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 133

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 133

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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

of seven children, Mary J. Cornwell; Jessie Clendennen ; Joseph ; Lydia Backes ; Sarah E. Brown; Lucy M. Way, and Emma F. Clute. This family was connected with the Christian church.

Mr. and Mrs. John Backes came to Arnold, Custer county, Nebraska, in 1886 and located a claim of 160 acres two and one-half miles southeast of Arnold. This property Mr. Backes still owns as the home farm, and to the same another quarter-section has been added. Every foot of this place is good land and under a high state of cultivation, with good improvements and all necessary equip- ment for the pursuit of agriculture.

In addition to the farm home, Mr. and Mrs. Backes maintain a fine residence in Arnold. This attractive home they have occupied for ten years. Mr. Backes is retired from active life, after twenty-two years on the farm. Mr. and Mrs. Backes are the parents of six children: John W. Backes, who mar- ried Mary McCants, owns his own farm but lives in Arnold and is working in a garage. He and his wife are members of the Methodist church, and he is a Woodman and Oddfellow : Charles H. owns a farm, but lives on a farm of his father, near Arnold. He belongs to the Masons and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and both he and his wife, whose maiden name was Elma B. Parsons, are mem- bers of the Christian church. They have two

daughters. Thomas E. married Jennie Marsh, and they live at Arnold, where he is following the carpenter's trade for occupation, although he owns a farm of his own. He is a member of the Odd Fellows and of the Christian church, his wife belonging to the Methodist church. Andrew J. married Etta Brummett. He is in the service of Uncle Sam at the time of this writing, being a member of Company 39, Tenth B. N., One Hundred and Sixty-third Depot Brigade, at Camp Dodge, Iowa. He is a Woodman and he and his wife are members of the Christian church. George A. is single, is a graduate of the Arnold high school and works at the carpenter trade in Arnold. He is a member of the Christian church. Leona M. is a graduate of the Ar- nold high school and for two years has been bookkeeper for a mercantile company in Ar- nold. She makes her home with her parents and is a member of the Christian church.

Mr. and Mrs. Backes are devoted members of the Christian church and are well and favor ably known in the community. They look back over the past and express gratitude for the blessings that have come to them, feeling that, while many hardships and trials have

been endured, their lines have fallen to them in pleasant places.

AUGUSTUS MORROW, an honored vet- eran of the Civil war and a pioneer settler of Custer county, was for many years actively engaged in agricultural pursuits but is now living retired in Arnold.

Mr. Morrow is a native of the Keystone state, born at Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, June 8, 1835, and he is a son of Wilson J. and Barbara (Metz) Morrow, likewise natives of Pennsylvania. In 1855 the family settled at Peru, Illinois, and there the parents both passed away. Augustus Morrow as a young man found employment on Illinois and Missis- sippi river boats, having charge of ice barges being shipped to southern states and also be- ing employed as watchman on steamboats, as well as in other capacities of similar order.

When the Civil war came on, Mr. Morrow enlisted, at Chicago, in June, 1862, as a mem- ber of Company A, Sixty-ninth Illinois Vol- unteer Infantry. He served on gunboats and transports during most of his term of service and also was on detached guard duty. He was mustered out in the fall of 1864 and returned to Peru, Illinois, where he again found em- ployment on the river.

In January, 1870, Mr. Morrow married Miss Esther Robinson, a native of Ireland, and they established their home on land Mr. Morrow owned near the village of Peru. There he carried on farming in the summer and he continued to work on the river in the winter season. In the fall of 1883 he came to Custer county, Nebraska, to look over the country, and he took as a homestead the south - west quarter of section 22, township 17, range 25. He then returned to Illinois, where he spent the winter. In the spring of 1884 he came to Nebraska, bringing a car of house- hold goods, three horses and a cow. The journey was made by rail to Cozad and from that point the family drove to their new home. All of the usual experiences fell to the lot of this pioneer family, but they weathered all storms and contributed in every way to the upbuilding of this section of the state. When the Kinkaid law was passed, Mr. Morrow again became a homesteader, and he proved up on a farm in Logan county. He still owns his old homestead, but for several years he has lived retired in the village of Arnold. Mrs. Morrow, who was one of the pioneer women of Custer county, passed away February 4. 1904, and of her seven children six are living, all being residents of Custer county - Miss

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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

Martha, residing with her father: Dr. John H., of Merna ; and George W., Augustus J., Charles R., and Wilson E., all residing in the Arnold neighborhood.

JOHN H. CAROTHERS, D. V. S. - In the career of Dr. John H. Carothers, of Ans- ley, there has entered none of that monotony that comes from the constant following of one vocation or occupation. Few men have been so versatile in their accomplishments and at- tainments and few have followed so many di- vergent lines of activity. The law, medicine, farming, and stock-raising, all have attracted his interest and all have brought him success, but at the present time he is devoting his ener- gies entirely to the practice of veterinary sur- gery, a field in which he has few, if any, su- periors in Custer county.

Dr. Carothers was born at Chicago, Illinois, January 3, 1851, and is a son of Henry and Mary ( Buck) Carothers. His paternal grand- father was Henry Carothers, who was married in Scotland, where two of his children were born, following which he moved to Ireland where six more children were born. One of his elder children was Henry Carothers, who was born in Scotland, in 1821, and who came to the United States about the time of attain- ing his majority, he being a resident of Chi- cago, from 1842 to 1869. There he married, and there he conducted a small farm, was en- gaged in the stock business and also operated a meat market. During the Civil war he served the Union as a member of the secret service. He was also a prominent Republican of his day and was a delegate to the conven- tion which nominated Abraham Lincoln for president. He and his wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Upon leaving Chicago he went to Guthrie county. Iowa, where he had purchased a farm, and there he continued to be engaged in agricul- tural pursuits until his death, in 1885. There his wife, a native of New York state, also passed away. They were the parents of seven children, of whom five are living - Alex- ander, who is engaged in farming near the old home place in Iowa : Miss Mary Etta, who is a resident of Des Moines : Dr. John H., whose name introduces this sketch ; Frances, who is the wife of Charles Blanchard, president of Wheatland ( Illinois) College; and George Robert, who has conducted several colleges and is now a resident of Yardley. Pennsyl- vania.

John H. Carothers gained his early educa- tion in the public schools of the city of Chi- cago and those of the state of Iowa, to which

he went with his parents as a youth of eigh- teen years. When he made a choice of voca- tion, the law appealed to him, with the result that he prepared for that profession and was duly admitted to practice at the Iowa bar. Later he took up he study of medicine, at the Iowa Medical College, and at various times, up to 1902, he practiced medicine in connection with his other vocations. In 1885 Dr. Caro- thers came to Custer county, where he settled on a homestead and improved a farm, and it was about this time that he became deeply in- terested in the subject of veterinary surgery. He found that his knowledge of medicine en- abled him to effect cures, and this made his services greatly in demand among the early settlers, while his reputation extended all over this part of the county. His business finally became so large that he was forced to give his entire attention to it, and since 1892, when he moved to Ansley, he has devoted almost all his energies to the treatment of all kinds of animal diseases. In this special field he has been most successful, and his ability and skill are generally recognized, so that by painstak- ing and diligent attention to his work he has built up a large and remunerative practice.

In 1879 Dr. Carothers married Miss Mary W. Wallar, who was born in Ohio, and to this union there have been born six children : May is the wife of George Llewellyn, of Chicago, a music dealer and a vocalist of note ; Paul H., who was educated at Lincoln, Nebraska, is now a successful and prominent physician and surgeon at Mason City, Custer county, where he conducts a private hospital ; John W. is a physician in Lincoln, with a large and lucra- tive practice ; Agnes resides with her parents and is the widow of Lester W. Curtis : Everett C. was formerly connected with Souder's jewelry store at Broken Bow, but after this country's entrance in the war he identified himself with the United States wireless-tele- graph service and was stationed at Leaven- worth, Kansas, awaiting call to service in France; Marietta remains at the parental home. The family belongs to the Christian church. Dr. Carothers is a member of the In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows, and in poli- tics is independent in his views.

ARTHUR B. CORNISH. - Located in that productive part of Custer county adjacent to Lodi and almost midway between Callaway and Oconto, is the beautiful farm home of Arthur B. Cornish. He is one of the sub- stantial farmers and stockmen of the southern Custer district, and is one of the prominent and influential citizens of this part of the

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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

county. Mr. Cornish was born at Cherry Valley Otsego county, New York, on the 16th of January, 1863, and is a son of Lyman W. and Eunice A. (Lowe) Cornish, the former of whom was born at Cooperstown, New York, and the latter in South Valley, that state, so that both branches of the ancestral line of Arhur B. Cornish are to be traced back to the old Empire commonwealth of the Union. Of the three children of Lyman W. and Eunice A. Cornish, the subject of this review is the eldest ; the second child, Louisa L., became the wife of William C. Johnston, and she was a resident of the Lodi section of Custer county at the time of her death ; Lee, the youngest of the children, is individually mentioned on other pages of this volume.

Lyman W. Cornish came to Custer county in 1885 and took a homestead about three miles southeast of Lodi. He was one of the honored pioneers of the county and he and his wife were sincere Christian folk, always con- nected with some church organization and active in all departments of its work. In this connection it is pleasing to record that on the first Sunday after their location in the Lodi valley they assisted in the organizing of a union Sunday school, in the sod house of Joseph Thurman. Their son Arthur B., im- mediate subject of this review, was elected assistant superintendent of this Sunday school, and for twenty consecutive years he served either as superintendent or assistant superin- tendent of a neighborhood Sunday school, the while he has been otherwise instrumental in maintaining and vitalizing religious influence in the community.

For the first nine years of his career in Cus- ter county Arthur B. Cornish worked on the farm during the summer seasons and taught school during the winter terms. In the mean- while he saved his earnings and arranged for the day when he should engage in independent farm enterprise.

On the 27th of December, 1893, the event so important in every young man's life had its place in the career of Arthur B. Cornish, for on that date was solemnized his marriage to Miss Isabel Fodge, in Ortello valley. The young wife was a bright, intellectual school- teacher of gracious personality and was splendidly adapted to become the head of a Christian home. Mrs. Cornish is a daughter of James M. Fodge, who is still living and who is well and favorably known by all of the old settlers of Custer county, his prominence in Sunday-school work being indicated by refer- ence made to him in the historical department of this work, to which he contributes an inter- esting article concerning Sunday-school av-

tivities in the county, said contribution being found in Chapter XI. Mr. Fodge is one of the gallant soldiers who went forth in defense of the Union in the Civil war, and for a num - ber of years he has been a prominent figure in the Nebraska ranks of the Grand Army of the Republic. The early home of Mrs. Cornish was in Lucas county, Iowa, and she was a baby at the time of the family removal to Hamilton county, Nebraska, from which she came with her parents to Custer county in 1883, the journey having been made in an old-time "prairie schooner," and her father having set- tled in the Ortello valley, his claim having been that on which the Ortello United Breth- ren church now stands. For several years Mrs. Cornish was a pioneer teacher in the schools of Custer county, and she made a reputation for being a splendid instructor and being a successful and popular representative of the pedagogic profession in the pioneer community. At the time her parents settled in the state the nearest railroad point, from which all supplies and provisions had to be hauled overland, was seventy-five miles distant. and she gained a plethora of experience in connection with the hardships and other trials of pioneer life. Mr. and Mrs. Cornish are faithful members of the Baptist church and are devoted and active in all departments of church work. They have shown deep interest in all missionary enterprises, have contributed largely of their means to every missionary ap- peal and have done much to extend Christian propaganda in their home county, throughout the state and in foreign lands.

Mr. Cornish is one of the prominent men of Custer county and has here been identified with every progressive movement. In all county-wide work in which some representa- tive of the Lodi district was needed, Mr. Cor- nish has generally been drafted into service, and he has never disappointed those with whom he has worked, nor has he failed to ac- complish the task assigned to him.

By long years of toil, thrift and saving, Mr. and Mrs. Cornish find themselves in comfort- able circumstances, and they are to-day the owners of 1080 acres of land, on which are a splendid equipment of farm buildings and fine herds of live stock. The new home, built in recent years, is a spacious and attractive farm bungalow of modern design and facili- ties, and it stands forth in sharp contrast to the primitive sod house in which Mr. and Mrs. Cornish began their wedded life and in which. their children were born, this unpretentious domicile having served as the family home during the years of the pioneer epoch in Custer county.

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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

Among the experiences of his boyhood Mr. Cornish states that he became consumed with a desire to become a hunter and trapper. Like David of old, his weapons were crude - his first equipment in this line having been a club. With this club he slew not the lion and the bear, but tackled two opossums. He suc- ceeded in getting not only the scalps but also the hides of these little animals, and from the sale of the hides he received twenty-five cents. He invested his money in a steel trap, and from that time forward the capture of small game was somewhat casier, while hides ready for market came in more frequently. This was the first money which Mr. Cornish re- members of earning for himself.

Mr. and Mrs. Cornish became the parents of three children, concerning whom brief rec- ord is consistently given at this juncture. James L., who was graduated in the Broken Bow high school, is one of the gallant sons of Custer county who tendered his service to the nation when it became involved in the great world war. In June, 1917, he enlisted in Com - pany L, Fourth Nebraska Infantry, under Captain L. J. Butcher. In October of the same year he was transferred to Camp Cody, at the time when an army reorganization ter- minated the existence of the Fourth Nebraska. which was then transferred to a new unit. the One Hundred and Twenty-seventh Heavy Field Artillery. In March, 1918. James L. Cor- nish was appointed corporal and qualified as gunner. A little later he was recommended for the officers' training school at Louisville, Ken- tucky, and on the 31st of August, 1918, he re- ceived his commission as second lieutenant of light artillery. At the time when the war came to a close he was with his command at Fort Sill. Oklahoma. The second son. Lyle Maynard, is a graduate of the Broken Bow high school and prior to the close of the world war he had entered the students' army train- ing corps of the University of Nebraska. The third child, Mary I., was but two years of age at the time of her death.

The Cornish family and the Cornish home are typical of Custer county, where character and virtue are held in high repute and home comforts are counted more than wealth.

EDWARD T. LARSON. - In banking cir- cles of Custer county, Mr. Larson enjoys a reputation for conservatism and shrewdness. He is cashier of the Farmers State Bank of Sargent, and, in the opinion of those compe- tent to judge, is one of the capable financiers and progressive citizens of his community. Mr. Larson is a native of Boulder, Colorado.

and was born June 18, 1888. a son of A. P. and Mary C. (Nelson ) Larson.

The parents of Mr. Larson were born in Sweden, and shortly after the close of the Civil war immigrated to this country and took up their residence in Boulder county, Colo- rado, where Mr. Larson became a home- steader. He proved up on his claim, devel- oped his property and put in good improve- ments, and he passed the rest of his life in industrious labor as an agriculturist, becoming one of the substantial and reliable men of his community. He died in Colorado, after a career characterized by self-attained success, and his widow still makes her home at Boul- der. They were the parents of eight children, of whom five are still living: Perry, who is identified with the Chino Copper Company, at Gurley, Nebraska ; Bettie, who is the wife of Charles Gunneson, employed as a cabinet- maker at the University of Colorado and re- siding at Boulder : Edward T., whose name in- troduces this review: Oscar, who is engaged in the grocery business at Boulder; and Arthur, who is a statistician for the Butte & Superior Copper Company, at Butte, Montana A. P. Larson was a Republican and was a member of the Lutheran church, to which his widow belongs.

Edward T. Larson received ordinary educa- tional advantages in the public schools of Boulder, this attendance being followed by one year spent as a student at the Boulder Business College. His first employment was in a general store at his native place, and in 1910 he first came to Sargent and was em- ployed by the Farmers State Bank, with which he remained until 1914. He then went to Butte, Montana, and for two years worked for a copper company. He next went back to his native city, where for one year he was teller in a bank, and in January, 1917, he again came to Sargent, this time to remain per- manently. He started in the capacity of assistant cashier, and in 1918 was advanced to his present office, that of cashier of the insti- tution. The Farmers State Bank of Sargent has a capital stock of $15,000, and surplus and undivided profits of $12.000. while its average deposits are $325.000. Mr. Larson's career has been illustrative of the possibilities pre- sented to a young man of determination, who in spite of the fact that he has no financial or other influential support to aid him still works his way to a position of recognized prom- inence. Each step forward that he has taken has been in accordance with his increased abil- ity, and his varied experience has given him knowledge of conditions and methods that is a decided addition to his equipment.

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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

Mr. Larson is unmarried. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, being popular with his fellow lodge members at Sargent, and in politics is a Democrat, with independent incli- nations. While he has been too interestedly busy with his duties at the bank to take any particularly active part in public matters, he has not failed in his responsibilities of citizen- ship, and has served very efficiently and ac - ceptably in the capacity of treasurer of the local school district.

JOHN E. STAAB, one of the energetic and progressive citizens of Ansley, is representa- tive of the spirit that in recent years has proved such an important factor in the ad- vancement of Custer county. The owner of a valuable and productive farm, he is also iden- tified with the business interests of the com- munity and already in his career has given evidences of versatility that should do much to make him one of his locality's substantial and influential men.

John Ernest Staab was born in Colfax county, Nebraska, near the Platte county line, January 28, 1883; and is a son of John and Elizabeth (Mayer) Staab, a record of whom appears elsewhere in this volume.

John Ernest Staab was educated in the country schools of Platte county, and there had his early training on his father's farm. Ac- companying his parents when they came to Custer county, he here engaged in farming on his own account, and he successfully con- tinued therein until 1912. While he does not now engage actively in farming, he still owns the property, a fertile tract of 160 acres, and superintends its operation. Since coming to Ansley, in the year mentioned, he has devoted himself principally to conducting a restaurant, having a large, well regulated establishment that has become very popular, not alone with the people of Ansley but also with the travel- ing public. He is interested also in conduct- ing a coal business, and in his various capa- cities he manages to find an outlet for his boundless energy. He has made a place for himself among Ansley's business citizens, and his reputation in business circles is of the best. As to political matters, Mr. Staab acknowl- edges allegiance to no party, preferring to use his own judgment in the supporting of candi- dates. He is a member of the local organiza- tions of the Modern Woodmen of America and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, is popular in both, and in the latter fraternity he has passed the official chairs. The family be- longs to the Baptist church.

In 1906 Mr. Staab married Miss Stella L.

Miller, who was born at Polk, Nebraska, and to this union there have been born five chil- dren, whose names and respective ages (1918) are here noted: Lawrence H., eleven years : Julia Esther, ten years ; Bessie, eight years ; Voyle, five years ; and Waneta, three years.

WILLIAM L. MILLER, who owns and resides upon a fine farm of two hundred acres, in the vicinity of Callaway, was born in Henry county, Iowa, on the 17th of June, 1860, and is a son of William and Sarah (Cubbison) Miller, the former of whom was born in Pennsylvania and the latter in Ohio. In the immediate family were seven children - Levi, Frank, Oliver, William L. (subject of this sketch ), Mrs. Irene Kohlby, James, and Cora. The father, a farmer by vocation, was a valiant soldier of the Union cause in the Civil war. He was a member of the Fourth Iowa Cavalry, and he saw four years of strenuous service in the great conflict through which the integrity of the nation was preserved. He not only par- ticipated in many important battles and minor engagements, but it was also his to have been captured by the enemy and to have been held for several months in the famous Libby Prison, of odious memory.

William L. Miller was reared and educated in Iowa and there he early gained practical experience in connection with the work of the pioneer farm, the while the discipline caused him to grow strong and self-reliant. At Au- dubon, Iowa, on the 9th of December, 1883, was solemnized his marriage to Miss Sarah A. Dill, who was born at Bellbrook, Ohio, and who is a daughter of Joseph E. and Mary C. ( Hopkins ) Dill, both likewise natives of the old Buckeye state. Mrs. Miller is the eldest in a family of five children, one of whom died at the time of birth. The names of the others are here given, in respective order of birth: Charles E., Nellie May, and Franklin M. Mr. and Mrs. Miller have a fine family of four children, besides which one child died at the time of birth. Concerning the surviving, brief record is here consistently given: Jennie is the wife of Roy Lee Longmore, a farmer liv- ing one and one-half miles west of Callaway, and she is an active member and liberal sup- porter of the Evangelical church. Mary is the wife of Harry Watkins, who is a farmer in Sand valley, six miles southwest of Calla- way, and they have one child, a daughter. Mrs. Watkins, like her older sister, is a mem- ber of the Evangelical church. Myrtle, the third daughter, is the wife of Houghland Har- per, likewise a prosperous farmer in Sand

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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 133

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