History of Custer County, Nebraska; a narrative of the past, with special emphasis upon the pioneer period of the county's history, its social, commercial, educational, religous, and civic developement from the early days to the present time, Part 103

Author: Gaston, William Levi, 1865- [from old catalog]; Humphrey, Augustin R., 1859- [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: Lincoln, Neb., Western publishing and engraving company
Number of Pages: 1180

USA > Nebraska > Custer County > History of Custer County, Nebraska; a narrative of the past, with special emphasis upon the pioneer period of the county's history, its social, commercial, educational, religous, and civic developement from the early days to the present time > Part 103

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In this connection it may be said that he has always been a great friend of education, and that all of his children are high-school gradu- ates, while some have taken normal-school courses. Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas are members of the Baptist church. He is affiliated with the Mason City blue lodge of the Masonic fraternity, and with the Modern Woodmen of America. Concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas the following brief record is consistently entered : Martha Ann is the wife of E. G. Burrows, of Mason City. Mary Theodosia is the wife of Nels Peterson, man- ager of the Burrows store at Mason City. Margaret Britannia is the wife of Carl G. Bunnell, who is in the service of the Standard Oil Company, at Fargo. North Dakota. Sarah Jane, a talented teacher of music, is now at the parental home. Alice Ursula, who was formerly a popular teacher in the public schools of Mullin and Broken Bow, on the 1st of October, 1918, went to Fort Riley, Kan- sas, in the capacity of Red Cross nurse. Gwendolyn Irene is the wife of W. J. Beachy, who was formerly superintendent of the pub- lic schools at Ansley, Custer county, and who for two years thereafter held the position of superintendent of the schools at Davenport, this state: he then took a radio course, in preparation for service in connection with the nation's participation in the world war, and at the time when the great conflict came to a close he was attached to the Forty-sixth Corps, in California. Elizabeth Marion is the wife of John C. Eloe, a prosperous farmer in Cus- ter county. John Thomas, who was graduated in the Mason City schools and who later passed one year as a student in the Grand Island Baptist College, was a member of the Students Army Training Corps at the Ne- braska State Normal School in Kearney at the time when the war closed. William Lewis, who likewise was graduated in the Mason City high school, remains at the parental home.

WILLIAM J. RICE. - If the Civil war re- vealed nothing more, it certainly did make manifest the fact that the American people on either side of Mason and Dixon's Line were men of hearts, brains. and heroism. Among those who bore the brunt of conflict and toiled and suffered in camp and on the march, in be- half of the Union, is Mr. Rice, who is now engaged in the peaceful pursuit of farming.

William Jasper Rice was born in Adair county, Missouri, March 20, 1844. His father, Erastus Rice, was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, and served as a soldier in the Mexican war. He located in Missouri,

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where he became a farmer and where he spent the remainder of his days. His wife bore the maiden name of Amanda Mason and was a native of Missouri, in which state she spent her entire life.

William J. Rice was reared on a farm in his native county, where he attended the pub- lic schools, and he was only a boy when the Civil war burst upon the nation. Watching the course of events, his patriotic spirit was aroused, and when past nineteen years of age he enlisted, in August, 1863, at Centerville. lowa, in Company L. Eighth lowa Cavalry, in which he served till the close of the war, when he was honorably discharged, at Clinton. Iowa. He passed through the Atlanta cam- paign and was with Wilson on the raid through Georgia, taking part in the important battles of Franklin and Nashville, besides many mionr engagements. At the close of the war, having made a creditable military record, he returned to Missouri, and November 18, 1866, in Putnam county, he was united in marriage to Miss Sarah A. Mullins, a native of Missouri. Her father, Matthew Mullins, was born in North Carolina and died in Mis- souri. in 1871. Her mother, whose maiden name was Nancy Guinn, was born in Tennes - see and died in Missouri, in 1879. Mrs. Rice had two brothers, Thomas B. and John W., who served in the Eighth Iowa Cavalry, and Thomas B. was a prisoner at Andersonville for three months.

Mr. and Mrs. Rice spent several years in Missouri, and in 1887 they came to Custer county, Nebraska, where he homesteaded 160 acres, in section 7, township 17, range 23, be- sides pre-empting a tree claim adjoining. A sod house was his residence for many years, and pioneer conditions were still to be found on every hand. His farm to-day is equipped with a good set of buildings, the present frame house having been erected in 1909. Mr. Rice was actively engaged in farming for many years, but the work of the fields has been shifted to younger shoulders, though Mr. Rice manages his affairs and finds time to handle fire insurance, as agent for the Columbia Fire Insurance Company, of Omaha.

Mr. and Mrs. Rice have had eight children : Mary 1 .. is the wife of Daniel Maupin, of Colorado : Martha F. is the wife of William E Wardrobe and resides in Custer county : M. E. is a bachelor and remains at the parental home : Amanda E. is the wife of D. D. Shaw, residing in Custer connuty; James R. is d farmer in township 17, this county ; Laura B. and Elmer are at home : and J. C. remains in Custer countv.

Mr. Rice has been active in politics, as an

advocate of principles endorsed by the Re- publican party. He has held various town - ship offices, has been a member of the Repub- lican county central committee and at the primaries in August. 1918, he received the nomination of his party as a candidate for the lower house of the state legislature. It was well known that were he to be elected he would serve with credit to himself and his constituency, but he met defeat through nor- mal political exigencies.

As a soldier, citizen, husband, father, and friend, Mr. Rice is one who can always be depended upon, and any enterprise which means the betterment of the community is as- sured his support.

HENRY L. LOWRY. - This is the story of a life that has been lived, of a service that has been rendered and of which the record is made. All the friends who knew Mr. Lowry in life say that the record is creditable and that he well deserves a tribute in this volume.

Henry Lewis Lowry was born near Roches. ter, Minnesota, August 1, 1856, and died in the hospital at Rochester, September 18, 1908. having at the close of his life rounded a circle by returning to the place of his birth. His story, as it concerns Custer county, begins in 1877, at which time he moved to this western domain and established his residence. On the 2d day of January, 1888, he was united in marriage to Susie May Thorn, who was born in Napoleon, Ohio, a daughter of Cline and Augusta ( Morris) Thorn. Her father was a native of New Jersey, but later lived in Ohio and Michigan for a number of years. He is now retired and lives with his son, near the present home of Mrs. Lowry. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Lowry established a home of their one - one that in many respects was an ideal home, in that it contained com- fort and cheer, and brave hearts to meet the joys or sorrows of life as they came. Into this home were born two children - Earl Curtis Lowry works for his mother on the farm, where he is manager and mainstay ; Ella Mae Lowry was educated in the schools of Ansley and Litchfield and has been one year at the University of Nebraska : she has taught school in the home district for four years.

Mr. Lowry moved to Litchfield, Nebraska, in 1896 and was enraged in the general mer- cantile business until 1902, when he moved to Lincoln. From that city he went to Richfield. Nebraska, where he again engaged in the general merchandise business. This he con- tinued until February, 1904, when he returned to Litchfield to take care of his father and

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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

mother. His health failing, he went to Ro- chester, Minnesota, and there, in the famous hospital of the Mayo Brothers, he was oper- ated on by Dr. W. J. Mayo, for cerebral em- bolism. This was in September, 1908, and he never recovered from the operation but died in the hospital.

Socially, Mr. Lowry was a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in each of which he was a prominent factor in the lodges with which he affiliated. Prior to his death Mr. Lowry sold the old homestead upon which he filed in 1878 and which was his home for a number of years, but since his death Mrs. Lowry has bought another place, which she and her son are now managing. She has 210 acres of good land, upon which they do a general farming and stock-raising business. Mrs. Lowry possesses those qualities with which every woman should be endowed who is forced to face the world alone. In her case, however, it is not quite true that she faces the world alone, for both her son and daughter are charged with much consideration for their mother and together their operations are quite successful. The family have always borne a good name and are rated high by their friends and neighbors.

THOMAS FORAN. - Young blood and energy combined with Custer county climate and soil always spell success. Opportunity for youth and activity is everywhere in evi- dence. The young farmers of no country have better opportunity and no farmers are doing more to make opportunity than are the members of the young generation of soil tillers right here in this good county.

Thomas Foran hails from the state of Illi- nois, where he was born in 1882, and he gave to his native state the first years of his child- hood. His family record is set forth in detail in another sketch published elsewhere in this volume. He came with his parents to Custer county in 1886, and here he grew from child- hood to manhood, experiencing the usual in- cidents common to the youth of the central west. Here he obtained a liberal education in the common schools, and he has put into prac- tical operation what he learned by actual ex- perience on farm and stock ranch.

To become the partner of his joys and sor- rows and add felicity to domestic life, Mr. Foran led to the marriage altar Miss Elizabeth Hickey, on January 16, 1907, at Anselmo, this county. The bride was a young lady of gra- cious personality and well suited to preside over the home which it was their pleasure to

establish and maintain. Mrs. Foran is a na- tive of Kansas, where she was born in 1885. Into the Foran home circle five children have made their advent: Ambrose Charles is ten years of age (1918) ; Delia Irene is eight ; Philip James has seen six summers ; Delbert is four ; and Lena Mary is only two. All the children are at home and the first three named are attending school and are candidates for Custerites of unusual energy. The two younger children, while awaiting their turn at school, make the home interesting and banish lonesomeness.

Tom Foran, as he is familiarly called, bought 160 acres and made it the foundation of his farming operations. To this, other land was added until to-day 800 acres comprise his landed estate, of which, 175 acres are in culti - vation. He put on his own improvements. owns his own machinery, and has a splendid start in live stock, which consists of hogs. horses, and twenty-four head of cattle. All of this is the result of his own energy and fru- gality, in which, of course, the good wife had a large share. He availed himself of the primitive sod house and resorted to economi- cal measures in securing the nucleus of what is bound to be a comfortable competency, suf- ficient to protect him and his wife from the encroachments of discomfort in their declin- ing days. They are faithful members of the Catholic church and generally attend church services in Anselmo, which is their nearest town. Mr. Foran generally votes the Demo- cratic ticket, provided that, in his opinion, the Democratic candidate measures up to his standard of eligibility. The Forans are a fine family and enjoy the respect and confidence of their neighbors.

JOHN L. WILLIAMS. - During a long and varied career, John L. Williams has ex- tended his abilities to numerous lines of busi- ness endeavor, in each of which he has made a success. In turn preacher, farmer, ranch- man and real-estate and insurance agent in the south and west, he has now settled down per- manently in the restaurant business, and is the proprietor of the leading establishment of this kind at Broken Bow. Mr. Williams was born in Huntington county, Indiana, June 13. 1862. and is a son of Dr. William H. Williams.

Dr. William H. Williams, the seventh son of John and Sarah Williams, was born in Fay- ette county, Indiana, February 28, 1819, and in his youth acquired his early education in the common schools of his native county. He early displayed a predilection for a profes- sional career, and for his primary studies in

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JOSEPH T. COLE AND FAMILY

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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

the profession of medicine he placed himself under the preceptorship of Dr. P. S. Silvey, a well known physician of Fayette county, with offices at Everton. He made rapid progress in his chosen field of endeavor, and while located at Everton lie met a young lady of that place, Miss Susan Fox, to whom he was married October 4, 1837. Three years later he began his practice at Everton, but in the following spring he moved to Huntington county and located at Warren, where he lived and carried on his professional labors for thirteen years. building up an extensive practice and gaining the confidence of his fellow-citizens, whom he served not only as a physician but as justice of the peace as well. November 1, 1853, he moved with his family to New Lancaster, In- diana, and he was living there when the Civil war came on. Enlisting in 1863, he served gallantly for two years and ten months, dur- ing which time he took part in some heavy en- gagements, including Nashville and Franklin and all those of the Atlanta campaign. He received his honorable discharge, at Indian- apolis, Indiana, July 3, 1865, and returned to his home at New Lancaster, where he con- tinued his professionl work until 1878. He then removed to Antioch, where he enjoyed an extensive practice until his death, in 1891. During his residence at New Lancaster, he was frequently called upon for public service. For four years he was notary public and for nine years justice of the peace. He and his wife were the parents of the following child- ren : Mrs. Sarah A. Beal and Mrs. Loretta Beal, who still reside in Huntington county. Indiana : Napoleon B., of Indiana ; Dr. Orland B., a skilled physician who practiced medicine and surgery for years before his death, at New Lancaster ; H. Jerome ; John L .; Arnold A., a farmer near New Lancaster; and Dr. O. B., a practicing physician at New Lancas- ter.

John L. Williams received his education in the public schools, and his first vocation was performing the duties of office-boy in the offices of his father and brother. Subse- quently he was engaged in farming for sev- eral years, and then he developed a gift for pulpit oratory and for a period traveled through the south, where he was very suc- cessful in preaching and in establishing churches, particularly in Alabama. His first visit to Custer county was made in 1887, and while he remained only a short time, the im- pression created in his mind was strong, and in 1895 he was irresistably drawn back to this country, this time to make a permanent residence here. In the year mentioned he took up a homestead, and after proving up on

the same he later repeated the operation. For a number of years he devoted himself to secur- ing and proving up on claims. In this way he came into close connection with the real-estate business and eventually he established himself in that line of enterprise at Broken Bow. One of his accomplishments at that time lay in his taking numerous homeseekers to Wheatland, Wyoming, where he placed them in the midst of prosperity and found them comfortable places of residence. He was also much in evi- dence in handling realty in and around Alli- ance. Another venture in which Mr. Williams was interested was the Omaha Health & Acci- dent Insurance Company, of which he was a charter member and a member of the first board of directors. In the spring of 1917 Mr. Williams left the real-estate business to be- come the proprietor of his present enterprise. Aided by Mrs. Williams, through industry and good management he has succeeded in de- veloping the leading business of its kind at Broken Bow, and one which has become ex- tremely popular, not only with the people of the county seat but also with the general traveling public as well. In addition to this business, Mr. Williams is the owner of a farm of 240 acres in central Missouri and a com- fortable, modern home and other realty at Broken Bow.

In 1880 Mr. Williams married Miss Katie Fisher, who was born in Huntington county, Indiana, and they became the parents of five daughters : Ina, who became the wife of J. T. Hillman, a farmer of Broken Bow; Etta, the wife of William Waffen Smith, a well man at Merna, this county; Mamie, who married Robert Winchester, a farmer near Broken Bow ; Isa, who married E. R. Davis, an oper- ator at Hulsey, Nebraska ; and Nondic Nova, who married B. Carter, residing near Kear- ney, Nebraska. The family belongs to the Baptist church.

JOSEPH T. COLE, who is one of the sub- stantial citizens of Custer county, for many years a heavy land-owner and cattle-grower, has been a resident of Nebraska since 1902. Mr. Cole was born at Kewanee, Illinois, July 28. 1862. He comes of honest, sturdy okdl stock. His parents were Joshua and Susan ( Hoppock ) Cole. His father was born at Athens, Ohio, from which place he moved to Kewanee. Illi- nois, in 1851, buying land in Henry county and continuing to cultivate the same during the rest of his active life. The mother of Mr. Cole was born at Trenton, New Jersey, and was an admirable woman in every relation of life. There were eight children in the family

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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

- Mary C., Joseph T., Elton G., William H., Wesley E., Martha M. ( Cole) Keneval, Ernest O., and Otis R. These children were carefully reared in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church.

Josepli T. Cole attended the country schools in Henry county and had three years' training in the Kewanee high school. In the meanwhile he had been useful to his father on the farm and under his father's strict supervision learned farm methods thoroughly. In his boy- hood and in his section of the country, there was little opportunity to make much of a for- tune outside the regular business of farming, but Mr. Cole relates in a very amusing way one of his hopeful early attempts. A neighbor, an old Scotch farmer, was much annoyed by the gophers that persisted in making free with his crops, and his offer of five cents each for every trapped "varmint" looked like a paying proposition to Joseph T. and he accepted the terms. Although he was paid in the script then in common use, he earned one whole dollar and believes that was his thrift founda- tion, to use a term in general parlance to-day. He realized then, for the first time. what he believes every boy should learn early, that to earn a dollar is a much bigger proposition than to spend it.

After reaching the age of twenty-one years Mr. Cole started out for himself, for three years afterward working for farmers by the month. He was careful and saving with his money but when he contracted to buy a 160- acre farm that pleased his fancy, he found that his accumulated savings would not be sufficient of themselves to cover the price of fifty dollars an acre. He was a young man of excellent standing in the community, however, and thus had no trouble in borrowing the amount re- quired. In a few years he had worked him- self out of debt and six years later sold his farm very advantageously. Mr. Cole not only had industry and perseverance as helpful fac- tors in his career, but he early showed the enterprise that has, at various times, brought him ample returns along other than agricul- tural lines. With his brother, Elton G. Cole, he embarked in a lumber and grain business at Toulon, Illinois, which was continued for seven year .. It was during this period that the brothers built the first telephone line. nearly fifty miles in extent, in Stark county. This bit of enterprise proved a fortunate 1111- dlertaking. In 1902 Mr. Cole moved to Platte county. Nebraska, where for four years he was engaged in growing seeds for the great seed house of D. M. Ferry & Company, of Detroit. Michigan, and because of the thorough man-

ner in which he carried this business to con- clusion it proved exceedingly profitable. One carload of seeds shipped within this time brought Mr. Cole the comfortable sum of $6,000.

In 1906 Mr. Cole moved with his family to Custer county and bought 360 acres of fine land in the Tappin valley, on which he erected a spacious residence and otherwise so greatly improved it that he was able to sell it, March 1, 1918, for eight-five dollars per acre. In as- sociation with two sons. Mr. Cole yet owns a ranch of 4,000 acres, situated near Anselmo, on which he and his wife purpose to pass their summers happily, assisting in looking after their fine herds of cattle, while their sons carry on the business of farming. Their winters will be spent in their handsome modern residence at Broken Bow.

At Kewanee, Illinois, on August 22, 1883. Mr. Cole was united in marriage with Miss Sarah E. Frazier, who was born at Blooming- (lale, Ohio, a daughter of George and Anna ( Crawford) Frazier, the latter coming of Eng- lish ancestry. George Frazier was a lumber- man and operated a saw mill. Mrs. Cole was the fourth born of her parents' children, the others being : Mrs. Margaret M. Copeland, de- ceased ; James C., deceased ; Mrs. Ella M. Busby; Mrs. Mary J. Dutton; Thomas B .; William ; and John W .. deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Cole have four children : Orren L., who is a successful farmer of Custer county, near Broken Bow, married Miss Pearl Martin : Walter E. is a farmer and stock-raiser ; Arthur A., who is also associated with his father, is a farmer and stock-raiser near Broken Bow; and Olive attended the Broken Bow high school, took a business course in the State Nor- mal school at Kearney, and later completed a course in the Nebraska Agricultural College. at Lincoln. Mr. and Mrs. Cole are members of the Baptist church. In his political opinions Mr. Cole is an independent thinker and casts his vote according to the dictates of his own excellent judgment, which faculty has served him well for many years.

DANIEL W. CORY. - This paragraph names one of the veterans of the county, one of the veterans of the Grand Army of the Re- public. and one of the veterans among Custer county homesteaders - a man who has reached the years of his retirement and who finds life bright at eventide.

Mr. Cory was born January 18, 1841. in Boone county, Indiana. His parents were Jer- emiah and Mary (Miller) Cory, both natives

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of Ohio and both excellent people who trans- mitted to their children the characteristics that made them substantial citizens. There were eight children of the father's family, six boys and two girls, but Daniel W. is the only sur- viving child. For his second wife the father married, in 1845, Mary A. Bennett. a native of Virginia. To this union eight children were born, four of whom are still living - Isaac L., Emma H. Adams, Chester, and Charles M. Charles M. Cory has been county judge for twenty-five consecutive years in Noble county, Minnesota.

The first money Daniel W. Cory earned went into the family coffers to help support the family, his services being required during all his early years and being ungrudgingly given. When twenty years of age he went to Wabash, where he entered college, intending to. take a full six years' course, but after six months the Civil war broke out and interfered with his plans. He enlisted in the Eleventh Indiana Volunteer Infantry and served four years and three days. He was mustered out at Baltimore, Maryland, on July 26, 1865. Dur- ing his service he was in twelve different en- gagements - among them being Donelson. Shiloh, Vicksburg, Jackson, Mississippi, Cedar Creek, etc.

Mr. Cory's married life dates from February 25, 1866, when, in Boone county, Indiana, he married Miss Nancy M. Fall. Mrs. Cory was born in the same county where she was mar- ried, and her parents were Joseph C. and Lu- cinda ( Mize) Fall. The father was a native of Carolina and the mother was a Virginian. Mr. and Mrs. Cory became the parents of nine children, five of whom still survive: Nora O. is deceased. Thorley E., who married Mollie Hawkins, is a carpenter by occupation and lives in Indianapolis, Indiana. Mattie is the wife of Charles M. Street, a farmer living northwest of Anselmo. Custer county. Eva H. is the wife of Frank Jacquot and lives in Merna, this county. Charles E. married Daisy Dixon, and is a farmer living in Indiana. Tosie E. is the wife of A. Logan Thomas, of Custer county.

Mr. Cory came to Custer county from Mich- igan, in the spring of 1885, and took a pre- emption claim ten miles west of Broken Bow. On this he lived for seven years, and he then moved to a point ten miles northwest of An- selmo, where he homesteaded and where he lived for five years, after which he sold the homestead and bought a nice property in Merna. A shadow fell across his life June 13, 1912, when his wife was removed from

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History of Custer County, Nebraska; a narrative of the past, with special emphasis upon the pioneer period of the county's history, its social, commercial, educational, religous, and civic developement from the early days to the present time, Part 103

Author: Gaston, William Levi, 1865- [from old catalog]; Humphrey, Augustin R., 1859- [from old catalog] Publication date: 1919 Publisher: Lincoln, Neb., Western publishing and engraving company Number of Pages: 1180

Author: Gaston, William Levi, 1865- [from old catalog]; Humphrey, Augustin R., 1859- [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: Lincoln, Neb., Western publishing and engraving company
Number of Pages: 1180