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 124

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 124

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John Mulvany was born October 8. 1833, in Knox county, Tennessee. His parents were Henry and Sally Mulvany. The father was born in Ireland and the mother in Germany, and they came to Tennessee very early, mar- ried there and later moved to Indiana, where the father died during the Civil war. He was a strong Whig in early life but after the for- mation of the Republican party united with that organization. His business was farming. The mother died in Indiana and both parents were members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Of their fourteen children four sons served in the Civil war, namely : Samuel, John. James, and Pleasant.

John Mulvany assisted his father on what was a pioneer farm in Indiana, the same being now situated in the midst of a highly culti- vated section. He had opportunities to attend school and laid the foundation of a good edu- cation. When the call came for loyal men to come forward and fight to preserve the Union. he was one of the four brothers to respond. He enlisted in Company C. Sixty-sixth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and in his term of service, that covered almost three years, he took part in six regular battles. besides innumerable skirmishes. He survived all the hazards of war and returned home practically unharmed. Ile resumed farming in Indiana, but his prog- ress was slow and he began to look about for a home for himself in one of the western states or territories, and this led to his decid- ing on Custer county, Nebraska, which he reached in 1877. Ile took up a homestead and a tree claim and as proof of his determi- nation to succeed it can be stated that he has never parted with either - and both are now valuable properties.

Mr. Mulvany married Mrs. Elizabeth A. Taylor, a widow with one daughter. Henrietta Taylor, who married A. Davis, of Corydon.

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Harrison county, Indiana. Mrs. Mulvany was born in Kentucky, September 16, 1832, and died in Nebraska, April 17. 1910. Mo Mr. and Mrs. Mulvany the following children were born: Dorothea, who is, the widow of Thomas Aikman, lives at Rulo. Nebraska, and has eleven children: John Henry is a resident of Mason City. Nebraska; Addie is the wife of Alfred Shrire, a farmer near Callaway, Nebraska : Harvey S. lives in Mason City, Nebraska; Hester Ann is the wife of Dennis Runyan, a farmer living near Haines, Ore- gon ; Mollie J. is the wife of John Wright, a farmer near Mason City; Christina is the wife of James English, a farmer near Bush- nell, Nebraska; and George W. farms his father's land. Mr. Mulvany is a Republican in politics. He belongs to the Grand Army post at Mason City and is held in high regard by his comrades. Since youth he has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.

CLARIS TALBOT, one of Custer county's enthusiastic, capable, and progressive expo- nents of the vocation of agriculture, has fol- lowed this occupation throughout his active career, and is at this time a factor in the de- velopment of the farming and stock-raising interests of Custer county. He was born in Parke county, Indiana, November 15, 1873, and is a son of Dr. R. C. and Hattie ( War- rick) Talbot, a sketch of the family history being found in the review of the life of Dr. Talbot, elsewhere in this work.

Claris Talbot was about six years of age when the family came to Custer county, and here he received the advantages of the public schools of Broken Bow. He was reared to agricultural pursuits in Custer county, and during this country's war with Spain he en- listed in the United States Volunteers at Bro- ken Bow, as lieutenant of Company M, First Nebraska Infantry. He was in the service for one year and four months, for one year of which time he was in the Philippines, where he saw active fighting. and was later trans- ferred to Company C, from Geneva, Nebras- ka, and promoted captain, which rank he held when honorably discharged. He made an ex- cellent record and was accounted a courageous and dutiful soldier, as well as a natural leader of his comrades.

In 1899 Captain Talbott was married, at Broken Bow. to Miss Eva M. Jewett, who was born at Chicago, Illinois, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. L. H. Jewett, the former of whom is now deceased and the latter of whom is a resident of Broken Bow. Mr. and Mrs. Talbot

became the parents of four children - John J., Orin H., and Charles C., all residing at home; and Roberta, who died in 1916, at the age of thirteen years.

After his marriage Mr. Talbot settled on his father's homestead near Berwyn, where he now rents a large tract of land from his father. He is carrying on his operations in a progressive and capable manner, and as a stockman and farmer has gained an excellent reputation, as he has also as a citizen. In politics he is a Republican and he is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, in which he has received the thirty-second degree of the Scot- tish Rite, besides being a member of the Mystic Shrine.

THOMAS LAUGHRAN was one of the earliest settlers of Custer county. Here he arrived in 1874, and from that time until his death he was actively engaged in farming and stock-raising, the while he became one of the well-to-do men of the county.

Thomas Laughran was a native of Ireland and was born in County Tyrone. In his native land he was reared to the age of fifteen years, and he then accompanied his parents to Amer- ica, the home being established in Canada. There he grew to manhood and there he mar- ried Elizabeth Morrow, who was a native of County Antrim, Ireland, and who came to Canada with her parents, in 1847. In Canada Thomas Laughran learned the blacksmith trade, which he followed in that country until 1862, when he came to the United States and established his home in Michigan. He resided in that state until 1869, when he came to Ne- braska and located in Saunders county. In 1874 he came to Custer county and took a homestead in section 1, township 19, range 21. Pioneer conditions were in evidence on every hand. What is now Custer county was known as Kountze county and was unorganized ter- ritory. The first home of the family was a dugout on the bank of Victoria creek, near where the present home stands, the latter be- ing one of the first frame houses in this part of the county. The nearest neighbor to the east was thirty-one miles away. The family endured all the pioneer hardships and priva- tions, and Thomas Laughran engaged in the stock-raising business on an extensive scale. He was a man of good judgment, and at the time of his death he was the owner of over 1,000 acres of land. He was killed by a steer. in the yards on the farm, when he had reached the age of eighty-six years.

His wife also passed away on the old farm.

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at the age of eighty-six. During the Indian scare of 1876 the settlers on Victoria creek left the neighborhood and went to Loup City. While they were on the way they met a mail- carrier from Loup City. Mrs. Laughran was one of the party, and suddenly changed her mind and returned to the settlement, she being the only woman of the neighborhood who stayed. The Indians did not come and the white people were unmolested, but it showed much bravery on the part of this pioneer wo- man, who proved her love for her husband by remaining with him.

Mr. and Mrs. Laughran became the parents of four children : James R., who owns and re- sides on the old homestead; Mary, who is the wife of W. H. McCowan, a resident of Furnas county, Nebraska ; Alice, who is the widow of Louis Vinage, of Taylor, Nebraska; and Jennie, who is the widow of H. B. Andrews, and who is residing at Broken Bow.

Thomas Laughran and wife were faithful communicants of the Catholic church and were highly respected by all who knew them. They came to Custer county at a time when the work of development had hardly begun, and they lived to see this become one of the well devel- oped sections of the state. They were not only witnesses of the vast changes, but also in the work of transformation they contrib- uted their full share, which entitles them to honorable mention among the sterling pioneers of Custer county.

JOSEPH C. MOORE is one of the wide- awake business men of Anselmo and is a mem- ber of the firm of Moore Brothers, dealers in implements and automobiles.

Mr. Moore is a native of Iowa, and was born at Cedar Falls. Black Hawk county, Jan- uary 12, 1871. His father William Moore, was a native of New York and was engaged in farming and mining in New York and Can- ada until he settled in Iowa, where he became a resident of Fort Dodge. In 1883 he came to Custer county, Nebraska, and took a home- stead and tree claim in township 18, range 22. His first home was a sod house, and he passed through all the pioneer experiences in- cident to the early days in Custer county. He retired from his farm to .Anselmo five years before his death. In Canada he married Mary Maroney, a native of Ireland, and she is still living at Anselmo. They were the parents of the following named children, all of whom are residents of Custer county: John, Thomas, Joseph C., George, and Mrs. J. H. Phillips.

Joseph C. Moore was a lad of twelve years

when the family came to Custer county. He was reared on the farm and was engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1897. when he and his brother George engaged in the implement business, later handling automobiles. The first car load of Ford automobiles brought to the county came to this firm, and they had the agency for several years. The first car load of Dodge Brothers' cars came to this firm, and they now have the agency for this car in four counties. They have a splendidly equipped establishment and are doing a hustling business.

At Eddyville, Mr. Moore was united in mar- riage to Miss Jennie Tucker, who was born in Wisconsin, a daughter of John and Joanna Tucker. Mrs. Moore was educated in Ne- braska and at the time of marriage was a pop- ular teacher in the Broken Bow schools. She is possessed of considerable literary talent and has assisted in gathering data for the history of Anselmo found elsewhere in this volime.

Mr. and Mrs. Moore are members of the Catholic church and are interested in all move- ments for the growth and development of their community.

ARCHIBALD H. SHEPARD, postmaster of Ansley, and for many years identified with mercantile pursuits at this place, is a repre- sentative of that class of men who have by their energy, public spirit, and careful man- agement, reached positions which the struggles of the earlier years scarcely indicate, and who are known and respected for their sterling worth as citizens, having always in view the upbuilding and best interests of the commu- nities in which they live. Of this class, cen- tral Nebraska has many representatives, none perhaps more worthy than Mr. Shepard, as is known by the people of the community among whom he has lived for thirty-two years.

Mr. Shepard was born at Ashtabula. Ohio, April 10, 1853, a son of Richard and Rowena (Stratton) Shepard, natives of Ohio. His paternal grandfather, Pelltiah Shepard, was born in Connecticut and was a pioneer of Ohio, where his death occurred ; while on the maternal side his grandfather was James Stratton, a native of Ohio, who moved first to Wisconsin and later to Minnesota, where he died. Richard Shepard was born in 1829, in Ohio, where he grew to manhood and was educated. As a young man he began a career on the Great Lakes. For a time he was a cap- tain on Lake Erie boats, and during the Civil war he enlisted in the Thirty-first Regiment of Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, for three years,

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but the war closed after he had served eigh- teen months and he received his honorable dis- charge. He took part in many engagements, including those during General Sherman's great march to the sea, and finally was one of those who proudly marched through the streets of Washington, D. C., to the cheering of thou- sands of spectators, in the Grand Review. From Wisconsin he moved with his family to Minnesota, and in 1878 he went to California, where he and his wife passed the remaining years of their lives, Captain Shepard passing away December 31, 1899, aged seventy years, and Mrs. Shepard dying in March, 1915, when eighty-five years of age, she having held her- self secure in the faith of the Methodist Epis- copal church. Captain Shepard had made a

success of his life and was in comfortable fi- nancial circumstances before taking up his residence in California. He was a Democrat in politics. There were seven children in the family, of whom four are now living: Archi- bald H. : Mrs. Addie Carrington, a widow liv- ing in California: Alice, the wife of ex-Gov- ernor Lind of Minneapolis, Minnesota ; and E. E., engaged in the practice of law at Los An- geles, California.

Archibald H. Shepard received his early ed- tication in the district schools of Minnesota, and after accompanying his parents to Califor- nia supplemented this by a commercial course in Bryant & Stratton's Business College. at San Francisco. He took up telegraphy later and followed it for a time, but subsequently went to North Dakota, where he engaged in the mercantile business. After three years in that state, he sought a more populous com- munity for demonstrating his business capacity and energy, and accordingly, in 1886, he came to Custer county and located at Ansley, which has since been his home and the stage of his activities and successes. At the time of his arrival he engaged in mercantile business in a modest way, and from the start his venture was a success. A man of excellent business and executive ability, sagacious, and far-see- ing, by his earnest desire to please his custom- ers and his courteous treatment and fair deal- ing, he soon secured a liberal patronage. He gave the business his personal attention for thirty years, but since 1916 he has devoted his entire time to the handling of the duties con- nected with his position as postmaster of Ans- ley, to which he was appointed, by President Wilson, in the year mentioned. The family. however, still own and conduct the store. Mr. Shepard is a staunch and uncompromising Democrat, and wields no small influence in his community. The best interests of the locality receive his support, and he withholds his co-

operation from no worthy undertaking tending to promote the general welfare. With his family, he belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Shepard is widely known in fra- ternal circles, being a Scottish Rite Mason, and a member of the Modern Woodmen of America.

In 1885 Mr. Shepard married Miss Lottie Welch, who was born at Buffalo, New York, daughter of Sylvester Welch, at one time as- sistant jailer of the city of Buffalo. They have three children : Myrtle S. and Archibald H., Jr., who are conducting the store ; and Roy E., who, in the hospital service of the United States army, was assigned to active duty in France.

GROVER A. HOLEMAN, cashier of the Farmers State Bank of Ansley, has been con- nected with this institution from the time that he completed his youthful education, and he has advanced to his present post through in- dividual merit. His career has been an ex- pression of well applied and well directed in- dustry, and he has succeeded in building up for himself a reputation as an adherent of sound and conservative banking principles. He was born at Bedford, Iowa, June 4, 1887, a son of John H. and Mary ( Elliott) Holeman.

Reuben A. Holeman, grandfather of Grover A., was born in Indiana, later moved to War- ren county, Illinois, and after a career spent in agricultural pursuits he retired from active life, his death occurring at Ansley, Nebraska, in January, 1918. John H. Holeman was born in Warren county, Illinois, and as a young man moved to Iowa, where he was engaged in farming until 1892. In that year he came to Custer county and rented a farm, which he operated as a renter for two years. Subse- quently he purchased this property and he con- tinted its operation until his retirement, when he moved to his present home, at Ansley. He is a self-made man who has won success, and whose fellow citizens have on numerous occa- sions honored him by election to public office. His political affiliation is with the Democratic party. In Iowa Mr. Holeman married Miss Mary Elliott, a native of that state, and they are the parents of four children: Grover A .; H. E., principal of the Albert Lea Commercial College, at Albert Lea, Minnesota ; Gladys, en- gaged in teaching school; and .Alvin, attending the Ansley high school. Mrs. Holeman is a member of the Baptist church.

Grover A. Holeman attended the graded and high schools of Ansley, following which he took a business course at the Shenandoah Commercial Institute, Shenandoah, Iowa, in

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MRS. JESSE E. NETH

JESSE E. NETH

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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

which he was graduated in 1907, and he com- pleted his training at the Gem City Business College, Quincy, Illinois, in 1908. At that time he returned to Nebraska and entered the Farmers State Bank of Ansley, in the capacity of bookkeeper, subsequently being made as- sistant cashier, a post which he retained for five years. He was elected cashier February 2, 1914, and has continued to act in that ca- pacity to the present. This is the second oldest banking institution at Ansley and, as a reliable and sound banking house, it has gained and re- tained public confidence. Its growth has been steady and consistent, as will be noted in the fact that when Mr. Holeman entered the bank the average deposits were $22,000, while to- day they are $200,000. The bank has a capi- tal of $20,000, and its surplus and undivided profits amount to $1,000. Mr. Holeman, in his official capacity, has contributed materially to the growth and prosperity of the institution. at the same time advancing his own standing in banking circles, as a capable and thoroughly informed banker.

On August 3, 1911, at Ansley, Mr. Holeman married Miss Myrtle E. Bristol, daughter of Rupert C. Bristol, a sketch of whose career appears elsewhere in this work. Four children have been born to them: Grover Garland, born in 1912; Myrtle Mildred, born in 1914; Law- rence, born in 1916; and John Orville, born in 1918. Mrs. Holeman is a member of the Bap- tist church, in the work of which she is ac- tively interested, and to the movements of which Mr. Holeman is a contributor. He is a Mason of the thirty-second degree and is treasurerof his Masonic blue lodge. In poli- tics a Democrat, he has been repeatedly urged to become a candidate for public office, and on one occasion was appointed deputy county clerk, but he refused the honor, preferring to devote his entire time and attention to his duties at the bank.

JESSE E. NETH. - The story of Jesse E. Neth reads a good deal like the stories of other Custer county pioneers. His advent into this world occurred April 22, 1872, and the place selected for the occasion was Livingston coun- ty, Illinois. His father, Jacob Neth, was a native of Wittenberg, Germany. His mother, whose maiden name was Mary Strunk, was a Pennsylvanian by birth. These were the par- ents of an estimable family in which were ten children : seven are still living. The living are as follows : William S. Neth, Franklin B. Neth, Katherine ( Neth) Stewart, Jesse E. Neth. Jo-

seph L. Neth, Lucinda P. Neth, and Dora K. (Neth) Meyers.

Two denominations are represented in the family. The father was a Lutheran, and the mother a member of the Christian church. Jacob Neth, father of the subject of this nar- rative, went to Covington, Ohio, when but a small boy. During the Civil war he enlisted in the Fourteenth Ohio Infantry, and he served for the full duration of the war. He was with Sherman on his memorable expedition to the sea. By occupation he was always a farmer. and, withal, a very frugal, prosperous citizen.

Jesse E. Neth, reared on a farm, has always followed farming for a livelihood. When asked concerning the first money he earned, he replied that when seven years of age he car- ried water on horseback for harvest hands, for which he received ten cents a day. By the time he was eight years of age, by working at odd jobs, he had saved enough money to enable him to buy a suit of clothes. When he was fourteen years old his father and mother both died, within two weeks of each other. After the death of his parents, a consin by the name of Mike Maier, of Covington, Ohio, took all the children home with him, and they were placed in different families, as opportunities were presented. Young Jesse was put to work and, being rather a wiry lad, made good at all kinds of farm work. For his first month's work he received a pair of moleskin pants, a box of paper collars, and fifty cents in money. Thinking that perhaps fortune would favor him better in the west, he came to Custer coun- ty in February, 1890, and here he worked on various farms, for different farmers, until 1903 when he homesteaded the northwest quarter of section 21, township 16, range 22.

In August of 1904 Mr. Neth married Katie M. Kelsey, who was at the time a resident of Broken Bow. Her father, Martin Kelsey, was a native of New York and the family name of her mother was Lutes.

Mr. and Mrs. Neth are the parents of three children - Walter S., Orrinc E., and Helen. Mr. Neth owns 480 acres of good land, and has recently sold 480 acres. He is a prosperous. well known farmer and stock-raiser, a splendid citizen, and one of the leaders in the community where he resides.

On the home farm the Neths are building. at the time of this writing, a commodious farm home that will be one of the best in the com- munity, and that will cost between three and four thousand dollars when completed. He has also a fine equipment of outbuildings on the farm, and has just installed a water system

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that is equal to any farm water-plant in the state. With this water accessible, the new farm home will be thoroughly modern.

ADELBERT LOGAN THOMAS is one of the responsible, middle-aged farmers whose life activities have already been counted as ? success, and he lives in the vicinity of Merna, where he conducts farming operations on what might be consistently be called a model farm.

Mr. Thomas was born September 27, 1879, in Murray, Iowa, and he is a son of Frank and Leila ( Reed) Thomas. The father was a Vermont Yankee, and the mother a native of the Buckeye state, Born to the union of the parents were two sons, the subject of this sketch being the first born, and the other. Otho O., being well known in the vicinity of Merna. The Thomas family came to Custer county when A. Logan Thomas was but a lad of three years, and the father took a homestead and a timber claim one and one-half miles south of Merna. It was here that the boy grew up, and he still remembers that the country in those days was rather wild, roads being trails, and the fields, for the most part, being prairie. The main thoroughfare from Broken Bow to Merna passed through his father's farm

Concerning those days Mr. Thomas relates that on one occasion several cowboys rode through the yard. A big yellow pumpkin lay in front of the house, and thinking that no one was at home. the boys rode their ponies sev- eral times around the house on a gallop, and each time they passed the pumpkin they gave it a shot. When they finished their sport the pumpkin was pretty well perforated. The mother was at home alone in the house, and one can imagine that she was badly fright- ened. The father was threshing for a neigh- bor, and, hearing the shots, he rushed home. The boys had just left, but seeing him put in an appearance so suddenly upon the scene, the leaders rode back and apologized. They said they did not know any one was at home and were just having a little gun practice.

Mr. Thomas says the first money that he earned was by riding a lead-horse on a bin- der. for twenty-five cents a day. He worked at home, secured a fair education in the com- mon schools, and on November 9. 1902. at Merna. he married Josie Cory, a daughter of Daniel W. and Nancy ( Fall) Cory.

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas remain on the old homestead and have a splendid home. where farming operations are conducted in an ideal manner. They have two children, Franklin

W. and Earl A., both of whom are attending school. Rated as a progressive farmer and stock-raiser, Mr. Thomas maintains the fa- ther's farm, which now belongs to the widowed mother, and he deserves credit for the show- ing that he has made. His father died June 29, 1900. Mr. Thomas gives his attention to diversified agriculture, with stock-raising as a profitable side line. His wife does well her share and contributes to the family income with butter, cream, chickens, and eggs. Dur- ing the last year the proceeds from the poul- try-yard purchased fifty dollars of thrift stamps. In emergencies, Mrs. Thomas goes into the field and becomes a valuable assistant to her husband in caring for the crops. This she did in the summer of 1918, when other help could not be obtained, and thus they not only saved the crop, but also an expense of four dollars a day for a hired man who would have done little, if any, more work.

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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 124

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