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 144

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 144

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September 16, 1873, Mr. Lacy was united in marriage to Miss Frances Johnson, who born at St. Joseph, Missouri, a daughter of Alexander and Mary Johnson, both of whom have been deceased several years. Mr. and Mrs. Lacy became the parents of thirteen chil- dren : Mattie, James, Craig, Alice, Mary and Alexander are still under the paternal roof ; Joseph is in the national army and in the spring of 1918, was located at Camp Fre- mont, California; Adra is the wife of L. C. Wykoff, of Iola, Kansas; Bertha is the wife of E. A. Gaukel, Red Oak, Iowa; Roy, married and in the employ of the Burling- ton Railroad, lives at Wymore, Gage county ; W. J. is in the national army at Fort Riley. Two children died in infancy.

Mr. Lacy is a member of the Christian

church at Wymore. In recent years Mr. Lacy has voted the Democratic ticket. He has served his township in an official capacity on several occasions, doing efficient service as a member of the school board, road overseer and township assessor. His name is on the membership roll of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Wymore, and he is a member also of the Knights & Ladies of Security.

Mr. Lacy located on his farm in the same year that the land in that part of the county was opened for settlement. There were no district schools in his locality at that time and no houses nearer than Blue Springs. In all the work of development and progress he has contributed his full share, and he is possessed of those qualities of heart and mind which make his place in the community an enviable one.

JOHN C. HOOD, a representative farmer of Elm township, was born April 15, 1869, in Mason county, Illinois. He is a son of Martin and Ellen (Horn) Hood, of whose seven chil- dren four are living, namely : Thomas, a resi- dent of Fremont county, Iowa; Ellen, the wife of John J. Clancy, of Elm township, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this vol- ume; John C., the subject of this review ; Dora, the wife of A. J. Jamison, a farmer in Elm township. An adopted daughter, Mag- gie Brown, is now the wife of James Long, of Sicily township. The deceased children were Mary, Lizzie and Julia.

Martin Hood was born November 29, 1836, in Ireland and in 1850, with two brothers, he left the Emerald Isle and located at New Orleans. Thence they went to Peoria, Illi- nois, where Martin worked as a grader on the construction of a railroad. By frugal habits and the saving of his earnings he was soon enabled to purchase land near Peoria, Illinois. He farmed also at Chillicothe, Illinois, and in Mason county, that state. Finally he went to Union county, Iowa, where he remained less than one year, and then,. in 1882, he came to Beatrice, Nebraska, where he was located until he purchased the old home farm in Section 9, Elm township. Twelve dollars an acre was paid

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for this land, which the plow of man had never touched, and now, after years of toil and labor it is worth ten times that amount. In 1900 Mr. Hood retired from active farming and removed to Beatrice, where he passed away May 27, 1913. His wife, Mrs. Ellen (Horn) Hood, was born in County Galloway, Ireland, October 31, 1831. Coming to America with her sisters, in 1847, they chose as their home, Peoria, Illinois, where she met and married Martin Hood, with whom she shared many long years of happy companionship. Her life was drawn to a close February 24, 1893. These good people were devout members of the Cath- olic church and gave liberally of their time and means in support of the church.

When John C. Hood was thirteen years old his parents came to Gage county. Here he at- tended the district schools and he completed his education by attending the business col- lege at Janesville, Wisconsin, where he pur- sued his studies of telegraphy and typewriting. For three months he was employed by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Com- pany, but he had to resign his position because of the financial stress of President Cleveland's administration, which caused so much panic in financial circles and big corporations. Mr. Hood returned to his father's farm, and since that time he has continued his farming op- erations. After his parents' death he was ap- portioned his share of the estate and he has since purchased eighty acres from his sister Ellen, (Mrs. John J. Clancy.)

At Beatrice, Nebraska, July 4, 1899, was solemnized the marriage of John C. Hood to Miss Katherine Madden, who was born May 15, 1877, in St. Joseph, Missouri, and who was a daughter of Michael and Bridget (Murray) Madden, natives of Ireland. Michael Madden was a bridge contractor and he continued his residence at St. Joseph until his death. Mrs. Katherine (Madden) Hood passed to the life eternal on the 25th of May, 1912, and she is survived by three children, who remain with their father on the farm, and whose names and respective dates of birth are here noted: La- vina, March 31, 1900; Mildred, April 11, 1901; Dyle, July 1, 1906.

In politics Mr. Hood is independent, - he votes for the right man instead of merely the party candidate. His religious faith is that of the Catholic church and his fraternal asso- ciation is with the Knights of Pythias.

ERNEST L. SONDEREGGER was born in Jefferson county, Nebraska, March 9, 1885, and is a son of Carl Sonderegger, whose rec- ord appears on other pages of this volume. Ernest L. Sonderegger received his early edu- cation in the public schools of Jefferson county, and in the Beatrice Business college. He later went to Germany and Switzerland, where he studied German and also gained ex- pert knowledge of the nursery and seed busi- ness. After returning to the United States Mr. Sonderegger became associated with his father in the seed business in Beatrice, and he has continuously followed that business. The Sonderegger Nursery & Seed Company is one of the largest and most complete of its kind in the country, and controls a very large busi- ness, there being a heavy demand for the con- cern's nursery stock, and seeds being shipped almost to all parts of the world.

October 15, 1913, Mr. Sonderegger was united in marriage to Miss Helen Loeber, of Beatrice. She is a daughter of a former banker of Hebron, this state. Mrs. Sonder- egger was educated in the Beatrice schools and is a graduate of the high school of this city. She was at one time a teacher in the public schools.

In politics Mr. Sonderegger is an independ- ent Republican, but he has had no desire for public office. He devotes his entire time to the nursery business, having charge of the seed department. Mr. and Mrs. Sonderegger are members of the Christian church of Bea- trice.

EMERY S. ELLIS, whose well improved farm, of one hundred and sixty acres, is sit- uated in Section 16, Midland township, has been a resident of Gage county from his boy- hood days and is a representative of one of the prominent, honored and influential pioneer families of this section of the state, his father

HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

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EMERY S. ELLIS

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HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

having at one time been the owner of three thousand acres of land in Gage county and having conducted extensive operations in the raising and shipping of live stock as well as along agricultural lines. The eldest in a fam- ily of three sons and two daughters, Emery S. Ellis was born in Woodford county, Illinois. on the 6th of August, 1867, and he is a son of Joseph and Margaret (Miller) Ellis, the for- mer of whom was born in Yorkshire, Eng- land, on the 3d of April, 1844, and the latter of whom was born in Butler county, Ohio, in 1840, she having been a daughter of Alexander and Eliza Miller and having been a young woman at the time of the family removal to Illinois, where was solemnized her marriage to Joseph Ellis, who was at the time a gallant young veteran of the Union service in the Civil war.

Joseph Ellis acquired his rudimentary edu- cation in his native land and was about eight years old when, 1852, he came with his par- ents, John and Mary (Nettleton) Ellis, to the United States, and settled in the state of New Jersey, whence, in 1857, removal was made to Illinois, his parents having been mem- bers of sterling old families long established in Yorkshire, England. Upon the removal to Illinois the family settled in Woodford county, where John Ellis purchased and developed a good farm and where he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives, the father having been a communicant of the Church of Eng- land and later of the American representative of the same faith, the Protestant Episcopal church, while the mother was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Joseph Ellis attended school in New Jersey and was about thirteen years old at the time of the fam- ily removal to Illinois, where at the age of seventeen years he showed his distinctive loy- alty to the land of his adoption by enlisting, in August, 1861, as a member of Company B, Forty-seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry, which was assigned to the Army of the West and with which he participated in many en- gagements, including the battle of Corinth, Mississippi, in which Mr. Ellis received a

severe wound in the right arm. After leav- ing the hospital he rejoined his regiment and took part in the battle of Vicksburg, he hav- ing been present at the capitulation of that city. Thereafter he took part in the battles at Lake Chicot, Arkansas, and Tupelo and Abbeyville, Mississippi, and after having served gallantly and faithfully for three years and two months he received his honorable dis- charge, in October, 1864, at Springfield, Illi- nois. It may consistently be noted at this point that in later years, after his removal to Gage county, Nebraska, he became an active and honored member of the post of the Grand Army of the Republic at Dewitt, Saline county, a village not far distant from his homestead farm in Gage county.

After the close of the war Mr. Ellis con- tinued his association with farm enterprise in Illinois until 1872, when he came to Nebraska and numbered himself among the pioneers of Gage county. He first purchased one hun- dred and sixty acres of land in Grant town- ship, and as a grower and shipper of cattle he gradually increased the area of his landed es- tate until he became the owner of fully three thousand acres, his average annual shipment of cattle to the eastern markets having for a term of years been about twenty carloads. He made the best of improvements upon his farm property and made his homestead place one of the model farms of the county. In grad- ually limiting his live-stock operations he dis- posed of much of his land, but he continued to be recognized as one of the most substan- tial and influential representatives of farm in- dustry in the county, commanding unequi- vocal popular esteem and having become a di- rector of the People's Bank of Beatrice, of which his brother John was president. Mr. Ellis was unswerving in his allegiance to the Republican party. He died March 25, 1915, and his widow now maintains her home in the city of Beatrice. Of their four children who attained to maturity the subject of this review is the eldest, as previously noted: Frank O. resides in the city of Beatrice, where he is en- gaged in teaming; Harry O. is a resident of

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HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

Kansas City, Missouri; Laura E. is the wife of Frank Sankey, of Harbine, Jefferson county.

Emery S. Ellis, the immediate subject of this review, was a lad of five years when he accompanied his parents on their removal to Gage county and here he early gained practical experience through his association with his father's extensive operations as an agricul- turist and stock-grower, the while he duly availed himself of the advantages of the local schools. He has wisely continued his active identification with farm enterprise during the long intervening years and is one of the pro- gressive and successful agriculturists and stock-growers of Midland township, his well improved farm comprising the southwest quarter of Section 16. He raises good grades of cattle and swine in connection with his agri- cultural operations, is a vigorous and well poised business man and both as a farmer and a liberal citizen he is fully upholding the pres- tige of a name that has been significantly prominent and honored in connection with the annals of Gage county. He has never manifested any ambition for political prefer- ment but is aligned staunchly in the ranks of the Republican party. He is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and both he and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Epis- copal church.

On the 9th of March, 1898, was recorded the marriage of Mr. Ellis to Miss Caroline Moshel, daughter of Ludwig Moshel, concern- ing whom individual mention is made on other pages of this work. Mr. and Mrs. Ellis have an interesting family of five children and all remain, in 1918, members of the gracious home circle, namely: Edith E., Caroline M., Kath- erine L., Bertha L. and Lulu E.

FRED J. WOODS, M. D., of Barneston, who has here been established in the practice of his profession for more than twenty years, was born near Springfield, Illinois, March 22, 1867, and is a son of James and Henrietta (Thumbles) Woods, both now deceased. James Woods was born in Indiana, in 1813, and for a number of years he made his home in

Illinois, where he followed the trade of cab- inetmaker. In 1868, with a covered "prairie schooner," Mr. Woods took his family and all of his earthly possessions and started across the plains of Iowa. He crossed the Missouri river into Nebraska, to locate in Otoe county, near the present village of Dunbar. In those early days, after the close of the civil war, there was a great deal of unrest amongst the people of the United States and the new state of Nebraska was just being peopled by the sturdy and courageous men and women who dared to brave pioneer hardships. After farming for some time in Otoe county Mr. Woods removed to Syracuse, that county, where he died in 1873. His wife, Henrietta (Thumbles) Woods, was born in Germany, in 1823, and their marriage was solemnized in Illinois, where ten children were born to them. Five of the children are living, namely : George H., a Civil war veteran, now residing in Louisville, Nebraska; Eva, the wife of George Creighton, a retired farmer at Livingston, Wyoming ; Augusta, wife of J. R. Raney, living near Lincoln, Nebraska ; Laura, wife of W. R. Parkins, operating a fruit ranch at Kerman, California ; and Dr. Fred J., with whom this sketch deals. The parents were strong re- ligious characters, and reared their children in the way that they should go, believing that "as the twig is bent the tree inclines." They were members of the Methodist church. Mrs. Woods passed to her reward in 1917, having attained the venerable age of ninety-four years. Hers was a life spent in Christian service, and her memory rests as a benediction upon the lives which were so near and dear to her.

Dr. Fred J. Woods received much of his early education in the schools of Weeping Water, Nebraska, and the high school at Syracuse, Otoe county. In preparing for his chosen profession he entered the Lincoln Medical College, in the capital city of Ne- braska, and in the same he was graduated in 1897, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Soon after his graduation he came to Barnes- ton, where he has been established in success- ful practice during the intervening years and where his ability and character mark him as

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MR. AND MRS. HENRY FOCKEN

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HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

one of the representative physicians and sur- geons of Gage county.

January 4, 1891, at Aubury, Nebraska, was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Woods to Miss Rose Schull, who was born March 10, 1868, in southern Missouri, and who is a daughter of Dr. H. I. and Lydia (Reynolds) Schull, the former born in Indiana and the latter in Missouri. Dr. Schull is now retired from active work and resides at Auburn, Nebraska. He practised medicine in Missouri until 1888, when he came to Auburn, Nebraska, where he continued the work of a successful physician until 1903, when he retired. His wife died June 29, 1913. They had seven children, three of whom are living: John C., farmer and at- torney, of Clinton, Oklahoma ; Laura, the wife of G. H. Walters, Lincoln, Nebraska, a book- keeper in the employ of the Nebraska Loan & Investment Company ; and Rose, wife of Dr. Woods, of this review. Doctor Schull was in service in the commissary department during the Civil war.

Dr. and Mrs. Woods have two children : Hope is the wife of Luther E. Jones, who is engaged in the hardware and automobile busi- ness in Densmore, Canada, and they have three children, Dean, Dale and Katheryn. The younger child of Dr. and Mrs. Woods is Harold, who is now attending the Nebraska State Medical College, at Omaha, and is in his junior year (1918.)

Dr. Woods is a member of the Masonic fra- ternity, including the lodge of Ancient Free & Accepted Masons, the Chapter of Royal Arch Masons, and the Commandery of Kinghts Templars. He is affiliated also with the Royal Neighbors, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Royal Highlanders. He is a member of the Nebraska State Medical Society. The political views of Dr. Woods are well forti- fied, he has served as Mayor of Barneston, and in 1914 he was a candidate for state senator on the ticket of the Progressive party.

HENRY FOCKEN, whose civic and in- dustrial status is indicated by his ownership of four hundred acres of valuable Nebraska land, has been a resident of Gage county since

1883 and has here won his present independ- ence and prosperity entirely through his own industry and well ordered activities in con- nection with farm enterprise. In Section 17 Highland township he has a well improved landed estate of two hundred and forty acres, and three miles south of Cortland he owns a well improved farm of one hundred and sixty acres.

In the picturesque district of East Fries- land, Prussia, Germany, Henry Focken was born January 11, 1846, a son of Henry and Hilka (Barthles) Focken, the former of whom passed his entire life in Germany. In 1873 the widowed mother, in company with one daughter, came to America and joined her son George, who was then a resident of Logan county, Illinois, and who is now deceased, there being only two living of the family of seven children, - Henry, of this review, and John, who remains in Germany. The father was fifty-nine years of age at the time of his death, in 1869, and the mother passed the closing years of her life in Illinois, where she died in 1881, when about sixty-two years of age.

Henry Focken was reared and educated in his native land and was an ambitious and sturdy young man when, in 1873, he came to the United States and settled in Illinois. There he found employment at farm work and final- ly he began independent operations as a farm- er in Logan county, that state. After having been thus engaged four years he came, in 1883, to Nebraska, and purchased from the railroad company one hundred and sixty acres of land in Highland township, Gage county, he having paid nineteen dollars alı acre for this property, - the nucleus of his present large landed estate in that township. Applying himself earnestly and indefatigably, and carefully conserving his financial returns, Mr. Focken reclaimed his original farm to cultivation and with increasing prosperity made judicious investments until he accumu- lated his present valuable landed estate in this county. His first house was a rude pioneer shack which long since gave place to his pres- ent commodious and attractive farm house,

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and he has made excellent improvements on all of his farm property, including the erection of good buildings and the providing of other facilities that denote thrift and prosperity. On his original homestead, which is still his place of residence, he set out trees that are now of large diameter and add materially to the at- tractions of the place. His political support is given to the Democratic party and he and his wife are members of the German Method- ist church.

On the 24th of April, 1879, Mr. Focken married Miss Deborah Rocker, who came from Germany to America on the same ship as did her future husband, their acquaint- anceship having been formed on the voyage Of their children Henry, Jr., is a prosperous farmer in Holt county ; John is similarly en- gaged in Highland township, Gage county ; George resides at Hallan, Lancaster county ; Martin is associated in the work and man- agement of his father's home farm; and Hulda, Lacetta and Edward likewise remain members of the parental home circle.

WILLIAM PALMER. - In the early days of Nebraska history men were of the opinion that the vast rolling prairies were primarily available only as a range for vast herds of cattle, and the cattle industry became one of great importance and volume. Incidentally was developed a branch of enterprise in which the state can still claim precedence, --- that of buying cattle in large numbers for the eastern markets. One of the many men who have dealt extensively in the feeding, buying and selling of cattle is William Palmer, who is well known throughout this section of the state and at the nearby markets of Omaha, St. Joseph, Missouri, and Grand Island. He is at the present time (1918) selling his herd of registered Aberdeen Angus cattle, prepara- tory to retirement from active work.

Mr. Palmer was born January 27, 1863, in Marshall county, Kansas, where his parents, David and Sarah (Jemmerson) Palmer were then conducting a roadhouse and ranch on the trail from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Pike's Peak, Colorado. Many weary travelers spent

a night or two at the Palmer roadhouse, re- freshing themselves and their animals, and re- maining only long enough to be able to con- tinue their wild rush to the gold fields of Pike's Peak. Visions of wealth and affluence glittered before their eyes, but many a man came back with a broken heart, after a fruit- less search for the elusive metal. David Pal- mer was a native of Indiana, and was a son of Eli Palmer, who came to Nebraska in a very early day, his death occurring in 1867. Mrs. David Palmer likewise was born in Indiana and was a daughter of G. F. Jemmerson, who was born in England and who came as a pio- neer to Nebraska, where he passed away in 1878.

The marriage of David Palmer and Sarah Jemmerson was solemnized at Nebraska City, Nebraska, and their home for some time, as before mentioned, was in Marshall county, Kansas. In 1863 they came to Gage county and purchased land, Mr. Palmer here con- tinuing his pioneer farm enterprise until he met a tragic death, by accidentally drowning in the Blue river, June 23, 1876. Five chil- dren were born to them, as follows: David, is a farmer of Rocky Ford, Colorado; Fan- nie is the wife of W. C. Evans, a traveling. man, and they make their home at Barneston, Gage county ; Flora is the wife of Scott Mc- Farland, a retired farmer, living a at Barnes- ton; Nettie is the wife of C. M. McNew, a farmer of Shroyer, Kansas ; and William is the subject of this review.

The early days of William Palmer's life were spent amongst the crude but stirring and romantic surroundings of the early pioneer days, when the sod house and the ox-drawn vehicle were common sights. The wild rush of the gold-seekers also made its impress upon his young mind, but these experiences were all "stones of the fates," projected to mould a life in a certain direction. In very early boyhood William Palmer was selecting cattle for their fitness as beef or milk quali- ties, this foreshadowing his predilection of the later years.

In 1883 the holy bonds of marriage joined the lives of William Palmer and Miss Ella

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Evans. She passed to her reward in 1900, leaving two children, Roy W., who is an elec- trical engineer in Arizona, and Lula, who is the wife of Frank Condefer, a member of the police force of Los Angeles, California. The second marriage of Mr. Palmer was solemn- ized in 1903, when Mrs. Minnie V. Livery became his wife. Her maiden name was Min- nie Mayne, and she was born at Tiffin, Seneca county, Ohio, a daughter of Henry and Mary (Kaul) Mayne, the former a native of Mary- land and the latter of Pennsylvania. Mr. Mayne early became a merchant in Ohio and in 1869 he and his wife became pioneer set- tlers of Gage county, Nebraska, where he took up a homestead. Both he and his wife died at Blue Springs, this county.

With three hundred and fifty acres of land in Liberty township, Gage county, and four hundred acres of land in Washington county, Kansas, it is plain to be seen that Mr. Palmer has loved his work and has proved that with determination to succeed a man can start with nothing and acquire a substantial competence.

JOHN W. JONES, deceased, was born in Denbighshire, Wales, December 20, 1854, and died December 28, 1917. Mr. Jones was edu- cated in Wales, and in 1880 came to America, settling in Gage county, Nebraska. He and his brother came to Nebraska as bachelors and bought eighty acres of land in Gage county. At the time of his death John W. Jones was the owner of six hundred and eighty acres of land and he left each of his children a farm of eighty acres.

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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 144

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