USA > Nebraska > Hamilton County > History of Hamilton and Clay counties, Nebraska, Vol. II > Part 16
USA > Nebraska > Clay County > History of Hamilton and Clay counties, Nebraska, Vol. II > Part 16
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twelve years. He is an independent voter in political lines and his wife is a zealous member of the Presbyterian church at Stockham.
In Hamilton county was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Ready to Miss Anna Van Duesen, a representative of a well known pioneer family of which adequate mention is made elsewhere in this work. Mr. and Mrs. Ready have three children : Laura is the wife of James Beat, Jr., a farmer of Hamilton county; May is the wife of Gardner P. Housel, also a farmer of this county; and Earl resides at Seward, judicial center of Seward county.
JOHN A. SHAFER
Among those who have proved specially resourceful and energetic in connec- tion with the furtherance of farm industry in Hamilton county a ulace of no minor distinction it to be accorded to John A. Shafer, who is one of the sterling pioneers of the county and who here faced the adverse conditions and manifold perplexities of the early days, who has never faltered in his faith in the country and who has here realized substantial success with the passing years, as is attested by his ownership of a well improved and valuable farm of six hundred and thirty-eight acres, his homestead place being situated in section 11, Scoville precinct, with the village of Giltner as his post office.
Mr. Shafer was born in Grant county, Wisconsin, on the 28th of July, 1851. His father, the late Nicholas Shafer, established his residence in Wisconsin as a pioneer of the year 1848, first working in lead mines and later becoming a farmer in Grant county. John A. Shafer was reared on the small farm of his father and while he attended the pioneer district schools when opportunity offered, the broader education which is his has been gained in the school of practical experience. As a youth he began working in a sawmill and for three years continued his asso- ciation with lumbering operations in the forests of his native state. Thereafter he was for some time employed in a flour mill and was an ambitious young man of twenty-seven years when he initiated his pioneer experience in Hamilton county, Nebraska. In Wisconsin he purchased two yoke of oxen and with these plodding animals and a wagon he transported his small stock of household effects to Nebraska, the journey having been one of several weeks' duration. Upon his arrival he purchased one hundred and twenty acres of railroad land, at the rate of five dol- lars per acre, and it is this original tract which still represents his home. Here he began breaking the raw prairie sod and making his land available for cultivation, his ox teams coming into requisition in this preliminary work. A little sod house of one room was the first habitation on the new farm and in supplying the home larder Mr. Shafer drew liberally from the many prairie chickens and wild geese and ducks that were here in evidence in the early days. His earnest labors were virtually set at naught in the lean years of drought, and in 1881 a superabundance of rain wrought almost equal disaster to the growing crops. He did not escape the further adversity incurred in the visitation of grasshoppers, but with faith and confidence he persisted in his work, with the result that the hardships paled into insignificance in comparison with his increasing prosperity, shown today in his
MR. AND MRS. JOHN A. SHAFER
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ownership of a large and valuable farm property, upon which he has erected modern buildings and made other excellent improvements. He planted a grove of trees on his original farm but this died out, as did also the second which he planted. His characteristic determination not to be baffled by failure was shown in his planting of a third grove and this has reached vigorous maturity. Mr. Shafer has brought to bear progressive policies in all departments of his farm enterprise and in the raising of live stock has given special attention to the raising of hogs.
The maiden name of Mr. Shafer's wife was Caroline Goodweiler and she proved his faithful and valued helpmeet in the pioneer experiences they shared in Nebraska, where the supreme loss and bereavement of his life came when this loved companion was summoned to eternal rest in the year of 1913. They became the parents of nine children: Clara remains at home; Otto L. is a successful farmer in Scoville precinct; May is the wife of Albert G. Rupp, and they reside in the state of North Dakota; Gertrude is at home; Paul resides in the village of Giltner, this county; Albert met a tragic death in 1907, having fallen from a corncrib and broken his neck; Frank is associated with the activities of the home farm; Margaret is a successful teacher in the rural schools of Hamilton county ; and Josephine is the youngest member of the home circle.
Mr. Shafer has been loyal in supporting enterprises which have tended to con- serve the community welfare and has served nearly thirty years as director of his school district. He and his family are communicants of the Catholic church and his political allegiance is given to the republican party in a national way, but he is liberal in his views locally.
EDWARD P. GRIESS
Since 1914 Edward P. Griess has served as postmaster of Sutton. He is a native son of Clay county, having been born six miles north of Sutton on the 30th of June, 1879, a son of Peter H. and Sophia (Grosshans) Griess, further mention of whom is made in a sketch of H. C. Griess to be found on another page of this work.
Edward P. Griess is indebted to the schools of Sutton for his education and there started out into the business world as extra helper at the depot, for the wage of fifteen dollars per month. His father had suffered a severe financial loss and it was because of this misfortune that Mr. Griess was thrown upon his own re- sources at such an early age. His next occupation was that of clerk in a drug store in which connection he remained for one and one-half years and he then became a clerk in the drug store of Carl Spielman in Sutton. Subsequently he removed to Eldorado, Nebraska, and there engaged in the general mercantile business, remaining in that connection for a period of one year and then returned to Sutton. He met with an accident there which resulted in a broken foot and invalided him for a year. When he was again able to get around he became a bookkeeper for his brother in the Union State Bank at Harvard and held that position until 1914, when he was appointed postmaster of Sutton.
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On the 10th of March, 1903, Mr. Griess was married to Miss Frances Laura Krieg, a native of Geneva, Nebraska, and a daughter of an old homesteader in Fillmore county. Two children have been born to their union: Florence M., who is sixteen years of age and is attending school; and Robert Edward, nine years of age.
Since age conferred upon Mr. Griess the right of franchise he has been a stanch supporter of the democratic party, being a firm believer in the principles of that party as factors in good government. The religious faith of the family is that of the Congregational church and fraternally Mr. Griess is a member of the Royal Highlanders. He is recognized throughout the community as a rep- resentative citizen and devotes his entire time to his duties as postmaster.
GEORGE L. BURR
George L. Burr, president of the Burr Publishing Company, is well known in journalistic circles in Nebraska and since 1890 has been owner and editor of the Hamilton County Register. This, however, does not constitute his actual experience in the newspaper field, for he had previously owned and edited other papers, bringing him a wide acquaintance in this character throughout the state. A native of Iowa, he was born in Mt. Pleasant, July 12, 1859, a son of Edwin M. and Margaret Jeanette (Chandler) Burr, both of whom were natives of Ohio, the former born in 1836 and the latter in 1837. They had a family of four children, of whom George L. Burr is the eldest. He was a lad of but six years when in 1865 the family removed to Missouri, and in 1872 went to Kansas. The father was an attorney, devoting his life to law practice with creditable success. During the Civil war he served for three years and eight months with the Third Ohio Cavalry.
George L. Burr pursued his education in the high school at Keytesville, Missouri, and in normal schools of western Kansas, and then took up the pro- fession of teaching, which he followed in Kansas for six years, becoming super- intendent of schools at Gaylord and Smith Center, Kansas. Later, however, he turned his attention to newspaper interests and became owner and editor of the Smith County Record, published in Smith Center, Kansas. Removing to River- ton, Nebraska, he there published the Enterprise and afterward the Lawrence Locomotive of Lawrence, Nebraska. He afterward became editor and owner of the Curtis-Courier, the Stratton Herald, Bloomington Echo and the Hamilton County Register, of Nebraska publication. He was likewise owner of the Blue Hill Winner and Blue Hill Times before removing to Aurora in 1890. In that year he became owner of the Hamilton County Register, which he has since published and of which he has always been editor. The paper has an excellent circulation, making a good advertising medium. Its editorials are clear and concise and are widely read. While Mr. Burr was originally a republican, he later became independent in politics and since 1900 has published the Register as an independent paper. For six years he filled the office of secretary to Congress- man W. L. Stark, but since 1900 has devoted his attention exclusively to newspaper
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work, his only political activity being the discussion of vital questions and issues through the columns of his paper.
On the 12th of July, 1880, Mr. Burr was married to Miss Hattie S. Bonnette of Kansas, and they have become parents of four sons, Albert L., Fred, George L., and Edwin M. The first named now conducts the Register. The second son is vice president and general manager of the Giltner State Bank. George L. is a graduate of Nebraska State University and his younger brother also completed a course there. They are now engaged in the publication of the Alliance Herald of Alliance, Nebraska, which they own and edit. Both were soldiers of the late war, George L. serving in the navy, while Edwin M. became captain of Company C, Three Hundred and Thirteenth Ammunition Train, Eighty-eighth Division.
Mr. Burr is identified fraternally with the Woodmen and Highlanders and both he and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church and they enjoy the regard of all who know them.
J. H. ELLER
J. H. Eller is not only a leading merchant of Clay Center but is actively con- nected with commercial pursuits in various towns of Nebraska and a spirit of enterprise and progress has not only brought to him substantial success but has made him a factor in the upbuilding and progress of the various localities in which his interests are located. The recognition of his service as an element in the advancement of the state makes it imperative that his life history be given in this volume. He was born in Wapello county, Iowa, August 27, 1861, a son of Harvey and Mary C. (Vannoy) Eller, both of whom were natives of North Carolina, where they were reared and married, removing to Iowa in 1852. The father purchased a farm there and both remained residents of the Hawkeye state until called to their final rest. They had a family of fifteen children, of whom ten are living.
J. H. Eller, who was the twelfth in order of birth and is the only one now in Clay county, received his early educational training in the district schools of Iowa and spent his youth on the home farm, his experiences being those that usually fall to the farm bred boy. He arrived in Clay Center in 1883, when a young man of about twenty-two years. His financial resources were very limited at that time and during the first year of his residence here he rented land. During the following year, 1884, he engaged in the hardware business as partner in a store and they likewise handled agricultural implements and farm machinery on commission. Mr. Eller also owned a team and did some hauling. As the years passed he made some progress, ever improving the opportunities that came his way, and in 1894 he embarked in the grocery business, although borrowing seven hundred dollars to make the venture. The new undertaking prospered and he later extended the scope of his business by establishing other departments until he now has a large double store building full of general merchandise of all kinds. He is likewise associated with others in the ownership of a store at Geneva, at Exeter, at Friend and at Beaver Crossing, Nebraska, the business interests being carried on under the
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name of J. H. Eller & Company. Each of these stores is under the direction of a manager and Mr. Eller himself manages the business at Clay Center. He has one of the largest stocks of merchandise carried in the county and his Clay Center store would be a credit to a city of much larger size. Enterprise, diligence, close applica- tion and indefatigable energy have been the salient features in his growing success.
In 1888 Mr. Eller was married to Miss Bertha Athey, a native of Missouri, while her parents, Martin V. and Mary (Bailey) Athey, were both born in Ohio. To Mr. and Mrs. Eller were born five children : Merle, who married C. Rollins, who is in business with Mr. Eller ; Mabel, the wife of J. G. Jessup, who makes his home in California and is a landowner of Kansas, but is filling the position of rural mail carrier on the Pacific coast; Florence, the wife of R. E. Cowan, a real estate and insurance agent at Lincoln, Nebraska ; Francis, who is attending business college in Lincoln; and Raymond, who is in the aviation department of the regular army at San Antonio, Texas. Mrs. Eller passed away January 25, 1914, in the faith of the Congregational church, of which she was a consistent member. Her many sterling qualities won her the love and friendship of all with whom she came into contact. Mr. Eller also belongs to the Congregational church and fraternally is a Mason, having served for three terms as master of his lodge. He is likewise a member of the Order of the Eastern Star, as was Mrs. Eller, and his daughters also belong. Politically Mr. Eller is a republican and has served on the town board and on the school board, being secretary of the latter and chairman of the town board. He is interested in all that pertains to public progress and cooperates in all movements for the benefit of the community and the upbuilding of the state. Energy and enter- prise have at all times characterized his business career and he is today one of the successful men of Clay county, but the most envious cannot grudge him his suc- cess, so worthily has it been won and so wisely used.
LEWIS H. HANSEN
Since 1882 Lewis H. Hansen has engaged in general farming, stock raising and feeding in Hamilton county, Nebraska. He has achieved a substantial amount of success along this line and is regarded as one of the representative agriculturists of the community, his farm being in section 30, Valley township.
A native of Denmark, his birth occurred in that country, November 25, 1853, and at an early age, in 1869, he with his father and three brothers and two sisters, came to the United States. One brother, Hans, is in Aurora and a sister. Minnie, is residing in Chicago. Upon arriving in this country Mr. Hansen and his father settled in Illinois, one hundred miles south of Chicago in Vermilion county, and there the father purchased eighty acres of land and started farming. Many hard- ships had to be endured in order to get the land upon a paying basis and as the father was too old to do much work almost the entire responsibility fell upon the shoulders of Lewis H. Hansen. For thirteen years they resided in Illinois, in that time achieving a substantial amount of success, but in 1882 they removed to Nebraska, bringing with them a car of mixed stock and some tools. Before remov-
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ing to this state they disposed of their eighty acres of Illinois land and bought one hundred and sixty acres in Hamilton county. The only improvements on this land were two small houses, one of sod and the other, frame. Rats were the greatest nuisance and the sod house while it was a very good dwelling in fair weather, proved to be a veritable sieve during the rainy seasons. In 1883 Mr. Hansen built a new home which was modern and up to date in every way for that period and made this his home until 1912, when he erected his present resi- dence, one of the finest in this section of the county. The father of Mr. Hansen made his home with him until May, 1894, when his death occurred at the age of seventy-seven years. Mr. Hansen's farm now consists of eight hundred acres, on which stand four sets of buildings. He has always engaged in general farming, stock raising and feeding and along these lines has won a gratifying amount of success.
On the 29th of May, 1882, occurred the marriage of Mr. Hansen and Miss Maria Frank, a daughter of Andrew and Anne Frank. She removed to Nebraska with her parents in the same year that her husband arrived here. To them ten children have been born: Bernhart; Thyra; Walter; Agnes; Harold; George; Reynor; Warner; Yrssa ; and Herluf. Herluf and Harold saw active service during the World war, going across to France. George was also in the service, but did not go overseas.
Mr. Hansen is a stanch supporter of the republican party, in the interests of which he takes an active part. His religious faith is that of the Danish Lutheran church and he was one of the men influential in the building of that church at Kronborg. As a prominent farmer and the father of a large family Mr. Hansen has always taken an active part in the civic affairs of the community, his support always being relied upon to further any movement for the improvement and development of the county. He was a member of the school board for a few years. The success which Mr. Hansen now enjoys is the result of his own diligence and industry and he still prefers to devote his time and attention to the improvement and cultivation of his land. His prosperity has been rapid and sure and founded upon an expert knowledge of the value of land and the methods of its scientific cultivation.
DAVID E. SEIVER
David E. Seiver, who passed away on the 6th of December, 1917, at the age of sixty-seven years, had long been a valued and honored resident of Hamilton county. While a progressive, enterprising and successful business man, the at- tainment of prosperity never constituted the whole end and aim of his life. On the contrary he recognized and fully met his duties and obligations in every rela- tion and was keenly interested in the educational and moral development of the community in which he made his home, his labors and influence proving a potent force for good in Hamilton county.
Mr. Seiver was born in New Hampden, Highland county, Virginia, in 1850, a son of James and Martha (Sullenberger) Seiver, who were also natives of the
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Old Dominion. The father was a successful tailor and prominent citizen of High- land county, and both he and his wife passed away in the state of their nativity. To them were born nine children, five daughters and four sons: John, Maggie and Susan, all of whom have passed away; Samuel, who is residing in Salina, Kansas; Mrs. Lucy Rexroad, who makes her home in Oklahoma; Mrs. Emma J. Mauzy, of New Hampden, Virginia; Mrs. Abbie Brown, of San Bernardino, California; James, who located in Plattsmouth for some time, but is now living in Perkins county ; and David E.
The last named acquired his education in the common schools of Virginia and after his marriage, in 1867, went to Kansas, where he acquired a homestead of eighty acres. He had sod buildings on his place and when he took possession the land was unbroken and uncultivated. In 1880, after the death of his wife, he dis- posed of his homestead and came to Nebraska. During 1881 he cultivated land in the vicinity of Plattsmouth and afterward was associated with C. H. Parmele of Plattsmouth in the buying of grain and live stock. He afterward removed to Cedar Creek, where he continued in the same business until 1892, at which time he took up his ahode in Marquette, Hamilton county, and there purchased land in partnership with Mr. Parmele and W. H. Newell. Their purchase consisted of thirteen hundred acres of ranch land three miles northwest of the town and the home place at the south edge of town, on which Mr. Seiver lived until his death, making his home on that place in order to be near a good school that his children might enjoy the advantages thereof. Although he raised and developed a high type of pure bred Hereford cattle, in which occupation he took much interest and pride, he was more concerned with the educational and moral development of his children than he was in raising cattle and making money. Mr. Seiver and his wife possessed a remarkable influence over their children and through their efforts and sacrifice all were enabled to secure a high school and college education and are now active members of the Methodist church, taking a helpful interest in progressive movements of their community and county. .
Mr. Seiver was twice married. In Virginia, in 1867, he wedded Clara Fleisher, whose death occurred in 1880 and who was the mother of three children : Gertrude, who passed away in January, 1920; Guy, now a plumber of Broken Bow, Nebraska; and Claudia, who is the wife of G. W. Farr, of Miles City, Montana, where he is successfully engaged in the practice of law. In 1883 Mr. Seiver was united in marriage to Miss Anna Louisa Shryock, a native of Stephens City, Virginia, born October 1, 1853, and a daughter of Thomas William and Rachel A. (Meyers) Shryock. Mrs. Seiver completed her education in the Plattsmouth high school and afterward successfully engaged in teaching prior to her marriage. It was on the 15th of March, 1883, at Weeping Water, Nebraska, that she became the wife of David E. Seiver and to them were born six children: Anna Kathryn, who is now the widow of Ira Shaneyfelt of Marquette: Thomas W., who married Florence V. Karr and is now engaged in farming in Hamilton county; Clara Louise, who is the wife of Dr. J. C. Malster, a physician of Stromsburg, Nebraska; William Shryock, who married Dora M. Johnson of North Loup, Nebraska, and is engaged in farming near Marquette; David Edwin, who married Velma Flower of Hebron, Nebraska, and is now cultivating the home place and also assisting on the ranch ; and Bertie D., who lives at Marquette with the mother.
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Throughout his entire life Mr. Seiver was a stanch supporter of the democratic party, in the activities of which he took a keen interest. Fraternally he was identified with the Modern Woodmen of America and the Ancient Order of United Workmen and loyally at all times supported the beneficent purpose underlying these organizations. His religious faith was that of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which Mrs. Seiver is a most consistent and helpful member. The life record of David E. Seiver is one worthy of high commendation. Starting out empty-handed he steadily worked his way upward to a position of prominence in the county as the result of his diligence, perseverance and energy. Moreover, he stood loyally in support of all the plans and measures for the public good, his aid and influence being on the side of progress, reform, right and truth. Mrs. Seiver shared with him in all the high ideals which governed his life and is most highly esteemed in the community where she and her family reside.
BENJAMIN F. MAPES
Benjamin F. Mapes is now living in well earned retirement and prosperity in the village of Phillips, Hamilton county, a representative pioneer citizen who here contributed in generous measure to the early civic and industrial development of the county and who has ever stood an exponent of loyal and appreciative citizen- ship in the state of his adoption.
Mr. Mapes was born at St. Joseph, Illinois, in the year 1857, and is a son of Daniel and Elizabeth (Swearingen) Mapes, the former a native of the state of New York and the latter of Illinois. Daniel Mapes was a child of two years when his parents became pioneer settlers in a timber and prairie district of Illinois, where his father reclaimed and developed a productive farm, both he and his wife having there passed the remainder of their lives. Daniel Mapes was reared and educated in Illinois and eventually became one of the substantial farmers and representative citizens of Champaign county, that state, where both he and his wife remained until the close of their lives. Of their children seven are living: John, a resident of Indiana ; Henry, living retired at Phillips, Nebraska ; Benjamin F., of this review, the next younger; Thomas, who lives in Illinois, as do also Samuel M. and Charles; and Ethel, who resides in the state of Indiana.
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