USA > Nebraska > A Biographical and genealogical history of southeastern Nebraska, Vol. I > Part 32
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most gallant soldier. On August 6, 1864, he was shot in the right leg and was in the hospital for ten months. In spite of this, however, lie participated in many of the thirty-two battles in which his regiment engaged, and has a record which should be given more extended space in this volume.
He was born in Eastbrook, Lawrence county, Pennsylvania, Jan- nary 16, 1842, and is a son of John McNickle, a native of Pennsylvania, who married Rachel Scroggs, a daughter of General John A. Scroggs, who was a soldier in the war of 1812. Mr. Gustavus A. Scroggs, his so11, was very prominent in the Civil war.
Mr. McNickle remained in Pennsylvania until 1859, when he came to Illinois, and after the war settled in Linn county, Missouri. Still later he moved to Atchison, Kansas, where he was fuel agent for the Missouri & Pacific Railroad for four years, but in 1875 he settled in Highland township, Gage county, Nebraska, where he resided until 1884. His next place of residence was Cortland, where he has since remained. Since coming to Nebraska he has held the office of justice of the peace for twenty-two consecutive years and is just now entering upon another term. He has followed real estate and insurance business since 1884. In politics he is a stanch Republican and has always taken an active part in party affairs.
On October 1, 1866, he was married in Illinois to Rhoda E. Bal- derson, who was born in Morgan county, Ohio. She has borne him the following children: Mrs. Mary E. Trekell, of Enid, Oklahoma; Mrs. Nettie A. Berryman, of Ashland, Kansas; Mrs. Edith R. Lucke, of Butte, Nebraska; George, who is assistant cashier of the Stock Growers' National Bank of Ashland, Kansas; Harry died at the age of twenty years. All these children have become well and favorably known throughout Gage county. Both as a public official and private citizen
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Mr. McNickle has proved himself possessed of the virtues required to gain both confidence and friendship, and the people of Cortland are to be congratulated upon their postmaster. He was a member of the state legislature during the term of 1890 and 1891. He is now serv- ing on the Soldiers' Relief Commission of Gage county, an office he has filled since 1897.
Mr. McNickle and his family are all members of the Congregational church, in which he is an active worker, and he is now chorister and superintendent of the Sunday school, in which capacity he has served for the past twenty years.
WILLIAM E. DORRINGTON.
William E. Dorrington, a prominent and well known business mali of Falls City, Nebraska, has lived in this section of the state most of his life, for the forty-five years since he was at the age of eleven, so that he ranks among the oldest settlers, and few have been more completely identified with the progress and development of one part of the com- monwealth than he. He has been one of the foremost business men of Falls City for thirty years, and his activity has extended to many lines of usefulness and to individual and public profit. He belongs to a well known and influential family, and his own career has been in the highest degree successful and meritorious.
Mr. Dorrington was born in Oneida county, New York, Septem- ber 22, 1847. His grandfather, John Dorrington, was a life-long car- penter in England, and his children were as follows: Mary Ball, who died in Chicago, leaving children, Thomas and Anna, and lost one (laughter, Lucy; David, the father of William E .; Elizabeth Weston,
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who died in Falls City, Nebraska, leaving one daughter, Mrs. Veh- meyer; Frederick, who died in England, leaving two daughters; Car- rie Nash, who died in Illinois, leaving a son John and having lost a daughter.
David Dorrington, the father of Mr. Dorrington, was born in Yorkshire, England, in 1812, and came to America in 1840, locating for a time in Quebec, Canada. He thence went to New York state, where he was a contractor and builder at various points, being a suc- cessful business man and manager. He came west to Geary, Doni- phan county, Kansas, in the summer of 1857, in the following Septem- ber went to Nebraska, where he invested in real estate, and in the following year came from the east and made his permanent location in Richardson county, where he died in 1885. He was a government con- tractor of stage and mail routes, with headquarters at Falls City, and was a prominent man in many ways. He was a Republican in politics, and served as justice of the peace, on the school board and in other offices. He affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and he and his good wife were members of the Baptist church. He was mar- ried, two years before leaving England, to Miss Anna B. Wood, who was born in Essex, and died in Falls City, in 1877. She was of a most devout and religious nature, of great intellectuality, and her in- fluence in her home and on her children was deep and potent for lasting good.
Mr. and Mrs. David Dorrington were the parents of the following sons and daughters: Frederick, known as Captain Dorrington, born in England and died at Alliance, Nebraska, was a prominent and widely known Republican, was in his third term as receiver in the land office at the time of his death, was a captain in the state militia, and left two sons and one daughter; George E., who spends his time in Arizona and
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California for the benefit of his health, has lost his wife and five chil- dren; John W. is proprietor of the Arizona Sentinel at Yuma, is a mining speculator, and is unmarried; Anna is the wife of Isham Reavis, of Falls City, and has three sons and one daughter; William E. is the youngest son; Kittie L. is the wife of Edwin S. Towle, of Falls City, a banker.
Mr. W. E. Dorrington gained his early education in Nebraska, attending the Peru normal, and from there went to the University of Chicago. In 1871 he began his business career in Falls City as station agent of the Burlington Railroad. In 1873 he embarked in the furni- ture business in the firm of Dorrington and Stowe, and two years later as Dorrington and Wilson, which firm continued until Mr. Wilson sold his interest to David Dorrington Reavis; the business went as Dorring- ton and Reavis from 1887 to 1895, and in the latter year Mr. Dorring- ton sold out to W. W. Abbey, and has since devoted his time and ener- gies to the telephone and banking business. He has throughout been a successful business man, and his reliability and excellent management place him among the leading men of affairs in Falls City.
September 3, 1872, Mr. Dorrington was married to Mrs. E. A. Stowe, and the following children were born of their union: David, who died in infancy ; Maud is the wife of W. H. Wigtan, and has one son, Dorrington Alonzo Wigtan; May is the wife of John Martin, who was a court reporter for four years and is now connected with the Falls City Journal; Miss Anna is at home; John W. is in the class of 1906 in the University of Nebraska; the daughter Lillian graduated from the Falls City schools, was in the State University two years, and has been a most successful teacher since she was sixteen, hav- ing been solicited to accept the principalship of the Central school in Falls City. Mrs. Dorrington's useful and beautiful life was closed by
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death, September 12, 1900. Mr. Dorrington resides in his nice home at the outskirts of the town. He is a Knight Templar Mason and an Odd Fellow of the encampment degrees. He is a Republican in politics, and served as mayor two terms, and was in the city council eight years and on the school board for three terms.
JAMES CUSSINS.
James Cussins, one of the venerated ex-soldiers of the Civil war and a resident of Gage county, Nebraska, comes of one of the old families of America, a representative of which, Benjamin Cus- sins, father of James, served in the war of 1812, and was a native of Franklin county, Pennsylvania. He grew to manhood in his native county, in which he married Jane Brown and then moved to Ohio, Athens county. Still later he and his family located in Iowa, and from thence to East St. Louis, Missouri, where he died at the age of seventy- five years. In politics he was a Whig, and a devout member of the Christian church. His children were as follows: Elizabeth; Oliver; Sarah ; Jamison ; Margaret ; Samuel, a soldier of the Cival war ; Jackson, in an Iowa regiment : James, in an Iowa regiment.
James Cussins was reared and educated in Lee county, Iowa, and learned farming upon the family farm. In 1864 he enlisted in Company D. Second Iowa Volunteer Infantry, Colonel Howard and Captain T. C. Tunis commanding, and he served until the close of the war, partici- pating in the famous march to the sea, the battles of that campaign, up through the Carolinas, was at Richmond, Virginia, and participated in the grand review at Washington, District of Columbia, after which he was honorably discharged and returned home. Soon after the war he
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went to Nebraska with his brother Jackson, and engaged in farming.
In politics Mr. James Cussins is a stanch Republican and always supports the principles of his party. He takes an interest in the G. A. R. matters, and is justly regarded as one of the representative veterans of the Civil war.
WILLIAM GOLDNER.
William Goldner, manufacturer of wagons and buggies and in the general blacksmithing business in Falls City, has been connected with this line of industry from youth, and has followed it with great success since taking up his residence here in 1886. He has been a shrewd and prosperous business man, has gained the favor and esteem of a wide circle of friends and associates, and is throughout the county known for his sterling integrity and high personal worth. His life from an early age has been a busy one, and, with the aid of his thrify and helpful wife, he has accumulated a fair amount of material blessings and at the same time has enjoyed many comforts as he went along.
Mr. Goldner was born in Vietz, Germany, May 12, 1854, a son of John Frederick Goldner, who was born in Schlosse, Germany, in 1795 and died there in 1867, leaving his wife and the three children now living, as follows : Charles, who is a wagon-maker in the old home in Germany. and has one son and two daughters; Paulina, who is married and lives in Germany; and William.
'Mr. William Goldner had a good training in the German schools throughout the required period of attendance, and about the time he was fourteen began learning his trade according to the thorough fashion pre- vailing in such matters in Germany. He served as a "Lehrling" for
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three years, paying seventy-five dollars for the privilege and bearing his own living expenses besides. He gave two years to the government in the artillery shops on the Rhine. He was married in the old country and in 1880 came to America. He worked with a railroad in Chicago for four mouths, and worked at his trade in various places until coming to Falls City in 1886. In 1890 he bought an old shop here and then built a large frame building, in which he continued his operations for six years, after which he had his shop in a rented building at his present location. He was burned out, and about a year ago completed his large two-story brick block, fifty-five by seventy-five feet, on a lot one hun- dred and twenty by one hundred and twenty-five, making one of the handsomest business properties in the city. He occupies the upper floor for his residence. He runs two forges and keeps an extra man in addi- tion to his two sons who are connected with the business. His trade is large and constantly increasing, and the reliable and perfect work turned out of his shop makes his patronage steady and of the highest class.
Mr. Goldner was married in Germany, February 9, 1876, to Miss Jackobine Breitbach, who was the eldest of five children, and her mother died in Dakota, while her father is still living and an active man at the age of seventy-six. She had a common schooling in the old country. The following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Goldner, two of them in Germany; Jackobine Wetstine, a cigar manufacturer in Mis- souri: William G., working with his father, and is mar- ried ; George is single and also with his father in the shops; Miss Alber- tina lives at home, and is an able pianist ; Emma, also of musical tastes, is aged sixteen and in school; Edward is in school; Frederick, aged twelve; Clara, aged ten. Mr. Goldner affiliates with the Modern Wood- men, the Woodmen of the World, the Royal Highlanders and the An-
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cient Order of United Workmen, and the Bankers Fraternal Life. He votes the Republican ticket, and the family are Methodists in their religious views.
JACKSON CUSSINS.
Jackson Cussins, a veteran of the Civil war, residing in Gage county, Nebraska, is a representative of a staunch American family. Benjamin Cussins, his father, served in the war of 1812, and he was a native of Franklin county. Pennsylvania. He was reared in Franklin county, where he married Jane Brown, and located in Athens county, Ohio, whence later on he moved to Iowa and then to East St. Louis, Missouri, where he died aged seventy-five years. In politics he was a Whig and a devout member of the Christian church. His children were as follows: Elizabeth, Oliver, Sarah, Jamison, Margaret, Sam- uel, Jackson and James, the last three of whom served in Iowa regi- ments and Oliver served in an Ohio regiment.
Jackson Cussins was but a boy when brought to Lee county, Iowa, by his parents, and he grew to manhood in Iowa upon the homestead. In 1864, with his brother James, he enlisted in Company D. Second Iowa Volunteer Infantry, with Colonel Howard and Captain T. C. Tunis commanding. This regiment saw much active service and participated in the famous march to the sea and the battles of that campaign, up through the Carolinas, was at Richmond, Virginia, and participated in the grand review at Washington, District of Columbia, after which he was honorably discharged and returned home. Soon after the war he went to Nebraska with his brother James and engaged in farming.
Politically he is a Republican, but has never had time to take an
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active part in local affairs. Nothing pleases either of the brothers more than to meet old army friends and live over once more the exciting events of those stirring days.
SANFORD D. COLE.
Sanford D. Cole, the efficient postmaster of Wymore, Nebraska, has held this office since March 1, 1900, and prior to that he acted for two years as assistant postmaster of Beatrice. His birth occurred in Sheboygan county, Wisconsin, in March, 1860, and he is a grandson of Alvin Cole, an early settler and pioneer of Sheboygan county, who located in that county and cleared a home in the wilderness. Among his sons was Frederick Cole, father of our subject, who was a prominent lumber dealer of Sheboygan county, and married Mary Bonnett, born in England of a good English family. She was nine years old when brought to Wisconsin by her parents, but, later was taken to New York and there educated; she was a very superior woman for her day, but died at the early age of thirty-nine years, leaving three children : San- ford D .; Stella, who married Ed Patrie, of Washington county, Kan- sas ; and Fred, now deceased. The father died at the age of fifty-four. He was a stanch Republican and a man who was highly respected.
Sanford D. Cole was reared in Sheboygan county on the old farm and received his education in the schools of his neighborhood. In 1869 he removed to Kansas and was on a farm until 1884. He then en- gaged in a mercantile business in Washington, Kansas, until 1887, when he removed to Ness county of that same state and carried on a like establishment, but in 1890 took advantage of an opening in Wymore, Nebraska, and established himself there. In 1898 he was appointed as-
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sistant postmaster of Beatrice under J. C. Burch, and is now in charge of the postoffice at Wymore, where he has made himself exceedingly popular.
In February, 1885, in Washington county, Kansas, he married Lula J. Potts. She is a native of Ohio and is a daughter of Duncan and Orpha (Jarman) Potts, now of Lincoln, Nebraska. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Cole are as follows: Vera, Lynn, Neva and Elsie. Since he cast his first vote, Mr. Cole has been a stanch Republican, and his services to his party, have been appreciated and to some extent re- warded. He is one of the most genial and courteous men in the entire city, and very popular with all classes.
ENOS H. REED.
Enos H. Reed, one of the well known citizens of Beatrice, Nebras- ka, and a veteran of the Civil war, has resided in this state since 1885. His war record began August 14, 1862, when he enlisted at Camden, Illinois, in Company A, Ninety-third Illinois Volunteer Infantry, Colonel Putnam and Captain William Ashbough commanding. The regiment engaged in the battles of Jackson, Mississippi, and Champion Hills; also engaged in the siege of Vicksburg and in the battles of Missionary Ridge, Altoona Pass, and finally marched to the sea with Sherman; as well as engaged in many other prominent battles of the war; during the entire time Mr. Reed proving himself a gallant soldier and one in whom all confidence could be placed. After the war was over he re- turned to Illinois to engage in more peaceful pursuits.
Enos H. Reed was born in Mercer county, Illinois, being a son of
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Wilburn C. Reed, a son of Jacob Reed, who was a soldier in the war with Mexico under General Taylor, so that the martial spirit Mr. Reed pos- sessed was inherited. Wilburn C. Reed was for several years major of state militia in Indiana, and his father, Jacob Reed, was commissioned a captain during his service in the Mexican war.
Wilburn C. Reed was born in South Carolina and was a descendant of Scotch parantage, as his father was born in Scotland. The great- grandmother of our subject was a native of Germany. The father married Mary Keffer, and he died at the age of sixty-six, while his widow died at the age of seventy-seven years. Eleven children were born to these parents, three of whom served in the Civil war: George K. having been in the Twenty-eighth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and now lives in In- dianola, Iowa; Samuel P., who served in the Seventh Iowa Volunteer Infantry and lives in Indian Territory; Enos H. served in the Ninety- third Illinois Volunteer Infantry.
Mr. Reed was reared in Mercer county, Illinois, but was married in Muscatine, Iowa, in 1868 to Josephine Stausell, who was born in Wayne county, Michigan, a daughter of James J. Stausell, who served in the Twenty-eighth Illinois Volunteer Infantry in the Civil war, but now resides in New Virginia, Iowa. ' Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Reed, namely : Orin E., one of the reliable farmers of Beatrice, Gage county ; Elvina, who resides near Beatrice in Gage county; and Clyde L., of Holmesville, Gage county. Three other children died in childhood, namely : Bert, Elmer and Everett. In politics Mr. Reed is a Republican, and he is a prominent member of Rawlins Post No. 35, G. A. R., in Beatrice. The family reside in a suburb of Beatrice, and Mr. Reed is held in highest esteem by all who know him, for he is a man possessed of the qualities calculated to inspire admiration and friendship.
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H. A. GIVEN, M. D.
H. A. Given, physician and surgeon of Wymore, Nebraska, is one of the representative medical men of Gage county. He located here in 1882, and is a graduate of Rush Medical College of Chicago, class of 1871.
Dr. Given was born February 12, 1847, in Woodstock, McHenry county, Illinois, and is a son of Childs F. Given, an early settler of McHenry county, who built the first log cabin in the present city of Woodstock. Childs F. Given was instrumental in the development of that part of the state and built his own home on government land, for which he paid one dollar and a quarter an acre. He came originally from Virginia and was the son of Henry Given, also of Virginia. In his native state Childs F. Given married Mary Rider, also of Virginia and a member of one of the first families of Virginia. Different members of her family played importants parts in the development of the coun- try, and two of her great-uncles served in the war of the Revolution. The sixteenth governor of Virginia, Governor Dinwiddie, was also related to the father of our subject, who on his side of the family was very prominently connected with the leading men of his state. Childs F. Given died at the age of forty-two in Illinois, and his widow died in March, 1902, at the age of seventy-eight years, firm in the faith of the Methodist church. Two children were born to this most worthy couple, H. A. and Mary Dyer, who lives at Abingdon, Illinois.
Dr. Given received his literary education in the common schools of Abingdon and Hedding seminary of that place, and then began the study of medicine with Dr. Reece, a successful physician of that same city. Afterwards Dr. Given attended Rush Medical College, from which he graduated with honors and the degree of M. D. He practiced in Iowa until 1882, when he located at Wymore, Nebraska, and has built
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up a large and successful practice among the best people of this locality. In 1874 Dr. Given was married in Woodstock, Illinois, to Eva Russell, who was reared and educated in that city, being a daughter of George Russell, of New York. Dr. and Mrs. Given have two children: Fred A., a machinist of Wymore, and Pearl Given, who is now attending a conservatory of music to perfect herself in that profession. Politically Mr. Given is a Democrat and a great admirer of W. J. Bryan. Fratern- ally he is a member of the Knights of Pythias of Nebraska, in which order he takes an important part. In manner he is frank and courtly and is justly regarded as one of the city's leading professional men. The Doctor has no superior in general practice in Gage county, and he keeps thoroughly abreast of all advances in science. Being well read as well as a close student, he has made many friends socially as well as among his many patients.
MRS. CATHERINE DOWNS.
Mrs. Catherine Downs, a well known and highly esteemed lady of Falls City, is the widow of Benjamin S. Downs, who died in this city, February 1I, 1876, his death removing from the ranks of Falls City business men one of the strongest figures, and a man whose useful and well spent life was in itself a noble reward. Mrs. Downs has also in many ways proved the true nobility and strength of her character, and for a number of years since her husband's death has maintained a high- class boarding house, and is still active and happy, with length of years resting lightly on her and without decreasing her zest for work and accomplishment.
Benjamin S. Downs was born in Knox county, Ohio, in 1818.
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His father, George Downs, was a carpenter, in both Ohio and Virginia, and by his wife, Rebecca Thrift, of Virginia, had thirteen children, the three sons, George, William and Benjamin, having all departed this life. Mr. Downs followed the trade of miller throughout his life. Mrs. Downs's maiden name was Catherine Goben, a daughter of Hughey and Sarah (Richardson) Goben, of Virginia. Her father was born in 1765, and when a boy was in the Revolutionary war, in which his thigh was broken, and he was lame throughout the rest of his life. At the age of fifteen he was taken prisoner by the Indians, and was held among them for three years. Later in life he served under Jackson in the Seminole Indian war. He and his wife had fourteen children, of whom Mrs. Downs was the youngest and the only survivor, and three of her brothers and six of her sisters grew up and were married. She lost her mother when she was four years old, and was accordingly reared by her eldest sister, Mary Goff. Her mother died in Richland county, Ohio, in 1832, when about fifty years old. Mrs. Downs was reared in Ohio, and was privileged to gain only a meager schooling in her youth.
Mr. and Mrs. Downs were married December 10, 1842, and located at first in Knox county, Ohio, in Putnam county, Indiana, for five years, and thence to Mills county, Iowa, where he was engaged in milling for nineteen years. He came to Nebraska and was a successful miller in Falls City from then until his death. He and his wife were the parents of seven children. George is a carpenter of Glenwood, Iowa, and has five living children; Alvira is the wife of Curtis White, the postmaster of Glenwood, Iowa, and has two sons and one daughter; William T., of Falls City, has one son and two daughters; Mary Elizabeth Pickett, in Falls City, has five sons living, and has lost one; John H. is a car- penter in the state of Washington, and has one son; Sarah C. McCoy, a
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