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 89

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 89

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On the Judge's farm is a mineral spring which is said to be the only mineral spring in the state of Nebraska. A few years ago he built a warehouse, provided bottling machinery and commenced to ship the mineral products of the spring out into the markets of the world, but owing to his lameness and physical in- ability to look after the business, he discontin- ued the operation.

The Judge is a man of rare qualities, withi artistic and classic mind. He is a genius with the pen and writes a hand that closely re- sembles steel plate. His drawings of birds and flowers, scrolls and esentcheons, engrossed with Latin mottoes and embodying lofty sentiments, are very remarkable and have attracted the attention of all his friends. He has a genius for literature and has written very commend- able poetry, some of which embodies his liberal religious views and high ideals of morality.

One of his short poems is published in an- other chapter of this volume and pays splendid tribute to the womanhood of the west. His literary ideals are artistic and inclined to the classic. His conversation, as well as some of his writings, discloses very readily to the care- ful observer that the Judge has been a careful student of Pope's "Essay on Man."

Withal, Custer county has had no more re- markable citizen and one who has rendered more valuable assistance in the development of the county. His political tendencies to-day are toward the Democratic party, with which he affiliates on most national and state propo- sitions, but locally the Judge has friends in both parties and his sense of justice and honor stimulates him to weigh the individual planes of local candidates and cast his vote accord- ingly.

The family from which the Judge descends has held the faith of the Presbyterian church and has been very closely allied to the fine old aristocracy of the Virginia planters. Conse- quently, the blood of the Cavalier flows in the veins of our distinguished citizen and finds ex- pression in his open-hearted hospitality and courtly manners. Any man, woman, or child who ever met Judge Mathews was heartily welcomed. delightfully entertained, and has ever since that time been his staunch friend.

WILLIAM H. KELLY is one of the enter- prising farmers of Custer county and is a citizen who well merits recognition in this history.

William H. Kelly was born in Grundy county, Illinois, November 2. 1867, and is a brother of R. J. Kelly, of Merna, who has fur- nished data for the sketch of the Kelly family. which will be found elsewhere in this volume. William H. Kelly was reared on a farm in fro- quois county. Illinois, where his parents located when he was a child. He and two brothers remained at home and operated the farm until the death of the parents, when the estate was divided and the brothers came to Custer county and bought land.

Mr. Kelly is the owner of the southeast quarter of section 31. township 18, range 21. also 160 acres cast of Merna, and 320 acres in the north part of the county, this last being used for pasture land.

In Illinois Mr. Kelly married Miss Frances Spitz, a native of Iroquois county, that state, and they have six children - Olive, Bernice, Walter. Robert, Lawrence, and Margaret - all of whom are still at home.

Mr. Kelly is the owner of a splendid proper-

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ty, with a first-class set of improvements. the value of the land being enhanced by its proxi- mity to the village of Merna. the corporate limits of which it adjoins. The family are members of the Catholic church and Mr. Kelly is a Democrat in politics.

EBER BARBER, than whom Custer county has no better known or more highly respected pioneer resident, has been identified with the development of this section for almost forty years and has done his full part in bringing about the substantial conditions which make Custer county one of the most desirable parts of Nebraska. Mr. Barber comes of old New England stock, and was born at South Kings- ton, Rhode Island. September 1, 1848. His parents were James C. and Elizabeth ( Sher- man ) Barber, and his grandparents were Moses and Sarah Barber and Eber Sherman, all of South Kingston. Farming has been the general family occupation, and the principles of the Democratic party have been adhered to for generations. The parents of Mr. Barber were members of the Free Will Baptist church. The names of their children are here given: George, Pardon, Mrs. Mary Fielden, Mrs. Elizabeth Dulphy. Mrs. Patience Coon, Eber, and Sarah.

Eber Barber was but nine years old when his father died and little provision had been made for the widow and children beyond the income from the Rhode Island farm, and Eber. as soon as possible, assumed the responsibility of caring for his mother and youngest sister. beginning to work for wages when very young and being elated over the sum his grandfather gave him for picking apples. He remained on the home farm until he was twenty-eight years of age, carrying on its various industries as best he could and in the meanwhile he at- tended school as opportunity offered. In 1879 he came to Nebraska and located a very valu- able elaim, which is now known as the old Krutzen ranch, on the South Loup river, and which is now the home place of Judge Eugene J. Boblits. Mr. Barber sold his claim by re- linquishment in 1882 and located the land he now owns, six miles northeast of Broken Bow. Here he has 477 acres, 175 of which are under cultivation. All his land is substantially feneed and cross-fenced and among recent improve- ments made, at a cost of $3.000, is a handsome residence that cost $1,200. An adopted son, George Barber, operates the farm. Mr. Barber and his wife having retired some time since to Broken Bow, where both have many friends. In addition to his other business affairs, Mr.

Barber operated a livery barn at Broken Bow during 1889-90.

Mr. Barber was married in April, 1872, at South Coventry, Rhode Island, to Miss Fannie Place, a stepdaughter of Orville Belknap, who came to Nebraska and settled at the forks of Wood river. To that marriage one daughter was born, Alice E. Barber. Mr. Barber's sec- ond marriage took place at Broken Bow, March 10. 1890, when Mrs. Elizabeth Meade became his wife. Her parents were Nathan and Can- dace S. (Ward) Whipple, who were natives of Vermont. Mr. and Mrs. Barber are men- bers of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Barber retains a lively interest in the early days of Custer county and can relate many interesting incidents of those times, now all passed away, although they should not be for- gotten, for it was through the hardships and privations of pioneer days that the present prosperous and peaceful ones have come.

FRANK H. WEISENVEDER, whose busi- ness foresight and large acreage of productive land make him one of Custer county's sub- stantial capitalists, is a native of Nebraska and was born near Aspinwall, in Nemaha county. December 15, 1875. His parents are Edward and Wilhelmina ( Rothenberger) Weisenveder. His father was born in Germany and his moth- er in Missouri. They had three children: Adelia, who is the wife of Louis E. Higgens. was born in Nebraska prior to the admission of the territory as one of the sovereign states of the Union: Minnie is the wife of John H. Morehead : and Frank H. The parents are members of the Roman Catholic church. The father has been a merchant and also a farmer.

Frank H. Weisenveder attended school at Aspinwall and was fifteen years old when the family came to Custer county and located at Broken Bow. When questioned as to how he earned his first money, Mr. Weisenveder explained that it may have been made through hoeing sunflowers out of a neighbor's field, and while he does not recall the amount he received. he believes he earned all that came to him. While this may not have been the actual foundation of his fortune, it proves that he was industrious in boyhood and this industrious habit has always prevailed, as shown by the fact that to-day Mr. Weisen- veder personally superintends all his business affairs. Within the past twenty-two years he has become the owner of great tracts of land, which include 1,100 acres situated one and one- half miles west of Broken Bow, a half-interest in 1,200 acres situated eight miles north of

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Broken Bow, and 275 acres that he devotes to the production of alfalfa. This alfalfa farm is very profitable, as the alfalfa can be cut three times a year with an average crop of from 500 to 700 tons. As mentioned above. Mr. Weisenveder keeps the management of this large estate in his own hands, and through good judgment and business enterprise he is not only setting a good example but is also adding to his substance. Mr. Weisenveder is a Republican in his political views and frater- nally is an Odd Fellow.

Mr. Weisenveder was married May 12, 1898, at Broken Bow, to Miss Rita Herbert, who is a daughter of Mitchell G. and Martha (Simms) Herbert, and a granddaughter of George Simms. Mr. and Mrs. Weisenveder have two children. Edwin H. and Louise R.

ALBERT L. JUKER. - Two generations of the Juker family have contributed to the development of the handsome farm, near Berwyn, which is now the property of Albert L. Juker, a resident of Custer county since his eighth year, when his pioneer father, the late John Juker, brought him to a new homestead. During the thirty-six years that have followed, numerous changes have taken place on the farm, its owners having kept fully abreast of the developments being made throughout the county along all lines.

Albert L. Juker was born in Adams county, Indiana, October 22, 1874, a son of John and Anna ( Summers) Juker, natives of Switzer- land. The parents were married in their na- tive land, following which they lived there for two years, and within that time one child was born to them. Coming then to the United States, they settled in Indiana, where, in Adams county, the father followed farming. Mr. Juker had the industry and thrift of his race, and worked hard and managed his affairs carefully, but in spite of his best efforts he did not make progress that was satisfactory to him- self, and eventually he came to the conclusion that in the west better opportunities were to be found for the establishment and building up of a home and the making of a position. In 1882 he brought his family to Custer county, where he took up both a timber claim and a homestead and started in to build up his fallen fortunes. At the time of his arrival he was possessed of nothing in the way of mate- rial capital. but his energy and ambition were sufficient to make up for -his lack of means, and after some years of discouragement he began to make progress, with the result that at the time of his death he was one of the

substantial men of the community, the owner of a good farm, and known as a man who had overcome obstacles and gained success in an honorable and straightforward manner. Mr. Juker was a Democrat, but not a politician, and public life never held out any inducements to him. He and Mrs. Juker, who survives him, were the parents of nine children, six of whom are deceased, the survivors being : Sarah, who is the widow of George W. Dear- doff, and lives in Custer county : Emma, also a widow, who lives with her brother on the homestead ; and Albert L.

Albert L. Juker was eight years of age when he accompanied his parents to Custer county, and here he secured his education in the pub- lic schools. Reared as a farmer, he adopted that calling when he reached years of matur- ity, and at the present time he is the owner of 160 acres of good land, a part of the original homestead. Mr. Juker at one time was the owner of a full section of good Custer county soil, but he has recently disposed of a three- quarter section. He carries on general farm- ing, and is well versed in all branches of his business, so that he has always received ample returns from his labors and has made his land pay him in full measure for all the work he has expended upon it. In more recent years Mr. Juker has spent much time in making im- provements. When the family first settled here the only habitation was a sod house, and other improvements were of the most primitive kind. Mr. Juker has erected substantial barns and outbuildings, provided good fences and other equipment, and has just completed the building of a beautiful home.

Mr. Juker is a bachelor. He is a Republican in his political views, and his main connection of a social character is found in his member- ship in the local Grange.

FRANK BAKER. - One of the prominent and truly representative men of Custer county is Frank Baker, who is president of the Farm- ers State Bank at Ansley, and who has other large and important interests in the county. He belongs to an early pioncer family and has spent almost all his life in Nebraska, to which state his devotion is as sincere as if he were a native son. He was born August 18, 1866, in Poweshiek county, lowa, and is one of a family of twelve children.

When Frank Baker accompanied his parents to Nebraska he was about six years old. They settled at first in York county, where he had carly school opportunities, and in 1878 the family came to Custer county, where the father

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homesteaded and lived until his death, in 1918. Mr. Baker has continued to live on the home- stead all through its devlopment from a wild piece of land to a richly cultivated tract which he devotes to mixed farming, while his valu- able stock graze over many acres of other land that he has acquired from time to time. For a number of years Mr. Baker has been a lead- ing financier in the county, and as president of the Farmers State Bank of Ansley, he enjoys the confidence of the public generally. He has taken an active interest in other local enter- prises of recognized merit and his public spirit has many times been sufficiently exercised to warrant his reputation as an earnest and able citizen of the county. For the past ten years he has been treasurer of Westerville school district No. 39.

At Westerville. Nebraska, March 16, 1890, Mr. Baker was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Gardner, who is a daughter of Thomas and Mary ( Allen) Gardner. Mr. and Alrs. Baker have the following children : Lizzie, who was born May 26, 1891; Tina, who was born March 4, 1893; Herbert, who was born January 6, 1907, and who was killed by accident September 27, 1918: Glenn, who was born March 28. 1911; and Wade, who was born March 30, 1913. Mr. Baker and his family belong to the Methodist Episcopal church. In politics he is a Republican and fra- ternally is an Odd Fellow and has served in the offices of the lodge at Ansley, while Mrs. Baker is a member of the auxiliary order of the Daughters of Rebekah.

ANDREW F. ALLEN. - That so rich and productive a section as Custer county, Nebras- ka, should ever have entailed hardships on its early settlers seems scarcely possible now, but records of the pioneer days of the early '80s prove that sturdy qualities belonged to the men and women who came here and remained. The Allen family belonged to this class and it is the Allen farm, situated in section 16, township 17. range 18, Custer county, that is declared to be one of the best improved and most valu- able in the township. Its present owner, An- drew F. Allen, is one of the extensive farmers and stock-raisers in this section, and is a high- ly respected citizen.

Andrew F. Allen was born May 22, 1879. in the city of Dublin, Ireland. His parents were Andrew and Sarah ( Foster) Allen, the father being a native of Ireland and the mother of Scotland. They had six children, namely : Mattie, who is talented and highly educated, is a teacher in the University of Nebraska, at

Lincoln; George, who married Dolly Gager, is a rairoad contractor and lives in Denver : Margaret resides in Denver; Lena remains on the Allen homestead; Andrew F. is the im- mediate subject of this sketch; and William carries on farming operations on the old place.

The parents of Andrew F. Allen came to the United States with their children and in 1880 settled seven miles east of Lincoln, Ne- braska, where they remained three years. In 1883 they came to Custer county and they soon made comfortable the little sod house that was their first home and that was situated on school section No. 16, the father also prudently se- curing a tree claim. At first there were few school privileges possible, but by the time An- drew F. Allen reached school age he was not deprived of educational advantages. Industry and thrift were household slogans, and through persistent effort, and in spite of hardship and privation, the parents lived to enjoy the fruits of their work. The father passed away in Sep- tember, 1905, and the mother is still living on the old farm.

December 30, 1906, recorded the marriage of Andrew F. Allen to Miss Edna Mills, one of a family of thirteen children born to Fabius D. and Louisa (Copsey) Mills. Mr. and Mrs. Allen have the following children : Margaret, who was born May 12, 1909; Hazel, who was born April 21, 1911 ; Clarence, who was born February 1, 1913 ; and Frank and Lucile, twins, who were born January 30. 1917. Mr. Allen and his family belong to the Methodist Epis- copal church. In politics he is not identified with any party but does his own thinking, and votes accordingly. He has always been an advocate of good roads and of all those things which promote good government, good feeling, and neighborly interest and harmony.

FRANK KALOUS is one of the sterling citizens contributed to Custer county by the fine old province of Bohemia, and from this source our county has had much to gain and nothing to lose. Nowhere can be found a better type of progressive, hard-working peo- ple than those in whose veins flows the red blood of historic Bohemia. Sixty-three years ago, in Bohemia, Frank Kalous was born, and his first papers in application for citizenship in the United States were filed in the year 1882. He is a son of Joseph and Frances (Kadevish) Kalous, honest and industrious folk who immigrated to America in 1882 and became pioneers in Nebraska. The father en- tered claim to a homestead in Box Butte county and after perfecting his title to this

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HOME AND FAMILY GROUP OF GEORGE T. BAILEY

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property he finally transferred his residence to Custer county, where both he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives, he having scen seventy-seven years at the time of his death and his widow having passed away at the age of seventy-nine years and nine months. The remains of both were laid to rest in a cemetery in Dawson county.

Krank Kalous was reared to manhood in his native land, and in his determination to find wider opportunities for the winning of inde- pendence and prosperity he found in the United States a veritable land of promise. He has pioneer distinction as a resident of Nebraska and is one of the highly esteemed citizens of Custer county. He maintains his home in the village of Sumner, and here most pleasing family reunions are held at intervals. He is a stone-mason and plasterer. by trade and voca- tion, and is known as a proficient workman in this field of enterprise, in which he controls a prosperous business. Mr. Kalous, as a loyal citizen of the land of his adoption, takes lively interest in public affairs, and while a resident of Box Butte county he served as road over- seer and school director. He is at the present time a member of the Sumner Home Guards, and is actively affiliated with the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He and his family hold earnestly to the faith of the Catholic church, and constitute a valuable asset in the community life. Of the children of the first marriage of Mr. Kalous three are living - Frank, Jr., who is married and who resides in Sumner, Nebraska; Mrs. Anna Omara, who resides on a farm in Colorado, as does also Mrs. Fannie Quigle.

On the 17th of July, 1885, Mr. Kalous wedded Mary Kudera, who was born in Bo- hemia, and concerning the children of this union the following brief record is entered : Mary is the wife of Samuel Radcliff and they reside in York county, Nebraska ; Mrs. Grace Caloup resides at Alda, Hall county ; Mrs. Vic- toria Erwin is a resident of Eddyville, Dawson county ; Elmer is a farmer in Colorado: Joe, who entered service as a soldier in the ranks of those preparing to take part in the world war, is now at the parental home : Mrs. Emma Sheldon, twin sister of Joe, resides at Eddy- ville, Dawson county.

GEORGE T. BAILEY is a sterling pioneer who has been a resident of Custer county since 1884 and who has established a name and reputation as one of the foremost citizens of the north Arnold territory, the while he

and his good wife have reared a family of children of whom they may well be proud.

George T. Bailey was born in Spencer county, Kentucky, on the 13th of December, 1855, and is a son of George W. and Winifred (Hite) Bailey, both of whom were likewise born in the fine old Bluegrass state. The maternal grandparents of George T. Bailey also were Kentuckians, and thus he may claim a full share of the excellent blood that has made that favored commonwealth one of great historic importance and interest. Mr. Bailey was the third in order of birth in a family of seven children - Mrs. Mary Sands, Mrs. Amanda Green, George T., John S., Henry E., Lorenzo, and Mrs. Courtney B. Philpott. Dur- ing the most of the boyhood and youth of the subject of this review his parents maintained their home in Davies county, Kentucky, and there he acquired his early education in the public schools of the period. It was there also he earned his first money -a fifteen-cent scrip piece which he received in compensation for work in his uncle's barn. He invested this stupendous capital in a "Barlow knife," and it may be said that it will probably require an "old-timer" to make perfectly clear to the ris- ing generation what a Barlow knife was. The knife thus acquired by Mr. Bailey was soon lost, however, and by it not much damage was done in whittling operations on the home or schoolhouse furniture.

When Mr. Bailey had attained the age of twenty years he decided that it was time for him to take unto himself a wife, and accord- ingly, on the 16th of January, 1876, in Daviess county, Kentucky, was solemnized his marri- age to Miss Elizabeth Green, a daughter of Jackson and Lucinda ( Phillips) Green. The parents of the bride were Kentucky people, and so the new Bailey household was to be formed by a confluence of Kentucky blood flowing in from both ancestral courses. Mrs. Bailey is one of a family of five children and is one of the two now living, her brother. James K., being a resident of Dewey, Oklahoma. One sister, Mrs. Lucinda Shoemaker, was a resident of Custer county at the time of her death.

Mr. and Mrs. Bailey have always maintained an attractive and hospitable home - a home in which the fine southern hospitality as ex- emplified in Kentucky has at all times been in evidence. They became the parents of nine children, all of whom are living except one daughter, Leona A .. who died in infancy. Con- cerning the surviving children it is pleasing to made a brief record at this juncture. Walter

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S. married Josephine Porter and they have five children. They are members of the Christian Union church. James H., who is a rural mail carrier. resides at .Arnold. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. He married Miss Wilda Hurless and they have three children. Lou is the wife of Bert Nelson, of Buckley, Washington, and they have three children. They are Preshy- terians in their religious affiliations. Winifred E. is the wife of Henry Strassburg, a farmer near Arnold, and they are the parents of five children. They hold membership in the Meth-

odist church. Mamie is the wife of Fred Hircock, a farmer on the West Table in Cuis- ter county, and they are members of the Christian Union church. They have four chil- ‹ren. Mabel is the wife of George Kruser, a farmer near .Arnold, and they have four chil- dren. They hold the faith of the Methodist church. Lida is the wife of Charles Seaney. another of the prosperous farmers of the Ar- nold community, and they have one child. They are members of the Methodist church. Burton married Miss Ruby Zimmerman and they reside on a farm near Lantry. South Da- kota. They have three children.

In 1884 George T. Bailey came with his family to Custer county and located on a homestead seven miles distant from the pres- ent village of Arnold. Here he still maintains his residence and here he has recently erected one of the best farm houses on the Arnold edge of the East Tahle. He is the owner of 320 acres of good land and has accumulated his property principally through his operations in the raising and handling of live stock. He is inclined to the belief that in this field of industrial enterprise hogs have been more profitable than cattle or other stock. The Baileys are known far and wide for their np- right, religious lives, and the hospitality of their homes. Mr. Bailey is proud to relate that one of his great-grandfathers. Rev. Mr. Hickman, was a clergyman of the Baptist church and that as such he preached the first Baptist sermon ever delivered in Kentucky. He delivered this earnest address in the open air, under an elm tree, and special reference to and record of the event appear prominently in the history of the Baptist church of that state. It can be consistently said that in Custer county one may ride all day and not find better people than the Baileys.

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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 89

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