USA > Nebraska > Hamilton County > History of Hamilton and Clay counties, Nebraska, Vol. II > Part 23
USA > Nebraska > Clay County > History of Hamilton and Clay counties, Nebraska, Vol. II > Part 23
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Since age conferred upon Mr. Fletcher the right of franchise he has given his support to the republican party, in the interests of which he has taken an active part. He is now living retired, enjoying the reward of years spent in diligence and industry. He owns considerable property, both in town and county, and his home is located on a five-acre tract. The life of Mr. Fletcher has indeed been a busy one, fraught with good for the community, and at the same time he has pro- moted his individual interests.
ANDREW GROSSHANS
The upbuilding of a city depends not so much upon the machinery of govern- ment nor even the men who occupy its public offices as upon those who are directing its business development and progress. In this connection, therefore, it is imperative that mention be made of Andrew Grosshans of the Grosshans Lumber Company, who is carrying on an extensive business in Aurora, Nebraska. He was born in Russia, November 1, 1867, and is a son of Christian and Margaret (Fritchle) Grosshans, who were also of Russian birth and came to the United States in 1873, settling six miles north of Sutton, Clay county, Nebraska. The father purchased railroad land at four dollars and a quarter per acre, becoming owner of a half section. Later he bought another half section at ten dollars per acre and as the years passed he accumulated a great amount of land, the careful cultivation and development of which made him a wealthy man. Abont 1908 he removed to Sutton and retired from active business. Both he and his wife died in that place. They were members of the German Reformed church and in political belief Mr. Gross- hans was a republican. He served as school director, was a well educated man for his day and always kept thoroughly informed concerning the leading questions and interests of the times. He read extensively and could always support his position upon any vital question by intelligent argument. In business, too, he displayed marked capability and resourcefulness. He engaged extensively in the breeding of cattle, horses and sheep and at one time was devoting his attention largely to full-blooded shorthorn cattle. It was through his capable business methods, close application and industry that he became one of the prosperous men of his adopted county. To him and his wife were born ten children of whom eight are living: Andrew; Christian, who is practically living retired in Sutton, speculating occa- sionally in real estate; John C., who occupies a farm near Sutton ; T. C., a ranch- man living at North Platte, Nebraska; Henry P., who was formerly engaged in business with his brother Andrew but is now conducting a lumber-yard at Kimball, Nebraska ; Johanna, the wife of Peter Schwartz, a retired farmer living at Sutton, Nebraska; Eugenie, the wife of Fred Unterseahr, a plumber of Sutton, Nebraska; and Martha, who also makes her home in Sutton.
Andrew Grosshans pursued his education in country schools, in the schools of Sutton and in a business college at Lincoln. He remained on the home farm until he reached the age of nineteen, dividing his time between the duties of the school- room, the pleasures of the playground and the work of the fields. He was not desirous of devoting his life to agricultural pursuits, however, and on reaching the age of nineteen left home and became connected with the lumber business in
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Sutton in 1898. He was there identified with the Sutton Lumber Company for several years and in 1903 went to Kearney, Nebraska, where he engaged in the coal trade until 1905. In the latter year he removed to Aurora and purchased the lumber business of H. N. Bell which was incorporated with a capital stock of sixteen thousand dollars, but since then the capital stock has been increased to forty thousand dollars and the business is now under the incorporated name of the Grosshans Lumber Company. They conduct a general lumber and coal busi- ness and their trade has reached extensive and gratifying proportions. Mr. Gross- hans is also interested in lumber and coal yards at Murphy, Nebraska, and also at Kimball. He became a yard man at the beginning of his connection with the lumber trade and through the intervening period has made steady progress, until he is now at the head of the profitable and growing business.
In 1892 Mr. Grosshans was united in marriage to Miss Sarah A. Harter, a native of Hamilton county and a daughter of Jacob. Harter who arrived in this county in 1871, after which he homesteaded north of Blue River and lived there to the time of his death. Mrs. Harter went to France to visit the grave of her son who was killed in the late war and died on shipboard while returning home on the 30th of May, 1920. Mr. and Mrs. Grosshans became the parents of three daughters: Alma, who attended the high school of Aurora, was also graduated from the Doane College at Crete, and is now principal of the high school at Crete, Nebraska; Leota, who completed a high school course in Aurora, has been a music pupil at Grand Island and at Lincoln and is now teaching music and penmanship at Crete high school; and Marie, still attending school.
Mr. Grosshans and his wife are members of the Congregational church and he belongs also to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Highlanders. He has passed through all of the chairs in the Odd Fellows Lodge and is now chancellor commander of the Knights of Pythias. In politics he is a republican and has served as a member of the city council and also as mayor of Aurora, while at Sutton he occupied the office of city treasurer for one term. He made an excellent public official by the prompt and capable manner in which he discharged his duties and at all time he is interested in everything that pertains to the general welfare, lending his aid and cooperation to all movements toward the public good and progress of the community. His own life history should serve to encourage and inspire others, showing what could be accomplished through individual effort and proving that success and an honorable name can be won simultaneously.
ROBERT F. BOYD
Since the year 1892 farm industry in Hamilton county has found an aggressive and vigorous exponent in the person of Robert F. Boyd, who has lived consecu- tively on his present farm, in section 30, Union township, and whose progressiveness and material success are manifest in the excellent improvement and general high standard that mark this as one of the valuable farm properties of this section of the state.
Mr. Boyd was born in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, on the 28th of February, Vol. II-15
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1866, and is a son of Henry F. and Sarah J. Boyd, who removed from the Key- stone state to Ohio when their son Robert was about six years old and who passed the closing years of their lives in the state of Wisconsin, the father having been a shoemaker by trade. Robert F. Boyd acquired his early education principally in the public schools of Ohio, and at Wellston, that state, he began working in an iron furnace when a youth. He followed this vocation a few years and thereafter became a skillful worker at the trade of stone and brick mason. He was eighteen years of age when he came to Nebraska and rented land in Otoe county, not far distant from Nebraska City, in which locality he was engaged in farm enterprise three years. Thereafter he was a representative of the same line of industry in Lancaster county until 1892, when he came to Hamilton county and rented a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Union township. This property he purchased before the close of that year and as a voucher for his dynamic energy and enterprise it may be stated that at one period he here farmed two hundred acres in an individual way at a time when he could avail himself of no farm implements nor machinery that gave him opportunity to ride while cultivating or doing other work on the farm. During the first five years of his residence in the county he realized virtually no returns from his earnest labors, as drought caused failure of crops in each of these years. He paid four thousand three hundred dollars for the quarter-section that constitutes his present fine home and he has made on the place excellent improvements, includ- ing the erection of substantial and modern buildings. In addition to his activities as an agriculturist, Mr. Boyd has worked more or less at his trade of mason within the period of his residence in Nebraska and for three years he was engaged in farming near Twin Falls, Idaho, where he became the owner of sixty acres of irrigated land. He believes thoroughly in Nebraska and its resources and through his alliance with farm industry here has won substantial success. He is a stanch republican and is loyal as a citizen, though he has never desired public office. He has taken much interest in educational affairs and served as a member of the school board of district No. 98 for several years. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity.
In Hamilton county was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Boyd to Miss Mary O. Torgerson, a member of a representative family, of whom mention is made else- where in this work. Mr. and Mrs. Boyd have seven children, all of whom yet remain members of the attractive home circle, namely: Carl F., Mae, Ethel, Ross, Clifford, Francis and Opal.
REUBEN BOOTH
For thirty years Reuben Booth has lived in retirement in Sutton, a respected and representative citizen. His fortune is the result of his own diligence and industry and he is justly entitled to the proud American title of a self-made man.
Reuben Booth was born in western Canada, May 6, 1833, a son of James and Mary (Acklin) Booth, the former a native of England, while the latter was born in Ireland. Their marriage was celebrated in Canada and there they resided for many years and the father successfully engaged in farming. Mrs. Booth was twice
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married, having one child by the first union and nine by the second. Her death occurred in Iowa, where she spent the last years of her life. She was a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Reuben Booth received his education in the country schools of Canada, coming to Illinois in 1848, and in 1861 entered the service of the Union army, enlisting in the First Illinois Light Artillery, Battery F, with which he served three years, three months and three days. He participated in the battles of Shiloh, Memphis, Vicksburg, Atlanta, Georgia, and Missionary Ridge. Two different mounts of Mr. Booth's were shot and killed but he escaped injury. At the close of the war Mr. Booth returned to Lee county, Illinois, and started farming his forty acres of farm land. He remained on that land until 1873, when he removed to Nebraska, located in Clay county and homesteaded a tract of eighty acres and bought out a woman's homestead right of eighty acres. Mr. Booth and his family took up their residence on the farm and for a number of years lived in a small frame house, but they later built a fine large home. The land was brought to a high state of culti- vation and Mr. Booth took his place among the representative agriculturists of the county. In 1891, however, he decided to retire from active farm life and removed to Sutton. There he purchased four lots and erected a fine residence. Mr. Booth has been retired for a period of thirty years, the early years of his life spent in diligence and industry having made this possible. Since coming to Clay county he has continually prospered and is still in possession of his farm of three hundred and twenty acres, which yields him a substantial income.
In 1855 occurred the marriage of Mr. Booth to Miss Maria Throop, a native of ยท Canada and a daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Throop. Her parents both passed away in Canada, in which country they spent their entire lives. One child has been born to the union of Mr. and Mrs. Booth, Lewis L. He is an extensive farmer near Sutton. Lewis L. Booth was married to Miss Caroline Swallow and they have become parents of four children : Ona, who is teaching school ; Rhoda, also teaching school; Ora, who is now attending school in Lincoln, after teaching two years; and Byron, attending the Sutton schools.
Since age conferred upon Mr. Booth the right of franchise he has been a stanch supporter of the republican party, in the interests of which he takes an active part. The religious faith of the family is that of the Methodist Episcopal church and fraternally Mr. Booth is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. His life has indeed been an honorable and upright one. He has not only done his duty but has extended a helping hand wherever aid was needed, being always ready to assist a fellow traveler upon life's journey.
L. ESKILDSEN
Since 1917 L. Eskildsen, who has been prominent in the agricultural and busi- ness circles of Hamilton county, has lived retired in Hampton, enjoying the rewards of a life spent in diligence and industry.
A native of Denmark, L. Eskildsen was born in that country on the 1st of April, 1848, and there received his education. After putting his textbooks aside he
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learned the carpenter's trade and soon afterward, at the age of twenty-three years, came to the United States. In 1871 he arrived in Christian county, Illinois, and there resided until after the fire in Chicago, when he went to that city to help rebuild that devastated place. He spent one and one-half years there and in 1873 came west, locating in Omaha, where he resumed his trade. In the fall of that same year, however, he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of railroad land in Ham- ilton county, for which he paid five dollars per acre. In the latter part of that year he removed to California, where he followed his trade as carpenter for four years and then returned to Hamilton county and resumed his farming. His land was uncultivated and had no improvements but Mr. Eskildsen immediately began to work to place it upon a paying basis. He put up a small house and stable, broke his own land and set out an orchard. He engaged in general farming and stock raising and achieved a substantial amount of success. Subsequently he removed to Hampton and became manager of a lumber-yard known as the Eskildsen & Hough-' ton Lumber Company, remaining in that connection for five years. At the termina- tion of that time he purchased one hundred and twenty acres of farm land in Hamilton county, added additional land in 1900, and was in possession of a fine four hundred acre tract at the time he disposed of it. There were two sets of fine buildings on this land and the sale of the farm brought him a substantial sum. In 1917 he retired to Hampton, where he built a nice home and is now residing here, a highly respected and representative citizen.
In Hamilton county occurred the marriage of Mr. Eskildsen and Elsie D. Bertelsen, also a native of Denmark. They have become parents of eight children : Bernard, who is engaged in farming in Hamilton county; Marie, the wife of Soren Petersen, a farmer of Hamilton county; Edward, who is engaged in farming at Malta, Montana; Anna, the wife of P. C. Ligaard, a missionary at Brisbane, Australia; Mark, farming in Hamilton county; Emma, who resides at home; John, who is auditor for the Farmers Elevator Company; and Sina, the wife of Harry Larsen, who is engaged in farming in Montana.
Politically Mr. Eskildsen has always been a stanch supporter of the republican party and the principles for which it stands. He has never sought nor desired public office, however, preferring to devote his entire time to his farming and lumber business. He was a member of the town board for one year. Mr. and Mrs. Eskildsen are consistent members of the Danish Lutheran church and donate generously to its various charities. Mr. Eskildsen has many friends who ap- preciate his true personal worth and sterling traits of character and he is indeed a citizen of whom any community would be proud.
OWEN WRIGHT
To the younger generation of the present day there is much of romance in the history of the pioneer period in Nebraska, and only those who participated in the labors and trying experiences of the pioneers can realize fully that the romantic features have needed the haze and glamour of the perspective of years to bring them into relief. Owen Wright, now one of the venerable and honored
MR. AND MRS. OWEN WRIGHT
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citizens of Hamilton county, is a man who gained more than casual pioneer experience, for in the early period of Nebraska statehood he devoted much time to hunting and trapping in the wilds of this commonwealth, knew the Indians by personal contact, endured the hardships of the wilderness and yet enjoyed to the fullest extent the free and open life of the prairies and hills. He has been a resident of Nebraska for a full half century and his reminiscences of the early days are graphic and interesting.
Mr. Wright was born at Belmont, Wisconsin, October 25, 1847, and is a son of Ajalon and Sarah Wright, who were numbered among the pioneer settlers of the Badger state and of whose eight children all are living except one who was killed at the battle of the Wilderness.
Owen Wright was reared to adult age under the conditions of the pioneer days in Wisconsin, where he attended the common schools and where he gained his initial experience in connection with farm industry. In the autumn of 1871 he and his brother Cyrus drove overland from Wisconsin to Nebraska with two teams and wagons and they passed the first winter in Fillmore county. In the spring of 1872 Owen Wright came to the farm which is his present place of resi- dence, in Hamilton township, Hamilton county, he having here taken a preemption claim of one hundred and sixty acres and his original habitation on the place having been a rude dugout. The unbroken prairie gave little semblance of the fine farms which mark the county at the present day, but Mr. Wright was a vigorous and sturdy young man who was well equipped for the hardships and labors of the pioneer. His little prairie farm was soon made deserving of the name of home, for in the summer of 1872 his parents joined him, they having driven through from Wisconsin with ox teams. They passed the remainder of their lives in Nebraska. Mr. Wright began the development and cultivation of his land, upon which he gradually made good improvements in the erection of needed buildings and here he continued to maintain his headquarters until 1886, when he removed to Grant county, where he took up a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres and a tree claim of one hundred and sixty acres and where he remained five years, within which time he perfected his title to the land. He then returned to his old preemption farm, in section 32, Hamilton township, Hamilton county, and this excellent farm has since continued to be his home. He is asso- ciated with his brother and his sons in the ownership of nearly an entire township in Grant county and they have made this land one of the fine stock ranches of that section of the state. On his home farm Mr. Wright has erected the substantial buildings which now mark the place as one of the model farms of Hamilton township and every one of the large trees on the place was planted by him many years ago. He was the first homesteader in Hamilton township and has done well his part in the development of the resources of the county and in further- ing civic and industrial advancement. He has been a successful agriculturist and stock raiser and on his farm today may be seen excellent types of shorthorn cattle and Poland China swine, to which types of live stock he has given special attention.
As a hunter Mr. Wright has shot buffaloes, deer and antelopes through the Hamilton county section of Nebraska, and during the first five years of his residence in the state he gave much time to trapping all through the wilds of
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western Nebraska, besides continuing his journeyings across the line into Colorado. He was often absent six months on such expeditions and was a successful trapper of otter and beaver. On his trips he encountered many Indians and at times weeks would pass without his seeing a white man. More pleasing in retrospect than participation were his experiences in connection with droughts, grasshopper devastations and blizzards of the early days, but it is most interesting to listen to his many reminiscences concerning the pioneer period in Nebraska history, for his fellowship in pioneer life was of the closest order.
On the 14th of February, 1876, was recorded the marriage of Mr. Wright to Miss Letitia B. Collins, who was born in Athens county, Ohio, and who was a childhood playmate and sweetheart of Mr. Wright's in Wisconsin, where their marriage was solemnized, their bridal tour having been the journey to the pioneer home which Mr. Wright had provided in Hamilton county, Nebraska. Their children are: Ida, the eldest, is the wife of Edgar Graham and they reside in Wisconsin; Eva is the widow of William Donaldson and maintains her home in Kansas; Addie is the wife of John Marks, a farmer in the state of Iowa; Ira is a prosperons farmer in Union township, Hamilton county, as is also Orren ; Lena remains at home; and Lloyd is a progressive exponent of farm enterprise in Hamilton precinct.
Mr. Wright has interested himself loyally in community affairs, has given many years of service as a member of the school board of his district, both as director and treasurer; is a republican in politics; has been affiliated with the Masonic fraternity for more than twenty years and has received the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite, and his wife holds membership in the Order of the Eastern Star.
JOHN HAGERMAN
While now living retired in Aurora John. Hagerman was for many years identi- fied with agricultural pursuits and through the careful and capable manner in which he operated his fields and cared for his crops he won the success that now en- ables him to rest from further labor. He has passed the seventy-fourth milestone on life's journey, his birth having occurred at Van Wert, Ohio, November, 1846, his parents being William and Mary Ann (Barlean) Hagerman, the former a native of Pennsylvania while the latter was born in Ohio. The paternal grandfather, William Hagerman, was also a native of Pennsylvania and from that state removed to Ohio where his death occurred. His parents came from Holland, being the founders of the family in the new world. The maternal grandfather, John Barlean, was born in Germany and in early life became a resident of the Buckeye state where he continued to make his home until called to his final rest.
The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. William Hagerman was celebrated in Ohio, to which state they had removed with their parents in early childhood. They had both been pupils in the public schools of Pennsylvania and afterward continued their education in Ohio. William Hagerman became a farmer but died when only twenty-seven years of age. Two years after his death Mrs. Hagerman became the wife of Edward Hattery and they continued to make their home in Van Wert
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county. John Hagerman was the youngest child and is now the only survivor of the three children who were born of his mother's first marriage. She also had three children by the second marriage, two daughters and a son, the latter now deceased. The others still make their home in Ohio and in that state the mother died in 1888. Both the parents of John Hagerman were members of the Presby- terian church and the father a republican in his political views.
John Hagerman acquired a common school education in his native county and started out to earn his own livelihood by following agricultural pursuits. In 1868 he went to Iowa where he remained for three years upon a farm and then in 1871 came to Hamilton county which was then a frontier district where the work of settlement and development had scarcely begun. He homesteaded eighty acres east of Aurora, preempted eighty acres, and also purchased forty acres of railroad land. He still owns these various tracts which he acquired and for many years was one of the energetic and capable farmers of the county. His first home was a sod house but after two years he built a frame dwelling and continued on the farm until 1896, at which time he settled in Aurora. Here he built a nice home at the corner of L and Sixth streets. There was not a single house in Aurora when he came to Hamilton county and he assisted in hauling from Grand Island the lumber that was used in constructing the first dwelling built in the present county seat.
In 1872, in Iowa, Mr. Hagerman was married to Miss Amanda Thompson who was born in Ohio, a daughter of William Thompson who went to Iowa at an early day and died at the home of his daughter. To Mr. and Mrs. Hagerman have been born two children: Bertha, who is the wife of Arthur Miller, a rural mail carrier of Aurora; and Arthur, who is engaged in the poultry business in St. Paul, Nebraska. Mrs. Hagerman is a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Hagerman is a loyal supporter of the republican party but has never been 'an office seeker. His life has been devoted to business and his close applica- tion and energy have been the salient features in the attainment of his present posi- tion of prosperity. He was poor when he came to the county and borrowed money with which to help make payment on preempted land. Step by step he has progressed, the years bringing him eventually to the goal of success and he is still the owner of his original farm property on which there has never been a mortgage, and which through the intervening years has returned to him a golden harvest, resulting in a gratifying annual income.
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