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 110

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 110


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William H. Jewell recalls among the varied experiences of his boyhood and youth the herding of cattle on the open prairies of this part of the state, and he has more than once expressed in later years a wish that he might once more look upon the untrammeled plains and the native prairie grass. As a boy he remembers that the Indians were still much in evidence in this part of Nebraska, and that three Indian trails traversed the old home farm. Mr. Jewell acquired his early educa- tion in the pioneer schools, which were well conducted, and upon attaining his legal ma- jority he rented from his father the old home place, which was sold in 1875. It was at this time that his father bought the farm on which Mr. Jewell now lives, and which he has greatly improved. Here he continues to conduct his energetic and successful activities as a farmer and a breeder and raiser of pure-blood Duroc- Jersey swine.


March 16, 1898, recorded the marriage ot Mr. Jewell to Miss Mildred L. Brown, who was born in Essex county, New York, and who came with her parents to Nebraska in 1887, the family home having been established in Saline county, where her father died in 1902, at the age of sixty-five years. Mrs. Jewell is a daughter of Ezra and Mary (Thompson) Brown, who were born and reared in the old Empire state, and since the death of the honored father the now venerable mother has lived in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Jewell, who accord her filial solicitude. Con- cerning the three children born to Mr. and Mrs. Jewell the following data are available : George E. was born October 28, 1902: Lucille


was born October 15, 1904, and died on the 23d of the following January; and Kenneth Wil- liam was born July 25, 1910.


In politics Mr. Jewell is unfaltering in his allegience to the Republican party, and in a fraternal way he is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America, the Royal Highlanders, and the Royal Neighbors, his wife likewise being identified with the two last mentioned organizations, and they are active members of the Methodist Episcopal church.


IRA BOYD. - The cost of production of those commodities raised on a farm, due to the price of land, cost of labor and machinery, etc., requires that the successful farmer of to- day must possess business ability as definitely as must the merchant or banker. The farmer who makes use of the best methods of tilling the soil or who seeks to improve the grade of live stock raised on his farm, not only as- sures himself better returns for his own time and investment but becomes a public bene- factor in his community.


One of the younger farmers and stockmen of Gage county who is demonstrating his abil- ity as a business man is Ira Boyd, owning and operating a tract of one hundred acres in section 21, Sherman township.


He is a native of Iowa, born in Linn county, October 19, 1880, a son of Otho Boyd, who is mentioned elsewhere in this volume. Re- maining on the home farm, he assisted in its operation, and was assisted by his father in purchasing the one hundred and twenty acres which he has operated for several years. He has erected a splendid set of buildings on the place, making it one of the best in the town- ship. Aside from the cultivation of those crops best adapted to the soil and climate he makes a specialty of raising pure-blooded Red Polled cattle, Percheron horses and Duroc- Jersey hogs, from the sale of which he adds materially to his income. He is deserving of much credit for the effort displayed to raise the standard of live stock in his county.


Mr. Boyd completed arrangements for a home of his own by his marriage, in 1910, to Miss Bertha Horst, of Kansas. They are


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the parents of five children: Ruth, Delmar, Walter, Elva and Allen. The family are members of the Dunkard church and in poli- tics Mr. Boyd is a Republican.


JOHN E. REMMERS. - There have been many who have achieved substantial success in connection with farm industry in Gage county, but few have won more noteworthy success through this basic medium than has John E. Remmers, who is still the owner of nine hundred acres of well improved and valu- able land in the county, though he is now living practically retired and in the enjoyment of the gracious rewards that have attended his earnest and well directed endeavors in the past. Since the spring of 1918 he has main- tained his residence in Lincoln, the beautiful capital city of Nebraska, where his home is at No. 2054 South Seventeenth street.


Mr. Remmers was born in the province of Hanover, Germany, on the 6th of November, 1850, and is a son of John and Katherine Remmers, of whom specific mention is made on other pages of this work, in the sketch dedicated to Thomas Remmers, of Beatrice. John E. Remmers acquired his early educa- tion in his native land and was about seven- teen years of age when, in 1868, he accom- panied his parents on their immigration to America. After remaining a few months in Illinois the family came to Nebraska, before the close of the year 1868, and in the new state John Remmers established himself as a pio- neer of Gage county. He became one of the representative farmers of Hanover township, and on the old home farm John E. Remmers gave vigorous aid in the work of reclamation and development, besides which he attended for a time a pioneer school conducted in a rude dug-out structure in Logan township. He remained at the parental home until the autumn of 1871, when he filed claim to a homestead of eighty acres in Nemaha town- ship. On this property he made the best of improvements and after developing the place into a productive farm he finally exchanged the property for a tract of one hundred and sixty acres in Section 12 of the same township.


In 1890 he removed to section 11 of that township, where he erected a commodious and modern house, a good barn and other farm buildings. Here he continued to give his per- sonal attention to his extensive farm enter- prise until 1911, when he laid aside to a large degree the labors that has long been his por- tion, and shifted the responsibilities upon younger shoulders. He was distinctly success- ful in his activities as a vital exponent of agricultural and live-stock industry and, as previously noted, he is to-day the owner of a valuable landed estate of nine hundred acres in the county which claims him as one of its sterling pioneers. He was loyal and progres- sive as a citizen during the entire period of his residence in Gage county, served three years as assessor of Nemaha township, and was always ready to give his support to meas- ures and enterprises tending to advance the communal welfare. His political allegiance is given to the Republican party and he and his family are earnest communicants of the Lutheran church.


September 18, 1878, recorded the marriage of Mr. Remmers to Miss Rena Steinmann, who was born in the state of Illinois, on the 10th of February, 1859. Her parents, Henry and Rachel (Yelken) Steinmann, were na- tives of Germany but their marriage was solemnized in the state of Illinois. Henry Steinmann immigrated to America about the year 1845 and established his residence in Illi- nois. There he remained until 1864, when he came with his family to Nebraska Terri- tory and became one of the early settlers of Nemaha county. He was a man of superior education and marked progressiveness, so that he became influential in civic affairs in the pioneer period of Nebraska history. He as- sisted in the organization and initial develop- ment of the city of Lincoln, and there aided in selecting the site of the state's capitol build- ing. He and his wife became the parents of nine children, of whom seven are living, and by a previous marriage Mrs. Steinmann was the mother of three children. Mr. Steinmann died in the year 1890, at the age of seventy- two years, and his venerable widow, who


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celebrated in 1917 the eighty-fifth anniversary of her birth, now resides in the home of her daughter Rena, wife of the subject of this review. Mr. and Mrs. Remmers are the par- ents of three children: Catherine remains at the parental home; Henry is a prosperous farmer in Section 12, Nemaha township, Gage county ; and Mary L. is the wife of Frank F. Pape, a farmer in Section 7, Nemaha town- ship, this county.


GEORGE T. MITCHELL. - A resident of Gage county for thirty-nine years, George T. Mitchell now lives retired in a comfortable home in Wymore. He was born at Leslie, Michigan, June 30, 1855. His parents, Elisha and Elizabeth (Roberts) Mitchell, were na- tives of New York and England respectively. They were married in Michigan, where the father had gone when a young man, and to that state the mother was brought by her par- ents when she was a little girl. In the Wol- verine state they made their home until 1876, when they became residents of Adair county, Iowa, and there they both passed away, he having reached the age of eighty-two years and his wife having been ninety-five years of age when she was called to her final rest.


In the common schools of Michigan and Iowa George T. Mitchell received his youthful education and he was reared to the sturdy dis- cipline of the farm. When he reached man- hood he became a farmer on his own account, in Adams county, Iowa. In 1881 he came, in a "prairie schooner," to Nebraska, with Gage county as his destination. He purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land in Sec- tion 33, Barneston township, this tract being in the Otoe Indian reservation, which had been opened up for settlement only a few years be- fore. His first home was a sod house, in which he lived for two years, and during the first year he kept "bachelor's hall." He later added forty acres to his holdings, and for fourteen years he was successfully engaged in developing and cultivating this farm. He then sold the prop- erty and purchased one hundred and sixty acres in Section 1 of the same township. Here for twenty years he devoted his time and


energies to general farming and stock-raising. For the past nine years he has lived retired, although he states that he would like to be back on the farm and be "one of the boys."


In Gage county was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Mitchell and Miss Martha With, a na- tive of Maryland and a daughter of John and Sarah (Clark) With. The parents of Mrs. Mitchell were natives of Maryland and be- came early settlers of Bureau county, Illinois. In the fall of 1880 they came to Gage county, Nebraska, and settled in Paddock township, where they passed the remainder of their lives.


Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell became the parents of nine children, seven of whom are living, as follows: Bert, who married Mabel Con- over, is a farmer in Barneston township; George, who married Maggie Noe, likewise is a farmer in Barneston township; Ora, who married Ida Yaney, is farming in the state of Kansas; Lizzie is the wife of Elza Hollings- worth, of Wymore, Nebraska; Walter, who married Zula Yaney, is a farmer in Kansas ; Maude, is the wife of Will Jones, a merchant of Wymore; and Miss Myrtle is still at the parental home.


Mr. Mitchell exercises his right of fran- chise in support of men and measures of the Republican party. While on the farm he ren- dered efficient service as a member of the school board and also as treasurer of his township. Fraternally he is affiliated with Barneston Lodge No. 165, A. F. & A. M. As an early settler and one who has contributed his full share to the development and progress of Gage county, Mr. Mitchell is entitled to much credit, the while he deserves the success that has come to him.


DANIEL GOODMAN. - On the rolls of noble citizens of Gage county, Nebraska, and honored veterans of the Civil war, mention must be made of Daniel Goodman.


A native of Pennsylvania, Mr. Goodman was born in Northumberland county, on the 1st of April, 1847. His parents, Daniel and Catherine (Wagner) Goodman, likewise were natives of Pennsylvania, and they spent their


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DANIEL, GOODMAN AND FAMILY


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HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA


entire lives in the old Keystone state. They reared a family of fourteen children - ten sons and four daughters. Daniel Goodman spent his boyhood days on a farm in his native county, and though he was only a boy when the storm of civil war burst upon the nation, his patriotism was aroused and he displayed his loyalty by enlisting, in February, 1863, in Company I, Forty-ninth Pennsylvania Volun- teer Infantry. His regiment participated in the battles of Cold Harbor, Spottsylvania Court House, Winchester, and other engage- ments, the last days of his service being around Petersburg. When success crowned the Union arms he was one of those who marched in the Grand Review at Washington, the greatest military pageant ever witnessed on the wes- tern hemisphere. When his nation no longer needed his services, Mr. Goodman went to Stephenson county, Illinois, and turned his energies to the more peaceful occupation of farming. Seeking better opportunities, he came to Nebraska in 1874, and settled in Otoe county. Here the grasshoppers took his crop, and he returned to Illinois, where he lived for several years. In 1891, Mr. Goodman again came to Nebraska, and at this time he settled in Adams township, Gage county. Five years later he moved to another farm, in Section 3, that township, and here he successfully carried on farm enterprise until his death, which oc- curred February 22, 1911.


On February 1, 1881, at Freeport, Illinois, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Goodman to Miss Emma Reed, who was born in Schuyl- kill county, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Dan- iel and Mary (Henry) Reed, likewise natives of Pennsylvania. Mrs. Goodman's parents spent their last days in Otoe county, Ne- braska. Mr. and Mrs. Goodman became the parents of one daughter, Essie, wife of O. W. Vanderpool, who resides on the Goodman farm. They are the parents of four children : Emma Goldie, Maude Annette, Nada Irene, and Russell Oyd.


Mr. Goodman was always a staunch Repub- lican, and he was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, belonging to Sergeant Cox Post, No. 100, at Adams, this county.


He was a good citizen, a loving husband and father, and was always as faithful in the days of peace as when he loyally served his coun- try on the battlefields of the South.


RAYMOND WEINER. - Among the many Bohemian farmers who have settled in Gage county and have become successful farmers, Raymond Weiner must be mentioned. Bohemia, the land of his birth, is one of the prominent Slavonic countries of Europe, and had a university, at Prague, as early as 1348.


While its civilization is old and mature, its in- ternal and external strife for liberty has kept the common people from enjoying the ad- vantages which are given to the people of the United States. It is, perhaps, because of these reasons that so many of Bohemia's sons have immigrated to this country. Raymond Weiner was born in 1857, a son of William and Frances (Bartershesky) Weiner, who. were well-to-do farmers of their native Bo- hemia. Their three sturdy sons were born in Bohemia and received their education there. William Weiner immigrated with his. family to this country in 1875, and they set- tled at Wilber, Saline county, Nebraska. Two. years later they came to Sicily township, Gage- county, and their earnings which they brought with them they invested in four hundred and eighty acres of land. After the death of Wil- liam Weiner, in 1907, this land was divided between his three sons, - William, Jr., who- died in December, 1917, was at the time a re- tired farmer; Raymond is the subject of this sketch ; and Edward died in 1915.


Raymond Weiner, with his original one hun- dred and sixty acres of land as a nucleus around which to acquire more land, has added to his holdings until he now owns six hundred' and forty acres of land. His three oldest sons each has one hundred and twenty acres and is farming the same.


In 1885 Raymond Weiner and Anna Cack were joined in holy wedlock. Mrs. Weiner- was born in Michigan, and is a daughter of Bohemian parents, Joseph and Anna (Jepla) Cack. Joseph Cack was a native of Bohemia. and was farming in Michigan before his ar-


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rival in Gage county, in 1873. In his early manhood he served in the Bohemian navy and in after years, when prosperity had smiled upon him, the longing to visit to his old home was so insistent that he returned to Bohemia. There he was called to his last home, never returning to the land of his adoption. He was ninety-one years of age.


Nine children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Weiner: Raymond, Jr., Joe and John are each farming one hundred and twenty acres of land in Sicily township, these farms having been received from their father ; and Frank, Willie, Mary, Anna, Bessie and Francis are still under the parental roof and enjoying educational privileges that shall fit them for their future work.


For forty years Mr. Weiner has dealt ex- tensively in cattle, feeding and raising them in great lots, and he has been very successful in his farm enterprise. His home and the build- ings that adorn his land, radiate the prosperity and taste of their owner, not alone in an orna- mental but also in a useful way. All this shows the long years of hard labor expended in accumulating this property, which is a mon- ument to Mr. Weiner's thorough devotion to his work.


FRANCIS M. CHAMP .- The late Francis Marion Champ, who became one of the sub- stantial framers and highly esteemed citizens of Gage county, was born in Pickaway county, Ohio, on the 26th of August, 1849, and was one of the seven children of John and Sarah Ann (Hobbs) Champ. He was seven years of age at the time of his parents' removal to Champaign county, Illinois, where his father engaged in farm enterprise. In that county Francis M. Champ was reared and educated and there he continued to be associated in the work of the home farm until the time of his marriage, in 1873. It was during the '80s that Nebraska lands were fast being settled by men coming from Illinois and other states, and a most valuable contribution to the settle- ment of the state in that period was that given by Illinois. In 1885 Mr. Champ came with his family to Gage county and rented


land in Paddock township, where the passing years brought prosperity to him in connection with his well ordered farm enterprise. In 1901 he purchased eighty-three acres of land in that township, and here he continued to re- side until his death, which occurred March 27, 1917. At the time when Mr. Champ pur- chased this farm only a portion of the same was available for cultivation and no definite improvements had been made in the matter of buildings. With characteristic energy and good judgment he brought every acre under effective cultivation and productiveness, be- sides which he made all requisite improve- ments on the place, the same continuing as the residence of his widow.


In politics Mr. Champ customarily sup- ported the candidates of the Republican party, and for some time he served as assessor of his township. He was a man of sterling char- acter and commanded the unqualified esteem of all who knew him. Mr. Champ maintained active affiliation with the Knights & Ladies of Security, and of this organization his widow also is a member.


In the year 1873 was solemnized the mar- riage of Mr. Champ to Miss Ruth Ann Duvall, who was born in Washington county, Pennsyl- vania, on the 2d of March, 1852, and who was the third in order of birth of the eight children of Isaac and Sarah Ann (Long) Duvall. In 1858, when Mrs. Champ was six years of age, her parents removed to Illinois, where the father became a prosperous farmer. In the concluding paragraph of this memoir is en- tered brief record concerning the children ot Mr. and Mrs. Champ.


Cora B., who became the wife of George F. Wierman, is deceased and her daughter Eva now resides in the home of her maternal grandmother, Mrs. Champ; Annaretta be- came the wife of Charles Bell and she like- wise has passed to the life eternal; William N. remains with his widowed mother and has active management of the farm; George re- sides near Diller, this state; Lewis is a farmer in Paddock township; Grace is the wife of Burrell M. Ellis, of Paddock township; Logan is a resident of the state of Wyoming; and


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Hattie is the wife of Wilbur Burkett, their home being in South Dakota.


JOHN D. SCHOCK. - One of the finest homes in Blue Springs is that of John D. Schock, who is now living in honorable retire- ment. Mr. Schock was born in Seneca county, Ohio, September 25, 1849. His father, George Schock, was born in Union county, Pennsyl- vania, in 1819, and when a young man he learned the carpenter's trade. He became an early settler of Seneca county, Ohio, near the town of Bellevue. There he bought land and became a successful farmer. He continued his residence in Seneca county until 1872, when he sold his property there and bought a farm in St. Joseph county, Michigan, near Three Rivers. This latter farm was the stage of his endeavors until he retired from active life. In 1900 he became a resident of Blue Springs, Nebraska, where his last days were spent and where he had often visited his sons, the latter having lived in Gage county for a number of years. The grandfather of our subject was John Schock, a native of Union county, Pennsylvania, born about 1778. In 1815 John Schock became one of the pioneer settlers of Seneca county, Ohio. The maiden name of the mother of the subject of this re- view was Lucy A. Ware. She was born in Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, and in 1814, when ten years of age, accompanied her par- ents to Seneca county, Ohio. There she was reared to adult age and there she met and mar- ried George Schock. She accompanied her husband on the removal to Michigan and later to Gage county, her death occurring at Blue Springs.


John D. Schock was reared on a farm in Seneca county, Ohio, and when a boy of nine- teen he came to Nebraska for the benefit of his health. He here employed himself at any- thing he could find to do, and one of the first jobs he found was helping to dig the mill race for the first dam built on the Blue river at Blue Springs. He thereafter secured three yokes of open and engaged in breaking prairie. Though only a poor boy, working by day and month, he donated twenty-five dollars toward


building the first Methodist church at Beatrice, besides which he secured the contract for haul- ing material used in the erecting of that church. He was not old enough to take a homestead but he purchased a land warrant held by a soldier of the war of 1812. On this land he erected a one-story frame house four- teen by twenty-two feet in dimensions, and there he engaged in farming. When the town of Wymore was founded he gave the undi- vided one-half of forty acres to start the town, and some of the finest residences as well as some of the business blocks of Wymore are on the land where he once carried on farming pursuits. In 1881 he sold the remainder of his one hundred and sirty acres to the Lincoln Land Company. In the same year he pur- chased a farm in Blue Springs township, and here he continued to be successfully engaged in farming until 1901, when he sold the prop- erty. After a year spent in traveling he erected his present residence in Blue Springs, where he now lives in the enjoyment of well earned rest and comfort.


In 1873 Mr. Schock returned to Ohio and was united in marriage to Miss Susan B. Snave- ly, a native of Lebanon county, Pennsylvania. They have become the parents of six children, two of whom are living: Charles W., who as a young man manifested unusual mechanical talent and who is now engaged in the manu- facture of special machinery, electrical instru- ments, etc., is married and resides in Minne- apolis, Minnesota ; Hettie Maude is the widow of Frank Rieff, residing in Beatrice.


In point of continuous residence few men in the south-central part of the county have been here longer than Mr. Schock. Blue Springs contained three log cabins when he ar- rived. His first home in the county is still doing service as a residence and the cellar he bricked up more than forty-five years ago is still in service.


Mr. Schock was a Republican for many years, but he voted for Woodrow Wilson twice- and hopes to do so again. He has never as- pired to nor held public office. He was one of the organizers of the Farmers' Elevator Company of Blue Springs, served as its treas --


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urer ten years, and was the main factor in or- ganizing the Gage County Insurance Company, several years ago. Coming to Gage county when pioneer conditions were to be seen on every hand, he has contributed his full share toward bringing about present-day conditions, and in his ventures he has been successful, justly deserving to spend his declining years in the enjoyment of a well earned rest.




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