USA > Nebraska > Hamilton County > History of Hamilton and Clay counties, Nebraska, Vol. II > Part 18
USA > Nebraska > Clay County > History of Hamilton and Clay counties, Nebraska, Vol. II > Part 18
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To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Fenster eleven children were born: Tildie; Charles; Annie; Augusta; Dora; Rhienart; Herman; Emil; Richard, who passed away at the age of eight years; Frank, whose death occurred when but thirteen months old; and another child who passed away in infancy. Emil saw active service in the World war, being a member of Company D, Thirty-Fifth Division, Infantry, and was abroad for seven months.
Mrs. Fenster is now residing in Hampton, where she has a nice home and as a result of their former years of diligence and industry is financially indepen- dent.
WILLIAM STEPHENS
William Stephens, who is now farming two hundred and forty acres in Eldorado township, in Clay county, is a native of Scotland, in which country his birth occurred on the 24th of December, 1863. His father was William Stephens, whose death occurred in Illinois.
When but four years of age William Stephens came to the United States with his parents, who located at Paterson, New Jersey, for some time and subsequently removed to Illinois. There they engaged in farming and there William Stephens received his education, attending the country schools of the county. He went to school, however, but three months out of each year and spent the remainder of the time helping his father farm the home place. In 1880 he left the parental roof and went to Iowa, where he rented land and engaged in farming for six years, at the end of which time he came west and located in Clay county. For two years he farmed rented land in that county and then bought one hundred and sixty acres, one eighty in Hamilton county and the other eighty in Clay county. He lived on the land in Clay county, where he built a little shack house and shed stable and broke part of the land himself. He brought both farms to a high state of cultiva- tion and made many improvements on them. He has always engaged in general farming, stock raising and feeding and is widely recognized as an agriculturist of much ability. He experienced the hardships of those early times, losing his crops in the droughts of 1893 and 1894, but he was ever determined to success and as a result allowed no obstacle, however great, to remain long in his path.
While residing in Iowa Mr. Stephens was united in marriage to Miss Bertha
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Richards, a native of Pottawattamie county, Iowa, and her demise occurred in September, 1916. Nine children were born to their union: Florence; Edna; Esta; Grace; Hazel; James; Ruth, who is teaching in the district school ; Clara ; and Ida, who is deceased.
Mr. Stephens gives his political allegiance to the republican party, in the interests of which he takes an active part. Fraternally he is identified with the Modern Woodmen of America and the Ancient Order of United Workmen of Harvard. He is school moderator of school district No. 69 and likewise promi- nent in the civic affairs of the community. His wife was for many years preceding her death a consistent member of the Christian church. Mr. Stephens is now in possession of two hundred and forty acres of well improved land and in the culti- vation of this land is achieving more than a gratifying amount of success.
DANIEL J. KRABIEL
The boyhood memories of Daniel J. Krabiel, a substantial citizen and repre- sentative farmer of Hamilton county, touch the pioneer era in the history of this county and here he has so availed himself of opportunities as to achieve a high degree of success and prestige in connection with progressive farm industry.
Mr. Krabiel was born in Woodford county, Illinois, on the 23d of December, 1869, and is a son of Daniel and Magdalena Schweitzer Krabiel, the former a native of Germany and the latter of France, from which country her parents immigrated to the United States when she was ten years of age. Daniel Krabiel had been employed by the month at farm work in Ohio prior to his removal to Illinois, to which state he drove from Ohio with team and wagon. In Woodford county, Illinois, he became the owner of a farm of eighty acres and this property he sold when he determined to number himself among the pioneer settlers in Hamilton county, Nebraska. He came with his family to this county in 1883 and in Hamilton township as now constituted he purchased two hundred acres of land, on which had been erected a small frame house and barn. Only a minor part of the soil had been broken and prepared for cultivation, but he not only reclaimed and developed this tract but also added to the area of his farm property until he was the owner of three quarter sections in Hamilton county. He won substantial success as a farmer in this state and continued in possession of the farm property until his death in 1903 at the age of sixty-nine years, his widow having passed away at the age of seventy years, in 1911, and both were earnest and consistent members of the Mennonite church. They were sterling folk and were held in high esteem in Hamilton county.
Daniel J. Krabiel acovired his rudimentary education in the schools of his native county and was a lad of thirteen years when he accompanied his parents from Illinois to Nebraska. In Hamilton county he attended the pioneer district schools during the winter terms when his services were not needed on the home farm and upon attaining to his legal majority he initiated his independent activities as a farmer. After utilizing for some time land owned by his father he purchased eighty acres in Orville township and of his progressive success since that time no further voucher is required than the statement that he is now the owner of a finely improved
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farm estate of three hundred and twenty acres, devoted to diversified agriculture and to the raising of excellent types of live stock, especially red polled cattle and Dnroc Jersey hogs, to which Mr. Krabiel has given marked attention during the past decade. He is a stockholder in the Farmers Co-operative Grain & Livestock Company, is independent in politics, has served as school director of district No. 11, and has shown lively and helpful interest in those projects and enterprises that have been for the general good of his home community and county.
On December 15, 1897, Mr Krabiel was united in marriage to Miss Matilda Engel, who likewise is a native of Illinois, and their only child, Glenn, remains with them on the home farm, in the activities of which he takes part.
HARVEY COLE
With various important business interests that have contributed to the agri- cultural and financial development of Hamilton county Harvey Cole was closely associated and his position was that of a leading and influential citizen. He was born in Rock Run township, Stephenson county, Illinois, January 21, 1850. His father, Wilson Cole, was of English descent but was of American birth. His mother, who bore the maiden name of Charlotte Wells, was born in England but came to the United States at the age of twelve years. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson Cole became pioneer residents of Stephenson county, Illinois, and there they reared their family of seven sons, of whom Harvey was the fifth in order of birth. Sidney, the eldest son, joined the Union army and died during the war, while Frank passed away soon afterward. The mother's death occurred in 1863. Three of the sons, Freeman, Darwin and Harvey, went to work on a farm during the summer months and at- tended school in the winter, while the two younger sons, Adelbert and David, re- mained at home under the care of a housekeeper, being not yet old enough to attend school. Freeman, Harvey, Adelbert and David afterward became pioneer settlers of Hamilton county.
After completing his course in the district schools Harvey Cole attended Mount Morris College at Mount Morris, Illinois, and was there graduated with the class of 18:1. The following winter he engaged in teaching school at Rock Run and in April, 1872, came to this state, where he homesteaded on eighty acres of land four and a half miles southwest of Aurora. At the same time he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of railroad land adjoining, for which he paid two dollars and fifty cents per acre. Through the two following years grasshoppers destroyed practically all of the crops and the early settlers were therefore involved in many hardships and trials. In 1875 Mr. Cole proved up on the homestead and returned to Illinois, where he again engaged in farming for two years, while the winter months were spent in teaching school. He then returned to Nebraska and bought another eighty acres, making his farm three hundred and twenty acres. At a subsequent period he purchased a quarter section two miles to the north and a half mile east of Aurora and thus became the owner of considerable valuable farm property. In the year 1883 he was elected county treasurer, to which office he was reelected in 1885. On first being called to the position he removed with his
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family to Aurora and purchased the old home known as the Hellings place. From that time until his death he continued a resident of the county seat. In 1887 he assisted in organizing the Aurora State Bank, of which he became cashier, continuing to fill that position until 1903, when he resigned and engaged in buying live stock until June, 1906. In the latter year he returned to the field of banking, becoming one of the directors and cashier of the Fidelity National Bank upon its organization and continuing to serve until forced to resign on account of ill health in 1909. He was also a member of the Farmers Telephone Association, the Aurora Building & Loan Association and the Aurora College Building. He cooperated in many plans and measures for the public good as well as for the promotion and upbuilding of his own fortunes and his worth as a man and citizen was widely acknowledged.
At Rock Run, Illinois, in 1873, Mr. Cole was married to Miss Nellie Jane Mal- lory, the eldest daughter of Jasper and Elsie Mallory, of Rock Run. Her parents were early settlers of Illinois. Her father was born in Ohio and her mother in New York, but when quite young they became residents of the Prairie state. To Mr. and Mrs. Cole were born eight children, of whom two, Edwin and Roy, died in early infancy, while Jessie passed away at the age of twelve years. The five still living are: Arthur B., now of Lincoln, Nebraska, who married Rachel Isaman, daughter of one of the early settlers of Hamilton county; Carrie M., the wife of Dr. J. W. Dorwart, now of Seattle, Washington; Jasper F., who is a practicing dentist of Aurora and who married Ruth Erie Johnson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Johnson, of Aurora; Josephine, the wife of Walter M. Boyd of Aurora; and Viva, now at home. The family circle was again broken by the hand of death when on the 4th of April, 1910, Mr. Cole passed away and was laid to rest in the Aurora cemetery. Mrs. Cole was the donor of Cole Park in Aurora, a playground for children, the gift being made in memory of her husband.
Mr. Cole was a member of Aurora Lodge, A. F. & A. M., also of the Royal Arch chapter, the Eastern Star and the Royal Highlanders. His political allegiance was always given to the republican party and in addition to filling the office of county treasurer for two terms he served as a member of the board of education in Aurora during the early '90s and again from 1905 until 1910. The cause of the public schools always found in him a stalwart champion and he did everything in his power to promote education and improve the system of the public schools. He was keenly interested in everything that had to do with welfare and progress and his aid and influence were ever on the side of right, reform and improvement.
A. EINER PETERSON
A. Einer Peterson, one of the foremost merchants of Aurora, conducting a large general store which includes almost every line save groceries, has built up an extensive business through enterprise, determination and capability. He was boru in Sweden, March 21, 1866, and acquired his education in the schools of that country, although he attended school to a limited extent after reaching the new world. He came alone to Hamilton county in 1883 and for two years after
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becoming a resident of Nebraska was employed in a store in Lincoln. It was then that he took up his abode in Aurora and here entered the employ of his brother, A. G. Peterson, with whom he remained until 1888. In that year he purchased an interest in the business, continuing in the store until 1889 and in 1891 sold his interest. In 1893 he again entered into partnership with his brother but again sold out in 1911. He then established a store independently and now has one of the large mercantile interests of the city, carrying an extensive line of goods, so that his establishment ranks with the leading department stores of Hamilton county. He is thoroughly progressive in his methods and has ever recognized the fact that satisfied patrons are the best advertisement. Moreover, his previous experience was broad and thorough and well qualified him for the care of his trade.
In 1900 Mr. Peterson was married to Miss Adelaide Thomas who was born in South Bend, Indiana, a daughter of A. N. Thomas, a pioneer of Aurora who was, engaged in the shoe trade and in the hotel business here for many years. Mr. and Mrs. Peterson have become parents of two children: Thomas A., who is now a student in Knox College at Galesburg, Illinois; and Adelaide, a pupil in the graded schools of Aurora. Mrs. Peterson is a member of the Christian church. Mr. Peterson is an exemplary representative of the Masonic fraternity and has taken the degrees of the Scottish Rite and Mystic Shrine. He is also identified with the Knights of Pythias. His political endorsement is given to the republican party and for six years he served as a member of the city council, exercising his official prerogatives in support of all those plans and measures which feature in the public good. He and his family occupy an attractive home in Aurora and their position in social circles is an enviable one. Mr. Peterson is now devoting his entire atten- tion to his business and his store is one of the leading commercial enterprises of Aurora. He has never had occasion to regret his determination to come to the new world, for here he found the business opportunities which he sought and in their utilization has worked his way steadily upward until he now ranks with the progressive and prosperous merchants of the city.
LEWIS C. ANDERSON
A sterling pioneer citizen whose activities in connection with the development of the agricultural resources of Hamilton county marked him as a constructive agent in furthering the civic and material progress of this section of Nebraska, is Lewis C. Anderson, now living virtually retired in a pleasant home at Marquette, and his character and achievement well entitle him to recognition in this history. He was born in Denmark, in the year 1855, and is a son of Andrew C. and Dora M. (Larsen) Larsen, who did not come to America until after their son Lewis C., of this review, had established his home in Nebraska. In his native land the father became a skilled artisan in the manufacturing of wooden shoes and he continued to follow his trade in Denmark until 1876, when he and his wife came to the United States and established their home in Hamilton county, Nebraska, where he purchased forty acres of government land and forty acres of school land,
Vol. 11-12
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in Otis township. His original habitation on this pioneer farm was a small sod house which he provided with a board floor, an improvement that was lacking in many similar houses of the locality and period. The lumber used in this primitive domicile cost only thirteen dollars and was hauled by team from Central City. In the developing and improving of his land he set out a small orchard and also planted a number of forest trees. He reclaimed much of his land to cultivation and both he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives in Hamilton county, where he died in 1895, at the age of sixty-six years, and his wife lived to be seventy- eight years of age. Both were zealous communicants of the Danish Lutheran church. It is interesting to record that Mr. Larsen found ready demand for the wooden shoes which he manufactured after establishing his residence in Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. Larsen became the parents of four children: Antamena, the eldest, still resides in Hamilton county, where her husband, the late J. P. Christenson, was a prosperous farmer; Lewis C., of this sketch, was the next in order of birth; Lena is the widow of Samuel Anderson, who was a farmer of Hamilton county; and Anton P. is a resident of Grand Island, Nebraska.
Lewis C. Anderson is indebted to the schools of his native land for his early education, and there he served a five years' apprenticeship to the trade of car- penter. He received no pay for his services during this period, but the discipline was of enduring value, as he became a skilled artisan. He continued to work at his trade in Denmark until 1874, when he immigrated to the United States and came to Hamilton county, Nebraska, where he purchased eighty acres of railroad land. At a price of five dollars per acre he employed men to break the land of this embryonic farm and in the meantime added to his revenues by finding em- ployment at his trade in Grand Island, Hall county. As a builder he worked on the first schoolhouse in that now vital and progressive little city and continued to devote the greater part of his time to work at the carpenter's trade until 1876, when he established his residence on his farm. In that year he erected a small frame house on the place and from time to time purchased more land in the same part of Otis township. He has since sold the greater part of his land in Hamilton county, but is the owner of a valuable tract of one hundred and seventy acres in Merrick county. He endured the trials and perplexities that fell to the lot of all the pioneer farmers of this locality and knows well the efficacy of corn and corn- stalks as fuel and the dubious pleasure of being compelled to grind wheat in a coffee mill when it proved impossible to take the grain to a mill on the Platte river, a number of miles distant. He continued his residence on his farm until 1915 and in the meantime had developed it into one of the valuable landed properties of Hamilton county. Upon leaving the farm he removed to Marquette, in which village he is now living retired, in full enjoyment of the prosperity that has crowned his many years of zealous toil and enterprise in connection with farm industry. Mr. Anderson is a loyal and appreciative citizen of his adopted county and state, is independent in politics and he and his wife are communicants of the Danish Lutheran church.
The year 1887 recorded the marriage of Mr. Anderson to Miss Martena Chris- tensen, who was born in Denmark, a daughter of Peter and Johanna Christensen, who came to Hamilton county in 1872 and became pioneer settlers near the present village of Hampton, where Mr. Christensen took up a homestead and reclaimed
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a productive farm. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson became the parents of eleven children, of whom nine are living: Dora is the widow of Otto Fethersen, who was a farmer in Hamilton county; Edward F. is a farmer in Merrick county; Elmer F. and Andrew C. are vigorous exponents of farm enterprise in Hamilton county ; Emma N. is, the wife of Jeremiah Benson, a farmer of this county ; Louis P., Clara M., Scenne and Rudolph M. remain at home. One child died in infancy and Josephine died at the age of seven years.
CLARENCE CASS
Clarence Cass, operating extensively and successfully in the real estate field of Aurora and Hamilton county, was born in Oswego county, New York, October 29, 1868, his parents being O. W. and Mary Jane (Crippen) Cass, both of whom were natives of the Empire state where they resided until 1872. Attracted by the opportunities of the growing west they came to Nebraska, settling in Hamilton county where Mr. Cass secured a homestead claim which he still owns, having in the meantime converted it into a rich and valuable property. He is now living in California, but his wife passed away in 1889. They were the parents of five children, three of whom were born in New York and two in Hamilton county. The three born in New York first opened their eyes to the light of day in the same house where had occurred the birth of their father, his six brothers and one sister. The children of Mr. and Mrs. O. W. Cass are: Clarence; Melvin J., who is connected with his brother Clarence in business but is now at Long Beach, California, for his health; H. D., a farmer living near Burwell, Nebraska; O. W., who carries on farming near Aurora; and Florence, the wife of George Bowen, a druggist of Rainier, Oregon. The parents were members of the Baptist church with which Mr. Cass is still identified and fraternally he is connected with the Ancient Order of United Workmen, while in political faith he is a democrat.
Clarence Cass completed his education as a high school pupil in Aurora and through the period of his boyhood and youth, when not busy with the duties of the schoolroom, his attention was largely given to the work of the home farm. He continued to carry on general agricultural pursuits until he attained his majority and then became connected with the dry goods trade as clerk in an Aurora store in which he was employed for five years. On the expiration of that period he turned his attention to the restaurant business and was active along that line for seventeen years, conducting a business of gratifying proportions. He dates his residence in Aurora from about 1891. In 1914 he purchased the real estate busi- ness of W. W. Shenberger and has since handled real estate, collections and in- surance. He has both farm and city property for rent and has negotiated many important realty transfers. With the thoroughness that has always characterized him he has acquainted himself with all property that is on the market and thor- oughly knows real estate values. He is also a stockholder in the First National Bank and the Farmers' State Bank and is the owner of land in Hamilton county.
On the 10th of October, 1910, Mr. Cass was married to Miss Clara Pense, a native of Illinois, whose father was one of the pioneer residents of Clay county.
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Nebraska, where he secured a homestead claim upon which he spent his remaining days. Mr. and Mrs. Cass have one child, Lawrence, now nine years of age. Mrs. Cass belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church and is a lady of many admirable qualities. Mr. Cass holds membership with the Masonic fraternity, with the High- landers and with the Modern Woodmen and his political endorsement is given to the republican party. He is interested in all that pertains to general progress and improvement in his community and his aid has been a tangible force in bringing about advancement and development along various lines.
C. P. NELSON
In former years C. P. Nelson was closely associated with agricultural interests in Hamilton county but is now living retired in Aurora. He has passed the seventy-sixth milestone on life's journey and it is fitting that in the evening of his day he should enjoy rest as a reward for his former industry and business activity. He was born in Sweden, March 18, 1845, and is a son of Nels Nelson and Catherina Peterson, both of whom were natives of Sweden, where they spent their entire lives, the father being a well-to-do farmer of that country. They belong to the Lutheran church and in that faith they reared their family of eight children, seven of whom are living, all of them residents of Sweden with the exception of C. P. of this review.
In the school of his native country C. P. Nelson pursued his education, worked upon the farm in Sweden until 1871, when at the age of twenty-six years he crossed the Atlantic to the new world, attracted by the opportunities which he believed he could secure on this side of the water. He arrived in Hamilton county on the 17th of August of that year and took up a homestead and also a preemption claim. For a number of months he had remained in Illinois, where he and another man purchased an old wagon and a horse apiece, making a team, and with this outfit started across the country to Nebraska. When they arrived they had a cash capital of but thirty dollars between them. They built a sod house, going in debt for some windows and lumber necessary to complete the dwelling. Their experiences were such as usually fell to the lot of pioneer settlers. Their meat was largely furnished by the game that they could kill and they made coffee out of parched corn. Mr. Nelson began working for a man at twenty-five cents per day and was thus employed for some time. He continued to live on the homestead and as the years passed was able to carry on the work of improvement. He built a frame house and added all necessary equipment for the development and cultivation of the farm, which in the course of years was converted into a productive place, so that he annually gathered golden harvests and thus year hy year added to his financial resources. In 1916 he sold his homestead and removed to Aurora, where he has since lived.
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