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 107

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 107

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to him. In 1875 he went to Ottumwa, Iowa, as a member of a surveying crew for the Bur- lington Railroad, and afterward he was a brakeman for two seasons. Then promotion followed - he served as a freight conductor and finally was made passenger conductor. When the company took on the new branch lines, Mr. Moran's ability and fidelity were given recognition, in his appointment to the office of assistant superintendent of the Humes- ton & Shanando Railroad, and he had entire charge of the construction until the line was finished.

At that time Mr. Moran conceived the idea of going into the cattle business in Nebraska, and in October, 1883, he came to Custer county with that intention. After further investiga- tion, however, he changed his mind and de- cided to engage in the mercantile business, in which he had had experience. He formed a partnership with Harry E. O'Niell and they put in a large stock of general merchandise at a point then bearing the name of Olax, where a postoffice had been established. This embryonic town was situated thirty-five miles north of Plum Creek, and is now the town of Lexington. Later, in 1885, the firm estab- lished a branch store at the postoffice village of Delight, the original name of Callaway. The above partnership continued until 1886, when it was dissolved, Mr. O'Niell taking up the practice of law. Mr. Moran continued the business at Olax for a short time and then sold that store to the firm of Crossett & Johnson, who moved the building to Oconto, where it is utilized at present by George Mary as a hardware store. In the course of time the townsite of Callaway was platted and the post- office name was changed, the name of Delight being now almost forgotten. As Callaway. through capital and enterprise, became an im- portant shipping point, Mr. Moran assisted in the general progress by enlarging his business interests, and he continued the leading mer- chant until he retired from that field of en- terprise, in 1914. He then engaged in the in- surance, real-estate, and farm-loan business, handling life, health, accident, fire, tornado. hail, automobile, and live-stock insurance. He is a Knight Templar Mason and a Shriner and is past worthy patron in the Order of the Eastern Star.

Mr. Moran was married September 10, 1885, at Ottumwa, Iowa, to Miss Minnie Ko- nantz, of that place, who is a daughter of Jo- seph and Margaret (Lunkley) Konantz, the former of whom, a railroad man, was born in Germany, and the latter of whom was born in Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Moran have four

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children : Robert E., John O., Walter E., and Cora A. This is a patriotic family, and at the time of this writing two of Mr. Moran's sons are in the service of their country, while the third son is preparing for service. The eldest, Robert E. Moran, is a graduate of Boyle's Business College, Omaha, and before enlisting in the national army he was manager of his father's large department store, besides hav- ing been assistant postmaster for eighteen months. He is now in France and is a cor- poral in the Three Hundred and Eighteenth Engineer Corps. John Moran, Jr., attended Creighton University for six years, was grad- uated in the law department and was employed as one of the legal staff of the Union Pacific Railroad for one year, after which he opened an office for general practice. While with the Union Pacific he had become acquainted with officials of the Oregon Short Line, who were impressed with his legal ability, and he was engaged by that road as a specialist on inter- state commerce law. A bright professional fu- ture undoubtedly was interrupted when, from a loyal sense of duty he enlisted. June 28, 1918. making choice of the marine branch of the United States navy. Walter E. Moran is a graduate of the Callaway high school and con- tinued with the Callaway Telephone Company until such time, as a selective, he should be called to the colors. Cora A., the only daugh- ter of Mr. and Mrs. Moran, is the wife of Arthur R. Young, clerk in a hardware store at Callaway, and they have one daughter, Margaret A.

VIRGIL ALLYN, who is probably one of the best known cattlemen in western Nebras- ka, has a beautiful home and large ranch in- terests near Callaway. He is a pioneer of the county, which has been his home for forty years. Mr. Allyn was born in Posey county. Indiana, December 17. 1849. Ilis parents were Philo H. and Sarah A. ( Welborn ) Allyn, the latter a daughter of Moses Welborn, who was a native of North Carolina Virgil Allyn was the firstborn of the family of six children. the others being: Joseph. Mary. and William, all of whom are deceased : Julia A., who is the wife of James W. Thompson, a professional accountant at Denver, Colorado; and Charles H., who is a ranchman near Denver : he mar .. ried Minnie Tesch and they have one son.

Virgil Allyn was four years old when his parents moved to Missouri and settled near St. Joseph, where he was reared and attended school. His first land was bought with the money he earned while working with his fa-

ther in buying and feeding stock. This pur- chase was one of eighty acres of prairie, and with the proceeds of the sale of the land he went into the mule business at St. Joseph, be- ing then twenty-three years old. He continued this first mule market in that city for eighteen months, shipping to St. Louis, and then he went to Chicago and for the next four years bought cattle for Swift & Company. In 1878 Mr. Allyn came to Custer county and located on the South Loup river, eighteen miles south- west t of Broken Bow. He organized the Brighton Ranch Cattle Company, with an in- vestment of $180.000. 7.200 acres of land. 5,000 head of cattle, and 100 head of horses. Mr. Allyn was manager, and had charge of operations about ten years, by which time Cus- ter county had become so thickly settled that it was deemed best to close operations. Many cattlemen in Custer and other counties remem- ber the palmy days of the business on the South Loup river and recall Mr. Allyn as a princely host. He still owns 720 acres of the old ranch, and has 280 acres west of Callaway, 150 acres of which he has in alfalfa.

In June. 1877. Mr. Allyn married Miss Mary Jane Mintun, of Chicago, Illinois, and she died on the home ranch, in 1888, leaving no chil- dren. Mr. Allyn's second marriage took place in 1889, when Miss Arvilla Kern became his wife. She is a daughter of William and Ma- rinda ( Bennett ) Kern. Mr. and Mrs. Allyn have had three children: Virgil is deceased : Winnie is the wife of Jesse May, a farmer whose land joins Mr. Allyn's on the north. and they have two children ; and Marjorie.

It is worthy of special note in this sketch, as a matter of historie interest, that Mr. Al- lyn was the first to introduce, in 1882, in Cus- ter county the propagation of alfalfa, he hav- ing secured the seed from California. He also brought into the county the first white-face, short-horn Angus cattle, in January, 1883.

JOHN F. WESTCOTT. - The value of a useful and essential trade and of making one's efforts count, are exemplified in the career of John F. Westcott, one of the well known eiti- zens of Comstock, where he has been engaged as a carpenter and builder for a number of years. He is one of the substantial and reliable men of his community, a skilled artisan and mechanic, and one who values high principles. and endeavors to live up to all the rules of business and good citizenship. Ile is a native of Green county. Wisconsin, where he was born June 29. 1861, and is a son of John and Matilda (Fort ) Westcott.

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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

The parents of Mr. Westcott were born at Saratoga Springs, New York, the former Sep- tember 26, 1825, and the latter August 6, 1825. and there they were reared, educated and mar- tied. In 1855 they migrated to Wisconsin, where Mr. Westcott bought government land. in Green county. There he was industriously engaged in both farming and following his trade as a cabinetmaker until the Civil war came on to interrupt his activities. While re- siding in New York he had been a member of the state militia, rising from the rank of cor- poral to that of second lieutenant, and in Wisconsin, in March, 1865, he enlisted in Company I, Forty-sixth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, with which he served un- til he received his honorable discharge, in Sep- tember, 1865. During his army service he contracted in camp a disease from which he never recovered, it finally causing his death in February, 1867 .. He was a Republican in politics, but never held or cared for office. His widow survived him by many years, pass- ing away in the faith of the Presbyterian church, in October, 1897, when seventy-two years of age. They were the parents of the following children: Eda and Ada are twins, the former being the wife of George Houder. a farmer in the vicinity of Dunning, Nebras- ka, and the latter the widow of Robert Cooper and a resident of Walworth. Custer county ; John F .. of this review, was the next in order of birth: Eliza C. taught school in Wisconsin for two years and then came to Nebraska. where she has been teaching for thirty-five years. the last twenty years in the public schools of Omaha: and Kate. deceased, was the wife of the late Newton Taylor, they hav- ing been prominent pioneers of Custer county and their only son, John, being, at the time of this writing, in service with the American Ex- peditionary Forces "somewhere in France."

John F. Westcott was educated in the public schools of Wisconsin, and as a youth showed much mechanical ability, probably inherited from his father. However, when he entered upon his career he elected to follow the voca- tion of agriculturist, and accordingly home- steaded a tract of land south of the town of Wescott. On this place he resided seventeen years. The location of the railroad changed the destinies of .Wescott and Comstock. the latter being the favored town, and to this com- munity Mr. Westcott came, here establishing himself and seeking business as a carpenter and builder. Patronage was not long in com- ing to him, as he showed himself reliable. trustworthy, capable, and industrious, and with the passage of the years he has succeeded in

building up an excellent custom among the people of Comstock and the surrounding com- munities, where there are many structures to show evidence of his skill and good workman- ship. Mr. Westcott is a Republican, but not a politician, and his only public service has been as a member of the board of directors of school district No. 1, which was the first schoolhouse erected in Custer county.

Mr. Westcott was married July 20, 1892, to Miss Lillian L. Cleaveland, at Wescott, she being a daughter of Elias and Alma ( Hutch- inson ) Cleaveland, who are natives of the state of Maine and who came to Custer county in 1883 ; here they bought land and secured tree claims, and both are now residents of Com- stock, after many years of successful agricul- tural effort. Mr. and Mrs. Westcott have no children.

JOHN B. SCHMITZ. - One of the early settlers of Custer county, a man who was faithful to every trust and who spent the best years of his life in helping to make his com- munity a better place in which to live, was the honored pioneer whose name initiates this memoir.

John B. Schmitz was born in Waukesha county, Wisconsin, January 16, 1847, and was a son of Henry and Gertrude ( Krumhultz) Schmitz. The parents were natives of Ger- many and came to America in 1845, locating in Wisconsin, where they spent the remainder of their lives. They had four children, the second youngest being John B.

John B. Schmitz was reared on-a farm, at- tended the public schools in the acquirement of his early education and when a young man became a farmer. On the 15th of March. 1869, at Brookfield, Wisconsin, he was united in marriage to Miss Ann Wardrobe, a native of Scotland. She is a sister of William E. Wardrobe, who has furnished data for a gen- ealogical record of the family given elsewhere. in this volume.

Soon after their marriage John B. Schmitz and his wife moved to Dane county, Wiscon- sin, where they continued to reside until 1880. when they came to Nebraska and established their home in Fillmore county. In 1884 they came to Custer county and secured a home- stead in section 33, township 18. range 23. This tract was wholly unimproved, and in the passing years Mr. Schmitz made it one of the valuable farm properties of the township. He shared in all the hardships and privations of the pioneer days, but eventually the old sod house was replaced with a good frame build-

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ing and other improvements were made, in keeping with the development of the country. On this farm, December 2, 1917, Mr. Schmitz was called to his eternal rest, and his passing was a severe loss to his family and friends. He was active in all affairs of his community, served as a director of the school board and was a public-spirited and useful member of society.

Mr. and Mrs. Schmitz became the parents of eleven children: Anna M. is the wife of J. M. Ford; Isabel B. is the wife of L. E. Fish; Agnes F., who died on the 12th of January, 1918. was the wife of William Smith ; Gertrude is the wife of J. R. Rice : Walter E. is a resident of Custer county : Elizabeth J. is the wife of Bryan Leonard, of Callaway, this county ; William C. married Ethel Stockham and they reside in Custer county; John J. married Ada Waddington, and they likewise reside in this county; Laura A. is the wife of C. E. Whitney; Henry G. married Nellie Whitman, and their home is maintained in Custer county ; and Irene is the wife of Homer Beardsley.

Mrs. Schmitz is making her home on the old farm and is one of the revered pioneer women of Custer county, within whose borders she has resided thirty-six years.

ELRAY H. KRUSER. - The subject of this sketch belongs to the young contingent of Custer county farmers who are moving along the line and into the places that mark the success of their fathers and the generation before them.

Elray H. Kruser was born in Lincoln coun- ty, Missouri, in 1883. He is a son of Henry Kruser, a widely known farmer and prominent citizen of Custer county. Elray H. Kruser has for some time maintained a home of his own and been responsible for the cultivation of his father's ranch. His early years. for the most part, were spent in this county, and here he received a liberal education and formed the habits of a careful. painstaking, business- like farmer. He was married, in Indiana, to Matid Scancy, of Richmond, that state. and since that time she has not only shared the comforts of the home but has also, in a large mcasure, helped to provide them. All the ef- forts of her husband have been ably seconded by her intelligent companionship and co-opera- tion. Mrs. Kruser is a native of Indiana, and is a daughter of Jacob and Nancy Seaney, of Richmond. Mr. and Mrs. Kruser have three children - Garner, Borgia, and Donzel - and the two older children are in school, treading

the educational maze that lies before all young Americans.

As previously stated, Elray H. Kruser oper- ates his father's farm, and here he has demon- strated his ability as a farmer. This is a good ranch, with excellent improvements, and Elray sees to it that the grade of live stock is maintained in high type. He cultivates 200 acres in rotated crops and aside from hogs and cattle is paying some attention to sheep, of which, at the present time, he has 145 head on the place. During the war just end- ed, Elray has been an active spirit and liberal contributor in every drive and in every possible way has shown his loyalty to his native coun- try.

Arnold is the nearest town and is the trad- ing point for the family. Here they are well known and have a splendid rating with the business men. Independent in politics, Mr. Kruser votes for the man whom he deems best fitted for the office.

ROLLY C. LEACH. - This record of Mr. Leach is to be credited to Arnold. He be- longs to the retired farmer list and well de- serves the pleasure of the retirement he is now able to enjoy. He was born in Iowa January 5, 1862, and is a son of Hiram and Miriam (Chillcotte) Campbell Leach. The mother was twice married and her children by the first marriage were Sylvia E. Campbell Pierce; Mary P. Powell (deceased) ; and Leo L. Campbell. Of the three children of Hiram and Miriam Lcach the subject is eldest, the others being John R. and Carrie Van Horn.

The early years of Mr. Leach were spent in Iowa, where he received a liberal education in the schools of Seymour and Promise City. He came first to Custer county in December, 1883. and located in section 34, township 18, range 24. This claim was commuted in 1886 and in the next year he removed to Holyoke county, Colorado, where he worked at the carpenter trade till 1889, after which he moved to Den- ver where he followed the same trade for five more years. While in Denver he was married May 30, 1889, to Brittie M. Payne, who was born in Davis county, Missouri, and who went from Holyoke. Colorado, to Denver, that state. in December, 1888. Mr. Leach having gone to that city in March. 1889, and their marriage having occurred about two months later. Mrs. Lcach is a daughter of Reuben L. and Nancy ( Folley) Payne. Mrs. Leach came of a splen- did family, well connected Kentucky people of sterling quality. In the Payne family were five children, John. Mary E. Harris, W. Na-

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than, Anna Foster, and Brittie M. Leach, wife of the subject of this sketch.

Mr. and Mrs. Leach have six children : Brit- tie L. is the wife of Elihu O. Alexander, a garage man of Arnold, and they have one daughter and two sons. They belong to the Methodist church. Charles R., unmarried, was educated in the common schools and took a course in the York Business College. He is a land-owner in South Dakota. He is a member ofthe Methodist church, is a fourteenth degree Scottish Rite Mason and is also a member of the Order of the Eastern Star. Erma P. is at home with her parents. She is a member of the Methodist church and also the Eastern Star. Carrie E. is a clerk in a mercantile es- tablishment at Arnold, and she makes her home with her parents. Sarah M. is still tin- der the parental roof and is a student at school. Swain MI. also is pursuing an educational course in the Arnold schools.

Mr. Leach returned with his family to Cus- ter county in the fall of 1893 and here he rented land, which he farmed for the next ten years. He then bought 720 acres, which he farmed and upon which he and his wife made their home until the spring of 1918. Then they sold the property and moved to Arnold. where they purchased a beautiful home and where Mr. Leach is now retired from active life. He and his wife are well and favorably known, and are members of the Methodist church.

Mr. Leach is prominently affiliated with the time-honored Masonic fraternity, in which he has received the thirty-second degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, besides being identified with the Mystic Shrine. and being worthy patron of the local chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star. In addition to his social duties, he is the teacher of a large Bible class in the Methodist church. Mrs. Leach holds the chair of worthy matron of the Eastern Star, is president of the Ladies' Aid Society of the church, and is secretary of the War Sav- ing Society No. 2. Three of their children, Reuben, Erma. and Carrie, also are members of the Eastern Star. The Leaches are an in- Ruential and popular family.

LOUIS C. LONGMORE. - If you are fa- miliar with the Callaway country, you have often heard the name of Longmore. There the subject of this sketch, a prominent young farmer, operates about a thousand acres of land for the landlord of a familiar name, and exercises an energy and skill which put him

well to the front among the food-raisers and producers of the county.

Louis C. Longmore was born May 6, 1882, in Marion county, Iowa, and is a son of Will- iam and Martha ( Runyan) Longmore, both natives of the old Hoosier state. In this ex- cellent Indiana family were nine children, the names of whom are given in the biographical sketch of Roy L. Longmore, elsewhere in this volume.

When Louis C. Longmore was a lad of five years his parents came to Custer county and located north of Mason City, where they re- sided for perhaps nine years, when they sold out and moved to Missouri. Four years in Missouri proved a sufficiency of experience in that state, and the Longmore family came again to Custer county, where at this time lo- cation was made in the favored section of Cal- laway, in which locality the Longmores have resided most of the time since.

Louis C. Longmore received a common- school education, learned the rudiments of farming by practical experience and also very early in life received a training in the care of his stock - a general discipline that has done him splendid service in the years of his active life. He became a benedict February 18, 1906, at which time. in the home of the bride's par- ents, in Triumph township, Miss Mary Etta Schreyer became his wife. Mrs. Longmore was born in Custer and is a daughter of Al- fred and Addie (Mulvany) Schreyer, the for- mer a native of Wisconsin and the latter of Indiana. In this branch of the Schreyer fam- ily were found the pioneer spirit and the po- tential home development. Accordingly Mrs. Longmore has been an invaluable assistant to her husband. They have four pright children, all of whom give fine promise for the future, their names and respective ages, in 1918, be- ing as here noted: Irvin H., twelve years; Lois Irene, ten years; Ena Marguerite, eight years ; and Grant Elwood, six years.

Mr. Longmore is operating a farm of 1,000 acres, on which are splendid improvements, in- cluding good buildings, wells, fences. wind- mills, etc. He is conducting a very profitable business and is rated as one of the successful farmers and stockmen of Custer county. Po- litically he affiliates with the Democratic party. yet the Democratic candidate who receives his vote muist possess the characteristics of ef- ficiency and morality or else there is "nothing doing." He insists that the man is the first consideration. In their home community Mr. and Mrs. Longmore are rated as good neigh-

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CHARLES W. FODCE AND FAMILY

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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

bors - kind and obliging, and generous to every appeal. During the war activities their patriotism has expressed itself in all the com- mon avenues in which Mr. Longmore has been able to respond.

CHARLES W. FODGE. - When he ar- rived in Custer county, May 28, 1880, Charles W. Fodge had been through the experience of having twice secured a start upon the high- way to success and twice had seen the result of his laborious efforts swept away by mis- fortune. He was in depressed financial con- dition, and had a growing family to support, but in Custer county he found the means at hand which gave him the opportunity of ex- ercising his industry and real ability to good advantage, and the resut is that he is to-day one of Broken Bow's most substantial retired citizens. Mr. Fodge was born in Clayton county, Iowa, May 19, 1856, and is a son of David and Martha ( Mansfield ) Fodge.

David Fodge was born in Indiana, was there reared as a farmer, and was educated in the public schools. In his native state he married Miss Martha Mansfield, daughter of James Mansfield, who passed away in Missouri, in 1869. About the year 1854 Mr. Fodge re- moved to McGregor, Iowa, in which vicinity he remained about two years. His next set- tlement was in Putnam county, Missouri, but subsequently he returned to Iowa and took up his residence on a valuable farm in Wayne county. He was just getting well established in life when the Civil war came on to interrupt his career, for after three and one-half months in the Union service, as a private of Company G, Twenty-fourth Regiment, Iowa Volunteer Infantry, he contracted pneumonia and died. He was a member of the United Brethren church, was a Republican in politics, and for several years had served as justice of the peace. He and Mrs. Fodge, who later joined the Christian church, were the parents of three sons and three daughters, the sons being: J. M., engaged in the insurance business at Bro- ken Bow ; J. R., a carpenter of Thedford, Ne- braska, a vocation which he has followed for thirty years ; and Charles W.

Charles W. Fodge commenced his education in the district schools of Iowa and completed it in Nebraska, to which state he had accom- panied his mother, in 1871, in which year she took up a homestead in Hamilton county. Mr. Fodge developed this land for his mother, and as all the government land was by that time exhausted in Hamilton county, he became a

pioneer of Custer county, taking up a home- stead near Merna. His property was located from ninety to one hundred and ten miles from a railroad, and he was forced to haul his necessary supplies from a far-dis- tant point. After five years he had the satisfaction of finding himself in better cir- cumstances, a railroad line having been built through this locality. At the time of his ar- rival he was $200 in debt and had a wife and two children to support, his earthly possessions consisting of a cow, a team, and $10 in money. To-day he is the owner of a valuable and highly-productive farm of 320 acres, located northwest of Broken Bow, where he has made a specialty of alfalfa, which he has grown, with grain, during the past seventeen years. Mr. Fodge removed his family from the farm to Broken Bow in March, 1914, but continued to conduct operations himself, with hired help, until the spring of 1918, when he leased his property and took up his residence at the county seat. As a pioneer of two counties of the state, and one who experienced all the difficulties and discouragements of the early settlers, he is able to speak authoritatively in regard to conditions here, and the greater part of the work of development and progress has passed under his eye.

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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 107

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