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 92

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 92

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In 1853 Peter MI. Case accompanied his parents to Iowa. The first year was spent in Decatur county, but in 1854 removal was made to Ringgold county. At that time that section of Iowa was practically a wilderness, there being only fifteen families in the whole county. Jacob Case, like his few and widely separated neighbors, entered government land, which he developed and improved, and farming was his main business throughout his life. His ster- ling character soon impressed itself upon oth- ers and in many ways his fellow citizens came to depend upon him in the general adjustment of affairs, and he served as postmaster at Ring- gold. In his later years he voted with the Republican party. Both he and wife were faithful members of the Methodist Episcopal church. They were the parents of twelve children and of the number five survive, name- ly: Sarah, who is the widow of Thomas Pit- man, lives at Mount Ayr. lowa : Peter M. is the subject of this sketch: William, who is in the insurance business, married Myrtle Wiley and they live at Shenandoah, lowa; Martha is the wife of Frank Kirby, a carpenter by trade, and they reside at Mount Ayr. Iowa : and Lincoln, who married Rosa Johnson, is a farmer near Newkirk, Kay county, Oklahoma.

Peter M. Case was reared in Iowa and at- tended the first public school in Ringgold county. He assisted his father and was con- sidered a good farmer when he left that sec- tion and came to Custer county, in 1888. Here he has followed farming and stock-raising, as vigorously as conditions have made possible. ever since. When Mr. Case came to the coun- ty he purchased a tree claim, which proved a profitable investment. His present farm lies in section 7. township 17, range 18, and his postoffice address is Weissert.

Mr. Case was married at Chariton, Iowa. January 29. 1873. to Margaret Wray, who

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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

died in Custer county, Nebraska, in December, 1893. Concerning the children of this mar- riage the following is brief record : Jacob M., who married Hattie Perkins, is a farmer living near Weissert; Luther, who married Mamie Schultz, is an ensign in the Salvation Army, of Chicago, Illinois, and they live at Peoria, Illinois ; Arthur, who married Ida Leck, is a farmer near Monte Vista, Colorado ; Guy Wray, whose home is in Denver, Colorado, and who married Edna Skeels, is serving at this writing, as an adjutant in the Salvation Army, as a unit in the American Expeditionary Forces in France. In 1897 Mr. Case contracted a second marriage, as he then wedded Mrs. Alice Barnes, a widow, and a daughter of Leven Benson. Two children were born to them - Rosa, who died at the age of nine months : and Ina Minnie, who was born March 29, 1906. Mrs. Case had seven children born to her first marriage and the following are living : Frank, who is a railroad engineer, lives at Lincoln, Nebraska; Alberta is the wife of William Ward, a farmer near Eddyville, Nebraska : Ora is the wife of David Pirnie, a farmer near Weissert ; Ralph, who is a dairyman in Fresno, California, married Myrtle Bishop; Henry, who is a railroad man, married Mabel Hamil- ton, and they live at Fresno, California ; and Lizzie is the wife of Wesley Hopkins, a farmer near Berwyn, Nebraska.

Mr. Case has always been a Republican in political sentiment, believing the principles of that party to be the most just and honorable. He has frequently been elected to local offices, has served for years on the school board and for several years was road overseer. Since 1867 he has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he has been a licensed exhorter for over twenty years, and in other ways he has striven to exert a bene- ficial influence, the while he enjoys the respect and esteem of all who know him.

JOHN R. LONGFELLOW, JR. - Farm- ing, as it is conducted to-day, is an enterprise requiring close calculation and scientific man- agement, and when a young man is making a decided success in his first undertaking of this kind, it is worthy of notice. One of the pros- pering young farmers of Custer county is John R. Longfellow, Jr., who is independently op- erating land about eight miles west of Broken Bow.

Mr. Longfellow was born in Custer county, Nebraska, January 28, 1895. His parents are John R. and Catherine (Philipsen) Long- fellow, well known residents of the county.

He grew up on the home farm and enjoyed ex- cellent educational advantages at Broken Bow, where he was graduated in the high school as a member of the class of 1917. He has always been industriously inclined, and is somewhat proud of his first business transaction, when about ten years old, when he proved a very valuable assistant to a neighboring ranchman in driving a bunch of cattle to the place of shipment. Mr. Longfellow is still a bachelor. In politics he is a Republican, and he is an earnest, patriotic, dependable young man, with many friends whose affection and interest fol- lowed him when, as a selected man in Class A, he entered his country's service in the na- tional army. He left Broken Bow June 27, 1918, and went to Fort Riley, Kan- sas, and from there. on August 24th he went to Camp Merritt, New Jersey. With- in a short time thereafter he left with his command for France, where he is serving at the time of this writing, in the autumn of 1918.

MILTON PETERSON. - A quarter of a century of connection with the agricultural in- terests of Custer county, and particularly in the vicinity of Weissert, has made Milton Peterson one of the substantial and well known men of his community. A native of Denmark, when he came to the United States, in 1893, he brought with him many of the admirable traits of the people of that sturdy little coun - try, and the success that has come to him has been won through honorable participation in legitimate enterprises.

Milton Peterson was born at Hassing, Jut- land, Denmark, October 23, 1874, and is a son of Melter and Mary (Jacobson) Peterson. He is a member of a well known family of Cus- ter county, a review of which will be found in the sketch of Melter Peterson, elsewhere in this work. As a youth Milton Peterson at- tended the common schools of his native land, while growing up on the home farm, where he assisted his father. He was only nineteen years of age when he accompanied the family to the United States, and at that time he had little to aid him in the securing of a foothold in the new land, as he had little knowledge of either language, conditions or methods. How- ever, he was quick to familiarize himself with both the tongue and customs of his adopted country, and in the vicinity of Weissert, where he had settled upon his arrival, he was shortly ready to establish a home of his own. This was effected October 24, 1897, when, in Swiss Valley, he was united in marriage with Miss Mabel Govier, daughter of an early home- steader of this county. They became the par-

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ents of nine children, whose names and re- spective dates of birth are here noted : Hazel, August 24, 1898; Ivy M., January 30, 1900; Frank L., July 18, 1902; Amelia C., July 14, 1904; John K., October 24, 1905 ; Gladys M., September 4, 1907; Andrew W., August 12, 1909; Peter M., March 14, 1911; and Ruby P., June 7, 1913.

Mr. Peterson has been engaged in farming and the raising of stock throughout his career, and he has met with that success which re- wards only the capable and industrious. He now has a finely cultivated and productive property, on which he has good buildings and other modern improvements. Politically he is a Republican, and for the past nine years he has served efficiently as a member of the school board of Weissert. He and the members of his family belong to the Church of God.

PHILIP R. STRADLEY .- Among the comfortably situated and well contented farm- ing people of Custer county may be mentioned Philip R. Stradley and his estimable wife, who own two forty-acre tracts of land, one of these being their home farm, situated one and one- half miles west of Broken Bow. On this place they have lived since 1894, and their other farm is located in Hall county, four and one-quarter miles from Cairo. Mr. Stradley was born in Fulton county, Indiana, June 9, 1861, and is a son of Luther and Sarah J. (Moore) Stradley.

Luther Stradley was born in Fulton county, Indiana, and his occupation was farming. He enlisted early in the Civil war and was in seventeen battles during his service of three years and three months, as a member of the One Hundred and Twenty-seventh and the One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Indiana regi- ments of infantry. During the greater part of the time he was under command of Generals Sheridan and Sherman, marching with the lat- ter from Atlanta to the sea. Notwithstand- ing his many exposures to danger. he was wounded only once, when a minie ball took off the tip of an car. He was a Republican in politics. He married Sarah J. Moore, who was born in Ohio, a daughter of George Moore. Luther Stradley and wife died in Illi- nois, where they lived for many years. The following were the children born to them : George, Isaac, Charles, Philip R., Marietta, John T., William N., Carrie M., and Minnie E., and all of them are still living.

Philip R. Stradley was reared on the home farm and attended school as opportunity of- fered. At the age of nineteen years he started out for himself. He well remembers the first money he ever earned, for the ac-

quisition of real money was something of an event in his boyhood, and his good fortune came about by consenting to ride a horse around the barn floor, trampling flax. This work he did for his uncle, who paid him a dime a day. His first real employer was the tenant living on his father's farm. who gave him a trial of one month, during which he proved so satisfactory that the tenant rehired him, and he worked for the same man con- tinuously for three years. During his last year in Illinois he was engaged in tile-ditching, as a contractor. Mr. Stradley came to Ne- braska in September, 1884, and he worked on the railroad, at Red Cloud, until 1887, when he went to Cairo, in Hall county, where he worked for a farmer, through 1888 and 1889. In 1894 Mr. Stradley settled permanently on his farm in Custer county, where he raises diversified crops and is performing his duties and carrying on his industries as patriotically as possible. He has always been identified with the Republican party.

Mr. Stradley was married February 3, 1890, at Grand Island, Nebraska, to Miss Anna M. Green, of Cairo, Nebraska, she being a daugh- ter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Smith) Green. Mr. and Mrs. Stradley have no children. Mr. Stradley was reared in the Methodist Epis- copal church, while Mrs. Stradley is an Epis- copolian. He has been very prominent in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and served as grand guard of the grand encampment of the State of Nebraska in 1917-18. He belongs also to the adjunct organization, the Daughters of Rebekah, and is affiliated with the Grange and the Modern Woodmen of America.

LOUIS J. TOMES, who is a farmer and stock-raiser in Custer county, Nebraska, is one of the enterprising, progressive men who have made these industries profitable in this section. Mr. Tomes is a native of Nebraska and was born in Saunders county, November 18, 1874. His parents are Florian and Kater . ina (Kneidel) Tomes, the father being a na- tive of Austria-Hungary, and the mother of Bohemia. They came to the United States in 1870, in search of better opportunities than their own land offered to people of their so- cial class at that time, and they made their way to Nebraska. In Saunders county, they secured a homestead, on which they lived until 1889, when they came to Custer county, where they are now living in peace and comfort. They had two children, a son and a daughter, Louis and Mary. The latter is the wife of Joseph Weverka, who is a farmer, and they live near Westphalia, Kansas.

Louis Tomes attended the public schools in

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Saunders county, Nebraska, and assisted his father in looking after the farm and stock. Like other early settlers in this state, the Tomes family met with hardships and mis- fortunes, but they survived them all and through courage, persistence and industry have become people of ample means. Louis Tomes has the reputation of being one of the best farmers in township 35, and his well cultivated land and unusually well improved property seem to prove it. He takes a great deal of in- terest in all his farm industries, keeps well in- formed along agricultural lines, and is a mem- ber of the Farmers' Union.

January 9, 1899, Mr. Tomes married Miss Katie Slegel, of Valley county, Nebraska. She is a daughter of Paul and Anna ( Skarda ) Slegel. who had the following children : Michael, who is a meat dealer and lives in Central City, married Frances Schudel ; Al- bert, who is a farmer near Arcadia, Nebraska, married Mary Zadina; Katie is the wife of Louis Tomes, of this sketch ; Joseph is a lum- ber dealer at Lavina, Montana; Anna is the wife of Charles Prokop, a farmer near Spen- cer, Nebraska; James is a farmer near Com- stock ; Mary, unmarried, remains at the paren- tal home; and Barbara, is the wife of Frank Brim, a farmer near Sargent, Nebraska. All these people are contented and prosperous and are respected and valued in their several com- munities.

Mr. and Mrs. Tomes have two children : Mary was born August 13, 1900 ; and John was born June 25, 1903. Mr. Tomes and family belong to the Roman Catholic church at Sar- gent. He is somewhat active in politics, vot- ing with the Republican party, and at present is serving as treasurer of school district No. 104.

CHARLES THOMAS is one of Custer county's early settlers who has become a prosperous agriculturist and aided in the de- velopment of this part of the state. He was born in Carroll county, Illinois, January 10, 1862. His father, Henry Thomas, was a na- tive of Canada and became an early settler of Carroll county, Illinois, where he conducted farming operations for many years - until he moved to Clarke county, Iowa, where he spent the remainder of his days. Mr. Thomas does not remember his mother's name, as she died when he was only one week old. He was one of a family of ten children, as fol- lows: Henry died while serving in the Union army during the Civil war; Joseph resides at Holly, Colorado ; Frank died in Custer county. where he had been one of the early settlers ;

Al, also a homesteader in Custer county, now resides at Holly, Colorado ; Mary is the wife of William Johnson, residing in the state of Washington; Lydia is a resident of Clarke county, Iowa; Julia married Stephen Hanna and is a resident of Dunning, Nebraska; Len lives in Kiowa county, Colorado ; Ellen mar- ried Herman Burrow and lives in Custer county ; and Charles is the immediate subject of this sketch.

Charles Thomas remained at home until he was nineteen years old and came with his brothers to Custer county, in 1880. Not being old enough to take a homestead, he worked as a farm hand for two years and then secured, as a homestead, the southwest quarter of sec- tion 24, township 18, range 22. He erected a sod house, which was his home for many years, and endured the hardships and priva- tions which fell to the lot of the early settlers of that day. Eleven years ago he purchased 200 acres in section 35 of the same township, where he has erected a beautiful country home, with barn and outbuildings suitable for successful farming. He carries on general farming and is the owner of 520 acres of valuable land. In his own words, "Uncle Sam wagered me 160 acres of land against sixteen dollars that I could not live here five years." Thirty-five years have passed since he entered upon that task, and his success is evidenced by the present prosperous condition.

Mr. Thomas chose for his wife Miss Ada May Lockhard, a native of Colorado, and of this union were born five children: Roy is still at home, assisting in the operation of the farm; Anna is the wife of Lewis Kanigge, of Edgar, Nebraska ; Dora is the wife of Robert McCarty, of this township; Inez and Alfred are still at home. The loved wife and mother passed away ten years ago, and her death was mourned not only by her own family but also by a host of friends in the community. She was a member of the Baptist church.

Alr. Thomas is truly a self-made man, having accumulated a competence through his own efforts, and he is still active in the con- duct of his farming enterprise.

WILLIAM COUHIG. - The subject of this memoir was one of the very carly settlers of Dale valley and until his death was active in developing a farm and assisting in bring- ing about present-day improvements.

William Couhig was a native of Ireland and was a young man when he came to the United States and found employment as a coal-miner. In 1869, at Fort Dodge, Iowa, he was united in marriage to Miss Bridget

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Downey, a native of Ireland and a sister of John J. Downey, who has furnished for this volume a record of the Downey family.

In the spring of 1880, in company with the Downey and McCarty families, William Cou- hig came to Custer county, and he secured as a homestead the northwest quarter of section 23, township 18, range 22. Not a furrow had been turned and not an improvement of any kind had been made, but with characteristic energy he set about to make it a home for the family. His first dwelling was a primitive sod house, in which the family lived till a frame house was erected, several years later. In this old sod house was held, by Father Phelan, of Grand Island, the first mass celebrated in Dale valley.

The first well bored in Dale valley was put down on this farm, by C. R. Krantz, in the spring of 1880, with a six-inch auger, and it was fifty-seven feet deep. The nearest mar- ket place was Kearney, and Mr. Couhig made the trip several times, the journey requiring seven or eight days. In all the pioneer ex- periences and hardships he bore his full share, and he resided on the old homestead until his death, in 1897, when he was fifty- seven years of age. His wife had preceded him to the home beyond, passing away in 1894, at the age of fifty years. They were faithful communicants of the Catholic church and in politics he was a Democrat. They were the parents of one child, now the wife of John McCauley. Mr. and Mrs. McCauley have a daughter Mary, still at home. They own and operate the old homestead which is devoted to general farming. It is one of the finely improved properties of the township, all of the present buildings having been put here by the present owners. It is one of the first-settled places in the valley and for many years was the scene of the activities of one of the sterling pioneer families well deserving of a place in the history of the county.

GEORGE M. SHULTZ. - As steward of the Custer County Farm. George M. Shultz has won an enviable reputation, and the offi- cials of the county are to be congratulated in that they have been able to secure such people as Mr. Shultz and his estimable wife to look after the needs of the county's unfortunate poor.

George M. Shultz was born in Rock Island county, Illinois, March 31, 1870. His parents. Eli and Mary (Rex) Shultz, were natives re- spectively of Ohio and Pennsylvania, and in the fall of 1870 they became homesteaders in Fillmore county, Nebraska. Later they estab-

lished their residence in Kearney county, and the father is now living retired at Steele City, Nebraska, the mother having been called to hier final rest four years ago.

George M. Shultz was reared on a farm in Fillmore county, and when he reached his majority he engaged in agricultural pursuits on his own account. While farming in Fron- tier county, Nebraska, he encountered the hardships and experiences incident to the years of drouth, and the next five years he spent in Wisconsin. In 1905 he came to Cus- ter county, where he followed agricultural pursuits until February, 1914, when he ac- cepted the superintendency of Custer County Farm, where he and his wife, without any previous experience, have established an en- viable reputation in managing the 160-acre farm for the county's dependents. While the task is often unpleasant, yet the humanitarian spirit that prompts them to duty, enables them to render better service than if the monetary remuneration was all that was considered.

Mr. Shultz was married, in Fillmore county. Nebraska, to Miss Anna Wright, a native of Illinois, and they have four children : Lloyd, at the time of this writing, was in a training camp, preparing for duty overseas in the national army; Mildred is the wife of W. C. Robertson, a farmer on the West Table in Custer county ; Cecil was in the last draft and was subject to call for service in the great world war; and Kenneth is still under the parental roof.

Mr. and Mrs. Shultz are members of the Christian church, but as there is no place of worship of that denomination in the neighbor- hood, they attend and contribute to the sup- port of the United Brethren church at Merna.

Mr. Shultz is of German descent but is American through and through - as intrinsi- cally loyal and patriotic as was his father. who served four years and three months as a Union soldier in the Civil war.

Mr. Shultz has every reason to be proud of the showing he has made in the management of the county farm, and those in position to know are loud in their praises of the ability manifested and the service rendered by Mr. and Mrs. Shultz in the period they have had charge of the county farm - almost five years.

PHILIP H. LEININGER, who for the past twenty years has been engaged in the live-stock business at Sargent, Nebraska, is one of the pioneer settlers of Custer county and has been continuously identified with Custer interests since 1887. He is of staunch .old Ohio stock, both parents being natives of

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the Buckeye state, and he was born in Mercer county, Ohio, October 25, 1856. His father, John Leininger, was born in Stark county, and his mother, Salome (Fennig) Leininger, was born in Holmes county, that state.

John Leininger engaged in farming in Mer- cer county, Ohio, until 1885, and became a man of considerable prominence in his con- munity. For many years he served as town- ship treasurer. He led in the political coun- cils of the Democratic party party and was always considered a man of superior business judgment. In 1885 he came to Valley county, Nebraska, following the death of his first wife, in 1884, and for five years he lived at Arcadia, Nebraska. He then moved to The Dalles, in Wasco county, Oregon, and there his death occurred in 1905. He was thrice married and was the father of thirteen children. Those born to his first marriage were: Samuel, now deceased, was a farmer in Mercer county, Ohio. He married Leah Meyers. Philip H. was the second son. John died at the age of two years. William, who is a farmer near Arcadia, Nebraska, married Ella Jones ; Mary is the wife of James Sterling and they live in Idaho. George died in Indiana, at the age of twenty-two years. Jacob, who died at Town- send, Montana, married Alice Roberts, and she lives near The Dalles, Oregon. Permelia is the wife of Perry Morgan, a farmer near Portland, Oregon. Salome is the wife of Eugene Mace, a farmer near Bickleton, Wash- ington. The second marriage of John Lein- inger, was to Mary Bird and they had three children, two of whom are living - Lawrence and Martha, who live near The Dalles, Ore- gon. The third marriage was to a Mrs. Roberts and they had one son, Harley, who lives in Oregon.

Philip H. Leininger was reared on his father's farm in Mercer county, Ohio, and at- tended the district schools. It was not until 1884 that he came to Nebraska, and in the same year he homesteaded in Valley county, securing eighty acres near Arcadia, which land he subsequently developed into a valuable property. Mr. Leininger, however, has de- voted special attention to the live-stock in- dustry and in continuing and vigorously push- ing forward this business at the present time he is performing a patriotic service to his country.

Mr. Leininger was married December 24, 1889, to Hattie Austin, who died January 24. 1891. They had one son, Clyde, who died at the age of seven months. The second mar- riage of Mr. Leininger took place February 10, 1897, when Mrs. Delia Carter became his wife, she having had one son by her first

marriage, William Carter. He was born Feb- ruary 4, 1891, and at the time of this writing is in the national army, in training at Camp Dodge, Iowa, where he is attached to a di- vision of heavy artillery. Mr. and Mrs. Lein- inger have four children. Earl and Pearl, twins, were born October 22, 1897, the former being a druggist at Sargent, and the latter being employed in a Sargent dry goods store. Fern, who was born August 2, 1899, is a stu- dent in the Nebraska Normal School at Kear- ney, and Hattie was born January 27, 1906.

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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 92

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