USA > Nebraska > A Biographical and genealogical history of southeastern Nebraska, Vol. I > Part 34
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WILLIAM HENRY BARKER.
William Henry Barker, who has the monopoly of the blacksmith and wagon-making business in Nemaha, where he has been successfully established for two years, has been engaged in this honorable occupa-
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tion for over fifteen years, and wherever he has been located he has gained a reputation for thorough workmanship and efficiency and skill. He is also a good business man, a worthy and public-spirited citizen of his adopted town, and a man of integrity and honor in every relation of life.
Mr. Barker claims the honor of being a native son of the state of Nebraska, having been born in Richardson county, March 20, 1864. His grandfather, William Barker, was a Missouri farmer during the early history of that state, and in 1861 moved to Richardson county, Nebraska. He was well-to-do at the time, and bought lands of the Indians. He died in Richardson county when about seventy-nine years old, leaving a small estate. He reared ten children, five sons and five daughters, and all had families of from five to eight children.
Elias Barker, the father of William H. Barker, was born in Mis- souri in September, 1827, and is now living in his seventy-seventh year. He has been a stonemason by trade, and still owns his farm in Richard- son county, where he lives with his daughter. He married Sarah J. Hintsley, of Missouri, and she died in Richardson county, in 1882, at the age of forty-nine years. They were the parents of five children : James Thomas, who is a farmer in Washington state and has five chil- dren ; Mary Susan, who is the wife of Harvey Hall, of Richardson county, and has six children; Calvin Preston, a farmer in Nemalia county, and the father of three children; William H .; and Charles Franklin, who is a farmer at Blackbird, Nebraska, and is a widower with two children.
William Henry Barker had a meager schooling up to the age of fifteen years, and has been dependent on his own resources ever since. He learned the blacksmith trade and engaged in the work in Richard- son county in 1887, and he had followed it in Stella and Shubert before
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taking up his location in Nemaha in 1901, where he has since gained a very satisfactory and substantial patronage. When he came here he bought out the shop of Charles Lindsey, and now has the only estab- lishment of the kind in the town. He also owns his own home, and is popular among the citizens. He is a Republican voter, and his wife is a member of the Christian church.
Mr. Barker was married at the age of twenty years, on December IO, 1884, to Miss Sarah N. Hamilton, who was born in Missouri in 1865, a daughter of David and Martha (Hinton) Hamilton, who were residents of Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Barker have lost three children and have three living, as follows : Martha Ethel, who died at the age of two years; Everett and Gordon, twin sons, who died at the respective ages of five and eight months; Cleon Murle, who is twelve years old; Elva Stuart, aged eight years; and Edith, six years old.
H. J. WETMORE, D. D. S.
H. J. Wetmore, a leading dentist of Wymore, Gage county, Nebraska, located in this state in 1889. He graduated from the Western Dental College of Kansas City, Missouri, in 1899. He first studied dentistry in Kansas, where he received a permit to practice in the state, having successfully passed the dental examination given by the state board of dentistry. Dr. Wetmore is very progressive in his profession and under- stands thoroughly high-class work of all kinds. He makes a specialty of crown and bridge work.
Dr. Wetmore was born in Oneida, Kansas, in 1876, and is a son of George A. Wetmore, one of the early settlers of that state, who was born in New York and later located in Illinois, whence he emigrated
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to Kansas. The maiden name of the mother was Cornelia Wikoff, and four children were born to the parents.
Dr. Wetmore was reared in Nemaha county, where he received an excellent literary education in the common and high schools. He began the study of dentistry at the age of seventeen, after which he devoted all of his time to his profession. He was married in Novem- ber, 1899, to Maude Ford, a lady of culture, the accomplished daugh- ter of J. H. H. Ford, of Seneca. Dr. Wetmore occupies beautifully appointed offices, and his instruments and appliances are of the best. He keeps thoroughly abreast of all improvements and discoveries and is rightly regarded as a leader of his profession.
Fraternally he is a member of the Masonic lodge of Wymore and is very popular in that organization. Both he and Mrs. Wetmore are important factors in the city and have a large number of friends.
L. R. FRITZ, D. D. S.
L. R. Fritz, D. D. S., of Wymore, Gage county, Nebraska, is one of the successful dentists of that city, and is a graduate of the Kansas City Dental College, class of 1902, when he received honors with his degree of D. D. S.
Dr. Fritz is a native of DeKalb county, Illinois, where he was born May 23, 1880, a son of Dr. Benjamin Fritz, a popular and well known dentist of Blue Springs, Nebraska, where he has been located for the past twenty-three years. Dr. Benjamin Fritz is one of the pioneers in his profession in this portion of Nebraska. Dr. L. R. Fritz was only one year of age when his father removed to Blue Springs, and he received his early education in the district schools of that locality.
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He was one in a family of four children born to his parents, but the others are deceased.
From childhood, Dr. Fritz showed an aptitude for his profession, and although young in years, and in practice, he has already built up an enviable list of patients, and his finely appointed offices afford every convenience for his work. The prospect before this enterprising and gifted young dentist is a very promising one, and he holds the good will of all who have the pleasure of his acquaintance.
ELWARD K. LEGATE.
Elward K: Legate, ex-commander of Coleman Post, No. 115, G. A. R., of Wymore, Nebraska, is one of the well known residents of that section of country and a prominent veteran of the Civil war. His enlistment took place at Alta, Illinois, December 18, 1864, in Company B, One Hundred and Forty-fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and he served until the close of the war, under Colonel Hall and Captain Mel- vin. Soon after his enlistment the regiment was sent to Rock Island, and later was taken into the western army.
The birth of Elward K. Legate occurred in Reynolds county, Missouri, September 12, 1846, and he is a son of Henry Legate. The Legate family has long been noted for its patriotic spirit, for beginning with the grandfather, who was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, Samuel Legate served in the war of 1812, a brother of his in the Mex- ican war, and the sons of all the branches were in the Civil war. Henry Legate removed to Illinois when a young man and was married in Jack- son county that state to Mary Skidmore. The death of Henry occurred in 1868. He was a consistent Methodist in his religious faith and
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a very strong Republican in politics. His widow survives and makes her home in Arkansas, aged seventy-eight years. Eleven children were born to this worthy couple, namely: E. K .; James; Samuel; Nancy; Elijah; George; Mary; Emily; J. Benjamin; and two who died in infancy.
The early life of Mr. Legate was spent upon his father's farm, then followed by his war experience and after he returned to Illinois he decided to make a home for himself in new territory, so he removed to Missouri, and finally, in 1884, selected Gage county, Nebraska, as his abiding place. For some time after his settlement in the last named place, he was confined in the hospital as a result of the exposure and hardship of his army life, but he recovered and began his new life. In 1868, while living in Illinois, he was married to Nancy Lewellen, born in Coles county, Illinois. She is a daughter of Edward Lewellen, who was a soldier during the Civil war, and died in Marshall county, Kansas, at the age of eighty years. His widow lives in Texas, aged seventy- eight years. There were four children born in the family to which Mrs. Legate belongs, namely : Edmund, Nancy, Joseph and Lawrence.
Mr. and Mrs. Legate have six children, viz .: Lewis, a railroad man; Charles, of Seattle; Ronna Starks, of Seattle; Henry; Edward and Lenney. Both Mr. and Mrs. Legate are members of the Knights and Ladies of Honor, and in religious belief they are Methodists. Mr. Legate has been prominent in G. A. R. work for many years, and is ex-commander of the post at Wymore.
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WILLIAM W. SANDERS.
William W. Sanders, postmaster and editor of the Nebraska Adver- tiser, at Nemaha City, is a native son of Nemaha county, and since reaching maturity has been one of the useful members of society in pro- moting the best interests of material, intellectual and moral affairs. He has enjoyed a long career as newspaper man, beginning with his service as devil, so that he understands the business from the ground up, and is especially familiar with conditions affecting journalistic growth in this part of the state. Besides the work to which he has devoted the best years of his life, he has been public-spirited, and has held many offices of various kinds where he could be of service.
Mr. Sanders was born in Nemaha county, Nebraska, September 20, 1857. His grandfather, Benjamin Sanders, was- a physician of Indiana, where he settled in the early days, and he died in Shelby county of that state when past eighty years old. He had eight children, and the three daughters married, and the four sons that grew to maturity had families of from eight to nine children. Two of the sons died in Shelby county, Indiana, in the seventies, and two of them came to Ne- braska. D. C. Sanders came in 1855, and taught the first school in Nemaha City, was in the legislature many terms, and at his death was county commissioner. He lost most of his children.
Thomas N. Sanders, the other son who came to Nebraska, was born in Shelby county, Indiana, February 16, 1832, and died at Brown- ville, this county, December 28, 1885. He came to Nebraska in 1856, driving from Illinois, and bringing his wife and their first child. He took a pre-emption of one hundred and sixty acres, and began life in very primitive style, in a dug-out which still remains in London pre- cinct. He lived there three years, and the honored editor of the Adver- tiser first opened his eyes within that humble dwelling. He followed
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farming for many years, but later in life devoted his attention to horti- culture. He and R. W. Furnas in 1857 established the first nursery in this county. Thomas N. Sanders and wife reared seven of their eight children. George N., the oldest, is a farmer in London precinct and has five children; William W., second in line of birth; Albert Arthur died unmarried at the age of twenty; Edward E. is at Spickard, Mis- souri, an editor and publisher, and has five children; John G. is an editor and printer at Aberdeen, South Dakota, and has one son; Clytie, the only daughter, died when five years old; Carl E., unmarried and liv- ing with his mother, has a fruit farm of forty acres in London precinct and is also a teacher there.
William W. Sanders had limited schooling in the district and at Brownville, and at fourteen became printer's devil on the Brown- ville Democrat, now the Granger. He was a compositor there for four years, then foreman for four years, and in the fall of 1880 came to Nemaha city and bought the Nemaha Times, which had been established the preceding spring by his brother Ben F. He ran this for four years, and then went to Auburn and bought the Advertiser, selling out the Times in the spring of 1885 to G. W. Fairbrother and Son. He re- tained the Advertiser in Auburn for three years, but in the fall of 1887 moved it to Nemaha city, where he has continued as its enterprising head ever since.
Mr. Sanders is a Republican in politics, and was appointed to the office of postmaster in June, 1903. He has served as village trustee, member of the school board, was census enumerator in 1900; he is a Master Mason, being secretary of Hope Lodge No. 29, in Nemaha city, is secretary of the lodge of the Modern Woodmen of America and of the Royal Achates, and is a member of Modern Woodmen and East- ern Star. He has been located in his own home for eleven years, and lie
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also owns the printing office and a fruit farm in London precinct. He has been secretary of the Old Settlers' Society for ten years, and not- withstanding the fact that he is still a young man he feels perfectly at home among the old-timers, many of whom did not reach the state until after he had become one of its first native sons.
Mr. Sanders was married December 5, 1881, to Miss Alice Berger, a daughter of J. B. and Rebecca Rossell Berger, the former of New Jersey and the latter of Pennsylvania, and they came to Nebraska in 1857 before they were married. Mr. and Mrs. Sanders have two children. William T., born November 29, 1882, in this city, graduated from the Nemaha high school and is now a printer in the office with his father; Nellie R. has been keeping house at home since her mother's death, on August 8, 1901. Mrs. Sanders was forty-two years old, and her twenty years of married life had been most happy and useful. She was devoted to the welfare of her family, an untiring worker, and was popular with all. She and her husband were members of the Methodist church before their marriage, and she was interested in the work of the church and Sunday-school, having a large class of forty-two young men and women, which has grown from a class of five. The church was organized in 1882, and Mr. and Mrs. Sanders were among the leading spirits in the enterprise, and may be said to have been its founders. He has held all the official positions of the layman, having been lay delegate to the conference three times and superintendent of the Sunday-school for several years.
WILLIAM W. SMITH
MRS. WILLIAM W. SMITH
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WILLIAM WARREN SMITH.
William Warren Smith, one of the oldest and best known farmers of Nemaha county, residing in Peru precinct on a rural delivery route from Peru, is an old and prominent pioneer of this part of the state. He made his arrival in Brownville, April 7, 1857, ten years before Nebraska became a state and only three years after the organization of the territory, so that the political history and the entire record of progress and agricultural and industrial development are known to him from his own personal participation therein. During the subsequent period of forty-five or more years he has been active in his own behalf in reaping the fruits of the soil and making a home for self and family, and he has won a deserved reputation among all his friends and associ- ates as a man of industry, integrity, fair and square dealing in all business transactions, and high personal worth.
Mr. Smith was born in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, December 15, 1826, and it was from that state and county that he made the begin- ning of his journey to Nebraska. His grandfather Smith, a descendant of a sturdy Pilgrim who came over in the Mayflower, was of English ancestry, while his wife was Scotch, and they reared six children, Ben- jamin, Erastus, Thomas, Hannah, Delia Ann and George, all of whom had families, and all died in Pennsylvania except George, who went to old Mexico, where he died when seventy years old. Thomas was killed during the Civil war by a car running over him. He was in the govern- ment service.
Benjamin Smith, the father of William W. Smith, was born in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, in 1798, and died in that county in 1873. He was a carpenter, but lived on and tended a farm. He was married about 1820 to Lydia Gardner, who was about three years his junior, and her father, Richard Gardner, was of New England ancestry, was a
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farmer during his active life, and at the age of thirteen was one of the children confined within the Forty Fort during the Wyoming valley massacre. Lydia Smith died in 1831 in the prime of her life, having been the mother of five children, namely : Deodat Smith, a molder by trade, was in the foundry business in Pennsylvania and later farmed, and died in 1880, leaving four children by his first wife. Lizzie died at the age of seven years, before her mother's death. William: W. Smith is the third of the family, and the only one of them all now living. Jane, the wife of James Caswell, died in 1876, leaving seven children. Richard Byron Smith, born in Luzerne county, was a machin- ist, and came to Missouri in 1857, but being too loyal to the Union to live in that state, he moved to Peru, Nebraska, in 1862, setting up a blacksmith shop, and lived there until 1901, when he moved to Auburn and died the same year, leaving five children, one son and four daugh- ters, having lost three. The father of this family was again married, but had no children by his second wife.
Mr. Smith was feared to the life of a farmer, and grew accustomed to hard toil from an early year. His schooling was received in a log schoolhouse, with all its rough furnishings of a pioneer past. He re- mained at home until 1842, and then was in the pineries of Wisconsin for one winter and for a like period in Henry, Marshall county, Illinois, and was also engaged in lumber-rafting from Wisconsin to St. Louis. He returned to Pennsylvania in 1850, was married and re- mained in that state until he made his final and permanent removal to Nebraska at the time above mentioned. He still owns eighty acres of the first pre-emption which he made on arriving here, and he also owned another eighty on the Nemaha river, but in 1865 gave that to the Peru College, in which three of his children have since been students. He has been a prominent and influential man in his community and for
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fifteen years has served on the school board of his district, and has been often chosen as road overseer. He voted the Republican ticket from almost the inception of that party until a few years ago when he went over to the Populists. He has been a member of the Methodist church since 1863, and his wife was an officer in that church.
April 1, 1850, Mr. Smith was married to Miss Caroline Whitman, who was born in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, in 1829, a daughter of George Whitman. Eleven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Smith, as follows : Flora A., born in Pennsylvania in 1851, is the wife of A. Denning, mentioned below, of Plainfield, Wisconsin, and has six chil- dren living of the seven born to them; Margaret, born in Pennsylvania, d'ed there at the age of six months; Mary, born in Pennsylvania, died in Nebraska at the age of two years; H. B., born on the present home farm July 24, 1857, is a farmer of Crystal Springs, Ohio, and has a wife and three children; Keturah A. is the wife of Jerome Price, of Legrande, Oregon, and has two sons and one daughter; Elmer Elsworth died at the age of three years; William died at the age of eighteen months; Gertrude, born in Peru, May 24, 1868, died March 4, 1871; Maud, the wife of John McNown, of Legrande, Oregon, has three chil- dren; Charles, a painter and paper-hanger of Peru, has one son and one daughter ; and Bessie is the wife of Lewis Pierce, on the home farm, and has two sons. The beloved mother of this family died at her home in this county in 1893, and since that time Mr. Smith's daughters have kept house for him.
Alvin Denning, who married Flora A. Smith, was born in Harrison county, Ohio, January 19, 1847, was reared in humble circumstances, and in 1870 came to Brownville, Nebraska. He spent eighteen months of the years 1884-85 in Kansas, and since 1899 has been a resident of Wisconsin. He was a soldier of the Civil war, entering Company G,
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Twelfth Ohio Cavalry, at Cleveland, and served from 1863 to Novem- ber, 1865, being still but a boy in his teens at the time of his discharge. He was confined for some time in the hospital at Camp Denison, Ohio, with liver trouble and deafness, and now draws a pension of twelve dol- lars a month for the permanent disabilities received during his loyal service to the government.
GUS GRAFF.
Gus Graff, mayor of Wymore, Nebraska, is one of the best known and most popular men of the city and of Gage county and has lived in this state for over forty years. He is a member of the Graff Implement Company, dealers in agricultural implements and carriages, which does a business of fifty thousand dollars per year. They carry a large line of goods in their several departments, including the Deering harvesters and all kinds of tools connected with farming. The business was estab- lished twenty years ago, and the firm has gained the confidence of all who have business relations with them.
The Hon. Mr. Graff was born Noverber 27, 1858, at Lyons, Iowa. He is a son of Joseph Graff, who died in December, 1897, an early settler and pioneer of Nebraska. Joseph Graff was the first German settler in Gage county, and came from Lyons, Iowa, in company with his father-in- law, Philip Myers. They came here with only one ox team, a cow and a few household effects. From this small beginning Joseph became the owner of nine hundred and sixty acres of land and a very wealthy man. His wife was named Tressa Myers, and she died at the age of fifty-eight years. Both were consistent members of the Catholic church. Their children were as follows: Henry; Philip,who lives on the old home-
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stead; Gus; Carrie, deceased; Lewis, a lumber merchant of Beatrice ; George, who died in 1891, leaving a widow and one son; John, deceased; Otto, who died at the age of seven years; and Fred, of Beatrice.
Henry Graff, brother of Gus, married, in 1885, Susie Myers, and she bore him four children: Clarence and Hazel, now living, and two deceased. Gus Graff married Anna Myers, and has three children, namely : Adolph, LeRoy and Gussie. Mrs. Gus Graff was born in Mil- waukee, and is a daughter of Valentine Myers, who died in 1891.
The political opinions of Mr. Gus Graff make him a Republican, and he has been very active in the workings of his party. At various times he has served as delegate to city, county and state conventions, and he is now serving his third term as mayor of Wymore. Under his administration the city has had a clean, honest, business-like government. Henry Graff at one time occupied the same position of prominence at Blue Springs, Nebraska. Fraternally Mr. Gus Graff is a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Elks, the Woodmen, Ancient Order of United Workmen, blue lodge and chapter of the Masonic order, and he is very popular in all of these organizations. In manner he is cordial and genial, and makes and retains friends. He has prospered and understands how to make a well earned success, useful, not only to himself but also to others, and his associates appreciating this fact, have honored him for his remarkable ability.
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JAMES K. GOIN.
For over a third of a century this gentleman has made his home in Gage county, Nebraska, and he has aided materally in the growth and development of Island Grove township, which is his place of resi- dence. He was born in Claiborne county, Tennessee, on the Ioth of April, 18.45, and belongs to an old southern family of English and Scotch extraction that was founded in Tennessee at an early day in its history. His grandfather, Levi Goin, was a native of Virginia, but the greater part of his life was passed in Tennessee, where Sterling Goin, our subject's father, was born in 1818. There the latter grew to man- hood and married Miss Mary Keck, also a native of Tennessee, by whom he had sixteen children, fifteen of the number reaching mature years, namely : John, James K., Philip, Levi, Jasper, William, Howard, Proc- tor, Anna, Rachel, Rebecca, Sarah, Charity, Catherine and Mary. After the death of the mother the father married again, and by his second union had two children, one of whom is now deceased. He has been a third time married, and has three children by that union. Throughout his active life he has followed farming and is still living in Tennessee at the age of eighty-five years. He is a faithful member of the Baptist church and is a supporter of the Republican party. He was a strong Union man during the Civil war and suffered much at the hands of the rebels, who took his grain and stock.
James K. Goin was reared in much the usual manner of farmer boys of his day, and early became familiar with all the duties which fall to the lot of the agriculturist. His education was acquired in the com- mon schools of his native state. When the country became involved in Civil war he resolved to strike a blow in defense of the Union cause and on the first of May, 1863, at Crab Orchard, Kentucky, he enlisted in the First Tennessee Light Artillery, under the command of Captain
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