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 145

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 145


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Achilles D. Johnson is a native of the Buck- eye state. his birth having occurred in Harri-


son county, Ohio, March 30. 1854. His par- ents were Achilles D. and Elizabeth ( Lukens) Johnson, the former born in Virginia and the latter in Ohio. The marriage of the parents was solemnized in Ohio and there the father passed away in 1864. In the following year the widowed mother removed with her children to Iowa and established a home in Mahaska county, three miles from Oskaloosa, the county seat. On a farm in that county Achilles D. Johnson, subject of this review, was reared to manhood, and, in 1880, he came to Custer coun- ty, Nebraska, where he secured a homestead in section 30, township 18, range 21, and took a tree claim in section 19 of the same township. Here, amid the pioneer conditions that existed at that time, Mr. Johnson began the task of developing a farm and building a home. The first residence was in keeping with the times and was constructed of sod, this being the family home for many years. Success attend- ed his efforts and the farm has been brought to a high state of cultivation; the sod house has been replaced with a frame building, a second frame house being completed for one of the sons ; and the property is one of the well improved farms of Custer county. Mr. John- son is owner also of a ranch of 2,500 acres in Blaine county, and farming and stock-raising are carried on extensively.


In Custer county was celebrated the mar- riage of Mr. Johnson to Miss Minnie Davidson, a native of Tama county, Iowa, and they be- came the parents of four children: Two died in infancy: Floyd A., who is assisting in the operation of the home farm, married Opal Small and they have three children; Earl D., who resides on the ranch in Blaine county, married Lura Kellenbarger, and they have one child.


Mr. Johnson was reared in the gracious faith of the Society of Friends and has not sought affiliation with any other religions denomina- tion. In politics he casts an independent bal- lot ; fraternally he is connected with Merna Lodge No. 171, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and both of his sons are members of the Masonic lodge. the father and sons exempli- fying in their daily lives the beneficent spirit of the time-honored fraternity.


Mr. Johnson was among the first settlers in this part of the county and his circle of friends is co-extensive with his circle of acquaintance.


OMER E. HEMPHILL, who is an exten- sive farmer and stock-raiser in Custer county. owns a large body of land and is numbered with the substantial and representative men


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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA


ACHILLES D. JOHNSON AND FAMILY


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of this section. From an experience of thirty years in the county and taking part in its won- derful development, Mr. Hemphill feels proud of what has been accomplished in a compara- tively short time.


Mr. Hemphill was born in Grundy county, Missouri, June 15, 1871, and is a son of Levi and Emeline L. (Stucker) Hemphill. the for- mer of whom was born in Illinois, in which state the Hemphill family has been prominent for years, and the latter of whom was born in Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Levi Hemphill had eight children, but some died in infancy, and the following named survive: Benjamin F., Omer E .. Mrs. Rosa C. Kimberling, and Edgar.


When Omer E. Hemphill was three years old his father moved to the east central part of Iowa and settled in Washington county, where he was engaged in farming about thir- teen years. It was there that young Omer E. went to school and also learned farm methods in a practical way -knowledge that later proved very useful, although with changed climate and conditions, and scientific experi- menting, some of the old methods of the fa- thers of present-day agriculturists are not con- sidered the most profitable. In 1886 the family moved to Buffalo county, Nebraska, and in 1888 came into Custer county and located four miles south of Oconto. There Mr. Hemphill's father was engaged in farming during the rest of his life, but he died before his industries were more than well started. At that time Omer E. Hemphill was nineteen years old, and he remained at home and did his part in the subsequent adjustment of family affairs.


Mr. Hemphill was married April 12. 1899, in Dawson county, Nebraska. to Miss Anna P. Vetter, who was born in Wisconsin and is a daughter of Albert and Louise (Gruel) Vetter. The father of Mrs. Hemphill was born in Ger- many and her mother in Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Hemphill have one daughter, Zina L., who is an accomplished young lady. She was gradu- ated in the Lexington high school and in 1918 was graduated in the Nebraska State Normal School, at Kearney. At present she is devot- ing herself diligently to the study of stenog- raphy and typewriting, having modern ideas about a business career for young women. whereby they may become useful and indepen- dent. whatever changes of fortune may take place. The family home is situated on Buffalo creek, nine miles west of Oconto, where Mr. Hemphill owns 420 acres of fine land. He carries on general farming and takes consider- able pride in his excellent stock. While not particularly active in a political way. he has always been a loyal citizen and is wide awake


to every movement that will be particularly beneficial to Custer county.


SHIPTON G. ORCHARD. - Sixty-five years ago, on the 24th day of March, 1853, the subject of this sketch began his earthly career, in the good old state of Illinois, which has given so many valuable citizens to the middle west. Mr. Orchard is a son of Shipton and Rhoda (Green ) Orchard of which parentage he is the only living representative. The father died before the son and namesake was born and the mother subsequently contracted a second mar- riage. As a result of this marriage there is a half-sister, Mrs. D. Thurman, who resides in Oregon. Young Shipton G. Orchard. after the death of his father, went to make his home with an uncle in Iowa, where he received his early education in the schools of Des Moines county and where also he began his first farm- ing activities.


In 1880 Mr. Orchard was united in marriage to Miss Nancy Ellen Dunbar, a daughter of Thomas and Pauline (Thurman) Dunbar. A large family was the result of this union, but the angel of death has visited the home four times. Of the living children the following is a brief record : Minnie is the widow of Rich- ard Miller and lives in Omaha ; Joseph married Mary Dobesh and they reside in Custer county ; Ethel married George Haines; Elsie married Earl Gross and is located at Wahoo. this state ; Eltie, at the time of this writing, is in Camp Grant, Illinois, where he is doing special work for the government ; Aurylon and Verlie Vay are teaching in the same school. in the Bethel Union district. northeast of Broken Bow. U'neeta and Loyd are in the Ansley high school. The children who died in infancy were : Zephia May. six weeks old; Lucy, two years old : Hughie, two years old : and Leona, six months old.


Mr. Orchard owns a splendid half-section of well improved land, on which he maintains his attractive home and does a profitable farming business. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. and the family are faithful members of the Christian church in Ansley. They are highly rated and well re- spected by all who know them. The entire family constitutes a contribution that Custer county appreciates.


PETER JAANESOFSKY, whose splendid farm. located in section 19, township 17. has been accumulated through persistent and in- dustrious labor, is one of Custer county's self-


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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA


MIR. AND MRS SHIPTON G. ORCHARD


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made men. He started out in life with few of the advantages which youth considers its just due, but his career has been singularly prosperous and satisfying -one in which he has overcome obstacles and handicaps and has realized the most gratifying rewards of agri- cultural life.


Mr. Janesofsky was born June 29, 1868, at Sepat, Bohemia, and was still an infant of a few months when brought to the United States by his parents, also natives of that country, where the father had been a small farmer and a mason by trade. The elder Janesofsky set- tled on a homestead in Saunders county, Ne- braska, and engaged in farming, but being pos- sessed of no capital he found it necessary to add to his income by working at his trade, in order that his family might live. Long before he had proved up on his claim, he met his death, while working at his trade, a fall from a scaffold resulting in injuries from which he did not recover. Peter Janesofsky was still little more than a baby when his father died, so that all the advantages enjoyed by other lads of his age were denied him, and his moth- er was not even able to send him to school, which he attended only six days. Naturally his education was not of the best, but in the ยท passing years he has been a close observer of events, a student of human nature, and a reader on subjects of interest and importance, so that he has a good working education and a large fund of general knowledge. As he grew up, he worked for his elder brother, on his farm in Sarpy county, for two years, and then came to Custer county, where he secured a timber claim. He was getting well started when his trees died, and he changed his claim to a home- stead. On this place he now lives, and this has been his home since about 1898. He has brought this property to a high state of culti- vation and has improved it with good buildings and up-to-date equipment, so that it is one of the valuable tracts of the vicinity. Farming with him has been at once a business, a study, and a matter of pleasurable occupation. and in the industry he has found the medium through which he has worked out an admirable success.


Mr. Janesofsky was married August 12. 1893, to Miss Mary Kuklis, of Valley county, Nebraska, a daughter of Joseph and Barbara (Perta) Kuklis, natives of Bohemia. To this union there have been born seven children : Emma is the wife of William Weiman, an agri- culturist of Round valley; Miss Barbara, who remains with her parents; Minnie, who is the wife of Adolph Kokesk, a farmer of Valley county ; Katie and Mary, who are at the pa-


rental home; Joseph, who assists his father in the work of the home farm; and Frances, who is attending school. The family belongs to the Catholic church, in the faith of which they were reared and up to the teachings of which they live. Politically, Mr. Janesofsky is a Republican.


JOSEPH STEFKA. - Give a man of Bo- . hemian blood a chance to work, and he will do the rest. This is especially true of the subject of this sketch, who resides in the Bohemian settlement near Comstock. Joseph Stefka was born in Bohemia September 4, 1850, and is a son of Frank and Anna (Sefcik) Stefka. The parents, both natives of Moravia, and old- country farmers by occupation, were never in- duced by the call of the new world to leave their native land. It was in Bohemia that young Joseph Stefka began his career and laid the foundation of character and honesty which has marked his career in the new world. It was in the land of his nativity that he was married, in June. 1872, to Rosa Gerzova. There, too, she died, leaving him with two children. A few years later he remarried, this time to Anna Sefcik. The bride's parents were Bohemian by birth and were farmers by oc- cupation. They lived and died in the land of their nativity.


In 1884 Mlr. Stefka turned his face west- ward and crossed the ocean to this land of op- portunity. Here in Custer county he bought a homestead relinquishment from Frank Pa- cas, and upon this place he lived until 1893. at which time he bought 320 acres south of Comstock. He is living at the present time on this latter place. where he raises cattle and hogs in considerable numbers and does a gen- eral farming business along lines that mark him as both thrifty and practical. He agreed to pay $100 for the homestead right of Frank Pacas but had only eighty dollars with which to make payment. He gave a shotgun and fur coat for the balance. He worked as section hand for the Chicago. Burlington & Quincy Railroad. In order to do this work, he walked from his homestead, nine miles northwest of Comstock, several times, and by this employ- ment he earned the money with which to start his farming operations. In this way also he bought the yoke of oxen which was his first team and which gave his his start in life.


Mlr. Stefka is the father of seven children, as the result of his two marriages: Joseph, Jr .. married Mary Simek and they live at Holly, Colorado; Rosa, unmarried, lives at Lee's Park; Frank also lives at Lee's Park ;


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John lives at home; Rudolph married Lucy Kriz; Anna is the wife of George Rohdy and lives at Lincoln, Kansas ; Thomas is single and lives at home. Mr. and Mrs. Stefka were members of the Protestant Episcopal church in Bohemia, but have never transferred their membership to any church in this country. He is independent in politics and delights in the fact that he votes for the candidate who in his judgment is best qualified for the office.


JAMES A. O. THOMAS. - After many years of wandering and varied and interesting, though unprofitable, experiences, James A. O. Thomas located at Broken Bow in the spring of 1905, and since that time he has prospered in business and gained established standing among his fellow citizens. For thirteen years he has been proprietor of the Broken Bow laundry, and while this business is in no way related to that of newspaper work, in which he was engaged for many years, Mr. Thomas has made a success of his operations and is eminently satisfied with his present condition.


James A. O. Thomas was born September 19, 1854, at Winchester, Indiana, and is a son of James and Mary ( Milner ) Thomas, the for- mer a native of Ohio and a cabinetmaker by trade, and the latter born in Randolph county, Indiana. The only child of his parents. James A. O. Thomas was a rather independent and self-reliant lad, and when only eight years of age he was earning money by taking care of two newspaper routes for the Grand Rapids Daily Democrat, at that time under the man- agement of Editor Burr .. A rich source of income for the newsboy at that time was the old recruiting station, in 1862, at the fair grounds, where the soldiers would mount the dimunitive lad on a box, buy his papers and make much of him. Perhaps these experiences led him into a career of journalism. At any rate, in the fall of 1868, when not yet fourteen years of age, he left the parental roof and en- tered the printing establishment of Heldbrook & Coulter, which firm at that time was pub- lishing the Cherokee Sentinel, at Baxter Springs, Kansas. He remained with that firm three years, at the end of which time he had mastered the printer's trade, and he then be- came a journeyman printer and traveled throughout the country, as far east as Cincin- nati, Cleveland, and Dayton, Ohio, where a number of his relatives resided. He worked two years at Richmond, Indiana, and a like period at Gallia, Ohio, and in 1876 he crossed the plains to Virginia City, Nevada, where he went to work on the Territorial Enterprise,


with which newspaper he remained a year. At that time the big silver mines were just being opened up, and the country was some- what "wild and wooly," while the life of a newspaper man was not always one of un- disturbed peace and quietude. Mr. Thomas next went to Stockton, California, where for a few months he visited with an uncle, Na- thaniel Milner, who had crossed the plains to the gold fields in 1850, with a bull train. In 1891 Mr. Thomas left San Francisco and came to Nance county, Nebraska, where for a year he was engaged in farming. At that time Brad Slaughter, George Mickel, John J. W. McClel- and, Clarence Braid, and others started the Fullerton News and "rescued" Mr. Thomas from farming, placing him in charge of the enterprise. Everything went well until the drouth year, when the concern went into bank- ruptcy, and Mr. Thomas again found himself free to make a choice of occupation. In the spring of 1905 he came to Broken Bow, where he invested his capital in the Broken Bow Laundry, a venture formerly operated by George Eads. He has continued to conduct this business with increasing success to the present time, and the support that he is re- ceiving at the hands of the public makes evi- dent the fact that he is delivering high-class service and that he has firmly entrenched him- self in the confidence of his fellow citizens.


FRANK E. LOVEJOY. - Of the many honest, industrious farmers who are the boast of Custer county, not a few have passed the greater part of their careers in the vicinity of Sargent, and a list of these would be incom- plete without the name of Frank E. Lovejoy. Mr. Lovejoy is one of New England's contri- butions to this region, having been born at Orford, New Hampshire, July 2, 1865, a son of John H. and Mary ( Lamprey) Lovejoy, natives of the same place.


When a young man, John H. Lovejoy fol- lowed farming in the summer months and school teaching in the winter terms, and this he continued for a number of years, but he found his school work tedious and unremuner- ative and his returns for his farm work dis- appointing, with the result that he finally de- cided to seek a locality more appreciative of industry and ambition. In the early '80s, traveling alone and afoot, from Grand Island, Nebraska, he came into Custer county, where he homesteaded a tract in section 7, township 19, which was located by Frank Ingram, coun- ty surveyor, for five dollars and he also had a tree claim and a pre-emption. After he had


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5


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WILLIAM H. MACKLEY AND FAMILY


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located, he walked to Grand Island to file on his land, and subsequently he sent for his fam- ily, who arrived in 1882. From that time for- ward Mr. Lovejoy engaged in farming and stock-raising. He became one of the influ- ential and well-to-do men of his locality, and did his full share in assisting in the county's development. At the time of his arrival the nearest bridge on the Middle Loup river was at Loup City, fifty miles to the east, and the first bridge at this point was built at West Union by popular subscription, being later turned over to the county. Mr. Lovejoy was a contributor to this and other public-spirited enterprises, was justice of the peace and held other township offices for many years, assisted in the organization of the Methodist Episcopal church, and of this he was a member of the board of trustees. He also helped organize the cemetery at West Union. and was presi- dent of the cemetery association for a number of years. In politics he was a Republican. Mr. and Mrs. Lovejoy were the parents of eight children, as follows: Emma, the wife of Frank Washburn, a New Hampshire farm- er; Mary, the wife of Rev. Charles Sharp, a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church, at Garden City, Kansas; Frank E .; Amy, the wife of George Brown, president of the Farm- ers Bank at Sargent ; Ilattie, the wife of Fred Wittemyer, a farmer of Boulder, Colorado; George, who is deceased ; Alice, single, a resi- dent of Sargent ; and James. also unmarried and living at Sargent.


Frank E. Lovejoy attended the grammar schools of New Hampshire, and was seventeen years of age when he accompanied his mother and the other children on the long journey from their New England home to the unset- tled country of the Nebraska frontier. He assisted his father and brother in the develop- ment and cultivation of the homestead, and took up farming when he reached manhood, this and stock-raising having since constituted his occupations. He is now the owner of the original homestead filed upon by his father and has made a handsome property out of it, productive and well improved, with good buildings and up-to-date equipment. He is a close student of his vocation, belongs to the Farmers Union, and as a business man his integrity has never been doubted. Mr. Love- joy is a Republican. In civic affairs he has shown his public spirit, and the citizens of his community have shown their faith in him by calling him to a number of local offices, he having been township clerk and a member of the town board for the past seven years, and assessor for four years.


Mr. Lovejoy was married September 3, 1890, at Broken Bow, this county, to Miss Mary Douglas, a daughter of James and Mar- garet (Harkness) Douglas, who were pioneer residents of Antelope valley. near West Union. Mr. and Mrs. Lovejoy are the parents of three children : John, who is a farmer west of Sar- gent, married Lora Williams ; Margaret is a schoolteacher and resides with her parents ; and Mabel also is at home. The family hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal church.


WILLIAM H. MACKLEY. - Undaunted by the hardships and privations of the early days, this sterling pioneer mastered the diffi- culties and problems of early farming on the Tallin Table, in the southwestern part of Cus- ter county, and he is to-day one of the sub- stantial, dependable, and highly esteemed citi- zens of the county.


Mr. Mackley was born in Hardin county, Ohio, on the 4th of February, 1861, and is a son of Christian and Margaret (Keetch) Mackley; the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Ohio. Of the children Will- iam H., of this review, is the eldest of the three sons, the others being James and Charles. Though the father was a carpenter by trade, he devoted the greater part of his active career to the basic industry of farming.


The youthful years of William H. Mackley were spent in his native county and there he received his early education by attending the winter terms of school. There he earned his first money by trapping rabbits and quails. He says he doesn't think that he was ever given as much as $2.50 for spending money during all his boyhood years. What he spent he earned himself, but earning money in those days was almost recreation. All he had to do was to help clear the timber off the land, chop cord-wood, split rails, grub stumps, and burn brush - all of which would be a sinecure for the boy of the present generation. But young William was not afraid of work and all of these things hardened his muscle and inured him to the privations of after years.


In the spring of 1883, when he was twenty- two years of age Mr. Mackley and his brother James came to Nebraska and stopped for a time at Yankee Hill, south of Lincoln, where they rented a farm from a man who furnished everything and gave the boys half of the crop. After laying by their corn, they came out to Custer county and located nine miles south of Arnold. on the Tallin Table. Then they went back, harvested their crop, and when they had disposed of it, started again for Custer.


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It was late in December when they arrived at Gothenburg, and they had no easy task in reaching the Tallin Table, where they expected to occupy an old sod house, three miles from their land. This was to be a temporary home until they could build, in the spring time. on their own land. The distance from Gothen- burg to their land was about thirty miles. When they started, a storm was brewing. They got lost and had to sleep in their wagons. The storm increased in fury until it became a full- grown blizzard of the merciless type so well known to the pioneer. It was the next morn- ing about ten o'clock before they succeeded in finding the old soddy they were looking for. When they did find it, they found that part of the roof had blown off. They managed to get the roof back on, cleared out the snow, and stabled their horses inside until the storm was over. During the first night in their new home, one of the horses knocked the ash pan out of the stove and set their bed on fire. But inconveniences of this kind never daunted the indomitable spirits of the pioneers. They lived through them and they look back upon these incidents with considerable pride in the fact that they met them, conquered them, and really succeeded in spite of all impediments.


One of the noted days in the career of Will- jam H. Mackley was January 15, 1891, when at North Platte, he led to the marriage altar Miss Rose McKenna. Mrs. Mackley is a native of Monticello, Iowa, where she was born June 26, 1862, and she is a daughter of John and Mary (McGarl) McKenna, both na- tives of Ireland. In the McKenna family were six sons and four daughters, and those now living are C. Anna Waddick, Rose Mackley, Margaret Clark, and John. The religious faith of the family has been that of the Cath- olic church.


The Mackley home has been blessed with seven children - Margaret. Elizabeth. and Mary are all at the parental home pursuing their studies in the ninth grade of the public schools ; James C., who is farming his father's land, married Winifred Sheets; Catherine A., John, and Edward make up the rest of the family circle and are at home with their parents.




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