USA > Nebraska > Dodge County > History of Dodge and Washington Counties, Nebraska, and their people, Volume II > Part 11
USA > Nebraska > Washington County > History of Dodge and Washington Counties, Nebraska, and their people, Volume II > Part 11
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66
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former being cashier of the Cheyenne County State Bank at Cheyenne Wells, Colorado.
Paul L. Keller was as stated an infant when his mother brought him to America. She located at first at Wayne, Nebraska, but later removed to Bloomfield, in Knox County. Paul L. attended the public schools at Bloomfield, then took a commercial course at Fremont College. In 1912 he came to Scribner and entered the Scribner State Bank as assistant cashier, seven years later, in 1919, becoming cashier, a position for which, both by talent and temperament, he is admirably fitted.
On August 20, 1919, Mr. Keller was united in marriage to Miss Magdalene Wupper, who was born in South Dakota. They have a daughter, Annette Irene. Their pleasant home at Scribner is one of great hospitality. Mr. Keller is a thirty-second degree Mason, and belongs to the Mystic Shrine and to other fraternal organizations. He has never united with any political party but is not indifferent as a citizen, on the other hand being faithful to what he believes the best interests of Nebraska and the country at large. Mr. and Mrs. Keller are members of the Lutheran Church, and Mrs. Keller is interested in many benevolent enterprises connected with the church and outside that organization.
SAMUEL A. ZAPP, secretary and general manager of the Zapp Garage, is one of the successful men of Fremont who has made his own way in life and not only has the satisfaction of knowing that he has gained a material prosperity, but that he has at the same time won appreciation from his associates for his sterling traits of character. The birth of Samuel A. Zapp took place at Chicago, Illinois, in December, 1877. He is a son of Charles and Dilomer (Greenwood) Zapp, natives of Holstein, Germany, and Canada, respectively. They were married at Chicago, and came to Nebraska about 1880, and following his arrival in this state Charles Zapp was engaged in a contracting business, although in early life he was a sailor. His death occurred in 1905, but his widow sur- vives him and makes her home with her son, Samuel A. She and her husband had three children, two of whom survive, namely: Samuel A., who was the eldest; and George W., who is a farmer of Winnebago, Nebraska. In religious faith Charles Zapp was a member of the German Lutheran Church, and his wife belonged to the Methodist Episcopal Church. His political views were such as to place him in accord with the principles of the democratic party, and he always voted its ticket. While he did not acquire any great amount of wealth, he was fairly successful, and was always highly respected.
The educational training of Samuel A. Zapp was obtained at the Emerson High School and Highland Park College of Des Moines, Iowa, and following his completion of his courses he taught school for a year. He then worked at the carpenter trade at Emerson, and did some contracting, and in 1910 came to Fremont, and opened up his present automobile business, operated as the Zapp Auto Company. In 1916 he incorporated the business under the name of the Zapp Garage, with a capital stock of $25,000, of which he has been secretary and general manager since the incorporation papers were taken out. The company sells the Dodge and Chevrolet cars.
In October, 1915, Mr. Zapp was united in marriage with Zena John- sen, who was born in Norway. They have a little daughter, Ruth Irene, who received first prize in the baby contest at Fremont, and is consid- ered as one of the most perfect babies in the country. Mrs. Zapp belongs
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to the Lutheran Church, while Mr. Zapp affiliates with the Methodist Episcopal Church. Fraternally he belongs to the Odd Fellows, in which he has passed all the chairs, the Knights of Pythias and Elks. In politics he prefers to cast his vote independently of party ties. A very hard- working man he devotes himself to his business and does not care for outside diversions, either political or social, aside from those amuse- ments in which his family can share.
IRA F. RICHARDSON. The science of osteopathy is not understood by many and is misunderstood by some so that in considering the life and work of Dr. Ira F. Richardson of Fremont, an osteopathic practitioner, it may not be out of place to state briefly the principles upon which he works. The motto used as the working creed of the modern osteopath is "God has made man's body perfect; as long as the body is normal, health will reign." Osteopaths hold that the human body contains all the remedial agents necessary for the maintenance of health, and that these curative fluids are distributed when and where needed, except when such distribution is interfered with by structural disorder. The province of the osteopath is, therefore, to restore structural harmony, so that the inherent healing power of nature may gain control, making the administration of drugs unnecessary. From its name it might be inferred that osteopathy deals only with the adjustment of the bones. This idea is erroneous. Muscles, ligaments, and the various organs of the body are included in the term structure, and in seeking to restore function, the practitioner endeavors to secure the proper adjustment of any or all of these parts to each other in regard to position, relation and size. Many kinds of mechanical treatments have been known and practiced for centuries, but the osteopathic theory, both as to the cause and the treatment of disease, differs widely from that of the older thinkers and practitioners. Instead of working blindly for results, the osteopath seeks to find an intelligent reason for the disorder, and much of his treatment is based upon well-known principles of mechanics.
Ira F. Richardson was born in Sanders County, Nebraska, in 1872, a son of George and Lizzie (Husnetter) Richardson, natives of Michigan and Iowa, respectively. They came to Nebraska, homesteaded in Sanders County, and lived there for a number of years. Later they moved to Linwood, Nebraska, where the father conducted a general store, but they are now residing at Fremont. Having been such early settlers of the state, they recall many interesting events of pioneer days. Both belong to the Congregational Church. In politics Mr. Richardson is a republican and he served as postmaster while living at Linwood.
Doctor Richardson, who is the only child of his parents, attended the schools of Linwood, Franklin Academy, and Weeping Water Academy. He then went into his father's store for a time, but having decided upon a professional career, he entered the National School of Osteopathy at Kansas City, Missouri, and was graduated therefrom in 1900, and from the S. S. Still College of Osteopathy, Des Moines, Iowa, and after a brief period, he took a course at Hahnemann Medical College, Kansas City, Missouri, and was graduated therefrom in 1903. Doctor Richardson then located at Fremont and since that time has been actively engaged in practice as an osteopath, meeting with a very grati- fying success.
In 1912 he was married to Nina Phillips, who was born on a farm in Dodge County, a daughter of Ezra Phillips. Mr. Phillips was one of the early homesteaders of Dodge County, but he and his wife are now
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living retired at Fremont. Mrs. Richardson is a member of the Chris- tian Church, but Doctor Richardson is not connected with any religious organization, although he contributes liberally to the one to which his wife belongs. He is a Knight Templar Mason, and also belongs to the Elks, of which he was exalted ruler in 1911 and 1912, and repre- sented the Fremont Lodge at the Grand Lodge at Portland, Oregon, in 1912. Doctor Richardson has also filled a number of offices in the Commandery, and both he and his wife belong to the Order of Eastern Star, and she is past matron of the Fremont Chapter of that order. In politics Doctor Richardson is a republican, but he has never entered public life, all of his interest being centered in the practice of his pro- fession. Not only as a practitioner does Doctor Richardson stand well in his community, but also as a man and citizen, his earnestness and dependability being recognized and admired, and he is justly numbered among the worth-while persons of Dodge County.
ANTHONY F. PLAMBECK is junior member of the firm of Springer & Plambeck, which conducts one of the leading general insurance agencies in the City of Fremont, and he has not only achieved prominence as one of the successful insurance men of his native city but is also a representa- tive of an honored pioneer family of Dodge County.
Mr. Plambeck was born at Fremont on the 12th of September, 1870, and is a son of Claus H. and Anna C. (Kuehl) Plambeck, who were born and reared in Holstein, Germany, where their marriage was solemnized. Utterly opposed to the rigorous military regime in his native land, Claus H. Plambeck decided to come to America, where he was assured of freedom of thought and action, as well as opportunity for the achieving of independence through personal effort. He arrived at Fremont, Nebraska, July 5, 1869, and he and his young wife were entirely without financial resources, though rich in good health, ambition and earnest purpose.
Mr. Plambeck became actively identified with farm enterprise, as one of the pioneers of Dodge County, and later he was engaged in the mercantile business at Fremont, where also he conducted a hotel for a number of years. A man of utmost integrity and superior mentality, he gained and retained the confidence and esteem of the people of Dodge County, and became influential in community affairs. He served five years as county judge, but prior to this had engaged in the insurance business at Fremont, a line of enterprise to which he continued to give his attention after his retirement from the bench of the county court and until the time of his death, in 1910, at the age of sixty-seven years. He served also as a member of the city council, was a staunch supporter of the cause of the democratic party, was affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and was a zealous communicant of the Lutheran Church, as is also his widow, who still resides at Fremont and who celebrated in 1919 the seventy-seventh anniversary of her birth. Of their fine family of fifteen children nine are living. Of these five live in Fremont of whom Anthony F. is the eldest ; Frederick is associated with the Ideal Laundry, of Fremont; Jeanette is the widow of Charles J. Johnson and resides at Fremont; Otto is a carpenter and contractor in this city; and Ernest is connected with a leading automobile garage here.
In the public schools of Fremont Anthony F. Blambeck continued his studies until his graduation in the high school, as a member of the class of 1888. Office work has engaged his attention throughout his
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entire active career, and he early gained in his father's office a thorough experience in connection with the details of the insurance business, his continuous association with which has given him authoritative knowl- edge. In 1907 he formed a partnership alliance with D. J. Springer and engaged in the general insurance business, under the present firm name of Springer & Plambeck, their agency now controlling a substantial and representative business. That Mr. Plambeck has the fullest measure of popular confidence and good will in his native city is shown by the fact that he has served continuously since 1914 as city treasurer of Fremont. His political allegiance is given to the democratic party, he is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, and he and his wife hold mem- bership in the Congregational Church.
In 1901 Mr. Plambeck was united in marriage to Mrs. Jean (Hughes) Boyd, she being a native of Carroll County, Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Plambeck have no children, but Mrs. Plambeck has by her former marriage one daughter, Jeanne Boyd, who is now a successful and popu- lar teacher of music in the City of Chicago.
WILLIAM M. SANDERS, who has been for nearly a quarter of a century in continuous service as the efficient and popular county engineer of Dodge County, and who is known as one of the representative civil engineers of this section of the state, claims the old Keystone state as the place of his nativity, and is, on the paternal side of English lineage, while on the maternal side he is of Holland Dutch ancestry, both families having early been founded in America. Mr. Sanders was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in April, 1857, and is a son of Emanuel and Barbara (Kapp) Sanders, both likewise natives of Penn- sylvania, where the former was born in 1819 and the latter in 1825. The father passed his entire life in the Keystone state, where he died in 1878. His entire active career was marked by close association with agricultural industry and he was one of the early and influential mem- bers of the Grange or the Patrons of Husbandry in his native state. He was a stalwart republican and served in various township offices as one of the influential men of his community. He was a strong abolitionist during the climacteric period culminating in the Civil war, and he employed two substitutes to serve as soldiers in that great con- flict. Both he and his wife were zealous and devout members of the United Brethren Church. Mrs. Sanders survived her husband by nearly forty years, she having come to Dodge County, Nebraska, in the early '80s and having established her home at Hooper, where she continued to reside until her death, in 1917, at the venerable age of ninety-two years. Of the eight children William M. of this review is the eldest of the three now living: Jacob B. is a merchant at Hooper, Dodge County ; and John is the manager of the grain elevator in that village.
William M. Sanders is indebted to the public schools of his native state for his early educational discipline, which included that of the high school, and he was an ambitious youth of twenty-two years when, in 1879, he came to Dodge County, Nebraska, where for a time he worked on a farm near Hooper. Prior to coming to Nebraska he had given close study to and gained practical experience in surveying, and in 1880, the year after his arrival in Nebraska, he went to the Territory of New Mexico, where he became a Deputy U. S. Surveyor in connection with government surveying service. He thus continued in government employ five years, and his work was not only in New Mexico, but also in Arizona. At the expiration of the period noted, Mr. Sanders
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returned to Dodge County, where for a time he was engaged in the contracting business at Hooper. In 1897 he was elected county engineer, and of this office he has continued the incumbent during the long inter- vening period, the while it has been within his province to do a large amount of important. surveying and other professional service for the county, his long retention of office affording the best evidence of the high estimate placed upon his ability and service. He has held also various township offices, including that of assessor, and he was for six years a member of the school board at Hooper, where he maintained his home until his removal to Fremont, the county seat. He is unwavering in his allegiance to the republican party and is well fortified in his political convictions. In addition to being county engineer at the present time he is also filling the office of highway commissioner. Mr. Sanders is actively affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, in which he has received the fourteenth degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, and both he and his wife are affiliated with the adjunct organization, the Order of the Eastern Star. Mrs. Sanders and her three younger daughters are members of the Presbyterian Church, and the eldest daughter holds membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church.
In 1882 Mr. Sanders was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth McBroom, who has the distinction of having been the first white girl born in Dodge County, where she has continuously maintained her home and remains as a popular representative of one of the old and honored pioneer families of the county. Her father, the late Hugh McBroom, here established his home in 1857, ten years before Nebraska was admitted to the Union, and he took up a tract of wild prairie land, on Clark Creek, where he developed one of the early farms of the county, both he and his wife having continued to reside in Dodge County until their death. In conclusion is given brief record concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Sanders : Lyman is assistant cashier in a bank at Ros- well, New Mexico; Boyd is manager of the Pecos Valley Light and Power Company, at Carisbad, that state; Miss Esther remains at the parental home and is employed as a skilled stenographer and bookkeeper ; Ruth likewise is at home and holds a position as stenographer in an office at Fremont; Grace is attending the public schools of Fremont; and Frances likewise is attending school in her home city.
WILLIAM J. DAVIES, M. D., has been a resident of Nebraska since he was a lad of nine years, but can claim Wales as the place of his nativity and long ancestral record, his birth having there occurred on December 31, 1862; five years later, in 1867, marked the immigration of his parents to the United States. He is a son of James and Mary (Wil- liams) Davies, and upon coming to this country the family residence was first established in Wisconsin. At Columbus, that state, the father continued to be engaged in the drug business until 1871, when he came with his family to Nebraska and engaged in the same line of enterprise at Fremont, where he continued to conduct a well-appointed drug store until his death, in 1879, at the age of forty-two years. His widow survived him by thirty years and was one of the venerable and loved pioneer women of Fremont at the time of her death, in 1909. Of the six children, the eldest is Mary, who is the wife of B. W. Reynolds, a prominent citizen of Fremont; Dr. William J., of this review, was the next in order of birth; Emily died at the age of thirty-five years; Catherine is the wife of Charles Marshall, who is engaged in the jewelry business at Fremont; Rupert A. resides at Arlington, Washington
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County ; Miss Glendora holds a clerical position in the Fremont post- office. The father was independent in politics and within the compara- tively short period of his residence in Fremont he served for a time as village clerk, long before the county seat of Dodge County had been incorporated as a city. Both he and his wife were earnest members of the Baptist Church.
Doctor Davies profited fully by the advantages afforded in the public schools of Fremont, where he was reared to adult age, and where he gained practical business experience in his father's drug store, he hav- ing been seventeen years of age at the time of his father's death. In 1883 he entered the celebrated Rush Medical College, in the City of Chi- cago, and in this institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1887, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Thereafter he was engaged in the drug business in connection with his practice until 1893, when he began the active practice of his profession in the City of Fre- mont, where he has since continued his humane mission and won marked prestige in his able service in the alleviation of human suffering and distress. Such has been his faithful stewardship that he has responded to calls with utmost self-abnegation, has endured the winter's cold, has traversed the worst roads, both night and day, and has not permitted any adverse condition to baffle him in his work. No man has completed the curriculum of Rush Medical College without coming forth admir- ably fortified for the work of his profession, but Mr. Davies has not been content to remain in statu quo but has been a close student and otherwise availed himself of every possible means of keeping abreast of the advances made in medical and surgical science. He has long con- trolled a large and remunerative practice, is one of the leading physi- cians of Dodge County and in his home City of Fremont is known for his civic loyalty and progressiveness. He has served as health officer of Fremont and is actively identified with the Dodge County Medical Society, of which he has served as president, besides which he is affiliated with the Nebraska State Medical Society, the Elkhorn Valley Medical Society and the American Medical Association. He is a democrat in political allegiance and he attends and supports the Congregational Church of Fremont, of which his wife is a zealous member.
In 1890 Doctor Davies wedded Miss Jessie Hinman, daughter of Miner H. Hinman, of whom specific mention is made on other pages of this volume. Dr. and Mrs. Davies have three children : Allen holds a position in a banking institution at Silver Creek, Merrick County ; Martha, a graduate of Nebraska State Normal School at Fremont and of the Thomas Training School in the City of Detroit, Michigan, is now a popular teacher in the schools of Republican City, Harlan County, Nebraska ; and Ruth, now Mrs. J. A. Maxwell, likewise a graduate of the State Normal School at Fremont, was an efficient teacher in the public schools at Silver Creek, Merrick County.
CHARLES C, JOHNSON. Although born on foreign soil, Charles C. Johnson was brought up and educated in this country, and in his youth imbibed the respect for American institutions, and the knowledge and patriotic spirit that has made him a loyal and valued citizen of the United States, and one of the honored and respected men of Fremont, his home city. He was born, January 19, 1869, in Denmark, which was also the birthplace of his parents, G. P. and Annie (Christensen) Johnson.
Some years after his marriage G. P. Johnson immigrated with his family to the United States, locating in Casey, Iowa, in April, 1869. He
Chas @ Johnson
1
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was there employed in railroad work for two years, when, in 1871, he came to Saunders County, Nebraska, traveling with his family in a prairie schooner. Taking up a homestead claim, he cleared and improved a farm, laboring diligently in his agricultural work until ready to retire from active pursuits, when he moved to Fremont, where he spent the closing years of his life. He was a stanch republican in politics, and a member of the Lutheran Church, to which his wife also belonged. Seven children were born of their marriage, three of whom are living, as follows: Nels, a farmer, living near Fargo, North Dakota; John, owning and occupying the parental homestead; and Charles C. of this sketch.
After leaving the rural schools of the community in which he was reared, Charles C. Johnson continued his studies in the Fremont Normal School. Leaving the home farm at the age of sixteen years, he entered the employ of the Northwestern Railroad Company, with which he remained for fifteen years, at first being a freight handler, and later being promoted through different departments to that of freight agent, a position that he resigned in 1905. Locating in Fremont, Mr. Johnson became bookkeeper for the Fremont Milling Company, of which he is now an active member. This company was incorporated with a capital of $35,000, and its plant has a capacity of 600 barrels a day, and makes and sells up to that limit, its productions being in demand throughout Nebraska and the East. During the World war some of its productions were bought by the Government, and sent over to France for the army boys. Mr. Johnson is both secretary and treasurer of the company, and is kept busily employed.
Mr. Johnson married, in April, 1894, Annie Nelson, who was born in Fremont, Nebraska, where her father, James Nelson, located on coming to this country from Denmark, his native land, and where he continued his occupation of a farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have three children, namely : Evelyn, wife of A. K. Lane of Fremont ; Stanley, who enlisted in the navy in May, 1918, and returned to Fremont in March, 1919, and is now with the Ford Company at Des Moines, Iowa; and Howard, attending the Fremont High School. Mrs. Lane was graduated from the high school, and before her marriage taught school, and Mr. Lane, who served in the navy a year, is now with Reynolds, Morrison, Rath- burn Company. Fraternally Mr. Johnson is a member of the Indepen- dent Order of Odd Fellows, and has filled all of the offices of the Lodge, Canton and Encampment. He and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a republican in politics but has never sought public office, his time and energies having been wisely devoted to his business interests, more especially since the Fremont Milling Company took over the Brown Mill, merging the two companies into one. Mr. Johnson is prominent in religious circles, being an active worker in the church, and at different times has filled the pulpit very acceptably.
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