USA > Nebraska > A Biographical and genealogical history of southeastern Nebraska, Vol. II > Part 8
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W. F. DOWNEY.
W. F. Downey is capably and efficiently managing the Jefferson county poor farm as its superintendent. He has had charge thereof for eleven years and has conducted the business of the firm in an intelli- gent, practical and energetic manner that has given general satisfaction. Mr. Downey is a native of Illinois, his birth having occurred in Craw- ford. His father, Jolın Downey, Jr., was born in Ohio and was of Scotch- Irish lineage, while the paternal grandfather, Jolin Downey, Sr., was also a native of Ohio, whence he removed to Illinois, where his deatlı occurred. John Downey, Jr., was one of the early settlers of Crawford county, living near the Wabash river. He married Miss Phoebe Watts, who was born in Illinois and represented an old Kentucky family that was established in the Prairie state at an early epoch in its development.
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Mr. Downey carried on agricultural pursuits and thus provided for the needs of his family. He died at the age of fifty-four years, leaving a widow and two sons. Mrs. Downey died in Lincoln, Nebraska, at the age of fifty years.
WV. F. Downey was reared in the state of his nativity, attended the public schools and has added largely to his knowledge through experi- ence and observation. He became a resident of Nebraska in 1871, at which time he made his way westward to Lincoln and soon afterward took up his abode in Gage county. He was married in that county to Miss Mary E. Fuller, a lady of culture and intelligence, whose parents were A. F. W. and Ludencia Fuller. Her father was one of the pioneer residents of Gage county and died in 1892, having for several years survived his wife, who passed away in 1884. Mr. and Mrs Downey began their domestic life in Gage county and after a number of years came to Jefferson county, where they arrived in 1886. Three years later Mr. Downey took charge of the poor farm, which he conducted for ten years. He then resigned on account of the ill health of his wife, but re- sumed the position in March, 1904. He has held the office altogether for eleven years and has given entire satisfaction to the people of the county by the faithful and capable manner in which he has discharged his duties. The poor farm comprises three hundred and twenty acres of good land, and the first house, built in 1892, was twenty-four by twenty- four feet. There is now a large two-story house and basement with an L twenty-eight by thirty-six feet and there are twenty-six room in all. This is well arranged and everything about the place is kept in excellent condition. There are from five to eight inmates most of the time. A barn was built in 1903 sixty-four by eighty-four feet, affording ample room for the shelter of stock and grain. Forty acres of the farm are planted to alfalfa and various kinds of grain are raised. Upon the
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place are from fifty to one hnudred head of hogs and fifty head of cat- tle and ten horses. Mr. Downey has placed everything about the farm in excellent condition, managing all the affairs with the same devoted interest which he would give to the farm if it were his own. On June 29, 1904, he bought a one hundred and sixty-acre farm adjoining the poor farm, where he expects to make his future home.
To Mr. and Mrs. Downey have been born three children : Amy, who is now the wife of S. L. Record, of this county ; Willie, who is a student in the Agricultural College of Nebraska, at Lincoln, and is now nine- teen years of age; and Harold, a lad of nine summers. They also lost three children in early life. Mr. Downey stands as a supporter of the Republican party and is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he has filled all the chairs and has served as a representative to the grand lodge. He has taken a very active part in the work of the order and has done much to promote its interest in southeastern Nebraska. He is likewise connected with the order of Rebekahs and with the Ancient Order of United Workmen and has beon its representative to the grand lodge. Mr. Downey in now a man in middle life, intelligent, enterprising and progressive, standing as a high type of American citizenship and of a progressive agriculturist.
HON. JOHN B. SKINNER.
Hon. John B. Skinner, one of the leading lawyers of Hebron, ex- county judge and ex-member of the state legislature, has been a resident of Thayer county for nearly a third of a century, during which time he has taken rank among the foremost attorneys and legal minds of the county and this part of the state. He began his career humbly enough,
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as a tinner, and his progress to his present high place in his profession and in the esteem of his fellow citizens has been almost entirely the re- sult of self-achievement and honest endeavor. His legal abilities have been called into requisition in many of the important causes of this part of the state, and his private practice has been gratifyingly large. His public career began in early life, and since coming to Thayer county he has more than once been chosen by the people to a place of responsibility and trust, in which his course has always been marked by conscientious fidelity to the highest interests of those he served and to the cause of right and justice.
Judge Skinner was born at Troy, Ohio, November 6, 1840, of Eng- lish descent, and his paternal ancestors came to this country before the Revolutionary war. His grandfather, George Skinner, was a soldier in that struggle for independence, and the musket that he carried is still preserved among the family heirlooms. Azel Skinner, the father of Judge Skinner, was a native of Pennsylvania, but came to Ohio as early as 1811. He followed his trade of saddle and harness maker in Troy for many years, and he also owned and operated a canal-boat on the old Maumee canal. During the Civil war he was a soldier in Company D, One Hundredth Indiana Infantry, having enlisted in September, 1862, but was discharged the following year on account of general disability, and his death occurred January 8, 1864. His wife was Frances J. Blue. a native of Ohio, and her family were among the early and influential settlers of western Ohio. She survived her husband until April 14, 1882. They were the parents of five children.
John B. Skinner, the oldest of the children, moved with the family to Indiana in 1844, and passed his boyhood on a Hoosier state farm. He learned the trade of tinner at an early age, and followed it as a journeyman for about two years, then went into business for him-
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self. continuing for four years. He began the study of law with Judge James H. Carpenter, of Warsaw, and was admitted to the bar and began his professional practice in that place in 1869. He remained there until 1871, and then took up his residence in Thayer county, Nebraska, where he has been in constant practice ever since with the exception of six years. During that period he was engaged in proving up a half section of land which he had taken up near Carleton, and on which he set out an orchard of about two thousand fruit trees and some fifty thousand forest trees, so that he takes rank among the most enterprising arbori- culturists in the state, and has given inception to an industry which is of untold benefit to the vicinity as well as a source of profit to him- self.
Judge Skinner has always been a true-blue Republican, and while residing in Pierceton, Indiana, was appointed postmaster by Abraham Lincoln. Since coming to Thayer county he has served two terms as county judge, and was also elected to the office of county attorney, serv- ing from 1892 to 1896. In 1884 he was elected a member of the state legislature. In the state convention of 1872 he had the pleasure of ren- dering valuable service to his old friend and fellow townsman, ex-Govern- or Furniss, in the latter's contest for governor. Jefferson and Thayer counties held the balance of power, and Judge Skinner was instrumental in swinging their votes toward Mr. Furniss.
Judge Skinner affiliates with the Free and Accepted Masons at Hardy, and the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Modern Woodmen of America at Hebron. He is a member of the Presbyterian church, and a worker in the Sunday-school. He was married in Indiana December 24, 1860, to Miss Sarah Richardson, who was born in Ohio and was a daughter of Thomas Richardson, also a native of the same
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state and a descendant of an old Virginia family that came to Ohio before the war of 1812. Mr. and Mrs. Skinner have one son, Morris W.
HON. WILLIAM L. WHITNEY.
Hon. William L. Whitney, county judge of Thayer county and num- bered among its leading citizens, has been identified professionally and by residence with this county for nearly twenty years. It was an aus- picious day when he was chosen to the county judgeship. His gravity and and poise of character, his judicial mind without tendency to bias or partiality, have rendered his incumbency of this office one of honor to himself and of marked advantage to the county. Judge Whitney has the energy and devotion to his profession which make for close investiga- tion, and furthermore has the talent and legal equipment for judgment by the facts and the law, so that his decisions have gained for him a deserved reputation, and his high honor and integrity of character have never been impugned.
Judge Whitney was born at Groveland, Tazewell county, Illinois, January 19, 1861. His father, Isaac S. Whitney, was a native of Mas- sachusetts and followed farming as an occupation. He came to Illinois about 1840, and in that state married Miss Arabella H. Allen, a native of Ohio and of an old and influential southern family.
Judge Whitney, the eldest of the four children of his parents, passed his boyhood days upon the farm in Illinois, and in 1881, at the age of twenty years, began the study of law. He entered upon this course through his admiration of Judge T. N. Green, of Pekin, Illi- nois, an eminent and able jurist of that section of the state, but never read law with Judge Green. He completed his course at Peoria, but did
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not immediately take up practice, but went into merchandising instead. He had a hardware business at Brimfield, Illinois, but in 1886 this was broken up by fire, and as he had little insurance his loss was quite heavy. In the fall of that year he came to Alexandria, Thayer county, Nebraska, and opened an office for law practice and collections. He enjoyed a good and steadily increasing practice there until 1901, in which year he was the choice of the Republican party for county judge, and was elected for two years, and was re-elected in 1903. He has always been a stanch Re- publican, and, as far as comports with judicial dignity, takes an active interest in party affairs.
Judge Whitney was married at Alexandria, Thayer county, De- cember 25, 1889, to Miss Kate M. Pluss, one of the prominent social leaders of the town and county and esteemed for her womanly graces and cultured refinement. Her father, Captain J. C. Pluss, was a native of Pennsylvania, and at the outbreak of the Civil war, in 1861, enlisted in the Forty-seventh Illinois Infantry, and served throughout the entire struggle, being mustered out with the rank of captain. He married Margaret L. Baird, a native of Ohio and of Scotch stock, her father having been born at Edinburg, Scotland. Captain Pluss brought his family to Thayer county, Nebraska, in 1868, and located a claim of one hundred and sixty acres on the old government trail across the plains, on the Big Sandy river. Mrs. Whitney was the third of the seven daughters of this family. Mr. and Mrs. Whitney have four children : Harold. E., Verneda J., Ernest L. and A. Louise. Fraternally the Judge affiliates with the blue lodge No. 46, F. & A. M., at Hebron, and also is a member and an official in both the chapter and commandery of the order; he belongs to the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Modern Woodmen of America. He and his wife are members of the Order of the Eastern Star.
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HON. ASHBEL P. HAZARD.
Hon. Ashbel P. Hazard, justice of the peace and prominent in the business and political life of his community, has resided in the city of Hebron since 1886, and has been acquainted with Nebraska both as a territory and a state for many years, having been a permanent resident for over forty-four years. He is now approaching the seventieth mile- stone of his life, but his years of usefulness are by no means ended. He has had an active career from an early age, and has experienced many of the phases of life, mingling the sweet with the bitter and fortune with adversity, in various parts of the country and in various capacities. He knows the life of the western plains from actual partici- pation in some of its most arduous undertakings, and from mining and freighting turned his attention to mercantile pursuits, and then to affairs of a public nature, in all relations of his career being noted among his fellows for his integrity and true manhood. Left an orphan at an early age, he was compelled largely to shift for himself, and it can be said to his credit that he has taken advantage of the slender thread of opportunities offered him and drawn himself to a position of influence among his fellow citizens and a substantial place in the business world.
Mr. Hazard was born in Lyndon, Illinois, March 31, 1838, being the fourth of the six children of his parents, Elisha and Pamilia (Par- sons) Hazard, both natives of New York state. Ancestors on both sides of the house were soldiers in the Revolution and the war of 1812, and his father's ancestry went back to some of the earliest English set- tlers of the Atlantic coast. His mother's lineage was French, and the family had left France and gone to Holland in 1540, and thence seventy years later were among the earliest emigrants to America, where mem- bers of successive generations took part in Indian wars and other great events connected with the founding and development of this republic.
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Mr. Hazard was taken to Freeport, Illinois, when a young boy, and for a few years his labors alternated between those of the farm and those of the schoolroom, but the primitive educational surroundings of that day and generation were far from ideal and not conducive to scholarship of high grade. He took a clerkship in a store, and some years later, in company with a half brother, took the western trail to Central City, Colorado, where he engaged in mining for a year. At the end of that time he had more experience for money, and the worst of it was that his experience was not negotiable. For the following five years he acted in the capacity of supply agent in the employ of the Western Stage Company, covering the line from the Missouri river to Salt Lake City. Afterward, for thirteen years, lie was engaged in merchandising in Beat- rice, Nebraska, and during that time also held the office of sheriff of the county. He took up his residence in Hebron in 1886. He served one term as clerk of the district court, and has filled the office of justice of the peace for about five years. He also conducts a land and loan agency.
Mr. Hazard married, September 20, 1871, Miss Sarah I. Caudy, a native of Illinois and a daughter of Harvey Caudy, who settled in Ne- braska in 1869. Mr. and Mrs. Hazard have an adopted daughter, Jessie, who is now the wife of J. S. Schwentker, of Kansas City, Missouri. Judge Hazard has always voted the Republican ticket and been active in the affairs of his party. He affiliates with the Free and Accepted Masons, in which he has passed all the official chairs of his lodge, and he and his wife are members of the Eastern Star degree.
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ANDREW G. COLLINS.
Andrew G. Collins, president of the First National Bank at Hebron, has been a resident of this city for over twenty years, and has from the first been one of its most progressive and enterprising business men and financiers. The First National Bank was established in the early eighties, and, as is the case with every conservatively yet progressively managed bank, has exerted a powerful influence on the financial and business interests of this town and the surrounding country. It has been the medium for most of the transactions requiring money backing, and the fact that it has always kept the confidence of the people in its integrity and soundness is the main ground for its continued prosperity and usefulness. Mr. Collins, besides having given his best efforts to building up this institution, has also been interested in other public matters and enterprises, and has gained a wide and useful influence throughout Hebron and Thayer county.
Andrew G. Collins was born in York county, Pennsylvania, April 24, 1847, and was reared and educated there. He was the eldest of the children of Cornelius and Elizabeth (Gordon) Collins, both natives of Pennsylvania. His father was descended from Scotch ancestors who came to America in the early years of the nineteenth century, and some of whom were soldiers in the war of 1812. His mother was of Irish parentage.
Mr. Collins passed his boyhood days on the farm. He completed his schooling at the age of nineteen, and at once entered upon the career which he has made his life work. He was assistant cashier of a bank for three years, and for the following twelve years filled the position of cashier in the bank at Shrewsbury, Pennsylvania. He came to Ne- braska in 1882, and for the first eighteen months was cashier of the
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People's Bank at Beatrice, Gage county, and thence came to Hebron, where he and his associates purchased the First National Bank and have conducted it ever since. The present officers of the bank are A. G. Col- lins, president, W. B. Liggit, vice president, and W. B. Liggit, cashier, and the directors are A. G. Collins, W. B. Liggit, W. H. Wilson, C. M. Liggit and John Carhart. It has a paid-up capital of seventy-five thousand dollars, and has correspondence with all the principal cities and does a general banking business.
Mr. Collins owns considerable farm property in this state, and is also interested in various enterprises of the vicinity, being a stockholder in the electric light plant of Hebron. He was married in Pennsylvania in 1882 to Miss Rosa Beck, and they have three children : Grace ; Gertrude, who holds a clerical position in the bank; and Cornelius, at college. Mr. Collins is a stanch Republican, and is progressive and public-spirited in all matters pertaining to the general or local welfare.
JAMES A. SNYDER.
James A. Snyder, clerk of the district court and one of the popular officials of Thayer county, is a Nebraskan of nearly thirty years' standing and his record in official position and as an educator is one of the best in southeastern Nebraska. While still a boy he was thrown on his own resources, and his career has been that of a self-made man. He engaged in teaching soon after taking up his residence in this state, and for many years made this the principal occupation of his time and efforts. His long continuance in the work is a mark of his success in the calling, and many of those whom he influenced and whose minds he developed and sought to elevate are now numbered among the worthy
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citizens of the state and other communities, where their lives are in part evidence of the conscientious work of Mr. Snyder. He has also filled other positions in the community, and for some years has been the incumbent of some office in Thayer county, where he is held in high regard and esteem for his work in the past and for his upright and worthy character.
Mr. Snyder was born near Rockwood, Pennsylvania, September 3, 1857. He is of Holland Dutch stock, and members of the family on both sides were in this country previous to the Revolutionary war, and his grandfather, Adam Snyder, was a soldier in the war of 1812. His parents were Solomon and Mary (Ankney) Snyder, and he was the fifth of their nine children. His father was a farmer and also followed the occupation of lumberman.
James A. Snyder was reared to the pursuits of his father, and at the age of seventeen virtually began the battle of life on his own ac- count. He had gained a good education, however, and when he left the old homestead and came to Nebraska in 1875, he began teaching in Richardson county. He followed this vocation in Richardson county for nine years, and then moved to Thayer county, where he was also numbered among the local educators. His record as a teacher covers a period of twenty-two years, and the value of his services in this im- portant calling cannot be overestimated. He was enthusiastic in his work, and always stood for progress and advancement in educational ideals. He took the census in his district during 1890, and has also had twenty-seven months' experience in the railway mail service. He was elected sheriff of Thayer county in 1897, and filled the office for two full terms to the eminent satisfaction of all concerned-except those he went after in his professional capacity. He was elected to his present office of clerk of the district court in the fall of 1903.
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Mr. Snyder gives his allegiance to the Democratic party and its lofty principles as expounded by Jefferson and Jackson. He affiliates with Davenport Lodge, No. 129, I. O. O. F., having passed all the offi- cial chairs, and is also a member of the Knights of Pythias lodge at Carleton. He was married at Carthage, Missouri, December 16, 1897, to Miss Louisa Ucker, a native of Ohio, and they are the center of a large circle of friends in this and adjoining counties.
WILLIAM GALLANT.
William Gallant, one of the long-established and honored citizens of Thayer county, Nebraska, is at present engaged in the real estate and insurance business at Hebron. His career has been most praise- worthy and honorable from every point of view, and he has gained the unequivocal esteem of all his business associates and friends. He has been identified with the growth and prosperity of Thayer county from the early period of its history, and has always taken a public-spirited interest in its upbuilding and progress.
Mr. Gallant was born in Vermilion county, Illinois, on a farm, September 30, 1849, the second of the seven children of John and Mar- garet (Brown) Gallant, the former a native of Ohio and of one of the old and influential families of that state, and the latter a native of Ten- nessee, and her father was a pioneer to that state from Virginia and had taken part in the war of 1812. John Gallant moved from Illinois to Polk county, Iowa, where he resided about four years, and in 1863. came to Thayer county, Nebraska, and took up a homestead claim of one hundred and sixty acres. The county was then almost a wilderness, and the family lived in frontier style for some years. John Gallant was
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engaged in farming in this county for many years, but it at present residing in Illinois.
William Gallant passed his boyhood on the farms in Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska, and was engaged in the work of farming for some years. He later became a stationary engineer, and made that the principal means of his livelihood for many years. In 1903 he located in Heb- ron, and since then has conducted a growing and satisfactory real estate business, and is also representative for several of the old-line insurance companies.
Mr. Gallant has always voted the Republican ticket, but is not active in practical politics, nor is he allied with any fraternal orders. He was married in Thayer county to Miss Nellie R. Bridenbough, a native of Ohio, and they have five children : Margaret E., Florence E., Dorothy, Richard B. and Kathleen.
JAMES HOUCK.
In taking up the personal history of James Houck we notice that there have been many elements and incidents in his life record that are worthy of commendation and of emulation. He was a soldier of the Civil war and at all times has been loyal to the best interests of his lo- cality and of the nation at large. He has resided in Nebraska since 1886, making his home in Eureka precinct, Jefferson county, where he has a well developed farm that indicates his careful supervision and practical business methods.
Mr. Houck was born in Licking county, Ohio, October 31, 1844. He is descended from an old Pennsylvania family. His grandfather, James Houck, was a native of the Keystone state, and with four brothers
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removed to Ohio, establishing the family in that portion of the country more than a century ago. They located in Knox county and there founded a colony which became known as Houck's settlement, its mem- bers all being Pennsylvania Germans. It was in that locality that James Houck, the grandfather of our subject, died at the very advanced age of one hundred years. His son, Jacob Houck, the father, was born in Ohio on the old family homestead and was reared amid the wild scenes of frontier life. After attaining his majority he married Eliza Critton, who was born in Lancaster, Fairfield county, Ohio, and was of Irish lineage, her parents having removed from Maryland to the Buck- eye state at an early day. The family was of the Protestant faith. Jacob and Eliza Houck became the parents of six children : Julia ; Amy ; James ; Gabriel; William, now deceased; and Sarah. The father devoted his life to agricultural pursuits, thus providing for the wants of his family. He gave his political allegiance to the Democracy, and in his religious views was liberal. He died in Licking county, Ohio, at the age of eighty-six years, and his wife passed away in that state at the age of eighty-four years in the faith of the Christian church, of which she had long been a member.
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