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 155
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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA
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JOHN STEWART
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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA
his views and activities have been compatible with progress.
Mr. Stewart, as his name would indicate, is of Scotch nativity, he having been born in County Ross, Scotland, July 20, 1847, a son of Donald and Anna ( McFail) Stewart. His parents passed their entire lives in Scotland, where the father was a farmer in a small way, and of the nine children none save John came to the United States, although nearly all left their native soil, immigrating to Canada, Aus- tralia, and other countries. John Stewart, the only survivor of his parents' children, came to the United States about the year 1870. He had received an ordinary education in the pub- lic schools of Scotland and was a young man of intelligence and ambition. Seeking a lo- cality in which to settle permanently, he trav- eled from New York to California and worked in various sections and at a number of voca- tions. He was prudent and thrifty, and wisely saved his earnings, so that when he came to Custer county, in 1882, he was possessed of some capital, and had the distinction of being the one to pay over the first money that was ever transferred in cash for a release on a homestead right in Custer county. This was the sum of $250 in gold, with which he bought the tree-claim right of a young woman. He also bought an ox-team, of a Mr. Woodward, and settled down to farm his property and to enter upon the career which brought him suc- cess and prosperity. Before he gained a foot- hold upon the ladder of achievement, Mr. Stewart, along with numerous others, was called to face many hardships and privations. Unlike the majority of others, he did not have a wife to assist in casing his burdens, for Mr. Stewart has never married. However, he was equal to every emergency, eventually won his way through, and for a long period was rec- ognized as one of the community's most pros- perous men. His good management brought him a comfortable fortune, and when he was ready to retire from the hard work of the farm, some ten or twelve years ago, he had for sale a valuable and highly improved farm, which brought a handsome figure. Mr. Stewart at that time moved to his present snug farm, in the old town of Wescott, and here he has since been busy in his garden.
Mr. Stewart has always been a staunch and unfaltering Republican. During the height of the Populist movement he was frequently ap- proached in regard to the shifting of his sup- port, but he never changed his allegiance. He has not sought office, but has endeavored to place good men in positions of trust. Mr. Stewart, while a believer in religion, has never
joined any particular church. He does not favor secret societies.
FRANK SUTTON. - Here follows a plain story of pioneering and a story very common to Custer county inhabitants, vir- tually all of whom came from eastern stock and ran the same gamut of experiences in the primitive days, and there is also a striking similarity in the success achieved by these citizens as exhibited by a present day survey. The man to whom the name and the title line belong, hails from Hoosierdom, where he was born in Carroll county, June 26, 1861.
He is the son of Louis and Laurinda (Dim- mitt) Sutton. Father Louis Sutton and his wife were both natives of Indiana and farm- ers by occupation. He enlisted in the army in 1861 and after rendering a year of hard service was discharged on account of physical disability. He returned home and engaged in farming until 1868, when with his family he moved to Appanoose county, Iowa, where he purchased a farm and made it his home until 1882, when the call of the west moved him again - this time to Custer county, where he bought a homestead which he made his home for the rest of his life. He died March 20, 1887, as a result of disease contracted in the war. He was a Democrat in politics and a member of the Methodist church. He and his wife were the parents of seven children : Mary E. is the wife of J. W. Wallace. Sarah A. was the wife of J. H. Shinn, but is now deceased. Andrew J. married Julia Jennings and is now a clergyman located at Pueblo, Colorado. The fourth was the subject of whom we are writ- ing. John R. is a farmer living at Tyro, Kansas. Nancy J. is the wife of Fred Cum- mings, a farmer and stockman living at Fort Collins, Colorado. Walter M. lives at Penny- man, Virginia, where he is guarding water works for United States government.
Mr. Sutton was educated in the common schools of Iowa and in 1888 was married to Flora Penick, who was spared to him but two short years. After her death he remarried, in September, 1896, to Maude Kenyon, in Loup county. The second Mrs. Sutton is a daughter of John A. and Sarah E. (Fuller) Kenyon. Her parents were early Custer county settlers of whom extended notice is given elsewhere.
After coming to Custer county young Frank worked on the farm of his parents until 1905, when he started operations for himself. After three years he moved on to the old homestead, where he has lived ever since and upon which he has put all the improvements of the pres-
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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA
ent time, replacing the sod buildings with new and more modern ones.
In the family home of the Suttons were born two children: Raymond E. married Ethel Wells and has established a home for himself in Cummings Park; Vida P. is at home.
Mr. Sutton recalled some of his experiences of the early days. On one occasion he helped to haul hogs for R. G. Carr to North Loup. There were a hundred sixty-eight hogs to be hauled and it required a number of wagons, and accordingly the whole neighborhood turned out. This was in the winter of '85 and '86. It was so cold that one of the men, George Pierce, would have frozen to death if it had not been for Mr. Sutton and David Col- trane. Pierce had gotten so cold and numb that he lay down and refused to move. They saved his life by using a whip on him and finally roused him up and angered him to the extent that they were able to get him up and move him on. Of the hundred and sixty- eight hogs ninety-two froze to death. Mr. Sutton pulled straw from a stack and put it into the wagon among the hogs in his load and this helped, he thinks, to save them.
H. B. POINTER .- Over in the West Union precinct, which is entitled to be called one of the garden spots of Custer county, lives a substantial farmer in a splendid farm home, surrounded by a happy family whose name is spelled in the title line. Mr. Pointer des- cends from a good old Kentucky family.
He was born in the Bluegrass state, March 1, 1863, and was the fifth son of John and Hester (Sharp) Pointer, both very excellent Kentucky people who spent their lives in the Bluegrass state. The father was a farmer and a Democrat in politics and rated as one of the first citizens of the community in which he lived. The mother was a very excellent southern lady, a faithful adherent and sup- porter of the Baptist church. Recorded in the family Bible were the names of six chil- dren: Melvina, the wife of S. M. Davis, lives on an Illinois farm ; Tina, wife of Louis Johnson, also lives in Illinois ; John married Carrie Davis and is engaged in farming, in Illinois ; Maggie, the wife of William Pfrehm, lives in Bay City, Texas. The fifth name in the family roster is the one recorded at the head of this paragraph. James W. married Mattie Hargon, and is a photographer living in Malvern, Iowa.
H. B. Pointer spent his early years in Illi- nois where he received a liberal education in the graded schools of Salisbury, that state.
After leaving school he began practical farm- ing and has stuck to the vocation during the . major portion of his life.
In 1889 he became a benedict by leading to the marriage altar Cora J. Carr, a Custer county young lady who came of an excellent family. Mrs. Pointer's people were early set- tlers in this county, coming here in August 1878, locating both a homestead and tree claim, and living on these claims until 1892, when they moved to Doris, this county, and began the operation of a flouring mill which Mr. Carr, the father, had owned for several years. In 1910 he retired from active life and devoted his time to the care of his prop- erty. For the last three years he has been liv- ing in Texas. In this family were five chil- dren, only two of whom are now living, Stan- ley and Mrs. H. B. Pointer.
The story goes among the West Union old timers that Mr. Carr's first wife was the first teacher in Custer county. It is certain that if she was not the first she was one of the first, as she taught a school for which she was paid by subscription in the fall of 1878.
Mr. Pointer made a marked success of farming. Eighteen years of his life, how- ever, were spent in the milling business at Doris Lake, where he was in partnership with his father-in-law, mentioned above. After retiring from the mill he again resumed farm- ing, which has been his occupation for the last eight years. In his farming and stock-rais- ing operations he makes a specialty of Poland- China hogs and Rhode Island Red chickens, all of which not only show careful selection in breeding but splendid care and unusual at- tention. The farm consists of one hundred sixty acres, in West Union, where the farm home is located, and another farm south of the river.
Three children have been the result of their marriage and all are living and have promis- ing prospects for the future: Lloyd married May Hill and is living on a farm near Sargent, on which he has made a success of his initial effort ; George, who is still single, lives at home and is charged with much of the responsibility of the home place ; and Doris likewise remains at the parental home.
In the early days of pioneering Mr. Pointer was here and had his share of the privations and hardships which were handed around so generously to the carly settlers. He freighted from West Union to North Loup, a distance of fifty miles, and many nights, without over- much bedding, slept on the ground floors of the settlers' sod houses. This even in the win- ter time when the weather was so cold that the provisions they carried would be frozen.
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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA
.
MR. AND MRS. DAVID DOWNEY
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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA
The younger generation of Pointers will never know the hardships endured and the sacrifices made to establish residence and develop the splendid home they enjoyed during their child- hood years.
DAVID DOWNEY .- In considering the life record of the late David Downey, who for many years was one of Custer county's influ- ential and respected citizens, a striking illus- tration is presented of what can be accom- plished through the exercise of energy, will power, and self-sacrifice, when directed along the right channels. When David Downey ar- rived at Kearney, Buffalo county, Nebraska, his worldly possessions consisted of a wife, their two sons and one daughter - J. M., W. C., and Nellie, - their necessary clothing, and the sum of twenty-five cents in actual money. At the close of a busy, frugal, and useful life in this state, he passed away as one of Custer county's substantial and representative men, owning one of the largest stock ranches in this part of the country.
David Downey was born in Jefferson county, Ohio, in 1834, and was reared in Ohio, where he attended school as opportunity was af- forded in early boyhood. He soon became self-supporting through general day labor, but, possessing a large amount of common sense, he realized that such work did little to ad- vance his permanent fortunes and that there- fore a change must be made. He had heard many stories of the great opportunities that the great west offered, and he decided to try his fortune in Nebraska. He arrived in Kear- ney in 1879. He came to the state with the intention of securing land and establishing a permanent home, and in search of the same he stopped for a short time in Buffalo county. Mr. and Mrs. Downey from there came to Custer county and located their homestead, on which they filed in 1882. They lived here for a number of years in the same primitive way as did their neighbors, but in facing the many hardships that all encountered, they manifested more courage and resourcefulness than did many others, and they were finally well re- warded. From Kearney Mr. Downey had to haul the lumber with which to build their first substantial house. In the course of years he and his two sons became the owners of 1,800 acres of highly cultivated land, some of the most valuable in middle Nebraska, modern im- provements adding to its valtie. He was greatly interested in raising good live stock, and for years the Downey ranch has been noted for its herds of Hereford cattle.
Mr. Downey always insisted that the great- est event in his life was his marriage to Miss Emily McGregor, who was born at Columbus, Ohio, and who still resides on the old home- stead, with her two children, J. M. and Nellie.
J. M. Downey has taken his father's place in the management and operation of the ranch, and is one of the leading stockmen of the Loup township community, annually raising more than 200 head of fine Hereford cattle. Miss Nellie Downey, who has made teaching her profession, was for a number of years an instructor in the graded schools at Broken Bow, but for the past three years she has been engaged at Hastings. By patrons and pupils she is held in high esteem, both professionally and personally.
The death of David Downey, which occurred March 9, 1918, removed not only one of the early settlers of the county, but also a man who had been of sterling worth in the com- munity -an example of industry and an ex- ponent of strict integrity. It was a great comfort to him in his last days to realize that he left his faithful life companion so well pro- vided for, and it likewise is a comfort to her to know that he lived to enjoy some of the ease his early industry had provided. The entire family belongs to the Presbyterian church.
WILLIAM OBERG. - A specialist in the raising of Jersey Red hogs and Short Horn cattle, William Öberg is one of the well-to-do stockmen of his part of Custer county, and is carrying on extensive operations on his well- improved farm not far from Sargent, which he homesteaded not long after he had attained his majority. It has been his fortune to have played a helpful part in the development of the county, and while he has been so doing, to have gained the respect and confidence of his fellow-citizens here.
Mr. Oberg was born in Sweden, February 10, 1861, and is a son of Carl and Christina (Edgar) Oberg, who passed their entire lives in their native land. In his earlier life Carl Oberg had been a policeman in the city of Vadstena, but eventually turned his attention to farming, and through industry and careful handling of his affairs became the possessor of a modest competence, on which he retired in the evening of his life. In 1879 William Oberg and his sister, Mrs. Kling, who is now the wife of a prosperous farmer of Saunders county, Nebraska, immigrated to the United States. He had attended the schools of his native land and after locating in Saunders county was an occasional attendant of the dis-
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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA
triet school for a short term, in the meantime otherwise occupying himself by working as a farm hand. He was eighteen years of age when he came to this country and was a youth of brawn and intelligence, but had little else to assist him to get a start save his ambition and spirit. Mr. Oberg was not far past his twenty-first birthday when he came to Custer county and homesteaded in section 19, town- ship 20, where he subsequently bought a quar- ter-section. He has always retained this property, having always been satisfied and seeing no reason for a change, and through careful industry and a proper appreciation of modern methods and devices has transformed his farm into a highly developed tract, on which are splendid buildings and other im- provements. Mr. Oberg is a specialist in the field of hog raising, and at this time is doing a large and profitable business in breeding Jersey Reds, in addition to which he has a small herd of Short-horn cattle. His business standing is of the best, and he is known as an enterprising and progressive man and a help- ful factor in movements which make for the betterment of his community.
Mr. Oberg was married September 24, 1884, to Miss Anna Monson, who was also born in Sweden, a daughter of Mons and In- gried (Olson) Nelson, who never left their native country. Mrs. Oberg came to the United States with a sister, and they were the only ones to immigrate to this land. To Mr. and Mrs. Oberg there have been born a fam- ily of eleven children, of whom there are eight now living: Charley, single, who resides at home and is his father's chief assistant in the cultivation of the farm; Fred, a veterinarian of Osceola, Nebraska, who married Freda Grunkenmeyer; Mary, who is the wife of El- mer Leep, a farmer near Milburn ; Jessie, who is the wife of Paul Vankleeck, a farmer and stockman residing in southeastern Wyoming, Goshen county, Wyoming; Albert and Flos- sie, who are single and reside at home ; Anna, who resides at home and is a teacher in the public schools; and Esther, who resides at home.
WILLIAM STOCKHAM. - Among those who took part in the migration to Custer county during the latter '80s, and one who was destined to become a leading farmer and raiser of stock in the Broken Bow community, was William Stockham. He was at that time a young mar- ried man, with but little capital, but possessed of ambition and energy, and the bright pros- pects with which he viewed the new country have materialized into realities, for he is now
successfully conducting operations on one of the county's valuable properties, that known as the D. Heenan ranch.
Mr. Stockham was born in Scioto county, Ohio, May 7, 1857, a son of William and Eliz- abeth ( Bennett) Stockman, who were natives of Ohio and who were farming people. There were six children in the family : James, Samuel, William, Joseph, Harvey, and David. When William Stockman was six years of age his father died, and in 1865 his mother came with her family to Cass county, Nebraska, where she located four miles east and one-half mile south of the present site of Weeping Willow, where the husband and father had bought land upon which he had never had the chance to locate. Nebraska at that time was still a will country, with buffaloes roaming the plains and Indians still plentiful and. at times, dan- gerous. Thus it requires only a little imagi- nation to vizualize the dangers faced and the privations endured by this courageous widow with her large family of small children. How- ever, Mrs. Stockham kept her brood together, and she later contracted a second marriage, John W. Russell being a son of this union. The district schools of Cass county furnished William Stockham with his early education, and that he was an industrious youth is shown in the fact that when he was only nine years of age he began earning money, by dropping corn by hand, for a neighbor, the corn being thereafter covered by means of a hoe. He re- mained with his mother until he was past twenty-eight years of age. and on March 30, 1886, near Nehawka, Nebraska. he married Miss Mary E. Ingwerson, a native of that place and a daughter of Frederick and Emma (Heath) Ingwerson. In the Ingwerson fam- ily there were the following children: James. Charles E., Albert N., Mary E., Frank W., Mrs. Ida J. Lopp, Richard H., Mrs. Lucy A. St. John, Mrs. Ellen C. Mast, and Mrs. Laura J. Wilson.
Not long after their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Stockham came to Custer county, and in 1887 they located on a farm fifteen miles west of Callaway. After residing there a short time, they removed to Wild Horse Flats, in Logan county, near the northeast corner of Custer county, where they took a homestead and tree claim. There they continued to maintain their home for eight years, and thereafter they spent about one year in Custer county, follow- ing which they returned to the old Stockham place, where they continued its operation suc- cessfully for seven years. Then, in 1910, they came to their present place of residence, thic D. Ilcenan ranch, south of Broken Bow, on
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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA
the South Loup river. Mr. Stockham has con- tinued his agricultural operations here with splendid results, and is known as a skilled rep- resentatiye of the farming industry and an able handler of live stock. During the many years that he has lived in this part of Nebraska he has built up a reputation for sound integrity and honorable dealings, as well as for pro- gressive citizenship, and in the various activi- ties which have occupied his time he has been found reliable and trustworthy - fully deserv- ing of the respect and confidence in which he is held.
Mr. and Mrs. Stockham have become the parents of four sons and five daughters, as follows: William Earl, Richard R., Charles, Alice E., Stella N., Mabel, Ola, Lottie, and Clarence. The children have been given good educational advantages and are being reared to honorable and useful manhood and woman- hood, so that they will be able to fill capably whatever positions life holds for them.
HARRIS M. COLTRANE is a represen- tative Custer county farmer who comes of southern stock. He lives in the vicinity of Sargent, where since 1885 he has been con- ducting farming operations on a more or less extensive scale and where he has made an enviable reputation as a substantial citizen and successful farmer.
Mr. Coltrane was born down below the Mason and Dixon line, in Randolph county, North Carolina, May 13, 1861. His parents were Daniel L. and Amanda J. (Harris) Col- trane, both natives of North Carolina, where both were raised and lived their entire lives. He was a farmer, which occupation he fol- lowed to the exclusion of everything else. In the days of the Civil war he cast his fortunes with his state and served in the Confederate army for eight months, being wounded in the battle of Petersburg, Virginia, at the time of Lee's surrender.
In the father's family were eight children, four of whom are living at the present time : Harris M. is the only one, however, living out- side of the county where they were born. Young Harris received his education in the graded schools of North Carolina and very early gave his attention to farming. He came to Custer county in May, 1885, and for one or two years worked on a ranch. He started farming operations for himself as soon as pos- sible and three years after coming to the county bought a relinquishment known as the Jean Reed timber claim, on which he still lives. He developed the farm, put on all the
improvements himself and today has an un- usually well improved place.
In 1892 he was married to Mary E. Twiggs, a daughter of James L. and Eliza E. (Allan) Twiggs. Mrs. Coltrane's parents came to the county in 1882 and homesteaded three miles north of Sargent. In their family were ten children, seven of whom are still living.
Into the family circle of Mr. and Mrs. Col- trane six children have been born: Clarence M. married Bessie Smith of Loup City and is now employed by the National Supply Com- pany at Casper, Wyoming. Loyd A. married Pearl Correll and is homesteading at Proctor, Colorado. Esther E. is teaching school. Clark K., Lewis L., and Hugh H. are at home.
On the Coltrane farm considerable atten- tion is paid to Poland-China hogs and short- horn cattle, both lines of which are well rep- resented in fashionable types, and this breed- ing has been a source of profit to Mr. Coltrane. Mrs. Coltrane gives especial attention to White Plymouth Rock chickens and has a classy flock parading the barnyard.
The needs of the country as represented in all patriotic war drives have appealed to the Coltranes and they have responded liberally to every call. They are patriotic, hospitable, courteous and maintain a reputation as good neighbors and excellent citizens.
EUGENE S. SIMS. - Over in the north- east section of the county, in the Comstock region, lives an unassuming farmer who de- serves well the rewards of labor and sacrifice and who has given to Custer county the ser- vice of his best years.
Eugene S. was born in Avoca, Iowa, March 17. 1880. His parents were George W. and Lucy (Eglebarger) Sims. The father was a native of Henry county, Illinois, and the mother's native state was Iowa. The father was a farmer and came to Custer county in 1894. Prior to his advent into this county he had farmed in Iowa and Missouri. During the Civil war he enlisted in the Federal army and served three years, was twice slightly wounded and once taken prisoner. By strange coincidence his enlistment into the army was on his birthday, his discharge was dated on his birthday and his death occurred on the anniversary of his birth. There were ten children in the family, but Eugene S. is the only one living in Custer county. One brother was killed in the Philippine war and one, Basil, is now serving in the aviation de- partment of the United States army in Europe.
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