USA > Nebraska > Hamilton County > History of Hamilton and Clay counties, Nebraska, Vol. II > Part 46
USA > Nebraska > Clay County > History of Hamilton and Clay counties, Nebraska, Vol. II > Part 46
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66
454
HAMILTON AND CLAY COUNTIES
some time he engaged in teaching school in the vicinity of his home and then for some time followed his trade, which was that of a miller, in Grant' county. Upon the outbreak of the Civil war he immediately tendered his services and enlisted in Company C, Twenty-fifth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry for the entire period of conflict. He was with Sherman on his march to the sea and nearly met death when a bullet lodged in his hat. At the time of his discharge he was a corporal. Returning to Wisconsin he was a member of the state legislature for a period of two years, at the expiration of which time he again engaged in the milling business. Deciding to come west he drove through to Hamilton county with two teams and two wagons, arriving there in 1878. The trip took over six weeks, as continued rains made travel at times impossible. Upon arriving in Hamilton county he purchased two hundred acres of railroad land, for which he paid six dollars an acre and his first improvements on this land consisted of a sod house of one room and a straw shed or barn. He broke his own land and planted shade trees. He brought this land to a highly cultivated state and later built a frame house and outbuildings and there resided until Giltner was started, when he removed to that new town and engaged in the hardware business. He continued in this business in which he achieved a substantial amount of success until his death in 1913. His wife, the mother of George F., passed away in 1914. Their marriage occurred in Wisconsin and they became parents of five children : Hattie, the wife of E. F. Simmons of Dundy county; George F., whose name initiates this review; Fred M., of Portland, Oregon, engaged in the conduct of shipbuilding yards; Nellie, whose death occurred in 1908; and Walter T., who is in the service of the Burlington railroad as extra agent. Throughout his life George H. Washburn was a stanch Methodist and his fraternal affiliations were with the Masons, being a member of the Royal Arch Masons and of the Grand Army of the Republic at Giltner. His death was the occasion of deep grief in the community and left a void that will be hard to fill.
George F. Washburn received his education in the common schools of Wisconsin, later attending the Normal School at Platteville, that state. He studied law and was admitted to practice before the bars of Nebraska, Kansas and Colorado. For some time he engaged in that profession in Oberlin, Kansas, and in Cripple Creek, Colorado, and served the latter city as deputy district attorney and city attorney and was there during the strike. He then entered banking circles, becoming an employe of the Trumbull State Bank at Trumbull, Nebraska, and for the last two years of his connection with the bank served in the capacity of its vice president. In 1918 he went to Giltner and there accepted the position of cashier in the Citizens Bank, which position he is now holding to the complete satisfaction of the patrons of the bank and the officers of that organization. Previous to his connection with the Citizens Bank he served as county judge of Hamilton county from 1906 to 1912.
In 1912 occurred the marriage of Mr. Washburn and Miss Adell K. Hoff- master, a native of Nebraska, and to them one child, Helen, has been born. Mrs. Washburn is prominent in the club and social circles of Giltner and is likewise an active worker in the Methodist church, of which she is a consistent member.
The political support of Mr. Washburn is given to the republican party, in the interests of which he takes an active part. Fraternally he is identified with
455
HAMILTON AND CLAY COUNTIES
the Masons. Mr. Washburn is readily conceded to be one of the foremost citizens of his community, his general efficiency and business sagacity making him a leader in every progressive movement, while his upright principles and integrity have won for him the esteem of all with whom he has had transactions.
F. A. THOMPSON
F. A. Thompson, filling the position of postmaster at Clay Center and numbered among the substantial and progressive residents of this section of the state, was born in Minnesota, October 26, 1861, and is a son of Samuel and Margaret J. (Miller) Thompson. "He comes of early English and Scotch ancestry. The father was born in Pennsylvania and in an early day removed to Minnesota, driving an ox team across the country from eastern Iowa and purchasing land from the govern- ment after reaching his destination. The mother's birth occurred in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, and they became the parents of three children : Mrs. Laura Frankell, the wife of F. K. Frankell, engaged in the windmill and implement business at Stella, Nebraska; Addie, the wife of George Decker, manufacturer of tires and rubber at Columbus, Ohio; and F. A., of this review. The parents were consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal church and passed away in that faith. The father was killed by lightning in the year 1863 and the mother, who long survived him, passed away at Clay Center in 1920, at the advanced age of eighty years, her birth having occurred in 1840. Mr. Thompson had devoted his entire life to the occupation of farming and had thus provided for the support of his family.
F. A. Thompson spent his youthful days on his father's farm in Minnesota and in Iowa and the common school system of the latter state supplied him with his educational opportunities. He afterward taught school for two years and then turned to commercial pursuits, being employed as a clerk in a drug store and thoroughly learning the business. He subsequently established a drug store on his own account in Clay Center in 1886 and is today the oldest druggist in the county. For a long period he has been associated with commercial interests here and his progressiveness and enterprise in this field has brought substantial returns.
In 1889 Mr. Thompson was married to Miss Elizabeth Moulton, who was born at Sandy Creek, New York, a daughter of Nelson M. Moulton, who arrived in Clay county in 1884 and cast in his lot with the early settlers of this section of the state. He became a furniture dealer of Clay Center and was thus active in business circles for a long period. To Mr. and Mrs. Thompson have been born two children : Hattie Elizabeth, the wife of Arthur H. Platt, who is connected with the Franklin Academy at Franklin, Nebraska, as a teacher of science; and Frances A., the wife of Dr. E. J. Homer, a practicing dentist of Chester, Nebraska.
Mr. and Mrs. Thompson are members of the Congregational church and the nature of his interests is further indicated in the fact that he is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Ancient Order of United Workmen, becoming one of the charter members of the former. His political endorsement has always been given to the democratic party and in 1896 he was a delegate to the convention which nominated William Jennings Bryan for the presidency. In 1899
456
HAMILTON AND CLAY COUNTIES
he served in the state legislature as a member of the twenty-sixth general assembly and gave thoughtful and earnest consideration to all the vital questions which came up for settlement during his connection with the house. He was for six years a member of the county board of supervisors and has been a most influential factor in county politics for many years. In 1916 he was appointed to the position of postmaster of Clay Center and was reappointed on the 4th of June, 1920, so that he has three years more to serve. He has made a most excellent record by the prompt and careful manner in which he has handled the mails and taken care of the duties of the office and over his entire official career there falls no shadow of wrong nor suspicion of evil.
THEODORE F. JOHNSON
Theodore F. Johnson was for years a well known figure in the business circles of Clay county and is now living retired in Harvard, enjoying the success which has come to him as the result of his own efforts. Like many other prominent men of Clay county, Mr. Johnson is a native of another state, his birth having occurred in New Jersey on the 26th of March, 1827, a son of William D. and Martha Johnson, also natives of that state. In later life they removed to Illinois and passed away in Fulton county. The father was for many years active in the conduct of an iron works in New Jersey, before moving to Illinois. Eight children were born to that union of whom Theodore F. is the only one living. They were consistent members of the Baptist church.
Theodore F. Johnson received few educational advantages and in the spring of 1864 enlisted in the Union army, joining Company E, Thirty-eighth Illinois Regiment. He was on guard duty for six months. After the close of the con- flict and upon receiving his discharge he returned to Illinois and engaged in farming for a number of years. Subsequently he engaged in buying and ship- ping grain and also conducted a dry goods business for some time. In 1877 he made a trip to Clay county, but returned to Illinois, later making Clay county his permanent home. For several years, he came to Nebraska, spending part of the time each year here, and the rest of the time each year in Illinois. For some years he was engaged in the coal and grain business with his brother, Oakley Johnson, in which connection he achieved more than a substantial amount of success. He invested in some railroad land at the time when it was cheap, improved it and still retains six hundred and forty aeres of land in Clay county, highly cultivated, it being divided into two farms of three hundred and twenty acres each.
In 1853 occurred the marriage of Mr. Johnson and Miss Elizabeth Martin, a native of Pennsylvania and a daughter of David Martin, who came to Illinois from Pennsylvania. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Johnson : Luella, who is the widow of Byron Salisbury and lives with her father; and Jolin W., a railroad man of Harvard. The death of Mrs. Johnson occurred in 1915 and came as a severe shock to her family and many friends in the community. She
THEODORE F. JOHNSON
459
HAMILTON AND CLAY COUNTIES
had been for many years prominent in the church circles of Harvard as a mem- ber of the Christian church.
Since age conferred upon Mr. Johnson the right of franchise, he has been a stanch supporter of the republican party and the principles for which it stands. He is a consistent member of the Christian church and a generous contributor to its charitable organizations. As a business man his uniform courtesy, capability and personal worth won him popularity among his fellow townsmen and his success is the result of well directed energy and thrift.
C. B. HUFFMAN
C. B. Huffman, who for many years was prominently engaged in farming and stock raising in Hamilton county but has now put aside business cares and is living retired in Aurora, was born in Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, February 24, 1855, his parents being Benjamin and Hannah (Beiber) Huffman, who were also natives of the Keystone state where they spent their entire lives, the father following the occupations of farming and shoemaking in support of his family which numbered wife and eleven children, ten of whom are yet living, but C. B. Huffman is the only representative of the family in Nebraska. The parents were members of the Lutheran church and Mr. Huffman gave his political support to the democratic party.
In the acquirement of his education C. B. Huffman attended the schools of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and afterward took up the profession of teaching, which he followed for seven terms in his native state. The year 1883 witnessed his arrival in Hamilton county where he spent one night at the home of a cousin and then went to the home of his uncle near Giltner, remaining with him for two years. He taught school during his second winter in Nebraska but soon became identified with agricultural pursuits. He first purchased eighty acres of railroad land, section 25, Deepwell township, which he developed and improved and within a year he had made such progress that he bought eighty acres more adjoining the original tract. He had a sod house on his place and later erected a frame dwelling on the west eighty acres. Year by year he carefully tilled the soil, bringing his farm under a high state of cultivation and adding thereto many improvements. He still owns this property which is one of the valuable farms of the district. While residing thereon he engaged extensively in raising hogs and this constituted an important branch of his business. While he was in possession of but eighty dollars when he came to the county he steadily worked his way upward along financial lines and is now possessed of a comfortable competence which is the merited reward of his industry and perseverance.
In May, 1885, Mr. Huffman was married to Miss Tillie Stahlnecker, a native of Pennsylvania and a daughter of Samuel and Lizzie (Huffman) Stahlnecker, who came to Hamilton county in 1874 and here spent their remaining days. Mrs. Huffman's maternal grandfather was Daniel C. Huffman, who arrived in Hamilton county in 1872 and acquired a whole section of land for four dollars and a half per acre. He continued to reside thereon throughout his remaining days and
460
HAMILTON AND CLAY COUNTIES
reached the advanced age of eighty-four years. He first lived in one of the old- time sod houses with grass roof. Mrs. Huffman's parents lived in a dugout during her girlhood days, their home being three miles north of Giltner and there her father passed away. He was an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church and one of the best known and most successful residents of the county in his day. Her people were here at the time when the early settlers worshipped in a little sod church and when the children were sent to a sod schoolhouse.
To Mr. and Mrs. C. B. Huffman were born four children: Effie, the wife of L. E. Luthy, who lives in Aurora; Flo, the wife of L. E. Hafer, residing on a farm near Giltner; Bruce, who is employed in a garage in Aurora. Bruce was in the World war, was wounded two different times and participated in the battle of the Argonne and other battles, remaining in France for six months. He was married May 6, 1919, to Miss Frances Burt and they have one child, namely, Rose Maxin, the only grandchild of Mr. and Mrs. C. B. Huffman; and Violett, who works for the Lincoln Star in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Huffman are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and his political allegiance is given to the democratic party. He and his wife removed to Aurora in 1915, at which time he purchased a residence at 803 M street which he remodeled and converted into an attractive and pleasant home. He still owns his farm property, deriving therefrom a substantial annual income. Both he and his wife have been connected with the county from pioneer times, have seen the greater part of its growth and development and have always borne their part in support of those interests which are a matter of civic virtue and of civic pride.
HENRY J. HAGEMAN
Henry J. Hageman has since 1887 made his home on a farm on section 7, Scoville township, Hamilton county, where he now resides. His entire life has been devoted to agricultural pursuits and his birth occurred on a farm in Mc- Donough county, Illinois, in 1858. He was reared as a farm bred boy, early becoming familiar with the best methods of tilling the soil and caring for the crops, while in the winter season his attention was given to the acquirement of his education in the common schools.
On attaining his majority Mr. Hageman started out in life on his own account and about that time was married, on the 16th of November, 1879, to Miss Frances Elsie Quiggle. Following their marriage the young couple began domestic life on an eighty acre farm which they occupied until the fall of 1887. Mr. Hageman then purchased four cows, chickens and provisions and he and his wife settled on the farm which is still his property. For this he paid twenty dollars per acre, securing a tract of one hundred and twenty acres. There was a small frame house on the land, also a little stable, but otherwise he made all of the improvements on the property and today is the owner of two hundred acres of land devoted to general grain farming and to the raising of high grade cattle and hogs. He annually produces substantial crops and his stock raising interests are likewise a feature in his success.
461
HAMILTON AND CLAY COUNTIES
To Mr. and Mrs. Hageman have been born four children: Roseta, now the wife of Archie Haggard, of Trumbull, Nebraska; William, at home; Mabel, the wife of Ernest Lutze of Clay county ; and Henry Ross, also at home. Mrs. Hageman is a member of the Christian church, and he holds membership in the Methodist Episcopal church and Mr. Hageman also belongs to the Modern Woodmen. He has served as school treasurer and also as school director for several years and the cause of education finds in him a stalwart champion, but he has not been desirous of filling public positions, preferring to concentrate his efforts and atten- tion upon his business affairs, and in addition to his farming he has become a stockholder in the Farmers' Elevator and is a member of the Farmers' Union. During his long residence in the county he has gained a wide acquaintance and the sterling worth of his character is recognized by all who know him.
JOSEPH LAND
Joseph Land, now deceased, whose contribution to the upbuilding of Hamilton county was along the line of agricultural development, was born in St. Clair county, Illinois, August 14, 1848, and his life record covered the intervening years to the 14th of October, 1911, when he passed away in Marquette. In his early boyhood the family home was established in Missouri and there he was reared and educated. Before reaching the age of sixteen years he enlisted for service in the Civil war, becoming a member of the Third Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, with which he served until the close of hostilities. He was seriously wounded at Dallas, Georgia, soon after entering the service and was sent to a hospital. While there gangrene set in and he also suffered from smallpox, but his splendid constitution at length triumphed over wounds and disease and he finally recovered. After the war he returned to Wisconsin, where he continued to make his home until 1867.
It was in that year that Mr. Land arrived in Hamilton county and took up a homestead in a district where the work of progress and civilization seemed scarcely begun. Few indeed were the settlers living within the borders of the county and little had been accomplished in the way of converting the wild lands into rich and productive farms. After entering his homestead he returned to Wisconsin but again came to Nebraska in 1869 and obtained a government claim. He first had eighty acres, which he afterward sold and later bought more land, becoming owner of one hundred and sixty acres, of which he afterward sold forty acres. His widow is still the owner of eighty acres of this tract. For a time he lived on his farm and later took up his abode in Marquette, Nebraska, but continued to cultivate his land. He was for thirty-nine years a resident of Marquette and was identified with the county altogether for about forty-two years.
It was in Wisconsin, in 1866, that Mr. Land was married to Miss Martha Crooks, who was born in England and was but two years of age when brought across the Atlantic by her parents, William and Phoebe (Jeffs) Crooks, who were also natives of England and on coming to the new world settled in Canada. There they resided until 1873, when they removed to this state and took up a homestead in Clay county, having journeyed westward from Wisconsin in a covered wagon.
462
HAMILTON AND CLAY COUNTIES
Mr. Crooks had two good teams of horses and two covered wagons when he came here and two of his sons were old enough to assist him in the arduous task of breaking the sod and developing a new farm. In the Crooks family were six chil- dren, five of whom are living: Mrs. Land; Mrs. Mary Day, whose home is in Emporia, Kansas; John T., a carpenter living in Arizona; C. Fremont, who fol- lows carpentering at Quincy, Kansas; and Mrs. Lovina Lake, residing in Dallas, Texas.
To Mr. and Mrs. Land were born six children who are yet living : Charles Bert, a farmer residing near Central City, Nebraska; Mrs. Sarah Moore, whose hus- band is a farmer of Wisconsin; James E., who follows farming at Thedford, Nebraska; Mrs. Ida Gion, living in Marquette, where her husband follows car- pentering and farming; Mrs. Lois Robbins, whose husband is an auto painter at Chappell, Nebraska; and William, who carries on agricultural pursuits near Marquette.
Mr. Land was a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, the Improved Order of Red Men and the Grand Army of the Republic and through the last named maintained pleasant relations with his old military comrades. In politics he was always a republican from the time that age conferred upon him the right of franchise, but he never sought nor desired political preferment. He passed through all the hardships and privations of pioneer life, making the best possible use of his time, talents and opportunities and kindly neighbors rendered him and his wife every possible assistance as they were gaining their start-kindnesses which they never forgot and which they repaid as opportunity offered. Mr. Land was highly esteemed as a man of genuine worth and of thorough reliability. He had many admirable traits of character and the warm regard in which he was uniformly held was well merited. Mrs. Land is a loyal member of the Methodist Episcopal church. In 1912 she left Marquette, where she had so long resided, and removed to Aurora, where she owns and occupies an attractive home amid pleasant surroundings.
HENRY HAGEMEISTER
Among the valued and progressive citizens of Hamilton county is Henry Hagemeister, who is now residing on his two hundred and forty acre farm in Aurora township. He was born in Germany on the 1st of October, 1861, and after the death of his father came with his mother and the remainder of the family to America, arriving in this country in 1870. The family first located in Wisconsin.
Henry Hagemeister received his education in Wisconsin, where he was reared to manhood and remained until 1881, when he set out for the west and located in Hamilton county, Nebraska. He worked out on farms for one year and by putting the greater part of his money aside, at the termination of that time was able to purchase eighty acres of land at five dollars an acre. There were no im- provements on the place, but it did not take Mr. Hagemeister long to put the land on a paying basis. A man of great force and determination he allowed no
463
HAMILTON AND CLAY COUNTIES
obstacle to remain long in his path and he is now in possession of two hundred and eighty acres of fine land, from the cultivation of which he derives a sub- stantial income. He has always engaged in general farming and is recognized as one of the foremost agriculturists of the community.
Mr. Hagemeister has ever followed an independent course in politics, voting for the man without regard to party. His religious faith is that of the Evangelical church. Although Mr. Hagemeister was but a poor boy when he came to this county he has, by his own determination and industry, become a successful farmer and financially independent.
JOHN A. RUTHERFORD
In section 20 of Orville township, Hamilton county, is to be found the excel- lently improved and productive farm which represents the material evidence of the prosperity that has attended the well directed efforts of John A. Rutherford in connection with the development of the agricultural resources of this county, which has been his place of residence for nearly forty years and in which he thus has pioneer honors. He now rents his farm of one hundred and sixty acres, but still resides on the place and in addition to owning this valuable property is also a stockholder in the Farmers Elevator Company at Stockham, his home being on rural mail route No. 2, from that village.
Mr. Rutherford was born in Dane county, Wisconsin, on the 13th of May, 1856, and is a son of John and Jane (Allison) Rutherford, sterling pioneer settlers of that section of the Badger state. The parents were born and reared in Edinburgh, Scotland, where their marriage was solemnized and in the later '40s they com- pleted the voyage of seven weeks' duration across the Atlantic to America, by medium of a sailing vessel of the type common to ocean navigation in that period. They proceeded direct to Wisconsin, where the father purchased one hundred and sixty acres of heavily timbered land, in Dane county, and instituted the reclama- tion of a farm. Nebraska pioneers, while they endured their quota of heavy labors and untoward hardships, at least did not face the herculean task of felling forest trees, removing stumps and otherwise taxing their powers in making their land available for cultivation and it was under such pioneer conditions in Wisconsin that the subject of this review was reared, the place of his birth being a log house and his early experiences were gained in connection with the arduous work of the home farm. His parents remained in Wisconsin until their death and both were earnest members of the Presbyterian church, the mother having died when her son, John A., was a boy of five years.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.