History of western Nebraska and its people, Vol. III, Part 119

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

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May 10, 1892, recorded the marriage of Mr. Babcock to Miss Helen Johnson, daughter of

Joseph C. and Laura (Lewellen) Johnson, of Chappell, and Beryl, the only child of this union, died at the age of eight years.

EDWARD M. REYNOLDS, one of the prosperous and representative business men of Hemingford, who has been a resident of Box Butte county for more than a decade and during that time has taken his share of the work of opening up and developing this sec- tion, was born at Buffalo, New York, October 3, 1856, the son of Milton and Alxina (Jacobs) Reynolds, both natives of the Empire state, where they were reared, educated and later met and married. Edward was next to the youngest child in a family of five, as he had four sisters. Milton Reynolds was a contrac- tor who, when Edward was small, had a large and successful business as a builder, and at that early day he had to get his mouldings and interior finishings from the mills in the city of New York, as such things were not manufactured so far west as Buffalo. As soon as the boy was old enough he began to play in his father's shop and before long was carpentering things for himself, such as little sleds, and other children's toys, small wagons and the like, which he sold to earn spending money, when he was yet only a lad of twelve. The family came west to Chicago at an early day and there Edward was sent to the public schools, laying the foundation of a good prac- tical education. His father remained in the contracting business which caused him to lo- cate in Harrison county, Iowa ; Edward learn- ed the carpenters trade and continued to help his father until about 1875, when the other members of the family returned to Chicago, leaving Edward in Iowa. He soon went to Carrol City and engaged in contracting for himself, specializing in carpenter work for about three years but gave it up to accept an advantageous offer from the Northwestern Railroad to build the new stations they were putting up along the line as it was built west. In addition, he took on contracts for the erection of bridges for the road. After this he gave up his contracting, moved to Wall Lake, Iowa, and engaged in the furniture busi- ness. Within a short time he established a branch store for the same business in Sac City, turning over the management of this store to his father. In February, 1881, Mr. Rey- nolds was married at Sac City to Miss Cora L. Hatfield, a native of Massachusetts, the daughter of Charles and Levina Hatfield, both natives of the Bay state. Three children have been born to this union: Charles M., who

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married Leona White, is superintendent of the Imperial Sash' and Door Company of Omaha, has three boys, while he and his wife are members of the Baptist church ; Cora A., the wife of Percy Daily, a carpenter at Ger- ing, has one small daughter, Helen; and Roy, who married Ethel Price of Box Butte coun- ty, is a farmer, who responded to his country's call when war was declared against Germany and enlisted in the remount division in Oc- tober 1917, and received his training at Camp Funston. He has been honorably discharged and is now following his former vocation, as a farmer near Hemingford. In 1886, Mr. Reynolds accepted a position in the general repair shops of the Union Pacific Railroad at Omaha, where he was employed for ten years, but the confinement of indoor work did not appeal to him for a life vocation so he re- signed and came to Box Butte county in 1908, remained in Hemingford for a year then took up a homestead in Sioux county, as he knew of no man so independent as a land-owner. He proved up on his six hundred and forty acre farm, engaged in agricultural pursuits for six years, being interested mostly in stock- raising. He still retains possession of this land which has turned out a lucrative invest- ment. Coming to Hemingford Mr. Reynolds bought property here, owning a fine store building twenty-four by sixty feet, two stories high, where he conducts a furniture and sec- ond hand business, carrying both new and used goods, all of a high class. He now contemplates building another store about the same size as the one he has and then will put in a first class up-to-date repair shop for all kinds of furni- ture, upholstery and fine finishing. In addi- tion he anticipates taking contracts for all kinds of job work as he is not only a skilled carpenter but a fine cabinet maker as well, a thing much needed in Hemingford. Mr. Reynolds says that he may branch out into the lines allied with furniture when he has the new store and space for it. He and his fam- ily are members of the Baptist church while his fraternal relations are with the Modern Woodmen.

HENRY C. PETERSON was about five years of age when his parents came to Ne- braska and assumed the responsibilities and labors of pioneers in that part of Deuel coun- ty that now comprises Garden county. Thus he is virtually "to the manner born" in all that implies familiarity and association with the progressive activities that have marked the de- velopment and upbuilding of western Nebras-

ka, and that he has kept pace with the march of progress is shown in the prominent part he has played in connection with the agricultural and live-stock industries, the influence he has wielded in public affairs of a local order, and the secure vantage-place which he now holds as one of the representative business men of Chappell, where he is president of the Chap- pell State Bank, one of the substantial and well ordered financial institutions of the Nebraska Panhandle.

Mr. Peterson was born in Pottawattomie coutny, Iowa, February 15, 1882, and is a son of Peter S. and Lena ( Hansen) Peterson, both natives of Denmark, where the former was born May 6, 1850, and the latter October 8, 1858, their marriage having been solemnized in the state of Wisconsin. Peter S. Peterson came to America in 1872, shortly after attain- ing his legal majority, and after remaining for a time in the city of Chicago, he went to Ra- cine, Wisconsin, where he met and married Miss Lena Hansen, who had come with her parents from Denmark to the United States in 1865, the family home having been estab- lished at Racine. For several years Mr. Peter- son was employed in the Mitchell Wagon Fac- tory at Racine, and thereafter he was employed for a period at Council Bluffs, lowa. He final- ly turned his attention to farm enterprise in Iowa, and, in 1887, he came to what is now Garden county, Nebraska, where he took up homestead, pre-emption and tree claims, not far distant from Oshkosh, and where he de- veloped one of the large and valuable farm properties of this section of the state, his widow still remaining on the old home place, and the landed estate owned by the heirs of Peter S. Peterson now comprising eighteen hundred acres, Mr. Peterson having been one of the honored and influential pioneer citizens of Garden county at the time of his death, which occurred September 29, 1916. He was an earnest member of the Baptist Churchi, as is also his widow, and his political allegiance was given to the Republican party. Of the four children the eldest, George M., resides in Garden county ; Henry C., of this review, was the next in order of birth; Clarence W., like- wise remains in Garden county ; Dora C. is the wife of Rev. Robert C. Sharp and they reside near Oshkosh, that county; and an adopted son, Charles Peterson, remains with his foster- mother on the old Peterson homestead.

Henry C. Peterson passed the period of his boyhood under the conditions that marked the pioneer epoch in the history of the present Garden county, which was then a part of

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Deuel county, and in the little sod school house he pursued his studies during three months of each year until he had attained to the age of seventeen years. In the meantime he had learned farming on the home ranch, and at the age noted he found employment on a neigh- boring ranch. After two years of application under these conditions he devoted a similar period to independent farm enterprise in Gar- den county. There he took up a homestead, about the year 1903, and later he sold the property to one of his brothers. In the pre- ceding year he had married, and after this im- portant event in his career he continued his activities as an agriculturist and stock-grower in Garden county for three years. In buying a ranch he assumed an indebtedness of twen- ty thousand dollars. After continuing individ- ual operations one year he formed a partner- ship with his brother Clarence, with whom he was associated in the development and im- provement of the property, which they cleared of debt by 1911, besides having added mater- ially to the area of their landed estate. This property Mr. Peterson finally sold to his broth- er Clarence. In the autumn of 1909 he was elected county treasurer, which, as a matter of course, involved his removal to Chappell, the county seat. He continued in the office of county treasurer five years, and his adminis- tration was characteristically efficient, thereby justifying fully the popular confidence reposed in him. In the meantime he had become a stockholder of the First National Bank, now the First State Bank, of Oshkosh, and on No- vember 1, 1912, he effected the organization of the Chappell State Bank. The bank was incorporated with a capital stock of $15,000, and he served as vice-president of the institu- tion from the time of its re-organization until 1917, when he was elected its president, an in- cumbency which he has since retained. He has been a resourceful power in developing the business of this representative banking estab- lishment, the capital stock of which has been increased to $50,000 and the deposits of which now aggregate about $750,000. In 1919, Mr. Peterson extended his banking interests by be- coming one of the organizers of the Lakeside State Bank, at Lakeside, Sheridan county, and he has been its president from the time of its incorporation. An enthusiast in all that per- tains to western Nebraska and its great future, Mr. Peterson is a staunch supporter of pro- gressive movements and enterprises tending to advance the interests of this section of the state, and this is further shown in his owner-

ship of a valuable tract of three hundred and twenty acres of irrigated land lying west of Oshkosh, Garden county. On this ranch, which is rented out on shares, special atten- tion is given to the raising of hogs on an ex- tensive scale. Mr. Peterson is also a stock- holder in the Farmers Lumber & Hardware Company of Chappell, and is essentially one of the vital and progressive business men and lib- eral citizens of the fine country to which this history is dedicated.

In politics Mr. Peterson is found aligned as a stalwart in the local ranks of the Republican party, and while he has held no distinctive poli- tical office save that of treasurer of Garden county, he is now serving as treasurer of school district No. 7, and as chairman of the board of regents of Deuel county, besides be- ing treasurer of the vilage of Chappell. He is affiliated with Golden Fleece Lodge, No. 205, Ancient Free & Accepted Masons, at Chap- pell, in which he has passed the official chairs up to that of senior warden, and he is identified also with the local camp of the Modern Wood- men of America, his wife being a member of the Order of the Eastern Star and also of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Chappell.

On September 24, 1902, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Peterson to Miss Alice M. Atkinson, daughter of George and May ( Mill- er ) Atkinson, who still maintain their home in Garden county. Of the five children born to Mr. and Mrs. Peterson, four are living-Ches- ter A., Walter W., Henrietta I. and Wayne M.

Mr. Peterson has been, like so many other representative business men of western Ne- braska, the architect of his own fortune, and a significant comparison may be made between the modern and beautiful brick bungalow which he has recently erected for a home for his family, and his first dwelling, which was a sod house of one room, with dirt floor. His first team comprised a horse and a bull, and in the early days he went a distance of fifty- five miles for mail, to Ogallala, as no bridge had yet been constructed across the North Platte river to give access to Sidney, a point much nearer. Within a few years after the family came to this section of the state the father of Mr. Peterson became grievously crippled by rheumatism, which was a contri- buting cause of his death, so that much of the responsibility and work of the pioneer farm fell to Mrs. Peterson and her children. The father retired about five years prior to his death, but continued to reside on the old home place until he passed away.

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HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA

HUGH RIDGE, one of the later home- steaders of Banner county, is a progressive and enterprising farmer and stockman and a citizen who takes an intelligent interest in the welfare of his community. He has lived in Nebraska since childhood but his birth took place in Ringgold county, Iowa, August 28, 1884.

The parents of Mr. Ridge, Jesse H. and Matilda (Owens) Ridge, had seven children born to them, Hugh being the eldest and the others as follows: Alice, who is the wife of Vern Waitman of Morrill county; Tressie, who is the wife of Ted Kelly, of Banner coun- ty; Forest, who went to France as a soldier with the American Expeditionary Force, died there October 4, 1918; Lydia, who is the wife of Walter D. Stewart, of Banner county ; Lloyd, who lives with his brother Hugh, and Viloet, who resides with her sister, Mrs. Wait- man. The mother died in October, 1904. The father had been a farmer and stockraiser be- fore he came to Nebraska in 1887, when he pre-empted near Steamboat Rock, about three years later moving to Cheyenne county and homesteading. In those early days he met with many misfortunes through loss of crops, and at times found himself willing to work for fifty cents a day and walk a long distance to and from his home, in order to provide for his family. He assisted in the construction of the railroad at Alliance. He lived on his home- stead in Cheyenne county until 1910, then sold out and spent two years in Kansas engaged in farming, and one year in Florida. Mr. Ridge then returned to Nebraska and now lives re- tired at Bridgeport. He is a Republican voter but has never been active in politics.

Hugh Ridge attended school in Cheyenne county and remained with his father until he was twenty-one years of age. In 1908, he came to Banner county and homesteaded and lives on the place, a well improved tract of a hundred and twenty acres, to which he has added, owning at present three hundred and fifty-five acres, both farm and ranch land. General farming and stockraising engages his attention and he is in very comfortable cir- cumstances. On November 29, 1908, he was married to Miss Goldie Darnall, a daughter of Scott and Rosie (Tucker) Darnall, and they have three children: Louise, born July 7, 1909; Nelson, born January 21, 1911; and Viva, born April 5, 1913. Mr. Ridge is an independent voter.

CHRISTIAN JENSEN, who was one of Banner county's well known and highly re- spected citizens, lived quietly, peacefully and

industriously on his homestead on section 12, town 15, for more than fifteen years. He was an intelligent, upright man and his neighbors trusted and esteemed him. He was born in Denmark, February 11, 1855. His parents were Jens and Marian (Poulsen) Christinsen, according to family nomenclature in Denmark. Both parents lived and died there, Christian being the only member of the family to come to America.

In May, 1888, Christian Jensen came to the United States and settled at Dunlap, in Har- rison county, Iowa, where he worked for five years. In 1892, he filed on a homestead in Kimball county, Nebraska, and in the winter of 1893, settled on his land and improved it, in 1903 trading his Kimball county property for the homestead in Banner county, on which his widow lives. In 1908, he filed on a Kim- ball claim and Mrs. Jensen owns and operates at the present time four hundred and eighty acres, about equally divided into farm and ranch land. She has shown herself a very cap- able business woman and carried on her farm and stock industries with extreme profit. Un- til 1919, she continued to reside on the land in the original old log house, where Mr. Jensen passed away on April 22, 1918, moving then to a comfortable frame dwelling newly erected. Her property is well fenced and all the farm buildings are substantial.

Mr. Jensen was married July 11, 1902; to Miss Julia Netvick, a daughter of Andrew and Anna (Jorgensen) Netvick, who lived and died in Norway. Mrs. Jensen and her brother Hans, who lives in Minnesota, were the only members of the family of eight chil- dren to come to America. Mr. Jensen met with some hard times after he located in Kim- ball county, prices on produce being low and drouth destroying his crops. For a time he hauled water from fourteen miles away and later bought water for a few cents a barrel. He was a Republican in politics, and served two terms as township assessor of Julian pre- cinct, Kimball county. He assisted in building the Danish Lutheran Church there, to which both he and wife belonged. Mrs. Jensen is kind and hospitable and has many friends in the neighborhood where she has lived so long.

CHARLES V. WEBBER, whose life has seen many changes, came to Nebraska in 1904, with practically no capital. Here, through his energy and enterprise, he has acquired large properties and has continually broadened his efforts as opportunity has arisen and has be- come a leading business man of Banner coun-

MR. AND MRS. OSCAR O'BANNON AND SON

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ty. It is needless to say that Mr. Webber has been the architect of his own fortune.

Charles V. Webber was born in Pennsyl- vania, August 10, 1874, the only child of W. M. and Jennie (Heffley) Webber. His young mother died when he was an infant. She was born at Winita. Indian Territory, but of her people he knows nothing, nor anything of his father's people. Practically an orphan boy, he made his home with friendly people until he could provide for himself. He began to work as a newsboy and through early youth sold newspapers along the Ohio river, at Wheeling and at Parkersburg. After spending one winter in a lumber camp in the Virginia mountains, he decided to try his fortune in the west. He was only seventeen years old when he reached Chi- cago, Illinois, and later he went to work on a farm near Aurora, Illinois, where he met with kindness and appreciation. 3 He was married on February 15, 1898, to Miss Mary A. Milton, who died in Banner county, July 4, 1919. She was a daughter of John and Helen ( McConicle) Milton, former residents of Illi- nois, now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Webber liad two children, Harry and Peryl, both of whom reside with the father.

Mr. Webber and family came to Nebraska from Illinois, in 1904; he filed on a claim near Hull and the family lived on that homestead for five years, during this time Mr. Webber leased several sections and ranged cattle on the land, later filed on three quarter section at Eagle's Nest and still owns that valuable property. still later buying two more sections. He then leased land in Garden county but on finding conditions un- comfortable for a home, bought a lease on the A. H. Pierson ranch in Banner county and still resides there. He does an extensive busi- ness in buying and selling cattle and rents pas- ture land to others. His business success liad been remarkable and considering his early handicaps, quite unusual. Mr. Webber is widely known and much respected. He has never desired any public office, his business interesting him to a greater extent. He is a Republican of many years' standing.

may well serve as an example of good man- agement and practical results in farming, as they are among the most progressive agricul- turists in Box Butte county. The O'Bannon brothers are essentially self-made men and may well look upon their success with pride, as the present large fortunes are the work of their own brains and hands as they accumu- lated all their property by their own unaided efforts and have builded solidly and well. Oscar O'Bannon was born near Mattoon, Illi- nois, June 5, 1876, the son of Oscar F. and Sarah (Colson) O'Bannon, the father being a congenial son of the Blue Grass state, who had all the delightful charm of the typical Kentuckian, while the mother was born in Ohio. Oscar was the third in the family of six children and as his father was a farmer in Illinois, he spent his early childhood in that state, early learning self reliance and thrift and able to take and give and look out for hin- self as all children in a large family do. When the boy was about seven years old the family came west to Nebraska, locating in Seward county' where Oscar's boyhood days were spent. He was sent to the nearest district school where he gained a good practical edu- cation and as soon as his age and years permitted began to assist his father in the work on the home farm. While still a small boy he earned his first money by trapping mink, as the country was little settled and game plentiful. From that time to the present he has always been a great hunter and fisher- man and when William Jennings Bryan was running for president the first time a banquet was given in his honor at the Lincoln Hotel, Lincoln, Mr. O'Bannon furnished four hun- dred quail, which shows his prowess as a huntsman. All his educational advantages were obtained in Seward county and as the father had poor health, Oscar remained at home, really having the active management of the place until his marriage which occurred on December 31, 1901, at which time he was united in wedlock at Atkinson, Nebraska, with Miss Emma Schrader, a native daughter of Seward county, whose parents were August and Johanna Schrader, the father being a na- tive of Germany who became one of the early

OSCAR O. O'BANNON. - The qualities of adaptability, common sense, persistence and good judgment have prevailed in the energetic · pioneer settlers of Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. life of Oscar O'Bannon, winning for him an O'Bannon have one child, Charles Oscar, a fine boy of seven years. After his marriage Mr. O'Bannon was engaged in farming for about six years, then came to Alliance in 1908, for he had a natural talent for business, which had made him so successful in carrying on his farming. Though his capital was enviable place in the business circles of Al- liance, where since 1908, he has been a mem- ber of the firm of O'Bannon Brothers, oper- ators in real estate and now two of the larg- est producers of potatoes in the upper Platte valley. Their property in the Alliance district

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small at the time he landed in Box Butte coun- ty, this did not deter him from at once launch- ing out into the real estate business and it seems that fortune has smiled upon his efforts most graciously. This, he claims, is due large- ly to the aid and support he received from his capable wife. She is an excellent manager of the home and when difficulties arose Mr. O'Bannon often talked them over with her, ob- taining timely and wise council with regard to investments and sales. From first locating in this county Mr. O'Bannon has carred out the policy of buying all the land he handled, and rarely works on a commission basis, thus giv- ing the greatest satisfaction to his clients. From time to time he has bought land in association wth his brother, which they have held for their own agricultural business until today they have six well improved farms with- in three miles of Alliance, consisting of about fifteen hundred acres of the finest arable land in this section. It is especially well adapt- ed to raising potatoes and that is the use to which they have placed it. In 1907, the O'Bannon brothers responded to the presi- dent's call for increased production by raising them by the carload - and we might say train- load - lots. That year they realized a profit of $333 an acre from the land they had planted to the tubers. This shows what may be accomplished by good management when men with good heads, who are willing to study farming can obtain by buying cheap land in Box Butte county. The two brothers are partners in their varied lines of endeavor, not only do they raise but they also buy potatoes in the surrounding district. In 1914, they shipped four hundred and fifty car loads, having seventeen cars on one train. The prop- erty they now hold in the Alliance district is worth at a most conservative estimate $150,- 000. In addition to this they have a large business building, enormous warehouses for handling the potatoes and have built a series of caves for storing them which adds about $50,000 to the value of the estate. In Alliance they run a general feed, flour and coal busi- ness which in itself would be about all that one firm could handle. This year-1920-they intend to use two thousand bushels of pota- toes for seed alone and the prospects are that they will have a bumper crop, which at the present prices of potatoes, will mean a small fortune in itself. Oscar O'Bannon is just completing a modern home in Alliance at the corner of Emerson Avenue and Fourth Street, at a cost of $22,000 where he and his hospit- able wife will soon be at home to their friends.

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History of western Nebraska and its people, Vol. III, Part 119

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