USA > Nebraska > Dodge County > History of Dodge and Washington Counties, Nebraska, and their people, Volume II > Part 65
USA > Nebraska > Washington County > History of Dodge and Washington Counties, Nebraska, and their people, Volume II > Part 65
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ne American Histor
J. J. Smith
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man or principle which he deems most worthy. He is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America.
In 1895 Mr. Wrich married Bertha E. Kuhr, member of one of the older families of Dodge and Washington counties. Mr. and Mrs. Wrich are the parents of six children : Chris, a farmer near Oram, Nebraska; George, at home; William, who died at the age of eighteen years; Otto and Marie, both at home; and Herman, who died at the age of ten years.
JOSEPH TOWNER SMITH. While it was a real distinction that he arrived at Fremont in 1856 among the very first settlers, it was the character and capabilities of Joseph Towner Smith that made his career impressive as one of the real pioneers. At the time of his death he was the largest taxpayer in Dodge County, and for upwards of half a cen- tury the name of Towner Smith possessed a significance due as much to his character as to his extensive possessions. He was a shrewd and far- sighted business man, very plain and unassuming, and his life illustrated the possibilities of substantial achievement without superficial show.
He was born November 28, 1831, in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania, and died at Fremont, Nebraska, November 12, 1902. His father, Tilton Smith, was a native of Orange County, New York, while his mother, Catherine Draper, was born in Otsego County, New York. They were married in Luzerne, now Wyoming, County, Pennsylvania, and of their family three sons became identified with the pioneer life of eastern Nebraska.
Towner Smith grew up and acquired his early education in Pennsyl- vania. On October 28, 1856, he crossed the Missouri River into Nebraska at Omaha. His companion in travel was his brother, Charles A. They proceeded up the Nebraska side of the river to Fremont, where their older brother, Judge James G. Smith, had preceded them several months, in time to help lay out the Town of Fremont in August of that year. Towner Smith saw the village when it contained only a few log houses and dugouts. It was a real frontier community, surrounded by a greater Indian population than whites. It was only in that year that any of the permanent settlements were established in this part of Nebraska Terri- tory. Preparatory to approaching winter the three brothers constructed a dugout 8x12 feet, and here they had their home and headquarters during the winter of 1856-57. During the spring and summer of the following year the brothers erected a hewed log house, 16x24 feet. This by virtue of its service was one of the real historic landmarks of early Fremont, serving as residence, boarding house, postoffice, store and trading house for both whites and Indians. In 1858 Towner Smith and his brother, James G., opened the first store in Fremont, and James was appointed the first postmaster. This store was on the corner of Military and Broad streets, but later they erected a store building at Sixth and Broad in block 125, opposite the present postoffice building and on the site now occupied by Hammond & Stephens' large publishing house. For many years Towner Smith and his brother, Judge James G., were together in the merchandise business. James G. Smith removed from Fremont to Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 1906, and later lived in Los Angeles, where he died July 5, 1915. The other Smith brother, Charles A., died in Fremont October 2, 1916.
After Towner Smith and his brother James dissolved partnership, the former devoted his time to his extensive landed interests and for many years did a large business buying and selling lands. His invest- ments were varied and his acute judgment made him almost invariably
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successful in his investments. He owned much Chicago property, coal lands in Missouri, and other interests besides those in his home county.
An early settler who had known Towner Smith from the time he came west paid this significant tribute to him: "He was a great saver but was generous to people whom he knew to be in need. Whenever he performed an act of kindness it was done without ostentation and many deeds of this nature never came to the public notice. He was scrupu- lously honest and whatever he said could be depended on." He was never actively affiliated with lodge or church, but contributed to causes represented by such organizations, was a republican in politics, and for several years represented the third ward in the City Council. He was one of the founders and was the first chief of the Fremont fire depart- ment. Undoubtedly the substantial character of Towner Smith entered into the very foundation of the modern City of Fremont, and it was his good fortune to see that community grow from an outpost of the wilder- ness into one of the real cities of the state.
The first wife of Towner Smith was Charlotte Adelia Miller. On November 25, 1882, he married Augusta Wilhelmina Knopp, a native of Nebraska, who died July 8, 1889. To this marriage were born three children : Charlotte, wife of Carlos Morehouse of Fremont; Franklin Perry, who was born in 1888 and died March 10, 1919; and Joseph T., Jr.
JOSEPH T. SMITH. A successful young business man who has always counted it a part of his good fortune that his destiny has been allied with the City of Fremont, Joseph T. Smith is a son of the late Towner Smith, and was born at Fremont November 22, 1886.
He acquired his early education in the Fremont High School, spent three years in the Culver Military Academy at Culver, Indiana, and nine months in the Fremont Normal School. His education finished he was connected with the Fremont State Bank until reaching his majority and for the past thirteen years has had full charge of the J. T. Smith Estate, Incorporated, which owns and controls the widely scattered and valuable properties accumulated chiefly during the lifetime of the late Towner Smith. Included in the estate are some valuable coal properties in Mis- souri conducted as Smith, Marriott & Company of Moberly, Missouri, of which Mr. Smith is president. Mr. Smith has shown executive and financial ability of a high order in the management of this estate, but as a business man has not neglected the claims and duties of good citizenship.
September 6, 1917, he joined the colors and trained as a soldier for the World war at Camp Funston, Kansas. He was in the army eleven months, being corporal of his company, and received an honorable dis- charge on account of ill health July 26, 1918. Following his military service he spent five months recuperating in California, and after partly recovering his physical vigor returned to his home in Fremont. In 1910 he built at 1452 North Park Avenue a very attractive home, planning it after some of the beautiful modern houses of Southern California. This home was in readiness for the reception of his bride, Leonora K. Pierce, whom he married June 21, 1911. Mrs. Smith was born in West Virginia, daughter of Frederick G. and Bertha E. Pierce. Their only daughter, Marjorie Elizabeth Smith, was born in 1912. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are active members of the Presbyterian Church and he is a trustee of the church and secretary of the Sunday school. Well known in social and fraternal life, he is a member of the Fremont Commercial Club, the Country Club, is affiliated with the Masonic order, the Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks, and since the war has been active in
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American Legion work. He is a republican, and during the primary campaigns of 1920 was secretary of the "Leonard-Wood-for-President- Club."
CHRISTOF BERGMANN is a Washington County pioneer. His home has been here for over forty years. His activities for the most part have been identified with the land, and in earlier years he experienced all the hard- ships and ups and downs of the Nebraska farmer. He was persistent, hard working and eventually saw the sun of prosperity shine upon his efforts and is now well satisfied to enjoy the comforts won by earlier years and allows the responsibilities of farming to rest upon the sturdy shoulders of his son.
Mr. Bergmann was born in Hanover, Germany, in 1845, and was reared and educated in his native country. At the age of twenty-three he came to America, and from 1870 for nine years lived in Chicago. He was in that city at the time of the great fire of 1871. His chief employ- ment while there was with an express company.
In 1879 Mr. Bergmann came to Nebraska, bringing his family. He did not homestead, but soon after coming bought eighty acres of unim- proved land. He gave that farm its substantial improvements, and still lives there. His home adjoins the Town of Washington on the east, and is located in section 32 of Richland Township. Mr. Bergmann out of his personal experiences is able to appreciate the wonderful contrast in conditions affecting the farmer. In the early days he was hardly able to sell corn even at 10 cents a bushel, and he sold his hogs for $3.80 a hundred. He and some of the other early settlers in the locality usually did their trading at Omaha, many miles away.
In Chicago in 1873 Mr. Bergmann married Mary Seedorf, who was also a native of Hanover. Five children were born to their marriage: Mrs. Emma Rathmann, living near Bloomfield, Nebraska; Mrs. Mary Cunningham, whose home is near Kennard in Washington County ; Chris, at home, looking after his father's farm; Margaretha, also at home; and Mrs. Adela Goedeker, of Washington County. Mr. Bergmann is a democratic voter. For two years he served as a member of his local school board.
CARL F. PULS. Through all the years of his mature life Carl F. Puls has been identified with one prosperous agricultural community of Wash- ington County, Richland Township, where he owns a well-improved farm in section 26.
The esteem paid him as a good citizen has been acquired in the same county where he was born and reared. Mr. Puls was born in Washing- ton County February 9, 1875, son of Carl and Margaretha Puls. His father, a native of Germany, came to the United States in 1866. a poor man, and for two years worked out for day and month wages in Scott County, Iowa. By dint of much saving he accumulated the modest fund that enabled him to come to Nebraska and homestead eighty acres of raw land in Washington County. On this land he built a humble board shack, but eventually saw his efforts meet their proper rewards, although he suffered many hardships. Before his death he owned 200 acres in Washington County. He died January 19, 1912, at the age of seventy- eight, and his wife passed away November 1, 1895, at the age of fifty- four. They had nine children, three of whom died in infancy, and the six still living are: August Adolph, a Wisconsin farmer; Mrs. Herman Klindt, of Washington County; Carl F .; Martha Hiese, of Cuming
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County, Nebraska; F. J., who lives on the old homestead farm; and Mrs. Emma Echtemkamp, of Boone County.
Carl F. Puls was reared on the farm, acquired a common school edu- cation, and worked with his father for a number of years, helping improve and operate the land. At the age of twenty-nine he bought some land from his father and in that one locality has continued his enterprise as a general farmer and stockman, and at the same time has manifested a commendable interest and public spirit in connection with all progres- sive affairs in his locality.
April 20, 1904, Mr. Puls married Miss Dorthea M. Wiese. They have four children, all at home, named Rheinhardt, Margarthea, Louie and Anita. Mr. Puls is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of Amer- ica, in which he has held the various chairs and is now past consul, and is a member of the Royal Neighbors of America. His interest in good schools led him to retain his position as director of his local district for a number of years. For two years he served as township assessor and for a long time was road overseer. He is a republican voter.
GEORGE M. ANTILL is one of the highly respected business men of Blair, where he has lived a number of years and where his efforts have brought him commendable success and a place of confidence in his community.
Mr. Antill has been the architect of his own fortunes. He was a small boy when his father died, and he had to make the best of his own opportunities from early youth. He was born in Monroe County, Ohio, March 15, 1875, son of Samuel Hudson and Mary J. (Torchey) Antill. In 1880, when he was five years of age, his parents left Ohio and moved to Iowa, where his father died a year later. The Antills were farming people. Of ten children five are still living, George being the eighth in order of birth. His father was a Mason, a democrat in politics and a member of the Christian Church.
George M. Antill was about six years of age when his father died. He had a very limited education in the country schools of Iowa, and had to practice self-reliance and contrive means to support himself at a very early age. He learned the cabinet-maker's trade in Iowa, and followed it for four years. Following that he was a shipping clerk in a whole- sale fruit house at Omaha, and then came to Blair, where he has become extensively interested in the sale of real estate. He also operates a garage, though real estate is his chief business. Mr. Antill has sold great quantities of Colorado lands to individual settlers and is still heavily interested in that state.
HENRY WESTPHALEN is able to record a residence in Dodge County of forty years, and those have been the most productive and successful years of his life. He is one of the leading farmers of Ridgeley Town- ship, his home being in section 26.
He was born in Wisconsin in 1860. His father, John Westphalen, was a native of Germany and an early settler of Wisconsin, where he lived a number of years. About 1880 he came to Dodge County, Nebraska, and bought eighty acres near Scribner. At the time of his death he owned 200 acres.
Henry Westphalen was twenty years of age when he came to Nebraska, had a common school education and some knowledge of farm- ing, and has turned those advantages to good account in his work as an agriculturist and his varied relations with the community. He owns a
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farm of 200 acres, and has put its improvements among the very best. He is a republican voter and a member of the Lutheran Church.
His first wife was a Miss Roemer, who at her death left two children. For his second wife he married Alice Roemer, and they have five children.
THOMAS T. WILKINSON. The Civil war was still in progress when Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Wilkinson came West to seek a home in the sparsely settled country of Nebraska. They shared in practically all the experiences of the frontier. They came to Nebraska poor, had to depend upon their thrift and exertions to provide a living for themselves and their children, and it is a tribute to their substantial virtues that they subsequently achieved a gratifying degree of prosperity and independence. Mr. Wilkinson enjoyed the comforts and fruits of his early toil for a number of years before his death, and Mrs. Thomas Wilkinson, whose home is at Blair, is one of the interesting pioneer women who can recount some of the hardships and struggles the early settlers went through.
Thomas Wilkinson was born in England July 1, 1838, son of James and Sarah Wilkinson, life-long residents of England. His father was a worker in a clothing factory in England. Thomas Wilkinson came to America when a young man of about seventeen, and for several years followed the trade of painter and paperhanger. He lived in northern Illinois, not far from Chicago, and in 1859 married at Barrington, Illi- nois, Miss Lucy S. Jackson. She was born in England September 3, 1840, daughter of John and Sarah Ann Jackson. The Jackson family left Lincolnshire and came to the United States about 1842, locating in Illinois. John Jackson was a veterinary surgeon. Of his nine children Mrs. Thomas Wilkinson is the only one now living. Her parents both spent their last years in Elk City, Nebraska.
After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Wilkinson spent two years at Lake Providence, Louisiana, where he followed his trade. With the breaking out of the Civil war he returned north, resumed his residence in Illinois, but in 1864 started west to Elk City, Nebraska. They reached their destination July 27, 1864. They brought with them the two children born in Illinois, Ida and Emma. The wagon and team that carried the family from Illinois to Nebraska represented a large part of the fortune of Thomas Wilkinson, and consequently when one of his horses died soon after coming here it was a calamity such as can hardly be under- stood at this late date. Later he bought another horse from the Govern- ment and named it Sam. At that time land was cheap, selling from $2.50 to $5 an acre, the same land that fifty years later commands a price of between $250 and $300 an acre. Mr. and Mrs. Wilkinson acquired a tract of railroad land, and at the price of great self-denial and close economy they eventually paid for their property. Mrs. Wilkin- son tells many anecdotes showing that the high cost of living was a problem even more troublesome in those days than at present. Mr. Wil- kinson at one time traded a good watch for a bushel of potatoes. There was also a scarcity of labor. Mr. Wilkinson sometimes employed Indian squaws to husk his corn. Indians frequently came to the Wilkinson home, begging Mrs. Wilkinson for beef and corn, but would never accept pork. This original home of Mr. and Mrs. Wilkinson in Nebraska was twenty-five miles from Omaha, then a small town. Mrs. Wilkinson was a champion butter-maker in her neighborhood, and the surplus of this product she sold in Omaha. Gradually their affairs prospered and in 1887 they were able to retire from their farm and move to Blair, where
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they enjoyed the comforts of a good town home. At Blair Mr. Wilkin- son passed away July 18, 1912, nearly forty years after he had come to Nebraska.
After Mr. and Mrs. Wilkinson settled in Nebraska two other children were born to them at Elk City, Nettie and William. Of their four chil- dren the oldest is Ida, wife of J. F. Smith, who is in the brick business at Omaha. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have four children, named Harry, Wil- liam, Ralph and Marvel. The second daughter, Emma, is the wife of Herman Shields, also a brick man at Omaha. Mr. and Mrs. Shields had two children, their daughter Mildred being a high school girl. Their other daughter, Lucy Lonella, married Clarence Simpson, of Blair, and she died November 3, 1918, her only child, Lu Ella Ruth, surviving and living in Blair. Mrs. Wilkinson's daughter Nettie is now deceased. Her only son is William W. Wilkinson, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this publication.
The late Thomas Wilkinson was an active member of the Episcopal Church, a democrat in politics, and throughout his life was deeply inter- ested in local affairs. He served a term of the County Board of Super- visors and was also a member of the school board at Blair. He was postmaster under Cleveland's administration from 1893 to 1896. Mr. Wil- kinson became a Master Mason at Algonquin, Illinois, in September, 1860, and was loyally affiliated with that order the rest of his life. While living near Fremont he became a charter member of the lodge there, subsequently a charter member of the lodge at Waterloo, Nebraska, and finally a member of Blair lodge and the Royal Arch Chapter. Though he went through some difficult struggles during his early years in Nebraska Mr. Wilkinson always had a great faith in the future of the country, and invested wisely in land and left a large estate.
WILLIAM Voss. Through a long period of years the Voss family has been substantially identified with the farming interests of Richland Town- ship, Washington County, and representing this name is William Voss, Jr., whose effective management is given to a fine farm in section 14, two miles east and two and a half miles south of Kennard.
He was born in Washington County in 1884, son of William Voss, Sr. After completing his education in the local schools the son remained at home until 1914, when he took charge of one of his father's farms and now has 120 acres devoted to crops and live stock. Most of the sub- stantial improvements on the land were placed there by his father.
March 23, 1910, William Voss, Jr., married Bertha Koepke, datighter of William Koepke, one of the early settlers of Washington County. They have five children, Katherine, Dorothy, John, Wilma and Aveline. Mr. Voss is an independent voter in politics and a member of the Lutheran Church.
MRS. ROSE McGIVERIN, whose beautiful home is situated on East Sixth Street in the City of Fremont. judicial center of Dodge County, has been a resident of Nebraska for more than forty years, and few have manifested deeper interest in the civic and material development and progress of this commonwealth. Mrs. McGiverin has been specially prominent and influential in various fraternal and general civic organi- zations, as well as a leader in social activities. A woman of fine intel- lectuality and gracious personality, she finds ample demand upon her time and attention in connection with the various social and benevolent organizations with which she is identified, and her beautiful home is a center of generous hospitality.
Mr. Pace Gaston Mc Giverin
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Mrs. McGiverin was born in Green Lake County, Wisconsin, December 19, 1857, and is a daughter of Ray and Phoebe (Clark) Sax- ton, both natives of the State of New York and both representatives of families founded in America in the early colonial period of our national history. The marriage of the parents was solemnized in the State of Ohio, but later they numbered themselves among the pioneers of Green Lake County, Wisconsin, where Mr. Saxton developed and improved a farm, as did he later one of the valuable farms of Minnesota, where both he and his wife passed the closing years of their lives. In his youth Mr. Saxton learned the mason's trade, but the greater part of his active life was devoted to farm enterprise. On the paternal side Mrs. McGiv- erin is a great-granddaughter of Ezekiel Pearce, who was a resident of Rhode Island when he enlisted in the Continental line and entered service in the War of the Revolution. He served with utmost patriotism and loyalty and was severely wounded in one of the battles marking the progress of the great struggle for national independence. Though he lived several years after the close of the war, his death was the distinct sequel of the wounds he had received in battle. Representatives of the Pearce family likewise were patriotic soldiers in the Revolutionary war, and thus strongly fortify Mrs. McGiverin's credentials as a member of the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Mrs. McGiverin received her early education in the schools of Wis- consin and by the self-discipline gained through comprehensive reading and study she has become a woman of distinctive culture and fine mental poise. In 1876 was solemnized her marriage to Francis McGiverin, and three years later they came to Nebraska. From Wisner, Cuming County, they proceeded by stage to Stanton, the judicial center of Stanton County, where they established their home. There they remained twelve years, and they then came to Fremont, where Mrs. McGiverin has since maintained her home. Of this union were born two children: Ethel is the wife of Paul Colson of Fremont ; and Daisy, who became the wife of Charles Derick, was a resident of this city at the time of her death.
Mrs. McGiverin was a member of the first Chautauqua class formed at Stanton, this state, and she is one of the two original members of the American Historical Association from Fremont, the other being George L. Loomis. She has taken specially lively interest in the affairs of that noble patriotic organization, the Society of the Daughters of the Ameri- can Revolution, and has served as regent of the Lewis & Clark Chapter of this organization at Fremont. She is one of the influential members of this chapter, and has been active and prominent also in the Order of the Eastern Star, in which she served two years as treasurer of the Grand Chapter of Nebraska. In the Daughters of Rebekah, an adjunct of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, she served one year as vice president and one year as president of the state organization of the order in Nebraska. She is actively identified with the Ladies' Charity Club of Fremont, as well as with the Woman's Club, of which she was the organizer and of which she has served as president. She has been very active in the home-service section of the Civilian Relief Department of the American Red Cross and to its work gave the major part of her time and attention during the period of America's participation in the great World war and is continuing in the care of the discharged soldiers at the present time (1920). Her influence was potent also in the local activities of the Red Cross and other war-time organizations and services. Having traveled extensively through the Orient and Europe in 1900 on a Mediterranean cruise and in 1910 having spent five months in Ger-
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