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 92

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 92

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Politically Mr. Hubby is a republican, having voted that ticket since the war, in which he served for four years. He first enlisted in Company C, Second Iowa Cavalry, in April, 1861, serving up to September, 1863. He was then transferred to Company G, Twenty-fourth Iowa Volunteer In- fantry, and remained in the service four years and eight months, altogether. He took part in the hat- tles of Fort Henry, Fort Donaldson, Shiloh, Cor- inth, Iuka, Independence, Missouri, Pea Ridge and Helena, Arkansas, and later, the Sieges of Vicks- burg, Jackson and New Orleans. Mr. Hubby was detailed to duty in the quartermaster's depart- ment, in the fall of 1863, and was discharged at New Orleans on September 26, 1865, having seen every side of a soldiers' career, and he has a very vivid recollection of all the horrors of that ter- rible time.

In 1907 Mr. Hubby was elected justice of the peace at Lynch, and is still serving in that ca- pacity. He is a prominent comrade in the Grand Army of the Republic, and with his wife attends divine worship at the Methodist Episcopal church.

FREDERICK WILLIAM RILEY.

The above named gentleman was one of the very first settlers in Boone county, Nebraska, lo- cating in the region in the spring of 1872, and has spent practically his entire life in the vicinity which is still his home. He is now well prepared to enjoy in his old age the fruits of a well-spent career, having been most successful in accumulat- ing a sufficiency of this world's goods, possessing a fine home and elegant farm in Manchester pre- einet.

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Frederick William Riley was born in Delaware county, Iowa, on June 11, 1861. He was the third child in the family of Judge John W. and Jane E. Riley, who were the parents of ten. The entire family left lowa and came to Nebraska in the spring of 1872, our subject driving an ox team across the plains to Boone county, and as he after- wards expressed it, "thought they would never get to their destination, being some six weeks on the journey."

He remained on his father's farm for a number of years, attending the local schools, and finishing his education in St. Edward, under Professor Rush, in a graded school. With a brother, he practically had the management of the home farm from the time he was fifteen years of age, his father being engaged in the hardware and imple- ment business in Albion. When Frederick was twenty-one, he started for himself in partner- ship with his brother, Samuel S., in the farm and stock business, still remaining on the homestead. They engaged extensively in the latter work, getting together a thoroughbred Shorthorn herd, and succeeded in building up one of the finest and largest herds of registered stock of this breed in the United States. The Riley Brothers' Stock Farm, as it is known throughout the west, is one of the richest and most progressive in the country, and the brothers are authorities on the work of breeding and raising fine stock. Their home place is situated on section thirty-five, township twenty, range six, and contains one hundred and sixty acres. They also own large stock interests in Holt county, Nebraska, having twenty-five hun- dred acres in that vicinity.

Mr. Riley was married to Miss Fannie Speigel, at the home of her parents near Albion, in Feb- ruary, 1904. Mrs. Riley's parents were early set- tlers in Boone county, and widely and favorably known. Our subject has one daughter, Ruth, a very charming little miss. Recently Mr. Riley made a trip to Columbus, Nebraska, in an auto- mobile, over the same country he drove an ox team in the early days, and this proved both a very pleasant and instructive journey, enabling him to note the great changes which had occurred in a comparatively few years. The automobile trip consumed two hours' time, while in former days it required a day to cover the same ground.

T. M. WOODS.

T. M. Woods is one of the early settlers of Wayne county, Nebraska, and is a representative citizen, honest and industrious and interested in the general welfare and progress of his com- munity.

Mr. Woods was born in Perry county, Pennsyl- vania, January 14, 1861, and is a son of James and Louise Woods, both natives of Pennsylvania. He received his education in that state, attending the common schools. He was one of nine chil- dren.

Mr. Woods lived in Pennsylvania until after he had attained his majority and then, induced by the prospect of securing good land at a small figure, came to Nebraska and purchased his present home of one hundred and sixty acres. where for several years he lived as a bachelor and kept house for himself. He acquired his place in 1885, at which time it contained no improve- ments, and since then he has been occupied in de- veloping the land and adding to the productive- ness and value of his estate. He owns a very nice home and is one of the progressive and enterpris- ing farmers of his part of the state, having to a large degree adapted modern scientific methods of operating his farm. He is engaged in a general line of farming and pays considerable attention to raising stock. Mr. Woods has added eighty acres to his first purchase and now owns two hundred and forty acres.

In 1891, Mr. Woods was united in marriage with Miss Margaret Hill, daughter of James Hill, and born in Illinois. Six children have been born of this union, namely: Ethel, James Clarence, Gladys May, Hazel, Thelma and Elmer. He and his wife are interested in the cause of education and other matters affecting the interests of the public in general.

FRED SCHELLPEPER.

For more than a quarter of a century, the gen- tleman above named has been identified with the history of the development of Stanton county, Ne- braska, and his valuable property in section eleven, township twenty-four, evidences his ear- nest labors during these many years. He has succeeded in building up a good home and is one of the highly respected citizens of his township.

Mr. Schellpeper is not a native of this country, as he was born in Brandenburg, Germany, in 1845. His parents were Fredland and Freda Schellpeper. Our subject received his education in Germany, and remained at home helping his parents until 1870, when he decided to come to the United States, where he might perhaps be able to take advantage of the opportunities offered in the west.

Like many of his countrymen, he came to America by way of Bremen, arriving at Baltimore. instead of going first to New York City. From Baltimore, he came direct to Stanton county, where he took up a homestead, which has been in his possession ever since.

For four years, Mr. Schellpeper "kept batch " on his claim, but it was dreary, lonesome work, so that in 1874, he married Miss Ida Manthy, and took his bride home to the little frame house which he had just built. Their first years in Ne- braska were somewhat disheartening, as the grasshoppers took most of their crops for several years, and they were a number of times in im- minent danger from the frequent prairie fires.

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In the winter time, blizzards were a source of danger, too. In the great blizzard of 1888, Mr. Schellpeper was lost all of one night and wan- dered around over the fields, being rescued the next morning, nearly frozen.

However, they continued their residence on the old homestead and gradually built up a val- uable estate, with all improvements and conveni- ences. Mr. Schellpeper is a man of sterling char- acter, and has gained the confidence of all with whom he has come in contact. He has an exten- sive acquaintance and is universally esteemed.

Mr. and Mrs. Schellpeper are the parents of eight children, upon whom they have bestowed the following names: Edward, William, Rynholt, Ella, Paul, Arthur, Lawrence, and Augusta. The family occupy a prominent place in the social and educational life of the community. They are mem- bers of the Lutheran church.

JAMES BECKLEY.

Prominent among the leading old settlers of Antelope county, Nebraska, the gentleman whose name heads this personal history is entitled to a foremost place. He is a man of active public spirit, always lending his aid and influence for the betterment of conditions in his community. Mr. Beckley resides in section ten, township twenty- eight, range six, where he has a pleasant home and valuable estate.

Mr. Beckley was born September 1, 1846, and is a native of the state of Indiana; and is a son of Thomas and Phoebe (Garrett) Beckley, the for- mer a native of the state of Ohio, where he was a farmer by occupation, and the latter a native of Virginia, who died when our subject was a small boy.

Mr. Beckley knows every phase of a farmer's life from childhood up to manhood, being reared and educated in the country schools, when he was not assisting in the farm work on the home place.

On May 20, 1877. Mr. Beckley was married to Miss Mary Losure, and they are the parents of five children, named as follows: Edgar, Hattie, who is a trained nurse; Edith, who married Wil- liam Brooks; and Thomas and Walter. Mr. Beckley's wife passed to her reward in 1906. Mrs. Beckley's father served in the army during the civil war in 1861, enlisting in the Twenty-sev- enth lowa Regiment.

Mr. Beckley came to the western country in 1878, settling in Antelope county, Nebraska, where he took up a claim on the present lo- cation of his home, making his residence in this one spot for over thirty-three years, which must have grown very dear to him in all this time, although some of his earlier experiences in this home may not have been the pleasantest. He had many hardships and incon- veniences in those days. Niobrara was the near- est market place; and the scarcity of fuel and the

distance it had to be hauled, caused great hard- ships, especially during the winter or 1880 and 1888, when they had to burn hay and corn stalks for fuel, to keep from freezing to death. In those days it took two days to haul a small load of wood from the Niobrara river.

Mr. Beckley has taken up timber claims in addition to his homestead and now owns eight hundred acres of good land, and has seventeen acres of trees that are the finest in the country round. He is now enjoying the fruits of his early energy and endurance, and hopes to attain a ripe old age to realize the comforts he was foresighted enough to prepare for himself.

Mr. Beckley has several head of thorough- bred Durham cattle. He is the only farmer in Antelope county who raises Lancastershire hogs, of which he now has about seventy-five head of thoroughbreds.

JAMES M. ASKEY.

James M. Askey, who enjoys a pleasant home and owns a valuable farm in section twenty-one, township twenty-six, range four, Pierce county, is one of the well known old residents of this part of the state of Nebraska. He has gained an envi- able reputation as a progressive farmer and wor- thy citizen, and is highly esteemed for his strict integrity and honest dealings by those with whom he has to do.

Mr. Askey was born in the village of Snowshoe, Center county, Pennsylvania, February 29, 1848. and is the son of John and Harriet (McMaster) Askey, the former born in 1817, and the latter in 1827, both being natives of Pennsylvania of Scotch-Irish descent. At the close of the war the family moved to Fayette county, Iowa.

Mr. Askey came to Nebraska, March 25, 1879. renting a farm at Neligh two years, and here laid the foundation of his extensive herds. He came to Pierce county in1881, taking a homestead in section twenty-eight, and a timber claim in sec- tion twenty-one; he now owns four hundred acres in the former section and two hundred and forty in the latter, in township twenty-six, range four. In coming to Neligh, Mr. Askey drove from Sioux City, having been ten days on the way, de- layed by full streams and having often to drive to the head waters of the streams before being able to find a fording place. Mr. Askey lived on this homestead for six years, and then moved to his homestead where he resided until April, 1911. when he moved to Norfolk. On the timber tract Mr. Askey has reared a grove of upwards of twenty-seven acres.

At the time of the blizzard of October, 1880. a herder was ont with the cattle. Not being able to manage them, he came to the house to secure help, during which time the cattle scattered and were not gotten together again until after the storm. The children were at school at the time of the blizzard of January 12, 1888, and with diffi-

THOMAS M. CLARK.

MRS. THOMAS M. CLARK.

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culty the teacher, who boarded with Mr. Askey, got the children safely home. Prairie fires were a menace in the early days, and both Mr. and Mrs. Askey were at times compelled to fight the flames for hours at a time. After the drought of 1894, feed was scarce, Mr. Askey at one time paying five dollars for a load of corn fodder. For two years after settling on their homestead, they had no fuel but twisted hay.

In 1873 Mr. Askey was married to Miss, Martha Ash, a native of Richland Center, Wisconsin. To this union five children have been born, whose names are as follows: Miles, Bennie, deceased ; Lydia, Ethel and Hollis. Lydia married John Por- ter, of Norfolk, and is the mother of two children. Vivian and Thelma. Mr. Porter is the local repre- sentative of the Ward Medicine Company.

· Mr. Askey's entire time and attention has been devoted to the care of his farm and home he has never sought office, but takes a keen inter- est in all affairs of local or state importance, vot- ing the republican ticket. He has a well im- proved farm of six hundred and forty acres, and is a successful farmer and stock raiser. He en- joys the esteem of a wide acquaintance and has been an important factor in the settling and upbuilding of this section of the country.

THOMAS WALL.

Among the prominent residents of Posen pre- cinet we mention the name of Thomas Wall, who is a successful farmer of that locality, and highly esteemed for his integrity and sterling character. Mr. Wall is a self-made man in the strictest sense of the term, having by his own in- dividual efforts and industry accumulated a val- uable property from a very small beginning, and is now recognized as one of the foremost men of his section.

Thomas Wall was born in Huron county, Canada, on June 20, 1859. His boyhood was spent in that country, coming to the United States with his mother, two sisters and three brothers in the spring of 1878, they joining the father and one brother who had settled in St. Paul, Ne- braska, some time previously, the former pur- chasing a tract of land which he intended to develop into a farm. Thomas lived at home for two years, then started out for himself. He bought one hundred and sixty acres of railroad land in section thirty-one, township fifteen, range eleven, lying one mile north of Farwell. This he improved with good buildings, fences, etc., and it is now his home farm and one of the best equipped places in the locality. Besides this property Mr. Wall is owner of a good farm in Sherman county, both places being devoted to diversified farming and stock raising.

Mr. Wall's parents are both dead, the father passing away in 1902, and the mother four years later. One sister died in 1880. The entire fam-

ily are well known throughout Howard county as worthy and thrifty pioneers. Thomas was married in 1883, to Miss Margaret Kerr, of St. Paul. Mrs. Wall is a native of Canada, she com- ing to this county with her parents as a girl, when they were among the earliest settlers of the region, both her father and mother now being deceased, survived by four daughters, including Mrs. Wall, also two brothers, all residing in Nebraska.

Mr. and Mrs. Wall have seven children, namely: George F., and Sarah Jane, who live on their father's Sherman county farm; Mary Anna, Margaret Winnie, John Talmage, Thomas Jeffer- son, and Martha Commora, all living with their parents.

Our subject is a democrat. He is an active worker in all worthy projects for the betterment of his county and state, and has held different local offices, serving as road overseer for a num- ber of years, also was moderator of school district number sixty-seven during 1892.

WILLIAM J. STEWART.

William J. Stewart is a native of the Empire state, from where so many early settlers in Ne- braska state migrated, and who have proved such a power for the good of the locality in which they have dwelt so many years. Mr. Stewart's birth occurred in Oswego county, New York, August 27, 1854, he being the second of ten chil- dren in the family of Chauncey and Mary Ann (Southworth) Stewart, both natives of the state of New York, coming to Howard county, Ne- braska, in the pioneer days of the western frontier, being of the first settlers of that county. Upon coming to this locality, our subject's father purchased land in section thirty-one, township fourteen, range ten, which remained the home place all through the years until death claimed this worthy couple, the mother having died on November 24, 1908, at the ripe old age of sev- enty-five years, and the father passing away in the fall of 1909, within a week of his ninety-first birthday.

In March of 1879, William J. Stewart, subject of our sketch, came from Wisconsin to Howard county, and later on into Valley county; the Stewart family had moved from New York state to Walworth county, Wisconsin, in 1856. William Stewart came to Valley county, Nebraska, in the spring of 1879 and was a pioneer homesteader of that county; he now resides on the southeast quarter of section four, township nineteen, range fourteen. When first coming to Valley county. Mr. Stewart lived in the central part of the county for several years, moving to his present farm home three miles north of Ord in June of 1908. He has one hundred and twenty acres of fine land. which is a well equipped farm, on which is a fine residence. Mr. Stewart engages in farm-

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ing and stock raising, which has been his occu- pation for many years, as also that of his father before him, and he has made a success of life. He deals in a well bred grade of stock only, and on his farm has a goodly herd.

Mr. Stewart was married to Margaret Hull in Valley county, November 21, 1886. The Hull fam- ily came from Bartholomew county, Indiana, mn 1879, settling in Howard county, the family con- sisting of Byron and Mary (Robinson) Hull and six children. Mr. Hull is now living near Omaha, but his wife died March 23, 1890. All but one of the children survive and live in Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. Stewart have eleven children, whose names are as follows: Cora Belle and Ora Ellen, twins, are teachers in the public schools of Val- ley county ; Alta May, Estella, Enos, Ray, Hazel, Alice, Fay, Donald, and Aloa, all of whom reside at home. Mr. and Mrs. Stewart certainly have a charming family, all born on the old home farm and reared in Valley county, except the young- est child, Aloa. One unusual feature of Mr. Stewart's career is that he never lived on a rented farm and nearly everything he owns has been acquired by his own unaided effort.

Mr. Stewart has done much toward the building up of Valley county, and always takes his part in the bettering of conditions and ad- vaneement along progressive lines. He is a re- publican in politics and a member of the Ancient Order United Workmen.

When Mr. Stewart first came to Howard county herds of deer roamed the open prairies, and again in Valley county the same conditions prevailed.

Mr. Stewart was out for a time in the blizzard of October, 1880, having gone to the school house to bring his younger brothers and sisters home. He braved the storm of January 12, 1888, to go part way home with a man, and safely returned to his own domicile. So severe were the winter storms of those days that he remembers on one occasion a buggy left out exposed was buried so deep in a drift that the top of the buggy was covered.

G. W. STEWART.

Another one of the highly esteemed and worthy public-spirited citizens and prominent old timers of Nebraska is found in the person of G. W. Stewart, with whose name we head this bio- graphical sketch.

Mr. Stewart is a native of New Jersey, and was born November 6, 1846, the oldest child in the family of six resulting from the union of William Stewart and Sarah Wooheaver, who were born in Pennsylvania. Our subject grew up in his native state, attending the public schools, and when little more than fifteen years of age, en- tered the service of his country, enlisting in

Company B, Second Regiment of New York Cavalry, under Captain Cook.

He saw hard service during his entire career as a soldier, going all through Pennsylvania, Vir- ginia and West Virginia with his company. On September 22, 1863, he was taken prisoner by the rebels, and sent to Belle Isle, where he remained for ahout eight months. He participated in the battles of Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, and a number of famous encounters.

After returning to his home at the close of the war, Mr. Stewart followed farming up to 1871, then went west to Lawrence, Kansas, remaining at that place for four years. From there he went to Mills county, Iowa, followed farming there for about twelve years, and from there came to Mad- ison county, purchased land, and, from that time until the present, this traet has been his home. He has made a success of his undertaking, hav- ing one of the well improved farms in the region, and is elassed among the well-to-do farmers and progressive men of the county.

Mr. Stewart was married at Clark, Iowa, Au- gust 1, 1877, taking as his wife Miss Rebecca Moore, who was born in Davenport, Iowa, Sep- tember 17, 1853. To Mr. and Mrs. Stewart have been born eight children, bearing the following names, and all of whom are a credit to their pa- rents: L. E., Sydney, Roy, Grace, Otis, Frank, Ora, Ray, and Billy.

THOMAS M. CLARK.

None in northeastern Nebraska stands higher in the estimation of his fellowmen than the ven- erable Thomas M. Clark, now retired and living in Bloomfield. Mr. Clark has been a resident of the state since the fall of 1880, moving from Mont- gomery county, Iowa.

Mr. Clark was born in Center county, Pennsyl- vania, March 31, 1839. His parents, J. W. and Sarah (Barnhart) Clark, were also natives of the Keystone state. J. W. Clark was of Scotch-Irislı descent, and his wife's father was born in Ger- many. They migrated to eastern Iowa in 1854, settling in Scott county. Our subject lived for a time in Washington county, then returned to Scott county, where he resided some twenty years prior to moving to Montgomery county, Iowa, in the west end of the state.

Thomas M. Clark remained under the parental roof until his marriage at the age of twenty-five, when he began farming on rented land in Scott county. After coming to western Iowa, he re- sided two and one-half years in Dickinson county, Kansas, during the grasshopper pests. Mrs. Clark found the elimate uncongenial-she was ill most of the time-so they came back to their old home in Iowa.

Returning to Montgomery, he resided there until moving to Knox county, Nebraska, in the latter part of October, 1880. He had come out to

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the state in June and selected his land, moving to it some time after the three days' blizzard in the middle of the month. He selected a tract eight miles west of Bloomfield on Brazil creek, pur- chasing one hundred and sixty acres and filing on his homestead rights on an additional quarter section. This was all open prairie and unim .- proved. Mr. Clark fenced and broke the land, erected a dwelling, farm and other buildings, and planted liberally of trees. Here he resided and prospered. continuing in active labor until 1902, when he retired, and purchased a place in Bloom- field, which he keeps up in considerable style.

Mr. Clark was married near Davenport, Iowa, March 14, 1863, to Miss Ellen Leamer, who was born in Cambria county, Pennsylvania. Her pa- rents, David and Eliza (Campbell) Leamer, came to Iowa in 1847 and settled in Scott county. Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Clark, five of whom are living: Blanch, wife of Frank White, who has a small fruit and poultry ranch on Fidelgo Island, Washington; Willard Kings- ley Clark is a prosperous physician in Niobrara ; Philip B. is clerk of Knox county, residing at Center ; Jessie B., who married Charles Wort. died at the age of twenty-six years; Milton is deputy in his brother's office, and Hope is married to Frank McGill, who is proprietor of a livery barn in Center.

Mr. Clark's great-grandfather, James Clark. was killed and scalped by the Indians in Pennsyl- vania. He had gone out across a stream-near his home-for his horses, when he was attacked and slain. This was at the time when the English were paying the Indians a bounty on scalps.

The Clark family has been represented in most of the wars in which the United States has participated. Mr. Clark's grandfather, Philip Barnhart, was born in Germany and emigrated to the United States. He was a soldier in the war of 1812. Ife had had military training in his native country and raised a company of Pennsyl- vania Dutch for the last war with England.

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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 92

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