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 156

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 156

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Eugene received his education in the Iowa

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public schools and in that state too he rolled his first furrow and followed his first plough. It was there that he learned both the theory and practice of farming and qualified himself for his present operations.

His domestic life dates from the 2d day of November, 1902, when he led to the altar and claimed as his wife Letha E. Coover. She is the daughter of Jesse B. and Sarah (Hayes) Coover. The Coovers are well- known people in the vicinty of Muddy Valley, where they were pioneers since 1888. In the Coover family were seven children, but with the exception of Mrs. Sims none lives in Cus- ter county. Mr. and Mrs. Sims have an in- teresting family of young and growing child- ren. Merle was born August 19, 1903 ; Pearl, July 10, 1905 ; Glen, August 18, 1907 ; Paul, September 14, 1914.

Since 1894 Mr. and Mrs. Sims have been residents of Custer county. The 160 acres of land upon which he is living was purchased with the result of his own toil. He has it well improved, in a high state of cultivation and makes profitable returns from his stock- raising and feeding. Politically Mr. Sims affiliates with the Republican party. His wife is a member of the Christian church. He belongs to the Odd Fellows and also to the Woodmen of the World. The Sims family are modest, unpretentious people and enjoy ? reputation for honesty and frugality that ranks them well in the community.

SAMUEL WADDINGTON. - Among those who have contributed largely to the pros- perity of Custer county, and whose patient in- dustry and well directed energy have brought individual competencies, may be mentioned Samuel Waddington, who is one of the ex- tensive land-owners of the county.

Mr. Waddington was born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, June 12, 1850. His father. James Waddington, was a native of England and when a boy accompanied his parents to the United States, settling in Harrison county. Ohio, in 1835. There he grew to manhood and there he married Lydia Boreland, after which event he became a resident of Tuscara- was county, where he made his home until 1886, when he came to Custer county, Ne- braska, and secured the homestead on which he lived until his death. His wife passed away in Illinois and is buried in Custer county. They were the parents of sixteen children, as fol- lows: Hannah, who is deceased, was the wife of William V. True. of Colfax, Colorado ; Elizabeth married C. F. Carroll, and her death

occurred in Ohio, in 1917; Grace married C. C. Carroll and resides at Oconee, Illinois ; Sam- uel is the subject of this sketch; Burgarell died in Colorado, in May, 1918; Eleanor is the wife of T. P. Bane and resides at Arrowsmith, Illinois; David is a resident of Oconee, Illi- nois; Henry lives at Riverside, California ; Andrew resides at Fowler, Colorado; Nancy is the wife of Abram Taylor, a resident of South Dakota; Ann, widow of William Scott, resides at Fowler, Colorado; Isaac died in Custer county, twelve years ago ; John died in Idaho, three years ago; James is a resident of Montana ; William S. resides in Custer county ; and one daughter died in childhood.

Samuel Waddington was reared to the sturdy discipline of the farm, in Ohio and Illi- nois, and when a young man began working on a farm by the month. In 1888 he came to Custer county and secured as a homestead the northeast quarter of section 14, township 18, range 23, besides which he pre-empted 160 acres - the east half of the northeast quarter and the east half of the southeast quarter of section 11 of this township. He was de- sirous of obtaining a good, level tract of land, and this seemed to answer the purpose. Here he was engaged in general farming until the dry years came on, when he made up his mind that stock-raising would be more suit- able to this part of the county. Consequently he invested in young stock, and from the first his enterprise began to prosper. As his re- sources increased, he invested in more land. and he is to-day the owner of 3,800 acres, all in one body and known as Waddington Ranch. This land lies in townships 18 and 19. range 23. and is especially adapted for stock-raising. In past years Mr. Waddington has operated extensively in raising and feeding cattle, and for many years past he has raised pure-bred Percheron horses, owning at the present time some very fine animals.

Mr. Waddington was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Olliver, a native of the same neighborhood as her husband. Their home has been blessed with seven children: Nettie is the wife of M. S. Cooper, of Blaine county. Nebraska; Carrie married Chalmers G. Emp- field, of Anselmo ; Eva married Levi Empfield and resides in Callaway : Bert is married and engaged in farming in Custer county ; Jennie married Albert Hill and resides in Custer county ; Mckinley is still at home; and Ada is the wife of John Schmitz, of Custer county.

Mr. Waddington may truthfully be called a self-made man, as he never had a dollar given to him and all he has accumulated has been won through his own efforts and good

HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

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SAMUEL WADDINGTON

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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

management. He is not a member of any religious denomination but is inclined to a be- lief in harmony with the Methodist faith. His political views are in accord with the principles of the Republican party. At the age of sixty-eight years he is a man well pre- served, still active in the work of the fields and ranch, and his circle of friends is co-ex- tensive with his circle of acquaintances.

JOSEPH EXLEY .- A very successful farm operator and one who has endured the hardships of early days, lives on a well kept farm in the Sargent vicinity and is introduced to the reader by the name on the headline.

Joseph Exley was born near Eddyville, Iowa, March 1, 1852. He was the third son of Thomas and Cynthia Elizabeth (Lafoon) Exley. The father a native of New Castle, England, descended from a long line of strict- ly Saxon ancestors. The mother was a native of North Carolina. Thomas Exley was a bookkeeper by profession, having served an apprenticeship for seven years in England before coming to America. Sometime in the year 1841 he came to the United States and located near Burlington, Iowa, and immedi- ately began farming. The early date of his settlement in lowa enabled him to get govern- ment land, which he did, and improved it and by what he earned from his homestead he pur - chased other land until at one time he owned five hundred acres of Iowa land and had it well stocked and well improved. He and his good wife were the parents of eleven child- ren, eight of whom are still living. Joseph Exley and Mrs. Ed. Leach of Sargent are the only ones living in this county.

The subject of this writing spent his early days in Iowa, where he received the instruction afforded by the country schools and where he had his first instruction in the art of soil culture. He landed in Custer county March 13, 1884, and filed on the homestead in sec- tion 7, township 20, range 18, which is still his home.

He was married September 13, 1877, to Charity E. Shores, of Lucas county, Iowa. She was a very estimable lady and became the companion of his early life, the maker of his home and the mother of his six children. In 1907 she was called from the earthly home to that land where rewards are supposed to await the faithful. Since her demise the hus- band has maintained the farm and the farm home, some of his children living with him and looking after the internal affairs of the household.

The family roster contains the following

names of children born into the Exley home : Nora Edith, born in 1879, is the wife of Will- iam B. Wright, a farmer living west of Tay- lor, in Loup county ; Thomas Ira, born in 1880, died January 7, 1899; Orville Malvin, born in 1883, married Etta Zion, and is op- erating a farm east of Sargent; Cynthia Viola, born in 1885, is single; Lawrence Frederick, born in 1887, married Jennie Lov- ett, and is farming in Wyoming; Arthur Har- den, born in 1894, married Lucy Vanderveen and lives on the home place.

Mr. Exley now owns 320 acres of good land, well improved and upon which he makes his home, but the active farming operations he has delegated to the children. All that is to be seen on the Exley farm is the result of labor and soil production in the years past. We are told that Mr. Exley arrived in Custer county with but a small portion of this world's goods and that his climbing operations com- menced at the bottom rung of the ladder. His children, however, stayed with him and made the farm their home until they were twenty- one years of age and he credits them with be- ing of invaluable assistance. During the years of accumulation his reliance was upon toil, he never had recourse to speculation, he never made traps of dollars with which to catch dimes, his labor and his crops paid all his bills and put the improvements upon his place. There are few more striking examples of common thrift and simple energy than the subject of this sketch affords

FRANK WOOD .- One of the prominent stockmen of the river region in the South Loup country is Frank Wood, who is now in his thirty-sixth year and in the prime of vigor- ous manhood. He was born on the old home place of which he is now manager. He is a son of Joshua Wood, a Custer county pioncer who was one of the men who had to do with the county's organization. He was elected the first sheriff of Custer county, but did not ac- cept the office. Joshua Wood is sixty-six years old, in 1918, and lives in Kearney, Nebraska. His wife, Etta (Kilgore) Wood, mother of Frank, came of a prominent pioneer family and she is still living. They became the par- ents of two sons and one daughter - Walter is thirty-nine years of age and is manager of one ranch which is operated in connection with the Wood holdings; Mrs. Ada Overmire is thirty-eight years of age and lives on a farm near Cumro : and Frank, of this review, is the youngest of the number.

On the Wood ranch are to be found good grades of all kinds of stock, a specialty being

Franck Word

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made of Hereford cattle. Here are to be found fine horses and well bred hogs, an automo- bile, good farm machinery, fences, windmills, and everything in the line of farm and stock equipment.

In 1903 Frank Wood was united in mar- riage to Miss Abbie George, a daughter of Walter A. George, who is well and prominent- ly known throughout the entire state, and who served two terms as state treasurer. More specific mention of Mr. George will be found on other pages of this volume.

Mr. and Mrs. Wood have two bright sons, Leo and Claudie, who are in school and pur- suing the course so common to young Ameri- cans of their class. Mrs. Wood is a member of the Baptist church at Kearney, Nebraska.

The Wood ranch is one of the oldest and most famous in the south part of the county. The brothers' holdings comprise approximately 3,000 acres, and those of the father 3,360 acres - a tract which, as it comprises river- valley land, is exceedingly valuable. They own about 1,000 head of cattle, which makes theirs one of the largest cattle ranches in the county at the present day.

Mr. Wood and his wife are excellent people and are highly respected by a wide circle of friends and acquaintances. Patriotic and gen- erous of disposition, they have been contrib- utors to every department of war work, responsive to all appeals and in the production of foodstuffs they belong to that great class of American citizens who maintain the bul- warks of the production which feeds the army and has sustained the allies in the great world war.

ALECK NELSON. - If they come from Sweden their credit is good and they are hard workers. That is the case with Aleck Nelson, whose home and farm are in the vicinity of Sargent. He was born in Carlskoga, Sweden, November 16, 1845, and is a son of Nels Nelson and Mary (Olson) Nelson, both de- scendants of a long Swedish ancestral line in the country they always lived. The early years of Mr. Nelson's career were spent in his native land, where he received a good education and learned economy by practical application of frugal and industrious habits. He came to America in 1863, where he made his first home and where he began agricultural pur- suits as carried on in this country. From Illinois he went to Clinton, Iowa, where he was employed in general work of various kinds for nearly seven years.

His advent into Custer county occurred in

the spring of 1879, at which time he filed on the homestead on which he has lived ever since. He now owns two hundred and forty acres of good land, well improved and equip- ped so that life for him and his family is much easier than in former years, when he was mak- ing his start. Mr. Nelson has had his full share of pioneer hardships and privations. He made eleven trips from his place to Grand Island and one from his place to Kearney and one to North Loup, with a yoke of oxen. The distance traveled in making these journeys was two thousand six hundred miles. It seems almost impossible that people could live under such conditions but it was done. These places mentioned were the railroad points and nearest markets for the farm pro- duce, and the trips had to be made.

On one occasion he recalls having stopped in Ord over night and the only shelter to be obtained was an old livery barn, in which he had hard work to keep from freezing. Again on another occasion he and a neighbor made a trip to the Dismal swamps for cedar posts and were caught in a blizzard and came near losing their lives.

The great pleasure of his life came in the spring of 1871, when he led to the marriage altar, in Carroll county, Illinois, Miss Isabel Ellis, a young lady of splendid character and fine quality, whose parents were natives of Scotland, coming to the United States in 1866. Mrs. Nelson's parents lived in Illinois from the time of their settlement until their death. There were two children in the family circle of her parents, but she is the only one living in Nebraska.

Into the prosperous home of Mr. and Mrs. Nelson the years brought four bright, promis- ing children, but from time to time the shad- ows fell and only one now survives. Emil Nelson married Bertha Buhlke and is now es- tablished in a home of his own. He is em- ployed in a garage at Burwell, Nebraska.

This excellent family belongs to the Swed- ish Lutheran church. Mr. Nelson is high in the circles of Odd Fellowship, of which order he has been a member for forty-nine years, having passed through all the chairs of the local and higher lodges. He is independent in politics, and votes always for the man he thinks best fitted for the office.

JOSEPH FAJMON, who is a well known farmer and respected citizen of Custer county, has largely made his own way in the world, as his father died when he was only two years old ; nevertheless he owns a large body of pro- ductive land and is one of the large grain

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GEORGE C. MARSH AND FAMILY

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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

farmers of this section. He was born No- vember I, 1872, in Saunders county, Nebraska, the elder of two children born to Joseph and Mary (Penas) Fajmon.

The parents of Joseph Fajmon were born in Moravia, Austria, and lived there until 1871, when they immigrated to the United States. They were quiet, industrious people who left old ties and old country in the hope of better- ing their financial condition in another land. After reaching Nebraska, the father home- steaded in Saunders county, with the expecta- ton of proving up and developing his land into a profitable farm. During the first winter he worked in a smelter at Omaha, in order to se- cure capital with which to begin farming, hav- ing to walk the entire distance back and forth, on account of there being no railroads of any kind at that time in that neighborhood. He died in 1874, the father of two children: Jo- seph and Mary, the latter of whom is the wife of Frank Kosmata, and they live in Missouri. The mother lives in Garfield county, Ne- braska.

Joseph Fajmon obtained his education in the public schools. He was seventeen years of age when he began farming for himself and knows how much hard work sometimes has to be done for a wage of ten dollars à month. He was steady and industrious and gradually acquired land until now he owns 320 acres, all well improved and fully stocked. He has carried on his farming operations con- tinuously and intelligently and is a large pro- ducer of corn and wheat, the great essentials in the year of 1918. Mr. Fajmon can re- member occasions during his early agricultural life, when he sold corn at nine cents a bushel, and precious wheat at 35 cents. At that time there was but little grain grown in this part of the state. Mr. Fajmon's farm is situated on section 12, township I, Custer county.

Mr. Fajmon was married at Burwell, Ne- braska, January 2, 1899, to Miss Mary Kolou- sek, a daughter of Frank and Antonia (Po- chop) Kolousek, who have two other children, namely: Frances, who is the wife of Mike Hulinsky, a farmer living in Valley county, Nebraska ; and Frank, who is a farmer in Cali- fornia, and married Frances Matousek. Mrs. Fajmon's parents came to Custer county in 1884, and secured the homestead on which they yet live. Mr. and Mrs. Fajmon have the following children: Mary, Phyllis, Anna, Rosie, Charles, Emma, Frances, Frank, and Lillie. Mr. Fajmon takes interest in all that concerns the substantial development of Cus- ter county, but has no desire to hold political office, and he casts his vote outside of party

lines but in accordance with his own excellent judgment.

GEORGE C. MARSH is one of the pioneers who came to Custer county in the '80s, and he has contributed his share to the civic and industrial development and upbuilding of the county. Mr. Marsh was born in the state of Ohio, on the 9th of August, 1860, and is a son of George Adam Marsh and Maria (Har- ing) Marsh, both of whom were natives of the old Buckeye state and each of whom at- tained to the age of seventy-three years : they became the parents of eight children, of whom George C. and Charles are residents of Ne- braska, Charles being a farmer in Buffalo county.

George C. Marsh was twelve years of age at the time of the family removal from Ohio to Indiana, in which latter state he was reared to manhood and in which he received the ad- vantages of the public schools. He was a resident of Marshall county, Indiana, for a period of twelve years, and in 1884 he came to Nebraska, his arrival in Custer county tak- ing place in February of that year, and his tangible financial resources at the time having been just twelve and one-half dollars. He purchased a relinquishment to a claim and later filed entry on a timber claim. In 1892 he re- moved to the farm which is now his home. Mr. Marsh grappled earnestly and vigorously with the contending forces that are ever to be encountered in the development of a new coun- try, bore his share of trials and hardships, but he so ordered his course that eventually defi- nite success crowned his efforts. That he has made good, and more than good, is evidenced in his possessions and surroundings of the present day. He has 800 acres of good land, all clear from indebtedness, and on the same he raises good grades of horses and cattle, as well as Duroc-Jersey hogs of the best type. His success as an agriculturist and stock- raiser has been due to his energy, thrift, and good judgment. Aside from his farm enter- prise he is a stockholder in the Eddyville State Bank, at Eddyville, Dawson county. Through- out his entire business career Mr. Marsh has adhered firmly to the principle of ordering all transactions on a cash basis, and thus he has never permitted himself to become involved in perplexing indebtedness. In the early pe- riod of his residence in Custer county Mr. Marsh worked eight years on the Black ranch, of which he was foreman during five years of this time. By this employment he earned the money to buy his first land. He has been

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GEORGE MARY AND FAMILY

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a man of persistent industry, has been pro- gressive and liberal in his civic attitude, has achieved worthy success, and has at all times commanded unequivocal popular esteem.

In politics Mr. Marsh gives his allegiance to the Democratic party and he has been in- fluential in public affairs of a local order. He has served in various public offices in his home community and was for some time a valued member of the board of county commissioners, his frequent election to office indicating the high estimate placed upon him by his fellow citizens. Mr. Marsh is affiliated with the Bro- ken Bow lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and with the camp of the Modern Woodmen of America at Burr Oak. His home farm is eligibly situated in section 24, town- ship 14, range 20, and he receives his mail on one of the rural star-delivery routes from Broken Bow.

The year 1891 recorded the marriage of Mr. Marsh to Miss Hattie A. Tidyman, who was born in a pioneer dugout in York county, Nebraska, in 1869, the year of her nativity indicating that her parents settled in Nebraska prior to the admission of the state to the Union. Mr. and Mrs. Marsh have five children, con- cerning whom brief record is offered in con- clusion of this review: Mrs. Lottie Coen re- sides in Torrington, Wyoming; Mrs. Alta Ab- bott is the wife of a prosperous Custer county farmer ; Essie remains at the parental home ; Clarence Ellsworth is operating one of his father's farms; and Harvey George remains a member of the parental home circle.

ROBERT N. KEYES. - Over in the vi- cinity of Sargent lives Robert N. Keyes, whose life story is here epitomized. Robert was born in Wisconsin, the northern state that puts iron and vigor into the blood of its na- tive born sons and daughters. The date of this event was March 8, 1875. His father was Benjamin Keyes and his mother Lida T. (Tascot) Keyes.

The father was a native of Wisconsin and the mother was born in the Empire state. Mr. Keyes, senior, followed farming in Wisconsin until 1883, when he came with his family to Custer county and located a homestead in sec- tion 7, township 20, range 18, where he lived until the spring of 1891, when he moved to Broken Bow, where he died the next year. The family retained their home in the county seat until 1894. During their stay in Broken Bow, after the death of the father, two sisters of Mr Keyes died the same year, after which the fam- ily returned to the farm. Notwithstanding it

was the dry year of '94, they went to work and have made that place their home ever since. The only child in the family of the senior Keyes now living is the subject of this sketch. The family were members of the Baptist church. Mr. Keyes during his life time voted the Republican ticket.

Robert N. received his education in the dis- trict schools and by actual experience and hard knocks learned the science of farming and the care of stock. It was in early youth that he laid the foundations of present day suc- cess by the formation of good and industrious habits.

He was married June 2, 1904, to Maude Willhort, in Round Valley. She is a daughter of Emanuel and Louisa (Paxton) Willhort. The Willhort family were old settlers and well respected in their community. Before her marriage Mrs. Keyes was a teacher and taught one term in the vicinity of her present home.

As a result of this union seven children were born, six of whom are still living, mak- ing some sign and cheer for the home. They are Pearl, Ralph, Alfred, Alloma, Mabel, and Robert.

The Keyes farm is the home of Durham cattle of fine and selected grades. Other stock, as hogs and cattle, complete the comple- ment and sustain the high grade. The farm consists of three hundred and twenty acres, about equally divided between pasture and cultivated lands. This proportion makes it a splendid stock farm and a very profitable one as well.

The neighbors speak highly of the Keyes family and rate them as helpful members of the community. Mr. Keyes is independent in politics and pays attention to the qualities of the candidate rather than the party to which he belongs.

GEORGE MARY. - One of the foremost citizens of Custer county is George Mary, who is vice-president of the Oconto State Bank and proprietor of a hardware and implement business at this place, and who has been iden- tified with Nebraska development for more than thirty years. He was reared at Cleveland, Ohio, and he remained with his parents until he was twenty-one years of age. in the mean- while attending school and learning the wheel- wright trade.

In 1877 Mr. Mary came as far west as Wich- ita. Kansas, where he operated a meat market for three years. He then sought a business opportunity at Carroll, Iowa, where he worked

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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 156

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