History of Richardson County, Nebraska : its people, industries and institutions, Part 126

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

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excepting two or three who managed to make their escape, although severely wounded. The tale of Thomas Bennett's mighty prowess has survived to this day and is yet told about the firesides of his descendants in the Wyo- ming valley. The members of the Myers family alike distinguished them- selves in the long struggle with savage red men, and even the women were noted for their bravery in those fearsome times when the lives of the white settlers were unsafe. Andrew Bennett, son of Thomas Bennett, fought in the War of 1812. Michael Myers II, married Elizabeth Fouts. He and Lieutenant Lawrence Myers and Philip Myers both served in the Revolu- tionary War on the Maryland line and fought at the battles of German- town. Lawrence Myers, after settling in the Wyoming valley, served as a state deputy sheriff for some years. The children of Madison F. and Harriet Myers were as follow: Martha Josephine, deceased; Elizabeth, born on September 8, 1836, who died on October 1, 1836; Thomas Jeffer- son, deceased; Miranda, who came to Falls City, the wife of Charles Steele, an early settler of Richardson county, and who died on February 27, 1890, an artist and landscape painter of ability, who gave painting lessons to the people of Falls City; Philip, who died on February 13, 1878; at the age of thirty-eight years; Martha A., widow of Judge Weaver, subject of this memorial review; John Summerfield, who died in infancy; Frederick B., who died on January 16, 1906, in Pennsylvania; William P., who died on January 17, 1905, at Falls City, and Jennie Lind, who died on March 9, 1854. Mrs. Martha A. Weaver resides in the home place of the Weaver family in Falls City and is a remarkably well preserved and intelligent woman, who takes a keen interest in affairs of the day and loves to dwell upon the reminiscent and tell of the by-gone days when she and her young husband came to Falls City to began life in the great and growing Western country. Mrs. Ruth Dennis, her daughter, makes her home with Mrs. Weaver. In her younger days the literary ability of Mrs. Weaver found frequent expression in poetical composition of real merit. Mrs. Weaver, in the course of several years, wrote many interesting and expressive poems, which are contained in a volume and are indicative of decided literary talent.

The late Judge Weaver was a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows He practiced the Christian virtues and was a thoroughly honest, clean-living individual, who was possessed of a force and strength of character and dominating will power which elevated him to the front ranks of his fellow citizens soon

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after his advent into Falls City. He was a forceful and convincing public speaker, who carried his audience by the clearness of his diction and the force of a strong personality. Being a scholar and student he was gifted with the power to express his thoughts clearly and forcibly.

WILLIAM G. NIEMEYER.

William G. Neimeyer, proprietor of a well-kept farm of one hundred and twenty acres in section 24 of the precinct of Ohio, this county, was born in that same precinct and has lived there all his life. He was born on Novem- ber 4, 1869, son of William and Dora (Kuphe) Niemeyer, natives of Ger- many, who came to Richardson county about 1866, becoming pioneers of the east central part of the county, and here spent the remainder of their lives, . their last days being spent in Falls City.

Upon coming to this county the elder William Niemeyer first settled in the precinct of Arago, but presently moved over to the neighboring precinct of Ohio and there established his home in a log cabin, one of the real pioneers of that part of the county. He broke up his land with oxen and during the grasshopper scourge made a fight against the insect pests by constructing large pans, partially filled with coal oil, which he dragged through the fields scooping up the "hoppers," which were thus destroyed by their immersion in the oil. He was a good farmer and became one of the well-to-do land- owners of that section. After their children were all married and "doing for themselves," he and his wife retired from the farm and moved to Falls City, where he died in 1908, eight or nine years after his retirement, his widow surviving him for three or four years. They were the parents of four children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the second in order of birth, he having an elder brother, Charles, of East Muddy precinct, this county ; a sister, Alvenia, wife of Gustav Leopold, of Falls City, and another brother, Henry Niemeyer, of the precinct of Ohio.

Reared on the farm on which he was born, William G. Niemeyer received his schooling in the schools of that neighborhood and from the days of his boyhood was a valued aid to his father in the labors of improving and devel- oping the home place, remaining at home until his marriage at the age of twenty-five years, when he established his home on the place on which he is now living, renting the same from his father, and at the death of the latter became inheritor of the same. Mr. Niemeyer has made extensive and sub-

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stantial improvements on his place and has an excellent farm plant, his tract of one hundred and twenty acres being well improved and profitably culti- vated. He has a pleasant home and he and his family are very comfortably situated.

In 1893 William G. Niemeyer was united in marriage to Ida Batrum, who also was born in this county, in 1873, daughter of Albert and Paulina (Hepfinger) Batrum, natives of Germany and early settlers in Richardson county, and to this union seven children have been born, Ernest, Rosa, Her- man, Amelia, Henry, Emma and August. The eldest daughter, Rosa, mar- ried Charles O'Hara and is now living in South Dakota. Amelia married Jacob O. Zimmerman and lives at home. The Niemeyers are members of the Evangelical Lutheran church and take an interested part in church work, as well as in other neighborhood good works and in the general social activi- , ties of the community in which they live. Politically, Mr. Niemeyer is a Dem- ocrat.

HENRY P. PITTOCK.

The late Henry P. Pittock, who far many years was successfully engaged in the restaurant business at Falls City and who died there in 1910, was a native of England, but had been a resident of this country since he was eighteen years of age. He was born on March 14, 1858, at Deal, in Kent, son of William E. and Elizabeth (Hicks) Pittock, also natives of England, the former of whom later became a grocer in the city of London and who spent their last days in that city. William E. Pittock and wife were the parents of six children, of whom three came to this country, those besides the subject of this memorial sketch to come here having been Mrs. Emma Lass, who died in Galesburg, Illinois, and Mrs. Mary A. Parsons, who is now living at Quincy, in that same state.

Reared in his native England, Henry P. Pittock received his schooling there and remained there until he was eighteen years of age, when he came to this country to make his home with his sister in Illinois. Not long after- ward he went to Salina, Kansas, and attended school, going from there to Seneca, Kansas, where he learned the baker's trade and where he remained until 1874. in which year he came up into Nebraska and engaged in the res- taurant business at Falls City. He married the next year and established his home in Falls City, where he spent the rest of his active life. a successful business man. In addition to his restaurant business, Mr. Pittock also con-

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ducted an extensive gardening business in the vicinity of Falls City. He was a member of the Methodist church, as is his widow, who still makes her home at Falls City and was a member of the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His death occurred at Lincoln, Nebraska, on January 7, 1910.

On March 14, 1875, about a year after locating at Falls City, Henry P. Pittock was united in marriage to Alice C. Elwell, who was born at Knox- ville, Illinois, March 17, 1855, daughter of Abraham and Martha (Elwell) Elwell, the former a native of Indiana and the latter of Ohio, who later became residents of this county and the latter of whom is still living here, making her home with her widowed daughter, Mrs. Pittock. Abraham Elwell was born in Union county, Indiana, May 18, 1827, son of Abraham and Esther (Coomes) Elwell, natives of New Jersey, the former of whom was born in Salem county, that state, August 5, 1790, and the latter, in that same county, May 28, 1797. The senior Abraham Elwell died on his farm in the vicinity of Knoxville, Illinois, March 12, 1880, and his widow survived him a little more than seven years, her death occurring on that same farm in July, · 1887. The junior Abraham Elwell was reared on a farm and on February 28, 1849, at Columbus, Ohio, was married to Martha Elwell, who was born on a farm in the neighborhood of Dayton, Ohio, December 18, 1831, daugh- ter of John H. and Nancy (Smith) Elwell, natives of New Jersey, the former born in Salem county, that state, in 1797, and the latter, January 3, 1806. Both John H. Elwell and his wife died in Ohio in 1860, the death of the latter occurring on September 24 of that year. After his marriage in Ohio, Abraham Elwell moved to Indiana and thence to Illinois. In 1859 he, in company with several other young men, started overland by ox-team for Pike's Peak and the gold country of the West, but when he reached Nebraska City he decided that he had had enough of the trail and made up his mind to seek a home in the Nebraska country. With that end in view he came south and in Richardson county traded his oxen and outfit for eighty acres of land one mile east of the present site of Falls City, Salem then being the county seat, and in the latter village he received the deed to his land. He then returned to his home in Illinois, where he remained until 1868, in which year he returned to this county with his family. . Upon his arrival here he sold his original "eighty" and bought a tract west of Salem, the place on which his daughter, Mrs. A. L. Stettler, now lives, and there established his home, becoming a substantial pioneer farmer. He later became the owner of a quarter section of land near Chester, now owned by his son, J. E. Elwell; an "eighty" near Valley Falls, Kansas, and eight building lots in

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Falls City. Mrs. Pittock now owns the Kansas "eighty," besides her com- fortable home in Falls city. Abraham Elwell died on August 9, 1909, and his widow is now making her home with her daughter, Mrs. Pittock.

To Henry P. and Alice C. (Elwell) Pittock five children were born, namely : William E., now a resident of Malden, Massachusetts; Asa E., now a resident of Alaska; Mrs. Elizabeth G. Thompson, of Scotts Bluff, this state; Mrs. Myrtle A. Heddon, living near Burbank Washington, and Dr. Harry J. Pittock, a graduate of the Falls City high school and of the Omaha Medical College, who is now practicing his profession at the State Hospital, Hastings, Nebraska. Mrs. Pittock is a member of, the Methodist church and has for years taken an earnest interest in church work, as well as in other local good works.

HON. HUGH QUIGLEY STAVER.

In the memorial annals of Richardson county there are few names held in better memory than that of the late Hon. Hugh Quigley Staver, one of the pioneers of this county, an honored veteran of the Civil War, former representative from this district in the Nebraska Legislature, for years one of the leading farmers and stockmen of the precinct of Salem and at the time of his death at Salem on September 6, 1897, coroner of Richardson county. Captain Staver had a very comfortable home at Salem and his widow is still living in that city, one of Richardson county's best-known old settlers and highly esteemed pioneers.

Hugh Quigley Staver was born on a farm in Pine Creek township. Clinton county, Pennsylvania, May 3, 1837, and was of German stock. He grew to manhood in his native county, receiving his schooling there, and remained at home until after he had attained his majority, when, in 1859, he located at Freeport, Illinois, where he was living when the Civil War broke out. On April 11, 1861, at Freeport, Mr. Staver enlisted in response to the President's first call for volunteers to suppress the rebellion of the Southern states and went to the front as a private in Company A, Eleventh Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry. At the end of the three-months service he re-enlisted in that same command and served with the same until in November, 1863. Upon receiving his honorable discharge he enjoyed a month of respite from arms and then on January 8, 1864, re-entered the service and was appointed first lieutenant of Company K. Sixth Regiment, United States Heavy Artillery (colored), was soon promoted to the captaincy

HON. HUGH Q. STAVER.

MRS. ELLEN P. STAVER.

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of the same, and continued with that command until finally mustered out in 1867. During this long period of service Captain Staver served under Generals Grant, Prentice, Logan, Gresham, McPherson, Sherman, Canby and Howard and participated in some of the most important battles and engagements of the war, including those of Ft. Henry, Ft. Donelson, Cham- pion's Hill and Shiloh, and received wounds at Ft. Donelson and at Shiloh. He was regarded as a brave and excellent soldier and officer and had the respect and confidence of his superior officers and the admiration and loyalty of his men.

Upon the completion of his military service Captain Staver returned to Illinois, bought a team and outfit and in that same year drove over into the then territory of Nebraska and bought a quarter-section of land in section I of the precinct of Salem, in this county; at the same time buying a nearby tract of timber land, and after his marriage in the following February estab- lished his home on that farm, remaining there until his retirement from the active labors of the farm in 1888 and removal to the village of Salem, where he spent his last days in comfortable retirement. Captain Staver was a good farmer and a successful stockman and developed a fine piece of property in Salem precinct, his place being widely noted as one of the best-improved farms in the county and much admired by reason of its fine hedge fences, productive orchards and general appearance of thrift, the well-kept farın plant displaying many evidences of the good taste of its owner and his wife. Captain Staver was ever a loyal Republican and from the very beginning of his residence in this county was regarded as one of the leaders of that party in this part of the state. In 1884 he was elected to represent this district in the state Legislature and served with distinction in the House during the session of 1885, in his service in the general assembly making a splendid record, becoming widely known throughout the state. In 1887 he removed to Salem. In 1891 the captain was appointed to fill a vacancy in the office of coroner of Richardson county and by successive re-elections was retained in that office until his death in 1897.

On February 6, 1868, but a few months after his arrival in Richardson county, Captain Staver was united in marriage to Ellen P. Tisdel, who was born in the neighborhood of Madison, in Lake county, in the northeastern part of Ohio, March 24, 1850, daughter of Thomas A. and Lois Day ( Gill) Tisdel, the former a native of the state of Connecticut and the latter of Mass- achusetts, and both of whom died before their daughter, Ellen, was three years of age. Thomas A. Tisdel and his wife were both of old New England

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stock. The first of the Tisdels in this country came from Lancashire, Eng- land, and settled in Connecticut, about the year 1700. Thomas A. Tisdel was born in Wellington, that state, September 13, 1809, and his wife, Lois Day Gill, was born at West Springfield, Massachusetts, January 24, 1820. After their marriage they located on a farm in the vicinity of Madison, Ohio, not far from the shores of Lake Erie, and there Thomas A. Tisdel devoted the remainder of his active life to farming and stock raising, his death occurring there on October 5, 1852. His widow survived him a little less than a month, her death occurring on November 3 of that same year. Thus bereft of her parents before she was three years of age, Ellen Tisdel was cared for in the household of her brother-in-law, James Leverett, and it was thus that when nine years of age, in 1859, she came to the then terri- tory of Nebraska with the Leveretts and became a pioneer of Richardson county. The family made the last stage of their trip by steamer to Rulo and then drove over to the Salem settlement, where they established their home. At that time Indians still were numerous hereabout and the friendly redskins took a warm interest in the little "pale-face" girl from the East and were openly complimentary in their remarks regarding her beautiful hair. Ellen Tisdel continued her schooling here, attending the early "sub- scription" schools, until she was twelve years of age, when she returned East with the Tisdels and completed her schooling in Madison Seminary and at Willoughby Collegiate Institute, in Lake county, Ohio, and then began teaching school. After teaching a couple of terms in her native state she taught a term in Wisconsin and then in the fall of 1867 returned to Salem, this county, where she was living at the time of her marriage to Captain Staver.

To Capt. Hugh Q. and Ellen P. (Tisdel) Staver eight children were born, namely: Aline, deceased; Flora, who married Wilson Vincent and is now living at Albuquerque, New Mexico; Edith E., wife of Leon Barnes, of the precinct of Salem, this county; Walter T., of Lincoln, this state; Carrie Louise, wife of Dr. Robert Henderson, of Rulo, this county; Ruth, deceased; Hattie B., deceased, and Mrs. Lena G. Dowell, who is living with her mother at Salem. Mrs. Staver is of Revolutionary descent and for some time was one of the active workers in the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution at Falls City. Captain Staver was an active mem- ber of the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic and ever took a warm interest in the affairs of that patriotic organization. He was a Mason and was also affiliated with the local lodge of the Knights of Pythias, taking an active interest both in Masonic and Pythian affairs.

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CHARLEY M. GEBHARD.

The well-known stock breeder, Charley M. Gebhard, of Liberty precinct, near Vernon, this county, is also one of our enterprising farmers. He was born on December 18, 1862, in Indiana, a son of Adam and Mary (Coons) Gebhard, who were the parents of ten children, the subject of this sketch being the sixth in order of birth. The father was born in Germany, from which country he immigrated to America when young, locating first in Indiana, where he remained until 1864, when he moved his family to Nebraska, set- tling in Arago precinct, this county. He later bought raw land in Barada precinct, which he improved into a good farm. He had learned the carpen- ter's trade in the old country, and he cut his own logs to build a cabin. He went through the usual pioneer hardships, but eventually became very com- fortably established through his industry, the log cabin giving way to a sub- stantial dwelling in due course of time. Here he spent the rest of his life, dying in 1901, at the age of eighty years. His widow died in 1903, at the age of seventy-three years.

Charley M. Gebhard grew up on the farm, working hard when a boy, like all sons of pioneers, and he attended the old-time district schools in Barada precinct. He remained with his parents on the farm until he was twenty-one years of age, when he began work for himself, engaging in gen- eral farming. In 1904 he purchased his present home farm. which then had no improvements except a house and barn, neither being very valuable. The place is now highly improved and on it now stands a modern home and num- erous substantial outbuildings. Mr. Gebhard owns three hundred and twenty acres in all, the home place consisting of one hundred and sixty acres in section I, Liberty precinct. He owns eighty acres in section 18 of Ohio pre- cinct and eighty acres in section 12 of Liberty precinct. In connection with general farming, which he has conducted on an extensive scale, he has been engaged in breeding live stock since 1887-horses and mules. He has been a breeder of the famous "Mammoth" jacks, also a breeder of Belgian and Percheron horses. He formerly kept imported horses, keeping one Belgian horse nine years. At this writing he has three stallions, five jacks and five jennets. His fine stock is greatly admired by farmers and stockmen, owing to their superior qualities, and he has built up a large and lucrative business.

On October 6, 1886, Mr. Gebhard was married to Ella Bauer, a native of Illinois and a daughter of John and Mary (Kuckock) Bauer, and to this union six children have been born, namely: Caroline, who died in infancy ;

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Mrs. Mary B. Friedly, who lives in Ohio precinct ; Minnie, the wife of Fred Allison, of Liberty precinct, and John, Bryan and Ferdinand, at home. Polit- ically, Mr. Gebhard is a Democrat. He belongs to the Lutheran church.

The parents of Mrs. Gebhard were natives of Germany. Mr. Bauer was born on October 12, 1827, and died in 1906. He left his native land when a young man and immigrated to America. After spending some time in Illinois he made the overland trip in a covered wagon to Nebraska, locating on raw land in Ohio precinct, Richardson county, where, through his industry and' perseverance he developed a good farm and established a comfortable home. He had married in Illinois. His wife was born in February, 1834, and died in 1881. To these parents fifteen children were born, eight of whom are living at this writing.

DAVID DORRINGTON.

In the memorial annals of Richardson county there are no names held in better remembrance than those of David and Ann Dorrington, the first persons to establish a home on the site of Falls City when the townsite was laid out in 1857 and who have ever been cherished in the affectionate remem- brance of the people of that place as "the father and mother of Falls City." David Dorrington was a building contractor and in that capacity performed a very substantial service in behalf of the new town in the early years of its development. He was an energetic, public-spirited citizen and from the very beginning of his residence at the site of the present county seat exerted his ·energies toward the fullest possible development of the place. For seven- teen years, or until the accomplishment of the purpose of the villagers, he led the fight to have Falls City made the county seat and lived to see his pet project adopted by the people of the county. He was the third mayor of the town and also held other local offices, in the performance of his public duties ever preserving a high sense of his obligation to the community and doing all in his power to promote the best interests of the community. Intensely opposed to the institution of slavery, he was an ardent "Free-soiler" and upon the organization of the Republican party attached himself to that party and ever after remained a devoted and earnest advocate of the principles of the same. Forceful, aggressive and tireless in the advocacy of these prin- ciples, it is undoubted that he contributed more than did any other one person toward swinging Richardson county's vote to the Republican column in

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1859, and he after held his place as one of the factors to be reckoned with in the political affairs of the county. Of the true pioneer type, David Dorring- ton possessed those distinctive personal qualities so essential to those who seek to subdue the wilderness and to lay the foundations for the coming com- munity life, and these qualities were permanently impressed upon the com- munity of which to this day he is recognized as having been the "father."

No less potent and forceful influence in the pioneer community in the days of the beginning of a social order hereabout was that exercised by Ann Dorrington, wife of David Dorrington, whose beneficent ministrations among the settlers endeared her to all within the ample radius of those ministrations. "Mother" Dorrington, as this gentle and cultured woman still is remembered by survivors of the pioneer band in this county, was a woman of refined cultural development of the same. Possessed of considerable knowledge of tastes and brought to the new community much that contributed to the early the simpler forms of the healing art and possessed also of a deeply 'sympa- thetic nature, she was a veritable "mother in Israel" in the pioneer neighbor- hood and for years ministered ably to the sick and dying-no reasonable dis- tance being too great to deter her on these calls of mercy across the open prairie. Provided with a simple stock of medicinal agents and armed with a stout walking-stick for protection in possible case of need, "Mother" Dor- rington visited the bedsides of the ailing pioneers, taking cheer and conifort wherever she went. She was no less an ardent Abolitionist than was her husband and in the days just preceding the outbreak of the Civil War the Dorrington stable, standing apart from the house, was one of the most help- ful "stations" on the "underground railroad" then in active operation through this part of the country, while during the sixties many a wounded slave received food, shelter and raiment from her generous hand and was helped on his flight North. Before coming up into Richardson county the Dorring- · tons had for a time made their home down in Doniphan county, Kansas. One evening while "Mother" Dorrington was sitting alone in her cabin door she was approached by a travel-worn man who appealed to her for protection from the vengeance of a mob which he said was pursuing him. He assured her that he was innocent of the crime charged against him by his pursuers, but that it would be death to him if they overtook him, and asked her to provide him a hiding place. Convinced of the truth of the man's tale, Mrs. Dorrington gave him shelter and promised him her frail protection. In a short time the refugee's infuriated pursuers arrived at the Dorrington cabin and demanded to know of Mrs. Dorrington if a man had passed that way. "No," she replied. Not convinced by this answer, the men dismounted and

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History of Richardson County, Nebraska : its people, industries and institutions, Part 126

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