USA > Nebraska > Dodge County > History of Dodge and Washington Counties, Nebraska, and their people, Volume II > Part 32
USA > Nebraska > Washington County > History of Dodge and Washington Counties, Nebraska, and their people, Volume II > Part 32
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MARTIN NELSON, the enterprising and efficient manager of the well equipped creamery of the Farmers Union Co-operative Company at Fremont, was born in Denmark, October 29, 1876, and is a son of Nels and Trine (Hendrickson) Nelson, the former of whom passed his entire life in his native land. In 1881 the widowed mother came with her eight children to the United States and established her home in Dodge County, Nebraska, where for some time she continued to. give effective service as a practical nurse, in which capacity she won the affectionate esteem of the community. Here she passed the remainder of her life and was a devout communicant of the Lutheran Church, as was also her husband,
Martins Spielson.
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the latter having been a man of superior education and having been a successful school teacher in Denmark at the time of his death. Of the eight children, seven are living: Lars is a prosperous farmer near Potter, Cheyenne County ; Dora is the widow of John Madison and resides in the City of Omaha ; Mary is the wife of John Schon, a farmer near St. Paul, Howard County; James is employed in the stockyards at Omaha ; Lena is the wife of Peter J. Lorenson, of Fremont ; Nelsena is married and now resides in Denmark; and Martin is the subject of this review.
Martin Nelson was about five years old when he came with his mother to Nebraska, and his youthful education was obtained in the rural schools of Dodge County, where also he gained early experience in con- nection with farm work. He continued to be actively identified with farm enterprise until he was nineteen years of age, when he went to California. There he learned the technical work of the creamery busi- ness, and he continued to be employed five years in western creameries- in California and Idaho, in which latter state he organized and success- fully operated a co-operative creamery. He then returned to Dodge County, where he devoted the ensuing ten years to the operation of rented farm property. He then purchased the Valentine Knoell farm, five miles northwest of Fremont, and here he has conducted successful activities as an agriculturist and stock grower since 1912. He still resides on this well improved farm, to which he continued to give a general and specially effective personal supervision, though he has had the active management of the co-operative creamery at Fremont since May 1, 1917. His thorough technical knowledge and progressive policies have contributed greatly to the success of this creamery, which bases its operations on a capital stock of $35,000 and of which he is general manager. The greater part of the high-grade butter produced at this model creamery is shipped to the eastern markets, and the business for 1919 aggregated fully $540,000. Mr. Nelson's farm comprises 160 acres, and for the property he has been offered $500 an acre. Mr. Nelson has been essentially the architect of his own fortunes, as his success has been entirely the result of his own ability and well directed efforts. He is a republican in political allegiance and he and his wife are com- municants of the Lutheran Church.
The year 1909 recorded the marriage of Mr. Nelson to Miss Marie Jeppeson, who was born and reared in Dodge County, a daughter of Jens Jeppeson, who still resides on his farm, northwest of Fremont. Mr. and Mrs. Nelson have five children: Lenta, Gladys, Leland, Marion, and Alvina.
MORRIS NIELSEN, M. D., of Blair, occupies a noteworthy position among the foremost physicians and surgeons of this section of the state, and is well worthy of representation in a work of this character. A son of Peter H. Nielsen, he was born, October 3, 1875, in Copen- hagen, Denmark, where he lived for nine years.
Born and brought up in Denmark, Peter H. Nielsen received excellent educational advantages, having studied at the National School of Technol- ogy, in Copenhagen. Learning the carpenter's trade when young, he became a master builder, and as a journeyman traveled in France and Switzerland, following his trade in different places. In 1884 he came with his family to the United States, locating in Omaha, Nebraska, where he is still a resident. Poor in pocket when he located in that city, he followed his trade steadily, and by means of industry and thrift
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accumulated some property, and is now living retired from active labor. His wife, whose maiden name was Anna C. Madsen, was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, and died, in November, 1915, in Omaha. She was a member of the Lutheran Church, to which her husband also belonged. He is a member of the Danish Brotherhood, an organization in which he takes great interest and much pleasure.
The only survivor in a family of three children, Morris Nielsen acquired his rudimentary education in the public schools of Omaha, and in September, 1893, entered the Omaha Medical College. Before com- pleting his course, he was forced, on account of lack of funds, to leave school for a time. He herded cattle, broke bronchos and freighted for a time, and later secured a position as commercial traveler for a firm from Scotland, and in that capacity visited many of the foreign countries. Returning to Omaha in 1898, he resumed his studies in the Medical Department of the University of Nebraska, and was there graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1900.
Locating in Belden, Nebraska, in that year, Doctor Nielsen remained there seven years, in the meantime building up a good practice. Going to Boston, Massachusetts, in 1907, he took a post-graduate course at Harvard University, and during the succeeding two years was asso- ciated as an assistant with Doctor Rouse, at Sioux City, Iowa. Wishing to still further fit himself for his professional work, the doctor went to Europe, and took post-graduate courses in two of the leading medical institutions of that continent, one in Berlin, and the other in Vienna. Returning to the United States, he located in Blair in the fall of 1911, and has since continued here, his practice being extensive and highly remunerative. Doctor Nielsen's work is so widely recognized that he has very little leisure, his professional duties demanding all of his time. He is a member of the American Medical Association, of the Nebraska State Medical Association, of which he is now counselor, and of the Washington County Medical Society.
Doctor Nielsen married, in 1903, Mary Nielsen, a native of Nebraska, and into their household four children have been born, namely : Morris, Jr., born in 1904: Damon Jenner, born in 1908: Vance Aubrey, born in 1910; and Jules Peter, born in 1912. Politically the doctor is a republican. Fraternally he is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he is past grand. Both he and his wife are devout members of the Episcopal Church.
WILLIAM KOYEN. Showing marked ability and skill in the man- agement of his agricultural interests, William Koyen occupies an hon- ored position among the industrious and progressive farmers of Dodge County, his well-kept farm in Elkhorn Township comparing favorably in regard to its appointments and improvements with any in the neigh- borhood. A son of Frederick and Christina Koyen, he was born, in 1875, in Wisconsin, of Danish ancestry.
Frederick Koyen, or, as the name was originally spelled Koyn, was born in Denmark, November 28, 1848, and at the age of twenty-one years immigrated to the United States. Settling in Wisconsin, he was employed in the woods, or in tilling the soil, for eleven years. Coming from there to Dodge County, Nebraska, he bought 160 acres of raw land which he improved and on that farm he remained until ready to retire from active pursuits, when he removed to town. He married in New York State, and to him and his wife, Christina Koyen, five children
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were born, of whom three are living, William, Albert, and Victor E. The wife died on the homestead aged sixty-nine years. He was an independent voter, and a member of the Danish Lutheran Church.
Coming with his parents to Dodge County in childhood, William Koyen obtained his early education in the rural schools, and in 1896 began life for himself as a farmer, renting land at first. Energetic and industrious, he toiled early and late, and as his wealth accumulated invested it wisely, and now is owner of 120 acres of rich land, on which he is successfully engaged in general farming. He has made noteworthy improvements on his place, having a modernly constructed home, and all the necessary barns and outbuildings required by a practical agricul- turist. In politics Mr. Koyen is independent, voting without deference to party lines, and in addition to having served on the local school board has been township treasurer. He was for two terms president of the Farmers' Co-operative Association, and was the first president to form a company.
Mr. Koyen married, in Fremont, Nebraska, in 1897, Louisa Stiles, who was born in Iowa, a daughter of S. F. Stiles, who settled in Fre- mont, this state, in pioneer times, and took an active and influential part in its upbuilding, and there continued to reside until his death, at the age of sixty-nine years. Mr. Stiles was city clerk for several years, and also served as chief of police, and as deputy sheriff. His widow still lives in Fremont. Mr. and Mrs. Koyen have four children, namely : Gertrude Hanson, of Fremont ; Fred; Francis; and Ward. Mr. Koyen has never joined any fraternal organization. Religiously he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
G. A. BUSHNELL. A skilled mechanic, thoroughly acquainted with all branches of the wood worker's trade, G. A. Bushnell, of Fremont, head of the Bushnell Repair Company, has built up a thriving business in connection with the painting and repairing of automobiles, and won a position of prominence in the industrial circles of this part of Dodge County. A son of Robert Lay Bushnell, he was born, July 4, 1860, in Rock County, Wisconsin, coming from honored patriotic stock, Gen. John Stark, of Revolutionary fame, having been his maternal great- grandfather.
Robert Lay Bushnell was born, reared, and married in New York State. Removing to Wisconsin, he bought land in Rock County, where he carried on general farming several years. He afterwards continued his agricultural labors in Iowa, from there going to South Dakota, where he spent the closing years of his life. He married Margaretta LeFevre who was born in New York State, and died in Mason City, Iowa. Her father, Minard LeFevre, Mr. Bushnell's maternal grand- father, was a very prominent architect, and in addition to having fur- nished the plans for forty or more of the large and prominent buildings of New York City, drew the plans for several of its noted church edifices, including those for the Holy Trinity Church on Brooklyn Heights, the wealthiest Protestant Church in the world. His designs were mainly of the Gothic style, and the Holy Trinity Church building designs were the last that he constructed. Of the eight children born of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Lay Bushnell, five are living, as follows: Mrs. Per- melia Sherman, of Mason City, Iowa; Mrs. Julia Read, of Carson, Iowa; G. A., of this sketch ; E. E., of Fremont, working for his brother in the repair shop; and Willie, an oil man in Los Angeles, California.
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Obtaining the rudiments of his education in Wisconsin, G. A. Bush- nell completed his early studies in Iowa, and subsequently learned the carriage maker and wood worker's trade in Mason City, Iowa, where he followed it for a while, from there going to Malvern, Iowa, where he continued as a carriage maker. Coming to Fremont, Nebraska, in 1890, Mr. Bushnell began working for John Bunt, in the Fremont Carriage Company, and in 1913 bought the factory, which he has trans- formed into a repair shop. From year to year he has enlarged his operations, and is now carrying on an extensive and substantial business as a painter and repairer of automobiles, repairing everything pertaining to automobiles with the exception of engine work. Having begun life for himself with no other assets than strong arms and an unlimited amount of courage, he has met with excellent success in his undertakings.
Mr. Bushnell married, October 21, 1884, Minerva Edie, who was born May 17, 1863, in Emerson, Iowa. She graduated from the public schools at the age of fifteen then entered Tabor College, of Iowa, and where she finished her education ; she was one of Iowa's successful teach- ers until lier marriage. Her parents, A. G. and Sarah (Gustin) Edie, settled in Emerson on moving, in 1849, from Ohio, their native state, to Iowa. Her father is still living on the old home place in lowa, but her mother has passed to the life beyond. Mr. and Mrs. Bushnell have two children, namely: Pearl, wife of Dalton Smith, manager of the Globe Milling Company, at Los Angeles, California ; and Ralph, who is associated in business with his father. Mr. Bushnell is a stanch republi- can in politics, and is an active and prominent member of Triumph Lodge No. 32, Knights of Pythias, of Fremont, of which he is a very prominent and active member and past chancellor commander, and which he has several times represented at the Grand Lodge. Mrs. Bushnell is past grand chief of Calanthe Temple No. 3, Pythian Sisters, of Fre- mont, and past grand chief, Nebraska, and also past supreme repre- sentative of the Pythian Sisters. She has been very active in the lodge work and has filled the highest offices in the local, state and supreme lodges.
MORRIS HORSTMAN. Well trained in modern business ways and methods, Morris Hortman is actively identified with the advancement of the mercantile affairs of Fremont, where he has built up an extensive and remunerative trade as a dealer in shoes, his genial courtesy, prompt attention to the wants of his customers, and his honesty, having won him a highly satisfactory patronage, and given him a place of influence in the community. He was born, July 9, 1874, in Germany, the birthplace, likewise, of his parents, Detlef and Catherine (Braker) Horstman.
In 1885 Detlef Horstman immigrated with his family to the United States, the land of plenty, and sometime in the '90s made his way to Nebraska. Buying a tract of land in Dodge County, near Scribner, he was there prosperously engaged in tilling the soil until his death, which occurred in 1917. A man of energy and enterprise he was very success- ful in his undertakings, acquiring a good property. He was a republi- can in politics, and a member of the Lutheran Church, to which his widow, who still lives on the old homestead, belongs. They were the parents of ten children, all of whom are living, Morris being the sixth child in succession of birth.
Having completed his early education in the Avoca, Iowa, High School, Morris Horstman then engaged in farming and during the four years that he was thus employed gained an excellent knowledge of agri-
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culture. Migrating to Nebraska, he, served as a clerk in a mercantile establishment at North Bend for seven years, and later was treasurer of Dodge County for five years, a position of responsibility and trust that he filled ably and faithfully. Locating in Fremont, Mr. Horstman estab- lished his present shoe store in 1915, and has since built up a large and flourishing business, being now one of the foremost shoe merchants in this part of Dodge County.
Mr. Horstman married, in 1901, Alvina Wickhorst, who was born in Dodge County, Nebraska, where her father, the late Jacob Wickhorst, was a pioneer agriculturist. Two children have been born of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Horstman, namely : Harold, born in 1906; and Blondell, born in 1909. Mr. and Mrs. Horstman are regular attendants of the Methodist Episcopal Church. ' Politically Mr. Horstman is an influential member of the republican party, and his popularity as a man and a citizen was clearly demonstrated when he was elected county treasurer by a large majority in a district that had been under the control of the dem- ocratic party for a full quarter of a century. Fraternally, he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
SIRENO BURNELL COLSON. A man of sterling and honest integrity and worth, possessing pronounced business acumen and ability, the late Sireno Burnell Colson was for full forty years identified with the lead- ing interests of Fremont, and while advancing his own prosperity con- tributed in no small measure toward the progress of his home city. A son of Thomas Paine Colson, he was born in Madison County, New York, February 3, 1828, being the lineal descendant of a member of the Swedish Colony that settled in New Jersey in 1700. He was also of Revolutionary stock, his grandfather, Abiah Colson, having fought in the Revolution while serving as a member of the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment, commanded by Colonel Millens.
A shoemaker by trade, Thomas Paine Colson followed that occupa- tion in New York State for many years, laboring industriously, but not making very much money. In 1859, hoping to improve his financial condition, he came with his family to Nebraska, locating in Fremont, where he remained until his death. He married Mary Rice, the descend- ant of one of the earlier families of the Empire State, and a woman of many virtues.
Brought up in Hamilton County, New York, Sireno B. Colson was a delicate child, and though an ambitious student in his boyhood, was badly handicapped by ill health. After leaving the common schools of his neighborhood, he entered Hamilton College, but on account of his physical condition, and his father's financial condition, he was unable to complete the course of study therein. Subsequently working with his father, he learned the shoemaker's trade, which he followed before coming to Nebraska, and for about six years after the family located in Fremont. Although short of stature, and slight of frame, Mr. Colson was an ambitious student, and having become proficient in the study of telegraphy, had the distinction of having been the first operator west of the Missouri River for the Atlantic and Pacific Telegraph Company, a position that he accepted in 1861.
In 1866 Mr. Colson was appointed local agent and telegraph operator at Fremont, being the first to be thus appointed by the Union Pacific Railroad Company outside of Omaha, and held the position until 1871. In 1867, with his brother-in-law, Theron Nye, as a member of the firm
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of Nye, Colson & Company, he began dealing in grain and lumber, and built up a large and lucrative business, which has continued in existence until the present time, and although the firm name has been several times changed, there has ever been a Nye at the head, Ray Nye, son of Theron Nye, the original founder of the firm, being now senior member of the present firm, known as the Nye, Schneider, Fowler Com- pany. Mr. Colson retained his interest in the extensive lumber and grain business until his death, which occurred at his home in Fremont, Septem- ber 28. 1896.
An earnest worker in the republican party, Mr. Colson was elected treasurer of Dodge County, Nebraska, in 1871, and re-elected to the same position in 1873, that having been the only public office that he ever held. He was one of the organizers of the First National Bank of Fremont, and was serving as its vice president at the time of his death. He never united with any religious organization, the only society to which he belonged being the Sons of the American Revolution. At Omaha, in the records of that society, may be found a review of the life of Mr. Colson, contained in a paper read before the society on Feb- ruary 22, 1897.
Mr. Colson married, January 21, 1868, Miss Frances I. Reynolds, who still survives him, residing in Fremont. She was born in Dansville, Livingston County, New York, in 1847. Later her family moved to Buffalo, and still later to Detroit, from whence they removed to Fremont in 1861, two brothers and a sister having preceded them. She partici- pated in the hardships and trials that attended all the pioneers, and later attended school at Brownell Hall in Omaha. She then taught school in Papillion and Fremont and also for a short time at an Indian school in Kansas, where there was an Indian insurrection which threatened to be serious but fortunately was quelled with no loss of life. She was married when 20 years of age, and was the mother of four children, the eldest dying in infancy and three still living. Paul and Burnell Colson, living in Fremont, and May Colson Knowles, residing in New York City. Mrs. Colson was formerly a member of the Episcopal Church, later joining the Congregational Church, and has long been a faithful worker for the causes of prohibition and suffrage for women.
GERHARD MONNICH. Noteworthy for his good citizenship and many excellent traits of character, Gerhard Monnich, of Hooper, a retired agriculturist, is well known throughout this part of Dodge County as a man of honor and integrity, and as one who has contributed his full share toward advancing the material interests of his community. He was born, November 23, 1854, in Germany, which was the birthplace of his parents, Tonjes H. and Beta (Havelkamp) Monnich.
Immigrating to the United States with his family, T. H. Monnich located in Dodge County, Nebraska, in 1869, coming by train as far as Fremont. Taking up a homestead claim two miles north of Hooper, he labored with true pioneer grit and courage in his efforts to clear and improve a farm, and was thereafter engaged in mixed husbandry until his death, in 1897, at the advanced age of eighty-one years. He was a man of enterprise and energy, and one of the shareholders of the Farm- ers' Company of Hooper. He was a stanch democrat in politics, and both he and his wife were Lutherans in religion. They were the parents of four children, as follows: Gerhard, of this sketch; Gesine, widow of J. H. Kuhlman, of Dodge County : Catherine, deceased ; and a child that died in infancy.
MR. AND MRS. GERHARD MONNICH
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Acquiring an excellent knowledge of the common branches of study in the district schools, Gerhard Monnich received an extended education in the agricultural arts and sciences under his father's tutelage. Choosing the occupation to which he was reared, he was prosperously employed in tilling the soil, and in raising and feeding stock, until 1903. Moving then to Hooper, Mr. Monnich has since been looking after his large land interests, being one of the large land owners of the county, owning sev- eral farms in this county and also in Scott's Bluff County, Nebraska. He is a man of good business ability, and one of the stockholders of the Farmers' Union. He is a sound republican in politics, but has never been prominent in the management of public affairs.
Mr. Monnich married, in 1903, Gesine Freese, who was born in Ger- many, August 25, 1867, and was an infant when she came to the United States with her parents, being a daughter of John D. Freese, who set- tled in Dodge County in 1869 in pioneer days. Three children have blessed their union, namely: Bertha, Henry and George, all attending school in Hooper. Mr. and Mrs. Monnich are active and worthy mem- bers of the Lutheran Church.
AUGUST WESTLIN. During a half century of residence the name Westlin has been constantly accumulating esteem and respect in Dodge County due to the energies, industry and thrifty character of those who bear that name in the agricultural community of Logan Township.
The home and farm of August Westlin, one of the progressive men of Dodge County, is in section 4 of Logan Township. He was born in the same county in 1876. His father, the late N. P. Westlin, was born in Sweden in 1835. When he was thirty-two years of age he started for the United States and came on west as far as Council Bluffs, where his first employment was on the old asylum. In 1868 he took up his homestead in Dodge County and in the fall of 1869 did the first breaking of prairie sod, using an ox team. That homestead is near the present town of Uehling.
When he departed for America Christina Nelson, whom he had learned to love and to whom he was betrothed, had remained behind, but on receiving word from Mr. Westlin that his affairs were prosper- ing she came on to this country in 1870 and they were married in Omaha. Their first home was a sod house, and in 1876 they erected a more sub- stantial frame structure, the home in which August Westlin spent his boyhood. N. P. Westlin continued his career as a.successful farmer in Dodge County until his death in 1890 and his wife passed away in 1889. They were the parents of five children : Caroline Olsen, deceased ; Albert, who was born in Dodge County and died in 1913; August ; Olaf, associated with his brother August; and Mrs. Ellen Larson, whose husband is a garage owner at Warsaw in Knox County.
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