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 43

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 43

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Albert H. Babcock was born at Bath, Steu- ben county, New York, in 1846, and when quite young was taken by his parents to Mich-

igan, where he lived until he came to Ne- braska. He learned the trade of a blacksmith and was a successful artisan. In August, 1862, he enlisted in Company H, Eighteenth Michigan Volunteer Infantry, and he was af- terward promoted to the captaincy of Company E of that regiment. He continued in the ser- vice until July, 1865, having been in all the battles and marches of his command. He graduated from the law department of the Michigan University with the class of 1868, and located at Pawnee City, Nebraska, in the practice of the law, in October, 1869. There he achieved a great measure of success in his profession. In February, 1880, he moved to Beatrice and opened a law office, and for many years he was prominent in the litigation of Gage county. He was a member of the Ne- braska legislature in 1873-1874, and he served both Pawnee City and Beatrice as city attor- ney. In 1891 he was elected district judge of the First judicial district, and served four years; he was again elected in 1903, and he served until his death, which occurred in 1907. His remains lie in Evergreen Home cemetery. As a lawyer Judge Babcock was an able coun- selor, careful and systematic in all he did; as a judge he upheld the best traditions of the bench, and as a man he led a blameless life in the sight of God and of all men.

James E. Bush was born in Rockville, In- diana, June 1, 1845, living there and in Ken- tucky until he was three years old. While he was still an infant his father died, in the Mexican war; his mother dying shortly after- ward, he began life as an orphan. His elder brothers and sisters held the family together, moved from Kentucky to Peoria, Illinois, where they lived five years, and thence to Wy- oming, Stark county, Illinois, in the spring of 1853. On August 12, 1862, he enlisted in the service of the United States, in the One Hun- dred and Twelfth Regiment of Illinois Vol- unteer Infantry, and he served until the close of the war. He was mustered out of the serv- ice in Chicago, in July, 1865, and returned to Wyoming, Illinois. He began the study of law in 1872, in the office of Miles A. Fuller, of Toulon, Illinois, and, having passed a satis-

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factory examination in the supreme court of that state, he was admitted to the bar June 5, 1875. He began the practice of his profession at Bradford, Stark county, Illinois. On May 6, 1880, he came to Beatrice and associated him- self with John N. Richards. When this partner- ship was dissolved, in 1884, he formed a part- nership with Leander M. Pemberton. In 1891, with Judge Babcock, he was elected to the dis- trict bench in the old First judicial district, and he served four years. He was defeated for reelection in 1895, and died in Beatrice on the 14th day of April, 1900. His remains lie in Beatrice cemetery and those of his beloved wife were, in September, 1917, laid by his side. Their resting place is marked by a tasteful monument.

Joseph Elliott Cobbey was born in the state of Missouri, in 1853, and when a child was taken by his parents to Benton county, Iowa, where he grew to manhood. He obtained a good education in the common schools of Iowa and at the State Agricultural College, situated in the little city of Ames. While still a very young man he entered the college of law in the University of Iowa, from which institution he graduated with honor in 1877, and he came almost immediately to Beatrice. He was em- ployed for a while in the county treasurer's office, by his uncle, Hiram P. Webb, also in the bank of Hiram P. Webb & Company. In 1878 he began the active practice of his pro- fession and he continued therein until his death, on the 22d day of August, 1911. He soon achieved a commanding position at the bar of his county and state, and for thirty-four years this quiet, unassuming, pioneer lawyer carried on an extended and diversified practice in the courts of this state and the federal courts.

He was prominent in city and county af- fairs and in the Republican party, to which he belonged. In 1879 he was elected to the office of county judge, and served two years. He was defeated for renomination by his party, and again engaged in the active practice of the law. During his professional career he served the city of Beatrice one term of two years as city attorney and was four years a member of the common council of this city. Wherever

placed and whatever he did, his life and labors were characterized by the utmost fidelity of purpose and he became one of the most useful and respected citizens of our county.

In 1889 Judge Cobbey turned in a measure from the practical side of his profession and sought wealth and honor by digging about the roots and strengthening the foundations of the law itself. In 1890 he published a text- book on the "Law of Replevin"; he revised it in 1893, and it is everywhere in this country regarded by the courts and the legal profes- sion as standard authority upon that subject.

Later appeared his textbook on the "Law of Chattel Mortgages," in two large volumes, equal, at least, in authority to any other Amer- ican textbook on that subject. In 1901 Judge Cobbey turned his attention to the business of statute-making, and that year appeared "Cob- bey's Annotated Code of Nebraska." These well known contributions to the law of the land are alone sufficient to constitute an enduring monument to his memory.

In the year 1891 Judge Cobbey was em- ployed by the legislature of Nebraska to com- pile and publish the statutes of the state, and that body appropriated the sum of twelve thousand dollars to assist him in the work. This is known as the "Consolidated Statutes of Nebraska for 1891." It was followed by the "Consolidated Statutes of 1893." Both editions were annotated, and both appeared under legislative sanction as the authorized statutes of the state. These were followed by similar statutes for the years 1905, 1907, 1909, 1911. The last work came from the press only a few days prior to his death. "Cobbey's Statutes for 1911" was monumental in char- acter. It is as nearly perfect, probably, as any work of that kind could be. In addition to his indefatigable labors as annotator and pub- lisher of the Nebraska statutes, Judge Cobbey was employed by the legislature of New Mex- ico, a couple of years prior to his death, to codify the laws of that new state, and he spent nearly a year in that important, and to him agreeable, task, in the old city of Santa Fe. From this brief sketch of his life, it is evident that no other Nebraska lawyer has

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succeeded so completely in embedding his name in the legal history and legal literature of his state and nation.

The present bar of Gage county is com- posed of Wilber S. Bourne ; Charles L. Brew- ster, now serving his country as a captain in France, in the great world war; Leonard W. Colby ; Frank E. Crawford, now also a cap- tain serving his country in France; Lloyd Crocker; Hugh J. Dobbs; John W. Delehant, now in training in an officers' camp, awaiting the call for his services under his country's flag; Alfred Hazlett ; Fulton Jack; Edward N. Kauffman ; Albertus H. Kidd ; Samuel D. Kil- len ; Ernest O. Kretsinger and his son, Ernest Kretsinger ; Frederick W. Messmore; Adam

McMullen ; Leander M. Pemberton; Samuel Rinaker ; Robert W. Sabin ; Harry E. Sackett ; Franklin D. Sheldon; Walter A. Vasey; and Herbert D. Walden. Biographical sketches appear in this volume of most of the lawyers here named.

In point of ability, integrity, learning and worth of character the bar of Gage county has always compared most favorably with that of other counties of the state. From its ranks have come judges, legislators, authors, soldiers, diplomats. Not greedy of wealth and avari- cious only of honor and the opportunity of service, the lawyers of our county have stead- ily maintained the best traditions of this noble and learned profession.

CHAPTER XXXI

PEOPLE WHO HAVE DONE THEIR PART IN MAKING GAGE COUNTY

DANIEL W. COOK. - Daniel Wolford Cook lives now only in the memory of those who knew and loved him. Though passed to that bourne from which no traveler has ever yet returned, his abilities and worth of char- acter were such as to entitle him to a place in any history of Gage county or the state of Nebraska. During a long residence in the city of Beatrice he was a potent factor in its development and in its social and business activities, and at the moment of his demise he was one of its best known and most highly respected citizens. He responded to the sum- mons of the death angel while yet in love with life -ere he had reached the zenith of his powers and usefulness and at a period of his career when the public was turning to- ward him more kindly and appreciatively than ever before; when his own nature was responding more fully than ever to the social demands of the community upon him as one of its leading citizens. After an illness of more than a year, the serious nature of which he understood, and having calmly and bravely awaited the end, on Saturday, the 4th day of March, 1916, at his home on North Seventh Street, Beatrice, he passed to that house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. All that was mortal of this good and true man now rests in his tomb in Evergreen Home cemetery, near the city he loved and where so many of his happiest years were spent.

Mr. Cook was born on the 27th day of March, 1860, in the little city of Hillsdale, state of Michigan, and at the time of his death he lacked but a few days of being fifty-six years of age, an age when most men are still in their prime. He was the son of John P. Cook and Martha Wolford, and was one of ten children born to that husband and wife, six sons and four daughters. They were John P. Cook, Lewis Cass Cook, Chauncey

F., William Wilson, Catherine, Anna, Daniel Wolford, Franklin M., Caroline and Belle Cook, of whom four are still living. They are Chauncey F. and Franklin M. Cook, of Hillsdale, William Wilson Cook, of New York city, and the youngest sister, Mrs. Belle Funkhouser, of Chicago, Illinois. In addition to this family, there were five children of the half blood, born to his father John P. Cook and Betsy Wolford. Their names were Amanda, Julia, Charles H., Martha A., and Mary Cook, and none of them is now living.

Mr. Cook obtained an elementary educa- tion in the public schools of his native city and at an early age entered the well known Baptist College at Hillsdale. Later he was a student for some time in the University of Michigan, located in the city of Ann Arbor. Without graduating at either of these insti- tutions, he obtained a good usable education and never found himself at a disadvantage when brought into contact with people of learning and refinement.

While attending Hillsdale College Mr. Cook became acquainted with Miss Elizabeth Case, who also was a student at that institution, and in the delightful intimacy of college life a friendship was formed between them which soon ripened into romantic love, the purest of all the passions of the heart, and on the 22d day of December, 1883, they were united in marriage. The conjugal felicity of this union was never doubted by those with whom this husband and wife came in contact. It was broken only by the hand of death. Four children came to bless this union and cement the marital bond, of whom three survive. They are Daniel Wolford Cook, cashier of the Beatrice National Bank; Mary E. Ramsey, the wife of Mr. William C. Ramsey, a prom- ising young lawyer of Omaha; and John Bradford Cook, but recently graduated from

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the University of Nebraska and now engaged in the banking business in the thriving western town of Scotts Bluffs, Nebraska. William W. Cook, the second and much loved son, at the age of eighteen years, was drowned while bathing in the Big Blue river, on the 27th day of August, 1905.

For many years prior to his death, Mr. and Mrs. Cook owned and occupied a beautiful home at the corner of Seventh and Summit Streets, Beatrice, erected by them in 1884. Here thirty-two years of their married life were spent together; here their children were born ; and from its portals a well beloved son and husband were borne to the grave and an only and much loved daughter departed a bride. Cold indeed must be the heart that can withhold its sympathy from her to whom this spot is hallowed by so many sacred mem- ories.

No one was less inclined to speak of. him- self or his family than Daniel Wolford Cook. His most intimate friends rarely heard him mention his ancestry or speak of his family beyond his immediate home circle. His re- ticence in this respect was the more remark- able since there is much in his family gene- alogy of which he was, no doubt, justly proud. His reticence on this subject was probably due to a natural reserve of char- acter which ran through his entire life, and to a fine sensitiveness concerning his personal matters.

Mr. Cook's parents were both born and reared in the town of Cato, Cayuga county, New York. His father was born in 1812, amidst the stirring scenes of our second war with England. Early in life he married Betsy Wolford, and at the age of twenty he migrated to the new Territory of Michigan, locating first at Detroit. In 1833, about four years prior to the time Michigan was admitted into the union of sovereign states, he removed to Hillsdale county and settled in the village of Hillsdale, where he resided until his death, in 1884, at the age of seventy-two years. His first wife having died about the year 1850, leaving him with a family of five young chil- dren, he in 1854, married Martha A. Wol- ford, her younger sister. In his early years

he was a wonderfully active and a very useful man. Shortly after his arrival in Michigan, he formed the acquaintance of General Lewis Cass, and for many years he was an intimate friend of that distinguished soldier, statesman and diplomat. He was intimately connected, almost from the first, with the social, intellec- tual, political, and business interests of his section of country. He was the first post- master at Hillsdale, serving his community in that capacity for a number of years ; he was one of the trustees of the state hospital at Kalamazoo, and for a long time a trustee of Hillsdale College, president of the town board of Hillsdale, and discharged the duties of other local officers. He was a delegate to two constitutional conventions of his state, twice a member of the house of representatives, and thrice a member of the state senate of Michi- gan. He was an exceptionally good business man and by fortunate investments in Michi- gan timbered lands he had amassed a fortune, which at his death amounted to nearly half a million dollars.

On his father's side, Daniel Wolford Cook was descended in a direct line from William Bradford, who came over with the "Pilgrim Fathers" in the Mayflower, in 1620, and who for thirty years was governor of Plymouth Colony. A certain Captain David Cook be- came the husband of Mary Bradford in the early part of the eighteenth century, who in a direct line was the great-great-granddaughter of the Puritan governor. This Captain Cook fought with distinction in the war of the Revolution, from its beginning, in 1776, to its close, in 1783. From him was descended John P. Cook, the father of Daniel Wolford Cook. On his mother's side Mr. Cook was descended from Holland and French stock, his maternal grandfather being a Hollander and his maternal grandmother, a La Rue, French. Martha A. Cook, the mother of Dan- iel Wolford Cook, reached the bounds of this mortal life in 1909, the object of the solici- tude and affection of a host of relatives and friends. Now all that is mortal of these Michigan pioneers lies in the Hillsdale ceme- tery, where after having answered the call

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of the angel of death, they await the trump of the angel of the resurrection.

Shortly after leaving the University of Michigan, in 1879, Mr. Cook, at the age of nineteen years, engaged in the wholesale and retail lumber trade in Michigan City, Indiana, at the foot of Lake Michigan. His busi- ness was operated in connection with his father's lumber manufacturing plant at White Lake, Michigan, and in carrying it on, he was associated with his cousin, W. C. Wilson, now president of the Bankers Life Insurance Com- pany of Lincoln, Nebraska. After several years' successful business, he sold his interest in the lumber trade at Michigan City to his partner, and in 1884 he came to Nebraska to seek fortune, happiness, and success in this new state.

Having, through the mediation of his brother-in-law, the late Nathan S. Harwood, and the late Jefferson B. Weston, purchased a controlling interest in the Gage County Bank, Mr. Cook moved his family to Beatrice in February, 1884. With Harwood, Weston, and others, he reorganized the bank into a na- tional bank, with a capital of fifty thousand dollars, to be thenceforth known as the Beatrice National Bank, a title still worn by this well known banking institution. The first board of directors of the bank were Har- wood, Weston, Cook, Cyrus Alden, Nathan Blakely, Silas P. Wheeler, and William Lamb, of which Mr. Weston was president and Mr. Cook vice-president. All these gentlemen, well known in the early days, have passed away, Mr. Cook being the last survivor of this board of directors. Mr. Weston served as president of the board until his death, in Sep- tember, 1905, and thereafter until his demise Mr. Cook was president of the board.

Beginning at a time when Gage county was just emerging from its pioneer days, when things were new and fresh within its bound- aries, when Beatrice had but recently been advanced from a mere western village to a city under the law of less than five thousand population, the steady growth of the Beatrice National Bank under Mr. Cook's management is, in a sense, typical of the growth of both the city and county. The first statement by the

board of directors after he took control of the affairs of the bank, under date of Sep- tember 30, 1884, showed a total volume of business amounting to the sum of $124,755.37, of which $61,235.86 were deposits. The statement of the bank issued March 7, 1916, a few days after Mr. Cook's death, showed a volume of business amounting to the sum of $1,255,020.24, of which sum $988,917.49 were deposits. Assuming the management of this bank at a time when he was not yet twenty- four years of age, the unusual abilities pos- sessed by Mr. Cook as a business man and banker are demonstrated by the steady and rapid growth of this splendid banking enter- prise. While he held its destiny in his hands not a penny of its depositors' money was lost or even jeopardized by unwise banking meth- ods.

In the everyday affairs of the community Mr. Cook acted the part of a wise and helpful banker, readily assisting the deserving in every safe business enterprise when money was needed. He had the faculty of divining char- acter in his customers and he was never known to err seriously in his judgment of men. He was particularly generous and helpful both in monetary affairs and in advice to young men just entering a business career and he was apt to place greater reliance upon individual honesty, when coupled with ability and energy, than upon any sort of collateral. His liberal assistance to deserving customers of his bank, his habit of taking a kind and helpful interest in their affairs and his clear, comprehensive, deliberate way of looking at things, made him one of the most all-round useful citizens of his community.

He was a man of teeming activities. In addition to the personal management of his bank he devoted considerable time to farm- ing and the breeding and sale of live stock, and he was never happier than when going over his farm, near the village of Ellis, with some sympathetic friend. In 1891 he was in- duced to invest a considerable sum of money in the capital stock of the Bankers Life In- surance Company of Lincoln, Nebraska. As- sociated with him in this enterprise were Nathan S. Harwood, John M. Thurston,

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Thomas Kimball (then vice-president of the Union Pacific Railway Company), William R. Kelly, J. E. Houtz, Charles Boggs (of Lin- coln), Michael Wolbach (of Beatrice), his brother, Franklin M. Cook, and his cousin, W. C. Wilson. At the time Mr. Cook became interested in this company its capital stock was $100,000, its assets $127,000. He after- ward acquired the stock of his brother in this institution, and at the time of his death he was its second largest stockholder, its presi- dent, W. C. Wilson, being the largest. This company has prospered amazingly. Its capi- tal stock still remains at $100,000, but its busi- ness has increased by leaps and bounds, until at the present moment its assets amount to $13,000,000. During his entire connection with this company Mr. Cook occupied the po- sition of vice-president, and he was also an influential member of the finance committee. In 1911, the company erected a substantial five-story, modern building at the corner of Fourteenth and M streets, Lincoln, at a cost of $300,000, where its offices are now lo- cated.

Though never seeking any sort of lucrative office for himself, Mr. Cook always manifest- ed a deep and an intelligent interest in public affairs. He was active in all matters relating to the welfare of his city, and in the political movements of his county and state. For many years he affiliated with the Democratic party and he was twice a delegate to the national convention of that great party. Growing dis- satisfied with its attitude on the question of the coinage of silver by the federal govern- ment, as set forth in its platform of 1896, he openly withdrew from it and became an active and useful member of the Republican party. This affiliation he maintained with unswerving loyalty to the last. He was eminent in its counsels and influential in shaping its policies both at home and abroad.

From this resumé it is clear that Mr. Cook's mind was turned almost wholly to the practi- cal side of life. He was a man of affairs, keen, active, decisive. He was broad in con- ception, sound in judgment, and endowed with masterful powers in organizing and conduct- ing business affairs. For thirty years he de- voted his time, energy, and splendid abilities

largely to laying the foundation for his own fortune and the fortunes of his business asso- ciates. Success in his several undertakings being finally assured, he extended his interest, energies, and activities to the upbuilding of the entire community. For several years prior to his demise he served faithfully and effi- ciently as a member of the board of public parks for the city of Beatrice. He also took a deep and friendly interest in the Young Men's Christian Association of Beatrice, and it was largely through his efforts, enterprise, enthusiasm, and love of clean, wholesome sports that the Beatrice school district now owns what is probably the finest athletic park in the west. He passed away at the moment of his greatest usefulness, when he could have been least spared and at a time when he was rapidly winning the public appreciation which always attends unselfish efforts of a high order for the upbuilding of a community.

Mr. Cook, though not directly affiliated with any religious organization at the time of his death, was never indifferent to the claims of religion or the value of Christian character. He believed in Almighty God and in an over- ruling providence in the affairs of men. Him- self candid and direct, he despised indirection and hypocracy in others. He was an enter- taining conversationalist and was well in- formed as respects the leading events of our country's history, the lives and characters of the public men of our day as well as the past. He delighted in clean, pointed anecdotes, and a visit with him in his private office was al- ways a thing to be remembered. Though sometimes abrupt in manner and outspoken, at bottom he was one of the kindest and most generous of men. Though never very demon- strative, he was capable of great depth of feeling. He rarely spoke of the death of his son William without emotion and never re- covered from this wound to his affections. He loved the society of men and men were fond of him. He prized his friends as few men ever did, and once his friendship was given it was never lightly withdrawn. It is hard to reflect that the grave-the silent, remorseless grave - has closed forever over the assemblage of manly qualities embodied in Daniel Wolford Cook.

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THOMAS YULE. - It was within the province of the late Thomas Yule, who served one term as mayor of Beatrice, one term as city treasurer and three terms as a member of the county board of supervisors, to have wielded a large and beneficent influence in the civic, industrial, and business affairs of Gage county, and he was exponent of that high type of manhood which ever stands indicative of usefulness and subjective honor. He im- pressed his strong individuality deeply upon the history of Gage county, within whose gra- cious borders he maintained his home for near- ly thirty years prior to his death, and in a publication of the functions assigned to the one at hand it is eminently consonant that a tribute be paid to his memory and recognition be accorded to him as having been one of the essentially representative men of this favored county .. His character was the positive ex- pression of a noble and loyal nature and his genial and kindly personality gained and re- tained to him the high regard of all with whom he came in contact.

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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 43

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