USA > Nebraska > Buffalo County > Buffalo County, Nebraska, and its people : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 7
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A. F. Bills was educated in the common schools and started out as a farmer when but seventeen years of age by purchasing eighty acres of land in Jackson township, Hall county. There he began farming on his own account and in 1878 he traded this land for a grocery store in Shelton. A year later, however,
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he failed in business and resumed his agricultural pursuits, to which he again devoted his energies for three years. On the expiration of that period he once more became a resident of Shelton and for five years was employed in the grocery and drug store of Hostetler Brothers. He then once more resumed farming, in which business he continued actively and successfully until 1910, when he sold all but ten acres of his land which lies within the city limits of Shelton. For many years he has bought grain and hay for the sheep feeders of this section, and in 1910, because of his recognized ability in that direction, he was placed in charge of the Farmers grain elevator at Shelton, where he is now wisely, capa- bly and successfully conducting business.
On the Ist of January, 1879, Mr. Bills was joined in wedlock to Miss Mary Walsh, a daughter of Patrick Walsh, who came out to Fort Kearney as a soldier in 1866 and after his enlistment expired homesteaded the quarter section on which Shelton now stands. This was in 1869 or two years prior to the coming of the colony. To Mr. and Mrs. Bills have been born nine children, six of whom survive, as follows: Frank A., who is a railroad man of Los Angeles, California ; Rufus L., a railroad man of Portland, Oregon ; Joseph L., who is a professional ball player with the Des Moines (Ia.) team; and Nora, Mary R. and John P., all at home.
In his political views Mr. Bills is a democrat and for seven years filled the office of marshal in Shelton. He belongs to Shelton Lodge, A. F. & A. M., to the Ancient Order of United Workmen and to the Catholic church. His life has been a busy one fraught with earnest effort, and whatever success he has achieved is attributable entirely to his own labors. Gradually he has worked his way upward step by step and is now a prominent representative of commercial activity in Buffalo county.
JAMES A. BOYD.
Diligence and enterprise are the factors that count most in business life and Mr. Boyd is possessed of those qualities in large measure. Since the organization of the Farmers Bank of Kearney in 1890 he has been its cashier and has con- tributed in large measure to its success, for he displays sound judgment and keen sagacity in business affairs and has thoroughly acquainted himself with every phase of modern banking. A native of Illinois, he was born upon a farm in Whiteside county, April 14, 1858. The father, John Boyd, was a native of Scot- land and when a young man came to America at a time when sailing vessels afforded the only means of crossing the Atlantic. Two years later he returned to the land of hills and heather and there married Isabelle Archibald. About the year 1856 he returned to the United States for a permanent residence and located in Whiteside county, Illinois, before a railroad had been built through that county. His remaining days were there passed and his death occurred in December, 1911. For more than four years he had survived his wife, who died in March, 1907.
The early life of James A. Boyd was passed upon the home farm, during which period he assisted in such work as was necessary in the development of the
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fields according to the methods then in use. His education was obtained in the graded schools of Morrison and he followed farming in his native state until 1889.
In the meantime he had married Miss May Robertson, a sister of Lew Robert- son, who was the first president of the Farmers Bank at Kearney, the wedding being celebrated on the 16th of September, 1885. In March, 1889, they removed to Kearney and Mr. Boyd became connected with the First National Bank, where his duties comprised. almost everything except the voting of stock. He continued in that connection until 1890, when he took an active part in the organization of the Farmers Bank, of which he was elected cashier and has so continued to the present time-a period of more than a quarter of a century. He has been most careful to safeguard the interests of depositors and thus make the institution worthy of public patronage. His progressiveness is tempered by a safe conservatism and at the same time he has kept the bank in touch with the most modern financial methods.
To Mr. and Mrs. Boyd have been born two children but the elder, John Earl, died when but eleven months old. The younger, James W., is with his parents, who are well known in social circles of this city, where they have many warm friends. Aside from his business relations Mr. Boyd has otherwise become identified with the material interests and development of Kearney and Buffalo county. He served as a member of the city council for six years and exercised his official prerogatives in support of many plans and measures for the general . good. Socially he is identified with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. Those who know him find him a genial, courteous gentleman, always obliging, and by reason of his sterling worth he has become well established in public regard.
DAVID ROACH.
David Roach owns one hundred and sixty acres of well developed land in Gibbon township and finds that its cultivation and improvement leaves him little time for outside interests. He was born in Pennsylvania on the 15th of April, 1853, and is one of three living children of a family of eleven, whose parents were Thomas and Jennie (Ore) Roach, both natives of England, whence they emigrated to America in 1850. They settled in Pennsylvania, where the mother passed away, and the father subsequently removed to Illinois and still later to Nebraska, where his death occurred.
David Roach acquired a common school education and remained under the parental roof until he was twenty-two years of age. He was then engineer in a sawmill for three years, after which he went to Logan county, Illinois, where he spent seven years. At the end of that time he came to Buffalo county, Nebraska, and after working as a laborer for three years, began farming. In 1905 he pur- chased his present farm, which comprises one hundred and sixty acres on section 9, Gibbon township, and which is in a high state of development. He raises the usual crops and also considerable stock, and his well directed labors yield him a gratifying return.
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In 1875 occurred the marriage of Mr. Roach and Miss Georgia Cass, and they became the parents of two children : Harry, who is farming in this township; and Hattie, the wife of Carl Webster. In 1889 the wife and mother departed this life, and in 1895 Mr. Roach married Miss May Marshall, who died in April, 1914.
Mr. Roach is a republican and for twenty years has served as school director, his long continuance in the office indicating the confidence which is placed in his ability He is an active worker in the Grange and owns stock in the Farmers Elevator at Gibbon. He recognizes the value of cooperation and believes that it should be more fully applied to the solution of the problem of the modern farmer. His religious faith is indicated by the fact that he holds membership in the Presbyterian church, and the uprightness of his life has gained him the sincere respect of all who have had dealings with him. He has worked hard and has saved his money carefully, with the result that he is now in com- fortable circumstances and is recognized as one of the efficient and prosperous farmers of his township.
THOMAS ELLIS.
Thomas Ellis, who carries on general agricultural pursuits on section 24, Shelton township, was born in Dubuque county, Iowa, on the 2d of March, 1862, his parents being Edward and Mary (Loomis) Ellis. The father was probably a native of the United States, although his parents came from England. The mother was born in Erie county, Pennsylvania, and became the wife of Stephen J. McKee, with whom she came to Nebraska in 1865. She lived for a short time in Hall county, and afterward removed to Buffalo county. Mr. McKee died in Hall county in 1878. Her third husband was William Fines, who died about 1891. Mrs. Fines survives and now resides in Shelton.
Thomas Ellis was three years of age when brought by his mother to Nebraska, and was educated in the district schools but attended for only a part of three terms. He began farming on his own account in 1881, when he put in his first crop, but in that year he raised more foxtail than he did wheat and he worked all the following winter on the section in order to pay his bills. In the spring of 1882 he went to Colorado, where he was employed through the summer in a stone quarry at Lyons. In the fall he again came to Buffalo county and the fol- lowing spring resumed farming. In 1887 he purchased the Ash Way farm in Shelton township of one hundred and forty acres and later bought an additional tract of eighty acres, but during the widespread financial panic of 1893, like thou- sands of others, he was unable to make his payments upon his property. There- fore he again had to resort to renting, but in the spring of 1898 he once more made a financial start that enabled him to purchase two hundred and twenty- three acres of his present farm. He has since resided thereon, concentrating his energies upon the further development and improvement of his place, which is pleasantly situated on section 24, Shelton township. He concentrates his efforts upon the cultivation and development of his fields and as the years have gone by
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has made changes which have transformed his place into one of the excellent farm properties of the county.
On the 28th of March, 1885, Mr. Ellis was united in marriage to Miss Julia Spicer, of Hall county, Nebraska, by whom he has seven children, as follows : Glen and Harvey, both at home; Bertha, who is the wife of Charles Ketner, of Shelton, Nebraska; Adrian; and George, Clarence and Grace, all yet under the parental roof.
In politics Mr. Ellis is independent, voting for men and measures rather than party. Fraternally he is identified with Shelton Lodge, No. 141, I. O. O. F., and Shelton Lodge, No. 92, K. P. He has a wide acquaintance not only in lodge circles but through other connections and is regarded as one of the substan- tial business men and representative citizens of Buffalo county.
CHARLES BISHOP.
Charles Bishop is one of the most venerable and highly honored citizens of Kearney. He has now attained the advanced age of eighty-six years and the precious prize of keen mentality is his, for his mind is clear, his memory good and he keeps well informed on the questions, issues and interests of the day. He is a retired farmer, having been identified with general agricultural pursuits for a long period. His birth occurred in Kennebec county, Maine, on the 18th of January, 1830, his parents being Squire and Hannah (Morey) Bishop. The father, a native of Maine, was a shoemaker by trade and also a farmer and spent his entire life in the Pine Tree state, where he passed away at the age of seventy- seven years. His parents were Jesse and Patience (Titus) Bishop and the ancestral line can be traced back to Edward Bishop, of Salem, Massachusetts, who came from England to the new world in 1639. The mother of Charles Bishop was born in Sandwich, Massachusetts, but was reared in Maine and spent the greater part of her life in that state.
Charles Bishop spent his boyhood days at home, receiving the usual training of the farm lad. He attended the subscription schools and in his youth assisted his father. He afterward worked at putting on soles on shoes near Boston for about three years and in the spring of 1852 he made the trip by way of the water route to California and spent some time in the mines at Coloma. He engaged in prospecting and in surface mining and was fairly successful, devoting four and one-half years to that business. In 1857 he returned home and the proceeds of his labor amounted to two thousand dollars, which he carried with him in gold.
In the spring of 1858 Mr. Bishop removed westward to Shelby county, Mis- souri, and purchased a farm in Macon county, after which he carried on general agricultural pursuits until September 15, 1862, when he offered his services to the government, enlisting at St. Louis as a member of Company A, Twenty-seventh Missouri Volunteer Infantry. He was soon afterward made an ambulance driver and acted in that capacity until mustered out on the 22d of July, 1865. following the close of the war. He had rendered valuable aid to his country in that connection and his military record was a commendable one.
CHARLES BISHOP
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With the close of the war Mr. Bishop returned to his farm in Macon county, where he carried on general agricultural pursuits until the fall of 1874, when he sold his property there and came to Nebraska, settling on section 4, Divide town- ship, Buffalo county. With characteristic energy he began to develop and till the soil and carried on his farm work with growing success year by year until the spring of 1899, when he rented his farm and came to Kearney, where he is now living retired.
On the 9th of December, 1858, Mr. Bishop was married to Miss Mary Trott, who was born in Ohio, July 23, 1837. She removed to Missouri in 1858 with her father and her death occurred on the 17th of January, 1894. She held mem- bership in the Methodist Episcopal church and was a most active worker in both church and Sunday school in an early day. By her marriage she became the mother of eight children, as follows: William G., who follows farming in Rusco township; Elizabeth, who is the wife of A. H. Tandy, of Oskaloosa, Iowa ; Francis H., a resident of Nelson, Nebraska, and a conductor on the Rock Island Railway ; Mattie, who gave her hand in marriage to F. P. Wilsie and passed away at the age of twenty-eight years, leaving three sons; Anna M., at home; Charles E., who rents his father's farm; Mabel, who is the wife of Albert Gravley, of Pleasanton, Buffalo county; and Mamie, who gave her hand in marriage to Charles Gravley, of Pleasanton, Nebraska.
In his political views Mr. Bishop is a republican and was one of the first sup- porters of the party. He served as school treasurer for several years and also as township treasurer and has always been interested in the welfare, progress and upbuilding of his community. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church and to its teachings his life has conformed in all respects. He is a member of Sedgwick Post, No. I, G. A. R., of Kearney and thus maintains pleasant relations with his old military comrades. He has always been as true and loyal to his country and the old flag in times of peace as he was when he followed the nation's starry banner upon the battlefields of the south.
CHAUNCEY COOK.
Chauncey Cook, a well known and highly esteemed farmer living on section 5, Shelton township, Buffalo county, was born in Otsego county, New York, on the 6th of October, 1861. His parents, Chauncey and Lucy B. (Allen) Cook, were likewise natives of that county but were married in Erie county, Pennsyl- vania, where the mother had removed with her parents when a girl. Following their marriage they located on a farm in Otsego county, New York, where the father passed away on the 5th of February, 1875. Five years later the mother and three sons came west to Buffalo county, Nebraska, and she purchased the farm which our subject now owns. She passed away on the 8th of April, 1889.
Chauncey Cook was reared at home and received his education in the com- mon schools of New York. He accompanied his mother to this county and fol- lowing her demise inherited the home farm, which he is still operating. He has lived upon that place ever since his arrival in this county thirty-five years ago and before it came into his possession he assisted in its cultivation. The
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improvements upon the farm are substantial and modern, and the residence is one of the most attractive and convenient farm homes in the township. He devotes his undivided attention to the farm work, and his well directed labors are rewarded by a gratifying financial return.
On the 18th of July, 1900, Mr. Cook was united in marriage to Miss Ella Nixon, a resident of Kearney, Nebraska, but a native of Philadelphia, Pennsyl- vania, whence she came to Buffalo county with her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Cook have four children : Walter, who is attending the Shelton high school; Daphne A., who is attending the district school; Leland N .; and Ralph.
Mr. Cook indorses the principles of the democratic party and supports its candidates at the polls. He is now serving for the second term as assessor of Shelton township and is making a highly creditable record in that capacity. He belongs to Shelton Lodge, No. 141, I. O. O. F. In developing his farm he has promoted the agricultural interests of the county and in so doing has contributed to its prosperity, as it derives its greatest wealth from its rich land.
H. F. FLINT.
H. F. Flint is identified with financial circles as president of the Exchange Bank of Gibbon and with agricultural interests as the owner of an excellent farm of two hundred and forty acres. His birth occurred in Vermont on the 25th of January, 1845, and he is a son of Calvin and Dollie (Delano) Flint, both of whom were born in Connecticut, but were married in Vermont, where they passed the remainder of their lives. Our subject is the only one now living of their family of eight children. He grew to manhood in his native state and there received his education. When twenty-three years of age he went to Ohio, whence in 1876, he came to Buffalo county, Nebraska.
After engaging in the cattle business for four years Mr. Flint sold out and became a dealer in coal and implements at Gibbon but five years later disposed of that business and entered the employ of the Gibbon Bank, of which he was cashier for four months. At the end of that time he and J. H. Davis organized a bank known as the James H. Davis & Company Bank, of which Mr. Flint was cashier for six years. He and Mr. Davis next organized the First National Bank of Gibbon with a paid up capital of fifty thousand dollars, and for five years Mr. Flint was cashier of that institution. The First National Bank was then discon- tinued, but Mr. Davis and Mr. Flint remained factors in financial circles, organ- izing the Exchange Bank, of which our subject is now the president. His long experience in connection with banking eminently qualifies him to direct the affairs of the institution, which has gained the confidence of the public and is accorded a large and representative patronage. He owns an interest in the bank building and also holds title to two hundred and forty acres of good land in Buffalo county, from which he derives a substantial addition to his income.
In 1869 occurred the marriage of Mr. Flint and Miss Susan H. Whitney, who was born in Vermont, and they became the parents of twin daughters, Nettie and Nellie, the latter of whom died at the age of seven and a half years. Nettie
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became the wife of R. A. St. John and died in 1902, leaving an infant son, Horace F. St. John, who makes his home with our subject and his wife.,
Mr. Flint is a member of the Odd Fellows lodge at Gibbon, in which he has filled all the chairs, and he is also identified with the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He takes the interest of a good citizen in public affairs, although not an aspirant for office. Both he and his wife attend the Methodist Episcopal church. That he is now one of the substantial men of his community is due not to any good fortune or unusually favoring circumstances but to his enterprise, industry and foresight.
ERNEST STEVEN HILL.
Ernest Steven Hill is a member of the firm of Hill Brothers, general mer- chants at Riverdale, and is a wide-awake, enterprising business man, alert to opportunities pointing to success, guided in all that he does by laudable ambition, while his efforts are characterized by both enterprise and business integrity. He was born September 28, 1875, in Riverdale, his parents being Cosmo S. and Mary J. (Delano) Hill. The father was born in Bethel, Vermont, in 1848, and was a son of Steven Hill, also a native of the Green Mountain state. Removing to the west, C. S. Hill established his home upon a farm near Riverdale and it was upon that property that Ernest S. Hill spent his boyhood and youth, obtain- ing his education in the district schools of the town in which he now resides. He continued at home until 1898, when he purchased a farm of eighty acres on sec- tion 32, Divide township. This was a tract of partially improved land but with characteristic energy he began its further development and cultivation and trans- formed it into productive fields. He now rents the farm to a tenant, while in 1910 he retired from active agricultural life and purchased the interest of J. E. Nelson in the firm of Hill & Nelson, general merchants of Riverdale, thus joining his brother in the conduct of an enterprise which is now carried on under the style of Hill Brothers. They have a large and carefully selected stock, thus meeting the demands and varied taste of their customers and in all they do they display close conformity to the highest standards of commercial ethics.
On the 31st of December, 1899, Mr. Hill was married to Miss Gertrude Whitney, a daughter of W. A. and Martha Whitney, of Riverdale. She was born in Illinois and came to Riverdale when four years of age. By her marriage she has become the mother of two children : Herbert E., now in school ; and Bernice, three years of age.
The parents hold membership in the Christian church in Riverdale and gener- ously contribute to its support, while in its work they take an active and helpful interest. Mr. Hill belongs to Modern Woodman Camp, No. 1072, and served as its clerk in 1899. He has also passed through all of the chairs in Riverdale Lodge No. 352, I. O. O. F. His wife is a member of the Royal Neighbors and the Rebekah degree of Odd Fellows, and for many years has been camp clerk of the Royal Neighbors and is still filling that position. Mr. Hill has been called to several local offices. He is treasurer of Riverdale township, having been elected in 1914 for a two years' term and for several years he has been a member
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of the district school board in the same district in which he attended school and in which his children are now pupils. His entire life has been spent in this locality and the fact that many of his stanchest friends are those who have known him from his early boyhood is indicative of the fact that his has been an honorable career, and that his salient characteristics are such as commend him to the confidence, high regard and friendship of all.
JOSEPH C. SAYLOR.
Joseph C. Saylor, who is a member of the Buffalo county bar, came to Kearney, Nebraska, from Chicago, Illinois, in the year 1905. He was born near Lexington, Kentucky, August 5, 1877, on a farm, which his parents still own. .In that state, he received his public school education. After finishing high school, he taught two years in the public schools, after which he attended school at the State University of Kentucky for two years. Again he taught another term. He then went to Valparaiso (Indiana) University to attend school and there, after two years more, he finished the regular scientific course in 1900. The fol- lowing year he did post-graduate work.
Mr. Saylor then took up the study of law and in the year 1904 finished the course, and also took his degree in elocution and oratory, which course he had pursued some of the time through his regular literary course and in his post- graduate year. He also did special work in Georgetown College and in Chicago University. He made his home in Chicago from 1898 to 1905.
On the 2d of June, 1904, Mr. Saylor was united in marriage to Miss Huldah V. Ericson, of Kearney, Nebraska, who was his schoolmate in the literary depart- ment at Valparaiso University, finishing her scientific course in 1901 and her classic course, and post-graduate work in the year 1904, and who for two years was principal of the Red Cloud high school, teaching history, English and German and who is now a prominent club and church worker in Kearney. She was elected president of the Nineteenth Century Club for 1916.
Mr. Saylor practiced law at Red Cloud, Nebraska, from 1905 to 1910, where his splendid qualifications and industry rapidly took him from a small beginning to a position among the highest and best of the attorneys of the Webster county ยท bar. During this period he gave some little time to politics, being secretary of the republican central committee in 1907, chairman of the same the year follow- ing, then a member of the state executive committee and congressional delegate to the national convention of Taft Clubs at Cincinnati in 1908. He made forty speeches for the national republican ticket in Illinois and Kentucky in 1904, while yet a student at the university. Also in 1908, under the auspices of the repub- lican central committee, he stumped the greater part of the sixth congressional dis- trict of Nebraska for the republican candidates. He has shown much ability as a public speaker, having been in demand for such work, and having delivered several Decoration Day speeches and addresses on other such occasions.
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