USA > Nebraska > Hamilton County > History of Hamilton and Clay counties, Nebraska, Vol. II > Part 5
USA > Nebraska > Clay County > History of Hamilton and Clay counties, Nebraska, Vol. II > Part 5
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In October, 1916, Mr. Fraizer was married to Miss Nelle McCarthy, a native of Muncie, Indiana, who there attended the high school, graduating in 1911, while
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later she continued her education at the University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, and was graduated from the University of Denver. She taught school for a year in Wyoming and is recognized as a lady of liberal culture and innate refinement. To Mr. and Mrs. Fraizer has been born one son, Theodore J., now two years of age.
Mr. Fraizer is a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon, a college fraternity. He served with the intelligence department of the navy during the World war, enlisting in June, 1918. He was stationed at Chicago where he remained the entire time until discharged on the 1st of January following. ' He is a member of the American Legion. His political endorsement has always been given to the republican party and he has kept thoroughly informed concerning governmental problems, having during six years of residence in Washington made a special study of the national government.
GEORGE C. EATON
When cognizance is taken of the fact that George C. Eaton was born on the farm which is his present place of residence and that the date of his nativity was January 10, 1878, it becomes evident that he is a representative of a family whose name has been linked with the history of Hamilton county since the early pioneer days. The excellent farm which now challenges his most vigorous and progressive activities as an agriculturist and stock raiser is situated in section 6, Hamilton town- ship, and is one of the well improved properties of the county. George K. Eaton, father of George C. Eaton, came from Lee county, Iowa, to Hamilton county, Nebraska, in the year of 1872, and in Hamilton township took up a homestead of eighty· acres of unbroken prairie land. He erected a sod house and made other preliminary provisions essential to the primitive demands of the pioneer district in which he thus established his home, and while he endured his full share of the hardships and trials of the early days his staying qualities and persistent efforts eventually brought to him a generous measure of prosperity, the while he gained inviolable place in popular esteem and was honored as one of the sterling pioneers and constructive workers of Hamilton county. Here he continued his residence until his death, which occurred on the 3d of January, 1918, his wife having preceded him in 1906.
George C. Eaton was reared on the farm which is now his home and in addi- tion to receiving the advantages of the local schools he attended the Nebraska State Normal School at Fremont. At the age of twenty-seven years he assumed the active charge and management of the old home farm and his finely improved estate now comprises two hundred and forty acres, devoted to diversified agriculture and the raising of good types of live stock. In connection with him there can be no application of the scriptural aphorism that "a prophet is not without honor save in his own country," for he has been essentially the prophet and apostle of progress in his native county and has proved himself qualified for no little leadership in public affairs, the while he commands unqualified confidence and respect, as shown in the fact that he has been called upon to serve as a member of the board of county commissioners, in which position he has been the advocate and loyal sup- porter of progressive measures and enterprises and of which body he served as
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chairman in 1920. He is a stanch republican and he and his wife hold member- ship in the Methodist Episcopal church.
In the year 1913 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Eaton to Miss Edna Newell, and they have four children: Sidney, Margaret, Clare, and Harold.
J. L. EVANS
Prominent among the energetic, farsighted and successful business men of Aurora is J. L. Evans, bank president and manager of the telephone company. He was born in Centerville, Iowa, December 28, 1860, his parents being Jesse and Rhoda A. (Martin) Evans, the former a native of Pennsylvania, while the latter was born in Illinois. They were married, however, in Iowa, to which state Mrs. Evans removed with her parents in 1836 when it was a frontier region, and in 1856 Mr. Evans took up his abode within its borders. He devoted his life to farming in Iowa and there resided until 1873 when he came to Hamilton county, Nebraska, and located a homestead six miles south of Aurora. Upon this he built a small frame house and here he and his wife reared their family, his attention being given to the development of the farm until his life's labors were ended in death in 1889. The mother died at the home of her son, J. L. Evans, on an adjoining farm in 1899. Mr. Evans was a member of the Church of God while his wife had mem- bership in the United Brethren church. In politics he was a prohibitionist, doing everything in his power to advance the cause of temperance and bring about the abolishment of the liquor traffic. He served in the Civil war as a member of Com- pany F, Eighth Iowa Cavalry, for a period of two years and throughout his entire life manifested the same loyalty and patriotic attitude toward his country that he displayed when he followed the stars and stripes on the battlefields of the south. The family came from Pennsylvania, for it was in that state that Daniel Evans, the grandfather, was born and made his home until called to his final rest. The maternal grandfather, Samuel Martin, was born in Kentucky and in early life went to Illinois, while in 1836 he became one of the pioneers of Iowa and took up the task of developing wild land into a cultivated farm. Upon the frontier of Iowa his daughter, Mrs. Evans, was reared and by her marriage she became the mother of three children: J. L., of this review ; Rhoda A., the widow of Jacob Sherer and now a resident of Payette, Idaho; and Clara Belle, the wife of T. W. Condon, a fruit rancher of Garden Grove, California. Both Mr. and Mrs. Evans had been previously married and she had four children by her first marriage, of whom two are living: J. S. Bickford, a carpenter of Oregon ; and Ruth A. Porter, living in Clearfield, Iowa. By his first marriage Mr. Evans had seven children, of whom three are living: John, a retired rancher residing in Oklahoma; Mrs. Margaret Stewart, a widow of California; and Edward, who is a retired rancher living at Orange, California.
J. L. Evans was quite young when brought to Nebraska and obtained his education in the common schools of Hamilton county. His youthful experiences were those of the farm bred boy who early becomes familiar with the work of the fields and the best methods of caring for the crops and the live stock. He remained
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upon the home farm until 1909 and then removed to Aurora. Here he has en- gaged in banking, becoming identified with the Farmers' State Bank, of which he has been the president for ten years. He supports a safe, conservative policy in the conduct of the bank and in financial affairs displays sound judgment and keen discrimination. In 1914 he became connected with the office of the Hamilton County Farmers' Telephone Association as manager and is now devoting the greater part of his attention to the telephone business but still owns four hundred acres of well improved and valuable farm land in Hamilton county, from which he derives a very gratifying annual income.
In 1882 Mr. Evans was married to Miss Mary J. Denton, a native of Illinois, whose parents were among the early settlers of that state, removing to the Mississippi valley from the state of New York. To Mr. and Mrs. Evans have been born three children: Ralph L., who is located on his father's farm; Francis J., a farmer residing at Aurora; and Grace, a high school pupil. Mrs. Evans belongs to the United Brethren church. Mr. Evaus is identified with the Royal Highlanders and with the Modern Woodmen of America. He formerly gave his political support to the populist party and is now a democrat but with independent tendencies. He served for one term in the state legislature, having been elected on the populist ticket in 1909. His interest in public affairs has always been of a helpful nature and his progressiveness has contributed to the upbuilding and benefit of the state along material, intellectual, social and moral lines. Moreover, his life record indi- cates what can be accomplished through individual effort, for it is by industry, perseverance and capability that Mr. Evans has reached a position among the substantial and prosperous citizens of Hamilton county.
FRANCIS A. MILLSAP
The conditions and incidents of the pioneer era in the history of Hamilton county have left a definite impression upon the memory and appreciation of Francis A. Millsap, who was a vigorous youth of seventeen years at the time when the family home was established here nearly a half century ago and he has used his ability and powers so effectively as to gain high standing as one of the successful exponents of the agricultural and live stock industry in this section of the state. He is a member of one of the most honored pioneer families of the county and the name of his father is here held in specially reverent memory, owing to the fact that he brought to bear his fine intellectual powers and fervent Christian faith in aiding and uplifting his fellowmen throughout this part of Nebraska in the early days, having been a clergyman of the Methodist Episcopal church and for a time the only local Christian minister in Hamilton county. His life was one of consecrated zeal and devotion and while he did not achieve great temporal prosperity, his was the broader success of noble service and true human helpfulness.
Francis A. Millsap was born in Hancock county, Illinois, on the 24th day of August, 1855, and is a son of Rev. William L. and Matilda E. Millsap. The father was born in the state of Tennessee and was a child when his parents numbered themselves among the pioneer settlers of Indiana, where he was reared and educated
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and whence he eventually removed to Illinois, where he engaged in farm enterprise. Later he removed with his family to Iowa, where he continued his residence sixteen years and not only engaged in farming but also gave effective service as a minister of the Methodist church. In October, 1872, he and his family drove overland from Iowa to Hamilton county, Nebraska, where he filed claim to a homestead of eighty acres, in section 2, township 12, range 5, in what is now Otis township. The following spring he purchased eighty acres of railroad land in the same locality and here, amid the most primitive of pioneer conditions and influences, instituted the reclamation of a productive farm from the unbroken prairie land. The family made the journey to Nebraska with teams and wagons, and the son, Francis A., walked such portion of the distance as he did not cover by riding horseback, five horses having been brought from Iowa, but no other live stock. On his embryonic farm the father, with the aid of his sons, built a sod house with sod roof and dirt floor, and as this medium of construction was new to them no little perplexity and difficulty were experienced before the rude building was made ready for habi- tation. Here the family experienced the full force of the historic Easter blizzard of April, 1873, when this entire section of the state was virtually snowbound for three days. Francis A. Millsap assumed practically the entire active management of the home farm the second year, when he was eighteen years of age and found pleasure in his various hunting expeditions in the new country, where antelopes, deer, prairie chickens and wild geese were plentiful. He relieved his father of the many cares and labors of the pioneer farm and the latter gave the major part of his time to Christian service and the furtherance of the general civic interests of the community. He was one of the revered and patriarchal pioneer citizens of Hamilton county at the time of his death in 1892, after he had passed his eighty- eighth birthday, his devoted wife having passed away at the age of sixty-nine years, a gentle and gracious woman, who effectively supplemented the service of her husband and who upheld in her home the highest ideals of culture, refinement and hospitality. Rev. William L. Millsap was the first moderator of the first school district organized in Otis township, this district, known as No. 18, was eight miles in length and the first schoolhouse was erected in July, 1873-a frame building sixteen by twenty-four feet. He organized several Methodist churches in this part of the state, including those at North Blue, Kingston and one in the Dory district in York county. He spared himself no labors nor hardships in carrying forward his ministrations as a clergyman in the pioneer community. He drove long distances and held services in various private homes throughout this section of the state, and became guide, counselor and friend to many families that later were prominent and influential. He and his family suffered their share of losses through drought, grasshoppers, prairie fires, etc, and he and his sons had occasion to aid in fighting back a number of prairie fires.
Francis A. Millsap gained his early education principally in the public schools of Iowa, besides having the fortifying influences of a home of distinctive culture and refinement. As previously stated he soon assumed active management of the pioneer farm, with the activities of which he continued to be identified until he was about twenty-five years of age. He finally purchased the old Burtwell home- stead, in section 2, Otis township, where he has since maintained his residence. He bought this property from his brother who had purchased it from Mr. Burtwell,
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the original owner. Mr. Millsap has made this one of the model farms of the county, has improved it with modern buildings, and on his present valuable estate of three hundred and fifty-seven acres, he has provided two complete sets of farm buildings. He has been emphatically a progressive and vigorous representative of the agricultural and live stock industry, has contributed through his labors to the general development and upbuilding of the county and in all of the rela- tions of life has well upheld the prestige of the honored family name.
In April, 1886, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Millsap to Miss Marie E. Wildman, who was born in Ohio, and who was a resident of Hamilton county, Nebraska, at the time of her marriage, her parents having passed the closing years of their lives in Ohio and her father never having resided in Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. Millsap have four children : Mark I. resides on and has charge of the old home- stead farm of his paternal grandfather; Ruth is the wife of Frank J. Zimmerman of Deuel county ; and Paul and Lois remain at the parental home, which is widely known for its generous and unostentatious hospitality.
Mr. Millsap is a republican in politics, has served as justice of the peace and except for an interim of three years he has held the office of treasurer of school district No. 18 since 1877. He and his family are active members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Hordville.
DANIEL FYE
One of the fine farm properties in the north central part of Hamilton county is that belonging to Daniel Fye, an honored pioneer citizen since the year 1872, and the original homestead on which he still resides, in section 32, was the first one on which entry was filed within the present limits of South Platte township. Thus it may readily be understood that he was numbered among the very first of the sturdy and determined pioneers who instituted the work of development and progress in that township and is one who has played effectively his part in the civic and industrial upbuilding of Hamilton county and who has stood the exemplar of loyal and upright citizenship. He was born in Cambria county, Pennsylvania, on the 9th of May, 1843, and is a son of Conrad and Sarah Fye, both natives of the old Keystone state, where they continued their residence until about 1845, when they removed to Illinois and established their home in Stephenson county, where the father obtained land and developed a productive farm, both he and his wife having passed the remainder of their lives in that state, where he died at the age of eighty-four years and his widow at the age of eighty-seven years.
Daniel Fye was two years old at the time of the family removal to Illinois, where rudimentary education was acquired in the rural schools, principally during the winter terms, when his services were not in demand in connection with the work of the home farm. His youthful patriotism was exemplified in his eighteen months of service as a soldier of the Union in the Civil war, he having enlisted as a member of Company H, Twenty-sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, with which command he participated in numerous conflicts on the battle fields
DANIEL FYE
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of the south and with which he accompanied Sherman's forces on the historic march from Atlanta to the sea, on through the Carolinas and thence to Wash- ington, D. C., where he participated in the Grand Review of the victorious troops at the close of the war. His continued interest in his old comrades is indicated by his affiliation with the Grand Army of the Republic.
After the close of the war Mr. Fye followed the work of the carpenter's trade and also was engaged in farming about two years in Illinois. In 1872, with a wagon and team of horses he drove through to Iowa, where his brother J. D. was then residing, and there he traded his horses for three yoke of oxen, with which plodding animals he completed the journey to Hamilton county, Nebraska, his progress on this trip having been at the rate of about fifteen miles a day, much of the way over the unbroken prairies through which no definite roads had been made. Upon his arrival he filed entry on the first homestead in South Platte township and in that same spring a number of other settlers from Illinois here established their residence, the mutual interests and neighborly con- sideration of the early settlers being shown in their helpfulness to each other, especially in the constructing of habitations and other preliminary work which a settler could not well compass alone. After selecting his homestead of one hundred and sixty acres, Mr. Fye and his wife lived in their covered wagon until he could complete the little frame house, which was twelve by fourteen feet in dimensions, two days having been required to complete the trips to and from Sutton, where the lumber for the modest house was obtained. Another prere- quisite was the digging of a well and barns of the sod type were soon added to the pioneer farm equipment, while fuel was obtained principally from trees along the Platte river. The Fye home became a popular stopping place for travelers passing through this section, and its hospitality was in inverse pro- portion to its limited accomodations. Mr. and Mrs. Fye arrived in time to witness the great Easter blizzard of 1873, a storm that held this section of the state snowbound for three days. This storm has gone on record as one of the worst in the history of Hamilton county. At the time when Mr. Fye here established his home the present county seat, Aurora, had but one store, two days were required to make the trip to and from the nearest mill, and antelopes and deer were much in evidence in this locality. The Fye farm suffered from the grasshopper plague in the later '70s, and, like the other farms of the county, Mr. Fye lost about all of his crops. It required courage and determined purpose to endure the trials and hardships of the early days and the pioneers who have remained have well merited the ample success that had rewarded their efforts in connection with the development of the great natural resources of this now favored section of Nebraska. Now veuerable in years, Mr. Fye has retired from the labors and responsibilities that were long his portion and the finely improved farm is now under active management of his only surviving son, with whom he lives.
In Illinois, in 1870, Mr. Fye was married to Miss Louise Fue, who was born and reared in that state and who proved his devoted companion and helpmeet during the pioneer days in Nebraska. Their children are: Charles W., the elder, who was born in 1871 and died in 1916; and Ira D., the younger son, who has active charge of the old home farm. The Fye farm estate now comprises
Vol. II-3
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one hundred and sixty acres. The widow of Charles W. is now using eighty acres of the homestead.
Mr. Fye is a stalwart supporter of the cause of the republican party and while never desirous of public office, he gave fifteen years of effective service as treasurer of school district No. 63. He holds membership in the United Brethren church, as did also his devoted wife, who died in February, 1916, at the age of seventy- two years.
CHARLES A. VOORHEES
Charles A. Voorhees, prominent in the banking circles of Edgar, as president of the Clay County State Bank, was born at Pennington, Mercer county, New Jersey, January 17, 1854, a son of Isaac and Helen (Hunt) Voorhees, both natives of New Jersey. The great-grandfather of Charles Voorhees was Abraham Voorhees, a native of Holland, who was given a land title by King George of England. His son Jacob, the grandfather of our subject, was born in New Jersey and there passed his entire life, a successful and prominent man. The Hunt family are of English lineage, the first members of that family having made their homes in New Jersey. Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Voorhees were married in their native state, where they lived until death, the father being a progressive and successful farmer. They were the parents of three children, of whom Charles A. is the only one living. Throughout their lives they were consistent members of the Presbyterian church and Isaac Voorhees was a stanch supporter of the republican party.
In the acquirement of an education Charles A. Voorhees attended the schools of his native state and after putting his textbooks aside engaged in farming the homestead until he was twenty-eight years of age. At that time he decided to come west and on the 12th of April, 1882, he arrived in Edgar, where he has since remained. For a time he engaged in the loan business but in the fall of 1882 he commenced banking, having erected a small brick building. He has devoted his entire time to his banking interests and is now the president of the Clay County Bank of Edgar, being a most popular official and doing everything in his power to promote the interests of the bank and protect the rights of its depositors and its stockholders. The bank has a capital stock of twenty-five thousand, profits and surplus of eight thousand and average deposits of three hundred thousand dollars.
On the 15th of November, 1877, occurred the marriage of Mr. Voorhees and Miss Lucy A. Titus, a native of New Jersey and a daughter of Noah and Louisa Titus. Her father was a successful farmer and died on the home place in New Jersey. Five children have been born to the union of Mr. and Mrs. Voorhees, namely: Fred, who is cashier of the Clay County State Bank; Bertha, who is the wife of Orvil C. Johnson of Idaho, where he is engaged in farming; Olita, now the wife of Frank Johnson, a dentist of Twin Falls, Idaho; Clair, who is assistant cashier in the bank; and Edward R., also an employe of the bank.
Since age conferred upon Mr. Voorhees the right of franchise he has been a stanch supporter of the republican party and the principles for which it stands. His religious faith is that of the Presbyterian church and fraternally he is identified with the Knights Templars. For five years he served as master of his lodge in Edgar, that being the longest term of service ever required of one man. The
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success that Mr. Voorhees has achieved is the result of determined effort on his part. Progress and improvement find expression in his life and his enterprise has carried him into successful and important business relations. He is indeed a rep- resentative citizen of Edgar and one of whom any community would be proud.
AUGUST H. REISER
In section 9 of Deepwell township, Hamilton county, is to be found, the well improved farm of one hundred and sixty acres, that in its appearance and definite productiveness gives evidence of the success that has attended the well ordered industry of its owner. This farm represents the concrete evidence of the admirable achievement of August H. Reiser and shows that he has made good use of the opportunities and advantages that have been afforded him in the state of his adop- tion. He was born in Germany in the year 1860, was there reared and educated and was a sturdy young man of resolute purpose when, in 1884, he came to the United States, where he felt assured of winning eventual independence through his own ability and efforts. Soon after his arrival he came to Nebraska and for a time was employed at farm work in the vicinity of Grand Island. He also worked in brickyards at a wage of one dollar a day. Upon coming to Hamilton county he found employment on the farm of James Kirkpatrick, near Phillips, hiring out by the year and receiving sixteen dollars a month for his services. This work engrossed his attention three years and in 1888 he went to Perkins county and took up a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres. He put up a shanty to live in and then set himself to the work of breaking the soil of his embryonic farm. He there remained two years and then returned to Hamilton county and resumed his service as a farm employe. In 1892 he married and thereafter was engaged in farming on rented land, this having been in the drought years of 1893 and 1894, when crops were almost a total failure in this section of the state. In reward for his efforts in one of these dry years he was able to harvest only nine bushels of corn and four bushels of potatoes. Within a short time after this experience he purchased his present farm, on which had been erected a small frame house and barn. He planted native trees, including cedars and also set out an orchard. As the years brought increasing prosperity Mr. Reiser brought his farm up to a high standard, with excellent buildings and other permanent evidences of thrift and progressiveness. He is thus to be designated as one of the representative agriculturists and stock raisers of Deepwell township and is a citizen who has secure place in community confidence and esteem.
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