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 166

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 166


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Mr. Yohn was born on his father's home- stead in the vicinity of Mason City, Custer county, Nebraska, August 16. 1890, and is a son of John and Julia ( Wiland) Yohn, natives of Austria. His parents imunigrated to the United States in 1884, settling at once in Cus- ter county, where the father homesteaded a tract of eighty acres, in 1885, and where he con- tinued to be engaged in farm enterprises until


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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA


THE JAMES R. YOUNG FAMILY


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his death. John Yohn was born in Austria, September 27, 1827, and died November 19, 1914, aged eighty-seven years, one month, and twenty-three days. He was fairly successful in the business affairs of life, was independent in his political stand, and in religion was a member of the Catholic church, to which his widow, who survives him and makes her home with her son Robert. also belongs. They were the parents of six children, as follows: Annie, who married Fred Trampy, a farmer of Buf- falo county, Nebraska ; Bertha, who married Mack Scully, a farmer of Wyoming; Tillie, who married Herman Jones, a farmer of Buf- falo county, Nebraska; Robert, to whom this sketch is dedicated; Will, who enlisted in the United States service in August, 1918, and was stationed at Camp Dodge, Iowa, at the time this article was written; and Ernest, who is deceased.


The district schools of Custer county furn- ished Robert Yohn with his educational train- ing, and when he completed his studies he adopted farming as his life work. One year before the death of his father he bought eighty acres of land, and this he cultivates at present, in addition to the old homestead, the manage- ment of which he assumed when his father passed away, but which is still owned by his mother. Mr. Yohn still makes his home in the old sod house which was built by his fa- ther in the early days, but he has good farm equipment and numerous improvements. He does general farming, and makes a specialty of raising red Duroc hogs, of which he has 126 at this writing. As a citizen and a business man, his record is beyond reproach.


CHARLES L. HORN. - Elsewhere in this volume is recorded the life history of U. S. Horn, a native of Nemaha county. We now record the life sketch of his brother, Charles L. Horn, who was born in Nemaha county, this state, May 10, 1864. For record concerning his parents reference may be made to the sketch of U. S. Horn.


The early years of Charles L. Horn were spent in Nemaha county, where he improved the opportunities of farm and outdoor life and laid the foundation for the successful career into which he has now developed as a farmer and stock-raiser. It was here that he received his education in the common schools and laid the foundations of manhood and busi- ness acumen, both of which are part of his valuable assets at the present time. When twenty-three years of age Mr. Horn thought it time to take unto himself a helpmeet and


settle down for a home-making career. Ac- cordingly he married, December 22, 1887, a Nemaha county young lady, Maud Faukner, who comes of splendid lineage, and who, like himself, is a native of Nemaha county, where she had like social and school advantages.


To the union of Charles L. Horn and Maud (Faukner) Horn seven children were born: Stella is the wife of Troy Jewell, a young Cus- ter county farmer ; Charles, Jr., married Nel- lie Kellogg and is operating a farm for him- self in the good old county of Custer ; Ralph is another young Custer county farmer who is married and doing well, his wife's maiden name having been Minnie Kellogg; the fourth child, a daughter named Helen, is deceased ; Alice is pursuing her studies in the Nebraska State Normal School at Kearney; and Louis and Hazel are at home.


The Horns were successful farmers and stockmen in the eastern part of the state be- fore coming to Custer ; accordingly, they came here in a position to secure good land and commence farming under the best possible conditions. Mr. and Mrs. Charles L. Horn came to Custer county in 1904, and settled on the place which is now their home. Their holdings to-day comprise 1,050 acres of splendid land, well improved and in a high state of cultivation, and, with its equipments, theirs is one of the best farms in the entire county.


Mr. Horn delights in farming and in the matter of stock-raising he seems to be "to the manner born." He takes an active interest in both social and public affairs, has been gen- erous in his contributions to different phases of war drives and, withal, manifested a pa- triotic and commendable attitude in the na- tional crisis incidental to the great world war. He is prominent in the local lodge of the In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows.


JAMES R. YOUNG. - Here is presented the name of a very substantial farmer who lives in the Gates community, who since the early pioneer days has been a resident on the land he now occupies, and who has been one of the constructive factors in the com- munity. Mr. Young is a native of the Hoosier state. He was born September 8, 1837, and is now past the four-score line. He is a son of James and Minerva (Evans) Young, the for- mer a native of Pennsylvania, and the latter of Kentucky. The father was a farmer of lifelong occupation. His last years were spent in Illinois. He was a member of the Demo- cratic party and the family affiliated with the Universalist church. In the family of James


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Young there were twelve children, only five of whom are now living.


James R. Young is the only one of the fam- ily living in Custer county. He stayed at home until he married. This was in March, 1868, in Harrison county, Indiana, where he wedded Miss Mary Miller, a daughter of Peter L. and Lydia (Dutrow) Miller. The Millers were pioneers of Indiana and were a very prominent family.


James R. Young received a liberal educa- tion in the Indiana schools, and by occupation he has been a farmer all his life. He came to Custer county in the fall of 1882 and made a fine selection of land in the region of the Middle Loup. Here he entered both a home- stead and a tree claim, and he still lives on the tree claim, while the homestead lies just across the road. To-day his possessions are 800 acres, well improved and well stocked. Speaking reminiscently, he says that he had but very little when he made his start in this county and that all he has to-day was made by work and hard knocks. He likes the free and easy west, and believes that these are happy and prosperous times that the present generation is not prepared to fully appreciate. He was reared in. the place where Morgan, the Con- federate raider, crossed the Ohio river during the Civil war and he saw part of the fighting - could see the explosion of shells as they were hurled through the air by the great guns. He is very familiar with the happenings of the war days, having lived in the vicinity of some of the great battle fields.


Mr. Young and his good wife have always maintained a hospitable home, and they are the parents of five children : William E. mar- ried Nellie Howe and lives near Gates; Amos W. married Hattie Vose and lives in Wiscon- sin ; Charles P. married Ruby Wallace and lives near Gates; George E. and James A. are twins: the former married Flora Ford and lives near Gates, and the latter married Lydia Hatcher and lives on the old homestead. Mr. and Mrs. Young also reared a girl by the name of Nettie Fessenden, who came into their home at the age of six years and remained with them until she was married to Fred Sims, who lives in Colorado.


Mr. Young is a Democrat in politics and has been a member and trustee of the Metho- dist church at Gates ever since it was organ- ized. The name of Young is widely known throughout all the Middle Loup vicinity and is highly respected. and James R. Young and his wife have a host of friends who wish then every comfort and happiness during their declining years.


JACOB WORACEK. - One of the pio- neer families of Custer county that is still rep- resented here, bears the name of Woracek. Jacob Woracek the elder, came here with his two sons in 1883. They homesteaded, the elder son finishing the proving up, and the father continued on the homestead until his death, in 1918. The younger son, who bears his name, is Jacob Woracek, who is one of the county's substantial farmers and success- ful stockraisers.


Jacob Woracek was born August 10, 1872, at Green Bay, Wisconsin. His parents were Jacob and Anna (Scklesch) Woracek. They were born in Bohemia and when they came to the United States, in May, 1871, they sought a home in a section where other Bohemians had already settled, finding it in Brown county, Wisconsin. There the father bought forty acres of land and was making satisfac- tory progress when, the death of the mother, in 1875, caused a change in his plans. He disposed of his Wisconsin land and moved to Colfax county, Nebraska, and entered upon the life of a farmer there. He remained three years, when, discouraged on account of his consecutive loss of crops from chinch bugs, grasshoppers and rust, he came with his two sons to Custer county to begin over again, after some years of residence in Omaha, where his children had a chance to go to school. The Woraceks reached Custer county in 1883 and settled in section 2, town- ship 18, range 17. There were four children in the family and all survive, namely: Al- bert, who is a resident of Jamestown, North Dakota, married Fannie Penas ; Jacob ; Joseph, who is a farmer, lives at Comstock, Nebraska, married Kate Woracek ; and Anna, who is the wife of Frank Trvidek, a farmer living southwest of Comstock.


Jacob Woracek was eleven years old when he accompaned his father and brother to Cus- ter county and he lived at home until he was twenty years old. He never had many school advantages but was naturally quick to learn and picked up a fair education by paying close attention to instruction given him by those with whom he worked. When twenty years old he returned to Omaha and learned the butchering busines, but in 1901 he returned to Custer county, in order to engage in farm- ing and stock-raising for himself. At first he rented land but soon made purchases, and he now owns 480 acres, all well improved. He has had hardships, like a large majority of his neighbors, but has found that hard work and careful management have been helpful in overcoming them and now has reached a po- sition of financial independence. He makes a


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specialty of raising White Face cattle and has a fine herd at all times. According to his experience the Jersey Red breed is the best kind of hog to raise in Nebraska, and he sells a fine lot every year. He also has a good stock of horses, mainly Percherons. All his op- erations are carried on with care and good judgment and the results are proving highly satisfactory.


Mr. Woracek was married at Ord, Ne- braska, April 8, 1902, to Miss Mary Danskey, and they have the following children, all of whom live at home: Vaclav, Mary, Rosa, Edward, Adolph, Frank, Joseph, and Veron- ica. The children of the family have an un- usual pet that has been on the farm for the past four years, it being a wild deer. It is a beautiful creature and not only Mr. Wora- cek's family takes an interest in it, but the en- tire neighborhood is proud of it and there is no danger of any one in this part of the county ever disturbing it.


HARVEY E. LEACH. - Nebraska, and Custer county especially, was settled in the early days by men and women who came from Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana and Ohio and who sought here the opportunities that did not exist in the older states.


Harvey E. Leach belongs to the contingent that came from Indiana. In that state he was born November 28, 1861. He is the son of Abraham and Mary (McKnight) Leach, ex- cellent people of sturdy qualities, from whom their son inherited the traits of thrift and in- dustry upon which his present day accumula- tions are based. The father was a native of Canada and the mother a native of Scotland. The father was a carpenter and millwright by trade but followed that occupation only in the earlier years of his life. He is still living and makes his home with his son Harvey E. and a daughter living in Beatrice, Nebraska. The mother died in 1905. The parents came to Custer county in 1885, locating on a home- stead, in the vicinity of Clear creek, on which they lived until 1896. That has since been sold and the old gentleman has retired from active life. In the day of his activity he was a Democrat in politics, for many years was a member of the county central committee, and he served as justice of the peace and in other township offices for many years. This worthy couple were the parents of twelve children, seven of whom are living. A daugh- ter, Margaret Wilson, living at Ansley, and Harvey E. are the only ones living in this county. The others are, Hanford, deceased ; Harry, living at Blair, Nebraska ; Bert, living


in Joliet, Illinois ; Mary Alden, living at Bea- trice, Nebraska ; Hugh, living at Oakes, North Dakota; Wellington, living at Thedford, Ne- braska; and Eliza Dawson, deceased. Three others died in infancy.


Harvey Leach received the education of the common schools, inclined to farming as an occupation and has consequently been a tiller of the soil all the years of his life. Decem- ber 25, 1881, he married Sarah Gentry, a daughter of Andrew and Mary Gentry, early pioneers of the county, where they located in 1882, both being now deceased. Mrs. Leach became the mother of six children and her death occurred March 21, 1902. Mr. Leach contracted a second marriage, with Elizabeth Slater, daughter of James Slater, who is now a resident of Los Angeles, California. To this union five children have been born: Her- bert, Leland, Ruland, Willard, and Louise.


The Leaches maintain a splendid home and operate a farm of 1,120 acres, 300 acres of which are in cultivation and the rest in alfalfa and grass land. Mr. Leach deals extensively in stock of all kinds and keeps about 200 head of horses and cattle on the place the year round. He is independent in politics, is en- tirely without political aspirations, and never held public office. Socially he is a prominent member of the Masonic order. The entire community count the Leaches as popular citi- zens and good neighbors.


RAYMOND GEISER. - The young farm- er named above is thirty-five years of age and is engaged in active operations on a farm in the Arnold vicinity. He was born in 1883, in Creston, Iowa, and is a son of Jacob and Barbara (Miller) Geiser. The father is a native of Switzerland where he was born in 1849. The mother, however, is a native of New York, where she was born in 1851. They are still living and make their home in Sar- gent. The father, who worked at the carpen- ter trade for twelve years, came to America and landed in New York in 1869. From there he came west and located on an Iowa farm. He stayed on this farm twelve years, then fol- lowed again the star that leads westward, and came to Custer county. Near Sargent he bought 320 acres of land, on which a part of the town is situated. He sold this land, then bought 496 acres in the Arnold district, and practically put on all the improvements him- self, all of which are good and belong to the first order. He had but little money when he landed in the United States. As a boy he worked in the mills in Switzerland. He and his good wife are the parents of eight child-


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ren : Charles lives near Sargent ; Charlotte Sullivan lives in Idaho ; Georgia was next in order of birth; Ella Scriber lives in Burwell, Nebraska ; Wilbur, and Raymond are Custer county farmers ; Alma Amos lives in Dry valley ; Jesse is a Custer county farmer. The father affiliates with the Democratic party and has been a member of the school board in Sargent for six years.


For thirty-four years of his life Raymond Geiser has lived in Custer county, which re- veals the fact that he was only one year old when he came to the county. Accordingly it was here that he received his education and early training. Here he began his farming operations. His first work was in Sargent, near which place he lived when a boy. He was married on December 17, 1904, to Mar- garet Davis, of Blaine county, a daughter of George and Sarah Davis. Since their marriage they have maintained one of the commendable homes in the county and have become the parents of four children : Henry, is twelve years of age; Floyd, ten; George, eight, and Barbara, five. All of the children are at home, are attending school and are candidates for useful manhood and woman- hood. The Geiser farm consists of 280 acres, of which 220 are in cultivation. Good improvements, a fair grade of live stock and general indications of thrift are to be seen on the premises. Mr. Geiser has served as road overseer for four years, is treasurer of the school board and has been prominent in all local matters concerning war drives.


SEDONIA GRIEBEL is a woman of in- domitable spirit. She is of foreign extraction and has more than made good in America, the land of opportunity. She had a part in the pioneer days of Custer county development and with her husband gathered together enough of this world's goods to give to each of a large family of children a good eudcation and a fair start in life. Besides her land hold- ings Mrs. Griebel has a beautiful home in Sar- gent, where she has opportunity to spend her remaining years in comparative ease and luxury.


Mrs. Griebel was born July 4, 1851, in Ba- varia, Germany, and is a daughter of John and Rosalie (Neiterhemmer) Kieveline, both na- tives of Germany. The father came to the United States in 1853, when his daughter Se- (lonia was but two years of age. He worked in Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania, in the rolling mills and saved his money, with which he bought land at a low price, near the town. For this land he was afterward offered $1,000 an


acre, but refused to sell. He died several years ago. In his family were six children, all of whom are living, but the subject of this sketch is the only one in Custer county. The mother of Mrs. Griebel died before the father came to the United States. Mrs. Griebel's advent into this country did not occur until she was twenty-one years old. when she joined her father in Pennsylvania.


In 1847 Miss Sedonia Kieveline became the wife of Benedict Griebel and they continued their residence in Pennsylvania until the spring of 1875, when they came west and settled near Columbus. Nebraska, where Mr. Griebel farmed until 1880, when they came to Custer county and homesteaded near Walworth. They took a tree claim and a pre-emption, established a home, endured the trials and privations, worked, economized, saved, invested their earnings, raised stock, proved up on their land, bought more, and at the time of Mr. Griebel's death, September 28. 1902. they owned 1.600 acres. Since then Mrs. Griebel has divided nearly 1,000 acres of the land among the chil- dren. She still owns 640 acres.


Mr. and Mrs. Griebel became the parents of eleven children, ten of whom are still living: Minnie, who became the wife of A. P. Smith, is now deceased ; Frank married Jessie Young, and they reside near Walworth; Katherine is the wife of A. L. Luce and they live at Shelton, Colorado; Florendena lives at home : Magde- line, single, is living on a homestead in Wyo- ming ; Rosena is the wife of Ira Williams and is living north of Walworth; Lawrence mar- ried Pearl Dewey and is living on the home place, near Walworth; Benedict is unmarried and lives at Walworth; Jerome is in the na- tional army and at the time of this writing is located at Camp Funston : Leo is on the home płace : and Sedonia is a popular school teacher at West Union.


Mrs. Griebel and her husband drove over- land from Columbus to this county, and started with forty-two head of cattle and three hogs. Two of their cows were killed on the way, at Central City. The span of horses they drove through cost $400 and was an extra fine team -at that time considered the best span of horses in the county. On their way Mr. and Mrs. Griebel were offered many trades for the horses. When they came to this county there were four homes in Sargent, one of these was owned by Mr. Spacht, one by Mr. Austin, one by Mr. Savidge, and one by Mr. Perrin. The home of the Austins was a dugout, and Mrs. Griebel thought that it would be impossible to live in such a house, but she found out that her own home was to be similar. They moved into


HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA


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BENEDICT GRIEBEL


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a hunter's dugout, which had a willow roof, and the first night in this habitation Mr. Grie- bel had to be away looking after the cattle. There came up a violent rain storm and Mrs. Griebel stayed up the entire night, fearing what might happen.


In 1912 Mrs. Griebel sold the stock. closed up the affairs of the farm, and moved into Sar- gent, where she owns one of the most beauti- ful homes in the city. She is a faithful and devout member of the Catholic church.


MRS. FRANCES C. DWORAK, who suc- cessfully conducts a large mercantile business at Comstock, is not only recognized as con- petent in business affairs, but also as an ex- emplar of a long unrecognized force that is quietly but surely moulding public opinion. Mrs. Dworak, who is highly educated, was for a number of years a valued teacher in the pub- lic schools of Nebraska, and in many ways she has been connected with cultural activities that have worked for the betterment of the communities in which she has lived.


Frances C. Rybin was born at Anamosa, Jones county, Iowa, and is a daughter of John and Josephine (Sokol) Rybin, the former of whom was born in Bohemia, Austria-Hun- gary, and the latter in Jackson county, Iowa. Mrs. Dworak is the elder of the two children, and Josephine is the wife of Walter Williams, who is engaged in the plumbing business at Ames, Iowa.


John Rybin came from Bohemia to the United States about forty-five years ago, set- tling first in Iowa and later moving to Vallev county, Nebraska, where he and his wife still reside. Farming has been his vocation and he has prospered. In his political views he is a Republican.


Endowed with a quick understanding, even in childhood, Frances C. Rybin very early completed the common-school course in Jack- son county, Iowa, and after being creditably graduated in the high school she embraced school-teaching as a profession. As a teacher she became well known and highly appre- ciated in Valley county, Nebraska. In 1894 John F. Dworak went into a furniture and undertaking business at Genoa, Nance county, Nebraska. Prior to that, on April 11, 1891, he was united in marriage to Miss Frances C. Rydin, at Ord, Nebraska, and one son was born to them, Lamore, who was born April 13. 1905.


In 1904 Mr. and Mrs. Dworak returned from Genoa to Ord, Nebraska, where he be- came associated with his brother in a mer- cantile business and where Mrs. Dworak re-


sumed teaching. In 1905 they engaged in the general merchandise business at Comstock, with a small stock of reliable goods, and estab - lished a representative business house. This proved a very successful enterprise, both Mr. and Mrs. Dworak devoting themselves to its furtherance until the death of Mr. Dworak, which occurred in June, 1909. Since that time Mrs. Dworak has assumed all responsi- bility, and, with good judgment and thorough understanding of business principles, she has made her business a very important factor in the commercial life of Comstock. She occu- pies a store forty-eight by sixty feet in dimen- sion, well lighted with a Delco lighting sys- tem, and modern and up-to-date in its equip- ment.


In politics Mr. Dworak was a Democrat. He was a member of the Presbyterian church and Mrs. Dworak holds membership in the same religious body. Although Mrs. Dworak is very modest in speaking of her efforts in the business field, they are apparent enough to reflect great credit upon her.


CHARLES G. SANDERS is one of the wide-awake, progressive men of Custer county, where he is interested in several enterprises that help to make Anselmo one of the leading business centers of the county.


Mr. Sanders is a native of the south. He was born in Kosciusko, Atala county, Missis- sippi, March 6, 1869, and is a son of Zachariah and A. J. (Davis) Sanders, both natives of Mississippi, in which state they spent their entire lives, having passed away many years ago.


Our subject was thrown upon his own re- sources when quite young and was a boy of fourteen when he came to Nebraska and found employment on a farm near Nebraska City. Hc diligently applied himself to agricultural pursuits and in 1897 he came to Custer county. Here he engaged in the cattle business on the Middle Loup river. in partnership with J. H. Catron, a banker of Nebraska City, who had large land holdings in Custer county. Mr. Sanders made a success of the stock business and conducted a ranch for several years. For eight years he resided on a farm of 640 acres. which he still owns and which is eight miles south of Anselmo. There he carried on di- versified farming operations, but recently he took up his abode in Anselmo. Other enter- prises have profited by his good judgment. He is president of the Farmers' Mercantile Company, Inc., of AAnselmo, is president of the AAnselmo State Bank, and also manages the Custer county affairs of the Catron estate.




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