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 128

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 128

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Mr. Wilson was married June 24, 1891, to Matilda Hanson, who was born in Sweden. a daughter of Hans and Anna ( Pierson) An- derson, natives of Sweden. Mrs. Wilson came to the United States in the '80s. Concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Wilson brief record is here given: Dora B., an efficient teacher in Custer county, resides at home : Alta is the wife of Alexander Lindholm, a farmer living in Dawson county, not far from Eddyville, and they have one son : they attend the Christian church; Jennie E., who is a teacher, lives with her parents; Anna is de- ceased ; and Thomas H. and John L. are yet in school. Mr. Wilson is a member of the United Evangelical church. In politics he has always given his support to the candidates of the Republican party, as does his son-in-law, Mr. Lindholm.

WILLIAM M. DICKSON is one of Custer county's self-made men and has the distinction of being one of its earliest settlers.

A native of Missouri, William Marion Dick- son was born in Putnam county, October 15, 1861. His father, Calvin Dickson, was born

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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

MRS. HENRY A. KEPLER

HENRY A. KEPLER

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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

in Ohio, July 19, 1841, and married Elizabeth Cox, a native of Jasper county, Iowa. Calvin Dickson was a successful farmer of Jasper county, Iowa, for many years and now resides at Newburg, that state, where he is serving as postmaster.

Our subject was one of two children and his sister resides in Iowa. Reared on a farm in Iowa until he reached his majority, he came to Custer county in 1882 and secured a home- stead of 160 acres, in section 24, township 19. range 23, and amid the pioneer conditions he erected a little sod house and began the task of conquering the wilderness. When the first "soddy" wore out he built another, which is still standing. Agriculture and stock-raising have claimed his attention from that day to this. When asked what has been the secret of his success, he answered "Hung on - hung on through the hard times, and hung on to what I made." Mr. Dickson was the possessor of a team of mules and a wagon when he came to Custer county, and to-day he is the owned of 1,100 acres of valuable land. The old home- stead was his home until about one year ago, when he moved to his present place of abode, one mile from Anselmo.

Mr. Dickinson has been thrice married. His first union was with Miss Jessie Bell Gillespie, who was a native of Iowa and who died leav- ing one child, Jessie, the wife of Paul Hugh, of Minnesota. For a second wife Mr. Dick- son chose Mrs. Mary Lehmanowsky, a native of Ohio, who became the mother of two chil- dren, Mildred and Leah. The present Mrs. Dickson was Miss Cora Scott, who for twenty years was a trained nurse. Her father. Walter Scott, was an early settler of the Anselmo neighborhood, where he established his resi- dence in 1885. He has now passed his seven- ty-second birthday anniversary and for twelve years has been an invalid, tenderly cared for by his daughter, Mrs. Dickson.

The life record of William M. Dickson shows what can be accomplished by persistent effort and landable ambition. From the hum- ble position in which he found himself when he came to Custer county he has reached the goal of success, and is one of the substantal men of his community.

HENRY A. KEPLER -The life record of Henry A. Kepler is one of varied activities, and as manager of the Central Granaries Com- pany and secretary of the Farmers Mercantile Company he is at once placed among the in- fluential business men of the thriving village of Anselmio.

Mr. Kepler is a native of the neighboring state of Iowa, where he was born near Mt. Vernon, Linn county, July 15, 1857. His par- ents were Henry and Emma ( Willitts) Kep- ler, the former born near Hagerstown, Mary- land, the latter a native of Ohio. Henry Kep- ler was an early settler of Linn county, Iowa, where he became a prosperous farmer, later retiring to Mt. Vernon where he and his wife passed away. They were members of the Methodist church and they reared a family of nine children: L. M. died at Dorchester, Saline county, Nebraska, in 1916, at the age of seventy-eight years; M. W. resides at Dor- chester ; Ira is a resident of Big Spring, Deuel county, Nebraska ; Mrs. William Jordan lives at Jamestown, Minnesota; J. P. is living at Bellevue, Nebraska; J. W. resides at Omaha ; Henry A. is the subject of this sketch; Mrs. W. B. Slaughter resides in California ; and Mrs. C. H. Hoover passed away at Dorches- ter, Nebraska.

Henry Allison Kepler spent his boyhood days on a farm in his native county, where he divided his time between his duties in the schoolroom and his tasks about the farm. He was nineteen years of age when he took the management of the home farm, upon the re- tirement of his father, and he continued to conduct the place until 1880, when he came to Nebraska and settled at Dorchester, Saline county. There for several years he was at different times engaged in farming. the livery business, the buying and shipping of stock, clerking in general stores, assistant cashier in the Citizens Bank, and identified with the luim- ber business. In 1892 he went to Fleming, Colorado, and engaged in the lumber and coal business, but, owing to his wife's health, he returned to Nebraska, and in 1895 he became a resident of Lincoln, where he engaged in the grocery business, later spending one year as a traveling salesman. In 1902 he went to Sheridan county, Kansas, and for the next four years he conducted a ranch. In 1906 he came to Custer county and took a homestead, as did three of his children, under the Kin- kaid law, and he was successfully engaged in stock-raising for several years. The family own 2,563 acres of grazing land in Custer county.

In 1908 Mr. Kepler became manager of the Anselmo branch for the Central Granaries Company, which position he still holds. For the past three years he has been secretary of the Farmers Mercantile Company of Anselmo.

In Linn county, Iowa, Mr. Kepler was united in marriage to Miss Laura Travis, who was born in that county and who is a dangh-

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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

ter of Daniel and Malissa ( Wilson) Travis. Mr. and Mrs. Kepler became the parents of five children : Nellie is the wife of James Boyce and they reside in Chicago; Jay died in 1916; Gertrude and D. T. are unmarried and remain at the parental home; and Lawrence is de- ceased.

Mr. and Mrs. Kepler are members of the Methodist church and fraternally Mr. Kepler is connected with the Modern Woodmen of America, while his political views make him a Republican.

Mr. Kepler is one of the progressive busi -. ness men and public-spirited men of Custer county, and he is held in the highest of esteem by all with whom he comes in contact.

JAMES H. HISER, who, after a somewhat diversified career, is now successfully engaged in the implement business at Ansley, has been the architect of his own fortunes and through his unaided efforts has reared a structure of creditable business success. He has been a resident of Custer county since 1882 and was formerly engaged in farming, but during the greater part of his career he has been identi- fied with the line of business which now occu- pies his attention.

Mr. Hiser was born near Richmond, Wayne county, Indiana, March 23, 1855. and is a son of Jacob H. and Mary ( Salters) Hiser, who were born near Dayton, Ohio. but whose mar- riage occurred in Wayne county, Indiana where they were early settlers. Jacob H. Iliser was a farmer in the Hoosier state until the fall of 1855, at which time he went to Illi- nois, where his family joined him in the fol- lowing year. He continued to be engaged in farming until 1862, when he enlisted in the Union army for service in the Civil war. be- coming a member of the Sixteenth Illinois Cavalry. With that organization he made a record for bravery and fidelity to duty, and he participated in all the battles of his regiment until he was severely wounded, being shot in the left temple, and also being captured by the enemy. For two months he was confined at Belle Isle, and he was then transferred to the awful Andersonville stockade, but after nine months he made his escape from that death- hole, and after indescribable sufferings and wanderings finally reached the Union lines. At the expiration of his three years of service he was honorably discharged and returned to sis family. He then became a blacksmith, fol- lowing that business in McLean county, Illi- nois, until he retired. His death occurred there, and his widow passed away in Califor-

nia. They were the parents ( four children : James H .; William P., who has been street commissioned at Lexington, McLean county, Illinois, for several years; Alice, who is the wife of John Peck, a farmer of Legington, Illinois ; and Mary, who is the widow of Sam Phillips, and is a resident of Louisville, Ark- ansas. The parents were members of the Baptist church, and Mr. Hiser was a Demo- crat in politics.

James H. Hiser received his education in the public schools of Illinois and began life there on his father's McLean county farm. His marriage occurred in 1875 and thereafter he continued to farm in Illinois until December, 1882, when he came to Custer county, Nebras- ka, and purchased a relinquishment claim, his family joining him here in the spring. Mr. Hiser remained on his farm from 1883 unti! 1893. in which latter year he decided to turn his attention to mercantile pursuits and ac- cordingly disposed of his agricultural interests and came to Ansley. For a time he was the representative at Ansley of an Omaha imple- ment firm, but after two years, in partnership with a Mr. Butler, he engaged in this business on his own account. He conducted an estab- lishment until February. 1902, when he sold ont. Mr. Hiser was next employed by the In- ternational Harvester Company, during 1902. 1903 and 1904, but in the fall of 1905 he re- turned to Ansley, settled permanently, and clerked for W. S. Matley. Again, in March, 1914, he engaged in business on his own ac- count. and in his present establishment he has achieved a decided success, so that his store is accounted a desirable and necessary com- munity asset. He has a complete line of goods. carefully chosen, attractively displayed and moderately priced, and his patronage now ex- tends over a wide territory, while his personal status is that of a business man of capability and integrity.

Mr. Hiser was married in Illinois, in 1875. to Miss Josephine Popejoy, who was born in McLean county, that state, and they became the parents of four children, of whom two are living: E. G., who is engaged in farming four miles southwest of Ansley, and Marie, who is her father's assistant in conducting the imple- ment business. The family belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Hiser is well known in Odd Fellowship, having passed through the chairs of his lodge three times. and is also a popular member of the Royal Highlanders. A Republican in politics, at various times he has served in township offices. and has rendered the cause of education effi- cient service by his work as a member of the school board.

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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

MRS. SUSIE HELMUTH, who came to Custer county, Nebraska, with her parents thirty-three years ago, has lived here ever since and is well known and highly esteemed. She was born September 28, 1877, in Jo Daviess county. Illinois, and is a daughter of Ernest and Johanna ( Kape) Schneider, both of whom were born in Germany. The father of Mrs. Helmuth came to the United States in 1861 and located in Jo Daviess county, where he worked on a farm until 1864, when he en- listed, on October 12th of that year, for ser- vice in the Civil war. He became a member of Company K, Thirty-second Illinois Infan- try, and he took part in many skirmishes and marches, as well as one important engagement, the battle of Kingston, North Carolina, in March. 1865. He was mustered out of the service at Leavenworth, Kansas, September 16. 1865. Mr. Schneider then returned to Jo Daviess county and bought a farm, and in 1866 he married Miss Johanna Kape. They had the following children : Ernst, Lillie. Barbara. George. John, Lawrence, Maggie and Susie (twins). Anna and Louise.

In 1885 Ernest Schneider came with his family to Custer county, Nebraska, and located on Redfern Table, eight miles west of the present town of Oconto. The daughter Susie continued to reside at the parental home until the time of her marriage to William Helmuth, which took place September 11, 1899. Mr.

Helmuth was born in Germany. November 24, 1853. His first marriage took place there and when his first wife died she left six children. He came to the United States and reared the children in Nebraska, where all are now mar- ried and have children of their own. They are as follows: Anna is the wife of William C. Pierce, and they have four children ; Barbara is the wife of Troy Brown, and they have one child: Tena is the wife of T. Owen, and they have eight children : Elizabeth is the wife of Clarence Preston, and they have five chil- dren ; Lena is the wife of Albert Aldridge, and they have six children ; and William J. mar- ried Isabel McGuigan, their children being two sons.

At the time of his second marriage. Mr. Helmuth was living on his claim situated about four miles southwest of Oconto, and there Mr. and Mrs. Helmuth went to housekeeping. They continued to live there about four years, when he sold his claim and bought a fine farm of 160 acres on Redfern Table, about eight miles west of Oconto. Here a beautiful coun- try residence was built, and comfort, content and happiness prevailed until Mr. Helmuth's health failed. About six years ago he was

stricken with paralysis and, although he has the kind and loving care of a devoted wife and their two daughters, the affliction is griev- ous for a man once so active and vigorous. The two living children of Mr. and Mrs. Hel- muth are Fay J. and Dorothy L., both of whom are completing their educational course in the Oconto high school. Although Mr. Helmuth has been entirely helpless since he was stricken, on August 23, 1912, his farm industries are all continued very successfully, as Mrs. Hel- muth has proved resourceful and exceedingly competent. She oversees the work and is as- sisted by her brother. Ernst Schneider. who resides here and has been a farmer for many years.

EARL O. MORRIS. - Belonging to that class of workers whose practical education, quick perceptions and extensive capacity for painstaking industry have advanced them to positions of business and public prominence formerly occupied by men many years their seniors, Earl O. Morris, while reprensting the vigorous and forceful present of the west, gives promise of participating in its more en- lightened future, more especially Ansley, Cus- ter county, where he is serving in the capacity of assistant cashier of the Bank of Ansley, as well as in the offices of village and township treasurer and member of the school board. He is a native of this place and was born June 5, 1888. a son of Dr. C. H. and Lavina (Varney) Morris.

Dr. C. H. Morris was born near Indian- apolis. Indiana, of English descent, and as a young man he adopted the profession of med- icine, which he followed throughout his career. After coming to Custer county, Nebraska, he was for a time engaged in practice at Wester- ville. and later at Broken Bow, and he was fast establishing a reputation when his career was cut short by his early death, an event which caused sorrow among a wide circle of friends and acquaintances. Eventually his widow, who was a native of New York, married An- thony Wilkinson, an early settler of Custer county, and they now live at Grand Island, Hall county, where Mr. Wilkinson is a wealthy and highly respected citizen. practically retired from active affairs. Mr. and Mrs. Wilkinson are members of the Episcopal church.

The only child of his parents. Earl O. Mor- ris was given a good education in the graded and high schools of Ansley. following which he pursued a course in the Grand Island Busi- ness College. His career was started upon a ranch, later he was employed in a lumber yard,

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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

and thereafter was for some time a clerk in the postoffice. In 1908 he became assistant cashier of the Bank of Ansley, and he has remained in this capacity ever since. This is a strong and conservative financial institution of Ans- ley, and one which has the confidence and patronage of the people in the surrounding country. This faith and friendship have been largely attracted by Mr. Morris, whose cour- tesy and gentlemanly bearing at all times have served to generate good feeling and whose evident knowledge of the banking business is being continually demonstrated in no uncer- tain manner.

September 15, 1909, Mr. Morris married Miss May Hare, daughter of Charles Hare, who was one of the early druggists of Ansley, and who died at this place. Mr. and Mrs. Morris have three children : Earl Charles, who was born September 18, 1910. is now attending the Ansley public school : Leeta was born Sep- tember 18, 1912; and Wayne Roger was born on July 27, 1914. Mr. and Mrs. Morris are attendants of the Methodist Episcopal church, although Mrs. Morris belongs to the Presby- terian church. He is fraternally a thirty-sec- ond degree Mason and a member of the Mystic Shrine. He was secretary of his Ma- sonic blue lodge four years, senior deacon one year. junior warden for a like period, and is now ( 1918) senior warden. He is a Repub- lican and has been called upon to fill several offices. At present he is handling the town- ship and village finances in a highly acceptable manner, in the capacity of treasurer. He is also greatly interested in war work and is chairman of the Liberty 1.oan committee of Custer county.

DANIEL W. PREDMORE. - This title line begins the story of a Broken Bow mer- chant. The name has a prominent place on the roster of pioneers. In the northern half of the county there are few names more widely known than Predmore. The records of the family always relate honorable achievements, and for that reason the name is one much re- spected and highly esteemed.

William H. Predmore. father of Daniel W., is a native of Ohio, and the mother, Bertha E. ( Coslar ) Predmore, was born in Germany. These estimable people have lived in Custer county since 1884 and are well and favorably known to a very wide circle of friends. Will- iam H. Predmore was, prior to this time, a merchant in Fremont, and after locating in Custer county the call of the counter and the showcase loomed large in his dreams. Ac-

cordingly, he started a new town called Wal- worth, located on his own homestead. The growth of the proposed town rivalled Jonah's gourd. In a few weeks buildings were going up on every hand and the new town was boom- ing. But, again like Jonah's gourd, it was destined to a brief existence. The buildings were put on wheels and distributed up and down the Middle Loup valley, some going to West Union and some to Sargent. The Pred- more store building was moved to the Wal- worth bridge and the Walworth postoffice established in the fall of 1885. This building and stock were afterward destroyed by fire. In the family of William H. Predmore were three children : Adaline Hall; James W .; and Daniel W.

Daniel W. Predmore was born March 20, 1872, at Brushcreek, Iowa. He was but four years old when his parents moved to Fremont, Nebraska, and but twelve years old when they moved to Custer county. Accordingly it will be seen that his education was received in the public schools of Nebraska. He was not more than seven years old when he began helping in his father's store, and there he laid the foun- cation of a business career. Merchandising has always been to Daniel an attractive occu- pation. When twenty years of age he pur- chased a hardware store in West Union, from Wilde & Squires, and after operating it during the summer he moved the stock to Broken Bow. Later the hardware stock was disposed of and he and his brother James resorted to mining in the Black Hills. They seemed to strike it lucky in the mining camp of Rocker- ville. Fortune lavished upon them her goklen smiles, and then, alas, she frowned. They in- vested their accumulations of the summer in a stock of merchandise and the first night after they took possession, the stock and building went up in f flames. The brothers barely escaped from the building and saved nothing but the clothes they had on and thirty-five dol- lars in money. A small calamity of this kind. however, had no power to dampen the ardor of the intrepid spirits. They went to work at the mines again and in a short time established a postoffice at Rockerville, besides starting an- other store. James acted as merchant while Dan operated as miner, and together they suc- ceeded. They continued the Rockerville busi- ness until 1894, when Dan went to Alliance, Nebraska, where for a time he worked as clerk in a clothing store. In 1896 he returned to Rockerville and resumed operations on his mining claim. There he continued his activ- ities for two years, and he then disposed of the claim and returned to Custer county, where he

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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

rented one of his father's farms, near Broken Bow. Up until this time Daniel posed as a bachelor, but on November 10, 1889, he re- turned to Rockerville and remained long enough to claim in marriage Edna M. Carter, a daughter of John C. and Mary Carter. To this union the years have brought two children. and the daughter Gladys is the wife of John Reed, a son of the well known farmer Frank S. Reed.

For thirteen years Daniel W. Predmore, the miner and the merchant, demonstrated his abil- ity as a farmer on one of his father's farms. Then he purchased a farm of his own. six miles northwest of Broken Bow, upon which he built a beautiful residence and provided other improvements. He made this place his residence for five years, when failing health and the scarcity of farm help caused him to leave the farmı. He bought a splendid home in Broken Bow, and a little later he purchased the grocery stock of W. F. Forest, located in the Dierks block, on the south side of the pub- lic square. Mr. Predmore possesses business acumen, and will succeed in this later venture.

JOHN R. RHODES. - Since he began the practice of his profession at Ansley, in 1903, John R. Rhodes has lent dignity and stability to professional affairs in his part of Custer county, and thus has maintained and even added to a reputation for ability and resource- fulness established during his residence in the state of Pennsylvania.

Judge Rhodes is a native of the Keystone state, as he was born in Blair county, Penn- sylvania, July 28. 1859. a son of John and Matilda (Forshey) Rhodes. His paternal grandfather, Abraham Rhodes, who was born in Virginia and owned a large plantation there, adopted the cause of Abolition and freed his slaves, following which he went to Pennsylvania. Henry Forshey, the maternal grandfather, was a soldier of Napoleon and was one of those who went on the ill-fated expedition to storin Moscow, and after his. return to' France he immigrated to the United States. He was a man of superior intellec- tual and educational attainments, and when he came to America he brought with him a large and comprehensive library, his home being on the present site of Altoona, Blair county, Pennsylvania.

John Rhodes was born in 1812, in Vir- ginia, and was eight years of age when taken by his parents to Pennsylvania. There he grew to manhood and became a prosperous farmer, and he was a man widely known for his ability and integrity. He was a Republi-

can in politics. He died May 6, 1864, in the faith of the Lutheran church, of which his wife also was a member. She was born in September, 1825, in Pennsylvania, and died in October, 1904. Their marriage was solemnized in 1855, and they became the par- ents of three children - Sarah is the wife of Thomas Grove, a farmer of Blair county, Pennsylvania : John R. is the subject of this sketch; and Kezziah, of Pennsylvania, is the widow of the late John Callahan, who for many years was an engineer on the Pennsyl- vania Central Lines.

After attending the public schools of Blair county, John R. Rhodes became a student at Juniata College. Martinsburg, Pennsylvania, being graduated from that institution in 1877. He next began the study of his chosen profes- sion, in a law office, and he was admitted to the bar of Pennsylvania in 1882. continuing to practice in his native state until 1890. In that year he came to Nebraska and bought land, and in 1903 he began the practice of law at Ansley, since which time he has devoted himself chiefly to his calling, his practice hav- ing been materially extended with the passing years. He is a broad-minded and progress- ive practitioner, a careful observer of the courtesies and amenities of his profession, at all times seeking its most intelligent and praise- worthy compensations, and is a member of the various bodies of the calling. He has been called upon to serve in several local of- fices of a public character, and from 1894 to 1898 was county judge of Custer county. While he has engaged to a considerable ex- tent in farming during his career, the law has had his main interest, and to it he gives the most of his attention. 'Judge Rhodes in his political support subscribes to the principles of the Republican party.

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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 128

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