History of western Nebraska and its people, Vol. III, Part 113

Author: Shumway, Grant Lee, 1865-
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Lincoln, Neb., The Western publishing & engraving co.
Number of Pages: 1056

USA > Nebraska > History of western Nebraska and its people, Vol. III > Part 113

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

GEORGE LESTER VOGLER, cashier of the Bank at Kimball, Nebraska, has been connected with banking institutions since he completed his education and has ad-

575

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

vanced to his present important position through industry and personal merit. His career has been the expression of well di- rected and well applied principles; and he has thus succeeded in building for himself a reputation as an astute man of business and adherent of sound, conservative bank- ing principles, which leads to confidence with the public.

Mr. Vogler was born at Dix, Nebraska, September 23, 1889, the son of Henry and Clementia Vogler, a complete sketch of whom will be found elsewhere in this vol- ume. As a youth Mr. Vogler was sent to the excellent public schools for his elemen- tary education, graduated from the Kim- ball high school in 1906, and then took a special commercial course in the Lincoln Business College, to prepare himself for a business career. Soon after leaving col- lege he accepted a position with the First National Bank of Lincoln, where he spent two years mastering the varied branches of banking and made such good use of his time that, in 1909, he was offered the posi- tion of assistant cashier of the Bank at Kimball, which he accepted. From the first Mr. Vogler showed marked ability among the banking fraternity of the Pan- handle; he had sound business sense and retained this office six years. He was elected cashier of the bank in 1915, and has continued in that capacity to the present time. Mr. Vogler in his official capacity has contributed materially to the growth and prosperity of the institution, at the same time advancing his own standing in banking circles, as a capable and thorough- ly informed banker.

From first locating in Kimball Mr. Vog- ler has taken an active interest in commun- ity affairs and served as a member of the village board, where his foresight and pro- gressive ideas have helped in the develop- ment of the town. Mr. Vogler is also a director of the bank in which he serves.

July 23, 1913, occurred the marriage of Mr. Vogler and Miss Harriet E. Rollings, at Lincoln, Nebraska. Mrs. Vogler is the daughter of Eunice Rollings. She is a graduate of the Lincoln high school, the State University, where she specialized in physical training and after receiving her degree taught in Evansville, Indiana, two years before her marriage. There are three children in the Vogler family: Dorothy, aged six; John Rollins, aged four; and George Lester Jr., a small boy of about two years. The Vogler family attend the Meth-

odist Episcopal Church; Mr. Vogler is a 32d degree Mason and a Shriner; he also belongs to the Modern Woodmen of Amer- ica and the Knights of Pythias. In politics he is a liberal Democrat, not being bound by strict party lines when a good man for office is considered. Though young, Mr. Vogler has gained the confidence of the people of the southwest Panhandle as a banker; devotes his entire time and atten- tion to the duties of his office and is re- garded as one of the rising men in commer- cial and banking circles in western Nebras- ka.

GOTFRED JENSEN has been num- bered among the vigorous representatives of farm industry in Garden county for more than a quarter of a century, and thus it be- comes evident that he here encountered his quota of the hardships and responsibilities that marked the pioneer epoch in this sec- tion of Nebraska. He has brought to bear the perseverance, energy and sterling hon- esty of purpose that so emphatically char- acterizes the race from which he sprung.

Mr. Jensen was born in Denmark, on May 2, 1864, and received his early educa- tion in the excellent schools of his native land. There he continued to reside until spurring ambition and self-reliance led him to come to America and seek the better opportunities that are offered here. He was twenty-three years of age when he arrived in this country, and made his way to Coun- cil Bluffs, Iowa, where he was identified with business activities for about five years. He then came to that part of Deuel county, Nebraska, that is now comprised in Garden county, and in the same year, 1893, he filed entry upon a homestead of a hundred and sixty acres, ten miles northeast of Osh- kosh. He not only perfected his title to this claim and developed it into a produc- tive farm, but he also added gradually to his holdings, until he is now the owner of a well improved and valuable farm estate of nine hundred and sixty acres; in the work and management of which he has been ably assisted by his sons, who are now his part- ners in the well ordered industrial enter- prise, which involves general agricultural industry and the raising of excellent grades of cattle and hogs. After many years of earnest and prolific industry, attended with success, Mr. Jensen felt justified in laying aside the heavier labors and responsibil- ities that had long been liis and after as- signing the active management of his farm

576

HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA

property to his sons he retired and removed to Oshkosh, in the spring of 1919. He has supported those measures that have tended to advance the general welfare of the com- munity, is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America, and he and his wife are zealous communicants of the Lutheran church, his political allegiance being given to the Democratic party.

At Council Bluffs, Iowa, November 10, 1889, Mr. Jensen wedded Miss Petria Fred- ericksen, who likewise was born and reared in Denmark and who was eighteen years of age when she came to America and es- tablished her residence at Council Bluffs. Mr. and Mrs. Jensen have three sons and five daughters: Anna is the wife of Roy Bentz, of Oshkosh, and they have three children ; Fred C., is again at home in Osh- kosh, served in the Seventeenth Hospital Corps of the American Expeditionary Forces in France during the progress of the late war, and he was with his corps in France for a period of nine months. He mar- ried Daisy Riley and lives on the home farm, they have one boy, Harley ; James T., who likewise resides at Oshkosh, is a wid- ower with one child, Bernard; Clara is the wife of Carl Hendricks of Oshkosh, and they have one child, Floyd G .; Martha M. married Irvin McConkey and lives on a farm; Frank L., Olga and Eva are all at home. As previously stated, the sons are associated with their father in the opera- tion of the latter's fine ranch, which is sit- uated near the village of Hutchinson, where Mr. Jensen served for a number of years as a member of the school board.

CALEB W. GAULT .- Though he made four removals, from one locality to another, within a period of fourteen years, there has been in the career of Mr. Gault no devia- tion from the line of purposeful energy in connection with the basic industries of ag- riculture and stock raising, of which he is now a substantial and popular exponent in Garden county.

Mr. Gault is one of the valued citizens contributed to the Nebraska Panhandle by the old Hoosier state. He was born in Montgomery county, Indiana, December 24, 1853, and thus, with infantile nonchal- ance, passed his first Christmas day as a new arrival in the home of his parents. His father, John Gault, was a millwright by trade and vocation and was sixty-three years of age at the time of his death, in 1894 He was a native of Kentucky and a

scion of a pioneer family of that common- wealth.

Caleb W. Gault is indebted to the public schools of his native state for his early edu- cational advantages, and he has been con- tinuously identified with farm enterprise since he was twenty-three years of age. He came to what is now Garden county, Nebraska, years ago, and to the homestead which he entered he has not only perfected his title but has also added, under the pro- visions of the Kinkaid act, until he now has a well improved and valuable farm estate of six hundred and forty acres, all fenced and cross-fenced, equipped with good build- ings and modern working facilities and ele- gantly situated not far from Oshkosh. On his farm Mr. Gault is carrying forward suc- cessful operations as an agriculturalist and stock grower, and he is one of the represen- tative citizens of his community. His poli- tical allegiance is given to the Republican party and his civic loyalty has been shown in ten years of effective service as school director of his district.

November 9, 1879, recorded the marriage of Mr. Gault to Miss Rose L. Dowling, a native of Missouri, and she has proved a true helpmeet to him in his advancement to the goal of independence and prosperity. In conclusion is given brief record concern- ing their children: Nora is the wife of Ed- ward Hamlin, of Bellefourche, South Da- kota; Allen F. wedded Miss Lucy Embell, in March, 1910; Mamie is the wife of Og- den Fought, of Oshkosh, Nebraska; Ava wedded Miss Lavina Adking; Albert and Vera continue to infuse youthful joy in the parental home.

MRS. WILLIAM BRODRICK, one of the later settlers of Alliance who is win- ning a fine reputation as a business woman, is the owner and manager of the American Hotel which was opened to the public dur- ing the late summer of 1919, and already has a growing and most satisfactory clien- tele among the traveling public which patronize the many hotels of Nebraska.

Mrs. Brodrick was born in Griswold, Iowa, the daughter of John H. and Mary D. (Thompson) Carroll, the former a native of the Dominion of Canada, while the mother was born at Griswold, Stark coun- ty, Illinois. Mrs. Brodrick was the oldest of four children born to her parents and when she was only a year and a half old her father removed to Omaha, as he was a civil engineer and his business caused the

MR. AND MRS. C. E. PETERSON

577

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

family to take up their residence in Nebras- ka. The little girl was sent to the public schools when old enough and she continued her studies until a four year high school course was finished and she graduated with honors in 1899, and the following year she atte ided a commercial college, finishing the course in a year. In 1909 she was married at Boseman, Montana, to William Brod- ricl., who was born at Hubble. Nebraska, the son of William and Mary (Stark) Brod- rick, the father being a native of Wisconsin. Mr. Brodrick was the fifth child in a fam- ily of eight children and as his mother died when he was a small boy eight years of age, he was from that time compelled prac- tically to shift for himself. He managed in some way to earn his living while yet a little lad and finally by pure grit and per- severance worked up to a good salary and as best he could studied and secured a prac- tical education. One child has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Brodrick, William H., a student in the public schools of Alliance, who lives with his mother. Mrs. Brodrick purchased the American Hotel located over the Harper Store, on August 1, 1919. This location on Box Butte avenue is an ideal location for an European Hotel, and she has thirty-two fine rooms for the accommo- dation of guests, with every modern con- venience for their comfort. The location is central to all parts of the city and of great convenience to the traveling public, and already its patronage is bringing in a fine return for the investment. From pres- ent indications Mrs. Brodrick has invested in a most satisfactory business which has a great future. She is a woman of great charm, has unusual executive ability and knows how to look after the many guests to whom she is a considerate hostess.

CLAUS E. PETERSON, who is one of Banner county's sturdy pioneers and still liv- ing on his original homestead on section 2, has made Banner county his home for thirty years, and is widely known and universally respected. He was born in Sweden, September 8, 1853, the second in a family of five children born to Peter and Clara (Anderson) Johnson Peter- son, the others being: John, who lives in Sweden ; Fred and Ephraim, both of whom live at Minneapolis, Minnesota ; and Amanda, who has never left Sweden. The father was a farmer and stockman in Sweden. Both par- ents died there, the mother in 1915 and the father in 1916. They were members of the Swedish Lutheran church.

Claus E. Peterson attended school in his native land in boyhood and afterward worked as a farmer until 1888, when he came to the United States. After one year in Iowa he came to Banner county and on January 1, 1889, filed on his homestead. He later took a preëmption and secured eighty acres on a Kin- kaid claim. Mr. Peterson now owns 720 acres, mostly range land. He raises about 50 head of White Face cattle annually and other stock. He has one of the best improved ranches in the county and it is a contrast in- deed to compare his present fine residence with running water, electric lights and all other modern comforts, with the little dugout in which he sheltered himself in his earliest days here when he had so much to contend with that he gladly accepted a wage of fifty cents a day, paid in trade, in order to sustain himself. With the first money he was able to save, by working in the stone quarry at Fort Collins, Colorado, he bought a team of oxen, paying $75 for this team, which was a neces- sity in order to break up the tough prairie sod. His first crop was not very satisfactory, in great measure from lack of moisture in the soil. He was too poor then to have a well dug and had to haul all the water used on the place. He struggled on however in spite of discouragements and in the course of time had a fine flock of sheep, about 500 head. A sudden blizzard swept over the land and in its fury drove the sheep before it. When Mr. Peterson was able to search for them he found them all piled together, about two miles dis- tant, all covered with the drifted snow and very few of them alive. This was a serious loss, although he was able to sell the pelts for $1 each. In seasons following Mr. Peterson, through hard work, brought his land to a profitable state of development and for a num- ber of years has been financially independent, but he has not forgotten those old days, nor his old neighbors, and his reminiscences of actual facts are interesting sidelights on the county's history.

In Sweden, September 8, 1881, Mr. Peter- son was married to Miss Hilma Peterson, a daughter of Nels and Bertha (Nelson) Peter- son, who came to the United States in 1886 and homesteaded in Banner county in 1888. The following children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Peterson: Helge S., who was born April 29, 1882, resides with her parents ; Ern- est L., who was born April 16, 1884, lives in Banner county; Richard M., who was born November 10, 1885, assists his father ; Gert- rude A., who was born October 24, 1888, lives at Minneapolis, Minnesota; Esther N., who

578

HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA

was born January 18, 1891, is the wife of John Cedarburg, of Minneapolis; Edith E., who was born May 24, 1895, is at home, and Min- nie V., who was born September 17, 1898, lives at Minneapolis. Mr. Peterson and wife were members of the Swedish Baptist church. Mrs. Peterson died February 25, 1920. He has been very active in politics but has always voted with the Republican party.

CHENIA A. NEWBERRY .- The busi- ness career of Chenia A. Newberry has been significantly characterized by cour- age, self-reliance, progressiveness. His un- changable purpose, high integrity have won the confidence and esteem so essential in the important mercantile enterprise to which he has devoted his attention and en- ergies, and through which he has gained high standing in the financial circles of western Nebraska, eastern Colorado and South Dakota. During practically all his business career Mr. Newberry has been as- sociated with the hardware business and no other vouchers are needed to attest his success than the substantial establishments of which he is the owner in Alliance. As one of the representative business men and progressive public spirited citizens of Box Butte county, he merits specific recognition in this publication of the great common- wealth of Nebraska and its counties.

Chenia A. Newberry is a Wolverine, born in New Baltimore, Michigan, April 9, 1869, the son of Norman and Fannie (Mor- ris) Newberry, the former having been a farmer. Chenia was the youngest of two children, as he had one sister. The boy passed his childhood and early youth on farms, acquiring the rudiments of an edu- cation by attending the common schools of Michigan in the winter time: and after he accompanied his parents to their prairie farm in Buffalo county, Nebraska, was sent to school in a sod house, and though it con- trasted to what he had known in Michigan the boy made the best of his advantages. This was in 1881, when the conditions of life and education were far different from those of the present day. On the home- stead twelve miles north of Kearney, Chenia Newberry grew to early manhood, enured to the hardships of frontier life which held no fears for him nor daunted his spirit. Until the age of seventeen he remained on the farm, then determined to seek a commercial career. The youth found employment in a hardware store in Ra- venna in the northern part of Buffalo coun-

ty where he laid the foundation for his sub- sequent commercial career, which reads almost like a fairy story, as few men achieve such great success within such a short time. In 1888, Mr. Newberry came to Alliance to found what is today one of the large, important, and interesting in- dustrial enterprises of this city and Box Butte county, and this publication gives special recognition to this representative corporation, for in the upbuilding of the business has been exemplified the splendid energy and initiative ability of its founder, who has made of his individual success a medium of leverage for the uplifting of civic and material prosperity in his home city and county. Of the inception and growth of the business founded by Mr. Newberry in Alliance, a brief record will be given.

The present enterprise had a humble be- ginning. Mr. Newberry first established himself with a hardware stock in connec- tion with which he ran a tin shop: his busi- ness grew rapidly, by leaps and bounds ; within six years after coming here he found it necessary to build a large structure known as the Glenn Miller building with floor space twenty-five by sixty-four feet ; this soon was too small so the building was extended back at the rear for greater floor space. Then followed a tin shop built in 1898, and two years later he erected a brick warehouse of practically the same size near the railroad, but the growing business de- manded still larger quarters to house the various departments. To accommodate these a large three-story and basement structure was erected on Fourth street between Box Butte and Laramie avenues, which is en- tirely given over to the wholesale business, which has expanded to such proportions that at present Mr. Newberry has three salesmen on the road covering a large terri- tory which includes western Nebraska, eastern Colorado and western South Da- kota. Five years ago the retail business also was established in a new home; this fine building covers a ground space of fifty by one hundred and fifty feet, is built of brick and fire proof. From basement to roof it is filled with the finest goods of the hardware trade. The basement is used for storage : the main floor for retail trade; the second floor is at present used as a sample room for display of goods ; while an up-to- date harness factory with the latest de- signed machines for this work has been in- stalled on the third floor. Fifty men are

579

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

on the payroll of the Newberry Company which amounts to over $8,000 a month, which gives some slight idea of the im- mense amount of business transacted with- in a year.

Mr. Newberry is progressive in policy which implies up-to-date service to all his customers, and his equipment has all the modern facilities for this purpose. His various establishments are a source of pride to the city of his adoption and its many residents. In other words, "He has put Alliance on the map." Today this man is one of the best known residents of the northwestern section of our great common- wealth, because of his own reputation as a keen, shrewd, farsighted man and a whole- saler ; he is full of life and energy which is well displayed in his business houses for he is the busiest one of the fifty or more men to be found on the premises every working day, putting in many more hours at his desk than any of his many employes.

July 23, 1893, Mr. Newberry married Miss Nellie Brennan, the daughter of Mar- tin and May (Fitzgerald) Brennan; the latter being a native of Michigan. Mrs. Newberry was the sixth oldest in a family of twelve children, consisting of ten boys and two girls. There are five living chil- dren in the Newberry family : May, the wife of Frank Abegg, the cashier of the First .National Bank of Alliance; Norman M., who graduated from the high school and then engaged in business with his father; Agnes, a student at St. Agnes Academy, of Alliance ; Helen, also attending the same school, and Master Bill, a sturdy boy of eight. While Mr. Newberry is interested in all movements for the civic and public uplift of the community, he has been far too busy with the many responsibilities of his business to take public office, believing the man best fitted to serve should be elected, and votes with this idea in mind. Fraternally he is connected with the Wood- men and Knights of Columbus.

NATHAN A. ROCKEY, the senior member of one of the progressive business houses in Hemingford, which is doing an important part in the development of this section, is one of the best known automo- bile agents and dealers in the Panhandle. Nathan Rockey was born in Green county, Pennsylvania, in June, 1868, the son of Samuel and Rosanna (Ernst) Rockey. The former was descended from a long line of early Pennsylvania settlers. Nathan was

the youngest of the seven children born to his parents and his father died when he was but a year old, from diptheria and scarlet fever, which also took some of the children. The father had been a farmer and the mother assumed her burden of raising the remainder of her family. She remained on the farm until the oldest son reached matur- ity and married, some seven years later. After that she felt that he was provided for and that she would not have to work so hard, and was just beginning to take life comfortably when she married a man named Daniel Ackley. Young Nathan con- tinued to live with his mother, attended the public schools during the winter terms, helped on the farm during vacations and Saturdays and while yet a small boy had learned the practical side of farm work. He early learned the value of money by working for it, for he helped a neighbor hoe and tend his corn, receiving half the crop, and when just a boy earned his first dollar, which proved to be eleven as his fair share of the corn crop. Like all boys he de- sired a fine saddle and that is what the money was used to purchase. When only seventeen years of age the boy started out in an independent business as a liveryman with one team of horses and a buggy. He made good on this venture from the start and as soon as his older brothes saw this he backed Nathan so he bought another team and from this start in West Alexan- der, Pennsylvania. His business grew rapid- ly and for eleven years he was engaged in this vocation. At one time his stable burned and as it was not insured the fire caused him a total loss, but notwithstand- ing this calamity, having only one team and buggy left, he began again and when he closed out his business brought a handsome profit of $5,000 and had made a good living all those years. On October 31, 1889, Mr. Rockey married, at Washington, Pennsyl- vania, Miss Minne Lloyd, a native of the Keystone state, the daughter of Joseph and Amanda (Long) Lloyd. She was the old- est in a family of six children. After dis- posing of his business interests in West Alexander, Mr. Rockey moved to Clays- ville, Pennsylvania, purchased a grocery store and became a merchant, a business in which he engaged for ten years; but he had heard of the many fine openings for an en- ergetic, resourceful man in the west and after looking the country over came to Nebraska in 1904, locating in Box Butte county, where he returned to the calling of

580

HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA

his childhood and engaged in farming for two years; then as the country looked good to him, he took a homestead of four hun- dred and eighty acres and bought a quarter section five miles north and two miles east of Hemingford. For eight years he re- mained on the farm, made good and per- manent improvements on his land and be- came favorably known as one of the pros- perous men of his community. Wishing to give his family the many advantages to be obtained in a town, Mr. Rockey traded some of his land for a store property in Hemingford in 1912. This ground has a frontage of a hundred and twenty-five feet on Main street and is a hundred and thirty feet deep. One store on the street has a frontage of fifty feet and is the main part of his garage while the remainder of the ground is covered with a store building. Associated with him in his business Mr. Rockey has his son Earl S., who married Gladys Danbom, a native daughter of Ne- braska, and they have one child, a boy. Earl Rockey and his wife are both grad- uates of the high school in Hemingford and Mrs. Rockey also took a business course in the Lincoln Business College, Lincoln, Ne- braska. The Rockey Company is agent for the Chevrolet, Ford and Chandler automo- biles, and in connection they run an up-to- date repair shop, carry a fine line of acces- sories and maintain an excellent service station. The Rockey family belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of western Nebraska and its people, Vol. III, Part 113

Author: Shumway, Grant Lee, 1865- Publication date: 1921 Publisher: Lincoln, Neb., The Western publishing & engraving co. Number of Pages: 1056

Author: Shumway, Grant Lee, 1865-
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Lincoln, Neb., The Western publishing & engraving co.
Number of Pages: 1056