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 122
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Dr. Curry was brought upon his father's farm and learned the occupation of a farmer. In the schools of his native village he obtained a good education, and was graduated in the high school in 1890. He then conceived the
idea of entering upon a business life and ac- cepted employment in connection with a string of dry-goods stores owned by his uncle, A. C. Majors, at Chillicothe, Missouri, Herrington, Kansas, and Hennessey, Oklahoma - in each of which he remained six months.
In the autumn of 1896 Dr. Curry entered classical Rush Medical College, Chicago, Illi- nois, from which institution he graduated in 1900. Almost immediately he located at Bea- trice in the practice of his profession and here he has since been engaged constantly in that useful and benevolent calling.
After locating in Beatrice, August 6, 1900, he returned to Illinois, in November of that year, and was united in marriage to Miss Ada Willa Hiles, an accomplished and very ami- able young lady. Through many excellent qualities of heart and great worth of character they have made for themselves a large place in the social life of the city of Beatrice.
Dr. Curry is now well established in his professional work. He has a large and an in- creasing business. He is a member of the Gage County Medical Society, the Nebraska State Medical Society and the American Medi- cal Association. He is the local medical ex- aminer for a number of life insurance com- panies including the Bankers' Life of Lincoln, Nebraska, the Pacific Mutual of New York, the Union Central, the Phenix Mutual and the Metropolitan. He is also a member of the Gage county pension board and the county insanity commission. He is district surgeon for the Union Pacific Railway Company and a member of the local advisory board for the United States government.
Dr. Curry has a large and an increasing business and is much esteemed not only by the public at large but also by his professional brethren, which is the acid test of a physi- cian's abilities and integrity of character.
JOHN F. STEINMEYER. - He whose name introduces this article is a member of a family whose name has been long and prom- inently identified with the activities of agri- cultural and live-stock industry in Gage county and adequate record concerning the family ap-
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pears on other pages, in connection with the review of the career of his honored father, Frederick Steinmeyer. In Clatonia township John F. Steinmeyer now rents from his father a fine farm of one hundred and fifty-two acres, and here he is vigorously and successfully carrying forward operations as an agricultur- ist and stock-raiser and as one of the repre- sentative farmers of the younger generation in his native township.
On the old homestead farm, in Section 28, Clatonia township, Mr. Steinmeyer was born March 10, 1880, and here he was reared to manhood under invigorating and benigant in- fluences, in the meanwhile making good use of the advantages afforded in the local schools. He continued to be associated with his father in farm operations until 1901, and since that time he has conducted independent enterprise as a farmer, his unequivocal success attesting to the energy and good judgment which he has brought to bear. He has leased and operated his present farm since 1907 and in the mean- while has made numerous improvements on the place, including the erection of a modern house and barn, as well as corn cribs and other minor farm buildings. In the live-stock de- partment of his farm enterprise he gives spec- ial attention to the raising of high-grade Po- land-China swine. He is a Republican in his political proclivities and he and his wife hold membership in the German Methodist church.
February 19, 1908, recorded the marriage of Mr. Steinmeyer to Mrs. Minnie (Strouck- meyer) Unbefunde, who was born in High- land township, this county, and who is a daughter of August and Catherine (Albert) Strouckmeyer. Her first husband was Fred- erick Unbefunde, who is survived by their two children, Alma and Emma, both of whom remain with their mother and both of whom are attending school.
FREDERICK W. WINTER, M. D., a rep- resentative physician at Wymore, was born September 28, 1852, and is a son of William and Wilhelmina ( Fiegenbaum) Winter. Wil- liam Winter was born at Lippe-Detmold, Ger- many, July 31, 1825, and came to the United
States in 1842. His wife was born in Ger- many, July 27, 1833, and died March 19, 1917. After coming to America both families settled in Warren county, Missouri, where William Winter and Wilhelmina Fiegenbaum met for the first time ; shortly after their marriage they moved to Iowa.
William Winter was a soldier in the war with Mexico and was given government land in Iowa in consideration of his services. In 1857 he was ordained a minister of the Ger- man Methodist church, his first charge being at Rock Island, Illinois, and his last charge was at Davenport, Iowa, where he died February 21, 1882. Mr. and Mrs. Winter became the parents of nine children, of whom Dr. Fred- rick W. is the eldest. Adolph Fiegenbaum, father of Mrs. William Winter, was born in Germany, December 17, 1792, and came to the United States in 1833, settling in Missouri. Later he removed to Garner, Iowa, and there his death occurred January 7, 1877. His wife, Christina Wilhelmina, was born in Ger- many, in 1796, and died in Iowa, January 17, 1871.
Dr. Frederick W. Winter was educated at Muscatine, Iowa, where he was graduated in the high school as a member of the class of 1866. He was at one time superintendent of schools at Garner, Iowa, a position he retained two years. He studied medicine in Iowa State Medical College and was graduated with the class of 1880. The same year he moved to Kansas and began the practice of medicine at Junction City, where he remained one year. In 1882 Dr. Winter came to Wymore, Ne- braska, and here he has practiced his profes- sion continuously from that year to the present time.
On October 26, 1885, Dr. Winter was united in marriage to Miss Lida P. Bennett, daughter of James Bennett, Jr. To this union were born five children, as follows, Ralph B., of Adams, this county ; Mary Irene, a teacher of schools at Casper, Wyoming; Wilhelm Waldo, Elsie Amelia, at home ; and Louis E., now in the United States army.
James Bennett, Jr., father of Mrs. Winter, was born in New York state, November 26,
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1840. He came to Wymore in 1882 and in 1884 was followed by his family. He was a brick mason and brick manufacturer, and he followed this business after coming to Ne- braska. He assisted in erecting some of the first brick buildings in the city of Wymore. Mr. Bennett married Miss Eliza Hollenbeck, who was born November 12, 1839. They were the parents of four children, two of whom are living, - Lida, wife of Dr. Winter, of this review, and Frances B. Horham, a widow, living in Lincoln, Nebraska. Mr. Bennett died in May, 1897.
Dr. Winter is a Republican and he was for six years a member of the Wymore school board. He is a member of the Methodist church, is a Mason and belongs to several fra- ternal insurance societies. He is also a mem- ber of the Nebraska State Homoeopathic Medical Society and the American Institute of Homoepathy. Dr. Winter has always en- joyed a large practice and is held in very high esteem in the community in which he lives.
LEWIS D. LENGER was until recently the owner of one of the well improved and ably managed farms of his native county and became known as one of the aggressive and successful younger exponents of agricultural and live-stock industry in Midland township, which represented his place of residence from the time of his birth and in which he was a scion of a pioneer family that was here founded prior to the admission of Nebraska to statehood. Mr. Lenger was born on his father's old homestead farm, in Section 2, Midland township, on the 9th of July, 1880, and is a son of Herman B. and Charlotta Louise (Brand) Lenger, both of whom were born in Germany and both of whom were resi- dents of Gage county at the time of their death. The marriage of the parents was solemnized in Warren county, Missouri, and in 1866 they came to Nebraska Territory and numbered themselves among the pioneer settlers of Gage county, the journey to the new home having been made with a wagon and a team of army mules, which outfit afforded transportation for the parents and their four children, as well as
a small supply of household effects. With the funds which he had previously accumulated, Herman B. Lenger was enabled to make par- tial payment on a quarter-section of land which he here purchased for twelve hundred dollars, in Midland township, and later he added to his farm property by buying, for three hundred dollars, a relinquishment of a claim to an ad- joining tract of one hundred and sixty acres. He reclaimed and improved a good farm, he and his wife endured their full quota of the hardships and trials incidental to pioneer life, but substantial prosperity eventually crowned their earnest endeavors, both having remained on the old homestead until their death. Of their ten children seven are living: Herman H. is a retired farmer residing in the village of Odell, this county; Lena M. is the wife of P. M. Roush and they reside on their well im- proved fruit farm, near Canyonville, Oregon ; Lottie married J. B. Renard, of Odell, this county ; Minnie C. is the wife of Samuel C. Gockley, a farmer and fruit-grower in the vi- cinity of Wenatchee, Chelan county, Washing- ton; William J. owns one of the excellent farms of Gage county and there maintains his home, five miles west of the village of Pick- rell ; John A. lives in the home of his brother William J .; and Lewis D., of this review, is the youngest of the number. The parents were zealous members of the Church of the Brethren and the father gave not only an acre of ground as a site for the church of this de- nomination in Midland township but also an equal amount for a cemetery, with stipula- tion that no charge should be made for inter- ments in the same. He was a man of indomit- able industry, of mature judgment and of those sterling principles that make for the highest type of citizenship, his political allegiance hav- ing been given ot the Republican party. He was a young man when he came to America, his parents having passed their entire lives in Germany. His wife's parents were pioneer settlers in Johnson county, Nebraska, and there both were killed by lightning while they were driving in a spring wagon, on their way from a visit to the parents of the subject of this sketch.
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Lewis D. Lenger acquired his early educa- tion in the Mount Olive school, in District No. 11, Midland township, and he early became familiar with the varied details of farm en- terprise. In initiating his independent activi- ties as an agriculturist and stock-grower he purchased a part of the farm of his brother Herman, and to the same he added until he had an admirably improved and valuable six acres, in Section 2, Midland township. He here gave his attention to diversified agricul- ture and the raising of good types of live stock, in which latter department he made a specialty of raising sheep and swine. He is imbued with the vital spirit of the west and is liberal and progressive as a citizen, his political sup- port being given to the Republican party. He has not been ambitious for political activity or public office but has given effective service as a member of the school board of his district. Both he and his wife are active members of the Church of the Brethren.
January 1, 1908, recorded the marriage of Mr. Lenger to Miss Willa Coonley, who was born in Beatrice, and reared on her father's farm near Pickrell, this county, where her father, O. G. Coonley, is now living retired. Mr. and Mrs. Lenger have one child, Lea Louise, who was born December 22, 1911.
In December, 1917, Mr. Lenger sold his farm and moved to Beatrice. At the time of this writing he is manager of the Pickrell Live Stock Shipping Association, of Pickrell, this county.
WILLIAM W. WICK is a well-to-do farmer, and is farming one hundred and sixty acres of land in Section 19, Sicily town- ship. This land is the homestead of his par- ents, Andrew and Maria Elizabeth (Heimlich) Wick, who came to Gage county in 1883 and purchased this land, upon which they made their home until they were called to the life eternal. Andrew Wick was born in Baden, Germany, in 1834, and was a son of Sabas- tian Wick, who also was born in Germany, and who came with his family to America. He settled in Ohio in 1835, and there he
tilled the soil until 1863, when he removed to Indiana, where he again beguiled nature to yield her corn and wheat, and where he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives. Their son, Andrew, the father of William W. Wick, was a baby in arms when his parents immigrated to the United States, and in his early manhood he lived in Ohio where he married Maria Elizabeth Heimlich, who was
landed property of one hundred and eighty -. born in that state, in 1836, a daughter of Ger- man emigrants who had first lived in Pennsyl- vania and then moved to Ohio, where they were farmers in Morrow county, and where they passed their last days.
Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Wick moved from Ohio in 1863 and settled near Bourbon, Indi- ana, on a farm of eighty acres. They bought sixty acres more of the fertile land, making in all one hundred and forty acres that they owned in Indiana. In 1883 they came to Sic- ily township, Gage county, Nebraska, and purchased the land which their son William W. now owns. For many years they lived on this homestead. Mr. Wick died in 1894 and his widow passed away in 1915, at the age of seventy-nine years. They were the parents of thirteen children, and those surviving have
taken their places in the world, to enrich the communities in which they live: John and Charles are twins, the former residing in Kan- sas and the latter in Bourbon, Indiana; Cath- erine is with her brother William, of this sketch ; Mary who is deceased, was the wife of M. Yowell, living in Oklahoma ; Lena is the wife of Henry Kelver, a retired farmer living in Plymouth, Indiana ; Henry L. is a farmer east of Holmesville, Gage county ; Caroline is the wife of M. E. Kerr, a school teacher of Bourbon, Indiana ; William W. is the subject of this review ; A. C. is a farmer in Elm town- ship, this county ; Anna, is the wife of F. H. Kimmerling, a retired farmer of Beatrice; R. J. is a bachelor and lives with his brother Wil- liam; Philip died in infancy ; and M. A. is a farmer in Sicily township, this county.
William Wick was a lad of fifteen years when his parents came to Gage county and here he finished his education in the district schools. He has devoted his time exclusively
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to his farming interests. He is a member of the Lutheran church and votes the Democratic ticket. He has served as town clerk and is alive to the best interests of his community.
GEORGE L. ROE, M. D., who has for more than thirty years, been engaged in the practice of his profession in Gage county, has maintained his residence in the city of Bea -. trice since 1886. Prior to this he had been a pioneer physician and surgeon at Odell, this county, where he had established his residence in 1881. Dr. Roe served seventeen years as official physician and surgeon of Gage county and for an equal period as city physician of Beatrice. He held for twenty-four consecu- tive years a position as a member of the United States board of pension examining surgeons for Gage county, and at the expiration of this long period he resigned the post. The Doctor holds membership in the Gage County Medical Society, the Nebraska State Medical Society, and the American Medical Association.
Dr. George Lowry Roe was born in the state of Indiana, September 13, 1858, and is a son of Samuel Lowry Roe and Mary Eliza- beth (Henley) Roe, natives respectively of Kentucky and Virginia. The parents passed the closing years of their lives in Adams county, Illinois, Samuel L. Roe having been a soldier of the Union in the Civil war.
Dr. Roe acquired his early education in Louisville, Kentucky, and Quincy, Illinois. In 1878 he was graduated in the Louisville Medi- cal College, and after thus receiving his degree of Doctor of Medicine he engaged in practice at Clayton, Illinois, where he remained until he came to Gage county, Nebraska, and en- gaged in practice as one of the pioneer phy- sicians in the new town of Odell, his removal to Beatrice having occurred in 1886, as previ- ously noted. The representative character of his clientage during the long intervening years best attests to his professional ability and per- sonal popularity.
Dr. Roe has served as medical advisor and examiner of the official draft board of Gage county since the nation entered the great European war, and in May, 1918, he tendered
his services to the government for professional identification with the military activities of the country in a more direct way. His only son is at the time of this writing serving as a soldier with the American expeditionary forces in France.
Dr. Roe is a Democrat in politics, and is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, the In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows and the Fra- ternal Order of Eagles. His wife, whose maiden name was Ida L. Thompson, was born at Elkhorn, Wisconsin, and they have two children; Marie L. is the wife of Frederick Nichols, of Beatrice, and Samuel Lowry Roe, as previously stated, is a soldier with our na- tional forces in France.
PERCY F. HEFFELFINGER. - One of the native sons of Gage county who has elected to remain within its borders and who is meet- ing with success in his occupation is Percy F. Heffelfinger, who operates a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Midland town- ship. He was born in Beatrice, this county. June 3, 1892, and is a son of Bell M. and Louise Heffelfinger, whose record appears elsewhere in this volume.
In the acquirement of his early education, Percy F. Heffelfinger attended school in his native city. On January 4, 1909, Mr. Heffel- finger was united in marriage to Miss Nellie Ray, who likewise is a native of Gage county and who is a daughter of Ira and Millie (Ayers) Ray, natives of Illinois, who became residents of Gage county at an early date and owned and developed the farm which is now the home of their daughter Nellie ( Mrs. Hef- felfinger). Mr. Ray passed away on this farm October 3, 1908, and his widow now resides in Lincoln. They became the parents of six children, of whom three are living: Nellie, wife of the subject of this sketch ; Edward D., a machinist, residing in the city of Lincoln; and Fred, now a soldier in the national army, he being, at the time of this writing, stationed at Kelley Field, Texas. The three deceased children were Lou Emma, Lester and Allen Henry.
Mr. and Mrs. Heffelfinger are the parents of
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MR. AND MRS. FREDERICH BOESIGER
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three children: Ray, Anita, and Erma Dean. Mr. Heffelfinger follows general farming, em- ploying up-to-date methods, and is meeting with that success which comes as the result of industry and thoughtfully applied efforts. He is independent in politics. Mrs. Heffelfinger is a member of the Christian church at Bea- trice.
JOHN F. BOESIGER. - Among the many prosperous farmers in Nemaha township, Gage county, mention should be made of John F. Boesiger, agriculturist, grower of purebred shorthorn cattle, and owner of three hundred and sixty acres of well improved land, in Sections 11 and 12.
Mr. Boesiger was born February 5, 1877, in Lancaster county, Nebraska, and is a son of Frederich and Anna (Egger) Boesiger. The father was born in Switzerland, October 18, 1843, and the mother also was a native of Switzerland, where she was born March 18. 1852. Frederich Boesiger left his native coun- try at the age of nineteen years and after his arrival in America he settled near Blooming- ton, Illinois, where he worked as a farm hand. He remained in Illinois until about 1871, when he came to Nebraska and settled in Lancaster county, where he still resides. When Mr. Boesiger first came to the state he purchased a small tract of land, and by careful manage- ment and economy he added to his holdings until he became the owner of two thousand six hundred acres of good agricultural land in Lancaster and Gage counties. This he di- vided among his children. He is also a stock- holder in the Bank of Cortland, Gage county. He now makes his home with his youngest son.
Mr. and Mrs. Frederich Boesiger became the parents of twelve children, concerning whom brief record is here entered : David is a farmer in Nemaha township, Gage county ; Mary is the wife of W. C. Luckey, of Prince- ton, Buda township, Lancaster county ; John F. is the subject of this review ; Mrs. Fannie Loesing resides at Hickman, Lancaster county ; Rudolph lives in Lancaster county ; Emma is the wife of George Hickman, a farmer in
Highland township, Gage county; Fred, Jr., is a farmer near Princeton, Lancaster county ; Ella is the wife of Fred Morimer, of High- land township, Gage county; George is de- ceased ; William is living near Princeton, Lan- caster county ; and two children died in in- fancy. The wife and mother passed away June 8, 1916. She was a member of the Con- gregational church, as is also her husband, who is now venerable in years.
John F. Boesiger has always followed farm- ing. He received his education in the dis- trict schools of Lancaster county and contin- ued to assist his father on the farm until he was twenty-six years of age, when he became the owner of his present farm home, and be- gan operations for himself. This farm he has greatly improved. In 1904 he erected a fine new house of eight rooms, a modern barn thirty-eight by forty feet in dimensions, and also a silo, thirty-six by nineteen feet in dimen- sions. He is a breeder of fine pure-bred cattle, feeds both cattle and hogs for the market, and has made a great success of his chosen occu- pation.
January 1, 1902, recorded the marriage of Mr. Boesiger to Miss Hannah Meyers, who was born in Lancaster county, this state, and who is a daughter of Henry and Sophia (Menke) Meyers. Mr. Meyers is now de- ceased and his widow continues to make her home in Lancaster county. Mr. and Mrs. Boesiger are the parents of three childern, Evelyn, Helen and Mildred, all at home.
In politics Mr. Boesiger is a Republican of independent proclivities and he usually casts his vote for the man rather than observing strict party lines. He is a member of Firth Lodge No. Forty-seven, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, at Firth, and the family are members of the Congregational church. In connection with this review are consistently given portraits of the parents of Mr. Boe- siger.
WILLIAM MANGUS, whose death oc- curred in the year 1904, established his resi- dence in Gage county in 1881 and became one of the successful farmers and highly honored
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citizens of Sherman township, where he lived a righteous and productive life and made for himself secure place in popular confidence and esteem. As one of the sterling pioneers of the county he is properly given a memorial tribute in this history.
A scion of a family that was founded in the historic Old Dominion in the colonial days, William Mangus was born in Virginia, Octo- ber 20, 1832, and in that fine old common- wealth his parents, Michael and Sarah (Sho- walter) Mangus, passed their entire lives, the father having been a farmer by vocation. Reared and educated in his native state, Wil- liam Mangus gained in his youth such exper- ience as to cause him naturally to turn to agri- cultural pursuits in initiating his independent career, and after his marriage he engaged in farming in Roanoke county, Virginia. When the Civil war was precipitated he was loyal to the cause of the Confederacy and, in 1862, he enlisted in Company E, Forty-second Virginia Infantry, with which he served in the com- mand of General Stonewall Jackson until the death of that gallant officer. He took part in the battles of Chancellorsville, McDowell Mountain, Middletown and Peterburg, and at the battle of the Wilderness he was so severely wounded that he was thereafter confined to the hospital for two months. He then re- joined his regiment, and while with the com- mand in the Shenandoah valley he was cap- tured by the enemy. He was held as a pris- oner of war for three months, at the expira- tion of which his exchange was effected. An attack of typhoid fever made it impossible for him to join his regiment until the following year, and after recuperating he continued in active service until shortly before the fall of Petersburg, when he was honorably dis- charged, at the expiration of his term of en- listment. He continued his farm enterprise in Roanoke county until the close of the war and in 1866 he removed with his family to Macou- pin county, Illinois, where he was similarly engaged for the ensuing four years. He then removed to Christian county, that state, where he continued his active association with farm enterprise until 1881, when he came with his
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