History of western Nebraska and its people, Vol. III, Part 116

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

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swine. He successfully followed this line of enterprise until his death, at the age of sixty- five years. He was one of the influential and honored citizens of Saline county. His widow, a woman of superior education and gracious personality, received collegiate training, and her memory is revered by all who came within the sphere of her influence ; she was sixty-nine years of age at the time of her death. Mrs. Orr is the eldest and only surviving member of a family of three children, and was reared and educated in Nebraska, where she was graduated in Doane College, at Crete. Mr. and Mrs. Orr have a fine family of twelve children - nine sons and three daughters - and all have received the best of educational advantages, the sons having attended the Grand Island Business College and all being in partnership with their father -in connec- tion with his large and varied agricultural, live-stock and business operations. Joseph C., the eldest of the children resides at Lew- ellen, is married and has two children; Jolin Wesley, of Lewellen, is married but has no children ; Warren H, and his wife have one child; and the other children are not married at the time of this writing, their names being here entered in respective order of birth : James A., Burton F., Edith E., Andrew G., Mildred M., Nellie G., William T., Edward C. In thus giving twelve children as "hos- tages to fortune" Mr. Orr has demonstrated his repugnance to "race suicide" and he has reason to be proud of his children, as well as of the success which he has won during a life of signal activity and usefulness.

PHILIP McCORMICK, the well known and popular owner of Sunnyside Ranch in Deuel county, and its present manager, was born in Loraine, Illinois, April 24, 1879, the son of William and Jane (Taylor) McCormick, the former a native of Illinois while the moth- er was born in Missouri. The father died in 1881, but the mother still lives at Chugwater, Wyoming. Mr. McCormick was a farmer all his life. After his death the boy, Philip, was reared by a Mrs. Craga, and saw little of the other two children in the family. He was educated in the public school of Loraine until he was fifteen years old, his education being cut short by the fact that he ran away then and went to Dakota to work on the farms of other for two years. Mr. McCormick came to the eastern part of Nebraska then and a year later to Julesburg, spending a few months there in 1897, before coming to Deuel county. Here he herded cattle for ten dollars

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a month and sheep for twenty, feeding himself. To add to this income he played a violin for dances and made as high as fifteen dollars a month that way. Following this Mr. Mc- Cormick accepted a position to ride the irri- gation ditch south of Big Springs, being the second man employed in that capacity after the ditch was completed, and remained with the irrigation company over two years.

October 9, 1904, Mr. McCormick married Miss Maude Morrison, at Big Springs, the daughter of John and Amanda (Tigard) Mor- rison, pioneer residents of Deuel county, who homesteaded southwest of the town and now live retired in Big Springs. Two children have been born to this union : Hattie and Har- vey, both at home.

When Mr. and Mrs. McCormick came to the Sunnyside ranch in 1906, Mr. McCormick says he had just eighty dollars and cleared eight hundred the first year. He entered the employ of Peterson and Loveland, proprietors of the ranch, as foreman but a year later bought a third interest in it and in 1914, a half interest which he still owns. Sunnyside ranch consists of over twenty-seven hundred acres, where a specialty is made of rearing and breeding Hereford cattle, Belgian horses and Poland China hogs. The herd of cattle is considered one of the finest in this section of the country. Mr. McCormick has made a study of his business, is naturally able as a business man and it has been largely due to his policies that the ranch is one of the highly developed and profitable one of the Panhandle. He is the manager and ably handles all the business of the place as well as carrying on the necessary farming industries.

Mr. McCormick is a Republican and his wife is a member of the Methodist church. He is a progressive man in his ideas and meth- ods, uses the latest machinery and devotes his entire time to the many branches of his business.

WILLIAM H. WINTERBOTHAM, the owner and manager of the largest and most popular grocery and feed business in Jules- burg. Colorado, is a man of varied experi- ences, as he crossed the plains in the early days to seek gold in California, but did not go that far as the party stopped in Colorado. Mr. WinterBotham was born in Savannah, Missouri, December 26, 1845, the son of Sam- uel and Mary ( Strouble) Winterbotham. The father was a farmer in the early days, then a miner and prospector; the mother died in 1847 and the children were left with friends while the father went west. Later he return-

ed and the family moved to Iowa, where he was employed in the State Penitentiary. When the son William was old enough he and his father became partners in a mercantile busi- ness in Iowa ; moved from there to Columbus, Nebraska, where the father died in 1876. Will- iam Winterbotham continued in the hardware business in Nebraska until 1902, when he lo- cated in David City to open a store which he conducted until 1909, the year in which he established himself as a grocer in Julesburg, where he is regarded as one of the leading mer- chants of the city. Mr. Winterbotham has always been in the mercantile business since first forming a partnership with his father, except for a few years which he devoted to mining. He is a man of great bodily and mental vigor and looks twenty years younger than he is. He owns the largest and best equipped store in this section of the country, which he runs with the assistance of his two sons-in-law and daughter, Maude, who is the bookkeeper.

In 1874, Mr. Winterbotham was married at Columbus, Nebraska, to Miss Lillie Hudson, the daughter of H. J. and Sarah (Shefford) Hudson, the former being judge of his county and clerk for many years. Three children were born to this union : Maude, the wife of Ray C. Johnson, of Julesburg; Blanche, deceased ; and Hazel, the wife of C. W. Larabee, of Julesburg.

Mr. Winterbotham is a Republican and in years past took an active part in politics, at- tending the state and county conventions but never would accept public office, devoting his time to his growing business.

In an interesting manner, Mr. Winterbotham recounts how, in the spring of 1859, he with his father and brother started from Fort Madi- son, Iowa, for the gold fields of California to prospect and mine. They joined a large party going west, each small section driving a wagon drawn by oxen and he says that he walked most of the way from lowa to Pike's Peak. He was only a boy of fifteen at the time and enjoyed the adventure. The route lay over the famous California Trail, the "Crossing" of which lies just a short dis- ance from Big Springs, Nebraska, where the trail split, the north branch led to Cheyenne and Laramie, the south to Denver. Ash Hol- low was on the first and there the party camp- ed, being visited by friendly Sioux Indians. The party continued by way of Cheyenne Pass and on to Golden Gate - Golden, Colorado - Manitou and South Park, where they mined for two weeks but did not get much gold so

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HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA

that the gold seekers began to doubt if there was gold and sought the advise of Horace Greely who was in the locality. The elder Winterbotham was elected spokesman and Greely gave him much encouragement and the party struck off for Poke's Peak, went to Denver, then a tent city, then on to Gregory and Gold Hill, camping at Boulder creek, where they built a dam and mined some gold but there was not enough to pay them and they started back east following the Arkansas river route. They saw many buffalo, killed some and met with a few hostile Kiowa In- dians but had no serious trouble. Returning home the family became established in Iowa where the father and son later entered busi- ness.

HOMER J. SPILLMAN, one of the pros- perous general farmers of Garden county is a native son of Nebraska, born in Lancaster county, October 23, 1873, the son of Henry and Hannah (Dolcater) Spillman, the former a native of Pennsylvania while the mother was of German birth. He died in 1889 and she in 1918. They were the parents of five chil- dren : Emma, deceased ; Harry, of Julesburg ; Homer, of this sketch ; Curtis, deceased ; and Irwin, of Garden county, now in partnership with his brother. The father was a farmer and stone mason when a young man. The family came to old Cheyenne county - now divided and the part where they settled is known as Garden-in April, 1886; they took up a homestead where they lived until Mr. Spillman died. The mother then sold the farm and moved to Julesburg. Mr. and Mrs. Spillman started for their homestead from Big Springs, as there were no roads or trails Mr. Spillman knew only the general direction in which to drive. With them they had five cows, four horses, a span of mules and the Wagon. A storm came up while they were on the way which clogged the wheels making progress slow ; finally they reached the shack. which was only sixteen by twenty feet and were snow bound for some days. The first year in the new home their crops consisted of watermelons, potatoes and squash which grew so large that Dr. Babcock took some to the State Fair at Lincoln where they took the prize.

Mr. Spillman was a Republican, with his wife was a member of the Methodist church and they helped organize the Froid church and school, which were the first in their part of Garden county. Mr. Spillman had prac- tically no education and knowing the necessity of schools, it was through his efforts the first

school was established. William Barbee was clerk and Mr. Spillman director, serving until his death. The first church services were held in his house. Water had to be hauled five miles at that time but later the Spillmans had the first well in the locality. At the time of his death Mr. Spillman owned a homestead and tree claim ; was just nicely started to raise cattle and make money when overtaken by death The first plow lathe ever sharpcned in Julesburg was owned by Mr. Spillman and he did his first threshing by horse power.

Homer Spillman was educated in the public schools of Garden county, worked on the farm and when old enough took up his present homestead northeast of the Froid church. He and his brother Irwin are now in partnership, owning eight hundred acres of arable land where they engage in general farming, have well built and convenient farm buildings ; use modern methods, and are regarded as two of the progressive business men of this section of Garden county. Mr. Spillman is a Republcan and a member of the Methodist church.

March 24, 1891, Mr. Spillman married Miss Grace Daniels, the daughter of John and Isa- bella (Kearney) Daniels. The mother is de- ceased and the father now lives with Mr. and Mrs. Spillman. Mrs. Spillman was a school teacher in Garden county before her marriage, teaching part of the time in a dugout, part sod, known as the Simpson school. She drove to the school from her home with a pony and cart and sometimes was lost but the pony would always find the way. The Spillmans have one child, Hazel.

OLA CHRISTENSON, one of the pro- gressive farmers of the Panhandle whose busi- ness ability has placed him in the front rank of farmers in the Chappell district where he has made good as a stockman, was born in Sweden, February 23, 1863, the son of Chris- tian and Uellreka (Landeen) Christenson both natives of the same country, where the father was a butcher. They passed their en- tire lives in their native land. Nine children made up the Christenson family but Ola, of this review, is the only one in this part of the United States. He was educated in the public schools of Sweden and came to this country when twenty years of age, locating in Polk county, Nebraska, in 1883, where he lived un- til 1908. then came to Deuel county to buy land. The first quarter cost fifteen dollars an acre but that purchased later was higher. His property is well improved, fine buildings have been erected and the Christenson farm is one of the finest in the locality, for Mr.

ERNEST C. HODDER

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

Christenson has accomplished more in the way of improvement than many of the late settlers. From time to time more land has been pur- chased until today Mr. Christenson is the own- er of three hundred and twenty acres and leases two thousand acres, which he runs with the assistance of his sons. When he came here he had a car load of cattle, horses and hay and one of household goods and machin- ery, borrowing he money for the freight and all his property has been accumulated since that time, due to his far sight in business, na- tive ability and hard work. Today the Chris- tenson farm is equipped with modern machin- ery, tractors, threshing machine, auto trucks and an automobile for family use. Mr. Chris- tenson first planted spring wheat, but now has more of the winter variety and some for spring so that there never is an entire crop failure. The first two years in the Panhandle he raised some two thousand cattle but sees a great future in farming and is engaging in it more extensively each year. He does his own harvesting and threshing which pays.

In 1887, Mr. Christenson was married at Osceola, Nebraska, to Miss Laura Cole, the daughter of Albert and Mary C. (Van Brunt) Cole and five children have been born to them : Allie, the wife of Vena Christenson; Archie; Louella, the wife of Peter Nelson; Archie and Carl.

Mr. Christenson is one of the prominent men of the Chappell district, is known for his good judgment and business qualifications, who ever looks ahead for larger opportunities. A man of native ability rarely met. He built a modern home in 1920, equipped with all modern conveniences.

ERNEST C. HODDER, a representative member of the bar of the city of Omaha, has wielded large and benignant influence in con- nection with the industrial development of western Nebraska and especially Garden coun- ty, where he has large and important interests in connection with farm and ranch enterprise. He was one of the foremost in the develop- ment of the irrigation facilities of this section of the state and his close association with the interests of the Nebraska Panhandle entitle him to specific recognition and tribute in this publication.

A scion of staunch English stock on both the paternal and maternal sides, Mr. Hodder has been a resident of Nebraska since his boyhood, but he claims Newfoundland, Can- ada, as the place of his nativity. In that mari- time Canadian province he was born March 15, 1873, a son of Richard and Jemima (But-

ler) Hodder, the former was born in England, in 1825, and the latter in Newfoundland, Can- ada, in 1829, her parents having come to that province from England in the opening year of the nineteenth century. Her father became manager of a large wholesale and retail mer- cantile corporation. Richard Hodder was reared and educated in his native land, then he immigrated to Newfoundland in the year 1842. He established his residence at Burin, where he became a representative merchant and prominently identified with the codfish industry, for which Newfoundland has long been celebrated. In 1881, he came with his family to Nebraska and established a home in Omaha, where he accepted a position in the motive-power department of the Union Pa- cific Railroad and continued to reside there until his death, in 1894, at the age of sixty- nine years, his wife passing away at the age of eighty years.

Ernest C. Hodder was a lad of eight years at the time the family home was established in Omaha, and after completing the curricu- lum of the public schools he entered the legal department of Bellevue College. In continu- ing preparation for the work of his chosen profession he matriculated in the Omaha School of Law, and was graduated as a mem- ber of the class of 1898. He received at this time the degree of Bachelor of Laws and later the degree of L.L.M. He graduated from the University of Omaha and received his de- gree of L.L.B. He was a lecturer of the Omaha School of Law and was president until it became a part of the University of Omaha. He continued lecturer in the Law Department of the University of Omaha and was also lecturer of medical jurisprudence at the Creighton University until compelled to resign by reason of his legal and personal busi- ness which occupied all of his time and atten- tion.

Contemporaneously with his graduation Mr. Hodder was admitted to the Nebraska bar, and engaged in the practice of his pro- fession in Omaha, where his ability and close application soon enabled him to develop a substantial and representative law business. As a skilled corporation lawyer he finally be- came attorney for the Western Land & Cattle Company, in the interests of which he came to Oshkosh, Garden county, in 1903. He be- came so deeply impressed with western Ne- braska and the splendid development possibili- ties of this section, that upon his return to Omaha he became a stockholder in the West- ern Land & Cattle Company, and at the en-

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suing election of officers of this important corporation he was elected its president, in 1904. At that time the company owned about twelve thousand acres of land in western Ne- braska, besides controlling about eighteen thousand acres of leased land, lying on either side of the North Platte river, between Lewel- len and Oshkosh. The company was conduct- ing extensive operations in connection with the cattle industry, with an average run of about twelve hundred head, besides which its ranches had a contingent of hogs ranging from five hundred to a thousand head. Mr. Hod- der thus became a prominent figure in con- nection with the live-stock industry in this section of Nebraska, and he early became a · vigorous advocate and initiator of irrigation, the great value of which he clearly perceived, as a medium for the normal and maximum development of the country. His interest was one of decisive action, as shown by the fact that he took over and finished the construction of numerous irrigation projects, including the Paisley Canal, the West Side Canal out of the Blue river, and the Overland and Signal Ca- nals out of the North Platte river. While he had these important enterprises under way very little alfalfa was raised in Garden county, and, with characteristic vigor and enterprise, he gave a distinct spur to the propagation of this important forage crop. On the north side of the North Platte he put in somewhat more than a thousand acres of alfalfa in 1907-1908, and it was about this time that the company of which he was president began to dispose of its extensive land holdings in the Nebraska Pan- handle. With prevision as to the possibilities for further advancement with the construction of the railroad through this section, Mr. Hod- der individually purchased about two thou- sand acres of the fine bottom land on the north side of the river, a portion of this tract being situated between Oshkosh and Lewellen, and the rest being to the east of Lewellen. He has continued the improvement of these valu- able holdings and has contributed much to the development and progress of agricultural and live-stock industry in Garden county. He still continues to reside at Omaha, where he has a large law practice of important order, but he makes about ten trips to Garden county each year, in the supervision of his interests here, besides which he and his family custo- marily pass about two months of each sum- mer in Garden county. None is more enthusi- astic in exploiting the great advantages and future of western Nebraska than Mr. Hodder and he exemplifies his faith in both word and

action - greatly to the benefit of this favored and progressive section of a great common- wealth.

In connection with his professional activities Mr. Hodder served eight years as city at- torney of Benson, prior to that city's becom- ing a part of the Greater Omaha, and for four years he was a member of the Insanity Board of Douglas county. He was a director of the Farmers and Merchants Bank of Omaha from 1908 to 1917 ; is at the present time a director, as well as attorney, of the State Savings and Loan Association, of Omaha, a position which he has held since 1909; he is a director of the Alfalfa Irrigation District of Keith county, the Paisley Irrigation District of Garden coun- ty ; and is an active member of the Nebraska State Bar Association. In politics Mr. Hod- der is found arrayed as a stalwart and effec- tive advocate of the principles of the Republi- can party, and both he and his wife hold mem- bership in the Methodist Episcopal church, in the affairs of which he has long been active, especially in connection with the Epworth League and the work of the Sunday-school. In the time-honored Masonic fraternity Mr. Hodder has received the highest degrees of the York Rite, is a member of the Mount Calvary Commandery, Knights Templars, of Omaha, and he has received the Thirty-second degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, besides being affiliated with the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and with the lodge, Encampment and Canton bodies of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He holds membership in the Omaha Young Men's Christian Association, the Omaha Chamber of Commerce, the Omaha Athletic Club, and Knights of Ak Sar Ben.

At Council Bluffs, Iowa, June 6, 1900, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Hodder to Miss Bessie Huntington, and of the seven children of this union the eldest Sherman Huntington, died at the age of four years, the surviving children, all of whom remain at home, being: Ernest C., Jr., Florence A., Charles H., Donald R., Esther and Bessie C. Mrs. Hodder is a daughter of Ephraim and Elizabeth (Lamb) Huntington, honored pio- neer citizens of Council Bluffs, Iowa, where they celebrated July 23, 1919, the fifty-sixth an- niversary of their marriage, Mr. Huntington being a native of England. Mrs. Huntington's father was the first station agent at Julesburg. Colorado, where he was residing with his fam- ily in the late fifties, and when they fled to escape from hostile Indians of whose purposed visit they had been informed by a friendly

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

Indian. Ephraim Huntington has long been one of the leading and influential citizens of Council Bluffs, and is a venerable pioneer whose circle of friends is limited only by that of his acquaintances.

CHARLES F. HAGERTY .- Credit for this thrifty farmer of King precinct, of the Bridgeport region, must be given to Iowa, but give this section and Morrill county credit for his enterprise and ability, and let it be known that the Panhandle, in common with most other sections of this great country, is deeply indebted to Irish-American blood, for Ireland has contributed such a large share to the best element of the population of our broad land.

Charles Hagerty is a native of Iowa, born in Decatur county, in 1878, the son of John and Anna Gallagher) Hagerty, both of whom were born in the Emerald Isle. The parents spent their youth in their native country, re- ceived what educational facilities were afford- ed by that land and then being ambitious de- cided to follow in the footsteps of so many of the countrymen and women who had come to America and here won a comfortable living or fortune as the case might be. After coming to America John Hagerty became a farmer, live-stock dealer and stock-raiser. He had the distinction of being one of the pioneer set- tlers of Cheyenne county, removing from Iowa to the Panhandle in 1887. He acquired a large amount of land by taking up a home- stead, pre-empting another one hundred and sixty acres of land and filing on a tree claim. Having learned in the old country the value of good stock Mr. Hagerty bought the best grades obtainable in this section at the time he open- ed up his farm and the great success which he achieved in this line proved the truth of Ideas. In 1888, he landed in Alliance with two cars of stock, the first ever unloaded in that place. He was one of the courageous men who was not daunted by pioneer hardships. He had the trials to contend with that any set- tlers in a new country must overcome : drought, insect pests, lack of adequate farm machinery for many years and often difficulty in obtain- ing seeds, as the nearest railroad was forty mile away, either Sidney or Alliance; but he never was discouraged and with the passing years his faith in western Nebraska was justi- fied for he lived to see what was known as the "Great American Desert" become one of the fertile and productive sections of the coun- try upon which not only America but Europe depended for food during the great World War. Mr. and Mrs. Hagerty spent the last

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History of western Nebraska and its people, Vol. III, Part 116

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