USA > Nebraska > A Biographical and genealogical history of southeastern Nebraska, Vol. II > Part 20
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a business man of Atlantic, Cass county, Iowa, and in the Civil war served as a member of Company H, One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Pennsylvania Infantry; and Calvin, who belonged to the militia of Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, during the war.
Mr. Alexander Bell, on August 8, 1861, enlisted in Company H, One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Pennsylvania, under Captain Gregg and Colonel Hayes, and gave loyal service to his country during some of the important engagements of the war, and received an honorable discharge. He has been a resident of Jefferson county, Nebraska, since 1878, and his career has been successful throughout, both in what he has accom- plished for himself and for the public welfare. On October 13, 1870, he was married in Iowa to Miss Mary C. Green, a daughter of William Green, who came from Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, in 1850, and was one of the early settlers of Iowa, and in 1878 moved to Ne- braska. He had nine children, five of whom grew up, three sons and two daughters. Alexander Bell and wife have had the following chil- dren : William G., in Whatcom, Washington; Harry A., of Diller; Bertie A .; Maud Irene; Bessie M .; Grace Mary; Orpha B .; Beulah; Olie; Hayes J., who died at the age of three; and two that died in infancy.
Mr. Bell is a Democrat in politics, and is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. He affiliates with the Masons, with Lodge No. 151, I. O. O. F., with Diller Court No. 1668, M. W. A., and with Diller Lodge No. 133, A. O. U. W.
Mr. Bell's brother, James T. Bell, who died June 21, 1904, was a well known retired railroad man of Diller. He had been reared and educated in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, and in early life took employment with the Erie Railroad Company. He was stationed at Altoona, Pennsylvania, in the employ of the Pennsylvania Central for
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years. During the Civil war he was in the service of the United States government at Culpeper, Virginia, assisting in the transportation of soldiers. He was. once taken prisoner by the rebels at Bristol Station, Virginia. After the war he was engaged in railroading throughout the middle west; was with the Union Pacific for a while as conductor, was stationed at Shenandoah, Iowa, for a long time, and at the time of his death was one of the best known ex-railroaders of the west. He was a shrewd business man as well, and owned a large and valuable farm in Jefferson county, and was one of the organizers, the vice president and one of the stockholders in the Diller State Bank. He stood high in Masonic circles, affiliating with the blue lodge, with Robert Burns Chap- ter No. 464, with Pilgrim Commandery No. II, and Tangier Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Omaha.
CLAUDE P. HENSEL.
Claude P. Hensel, sheriff of Thayer county, has for a number of years been prominently identified with this county in a business and official capacity, and is one of its most esteemed and influential citizens. He has engaged in various lines of work, with a creditable degree of suc- cess in each enterprise, and in his relations with his fellow citizens has won their esteem and confidence both through his own personal achieve- ments and his worthy character and manhood. He has given unstint- ingly of his time and efforts for the welfare and prosperity of his county, and as sheriff has made a reputation for efficiency and has placed the management of the office at a standard which will prove advantageous to the best interests of the county among its future incumbents.
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Mr. Hensel was born at Columbus, Ohio, December 8, 1873, so that he is numbered among the younger class of citizens, although his broad experience with the ways of the world consists with a greater am- plitude of years. He is the third in order of birth of a family of seven children born to Frederick C. and Elizabeth J. (Patrick) Hensel, both of whom were natives of Ohio and of old families of the state, although their lineage in both cases is German.
Mr. Hensel was for many years connected with the stock-raising industry, and also held some clerical positions. For some time he was a traveling salesman, representing the famous McCormick machines in the west. At the outbreak of the Spanish-American war he was among the gallant young men who offered their services to Uncle Sam, and, unlike the majority of those who were fired with patriotic zeal to fight in the country's cause, was really sent to the seat of the war and saw nineteen months of active service in the Philippines. He was a member of Company G. First Nebraska Volunteers, and participated in a number of the well known engagements during the course of hostilities. He was elected to the office of sheriff in 1902, and is now giving to the citizens a second term of most efficient service.
Mr. Hensel is a stanch and active Republican, and has been of the rank and file of the party for some years. He was married at Hebron, January 2, 1902, to Miss Mildred M. Pratt, a daughter of G. G. Pratt, one of the old and respected pioneer residents of Nebraska. Fraternally Mr. Hensel affiliates with the Knights of Pythias and the Ancient Order of United Workmen at Hebron.
HENRY A. ALLPRESS.
Henry A. Allpress is the proprietor of Orchardale farm in North Fork precinct, Saline county, and is one of the intelligent, representa-
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tive, well known agriculturists of this part of the state. He was born at Chatteris, Cambridgeshire, England, on the 12th of December, 1847, a son of James and Frances (Stocks) Allpress, also natives of that country. ยท In the year 1855 the parents bade adieu to friends and native land and with their family came to the United States, embarking on a sailing vessel which was eleven weeks in making the voyage from Liverpool to New Orleans. The family proceeded up the Mississippi river and on to Evansville, Indiana, and after two years removed to Sterling, White- side county, Illinois. The father was a miller and farmer. He died at Sterling, Illinois, when sixty-six years of age and his wife passed away at the age of fifty years. His political allegiance was given to the aboli- tion party in ante-bellum days, and when the Republican party was formed to prevent the further extension of slavery he joined its ranks and continued one of its stanch advocates until his death. His religious faith was that of the Congregational church, to which his wife also belonged. By that marriage there were two sons and six daughters. After losing his first wife Mr. James Allpress was again married, and by the second union there was one daughter.
Henry A. Allpress, coming to America with his parents when a lad of eight years, was reared in Illinois and largely acquired his education at Stewart College in Clarksville, Tennessee, where he lived with an uncle. Later he returned to Illinois, where he engaged in teaching, and he followed that profession for twenty-six years, with excellent success in Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska. He had the ability to impart clearly, ac- curately and concisely to others the knowledge that he had acquired, and was also a good disciplinarian and thus in his educational work he gave entire satisfaction. He put aside the studies of the schoolroom during the Civil war and enlisted in his seventeenth year on the 27th of Sep- tember, 1864. in Sterling, Whiteside county, becoming a member of
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Company H, Twelfth Illinois Cavalry, under command of Captain Isaac Conroe and Colonel Hasbrouk Davis. He went south, joining his regi- ment at Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The regiment was there engaged in rough riding service, often going forty miles a day in Louisiana, Missis- sippi and Tennessee. The command was engaged in fighting bush- whackers and guerillas, in doing scouting duty and in guarding govern- ment transports and railroads. They often met General Forrest's troops in battle, and Mr. Allpress participated in the engagement at Liberty, Mississippi, where seven hundred rebels were captured. After the cessa- tion of hostilities he was honorably discharged at Memphis, Tennessee, on the 16th of June, 1865.
Returning to his home in Illinois he resumed his studies, and grad- uating from the Sterling high school, began teaching, and in 1869 went to Allamakee county, Iowa, where he accepted a school. It was while teaching there that he became acquainted with, and was married, in 1871, to Miss Susan A. Hartley, who was also a popular and capable teacher, and is a lady of marked culture and intellectual attainments. She was born in Columbia county, Wisconsin, and is a daughter of Francis and Hepzibah (Sneesby) Hartley. Her father, a native of England, is now living in Waukon, Allamakee county, Iowa, but her mother is now de- ceased, having passed away in the Hawkeye state. In their family were nine children, four sons and five daughters. Two of the sons were soldiers of the Civil war. John W. Hartley belonged to Company F, of the Sixth Iowa Cavalry, while Joseph Hartley belonged to the same company and regiment and died while in the service of his country. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Allpress was blessed with a family of ten children, of whom nine are yet living, namely : Hepzibah F .; Bessie M .; Henry H., who is a good mechanic, and is now carrying on a blacksmithing shop in Jansen, Nebraska ; Angeline M .; John M .; Anna E .; Thomas H.,
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who is a student at Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas, and has at- tained marked proficiency as a violinist; Frank W .; and Alice M. One son, James F., the first born, died in his second year. The children have all been provided with good educational privileges, and four of the daughters have graduated from their home high school, and have been capable and successful teachers. Hepzibah, the eldest daughter, is, at present, a teacher of piano and organ music.
Mr. and Mrs. Allpress began their domestic life in Allamakee county, where they resided from 1871 until 1886, and then came to Saline county, where they have since made their home. He is proprietor of Orchardale farm, a valuable tract of land of one hundred and sixty acres. The land is situated on a small creek, has fine native timber of walnut, oak, ash and elm, a large orchard, from which the farm is named, is well fenced, the fields are well tilled and modern improvements are found upon the place. There is a windmill, a blacksmith shop, a large barn, cattle, carriage and machine sheds and a modern residence, in fact, all the equip- ments and accessories known to modern farming are there seen and everything is kept in excellent condition.
In his political views Mr. Allpress is an uncompromising Republican, having supported the party since attaining his majority. He keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the day, has frequently attended the county and state conventions as a delegate and has been untiring in behalf of the interests of his friends. He belongs to the Grand Army post at Western and has served as its adjutant, senior vice commander and commander. His wife holds membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, of which their daughters are also members, and he has given his aid and influence in behalf of religion, temperance, patriotism and mor- ality. He is also a prominent Modern Woodman of America and has held several offices of trust in the lodge in Western, and is, at present, one
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of the board of managers of that camp. His brother, Martin Luther Allpress, was a soldier in the Spanish-American war, and served in the Cuban and Porto Rican campaigns, and is now living in Cleveland, Ohio.
EVERARD MARTIN.
Everard Martin, whose influence in behalf of temperance, religion and education as well as the substantial and material development of Gibson precinct has made him a valuable factor in Jefferson county, is also deserving of mention in this volume because he was one of the soldiers of the Civil war. A native of Vermont, he was born in Addison county on the 21st of October, 1838, and is descended from an old family of New England. His father, William Martin, was born in Canada and became a soldier of the Civil war, enlisting in the First United States Cavalry. He served for three years as a loyal soldier, unfaltering in his performance of duty. He died in Iowa at the age of forty-four years. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Phoebe McGinnis, belonged to an old family of Vermont, in which state her birth occurred, and died at Odell, Gage county, Nebraska, when seventy-five years of age, be- loved and esteemed by all who knew her. They had two sons who were valiant defenders of the Union cause, one of these being Henry Martin, who now resides in Fairbury, Nebraska.
Everard Martin spent the days of his boyhood and youth in Vermont and New York. He is indebted to the public school system of the country for the educational privileges he enjoyed and which prepared him for life's practical duties. After the outbreak of the war of the rebellion he offered his services to the government, enlisting at Elizabethtown, Essex county, New York, in 1861, as a member of
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Company K, Thirty-eighth New York Infantry, for two years' service. He was under the command of Captain Dwyre and made a good war record, participating in eight important battles. He took part in the first battle of Bull Run, also the siege of Yorktown in Virginia and the battles of Williamsburg and Fort Richmond. He was under General McClellan in the seven days' fight on the peninsula, and was with his regiment in the engagement at Chantilla in September, 1862. Being wounded he was in the hospital for ten months, and was then honorably discharged on the 23d of June, 1863, at expiration of service. He never faltered in the performance of any task assigned to him, doing his full duty as a soldier, and in days of peace he has been equally loyal to his country and her welfare.
In 1865 Mr. Martin removed westward to Iowa, but returned to the east and on the 12th of February, 1866, was united in marriage to Miss Eunice Hanchett, of Elizabethtown, New York, a daughter of Howard and Jane (Smith) Hanchett, also residents of the Empire state. Her father died at the age of thirty-two years, leaving a widow and five children : Annis ; Philemon H., a resident of Fairbury ; Eunice; Philetus; and Wesley. Both of the latter died, one at the age of seventeen and the other at twenty-three. The mother died in Fairbury, Nebraska, at the age of sixty-eight years.
Mr. Martin took his bride to Tama county, Iowa, where he resided until 1868. He then came to Jefferson county, Nebraska, and secured a homestead claim, which he began to cultivate and improve. He had to labor under the disadvantages caused by the hot winds of summer and the blizzards of winter. The grasshoppers, too, for several seasons destroyed his crops, but he persevered and at length overcame the diffi- culties and obstacles in his path and has worked his way upward to success, in fact, he is now numbered among the prosperous citizens of his
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community and is the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of well improved land. Upon this is a good home, and the barns and sheds are filled with large crops, while in the pastures are seen good grades of stock. Evergreen and other shade and ornamental trees and flowers adorn the lawn, and there is a good orchard and all modern equipments. Mr. Martin well deserves to be classed among the representative agricul- turists of his community and certainly deserves great credit for what he has accomplished.
To. Mr. and Mrs. Martin have been born six children : Mrs. Cora Collier, who is living in Fairbury, Nebraska; Minnie, who is engaged in teaching in Lincoln; Mattie; Earl, of Montana, who was a soldier of the Second Nebraska Regiment during the Spanish-American war; Della Seaton, of North Dakota; and Ray, who is sixteen years of age. The children received good educational privileges and have been trained to habits of industry, economy and honesty, so that they are valued factors in the various communities in which they reside.
Mr. Martin belongs to Strain Post, No. 201, G. A. R., of Plymouth, and both he and his wife are members of the Christian church and take an active and helpful part in its work. They favor temperance and, in fact, all interests that tend to advance the moral standard of humanity, and their influence is ever on the side of right, progress and reform.
HARRY HOUSEMAN.
Harry Houseman, a well known citizen or Barnston, Nebraska, and an honored veteran of the Civil war, was born on the 24th of August, 1844, in Newark, Licking county, Ohio, and is a son of Lewis and Susan (Buskirk) Houseman, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania and
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were of German descent. The father spent his last days in Michigan, where he died at the age of seventy-six years. Politically he affiliated with the Republican party, and religiously he was identified with the Methodist church, to which his wife also belonged. She died at the age of seventy-two years. This worthy couple were the parents of eleven children, and three of their sons were soldiers of the Civil war, George being a member of an Illinois regiment, and Upton of an Ohio regiment.
Much of the boyhood and youth of our subject was passed in Cuyahoga county, Ohio, where he received a good practical education and where he also learned the barber's, painter's and paper-hanger's trades, which he followed for many years. In February, 1862, feeling that his country needed his services, he put aside all personal interests and enlisted in Company A, Fifth Ohio Volunteer Sharpshooters, which regiment became noted for its gallant and fearless service. Mr. House- man remained at the front for three years, and was first under the command of Captain G. M. Barber, and later under Captain D. W. Bottsford. He participated in many important battles, including those at Stone River, Nashville, Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain and Resaca. He was with General Sherman all through the Atlanta campaign, and was in the battle of Kenesaw Mountain. At Chickamauga he was wounded in the left leg, and was confined in the hospital for some time. On the cessation of hostilities he received an honorable discharge in August, 1865, and returned to his home in Ohio to resume more peaceful pursuits.
In 1866 Mr. Houseman removed to Newaygo county, Michigan, where he spent five years, and then became a resident of Atlantic, Cass county, Iowa, which was his home for seventeen years while he worked
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at his trade. At the end of that time he came to Gage county, Nebraska, and has since followed his chosen occupation at Barnston.
Mr. Houseman was first married in Cass county, Iowa, to Miss Frances Thornton, who died at Marne, that county, leaving one son, Roy. In 1898 he was again married, his second union being with Mrs. Mary Sadolika, a native of Bavaria, Germany, who was a widow at the time of her marriage to our subject and had four children, Dora, Peter, Augustine and Mary. One son has been born of the second union, George Housman.
Mr. Houseman is a member of Coleman Post, No. 115, G. A. R., and in politics is a strong Republican. He has made many friends since coming to this state, and wherever he has lived he has gained the con- fidence and respect of his fellow citizens.
WILLIAM EDGERTON.
William Edgerton is a well known and successful resident of Adams, Nebraska. He has been in this state since June, 1880, and has been esteemed as a man and citizen in whatever community he has made his home. He is one of the honored veterans of the Civil war, having given the full measure of his devotion to the country in his youth, and he has been self-reliant and capable in all his career.
Mr. Edgerton was born in Grant county, Indiana, January 15, 1845. His great-grandfather was born in England. and he and his brother, after coming to the United States, were soldiers in the Revolu- tionary war. Thomas Edgerton was the grandfather of Mr. Edgerton, and Samuel his father. The latter was born in Ohio, and married Winnie Lytle, who was born in South Carolina, of a southern family
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and of Quaker stock. Samuel Edgerton and wife came from Indiana to Fremont county, Iowa, in 1851. The former was for four years a soldier in the Twenty-ninth Iowa Infantry. He now lives at Goodland, Sherman county, Kansas, in his eightieth year, and his wife is seventy- nine. They were parents of the following children, nine of whom grew up : Thomas, deceased; William; Richard, deceased : Daniel, deceased ; Frank; Mary A .: Erastus; Elmer; Samuel; Winnie; Elnora. Their father is a Republican, and has been class leader and steward in the Methodist church.
William Edgerton was reared on his father's farm in Iowa, and received a fair amount of schooling and early learned the value of in- dustry. He was eighteen years old when he enlisted, in June, 1863, at Sidney, Fremont county, Iowa, in Company A, Eighth Iowa Cavalry, a regiment that made a gallant record during the war. His captain was G. W. Burns and colonel, J. B. Dor, the latter of whom died in the service at Macon, Georgia. The regiment was sent south to Nash- ville, was in the battles at Dalton, Georgia, Buzzards Roost, Horse Bend, Rome. Kingston, fought against General Hood's forces at Pu- laski and Franklin, Tennessee, was at Nashville again, thence went to Macon, Georgia, after General Joe Johnston. Mr. Edgerton received his honorable discharge in September, 1865. He lived in Fremont county, Iowa, until 1880, then came to Otoe county, Nebraska, and lived at Dunbar four years, and at Talmage until 1891, when he came to Adams. He has six good lots in the city, a fine orchard of all kinds of fruit, and his beautiful home is the abode of hospitality and good cheer all the year round.
Mr. Edgerton was married at Sidney, Iowa, in September, 1867, to Miss Emily Conkle, who was born in Defiance county, Ohio, was reared and educated in Logan county, Illinois, and thence came to Fremont
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county, Iowa. Her father, George Conkle, was a native of Pennsyl- vania, and her mother, Beulah A. Vale, was born at Bucyrus, Ohio, and both are now deceased, the former in Iowa at the age of sixty-six, and the latter in Hamburg, Iowa, at the age of eighty-two. They had nine children : Catherine A., Frank, Peter, Eli, Emily, Willard, Etta, and Martha, who died at the age of seven, and one that died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Edgerton have four children: Martha Etta Garrett, of Leon, Iowa; George, who is married and has two children; William, unmarried; and Thomas, at home. Mr. and Mrs. Edgerton are mem- bers of the Methodist church, and in domestic and social life are popular and hospitable, enjoying many friends and a happy home.
FRANCIS D. DARR.
Francis D. Darr, a leading farmer of Pleasant township, Jefferson county, Nebraska, is an old settler of this part of the state, having come here in 1878 and taken up his residence on some wild fand in the county. His sixty-five years have been devoted to industry and the accomplish- ment of worthy ideals, and he has made a record of honest success in every sphere of life.
Mr. Darr was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, December 6, 1838, of a well known and honored family of that state. His grand- father was a soldier in the war of 1812. His father, John Darr, was born in Pennsylvania, and married Elizabeth Diller, who was a native of Pennsylvania and a daughter of Francis Diller, son of Sam Diller, the Dillers being one of the most prominent families of Cumberland county, and well known and highly connected with Jefferson county, Nebraska. The progenitor of the family came to America from the
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republic of Switzerland before the Revolutionary war. John and Eliz- abeth Darr had eight children: David, Joseph, Elizabeth, Francis, Re- becca, Anna, Catherine and John. The father of these died in 1863. at the age of seventy-three. He was a miller by trade, and was a Re- publican voter. His wife survived until 1886, when she was eighty-one years old.
Francis D. Darr was reared in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, and taught to work and earn an honest living from boyhood. February 28, 1865, he enlisted from Cumberland county in Captain Wolf's com- pany of the One Hundred and First Pennsylvania Infantry. He was at Camp Curtin, Harrisburg, for ten days, then went by railroad to Balti- more, thence to Roanoke Island, by boat, where he remained five weeks; was then at Newbern, North Carolina, for a month, at Morehead City for ten days, and then returned to Baltimore, and from there to Harrisburg, where he received an honorable discharge, after a clean and creditable record. Mr. Darr came to Nebraska in 1878, and has since acquired a fine lot of farming property about one mile and a quarter from Diller. 'He has two farms amounting to two hundred and forty acres, with two good houses, orchards, barns and groves, and all other needful accessories. He has spent about forty-five hundred dollars in the improvement of his places, and they would not suffer by comparison with any farm in the county. He keeps high-grade cattle, horses and hogs, and is enterprising and prosperous in all his undertakings.
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