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 83
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In 1894 Mr. Kramer married Cora Pearl, who has been a faithful co-helper in all his farming and stock-raising enterprises. In the Kramer family are seven children: Armand Kellogg is married and is a progressive young farmer in Custer county, the other children being Charles, Tillie, Leona, Margaret, Rose- mond, and Josephine, all of whom are at home, and those who are old enough are pur- suing a course of fundamental instruction in the district school. The children are full of energy and give much promise for future years.
When Mr. Kramer landed in Anselmo he had three cents in his pocket, but he had
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grit, energy, and determination, three things more valuable than money, and with these he backed his capital of three cents and filed on a homestead, northeast of Anselmo, in the hill country where the grass was good and cattle- raising an easy thing for the man who had the energy and ability to provide winter for- age. Accordingly he has succeeded. He now - owns his land, has fine improvements, and has a good start in stock of all kinds. His horses, cattle, and hogs grade well to the best blood, and, withal, he is a citizen who enjoys the re- spect and confidence of the community.
Mr. Kramer has entered fraternal circles and is a member of the Odd Fellows, the Mod- ern Woodmen, the Royal Neighbors. In these organizations he takes active part, hav- ing been clerk of the Woodmen lodge for the last twenty years. Both he and his wife be- long to the Milburn Christian church.
WILLIAM G. DAILY. - This story epit- omizes the record of eighty-five years. It pertains to one of the unique characters of Custer county - a man of years and of varied experiences ; a man who has tried the fortunes and opportunities of most of the states between New York and the Rocky Mountains ; a man whose name is well and favorably known throughout Custer county ; a man who, to- gether with his good wife, has reared a family of children, all of whom are splendid citizens, prominent in present-day affairs and reflecting credit not only upon their parents and the home from which they came, but also consti- tuting a valued asset to the community of which they are a part.
William Grant Daily was born in the state of New York. in 1833, and has traveled the road of many hills and deep waters during the eighty-five years that have succeeded that date. He himself constitutes the initial point from which this family record starts. His father's name and nativity are not given. Mr. Daily, the venerable citizen of Milburn, the vicinity in which the last twenty-six years of his life have been passed, was united in mar- riage, in 1862, to Phoebe Helen Howe, a re- fined and cultured lady who exemplified many of the excellent traits of her husband. She left this world in 1915, having rounded out full four-score years. In their family were six children: Alvin Daily is one of the promi- nent men of Custer county, well and favorably known throughout all the western and north- ern part of the county. He is one of the suc- cessful farmers in the Milburn region, and at present is manager of the farmers' co-opera- tive store in Anselmo. He and his wife, a
very intelligent lady, maintain a splendid home and are rated as leaders in every com- munity proposition. Leon is an lowa farmer at the present time. He was previously a resident of Custer county, and while here he contributed to the good reputation of the entire Daily family. Ellen Books lives on the home farm. Sarah Morgan is a farmer's wife and lives in Iowa. Marion Stephen is a prom- inent farmer and operates land adjoining his father's place. Extended notice of his life and farm operations are noted elsewhere in this volume. Rose Athey lives on a ranch in Brown county. All of these are men and women of affairs and are highly respected by all who know them.
Record concerning the operations of Mr. Daily during former years may be briefly noted at this juncture. At the age of twenty- one years he left New York and journeyed as far west as Illinois, where he stayed eight months, and he then returned to his native state. After three years he again faced the west, and he reached Iowa on this trip. In the fall of 1860 he again returned to New York, where he voted for Abraham Lincoln for president. He worked the home farm this time for two years. He traded Iowa land for New York land and lived on the latter for four years, after which he bought a rake and cradle factory, of which he was manager for another period of four years. During this time his residence was in Otsego county of the Empire state. After selling the factory he worked as a carpenter for two years ; and he then went again to Knox county, Illinois, where he worked two years at the car- penter's trade. He then went to Iowa, where he devoted the next sixteen years to farming. From there he went to Colorado, located near Sterling and went into the cattle business. It was from this place that he came to Custer county, Nebraska, twenty-six years ago. The shifting years of his life, his travels to and fro, found for him no better place than the Milburn district in Custer county, where he has his present home and where for years he has maintained an elegant country place. His sub-irrigated land was a great producer of alfalfa, which contributed to himself and wife a splendid support. By thrift and good management he accumulated three and one- half sections of land, which in part he has sold and in part divided among his children.
A strange nemesis of accidents entailing physical injury seems to have followed Mr. Daily. Notwithstanding he has weathered the storms and ills of eighty-five years, he has been the victim of many accidents, and it is almost a miracle that he has attained this ripe old
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age. He has catalogued his recurrent afflic- tions of this order, and the record reads some- what like this : He has had a broken leg. broken wrist, broken arm, shot in the arm, neck out of joint, one knuckle from left hand gone, was struck by lightning, had stroke of paralysis, lost the hearing of one ear, was bitten by a rattlesnake, and has been in many runaways. Yet none of these things launched in his direction the fatal shaft.
This venerable gentleman is a very amiable and upright citizen, is a member of the Methodist church, is an independent voter. and he prides himself on having cast his first vote for John C. Fremont, first presidential candidate of the Republican party.
PIU'S CHRISTEN. - One of the very substantial homes in the New Helena district. and one that is unusually well improved, be- longs to Pius Christen, who is one of the staunch farmers of the county and who came into the world in the empire of Austria, in 1861. He is a son of Pius and Mary ( Cer- ben) Christen to whom were born three sons - David Christen, a banker in Anselmo ; Frank a farmer residing in this county; and Pius, the subject of this sketch. The estim- able parents died some time since, the father at the age of eighty-one, and the mother at the age of eighty-two years.
Pius Christen, Jr., chose as his wife Miss Hattie Pole, who, like her husband, was born in Europe, and whose advent occurred in 1867. To this union four children were born: Theodore, who is a young Custer county farmer : Theodore P., who, at the time of this writing, is in the National army, at Camp Grant : Cenia Thomas, who lives on a farm in the vicinity of Dale church ; and Irene Duschek, who likewise lives on a farm in this county.
In coming from Austria to the United States Mr. Christen felt that here he could better his condition ; that here young men had oppor- tunity, and, notwithstanding the handicap of poverty, if they possessed genius and energy they could make a place for themselves in the world and accumulate a competence for them- selves and their families. He first settled in lowa, where he stayed eight years. Still feel- ing that the opportunities of a new country would be better for him, he came to Nebraska and located in Custer county. Since that time he has been an example of industry and thrift in the neighborhood where he is located. To- day his large holdings attest the financial suc- cess he has achieved. His farm consists of 1,300 acres. He has 100 head of cattle which
grade high to white Herefords. It would be hard to find a classier bunch of Duroc-Jersey hogs than are found in his yards. The horses are good. The implements are the latest and of the most approved pattern. Everything on the Christen farm is strictly first class and up-to-date.
The loyalty of Mr. Christen has never been questioned. He has been generous in his do- nation to war work and liberal in his purchase of government securities. He is proud of the fact that he has one son in the service of his adopted country. In the community he and his wife enjoy a reputation for honesty and integrity and moral uprightness that would be hard for any one to surpass. Both he and his wife are members of the Catholic church and are liberal supporters of the same. He be- longs to the Woodmen of the World. is inde- pendent in politics and is one of those men whom every candidate delights to ally among his forces. Pius Christen has made good in America and is an honor to both the state and county in which he claims citizenship.
CHARLES W. BEAL. - In the various activities to which men devote their energies. there are certain vocations which seem to go hand in hand, so that an individual may be found engaged in both at the same time. But it is only the ones who possess superior ability who can attain to success in three separate fields of endeavor, and it is for this reason that more than passing mention should be ex- tended to the accomplishments of Hon. Charles W. Beal, of Broken Bow, a leading member of the Custer county bar, a veteran newspaper man of brilliance and influence, and a leading figure in the political and public life of his section for many years.
Senator Beal was born April 25, 1860. in Audrian county, Missouri, and is a son of William H. and Jane ( Stout) Beal. His grand- father. Lewis W. Beal. was an early settler of Indiana and died in Missouri. William H. Beal was born in Switzerland county, Indiana. January 28, 1828, and was married at Vevay. that state. to Jane Stout, who was born at Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1838. In 1856, one year after their marriage, they migrated to Mis- souri, settling in Audrian county, where Mr. Beal paid the government twelve and one-half cents an acre for his homestead. He proved up on his property, passed many years in agri- cultural pursuits, and finally retired from act- ive labors. He died at Mexico, Missouri, Feb- ruary 12, 1917. his wife .having passed away at Laddonia. Missouri, February 3. 1903. They
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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA
CHARLES W. BEAL
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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA
were the parents of five sons, of whom two are living : John, who publishes the newspaper known as the Mexico Message, at Mexico, Missouri; and Charles W., who is the sub- ject of this sketch. William H. Beal was a member of the Free Will Baptist church and his wife a devout Methodist. Both took an active part in religious work. He belonged to the Masonic fraternity, in the work of which he always evinced a keen interest, and as a voter he supported the candidates of the Re- publican party. During the Civil war he was a strong Union man, and for a time was a member of the state militia.
The public schools of Missouri furnished Charles W. Beal with his early education, fol- lowing which he spent three years in Hillsdale College, at Hillsdale, Michigan. He then re- turned to his Missouri home, where he spent one year in teaching school, and March 31. 1886, he came to Custer county, Nebraska, and obtained a school, which he taught for three years. Newspaper work has always held out attractions for Mr. Beal. and at Broken Bow he found the opportunity to satisfy his inclinations in this direction. For nearly twenty years he was the editor and publisher of the Custer County Beacon, a journal of which he made a great success. In various ways he came prominently before the public. and in 1892 he was elected to the Nebraska state legislature, in which he served one term. Later he served a term in the state senate. starting in 1897. In the meantime he had be- come interested in the study of law, and he completed his course in the law school at Lincoln, from which he was duly graduated in 1899, being admitted to the bar the same vear. From that time to the present he has been engaged in practice, and he has built up a splendid practice and a reputation among his fellow-practitioners for ability. forensic skill. and deep knowledge of the principles of law and jurisprudence. After practicing at the bar for some time he was elected county at- torney, an office in which he made a splendid record. and in 1915 he was again sent to the state senate, to which he was re-elected in 1917. Hle has been one of the hardest-work- ing members of that honored body. and after taking an active part on the committee (of which he was chairman) which drafted the prohibition bill. he was made chairman of the legislation to enforce prohibition, this being in the senate's last terin. Likewise he was a mem- ber of the judiciary and constitutional com- mittees. Senator Beal is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he has passed through the chairs, and of the
Knights of Pythias, in which he is past chan- cellor. He has been interested in politics and active therein for thirty years, and has been a staunch and unwavering Democrat all this time. With his family, he belongs to the Christian church.
Senator Beal was married January 1, 1896, to Miss Kate Willis, who was born at Ottum- wa, lowa. a daughter of John and Caroline Willis, who came to Custer county in 1884 and homesteaded land, both passing away here. To this union there have been born two chil- dren: Anna Belle, who resides with her par- ents, is a graduate of the Broken Bow high school; and Franklin C. is attending school.
CHARLES S. TOOLEY. - Through the business ability, consideration and courtesy of its proprietor, the hardware establishment of Charles S. Tooley has become an important source of supply to the people of Broken Bow and the surrounding community, and has placed the owner among the substantial busi- ness men of the county seat. Mr. Tooley was born in Warrick county, Indiana, March 10. 1871, and is a son of W. W. and Lucy A. (Parker) Tooley.
The parents of Mr. Tooley were born in Kentucky, and were children at the time of the removal of their respective parents to In- diana. They met and were married in War- rick county, where W. W. Tooley was en- gaged in agricultural pursuits until 1885, that year marking his removal further west and his settlement in Custer county. Here he met with success in his farm enterprise and brought his property to a high state of de- velopment. Some time after the death of his wife he retired from active affairs and since then has been living quietly in Broken Bow. Mr. Tooley is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, to which his wife also be- longed. They were the parents of nine chil- dren, of whom seven survive. Politically a Democrat, he has wielded some influence in the ranks of his party in Custer county, and at various times has been chosen by his fel- low citizens to represent them in public po- sitions of responsibility and trust.
The early education of Charles S. Tooley was secured in the public schools of Warrick ยท county, Indiana, where he made his home until he was fourteen years of age, and after the family settled in Nebraska he was a student in the schools of Broken Bow. He began his career as a public-school teacher, and for four years was engaged in instructing the young in the rural districts, in addition to which he was for some time interested, as a proprietor,
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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA
in farming ventures. In 1909, however, he entered mercantile affairs, when he purchased a hardware store at Broken Bow, and since that time he has been adding to his patronage each year. He carries a full, modern stock of heavy and shelf hardware, stoves, etc., and the success which is his - and it is not incon- siderable - has been self - gained. His achievement is illustrative of the rewards ob- tainable through intelligently directed indus- try.
In 1897 Mr. Tooley married Miss Harriet S. Chrisman, a daughter of Joseph M. and Lucy B. ( Richardson) Chrisman, the former of whom was born in Virginia, in 1833, and the latter in 1840. Mrs. Tooley's parents were married in Virginia, lived many years in Missouri, and both died in Nebraska, the mother in 1890 and the father in 1913. In 1883 the Chrisman family came to Nebraska and homesteaded in Custer county. The parents were members of the Presbyterian church, to which Mrs. Tooley belongs. Mr. Tooley is a member of the Masonic blue lodge, in which he has passed the various official chairs and is now master, and in his chapter of royal-arch Masonry he has also passed the official chairs, besides which he is eminent commander of the Knights Templars. and is affiliated with Scottish Rite bodies of the time-honored fraternity and also with the Mystic Shrine. In politics he is a Democrat. He served four or five years as a member of the city council of Broken Bow, his conduct in that body showing his desire to discharge his important duties in an entirely conscien- tious manner. In various other ways he has shown his public spirit, and at this writing he is one of the active and valued members of the Public Service Club.
MARION S. DAILY. - Milburn is a region of substantial farmers. In the sub- irrigated region of Milburn, where they raise alfalfa and where live-stock operations are ex- tensive and profitable, there you will find the subject of this sketch and will soon learn that he is one of the men who have helped to make the reputation of the locality.
Mr. Daily was born in Louisa county, Iowa, in 1877, and is a son of William G. and Phoebe Helen (Howe) Daily, all of whose six chil- dren are splendid citizens and valuable ad- juncts to the communities in which their re- spective homes are located. Marion S. Daily received a liberal education and very early in life put into practice the principles of indus- try and economy which, as applied to agricul- tural pursuits, always insure success. He has
been a farmer practically all his life and in his chosen profession is rated "A No. 1."
The year 1901 recorded the marriage of Mr. Daily to Miss Gertrude Farley, a daughter of Robert Farley, who is an estimable pioneer and citizen of Custer county, and who is at the present time a member of the county board of supervisors. Into the home of Mr. and Mrs. Daily have come nine children, any one of whom is able to drive away the blues and pre- vent lonesomeness : Merle, seventeen years of age ( 1918), is attending school in Anselmo : and Marion, fifteen years; Verne, fourteen ; Walter, thirteen; Theodore, eleven; Seth, seven ; Irene, six ; Steven, two; and Alvin, two months, are all at home and are a fine family of bright, healthy children.
In the early days Mr. Daily proved up on a homestead, but this he sold, and he then purchased the farm he now owns and upon which he has his home. This ranch consists of 430 acres, of which 300 acres are under cultivation. The improvements are good, the equipments modern, the house lighted by elec- tricity, and everything arranged so that farm life is made exceedingly enjoyable. The live stock on the place is of best quality. The cattle run to roan Durhams of high degree. In the pork line, Mr. Daily fancies red hair and breeds splendid specimens of Duroc-Jer- seys. With his general farming and stock- raising he combines dairying, and milks, on an average, about fifteen cows the year round. This latter enterprise, owing to the splendid alfalfa on the Daily ranch, is a very profitable business, but it spells hard work and long hours - "good and plenty." But it insures the status of after years, and the man who gives faithful heed and tireless effort to such industries in his middle life will, in the years of his retirement, occupy a Fifth avenue home, ride in a family limousine and eat pie for breakfast.
The Dailys are succeeding. They belong to a family that have succeeded. They have the inborn characteristics of people who succeed, and accordingly they are entitled to rate among our first citizens.
Mr. Daily is independent in politics, but it can be said of him that he is a wide reader, well informed in all public affairs and casts always an intelligent vote. He and his wife are members of the Christian church. They are hospitable, generous and, withal, are courteous and obliging neighbors.
AMOS W. GANDY. - Among the resi- dents of Custer county who came here in the pioneer days and remained to assist in the
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development and progress that followed their coming, a place of honor must be accorded to the late Amos W. Gandy, who established a record for industry and good citizenship and whose death occurred at Broken Bow, on the 30th of July, 1899.
Mr. Gandy was born at Preston, near Cheat Mountain, Wayne county, West Virginia, on the 12th of January, 1837, at which time his native state was still a part of Virginia. He was a son of Samuel and Catherine ( Mathew) Gandy and his mother was of German des- cent. In 1851 Samuel Gandy removed with his family to Davis county, Iowa, where he became a pioneer farmer and where he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives. They became the parents of twelve children, namcly : Rollo, Amos W., William, Lemuel, Caroline, Ellis, Asher, Elizabeth, Jesse. James, Mary, and John. Samuel Gandy gave his political allegiance to the Republican party. was affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and he and his wife were earn- est members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Amos W. Gandy was fourteen years of age at the time of the family removal to Iowa, where he was accorded the advantages of the pioneer schools and where he earned his first wages by splitting hickory sticks for mak- ing the bottoms of splint-bottom chairs. For this service he received two and one-half cents for each bottom -or about thirty-five cents a day. The principal work of his boyhood and youth, however, was that connected withi his father's farm, and when he attained to maturity he chose farming as his vocation. At Troy, Davis county, Iowa, on the 21st of July, 1859, Mr. Gandy wedded Miss Mary E. Phelps, a daughter of Harrison O. and Eliza (Dodds) Phelps, and a granddaughter of William Phelps. Of a family of eleven chil- dren she is the younger of the two now living. the elder being Alfred H., who is a farmer by vocation and who married Mary Hall. daugh- ter of George and Nancy (Gandy) Hall, the children of this union being three in number.
Mr. and Mrs. Gandy were living on their Iowa farm when the Civil war broke out, and five of the sons of Samuel Gandy tendered their services in defense of the Union, all be- ing accepted. Amos W., the subject of this memoir, enlisted in the Third Iowa Cavalry. with which gallant command he served until the close of the war and with which he made a splendid record for valiant and faithful service. He participated in the Wilson raid, which started from Gravelly Springs ; he went with his regiment to Jackson. Mississippi, and he fought at Columbus and Baton Rouge, be-
sides taking part in many skirmishes and other minor engagements. He was finally mustered out of the service, at Louisville, Ken- tucky, and duly received his honorable dis- charge. In connection with the Civil war few of the pioneer families of Custer county can boast of a record equal to that of Mrs. Amos WV. Gandy. In the service of the Union dur- ing this climacteric conflict were her father, her husband, three uncles and nine cousins. Among these William Vermilliar was a cap- tain in the Thirty-third Iowa Infantry ; Burr Vermilliar held the rank of lieutenant ; her uncle. DeWitt Thomas, was colonel of the Ninety-third Indiana Infantry ; and Charles Thomas, a cousin, was taken prisoner at Look- out Mountain, after which he was held by the enemy about one and one-half years, having been confined in Andersonville, Belle Isle, Libby, and Macon prisons. After the war one of the soldier cousins of Mrs. Gandy's served as United States marshal in Iowa, and he resigned at the time when Grover Cleveland was elected president.
At the close of the Civil war Amos W. Gandy returned to Iowa, where he continued his active association with agricultural pur- suits until 1875, when he came to Nebraska and settled in York county. There he re- mained until the early '80s, when he came with his family to Custer county. Here he continued to be engaged in agricultural and stock-growing .enterprise with marked suc- cess, the while he was closely identified with the best civic activities of the community, in which connection he became well known for his impregnable integrity and the public spirit which he displayed in supporting movements for the general good of the community.
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