History of western Nebraska and its people, Vol. III, Part 16

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

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Walter Jennings was born in Iowa in 1873, the son of William A. and Mary E. ( Whipple) Jennings, the former born in Illinois in 1848. while the mother was of fine old New England ancestry, born in Connecticut in 1841 and died in 1916. The father was a farmer in Ohio who emigrated to Nebraska soon after the ad- mission of this state to the Union. He located in Valley county in 1873, took up a homestead on which he proved up and made some im- provements, then disposed of it to profit. He seems to have been a pioneer by nature and when settlements began to be marked, moved on to more virgin country. After leaving Val- ley county the family made a home in Boone county on land purchased by the father, but the lure of the west was in his blood and before long they went to Midland, Montana, but later returned to Scottsbluff county, where at last the goal of his desire was reached for he still resides on his farm in the vicinity of Mitchell, a hale, hearty old man of seventy-three years, who can recount many thrilling and interesting experiences of the early days in this state. He is a Republican in politics. The family were members of the Episcopal church. Eight chil- dren constituted the younger members of the family : Gustavus, a farmer near Mitchell;

James W., on a farm in Montana; Walter; Mary E., the wife of Oscar Collins, a farmer of Valley county; John Elbert, a farmer in Boone county ; Edward M. is located on a farm near Bayard, Nebraska; Frederick, also on a farm near Bayard; and Charles, who has a farm not far from his two brothers there.

Though he has not advanced far beyond the psalmist's span of three score years and ten and still possesses to the full amount his phys- ical and mental vigor, Mr. Jennings has the dis- tinction of having lived in Nebraska nearly a half century, and it is gratifying to him to know that he has been able to play a part in the civic and industrial progress that have taken place since his parents first brought him here as an infant in arms. He spent his boyhood days on his father's farm in Valley county, acquiring his early education in the public schools afforded in the new country at that period. He made the various changes with the other members of the family in Nebraska, working during his youth for his father and later independently for himself. His taste was for rural life, and in 1906 he came to Scotts- bluff to establish a permanent home. He took up a homestead of eighty acres on which he proved up and at once engaged in general farming and stock-raising. Mr. Jennings has a high grade of stock on his farm and special- izes in Duroc Jersey hogs. He has a beautiful home, well built and kept farm buildings, and no better cultivated land is to be found in the Mitchell district. Times have changed, but so lias the subject of this sketch. He is up-to-date in methods, buys the latest farm machinery, and thus today enjoys the well-earned fruits of a well-spent, profitable life, standing high in local circles for his honesty and kind-heart- edness. He now owns 240 acres. He is a Republican in politics, while with the family he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.

In 1896 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Jennings and Miss Ethel D. Weare, the daughter of Burney and Sarah E. (Coffin) Weare, who live in Mitchell. Mrs. Jennings is a woman of high intellectual attainments. being a graduate of the high school at Ord, who for some years before her marriage taught school. She is a charming, gracious woman who has aided her husband in every way to attain his present success and comfortable for- tune. The following children belong to the family: Cecil May, the wife of Henry S. Sul- livan, who was a soldier during the World War, being a member of a supply company in the Eighty-ninth Division; Geneva L., the wife of Luther Stiver, who lives on a farm north of

HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA

Mitchell ; and William, Walter, and Evelyn, all at home. Mr. Jennings is enjoying a well- earned success though he is only a man of middle age, for in every relation of life he has measured up to the full standard of manhood and loyal citizenship.

WILLIAM E. KENT, who is president and general manager of the Scottsbluff Potato Growers' Association, is a well-known busi- ness man in several states other than Nebras- ka, for he long was an important factor in the lumber industry and was financially interested in all the numerous plants operated by the Walrath & Sherwood Lumber Company in Nebraska. He has long been recognized as an able, dependable business man, whose na- tural sagacity has been invaluable in the large enterprises in which he has engaged. Mr. Kent however, had little assistance in building up reputation and fortune, early beginning to depend on his own efforts, and his entire ca- reer has been marked by persevering industry assisted by intelligent judgment. He was born in Portage county, Wisconsin, in 1860.

The parents of Mr. Kent were Edward L. and Sarah L. (McGuine) Kent, the latter of whom was born in Scotland in 1833, and died in 1917. The father of Mr. Kent was born in England in 1830, and died in 1917. He came to Detroit, Michigan, and from there went to Wisconsin, where he was married in Mil- waukee, in 1851. In Michigan he was a farm- er and buyer of logs and in Wisconsin was in the lumber business. He served three years and three months in the Civil War as a mem- ber of the Nineteenth Wisconsin volunteer infantry, and suffered both capture and slight wounding. Of his five sons and two daugh- ters, two sons, William E. and Frank J., and two daughters, Jennie and Cora, are living. Frank J. Kent is a wheat grower near Walla Walla, Washington. Jennie is the widow of James McIcroe, a large rancher and state trus- tee of prisons ; and Cora is the wife of Frank Hammil and they own and live on the old family homestead. The parents were mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal church. The father was active in the Republican party and prominent in the Order of Odd Fellows.

William E. Kent had high school advan- tages at Almond, Wisconsin. In 1879 he be- gan working in the northern woods of Wis- consin, and for a number of years spent much time in the great timber country. After work- ing seven months for a logging firm, J. J. Ken- nedy & Co., of Spencer, Wisconsin, he used the money he earned to complete his education.

In 1882 he came to Nebraska and homesteaded in Antelope county, but soon sold his claim and with his brother went to work with the con- struction gang on the Oregon Short Line Rail- road, from March to September, 1882. He came then to Platte Center, Platte county, and for eleven years was manager of the Chicago Lumber Company of Omaha, retiring when the business was sold to Walrath & Sherwood. Subsequently, however, he became financially interested with this firm when they bought his plant at Monroe, and was in business at North Bend as a member of the firm of the Wal- worth, Sherwood & Kent Lumber Company, acquiring interests in every plant operated by the firm. He became auditor of the company and handled all the business in Nebraska, North and South Dakota and Iowa. He found- ed the Platte Valley Cement & Tile Company of Fremont, Nebraska, and was president of that concern until 1916, when he sold his lum- ber and other interests and moved to Sioux county. He owns a quarter section of irri- gated land and lived in Sioux county on his farm until the spring of 1919, when he came to Scottsbluff to assume the duties of presi- dent and general manager of the Scottsbluff Potato Growers' Association. He has greatly improved the business outlook of this organi- zation, which is a mutual body that expects to have warehouses erected in a dozen towns throughout the valley.

On December 16, 1886, Mr. Kent was united in marriage to Miss Anna Bucknell, of Wau- paca, Wisconsin, and they have two children : Pearl, who is the wife of Fred Young, a farm- er near Mitchell and they have two children, William Andrew and Andrew Kent ; and John Edward, who married Hester Collins, of Dodge county, Nebraska, has one child, Helen Marie, and is with the Union Pacific Railroad. Mr. Kent is a member of the Federated church at Mitchell. He is a Republican in politics and is a Consistory Mason.

WILLIAM E. CALHOUN, who is pro- prietor of the Star Moving Picture house at Scottsbluff, has been identified with this in- dustry since 1913, and through excellent judg- ment and careful management, provides much ejoyable entertainment to his patrons. Mr. Calhoun was born in Adair county, Iowa, in 1881.

The parents of Mr. Calhoun, William and Margaret (Emmons) Calhoun, were born in Pennsylvania and accompanied their parents early to Iowa. The father was a farmer in that state, near Greenfield in Adair county,

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

but retired from active life in 1900, when he moved to Nebraska. In politics he is a Demo- crat and both he and wife belong to the Methodist Episcopal church. Of their eight children, William E. is the youngest of the survivors, the others being: Jennie, widow of Samuel Miller, lives in Idaho; Myrtle, the wife of C. T. Jackman, a real estate dealer in Idaho; Hattie, the wife of James Pence, a railroad master mechanic, at Deadwood, South Dakota; Frank, in the furniture business at Cambridge, Nebraska, where the parents yet reside.

William E. Calhoun obtained his educa- tion in the public schools, had some farm ex- perience and then learned the carpenter trade and after coming to Scottsbluff in 1910 was engaged as a carpenter and contractor until 1913, when he became interested in his pres- ent enterprise. The Star, in size and equip- ment, compares favorably with like places of entertainment in other cities, and there is much evidence to show that Mr. Calhoun's ef- forts are appreciated.

In 1904 Mr. Calhoun was united in mar- riage to Miss Maude Allen, who was born in Nebraska. He takes no very active part in poli- tics, voting independently, but is very much interested in the further development of Scottsbluff and the welfare of its people, for here he has been able to lay the foundation of what promises to be an ample fortune.

SANFORD STARK, a member of Scotts- bluff's retired colony, and for years a promi- nent citizen, belongs to an old New England family of military distinction and of Scotch descent. The records of this family in Con- necticut date back to 1658. Mr. Stark was born in New London county, Connecticut, De- cember 3, 1849, the son of Henry S. and Mary E. (Rathbun) Stark, who spent their entire lives in Connecticut. The father was born in 1822 and died in 1857; the mother, born in 1826, died in 1909. They had four children, Elizabeth, Charles R. and Sanford yet sur- viving. Elizabeth is the widow of John F. Randall, who left Yale college to enter the Union army in the Civil War, in which he served as a commissioned officer and after- ward was prominent in the insurance field at St. Louis. Charles R., has been treasurer of the Rhode Island Horse Shoe Company for many years. His son, Charles R., Jr., has just returned home from honorable service in the World War. The parents of the above family were members of the Baptist church. The father followed the sea all his life, was

captain of many vessels and was widely known in seafaring circles. His parents were San- ford and Nancy (Park) Stark, of Connecti- cut, where they lived and died, the former serving a short time during the War of 1812, and his ancestors were members of the Colon- ial army under General George Washington, and thus their names occur in the history of Revolutionary days. Elisha Rathbun, the ma- ternal grandfather of Sanford Stark of Scotts- bluff married into the old Connecticut fam- ily of Parker. Both he and wife lived to advanced old age as did the paternal grand- parents, Grandmother Stark being ninety-six years old at the time of her death.

Sanford Stark was educated in an academy at Mystic, Connecticut, the Civil War break- ing into his academic studies, however. On account of his father being a seafaring man, ships were familiar and interesting to him in boyhood, and during the last year of the war he succeeded in being the captain's helper on a supply vessel running to Key West and Pen- sacola. He returned then to his studies and afterward became. a clerk in a store, but the sea called him once more and he took pas- sage on a vessel from New York to San Fran- cisco, by way of Cape Horn, and from the western city sailed for Europe and by the time he reached New York again, thirteen months had elapsed. He recalls that experi- ence with pleasurable emotions but his life since then has been passed on land. Business affairs have mainly engaged his attention and prior to coming to Scottsbluff, in August, 1909, he was cashier for the Great Western Sugar factory, at Longmont, Boulder county, Colorado. When the company began the con- struction of its plant at Scottsbluff, Mr. Stark was transferred to this city and continued as cashier until he resigned in November, 1918, at which time he retired from business. He has continued an active citizen, however, and during the late war assisted very materially in the war loan drives and the Red Cross work. Mr. Stark is well and favorably known at Denver where, from 1879 to 1893, he con- ducted a wholesale boot and shoe business.

On November 4, 1872 Mr. Stark married Miss Lucy Latham Dansom, who was born at New London, Connecticut, a daughter of Na- thaniel and Catherine (Latham) Ransom, life- long residents of that state. Mrs. Stark's father left a prosperous lumber business to be- come a soldier in the Union army during the Civil War, as a member of the Twenty-first Connecticut infantry. He suffered wounds that required hospital care. Mrs. Stark has

HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA

one sister, Kittie, the wife of Edwin H. Tift, a lumber merchant of Boston, Massachusetts. Mr. and Mrs. Stark have the following chil- dren: Catherine, the wife of A. K. Sage, proprietor of a large plumbing and steamfit- ting plant in Brooklyn, New York; Harry S., vice-president of the First National bank of Scottsbluff; Frederick B., a farmer near Scottsbluff; and Helen, who married J. B. Badgley, a bookkeeper with the sugar fac- tory in this city.

Mr. Stark and his family belong to the Bap- tist church. In politics he is identified with the Republican party. He is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution.

JOHN F. RAYMOND, for many years profitably interested in agricultural pursuits and still owning valuable farm properties, came to Scottsbluff in 1901, but has been a resident of Nebraska for more than forty years. Of New England birth and ancestry, he possesses many characteristics that have made that section notable, business foresight being included.

John F. Raymond was born at Hartford, Connecticut, in 1852, and is a son of Josiah and Fannie A. (Hurlbut) Raymond. His father was born in Connecticut in 1815, a son of Joshua Raymond, who spent his life in that state. Josiah Raymond was a man of bril- liant parts, a prominent lawyer at Hartford and also a farmer near that city, and for some years served in the state legislature. He died in Connecticut in 1862. He was mar- ried there to Fannie A. Hurlbut, who was born in the same house as was Noah Webster, the lexicographer, in which house her father, Sam- uel Hurlbut, died. She came to Otoe county, Nebraska, with her family, in 1879, bought railroad land and died in 1889. Of the family of seven children, the survivors are as fol- lows: Robert O., a farmer near Gurley ! John F., an esteemed resident of Scottsbluff ; Fannie E., who lives at Scottsbluff ; Charlotte H., who also resides in this city; and Henry J., a farmer in Cheyenne county. Both par- ents were members of the Presbyterian church.

John F. Raymond was educated in his na- tive city and as a young man came to Nebras- ka in 1878 and bought land in Otoe county, removing in 1885 to Cheyenne county, where he pre-empted land on which he continued to live for many years. He engaged in general farming and raised a large amount of stock, becoming a well-known shipper. Mr. Ray- mond was active in his farm industries until he came to Scottsbluff county and retains

full ownership of his land, which is some of the finest in Cheyenne county, but his invest- ment in a tree claim on the edge of Scotts- bluff he subsequently sold to the sugar com- pany of this city for $28,000. He owns con- siderable realty in the city that he has under favorable rental.

In November, 1914, Mr. Raymond was united in marriage with Mrs. Adelaide Dur- ing, who was born at Milton, Illinois, a daugh- ter of Charles and Mary (Davis) Chaplin. Mrs. Raymond's mother is deceased, but the father survives and resides at Pittsfield, Illi- nois. He is a veteran of the Civil War, hav- been wounded in the service of his country. Of his eight children, there are but three sur- vivors, Mrs. Raymond and her two sisters: Mrs. Charles Johnson, of Pittsfield, and Miss Nellie Chaplin, who resides with her father. Mr. and Mrs. Raymond are members of the Presbyterian church. He has never had any political ambitions, but, like his father before him, has always believed in the sound prin- ciples upon which the Republican party was founded and has supported this organization.

REV. FRANK A. WOTEN, pastor of the Christian church at Gering, Nebraska, is prob- ably as well-known as any citizen of Scotts- bluff county. He is a young man of versa- tile gifts, of sound philosophy and vigorous personality. While in no sense a crusader, he carries his religion into the most practical things of life, through example as well as precept, proving the saving grace that follows honorable industry and strict adherence to the principles of law and justice. He is a native of Nebraska, born in Gage county, December 5, 1883.

The parents of Dr. Woten were William I. and Susan (Swaner) Woten, the former of whom was born in Jay county, Indiana, De- cember 5, 1857, and the latter April 4, 1856. The mother died in January, 1917, but the father still resides on his Gage county home- stead which he secured in 1881. Of his fam- ily of nine children, Frank A. was the sec- ond in order of birth, and four others survive: Claude, who lives at Fresno, California, is a National bank examiner: Goldie, who re- sides with her father; Sylvia, who also lives at home; and Grace, the wife of Howard Hall, a farmer near Wellfleet, in Lincoln county, Nebraska. The father has followed agricultural pursuits all his life. In politics he is affiliated with the Democratic party. The Christian church holds his membership.

Frank A. Woten grew up on the family

FRANK L. FOREMAN AND FAMILY

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

homestead near Adams, in Gage county, in 1903 being graduated from the Adams high school. In 1911 he was graduated from Cot- ner University with the degree of A.B., later took special work in astronomy at the State University of Missouri, and completed his theological course at Cotner. His first minis- terial charge was Palmer, Nebraska, where he remained two years, then went to Alliance and during his term of two years there built up the congregation and erected the first stucco church edifice in Western Nebraska. H then came to Scottsbluff as pastor of the First Christian church, which charge he subse- quently resigned and went to the southern part of Sioux county, where he took up a homestead, and while proving up, supplied the church at Gering, and accepted the regular pastorate of this church in the fall of 1918. As a minister Reverend Woten exemplifies his Christian faith in every possible way, but he is a liberal-minded man and a strong advo- cate of practical Christianity. The needs of his congregation spiritually are well looked after without encroaching too much on his time, and he gives attention to a transporta- tion business and operates an omnibus line between Gering and Scottsbluff, which carries the mail between the two points.

In 1912 Mr. Woten was united in marriage to Miss Lena Colborn, who was born at Palm- er, Merrick county, Nebraska. They have three little daughters, namely: Arlene, Paul- ine and Frances, their ages ranging from five to two years. Mr. Woten is a Democrat in his political opinions. He belongs to the order of Odd Fellows, and has served as chaplain of the local lodge, and has also served in the highest office of the local organization W. O. W. The Woten name is of German origin, but the ancestors of Reverend Woten have be- longed to Great Britain since the Fifteenth century.

FRANK L. FOREMAN, who is one of the substantial and representative farmers of the Mitchell valley, has been a resident of this great commonwealth for more than three decades, so that his personal experience covers virtually the entire period marking the develop- ment and progress of this now favored section of Nebraska. He is a man born to the soil who deserted it, but with the passing years found no satisfaction in the turmoil of cosmo- politan life and returned to a farm where kind mother earth has given him a bountiful reward for his labors.

Frank Foreman was born in McDonough county, Illinois, March 5, 1868, the son of

James and Hettie (Lamb) Foreman. The father was a native of the Buckeye state, born in Bellmont county, in 1838, who died in Ger- ing at the age of sixty-eight years. Hettie Lamb was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1848 and passed away in Nebraska in 1916, a wo- man of great honor and warm heart. There were seven children in the Foreman family, of whom Frank was the eldest; the others were: William, a freighter at Thermopolis, Wyom- ing; Elmer, a freighter at Big Trail, Wy- oming; Zella, the wife of Leonard Early, lives on the old homestead in Scottsbluff county ; Bessie, the deceased wife of Thomas Bracken; one who died in infancy; and Charles, the second boy, who died in Missouri.

James Foreman was a barber by trade but a farmer by vocation. He also had the honor of being a member of the Union army during the Civil War, enlisting in Illinois under Col- onel Bob Ingersoll in the Eleventh Illinois Cav- alry. He served four years and two months during that memorable conflict, taking part in many of the hardest fought battles of the war. Twice his mount was shot from under him but he lived to return home after the close of hos- tilities.

Like so many men who had been in the army, Mr. Foreman was not contented with the con- ditions he had known before his service and determined to avail himself of the opportuni- ties afforded farther west. With his family he came to Cheyenne county, Nebraska, in 1886, when that country was still unbroken prairie, took up a homestead, proved up on it, established a home, made good improvements on his farm and there engaged in general agri- culture and stock-raising for a number of years. Later he retired and located in Gering where he took an active part in communal af- fairs. He was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, helping the other members in the direction of the affairs of the local post, while in politics he was a staunch supporter of the Democratic party. The family were mem- bers of the Christian church.

Frank Foreman received his educational ad- vantages in the public schools of Illinois and as usual with a boy on a farm assisted with such work as his years and strength permitted during the vacations. He grew to manhood sturdy, resourceful, and self-reliant, all quali- ties which stood him in good stead when he accompanied the family to the new settlement in Cheyenne county, where he also took up a homestead on which he proved up, made many improvements necessary in a frontier com- munity, established a home and soon was en- gaged in general farming and stock-raising. He knew and overcame many of the hardships

HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA

and trials of a frontiersman, such as drought, insect pests and lack of adequate machinery for agricultural work, but none daunted him. After some years Mr. Foreman was able to dis- pose of his property to great advantage and left the farm to locate in Gering, where he opened and operated a barber shop, but the call of the land was in his blood and he responded by pur- chasing a farm in section 28-23-56, where he is the proprietor of forty acres of highly cultivated irrigated land on which he raises beets and conducts a general truck farm. The country looks very different today with its green cover than did the prairies when Mr. Foreman first located in the state, and he often speaks of the great happiness that comes to the farmer today with his insured crop no matter what the weather conditions may be.

Mr. Moreman has ever been a man of active mind, he takes interest in all questions of the day entering actively into the civic life of the community and had the honor of being a dele- gate to the first county convention which locat- ed the seat of justice of Scottsbluff county at Gering. Independent all his life, it is but nat- ural that this man should be independent in politics and he draws no party line in casting his vote directing his influence to the best man. Fraternally he is connected with the Independ- ent Order of Odd Fellows, the Rebeccas, and the Woodmen of the World. There are seven children in the happy Foreman family: Glen, who has a ranch in Sioux county and a farm in the Scottsbluff locality ; Loren, a teamster in Mitchell; Ray, also living in Mitchell; Zeta, Gwelda, and Wayne all at home. The family are members of the Methodist church.

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History of western Nebraska and its people, Vol. III, Part 16

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