USA > Nebraska > Hamilton County > History of Hamilton and Clay counties, Nebraska, Vol. II > Part 15
USA > Nebraska > Clay County > History of Hamilton and Clay counties, Nebraska, Vol. II > Part 15
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he served for one hundred days. At the close of the war he returned to Iowa, locating at Lucas. There he remained until 1871 when he came to Nebraska by team and had but two dollars in his pocket when he arrived in Hamilton county. With this money he purchased some corn and meal. He homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres located one and a quarter miles east of Hampton and there put up a sod house and barn. This land was all prairie and he set about to break it himself. For seventeen years he "bached" it on his homestead. Mr. Curtis passed through all the pioneer hardships, losing crops during the droughts, the grass- hopper plague and hailstorms, but ever a man of grim determination and energy each misfortune seemed but to spur him to greater effort. Game was very plenti- ful in the vicinity of his home and he killed many buffaloes, antelopes and some small game. It was not long before Mr. Curtis' land was brought to a highly cultivated state and he was recognized throughout the community as a progressive and successful agriculturist.
On the 15th of March, 1888, occurred the marriage of Mr. Curtis and Miss Rosa Forsythe, a native of MeLean county, Illinois. She came to Nebraska with her parents when. but fourteen years of age. Nine children were born to their union : Elmer B .; Homer F .; William H., deceased; Louise, who has passed away ; Lloyd C .; Sanford R .; and Ralph. Homer enlisted in the navy and served during the World war.
Throughout the greater part of his life Mr. Curtis lived on his homestead in Hamilton county and engaged in general farming. He made friends who ap- preciated his true personal worth and many sterling traits of character and they felt a great loss in his passing. He was a consistent member of the Methodist church, as is his wife, and a generous contributor to its charities. Mrs. Curtis is now in possession of the old homestead and makes her home in Hampton. Elmer is farming the old homestead.
A. H. TITMAN
A. H. Titman, living on section 20, Aurora township, Hamilton county, where he is actively and profitably engaged in farming, was born in New Jersey, January 15, 1865, and is a son of George and Martha (Hooey) Titman. In his youthful days he attended the country schools of his native state, having to walk three miles to school. He pursued his studies for about three months each year, attending through the winter seasons when his services were not needed in connection with the development of the home farm. He, however, worked in the fields during the period of his youth and also in the timber region.
In 1886 Mr. Titman left his native state in company with his parents and went to Iowa, being at that time about twenty-one years of age. He lived in Iowa for a year and in 1887 came to Hamilton county, Nebraska, where his father rented land, both he and his wife continuing to make their home in this county until called to their final rest, the former passing away in 1893, at the age of sixty-eight years, while the mother survived until 1908 and was seventy-four years of age at the time of her demise.
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A. H. Titman continued to aid his father in the devolpment and improvement of the home farm until he reached the age of thirty years and then began farin- ing on his own account by buying land, living near Merna, Nebraska, for three years. He afterward became the owner of four hundred and forty acres but . eventually sold that farm and purchased an equal amount near Marquette, Hamil- ton county. Afterward, however, he returned to the old farm, which he rented. He has improved his land and as the years have passed has won a place among the substantial and progressive farmers of this section of the state. On his farm he has built a large silo and has added other modern equipments in accordance with the progressive methods of farming at the present time. In addition to cul- tivating his fields he raises stock, making a specialty of pure blooded Poland China hogs and a good grade of other farm stock. He is now featuring the dairy business to a considerable extent and this is proving to him a profitable source of revenue.
Mr. Titman was married to Miss Lillian Hiatt and they have become parents of twelve children : Benjamin, Victor, Virgil, Edmond, Lela, Gladys, Donald, Lola, Francis, Lyle, William and Gerrell. The parents are members of the United Brethren church and Mr. Titman is connected with the Modern Woodmen of America. He has served as treasurer of the school board and has always been an independent voter. He is interested in the Farmers' Elevator, in the Farmers' Union and in the Aurora Creamery. He has always preferred to give his atten- tion to business affairs rather than to take active part in public life and by reason of his concetration of purpose, his diligence and determination he has become one of the prosperous and representative farmers of his adopted county.
FREDERICK EGGERICHS
Since 1908 Frederick Eggerichs has made his home in Trumbull, where he is recognized as a successful and representative citizen. For many years he was prominent in agricultural circles of Clay county and is now reaping the reward of his labors. A native of Germany, he was born in that country December 27, 1841, and there received his common school education. After putting his text- books aside he hired out for farm work by the year and after twelve years in that connection managed to save one hundred dollars, enough to secure his passage to the United States. His highest earnings in Germany in one year totaled sixty- six dollars which he received for the twelfth year of his farm work. On arriving in the United States in 1868 he went to Illinois locating in Dixon where he secured work on a farm for which he received twenty dollars per month. In 1871 he bought a team and rented land in Lee county, Illinois, which he farmed for some time and later sold for a substantial sum. The following six years he spent in working for the railroad and in 1878 came to Clay county, Nebraska, and purchased eighty acres of land at five dollars per acre, with ten years to complete payment. In 1880 he removed his family to Clay county, they coming by train as far as Harvard. He built a dugout with one window and the family made this their home for four years. He underwent all of the pioneer hardships of those
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early days, being "hailed" out in 1881 and 1882. He broke forty acres of this land the first year with the aid of the horse team he brought with him from Illinois and another which he purchased on two years' time. He later bought an additional tract of eighty acres and put out trees and an orchard, but the latter mostly died out during the years of 1893 and 1894. For four years he burned cornstalks for fuel and brought back branches from the banks of nearby streams. On this farm Mr. Eggerichs resided until 1908, when he retired and moved to Trumbull. His success in general farming and stock raising had made possible his retirement from active farm life and he is now enjoying the results of his early diligence and industry.
In May, 1868, in Germany, Mr. Eggerichs married Miss Mary Johnson and they left the following month for the United States. One child has been born to this union, Christ J., who is residing at home.
Mr. Eggerichs now rents the home place. He maintains an interest in the advances being made along agricultural lines and is ever ready to give his support to any movement he deems necessary in the improvement and development of the community. For some time he has served as road overseer. Both Mr. and Mrs. Eggerichs are consistent members of the Lutheran church and prominent in the social and charitable affairs of that organization. The son is a member of the same church.
JOSEPH C. GALLENTINE
Joseph C. Gallentine resides on a farm on section 12, Inland township, Clay county. He broke the sod on this place and has added all of the improvements planting an excellent orchard and erecting many buildings which make his farm a valuable property. Mr. Gallentine came to this state from Marshall county, West Virginia, where he was born November 10, 1848. He was there reared on a farm with the usual experiences of the boy who divides his time between the work of the fields and the acquirement of a district school education. At the age of sixteen years, however, he entered the army, joining Company A of the Seventh West Virginia Infantry in 1864. He participated in the battle of the Wilderness, also in the engagements of Smoky Hollow, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, Weldon Railroad and two of the charges on Petersburg. He was also present at the time of the surrender of General Lee at Appomattox and partici- pated in the Grand Review to celebrate the Union victory. At Spotsylvania he was wounded in the right shoulder and received a gunshot wound in the right hand.
When the war was over Mr. Gallentine returned to his native state, where he continued to live for two years longer and then in 1867 went to Ohio, where he resided until 1873. That year witnessed his arrival in Clay county, Nebraska, then a pioneer district, in which he homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres. There was a dugout on the place and he lived in it for fifteen years, after which he built a frame house twelve by sixteen feet. He also had a sod and straw barn and he dug a well on his land. Only ten acres of the place had been broken when he took possession of it, and Mr. Gallentine turned the sod on the remainder
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JOSEPH C. GALLENTINE
Vol. II-10
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of the farm with oxen and mule teams. He also planted trees and set out an orchard, but this died out. He has lived upon his place continuously since coming to Nebraska and the finely developed farm of the present bears little resemblance to the unimproved tract of land of which he took possession almost a half century ago. He is today the owner of three hundred and twenty acres of rich and valuable land, on which are two sets of farm buildings and all modern improvements. He now rents all of his land and the place brings to him a most substantial annual income.
Mr. Gallentine's father electioneered for Abraham Lincoln in 1860 and when Joseph Gallentine secured the right of franchise on attaining his majority he cast his first presidential vote for U. S. Grant, and has since been a stalwart advocate of the republican party. He proudly wears the little bronze button that proclaims him a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, being identi- fied with the post at Hastings, and throughout the years since the Civil war he has been as true and loyal to his country and her interests as when he followed the nation's starry banner on the battle fields of the south and wore the blue uniform that proclaimed him a supporter of the Union cause.
FRANK JOHNSON SPENCER
Frank Johnson Spencer, who passed away in 1911, was a native of Sweden, and came alone to the United States when a youth of fifteen years, joining his brother at Walnut, Illinois. For a short time he remained with his brother and then accepted a position as foreman at a stone quarry at Joliet, Illinois, where subsequently he acquired an interest in the business and worked there to the time of his marriage. He was always actuated by a progressive spirit and made the best use of his time and opportunities to gain a start and develop his fortunes.
Mr. Spencer wedded Miss Anna Peterson, a native of Sweden, who came to America with her sister when twenty years of age, settling in Chicago and after- ward removing to Joliet. To them were born three children: Albert H., who is living on a farm in Hamilton county, and whose birth occurred in this state; Alvin B., who lives on the farm with his brother, Albert; and Elmer Fred, who in 1920 was located in Perkins county, where he farmed six hundred and forty acres of land in connection with Oscar G. Anderson. He also conducted the Dean Theatre in York, Nebraska, for four months. He is a veteran of the World war, having entered the service on the 15th of August, 1918, being trained at Lincoln in the Signal Corps. He was in the State University as a member of the Junior class when he entered the service from which he received his discharge in 1919.
It was in the '70s that Mr. Spencer removed from Illinois to Nebraska and here purchased eighty acres of land from the railroad company. He built thereon a nice home and substantial outbuildings and as the years passed converted his place into a highly improved farm. He had made some money while in the stone quarry, so that he brought with him to this county capital sufficient to enable him to pay for his land, add improvements thereto and put some stock on his place. Later he extended the boundaries of his farm by the purchase of an additional tract of one
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hundred and sixty acres and afterwards sold his original eighty acres, but at different periods continued to add to his land until at the time of his death he owned two hundred and forty acres. Year by year he tilled the soil keeping his fields under a high state of cultivation and also winning success through the careful management of his stock raising interests. He continued to reside on the farm until his demise in 1911, and was accounted one of the progressive farmers and representative citizens of his community.
In 1917 Mrs. Spencer removed to Aurora, where she built a pleasant home at No. 1318 Eleventh street. None of her sons are married and the younger one resides with his mother. He owns land in this county but leases it and is now giving his attention to the insurance business, selling life, accident and health insurance. He is connected with Kenneth Hillis in his business affairs and has been very successful in all that he has undertaken. He is a well read young man, ambitious, alert, energetic and progressive and judging from what he has already accomplished it would seem that his future career would be well worth watching. The name of Spencer has long been an honored one in Hamilton county, for during the years of his residence here Frank J. Spencer was a highly respected citizen and his sterling worth, thorough reliability and his progressiveness in business won him the respect and confidence of all who knew him.
WILLIAM McDANNEL
Since 1883 William McDannel has lived on his present excellent farm in Deep- well township, Hamilton county, but prior to this he had gained wide and varied experience as a pioneer of the western frontier country, having made his arrival in Nebraska in 1867, the year which marked the admission of the state to the Union.
Mr. McDannel was born in Deerfield, Warren county, Ohio, on the 4th of March, 1844, and there was reared on the home farm to the age of sixteen years, his educational advantages in the meanwhile having been those of the common schools. At the age noted he entered upon an apprenticeship to the trade of harnessmaker and his technical knowledge thus acquired enabled him to render to the government effective service in the period of the Civil war. He learned his trade in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio. As a skilled saddler he gave thirteen months of service in connection with the Union forces in the Civil war as brigade saddler having had charge of the saddles of four trains in the supply department, each of these trains consisting of twenty-five teams of mules, with six mules constituting a team. His service was in keeping the saddles and other harness equipment in condition and he received from the government seventy-five dollars a month and his board. After the close of the war Mr. McDannel continued to be associated with his father in the work and management of the home farm about two years. In the spring of 1867 he came to Omaha, Nebraska, all of the trip having been made by way of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers and within a short time he was found busily engaged in driving a six-mule team for the government, hauling supplies to the army posts at Fort Laramie and Fort Reno. After about six months he found
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employment in the operation of a pile-driver that was in use in connection with the building of bridges on the line of the Union Pacific Railroad, then in process of construction. He was thus identified with construction work about two years and had the distinction of witnessing the driving of the golden spike that marked the completion of the great transcontinental railroad. Thereafter Mr. McDannel assisted in supplying wood used in the construction of the army post at Camp Halleck, Nevada, in which state he next followed mining for a short time. He then went to Green River, Wyoming, and became wagon boss with a freighting outfit, his connection with overland freighting through the western wilds con- tinuing for sixteen years and giving him many experiences in connection with frontier life.
In 1883 Mr. McDannel came to Hamilton county, Nebraska, and at the rate of sixteen dollars and seventy-five cents per acre, purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land in section 14, Deepwell township, where he has continued his resi- dence during the intervening period and where he has had his share of pioneer difficulties and losses, but substantial prosperity has now crowned his well ordered activities as an agriculturist and stock raiser. The little sod house and lean-to barn that were on the property when he purchased it long ago disappeared and in surveying the well kept farm and the modern buildings of the present day it is almost impossible to realize the change. Results have justified all labors and trials and Mr. McDannel takes pride in the fact that he was not denied a share in pioneer experiences in his home county, the development and progress of which he has not only viewed with satisfaction but also assisted in promoting through his indi- vidual service and activities as a citizen and farmer.
On November 24, 1887, Mr. MeDannel was united in marriage to Miss Lucy Hilpert, and they have five children: Nettie is the wife of Niel DeVore and they reside in the state of Wyoming; Emma is the wife of Christopher Good, of Gillett, that state; Alexander remains on the home farm; and William and Frank are farmers in Whitney, Nebraska. Mr. McDannel is a democrat in politics, has served as township assessor two terms and has filled the offices of moderator and treasurer of the school board of his district for twelve years.
ELMER C. BERGESON
Ehmer C. Bergeson, who is engaged in the real estate business and in auctioneer- ing, was born seven miles southeast of Aurora, March 16, 1886, a son of B. O. Bergeson, mentioned elsewhere in this work. He attended the Aurora high school and also was a student in the Fremont Normal School for two terms. He then returned home and assisted his father in farming and also in auctioneering, thus gaining experience of great value to him in his later years. He began to cry sales when but eighteen years of age and has followed the auctioneering business ever since. In 1918 he also took up the real estate and insurance business in con- nection with F. L. McCarty and they have now won a liberal clientage and are doing important work in connection with the immigration business that promotes real estate sales.
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On the 21st of March, 1906, Mr. Bergeson was married to Miss May Castle, a native of Hamilton county and a daughter of Frank Castle, one of the pioneer settlers here who resided in the county to the time of his death. Mr. and Mrs. Bergeson have become parents of eight children, two sons and six daughters: Alice, Nina, Francis, Boyd O., Elva, and Viola, all in school; Ehner Franklin and Maxine, who are not yet of school age.
The parents are members of the Presbyterian church and Mr. Bergeson belongs to the Masonic fraternity and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. In politics he is a republican but is not an office seeker, preferring to devote his entire time to his varied and important business interests. He conducts the Mid West Realty Auction Company and has carried on a large auctioneering business, crying sales in many states of the Union. He has also developed an excellent clientage in his real estate and insurance work and is today one of the progressive business men of the county.
GEORGE H. MARVEL, M. D.
Dr. George H. Marvel, engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery in Hamilton county, opened his office in Aurora in 1905. He was born in Vermilion county, Illinois, June 26, 1873. His father, Thompson Marvel, is also a native of Illinois and was a son of James Marvel, one of the early settlers of that state. Thompson Marvel, having arrived at years of maturity, was married to Miss Margaret J. French, also a native of Illinois and a representative of one of the pioneer families of the state, her father being George French. Following their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Marvel resided in Illinois until 1884 and then removed to Hamilton county, Nebraska, where he purchased land upon which he resided for a number of years, carefully and successfully cultivating his fields. He still owns more than a section of land, together with business property. He was a very ener- getic man in his younger days and always led his sons in hard work. His industry, capability and determination were the salient features in the attainment of the success which now enables him to live retired. In 1905 he put aside the active work of the fields and removed to. Giltner where he and his wife now make their home. They and all of their family are members of the Christian church and in politics Mr. Marvel has maintained rather an independent course. To him and his wife were born three sons and three daughters: James, who is a merchant of Gilt- ner; George H., of this review; P. O., who is a practicing physician of Giltner ; Irene, the wife of Claude Chapman, a merchant of Giltner; Maggie, the wife of Lemoyne J. Gallentine, of Ogden, Utah, who is a well-to-do business man and large landowner and rancher; and Della, who has charge of the Glass Block Beauty Parlor in Duluth, Minnesota.
George H. Marvel acquired a country school education and afterward attended the old Lincoln Normal University which he entered in 1898. Later he took special work in the State University and was graduated from the Lincoln Medical Col- lege in 1905. He also pursued a post-graduate course in the Illinois Medical College of Chicago and throughout his professional career has constantly broadened his knowledge and efficiency by wide reading and study as well as by broad experience.
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He has always continued in general practice and has been located in Aurora since 1905.
In 1910 Dr. Marvel was married to Miss Bernice L. Weekly, a native of West Virginia and a daughter of William Weekly, who resided in Lincoln, Nebraska, for a number of years but is now living in California. While in Lincoln he en- gaged in business as a contractor. Dr. and Mrs. Marvel have had no children of their own but have reared two: Darlien, who is now the wife of Elgie C. Bute, a farmer of Hamilton county; and Claire Weekly, who is attending high school. Both Dr. and Mrs. Marvel are members of the Christian church and he belongs to the Masonic lodge and to the Knights of Pythias. In politics he is independent. He is the owner of eighty acres of irrigated land in Colorado and has stock in various enterprises but devotes the greater part of his time and attention to the practice of medicine and is a member of the Hamilton County and Nebraska State Medical Societies. He holds to high standards in his professional career and is at all times most conscientious in the performance of his professional duties.
JAMES READY
One of the prosperous and representative citizens who profited by his pioneer experiences in Hamilton county is James Ready, and though he encountered severe reverses, owing to conditions that brought similar trouble to many other pioneers, his courage and self-reliance continued stanch under disaster as well as success and his appreciation of and loyalty to Nebraska is unstinted at the present time.
Mr. Ready, who now resides at Stockham, was born in Jackson county, Ohio, June 6, 1849, and is a son of James and Catherine (Tope) Ready, the former born in Virginia and the latter in Ohio. The father gave virtually his entire active life to farm enterprise and resided for a number of years in Illinois, though both he and his wife died in Ohio. James Ready, the subject of this review, is indebted to the district schools of Illinois for his youthful education and there he gained early fellowship with the work of the home farm. He remained with his parents until he attained his majority and thereafter was employed at farm work and the draining and tiling of swamp land in Illinois, in which state he continued his residence until 1880, when he came to Hamilton county, Nebraska, and purchased eighty acres of railroad land, to which he later added a second tract of equal area, this also being railroad land and fifteen acres of the soil having been broken when it came into his possession. A rude board shanty provided the first dwelling on the farm, the roof boards being bent over to give drainage dur- ing rainfalls. Mr. Ready earnestly applied himself to the breaking, cultivating and general improving of his land, but the reverses which attended him by loss of crops in the drought years of 1893 and 1894 compelled him to sacrifice his land holdings. He thereafter farmed for a time in Clay county and upon his return to Hamilton county he turned his attention to the blacksmith trade and wagon repairing, from which he later turned to identify himself with the lumber business, in connection with which he has been employed at Stockton for about
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