USA > Nebraska > Dodge County > History of Dodge and Washington Counties, Nebraska, and their people, Volume II > Part 62
USA > Nebraska > Washington County > History of Dodge and Washington Counties, Nebraska, and their people, Volume II > Part 62
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Herman Jungbluth acquired a public school education in Wash- ington County, attended the Lincoln Business College, and at the age of twenty-eight became an independent farmer. While he has grown many successive crops, his big interest as a farmer is the breeding and raising of livestock. Since 1917 he has taken great pains and expended a large amount of capital in developing a fine herd of choice hogs. First he bred the Duroc Jersey, but now has laid the nucleus of a herd of Poland Chinas. He is also an extensive feeder for the market, and during the last year fed five hundred cattle and fifteen hundred sheep. He has given all the extensive equipment and facilities to his farm. He is a member of the Farmers Union and is a stockholder in the Mid-West Creamery at Omaha.
In 1909 Mr. Jungbluth married Mata Oft, of Bennington, Nebraska. They have four children: Kermit, born in 1910; Sylvia R .; Vernon, born in 1913; and Bernard, born in 1916. Mr. Jungbluth is a Catholic, while Mrs. Jungbluth is a Lutheran. Politically he is independent in voting.
GEORGE B. RIKER is one of Blair's most substantial business men, and his business career has been accompanied by an equally praise- worthy record in every matter affecting the general welfare and the progress of his community. Mr. Riker has lived in Washington County many years and first came to Blair as a railroad man. After giving up his duties with the railroad company he took up the real estate busi- ness, and his many years of experience make him one of the best judges of realty values in this section of Nebraska.
Mr. Riker was born in New York State in 1865, son of George W. and Angeline E. (Benedict) Riker. The Riker family is of remote German ancestry, but was established in this country in the early part of the eighteenth century. Mr. Riker's paternal grandfather, Henry Riker, was a native of New York State, and his maternal grandfather, Smith Benedict, was also a New Yorker. Both parents were born in New York State, were married there, and in 1871, moved west to Iowa and settled on a farm. They lived out their lives as agriculturists. The father was devoted to the republican party in politics, and his wife was a member of the Presbyterian Church. They had three
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children. The oldest, Smith H., is in New York City with the Ameri- can Telephone & Telegraph Company, the second is George B., and the third is Adeline S., wife of R. T. Huston, a farmer and livery man at Russell, Iowa.
George B. Riker was six years of age when the family settled on the Iowa farm. He had considerable experience in the tasks of the field and at the same time acquired an education in country schools. As a youth he learned telegraphy and at the age of sixteen was first regularly employed on a railroad. He was in the railroad service eleven years, enjoying well deserved promotions, and the last four years was joint ticket agent at Blair, Nebraska.
Leaving the railway company he entered the real estate business with Charles McMenemy in 1892. Mr. McMenemy was a veteran citizen and business man of Blair, having established his home there in 1868, a year before the town was laid out. Mr. Riker was associated with Mr. McMenemy for sixteen years, until the latter's death. In 1901 S. W. Chambers came into the firm, and since then the business has been conducted as Riker & Chambers. Mr. Riker is still doing business in the same room where he started nearly thirty years ago. He handles general real estate, and in former years has done a great deal of immigration and colonizing work, selling large tracts of Colorado and South Dakota lands. He still handles some large bodies of land in Eastern Colorado and also does a large business in farm loans.
In 1886 Mr. Riker married Dora Marquis, a native of Iowa, daughter of Samuel N. and Rachel Marquis. Her parents died in Iowa, where her father was a farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Riker have one son, Atlee C. Riker, now assistant cashier of the Wyoming National Bank at Casper, Wyoming.
Mr. Riker is fraternally affiliated with the Masonic Order and the Modern Woodmen of America. He and his wife belong to the Eastern Star and he is worthy patron of the Chapter. He is also a member of the Order of Railway Telegraphers and in politics casts his vote as a republican. For one term he rendered some creditable service to Blair as a member of the City Council, and it was during his term that the municipal plant was erected.
ISRAEL C. ELLER. The most elaborate history is necessarily an abridgement, the historian being compelled to select his facts and mate- rials from a multitude of details. So in every life of honor and useful- ness the biographer finds no dearth of incident, and yet in summing up the career of any man the writer needs touch only the most salient points, giving only the keynote of his character, eliminating much that is superfluous. Consequently in calling the reader's attention to the life record of I. C. Eller, the well known and able lawyer of Blair, no attempt shall be made to recount all the important acts in his useful life, for it is deemed that only a few of them will suffice to show him to be eminently worthy of a place in a work of this character.
Mr. Eller has been a resident of Washington County forty years, and his residence is an important fact in the county history because of his enviable position as a lawyer, his efficient services in several county offices and as a member of the 1907 Legislature. He was born in Jefferson County, Iowa, on December 17, 1853, and is the son of .. Harvey and Mary Caroline (Vannoy) Eller. Both of these parents were born and reared in Wilkes County, North Carolina, the father's
Mb Eller
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birth having occurred on March 24, 1819, and the mother's on February 18, 1823. They are both deceased, the father dying on November 4, 1906, at Hedrick, Iowa, and the mother on January 18, 1904, at the same place. They were married in North Carolina, and in 1852 moved to Jefferson County, Iowa, where the father applied himself to farming. The family was a large one and the trip was made in a "prairie schooner," the typical conveyance used by the pioneer emigrants of those days. Harvey Eller was a poor man at the time he located in Iowa, but he was energetic, industrious and ambitious. For a time after settling in Jefferson County he rented a farm, which he operated so successfully that at length he was enabled to buy land, which he improved and sold at a profit, eventually buying a farm of a 160 acres, which he improved and to the cultivation of which he devoted himself with gratifying success until he was able to retire from active business affairs sometime prior to his death. This last farm is the 160 acres on which the town of Farson, Iowa, is now located. He and his wife were members of the Missionary Baptist Church; in politics he gave his sup- port to the republican party, and during the Civil war he was a strong supporter of the Union.
To Harvey and Mary C. Eller were born fifteen children, ten sons and five daughters, all of whom grew to years of maturity, and of this number eight sons and two daughters are now living. Only three of the children have ever been identified with Washington County, Israel C., now being the only one. The survivors are as follows: William H., who was first a minister of the Baptist Church and later a successful lawyer, was an early settler of Washington County, coming here in 1876, but in 1893 he returned to North Carolina and now lives at Greenboro, that state; Cleveland is a general merchant at David City, Nebraska; James Anderson is a successful market gardener at Glen- wood, Iowa ; Jesse F. is engaged in the real estate business at Red Bluff, California; I. C. is the immediate subject of this sketch; Mrs. Mattie C. Dickins is a widow and lives at Farson, Iowa; Thomas A. is a retired farmer living at Stratton, Nebraska; Jacob H. is a successful merchant at Clay Center, Nebraska; Margaret is the wife of Edward Delos Davis, a farmer at Hedrick, Iowa; Otis R. is United States postal clerk at Lincoln, Nebraska.
I. C. Eller received his elementary education in the public schools of Iowa, and then for three years was a student in Central University at Pella, Iowa. After teaching one term of school he came to Blair, Nebraska, and applied himself to the reading of law under the direction of his brother William, who at that time had relinquished the work of the ministry and was practicing the legal profession at Blair. In February, 1883, he was admitted to the bar at Tekamah and immediately thereafter entered upon the practice of law at Blair. He was soon afterward elected clerk of the District Court, which office he held for eight years, and after the expiration of his official term he resumed practice, which commended his attention until 1908, when again he was appointed clerk of the District Court, serving as such three years. He then was appointed to the office of county judge, of which he was the incumbent by election thereafter for eight years, and since then he has devoted himself to office practice chiefly. Judge Eller in addition to high qualifications as a case lawyer enjoys a wide reputation as an accurate and reliable examiner of abstracts of titles, one of the most important departments of law office work. As a lawyer, Judge Eller won a reputation as a sound and safe practitioner. Years of conscien-
Vol. II-28
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tious work have brought with them not only increase of practice and reputation, but also that growth in legal knowledge and that wide and accurate judgment the possession of which constitutes marked excellence in the profession. In discussions of the principles of law he is noted for clearness of statement and candor. His zeal for a client never leads him to urge an argument which in his judgment is not in harmony with the law, and in all the important litigations with which he has been connected no one has ever charged him with anything calculated to bring discredit upon his profession.
When Washington and Bent counties chose Mr. Eller as their repre- sentative in the Legislature for the session beginning in 1907 they bestowed that responsibility upon a well trained lawyer with a broad knowledge of public affairs and public men in Nebraska. He entered the Legislature therefore with a prestige that enabled him to exercise an influence throughout the memorable session, and his record therein is one that reflects credit on his home community. It has been gen- erally conceded that this session was prolific of more progressive laws than any previous or subsequent sessions. It is not inappropriate to name some of the laws passed by that Legislature. They included the Railway Commission Bill, the Primary Election Bill, the legislation providing a fifteen per cent cut on express rates, a two-cent fare for railroads-bills which in themselves comprise a program that only occasionally can be credited to the legislative output of any state.
On November 3, 1886, Mr. Eller was married to Ella E. Kemp, who was born near East Troy, Wisconsin, and to their union four children were born, two of whom are living: Mary Louise is the wife of Harry L. Morris, who was manager of the city electric light plant of Blair from the time it was established to April, 1920, when he resigned and has since been manager of the Blair Canning Factory; Francis Pauline is the wife of Ralph J. Roush, who was manager of a tire and automobile accessory store at Fort Dodge, Iowa, for two years, but now resides in Des Moines.
Judge Eller is a member of the Baptist Church, while his wife was a member of the Congregational Church up to the time of her death, which occurred June 14, 1914, the daughters also being affiliated with the latter denomination. The judge is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In the local lodge of the later order he has been honored by being passed through the chairs several times, and has been a trustee of the lodge for thirty successive years.
Politically he is an earnest supporter of the republican party, and has been active in public affairs, having served on the county and state central committees of his party. Locally he has served as member of the school board and as city clerk. Strong and forceful in his rela- tions with his fellowmen, he has not only made his presence felt, but has also gained the good will and commendation of his associates and the general public, ever retaining his reputation among men for integrity and high character.
BERNHARD ABELS has been one of the substantial business men and popular and influential citizens of Kennard, Washington County, since the year 1891, and is a son of John B. and Anna (Behrens) Abels, who passed their entire lives in Germany, and four of whose sons are resi- dents of Nebraska: Bernhard, of this review; George, a retired farmer residing at Papillion, Sarpy County; Henry, a market gardener at
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DeBolt Place, Douglas County ; and Anton, employed in a meat market in the City of Omaha.
Bernhard Abels was born in Minsen, Germany, on the 19th of February, 1855, and was there reared and educated. In 1881 he immigrated to America, and in the same year came to Nebraska, where for two years he was employed as a laborer in the City of Omaha. Thereafter he was engaged in business as a market gardener at Happy Hollow, near that city, for seven years, and in 1891 he came to Kennard, Washington County, where he purchased the hardware stock and business of George Jessen. For the ensuing thirteen years he continued as a dealer in hardware and furniture, and he then sold his stock and business and engaged in the confectionery business, in which he has since successfully continued, with a well stocked and appointed establishment that caters to a representative patronage and with special attention given to the manufacturing and sale of high- grade ice cream during the summer months.
An independent voter in politics, Mr. Abels has always been loyal and public-spirited in his civic attitude, and in addition to having served three years as township clerk he was for twelve years a member of the board of trustees of the Village of Kennard. He has passed the official chairs in the local camp of the Modern Woodmen of America, in which he holds the position of manager in 1920, and he and his wife are communicants of the German Lutheran Church at Blair, the county seat.
In 1882 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Abels to Miss Johanna Dannanmann, who likewise was born and reared in Germany, and they have three children: Ella, the wife of James Edwards, of Cleveland, Ohio; Bertha, the wife of William P. Seybold, assistant superintendent of the Ford automobile assembling plant of the City of Omaha; and Tillie, the wife of Robert L. Patrick, superintendent of one of the leading dairy concerns in Omaha.
M. H. MUELLER. Born and reared and having lived in Washington County forty years, M. H. Mueller has labored faithfully at the vocation of agriculture since early youth, has experienced some of its unpleasant features, but on the whole his career has been marked by growing success and the enjoyment of the many advantages now characteristic of the country life of Washington County.
Mr. Mueller, whose home is in section 22 of Richland Township, two miles north and a mile and a half east of Washington, was born in Washington County July 24, 1879. His father, Michael Mueller, a native of Germany, came to the United States in 1864, at the age of twenty-two. He possessed a fair education, and at that time was a young man of ambition and industry, although all the capital he pos- sessed when he reached Council Bluffs, Iowa, was 50 cents. Out of necessity he immediately went to work, and most of the time he lived in Iowa; his work was in a brick yard. In 1867 he came to Washington County, Nebraska, and took up a homestead of eighty acres. His equipment to begin farming consisted of an old team, a wagon and plow, and he had to improvise a harrow to tying together quantities of plum brush with which he dragged his fields. In those early days Omaha was the principal market, and it was a two days' trip to that city. There followed many years of very slow advancement, due to grasshoppers, drought and other plagues, but eventually he possessed a farm of 300 acres and had all those things which moderate ambition
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craves. He died in Washington County in 1913, at the age of seventy- two. His widow, still living, bore the maiden name of Anna M. Kahnk, and they were married in Washington County. The father was a member of the Masonic Order. There were just two children, M. H. and Mrs. Anna M. Wesemann, wife of a Washington County farmer.
M. H. Mueller grew up on his father's homestead and became well acquainted with its duties even when a boy. He attended the common schools and at the age of twenty-six started for himself, but his work has always been on the homestead. His father had given the land a great deal of improvement, including buildings, and had also set out many trees. Mr. Mueller is a republican in politics, he and his wife are Lutherans in religion, and since 1917 he has served as a director of his home school district.
In 1906 he married Caroline D. Logemann, who was born in Douglas County, Nebraska, daughter of William and Sophia Logemann, early settlers of that county. Mrs. Mueller was the second of three children, the others being Marie and August. Mr. and Mrs. Mueller were married January. 10, 1906, and they have two sons, still at home, Ervin and Arthur.
GEORGE T. HEDELUND. Prominent among the younger generation of active and progressive men who are contributing largely toward the advancement of the financial interests of Washington County is George T. Hedelund, who is widely known as cashier of the State Bank at Washington. A native of Nebraska, he was born January 1, 1895, in Blair, coming on both sides of the house from honored Danish ancestry.
J. S. and Dorothy Hedelund, his parents, were born, brought up and married in Denmark. Hoping to better his fortunes, J. S. Hede- lund came with his family to the United States in the latter part of the '80s, taking a step that he never regretted, although it had taken him quite a while to make up his mind to forsake his native land. Locating in Washington County, Nebraska, he was for thirty years janitor of the schools in Blair. He became identified with the demo- cratic party in politics, and both he and his wife belonged to the Danish Lutheran Church. Eleven children blessed their marriage, as follows: Soren, of Fergus Falls, Minnesota, pastor of the Episcopal Church; John S., engaged in the grain business at Omaha; Mary, wife of J. B. Dickson, a linotype operator in Omaha; Albert, associated with the United Grain Company in Omaha; Electa, wife of Frank Nelson, who is with the Lyman Sand Company; Anna, wife of H. W. Lang, foreman of the Union Pacific Shops at Omaha ; Martin J., of Omaha, with the Bankers Mortgage & Loan Company; George T., of whom we write; Gertrude, in the employ of the Omaha Taxi Company at Omaha ; Carrie, connected with the Pacific Storage Company of Omaha ; and Dorothy, with the Nebraska & Iowa Steel Tank Company.
Acquiring his early education in Blair, George T. Hedelund was graduated from the high school with the class of 1912, and later con- tinned his studies in Dana College. Beginning life for himself as a teacher, he taught in the Blair High School two years. Abandoning his profession, he was in the employ of the Crowell Grain & Lumber Company for a year, and later served as assistant cashier of the Citizens Bank of Blair for four years, gaining in the meantime knowledge and experience of value. Coming from there to Washington County Mr. Hedelund assumed his present responsible position as cashier of the
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Washington State Bank on May 1, 1919, and has since performed the duties devolving upon him in that capacity ably and faithfully. This bank, of which Mr. Hedelund is a director and a stockholder, has a paid up capital of $15,000; a surplus fund of $3,000; and individual deposits of $190,000.
Mr. Hedelund married in September, 1917, Vera McCracken, a daughter of John McCracken, of Blair. Mr. Hedelund is a republican in politics, but has never been an aspirant for official honors, his time and energies being devoted to the interests of the bank with which he is officially connected. He has had some experience in naval affairs, having served five months in the United States Navy. Mrs. Hedelund is a consistent member of the Danish Lutheran Church.
J. F. McCANN .. Those who own and cultivate the land are very properly entrusted with other responsibilities in the business and social life of the community. J. F. McCann had made a reputation as a suc- cessful farmer before he became identified with several community enterprises in Arlington Township, where he has lived and become well known for many years. His home is in section 12, five miles east of Arlington, on the Blair highway.
Mr. McCann was born in Virginia February 4, 1871, but has spent most of his life in Nebraska. His parents, Isaac and Margaret McCann, were also natives of Virginia. His father was a Virginia farmer, served in the Civil war, and in March, 1872, came out to Nebraska, traveling by train as far as Omaha, where he was met by some friends. He never homesteaded, but bought land near what was known as Bell Creek, now Arlington. In that community he lived forty years, until his death in 1913, and had brought his affairs to a high degree of prosperity. His wife died in 1916. His accumulations at one time aggregated 460 acres, most of which he divided among his children before his death. The children number eight: William, of Washing- ton County; Mrs. Ruth Rosenbaum, of Washington County; J. F .; Henry, a farmer and stockman in Canadian County, Oklahoma; Mrs. Lydda Demaree, wife of a Scottsbluff farmer; Mrs. Salley Weidner, the deceased wife of a farmer of Washington County; Mrs. Dell Whorlow, of Washington County ; and Delmar, deceased.
J. F. McCann was about a year old when brought to Nebraska, and he grew up on his father's farm and acquired a common school educa- tion. At the age of twenty-one he began on his own responsibility and after working for a time for his father, rented some of the home- stead. When he married he bought forty acres, and now has a well improved and ably managed farm of eighty acres, devoted to general farming and some stock raising. Mr. McCann helped organize the Blair Telephone Company in 1902. He also became a charter member of the Home State Bank of Kennard, which was chartered and began business in 1915. He served as its vice president three years. He also helped organize the Farmers Grain & Lumber Company of Kennard. Other interests to which he has directed his time have been particularly the cause of education. He served as a member of the school board for several years. Politically he is independent and is affiliated with the Masons and Modern Woodmen of America.
In 1895 Mr. McCann married Miss Mertie LeCrone, whose father, John LeCrone, was a native of Illinois, spent many years in Washing- ton County but is now living in Alfalfa County, Oklahoma. Mr. and Mrs. McCann have six children, all at home, named Addie, Lyle, Lloyd, Alice, Leroy and Lester.
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DERVIE HALL is, with but one exception, entitled to the distinction of being the oldest business man at Kennard, Washington County, in point of continuous identification with representative business activities in this thriving village. He was born in Denmark in 1874, and was there reared and educated, besides which he there learned the painter's trade. He is a son of Jens and Margaret (Jensen) Hall, the former of whom is a carpenter by trade, though he is now engaged in farm enterprise in Denmark, where he served in the national army and took part in the war with Germany when the latter empire encroached upon the rights of sturdy little Denmark. His wife died at the age of thirty-five years, a devout member of the Lutheran Church, as is he also. Of the children, the subject of this sketch and two of his brothers, Fred and Martin, came to the United States, where all have won inde- pendence and prosperity, Fred being now engaged in farming near Irvington, Douglas County, Nebraska, where he also continued to work at his trade, that of painter, and Martin being a carpenter and builder at Elkhorn, Iowa.
Dervie Hall was about eighteen years of age when he came to America and established his residence at Hampton, Iowa, in 1892. He there followed his trade until the following year, when he came to Nebraska and worked at his trade in the City of Omaha. Before the close of that year, however, he came to Washington County and engaged in business as a painter and decorator in the new Village of Kennard, besides which he was here associated with his brother Fred in the general merchandise business, of which they disposed at the expiration of five years. Dervie Hall thereafter opened another store, which he still conducts and in which he handles groceries, paints, and wall paper. He also owns and operates a well equipped greenhouse in the village, besides which he is serving as justice of the peace. He is a republican in politics, is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America and he and his wife are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church in their home village, where they hold an inviolable place in popular esteem.
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