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 84

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 84

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Amos W. and Mary E. ( Phelps) Gandy be- came the parents of nine children, and con- cerning the seven now living, the following brief record is given: Amanda E. is the wife of Lucian McCandless, who is a farmer near Broken Bow and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Wood- men of America; they have five children. Jessie is the wife of George Spurgeon, a farmer in the state of Montana, and they have three children, one of whom. Paul, is at the time of this writing a member of the United States Marines, stationed at Key Point. Bertha M. is the wife of William L. Graham, who was formerly a prosperous merchant of Broken Bow but who is now a resident of the state of Washington, their children being two in number. Mary A. is the widow of James Preston, who died at Somers, Montana, and who is survived by four children. Clara Bell is the wife of William Blackwell, a prominent

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banker at Bucklin, Kansas, and she has one daughter by a former marriage - Pauline Tay- lor. Frank O., who is engaged in the lumber business at Twin Falls, Idaho, married Ida Griswold and they have five children. Clin- ton E., who upheld the military honors of the family name by gallant service in the Philip- pine Islands at the time of the Spanish-Amer- ican war, is now the proprietor of an anto- mobile garage at Blackfoot, Idaho.

Practically all of the men connected with the Gandy family give allegiance to the Re- publican party, and without exception the members of the family belong to the Method- ist Episcopal church. Mrs. Mary E. Gandy survives her husband and resides in Broken Bow, where she is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church, in the work of which she is deeply interested and in the sup- port of which she makes liberal contributions. She has a wide acquaintanceship among the pioneers of Custer county and can relate many interesting reminiscences concerning the days when conditions here were still crude and pri- mitive and when settlements were practically in the initiative stage. Her original American ancestors, who came in an early day, were from England, and the Phelps family has given in each successive generation a valuable element of citizenship.

MALCOLM D. STONE, an experienced farmer and respected citizen of Custer county, is not a native of the section in which he is well and favorably known, but the greater part of his life has been spent here and he knows whereof he speaks when he calls Custer county a fine farming territory.

Malcolm D. Stone was born at Grand Haven, Michigan, May 31. 1873. the only child of Lafayette and Imogene (Van Brunt) Stone. His father, who was probably born in Canada, died in 1885, in Michigan, where he was engaged in practice as a veter- inary surgeon. The mother was born in Michigan and was a daughter of Leander Van Brunt. Mr. Stone does not remember very much about Michigan, as he was only four years old when the family moved to Ottawa, Illinois, but he remembers being on a big as- paragus farm near there when he was six years old. Later he earned a dollar by work- ing for a week cutting asparagus for market. When seven years old he was sent into a glass factory at Ottawa, where bottles and glass chimneys were manufactured, and he worked there until he was eleven and then accompan- ied his parents to Washington, Iowa. The death of his father made it necessary for him

to find a home for himself, and when four- teen years old he came to Custer county and was bound out to C. C. Biggerstaff, with whom he remained until he was twenty-one, in the meanwhile becoming a first-class, practical farmer. At present he is operating the farm of Mrs. Jennie Biggerstaff, which is situated north of Broken Bow.

Mr. Stone was married January 31, 1905, at Kearney, Nebraska to Miss Minnie A. Eagle, who is a daughter of Rev. Peter and Jane ( McCurdy) Eagle, the ancestry being Ger- man on the father's side and Irish on the mother's. Rev. Peter Eagle was educated in Germany and is a clergyman of the Methodist Episcopal church, a circuit rider. Mr. and Mrs. Stone have three children : Dorris I., Leo M., and Eleanor M. Mr. Stone votes independently but his father was a Republican in politics.

ELLIS HANSON. - In the life record of Mr. Hanson are clearly set forth the advan- tages that America holds out to young men who, with nothing save their own industry, integrity, and self-reliance, set forth to face the world, with determination to gain a liveli- hood and eventually to build a home.

Ellis Hanson is a scion of sterling English ancestry. He was born in Keighley, York- shire, England, on the 9th of June. 1859, and his parents, Jonas and Sarah E ( Scaife) Hanson, were born and reared in that same locality. Jonas Hanson, who was an iron molder, worked diligently at his trade and was compelled to practice strict frugality in order to make the desired provision for the support of his family and for the proper rearing of his children. Of the four children, Ellis, the immediate subject of this review, was the firstborn; Mary is deceased; Mrs. Emma ( Hanson) Thurman was the next in order of birth: and William is the youngest of the number. When Ellis Hanson was a youth of seventeen years his father brought the family to America and settled at Oelwein, Iowa, and at this point it may consistently be noted that eventually the father and son came to Custer couny, Nebraska, in 1883, and took a home- stead about three and one-half miles north- west of Oconto, the other members of the family coming to the new home in the follow- ing year. Thus this family is one that is en- titled to pioneer distinction in the annals of Custer county history.

While Ellis Hanson was growing up in his English home, the needs of the family re- quired that he contribute his quota to its sup- port. Accordingly, when he was but seven

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years of age, he began to work one-half of each day in a spinning factory, while for the other half-day he attended school. For one year he received only twenty-five cents a week for his services, and when he was thirteen years of age he was receiving the munificent sum of one dollar and twenty-five cents a week. It was at this age that he entered upon an apprenticeship to the trade of molder in an iron foundry that was one of the great in- clustrial establishments of England, his ap- prenticeship and service covering a period of five years, during which his wages ranged from two to three dollars a week. Mr. Han- son has appreciatively stated that at the time of his parents' marriage his father was work- ing as an apprentice and his mother was em- ployed in a factory, where she received wages of one dollar and seventy-five cents a week. Mr. Hanson thinks that young people of the present day would hardly chance the re- sponsibilities of matrimony on salaries of such diminutive proportions.

Ellis Hanson bore his full share of the bur- dens that fell upon the pioneers of Custer county, and here he has so ordered his affairs as to have attained large and worthy success. He and his wife have weathered the storms and endured the trials and hardships of the formative period in the county's history. They have emphatically "made good," and they now have a beautiful home, with all the ap- purtenances that make for comfort and well- being. They have 1,280 acres of land. and every cent of the purchase price of this ex- tensive landed estate was obtained as the re- sult of well directed agricultural and stock- raising enterprise in this county. Mr. and Mrs. Hanson are out of debt, and they have shown their patriotism and loyalty by invest- ing twelve thousand dollars in Liberty bonds and thrift stamps within the period of the great world war. They have been glad to lend their money to their country, and were ready. if occasion required, to send their sons to the firing line - and that without murmur or pro- test - in order that militarism and autocracy, as exemplified by Germany, might be over- come for all time.

On the 1st of November, 1886, at Lexing- ton, Custer county, was recorded the marriage of Ellis Hanson to Miss Ida J. Simmons, who was born at Bonaparte. Van Buren county, Iowa, a daughter of Michael and Mary E. (Dorsey) Simmons, both natives of Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Hanson have four fine children, in whom they have every reason to take pride. The eldest is Mrs. Cora Buckner. Harley E., the elder son, was in the last selective draft and prior to the close of the war had been

called into the nation's service. At the time when he was thus called to the colors he had $1,000 in cash, and he invested the full amount in war-savings stamps. In addition to this he has purchased and paid for the old homestead of his paternal grandfather, this land adjoin- ing that of his father. The younger daughter is Mrs. Annie L. Savage. Thomas S., the younger son, was placed in class 1, division I of the last selective draft, and had been called into service shortly before the great European conflict came to a close.

JAMES W. HUFFAKER. - All of the early settlers of Custer county did not come from the cast or the north. Once in a while Missouri made Custer county a contribution. It was Missouri that gave James W. Huffaker to the major county of Nebraska. Mr. Huff- aker was born in Missouri, in 1856, and is a son of Walter and Minerva ( Bartee) Huff- aker, in whose family circle were eight chil- dren : Elick, Payton, and Sallie are deceased ; Mose, who is living at Garden Home, Oregon, has retired from active life, in the seventy- third year of his age ; and Columbus, Nancy, James W., and Walter are the others who make up the family circle.

On the 25th day of January, 1884, James W. Huffaker married Miss Anna George, and their union has been blessed with eleven chil- dren, ten of whom are still living: Clarence, who married Dulcie Wolf, is a farmer and stock-raiser near Wild Horse. Colorado ; Alice lives at the parental home but at present is teaching school at Lillian; Bertha lives in Colorado ; Walter, at the time of this writing. is in Camp Funston, a member of the medical corps ; James also is at Camp Funston and in the same corps with his brother ; Erma lives at home: Leota is teaching school at Walworth; Connie is at home: Frank died in March. 1918, in the nineteenth year of his age; and Ted and Claud are at home.

Mr. and Mrs. Huffaker have been in Cus- ter county ever since 1886, and in this period they have traveled the road of Custer county pioneers. They have had their difficulties, they have encountered their storms and have now come to the calm of riper years and re- warded toil. They were homesteaders of the early day and began with practically nothing. as compared with the property which sur- rounds them at the present time. To-day their place is well improved and their home is one of the monuments of the county's de- velopment. They have reared a family of whom they can justly be proud. With two of their sons in active service in connection with

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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

the nation's participation in the world war, their daughter Bertha offered herself for service in the Red Cross, as army nurse, and all the other children are likewise a credit to the parental home and influence. This is a splendid family of good, substantial citizens. Mrs. Huffaker and some of her children are connected with the Methodist church.

JESSE F. SHOEMAKER, who is one of the substantial farmers and representative citizens of the Oconto section, was born at Lancaster, lowa, on the 11th of September, 1861, and he is a son of Jacob and Sarah A. (Brunt) Shoemaker. Jacob Shoemaker was a contractor and builder, and in addition to following his trade in this way, he also gave his attention to farm enterprise. The ma- ternal grandfather of Jesse F. Shoemaker was a clergyman and he continued earnestly in the work of his high calling until he was a verit- able patriarch - he continued to serve in the pulpit until he was past ninety years of age, and it is worthy of note that during his entire ministerial career he never accepted remuner- ation for his services, preferring to devote his life gratuitously to service in consonance with his religious convictions. He officiated at a greater number of marriages than did any other six or eight men in his community. Jacob and Sarah A. (Brunt) Shoemaker be- came the parents of twelve children, all of whom are living except Mary E. and Dewitt, the latter having been drowned when he was fourteen years of age. The surviving children are as here noted : William B., Mrs. Clara Kellogg, Albert E., Belle (who remains with her mother), Jesse F., Samuel, George, Mrs. Elva Cavender, Mrs. Anna Rathman, and Mrs. Edna Lennon.

In the spring of 1871 Jacob Shoemaker came with his family to Nebraska and located in Mary, Brown county, but one year later he removed to Grand Island, Hall county. In the following year he established his residence on a pioneer farm three miles west of Grand Island, and there his death occurred in 1896, his widow still remaining on the old home- stead, with her unmarried son and daughter. She and her husband bore the full weight of the burdens and trials incidental to the pio- neer days, and endured the hardships inci- dental to the scourge of grasshoppers.

Jesse F. Shoemaker recalls that as a boy he earned his first money by dropping corn for his grandfather. He received five cents a day for this service and was very proud of the money he thus earned. He acquired his pre- liminary education in the pioneer schools of

Iowa, and was a lad of ten years at the time of the family removal to Nebraska, so that he well remembers the conditions and incidents that marked the pioneer period of the history of this state. The major part of his active career has been one of close identification with the basic industries of agriculture and stock- raising, and through his well ordered en- deavors he has gained substantial success.

Mr. and Mrs. Shoemaker came to Custer county in August, 1904, and purchased 160 acres of land, four miles northwest of Oconto. Here he has since continued to reside, and he has the satisfaction of owning one of the finest quarter-sections of land in the Wood river valley, the place being now known as Pleas- ant View Stock Farm. Mr. Shoemaker is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of Amer- ica and is a member of the Oconto Home Guards. His wife holds membership in the Royal Neighbors and is a charter member of the War Mathers' Club of Omaha.

March 4, 1888, recorded the marriage of Mr. Shoemaker to Miss Mae E. Countryman, who was born in Franklin county, Iowa, and who is a daughter of Elias H. and Eunice L. ( Bailey) Countryman, the former a native of the state of New York and the latter of Pennsylvania, the mother having been a de- vout member of the Methodist church. Elias H. Countryman gave valiant service as a soldier of the Union in the Civil war. He enlisted at the age of fifteen years, as drummer boy in the Fourteenth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, and he served four years. He par- ticipated in several important battles, in one of which he was severely wounded, and after having been captured by the enemy he had the experience of being confined in Libby and An- dersonville prisons, the names of which are infamous in the history of the conflict between the north and the south. In the Countryman family were the following children - Walter A., Mrs. Mae Shoemaker, Mrs. Rachel Brodg- den, Cora E., Lyons, and Roy L.

In conclusion is given brief record concern- ing the children of Mr. and Mrs. Shoemaker. William H. met his death in a railway acci- dent at Seneca, Nebarska, while he was em- ployed as a brakeman on the railroad. Edna G. is the wife of Ernest Van Antwerp, a farmer near Lodi, Custer county, and they have three children, all daughters. Gladys M. is the wife of James Armour, a farmer near Etna, this county, and their three children are sons. Arthur R., who is a bachelor, is em- ployed as a traction engineer and he resides at Chico, California. Albert E., a popular young bachelor, gave gallant service as an American soldier on the battle-fields of France - as a

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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

member of Battery D, Field Artillery, a com- mand which made a world record for the most accurate of practice-shooting, and he was killed in action September 21, 1918, in France. Myrtle E. is the wife of Arthur Weaver, a farmer living northeast of Oconto, and they have one son. Jesse H. and Cora P. remain at the parental home and are attending school, and Sarah L., youngest of the children, is eight years of age, in 1918, she being also a student in the public schools. In the death of Albert E. Shoemaker on the battlefields of France, Custer county made one more contri- bution to the roster of gallant young patriots who have given their lives in the great world war, and his name and memory merit enduring honor in the annals of Custer county and the state of Nebraska, as well as on the pages of our national history.

MELVIN K. KOLBO. who is a progress- ive young farmer. residing near Lodi, was born January 29, 1881, in Westby, Wis- consin. He is a son of Oliver J. and Chris- tina (Lee) Kolbo, both natives of the rugged Scandanavian kingdom of Norway. Oliver J. Kolbo was a lifelong farmer and was a man of strong character and striking indi- viduality - one who was held in high popular estecm.

Melvin K. Kolbo was but a small child when he came with his parents to Custer county, where he was reared and educated. He has been a farmer all his life. He began opera- tions in the soil at the age of ten years, and through his energy and thrift in later years he has surrounded himself with fine farm equip- ments on a quarter-section of splendid land, three-fourths of a mile southwest of Lodi. where his farming operations are so skillful as to mark him as an example for emulation in a farming community.

AApril 13, 1904, at Lodi, Nebraska, Mr. Kolbo wedded Miss Grace L. Johnson, who was born in Chicago, although she comes, like her husband, of sturdy Norwegian stock. She is a daughter of Severt and Anna (Oren) Johnson, who came to the United States in 1880, and whose marriage here occurred a year and one-half later. They came to Cus- ter county in 1885 and located a claim three miles west of Lodi. The father died the same year, when the youngest son in the family was ten weeks old. The mother now lives in Seattle, Washington.

Mr. and Mrs. Melvin K. Kolbo have six children - Anna C., in the eighth grade at school ; Fay 1 .. , in the seventh grade : S. Lloyd, who has reached the third grade : Bernard MI.,

Donald O., and Davie, aged respectively six, four, and two years ( 1919).

Mr. and Mrs. Kolbo are fine young people. with many years of activity and usefulness still before them, and those years, pregnant with promise, augur well for the accumula- tion of property, with ease and comfort for the proverbial "rainy day" and for the sun- down of old age.

Mr. Kolbo takes an interest in public af- fairs, keeps himself well informed, and gen- erally votes the Republican ticket. In re- ligious matters the family is divided, the hus- band being connected with the Lutheran church and the wife maintaining connection with the Baptist church.

PERRY SLOGGETT. - One of the recent recruits to the farming industry of Custer county. Perry Sloggett has already illustrated the possession of energy and enthusiasm for his chosen calling that promises to carry him far. While he has just entered this kind of work, it is not to be assumed that he is without agricultural experience, for his boy- hood was spent on a farm, and for seven years he was connected with a threshing out- fit. As an agriculturist upon his own account, he is showing the benefits of his earlier train- ing.

Mr. Sloggett was born on a farm in Ogle county, Illinois, June 11, 1881, a son of Alfred C. Sloggett, a review of whose career will be found elsewhere in this work. Ilis education came from the country schools of Custer county, Nebraska, where the family had moved when he was a child, and the college at Broken Bow, where he spent two years in study, following which he returned to his father's farm and remained until he attained his majority. As before noted, he became identified with a threshing outfit, and, being possessed of mechanical ability and a liking for that kind of work, he was given the op- eration of the engine as his share of the work. and continued in that capacity for seven years. His love of mechanics also led him to accept a position in a garage, where for two years he studied the intracies of the automobile, but in the spring of 1918 he returned to farming, and has since been engaged therein, as a general farmer. It is a little early to speak of the success which he has attained in this field, but it may well be noted that he is using modern methods in a practical and progressive way and that he brings to his new business the knowledge gained in his former years of ex- perience. At this time he is renting 368 acres of land, and is steadily making improvements,

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with a view to making his property more pro- ductive, as well as to save labor.

Mr. Sloggett was married March 29, 1915, to Miss Laura Jenkins, who was born in Cus- ter county, a daughter of Charles and Minnie (Daniels) Jenkins, who reside seven miles south of Broken Bow. Mr. Jenkins was born in Wisconsin and Mrs. Jenkins in Pennsyl- vania, and they became residents of Nebraska in 1895, since which year they have been en- gaged in farming in Custer county. They are the parents of twelve children, namely: Miss Bessie, who makes her home with her parents ; Laura, who is now Mrs. Sloggett ; Irene, who is the wife of Joy Myers of Hastings, Ne- braska; Myrtle and George, who reside at home ; John, who is living with Mr. and Mrs. Sloggett ; and Ross, Leonard, Joe, Charles, Malvern and Evelyn, who live at home. Mr. and Mrs. Sloggett are faithful members of the Methodist Episcopal church. He is frater- nally affiliated with the local lodge of the In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows, and is popular with his fellow members. His in- terest in politics has been confined to his cast- ing his ballot as a voter, and in this direction he reserves the right to chose his own candi- dates, irrespective of party lines. However, he is progressive in character and has always been a supporter of beneficial movements.

B. A. MCDERMOTT owns and operates a farm of 160 acres, and the place is endeared to him by many gracious memories and associa- tions, as it is the old homestead upon which his father located upon coming to Custer county, thirty-five years ago.

B. A. McDermott was born in Pocahontas county, Iowa, December 2, 1871. His father. Bernard McDermott, was born in Ireland and was a child when his parents, James and Ann ( Dougherty) McDermott, came to America and settled in Canada. As a young man Bern- ard McDermott married Miss Bridget Riley, who likewise was born in Ireland and who was sixteen years of age when she came to Amer- ica, in company with her parents, Patrick and Mary ( Kearns) Riley. Upon his immigration to fowa Bernard McDermott settled on a farm in Pocahontas county, where he continued his residence until 1883, when he came with his family to Custer county, Nebraska, and took a homestead in section 5, township 18, range 22. His first home was a sod house, and this farm was the stage of his productive activi- ·ties for many years. He finally sold the farm to his son B. A., subject of this review, after which he retired to the village of Anselmo, where he died in November, 1905, at the age

of seventy-six years. He was a communicant of the Catholic church, as is also his widow, who still resides in this county. They became the parents of twelve children, of whom record is here given: Mary Ann is the wife of Thomas McDermott, of this county; James is a resident of Grand Island, Nebraska ; Patrick and Michael are deceased ; John resides in the city of Omaha ; Margaret is the wife of James Milligan ; Bridget Agnes is the wife of Samuel Bowman, of Fremont, Nebraska; Joseph re- mains in Custer county ; B. A., who owns the old homestead farm, is the immediate subject of this review ; Hugh is a resident of Omaha ; William resides in Custer county ; and Ella, who became the wife of Henry Morrissey, is deceased.

B. A. McDermott was a boy of twelve years when he accompanied his parents on their im- migration to Custer county, where he gained his youthful quota of experience in connec- tions with the hardships and vicissitudes of the pioneer days. He assisted effectively in the development and varied operations of the home farm and he purchased the farm when his father retired. Since that time he has de- voted his energies to the operations and pro- gressive activities of the old homestead and is consistently to be designated as one of the representative farmers of the county. The old "soddy" has given place to a frame house, which proves a modern and attractive domi- eile, and faces that appear frequently at its windows are those of representatives of the third generation of the family to call this farm "home.'

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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 84

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