Compendium of history, reminiscence, and biography of Nebraska : containing a history of the state of Nebraska also a compendium of reminiscence and biography containing biographical sketches of hundreds of prominent old settlers and representative citizens of Nebraska, Part 131

Author: Alden Publishing Company
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago : Alden Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1402

USA > Nebraska > Compendium of history, reminiscence, and biography of Nebraska : containing a history of the state of Nebraska also a compendium of reminiscence and biography containing biographical sketches of hundreds of prominent old settlers and representative citizens of Nebraska > Part 131

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The education of Fred E. Muhm was begun in his native state and completed after he came to Nebraska. He was reared to farm work and had the advantage of knowing conditions and require- ments of carrying on farming in Nebraska from early boyhood. In 1882 he came to Cedar county and purchased his present place, which is very well situated on section seventeen, township twenty-nine, range one, east, and set about im- proving it. He has a comfortable house and other substantial buildings, and his estate is a valuable one. He has identified himself with the best in- terests of his community and is held in high esteem as a good citizen and desirable neighbor.

In 1888 Mr. Muhm was united in marriage with Miss Hattie Kober, a native of Tama county, Iowa, and daughter of George and Elizabeth (Grunger) Kober, and seven children have blessed this union, namely: Hazel, John, Opal, Ruby, May, Onar, and Jay.

Mr. Muhm is a republican, and has assisted in the public service at times as precinct assessor, and for twenty-three years he has been the treas- urer of his school district.

JOHN A. MILLER.

John A. Miller, one of the representative agriculturalists of Merrick county, Nebraska, owns and operates a large farm in section thirty- four, township thirteen, range eight, where he has a good, comfortable home. He is recog- nized as one of the successful and prosperous citizens of the county.

John A. Miller was born in Germany, October 8, 1842, and was the fourth of five children in the family of Peter and Charlotte (Goger) Miller, who had five sous born to them. The Miller family emigrated to America in 1856, and settled in the state of Wisconsin on a farm, where our subject grew to manhood.

In November, 1861, Mr. Miller enlisted in Company H, First Wisconsin Cavalry, in which he served until time of his discharge, in July, 1864, on account of disability. Mr. Miller re- turned home to Wisconsin, but upon recovering his health re-enlisted in the Sixth Wisconsin Vol- unteer Infantry, and received final discharge at the close of the war in Madison, Wisconsin. Mr. Miller saw about four years' service and was in numerous engagements and skirmishes. He was a veteran in point of service, and had an honor- able war record. Ile was in the battle at Chick- amauga and with Sherman at the time he began his march to the sea. He participated in many engagements and battles. After the war, Mr. Miller returned to Wisconsin to the home farm.

In January, 1868, Mr. Miller was joined in holy wedlock to Miss Albertina Hoffman in Wis- consin, and in March, 1873, Mr. and Mrs. Miller and three children moved to Merrick county,

Nebraska, where Mr. Miller homesteaded on sec- tion thirty-four, township thirteen, range eight, which has been well developed and still remains the Miller home. Mr. Miller is one of the few original homesteaders in this section of Nebraska that still live on the homestead farm. He has passed through the different phases of pioneer life in Merrick county in the years of hard times, grasshopper raids, drouths, etc. Mr. and Mrs. Miller have thirteen children living: Amelia, who is married to John Scheibe, has seven children and lives in Howard county ; Julius, also married and lives in Merrick county, has two children; Elizabeth, married to William Otte, has five children and lives in Howard county; Susie, mar- ried to Henry Thede, has six children and lives in Merrick county; Julia, married to Herman Rup- hoff, living in Schuyler, Nebraska, and has four children ; Esther, who is married to Albert Peters, has four children and lives in Howard county, Nebraska ; Ferdinand, married, has two children, and lives in Merrick county; Mollie and August, at home; Emma, who is married to William Krause, lives in Howard county and has one child; and John, Sarah, and Clara, who reside under the parental roof.

Mr. and Mrs. Miller and family are well known and have the respect and esteem of many friends.

G. W. JOHNSON.

A typical pioneer of northeastern Nebraska is represented by the gentleman above named. He has lived in this section of the country for about twenty years, and has made himself felt as a part of the growth and development of the region, building up for himself, incidentally, a substantial home and valuable property.

Mr. Johnson is a native of Sweden. He was born March 12, 1851, and is a son of John and Lotoa Johnson, who were well known farmers and worthy citizens of their community in the old country. During his boyhood our subject helped carry on the home farm, remaining with his parents until he was twenty-one years of age, at which time he left home and embarked for America. Spending little time in the city, he went almost directly to Iowa, where he secured work in a coal mine, following the same in the vicinity of Boone county for ten years. About the month of March, 1885, he came to Antelope county, Nebraska, where he filed on a homestead and tree claim, proving up on two hundred and forty acres of land in the required time. During his early residence in that vicinity he experienced many hardships and privations, incident to the life of the early settler on the Nebraska frontier, but bravely stuck to his self-imposed task of building up for himself a home and carving a fortune out of adversity, and his present pros-

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perity is proof of his energy and perseverance. During the blizzard of 1888 he suffered severe loss, nearly all of his cattle being frozen to death. A short time after this, he sold his holdings in Antelope county and came to Knox county. In 1892 he purchased a tract of three hundred and twenty acres of fine land, which he has improved with good buildings, groves, etc. He has a very handsome residence, plenty of shade and fruit trees surrounding his dwelling, and his place is known as one of the most beautiful homes and best equipped stock and grain farms in the sec- tion.

July 8, 1876, Mr. Johnson was united in mar- riage to Miss Clara Carlson, a native of Sweden, and to them have been born the following chil- dren, all of whom are occupying honorable posi- tions in life: Gust, Amanda, Edward, Leta, Min- nie, Hilda, Carl, Freeman, Clifford, Warner, Mabel and Lawrence.

H. VOELKER.

Energetic efforts and intelligence go hand in hand in the building np of a fortune, regardless of the vocation to which they are applied. One of the well developed and highly improved es- tates of Stanton county, is that owned by Mr. H. Voelker, whose pleasant home is located in sec- tion eight, township twenty-two, range two, east.

Mr. Voelker is a German by birth, and was born in Pommeron, Germany, in 1856, the son of John and Arelka Voelker. His childhood and early manhood years were spent in his native land, where he also obtained his education.

In 1882 Mr. Voelker came from Germany to America, by way of Bremen. After landing in New York, he located in the city of Elmira, in that state, and accepted employment in a woolen mill, where he remained for about three years, coming then to Madison county, Nebraska, where he engaged in farm work in the vicinity of Nor- folk.

In 1890, Mr. Voelker came to Stanton county and bought a farm of three hundred and twenty acres, where he erected a frame house about six- teen by twenty-four, which remained the home of the family for many years. Many improvements have been put on the farm sinee he purchased it, which have greatly enhanced its value.

Mr. Voelker was united in marriage to Miss Augusta Timm, in 1882. They are the parents of eight children, all of whom are living. The chil- dren are named as follows: Herman, Gustave, Martha, Anna, Paul, Otto, Ida and Clara.

During his long residence in this country, Mr. Voelker has won the esteem of all who know him. His many sterling qualities have gained him friends everywhere he has gone.

Mr. Voelker served in the army of the German

Empire from 1876 to 1879, but has had no oppor- tunity for military service in America.

WILLIAM H. AND REBECCA ATKINSON.

Located very pleasantly in section four, town- ship twenty-four, range five, is to be found the family whose name introduces this biographical writing. It has been identified with the history of Antelope county, Nebraska, from a very early date. Mr. and Mrs. Atkinson were born in Guth- rie Grove, Lee county, Illinois; Mrs. Atkinson's name before marriage being Rebecca Guthrie. Her mother was born near Wheeling, West Vir- ginia. Mrs. Atkinson was married in 1865 to Willis Lee, and they became the parents of six children. Mr. Lee's father served in the civil war, enlisting in 1863, and receiving an honor- able discharge in 1865. On December 23, 1879, Mr. Lee died in Nodaway county, Missouri, leaving six little children to the care of his wife, who had a very hard struggle to provide for them. Two of the children are now living : Benjamin F., and Ida, who is now Mrs. Charles McCauley.

On May 24, 1885, Mrs. Atkinson was united in marriage to William Atkinson, and they had one child born to them, Levie, who still resides at home. Mr. William H. Atkinson was born in Illinois, April 8, 1844. He was married in 1874 to Lucy Long, of Illinois, who died February 18, 1879. In 1882 he came to Antelope county, Ne- braska, from Illinois, and bought two hundred and forty acres of land from Mr. Ben Trueblood, who was the homesteader of the land. On this land Mr. Atkinson found a log house, in which he lived for ten months, working fifteen acres and renting the balance of his land; then returned to Illinois where he married. His father, William Atkinson, was a native of county Armaugh, Ire- land, born in 1806. In coming to America our subject's father embarked on a sail boat, and did not see land for seventy days. He then stopped off at New Brunswick where he worked in the lumber region, where timber was being procured with which to build ships, and then went to New Hampshire, where he worked on a railroad. Mrs. Atkinson's mother, Mary Ross, was a native of Wheeling, West Virginia, and died at the age of sixty-six years, deeply mourned by all.

Mr. and Mrs. Atkinson experienced many hardships and trials in early days. In the memor- able blizzard of January 12, 1888, Mr. Atkinson lost none of his own stock as did so many of the settlers, but he found shelter in his own shed for a neighbor's cattle, who could not drive them against the storm. Mr. Atkinson's children were at school, but the boy assisted in getting a neigh- bor's little girl home and froze his ears while on the way. The severity of the storm may be realized from the statement that it was thirty de-

€ 6 81 THE MEADOWS

"THE MEADOWS," FARM RESIDENCE OF ALVIN DAILY.

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grees above zero in the morning and by six o'clock in the evening the thermometer registered six degrees below zero with a perfect hurricane blowing and the air filled with minute particles of snow.

WILLIAM WESTBROOK.

William Westbrook is one of the younger men among the old settlers of Custer county, which has been his home for over thirty years. He is widely and favorably known as a useful citizen and an enterprising and successful farmer. He was born in Livingston county, New York, Sep- tember, 4, 1866, eldest of the four children of Charles and Susan (Speer) Westbrook. His sis- ter, Marjorie, Mrs. William Story, lives in Iowa, and he has two sisters deceased. His parents were born in New York and both now reside in Broken Bow, Nebraska. The father enlisted in a New York regiment for service in the civil war, returned home at the close of his term, and in 1874 located in Merrick county, Nebraska. About 1879-80 he took up a homestead on Clear creek, near Lee Park.

Mr. Westbrook received his early education in his native state and in 1874 accompanied his parents to Merrick county, coming with them later to Custer county. In young manhood he took up a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres of land on section thirty-three, township eighteen, range eighteen, in Douglas Grove pre- cinct, which is still his home. On November 25, 1890, at the home of her parents in Westerville, he married Laura Elizabeth Mattox, a native of Coles county, Illinois, who in 1884 came to Custer county with her parents, William R. and Mary (Larue) Mattox. A sketch of Mr. Mattox also appears in this work.

Mr. Westbrook has improved and developed his farm, equipping it with modern machinery and appliances. In 1906 le erected a fine modern residence, which is well situated and has very pleasant surroundings. He is at present serving as treasurer of school district number ten, and is interested in everything affecting the welfare and prosperity of the locality. He and his wife be- came parents of eleven children : Oral M., Charles R., Ruth E., Clarence W., Everett, Helen M., Lanra Mildred, William, junior, Josephine Adelaide, and Leonard R., and Leora R., twins. The children have been educated in local schools and all of them live at home.

ALVIN DAILY.

Alvin Daily an early settler of Custer county, has been closely identified with the affairs of his district and is well known throughout the county. He and his wife are always ready to give of their

time and means to all worthy projects and although among the younger people of the early settlers, have passed through many periods of Nebraska history. Mr. Daily was born near Halls- ville, in Otsego county, New York, January 1, 1862, the eldest child of William Grant and Phoebe (Howe) Daily, the father also a native of that county and born in the town or township of Decatur, February 8, 1833. William Grant Daily was the seventh born of twelve children of Peter and Lucretia (Fox) Daily, and his parents were both natives of New York, where they were married and reared their chil- dren. William G. Daily married Phoebe Howe, March 18, 1861, and they quietly celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 1911, on their farm near their sons. In 1871 he moved with his family to Altoona, Knox county, Illinois, and two years later located near Wapello, in Louisa county, Iowa. They lived for a time near Ster- ling, Logan county, Colorado, coming to Custer county, Nebraska, in 1894. After coming to · Ne- braska, Mr. Daily purchased the southeast quar- ter of section sixteen, township twenty, range twenty-one, where he and his wife have a pleasant farm home and both are active for their age. They are respected and honored by all who know them. Mr. Daily is in his seventy-eighth and Mrs. Daily in her seventy-fourth year. They spent sixteen years in Iowa, four in Colo- rado, and have been in Nebraska eighteen years. Eight children were born to them, of whom six survive: Alvin, of Custer county ; Leon, of Iowa; Ella, now Mrs. John H. Brooks, of Colorado; Sadie, now Mrs. Thomas Morgan, of Iowa ; Marion S. and Rose, who is Mrs. Lee Athey, of Custer county. Mr. and Mrs. Daily have twenty-three grandchildren.

Alvin Daily was reared on a farm, receiving his education in district and graded schools. In 1871 he came with his parents to Altoona, Knox county, Illinois, where they remained two years and then removed to Louisa county, Iowa, where they remained about sixteen years. Two of the children had died in New York, and two were born in Iowa. Alvin Daily lived on the farm in Iowa until 1882 and in his twentieth year started out in life for himself. He was married May 26 of that year to Rose Dell Peters, daughter of Daniel H. and Mary (Lake) Peters, eldest of their six children and a native of Delaware county, Ohio. Her parents were natives of Ohio and moved from that state to Iowa in 1881. The father died in August, 1900, and the mother in November of the same year. Mrs. Daily has brothers as follows: Frank J., of Kansas; Milton H. Peters, is married and has lived in Custer county since 1906; Mark, lives in Iowa; Wilbur S., is married and has lived in Custer county since 1900. Mrs. Daily is a woman of pleasing person- ality and manner and has won many friends. Mr.

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and Mrs. Daily have an adopted son, Alexander Victor, who is developing a strong liking for stock raising and farming.

At the time of his marriage Mr. Daily was en- gaged in farming, although he had previously taught school for some time during the winter terms. In November, 1883, he and his brother Leon came to Nebraska with a covered wagon and four horses, and stopped one season in Howard county, farming on rented land. In the winter of 1883 Mrs. Daily joined her husband in Howard county and in the following May they came to Custer county, taking a homestead on section twenty-four, township twenty, range twenty-two, where they lived until 1896, when they moved to the northeast quarter of section sixteen, town- ship twenty, range twenty-one, where Mr. Daily had purchased a farm in 1895. He had begun to improve this place before locating on it and the Daily farm now consists of four hundred acres of choice land, part of which lies along the Middle Loup river. It is one of the finest stock and grain farms in the vicinity and has fine fields of hay and pasture land. Mr. Daily has made a notable suc- cess of raising alfalfa, of which he makes a spe- cialty. His farm is well equipped with modern machinery and appliances and is known as "The Meadows." One hundred and twenty-five acres are seeded to alfalfa, timothy and clover. A fine brook runs through the barnyard and lots, sup- plying unlimited clear water. He also makes a specialty of stock raising, which has been very profitable. A gasoline engine is used to supply running water to the house and barns and runs a private dynamo and storage battery for light- ing the dwelling, barn and grounds. This is prob- ably the first country house in the county to use electric light.

Mr. Daily is progressive along educational and moral lines and has always taken an active part in political matters. Ile served on the county hoard during 1902, 1903 and in politics is a dem- erat, but in local elections votes independent of party lines. He

is eharter a and member of lodge number two hundred sev- enty-seven, Ancient Order of United Work- men, of Anselmo. He and his wife have a pleasant home, surrounded by fine trees and they have a fine orchard. Mrs. Daily also has a small conservatory of flowers and plants in the home, in whose culture she has been very success- ful. The family has experienced life in the prim- itive dwellings of the west, having worn out three "soddies" before building their present comfort- able frame dwelling. We are pleased to show an engraving of "The Meadows" on another page of this volume.

CIIRISTIAN DIBBERT.

Christian Dibbert, the subject of this personal history, was born in the village of Sellin, province of Holstein. Germany, October 29, 1872, and is the

son of Claus and Dorothea (Becker) Dibbert, both natives of the same province. Our subject re- ceived a common school education in his native land, and on April 23, 1888, sailed from Hamburg in the steamer "Lessing," and landed after eleven days, in New York.

He first settled in Tama county, Iowa, where he resided until the year 1891, when he came to Pierce county, Nebraska, and settled on the land he now owns and occupies, which is located in the northeast quarter of seetion six, township twenty- eight, range three. He has been successful in his farming, his only misfortune being the loss of his crops through two hail storms in 1900, one com- ing in June and another in August.

Mr. Dibbert's father, Claus Dibbert, came to America in 1891, but died three months after reaching his destination. The mother makes her home with Mr. Dibbert when not visiting with two other sons in South Dakota, who came to America with their parents in 1891.

October 22, 1908, Mr. Dibbert was married to Bertha Ernst, a native of Westphalia, who emi- grated to the United States earlier in that year. Her parents, Reinhold and Louisa Ernst, are still residing in the old country. Mr. and Mrs. Dibbert are of the German Lutheran faith, and Mr. Dib- bert votes the republican ticket.

RICHARD E. CALVIN.

R. E. Calvin, one of the prosperous young farmers and stockmen of Howard county, Ne- hraska, is a descendant of a prominent pioneer family in that section, and a splendid specimen of vigorous manhood, energetic and progressive in his methods of agriculture. He has gained the rep- utation of being one of the successful men of his locality, and enjoys the esteem and respect of all with whom he has come in contact.

Mr. Calvin was born in Polk county, Iowa, on August 15, 1867. He is the third son in the family of David A. and Mary Jones Calvin, pio- neers in Howard county, a sketch of the former appearing in this volume on another page. Rich- ard was a boy of six years when his parents set- tled in Nebraska, and small though he was, well remembers the adventures they passed through in making the trip to their new home. He received his education in the country schools here, remain- ing at home with his parents until he was twenty- two, then began farming and stock raising on his own account. He was thrifty and industrious, and soon purchased a tract of land on section twenty-five, township fifteen, range twelve, which he put in good shape, and has since added to the original farm, owning at the present time six hundred and forty acres, making it one of the ex- tensive and valuable stock and grain farms in his locality.

On April 20, 1893. Mr. Calvin was united in marriage to Miss Charlotte E. Welsh, who is a

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native of Huron county, Canada, and came into Howard county with her mother in 1880.

Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Cal- vin, their first born, dying in infancy, while Mabel, now a charming young miss, Archie W., George E. and Mildred Evaline, are sturdy youngsters and the pride of their parents' hearts. The fam- ily have a pleasant home, and large circle of good friends in their community.

Mr. Calvin is active in local affairs, having served in the past in different capacities for the benefit of his precinct, although at the present time he holds no office. He is a self-made man in every sense of the word, and is universally re- spected for his earnest endeavor in aiding his county and state

JAMES GRANT CRUIKSHANK.

James Grant Cruikshank is recognized as one of the more successful among the younger genera- tion of farmers of Valley county, Nebraska, and the land he now operates is that secured as a homestead by his father in 1885. Mr. Cruik- shank is a native of Dallas county, Iowa, born December 19, 1879, a son of James and Mary (McLachlen) Cruikshank, the former a native of Scotland and the latter of Canada. A sketch of the father is to be found in these pages and his career well illustrates the exceptional opportu- nities offered in the state of Nebraska at the time he came to it with his family. He and his wife reared a large family of children amid pioneer conditions, James Grant being the youngest of the seven. He accompanied his parents to Val- ley county at the age of six years, in 1885, re- ceived his education in the community and there grew to manhood. He graduated from the Arca- dia high school in 1897 and then engaged in farm- ing.

On April 17, 1901, Mr. Cruikshank married Miss Bessie Rhodes, who was born in Omaha, daughter of Henry F. and Cora (Reeves) Rhodes, who now lives in Eugene Oregon. The father was born in North Lansing, New York, and the mother in Douglas county, Nebraska. The Reeves family were among the earliest settlers of Omaha ; Mrs. Rhodes' father pre-empted the land on which Creighton college is situated, while her cousin, William Nebraska Reeves, was the first white child born in the city. An uncle, A. D. Jones, was first postmaster of the new settlement, and so little mail arrived that he carried it all in his hat. She has a sister, Mrs. S. W. Bright, liv- ing at Arcadia, Nebraska, and one brother and four sisters in Oregon. Her father, Mr. Rhodes, was a Nebraska pioneer, served two years in the state house of representatives, and in an early day was a teacher in the Omaha schools. Mr. Cruikshank and wife have one child, Thelma Fern.

Mr. Cruikshank is active in all affairs affect- ing the general welfare and advancement of his

community, is an enthusiastic farmer and a promi- nent citizen. He is the owner and operator of the homestead originally secured by his father, which is well improved and equipped as a grain farm. He is now serving as director of the school board of district number thirty-four.

In politics he is republican, and is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and with his wife has received the Rebekah degree.

He well remembers when Valley county was all open country. Their first dwelling was a dug- ont fourteen feet square, having but one window ; in this six of them lived through the first few years. In 1894, the year of the drouth, they raised enough to supply the family wants, which was much better than most families were able to do. At the time of the fearful blizzard of Jan- uary 12, 1888, Grant was a lad at school; he went home with some of his school fellows, remaining until the storm had abated the next day. One unusual experience of the early years occurred to Mr. Cruikshank about three weeks after his marriage; on May tenth he and his horse were found unconscions on the prairie and for sixteen days he lay in a state of coma. Consciousness returned gradually, and for years his nerves and eyes were severely affected, in fact he has not fully recovered to this day.

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Compendium of history, reminiscence, and biography of Nebraska : containing a history of the state of Nebraska also a compendium of reminiscence and biography containing biographical sketches of hundreds of prominent old settlers and representative citizens of Nebraska, Part 131

Author: Alden Publishing Company Publication date: 1912 Publisher: Chicago : Alden Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1402

Author: Alden Publishing Company
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago : Alden Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1402