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 137
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HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA
Mrs. Michael Krueger is a very energetic woman and very businesslike. Her youngest son, Fred, is running the farm for her, and keeps good grade of cattle and hogs. In 1916 Mrs. Krueger built a large barn, fifty by fifty- two feet in dimensions, and in this way they are able to accommodate a large number of cattle and to store their hay.
Mr. and Mrs. Krueger early professed the faith of the Lutheran church, of which they became communicants. They labored hard in this land of their adoption and at the time of Mr. Krueger's death he owned eight hundred acres of land, which has been divided among the children.
WILLIAM M. KERK is a prosperous farmer in Nemaha township who came to Gage county when a mere lad, and who has become the owner of five hundred and twenty acres of well improved land.
Youth is well said to be the springtime of life. It is then that the blood runs warm in the veins, when obstacles are met with the fresh courage that is ready to conquer them. If it were not for the youth in the world there would be no progress, and no new lands opened up, as middle age is content to remain in one place and condition.
William Kerk was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, December 16, 1865, and is the son of John K. and Sarah (Fowler) Kerk. John Kerk was a farmer and bird-cage maker. Philadelphia, the city which was founded by William Penn, was the birthplace and abiding place of John Kerk until 1877, when he went with his family to southern Texas, where he expected to farm. But death intervened and his life was snuffed out, in August, 1877, shortly after his arrival in Texas. He was born, in August, 1821, in Philadelphia, and was a son of a German immigrant who had come to this country in the early part of the nineteenth century. His wife, Sarah A. (Fowler) Kerk, was born November 10, 1837, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After her husband's death, in Texas, she took her family of nine children and returned to Phila- delphia. She lived to see her family as grown
men and women in homes of their own, then she was called up higher. Her death occurred the morning after the sinking of the Maine in Havana harbor, in 1898. Her parents were emigrants from the Emerald Isle.
William Kerk was a lad of eleven years when the big adventure of going to Texas was laid. This ended unhappily, but the lad Wil- liam had imbibed the wanderlust and was no more content to stay in prosaic Philadelphia. In 1882, when only seventeen years of age, he came to Gage county, Nebraska, and for a number of years he worked as a farm laborer in the vicinity of Cortland. Many a day has he shucked corn on the treeless prairie when the snow was knee-deep - and this for the munificent sum of two and one-half cents a bushel. He also remembers the herds of sheep he cared for on the wild prairie for Frank Holt, in whose honor Holt township was named.
In 1887 Mr. Kerk rented land in Nemaha township, north of Pickrell, and he farmed this land for three years, saving enough money to buy land for himself. He purchased his first land in Lancaster county, Nebraska, near Hickman. It was wild, uncultivated land and had no improvements on it. He had to build his own house, a shelter for his cattle and start the long, tedious task of turning wild land into broad, productive acres. This he accomplished, and for twenty-two years he lived on this farm. In 1912 he sold this farm and purchased his present farm, in Nemaha township, Gage county. He has made im- provements on the land to make it more com- fortable and useful for his work. In 1917 he purchased two hundred acres of land from Z. S. Branson, making five hundred and twenty acres of land that he is farming.
The marriage of William Kerk and Louisa C. Koontz was solemnized March 2, 1888. Mrs .. Kerk was born July 22, 1868, in Galena, Illinois. Her parents, Frank and Julia (Beal) Koontz, came to Lancaster county, Nebraska, in 1867 and homesteaded. They were asso- ciated with all of the early endeavors of de- velopment, taking an active interest in all things for the upbuilding of a great agricul-
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HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA
tural county. When the first railroad was built into Lincoln, Mr. Koontz helped in its construction. This railroad was the Burling- ton, and it still continues its way into Lincoln, Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. Koontz, who are now both deceased, were the parents of nine children. Louisa Koontz was born and edu- cated in Lancaster county and has been a de- voted helpmeet to her husband, aiding him in all of the ways in which a good woman knows how to assist. One child, Irene, born in 1911, is the light of their home.
Mr. Kerk is a breeder of Hereford cattle, beginning his herd of thoroughbred stock in 1916. His farm is very advantageously situ- ated, so that he is able to feed many cattle for the market. He has a spring of running water where the cattle can get pure, fresh water at all times of the year. This spring has been visited by the farmers during the drouths in years past, when their own wells refused to give water for their cattle.
In politics, Mr. Kerk is an independent thinker, but he feels that Democratic prin- ciples are the truest. He is a man who, when a mere lad, grasped the opportunity of his day and has worked faithfully to overcome the obstacles which came in his way.
THOMAS S. ELLIS. - In the death of Thomas S. Ellis, which occurred in Beatrice, May 7, 1915, Gage county lost one of its rep- resentative citizens and extensive land-owners. A native of New Jersey, he was born in Som- erset county, and when four years old he was taken by his parents to Illinois, where he re- ceived a common-school and college education and became a farmer. He attended college at Naples, Illinois.
On June 5, 1874, Mr. Ellis was united in marriage to Miss Laura J. Billinger, a daugh- ter of William and Sarah (McManus) Bil- linger. In 1892 he came to Gage county, Ne- braska, and purchased land in Section 18, Midland township. He was successfully en- gaged in farming until his death. He pros- pered, and added to his land holdings, being the owner of four hundred and eighty acres. His parents were John and Mary Ellis, who
came to Gage county in 1890, and the father passed away, at Beatrice, in December of that year, the mother's death occurring in Decem- ber, 1891.
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas S. Ellis became the parents of three children: John T. is a suc- cessful farmer in this county; Ralph G. is a farmer in Midland township; and Mary E. resides in Beatrice.
Mrs. Ellis makes her home in Beatrice, at 822 North Eleventh street. She is a member of the Christian church. Mr. Ellis was a Re- publican in politics and he devoted all of his active life to farm enterprise.
William and Sarah ( McManus) Billinger, parents of Mrs. Ellis, were united in marriage in the year 1841. He was born at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, April 1, 1819, and his death occurred April 9, 1911. His wife was born in Butler county, Ohio, October 1, 1819. After their marriage they removed to Illinois, the journey being made with a team and covered wagon. They settled in McLean county, that state, where Mr. Billinger was engaged in farming for some time. Removal was then made to Woodford county, Illinois, where he became a prosperous farmer and honored citi- zen. He and his wife were members of the Presbyterian church. Of their ten children six are living in 1918.
ARTHUR C. SONDEREGGER, of Be- atrice, Nebraska, was born in Jefferson county, this state, on the 23d.of October, 1888, and is a son of Carl Sonderegger, of whom mention is made on other pages of this volume.
Arthur C. Sonderegger received his early education in the public schools of Jefferson county and later went with his brother Ernest to Europe, where they studied for two years. taking a special course in German and study- ing the nursery and seed business in Germany and Switzerland. Upon returning to the United States Mr. Sonderegger became asso- ciated with his father and brothers in the nursery and seed business in Beatrice, where they own and conduct the Sonderegger Nurs- ery and Seed House, one of the largest of its kind in this part of the country.
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On October 20, 1915, Mr. Sonderegger was united in marriage to Miss Ruth Atwater, of Beatrice, she being a daughter of William At- water, who is engaged in the house-moving business in that city. Mr. and Mrs. Sonder- egger are the parents of one child, Phyllis. Mrs. Sonderegger is a member of the Presby- terian church and her husband of the Chris- tian church. They are very highly respected in the community in which they live, and are numbered among the influential families in this part of the state.
HENRY JURGENS is the owner of a valuable farm property of eight hundred acres in Gage county and the same represents the tangible results of his own ability and energy as applied to agricultural and live-stock in- dustry, for when he established his residence in the county his financial resources were not- able only for their absence and at first he found employment at farm work. Such a story of success and advancement as has marked his career in Nebraska is a matter for general as well as individual satisfaction and pride. The fine homestead place of Mr. Jur- gens is situated in Section 11, Logan town- ship. . He was born in Hanover, Germany, January 20, 1859, and is a son of T. H. and Annie (Duitsman) Jurgens, who were num- bered among the pioneer settlers of Gage county, where the father became a prosperous farmer and where he still resides, at the ven- erable age of eighty-four years (1918), his wife having passed to eternal rest several years ago. Of their five children four are living. Mr. Jurgens is a Republican in poli- tics and is an earnest member of the Lutheran church, as was also his wife.
Henry Jurgens acquired his early education in the schools of his native land and has been a resident of Gage county since 1881. For three years he was here employed at farm work by the month, and for the ensuing five years he farmed on rented land. He then purchased one hundred and sixty acres, on which he was able to make partial payment, and with increasing prosperity he continued to buy more land until he now has one of the
large and valuable farm properties of the county. On his homestead place he has erect- ed excellent buildings, including the spacious and attractive house, which he built in the year 1890. His estate is situated in Logan, Hooker, and Nemaha townships. Mr. Jur- gens is essentially liberal and public-spirited as a citizen, is an independent Republican in politics, and both he and his wife are zealous communicants of the Hanover German Lu- theran church, he having been a member of the building committee that had in charge the erection of the present fine church edifice.
In 1884 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Jurgens to Miss Mary Kruse, who had come to this county in the preceding year. She was born and reared in Germany and is a daughter of Martin Kruse, who there passed his entire life. In conclusion is given brief record concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Jurgens: Thea has active charge of his father's farm in Hooker township; Rena is the wife of John Ideus, of Logan township; Annie is the wife of Thomas Schuster, of Logan township; Theada is the wife of Christ Meints and they reside on her father's farm in Nemaha township; Martin remains at the parental home; Fannie is the wife of George Paben, of Logan township; and Grace and Henry are the younger mem- bers of the parental home circle.
JOHN J. CLANCY is a farmer owning one hundred and sixty acres of land in Sec- tion 15, Elm township. He is of Irish paren- tage, his parents coming from Ireland. America has ever received of the best blood of the Old World and Ireland has given of her sons as liberally as the rest.
John J. Clancy was born in Mason county, Illinois, July 31, 1863, and is a son of John and Catherine (Devin) Clancy. John Clancy, Sr., was born in County Waterford, Ireland, in 1831 and when twenty-two years of age he started to seek his fortune in the New World, arriving in Illinois in 1853. Before farming for himself he served his apprenticeship as a farm employe. His wife, Catherine (Devin) Clancy, came from the Emerald Isle when a
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HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA
MR. AND MRS. HENRY JURGENS
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young lassie and settled with her parents in Peoria, Illinois. After her marriage to John Clancy she remained his faithful companion until his death, which occurred in 1896, and she then came to. Beatrice, Nebraska, spending the remainder of her days with her son John. She was born in 1821 and died in 1901. Mr. and Mrs. Clancy were members of the Catholic church. Of the three children born to them, only John J., the subject of this review, sur- vives.
John J. Clancy was born on the home farm in Illinois, received his early education in the rural schools and as a youth assisted his father on the farm. In 1888 he came to Gage county, Nebraska, settling in Elm township, where he rented his present farm of one hundred and sixty acres for twenty-five years. He pur- chased this land, from the Schock estate, in 1914. He has made improvements on the farm, erected a large, modern barn and has otherwise made many other provisions to make his work more efficient.
February 16, 1890, John J. Clancy took Miss Ella Hood as his wife. She was born in Mason county, Illinois, and is a daughter of Martin and Ellen (Horan) Hood. Her par- ents were both born in Ireland. Her father, Martin Hood, was born in 1829, in County Galloway, Ireland. He farmed in Illinois previously to his coming to Elm township, Gage county, in 1884. He spent his later years in Beatrice, where he died, in 1912, aged eighty-three years. His wife, Ellen (Horan) Hood, was born near Aughrim, County Gallo- way, Ireland, in 1835, and she died in 1893. They were devout, God-fearing, industrious people of the Catholic faith.
Mr. and Mrs. John J. Clancy became the parents of two children: Guy T. remains at home with his parents, and Donald Martin is deceased.
Mrs. Clancy was educated in the high school of Creston, Iowa, and the Business College of Beatrice, Nebraska. For six years prior to her marriage she taught school in Gage and Jefferson counties.
Mr. Clancy is shareholder of the Farmers' Elevator Company at Diller, Nebraska. Out-
side of this his interests have centered in his home and farm. He and his wife are com- municants of the Catholic church, and he votes the Democratic ticket. He is a successful farmer and a valued member of his com- munity.
FRANK J. HUBKA, a progressive farmer living in Elm township, is a native of Ne- braska. He was born in Pawnee county, and is a son of Bohemian parents, who came to the United States and settled in Pawnee county in the very earliest days for the set- tling of Nebraska. These parents, Albert and Mary (Kovanda) Hubka, are mentioned else- where in this volume.
Frank J. Hubka was born December 28, 1869, in Pawnee county, and received the edu- cation of the district schools. His early years, up to his marriage, were spent with his father in the tilling of the soil. In 1892 he rented land from his father, and by dint of hard labor and sacrifice he was eventually able to purchase land for himself. This was his present four hundred and eighty acres of land in Elm township, Gage county. At the time of this purchase he went into debt for seven thousand dollars, but he knew what Nebraska land was and knew that in a very short while he would be able to cancel his indebtedness. He stocked his farm with the well known Hereford cows and from every dollar's worth of corn that he fed them he realized a good profit. In this way he has been able to meet his obligation and to broaden out his estate to include one hundred and sixty acres of land in Section 15, Elm township. On this broad acreage Mr. Hubka is enabled to feed many cattle for market every year.
On the 13th day of February, 1892, Frank J. Hubka married Anna Vavruska, who has shared with him, in his work and civic activ- ities, as well as all of his hardships and joys. Three children have come to bless their mar- riage: Emily is the wife of John S. Bures, living in Elm township; Rudolph is at home; and Albert is attending business college at York, Nebraska, in 1918.
Mrs. Frank J. Hubka was born March 11,
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1871, in Marshall county, Kansas, near Marys- ville, the county seat. Her parents, John and Katherine (Janacek) Vavruska, were natives of Bohemia, joining a great migration of their people to this section of the country. They were farmers, but are now retired, living in Wilber, Nebraska.
Mr. Hubka has taken more than a casual interest in his township. While he is kept very busy in the managing of his farm he is able to devote a portion of his time to the in- terests of the township at large. Upon his arrival in the township he was made a director of the school board of his district and he has filled that position all of these years. He at one time was the township clerk and for the past four years has served as township trea- surer. He is independent in politics, voting for the right man for the place rather than the party's man.
GEORGE W. STEINMEYER. - A native son of Gage county who is making good use of his opportunities and who is contributing in no small way to the development of the natural resources of this great state is George W. Steinmeyer. He was born in Clatonia township, December 29, 1877, a son of John H. Steinmeyer, of whom mention is made on other pages of this volume. He was reared on the farm, his early education being supple- mented by attendance at Wesleyan University, at Lincoln. On returning from school he be- came assistant cashier of the Farmers & Merchants Bank at De Witt. In 1905 he or- ganized and became cashier of the State Bank of Holmesville, continuing in that position until 1911. In 1910 he became associated with others in erecting and equipping the hydro- electric plant at Holmsville, which furnishes electricity to Wymore, Blue Springs, and Be- atrice. This concern has been under his supervision since it was established. This en- terprise is of inestimable value to the com- munities which it serves and the promoter, Mr. Steinmeyer, deserves much credit.
October 14, 1915, Mr. Steinmeyer married Miss Hazel Phillips, daughter of J. T. Phil- lips, of Lincoln.
Mr. Steinmeyer represented his county in the state legislature in 1915 and is a staunch Republican. Fraternally he belongs to the Ancient Free & Accepted Masons, and the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks.
FRANK F. PAPE. - One of Gage county's prosperous tenant farmers is Frank F. Pape, residing on Section 7, Nemaha township, where he farms two hundred and forty acres of land. Mr. Pape was born February 16, 1883, in Gage county, Nebraska, and is a son of Henry and Charlotte (Rueter) Pape. He was the eldest of three children, his sister Lena, wife of William Hasenohr, living near Beatrice, and his brother, Charles, being at home with his parents. Henry Pape, the father of our subject, was born November 24, 1850, in Prussia, Germany, and is a son of Henry and Charlotte (Buschman) Pape. Henry Pape was a farmer and miner in his native land until 1880, when he immigrated to America, and settled in Gage county, Ne- braska, where he purchased eighty acres of railroad land, for which he paid ten dollars an acre. He had but little money and the pur- chase of this land put him pretty badly in debt, but by hard work and strict economy he was finally able to clear off the encumbrance, and from time to time he has bought addition- al farm land until at the present time he is the owner of three hundred and thirty-three acres of good agricultural land. Mr. Pape is also a stockholder in the Farmers Co- operative Association of Cortland, Nebraska. He made extensive improvements on his farms and in 1914 he retired. By a previous marriage, in 1874, to Margaret Schaffer, a native of Germany, who died in 1880, Mr. Pape had three sons: Henry and William, of Nemaha township, and Fred, in the implement business at Pickrell, this county.
Frank S. Pape was educated in the district schools of Nemaha township, and assisted his father on the farm until he started farming on his own account. On December 25, 1913, Mr. Pape was united in marriage to Miss Marie L. Remmers, a native of Nemaha township, Gage county, and a daughter of John E.
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Remmers, of whom a record will be found on other pages of this publication. Mr. and Mrs. Pape are members of the German Lutheran church, and in politics Mr. Pape is an inde- pendent voter.
HIRAM P. CROCKER. - In this semi- centennial history of Nebraska and Gage county is is specially gratifying to accord merited recognition to the sterling and hon- ored pioneer citizen whose name initiates this paragraph and who is now living virtually re- tired. Mr. Crocker came to Gage county first in 1874, and in that year he here secured a tract of unimproved land, but not until two years later did he here establish his home. His financial resources when he located in the county were summed up in twenty-five dollars, aside from the landed investment, and he thus lived up to the full tension of pio- neer life during the period of reclaiming his land and bringing the same into effective cul- tivation. Further interest attaches to his career by reason of the fact that he is a scion of an honored family that was founded in New England in the early colonial period of our national history.
The original American progenitors of the Crocker family were William and John Crocker, and the subject of this review is a lineal descendant of William Crocker. Wil- liam and John set sail from the south of Eng- land for America in the year 1634, and the little vessel on which they took passage lost its way and was greatly delayed in the voyage across the Atlantic. The brothers established their residence in the historic Cape Cod dis- trict of Massachusetts, and the name has long been one of prominence and influence in that section of the old Bay state. William Crocker married and reared a large family of children. He became one of the extensive land owners on Cape Cod and history records that the first law suit tried in that district was that in which he successfully brought charge against a man for stealing certain property from him. The culprit was convicted and his penalty was being flogged, the verdict of the court being in the application of a designated
number of lashes to the back of the mal- efactor. Samuel Crocker, a grandson of Wil- liam, was a gallant soldier of the Continental Line in the war of the Revolution, in which he served as colonel of a regiment of Massa- chusetts troops.
Hiram P. Crocker was born in Erie county, New York, on the 22d of July, 1839, and is a son of Oscar F. C. and Abigail (Weather- low) Crocker, both of whom passed their en- tire lives in the old Empire state, where the former was born July 10, 1810, and the latter about the year 1815, her parents having been of German ancestry. Oscar F. C. Crocker learned in his youth the trade of tanner, but eventually he abandoned the work of his trade to turn his attention to agricultural pur- suits .. Of the family of two sons and two daughters Hiram P., of his review, is the eldest, and he remained at the parental home until he had attained to the age of thirteen years, when he became a member of the family circle of his maternal grandfather, in the same township. He remained with his grandfather seven years, and in the mean- while continued to attend the common schools when opportunity afforded. This educational discipline was supplemented by a course of study in an academy at Yorkshire, Cattarau- gus county, New York. After leaving the academy he was for three years employed by the month, by two of his maternal uncles, and he then assumed charge of his father's homestead farm.
On the 6th of October, 1864, was solem- nized the marriage of Mr. Crocker to Miss Ella L. Cheney, who was born at Holland, Erie county, New York, March 20, 1846, a daughter of Joseph and Sylvia E. (Pickard) Cheney. Mr. Cheney was born at Freedom, Cattaraugus county, New York, on the 28th of June, 1819, and his wife was born in Springfield, Otsego county, that state, March 5, 1824. His death occurred June 9, 1884.
Soon after his marriage Mr. Crocker be- came actively associated with the management of the homestead farm of his father-in-law, and there he remained until 1869, when he re- moved to Warren county, Illinois. There he
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HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA
HIRAM P. CROCKER
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HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA
continued to be engaged in farming until the spring of 1874, when he came to the new state of Nebraska and, after a survey of different localities, decided in favor of Gage county, where he purchased six hundred and forty acres of land in Section 16, Filley township, the township having then been known by the name of Mud Creek. After securing this property Mr. Crocker returned to Illinois, but in the spring of 1876 he came with his family to Gage county, where he rented a partially improved farm, near Beatrice, until he could prepare his own land for cultivation and there erect a house and other necessary buildings. Within the first year Mr. Crocker broke one hundred and thirty acres of the virgin prairie soil of his farm, besides erecting a small house in the spring of 1877, at which time the family home was here established. With the passing years he made each successive season give forth bounties from his farm, and de- veloped the place gradually until it is now one of the model farms of the county. In the winter of 1883-1884 he sold three hundred and twenty acres of the land, but he is still the owner of three hundred and twenty acres of finely improved farm land in Gage county. His character and ability have been so appre- ciated that he has been frequently impor- tuned to become a candidate for local office of public trust, but he has declined to give favor- able consideration to such overtures, though he has been an active and loyal supporter of the cause of the Republican party from the time when he cast his presidential vote, in support of Abraham Lincoln. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, and his wife, who was his devoted companion and helpmeet for almost fifty years, was a zealous member of the Christian church, their gracious compan- ionship having been severed when the loved wife and mother was summoned to eternal rest, her death having occurred on the 30th of September, 1912. Mr. Crocker is now living retired and in his venerable years he resides in the home of his son Lloyd, at Beatrice, where he is accorded the fullest measure of filial so- licitude. Of the three children the eldest, Frank, resides upon and has charge of the old
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