USA > Nebraska > Dodge County > History of Dodge and Washington Counties, Nebraska, and their people, Volume II > Part 7
USA > Nebraska > Washington County > History of Dodge and Washington Counties, Nebraska, and their people, Volume II > Part 7
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Receiving his early education in the rural schools. H. P. Weitkamp became familiar with the various branches of agriculture when young, and choosing the free and independent occupation of a farmer began life on his own account in 1891. Renting from his father a tract of land not far from Etna, he continued there engaged in agricultural pursuits for sixteen years, meeting with good success in his work. Looking for broader fields of action at the end of that period. Mr. Weitkamp located in Washington County, and having organized the Winslow State Bank was actively assocated with its management four years. In 1909, still retaining his connection with that bank, he embarked in the hardware business, which he has managed successfully, gradually enlarging his
Alemy Soemail
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operations, and now is proprietor of the only hardware and furniture establishment in Winslow. In 1919, Mr. Weitkamp, with characteristic enterprise, established the Farmers State Bank of Winslow, of which he is president, and is managing its affairs most ably and satisfactorily.
In February, 1891, Mr. Weitkamp was united in marriage with Minnie Richter, who was born in Washington County, Nebraska, a daughter of the late Herman Richter, and they have one daughter, Esther, born in 1904. Mr. Weitkamp is independent in politics, voting according to the dictates of his conscience, without regard to party affilia- tions. Ever interested in local affairs, and never shirking the responsi- bilities of office, he has served as township clerk, village clerk, assessor, road overseer, and for twenty-five years was a member of the school board. Both he and his wife are active members of the Lutheran Church.
HENRY EDELMAIER. In naming the representative men of Scribner, Nebraska, Henry Edelmaier immediately comes to mind as one who has engaged public attention for a number of years because of business enterprise and achievement. Mr. Edelmaier is vice president of the Farmers State Bank at Scribner and in other ways also is a foremost citizen.
Henry Edelmaier was born April 6, 1870, in Belmont, Ohio, and is a son of David Edelmaier, extended mention of whom will be found in this work. His education was obtained in the public schools, supple- mented by a commercial course in the Gem City Business College at Quincy, Illinois. He came to Washington County, Nebraska in 1887 and worked on farms by the month two years and in a brick yard and earned money to pay for his commercial course-1890-91.
In 1893 Mr. Edelmaier came to Scribner as office man in the Mar- quardt & Groetche elevator, and continued in that capacity with that firm for four years, after that going to Hadar, Nebraska, as manager for the Nye, Snyder, Fowler Company, operating a grain elevator and in the lumber business. He later was stationed at Leigh, Nebraska, for the same firm and continued for some years. From there he went to Hooper, Nebraska, as manager of the Farmers Grain and Stock Com- pany, from Hooper coming to Scribner, where he operated a brick yard for one year. In 1909 he entered the First National Bank of this city as assistant cashier, in which position he continued until inducements were offered that led to his going back to Hooper to take charge of the Farm- ers Elevator Company, where he remained for the following four years.
In 1918 Mr. Edelmaier returned to Scribner, when he was elected vice president of the Farmers State Bank, and he has been identified with all that pertains to the welfare of this prosperous little city ever since. The Farmers State Bank of Scribner, Nebraska, commenced busi- ness February 4, 1918, and the report of its condition at the close of business November 15, 1919, shows that the institution has made safe and steady growth, with profits beyond expectation and with equally prosperous prospects for the future. The officers of the Farmers State Bank are as follows: Arthur H. Shultz, president ; Henry Edelmaier, vice president, and Herman F. Meyer, cashier. All are men of indepen- dent fortune and of the highest possible personal character.
In 1894 Mr. Edelmaier was united in marriage to Miss Ida S. Stoet- zel, who was born in Nebraska and is a daughter of John Stoetzel, who came early from Germany and was a pioneer farmer in this section of Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. Edelmaier have three children, one son and
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two daughters, namely: Raymond, who is a business man at Hooper, Nebraska ; Gladys, who is the wife of John H. Bader, who is a success- ful farmer well known in Dodge County; and Helen, who resides with her parents. All the children have been well educated and given many advantages. Mr. Edelmaier is a Scottish Rite Mason. In politics he has always been an outspoken republican although never willing to accept any political office. He is looked upon as one of the sound, reliable business men of Dodge County.
GEORGE F. BASLER. The life of George F. Basler, a well-known and public-spirited citizen of Fremont, has been such as to elicit just praise from those who know him best, owing to the fact that he has always been true to the trusts reposed in him and has been upright in his dealings with his fellow men, at the same time lending his support to the advance- ment of any cause looking to the welfare of the community at large. Mr. Basler was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1859, and is the son of Jacob Basler. The latter was a native of Germany, who came to the United States in young manhood and located in Philadelphia. He has learned the trade of a stone mason, and also that of a shoe fitter, and to the latter vocation he turned his attention during the Civil war period. With keen foresight he had purchased a large stock of leather and, owing to the big advance in the value of that material, he was enabled to make considerable money. This he invested in Philadelphia real estate, which also enhanced in value to his financial advantage. In 1868 he moved with his family to Nebraska and bought a large farmi near Nickerson, Dodge County, on which he lived for ten or fifteen years. He then moved to Fremont and bought property, through which he still further profited, so that he was considered a man of substantial means. To him and his wife were born five children, of which number George F. is the only survivor.
George F. Basler received his educational training in the public schools of Fremont and then he engaged in the grocery business, in which he con- tinued for twenty-two years. He also served as constable for a number of years and was appointed city clerk of Fremont, serving a short time. For a number of years he has been employed in the plant of the Rogers Tent and Awning Company, owned by his nephew, Henry W. Rogers, who is represented elsewhere in this work. Mr. Basler's career has been characterized by persistent industry and faithfulness to duty and he enjoys the confidence of those with whom he is associated.
In 1900 Mr. Basler was married to Mayme Milland. He is a demo- crat in politics and takes an intelligent interest in the public affairs of his community. Fraternally. he is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Royal Neighbors of America and, with his wife, belongs to the Order of the Eastern Star, the Daughters of Rebekah and the Pythian Sisters. Though a man of unpretentious demeanor, he possesses those qualities which win friends, and he is deservedly popular among those with whom he asso- ciates and enjoys the respect of the entire community.
GEORGE N. PARKERT. The Parkert name has been one of honored consideration in Dodge County for a long period of years, and while some of the records of the family are given attention on other pages, the following is devoted primarily to the career of George N. Parkert, who has achieved a distinctive success as a stock farmer and whose well equipped farm and attractive home are in section 13 of Everett Township.
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Mr. Parkert, who both on the farm and in association with progres- sive organizations illustrates the modern type of American farmer, was born in Dodge County March 15, 1884, a son of Peter Parkert, Sr. As a boy he attended the public schools of Hooper and acquired part of his education at Fremont. At the age of twenty-four in 1908 he began farming for himself, and in twelve years has done a great deal to demon- strate his abilities. For several years he specialized in Shorthorn cattle, but more recently has made his farm notable for its Poland China hogs. He conducts annual sales, frequented by numerous stockmen looking for high-class hogs. He also feeds for the market.
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Mr. Parkert is a stockholder in the First National Bank of Hooper, a stockholder in the Farmers' Co-operative association, in the Dodge County Agricultural Association of Hooper, and Hooper Milling Company.
In 1910 he married Miss Josephine Bradbury, a daughter of James Bradbury of Hooper. The Bradburys are one of the old and solid names in the citizenship of Dodge County. Mr. and Mrs. Parkert have one daughter, Mary Georgean. Mrs. Parkert is a member of the Grace Lutheran Church at Hooper, while Mr. Parkert is affiliated with the Catholics of that community. He is a member of the Knights of Colum- bus at Fremont, the Modern Woodmen of America and in politics is a democrat.
JOSEPH SNYDER, one of the historic pioneers of Dodge County, has lived here for over half a century, and has been a contributor as well as a witness of the progress of development.
Mr. Snyder, who is now enjoying the comforts won by early years of self denial and industry with home at Fremont, was born in Germany December 28. 1842. He was eight years of age when in 1850 he came to the United States, and lived in Illinois for the next ten years. In 1860 he went to Wisconsin, and in the meantime had served an apprenticeship at the shoemaker's trade. In 1861 he enlisted as a Union soldier in the Ninth Wisconsin Infantry and was in a number of battles and campaigns until he received his honorable discharge in the fall of 1864. Having performed his duty as a good soldier he resumed his trade, lived in Iowa one year, and in the spring of 1866 came to Fremont, Nebraska. That was before any railroads were built and he had some difficulty in get- ting his tools and equipment out to this frontier locality. In the absence of tools he had to work at anything that offered. As the pioneer shoe- maker he was in business at Fremont for five years, and among the customers of that period he recalls that he made a pair of boots for Mr. L. D. Richards, when that pioneer business man and citizen first came to Dodge County. On leaving the cobbler's bench Mr. Snyder went out to his homestead three miles east of Fremont, and during many successive years gave his undivided time and attention to the improvement and cultivation of his land. He went through all the years of adversity that afflicted Nebraska farmers, involving loss from grasshoppers and high water, and many times he worked in the fields husking corn, furnish- ing his own team and wagon at wages of 60 cents a day. He proved up his homestead of eighty acres and subsequently bought other land at $2.50-and $7.00 an acre until at one time he owned a complete farm of 320 acres. Some years ago he sold his land and has since lived retired in Fremont.
In 1868 at Fremont Mr. Snyder married Miss Mary Nuel. She was born in Bavaria, Germany, and was brought to the United States when
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young. They were companions on life's highway for forty years until the death of Mrs. Snyder in 1910. Nine children blessed their home: Josephine of Fremont; Louis, a farmer of Dodge County; Alice, who lives in Montana; Sylvester of South Dakota; Carrie, who died in 1918; Viola, who lives in Alaska; Eva of Dodge County ; Albert, a resident of Montana ; and Mollie of Omaha.
Mr. Snyder is an honored member of the Grand Army Post of Fremont. While living in the country he served as a director of his home school board, was a member of the Township Board, and also jus- tice of the peace of his precinct. For a man who has lived actively nearly fourscore years he is exceedingly well preserved.
LOUIS SNYDER is a native of Dodge County, and during his mature career of nearly thirty years has been a member of the farming com- munity of Elkhorn Township. He owns a well improved farm in sec- tion 16, and while he has worked out his material prosperity on the land, he has not been unmindful of those responsibilities which come to every good citizen and has readily co-operated with community enterprises.
He was born at Fremont September 30, 1873. His father, Joseph Snyder, was a native of Germany but was brought to the United States at the age of eight years. He grew up at Galena, Illinois, where General Grant was then an obscure merchant. He learned the cobbler's trade and from Galena entered the ranks of the Union army. After the war he came to Nebraska and homesteaded in Dodge County.
Louis Snyder grew up on his father's farm, acquired a common school education and at the age of twenty-one began making his own way in the world. He worked as a farm hand and for five years operated a hay baler, and by thrift and industry accumulated the modest capital for the purchase of land, and for a number of years has owned a farm of 160 acres, well improved, adapted for all the crops of this section, and he feeds all the land produces to stock on the place. His specialty in stock is blooded red hogs. Mr. Snyder is an independent voter, and for one year filled the office of road overseer in his district.
February 8, 1905, he married Melia Loges at Arlington, Nebraska. They. have a family of six children, all still at home, most of them attending school, named Joseph, Ted, Nie, Margaret, Esther and Jessie.
Peter Loges, father of Mrs. Snyder, was born in Germany and came to the United States as a youth. He served as a Union soldier, thus proving his sterling American citizenship. Except for his army experi- ence he was a farmer all his life. He married Marie Tews in Omaha. She is now deceased, and of their seven children Mrs. Snyder is the fourth. All are still living except one son.
JOHN W. STEVENSON is sole owner and active manager of the North Bend Nursery, and his initiative and administrative ability has been sig- nificantly demonstrated in the development of this now important and far-reaching business enterprise, which has contributed much to the pres- tige of Dodge County and the vital little City of North Bend, where Mr. Stevenson maintains his home and business.headquarters. He was a boy at the time of the family removal to Iowa, where he grew to man- hood and became deeply imbued with the progressive western spirit.
Mr. Stevenson claims the old Buckeye State as the state of his nativity, his birth having occurred in Muskingum County, Ohio, on February 14, 1843. He is a son of James and Eliza (Wallace) Steven- son, the former of whom was born in Ireland, of Scotch ancestry, and
Harlow Carpenter Ellen & Carpenter
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the latter was born and reared in Ohio, where their marriage was sol- emnized. James Stevenson was a young man when he came to the United States and established his residence in Ohio, where he acquired land and turned his attention to farm enterprise. In 1857 he removed with his family to Iowa and became a pioneer settler in Delaware County. He developed one of the excellent farms of that county and there con- tinued to maintain his home until his death in 1879, at the age of seventy-two years, his wife having passed away in 1876, at the age of seventy years, John W. of this review being the only survivor of their ten children. James Stevenson was an ardent abolitionist in the climac- teric period leading up to the Civil war and his home in Ohio had been a station on the historic "underground railroad" by means of which many slaves were assisted to freedom. He was independent in politics and both he and his wife were earnest members of the Reformed Pres- byterian Church.
John W. Stevenson gained his rudimentary education in his native state and was a lad of twelve years at the time of the family removal to Iowa, where he attended the pioneer schools and also assisted in the reclamation and general work of the farm home. When about 23 years of age he went to Nashville, Tennessee, where during 1866-7 he was employed in the wholesale millinery establishment of Beard Brothers. He then returned to Delaware County, Iowa, where for the ensuing three years he was engaged in the grain and lumber business. For several years thereafter he was associated with a general merchandise business at Hopkinton, that state, and in 1879 he came to Dodge County, Nebraska, where he purchased a tract of land and instituted its improve- ment. In 1882 he founded the North Bend Nursery, and in this con- nection he has developed a large and far-extended business, which is conducted exclusively through the medium of mail orders and which is of general order, though Mr. Stevenson gives special and primary atten- tion to the propagation and sale of fine strawberry plants. His nursery utilizes twenty acres of ground, in the immediate vicinity of North Bend, and is conducted according to scientific methods, as well as with the most approved of modern facilities.
As may well be expected of a man of such progressive business policies, Mr. Stevenson is loyal and public-spirited in his civic attitude. He has been a stanch advocate and supporter of the prohibition move- ment but is independent in politics, rather than being dominated by strict partisanship. Both he and his wife are zealous members of the United Presbyterian Church of North Bend, in which he is serving as an elder and also as secretary of the Sunday school. He has given effective service as a member of the city council of North Bend and has otherwise done all in his power to further the civic and material advancement and the prosperity of his home community.
In 1882 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Stevenson to Miss Eliz- abeth Marshall, at Hopkinton, Iowa, Mrs. Stevenson having been born in the State of Pennsylvania. They became the parents of three children : the first child, a daughter, died in infancy ; Elsie P. is the wife of Floyd S. Haverfield and they reside with her parents, their one child being a daughter, Elaine; and Edna May died at the age of five years.
HARLOW J. CARPENTER was one of the very first men to become acquainted with the section of Dodge and Washington counties and afterwards make his permanent home here. He was not only an early settler but a man of distinction in business and civic affairs after Dodge and Washington counties had become well settled.
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He was born in New York State in 1830. He acquired only a fair knowledge of the fundamentals of learning, and was educated largely by contact with the world. He was a worker, always ready to accept duties away from the comforts of civilization. For two years of his youth he worked on railroad construction in Canada.
It was in 1855 when the great Kansas-Nebraska question was the principal object of controversy in the halls of Congress that Harlow Carpenter came to Nebraska Territory and pre-empted some land near Fontanelle. He made the journey up the river by boat as far as Omaha. This country was then far out on the frontier and he found it difficult to make a living entirely from the land. To supplement his efforts as a farmer Harlow Carpenter engaged in freighting, making several trips to Fort Kearney and also going as far as Denver. Those who followed him to this new country recognized his qualities of manhood and his reliability, and at their hands he was honored with the office of county clerk when Fremont was the county seat of Washington County. In addition to farming he was associated with Julius Brainard as a hard- ware merchant at Fremont for about two years. Besides the county office just named he served several terms as county commissioner and for many years was a justice of the peace. He voted as a republican and was an active member of the Grange. Harlow Carpenter was seventy- three years of age when he died in 1903 and his character is still safe in the memory of most of the older citizens of the two counties. Harlow Carpenter married Helen Griffin, a native of Illinois. They were mar- ried in Fontanelle, Nebraska, and she died in 1914 at the age of seventy- seven. She was a very earnest member of the Baptist Church.
Nine children were born to Harlow Carpenter and wife: Florence and Charles F., both deceased; Lucelia, wife of James Daffer, a farmer in Red Willow County, Nebraska ; Emma, deceased; Eva, wife of Ned Carpenter, a clothing merchant at Denver; Elmer, connected with a flour milling company at Omaha ; Ernest H., a well-known farmer citizen at Fontanelle; Jessie, deceased ; and Winifred, deceased wife of Henry Brand of Fontanelle.
ERNEST H. CARPENTER represents a thoroughly progressive element in the agricultural district around Fontanelle. He knows the country by lifelong experience, is a practical farmer, an expert in the stock industry, particularly as a grower and breeder of Duroc swine, and a very live and capable business man and citizen.
He was born at Fontanelle August 28, 1871, and is a son of the late Harlow J. Carpenter, whose career as one of the earliest pioneers of Washington County is recited on the preceding page. Ernest H. Carpen- ter acquired a common school education in Washington County and for three years taught in a country district. Leaving the schoolroom he became associated with I. E. Cahoon in the creamery industry, and he was a factor in the creamery business for fifteen years, having charge of cream routes. Since then he has devoted his time and energies to his individual farming interests. Since 1908 he has specialized in the breeding of Duroc Jersey hogs, and for several years past has held annual sales that have attracted buyers from all over this section of the Missouri River Valley. Mr. Carpenter is a member of the Duroc Jersey Associa- tion and of the Washington County Breeders' Association. He is a Blue Lodge Mason and a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and the Royal Neighbors, and in politics follows the fortunes of the republican party.
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Mr. Carpenter has an interesting family and three of his sons were with the colors during the World war. In 1894 he married Lena Meier, who was born in Washington County. Her father, Henry Meier, came from Germany and pioneered in Washington County as early as 1868, taking up a homestead and spending the rest of his years as a farmer. To Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter were born five children. Ray W., who is now connected with the State Agricultural Extension Department at Lincoln, was in the naval aviation branch of the military, being trained in the Great Lakes Naval Training Station and at Seattle, and was dis- charged at Seattle fourteen months after he enlisted. Ivan H., a farmer in Dodge County, was a supply sergeant in the ammunition train of the heavy artillery corps and was trained at Camp Taylor, Kentucky, and Camp Kearney, California, being eight months in service and being dis- charged at Camp Kearney. Gilbert, the third son, now at home, spent four months in the Students' Army Training Corps at the Peru Nor- mal. The two younger children are Howard and Helena, both high school students at Fremont.
IRA E. CAHOON. A resident of Washington County forty years, Ira E. Cahoon has made the best interests of the community his own, and has made his initiative and business enterprise count for development of these counties. For a quarter of a century most of his time and energies have been devoted to the prosperous creamery plant at Fontanelle, an industry which he founded and which he has promoted.
Mr. Cahoon was born in Massachusetts January 4, 1858, a son of Ezarias and Fannie (Holland) Cahoon. His parents called Massachu- setts their home all their days, though his father was a seafarer and was captain of an ocean-going vessel until he retired at the age of fifty.
Ira E. Cahoon acquired his education in the common schools of his native state, and learned the trade of bricklayer there. It was as a mason that he was first known in Nebraska, settling at Arlington in March, 1880. Altogether he followed the mason's trade for twenty-two years.
In 1895 Mr. Cahoon built the plant known as the Fontanelle Cream- ery, and has made that one of the leading establishments of its kind in eastern Nebraska. The plant has a capacity of 5,000 pounds of butter per day. Besides the creamery industry he is also a buyer and shipper of eggs. Mr. Cahoon owns the controlling interest in the Fontanelle Mercantile Company, is a stockholder in the Beatrice Creamery Com- pany of Deadwood, South Dakota, a stockholder in the Baker-White Pine Lumber Company of Oregon, and in the Goose Lake Elevator Company in Canada. He owns a 400-acre farm in Holt County, near O'Neill, and an orange grove in Florida. All these property interests bespeak the energy with which he has prosecuted his affairs since com- ing to Nebraska, a comparatively poor man.
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