History of Richardson County, Nebraska : its people, industries and institutions, Part 108

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

USA > Nebraska > Richardson County > History of Richardson County, Nebraska : its people, industries and institutions > Part 108

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Politically, Mr. Nims was a Republican. He served as county super- visor three terms of two years each, giving eminent satisfaction to all con- cerned. He also served as a member of the Humboldt school board for sev-

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eral years, also three terms as mayor of Humboldt, being regarded as one of the best mayors the town ever had. During his administrations he did much for the general public improvement of the vicinity. He was a mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he served as steward for a number of years, and also as trustee. Fraternally, he belonged to the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and was a Mason for more than forty years and was a past master of the local lodge. He belonged to William Mix Post No. 66, Grand Army of the Republic and had served as commander of that post.

..... To Charles E. Nims and wife the following children were born: Mrs. Della I. Saunders, who lives in Kansas City, Missouri; Elosia Mabel, who died in infancy; Newton L., who died in infancy; Elton L., now a real- estate agent, in San Antonio, Texas; Mabel Zoe, who was graduated from the State University at Lincoln with the degree of Master of Arts and is now teaching in the high school at Billings, Montana, and Mrs. Anna Fay Holman, who lives on a farm north of Humboldt and has two children, John Charles and Helen Elizabeth.

JAIRUS S. DAVIS.

Before giving in detail the life record of the subject of this sketch, it is the desire of the biographer to trace his interesting genealogy, which goes back to illustrious personages in Great Britain many centuries ago.

The Davis family traces descent from Alfred the Great and the King of Wales. Prominent in America during colonial wars and the Revolution, were some of the Davis ancestors. One of the founders of the state of Ohio was Daniel Davis, who felled the first tree cut by a settler west of the Ohio river. There have been many distinguished members of the family in various walks of life. Though of ancient standing in Wales, the name of Davis, originally David, scarcely appears in English annals before the Norman conquest. Modified in various forms it has produced many family names, some of which are among the commonest in use, but Davies or Davis are perhaps the best known today. The lineage goes back to the year .A. D. 843, to Rodhori Wawr, King of Wales. Owen Davis, at present a promi- nent representative of the family in England, is seventeenth in direct descent from King Edward II, and thirty-second from Alfred the Great. The

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Lord Mayor of London in 1676 was Sir Thomas Davies, who was knighted by King Charles II.

The first American progenitor of the family was Capt. Delor Davis, who came to our shores from England in 1634. Soon thereafter he married Margery Willard, who came over with her brother Simon on the same ship with Captain Davis. After their marriage they located first in Scituate, in the old colony. Some portion of his life Delor Davis lived in Concord. where he had lands granted him in 1659. He was a carpenter and sur- veyor and held the office of constable for a long time. He was one of the grand inquest of the Plymouth colony, in 1645, and one of the petitioners for Groton, but probably never lived there, spending most of his life in Barnstable. His daughter Ruth married Stephen Hall, and among their descendants were Capt. Stephen Hall, a distinguished citizen of Boston; Chief Justice Eustis, of Louisiana, and Chief Justice Isaac Parker, of Massa- chusetts.

Another early settler was Samuel Davis, whose son Asa married Lady Jane Moreby, who was related to the family of George III. Another emi- grant was Meredith Davis, who was born in Wales about 1690, and was a descendant of the royal Welsh line of Meredith David. He landed in Maryland in 1720. Descendants of Isaac Davis, a great grandson of Delor Davis, may claim membership in the societies of Colonial Dames or the Sons of the Revolution, for Isaac Davis was a lieutenant in a Massachusetts regiment in that war. Members of the family also served in the early colonial wars. Edward Davis was captain of a militia company in, the French War, taking part in the relief of Ft. William Henry. The patriotism of Capt. Daniel Davis induced him to sacrifice his own property for the public good during the Revolutionary War, in which he served as captain. After the war he joined the company of Ohio Associates, which made a settlement in Ohio in 1788. Being desirous of doing something of which his posterity could speak with pride he cut the first tree felled by a settler west of the Ohio river, as stated in a preceding paragraph. This being a buckeye or horse-chestnut tree the incident gave to the state the name which it still retains-the Buckeye state. With his son he participated in the perils of Indian warfare until the coming of Gen. Anthony Wayne in 1784, when he settled down to the peaceful pursuits of life and helped found the insti- tutions of the state. Among the many men of this old family who dis- tinguished themselves in public affairs in America was John Davis, who was four times governor of Massachusetts and United States senator several

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terms. George Bancroft, the well-known historian, had Davis blood in his veins, as did also Leon Gardner, the builder of Ft. Saybrook, which he held through the Pequod troubles. In 1639 he purchased from the friendly Indians the island now known as Gardner's Island, just east of Long Island. His grandson, John Gardner, in 1609, was intrusted with much treasure by the notorious Captain Kidd, who remained some time in the vicinity of Gardner's Island, and when he departed he left Mr. Gardner a large amount of gold and silver and jewels. Gardner was ignorant of the character of his visitor, and when the great pirate was arrested he surrendered the prop- erty to the governor of Massachusetts Bay. Among heirlooms still in the Davis family is a Bible printed in 1606, which was brought to America in the same vessel with William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania. The family has an attractive coat-of-arms.

Jairus S. Davis, the immediate subject of this sketch and proprietor of the J. S. Davis Land Company, of Humboldt, this county, was born on November 19, 1858, in Shelby county, Ohio. He is a son of Jacob M. and Mary Jane (Furrow) Davis. The father, who was a native of Ohio, was a son of Calvin Davis, a native of Virginia. The family is of Welsh and Irish descent. Grandfather Davis was of Scotch-Irish blood.

Jairus S. Davis was reared on the home farm northeast of Humboldt. where his parents settled on a farm in pioneer days. He was educated in the common schools and remained on the farm until 1881, when he began working at the trade of blacksmith and wagon-maker, working five years for the firm of Anderson & Company, at Humboldt, for which firm his brothers," Alonzo and. James B., also worked, both being blacksmiths by trade. In 1886 Jairus S. began operating a wagon shop of his own. In 1888 he went to Hodgeman county, Kansas, where he proved up on a home- stead, in 1891. After a protracted spell of illness he returned to Humboldt and in the spring of 1892 moved to Chase county, Nebraska, and took up a pre-emption claim, remaining there two years, selling out his holdings in 1894 and returning to Humboldt. He here engaged in the land business two years. From 1896 to 1901 he was in business in this line in Humboldt with James B. Davis, his brother. He went to Elk Creek, Nebraska, where he engaged in business for four years, then operated a hotel at Virginia. in Gage county, Nebraska, for two years. He then moved to Lincoln, this state, where he was employed by the Lincoln Transfer Company for three and one-half years. In 1908 he engaged again in the real-estate business, establishing an office at Humboldt, but for two years dealt principally in farm lands, handling annually thousands of acres in Nebraska. Texas, South

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Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Kansas and Canada. In 1909 he estab- lished the J. S. Davis Land Company, which has grown rapidly under his able management until now a very large business is conducted. The firm makes a specialty of farm loans. Mr. Davis owns valuable property in Humboldt and residence property in Lincoln.

Mr. Davis was married in September, 1883, to Alice C. Snyder, a native of Missouri, and a daughter of Philip and Mary Snyder, early set- tlers of Missouri, who later established their home at Humboldt, this county. To Mr. and Mrs. Davis three children have been born, namely: Lula R., who is at home; Mamie, the wife of Dan M. Haney, manager of Mayer Brothers shoe department, Lincoln, Nebraska, and Mrs. Bertha Hodges, of North Platte, this state. Politically, Mr. Davis is an independent voter. He belongs to the Knights of Pythias and to the Knights and Ladies of Security.

GEORGE W. LEWIS. .

The late George W. Lewis, a well-known retired farmer, of this county, who died at his home in Shubert early in 1914, was a native of Illinois and had been a resident of this state since 1877. He was born on a farm in Menard county, Illinois, January 5, 1835, son of William and Elizabeth Lewis, natives of Kentucky, who had settled in Menard county, Illinois, in 1833 or earlier and who had later moved to Mason county, same state, where George W. Lewis grew to manhood and became a practical farmer, and where, in the spring of 1861, he married Elizabeth E. Mowder and established his home on a farm there, remaining there until the spring of 1877, when he came with his family to Nebraska and bought a half section of land five miles northeast of Shubert, half of the tract lying in Richardson county and half in Nemaha county. He built his house on the Nemaha side of the line and early became recognized as one of the leading farmers of that section, developing there a fine farm. He also bought a quarter of a section of land near Aspinwall, in Nemaha county, and at the time of his retirement from the active labors of the farm in 1894 was regarded as one of the substantial farmers of this region. Upon retiring he moved to Shubert, where he had a very comfortable home, and there he spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring on January 18, 1914. He was a member of the Baptist church, as is his widow, and was a Democrat in

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his political affiliation. Fraternally, he was affiliated with the local lodge of the Woodmen of the World.

It was on March 16, 1861, in Illinois, that George W. Lewis was . united in marriage to Elizabeth E. Mowder, who was born in that state on July 12, 1841, daughter of Joseph and Judith (Stroup) Mowder, natives of Pennsylvania, who became pioneers of Illinois, and to that union five children were born, Hiram Allen, Florence May, Fannie B., Albert M. and George Walter, three of whom are still living. Hiram Allen Lewis died in 1896. Florence May Lewis married Ernest C. Riggs, a substantial farmer living one mile east of Shubert, in the precinct of Barada. and has three sons, George Burton, Howard, who recently enlisted in the United States army, and Louis. Fannie B. Lewis married Ethelbert L. Berry, also of Barada precinct, and has four children, Cloyd Bryan, Roy Wayne. Beulah and Albert. Albert M. Lewis, who was born in 1868, died in 1904, leaving a widow and three sons, Lawrence Glenn, Ralph Allen and Carl Nelson. The mother of these sons, who before her marriage was Mary .\. Weddle. daughter of L. M. Weddle, is now living in Nemaha county. Her youngest son, Carl Nelson Lewis, recently enlisted in the United States army for service in the war against Germany. George Walter Lewis, who is living on a farm two and one-half miles northeast of Shubert, married Mamie McCumber and has eight children, Corrine, Marvel. Velma. Edna, Alberta. Dorothy, Georgia and Guy Walton. Since the death of her husband Mrs. Lewis has continued to make her home at Shubert, where she is very pleas- antly and very comfortably situated.

CHARLES B. GRIDLEY.

General farming and sheep raising have claimed the attention of Charles B. Gridley for many years in Franklin precinct, where he has become well established through his industry and good management, like many other Easterners who have cast their lot with the people of Richardson county. He was born in Richfield, Connecticut, March 26, 1842. He is a son of Lyman and Lois (Alfred) Gridley. Lyman Gridley was born in Connecti- cut, in May, 1800, and there devoted his life to farming, dying there at a ripe old age in 1877. He was a son of Silas and Elizabeth ( Benton) Gridley. Silas Gridley was born about 1758, and .. died about 1838; he was -a soldier. of the Revolutionary War. He had four sons. Lois Alfred, mother of the

CHARLES GRIDLEY AND FAMILY.

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subject of this sketch, was born in Connecticut in 1803 and died in 1901, thus lacking only two years of attaining the century mark. To Lyman and Lois Gridley eight children were born, Charles B., of this sketch, being the youngest reared.

Charles B. Gridley was reared on the home farm in his native state and there he attended the district schools, also spent three months at Wil- berham Academy. He remained with his parents until he was twenty-one years of age ; he then began life for himself by buying a farm, but later sold out and came West, making the trip as far as Illinois by railway; he then bought a team and drove overland to Richardson county. He began life here in typical pioneer fashion, built a small house of cottonwood and worked hard transforming the wild prairie sod into a productive farm. His nearest market was Brownville. He procured his present farm in 1866, and he has thus spent a half century on this place and in this respect per- haps his record is not surpassed by many in this section of the state. He took an active interest in the upbuilding of his community where he has been well known and influential since the days of the first settlers. This country was still the domain of the red man when he came here and the Indians had a well-beaten trail across the northern end of his farm, but they never molested him in any way. He has a well-improved and pro- ductive farm of three hundred and twenty acres in section 9, Franklin pre- cinct. He has been very successful as a grower of general crops and live stock, specializing in sheep raising, keeping large herds from year to year. His place is located six miles northwest of Humboldt. He helped organize school district No. 10. Politically, he is a Democrat, and he has been active in local public affairs ever since coming here. He has served as assessor of his precinct and was one of the first members to be elected on the county board of supervisors. He has also served as township treasurer and justice of the peace, discharging his duties in each in a most commendable and satis- factory manner. He has long been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church here and is a trustee in the same.

Mr. Gridley is of the ninth generation since the Gridleys settled in America. His grandfather, Silas Gridley, was a soldier in the Revolution- ary War, enlisting in 1776. The Gridley family came from England to the New World in Colonial days.

Charles B. Gridley was married on December 19, 1875, to Ada H. Sowle, who was born in Pennsylvania. She is a daughter of D. W. and Elizabeth (Hosford) Sowle, natives of the state of New York. The family

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finally came west and located at Oketo, Kansas, and there the father of Mrs. Gridley followed the carpenter's trade, also practiced medicine.

Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Gridley, namely: Cory- don, who lives in Jefferson county, Nebraska ; Elizabeth, who was the eldest child, is deceased; Nellie is at home; William is at home; Mrs. Millicent Sol- lenburger lives in Belleville, Kansas; and Lois is the youngest child.

Mr. Gridley has lived to see and take part in the great changes that have been noted in southeastern Nebraska during the past fifty years and he talks interestingly of the early times here and of the later transformations.

EDWARD D. MORRIS.

One of the best known farmers and live stock breeders in Nemaha town- ship, this county, is Edward D. Morris, who was born on September 27. 1865, in Wales, a son of Evan and Elizabeth (Davis) Morris. Evan Morris was born on December 25, 1844, in Wales, and there spent his boyhood. He emigrated to America in 1868, locating on a farm just east of Verdon. in this county, buying eighty acres, which he improved and farmed for nine years, then sold out and bought his present farm. When he first came West to look for a location he deposited his money in a bank in Falls City. The bank failed and he lost nearly all he had, but he had paid enough down on his land to hold it. He persevered and worked hard, finally paying it out. He became a successful farmer, always keeping a good grade of cattle and sheep, hogs and horses, and made a specialty of raising sheep. He was an influential man in his precinct and was familiarly known as "Uncle Evan." He is now making his home in Wyoming among his children. His wife was born in Wales on September 26. 1844, and her death occurred March 25, 1917. These parents were members of the Congregational church. Ten children were born to them, all in Nebraska, with the exception of the eldest, the subject of this sketch, six of these survive at this writing. those besides Edward D., being as follow: Anna, who lives near Gillette, Wyom- ing; Elizabeth, who also lives there; Thomas, who is farming in Nemaha precinct, this county ; John, who lives at Gillette, Wyoming, and Evert, who lives near Billings, Montana.

Edward D. Morris was three years old when his parents brought him to the United States. He grew to manhood in Richardson county, worked hard on the home farm when a boy during the summer months, and in

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the winter time he attended the district schools. The first school he attended was taught in a residence near the village of Verdon. Later he was a stu- dent in the rural schools of Salem township. He remained on the home place until he was twenty years old, when he began working out as a farm hand and laborer. He farmed for Stephen B. and Joseph Miles for a period of eighteen years, operating one of their farms near Bern, Kansas. In 1912 he took charge of his father's farm, which he purchased and here he still resides. The place consists of one hundred and sixty acres in section I, Nemaha precinct. He has made many improvements on the place and is carrying on general farming and stock raising successfully. He built an attractive modern home in the spring of 1917, his old residence having been destroyed by fire. He is a breeder of Poland China hogs, having engaged in this business since 1897. His fine hogs find a very ready market whenever offered for sale, owing to their superior quality and he has cus- tomers all over this section of the country. He holds sales at his home twice a year, in the spring and fall.

Mr. Morris was married on February 18, 1885, to Martha B. Harvey, who was born, reared and educated in Richardson county. She is a daughter of Oliver J. and Martha (Lorton) Harvey, natives of Jackson county, Mis- souri, and early settlers of Richardson county, where they became very comfortably established on a farm through their hard efforts.

Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Morris, namely: Ed- ward, Jr., assistant cashier of the Citizens Bank at Sabetha. Kansas, and Anna, who is the wife of Earl C. O'Roke, professor in the University of Wyoming at Laramie. Mr. and Mrs. Morris have also taken three children to rear from the New York Children's Home: Pearl, now ( 1917) thir- teen years of age; Arleen, twelve, and Oran, eleven.

Mr. Morris is a Republican, but is inclined to vote independently. He was a member of the school board during his residence in Kansas and has served in a like capacity in his home district in Nemaha precinct dur- ing the past nineteen years. He is a member of the Presbyterian church at Bern, Kansas. Fraternally, he belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America at Salem, and formerly belonged to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He has always been known as a good law-abiding citizen. When twenty-one years old he took out naturalization papers. He has lived in Richardson county nearly fifty years, during which period he has seen "wondrous changes come over the face of the land"; has lived to see the wild prairies transformed into a superb farming country, dotted

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with churches, school houses, thriving towns and the happy homes of men. He talks interestingly of the days when he helped to break the virgin prairie sod with oxen, when he bound grain after the old-fashioned reaper and lived the simple life of a pioneer.

MICHAEL L. HAYS.

The splendid success which has come to Michael L. Hays, for many years one of the progressive men of affairs of Richardson county, but now a leading lumberman of the city of Lincoln, is directly traceable to the salient points in his character, for he started in life practically at the bottom of the ladder, which he has mounted with but little aid from any source, although meeting with the usual obstacles that confront most men of affairs who have ambition.

Mr. Hays was born on November 17, 1850, in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania. He is a son of George L. and Julia (Ambrose) Hays. George L. Hays was born in Pennsylvania and there grew up and devoted his activities to farming. He remained in his native state until 1855, when he moved to Taylor county, Iowa. After remaining there two years he moved, in 1857, to Nebraska, and became a pioneer in Richardson county, enduring the usual hardships and privations incident to life on the western frontier. He developed a good farm from the raw prairie, breaking up the sod with oxen, the team with which he drove his prairie schooner over- land from Iowa. He settled in West Muddy precinct. Only fifteen acres of the place had been broken and a rude -dwelling had been built. Its former owner had taken up the land as a homestead and proved up on it. The nearest market at that time was Brownsville, a distance of twenty miles. George L. Hays and his wife became owners of three hundred and twenty acres. By hard work and perseverance he prospered with ad- vancing years and became very comfortably established, ranking among the leading farmers of his precinct. He brought his land up to a high state of improvement and cultivation, erecting thereon a splendid group of build- ings and there he engaged in general agricultural pursuits and stock rais- ing on an extensive scale until his death, which occurred in 1864. His widow survived until about 1871. To these parents nine children were born. as follow: George, Jr., Mrs. Mary McDonald, Louis, John, Jesse, David, all now deceased: Susan, the wife of Barney Mullen, a sketch of whom

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appears elsewhere in this work; Michael L., the subject of this review. and Louise, who lives at Lawton, Oklahoma.

Michael L. Hays was five years of age when his parents moved from Pennsylvania to Iowa, and was seven when they came to this county. He grew to manhood on the home farm and, like the sons of all pioneers, found plenty of hard work to do in assisting his father develop the home place in West Muddy. He received his early education in a private school, as the opportunities for attending public schools in those early days of the West were exceedingly limited. By wide miscellaneous home reading and by actual contact with the world he has become a well-informed man along general lines. He continued to work on the home farm until 1883, having purchased the place about 1870. He made extensive improvements on the place, kept it under a splendid state of cultivation, and was successful as a general farmer and stock raiser. However, desiring another field for the exercise of his talents, he left the farm in 1883 and moved to Stella, where he purchased a lumber yard, which he conducted until 1885, when he sold out and engaged in the drug business there until 1895, in which year he resumed the lumber business and has retained interests in a lumber yard there ever since. In 1917 he located in Lincoln, and is now presi- dent of the well-known and rapidly growing Hays Lumber Company, which, under his able and judicious direction, has taken its place in the front ranks of lumber companies in this state. The company owns and operates six yards, located at the following Nebraska towns: Stella, Shubert, Syracuse. Crete, Hebron and Dewitt. The general offices of the firm are in Lincoln, at No. 1001 Terminal Building. All the retail yards are doing a very satis- factory business, carryng large stocks of all kinds of lumber and building material.

Mr. Hays married Mattie McDowell, who was born near Cedar Rapids. Iowa, a daughter of Samuel and Mary (Weller) McDowell, natives of Pennsylvania and early settlers of Nebraska, having located on a farm in Muddy River precinct, Richardson county, where they became very com- fortably established as a result of their close application and good manage- ment. Mrs. Hays grew to womanhood on the farm and was educated in the district schools and in the Brownsville high school. Prior to her mar- riage she taught in the district schools for a number of years.

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History of Richardson County, Nebraska : its people, industries and institutions, Part 108

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