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 212

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 212

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In 1885, Mr. Osborn was united in marriage with Miss Sadie Duffee, who died on May 20. 1890, leaving two children, Richard and Ivy.

In 1895, he married Miss Ellen C'ox, and they became the parents of six children : Troy, Vergie, Ruth, Zenna, Allen and Dean.

Mr. Oshorn's home is located on seetion fifteen. township twenty-two, range three, and he is rec- ognized as an intelligent, energetic farmer, who well deserves the large measure of success he has attained.

WILSON W. POTTS.

Wilson W. Potts and his wife have been resi- dents of C'uster county since 1879, but had lived

in the state of Nebraska several years prior to that time. They have passed through the most important period of the history of their region, and have always been identified with its best interests. Mr. Potts owns five hundred and sixty- seven acres of fine farm land, besides other desir- able properties, and is a successful business man. He was born in Knox county, Illinois, May 25, 1850, next to the youngest of the eight ehildren born to Jonathan and and Mary (Wilson) Potts, natives of Ohio. The father died in Knox county, Illinois, in the fifties, and the mother in Butler county, Nebraka, during the eighties. Several of the ehildren are deceased, and, besides Wilson W., those surviving are: Two daughters in Illi- nois, and one danghter, Mrs. Lethan Jones, living in Ulysses, Nebraska; one son, Noah, served ,in the Union army during the Civil war, and was held for some time in Libby and Andersonville prisons.

Mr. Potts reached young manhood on his father's farm in Illinois, receiving his education in the local schools, and when he was about seven- teen years of age, he went to Kansas. He worked there for several years at farming, and then spent a short time in Butler county, Nebraska. Return- ing to Illinois in 1872, he spent about a year there, and in the fall of 1873, eome baek to Butler county, and secured a homestead of eighty aeres near David City, where he remained for five years. He was married in David City in August. 1878, to Naney A. Dinwiddie, a native of Wiseon- sin, and a daughter of Robert and Susanna (Bradley) Dinwiddie, natives, respectively, of Virginia and Maryland. Mr. Dinwiddie was born in 1801, and died in 1884, and his wife, born in 1808, died in 1874, both passing away in Wiscon- sin. They have a daughter living in Wisconsin, and one in South Dakota, and six sons are de- ceased, four of whom served in the Civil war. Before her marriage, Mrs. Potts was a teacher in the public schools of Iowa. South Dakota and Nehraska.

In 1879, Mr. and Mrs. Potts came to Custer county, and secured a tree claim of one hundred and sixty aeres of land, and pre-empted a like amount of land, which he improved and devei- oped into a fine stock and grain farm, and in the fall of 1899, he was able to retire from the farm, and erected a modern residence in Broken Bow, where he and his family have since resided, al- though he retains possession of his farm land. While living in Butler county, he was instrumen- tal in organizing a school district in his commun- ity, and served for some time on the board of same. He has always been interested in the wel- fare and progress of his county and state, and is one of the best known men in his part of Ne- braska. On April 29, 1898, he enlisted from Lin- coln in Company N, First Nebraska Infantry, and served in the Spanish-Ameriean war, partiei- pating in the capture of Manila and other engage.

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ments and skirmishes.

Two children have been born to Mr. Potts and wife, namely: Maud, wife of Charles Ince, of Broken Bow, and Madge .J., a student in the Lin- coln University, taking a course in medicine. Mr. Potts is a member of the Masonic fraternity, hav- ing taken the initiatory degrees in 1877.

C. C. BASTIAN.

For more than thirty years the above-named gentleman has been a resident of Wayne county, during which time he has been closely identified with every movement which had for its aim the development and growth of the community, or the betterment of its existing conditions. He is one of the most prosperous and prominent farm- ers and stock-raisers of his section of the state, and is the proprietor of one of the most valuable estates in the county.

Mr. Bastian is a native of New York, where he was born in 1854. His parents, Philip and Bertha Bastian, were both natives of Germany. and both came over to this country when they were small children. When the subscriber was still an infant, in 1855, his parents came to Taze- well county, Illinois, and it was in this state that he received his education in the local distriet sehools. Philip Bastian died in Tazewell county, Illinois, March 1, 1900, and his widow is still living there on the old home farm.

In 1876, Mr. Bastian came to Wayne county, and purchased one hundred and sixty acres of his present farm. He passed through many hard- ships during those early days. He lived in a dugout for two years, but at the end of this time, was able to build a small frame house. Grass- hoppers took most of his crops for the first few years, thus' making it a difficult proposition to exist in the new country. Many times he was threatened by prairie fires, which he had to fight for hours before his dwelling was out of danger. During the winter of 1880 and 1881, there was so much snow that it was impossible for him to go to the timber after wood, and so they burned weeds and cornstalks to furnish warmth and heat for cooking. The days of those hardships have long since passed away, however, and Mr. Bastian now is taking life very easily in his com- fortable home.

In 1876, Mr. Bastian was married to Miss Elizabeth Schreck, and of this union seven chil- dren have been born, whose names are as follows: Albert, Anna, Ottilie, Adam, Lennard, Martin and Antony.

Mr. and Mrs. Bastian are members of the German Lutheran church, which the entire family attend. Mr. Bastian is a democrat. He served as assessor of Plum Creek precinct one term, was road overseer several years, and has been a member of the school board most of the time

since he came to Nebraska. He has usually served as a member of the election board.

ROBERT ADAMS. (Deceased.)

The gentleman whose name heads this per- sonal history was identfied with the agricultural interests of eastern Nebraska for about a quarter of a century, and was well known as a prosperous and snecessful citizen.

Robert Adams, deceased, son of David and Matilda Adams, was born in Ohio, December 22, 1835, and was fourth in a family of nine children. He has one brother, J. D. Adams, residing in Palmer; one sister in Illinois. The parents are deceased, having died in Illinois. Our subject received his edneation mainly in Ohio schools, later going with his parents to Burean county, Illinois.

On February 7, 1865, Mr. Adams was united in marriage to Miss Amanda J. Sill, of Pennsyl- vania, and later of Illinois. In the fall of 1873, Mr. Adams came with his wife and three children to Merrick county, Nebraska, and homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres of land in section fourteen, township fifteen, range seven, west, which remained the home place until time of his death, Angust 20, 1897. Mr. Adams was sur- vived by his wife and eight children: Nora, wife of Marshall Prutsman, has two children, and re- sides in Illinois ; Howard G., married, has one son, and lives in Idaho; Nellie, wife of O. E. Burton, has two children, and lives in Merrick county ; Birdie, deceased in infancy; Eva, wife of F. E. Wymer, has one son, 'and resides in Merrick county ; Luella, wife of R. W. Wolcatt, has one danghter and lives in Merrick county; Alvin, who resides in Idaho; and Blanche, who was married to G. M. Grimes, has one son, and resides in Central City (Mr. Grimes died in 1907, in Iowa) ; and Elmer S., who is married, and lives in Idaho.

In 1905, Mrs. Adams left the homestead, and moved to Central City, and built a good home, where she now lives, surrounded by a large circle of friends. She still owns her homestead.

Mr. Adams has been a member of the Metho- dist church for many years, and, indeed, helped to organize the first church in his locality, and was steward of the same. He was a member of the United Brethren church in the early days.

Mrs. Adams has one brother in Lincoln, Ne- braska; one in Newport, Nebraska; two sisters in Oklahoma, and one sister in Missouri. Her father died in 1892, at Joplin, Missouri, and her mother in 1874, in Bloomington, Illinois.

When Mr. and Mrs. Adams and their three children came to Nebraska, the trip was made in a covered wagon, camping out along the way. They were accompanied by two of Mr. Adams' brothers, John D. and George W. Adams. When

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Mr. Adams and family first located on their claim, they built a small log house, one room below and one above, and lived in it about seven years, when it burned, and the present frame house was built. In April following their arrival, the famous snow . storm of that time occurred, and for the next three years, grasshoppers destroyed nearly all the crops.

JOSEPH KURKA.

Joseph Kurka, who has recently moved from his fine estate in section four, township thirty- two, range seven, Knox county, to a comfortable home in Verdigris, is one of the very earliest set- tlers of northeastern Nebraska. He has spent the past forty years of his career in this country, going through the pioneer days, and braving many hardships and privations in carving out a name and fortune for himself. He is now one of the foremost men of his section-prosperous, and a gentleman of firm characteristics, whose high standing in his community is well merited.

Mr. Kurka is a native of Bohemia, his birth occurring in 1853, in Sac village. He was the son of Wenzel and Matilda (Myer) Kurka. Our subject, with his parents, came to America in 1870, sailing from Bremen on a steamship, and landing in New York. From there the family proceeded westward, and finally settled in Knox county, Nebraska, where they took up a home- stead in section four, township thirty-two, range seven, on which they built a log house. Later our subject took up a homestead in section thirty- one, township thirty-one, range seven, building a log house thereon, and also took up a tree claim. Here in the early days the family endured more than the usual hardships and privations related by the average old-timer, as the early date of their settlement in this region, when it was almost unknown to settlement, necessitated enduring dangers and discouragements not experienced by the later pioneer settler. The Indians were a menace to the peace and comfort of the early comer, often killing and carrying away cattle. Prairie fires also did their share in creating havoc among the handful of brave sons of the western prairies, and our subject had to fight this danger many times to save lives, homes and property. Deer and antelope were plentiful in the early days, and were frequently seen grazing on the prairies.

Mr. Kurka was united in marriage in 1881 to Miss Theressa Mady, and they are the parents of nine children, namely: Carl, who is married to Miss Barba Brant; Matilda, wife of Wenzel Dietz; Mary, wife of John Wright; Emma, now Mrs. Herb Baurf: Frank, whose wife was Miss Rosa Marshal; Rosa, wife of Victor Shryer; Bertha, wife of Rudolph Taucho; Julia, now Mrs. J. Sucup ; and Earnest, who married Albina Shryer.

Mr. Kurka now owns one thousand acres of 32

good land, which estate is well improved, and a home, of which our subject may well be proud. As before stated, Mr. Kurka is a well known and prominent citizen of his community, and deserv- ing of the success he has attained.

FRITZ SCHNELL.

Fritz Schnell, who owns and operates one hun- dred and sixty acres of land on section twenty- one, township thirty, range three, Knox county. Nebraska, is one of the substantial farmers and esteemed citizens of his community. He is a pioneer of his county, and has devoted his entire career to farming and ranching, making a success of the business.

Mr. Schnell is a native of Germany, his birth occurring in the province of Holstine in 1855, and is a son of Fritz and Mary (Hanson) Schnell. Our subject's father served his fatherland during the war of 1848 between Germany and Denmark.

Mr. Schnell remained at home with his par- ents, until 1872, when he and a brother, William, came to America, sailing from Hamburg, coming by way of Liverpool to Glasgow, an thence to New York. After landing in the new world, Mr. went direct to Wisconsin, where he worked on a farm for three years. He then removed to Dodge county, Nebraska, remaining there until 1887. Mr. Schnell then came to Knox county, Nebraska, where he bought one hundred and sixty acres of the Gilman ranch, and since his possession of the same, has greatly improved his farm.

Like so many of the first settlers in this reg- ion, Mr. Schnell has experienced many hardships and disappointments and crop failures. In the terrible blizzard of January 12, 1888, which will never be forgotten by those who were unfortun- ate to experience it, Mr. Schnell lost nearly all his stock.

Mr. Schnell was united in marriage in 1882 to Miss Mary Diekman, and Mr. and Mrs. Schnell are the parents of three children, whose names are as follows: Fritz, Anna and Clara. They are a fine family, and enjoy the regard and good will of a wide circle of friends and acquaintances.

In polites Mr. Schnell is a democrat, and he and his family attend the German Lutheran church.

JOHN PETERSON.

The gentleman above mentioned is classed among the substantial and practical agriculturists of Antelope county, Nebraska, and is proprietor of a valuable estate of three hundred and sixty acres, which is located in section thirty-six, town- ship twenty-six, range six. He has been a resi- dent of northeastern Nebraska for the past thirty years, ten years of which he has passed in Ante- lope county, and during his residence here, he and his family have acquired a host of friends, enjoying the respect and esteem of all who know

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them. He settled in Platte county in 1880, then moved to Boone county, and came to Antelope county in 1901.

Mr. Peterson is a native of Sweden, being born in Foncliepene village, near Guttenburg, Febru- ary 18, 1857. He is the son of Gustave and Char- lotte Peterson, the father being born in 1837, and, after reaching manhood, followed the occupation of farming on a large farm in Sweden. In April, 1880, Mr. Peterson left his native country to come to America, and to the west, where he could get cheaper land .. He came by the way of Hull, from there to Liverpool, England, taking passage on the steamship "Indiana."

Mr. Peterson came to Antelope county, Ne- braska, in 1901, from Boone county, where he had resided for some twenty years. Mr. Peterson took up a homestead on section ten, township twenty, range five, and there built a sod house. Here Mr. Peterson went through all the hard- ships and drawbacks incidental to the tiller of the soil in the early days, and during the dry year of 1894, lost his entire crops by the hot winds, which prevailed at that time. Mr. Peter- son now owns three hundred and sixty acres of good land, and two acres of orchard trees.

Mr. Peterson married Miss Gusa Johnson, who was born in Guttenburg, Sweden, March 29, 1857. They are the parents of ten children as follows: Charles, who married Miss Jessie Dodds, and who has three children, now lives in Brunswick, Ne- braska; Oscar; Henry, who married Miss Pearl Allen, is now a resident of Clearwater township, they have three children, all boys; Anna, now Mrs. Gus Forsett, lives in Holt county, Nebraska ; Edward, Grant, Edith, William, Wilhelmina and Cecilia.

E. M. DODGE. (Deceased.)

E. M. Dodge belonged to an old family of Custer county. He was a native of Fulton, Illi- nois, born January 9, 1859. He received his edu- cation in his native state, and there attained his majority. In company with his parents and sis- ter, he made the trip from Indiana to Fillmore county, Nebraska, in the fall of 1883. They made this journey in typical emigrant style, with a covered wagon and horses, and were six weeks on the way. They engaged in farming in Fill- more county, and in the summer of 1886, Miles Dodge came on up into Custer county. The fol- lowing summer his parents also came to the county, where they spent the remained of their lives. One of their daughters, Mrs. Cosner, lives in Merna, and another, Mrs. Samuel Trot, in Anselmo, Nebraska.

Mr. Dodge was married, February 21, 1887, to Maggie, daughter of Joseph B. and Emma (Bristow) Smith, old settlers of Fillmore and Custer counties. A sketch of Mr. Smith appears

in this work, with extensive mention of his fam- ily, which has been prominent in many circles in central Nebraska. Five children were born to Mr. Dodge and wife: Glenn, living in Seattle; Jessie, Kenneth, Bertie and Marvel, all at home. Mr. Dodge was a representative citizen, and was identified with the progress and upbuilding if his community.

CHRISTIAN H. AHRENDT.

Christian H. Ahrendt, of Callaway, Nebraska, is a self-made man, and successful in life through energy and economy. He and his wife came to Custer county wholly without financial resources, but possessed of ambition to get ahead, and a willingness to work hard. He was born in Ger- many, May 22, 1849, third in the family of eight children born to Henry and Minnie (Butefur) Ahrendt, natives of that country. He has two sisters in New York, two in Colorado, one brother in New York, one in San Francisco, and another in Germany. The father came to America in 1876, locating in New York, where he died in 1884. The mother died in Germany in May, 1877.

Mr. Ahrendt grew to manhood on a farm in his native country, and there received his educa- tion, fitting himself for the profession of teacher. On December 21, 1877, at Micklenburg-Schwerin, Germany, he married Wilhelmina Wallenburg, also of German birth, who was for several years a kindergarten teacher. In December, 1883, they came with their two children to America, locating in Buffalo county, Nebraska, and in February, 1885, came to Custer county, and secured a home- stead of one hundred and sixty acres of land in section ten, township fourteen, range twenty- three. Later they pre-empted one hundred and sixty acres. In 1891, they purchased three hun- dred and twenty acres of land in section thirteen, township fifteen, range twenty-three, which has since been the home place. They were among the earlier settlers of the county, and have passed through an important stage of its history. They met many discouragements in their early years on the farm, reaching the Custer county home- stead with but thirty-five cents in money. They were full of courage, however, and lived for a time in a dugout, and later in a sod house. In the fall of 1911, they retired from the farm, and came to Callaway, where Mr. Ahrendt erected a comfortable and modern residence, their pres- ent home. A family group portrait will be found on another page of this volume.

Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Ahrendt, of whom three now survive: Anna Mary, wife of Phil K. Hoffman, has two children ; Hulda Christina, wife of George A. Huff, of Kansas, has three children; Otto P., married to Miss Nora Weaver, September 10, 1911. Mrs. Ahrendt's father died in 1904 in Brown county,

CHRISTIAN H. AHRENDT AND FAMILY.

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Nebraska, and her mother lives in Brown county. She has one sister and three brothers in Nebraska, and one brother in Kansas.

Mrs. Ahrendt was always accustomed to the usages and ways of a large city until coming to the western states of America, and her resource- fulness was a dominant factor in the success which they have attained. Both were trained to the work of teachers in the fatherland, and it gave them the advantage over the average emi- grant of their time, in that it sharpened their wit so that they readily improvised methods of pro- cedure to meet and overcome emergencies of all kinds. A notable instance may be mentioned of their first night's experience on their Custer county homestead. Overtaken by a blizzard as they arrived at their destination on a day in January, a few household effects and one pig con- stituted the entire worldly possession of the fam- ily, which at that time numbered two infants, besides themselves. Experience alone can tell what it means to successfully cope with the feroc- ity of such a storm. The warmth from an enfold- ing feather bed as it lay on the ground protected the infants, while father and mother did the work of excavating in the side of a bluff that made the temporary habitation, using such material of their furniture as would constitute shelter. The one small stove that burned cornstalks for fuel, and the protecting bodies of the parents, supplied warmth during this night of storm, which made the dugout tenable. Later in the spring, a sod house was built, the sod being turned by a neigh- bor, who was more fortunate in the possession of a team of horses, Mrs. Ahrendt carrying the sods and the husband doing the actual construction. Close attention is given to the influences that up- lift, in the Ahrendt family, and we herewith quote the language of a document awarded to one of its members: "Diploma of Honor, award- ed to Hulda Ahrendt for excellence in deport- ment and recitations, and for regularity of atten- dance in the Grammar Department School, during the term ending June seventh, 1895. Given at Callaway, State of Nebraska, this seventh day of June, 1895. Signed-Belle L. Cole, Teacher."

FRED SCHWARZ.

Persistent industry has placed this gentleman among the prosperons agriculturists of eastern Nebraska.

Fred Schwarz, formerly of Osmond, first came to Nebraska with his parents in 1871. He was born in Hancock, Michigan, November 2, 1864. His father, Hy Schwarz, came from Upper Hessia. Germany, and was employed in the mines of Michigan, where he died when Fred was a small lad. The mother, who was Elizabeth Faubel, a native of Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, married George Schwarz, a brother of her first husband, and, with him, migrated to Nebraska in 1871.

They came by rail to Fremont, Nebraska, and thence by ox team to a farm, three miles north of Wisner, Nebraska. Here Fred grew to man- hood, and remained with his parents until his twenty-second year, when his step-father gave him a team of colts. He rented a farm near home some three years, and then bought a quarter-sec- tion, eight miles northwest of Norfolk, which he cultivated two years, and then sold. Moving back to Wisner, he purchased a quarter-section near town, and for ten years farmed near the home of his childhood.

In March, 1902, he came to Osmond, and bought a farm, north of town, on which he lived two years, then sold, and bought a farm of one hundred and twenty-six acres to the west of Osmond, and within the corporate limits. Here he raised stock, feeding all the grain he culti- vated, and so managed that he needed little hired help, except in the rush season in the middle of summer. On February 22, 1911, he moved to the old place on which he was reared, which he pur- chased of his step-father, paying one hundred and tweny-five dollars per acre. The farm contains two hundred acres.

Mr. Shwarz was married at Wisner, February 27, 1890, to Miss Henrietta Brandes, who was born March 4, 1872, near Scribner, Nebraska, and· a daughter of William and Elizabeth (Dobelstein) Brandes, natives of Hanover and Holstein, Ger- many, respectively. They came to America in 1871, and settled eventually near Wisner, Ne- braska, where the father still lives. The mother died, March 9, 1908.

Mr. Schwarz is a democrat in politics, but has no lodge affiliations. Mr. Schwarz well remem- bers the deep snow of the winter of 1881 and 1882. A drift formed at their cornerib nine feet high, until chickens, pigs and other stock could walk up the drift and help themselves. In con- trast, the family were often called upon to fight prairie fires. Game was plentiful in the country when Mr. Schwarz first came-so much so, that he has seen twenty to thirty deer in a herd. His step-father killed but one, however, the only venison they had. Times were so hard during the early years that there was no money to buy ammunition, to say nothing of a rifle in which to use it. A few wild turkeys were seen from time to time in those days. The first years they lived in a dugout, and for one year lived in the house of an uncle, whose wife had died. They returned to the dugout, and later built a good residence. When Fred was fourteen, he hired out at ten dollars per month, and bound grain on a harves- ter with a school ma'am. Mr. Schwarz was not out in the notable blizzard of 1888, but Mrs. Schwarz was kept in the school house all night. She started to go home, contrary to warnings, and got outside the door, which opened to the north. The blast struck her, and threw her

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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 212

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