History of western Nebraska and its people, Vol. III, Part 12

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

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James M. Carr attended the Lexington pub- lic schools and was graduated from the high school in 1893, after which he spent one year in the Lincoln normal school. Mr. Carr en- tered business as a clerk in a general store and continued with his first employer for sev- en years. In 1900 he came to Scottsbluff and embarked in the lumber business with a part- ner under the style of Carr & Neff, which has since been changed to the Carr & Neff Lumber Company. In addition to acting as secretary of the company, Mr. Carr attends to the out- side yards and business details.

In 1903 Mr. Carr was united in marriage to Miss Ada Johnston, a daughter of G. S. John- ston, a farmer near Lexington, and they have one daughter, Dorothy, attending school. Mr. and Mrs. Carr belong to the Presbyterian church. He is a good citizen but is identified with no particular political party.

CHARLES M. MATHENY, who is en- titled to affix a number of letters to his name, indicating high scholarship, has practically spent his life in the school room and has high standing as an educator in Nebraska as well as in his native Ohio. For seven years he has been superintendent of the Scottsbluff schools.

Charles M. Matheny was born at Athens, Ohio, January 6, 1874. His parents were Rev. L. G. and Hannah (Martin) Matheny, the former of whom was born in Ohio and the latter in New Jersey. The mother of Professor Matheny died in April, 1914. Her father, William Martin, was born in Ireland,

MR. AND MRS. DICK PICKETT

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

came from there to the United States and set- tled first in New Jersey but later moved to Athens, Ohio, where he died. On the paternal side the ancestry is French. The paternal grandfather, Isaac Matheny, was born in Ohio. His parents came from France, as Huguenot refugees, and settled at first in Virginia but later moved to Ohio and established the home in which L. G. Matheny was born and reared. He entered military service in the beginning of the Civil War, in which he served four years, was lieutenant of company I in an Ohio regiment that took part in the memorable struggles at Memphis, Shiloh and Vicksburg. Later he became a minister in the Methodist Episcopal church and since retiring from ac- tive church work has carried on a fire insurance business at Nelsonville, Ohio. Of his seven children, Charles M. is the eldest of the sur- vivors, the others being: William, in the em- ploy of the General Electric Company at St. Louis, Missouri; Harry, employed as an in- spector by the Hupmobile Company, at Dc- troit, Michigan ; Gertrude, the wife of W. A. Pride, a dental practitioner at Gloscester, Ohio; Luella, head saleswoman in a wholesale millinery house at Detroit; and Marie, private secretary for an attorney at Cleveland, Ohio.

Following his graduation in 1889, from the Beverly, Ohio, high school, Charles M. Ma- theny began to teach school and thereby earn- ed his way through college, his method be- ing to teach during the winter season and en- ter school in the spring. Thus he paid his way through the Ohio University at Athens, between 1894 and his graduation in 1900, with the degree of B. Ped. For two years he was superintendent of the schools of Coolville, Ohio, for three years was principal of the public schools of Athens, for three years af- terward taught mathematics at Circleville, and in 1908 was offered a fellowship in Ameri- can history and political science, at Columbus, Ohio, receiving his Master's degree in 1909. For three years before coming to Nebraska, he was principal of the schools of Defiance, Ohio, and afterward, for two years was school superintendent at Emerson, in Dixon county, Nebraska. He came then to Scotts- bluff and took over the superintendence of the city schools. At the present time he has heavy responsibilities, having charge of nine school buildings, 51 teachers and 1,562 pupils. Supt. Matheny is a man of progressive ideas and many modern innovations have been plan- ned and accepted by him for the benefit of the school service.

He has a capable trained nurse inspect the pupils twice each week. He

has done much to raise the standard of schol- arship and gives encouragement to various school movements designed to arouse ambi- tion and emulation.

In 1898, Professor Matheny was united in marriage to Miss Lolo Wiley, who was born at Guysville, Ohio, her father, A. P. Wiley, being a substantial farmer and stockman and a veteran of the Civil War. Mrs. Matheny is a highly educated lady, a teacher, and much interested in higher education. They have one son, H. Claire, who was born August 1, 1901. At present he is attending the Univer- sity of Colorado. The family belong to the Methodist Episcopal church. In politics, like his honored father, Mr. Matheny is a Republi- can. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity and is a member of the Eastern Star order.

DICK PICKETT, one of the leading and progressive business men of Scottsbluff, who has been and is playing an important part in the development of this western section of the state, is the exponent of what ability and deter- mination may do. There are numerous in- stances in western Nebraska where men have arrived in the Panhandle without acquaint- ances or friends and have worked their way to affluence and position, but there are few which equal the record of the man whose name heads this review. He has been the architect of his comfortable fortune and has the pride of knowing that it has been by his own unaided efforts that his present competency has been accumulated through honest business methods and his own hard work. His ability, given the opportunity finally to evince itself, has placed him in an enviable position, for today Mr. Pickett is accounted one of the leading citizens of Scottsbluff and the surrounding commercial district.

Dick Pickett was born in Perry county, In- diana, January 3, 1859, the son of James H. and Maryanna (Evett) Pickett. The father was a Hoosier by birth, was reared and edu- cated in his native state, where he received his educational advantages in the public schools, and after attaining manhood's estate, engaged in the business with which he had become familiar in his early youth, agricultural indus- try, and was accounted one of the best farmers and successful stockmen of that section and time. Maryanna (Evett) Pickett was born in Ireland, and accompanied her parents to America when she was a young girl of thir- teen years. After reaching the United States the family located in Indiana, where she grew to womanhood, was educated, and there met and married her future husband. She was a

HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA

loving wife and devoted mother and lived to see all her children well started in life before she was called by the Grim Reaper to her last rest in her forty-fifth year. In 1893, James Pickett left his old home in Indiana and came west, locating at Ravenna, Nebraska, about three years, then to Springfield, Missouri, where he died. He lived to be eighty years old. He enlisted in 1861 in Company H, Twenty- third Indiana Regiment and served three years, also three of his sons, all in same regiment and company.

Dick Pickett was reared on his father's farm in Indiana; attended the public school nearest his home and grew up enured to the invigorat- ing but strict discipline of farm life. He early learned all the practical methods of farming and such stock raising as was conducted in Indiana, where he engaged in business when old enough to conduct his own affairs. He was an ambitious youth, read of the many advan- tages afforded a man willing to hazard his for- tunes in the newer country west of the Mis- souri river, and while still a young man deter- mined to strike out from the old and more thickly settled districts for the west, which has ever had a lure for the youth of this broad land. In 1883, he came to Nebraska and set- tled in Buffalo county on a farm which he cul- tivated for seventeen years, bringing the soil up to a high state of fertility, making perma- nent improvements in the way of buildings, and becoming one of the well-to-do farmers of that section. In 1900 Mr. Pickett sold his first farm in Nebraska and purchased a better loca- tion in the vicinity of Hershey, but he was wide-awake, kept abreast of all agricultural questions of the day, and with a keen, far vision soon realized that the great future of the agriculturist lay in that section where a man was not dependent upon the rainfall which in this semi-arid country made farming rather a gamble than an assured commercial enterprise, and selling his holdings he came to Scottsbluff county to take advantage of the irrigation projects, both private and government, for he knew that the soil was fertile enough provided water could be had in proper quantity and at just the proper growing season. Mr. Pickett purchased twenty acres of land just east of the city of Scottsbluff, but within the corporation limits, and an eighty-acre tract a mile north of town. He has raised feed and engaged ex- tensively in buying western cattle, feeding them to fatten for the market and then shipped to the big packing centers of Kansas and Ne- braska, and along this line has met with grati- fying success as he is a skilled buyer, a good manager and hard worker, a combination that

must bring good results in business when a man devotes his energies and abilities to a desired end. In politics Mr. Pickett is a staunch adherent of the Democratic party, though he does not draw strict party lines in mere local elections, as he is broad-minded enough and has the affairs of his community so at heart that he desires to throw his influence to the best man fitted to serve the people. Fra- ternally he is allied with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and with his family is a mem- ber of the Presbyterian church. Mr. Pickett has not been remiss in any duty of citizenship and is today regarded as one of the progressive and influential men of Scottsbluff, and his suc- cess is well merited.

On November 3, 1886, Mr. Pickett married Miss Lizzie Herbaugh, in Buffalo county, Ne- braska. She was born in Indiana but came to Nebraska with her parents when a child and was reared and educated in this state, so may almost be regarded as a native daughter. Her father, John Herbaugh, was also a Hoosier by birth, reared and educated in that state, and after attaining manhood, established himself independently in business as a farmer. In- diana was well settled up at that time and land was high, so he decided to take advantage of the fine offers of land given by the homestead plan in the west, and in 1873 he came to Ne- braska, locating on a claim in Buffalo county, and thus he became one of the hardy, sturdy, brave pioneers of the middle west. The family passed through all the hardships and privations that settlers had to contend with, but they were not discouraged by blizzards or droughts, and lived here to see their faith in this great, wide, open country justified. Mr. Herbaugh, invig- orated by his strenuous life, was a hearty old man who lived to be seventy-three years old. He served three years in the Rebellion. Rachel Ann Crawford Herbaugh was born and bred in Indiana, where she received her education and after her schooling was over, met and mar- ried John Herbaugh, accompanied him to the new home in the west, and was a loving wife and faithful helpmate during all the trying years they spent on the frontier, establishing a home and winning a comfortable fortune be- fore the sunset years of life overtook them. Mrs. Herbaugh passed away in her sixty-sixth year. They had a family of ten robust children and lived to see them become capable, upstand- ing, honorable men and women.

Mr. and Mrs. Pickett have been blessed with ten children, of whom eight survive : James M., of Glendo, Wyoming, a farmer owning his own homestead, who during the World War served in the Coast Defense Artillery at San

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

Francisco and also in the Fortieth Coast Artil- lery, receiving his honorable discharge Decem- ber 23, 1918; Mrs. Verdie R. Roseman, of Torrington, Wyoming, has two children: Wil- liam O., of Glendo, Wyoming; John C., of Scottsbluff, who also served in the Coast De- fense Artillery in San Francisco, being later transferred to the Forty-first Coast Artillery at Fortress Monroe, is now a student at the University of Nebraska, at Lincoln; Willard, deceased ; Dorsey M., Theodore, Ivedell, Rich- ard, and Raymond, all of whom are still at home with their parents, who intend to give each child every educational advantage afford- ed in the city and state that they may be well equipped to start out in life.

CLYDE L. HARRISON, a representative business man of Scottsbluff, who is doing a large business as contractor and builder, was born at Greenfield, Iowa, February 10, 1880, and has been a resident of Scottsbluff for sev- enteen years.

The parents of Mr. Harrison are John J. and Clara E. (Rice) Harrison, both of whom survive. The father came to Iowa in young manhood and served three years in the Civil War as a member of company C Twenty-third Iowa infantry. He was a daring soldier and in one of the big battles was so seriously wounded that he had to be placed in a hospi- tal and later was honorably discharged. He was a carpenter and contractor before the war. He now resides in the Soldiers' Home at Leavenworth, Kansas, while the mother is a resident of Ainsley, Nebraska. Of their nine children seven survive and four of these live in Nebraska, three other sons besides Clyde L., namely : Worley M., who is a resi- dent of Gordon; Orien A., who lives at Ain- sley ; and E. Lee, who is in the contracting business at Scottsbluff. In politics the father is a Republican, and both parents are members of the Presbyterian church.

Clyde L. Harrison obtained his education in the public schools in Nebraska. He learned the carpenter trade and after locating at Scottsbluff in; 1902, was, for years, engaged in more housebuilding than any other builder and contractor in this city. In 1918 he opened his garage, where a general automobile repair business was carried on, and he handled the King and Oldsmobile cars. This business he sold out in the spring of 1919.

In 1903 Mr. Harrison was united in mar- riage to Miss Amy B. Fink, who was born at Seward, Nebraska, and they have the follow- ing named children: Velma Gertrude, Ivan

Ray, Clyde, Helen Ruth and Howard Sheldon, the older children being in school. Mr. and Mrs. Harrison are members of the Presby- terian church, in which he is an elder and member of the board of trustees. Men of Mr. Harrison sturdy character are not apt to be unduly active in politics with a view to se- curing public office, but he is a faithful, ernest citizen and conscientiously supports the prin- ciples of the Republican party.

JOHN W. MONTZ, whose business enter- prise and natural adaptability have placed him among the successful men in the automobile industry at Scottsbluff, is one of Nebraska's own sons, born at Harrisburg, August 5, 1891. With him in conducting the garage is his brother, Martin R. Montz, and an extensive business is done.

The parents of Mr. Montz are Martin and Gertrude (Simon) Montz, the former of whom was born in Steuben county, New York, July 20. 1858, and the latter in DeKalb county, Missouri. They were married December 30, 1880, at Cameron, Missouri, and six children have been born to them: Elizabeth Matilda, the wife of J. R. Naird, a farmer and stock- man in Sioux county, Nebraska ; Lebanna and Martie R., twins, the former of whom lives at Alberta, nine miles north of Scottsbluff, and the latter of whom is in the garage busi- ness at Scottsbluff ; Gertrude Malissa, the wife of John Burnstock, a railroad man of Bridge- port, Nebraska ; John William, of Scottsbluff ; and Verna Ruth, an accomplished stenograph- er. The parents are members of the Christian church. Politically the father is an indepen- dent voter, and he belongs to the order of Unit- ed Workmen. He came to Nebraska in the spring of 1884 and in 1886 homesteaded in Banner county, where he engaged in farming for several years. Later he came to Scotts- bluff and for a number of years was in the meat market business. He now assists in the garage owned by his sons. He is well known and much respected.

John W. Montz remained at Harrisburg, where he attended school until 1900, then worked on a farm near Scottsbluff and as a stockman for a while. About 1910 he em- barked in an automobile livery business at Scottsbluff, which he conducted for four years, then worked as a mechanic in a garage until he had learned the business in every de- tail, including the mechanism of every type of automobile. In 1918 he opened his own gar- age and since then has devoted himself closely to his business with satisfactory results. On

HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA

December 4, 1913, he was united in marriage to Miss Bertha May Klingman, and they have one daughter. Loraine Genevieve. He is inde- pendent in his political views but no one doubts his good citizenship.

MARTIE R. MONTZ, who is well-known in the garage business at Scottsbluff, in asso- ciation with his brother, John W. Montz, was born in Missouri, February 7, 1884. He is one of a family of six children born to Martin and Gertrude (Simon) Montz, the former of whom was born in Steuben county, New York, and the latter in Missouri, in which latter state they were married.

The parents of Mr. Montz came to Nebras- ka in the spring of 1884, when he was but an infant. His father homesteaded in Banner county in 1886 and his early years were spent on the home farm but he attended school at Harrisburg. Mr. Montz then went farther west and for fifteen years rode range in Mon- tana, South Dakota and Idaho as well as Ne- braska, meeting with many thrilling adven- tures during that time. In 1917 he located at Scottsbluff and went into business with his brother, and a large business connection has been built up. The partners are practical men, both have had solid experience and the public has confidence in them.

Mr. Montz was married on December 25, 1918, to Miss Sylvia Folden. While inter- ested and well posted on public affairs, Mr. Montz like his father has always preferred to be an independent voter.

GEORGE F. KIMBROUGH. - There are few men in the automobile business at Scotts- bluff who have advanced to the front in this line more rapidly or substantially than George F. Kimbrough, and not always do men of col- legiate training and professional prestige, find equal success in the practical field of business. Mr. Kimbrough is the owner of the. Scotts- bluff plant of the Platte Valley Motor Com- pany, and also owns the Bayard Motor Com- pany.

George F. Kimbrough was born at Denver, Colorado, October 18, 1887, the second in a family of three children born to James W. and Norah (White) Kimbrough. The other members of the family are: James T., who is a railroad man, of Denver ; and Corinne, who is the wife of Stephen M. Hall, a stockman of Denver county. The mother of the above family was born at Bellefontaine. Ohio, April 18, 1859, and the father at Carthage, Illinois, December 7, 1849. He came to Denver in

1878, was married at Denver, and for years has been a railroad man, at present being one of the older conductors on the Colorado & Southern line. He is a Democrat in his po- litical views and belongs to the Masonic fra- ternity.

With his graduation from the high school in 1907, George F. Kimbrough completed the entire public school course at Denver, and in 1912 graduated from the law department of the Colorado State University with his LL.B. degree, during his college life being a member of the Phi Delta Theta and the Phi Delta Phi Greek letter fraternities. He was admitted to the bar in the same year and engaged in the practice of law with the firm of Macbeth & May, of Denver, for four years. Mr. Kim- brough then became interested in the auto- mobile business and accepted the office of secretary of the Sharman Automobile Com- pany, with which concern he remained eigh- teen months and then took charge of the Scottsbluff branch of the Platte Valley Motor Company, in which he bought a one-half inter- est in April, 1918, and the remaining interest in January, 1919, and also became owner of the Bayard Motor Company as mentioned above. Mr. Kimbrough handles Ford cars and Fordson tractors exclusively. His sale field is all through the Platte Valley where these cars and tractors are very satisfactory.

On June 24, 1914. Mr. Kimbrough was united in marriage to Miss Helen Ryals, who was born at Macon, Georgia, and they have a daughter, who was born April 19, 1919. He belongs to Union Lodge No. 7, A. F. & A. M .; Denver Chapter No. 2 R. A M .. and Colorado Commandery No. 1, Knights Templar and El Jebel Temple Shriners. He is not affiliated with any political party but is a watchful citizen nevertheless and casts a careful, well considered vote according to his own free judgment.

FRANK B. DE CONLY. - One of the in- teresting men of Scottsbluff is found in Frank B. De Conly, vice president of the Scottsbluff Live-Stock Commission Company, and of oth- er important business enterprises, not only be- cause of his pleasing personality, but on ac- count of the fact that he has built up a sub- stantial fortune, entirely through his own ef- forts in the comparatively short time since he reached manhood. He was born in Custer county, Nebraska, in 1888.

The parents of Mr. De Conly, Frank and Mary E. (Ellington) De Conly, reside at Hast- ings, Nebraska. The father was born in Penn-

MRS. ELIJAH MCCLENAHAN

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

sylvania and the mother in Virginia and their marriage took place at Plum Creek, Nebras- ka. Of their five children the following are living: Emma, who is the wife of Charles Godby, of McCook, Nebraska ; Edwin, who is a printer, lives at Scottsbluff ; Florence, who is the wife of Harry Fiest, lives in Colorado; and Frank B., who is so widely and favorably known in the Panhandle. The father, a print- er by trade, came to Nebraska in the seventies and settled first in Dawson county, where he worked in a mill and on a ranch before moving to Custer county where he homesteaded. He is a Democrat in politics, is a Knight of Pythias, and both he and wife belong to the Episcopal church.

Frank B. De Conly attended the Callaway public schools and the Lexington high school, after which he went to work for the Union Pacific Railway at Callaway, where he remain- ed fourteen months. He then spent five months at Hastings in the paint shop of Haines Brothers, and seven months for the Burling- ton Railroad as checker. He then went into the incubator factory of the M. M. Johnson Company, later becoming an office man there and remaining eight years. In the meanwhile, from being an enthusiastic baseball player for recreation, he became an expert in the nation- al game, and for seven years played profes- sional baseball as third baseman in the State League and the Tri-State League. In this con- nection he is remembered admiringly all over the country. In 1912 Mr. De Conly came to Scottsbluff and embarked in the real estate business and in the fall of that year went into the stock business. He now has three large farms, his main activities being feeding cattle and sheep, his record showing that in one year alone he fed 10,400 head of sheep, and each year ranges from 3,000 to 10,000, and from 500 to 1,000 cattle. He has demonstrated great business capacity, has invested wisely and at present is identified with a number of prospering business concerns. In addition to being vice president of the Scottsbluff Live- Stock Company, he is vice president of the Fisher Grocery Company, and owns one-third of the company stock and one-fourth of the livestock, in the former organization. He owns three hundred and forty acres of fine land.

In 1910 Mr. De Conly was united in mar- riage to Miss Neva Wyman Palmer, who was born in Seward county, Nebraska, and is a daughter of David B. Palmer, a heavy stock- man and leading citizen of Seward county. Mr. and Mrs. De Conly have one son who has

about reached the engaging age of two years and bears his maternal grandfather's honored name. Mr. De Conly is a vestryman in the Episcopal church at Scottsbluff. He is an in- dependent in his political opinions but is a very active and influential citizen in all matters pertaining to the progress of Scottsbluff. Dur- ing the two years of his service as a member of the city council, he was president of that body the entire time. He is a Scottish Rite Mason and a Shriner. He has never lost in- terest in manly sports and is a member of the Athletic Club at Omaha.

ELIJAH McCLENAHAN, pioneer in irri- gation, farmer and financier, who is now num- bered among the substantial business men of Scottsbluff, has been the architect of his own fortune, and having based his life's structure on firm, substantial foundations, has builded soundly and well. When he entered upon his career he was possessed of little save inherent ability, great ambition and the determination to succeed, and these have been sufficient, through their development, to enable him to become a large landholder, progressive farmer, and man of finance in a well-to-do community that does not lack for able and successful men of enter- prise and progress.

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History of western Nebraska and its people, Vol. III, Part 12

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