USA > Nebraska > A Biographical and genealogical history of southeastern Nebraska, Vol. II > Part 28
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One day in his young manhood, while he was teaching a school in of his native state, a lady friend visited his school and gave him a puzzle written in rhyme. During the following evening he was able to find a correct solution for the puzzle, but it was a matter of surprise to him that he could express the answer likewise in rhyme. With this clue to a new power, he has, from that time, on various occasions expressed his thoughts in that way. During his struggle with the realities of life, while subject to the disadvantages above mentioned, he was constrained to set forth his thoughts in a poem entitled "My Pocket Book," which thougli written in a vein of humor contains some solid facts. We can- not do better than complete this history of Dr. Fry by appending this poem and also one that shows his sincere convictions concerning the tem- perance movement.
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MY POCKET BOOK.
My pocket book is lank and lean, The change therein cannot be seen. Demands are large and income small, I'll stir myself or I will fall.
For every dollar that comes in Two fellows stand, and, with a grin, Would like to have that dollar paid, And credit to their bill be laid.
So I am in a dreadful strait (As all those hungry fellows wait.) I study hard to know the way, That I my honest debts may pay.
I strike the keys of fortune's bell The best that I can surely tell, And yet the music that I hear Grates with discord on my ear.
Demands are made that are too great, I'm sure to be a little late; In raking up the solid wealth, So needful to the public health.
The hungry six must all be fed, With food; they ask for daily bread; Their backs be clothed, their feet be shod As up the road of life they trod.
And when they're sick, the doctor's fee Must very surely canceled be, And though the six are very sweet That will not all expenses meet.
The assessor asks from year to year, Of all the chattels we have here, And taxes on them all are laid, And in the fall they must be paid. :
The editor would not think well If we his fortune did not tell, By helping buy his ink and oil And add a little for his toil.
The preacher asks no tax at all, (And yet from grace we'd surely fall) If for his wants we did not care, And get a credit away up there.
And thus the pile must not be small -If we should have a pile at all- To divide and subdivide, Betwixt the lot on every side.
So just to make the laugh go round, Of gold we need about a pound, And have some change of silver made So debts both large and small be paid.
Now there's the man that chews the weed And pays for smoke to help his speed, How he can raise the extra fee, Is more than I can fairly see.
And if to that we add the beer That some do drink, their souls to cheer, Where will the extra fee come in, As in the race they try to win?
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THE BARROOM UNION.
Whilst travelling as a book agent in California, I found that every hotel had a bar where men would gamble with a dice box for the drinks and on seeing a man lying dead drunk on a Sunday I was constrained to write "Bar Room Union." It was written before the Crusade com- menced and is, doubtless, a true proph- esy concerning woman's power and influ- ence in the much needed temperance re- form.
Young men and maids I'll speak to you Before I on my way pursue,
For I have got a work to do Against a bar-room union.
There is a certain class of men That I of all the rest condemn, And I would warn my friends of them And of a bar-room union.
The worst of all the rest is he That always at the bar you see. For he to poison does agree, All those that join this union.
'They will invite you to the dice And if you yield, you'll pay the price, And it will seem so very nice To all this drinking union,
This is the game that must be played, The one that's beat must treat the crowd That always does the bar enshrowd That seek this drinking union.
Young girls I will to you this speak, And tell you, if a man you seek,
You must not love a lazy sneak, That loves this drinking union.
Now, I will tell you how to know, The men that to these places go And spend what they might give to you If ere yon join their union.
Their eyes are red and rather sheepish And for a nose they have a raddish And they forever long and wish To be within this union.
Oh! Mothers, try and save your sons, For you are God's own chosen ones, To save a race from whiskey chains And from a whiskey union.
Oh! sisters, lend a helping hand To save your brothers from this band By making home a brighter land Than the cursed bar-room union.
Young men, I lastly say to you, If you expect a woman true, And one that has her senses too, You must forsake this union.
Young men and maids, I'll speak to you, Before I on my way pursue, For I must bid you all adieu. And say forsake this union.
LATER.
The worst of all the rest is he That always at the polls you see To cast his vote that there may be A legal bar-room union.
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STEPHEN R. EASLEY.
Stephen R. Easley, who is residing in Alexandria precinct, Thayer county, Nebraska, arrived here on the 19th of March, 1870, and secured a claim under the homestead laws. He has since been identified with agricultural interests, and his carefully directed efforts have resulted in bringing to him very desirable and creditable success. He was born on the 4th of November, 1838, in Sullivan county, Tennessee. He spent his boyhood days upon the old homestead farm in Tennessee and in Iowa, removing to the latter state in 1848. He lived first in Henry county and afterward in Marion county. In 1861 he responded to the country's call for aid and joined Company G, of the Tenth Iowa Volun- teer Infantry, enlisting on the 10th of August, 1861, at Indianola, War- ren county, Iowa. The regiment was commanded by Colonel Pursell. The troops went into camp at Iowa City and later were sent south to Benton Barracks, St. Louis, and on to Cape Girardeau. Mr. Easley participated in the engagement there, also in the battles of Bird's Point, New Madrid, Island No. 10, Fort Pillow and afterward went to Shiloh, but was too late to participate in the battle there. The Tenth Iowa was also at Farmington and in the siege of Corinth and under Grant participated in the siege of Vicksburg. Mr. Easley likewise encountered the enemy in battle at Port Gibson, Ray- mond, Jackson and Champion Hills, where the company lost fifty-three men in killed and wounded, including all of the officers. He was like- wise in the battle of Black River Bridge, of Chattanooga and Missionary Ridge, and went to Knoxville, Tennessee, to relieve General Burnside. Later the regiment returned to Chattanooga and participated in the Atlanta campaign, and in the skirmishes against the troops under General Forrest at Parker's Crossroads. Mr. Easley was in the battles of Decatur and Huntsville, Alabama, and on the 21st of January, 1864, he re-enlisted
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and was granted a veteran's furlough. He then returned home and when the time of his furlough had expired rejoined his regiment. He saw, however, much active service in Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama. He went with General Sherman. on the march through Georgia to the sea, and was also in the Carolina campaign and proceeded to Raleigh, North Carolina, where General Joe Johnston surrendered. He was also in the battles of Bentonville and at Richmond, and when hostilities had ceased his regiment went north with the army and participated in the grand re- view in Washington. Mr. Easley was honorably discharged as corporal on the 15th of August, 1865.
When the war was over Mr. Easley returned to Marion county, Iowa, and was married in 1868 in Knoxville, Iowa, to Miss Mary E. Mc- Elroy, who was born in Holmes county, Ohio, near Millersburg. In 1870 they came to Thayer county and secured a homestead claim of one hundred and sixty acres. Their first home was a sod house ten by twenty feet with a board roof. Grasshoppers entirely destroyed their crops in 1874, and at other times the climate proved detrimental, hot winds and blizzards destroying what they had planted and rendering their efforts of little avail. They saw hard times, but they worked earnestly and persistently and at length they gained the sure reward of labor. Mr. Easley is now the owner of an excellent farm of two hundred acres. The pleasant home is well furnished and there is a good grove and orchard upon the place, the trees having been planted by him. A substantial barn and windmill, the latest improved machinery and many other modern facilities and equipments indicate the progres- sive and practical spirit of the owner.
The home of Mr. and Mrs. Easley has been blessed with two sons: John R. and William M. Easley.
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CONOWAY LEEDOM.
Conoway Leedom, editor and proprietor of the Hebron Register, is one of the most prominent newspaper men of southeastern Nebraska. Since his entrance into independent life he has followed the several occupations of farming, teaching and journalism in its various depart- ments, and he is well fitted both by training and disposition for the successful conduct of a paper so influential to the interests of all classes as the Register. He has likewise spent the greater part of his life- over a quarter of a century-within the confines of this state, and is thoroughly imbued with the Nebraska spirit of enterprise and cognizant of its most important history and traditions, political and otherwise, which are in themselves valuable assets to one who would succeed in the responsible quasi-public position of editor and newspaper propri- etor. The Hebron Register has for a number of years been accounted among the progressive journals of the state, and has enjoyed a con- tinuous existence of over twenty years. It was established in 1883 as a state-line journal, and was conducted by Clute and Vinton for about a year at Hubbel. It was then removed to Hebron and pub- lished by Scott and Clute for a time, until it passed into the hands of Mr. Leedom. The Register is a large, eight page journal, publish- ing full Associate Press news in addition to local items of city and county. Mr. Leedom has the power of writing vigorous English, argu- mentative and to the point when matters of importance are involved, and, being a man of strong convictions, his editorials have been a power for reform and progress in the county.
Mr. Leedom was born at Bentonville, Ohio, in 1850. His grand- father, Aaron Leedom, was a soldier in the cavalry branch of the United States army in the war with Mexico, serving under General Scott. David C. Leedom, the father of our editor, was also a native
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of Ohio, and of old Virginia stock. He brought his family and located at Pontiac, Illinois, in 1867, and about ten years later moved to Thayer county, Nebraska, where he engaged in farming during the rest of his life, which was brought to a peaceful close on June 5, 1891. His wife's maiden name was Elizabeth Johnston, a native of Ohio and a descendant of the Pennsylvania Dutch. Her death occurred in 1886.
Conoway Leedom was the eldest of the six children of his parents. He was reared and educated in Ohio and Illinois, and in 1876 came to Nebraska, where he engaged in farming and taught school for about nine years, and then began his connection with the Register, which has continued so successfully ever since. He is allied with the progressive wing of the Democratic party. He served the county as deputy county clerk for two years, and was then elected to the office of county clerk in 1891.
He was married at Des Moines, Iowa, October 1, 1891, to Miss Elizabeth Kleppinger, a native of Pennsylvania and of the thrifty Dutch stock of that state. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church, and stand high in the social circles of the city. He affiliates with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Hebron, and has passed all the official chairs and represented the local lodge at the grand lodge. He is also of the uniform rank of the Knights of Pythias, and was for four years representative to the state grand lodge. He is also a mem- ber of the local Castle, Royal Highlanders.
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WALTER H. WILSON.
Walter H. Wilson, city councilman of Hebron and one of the influential and prominent residents of the city and Thayer county, has made his career of a little more than a half century one of usefulness and steady and persistent effort toward a higher goal. He has lived within the confines of this county for over a quarter of a century, and has made farming and stock-raising the industry to which he has devoted his best efforts. He has been remarkably successful as his present estate and operations would indicate, and in this occupation or in the practical duties and responsibilities of citizenship and his own home he has gained the esteem and high regard of all for his industry, integrity and personal worth and character.
To all intents and purposes Mr. Wilson is a bred-in-the-bone American citizen, but the place of his birth was across the sea in the old shire of Lanark, Scotland, and his birthday the national holiday of his future home, the 4th of July, 1853. His parents, Robert and Jane (Harkness) Wilson, both natives of Lanarkshire, in the same year and a few months after the birth of their son, left Scotland and emigrated to Canada, where they remained ten years, and then took up their residence in northern Michigan, where they lived for fifteen years. In 1878 they came and made settlement in Thayer county, Nebraska, where they passed the remainder of their useful and upright lives.
Mr. Wilson, who was the fourth of their six children, spent his young manhood days on a farm, and had the advantages of such schools as were in the neighborhood. He has been a practical farmer ever since coming to Nebraska, and his present holdings consist of three hundred and twenty acres of good land four miles north of Hebron. Fifty acres of this land still remains untouched by the plow and just
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as it was when the Indians and buffaloes roamed across it, but the rest of the farm is highly cultivated and devoted to general farming. About 1900 Mr. Wilson gave up actual participation in the conduct of his farm, and moved into Hebron, making his residence on a promin- ent street in Eads addition. He still directs his farming interests, and is regarded as one of the most successful and progressive of the farming element of Thayer county.
Mr. Wilson was married November 6, 1891, to Miss Sarah Keever, who was born in Indiana. She is a most estimable lady, popular in social circles and kind and helpful as a mother and wife. Her parents, John and Elizabeth R. (May) Keever, were born in Pennsylvania, being descendants of old and influential families of that state, and moved west and located near Monticello, Indiana, as early as 1850. They are both dead. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson have one son, Robert K. Mr. Wilson is a stanch and steadfast Republican, and is now serving his second term as a member of the city council. He affiliates with Hebron Lodge No. 43, A. F. & A. M., and he and his wife are members of Hebron District Court of Honor, No. 748. They are active workers in the Presbyterian church, and she is a member of the missionary society.
JOHN MILLER.
John Miller, of Lincoln precinct, Saline county, has the well de- served reputation of being one of the most progressive and enterpris- ing farmers of southeastern Nebraska. He is proprietor of the Maple Grove stock farm, an estate which is both a thing of beauty and of profit, and is a credit to the entire county. This fine enterprise is in itself an excellent memorial to the life work of any man, but Mr. Miller
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has also made his influence felt in various other ways during his career in this part of the state. He is a worthy and public-spirited citizen and an old soldier of the rebellion, has lent his aid to many affairs of material good to the community, has a family of which he may well be proud, and is withal an upright, sincere and esteemed man, working daily with an honest will and purpose and striving to do what is right.
Mr. Miller was born in Lee county, Illinois, on March 4, 1845, on the same day that James K. Polk was inaugurated president of the United States. His father, John J. Miller, was born in Germany in 1806, was reared and educated there, and came to the United States when a young man, and in Pennsylvania was married to Mary Weaver, who was born in Germany in 1811, and who died near Dixon, Illinois, in 1890, having been the mother of seven children, four sons and three daughters, the son Frank being also at the present writing a resident of Saline county, Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. John J. Miller were among the earliest settlers of Lee county, Illinois, where he bought govern- ment land at a dollar and a quarter an acre. He was a very successful farmer, and he lived to be more than threescore and ten years of age, passing away in 1879. He and his wife were members of the Catholic church, and he was a Democrat in politics.
Mr. John Miller was reared to manhood on the old Illinois farm, and among the lessons he learned on the home place and in the dis- trict schools of the neighborhood none were more valuable than the discipline in hard work and honorable labor which became his share. In May, 1864, when he was nineteen years old, he enlisted at Dixon, Illinois, in Company D of the One Hundred and Fortieth Illinois In- fantry, under Captain Frank Smith and Colonel Whitney. The com- pany was encamped at Springfield, Illinois, was sent south to Memphis, about which city it served on special and detached duty for six months,
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was then sent to St. Louis and Sulphur Springs, thence to Camp Doug- las in Chicago, where Mr. Miller received his honorable discharge in November, 1864. In 1874 Mr. Miller came out to Saline county, Nebraska, and has resided here ever since, for a period of thirty years. He paid three thousand dollars for his first place, but its value is prin- cipally due to his subsequent labor and effective management. The Maple Grove farm now comprises three hundred acres of as finely cul- tivated land as is to be found in the county. He also owns two hun- dred and forty acres on Turkey creek, and this place is under the man- agement of his eldest son. On the Maple Grove place is a beautiful coun- try residence, erected in 1893 at a cost of twenty-five hundred dollars, and it is built and furnished in a modern, attractive and comfortable style, and is such a place as friends delight to honor with their fre- quent presence. There is a bluegrass lawn about the residence which in summer gives the appearance of coolness and comfort, and a grove of two acres of cedars and firs besides large numbers of fruit trees afford a picturesque setting to the whole estate. Wherever one looks he finds some convenience in the way of machinery or other accessory which adds to the ease and profit of the twentieth century agriculturist. Of cattle there are some of the finest grade shorthorns; the favorite hogs of the owner seem to be the Poland China, and for driving and work purposes there are excellent horses. All in all, no stock farm in Saline county could be considered more of a model than this one of Mr. John Miller, to whose enterprise and thrift such an establishment is due.
In the success that has come to him through a lifetime of endeavor Mr. Miller never fails to include his noble wife as a sharer and helper, and for over twenty-five years now they have wrought side by side in the affairs of the world. He was married at Lincoln, Nebraska, in
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1877, to Miss Sarah Buckingham, who was born in Rock Island county, Illinois, and before her marriage had been a successful school teacher in Saline county. Her parents were John and Rebecca (Dillene) Buck- ingham, both natives of Ohio, and who were early settlers of Nebraska, having come to Saline county in 1871. Her father died in Saline county at the age of sixty-two and her mother at the age of forty-five. Her father was a Republican in politics, and in religious faith was a United Brethren. Mrs. Miller is one of five children, three sons and . two daughters, all of whom are living at the present writing. Three sons make up the family circle at the Miller home. The eldest is John Irvine, who is on the Turkey creek farm mentioned above; the other two sons are Roy B. and Harold H., both at home. Mr. Miller is a strong Republican in politics, and is a member of the Grand Army post at Friend.
OSWIN S. HUTCHINSON.
This well known and popular citizen of Sherman township, Gage county, first came to Nebraska about twenty-four years ago and has since taken a deep interest in the prosperity of his adopted state. He is a native of Indiana, born in Logansport, in 1869, and is a son of Oswin Hutchinson, a prominent railroad man, who made his home in Wymore for some years. The father was born in Rochester, New York, and in early life married Miss Frances Wayward, a native of Scotland. She died at the age of thirty-three years, leaving three children, namely : Elva May, Doras and Oswin S.
During his boyhood and youth the subject of this sketch accompa- nied his father on his various removals, and his early education was principally obtained in the schools of Red Oak, Iowa, and Wymore,
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Nebraska. For some years he was engaged in railroading in this state, in Colorado and New Mexico, but finally abandoned that vocation on account of his eyes and turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, being now engaged in farming in Sherman township, Gage county.
Mr. Hutchinson married Miss Mary C. Wilkinson. Her father, George C. Wilkinson, was born in England, and in early life learned the butcher's trade in his native land, and on coming to the United States located in Rochester, New York, where he followed that pur- suit for a time. Later he worked at his trade in New Orleans, Louisi- ana, and from there went to Whiteside county, Illinois. The Civil war being then in progress, he joined Company F, Ninety-third Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was in a number of battles. Mr. Wilkinson married Miss Rebecca Jane Burton, and they had two children : Mary C., now the wife of Oswin S. Hutchinson; and Thomas E, who lives on the old home farm in Sherman township, Gage county, Nebraska. Mr. Wilkinson is now an honored member of Blue Springs Post No. 37, G. A. R., and is held in high regard by all who know him. His estimable wife died in 1893.
Mr. Hutchinson is the owner of a fine farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Sherman township, which he has placed under a high state of cultivation and improved in a commendable manner. He has a very pleasant home, well and tastefully furnished, his barns and out- buildings are good and substantial and everything about the farm indi- cates the progressive spirit and good business ability of the owner, who is regarded as one of the leading citizens of this community.
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JUDSON PERCIVAL.
Judson Percival, a prominent resident of Clay township, Pawnee county, Nebraska, was born in Oswego county, New York, February II, 1844. He is a son of Stephen D. Percival, who was born in Ver- mont, and a grandson of Stephen, who was a connection of General Percival. Roxana (Blanchard) Percival, the wife of Stephen D., was born in Vermont. The marriage occurred in Oswego county, New York, and in 1847 the family went to Kendall county, Illinois. The father died in 1872, and the mother died in 1867. The following children were born to the parents, namely: Alonzo; Edgar, of the One Hundred and Twenty-seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry, deceased ; Judson ; Stephen, of Company B, Eighth Illinois Cavalry, now residing in Washington county, Kansas; Eleanor, deceased; Eleanor (2) ; De Witt ; Philo, of Nemaha county, Kansas; Mary, deceased; Mary Tryon; Belle Brewer, of Nemaha county; Charles and August A., twins; Wool- bert and Myrtle M., deceased.
Mr. Judson Percival was reared upon a farm in Illinois, and en- listed at St. Charles, Kane county, Illinois, in August, 1862, in Com- pany B, Eighth Illinois Cavalry, Colonel John Farnsworth command- ing. The regiment was at Gettysburg, and participated in numerous battles following. He was captured at Muddy Branch, Maryland, but made his escape, and rejoined his regiment on December 17, 1864. The following July, 1865, he was honorably mustered out at Camp Douglas. He was wounded at Monocacy July 9, 1864, and was sent to Baltimore for six weeks to recuperate.
In 1865 Mr. Percival went to Cedar county, Iowa, and there in May, 1872, he married Amanda Schnepp, a native of Lafayette, Indiana. She is a daughter of John and Deliah (Leslie) Schnepp. John Schnepp had been educated for the priesthood, and spoke seven languages. He
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and his wife located in Cedar county, Iowa, in 1847. They had thir- teen children.
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