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 66

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 66

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domestic science. She also has a state teach- er's certificate in Nebraska. and during the 1917-18 term taught in the Union school. near Berwyn, Custer county. On the 18th of May. 1918. Miss Vera Mae Eddy became the wife of Sargeant William J. Lovelace, of Kentucky. who was at the time located at Camp Taylor, that state, in the service of the United States. Since the signing of the armistice Sergeant Lovelace has been transferred to Newport News, Virginia.

Mr. Eddy is a member of the Modern Wood- men of America, and is a prominent Democrat. Always a loyal and public-spirited citizen, he has given his aid to all progressive and patri- otic movements, and in connection with the world war he rendered his country excellent service as chairman of the exemption board at Broken Bow, and as a member of the executive committee of the Red Cross.

JOHN D. WIELAND, who is manager of the Dierks Lumber Company at Callaway, Ne- braska, is a man well and favorably known in Custer county, of which he has been a con- tinuous resident for thirty-three years. He has led an active business life during all that time, continually coming into contact with other stable and reliable men, and at the pres- ent time he is numbered with the county's best and most dependable citizens.

John D. Wieland was born at Salem. Columbiana county, Ohio, February 14, 1867. and is the only survivor of the six children of Daniel and Christiana (Koupp) Wieland. Daniel Wieland was a farmer, and in the spring of 1867, when his son John D. was three months old, he removed from Colum- biana county, Ohio, to Montgomery county, Iowa, where he carried on farming until his death, which occurred when John D. was about eighteen years old. The latter had com- pleted the common-school course and had also a business-school education. When thrown upon his own resources he came to Custer county and immediately secured employment with the Dierks Lumber Company. He worked for this company at Broken Bow for eight vears, in a responsible position, and then moved to Callaway and took charge of the Dierks interest at this place. Mr. Wieland has the distinction of being the oldest em- ploye of the company, having worked for it continuously for thirty-three years. It goes without saying that he is highly valued by the company's principals, who have found him not only thoroughly efficient, but also faithful and trustworthy.

Mr. Wieland was married, at Callaway,

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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

Nebraska, March 28, 1894, to Miss Elizabeth Thompson, a daughter of Robert and Esther (Hendry) Thompson. Mr. and Mrs. Wie- land have three sons and one daughter: Rob- ert D., who is a druggist and registered pharmacist, in business at Callaway, married Sophia Maller, a daughter of Albert Maller ; Verne O., who is a student of the Callaway high school, is employed in the lumber and coal office of the Dierks Lumber Company ; Lester D., who resides at home and still pur- sues his studies, is a clerk in his brother's drug store; and Lauretta, a bright little miss of ten years, is still in school. Mr. Wieland has never taken any active part in politics but has always been conscientious in the perform- ance of civic duties

PETER N. HENRY is an industrious and progressive farmer and highly respected citizen of Custer county, where he has pres- tige as a representative of an old and honored pioneer family. Further distinction is his in that he can claim Custer county as the place of his nativity.

Mr. Henry was born in the district known as Stop Table, west of Callaway, this county, and is a son of Josephus W. and Margaret ( Atwood) Henry, the former of whom was born at Edinburg, Johnson county, Indiana, in 1842, and the latter of whom likewise was a native of the old Hoosier state. In the early '80s Josephus W. Henry came with his fam- ily to Nebraska and numbered himself among the pioneer settlers of Custer county. He became a substantial farmer and valued citi- zen. was a Republican in politics, was affili- ated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and he and his wife were members of the Baptist church. Of their nine children six are living, - Samuel M., James W., Joseph F., Peter N., Mrs. Minnie Carr, and Mrs. Catherine Blixt.

Peter N. Henry remained with his parents until he had attained to his legal majority, and in the meanwhile he had assisted his father in the work of the pioneer farm and attended the country school during the winter terms. In chosing a vocation he wisely adopted that under whose influences he had been reared, and he has devoted his attention to the basic industries of agriculture and stock-raising, with an attendant success which demonstrates his energy and good judgment. Mr. Henry is the owner of 200 acres of excellent land, in the vicinity of Callaway, his well improved farm being situated nine miles south of that village, besides which he owns an attractive and comfortable residence at Callaway. In

an industrial way he gives his attention to di- versified agriculture and stock-raising, and while he has never been active in politics he gives his support to the Republican party, co- operates with his fellow citizens in the further- ance of measures advanced for the general welfare of the community, and is loyal to all civic duties and responsibilities.

At Broken Bow, on the 24th of November, 1908, Judge A. R. Humphrey solemnized the marriage of Mr. Henry to Miss Elizabeth Os- borne, a daughter of David M. and Mary E. (Gilbert) Osborne, who were born in In- diana and who now reside at Callaway, Cus- ter county, their other children being as here noted: Ollie, who is the wife of Joseph D. Haunstine; Alwilda, who is the wife of Arthur Ashley; and Scott, C. Wesley, Noah C., and Francis M., all of whom remain at the parental home. Mr. and Mrs. Henry have no children.

CHARLES E. REED. - One of the young men of sterling worth in Custer county, who was born, educated, reared and married here, is Charles E. Reed, who belongs to an early settled and highly respected family of the county. Charles E. Reed was born in Custer county, December 7, 1895, one of a family of nine children born to his parents, F. S. and Amy (Jacobson) Reed. The mother of Mr. Reed was born at Crete, Nebraska, and died in Custer county. January 14, 1918, aged fifty- three years and ten months. The father was born in Illinois and is an extensive agricul- turist in this county.

Charles E. Reed obtained his education in the public schools. Farming has been his chosen vocation and at the present time he is working with his father, in order to have an unusual harvest in the time of war stress, when loyal and patriotic men all over the land have been offering their lives on the field of battle, and when others, far away from the stage of conflict, have been making superhu- man efforts, in their occupations and activities, to help the cause for which the stupendous world war has been waged. At time of this writing Mr. Reed was placed in Class 4-A of the selective draft.

Mr. Reed was married February 26, 1917, at Broken Bow, Nebraska, to Miss Flossie Palmer, who was born in Custer county, she being a daughter of John B. and Mary A. (Kensell) Palmer and a granddaughter of Henry V. Kensell. The father of Mrs. Reed resides on his ranch, which is located seven miles southwest of Broken Bow. Mr. and Mrs. Palmer came to Custer county in 1884

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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

and settled eight miles southwest of Broken Bow, at a time when they had to freight all their supplies from Kearney, a distance of sixty-five miles. They had a family of four sons and two daughters, as follows: Edward F. Palmer is deceased ; Jasper I. is at home : Clarence E. is a member of Company E, Fourth Infantry, American expeditionary forces in France; Joseph E., who died from wounds received in the trenches in France, June 16, 1918, will have his name perpetuated as the first Custer county hero to give his life in the world war; Flossie is the wife of Charles E. Reed of this sketch ; and Ollie re- mains with her parents. In the season of 1918 Mr. Reed and his father have 250 acres in corn and 250 acres in small grain, and their prospects are very encouraging as to the abundance of the yield on both sections. Mr and Mrs. Reed have one child, Alice Lor- raine, born September 26, 1918.

THOMAS NORBURY .- Custer county has had many men of worth who have finally passed from the scene of life, and a notable one of these was the late Thomas Norbury, who for many years was president of the Seven Valleys Bank, at Callaway, this county. He was an unusual man in many ways, and during a part of his life was a traveler and a pioneer in different lands, his experiences giv- ing him a wide knowledge of men and af- fairs. He possessed literary ability that won him notice as a magazine writer, and he was also an astute business man and able financier. For more than a quarter of a century he lived in Custer county, and during that time, through his energy, encouragement, and cap- ital, some of the most stable business enter- prises here were organized and established on firm foundations.

Thomas Norbury was born at Knutsford. Cheshire, England, December 28, 1841, and died at Callaway, Custer county, Nebraska. July 25, 1915. He was the only child of John and Ann (Daniels) Norbury, His father was a master builder and as the youthi grew up, when not attending school, he learned the mason's trade under his father. In 1859 his father consented that he should make the voyage to Australia, hoping the sca air would restore the youth to health, which desirable result was realized. When Thomas Norbury reached Australia, with two companions he be- gan to prospect for gold, and they located a claim on which they were working when a telegram reached him that his beloved father was dying. Hastily disposing of his inter- , Norbury, the honored subject of this memoir : ests for almost nothing, the dutiful son has-

tened back to England, where he found his father on the road to recovery and, in fact, he lived many years afterward. In the mean - while the abandoned claim in Australia was later fully developed and became known as the famous Williams Creek mine, estimated to be worth millions of pounds.

Mr. Norbury remained in England until about 1860 and during those years wrote voluminously for the magazines. He then once more decided to try mining for gold, and in this quest he visited the mines in the vicin- ity of Caribou, British Columbia. He con- tinued to prospect for the precious metal for several years, and before feeling ready to set- tle down to a quiet business life he made two trips around the world. In answer to another call from his father, he then returned to England, and subsequently he went into the building business at Leigh, in Lancashire. He had a large business there, and in his own vards dressed the lumber for use in the houses he built for rent. He became a man of local prominence and served on the town board of Leigh. Mr. Norbury then crossed the ocean once more, and landed in the United States. In 1888 he came to Custer county, Nebraska, locating at Callaway in June of that year. He immediately became interested in the building up of this section and was one of the first to buy shares in the flouring mill and other enterprises which he helped to put on a paying basis. He was one of the leading or- ganizers of the Seven Valleys Bank of Calla- way and was its president for many years.

On the 20th of August, 1893, was solemn- ized the marriage of Mr. Norbury to Miss Agnes L. Tyson, at Cottonwood farm, near Callaway. Mrs. Norbury was born March 10. 1864, on Clarence street, Bolton, Lanca- shire, England. Her parents were William and Jane (Roberts) Tyson. On the paternal side her grandparents were Roger and Betty (Burkitt) Tyson, and on the maternal side her grandparents were Joseph and Mary ( Davis) Roberts. Her father was born on the border of Cumberland. in the north of England, and her mother was born October 3. 1827. at Nantlyn, county of Denbeigh, North Wales. Mr. Tyson was an upholsterer by trade. Flis children were as here noted: Ade- laide J., Birkett, and Barbara are deceased . Miss Catherine A. lives in England ; William, who is president of the Seven Valleys Bank at Callaway, is a Royal Highlander, a Repub- lican and a member of the Episcopal church. his wife, Annie, being a daughter of William Norbury: Agnes L. is the widow of Thomas Fannie, who is the wife of Edward Warbur-

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ton, a druggist in England, has one child, and they belong to the Congregational church ; and George, who is a member of the Church of England and of the Masonic fraternity, owns a cotton mill at Leigh, England.

To Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Norbury a son and daughter were born - Thomas W. and Fanny J. Thomas W. Norbury had four years of training in the Kearney Military Academy and then attended the Bradley Poly- tecnic School, at Peoria, Illinois. Thereafter he was bookkeeper in the Seven Valleys Bank, a position which he was filling when he en- listed for service in the world war, as bugler in Company B. One Hundred and Eighth Military Police. Thirty-third Division, Illinois infantry. At time of this writing he is "some- where in France." He is a member of the Episcopal church and is affiliated with the Royai Highlanders. Miss Fannie J. Norbury was graduated from the Callaway high school and afterward was for one year a student in the Nebraska State Normal School at Kear- ney. She resides with her mother at Calla- way and they are prominent in social life. Mrs. Norbury is a communicant of the Episcopal church and she holds membership in the Royal Highlanders and the Order of the Eastern Star.

JOHN H. RUSSELL. - In every commu- . nity will be found quiet, industrious business men following different vocations, without whom the ordinary industries of civilized life could not go on, and very often it will be found that these are self-made men, having, unaided, built up their own fortunes. In this connec- tion attention may be called to John H. Rus- sell, who is the leading stone mason at Calla- way, an experienced man in his line of work, and also a citizen who is held in esteem on account of his sterling character. John H. . Russell was born at Gates, in Custer county, Nebraska, December 25, 1882, and is a son of William H. and Elizabeth E. ( Bowman) Russell, the latter of whom was born in West Virginia, a daughter of Abraham Bowman. William H. Russell was born in Indiana but later in life became a farmer in Custer county. Nebraska. Of his two children, John H. is the elder, and Jennie A., who died at Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1903, was the wife of Trem N. Denman.

John H. Russell remained at home with his parents until he was twelve years old. attend- ing school and making himself useful to his father, and later on he was a student for one year in the Lincoln high school. He has taken care of himself ever since he left the

parental roof. He began as driver of a de- livery wagon for J. C. Bowen, and remembers how proud he was when he thereby earned his first suit of "store" clothes. In 1897 he applied himself to learning the mason's trade and afterward, for seven years, he was in the employ of William C. Dodson, a prominent general contractor at Lincoln. In 1904 Mr. Russell came back to Custer county. For six months he was connected with a hotel at Merna, but with that exception he has been in business as a stone mason continuously ever since. He has completed the stone work on many of the important buildings at Callaway and other places, and his reputation is that of a steady, reliable and competent workman.

Mr. Russell was married, at Broken Bow, Nebraska, June 3, 1905, to Mrs. Vinnie Bar- ker, who is a daughter of Jesse M. and In- diana (Carter) Ash, and she has brothers and sisters as follows: Mrs. Elva Wright, Mrs. Blanche Mooney, Alonzo, Ward, Harry, Her- bert, Boyd. George, and Corbett. By her for- mer marriage Mrs. Russell has one son, Richard Barker, and Mr. and Mrs. Russell have three daughters, Nina, Della, and Lulu, all of whom are attending school. Mr. Rus- sell has never been very active in politics but he has his own political preferences and keeps well informed on all the great issues of the present time, as well as showing lively inter- est in public affairs in his own nation, state. county, and community.

ROBERT E. GIVEN .- On the roll of Custer county's early settlers who have passed to their reward, mention should be made of Robert Elliot Given, who was born in Pember- ton county, Virginia, March 25, 1826. On the 4th of January. 1855, he was united in mar- riage to Rachel M. Jordan, a native of the same county as her husband, her birth having oc- curred June 13, 1831. They were farming age of eighty-seven years, a privilege which people and in 1870 they became residents of Whiteside county, Illinois. In 1879 they numbered themselves among the early settlers of Fillmore county, Nebraska. In 1884 they came to Custer county, where Robert E Given secured as a homestead the southwest quarter of section 28, township 18, range 21. where he became one of the early settlers of this part of the county. His first home was the primitive sod house, and he shared in the hardships and privations incident to those carly days. He later bought a quarter-section adjoining his original homestead on the west, where he and his wife passed the remainder of their days and where his death occurred

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April 3, 1899, his wife having preceded him to eternal rest. January 19th of the same year. A few days prior to his death he told his minis- ter that he had been a Christian for sixty years. He and his wife had been lifelong members of the Methodist Epicopal church.

Robert E. Given met with success in his farming operations, and at the time of his death he was the owner of three quarter-sec- tions of land. He and his wife had a family of nine children: William is a resident of Lincoln, Nebraska; Sampson is engaged in agricultural pursuits in Custer county ; Eliza- beth is the wife of J. S. Kennard, of Seward, Nebraska : Mansel, who died two years ago. lived in Chicago; Samuel is a resident of Whiteside county, Illinois; John died in in- fancy; Ellis W., who owns and operates the old home farm, is individually represented on other pages of this volume: E. S. is residing at Pueblo, Colorado : and Deborah is the wife of James Anderson, of Emporia, Kansas.

Pioneer conditions were still in evidence on every hand when Robert E. Given settled in Custer county, and he lived to see vast changes take place in the community he helped to develop.

MICHAEL Mc CARTY is one of the na- tive sons of Custer county, and was born on his father's homestead, in Dale valley, Sep- tember 28, 1888. a son of Robert D. McCarty, of whom extended mention is made else where in this volume.

Michael McCarty was reared on the farm and acquired his education in the public schools of his native township. As a boy he assisted in the development of the homestead and when a young man of twenty-one years he wisely chose the vocation with which he was familiar. He is now operating a farm of 160 acres, belonging to his father.

For a wife and companion Mr. McCarty chose Miss Irene Dale, a native of Custer county, and they are the parents of three children : Rachel, Laurence, and Leonard. Mr. and Mrs. McCarty are members of the Catholic church and are held in high esteem in the community with which the McCarty family have been identified for thirty-eight years.

CARL R. KRENZ. - Few men in Custer county have been residents here for a longer period than has the gentleman whose name in- troduces this record, thirty-eight years hav- ing come and gone since he cast in his lot with the pioneers of this county.

Carl Rudolph Krenz is a native of Prussia, Germany, where he was born November 27, 1831. He has no knowledge of his parents, both having passed away when he was quite young. He made his home' in his native land till he was twenty-two years of age and there he learned the trade of furrier. In 1853 he started for America, and after a trip of three weeks, from Liverpool, England, he landed at Brunswick, Nova Scotia, the voyage being made on a sailing vessel. He went to Boston, Massachuetts, where he found employment until 1859, when he became a resident of Dav- enport, Iowa, there working at his trade for sixteen years. His next place of residence was in Nebraska City, where he remained two years, after which he went still further west in Nebraska, and located at Grand Island.

Desiring to become a farmer and not possessing the necessary capital with which to purchase land, he came to Custer county in the fall of 1880 and took a homestead of 160 acres, in section 14, township 18, range 22. He also secured a tree claim, in another part of the township, but this he later traded for land adjoining his homestead. His first dwelling here was a dugout, in which the family lived two years. Then was erected a sod house in which the family home was main- tained till 1903, when the present commodious frame house was erected.

Those were strenuous times for the settlers, and the nardships and privations they endured can hardly be realized by the present genera- tion. One of the greatest drawbacks to the country was the question of water. It was a long way to the spring on Victoria creek and water was scooped from buffalo-wallows or lagoons till a well could he dug. The first well in Dale valley was dug by Mr. Krenz, in the spring of 1881, on the William Couhig homestead. The nearest market or trading posts were Kearney and Grand Island, and the trip to either of these towns required several days. Mr. Krenz, like other early settlers of Custer county, possessed those qualities which made it possible for him to meet and over- come obstacles, and, as the years passed, suc- cess crowned his efforts. Thus to-day he and other pioneers who remain are surrounded with the comforts and blessings which they justly deserve and which the present genera- tion ought to appreciate.

Mr. Krenz has been twice married. His first wife, Wilhelmina, he wedded in Germany. To them were born five children, two of whom are deceased, while those living are Mrs. Bertha Eberling, of Davenport, Iowa: Rob- ert, of the same place : and Julius, a resident of New Mexico.

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For his second wife Mr. Krenz chose Miss Catherine Katosky, a native of Germany, and she passed away in 1900. She was the mother of eight children: William, Joseph, and Charles are all residents of Custer county ; John resides in Grant county, Nebraska ; Al- mon resides on the old home farm; Anna is unmarried and resides in Iowa ; Emma is the wife of Fred Hargerden, of Alliance, Ne- braska : Catherine is the wife of Tom Murray and they reside at St. Paul, Minnesota.

Mr. Krenz's religious views coincide with the teachings of the Lutheran church, in the faith of which he was reared, and in politics he is Republican.

Almon Krenz, who now owns the old farm, was born February 3, 1881, in a sod house on the Thomas farm, where his parents lived for a time after they first came to the county. He has always made farming his occupation, and the scene of his operations has been the old homestead. For a wife and helpmeet he chose Miss Daisy Winther, and they have three children: Ray, Rena and Thelma.

Carl Rudolph Krenz has lived retired for ' several years and has reached the venerable comes to but few persons. He has been an eye-witness to the changes that have taken place in Custer county, and in the work. of transformation he has contributed his full share. It is only fair to such as he, as well as to their children and their children's chil- dren, that their life record be written and given a place in the history of the county in which they spent the best years of their lives.

WILLIAM E. MARTIN. - Down in the Roten valley, seventeen miles southwest of Callaway, in a splendid farming district, is the well equipped farm of the progressive citizen whose name introduces this sketch.

Mr. Martin was born near Hollister, Cali- fornia, and is a son of John and Clara ( Wil- kins) Martin, the former a native of Wiscon- sin, and the latter of Iowa. In the family of john Martin were three sons and one daughter. When William E. Martin was but four years old, his father died, and the mother left California, taking the children back to Iowa, where William was sent to live with his uncle, with whom he remained until he was thirteen years of age. He obtained his early education by attending country school in the winter time, and his boyhood work included catching gophers, picking up rock and cutting wood. After he was thirteen years of age he worked on a farm by the month, for which service he received three dollars per month.

After coming to Nebraska, Mr. Martin set-

tled in Nance county, and on the 12th of Sep- tember, 1899, in Fullerton, that county, he married Miss Nettie Bishop, a very excellent young lady who was well fitted to be the part- ner of his joys and sorrows. Mrs. Martin was born in Illinois, and is a daughter of John W. and Elizabeth (Gustine) Bishop, the for- mer a native of Shelby county, Indiana. In the Bishop family were five children - Mrs. Nettie Martin, Arthur E., Ella F., Mary L., and Fred E.

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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 66

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