers: Perry, born in 1886; William Raymond, born November 19, 1888; Anna, born May 26, 1891 ; and Wilma, born May 6, 1893, and who was taken to the Chicago World's Fair when five months old. The oldest son is a graduate of the Falls City Business College. Mr. and Mrs. Meyers have traveled over the country to a considerable extent, and the entire family made one trip to the Pacific coast. Mr. Meyers affiliates with the Modern Woodmen of America. He is independent in politics. He held at the same time the offices of township clerk and township asses- sor of Ohio township, being in those offices for several terms.
409
SOUTHEASTERN NEBRASKA.
JAMES W. PACE.
James W. Pace, one of the prominent residents of Beatrice, Nebras- ka, was born in Hart county, Kentucky, January 7, 1836, a son of Thomas Pace, also a native of Kentucky and a gallant soldier in the Mexican war, in General Taylor's command. The mother of Thomas Pace died at the age of one hundred and three years. The mother of our subject bore the maiden name of Amanda Anderson, and she was born in Barren county, Kentucky. Her father was William Anderson, a soldier in the war of 1812, serving under General Jackson, and partic- ipated in the battle of New Orleans. Thomas Pace and wife had the following children, viz .: James W .; John L .: Abner H .; George W .; Captain C. C., of Lincoln, Nebraska, who were all gallant soldiers during the Civil war; Arabella; Mollie, deceased; and Ida. £
The father died at the age of seventy-nine years, while the mother died at Lincoln, Nebraska, at the age of eighty-six years. They were both con- sistent members of the Methodist church.
James W. Pace was reared in Kentucky. He married Louisa Gardner. She was born in Larue county, Kentucky, a daughter of Hath and Anna Gardner, the former of whom was born in Virginia. The mother was born in Larue county, and died at the age of sixty years, while the father died at the age of forty-five years, and both were consistent members of the Baptist church. In 1859 Mr. and Mrs. Pace removed to Doniphan county, Kansas, then to St. Joseph, Mis- souri, and finally to Gage county, Nebraska. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Pace, namely : John, who was born in Kansas, June 7, 1860, and died in 1863; William L., of Beatrice; Ida Coon, of the same place; Nellie Elliott, also of Beatrice. Mr. Pace owns his home, and he and his excellent wife make welcome all their friends. He is a prominent member of the G. A. R. Post, which he joined thirty years
410
SOUTHEASTERN NEBRASKA.
ago. In religious faith he is a Baptist. Kind-hearted, genial and sen- sible, he makes and retains many friends.
In August, 1862, while living in the state of Kansas, Mr. Pace responded to the call of the President and enlisted under Colonel Thomas Bowan and Captain Schilling, and participated in a number of import- ant engagements in the Red River campaign. After a gallant service during which he made an honorable record for himself, Mr. Pace was formally discharged and returned to his home in August, 1865. After General Grant died he cared for "Linden Tree," the horse which was presented to General Grant by the Sultan of Turkey.
O. M. ENLOW.
O. M. Enlow, attorney-at-law of Beatrice, Nebraska, is one of the old settlers of the county, having resided here since 1870. He was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, November 15, 1844, and is a son of John N. and Margaret (Jamison) Enlow, both of whom were born in Pennsylvania. The family removed to Illinois in 1854, where the father died in December, 1878, aged fifty-two years, while his widow resided at Sprinfield, Illinois, and died there January 4, 1904, aged eight-one . The children born to this worthy couple were : O. M .; Albert, of Springfield; John, deceased; Helen, deceased; Josephine, deceased.
Mr. O. M. Enlow was given a good education, and he taught school for two or three years after locating in Nebraska. Soon after his location in Gage county his influence began to be felt in political circles and he was made county judge in 1885, and he has also been
4II
SOUTHEASTERN NEBRASKA.
district clerk, and always takes a very prominent part in the workings of the Republican party.
In October, 1873, he married Julia Hyer, born in Tennessee, a daughter of the Rev. William Hyer, an eloquent divine of the Metho- dist church. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Enlow, namely : Bessie W., who is married and resides in Kansas City, Mis- souri, and Gertrude Helene, one of the popular teachers of Beatrice. In his fraternal relations Mr. Enlow is a Mason. He is one of the highly respected citizens of Gage county, where he has made his home for thirty-three years, and borne his part in its wonderful develop- ment.
ELIAS A. MAUST.
Elias A. Maust, a prominent dealer in grain, live-stock and coal in Falls City, is one of the oldest business men of the city, having started the first grain elevator here in 1870. He has been successful in his operations from the first, and has delegated many of the cares of business to his sons and worthy successors. His position in the city is of assured importance, for he has taken a leading part not only in business but in all affairs concerned with the public welfare and mate- rial advancement. He is a man of sound worth and excellent personal character, one who gives more than he receives in his relations with the world and his fellows, and he has won and deserves the esteem of many.
Mr. Maust was born in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, March 23, 1839. Pennsylvania and in particular Somerset county has been the home of the Mausts for several generations, and the name is one of the most familiar as it is one of the most honored in that section of
412
SOUTHEASTERN NEBRASKA.
the state. The family history is most interesting and instructive, and leads to one of the Mennonite communities of worthy and pious people who are among the chief charms and adornments of western and cen- tral Pennsylvania.
The family originated in Switzerland, and Mr. Maust's great-grand- father, whose name was Jacob, came from that country. He wrote his name Mast, which afterwards in some way was changed to Maust and and as such has been spelled to the present time. He located near Reading, in Berks county. He had four sons and two daughters : John married a Miss Stailey, and lived on the old farm near Reading; Jacob, the grandfather of Mr. Maust, married Barbary Fike, and in 1774 emigrated to the old homestead in Somerset county; Christian married Rebecca Fike, and also located in Somerset county, living about four miles west of Salisbury; Joseph married Miss Berkey and lived about two miles west of Salisbury; Fannie married John Hochstetler, and lived in Somerset county between Salisbury and Mechanicsville, on the Yoder farm; Annie married a Mr. Kaufman.
Grandfather Jacob was married three times. The two children by his first wife died very young. Barbary Fike bore him ten children : Magdaline, Barbary, Fannie, Mariah; Jacob, who settled near Union- town, Fayette county, Pennsylvania; Sarah, Elizabeth, Catharine, Annie; and Abraham, who was the father of Mr. E. A. Maust. Of these daughters, one married a Mr. Thomas, who lived in West Vir- ginia ; one was the wife of Solomon Bear, who lived near Somerset in Somerset county ; and one married Jacob Fike, who lived near the old home place of her father's. Grandfather Maust's third wife was a widow, Annie (Kurtz) Fulton, and they had two children: Sarah, who died in her second year; and Gertrude, who married Jacob Zorn.
Abraham Maust, the father of Mr. Elias Maust, was one of
413
SOUTHEASTERN NEBRASKA.
nature's true noblemen. He was born on the old home farm about two miles northeast of Salisbury, Somerset county, in 1793, and his life was not brought to an end until he had completed ninety-one years eleven months and five days on earth. And his life was as good and great as it was long. His bright and patient disposition enabled him to bear cheerfully the last sixteen years of his life, spent in total blindness and physical suffering. He was a faithful member of the Mennonite church for nearly seventy years. In politics he was a Democrat, but during the war was a pronounced Union man. He was married twice, and his second wife, Sarah Lichty, passed to the other world twenty years before him. He was like the Biblical patriarch after whom he was named, and in his age could be proud of a large and worthy pro- geny, among whom he was revered and venerated as the source and founder. At the time of his death his grandchildren numbered one hundred and twelve, and his great-grandchildren eight-nine, a total of two hundred and one to bless and help elevate the world.
In 1817 Abraham Maust was married to Magdaline Longen- necker, one of the five sons and four daughters of Peter Longennecker, namely : David, John, Peter, Levi and Joseph; Magdaline; Susan, who married a Meyer; Elizabeth, who married a Strohm; and Catharine, who married a Hulsor and lived in Ohio. Mr. and. Mrs. Abraham Maust had nine sons and five daughters, as follows: Elizabeth, who married John Peck, of Addison, Somerset county, both now deceased; Annie, who married Michael Glotfilty, who located near Fairfield, Jef- ferson county, Iowa, and are both deceased; Peter married Elizabeth Saylor and lived on the home farm, and both are now deceased; Bar- bary married Jacob Schrock, and lives near Waterloo, Iowa; Joseph, now deceased, married Maggie Kimmel, and lived in Garret county, Maryland, about one mile south of Salisbury, Pennsylvania ; Jacob mar-
414
SOUTHEASTERN NEBRASKA ..
ried, first, Miss Newman, and, second, Miss Kimmel, and lives near Somerset ; John is married and lives near Preston, Fillmore county, Minnesota ; Jonas, deceased, married Miss Berkey, and lived near his brother John; Abraham married Miss Newman, and lives in Garret county, Maryland, two miles south of Salisbury; Samuel married Miss Miller, a daughter of Jonas Miller, and lives in Waterloo, Iowa; Wil- liam married Eliza Wagner, daughter of Henry Wagner, and lives near Fruit Hurst, Alabama ; Elias lives in Falls City Nebraska; Sarah mar- ried George Peck, son of Elias Peck, and lives near Falls City, Nebras- ka; Magdalene married Jacob W. Miller, son of William Miller, and lives in Waterloo, Iowa. The mother of these children was born in 1795 and died in 1854, and she is buried on the old home farm, where also her husband and his parents are interred.
With such lineage and family connections a worthy and consistent career should be expected in the case of Elias A. Maust, and such in truth it has been. He was reared in his native state and county, and obtained his education in the common schools. After his marriage in 1865 he engaged in farming in Pennsylvania for two years, and then migrated westward to Waterloo, Iowa, where he remained two years, and in the fall of 1870 arrived in Falls City, Nebraska. He was in failing health at the time, and accordingly located on a farm of one hundred acres near town. In the healthy atmosphere of farming he had entirely recovered in one year, and he then moved into Falls City, and built the first grain elevator in the town as well as in this section of the state, that being before the advent of the railroad. He has operated this ever since, and still carries it on in connection with his two sons. He soon added coal and the stock business to his enterprises, and he has been the leader in these lines and expanded his operations over a broad field. He owns two farms, each a quarter section, in this
415
SOUTHEASTERN NEBRASKA.
county, besides land in South Dakota and Colorado. He built his fine brick residence in 1891, and also his son's house in the same yard, and also owns six tenant houses. He has made this property by his own dili- gence and business judgment and management, and most of his opera- tions have been carried on in southeastern Nebraska, where he is hon- ored as a foremost citizen.
Mr. Maust has also a military record made in his young manhood. November 1, 1863, he enlisted in Company D, One hundred and Seventy- first Pennsylvania Infantry, for nine months' service, and came out of the ranks as a non-commissioned officer. The company saw some hard marching and service in North Carolina, but were in no engagement with the enemy. About the time of the expiration of their services, while they were at Fortress Monroe, the Confederate cavalry made a raid into Pennsylvania, and they all volunteered to serve as long as an armed rebel was north of the Potomac. They were finally mustered out at Harrisburg at the end of ten months' service. The brigade in which he was a soldier was one of the finest of the many sent out by Pennsylvania during the rebellion. Its commanding general in his farewell speech praised their soldierly character and records, and also the excellent moral and Christian principles of the men, who were in marked contrast with most soldiers and spent their Sundays in quiet and religious observance.
Mr. Maust married, November 27, 1865, Miss Savilla Miller, who was born in Somerset county, July 27, 1849, a daughter of Moses W. and Catharine (Libingood) Miller. There are three children of this marriage: Irving C., born in Pennsylvania, May 15, 1868, is married and living in the same yard with his parents, and is in business with his father; Norman H., born in Falls City, January 14, 1874, died on the following October 12; Albert, born in Falls City, July 27, 1876, is a
416
SOUTHEASTERN NEBRASKA.
graduate of the State University and resides at home, The family home is a beautiful and comfortable place, with evidences of the refine- ment and high-mindedness of its inmates everywhere, and Mr. and Mrs. Maust could ask no more pleasant place in which to spend the remaining years of their useful and noble lives. Mr. Maust was reared a Democrat, and has always adhered to that political faith. He and his wife are members of the Progressive Brethren church, and he has been a trustee for many years. Mr. Maust has a most valuable and highly prized legacy which he took instead of money from his father, in the shape of a large German Bible, dated in 1551 and printed in Zurick, Switzerland, and in the old German text. Its presentation inscription is dated 1697, and there are several births recorded from 1731 to 1736. This heirloom is without price and is valued for its associations, but would also be worth a large sum if placed on the market and would form a valuable exhibit in any collection of antiquities.
HON. A. B. McNICKLE.
Hon. A. B. McNickle, postmaster of Cortland, Nebraska, is one of the most popular men of Gage county, Nebraska, and an old settler of this locality as well as a veteran of the Civil war. He was appointed postmaster April 8, 1900, but he had also served as postmaster of Silver, Gage county, under appointment by President Harrison. His war record is an interesting one. He enlisted in August, 1862, in Com- pany K, One Hundred and Twelfth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, Colonel T. J. Henderson, who afterwards became so prominent in the history of Illinois, commanding. The regiment engaged in many important battles and skirmishes, and in all of them our subject proved himself a
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.