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 63

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 63

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rector of the Commercial Club for ten years.

Mr. and Mrs. Dalbey own about eight thousand acres of Nebraska land - in Gage, Otoe, and Pawnee counties - the same being a heritage which Mrs. Dalbey received from her father, the late Ford Lewis, to whom a memoir is dedicated on other pages of this publication. They are unflagging in their ef- forts to further the prosperity of the two towns founded by the latter's father - Vir- ginia, in Gage county, and Lewiston, in Paw- nee county - the first having been named for Mrs. Dalbey, whose Christian name is Vir- ginia, and Lewiston having been given its name in honor of its founder, the late Ford Lewis. Mr. and Mrs. Dalbey are prominent in connection with the representative social activities of Gage county and the city of Beatrice, in which they have a beautiful home, and they retain also the fine old Lewis home- stead at Jerseyville, Illinois, between which city and Beatrice they divide. their time. They have a host of friends in Nebraska - in fact, it may consistently be said that the number is limited only by that of their acquaintances. Mrs. Dalbey has been specially active in philanthropic and charitable work since estab- fishing her home in Gage county, and is doing a generous share in the war activities to which the women of America are devoting themselves so loyally and effectively. She has served two terms as regent of Elizabeth Montague Chapter of the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, in the city of Beatrice, and at the time of this writ- ing, in the summer of 1918, she is state cor- responding secretary, and has been chairman of the state committee of the Nebraska So- ciety of the Daughters of the American Revo- lution, which has as its special function the prevention of desecration of the nation's flag. At Virginia, this county, the town named in her honor, Mrs. Dalbey has erected a most modern and attractive hotel, known as the Virginia Inn, and at Lewiston, Pawnee county, named in honor of her father, she and her mother erected the Lewiston Hall, a most modern building for general public as- semblage and community use. At both

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HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

I,ewiston and Virginia Mrs. Dalbey donated public parks, and in 1918 she donated a site of fifteen acres at each of the towns for the new consolidated schools.

December 23, 1903, recorded the marriage of Dwight S. Dalbey to Miss Virginia Lewis, the only daughter of the late Ford Lewis, of Jerseyville, Illinois, where Mrs. Dalbey was born and reared, her early educational advan- tages having included those of the public schools of her native city and those of Monti- cello Seminary, at Godfrey, Illinois.

JOHN H. VON STEEN, a man of ad- mirable and pronounced initiative and con- structive ability, has been the primary factor in the developing of one of the largest and most important industrial and commercial en- terprises of Gage county, and he is one of the most valued and influential citizens and busi- ness men of Beatrice, where he is president and treasurer of The John H. von Steen Com- pany, a pioneer concern which controls an extensive wholesale and retail business in the handling of building material, coal, etc., be- sides having developed an important and prosperous industry in the manufacturing of the woven-wire fence designated as the "Be- atrice Barbed Border," and also of the cele- brated "Beatrice Portable Corn Cribs." Bas- ing its operations upon large capital and most progressive policies, this company is one of the foremost of the kind in Nebraska, and it maintains four branch yards, under the fol- lowing titles and at the designated locations, at other points in the state: Hallam Lumber & Coal Company, Hallam, Lancaster county ; Huntley Lumber & Coal Company, Huntley, Harlan county; and The John H. von Steen Company, Bruning, Thayer county, and Strang, Fillmore county. In addition to being the founder and president of The John H. von Steen Company of Beatrice, Mr. von Steen is executive head also of the subsidiary com- panies just mentioned. The business of The John H. von Steen Company is widely dis- seminated throughout Nebraska, and the cor- poration handles all kinds of building ma-

terial on a large scale, at both wholesale and retail.

In 1879, about two years after he had es- tablished his residence at Beatrice, John H. von Steen here engaged in the retail lumber business. The enterprise which he thus es- tablished on a very modest scale formed the nucleus around which has been developed the great business enterprise of which he is now the head. In 1892 he expanded his enterprise to include the wholesale dealing in building material, supplies, and accessories, and in 1908, under the provisions of the laws of Ne- braska, The John H. von Steen Company was incorporated with a capital stock of one hun- dred and fifty thousand dollars, fully paid in. Under date of March 6, 1912, the company's charter was so amended as to permit its in- crease of authorized capital to two hundred thousand dollars, almost fully paid now. The history of the enterprise has been one of con- secutive growth in scope and importance and has been marked by those legitimate and hon- orable commercial policies that must underlay all worthy success along such lines. Mr. von Steen has been president and treasurer of the company from the time of its incorporation and the other members of the executive corps are here designated: Clarence W. Graff, vice-president, and Sam D. Ruth, secretary. In addition to these officers the directorate of the company includes also John H. Pletscher, and Walter H. DeBolt.

John H. von Steen was born near the city of Dantzic, capital of the Prussian province of the same name, and the date of his nativ- ity was May 15, 1852. He is a son of John H. and Johanna (Zimmerman) von Steen, who were born and reared in that same province, where the father followed the vocation of farming until 1875, when he came with his family to America. He and his wife were zealous members of the Mennonite church, the tenets of which deprecate all activities of military service, and his principal reason for leaving his native land was to avoid, in con- sonance with his religious views and firm per- sonal convictions, conscription of himself and his sons for service in the German army. In

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1877 John H. von Steen, Sr., established the family home at Beatrice, and here he and his wife remained as honored and valued citizens until they were summoned to the life eternal, secure in the high regard of all who knew them.

The subject of this review received in his native city excellent educational advantages, besides which he passed four years in the cities of London and Liverpool, with the pri- mary object of familiarizing himself with the English language and business methods. He accompanied his parents to America when he was twenty-five years of age and he has re- sided continuously at Beatrice since 1877. Here he was employed eighteen months in the lumber yard of LePoidevin Brothers, and in 1879 he engaged independently in the retail lumber business, on part of the grounds where the Burlington Railroad station now stands. Energy, integrity, faithfulness, and broad vision insured cumulative success to the am- bitious young man, and that he has wrought earnestly and well needs no further voucher than his status to-day as one of the most sub- stantial men of affairs in this section of the state of his adoption. While thus promoting his individual advancement Mr. von Steen has at all stages been mindful of his civic respon- sibilities and has stood forth as a liberal and public-spirited naturalized American citizen, his course in all of the relations of life having been such that he has gained and retained the inviolable confidence and good will of his fellow men.

The political allegiance of Mr. von Steen has been given to the Prohibition party, but he is primarily and essentially a business man and has had no ambition for political activity or preferment. He was reared in the faith of the Mennonite church and has been an earn- est and active member of the same from his early youth to the present time. He is one of the influential representatives of this denomi- nation in Gage county, has for many years been a valued teacher in the Sunday school of the Mennonite church in Beatrice. He at- tended the general conference of the Mennon- ite church held in California in the summer of

1917, and incidental to his trip to the Pacific coast he, with his wife, visited the Yellow- stone National Park -- an indulgence that af- forded them special satisfaction, this also being true in connection with his annual vaca- tions, which are usually given to travel for recreation.

In 1882 Mr. von Steen wedded Miss Mary McKibbin, who was born at Fishlake, Indiana, and whose death occurred in 1893, she having been a devout member of the Mennonite church. She is survived by two daughters - Edith, who completed her education in Bethel College, at Newton, Kansas, and who is now the wife of Professor D. H. Richert, a mem- ber of the faculty of that institution; and Ada, who is the wife of Dr. Louis E. Penner, a representative physician and surgeon en- gaged in practice at Beatrice. In 1895 Mr. von Steen contracted a second marriage, when Mrs. Katie (Ruth) Hirschler became his wife, and she is now the worthy chatelaine of their beautiful home, on North Fourth street, in. Beatrice.

HENRY J. TROEMPER, D. V. S. - Broad and accurate technical knowledge and marked facility in making practical application of the same have given to Dr. Troemper defi- nite prestige as one of the able and represen- tative exponents of the veterinary profession in this section of the state, and, with residence and professional headquarters in the city of Beatrice, he has developed a substantial and important practice, his efficient service being of special value in its direct pertinence to the- large live-stock interests of this section of Ne- braska. He is a young man who is an en- thusiast in his profession and in connection with his widely extended professional prac -. tice he is the proprietor of the Beatrice Veter- inary Hospital, a well ordered institution of the best modern facilities.

Dr. Troemper was born at Alma, Waubaun- see county, Kansas, on the 9th of December, 1883, and is a son of Christian and Ursula (Myer) Troemper, the former of whom was born at Pottsville, Pennsylvania, and the lat- ter in Germany. Christian Troemper was a

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HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

pioneer in the state of Kansas, where he en- tered claim to a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres, in Waubaunsee county, and where he eventually accumulated and improved a large and valuable landed estate. He still continues his activities as one of the represen- tative agriculturists and stock-growers of that county and is an honored citizen of his com- munity. His wife died June 7, 1917, at the age of sixty-eight years.

Reared to the sturdy discipline of the farm, Dr. Troemper early learned the lessons of practical industry, the while he made good use of the advantages afforded in the excellent public schools of his native commonwealth. In formulating plans for his future career he followed the course of his ambition by enter- ing the Kansas City Veterinary College, after having previously been for two years a stu- dent in the State Agricultural College of Kan- sas, at Manhattan. During the vacation of his freshman year in the veterinary college Dr. Troemper fortified himself by practical ex- perience gained along the line of his chosen profession, this service having been given in Kansas City. In his junior year he gave to the government efficient professional service in the work of eradicating an epidemic of scab in sheep in the state of New Mexico, his headquarters for this interval having been in the city of Albuquerque. He was graduated in the Kansas City Veterinary College as a member of the class of 1908, and in August of that year, after having thus received his de- gree of Doctor of Veterinary Surgery, he es- tablished his residence in Beatrice, where he has built up a large and representative prac- tice that extends over a radius of many miles from the judicial center of Gage county. His veterinary hospital has the most approved ap- pliances and facilities for the treatment and general care of horses, cattle and other ani- mals, and he has made the same an institution of much value in this section of the state.

In politics Dr. Troemper is found aligned in the ranks of the Democratic party, he is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and both he and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal church.

In 1910 was recorded the marriage of Dr. Troemper to Miss Nannie Hadinger, who was born and reared at Shickley, Fillmore county, Nebraska, and they are popular factors in the representative social activities of their home city.

GENERAL LEONARD WRIGHT COL- BY was born in Cherry Valley, Ashtabula county, Ohio, August 5, 1846, the fifth son of the seven children born to Rowel and Abigail (Livingston) Colby. His parents were Ameri- cans and natives of Grafton county, New Hampshire. When he was about four years old his parents removed to a farm five miles from Freeport, Stephenson county, Illinois, where he resided until his enlistment as a private soldier in the great war of the Rebel- lion and his assignment to the Eighth Regi- ment of Illinois Volunteer Infantry, with which he served until the close of the war. He was wounded on April 9, 1865, in almost the last battle of the Civil war; and was recom- mended for promotion and commission for gallant and meritorious services in the charge at Fort Blakely and the siege of Mobile, Ala- bama, where he captured a Confederate flag. After his discharge from the Union army, in 1865, he with about fifty others from his regi- ment enlisted with the forces of Maximilian, serving with the rank of captain for several months, until his resignation, in December, 1865. On his return home he entered the high school at Freeport, Illinois, from which he graduated in July, 1867, with the highest hon- ors of his class. In the fall of the same year he entered the University of Wisconsin, in the regular classical course, and he was gradu- ated in June, 1871, with the degree of Bach- elor of Arts, again taking the highest honors of his class. He was graduated also from the military and engineering courses at the same institution, obtaining the degrees of Civil En- gineer and Mechanical Engineer and the rec- ommendation for a lieutenant's commission in the United States army. During the last two years of his college course he was commis- sioned and served as captain of the university cadets at Madison, Wisconsin. Thereafter he

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was graduated from the law department of the university, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws, and in the fall of 1872 (August 22d), he came to Nebraska and opened a law office in Beatrice, being associated in business with Lynus B. Sale, a former college friend. In 1874 the University of Wisconsin conferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts. On June 25, 1875, he became associated with Alexander W. Conley in the organization of a company of state militia at Beatrice, and was commissioned first lieutenant of such com- pany, which was designated as the Paddock Guards, in honor of United States Senator Algernon Sidney Paddock. In the summer of 1877 he was commissioned captain by the governor of Nebraska and placed in command of four companies of mounted rifles. He marched his battalion from Beatrice to Red Cloud, thence to northern Nebraska and Wy- oming in pursuit of bands of marauding In- dians. On his return he was commissioned captain of the Paddock Guards, which com- mand he held until June 13, 1881, when he was commissioned colonel of the First Regi- ment Nebraska National Guard. He had command of the Nebraska state troops and six companies of United States regulars during the labor strike in Omaha in March, 1882, at which time the city was placed under martial law ; he was re-commissioned colonel July 10, 1884, and before the end of his term, on April 11, 1887, was promoted, by appointment and commission, to brigadier general and placed in command of the First Brigade, comprising two infantry regiments, a troop of cavalry, and a battery of artillery. On April 11, 1890, his commission as brigadier generaî was re- newed for another term of three years.

During the winter of 1890-1891 General Colby and his command were called into active service on the occasion of the uprising of the Sioux Indians of Pine Ridge and other agencies in South Dakota and Nebraska. The command took part with great credit in the engagement at Wounded Knee and many skirmishes along the borders of the Bad Lands, where the hostile Indians were located, and won the congratulations of Major General

Nelson A. Miles, of the United States army, who complimented General Colby on his suc. cessful management of the Nebraska troops. On his return home General Colby was pre- sented with a gold medal for "gallant and effi- cient services rendered the state of Nebras- ka." The fourth day after the battle of Wounded Knee, when the detail went out to bury the dead, an Indian baby girl about four months old was found on the battlefield, tied, in the usual fashion, on her dead mother's back, and found under a covering of snow. Her head, hands, and feet were frozen in the severe storm that followed the battle, but under proper care she fully recovered. The child was taken by General Colby to his home, was given the Christian name of Margaret Elizabeth, and the Indian name of Zintkala Nuni, meaning in the Sioux language "Lost Bird." She was reared and educated at his home, being given all the advantages of civi- lization.

April 10, 1893, General Colby was for the third time commissioned brigadier general of the Nebraska state troops, and in July of the following year his command was again called into active service, in the suppression of the strike at the packing houses in South Omaha, where order was restored without damage or casualty. In December, 1896, during the pro- gress of the Cuban revolution against Spain, General Colby commenced the organization of the American-Cuban Volunteer Legion, and in the following year he completed the enroll- ment of twenty-five thousand American vol- unteers, with headquarters at Matamoras, Mexico, and raised one million two hundred thousand dollars for the establishment of the Cuban republic. Upon the destruction of the battleship Maine, in Havana harbor, he ten- dered the services of the Cuban Legion in the approaching war between the United States and Spain. General Colby was commissioned June 3, 1898, by President Mckinley, as brigadier general of United States Volunteers ; he was first assigned to the command of the Third Brigade, First Division, Third Army Corps, stationed at Chickamauga Park, Ga .; for some weeks he had command of the First

Eng byt G. Milhares & Bro A

yours Truly 1 Leonard D. Colby

yours Cordially, Marie Möller Colby

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HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

Division of the Third Army Corps, and was the ranking general in command at the time of the great review at that camp. He was afterward given command of the Second Brigade, Second Division of the Fourth Army Corps, and was thereafter for some time in command of the camp and the division at Anniston, Alabama. In January, 1899, he was sent to Havana, Cuba, and upon his return to Washington, the last of February of that year, he was mustered out of the service, with the rank of brigadier general of volunteers. Upon his return to Nebraska, General Colby was appointed adjutant general of the state, which office he held from May 6, 1901, to February 20, 1903. On August 8, 1906, he was placed on the retired list, with the rank of brigadier general.

In November, 1876, General Colby was elected state senator to represent Gage and Jefferson counties, and in 1886 he was reëlect- ed to the state senate, to represent Gage county. During the latter term he introduced fifty bills of importance, of which about thirty passed the senate, and of the latter number more than half became laws. In June, 1891, General Colby was appointed by President Harrison as assistant attorney general of the United States, his duties embracing, among other important litigation, the defense of claims for damages against the government and Indian tribes. These involved over ten thousand cases in the court of claims and the United States supreme court, and over forty million dollars. Upon his retirement from the department of justice he was employed by the Creeks, Cherokees, and Seminoles, three of the civilized tribes of Indians in Indian Ter- ritory, as their attorney in Washington, D. C., and during this employment he obtained a judgment against the government and in favor of the Cherokee Nation for the sum of $6,742,000.

Since the declaration of war against the im- perial government of Germany, General Colby has been active in all patriotic and war mea- sures in the interest of winning such war. At the commencement he tendered his services to the United States and to the state of Nebraska

and requested to be recalled from the retired list into active service. He has been placed on the list of officers subject to call by the war department, and, having the personal assur- ance of Secretary of War Baker that his ser- vices will be required in the near future, he has passed his physical examination for such service. In the meantime he has served as government agent and attorney for the draft board, as chairman of the Gage County Coun- cil of Defense, as a member of the War Works Committee, and has taken an active part in the campaigns for the several Liberty Loans, the Red Cross and Y. M. C. A. drives in the county and district.

General Colby has had a law office at Be- atrice and been engaged in the practice of his profession in the several courts of the states and nation and has maintained his residence at Beatrice during all of the years since his location in the state in August, 1872. He is a member of the Society of Foreign Wars, Loyal Legion, Grand Army of the Republic, Spanish-American War Veterans, Aero League and Naval League of the United States, the Blue Lodge and Royal Arch Ma- sons, the Red Men, Knights of Pythias, Ne- braska State Historical Society, Nebraska Pioneers, the Nebraska and American Bar Associations, the Republican Club, and the Christian church at Beatrice.

Marie Möller Colby, wife of General Leon- ard Wright Colby, was born in Röbel, Meck- lenburg-Schwerin, Germany, and is a daugh- ter of John F. Möller and Marie Henrietta (Müller) Möller, both being of pure German stock, and of long established and well known families in the fatherland. The parents left their old German home on account of political oppression and came to the United States to enjoy the blessings of a free government, arriving in Lancaster county, Nebraska, in April, 1875, and locating on a farm three miles west of Firth. Six years later they moved to Roca, and on April 1, 1882, they re- moved to Beatrice, which has since been the family home. Mrs. Colby is the second of seven children, all of whom are living.

Mrs. Colby was educated in the public

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schools of Beatrice and at the Western Nor- mal College at Lincoln, and later took a course in the Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia. She has added to her general knowledge by systematic courses of reading, a Chautauqua course, travel in this country, Canada, Cuba, and Mexico and by thorough business train- ing. She is a member of several social organi- zations and clubs of the city, and in addition to attending to her many business interests has time for church and social work, and to assist her husband in his many duties as well as manage her domestic affairs and care for her attractive home.

THOMAS LEPOIDEVIN. - This ven- erable citizen of Gage county is now living retired in the city of Beatrice, the prosperity that is his representing the results of his use of the advantages that have been afforded with the development of the natural re- sources of this favored section of the state, he having come to Gage county shortly before the admission of the state to the Union and having become one of the pioneer representa- tives of agricultural industry in Midland town- ship. As a sterling citizen who has contrib- uted generously to the material upbuilding of Gage county, he is entitled to recognition in this history.

As his name indicates, Mr. LePoidevin is of French lineage, and he was born on the beautiful island of Guernsey, in the English channel, on the 25th of March, 1840, the eld- est of the seven children of Job and Rachel Le Poidevin, both of whom were born on the island of Guernsey, descendants of old and honored families of that island, many of the inhabitants of which still speak the old Nor- man French language. John, the second son, is a resident of Odell, Gage county; Rachel died at the old home on the island of Guern- sey ; Joseph is a resident of the state of New York ; Amelia is living on the island of Guern- sey ; Alfred is a resident of New York state ; and Alice died on the island of Guernsey, where the parents passed their entire lives. In the schools of his native island Thomas re- ceived his limited educational training in his

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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 63

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