USA > Nebraska > Dodge County > History of Dodge and Washington Counties, Nebraska, and their people, Volume II > Part 66
USA > Nebraska > Washington County > History of Dodge and Washington Counties, Nebraska, and their people, Volume II > Part 66
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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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many and the British Isles, Mrs. McGiverin has a great deal of data, especially on Belgium and France, and when the war came on she was familiar with those countries, which was a great help to her in her war and Red Cross work. She has been one of the leading members of the Physical Research Club of Fremont, and has taken loyal interest in all things pertaining to the social and material welfare of the community. While a resident of Stanton she was a member of the Congregational Church of that place, but she is not actively identified with any church at the present time. A woman of high ideals, her life has been one of gracious service, and to her is accorded the affectionate regard of the community in which she has so long maintained her home.
WILLIAM OSTERMAN, a retired farmer of Arlington, and formerly quite prominent in the agricultural life of Washington County, was born in Germany on May 9, 1852, a son of Karl and Rachel (Sprick) Osterman, both of whom were born in Westphalia, Germany. Coming to Washington County, Nebraska, in 1857, he pre-empted land and con- tinued to live on his homestead until his death. He and his wife had six children, of whom two survive, namely : Mary, who married Samuel S. Dugan of Shawnee, Oklahoma; and William. Karl Osterman was a democrat in politics. He and his wife were consistent members of the Lutheran Church. Although he began his struggle with the world with- out any capital, he died a man of some means.
William Osterman attended the schools of Washington County and took a course at the first college established in Nebraska, which was located at Fontanelle. When the time arrived for his selection of a life occupation he selected that of farming, and was engaged in that line of endeavor throughout the remainder of his active career, always operat- ing on his own property, and he still owns the old family homestead. In 1915 he left the farm and came to Arlington, where he has since been numbered among the worth-while men of this locality.
In March, 1880, Mr. Osterman was united in marriage with Louise Ruwe, a daughter of William Ruwe, a prominent farmer and pioneer of Washington County. The children born of this marriage are as follows : William, who is on his father's farm, was educated at Arlington and in the Fremont Normal School; Harry Roscoe, who was also educated at Arlington and in the Fremont Normal School, was formerly a farmer, but has left that occupation and is now employed at Arlington; and Alice, who was educated at Arlington, is unmarried and living at home.
Although he was born and reared a Lutheran, Mr. Osterman is now attending the services of the Congregational Church. He is a democrat in his political convictions, and has served on the federal jury and on the School Board, occupying the latter office for over fifteen years. Through persistence and hard work Mr. Osterman has made a success in life, and now owns many acres of well-improved land, a beautiful residence at Arlington and the Terry Hotel building at Fremont. Mr. Osterman's success has not come to him through any spectacular operations, but is simply the result of whole-hearted endeavor along legitimate and congenial lines. What he accomplished anyone can do if he is only willing to work hard, apply himself and save his money.
MRS. MARY VAN ANDA. Daughter of a Nebraska pioneer, Mrs. Van Anda since her marriage has been identified with the farm and rural life of Dodge County, has seen some capable children grow up in this community and is widely known for the effective part she has played as a home maker.
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She was born in Camden County, Missouri, in 1861. Her father, George W. Mitchell, was born and reared in Jackson County, Kentucky. He was an expert cabinet-maker by trade, also a farmer and a Methodist minister. He was honored five years by service in the Missouri State Legislature. For five years he was in the army as a Union soldier, and while protecting the frontier paid his firse visit to Dodge County in 1865. He was also a Mason. He married Louise Jane Wilson, of Nashville, Tennessee, and Mrs. Van Anda was one of ten children.
Mrs. Van Anda was married at Fremont February 22, 1883. She became the mother of nine children: George E., of Arlington, Nebraska ; James C., of Fontanelle; Carmi Huston, of Centerville, South Dakota; John L .; Catherine, at home; Ralph W., of the Moody Bible Institute; Francis W., Fletcher W. and Merrill C., at home with their mother.
When they married Mr. and Mrs. Van Anda moved on a farm, and Mr. Van Anda was one of the hard working and prosperous citizens of the community until his death October 25, 1909. Since then Mrs. Van Anda has kept her home on the old homestead of sixty-five acres. She is a member of the Methodist Church and her husband was a republican voter.
ASA DIXON, JR. A live, wide-awake man, energetic and progressive, Asa Dixon, Jr., of Blair, a well-known operator in real estate, began life for himself when young, and in the course of his active career has steadily followed the pathway leading onward and upward to success. A son of Asa Dixon, Sr., he was born, March 21, 1877, in Washington County, Nebraska, of pioneer stock.
Born and educated in Peoria, Illinois, Asa Dixon, Sr., served as a soldier in the Civil war, enlisting in Company C, Twenty-second Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and was with Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley campaign. Being seriously wounded at the seige of Vicksburg, he was confined in a hospital four months. Recovering his health, he again entered the service and fought bravely until the close of the conflict, having the distinction of being the youngest soldier in his regiment. He came to Nebraska in 1865, took up a homestead claim in Washington County, and in addition to carrying on general farming successfully was engaged in the real estate business at Blair for about thirty years. Retired from active business, he is now a resident of California. He belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic, and is a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, though in his earlier life he was a preacher in the United Brethren Church.
Asa Dixon, Sr., married, in 1866, in Nebraska, Alice Manigal, who was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and came with her parents to Washington County, Nebraska, in 1864. She passed to the life beyond on October 28, 1918. Of the fifteen children born of their marriage, twelve are living, as follows: Mrs. T. E. King of Los Angeles, California; James M., engaged in the real estate business in Blair ; Frank, formerly a farmer in Tekamah, Nebraska, is now living retired in Los Angeles; Mrs. L. E. Robinson, also a resident of Los Angeles ; Emil of Blair, a dealer in real estate; Asa, Jr., of this sketch; Oscar, operating a laundry in Blair ; Wallace P., a well-known real estate dealer at Tekamah; Charles, who has served as a mail clerk in Los Angeles for fifteen years ; Mrs. William Nichols, also of Los Angeles; Mrs. Russell Thapp, whose husband is pastor of the First Christian Church at Seattle, Washington; and Fred, who has a studio at Carnegie Hall, New York City, was the third man in the United States to make records for self-playing pianos.
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After his graduation from the Blair High School, Asa Dixon, Jr., embarked in agricultural pursuits, and for twelve years carried on gen- eral farming and stock raising and dealing. Establishing himself in Blair in 1910, he has since been busily and prosperously engaged in business as a real estate dealer, his operations extending throughout Nebraska, and even to the Pacific Coast, as he has sold some land in California. He is interested in lands on his own account, and by wise investments has acquired a goodly property.
Mr. Dixon married, in 1895, in Blair, Jessie Sheets, who was born in 1877 in Washington County, Nebraska, on the farm of her father, Henry Sheets. Five children have been born into their household, namely : Gifford of Blair, now an insurance agent, was for three years state manager for the National Auto Insurance Company ; Arthur, engaged in the insurance business at Blair; Mrs. D. D. Kinyoun, whose husband is engaged in farming at Formoso, Kansas; and Mildred and Jennie, attending school. Politically Mr. Dixon is a steadfast democrat, and fraternally he belongs to the Knights of the Maccabees. Religiously he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and has ever been active and prominent in church and Sunday school work. Mrs. Dixon is a member of the Roman Catholic Church, and faithful to its teachings.
MRS. MARY BARRY. All.of the farm land is not owned by men, for some of the most successful farmers of the country are women, and one who has achieved a gratifying success in agriculture is Mrs. Mary Barry of section 26, Blair Township, Washington County, Nebraska. She is the widow of Michael Barry, and a daughter of James Manny, a native of Ireland, who came to the United States at an early day and settled first in New Jersey, from whence he came to Nebraska, making the trip early in 1865. As far as St. Joseph, he made the trip by water, but on account of the shallows at that point was forced to conclude the journey with wagons, to Calhoun. The first winter the family lived in a log cabin, near Calhoun fort, where the overland travelers stopped on their way to the Black Hills and further West. In the spring the family moved on a farm and at that time had an ox team and one cow. They underwent hardships, including trouble from unfriendly Indians, but in time prospered, and when the father died he owned 400 acres of land in Washington County and 320 acres in Kimball and Antelope counties. He passed away when he was fifty-five years old, his widow surviving him until she was sixty-eight years old. Mrs. Barry is the only one of their children living, as her brother, James, was shot while on duty as a watchman at Benson, and her sister, Johanna, died in 1907.
Michael Barry was born in Canada, and came to the United States in 1856, first living for a time at Omaha, Nebraska, and then going on a farm near Calhoun, his father, Thomas Barry accompanying him when he located on this farm. In 1880 he and Mrs. Barry were married and they became the parents of the following children : Thomas; Mrs. James Thompson; Mrs. Edgar Rose; Joseph; Mrs. Jim Sip; James and John, who are at home; Paul, who lives in Dodge County; Bryan, who is at home; Grace, who is a trained nurse of Chicago, Illinois; and Charles, who is also at home. Mr. Barry was a Catholic. For some years he was a member of the School Board of his district, and for many years was road overseer. He was an independent voter. Fraternally he main- tained membership with the Woodmen of the World. His death occurred January 17, 1913, and in his passing his community lost a good citizen, and his family a kind and loving husband and father. Since his death
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his widow and several of her sons are conducting a 160-acre farm, where they live, and another farm of 120 acres in the neighborhood, and are doing very well with their work. They are fine people in every respect and stand pre-eminently well with all who know them.
ALBERT F. GERICKE. A prominent and prosperous citizen of Elk- horn Township, Albert F. Gericke is closely identified with the agricul- tural and industrial interests of this part of Dodge County, being profit- ably engaged in general farming on the parental homestead, which he is managing with ability and success. A son of Charles L. and Frederica Gericke, he was born August 28, 1884, in Dodge County, which has always been his home.
Born March 15, 1845, and brought up in Germany, Charles L. Gericke was early impressed with the superior advantages America offered the laboring man, and in 1868 immigrated to the United States. After spend- ing a while in Illinois, in 1870 he made his way to Fremont, Nebraska, where he worked a time, then rented and spent about a year in the employ of the Government, freighting on the plains. Returning to Nebraska in 1884, he bought 120 acres of prairie land in Dodge County and immediately began the improvement of a ranch. He succeeded well in his undertakings, and as his wealth increased he invested in other tracts of land. At his death, which occurred May 28, 1913, he had title to 240 acres of rich and arable land, much of which was under cultivation. His wife, Frederica Weierhansen, was born in Germany January 13, 1860, and came to the United States in 1876, settling in Fremont, Nebraska, where she married Charles L. Gericke in 1880. To them were born six children, as follows: Will, a professor in the University of California ; Ernest, of Nickerson, Nebraska; Emma, living at home ; Frieda, also at home; Louise Katherine, who died at thirteen years; and Albert F., unmarried, is the subject of this brief sketch. Charles L. Gericke was an active member of the Evangelical Church.
Acquiring a substantial education in the district schools, Albert F. Gericke became thoroughly familiar with agricultural labor while young, and having decided that farming was not only an agreeable but a profit- able occupation he selected it as his own, and since the death of his father has carried on mixed husbandry on the home place, in its man- agement displaying rare discrimination and judgment. Mr. Gericke makes a specialty of raising Poland China hogs and Shorthorn cattle, a branch of industry in which he is meeting with characteristic success. Taking a keen interest in everything pertaining to the advancement of agriculture Mr. Gericke is one of the wide-awake members of Dodge County Farm Bureau and of the Farmers' Union. A stanch republican in politics, he has held various township offices, performing the duties devolving upon him ably and promptly. Religiously he belongs to the German Evangelical Church.
JOHN A. VAN ANDA came to Nebraska in the year following that which marked the admission of the state to the Union and he was one of the honored pioneer citizens of Fremont, Dodge County, at the time of his death, July 10, 1903. He had given valiant service as a soldier in the Civil war and was a young man of sterling character and ambi- tious purpose when he numbered himself among the pioneer settlers in Dodge County, Nebraska, where he did well his part in connection with social and industrial development and progress and where he ever com- manded inviolable place in popular confidence and esteem.
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Mr. Van Anda was born at Mount Vernon, Ohio, March 15, 1840, and thus was sixty-three years of age when he died. He acquired his early education in the schools of the old Buckeye State and his youthful ambition had been to prepare himself for the medical profession, but enlisting in the service of his country prevented the realization of this laudable purpose. He was twenty-two years of age when, in September, 1861, he tendered his aid in defense of the Union. He had in the mean- time become a resident of Iowa, and there he enlisted in Company H, Twelfth Iowa Volunteer Infantry. He proceeded with his regiment to the front and took part in the historic battle of Shiloh, in connection with which he was captured by the enemy, April 6, 1862. He was held as a prisoner of war for seven months, within which he endured the hardships and horrors of infamous old Libby . Prison, at Richmond, Virginia, where his physical powers ebbed to the lowest point, with the result that when he was paroled and taken to Annapolis, Maryland, it was supposed that his death was imminent. He recuperated, however, sufficiently to be transferred to a government hospital at St. Louis, Mis- souri, where, during his period of convalescence, he assisted in the care of other patients in the institution. After receiving his honorable dis- charge Mr. Van Anda returned to Iowa, where he remained until March, 1868, when he came to the new state of Nebraska, and filed entry on a homestead of eighty acres, fifteen miles northwest of Fremont. He remained on this pioneer farm until he had perfected his title to the property, after which he purchased another farm, upon which likewise he made good improvements. He continued his active association with farm enterprise in Dodge County until 1880, and in the meanwhile had gained financial independence, though he had no monetary resources when he came to the state. In the year mentioned he removed with his wife to Fremont, and in this city he passed the remainder of his life in well earned retirement.
Mr. Van Anda was a stalwart republican, and was actively affiliated with the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic, as well as the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He was for several years engaged in the retail grocery business at Fremont, but he lived retired from active business during the closing period of his life. He was fully forty years a member of the official board of the Methodist Episcopal Church and was influential in all departments of the work of the church of this denomination at Fremont. Mrs. Van Anda, who still retains her home in this city, has likewise been zealous in church work and is one of the revered members of the local Methodist Church.
The year 1870 recorded the marriage of Mr. Van Anda to Miss Elvina Taggart, who was born February 6, 1845, in the City of Cleve- land, Ohio, a daughter of Henry and Mary (Walker) Taggart. The parents were born near Concord, New Hampshire, and were representa- tives of fine old colonial families of New England. Their marriage was solemnized in their native state, and after removing to Ohio Mr. Taggart became a successful contractor, he having learned both the carpenter's and the cooper's trades and his father having been a shipbuilder in New Hampshire. Mr. Taggart became a pioneer settler in Iowa, where he purchased and improved a farm, in Dubuque County, and there he and his wife passed the remainder of their active lives, though the death of both occurred at Colorado Springs, Colorado. Their religious faith was that of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mrs. Van Anda is the eldest of a family of five children, of whom three are living. She was edu- cated in the public schools and at Epworth Seminary, in Dubuque
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County, Iowa, and in that county she had been a successful and popular teacher for six years prior to her marriage. John A., the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Van Anda, is assistant cashier of the Commercial National Bank of Fremont, the maiden name of his wife having been Jessie Albers and they have two children, Caroline M. and Francis E.
Mrs. Van Anda had her full share of pioneer experiences in Dodge County and takes pleasure in having a witness of the splendid develop- ment of the county and its attractive judicial center, the while she has a wide circle of friends in the community that has long represented her home.
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