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 157

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 157

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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

for a time as a carpenter and also was a clerk in a hardware store. In 1884 he came to Custer county, Nebraska, where for two years he conducted a meat market at Lexington. In the summer of 1886, after obtaining the con- tract to furnish meat to Kilpatrick Brothers & Collins, contractors on the Burlington Rail- road, he moved to Broken Bow, and subse- quently he followed the railroad into the heart of the sand-hill country. When ready to be- come a permanent settler, Mr. Mary took a homestead which included a part of the town of Mullins, which later became the county seat of the then unorganized county of Hooker. There he became a citizen of public promi- nence and influence, and he served as the first county clerk of Hooker county. In 1892 he came to Oconto and established his general hardware and agricultural-implement business. He accepted the office of vice-president of the Oconto State Bank, and additionally finds part of his time occupied in superintending his ranch property, comprising 1,300 acres. Mr. Mary has one son, George J., who was for four years cashier of the Oconto State Bank, and who, in connection with our nation's participation in the world war, entered the national army, as a member of Battery C, Three Hundred and Thirty-ninth Field Artil- lery, which was first stationed at Camp Dodge, łowa.

Mr. Mary, like many another successful bus- iness man, sometimes refers to boyhood days, when the acquisition of even a meager amount of capital was a matter of considerable effort, for he grew up during Civil-war days and money for any purpose was not plentiful. Therefore when, by running errands, he had accumulated the sum of sixty-five cents, he felt reasonably rich, and being then, as now, pa- triotic, he determined to hide his wealth until the Fourth of July, when all of it could be expended for fire-crackers. At that time little coin was in circulation, small amounts being paid in "shinplaster," war-time paper money, and such currency constituted Mr. Mary's "bank roll" that he carefully hid for safekeep- ing, in a convenient pigeon coop. There are many tragedies in life and perhaps one of these may have been the finding of a mouse nest in the pigeon coop, on the Fourth of July, instead of the little paper-money roll so con- fidently hidden.

AMOS C. McININCH, who maintains a high standing among the substantial farmers of Custer county, is one of the native sons of Nebraska who have won success in the state

of their nativity. The narrative of his career bears no thrilling chapters, but is a record of practical industry and capable management in agricultural matters and of sterling and public- spirited citizenship in civic affairs.

Mr. McIninch was born in Nemaha county, Nebraska, January 16, 1866, a son of Ben- jamin F. and Eliza ( Kennedy) Mclninch. His father was born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, and as a young man went to Buchanan county, Missouri, where he met and married Miss Eliza Kennedy, who had been taken by her parents to Missouri from her native state of Indiana. For a time the father farmed in Missouri, but at the time of the first free elections in Kan- sas he went to that state to see what was go- ing on, but not to live there. Subsequently, in 1856, he pushed on to the frontier of Ne- braska and settled in Nemaha county. He and his worthy and courageous wife were possessed of nothing but a yoke of steers and twenty- five cents in money, and they were in a dan- gerous country, where Indians, not always to be depended upon in those days, were their nearest neighbors ; but they resolutely worked out their own problems and achieved success, developing a good farm and establishing a home. Mr. Mclninch passed the rest of his life there and died on the farm, while his widow, now in advanced years, still makes her home there. Mr. McIninch was prominent in Republican politics. Although his district nor- mally gave 600 Democratic majority, he was for twenty-eight years supervisor and was known far and wide as "Old Honest Frank." He was a Quaker in his religious faith, and his wife belonged to the Methodist Episcopal church, both having been highly respected and esteemed in their community. Of their eight children, seven are living: Mrs. Cora Wait, of Cairo, Nebraska; J. W., a farmer of the Mason City community ; Amos C., of this re- view ; Otto S., a farmer in the neighborhood of Mason City ; Frances J., the wife of James Rariden and living on her father's old place in Nemaha county; Belle, the wife of Bert Whitlow, of Auburn, Nebraska ; and B. F., liv- ing on the old home place.

Amos C. McIninch received his education in the district schools of Nemaha county and the Nebraska State Normal School at Peru. and he began life as a farmer. He remained with his parents until he was twenty-seven years of age, at which time, in 1892, he came to Custer county and purchased school land. This he subsequently sold, and he then bought his present property, near Mason City, where he has made many fine improvements and es- tablished a record as one of the most thorough,

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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

systematic, and successful farmers of his lo- cality. He maintains a lively and discriminat- ing interest in public affairs, but merely as a good citizen and not as a secker for personal preferment at the hands of any party or of his fellow citizens.

VINCENT J. STEDRY .- Among the few pioneer agriculturists of Custer county who still reside on their homesteads is Vin- cent J. Stedry, who during his long residence here has worked out an admirable destiny and drawn about him, for the comfort and happiness of his later years, such substantial compensations as material independence, the credit for having contributed largely to the general development of the community, and the confidence and good will of his business and social associates.

Mr. Stedry was born May 5, 1846, in Bo- hemia, and is a son of Joseph and Mary Stedry, there being four sons and four daugh- ters in the family, of whom he was the fourth child in order of birth. In 1854 the father brought his wife and six children to the United States and settled at Baltimore, from which city he enlisted for service in the Civil War, as a musician in the Third Regiment, Maryland Volunteer Infantry. After two years of service he was given an honorable discharge, because of physical disability, and returned to Baltimore, in which city the fam- ily continued to reside until 1870-the year of their removal to Watertown, Wisconsin. There the father died in 1883, while the mother survived him for many years and passed away in California, in 1909.

After attending the public schools of Balti- more, Vincent J. Stedry took a course in the University of Wisconsin, and in 1879, he came to Saline county, Nebraska, where his first employment was as a clerk in the post- office at Crete. He also taught in the public schools for about eleven years, and in con- nection with his educational work served some time as deputy register of deeds and in other positions in the court house. While still a resident of Saline county, he married, Septem- ber 3, 1883, Miss Annie Karten. In the year following his marriage, he took up a home- stead on the southwest quarter of section 3, township 16, range 21, Custer county, but in 1885 he went back to Saline county and did not return to his Custer county homestead until 1887, since which time he has continued to be engaged in agricultural pursuits here. He is now the owner of more than a section of land, upon which he has many good im- provements, but for a long time after he had

become financially independent he continued to live in his little "soddy." The success which he has attained in his ventures has been due to his unfailing industry, his able man- agement of his affairs and the progressive ideas which he has brought into play in his operations.

Mr. Stedry is one of the best known men of Custer county, particularly among those born in his native land, for whom he has frequently acted as interpreter. In 1899 he was appointed oil inspector for Nebraska, by Governor Poynter, and he represented his dis- trict in that capacity in a capable manner. From the time that he was a teacher in the rural schools, he has been interested in all educational movements, and much of the prog- ress made in this direction in Custer county has been due to his efforts. Mr. Stedry sus- tained a severe loss in the death of his faith- ful wife, who passed away September 30, 1909, leaving to mourn her loss a wide circle of friends, as well as her husband and their three children - Vincent, Ruby, and Oliver.

JOHN S. McGRAW has been a resident 'of Custer county since 1880, and during the period of his stay here has had experiences, from roughing it in the pioneer days to being a participant in the prosperity and modern con- ditions of the progressive present. During the past ten years he has been engaged in handling real estate and loans at Broken Bow, and his faith and belief in his community have been generated by his own success.

Mr. McGraw was born September 29, 1867, near Wabash, Indiana, a son of James Mc- Graw. His father was born in Ireland, in 1843, and was six months old when he left his native land with his parents, John and Mary McGraw. The ship on which they had taken passage met with serious trouble and was all but wrecked, so that the family did not ar- rive at their destination, the town of Cobourg, county of Northumberland, Ontario, Canada, for six weeks. James McGraw was reared as a farmer, but when he was about seventeen years of age ran away from home and came to the United States, where, not long there- after, he enlisted in the Union army for ser- vice in the Civil war. He fought about three years in that struggle, being in a number of important engagements and receiving his hon- orable discharge at the end of the war, at which time he went to Wabash, Indiana, and engaged in farming. There he was married in 1866, to Frances Walker, a daughter of Cornelius Walker, a farmer and stockman from Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. McGraw immi-

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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

ORVILLE H. MAZE AND FAMILY

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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

grated to Custer county, Nebraska, during the spring of 1880 and secured a homestead near Gates, which Mr McGraw still owns, being one of the men whose well-directed labors have resulted in success. He is a Republican in politics.

As a lad John S. McGraw began his wage- earning experience in the business of herding stock for Harvey B. Andrews, on Lillian creek. He has a rather vivid recollection of his first efforts in this direction, and is not very proud of his first accomplishments. When he was sent to herd a mixed bunch of horses, cattle and sheep, Mr. Andrews gave him a Texas mustang pony and cautioned him under no circumstances to let go his hold on his mount. Familiarity breeds contempt, however, and the youth became careless as to his instructions, with the result that before he knew what was happening his pony was at liberty and kicking up its heels as it went over a sand-hill, seemingly saying: "Good bye, John," and making on a bee-line for the main Laughran ranch, eighteen miles up the river. Then Mr. McGraw's troubles began. The cattle cleaned up a field of corn belonging to J. N. Dryden before they could be stopped ; the sheep ate up the corn crop belonging to A. J. Pearl, at the mouth of Victoria creek, and after the youthful herder had tried first to head off the cattle and then to round up the sheep, the horses stampeded and followed the mustang to the upper ranch. The youth, finally becoming discouraged and disgusted. jumped his position and footed it home, about a mile and a half away. Later on, he was more successful in his labors as a herder, for the impression left on his mind was a strong one, and for ten years he worked on various ranches in this locality. During this time he remembers when the wheat used in the mak- ing of flap-jacks was ground in a coffee mill. and he also has recorded that from Luce Can- yon, near Anselmo, he cut the first flag-pole used in a celebration at Broken Bow. His education was acquired through attendance at the district schools during the winter months. and gradually he accumulated capital through his labors until he finally engaged in farming on his own account. He still has a fine home near Gates, on the property which, he owns there. In 1908 he came to Broken Bow and established the real estate and loan business, of which he is still the head, and which he has built up to large and important proportions. Mr. McGraw is what is termed a live wire, and expresses it as his belief that Custer county has all others beaten when it comes to right prices.

Mr. MeGraw was married at Gates, Ne-

braska, March 8, 1894, to Miss Lydia E. Brown, and they are the parents of one child : Mildred M. They are consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and Mr. Mc- Graw is a member of the Woodmen and a Ma- son of high standing, as well as a Shriner.

ORVILLE H. MAZE. - More than thirty- five years have passed since Orville H. Maze first came to Custer county, but he is still ac- tively interested in agricultural pursuits, and devotes himself to overseeing operations 011 his large farm north of Lodi, although his own home is in Callaway. At the time of his arrival he was a young married man without other capital than that represented by his am- bition and self-confidence, while to-day he is one of the substantial men of his locality and a factor in the life of his home vicinity. Mr. Maze was born Angust 30, 1860, in Rush county, Indiana, and is a son of Wesley A. and Sarah B. ( Pratt) Maze.

Wesley A. Maze was born in Virginia, but as a young man went to Indiana, where he married Miss Sarah B. Pratt, their union re- sulting in the birth of five children, of whom four are living : Matthew T., Orville H., Wes- ley B., and Mrs. Etta J. Bolton. Orville H. Maze received his education in the public schools and grew up on the home farm near Sharpsville, his first employment being drop- ping corn by hand, this to be covered with a hoe, for which he received a wage of fifteen cents per day. He remained on the home farm until his marriage, January 13, 1883, to Miss Ida MI. Thomas, at Tipton, Indiana. She is a daughter of James A. and Mary E. Thomas, farming people of Indiana.

In the spring of 1883, soon after their mar- riage, Mr. and Mrs. Maze received the in- spiration to try their fortunes in the west, and decided upon Custer county as their field of endeavor. They accordingly came to this county and located just north of the present site of Lodi, where they made their home for many years. Like other pioneers, they had to face hardships and overcome obstacles, but they were industrious and persevering, and in the end success rewarded their efforts. They are now the owners of 437 acres of farm land and 640 acres of school land, the farm being very productive and handsomely improved. Mr. Maze still superintends operations on the land, but he and Mrs. Maze reside in their attractive, modern home at Callaway, where they are surrounded by every comfort and convenience - in striking contrast with their early days in Custer county, when they had to

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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

be content with the merest necessities of life. Mr. Maze has not only been an active agri- culturist, carrying on extensive operations in farming and stock-raising, but has also been identified with important business interests and was manager of the Callaway Shipping Asso- ciation for ten years. He and his wife are earnest Christians and live their religion every day, Mr. Maze having been Sunday-school superintendent for a quarter of a century. Three years ago he was a delegate to the United Evangelical conference at Barrington, Illinois, and in 1918 he was elected delegate to the general conference, held in October, at York. Pennsylvania. He is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America. His rep- utation as a business man of sound and strict integrity, and as a helpful and constructive citizen, is firmly established.

Concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Maze, the following brief record is given : Cecil E. is deceased. Flossie P. is the wife of Hilmer Kolbo, proprietor of the Harry Evans garage, in the western part of Calla- way. Mr. and Mrs. Kolbo are members of the Lutheran church, and are the parents of three daughters and one son. Blanche B. is the wife of Silas B. Hoffman, foreman of the Gil- christ Lumber Company at Callaway. They are members of the Evangelical church, and are the parents of two daughters and two sons. Wesley E., who is the lessee of the Mrs. John Johnston farm, south of Callaway, mar- ried Effa Hanley, a daughter of Benjamin F. and Lona Hanley, the former a cousin of ex-Governor Hanley, of Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Wesley E. Maze are members of the United Evangelical church and are the parents of one son and one daughter. Matthew H., who is a farmer and stockman on his father's ranch northwest of Lodi, married Ada Myers. daughter of Elmer F. Myers, and they are members of the United Evangelical church, their only child being a daughter. Ruth R. is the wife of Troy Myers, who is farming his mother's land, two miles northwest of Cal- laway. They are members of the United Evangelical church, and are the parents of one daughter. The sons and sons-in-law are all independent in their political affiliations. Mr. Hoffman is an Odd Fellow, and Mr. Myers is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. Wesley E. and Matthew H. Maze and Troy Myers were all listed in Class 4 of the draft for the national army.

Mr. Maze is a sterling Custer county citizen who has advanced himself from small begin- nings to high position, and the honorable

manner in which he has done so has gained and held for him the respect of his fellow citizens.

GEORGE R. RUSSOM. - When the Civil war came on the step-father of Mr. Russom enlisted in the Confederate army and was a member of Company C. One Hundred Forty- fifth Regiment, North Carolina infantry. He was taken prisoner and died in the military prison at Elmira, New York. After he left home Mr. Russom's mother did her best to support her children and he remembers when she worked for 75 cents a week binding swaths in a wheat field, he helping by running behind the two cradlers and putting the sheaves to- gether so that she could bind them. Thus he earned his first money and was able to buy a coveted rubber ball as the result of his work. In 1866 he accompanied his mother and the children to Delaware county, Indiana, where they lived four years and then moved to Hun- tington county and settled on forty acres of heavily timbered land. He was only seven- teen years old when he cleared off six acres of this land and by 1870 the family had a com- fortable story-and-a-half hewed-log house, he having chopped down the timber with which to build it. Mr. Russom labored hard during his early years of manhood, working in the timber, cutting and hauling logs and making staves and wagon and buggy spokes during the winters and farming in the sum- mers. With this record of industry, it can hardly be said that he did not do well in In- diana, but the opening up of desirable sec- tions in Nebraska, seemed to offer better op- portunities for the homeseeker, and in 1883 Mr. Russom came to Custer county, where he has lived ever since. He located four and one- half miles northwest of Broken Bow and his home tract contains 800 acres, on which he has one of the handsomest residences to be found in the county.

Mr. Russom was married June 14, 1874, in Huntington county, Indiana, to Miss Mary J. Pope, a daughter of Robert and Mary A. (Martin) Pope, the former of whom was born in the state of New York. There are five survivors of the Pope family, namely: Mc- Clellan, James R., Louis, Mrs. Margaret James and Mrs. Russom. Mr. and Mrs. Russom have a large and vigorous family and many of their children have homes not far distant from the homestead and all are well settled in life. The family record reads as follows : Athelda M., who is the wife of Charles Bran- denburg, a farmer in Gage county, Oklahoma, and they have two sons and three daughters ;

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Corinna E., who is the wife of Frank E. Tay- lor, who is the leading photographer of Broken Bow, and they have two daughters and one son; Lulu B., who is the wife of Lewis Gift, who is a farmer three miles east of New Helena, in Custer county, and they have two sons and three daughters; Leota C. who is the wife of Amos B. Lewis, who is a ranchman near Climax, Nebraska, and they have three daughters and two sons; Viola, who is a twin sister of Leota C., is the wife of Jacob F. Clinebell, whose farm joins that of Mr. Russom on the southwest: by a for- mer marriage Mrs. Clinebell had two children and has two by her second marriage ; William G. R., who is a carpenter, at Scottsbluff, Ne- braska, married Rhoda, daughter of Samuel Brown, and they have one child; John R., who is a farmer and lives in Broken Bow, married Glendora, daughter of Charles Rec- tor : George A., who operates on his father's land five miles northwest of Broken Bow. married Virginia, daughter of Peter L'Amor- caux, and they have two sons; Edna, who is the wife of Emery Beal, who is a son of El- gin Beal and a farmer six miles northwest of Broken Bow, and they have one child; Fred L., who operates his father's land three miles northwest of Broken Bow, married Cora A., a daughter of Allen Reyner, and they have a daughter ; Walter V., who is in the aviation branch of the National army, training now at Vancouver ; and Ione, who is the wife of Elwood Pelkey, who is a farmer on his father's home place. Mr. and Mrs. Pelkey have one son.

Recently he has bought another tract, of 800 acres, situated eight miles west of Broken Bow, to be utilized as a cattle ranch. As mentioned above, Mr. Russom has progressive ideas and is enterprising and thorough in the carrying on of his industries, and, realizing the public value of county fairs in an agricul- tural section, he has encouraged such organiza- tions and ably assisted in their management at Broken Bow. On account of the superior- ity of his exhibits he has carried off many prizes and twice won blue ribbons at the state fair.

JOSEPH URBAN .- In the region of Comstock there are many very thrifty Bo- hemian families ; for the most part they are very desirable citizens and prosperous so far as this world's goods are concerned. To this contingent belongs Joseph Urban who was born in Bohemia April 15, 1873. He is the second son of James and Frances (Barta) Urban, both of whom were natives of Bo-

hemia who journeyed from their native land in 1882, and crossing a continent of land and water settled in Fillmore county, Nebraska, where they lived for five years. After that they moved to Valley county, in a covered wagon drawn by a yoke of oxen. Here they homesteaded a quarter section of land, upon which they made their home until about 1910. Then selling their place, they moved to Com- stock where they are living at the present time. The father is 77 years of age and the mother 70. They are the parents of nine children, eight of whom are still living: James lives in Saline county, his wife being Fannie Barta ; Joseph was the second; John married Emma Zeblodial· and lives at Prague, Oklahoma ; Frank married Barbara Matousek and lives near Burwell; Charlie married Frances Vale- sek and lives east of Comstock ; Emil married Rosa Kluna and lives on a farm near Com- stock ; William married Ella Zeblodial and lives near Comstock; Mary married Fred Nemeskel and is living north of Comstock ; Frances married Emil Pleva but is now de- ceased. The family were for the most part Democratic in politics and members of the Catholic church.

Joseph Urban received his education in the public schools of Valley county and has fol- lowed farming all his life, in which he has been more than usually successful. He has a good wife to whom is due a large part of the credit, for successes achieved. He was mar. ried in February, 1898, to Mary Krumal, the daughter of George and Anna (Veracek) Krumal. The Krumals were early settlers of this county, later moving to Omaha but now residing in Burwell. Born into the family home of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Urban are seven bright children, all of whom give prom- ise of developing into useful, desirable citi- zens. They are Joe, Louis, Albert, George. Ella, Rudolph, and Lizzie. All are at home under the parental roof and assist in the af- fairs of the farm. When the farming opera- tions of the Urbans began, they had nothing. His first attempt at farming was done alto- gether on «borrowed capital but by the appli- cation of sound judgment, strict economy, and tireless energy, he made it pay. Today he owns 800 acres of good land. has splendid stock, some white-faced thoroughbred cattle, Duroc Jersey hogs and all the stock indicates good care and attention. His land is in three separate tracts, two of which have good im- provements. Looking back over the past he complains of but few crop failures. These were due to drouth and chinch bugs, but these losses fortunately came at a time when grain was raised in other sections and was conse-

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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 157

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