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 51
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February, 1887. He was a man of strong and noble character, was a loyal citizen, a true friend and a devoted husband and father - a person whose death entailed a distinct loss to the community in which he had long lived and labored to goodly ends. His political allegi- ance was given to the Republican party, but he never sought or desired public office of any kind. He was an earnest and consistent mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal church, as is also his widow, who has been a resident of Gage county since her childhood.
After coming to Gage county Mr. Mowry was here united in marriage to Miss Malissa Harpster, who was born in Seneca county, Ohio, and who is a daughter of the late Solo- mon Harpster, to whom a memoir is entered on other pages of this volume. Mrs. Mowry shared with her husband in the trials and re- sponsibilities of pioneer life and after the gracious marital ties were severed by the death of Mr. Mowry she remained on the farm for a number of years, during which she showed marked acumen and judgment in its management. For several years past she has maintained her home in the village of Blue Springs, and few of the pioneer women of the county have a more interesting fund of reminiscences pertaining to the pioneer period of Gage county history. April 10, 1918, rep- resented the fiftieth anniversary of the day when with her parents she crossed the Blue river and entered the little pioneer hamlet of Blue Springs, this county, the village at that time having had but one store. Concerning this primitive mercantile establishment Mrs. Mowry has given the following statement : "About all that was sold in the store was green coffee, brown sugar, calico and patent medicine, and more of these commodities were sold to the Indians than to white persons, simply by reason of the fact that the Indians were greatly in preponderance in the locality at that time." Mrs. Mowry was a girl when she thus came with her parents to Gage county and she states that at the pioneer home of the Harpster family it was not unusual even to look up from work and see one or more Indians peering in at the window. Mr.
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and Mrs. Mowry became the parents of four children, of whom two, George and Freder- ick, died in infancy. Edgar married Miss Anna Brinley and they reside in the city of Lincoln, this state, and Miss Leafy remains with her widowed mother in the pleasant home at Blue Springs.
THOMAS M. MARTIN was an honored pioneer who established his residence in Gage county in the year that marked the admission of Nebraska to statehood, and his was also the distinction of having been a gallant soldier of the Union in the Civil war. He reclaimed and developed one of the fine farm properties of Sherman township and there continued his residence until the time of his death, which occurred January 27, 1917. A man of sterl- ing character and one who accounted well for himself in all the relations of life, it is fitting that in this history be incorporated a tribute to his memory.
Thomas' M. Martin was born in Union county, Indiana, on the 20th of December, 1836, and was a son of Thomas and Mary (Miller) Martin, the former a native of Scot- land and the latter of Pennsylvania.
The subject of this memoir was but three years of age at the time of his father's death, and the widowed mother eventually came to Nebraska and took up a homestead claim in Pawnee county, where she passed the remain- der of her life. She contracted a second mar- riage and had two children by each marriage, all being now deceased.
After his marriage, in 1859, Thomas M. Martin continued his association with farm en- terprise in Clinton county, Indiana, until the outbreak of the Civil war caused him to subordinate all else to tender his aid in de- fense of the Union. In August, 1862, he en- listed as a member of Company K, Seventy- second Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and with this valiant command he continued in service more than three years - until the close of the war. Mr. Martin took part in many of the historic campaigns and battles of the great conflict between the states of the north and the south, and among the various engagements
in which he participated may be noted the bat- tles of Chickamauga, Stone's River, Mission- ary Ridge, Selma (Alabama), and Hoover's Gap. He was with his regiment in the At- lanta campaign and was present at the battle of Atlanta, the burning of that city, and with Sherman on the subsequent march to the sea. In later years he vitalized the more gracious associations of his military career by his af- filiation with the Grand Army of the Repub- lic. After the close of the war Mr. Martin continued his association with farm activities in Indiana until 1867, in the autumn of which year he set forth, in company with his wife and their three children, for the frontier as represented in the new state of Nebraska. The long and weary journey was made with a team and covered wagon and thirty-four days elapsed before the little family party arrived in Gage county, on the 4th of October. Mr. Martin entered claim to a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres, in Section 19, Sher- man township, and here initiated the reclaim- ing of a farm from the prairie wilderness. He and his brave and loyal wife endured to the full the tension incidental to frontier life and in the early days he was compelled at times to seek outside employment in order to provide for the needs of his family. With a courage equal to that which he had evinced as a soldier on the battlefields of the south, Mr. Martin girded himself for the winning of the victories of peace, and with the passing years success and independence crowned his earnest efforts. He developed one of the fine farm properties of Sherman township, and this estate, still retained by his widow, comprises two hundred and eighty acres, Mrs. Martin still remaining on the fine old homestead which is hallowed to her by the gracious memories and associations of the past. In the early days the home was isolated, with the nearest neigh- bors far removed, and Mrs. Martin frequent- ly passed many weeks with her children in the pioneer home without seeing any other white person than the members of her own family, though Indians were still much in evi- dence. For a number of years Mr. Martin gave his attention to the operation of a thresh-
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ing outfit, and on one occasion he handled work of this order on the site of the present court-house in the city of Beatrice. He was a Democrat in politics and was always a leader in the supporting of measures and en- terprises tending to advance the civic and ma- terial welfare of his home community and county.
In Clinton county, Indiana, in the year 1859, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Martin to Miss Mary Dailey, who was born in Wash- ington county, that state, on the 4th of Sep- tember, 1840, a daughter of James and Eliza- beth (Feeler) Dailey, the former a native of North Carolina and the latter of Virginia: they were pioneer settlers in Indiana, where they passed the remainder of their lives and where the father was a prosperous farmer. In conclusion of this paragraph is given brief record concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Martin: Mary E. is married and re- sides in the state of Colorado; James W. is a prosperous farmer in Sherman township; Charles W. is engaged in farm enterprise in Rockford township; T. Malon is a substantial agriculturist and cattle-grower in Colorado; John M. rents the old homestead farm, on which he and his wife remain with the wid- owed mother, and of him more specific men- tion is made elsewhere in this volume; Lillie is the widow of William R. Rainey and re- sides with her mother on the old home place ; and Ira Jackson is a substantial farmer near Liberty, this county.
From another source have been gained ad- ditional data of genealogical and personal order that will consistently supplement the foregoing narrative. Thomas Martin, father of the subject of this memoir, was born in Scotland, in the year 1809, and at the age of fifteen years he came to America in company with his father and two brothers, settlement being made at Louisville, Kentucky, the father later removing to Indiana and buying a tract of land, which he divided among his sons. Thomas Martin was a young man when he wedded Miss Mary Miller, who was born in Pennsylvania, in 1812, a daughter of Peter and Kate (Hafford) Miller, who removed to
Indiana soon after the close of the war of 1812. Thomas Martin died in 1838 and his widow passed away in 1876. They became the parents of six sons and one daughter, all of whom are now deceased.
Thomas M. Martin made his initial visit to Nebraska in 1858, a year prior to his marriage, and it was not until after he had later made a fine record as a soldier in the Civil war that he finally came with his family to Nebraska and established a permanent home, as noted in preceding paragraphs. He never sought office, but did well his part in the advancing of the communal prosperity, his interest in his old comrades of the Civil war having been shown through his affiliation with Scott Post, No. 37, Grand Army of the Republic, at Blue Springs.
FREDERICK L. POTHAST has been cashier of the Farmers' State Bank of Pick- rell from the time of its organization, in 1904, has been a resourceful and progressive execu- tive and wielded primary influence in the up- building of this substantial financial insti- tution of Gage county. He is not only one of the principal stockholders of this bank but is also the owner of a valuable landed estate of four hundred acres in Gage county - two hundred and forty acres in Holt township and the remaining one hundred and sixty acres in Highland township: his farms are leased to and operated by efficient tenants.
Mr. Pothast was born in Stephenson county. Illinois, June 4, 1878, a son of David and Mary (Wendt) Pothast. He was but two years old at the time of his father's death, and his mother later became the wife of Fred- erick J. Smith, to whom a memoir is dedicated on other pages of this work, so that further review of the family history is not demanded in the present connection. Mr. Pothast was a child of two years when he accompanied his mother and stepfather to Gage county, where he was reared to manhood and was given the advantages of the public schools of the vil- lage of Cortland. After his graduation in the high school he taught two terms of dis- trict school and in 1898 he entered a commer-
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MRS. ROBERT NICHOLAS
ROBERT NICHOLAS
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cial college in the city of Omaha. In this in- stitution he was graduated in the following year and he then entered into partnership with his stepfather, Mr. Smith, in the gen- eral merchandise business at Cortland, the enterprise having been conducted under the firm name of F. J. Smith & Company. In 1901 Mr. Pothast and his brother Edward L. engaged in the agricultural implement busi- ness at Cortland, and after he sold his interest in this business, in 1903, he was for about one year a traveling representative for the Inter- national Harvester Company, in the mean- while maintaining his headquarters in the city of Lincoln. In May, 1904, Mr. Pothast be- came the organizer of the Farmers' State Bank at Pickrell, and of the same he has since been the cashier, as previously noted. In a frame building on the north side of the main street of the village the bank initiated busi- ness, after having been incorporated with a capital stock of five thousand dollars. Here operations were continued until 1912, when was erected the present modern and hand- somely appointed bank building, and the busi- ness of the institution is now based on a capi- tal stock of twenty thousand dollars, while its deposits are in excess of three hundred thou- sand dollars. The bank has been a valuable medium for the facilitation of industrial and commercial activities in this part of the county and is conducted with conservative policies but also with well ordered progress- iveness. Edward Bauman, a representative farmer of Holt township, is president of the institution, and its vice-president, Christopher Spilker, is likewise one of the prosperous farmers of Holt township.
Though he is distinctly liberal and loyal in his civic attitude and a staunch supporter of the principles of the Republican party, Mr. Pothast has manifested no ambition for pub- lic office or political preferment of any kind. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, as a member of the Beatrice lodge, Ancient Free & Accepted Masons, in the city of Beatrice, and he and his wife are zealous members of the United Brethren church at Pickrell, he being a member of its board of
trustees and having contributed liberally to the erection of the present church edifice.
December 12, 1900, recorded the marriage of Mr. Pothast to Miss Delia Clark, who was born in Virginia and who was a child at the time when the family home was established on a pioneer farm in Lancaster county, Ne- braska, where she was reared and educated. She is a daughter of T. A. and Iva (Kinche- loe) Clark, both of whom likewise were born in the historic old Dominion state. The father died when about seventy-five years of age, and the mother is still living, at Firth, Ne- braska. Mr. and Mrs. Pothast have two win- some little daughters, Audrey and Mildred.
ROBERT NICHOLAS-A history of Gage county would be incomplete without a record of the man whose name introduces the review. Mr. Nicholas was one of the very early pioneer settlers in Gage county, having come to Nebraska in 1860 and having settled in Gage county several years prior to the ad- mission of the state to the Union.
Robert Nicholas was born in Glanstonbury, Somersetshire, England, in December, 1832, and his death occurred on his old homestead in Gage county, Nebraska, in 1913. His gracious wife, whose maiden name was Mary Ann Plucknett, was likewise born and reared in Glastonbury, England, but their acquaint- anceship was formed in the state of Illinois, where their marriage was solemnized and whence they came to Gage county in the ter- ritorial period of Nebraska history. Here Mrs. Nicholas passed the remainder of her life, and she was one of the venerable pio- neer women of the county at the time of her death, in 1910, at the age of seventy-six years. Robert Nicholas was reared and educated in his native land, and was an ambitious youth of eighteen years when he came to the United States and established his residence in Ohio. From that state he later removed to Hancock county, Illinois, where his marriage occurred and where he continued to be identified with farm enterprise until 1860, when he set forth for Nebraska Territory, transporting his fam- ily and little supply of household goods by
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means of wagon and ox team. Upon his arrival in Gage county he entered claim to a homestead of wild prairie land in Sections 29 and 30, Grant township, where as soon as possible he completed a rude log house as the family domicile. With the ox team he then began vigorously the breaking of the virgin soil, and he and his noble wife endured the trials and hardships of the early pioneers. With the passing of the years prosperity at- tended the energetic and efficient efforts of Mr. Nicholas and he added materially to his landed estate. He continued farming until his death and developed one of the best farms in Gage county. He raised and fed cattle upon a large scale, and was one of the first men in Nebraska to raise hay from the tame grasses. In the early days trains would be stopped when passing his farm in order that the passengers might view his fine fields, and officials of the railroad company sent sam- ples of his timothy and clover back to the east, in exploiting the fine resources of this section of Nebraska. Before the admission of the state to the Union and prior to the Civil war, Mr. Nicholas hauled wheat by team and wagon to St. Joseph, Missouri, and from the money received in payment for the same he purchased a corn-planter. This was the first implement of the kind put into commission in Gage county, and when he arrived in Bea- trice the citizens gathered about to view the novelty, most of then not knowing to what purpose the machine was to be applied. On the old homestead were born all the children of Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas, and it may well be understood that to these children many gracious memories attach to the place.
Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas were the parents of six children, as follows: Frank E. is success- fully established in the creamery business in Dewitt, Saline county ; Alfretta is the wife of Walter W. Barney, president of the State Bank of Dewitt; Norton B. died when about five years of age; Jessie N. is the wife of Frank Buss, of Hunter, Oklahoma ; George W. is now postmaster of Dewitt, and concern- him a record will be found on other pages of
this publication; Elizabeth is the wife of Frank O. Ellis, of Beatrice.
MARTIN F. EICKMANN. - That surety of vision and judgment that makes for defi- nite success in connection with the practical affairs of life is being signally exemplified in the business career of Mr. Eickmann, who is a young man well entitled to classification among the efficient and progressive business executives of Gage county and its metropo- lis. He has won advancement through. his ability and efficient service and now holds the responsible office of secretary of the German Savings & Loan Association, one of the strong and well ordered financial and fiduciary insti- tutions of this section of his native state.
Mr. Eickmann was born in Thayer county, Nebraska, on the 9th of July, 1889, a son of Christ and Mary (Sorge) Eickmann, both natives of Germany -the former having been born in Brandenburg, in 1861, and the latter in the province of Hanover, in Oc- tober, 1866. Christ Eickmann was a boy at the time of the family immigration to America and was reared and educated in the state of Wisconsin, where he received the advantages of the public schools of Fond du Lac and where also he served an apprenticeship to the tailor's trade. He was eighteen years of age when he accompanied his father to Nebraska, the journey being made from Omaha to Grand Island by way of the Union Pacific Railroad and from the latter point they walked over- land to their destination in Thayer county, this state. Though he had virtually no finan- cial resources he purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land in Thayer county even- tually, and with the passing years substantial success crowned his activities as an agricul- turist and stock-grower. He became one of the representative farmers of Thayer county, where he continued to reside until his death, which occurred in July, 1908, his widow being still a resident of that county. His father, Christ Eickmann, Sr., likewise be- came a pioneer farmer of Thayer county and after there acquiring one hundred and twenty acres of land the father returned to Wiscon-
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sin to make provision for bringing the re- mainder of his family to the new home. He achieved independence and prosperity in con- nection with the development of the natural resources of Thayer county and there he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives, he having followed the trade of wagonmaker during the period of his residence in Wiscon- sin. Frederick Sorge, maternal grandfather of the subject of this review, came with his family to America in 1862 and became one of the very early settlers of Thayer county, where he developed a valuable farm, and he is now a resident of the village of Deshler. where he is honored as one of the sterling and venerable pioneer citizens of Thayer county. Christ Eickmann, Jr., was a man of splendid energy and of superior mentality, so that he was well equipped for leadership in com- munity affairs. In a basic way he gave sup- port to the principals of the Democratic party but in connection with local matters he held himself independent of strict partisan lines. He served for a number of years as a mem- ber of the school board of his district and otherwise he gave his earnest support to those things that tend to advance the general wel- fare. His religious faith was that of the Ger- man Lutheran church, of which his widow likewise is a zealous communicant. Of their five children four are living and of the num- ber, Martin F., of this sketch, is the eldest ; William remains with his widowed mother on the old homestead farm in Thayer county, as did also Richard until he entered the national army being raised to represent the United States in the great European war, he being at the present time (in the winter of 1917) with his command at Camp Funston, Kansas ; Arthur, youngest of the four sons, remains on the old home farm.
Martin F. Eickmann acquired his prelim- inary education in the Lutheran parochial schools of Thayer county and supplemented this by an effective course in Northwestern College, at Watertown, Wisconsin, his uncle, Martin Eickmann, having been at that time a member of the faculty of that institution. Prior to the death of his father Mr. Eickmann
had completed a course in the preparatory de- partment of this college, and as the eldest son he thereafter gave his attention for a. short time to the management of the home farm. His tastes and ambition, however, lay in other directions, and he came to Beatrice, where he completed a course in a business college, after which he obtained a clerical position in the Union State Bank of this city, at a salary of fifteen dollars a month. He so applied him- self as to make the best possible use of the experience gained, and by faithful and effi- cient service he won advancement. He con- tinued with this banking institution from 1909 to 1914, in which latter year he was elected secretary of the German Savings & Loan Association, a position of which he has since continued the efficient and popular in- cumbent, this institution having been founded in 1913. By his own efforts Mr. Eickmann has achieved success and an inviolable repu- tation, and in the city of Beatrice he is the owner not only of his own attractive residence property, but also of a number of vacant city lots. His political allegiance is given to the Democratic party and he and his wife are active communicants of the German Lutheran church.
On the 14th of October, 1914, was solem- nized the marriage of Mr. Eickmann to Miss Blanche M. Purdy, who was born and reared in this county, her father, William W. Purdy, being now a resident of Beatrice, where he follows the trade of plasterer and controls a successful contracting business in this line. Mr. and Mrs. Eickmann have a fine little son - Martin F., Jr., who was born July 9, 1917.
EUGENE P. MUMFORD. - He whose name introduces this review is not only one of the progressive and representative business men of Gage county, but is also a descendant of one of the well known and influential pio- neer families of this part of the state. The name of Mumford is prominently linked with the early history and industrial development of Gage county, where its original representa- tives settled in territorial days. Eugene is
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upholding the honors of the family name, and his business life has given impetus to indus- trial and civic advancement in Gage county. By reason of his being reared and educated on the broad prairies of Nebraska, with fresh air and sunny skies, and under the freedom of pioneer days, he learned the first principles of good citizenship from early experiences on the farm, and he has kept pace with the march of development and progress.
"Gene," the name by which he is generally known, was born in Lafayette county, Wis- consin, on the 1st day of April, 1863. He is a son of John B. and Mary A. (Roach) Mumford, the former of whom was born in Maryland, of English parentage, on Septem- ber 20, 1829, and the latter of whom was born in Adams county, Ohio, of Holland and Eng- lish lineage.
John B. Mumford first came to Gage county, Nebraska, in May, 1860, in company with his brother Ismay, who was the first county treasurer of the county, and whose son Dawson Mumford was the first white boy born in the county. John B. Mumford re- turned to Wisconsin, and in 1865 he again came to Gage county, with his brother Jacob. He settled on one hundred and sixty acres of land, ten miles north of Beatrice on Bear creek, one of the best farming localities in the county. To this in later years he added by the purchase of two hundred and forty acres, making his estate one of four hundred acres. On his farm he continued to reside during the remainder of his life.
Mr. Mumford was an enterprising citizen and had much to do with the development of the county, and it may be said of him that he continued to contribute his quota to the county's progress until his death, February 14, 1904. His widow, now (1918) eighty years of age, still resides in Gage county, hav- ing moved to Beatrice after the death of her husband, and is one of the venerable and re- vered pioneers of the county, she being among the very few of the original settlers left. Of the nine children born to Mr. and Mrs. Mum- ford, six survive: Sarah E. is the wife of William A. Foreman, who was a successful
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