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 78

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 78

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HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

since, and his success in business affairs seems to prove its verity.

In 1903 there came a tremendous flood and the Big Blue river attained proportions which had previously been unknown, even to the oldest inhabitant of the state. Most of Mr. Cummings' property, cribbed corn, cattle, and milling interest, was swept in a red streak on the wrong side of the ledger. His operations had been extensive and varied, and he found himself indebted to the various banks in a total sum of seventy-one thousand dollars. After selling off every kind of merchantable stock, he was still behind the game in the amount of twenty thousand dollars. Witl; undaunted courage, he smiled a little more af- fably, buckled down a little harder and paid out the second year after the flood.

He had acquired a tract of one block with double trackage on Sixth street, opposite the Dempster mill manufacturing plant, and shortly after the great flood, he erected on this property a fine elevator, having a capacity of eighty thousand bushels. In 1906 he en- tered into copartnership with Robert Pease in the coal and grain business, but the university attracted him to Lincoln, and he, in 1908, sold his Beatrice business to his partner, moved to Lincoln, purchased an elevator there in 1910, and the following year moved his family to the capital city, where they are now settled in an elegant home on the corner of Twenty-first and B streets. As a business proposition, Mr. Cummings has no complaint to make of the new location. Prosperity appears to have at- tended every move.

Mr. Cummings' family motto has been "Not a boom- just a steady growth". It has found expression in a family of twenty- seven children, the six already named, and also ten Belgian and eleven French war or- phans who are now his by adoption. Those who know his humane tendencies will not be surprised to see this family doubled in the near future.

But Mr. Cummings has found time for other activities. He is the inventor of a sys- tem for salvaging wet or immature grain, which he has employed in his. own business

with great success. He was also one of the first, probably the very first, inventors of the depth bomb, which is nearly the sole reliance for combatting the odious submarine. He also invented a pneumatic mortar for hurling these bombs at the rate of seven a minute, a distance of one thousand yards.

Germany declared unrestricted submarine warfare February 2, 1917. On February 18th Mr. Cummings was in Washington with blue- prints of these inventions, and formally laid them before the board of naval ordnance. The board nominally turned him down, but actu- ally adopted the depth charge, which, in a slightly modified form, they have been using since June, 1917. They also declined out- wardly to consider the pneumatic gun, but the New York World of July 5, 1918, gives an account of a battle in which the pneumatic mortar was first employed, and with perfect results, five out of six attacking submarines being sunk by two merchantmen armed with this weapon. Doubtless more will be heard of it before the great world war closes. With the patriotic generosity characteristic of him, Mr. Cummings took out no patents on these inventions, but presented them to the ordnance department of the United States, without re- servation and without price. He wishes to credit here Dean Oscar V. P. Stout, a graduate of the Beatrice high school and of the State University of Nebraska, and for many years the distinguished head of the engineering de- partment of that university, for valuable as- sistance in perfecting these inventions, and Congressman Reavis and Senator Borah for their aid in getting the inventions properly lodged with the national ordnance department at Washington.

The writer of this sketch, after many years of intimate personal friendship with Mr. Cum- mnings, can attest his value as a citizen, a friend and a man.

JOHN L. SCHIEK. - Civic and business altruism has been effectively exemplified in the career of this representative business man of the city of Beatrice, and he is now success- fully established in the automobile business,

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with headquarters in a modern and well equip-, county commissioner. His venerable widow, ped building of which he is the owner. Mr. now a resident of Joliet, Illinois, is a daughter of George Miller, who immigrated with his family from Germany and established himself as one of the pioneer farmers of Cook county, Illinois, where he passed the residue of his life. Mr. and Mrs. Schiek became the parents of nine children, of whom the subject of this review was the fourth in order of birth, and of the number seven are now living. Schiek has been a resident of Gage county for more than thirty years, has here been con- cerned with various lines of business enter- prise and his secure place in popular confi- dence and esteem is assured by the fact that he served two and one-half terms as sheriff of the county, his administration having passed upon record as being one of the best given to the shrievalty of the county within the entire period of its history.

Mr. Schiek was born at Mokena, Will county, Illinois, on the 26th of March, 1863, and is a son of John and Helena (Miller) Schiek, both natives of Germany. John Schiek was reared and educated in his native land and was one of the many sterling sons of Germany who was a revolter and came to the United States in the year 1848. From the Atlantic seaboard he made his way westward to Chicago, which was then a comparatively insignificant city, and from the future metro- polis of the west he proceeded with wagon and ox team to Joliet, Illinois, finally establishing a permanent home in Will county, where he became a prosperous farmer, besides having been for a number of years engaged in the hotel business at Mokena and having also been one of the leading merchants of that village. His energy was equalled by his business ver- satility, and through his own well directed en- deavors he achieved independence and definite prosperity. He was one of the pioneer oper- ators of a threshing machine in northern Illi- nois, and he continued his residence in that state until his death. He was one of the honored pioneer citizens of Will county, Illi- nois, and was about sixty-eight years of age at the time of his demise. He was a son of Henry Schiek, and the entire family came from Germany to America in the late '40s, the parents of Mr. Schiek having been residents of Illinois during the closing years of their earnest and worthy lives. John Schiek aligned himself as a stalwart supporter of the principles of the Democratic party, was in- fluential in public affairs of a local order and held various offices of trust, including that of

To the public schools of Mokena, Illinois, John L. Schiek is indebted for his early educa- tional advantages, and as a lad he began to assist his father in connection with the lat- ter's various business affairs. He remained in his native state until 1886, on the 26th of March of which year he arrived in Beatrice, Nebraska. Here he was for a number of years employed in the general mercantile es- tablishment of Kline, Lang & Mosshel, and within this period he assisted in the organiza- tion of the Beatrice volunteer fire department, of which he served several years as chief. He finally established himself in the general mer- chandise business in the village of Filley, this county, where he continued operations in this line for three years. He then returned to Beatrice and resumed his association with the mercantile concern by which he had previously been employed; later he engaged in buying and selling horses, and in 1916 he was elected sheriff of the county, his efficient administra- tion meeting with such approval that he was retained in this office two and one-half terms, as previously noted in this context. Since his retirement from public office Mr. Schiek has built up a most prosperous enterprise in the handling of automobiles and the conducting of a general garage and repair shop, his estab- lishment having a full line of automobile parts and accessories. He is the local agent for the popular Buick automobile.

Mr. Schiek is known as one of Gage county's loyal and aggresive advocates of the cause of the Republican party and he has been in- fluential in political affairs in the county. He has served in various minor political offices of local order, and he has been prominent in connection with fire-department affairs. He

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HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

was a delegate from Gage county to the con- vention of the International Firemen's Asso- ciation held in the city of Montreal, Canada, has served as president of the Nebraska State Firemen's Association, and at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, in the city of St. Louis, he was a member of the official board which had charge of awarding prizes to firemen. In addition to being prominent and influential in civic affairs in his home city and county Mr. Schiek is actively affiliated with the local or- ganizations of the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Travelers' Protective Association, be- sides which he is a popular member of the Beatrice County Club. Both he and his wife are communicants of the Protestant Episcopal church.

In 1889 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Schiek to Miss Anna Grussel, who was born in the state of New York, and in conclusion of this review is given brief record concerning their children: Vivian became the wife of Berney Keach and has one child, Enid; Julia is the wife of Frank J. Kline, of Beatrice; John is an artificer in the One Hundred and Thirty-fourth United States Infantry, of the national army forces that are preparing to take part in the great European war, and is stationed at Deming, New Mexico; and Bea- trice and Ralph remain at the parental home.

W. C. BLACK, JR. - One of the most im- portant and effectively ordered industrial en- terprises of the city of Beatrice is that con- ducted under the title of Black Brothers, and this enterprise involves the ownership and op- eration of a thoroughly modern flour mill that has a daily output capacity of three hundred barrels. The products of this mill are of the highest standard and command a substantial trade as a standard household provision throughout southeastern Nebraska. He whose name initiates this paragraph has been the active manager of the Black Brothers mill since 1902 and his interposition in this capac- ity has inured notably to the success and ex- pansion of the business.

Mr. Black was born at Sycamore, Dekalb county, Illinois, on the 3d of June, 1878, and is a son of William C. and Mary (Conant) Black. William C. Black, Sr., was born in Ireland, in May, 1835, and was a child of three years at the time of the family immi- gration to the United States. He was reared and educated in Pennsylvania and as a young man his ability was on a parity with his am- bition, with the result that he achieved dis- tinct success and became prominently engaged eventually in the milling and lumbering busi- ness. With these lines of enterprise he was actively identified at Sycamore, Illinois, and later 'he moved to the city of Youngstown, Ohio. In 1879 he became associated with his brother, Cochrane S. Black, in the purchase of the flour mill at Beatrice, Nebraska, and the same has since been operated under the title of Black Brothers, the while its equipment has at all times been kept up to the best modern standard in all departments. In 1888 the firm purchased also a mill at Blue Springs, this county, and this also has continued to be op- erated successfully by the firm of Black Brothers. William C. Black, Sr., celebrated in May, 1917, the eighty-second anniversary of his birth, and though he did not remove to Nebraska at the time when he and his brother purchased the mill at Beatrice, his brother as- suming active charge of the same, he finally established his residence in Beatrice, in 1902, and here he is now living virtually retired, a venerable citizen who commands the unquali- fied esteem of all who know him. He has been one of the world's productive workers and has achieved success worthy of the name. His gracious wife was born in the state of New York, and their companionship has continued in ideal relationship for more than fifty years, both being earnest members of the Presbyter- ian church. Of the two children Mrs. C. M. Shafer is the elder, and is living in Kansas City, Missouri.

W. C. Black, Jr., acquired his youthful edu- cation in the public schools of Illinois and Ohio and his initial business experience was gained through association with enterprises in which his father was a principal. He developed

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strong initiative and executive ability and thus was well equipped when he assumed the active management of the mill and business of Black Brothers at Beatrice, his service in this capac- ity having covered a period of fifteen years, within which he has become recognized as one of the most progressive and loyal citizens and representative business men of Gage county and the fine little city which is its metropolis and judicial center. Mr. Black is a member of the directorate of the First National Bank of Beatrice, is a Republican in his political allegiance, and he and his wife are active members of the First Presbyterian church in their home city.

In the year 1901 was solemnized the mar- riage of Mr. Black to Miss Ivy Howey, a mem- ber of a well known Gage county family that finds representation on other pages of this publication, and the three children of this union are Frances, William and Beatrice.

GEORGE H. VAN HORNE. - An able and popular public executive in the city of Beatrice is Mr. Van Horne who is superin- tendent of mails in connection with the admin- istration of the large volume of business now conducted in the postoffice of the metropolis and judicial center of Gage county. Aside from his assured standing as a citizen special interest attaches to the career of Mr. Van Horne by reason of the fact that he is con- sistently to be designated as a pioneer of Gage county, within whose gracious borders he es- tablished his home nearly half a century ago, so that he has been a witness of and con- tributor to the vigorous process of develop- ment and advancement that has made this one of the populous, prosperous and representa- tive integral divisions of a great common- wealth.

Mr. Van Horne takes a just pride not only in claiming pioneer honors in Gage county but also in being a representative of two of the sterling pioneer families of the Wolverine state. He was born on the paternal home- stead farm in Bridgewater township, Wash- tenaw county, Michigan, and the date of his nativity was March 30, 1854. His parents,

William H. and Elizabeth G. (Howe) Van Horne, were born in the state of New York and their marriage was solemnized in Mich- igan, to the settlement of the southern por- tion of which commonwealth the old Empire state contributed a numerous quota in the pioneer days. Both the paternal and maternal grandfathers of the subject of this review were. numbered among the pioneers of southern Michigan, and the former became a large land- owner and influential citizen, as a pioneer of energy and much constructive ability. The maternal grandfather of Mr. Van Horne like- wise became prominent in connection with civic affairs and industrial development in southern Michigan, served as a member of the state legislature in the early days and was otherwise a figure of no little prominence in tlie formative history of that state. Willianı H. Van Horne became a substantial farmer in Washtenaw county, Michigan, where he continued his residence until 1880, when he established his residence in Beatrice, Ne- braska. Here he lived to the patriarchal age of ninety-five years, his loved and devoted wife having entered into eternal rest in the year 1891. Of their children the subject of this sketch is the eldest ; Dwight W. is railroad station agent for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad in the village of Syracuse, Otoe county, Nebraska; Miss Agnes H. re- mained with her venerable father until his death; James H. is a machinist by vocation and resides at Council Bluffs, Iowa ; Josephine remains at the parental home, in Beatrice; and Julia, who was for fifteen years sten- ographer and chief clerk in the offices of the Sonderegger nurseries, at Beatrice, is now in the service of the government in connection with war activities in the national capital, her technical and executive ability having gained to her a responsible clerical position.

William H. Van Horne died in a hospital at Beatrice on the morning of May 8, 1918. About a week previously he had received a fall, in which he fractured one of his legs, the phy- sical shock, owing to his great age, having been the virtual cause of his death. He was a stalwart supporter of the cause of the Demo-

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cratic party and was for many years affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he passed the various official chairs. While he resided in Michigan his religious views was in harmony with the tenets of the Presbyterian church, of which his wife was a zealous member.

In his native county George H. Van Horne gained his early educational discipline in the rural schools and the public schools of the vil- lage of Manchester, where he completed the curriculum of the high school. As a boy and youth he gained practical experience in con- nection with the operations of the home farm and that he made good use of the educational advantages that were afforded him is demon- strated in the effective service which he gave as a member of the pedagogic profession, he having devoted about a decade to service as a successful and popular teacher in the public schools of Michigan, Iowa and Nebraska. De- sirous of identifying himself with the progres- sive west, Mr. Van Horne came to Nebraska and established his residence at Beatrice on the 21st of April, 1875, - about eight years after the admission of the state to the Union. He soon afterward purchased a farm in what is now Lincoln township, and for the ensuing ten years he was engaged in breaking his land and improving and cultivating his farm besides participating in the public and civic affairs of his township and county and serving as school director, etc. In 1885 he left the farm and re- moved to Beatrice, the judicial center of the county, and here he followed various occupa- tions until September, 1888, when he was ap- pointed to a clerical position in the local post- office, with the administration of which he has since been consecutively identified and in which he now holds the position of superintendent of mails. Mr. Van Horne adheres to the Demo- cratic faith and takes loyal interest in all things touching the civic and material welfare of his home city, county and state. He is affiliated with the Royal Highlanders and the Modern Woodmen of America, and he and his wife hold membership in the Presbyterian church.

On the 27th of June, 1889, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Van Horne to Miss Mary

Shear, who was born in the state of New York, and their only child is an adopted son, Leslie G., who was taken into their home when he was nine months old, after the death of his mother, Mrs. E. E. Greer, a sister of his adoptive mother.

KILPATRICK BROTHERS. - No his- tory of Gage county, and in fact no history of Nebraska or the west, would be complete, if it failed to take account of the Kilpatrick family and of Kilpatrick Brothers.

The family of Samuel and Rachael Kilpat- rick in point of time was amongst the first families of Gage county. These pioneers came to our county from Iowa, in 1859. Leaving Benton county in June of that year, with ox teams, they crossed the Missouri river at Plattsmouth on the third day of July, and fol- lowed the course of that great river to Ne- braska City. After a few days they ventured west as far as Tecumseh, where they camped for a while on the open prairie. From that in- significant western village they came to Beat- rice, then a village even more insignificant, and for an entire week camped on the bottom land of the Big Blue river, at a point a little west and south of the old Court street ford. About the first of August, Samuel Kilpatrick estab- lished, by actual settlement, preëmption rights to the "north half of the northwest fractional quarter and the southwest fractional quarter of the northwest fractional quarter of section thirty-one, in township four north, of range five east" in Gage county, Nebraska, --- the tract containing 102 56/100 acres. On the first day of January, 1863, at Brownville, Nebraska, he made entry of this tract of land under the new homestead law of congress which went into effect that day, his entry being the second one under the act. This quarter-section of land continued to be the home of Samuel and Rachael Kilpatrick the remainder of their lives, and it is still owned by their sons and held by them in reverent memory of their parents.

Samnel Kilpatrick was born at McConnells- ville, Ohio, December 5, 1818. His parents, John and Sarah (Wallace) Kilpatrick, were of

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Scotch-Irish descent, and were pioneers by habit, tradition, and instinct. At a very early age in the life of their son, they moved from Ohio to Indiana, and thence to Illinois, where he grew to maturity. In the country district schools of those states he obtained a good, usable education for that day. In his late youth and early manhood he spent much of his time as a farm hand, and by industry and fru- gality he had acquired considerable property before settling down in life.

Rachael ( Thompson) Kilpatrick also was born in Ohio, near Senecaville, Guernsey coun- ty, where she resided with her parents, David and Ruth Thompson, until she attained the age

KILPATRICK MAUSOLEUM Evergreen Home Cemetery

of ten years, when they moved to Adams coun- ty, Ohio, locating near Wilmington. In 1841 they moved to Will county, Illinois, and settled near Kankakee. Here on the eighteenth day of May, 1844, she and Samuel Kilpatrick were married, at her father's home, by Dr. Jewett, a Methodist Episcopal clergyman. At the time of their marriage the husband was twen- ty-six years of age and the wife eighteen. This marriage, solemnized so long ago, proved to be an ideally happy one and was broken only by the death of the husband, Samuel Kil- patrick, which occurred on the 20th day of February, 1875. His beloved wife, Rachael, survived him until the 23d day of May, 1908. when she too passed away, at the old home where so many years of her long and useful life had been spent.

Almost immediately after their marriage Samuel and Rachael Kilpatrick left Illinois and went to live in the state of Missouri, where they made their home on a farm in Jasper county from 1845 to 1857 and where six of their children were born. During the year last above named they moved to Benton coun- ty, Iowa, and thence they came, as above nar- rated. in 1859, to Gage county, Nebraska.

To Samuel and Rachael Kilpatrick the fol- lowing children were born, namely: Sarah Elizabeth Kilpatrick. July 19, 1845; John David Kilpatrick, October 7, 1847; Henry Clay Kilpatrick, August 23, 1850; William Hamilton Kilpatrick, February 6, 1853; Abra- ham Kilpatrick, February 21. 1855; Robert Jackson Kilpatrick, September 11, 1856; Sam- uel Davenport Kilpatrick, March 21, 1859; Abraham L. Kilpatrick, August 31, 1861; Josephus M. Kilpatrick, September 7, 1867; Lottie Rebecca Kilpatrick, March 5, 1871.

Of these children, Sarah Elizabeth died August 31, 1851, aged six years, one month, twelve days; Abraham died September 30, 1855, aged eight months. Their remains rest in a country cemetery in Jasper county, near Joplin, Missouri, and the place of their burial is marked by a stone. Abraham L. died Sep- tember 18. 1863, aged two years, seventeen days. Lottie Rebecca died December 23, 1873, aged two years, nine months, seventeen days. John David Kilpatrick, the eldest son, died at his home in Beatrice, July 27, 1891, aged forty- three years, nine months, twenty days. Henry Clay Kilpatrick died at his farm home, ten miles east of Hebron, in Thayer county, May 11, 1902, aged fifty-one years, three months, twelve days. . The remains of the deceased members of this pioneer family, parents and children, except those of Sarah Elizabeth and Abraham, are interred in the splendid mauso- 'leum erected in 1912 by the surviving sons, William Hamilton, Robert Jackson, Samuel Davenport, and Josephus M. Kilpatrick, in Evergreen Home cemetery, near Beatrice.

No one who was at all acquainted with Sam- uel and Rachael Kilpatrick, the founders of this Gage county family, ever failed to ac- cord to them the highest respect, not only for . their kindness of heart and neighborly quali-

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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 78

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