USA > Nebraska > Hamilton County > History of Hamilton and Clay counties, Nebraska, Vol. II > Part 59
USA > Nebraska > Clay County > History of Hamilton and Clay counties, Nebraska, Vol. II > Part 59
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In the acquirement of an education Ernest Schroeder attended the country schools of Jefferson county and remained under the parental roof until he was twenty-one years of age, at which time he started farming on his own account. For three years he rented land and then in 1901 purchased one hundred and sixty acres
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of broken land with no improvements. It is now one of the finest farms in Clay county.
In 1906 Mr. Schroeder was united in marriage to Miss Amelia Hoesch, a native of Germany and a daughter of Carl and Catherine (Schur) Hoesch, also natives of that country. Seven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Schroeder: Mildred, Ruth, Lily, Frank, Ella, Selma, and Harvey, all residing at home.
Since age conferred upon Mr. Schroeder the right of franchise he has been a stanch supporter of the republican party and the principles for which it stands. The religious faith of the family is that of the Evangelical church, of which he is class leader and assistant superintendent. For one term Mr. Schroeder served his fellow citizens as road overseer. He now owns three hundred and twenty acres of land with two sets of improvements and rents a part of it. In addition to his agricultural interests he has an interest in the Farmers Elevator at Verona and is an active member of the Farmers Union. When Mr. Schroeder started farming on his own account he had but one team of horses and very little financial assistance, but step by step he worked his way upward until he is now numbered among the prominent farmers of Clay county. He has seen the work of progress and develop- ment carried steadily forward and at all times has borne his part, especially along the line of agricultural development.
WILBER M. STEPHENSON
Since 1886 Wilber M. Stephenson has engaged in the painting and paper hang- ing business in Fairfield and has made for himself a creditable name and place in the business circles of that place and throughout Clay county. He was born in Chickasaw county, Iowa, on the 5th of December, 1860, a son of Franklin and Julia (Larabee) Stephenson, both natives of New York state, where they were married. Soon after that event they removed to Indiana, later to Pennsylvania, Ohio and Illinois, and subsequently in 1871 located in Clay county. In June of that year he homesteaded in this county, where he resided until his death. Ten children were born to that union, six of whom are living: Harriett J. Rider of Lincoln; M. A., who is an insurance man in Fairfield; Louisa E. Choat, a widow residing in Fairfield ; Sarah Choat, also a widow who makes her home in Fairfield ; Laura Krell of Hastings; and Wilber M., of this review. Throughout their lives Mr. and Mrs. Stephenson were consistent members of the Christian church and he always gave his allegiance to the democratic party. Franklin Stephenson was a veteran of the Civil war, having served with the Sixth Iowa Cavalry. He received a wound which disabled him for further active service and he was given an honorable discharge.
Wilber M. Stephenson is indebted to the schools of Iowa and Nebraska for his education. He was reared on a farm and in 1886 came to Nebraska, locating at Fairfield, where he has since resided. He started a painting and paper hanging establishment and along that line has made a name for himself throughout the county.
In 1884 occurred the marriage of Mr. Stephenson and Miss Cora Allen, a native
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of New York and a daughter of T. Allen who came to Clay county in 1879. He afterward removed to Idaho and there his death occurred. Seven children have been born to the union of Mr. and Mrs. Stephenson, five of whom are living: Glenn E., who has taught school for seventeen years and resides at home; Mabel, the wife of C. K. Titus, a minister in the Christian church at Joplin, Missouri ; Merle, who married H. P. Dalton, a merchant of Lamar, Missouri; Ray, a farmer and fruit grower of Gulfport, Mississippi, who was checker of an aviation branch at Hoboken, New Jersey, during the World war; and Aline, who is attending high school in Fairfield.
The political endorsement of Mr. Stephenson is given to the democratic party, he having firm belief in the principles of that party as factors in good government. The religious faith of the family is that of the Christian church. Mr. Stephenson devotes his entire time to his business affairs and is known as a good business man. who by reason of keen sagacity, unabating energy and sound judgment is meeting with continued success.
REMMER JOHNSON
For a number of years Remmer Johnson has been identified with farming in Clay county, where he is the owner of five hundred and twenty-five acres of excel- lent farm property and is classed with the most enterprising and prosperous farmers and stock raisers of that community. He was born in Germany July 5, 1865, a son of Anard and Maria (Jansen) Johnson. The father passed away in Germany but the mother is still living at the age of eighty-four years. She makes her home in Adams county. When Remmer Johnson was three years of age he came to the United States with his mother, who located in Woodford county, Illinois, and there she married Wilke Van Boening of Logan county, Illinois. On the 2d of February, 1876, the family came to Nebraska, locating in Adans county, where Mr. Van Boening purchased one hundred and sixty acres of railroad land for seven dollars an acre and built thereon a house and barn, hauling the lumber from Hastings. Remmer Johnson assisted his stepfather to break the land with the two mule teams they brought with them from Illinois and on the homestead Mr. Van Boening passed away at the age of sixty-one years. He owned four hundred acres of valuable farm property at the time of his death, all well improved and modern in every way. Remmer Johnson has one half brother, S. W., who farms in Adams county, and a half sister, Johanna, the wife of Fred Hartwig of Peoria, Illinois. Mr. Van Boening was a consistent member of the Lutheran church and a school director while residing in Adams county.
Remmer Johnson received his education in the country schools of Illinois and also in Adams county, Nebraska, where he had to walk a distance of four and one- half miles a day to school for four or five months in the year. He remained under the parental roof until he was twenty-three years of age, when he began farming on one of his stepfather's farms and later purchased eighty acres on his own account, engaging in general farming. Prior to his removal to Clay county in 1906, Mr. Johnson bought seventy acres there and subsequently purchased an additional
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four hundred and fifty acres, owning the old D. M. Nettleton homestead. His land is well improved, highly cultivated, and is one of the most valuable farm properties in the county. In the hot winds of 1893 Mr. Johnson suffered the loss of one hundred and ten acres of corn and likewise met with misfortune during the blizzard and hailstorms.
In 1888 Mr. Johnson married Hilke J. Claassen, a native of Germany and to them three children have been born : Jacob, who is farming in Clay county ; Marie, the wife of Herman M. Valentine, a farmer of Pauline; and Lucy, who is attending school and residing at home.
Since age conferred upon Mr. Johnson the right of franchise he has been a stanch supporter of the democratic party, in the interests of which he has taken an active part. For eight years he has served as justice of the peace and he has always been active in the development and improvement of the community. The religious faith of the family is that of the Lutheran church, of which he has been a director for many years. He has held various school offices and is now vice president of the Farmers' State Bank at Glenville and likewise interested in the Farmers Grain and Supply Company at Springranch. His time and energies are concentrated upon his agricultural and business affairs and stock raising and he has justly won classifi- cation with the representative farmers of Clay county.
SAMUEL MCKELVIE
One of the best known farmers and stock raisers in Clay county is Samuel McKelvie, who was born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, August 6, 1849, a son of Samuel and Jane (Sharon) McKelvie, the former a native of Lochnor, Scotland, and the latter of Tuscarawas county, Ohio. Their marriage occurred in Ohio, where the father came in 1844 and there remained until 1851, when he removed to Illinois and purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land. On the farm he reared his family and resided until his death in 1867. To that union eight children were born, four of whom are living: William, a painter of Carthage, Illinois; Samuel, whose name initiates this review; John, a farmer of Plymouth, Illinois; and Andrew, a retired farmer of Meadville, Nebraska. Throughout his life Mr. McKelvie was a consistent Presbyterian and a stanch supporter of the demo- cratic party, while his wife was a lifelong member of the Baptist church. Mr. McKelvie was a well educated man for his day and found his greatest relaxation when reading fine books.
Samuel McKelvie received his education in the common schools of Illinois, the Normal school at Macomb, and in a private seminary at Abingdon. His first occu- pation upon putting his textbooks aside was that of farming and stock raising, which lines of work he has since followed. He did, however, teach school for some time, being seventeen years of age when he secured his first school. In November of the year 1874 he came to Clay county, Nebraska, and purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land for one dollar and fifty cents an acre. He then returned to Illinois, taught school for a time and subsequently removed with his family back to the homestead in Clay county, arriving there in 1879. Their first home on the land
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was part dugout and part frame but later a more modern home was built on the farm. At the time of purchase the land was entirely uncultivated but it is now one of the attractive places of the county. From Illinois Mr. McKelvie brought two pure full-bred Poland China hogs, in which breed he has since specialized and now has about two hundred head of hogs and one hundred head of cattle. Mr. McKelvie has had exhibits at many stock shows during the past twenty-five years and has won many prizes. He was awarded the first prize at the International Stock Show in Chicago in 1917 and in 1920 he attended many fairs in the south. Mr. McKelvie is now one of the extensive land owners of Nebraska, having one section of land in Clay county and thirteen quarter sections in Chase county. He also owns valuable city property in Lincoln.
While residing in Illinois Mr. MeKelvie was united in marriage in 1871 to Miss Jennie Glandon, a native of Ohio and a daughter of John and Delilah Glandon, also natives of that state, who went to Illinois at an early day. Her father was well known in the state as a prominent farmer and successful stock man and there resided until his death. Four children were born to this union, two of whom are living. The death of Mrs. McKelvie occurred on the 24th of February, 1919, and came as a severe blow to her family and many friends throughout the community. She was the mother of nine children, seven of whom are living: H. L., a farmer and stock raiser of Clay county ; Otis A., an attorney, trader and real estate man of California ; Othelo, who is in partnership with his father; Maude, who is the wife of Hugo Schleuter, assistant city engineer of Lincoln; Samuel Roy, who was elected gov- ernor of the state of Nebraska in April, 1881, and served a second term ; Hiram C., newspaper man and live stock solicitor for farmers, residing at Lincoln; and Florence, the wife of W. E. Brown of Lincoln, with the Robert Sterre Company. Throughout her life Mrs. McKelvie was a stanch supporter of the Methodist Epis- copal church, to the activities of which she gave a great deal of her time.
Since age conferred upon Mr. McKelvie the right of franchise he has been a democrat and he served his fellow citizens as a justice of the peace for many years. Fraternally he is a charter member of the Odd Fellows, belonging to lodge No. 128, of Fairfield. He has served as noble grand several times and is past grand of that order. The life of Mr. McKelvie is worthy of emulation, for he is a self-made man, in whom the interests and activities of life are well balanced and who by reason of his intelligently directed effort has made himself a man of force and value to the community.
MONS NELSON
Mons Nelson, deceased, was numbered among the pioneer farmers of Clay county, having come here in 1882. He was born in Sweden on the 19th of Novem- ber, 1862, and passed away on May 10, 1918. His parents were natives of that country, where they resided till death and where they were prominent and highly respected citizens. To them seven children were born, of whom four daughters are living.
Mons Nelson obtained his educational training in his native country, where he
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resided until he was seventeen years of age. He then determined to come to the United States, the land of greater opportunities, and as a result located in Illinois. For some time he worked in that state on a farm and then went west to California, remaining there until 1882, when he removed to Clay county and bought land. Soon afterward he returned to California for a short time and then came back to Clay county. He bought his land in that county on time and started housekeeping in a little three-room house with a barn to house his cattle. The first few years on the homestead were full of hardships, when he lost crops as a result of hailstorms and blizzards, but Mr. Nelson with determined energy allowed no obstacle, however great, to remain long in his path. Soon he had the farm on a paying basis and was feeding cattle in connection with general farming on a large scale. Three different sets of improvements now stand on the farm and the residence is modern in every respect. In 1893 he went to North Dakota, where he homesteaded and proved up on his homestead, then came back to this farm in 1894. At the time of his death Mr. Nelson was in possession of two hundred and forty acres of land, which he acquired as the result of his own effort and for a few years previous to his death he enjoyed financial independence.
In 1890 occurred the marriage of Mr. Nelson and Miss Anna Swanson, a daughter of Swan Nicholson and Hanna (Pearson) Swanson, both of whom are residing in Sweden. They are the parents of nine children, six living, of whom four are residents of the United States. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Nelson nine children were born: Ernest, who rents his mother's farm ; Oscar, a farmer of Fre- mont county ; Annetta, residing in Colorado; Thilda, teaching school at Havelock; Florence, training for a nurse at the Methodist Episcopal hospital in Omaha; Pearl, attending school in Edgar; Monell, attending school in Ong; Leonard, in school; and Burdette, also attending school.
The religious faith of the Nelson family is that of the Swedish Lutheran church of Stockham and during his life Mr. Nelson was a prominent and active member of that organization. Fraternally he was affiliated with the Woodmen and his polit- ical allegiance was given to the republican party. Going out into the world on his own account at an early age Mr. Nelson learned his lessons in the school of expe- rience and the story of his life illustrates that it is under the pressure of adversity and the stimulus of necessity that the strongest and best in men is brought out and developed.
HOMER L. McKELVIE
Homer L. MeKelvie, prominent in the agricultural and stock raising circles of Clay county, Nebraska, was born in Schuyler county, Illinois, May 27, 1874, a son of Samuel McKelvie, further mention of whom is made on another page of this work.
Homer L. McKelvie received his education in the country schools and later entered Christian College at Fairfield. After putting his textbooks aside he com- menced farming and has followed that occupation ever since. He is engaged exten- sively in raising pure blood Poland China hogs, averaging from five hundred to six hundred a year and at present has over five hundred head. Mr. MeKelvie owns a
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half section of well improved land whereon he makes his home and devotes his entire time to his agricultural pursuits. He is well known throughout the county as a prominent and successful man and this is due solely to his own efforts.
In 1895 occurred the marriage of Mr. McKelvie and Miss Mary E. Bayles, a native of Clay county. She was born near Harvard, a daughter of Richard W. and Loretta E. Bayles, pioneers of Clay county, where they homesteaded in 1871. The father passed away in Harvard on the 15th of July, 1920, and the mother is still residing in Harvard. Mrs. McKelvie is one of the six children born to that union, being the fourth in order of birth. Five are living. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. McKelvie three sons have been born: Carl L., who is farming on his own account near his father; Richard S., attending school in Fairfield; and Homer Dolland, who is in school at Fairfield.
The political allegiance of Mr. McKelvie is given to the republican party, in the principles of which he has firm belief. His fraternal affiliations are with the Odd Fellows and the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and his religious faith is that of the Methodist Episcopal church. He is one of the progressive men of the com- munity who has always taken an interest in civic affairs and any movement which he deems of value to the improvement or development of the community is assured his undivided support.
JARVIS CHAFFEE
The late Jarvis Chaffee came from Wisconsin to Hamilton county, Nebraska, in the year 1866, a few months prior to the admission of the state to the Union, and he was at the time a young veteran who had valiantly served as a soldier of the Union army in the Civil war. Thus he became a pioneer of pioneers in this county, where he met with characteristic fortitude and determination the adverse conditions and the heavy labors that marked the pioneer era and where he lived to enjoy the prosperity of the later years, having been sixty-three years of age at the time of his death, in 1900.
Mr. Chaffee was born in Geauga county, Ohio, and was young when he accompanied his parents to Wisconsin, where he was living at the beginning of the Civil war. His youthful patriotism found expression in his enlistment as a private in Company I, Forty-sixth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, with which command he proceeded to the front and took part in numerous engage- ments marking the progress of the great conflict. After having thus given valiant service in the preservation of the nation's integrity he returned to Wisconsin, but it was not long after the close of the war that he began to fight the stern battles of a pioneer in Nebraska, to which territory he came in 1866, the overland journey being made with a team and spring wagon, in the wake of which plodded four cows, so that it is not strange that six weeks elapsed ere he arrived at his destination in Hamilton county. In the present township of Orville, he entered claim to a homestead of one hundred sixty acres, which he soon supplied with a dugout house and barn, the first evidences of habitation on the wild prairie. He was compelled to go to distant points for his early
MR. AND MRS. JARVIS CHAFFEE
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marketing and the family larder in the early days was augmented largely by his success in the killing of buffaloes, deer, elk and antelopes. He brought down a number of deer on his own unfenced farm, and at one time fully three thousand Indians camped near his land. Mr. Chaffee and his faithful wife did not escape their full quota of hardships and trials, including loss of crops through droughts, hailstorms, grasshoppers and other adverse conditions and like other pioneers they were snowbound three days at the time of the memor- able Easter blizzard of 1873, which was one of the most severe recorded in Nebraska history. Mr. Chaffee followed progressive policies in the developing and improving of his farm and eventually made it one of the model places of Hamilton county, with excellent buildings and manifold other evidences of substantial prosperity. It was a far cry from the conditions of the early day to those which were in evidence during the closing period of his earnest and worthy life and he had full appreciation of the advantages and independence that had come to him to reward his earlier toils and privations. He had some- what unusual experience in providing food for the grasshoppers, which did not hesitate to attack the tobacco plants which he had growing on his farm. Mr. Chaffee remained on his old homestead until his death and his name has high place on the roll of the honored pioneers of this section of the state of Nebraska. He was a man of industry and persistence, a productive worker, and had no desire for official preferment or political activity, though he was a stanch republican and was loyal and liberal as a citizen. He maintained affili- ation with the Grand Army of the Republic and was a member of the post at Stockham at the time of his death.
In Ohio, when a young man, Mr. Chaffee married Miss Nancy Markham, who was born and reared in that state and who did not long survive after the home had been established in Hamilton county, Nebraska, where her death occurred in 1871. Her only child, Jesse, was born December 15, 1869, and is conceded to have been the second white male child born in Hamilton county, where he is now a substantial, popular citizen and successful farmer, on his father's old homestead farm in section 34, Orville township. In 1876 Mr. Chaffee contracted a second marriage, when Miss Sarah Frazier, likewise a native of Ohio, became his wife. She survives him and still resides on the old home farm, of which Edward, the elder of her two children, now has the active management, the younger son, Roy, likewise being numbered among the progressive farmers of the younger generation in Hamilton county.
WILLIAM MCLAUGHLIN
William MeLaughlin, living in section 26, Sheridan township, where he has a splendid farm that is highly productive, was born in northern Ireland on the thirteenth of November, 1855, a son of John and Ellen (Gillin) Mclaughlin, also natives of that country. His parents came to the United States in the early '70s and first located in Illinois, where they remained until 1885 and then removed to Clay county, where the father retired and lived until his death. Five children were
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born to that union, of whom our subject is the only one living. Both Mr. and Mrs. McLaughlin were consistent members of the Presbyterian church and he was fraternally identified with the Masons. John Mclaughlin was a stanch republican, in the interests of which party he took an active part.
William McLaughlin received his education in the schools of Ireland and came to this country with his parents, locating in Illinois. There he engaged in working out on farms by the month and afterwards farmed rented land for some time. In 1885 he came to Clay county and engaged in the cattle business, being associated with his brother John for a number of years. In 1887 William MeLaughlin pur- chased a portion of his present farm to which he later added additional land, his farm now comprising four hundred and eighty acres. He has brought his land to a highly cultivated state and has put up many fine improvements. In past years he was recognized as one of the representative agriculturists in Clay county. The sons now run the farm.
In March, 1883, occurred the marriage of Mr. MeLaughlin and Miss Jeanette Wilson, a native of Illinois and a daughter of David Wilson, an early pioneer of Illinois, in which state he resided until his death. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Mclaughlin the following children were born: Bernard, farming for his father; Alice, who is the wife of John Overturf, a farmer of Clay county; Grace, the wife of S. Urbauer, residing on the father's farm; Murray, a farmer of Big Horn Basin, Wyoming; LeRoy, a doctor in St. Luke's Hospital in Chicago; Gayle, resid- ing on the home farm ; Wilson, on the home farm ; and Willard, attending a dental college in Omaha. The death of Mrs. McLaughlin occurred in 1902 and came as a severe shock to her family and many friends in the county. She was a Quaker.
The political allegiance of Mr. Mclaughlin is given the democratic party and he has held various township offices. He had but little when he started farming on his own account and his laudable ambition and determined effort are responsible for his present-day success. He has thoroughly identified his interests with those of his community and can be counted upon to do his part in furthering the public welfare. He has many friends who esteem him as a man of genuine personal worth, a business man of ability and a representative citizen.
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