USA > Nebraska > Dodge County > History of Dodge and Washington Counties, Nebraska, and their people, Volume II > Part 22
USA > Nebraska > Washington County > History of Dodge and Washington Counties, Nebraska, and their people, Volume II > Part 22
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HENRY J. LEE, of Fremont, is one of the few survivors of those Dodge County pioneers who arrived here about the time the American Civil war was coming to a close. Most of those who came then or somewhat later have gone. Many of them achieved only a moderate degree of success, and never reached the full benefits of early settle- ment. Henry J. Lee's career has been conspicuous not only for his residence of more than half a century in Dodge County but for the won- derful ability with which he has handled his business affairs. He is still one of the leading men of Fremont and deserves all that can be said of a man of sterling integrity and pronounced business acumen.
A son of James and Jane (Dougherty) Lee, he was born August 25, 1837, in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, and was reared there on a farm. His father, a native of Ireland, came to the United States when a young man and until after his marriage remained in New York City. Subsequently buying land in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, he improved a farm and was prosperously engaged in tilling the soil until his death while yet in manhood's prime. He became active in republican politics, holding many local offices, and both he and his wife were active members of the Baptist Church. In New York City he married Jane Dougherty, also a native of the Emerald Isle. Of their six children three are now living, Margaret Jane, a widow living at Camptown, Pennsylvania : Henry J .; and Joseph P., of Wyalusing, Pennsylvania, who although past eighty years of age runs a foundry and sells machines, having established an extensive and substantial business.
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After leaving the common schools of Bradford County, Henry J. Lee completed his early studies at the Laceyville Seminary. A young man when his father died he and his brother bought the parental home- stead and managed it successfully a number of years, teaching school in the meantime during the long winter terms, and working on the farm during seed time and harvest. He subsequently engaged in the hardware business in his native state for a year.
In 1865 imbued with the restless spirit characteristic of the Ameri- cans, Mr. Lee came to Fremont, Nebraska, and during his first year in the state freighted across the plains and during the following four years sold goods on the road. In January, 1870, he entered the hard- ware business, buying a $4,000 stock of hardware. To this he added by degrees and soon began a jobbing business on a small scale, increasing as trade demanded. The first four or five years he did most of the traveling himself, and after that put traveling representatives on the road. In 1878 he erected a large three-story and basement store build- ing, 125 by 33 feet, which then and for some years was one of the most complete hardware stores in that section of the state. He con- tinued this local business at Fremont until 1917 when he sold out. In the meantime, in 1880, with C. A. Fried, a wholesale hardware company was organized in Omaha under the name of H. J. Lee & Company, but soon changed to Lee, Fried & Company. From 1880 the Lee-Fried Hardware Company, wholesale, was operated at Omaha and continued its growth and prosperity under that name until Mr. Fried's death a few years later. The business then acquired the title of Lee, Glass, Andreesen Company, and in 1917 was changed to Lee, Coyt, Andreesen Hardware Company, and is still operated under that name. Mr. Lee owns the building, though he sold his interest in the business in 1918. This is one of the leading wholesale establishments of Omaha, with a trade territory extending over Iowa, Nebraska, the Dakotas, Colorado, Wyoming and Utah.
Mr. Lee is a stanch republican and served with credit as a member of the school board and city council and for three years on the board of county commissioners. March 16, 1869, he married Sophronia S. Ells- worth, who was born in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, April 1, 1849, daughter of Charles and Ruth Ellsworth, who were both genuine Yan- kees. Mr. and Mrs. Lee had two children, Eva L. and Myra F. Eva, widow of T. W. Miller, living with her parents, assists her father in looking after his extensive business interests and is herself a very com- petent business woman. She has three daughters, Eva Irene, Florence and Alice Miller. The daughter, Myra F., is the wife of Otto Schurman, a Dodge County citizen whose career is sketched elsewhere.
Though Mr. Lee is now eighty-three years of age he is still hale and hearty, and attends to all his private business, representing responsi- bilities of much magnitude. He was for many years past president of the First National Bank, of which he was one of the founders, until January, 1920, when he resigned. He is also a director and stock- holder in the Commercial National Bank. Mr. Lee has one of the beautiful homes of Fremont. It was built in 1891 and 1892 on the corner of Sixth and C streets.
JACOB J. KELSER, who is now living retired at North Bend, is one of the venerable and honored pioneer citizens of Dodge County and during his active career he did well his part in connection with the civic, industrial and business development and advancement of this
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county. He was born in Holmes County, Ohio, March 13, 1842, and is a son of Lewis and Margaret (Spreng) Kelser, the former a native of Alsace and the latter of the adjoining section, Lorraine, France. They were reared and educated in their native land, their home district having passed to Germany at the time of the Franco-Prussian war and later having become the stage of gigantic military operation in connection with the late World war. Lewis Kelser became a sailor in his youth and continued to follow a seafaring life until he came to the United States in 1824, his marriage having been solemnized in New York City, . where his wife had established her residence a short time previously. From the Empire State the young couple removed to Ohio, and there the father continued his active association with agricultural industry until his death in 1852, his widow having remained on their old home farm for a number of years thereafter and having been a resident of Wayne County, Ohio, at the time of her death in 1887, her religious faith having been that of the Evangelical Church and her husband having become an adherent of the democratic party after he gained citizenship in the land of his adoption. Of their fine family of thirteen children six are still living: Lena is deceased: the second child died in infancy'; Lewis, Jr., now deceased, served as a member of an Ohio regiment in the Civil war: Catherine is deceased; Frederick is a resident of the State of California; John is deceased: Philip, a retired clergyman of the Methodist Episcopal Church, resides in Medina, Ohio; Jacob J., of this sketch, was the next in order of birth : Christian, now a resident of Hermosa, California, was a member of the same regiment as was the late President William Mckinley in the Civil war; Sarah, the widow of John Shearer, resides in Ohio; Henry is a merchant at Fulton, Michigan ; and Barbara and William are deceased.
Jacob J. Kelser was reared to manhood in the old Buckeye State, where he duly availed himself of the advantages of the common schools and where he continued his association with farm industry until there came the call of higher duty, when the Civil war was precipitated on a divided nation. He forthwith showed his patriotism by enlisting as a member of Company H, Twenty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which command he continued in service three years and four months. He lived up to the full tension of the conflict between the states of the North and the South and took part in numerous important engage- ments, including the historic battles of Antietam and South Mountain. While participating in the battle of Cloyd Mountain, West Virginia, he was wounded, but he was not long incapacitated, and his service as a gallant young soldier of the Union continued during the major part of the great war. He received his honorable discharge in the City of Columbus, Ohio, and thereafter supplemented his interrupted education by attending Greensburg Seminary, in Ohio, two years. Impaired health then led him to abandon his studies and he took charge of his mother's old home farm, in Wayne County, Ohio. In 1867, however, he assumed the operation of a grain elevator at Lakeville, that state, and within the same year his marriage occurred. Thereafter he con- tinued his residence at Lakeville until 1871, when he came with his family to Dodge County, Nebraska, and took up a homestead of eighty acres, in Union Township. He reclaimed and improved this property and there continued his activities as a farmer and stock-grower for seven years, the farm having been finally sold at satisfactory profit. For fifteen years thereafter Mr. Kelser conducted a general store at North Bend, and the following ten years here found him successfully engaged
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in the real estate business, with which he continued his association until his retirement. He served several years as justice of the peace. has been unwavering in his allegiance to the republican party, is an appre- ciative and honored member of the North Bend Post of the Grand Army of the Republic, and his wife is an active member of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Kelser found his loyalty again raised to a high pitch when the nation became involved in the late World war, and he was earnest and liberal in support of the various governmental agencies advanced in furtherance of war preparation and exploitation.
November 28, 1867, recorded the marriage of Mr. Kelser to Miss Marian E. Newkirk, who was born and reared in Wayne County. Ohio, and of this union have been born six children: Grant and Emma are deceased ; Bessie is the wife of William W. Roberts, engaged in the drug business at Fremont, judicial center of Dodge County: John N. is conducting a meat market in that city; and Chauncey and Marian E. are deceased, the latter having passed away in 1914.
WILLIAM G. J. DAU. A purpose in life is as the helm of a ship for it shapes direction to the goal; it stirs ambition, arouses determination and is the mainspring of success. It is necessary for a man to have some definite aim in life for without it he stagnates. A number of men whose earlier years were spent in farming, discover this when they retire from an agricultural life and seek to find contentment in a life of leisure, for they find that they cannot adapt themselves to their new environment. Having always had something to work toward, some purpose in view with each day, the hours hang heavy on their hands, and those who are sensible, when once they realize this, do not wait, but embark in some other line, and usually succeed in it too, for back of them is that purpose which enables them to endure difficulties and hardships; take blows and rebuffs of fortune, and tolerate disappoint- ments. One of the representative and energetic men of Hooper, who, after he had terminated his experience as a farmer, opened up a garage and is now operating it, acting as agent for several well-known cars and tractors and handling accessories, and doing a fine business in all lines, is William G. J. Dau, mayor of the city.
The birth of Mr. Dau took place in Germany in 1868, and he is a son of Peter and Marguerite (Schomacher) Dau, natives of Germany, both of whom are deceased, he passing away in 1897, aged fifty-eight years, and she in 1916, aged seventy-five years. They came to the United States in 1878, and located at Fremont, Nebraska, where he obtained employment as a brick mason for seven years, and then bought a farm near Hooper, on which he carried on general farming and stockraising until his death. Of the thirteen children born to him and his wife, five survive, namely: John, who is a resident of Scribner, Nebraska, drives a car; William G. J., who is second in order of birth ; George, who is a Dodge County farmer; Ernest, who is manager of the elevator at Scribner, Nebraska; and Edward, who is living retired at Hooper. Peter Dau was a democrat after coming to this country. He and his wife belonged to the Lutheran Church and were active in it.
William G. J. Dau accompanied his parents to Dodge County, Nebraska, and assisted his father with the farm until the latter's death, after which he bought out the other heirs and continued to conduct it until 1917 when he retired to Hooper. After coming here he opened a garage which he conducts under the name of the Farmers Garage, and he is sales agent for the Nash automobiles and Nash and Reo trucks, and he carries a full line of automobile accessories.
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In 1894 Mr. Dau was united in marriage with Anna Studt, born in Iowa, a daughter of John Studt, one of the early settlers of Dodge County. Mr. and Mrs. Dau have two children, namely: Peter J., who is with his father in the garage; and Lillian, who is at home. Like his father, Mr. Dau is a democrat, and he was twice elected to the State Assembly of Nebraska, in 1915 and 1917, and served two terms. Later he was honored by being placed on his party ticket for the office of mayor of Hooper, and elected by a gratifying majority, and is the present incumbent of the chair of chief executive of his municipality. A constructive citizen, Mr. Dau has sought since he has been in office to further practical improvements, and in spite of the restrictions of the times, has been able to make considerable progress and has plans for further advancement in the near future. He is a thirty-second degree Mason, and belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America. Mrs. Dau is a member of Grace Lutheran Church of Hooper. While Mr. Dau's educational training was confined to the public schools of Dodge County, he is a very well informed man, and his advice is sought and taken by a number of his fellow citizens who recognize his sound business sense and good judgment.
FRANCIS M. CASTETTER. The Castetter family is one of the oldest and most prominent in the history of Washington County, where they have lived since almost the first dates of pioneer settlement. Many of the important interests of the family are associated with the banking house of A. Castetter at Blair, an institution that has enjoyed the highest financial standing in the county for years and in the management of which the heirs of the bank's founder are still active.
The founder of the family in Nebraska was the late Abraham Castetter, who came to Washington County about 1856. He was one of the first county clerks of the county, and for a number of years lived at De Soto. He owned and operated one of the first flour mills in that section of the state and in 1869 founded the Castetter banking house, an institution which has now rounded out a full half century of service as a factor in the business and financial community. This bank was orig- inally conducted at De Soto, and subsequently at Blair.
A son of Abraham Castetter was the late Francis M. Castetter, who was born in De Soto, Nebraska, in 1858 and died at Blair in 1912. He was reared and educated in Washington County, and as a young man became actively associated with his father in the banking business, and served as president of the bank at Blair for a number of years prior to his death. He was prosperous and a highly regarded business man, showing a keen interest in everything that concerned the welfare of his community. He was a republican in politics and a member of the Wood- men of the World.
August 5, 1884, Francis M. Castetter married Anna Catharine Noble, who during the life of her husband and since has been leader in the social affairs of her community. She is also a director of the Castetter banking house. Mrs. Castetter was born in Sharon, Canada, daughter of Hiram and Jane Ann (Thompson) Noble, also natives of Canada. Her father was a physician and surgeon, having been educated for his profession in McGill University. He practiced for several years in Canada and in 1870 moved to Onawa, Iowa, where he practiced for a decade, and about 1881 established his home at Blair, Nebraska, and devoted his professional service to that community the rest of his life. He died at eighty-two and his wife at eighty-seven, they having cele-
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brated their sixtieth wedding anniversary. Doctor Noble was a Univer- salist and his wife a Congregationalist. Mrs. Castetter, who is an active member of the Episcopal Church at Blair, is the mother of three daugh- ters. May Noble is at home. Shirley is the wife of George W. Donald- son, a business man of Omaha. Frances Marion was graduated from Brownell Hall in Omaha in 1919 and also from Lincoln School at Providence, Rhode Island.
JOHN CUSACK is one of the venerable and honored pioneer citizens of Dodge County, where he is now living retired, at North Bend, and where he formerly served as postmaster. He was born in the Province of Ontario, Canada, near the Town of Moffatt, and the date of his nativity was May 10, 1844. His parents, William and Anna (Semple) Cusack, were born in Ireland and both were residents of Ontario, Canada, at the time of their death, the father having passed away in 1879, at the age of seventy-five years, and the mother having been seventy years of age when she was summoned to the life eternal. The father was a young man when he immigrated to Canada, where he purchased land and became a successful exponent of farm industry. He was a man of pronounced views and was somewhat of a reformer in his political attitude. He was a communicant of the Catholic Church, but his wife held the faith of the Church of England, a faith represented in the United States by the Protestant Episcopal Church. William and Anna Cusack became the parents of nine children : Mary and Catherine are deceased; James is a farmer in Ontario, Canada: William remains on the old homestead farm of his father in Ontario; Alexander is identified with mining enterprise in British Columbia: John, of this sketch, was the next in order of birth; Christopher is deceased, of whom mention is found else- where in this work; Anna is the wife of Jerry Dion of North Bend, Nebraska; and Sarah is the wife of George Gallop, their home being in Ontario, Canada.
John Cusack was reared on the old home farm and is indebted to the schools of his native province for his early educational discipline. He remained with his parents until 1869, when he came to Nebraska and took up a pre-emption claim in Dodge County. He began the reclaim- ing and improving of this property, in Webster Township, but he availed himself of other means of adding to his financial resources, as shown by the fact that for nine years he served as a railroad section foreman in Dawson County. He finally sold his farm, and in 1881 he engaged in the lumber and agricultural implement business at North Bend. He continued in control of a successful business in this line about twenty years. After selling this business he devoted his attention for some time to the feeding of live stock for the market, and in 1906 he was appointed postmaster at North Bend, a position of which he continued the incumbent eight years, since which time he has lived virtually retired. He has long been a stalwart supporter of the cause of the republican party and has been influential in its affairs in Dodge County, though he has never sought office. He has, however, given effective service as a member of the Board of Education of North Bend. He and his wife are earnest members of the United Presbyterian Church, he is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and both he and his wife hold membership in the North Bend Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star.
April 22, 1872, recorded the marriage of Mr. Cusack to Miss Mary Ann Richie, who was born in Fifeshire, Scotland, December 18, 1849, a daughter of James and Anna (Burns) Richie, who came from Scotland
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to America in 1870 and forthwith established their home in Fremont, Dodge County, Nebraska, where the father purchased land and instituted the development of a farm, besides which he continued in zealous and faithful service as a layman clergyman of the Presbyterian Church and temperance worker. The parents were residents of North Bend at the time of their death. Mr. and Mrs. Cusack had five children: Anna is the wife of T. J. Castle, a banker at North Bend; Mabel C. holds a position in a bank at Cozad, Dawson County; Alice M. is the efficient and popular supervisor of the primary work in the public schools of the City of Lincoln ; Susie J. is the wife of C. P. Hord, who is engaged in the banking business at Cozad, and William James died at the age of four years.
JOHN H. GIBSON. A man of versatile talents, far-sighted and eminently capable, John H. Gibson of Blair, president of the Farmers State Bank, has been identified with the agricultural, industrial and financial interests of Washington County for many years, and is widely known in business circles throughout city and county. Of substantial Danish ancestry, he was born September 19, 1877, in Paxton, Illinois, where he lived until four years old.
His father, Hans Gibson, was born and reared in Jutland, Denmark. Immigrating to the United States when young, he secured work on a farm, and for many years was engaged in agricultural pursuits in Illi- nois, near Paxton. Accumulating money, he wisely decided to invest it in a newer country, where land was cheaper. Coming, therefore, to Nebraska in 1881, he bought a ranch near Hampton, Hamilton County, and in its management met with characteristic success, remaining upon it until 1915. In that year, still retaining the ownership of his valuable farm, he settled at Long Beach, California, where he is living retired from active business cares, enjoying to the utmost the fruits of his earlier years of toil. He is a fine example of the men who have come to this country from across the sea, and who, by diligent labor and thrift have arisen from a state of comparative poverty to one of affluence, he being worth now upwards of $100,000.
Hans Gibson married, in Paxton, Illinois, Karen Rasmussen, a native of Fyen, Denmark, and they are the parents of four children, as follows: Mary, wife of Harold B. Larson, a wealthy citizen and philanthropist of Hollywood, California, who was for many years asso- ciated with a fuel company in Racine, Wisconsin, and is now making good use of the money he there acquired, giving liberally to churches and charitable organizations; John H., of this brief sketch; Jabe B., of Norfolk, employed in the Nebraska State Bank; and Peter H., man- aging the home farm. An independent democrat in politics, the father served as road overseer eighteen years, and as a member of the local school board a number of terms. He is a member of the Woodmen, and both he and his wife are faithful members of the Danish Lutheran Church.
Obtaining his preliminary education in the rural schools, John H. Gibson took a business course in Fremont, this state, and subsequently became familiar with the rudiments of agriculture on the parental home- stead. Laboring faithfully, he acquired fame, especially as a corn husker, having husked on an average over 100 bushels of corn a day. Leaving the farm on attaining his majority, Mr. Gibson was engaged in the hard- ware business with his uncle, C. Newaman, at Hampton, this state, for seven years, and the ensuing six years again worked on the farm. Mak- ing a change of occupation and residence, he was then for four years
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assistant cashier of the Rock County State Bank at Newport, Rock County. Then, after spending a brief time in York, Nebraska, Mr. Gib- son bought an interest in the Citizens State Bank at Blair, and for five years served as assistant cashier of that institution. On November 1, 1919, he organized, in Blair, the Farmers State Bank, which has a paid up capital of $35,000, and in which he has a controlling interest, and has since served acceptably as its president, an office for which he is emi- nently qualified. This bank, although comparatively new, its charter number being 1,542, is in a highly prosperous condition, its report at the close of business on February 14, 1920, being highly satisfactory to all interested, including its officers and patrons.
Mr. Gibson married, in 1904, Miss Grace Miller, a native of Brad- shaw, Nebraska, and they are the parents of two children, Forrest, born in 1906, and Leta, four years younger than her brother. Mr. Gibson is an independent democrat in politics, but takes no active part in political affairs, his business demanding his time and attention. True to the religious faith in which he was reared, he belongs to the Danish Lutheran Church, while Mrs. Gibson is a member of the Christian Church.
JAMES A. MURRELL, retired groceryman and capitalist of Fremont, was born November 30, 1849, at Clarksville, Clinton County, Ohio. He is a son of Alexander and Amanda L. (Penquite) Murrell. The father was born in Virginia and the mother in Ohio, where they married and always lived. Mr. Murrell was a farmer in Clinton County. They had five children and those living today are : Mrs. E. J. Mooney of Duncans- ville, Illinois ; Mrs. M. E. Mail of Fremont, and James A. Murrell. A brother, G. A. Murrell, who was born January 3, 1852, and died Febru- ary 18, 1920, came to Fremont April 1, 1880. He was mayor of Fre- mont and a deputy in the office of the county clerk two terms and was then elected county clerk for two terms. He was route agent for a creamery company about Fremont for several years. James A. Murrell's parents were members of the Baptist Church and the father was a whig before he became a republican.
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