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 161

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 161

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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

tive of Vermont and a pioneer of Iowa, where ly reached middle age and was still a poor he died ; and his maternal grandfather was man. While he had worked hard and intelli- gently, his activities had failed to bring him the success for which he had so cagerly and untiringly worked, and he sought the greater opportunities, although harder toil, of a new and developing country to grant him the pros- perity that had been denied him in the more populous communities. That his faith has been vindicated and that his judgment was sound, is shown in the fact that he is to-day one of the substantial agriculturists of Custer county, in the Litchfield community. Newbri Harrington, also born in the Green Mountain state, whose death occurred in Ne- braska. O. S. Welch was born in Vermont and was a young man when he went to Iowa to decide upon locating there. Being favor- ably impressed with the outlook, he returned to his native state for his bride, and they be- gan life on the prairies of Cass county, where they made their home for some years. In 1885 Mr. Welch, who was not satisfied with his progress in the Hawkeye state, brought his family to a homestead in Custer county, Nebraska, and here passed the remainder of his life in the cultivation of the soil and the establishing of a good home. He and Mrs. Welch were the parents of two children : Leota, the wife of F. A. Foster, a farmer of Custer county ; and L. O., of this notice. Mr. Welch was a Populist in politics, and served for a time as county supervisor of Custer county. He died in 1912, while his wife passed away in 1905.

L. O. Welch acquired his education in the district schools of Custer county, where he was brought as a child of four years, and his early training was all along agricultural lines. When he reached his majority he adopted farming for his life work, and this has held his attention to the present time, when he is the owner of 440 acres of good land. He has made many improvements on his property, including a fine set of modern buildings, and is accounted a skilled farmer and stock-raiser and a man of broad informa- tion on many lines. An active member of the Grange, he has made frequent lectures before that body, in regard to pertinent questions of the day, and is particularly interested in the work of the Non-Partisan League. In regard to political matters he is independent of party connection. His fraternal connection is with the local lodge of the Highlanders.

Mr. Welch was married in November, 1904, to Miss Grace Tunnell, who was born at Kearney, Nebraska, a daughter of William Tunnell. Mr. Tunnell passed away when she was a child, and she was reared by her step- father, John Hoge, a prominent attorney of Kearney, where she completed her education in the high school. Mr. and Mrs. Welch are the parents of three sons: Frank S., born in 1906; John Hoge, born in 1908; and Robin Adair, born in 1911. A daughter, Iris, died when three years old. Mrs. Welch is a mem- ber of the Baptist church.

GOTTLOB HISER. - When he first came to Custer county, in 1886, Mr. Hiser had near-

Mr. Hiser was born in Würtemberg, Ger- many, February 5, 1847, a son of John and Dorothy (Stark) Hiser. His parents were natives of Germany and were small agricul- tural people, the mother dying on the home place in her native land, and the father sub- sequently, in 1849, coming to the United States. In addition to Gottlob, there were five other children in the family, and all became com- municants of the Lutheran church. Gottlob Hiser was an infant when his mother died and was but two years of age when his father left Germany for America, so that he was reared virtually as an orphan. However, he was well trained in his youth, being the re- cipient of a fairly good common-school edu- cation and early assimilating the lessons of industry and honesty. In 1867, when he was twenty years of age, he immigrated to the United States, a fellow-passenger on ship- board being Christina Reif, who later became his wife. Mr. Hiser made his way to Hunt- ington county, Indiana, where he secured employment as a farm laborer, by the year, and, being sober, industrious, and capable, he had no trouble in getting a man's wages and in holding his position. After he had worked three years for the same employer, he started on a more independent career, and for a long time rented and leased land in Indiana. This did not prove satisfactory, and in 1885 he took the step which he had long contemplated, that of coming to Nebraska. For one year after his arrival, while he was familiarizing him- self with conditions, he rented a property, but in 1886 he came to Custer county and homesteaded a property of forty acres. He paid out on this original home, and then bought 160 acres of rough land, without im- provements, and put it under cultivation in addition to erecting buildings and installing equipment that made it a valuable and pro- ductive farm. His structures now include a pleasant and comfortable home, which he built himself, and which is furnished with the latest conveniences. During his career as an agriculturist Mr. Hiser has raised consider-

HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

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MR. AND MRS. GOTTLOB HISER

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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

able live stock, and at present he feeds all his corn. AAs one of the self-made men of this county he is worthy of and receives the re- spect and esteem of his fellow citizens. In politics he is a Republican, and he has served as a member of the county board of super- visors, a capacity in which he displayed ability and a conscientious effort to assist his com- munity in a practical way.

Mr. Hiser was united in marriage February 8, 1868, to Miss Christina Reif, who was born in Germany and came to America at the same time as her husband and settled in Hunting- ton county, Indiana, where their marriage took place soon afterward. To this union there were born six children : Mary is the wife of Joe U'lrey, a farmer of Indiana; Elias is a ranchman in Wyoming; Nona is the wife of John Myers, a cement manufacturer at Davenport, Iowa; Sarah is the wife of Charles Grant, on a Wyoming ranch; Minnie is the wife of Herman Holm, a farmer of Custer county ; and Edward resides with his parents.

W. E. OWEN, whose successful operations as a general farmer and stockraiser on a very large body of land, make him prominent and important in the agricultural affairs of Custer county, resides in a comfortable and attrac- tive residence situated four miles southeast of Broken Bow. He was born in Grant county, Wisconsin, March 23, 1858. His parents were Henry Clay and Elizabeth (Martin) Owen, the former of whom was born in Michigan and the latter in Ohio.

On both sides of the family the grandpar- ents settled in Wisconsin when their children were young and there the latter grew to ma- ture years and were married. Henry Clay Owen was a farmer in Wisconsin when he enlisted for service in the Civil war, enter- ing the Thirty-third Wisconsin Volunteer In- fantry, but he did not long survive, dying in 1862, from disease brought on by the hard- ships of army life. He was survived by his widow and the following children: W. E .; Mary, who became the wife of Charles Ham- lin, an old settler of Custer county and now a resident of Texas ; and J. A. Owen, who car- ries on a teaming business at Broken Bow. Henry Clay Owen was a member of the Church of God. In political opinion he was a Republican. His widow married again and continued to live in Wisconsin.

W. E. Owen had comparatively few educa- tional advantages in boyhood, attending the district schools for a short time only, but by the time he was twenty-one years of age had become competent as a farmer and during the

succeeding eight years followed farming in Iowa. In 1886 he came to Custer county, Ne- braska, took up a pre-emption, and after prov- ing up on his claim continued to acquire land and at the present time has 2.773 acres of fine land, which he devotes to his agricultural in- dustries. He has been able to make farming and stock-raising in Custer county very profit- able.

In Iowa, in May, 1879, Mr. Owen was mar- ried to Samantha Snyder, who was born in Virginia and was brought to Iowa when a child. Her father, Allen Snyder, served three years in the Civil war. She died April 6, 1903, without issue. Mr. Owen was mar- ried May 4, 1905, to Minnie Hayes, a native of Missouri, and they have two children : Claris, born January 29, 1906, and Iva, born September 21, 1912. Mr. Owen is a member of the Church of God.

NICHOLAS JACQUOT. - In the years that have passed, many of the honored citizens of Custer county have gone to their reward. The impress of their lives and the evidences of their labors are found on every hand. The subject of this memoir was one whose record, as a citizen of genuine worth, should have a place in the annals of Custer county.

Nicholas Jacquot was born in the village of Tonnonville, France, December 11, 1844. In his native land he was reared to the age of nineteen years, and he then ran away from home and sailed for the United States. Three months later he enlisted in the Union army, and he served until the close of the Civil war, receiving an honorable discharge. At Wesley, Illinois, where he had charge of a hotel, he married Josephine Mitchell, and in 1867 they moved to Livingston county, that state. On the 10th of March, 1880, his wife died, and June 12, 1882, he married Margaret Kcarn. In the month of January, 1883, he came to Custer county and secured a homestead in section 33, township 18, range 22. His first home was in a sod house, in which the family lived three years, with only a dirt floor. Mr. Jacquot had been in Nebraska some time be- fore coming here to make his home, and had purchased land in Valley county. He was en- gaged in farming in Livingston county, Illi- nois, and, not being the owner of the land, was paying crop rental. To see those big crops of corn and other grain gathered after so much hard work all summer, and then give the landlord two-fifths of all he raised, made him feel that he might do better in Nebraska, where he could own his own land. To his

HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

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MR. AND MRS. NICHOLAS JACQUOT

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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

wife and family he pictured Nebraska in any- thing but glowing colors, but they decided to try it. They endured all the hardships and privations incident to the period of develop- ment in Custer county and contributed their full share in the work of progress. Among other hardships, no greater one had to be encountered than that of securing water for stock as well as for family use. A large lagoon on the land he took as a homestead furnished the water not only for his own family but also for other early settlers, who would come for miles with barrels and haul away the pre- cious water. But in the month of June Mr. Jacquot dug a well, and for several years he engaged quite profitably in boring wells for other settlers. He engaged in farming, and for years bought and shipped stock, an enter- prise that added to his yearly income. He later engaged in the grain business, at Merna, where he operated an elevator, as did he also one at Ravenna, and later he bought one at Anselmo. His son Frank later entered into partnership with him, and this continued till failing health compelled the subject of this review to give up all business cares. He and his wife spent two years in California, think- ing to benefit his health, but he continued to grow worse, and at Rochester, Minnesota, on the 23d of June, 1911, the end came.

In the passing of this pioneer, Custer county lost a good business man and worthy citizen, and his family a loving husband and father. Nicholas Jacquot was a successful man in all his varied business ventures and left his fan- ily a valuable estate. Herewith is given a record of the children: Of the first marriage six children were born - John, a resident of Colorado; Frank, of Merna, Custer county ; Mary, the wife of George Milligan, of Ansel- mo, this county; Jennie, who died in Illinois at the age of ten years ; Kate, the wife of Ellis W. Given, of Custer county; and Lizzie, the wife of John Leonard, of this county. Of the second marriage there were five children - Edna May, wife of Archie Bolen, of Custer county ; George, residing on the old farm; Eva, the deceased wife of Charles Luce; Nicholas, of Merna ; and Jennic. deceased. By a former marriage Mrs. Jacquot had three children - Elizabeth, widow of B. F. Ed- wards, of Anselmo, this county; Josephine, wife of E. J. Foley, of Anselmo; and Joseph, a farmer of Custer county.

The data for this record of Nicholas Jacquot and his family were furnished by his widow, who now makes her home in Merna. She came to Custer county with her husband thirty- five years ago, shared in all those years of toil

and hardship, and recites an interesting story of pioneer days in Custer county. It was on Decoration Day, 1891, she and her husband were driving to Anselmo, and in passing fields of grain on which he had loaned money he would point them out and remark that he would lose so much on this field and so much on that if they did not get rain. His wife tried to be cheerful and told him that rain would come, and, sure enough, that day a small cloud appeared in the sky and before night the coun- try was drenched with a good rain. They had their good times and hard times, but, withal, they lived to see the county develop into a prosperous one and the members of their family all become useful members of society.

Nicholas Jacquot was a Catholic in religious faith and in politics was a Democrat, though he never aspired to nor held public office. He helped organize and served as president of the Home Bank of Merna. He was a successful man in all he undertook and will long be re- membered as a substantial pioneer of Custer county.

WALTER W. WATERS. - In his de- velopment from a country school teacher to the proprietorship of a flourishing business enterprise and the mayoralty of a thriving and growing city, Walter W. Waters, of Broken Bow, has displayed the possession of perseverance, industry and real ability, and of personal qualities that attract and hold gen- eral confidence, whether in business or public life. He was born in Clark county, Missouri, April 19, 1873, a son of George O. and Elvira (Story) Waters, but has been a resident of Custer county since 1879.

George O. Waters, who was a native of Ohio, went to Missouri about the year 1865, and was there married, his wife being a na- tive of that state. They resided in Missouri, on a farm in Clark county, until 1879 when they removed to Custer county and Mr. Wat- ers almost immediately became an active fac- tor in the public life of the community. He was a member of the first board of county supervisors, was deputy clerk of the county court and at one time was elected county re- corder, but found the population of the county was not large enough and declined the office. Mr. and Mrs. Waters, of whom further data will be found in the sketch of R. E. Waters, elsewhere in this work, are now residents of California. They are members of the Meth- odist Episcopal church, and Mr. Waters is a Republican.

Walter W. Waters attended the graded and high schools of Broken Bow, graduating from

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the latter in 1894, and then furthered his edu- cation by attenadnce at Peru Normal school, where he completed his course in 1898. He immediately entered upon his career as an educator, an experience which extended over a period of twelve years, during which time he first taught in the rural districts, later was principal of schools at Shelton and elsewhere, and finally became superintendent of schools at Saint Paul, Nebraska. When he gave up teaching as a vocation, in 1909, it was to enter commercial affairs at Broken Bow, where, in partnership with C. S. Tooley, he embarked in a hardware business. After two years the partnership was dissolved and Mr. Waters en- gaged in the implement business on his own account at Broken Bow, an enterprise which he has since built up to large proportions. He carries a full and up-to-date line of tools and farming implements and machinery, and has had the satisfaction of seeing his trade grow in commensurate value with the efforts he has exercised and with the fairness of policy that he has used in the conduct of his trans- actions. Mr. Waters not only bears an ex- cellent reputation in business circles but is one of foremost men in Broken Bow's civic and public life. When the people of this community came to the conclusion that they needed a chief executive who possessed busi- ness ability and at the same time the qualities necessary for leadership, Mr. Waters' name at once suggested itself, and he duly became the Republican candidate and was elected mayor. So satisfactory was his first term that he was re-elected by the largest majority ever given a candidate for this position. His administration of affairs has been character- ized by constructive work and civic advance- ment.

Mr. Waters was married in 1895, to Miss Stella Brown, who was born in Illinois, and to this union there have been born three chil- dren: Helen, a graduate of Broken Bow High School, class of 1917, the same high school that her mother graduated from; Car- roll, a pupil in eighth grade; and Emily, a fifth grade pupil. Mr. and Mrs. Waters and their children are consistent attendants of the Christian church.

FRANK HEAPS, who is one of the suc -. cessful agriculturists of the community of Broken Bow, is another representative of the farming industry who has won success in his native state. Mr. Heaps was born on a farm in Hamilton county, August 15, 1884, and is a son of Charles G. Heaps.

The paternal grandparents of Mr. Heaps,

Golden and Elizabeth (Woodruff) Heaps, were natives of England, the former born at London and the latter at Liverpool. They had nine children, of whom three still sur- vive: Mary, who is the widow of Thomas W. Palmer, a farmer; Elizabeth, the wife of Frank Groll, formerly a farmer but for the past two years a retired resident of Evans- ville, Indiana; and Charles G. Charles G. Heaps was born in Gibson county, Indiana, September 6, 1859, and received a public school education at Princeton, that state. Reared as a farmer, he adopted that profes- sion upon the attainment of his majority. shortly after which he came to Nebraska and bought eighty acres of land in Hamilton county. This he cultivated for several years, when he sold out and in 1884 came to Custer county, where he homesteaded a tract and where he has resided ever since. He is a practical and progressive agriculturist who has made a success of his affairs, because of his good judgment and persevering industry, and his standing in his community is that of a good citizen and a man of the highest integ- rity and strictest probity of character. He was reared in the faith of the Baptist church and has continued to follow its teachings. Politically he is a Democrat. He and Mrs. Heaps have had eight children, all of whom are living: J. O., who married Zoe Bishop and is engaged in farming at Lillian, Ne- braska; Ada, the wife of David Dewey, a farmer; Frank, a widower, who is engaged in farming in Custer county ; Earl, a farmer of this community, who married Velma Smith ; Maggie, the wife of Hugh Campbell, a farmer of Weissert ; Leone, the wife of Clar- ence Brown, a farmer ; and Charles and Rex, who reside with their parents.

Frank Heaps received his education in the common schools of Custer county, and when he completed his studies embarked in farm- ing, which has been his vocation to the pres- ent time. He has applied modern methods to his operations, with the result that he has made a success of his work, and gradually has become known as one of the more progres- sive members of the younger farming ele- ment. Mr. Heaps is a Democrat, but has ap- plied himself so closely to his agricultural la- bors that he has had little time for outside in- terests. He is not affiliated with any religious body or organization.

Mr. Heaps was married to Miss Catherine Barnesberger, who is now deceased, and they became the parents of three children: Ro- sella, born September 28, 1912; Virginia, born March 28, 1914; and Edwin, born January 4, 1916.

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MR. AND MRS. PHILIP JOHNSON

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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

FOSTER JACKSON, who since his ar- rival in Broken Bow, in 1910, has been in- creasingly successful in his business opera- tions, has gradually developed into one of the leaders of his community's dealers in houses and general real estate. He was born on a farm in Van Wert county, Ohio, August 27, 1878, and is a son of Simeon A. and Rebecca (Hayes) Jackson.

Simeon A. Jackson was born in Pennsyl- vania, and as a young man went to Ohio, where he was residing at the outbreak of the Civil war. He was one of the first to answer the call for volunteers, joining one of the first Ohio infantry regiments, and during his four years of service took part in many important engagements, including Lookout Mountain. In that battle he was severely wounded and confined to the hospital for a time, but upon his recovery rejoined his regiment and fought until peace was declared. Returning then to Ohio, he resumed his farming operations in Van Wert county, where he passed the rest of his life and where his widow still survives. They became the parents of seven children, of whom the following survive: Willis, a con- tractor of Columbus, O .; Minnie, who married Frank Richards, engaged in the implement business at St. Paul, Minnesota ; Oscar, who is a contractor and builder of Van Wert, Ohio ; Elias, a contractor of Lima, Ohio ; Otis, engaged in leasing oil lands at St. Louis, Mis- souri ; and Foster, the only one in Nebraska. The father of these children was a Republi- can in his political faith, but was never an office seeker. His wife, who was born in Mercer county, Ohio, is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.

The education of Foster Jackson was se- cured in the public schools of Mendon, Ohio, near which town the old homestead was lo- cated, and as a youth he was thoroughly trained in the various departments of agricul- ture. Thus equipped, in young manhood he went to Idaho, in which state he secured em- ployment as foreman of a ranch, a position which he retained for two years. Mr. Foster came to Broken Bow February 27, 1910, and established himself in business in the line of moving houses. This gradually led him into buying and selling houses, and he was quick to recognize the opportunities offered in the real estate field here, so that he has developed into one of the pushing and energetic men in the field of handling realty and is now carry- ing on a large business which has assumed important proportions. Mr. Foster has him- self contributed to the upbuilding of the com- munity by the erection of his own modern home, near the square, and several other resi- dences, and a specialty of his business is the

remodeling of houses. Mr. Jackson is inde- pendent in his political views, preferring to choose his own candidates rather than to vote blindly with any certain party. He has at- tached himself to several movements which have been promulgated for the betterment of Broken Bow's interests and has shown him- self in various ways a constructive and public- spirited citizen.

Mr. Jackson was married January 18, 1903, prior to leaving Ohio, to Miss Mande Dull, who was born in the Buckeye state, in 1882, a daughter of Delbert and Malissa Dull, both of whom were born in Ohio, where the father died and where Mrs. Dull still makes her home. Two children have come to this union : Ralph, born November 9, 1905; and Vaughn, born August 22, 1906.

PHILIP JOHNSON. - In the death of Philip Johnson, Custer county lost one of its highly respected pioneer citizens - one who had shared in the hardships and experiences of the early settlers and contributed in a large measure to the building up and development of the community in which he lived.

Philip Johnson was a native of Ohio, his birth having occurred April 23, 1842. In his native state he was reared and there he was united in marriage to Miss Wilhelmina Nolsch, who was born in Germany, February 19, 1843, and who came to the United States when she was ten years old. Mr. Johnson became a successful farmer and land owner in Ohio, where he carried on agricultural pursuits until 1886, when he came to Nebraska and secured a homestead in Custer county. His first home was a primitive sod house, and after proving up on the homestead he sold the property and bought land in township 18, range 22, and township 18, range 23. This farm he admir- ably improved, and he made it one of the val- table properties in Custer county. Here he resided until his tragic death called him from the scene of his earthly activities.

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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 161

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