USA > Nebraska > Dodge County > History of Dodge and Washington Counties, Nebraska, and their people, Volume II > Part 25
USA > Nebraska > Washington County > History of Dodge and Washington Counties, Nebraska, and their people, Volume II > Part 25
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
O. B. WEGNER. Not only is there an immense demand for a high grade of ice cream by the retail dealers, restaurants and hotels, but from careful housewives who are recognizing the fact that this delicious article is not only the best, but also, everything considered, the most economic dessert they can furnish their families. The latter, however, are even more particular than other consumers in their requirements for a prod- uct that may be safely used as a part of the daily menu, and the manu- facturers of the commodity who are achieving the best results are those who are putting on the market a pure article. Such a concern is the one operated under the caption of The Arctic Cream Company of Fremont, of which one of the energetic officials is O. B. Wegner, a veteran of the Great war, and one of the live, young business men of Fremont.
O. B. Wegner was born at Fremont on February 17, 1891, a son of Rev. Herman and Mary (Fry) Wegner, natives of Germany and Illinois, respectively. Rev. Mr. Wegner was only a lad of eight or nine years of age when he was brought to the United States, and his parents became early settlers of Nebraska. He became a minister of the German Lutheran Church and has had pastorates in Saunders County and Wash- ington County, Nebraska, where he remained for five years, and at Fre- mont, where he was located for some time, and he is now in charge of a church of his denomination at Loveland, Colorado. Of his seven chil- dren, six are living, but O. B. Wegner is the only one of them who is a resident of Fremont. Rev. Mr. Wegner is a strong republican.
O. B. Wegner received his educational training in the grade and high schools of Omaha, Nebraska, and after completing his schooldays, engaged with the Toledo Scale Company at Omaha, and remained with
-
628
DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
this concern in that city, and also at Kansas City, Missouri, Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Duluth, Minnesota. Mr. Wegner is one of the young men of the country who entered the United States service as a member of the Seventy-Ninth Field Artillery, Seventh Division, attached to the medi- cal department, and was in France for six months, but in the service for two years. Mr. Wegner received his discharge on February 22, 1919.
Prior to going into the army, Mr. Wegner had been interested in what was then known as the Fremont Ice Cream Company. In 1918, while he was away, the company bought another plant at Sioux City, Iowa, and re-organized under the present name of The Arctic Cream Company, with a capital of $100,000. This company manufactures ice cream exclusively, and ships the product to different parts of Nebraska, South Dakota and Iowa, in addition to doing an immense trade locally. Mr. Wegner resumed his connections with this company upon his return from the war, and is devoting all of his time to his duties with rela- tion to it.
In September, 1918, Mr. Wegner was married to Allie Phillips, born near Fremont, a daughter of Ezra and Louise Phillips.
In former years Mr. Phillips was extensively engaged in farming in Dodge County, but is now retired and living at Fremont. Mrs. Wegner is a member of the Christian Church. Fremont Lodge No. 514, Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks, holds the membership of Mr. Wegner as does the Fremont Rotary Club. Like his excellent father, Mr. Wegner is a republican.
J. HOWARD HEINE. A man of keen judgment, clear-headed and far- sighted, J. Howard Heine, of Fremont, has had a varied experience in business, and as vice president of the Farmers and Merchants National Bank of Fremont is actively identified with the management of one of the substantial financial institutions of Dodge County. A son of the late John F. Heine; he was born July 20, 1873, in Philadelphia, Pennsyl- vania, of German and Scotch ancestry.
Born in Germany, June 2, 1843, John F. Heine came to America with his parents when about four years of age, settling in Pennsylvania, near Reading, where he followed his trade of an iron moulder. Coming to Nebraska, he located at Hooper, Dodge County, on July 10, 1882, and subsequently was engaged in the hardware and implement business with his brother, George F. Heine, until his death, which occurred May 24, 1919. A sound republican in politics, he held some of the local offices. During the last year of the Civil war he served in Company D, One Hun- dred and Ninety-Eighth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, taking an active part in several engagements, one of the most important having been the battle at Five Forks, and was afterwards a prominent member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and a delegate to several national conventions of the organization. His wife, whose maiden name was Sarah J. Bush, was a life-long resident of Pennsylvania, her birth occur- ring there September 12, 1850, and her death on September 16, 1881. She was a daughter of Mathew and Julia A. Bush, also natives of Penn- sylvania. Of the six children born to Mr. and Mrs. Heine, five are living, as follows : George W., in the hardware business at Hooper ; Laura G., wife of J. A. Hunker, lives on a ranch near Howell, South Dakota ; J. Howard; Ada I., of Hooper ; and Julia F., also of Hooper, Nebraska. The mother was a member of the Lutheran Church, and the father was a Catholic in religion.
629
DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
At the age of seventeen years, having completed his studies in the public schools of Philadelphia and Hooper, Nebraska, J. Howard Heine began his business life as a clerk in his father's hardware store. He subsequently accepted a position as cashier of the First National Bank of Hooper, and retained it until January, 1912. Going then to Twin Falls, Idaho, he was engaged in the orchard business a short time, and later served in the Twin Falls Courthouse as deputy county auditor, and then as deputy treasurer. In 1914, continuing in that city, Mr. Heine was elected county treasurer, and served in that capacity a year. Resign- ing the position, he returned to Hooper, and resumed his connection with the First National Bank and held its cashiership two years. Mr. Heine gave up that position to become cashier of the Farmers and Merchants Bank of Fremont, and on January 1, 1919, was elected vice president of the same institution, and has since, as vice president and cashier, had charge of the bank and its extensive financial affairs. That the bank's business has nearly doubled in quantity and value since Mr. Heine assumed its charge is proof of his ability, fidelity and wise judgment.
Mr. Heine married, September 6, 1897, Julia Farrell, a native of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, and they are the parents of three chil- dren, namely: Zita, head bookkeeper in the Farmers and Merchants National Bank of Fremont ; Comer, a senior in the Fremont High School ; and Phyllis, a sophomore in the same school. A republican in politics, Mr. Heine served for two years on the Republican State Central Com- mittee, and while living in Hooper held all of the offices within the gift of his follow townsmen. While there he organized the Hooper Stock Show Company, the Hooper Telephone Company, and the Hooper Ice Company. Fraternally Mr. Heine is a member of Fremont Lodge No. 514, Benovelent and Protective Order of Elks, and of the Knights of Columbus, which he has served as district deputy. Religiously he belongs to the Catholic Church.
HENRY A. HAUN has been a resident of Dodge County from the time of his birth, which here occurred in the year 1882, and here he has become not only a successful agriculturist but has also achieved no little promi- nence as a breeder and grower of fine Belgian draft horses and the high- est type of shorthorn cattle. His farm comprises 400 acres, is improved with good buildings of modern type, is supplied with the best of equip- ment and accessories for the furtherance of the general activities of the place, and is one of the attractive rural estates in section 2, Cotterell Township. Mr. Haun is indebted to the public schools of Dodge County and the State Normal School at Fremont for his youthful education and has been independently engaged in farm enterprise since he attained to his legal majority. He is one of the substantial and popular citizens of Cotterell Township, where he has served as a member of the school board of district No. 30, his political allegiance being given to the democratic party in national affairs but in local matters his vote being cast in support of men and measures meeting the approval of his judgment, irrespective of strict partisan lines. He and his wife are communicants of the Catho- lic Church at Ridgeley, in which village Mrs. Haun taught school prior to her marriage. Mr. Haun is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus.
In 1903 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Haun to Miss Nellie O'Connor, who likewise was born and reared in Dodge County, and who is a daughter of Matthew O'Connor. Mr. and Mrs. Haun have seven children : Helen, Floyd, Kermit J., Charlotte, Marion, Katherine and Regina. All except the two youngest of the children are attending school.
630
DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
John Haun, father of him whose name initiates this sketch, was one of the pioneer homesteaders in Dodge County, of whom a complete sketch and portrait are found on other pages of this work. He and his sons are now engaged in breeding full-blood spotted Poland-China hogs.
GRACE BALLARD. A wide-awake, brainy woman, full of vim and energy, Grace Ballard, of Blair, a successful lawyer, now serving as county attorney of Washington County, gained an almost nation-wide reputation as one of the most enthusiastic and valuable workers in the cause of equal suffrage, of which she is an ardent champion. A native of Blair, she was born August 12, 1877, a daughter of the late Martin Ballard.
Born in Kentucky, Martin Ballard received excellent educational advantages, and as a young man was admitted to the bar. Coming to Nebraska in 1869, practiced law in Blair until 1885, being quite success- ful. His health failing, he went to Chadron, Nebraska, hoping to recuper- ate, and there continued his legal work until his death, in 1889. While living in Blair, he served as county judge, and at the time of his death was county attorney of Dawes County. A lawyer of much prominence, he was financially successful, and for a number of years was in partner- ship with W. C. Walton, a well-known and popular attorney. In his political relations, he was a republican, and much interested in public affairs.
Martin Ballard married, in Millersburg, Iowa, Sarah D. Strong, who was born in Ohio four score years ago, and is now a resident of Blair, having a pleasant little home on the edge of the city. She is a woman of culture, and a worthy member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Of the four children born into her home, three are living, namely: A. N., engaged in farming at Coleman, South Dakota ; Harriet N., profitably engaged in the millinery business at Wichita, Kansas; and Grace, of whom we write.
After her graduation from the Blair High School, Miss Grace Ballard continued her studies at the Nebraska State University, in Lincoln, and at the age of eighteen years began to read law, her great ambition having been to enter the legal profession. In September, 1911, Miss Ballard entered the law department of the University of Nebraska, and at the same time secured a position with the Lincoln Safety Deposit Company, earning a salary with which she paid her college expenses. A brilliant student, she made an excellent record in her class work, and in 1914 was admitted to the bar.
An active supporter of equal suffrage, Miss Ballard went to Pennsyl- vania in the spring of 1915, and there championed the cause with good effect. In the spring of 1914 she spent four months similarly engaged in Iowa, and in January, February and March of the following year worked in Nebraska, having been one of the prominent and popular sup- porters of the cause in the state.
In May, 1918, Miss Ballard opened a law office in Blair, and in August, of that year, filed a petition for county attorney, and was sub- sequently elected by a majority of 200, an exceedingly large majority for the county. She has met with almost unprecedented success, both as a lawyer, and in her official capacity as county attorney. In 1913 she had the honor of being elected president of her class in the law school, being the first woman ever elected to that position, and she also has the dis- tinction of being one of the very few women in the United States to serve as county attorney.
race
Ballard
631
DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
HENRY W. ROGERS. Clearly defined purpose and consecutive effort in the affairs of life will inevitably result in the attaining of a due measure of success, but in following out the career of one who has attained suc- cess by his own efforts there comes into view the intrinsic individuality which made such accomplishment possible, and thus there is kindled a feeling of respect and admiration. The qualities which have made Mr. Rogers one of the prominent and successful men of Fremont have also brought him the esteem of his fellow townsmen, for his career has been one of well-directed energy, strong determination and honorable methods.
Henry W. Rogers is a native of the community now honored by his citizenship, for he was born in Fremont on May 10, 1872. He is the son of Henry W. and Catherine D. (Basler ) Rogers. Henry W. Rogers, Sr., was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1840, and his death occurred on November 30, 1916. He learned the vocation of a steam engineer and for a number of years ran an engine on the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad. Later he joined the Philadelphia fire department and he ran the first fire steamer in that department. In 1868 he came to Dodge County, Nebraska, and settled on Maple Creek, where he home- steaded a farm, on which he lived for about five years. He then moved to Fremont and was here employed for a time in setting up machinery for a harvester company, and was afterwards employed by May Brothers, wholesale grocers, for a number of years His last employment was with the Fremont Water Company, with whom he remained until the infirmi- ties of advancing years compelled his retirement from active affairs. Catherine D. Basler was born on a steamer on the Atlantic Ocean while her parents were emigrating from Germany to the United States in 1846, and her death occurred at Fremont in December, 1904. Her marriage to Henry W. Rogers occurred in Philadelphia. Her father, Jacob Basler, was but a young man when he came from Germany with his young wife and they settled in Pennsylvania. To Henry W. and Catherine D. Rogers were born six children, namely : Jacob, who is employed as engineer by May Brothers, at Fremont; Emma is the wife of Arthur Gwynn, a wealthy ranchman living near Lucerne, Wyoming; Henry W .; Katie is the wife of Charles Green, who runs the Green House at Fremont ; Lucy is the wife of Fred Lanz, of Columbus, Nebraska, an engineer on the Union Pacific Railroad, and a veteran of the United States army, having served in the Philippines and was captain of a supply company in the army during the World war: Etta is the wife of Henry Yenney, a car repairer on the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad at Fremont. The parents of these children were earnest members of the Lutheran Church and in politics the father was a democrat.
Henry W. Rogers, Jr., received his educational training in the Fre- mont public schools and the Fremont Normal School. His first employ- ment was as a newspaper carrier, by which means he was able to pay his- way through the normal school. He then went to work for the Omaha Tent and Awning Company, with whom he remained for twelve years, during which time, by faithful and conscientious work, he rose from a modest position to that of manager of the Lincoln office, where he was stationed for three years. He then traveled in the interests of this com- pany for eight years, and then for two months he served as assistant superintendent of the George B. Carpenter Company, of Chicago, the largest awning company in the world. In 1904 Mr. Rogers came to Fre- mont and organized the Rogers Tent and Awning Company, for the manufacture of tents, awnings and canvas covers of every description.
632
DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
He has been successful in this enterprise even beyond his expectations and now his company is the second largest of its kind in the State of Nebraska, their products being shipped throughout Nebraska, Kansas, Wyoming and the Dakotas. Mr. Rogers has gained a wide reputation because of the high quality of his products and during the past nine years he has supplied and handled the tents for the National Power Tractor Shows, which are exhibited in nine different states.
Fraternally Mr. Rogers is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, in which he has attained to the thirty-second degree of the Scot- tish Rite, and to the Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, being a past noble grand in the latter order. In his political faith he is a democrat. He takes a keen interest in every movement for the advancement of the community, along material, civic or moral lines, and, because of his gener- ous public spirit and his excellent personal qualities of character, he is held in deservedly high repute among his fellow citizens.
BYRON B. HAUSER, M. D. Medical science has never been stationary, but from the earliest days, advances have been made, some of which revolutionize existing theories. Specializing observation on disease have worked marvelous changes in treatment; tireless theoretic experiments have proven the truth of contentions, and only after results have been demonstrated beyond reasonable doubt, are discoveries given to the pub- lic. In the work of the past quarter of a century are to be noticed such practical advances as the development of bacteriology, the particularly successful efforts to wipe out tuberculosis, bubonic plague, cholera, diphtheria, typhoid, spinal meningitis and similar maladies, while great control has been gained over cancer and miracles performed in connection with the restoration of lost or diseased tissue during the late war. This marvelous progress has not come naturally, but is the outcome of the tireless, aggressive and self-sacrificing work of the men who have devoted themselves to the profession of medicine. One of these men whose names will always be connected with this most honored of all callings, especially in Dodge County, is Dr. Byron B. Hauser, of Hooper.
Doctor Hauser was born December 29, 1871, at Yadkinville, North Carolina, a son of Theophilus C. and Martha L. (Martin) Hauser, the former of whom was a farmer, merchant and operator of flour mills at Yadkinville. His death occurred in 1887 when he was seventy-seven years old, and his wife passed away in 1904 when she was sixty-seven. Of their children, Sidney L. died at the age of thirty-seven ; five survive : Walter C. is a farmer of Yadkinville; William A. is a farmer of Fuller- ton, North Dakota ; Charles M., who is a banker of High Point, North Carolina; Sallie is the wife of Robert Dalton, of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, a hardware merchant ; and Doctor Byron B., whose name heads this review. Doctor Hauser's father had by a previous marriage the following children: John H., who is a farmer of Yadkinville; Martha. who is the widow of Virgil Wilson, of Pfafftown, North Carolina ; and Amelia, who is the widow of Dr. Henry Wilson, of Fremont, Nebraska. A man of considerable prominence, T. C. Hauser was elected to the State Assembly of North Carolina for one term on the democratic ticket. The mother of Doctor Hauser was a Baptist, but his father did not belong to any religious organization.
Doctor Hauser attended the public schools of Yadkinville and Guil- ford College, and then secured his medical education at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Baltimore, Maryland, from which he was
633
DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
graduated in 1898. For the subsequent year Doctor Hauser was engaged in a general practice at Booneville, North Carolina, and then spent a year at Yadkinville, North Carolina, but in 1900 came west to Nebraska and located permanently at Hooper, where he has since been engaged in practice, and has built up a large and profitable connection.
In 1896 Doctor Hauser was married to Rose E. Vestal, born in North Carolina, and they became the parents of three children, namely : Byron Terrell, who is now attending Columbia University, was in the United States service during the late war, being trained at base hospital No. 49, Nebraska, and was sent overseas with that contingent and served until after the armistice was signed; Herbert S., who was also in the service, in the naval training department of the University of Nebraska, is now operating a ranch at Grant, Nebraska ; and George, who is with his brother on the ranch at Grant.
Doctor Hauser has long been an enthusiastic member of the Dodge County Medical Association, and is now serving as its president. He also belongs to the state and national medical associations, and the Elkhorn Medical Association. Both he and Mrs. Hauser are members of the Society of Friends. In politics he is a democrat. Fraternally he belongs to the Knights of Pythias, Odd Fellows, Maccabees, Woodmen of the World and Modern Woodmen of America. From the beginning of his professional career Doctor Hauser has lived up to the highest ethics of his calling, and has won and retains the confidence of the public in his skill, dependability and good judgment, and these qualities are deeply appreciated as is shown by his increasing practice and the place accorded him in his community.
HENRY WITT. One of the good country homes of Dodge County is in section 36 of Pebble Township, and its owner is also one of the high class progressive farmers of the locality, Henry Witt. His home is in a rather historic locality, at the site of what is still known by the old timers as the Town of Pebble, which was platted even before the Town of Scribner.
Henry Witt is a son of that sterling pioneer, the late John H. Witt, whose life story has been told on other pages. Henry Witt was born in Dodge County on the old homestead in 1871, and came to manhood with a good education in the local schools, and with a practical training as a farmer. He lived at home until he was twenty-five, and then began farming on his own account. Three years later he joined his brother John in the operation of the Pebble Roller Mills. They were associated in that milling enterprise for ten years and then dissolved partnership, he returning to the farm while his brother is now a miller at Lee, Nebraska. Henry Witt is proprietor of 120 acres where he lives and still handles the greater share of the work himself. He keeps good live stock and feeds practically all his crops on the place. He is a director in the Farmers Telephone Exchange and has affiliated himself with the various progressive organizations of the county. He served six years on the local school board, is an independent voter in politics and is affiliated with the Knights of the Maccabees.
In 1905 he married Miss Emma Ruff, who was born and reared in Dodge County where her father, Charles Ruff, a native of Illinois, was an early settler. Mr. and Mrs. Witt have five children: Sophie, John Henry, Elsie, Willis and Louise.
Vol. II-12
634
DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
ARTHUR K. DAME. It is well within the province of this publication to accord specific recognition to those who stand as representative figures in the various lines of professional activity in Dodge and Washington counties, and in even a cursory survey it becomes evident that Arthur K. Dame is in secure vantage place as one of the leading members of the bar of Dodge County, with residence and professional headquarters at Fremont, the judicial center of the county.
A scion of a family that was founded in New England in the Colonial period of our national history, Mr. Dame was born at Orford, New Hampshire, October 8, 1860. He is a son of Henry A. and Harriet F. (Moulton) Dame, the former of whom likewise was born at Orford, and the latter of whom was born at Lyman, that state, though their marriage was solemnized at Newbury, Vermont, their residence in the old Green Mountain state having been of comparatively brief duration. In his native town in New Hampshire Henry A. Dame died in 1879 at the age of fifty-one years, and his venerable widow now resides in the home of her son, Arthur K. of this review, she having celebrated in 1919 the eighty-first anniversary of her birth and being revered by all who have come within the compass of her gentle and gracious influence. Arthur K. is the elder of two children, and William M., who is in the railway mail service, resides in the City of Lincoln, this state. Henry A. Dame was a democrat in his political proclivities and was actively engaged in agricultural and live stock industry during virtually his entire active career. He served in various township offices and his religious faith was that of the Congregational Church. He was a son of Theodore and Lucy (Stebbins) Dame, the former of whom was born on virtually the same spot in which the son, Henry A., and the grandson, Arthur K., were born-in fact that shows that the ancestral homestead in Orford, New Hampshire, early came into the possession of the family. The fine old residence, erected in 1817 and of the beautiful Colonial type, is a spacious dwelling, with nine fireplaces, and is still in excellent preservation. Theo- dore Dame passed his entire life in New Hampshire, and he served either as sheriff or deputy sheriff of his county for more than forty years. His father, Theodore Dame, Sr., was born near Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1750, and his death occurred in 1799. He was one of those who took part in General Montgomery's historic expedition against Quebec in the Revolutionary period, and he took part also in the battles of Benning- ton and Saratoga.
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.