USA > Nebraska > Dodge County > History of Dodge and Washington Counties, Nebraska, and their people, Volume II > Part 23
USA > Nebraska > Washington County > History of Dodge and Washington Counties, Nebraska, and their people, Volume II > Part 23
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
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
James A. Murrell secured a common school education in Ohio, and his first work was farming, although he clerked in a store before the Civil war. In 1871 he went to Mingo, Jasper County, Iowa, and bought a farm where he lived for thirteen years. In February, 1884, he came to Fremont and for almost eight years he clerked in the W. H. Turner grocery store. He went into business for himself in 1892 and continued it until 1916, when he sold and is now living in retirement.
Mr. Murrell is a member of the Board of Directors of the Fremont State Bank, and he owns stock in other banks and in the Fidelity Trust Company. When Mr. Murrell was only two years old his father died and he was thus early thrown upon his own resources, and when eleven years old he was taking care of himself. On February 17, 1876, Mr. Mur- rell married Sarah V. Rumbaugh. She was born at Lima, Ohio. Her father, G. W. Rumbaugh, once owned the county hospital farm in Allen County, Ohio.
Mr. and Mrs. Murrell have three children. Amanda Leta is the wife of Dr. J. R. Bell, an Omaha dentist : Delbert L. has a sheep ranch at Red Elm, South Dakota; and George W. owns one-half section of land at Faith, South Dakota. The latter enlisted in the World war, June 26, 1918, and after short training at Camp Funston and Camp Dodge he sailed on August 17 for France. He was in the Eighty-Eighth Division and was on the firing line the day of the signing of the armistice. He
614
DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
was almost one year in the service and was wounded by shrapnel while carrying a message on a motorcycle.
In Fremont the Murrells belong to the Methodist Episcopal Church, and the father is a Knight Templar, thirty-second degree Mason and a Shriner. He was king and high priest in the Royal Arch Masons and illustrious master in the Council, and has held all chairs as a Knight Templar. He also belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. Murrell owns a modern home in Fremont and other desirable rental property. He has been a successful business man.
RUDOLPH B. SCHNEIDER. The late Rudolph B. Schneider, one of the founders and secretary and treasurer of the Nye, Schneider Company of Fremont, was one of the biggest men this region ever produced, and his wide-reaching operations affected all this part of the state, and always along constructive lines. During his many years' residence at Fremont he not only became a towering figure in its business interests, particu- larly in the grain trade, but also attained the full measure of the popular heart and confidence of its people, and was recognized to possess in rare degree tact, courtesy, intelligence and good judgment.
Rudolph B. Schneider was born at Beardstown, Illinois, on Febru- ary 25, 1853, youngest son of B. W. and Elizabeth (Crow) Schneider. natives of Germany and Illinois, respectively. When he was twenty-five years of age B. W. Schneider came to the United States, arriving here in 1830. His death occurred in 1853 when he was forty-eight years old, he having been born in 1805. Although still in middle age when he died, he left a considerable fortune which he had accumulated through his own efforts after reaching this country, in mercantile and real estate lines. His widow died at Fremont, Nebraska, on December 12, 1884. Their children were as follows: Mrs. Anna McPherson, who lives at Fremont ; Charles W., who is a resident of Milwaukee, Wisconsin ; L. A., who is a druggist of Arlington. Nebraska ; and Rudolph B., whose name heads this review.
Until he was fifteen years old Rudolph B. Schneider attended the public schools of Beardstown, but at that time began working, and two years later came West to Fremont, Nebraska. His first employment in this city was with W. R. Wilson, a grocer, but after a couple of years he returned to Illinois, and for the subsequent five years was engaged in farming, taking charge at that time, although only eighteen, of the family affairs, both his mother and sister being widows.
About 1877 Mr. Schneider returned to Fremont, once more resuming his connections with Mr. Wilson, and during the six years that followed he made himself so useful that he was taken into partnership, the new firm becoming W. R. Wilson & Company, with headquarters at Nicker- son, Nebraska. In January, 1887, the firm of Nye, Wilson, Morehouse Company was launched, and Mr. Schneider was one of the stockholders and directors of the concern, which he had assisted in organizing. Upon the retirement of Mr. Wilson and Mr. Morehouse, the Nye, Schneider Company came into existence, of which Mr. Schneider remained secre- tary and treasurer until his death.
Mr. Schneider had other interests including large investments in the Fremont Stock Yards and Land Company, the Fremont Foundry and Machine Company and he was one of the stockholders of the First National Bank and the Fremont National Bank, the Fremont Street Rail- way and other prosperous enterprises of Fremont and Dodge County. A man of great public spirit he possessed that sense of larger responsi
RBSchneider
615
DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
bilities and broad vision which made him labor for the good of his community and he was one of the promoters and the first president of the Christian Park and Assembly Association of Fremont.
A strong republican he was very active in his party and served for several years as chairman of the county central committee. In 1889 he was chairman of the Board of Supervisors, and was on that board for a number of years. It was while he was chairman of that board that the new courthouse was erected, and as such rendered a capable service in securing the best of work and materials for the building. Mr. Schneider belonged to Centennial Lodge No. 59, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and also the Encampment and Canton of this order. He owned realty at Fremont and also at Salt Lake City, Utah.
On June 29, 1882, Mr. Schneider was united in marriage at Nicker- son, Nebraska, to Miss Isabelle D. Spangler, born in Pennsylvania, a daughter of Adam Spangler, who with their three daughters survive him. Both Mr. and Mrs. Schneider early connected themselves with the Methodist Episcopal Church, to which Mrs. Schneider still belongs. On July 26, 1913. Mr. Schneider passed away from the scene of his numerous activities, and left behind him a record for great mental resourcefulness and surprising and big achievements. He was a man who was thoroughly prepared to take advantage of the opportune moment, and was not readily deceived in men or misled as to their motives. Early in life his economic necessities were sufficiently urgent as to compel him to increase his fortune very materially, and he never lost this vigor, but was just as eager to make a success of his undertakings at the close of his career as he was in young manhood. While advancing himself, he carried others with him and not only added to their prosperity but also so firmly impressed upon them his deep and abiding faith in the ultimate reward of the homely virtues of honesty, direct diligence and unselfish loyalty to the task at stake, that they never forgot the lessons taught by his own actions.
Mr. and Mrs. Schneider became the parents of three daughters, namely : Etta Schneider Turner, widow, who resides with her mother, was in the government service during the late war and was sent overseas to France : Clara and Marguerite, who are also with their mother, went to France during the war as members of the Red Cross Canteen Depart- ment. Mrs. Schneider has a beautiful residence on Tenth Street, and she owns stock in several concerns as well as considerable realty at Fre- mont, and is one of the most charitable ladies in the county, her benefac- tions having been especially heavy while this country was at war.
WILLIAM NICHOL. It was given to the late William Nichol to render valuable service in connection with bridge construction enterprise in Nebraska and also to do his part in the furtherance of agricultural industry in this state. A man of marked ability and sterling character, he made his life count for good in its every relation, and he was one of the honored and influential citizens of North Bend, Dodge County, at the time of his death, July 11, 1913, when nearly seventy-three years of age. He served three terms as mayor of the thriving little City of North Bend, where also he gave eleven years of effective service as a member of the Board of Education. His political allegiance was accorded to the republican party and he was well fortified in his opinions concerning governmental and economic policies. He was a zealous member of the Methodist Episcopal Church at North Bend, as is also his widow, and he was a member of its Board of Trustees at the time of his death.
616
DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
A scion of the stanchest of Scottish ancestry, Mr. Nichol was born at Westminster, Province of Ontario, Canada, on November 20, 1840, and in the schools of his native province he acquired his early education, his alert mentality later enabling him to profit greatly from the lessons gained in connection with the activities of a signally busy and useful career. He was a son of Jonathan and Sadilano Nichol, both of whom were born in Scotland and the Province of Ontario, Canada, having become their place of abode upon their immigration to America. In that province Mrs. Nichol passed the remainder of her life and there Jonathan Nichol continued his activities as a farmer until he came to Nebraska and became a pioneer settler in Saunders County, where he secured land and developed a productive farm and where he continued to reside until his death, when venerable in years.
William Nichol accompanied his father on the removal to Nebraska and here he purchased railroad land, in Saunders County. A skilled carpenter and bridge builder, he traveled extensively through Nebraska for a number of years and gave his attention to the construction of high-grade bridges, as a representative of the American Bridge Com- pany. He also developed and improved his farm property, and upon his retirement from active business, in 1890, he established his home at North Bend, where he passed the remainder of his life and where his widow still resides, sustained and comforted by the companionship of friends who are tried and true.
Mr. Nichol married December 8, 1877, Miss Sarah Wilcox, who was born at Durnham, Ontario, March 10, 1848, where she was reared and educated. She was a daughter of Hiram Wilcox, also a native of Can- ada, and he came to Saunders County, Nebraska, where he homesteaded near Morris Bluff and where he died at about seventy years of age. Mrs. Nichol came to Saunders County in 1877 to her brother's and was married that same year. Mr. and Mrs. Nichol had no children, but have reared a girl who still makes her home with Mrs. Nichol. Mrs. Nichol is a member of the Methodist Church.
JOSEPH C. NEWSOM, editor and publisher of the North Bend Eagle, in the vital and progressive little City of North Bend, Dodge County, was a child of three years at the time the family home was established in this county, and thus he gained in his childhood and youth a due share of the inspiring western spirit, which he has effectively shown in his business career. Personally and through the medium of his attractive and well conducted newspaper he stands as a true apostle of progress in his field of enterprise, and has made the North Bend Eagle one of the representative newspapers of Dodge County. He is a son of Judge Joseph E. Newsom, the present postmaster of North Bend, and on other pages is given a brief record of the career and family history of his father, so that a repetition of the data is not demanded here.
Joseph C. Newsom was born at Worthington, Indiana. November 28, 1875, but he was not long permitted to breath the air of the Hoosier State, as his parents came to Nebraska in 1878 and established their home in Dodge County, where they still reside. Joseph C. Newsom received his education in the public schools of North Bend, while soon afterward he entered upon the practical apprenticeship to the printers' trade, a discipline that has consistently been pronounced, if carried to proper limits, the equivalent of a liberal education. His first experience in the "art preservative of all arts" was acquired in a printing office at North Bend, under the direction of Elmer Davis, and later he was
617
DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
employed two years in the office of the Fremont Herald, at the judicial center of his home county. Soon after his return to North Bend he purchased the plant and business of the North Bend Republican, and in 1897 consolidated with the North Bend Argus, with incidental elimina- tion of both original names and the adoption of the present title of the North Bend Eagle. Mr. Newsom has a well equipped office for the execution of both newspaper and job work, and the pages of the Eagle show the best of modern linotype compo- sition, the pages being a six-column quarto edition, published on Thursday of each week and constituting a most attractive and effective exponent of community interests. He has served as city clerk of North Bend and also as a member of the Board of Education. Within the period of the nation's participation in the World war he showed his patriotism and loyalty by leaving his family and his business and doing effective service with the Young Men's Christian Association in France. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and he and his wife hold membership in the Christian Church.
November 26, .1908, recorded the marriage of Mr. Newsom to Miss Adda M. Guttery, who was born at Brookfield, Missouri, and who was a child at the time of her parents' removal to Nebraska, the family home being established in Dodge County. Mr. and Mrs. Newsom have two children-Philip and Betty Jane.
JOHN H. C. MOELLER. An active, enterprising and practical farmer, John H. C. Moeller of Cuming Township, is an able assistant in main- taining the reputation of Dodge County as a superior agricultural and stock-raising region, his success as a husbandman being unquestioned. A son of Casper Moeller, he was born, September 22, 1885, in Dodge County, where he has always resided.
Born, bred and educated in Germany, Casper Moeller left his native land in 1859, crossing the ocean in a slow-sailing vessel, and came directly to Dodge County, Nebraska, in search of a favorable location. Homesteading a tract of land, he improved a fine farm, and was not only very successful as a farmer and stock-raiser, but attained a place of prominence and influence in the community where he lived, having served at one time as president of the Dodge County Bank, and having, also been president of the Farmers Mutual Insurance Company. Giving up active pursuits in 1908, he has since lived retired at his pleasant home in Hooper. He married Joanna Langermeyer, a native of Germany, and of their union five children were born, as follows: Henry, engaged in farming in Dodge County; Louise, wife of Rev. J. H. Hartenberger of Red Bud, Illinois; Caroline, wife of Amiel Neiborn, a farmer; Fred- ericka, wife of Emil Rink, a Dodge County farmer ; and John H. C., of whom we write. The father is an independent voter, and both he and his wife belong to St. John's Lutheran Church.
Completing the course of study in th common schools of Dodge County, John H. C. Moeller attended the Fremont Normal School, thus materially advancing his education. Working with his father, he early acquired a thorough knowledge of the modern methods of farming, and in 1908 embarked in agricultural pursuits on his own account. He has since carried on general farming extensively and prosperously, as a stock raiser, making a specialty of Poland China hogs, in the raising of which he has been very fortunate. He is also interested to some extent in other affairs, being one of the stockholders of the Hooper mill.
Vol. II-11
618
DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
Mr. Moeller married February 24, 1908, Frieda Rink, who was born in Dodge County, where her father, Jacob Rink, was a pioneer settler. Five children have been born of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Moeller, namely : Lois, Agnes, Eugene, Elhardt and Etta May. Independent in his political affiliations, Mr. Moeller votes according to the dictates of his conscience. Religiously he and his wife are members of St. John's Lutheran Church.
CASPER HOEGEMEYER is one of the old and honored settlers of Dodge and Washington counties, and for nearly fifty years has applied his industry as a farmer and stock raiser in Dodge County. His home is in section 36 of Cuming Township.
Mr. Hoegemeyer was born in Germany March 22, 1849, son of Casper H. and Louise (Hilker) Hoegemeyer, both of whom spent all their lives as German farmers. One other son Henry also came to Nebraska and settled in Dodge County. Casper Hoegemeyer was twenty years of age when he came to the United States in 1869, and he journeyed east by railroad as far as Council Bluffs, Iowa, and came by boat to Washington County. For a year or so he was employed as a farm hand, and in that time learned the American language and rapidly adapted himself to American ways.
Mr. Hoegemeyer in 1871 took up a homestead in Dodge County, and by much industry and thrift improved it. He has a small frame house at the beginning, and for nearly half a century has used his lands for general farming and stock raising. He has also become a stockholder and director in the Dodge County Bank of Hooper. During his long resi- dence in Dodge County Mr. Hoegemeyer has fed and fattened many carloads of livestock for the markets.
In 1873 he married Miss Anna Mary Stork, member of a well-known family of Washington County. To their marriage were born seven chil- dren : William, a Dodge County farmer; Christ, also a farmer in that county ; August, who has a farm in Burt County, Nebraska ; Casper H., a farmer of Cuming County ; George, at home ; Emma. wife of H. Heits- husen of Burt County; and Louise, wife of Emil Miller of Cuming County. The mother of these children died September 6, 1914, more than forty years after their marriage and after she had seen her sons and daughters well placed in life. Mr. Hoegemeyer and family are members of the St. John's Church. In politics he casts his ballot inde- pendently. He has been interested in the affairs of his community, par- ticularly good schools, and for a number of years was a director of District No. 16.
MRS. MARY C. DEBEL. It is a compliment worthily bestowed to say that Washington County is honored by the citizenship of her whose name forms the caption to this sketch, for she has achieved definite suc- cess through her own efforts and is discharging the duties of the office which she fills to the entire satisfaction of the voters of the county. Mary C. Debel was born at Lincoln, Nebraska, and is the daughter of C. M and Mary (Knudsen) Christensen, both of whom were born in Denmark. After coming to the United States, their respective fami- lies came to Lincoln, where their marriage occurred. Mr. Christensen was engaged in the meat business at Lincoln for some time, but later engaged in farming, to which he devoted his efforts for seventeen years. He also became interested in livestock, as a buyer and shipper, buying his animals in Blair and shipping to the Omaha market. He was suc-
Seymour A. Andner
619
DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
cessful in his business affairs and in March, 1909, became a resident of Blair, where he and his wife now reside. They are earnest members of the Lutheran Church. Mr. Christensen is a democrat in politics and fraternally is a member of the Woodmen of the World. To him and his wife were born three children, namely: Anton, who is employed as a chauffeur in New York City; Holger, who is manager of a Thompson restaurant in Chicago, and Mary C., of this sketch.
Mary C. Christensen Debel received her elementary education in the public schools, and then she attended Dana College at Blair. For a num- ber of years after leaving school she was engaged in clerical work in Blair, and in 1918 she was elected to the office of county clerk, of which she is the present incumbent. Thoroughly competent by natural ability and training for the performance of her official duties, Mrs. Debel has won the hearty commendation of all who have dealings with her office, for the promptness, courtesy and thoroughness with which the duties of the office are discharged.
On October 12, 1918, Mary C. Christensen was united in marriage with Anders C. Debel, who was born in Denmark and who is now a successful and well-known attorney at Blair and county judge of Wash- ington County, to which office he was elected in 1920. He was in the military service during the World war, though the major portion of his time was spent in training camps in California.
Mrs. Debel is a member of the Lutheran Church. Mr. Debel is a democrat in his political views and he sustains fraternal relations with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. Because of her charming per- sonality, her genuine worth and her business ability, Mrs. Debel has won and retains the sincere respect and good will of all who know her.
SEYMOUR S. SIDNER. The profession of law is peculiarly a field for men of strong personality. No other profession demands so much of personal ability and address. A lawyer cannot buy his business and cannot receive it by inheritance. Clients demand personal capability, so that underlying all must be the fundamental element of good judgment and sound principles, just as it must in all callings, and these attributes dominate Seymour S. Sidner, one of the shrewd and successful young attorneys of Fremont.
Seymour S. Sidner was born at Stillwater, New Jersey, on January 12, 1875,. a son of John and Martha (Van Horn) Sidner, both of whom were born in New Jersey, farming people who came to Dodge County, Nebraska, in 1888. They are now living in retirement at Fremont. Their children are as follows: Ida, who lives with her brother, S. S .; Sadie, who married Albert Lucas, lives in Oregon ; Kathryn Amelia, who married W. A. Yoder, a high school teacher; Seymour S., whose name heads this review; Martha, who is a teacher in the Omaha, Nebraska, public schools ; Harry J., who is a Dodge County farmer ; and Clarence, who is cashier of the First National Bank at North Bend, Nebraska. The parents belong to the Methodist Episcopal Church, and the father is a democrat in his political sentiments.
Seymour S. Sidner attended the Fremont public schools and the Fremont Normal School, and then for a year he was engaged in teach- ing school, and then studied law in the office of Judge Cartright until he was able to pass the examinations which enabled him to be admitted to the bar in June, 1899. Following this he formed a partnership with W. J. Cartright, and later the firm became Cartright, Sidner, Lee & Jones, which association is still maintained, and it is one of the strongest
620
DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
in this region, and has been connected with some very important juris- prudence in this part of the state.
Mr. Sidner was married on October 31, 1899, to Myrtle Cramer, born at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and they became the parents of four children, namely : Arthur C., John E., Seymour S., Jr:, and Robert D., the latter dying May 20, 1920, and the first two being in a college at Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Well known in Masonry, Mr. Sidner belongs to the Commandery, and is past master of Fremont Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. In politics a democrat, he was elected on his party ticket county attorney for two years, and was delegate to the demo- cratic convention in San Francisco in 1920. The Rotary Club has the benefit of his membership and he is an enthusiastic booster for Fremont and Dodge County. Both he and his wife belong to the Presbyterian Church. Some idea of the regard in which he is held by his fellow citizens is shown in his selection by them in November, 1919, as a mem- ber of the constitutional convention, for they realized that in him they would have an able representative and one who would know how to prepare the new constitution so that there would be no future disputes regarding the legality of its provisions. On June 1, 1920, he was elected president of the First National Bank.
WILLIAM H. TURNER. With the death of William H. Turner on February 23, 1920, Dodge County chronicled the passing of its oldest pio- neer citizen, one who had come into the wilderness of eastern Nebraska more than sixty years ago and had been a sharer in every phase of development from about the time Nebraska attracted the attention of eastern settlers. He was a man who kept in close touch with passing events. He came here when Nebraska was largely a country of Indians, buffalo and other wild game. The rivers and the overland trails were the only avenues of transportation. He helped build some of the pioneer railroads of the state. He saw the various advances and improvements in agriculture, the change from the nomadic life of the open range to settled agriculture, witnessed the introduction of manufactures and industry, was here when the Civil war was being fought, and saw the close of the World war, and by his individual experience could measure and appreciate the wonderful changes recorded between these wars.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.