USA > Nebraska > Dodge County > History of Dodge and Washington Counties, Nebraska, and their people, Volume II > Part 60
USA > Nebraska > Washington County > History of Dodge and Washington Counties, Nebraska, and their people, Volume II > Part 60
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While living in Iowa he married Margaret Rathgens, who is still living on the home farm. Twelve children were born to their marriage,
BeRoberts
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five of whom died in infancy, while the daughter, Mrs. Kopke, is also deceased. The six children living are: Peter C., a marketman at Ben- nington, Nebraska; C. H., a merchant at Washington; Mrs. John Mis- feldt, a widow living at Bennington; John F., in the garage business at Bennington ; William, who is a practical farmer at home with his mother ; and Mrs. Richard Jansen, wife of a farmer in Douglas County, Nebraska.
OLIVER C. ROBERTS. Scarcely any feature of the landscape seems to more forcibly impress a traveler from other lands with the wealth and abundance of the vast western section of the United States than the number of great elevators that line the railroads and often seem to dominate every other business in some communities. The name of Roberts has been identified with grain and elevator interests in Wash- ington County, Nebraska, for many years, and to this line of commercial life Oliver C. Roberts, formerly mayor of Arlington, devotes much attention.
Oliver C. Roberts was born on a farm one mile east of Arlington, Nebraska, February 14, 1870, and is a son of Robert Ellis and Nancy Jane (Sage) Roberts, the former of whom was born in Wales and the latter in the State of Indiana. The father came to Washington County in the early '50s and homesteaded here, for some years afterward freight- ing between Council Bluffs and Denver. He was a man of foresight and great business enterprise. Not satisfied with his original home- stead, he kept on acquiring land, and at the time of his death owned 1,560 acres in Washington County. Later he went into the grain busi- ness, purchasing a mill and 160 acres of land, but later sold the land for $2,000 and moved the mill in 1880 to Arlington, where it subsequently was destroyed by fire, entailing a loss of $20,000. He owned three ele- vators, situated at Kennard, Washington and Arlington. He was con- sidered one of the county's most substantial citizens at the time of death, which occurred December 25, 1910, when aged eighty-two years. After disposing of a large amount of his property and retiring from active business life he made a visit to his old home in Wales. He was influential in democratic politics and was one of the early members of the Odd Fel- lows at Arlington.
Robert Ellis Roberts married Nancy Jane Sage, who died July 5, 1915. Of their ten children, Oliver C. is the third in order of birth, the others being as follows: Mrs. F. P. Van Wickle, whose husband is in the grain business at York, Nebraska ; Mrs. N. P. Borick, whose husband is in the real-estate business at Arlington; Will E., who is in Montana engaged in the harness and saddlery business ; Mrs. G. I. Pfeiffer, whose husband is cashier of the First National Bank of Arlington; Mrs. J. A. Dixon, whose husband is at the head of the telephone company at Arlington ; Ray F., who is a traveling man ; and three who are deceased. The mother of the above family was a member of the Congregationalist Church.
Oliver C. Roberts completed the public school course at Arlington, then took a commercial course in the Lincoln Business College, and sub- sequently spent ten weeks in 1887 in the Fremont Normal College. He was associated with his father in the grain business until the latter's death, when he took over the elevator interests of the estate and continues their management. He has other interests and owns 480 acres of fine land in Brown County, South Dakota.
In 1892 Mr. Roberts was united in marriage to Miss Laura Louise Fitch, who was born in Iowa and is a daughter of Ambrose T. Fitch.
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They have three children. The eldest daughter is the wife of C. I. White, who is connected in business with the Burroughs Stock Food Company; Dorothea is a student in Midland College at Fremont ; and Lawrence Gilbert is attending the Nebraska State University. The family attends the Congregational Church. Mr. Roberts belongs to the Odd Fellows and has passed through the chairs of the local lodge. In political life he has always been active in the democratic party, and at one time his political friends elected him mayor of Arlington. He con- sented to serve but one year, during which time he gave the city a first-class business administration.
W. J. McCANN. Nearly fifty years a resident of Washington County, where he was reared from early childhood, William J. McCann has spent a busy life, most of the time as an agriculturist, and is still giving his time and labors to the operation of a valuable and systematically handled farm in Richland Township, section 11. His home is three miles east and a half mile south of Kennard.
Mr. McCann was born in Washington County, Virginia, January 29, 1868, a son of Isaac and Margaret McCann, natives of the same state. His father was a planter, served in the Civil war and early in 1872 came to Nebraska and acquired land near Arlington, from which he retired in 1900, moving to Kennard. There the mother died in 1916. They were the parents of eight children, William J. being the oldest.
William J. McCann was four years of age when he came west, grew up in Washington County, and after getting an education in the com- mon schools worked for his father and others, but since the age of twenty-two has been going it alone. He lived for thirty-five years in Arlington Township, but his home is now in Richland Township. He left the farm in December, 1909, and for a time was employed by the telephone company and in other occupations. In 1916 he returned to the land, and has continued farming during this modern period of high prices and a shortage of farm labor. He has 120 acres, well improved and modern in every respect. Mr. McCann was elected a member of his local school board in 1920. He votes independently and is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Modern Woodmen of America. Mrs. McCann is a member of the Baptist Church.
In 1892 he married Miss Mamie Blazier, who died in August, 1910, the mother of four children, two of whom are living, Gladys, now a music teacher at Omaha, and Gertrude, at home. The mother of Mamie Blazier is still living. In 1912 Mr. McCann married Hettie Rodman and they have two young children, Florence and Ione.
AUGUST KAHNK. While he is a native of Illinois, August Kahnk has spent practically all his life in Washington County, and the farm where he grew to manhood is the scene of his present industrious efforts. The buildings and other improvements on that land are to be credited jointly to the enterprise of Mr. Kahnk and his father. The substantial farm home is in section 16 of Richland Township, a mile east and two and a half miles north of Washington.
Mr. Kahnk was born in Illinois in 1867. His father, John C. Kahnk, was born and married in Germany, and in 1865 brought his family to the United States, living in Illinois, where his first employment was in a paper mill. In 1869 he came to Washington County, traveling to Omaha by railroad, and then freighted his goods overland to his desti- nation twenty miles away. He did not choose to locate on public lands
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and homestead, but bought a piece of school land at a dollar an acre. His first home was only a board shack, and while his early life was not greatly in contrast with that of the other pioneers, he had to make shift with practically no capital and very few facilities for farming and living. It is said that for a number of days the sole diet of the Kahnk family was turnips. But better days came with the passing years, larger com- forts, and John C. Kahnk enjoyed much prosperity before his death, which occurred at the age of sixty-seven. He acquired the ownership of 120 acres. His wife died in 1916 at the age of eighty-eight. They had five children: John and Dolf, both deceased; August; Peter, who was drowned at the age of three years; and Mrs. Anna Cornelius, a resident of Douglas County.
August Kahnk, only surviving son, grew up on the home farm, attended the local schools and worked for his father to the age of twenty- three, after which he took over the management of the farm and has . conducted it successfully ever since. Mr. Kahnk is an independent voter and a member of the Lutheran faith.
He married for his first wife Anna Matthesen, who died the mother of four children: John, Mata and Margaret, all at home, and Gustaf, deceased. Mr. Kahnk married for his second wife, Lena Matthesen, and to their union were born nine children, all of who remain in the home circle. Their names are Gustaf, Anna, Louis, Harry, Marie, Albert, Lillian, Arthur and Clara.
CHRIS PAULSEN. Agriculture is now generally recognized as the most important of all of the basic industries, for upon the production of the farmer depends practically all business operations. Therefore much credit must be accorded the man who tills the soil and handles the difficult problems of securing labor and marketing his produce. Nebraska has some of the most industrious and successful of these agriculturalists, and among them one deserving of mention in a work ยท of this high character is Chris Paulsen of Blair Township.
Chris Paulsen was born in Germany in 1864, a son of John and Catrina Paulsen, both of whom were born in Germany, where they died, he when seventy-two years of age and she when sixty-three. They were farming people, hard-working and honest, and brought up their four children to habits of thrift and industry. Of these children Chris Paulsen is the only one who came to the United States.
The arrival of Chris Paulsen in this country was in 1892, and he cante here with the purpose of acquiring land of his own, something he could not do in his own country with his lack of capital. Going west to Nebraska, he rented land in the vicinity of Calhoun for two years, and then was able to buy his present 120-acre farm in Blair Township, and at once began to improve the property. The present substantial house and barns have been built by him, and he has put up fences and bought machinery, and is now carrying on his farm operations in a thoroughly modern manner.
In February, 1892, Mr. Paulsen was united in marriage with Marga- rita Schrader, also born in Germany, and they became the parents of the following children: Charles and May, who are at home, and one that died in infancy. While Mr. Paulsen had had experience in farming in Germany, conditions were so different when he reached this country that he deserves a great deal of credit for what he has been able to accomplish since coming here. He is now accounted one of the best farmers in his part of the county, and his neighbors are adopting many
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of his methods, for they see that they are excellent. A man of strong personality, Mr. Paulsen likes to choose his own candidates and so has remained an independent voter.
OTTO F. OLSEN, editor and publisher of the Kennard Weekly News, in connection with which he conducts a well equipped job-printing department, is one of the progressive and influential young business men of the Village of Kennard, Washington County, where he holds in 1920 the office of water commissioner of the municipality and where he is a stalwart and effective advocate and supporter of all measures and enter- prises tending to advance the civic and material welfare of the village and the county.
Mr. Olsen was born at Fremont, judicial center of Dodge County, Nebraska, May 3, 1894, and is a son of Zacharia and Mary Anna (Christiansen) Olsen, who now reside at Kennard, where the father, a shoemaker by trade, conducts a repair shop in which he has developed a prosperous business. Of the eight children in the family four are living: Anna, the wife of Henry Hansen, a farmer in Washington County ; Jennie, the wife of Harry R. Redfield, manager of the Western Union Telegraph Company's office at Fremont ; Otto F., of this sketch, the next in order of birth; and Ruby, an assistant in her brother's print- ing office. The father is independent in politics, and both he and his wife are members of the Seventh Day Adventist Church.
Otto F. Olsen acquired his early education in the public schools of Fremont, and in 1907 he entered upon an apprenticeship to the printer's trade in the office of the Kennard Enterprise, then published by E. L. Tiffany. Within the ensuing seven months he gained no little proficiency as a compositor, and in 1908 took a position in the Danish Lutheran Publishing House at Blair, the judicial center of Washington County. He continued his connection with this representative concern until 1914, when he assumed charge of the office of the Superior Daily Express, at Superior, Nuckolls County. In the following year, how- ever, he came to Kennard and founded the Kennard Weekly News, the first edition of which appeared on the 14th of June of that year. He has made this paper an effective exponent of the interests of the community and has gained for it a representative circulation throughout the territory normally tributary to Kennard. His office is modern in equipment and service and its job department receives a substantial . supporting patronage.
In politics Mr. Olsen is not constrained by strict partisan lines, and his paper likewise is independent in the domain of politics. He is' serving as water commissioner of Kennard, as previously stated, and he is a vigorous advocate of progressive policies in connection with all municipal affairs. Both he and his wife are communicants of the Danish Lutheran Church.
October 21, 1914, recorded the marriage of Mr. Olsen to Miss Minnie Rohwer, daughter of Carl Rohwer, of Washington County, and the two children of this union are Lucille Marian and Vera Louise.
E. V. HEATH. One of the oldest farms under continuous cultiva- tion in Washington County is two miles west of Blair in section 8 of Blair Township. Its present owner and occupant is E. V. Heath and family.
Mr. Heath was born in Illinois in 1861, and three years later his parents, Marvin and Lucy Heath, came to Nebraska. His father was a
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native of Pennsylvania. Coming to Nebraska, they settled in Burt County, where he homesteaded and where he lived until his death at the age of sixty-five. His wife passed away at the age of seventy-four.
E. V. Heath was one of a family of ten children. The Heaths were among the pioneers of the country west of the Missouri River, lived here in buffalo and Indian days and when there were no railroads and the scarcely recognized trails were traveled either by wagons or riders on horseback.
In 1881 Mr. Heath married Mary Raver, who was born in Wash- ington County, a daughter of H. J. Raver and wife, who came to this region in 1858. Mr. and Mrs. Heath had eight children : Burt, now manager of the Nebraska Power Company garage at Omaha ; Elmer, chef in a cafe on Broadway, New York City; Charles, who served as an engineer in the late war and lives in Wyoming; Vera, wife of Thomas Griffin, of Wood Lake, Nebraska; Harry, a garage owner at Brownlee, Nebraska ; Oria ; Earl and Vernie, both at home.
Mr. 'Raver was born August 24, 1836, at Johnstown, Pennsylvania. At the age of twenty, he went with his parents to Des Moines, Iowa, and there married Sarah Mann. To this union seven children were born. Mrs. Raver died January 2, 1918, at the age of seventy-eight. Mr. Raver died April 21, 1918, at the age of eighty-one. He came to Washington County in 1858 from St. Louis by way of Omaha, up the river on a steamboat, and from Omaha traveled to his destination by ox team. Mr. Raver witnessed the first legal execution in Omaha during the summer of 1863. Their first home was a dugout containing one room and situated about five miles west and north of Blair. Later he lived for five years in the Missouri River bottom and later returned to the homestead. Just fifty years have passed since Mr. Raver moved to the place where Mr. and Mrs. Heath now live. At that time the landscape showed no trees, and there were no other evidences of culti- vation and civilization such as mark this farm today. Mr. Raver set out the orchard which is still bearing. Much of the land in the Heath farm was broken out by Mr. Heath himself.
Mr. and Mrs. Heath are proud of the fact that two of their sons were enrolled in the cause of democracy during the World war. Corp. Charles W. Heath entered the service July 17, 1917, at Fort Logan, and was assigned as a truck driver. He went overseas as corporal of Company F of the Tenth Engineers, and was assigned the task of sawing lumber near the front lines. He was in the service twenty-one months and was honorably discharged at Camp Funston on February 22, 1919.
The other son, Corp. Elmer H. Heath, entered the army March 4, 1918, was trained at Fort Riley and went overseas June 13, 1918, landing in Italy, and being with the first American troops sent to that quarter of the allied front. He was with the Thirtieth ambulance section, with the First Army Corps, and was on duty until the armistice of November 11th. His unit carried 1936 wounded men off the field in seven days. He received the Italian war cross for bravery, and was discharged June 10, 1919. He then re-enlisted at Camp Dix, New Jersey, and is now in the Medical Corps.
WILLIAM MURLEY. An honored veteran of the Union army during the Civil war still living in Washington County. William Murley has been a Nebraskan for over thirty years, and his earnestness and industry have brought him many of the substantial rewards of good citizenship.
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He was born in England in 1842, and at the age of eight years was brought to the United States by his father, John Murley, who settled in Wisconsin. John Murley was a miner and was employed in the mines of Wisconsin until he was killed at the age of fifty-five. William Murley and five brothers entered the Union army, and while they participated in some of the hardest fought campaigns of the war not one was wounded. William Murley was in Company I of the Six- teenth Wisconsin Infantry, and was all through from the beginning to the end, being under the commands of Grant and Sherman. After the war he took a homestead near Schuyler, Wisconsin, in 1871, and at that time married Miss Louise John. To their marriage were born three children, James, Hattie and Annie. Mrs. Murley died in 1882.
Mr. Murley moved to Washington County in 1888, bought land in the county, and now enjoys the comforts of a good home in section 23 of Arlington Township, his being the first house north of Dale Store.
In 1917 he married Mary Googen, whose family were pioneers of Washington County. Her parents came here about 1866, were home- steaders, and went through all the experiences of pioneering. Her father died at the age of seventy-five and her mother is now living at Elk City in Douglas County.
FRED HEUERMANN. The enterprise that manifests itself in good farms, good livestock and good homes, and the co-operative movements that advance and improve the general welfare is typical of the career of Fred Heuermann, one of the very well known citizens of Washington County. Mr. Heuermann for many years has been a livestock breeder and farmer, interested in other lines of business, and has a complete and adequate country home and farm in section 10 of Arlington Township, located three miles east of the Village of Arlington.
Mr. Heuermann was born in Ohio in 1868, son of D. B. and Louise (Strobmann) Heuermann. His parents were both natives of Germany, settled in Ohio when they came to America, and were early settlers in Nebraska. Fred Heuermann was reared and educated in Washington County, attending country schools, and has been in business for himself since the age of twenty-three. For several years he specialized in the raising of Shorthorn cattle on his farm, and his chief business has been the breeding and feeding of hogs and cattle. Among other features of his farm is a fine orchard, which was set out by his father. Mr. Heuer- mann is vice president and a director of the Farmers Lumber & Grain Company, and for ten years served as director of School District No. 4. In 1909 he was elected a member of the Board of County Commissioners, and gave much of his time to the duties of that office for nine years. He owns a modern country home, built in 1915.
In 1893 he married Kate Hartung, a native of Washington County and a daughter of Fred Hartung, of an old and well known family of the county. To their marriage were born eleven children, nine of whom are still living: Florence, who was a graduate of Nicholson Hospital at Omaha and died in November, 1919; Edna, wife of Alfred Smith, a farmer in Washington County; Emma, who is taking the nurse's training course at Nicholson Hospital in Omaha ; Chester, Lotta, Arthur, Fred, Jr., Mattie, Lucile and Elva, all at home with their parents; and Dorothy, who died in infancy. The family are members of St. Paul's Lutheran Church. Mr. Heuermann is active in the repub- lican party, serving as township committeeman.
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HANS HANSEN. Many years of earnest and well directed labor have brought Hans Hansen the merited reward of substantial property inter- ests and the substantial esteem of the community in which he lives. Just outside the city limits of Arlington is the Hansen farm, which was cleared from the condition of timber and brush by his labors and made productive.
Mr. Hansen was born in Denmark in 1861 and was twenty-one years of age when he arrived in the United States in 1882. For about a year he lived around Chester, Pennsylvania, and then came out and joined the people of Dodge County, which was still a comparatively new district. Without capital, he was unable to buy land and satisfied himself with the slow but sure route to independence as a farm worker, and continued his employment with others until 1904. Most of that time, especially after his marriage, he rented land.
Mr. Hansen married Christina Madsen, a native of Denmark, and the only member of her family to come to this country. Her father was Johan Madsen. She came over on the same boat with her husband, and they were married at Fremont March 19, 1885. Six children have been born to their union: Marie, of Fremont; Mrs. Nellie Phillips, of Wahoo, Nebraska; Mrs. L. W. Weigand, of Central City, Nebraska ; Fern, of Fremont; Julius, at home; and Agnes, of Fremont.
The eighty-acre farm adjoining Arlington Mr. Hansen has improved with good buildings, and for many years has been a successful general farmer and dairyman. He began life with only a common school educa- tion, but has made the best possible use of all his opportunities. He is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America and the Danish Brotherhood, is a member of the Congregational Church at Arlington, and is a republican voter.
CORTEZ U. COOK. By no means all the young men in Washington and Dodge counties are being recruited into the trades and professions and other activties of urban life. The business of farming offers sub- stantial rewards sufficient to hold and draw young men to this oldest of all professions and vocations.
One of the younger men actively identified with the agricultural affairs of Washington County is Cortez U. Cook, owner of a valuable farm in section 20, Arlington Township, a mile east and a mile south of the Village of Arlington.
Mr. Cook, who was born in Washington County in 1881, is a son of W. S. and Jennie (Unthank) Cook. His father, who was born in Iowa, studied law under Judge Walton and for many years prac- ticed as an attorney in Washington County with offices at Arlington. After he retired from his profession he gave general oversight to his landed interests until his death, November 17, 1920. The Unthank family is one of the oldest in this section of Nebraska. Jennie Unthank was seven years of age when in 1855, her parents, Mr. and Mrs. John A. Unthank, migrated from Indiana, her native state, to Washington County, Nebraska Territory. Her father homesteaded, and besides farming conducted one of the pioneer elevators of the county at Old Bell Creek. W. S. Cook and wife had four children: Joseph C., of Fremont ; Cortez U .; Roy R., a lawyer and real estate man at Los Angeles, California ; and Hazel, wife of Otto Ludwig, a carpenter and mason at Los Angeles.
Cortez U. Cook acquired his early education in the public schools of Arlington and has given his best energies and efforts to farming
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since 1900. In 1917 he began the development of a herd of Duroc Jersey hogs, and has made that one of the important features of his farm enterprise. His interests have extended to other affairs, and he is a stockholder in the Farmers Lumber & Grain Company's elevator at Arlington, the Nebraska Foundry & Manufacturing Company at Fre- mont, and the Waterloo Creamery of Omaha. The scene of Mr. Cook's well ordered industry as a farmer and stockman is known as the Golden Gate Farm. In politics he is a republican, as was his father.
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