USA > Nebraska > A Biographical and genealogical history of southeastern Nebraska, Vol. II > Part 26
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ANDREW MOFFITT.
Andrew Moffitt is the owner and active operator of one of the finest farming estates in Saline county, situated not far from the town of Dorchester. He is among the old settlers of this part of the state, and bought the land where he has since developed his beautiful farmstead in 1871, although he did not become a permanent resident until 1875. He is an up-to-date, twentieth century agriculturist, has made a success of his life work, and as a man and a citizen commands the highest es- teem of his associates in business and social circles.
He was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, January 4, 1828,
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and would perhaps be accounted an old man, but with him "age is a matter of feeling not of years," and he is still, notwithstanding a life of great activity, a vigorous and useful man of affairs. He is a son of James and Alice (Douler) Moffitt. His father was born in Ireland, of Scotch-Irish ancestry and Protestant in religion. He accompanied his parents to the United States and grew to manhood in Washington county, Pennsylvania. He married, first, Mary Turner, by whom he had two children. His second wife, Alice Douler, was born in Pennsylvania of an old Pennsylvania Dutch family, and she died in Fayette county, that state, in 1836, leaving three children: Thomas, Andrew and Henry. James Moffitt, the father, brought his family out to LaSalle county, Illi- nois, in 1842. He died at the age of eighty-three years. He was a ship carpenter and ship contractor by trade, and in politics was a Democrat and in religion a Methodist.
Mr. Andrew Moffitt was fourteen years old when he went to Illi- nois, and most of his schooling had already been obtained in his native state of Pennsylvania. He was reared on a farm and early taught to work. He began farming on his own account in Illinois, and in 1849 he was married in Putnam county, of that state, to Miss Ruth Blackburn, and they journeyed along life's highway together for many years. She was born in Pennsylvania and was reared there and in Illinois.
Mr. Moffitt was living in LaSalle county, Illinois, when the Civil war broke out, and in August, 1862, at Lincoln's call for sixty thousand men, he enlisted at Rutland in Company I of the One Hundred and Fourth Illinois Infantry. The company had during the war two cap- tains, Wadley and Proctor, and the colonel of the regiment was A. B. Moore, of Ottawa. The regiment was in camp at Ottawa, was then ordered to Louisville, Kentucky, took part in the battle at Tompkinsville, helped drive Bragg's troops from Tennessee, was at Chattanooga, Chick-
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amauga, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge and Taylor Ridge. Mr. Moffitt got a veteran's furlough, and when he was seven miles from home he met with a railroad accident in which he broke his leg. He afterward rejoined his regiment in Georgia, and for part time was on detached duty in the baggage and warehouse department at Bridgeport, Alabama. At the close of the war he took part in the grand review, and on receiv- ing his honorable discharge returned home with a gallant record as a soldier of the Union. While in Georgia he had been once taken prisoner but was soon released by Captain Hamilton of the rebel forces. He was sergeant of his company at the time of his discharge.
After the war Mr. Moffitt continued farming in Illinois until he came out to Nebraska in 1875. He had purchased a tract of land in Saline county in 1871, and resided on it continuously from 1875 until very recently, but his present home is at 551 Gunison avenue, Grand Junction, Colorado. He owns four hundred and seventy-four acres of as good soil as there is in the county, and all the equipments and improve- ments of the place indicate the progressive and successful farmer. He takes much pride in his blooded stock, having some high-grade short- horn cattle and plenty of draft horses for all departments of his enter- prise.
His first wife died December 3, 1886, and on May 24, 1894, he married Mrs. Elizabeth C. Moore, his present wife. Mr. Moffitt has three living children : Mary E. Leach, of Saline county; Sam B., a suc- cessful lumber merchant of Dorchester; and Sarah E. Peterson, of Grand Junction, Colorado. One daughter, Mrs. Alice J. Pratt, is de- ceased. Mr. Moffitt is a strong Republican, and has held several local offices in Illinois and this state. He is a member of the Coutsman Post of the Grand Army at Dorchester. He is an active church worker and
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is steward and class-leader of the Methodist church. He is one of the oldest Odd Fellows in Nebraska, having joined that order in 1852.
ALBERT F. SMITH.
Albert F. Smith, proprietor of the big brick livery barn at the corner of F and Fourth streets, Fairbury, Nebraska, has for a number of years been one of the most prominent citizens of this town, has been enterprising and alert in business affairs, and, in a public-spirited manner, has taken an active part in political matters. He has led a busy life, and at the same time has gained the esteem of fellow citizens and friends and been a beloved and revered father and husband. He and his wife have an unusually interesting genealogical history, and the names and achievements of their ancestors connect them with all periods of the nation's glorious annals, giving them all the honors and titles to mem- bership in the orders and societies which have been established to per- petuate and place in proper historical perspective the deeds and names of the great and noble men and women of past generations in America.
Mr. Smith was born in Ogle county, Illinois, November 17, 1847, and came to Fairbury, Nebraska, in 1879, so that he is one of the old settlers. During the administration of President Harrison he was ap- pointed postmaster of Fairbury, and served for four years. Since that time he has been identified with the creamery business and other enter- prises, and in 1898 established his livery business. He has first-class, up-to-date rigs, which he lets at reasonable rates, and makes a specialty of furnishing prompt and quick transit across the country to commercial travelers. Mr. Smith is a stanch Republican and takes an active part in political matters, while fraternally he affiliates with the Masons, the
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Modern Woodmen of America and the Ancient Order of United Work- men, being a member of the lodges in this city.
February 8, 1877, Mr. Smith was married at West Salem, Wis- consin, to Miss Anna Richardson Palmer, who was born in LaCrosse county, Wisconsin, February 24, 1854. They have two sons, Palmer and Francis A.
The important data concerning the family history of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, gained from various authentic sources, are given in the following paragraphs.
Mr. Smith was one of the nine children of Francis Adams Smith and Sarah (Brown) Smith, and is in the sixth generation from the James Smith who came to the Massachusetts colony in 1718. Members of eight generations of the family have been buried from the old Massachusetts homestead.
Francis Adams Smith's mother was Hannah Hoar. The Hoars came to America prior to 1643. Hannah Hoar's father was Lieutenant Joseph Hoar, Jr., and was in the northern army of General Gates in 1777, during the Revolution, and also commanded a company against Shay's rebels in 1787.
Sarah (Brown) Smith, the mother of Mr. Smith, was the daughter of Colonel Dauphin Brown and Sila (Patrick) Brown, both natives of Brimfield, Massachusetts. Jonathan Brown, the ancestor, came to Amer- ica in 1739, and settled at Brimfield about the same time. He was a sergeant in the French and Indian war under the command of Daniel Burt, and was captain from March 30, 1755, to January 3, 1756. He was a sergeant at Lexington, April 19, 1775, and was a lieutenant in May, 1779. His son Bartholomew took part in the battle of Lexing- ton as a boy of seventeen years.
Sila (Patrick) Brown was a descendant of Mathew Patrick, who
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came to America in 1724 and settled with his family in the town of Western (now Warren), Massachusetts, on land which continued to be the Patrick homestead until 1870.
Mrs. Anna (Palmer) Smith was the eldest of four children born to Monroe Palmer and Martha Bigelow (Coolidge) Palmer, the former a native of Royalton, Vermont. Monroe Palmer was a descendant of Walter Palmer, who came from England in 1629, was a citizen of Charlestown and Rehoboth, Massachusetts, and one of the foremost men of Stonington, Connecticut. From him a large and illustrious line of Palmers descended.
Monroe Palmer's father, Alden Palmer, married Anna Richard- son, whose father, Godfrey Richardson, was at the battle of Bunker Hill and through most of the subsequent service of the Revolution, and was a pensioner until his death in 1854, his wife receiving it then until her death.
Martha Bigelow (Coolidge) Palmer was descended from the Cool- idge family that came from England in 1632 and settled at Charlestown. At the outbreak of the Revolution her great-grandfather was treasurer of the township of Watertown, Massachusetts. On the morning of April 19, 1775, three or four men came to him and asked to be directed to the place where the British were reported to be gathering, near Lex- ington. He went into the house, gave his wife, Eunice (Stratton) Coolidge, what money he had and started for Lexington with the men. He was one of "the embattled farmers who fired the shot heard round the world," and on that afternoon was killed, one of the first to shed his blood for his country. One hundred years later, April 19, 1875, his venerating descendants erected a monument to his memory in Water- town. His son Joseph was a youthful soldier before the close of the Revolution, and a member of the Fourteenth Regiment of the Conti-
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nental army, under Colonel Bradford. He was a pensioner until his death in 1842, and his wife, Mary Adams Coolidge, until her death, in 1852. Their son, Joseph Coolidge, Jr., migrated to Jay, Maine, in 1790, settling in that part which became Canton.
Martha Bigelow (Coolidge) Palmer was also descended from John Bigelow, who married Mary Warren on August 30, 1642, this event being thus recorded on the Watertown records: "John Bigulah and Mary Warin joyned in mariag before Mr. Nowell." On the return of soldiers who were in the service from November 25, to December 3. 1675, is found the name of "John Bigulah, Sr., children-thirteen." Mrs. Smith's line heads with Joshua Bigelow, who was born in November, 1655, and married Elizabeth Flagg. He was soldier in King Phillip's war, in which he was wounded, and in consideration of his services received a grant of land in Naragansett. Late in life, in his eighty- seventh year, he removed to this grant, which is now the town of West- minster, and he was the first adult that died in that town, in 1745.
Mrs. Smith's great-grandfather was John Bigelow, who married Polly Hayward, and their daughter, Polly Bigelow, married Mrs. Smith's grandfather, Aaron Coolidge, the son of Joseph Coolidge, Jr.
JOHN CARMICHAEL.
John Carmichael, one of the most prosperous farmers of Gage county, near the postoffice of Filley, has been a resident of this section of southeastern Nebraska for seventeen years, and has shown himself to be a man of fine qualifications as a citizen and business man, and has been found true to all the responsibilities which have been imposed upon him.
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Mr. Carmichael was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September 28, 1845, a son of Robert and Jane (McKim) Carmichael, both natives of Ireland, where they were reared and married. The former was a member of the Church of England. He was a tanner by trade, and after settling in Philadelphia conducted the tanning business for some years. He died at the age of thirty-eight years, leaving his widow and three children, Eliza, John and James. His widow died in Rochelle, Illinois, at the age of sixty-seven years.
John Carmichael was reared and educated in Philadelphia until he was fourteen years old, and then came to Ogle county, Illinois, where he was reared to manhood and finished his education. He enlisted from Ogle county, although still in his teens, and was assigned to the quar- termaster's department. He afterward entered the ranks as a private in Company H, Forty-sixth Illinois Infantry, under Captain Pike. He was sent south, and took part in the battles in Mississippi, notably the Vicksburg campaign and siege, and later the operations about Mobile, Alabama, and was then ordered to service in Louisiana, where he re- mained till he received his honorable discharge in November, 1865. He had seen his full share of actual conflict on the field, of marching toils and exposures of all kinds, and returned from the war with a full con- sciousness of duty performed for his country before he had arrived at the age of manhood.
He went to farming in Illinois, and while living in Ogle county, was married to Margaret O'Rourke, who has stood by him in all subse- quent endeavors and been his greatest helper at all times. She is of Irish parentage. Her father, Hugh O'Rourke, died in Jewell county, Kansas, and her mother in Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Carmichael have six children, Robert, Hugh, John, Carson, Edward and Mary.
Mr. Carmichael came to Gage county seventeen years ago, and is
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now engaged in farming four hundred acres of land. He is an enter- prising and thorough agriculturist, and has been satisfactorily success- ful in all his endeavors. In politics he is a strong Democrat, and is a Grand Army man. His family are members of the Catholic church. He affiliates with the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Wood- men of the World. As a man he presents a fine physical appearance, and is genial, frank and popular with hosts of friends and acquaintances.
SEYMOUR HOWE.
Seymour Howe was an honored resident of Nemaha county for many years, and his death on May 25, 1904, was an occasion for sin- cere mourning and a great loss to the entire community in which he had lived and played his part of usefulness. His birth occurred in Steuben county, New York, near Hornellsville, on the 30th of March, 1841. He was a grandson of John Howe, a native of Connecticut, in which commonwealth his ancestors had long resided. He served as a soldier in the ranks of the patriots throughout the entire period of the Revolutionary war, being a non-commissioned officer. He married a Miss Clauson, and his death occurred during his residence in New York, in middle life. His widow was again married, and she lived to a good old age. This worthy couple reared six daughters and one son, the lat- ter being Seymour Howe, Sr., the father of the late Nebraskan.
The senior Howe was born in New York state, May 28, 1805. He was a farmer and carpenter by occupation, and his life's labors were ended in death on his farm in Nemaha county, October 21, 1875. From Steuben county, New York, he moved to Wisconsin, residing in Dodge and Outagamie counties, whence in 1855 he went to Steel county, Min-
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nesota, and in 1860 came to Nemaha county, Nebraska. In his native state, July 19, 1824. he was united in marriage to Eliza Pomeroy, who was born February 11, 1804, and twelve children were born of their union, seven of whom, three sons and four daughters, grew to years of maturity, namely : Plebe Ann, who was born September 15, 1827, and became the second wife of R. G. Wood, by whom she has one daughter, and they reside in Blue Earth county, Minnesota; Joshua P., who was born July 4, 1829, and died in Oregon, August 11, 1903, leaving three sons and a daughter; Samuel, who was born in November, 1830, and has one son living, is a resident of Santa Cruz, California; Betsey, born March 16, 1832, is the widow of Alonzo Corey, by whom she has four sons and two daughters living, and is a resident of Clay county, Nebraska ; Eliza, born June 2, 1837, is the wife of George Withee. of Dayton, Oregon, and of their eight children six are living; Seymour, of this sketch; Martha, born September 12, 1844, is the widow of Lind- ley L. Preston, her second husband, and she is now an invalid and re- sides in Dayton, Oregon.
Seymour Howe spent the days of his boyhood and youth on his father's farm, attending the district schools of the neighborhood and remaining there until fifteen years of age. In Owatonna, Minnesota, he learned the cabinet-maker's trade, which continued his occupation, in that state and Nebraska, until he was thirty years of age. His first farm in Nemaha county consisted of one hundred acres, and at the time of his death he owned one hundred and eighty acres in his home place, for which he had paid twenty-six hundred dollars, and three miles away he had one hundred and twenty acres for which he had given two thou- sand dollars, so that his entire estate amounted to three hundred acres.
January 26, 1870, in Richardson county, Nebraska, Mr. Howe was united in marriage to Miss Ellen Hagadorn, a native of Michigan
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and a daughter of Jonathan and Amanda (Hogle) Hagadorn, botlı natives of the state of New York. Her father was a millwright by trade. Mr. and Mrs. Hagadorn resided in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio, and from the latter state came to Nebraska in 1863. They were the parents of seven daughters and one son, and by his second marriage the father had three children. His death occurred in Nemaha county, July 27, 1883, at the age of seventy-six years.
The union of Mr. and Mrs. Howe has been blessed with eight children, as follows: Adelia, who was born in Nemaha county September 3, 1872, is the wife of C. L. Russell, and. they have one son and a daughter; Charley, born July 14, 1875, and who is engaged in farming on the old homestead, married Minnie Russell; Eugene, born July 27, 1877, is a teacher in the public schools at Exeter, Nebraska; Eolon Ambrose, born December 18, 1880, is married and is a farmer in Nemaha county ; Emery Church was born August 2, 1883, and is at home; Sey- mour J. died when three months old; and two daughters died in infancy. All of the children received college educations, and Eugene, a graduate of the Peru normal, has been a successful teacher for the past five years.
Mr. Howe was a stalwart supporter of Republican principles, and for two terms served in the office of assessor, while in 1896 he was a candidate for representative of his district in the legislature, but was defeated at the following election. On account of ill health he had of late lived retired from the active duties of a business life, and passed his last days comfortably and quietly at his pleasant home farm on the fertile Nemaha flats, within sight of the town of Nemaha.
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WILLIAM PICKRELL.
William Pickrell is one of the foremost farmers of Johnson county, living three and a half miles from Crab Orchard. He is an old resident, having come here over eighteen years ago, and for that reason and because of his successful conduct of business affairs and his loyal and substantial citizenship, he is held in universal esteem throughout the township and county. He has made farming a life-long pursuit, and has succeeded beyond the ordinary owing to his methodical and enter- prising ways of prosecuting this great industry. His life's work has also been enriched by his gallant service throughout the Civil war, hav- ing belonged to the great armies of the Union for nearly four years. He has been conscientious and upright in all the relations of life, and has made his influence felt wherever his lot has been cast.
Mr. Pickrell was born in Logan county, Ohio, April 1I, 1841, a son of Jacob and Rachel (Marmon) Pickrell, the former a native of Ohio and a son of William Pickrell, who was born in Pennsylvania. Jacob Pickrell and his wife in later life moved to Johnson county, Ne- braska, where they spent their last years, the latter passing away at the age of seventy-four and the former at the age of eighty-two, both loved and respected by all. Jacob Pickrell was a tanner and harnessmaker ; in politics was a Republican and a Whig, and was a Quaker in religious belief. There were eleven children in their family, eight sons and three daughters.
Mr. Pickrell was reared in Indiana, and in August, 1861, when twenty years of age, he enlisted at Crawfordsville, Indiana, in Company I, Eleventh Indiana Infantry, the crack regiment headed by the brilliant author-soldier, General Lew Wallace. This regiment made one of the best records in the war. It participated at Shiloh, was at the siege of Vicksburg and Jackson, was then south to New Orleans; thence was
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sent to Virginia, being at Cedar Creek when Sheridan made his ride; and in many other battles and operations until the war was over. Mr. Pickrell received his honorable discharge on July 26, 1865. In 1866, after his marriage, he settled near Redfield, Dallas county, Iowa, and was engaged in farming there for twelve years. He came to Johnson county in 1886, and has been actively connected with the farming interests of this vicinity ever since. He owns a farm of eighty acres, which is many times more valuable now than when it came into his hands. There is an ample barn, an orchard and grove, and the place is well stocked with cattle, horses and hogs.
Mr. Pickrell was married in June, 1866, to Miss Catherine Michael, a woman of strong character and devoted to family and home, and who has been a chief factor in the success which has come to her husband. She was born and reared and educated in Indiana, a daughter of Corne- lius and Catherine (Coons) Michael, the former a native of Pennsyl- vania and the latter of Tennessee. Both died in Montgomery county, Indiana, at the respective ages of seventy and fifty-eight years. Corne- lius Michael was a soldier in the war of 1812, and in political belief was a Whig and Republican, and a member of the Christian church. His wife was married twice, and by her first marriage had a son, Ben- jamin McKee, who was a soldier in the Eleventh Indiana Infantry. She had only two children by her marriage to Cornelius Michael, and the son, Harvey, was a soldier in the Fortieth Indiana and lost his health during the war. Mr. and Mrs. Pickrell have had six children, but Emma, the second born, died at the age of six years, and Harland, the third child, died aged three years. The others are: Minnie Trout, of Johnson county; Raymond, of Crab Orchard; Leona Reeder, of Johnson county; and Elsie, in school. Mr. Pickrell is a prominent Grand Army man, and has been commander of his post. He and his
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wife are members of the United Brethren church, and he is a trustee. He affiliates with the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He is a man of firm convictions, is broad-minded and progressive and interested in religion, temperance and education.
OLIVER FREEL.
Oliver Freel, an honored veteran of the Civil war and one of the pioneers of Nebraska, now living in Island Grove township, Gage county, is a western man by birth and training, for he was born on the Des Moines river near Keosauqua, Van Buren county, Iowa, December 5, 1841,-the year in which King Edward of England was also born. His father, William S. Freel, was a native of Champaign county, Ohio, and a son of Charles Freel, who was of Irish ancestry and was a soldier of the war of 1812. William S. Freel grew to manhood in the state of his nativity and from there removed to Indiana, where he married Miss Mary Prince, a native of New York state. Some years after his mar- riage he went to Iowa, being one of the first to locate on the Des Moines river in Van Buren county. Subsequently he removed to Mahaska county, the same state, and still later to Warren county, Iowa, taking up his abode near Indianola. He finally came to Nebraska and located near Falls City in Richardson county, where he and his wife both died, the former September 19, 1867, and the latter on the 9th of July, 1860. By occupation he was a blacksmith, and in politics was an ardent Re- publican. In his family were the following children, namely: Austin, who served for twenty-five months as a soldier in the Union army during the Civil war; Thomas; John and Charles, who were also numbered among the boys in blue during that struggle, being both members of the
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Second Nebraska Cavalry; Oliver, of this review. £ It will thus be seen that four of the sons were among the defenders of the Union during the dark days of the rebellion.
Oliver Freel was reared on the frontier of Iowa, that state being still a territory during the first five years of his life, and he is indebted to its early schools for the educational privileges he enjoyed in boy- hood. In 1860 he came with the family to Nebraska and settled in Richardson county. On the 2d of October, 1862, he enlisted in the Second Nebraska Cavalry, which was assigned to duty in the northwest, the Indians being then on the warpath in Dakota. For some time the regiment was stationed at Omaha and later at Sioux City, Iowa. They saw much active service and were in an engagement at White Stone Hill, Dakota, where four hundred Indians were killed and about the same number taken prisoners, this being the result of the massacre at New Ulm, Minnesota. During his service Mr. Freel had his eyes so seri- ously injured that he is now almost blind and is unable to engage in any kind of work. He was at length honorably discharged in November, 1863, and returned home with a war record of which he may be justly proud. He continued to make his home in Richardson county until 1886, when he removed to Gage county, and has since made his home in Island Grove township.
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