History of Gage County, Nebraska; a narrative of the past, with special emphasis upon the pioneer period of the county's history, its social, commercial, educational, religious, and civic development from the early days to the present time, Part 103

Author: Dobbs, Hugh Jackson, 1849-
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Lincoln, Neb., Western Publishing and Engraving Company
Number of Pages: 1120

USA > Nebraska > Gage County > History of Gage County, Nebraska; a narrative of the past, with special emphasis upon the pioneer period of the county's history, its social, commercial, educational, religious, and civic development from the early days to the present time > Part 103

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affiliated with the Beatrice lodge of the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks and he and his wife are communicants of Christ church, Protestant Episcopal, in their home city.

November 4, 1899, recorded the marriage of Mr. Schaefer to Miss Emma Schiltnicht, who likewise is a native of Switzerland and who established her residence in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, upon coming to America, one of her brothers being now pastor of the German Reformed church at Jackson, that state. Mr. and Mrs. Schaefer have two children, Her- bert and Eleanor. Herbert is one of the gal- lant young sons of Gage county who has en- tered the nation's service in connection with the great European war. He is a sergeant in the signal corps of the United States army and at the time of this writing, in the spring of 1918, he is with his command "somewhere in France." Miss Eleanor Schaefer is a student in the Beatrice high school.

JOSEPH J. WILL is one of the substan- tial farmers of Rockford township, where he owns his home place of eighty acres, in Sec- tion 16, and also utilizes an adjoining tract of eighty acres, which he rents. He is a son of the late Frank M. Will, to whom a memoir is dedicated on other pages of this volume, so that further review of the family history is not demanded in the present article.

Joseph J. Will was born in Woodford county, Illinois,' on the 13th of September, 1870, and he was twenty-one years of age when he came with his parents to Gage county. His principal educational advantages in his youth were those afforded by the dis- trict schools and at the age of twenty-three years he engaged in independent farming ac- tivities on land which he rented in Rockford township. In the spring of 1917 he purchased his present farm home, and those familiar with his energy and progressiveness can give assurance that cumulative success will be his and that the same will be manifested in the judicious improvements which he will make from time to time upon his farm property -- given over to diversified agriculture and stock-

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raising. He is known for his unremitting in- dustry and expresses himself in deeds rather than words, both in the handling of his busi- ness affairs and as a loyal citizen. Office- seeking proclivities have never been his but he gives his political support to the Democratic party.

In 1896 Mr. Will married Miss Helen Beam, who was born and reared in this county, and their five children are Harry, Frank, Roy, Raymond, and Vivian.

CHARLES A. MILLER .- One of the younger men of Gage county who is meeting with success in his chosen calling is Charles A. Miller, who owns and operates a farm of two hundred and six acres, in Section 35, Sicily township.

Mr. Miller was born in Stephenson county, Illinois, April 21, 1873, a son of Eli and Eliza- beth (Sheetz) Miller, who are now residents of Wymore, Gage county, and whose record appears elsewhere in this volume. Charles A. Miller was ten years old when the home was established in Gage county. Here he was reared on his father's farm and educated in the public schools. On reaching man's estate he became a farmer, and for thirteen years he has owned his present place, which is devoted to general farming. His farm is well im- proved and he is progressive in his methods, is industrious, and is meeting with success.

Mr. Miller completed arrangements for a home of his own by his marriage to Miss Cora Pyle, a native of Illinois, and a daughter of Sanmiel L. Pyle, who is represented on other pages of this volume.

Mr. Miller is a Democrat in politics and served four years as clerk of Sicily township. Fraternally he is associated with the Royal Highlanders, and he is one of the substantial men of his township.

FRED A. WRIGHT. - As a scion of one of the honored and influential pioneer families of his native county and as one who has here achieved a place of precedence in connection with banking enterprise, Mr. Wright is entitled to special recognition in this history. He is

associated with his father in the ownership and conducting of the Citizens' State Bank of Virginia, of which he is cashier, and he is numbered among the popular and representa- tive business men of the younger generation in the vital little town of Virginia.

Mr. Wright was born on his father's old homestead farm near Hoag, this county, on the 2d of April, 1880, and is a son of Amos L. and Clara (Wickham) Wright, who now maintain their home in the village of Vir- ginia, this county, the subject of this review being their youngest child and only son ; Fran- ces A., elder of the two daughters, is the widow of Joseph E. Penry, and resides at Bos- tonia, California, she having three sons; Bes- sie, the younger daughter, is the wife of William Holm, a merchant at Virginia, this county, and they have two daughters.

Amos L. Wright was born in Menard county, Illinois, February 27, 1844, and was there continuously identified with farm enter- prise from his boyhood until 1866, when he came to Nebraska Territory and entered claim to a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres in Section 10, Blakely township, Gage county. He developed one of the well improved farms of that township and remained on this old homestead until 1886, when he purchased an entire section of land to the south of the vil- lage of Virginia, this county, this estate com- prising the south half of Section 14 and the north half of Section 23, Sherman township. He made the best of improvements on this extensive tract and became one of the leading exponents of agricultural and live-stock in- dustry in that section of the county. In 1890 he retired from the farm and he and his wife have since resided at Virginia. Mrs. Wright was born in Holt county, Missouri, July 27, 1848, and her marriage was solemnized in Gage county, Nebraska. She is a zealous member of the Christian church and her hus- band is a Republican in politics.

Fred A. Wright has never regretted the sturdy discipline which he gained in connec- tion with the activities of the home farm and has retained full appreciation of the dignity and value of honest toil. In addition to profit-

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ing by the advantages of the public schools he completed a course in a business college at Davenport, Iowa, and in 1899 he became as- sociated with his father in the grain and lum- ber business at Virginia. Shortly after his marriage, in 1903, he assumed the active man- agement of his father's farm, where he con- tinued his productive enterprise as an agri- culturist and stock-grower until the autumn of 1912, when, as a medium of experience, he assumed a clerical position in the Union State Bank of Beatrice. With this institution he continued his service until April, 1914, when he purchased the bank at Spring Ranch, Clay county. Of this bank he had the active man- agement until March, 1915, when he formed a partnership with Robin A. Nickell and pur- chased the Bank of Cortland, and in Novem- ber, 1917, he severed his connections there and became cashier of the Citizens' State Bank of Virginia. He is the owner of a well improved farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Section 22, Sherman township, and is one of the vigorous and resourceful business men of his native county. He takes deep in- terest in all things pertaining to his home vil- lage and served as mayor at Cortland in 1916, his political allegiance being given to the Re- publican party and he and his wife being members of the Christian church in the vil- lage of Virginia. At Virginia he is a popular member of the camp of the Modern Wood- men of America.

January 6, 1903, recorded the marriage 01 Mr. Wright to Miss Ethel C. Edwards, who was born at Webb City, Missouri, a daughter of John W. and Mary (Trauber) Edwards, natives of Illinois and early settlers of Eu- reka Springs, Arkansas, where they still re- side. To Mr. and Mrs. Wright have been born three children: Faye was born in 1905 and died in 1908, and the two surviving are Dor- othy, born December 13, 1908, and Dale E., born July 9, 1915.

A review of the career of Amos L. Wright, father of the subject of this sketch, appears on other pages of this volume.

JACOB S. DAWSON was born in Stark county, Illinois, May 13, 1883, and is a son of John L. Dawson, of whom individual men- tion is made elsewhere in this volume.

Jacob S. Dawson was brought to Nebraska by his parents when he was three years of age, and he received his early education in the country schools of Gage county. He re- mained with his father on the home farm, in Sicily township, until eleven years ago. Then his father retired and removed to Wymore to make his home. Jacob S. Dawson remained on the farm and he now owns this old home place, of one hundred and seventy acres, in Section 25, Sicily township. He has made many improvements on this farm, building additions to the barns and erecting two silos. He now has as fine a set of farm buildings as can be found in the county. His home is modern in every particular, being lighted with electricity and heated by furnace. Here he and his family are thus able to enjoy the con- veniences of a city home, though residing on the farm. Mr. Dawson does a general farm- ing business, and raises and feeds cattle'and hogs for the market, somewhat extensively. He is numbered among Gage county's pros- perous citizens and representative farmers.

Mr. Dawson chose as his wife Miss Grace Roberts, daughter of J. W. Roberts, of Barneston township, Gage county. They are the parents of four children, Dean, Donald, Marguerite, and Gerald. Mr. and Mrs. Daw- son are members of the Methodist church at Wymore. Mr. Dawson is independent in politics and gives his support to the men and measures meeting the approval of his judg- ment. At Wymore he is affiliated with the lodge of Ancient Free & Accepted Masons.

JAMES LONG, a successful farmer of Sicily township, was born December 20, 1860, at Peoria, Illinois, and is a son of John and Mary (Dalton) Long, who were natives of Ireland and came to America at an early date, settling in Illinois. John Long died when his son James was a small child and his widow thereafter moved to Mason county, Illinois,

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near Forest City, where she bought eighty acres of land. Here James Long grew to man- hood, attending school when he could, and working on the farm. There he married Miss Maggie Brown, whose parents died when she was a child, she having been reared by her foster father, Martin Hood, of Mason county.

Mr. and Mrs. Long came to Gage county, Nebraska, in the early '80s and settled on Sicily creek, in Sicily township. Their first home was a log house, and at that time Mr. Long's worldly goods consisted of one team of horses, a few farming tools, and seventy-five dollars in cash. He later bought one hundred and sixty acres of slightly improved land in Elm township, and he farmed this for twelve years. He then bought his present farm, of two hundred and eighty acres, in Section 29, Sicily township. He is a prosperous farmer of marked energy and progressiveness and is a valued citizen of Sicily township.

Mr. and Mrs. Long became the parents of five children, as follows: James is a farmer in Elm township. Ella is the wife of Roy Car- penter, of Omaha, Nebraska ; May is the wife of Milo Carpenter, of Beatrice, Nebraska ; Earl died at the age of fourteen years ; Leo is associated with his father in the operation of the home farm.

Mr. Long is a Democrat in politics, and is at present a member of the school board of his district. He and his family are members of the Catholic church.

JOHN T. LEPOIDEVIN was born in Gage county, Nebraska, September 9, 1872, a son of Thomas LePoidevin, of Beatrice, a record of whom appears elsewhere in this volume.

John T. LePoidevin was reared on a farm and attended country school in Gage county. As a young man he farmed with his father on the home place, and later he rented some land from his father and began farming for him- self. In 1910 Mr. LePoidevin purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land in Section 5, Rockford township, and this property he has since greatly improved, having remodeled the house and erected some new buildings, with

the result that he now has one of the best im- proved farms in the county. Starting with no unusual advantages, Mr. LePoidevin has through his own efforts made a success of his chosen calling.

Mr. LePoidevin was united in marriage to Miss Lottie Kettering, daughter of John Ket- tering, of Monmouth, Illinois. To this union have been born five children - Hazel, Loree. Verna, Marjorie, and Eva.

Mr. and Mrs. LePoidevin are members of the Christian church of Beatrice, and are regu- lar attendants. He is a Republican and has been a member of the school board, the cause of education finding in him a stalwart cham- pion.

SILAS F. RICHARDS was ten years old at the time when his parents established their residence in Gage county, in 1872, and here he was reared to manhood on the pioneer farm of his father, the late George F. Richards, to whom a memoir is dedicated on other pages of this volume. Mr. Richards has permitted no futilities to mark his career as one of the pro- gressive exponents of farm industry in Gage county and is to-day the owner of an excel- lently improved estate of two hundred and forty acres, in Sherman township, his at- tractive home being situated in Section 17, about seven miles distant from Holmesville, which is his postoffice address.

Mr. Richards was born in Rock Island county, Illinois, March 2, 1863, and in his native county he received his rudimentary education, which was supplemented by his at- tending the schools of Gage county after the family home had here been established in Rockford township. He continued to be asso- ciated with the work of his father's farm until he had attained to the age of twenty-two years, and for several years thereafter he farmed on rented land. His energy and good manage- ment brought to him cumulative success in the passing years, and this is significantly attested by his ownership of his present fine farm es- tate, which he has improved with good build- ings and on which he gives his attention to diversified agriculture and the raising of good

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HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

types of live stock. He takes loyal interest in community affairs and in politics is staunchly arrayed with the Democratic party.

The year 1886 recorded the marriage of Mr. Richards to Miss Minnie Leming, who was twelve years of age when her parents came from Indiana to Gage county, she hav- ing been born in La Porte, Indiana, January 27, 1871, and being a daughter of John and Margaret ( Lukemire) Leming, who were born in Ohio and whose marriage was solemnized in Indiana. Upon coming to Gage county Mr. Leming engaged in farming in Sherman town- ship, where he passed the remainder of his life. His death occurred November 6, 1903, and his widow now lives in the home of one of her sons, at Belgrade, Nance county, Ne- braska. Mr. and Mrs. Richards have six chil- dren : Ralph is married and resides in the city of Beatrice; Edna is the wife of Clarence Bryant, of Wymore, this county ; Fay is mar- ried but remains with his parents, as his father's effective assistant in the work and management of the home farm; Blanche is the wife of Cecil Snyder, of Wymore, this county; and Glenn and Forrest are the younger members of the parental home circle.

HARLEY J. SHAW is an honored pioneer whose association with Nebraska was initiated several years prior to the admission of the state to the Union and his experiences in the early days involved specially close association with the Otoe Indians, whose language he learned to speak. His reminiscences pertinent to life on the frontier are most graphic and interesting, even as are those pertaining to his gallant service as a soldier of the Union in the Civil war. His patriotism at that climateric period was on a parity with that shown by both his paternal and maternai grandfathers, each of whom was a valiant soldier in the earlier wars in which the na- tion was involved, the paternal grandfather having served in the war of 1812 and the maternal grandfather, Colonel Renaulds, hav- ing served as an officer in the command of General Washington in the war of the Revo- lution : he was a man of splendid vigor and

attained to the patriarchal age of one hundred and four years.

Harley J. Shaw was born in Onondaga county, New York, December 25, 1844, and is now the only survivor in a family of five children, of whom he was the firstborn. He is a son of Samuel and Lydia (Renaulds) Shaw, whose marriage was solemnized in Onondaga county, whence, in 1847, they removed to Wisconsin, where they became pioneers and where they lived at intervals in the now pros- perous little cities of Waupaca, Green Bay, and Stevens Point. After remaining six years in Wisconsin they returned to the state of New York, and about the time of the Civil war's inception they came to Nebraska Ter- ritory and became residents of Gage county. Here Samuel Shaw secured a claim on Cub creek and instituted the reclamation of a farm. He went forth from his frontier farm to give two years of service as a soldier of the Civil war. He enlisted as a member of the First Nebraska Volunteer Infantry, and after the close of the war he conducted for ten years the government flour mill and saw mill at Blue Springs, on the Otoe Indian reservation. Both he and his wife attained to the psalmist's span of three score years and ten and both were residents of Gage county at the time of death.

Harley J. Shaw was three years old at the time of the family removal to Wisconsin, and thus was nine years of age when was made the return to New York state, where he ac- quired his youthful education in the schools of Navrino, Onondaga county, and where he was reared to manhood. He was not yet seventeen years old at the inception of the Civil war, but his youthful patriotism was not long to be curbed, for, in January, 1862, at Syracuse, he enlisted in Battery F, Third New York Light Artillery. He was mustered in at Palace Garden, New York city, and thence proceeded with his command to the city of Washington. The command was en- gaged with the heavy artillery forces at Fort Corcoran and later served under General Mc- Clellan in the second battle of Bull Run. The military career of Mr. Shaw included partici-

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HARLEY J. SHAW

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pation in General Burnside's expedition to New Berne, North Carolina; in the battle of Kingston, where his horse was shot from under him in a desperate charge in which his command operated the first gun in holding the bridge ; engagements at Whitehall, Golds- boro, and Little Washington ; and the conflict at Plymouth, where he gave distinguished evi- dence of his valor. Thereafter, under Fos- ter's command, Mr. Shaw was detailed as a sailor and started for Hilton Head, South Carolina, where he passed the historic naval vessel known as "Old Ironsides." He was under Gilmore at the siege of Charleston, be- ing under fire for a period of three months, and his service was further continued in action at Wagner, Gregg, James Island, Jack- · sonville, Florida, and Savannah, Georgia. He was at Savannah when his term of enlistment expired, but he continued in active service through the engagements of Honey Hill, Fort Telego, and Seabrook Island. In the many and spirited encounters in which he took part Mr. Shaw escaped without a wound, and besides this he was never ill or otherwise in- capacitated and never failed to respond to roll call. He was mustered out of service at Hilton Head, South Carolina, where also he received his honorable discharge, on the 14th of March, 1865. He is one of the veteran and honored members of Rawlins Post of the Grand Army of the Republic, in the city of Beatrice, and has passed various official chairs in the same.

After the close of the war Mr. Shaw re- turned to his native county, and in the follow- ing autumn he joined his parents in Nebraska Territory. In the winter of 1865-1866 he be- came associated with his father in the opera- tion of the government mills on the Otoe In- dian reservation, and it was in this winter that he cast his first vote, this ballot being inci- dentally in support of adoption of the con- stitution on which was based the demand of the territory for admission to statehood. In the spring of 1866 Mr. Shaw took up a home- stead in Section 19, Rockford township, and on this place, which he developed most ef- fectively, he continued his residence thirty-

five years. Since 1908 he has resided on his present farm of eighty acres, in Section 19, Sherman township.

In 1867 Mr. Shaw wedded Miss Flora An- drews, who was born in the state of New York and whose death occurred in 1884. Of the children of this union the eldest is Lovilla, who is the widow of Frank Bishop, and re- sides at Tate, Pawnee county ; Corey R. died in 1887, having been shot by accident ; Miles S. is engaged in farming in Blue Springs township; Addie E. is the wife of Frederick Sage, of Boulder, Colorado; and Ralph died in infancy. For his second wife Mr. Shaw married Miss Mary L. Berry, who was born in Iowa, and she passed to the life eternal in 1910. They became the parents of the follow- ing named children : Clement is an electrician and is serving as such in the European war; Bernard is a resident of Tate, Pawnee county , Dell remains with her father, as does also Hazel; Lottie died in childhood; and Harley is with the United States forces in the Euro- pean war.

Few had broader or more varied frontier experience than did this sterling pioneer, and few had closer association with the Indians, among whom he moved as a valued friend and whose language he acquired. He was asso- ciated with freighting enterprise in the early days, between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Brownville and Lincoln, Nebraska, and; he grappled duly with the hardships entailed by drought and grasshoppers. He has always been a stalwart advocate of the principles of the Republican party, has been on many occa- sions a delegate to its conventions in Gage county, and has served in various township offices - an upright and loyal citizen who commands secure place in popular esteem and good will. He is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church.

FREDERICK STEINMEYER. - This sterling pioncer, now living retired in the vil- lage of Clatonia, is another of those sturdy and industrious men who bore the full heat and burden of the day in connection with the social and industrial development and prog-

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ress of Gage county in the early days and he is especially entitled to recognition in this work.

Mr. Steinmeyer was born in the province of Hanover, Germany, February 25, 1841, and is a son of Joseph H. and Elizabeth (Fra- diker) Steinmeyer, who immigrated with their children to America in the late '50s and estab- lished their home in Scioto county, Ohio. Con- cerning the family history adequate data are given on other pages - in the sketch of John H. Steinmeyer, of Beatrice, the youngest of the surviving sons, as well as in mention of other members of this influential pioneer fam- ily. Frederick Steinmeyer gained his early education in his native land and was a youth of sixteen years at the time of the family im- migration to the United States. Thereafter he was associated with farm industry in Ohio until the precipitation of the Civil war, when he enlisted as a member of Company B. Fifty- sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was with his command in all of the important battles and minor engagements in which it was in- volved in Mississippi and other southern states, and he was at New Orleans, Louisiana, when he received his honorable discharge, in November, 1864. He then returned to Scioto county, Ohio, but ten months later, in the autumn of 1865, he came to Nebraska Terri- tory. He located at Nebraska City and later became one of the pioneers of Gage county. In April ,1866, he entered a homestead claim in Section 28, Clatonia township, one mile south of the present village of Clatonia. At Nebraska City he purchased an ox team, which he drove through to Gage county and utilized in the breaking of his land, his first house hav- ing been a rude dugout of the type common to that early period. In this primitive domi- cile was maintained the family home for six years, and then removal was made to a frame house which he erected on Clatonia creek, where he had available timber. He remained on his original homestead twenty-six years and eventually added to his landed estate by pur- chasing land from the Chicago & Rock Island Railroad Company, the line of which passed through his farm in such a way as to require

the removal or demolishing of the farm house. He bought more land and removed back from the bottoms of the creek, made excellent im- provements on his property and continued his activities as one of the successful and repre- sentative farmers of the county until 1912, since which year he has lived retired in the at- tractive and modern house which he erected in the village of Clatonia. He is still the owner of a valuable landed estate of three hundred and seventy-five acres and is a ven- erable pioneer who commands the fullest mea- sure of popular esteem. In politics Mr. Stein- meyer is a loyal Republican, he is affiliated with the post of the Grand Army of the Re- public in the village of Dewitt, and he and his wife are earnest members of the German Methodist church.

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History of Gage County, Nebraska; a narrative of the past, with special emphasis upon the pioneer period of the county's history, its social, commercial, educational, religious, and civic development from the early days to the present time, Part 103

Author: Dobbs, Hugh Jackson, 1849- Publication date: 1918 Publisher: Lincoln, Neb., Western Publishing and Engraving Company Number of Pages: 1120

Author: Dobbs, Hugh Jackson, 1849-
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Lincoln, Neb., Western Publishing and Engraving Company
Number of Pages: 1120