USA > Nebraska > Richardson County > History of Richardson County, Nebraska : its people, industries and institutions > Part 84
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MR. AND MRS. ANDREW TYNAN.
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charitable objects simply gave money outright, if the object appealed to his sense of fitness. Originally a Republican, Mr. Tynan later became a Demo- crat and for years was one of the leaders of that party in this county and a familiar figure and a power in county, district and state conventions. Though often importuned by his friends in the party to accept nominations to office, he invariably declined to be so considered and was not an office holder, believ- ing that his influence in behalf of good government and better citizenship could better and more effectively be exerted from the ranks, and it is undoubted that he did exert a fine influence in the cause of right and justice in the com- munity he had seen develop from pioneer days. A plainsman in the old days · of the overland freighters, he became thoroughly familiar with conditions out here in the days of the old wagon trails and the open plain and there were few men of that old, interesting and picturesque group that were better or more widely known than he, so that at the time of his passing in the summer of 1912 there was sincere mourning in many a heart among the old settlers hereabout.
Andrew Tynan was born in County Kilkenny, Ireland, March 8, 1833, and he remained in his native land until he was thirteen years of age, when, in 1846, he set out alone for this country, landing in due time a friendless lad at the port of New York. In that city and in a suburb thereof he remained for some little time, working at such jobs as his hand could find to do, until he had earned enough money to bring him out to the great West country of which he had heard so much and which his unerring instinct told him was the place in which to develop the talents he felt inherent within him, and he made his way to Iowa, locating at Winterset, in Madison county, that state. In the vicinity of that place he found employment as a farm hand at a wage of twelve dollars a month and there remained for several years, managing out of his wages to save about one hundred dollars a year. He then, in the late fifties, came over into the then Territory of Nebraska and located at Nemaha, where he presently became engaged on a freighting crew and for some years thereafter was thus engaged, becoming one of the best- known plainsmen on the old. overland trails to Salt Lake, Denver, and New Mexico. As an associate of Francis Withee, the famous plainsman and freighter, Mr. Tynan had many exciting and interesting experiences and in after years his tales of those days never failed to gain the interested atten- tion of the younger generation. After some years of this form of experience, Mr. Tynan decided to settle down and with that end in view became engaged in the mercantile business at Peru, in association with E. W. Holly, and from
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the beginning of that undertaking was very successful and while living there was married in 1868. In the meantime he had invested in a tract of land in the precinct of Muddy, in this county, and when presently his life in the store became unbearably irksome for him-his old open life on the plains having spoiled him as an in-door man-he left the store and in 1875 settled permanently on his farm in this county, with which he had kept in touch for years and on which he had already seen to the making of many substantial improvements. Upon locating on the farm Mr. Tynan made other and more extensive improvements and it was not long until he had there one of the best-developed farms in Richardson county. He also engaged extensively in the raising of cattle and as his operations in this line increased added to his . land holdings until he became the owner of seven hundred and twenty acres of land and was accounted one of the well-to-do men of this section of the state, leaving, as noted above, a fine estate at the time of his death on June 5, 1912; his death occurring at his home in Stella, to which place he had moved at the time of his retirement from the farm in 1897.
On October 8, 1868, Andrew Tynan was united in marriage to Eleanor Jennie Richardson, who was born in the state of Pennsylvania on April 9. 1846, daughter of Sammuel and Eleanor ( Hastings) Richards, natives of that same state, and of old Colonial stock, of English and Irish descent, with a strain of German on the paternal side. Mrs. Richardson died in Pennsylvania in 1849, her daughter, Eleanor Jennie, then being but three years of age, and Mr. Richardson died in Indiana in 1858, the daughter, Eleanor Jennie, thus being left an orphan at the age of twelve. For awhile thereafter she lived with her maternal grandparents in Pennsylvania and later with her father's people in Indiana. The latter later came to Nebraska to pioneer it out here and Eleanor Jennie Richardson was living here at the time of her marriage to Mr. Tynan. To that union were born four children, namely: Eleanor. who married .1. R. McMullen, a substantial farmer living east of Stella, and has three children, Richard, Joseph and Philip; Robert A., a well-known
stockman of the precinct of Muddy, who married Della Harden and has three children, Robert A., Jr., Catherine and Eugene; Bessie, who married William C. Parriot, of Lincoln, this state, and has two children, Dorothy and Tynan, and Fay, who married Dr. D. A. Hewitt. now of Ritzville, Washington, to which union two children were born, daughters both, Elizabeth and Eleanor, the latter of whom is deceased. Mr. and Mrs. McMullen also had another child, now deceased, a daughter, Mildred .. Andrew Tynan was reared a Catholic and was a faithful adherent of that faith, but was liberal in his religious views and permitted his wife to direct the religious training of her
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children, who were thus brought up in the faith of the Methodist church. Mr. Tynan was a Freemason and took an active interest in the affairs of that ancient order. Mrs. Tynan is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church at Stella and has for years taken an active part in the work of the Missionary and Aid Societies of that church, as well as in the general good works of the community and was an able co-laborer with her husband in helping to promote all proper agencies for the advancement of the general welfare of the com- munity in which they began to take their part back in pioneer days.
CHARLES H. RICKARDS.
Charles H. Rickards, assessor of Richardson county, an honored veteran of the Civil War, an old plainsman with many an interesting tale to tell of the early days hereabout, a resident since 1871 of Falls City, where he formerly was engaged in the lumber business and who, in addition to his service during the Civil War, spent three years in the government employ in Cuba following the Spanish-American War, is a native of the old Buckeye state, but has been a resident of this part of the country ever since the completion of his service as a soldier at the close of the Civil War. He was born on a farm in Adams county, Ohio, September 6, 1845, son of Henry K. and Martha (Neil) Rickards, natives of Maryland, who settled in Adams county, Ohio, where the mother died in 1851. The father later married again and in 1865 moved to LaSalle county, Illinois, where he settled on a farm and where he spent the remainder of his life.
Reared on a farm in Adams county, Ohio, Charles H. Rickards received his schooling there and was living there when the Civil War broke out. In July, 1862, he then lacking two months of being seventeen years of age, but being a strong, husky boy, he enlisted for service as a member of the Seventh Ohio Cavalry and served with that command until the close of the war, being mustered out on July 5, 1865, with a record of never having missed a day of service during all that three years of strenuous military activity; nor was he ever wounded or ill during that time. Mr. Rickards began his service with the Western Army under General Thomas and under that command participated in the battle of Nashville after going with Sher- man to Atlanta. After General Lee's surrender he was appointed one of the detail of twelve soldiers that took the infamous Henry Wirtz, superin- tendent of Andersonville prison, to Dalton, where he paid on the gallows the
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penalty for his excessive cruelty to the Union soldiers confined in the stockade at Andersonville under his administration. After the Atlanta campaign Mr. Rickards was sent with his command, still under General Thomas, after Hood, following the latter's army to the Mississippi and thence, on the Wil- son campaign, through Alabama and Georgia, to Macon, where the command was stationed when the war closed.
Upon the completion of his military service Mr. Rickards came west and took service as a teamster and a government wagon-master at Leavenworth aud was thus engaged on the plains for three years, during which time he had numerous skirmishes with the Indians, on one occasion the redskins getting away with one hundred mules that were under his charge. He then became associated with Creighton in the building of the Union Pacific railroad, trans- porting supplies, and was engaged in that capacity for two years, during which time he also had considerable trouble with the Indians. He then became engaged with his brother in buying cattle in Texas and in 1871 located at Falls City, where he engaged in the lumber business and was thus engaged until 1885, when he sold his establishment to W. D. Easley. Upon the out- break of the Spanish- American War, Mr. Rickards received an appointment in the quartermaster's department and for three years thereafter was stationed in Cuba, in government employ. In 1901 he returned to Falls City and there was appointed manager of the local plant of the Chicago Lumber Company, but after awhile relinquished that position and became engaged in the real- estate business, which he is still following quite successfully. In the fall of 1916 Mr. Rickards was elected assessor of Richardson county and is now serving in that important official capacity. Mr. Rickards is an ardent Repub- lican and has ever given his earnest attention to local political affairs, long having been regarded as one of the leaders of his party in this county. He is an active member of the Porter Post No. 84, Grand Army of the Republic and has for years taken a prominent part in the affairs of that patriotic organization. Fraternally, he is affiliated with the Masons and the Knights of Pythias and in the affairs of those bodies likewise takes a warm interest.
On May 7, 1870, Charles H. Rickards was united in marriage at Carth- age, Missouri, to Philena Ford, who was born in Middleton, New York, daughter of Elmer S. Ford and wife, and who died in November, 1890, at the age of forty-five years, leaving six children, namely: Joseph Elmer, now living at Phoenix, Arizona: Merrill Ogden, of St. Louis, Missouri; Mande Alice, wife of R. E. Wherry, of Kansas City, Missouri; Raymond L., of Cleveland, Ohio; Israel G., of Salt Lake City. and Charles H., Jr., of Denver, Colorado.
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MARSHALL N. HILL.
Marshall N. Hill, well-known and prosperous farmer and breeder of Shorthorn cattle, living in Porter township, this county, was born on Decem- ber 28, 1861, at Ontario, Canada. He is the son of Elijah C. and Arcosh (Kallerstine) Hill, natives of Ontario, who settled in Richardson county in 1865, and who endured all the hardships of the pioneer period. Elijalı . C. and Arcosh Hill were the parents of twelve children, six of whom are deceased, the others being Roland, who lives at Greeley, this state; Reuben, J., of Porter township; Marshall N., the subject of this sketch; Elijah C., Jr., further mention of whom is made elsewhere in this work; Mrs. Martha Van Vleet, of Crete, tliis state, and Grant, who lives in Cameron, Montana. In the sketch of the life of Elijah C. Hill, Jr., in this work, there is set forthi in detail an interesting account of the life of his father. Elijah C. Hill, Sr., from the date of his arrival in Nebraska in 1865 up to recently, and the reader is referred thereto, the life of the old pioneer being a veritable human document.
Marshall N. Hill, the subject of this sketch, was reared amidst pioneer conditions in Richardson county and was educated in the district schools of his neighborhood. When twenty-one years old he started out for himself and rented land from his father and is now renting land from Carl Van Vleet, his nephew. At the commencement of his activities he had a credit bal- ance of three dollars and twenty-five cents in his cash account. When a boy he herded cattle on the prairie and in this way got his first start. He is now the owner of upwards of one thousand acres of land. He also inherited several acres of land. Mr. Hill improved a homestead farm in the state of Washington, which he sold out in 1907 and invested in six hundred and forty acres of land in Canada. In 1917 he commenced the breeding of Short- horn cattle and at present has some choice strains of that well-known breed. He has also a high-grade lot of Poland China logs and on all his agricul- tural activities he brings sound experience and modern methods to bear.
On July 5, 1896, Marshall N. Hill was united in marriage to Mary Etta Prilliman, born at Andersonville, Indiana, the daughter of Peter Pril- liman and wife, who lived in the state of Washington when she married Mr. Hill. To Mr. and Mrs. Marshall N. Hill three children have been born, namely : Curtis James, Ruth and Hazel, who are living at home with their parents. Other children died in infancy. In political affairs Mr. Hill votes the independent ticket. He has never been a seeker after political
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office, preferring to devote his time and energies to his extensive land and stock interests. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fllows.
Mr. Hill relates an interesting incident of his boyhood days. He remem- bers that in the early morning of August 3, 1874, a terrific hail storm sprung up which destroyed eleven acres of corn his father had planted and which was about to tassle, but was all ruined by the hail. The hail came not alone in the ordinary form, but also in large pieces of ice. It cut through three thicknesses of shingles, broke out windows on the northeast of the house and killed a hog. In the course of its onward fury it pealed the bark from trees and broke down hedges. It extended over an area five miles in width and about eleven miles in length. Mr. Hill, though a boy at the time, has a vivid recollection of the ravages of the storm. A neighbor had been out working when it came along and was badly injured about the head.
JOHN M. EVANS.
John M. Evans, president of the Farmers State Bank of Shubert and one of the best-known and most progressive citizens of the northern part of Rich- ardson county, is a native of the old Buckeye state, but has been a resident of Nebraska since 1885, in which year he came to this county and became engaged as a school teacher. He later engaged in merchandising and not long after- ward became engaged in the banking business and has ever since been thus engaged, a period of nearly a quarter of a century, during which time he has become one of the best-known bankers in this part of the state. He was born on a farm in Gallia county, Ohio, August 28, 1862, son of Evan L. and Eliza- beth ( Rees) Evans, both of whom were born in that same county and who are now living at Shubert, in this county.
Evan L. Evans was born on November 3, 1840, on the same farm on which his son was born and is a son of David and Ellen Evans, who came to this country from their native Wales in 1823 and bought land in Gallia county, Ohio, the patent for the Evans land there bearing the signature of Andrew Jackson, then President of the United States. On that pioneer farm on which he was born Evan L. Evans grew to manhood and after his mar- riage established his home on the place, continuing to live there, his house being within one hundred yards of the house in which he was born, until he and his wife came to this county in 1905, in order to be near their children, and have since made their home at Shubert. Mrs. Evans also was born in
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Gallia county, Ohio, in 1842, in the neighborhood of the Evans home, a daughter of John and Ellen Rees, who came to this country from their native Wales and settled in Ohio in the early twenties. To Evan L. Evans and wife were born five children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the first-born, the others being as follow: Wellington L., assistant cashier of the Farmers State Bank at Shubert; Mrs. I. A. McDowell, of Hiawatha, Kansas; Mrs. A. S. Hartsook, of Gallia county, Ohio, and David L., who died in that county at the age of twenty-five years.
John M. Evans was reared on the home farm in Gallia county, Ohio, and completed his schooling in the old Rio Grande College in that county. He then taught school for a couple of years in his home county and in 1885 came to Nebraska, locating at Stella, and for two years thereafter was engaged in teaching school in this county, in the meantime becoming employed in the store of W. R. Wyatt at Stella. Seven years later he became engaged in business at Shubert as a member of the mercantile firm of Colglazier &. Evans, and two years later was made cashier of the Farmers State Bank of Shubert, a position he occupied for twenty-one years, or until his election on January 1, 1917, to the office of president of the bank, which responsible position he now occupies. In the meantime Mr. Evans had become a land- owner and is still the owner of a half section of land in North Dakota. He recently sold his farm of one hundred and twenty acres in the Shubert neigh- borhood. Politically, Mr. Evans is a Republican and has ever given a good citizen's attention to local political affairs, but has not been an office seeker. He is an active, energetic and progressive business man and in his capacity as a banker has done well his part in the development of Shubert during his many years of residence there. The Farmers State Bank of Shubert was organized in 1895 by Warren Hutchins, J. L. Slocum, J. R. Cain, I. W. Harris, Dr. J. A. W. Hull and J. M. Evans, with a capital of $12,500, which has since been increased to $20,000. A recent statement of the bank's condi- tion showed that it had a surplus of $8,000 and deposits to the amount of $240,000. The present officers of the bank are as follow: President, J. M. Evans; vice-president, J. R. Cain ; cashier. G. S. Hutchins : assistant cashier. W. L. Evans, and the above officers and Warren Hutchins and L. L. Jones, directors.
Mr. Evans has been twice married. In 1886, in Ohio, he was united in marriage to Martha E. Norman, who died at her home in this county in 1893. On April 15, 1896, Mr. Evans married Godie R. Richardson, daughter of J. H. Richardson, a well-known and substantial farmer who lives southeast of Shubert, in the precinct of Barada. Mr. and Mrs. Evans have a very
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pleasant home at Shubert and take a proper part in the general social activ- ities of their home town. They are members of the Christian church and Mr. Evans is clerk of the same. He is a member of the local lodge of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons at Stella and takes a warm interest in Masonic affairs.
LEVI L. DAVIS.
By close application and able management Levi L. Davis, now living in retirement in his pleasant home in Humboldt, became one of the leading agri- culturists of Richardson county, where he has long been rated as a good citizen in the best sense of the word. He was born on September 9, 1846, in Dekalb county, Illinois, and is a son of Albert and Martha (Robinson) Davis, both natives of Canada, where they spent their earlier years and from there caine to the States to establish their home, being among the early settlers in Dekalb county, Illinois, where they became well established through their industry.
Levi L. Davis was reared on a farm in his native county and state and there worked hard during the crop seasons. During the winter months he attended the common schools. He was married in Illinois on March 18, 1869. The following year he came to Nebraska and settled on the farm owned by C. M. Hummel, located in Franklin precinct, Richardson county. His wife was known in her maidenhood as Jennet L. Sterns, and she was .born, January 19, 1847. in Dekalb county, Illinois. Her death occurred at Humboldt, Nebraska, September 21, 1907.
When Levi L. Davis came to Richardson county his worldly possessions consisted only of four horses, a few household goods and five dollars in money. He went to work earnestly and prospered with advancing years. Soon after taking up his residence here he bought one hundred and sixty acres, for which he paid only ten dollars per acre, going in debt for most of it. The place had been but little improved, being only partly broken and only a rude log house stood on it; but Mr. Davis eventually had all the land under a high state of cultivation. He weathered the grasshopper years with- out being seriously damaged. Six years later, in 1876, he sold his first farm and bought three hundred and twenty acres, buying quit-claim deeds. He later erected a large, commodious dwelling on this farm. He now has two farms of three hundred and twenty acres each in the home place, which is well improved in every respect. He also owns two farms of one hundred
MR. AND MRS. LEVI L. DAVIS.
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and sixty acres each. He finally became one of the most extensive and most successful farmers in Richardson county, handling large numbers of live stock of all kinds from year to year. He remained on the farm until in July, 1915, when, having accumulated a comfortable competency for his old age, he removed to a fine modernly-appointed home in Humboldt, in which town he is a stockholder in the Home State Bank, also a director in the same.
Politically, Mr. Davis is a Republican and has always been more or less active and influential in local public affairs. He has held various precinct offices, including that of treasurer of Franklin precinct.
The following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Davis: Everett, who lives in Lincoln, Nebraska; Royal, in Waterman, Illinois; Ruby, at home; Hazel, the wife of R. D. Hicks and they live in Lincoln, Nebraska; Pearl, the wife of Frank Reynolds, of Simpson, province of Saskatchewan, Canada, and they have three children, namely: Lee, Lucille and Doris.
Mr. Davis is deserving of a great deal of credit for what he has accom -. plished unaided, having started out in a very unpromising environment but he forged ahead despite of obstacles.
JACOB C. TANNER.
Jacob C. Tanner, former county clerk of Richardson county and one of the best-known and most progressive merchants in Falls City, was born in the city of St. Joseph, Missouri, but has been a resident of Falls City since he was fifteen years of age, having come over into this state with his parents from Missouri in 1884. He was born on March 30, 1869, son of Jacob J. and Caroline (Ruegge) Tanner; both of European birth, the former a native of Switzerland and the latter of Hanover, who became prominent residents of Falls City and the latter of whom is still living there.
Jacob J. Tanner, who died at his home in Falls City in 1906, was born at Schafhausen, in the republic of Switzerland, October 27, 1842, and when fourteen years of age, in 1856, left his native land and came to this country, locating at St. Joseph, Missouri, where he was engaged in the manufacture of wagons with the firm of Tanner Brothers and was there thus engaged when the Civil War broke out. He enlisted for service as a member of the First Regiment, Nebraska Volunteer Infantry, joining that command at Omaha, and in 1863 was advanced from the rank of a private to that of (55)
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corporal. Upon the completion of his military service he returned to St. Joseph, where he resumed work at his trade as a carriage-maker and where he presently married, making his home there until 1877, when he moved to Gallatin, Missouri, where he became engaged as a contractor in railroad ties and a manufacturer and shipper of walnut lumber. In 1880 he transferred his mill to Hamilton, Missouri, where he was engaged in the same line until he had practically exhausted the available timber in that belt, after which, in the fall of 1884, he moved to Falls City and there established a hardware store, which he conducted for a couple of years, or until 1886, when he sold that store and engaged in that city in the agricultural-implement business and was there thus engaged until his death in 1906. Mr. Tanner was a Repub- lican and had served the public as a member of the city council and as a meni- ber of the board of supervisors. He was a Mason and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His widow, Caroline (Ruegge) Tan- ner, who is still living at Falls City, was born in the kingdom of Hanover, December 25, 1847, and was ten years of age when she came with her par- ents to this country, the family proceeding on out to Nebraska and settling in Richardson county, later moving to St. Joseph, Missouri, where she was living at the time of her marriage to Mr. Tanner. To that union seven chil- dren were born, of whom the subject of this sketch was the first-born, the others being as follow: Albert A., now a resident of Lincoln, this state; Clara M., assistant postmistress at Falls City ; William H., of Omaha ; Walter W., who is clerking in his brother's hardware store at Falls City, and two daughters, who died in infancy.
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