USA > Nebraska > Dodge County > History of Dodge and Washington Counties, Nebraska, and their people, Volume II > Part 41
USA > Nebraska > Washington County > History of Dodge and Washington Counties, Nebraska, and their people, Volume II > Part 41
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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
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Mr. Parkert married, in 1909, Miss Edith S. Drayer, a native of Iowa.
WV. A. GUIDINGER, M. D. Engaged in the practice of one of the most exacting of all of the higher lines of occupation, W. A. Guidin- ger, M. D., is devoting his time and energies to his professional duties, and is meeting with gratifying success, having won an extensive patron- age, not only in Dodge, but throughout the surrounding country. A son of John G. Guidinger, Sr., he was born, June 11, 1882, in Colfax County, Nebraska, on the parental homestead.
Born in Wisconsin, John G. Guidinger, Sr., selected farming as his occupation, and in 1855 made his way to the newer country of Nebraska, where there were large tracts of Government land for sale at a minimum price. Settling in Colfax County, he cleared and improved a valuable farm, on which he lived and labored many years. Having accumulated a competency, he is now retired from active business, his home being at Hollister, California. To him and his wife, Annie G. Guidinger, eight children were born, two of whom, a son and a daughter, have passed to the life beyond, while W. A., of this sketch, and his brother John, of Fremont, are the only two sons now living in Nebraska. The mother died when but sixty-five years old.
After leaving the rural schools, W. A. Guidinger attended the Fremont Normal School four years, and subsequently entered the Chicago College of Medicine and Surgery, from which he was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Locating in Dodge in 1907, Doctor Guidinger has labored earnestly and successfully, and has made rapid strides in his professional career, being numbered among the leading physicians and surgeons of Dodge County. He has won the confidence of the general public to a marked degree, and through his recognized skill and ability has built up a large and lucrative practice.
Doctor Guidinger married, in 1906, Minnie Johnson, who was born in Appleton, Wisconsin, a daughter of James and Anna (Hansen) Johnson, her father having been a millwright. The doctor is inde- pendent in politics, casting his vote for the best men and measures regardless of party prejudices. Fraternally he belongs to the Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons, and religiously he is a Con- gregationalist.
GRANT S. REEDER, M. D. The record made by the physicians and surgeons of Nebraska stands to the credit of the profession, and the men, who, sacrificing personal interests, proffered their services to the Government, and whole-heartedly gave their time and skill to the needs of their country in time of war, deserve special consideration on the part of the public, although they are the last ones to even admit this obligation. One of these patriotic young men of the profession who went out from Dodge County, is Dr. Grant S. Reeder, of Fremont, who has achieved more than local distinction because of his specialization on children's diseases.
Doctor Reeder was born at Tipton, Iowa, on March 25, 1885, a son of John W. and Sarah E. (Lee) Reeder, both natives of Ohio. John W. Reeder came West to Iowa on October 10, 1852, and he is still living, although eighty-four years old. His wife came to Cedar County, Iowa, in 1849, and at the age of seventy-six years, is one of the oldest surviving settlers of that county. They were married in Cedar County, Iowa. Until his retirement, John W. Reeder was active as a stockman, and is
Rett Rogers
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still interested in affairs in spite of his years. After the organization of the republican party, he espoused its principles and still adheres to them. He was one of the organizers of the first free school west of the Mississippi River. For many years he has maintained membership with the Knights of Pythias. The paternal grandfather, George Reeder, was born in Pennsylvania, and came to Iowa many years ago, and died in that state. He was a circuit rider of the Methodist Church, and one of the best-known men in early days in Cedar and other counties. His farm, which he homesteaded, is now owned by Mrs. Reeder. John W. Reeder was brought up in the faith of his father, and, while not entering the ministry, has always been exceedingly active in church work and is very religious. The maternal grandfather, William Lee, was born in Virginia, from whence he moved to Ohio and later to Iowa, where he died.
Doctor Reeder attended the public schools of Tipton, and was grad- uated from the high school of that place in 1903. He then took a collegiate course at Cornell, Iowa, in which he was graduated in 1907, following which he matriculated at Rush Medical College, Chicago, Illinois, from which he was graduated in 1911, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine.
Immediately following his graduation Doctor Reeder engaged in a general practice at Kirkland, Illinois, but at the expiration of four years came to Fremont, Nebraska, arriving here in the spring of 1916, and has been engaged in the practice of his profession in this city ever since with the exception of the time he was in the army. He enlisted in July, 1918, and was discharged in July, 1919, having, during that period spent six weeks at New Haven, Connecticut, in the United States General Hospital No. 16, when he was assigned to examine the soldiers for diseases of the lungs at Camp Funston, and in the Carolinas. Still later he was placed in charge of convalescents, especially those suffer- ing from lung and heart trouble, and rendered a magnificent service to the Government and soldiers.
Doctor Reeder was married on October 4, 1911, to Wilda Chace, born at Stanton, Nebraska. They have one son, Robert Chace Reeder, who was born on August 9, 1912, and one daughter, Jane Chace Reeder, who was born on February 13, 1920. Both Doctor Reeder and his wife belong to the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of America. While he votes the republican ticket, he is not in any sense a politician, devoting himself to his profession. In connection with it he maintains membership with the Dodge County Medical Society, the Nebraska State Medical Society and the American Medical Association, and is secretary and treasurer of the county organization.
Possessing as he does the personality which wins the confidence and affection of children, Doctor Reeder is making considerable strides for- ward in his special line, and patients are brought to him from a wide territory. Conscientious as well as skilled, he gives to each little one careful thought and attention, and his success has been really remarkable, not only in the curing of maladies, but the prevention of disease and the stamping out of conditions which might, if left, terminate in serious results.
ELIPHUS HIBBARD ROGERS. Born in humble circumstances, and reared in a school of stern experience, the late Eliphus Hibbard Rogers, an early pioneer of Fremont, was a man of strong personality and remarkable force of character, and through persistent effort overcame
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the almost seemingly insurmountable obstacles constantly appearing in his pathway, obtaining positions of influence in business, political and religious circles, and becoming prominent in the public affairs of our country. A native of New York State, he was born, January 12, 1830, in Litchfield, Herkimer County, a son of Rev. Lucius Carey and Fannie (Locke) Rogers, his father, a minister in the Methodist Episcopal denomination, having belonged to the Oneida, New York, Conference.
Manifesting a decided thirst for knowledge very early in his life, Eliphus Hibbard Rogers was sent to a school resembling in some respects the kindergarten schools of today, where he was regarded as an infant prodigy, having been especially brilliant in declamation. He continued his education in the different places in which his father was located, taking a special course in a select school at Springfield, Otsego County. In the summer of 1842, he entered the employ of Spencer Field, a tavern keeper, who owned a large farm, and in addition to raising con- siderable stock, fed all of the cattle passing through the place to the Eastern markets, and although it was a hard position for a boy of his age he stuck to it for quite a while.
Going to Lowville, New York, in the spring of 1844, he became a clerk in the general store of W. L. Easton, but was forced ere long to give up the position on account of ill health. At the age of sixteen years he began teaching school, and later was again employed for a time as a clerk. Desirous of further advancing his education, this courageous lad subsequently journeyed by stage over the muddy spring roads to Cazenovia, New York, and there pursued his studies at the Cazenovia Seminary, in the meanwhile supporting himself and paying his college expenses, working at any honorable employment that he could find.
Going then to Columbus, Pennsylvania, Mr. Rogers accepted a posi- tion as bookkeeper in the store of his cousin, Enfield Leach, but the long hours and his close application to the work proved too much for his physical health and he resumed his professional labors as a teacher, teaching winters and farming summers. Marrying soon after attaining his majority, Mr. Rogers bought a small farm, partly on credit, and there he and his brave young wife spent two long years, making barely enough money to live on and pay the interest on the mortgage. Stricken with the Western fever in the spring of 1854, he sold his farm, receiv- ing $1,500 in cash after the mortgage was paid, and journeyed to Jo Daviess County, Illinois, where he worked as a farm hand for his uncle, J. H. Rogers, while his wife assisted her aunt in the house.
Subsequently moving to Wisconsin, Mr. Rogers purchased eighty acres of land in Jefferson County, and in trying to improve it used the oxen with which he and his wife had made the trip from Illinois. At that time his particular friend, E. H. Barnard, was employed in a real estate office at Des Moines, Iowa, and through a lively correspondence the two men were planning great things for their future. In the summer of 1856 Mr. Barnard located in Omaha, Nebraska, and in October of that year he was joined by Mr. Rogers. They had intended to there establish themselves in the real estate business, but Mr. Barnard, who was then recovering from an attack of typhoid fever, had laid out a new town on the Platte River, about fifty miles northwest of Omaha, and was going to settle there. Mr. Rogers decided to remain in Omaha during the winter, and in order to eke out his income, and not encroach on the $1,500 that he had received for his farm, he was engaged in hauling wood until February, 1857.
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Going in that month to the newly laid out Town of Fremont, Mr. Rogers secured a room in one of the three log houses already erected, and in that room he and his wife lived until their house, which he built with his own hands, was completed, some three months later. Having previously studied law to good purpose, Mr. Rogers was admitted to the bar in 1858, and that same year was elected as a representative to the State Legislature. Going to Pike's Peak during the gold excite- ment, he located at Russell's Gulch, and having built a cabin for himself and family began the practice of his chosen profession in earnest. Taking charge of law cases for both the miners and the mine owners, he built up a fair practice, and in February, 1861, was elected judge of the Miner's Court. Returning to Fremont in June, 1861, Mr. Rogers was kept busy for a few months attending to the farm which he had purchased before going to Colorado. Accompanied by his family, he then went East on a visit, and remained there during the winter of 1865 and 66. In the fall of 1866, Mr. Rogers was made a member of the Territorial Council, and took an active part in its proceedings.
In the summer of 1866 the Union Pacific Railroad was extended through Fremont, and Mr. Rogers, in partnership with his brother, L. H. Rogers, embarked in the real estate business, and opened a private bank, which has since developed into the First National Bank of Fremont. In 1870 Mr. Rogers was a candidate for the United States Senate, but after the first ballot withdrew his name, and Mr. Hitchock was elected as senator. On account of ill health, Mr. Rogers, accompanied by his wife, went to Florida for the winter of 1877, and in 1879 spent the winter in New Mexico. Although his health was not very much improved when he returned to Fremont, he continued at his desk throughout the summer, but in the fall of 1880 resigned his position in the bank. Taking his wife and daughter to Florida, he rented a house, and camped out, hoping in that balmy climate to recover some of his former physical vigor. In May, 1881, Mr. Rogers was appointed United States Consul at Vera Cruz, Mexico, and having accepted the position resided there until his death, on August 1, 1881, when his body was laid to rest on Mexican soil.
Mr. Rogers was a devout Christian, very active in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and a faithful friend of the circuit riders and the Methodist preachers, whom he gladly welcomed to his hospitable home. He was a prominent member of the republican party, in his younger days being what was then termed a black abolitionist. He was a man of sterling worth and integrity, and through good management acquired considerable wealth.
In New York State, on September 17, 1851, Mr. Rogers was united in marriage with Lucy J. Goff, and of the children that blessed their union, but two are now living, namely : Mrs. Ida J. Moe, of Fremont, Nebraska ; and Mrs. Joseph Yager, also of Fremont. Mrs. Moe was born at Augusta, Oneida County, New York, May 7, 1852. She was only six years old when she came to Fremont with her parents in 1857 and was reared here. With exceptions of time spent in school her life has been spent in Fremont. She was educated in Houghton Seminary, Clinton, New York. She married, October 11, 1874, Lewis S. Moe, who was a native of Tioga County, New York, where he was reared and educated. He was in the militia and was clerk in the Treasury Department in Washington, D. C. After the war he came West to Fremont and was in the show business for a time with a brother. He later clerked and also worked for Doctor Smith. He died February
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27, 1909. Mr. and Mrs. Moe have three sons. Rex R. Moe was educated in Fremont High School and at Cornell, Iowa, and filled the pulpit while in college; in the fall of 1890 he went to the Philippine Islands as missionary, was in Tarlac for five years, then came home for a year, was then in Pangasinan Province two years and in Cagayon three years ; then in November, 1919, he came home on a year's furlough to visit his mother. He married Miss Belle Noyes and they have two daughters, Corrall Eugenie and Margaret Rogers, both born in the Philippines.
Locke Barton Moe is in the laundry business at Le Grande, Oregon. He married Ella Douglass and has one son, Lewis Douglass. Grant S. Moe is a farmer near Central City, Nebraska. In 1911 Mrs. Moe joined her son in the Philippine Islands. She has always been active in the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society here for a great many years.
FRED C. LAIRD, who was engaged in the practice of his profession at Fremont, judicial center of Dodge County, until December 3, 1919, when he entered the Government service, is a native of Fremont County, Iowa, and has gained a place as one of the representative younger members of the bar of Dodge County, Nebraska. He is now internal revenue inspector under civil service, assigned to the Nebraska district. He was born on his father's fine old homestead farm in Fremont County, Iowa, May 22, 1880, and is a son of Francis M. and Phoebe (Reeves) Laird, both likewise natives of that county of the Hawkeye State, where the respective families were founded in the pioneer period of the history of that favored commonwealth. The father is now the owner of two valuable farm properties in his native county, and his entire active career was one of close association with the basic industries of agricul- ture and stock growing. Since 1893 he and his wife have maintained their residence at Tabor, Iowa, where he is living virtually retired, Fred C. of this review being the elder of their two children, and Belva being the wife of Dr. B. B. Miller, a representative physician and surgeon at Tabor. Francis M. Laird is a stalwart democrat in politics and has been active in local politics, besides which he has served in various offices of public trust, including two terms of effective service as a member of the State Legislature of Iowa. He and his wife are earnest members of the Congregational Church. His father, John Laird, was born and reared in Pennsylvania, and became an early settler in Fremont County, Iowa, where he secured Government land and developed a productive farm, the remainder of his life having been passed in that county. Asa Reeves, maternal grandfather of Fred C. Laird, was a native of Ohio and he likewise was a pioneer of Fremont County, Iowa, where he reclaimed a valuable farm and where he continued to reside until his death, he having served during practically the entire period of the Civil war and having been wounded in battle.
Fred C. Laird gained his preliminary education in the public schools of his native county and in 1903 he was graduated in Tabor College, at Tabor, Iowa. In preparing himself for the profession of his choice he entered the law department of the University of Nebraska, and in this institution he was graduated in 1906, with the well-earned degree of Bachelor of Laws, and with concurrent admission to the bar of the state. His initial work in his profession was in the capital city, Lincoln, and in the nearby Village of Havelock, but after this novitiate of a few months, he came to Fremont in December, 1906, and established himself in independent practice. He developed a successful law business and
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in 1913 he formed a professional alliance with George L. Loomis, with whom he associated under the firm name of Loomis & Laird. This firm has a substantial and well ordered law business and a clientele of representative order. Mr. Laird is unfaltering in his allegiance to the cause of the democratic party, and he served two years as police judge of Fremont. Both he and his wife are members of the Congregational Church in their home city. A scion of stanch colonial ancestry, Mr. Laird is eligible for and is affiliated with the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, in which he is secretary of the local organization at Fremont. In the Masonic fraternity he has received the chivalric degrees and is a popular member of the Fremont Commandery of Knights Templar, and Sesostris Temple Mystic Shrine, at Lincoln, Nebraska, while both he and his wife are active members of the local chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star, of which he is past patron. Mr. Laird is serving, in 1920, as secretary of Fremont Lodge, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and maintains affiliation also with the Knights of Pythias, besides which he is a member of the Alpha Tau Omega college fraternity.
The year 1911 was marked by the marriage of Mr. Laird to Miss Leo Loomis, daughter of his law partner, George L. Loomis, and they are popular factors in the representative social life of their home city.
JOSEPH C. SINK. An active, earnest and honest tiller of the soil, Joseph C. Sink, of Platte Township, is numbered among the enterprising and self-reliant men who are so ably conducting the farming interests of this part of Dodge County, everything about his premises bearing evidence of his wise care and supervision. A son of Abram Sink, he was born, October 30, 1857, in Virginia, where he lived and labored for upwards of forty years.
Abram Sink was born in Virginia ninety-nine years ago and has there spent his unusually long life, during his active career having been engaged in agricultural pursuits. To him and his wife, whose name before marriage was Elizabeth Fisher, nine children were born, Joseph C. being the fifth child of the parental household and the only one living in Nebraska.
Bred and educated in Virginia, Joseph C. Sink obtained a thorough knowledge of agriculture while young and continued to farm there until 1900. Being seized with the wanderlust, and wishing to take advantage of more favorable conditions for enlarging his operations, he came to Nebraska in that year, locating in Colfax County, where he was engaged in his chosen calling seven years. Coming to Dodge County in 1907, Mr. Sink purchased 120 acres of land in Platte Township, near Ames, and in its improvement has shown good judgment, the buildings being in excel- lent repair and his farm under a good state of cultivation. Having toiled assiduously many years, Mr. Sink is now living retired from active labor, having resigned the management of his estate to his son.
In 1879, while still a resident of Virginia, Mr. Sink married Mary Kingry, and of their union eight children have been born, namely : Susie McKinery, Henry, Mattie, Carl, Isaac, Rosie, Burrell, and Seyrel. Mr. Sink is independent in politics, voting without regard to party restric- tions. Religiously, he is a Dunkard. ,
HENRY Kuss. Many of the more thriving and enterprising citizens of our great republic have been born and bred in far-off countries and from their native lands have brought the habits of industry and perse-
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verance that have steadily overcome all obstacles that beset their path- way and won them places of note in business and industrial circles. Prom- inent among this number is Henry Kuss, a well known grain operator and farmer of Winslow. A son of Frederick. Kuss, he was born, Novem- ber 14, 1868, in Hanover, Germany, where he acquired a good education.
A native of Germany, Frederick Kuss began life for himself as a farmer and remained in the fatherland for a number of years after his marriage. Coming with his family to the United States in 1884, he spent six months in Illinois, from there coming to Washington County, Nebraska, where he resumed his agricultural labors. Meeting with excellent results as a farmer, he accumulated a fair share of this world's goods, and is now living in Winslow, retired from active cares. His wife, Lena Kuss, died on the home farm, aged seventy-two years.
Bidding his parents a loving farewell in 1883, Henry Kuss immi- grated to the United States in 1883, hoping in the land of bright pros- pects to find remunerative employment. Locating first in Illinois, he was engaged in general farming in the vicinity of Chicago for two years. becoming accustomed to the agricultural methods used in his adopted land. Coming to Nebraska in 1885, he worked on Kupp's Ranch in Washington County, for six years, and was afterwards on his father's farm two years. Giving up farming in 1907, Mr. Kuss entered the employ of the Nebraska-Iowa Grain Company, and still operates the elevator in Winslow, although for the past few years he has been also engaged in agricultural pursuits, living on the farm which he bought in 1913. He casts his vote independent of party restrictions and has served as road overseer for several terms. In religion he is a member of the Lutheran Church and faithful to its teachings.
Mr. Kuss married Lizzie Panning, and into their attractive home five children have been born, namely: Lottie, Arthur, Fred, Howard and Paul. Mrs. Kuss is a daughter of Henry Panning, Jr., and grand- daughter of Henry Panning, Sr., both natives of Germany. Henry Panning, Sr., came with his family to the United States in 1852, and having bought land in Dodge County, Wisconsin, improved his little farm of forty acres, on which he lived twelve years. Migrating to Nebraska in 1864, he located in Dodge County, very near Winslow, on the fourth of July, and bought 320 acres of land and there improved the farm on which he and his wife Margaret spent their remaining days, her death occurring at the age of three score years, and his at a ripe old age. They reared three children, as follows : Mrs. Kate Wager, deceased ; Frederick, living on the home farm; and Henry, Jr.
Born in Hanover, Germany, April 15, 1844, Henry Panning, Jr .. was a lad of eight years when he accompanied his parents to Wisconsin, where he was reared and educated. When the family came to Nebraska he drove across the country with an ox team, traveling with a caravan of thirteen families and being five weeks en route. Nebraska was then very sparsely settled, Indians were plentiful, but usually friendly. There were no railroads in this part of the country and the new settlers bravely endured all the hardships and privations of frontier life. Mr. Panning has seen wonderful changes in the face of the country, and in the grand transformation has contributed his full share.
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