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 114

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 114

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Edward Bauman was reared to adult age in Illinois, and his carly educational advantages were those of the district schools. In 1885 he came to Gage county, and here he continued his activities as a farmer on rented land in Hanover township about fifteen years. He then purchased one hundred and sixty acres in Section 30, that township, but this property he later sold, after having made numerous im- provements on the same. In 1900 he pur- chased his present fine home farm, to which he removed in 1902, and in accumulating his valuable landed estate and bringing the same to its present condition of thrift and prosper- ity he has depended entirely upon his own ability and well ordered industry, his financial resources having been very limited when he came to Gage county as a young man of am- bition and dauntless determination. Mr. Bau- man assisted in the organization of the Far- mers' State Bank of Pickrell, and is now presi- dent of this substantial financial institution.

In politics he designates himself an inde- pendent Republican and he attends and sup- ports the German Lutheran church, of which his wife is a zealous member.

On the 11th of March, 1888, Mr. Bauman married Miss Fannie Zimmerman, who was born in Logan township, this county, March 28, 1867, a daughter of Tamme Zimmerman, a sterling pioneer of Gage county. Mr. and Mrs. Bauman have two children -- Reiner, who is a progressive farmer in Holt township ; and Thomas, who remains at the parental home and assists his father in the manage- ment and work of the farm.

ALBERT HUBKA. - The late Albert Hubka, a man of strong individuality, fine mentality and sterling character, was a pio- neer settler in Nebraska and through his well directed activities in connection with farm en- terprise he achieved large and worthy success. At the time of his death, which occurred in Sherman township, Gage county, in 1898, he was the owner of a valuable landed estate of several hundred acres, and as a man of up- rightness and constructive energy, as well as a loyal and public-spirited citizen, he is properly accorded a tribute in this publication. His es- tate was largely represented in valuable land in Sections 1 and 12, Sherman township, and his sons are in their generation well upholding the honors of the family name.

Albert Hubka was born in Bohemia, April 22, 1846, and was a member of a family of twelve children, of whom six attained to years of maturity, two of his brothers likewise hav- ing become residents of Nebraska. Mr. Hubka was a son of Joseph and Anna ( Blaha) Hubka, who passed their entire lives in Bohemia. Al- bert remained at the parental home until he was a youth of fourteen years, and he passed the following five years in another section of the German empire, in the meanwhile receiv- ing good educational advantages. About the time of the Franco-Prussian war he came to America and after remaining for a time in Baltimore, Maryland, he came to the west. He passed a short interval in the city of Chicago and then went to Richland county, Wisconsin.

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HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

he having been a successful teacher during the period of his residence in Chicago. Finally he came to Nebraska and took up a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres in Pawnee county. There he continued farm operations about fourteen years, and in 1871 he ex- changed his pioneer farm in that county for four hundred and eighty acres in Sherman township, Gage county. He improved this land into one of the fine farm properties of the county and became specially successful as an agriculturist and stock-grower, giving spec- ial attention for a number of years to the raising of high-grade horses. He accumu- lated a substantial fortune, was true and loyal in all of the relations of life and com- manded unqualified popular esteem. His po- litical support was given to the Democratic party and while he was frequently importuned to accept local offices he declined all such overtures, save that he gave effective service as director and treasurer of his school district, he having declined to accept the office of town- ship treasurer when urged to become the in- cumbent thereof.

In 1867 Mr. Hubka wedded Miss Mary Kovanda, who was born in Bohemia, May 2, 1847, a daughter of Albert and Fanny Ko- vanda, with whom she came to Pawnee county, Nebraska, in 1867. Mrs. Hubka still sur- vives her husband and now maintains her home in the village of Virginia, this county, as one of the venerable and loved pioneer women of this section of the state. Mr. and Mrs. Hubka became the parents of eight chil- dren, all of whom are living: Frank is a pros- perous farmer in Elm township; Joseph S. is individually mentioned on other pages of this work; Annie is the wife of Joseph S. Stanek, of Sherman township .; Frances is the wife of John Henzel, of Virginia, this county ; James is a farmer in Washington county ; Emil is engaged in farm enterprise in Sher- man township; Emily is the wife of George Henzel, of Sherman township; and Julia is the wife of Charles Kozak, of Filley town- ship.

Mr. Hubka not only won for himself sub- stantial success but also assisted all of his

sons in gaining a secure start on the road to independence and prosperity.

THOMAS W. STANOSHECK, president of the State Bank of Odell, is a native of Iowa, born at Iowa City, November 10, 1859. His parents were Albert and Pauline Stan- osheck, who were natives of Poland and who, in 1857, immigrated to America, locating at Iowa City, where they spent the remainder of their lives.

Reared in his native city, Thomas Stano- sheck attended the public and parochial schools, and in 1884 he and his brother, Frank J., came to the new town of Odell, Nebraska, with a small stock of goods and opened up a general merchandise store. For thirteen years he successfully continued in this line of enterprise, and then, in 1897, he retired and devoted his time to looking after his invested interests, having purchased a large amount of farm lands. In 1908 he became one of the organizers of the State Bank of Odell, and of the same le has been president since 1913. He now gives close attention to his executive duties in connection with this institution and to the supervision of his fine landed estate of eight hundred acres, - comprising well im- proved farms.

Mr. Stanosheck was united in marriage to Miss Abbie Murphy, a native of New York state, and a sister of J. E. Murphy of Odell, who has furnished a record of the Murphy family. Mr. and Mrs. Stanosheck have be- come the parents of three children: William F. is married and resides in Odell, where he is cashier of the State Bank; Lillie and Gene- vieve are at home.

Mr. Stanosheck is interested in various en- terprises which have to do with the growth of the town. He is president of the Odell Lum- ber Company and also of the Farmers' Eleva- tor Company.

The religious views of our subject coincide with the teachings of the Catholic church and in politics is a Democrat. He has never as- pired to nor held public office, preferring to give his time and attention to his own affairs, in which he has been very successful. Odell

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HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

was but two years old when he arrived and became one of its first merchants, and for thirty-four years he has been an important factor in its business development.

JOSEPH HUBKA has through his own ability and energetic efforts accumulated one of the large and valuable landed estates of Fil- ley township and is one of the successful and representative agriculturists and stock-grow- ers of Gage county, his attractive home place being in Section 33, about one mile distant from the village of Filley.

Mr. Hubka was born in Bohemia, Austria- Hungary, January 25, 1867, and is a son of Michael and Veronika Hubka, who came to the United States in 1883 and settled in Paw- nee county, Nebraska, where the father became a successful farmer ; after his retirement from active labor he removed to the village of Table Rock, that county, where he passed the remainder of his life and where his widow still resides.

Joseph Hubka gained his youthful educa- tion in the schools of his native land and was sixteen years old when he accompanied his parents on their immigration to America. He assisted his father in the reclaiming of the home farm in Pawnee county and also found employment as a farm hand. He could not at the time speak the English language and this proved somewhat of a handicap, his wages for the first year having been only ten dollars a month and the highest wages he at any time received during eight years of em- ployment as a farm worker having been seventeen dollars a month. In the meanwhile he gave virtually all of his earnings to his father and mother. When he was twenty- four years of age his father assisted him in buying eighty acres of land in Pawnee county, and incidentally he assumed an indebtedness of five hundred dollars. On this farm, to which he later added eighty acres, he con- tinued his operations fourteen years, after which he sold the property. On the 22d of February, 1903, he came to Gage county and purchased two hundred and thirty-five acres of land in Filley township, where he has since

continued his notably successful activities along the line of diversified agriculture and stock-growing. In 1918 he added to his es- tate by the purchase of another valuable farm in Filley township, this place comprising three hundred and twenty acres. His home farm in early days was owned by that honored pioneer, the late Elijah Filley, in whose honor the township and village of Filley were named. Mr. Hubka is a man whose word is as good as any bond that was ever issued, and he com- mands the unqualified respect of all who know him. His career has been marked by earnest and diligent application and he has well earned the gracious rewards of independence and prosperity. In politics he is independent of strict partisan lines and he is always ready to do his part in supporting movements and measures tending to conserve the general well- being of the community.

In Pawnee county was solemnized the mar- riage of Mr. Hubka to Miss Anna Richly, who likewise is a native of Bohemia, and concern- ing their children the following brief record is given: Lillie is the wife of Amos Fritz, of Pawnee county ; Frank conducts an auto- mobile garage in the village of Filley ; Emma is a student (1918) in the Nebraska State Normal School at Peru; and Clement, James and Joseph remain at the parental home.

JAMES RATHBUN. - For thirty-six years the subject of this review has been a resident of Glenwood township, Gage county and in the work of development, from pioneer times to the present day, Mr. Rathbun has con- tributed his full share.

James Rathbun was born in Washington county, Ohio, November 28, 1828, and is des- cended from a family founded in New Eng- land may generations ago. The father of our subject was Ebenezer Rathbun, who was born in Vermont, where he was reared to manhood. As a young man he went to Washington county, Ohio, where he married. In 1840 he located in La Salle county, Illinois, and after a few years there and in Peoria county he made permanent location in Henry county, where he became a successful farmer and land

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HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

owner. He was amongst the first white set- tlers of that county and there spent the re- mainder of his life, passing away in 1874. The mother of our subject bore the maiden name of Martha Hall. She was a native of Ireland and when a girl was brought to America by her parents, who settled in Ohio. She died in Henry county, Illinois, in 1878.

James Rathbun was a lad of twelve sum- mers when the home was established in Illi- nois, where he grew to manhood and became a farmer. He bought and improved a tract of one hundred and twenty acres in Henry county, where he resided until 1882, when he came to Gage county, Nebraska, and in Sec- tion I, Glenwood township purchased one hun- dred and sixty acres of land, the same having been partly improved. As time passed he brought the land to a high state of cultivation and made good improvements. He has made his home on this place continuously for thirty- six years. That he has been successful is in- dicated in the fact that to-day he owns three hundred and twenty acres in Glenwood and Paddock townships and formerly owned two hundred and forty acres in Kansas : this prop- erty he has sold to three of his sons, who now make their homes on the land.

February 25, 1858, was solemnized the mar- riage of James Rathbun and Mary Wolfe, who was born in Knox county, Ohio, June 24, 1836, a daughter of Peter and Jane (Biggs) Wolfe, natives of Knox county, Ohio, and early set- tlers in Henry county, Illinois, where they passed away. Mrs. Rathbun was called to the home beyond in 1895, and was the mother of the following named children: Frank, George and Charles are married and reside on farms near Hollenburg, Kansas; Lewis is a farmer residing in Odell; John is a farmer of Paddock township; Alice, is the wife of A. I. Layton, operating the home farm; Lizzie is the wife of Charles Mort, of Nebraska City ; and Carrie is the wife of Ira Hageman, of Beatrice.

Mr. Rathbun has reached the venerable age of ninety years, has lived to see his sons and daughters established in life and can look on the past without regret and to the future without fear. He is a Democrat in politics.

FRED EGGERT came to Gage county soon after his immigration from Germany to America, and was a vigorous and ambitiouus youth of seventeen years when he thus set forth to seek his fortunes in the United States. It was in the year 1882 that he arrived in America and made his appearance in Gage county. He was dependent entirely upon his own exertions in making advancement to- ward the goal of independence and was bur- dened by an indebtedness of one hundred and fifteen dollars at the time of his arrival in this county. For several years thereafter he was employed at farm work, at wages varying from six to ten dollars a month, but his fru- gality and careful saving of his earnings soon permitted him to free himself from debt and justify him in beginning independent oper- ations as a farmer on rented land. He finally purchased a farm in Saline county, where he continued his operations eight years. In 1912 he purchased his present homestead farm of one hundred and sixty acres, the same con- stituting the southwest quarter of Section 34, Logan township, and here he has made many improvements of the best order, including the erection of a large barn and the remodeling and enlarging of the house. Without preten- tiousness or flourish of any kind Mr. Eggert has devoted himself earnestly to productive enterprise as a farmer and has won worthy success, the while he has commanded the full- est measure of popular esteem. His political activities are confined to the casting of his ballot in support of the cause of the Repub- lican party and of men and measures meeting his approval as a loyal citizen. Both he and his wife are consistent communicants of the Lutheran church.

In this county was recorded the marriage of Mr. Eggert to Miss Lizzie Daubendick, who had been his boyhood schoolmate in Ger- many, she having been born and reared in the same community as was he, in Westphalia, and having been a young woman when she accom- panied her parents to America, the family home having been established in Clatonia township, this county. Mr. and Mrs. Eggert have five children : Mary is the wife of Hans Schmohr, a prosperous farmer of this county ;

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HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

Henry is successfully engaged in farm enter- prise in Logan township; Annie is the wife of John King, of Sanborn, Iowa; and Fred, Jr. and Carl, who are twins, are the younger members of the parental home circle.

Adverting to the early period of the life history of Mr. Eggert, it may be noted that he was born in the province of Westphalia, Ger- many, on the 9th of May, 1864, and that he was but three years old at the time of his mother's death, he having no remembrance of ever having seen his father, as he was reared in the home of friends of the family. He was given the advantages of the schools of his native place and there continued his residence until ambition spurred him to come to the United States, where he felt assured of 'better opportunities for the winning of prosperity through his own efforts. He has made the passing years count in productive industry and is one of the substantial farmers of Logan township.

FRANK BURES, who passed away, in Paddock township, May 1, 1915, was one of Gage county's successful farmers and sub- stantial citizens. A native of Iowa, he was born in Jones county, October 3, 1868, and was a son of Frank and Anna Bures, of whom mention is made in a sketch written for Joseph Bures, of Glenwood township. Reared to the life of the farm, in Iowa and in Gage county, Nebraska, Frank Bures, as a young man, learned the trade of blacksmith, at which he worked for a few years in Odell. He then purchased a farm in Section 7, Paddock town- ship, and this he brought to a high state of cultivation, with due attendant success mark- ing his varied farm activities.

For a companion and helpmeet Mr. Bures chose Miss Anna Lisec, a native of Saline county, Nebraska, where she was born March 10, 1875. She is a sister of Frank Lisec, of Sicily township. Mr. and Mrs. Bures became the parents of four children: Albert died in infancy ; and Frank, Mary and James are with their mother on the farm, the sons carrying on the work which has fallen upon their shoulders since the death of their father.

Frank is serving, in 1918, his second year as assessor of Paddock township, his father hav- ing served as assessor of this township for three years.

The late Frank Bures was a good farmer, a loyal citizen, a loving husband and father, and in his passing the community was bereft of a man whom it could ill afford to lose.

WILLIAM PIEPER, who rents from his father a well improved farm of one hundred and sixty-one acres in Section 4, Holt town- ship, is another of the native sons of Gage county who is here exemplifying the best tra- ditions and also modern policies in progres- sive agriculture and stock-raising. He was born in Grant township, this county, July 8, 1892, and is the eldest of the seven children born to Henry and Louisa (Bushe) Pieper ; Ernest, the second son, has become a member of the national army being trained for partici- pation in the appalling European war, and at the time of this writing he is stationed in a training camp in New Mexico, in the winter of 1917-1918; Minnie, Sophia and Helen re- main at the paternal home; Emma is being reared in the home of her uncle, Frederick Rishe, in the city of Lincoln, this state; and Hilda is in the home of lier uncle Frederick Pieper, in Grant township.

Henry Pieper, father of the subject of this review, was born in Germany, about 1850, 'and was a lad of about fifteen years when he came with kinsfolk to the United States and settled in Gage county. Thereafter he was employed about nine years as a farm hand, and in the meanwhile he was careful in saving his earnings, his ambition being to establish himself eventually as an independent farmer. Finally he purchased eighty acres of land in Section 2, Grant township, and of the splendid success that has since attended his energetic and well ordered endeavors no further voucher need be given that the statement that he is now the owner of a valuable landed estate of four hundred and ten acres - one hundred and sixty acres in Grant township; the one hundred and sixty-one acres farmed by his son William, of this review, in Holt township;

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HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

and eighty acres in Scotts Bluff county. He still resides on his fine homestead farm in Grant township, his devoted wife having died in 1908, as the sequel of an operation for ap- pendicitis. She was born in Germany and was thirty-seven years of age at the time of her death. She was a devoted member of the Evangelical Lutheran church, in which her husband likewise holds membership.

William Pieper was reared on the home farm and gained his youthful education in the district schools of Grant township. He initi- ated his independent career as a farmer in 1915, when he rented from his father his present farm, and he is proving himself one of the aggressive and successful agriculturists and stock-growers of the younger generation in his native county. In the season of 1917 he obtained from seventy-one acres a yield of corn that averaged thirty bushels to the acre, and in the live-stock department of his farm enterprise he is giving special attention to the raising of Duroc-Jersey swine. Mr. Pieper is an industrious and ambitious young man who is always ready to do his share in the furthering of movements and enterprises for the general good of the community, his politi- cal support being given to the Republican party and both he and his wife holding membership in the Evangelical Lutheran church.

October 4, 1917, recorded the marriage of Mr. Pieper to Miss Dora Tiemann, who is the popular mistress of their pleasant home, which, under her regime, is truly worthy of the name of home. Mrs. Pieper was born in Grant township, this county, near Clatonia, and is a daughter of the late Henry Tiemann, the mother, whose maiden name was Anna Dar- naner, remaining on the old homestead farm with her two sons, Mrs. Pieper having been the fourth in a family of five children.

JOHN BARRATT. - Not only historic interest but much of romance attaches to the career of this venerable and honored pioneer, who became a resident of Gage county nearly ten years prior to the admission of Nebraska to statehood and who is still the owner of a fine landed estate in the county, the same com-

prising two hundred and seventy acres, in Grant and Blakely townships, his original homestead entry, in the former township, hav- ing been the twenty-ninth recorded within the limits of that now opulent division of the county. In the gracious twilight of a long and useful life he is living retired in the vil- lage of Dewitt, Saline county - about two miles distant from his old Gage county home- stead.

John Barratt was born in Somersetshire, England, on the 5th of December, 1837, and is the younger in a family of two children, his brother, William, having continued to reside in England until his death, as did also the parents, John and Uriscilla A. (Barratt) Bar- ratt, both likewise natives of Somersetshire, where the father followed the trade of black- smith in connection with farm enterprise. The parents were devout communicants of the Church of England and the son John has con- tinued to hold earnestly to the ancestral faith, he being a zealous communicant of the Pro- testant Episcopal church, as was also his wife.

He to whom this review is dedicated was reared on the old home farm in England and was given the advantages of the parish schools. When eighteen years of age, in 1856, he severed the home ties and set forth to seek his fortunes in the United States. Making the voyage across the Atlantic on a sailing ves- sel of the type common to that period, he landed in the port of New York city in May of the year mentioned. Thence he proceeded to Ohio, where he remained a few months, and he then made his way to Wisconsin. There he remained until 1858, when he set out for the western frontier. He walked the greater part of the distance from Wisconsin to Ne- braska Territory, and when he arrived in Gage county, in August, 1858, his capitalistic resources were represented in the sum of little more than one hundred dollars. He came to Gage county in company with his cousin, George Grant, and the latter's family, this cousin having been one of the first settlers on Turkey creek, and Grant township having been named in his honor. He was one of the most influential pioneers of that section of

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HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

MR. AND MRS. JOHN BARRATT

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the county, as data appearing in the history of the county clearly indicate.

While he was thus facing the responsibilities and labors of a pioneer Mr. Barratt manifest- ed his unqualified loyalty to the land of his adoption after the Civil war had been pre- cipitated upon the nation. On the 30th of October, 1862, he enlisted in Company F, Second Nebraska Cavalry, and with this com- mand he took part in the battle of Whitestone. Hill, but his principal service was in connec- tion with minor engagements and skirmishes on the frontier. In December, 1863, he re- ceived his honorable discharge, and upon his return to Gage county he built a log cabin on the homestead claim of one hundred and sixty acres to which he had previously made entry. He provided for his needs by working as a farm hand and in the meanwhile gave as much attention as possible to the reclaiming of his own land. He became a member of the terri- torial militia and when, on the 7th of August, 1864, the governor of the territory called out troops to repel a formidable Indian outbreak Mr. Barratt was elected orderly sergeant of Company C, with which he served six months - principally in guarding. the road for the passage of the United States mail. He escaped injury during this service, as had he previously while with the cavalry command, ... and his company did not come into active con- flict with the marauding Indians.

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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 114

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