USA > Nebraska > Seward County > General history of Seward County, Nebraska > Part 18
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The business of Seward at the present time is conducted in ninety-two establishments. Three hardware stores, one operated by J. F. Goehner, who has been in the business since 1879. S. C. Oaks, an 1870 settler in the county has been in the hardware trade since 1891, and Rupp & Dietz have the hardware business established by John Zimmerer.
Five grocery stores are in opperation. The business of W. R. Davis & Sons was established in 1879, and although the elder member of the firm passed to his eternal reward many years ago the business is still conducted in the origi- nal firm name; T. C. Sampson has the next oldest grocery store, having been in the business since 1901; the other three more recently established stores are conducted by C. T. Joren; J. E. Croy; and T. H. Feary.
Three drug stores dispense medicine for the city and sur- rounding districts. They are conducted by M. J. Douglas; A. Schuler; and H. J. Cooper.
Two furniture stores are in operation, one by W. H. Moore was established in 1898; and Fred. Goehner has been
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HISTORY OF SEWARD COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
in the business since 1906.
(I wish to digress here to make correction of an error in re- gard to the location of E. C. Carns' grain buying office, men- tioned on preceding page. It stood a few rods north-east instead of north-west of where the B. & M. depot stands. )
Parks & Willis conduct a wholesale and retail feed store which was opened by the first named gentleman in 1889.
Henry Campbell is the proprietor of a prosperous business in the buying and selling of seeds. He is established on fifth street; has an extensive trade every year.
The city is supplied with two first class hotels, two up- to-date cafes, and a number of lunch rooms which make the eating facilities equal to the ordinary demand.
There are three first class blacksmith shops in operation in the city; Chris Vogel is conducting one of the highest grade shops in the state of Nebraska. His welding of iron is done by electricity, and all other work by the latest mod- ern system. This shop has a floor space of four thousand five hundred feet. It was established in 1887. . George Knipple has a fine shop on the corner of Eighth and Main streets, and A. R. McCord is doing a good business on Sew- ard street.
Five automobile garages are in operation in the city and each doing good business.
One of the oldest established shoe stores perhaps in the state of Nebraska, is conducted by C. F. Kroeger who has been continually in the business in Seward forty-one years, it being a pioneer trade of 1875.
Three grain elevators and two alfalfa mills are located in the west part of the city. Harrison & Son are operating an elevator on the Columbus branch of the B. & M., and the Updyke Grain Company have one on the Northwestern. Imig, Graff & Hentzen run a large elevator in connection with their alfalfa mill. This mill has a capacity of thirty
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. HISTORY OF SEWARD COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
tons a day. Nelson & Figard are operating the second al- falfa mill which has an equal grinding capacity with the former.
The two flouring mills of pioneer days are, with improved appliances and modern machinery, grinding away. The old Banner Mill, established in 1869 by Hiram L. Boyes, is now owned and conducted by Boyes & Hulshizer. It has a grinding capacity of one hundred and twenty-five barrels of flour per day. The mill built in the seventies by Cooper & Henderson, two miles south of the city, is owned and run by Heuman Borthers and is doing excellent work. It has a capacity of fifty barrels of flour per day.
Two lumber yards are in operation in the city. One is run by the Pauley Lumber Company and the other by the Seward Lumber Company.
In the way of clothing stores Seward is certainly on the map, there being four different exclusive clothing establish- ments in the city. William P. Berdolt has been in the bus- iness since 1882; the Graff Clothing Company since 1888; Curry Brothers since 1906 and Hershberger & McCoy estab- lished their business in 1914.
Ed. Woods, proprietor of the cigar store and news stand was born in Seward in 1877, and has been in business nine years.
Four first class drygoods stores are doing business in the city. Pete Goehner is a pioneer in the trade, having been continually in it since 1873. M. C. Miller has been doing business eighteen years. The Seward Dry Goods Company have been in the city about six years, and D. S. Chappel, successor to Diers Brothers, two years.
J. F. Geesen is proprietor of the one tailor shop which he has conducted nineteen years.
Three meat markests furnish the city with meat. Brown & Salsbury may be found on Seward street, George Rapp
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HISTORY OF SEWARD COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
on the east side of the square, August Blenderman near the corner on Seward street.
Percy Ost manages the electricial supply store. Two city photograph galleries are conducted by W. D. Givens and J. H. Walford. The former has had a gallery in the same location for thirty-five years and it was established in the pioneer period. Mr. Walford has been in his present loca- tion about four years. The Seward brick yards are owned and managed by J. W. Turner. This business is am ng the best up-to-date brick works in Nebraska. A pop factory and bottling works are managed by H. M. Wiese. Two cigar factories are in operation in the city, by H. F. Busche and F. Kaufman. H. G. Dunphy has been in the business of repairing and painting buggies and carriages for twenty- five years. The city has five coal yards. John Fleener and W. H. Whiteneck are each in the poultry trade. R. G. Buchanan is proprietor of the city steam laundry.
Three bakeries supply the city with "the staff of life," ex- cellent bread, pies and cakes. They are opperated by Wm. Leibhart, W. T. Mickleson and J. H. Feary.
J. F. Gereke, Seward's artistic musician, repairs and sells all kinds of musical instruments. Also deals in sewing ma- machines, wall paper etc. Mr. Gereke has been a Seward business man for thirty-six years, being a pioneer druggist and jeweler for several years, and was successor to Cyrus Chapin in the music trade in 1887.
E. A. Polley is one of two early pioneer merchants in Seward, Pete Goehner being the second, and both gentle- men established their business in 1873. Mr. Polley deals in jewelry.
There are three banks in Seward. Two of them are out- growths of pioneer enterprises. The State Bank of Nebras- ka was the first bank in Seward county and was founded by Claudius Jones in 1873. The Frst National Bank was or-
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HISTORY OF SEWARD COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
ganized as the Seward County Bank by S. C. Langworthy in 1876. It merged into and was chartered as a national bank in 1882. The Jones National Bank was established in 1884 by Claudius Jones who was its first president, being succeded by his son, H. T. Jones in 1895.
Six rural mail routes lead out from Seward ranging in length from twenty-seven to twenty-nine miles each. Devoe Konkright is the regular carrier on route number one. Has carried the mail on said route since 1910. D. C. Work, the original carrier on route two, started in 1901 and is still per- forming that service. John C. Konkright is carrier on route three, has been in the service since May Ist, 1906. S. H. Beaver is the carrier on route four. Has been running reg- ular since April Ist, 1904. Alfred Hiller who drives on route five started it November 2nd, 1903. Maurice Leger started route six December 15th, 1903 and is still in the service.
Two racket or variety stores are run by Kolterman and Wilson, late additions to the corps of Seward business men.
The Noxall Grain and Seed Cleaner and Grader was in- vented by T. J. Hatfield and F. N. Wullenwaber in the fall of 1907 and patent issued December 22, 1908. A manu- facturing company was organized and incorporated under that name by Seward business men in February 1909 with a capital stock of fifty thousand dollars. This factory em- ploys several men. The company manufacture the Noxal machines which are sold throughout the north-west, also window screens, screen doors and medicated chicken perches.
The following are professional men of Seward at the present time, and some of them may be numbered with the pioneers of the county while one of them is a Seward born citizen. L. H. McKillip, son of Daniel C. McKillp, Seward county's first attorney at law, was born at Seward, January 21, 1879 and commenced the practice of law in 1903. T. L. and R. S. Norval are pioneers, and have been practicing
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HISTORY OF SEWARD COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
law since 1873. J. J. Thomas, Roy Schick, Edwin Vail, H. D. Landis and S.C. Stoner are additions to the city's legal practitioners from 1891 to 1911
Dr. H. B. Cummins has practiced his profession in Sew- ard for thirty-one years, was for some time associated with Dr. J. H. Woodward. Has served on the pension examining board for many years, has held a prominent place on the state medical board, and laid aside his M. D. in 1900 and became a politician and was elected to the state senate where he served one term and then returned to where he was the most needed, the practice of medicine. Dr. J. Morrow, successor to Dr. J. H. Woodward, built an up-to-date hospital in 1901 and has associated with him in practice his two brothers, Drs. M. and B. Morrow, the former in 1907 and the latter in 1913. Dr. S. E. Ragan entered the practice as a physician in Seward in the spring of 1902. He also has a hospital. Dr. C. F. Stockert and Dr. R. S. Hirsch commenced practice in the city in 1913. Dr. O. H. Kent, Osteopath, commenced practice in Seward in 1907. Drs. R. P. Belden and C. K. Porter, dentists have practiced since 1904. Drs. S. D. Atkins and C. D. Kenner since 1905.
The only second hand store in seward is still conducted by its original owner, Jake Goehering, who started it more than twenty years ago.
The business buildings of Seward are nearly all modern structures, some of them having been erected at a cost of thirty thousand dollars, while there are many less expensive houses which are of value to the city.
There are one hundred and twenty-five artistic dwelling houses in Seward, built at a cost of several thousand dollars each, one recently built by John Zimmerer, cost thirty-five thousand dollars. It is modern in every respect, entirely fire proof and is one of the most beautiful dwellings in the state. The city has an estimated number of six hundred less
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HISTORY OF SEWARD COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
expensive, modern and valuable dwelling houses.
MILFORD.
Although Milford can not be called a city, it has retained its place upon the map as the second largest town in Seward county and one of the most beautiful places in Nebraska. In view of this fact two of the state institutions are located there, the Soldiers Home and the Industrial Home, both of which will receive more attention farther along in this work.
The town is doing a large business in the general lines of trade. The mill, which from the earliest pioneer days to recent years was a popular flour producer, has been trans- formed into a factory of corn products, and as such is un- doubtedly one of the largest in the United States if not in the world. The business houses number forty. Modern residences thirty, while there are about two hundred com- fortable and pleasant but less expensive homes. There are three churches: Methodist, Congregational and Evangelical. Three grain elevators. Two banks, Farmers & Merchants, and Nebraska State Bank both occupying special bank build- ings of modern design and construction. Two hotels and two restaurants. It is estimated that the town has several miles of cement sidewalk. A centrally located park, town hall and opera house, fine high school, good system of water works and fire department.
Milford has a very fine third-class post office, the fixtures costing one thousand dollars has two hundred and forty-nine private mail boxes. In addition to this there are four rural mail routes go from the office every day. Number one and two of those routes were among the first established rural routes in the state. They were established July 15, 1899, with Chas. W. Funk as carrier on No. 1, and H. J. Matzke on No. 2. The third route was started November 1, 1900, and the fourth November 1, 1904 with William Smiley as carrier. The present carriers are Ed. Bishop on route No. 1,
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Paul Swearingen on No. 2, Ed. Kline on No. 3, and Wm. Smiley is still running No. 4. J. A. Coklin is the postmaster.
The town has two lumber yards, both handling coal; four general merchandise stores run by Kenagy & Kensinger who have been there twenty-five years; Warnke & Haver- stock; Findley Mercantile Company and D. G. Erb. One exclusive grocery store is conducted by Roth & Co. One variety store. Bakery conducted by S. A. Langford. Two drug stores furnish medicine for the village and vicinity, one run by W. D. Alaxander who has been in the business over twenty-five years; J. F. Bruning having been there since 1906. There are two furniture stores, one run by the Troyer Furniture Company and the other by Joseph Mauel. David Boshart deals in poultry and feed and S. T. Sweasy is a dealer in poultry and cream. Babson, Dickman Implement Company and George Fosler sell harness. The pump and wind mill business is conducted by A. J. Weaver. The two hardware stores are managed by Joe Kribill & Co., and W. C. Klein. Real estate and insurance offices are conducted by J. H. Perkinson, and E. E. Ely. Charley Funk, Web. Wright and C. Smith are each running a barber shop.
Like all other towns in the present day of death dealing automobile craze, Milford presents a prevalent popular front with three automobile garages, run respectively by the Mil- ford Garage Company, Schweitzer Brothers, and Fosler & Sanders. It is to be noted that Seward county has a great- er number, at the present time, of this kind of business houses, or as might be called shops, than any other one line of trade or business in the county, whether it is a mark of progression or digression from the pioneer lumber wagon- spring-seat days. It is to be remembered however, that no one of those old, homely conveyances ever "turned turtle" and killed the driver or anybody else therefore those who enjoyed their comforts were a longer lived race of people
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HISTORY OF SEWARD COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
than the present automobile-we will not say carnks but -- crankers.
Of professional men Milford has three doctors, and one dentist. It has two hospitals; also the Shogo Litha Springs the water of which is bottled and sold in some localities as being beneficial in the treatment of some chronic afflictions humanity is subject to.
DEDICATION OF THE SOLDIERS' HOME AT MILFORD.
The dedicatory exercises which marked the beginning and opening of a new home for the honorable defenders of the cause of freedom, and a grand manifestation of the Ne- braska peoples' appreciation of their services, took place at the Home in Milford, at 3 o'clock p. m., Tuesday, October 8, 1895, in presence of a large gathering of patriotic citizens from various parts of the state.
The exercises were opened by Rev. O. R. Beebe, G. A. R. Department Chaplin. H. C. Russell made the opening address, after which Department Comander Adams made the address of dedication.
Governor Holcomb received the Home on behalf of the state, and Captain J. H. Culver was installed as commandant.
Informal addresses were made by Congressman Andrews, Senator Sloan, Representatives Cramb and Roddy, Judge Wheeler, Mrs. W. A. Dillworth and Captain Henry.
Patriotic music for the occasion was furnished by the Lincoln, Dorchester and Seward drum corps, and appropri- ate vocal music by a Milford quartet under the direction of Prof. Warner, editor of the Milford Nebraskan, and the vet- rians quartet of Lincoln.
An enthusiastic camp fire was held in the evening, the hall being filled with veteran comrades and their friends. Timely speeches were made by Chaplain Beebe, H. C. Russell, Rev. F. J. Culver of San Francisco, G. E. McDonald, of Lincoln and others. The Home has answered the purposes for which
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HISTORY OF SEWARD COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
it was intended in a satisfactory manner. Many of the old comrades have found a pleasant home there, enjoying its comforts to the end of life. There is at the present time one hundred and thirty-two soldiers and fourteen lady occupants of the Home.
THE INDUSTRIAL HOME
is a charitable institution of the state of Nebraska intended to aid wayward and indigent women and girls who have met with misfortune in life to a higher and firmer position, and to look after their offspring and see to it that their future life is properly provided for with homes. And no more beautiful place could be found in the state of Nebraska nor any other state than it occupies at, or near the village of Milford.
It is in reality as well as name an Industrial Home where the different home industries are taught, together with the science of nursing and the branches of common school edu- cation. It was founded by act of the state legislature in 1887 and dedicated in 1888.
Of this Home as well as the Soldiers Home I can say I am reliably informed that they have, from their foundation to the present date, been generally conducted in a creditable manner by those placed in charge of them by the state, and it is not the mission of this work to record minute details of their management from year to year. They are state insti- tutions of which the citizens of the state should justly feel proud.
The populotion of Milford during the pioneer period ranged from one to three hundred while it now reaches about twelve hundred, counting the east side settlement.
Milford is the only town in Seward county to support two post offices, and it has been something of a mystery why such a condition should have been inaugurated there. The second office was established in 1884 under the name of Grover, supposably in honor of President Grover Cleaveland,
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. HISTORY OF SEWARD COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
and notwithstanding the fact that it was only about half a mile from the main post office of the town, it retained its place upon the map, becoming a money order office in 1900. There is the natural dividing line-the North Blue river- between Milford proper and Grover or East Milford, the lat- ter having the advantage of the railway station on its side.
THE VILLAGE OF UTICA.
The third largest town in Seward county was among the later laid out towns of the pioneer period. It was located in a favorable area of country and was blessed with an excellent business patronage, and had, for several years, but two competing shipping points and grain markets, Seward and Germantown, and while it had no advantages of a natural kind or institutions of popular favor, it has progressed to a greater extent than any other town in Seward county out- side of the county seat city. It is in point of time ten years behind Milford and seven years younger than Seward, all of which has been shown up in the pioneer town topics in this history.
Utica has a population at the present time bordering closely upon one thousand. Its business houses number thirty-four, several of which are up-to-date brick buildings. It has two banks and modern bank buildings; one hotel, two restaurants; one opera house. The amount of its business may be estimated from the fact that it has three grain eleva- tors which are all doing a good business. Its residence buildings, modern and otherwise number two hundred. It has five miles of brick and cement sidewalks. The place has a modern high school building and supports one of the best twelve graded high schools in the county. It has four churches and church buildings of an excellent grade. The post office has two hundred and fifty private mail boxes and two rural free delivery mail routes, the carriers being John Mikkelson on route number one and Robert Hunter on route
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HISTORY OF SEWARD COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
number two.
There are four general stores, run by R. E. Davis, Herman Zumwinkle, Kath & Harms, and Mr. Rau; Hornady & Sons recently established an exclusive grocery store.
There are two drug stores reported, P. R. Wolf being proprietor of one and Dr. Homer Houchen runs the other; two implement houses, one conducted by Craig & White, and the other by Herman Mundt; three cream, flour and feed stations, one by J. K. Greenwood, one by T. J. Shirley and the other by J. H. Casler; two blacksmith shops, John Hansen is the proprieter of one and Charles Bereuter runs the other; E. J. Bereuter deals in pumps and windmills; F. E. Patton is a dealer in poultry and eggs; T. L. Davis & Son manage a lumber yard; C. S. Shores keeps a livery and feed stable. There are three automobile garages run re- spectively by Craig & White, Bereuter & Son and Bert Birket.
The professional men of Utica are Drs. Houchen, Mc- Conaghey and Kenner; Dentist Dr. C. E. Klopp; Attorney at law, A. O. Coleman.
THE VILLAGE OF BEAVER CROSSING.
By referring back to the write-up of "pioneer towns, schools and post offices" in this work it will be noticed that Beaver Crossing was among the first places in Seward county to get a post office and store. And its future prospects to become one of the best towns in the county were bright and promising, but time soon dimned those prospects on account of its being several miles off from any rail road. And al- though it did a good "cross-roads" business through the pio- neer period it did not keep up, as a town, with other towns which had the advantages of railway facilities. And it seems that in the later period after the closing of pioneer times, the town was doomed to blights and darwbacks to impede its -progress and make it a dead one with all of its natural and „ valuable advantages. : The C. & N. W., or as it was then
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HISTORY OF SEWARD COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
called the F. E. & M. V. rail road was opened through the town in 1887 and just why the place should have been mis- represented and boomed as a coming metropolis at that time and what benefit such misrepresentation was expected to be to the future of Beaver Crossing, is and will remain a myst- ery. In fact the town was almost rode to its death by an over growth, extremely wild and unreasonable. Although the general trade of the vicinity was abundantly supplied previous to the coming of the rail road by two general mer- cantile stores, shops and other business houses, there was a general rush from all directions for the best business loca- tions in the town. The racket of the saw and hammer was heard early and late in different quarters of the place, and business houses and dwillings were rushed up in short order. And Beaver Crossing like a stream of water in a flood season overflowed its banks and spread out over the low lands. Had those business men who were so anxious to get "in on the ground floor" in the new town with their business, stop- ped long enough to solve the problem of where the trade for so large an increase of business houses was coming from they would not made buildings to leave standing empty in- side of a year. But the great newspaper, the "Beaver Crossing Bugle," with its six pages patent printed and two pages, constituting the Beaver Crossing portion of it, printed at Milford, was the spokesman for the coming greatness of the place, and strange as it may seem, it displayed such in- ducements that a number of people overlooked the fact that the enthusiastic publisher of the great seven column paper was booming a town that he had not got sufficient confidence in to put in a press to print his paper on.
The blasts from the "Bugle" were loud and long. It had several rail roads headed for Beaver Crossing and was very much alarmed for fear some undesiable road would slip in unawares. It also had the establishment of some kind of
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HISTORY OF SEWARD COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
glass factory planed for the place, where the alkali and sand that was going to waste in the vicinity might be worked up into glass. But it boomed enterprises in one column while it devoted three columns to "Bugle" loud tunes for base ball. Two brick yards were established to produce brick for the coming "sky scrapers" of Beaver Crossing. And the build- ing of business houses went on with alackerty, and the revelry of the modern time sport grew to such proportions that the little, weakly supported burg had a subject to discuss as well as recreation for leisure hours when not engaged in wrapping up goods for customers.
In viewing the outlines of the booming city (to be) and its business, I see the following new enterprises added to the place while others were expected to develope in almost the immediate future: M. Byington, general merchandise store; M. M. Johnson, general merchandise store; A. H. Parks, boots, shoes and grocery store; W. R. Davis & Sons, hard- ware, tinware and grocery store; McDougall & Callahan, hardware and tinware store; P. H. W. Corkins, drug store; W. J. Organ & Co., dealers in agricultural implements; J. H. Erford & Co., dealers in grain, coal and lumber; Nye, Englehaupt & Co., dealers in grain, lumber and coal; I. G. Chapin & Co., dealers in lumber and coal; F. M. Foster, new livery stable; J. W. Leisure, new livery stable; J. E Cloud, meat market; Joe Kunce, harness shop; Mrs. A. H. Parks, milllinery; Mrs. Frank Horton, Millinery; The State Bank, T. E. Sanders, cashier; Dimery's Hotel, J. F. M. Dimery, proprietor; Willis Bentley, blacksmith shop; J. J. McWilliams, blacksmith shop. Dr. F. A. Greedy, physi- cian and surgeon, Dr. J. E. Phinney, physician and surgeon, with Dimery's opera house, Horton's brick block, Erford's elevator and other business houses in course of construction. Is it any wonder such a bubble would burst and leave the place in a state of colapse ? And that the town of Beaver
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