History of Richardson County, Nebraska : its people, industries and institutions, Part 82

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

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Following his graduation from the Falls City high school, .Albert Maust attended the Nebraska State University for three years and then began buying grain for his father and brother and was thus engaged for five or six years, or until his father's retirement from business, after which he remained associated with his brother in the business until 1911, when he began buying grain and live stock on his own account and has prospered in that line, now having four elevators, one at Falls City, one at Straussville, one at Verdon and one over the state line, in Reserve, Kansas. In addition to his extensive grain and live-stock interests Mr. Maust is the owner of fifteen or twenty houses in Falls City and has a valuable tract of sixty acres of land adjoining the city, for which he recently paid five hundred dollars an

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acre. Mr. Maust is a Republican and has given considerable attention to local political affairs, but has not been a seeker after public office.

On April 30, 1905. Albert Maust was united in marriage to Nancy Bryant, who was born at Adrian, Missouri, in 1886, daughter of Reuben and Marguerite (Cooper) Bryant, also natives of Missouri, who are now living at Drexel, that state, and to this union three children have been born, Maggie, who died in infancy; Ruth, born on July 2, 1910, and Albert, Jr .. May 23, 1913. Mr. and Mrs. Maust have a very pleasant home at Falls City and take a proper part in the general social activities of their home town. Mr. Maust is a Mason, affiliated with all the branches of that ancient order. and is also a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and of the Knights of Pythias and in the affairs of these several organizations takes a warm interest.

NORMAN BENTON JUDD.

Norman Benton Judd, register of deeds for Richardson county, former county assessor and formerly and for years one of the best-known horse breeders in this part of Nebraska and a substantial farmer of the Dawson neighborhood, is a native of Illinois, but has been a resident of this county since 1882 and may therefore very properly been regarded as one of the old settlers of Richardson county. He was born on a farm in Marshall county, in the north central part of Illinois, March 8, 1851, son of John and Jane (Brown) Judd, the former of whom was a native of the North Carolina and the latter of Pennsylvania, whose last days were spent on that farm.

John Judd was born in Asheville, North Carolina, in June, 1825, a son of Thomas and Nancy ( Darnell) Judd, natives of that same state. who moved to Marshall county, Illinois, in 1831, and settled on a tract of land they secured from the government and there spent the remainder of their lives, useful and influential pioneers of that section, Thomas Judd dying in 1850. The Judds are of English descent, the father of Thomas Judd having been an Englishman who settled in North Carolina upon coming to this country. John Judd was the fourth in order of birth of the ten children, five sons and five daughters, born to his parents and he was but six years of age when the family settled on the pioneer farm in Illinois. There he grew to manhood and married Jane Brown, who was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, in 1827, daughter of Charles Brown and

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wife, the latter of whom was a Forsythe, natives, respectively, of Pennsyl- vania and of England, who moved from Pennsylvania to Illinois about 1830, also settling in Marshall county. After his marriage John Judd estab- lished his home on a farm in that county and there he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives, his death occurring in 1889 and hers in 1891. They were the parents of three children, the subject of this sketch having an elder brother, Leroy Judd, now living at Lincoln, this state, and a sister, Mrs. Theresa Galbraith, of McCallsburg, Iowa.

Reared on the home farm in Illinois, Norman B. Judd received his schooling in a little log school house in the neighborhood of his home, the school terms at that time being limited to twelve weeks in the year. From his boyhood he was a valued assistant to his father in the labors of the farm and remained at home until his marriage in 1871, he then being somewhat under twenty years of age, when he began farming on his own account, renting land in his home county, and there he continued farming until 1882, when he came to Nebraska and located at Dawson, this county, where he became engaged in the breeding of horses and soon had one of the best-established stables in this part of the state. Mr. Judd was the first man to bring into Richardson county pure-bred Clydesdale and English Shire horses and with this substantial type of sires he was soon success- ful in working a real revolution in the strain of horseflesh for general heavy draft and farm-purpose animals and the farmers of the county have often expressed to him their gratitude for the measures he thus early took to stock this region with these very desirable types. For twenty-two years Mr. Judd was engaged in horse breeding at Dawson and he made his home there for twenty-five years, or until 1907, in which year, as the nominee of the Democrats of Richardson county, he was elected county assessor. Upon entering upon the duties of that important office Mr. Judd moved to Falls City, the county seat, where he since has made his home. He served as assessor for five years and in 1915 was elected register of deeds, which office he now occupies, one of the most popular officials about the court house. Mr. Judd is a Democrat and has for years been looked upon as one of the leaders of that party in this county. For twenty-two years he served as a member of the school board in Dawson district and during that long period of faithful service did much to advance the interests of tlie schools of that progressive little village. Mr. Judd is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, has held all the offices in the lodge with which he is affiliated and for fifteen years was "financier" of the same.

Norman B. Judd has been twice married. On February 8, 1871, he

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was united in marriage to Charlotte Stratton, who was born in Indiana and who died in 1881, leaving two children, William O., who is now engaged in the hardware business at Atchison, Kansas, and Mrs. Ethel M. Crocker, of Omaha. On May 8, 1884, two years after coming to this county, Mr. Judd married, secondly, Alice McAvoy, who was also born in Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Judd are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and take a proper interest in church work, as well as in the general good works of the community at large.

MARK J. DURFEE.

Mark J. Durfee, the proprietor of a fine farm of one hundred and sixty- six acres in section 28 of Arago precinct and one of the best-known farmers and stockmen in that part of the county, was born in Rulo precinct and has lived in this county all his life. He was born on January 12, 1874, son of Edmond J. and Della (Carr) Durfee, the former of whom, a native of Iowa and a pioneer of Richardson county, is still living, now a resident of Falls City and further and fitting mention of whom is made elsewhere in this volume.

When nine years of age Mark J. Durfee met with a serious accident which interfered much with his schooling. He stepped in a hole in a plank floor and so seriously injured his left leg that for nine years he was crippled, a part of that time being spent in a hospital at St. Joseph. He grew to man- hood on the home farm near the Missouri river and in time became a farmer on his own account, renting a farm. His father gave him eighty acres of land, he having previously bought an adjoining eighty and a little more, now moving a well improved and profitably cultivated farm of one hundred and sixty-six acres. In 1912 he erected his present handsome residence and he and his family are very comfortably situated. For years Mr. Durfee was an extensive breeder of Shorthorn cattle, but of late years has not done so much in the way of live stock, giving his particular attention to grain farming.

On February 8. 1900. Mark J. Durfee was united in marriage to Edna E. McWain, who was born at Rulo, this county, May 23. 1884, daughter of Edgar E. and Martha (Marcum) McWain, natives, respectively, of New York and of Missouri, pioneers of Richardson county, the former of whom, a carpenter and farmer, died in 1906, at the age of forty-five years, and the latter of whom is now living with her son, Olin McWain, in the Rulo neigh-

MR. AND MRS. MARK J. DURFEE.

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borhood, and to that union were born seven children, Clarence, Gertrude. Everett, Ethel, Lila, Harold and Raymond. The mother of these children died on October 23, 1916. Mr. Durfee is an "independent" in his political views. He takes an active interest in the agricultural affairs of this section and is a member of the Farmers Union and of the Central Protective Associa- tion, in the affairs of which organizations he takes a warm interest.

WILLIAM L. REDWOOD.

William L. Redwood, of Falls City, manager of the Home Building and Loan Association of that city and actively engaged there in the real estate, loans and insurance business, is a native of the neighboring state of Iowa, but has been a resident of this county since he was four years of age, and has therefore been a witness to the development of this region since pioneer days. He was born on a farm in Clay county, Iowa, March 9, 1875, son of Stewart L. and Mary K. (Stutson) Redwood, who became pioneer resi- dents of Richardson county and the latter of whom is still living, a resident of Falls City, where she is very comfortably and very pleasantly situated.

The late Stewart L. Redwood, an honored veteran of the Civil War and for years one of the best-known and influential residents of Richard- son county, was born in New York City on December 14, 1844, son of William R. Redwood, who was of English descent, and who married a lady of Eng- lish birth. Stewart L. was reared in the vicinity of the metropolis, where he was living when the Civil War broke ont. He enlisted for service in 1863 as a member of Company A, Eighth Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry, and with that command served until the close of the war. Upon the completion of his military service Mr. Redwood completed his schooling and then for a time was engaged as a clerk in a drug store, but presently decided to come West and "grow up with the country." He proceeded on out to Iowa and in Clay county, that state, exercised his soldier's right to home- stead, entering a tract of land in that county, upon which he established his home after his marriage which took place shortly after he had located there. There he remained until 1878, in which year he disposed of his holdings in Iowa and moved to Texas. He did not remain long in the latter state, however, presently moving thence to Missouri, but he found conditions there no more to his liking than he had found in Texas and in 1879 he came over into Nebraska and settled on a farm in the pre-

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cinct of Speiser, this county, later moving to another place in the precinct of Nemaha, on which later place he remained until 1907, in which year he retired from the farm and moved to Falls City, where he spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring there on August 31, 1916. Dur- ing his residence on the farm in this county Mr. Redwood had been develop- ing a quite extensive real-estate and loan business and after his removal to Falls City devoted his time in great part to that line. In addition to his land holdings in this county he was the owner of land in Kansas and in Gage county, this state. Politically, he was a Democrat, by religious persuasion an Episcopalian and, fraternally, was affiliated with the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic and with the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Since his death his widow has con- tinued to reside in Falls City, where she has a very pleasant home. She was born, Mary K. Stutson, at Flint, Michigan, December 21, 1851, daugh- ter of Lester P. Stutson, who later moved to Iowa, where she was living at the time of her marriage to Mr. Redwood. To that union two children were born, the subject of this sketch having a sister, Eleanor M., who is making her home with her mother in Falls City.

William L. Redwood was but a child when he came to this county with his parents and he grew up on the home farm receiving his schooling in the district schools in that neighborhood and in the high school at Falls City. From the days of his boyhood he was a valuable assistant to his father in the labors of developing and improving the home place and also early became interested with his father in the latter's real-estate and loan under- takings. When the family moved to Falls City he gave his whole attention to this business and since his father's death has been carrying on the busi- ness alone, having built up a valuable connection in that line, becoming one of the well-known real-estate, loan and insurance agents in this part of the state. Mr. Redwood also is manager of the Home Building and Loan Association of Falls City and in that connection has done much to advance the building interests of his home city. He is a Republican and has ever given a good citizen's attention to local political affairs, but has not been a seeker after public office. In addition to his business interests Mr. Redwood is the owner of an eighty-acre farm in this county and some city property, besides stock in the State Bank of Falls City, and is accounted as one of the city's progressive and public-spirited citizens.

On October 2, 1901, William L. Redwood was united in marriage to Lucy M. Bacon, of Middleburg. Nemaha precinct, this county, daughter of Asa Bacon, a former well-known resident of this county, now living in

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Woodson county, Kansas, and to this union have been born four daughters, Agnes, Flora, Irene and Alice. Mr. and Mrs. Redwood have a very pleas- ant home at Falls City and take a proper part in the general social and cul- tural activities of their home town and of the community at large. They were members of the Christian church and Mr. Redwood was a member of the executive committee of the local congregation when the present splen- did edifice of the Christian church was erected at Falls City. He is a member of the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and takes a warm interest in the affairs of the same.

WILSON S. KORNER.

The late Wilson S. Korner, for years one of Richardson county's best- known and most substantial landowners, grain buyers and merchants, who died at his home in Falls City in the summer of 1913, an honored veteran of the Civil War, whose widow is still living at Falls City, was a native of the old Buckeye state, but had been a resident of this county since 1871 and was therefore very properly entitled to be regarded as one of the old settlers of the county. He was born on a farm in Seneca county, in the north central part of Ohio, May , 18, 1844, son of Levi and Elizabethı (Stout) Korner, natives of Pennsylvania, the fornier born in Union county on January 8, 1813, whose last days were spent in Ohio, the former being past sixty years of age at the time of his death. Levi Korner was twice married and by his second wife, Elizabeth Stout, was the father of four children, of whom the subject of this memorial sketch was the eldest.

Reared on the home farm in Seneca county, Ohio, Wilson S. Korner received his schooling in the schools of his home neighborhood and was living there when the Civil War broke out. When' eighteen years of age, in 1862, he enlisted for service in the Union army and went to the front as a private in Company D, Thirty-fourth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. and with that command served until the close of the war, receiving his discharge on July 3, 1865. During that period of service Mr. Korner par- ticipated in some of the bloodiest battles of the war, including those of the siege of Vicksburg, Lookout Mountain, Mission Ridge, Chancellorsville and Chattanooga, and for some time was a prisoner of war, detained in Libby Prison.

Upon the completion of his military service Wilson S. Korner returned

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to his home in Ohio and was there married in December, 1866. After his marriage he continued farming there until in February, 1871, when he came to Nebraska and established his home in Richardson county, he hav- ing previously bought a quarter of a section of land one and one-half miles west of Falls City. He improved that farm, set out a grove and there remained until the year 1876, when he moved to Falls City and became engaged as grain buyer for the Heacock Milling Company, later engaging in the hard- ware business in that city and in this latter enterprise continued successfully engaged until a few years before his death, his death occurring in Falls City on July 2, 1913. During his later years he served as president of the Southeastern Nebraska Telephone Company. Mr. Korner was a Republican, a Methodist and a Mason. He had become a Mason in the lodge at Belle- vue, Ohio, during the days of his young manhood and never transferred his membership from the same.

On December 16, 1866, Wilson S. Korner was united in marriage to Adaline Schock, who was born in Sandusky county, Ohio, April 17, 1846, daughter of William and Sarah (Heater) Schock, who were married on February 9, 1843. William Schock was born in Union county, Pennsyl- vania, February 21, 1821, and died at his home in Falls City, Nebraska. November 27, 1901. He was a successful farmer in Ohio and in 1875 retired from farming and came to Nebraska, thereafter making his home in Falls City and spent his last days at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Korner. at Falls City. He became a substantial landowner in Richardson county. served for some time as vice-president and later as president of the Richard- son County Bank and was a member of the board of directors of the local cemetery association from the time of its organization until his death. He was a member of the Methodist church and took an active interest in local charity work. His wife was born in Union county, Pennsylvania, Sep- tember 6, 1824, and died at Falls City on January 12, 1893. They were the parents of eight children, of whom Mrs. Korner was the third in order of birth, the others being as follow: Elizabeth, widow of N. Stewart, living near Seneca, Kansas; George W., of Falls City ; Charles, deceased; Amanda. wife of R. A. Stetler, of Long Beach, California; Mrs. Ida Holland, further mention of whom is made elsewhere in this volume; Willian .\., a substan- tial farmer of the precinct of Falls City, this county, and Lincoln, deceased.

To. Wilson S. and Adaline (Schock) Korner one child was born, a daughter, Ethel. who married H. Morrow, now of Charlotte, North Caro- lina, and has one child, a daughter, Lucretia, born in 1903. Both the Korner and the Schock families have preserved a chronological history of the respec-

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tive families, dating back in Germany and in Switzerland to royal lines. Mrs. Korner is the owner of four hundred and eighty acres of land in King county, Kansas, and two modern houses in Falls City. She is an active member of the Methodist church and of the local corps of the Woman's Relief Corps. as well as a member of various clubs and social societies in Falls City and has for years been one of the most influential workers in the social and cultural activities of that city, helpful in many ways in promoting movements designed to advance the common welfare.

WILSON MEEKS MADDOX.

The late Wilson M. Maddox, who died at his home in Falls City in Janu- ary 24, 1903, and who for years was one of the most prominent citizens of that place, a well-to-do merchant, an honored veteran of the Civil War, former sheriff of Richardson county, a former deputy United States marshal. a member of the Nebraska territorial Legislature back in 1854-55 and one of the real pioneers of this state, was a native of the old Buckeye state, but had been a resident of Nebraska since back in the middle fifties and had conse- quently seen this state develop from its original wilderness to its present highly-developed condition. He and his wife were the first couple married in the region now comprised within the bounds of Richardson county and his widow, who is still living, an honored resident of Falls City, has many a thrilling tale to tell of conditions here back in the days of the Indians and of the unbroken plains.

Wilson M. Maddox was born in Hillsboro, Highland county, Ohio, August 5, 1825, a son of Michael and Frances (Schoolmaker ) Maddox, natives of Virginia, who moved to Ohio in 1800 and who later moved with their family from Ohio to Indiana in 1837. The Maddox family is one of the oldest families in America, the first Maddox to come here having been a member of the second colony of Pilgrims that settled in New England in 1621. Wilson M. Maddox was but a boy when his parents moved from Ohio to Indiana and in the latter state he grew to manhood and married Mary Blount, who died shortly afterward. In 1853 he sold his farm in Indiana and moved to Pella, lowa. In 1854 he came West and located at the then frontier town of Nebraska City, which at that time was becoming a promising river town. Mr. Maddox was a man of energy and push, had received a good education and upon locating in the frontier town immediately began taking

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an active part in public affairs. In that same year he was elected a member of the first Nebraska territorial Legislature and served in the session of that year and in the session of 1855, doing well his part in the then initial legis- lative affairs of what then was a vast territory extending from the Territory of Kansas to the Dominion of Canada and to the Rockies on the west, which in 1854 had been created a territory as distinctive from all that vague and almost wholly unexplored region theretofore known as the Indian country. In 1856 he moved to Richardson county. Mr. Maddox had given consider- able study to the law and for some time after settling in Nebraska City and later after coming down to this county, was admitted to the bar in 1871, and practiced law, becoming one of the best-known and most influential residents of this country in the pioneer days. He took an active part in the work of the upbuilding of Nebraska City and as a real-estate agent did a valuable work in helping to locate homesteaders throughout this state when the tide of immigration presently began definitely to set in out this way. In the fall of 1855 he married, secondly, in the village of Archer, the first county seat of Richardson county, but continued to make his home in Nebraska City until the following May, when he came down the river and pre-empted a tract of land near the home of his wife's father, Judge Miller, a member of the Archer townsite company and the first probate judge of Richardson county, and established his home there, remaining on the farm, to which he added other land, until after the close of the war, when he moved to Falls City. where he spent the remainder of his life.

In 1862 Wilson M. Maddox enlisted for service in the Union army as a member of the Fourth Missouri Cavalry and was made a lieutenant of his company, which was mustered in at St. Joseph, and with which he served for a year. principally on cavalry outpost duty, at the end of which time, on account of physical disability, he resigned his commission and returned home. as noted above, moving to Falls City in 1865. For a number of years there- after Mr. Maddox was engaged in mercantile business and was then elected sheriff of Richardson county in 1864, in which capacity he served for two years. He later was appointed deputy United States marshal for this district and in that capacity served for two years, in the meantime continuing bis law practice and also continuing engaged more or less in the trading and real- estate way. In 1871 he was again chosen a member of the Legislature. Mr. Maddox finally engaged in the hardware business at Falls City and continued thus quite successfully engaged until his retirement in 1893. He died at his home in that city on January 24, 1903, being then past seventy-eight years of age. Mr. Maddox was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, as

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is his widow, and was an active Freemason, having joined the Masonic order before his enlistment in the army, and was a charter member of the first lodge of Freemasons organized in Richardson county. He took an earnest interest in both church and lodge affairs and was ever helpful in all local good works, doing much in his long and active life to promote the interests of his home town in a religious, social, commercial and cultural way.

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History of Richardson County, Nebraska : its people, industries and institutions, Part 82

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