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 48

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 48

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JOHN L. ANDERSON. - Definite effi- ciency has characterized the service of Mr. Anderson in the responsible office of cashier of the Union State Bank, of Beatrice, and his administration has done much to conserve the success that has marked the history of this important and representative financial insti- tution of Gage county, the while his person- ality and civic loyalty have gained to him in- violable place in popular confidence and es- teem.

Mr. Anderson was born in Cook county, Illinois, on the 31st of August, 1875, and is a son of John P. and Carrie (Berendutt) 'An- derson, the former of whom was born in Scotland and the latter in France, their mar- riage having been solemnized in the state of Illinois. John P. Anderson received in his youth good educational advantages, including a course in the Bryant & Stratton Business College in the city of Chicago, and he became a business man of marked circumspection and progressiveness, so that success came to him as a natural prerogative. In Illinois he was engaged in the furniture business but about the year 1885 he came to Nebraska and estab- lished the family home in the city of Omaha. There he conducted for two and one-half years two well ordered retail groceries, and in 1888 he came to Gage county and engaged in

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the same line of mercantile enterprise at Beatrice. He built up a large and representa- tive business and continued as one of the lead- ing merchants and most highly honored citi- zens of Beatrice until his death, when about fifty-five years of age, his widow being still a resident of this city. Of their two children the subject of this review is the elder, and Sylvia is the wife of Charles D. Loper, sec- retary of the wholesale woolen house of Mul- lin & Company, of Chicago. John P. Ander- son was liberal and public-spirited in his civic attitude, gave his allegiance to the Republican party, and was an earnest communicant of the Protestant Episcopal church, as is also his widow.

John L. Anderson, the immediate subject of this sketch, acquired his early education prin- cipally in the public schools of the cities of Omaha and Beatrice, and at the age of six- teen years he assumed a clerical position in the First National Bank of Beatrice. In this institution he won promotion to the position of assistant cashier, of which he continued the incumbent several years. On the 4th of July, 1912, he purchased stock in the Union State Bank of Beatrice, of which he has since con- tinued to serve as cashier and to the upbuild- ing of which he has contributed in large mea- sure. The bank was founded in 1902, bases its operations on a capital stock of fifty thousand dollars, has surplus and undivided profits of six thousand dollars, and its de- posits now aggregate more than eight hundred and fifty thousand dollars. When he took the position of cashier the institution had de- posits of only one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and the remarkable increase since that time gives a measure of testimony to his effi- ciency of administration and to his unqualified personal popularity.

As a broad-minded and progressive citizen Mr. Anderson manifests lively interest in all things touching the communal welfare and his political allegiance is given to the Republican party. He is prominently identified with the time-honored Masonic fraternity, in which his affiliations are here briefly noted: Beatrice Lodge, No. 19, Ancient Free & Accepted

Masons, of which he is past master; Living- ston Chapter, No. 10, Royal Arch Masons, of which he is past high priest ; Rabona Council, Royal & Select Masters, in which he has passed various official chairs ; and Mount Her- man Commandery, No. 7, Knights Templars, of which he is past eminent commander. He is one of the charter members of the Beatrice lodge of the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks and served for a long period as treasurer of the same. Both he and his wife are zealous communicants of Christ church, Protestant Episcopal, and he has been a mem- ber of the vestry of this parish since 1915.

In the year 1907 was solemnized the mar- riage of Mr. Anderson to. Miss Charlotte P. Smith, who was born and reared in Nebraska and whose father, Samuel C. Smith, has been long and prominently identified with the bank- ing business in Beatrice. Mr. and Mrs. An- derson have one son, Peter, who was born on the 19th of November, 1909. Mrs. Anderson, a woman of culture and most gracious person- ality, is a leader in church, musical, and social activities in her home city. She was afforded the advantages of St. Gabriel's School at Peekskill, New York, and later pursued a course in voice culture under the preceptor- ship of Mrs. Morris, a leading teacher of music in the city of New York. She is the popular chatelaine of one of the attractive and hospitable homes of the city of Beatrice.

HENRY J. WIEBE. - This representative agriculturist and stock-grower of Blakely township has been a resident of Gage county for forty years. He was about sixteen years of age when he came with his widowed mother and younger brother to Beatrice and by mak- ing good use of the advantages here offered he has made his way forward to the goal of independence and marked prosperity. He is the owner of a valuable farm property of two hundred and twenty acres, one hundred and sixty acres being in Section 20 and the re- maining sixty acres in Section 17, Blakely township. With the effective cooperation of his sons Mr. Wiebe is now identified with the farming and stock-raising operations on an

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HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

aggregate of four hundred and sixty acres, and since 1916 he has given special attention to the breeding and feeding of thoroughbred short-horn cattle.

Mr. Wiebe was born in Prussia, Germany, on the 28th of February, 1863, and is a son of Jacob and Emeline (Penner) Wiebe, his father having been a prosperous farmer in Prussia at the time of his death. The subject of this review acquired his early education in the excellent schools of his fatherland and on the 18th of August, 1878, in company with his widowed mother, his younger brother and his one sister, he set sail for the United States. Disembarking in the port of New York city, the family came forthwith to Nebraska and settled at Beatrice. In this locality the two sons found employment at farm work, and concerning the younger son, Jacob W., indi- vidual mention is made on other pages, the daughter, Anna, being now the wife of W. A. Penner, of Beatrice, and the devoted mother having here continued to reside until her health became impaired and she was moved to visit her old home in Germany. In June, 1883, she returned to Germany, and there her death occurred in the following year, when she was nearly fifty years of age. This revered pio- neer woman was a devoted Mennonite in re- ligious faith and assisted in the organizing of the first church of this denomination in Gage county.

After the family home had been established in Gage county, Henry J. Wiebe attended the public schools of Beatrice for six months, at the time when Hugh J. Dobbs was the super- intendent, and as a student both here and in his native land he gave special attention to botany and chemistry. His recompense for his services during the first year of his resi- dence in Gage county was only fifty dollars, and he continued his activities as a farm em- ploye for seven years, during the last of which he received wages of one hundred and eighty dollars. Thereafter he was associated with his brother in farming on rented land for one year, and in 1886 he purchased his present homestead farm of one hundred and sixty acres. The place was improved with a good

house but with the passing years he has made further iniprovements that mark the farm as a model according to twentieth century stan- dards. In 1907 he erected the present large barn on his farm, the same being thirty-six by sixty feet in dimensions. With increasing prosperity he added to the area of his farm and he gives his attention vigorously to diver- sified agriculture and the raising of superior live stock. In the season of 1917 he had one hundred and fifty acres devoted to corn and eighty-six acres to oats. He is a Republican of independent proclivities and he and his wife are earnest members of the Mennonite church, in which he is a teacher in the Sunday school.

March 10, 1887, was the date of the mar- riage of Mr. Wiebe to Miss Mary Wiebe, who came with her parents from Prussia to America in 1876. Her father, John G. Wiebe, became a successful lumber dealer at Beatrice, and of him mention is made on other pages of this work. Mr. and Mrs. Wiebe have eight children, the two elder sons, Gerhard R. and Henry P., being progressive farmers of this county, and all of the other children remain- ing at the parental home, namely: Alfred, Rudolph, Arnold, Oscar, Gertrude, and Kate.

CARL SONDEREGGER. - One of Ne- braska's sterling pioneer citizens who has here had the prescience and energy to make the most of the opportunities offered in connection with civic and material development and progress, Mr. Sonderegger has achieved large and worthy success through his association with agricultural industry and later as an aggres- sive exponent of the nursery business. His original dwelling in Jefferson county was a "dugout" of the most primitive pioneer type, the same being established on the embryonic farm which figured as the stage of his vigor- ous activities in the early days. In evidence of his ability and worthy achievement stands his now extensive and well ordered nursery and seed industry, high-grade fruit and orna- mental trees, shrubbery, seeds of all kinds, etc., being now shipped from his well equipped nursery plant into the most diverse sections of the Union, the while the little farm dugout

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pales into retrospective obscurity when it is recognized that the home of the Sonderegger family in the city of Beatrice is conceded to be one of the finest residence properties in the county, the building being a commodious struc- ture of modern architectural design and most attractive appointments. Mr. Sonderegger has proved himself one of the world's constructive workers and in the furtherance of his own prosperity has aided also in the civic and ma- terial development and progress of the county and state of his adoption. As one of the hon- ored and representative citizens and business men of Gage county he is especially entitled to recognition in this history.

Carl Sonderegger was born in the fair little republic of Switzerland, on the 31st of Janu- ary, 1856, and is one of the eight surviving children of Conrad and Lena (Hohl) Sonder- egger, both of whom passed their entire lives in Switzerland. Of the children only two came to America,- Carl, subject of this re- view, and Arthur, who is now a representa- tive civil engineer residing at Los Angeles, California. The father was identified with farm industry in earlier days, but achieved his success principally as a manufacturer, and he accounted well for himself in all of the relations of life, his father, Conrad Sonder- egger, likewise having been a farmer and manufacturer in Switzerland. The family has been notable for the sturdiest of physical pow- ers and for incidental longevity, and in this connection it may be noted that not until their final illness were either the parents or the paternal grandparents of Carl Sonderegger known to be sick for even a day. Jacob Hohl, maternal grandfather of Mr. Sonderegger, was a citizen of prominence and influence in Swit- zerland, where he served as governor of his canton and held for forty years the office of mayor of the city of Heiden.

In his youth Carl Sonderegger received good educational advantages, and, like many another son of Switzerland, he acquired full command of both the German and French languages. As a youth he became associated with his father in the manufacturing of the fine Swiss embroidery, and finally his youth-

ful ambition led him to sever the home ties and come to the United States, where he felt assured of better opportunities for attaining independence and prosperity through his own effort. In 1875 he came to America and in the same year he numbered himself among the pioneers of Jefferson county, Nebraska. He purchased a tract of one hundred and sixty acres of unimproved land, twenty miles west of Beatrice, and developed the same eventually into one of the valuable farms of this section of the state. There he continued his success- ful activities as an agriculturist and stock- grower for a full quarter of a century, and at the present time he owns his admirably equipped nursery farm of one hundred and twenty acres, the soil being specially available for the propagation of high-grade nursery stock and its fertility being perpetuated through proper scientific treatment.

In initiating his nursery industry Mr. Son- deregger began operation on a modest scale, and the first catalogue which he issued con- tained only four pages. He has brought to bear the best scientific methods and the most scrupulous care in the development and up- building of the enterprise, and the business now demands the issuing of large catalogues annually, an average of one hundred thousand of these attractive catalogues being distributed each year. In the year 1900 Mr. Sonderegger established the headquarters of his nursery business in the city of Beatrice, and the in- dustry has in its splendid development con- tributed much to the industrial and commer- cial prestige of the city and county. Mr. Sonderegger is imbued with the most vital spirit of civic pride and loyalty and has been specially influential in the development of the attractive system of public parks in Beatrice, where he is now chairman of the municipal board of park commissioners, his political al- legiance being given to the Democratic party.

As a matter of commercial expediency Mr. Sonderegger has incorporated his business under the laws of Nebraska and with the title of the Sonderegger Nursery and Seed House. Operations are based on a capital stock of one hundred thousand dollars, but all of the

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stock is held by members of the Sonderegger family, so that it is a close corporation, the subject of this sketch, as may be inferred, be- ing the executive head of the business. He is a member of the directorate of the Union State Bank of Beatrice and also of that of the Bonner Portland Cement Company, of Kansas City, Missouri. He is affiliated with the Beatrice lodge of the Benevolent & Pro- tective Order of Elks and he and his wife are active members of the Christian church in their home city.

In the year 1875 was solemnized the mar- riage of Mr. Sonderegger to Miss Babetta Hohl, who likewise was born and reared in Switzerland and who joined him in America within a short time after his immigration to this country. Most gracious have been the relations of the family home circle and in the concluding paragraph of this article are given brief data concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Sonderegger.

Clara married and resides in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Charles, who is associated with his father in business, married Miss Mabel Jones and they have two children,- Carl and Morris ; Lydia is the wife of Charles Hughes, a farmer of Jefferson county, this state, and they have three children,- Clara, Leo and Lucille; Leo, who is now engaged in business in New York city, married Miss Louise Get- zentanner and has two children, -- Leo and Louise; Frederick, who is associated with his father's nursery business, wedded Miss H. Sonderegger and they have three children,- Frederick, Arnold and Margaret; Ernest has more special connection with the seed de- partment of the Sonderegger nursery: the maiden name of his wife was Helen Loeber and they have no children; Lena is the wife of Ralph Rosezell, who is engaged in the pho- tographic business in Beatrice, and their two children are Richard and Catherine; Arthur, who is connected with the nursery business of his father, wedded Miss Ruth Atwater, and they have one child, Phyllis ; Hilda is the wife of Clayton Harris and they reside at Los Angeles, California; and Helen remains at the parental home.

FRANK W. JONES. - The attractive little village of Clatonia claims Mr. Jones as one of its liberal citizens and representative business men. Here he has developed a pros- perous enterprise in the handling of lumber and building supplies, and in connection there- with he keeps pace with the modern trend by acting also as agent for the celebrated Over- land automobile for this part of the county.

Mr. Jones was born on a farm near the city of Dixon, Illinois, on the 8th of April, 1870, and is a son of George H. and Jane A. (Whit- comb) Jones. He is the eldest in a family of four children and concerning the others the following brief data may consistently be en- tered: Elva is the wife of James E. McCor- mack, who is a partner in the business of the subject of this sketch ; Cyrus P. is a prosper- ous farmer in Highland township; and Verna · remains with her widowed mother in the pleasant home in the village of Cortland, this county.

George H. Jones was born in the state of Maine, in 1847, and was nine years of age when he accompanied his parents on their re- moval to Illinois, where he was reared and educated and where he continued his residence until 1872, when he came to Nebraska and became one of the pioneers of Gage county. He entered claim to a homestead of eighty acres in Highland township; in 1874 he pur- chased from the railroad company an adjoin- ing eighty acres, and in 1884 he added another eighty acres to his valuable landed estate. His old homestead place is situated in Section 30, and he owned also the northwest one-half of Section 31 in the same township. He made the best of improvements upon his land and was one of the prominent farmers of the county for many years. For a time he rented his farm and he was engaged in the mercan- tile business in Cortland, Nebraska, about two years. Finally he retired again from his farm and moved to Cortland, where he remained until his death, in 1909. Mr. Jones was a man of sterling character and marked ability, so that he consistently was called upon to serve as a member of the county board of super- visors - an office in which he made a record

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for liberality and progressiveness. He was a staunch supporter of the cause of the Repub- lican party and was an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church, as is also his widow. Mrs. Jones was born near the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was a resident of Illinois at the time of her marriage. She is one of the loved pioneer women of Gage county and is now about seventy years of age. She still resides at Cortland.

Frank W. Jones was a child of two years at the time of the family removal to Gage county, where he was reared on the home farm and early gained experience in herding cattle on the prairies, besides which he recalls as a part of his experience in the pioneer days the occasional seeing of deer in this section of the state. He was afforded the advantages of the public schools and continued to be associated with his father in farm industry until the re- moval of his parents to the village of Cortland, where for the ensuing two years he clerked in his father's general store. The next year there found him employed as assistant in a lumber yard, and on the 14th of February, 1893, he removed to Clatonia, where for the following year he had charge of the lumber yard of his uncle, H. H. Jones. He then opened a general merchandise store in the vil- lage and for the following eleven years he successfully conducted this business. In 1893 he was appointed postmaster of Clatonia, and of this office he continued the incumbent until he sold his mercantile business and formed a partnership with James E. McCormack, with whom he has here been associated in the retail lumber trade since that time. He is the owner of his attractive residence in Clatonia and also of other realty in the village. Taking a loyal interest in local affairs, Mr. Jones was the . one who prepared the petition that led to the incorporation of the village of Clatonia, and since that time he has served several terms as a member of the municipal council. His politi- cal allegiance is given to the Republican party and he and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal church.

December 21, 1893, recorded the marriage of Mr. Jones to Miss Ella L. Albert, a daugh-

ter of Henry Albert, of whom specific men- tion is made on other pages of this work, so that further record concerning the family is not demanded in the present connection. Mr. and Mrs. Jones have but one child, Izetta, who was born July 27, 1896, and who remains at the parental home - a young woman of cul- ture and one who is a popular figure in the so- cial activities of her home community. Miss Jones was for two years a student in the high school of Lincoln, Nebraska's capital city, and thereafter she was for two years a student in the high school at University Place. She is now attending Wesleyan University, at Uni- versity Place, Lancaster county. She taught two terms of school in Grant township and proved herself a successful worker in the pedagogic service.

BENJAMIN F. STEINMEYER, who is one of the progressive and successful expon- ents of agricultural and live-stock enterprise in his native county and a member of one of the well known and influential pioneer families of this section of Nebraska, was born in Cla- tonia township, on the 27th of January, 1883, a son of William and Louisa (Schlake) Stein- meyer, of whose ten children the firstborn was John, who died in infancy; Sophia, who was born April 11, 1873, remains with her widowed mother; Ella died in early child- hood; Henry, a representative farmer of Cla- tonia township, was born April 13, 1878; Anna is the wife of Fred Carsten, of Hallan, Lancaster county, her birth having occurred February 5, 1881; Benjamin F., immediate subject of this review, was the next in order of birth; William, who was born April 5, 1885, has the management of the old home- stead farm, in Clatonia township; Jennie, who was born Februaray 16, 1887, is the wife of A. P. Kost, of St. Joseph, Missouri; Edwin, who was born February 25, 1890, is a pros- perous farmer of Clatonia township, and his twin brother, Albert, died at the age of nine- teen years.

The late William Steinmeyer was born in the province of Hanover, Germany, July 9, 1839, a son of John Henry and Elizabeth

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MRS. WILLIAM STEINMEYER

WILLIAM STEINMEYER

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(Fradiker) Steinmeyer, there having been five other children, - Frederick, Henry, Mary, Ann and Emma. John Henry Steinmeyer im- migrated with his family to America in 1857, and after a voyage of eight weeks on a sail- ing vessel they landed in Baltimore, Mary- land. The family home was established in Scioto county, Ohio, where John Henry Stein- meyer continued his residence until the autumn of 1865, when he came with other members of his family to Nebraska Territory. In the following spring he came to Gage county and filed claim to a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres in Clatonia township, the pres- ent thriving village of Clatonia being on the tract which he thus secured prior to the ad- mission of Nebraska to the Union. He re- claimed his pioneer farm to cultivation and he and his wife here passed the remainder of their lives.

William Steinmeyer was reared and educat- ed in his native land and was eighteen years of age at the time of the family immigration to America. Upon coming with his father to Gage county, Nebraska, in the spring of 1866, he took up a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres, in Section 28, Clatonia township, this place being an integral part of the large and finely improved landed estate which he eventually accumulated and which is still owned by his widow. Of the conditions that here prevailed at the time when Mr. Stein- meyer initiated his pioneer experience the fol- lowing interesting statements have been writ- ten : "The embryonic farm bore little re- semblance to its condition in the present day, the plowshare never having passed over it and not a building having been erected for the shelter of man or beast. Mr. Steinmeyer was prepared, however, for this state of things and after finding a temporary home he began to gather together implements for the cultiva- tion of the soil, while he girded himself ear- nestly and staunchly for the developing of a productive farm from the prairie wilds." Mr. Steinmeyer made the best of improvements upon his original homestead, and the buildings and general attractiveness of the place to-day evidence his industry and good management.

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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 48

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