USA > Nebraska > Buffalo County > Buffalo County, Nebraska, and its people : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 29
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Mr. Miner was married on the 11th of September, 1875, at Faribault, Minne- sota, to Miss Alice Green, a daughter of William M. and Ellen F. (West) Green, natives respectively of Massachusetts and Wisconsin. The father, who was a carpenter and millwright by trade, removed to Minnesota in the early '50S and followed his trade there until 1861, when he enlisted for service in the Civil war, joining a Minnesota regiment. He was at the front for four years and made a record of which he has just cause to be proud. After the close of the war he returned home and continued to work at his trade until called by death in June, 1896. His wife died on the 15th of March, 1871. To Mr. and Mrs. Miner have been born three children: Grace M., whose birth occurred in May, 1880, and who is now the wife of E. A. Hollingshead, a resident of Ravenna ; Edward, who was born in March, 1883, and is now engaged in the automobile business in Spokane, Washington; and Clara, whose birth occurred in 1887 and who died on the 22d of August of the following year.
Mr Miner has supported the republican party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise and has long been recognized as one of the political leaders of his county. Few men have been more active in public affairs and few have done more to secure the success of the republican party. In addition to his long and able service as postmaster of Ravenna he was for almost thirty years a member of the school board of district No. 69, which he aided in organizing, and at the time of his retirement from the office was presented by his fellow members with a handsome silver loving cup as a token of their appreciation of his devoted and efficient work in behalf of the schools. For seven years he
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served as county supervisor and in that capacity also proved a capable and public- spirited official. He is connected fraternally with the Masonic order and the Knights of Pythias and his religious faith is that of the Methodist Episcopal church. He has resided in Buffalo county for over thirty years and during practically the entire time has served in some official capacity or other, and the fact that neither his ability nor integrity has ever been questioned is irrefutable proof of his genuine worth. He is also popular personally and those who have been most intimately associated with him are his warmest friends.
D. PHILLIPS.
D. Phillips is president and manager of a company that is conducting a flour- ishing lumber business at Pleasanton. The spirit of enterprise actuates him in all that he does and progress and advancement have characterized his entire business career, which has covered connection with the grain as well as with the lumber trade. He was born in Indiana, November 12, 1868, a son of John and Hannah (Hosier) Phillips, who were natives of that state. The father was a farmer by occupation and, removing to Illinois, there cultivated a tract of land until 1878, which year witnessed his arrival in Buffalo county. He secured a homestead in Rusco township, which he developed and improved, there carrying on general agricultural pursuits for many years. Eventually, however, he retired and removed to Kearney, where he resided until his death, which occurred in November, 1910. His widow now resides with Mr. Phillips of this review. For three years the father was a soldier of the Fifty-first Indiana Volunteer Infantry, entering the army when a lad of but thirteen years. He was wounded in an engagement and was captured, being incarcerated in Libby prison for five months. Few of his years could boast active connection with the army that defended the Union at the time of the Civil war.
D. Phillips was reared and educated in Buffalo county. During his youthful days he had the usual environment and experience of the farm lad and to his father he gave the benefit of his services until he attained his majority, when he secured a homestead in Cedar township and began farming on his own account, devoting ten years to the development, operation and improvement of his land, which he then rented and removed to Pleasanton. He then turned his attention to the grain and lumber business and organized the Farmers Grain Company, with headquarters in Omaha. The company operates eight grain elevators and two lumberyards and the business has now reached extensive, gratifying and profitable proportions. Mr. Phillips is president and manager of the business at Pleasanton, which includes the grain trade and also a lumber business. The latter was established in July, 1913, and during the first four months the sales amounted to twenty-five thousand dollars. The patronage has steadily increased and as the head of this undertaking Mr. Phillips ranks as one of the foremost business men of the county. He also has elevators at Poole, Buda and Miller in Buffalo county, while the other local centers of the company's business are in the eastern part of the state.
On the 2d of March, 1892, Mr. Phillips was united in marriage to Miss Ada
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Pierson, by whom he has five children, as follows: Walter, who is twenty-three years of age and operates his father's farm; William, a young man of nineteen, who is attending school at Kearney; and Mary, Sybil and Dean, who are sixteen, fourteen and eleven years of age respectively and are all under the parental roof.
Mr. Phillips gives his political allegiance to the democratic party and has filled several local offices, serving as justice of the peace, as township clerk and as road supervisor of Cedar township. He was likewise school director for ten years and the cause of education finds in him a stalwart champion. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity and his religious faith is that of the United Brethren. He has taken an active interest in the work of his church, contributing gener- ously to its support and doing all in his power to further its upbuilding. For fifteen years he served as one of its trustees. His life has been an active and useful one, fraught with good results, and while business has naturally occupied the greater part of his attention, he has never allowed it to interfere with his duties in other relations. In all of his business dealings he has been able to dis- criminate readily between the essential and the nonessential and moreover has the faculty of coordinating seemingly diverse elements into a unified and har- monious whole. Success attends his labors and the methods which he pursues in its attainment place him beyond the point of envy or adverse criticism.
WILLIAM O. PICKETT.
William O. Pickett was formerly engaged in agricultural pursuits in this county but for a number of years has made his home in Sweetwater, where he is living retired. He has been one of the leaders in public affairs of the county and has been elected to a number of local offices, which he has filled to the entire satisfaction of his constituents. A native of Polk county, Illinois, he was born on the 13th of June, 1840, and is a son of James and Mary (Evett) Pickett, the former born in Virginia and the latter in Ireland. The father took up his residence in Indiana when that state was still a frontier region and farmed there until 1877, when he came to Buffalo county, Nebraska, and located in Kearney. He passed away in Missouri in 1899, having survived his wife for three decades, as her demise occurred in 1869.
William O. Pickett grew to mature years in Indiana and attended the public schools in the acquirement of an education. On the Ist of July, 1861, he en- listed in Company H, Twenty-third Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and was at the front for four years and two months. He participated in a number of hard en- gagements and in one of the battles in the vicinity of Vicksburg he was wounded. He was honorably discharged at Indianapolis, July 31, 1865, having served all through the war and, returning home again, took up farming. He remained in Indiana until 1877, when he came to Buffalo county, Nebraska, and took up a homestead in Beaver township, to the development and improvement of which he gave much of his time and energy until 1899. He then sold the place and removed to Sweetwater, where he has since resided. In the same year he was appointed postmaster and for seven years he held that office, proving at all times efficient and courteous.
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Mr. Pickett was married to Miss Mary E. Parr on the 3d of April, 1864. Her parents, John and Ruth Parr, were born in Virginia but became early set- tlers of Indiana and continued to reside there until they passed away, the father in 1887 and the mother three years later. Mr. and Mrs. Pickett have become the parents of nine children, three of whom, Ora, James and Katie, are deceased, the others being: Annie, Robert, Daisy, Sally R., Catherine and Della.
Mr. Pickett indorses the policies of the democratic party and works loyally for its success at the polls. He has held a number of offices, and in addition to his seven years' service as postmaster, has been constable, assessor, clerk, road- master and county commissioner, serving for four years in the last named capac- ity. His religious faith is that of the Baptist church, and through his membership in the Grand Army of the Republic he keeps in touch with the other veterans of the Civil war. He is well known not only in Sweetwater but also throughout the county and those who have been most closely associated with him hold hini in the highest esteem. As an official he has always been systematic, capable and conscientious, and as a private citizen he has willingly cooperated in movements seeking the general welfare.
EPHRAIM OLIVER.
Ephraim Oliver, who owns five hundred and eighty acres of good land in Shelton township, is one of the leading stock raisers of the county. He was born in Manchester, England, on the 14th of January, 1852, of the marriage of Edward and Sarah Oliver, both natives of that country. The year 1860 witnessed their emigration to America and they first settled in Buffalo county, Nebraska, but two years later the father removed to Salt Lake City, where his demise occurred. The mother passed away in this county.
Ephraim Oliver is one of a family of eleven children, of whom five are still living. His education was mainly acquired in the public schools of Buffalo county, Nebraska, as he was but eight years of age when the family settled here. He remained at home until he attained his majority and then purchased the old home- stead on section 2, Shelton township, which he still owns. He has bought addi- tional land and now holds title to five hundred and eighty acres, all of which is well improved. He raises some grain but devotes the greater part of his atten- tion to stock raising and feeding and in 1915 fed one hundred head of steers and seven hundred head of sheep. He understands every phase of stock raising and also pays great attention to the marketing of his stock and the success which he has gained is well deserved.
On the 6th of April, 1875, Mr. Oliver was united in marriage to Miss Dorothy Fieldgrove, a daughter of William Henry and Margaret Fieldgrove, further men- tion of whom occurs elsewhere in this work. . Mr. and Mrs. Oliver have eleven children : William E .; Walter E .; Edward H .; Cora, the wife of William J. Pierce ; John E .; Chester Arthur and Charles A., twins; Howard L .; George H .; Vernon J .; and Dewey S.
Mr. Oliver indorses the policies of the republican party and loyally supports its candidates at the polls. For many years he has served as a member of the
MR. AND MRS. EPHRAIM OLIVER
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RAYMOND OLIVER; MRS. DOROTHY OLIVER; MRS.
MARGARET FIELDGROVE; WILLIAM E. OLIVER
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school board and during that time has done much to promote educational advance- ment in his district. The greater part of his life has been passed in the middle west and he possesses in a marked degree the qualities characteristic of this sec- tion, namely, self-reliance, enterprise and the determination that overcomes obstacles, and he merits the title of a self-made man, for he began his career without capital or the aid of influential friends.
STEPHEN A. D. HENLINE.
Stephen A. D. Henline came to Kearney in July, 1885, at which time the city contained a population of a little more than one thousand. He has remained here continuously since and his business activity has been a tangible asset in the development and upbuilding of the community, while his support of forces working for the moral betterment of the community has contributed to public progress along that dine. He was born near Lexington, Illinois, on the 25th of December, 1860, a son of William M. and Sarah C. (Steward) Henline, who were also natives of that state. The father was a farmer and was a son of George Henline, who settled in McLean county, Illinois, when that section of the country was in its primitive condition, much of the land being still in the posses- sion of the government. He entered a tract at the usual government price of a dollar and a quarter per acre and began the development of a farm whereon William M. Henline was born in 1838. There he was reared and educated, having the usual experiences of the lad who spends his youth upon the frontier. He married a daughter of William Steward, who removed from Kentucky to McLean county, Illinois, about the time of the arrival of the Henline family there. His educational training was limited but this he remedied in later years by reading and observation. He possessed a retentive memory and from his study and life's experiences he gained many valuable lessons. In politics he was a democrat and his high standing in the regard of his fellowmen is indi- cated in the fact that he was never defeated for an office for which he was a candidate, although he lived in a district that normally had a strong republican majority. He had the happy faculty of making friends and he never sacrificed a friendship, for regard once gained was always his. He belonged to the United Brethren church, of which he was a devout and faithful member. In all business affairs he was thoroughly reliable and would rather suffer loss than cause another to do so. If a question ever arose as to rights, he invariably gave way rather than to enter into a law suit. He died in 1895, on the farm where his birth oc- curred, having long survived his wife, who passed away in 1872.
In the life record of S. A. D. Henline, Christmas day has proven an import- ant date. He was born on that day and was named in honor of Stephen A. Douglas. He had a brother born on that date in 1862, and on Christmas day of 1884 he married Nellie Biggs, whose birth had occurred on Christmas day of 1864. On her mother's side she is a direct descendant of Barbara Fritchie and on her father's of John Quincy Adams. S. A. D. Henline was reared on a farm in his native county and was graduated from the Lexington high school with the class of 1880. He afterward engaged in teaching for four years and Vol. II-15 .
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on the expiration of that period made his way westward to Nebraska in company with his wife, who was also a successful teacher. They located in Kearney and Mr. Henline became a partner of L. G. Fletcher in the drug business. Subse- quently he sold out to his partner, after which he engaged in various occupations. For a time he was employed at a dollar and a half per day to dig the ditch connected with the establishment of the waterworks system in Kearney. He was also employed as a clerk in the drug store of William Schramm, who at that time owned two drug stores in this city. In 1889 he purchased the Schramm store at No. 2214 Central avenue and since then he has been in the drug business in Kearney at different locations and has prospered. In many ways he has been identified with the material welfare and growth of Kearney and is a great believer in its future prosperity. He became one of the organizers of the Kearney Savings & Loan Association, of which he has been the only president, and in this connection he figures prominently in financial circles of the city.
Mr. Henline always attributes much of his success to the assistance and cooperation of his wife, who was reared upon a farm and taught school for two years before coming to Nebraska. She also engaged in teaching music both before and after her arrival in this state and acted as organist in the church for a number of years. Her life has been one of untiring industry for the benefit of her home or for the community and her sound judgment in business matters has been a substantial element in the success of Mr. Henline. She cooperated with him in the early days in the efforts to economize and get ahead and he pays her high tribute for her assistance. Mrs. Henline has also been a great church worker and for eleven years was president of the Ladies Aid Society. It was during that period that the new house of worship was built and the Aid Society contributed to the building fund twenty-five hundred dollars besides an addi- tional two thousand dollars for finishing the basement. Mrs. Henline also be- came an active member of the Nineteenth Century Club and was one of the leaders in the organization of the Community Club, of which she was the first and only president, for after her decision to retire from such active participation in affairs of that character there seemed to be no one to carry her work forward and the Community Club has ceased to exist. In her church work and in all of her social and civic endeavors she has known no such word as defeat, possess- ing in notable measure the power to win cooperation and coordination, so that with Mrs. Henline as leader all have worked together for the common good. To Mr. and Mrs. Henline have been born two sons: Ralph Gregory, who was married in 1915 to Miss Lois Kindt, of La Grande, Oregon, where he is teaching school; and Roy Biggs, who is attending the Northwestern University at Chi- cago. The family is well known here and their influence has ever been on the side of progress, reform and improvement.
Fraternally Mr. Henline is connected with the Masons and has attained the Knight Templar degree in the order. For many years he has been a member of the Kearney Commercial Club and is an ardent supporter of all those forces and plans which the club adopts for the development and substantial improve- ment of the city. Politically he is an independent democrat. While he believes in many principles of the democratic party, he has never felt bound by party ties and acts according to the dictates of his own judgment. He served for two years as a member of the city council, during which time he was its presi-
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dent and chairman of the finance committee. It was during that period that the final adjustment over the purchase of the waterworks system was consummated. He is a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal church and successively at three different conventions he was president of the Epworth League of the West Nebraska Conference. He also acted as a delegate to the Methodist General Conference held in Chicago in 1896. He served as chairman of the finance com- mittee that had in charge the erection of the new forty thousand dollar church edifice in Kearney and with every phase of church work in this city for many years he has been closely and helpfully associated. He has never been neglectful of any of his duties in relation to the municipal or moral welfare and at the same time he has so directed his business affairs that he has worked his way upward from a humble position to one of prominence and affluence.
RIGHT B. WORT.
Right B. Wort, a well known grain merchant of Buffalo county operating at Pleasanton, as a member of the firm of Wort Brothers, has the qualities which win success. No matter in how much fantastic theorizing one may indulge as to the cause of success, it is always found that honorable business advancement is due to indefatigable energy and close application and these are the qualities which Mr. Wort displays in his business career. He was born in Canada, March 4, 1864, and is a son of John and Martha (Teeple) Wort, natives of England and Canada respectively. The father came to America in early life, crossing the Atlantic to Canada, where he remained for some time and then came to the United States, settling in McHenry county, Illinois. There he carried on farming until 1879, when he came to Buffalo county, Nebraska, and purchased land in Thornton township. He carried on farming there throughout his remaining days but was not long permitted to enjoy his new home, for his death occurred in 1881. His widow survives and is now living in Kearney.
Right B. Wort was a youth of fifteen years when the family arrived in this county and through the period of his boyhood and youth he assisted in the work of the fields, remaining with his mother to the age of twenty-eight years. He afterward carried on farming independently for a year and then came to Pleas- anton, where he engaged in the grain business with his brother under the firm name of Wort Brothers. They have since conducted business under that style and the name has become a synonym for enterprise, indefatigable energy and wise management. They are thoroughly reliable in all their dealings and the grain raisers of that district enjoy trading with them. Right B. Wort also operates an elevator at Poole, in this county, and is engaged in the automobile business. He owned the first Ford in Pleasanton and is now agent for both the Ford and Maxwell cars. He conducts a good garage in the town. The brothers also handle farm implements at Poole and are representative business men of the community as well as wide-awake and progressive at all times.
In March, 1891, Right B. Wort was married to Miss Jennie Fleharty, a daughter of George and Anna Fleharty, who were natives of Ireland and became residents of this county in early pioneer times. The father was a civil engineer
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and acted as the first surveyor of the county. He also purchased land here and carried on general farming for many years but finally retired in 1900 and now makes his home with Mr. and Mrs. Wort, his wife having passed away in 1909. To Mr. and Mrs. Wort have been born two children, Hazel and Helen, the former the wife of Charles Claus, of Pleasanton. Helen is attending school.
Mr. Wort has served on the town board for several years and has also been township clerk. Politically his allegiance is given to the democratic party, while fraternally he is connected with the Masons and with the United Workmen, loyally adhering to the purposes of those organizations. He represents one of the old and honored pioneer families of the county and the work which was instituted by his father has been carried on by him and constitutes an important feature in business development and substantial upbuilding of the district in which he lives.
JOHN S. SALSBURY.
John S. Salsbury earned the right to a period of leisure by many years of well directed labors as an agriculturist and is now living in honorable retirement in Ravenna. He was born in Saratoga county, New York, on the 8th of October, 1842, of the marriage of James W. and Caroline (Creal) Salsbury, natives of New York and of English descent. The father was a farmer and followed that occupation in New York until 1844, when he started for the territory of Iowa but died on the way on the 4th of November. His wife was killed on the 3d of July, 1848, by lightning.
John S. Salsbury was educated in Lee and Page counties, Iowa, and in 1861, when eighteen years of age, enlisted in Company F, First Nebraska Infantry, for service in the Civil war. He remained in the army until July, 1866, and participated in much hard fighting. Following his honorable discharge from military service he returned to Page county, Iowa, and purchased land there, which he operated for ten years. At the end of that time he went to Clarinda, Iowa, but in 1879 he removed to Sherman county, Nebraska. He did teaming there until 1882, when he took up a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres in Garfield precinct, Buffalo county. He was one of the first settlers in that precinct and was the man who gave it its name. He at once began to break the prairie sod and in a comparatively short time had his land under cultivation. He made many improvements upon his place, on which he lived for two decades, or until 1902. He then retired from active life and built a nice home in the northern part of Ravenna, where he has since resided.
Mr. Salsbury was married in July, 1864, to Miss Rachel H. Reynolds, a daughter of John and Annie Reynolds, pioneers of Page county, Iowa. Mr. Reynolds died in 1863, but he was survived by his wife until 1903. Mr. and Mrs. Salsbury became the parents of seven children, namely: Alvin, who was ' born August 18, 1867, and died on the 12th of September, 1887; Annie C., who was born August 30, 1868, and died on the 17th of October, 1890; Rachel P., who was born on the 7th of March, 1870, and died on the 28th of February, 1886; Katie, whose birth occurred August 25, 1871, and who died June 8, 1883; Mary E., who was born October 24, 1873, and died on the Ist of January, 1897; Roy
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