History of Hall County, Nebraska, Part 79

Author: Buechler, A. F. (August F.), 1869- editor
Publication date: 1920
Publisher: Lincoln, Neb., Western Pub. and Engraving Co.
Number of Pages: 1011

USA > Nebraska > Hall County > History of Hall County, Nebraska > Part 79

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practice at Chicago is now a prominent mem-

Mrs. Abbott is a member of the Unitarian church. The Judge is a Scottish Rite Mason and belongs to the Loyal Legion and the Grand Army of the Republic. He is a firm supporter of the principles of the Republican party.

HON. GEORGE C. HUMPHREY. - The name of Humphrey or Humphreys, is a very old and honorable English name, derived from the first name Humphrey. This is one of the several names of Germanic origin begin- ning with the syllable, hun or hum, supposed by some to be derived from the old race of Huns. The fact seems to be however, that it was taken from the old word "Hun" meaning stake, which was used as a weapon or sup- port. The compound Hunifred, which was the earliest form of Humphrey, means sup- port of peace.

Although at the present time there seems to be a somewhat differentiation between the name Humphrey and Humphreys, the dis- tinction was not drawn in this country until a recent date, and many times different sons of the same father would use the two forms.

The most extensive branch of the family in the new world look to one Michael Humphrey for the origin of the name on these shores. He came here some time about 1643: not for religious motives - for he styled himself .a "Member of the Church of England" - but for motives of self betterment. His home in England was Lyme, Dorsetshire, where his father Samuel, and his mother Susannah, long hoped and prayed for their son's return.

Michael settled in Massaco, now known as Simsbury, Mass., and married Susannah Grant. Her father was a man of property in Simsbury, of whom General U. S. Grant was the seventh; in descent. Michael and Susannah's seven children all married, the five daughters uniting with the families of Lewis, Burnham, Shipman, Graham, and Bull. Their sons, Sergeant John, who was born in 1650, and Lieutenant Samuel, who was born in 1656, married Marry Mills, and Hannah Griffin respectively. Lieutenant Samuel was the great grandfather of Benjamin Humphrey, who was the father of William Humphrey, who was the father of Benjamin Humphrey, born in Steuben County, New York, in the year 1805, and the father of George C. Hnm- phrey, subject of this sketch, who was born at Coolville, Athens County, Ohio, January 28, 1846. His mother's maiden name was

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Anna 'Oakley. Of this family there were line along on the return journey, arriving thirteen children, nine sons and four daughters at his home in Iowa, December 5, having spent twenty-six days on the way -camp- ing out every night! Some honeymoon? namely, William Bennett, Miles Oakley, Su- sannah, Mary Jane, Abraham, Elihu Lewis, John Pratt, Mathew Dodder, Francis Marion, Benjamin, George Currier, Charlotte Ann, and Caroline Alice. The ancient arms of the Humphrey family in England are blazoned : sable, three ostrich feathers argent: the crest is a demi-griffin, wings holding between claws, ducal crown.

Benjamin Humphrey, George's father, died January 4, 1850, and his mother passed from life October 12, 1859. George at the age of five years, was bound out to Josephus Tucker - second cousin of J. Randolph Tucker of Revolutionary fame at whose home he re- mained until thirteen years of age, then re- sided with James Elliott one year, then with Jacob Smith one and a half years ; leaving on November 14, 1861, he enlisted at Camp Wool, Athens, Ohio, as a private in Company B 75th Ohio Volunteer Infantry for three years, being at the time fifteen years, nine months and six. teen days of age. He was discharged Jan- uary 1, 1864, at Folly Island, Couth Caro- lina. Reenlisted on the same date for the duration of the war, receiving his final dis- charge May 19, 1865, at the cessation of hostil_ ities, having served three years six months and five days.

George Humphrey was promoted to the rank of corporal November 20, 1862 - on July 2, 1863, he was captured at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, being held a prisoner thirty days, eleven days of that time on Belle Island near Richmond, Virginia. Upon his release he was again advanced, being appointed sergeant August 31, 1864.

During his life in the army he was engaged in the battles of Monterey, Shaws Ridge, McDowell, Franklin, Strasburgh, Cross Keys, Cedar Mountain, Freeman's Ford, White Sul- phur Springs, Waterloo Bridge, Second Bull Run, Aldie, and Chancellorsville, Virginia, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Camp Baldwin, Gainsville, Florida, and Johns Island, S. C., but was never wounded. In February, 1866, he left Ohio for Junction City, Kansas, where he remained until June of that year, going thence to Newton, Iowa, remaining there un- til February, 1874, when he removed to Ne- braska. He married Miss Margaret Jane Par- rott at her home near Coolville, Ohio, Novem- ber 5, 1868. To reach his bride he drove alone with a mule team and spring wagon from Iowa to Ohio in twenty-two days, was married and started back on November 8, having his wife and her sister Caro-

Of this union there were born five sons and four daughters, Charles J., George H., Flor- ence Gertrude, Paul V., Mary O., J. Leslie, Anna Maude, Claude T. and Iva Blanche. All the children are living except Anna Maude who died in 1886. Mr. Humphrey filed on a one hundred and sixty acre homestead, N. E. 1/4 section 22-9-10 South Platte Township, Hall County, March 4, 1874, later he pur- chased from the Union Pacific Railroad Com- pany S. E. 14 section 15, adjoining the old homestead and still owns the same property. Mrs. Humphrey died February 15, 1899. As his farm was rented he moved to Grand Island in October, 1901. He remarried in Omaha January 18, 1902, Mrs. Charlotte D. Flowers, who died March 13, 1916. There were no children by the second wife.

Mr. Humphrey has held the following offices in Hall County: member county board of supervisors, 1894-1895, representative 27th Session of Nebraska Legislature, 1901, dep- uty collector internal revenue, District of Nebraska, 1902 to 1915 inclusive, a period of service lasting thirteen years and seven months.

He was elected county assessor of Hall County in the fall of 1916, for a term of four years. He is not an educated man, not hav- ing had the advantage of a high school or college course; having had only a common school education such as was provided in schools in those early days, perhaps but three months in the winter, and a part of three months in the summer. He attended one term the winter of 1865-1866, after the war closed. Observation and experience in and of the world is a very good teacher, so it is often found, and Mr. Humphrey availed him- self of every advantage for self improve- ment.

In politics, a staunch Republican, he was just old enough to cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln in 1864. In religion, a Protestant, he was a charter member of the First Congregational church of Doniphan Nebraska, but is now a member of the First Congregational church in Grand Island.

Fraternally, he is a member in good stand- ing of Grand Island Lodge No. 22, I. O. O. F., Doniphan Lodge No. '86, A. F. & A. M .. Doniphan Deuel Chapter No. 11, R. A. M. Mount Lebanon No. 6, K. T., Grand Island A. O. U. W. Lodge No. 1, M. W. of A. Lodge No. 408, Lyon Post No. 11, Department of

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Nebraska G. A. R. and Department Com- mander 1915-1916.

He was instrumental in securing an appro- priation from the City of Grand Island for the beautiful Soldiers and Sailors monument which was erected on the Court House grounds in 1913. A generous man, he is always ready to contribute to funds for any good purpose in the city or elsewhere. At the present time he resides at 103 East Eighth street, with his two daughters Gert- rude and Blanche.

ERNEST WEBSTER AUGUSTINE. - Among the younger generation of Grand Is- land business men who have not only taken a prominent part in commercial affairs but have also contributed of their abilities, enthusiasm and energies to the forwarding of civic matters and general movements for the public wel- fare, one of the more prominent is E. W. Augustine, general manager of the Augustine Company, manufacturers of art calendars and advertising specialties. He is a native son of Nebraska, born at Bruning, September 13, 1886, his father being Irving Milton Augus- tine, a review of whose career will be found on another page of this work.

Mr. Augustine's education was secured in the public schools of Grand Island and Grand Island College. He was brought up in the atmosphere of a printing office, for in 1896 his father had started what was known as the Grand Island Free Press, a newspaper which he published for several years, but of which he disposed after realizing the oppor- tunities offered by the art calendar and ad- vertising specialties field. With the organiza- tion of the Augustine Company, the son be- came actively interested in its affairs, and it was greatly due to his active and energetic work that the firm was able to prosper and flourish from the start. In 1908, when the business was valued at approximately $3,000, he bought a half interest and assumed the duties of general manager, and under his re- gime in this position the concern has grown and developed until today, after ten years, it is conservatively valued at $150,000. The Augustine Company at this time occupies and operates a large, modern, fully-equipped plant, and its products are distributed over fifteen states of the Union. Mr. Augustine is a man of marked ability in his field; he is possessed of unique and progressive ideas and imbued with the spirit of business aggres- siveness - a man coming under the heading of being a "live wire." His business interests

are large and important, as aside from the work of the Augustine Company he is identi- fied with other commercial affairs being a director of the Commercial State Bank of Grand Island, but notwithstanding his varied commercial activities he has always been able to find time to devote to the interests and welfare of his adopted community, and at present is vice-president of the local Young Men's Christian Association and is active in the Commercial Club. For twelve years he has been treasurer of the English Lutheran church, in the work of which he has always taken a helpful part, and of which Mrs. Augus- tine is also a member. She belongs to the Order of the Eastern Star, while her husband is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protec- tive Order of Elks. He supports the Demo- cratic party at elections.

Mr. Augustine married June 17, 1910, Miss Parmelia M. Spethman, who was born at North Loup, Nebraska ; the daughter of Diet- ric Spethman, a wagon-maker by trade, who came to Grand Island a number of years ago and is now engaged in the automobile business. Mr. and Mrs. Augustine are the parents of two children : Mercedes Alice, who was born in 1912: and Webster Pershing, born in 1918.

GUS E. NEUMANN, now serving his second term as county treasurer of Hall County, has been prominent in public life here for a number of years. He has been a resi- "dent of the United States for thirty-two years, and of the state of Nebraska for the same length of time. The high esteem in which he is held both personally and officially by his neighbors and fellow citizens testifies to his stability of character and true ideals of good citizenship. Treasurer Neumann was born in Germany, in July, 1876. He is a son of Ernest and Johanna (Grabs) Nuemann.

Ernest Neumann was born in Bohemia, then a province belonging to the Austrian mon- archy, and, although he married a woman of German birth, maintained his home in Bo- hemia during the larger part of his life be- fore emigrating with his family to the United States in 1887. He had served in the Bo- hemian army but had never learned a trade that he could make available in the busy country to which he had come in middle life, and therefore during the eight years that he longer survived, he engaged in various in- dustries as a general laborer. His death oc- surred in 1895 in Grand Island, Nebraska, to which place he had come in the fall of

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Gus. E. NEUMANN

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1887. His widow survives and lives with her daughter in Niagara Falls, New York. There were three children in the family: William, who lives in Germany; Mrs. Christ Baier, a resident of Niagara Falls; and Gus E.

A boy of eleven years when the family came to Grand Island, Gus E. Neumann attended school here for a short time before starting to work in a printing office where he learned the trade and continued work as a printer from 1888 until 1908. In the meantime Mr. Neumann became acquainted with many men of affairs in the county and had also be- come intelligently interested in politics, many questions concerning the permanent develop- ment of Hall County being political issues.

His first adventure in business for himself was in 1898, when he purchased the Ne- braska Courier, a republican paper, from the late Henry Garn.

In 1890 he sold the paper and joined a number of other young men who had, from time to time, been fellow-employes, in the organization of a stock company for the pur- chase of The Independent. He actively par- ticipated in the publication of the paper un- til his health forbade, early in 1909. In July of that year he was compelled to undergo a serious operation and upon the advice of his physician has never resumed his former work.

Mr. Neumann has for twenty years been actively engaged in the work of the city's volunteer fire department and has done much gratuitous service to the city in this capacity. For five years he was the secretary of the department and for two years its chief ; and since the organization of a partially paid de- partment has been assistant chief, being in charge of the volunteers, whenever the latter are called for assistance.

In 1911 he was elected county clerk and was continued in that office until January, 1917, when he assumed the duties of county treasurer, to which office he had been elected on the Republican ticket in the previous cam- paign. With such reliable, industrious and efficient public officials as Mr. Neumann, Hall County is bound to make rapid strides forward.

In 1897, Mr. Neumann married Miss Edith Wutzler, a native of Grand Island, Nebraska ; the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Wutzler, for many years an employee in the Union Pacific car shops. Mr. and Mrs. Neumann have two children, a daughter and son. The former, Irma, is the wife of William Reece, a soldier in the United States army in 1918; and Ernest F., who, at time of writing, is in the United States navy on a ship in the har-

bor of SanFrancisco. Mr. Neumann and his family belong to the English Lutheran church. He is identified with the leading fraternal organizations of the country, these including the Masonic, in which he has reached the Royal Arch degree, the Odd Fellows, the Elks and the Eagles, and he has been president of the last named fraternity at Grand Island.

JULIUS GUENDEL .- A former citizen of Grand Island well known and one who en- joyed the good will of all, was the late Julius Guendel. He was born in Hohenstein, Erns- thal, Saxony, Germany, August 5, 1865, and died in Grand Island in 1909.

Julius Guendel left his native land when he was sixteen years old to accompany his brother Richard to the United States. Soon after reaching America they came to Grand Island, Nebraska. Julius was without capital and thus had to work his way to a competency from the bottom of the ladder. He was in- dustrious and honest and after working for a time as a farm hand went to the Pacific Coast where for two years he was engaged on the construction of the Oregon Short Line Railroad and then came back to Grand Island to enter the employ of Chris Rathman. Still later he was in the retail liquor business. He was kind and generous and there are many who recall him with grateful emotion.

Mr. Guendel married March 11, 1888, Miss Anna Bauer, who was born in Saxony, Ger- many. She is a daughter of William and Wil- helmina (Rahm) Bauer. Her father died in Germany but her mother subsequently came to Grand Island: Mrs. Guendel reached Ne braska just one year before her husband. Mr. and Mrs. Guendel had four children, the sur- vivors being: A. J., Emil R., who was in the jewelry business for a number of years in Alliance, Nebraska, but is now in the em- ploy of the Nebraska State Bank; Florence, who resides with her mother in the old home. Mr. Guendel was a member of the Lieder- kranz Society, the Eagles, the Plattsdeutch Verein, the sons of Herman and the United Travelers Union.

ARTHUR J. GUENDEL. - No com- munity can afford unsafe banks, therefore a well sustained banking institution argues for its stability to the average man who is not willing to entrust his capital to individuals of haphazard reputation or without proper safe- guards. Among the list of banking institu-

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tions that accommodate the citizens of Hall County not one stands higher as safe, sound and reliable than the Nebraska State Bank, of Grand Island. There are many older bank- ing institutions but none that heve been more prosperous or have a sounder financial foun- dation.

Arthur J. Guendel, cashier of the Nebraska State Bank of Grand Island, was born in this city, July 13, 1880. He is a son of Julius and Anna Guendel, old settlers of the county. Being a native son he was reared in Grand Island and educated in the schools of his home city and at a very early age decided upon his future career. When only sixteen he entered a bank as a clerk and continued in a clerical capacity until the opportunity came for in- vestment and a larger measure of responsi- bility. In April, 1917 he assisted in the organ- ization of the Nebraska State Bank and be- came its first cashier, A. E. Cady, Jr., being vice-president. This institution has a capital of $75,000 with deposits of $680,000, the bank officers and entire board of directors repre- senting a large aggregate of capital. The business is conducted along safe, conservative lines and has had a steadying influence dur- ing the past year when values of all kinds have been disturbed on account of the World War.

Mr. Guendel married in 1914, Miss Julia Nay, who was born and educated in Grand Island and is a daughter of Coleman Nay, a native of Ireland who in his youth came to Grand Island. He became a man of im- portance here and for many years was active in political circles. Mrs. Guendel is a mem- ber of the Roman. Catholic church. Mr. Guendel devotes himself closely to business relating to his own particular field, but never- theless finds time to perform every duty de- manded by good citizenship.

HERMAN HEHNKE, one of Grand Is- land's successful business men, has been a resi- dent of this city since he was fourteen years old, and for twenty-six years has been in the hardware business. He is vice-president and general manager of the widely known firm of capitalists operating as the Hehnke-Lohmann Company, of Grand Island.

Herman Hehnke was born in Germany, June 21, 1868. His parents were Herman and Mary (Schreder) Hehnke, both of whom were natives of Germany. They emigrated to the United States settling in Grand Island and here the father worked at first as a carpenter and later was a contractor and still later

went into the hardware business in which he was interested up to the time of his death. There are many substantial buildings in Grand Island that stand as testimonials of his mechanical skill or of the honest carrying out of his building contracts. Among these are the Episcopal church, the Grand Island Busi- ness College and the University block. He was a Democrat in politics. Six of his seven sons survive, Gustave, the fifth, having died; the others are as follows: Herman, Otto, an architect, resides in Scotts Bluff, Nebraska; Hugo, who is a resident of Cairo, Nebraska, where he is manager of the Cairo Mercantile Company, a branch of the Hehnke-Lohmann Company of Grand Island; Carl, connected in business with his brother Herman; John, a carpenter at Grand Island; and William, who has charge of the furnace department of the above named business.

Herman Hehnke was a school boy when he came with his parents to Grand Island and continued his studies, first in Grand Island College and afterward in a college at Lincoln. He has been in the hardware business ever since completing his education, devoting his entire time to his present concern which is one of the largest in Nebraska, handling general hardware of every kind, furnaces, paints and varnish. He owns the business quarters, a substantial three-story building with dimensions of thirty-three by one hun- dred feet, the entire building being utilized by The Hehnke-Lohmann Company. The busi- ness career of this firm has been honorable in character and its policy is accepted by upright business men over a wide territory and it is mentioned as one of the old and representa- tive mercantile firms of the county.

Mr. Hehnke married, in 1882, Miss Emma Aye, who died in 1911, being the mother of five daughters, namely: Freda, Ella, Lillian, Estella and Helen, all of whom survive ex- cept Ella. In 1915 Mr. Hehnke married Mrs. Anna Neubert and one daughter. Marielles, has been born to them. Mr. Hehnke is a Republican in his political affiliations and is an active citizen, serving honestly and effici- ently at times on the board of aldermen, his business advice making him a very valuable member of the city council. He is a director of the Nebraska State Bank at Grand Island. For many years he has been a Mason.

PETER R. JENSEN, a substantial busi- ness man of Grand Island, owning and con- ducting a large grocery store on the north side of the city, has had experience in several in-

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dustrial lines apart from this business since he came to America at the age of eighteen. Mr. Jensen is well known in Hall County, to which he came in 1886.

He was born in Denmark, August 3, 1867, the son of Jens Andersen and Marie Jensen, the former of whom was born in Slagelse and the latter in Horsens, Denmark. Both died in that country. The father was a machinist. Both parents were members of the Lutheran church. They had twelve chil- dren but none came to the United States ex- cept Peter R., who is the youngest of the five living members of the family. He attended school until he was fourteen years of age and then went on a sea-going ship, being for two and a half years on the water. He re- turned home, only to leave again as soon as he was eighteen years of age. After reach- ing the United States Mr. Jensen worked his way to Kansas City but shortly afterward went to Colorado to work in a mine there for very satisfactory wages. In 1886 he came to Grand Island being employed for two years at the boilermaker's trade. He then accepted a position with the Grand Island Street Car Company and had the distinction of operat- ing the first car on the line, and remained with the company for eight years. Upon severing his connection with the street car company he became connected with the re- tail liquor business and after serving for seven years behind the bar, bought a saloon which he conducted for eleven years. When Ne- braska laws were changed and the state be- came dry, Mr. Jensen embarked in the grocery business and has built up a fine trade.

Mr. Jensen married in June, 1896, Miss Anna E. Hansen, who was born in Denmark. They have four children: Lloyd, who is a clerk in the office of the Union Pacific. Rail- road at Grand Island; Louis, who is a ranch- man in Burbank, Washington; Marie who assists her father in the grocery store; and Anders who is a schoolboy. Mr. Jensen and his family belong to the Lutheran church. In his political views he is a Democrat.

THOMAS E. BRADSTREET, president of the Bradstreet & Clemens Company, Grand Is- land, has long been identified with many sub- stantial business interests in Nebraska. He is equally prominent in public affairs and is at present serving as a member of the upper house of the Nebraska legislature,

Thomas E. Bradstreet was born at Inde- pendence, in Buchanan County, Iowa, Febru- ary 14, 1865, the tenth in a family of twelve

children and the only member living in Ne- braska. His parents were William and Mary (Redman) Bradstreet, both of whom were born in the state of New York and were mar- ried there. In 1858 they removed to lowa and homsteaded, where they passed the rest of their busy, useful, unpretentious lives. The father directed his affairs with honesty and good judgment and was considered a sucess- ful farmer and cattle feeder in Buchanan County. In his political views he was a Demo- crat, and of the Methodist Episcopal faith, he reared his children in that religious body.

Although brought up a farmer boy Thomas E. Bradstreet had educational advantages and after his primary school course was com- pleted he sought other opportunities alternat- ing his studies with work on the farm; later he attended a business college at Dubuque, Iowa, and at Waterloo. After working on a farm during two summers for $15 a month, Mr. Bradstreet went to Cedar County where he taught one term in the Elkhorn district, and subsequently taught one term in O'Brien County. Early in 1886 Mr. Bradstreet rented a farm in that county, following his marriage, and continued on that farm for three years before removing to Sioux City, Iowa. After one year with D. H. Talbott on a ranch, he engaged in the dairy business in Sioux City, an enterprise carried on for the next twelve years with much success, but his next business venture proved that other business qualities than those he possesed were needed in the cattle feeding industry, for within four years Mr. Bradstreet had practically buried a capital of $20,000. The balance quickly swung how- ever, when he went into a line of business with which he was familiar and for which he was well equipped, since 1903 no resident of Hall County having prospered more substantially in the horse business. He has greatly enlarged the original scope of his enterprise and is now at the head of the Bradstreet & Clemens Com- pany which own much valuable property at Grand Island. He owns all the barns used by lease from him, of the Grand Island Horse & Mule Company, and the Blain Horse, Mule & Cattle Company, which cover a large area. He is concerned along other business lines and was the originator and is president of the Equine Packing Company, now known as the Grand Island Packing Company.

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History of Hall County, Nebraska, Part 79

Author: Buechler, A. F. (August F.), 1869- editor Publication date: 1920 Publisher: Lincoln, Neb., Western Pub. and Engraving Co. Number of Pages: 1011

Author: Buechler, A. F. (August F.), 1869- editor
Publication date: 1920
Publisher: Lincoln, Neb., Western Pub. and Engraving Co.
Number of Pages: 1011