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 125

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 125

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WILLIAM A. CRISS. - Fourteen miles west of Broken Bow the subject of this sketch plies his vocation. There he is a tiller of the soil, a raiser of stock and, in general, a pro- ducer of food stuffs, all of which renders him a valuable citizen and one with whom present- day conditions could not dispense.

William A. Criss hails from the Hoosier state, where he was born December 13, 1874. He is a son of Levi and Mary ( Walker) Criss. both of whom were natives of Greene county, Indiana, the first county and state known to young William A., who is the eldest of the fa- ther's family, the others being Silas L., Ari J., Sciota A. Grounds, Jocie M. (deceased ) . and John E. The parents belonged to the Christian church and were farmers by occupa- tion and residence. On the farm young William began his operations.

William A. Criss was but three years old when his parents came to Nebraska. The trip was made in a covered wagon, but such vivid impressions were made upon the child's mem- ory that he remembers to this day that on one occasion he was lying in the back end of the wagon and that he kicked a feather bed and pair of pillows out of the wagon, these treas- ured household possessions never having been recovered. The first stop of the Criss family was in Valley county. where they resided five years. Then. in the fall of 1884, they moved into Custer county, and located a homestead fourteen miles northwest of Ansley, on Clear creek. On this claim William spent his boy- hood days. The father died in 1892 and the

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mother sold the claim for $300 and went back to Indiana. The homestead is now very val- uable.

William A. Criss and two of his brothers. Silas and Ari, remained in Custer county, where they worked by the month, wherever they could obtain employment, until they were able to establish themselves in independent operations.

The domestic life of William A. Criss dates from April, 1896, when, at Ansley, Nebraska, he led to the marriage altar Miss Ida O. Brooks, who was born in Davis county, Iowa, a daughter of George W. Brooks and Eliza ( Niles) Brooks, the father having been born in Iowa, and the mother in Illinois. The Crisses have a good home, and until the last few years have had a hard time making a liv- ing, but industry and good management have finally brought to them definite independence and prosperity

Following is a brief record concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Criss: Mrs. Anna B. Olson is a resident of Colorado, where her husband is a farmer, and the names of the other children are here entered in respective order - Harlan L., Grant W., Grace D., Nora O., Carle L.

Mr. Criss is the fortunate owner of 480 acres of land, well improved, and stocked for profitable operations. Careful management, good judgment, economical habits, and tireless efforts account for his accumulations. He tells a story of the early days, to the effect that six gold-seekers came through the Clear creek country in an early day and, being threatened by Indians, they separated, to evade pursuit. They came together at a point further east and one of them claimed that he had buried his sack of golddust under a lone elm tree on the creek about twelve miles east of the pres- ent site of Mason City. Mr. Criss says that he and other neighbor boys put in many a day's work digging under elm trees in that vicinity, but so far the sack of gold has con- tinued to elude the spade and mattock.

The Criss family are counted desirable citi- zens and kind and obliging neighbors.

HERBERT OXFORD is a young farmer living on Ash creek, southwest of Broken Bow, on eighty acres of land on which he is rearing a family of small children, operating his farm, milking cows, and laying the foundation of a competency which labor and management are sure to secure. He was born in Harrison county. Missouri, November 24. 1884, and is a son of John and Hannah ( King) Oxford,

both natives of Kentucky. In the family were the following named children - Robert F., Wilda Noble, William T., Ora, Cornelius, Os- car , Lafayette, Rannick, Celia (deceased ). Charles L., Herbert, Emma Wright, Mattie, and Francis. John Oxford was nineteen years of age when he went to California with the gold-seekers - in a wagon train in which were about fifteen wagons, hauled by ox teams. He was at that time in the employ of Glasscock & Taylor, who were freighting supplies to the gold fields. He stayed in California three years and upon receiving word that his father was very ill, he started for home. When he arrived at the home, the father was dead and buried. At the time of the Civil war John Oxford enlisted, and he served eight months.

Concerning the early years of young Her- bert Oxford, it may be noted that he made himself generally useful on the farm, doing chores and such light work as a sturdy boy could do. When eight years of age he chop- ped wood for his mother and earned ten cents, which he saved for Fourth of July money. On the anniversary of the nation's independ- ence he invested his money in fire-crackers. His celebration, however, came to a sudden end, as the fire-crackers were slow to ignite and, thinking that he could help matters by blowing into the lighted end, the explosion came rather suddenly and filled his face with powder-marks, with the result that to this day Herbert declares that he does not like fire- crackers. His early life was on the farm, and farming has been the occupation of his lifetime. He came to Custer county in the fall of 1904, with his brother Rannick. They came to an uncle, James Oxford, who was then living on Lillian creek. The uncle was one of the earliest pioneers of the Middle Loup country. Herbert went to work as foreman on the Albert Blessing ranch, and during the next three years he accumulated enough to start farming for himself, which he did.

On March 8, 1910, at Broken Bow. Mr. Oxford was united in marriage to Rosa Deal. a daughter of Charles and Marietta ( Prov- ince ) Deal, whose home was in Buffalo county. Mrs. Oxford has two sisters - Bertha Sexton, and Violet, the latter of whom is at home with her parents, who now live near Broken Bow.

Mr. and Mrs. Oxford have five children, all young, full of "pep" and promise. and they add much of cheerfulness to the household. They are: Mary, seven : Melva I .. six ; Ruby S .. four: Clarence. two; Lawrence W., one. Mr. Oxford's home is located on eighty acres of fine land adjoining his father's land, which

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he farms on shares, and he thus is enabled to conduct farming operations on a larger scale than would otherwise be possible. He has made a fine showing, and has proved himself to be an energetic, progressive farmer who is laying the foundation of a competency that will be well deserved. He has given consider- able attention to dairying, milking cows, farming and raising stock, his good wife do- ing all the time her part - taking care of the chickens, butter and eggs, and doing every- thing possible to augment the efforts of her husband. They sustain a good name in the community and are rated substantial, depend- able people. They are members of the Metho- clist church.

WILLIAM N. BRAY, who is numbered among the successful men of Custer county, and who is now living in comfortable retire- ment at his home at Mason City, is an example of the self-made type of manhood, for he commenced life in modest circumstances and worked his own way to independence and. prosperity. Mr. Bray was born in Gallia county, Ohio, January 20, 1848, and is a son of Nathan and Sarah ( Gooch) Bray.

The parents of Mr. Bray were natives of Ohio, the mother having been a daughter of James Gooch, a pioneer of that state and a lifelong agriculturist. From Ohio Mr. and Mrs. Bray moved to West Virginia, where the mother died and in 1861 Nathan Bray went with his family to Missouri, where he passed the rest of his life in farming, and where his death occurred. A man of industry and in- telligence, he accumulated considerable prop- erty in politics, butt took little interest in pub- lic affairs, save that of a good citizen. Both he and Mrs. Bray were members of the Bap- tist church. They were the parents of five children, of whom two are living: William N., of this review, and John, of Huntington, West Virginia.

William N. Bray received his education in the public schools of Ohio and West Virginia. Coming to Custer county in 1885. he filed on a homestead, but subsequently relinquished it and pre-empted the farm which he now owns. a tract of 200 acres lying four miles north- east of Mason City, in addition to which he owns considerable land nearer to that place. When he began his independent career. he was a poor youth with only ordinary advan- tages, and at the time that he came to Custer county he possessed little more than his per- sonal ability, natural ambition, and profound self-confidence to aid him. These carried him

through the starting years, and have since contributed to aid him in the securing of a handsome competence. In 1910 he retired from the active pursuits of the farm and moved to Mason City, where for two years he was engaged in the dairy business. Since that time he has been living in retirement. Mr. Bray was originally a Republican, but in more recent years has been a supporter of the Dem- ocratic party. He has not engaged in public affairs, but has discharged the responisibilities of citizenship in a manner that well entitles him to the unqualified esteem and regard in which he is held by his fellow townspeople.

In 1870 Mr. Bray married Miss Frances Ogburn, who was born in West Virginia, and they became the parents of six children: Ida. who is the wife of John Walker, a farmer in Custer county; Sarah, who married Ludrick Jackson and resides on a farm near Mason City; Charles, who is an agriculturist near Sioux City, Iowa; Clella, who first married Charles Baker, and, second, Joseph Scott, and now resides at Broken Bow: John, who is a farmer in Sherman county ; and Fred, who is at the time of this writing a member of the United States army, stationed in camp at Fort Presidio, California. Mrs. Bray died in 1884, and Mr. Bray was again married in 1890, to Melissa Wood, who was born in Missouri, a daughter of John and Amanda ( Hillhouse) Wood, the former a native of Tennessee and the latter of Missouri. Mr. Wood died in Ne- braska, and following his death his widow returned to her native state, where she passed away. Eight children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Bray: Claude, who is conducting the operations on his father's farm; Jessie, who resides with her parents; Leonard, who is a member of Company B. Forty-eighth En- gineers, American Expeditionary Forces, France; Ruby, who is attending business col- lege at Lincoln ; Harry, who is identified with a business enterprise at Minden, this state : Garnett, who is with the One Hundred and Tenth American Aviation Squadron, in France : and Marion and Melville, who remain with their parents. The members of the Bray family belong to the Baptist church.

REV. THOMAS F. MINOGUE. - The life work of a priest of the Holy Roman Catholic church is essentially one of self-sac- rificing devotion to the needs of his people, his church, and the Divine Master whom he serves. The work demands years of prelim- inary study and preparation, for the highest of intellectual standards and the broadest of

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practical humanitarianism are demanded, the while there can be no temporal rewards com- mensurate with the services to be rendered, save the satisfaction of having labored faith- fully and well in the behalf of Christ and hu- manity. Father Minogue has measured up fully to the demands and exactions of his high calling, and is one of the representative members of the Catholic priesthood in this section of Nebraska. He is pastor of the church at Anselmo, is also serving the churches at Dale and Merna, and commands the high esteem and affectionate regard of the mem- bers of his parish, as well as the confidence and good will of the entire community.

Father Minogue was born near the River Shannon, in County Clare, Ireland, April 23,. 1881. His parents, Patrick and Ellen (Ma- lone ) Minogue, were born and reared on the fair old Emerald Isle, where the mother still resides, the father having passed away.

Father Thomas F. Minogue was educated for the priesthood at All Hallows College, Dublin, Ireland, and was ordained June 24. 1909. He immediately came to the United States and was assigned to St. Bridget's church at South Omaha, where he remained ten months, and thereafter he was located at Sidney, Nebraska, for two months. For one year he was in charge of the church at Alli- ance, Box Butte county, and June 7, 1911, he came to Anselmo, where since that time he has been the zealous and devoted shepherd of this fold and has given earnestly of his time and talents to the furtherance of the spiritual and temporal wellbeing of his parish.

PHILIP G. HOUGHTON. - The true standard by which to judge a community is by the character of its prominent citizens, for progress is rarely, if ever, the result of chance but results from the execution of well laid plans, based upon a thorough comprehension of the laws of business. In this connection, as one whose business qualifications and personal character are of the best, Philip G. Houghton may be said to be fairly representative of the alert, progressive spirit that has brought the thriving community of Arnold to the forefront among Custer county towns during recent years.

Philip G. Houghton, of the real-estate. in- surance, and loan firm of Houghton & Perkins, was born May 14, 1867. in Chenango county, New York, and he is a son of John and Sophia ( Bartlett ) Houghton. His parents, who were natives of England, immigrated to the United

States in 1865, and settled in New York state, where Philip the youngest child was born. John and Sophia (Bartlett) Houghton became the parents of two sons and four daughters, but only Philip G. and a sister, Mrs. Lizzie Banner, of Boone, Iowa, survive. The family continued to live in New York until 1879, in which year they came to the west and took up their abode on a farm fourteen miles east of the city of Lincoln, Nebraska, where they re- mained four years. In the year 1883 John Houghton came to Custer county, where he located on a homestead situated five miles southwest of Arnold, in the Yuca valley, where he continued to be energetically engaged in farming and stock-raising until his death, Oc- tober 9, 1915. Mrs. Houghton still survives her husband and makes her home at Arnold.

The boyhood of Philip G. Houghton was passed in New York, where as a lad he earned his first money on a farm, being paid the sum of fifteen cents for topping a field of carrots. He attended the district schools and was twelve years old when he came with his parents to Nebraska, being still a youth upon his arrival in Custer county. He did not engage in farm- ing on his own account until 1888, in which year he took a homestead three and one-half miles south of Arnold, and there he is now the owner of 480 acres of well improved land. Mr. Houghton was successfully engaged in farming and stock-raising on this property until 1908, when he changed his place of resi- dence to the town of Arnold, and embarked in the real-estate, insurance, and loan business. He continued alone until 1917, when he formed a partnership with S. A. Perkins, adopting the firm name of Houghton & Perkins, and this business has continued to the present time, with constantly increasing prosperity. Messrs. Houghton and Perkins are the owners of the old Arnold Bank building and of other desir- able property, both at Arnold and in the sur- rounding country, and as live and energetic business men they are handling Custer county land at attractive prices. Mr. Houghton pos- sesses the necessary qualifications for a suc- cessful real-estate man and his reputation in the business circles of the community is of the best. He has done much to assist in material- ly building up the community and county of his adoption.

Mr. Houghton was united in marriage June 2, 1888, at Arnold, to Miss Mattie Collins, of Grundy county, Missouri, a daughter of Reu- ben and Elizabeth Collins. They have no chil- dren. Mr. Houghton has received the thirty- second degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish

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S. A. PERKINS

PHILIP G. HOUGHTON

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Rite of Masonry, besides being a noble of the Mystic Shrine and a member of the Modern Woodmen of America.

S. A. PERKINS. - Prominent among the vigorous real-estate dealers of Custer county, one who has been rewarded with marked suc- cess during the six years that he has followed this line of business is S. A. Perkins, member of the firm of Houghton & Perkins, of Arnold. Prior to his entrance upon the field of real estate, Mr. Perkins was engaged in farming, and in each of these connections with the soil, whether in Custer county or elsewhere, he has been able to make the most of his opportuni- ties and to gain a satisfying share of prosperity through his transactions.

Mr. Perkins was born in Monroe county, Iowa, September 16, 1866, and is a son of Elisha M. and Sarah (Strickland) Perkins. He was but four years of age when brought by his father to Butler county, Nebraska, the father taking up a homestead ten miles north of David City, on the present site of Octavia. The youth grew up amid agricultural sur- roundings and was taught the routine business of the farm by a father who was industrious and who demanded that his son be also, so that the summer months usually found S. A. Perkins actively identified with the occupations of the farm, and when he was not attending the district school, during the winter terms, he was generally attending the school of hard work and sturdy experience, in the summers. He remained under the parental roof until shortly after he had. attained his twenty-first birthday, and October 13, 1887, at Swan, Iowa, he was united in marriage to Miss Nina Palmer, who likewise was born in that state, a daugli- ter of William and Martha ( Thomas) Palmer, well known and highly respected people therc. Mr. and Mrs. Perkins have one son, Glen O., who is one of the energetic young business men of Arnold, where he is cashier of the Arnold State Bank. Glen Perkins married Miss Ethel Collins, daughter of John W. and Jennie ( Hoff- man) Collins, and they are the parents of two daughters.

After his marriage Mr. Perkins settled down to farming in Butler county, and there he con- tinued operations with increasing success until 1906, when he glimpsed an opportunity and, grasping it, came to Custer county and pur- chased 640 acres of land, situated three miles east of Arnold. There he continued to farm until 1912, his industry, experience, and good management gaining him marked success as

an agriculturist. In 1912 he left the farm and moved to Arnold, where he established him- self in the real-estate, insurance, and loan busi- ness, continuing alone until 1917, when he formed a partnership with P. G. Houghton, under the firm name of Houghton & Perkins. This alliance has continued successfully to the present time, and is accounted a strong and important business combination, through which some important transactions have been brought to a successful and satisfactory conclusion. Mr. Perkins is well informed as to land values in this locality, having made a thorough study of the situation, and since entering the real-estate field he has done much to assist in the upbuild- ing of this part of Custer county. He has su- preme faith in the future of the locality and his entire satisfaction with the soil here, is evidenced by his retaining ownership of his farming land and by the fact that he has made plans to continue in the real-estate business in- definitely. He is a stockholder and director of the Arnold State Bank, is a Republican in his political allegiance, and is prominently affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, in which he has received the thirty-second degree of the Scot- tish Rite and is also a noble of the Mystic Shrine.

REV. CHARLES A. SHOOK .- Of the supreme agencies which mold the tendencies and beckon most persistently to the mind of youth, few exceed in potency the example of those who have already fought their battles and reached success. The great lesson to be found in the life of a good and capable man, next to the intelligent application of the forces within him for the benefit of mankind in gen- eral, is the encouragement disseminated by his rise from obscurity to prominence. Such reflections are brought forcibly to mind in noting the career of Rev. Charles A. Shook, for twenty years a minister of the Advent Christian and Christian churches, and now engaged in his zealous labors at Ansley.

Rev. Charles A. Shook was born at Galien. Berrien county, Michigan, February 19, 1876, a son of John and Martha ( Chandler) Shook, and he belongs to a family that has given rep- resentatives as participants in every Ameri- can war. The family of Shook was founded in this county in 1740, by George Shook, a native of Amsterdam, Holland, and for a term of years the family was well known in Penn- sylvania, of which state John Shook, the grandfather of Charles A., was a native. The maternal grandfather. Josiah Chandler, was

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a native of New York, and migrated to Mich- igan about 1830. Subsequently he moved to Kansas, where his death occurred. John Shook, father of Rev. Charles A., was born at East Hanover, Pennsylvania, May 28, 1831, and as a youth learned the trade of shoemaker. which he followed both in Pennsylvania and Michigan. He was a resident of the latter state when the Civil war came on, and in Au- gust, 1864, he enlisted in Company E. First Michigan Light Artillery, with which he served until July, 1865, when he received his honorable discharge. Returning to his Michi- gan home, he resumed his trade, but later he became an extract manufacturer, a business in which his natural thrift, industry, and abil- ity gained him marked success. He was a very religious man and a member of the Reorgan- ized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Politically a Republican, he took a keen interest in local affairs, and he was city marshal of Buchanan, Michigan, for ten years. His fraternal connection was with the Odd Fellows. At Buchanan, on March 16, 1866, Mr. Shook married Martha Chandler, who was born at Walkerton, Indiana, March 16, 1835, and who died August 19, 1903, he sur- viving until March 14, 1911. Of their four children, Charles A. is the only survivor.

Charles A. Shook was graduated from the public schools of Buchanan, Michigan, June 13, 1895, following which he took a theological course at Mendota, Illinois, and subsequently spent one year in the Southern Baptist Theo- logical Seminary, at Louisville, Kentucky. His first charge as a minister of the Christian church was at Bangor, Michigan. Thereafter he held pastoral charges at Union Mills ; Jef- ferson, Indiana; Buchanan, Michigan; and Palmer, Illinois. He then came to Nebraska, being first at Miller and later at Eddyville, and finally coming to Ansley. Mr. Shook is one of the most industrious of workers, laboring zealously from morning to night in behalf of his church .. In addition he is not unknown to the lecture platform, where he has accom- plished some excellent results, and he has gained somewhat more than a local reputation because of his talents as a writer, several of his works having gained widespread and fav- prable attention, among them: "Cumorah Revisited, or Book of Mormon, and the Claims of the Mormons Re-examined from the View- point of American Archaeology and Ethnol- ogy," "The True Origin of Mormon Poly- gamy," "The True Origin of the Book of Mor- mon," and "The Gist of the Bible." A pro- fouund student, he has strong views in regard to prohibition, being a staunch supporter of

temperance, and he is also a Socialist. Frater- nally he is a Mason, an Odd Fellow, and a member of the Modern Woodmen of America.

November 30, 1898, at Bangor, Michigan, Rev. Charles A. Shook married Miss Nellie Baker, a daughter of Jacob D. and Elizabeth Baker, farming people of Michigan, and to this union there have been born four children : Helen, Ruth, Harold, and Donald, all at home.

JAMES B. JONES. - The life of James B. Jones, of Ansley, has been an expression of practical and diversified activity, and in its range has invaded the realms of agriculture, in which he has successfully accumulated a large and valuable property : the fields of real estate and auctioneering, where he has dis- played the possession of marked commercial ability ; and public life, in which he has es- tablished a splendid record for executive ca- pacity and conscientiousness, which are dis- tinetive features of his work and character.

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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 125

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