History of Richardson County, Nebraska : its people, industries and institutions, Part 96

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

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Upon completing the course in the high school at Falls City, George B. Holt supplemented his schooling by a course in the Nebraska State Uni- versity at Lincoln and then engaged in the shoe business at Falls City, con- tinuing thus engaged until he sold his store in 1909. Upon retiring from business he continued to make his home in Falls City and there died, as noted above, in the spring of 1912. He was a Republican, a member of the Meth- odist church and, fraternally, was affiliated with the local. lodges of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows and of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, ever taking a warm interest in political, church and lodge affairs.

On July 20, 1897, George B. Holt was united in marriage to Grace Gossett, who was born in Falls City, daughter of William and Nancy ( Mitchell) Gossett, the former of whom was born in Indiana in 1841 and the latter, in Tennessee, in 1852, and who are now living in Falls City, well- known pioneers of this county. William Gossett came to this county as a young man back in the late fifties and became engaged here as a building con- tractor, building some of the first houses in Falls City and vicinity. He mar- ried Nancy. Mitchell, who had come here with her parents, who accompanied the family of "Uncle" Jesse Crook, in 1853, when she was little more than an infant, and had here grown to womanhood. To that union were born five children, namely: Myrtle, who married Frank Clegg, a son of Robert Clegg, a pioneer of Richardson county, and is now living at Kansas City; Grace, who after the death of Mr. Holt married. August 16, 1916, B. F. Streeter, of the local offices of the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company ; Frank, of Falls City ; May, deceased, and Gertrude, of Kansas City.

To George B. and Grace (Gossett) Holt one child was born, a son, John WV. Holt, born on June 12, 1899, who is a member of the class of 1918, Falls City high school.

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JOHN B. DIDIER.

The oldest pioneer of Richardson county, if not the oldest in south- eastern Nebraska, is John B. Didier, of Barada precinct, who came to this locality sixty-three years ago, when it was only a vast stretch of wild plains, inhabited by Indians and wild animals. He has lived to see and take part in many wonderful changes here and talks interestingly of the early days and customs.

Mr. Didier was born on December 25, 1827, in France. He is a son of Prof. John B. Didier, a man of learning and for many years a professor in the schools of France. He and his wife, Anna, grew to maturity in France, where they were married and made their home until 1848, when they immi- grated to America, living the first year in Cincinnati, Ohio, and later in New Orleans, Louisiana, then returning to France, where they spent the rest of their lives.

John B. Didier grew to manhood in his native land and there received a good education. He crossed the Atlantic in a sailing vessel in 1847, located in the city of Cincinnati, where he clerked in a large store for a while. In 1849 he came to St. Louis, Missouri, carrying with him a letter of intro- duction to one of the leading merchants there, for whom he worked one year, when his employer, Chotean, sent him among the Indians of Missouri, with whom he traded for another year. In 1852 he was sent to take charge of a store on the North Platte, which store was established by P. Choteau, one of the best-known merchants of St. Louis in the early days. But later. on account of the Indian troubles, the post on the North Platte was closed. A battle took place nearby between United States soldiers and an immense band of Indians, but the soldiers were nearly all killed, as there were only forty-seven against three hundred Indians. All of Mr. Didier's assistants fled from the post, he alone remaining, notwithstanding the danger. He regarded it as his first duty to protect the property of his employer. Re- turning to St. Louis he reported tix loss of the store, for which his company got damages in the sum of thirty-one thousand dollars from the govern- ment. After settling up with the corsoany he left St. Louis, two months later, coming to St. Joseph on a steamboat, and from there came overland to Richardson county. September, 1854, where he took up a homestead of one hundred and twenty acres, in what is now section 3. Barada precinct. It was wild land, but he went to work with a will, cleared and broke up the sod and in due course of time had a well improved and productive place

JOHN B. DIDIER.

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and a comfortable home. He endured the hardships and privations incident to life on the frontier, when neighbors were few and trading centers far remote. He has remained on this place continuously to the present time. perhaps as long as any man in the state has lived on one farm-sixty-three years. In fact, there is no doubt but that he was the second white settler in Richardson county.

Mr. Didier was married at Brownville, Nebraska, in 1855, by Judge Whitney, to Mary Pino, a daughter of Louis Pino, a French-Canadian, who was a post trader at Ft. Laramie, where his death occurred. The death of Mrs. Mary Didier occurred in 1908. She was the mother of eight children, named as follows: Henry lives in South Dakota; John lives in Jackson, Nebraska ; Paul is deceased; Peter died in Kansas; Mrs. Mary Deroin lives in Kansas; Mrs. Cecilia Longkar lives in South Dakota; Mrs. Myrtle Last lives on the home farm, which her husband is operating, and they have two children, Albert and Harvey.

Mr. Didier, who is now in his ninetieth year, is still fairly hale and hearty, having lived an abstemious and upright life-one calculated to lead to longevity. He is widely known throughout the county and his record is that of a public-spirited, industrious and honorable citizen. Politically, he is a Democrat, but he has never sought public office or leadership. Reli- giously, he is a Catholic.

SAMUEL KIMMEL.

Samuel Kimmel, one of the real old settlers of Richardson county and a well-to-do retired farmer and stockman who has for many years past made his home in Falls City, where he and his wife are very comfortably situated, is a native of the old Keystone state and became a resident of the state of Illinois when about seventeen years of age, but has been a resident of this county since 1870 and has therefore been a witness to and a participant in the development of this region since pioneer days. During the days of grass- hoppers, hot winds and panics in the seventies he had a mighty hard time of it keeping his belongings together here, but affairs presently took a turn for the better and he prospered largely, having been able to retire on a com- petency when he was fifty years of age.

The Kimmels are an old American family, having been represented on

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this side of the water since the middle of the eighteenth century. Michael Kimmel, the progenitor of this branch of the Kimmels, was born in the ancient kingdom of Saxony in 1662. He had three sons, Jacob, Philip and Valentine, who spent all their days in their native land. Philip Kimmel, born in 1695, had six sons and two daughters. These six sons came to the Amer- ican colonies about 1750 and established themselves on this side. One of these six sons, Jacob Kimmel, born in 1725, settled in Pennsylvania and there reared eight sons, Abraham, Jacob, John, Solomon, Ludwick, Otto, Michael and Jonathan, the latter of whom was born in his father's old age. This Jonathan Kimmel, born in Pennsylvania in 1798, married Susan Meyers and had six sons and two daughters, Michael, Josiah, John, Daniel, Noah, Jonathan, Mrs. Mary Walker and Mrs. Susan Gashorn. The first-born of these sons, Michael Kimmel, born in Pennsylvania in 1821, married Nancy Lichty and had six sons and two daughters, John, Samuel, Jonathan, William, Ephraim, Tobias, Marie, who died in infancy, and Elizabeth. The mother of these children died in 1862 and Michael Kimmel married his deceased wife's cousin, Sally Lichty, and to that union three children were born, one son and two daughters, David, Susan and Hattie. In 1865 Michael Kimmel left his old home in Somerset county, Pennsylvania. and moved with his family to Illinois, where he settled on a farm and where he spent the remainder of his life.

Samuel Kimmel, second son of Michael and Nancy (Lichty) Kimmel, was born in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, August 20, 1847, and was seven- teen years of age when he moved with his father to Illinois, in 1865. There he married in 1869 and in that state he continued farming until in the fall of 1870, when he and his wife came to Nebraska and settled on a farm in the precinct of Ohio, six miles north of Falls City, in this county. For that farm, a quarter of a section of land, Mr. Kimmel contracted to pay twenty- five hundred dollars. One half of this sum he paid in cash and gave a mort- gage on the land for the unpaid balance. He built a house on the place and proceeded to try to improve and develop the farm, but at the end of eleven years, with grasshoppers, drought and the panicky times of that period, he found himself worse off in a financial way than he was when he began his operations. He not only had been unable to pay the interest on his mort- gage, the accrued interest thus having become more than the principal, but he was otherwise involved in debt and was unable to see any way out. He tried to give the farm back to the mortgagee, but the latter would not accept it and advised him to "stick to it." Thus unable to let go, Mr. Kimmel did "stick to it," and it was well he did so, for presently things began to turn

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the other way and, beginning in 1882, prosperity overtook him and has ever since kept right alongside of him, he long ago having reaped the reward for the many "lean years" he suffered during the early days of his residence here. With a succession of bountiful crop years in the eighties Mr. Kimmel began to branch out in his operations, engaged heavily in the live-stock business and enlarged his land holdings until he became the owner of eight hundred acres of fine land in the vicinity of his original quarter section. He had long before determined to retire when he was fifty years of age and he found himself in the happy position of being able to do that very thing even before he had reached that point of life. He gave to each of his two children a fine farm and in 1896 he and his wife moved to Falls City, erected a beautiful house on Stone street and have ever since lived there, enjoying the ample rewards of their earlier years of toil and privation. Both are remarkably well preserved, mentally and physically, and find much joy and zest in living. They are great readers and keep up-to-date and abreast of the times. Mr. Kimmel still enjoys keeping a sort of a supervisory eye on the old home farm, which he frequently visits, and sometimes takes a hand in the work himself just to show that he hasn't forgotten how.

As noted above, it was on December 5, 1869, in Illinois, that Samuel Kimmel was united in marriage to Hattie Peck, who also was born in Somer- set county, Pennsylvania, February 12, 1850, a daughter of Jonas and Frances ( Saylor) Peck, who moved from Pennsylvania to Illinois in 1867 and in the latter state spent the remainder of their lives. To that union four children have been born, one son and three daughters, namely: Edwin M., born on · July 31, 1875, who in 1895 married Amelia Ruegge and has three children, Gladys, Esther and Edwin S .; Eva Ada, November 14, 1873, who married H. J. Prichard and has two children, Allie and Wilbur; Vivian, who died in infancy, and Verne E., who also died in infancy. Edwin M. Kimmel and his sister. Mrs. Prichard, were given farms by their parents and have well- established homes in the precinct of Ohio, both Mr. Kimmel and Mr. Prichard doing well in their farming and live-stock operations. Samuel Kimmel was reared a Republican, but upon the organization of the Populist party espoused the cause of that party and was an active adherent of the same until the memorable campaign of 1896, when he became an ardent champion of Will- iam Jennings Bryan and has ever since remained a stanch Bryan Democrat. He and his wife are members of the Brethren church and take a proper interest in the affairs of the same, .Mrs. Kimmel, particularly, being quite active in church work and in the other good works of the community at large.

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RICHARDSON COUNTY, NEBRASKA.

ALFRED STETTLER.

One of the enterprising farmers of Speiser precinct, Richardson county is Alfred Stettler, who was born on October 4, 1869, in Switzerland, and, like all our citizens who hail from that small but superb republic across the sea, he has proven to be a most desirable addition to Nebraska. He is a son of Gottlieb and Magdalena Stettler, who lived and died in Switzerland. They were honest, hard-working people.

Alfred Stettler spent his boyhood in his native land and there received an education in the common schools. When seventeen years of age he left Switzerland and started on the long journey to the interior of America. He arrived in Sabetha, Kansas, with but ten dollars in his pocket. He worked out as a farm hand for some time, earning only one hundred and twenty dollars a year, but he saved his wages and soon got a start as farmer, rent- ing land for some time. Working hard and managing well, he finally had enough to pay for a farm of his own, and in 1907 bought the well-improved and productive farm of one hundred and twenty acres in Speiser precinct, where he still resides. He paid the sum of ninety dollars an acre on an aver- age, paying eighty dollars an acre for eighty acres and one hundred dollars an acre for forty acres. He has added many excellent improvements on the same and has been successful as a general farmer and stock. raiser. His modern eight-room house was built in 1912. It has a furnace and a lighting system. He also built a large new barn.

Mr. Stettler was married on December 18, 1901, to Henrietta Fank- hauser, who was born on March 4, 1876, in Speiser precinct, Richardson county, where she grew to womanhood and attended the district schools. She is a daughter of John and Magdalina Fankhauser, both natives of Switzer- land, but they grew up in the United States, where they were married. The John Fankhauser was five years old when he came to the New World in 1847. He is now seventy-four years old. Magdalina Fankhauser was three years old when her parents brought her to America. Her death occurred at the early age of thirty-three years. Three children have been born to Alfred Stettler and wife, namely: Lauretta Ella, born on August 27, 1903: Verna Lucia, May 4, 1906, and Norma Magdalene, August 6, 1915.

Politically, Mr. Stettler is a Democrat, but is inclined to vote inde- pendently. Fraternally, he belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows of Humboldt, also the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He belongs to the Reformed church.

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OTTO KOTOUC.

One of the most promising of the younger business men of Richardson county is Otto Kotouc, cashier of the Home State Bank at Humboldt. He was born in Humboldt, Nebraska, April 22, 1885, and here he has become well established in the industrial world at an age when most men are just getting fairly started on their careers. He is a son of Frank and Marie (Hon) Kotouc, both natives of Bohemia, the father born on October 25, 1839, and died on December 25, 1916; the mother was born on April 24, 1850, and her death occurred on September 13, 1913. They grew up in their native land, where they were married and made their home until 1882, when they immigrated to America, locating at Humboldt, Nebraska, where the father learned the trade of harness-maker. He had engaged in the grocery business in his native country. After coming to Humboldt he worked for his brother-in-law, Jolın Klossner, who owned a large harness-making estab- lishment there, being employed by him for a period of sixteen years; he then retired from active life. He was a member of the Bohemian Reformed church. His family consisted of four sons, namely : Frank, a merchant at Humboldt ; Lute B., who also operated a store in Humboldt for a number of years, but is now in New Raymer, Colorado, conducting a store for the Kotouc Brothers; Milton is a member of the mercantile firm of Kotouc Brothers in Humboldt, and Otto, of this sketch, is the youngest.

Otto Kotouc grew to manhood in Humboldt and there attended the pub- lic and high schools, graduating from the latter with the class of 1903. He then entered the State University at Lincoln, where he pursued a literary course, graduating with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1908. In the fall of that year he was elected representative to the state Legislature from Rich- ardson county, being the youngest man ever elected to this important office from this county and one of the youngest to serve in that body from any county since the state was organized. But the excellent record he made dur- ing the session of 1909 proved the wisdom of his selection; indeed, he gave such eminent satisfaction to his constituents that he was re-elected in the fall of 1910, and served with distinction during the session of 1911, doing much for the general good of his county and state. He served as chairman of the insurance committee, and was also a member of the ways and means committee and the judiciary committee.

Mr. Kotouc entered the banking field in 1909, in the State Bank of Hum- boldt, as assistant cashier, the duties of which position he discharged with

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fidelity and promptness until 1915, when he helped organize the Home State Bank, of which he has since filled the position of cashier to the eminent satis- faction of the stockholders and patrons of the bank, the prestige of which sound and popular institution he has done much to increase. He also con- ducts an insurance business with Glenn D. Jenkins, under the firm name of Kotouc & Jenkins.

Mr. Kotouc was married on August 29, 1912, to Camille Cernik, who was born at Ord, Nebraska. She is a daughter of Joseph and Louise Cernik, both natives of Bohemia, from which country they came to America many years ago, locating at Ord, this state, where Mrs. Kotouc grew to woman- hood and was given good educational advantages, and there her father engaged successfully in. mercantile pursuits, but is now living retired there. To Mr. and Mrs. Kotouc two children have been born, Otto Kotouc, Jr., whose birth occurred on June 15, 1913, and Marie Louise, born on March 1, 1917.

Politically, Mr. Kotouc is a Democrat and one of the leaders of his party in southeastern Nebraska. Fraternally, he belongs to the Masonic order, and is now holding the office of postmaster in the blue lodge of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. He is also a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a member of the Acacia Fraternity and Phi Beta Kappa of the State University. He attends the Methodist Episcopal church.

HIRAM E. EELLS, D. D. S.

Dr. Hiram E. Eells, of Falls City, one of the best-known and most successful dentists in this part of the state, is a native of the neighboring state of Iowa, but has been a resident of this state since leaving college, having begun his practice at Auburn, moving thence to Wayne and thence, in 1912, to Falls City, where he has since been engaged in the practice of his profession. He was born on a farm in Johnson county, Iowa, February 22, 1873, son of Nathaniel E. and Susan Harriet (Huss) Eells, natives of Ohio and both of old Colonial stock, the history of the Eells family in this country going back to the days of the Pilgrim Fathers, the first of the name to come over here having been Samuel Eells, who came from the north of England in 1628 and settled in Massachusetts Colony.

Nathaniel E. Eells, an honored veteran of the Civil War, as noted above, was a native of Ohio, born in 1839, and was but two years of age

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when his parents, Nathaniel E. Eells and wife, emigrated to the then Ter- ritory of Iowa in 1841 and settled in Johnson county. There he grew to manhood and was living there when the Civil War broke out. In August. 1861, at Iowa City, he enlisted for service as a member of Company G. Twenty-second Regiment, Jowa Volunteer Infantry, and with that regi- ment served for a period of nearly four years, or until it was mustered out in July, 1865, the war then being over. During this service he was seriously wounded at the battle of Winchester. He took part in the siege of Vicksburg and to his regiment was accorded the honor of being the first to enter the fallen city on that memorable Fourth of July in 1863, when the stubborn defense of that key to the South was broken. Upon the completion of his military service Nathaniel E. Eells returned to his home in Iowa and shortly afterward married Harriet Huss, who also was born in Ohio and whose parents had become Iowa pioneers. He estab- lished his home on a farm in Johnson county and there remained until in May, 1873, when he moved with his family to a farm in the neighborhood . of Bedford, county seat of Taylor county, Iowa. There his wife died in 1897 and he thereafter made his home with his children until his deatlı in 1910. There were five of these children, four sons and one daughter, of whom the subject of this sketch was the third in order of birth, the others being as follow: The Rev. Melvin Hoyt Eells, a clergyman of the Meth- odist Episcopal church, now living in Kansas; Dr. Linden Eells, a dentist. of Auburn, this state; John H. Eells, a farmer, of Nevis, Minnesota, and Effie, deceased.

Hiram E. Eells was reared on the home farm in Iowa, receiving his elementary schooling in the local district schools, also two years in a normal college, and for two years taught school during the winters, continuing to work on the farm until he was twenty-one years of age, when he entered the dental department of the University of Iowa and after a year there entered the College of Dental Surgery at Chicago, from which he was graduated on April 3, 1898. During his college career Doctor Eells spent his vacation selling books and thus provided the funds with which to com- plete his college course. Upon receiving his diploma the Doctor came to Nebraska and opened an office for the practice of his profession at Auburn, where he remained for five years. He then spent a summer otherwise engaged and then located at Wayne, where he was engaged in practice for five years, meanwhile spending two summers on vacation in Dakota. On January 1, 1912, he located at Falls City and has since been engaged in

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practice in that city. The Doctor has a well-appointed office, equipped with all the modern appliances for dental surgery, and has built up a splendid practice. In 1916 he built a fine new home, hetween Nineteenth and Twentieth streets on Crook street, and there he and his family are very pleasantly situated.

On October 3, 1900, Dr. Hiram E. Eells was united in marriage to Stella Spurgin, of Barney, Madison county, Jowa, daughter of William Spurgin and wife, and to this union three children have been born, Lois E., born on September 14, 1902; Berkley E., July 7, 1907, and Nathan O., March 13, 1913, the latter of whom is the thirteenth living grandchild of the late Nathaniel E. Eells. Doctor and Mrs. Eells are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and take a proper part in church work, as well as in other local good works, and in the general social and cultural activities of their home town. The Doctor is a member of a number of fraternal orders and in the affairs of which organizations he takes a warm interest. Politically, he is "independent" and gives his thoughtul attention to local governmental affairs.

EUGENE ALLEMEND.

Eugene Allemend, one of Richardson county's best-known and most substantial retired farmers, a resident of Stella since 1890, in which year he retired from the active labors of the farm, is a native of France, but has been a resident of this country since he was eighteen years of age and of Nebraska since 1864, thus being very properly recognized as one of the pioneers of this section. He was born on May 16, 1836, and was about eighteen years of age when his parents, Nicholas and Frances (Bernard) Allemend, also natives of France, left their native land with their children and came to this country in 1854, the family locating in Chicago, where the father died a few years later. The Widow Allemend and her children then, in 1859, moved to St. Louis and there she spent her last days. Nicholas Allemend and wife were the parents of four children, of whom two still survive, the subject of this sketch having a younger sister, Mrs. Lenora Jacko, a widow, now living at San Francisco, California. He had two elder brothers, Justin and Frank, now deceased.

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History of Richardson County, Nebraska : its people, industries and institutions, Part 96

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