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 224

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 224

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Mr. Copsey is well and favorably known in his part of the county and has always taken an active interest in local affairs. In his early days in the state, Grand Island, eighty miles distant, was his nearest trading point, and he drove oxen in operating his farm.

FERDINAND KOEHLER.

Ferdinand Koehler resides in seetion thirteen, township twenty-six, range two, Pierce county, Nebraska, and is one of the leading old-timers in this section of the state. He came here in 1870, and has always done his full share in the better- ment of conditions throughout the community in which he lives.

Mr. Koehler was born in the village of Koer- litz, province of Pomerania, Germany, February 20, 1850, and is the son of Christian and Henrietta (Buske) Koehler. The father was born in 1810 and died in 1861, and the mother was born in 1820 and died in August. 1901. In 1854 the family embarked at Hamburg, Germany, on a sailboat, and nine weeks later landed in New York, whence they went to Wisconsin and rented a farm near Watertown, living there sixteen years.

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COMPENDIUM OF HISTORY, REMINISCENCE AND BIOGRAPHY.

The two Koehler boys, Fred and Ferdinand, came to Norfolk, Nebraska, in 1870, and immedi- ately drove to Pierce county, where they pre- empted land, Ferdinand on section thirteen, town- ship twenty-six, range two, and a year later changed to a homestead entry. On this he built a sod house, living in this two years, and then built a good frame honse. Here our subject suffered about all the hardships ever experienced by any of the pioneer settlers. In the grasshopper raids of 1873 and 1874, he lost all his crops, and he also suffered from hailstorms. In the blizzard of 1873 the two brothers were visiting at a friend's, and were compelled to remain three days. In that of January 12, 1888, in getting the children home from school, he had to lead them, watching the ground to keep the road.

Mr. Koehler was married September 10, 1872, to Miss Willmnena Manske, daughter of John and Wilhelmina (Lempke) Manske, natives of Pome- rania. Of this union twelve children have been born, ten of whom are living: Fred, married Mar- tha Schultz, and has one child, Isabel; Mary, mar- ried George Koehler; Henry; Emma, wife of Al- bert Kipke, has three children, Lydia, Elmer and Rueben ; Herman, married Cicel Flemming, and has three children, Harry, Alfred and Luella; Martha married Henry Sporleder, and has one child, Erwin; John, Frank, Samuel, Esther; and George and Louis, who are dead.

Mr. Koehler now owns eight hundred aeres of choice land, and is highly respected in his com- munity, as is also his family. He worships at the Evangelical church.

JENS M. PETERSEN. (Deceased.)

Jens M. Petersen was born in Dollerup, Jyl- land, Denmark, March 18, 1829; and died March 14, 1908.

September 1, 1858, Mr. Petersen was married to Miss Dorothea M. Petersen, and six children were born of this union, three boys and three girls. Two of the girls died in Denmark.

In the year of 1872 the family emigrated to America, arriving in Chicago, Illinois, about the middle of July, where a month later Mrs. Petersen, and their youngest child died, the latter a hoy about one year of age, leaving Mr. Petersen with three children, the eldest of whom was but eleven years of age. September 13, 1872, Mr. Petersen and his children left Chicago for the west, arriv- ing .in Howard county, Nebraska, September 16, and on the nineteenth'day of that month, Mr. Pe tersen took out his first papers on the place which remained his home until the time of his death.

In the fall of 1874 he was married to Karen M. Petersen, a sister of his first wife. Six years later this wife died. There were five children born of this marriage, the youngest heing but a few days old when his mother died. In the spring of 1883 Mr. Petersen made a trip to Denmark and there

married his third wife, Kjerstine Nielsen. She died in the fall of 1834. After her death Mr. Pe- tersen made his home with his son, P. O. Petersen, on the old farm.

Mr. Petersen endured the hardships of the early days, experiencing 'erop failures and suel other troubles natural to that time. In the spring of 1875 his house and barn with their contents were destroyed by fire, leaving the family with only the clothes on their backs, several head of stock, a few bushels of wheat, and a sod shanty for a home. In 1883 his entire erop was destroyed by a hail storm.

Mr. Petersen was a firm believer in the Chris- tian faith and was a man who seldom complained. lle was a kind man to his family, a good neighbor, honest in all his dealings, and was favorably known in his community.

For a number of years Mr. Petersen was the only musician for miles around, and furnished music for all the weddings, entertainments, etc. Seven children and thirty-two grandchildren sur- vive his deathı.

CHRISTIAN P. PETERSEN.

Christian P. Petersen was born in Denmark, June 18, 1862, and in September, 1872, came into Howard county, Nebraska, with his father, Jens Petersen, and family. At the age of about twelve years Mr. Petersen went out for himself and tended cattle three years for Mr. Fred Shullsen in HIall county. When sixteen years of age he worked on a farm, then was employed on the Union Pacific railroad in different locations for one season, at which time he returned to IIall county and followed farming about three years. He next went into Hamilton county and worked as a mason and brick-layer for several years, then returned to farming. 1

On November 1. 1891, Mr. Petersen was mar- ried to Miss Karen Irine Anderson at the home of her parents, and to this union have been born five children whose names are as follows : Carl F., Ed- mund W., Jens Elmer, Augusta Lenora, and Al- fred Lorenzo. At the time of his marriage Mr. Petersen rented a farm in Hamilton county and lived there four years. From there he moved to Merrick county and farmed another four years, there serving as treasurer of his school district. He came into St. Libory precinct in the spring of 1900, and is now located on the Herman Petersen farm, which is better known as the old Dingworth farm. Mr. Petersen came from a representative family, and has passed through all the pioneer days of Howard county.

THOMAS WILSON.

Thomas Wilson, who has a pleasant farm home in Custer county, and is well-known as a progres- sive and energetic farmer, is one of the early settlers of his part of the state and is favorably regarded as a public-spirited, useful citizen. IIe

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COMPENDIUM OF HISTORY, REMINISCENCE AND BIOGRAPHY.

is a native of Yorkshire, England, born October 4, 1863, youngest of the three children born to George and Margaret (Carr) Wilson. He has a brother and a sister living in England. The par- ents spent their entire lives in England, where Tlos. Wilson was reared and educated. He came to America in 1881, soon afterward locating in Custer county, where for several years he worked at ranching. About 1890 he went to Box Butte county, and secured a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres, which he lived on two years.

On January 3, 1892, Mr. Wilson was married in Custer county, to Miss Mary Sigourney, a na- tive of Whiteside county, Illinois, who came to Nebraska with her parents in 1880. She is a daughter of Orin M. and Abigail (Van Winkle) Sigourney, natives of New York state, and the father of French descent; both parents died in Lincoln, Nebraska. Mrs. Wilson has two sisters in Nebraska, a brother in Oregon, and two sisters in Washington state. Since their marriage Mr. and, Mrs. Wilson have lived in Custer county and have carried on her father's homestead, which Mr. Wilson purchased in 1902. Three children have been born to them, namely: Maggie, Vallie, and Tom. He is much interested in the development and upbuilding of his community, and he and his wife are interested in everything that is calculated to advance the general welfare. Mr. Wilson is republican in politics ; fraternally he is a member of the Independent Order Odd Fellows, and the Modern Woodmen of America.

DAVID BREWER

David Brewer, a typical pioneer of northeastern Nebraska, who resided in section twenty-eight, township twenty-two, range two, Madison county, but who now lives in Madison, has lived many vears in this section of the country and has been a part of the growth and development of this region. building up for himself a substantial home and fortune by his perseverance and thrift. Mr. Brewer is now retired.

David Brewer is a native of Massachusetts, where his birth ocurred May 29, 1838; he comes of an old Massachusetts family, and is a son of Jonas and Eunice (Smith) ,Brewer, both claiming their nativity in old Massachusetts, where their grandfathers, Oliver Smith and Jonas Brewer, senior. also were born. In 1843 our subject, with his family, left Massachusetts, and came to DuPage county, Illinois. where they remained several vears.

M'r. Brewer was united in marriage in the vear 1862, to Miss Evoline Gillett, and seven chil- dren blessed this union, whose names are as fol- lows: Jonas, Joseph, James, Arthur, Clara, Elson, and Dick, who died in infancy.

After residing in DuPage county, Illinois, for several years, as stated above, Mr. Brewer moved

to Iowa, remaining there four years. They then came to Madison county, Nebraska, in 1870, coming by the praririe schooner route with two other families. After arriving at their destination and securing land, Mr. Brewer first put up a dug- out, living in this only a short time, however, when it was replaced by a sod house. He has built two sod houses in his day, and found them very comfortable dwellings, both in summer and winter.

Mr. Brewer went through many hardships in those early days at a time when civilization was scarcely known on the western frontier; the grass- hoppers destroyed every vestige of crops and vegetation for miles around, leaving noth- ing but bare patches of ground where thriving green stalks had been but a short time be- fore; this was very discouraging for the settler in a new country where there was no work nor money to'be had; fuel was a scarce article in those days, and twisted hay and cornstalks were burned to keep them warm. In strange contrast to the scarcity of fuel, is the fact that prairie fires destroyed everything in their wake, our subject and his family having many times to fight the scorching flames to save their lives and property.

In 1890 Mr. Brewer was again united in mar- riage, the bride being Mrs. J. McGann, and Mr. and Mrs. Brewer have had three children, whose names are as follows : Gertrude, Grace, deceased in infancy ; and David, also died when a baby.

Mr. Brewer resides in his pleasant home where he is surrounded by a host of loving friends and neighbors, and in the evening of his life is living in peace and comfort, with the assurance that what he possesses has rightfully come to him through his persistent efforts of industry and integrity.

CHARLES W. BOOTII.

Charles W. Booth, a progressive citizen of Cus- ter county, Nebraska, is one of the early settlers of his region, and is much interested in everything pertaining to the welfare of his county and state. He was born at Centerville, N. Y., June 25, 1833, being fifth of the ten children born to Alfred J. and Cynthia (Smith) Booth. He has two broth- ers now living in Michigan and his other brothers and sisters are deceased. Mr. Booth was reared and educated in his native state and there engaged in agricultural operations when he reached a suit- able age. He was married December 25, 1860, to Miss Nancy MeNinch, a native of Livingston county, New York, and reared in that state.

In August, 1862, Mr. Booth heard the call of his country and enlisted in Company F, One Hun- dred and Thirty sixth New York Infantry, serving until the close of the war. He received his final discharge at Rochester, New York, in June, 1865, having earned an honorable record. The more important battles in which he participated were :

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COMPENDIUM OF HISTORY, REMINISCENCE AND BIOGRAPHY.

Lookout Mountain, Missoinary Ridge, Knoxville, Peach Tree Creek and Atlanta. He also took part in numerous minor engagements and accom- panied Sherman on his famous march to the sea. At the close of the war he returned home and ju 1868 removed to Michigan, where he lived several years.

In the early seventies Mr. Booth came to Otoe county, Nebraska, shortly afterward moving to Iowa, and in 1888 he returned to Nebraska and homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres of land in Custer county, and a tree claim of the same size near Broken Bow. He sold his farm, which he had developed and improved, in 1900, spent one year at Broken Bow, then purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land on sections thirty-three and thirty-four of township seventeen, range nineteen, which has since been the home place. It is a well-improved and equipped stock and grain farm and is in a pleasant location in the county. Mr. Booth has the esteem and friendship of his neighbors and associates and stands well in his community.

Nine children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Booth, as follows: Mrs. Eleeta Barrett, of Broken Bow, has two children; Edwin, married and living in Custer county, has five children; Joseph, also married and living in the county, has three chil- dren; Mrs. Cora Heffele, of Custer connty, has eight children; William, also of the county, i; married and has one child; Ernest, of Custer county, has four children ; Mrs. Grace Coulter, of the county, has two children; Mrs. Lizzie Shoup. also of Custer county, has two children; George has two children. The members of the family are well-known in Custer county for their uprightness and stability of character and their interest in every movement for the general good. There are twenty-eight grandchildren in the family.

B. JENKENSON.

B. Jenkenson, who resides in Washington town- ship, on seetion two, township thirty, range eight, is numbered among the old settlers of Knox coun- ty, Nebraska. He has been engaged successfully in farming for many years past, and while develop- ing a comfortable home for himself, has done mneh to build up his locality, and now enjoys the esteem of a host of people.

Mr. Jenkenson is a native of Ohio, where his birth occurred in 1866, and he is the son of Wil- liam B. and Irene (Foster) Jenkenson. His fa- ther was a native of Ireland and was born in 1819. Ilis mother was born in Ohio in 1826. William B. Jenkenson died in Ohio in 1907, and his wife died in 1909, in the same state.

B. Jenkenson came to Knox county, Nebraska, in the year of 1888, where he took np a homestead claim on section two, township thirty, range eight, and on this land built a frame house. This old homestead still remains the home of Mr. Jenken-

son, and having passed twenty-three years. of his life here. the place seems very dear to him, al- though he has had many vieissitudes and hard- ships, experieneing the drawbacks of the early settler of this portion of the west.

Mr. Jenkenson was united in the holy bonds of matrimony in 1890, to Miss Nora Grim, and Mr. and Mrs. Jenkenson are the parents of 'seven chil- dren, whose names are as follows: Joe, William, Ilelen, John, Cora, Edward, and Earl. Mrs. Jen- kenson's father, Jacob Grim, was one of the first settlers of Knox county.

Mr. and Mrs. Jenkenson and family are highly esteemed and respected by all who know them, and they have many staunch friends in their com. munity.

THOMAS M. WIELEMAN.

Thomas M. Willeman, Merrick county, Ne. braska, takes an honorable place among the early settlers of that section, and has enjoyed those rich rewards which agriculture is ever ready to render to those who engaged in its pursuit with foresight and industry. He has had much to do with the early settlement and general improvement of this part of the state.

Mr. Willeman was born in Henry county, Ohio, August 7, 1847, and was the fourth of ten children in the family of David and Elizabeth Willeman, who had. three sons and seven daughters. Mr. Willeman was brought up on the farm in the Ohio woods, and lived in Henry county, Ohio, until coming to Merrick county, Nebraska, in August, 1872. Ifere he took np a homestead in the north- east one-fourth of section twelve, township fonr- teen, range seven.

In the fall of 1873 Mr. Willeman returned to Ohio and was married to Alice MeIntosh in Henry county, Ohio, February, 1874, and in the spring of that year, Mr. and Mrs. Willeman came to the homestead farm in Merrick county, Nebraska, to live, and this has been their home until the present time. Mr. Willeman is one of the few pioneer settlers that still live on the old original homestead farm. He has one hundred and sixty acres of land in this farm and several hundred acres in Merrick county, and also owns other Nebraska land. He is a successful farmer and stockman, and on his home farm he has good buildings and a comfort- fortable home.

Mr. and Mrs. Willeman have six children : Roy ; Myley, wife of Joseph Emmert, and living in Mer- rick county, Nebraska; Lloyd, married, has one child and resides south of the home farm; Verdie; Sidney ; and Ernest. Mr. and Mrs. Willeman are well-known and enjoy the respect and esteem of a large circle of friends.

Mr. Willeman has passed through all the dif- ferent Nebraska periods-from early days and land of small value to fine farms and large land valnes. He is a successful and prosperous farmer

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and stockman, making a specialty of shorthorn cattle. He is prominent in his neighborhood.

Mr. Willeman enlisted in Company .A, One Hundred and Ninety-second Ohio Volunteer In- fantry, in February, 1865, receiving his honorable discharge in August of that same year.

ANTON KRIPNER.

Anton Kripner. the subject of this sketch, has followed the vocation of farming nearly all his life. and by his thrift, honesty, and integrity, has not only been successful as a tiller of the soil, but has merited the esteem and confidence of all with whom he has formed an acquaintance.

Mr. Kripner was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1879, and is the son of Mike and Rosa Kripner, who are natives of Bohemia. In 1871, Mike Krip- ner left his native land and sailed for America, the land of promise to many thrifty and ambitious young men of foreign climnes, and after a long voyage he landed in New York. Upon his ar- rival in the United States he came west as far as Chicago, Illinois, where he remained about eight years. In 1878 Mike Kripner was married, and while Mr. and Mrs. Kripner resided in Chicago, Anton was born. From Chicago the family pro- ceeded farther westward. coming to Knox county, Nebraska, where they took up a homestead claim in section thirty-three. township thirty-one, range seven, on which they built a log house, and this place has remained the old homestead farm.

In 1910, Mr. Anton Kripner was united in the holy bonds of wedlock to Miss Annie Thomeseak. Mr. and Mrs. Kripner are highly esteemed and well respected people, and are surrounded by a host of stauneh friends and acquaintances. Feb- ruary, 1911, Mr. Kripner purchased a livery in Verdigris, where he and his estimable wife are now residing.

FRANCIS L. SISSON.

Francis L. Sisson, a well-to-do resident of St. Edward, Nebraska, is widely known and univer- sally respected and esteemed in that part of Boone county. Mr. Sisson and his family are among the earliest settlers of that part of Nebraska, and has done a great deal to help bring about the pros- perity enjoyed in that region. He is a prominent member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and is very proud of the fact that he has two brothers who served with him one of whom was a captive in Libby prison for some length of time.

Mr. Sisson was born in Liberty, Jackson county, Michigan, on May 21, 1836, and was the fifth in order of birth in a family of nine born to Eurastes R. and Lois Sisson, who were old set- tlers in Michigan, the family later going to Ne- braska, where the father died in 1870, and his wife passing away four years later, her death occurring in Wisconsin, they having located in the latter

state when our subject was about seventeen years of age.

On September 4, 1861, Mr. Sisson enlisted in the Fifth Wisconsin Battery, light artillery, and took part in the battle of Chaplain Hills, Stone river, Chickamauga, Mission Ridge, Resaca, Pump- kin Vine, Kenesaw Mountain, Chattahoochie river, Peach Tree Creek, Jonesborough, Benton- ville, and many other minor engagements and skirmishes. He received an honorable discharge in June, 1865, and was one of those participating in the Grand Review held at Washington in May of that year.

After the war Mr. Sisson returned to Wiscon- sin and started farming on his own account. He was married there on August 10, 1867, to Emmia Hill, of Argyle, who had been a teacher in the Wisconsin schools for a number of years. In 1874 he came with his family to Nebraska, his first loca- tion being in Platte county, homesteading one hundred and sixty acres on the Boone county line. also took a timber claim of one hundred and sixty acres, making that his home for about six years, then sold out his homestead and moved to St. Ed. wards. There he built a good home and has lived ever since, Mr. Sisson following the painter's trade for the past twenty years.

Mr. and Mrs. Sisson are among the earliest set- tlers in their part of Nebraska, and widely and favorably known. The former is an honored member of Ilinsman Post, Grand Army of the Re- public, and his wife is a member of the Womens' Relief Corps. Her father and one brother served in the war, also her grandfather was a soldier in the war of 1812.

Eight children have been born to our subject and his good wife, namely : Minnie, Lloyd, Luella, and Lester, deceased, the latter killed in the Span- ish-American war, on April 23, 1899; Leon, Mat- tie and Mary are married and settled in different parts of Nebraska, while Bertha is at home with her parents.

EDWARD RINGER.

It would be impossible to give a complete his- tory of the state of Nebraska without including a sketch of the life of Edward Ringer, who is one of the most prominent of the old settlers. Mr. Ringer resides on seetion twenty-six, township twenty-five, range six, Antelope county, where he has a beautiful home, and is surrounded by his family and a host of friends and acquaintances.

Mr. Ringer is a native of Schoenebeck, near Storget, Prussia, Germany, his birth occurring in the year of 1851, he being the youngest of seven children. His father died when our subject was a small boy. After growing to manhood, Mr. Ringer followed the ocenpation of hack driving, in which he was engaged at Stettin, Germany.

In 1871, Mr. Ringer came to America, he, like so many sons of the German Empire, having heard - of the grat land of promise in the new world where

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land could be had for almost nothing, the price of purehase being the time spent in living on it to "prove upon" the claim. Ile sailed from Ham- burg by way of ITull, England, to New York; and after landing in the United State he at once . started for the great west to make a fortune for himself, and upon his arrival in Nebraska took up a homestead and also a pre-emption claim and built a dug out, later on building a log house. When Mr. Ringer first came to this western eoun- try, it was apparently a barren desert, peopled only with Indians who were eamping around on the banks, and who did not hail the white man's ad- vent to their hunting grounds with any sign of pleasure.

Mr. Ringer was united in marriage October 31, 1879, to Miss Carrie Ellis, and Mr. and Mrs. Ringer are the parents of six children: William, Walter, Ray, John, Lena, and Elsie. They are a fine family, beloved and respected by all who know them.

Mr. Ringer, having come to this western eoun- try at so early a period, has seen more hardships and experienced more danger than fell to the lot of the average pioneer of the western frontier; among other experienees, during the years of 1873- 74-75, the grasshoppers destroyed the erops, mak- ing three successive years of crop failures, almost causing a famine; other losses oceurred through hail, drouths, etc .; and not the least factor brought to bear on the trials of our subjeet were the prairie fires which raged for years around this section of the country, and which had to be almost constantly fought. But through all the years Mr. Ringer endured and stayed on, having implicit faith in the ultimate prosperity of the region ; which belief has come true past all anticipation ; Mr. Ringer is now a prosperous man, and as before stated, owns a beautiful home, with two hundred and forty acres of fine land, and substantial improvements.

Mr. Ringer was a horse trader for many years, which accounts for his being so well-known. He is highly respected and esteemed throughout this part of Nebraska, his business relations and transactions always having been of the most upright and honorable eharacter.

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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 224

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