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 107

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 107

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HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

now the owner of six hundred and forty acres in Phillips county, Kansas, where he was the first to introduce alfalfa in the Prairie Dog valley, the growing of this now being a great source of income to the people of that county.

Mr. Truxaw was married to Miss Anna Sadel, a native of Bohemia. Her parents, Vancel and Mary (Jarors) Kredjl, were early settlers of Washington county, Iowa, where both passed the remainder of their lives. After coming to America they changed the spelling of the family name to Sadel. Mr. and Mrs. Truxaw are the parents of three children : Miss Mae remains at the parental home; William is married and is postmaster at Crosby, Texas, where he is also prominent- ly identified with a telephone company ; Emma is the wife of Ted Krneger, of Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Mr. Truxaw and his wife and daughter occupy a beautiful home in Odell, where for thirty-five years he has been the leader in commercial and social interests of the town. He is a Democrat in politics and served for years on the town board. Mrs. Truxaw is a communicant of the Catholic church.

HERMAN F. GIESMANN has been a resident of Nebraska since 1891 and here he has so availed himself of opportunities and so effectively applied himself that he is now the owner of a well improved farm estate of three hundred and twenty acres, eligibly sit- uated in Section 18, Holt township. He was born in East Friesland, in the extreme north- western part of Hanover, Germany, and the date of his nativity was August 6, 1866. He is a son of Frederick and Johanna (Jung) Giesmann, who passed their entire lives in Germany, where the father was a farmer by vocation. Frederick Giesmann and his wife both died in the year 1895, he having been seventy-eight years of age and his wife hav- ing been about six years his junior. Of their eight children one is deceased and three re- main in Germany. Those who live in the United States, in addition to the subject of this review, are Mrs. Franz Haferman, of

Nemaha county, Nebraska; John, who is a resident of Sterling, Johnson county, this state; and Enno, who maintains his home at Humboldt, Richardson county.

Herman F. Giesmann acquired his early education in the excellent schools of his na- tive land, where in his youth, in accordance with the laws of the nation, he served three years in the German army. He continued to be identified with agricultural operations in Germany until 1891, when, at the age of twenty-four years, he came to the United States and established his residence in Johnson coun- ty, Nebraska, After there working one year on a farm he was similarly employed two years in Nemaha county, after which he there rented a farm for one year. He then returned to Johnson county, but after having farmed on rented land for one year he came, in 1895, to Gage county. Two and one-half miles sontheast of the village of Adams he rented land and engaged in independent farm enter- prise. In 1898 he leased a farm in Hanover township, where he continued operations five years. He then, in 1903, purchased one hun- dred and sixty acres in Holt township, and this constitutes the nucleus around which, with increasing prosperity, he has evolved his present fine landed estate of three hundred and twenty acres. He has made substantial improvements on the property, including the erection of a large and modern barn, and he gives his attention to diversified agriculture and the raising of good live stock, usually having an average of about sixty head of cattle and about one hundred and twenty-five head of swine. He is a shareholder in the farmers' grain elevator company at Pickrell, which village is his postoffice address. His political affiliation is with the Republican party and he and his wife hold membership in the German Lutheran church.

On the 16th of November, 1894, the twen- tieth anniversary of the birth of his bride, Mr. Giesmann married Miss Adelheid Schmidt, who was born in Germany on the 16th of November, 1874, and who was about two years old when, in 1876, her parents, Brunke and Christena (Kuper) Schmidt, es-

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HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

tablished their home in Johnson county, Ne- braska, where they passed the rest of their lives and where the father became a prosper- ous farmer, their family having comprised five sons and one daughter. Mr. and Mrs. Giesmann have ten children, all of whom re- main at the parental home - Johanna, Her- man, Frederick, Christena, Gesiena, William, Emma, John, Dora, and Henry.

GEORGE I. THOMAN, a farmer of Sicily township, was born July 21, 1877, at Freeport, Illinois. He is a son of Moses and Susan (Snyder) Thoman. Moses Thoman was born and reared in Pennsylvania and thence moved to Greene county, Indiana, where he followed his trade, that of carpen- ter. He later went to Illinois and settled in Stephenson county. In 1883 he came to Ne- braska and settled in Gage county. He lo- cated on the northwest quarter of Section 24, Sicily township, where his son George now resides. This land formerly belonged to Jacob Thoman, a brother of Moses, and when the latter there established his resi- dence the place was improved only with a very small frame house and a prairie stable, while only thirty-five acres of the land had been broken. Moses Thoman engaged in farming and had continued operations only a few years when he had a stroke of paralysis. As a result of this affliction he was an invalid for more than twenty years. Eleven years ago he removed to Blue Springs, and here his death occurred three years later. His widow still maintains her home in the town of Blue Springs. Mr. and Mrs. Thoman were the parents of five children, one of whom died in childhood; Louisa and Elmeda reside at Blue Springs; George I. is the subject of this re- view ; and Alvin resides in the city of Beatrice.

George I. Thoman came to Gage county with his parents when he was about six years of age. He received his education in the country schools of the county and as a boy and young man was associated with his father in farm enterprise. For the past fifteen years he has owned and operated the farm on which he now lives and which for so many years has been the home of the Thoman family.

November 12, 1902, recorded the marriage of Mr. Thoman to Miss Ida Cooper, daughter of Benton and Sarah (Conover) Cooper, who are now residents of Blue Springs. Mr. and Mrs. Thoman have three children - Esta, Vera, and Glenn.

Mr. and Mrs. Thoman are members of the United Brethren church, and he is affiliated with the lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Blue Springs. In politics he is a Republican, and he is serving at the time of this writing as a member of the schoo! board.

JAMES M. McPHERON. - Among those who, with patriotic zeal and utter disregard of self, left all to go forth in defense of their country when the Civil war burst upon the nation, was James M. McPheron, who is now living retired in the village of Holmesville.

Mr. McPheron is a native of Tennessee, born in Greene county, June 25, 1844. His parents, Robert and Malissa Frances (Ward) McPheron, were natives of South Carolina, and were of Irish and Scotch descent. They passed away in Greene county, Tennessee. James M. was reared on a farm in his native county, fifty miles east of Knoxville. Not yet twenty-one years of age when the Civil war broke out, he enlisted in the Union army, in Company I, Twenty-third Illinois Volun- teer Infantry and for four years he valiantly defended the stars and stripes. He was under General Sheridan all through the Shenandoah campaign and the siege of Richmond, and his command captured Fort Gregg, the last Con- federate stronghold taken before peace was declared. He saw Lee and Grant shake hands at the surrender. He was a good soldier, al- ways at the post of duty, and went through the terrible conflict unscathed. He received an honorable discharge at the close of the war and then returned to Tennessee, where he be- came a farmer in Hawkins county. There he remained until 1885, when he came to Ne- braska and purchased eighty acres of land in Rockford township, Gage county. This farm was the stage of his activities until he retired from active labors and moved to Holmesville,

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HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

MR. AND MRS. EVAN WILLIAMS

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HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

where he resides in one of the most attractive and comfortable homes in the village.

In Hawkins county, Tennessee, Mr. Mc- Pheron was united in marriage to Miss Rachel Berry, a native of that county, and a daughter of Thomas and Sarah (Everhardt) Berry, both natives of Tennessee. The home of Mr. and Mrs. McPheron was blessed with four children, all of whom are still living, well es- tablished in homes of their own, and all liv- ing within a few miles of their parents. They are: J. H., of Rockford township; Sarah, the wife of B. A. Brubaker, of Rockford town- ship; Ulysses G., of Sherman township; and Ellen, the wife of Miles Shaw, of Blue Springs township.

Mr. and Mrs. McPheron are devoted mem- bers of the Church of the Brethren. Though past the psalmist's allotted span of three score years and ten, Mr. and Mrs. McPheron are in good health, enjoying the fruits of their former years of toil.

EVAN WILLIAMS. - In the year 1867, which marked the admission of Nebraska to the Union and its attendant emergence from the territorial regime, Evan Williams, then a youth of about nineteen years, accompanied his parents on their immigration to the new commonwealth and the family became num- bered among the honored and valued pioneers of Gage county. Here Mr. Williams has con- tinued his residence during the long interven- ing period. He is the owner of a finely im- proved farm property in this county, but is now living virtually retired in the city of Beatrice, where he and his wife occupy the attractive residence which he erected at 1211 Market street and which is a home known for its generous and gracious hospitality. As a sterling citizen who commands unequivocal popular esteem and as one of the representa- tive pioneers of Gage county, Mr. Williams is eminently entitled to recognition in this publication.

As both his personal and family names imply, Evan Williams is a scion of Welch ancestry, and he was the first of the children born to his parents after their immigration from

Wales to America, four children having been born prior to this removal from the ancestral country. Mr. Williams was born in Oneida county, New York, on the 30th of April, 1848, and thus the spring of 1918 recorded his attaining to the scriptural age of three score years and ten. He is a son of Thomas M. and Mary (James) Williams, both of whom were born and reared in Wales, where their respective parents passed their entire lives. Thomas M. Williams was born May 21, 1814, and was one of the venerable and revered pioneer citizens of Gage county, Nebraska, at the time of his death, which occurred in 1886, his loved and devoted wife, who was born in June, 1814, having survived him by about one year, she having passed to eternal rest in 1887. In the '40s Thomas M. Williams, in company with his wife and their four chil- dren, embarked on a sailing vessel of the type common to that day and set forth to establish their new home in the United States. The vessel had a tempestuous voyage and was much delayed in reaching its destination, the severe storm which it encountered en route having swept away much of the goods stored on deck, including a large part of the little personal effects of the Williams family. Mrs. Williams became severely ill on the voyage and more than a year passed ere she regained her health sufficiently to leave her bed for any appreciable interval. The family settled in the state of New York, where the father applied himself to such occupation as he could secure, and by day's work he thus provided for his family until 1856, when he removed with his family to the west and became a pio- neer in Wisconsin. There he rented land and continued his active association with agricul- tural industry until 1867, when he came with his family to the new state of Nebraska and established a home in Gage county. In Logan township, as now constituted, he settled on a pioneer farm of two hundred and forty acres, which property he purchased for the sum of eight hundred and seventy-five dollars. Soon afterward he entered one hundred and sixty acres of land in Logan township for his son Evan and when the latter attained to his ma-

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HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

jority the land was deeded to him. When Mr. Williams came into possession of his property in Gage county only ten acres of the land had been broken, but with the passing years he improved the place in excellent manner and developed the same into one of the productive and valuable farm estates of this section of Nebraska. Here he and his wife passed the residue of their lives and, after having en- dured their full share of the hardships and vicissitudes incidental to pioneer life, they came into the full enjoyment of the gracious rewards of former toil and endeavor. In their native land both had become communi- cants of the Church of England and after coming to this country they allied themselves with the American representative of the same faith, the Protestant Episcopal church. In politics Mr. Williams gave his support to the cause of the Republican party and as a broad- minded and progressive citizen he took lively interest in communal affairs. He served a number of terms as a member of the school board of his district, but he had no ambition for public office. He had but small financial resources when he came to Gage county but so effectively did he avail himself of the splen- did opportunities afforded in the development of the natural resources of the county that he acquired a competency, with status as one of the substantial citizens of the county. Of the ten children of these honored pioneers only four are now living - Evan, who is the im- mediate subject of this review; Misses Mary A. and Rosa S., who maintain a pleasant home in the city of Beatrice; and Ada, who is the wife of William R. Pethoud, a substantial farmer of Holt township.

Evan Williams was about eight years old at the time of the family removal from the old Empire state to Wisconsin, where he was reared to adult age under the conditions and influences of the farm and where he made good use of the advantages afforded in the schools of Walworth and Kenosha counties, which he attended principally during the win- ter terms. As a young man of about nineteen years he accompanied his parents to Gage county, Nebraska. He continued his father's

able and valued assistant in the improving and cultivation of the old homestead farm, and upon the death of his father he came into possession of this valuable property. He is now the owner of a finely improved landed estate of six hundred and forty acres in Logan township and also an additional tract of one hundred and sixty acres in the same township. In addition to his extensive opera- tions as a general agriculturist Mr. Williams has also been a prominent and successful ex- ponent of the live-stock industry. He was formerly engaged extensively in the raising of live stock under the commission system, and prior to leaving his farm he there main- tained at times as many as eight hundred sheep, thirty-five head of cattle, and sixteen horses. He remained on the old homestead until the time when he established his residence in the city of Beatrice, where he has since lived retired, save that he continues to give a general supervision to the management and direction of the extensive operations of his valuable farm estate, which is recognized as one of the best in Gage county.

Mr. Williams has ever been found arrayed as a stalwart and uncompromising advocate and supporter of the cause of the Republican party, and while he has not manifested any ambition for public office his civic loyalty caused him to give characteristically effective service during the three years that he was a member of the school board of the old home district and the one term that he was incum- bent of the office of road supervisor.

On the 17th of June, 1903, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Williams to Miss Clara R. Pettegrew, who was born in the state of Illinois and who is a daughter of the late James M. and Rachel C. (Simmons) Pette- grew, the former a native of Indiana and the latter of Pennsylvania. Within a short time after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Pettegrew removed from Indiana to Illinois, and there Mrs. Williams was born. In 1868 James Pet- tegrew came with his family to the new state of Nebraska and established the home in Gage county. He settled in Hanover town- ship, where he became the owner of two sec-

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HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

tions of land, a portion of which he acquired through the medium of college script. He re- claimed and developed one of the best farm properties in the county in his day and gen- eration, and here his death occurred in 1872. His widow long survived him and was vener- able in age at the time of her demise, in 1910. These honored pioneers became the parents of five children, of whom Mrs. Williams was the fifth in order of birth; Alice M. is the widow of Moru Loverige and resides in the state of Washington; Frank M. is a repre- sentative farmer in the vicinity of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Hattie A. is the widow of Stewart Lunbeck and resides at Beatrice; and James Frederick is engaged in the wholesale furniture business in the city of Omaha. Mr. and Mrs. Williams have no children.

FRANK M. WILL, whose death occurred in the year 1909, came to Gage county in the year 1891 and thereafter continued his suc- cessful association with farm enterprise in Rockford township until he was called from the stage of life's mortal endeavors, at the age of seventy years.

Mr. Will was a scion of a family early founded in the historic Old Dominion state, and claimed the same as the place of his na- tivity, his birth having occurred in Franklin county, Virginia, October 30, 1838. He was reared to manhood in Virginia, and in Ro- anoke county, that state, was solemnized his marriage to Miss Eliza Houtz, who was born and reared in that county and who survived him by eight years, her death having occurred on the old homestead farm in Rockford town- ship, on the 11th of November, 1917. From Virginia Mr. Will removed to Woodford county, Illinois, where he continued his alle- giance with farm industry until 1891, when he came to Nebraska and purchased two hun- dred acres of land in Gage county. There- after he continued as one of the substantial farmers of Rockford township until his death His political support was given to the Demo- cratic party and both he and his wife were members of the church of Brethren in Christ - unassuming and worthy folk who lived

righteous lives and merited the unqualified esteem in which they were held. Mrs. Will had one son by her first marriage, and this son, Charles E. Colwell, is a resident of Be- atrice, this county. By the second marriage were born the following named children; John and William H., who reside upon the old home farm in Rockford township; Joseph J., of whom individual mention is made on other pages; Ida M., who is housekeeper for her brothers on the old home farm of the parents; Bert, who likewise is a farmer in Rockford township; and Minnie, who is the wife of Dr. L. L. Noble, a representative physician engaged in practice at Holmesville, this county.

JOHN T. WHALEN is giving special at- tention to the feeding of cattle, and in this de- partment of farm enterprise he is conducting operations on a large scale, in connection with diversified agriculture. In his vigorous con- ducting of his industrial activities he rents four hundred and twenty acres of land, in Sections 26, 33 and 35, Highland township, and he is one of the county's progressive breed- ers of Holstein cattle.

Mr. Whalen was born in Woodford county, Illinois, February 6, 1863, the fourth in a family of eleven children, all of whom are liv- ing except three. He is a son of John and Margaret (Hollenhan) Whalen, who were born in Ireland and whose marriage was solemnized in the state of Massachusetts, whence they removed in an early day to Illi- nois. John Whalen served as a section fore- man on the line of the Illinois Central Rail- road for a number of years, and was thus en- gaged at the time the road was being con- structed through Woodford county. In 1884 he came with his family to Gage county and rented land in Section 12, Holt township. He passed the closing period of his life at Cort- land, and was eighty-two years of age at the time of his death, in 1906, his wife having passed away in 1899, at the age of sixty-two years. Both were earnest communicants of the Catholic church, in which connection it should be noted that they were numbered

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among the organizers of the church of this denomination at Cortland.

John T. Whalen was reared on his father's farm in McLean county, Illinois, and his early education was received in the public schools of Livingston and McLean counties. He was twenty-one years of age when he accompanied his parents to Nebraska, and in Gage county he assisted his father in the work of the pio- neer farm until he had attained to the age of twenty-three years, when he initiated his in- dependent operations as an agriculturist and stock-grower. During the intervening years he has conducted his operations on rented land and in 1907 he established his residence on his present farm, which is owned by Mrs. Lena F. Warren, of Omaha. In consonance with his progressive policies he has made numerous improvements on the place, includ- ing the construction of a modern silo, which has a capacity of two hundred and sixteen tons and which is owned by him. The only interruption of his activities in connection with farm enterprise was a period of about ten years, during which he was engaged in the general merchandise business at Cortland, where for four years he had charge of the grain elevator and for four years did a suc- cessful business in the buying and shipping of live stock. Mr. Whalen was one of the prin- cipal organizers of the Farmers' Elevator Company and the Farmers' State Bank at Cortland, and he has been president of the Elevator Company from the time of its or- ganization. A man of energy and progressive- ness, Mr. Whalen has applied himself dili- gently and consecutively and has won through his own efforts a goodly measure of success, the while he has the confidence and good will of those with whom he has come in contact in either business or social relations. His political allegiance is given to the Democratic party, he is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus, and he and his wife are communi- cants of the Catholic church, as members of St. James parish at Cortland.

On the 16th of February, 1888, was sol- emnized the marriage of Mr. Whalen to Miss Etta Crosby, who was born in LaSalle county,

Illinois, a daughter of Thomas and Jemima (Morrison) Crosby, who were born and reared in the state of New York, where their marriage occurred. From Illinois Mr. Crosby removed with his family to Missouri, in which state his wife died, and later he came with his six children to Gage county, Nebraska, the remainder of his life having been passed in Holt township, where he became a prosperous farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Whalen became the parents of six children: Virgie T. is a clerk in the Klein department store in the city of Beatrice ; Martin G. died at the age of twenty- seven years; Jemima M. remains at the par- ental home; Francis T. is a successful farmer in Section 34, Highland township; and Bern- ard D. and Mary C. are members of the par- ental home circle.

FREDERICK T. SONDEREGGER, of Beatrice, was born, in Jefferson county, Ne- braska, December 8, 1882, son of Carl Son- deregger, of whom mention is made on other pages of this volume. Frederick received his early education in the public schools of Jef- ferson county, and later went to Europe, where he studied in Switzerland. He re- mained in Europe for eight years and in the meanwhile took a special course in the study of the nursery and seed industry. Upon his return from Europe, Mr. Sonderegger became associated with his father in the nursery and seed business in Beatrice, and with this en- terprise he has been identified continuously since that time.

On August 30, 1912, Mr. Sonderegger wedded Miss Harriet Sonderegger, who is a native of Switzerland, a daughter of Mein- rad Sonderegger, of that fair republic. Mr. and Mrs. Sonderegger are the parents of three children - Frederick, Arnold, and Margaret.

Mr. Sonderegger is a Democrat in politics, but has never sought public office, preferring rather to devote all his time to the nursery and seed business, in connection with which he is making a pronounced success and has gained place among the prominent young business men of Beatrice. Mr. and Mrs. Sonderegger are members of the Lutheran church, of the

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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 107

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