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 50

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 50

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Two children were born to the second marriage, Eva, who is a graduate of the Creighton high school and now a teacher in the county, and Earl, who is a student in the Creighton schools. Mrs. Keller is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and an active church worker.

In politics Mr. Keller is a republican, but re- fuses to be irrevocably bound by party traditions ; he insists that the highest patriotism lies in electing to office the men who will best serve the people rather than a strictly party man, regard- less of his fitness for the place. He believes the American saloon is a constant menace to Amer- ica's manhood, a continual waste of the country's best resources, and a hindrance to national pro- gress.

He is a member of the Masonic lodge, the Mod- ern Woodmen of America, and the Ancient Order of United Workmen.

FRANK H. GREEN.

Frank H. Green, a familiar name to all those residing in Nance county, Nebraska, is one of the truly self-made, successful farmers and business men of that region. He was born in Ashtabula county, Ohio, on November 22, 1851, and was the second member in a family of four children born to Leander L. and Marilla Green.

When our subject was a child of four years the family moved into LaSalle county, Ill., where he

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AND BIOGRAPHY.

grew to manhood, receiving a common school edu- cation. In the fall of 1868, Frank, with his father, mother, two brothers and one sister, located in Livingston county, that state, and remained there for a number of years, our subject going alone to Iowa in 1872. During his residence in Living- ston county, Illinois, he worked in a general store for about four years, gaining a good knowl- edge of the mercantile business during that time. Upon locating in Walnut, Iowa, he went into the hardware and implement business, which he ear- ried on successfully up to 1886. At this time he came into Nance county, although he had pre- viously been in the section in company with his brother, O. E. Green, they having been through the state in 1879, and in 1880 the latter purchased a large tract of land and engaged in the real es- tate business, with an office in Genoa, and our sub- ject was also interested in this enterprise al- though Iowa remained his residence up to 1886. In the fall of 1883 the two brothers organized the Bank of Genoa, which was operated as a private bank for about twelve years and then merged into a state bank, and in May, 1889, it became known as the First National Bank of Genoa, since which time our subject has sold out his in- terest in the bank.

In the spring of 1887, Mr. Green settled on a farm in section eight, township fifteen, range eight, purchasing nineteen hundred acres of land, which has remained his home place until the present time. He has been extensively engaged in farming and stock raising, and has a fine herd of pure breed Galloway cattle which are among the best of their kind in Nebraska, and are ship- ped into many different parts of the country.

Mr. Green was supervisor of his district for four years, from 1902 to 1906 inclusive, and was also director of school district number four, for a number of years.

Mr. Green was married in Harlan, Iowa, on September 24, 1877, to Elida Brown, she being a native of Livingston county, Illinois. They have seven children, named as follows: Gertrude Nora, Charles O., Ethel, William G., Mable, Hazel, Bessie Claire and Frances Elida. Three daughters are living at home, while the others are married and settled in different sections, all being well known and enjoy many friends in their home vicinities.

The father of our subject died in Genoa, on September 8, 1906, in his eighty-second year, while his widow still resides in that city, and is a charming lady of over seventy-nine who has many friends. Leander and Marilla Green, with a daughter, followed our subject to Nance county in 1887, where the father was engaged in the lumber business for several years, and at his death was survived by the entire family, his being the first death in the Green family circle.

M. A. BORRALL.

Like many another business man of the north- west, Mr. M. A. Borrall, has been a Nebraskan from his youth up, his father having settled in the state when the lad was in his early teens. He was born in Mahaska county, Iowa, on June 20, 1870. His parents are Henry and Nancy M. Borrall, the latter now residing in Butte, Ne- braska, while her husband departed this life in June, 1907.

The Borrall family came to Cass county, Ne- braska, in 1874, but owing to the grasshopper pest which destroyed all their crops, were obliged to leave their farm and return to Iowa, going to Peoria, and remained up to 1882, in June of that year again crossing the Missouri river into Ne- braska and locating in Polk county. For several years their time was divided between Osceola and a ranch on Snake creek, a mile north of the falls. In the former place our subject learned the meat business and was engaged in that work until the family moved to Boyd county in the fall of 1891. Here the father and M. A. Borrall filed on homesteads six miles west and one mile north of Butte. In February, 1893, our subject relinquished his claim, afterwards leasing the land from the friend who took the relinquishment, and farmed the place for about three years. On leaving the farm he established a freighting business between the inland cities of Fairfax, Naper, Butte and Gross, the railroad towns Stuart and Atkinson on the south, and the river points, Porters and Scalp Creek Landings, on the east. These lines of freight traffic were kept going winter and summer until the fall of 1901, when on account of the failing health of Mrs. Borrall, he drove through the country to Oklahoma and Texas, returning the following summer after spending three months in the open, from which she was thought to have received some benefit. He followed freighting another year, then went with his family to Grant's Pass, Oregon, arriving there in August, 1903, and remaining until July 4, 1904, when they started for South Dakota, Mrs. Borrall and the children stopping at Doniphan, Nebraska, where her death occurred, July 12, 1904, at the home of her uncle. Mr. Borrall fol- lowed freighting up to 1908, and on January first of that year, purchased the meat business of Brittle & Company, at Butte. He has been very successful in his venture here, and has prospered in this vocation which he had learned early in life but discontinued for a number of years.

Mr. Borrall was first married near Butte, in 1893 to Mary A. Caldwell, and they became the parents of four children, namely: Bertha May, Vera Ione, Mary Pearl and Leah Gertrude.

On February 19, 1908, Mr. Borrall married Miss Grace Taylor, of Butte, daughter of Fred and Della (Wood) Taylor, and of this union a son, Ray, has been born.

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Mr. Borrall is a republican, and always looks to the best interests of his community. He is a good citizen. and enthusiastic about the country of his adoption, believing like many others who have settled in Nebraska, that there is no place where he could be more contented, or where the people are more cordial, courteous and whole- souled. He enjoys a liberal patronage in his business, and the fact that he handles the best goods obtainable, gives him the trade of the best people in the town.

GURNEY R. PITTENGER.

Gurney R. Pittenger, a prominent business man of Albion, has been prominent in the up- building of the commercial and other interests of that city, and also along political lines, since taking np his residence here some fifteen or more years ago.

Mr. Pittenger was born in Hardin county, Iowa, on January 10, 1862, and was the third child in the family of Thomas and Minerva Pit- tinger, who were the parents of four boys and four girls. In the fall of 1875, the family set- tled in Red Oak, Iowa, and made that their home for about nine years, then three of the boys and two girls moved to Wayne county, Nebraska, and in the spring of 1894, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Pit- tenger and three sons came into Boone county, locating on a farm near Albion, where Thomas Pittenger died in 1898. The mother, three daugh- ters and two sons survive, all living in Nebraska, the former making her home with her son, Gurney.

Gurney Pittenger finished his education in the Red Oak high school and afterwards taught several winter terms of school in Wayne county. He then started in farming and has followed that occupation continuously since that time, also being interested in different lines of business.

Mr. Pittenger has a wide circle of friends, is prominent among the different secret orders and lodges in his town, and takes an active interest along all lines for the upbuilding of his county and 'state, also in educational and moral matters. He resides in Albion, having a pleasant modern home, and the family are among the leading citi- zens of that place.

Mr. Pittenger is president and manager of the Albion Electric Light Plant, and County Com- missioner of Boone county, having been elected to the latter office in the fall of 1904, on the republican ticket, and re-elected in 1907 and 1910. With his brother, our subject has always been associated in the different enterprises under the firm name of Pittenger Brothers, carrying on stock and grain farming, also the implement business, for many years.

Our subject was married in Red Oak, Iowa, on October 22, 1886, to Miss Emma C. Heckel, she being a native of Illinois. They have seven children, all living at home, named as follows:

Myrtle Inez, who is a teacher in the public schools of Albion; Minerva Elizabeth, formerly a teach- er but now the wife of C. C. Branson of Clear Lake, Iowa; Thad H., a bookkeeper at the First National Bank of Albion, May, Ione, Clarence and Dorothy, forming a most interesting and charming family group.

W. A. JONES. (Deceased.)

Among the prominent citizens of Wayne county, may be mentioned the above gentleman, who, at the time of his death had resided here for more than forty years. He was the owner of a fine farm, and after a lifetime of great toil, was enjoying his ease in his comfortable home.

Mr. Jones was a Canadian, and was born in 1853, his parents being Thomas and Marie Jones. His father was English and his mother Scotch. They came to Canada after their marriage. For the first ten years of our subject's life, the family lived in Canada, but in 1863 they moved to Ohio, where they lived for three years. The following three years were spent in Chicago, but in 1869 they joined the stream of migration going to the west and came to Omaha. They remained here only a month, then drove from that point to Wayne county, where the father filed on a quarter-section in section thirty-five, township twenty-five, range four.

This done, a sod house was first made, which served as a home for about a year, when an adobe house was built. This edifice in its turn has been superseded by a more modern dwelling. Mr. Jones lived on this homestead at the time of his death.

The first few years were a desperate struggle for them, as was the case with most of the early settlers. It must really have seemed sometimes as if all the forces of Nature were in league against the handful of hardy pioneers. Many became so discouraged that they left their homesteads and returned to the east, if they had means enough to enable them to do so. However, those who remained have been well rewarded for their efforts in developing the boundless resources of this country.

Amongst the old settlers, Mr. Jones was ever a conspicuous figure because of his untiring industry, his shrewdness and thorough integrity, which won the confidence of all. His part in the development of the community was nobly done. and he was respected and esteemed by all with whom he came in contact. He was counted among the most prosperous farmers in this sec- tion of the state.

In 1892, he was married to Miss Lena Nelson, of Cuming county. Five children were born to them, William, Lloyd, Jesse, Elizabeth and Theodore.

Mr. Jones died at the Presbyterian hospital at Omaha, on April 7, 1911. He had gone there for

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treatment for gall stones, and died the third day after the operation.

F. A. SCHWEDE.

F. A. Schwede, a leading farmer and stockman of Stanton county, Nebraska, is a native of the county, born on his father's homestead, which has always been his home, in 1876. He is one of three children born to Fred and Augusta Schwede, both born in Germany. The parents spent their early lives in Ommeron, Germany, and in 1867 sailed to the United States, spend- ing eight weeks on the voyage, and landing at New York. The father was a farmer by occupa- tion, and they located first in Wisconsin and spent three years in that state. In 1870, they drove a team to Nebraska, bringing their house- hold goods with them, and purchased the Finske Wright place, on section nineteen, township twenty-four, range one, of Stanton county. They were among the early settlers in that region, and at first had few neighbors and suffered the usual hardships and privations of pioneers, but the father at once commenced improving his estate, and this work has since been continued by him and his son, until it is now one of the best grain and stock farms in the region. At first they were greatly annoyed by the loss of crops which fol- lowed the depredations of the grasshopper, but were triumphant over all difficulties, and eventu- ally won a very fair degree of success. Many times in the early days they were obliged to fight prairie fires to preserve their crops, stock and buildings. In those times they used a team of oxen, but the estate now contains many modern farming appliances and contrivances.

F. A. Schwede is now the owner of the home place, in all, four hundred acres.

Mr. Schwede received his education in the early country schools of the neighborhood and was reared to farm labor, beginning to help his father as soon as he was old enough to be of ser- vice. He is an enterprising and progressive farmer and active in the welfare and progress of the community.

He was married in 1898 to Miss Martha Gall, and they are parents of two children, Nelsa and Clarence. Mrs. Schwede is a daughter of Fred and Bertha (Maass) Gall.

FRANZ BROCKMOLLER.

Prominent among the citizens of Antelope county, Nebraska, is Franz Brockmoller, who since the year of 1897 has made this region his home and done his share in the developing of the agricultural resources of this section of the coun- try. Mr. Brockmoller lives in section fourteen, township twenty-six, range eight, Antelope coun- ty, where he has built up a fine property and home.

Mr. Brockmoller is a native of Germany, born

in the village of Boetzenberg, province of Meel- lenburg Schuerin, January 8, 1856. His father died when our subject was but thirteen years of age. After he grew to his young manhood, Mr. Brockmoller served three years in the German army. He also had two brothers who fought in the Franco-Prussian war. On September 30, 1883, he sailed from Hamburg on the steamship "Har- monia" and after a voyage of thirteen days he landed in New York City and immediately started for the west, arriving in Dodge county, Nebraska, where he worked out on a farm for one year. He then rented for six years, also rented in Washington county for five years. From there he moved to Stanton county, and then from there to Antelope county.

In the year 1866 Mr. Brockmoller was united in marriage to Miss Anna Femmerling, who is al- so a native of Oldenburg, Germany, and Mr. and Mrs. Brockmoller are the parents of fourteen children whose names are as follows: Mary, An- na, Freda, Rosa, Dora, Olga, William, Herbert, Louis, Fred, Francis, Edward, Adelia, and Louis. They are a fine family and enjoy the respect and esteem of all who know them.

In the year of 1897, Mr. Brockmoller came to Antelope county. He rented for three years and then bought his present farm of two hundred acres, with a splendid grove, a fine orchard of two hundred trees and vineyard. Mr. Brock- moller takes an active interest in all pertaining to the welfare of his community, and has the good will and well wishes of his neighbors and friends.

Mr. Brockmoller has prospered, but has like all others in his vicinity, occasionally met with re- verses. In June, 1905, a severe hail storm, which passed over this locality, knocked all the shingles off Mr. Brockmoller's house and did quite a little other damage to his buildings and crops. Mr. Brockmoller, having learned to be a butcher in the old country, found it to be of good use to him as he was able to make quite a little extra money during the hard times he experienced after com- ing west. On January 12, 1888, he was helping some neighbors butcher when the great blizzard of that day came on and he was storm bound and for several days was not able to get home.

ASA B. BISHOP.

Asa B. Bishop, city marshal of Plainview, was born in Staunton county, Nebraska, September 22, 1871, and is a son of Curtis and Eliza (McFar- land) Bishop, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work. With the family, he resided two years in Missouri, and his father's death occurr- ing soon after their return to Staunton, the re- sponsibility of the family devolved upon Asa, the eldest of a family of four. Being a dutiful son, Mr Bishop remained with his widowed mother after the younger sons had left the home nest, and has kept her with him since.

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He was the last of the four sons to abandon bachelorhood.

Mr. Bishop was married in Antelope county, July 1, 1903, to Miss Rena Tolles, b inging his bride to Plainview, where he had established a home the year before. Mrs. Bishop is a daughter of George and Mary (Johnson) Tolles, natives of Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, respectively. She was an only child, and was born in Mazomanie, Wisconsin, coming with her parents to Nebraska in 1884, by way of Yankton, South Dakota, to where they came by rail and drove thence across the country to Antelope county, where they set- tled on the homestead where they still reside. Mr. and Mrs. Bishop are the parents of three sturdy children : George, Mary and Thomas.

During the early days, besides suffering seven successive years from the grasshopper plague, the Bishops lost their entire crop in the notable hailstorm of June, 1890. During the fearful bliz- zard of January 12, 1888, Mr. Bishop braved the storm to bring his younger brothers home from school, making in safety the trip that in many places cost the lives of those so unfortunate as to be out in the blinding storm.

Mr. Bishop is now reaping the harvest of his early responsibilities and faithfulness, being a highly respected citizen. He is, in national poli- tics, a republican, but in state and local elec- tions is, like most men of the west, independent of party lines, casting his ballot for the best man. He is a member of the American Order of Protec- tion.

He has been engaged in teaming since moving to Plainview, and in January, 1910, was appointed city marshal to complete the term of W. S. Fisher. resigned.

CHARLES SEEBER.

Charles Seeber, recognized as one of Howard county's most substantial citizens and upright business men, is also fully alive to the best inter- ests of his fellowmen. He makes his home in Boelus, where with his family he enjoys a fine home and wide circle of friends.

Mr. Seeber was born in Hamilton county, Ohio, on March 19, 1846. When he was eleven years of age his parents moved to Wisconsin and settled on a farm. He lived at home np to Ang- ust, 1862, at that time enlisting in Company D. Thirty-third Regiment of Wisconsin Infantry, and served until the end of the war, all of that time being spent under the command of Gener- als Grant and Sherman. The principal battles in which he took part were Coldwater, Missis- sippi, fought on April 19, 1863, Siege of Vicks- burg. from May 20th, until its surrender, Julv 4. 1863. and the engagement at Jackson, Missis- sippi, July 12, 1863. He was with General Sher- man on his Meridian expedition through Missis- sippi, the Red River expedition, and under Gen- cral A. J. Smith's command met the enemy in the

following hotly contested battles: Fort DeRussy, Pleasant Hill Landing, Clourtieville, Bayou Bonff, Marksville, and Yellow Bayou, Louisiana, including a number of skirmishes during these expeditions. He was also under General Smith at Tupelo, Mississippi, on July 13, 14 and 15, 1864, and in the month of October following, was with General Mower on his march through the swamps and bluffs of Arkansas and Missouri in pursuit of the rebel General Price. On the 15th and 16th of December, 1864, his regiment was at Nashville, facing the rebel band under General Hood, where they captured six hundred prisoners, then contin- ued the pursuit to Eastport, Mississippi. They also made a raid to Corinth, Mississippi, in Jan- uary, 1865, and on the 6th of the following month, started for Mobile via Cairo, New Orleans and Dauphine Island. His regiment took an active part in the Siege of the Spanish Fort, in Ala- bama, and in the reduction of Mobile.

During our subject's service in the army he traveled over nine thousand miles, of which twenty-four hundred miles was made on foot.

On August 9, 1865, Mr. Seeber received his honorable discharge and he boasts of the fact that he was never wounded during his career as a sol- dier. After returning to his home in Wisconsin he followed farming, and was married on January 30, 1867, to Lizzie Mary Burton, a native of Mich- igan. They settled on a farm in Grant county, Wisconsin, lived on it for about six years, then came to Howard county, Nebraska, homesteading a quarter section, al o taking up one hundred and sixty acres of timber. He worked hard and suc- ceeded in building up a good farm in the six years he occupied the place, then sold out and purchased over six hundred acres sitnated one mile south of the town of Boelus, known as the Keystone Stock Farm, which was a splendidly improved and equipped farm, used mostly for stock raising. This Mr. Seeber operated personally up to 1906, when he retired from active farming and removed to Boelus, purchasing a fine home, and is now en- joying the fruits of his early labors. Mrs. Seeber died at the home in Boelus on October 17, 1909.

Mr. Seeber is a republican politically, and dnr- ing the years 1889-'90 and '91, served as county commissioner. In the early days he was elected director of school district number twenty, serving for over thirty years, and he is at present chair- man of the Boelus school board, which office he has held for several years. In the spring of 1907 he was elected a member of the Boelus city coun- cil, serving np to the spring of 1909. He has also held the office of road supervisor for a good many years.

Mr. and Mrs. Seeber have had twelve children, eight of whom are now living, named as follows: Edward, Henrietta, Mattie, William, Fred, Laura, I ettie and Henry, all married excepting the last two mentioned.

Mr. Seeber is a prominent member and com- mander of Canby Post number eight.

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GEORGE RAYMER.

One of the oldest settlers of Holt county, Ne- braska, is the venerable George Raymer, now liv- ing retired from active life at Atkinson. He was born in Roulette, Potter county, Pennsylvania, March 30, 1833, his father, George Raymer, Sr., being a native of Strassburg, province of Alsace, Germany, then a part of France. The father came to America as a young man and settled in the Keystone state. There he married Catherine Adams, a native of the same province as himself, and they remained in Pennsylvania until about 1839. The father of Catherine Adams moved to Russia, where he became very wealthy, and on a voyage from that country disappeared from the ship with all his money, the supposition being that he was murdered for his fortune, then thrown overboard, as neither he nor his money was ever seen again.

The Raymer family came west about 1839 and located on a farm about four miles from Milwau- kee, Wisconsin, this land now being a part of the city, which at that time was a small village at the mouth of the river, extending but a few blocks from the lake. The father owned a fine piece of timberland, from which he chopped the piles used in building the city's first docks. He sold this land about 1843 and moved to Stephenson coun- ty, Illinois, settling on a farm near Rock City, where George Raymer, junior, grew to manhood.

Upon reaching manhood Mr. Raymer rented a farm near Rock Grove, Illinois, and was living on that farm when he decided to take his savings and go west where land was so much cheaper and he would be able to secure a farm of his own. In October, 1873, he reached Seward county, Ne- braska, and purchased three hundred and twenty acres of land of the Burlington and Missouri railroad company, sixteen miles west of Lincoln. He endured the losses common to all settlers of that period, from the grasshopper plague, by which he lost his crops for several years, and had to keep his courage through many losses and dis- couragements before finally reaching a season of prosperity. He has lived in Holt county since March, 1883, and first filed on a homestead seven and one-half miles northeast of Atkinson, secur- ing a timber and pre-emption claim. He resided on this farm until the fall of 1902, moving to Atkinson October 8, and has since resided in the city.

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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 50

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