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 86

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 86

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

After the close of the war Mr. Bull con- tinued his residence in the state of New York until 1869, when he came to the new state of Nebraska and gallantly arrayed himself among the pioneers of Gage county. He purchased land in Midland township and, notwithstand- ing his physical infirmity, in the loss of his right arm, he proved himself resourceful and a master of industrial expedients, so that he reclaimed and developed one of the fine farms of the county. He continued his successful association with farm enterprise until Feb- ruary, 1901, since which time he has lived vir- tually retired, in the city of Beatrice.

On the 23d of March, 1868, at Williams- town, New York, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Bull to Miss Polly Louisa Park, who was born at Waterbury, Connecticut, Novem-

649

HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

ber 20, 1847, and who was reared and educat- ed in the state of New York. In the year succeeding that of their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Bull came to Gage county and took up the burdens and responsibilities of pioneer life. In this county were born all of their children,- three sons and six daughters, and two of the number, George Frederick and Musadora, preceded their mother to the life eternal. In all that makes for gracious and no- ble womanhood Mrs. Bull was preeminent, and she went through life trailing the beatitudes of her train, so that her memory is revered by all who came within the compass of her gentle influence. She continued as the devoted com- panion and helpmeet of her husband for nearly half a century, and the gracious ties were severed by her death, which occurred August 7, 1915. Mrs. Bull was a most earnest mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal church, and was one of the loved members of the Centen- ary church of this denomination in Beatrice during the entire period of her residence in this city. She identified herself actively with the various women's societies of this church and was also affiliated with the Woman's Relief Corps organized as an adjunct of Rawlins Post of the Grand Army of the Republic, besides which she was affiliated with several fraternal societies. Until impaired health made it im- possible, Mrs. Bull was a prominent and loved factor in connection with the best social life of the Gage county metropolis, and her memory rests like a benediction upon her venerable husband and her surviving children, concerning whom the following brief record is consistent- ly entered : Nora E. is the wife of Charles Lash, of Des Moines, Iowa; Emma A. resides in Beatrice and for fifteen years has followed the profession of trained nurse; Charles A. resides in Beatrice ; Rev. Albert S. is, in 1918, pastor of the Methodist Episcopal church at Tekama, Nebraska; Harriet N. is the wife of Fay Shottenkirk, of Beatrice; Lydia V. is the widow of Frank Wing, of Steele City, Ne- braska; and Mary E. is the wife of Robert Shedler, of Casper, Wyoming. September 20, 1916, Mr. Bull married Henrietta Miller of Beatrice.

In politics Mr. Bull gives unwavering alle- giance to the Democratic party and he has always shown a loyal interest in communal affairs, as a liberal and progressive citizen. He holds membership in the Centenary Metho- dist Episcopal church of Beatrice and while he has never been animated by ambition for pub- lic office he served as deputy sheriff of Gage county in 1890 - 1891. A resident of this county for more than half a century, he is well known to its citizens and his circle of friends is limited only by that of his acquaintances.

JOHN KRAPP .- To have attained to the success and status that mark the operations of Mr. Krapp as an agriculturist and stock- grower implies the concentrating of fine ability and energies in the achievement of definite ends. He is the owner of a valuable and well improved landed estate of eight hundred acres, all in Highland township, and his attractive home place, of one hundred and sixty acres, is situated in Section 10. His progressive- ness may be said to denote him fully as a native of the great empire of the west, and he is a scion of a sterling pioneer family of Min- nesota. In Wabasha county, that state, he was born April 18, 1864, a son of Joseph and Mary (Vollert) Krapp, of whose seven children Saloma, the first, and Peter, the youngest, are deceased, the subject of this review being the eldest son ; Mary became the wife of August Heidecker and was a resident of Hallam at the time of her death; Lena is the wife of J. H. Doolittle, of Nemaha town- ship, Gage county; Frances is the wife of Philip O'Brien, of Princeton, Lancaster coun- ty, Nebraska; and Charles F. is one of the prosperous farmers of Highland township, Gage county.

Joseph Krapp was born in Germany, in 1828, and as a young man he came to the United States and became a pioneer settler in Wabasha county, Minnesota. There he continued his activities as a farmer until 1872, when he came with his family to Nebraska and established his home in Gage county, where he found ample opportunity for expanding his pioneer experience. He had visited Nebraska

650

HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

several years previously and incidentally had formed the acquaintance of Joseph Graff, one of the well known pioneers of Gage county. On coming with his family to this state Mr. Krapp made the journey from Minnesota with a team and a covered wagon, and he had not made any definite decision as to his location in the west. In Gage county his friend Mr. Graff persuaded him not to continue his journey further but here to make permanent location. Mr. Graff so effectively presented the claims of the county as a desirable place for successful enterprise that Mr. Krapp de- cided to establish his home within its borders. Accordingly he took up a homestead of eighty acres in Section 10 Highland township, and the same now constitutes a part of the fine landed estate of his son John, of this review. In his initial operations as a farmer in this county he received assistance and counsel from Mr. Graff, whose friendship he greatly valued. He proved successful as a farmer and re- mained upon his old homestead until his death, which occurred in 1914, and he devel- oped and improved one of the excellent farm properties of Highland township. His broth- er John accompanied the family to Gage coun- ty and he likewise took a homstead of eighty acres. John Krapp was a man of most kindly and unselfish nature and lived until his death in the home of his brother Joseph, whose children accorded to their bachelor uncle the deepest affection. John Krapp met a sudden death, as the result of organic desease of the heart, and was about seventy years of age at the time. Mrs. Mary (Vollert) Krapp was born in Germany, in 1828, and her marriage was solemnized in Minnesota. She preceded her husband to the life eternal, her death hav- ing occurred in 1900.

John Krapp, immediate subject of this sketch, was a lad of seven years when the family made the long overland journey to Gage coun- ty, and his parents unloaded their wagons on the site of the barn on his present homestead. By hard work and good management he has pressed forward to the goal of success, and his early education was gained in the pioneer schools of this county. At the age of sixteen

years he made his first investment in land, by purchasing eighty acres of railroad land in Highland township, this tract lying adjacent to the present village of Cortland. With increasing prosperity Mr. Krapp continued to make judicious investment in Gage county land, and he made each successive purchase carefully, waiting until he had accumulated sufficient capital to justify such action. His present fine estate comprises seven hundred and twenty acres and includes fully six dif- ferent farms in Highland township. He has wisely ordered his farm enterprise in all de- partments, and has been enterprising both as an agriculturist and as a grower of live stock. He is a stockholder of the Farmers' State Bank of Cortland, is a Republican in politics, and both he and his wife are communicants of the Catholic church.

On the 15th of September, 1903, was solem- nized the marriage of Mr. Krapp to Miss Clara Doyle, who was born and reared in this county and who is a daughter of Edward and Ellen (O'Neill) Doyle. Mr. Doyle was born in Ireland, in 1842, was a child when he came to the United States and was reared by a spinster aunt, Miss Ann Coleman, on a farm near Woosing, Ogle county, Illinois, he hav- ing been about six years old when he came to America in company with his older brother, Michael, his mother having died when he was an infant. He went forth as a valiant soldier of the Union in the Civil war, August, 1861, having recorded his enlistment as a member of Company D, Thirty-fourth Illinois Vol- unteer Infantry, and he continued in active service until the close of the war, save for a period of about two weeks during which he was confined in the historic Libby Prison, af- ter his capture at the time of the battle of Stone's River, in which he took part. In January, 1867, he married Miss Ellen O'Neill, of Illinois, and in 1873 they came to Gage county, Nebraska, where he improved a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, in Section 30 Highland township. There he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives, as sterling pioneers of this county. They became the parents of eight children, of whom eight are

651

HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

living. Mr. and Mrs. Krapp have four chil- dren,- Dorothy, Leland, Neil and Alice.

JOHN F. KRAUTER, whose attractive homestead farm is situated in Section 3, Cla- tonia township, has by his own ability achieved noteworthy success as a representative of agricultural and live-stock enterprise in his native county, and this is attested by his own- ership of a valuable estate of five hundred and twenty acres of the excellent land of Gage county. He was born on his father's farm in Clatonia township, February 11, 1875 and is a member of a family of twelve children. He is a son of George and Caroline (Wolf) Krauter, both natives of Germany, the former having been born in Bavaria, December 5, 1833; and the latter a native of the province of Alsace: their marriage was solemnized in 1853. In the year that recorded his marriage George Krauter came to America, making the voyage on a sailing vessel that did not arrive in the port of New York till after the lapse of about nine weeks. In Orange county, New York, he was employed at farm work about two years and thereafter he was located for a brief period in the vicinity of Sing Sing, that state. He then removed with his wife to Iowa and established his residence at Bur- lington, which was then a mere village. There he was identified with the lumber business several years, and he then engaged in farm enterprise in that vicinity. In 1871 he came with his family to Gage county, Nebraska, and took up a homestead of eighty acres, in Sec- tion 3, Clatonia township. As one of the sterling pioneers of that township he won success and independence through his activ- ities as a farmer, and in this township both he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives, he having been the owner of more than four hundred acres of land in the township at the time of his death, which occurred in November, 1914, his wife having passed away in 1908. He was a Republican in politics, liberal and influential in community affairs, served in various local offices of minor order, and both he and his wife were earnest mem-

bers of the German Methodist Episcopal church.

John F. Krauter was reared on the pioneer farm and received his early education in the district schools of Clatonia township. He continued to assist his father in the work of the home farm until he had attained to the age of nineteen years and upon reaching his legal majority he initiated farm enterprise in an independent way, handicapped by a debt of one hundred dollars and having as virtually his principal equipment only one horse. In 1897 he purchased his present home farm, of one hundred and twenty acres, and he has not only made this one of the model farms of the township but has shown equal progressiveness in the developing of his other farms, his ability and energy having enabled him to accumulate a valuable landed estate of five hundred and twenty acres. Mr. Krauter has always shown loyal interest in all things tending to advance the welfare of his home community and na- tive county, is a Republican in his political adherency and is serving in 1917 - 1918 as a member of the school board of his district. He and his wife are active members of the German Methodist church.

April 17, 1902, recorded the marriage of Mr. Krauter to Miss Anna Theasmeier, who was born in this county on the 28th of August, 1878, a daughter of Henry Theasmeier, a well known pioneer of whom more specific mention is made on other pages, in the sketch of his son George. Mr. and Mrs. Krauter have four children,- Edmund S., born Jan- uary 19, 1903; Raymond, born December 21, 1905 ; Orris, born March 27, 1910; and Lor- rine, born January 31, 1916.

PETER C. THOM was a self-reliant, am- bitious and sterling pioneer who contributed in large measure to civic and industrial ad- vancement in Gage county, where he estab- lished his home in the year 1868, within a few months after the admission of Nebraska to statehood, and he and his noble wife endured their full share of the vicissitudes and trials incidental to the development of a productive farm in a frontier country. They lived and

652

HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

MRS. PETER C. THOM

PETER C. THOM

653

HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

labored to goodly ends and were numbered among the venerable and honored pioneer citi- zens of the county at the time of their death, their beautiful old homestead farm, in Section 20, Sherman township, being still the place of residence of their son, James A, who has kindly consented to supply the data on which is based this memoir to his parents.

Peter C. Thom was born on a pioneer farm near Tiffin, Seneca county, Ohio, May 4, 1838, the eldest in a family of six sons and five daughters born to Charles and Mary E. (Weber) Thom, both natives of the Kingdom of Bavaria, Germany. Charles Thom was born March 24, 1809, and in his native land he received excellent educational advantages. In Bavaria he was employed as an expert ac- countant until 1837, when, as a young man of twenty-eight years, he came to America and settled in Seneca county, Ohio, where he be- came a prosperous farmer and where both he and his wife passed the residue of their lives. Mrs. Thom was born September 15, 1816, a daughter of Michael and Catherine Weber, with whom she came from Bavaria to the United States in 1835, the family home being established in Ohio, where her marriage was solemnized about two years later. Peter C. Thom acquired his early education in the common schools of the Buckeye state, and at the age of fifteen years he began an appren- ticeship to the trade of blacksmith, in Union county, Ohio. He became a skilled workman and continued to follow this sturdy trade about fifteen years.

At the age of twenty-one years Mr. Thom wedded Miss Delilah Dailey, who was born in Washington county, Indiana, August 24, 1838, a daughter of James and Elizabeth (Feeler) Dailey, natives respectively of North Carolina and Virginia. Mr. Dailey was born in 1808 and his wife in 1810, their marriage having been solemnized in 1836. Soon after- wards they settled in Washington county, In- diana, whence they later removed to Clinton county, that state, where they passed the re- mainder of their lives. Within a few years after his marriage Mr. Thom left his home to give service as a soldier of the Union in the

Civil war, and he thus subordinated all other interests to answer the call of patriotism.

On August 16, 1862, Mr. Thom enlisted as a private in Company H, Eighty-sixth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and with his command he proceeded to Kentucky, with General Burn- side. At Crab Orchard he was attacked with illness of such severity that he was incapaci- tated and sent to the hospital. Upon measur- ably recuperating he was assigned to detailed duty as steward of Hospital No. 6, at Bowling Green, Kentucky, and later he was transferred to similar service at Hospital No. 5, in Nash- ville, Tennessee. A short time prior to the battle of Missionary Ridge he joined his com- mand in that locality, and he took part in the historic battle at that place. In the spring of 1864 he was detailed to a pioneer brigade, and with the same he continued in active ser- vice until the close of the war, he having been mustered out June 6, 1865. It may be noted at this juncture that in later years Mr. Thom manifested his continued interest in his old comrades in arms by maintaining affiliation with the Grand Army of the Republic, as a member of Scott Post, Blue Springs, Gage county.

After a record of loyal service as a soldier of the republic Mr. Thom returned to In- diana and established a blacksmith shop in the village of Lexington. There he continued in the work of his trade until 1868, on the 10th of August of which year he set forth with his family for Nebraska, the entire journey hav- ing been made with team and wagon and the sojourners having arrived in Gage county about the 1st of September. Mr. Thom lo- cated a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres, in Section 20, Sherman township, and the pioneer dug-out which he constructed on the pioneer farm continued to be the family home about nine years. Hardships and pri- vations were encountered by Mr. and Mrs. Thom, and to make provision for his family he did more or less work at his trade, includ- ing about two months of such service on the Otoe Indian reservation. He eked out the family living the first winter by trapping mink, from the sale of the skins of which he was

654

HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

able to add somewhat to his available financial resources. For a time also he was engaged in freighting between Beatrice and Nebraska City, and in the meanwhile he was vigorously carrying forward the reclamation and develop- ment of his frontier farm. A high type of judgment and progressiveness was his, and one of his splendid achievements in the early days was the planting of a large number of forest trees on his farm and also an orchard. With the passing years abundant success crowned his earnest endeavors as an agricul- turist and stock-grower, and at the time of his death he was the owner of a well improved and valuable landed estate of four hundred acres in Gage county. Mr. Thom passed from the stage of life's mortal activities on the 7th of December, 1894, and his widow survived him by seventeen years, she having been called to the life eternal on the 16th of December, 1911, the names and memories of both merit- ing a tribute of honor in this history of the county in which they so long maintained their home and in which they commanded unquali- fied popular esteem. Mr. and Mrs. Thom be- came the parents of five children: Mary Elizabeth died in childhood, having succumbed to an attack of diphtheria while the father was serving as a soldier in the Civil war. Harriet died in infancy. Sarah Adeline resides on her farm estate, in Section 32, Sherman township. Charles is supposed at the time of this writ- ing to be with the American military forces in active service in the great European war, and his only son, James Dale Thom, likewise is in the military service of the nation, he being, in the spring of 1918, stationed at Camp Lewis, Washington, and having won the rank of second lieutenant. This loyal and patriotic young man has received exceptional educa- tional advantages - at Sioux City and Grin- nell, Iowa; Chicago and Springfield, Illinois ; and in the law school of historic old Harvard University, where he was a student at the time when he volunteered for service in the United States army. James A., a representa- tive farmer of Sherman township, is indi- vidually mentioned on other pages.

A man of broad views and mature judg-

ment, Mr. Thom was well fortified for leader- ship in community sentiment and action, and he was specially influential in public affairs in Sherman township, where he served as town- ship supervisor and township treasurer, as well as a member of the school board. He was a stalwart supporter of the principles of the Re- publican party and he and his wife were earn- est members of the Methodist Episcopal church. He gave to his children the best of educational advantages, including instruction in the Normal School at Peru, and all three have given added honors to the family name. Miss Sarah A. Thom, who gives her personal supervision to the management of her fine farms, comprising five hundred and sixty-three acres, attended the public schools of Beatrice and was for five years a student in the Ne- braska Normal School at Peru. For five years she was an efficient and popular teacher in the schools of Gage county, and she is a gracious gentlewoman whose friends are in number as her acquaintances.

WILLIAM F. LILLIE is a scion of a well known family that was founded in Gage coun- ty about three years before the Territory of Nebraska gained the dignity and prerogatives of statehood, and he has been a resident of the county since he was a lad of twelve years, so that his memory forms an indissoluble link between the pioneer days and the present period of opulent prosperity in this favored section of the state. He is now one of the prosperous agriculturists and stock-growers of Rockford township, where he is the owner of a well improved farm estate of forty acres, his home being in Section 14.

William Franklin Lillie was born in the vi- cinity of the now important industrial city of Akron, Ohio, December 14, 1852, and is a son of Henry D. and Susanna (Phillips) Lillie, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Ohio. In 1864 Henry D. Lillie came with his family to Nebraska Ter- ritory, the journey having been made with a team and wagon, and he became a pioneer settler in Gage county, where he took up a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres,

655

HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

in Section 14, Rockford township. His first house was constructed principally from his wagon-box, but in the autumn of the same year he constructed the walls of a substantial stone house, though for several years the roof of the building was of the sod or dirt order so common to the pioneer days. He reclaim- ed his farm and bore his full share of the burdens incidental to life on the frontier. He was fifty-nine years of age at the time of his death, in 1882, and his widow still resides on the old homestead, she having celebrated the eighty-second anniversary of her birth and be- ing one of the honored pioneer women of the county. She is an earnest member of the Church of the Brethren, as was also her hus- band. Of the five children the subject of this review is the eldest ; David Sylvester is a resi- dent of Fairbury ; Belinda is the widow of Jo- seph Benson and remains with her venerable mother on the old homestead ; George is a res- ident of Fairbury ; and of James the address is unknown to the other members of the family at the time of this writing.

William F. Lillie acquired his early educa- tion principally in the common schools of Ohio and after the family removal to Nebraska he attended school three terms in a little log school house that was established by the pioneers of Rockford township. He assisted his father in the reclamation and general ac- tivities of the home farm and at the age of twenty-two years he initiated his independent operations as a farmer, though he had virtually no financial resources to fortify him and de- pended entirely upon his own energy and ability in gaining a start in the world. His first land was acquired when he bought forty acres of Hugh J. Dobbs, and this constituted the necleus around which he has developed his present farm property, his original pur- chase having been made in 1883, prior to which year he had farmed on rented land.

In 1874 Mr. Lillie married Miss Sarah L. Richards, who was born in Rock Island county, Illinois, and who died on the 10th of March, 1884. Of the five children of this union only one is living, William E., who is a progress- ive farmer in Rockford township. In 1887

Mr. Lillie contracted a second marriage, when Miss Eva May Leming became his wife. She is a daughter of John and Margaret (Luke- mires) Leming, who were early settlers in Gage county. At this juncture is given brief record concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Lillie: Clara is the wife of James Wil- son, a prosperous farmer in Franklin county ; Henry D. is engaged in farm enterprise in Rockford township; Susan is the wife of Roy Graves, of Kansas City, Missouri; Altheia is the wife of Harry Wenrick, a member of the Dempster department in the city of Beatrice; Earl A., Carrie and John A. remain at the parental home; and Bessie died at the age of fifteen months.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

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 86

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