History of western Nebraska and its people, Vol. III, Part 135

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 pleasant reminiscence and with much humor, Mrs. Hayward relates numerous in- cidents and adventures with which she gained first-hand information as she traveled many miles by stage coach through what was then a practically unsettled part of Nebraska. She learned how people long separated from the conventional customs of living, still managed to be happy and cheerful along the line of a rud- er civilization, and what she criticized and felt resentful about at first, she later under- stood. It was a new and startling experience to sleep in a room next to a log saloon, with the sheriff of the county and his friends play- ing cards all night almost within her sight, or later to share her landlady's bed with the chil- dren of the family and the five pet dogs sleep- ing beneath, and it was a distinct shock when she reached Gordon, in Sheridan county, to learn that it was the home of the original "Doc." Middleton, notorious horse thief and outlaw, of whom she had read in "Western Life," far away in her peaceful eastern home.

By this time Miss Smith had decided to lo- cate permanently in Nebraska but Sheridan county did not altogether satisfy her; Rush- ville at that time consisting of but one log house and a tent hotel, and Hay Springs of but one house. She came then to Dawes coun- ty and reached what is now Chadron, in April, 1885, immediately consulting Benjamin Loe- wenthall, who had established a clothing store in a tent three miles from the present town site. The city of Chadron, it may be remarked re- ceived its name from a French trapper and squawman named Chadron, who came to this country in 1847. After necessary prelimin- aries, Miss Smith pre-emped land twenty-five miles west of Chadron, and by September of that year had established herself in a business way, on her present location at Chadron. Dur- ing the first summer she raised all the vege- tables she needed on her homestead. Earlier, she went to Box Butte county and filed on a timber claim, and it was on her return trip from that mission that she stopped over night at a country boarding house that was also a grocery and incidently the post office for that section. She discovered that occasionally the argus eyes of the government may see but blindly, for the postmistress could neither read nor write and each expectant recipient of a letter was at liberty to select what he chose. If the key to the mail bag happened to be mis- laid, the bag was easily opened with a sharp

knife. It seemed to be the custom at that time and Miss Smith recalls no dissatisfaction.

On January 26, 1888, Mary E. Smith was united in marriage to William F. Hayward, who had come to this county in 1886, and homesteaded five miles west of Chadron. Mr. Hayward was a prominent man in the popu- list party, served one term as mayor of Chad- ron and one term as treasurer of Dawes coun- ty and was one of the organizers of the lodge of Odd Fellows. He died some years ago.

When Mrs. Hayward went into the gener- al mercantile business, she established the firm name of M. E. Smith & Co., which has been maintained ever since. She began in a small way, carefully watching the tastes of her cus- tomers before laying in a heavy stock, and in order to be accommodating, kept her store open in the evenings and on Sundays, although it entailed a wearying round of toil. She suc- ceeded. Today Mrs. Hayward carries the largest stock of general merchandise in Chad- ron, and gives employment and pays high wages to some twenty people. She stands fore- most among the business men of the county and her satisfied patrons come long distances to deal with her.

Immersed in business as she has been for so many years, Mrs. Hayward has not been a re- cluse ; on the other hand, has taken an active and interested part in all that concerns the advancement of her sex, both politically and so- cially. She is a leading member of the Woman's Suffrage Club at Chadron, which she helped to organize, and is president of the Suffrage organization in Nebraska, working hard for legislative recognition. She is consistently charitable and has given substantial encour- agement to many moral movements here. Dur- ing the life of the Business Men's and the Com- mercial clubs, she was a working member and in that way did much to assist in the develop- ment of the city. She belongs to the order of Lady Maccabees.

BENJAMIN F. PITMAN, who has been one of the enterprising and representative men of Dawes county for many years, and identi- fied with the prosperous little city of Chadron almost from its beginning, came to this sec- tion of the state in 1887, and has greatly as- sisted in the wonderful development that has taken place here within thirty-three years. Observant and thoughtful from youth, am- bitious but always soundly practical, Mr. Pit- man discovered business opportunity where many others saw only a prospect of wasted effort. Time has justified his optimism that was supplemented by applied energy.

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

Benjamin Franklin Pitman was born Janu- ary 16, 1861, at Newcastle, Indiana, and his education was secured in the public schools of his native city. After completing his high school studies, he entered the Citizens State Bank in a clerical capacity, and while there, during a whirlwind political campaign, was elected city clerk, this election being considered at the time in the light of a joke played on him by his friends. Mr. Pitman accepted the office and proved so efficient that he was elected without oppor tion for a second term, but he had no political aspirations and soon resign- ed in order to enter upon the duties of assist- ant cashier in the Rushville National Bank, at Rushville, Indiana, with a salary of $1,500 a year. To many less farsighted men this would have been quite satisfactory, but Mr. Pitman in looking ahead, realized that a more active business career would be more congenial. Hence he resigned his position and gave up his comfortable salary in the bank and entered in- to partnership with a friend and together they established a real estate, loan and insurance business at Huron, South Dakota.

This partnership was more or less satisfac- torily operated for several years and then dis- solved, the partner accepting a business propo- sition farther west and Mr. Pitman acquiring the agency of the Showalter Mortgage Com- pany. In the meantime Mr. Pitman had or- ganized the West Coast Fire and Marine In- surance Company of Washington. After handl- ing the agency business very successfully at Huron for some years, the Showalter com- pany sent him to Chadron, Nebraska, in 1887, as their northwest representative. It may be stated that in that capacity he loaned home- steaders over $500,000 for the company.

Mr. Pitman had by no means forgotten his training and early association with the banking business, and became financially interested in the bank at Harrison, Sioux county, became its president with C. E. Holmes as cashier, later selling the bank. For some years he has been a director and a member of the finance committee of the First National Bank of Chadron and the First National Bank of Hay Springs, in Sheridan county. His realty at Chadron is very valuable, consisting largely in modern buildings which reflect credit on owner and architect. In partnership with Charles F. Coffee, he erected the handsome Coffee-Pitman block, the largest business struc- ture in the city, and he built also the Rex The- ater building, the old Post Office building and the Masonic Temple.

There was a time when Mr. Pitman was

personally acquainted with the majority of the settlers in Dawes county, knew every road in the county and could follow every trail. In 1897, he invested in land extensively in the county, acquiring twenty-five thousand acres, buying some of it for a dollar an acre. Later on he sold quarter sections of this land for two hundred and fifty dollars, this same land now commanding from seventy-five dollars to a hundred dollars an acre. Mr. Pitman owns the brick-yard at Chadron but has it under rental.

After locating at Huron, South Dakota, Mr. Pitman returned to Rushville, Indiana, where he was united in marriage with Miss Emma M. Morgan, and they came immediately to Huron, a sister of Mrs. Pitman accom- panying them. At that time it was indeed a desolate place for cultured young women to try to make a home. Building operations had not yet been directed to the erection of com- fortable residences, and Mr. Pitman had to establish his wife and sister in the Railroad Hotel. During their necessary period of resi- dence in this pioneer hostelry, the ladies learn- ed more facts concerning the state of western civilization and the character and personality of the Indians of whom they had read exten- sively, than they ever dreamed of, but they were sincere and resourceful young women and the time came when they could bravely smile over what at first, seemed unbearable con- ditions. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Pitman, one of whom died in infancy. The survivor, who bears his father's name, is now completing his university studies in Wash- ington, having served with the American Ex- peditionary Force for two years in France dur- ing the World War. Mrs. Pitman is a mem- ber of the Episcopal church.

Mr. Pitman has never been anxious to serve in any political capacity, but he has always been an ardent Republican and proud of his Americanism. For seven years he was a mem- ber of the city council of Chadron, when he resigned in order to accept the position of city clerk. He has been quite active in fraternal life, is Past Master of Samaritan Lodge No. 158. A. F. &. A. M., Chadron, Nebraska, and its oldest resident Past Master; Past High Priest of Occidental R. A. Chapter No. 48, Chadron, Nebraska; and Past Grand High Priest of the state of Nebraska: Past Illus- trious Master of Zerrebubel Council Royal and Select Masters, No. 27 of Chadron, Nebraska ; and Grand Captain of the Guard of the Grand Council of Nebraska; Past Eminent Com- mander of Melita Commandery No. 22,

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HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA

Knights Templar of Chadron, Nebraska ; Past Commander of Chadron Lodge Knights of Pythias : Tangier Temple O. A. O. M. Shrine, Omaha, Nebraska; K. C. C. H. Scottish Rite Mason, Omaha, Nebraska; Consistory No. 1, Omaha, Nebraska ; is a trustee of the Nebras- ka Masonic Home; a charter member of Nor- folk Lodge No. 653, later transferring to Chad- ron Lodge No. 1399 and a member of the Elks of which he is a trustee.

HON. ALBERT W. CRITES, who for many years was accounted Chadron's leading citizen, achieved distinction at the bar, on the bench, in politics and in Freemasonry. His wide learning, his professional ability, his so- cial gifts, true manliness and distinctive per- sonality, received generous recognition from those who knew him longest and best, while on numerous occasions he was chosen by the high- est governmental authorities for positions of trust and great responsibility. It was in an- swer to such a call that he came first to Chad- ron. His entire life was one of honorable and satisfactory accomplishment, and in his death, his community and the county and state lost a man of unusual worth.

Albert W. Crites was born at Waterford, Racine county, Wisconsin, May 12, 1848, and died at Chadron, Nebraska, August 23, 1915. His parents were Joseph and Lydia (Darling) Crites. The paternal genealogical line leads back to a Pennsylvania Dutch ancestor who served as a soldier under General Braddock at Fort Duquesne, in 1775, and the maternal, to a Connecticut colonist who was a member of the colonial contingent sent in 1745, to as- sist the British in the capture of Louisburg, Cape Breton. Albert Crites' boyhood was passed on his father's farm and his early edu- cation was secured in the district schools of Racine county. Later he became a student in Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin, and afterward taught school four years. Mr. Crites then entered upon the study of law in the office of Judge Hand, of Racine, was ad- mitted to the bar on March 22, 1872, and sub- sequently was admitted to practice in the Cir- cuit, District and Supreme courts of the United States.

In 1886, Mr. Crites was appointed by Pres- ident Grover Cleveland, chief of the depart- ment of captured property, claims and lands, and, in, 1887, by the same authority he was ap- pointed the first receiver of public moneys in the United States Land office at Chadron, com- ing here in June of that year. With the ut- most efficiency he administered this office for

two years and three months, retiring when a change of administration brought Mr. Harri- son to the presidency. From casting his first vote until the end of his life he was a loyal and ardent Democrat, serving at times as a mem- ber of the Democratic State Central Commit- tee, and very often attending state conventions as a delegate from Dawes county. In 1891, he was appointed by Governor Boyd to fill a vacancy as Judge of the Fifteenth Judicial Dis- trict of Nebraska, and his career on the bench reflected credit both on himself and the judi- cial district. He served also as county attorney of Dawes county and was a member of the Ne- braska Land Transfer Commission. In com- munity affairs he assumed a natural leadership, built up the public schools as a member of the Chadron board of education, and as mayor in- augurated many substantial movements and gave encouragement to numberless worthy en- terprises.

On June 15, 1876, Judge Crites was united in marriage to Mary Caroline Hayt, who was born at Battle Creek, Michigan, in 1846, and still survives. Two sons were born to this marriage, Edwin D. and Frederick A., both of whom are prominent in the business and pro- fessional affairs of Chadron and Dawes county. Judge Crites was a Mason of high rank and at the time of death was Knight Commander of the Court of Honor, the entering degree of the Thirty-third degree in Freemasonry, a distinc- tion attained by comparatively few members of the fraternity.

Edwin D. Crites, son of Albert Wallace and Mary Caroline (Hayt) Crites, was born Jan- uary 29, 1884, was educated in the Nebraska State University, studied law and was admitted to the Nebraska bar in 1908. Like his father, prominent in Democratic politics, he was elected county attorney of Dawes county and served five terms, from 1908 to 1919, and earl- ier had served as city attorney and city engin- eer of Chadron. He is active in business circles and is a member of the Reitz & Crites Lumber Company, of Chadron and Wayside, Nebraska. Mr. Crites is unmarried.

Frederick A. Crites, son of Albert Wallace and Mary Caroline (Hayt) Crites, was born at Plattsmouth, Nebraska, July 1, 1885. He attended the Chadron high school, the Lincoln high school and the Nebraska State Univer- sity at Lincoln and was admitted to the Ne- braska bar. In November, 1918, he was elected on the Democratic ticket, county attor- ney of Dawes county, and was appointed by Hon. W. H. Munger, referee in bankruptcy for this district, and is serving most satisfac-

MR. AND MRS. ARTHUR BARTLETT

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

torily in both offices. He has long been prom- inent in the lumber industry and is vice-presi- dent of the Reitz & Crites Lumber Company of Chadron and Wayside, Nebraska.

Mr. Crites was married at Kansas City, April 18, 1913, to Miss Marion H. Hart of that place, a daughter of S. E. and Caroline (Smith) Hart. They have two sons: Albert Wallace and Sherman E. Mr. and Mrs. Crites are members of the Congregational church. He is active in civic affairs, taking an earnest and sincere interest in the welfare and progress of Chadron and is particularly interested as a member of the city board of education. He be- longs to the Masonic fraternity and to the Elks at Chadron.

ARTHUR M. BARTLETT, pioneer set- tler of Dawes county, president of the Dawes county Farm Bureau, one of the largest land- holders in the county and a man who has taken a prominent and active part in the de- velopment of this section, deserves a place in the history of the county, where he has lived close to a half century. He was born in Pres- cott, Hampshire county, Massachusetts, De- cember 26, 1860, the son of Alfred E. and Re- becca L. (Putnam) Bartlett. The ancestors of this illustrious family came over in the Mayflower and one of the members signed the Declaration of Independence. Mr. Bartlett is the oldest of the six children born to his parents. The father was a farmer and young Arthur was reared in the country. He attend- ed the country schools and worked on the home place in the summer time. In 1867, the family moved to Audibon county, Iowa, and settled forty-five miles from a railroad, there being only three houses in the country. By winter time the family had a house to move into as they were about a mile from the little village of Exira. The next spring the father bought more land a half mile south of the little town which was the county seat of Audobon county, where the Bartletts lived until 1886.

Arthur Bartlett continued to attend what schools were afforded in his frontier home in Iowa and when old enough helped on the farm, becoming a practical farmer at an early age. December 15, 1880, Mr. Bartlett mar- ried Miss Ada L. Shravger, who was born at Rock Island, Illinois, the daughter of Frank and Anna (Umtsead) Shravger, the former a native of Pennsylvania, while the mother was born in Danville, Illinois. Mrs. Bartlett was next to the oldest in a family of four, be- ing the only girl. Her father was a carpenter

by trade, who moved to Iowa with his family in 1868 after his marriage. Mr. Bartlett and his bride lived on a farm for three years in Iowa, then came to Dawes county, Nebraska, in 1884, and took a homestead and timber claim twenty- six miles south of Chadron which he still owns. When he came here he had but seventy-five dol- lars cash, a pair of mules and an Indian pony besides four head of cattle. It took all the money to buy lumber for a house. The first year he put in a sod crop and had thirty acres of fine oats and barley which was hailed out in July. He then began to help put up hay to earn some money, working for a dollar and a quarter a ton and boarding himself as well as furnishing his own team. In order to live and as he expressed it, "Make a grub stake," he obtained the mail route from Hay Springs to Hemingford and Nonpareil, which he drove for two years. Mrs. Bartlett joined her hus- band in their new home in 1885, at a time when they had to get supplies from Valentine, a hundred and fifty miles away. To make the trip usually took about fourteen days. The next year the railroad reached Rushville and the first settlers began to gather up the buffalo bones and those of other animals and sold them for fourteen dollars a ton. Mr. Bartlett made some money this way and also by breaking land for other people who were coming into the country. He lived on his homestead until 1893, adding to his land from time to time. He was very successful in his business and at the present time owns seven thousand acres, which makes him one of the largest landholders in the county or western Nebraska. For many years he has dealt and handled in live stock as well as raising many cattle and still uses his land for this purpose.

From first settling in the Panhandle Mr. Bartlett has taken a prominent part in the de- velopment of the county and played a leading part in public affairs, for in 1890, he was elect- ed county commissioner of Dawes county and served three years. In 1892, he superintended the breaking of the buffalo grass on the court house grounds and had it planted to blue grass the following year. Then he took up a col- lection in the various county offices and had twelve trees planted, elm and boxelder, the first on the grounds around the court house. The county up to this time had been renting a building for a poor house and hiring a matron. In 1893 Mr. Bartlett persuaded the other county commissioners that it would be better to have a county poor farm and succeeded in buy- ing a quarter section of land two and one-half miles east of Chadron on Bordeaux creek,

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HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA

which is practically self supporting. Mr. Bartlett only used his good judgment in this matter as in the many others coming up dur- ing his administration so that he made many improvements that benefited all the county, taking care of its affairs as he would his own business.

In 1893, Mr. Bartlett was elected sheriff of Dawes county, was re-elected in 1895. In the spring of that year the people of Crawford be- gan to object to the canteen maintained at Fort Robinson, and called upon Sheriff Bart- lett to close it. He went, capturing a large amount of liquor which the colonel in com- mand refused to turn over, but when Mr. Bartlett informed him that he would call the assistance of the State Militia, the liquor was given up. Mr. Bartlett has served as a mem- ber of the board of managers and general su- perintendent of the Dawes County Fair As- sociation for thirteen years ; he was one of the first men to realize the value of a county farm bureau and helped in the promotion of the Dawes County Farm Bureau of which he is president. This is an honor for Dawes was the third county in the state to get such farm demonstration and shows that Mr. Bartlett is a man abreast of the times. He took a leading part in the organization of the Farm- er's Union, which owns a grocery store and elevator of twenty-four thousand bushels, also a flour mill of a hundred barrels capacity. Though engaged in all varied endeavors, Mr. Bartlett has continued the active management of his ranching business and at one time owned ten thousand acres of land on which he ran five thousand cattle, eight hundred sheep and some horses. He now is the owner of five ranches or tracts of land comprising nearly. seven thousand acres all well improved for the purpose for which he uses it. Mr. and Mrs. Bartlett have one son, Alfred T., who is asso- ciated with his father in the ranch business and also owns a thousand acres of land of his own. He was just getting his business in shape to enlist in the army when the armistice was signed.

Arthur Bartlett, Sr., is a Republican, has taken an active part in public life for many years. Mrs. Bartlett is a member of the Methodist church and the family is one of the first financially and socially in Dawes county.

BENJAMIN LOEWENTHAL, who is not only a pioneer settler but also the pioneer mer- chant of Chadron, Nebraska, is also the sole survivor here of the nineteen original town

property owners. The same enterprising spirit that led to his coming to this section thirty-five years ago, has been a moving force ever since, not alone in the substantial expansion of his own business interests, but in the development of projects for the welfare of all this section. He has long been one of the representative men of Dawes county, and many times has been called upon to fill positions of trust and responsibility.

Benjamin Loewenthal was born at Brook- lyn, New York, February 10, 1855, a son of Moses and Rachel (Cohn) Loewenthal. Of their five children, four survive, Benjamin being the only one living in Dawes county. In 1881, Moses Loewenthal came west to the Black Hills, and in the following year his wife and children joined him. They lived in that region until 1889, moving then to Dawes coun- ty, Nebraska, where the rest of their lives were spent.

Growing to manhood in the east, Benjamin Loewenthal had excellent opportunities in the way of educational and business training, and was well equipped when he came to Dawes county. With remarkable foresight he chose a business location on a railroad line, on April 25, 1885, setting up a tent in the village of Da- cota Junction, three miles west of the present city of Chadron. His stock of clothing was not extensive because all goods had to be freighted from Sidney, a distance of about two hundred miles ; but he maintained his tent store until the following August, when he moved to the new town of Chadron, with which he has been prominently identified ever since.

The first town lot in the new village was sold August 1, 1885. As an inducement to legitimate business men instead of speculators, the originators of the town platted the ground and offered lots for the very conservative sum of from one to five hundred dollars, and Mr. Loewenthal was one of the nineteen men who took advantage of this offer. He at once started to build a store immediately opposite his present site, but sold it to an urgent buyer before it was completed, and moved his goods to another building, which he occupied until 1888, when he erected and took possession of his present commodious building. The new town, a famous shipping point for cattle and business of every kind, became brisk as people from all over the country moved in. When Mr. Loewenthal established himself at Chadron, he enlarged the scope of his busi- ness by adding boots and shoes to his line of clothing, and has continued to deal in these

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History of western Nebraska and its people, Vol. III, Part 135

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