History of western Nebraska and its people, Vol. III, Part 123

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

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In a wide circle of the county he is known to everyone as "Judge Chambers." No history of Cheyenne county or the state of Nebraska would be complete without his name. For more than a third of a century this scholarly man has made his home in the vicinity of Sid- ney, where he has engaged in his educational profession. He has been connected, from first locating here, with the educational inter- ests of the county, and by sheer force of char- acter, learning and ability of a high order he has imbedded his name deeply and permanent- ly in the school history of the county and the Panhandle.

While pride of ancestry is not a marked characteristic of the American citizen, it is, nevertheless, not only natural but highly commendable that one should feel a just pride in the fact that he has descended from ances- tors who were well known in their day and generation. With this thought in mind it is hoped that a brief account of the parents of Charles Chambers will not be deemed inap- propriate in the sketch of their son.

His father, Jobe Chambers, was a native of New Jersey, descended from some of the first settlers who located in this eastern state at an early day, of excellent European blood, while his mother Anna Jones, was born in England, and represented some of the best traits of the inhabitants of that tight little island who have played such a great and im- portant part in colonizing the entire world. Mrs. Chambers was but eleven years of age when brought to the United States by her parents, and though she had already attended school in England completed her education af- ter landing in America. Jobe Chambers was born in New Jersey and was but six years of age when his parents removed to the then wilds of Indiana, and there he passed his childhood and youth, receiving his educational advantages in the state of his adoption, grew to manhood and when his school days were over engaged in business. He came of healthy, sturdy stock and has already passed beyond the psalmist's span of "three score years and ten" as he is still living in Indiana at the advanced age of eighty-three years and takes an active in- terest and part in the life of his community.

Charles P. Chambers was born in Bowling Green, Indiana, November 12, 1858. His boy- hood was passed on his father's farm, where he attended the public schools of his locality in the winter and during the summers found oc- cupation on the farm. His father being an educated and cultivated man he gave his son every advantage in training to fit himself

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for the battle of life. After completing the course in the local institutions the young man matriculated at the Central Normal College of Danville, Indiana, and upon graduating from the college, animated by an ambition to give fullscope to his abilities, he entered a business college in Indianapolis, Indiana. At the close of this course of special study, Mr. Chambers entered the pedagogic profession by accepting the position of teacher in Indiana, where he was engaged in professional service for three years before removing farther west to the state of Iowa, where he again became the guide and instructor of the rising genera- tion of that commonwealth. Having been reared on a farm and being experienced in the practical management of agricultural busi- ness Mr. Chambers after coming west decided to become a land holder himself, and, in 1885, chose Nebraska for his future home. After looking about for the best location he settled on a homestead eleven miles southeast of Sidney in a valley of a branch of Lodgepole creek. Thus he became one of the pioneers of this section. More than thirty-four years have passed since Mr. Chambers first came to Cheyenne county, which at that time, while not the veritable wilderness of the early seven- ties, was still sparcely settled, habitations were few and civilization was still in primitive form. He first establshed a home for his family and made such permanent improvements on his land as was possible so far from sources of supply. Money was a scarce commodity at this period on the plains and very soon he saw that it would be necessary to have more capital to carry on the improvements he had planned for his farm. Having been a success- ful teacher farther east, he turned to his pro- fession in this time of stress and assumed the duties of preceptor in the district school and later in the town of Lodgepole. His marked ability could not pass unnoticed and within a short time Mr. Chambers was elected county superintendent for four years, where he dis- played such admirable qualities that the voters of the county showed their appreciation of his ability by placing him in office as deputy clerk of Cheyenne county. Following close upon the discharge of his duties in this ca- pacity he was again elected county superinten- dent of schools, serving two years before com- ing to Sidney to accept an excellent position in the city school, but after four years here was forced to give up professional life as his health had been materially assailed by the indoor life and close confinement incident to his duties to the community, and being ad-

vised by his physician to live out doors, Mr. Chambers went out onto his ranch. As his capital had increased the original Kincaid homestead had been augmented by other tracts which Mr. Chambers purchased in the vicinity, so that by this time his landed estate consisted of over twelve hundred acres. He at once assumed active management of the farm which already had excellent improve- ments in the way of a comfortable home, ex- cellent farm buildings and late and improved farm machinery for the lightening of labor about the place. For years Mr. Chambers had given much attention to farm industry, had studied up on the best crops for this semi- arid climate and what kinds of stock thrived best and were the best money makers. All this store of knowledge he applied to his farm business upon locating in the country and with- in three years his marked success as a diversi- fied farm producer and stock-raiser was recog- nized throughout this district which is well known for its progressive agriculturists and stockmen. After regaining his health Mr. Chambers returned to Sidney to establish his home as he wished to give his children the benefit of the excellent educational advantages afforded in town, though he still continued the active management of his ranch and thus gain- ed the benefit of the outdoor life which this en- tailed. In 1915, however, he rented the ranch as the year before he had been elected county judge, and in order to devote his time and en- ergies to the duties of this exacting office gave up the management of the place. Judge Chambers was elected on a non-partisan ju- dicial ticket, which shows how high is his standing in the community which has called upon him to serve it, and filled the office with such credit that he was re-elected in the fall of 1916 and again in 1918, and still again in 1920, with no opposition.

The public school has been a favorite realm of the judge as we know and since coming to Sidney as a permanent resident he has served on the school board, the advocate of every ad- vanced educational movement for the perma- nent betterment of system, school buildings, good salaries for good teachers and modern methods. No man in Cheyenne county has re- sponded more liberally to the calls of the public than this pioneer of the Panhandle; no man has contributed more cheerfully to every public enterprise, or lent a greater service to the de- velopment of his county and community, for he has been a public figure since first coming to our great state. During the war his influence was given to the furtherance of its prosecution

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and to the assistance of the government in every manner as he was chairman of the Council of National Defense of the county, was a heavy buyer of Liberty Bonds and took an active part in every Liberty Bond drive in Sidney and Cheyenne county.

All his life the judge has been a supporter of the Democratic party and has taken an ac- tive part in shaping party policy in his com- munity, and it was on the Democratic ticket that he was elected county superintendent ; but his popularity was so great that his election to the bench was due to no party influence, but a spontaneous appreciation of the commun- ity as he ran on a non-partisan judicial ticket with no opposition. Fraternally the judge is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of Amer- ica, while he and his wife are members and liberal supporters of the Episcopal church in which both are active workers.

On November 7, 1880, Judge Chambers married Miss Sarah Stevens, a native of In- diana, who died in 1884, leaving one son, William Ezra, a young but prosperous ranch- man of Cheyenne county. February 3, 1885 the judge married Miss Susan Sanderson, al- so a Hoosier by birth, and they have nine liv- ing children, one having died in infancy : Clar- ence F., the manager of the Central Elevator Company of Sidney ; Robert O., the editor of a newspaper at Minatare, Nebraska; Guy Cleveland, who volunteered for the service of his country when the United States entered the World War and saw service in France as a lieutenant, but has already returned, received his honorable discharge and taken up the pur- suits of peace as assistant attorney for the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad ; Anna Rebecca, the wife of J. D. Emrock, of Alliance, Nebraska, where she holds the im- portant position of superintendent of schools ; Eunice Viola, who married Oscar A. Olson, a rancher of Cheyenne county ; Charles Allen, who enlisted in the army at the age of sixteen and was sent to a training camp in Maryland and though so young was advanced to the po- sition of corporal of his company, but peace was declared before he saw service in Europe ; Ray C., Vera Ellen and Arthur Dale, all of whom are still under the happy family roof tree.

PETER SODERQUIST, well known ranchman of Deuel county, is one of the early settlers of this region who has suffered all the hardships and privations incident to living in a newly opened country in the way of drought,

blizzards and lack of water, as well as finding it hard to get money to buy supplies, but he believed in the future of this western country, stuck and today is the owner of seventeen hundred and twenty acres of land, over seven hundred of which are under irrigation as the land lies along the Lodgepole creek.

Mr. Soderquist was born near Malmo, Sweden, February 24, 1867, the son of Lars and Hanna (Monson) Soderquist, both na- tives of that country, where the father was a farmer. While serving in the army he was regimental saddle and boot maker, a trade which he learned from his father. After leav- ing the army he farmed in the summer time and followed his trade in the winter season, and died in 1911, aged eighty-two years. There were seven children in the family, of whom six survive: Andrew, of Montrose, Colorado; Lewis, of Vernal, Utah; Peter, of this sketch; Betty, the wife of Nels Martin- son, of La Mar, Colorado ; Ola and Anna, in Sweden, and one that died in infancy. The parents were members of the Lutheran Church. Peter Soderquist was educated in the public schools of Sweden and came to the United States in 1883, locating in Wahoo, Ne- braska, but remained there only one winter before going to Julesburg, as one of his broth- ers had gone there shortly before. He and another brother started for the south divide, driving some cattle, when a storm came up and they spent the night in the snow just a few rods from the dugout prepared by the first brother, the storm preventing them know- ing it. They erected sod buildings and then Peter and one brother went to Colorado seek- ing work. They had a hard time as so many men were out of work and few jobs were available; suffering from cold and lack of food on the way to different towns, they fin- ally secured work with a farmer who watched them with a gun to see that they did not run off. Several months later Mr. Soderquist re- turned to Saunders county, Nebraska, as fore- man of a ranch, remained two years before going west to make charcoal in the mountains but in 1892, took up land near Julesburg which he bought a year before. On November 4, 1892, Mr. Soderquist married Miss Hildah Anderson, the daughter of Jens and Anna (Nelson) Anderson, of Deuel county, and they became the parents of the following children : Louis, deceased ; Anna A., Percival A., Addie E., Edith E., Edna N., Selma N., Grace L., and George J., all at home. Mrs. Soderquist was born a half mile from the home of her husband in Sweden but they did not meet until

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years later here in Deuel county. After living on the farm a year Mr. and Mrs. Soderquist became disgusted as they were so far from town and water, and in the spring of 1893, came to Deuel county to buy land, living here since. With prosperity Mr. Soderquist bought more raw land, erected good buildings, sold and again bought, so that today he is one of the large landholders of the section. He put in his own irrigation system and is a progres- sive man, using the latest machinery.

Mr. Soderquist is a Republican; he ran for county commissioner being defeated by only two votes. He has been school trustee of three districts and was instrumental in secur- ing the new court house for Chappell. He reads widely and is well posted on public af- fairs and can tell many reminiscences of be- ing out in storms in the early days and the different experiences of those times.

WILLIAM W. FAUGHT, who is now liv- ing retired at Oshkoslı, Garden county, is to be attributed with the distinction of pioneer hon- ors in this county, where he established his residence more than thirty years ago, when it was still an integral part of Cheyenne county, and where he reclaimed and improved the val- uable ranch property of which he is still the owner. A pioneer citizen of substantial worth and unqualified popularity, he well merits re- cognition in this history of the Nebraska Fan- handle.

William Wilson Faught was born in San- dusky county, Ohio, January 17, 1850, and in the old Buckeye state were also born his par- ents, who were representatives of pioneer families of that commonwealth. He whose name introduces this review is a son of Levi and Rosanna (Miller) Faught. The father was born and reared in Perry county, Ohio, and in his native state he became a prosperous farmer. In 1864, he removed with his family to St. Joseph county, Michigan, and there con- tinued his activities as an agriculturist about twenty years, as one of the honored pioneers of the county. Finally he removed to Goshen, Indiana, where he continued to reside until he was venerable in years, when he came to Ne- braska to make his home with his son Wil- liam W., of this sketch, and three months after coming to Oshkosh he died, at the age of eighty-six years. His wife passed the closing years of her life at Three Rivers, St. Joseph county, Michigan, where she died at the age of eighty-eght years, both having been earnest members of the church, and his political faith having been that of the Republican party. Of

the six children two sons and two daughters are now living.

William W. Faught acquired his rudimen- tary education in the public schools of his na- tive state and was about fourteen years old at the time of the family removal to Michi- gan, where he continued to attend school, at the same time he contributed his quota to the work of the home farm. At the age of nine- teen years he rented his father's farm, in St. Joseph county, Michigan, and there continued operations five years. He then removed to Fremont, Ohio, and for the ensuing two years was engaged in selling the celebrated J. I. Case threshing machines throughout his as- signed Ohio territory. Thereafter he devel- oped a prosperous contracting business, in the construction of bridges and drainage ditches, with which line of enterprise he was identified in Ohio, until the spring of 1887, when he came to Nebraska and became a pioneer set- tlers in what is now Garden county. He shipped his household goods by railroad to Lodgepole, Cheyenne county, whence he trans- ported them overland to the present Garden county, then a part of Cheyenne county. Here he filed entry on homestead, pre-emption and tree claims, to which he perfected his title in due course of time, and here girded himself most gallantly for the work of reclaiming and improving his land, to which he eventually added, by purchase, until he figured as the owner of a fine ranch property of eight hun- dred acres, improved with modern buidlings and showing every other evidence of thrift and prosperity as the passing years contributed their largeness. He continued in the active supervision of this ranch until 1910, when he rented the property to his son and son-in-law and removed to Oshkosh, where he has since lived virtually retired, although he retains the ownership of the valuable farm which he de- veloped as a pioneer agriculturist and stock- grower of the county.

Influential and loyal in community affairs Mr. Faught served one term-three years-as county commissioner of Denel county, prior to the erection of Garden county, and he gave several years of effective service as a member of the school board of his district. His poli- tical allegiance is given to the Republican party, and he gives liberal support to the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which his wife is an active member.

March 12, 1869, recorded the marriage of Mr. Faught to Miss Eva Stults, who was born in Sandusky county, Ohio, a daughter of James and Matilda (Johnson) Stults, the

OSCAR R. LOVELACE

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

former a native of Ohio and the latter of In- diana, the father having died at the age of sixty-three years, and the mother at the age of seventy-four years. Nellie, elder of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Faught, became the wife of Curtis Farris, who farms a portion of the Faught ranch, and she was called to the life eternal on December 16, 1916, being survived by two children. The only son of the subject of this review, has active charge of the portion of the father's estate that is not operated by the son-in-law, Mr. Farris, and he is well upholding the civic and industrial prestige of the family name.

OSCAR R. LOVELACE, vice president of the American Bank of Mitchell, Nebraska, is one of the younger bankers who are mak- ing financial history in the Panhandle as his management of the bank has placed him in the front rank in the commercial circles of the northwest. His business career has been characterized by self reliance, initiative and ex- ecutive ability of a high order, all qualities which bring normally in their train a great measure of success. His integrity and con- servatismi have begotten public confidence for the bank and he is held in high esteem by the citizens of Mitchell, which is necessary in the furtherance of success in the line of enter- prise which Mr. Lovelace has chosen. As a banker, Mr. Lovelace has shown great con- structive talent and it has been largely through his policies and efforts as manager, that the American Bank has made such rapid progress since its organization in 1919.

Mr. Lovelace is practically a son of Scotts- bluff county, though he was born in Grant City, Missouri, February 4, 1880, the son of N. R. and Alice (Lore) Lovelace, the former a native of the Badger state, while the mother was born in Pennsylvania. In 1883, N. R. Lovelace came to Dawson county, Nebraska, being one of the earliest settlers of that sec- tion. He took a pre-emption on which he proved up but learning of the fine land to be had in the upper valley of the Platte came to Scottsbluff county in 1889. After arriving here he took a tree claim near Gering but gave it up in 1893, to go to California where he engaged in fruit raising near Fresno. The family, however, did not like California as well as the high prairie country so returned to Ne- braska, when Mr. Lovelace filed on a home- stead and bought an additional quarter section of land adjoining, six miles southwest of Ger- ing, where the family still make their home. This farm has been highly developed and to-

day is one of the most valuable and productive tracts of land in the county.

Oscar was practically reared in Scottsbluff county as he was but a small child when the family first located here. He received his edu- cational advantages in the excellent public schools and then graduated from the high school at Gering. As the cattle industry was still one of the largest in this section of the country at that time, the boy naturally craved to join in the free life, with the adventures af- forded by the cow camps of the great cattle barons and became a cowboy, spending four years on the ranges in western Nebraska and Wyoming. When he had exhausted all the various phases of out door life he began to give thought and attention to the question of a career. By the life in the open Mr. Love- lace had become robust and hearty and he soon saw that muscle alone did not bring in the greatest returns for the amount of work ex- pended but when guided by a well trained mind, the combination won. Realizing the value of a higher education he deserted the cattle business and went to Lincoln, Nebraska, to take a special course in the Lincoln Business College, having decided that a business career best suited his inclinations. On the comple- tion of his studies, Mr. Lovelace returned to Scottsbluff county and Mitchell, accepting a position as bookkeeper in the Mitchell State Bank, when it was organized in 1907. Here he displayed such marked ability in finance, learning the banking business from the ground up, that when the American Bank was organ- ized in 1919, he was made executive officer and vice-president of the institution; in fact, he was one of the prime movers in its inception and organization. He became one of the heavy stockholders and so has their interests ever at heart. From its start the bank has had a phenominal success, due to the men who have shaped its policies and especially Mr. Lovelace, who has proved a most efficient manager. Mr. Lovelace has made many worth while business acquaintances and associations which have been valuable to the bank ; he is popular per- sonally and when the bank was organized told all the employes that the slogan of the institu- tion was to be "Service." Patrons are treated courteously, their interests are considered as well as those of the bank and as a result the deposits are constantly increasing. From first entering business Mr. Lovelace has also en- tered actively into the civic and communal life of the county and town of Mitchell, he advo- cates and helps "boost" everything that tends to the development and up-building of this sec-

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tion of the valley, giving liberally of time and money in support of all the progressive move- ments that are placing the Panhandle "on the map," and is the originator of many of them. He firmly believes in living his Ameri- canism and citizenship and personally attains the high standard that he sets for others. Dur- ing the war he aided in every way in its prose- cution, being one of the prominent figures in raising money during all the drives for Liberty Bonds and for the Red Cross.

In politics he is a member of the Republi- can party, while his church affiliations are with the Federated church. For some time Mr. Lovelace has been secretary of the school board, which has led to many modern equip- ments being introduced and he is now serving as a member of the city council.

On April 15, 1909, Mr. Lovelace married Miss Gertrude Ford, born in Colorado, but practically reared in Scottsbluff county, as she is the daughter of C. W. Ford, who was clerk of the county for more than six years, and is one of the prominent pioneer settlers. Three sons have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Lovelace, Ross C .. Charles Ford, and Joseph Nelson.

CONRAD LINDERMAN, owner and edi- tor of the Crawford Tribune, one of the well known journalists of Nebraska, is a man whose life has been eminently useful and is a fair example of the "average man" in our American citizenship. His education was pro- cured through close application to reading the newspapers and books obtainable by or ac- cessable to the studious young man in the American country printing office. His efforts and influence have always been devoted to bet- tering the conditions of his fellow men from his viewpoint, but always finally submitting to the will of the majority, which is necessary in a true democracy. From young manhood he has contended that the two main levers of our civilization, the medium by which we transport our productions and the medium by which we exchange them, should be under full control of the people. He also contends that we should provide some method for the exchanging of our products which would not require the production of an equal value of our products in order to create a medium for the exchanging of the same.

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History of western Nebraska and its people, Vol. III, Part 123

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