History of Richardson County, Nebraska : its people, industries and institutions, Part 105

Author: Edwards, Lewis C
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Indianapolis : B.F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 1742

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people, who take much interest in the cultural and social activities of the community in which they live. Their modern home is furnished with taste, everything betokening excellent judgment.

WILLIAM I. DRAPER.

William I. Draper, a farmer, now living in Grant precinct, east of Daw- son, who has been all over the states in search of experience, was born on January 2, 1850, in Warren county, Iowa, a son of John M. and Rebecca (Stanton) Draper, natives of Kentucky and Tennessee, respectively. John M, Draper was the son of John Draper, a native of Virginia, whose ancestors came from England. Tradition has it that the original members of the Draper family came from England in an early day and settled in Virginia, the Carolinas and the East.

John M. Draper was born in 1820 and died in February, 1868. His wife, Rebecca (Stanton) Draper, was born in June, 1826, and died in July, 1913. She was a daughter of Richard Stanton, of Tennessee. The parents of John M. Draper migrated to Indiana in the thirties of the last century and settled in Marion county, Indiana, and were among the pioneer settlers of that part of the Hoosier state. In 1847 John M. Draper settled in Warren county, Iowa, where his son, William I., was born and reared. In 1862 John M. Draper enlisted for service in the Civil War and became a member of Company D, Thirty-fourth Iowa Volunteer Infantry. His death was caused by a kick from a mule; his death ensued thirteen days later, and he was brought home for interment in February, 1863. John M. and Rebecca (Stanton) Draper were the parents of six children, namely: Mrs. Ruth Hunt, who died in Iowa in 1875; Mrs. Rachel Flesher, who lives in Oregon; William I., the subject of this sketch; Eliza, deceased; Mrs. Cora Jenkins, who lives in Cooper county, Missouri, and Mrs. Virginia Porter, who died in 1915 in Kansas City, Missouri. Following the death of her husband, Mrs. Rebecca Draper left Iowa in 1867 and some time later married Daniel Fox, and still later, moved to Missouri, where she died.

William I. Draper left Iowa in 1867 and started out to see the United States, traveling all over the country to the Pacific coast and doing all kinds of work that offered. During the course of his travels, extending over a period of ten years, he gained considerable experience in worldly affairs and finally drifted back to Iowa. Following his marriage in 1877, he came to

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Richardson county in 1878 and rented a farm for two years, at the end of which period he bought eighty acres of land in section 12, Grant precinct ; there were no improvements on the holding. Mr. Draper proceeded with- out delay to put his land into cultivation and presently built a house, success attending all his efforts. He lived on this farm from April 18, 1881, until his removal to his present home, near Dawson, on March 13, 1904. He added to his original eighty acres, finally getting together one hundred and ninety-eight acres. He sold his original place recently and bought the east half of the northeast quarter of section 13, and is now the owner of one hun- dred and ninety-eight acres, all in one tract.

On February 21, 1877, William I. Draper was united in marriage to Isabelle Talboys, who was born on July 8, 1856, in Great Barrington, Massa- chusetts. She is the daughter of Thomas and Anne ( Vose) Talboys, natives of the city of Birmingham, England, who emigrated from that country to Iowa in an early day. Mr. and Mrs. Draper are the parents of six children, namely: Gertrude, wife of Israel L. Heim, further mention of whom is made in another part of this work, in a notice of the life of Mr. Heim; Walter E., a practicing physician, living at Manilla, Iowa, since 1906, a graduate of the Medical College of Sioux City, Iowa; Tida, who married Alfred Swanson, a railroad engineer, who lives at Sioux City, Iowa; Mrs. Orra Swisegood, who lives near Verdon, this county; Arta, who married John Parriot, lives at Elwood, this state, and John, a student in Kansas City Veterinary College. Mr. Draper is a Republican, but votes independently as occasion requires ; he has never been a seeker after public office.

JOHN W. WIXON.

John W. Wixon, an honored veteran of the Civil War and one of the best-known pioneer farmers of this section of Nebraska, who has been living retired in the pleasant village of Stella since 1891, is a native of the great Empire state, but has been a resident of the West since he was fourteen years of age and of this state since 1869, coming over here from Iowa, he previously having been a resident of Illinois and of Minnesota, a soldier from the latter state and a member of the famous First Minnesota, which bore the tragic record of having lost the largest percentage of its numbers of any regiment engaged in the Civil War. He was born in the state of New York on December 28, 1839, a son of William L. and Eleanor (Finch)

JOHN W. WIXON.

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Wixon, the former of whom was born in that same state, a son of Seth Wixon, a soldier of the War of 1812, whose father, of English descent and a member of an old Colonial family, was a soldier in the patriot army during the Revolutionary War. Eleanor Finch also was born in New York state, a daughter of Robert Finch, of Scottish descent.

William L. Wixon left New York state with his family in 1855 and moved to Bureau county, Illinois, where he was engaged in farming until 1859, when he moved to a farm near the city of Springfield, in that same state, and there remained until the fall of 1860, when he moved to Minne- sota, where his death occurred in the following year. He and his wife were the parents of ten children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the fourth in order of birth, the others being as follow: Mrs. Rosella White, a widow, now living at Moscow, Idaho; Edward H., deceased, who was a veteran of the Civil War, a member of the Thirty-fourth Illinois Infantry ; Mrs. Marilla H. Lawton, deceased; William L., deceased, who also was a veteran of the Civil War. and member of the Fourth Minnesota Infantry; Olive, deceased; Mrs. Josephine Wood, deceased; Mrs. Emily E. Clark, of Minneapolis, Minnesota; Frank L., deceased, and Mrs. Ida May Copeland, deceased. It will be noted by the above that two of Mr. Wixon's brothers also were soldiers of the Union during the Civil War and it also is worthy of note that all his brothers-in-law also served as soldiers in behalf of the Union during that great struggle between the states.

John W. Wixon was about twenty years of age when he went with his father to Minnesota from Illinois and was living there when the Civil War broke out. Upon President Lincoln's first call for volunteers on that fateful day in April, 1861, he responded to the call to the colors and on April 19 was enrolled as a member of the First Regiment. Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, and on May 22 re-enlisted for the term of three years, going to the front as a member of Company H of that regiment, and with that command served until his discharge on a physician's certificate of disability, following his par- ticipation in the battle of Gettysburg, in which the First Minnesota immortal- ized itself in the great charge, an attack of fever succeeding that engagement incapacitating him from further immediate active service; but in September, 1864, he re-enlisted as a member of the Fourth Illinois Cavalry and with that command served for some months after the close of the war, receiving his final discharge at Houston, Texas, October 13, 1865. During all this long period of service and participation in some of the bloodiest and most stirring battles and engagements of the war, Mr. Wixon was wounded but twice, receiving a bullet wound in the hip at the first battle of Bull Run and later

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a bayonet thrust in the foot during a cavalry charge. Among the other bat- tles besides Bull Run and the great battle of Gettysburg, above mentioned, in which Mr. Wixon participated may be mentioned Balls Bluff, the second battle of Winchester, the Peninsular campaign, Yorktown, Williamsburg, White Oak, Seven Pines, Fair Oaks, Gaines' Mill, the seven-days fight to Malvern Hill, Harrison's Landing, along the Chickahominy, Antietam, Fredericksburg and Mary's Heights. During the later period of his service, while engaged with the Fourth Illinois Cavalry, he served mainly in Arkansas and in Texas and was in the battles at Shreveport and Brownsville and on the expedition up the Rio Grande to Eagle Point.

Upon the completion of his military service, John W. Wixon went to his old home in Bureau county, Illinois, but presently went from there to Henry county, same state, where in the spring of 1867 he was married. The next year, in 1868, he moved from Illinois to Iowa and a year later came to Nebraska, arriving at Brownville on June 7, 1869. He bought a farm in Nemaha county and established his home, remaining there until 1891, when he retired from the active labors of the farm and moved down into this county, locating at Stella, where he ever since has made his home and where he is very pleasantly situated. Mr. Wixon's farming operations prospered and he has become an extensive landowner, the possessor of two hundred and forty acres of fine land in the precinct of Porter, this county; a quarter section of excellent land near Geneva, in Fillmore county, this state, and another quarter section in Chase county, thiis state, and is very well circumstanced. Mr. Wixon is a Republican and has ever given a good citizen's attention to local political affairs. During his residence in Illinois he served for a term as township assessor. He served for one term as constable in Nemaha county and for three ternis as a member of the town board of Stella. Mr. Wixon is an active member of Mckinley Post, Grand Army of the Republic, at Stella, in the affairs of which patriotic organization he has long taken an earnest interest, and is a member of the local lodge (No. 105) of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, in the affairs of which organization he also has taken a warm interest.

Mr. Wixon has been twice married. On April 27, 1867, in Henry county, Illinois, he was united in marriage to Elmira Benson, who was born in that county on August 4, 1850, daughter of Frederick Benson and wife, who later came to Nebraska and became pioneers of Nemaha county, and to that union were born seven children, namely: Alvin J., now a resident of Colorado; George E., a veteran of the Spanish-American War, having served

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as a member of the First Nebraska Regiment during that struggle, and who is now farming two miles north of Stella; William L., who is farming his father's old home farm; Frederick G., now a resident of Omaha : Mrs. Ida Sayres, of Stella ; Samuel D., a farmer at Ashland, this state, and Daisy May. deceased. The mother of these children died in 1905 and in 1907 Mr. Wixon married Mrs. Laura A. Keyes, a widow, who died in December, 1915.

CHARLES FELT.

Charles Felt, a well-known building contractor at Shubert, this county, and the owner of a half section of land in Colorado, one hundred acres of which he personally placed under cultivation some years ago, was born on a farm in Allen county, Indiana, June 2, 1852, son of Peter and Alma (Cline) Felt, natives of Germany, who were married in their native land and then came to this country, settling on a farm in Indiana, where their children were born and reared. There were seven of these children, of whom four are still living, the subject of this sketch having three sisters still living. Peter Felt, who spent his last days on his farm in Indiana, was married twice, and by his second marriage was the father of four children. His second wife, Mrs. Weber, had three children by her first marriage.

Reared on a farm Charles Felt remained at home until he had attained his majority, when he went to the neighboring city of Ft. Wayne and there engaged at work at the carpenter's trade, continuing thus engaged at that place until 1879, when he went to Illinois, there married and in 1881 he came to Nebraska and settled on a farm in the precinct of Muddy, in this county, he and his brother, Peter, renting a farm there. When the town of Shubert was started the next year he moved to that place and there resumed work as a builder, acting as foreman on the erection of three of the largest business buildings in the town, besides other work there. In 1888 he returned to Ft. Wayne, Indiana, but in 1891 came back to this county and resumed his build- ing operations at Shubert. In 1909 he went to Colorado and homesteaded a half section of land in Yuma county, that state, and proceeded to improve and develop the same, remaining there until 1914, by which time he had one hundred acres of the place under cultivation. He then returned to Shubert, where he again resumed building operations and has since been thus engaged. one of the best-known building contractors in that part of the county. Mr.

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Felt has given proper attention to the civic affairs of his home town and for some time served as a member of the city council.

On August 4, 1879, Charles Felt was united in marriage to Lucetta Shubert, who was born in Sangamon county, Illinois, April 5, 1864, daughter of James and Lucy (Stanley) Shubert, who became pioneers of Richardson county and further and fitting mention of which family is made elsewhere in this volume, and to this union three children have been born, Sophia C., who died at the age of fourteen years; Mary E., wife of L. Sayres, of North Mc.Alester, Oklahoma, and Eliza E., wife of Louis Brisby, a farmer living in the precinct of Muddy, southwest of Shubert. Mr. Felt is a member of St. John's Lutheran church and Mrs. Felt belongs to the Christian church, and both take an interested part in church work, as well as in the general good works of their home town and the community in general. Mr. Felt is a member of the local lodge of the Modern Woodmen of America and takes a warm interest in the affairs of the same.

EMANUEL ULMER.

Emanuel Ulmer, one of Richardson county's well-known and progressive farmers and the proprietor of a fine farm in the vicinity of Dawson, in the precinct of Grant, is a native of the old Keystone state, but has lived in this county since 1881 and has therefore watched the wonderful development that has been made in this region since pioneer days. He was born in Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, March 8, 1856, son of Martin and Catherine (Shaefer) Ulmer, both of whom were born in that same county, of Ger- man parentage, and the former of whom died there in 1870, leaving his widow with a considerable family of children. In 1884 she came to Neb- raska with her younger children and established her home on a farm in Grant precinct, this county, in the neighborhood of the home her elder son, the sub- ject of this sketch, had established there two or three years previously, and there she spent the remainder of her life, her death occurring in 1903. Else- where in this volume there is set out somewhat more at length something of the history of this pioneer widow and her family, together with some details of the genealogy of the Ulmer family, and to that reference the attention of the reader is respectfully invited in this connection.

Having been but fourteen years of age when his father died, Emanuel Ulmer early began to "hustle" for himself and grew up earnest, sober and

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self-reliant. He was trained as a farmer and in the fall of 1881 came to Nebraska with a view to establishing his home on a farm out here in the beautiful valley of the Nemaha, of which he had heard much from other Pennsylvanians who had settled here earlier. He bought a tract of land from Jacob Heim, a Lycoming county ( Pennsylvania ) man, who had settled here in 1874 and had made heavy investments in farm lands, and after his marriage a few months later to one of Mr. Heim's daughters, established his home on that farm and has ever since made his residence there. For the unimproved quarter section he originally bought he paid three thousand dol- lars and as he developed that place and prospered in his affairs he gradually added to his holdings until he became the owner of four hundred acres of fine land, but has since sold a quarter section to his sons and now holds but two hundred and forty acres, his original home quarter section and an "eighty" to the south. He has two houses on his home farm and excellent farm buildings, the entire farm plant being operated along modern and up-to- date lines. In addition to his general farming Mr. Ulmer has given con- siderable attention to the raising of live stock, with particular reference to Shorthorn cattle and Poland-China hogs, and has done very well, long having been regarded as one of the most substantial farmers in his neighborhood.

On December 29, 1881, just a few months after coming to this county, Emanuel Ulmer was united in marriage to Sarah Heim, who also was born in Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, July 1, 1858, daughter of Jacob and Regina (Gross) Heim, natives of that same county, who came to Nebraska in 1874 and became early recognized as among the most influential and use- ful pioneers of the Dawson neighborhood. Elsewhere in this volume there is set out at considerable length something of the history of the Heim family in this county, together with biographical sketches of several members of the family. Jacob Heim, the pioneer, died at his home in Grant precinct in April, 1914, at the age of eighty-two years, and his widow is now making her home with Mr. and Mrs. Ulmer.

To Emanuel and Sarah (Heim) Ulmer six children have been born, namely : Mary, who married Charles E. Wuster, of Porter precinct, this county, and has two children, Orville and Miriam; Norman, who married Merdeth Miller and lives on the farm adjoining that of his father: Edna, who is at home; Walter, who is attending the Evangelical College at Le Mars, Iowa, and Reuben, who is farming with his brother, Norman, and who mar- ried True Stratton and has one child, a daughter, Evelyn, and Nelson, at home. Mrs. Ulmer and the children are members of the United Evangelical

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church and Mr. Ulmer, who was reared a Baptist, attends the same, the family taking a proper part in all neighborhood good works, as well as in the general social activities of the community in which they live. Mr. Ulmer is a Demo- crat, but on local issues is inclined to cast his vote independent of party lines, preferring to recognize personal fitness rather than party allegiance as a qualification for office. Mr. Ulmer is a contributing member of the local chapter of the Red Cross Society.

DANIEL HIGGINS.

Daniel Higgins, one of Richardson county's well-known and substantial retired farmers and the proprietor of a fine farm of two hundred and forty acres two and a half miles northwest of Shubert, who has been making his home in Shubert since 1910, is a native of the great Empire state, but has been a resident of the West since he was five years of age and of Nebraska since he was eleven, and has thus seen this region develop from pioneer days. He was born on a farm in Cattaraugus county, New York, July 16, 1848, son of Thomas and Catherine ( Davis) Higgins, natives of Wales, who became pioneers of Nebraska and here spent their last days.

Thomas Higgins was born in 1818 and when twenty years of age, in 1838, came to the United States from his native Wales and settled in New York state. In Oneida county, that state, he married Catherine Davis, who was born in 1816 and who was but three years of age when her parents came to this country from Wales. After their marriage Thomas Higgins and his wife made their home in Cattaraugus county, New York, where they remained until 1854, in which year they came West and located in Wisconsin. Five years later, in 1859, they came over into the then Territory of Nebraska and settled in Nemaha county, not far from the Richardson county line, where they established their home, among the early settlers of that section, and there they spent the remainder of their active lives, Thomas Higgins dying at Stella in 1885 and his widow surviving until 1892. They were the parents of eight children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the fourth in order of birth, the others being as follow: Mrs. Anne Richey, deceased; Mrs. Elizabeth Hart, who died at Cleveland, Oklahoma; Mrs. Mary Wilkinson, who died in Oregon; David, John and William, also deceased, and Mrs. Margaret Edwards, of Shubert.

As noted above, Daniel Higgins was eleven years of age when he came

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to Nebraska and he grew up on the farm, sturdy and strong, herding cattle, driving oxen to the plow, breaking prairie sod, hauling rails, building fence and engaging in the numerous other tasks incident to the development of a pioneer farm, and remained at home until his marriage in 1873, after which he established his home on a part of his father's farm in Nemaha county, where he lived for two years, at the end of which time he moved onto the old home place and was there engaged with his father in farming until the latter's retirement and removal to Stella five years later, after which he con- tinted to farm the home place until the distribution of the estate in 1892, when he moved onto his own farm of one hundred and sixty acres two and a half miles northwest of Shubert, to which he added eighty acres of the old home place which he purchased, where he continued actively engaged in general farming and stock raising until 1910, when he retired from the active labors of the farm and moved to Shubert, where he and his wife have since lived and where they have a beautiful modern bungalow in the southern part of the town.

On January 23, 1873, Daniel Higgins was united in marriage to Lucy A. Christy, who was born in Greene county, Illinois, August 11, 1850, daugh- ter of Henry C. and Electa (Corey) Christy, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Vermont, who became pioneers of Nebraska in 1870 and here spent their last days. Henry C. Christy was born on December 5, 1825, and was but a child when he moved with his parents from Kentucky to south- ern Illinois, where he grew to manhood. There he married Electa Corey, who was born on May 3, 1825, and who was but nine years of age when her parents moved from Vermont to Greene county, Illinois. After his mar- riage Henry C. Christy continued to make his home in Illinois until 1870, when he came with his family to Nebraska and settled on a farm one mile north of Shubert, in this county, a few years later moving to a farm four miles northeast of the village, over the line in Nemaha county, and there hie and his wife spent the remainder of their lives, the latter dying on February +. 1912, and the former, twenty-one days later, February 25, 1912. They were the parents of eight children of whom Mrs. Higgins was the second in order of birth, the others being as follow: Mary Elizabeth, of Barada pre- cinct ; John, of Shubert ; Joel, of Guide Rock, this state; Ervin, also of Guide Rock; Mrs. Martha Crozier, also of Guide Rock; Mrs. Anna Fish, of Barada precinct, and Leonard, of Shubert.

To Daniel and Lucy A. (Christy) Higgins nine children have been born, namely: Cora, a trained nurse, who is now taking a post-graduate course in

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New York City; Jennie, also a nurse, who is in New York with her sister; Mrs. Lydia Callison, who died in 1912; Mrs. Maude Haskins, who lives on a farm north of Stella and has one child, a son, George, born on November 9, 1913; Carey T., who married Myrtle Williams and is farming the old home place; Grace, a stenographer, now employed in Chicago; Mabel, who died at the age of twelve years; Joseph, an automobile salesman at Lincoln, this state, and Blanche, who is now a student in the Nebraska State Uni- versity at Lincoln. The Higginses are members of the Baptist church and have ever taken an interested part in church work and in the general good works and social activities of the community. Mr. Higgins is a Republican by traditional affiliation, but is a warm supporter of the Prohibition move- ment and has done much to advance the cause of temperance in the con- munity in which he has lived since his boyhood days, back in pioneer times.

JOSEPH OGLE.

Among the prosperous farmers and stockmen of Grant township may be reckoned Joseph Ogle, owner of three hundred and twenty acres of prime land on his home place in section 2, and also owner of one hundred and sixty acres in Kimball county, this state. In addition to his farming activities he is also an extensive breeder of Hereford cattle and Duroc-Jersey hogs. He was born on March 31, 1849, in Fulton county, Illinois, the son of John and Keziah ( Burgess) Ogle.

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History of Richardson County, Nebraska : its people, industries and institutions, Part 105

Author: Edwards, Lewis C Publication date: 1917 Publisher: Indianapolis : B.F. Bowen Number of Pages: 1742

Author: Edwards, Lewis C
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Indianapolis : B.F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 1742