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 87

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 87

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Mr. Lillie has had no desire for political preferment or public office of any kind, but he gives a staunch support to the cause of the Democratic party. His wife and their son John hold membership in the Church of the Brethren.

CALVIN K. HIGGINS is another of the sterling pioneers who has achieved independ- ence and liberal prosperity through many years of active association with farm industry in Gage county, and his admirably improved farm home, in Section 35, Midland township, is in close proximity to the city of Beatrice,- a fine rural demesne that gives full evidence of the thrift and good management that have been brought to bear in its development.

Mr. Higgins is a scion of the staunchest of New England stock in both the paternal and maternal lines and a representative of families. early founded in the Pine Tree state, his pa- ternal grandfather, Ephraim Higgins, having been born at Mount Desert, Maine, on the shores of the Atlantic, and having become one of the substantial farmers of his native state, where he passed his entire life, a number of his brothers having become seafaring men. Cal- vin K. Higgins was born in the town of Pitts- field, Somerset county, Maine, on the 17th of June, 1844, and is a son of Heman and Betsy ( Tibbetts) Higgins, who passed their entire lives in the old Pine Tree state, where the father was a farmer by occupation. Mr. Hig-

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HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

gins is the eldest in a family of four children ; Charity, who became the wife of William Dyer, continued to reside in Maine until her death; George is a prosperous farmer at Clinton, that state; and Mary, the widow of Henry Lancaster, resides at Pittsfield, Maine. In connection with his farm enterprise the father was for a number of years engaged in lumbering operations, felling the timber and running the logs down the streams to the mill. He was a Democrat in politics.

Calvin K. Higgins was not denied in his youth a full measure of experience in connec- tion with the work of the somewhat austere New England farm, and that he made good use of the advantages afforded in the com- mon schools is shown by the fact that as a young man he became a successful and popular teacher in the rural schools of his native state. He taught five winter terms, and during the intervening seasons continued his association with farm work. In 1872 he went to Lowell, Massachusetts, where for one year he was employed as a watchman in a large cotton mill, and in 1875 he came to Nebraska and numbered himself among the ambitious young pioneers of Gage county. His resources were such that he was able to purchase forty acres of unimproved land, in Midland township. In the primitive little shanty which he built on his farm he maintained "bachelor's hall," and success attended his activities. He finally sold this place and purchased his present fine farm estate, which comprises one hundred and eighty-four acres and which he had improved with excellent buildings and accessories that mark it as one of the most attractive home- steads of the township, the land being now exceptionally valuable. On his first farm, near Holmesville, he continued to maintain sway as a bachelor for six years and he then took unto himself a companion and helpmeet who has been his earnest coadjutor during the long intervening period and who has shared with him in the joys and sorrows that are the common lot of humanity.

On the 7th of June, 1881, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Higgins to Miss Rebec- ca Murgatroyd, who was born in the state of

Wisconsin, April 3, 1857, and who is a daugh - ter of Emanuel and Ellen (Newson) Murga- troyd. Her parents were born and reared in England, where their marriage was solemnized. They became pioneer settlers in Gage county, Nebraska, where they passed the remainder of their lives. Of their ten children only four are now living. Mr. and Mrs. Higgins have six children: May is the wife of Harvey Essam and they reside in Logan township; Charles, a graduate of the Beatrice high school, remains at the parental home and has active management of the farm; Pansy likewise con- tinues a member of the home circle; Edith was graduated in the University of Nebraska, was for two terms a teacher in the schools of her native state and is now in the employ of the government, at Washington, D. C., en- gaged in the scientific testing of seeds; Grace remains at the parental home; and Julia was graduated in the Nebraska Agricultural Col- lege as a member of the class of 1918.

A man of strong mentality and well forti- fied opinions, Mr. Higgins has been well fortified for leadership in community sentiment and action and has been known as one of the progressive and public-spirited citizens of Gage county. He has not been ambitious for public office but has rendered efficient service as a member of the school board of his district and is a Republican in his political allegiance. In connection with his general operations as an agriculturist and stock-grower he has devel- oped a fine dairy herd of Jersey cows, and the milk from the same is sold to appreciative customers in the city of Beatrice.

CHARLES P. HORN, general manager of the well ordered and prosperous lumber busi- ness conducted by the S. A. Foster Company in the village of Pickrell, was born at Wood River, Hall county, Nebraska, October 25, 1881, a son of Charles M. and Elizabeth (Schultz) Horn. Of the other children the following brief data are available: Margaret is the wife of O. H. Abraham, of Sterling, Colorado; Anna remains with her widowed mother at Wood River; Henry W. is a resi- dent of Gering, Scotts Bluff county ; and Otto

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HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

continues his residence at Wood River, the subject of this review having been the second in order of birth.

Charles M. Horn was born in Germany, November 28, 1840, was there reared and educated and was about nineteen years old when he came to America and landed in New York city, in 1859. There he remained until he was moved to manifest his loyalty to the land of his adoption by tendering his services as a soldier of the Union in the Civil war. He enlisted, in 1862, in the Sixty-eighth New York Volunteer Infantry, and with this com- mand he served until the close of the war,- a participant in many important battles be- sides numerous engagements of minor order. In the early '70s he made his way to Arizona Territory, after having previously worked at his trade, that of shoemaker, in a boot and shoe establishment at St. Joseph, Missouri. About the year 1879, Mr. Horn came to Ne- braska and established himself in the work of his trade at Wood River. He became one of the successful business men and honored citi- zens of that place and there remained until his death, which occurred in 1913. His widow still resides at Wood River and through her has been gained the information here recorded concerning his career. He was a man whose intrinsic modesty caused him to say but little concerning his career or the family history, and thus more ample data could not be given for the preparation of this review. Mrs. Horn was born in Germany about 1858, came with her parents to America in the early '70s and the family home was established in Hall county, Nebraska, where she has since resided, her marriage having there been solemnized in 1875.

In the public schools of Wood River Charles P. Horn continued his studies until his graduation in the high school, as a member of the class of 1899. In the same year he found employment in a lumber yard in his native village, but in the autumn of the fol- lowing year he came to Gage county and entered the employ of the Foster Lumber Company, in the yards which it then conduct- ed at Cortland. In 1902 he was made the

manager of the Pickrell lumber yards of the S. A. Foster Company, a position of which he has since continued the efficient and popular incumbent.

September 25, 1907, recorded the marriage of Mr. Horn to Miss Lena E. Lawson, who was born at Beatrice, this county where her parents, William W. and Esther M. (McEl- roy) Lawson, still maintain their home. Mr. and Mrs Horn have three children,- Lois E., Charles Lawson, and Leon H.

Mr. Horn is known and valued as one of the most alert and progressive young business men of Pickrell and as a loyal and public-spirited citizen. He has given efficient service as a member of the municipal council of the village and also as a member of the board of educa- tion. He is a Republican in his political alle- giance and is affiliated with the Masonic fra- ternity. In the preparation of this history of Gage county Mr. Horn has shown much in- terest and as a member of the advisory board which has passed upon the various chapters of the history he has given most effective co-oper- ation.

CLARENCE B. KNOX .- At this juncture is consistently accorded recognition to a vigor- ous and resourceful young business man who is one of the popular citizens of Beatrice and who claims the distinction of being a native son of Nebraska, where he is a scion of the third generation on both the paternal and maternal sides. His energies are well em- ployed in his control of a substantial and pros- perous business in the buying and shipping of horses and mules, his activities as a buyer covering a large area of country in this sec- tion of the state and the large volume of his business being indicated by the statement that in the fall and winter of 1917 he shipped an average of three or more carloads of horses and mules weekly.

Mr. Knox was born in Seward county, Nebraska, on the 11th of June, 1883, and is a son of Charles D. and Arlepha (Hickman) Knox, who were young folk at the time of the immigration of the respective families to Seward county, where they were reared to

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HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

maturity and where their marriage was sol- emnized. They now reside in the city of Beatrice, where the father conducts a pros- perous taxicab, and transfer business. Of the four children the subject of this sketch is the eldest ; Clara is the wife of Herbert Hand, a successful farmer in Seward county; Fern remains at the parental home; and Eva is the wife of Radford Shelley, proprietor of a well ordered business college at Beatrice. Charles D. Knox is recognized as one of the substantial and representative business men of Beatrice, and concerning him individual rec- ord is made in other pages of this volume.

Clarence B. Knox was reared to the sturdy discipline of a pioneer farm in Seward county and his initial experience in independent lines was acquired through his continued association with agricultural and live-stock enterprise. After being thus engaged in independent farm- ing in Seward county for three years he re- moved to the county seat, Seward, where for two years he was engaged in the livery busi- ness. The following two years found him again identified with farm enterprise in that county and he then came to Beatrice and en- gaged in the buying and shipping of horses and mules, with which line of enterprise he has since continued his successful connection, his energy and progressive policies having enabled him to develop a large and important business in which his personal popularity and fair and honorable dealings constitute definite assets. His early education was obtained in the public schools of his native county and has been effectively supplemented by that gained in the practical school of experience. He is a Republican and takes loyal interest in public affairs, especially those of local signifi- cance.

The year 1906 recorded the marriage of Mr. Knox to Miss Ada Wickersham, of Seward, this state, and their only child is a fine little son, Bayard Charles, who was born in the year 1909.

JOHN H. WAYMAN .- In Clatonia town- ship John Henry Wayman resides upon and gives his able supervision to a farm of one

hundred and twenty-five acres which he rents from the Steinmeyer estate, and he is the owner of a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Lincoln county, Nebraska, as well as of property in the village of Clatonia.

Mr. Wayman was born at Longrun, Licking county, Ohio, on the 9th of May, 1872, a son of Henry and Sophia (Heisner) Wayman, the former of whom died in Holt county, Ne- braska, in 1907, at the age of eighty-two years and eleven months, and the latter of whom still resides in that county, she being sixty- eight years of age in 1918.

Henry Wayman was born and reared in Germany and was a young man when he came to America and settled in Ohio. In that state he continued his residence until 1884, when he came with his family to Nebraska and established his home at Centerville, Lincoln county. Later he came to Gage county and engaged in farming in Grant township, where he remained until his removal to Holt county. His first wife died when comparatively a young woman and of their children six are now living, namely: William, a resident of Arizona; Mrs. Mary Emerich, of Sedalia, Missouri; Frederick, a resident of Colorado; Eliza, wife of John Spellman, of Adams coun- ty, Nebraska; Mrs. Lizzie Pelzer, of Holt county, this state; and Henry J., who is a prosperous farmer of Holt county. Of the children of Henry and Sophia (Heisner) Way- man the eldest is Agusta, who is the wife of George Bohl, of Antelope county, Nebraska ; John R., subject of this review, was the next in order of birth; Louis is a resident of Holt county ; Flora died in childhood; and Charles is a resident of Antelope county. The twin sister of Augusta died in infancy.

John H. Wayman was about twelve years of age at the time of the family removal to Nebraska and he was reared principally on his father's farm in Clatonia township, Gage county, where in the meanwhile he profited by the advantages of the district schools. He has exceptional mechanical ability and in earlier years he gave much of his attention to work at the carpenter's trade, though as early as 1894 he began independent farm operations,

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HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

on rented land. In 1911 he rented his present farm and here he has continued his successful activities as an agriculturist and stock-grower, the while he gives also a general supervision to the improving and directing of the farm which he owns in Lincoln county. He has had no desire for political activity of any kind but gives his allegiance to the Republican party.

November 2, 1893, recorded the marriage of Mr. Wayman to Miss Katherine Menke, who was born in Ohio, and who came as a child to Nebraska, she being a daughter of Henry and Eliza (Knapp) Menke, the former of whom is deceased and the latter of whom remains on the old home farm, near Clatonia, this county. Mr. and Mrs. Wayman became the parents of five children, of whom the first- born, August, died at the age of twenty months; Albert, who became associated in the work of the home farm, is in the cantonment of the national army at San Antonio, Texas, in the spring of 1918, making ready to go to the battlefields of Europe ; Harvey died at the age of three years; and Ellen and Henry are members of the gracious home circle.

CARL HAWES .- One of the fine farm properties of Grant township is that to which Mr. Hawes is giving his careful and effective supervision, the same comprising two hundred and forty acres, in Section 28, and constituting property that was inherited by his mother from the estate of her father. With him on the homestead remain his younger brothers and sisters and in his independent activities as an agriculturist and stock-grower he has definite classification among the successful and pro- gressive farmers of the younger generation in his native county.

Mr. Hawes was born on his present home- stead farm, February 1, 1894, and is a son of the late John and Jane E. (Plucknett) Hawes, of whose ten children he was the fifth in order of birth, brief data concerning the other children being here offered: Mary is the wife of Wright Truesdell, of Fort Madison, Iowa; Ada is the wife of Daniel Morford, of Omaha; Alexander is now a resident of northwest Canada; William resides at Fair-

field, Clay county, Nebraska ; Robert is asso- ciated with the subject of this review in the work and management of the home farm, while their sister Ruth graciously directs the domestic economies of the home, with the aid of her younger sister, Clara; and Lloyd and Frank are the younger members of the family circle.

John Hawes was born at Glenwood, Mills county, Iowa, June 18, 1853, and was a mem- ber of one of the sterling pioneer families of the Hawkeye state. He was a son of Thomas and Isabelle (Stevens) Hawes, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Illinois, in which last mentioned state their marriage was solemnized. Thomas Hawes became one of the early settlers in Mills county, Iowa, where he reclaimed a farm from the virgin prairie, but after a number of years he came with his family to Nebraska and numbered himself among the pioneers of Saline county. There he entered claim to a homestead, southwest of Wilber, and he be- came one of the representative farmers of that locality, his wife having died at Dewitt, Saline county, and he having been a resident of Oklahoma at the time of his death, so that his pioneer experience had touched three of the now great and prosperous states of the Union.

John Hawes was the eldest in a family of five children and was a lad of nine years at the time of the family removal to Nebraska Territory, in the early '60s. He was reared under the discipline of the pioneer farm in Saline county, where eventually he became the owner of land and engaged in independent farm enterprise. Later he had the manage- ment of the farm inherited by his wife in Gage county and he was one of the substantial farm- ers and highly esteemed citizens of Grant township at the time of his death, which co- curred June 1, 1908. He was affiliated with the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Knights of Phythias and both he and his wife were active communicants of the Pro- testant Episcopal church, his political support having been given to the Republican party. Mrs. Jane E. (Plucknett) Hawes was born

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HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

in Grant township, this county, December 7, English families, and he was a lad of about 1863, and was summoned to eternal rest on the 29th of August, 1914. She was a daugh- ter of William and Caroline (Hawlett) Plucknett, both natives of England and both numbered among the prominent and honored pioneers of Gage county, where Mr. Plucknett developed one of the largest and best landed estates in the county : he was at one time the owner of about two thousand acres of land, principally in Grant township, and was known and valued as one of the strong, worthy and influential pioneer citizens of this section of Nebraska, he having established his residence in Gage county in 1861, and both he and his wife having here passed the closing years of their lives, after having previously gained pioneer experience in the state of Iowa.

Carl Hawes has been actively associated with farm enterprise from his early youth, was afforded the advantages of the public schools, and since the death of liis mother he has had the active management of the splendid farm of two hundred and forty acres, which is given over to diversified agriculture and stock-growing and is a part of one of the his- toric pioneer estates of Gage county. He is a Republican in politics and he and his broth- ers and sisters retain the ancestral religious faith - that represented in America by the Protestant Episcopal church.

THOMAS MAYBORN, who is now living retired in the city of Beatrice, gained independ- ence and substantial prosperity through his as- sociation with farm enterprise in Gage county and is a citizen who commands the fullest measure of popular confidence and good will. Lasting honor shall rest upon his name by rea- son of the service which he gave as a gallant soldier of the Union in the Civil war, and he is one of the valued members of Rawlins Post, No. 35, Grand Army of the Republic, in the city of Beatrice. .

Mr. Mayborn was born in Dover, England, not far distant from the city of London, and the date of his nativity, was November 19, 1844. He is a son of Thomas and Caroline (Harding) Mayborn, members of sterling old

four years at the time of his parents' immigra- tion to the United States, settlement being first made in Oneida county, New York, but about eighteen months later removal being made to Stark county, Illinois, where the father engaged in farm enterprise and where his death occurred when the subject of this review was but seven years of age. Both he and his wife were communicants of the established Church of England and upon coming to the United States naturally affiliated themselves with its American exponent of the same faith, the Protestant Episcopal church. Of the six children three are living, Thomas, of this re- view, being the eldest of the number ; James is a substantial farmer in Washington county, Kansas; and Alfred is president of the Diller State Bank, at Diller, Jefferson county, Ne- braska. Thomas Mayborn, Sr., was about forty-five years of age at the time of his death and his widow passed the closing period of her life with her sons, in Gage county, Nebraska, where she died at the venerable age of eighty- one years.

He whose name initiates this review ac- quired his early education in the public schools of Illinois and was a mere lad when he began to apply himself earnestly in aiding in the sup- port of his widowed mother and the other members of the family, he having been the eld- est of the children. He was actively associated with farming operations in Illinois at the time of the outbreak of the Civil war and promptly showed his intrinsic loyalty by tendering his. services in defence of the Union. On the 25th of September, 1861, while on a visit in the old Empire state, he enlisted as a private in Com- pany A, Fourteenth New York Volunteer In- fantry, with which command he proceeded to- the front. At the battle of Malvern Hill, Vir- ginia, July 1, 1862, he was wounded in the right thigh, by a minie ball, and while lying helpless on the battlefield he was captured by the enemy. He was taken to Libby Prison, of infamous historical record, but fortunately was released from this bastile after he had there been held as a prisoner of war for twenty- seven days. The effects of his wound inca-

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HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

pacitated him for further service in the field, and, much to his regret, he was compelled to retire from the army, an honorable discharge having been given to him in December, 1862. He then returned to Stark county, Illinois, and for more than a year thereafter he was unable to do any active work.

Mr. Mayborn continued his residence in Il- linois until 1875, when he removed to Page county, Iowa, where he was engaged in farm- ing for the ensuing six years. In the spring of 1881 he came with his family to Gage coun- ty, Nebraska, where he purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, in Glenwood township, and instituted its improvement and cultivation. He developed the place into one of the valuable farm properties of the county and still owns the farm, his attention having been given largely to the raising of live stock. but diversified agriculture having not been neg- lected by him during the period of his resi- dence on the farm. He erected good buildings on the farm and he now rents the place to good effect. In 1903 he and his wife removed to the city of Beatrice, where they have an at- tractive home and where he has since lived practically retired, in the enjoyment of the re- wards of former years of earnest and worthy endeavor.

In Stark county, Illinois, on the 9th of April, 1865, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Mayborn to Miss Rebecca Jerrems, who was born in Oneida county, New York, a daughter of James and Ann (Carter) Jerrems, natives of England, whence they came to the United States in the early '30s. Mrs. Mayborn was born April 5, 1845, and her death occurred August 1, 1890, she having been a devout mem- ber of the Christian church. She is survived by four children : William resides in Beatrice and is a traveling salesman of agricultural im- plements and machinery ; James A. is a success- ful farmer in Ogle county, Illinois ; George is associated with William Lyndes in the meat- market business at Beatrice; and C. H. is cashier in a banking institution at Brush, Colo- rado.

On the 25th of April, 1901, Mr. Mayborn contracted a second marriage, when Mrs.

Frances Jane (Black) Hill became his wife. She is the widow of John L. Hill and has three children by her first marriage: Raymond is a carpenter by trade and is a successful con- tractor and builder at National City, Cali- fornia; Bessie is the wife of Lloyd Willis. of Beatrice, her husband having recently been called to enter service with the national army being prepared for service in the great Euro- pean war; and Laura, who remains with her mother, is assistant librarian of the Beatrice public library. Mrs. Mayborn is an earnest and zealous communicant of Christ church, and is the popular chatelaine of one of the pleasant homes of the Gage county metropolis and judicial center.

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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 87

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