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 97

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 97

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Mr. Wilson, though he has passed the span of three score years and ten, is still vigorous

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HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

JOHN L. WILSON

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and in the best of health, has no desire to lay aside the labors and responsibilities incidental to the management of his farm, and continues to take vital interest in community affairs. In politics he is an independent Democrat, and in the past he has given effective service as a member of the county board of supervisors, as well as the board of trustees of Hanover township. After serving forty years as a member of the school board of his district he relinquished the office, by refusing again to appear as a candidate for the same. There are few citizens of Gage county who have lived as great a number of years within its borders as has Mr. Wilson, and he has con- tributed his full quota to civic and industrial progress and prosperity in this now favored section of the state. He is one of very few remaining territorial pioneers of the county, is well known and has a host of friends.

CHARLES W. KING. - The late Charles Willis King was born in Wayne county, Mich- igan, on the 1st of December, 1824, and was a son of C. F. and Harriet (Northrup) King. He attended the common schools of Michi- gan and was a boy when he accompanied his parents to Illinois, the family home being es- tablished in Rock Island. In Illinois Mr. King was reared to manhood, and there was solemnized his marriage to Miss Candace Stansell, a daughter of James and Catherine (Brittain) Stansell, natives of Michigan, where Mrs. King was born July 31, 1849.

Charles Willis King farmed in Illinois until 1876, when he came with his family to Gage county, Nebraska, and located on one hun- dred and sixty acres of wild land in Filley township. This property he developed into a productive farm and here. he and his wife lived for many years. They finally sold the farm and bought land near Beatrice, the coun- ty seat. There they remained until nine years ago, when Mr. King sold the property and moved to Beatrice, where he established his home at 1015 Market street. He was in very poor health at the time, as he was afflicted with asthma. He made several trips to Cali- fornia and other places in the west in search

of health. While on one of these trips Mr. King purchased some land in Montana, and this his widow still owns. In the summer of 1915, while attending to his affairs in Mon- tana, Mr. King's health became worse and he returned to Beatrice, where he died on De- cember 12th of that year.

In early life Mr. King was a member of the Methodist church, but during the latter years of his life he belonged to no church organiza- tion, though he always held family prayers in his home and was a great reader of his Bible. He was a good Christian man and was very highly respected in the community in which he lived.

Mr. and Mrs. King became the parents of twelve children: Chester F. resides in Fil- ley, this county; Bertha died at the age of nine years ; Jesse J. is a farmer in Filley town- ship; Lemuel resides in Beatrice; Charles is a farmer in Filley township; Fred is in Mon- tana; Hattie is the wife of Thomas Armstrong, of Beatrice; Myrtle is the wife of Oscar Wemm, of Beatrice; Edward is a farmer in Sherman township; Albert resides in Beatrice; Gertrude died at the age of three years; and Daisy died at the age of two years.

Mrs. Charles W. King has continued to make her home in Beatrice since the death of her husband, and is a noble woman who is loved and esteemed by all who know her. She is a member of the Methodist church.

CHARLES HENTGES is another of the honored pioneer citizens who, after winning through association with productive farm in- dustry a large measure of success, has found it his good fortune to have a pleasant home in the attractive city of Beatrice, where in re- tirement from active labors he is living in ease and comfort, secure in the independence that is justly his due.

Mr. Hentges is a native of the historic Grand Duchy of Luxemburg, which has been at different periods been under the domination of Germany, Spain, France, Austria, and the Netherlands, and which became a Belgian province in 1830. In this now independent and interesting province of Europe Mr. Hent-

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HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

ges was born January 16, 1839, a son of Matthias and Anna Mary (Stumpf) Hentges, who there passed their entire lives. Reared and educated in his native land, Mr. Hentges there continued his residence until 1869, when, at the age of thirty years, he immigrated to the United States. A stranger in a strange land, but well endowed with ambition and self- reliance, he made his way to the state of Illi- nois, where he found employment at farm work, at wages ranging from eighteen to twenty dollars a month. After being thus en- gaged four years he rented land in Livingston county, that state, where he continued inde- pendent farm enterprise until 1877, when he came to Gage county, Nebraska, his arrival in Beatrice taking place shortly before Christ- mas of that year. In thus preparing himself to assume pioneer responsibilities Mr. Hentges brought with him a team and wagon, a few household goods and fifty dollars in money. He was accompanied by his wife and their two small children, and it may well be under- stood that without delay productive activity became imperative on his part. He rented a farm in Midland township, but as he could not gain possession of either the house or the land, he and his family installed themselves in an old shanty in the vicinity. This flimsy shelter was soon afterward subjected to the forces of a heavy blizzard, and the roof, cov- ered merely with building paper, finally be- came so weighted with snow that it fell in, though the members of the family fortunately escaped more than minor injuries through the accident. In the bleak little building the only fuel obtainable was green wood, which was burned in the cook stove, and Mr. Hentges relates as one of his experiences at this time that he and his faithful wife would each take one of their little children on their laps and hold the tiny feet in the oven of the stove to keep the youngsters warm. Four years after coming to Gage county Mr. Hentges and his brother Nicholas each purchased one hundred acres of land in Hanover township, and he then turned his energies to breaking the raw prairie and bringing the land under cultiva- tion. His first house on the new farm was a

board shanty of two rooms, and this continued to be the family domicile for six years. He then made an appreciable addition to the build- ing and with increasing prosperity he pur- chased an additional tract of one hundred acres. He diligently applied himself to farm industry on this place for ten years, at the ex- piration of which he sold the property and bought a well improved farm in Misland town- ship. After remaining about eight years on this place Mr. Hentges and his wife removed to the city of Beatrice, where he has since lived practically retired, and they own their attractive home property, at 1503 Court street. Mr. Hentges still owns a valuable farm of two hundred and forty acres in Midland town- ship, the same being in charge of his sons, and the family estate includes also another farm, of one hundred and sixty acres, in the same township, the same having been pur- chased with money which Mrs. Hartges in- herited from her father's estate in Illinois.

In the year 1871, at Pontiac, Livingston county, Illinois, Mr. Hentges married Miss Anna Baumann, on whose father's farm her husband found his first employment upon com- ing to America. Mrs. Hentges likewise was born in Luxemburg, Germany, and she was a child at the time her parents came to the United States and settled in Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Hentges became the parents of five children, the first born, Anna, having become the wife of Frederick Winkle and their home having been at Beatrice at the time of her death; Katie is the widow of Hanson Day, who met his death in an automobile accident, in the summer of 1917, and she now resides in Beatrice : Charles and Theodore have the ac- tive management of their father's fine farm in Midland township; and Emma is the wife of John Benton, of Midland township. Mr. and Mrs. Hentges point with justifiable pride to the fact that they now (1918) have nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Both are devout communicants of the Catholic church and in politics he gives his support to the cause of the Democratic party. This venerable couple bore their full share of hard- ships and perplexities in the pioneer days. In

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coming to Gage county from Illinois they brought as provisions a sack of beans and a quantity of ham. They extended their credit in securing two bushels of wheat, had the same ground in the old mill at Beatrice, and these meager provisions constituted virtually the entire contents of the family larder during the first winter and spring - until Mr. Hent- ges could raise some produce on the farm which he rented. In the early days the re- vered pioneer physician, Dr. Huff, attended the Hentges family in case of illness and as there was no available money to pay his moderate fees the doctor kindly consented to take his pay in wheat. Mr. Hentges retains splendid mental and physical vigor, but his wife is in impaired health, as she has endured two strokes of paralysis. Their home is known for its generous and unpretentious hospitality and they are always ready to extend welcome to their host of friends, especially those who with them endured the trials of the pioneer days.

HENRY REMMERS is proving himself one of the vigorous and successful exempli- fiers of farm enterprise in his native county and township, and has made excellent im- provements on his farm of one hundred and sixty acres, in Section 24, Hanover township, the same being an integral part of the landed estate of his father, Thomas Remmers.

Henry Remmers was born on his father's old homestead farm in Hanover township, and the date of his nativity was January 4, 1874. He gained his youthful education in the local schools and continued to be associated with the work of the home farm until he attained to his legal majority, when he initiated inde- pendent operations on his present farm, on which he has erected a modern house and more recently a large barn of the best type. His political support is given to the Democra- tic party and he and his wife hold member- ship in the Lutheran church.

In 1896 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Remmers to Miss Kate Parde, who was born in Illinois, and whose father, William Parde, is made the subject of individual men-

tion on other pages of this volume. Mr. and Mrs. Remmers have eight children, Thomas, Matilda, William, John Benjamin, Henry, Heye, Diedrick, and Alfred. All of the chil- dren remain at the parental home except the one daughter, who is the wife of John Bus- boom, of Logan township.

SAMUEL H. MCKINNEY was born at Lanora, Kansas, on the 2d of May, 1885, and is a son of William and Elizabeth (Decker) McKinney. William McKinney was born at Sandusky, Ohio, October 14, 1840, and is now living retired in the city of Beatrice, Ne- braska. His wife, who was born at Dayton,. Ohio, April 10, 1842, was about forty-five years of age at the time of her death, which occurred at Lanora, Kansas. The parents of William McKinney were Thomas E. and Mary (Adams) Mckinney, the former having been of Irish and the latter of German de- scent. They came from their native countries. to the United States when they were young folk, and eventually they settled in Buchanan county, Iowa, five miles distant from the site- of the present fine little city of Independence .. On his father's farm in Iowa William McKin -. ney grew to manhood, and he was a youth of nineteen years at the outbreak of the Civil war. His youthful loyalty and patriotism were not long to lack definite expression, for, on the- 11th of August, 1862, he enlisted in Company- H, Twenty-seventh Iowa Volunteer Infantry,. with which he went forth in defense of the Union. After serving six months, he received: an incidental injury, at Memphis, Tennessee,. and was discharged for disability. On his re- covery he again enlisted, this time in Company D, Forty-seventh Iowa Volunteer Infantry. At the expiration of his one hundred days' en- listment he received an honorable discharge,. at Davenport, Iowa, and returned to his old home in Buchanan county. There he was en- gaged in farming until 1876, when he removed to Norton county, Kansas, remaining there- until he came to Nebraska, about thirty years ago. He settled in Beatrice, where he has since resided. His wife died before he left Kansas, leaving a family of seven children, all.

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but one of whom, Axie, the eldest daughter, are living. William A. resides in Beatrice, Nebraska; Nancy Edith is the wife of Wil- liam Moore, of North Platte, Nebraska; Earl, a Methodist minister, resides at Edmonton, Canada; L. L. is a farmer near Logan, Ne- braska; Charles A. is a resident of Beatrice; and Samuel H., subject of this review, is su- perintendent of the Gage county poor farm, Three of these sons, Earl, L. L., and Charles A., saw service in the Philippine war. Their father, who is now blind and receives a pen- sion of thirty-six dollars a month from the government, resides with his son, Charles, in Beatrice.

Samuel H. Mckinney spent his early years on a farm. His educational advantages were few and, added to this seeming misfortune, his mother died when he was only three years of age. Sometimes, however, by our very lack of those things which seem most desirable we are being fitted for our place in life. When Mr. Mckinney took charge of the Gage coun- ty poor farm, in March, 1917, his former life had peculiarly trained him for the position. His sympathies had been broadened by the privations of his childhood, and his efficiency in handling the material side of his work had been developed by his service of seven years as custodian of the Beatrice National Bank Building, at Beatrice, this county, where his work was so satisfactory that no complaint was ever entered during the entire time of his service. For the two years following this, and immediately prior to entering upon his present duties, he had charge of the largest cell rooms in the Canyon City prison in Colo- rado, where he had under his care three hun- dred prisoners. In this way he was enabled to know at first hand the modern methods of caring for a public institution. His work here also was so satisfactory as to be com- mended by Warden John Cleghorn. At the Gage county poor farm, which consists of one hundred and sixty acres, and which houses about fourteen inmates at the present time, Mr. Mckinney has seen the lack of many con- veniences which he feels the public owes to those unfortunate enough to be made its

charges. For, as he says, "The nation, state, and county provide quite comfortable quarters for those who by their own acts of wilfulness have been taken in charge and confined in prisons and jails as punishment for crimes committed. Why should the public not be willing to make comfortable the unfortunate ones who, not by choice, but often from cir- cumstances not of their own making, are obliged to be inmates of alms houses?" It is largely due to his influence that as many of the improvements as the community feels able to provide are now being made.

On August 27, 1903, in Cheyenne, Wyom- ing, Mr. Mckinney wedded Miss Emma Jane Dillon, daughter of Zecharia and Nannie (Harper) Dillon who now reside at Benton City, Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. McKinney have four children: Harry William, Pearl Etta, Thomas Wallace, and Ralph Emerson. His wife is a member of the Baptist church, and Mr. Mckinney is a Master Mason, a member of Beatrice Lodge, No. 26. It need not be repeated that any man capable of filling the position occupied by Mr. Mckinney is of value in any community.

JOHN FOSSLER, JR., is the owner of a well improved farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Section 10, Logan township, and stands representative of the energy and pro- gressiveness that make for substantial success in connection with the basic industries of agri- culture and stock-growing. On other pages adequate record concerning the family is given in the sketch of the career of his father, John Fossler, Sr.

Mr. Fossler was born in Germany, on the 1st of December, 1866, and was about one year old at the time of the family immigration to the United States, his mother, whose maiden name was Ehe Jansen Lüken, having died six weeks after the family home had been established in the state of Missouri, within a short time after arrival in this country. The infant son John, of this review, was taken in- the home which the father had established. After the lapse of a few years the father con- tracted a second marriage and when the son

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was about seven years old he was taken into the home of which the father had established. It was a singular condition that came into evi- dence at this juncture, for in the interval of separation the boy had learned the German dialect spoken by the family by which he had been reared to that age and the same was so different from that spoken by his father that he was not able to understand the latter's conversation. He was seven years old when he accompanied his father to Nebraska and remained at the home in Nemaha county until he had attained to the age of seventeen years, when he came with his father to Gage county, his education in the meanwhile having been that afforded in the common schools. His in- dependent activities as a farmer in Gage coun- ty began by his effecting a Scully lease, and with success attending his well directed ener- gies he finally purchased his present farm, upon which he has made good improvements. In local affairs he is not restricted by partisan lines, as he gives his support to men and measures that meet the approval of his judg- ment, but for president he votes for the Re- publican candidate. He and his wife hold membership in the Hanover Lutheran church.

April 11, 1890, recorded the marriage of Mr. Fossler to Miss Gretje Leners, who was born in Hancock county, Illinois, August 1, 1871, and whose parents removed to Gage county in 1878, she having here been reared and educated; of her father, Renken Leners, special mention is made elsewhere in this vo !- ume. Mr. and Mrs. Fossler have five chil- dren: John, who is engaged in farming in Hooker township, married Miss Sophie Rade- macher; Amanda is the wife of John Rade- macher, likewise a farmer in that township; and Renken, Ehe Emma and Etta Mary are the younger members of the parental home circle.

GEORGE B. REYNOLDS is another of the venerable and revered pioneers who have played a worthy part in the development and progress of Gage county, where his activities have included both mercantile enterprise and farm industry, and since 1900 he has lived in

well earned retirement, his pleasant home be- ing at 1005 Market street in the city of Be- atrice. He came to Gage county in the year following that of the admission of Nebraska to statehood, and in all the long intervening years he has here stood exponent of the best type of citizenship.

Mr. Reynolds was born in Sullivan county, New York, August 19, 1834, his parents hav- ing been pioneer settlers of that section of the Empire state, where his father reclaimed a productive farm from the forest. Mr. Rey- nolds is a son of Andrew and Catherine (Van Benschoten) Reynolds, both likewise natives of the state of New York, the latter having been a daughter of Garrett Van Benschoten, who was a scion of one of the sturdy Holland Dutch families early founded in that common- wealth and who was a valiant soldier of the Continental line in the war of the Revolution. The parents of Mr. Reynolds passed the clos- ing period of their lives on their old home- stead, in Fallsburg township, Sullivan county, where the father died in 1876, at the age of eighty-four years, and the mother in the fol- lowing year, at the age of eighty-three years, both having been members of the Baptist church. The subject of this review is the youngest son in a family of five sons and three daughters, and is the only member of the family now living, Dr. H. M. Reynolds, of whom specific mention is made on other pages, was a member of the townsite company that founded the now vital and prosperous city of Beatrice, Nebraska.

In the common schools of his native county George B. Reynolds acquired his earlier edu- cation, which was supplemented by higher academic study in a well ordered institution at Bethany, Pennsylvania. He was an ambi- tious student and at the age of eighteen years he began teaching in the schools of his native state, his pedagogic service having continued during several winter terms of school.

On the 28th of December, 1858, was solem- nized the marriage of Mr. Reynolds to Miss Stella B. Sherwood, who likewise was a native of Sullivan county, New York, where she was born August 22, 1837, the eldest daughter of

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Bradley B. and Eliza (Burr) Sherwood, na- tives of Connecticut and early settlers of Sul- livan county, New York. Mr. and Mrs. Sher- wood came to Gage county, Nebraska, about 1880, and both passed the closing years of their lives at Beatrice, Mrs. Sherwood having been past seventy years of age at the time of her death and her husband having lived to be more than eighty years of age.

After his marriage Mr. Reynolds continued lis residence in his native county until the autumn of 1868, when, in company with his wife and two sons he came to Nebraska and numbered himself as one of the pioneer mer- chants of Beatrice. In the capital town of Gage county he built up a large and pros- perous general merchandise business, and this he conducted until 1883, having in the mean- while taken up a homestead of eighty acres and having perfected his title to the same, this property being that on which the thriving vil- lage of Cortland is now established. Upon retiring from the mercantile business Mr. Reynolds purchased an unimproved farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Section 15, Lincoln township, and he reclaimed this land, made the best of improvements on the place and there continued his activities as a progres- sive agriculturist and stock-grower for seven- teen years. He purchased the property for twelve and one-half dollars an acre and in 1900 sold the same for one hundred and twenty dollars an acre. In the latter year he and his wife removed to Beatrice, where he has since lived retired, and the supreme loss and be- reavement in his life came when his devoted companion, who had been his true helpmeet for more than half a century, passed to the life eternal, Mrs. Reynolds' death having occurred February 2, 1915, and her memory resting as a benediction upon all who had come within the compass of her gentle and gracious influ- ence. She was a devout member of the Pres- byterian church, of which her husband likewise has been an active member for many years. Of their six children only one is now living, Stella E., who is the widow of Harry Davis and who now remains with her father in their pleasant home in Beatrice.

In politics Mr. Reynolds was for many years affiliated with the Republican party, but in later years he has given his allegiance to the Democratic party. Under the old super- visor system he represented Lincoln township on the county board of supervisors, and he served one term as city treasurer of Beatrice. His earnest desire to further true democratic government led him to identify himself with the Farmers' Alliance and the People's Inde- pendent party during the period when these organizations were influential in the west. He has lived and labored to goodly ends and may look back with satisfaction upon a career marked by earnest and worthy endeavor.

DORR D. BRAINARD .- One of the younger men of Gage county who has won a place in the business circles of his community is Dorr D. Brainard, manager of an undertak- ing and furniture business at Odell, Nebraska. A native of Seward county, Nebraska, he was born September 8, 1880. His parents, Everett and Eliza (Osborne) Brainard, were natives of Galesburg, Illinois, and came to Seward county in 1880. They cast in their lot with the pioneers of that county, where Mr. Brain- ard was a successful farmer until he retired. They still make their home in the county.

Dorr D. Brainard was reared on a farm in his native county, and after attending the country school he continued his studies in the Tamora high school. Mr. Brainard's ini- tial work in the business world was as a clerk for S. R. Anstine, with whom he remained three years. He then gave his attention to farming until 1909, when he became a clerk for W. W. Scott, of Beatrice, Nebraska, where he was employed for five years and learned all the phases of the business. On April 14, 1914, Mr. Brainard was called to take charge of the business of Henry Kasparek, at Odell, Mr. Kasparek having passed away on the 8th day of that month. Mr. Brainard demonstrated his ability to such an extent that his services have since been retained as manager of the business. He is thoroughly familiar with every detail of the furniture business, and the concern by which he is employed, as well as

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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 97

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