USA > Nebraska > Dodge County > History of Dodge and Washington Counties, Nebraska, and their people, Volume II > Part 12
USA > Nebraska > Washington County > History of Dodge and Washington Counties, Nebraska, and their people, Volume II > Part 12
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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
EDWARD W. HOOKER. Ability to overcome obstacles and a deter- mination to get ahead have been characteristics which have worked to the advantage of Edward W. Hooker so that he is today one of the men of means in Dodge County and is living at Hooper retired from the exactions of business. He was born at West Hampton, Hampshire County, Massachusetts, on November 26, 1840, a son of Festus and Mary B. (Strong) Hooker, farming people of Massachusetts, and a descendant of Rev. Thomas Hooker, first minister of Hartford, Connecticut. The
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great-grandfather of Edward W. Hooker was a physician and a man of great activity, who, when over eighty years of age, pulled some of the teeth of his great-grandson, Edward. Both parents of Edward W. Hooker died in Massachusetts. Their children were as follows: Allen F., who died at the age of twenty years; Henry C., who is also deceased; Edward W., whose name heads this review; Lucy A., who is the widow of George E. Knight, resides at West Hampton, Massachusetts; Worth- ington, who is deceased, was a farmer in Massachusetts; and Charles H., who is deceased, was a farmer. Both parents were Congregationalists. After the organization of the republican party, the father espoused its principles, and upheld them the remainder of his life. At one time he was a member of the town board and was a man of considerable promi- nence in his community.
Growing up on the home farm, Edward W. Hooker, like so many of the young men of his generation, was aroused by the outbreak of war, and enlisted on July 17, 1862, in Company D, Thirty-Seventh Massa- chusetts Volunteer Infantry, being mustered into the service at Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and at once was sent to Arlington Heights, Virginia. He participated in the battles of Fredericksburg, Marye's Heights, Salem Church and Gettysburg. In 1863 his regiment was sent to New York City to enforce the draft, and then returned to the front, and Mr. Hooker was in the engagements on the Rappahannock, at Mile Run, the campaign in the Wilderness, the battles of Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg and Fort Stephens, in the latter engagement the regiment being equipped with Spencer rifles. For eighteen months Mr. Hooker was color bearer, and was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant. He brought colors from his last engagement in which he was wounded in both hands, the enemy shot at him from the side, and the flagstaff splintered in his hands, injuring both of them, but aside from this he escaped in spite of the exposed position he occupied as color bearer.
Following his return from the war Mr. Hooker worked at his trade of millwright for six years, and then in 1872 came west to Nebraska. He had a soldier's claim and homesteaded and on it carried on general farming and stock raising. The only work he has done at his trade since coming to the state was the erection of his own house on his homestead. Hardly had he managed to get things in working order than the plague of grasshoppers descended upon him and utterly destroyed his crops for several seasons so that in order to tide over he engaged in teaching school. This he was able to do very efficiently for he had been well educated in the common schools of his native place, Westfield Academy and Willison Seminary, but as soon as he was able he resumed his farm- ing and continued it until 1907 when he retired and located permanently at Hooper.
In July, 1862, Mr. Hooker was united in marriage with Jennie E. Clark, born at Elbridge, New York, January 15, 1841, a daughter of Zenas S. and Eliza Clark, natives of Massachusetts. Mr. and Mrs. Hooker became the parents of the following children : Henry C. has been postmaster of the Leigh postoffice for eight years; Edward F. was a farmer and died at the age of thirty-one; Anna W. died at the age of three years; Nellie is the wife of Chester Bridgman, a farmer and stock- man of Fairmount, Nebraska ; Charles S. died in childhood; and May married J. R. Phillips, a farmer of Maple Township. Both Mr. Hooker and his wife are devout members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a republican, and he was a member of the county board of Dodge County for six years. For many years he has been a member of Upton Post,
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Grand Army of the Republic, and enjoys meeting his old comrades. He is a stockholder in the Dodge County State Bank of Hooper, and is otherwise interested in sound investments in this region. When his country had need of his services as a soldier, he did not shirk his duty, nor has he failed to render a good account of himself ever since and it would be difficult to find a man more representative of the best and most substantial element of the county than he.
ADOLPH HAGENBAUMER. Out of nearly eighty years of his long and useful life Adolph Hagenbaumer has spent more than fifty in Dodge County, and the greater part of this time as a resident on one farm in Hooper Township, in section 24. As a farmer he has achieved much success, represented in extensive land holdings, and in every way has been substantially identified with the welfare and progress of the community.
His career has been a typical American achievement, though he is foreign born. He was born in Germany September 3, 1841, and had only a common school education in his native land. Seeking the better and broader opportunities of America he came to the United States in 1869, and came direct to Fontanelle, Nebraska. All the others of his imme- diate family remained in the fatherland. He had been brought up on a farm, and turned to agriculture as the vocation he knew most about. For about two years he was a renter, and then with limited means he bought 160 acres of prairie land. The first house in which he lived was a small shack of lumber. He was a hard worker, practiced thrift, was always a good manager, until he totaled his possessions as nearly 1,000 acres of good Nebraska soil. Most of this has since been divided among his family, and he is now able to take life at leisure, turning over the heavy responsibilities of the farm to his boys.
Mr. Hagenbaumer's first wife was Hannah Sigmann, whose two children, Henry and Fred, now live in Washington County. For his second marriage he took Charlotte Bickmier. To this union were born eight children : Annie, John, Edwin, Augusta, William, Adolph, Louise and Charles. The sons, William, Adolph and Charles, are still on the home place. Mr. Hagenbaumer looks out upon many broad acres which his diligence improved, and besides his comfortable home has a com- plete equipment of other fine buildings, making this one of the progres- sive farmsteads of Dodge County. Though he had a limited education himself he has done much to foster the cause of good schools and for four years was a member of the School Board of Washington County. He and his wife are Lutherans and he is a republican voter.
HERMAN WATERMAN. Having learned the trade of a brickmaker in his native land, and not finding there the opportunities he sought in order to develop a paying business, Herman Waterman came to the United States, accompanied by his father, and since that time has become one of the substantial men of Dodge County. The opening given him upon his arrival was not especially encouraging, but he is one of those men who sticks to anything once he has begun, and he is now reaping a well merited reward for his years of endeavor.
Herman Waterman was born in Germany April 14, 1856, a son of Herman and Marie Waterman. The former was a laborer. They had three children, namely: Fred, who is living retired at Fontanelle, Nebraska; Sophia, who is deceased; and Herman, whose name heads this review.
Vol. II-6
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After coming to the United States Herman Waterman worked in a brickyard, and then established one of his own at Fontanelle, and con- ducted it for five years, and was then connected with a similar enterprise at Scribner for another five years. In 1893 he came to Hooper and bought the brickyard which had been built by John Heimrick. At the time Mr. Waterman bought the yard from Mr. Heimrick there were four kilns, but he has so enlarged it that there are now ten kilns and the daily capacity of the plant is 50,000 brick, which are shipped to Wyoming, South Dakota, Iowa and Nebraska. This plant covers, with the land, 157 acres and the equipment is modern in every respect. The business has been incorporated, with Mr. Waterman as president, his son, Herman H. F., as secretary and treasurer, and John Edelmeier as general manager.
Mr. and Mrs. Herman Waterman became the parents of the follow- ing children : Carrie, who is the wife of Frank Wagner, a farmer, who lives near Leigh, Nebraska; Herman H. F., whose sketch appears else- where in this work: John, who is employed in his father's brickyard; Lydia, who is the wife of R. Krebell, a farmer of Dodge County ; Elbert, who is also employed in his father's brickyard; Dora, who is attending school ; the next one died in infancy, and so did the youngest ; and Rose, who was eighth in order of birth, died at the age of eighteen years. Both Mr. and Mrs. Waterman are held in high esteem in their neigh- borhood, and their children are a credit to them and to their bringing up, for they show that they have had careful and watchful parents who have tried to teach them to become useful men and women.
JAMES BALDING. For upwards of forty years a resident of Dodge County, the late James Balding of Fremont witnessed in that time many wonderful transformations in the county, the dugouts and sod houses of the early pioneers being replaced by substantial frame houses, while the hamlets of those days developed into thriving villages and populous towns. He was born July 1, 1838, in London, England, and died in Fremont, Nebraska, May 23, 1906.
His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Balding, immigrated to the United States in 1850 and settled on a farm in the vicinity of Mil- waukee, Wisconsin. They subsequently removed to Minnesota, and on the farm which they improved spent their remaining years. They reared three children, as follows: Harriet, a resident of Minnesota; Thomas, a venerable man of fourscore and four years, was for many years a stock broker in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he is now living retired from active pursuits ; and James.
Twelve years of age when he came with the family to this country, James Balding completed his early education in Wisconsin, and under his father's instructions became familiar with the various branches of agriculture. Locating in Fremont, Dodge County, Nebraska, in May, 1865, Mr. Balding established a meat market, which he operated suc- cessfully for a time, giving it up later to devote his attention to the buy- ing and selling of stock, an industry in which he found both pleasure and profit. Possessing good business ability and judgment, he accumulated a good property, including among other pieces of real estate 300 acres of valuable land lying one mile west of Fremont. He was a stanch repub- lican in politics, and served one term as councilman.
About a year after coming to Fremont, on January 1, 1867, Mr. Bal- ding married Fannie Bullock, a native of the Empire State, born December 21, 1848. Her father, Daniel Bullock, was born in New York State, and his wife, whose maiden name was Lettie Ross, was a
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native of Canada. In the fall of 1865 they came with their family to Dodge County, locating in Fremont, where for many years he was employed in carrying the mail from the postoffice to the railway station and vice versa. Of the twelve children that were born of their union three are surviving, as follows : Melissa, living in Fremont, is the widow of Edward Fuller, who was here engaged in the furniture business foi many years ; Fannie, Mrs. Balding; and Mrs. Rebecca Carter, a widow, residing in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Four children blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Balding, three of whom have passed to the life beyond. Jessie, the only child living, mar- ried Frank Fowler, president-manager of the Nye, Schneider & Fowler Company, and they have one son, James Fowler, a student in the Fre- mont Normal School. Mrs. Balding is a faithful member of the Metho- dist Episcopal Church, of which Mr. Balding was a regular attendant, and a generous contributor towards its support. Mrs. Balding, who lives alone, has a fine home at 432 West Military Avenue, where she enjoys all the comforts of life, receiving from her husband's large estate a handsome annual income.
DR. SAMUEL G. GLOVER, now deceased for many years, was one of the distinguished members of the medical profession at Arlington, where his memory is still cherished for his sympathy, his knowledge of his calling and his real humanity. He was born in Oberlin County, Ohio, on June 24, 1834, and died on November 14, 1907. He was educated in Ohio, and enlisted in the Union army from Indiana, serving for three years in a cavalry regiment and rose to be a company official.
After the close of the war he returned to Indiana and from there moved to Altoona, Iowa, and there he conducted a drug store and prac- ticed medicine. In 1871 he came to Arlington, Nebraska, where he found the conditions for which he was looking and here built up a large practice and also was interested in a drug store. Still later he identified himself with the banking business, and finally retired, living in leisure the last years of his life. He was a skilled physician and experienced druggist and acquired his medical training under Doctor Ross, one of the old-time medical practitioners of Indiana.
In March, 1874, Doctor Glover was united in marriage with Jennie Mansfield, born in Pennsylvania in 1857, a daughter of Albert and Lydia A. (Rosa) Mansfield, both of whom were natives of Pennsylva- nia, who came to Arlington in 1870 and built the first store of this city, in which Mr. Mansfield carried on merchandising for a few years, and then retired. Both he and his wife died at Arlington. Of their five children, two survive, namely: Mrs. Glover and Fred. The latter is engaged in a draying business at Arlington, Nebraska. Dr. and Mrs. Glover became the parents of two sons, namely: Guy L. Glover, who is in the confectionery and ice cream business at Arlington, married Anna Bluckett of Omaha, Nebraska, and they have one daughter, Dorothea Glover ; and Albert L., who is in the investment and loan business at Omaha, Nebraska, married Maude Miller and they have one son, Roland Glover. Mrs. Jennie Glover is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Doctor Glover was a well-known democrat, and was receiver of the land office at Valentine under President Cleveland for four years. He was a Knight Templar Mason and belonged to the Order of Eastern Star, and Mrs. Glover still holds membership in the latter order. Begin- ning their married life as poor young people with their way to make, Dr. and Mrs. Glover became people of ample means while still young
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enough to enjoy their prosperity, and in 1884 built the comfortable home Mrs. Glover now occupies at Arlington.
Doctor Glover came of English and Irish stock, his father, Joseph Glover, being a native of the former country and his mother, Eliza Glover, of the latter. They came to Nebraska during the formative period of the commonwealth, and both died at Aurora, Nebraska.
CHARLES E. ABBOTT was graduated as member of the class of 1897 in the law department of the University of Nebraska, and on the 1st of January of the following year he established his residence at Fremont, judicial center of Dodge County. Within the intervening period of nearly a quarter of a century he has here clearly demonstrated his ability as a lawyer and. counselor, and he has long controlled a substantial and representative law business, as one of the leading members of the Dodge County bar. He gave about twelve years of effective service as city attorney of Fremont and is now president of the Fremont Commercial Club, an organization of state-wide reputation for business ideals and progressive policies. Mr. Abbott is deeply appreciative of the advan- tages and attractions of his home city and county, and aside from the activities of his profession he has become closely assocated with agricul- tural industry of the county, as the owner of 600 acres of valuable and well-improved farm land. He is a stanch advocate of the principles and policies for which the republican party stands sponsor and is affil- iated with the Masonic fraternity, the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
Mr. Abbott was born at Taylorville, Illinois, on December 1, 1871, and is a son of Miles J. and Jennie (Scribner) Abbott. Miles J. Abbott had been a newspaper publisher in Illinois and in 1879 he came with his family to Nebraska and settled near Hastings, Adams County. In 1885 he moved to western Nebraska and was prominently concerned with the organization of Hayes County, and published a weekly newspaper at Hayes Center, the county seat, for twenty years. He engaged also in the practice of law and was for many years one of the most prominent and influential citizens of Hayes County, where his protracted incumbency of public office included service as county attorney and county judge.
November 28, 1900, at Fremont, was recorded the marriage of Charles E. Abbott to Miss Gertrude Sexton, daughter of Dr. Thomas C. and Emma (Peters) Sexton, her father having been a pioneer physician in Washington County, where he established his home in 1865, about two years prior to the admission of Nebraska to statehood. Dr. and Mrs. Sexton are now venerable and revered pioneer citizens of Fremont, and it is practically assured that Mrs. Sexton is now the oldest native-born citizen still residing in Dodge County. Mr. and Mrs. Abbott have two children-Katherine and Charles Wade.
WILLIAM FRIED. A man of superior business ability and tact, talented and cultured, the late William Fried was for many years actively associated with the higher interests of Fremont, whether relating to the advancement of its mercantile, industrial, financial or political prosperity, and his death was a cause of general regret, being a loss not only to his home city, but to the county and state. A native of Sweden, he was born May 20, 1841, a son of Samuel Fried, and died in Fremont, Nebraska, July 21, 1914. Samuel Fried was a well-to-do merchant in Sweden, where both he and his wife, whose name before marriage was Carrie Sanden, were lifelong residents. They were the parents of five children, none of whom are now living.
Mufried
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William Fried received excellent educational advantages in his native land, acquiring his elementary education in Wexio, and afterward attend- ing school in Stockholm. Coming when young to the United States, he continued his studies in this country, thus preparing himself for any work in which he might wish to engage. He first located in Henry County, Illinois, where three of his brothers were living, Samuel, John and Carl A. In 1863 he and his brother, Carl A. Fried, enlisted in Company I, Illinois Engineering Corps, and served two years, taking part in sev- eral engagements of the Civil war. Being discharged from the army at the close of the conflict, Mr. Fried took a commercial course of study in Albion, Michigan, and for two years thereafter served as a clerk on the Steamer Benton, plying between St. Joseph, Michigan, and Grand Haven.
In 1867 Mr. Fried and his brother, Carl A. Fried, located in Fremont, Nebraska, and there the brother, who became a prominent and success- ful business man, passed the remainder of his life, dying at the com- paratively early age of forty-four years. William Fried settled in Fremont soon after coming to Nebraska, and having secured a position with Nye, Colson & Company, continued with the firm as an employee until 1871, when he was admitted to partnership. Proving himself emi- nently capable and trustworthy, he was later made vice president of the firm, and when that firm was merged into the Nye, Schneider & Fowler Company, Mr. Fried was continued as vice president of the new organi- zation, and retained the position until his death. A man of fine business qualifications, he accumulated a large estate, leaving his family with abundant means.
Mr. Fried was a loyal republican in politics and influential in local and county and state affairs. In 1891 he was elected mayor of Fremont and served acceptably for eight years, and when, in that year, the city insisted on his retaining the position still longer, both he and his wife rebelled and he refused another re-election. He filled many positions of trust and responsibility beside that of mayor, and in 1880 served as a representative to the State Legislature. He belonged to the Grand Army of the Republic and was a member of Fremont Lodge Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Signet Chapter No. 8, Royal Arch Masons; Tabor Commandery No. 9, Knights Templar ; a Scottish Rite and also a thirty-third degree Mason. Mr. Fried owned valuable city property and had title to considerable land in Dodge County. He was a stockholder in the Fremont National Bank and in the Stockyard and Land Company, and had served as president of the Fremont Board of Trade.
Mr. Fried married, May 20, 1875, in Des Moines, Iowa, Carrie C. Lobeck, who was born in Illinois November 29, 1857, a daughter of Otto Lobeck. A native of Germany, Otto Lobeck immigrated to the United States at the age of twenty years, and located first in Henry County, Illinois, where he subsequently embarked in mercantile pursuits. Coming from there to Nebraska, he opened a real estate office in Omaha, and was there successfully engaged in business until his death. His wife, whose maiden name was Anna Erickson, was born in Sweden, and they became the parents of ten children, one of whom, Charles O. Lobeck, who served in the United States Congress for eight years, recently died in Omaha, where the larger part of his life was spent. Of the four children born of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Fried, two are liv- in, namely : William, born in 1880, is engaged in the lumber and grain business at Beemer, Nebraska, where he has an elevator; and Thyra, wife of Walter C. Jones of Fremont, a bookkeeper. Mrs. Fried is a
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member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which she is an active worker. She belongs to the Order of the Eastern Star, and is first vice president of the Eastern Star Home at Fremont. She resides at 1505 North Nye Avenue, occupying a modernly constructed brick house, her home being very pleasant and attractive.
COMMODORE PERRY MASTERS. One of the important elements in any community is that composed of men who after years of strenuous endeavor as agriculturists have reached the time of life when they feel justified in retiring from former activities and, being thus relieved from the responsibilities formerly their portion, are able to give thought and attention to civic problems with resultant good to their community. Such a man is Commodore Perry Masters of Arlington.
Commodore Perry Masters was born in Indiana on June 5, 1856, a son of Azariah and Sarah (Kepler) Masters. Azariah Masters was born in Greene County, Pennsylvania, on October 8, 1831, and he is now making his home at Arlington, Nebraska. His wife was born in DeKalb County, Indiana, on October 1, 1837, and died on May 5, 1909. They were married in Indiana on April 1, 1855.
While a resident of Indiana Azariah Masters was engaged in farming, but seeking better opportunities came west to Nebraska in 1857, and pre-empted land to which he later added more land by purchase, living on his land until about 1900, when he moved to Arlington, and since then has lived retired. For a time after his retirement he retained his farm, but later gave it to his sons. Six children were born to him and his wife, as follows: Commodore Perry, who was the first born; Alfred M., who is on his father's farm; Mrs. J. E. Brice, whose husband is a farmer and cattleman ; Bryan F., who is on the homestead; Clara V., who mar- ried J. M. Marshall, a farmer of Arlington ; and one who is deceased. Both as an Odd Fellow and democrat Azariah Masters was a well-known man.
Commodore Perry Masters was reared on a farm and attended the rural schools, and when he attained to manhood estate he naturally adopted farming as his life work and he followed an agricultural life until his retirement in 1910, at which time he moved to Arlington and here he has since lived retired. In 1914 Mr. Masters built a beautiful home at Arlington, which is one of the best in Washington County. In his religious faith he is a Methodist, and in political convictions a demo- crat. Although he has always taken an intelligent interest in everything pertaining to civic affairs he has not sought office, preferring to exert his influence from the standpoint of a private citizen.
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