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 57

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 57

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Upon coming to this county Mr. Miller pur- chased one hundred and twenty acres of land in Section 2, Logan township, and with the passing years he has transformed this virgin prairie land into one of the fine farms of the township, where he has acquired a valuable estate of two hundred and eighty acres. His original domicile on the farm was a primitive dug-out of the pioneer type, and this was re- placed by a log house which he occupied until he erected his present frame house, which he has kept in excellent repair, besides supplying other farm buildings of good type. Mr. Mil- ler had his full share of trials and vicissitudes in the pioneer days, as did other early settlers of the county, and he went twelve miles across the prairie to Beatrice for his mail, the present attractive county seat having been a mere ham- let at that time and its postmaster having been

Oliver Townsend, who, as Mr. Miller has facetiously stated, "kept postoffice in his over- coat pocket." From his youth Mr. Miller has been an earnest communicant of the Lutheran church, and the first meeting of the Lutheran society organized in Logan township was held in his home, the little dug-out, as was also the first school meeting for the district. Mr. Mil- ler has liberally done his part in support of progressive measures and movements, has continued active in the affairs of the Lutheran church, and is one of the honored and influen- tial pioneer citizens of Logan township, where his circle of friends is coincident with that of his acquaintances. His political allegiance is given to the Republican party and in the early days he had to go to Beatrice, the only polling place, to cast his vote. He served one year as township assessor and held for a quarter of a century the office of treasurer of Logan town- ship.

FRANK BERAN, a representative farm- er of Glenwood township, is farming four hundred and eighty acres of land in Section 8. Mr. Beran is a son of Anton and Pauline (Shalla) Beran, who had three children, but he is the only one who survives ; the mother is deceased. Anton Beran was married the second time, to Josephine Beran, and the fam- ily history is recorded in another portion of this volume.

Frank Beran was born November 16, 1876, in Washington county, Iowa, where his par- ents had followed their farming operations previous to their coming to Gage county in 1878. At that time Mr. Beran was just a babe in arms and he has passed practically all of his life thus far upon Gage county soil, growing up with her sons and receiving the education of her institutions. From 1900 to 1902 he rented land from his father and in the latter year he puchased his present farm, where he is enjoying the fruits of the labors of years gone by. He is a breeder of Duroc- Jersey hogs and is attending efficiently to his large and well improved farm.

February 27, 1900, Mr. Beran married Mil- lie Vavruska and they are the parents of five

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children who are growing up in their home and being educated in the district school - in short, receiving the preliminary discipline that shall prepare them for the good citizenship necessary to make happy homes and national wellbeing. They are as follows: Frank, Alfred, Adolph, Rose, and Benjamin. Mrs. Beran was born March 7, 1878, in Marshall county, Kansas, and is a daughter of John Vavruska, who, after years of active farming life, is now retired and living in Wilber, Ne- braska.

In politics Mr. Beran is loyal to the Demo- cratic principles and in 1913 he was elected township clerk, in which position he is still serving his community.

CARL F. WOLLENBURG. - As an ex- ponent of most modern and scientific policies as applied to farm industry Mr. Wollenburg stands forth prominently as one of the dis- tinctly representative and influential agricul- turists and stock-growers of his native county. He is a member of one of the sterling and honored families of the county and by his own energy and well directed efforts he has made his way to the goal of success and prosperity, as evidenced in the fact that he is the owner of a valuable landed estate of two hundred and eighty-eight acres, eligibly situated in Sections 3, 4, and 10, Blakely township, his homestead place being in Section 4 and on rural mail route No. 3 from the village of De- witt, Saline county. Mr. Wollenburg is asso- ciated with his brother Henry in operating each season a thoroughly modern threshing outfit, and in his plowing and various other work for which the modern device is available he utilizes a high-grade tractor. These state- ments indicate unmistakably his progressive- ness, which is further shown in his use of the best of farm implements and machinery and the general air of thrift and good manage- ment that pervades his fine farm property.

Mr. Wollenburg was born on his father's old homestead farm in Grant township, this county, and the date of his nativity was March 7, 1882. He is a son of the late William Wol- lenburg, to whom a memoir is dedicated on

other pages of this volume, so that there is not demand for a further review of the family history in the present connection. In the Lutheran parochial schools and the district schools Mr. Wollenburg gained the discipline that matured his mental powers as a boy and youth, and he has shown his good judgment by his continued association with farm enter- prise, through the medium of which he has achieved splendid success. In 1913 he pur- chased his first land - a tract of one hundred and twenty acres, in Sections 3 and 10, Blake- ly township - and with increasing prosperity he continued to make judicious investments until he has accumulated one of the finely im- proved and well ordered farm estates of his native county. In making this excellent ac- count for himself in his independent activities Mr. Wollenburg has not become self-centered but has at all times shown loyal interest in community affairs, his political support being given to the Republican party and both he and his wife being communicants of the Lutheran church.

On the 25th of April, 1905, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Wollenburg to Miss Ma- tilda Schafer, who was born near Wilber, Saline county, and is a daughter of Henry Schafer, who was born in Germany and who was twelve years old when the family came to the United States and settled in Illinois. Mr. Schafer came to Gage county about 1887, he being still a resident of this county, where his wife died a few years ago. Mr. and Mrs. Wollenburg have six children - Matilda, El- sie, Wilhelmina, Carl, Theodore, and Helen, the twin sister of Helen having died in in- fancy.

REV. J. B. REENTS has been a faithful and zealous worker in the vineyard of the Di- vine Master and is one of the able and hon- ored members of the clergy of the German Lutheran church in Nebraska. He has served since 1902 as pastor of what is familiarly known as the Hanover German Lutheran church, the present edifice of which is in Logan township, near the Hanover township line. This splendid organization claims precedence

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HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

REV. J. B. REENTS

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HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

ZION'S LUTHERAN CHURCH

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HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

as one of the strongest and wealthiest rural churches in the entire state and offers a splen- did field for the earnest and consecrated labors of its honored pastor.

Mr. Reents was born in the province of Hanover, Germany, January 15, 1874, a son of John and Jennie (Straate) Reents, both likewise natives of that historic province, where the father was born February 11, 1834, and the mother November 21, 1833, their mar- riage having been solemnized in 1858. In his native land John Reents continued to be ac- tively identified with farm enterprise until the death of his loved wife, in 1911, and in the following year he came to America, the resi- due of his life having been passed in the home of his son J. B., the subject of this review. Both he and his wife were most devout com- municants of the German Lutheran church and exemplified their faith in their noble and gracious lives. Of their five children the eld- est is Joost, who is now a prosperous farmer near Clara City, Chippewa county, Minnesota ; Bernard likewise is a prosperous farmer in that county; Ailt is engaged in farming near Allison, Butler county, Iowa; Rev. J. B., of this sketch, was the next in order of birth; and Theda is the wife of William Kramer, a farmer near Bristow, Butler county, Iowa. Three of the sons served the required term in the German army.

Rev. J. B. Reents acquired his early educa- tion in his native land, where he completed a course in a teachers' preparatory school. He was eighteen years of age when he came to the United States, in 1892, and has been a resi- dent of Nebraska since 1900. After coming to this country he maintained his residence for three years at Nora Springs, Iowa, where he was a student in a seminary, and for one year thereafter he continued his studies at Cedar Falls, that state. Thereafter he was for five terms a successful teacher in the public schools of Iowa, after which he entered Wartburg Seminary, in the city of Dubuque, Iowa, in which institution he completed a thorough course in philosophy and theology and was graduated as a member of the class of 1900. In the same year he was ordained a

minister of the German Lutheran church, and was assigned to the pastoral charge of the Lutheran church located four and one-half miles north of the village of Pickrell, Gage county, Nebraska. There he continued his service until February, 1902, when he assumed his present im- portant pastorate, in charge of Zion's German Lutheran church in Logan township, near the Hanover township line. The original church building was located in Hanover township, within a comparatively short distance from the site of the present edifice, and the name of "Hanover Church" is still familiarly ap- plied. The present fine church edifice, which was dedicated in 1917, is one of the best church buildings in the entire state and has been definitely proclaimed as "probably the most beautiful rural church in the west." The edifice was completed at an approximate cost of forty-five thousand dollars and it is pleasing to record that all money necessary for the construction and equipment of the building was raised before the work of con- struction was initiated -and that without calling for any assistance of financial order save from members of the congregation itself. The church is beautiful in its interior design and appointments, is equipped with a pipe organ of the best modern type, and it was dedicated without one cent of indebtedness, the normal seating capacity of the edifice being eight hundred. In this connection the following brief record is worthy of perpetua- tion: "The Hanover German Lutheran church was organized, with ten members, March 14, 1874. In 1875 a parsonage was erected, but this was destroyed by a tornado, on June 26th of the same year. Church ser- vices were held in the school house of the district No. 38 until 1881, when was erected a church building that was thirty by forty-six feet in dimensions. This soon proved too small, and an addition was made in 1898. A belfry also was built at this time and a bell of two thousand pounds was installed, this being now in the new church edifice, on the oppo- site of the road from the old church building. The pastors of the church from its organiza-

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tion to the present have been as here noted : Rev. Mr. Martin, Rev. William Ehmen, Rev. Theodore Seylor, Rev. O. Lompe, Rev. Wolf- gang Hertel, and Rev. J. B. Reents, the pastorate of the present incumbent having covered a period of nearly sixteen years. Constructed of cream-colored brick and not- able for the beauty and consistency of its architectural design, the new church edifice presents a very handsome appearance, two tall spires adorning the façade. Standing on a hill, the church is visible for a considerable distance in each direction and the chimes that have been installed in the taller spire can be heard for miles."

This vigorous and noble parish organiza- tion claims a membership of one hundred and fifty families - the largest congregation in Gage county and the largest of the Lutheran faith in the entire state. The present pastor, a man of fine intellectuality, is an earnest pul- pit orator, unselfish and indefatigable in all pastoral duties, and an able and progressive executive .. He takes deep interest in all things touching the communal welfare and his influence is in all ways beneficent, the while he has the unqualified esteem of all who know him. His political allegiance is given to the Democratic party.

On Christmas day of the year 1900 was sol- emnized the marriage of Mr. Reents to Miss Louisa Hertel, daughter of Rev. Wolfgang Hertel, who was the immediate predecessor of Mr. Reents as pastor of the Hanover Lu- theran church. Mr. and Mrs. Reents have six children : John is attending college at Sterl- ing, this state; and the other children remain at the parental home - Walter, Irene, Arthur, William, and Bernhard.

ALBERTUS H. KIDD. - This representa- tive member of the Gage county bar has shown in his professional activities and service the power of concentrating the full forces of the individual and raising them to the plane of large achievement. He has demonstrated his ability not only as a lawyer but also as a citi- zen well qualified for leadership in move- ments and enterprises contributing to the gen-

eral wellbeing of the community, and thus, while never wavering in his fealty to his pro- fession, he has directed his energies also in successful exploitation of the basic industrial resources of Gage county and in fostering the progressive policies that make for civic and material advancement and prosperity in the communal life. Mr. Kidd has been engaged in the active practice of law at Beatrice, ju- dicial center of Gage county, since 1891, and since 1909 he has maintained a professional alliance with Samuel Rinaker, with offices in the First National Bank building. The firm of Rinaker & Kidd is uniformly conceded to be one of the strongest in the southern part of the state, and this fact in itself vouches for the character and technical ability of the prin- cipals in the firm. As a lawyer Mr. Kidd has achieved high repute and has definite profes- sional prestige throughout southeastern Ne- braska - a prestige based on results achieved.

Albertus H. Kidd is a scion of sterling American colonial stock in both the agnatic and distaff lines, and takes definite pride in reverting to the fact that both paternal and maternal ancestors were numbered among the patriot soldiers of the Continental Line in the war of the Revolution. Family tradition is to the effect that the historic character, Captain Kidd, was of the same family line, and the subject of this review has never found it con- sonant to criticise the somewhat misdirected energies of the redoubtable captain, who under more favorable circumstances probably would have marked his career with worthy achieve- ment as remarkable as were his storied ex- ploits of seeming depredation.

Mr. Kidd was born at Ada, Allen county, Ohio, on the 19th of March, 1863, and is a representative of one of the honored pioneer families of the old Buckeye state, within whose borders were born his parents, Rev. Jeremiah W. and Elvira (Lillibridge) Kidd, both of whom passed the closing period of their lives in the state of Illinois. Rev. Jere- miah W. Kidd, a man of broad intellectual ken and fervent piety, prepared himself for the ministry of the Methodist Protestant church, and as a clergyman of this denomina-

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tion he was called to service in Illinois in the year 1874. In that state he held thereafter pastoral charges in many different counties, and he was a revered patriarch of Bureau county, Illinois, at the time of his death, which occurred when he was nearly ninety years of age, his devoted wife having preceded him to eternal rest by many years. He labored with all of consecrated zeal in his chosen calling for a long term of years, and his ministerial services were given first in Ohio, later in In- diana, and finally in Illinois. Both the Kidd and Lillibridge family lines trace back to staunch English origin and both families sent representatives to America in the early col- onial period of our national history, as pre- viously intimated in this context. Mr. Kidd of this review has in his possession a compre- hensive genealogical record of the. Lillibridge family, and data therein presented show that members of the family in various generations have been prominent and influential in Ameri- can affairs and in varied walks of life.

Albertus H. Kidd was about six years of age at the time of the family removal from Ohio to Indiana, and was a lad of about eleven years when removal was made to Illinois, in which latter state he acquired the major part of his early educational discipline, which included the curriculum of the high school at Wyoming, Stark county. Thereafter he pur- sued higher academic studies in a college at La Harpe, that state, and he put his scholastic acquirements to practical test and utilization by entering the pedagogic profession, as a teacher in the public schools of Illinois. In the meanwhile he had formulated definite plans for his future career, and in consonance therewith he began reading law under the ef- fective preceptorship of the firm of Matthews & Peacock, of Monmouth, Illinois. With char- acteristic earnestness and zeal he applied him- self to the study of the involved science of jurisprudence, and he proved himself well fortified in the same when he applied for and received admission to the bar of Illinois, in 1887. In the same year Mr. Kidd came to Nebraska and engaged in the practice of his profession at Alma, Harlan county. There he

continued to reside until 1891, when, for the purpose of obtaining a broader field of pro- fessional endeavor, he came to Gage county and established his residence at Beatrice, where he has continued in the practice of his profession during the intervening period of more than a quarter of a century and where he has won secure vantage-ground as one of the leading members of the bar of southeastern Nebraska.

In Gage county Mr. Kidd has entered most loyally and fully into the communal life and has exemplified specially vital and well or- dered progressiveness and public spirit. He served six years as a member of the board of education of Beatrice and for fifteen years as a member of the board of directors of the Beatrice public library, of which he is still a member. While he gives unfaltering allegiance to the Republican party and has accorded yeo- man service in behalf of its cause, Mr. Kidd has considered his profession worthy of his undivided fealty and thus has manifested no desire for political office. His civic loyalty was shown, however, in two terms of effective service as city attorney of Beatrice. He was for four years the president of the Gage County Crop Improvement Association and his interest in agricultural industry has been shown in his ownership and improvement of several farms in Nebraska, in which connec- tion it may be noted that he is at the present time the owner of a fine farm in Midland township. He gives a general supervision to the operations of this farm and is active in the improving of the grades of live stock in this section of the state, as well as in the ad- vancing of scientific methods in agricultural enterprise. Mr. Kidd is president of the State Savings & Loan Association, of Beatrice, one of the substantial and important financial in- stitutions of the county, and he is also a stock- holder in the First National Bank of Beatrice. He is an influential and appreciative member of the Beatrice Commercial Club and has served for years as a member of its board of directors. In connection with the various movements incidental to the nation's partici- pation in the great European war, Mr. Kidd

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HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

MR. AND MRS. JAMES K. P. PETHOUD

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is now Federal Food Administrator for Gage county.

In the year 1888, at La Harpe, Hancock county, Illinois, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Kidd to Miss Elizabeth Gilliland, who was born in Schuyler county, that state, and they have two daughters - Dora A. and Norma J., both of whom were graduated in the Beatrice high school and also in the Uni- versity of Nebraska. The elder daughter re- mains at the parental home and Miss Norma J. is assistant secretary of the Young Women's Christian Association in the city of Lincoln, this state.

JAMES K. P. PETHOUD was a lad of fourteen years when he came with his parents to Nebraska Territory and his father became one of the earliest settlers of Gage county, where the family home was established nearly a decade prior to the admission of Nebraska to statehood. Here the subject of this memoir was reared to manhood under the conditions and influences which marked the initiation of civic and industrial development in this section of the state, and thus he was the more strong- ly fortified in mature years to carry forward his quota of the important work which has made Gage county one of the opulent and at- tractive divisions of a great and prosperous commonwealth. He was one of the world's constructive workers and was one of the hon- ored pioneer citizens of the county at the time of his death, which occurred on the 7th of June, 1896. Adequate record concerning the family history is given on other pages of this work, in the specific tribute dedicated to John Pethoud, father of him whose name introduces this article.

James Knox Polk Pethoud was born in Lawrence county, Ohio, November 24, 1844, and was named in honor of the Hon. James Knox Polk, who had in that year been elected president of the United States. He received his early education in the schools of the old Buckeye state and in 1858 accompanied his parents to the frontier wilds of what is now Gage county, where he assisted in reclaiming a pioneer farm and where, upon attaining to

his legal majority, he entered claim to a home- stead of one hundred and sixty acres of land in what is now Section 10 Midland township. For about three years after his marriage he and his wife remained on the old homestead farm of his father, in order that they might give proper filial care to his venerable parents, and after he had instituted the improvement of his own farm his parents there remained with him until they were called from the stage of life's mortal endeavors. Mr. Pethoud was a man of superabundant energy and ambition and thus he was specially successful in his progressive activities as an agriculturist and stock-grower. He continued to maintain the active supervision of his fine farm property until the time of his death, and though his early educational advantages were of necessity very limited, he profited greatly from the les- sons of experience and became a man of broad views and mature judgment, even as he was one of sterling integrity of character. His political allegiance was given to the Demo- cratic party, but he pursued the even tenor of his earnest and unassuming way with no de- sire for political activity or preferment. He was one of the sturdy yeomen who aided in civic and material development and progress in Gage county, true to the duties and respon- sibilities that devolved upon him and known for simple and unpretentious rectitude.

As a young man Mr. Pethoud wedded Miss Nancy Melissa Bunker, who was born in the state of Indiana, November 12, 1844, and who was reared in the state of Iowa, where her parents were pioneer settlers. She was a daughter of Daniel Bunker, a descendant of Nathaniel Bunker, who owned the farm on which was fought the great Revolutionary battle of Bunker Hill. Chief Justice Chase, of the United States supreme court, was a scion of the Bunker family and it was through his genealogical research that definite proof was given that the celebrated battle was thus fought on the property of his forebear, whose name is thus perpetuated in history. Mrs. Pethoud survived her husband by more than a decade and was one of the venerable and loved pioneer women of Gage county at the time of

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her death, June 3, 1908. They are survived by only one child, Miss Arabella Pethoud, who remains on the old homestead farm which her father obtained from the government under homestead entry in the early pioneer era, the place being endeared to her by the hallowed memories and associations of the past and the pleasant home being known for its generous hospitality.

JOHN R. McCANN, who has held since 1914 the office of postmaster of the city of Beatrice, was born at Mount Sterling, Brown county, Illinois, on the 11th of January, 1868, and is a son of Thomas and Bettie (McEntee) McCann, both natives of Ireland. Thomas McCann was born in the city of Dublin, No- vember 12, 1839, the youngest child and now the only survivor in a family of four sons and three daughters. Thomas McCann was a lad of about ten years when he accompanied his parents to America, the voyage having been made on a sailing vessel of the type common to that period and the family having landed in the port of New York city on the 5th of June, 1849. From the national metropolis the par- ents, Thomas and Rose McCann, proceeded to Cincinnati, Ohio, the journey having been made by canal and the Great Lakes, prior to the time when railroad facilities had been pro- vided. After remaining about three months in Cincinnati the family went by steamer down the Ohio river and across the Mississippi to St. Louis, Missouri, where the home was maintained until 1854. Removal was then made to Brown county, Illinois, where Thomas McCann, Sr., purchased land, near Mount Sterling. There he developed a productive farm and there he and his wife passed the re- mainder of their lives, both having been com- municants of the Catholic church, to the faith of which the later generations of the family have adhered. The father of the postmaster of Beatrice was reared to manhood on the pio- neer farm in Brown county, Illinois, where he owns and still resides upon the old homestead farm which was obtained by his father nearly sixty-five years ago. Mrs. Bettie (McEntee) McCann was born in County Cavan, Ire-

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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 57

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