USA > Nebraska > Hamilton County > History of Hamilton and Clay counties, Nebraska, Vol. II > Part 27
USA > Nebraska > Clay County > History of Hamilton and Clay counties, Nebraska, Vol. II > Part 27
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Mr. Peard was born in England, in 1846, and is a son of Richard and Grace (Buckingham) Peard, the father having been a prosperous farmer in his native land. The subject of this review gained his early education principally in boarding schools in England, and in 1867, the year in which he attained his legal majority, he severed home ties and set out to seek his fortunes in the United States. He made his way to Wisconsin, where he was variously employed for some time and where also he initiated independent enterprise as a farmer. In 1872 he came with team and wagon to Nebraska and en route crossed both the Mississippi and Missouri rivers on ferry-boats. Upon his arrival in Hamilton county , he filed preemption and timber claims and on his land his first domicile was a house constructed partly of framed timber and partly of sod. In the building of this pioneer structure he hauled tbe requisite timber overland from Grand Island and his early crops of grain he transported in a similar way to Hastings. He finally sold his two claims and then purchased one hundred and sixty acres of railroad land, at five dollars per acre and eighty acres of school land, for seven dollars per acre. He vigorously set himself to the task of reclaiming his land and making it available for cultiva- tion and he had his share of losses through droughts and grasshoppers, the grass- hoppers entirely destroying his crops except such wheat as he had already har- vested. He made appreciable improvements on his second acquirement of land. He was later elected sheriff of the county, whereupon he removed to Aurora, the county seat. He held this office one term, in an excellent administration. There- after he was for five years an efficient assistant in the office of the county clerk and then resumed his active association with farm enterprise, on land which he had purchased near the village of Phillips while living at Aurora. He made this one of the model farms of the county and the valuable property still remains in possession of his widow, this being still the family home, the farm lying adjacent to the corporate limits of Phillips. Mr. Peard depended solely upon his own ability and efforts in making his way to the goal of financial and economic inde- pendence and his success has been worthily won, as is shown in the high position which he held in popular esteem. His political allegiance was given to the repub- lican party, he was reared in and held to the faith of the Protestant Episcopal church, represented in his native land by the established Church of England, and his wife is a zealous member of the Methodist Episcopal church at Phillips. The first crop of corn raised by Mr. Peard in Hamilton county was that obtained from eleven acres of the virgin prairie soil which he had prepared for cultivation. He hauled fued from the Platte river to his pioneer farm and also utilized corn for fuel, and he and his wife otherwise resorted to various expedients made necessary by conditions in the pioneer days.
In Hamilton county was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Peard to Miss Albertina James, who was born in Illinois, a daughter of Robert James, who came overland with his family to Hamilton county in 1872 and took up a preemption claim in the present township of Phillips, where he had barely initiated the work of reclamation when his labors were ended in death in 1874. His widow survived him twenty years and passed to eternal rest in 1894.
Mr. and Mrs. Peard became the parents of eight children, of whom four are living: Ethel is the widow of William Dresher and still maintains her home in Hamilton county ; Richard H. is now at home and was one of the gallant young
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men who represented Hamilton county in the nation's military ranks in the great World war, his training having been received in four different army camps and his service having covered a period of sixteen months, though he was not called to active duty overseas; Hazel and Frank, twins, are the younger members of the home circle. Mrs. Peard moved to her present home in 1903.
JAY J. JONES
Jay J. Jones is now living retired in Clay Center, although for many years he was actively identified with farming interests, his success in the cultivation of his fields bringing to him the prosperity that now enables him to enjoy a well earned rest. He was born in Woodstock, Illinois, in 1865, a son of J. W. and Mary E. (Brown) Jones, the former a native of New York, while the latter was born in New Hampshire. They were married, however, in Illinois, having removed to that· state in early life and there the father afterward followed the occupation of farming. In 1865 he went with his family to Minnesota and in July, 1876, they arrived in Clay county, Nebraska, where Mr. Jones purchased railroad land and built a frame house. He then concentrated his efforts and attention upon the development and improvement of his farm, on which he lived for several years. In fact his death occurred on the old home place, while his widow died when visiting her son in Lincoln, Nebraska. They held membership in the Christian church and Mr. Jones was also loyal as a supporter of the republican party. He was a son of John Jones, a native of Wales, who on leaving the old world established his home in New York, where he spent his remaining days. The maternal grandfather, Joshua Brown, was a pioneer of Minnesota and there resided until called to his final rest. In the family of J. W. and Mary Jones were ten children, of whom four are living: J. D., who was employed on the Burlington Railroad from 1884 until October, 1920; H. E., a resident farmer of Minnesota; W. M., a carpenter of Bethany, Nebraska; and Jay J.
The last named obtained his education in the schools of Minnesota and of Clay county, Nebraska, and when his textbooks were put aside concentrated his efforts and attention upon the work of the home farm. He continued to engage in agricultural pursuits, save for the years 1883 and 1884 when he worked in the Burlington bridge shop at Lincoln, Nebraska. He then returned to Clay county, went on his father's place and there resided until 1890, when he removed to his brother-in-law's farm, but continued to cultivate both tracts of land. In 1892 he bought eighty acres on time and afterward added to his holdings until his landed possessions now include four hundred acres of valuable farm property. Many improvements have been added thereto and his farm is one of the attractive places in this section of the county. He has made every dollars he possesses and whatever success and opportunity he has had in life is due to his own careful planning and able management. He is now working at the carpenter's trade, for a life of indolence and idleness is utterly abhorrent to him and while he derives a substan- tial income from his farm holdings he prefers to have some business cares rather than to live absolutely retired.
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In 1886 Mr. Jones was united in marriage to Miss Ella M. Hayes, who was born in Knoxville, Illinois, a daughter of John M. and Nancy (Hockenberry) Hayes, who were natives of Pennsylvania and Virginia, respectively, and were married in the latter state. At an early day they removed to Illinois and the father there followed the occupation of farming, both he and his wife dying in that state. Their daughter, Mrs. Jones, was their only child. Both parents were members of the Presbyterian church and Mr. Hayes voted with the republican party.
To Mr. and Mrs. Jones have been born four children: Jesse Ernest, who is engaged in the oil business at Laramie, Wyoming; Inez, the wife of Foster Mock, living on her father's farm; Bessie Myrtle, wife of Fred Mock, also on the farm; and Ruby Jones, who is a high school pupil. In his political views Mr. Jones is a republican. Fraternally he is connected with the Modern Woodmen of America and both he and his wife are members of the Christian church. In 1918 they removed to Clay Center, where he purchased an attractive home and there they are living among many friends, his enterprise and diligence in former years supplying them now with all the comforts and some of the luxuries of life.
THOMAS TIMMONS
Thomas Timmons is one of the many men actively engaged in the cultivation of the soil of Hamilton county, of which he has been a resident since April, 1873. A native of Maryland, he was born in that state on the 15th of June, 1842, a son of Stephen Timmons. His father removed from Maryland to Indiana about 1869 and there resided until his death, which occurred at the age of sixty-five years.
Thomas Timmons came to Hamilton county about April, 1873, driving through from Ottumwa, Iowa, the trip being made with a yoke of cattle and covering a period of about four weeks. In the spring of that year Thomas Timmons home- steaded eighty acres in the county and on that prairie land he made a dugout in which he resided for four years. At the termination of that time he moved onto the flats and there built a sod house. He broke some of his land with his oxen, but finding them too slow, sold them and purchased a team of horses. When Thomas Timmons arrived on this land he had in his possession twenty dollars, one cow, and a plow. He soon had his land in a state of cultivation, however, and there were plenty of wild birds and a few deer from which to obtain meat. Central City was then the closest trading post and was known as Lone Tree. Mr. Timmons is still residing on his original eighty acre tract in section 34, Bluff township, which is highly improved and on which stand good buildings, those structures having been built by Mr. Timmons himself. His brother, Lem, came to Hamilton county about 1880.
In 1884 Mr. Timmons was united in marriage to Miss Rhoda Benson, the event taking place in Ottumwa, Iowa. To them seven children have been born: Mary and Alice, both deceased; Benjamin, who is residing in Hamilton county ; Ethel Benson of Hamilton county ; Sally Jensen, also a resident of Hamilton county ; and Amos is residing on the home place, and runs his father's farm ; and Ernest, who is at home.
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The earnest and persistent work of Mr. Timmons has been the source of his success, enabling him to surpass many who started out in life earlier or more advantageously. His record may well serve as a source of encouragement to others, showing what may be accomplished by one who has the will to dare and to do.
ANDREW PETERSON
His own industry, economy and careful management brought to the late Andrew Peterson a large degree of success in his farm enterprise in Hamilton county, and though he worked hard and practiced utmost self-denial in getting a start, he gradually made his way forward to the plane of prosperity, and ever ascribed a large share of his success to the earnest and effective cooperation of his devoted wife, who since his death has remained on the old home place, in section 11, Otis township, and who has proved a specially capable and discriminating business woman. Both Mr. and Mrs. Peterson were born and reared in Sweden. He came to the United States when about twenty-five years of age and his future wife came as a young woman of twenty-two years, their marriage being solemnized at Hampton, Hamilton county, Nebraska, in 1880, a date which indicates that they had their share of pioneer experiences in this county. Mr. Peterson died in the year 1900, at the age of fifty-five years, secure in the confidence and respect of the people of Hamilton county, where he had long lived and labored to worthy ends. Mr. and Mrs. Peterson became the parents of the following children: Mrs. Mary Carlson ; Charles; Mrs. Selma Burkman; Mrs. Ida Bush; Arthur; and Mrs. Ellen Bowers. All of the children are residents of Hamilton county and Arthur re- mains with his widowed mother on the old home farm, of which he has the active management. Two other children have passed away. The maiden name of Mrs. Peterson was Emma H. Erickson and she gained her early education in the schools of her native land.
Mr. Peterson made the overland journey from Illinois to Nebraska with a wagon and team of horses and on his arrival his available cash capital was reduced to twenty-five cents. He found work by the day and though his wages were not large he continued his service as a farm workman and carefully saved his earnings until he became able to purchase a tract of land and engage in independent farm enterprise. From an average wage of twenty dollars a month he eventually accumulated one thousand four hundred dollars and thus fortified he purchased eighty acres of land, but two years later traded this property for the present home- stead farm on which his widow resides. This latter farm he reclaimed from the raw prairie and here the original dwelling which he erected was a small frame house of two rooms. It is interesting to record that Mr. Peterson had great fondness for the fine team of horses which he brought from Illinois and that he ever gave to these horses the best of care, retaining them in his possession until they died. While living in their original sod house Mr. and Mrs. Peterson experienced no little hardship and at times had to burn corn and cornstalks for fuel, though much of the time fuel for the little home was obtained by cutting trees along the bank of the Platte river. Industry and perseverance brought success to Mr. Peterson
MR. AND MRS. ANDREW PETERSON
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in his independent farm enterprise, and at the time of his death he was the owner of two hundred and eighty acres of land, well improved and under effective cultivation. His widow has kept the place up to the high standard which he set and since his death has added two hundred and eighty acres to the family holdings, working five hundred and sixty acres with five different sets of buildings on this land. Though her son Arthur is now her able aid, Mrs. Peterson takes great satisfaction in maintaining a general supervision of her farm property and incidental business interests. She is an earnest communicant of the Lutheran church, as was also her husband, and he signalized his civic loyalty by doing his part in the furtherance of measures advanced for the general good of the community, while he gave his political allegiance to the republican party, to which his widow also gives her political support.
CHARLES H. EPPERSON
Charles H. Epperson, engaged in law practice in Clay Center as the partner of his father, A. C. Epperson, mentioned elsewhere in this work, was born on the 1st of September, 1892, in the city which is still his home. In the acquirement of his education he attended the Clay Center high school and afterward matriculated in the State University, completing a course in literature with the class of 1915 and a course in law with the class of 1916. During his last term in school he was editor of the Nebraskan and was a member of the Silver Links fraternity during his college days. He also became a member of the Sigma Delta Chi, a journalistic fraternity, and of the Phi Delta Alpha, a law fraternity. He likewise belonged . to the Phi Alpha Tau, a public speaking fraternity and dramatic club. His various activities during his college days made him a favorite with his fellow students and friendships begun at that time have since maintained.
With his graduation on the completion of his law course Mr. Epperson ·entered into active practice in association with his father and this connection has continued, the firm of Epperson & Epperson ranking as one of the foremost at the bar of Clay county.
On the 22d of July, 1916, Mr. Epperson was united in marriage to Miss Beulah McCaw, who was born in Belvidere, Nebraska, a daughter of Dr. H. E. McCaw, who was one of the pioneers of that place and is now living in Missoula, Montana. Mr. and Mrs. Epperson have become parents of a daughter, Catherine Blanche, who was born April 3, 1919; and a son, Charles Hugh, born April 11th, 1921.
Mr. Epperson entered the army as a student at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, on the 27th of August, 1917, and was commissioned a first lieutenant on the 27th of November of that year. He was then assigned to Camp Custer, Michigan, and was promoted to a captaincy in August, 1918, receiving his discharge in March, 1919. He still holds a commission as captain in the United States Reserves. Fraternally he is connected with the Masons and is a prominent member of the American Legion. He served on the executive committee for the year 1919-20 and is a member of the republican state central committee, being a recognized leader in political ranks. He has recently purchased the old Patriot, changing
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its name to the Republican, and thus has again taken up a line of work with which he first became familiar during his college days. He is alive to all the vital ques- tions and issues before the state and the country at large and keeps well informed on important public problems, his position being a progressive one on many questions of importance to the community and to the commonwealth.
HARRY E. SIMS
Harry E. Sims, who since May, 1908, has been engaged in the automobile busi- ness at Aurora, was born in Hamilton county in 1883. His parents, Albert G. and Sarah E. (Dixon) Sims, are natives of Illinois, coming to Hamilton county in 1874. Here he purchased railroad land at five dollars per acre, making a partial payment on the property and meeting further payments from time to time until he had cleared his place of all indebtedness. He first occupied a sod house and later erected a frame dwelling on his land. Year by year he continued to culti- vate his fields and brought his farm to a high point of improvement. He removed to Aurora in 1913, at which time he retired from active business but he still owns the old homestead which comprises two hundred and forty acres of land and in addition has other farm property. He came to the county empty-handed but has steadily worked his way upward and by determination and energy has overcome all difficulties and obstacles in his path. He passed through the hardships of the early days and has lived to see marked changes in the county, bearing his part at all times in the work of general progress and improvement. He and his wife attend the Methodist Episcopal church and he belongs to the Highlanders, while his political allegiance is given to the republican party. To Mr. and Mrs. Sims have been born six children, of whom five are living: Harry E .; Hollis, a farmer resid- ing at Minatare, Nebraska; Frank, who is on the old homestead; Violet, who is in the sugar factory at Scottsbluff, Nebraska; and Leota, the wife of Irvin Otto, a real estate dealer of Aurora.
Harry E. Sims pursued his education in the country schools until he had mas- tered the elementary branches of learning and later was graduated from the high school of Aurora and from Doane College in the class of 1907. His youthful experiences were those of the farm bred boy and for a time in early manhood he continued to engage in the tilling of the fields and the cultivation of the crops. Later, however, he turned his attention to the automobile business, establishing a sales agency and garage in May, 1908. Through the intervening period he has been engaged in the sale of Buick and Chevrolet cars and is today the oldest auto- mobile merchant in Aurora. He has a large garage, forty-four by ninety feet and two stories in height, and his repair shop is an important branch of his busi- ness. He handles a full line of automobile supplies and equipments of all kinds and has won substantial success through the capable management of his interests.
In 1917 Mr. Sims was married to Miss Nelle Bright, who was born in Hall county, Nebraska, a daughter of James Bright, who settled in that county in the early '80s. Mr. and Mrs. Sims have become parents of two children, Margaret and Harriett. The parents are members of the Congregational church and enjoy the confidence and goodwill of all who know them, owing to their sterling personal
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worth. Mr. Sims belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and also to the Highlanders, while his political allegiance is given to the republican party. He has never been an aspirant for office, however, but gives his time and attention fully to his business affairs and by reason of his energy and close application is now numbered among the successful business men of his adopted city.
ROBERT G. THOMPSON
In his character and service the late Robert G. Thompson gave to the world a distinct assurance of sterling manhood and worthy achievement, and in his youth he went to gain pioneer experience in Nebraska, where he won substantial prosperity through his long and active association with farm industry in Hamilton county. In this county he continued his residence until the close of his life, his death occurring on the 11th of November, 1916.
Mr. Thompson was born in the state of Illinois, on the 25th of October, 1857, and was a son of David and Mary Thompson, who removed from Illinois to Wis- consin, in which latter state the death of the father occurred. In Wisconsin Robert G. Thompson was reared to adult age and received the advantages of the public schools. After the death of his father the widowed mother came with her five children to Nebraska, in the year 1871, about four years after the admission of the state to the Union, and she entered claim to a homestead in what is now Union township, Hamilton county, where she and her children thus became pioneer settlers, she having passed the remainder of her life on this old homestead, where also occurred the death of her son, Robert G. The sod house constructed on the farm continued to be the habitation of the family for several years and in the mean- while Mr. Thompson put forth herculean efforts in connection with the reclaiming and developing of the land.
On the 1st of January, 1879, was solemnized the marriage of Robert G. Thomp- son to Miss Charlotte L. Powell, who was born near Montreal, Canada, a daughter of Joseph and Mary Powell, who established their residence in Wisconsin in the year 1863 and who came to Nebraska in 1872. Mr. Powell bought railroad land in Hamilton county and paid for the same at the rate of five dollars per acre. This old homestead is situated just east of the present village of Giltner. The Powell family made the journey from Wisconsin to Nebraska with wagon and teams, there having been one team of horses and another of oxen, and the equipment included a few cows. Upon the arrival of the family in Hamilton county the home was established in a sod house of two rooms. Mrs. Thompson here gained her initial experience in connection with pioneer life and she recalls vividly the conditions of the early days-in marked contrast with those which are now in evi- dence in this progressive and opulent section of Nebraska. She has seen antelopes and other wild game which aided in supplying the pioneer larders of the early day and she has known by definite experience the disasters wrought by droughts and by grasshoppers. Her parents were numbered among the representative pioneers of Hamilton county, where they lived and labored to goodly ends and played well their part in the development and progress along both civic and material lines. Vol. II-18
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After his marriage Mr. Thompson continued for four years in charge of the old home farm of his mother and thereafter lived a few years on another farm in the same township. He then returned to the old home place of eighty acres and erected the present excellent buildings and made such other improvements as suggested progressiveness, with the result that he made the place one of the model farms of Union township, he having owned not only this homestead but also an additional tract of twenty-two acres not far distant. He was a vigorous agri- culturist and stock raiser and gave special attention to the propagation of alfalfa, which he made a profitable feature of his farm enterprise.
Robert G. Thompson was a stanch democrat in politics and was an earnest member of the Presbyterian church, as is also his widow, who now maintains her home on the outskirts of Giltner. Mr. Thompson ordered his life upon a high plane of rectitnde and honor and thus to him came the fullest measure of popular confidence and esteem in the county that long represented his home and the stage of his earnest endeavors.
Mr. and Mrs. Thompson became the parents of six children : Roy is a prosperous farmer in Hamilton township; Ethel, wife of Mr. McDannel resides four miles west of Giltner on a farm; Jessie, who was born in 1883, died on the 10th of November, 1904: Margaret is the wife of Rayburn Cunningham of Dawes county, Nebraska; George R. is at home; and Hazel M. is the wife of Edward Luby of Hamilton county.
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