USA > Nebraska > Buffalo County > Buffalo County, Nebraska, and its people : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 13
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39
Mr. Parrish was united in marriage to Miss Letitia Megran, a native of Stevens Point, Wisconsin, where she was reared and educated. They have four children as follows: Frank M., who is associated with his father in the operation of his ranch; Leo M., who is engaged in business as an insurance collector of Boise, Idaho; Jay M., a practicing attorney of Boise, Idaho; and Ina M., who is the wife of Frank L. Empey, of Kearney. Mr. and Mrs. Parrish also have five grandchildren.
Politically Mr. Parrish is a republican but was reared in the faith of the democratic party. He has never cared to accept office, as his time has been fully occupied by business affairs. He has not confined his attention solely to his farm- ing, stock raising and merchandising interests, for he has been a stockholder in the cotton mill, also in a military school, in a bank and in other enterprises which have contributed to the welfare and improvement of the community and at the same time have constituted a source of individual success. Fraternally he is connected with the Masonic order, in which he has attained high rank and is now Vol. II- 7
140
HISTORY OF BUFFALO COUNTY
a member of the Mystic Shrine at Omaha. He and his wife hold membership in the Presbyterian church. Wherever he is known he is held in high esteem because of his activity, his thorough reliability and many other sterling traits of character such as command confidence, goodwill and high regard in every land and clime.
BERNIE F. HENLINE.
Bernie F. Henline is the popular and capable young cashier of the Commercial Bank of Gibbon. A native of Illinois, he was born in McLean county on the 3d of June, 1886, of the marriage of Ira F. and Sina I. (Arbuckle) Henline, both of whom were likewise born in the Prairie state. In 1888 they removed to Buffalo county, Nebraska, and located upon a farm, which the father operated for a number of years. The mother has passed away but he is still living and now makes his home in Kearney. They became the parents of four children, all of whom survive.
Bernie F. Henline attended the common schools and prepared for entering the business world by taking a commercial course in the Kearney State Normal. He then entered the employ of the Commercial National Bank at Kearney, where he held the office of assistant cashier, but in 1912 he was made cashier of the Commercial Bank of Gibbon, the policy of which he has since controlled. He understands the many ways in which a bank may contribute to the legitimate business development of a community and has made the Commercial Bank an important factor in the business life of Gibbon and has at the same time safe- guarded the funds of the stockholders and depositors. He is a director in the bank and owns forty-five per cent of the stock of the institution. He also holds title to a good residence property at Kearney.
In 1908 occurred the marriage of Mr. Henline and Miss Nellie Welland; and they have three children, Paul W., Robert J. and an infant unnamed. Mr. Henline supports the republican party and is now serving as a member of the town board. He belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, the Elks, the Highlanders and the Mystic Workers of the World and is popular both within and without those organizations. His wife is a communicant of the Episcopal church. He has depended for his success upon a careful study of banking, close attention to all phases of the business of the institution with which he is connected, enterprise and integrity, and his influence in financial circles has steadily increased as his worth has become more widely known.
HON. JAMES E. MILLER.
As a member of the Nebraska senate Hon. James E. Miller made a record of legislative service resulting in permanent good to the state and, moreover, he is known as a man of rugged honesty and unsullied rectitude, his character worth gaining him the high position which he occupies today in public regard. For a long period he was identified with agricultural interests but is now living retired
141
HISTORY OF BUFFALO COUNTY
in Kearney, having gained in former years the measure of success which now provides him with all of the comforts and some of the luxuries of life.
Mr. Miller was born at Tarentum, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, on the 28th of May, 1837, and is therefore nearing the eightieth milestone on life's journey. He is a son of James Miller, a grandson of Gideon Miller and a great- grandson of Gideon Miller, Sr. The progenitor of the family in America was probably of English birth and at all events it is known that the family has been represented on this side of the Atlantic from a period antedating the Revo- lutionary war. They became residents of western Pennsylvania at an early day, when the Indians were numerous in that section of the country. Gideon Miller, Jr., married Miss Rachel Coe, a daughter of Benjamin Coe, who was an officer of the Revolutionary war and in recognition of his services was given a grant of four hundred acres of land on Bull creek in Allegheny county. James Miller in 1826 aided in laying out the town of Tarentum, where he conducted a store, operated a grist and saw mill and also served as postmaster. There the youngest of his children, James E. Miller, was born, and it is said that his was the first birth in Tarentum. Having arrived at years of maturity, James Miller wedded Nellie McConnell and they had a family of five children, of whom but one is now living.
With his parents James E. Miller removed to Scott county, Iowa, in 1844, when that state was still under territorial rule, and there he grew to manhood. The year after the arrival of the family in that locality both his father and mother died. They were pioneer settlers of the locality, being among the first to establish a home in Scott county.
James E. Miller had but little opportunity to secure an education and there were few pleasures in his youth, for he was left an orphan when but eight years of age and instead of being sheltered by parental care and love during his youthful days he was forced to spend his time among people who cared more for what he could do for them than for what they could do for him. Necessity forced him to work for others until he reached the age of eighteen years, when he started out to earn his livelihood unhampered by the restrictions of those whom he served. For two years he worked for himself and during that period practiced the closest economy as well as industry, thereby earning enough to enable him to pay his tuition at Knox College Academy in Galesburg, Illinois. When he had reached the age of twenty he had saved enough money to buy four yoke of oxen, with which he broke the prairie for two years.
In 1860 Mr. Miller became a victim of the gold fever and with a company from eastern Iowa crossed the Missouri river at Nebraska City, where the com- pany divided. A part of the number took the Platte valley route, passing through Nebraska before Lincoln was founded. 'They proceeded by way of Fort Kearney and saw thousands of buffaloes, in fact such great herds crossed their path that at times they were detained on their journey, having to wait until the animals went on. At length they reached their destination, near Pikes Peak, but in that fall Mr. Miller returned to civilization in time to vote for Abraham Lincoln. It was his intention to go again to the gold fields in the following spring but the unsettled condition of the times prior to the Civil war decided him to the contrary.
On the 25th of November, 1861, his patriotic spirit aroused, Mr. Miller enlisted in Company B, Second Iowa Volunteer Infantry, with which he served
142
HISTORY OF BUFFALO COUNTY
for three years and eight months and was then honorably discharged at Louis- ville, Kentucky, on the 12th of July, 1865. He participated in every battle and campaign of his regiment, including Fort Donelson, Shiloh, the siege of Corinth, luka, the second battle of Corinth and thence proceeded to Chattanooga after the battles of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge. It was at this time that he with his companions reenlisted and they joined Sherman's army in time to par- ticipate in the Atlanta campaign, taking part in the battles of Altoona Pass, Peachtree Creek, Kenesaw Mountain, Jonesboro, and in fact all of the principal engagements up to and including the capture of Atlanta. Mr. Miller was with Sherman on the famous march to the sea, participating in the siege and capture of Savannah. He thence proceeded northward through the Carolinas, taking part in the battle of Bentonville and finally concluding his military career by par- ticipating in the grand review at Washington, where thousands of victorious soldiers marched through the streets of the capital amid cheering thousands who welcomed their return.
After the war Mr. Miller returned to Iowa and engaged in farming in that state until 1873, when he came to Buffalo county, Nebraska, and homesteaded a quarter section in Cedar township. He first built a sod house and in the early days experienced all of the hardships of pioneer times. For thirty-one years he lived upon that place and witnessed the transformation of the county from a great expanse of unbroken prairie to a thickly settled, prosperous district showing all of the improved conditions of modern times. Year by year he carefully tilled the soil and converted his land into productive fields, becoming the owner of one of the fine farm properties of the county. In 1904 he sold his homestead place and removed to Monmouth, Illinois, to be near his daughter, who was attending college there. In 1911, however, he returned to Buffalo county and settled in Kearney, where he has since lived, enjoying a rest which he has truly earned and richly deserves.
On the 16th of March, 1866, Mr. Miller was united in marriage to Miss Ann J. Duncan, a daughter of James and Jane (Wilson) Duncan, who were at that time farming people of Scott county, Iowa. Mrs. Miller was born in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, March 16, 1845, and in April, 1855, went with her parents to Scott county, Iowa, where she remained until after her marriage. Together Mr. and Mrs. Miller have lived in happiness for the golden period of fifty years. Nine children have been born to them: John A .; James C .; Lorena Jane, the wife of John J. Foster ; William Van, who died in infancy ; Frank G .; Fred D .; Louis D., who died in infancy; George C .; and Grace E.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Miller are members of the United Presbyterian church. In politics he was an ardent republican and is now a progressive democrat. In 1898 and again in 1900 he was elected to the state senate by a fusion of the democrat and populist parties and while serving in the upper house of the state legislature he became connected with many important measures which have had to do with the betterment of the state. His efforts therein were of permanent good, for he carefully considered each question which came up for settlement and supported only such measures as his judgment told him were of worth to the commonwealth. He introduced and secured the enactment of a statute providing that in all public schools in the state there should be taught "the elementary principles of agriculture, including a fair knowledge of the habits and structure
143
HISTORY OF BUFFALO COUNTY
of common plants, insects, birds and quadrupeds." Nebraska was the first state to provide for the teaching of agriculture in the public schools. His political integrity, like his rectitude in other relations of life, remained unquestioned. He has ever held to the highest standards of manhood, has never used intoxicants, has never been known to take advantage of his fellowmen in any business trans- action nor sought to lessen the opportunities of a fellow traveler on life's journey. On the contrary he had held to the highest principles and in every possible way has endeavored to assist others.
WILLIAM SCHLATTMANN.
William Schlattmann, who carries on general farming on section 25, Center township, manifests a progressive spirit in all that he undertakes and by well defined effort and capable management he has won a place among the substan- tial farmers of the county, now giving his attention to the operation of five hundred and sixty acres of land. He was born in Germany on the 20th of March, 1871, a son of Henry Schlattmann, who died in Germany. In 1882, when a little lad of eleven years, his son William came to the United States with a neighbor's family and after arriving in the new world took up his abode with an uncle, William Frede, who lived in Yates county, Nebraska. He remained with his uncle for about four years, after which he secured employment as a farm hand in the neighborhood, being thus engaged until 1892. In that year Mr. Schlattmann was united in marriage to Miss Emma Wienke, a native of Yates county, Nebraska. Her father, Henry Wienke, came to this state from Germany in 1871. The year following his marriage Mr. Schlattmann engaged in the cultivation of a rented farm and in 1893 removed to Nuckolls county, Nebraska, where he subsequently purchased land, making his home in that locality for nine years. In 1902 he removed to Thayer county and in 1904 came to Buffalo county, where he purchased his present home place of three hundred and twenty acres situated on section 25, Center township. Later he bought another tract of one hundred and ten acres in Platte township, which he also owns. He is one of the progressive and extensive farmers of Center township, for he rents a tract of two hundred and forty acres near his home place, so that he is now operating altogether five hundred and sixty acres of land. while his son Henry rents and cultivates one hundred and sixty acres, and his daughter Minnie, in cooperation with a lady friend, had one hundred and thirty acres of wheat planted in 1915.
To Mr. and Mrs. Schlattmann have been born twelve children, eleven of whom are still living, as follows: Minnie, Henry W., Fred E., William H., Albert J., Edward, Annie, John, Lulu, Raymond and Arvid, all at home. Mrs. Schlattmann is one of the typical home mothers who lives for her family and their welfare and finds her greatest happiness in promoting the pleasure and comfort of her children. Mr. Schlattmann has given his undivided attention to his farming and stock raising interests and his energy and determination have brought him to his present enviable position in business circles. Effort intelli- gently directed never fails to win its legitimate reward, and Mr. Schlattmann's
144
HISTORY OF BUFFALO COUNTY
life record proves what may be accomplished when there is the will to dare and to do. Politically he is independent, supporting men and measures rather than party. Fraternally he is identified with the Eagles, while his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Lutheran church, to which his wife and children also belong.
HERMAN KAHLE.
That the district surrounding Kearney is a rich agricultural section is evidenced in the fact that the city now contains many retired farmers-men who have care- fully cultivated their fields and gained good returns therefrom. Moreover, the careful husbanding of their resources has led to the attainment of success and they are now numbered among the substantial agriculturists of the community. Such a one is Herman Kahle, who in 1880 arrived in Nebraska and purchased a relinquishment, after which he followed farming until the fall of 1904, when he retired from active life and took up his abode in Kearney.
He was born in Hanover, Germany, December 23, 1848, and when about eighteen years of age came to the United States, landing in New York in Novem- ber, 1867. He at once made his way to Will county, Illinois, where he had a brother living, and there he worked upon a farm at husking corn for his brother for a time. He afterward worked upon a farm in the employ of a cousin for a year and continued to spend his time as a farm hand until he went to Chicago. He secured employment in the suburb of Oak Park and was there at the time of the great fire of 1871. He was employed in various ways, spending some time in the service of an ice company, and while thus engaged was injured. He con- tinued to work for others until 1874, when he was married and rented a farm at Green Garden, Will county, Illinois, where he continued for six years.
In 1880 he came to Nebraska and purchased a relinquishment claim six miles south of Kearney, upon which a squatter had previously settled. Mr. Kahle at once began the further development and improvement of the place and thereon continued to engage in farming until the fall of 1914, when he retired from active business life. He had added an adjoining tract of one hundred and eight acres to his farm and still later purchased one hundred and sixteen acres. He next bought the Dugan farm of one hundred and sixty acres and still later another tract of two hundred acres, so that he now owns altogether about eight hundred acres in Buffalo and Kearney counties. His possessions thus became extensive and include some very valuable farming land, which he has converted into rich and productive fields, making the place one of the valuable farm properties of the county.
On the 29th of January, 1874, Mr. Kahle was married to Miss Louisa Buchmeir, who was born in Will county, Illinois, April 21, 1853, and was there reared, coming to Nebraska with her husband in 1880. Seven children have been born to them: Emma, the wife of August Busch, a resident farmer of Buffalo county ; Anna, the wife of Ed Nuss, a farmer of Kearney county ; John and Frederick, who carry on general agricultural pursuits in Kearney county ;
---
MR. AND MRS. HERMAN KAHLE AND RESIDENCE
147
HISTORY OF BUFFALO COUNTY
Edith, who died at the age of fifteen years; and William and Louis, who follow farming in Kearney county. .
Mr. and Mrs. Kahle are members of the Lutheran church, to the teachings of which they are consistently loyal. In politics Mr. Kahle is a liberal democrat but has never been an office seekeer. His entire life up to the time of his retire- ment was given to farming and stock raising. He worked earnestly, made judi- cious investments, directed his energies along well defined lines of labor, avoided useless expenditure and, in a word, through the careful control of his business interests gained substantial success.
W. B. LUKENBILL.
W. B. Lukenbill, a prosperous stock raiser and farmer of Gibbon township, was born in Warren county, Iowa, on the 3Ist of March, 1864. His parents, Henry and Elizabeth (Davis) Lukenbill, were natives respectively of Indiana and Ohio but were married in Iowa, where both lived until called by death. To them were born ten children, of whom nine are still living.
W. B. Lukenbill grew to manhood in his native state and received his educa- tion in the public schools. Following his marriage he came to Buffalo county, Nebraska, and bought his present home farm, which comprises one hundred and sixty acres on section 34, Gibbon township. He also owns fifty-seven acres on section 27, that township, and has brought all of his land to a high state of culti- vation. Although he raises some grain he gives the greater part of his attention to raising polled Durham cattle and Duroc Jersey hogs, for which he seldom fails to receive a high price as he studies the markets carefully.
Mr. Lukenbill was married in Iowa to Miss Lydia A. Heiny, a daughter of G. W. and Mary Ann (Davis) Heiny, both of whom died in the Hawkeye state. She is one of a family of seven children, of whom six are living, and by her marriage has become the mother of two sons and a daughter, namely: George, Birdie and Benjamin.
Mr. Lukenbill supports the candidates of the republican party at the polls and has served his district acceptably as a member of the school board. He is identified with the Modern Woodmen of America and has many friends both within and without that organization. He and his wife are in comfortable cir- cumstances and have made all that they have by hard work and good manage- ment and are among the most highly esteemed residents of their township.
ALBERT C. KILLIAN.
Public interests of Kearney find a worthy representative in Albert C. Killian, one of the representative merchants of the city and now president of the Kearney Commercial Club. He took up his abode here in November, 1911, and has since been identified with its progress and prosperity. He is a native of Pittsburgh,
148
HISTORY OF BUFFALO COUNTY
Pennsylvania, born August 8, 1867, and when but a year old he was brought to Nebraska by his parents, Thomas and Katharine (Maresh) Killian, who secured a homestead claim in the northwestern part of Saunders county. There he con- tinued to reside until called to his final rest in 1882 and his widow passed away in Wahoo in 1889.
The early boyhood days of Albert C. Killian were passed at work on the farm, and when but eight years of age he was actively engaged in the work of the fields, driving a team of horses in harrowing and in similar work. After leaving the district schools he continued his education in the schools of Wahoo between 1879 and 1883 and attended the Fremont Normal and Business College, from which he was graduated with the class of 1886. For a year and a half he was at Cedar Bluffs, Nebraska, where he was connected with the mercantile establishment of Killian Brothers, and at the end of that period he was trans- ferred to Wahoo, where he remained until November, 1911, since which time he has been a resident of Kearney. He continued at Wahoo for twenty-three years and during the latter part of that period was secretary and treasurer of the firm of Killian Brothers. He gained broad business experience in that connection and was thus well qualified to carry on mercantile pursuits after his removal to Kearney.
On the 2d of January, 1894, Mr. Killian was united in marriage to Miss Nora C. Steen, by whom he has four children, as follows: Margaret L., a teacher of domestic science and chemistry at Wayne, Nebraska; Gertrude S .; Dorothy O .; and John Steen. Mrs. Killian is past president of the Wahoo Chapter, P. E. O., of Wahoo; is present president of Kearney Chapter, P. E. O. of Kearney, and was elected state organizer of the P. E. O. society, one of the largest exclusive ladies' secret organizations in the world, at the last annual con- vention. She is also actively identified with the Eastern Star of the Masonic order.
Mr. Killian belongs to the Elks, the Knights of Pythias and the T. P. A. In politics he is a democrat and while living in Wahoo served two years on the city council and seven and one-half years on the school board. His identification with public interests in Kearney has been of an important character and that he is a man of marked enterprise is indicated in the fact that he has been chosen to the presidency of the Kearney Commercial Club. In this connection he is studying the problems relative to the city's upbuilding along material lines and to its municipal improvement. He utilizes practical methods while working toward high ideals and the results he accomplishes are far-reaching and beneficial.
PATRICK WALSH.
On the 17th of November, 1902, the news spread through Shelton and Buffalo county that Patrick Walsh had passed away. He was one of the county's best known pioneer settlers and had been closely associated with the work of early development, improvement and progress, taking an active part in planting the seeds of civilization which in later years have borne ripe fruit. His death there- fore was the occasion of deep and widespread regret and his history cannot fail
149
HISTORY OF BUFFALO COUNTY
to prove of interest to many of our readers. He was born in County Sligo, Ireland, and when about twenty-one years of age came to the United States, settling in Mississippi near Kosciusko. There he was married on the 26th of January, 1856, to Miss Agnes Welch, who was also a native of County Sligo and was brought to the United States by her parents when about eight years of age. Mr. Walsh afterward joined the army and in 1864 came to Buffalo county as a member of Company D, Fifth United States Volunteer Infantry, which was sta- tioned at Fort Kearney, where he remained until 1865, when he was mustered out. The following year he was joined by his family, who made their way by passenger train as far as Grand Island, at which point their few household effects were loaded on a flat car and thus traveled to Buda, which at that time was the terminus of the Union Pacific Railroad. They slept the first night under the shel- ter of a load of hay. The following day they forded the Platte river with an ox team and the family lived at the fort until the following March, when Sergeant Cody prevailed upon them to remove to his squatter's claim at Wood River Center, now Shelton. Thereon they made their temporary home until Mr. Walsh located his homestead in 1869 on the present site of Shelton covering the northwest quarter of section I, Shelton township.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.