USA > Nebraska > Buffalo County > Buffalo County, Nebraska, and its people : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 25
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FRANK D. BROWN.
The prosperity which the First Bank of Miller is enjoying is in large measure due to the business acumen and sound judgment of Frank D. Brown, who has been its cashier since its organization. He was born in the state of New York on the 9th of September, 1862, a son of A. C. and Sarah (Rogers) Brown, both likewise natives of the Empire state and both now deceased. He received his education in the public schools of his native state but when twenty-one years of age determined to try his fortune in the middle west and removed to St. Paul, Nebraska. He engaged in the stock business there until 1887, when in company with J. E. Dickerman, he organized The First Bank of Armada, which later became the First Bank of Miller and of which he has since been cashier. He is thoroughly familiar with the routine of banking practice and also understands the basic financial principles which underlie the banking business. He also keeps in close touch with local conditions and with the general trend of business throughout the country and is thus able to so direct the affairs of the bank that the interests of depositors are carefully safeguarded and at the same time dividends are returned to the stockholders.
Mr. Brown was married in January, 1888, at St. Paul, Nebraska, to Miss Nela A. Norton, likewise a native of New York, and they have two sons:
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F. Ross, who is assistant cashier of the bank; and Claire Norton, who is at home.
Mr. Brown gives his political allegiance to the republican party as he believes that its policies are based upon sound principles of government. His fraternal affiliations connect him with the Masonic blue lodge and chapter, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Knights of Pythias, and in his life he exemplifies the spirit of brotherhood which is at the foundation of those orders. He has been engaged in banking in Miller for twenty-eight years and is well informed in regard to the history of the town. He furnished the data in regard to Miller for this history of Buffalo county. He has been an important factor in the business and financial life of Miller and has also done his part in promot- ing the civic advancement of the town.
E. ARTHUR MESERVEY, D. D. S.
Dentistry is unique among the professions in that it demands efficiency and capability of a threefold nature. The successful dentist must of necessity have marked mechanical ingenuity, must add thereto broad scientific knowledge and, moreover, must have the usual business ability without which the financial interests of the profession would come to disaster. Well equipped in all of these particulars, Dr. Meservey has gained a place among the leading dentists of Buffalo county. He was born upon'a farm near Fontanelle, Nebraska, April I, 1870, and represents old families of Maine, his parents being Henry E. and Ruth (Philbrick) Meservey, who were natives of the Pine Tree state. The father was there reared and following his marriage he removed westward with his family about the time of the close of the Civil war. Nebraska was his des- tination and he took up his abode upon a tract of land near Fontanelle which he entered from the government. Not a furrow had been turned nor an improvement made upon that place but he at once began its development and lived there for some time after securing title to the land. Later, however, he removed to Blair, where he opened a drug store. It was subsequent to that time that his first wife died and later he married again and continued his residence in Blair until he, too, was called to the home beyond.
Dr. E. A. Meservey completed his literary training in the Blair high school, succeeding which he was for four years employed as a clerk in a grocery store. He then took up the study of dentistry at Council Bluffs, Iowa, in connection with Dr. H. S. West, with whom he continued as an apprentice for a year and a half. In 1895 he became one of the first students in the Omaha Dental College and after studying there for two years matriculated in the dental department of the Northwestern University at Chicago, from which he was graduated with the class of 1898. Immediately afterward he came to Kearney and embarked upon the practice of his profession, in which he has since continued. In 1908 he did post-graduate work in the Northwestern University and at all times he has kept in touch with the onward march of the profession. He utilizes the most advanced methods known to dentistry and his office is splendidly equipped with modern dental appliances. He is a member of the Nebraska State Dental Society .
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and his prominence in the profession is indicated in the fact that in 1909 he was elected to the presidency of the state organization. He is also a member of the District Dental Society, of which he has served both as vice president and secre- tary. In 1913 he received the appointment of member of the state dental board, in which capacity he is now serving.
On the 17th of October, 1901, Dr. Meservey was married to Miss Ida Patience Waite, of Greenfield, Massachusetts, and they have become the parents of three children, Douglas Wyman, Doris Agnes and Bruce Waite. Dr. Meser- vey is a republican in his political views, fraternally he is connected with the Masons and the Elks and in religious faith is an Episcopalian. His life has ever been guided by high purposes and in his chosen calling he manifests a close con- formity to the most advanced ethical standards of the profession.
SAMUEL CLAY BASSETT.
GENEALOGICAL OR ANCESTRAL RECORD OF BASSETT FAMILY.
I. John Bassett with his wife Margery came from England and located in New Haven, Connecticut, in the year 1642-3. He was sometimes called "Old Bassett" in the records. He with his son, Robert, was a committee to repair the fence and gate towards the farms, August 18, 1645. "Old Bassett" and Henry Peck were appointed by the town to set the great guns. John Bassett and his son, Robert, were appointed a committee to repair the meeting house. John died in New Haven, Connecticut, February 15, 1652. Margery died in Stamford, Connecticut, 1654.
2. Robert, son of John and Margery Bassett, born in England, married Mary -, probably in England. He was known as "Robert the Drummer."
3. Robert, son of Robert and Mary Bassett, was born in 1640. In 1687 he married Elizabeth, daughter of Ensign Samuel and Sarah (Baldwin) Riggs. He located at Stratford, Connecticut, where he built a house in 1683.
4. Samuel, son of Robert and Elizabeth (Riggs) Bassett, was born Novem- ber 28, 1692. In 1719 he married Deborah, daughter of Thomas and Mary (Clark) Bennett. Samuel was commissioned ensign in 1722, lieutenant in 1732 and captain in 1735. He was justice of the peace from 1739 to 1791. He repre- sented the town of Derby in the general court from 1733 to 1764. He built a house in Derby, Connecticut, which was standing in the year 1902.
5. Joseph, son of Captain Samuel and Deborah (Bennett) Bassett, was born August 31, 1722. He married Sarah Hawkins, November 16, 1748.
6. Samuel, son of Joseph and Sarah (Hawkins) Bassett, was born June 25, 1751, and married Sally Atwell in 1791. Samuel located in Dutchess county, New York, about the year 1791. He leased a Van Rensselaer grant of land, the life of the lease expiring on the death of the last of the three persons named in the lease. This land he cleared of timber and improved until about the year 1820, when, the lease expiring, Samuel was overbid and the land was leased to a higher bidder. Samuel, disheartened and discouraged, moved with his wife and the younger children of the family to Delaware county, New York, and in
Very link yours SC Bassett
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MRS. SAMUEL C. BASSETT
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the town of Walton he took timbered land and started again to make a home for his family. He lived but a few years, leaving his children to clear and improve the farm1.
7. Clark, son of Samuel and Sally (Atwell) Bassett, was born in Dutchess county, New York, February 9, 1810. He came with his parents to Delaware county, New York, in 1820, and when fourteen years of age, his father having died, he was "bound out" for a term of seven years to learn the wagon maker's trade at Derby, Connecticut. When of age, with a suit of clothes and one hun- dred dollars in money, he returned to the family home and for thirteen years labored on the home farm, caring for his mother and younger and unmarried sisters. Clark, in the year 1843, married Mary M. Hanford, daughter of Stephen and Mary Hanford, and moved, in a covered wagon, to Virginia, where, in the town of Bedford, and later in the village of Big Lick, in Roanoke county, he engaged in the mercantile business and, there being no public schools, his wife, Mary, taught a private school. Being in political belief an anti-slavery whig and a reader of the New York Tribune, he realized that the slave holding state of Virginia was not a desirable place to raise a family and in the year 1851 moved to Steuben county, New York, where he purchased an improved farm on which he resided during the remainder of his life, the farm still, in the year 1915, being in possession of the youngest son of his family. Clark Bassett died in 1883; his wife Mary in 1897. In their family were seven children, Samuel C., Benjamin C., James W., Mary C., Matilda E., George S. and Emma N., all of whom lived to maturity and of whom five were still living in the year 1915.
Samuel Clay Bassett, the subject of this sketch, was born in a log cabin, in the town of Walton, Delaware county, New York, July 14, 1844. He attended a rural school and in 1861 graduated from Corning Academy at Corning, New York. In the year 1864 he enlisted in Company E, One Hundred and Forty- second New York Infantry, serving until the close of the war and being honorably discharged. In the year 1867 he married Lucia M. Baker, only daughter of Enos S. and Elizabeth P. Baker, who was born in Grant county, Wisconsin, September 17, 1845. In the year 1871, with his wife and two children, he came to Nebraska, taking a soldier's homestead claim, one hundred and sixty acres, in Buffalo county, on which the family have since continuously resided, the name given this home being Echo Farm.
He was a member of the soldiers' free homestead colony, which made settle- ment in Buffalo county, Nebraska, April 7, 1871. He taught five terms of school, the first being the first term of winter school taught in the county, and served twenty years as a member of the school board in district No. 8. He was secre- tary of the first Buffalo County Agricultural Society, 1875, was a charter mem- ber and the first president of the Nebraska Dairymen's Association, 1885, of which he served for twenty-five years as secretary, was a member of the Nebraska State Board of Agriculture for fourteen years and served for two terms as presi- dent of the board, 1899-1900, and was a charter member of the Nebraska Farm- ers' Congress, 1910, and of the Nebraska Pure Grain and Seed Growers' Asso- ciation, 1912. He was secretary of the first Buffalo county republican conven- tion in 1871, and served as a member of the state legislature in 1885 and again in 19II. He was a charter member of G. K. Warren Post, No. 113, G. A. R., 1882, of Gibbon Lodge, No. 35, A. O. U. W., 1884, of Gibbon Camp, No. 708, Vol. II-13
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M. W. A., 1885, was vice president of the Nebraska State Historical Society, 1909-15, a charter member and president of the Gibbon Library Association, 1910-12, and a charter member and first president of the Nebraska Hall of Agricultural Achievement, 1916.
Lucia (Baker) Bassett was a granddaughter of Rev. Alfred Bronson, a pioneer Methodist missionary minister who made settlement at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, in 1836. She was graduated from Cooperstown Seminary, Coopers- town, New York, with the class of 1865. A descendant of pioneers for many generations, she was imbued with the true pioneer spirit, enduring without com- plaint the toil and privations incident to pioneer life, taking pride and pleasure in helping to develop the resources of Buffalo county and the state of Nebraska, in preparing the way for the homes of generations of happy, prosperous people. She took an active part and interest in the social and educational life of the community. She was a charter member and served as chief of honor of Mary Tate Lodge, D. of H., 1893, was a charter member and served as president of G. K. Warren Woman's Relief Corps, No. 189, 1889, was a charter member and served as president of the Woman's Study League of Gibbon, 1904, and was a charter member of Wild Rose Camp, Royal Neighbors, M. W. A., 1893. Her death occurred February 9, 1907. She rests from her labors after a life of usefulness, filled with kind deeds to others, in Riverside cemetery, Gibbon, Nebraska. To Samuel C. and Lucia M. Bassett were born seven children, all of whom in the year 1915 were living, namely: Mary E., who married Edward M. Prouty ; Clark S .; Samuel B .; Alfred B .; Martha L., who married George L. Prouty ; June; and Laura Lee.
CHARLES L. ZIMPFER.
Charles L. Zimpfer has the distinction of being the youngest merchant in Ravenna and although he is now only twenty-two years of age has been engaged in business on his own account for five years. He was born in Ravenna on the 9th of January, 1894, of the marriage of Louis and Louisa (Krautler) Zimpfer, both natives of Germany. They came to America in early life and first located in Fort Worth, Texas, where the father followed the baker's trade, which he had learned in Germany. After living in the Lone Star state for about twelve years they removed to Ravenna, Nebraska, and he conducted a bakery here until his death on the 22d of July, 1904. The mother continued the business for a year and then sold out. She is still living and makes her home at Ravenna, having an interest in the grocery store which is managed by our subject. There are three children in the family, namely: Helen, who was born on the 28th of October, 1892, and is associated with her brother in the conduct of the grocery business ; Charles L .; and Dorothy, whose birth occurred on the 12th of March, 1899.
Charles L. Zimpfer attended school in Ravenna and completed the junior year in the high school. As he was the only son he felt it incumbent upon him to engage in business as soon as possible and thus provide for the support of the family. He then opened a grocery store with the assistance of his sister Helen.
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He at once proved that he possessed a knowledge of business conditions and a soundness of judgment unusual for one of his years and the business prospered from the beginning. Although the other members of the family are interested financially in the store its management has always devolved upon him and the success which he has gained is highly creditable. He gives the closest attention to every detail of the business and his enterprise and industry leave no doubt as to his future.
Mr. Zimpfer is a member of the Masonic order and the Knights of Pythias. He is one of the important factors in the business life of Ravenna and as the years have passed his trade has constantly grown, his liberal policy and the high quality of his goods having commended him to the support of the representative people of the town. With such a record it is needless to say that he is highly esteemed by all who know him.
ALBERT A. GEHRKE, D. O.
Dr. Albert A. Gehrke, of Ravenna, has gained a large practice as an osteo- path and has also been connected with business interests, having conducted the Pastime Moving Picture Theater for some time, although that enterprise is now rented and managed by his son-in-law. He was born in Fond du Lac, Wis- consin, on the 28th of February, 1861. His parents, August and Wilhelmina (Buss) Gehrke, were both born in Berlin, Germany, but in 1857 came to America and became pioneer settlers of Forest county, Wisconsin. The father purchased sixty acres of timber land, all of which he cleared in the course of time. In 1874 he removed to Buffalo county, Nebraska, and homesteaded a quarter sec- tion of land five miles east of Ravenna. He also took up a timber claim of one hundred and sixty acres and devoted the remainder of his life to the improve- ment of his land. He passed away in 1876 but was survived by his wife until 1892. He served during the Civil war for six months as a member of a Wis- consin regiment and was at all times loyal to his adopted country.
Dr. Albert A. Gehrke received the greater part of his education in Wiscon- sin, as he was thirteen years of age when the family home was established in this county. At that time this district was but sparsely settled and deer, antelope, gray foxes and other game abounded and along the Loup river beaver and similar fur bearing animals were plentiful. He shot deer on the present townsite of Ravenna and during the winters spent a great deal of time hunting and trapping. His father died when he was but fifteen years of age and the operation of the home farm devolved upon him and his brothers. As soon as they became of age they took up claims in the vicinity of the family homestead and thus acquired land which has since become valuable. Dr. Gehrke purchased a relinquishment to a homestead on the Loup river about four miles east of Ravenna and lived there for about twenty-five years, when he sold out and removed to Ravenna.
While still engaged in farming he became much interested in osteopathy and, although he was handicapped by lack of educational opportunities in his youth, he believed that he could remedy that deficiency and took up the study of anatomy and other necessary scientific studies. In 1900 he went to Omaha and took a
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year's course in magnetic healing, after which he returned to Ravenna and prac- ticed as a masseur for five years, during which time he continued his home study. At length he felt that he was ready for a college course and accordingly entered the Still College of Osteopathy in Des Moines, the leading school of osteopathy in this country if not in the world. He was graduated with the degree of D. O. with the class of 1906 and located for practice at Central City, Nebraska. In 1907, however, he became a resident of Ravenna and has since engaged in practice here. His ability is widely recognized and his practice is large and representative. In 1908, in order to secure an electric plant for use in his pro- fession, he purchased a moving picture outfit and, being a good business man, recognized the advantage of securing the greatest use possible of his equipment and accordingly went into the moving picture business. Under his able manage- ment this venture proved successful and at length he opened a modern and thoroughly equipped moving picture theater known as the Pastime Theater. It is handsomely decorated, the films shown are of the very best and the theater is now one of the most popular places of amusement in Ravenna. Dr. Gehrke managed its affairs personally for several years but has since rented the theater to a son-in-law. He also holds title to his residence, which is commodious and well designed.
Dr. Gehrke was married December 7, 1882, to Miss Gretchen Bohn, a daugh- ter of John and Margereth Bohn, natives of Germany. The father died in Germany in 1865 and the mother subsequently remarried. In 1872 the family emigrated to the United States and located in Grand Island, Nebraska, where the stepfather of Mrs. Gehrke engaged in farming. He passed away in 1898, and the mother died in October, 1915. Eight children have been born to Dr. and Mrs. Gehrke, of whom four died in infancy, the others being: Amanda, the wife of Joseph Eckel, a merchant of Ravenna; Rudy, a barber residing at Pueblo, Colorado; Augusta, the wife of Gust Holub, who runs the Pastime Theater of Ravenna; and Edith, who is attending school.
Dr. Gehrke has given careful study to the political and economic problems of the day and has become convinced of the correctness of the principles of the socialist party, which he accordingly supports. The success which he has made as an osteopath is highly creditable to his ability and his determination and force of character, for he did not begin his professional preparation until he was forty years of age. Many men would have considered it impossible for them to take up a professional career at that time, but he believed that he could fulfill his ambition and by dint of hard study carried out his purpose and is now ranked among the most successful physicians of Ravenna.
C. G. BLISS.
C. G. Bliss, president of the City Bank of Elm Creek, which he organized in 1907, is one of the leading financiers of Buffalo county. He was born on the Ioth of May, 1883, a son of N. T. Bliss, a native of Pennsylvania, who as a young man came to Buffalo county. He homesteaded land in Gardner town- ship and for many years successfully engaged in farming and stock dealing. He
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is now deceased. His widow, who was in her maidenhood Miss Edith M. Rogers, is still living.
C. G. Bliss was reared upon the home farm and received his education in the Shelton schools. After reaching mature years he engaged in the real estate business, being secretary of the Wood River Land & Loan Company, but in 1907 he turned his attention to banking, organizing at that time the City Bank of Elm Creek, of which he has since been president. He gives his careful attention to the direction of the affairs of the institution and his natural ability, combined with his close study of banking, has made him very efficient as a bank official.
Mr. Bliss was married in 1910 to Miss Jessie Stebbins, who was born in Buffalo county and is a daughter of John and Ida M. Stebbins. Two children have been born to their union, namely, John and Jessie.
Mr. Bliss supports the republican party at the polls and is at present serving acceptably as a member of the school board. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church and can be counted upon to further the moral advancement of his community. He has achieved much success, although he is a young man, and his enterprise and good judgment are factors in the business expansion of Elm Creek. Personally he is popular and his sterling integrity has gained him the respect of all who have been associated with him. His entire life has been passed in Buffalo county and his accurate knowledge of conditions here has been of advantage to him in his business career. His father was one of the pioneers of the county and played well his part as one of those who have developed it from a pioneer district, and the same public spirit and regard for the general welfare have characterized Mr. Bliss of this review in his work.
IRA F. HENLINE.
Ira F. Henline is a well known and highly respected resident of Kearney, deriving his income from property interests and other investments, which include connection with the Commercial Bank of Gibbon, of which he has been the president since 1912. He was born upon a farm near Bloomington, McLean county, Illinois, March 1, 1858, his parents being James J. and Sarah (Smith) Henline, who were natives of Kentucky. The father was a farmer and stock raiser and both he and his wife passed away in Illinois, where they reared their family of eleven children, nine of whom are yet living.
Ira F. Henline spent his youthful days upon his father's farm in McLean county, Illinois, and there acquired his education in the district schools, dividing his time between his textbooks and the work of the fields. He continued to follow agricultural pursuits as long as he made McLean county his home, and while he was still residing there he was married at Pontiac, Illinois, on the 12th of March, 1884, to Miss Sina E. Arbuckle.
In 1888 he came to Nebraska and purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres on Wood river in Center township, Buffalo county. He has since lived in this county and for about fourteen years he gave undivided attention to agricultural pursuits, making his home upon the farm on which he first settled, until the year 1902, when he removed to Buda, having in the meantime
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purchased two hundred and eight acres of land adjoining that village. He there- after continued to engage in farming but also devoted much of his attention to buying, feeding and shipping stock. Since that time he has made stock dealing an important branch of his business and from it has derived a very gratifying annual income. For a number of years he bought thousands of hogs annually and shipped them west to Portland, Oregon, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Since January, 1910, he has made his home in Kearney and from this point has carried on his business operations. He is the owner of a quarter sec- tion of land in Thornton township in addition to his property at Buda, so that his holdings now comprise three hundred and sixty-eight acres of valuable and productive land in this part of the state. In 1912 he became associated with the Commercial Bank of Gibbon and at that date was elected president, in which position he has since continued.
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