USA > Nebraska > A Biographical and genealogical history of southeastern Nebraska, Vol. II > Part 23
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Mr. Whitfield was married in Illinois in 1857 to Miss Margaret Mckinney, who was born in Marion county, Illinois, July 13, 1828, a daughter of Jeremiah and Catherine (Resner) Mckinney, farmers, who came to Nebraska and settled in Nemaha county in 1863. There were six sons and six daughters in the family, and two sons are living in Oklahoma and a sister of Mrs. Whitfield lives in Peru. Her father died in 1878. Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Whitfield : William Miles lives in Peru and has eight children; Henry is postmaster of Peru, and has one son and one daughter; Mrs. Hester Shriner, a widow, lives in Alliance, Nebraska, and has four children; Charles, the
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eldest of the children, died in Peru at the age of eighteen ; and a son and a daughter died in infancy. Mr. Whitfield votes for the man and not for the party representative. He and his wife have been connected with the Methodist church for years. He has been an example and exponent of temperance all his life. For the past six years he has drawn a pension of twelve dollars a month for his services in the Mexi- can war, and is one of the very few surviving veterans of that war which added so much territory to the American Union.
ALLEN COLMAN.
Allen Colman is an honored veteran of the Civil war and one of the pioneer settlers of Nebraska, having come to this state in its territorial days, the year of his arrival being 1858. He was then a youth of twelve years, his birth having occurred in Noble county, Indiana, in 1846. His father, Hartwell Colman, was born in New York near Rochester and was a son of Asa Colman, who was of English descent. The mother of our subject bore the maiden name of Elizabeth Engle and was born in Pennsylvania of an old Pennsylvania German family. In the year 1858 Hartwell Colman came with his family to Nebraska and spent his remaining days in this state, his death occurring in Cass county. To him and his wife were born eleven children, six sons and five daugh- ters, of whom ten are now living. Five of the sons were soldiers of the Civil war, namely: Adam D., who is now a jeweler of Diller, Nebras- ka; Asa, who was a member of a Nebraska regiment; Allen; Andrew, who is now in the Black Hills of Dakota; and Arthur. One of the daughters of the family resides at Seward, and Mrs. Powell, another daughter, is living in Diller, this state. The father devoted his entire
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life to agricultural pursuits and thus provided for his family. He gave his political allegiance to the Whig party until its dissolution, and then joined the ranks of the new Republican party, with which he was identi- fied up to the time of his death, which occurred when he was sixty- five years of age.
When Allen Colman was a child of only four years he was taken by his parents from Indiana to Jones county, Iowa, where they resided from 1850 until 1858. In that year they came to the territory of Ne- braska, and he was thus reared in this state when it was a frontier dis- trict. The Indians were numerous in Iowa during the period of his residence there, and he early became familiar with pioneer conditions. He acquired his education in an old log schoolhouse, which was fur- nished after the primitive manner of the times, and in his youth he be- came familiar with farm work. During the period of the Civil war he went to Colorado, in 1863. At that time there was a government camp at Denver made with log cabins. He enlisted there in response to the country's call for aid, becoming a member of Company H of the First Colorado Cavalry, under Lieutenant Cramer, Captain Sanburn and Colonel Shavington, the last named being a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Colman served for two years fighting the Indians in the far west, and in one engagement the red men lost eight hundred of their number. He participated in a number of battles and skirmishes and did much valuable service in protecting frontier settlers, thus sav- ing many lives which would have been sacrificed to the treachery of the red men. Later with his command he rode from Colorado to Fort Lyon at Council Grove, Kansas, afterward to Fort Reilly and subse- quently to Fort Dodge. He received an honorable discharge in 1865 and returned to his home with a good military record.
Mr. Colman made his way to Cass county, Nebraska, where he
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resided for many years. In 1866, however, he made an overland trip to Denver with an ox team, taking a load of freight. He continued to reside in Cass county, however, until 1900, and was for many years engaged in merchandising there. He then came to Jefferson county and settled upon his present farm near the postoffice of Diller. Here he is devoting his energies to agricultural pursuits. Throughout his entire business career he has maintained a reputation for reliability and straightforward dealing that is indeed enviable and commendable.
In 1878 Mr. Colman was married to Miss Nancy J. Swindle, a native of Missouri and a daughter of John Swindle. The children of this marriage are Sarah, Roscoe, Daisy, Maria, Andrew and Allen. The parents are members of the Christian church, and Mr. Colman gives his political support to the Republican party, being an earnest ad- vocate of its principles. He is a man fearless in defense of his honest convictions and ever true to any cause which he espouses.
JOSEPH E. ROE.
Joseph E. Roe, who is living in Cub Creek township, has made his home in Jefferson county since 1871 and has therefore been a witness of much of its development and upbuilding. He was born in Virgil, Court- land county, New York, on the 28th of October, 1844, a representative of one of the old families of that portion of the country, distinguished for loyalty in citizenship and for honor in business life. His paternal grandfather, Ira Roe, was one of the defenders of the American liber- ties in the Revolutionary war. The father, Erastus G. Roe, was born in New York, and was a cousin of the well known author, F. P. Roe. After arriving at years of maturity he married Miss Catherine Morse,
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who was born in Cortland county, New York, and in 1846 they emi- grated westward to Illinois, settling in Fulton county among the early residents who took up their abode in the vicinity of Virgil. The father died at Avon, Illinois, when seventy-nine years of age, and the mother passed away at the age of seventy-six years. They were the parents of but two children, the daughter being Elizabeth Chatterton, who is now living at Avon, Illinois.
Joseph E. Roe was only about two years of age at the time of his parents' removal from the Empire state to Illinois, where he was reared upon the home farm, working in the fields and meadows, when not oc- cupied with the duties of the schoolroom. He has followed agricultural pursuits throughout his entire life, continuing in that business in Illinois until 1871, when he came to Nebraska and purchased a deed to land. Here he has since resided and is devoting his time and energies to agri- cultural pursuits in Cub Creek township. Many difficulties and dis- couragements had to be faced and overcome. Great blizzards occurred during the winter months, and the hot winds of summer proved very detrimental to the crops. Grasshoppers, too, came down upon the country in great swarms and for several seasons entirely destroyed the fields of grain, but Mr. Roe persevered, making the most of his oppor- tunities and to-day he is the owner of a rich and arable farm of one hundred and sixty acres. He has considerable land planted to alfalfa, and he also raises many kinds of grain adapted to soil and climate. He now has a large barn thirty by forty feet, and a pleasant home which was erected at a cost of three thousand dollars. It is located five and a half miles northeast of Jansen in a good neighborhood, and alto- gether the farm is regarded as one of the best in the locality.
At the time of the Civil war Mr. Roe manifested his loyalty to the Union cause by enlisting at Avon, Illinois, in August, 1862, as a mem-
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ber of Company I, Seventy-second Illinois Infantry. He became a member of the Chicago Board of Trade Regiment, which made a most creditable record in the Civil war. He was under Captain Harvey, who was the grandson of an old Methodist circuit rider of Illinois in pioneer times, Richard Harvey. The colonel was F. A. Staring, of Wheaton, Illinois, who was succeeded by Colonel Wright, who had formerly been lieutenant-colonel. The regiment was ordered to Cairo, Illinois, and after two weeks went to Paducah, Kentucky, later proceeding to Colum- bus, Kentucky, and on to Moscow, Tennessee. Mr. Roe was in the en- gagements at LaGrange, Tennessee, and Holly Springs, Mississippi, was at Yazoo Pass, subsequently proceeded to Helena, Arkansas, on transports, and returned later to Millikin's Bend, and participated in the siege of Vicksburg under General Grant, aiding in the capture of that important point; also saw service in the commissary department for a time and in the provost department. Subsequently he returned to Vicksburg and joined General Thomas' troops at Nashville, Tennes- see. He went to Columbia, Tennessee, to meet General Hood's forces and was in the battle of Franklin, one of the most hotly contested engage- ments of the Civil war. He was also at the siege of Nashville for eigh- teen days and was later in the hospital there. He came to know the full meaning of war with all of its hardships and sorrows, but he never faltered in the performance of any duty and was ever most loyal to the starry banner of the nation. At length he received an honorable dis- charge on the 4th of July, 1865, and returned to his home. The country owes a debt of gratitude to the Union soldiers that can never be repaid and their memories will be honored as long as this nation endures.
Mr. Roe was married in 1869 to Miss Almira M. Edon, who was born in Pike county, Illinois, and was reared and educated in that state. Her parents, John and Emeline Edon, were natives of England and both
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died in Illinois. Two years after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Roe came by team and wagon to Jefferson county, and their first home here was a sod house eighteen by twenty-four feet. They have one son, Arthur C. Roe, who assists in the operation of the home farm. They also lost a daughter, Minnie, who died at the age of thirty years. She had been a successful and popular music teacher, and she was greatly loved for her many good qualities of heart and mind, for she possessed a loving disposition and her life was characterized by many kindly acts.
Mr. Roe is a Republican in his political views, and socially he is connected with the Knights of Pythias fraternity. In 1895 he made a trip to California, but soon afterward returned to Jefferson county and has remained continuously in this part of the state, his residence here covering over a quarter of a century. He stands to-day as a respected and honored citizen of the community, for at all times he has been an advocate of its best interests and as a citizen he is as true and loyal to his country to-day as when he followed the old flag on southern battlefields. It is his present intention to soon leave Nebraska to settle somewhere upon the Pacific coast.
EBENEZER MOSES.
Ebenezer Moses, a retired farmer of Beatrice, Nebraska, and a veteran of the Civil war, was born near Richmond, Union county, Ohio, March 30, 1842, and he is a son of Joseph Moses, born in Ver- mont, where he married Jane Boyce, of Scotch parentage. Both par- ents are now deceased, the father at the age of seventy-three years and the mother in 1878 at the age of seventy-two years. In religious faith he was a Methodist. He had six children, five of whom grew up : Enoch
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R. was in an Illinois regiment; Samuel, deceased; Ebenezer; John B .; and Thomas C.
Ebenezer was reared upon the old farm and was but a boy when the war broke out, but he enlisted in May, 1863, in Company B, One Hundred and Thirty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Colonel Ewing and Captain Hiram Trimton commanding, and participated in the bat- tle of Seven Pines and did considerable railroad guard duty in Macon, Georgia. He re-enlisted January 29, 1865, in the One Hundred and Eighty-seventh Ohio Infantry, in Company B, and was discharged in Jan- uary, 1866. He returned to Mercer county, Ohio, and remained for a time, and while there was married, February 27, 1868, to Mrs. Mahala (Hoo- ver) Crowder, a widow of an ex-soldier and a daugliter of Jacob and Han- nah Hoover. Mr. Moses removed to Nebraska and took up a homestead, farming it successfully. In 1887 he lost his wife, after she had borne him six children, namely: Mary Leach; Cyrus E .; Laura Leach; and Emory, and two deceased. In 1889 Mr. Moses married Mrs. Julia (Harpster) Sluch, who was born at Flat Rock, Ohio, being a daughter of Thomas Harpster. The Harpster family came to St. Joe by railroad in 1859, from thence by boat to Falls City, Nebraska, and became very prominent people of the state. Mr. and Mrs. Moses have a daughter, Millie, nine years of age. Mr. Moses is a prominent member of the Rawlins Post No. 35, and his wife belongs to the Women's Relief Corps, and both are very well and favorably known throughout the entire com- munity.
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EDWARD M. BOYD.
Edward M. Boyd, cashier of the Carson National Bank, and Robert C. Boyd, assistant cashier of the same bank, are prominent factors in the business and social life of Auburn, Nebraska.
Edward M. Boyd was born in Upton, Franklin county, Pennsyl- vania, May 4, 1857, son of Robert James Boyd, a resident of Upton, whose birth occurred near that place January 4, 1835. Pennsylvania was also the native state of grandfather Boyd, who was a blacksmith by trade, and whose wife, Catherine Catron, was a native of the north of Ireland; she was born in 1802, and died in Emmetsburg, Maryland, April 7, 1895, at the age of ninety-three years. Her mother died in Mercersburg. Pennsylvania, at the age of ninety-seven years, and her grandmother lived to the advanced age of one hundred and three years and died in Ireland. It was about the year 1814 that the Catrons emi- grated to this country, landing here after a voyage of seven weeks. They were protestants.
Robert James Boyd was one of a family of three children, two sons and a daughter. His brother, Thomas A. Boyd, was a college man, a veteran of the Civil war, and a prominent citizen of Fulton county, Illinois, which he represented in the state senate. Also he served as county judge and as a member of the United States Congress. He was noted as an orator, and both physically and mentally he was a fine specimen of manhood. While delivering one of his masterly and patriotic speechs, suddenly his voice faltered and to the astonishment of his audience, with tears in his eyes and rolling down his cheeks, he silently left the room. He lived eight years longer but he never re- covered his speech. Robert James Boyd made his own way in the world, became a merchant and banker of Greencastle, Pennsylvania, and won financial success. For years he was and yet is president of
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the First National Bank of Greencastle. During the Civil war he ren- dered valued service as a soldier in the Union ranks.
The mother of our subject was Susan C. White, a native of Fulton county, Pennsylvania. Her father was a skilled physician who volun- teered his services during an epidemic in the far south, to which place he went and where he evidently met his death while trying to alleviate the sufferings of his fellows; he was never afterward heard from.
Robert James Boyd and Susan C. White were married in May, 1856, and of their eight children Edward M. was the first born. The others in order of birth are as follows: Mary Jane, wife of William J. Zacharias, an attorney of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, by whom she had six sons and one daughter, all now living : Kate Elizabeth, deceased wife of Thomas H. Gillan, passed away in the prime of life, leaving two daughters; a son that died in infancy; a daughter that died in in- fancy ; Robert C., further mention of whom will be found in this work; John, who is in railroad employ at Hagerstown, Maryland; and Estella W. Angle, of Welshrun, Pennsylvania. The mother of this family died August 20, 1877, at the age of sixty-two years.
Edward M. Boyd was educated in Mercersburg College, where he graduated with the class of 1879. He prepared himself for the practice of law and was admitted to the bar of Franklin county, Pennsylvania. In the early spring of 1882 he came to Auburn, Nebraska, and that year received admission to the bar here. He soon identified himself, as manager, with the bank with which he is now connected, and has been cashier of this bank ever since, with the exception of one year after the Brownville bank was brought here, when Captain Davison filled the position. The Carson National Bank was established by John L. Car- son, as a private bank, in 1857, and soon became the First National Bank at Brownville, Nebraska. In August, 1882, the bank at Auburn
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was opened as a branch, by the same company, under the name of John L. Carson & Company. In 1887 it was reorganized as a national bank.
Edward M. Boyd was married October 27, 1891, to Anna Dye, daughter of James R. Dye, a native of New York state who came to Nebraska as one of the pioneer settlers of this state. Mr. Dye is now a resident of San Diego, California. Mr. and Mrs. Boyd have three children, namely : Robert James, born in October, 1892; Edward Dye, born in January, 1894; and Carson Boyd, born April 29, 1904.
Mr. Boyd is a thirty-second degree Mason and has been officially honored by his Masonic brothers. He is a past master, past high priest and past commander. Also he is identified with the B. P. O. E., the A. O. U. W. and I. O. O. F. He and his wife are among the leading members of the Episcopal church, in which he was for several years the reader. Mrs. Boyd, in addition to her other accomplishments, is musical. Their pleasant home is one of the pretty cottages of Auburn, and is located on the corner of Major and High streets.
GEORGE DARNELL.
George Darnell, of Beatrice, is another of the brave veterans of the Civil war who command our respect and admiration. He enlisted at Galesburg, Knox county, Illinois, in August, 1862, and after serving three months enlisted again in Company G, Eighty-third Illinois Vol- unteer Infantry, but later was transferred to the Sixty-first Illinois Vol- unteer Infantry. The regiment was sent to participate in the battles of Fort Henry and Donelson, Shiloh, Lookout Mountain, Corinth and Fredericksburg. He received a slight wound on the left hand near Fort Henry, but this did not incapacitate him and he served until his honorable discharge February 28, 1865.
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George Darnell was born in Knox county, Illinois, February 24, 1846, a son of W. M. and Priscilla (Thurman) Darnell, the former of whom was born in the Highlands of Scotland and the latter in Ire- land of Scotch-Irish and Welsh ancestors. These two parents died in Illinois in 1863 within two weeks of each other, the father aged sixty-three and the mother aged fifty-eight years. They had thirteen children, six of whom served as soldiers in the war, namely: Joseph, William, Sumner, James, Allen, George; all served bravely and returned to their homes.
George Darnell was born in Illinois and received an excellent edu- cation in the public schools, but early began work in coal mining and later on the railroad. In 1880 he moved to Nebraska, settling first in Jefferson county and then in Gage county, Nebraska ; also lived a time in Washington county, Kansas. He was married in Iowa to Miss Celestia Davis, who is a daughter of William Davis, born in Illinois and died at the age of forty-two, while the mother died in Kansas at the age of sixty-seven. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Darnell are as follows: Marinda; Joseph B. and Bonnie are twins; Nettie; Benjamin Harrison; Alfred Mckinley. Mr. Darnell is very prominent in G. A. R. work, is a good Christian man and a worthy citizen of the flourish- ing town of Beatrice.
JOSEPH W. GRIMES.
Joseph W. Grimes, one of the veteran residents of Beatrice, Ne- braska, came to this city in 1870 and has resided here for thirty-three years. He was born in Meigs county, Ohio, February 23, 1849. He is a son of Edward H. Grimes, of Wilkesville, Ohio, a government
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soldier in the Civil war who was wounded in the battle of Missionary Ridge, but lived until December, 1868. He was a member of General George Crook's old regiment, which had a record second to none. One of his sons, John S. Grimes, was killed at Missionary Ridge when he was only sixteen years of age, and another son, Andrew J. Grimes was a member of the First Ohio Light Artillery, enlisting when only fifteen years of age. The father was very prominent in politics in Ohio for years, and held offices of trust and honor in the community in which he lived. Joseph W. Grimes also had a war record of which he may well be proud. The other members of the family were John S., ex-soldier, now deceased; Andrew J., an ex-soldier, of Columbus, Ohio; Emily is now deceased; Jehial, now deceased; Royal E .; James; Edward E .; George, deceased ; and Elizabeth. The mother died in Ohio and was a wom- an loved by all who knew her. Joseph W. Grimes was reared on a farm until he was thirteen years old, when he enlisted on August 12, 1862, in the Second West Virginia Cavalry, and served until June 27, 1865, when he was honorably discharged, and was then only sixteen years of age. His war record shows that he served under some of the great generals of the war, including General Custer, and participated in some of the most daring and hard-fought battles of the war, including An- tietam, Gettysburg, the campaign of the Shenandoah valley, the siege of Petersburg and many others. After the war was over Mr. Grimes returned to Ohio, and in 1867 located at Alexandria. Missouri, but in 1870 he emigrated to Gage county, Nebraska, and opened a store in Beatrice. At that time the place was little more than a trading post, and buffalo hunts were exceedingly common. Mr. Grimes always took a great deal of interest in all kinds of sports and became a very expert hunter.
In 1878 he was married in Beatrice to Anna Holt, a native of Eng-
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land and a daughter of Eli Holt, who located in Beatrice in 1870, he having been a soldier in the Crimean war. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Grimes, namely : Almira, wife of Charles D. Roseberry, of Omaha ; Albert C., of Beatrice ; and Edna C. In politics Mr. Grimes is a stanch Republican, and for some time acted as constable, proving himself an efficient and popular official. He is a member of the G. A. R. Post No. 30 and the Knights of Pythias. Mrs. Grimes is a member of the Episcopal church; both Mr. and Mrs. Grimes are very highly respected in Beatrice and they have many friends not only in the city itself, but in the surrounding community where they have made their home for so many years.
W . H . PHILLIPS.
W. H. Phillips, general blacksmith and wagon manufacturer, of Filley, Gage county, Nebraska, is one of the reliable business men and veterans of that locality. Mr. Phillips enlisted at Freeport, Illinois, in 1862, in Company E, Forty-sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, for the period of three years, Colonel John A. Davis commanding. Among the battles in which our subject participated may be named those of Shiloh, Corinth, where Colonel Davis was killed, battle of Holly Springs, three skirmishes in Mississippi and Tennessee as well as several small battles, then he was present at the siege of Vicksburg, at which he showed loyalty and valor. Rejoining his regiment he was sent to Memphis and from there by boat to New Orleans, and was stationed in Dauphin Island; was at Blakely and Spanish Fort, after which he was returned to New Orleans, then on the Red River expedition, and back to Shreveport, Louisiana. The next order was to Marshall, Texas, and from there they were
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ordered to Illinois and were honorably discharged at Camp Butler, July 12, 1866.
W. H. Phillips was born in Stephenson county, Illinois, nine miles north of Freeport, October 8, 1840, and he is the son of Christopher Phillips, one of the early settlers who came to that locality in 1839, having been born in England and emigrated to America when a young man. After coming to the United States Christopher Phillips married Amanda Snyder, born in Ohio and who died in 1858. Six children were born to this marriage, three sons and three daughters. Our sub- ject grew up on the farm and attended the common schools of his neighborhood, and at the same time learned the trade of blacksmith and carriage manufacturing. After serving an apprenticeship, he be- came a journeyman workman in iron. The marriage of Mr. Phillips took place in Trenton, Missouri, to a Miss Roland, who was born in Lee county, Virginia, of an old Virginia family. Three sons were born to them, namely: Omer, who works in the machine shops of Beatrice; Roy and L. E. In 1872 Mr. Phillips came to Lancaster county, Ne- braska. At Fort Worth, Texas, he worked at his trade for eleven years. Later he decided that Beatrice was better adapted to the purposes of his business and made his home in that city. Fraternally he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of the Masonic lodge, and is very popular in the above organizations. Politically he is a Democrat, but has never taken an active part in affairs. Mr. Phillips' reminiscences of the war are exceedingly entertaining and are worthy of publication, for they give a true and unbiased account of the saddening events of those days from one who assisted in preserving the Union and adding to its glory.
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