USA > Nebraska > Dodge County > History of Dodge and Washington Counties, Nebraska, and their people, Volume II > Part 26
USA > Nebraska > Washington County > History of Dodge and Washington Counties, Nebraska, and their people, Volume II > Part 26
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Rinaldo and Harriet (Kent) Moulton, maternal grandparents of Arthur K. Dame of this' review, likewise were natives of New Hamp- shire, where the former died in 1895, his widow having long survived him and having been a resident of Michigan at the time of her demise, in 1895. The lineage of the Dame family is traced back to staunch English origin, and the first American representatives, headed by Deacon John Dame, settled at Dover, New Hampshire, in 1627. The Moulton family also is of English origin, and Noah Moulton, Jr., great-great- grandfather of Arthur K. Dame, served as a patriot soldier in the War of the Revolution, in which he took part in the expedition against Que- bec, his father, Noah, Sr., having been killed while serving in this expedi- tion in the attack on Quebec. Col. Jacob Kent, Capt. Timothy Barron, Ensign Richard Peabody and John Tillotson were other Revolutionary patriots with whom Arthur K. Dame can claim family kinship.
Mr. Dame gained his early education in the schools of his native state, and in 1882 he was graduated in historic old Dartmouth College, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Thereafter he studied law in the
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office of the firm of Keating & Dickerman, of Muskegon, Michigan, and in 1885 he was admitted to the bar of that state. For two years there- after he was engaged in practice at Menominee, Michigan, and he then, in November, 1887, came to Fremont, Nebraska, where he has since con- tinued in the active practice of his profession and where he is now one of the veteran members of the Dodge County bar. He is a democrat in politics, and he is now serving his second term as municipal police judge of Fremont. Prior to his assuming this judicial office he had served twenty-three consecutive years as justice of the peace. In his law prac- tice he now gives his attention almost exclusively to probate business, and he has been called upon to act as attorney for a number of large and important estates in this section of Nebraska. With a broad and accurate knowledge of the science of jurisprudence, Judge Dame has contributed three valuable works to the literature of his profession. He is author of a work entitled "Probate and Administration," which was published in 1902, to which he added a supplement in 1909, the work meeting with such demand that in 1915 he issued a second edition, which has had still larger sale and which is considered a standard in the province of law which it exploits with all of authority and conciseness. In 1918 Judge Dame published another valuable work, entitled "Nebraska Inferior Court Practice," and this, too, is meeting with most favorable reception on the part of members of the bar of the state.
For fully a quarter of a century Judge Dame has maintained active affiliation with the Nebraska state organization of the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, for membership in which no citizens of the state can claim greater eligibility. He is affiliated also with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, including the Encampment, and the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Improved Order of Red Men. Though a man of engaging social qualities, he has remained a bachelor, a fact that does not in the least militate against his popularity in the county that has long represented his home.
FRANK DOLEZAL has been, save for an interval of six months passed in the State of Utah, continuously engaged in the practice of law at Fremont, judicial center of Dodge County, since the year 1881, and his high reputation in his chosen profession has so far transcended local limitation as to give him secure vantage-ground as one of the essentially representative members of the bar of the state. His success and prestige are the more pleasing to note by reason of the fact that he has been a resident of the vital West since his boyhood days and is a member of a sterling pioneer family of the State of Iowa. He controls a large and important law practice and has appeared in much notable litigation in the various courts of Nebraska, including the supreme court of the state and extending also into the federal courts.
Mr. Dolezal was born in Bohemia, January 16, 1858, and is the only child of John and Dorotha (Kubik) Dolezal, the latter of whom died in his childhood. In 1867 John Dolezal, accompanied by his son, Frank, then a lad of about nine years, immigrated to America and became a pioneer settler in Jones County, Iowa, whence he later removed to Tama County, that state, where he won substantial prosperity through his resourceful activities as a farmer and where he continued to reside until his death, at an advanced age. He contracted a second marriage after coming to the United States, and his second wife lives in Tama County, Iowa. He is survived by three children: Fannie is the wife of Joseph Hansus, a farmer in Tama County, Iowa; Bertha resides in the City of
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Cedar Rapids, that state ; and Lester remains on the old homestead farm in Tama County. The parents were Catholic people and the father was a stanch and well fortified advocate of the principles of the republican party, with which he continued active affiliation until his death.
Frank Dolezal is indebted to the public schools of Iowa for his early educational discipline, and in 1879 he completed his higher course of study in the Southern Iowa Normal Institute, at Bloomfield. On January Ist of the following year he began reading law in the office and under the effective preceptorship of the firm of Stivers & Bradshaw, at Toledo, Iowa, and his ambition was marked by the resolute purpose that enabled him to make rapid progress in his absorption and assimilation of the science of jurisprudence, with the result that he secured admission to the Iowa bar in December, 1880. In the following January he engaged in the practice of his profession at Fremont, Nebraska, where he became associated with Judge Joseph E. Frick, who had been a fellow student of law at Toledo, Iowa, but who had completed his course of technical study one year earlier than Mr. Dolezal. The firm of Frick & Dolezal built up a fine law business in Dodge County, and the professional alliance continued fifteen years. The two partners then removed to Salt Lake City, Utah, where the partnership was dissolved about six months later. Judge Frick remaining in that state and later becoming a member of its supreme court. Mr. Dolezal returned forthwith to Fremont, in 1897, and here he has continued in successful independent practice dur- ing the intervening years. He has been local attorney for the Union Pacific Railroad for thirty-five years, and his general clientage has long been of important and representative character. He is a stanch republi- can and though he has taken lively interest in party affairs he has sought no political office, virtually the only public office which he has consented to fill having been that of city attorney of Fremont. He is unswerving in his devotion to the work of his profession, and to this fact has been in large measure due the high reputation he has achieved therein. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, and is past chancellor of the Fre- mont Lodge of Knights of Pythias.
The year 1885 recorded the marriage of Mr. Dolezal to Miss Catherine Feidler, who likewise is a native of Bohemia, and immigrated directly to Nebraska. They have three children: Frank is a locomotive fireman on the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad and resides at Fremont ; Bessie is the wife of Henry Ptacek, who is engaged in the cigar business in the City of Denver, Colorado; and Miss Elsie remains at the parental home. The women members of the family are communicants of the Catholic Church.
LOUIS J. REBBE. Reared in an agricultural community and atmos- phere, and having all his early training along the lines of farming, Louis J. Rebbe adopted the tilling of the soil as his vocation when he entered upon his independent career. However, the development of his abilities and the opening up before him of opportunities for success along other lines of endeavor, have caused him to branch out into business ventures, in which he has met with the same measure of prosperity that has attended his activities in farming and stock raising.
Mr. Rebbe is one of the native sons of Dodge County, having been born here December 20, 1873, a son of Henry Rebbe, Sr., a review of whose career will be found elsewhere in this work in the sketch of Henry Rebbe, Jr. Louis J. Rebbe acquired a public school education and became his father's associate in his farming operations, remaining
MR. AND MRS. LOUIS J. REBBE
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with his parents until the father passed away. At his death he succeeded to a share of the home property, upon which he has made extensive and modern improvements, making it one of the valuable properties of the locality devoted to the industries of general farming and the raising of a good grade of live stock. As before noted, Mr. Rebbe has not confined his activities to the work of the husbandman, for business affairs know him as a shrewd, far-sighted man of affairs, capable of holding his own with others in competition, yet unquestionably honorable in all his deal- ings. He is a stockholder and vice president in the Farmers State Bank of Ames; and his interests also include the holding of stock in the Farmers Co-operative Store at Fremont, the Lion Bonding Company of Omaha, and the Superior Cement Company of Superior, Nebraska.
In 1909 Mr. Rebbe married Miss Augusta Knoell, who was born in Dodge County, Nebraska, and to this union there have been born five children : Daisy, Velma, Katherine, Louise, who died in infancy, and Henry. Mr. and Mrs. Rebbe are consistent members of the Lutheran Church, which they attend at Fremont. Fraternally Mr. Rebbe is iden- tified with the Knights of Pythias, while in political matters he takes an independent position.
FREDERIC W. BUTTON, judge of the District Court of Dodge County, was a youth when he came with his parents to Nebraska, where he com- pleted his higher academic education and where also he prepared himself for the legal profession, as a representative member of which he was engaged in active practice in the City of Fremont until his elevation to the bench of the District Court.
Judge Button was born in Grundy County, Illinois, and is a son of Charles J. and Elizabeth (Williams) Button, the former of whom was born in Lake County, Ohio, and the latter in the fine old seaport town of Swansea, Glamorganshire, Wales, she having been a girl of twelve years at the time when her parents established their home in Illinois, and her husband likewise having been a member of a pioneer family of that state. Charles J. Button continued his residence in Illinois until 1888, when he came with his family to Nebraska and established his home at Hastings, the judicial center of Adams County. He purchased a farm in that county, but continued to maintain his residence at Hastings until the time of his death, he having retired from active business even prior to coming to Nebraska and having achieved substantial prosperity through well directed industrial and business enterprise. He was a republican in politics and was influential in community affairs in Adams County, where he served a number of years as a member of the Board of County Commissioners. His religious faith was that of the Protestant. Epis- copal Church and his wife held membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church. Of the two children Judge Button, of this review, is the elder ; William F., the younger son, received the advantages of Hastings College, became a successful member of the bar of Adams County, where he served nine years as judge of the County Court, and he was one of the honored and influential citizens of Hastings at the time of his death, in 1917.
Judge Frederic W. Button acquired his early education in the public schools of his native state and after the removal of the family to Nebraska he attended Hastings College and also Fremont College, in which latter he completed both classical and scientific course and in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1896. Thereafter, in consonance with his ambition and well formulated plans, he began
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reading law in the office of a representative member of the Hastings bar, and later he continued his studies in the law department of the State University of Colorado. He was admitted to the bar of Nebraska in 1893, and in 1898 he established himself in practice at Fremont, where he has since maintained his home and where he built up a substantial and representative law business. Prior to engaging in the practice of law he had served two years as superintendent of the public schools of Harting- ton, Cedar County, and after his retirement from this position he was associated with Judge Hollenbeck in the practice of law for two years. He then, upon the election of Judge Hollenbeck to chief justice of the Supreme Court of the state, succeeded the latter upon the bench of the District Court at Fremont, his appointment to this office having been made by Governor Morehead in January, 1915, and the following year recorded his election to the office with no opposing candidate. Well fortified in the science of jurisprudence and by a judicial cast of mind, Judge Button has given a signally effective administration on the bench, and few of his decisions have met with reversal by courts of higher jurisdiction. He had been elected to a second term in the office of county attorney, but resigned this office to accept appointment to the bench on which he is now serving. His judicial district comprises the counties of Dodge, Colfax, Platte, Merrick, Nance and Boone, in each of which he holds court. He is a stanch advocate of the basic principles .of the democratic party, and his advancement and success have been won entirely through his own efforts, the while he has so directed his course as to merit and receive the unqualified confidence and respect of his fellow men. The judge is now the only representative of the imme- diate family in Nebraska, and in fact, he has no close kinsfolk. He has become the owner of a considerable amount of real estate in Fremont, including his modern and attractive residence.
The year 1895 recorded the marriage of Judge Button to Miss Lillie Ruegg, who was born in the City of Milwaukee and who was a popular piano instructor in the musical department of Fremont College at the time her future husband was a student in that institution. She is still active and is a decided success as a pianist and soloist. Mrs. Button has made a close study of ornithology and has become specially adept in discerning and interpreting the various bird songs and calls. She has achieved no little reputation in this connection and is actively identified with the Nebraska Ornithological Society, the Audubon Society in the City of Omaha and the Wilson Ornithological Society, a national insti- tution. Judge and Mrs. Button have no children. Their home is known for its gracious hospitality and is a center of much representative social activity, with Mrs. Button as its gracious and popular chatelaine.
RUTHERFORD H. HAVERFIELD owns and conducts one of the leading general merchandise stores in the vital little City of North Bend, Dodge County, and has been a resident of this county from the time of his birth. His parents here established their home within the decade following the admission of the state to the Union, and thus he can claim a due measure of inherited pioneer distinction.
On his father's old homestead farm near North Bend, this county, Rutherford H. Haverfield was born on May 23, 1878, a son of Wilson and Hannah (Griffith) Haverfield, the former of whom was born in Harrison County, Ohio, April 2, 1842, and the latter of whom was born in the State of Indiana in the same year, she having passed the closing years of her life at North Bend, where she died March 18, 1903, at the
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age of sixty-one years. Prior to coming to Nebraska Wilson Haver- field had been engaged in farm enterprise in Mercer County, Illinois, whence he came to Dodge County, Nebraska, in 1876. He purchased land not far distant from North Bend, and there became a prosperous agriculturist and stock grower. He erected on his farm a large house, with accommodations far superior to the average house of the locality and period, and in this hospitable home semi-hotel entertainment was given to many travelers who passed through the county. Wilson Haver- field remained on his farm until March, 1881, when he removed to North Bend. Here he conducted a restaurant for a time and later a hotel, which he made a popular place of entertainment of the traveling public. As a civil engineer of much practical ability he served twenty- nine years as city engineer of North Bend, where he still maintains his home, as one of the sterling pioneer citizens of Dodge County. He is a republican in politics and his wife was a devoted member of the Chris- tian Church. Of their seven children the eldest is Charles Elliott, a resident of North Bend; Kitty Louise remains with her father; James Edward, a painter by vocation, now resides in the City of New Orleans ; Lena is the wife of Frederick Herfurth, a contractor engaged in business at Fremont, judicial center of Dodge County ; Rutherford H., of this sketch, was the next in order of birth; Effie May is the wife of Ernest Hahn, county treasurer of Dodge County, at Fremont ; and Floyd S. died October 13, 1912, at North Bend.
Rutherford H. Haverfield acquired his youthful education in the public schools of North Bend, where also he gained his initial experi- ence in practical merchandising. In 1900 he opened a general store at Webster, Dodge County, where he continued the enterprise successfully until 1908, when he sold the stock and business and found a broader field of endeavor by opening his present well equipped general store at North Bend, where he has built up a substantial and profitable enterprise and is recognized as one of the progressive and representative business men of the town. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and he is serving at the present time as a member of the Board of Education of North Bend. He served as captain of the North Bend Home Guards, and is affiliated with the Woodmen of the World and the Modern Woodmen of America, in which latter he is banker of the local camp. Both he and his wife hold membership in the Christian Church.
The year 1901 recorded the marriage of Mr. Haverfield to Miss Bertha M. McClure, of Creston, Iowa, and they have six children-Lorraine, Bernice, Wilson, Donald, Stanley and Audrey. All of the children are attending the public schools of North Bend, where Lorraine and Bernice are, in 1920, students in the high school.
CHRIS L. POULSON. The little Kingdom of Denmark, small in size and population, but great in history, her people having a record second to none for courage, chivalry, prowess, the mastery of the professions and arts and the handling of business and financial affairs, has sent to Nebraska some of its best citizens, among whom may be mentioned Chris L. Poulson, who for many years was engaged in agricultural pur- suits but is now living in retirement at Blair.
Mr. Poulson was born in Denmark, January 13, 1859, a son of Nels and Christine Poulson, natives of the same country. In Denmark, Nels Poulson followed the trade of carpenter, but after coming to the United States and settling at Omaha in May, 1870, was employed for a time by
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a cooperage firm, and remained in that city for four years. Of a frugal and saving nature, while he had arrived in this country without resources, during his residence at Omaha he was able to accumulate a property of sufficient value to trade for eighty acres of land in Washington County, and in the years that followed, while he was engaged in farming, he added from time to time to his holdings that when he died, in 1914, he was the owner of a large tract of land and accounted one of the substantial men of his community. Following his death his widow moved to Blair, where she died in 1915, at the home of her son. She belonged to the Lutheran Church, as did her husband, who was a democrat in his political allegiance.
Chris L. Poulson, the only child of his parents, received his early education in the schools of his native land and was eleven years of age when he accompanied his parents to the United States. For three years following his arrival he familiarized himself with the English language through attendance at the Omaha public schools and when he laid aside his school books it was to begin work on his father's farm, on which he remained until he was twenty-two years of age. During his career as an agriculturist, Mr. Poulson remained on one farm for a period of forty- one years, during which he farmed on his own account for thirty-three years. In the working out of his unquestioned success he made the use of every opportunity that presented itself, but refused at all times to take an unfair advantage. As a result he gained a reputation for fair and honorable dealing that placed him high in the esteem of his fellow- citizens. On May 3, 1915, Mr. Poulson retired from active pursuits and moved to a comfortable modern home on Colfax Street, where he is sur- rounded by all the conveniences which are the award of a well-ordered, energetic life. He is still the owner of 240 acres of highly improved farm land in Washington County, for which he has been offered $325 an acre. How far his fortunes have advanced under the impetus of his good management and industry may be seen in the fact that he com- menced his career by buying 160 acres of school land, the lease on which he later surrendered, then buying land under the old system. Mr. Poul- son is a man well informed and well liked and belongs to Trap Boy Camp No. 1295, Woodmen of the World, of Blair. He is democratic in his political allegiance and he and the members of his family belong to the Lutheran Church.
Mr. Poulson was married May 20, 1881, to Katherine Nielsen, a native of Denmark, whose parents came to Washington County in 1880 and purchased farming land, on which they resided for a few years. Then they removed to Sioux County, Nebraska, where Mrs. Nielsen died, Mr. Nielsen then going to Nuckolls County, this state, where he passed away. The six children of Mr. and Mrs. Poulson are: Christina, who died in infancy; Nels N., who is engaged in farming in Washing- ton County ; Sorn J., who is engaged in farming with his brother ; Nelse Martin, a farmer of Washington County; Christensen, unmarried and residing with his parents ; and Carl Raymond, who enlisted in the United States Aviation Corps in November, 1918, and was in training at San Antonio, Texas, until August, 1919, since which time he has resided at Omaha.
JOHN O'CONNOR claims Dodge County as the place of his nativity and that he is not like the scriptural prophet, who was "not without honor save in his own country," is significantly shown by the fact that he served as county assessor in which he fully justified the popular confidence reposed in him. Mr. O'Connor was born in Dodge County October 27,
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1872, and is a son of Matthew and Ellen ( Martley) O'Connor, the former of whom was born in Ireland, in 1831, and the latter in the Dominion of Canada, their marriage having been solemnized in Dodge County, Nebraska. Matthew O'Connor came to Nebraska Territory about the year 1865, and he assisted in the construction of the line of the Union Pacific Railroad, while he continued in the employ of the railroad com- pany a number of years after the great transcontinental line was in operation. In 1870 he filed entry on a homestead claim in Dodge County, and this he developed into one of the productive and valuable farms of this section of the state. He continued there his activities as one of the prosperous farmers and highly esteemed citizens of the county until his death in 1896 and his venerable widow died May 26, 1920. They became the parents of six sons and three daughters, all of whom are living: John, of this review, is the eldest of the number; Retta is the wife of James F. Reddy, a prosperous farmer in Cheyenne County ; Abram is one of the substantial farmers of Dodge County; Milton, also a Dodge County farmer; Ada is a popular teacher in the public schools at Lexington, Dawson County; Alvin holds a clerical position in a clothing store at Fremont ; Irvin is a successful farmer in Dodge County ; Nellie is the wife of Henry Haun, another of the prosperous farmers of Dodge County ; and Harold, who was one of the gallant young men who represented Dodge County in the World war, he having entered service in 1917 and with his command saw eighteen months overseas, the most of this time having been passed in Germany, after the occupation of German territory by the entente allies, and his honorable discharge hav- ing been given him in September, 1919. The loved mother was a devout communicant of the Catholic Church, as was also the father, and the latter was a democrat in political allegiance.
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