History of western Nebraska and its people, Vol. III, Part 31

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

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Mr. Wallace received his education in Hast- ings, and after completing his schooling he farmed for a year at that place, then came west in 1886 and homesteaded on Snake creek in 1888. He followed the stock business for a number of years, moving his family to Scotts- bluff after it was started. In the cattle busi- ness he met with excellent success, and a few years ago he bought the Henry State Bank, at Henry, Nebraska, and now devotes his atten- tion to the banking business. With a capital of $10,000.00, this institution has deposits of $125,000.00 and a surplus of $2,000.00, and

Mr. Wallace is on the fair road in the banking business to repeat his success in the stock busi- ness.

He was married in October, 1889, to Nellie Gaddis, a native of Indiana, and their union has been blessed with eight children, namely : Florence, now Mrs. J. C. Williams, of Henry, Nebraska., where Mr. Williams is in the drug business; Willo, now Mrs. Arthur Selzer, of Scottsbluff ; Bessie, who is employed in her father's bank ; Dorothy, Wilbur, Shirley, Neal, and Helen, all at home.

Mr. and Mrs. Wallace are attendants of the M. E. church. Mr. Wallace is an independent Democrat in politics and a member of the A. O. U. W. He has always been recognized as an enterprising and honorable man, taking an active part in public affairs and wielding the influence that goes with prominence and high standing in the community.

CHARLES L. BOGLE, who owns and con- ducts the leading general mercantile business at Bushnell, was born in Gosper county, Ne- braska, May 4, 1889, a son of J. W. Bogle, for many years one of Kimball county's most re- spected citizens.

Charles L. Bogle attended the country schools near his father's ranch in boyhood, later taking a business course in a commercial college at Grand Island. In 1908 he came to Bushnell and went into the mercantile business with his father, that association lasting until 1913, when, in partnership with his brother- in-law, he bought the elder Bogle interest. In 1914 he bought his partner's interest and since then has been sole proprietor. Mr. Bogle car- ries a stock worth $20,000, consisting of gen- eral merchandise, additional features being a meat market and confectionery store. Being energetic and a good business man, Mr. Bogle has continued the expansion of his enterprise and is doing a large and profitable business.

In 1912 Mr. Bogle was united in marriage to Miss Flora Snyder, and they have three chil- dren: Charles L., Dora Mildred and John V.

Mrs. Bogle is a daughter of James M. and Elizabeth (Shanks) Snyder, who now live comfortably retired in Furnas county, Ne- braska. The father of Mr. Bogle was born near Columbus, Ohio, in 1842 and served as a soldier in the Civil War as a member of the Forty-fourth Indiana volunteer infantry. His venerable mother still survives, residing at Columbia, Indiana, in her ninety-ninth year. The mother of Mrs. Bogle was born in 1850 in Whitley county, Indiana, and her mother was a second cousin of Abraham Lincoln, through the Shanks connection. Mr. and Mrs.

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Snyder had a family of four daughters and two sons, namely: Rosa, who is the wife of Frank Bogle, of Bushnell, Nebraska; Inez, who is the wife of Archie Deen, of Bushnell ; Dora, who is the wife of Walter Rogers, a homesteader in Wyoming ; Flora, who is Mrs. Charles L. Bogle, of Bushnell; Roy, who is a farmer ; and Clarence, a returned overseas sol- dier of the great war. He received his military training at Camp Cody before sailing for France, where he served bravely for sixty-two days on the front line. Mr. and Mrs. Snyder are members of the Christian church at Edi- son, Nebraska. Mr. Bogle has never found time to be very active in politics but he is a good citizen and highly esteemed.

EMORY C. HOWE, who is a prosperous business man of Bushnell, owes his success in life to natural ability and also to his faculty of making and keeping friends. He was born August 2, 1883, in Nemaha county, Ne- braska, a son of Seymour and Ellen Howe. The Howe family has been so highly regarded in that section, that one of the flourishing towns of Nemaha county bears the name of Howe.

The father of Emory C. Howe was born in the state of New York and the mother in Illi- nois. Both came to Nebraska when young and were married in Nemaha county. The following children were born to them: Adelia, who is the wife of C. R. Russell, a farmer and ranchman in Nemaha county ; Charles, who follows the carpenter trade in that coun- ty ; Eugene, who is in the real estate business at Weatherford, Oklahoma; Ambrose, who is a traveling salesman with home at Council Bluffs, Iowa; and Emory C., who was edu- cated and lived in Nemaha county until De- cember, 1914, at which time he came to Bush- nell. Here Mr. Howe went into the automo- bile business handling Buick cars, which has become a growing concern. He is now erect- ing a first class modern garage of brick con- struction, two stories high, with many square feet of floor space and fine display room for the Buick cars, of which he is sole agent. In addition to his other responsibilities, Mr. Howe is deputy sheriff.

On March 12, 1907, Mr. Howe was united in marriage to Miss Geneva West, a daughter of Jacob and Alice West, who came from Missouri to Nebraska in 1900 and now re- side at Salem.

WOODFORD G. JONES, who now lives in comfortable retirement at Bushnell, came to Nebraska thirty-five years ago. During

early years in the state, Mr. and Mrs. Jones saw much hardship and they had some losses which necessitated hard work and economy, but early conditions passed away and they have lived to enjoy the fruits of their industry.

Woodford G. Jones was born at Centerville, Iowa, April 28, 1857, a son of Woodford and Louisa Jones. Attending school near the home farm in boyhood, Woodford G. Jones took charge when his father died and operated the farm for his mother and sister as long as he remained in Iowa. In 1884 he came to Ne- braska and homesteaded eight miles south of Dix, in Kimball county. There was but a poor shelter on the place and when a blizzard that lasted three days set in following their arrival, they had to take advantage of every expedient to keep warm, all remaining in bed until the snow was so deep there that Mr. Jones had to shovel it off. Happily they had enough beans and corn dodgers to keep them from be- ing hungry and in that way were more for- tunate than many of their pioneer neighbors. Mr. Jones had previously had a serious ex- perience in one of the sudden blizzards that sometimes unexpectedly swept over the coun- try, during which he stumbled and was lost in the snow through a whole night between Dix and Kimball, finally being rescued and cared for by Henry Warner. During that winter Mr. Jones could not find work and in the emergency he remained at home and took care of the children while Mrs. Jones went to Kimball, fifteen miles distant, where she worked in the hotel for $4 a week, high wages for that day, and walked the distance home when she made a visit. Water had to be haul- ed eight miles and when one of the team of horses died, Mr. Jones carried half of the neck yoke and as much as possible eased the work of the remaining horse.

At length Mr. Jones accepted an offer and sold the homestead for $500, a property that would bring $8,000 today. He moved then to Custer county and bought land for $10 an acre but through the lapse of a mortgage, they lost that farm but later bought another in Custer county, on which they lived for twenty- five years. Mr. Jones then sold that prop- erty and they came back to Kimball county near Bushnell, but one year later Mr. Jones sold that farm to his son-in-law, Ralph Tay- lor, and came to Bushnell, where they are people held in high esteem.

In 1875 Mr. Jones was united in marriage to Miss Henrietta Rucker, who was born in Iowa, and they became the parents of the folowing children: Eva, who is the wife of

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Ralph Taylor, a rancher in Kimball county ; Woodford Robert, who married Charity Ham- mond of Custer and now lives nine miles north of Bushnell and has one and one-half sections of land; Maud, Mrs. Hammond, who is in charge of the Central telephone office at Bush- nell; and May. Fay and Ray, triplets, the last named being deceased. Both May and Fay are married, the former being Mrs. Coons, and the latter, Mrs. Stuckert. Mr. and Mrs. Jones are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.

JACOB PEDRETT, who is one of Kim- ball's most highly esteemed citizens, is widely known in the state and is one of Kimball coun- ty's heavy land owners. The story of his life since coming to America is exceedingly inter- esting.

Jacob Pedrett was born in Kanton Graeu- bunden, Switzerland, November 7, 1856, a son of Ulrich and Fieda Pedrett. The father was a farmer, cattle grower and dairyman, his milk business being important and profitable. He had a contract with a local hotel for eighty gallons of milk a day and sometimes sold one hundred and twenty gallons, probably when the tourist trade was at its height. The father died in 1887, having been an invalid for some eighteen years previously. The mother of Mr. Pedrett communicated the fact to her son in America but before the latter received the letter, she also had passed away, having sur- vived the father only fourteen days. Their family consisted of but one son, Jacob, and the following daughters: Elizabeth, who died at the age of twenty-two years; Fieda who is married, lives in the old home in Switzer- land and has five children: Cristena, on the old homestead ; Magdelenia, is the only one who came to America, with four children, in June, 1920, and is living on the Pedrett farm ; and Marie, who lived to the age of eighteen years. All the children are well educated and before Jacob Pedrett came to America, he was proficient in the Italian and German lan- guages.

In his own land Mr. Pedrett gave military service according to the law, between the age of twenty and thirty years, and he had reached the latter age when he came to the United States, on the ship Normandie, which landed him safely in the harbor of New York. He came across the country to Hastings, Nebras- ka, where he found work as a cheesemaker, having brought his diploma as to his efficiency in this industry. For one summer he worked in Webster county for his board, in the mean- while using every effort to learn the English

language, but in the fall he returned to Hast- ings. There he rented a dairy farm and went into the business of making cheese. He op- erated with thirty-six cows and his bargain included one-half of the proceeds from his factory, together with the stock increases. Mr. Pedrett remained on that farm from 1887 to 1890, coming then to Kimball county, bringing along ten cows and two horses. He home- steaded in the same district in which he serv- ed as a school director later on for twenty- nine continuous years.

Here Mr. Pedrett resumed the making of cheese, in 1891 he and his wife milking forty- one cows, some of them being rented, the rent- al being paid in cheese. He found this ar- rangement profitable. He has always grown some wheat but has given the most attention to thoroughbred Hereford cattle, at times hav- ing owned two hundred and seventy-five head of registered stock and also has fed unregis- tered, doing business under the firm name of Pedrett & Clarke. At the present time he owns two full sections of land and other tracts, aggregating about sixteen thousand acres, general farming being carried on an ex- tensive scale.

On March 31, 1887, Mr. Pedrett was united in marriage to Miss Marie Louisa Grothaus, a daughter of William and Katherine Gro- thaus, who came to the United States and to Hastings, Nebraska, in 1885, from Westphalia, Germany. To Mr. and Mrs. Pedrett the fol- lowing children were born: Ulrich, who was born December 28, 1887, who was in military training at Camp Funston, during the great war, was honorably discharged, as quarter- master sergeant; Fieda, who is the wife of Clyde Taylor, is a graduate of the Kimball county high school, lives on the farm in Kim- ball county and has three children, Harry, Ruth and James; Louisa, who is a student in the Nebraska State University, has been graduated in the department of typewriting and shorthand and taught in the high school at Superior, Nebraska; Willis, who died at the age if six years ; and Harry who is a graduate, like his eldest brother, of the high school and the Agricultural college at Lincoln. Mr. Ped- rett and his family are members of the Pres- byterian church. He has always been active in public affairs and has served in many public capacities, holding such offices as road over- seer and county commissioner. He has assisted in the building of three school structures, the latest erected in his school district being a modern two-room building, two teachers be- ing employed and sixty-five children attending.

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Mr. Pedrett is president of the State Potato Growers Improvement Association, and a di- rector of Nebraska State Farm Bureau asso- ciation, and is treasurer of the local farm bur- eau, and also president of the Beet Growers association of Kimball county.

EMORY HORRUM, whose interests cover farming, stockraising, banking and other lines of business, is one of Kimball county's most prominent young men of affairs. He is a na- tive of Nebraska, born June 25, 1886, at Dun- bar, where his parents now live retired. He is a son of Lyman T. and Claudia Horrum, and he has one sister, Della May, who is the wife of Montgomery Lowery, a substantial farmer near Dunbar.

After completing the high school course at Dunbar. Mr. Horrum went to Lincoln and completed a commercial course in a business college there. It was in February, 1915, that he came to Kimball county, where he has made heavy investments in land, aggregating over eleven thousand acres. This land is culti- vated in a modern way, farm tractors being made use of together with improved machin- ery of all kinds. Mr. Horrum is much inter- ested in raising thoroughbred Hereford cat- tle. He has been largely concerned in the de- velopment and improvement of Dix, owning one hundred acres in town lots, the Horrum addition to Dix, and has built and sold some handsome residences in this part of the rapidly growing town.

Mr. Horrum was one of the organizers of the Farmers State Bank of Dix, of which he is vice president. He is associated in this finan- cial enterprise with Gus Linn, George Vogler and Philip Nelson. The original capital was $10,000, which has been increased to $25,000. Mr. Horrum, was president of the Dix Mer- cantile Company, which occupies a handsome brick building of modern construction, and plans are under way for the carrying of one of the largest stocks of general merchandise in this section of the state.

On October 8, 1910, Mr. Horrum was unit- ed in marriage to Miss Esther Tell, who is a daughter of Francis and Catherine Tell, well known retired residents of Omaha. Mr. and Mrs. Horrum have had two children, both of whom passed away in their infancy. The Presbyterian church holds their member- ship. Mr. Horrum is a Thirty-second degree Mason.

JULIUS J. JOHNSON, who is one of the large farmers and stockraisers of Kimball county and one of the representative, solid

citizens, was born in the province of Halland, Sweden, a son of Jons Larson and Johanna Johnson, who died on their farm in Sweden, the former in 1902 and the latter in 1912.

Julius J. Johnson was born May 21, 1859, grew up on the home farm in Sweden, in the meantime attending school as opportunity of- fered. A thoughtful, sensible young man, by the time he was twenty-two years old, he had made up his mind to emigrate to America, in which country, as he learned from others, there were many chances for a young man with- out any capital but his industry, to acquire financial independence. When he landed in the United States he had $12 in his pocket, which paid his way from New York City to southern Illinois, where he found work with a railroad company, going from there to Sheri- dan, Michigan, fifteen miles south of Big Rapids. Afterward for three years he worked in the railroad shops in Chicago, at the end of that time coming to Nebraska. He home- steaded in Kimball county on a part of the same ranch that he now owns, proved up, kept on adding one tract of land after another until he now owns over seventeen hundred acres. He runs about one hundred head of cattle, all good grade Herefords, and has two hundred acres under the plow. Mr. Johnson has every reason to feel satisfied with his determination made so many years ago, to become a resident and citizen of the United States.

In 1889 Mr. Johnson was married to Miss Ida C. Strandberg, a daughter of Jonas and Christina Strandberg, who came from Sweden to the United States in 1885 and homesteaded in Nebraska. The father of Mrs. Johnson died in 1900 and the mother in 1901. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. John- son, namely ; Alma E., who is a student in the high school at Dix; Hilda M., who is also a high school student ; Carl A., who has reached the high school also ; and Leonard J. and Ver- ner O., who are in the grade schools. Mr. Johnson and family are members of the First Lutheran church at Potter. He has many times been honored by election to public office by his fellow citizens. At one time, while working at Dix, he served as postmaster. For two terms he served as township assessor, for several terms was road overseer, and at pres- ent is treasurer of the school board. In every office he has proved efficient and trustworthy.

WHITCOMB BROTHERS. - There are not many people in Kimball county who have not heard of the Whitcomb Brothers, exten- sive wheat farmers, who operate so success- fully their extensive property entirely by

JOHN E. FRENCH AND FAMILY

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means of tractors and other modern machin- ery. The firm is composed of two brothers, Edwin and James Whitcomb, born in Illi- nois and sons of Edwin and Mary (Champlin) Whitcomb.

The father of the Whicomb brothers was born in Virginia and the mother at Chatham, New York .. After their marriage they lived in Illinois but later moved to Rochester, Minne- sota, which town he assisted in building, as he made all the brick used in general construc- tion. During his last illness he was attended by Dr. Mayo, the father of the celebrated sur- geons at Rochester. After Mr. Whitcomb's death, his widow returned to Illinois, with her three sons, James, Herbert and Edwin, hav- ing lost a little daughter at the age of three years. The mother looked carefully after the rearing and educating of her sons, continu- ing her residence in Illinois until 1909, in which year her death occurred.

In 1910 James and Edwin Whitcomb came to Nebraska, locating at Columbus, after a stay there entering into a business agreement whereby they traded their Illinois property for a section of land in Kimball county, assuming a mortgage of $4,000. Nothing much was done until in 1914, when Edwin Whitcomb came to the acquired property, an unbroken tract of miles of prairie as far as the eye could reach. Mr. Whitcomb soon proved how practical he was in business affairs. At Denver he had bought a tent house and in that he and his brother lived until, later on, they had a bungalow erected, equipped with electric lights and a hot water system, the first residence of its kind in the county. Near the bungalow soon ap- peared other structures, including a garage and a work shop.

In the first year the Whitcombs put out two hundred acres in wheat, reaping 7.200 bushels, and every succeeding year they have increased their wheat acreage, and, carrying crop in- surance, hail storms and early crop damages have not materially affected them. In the htird year of their experiment, they put four hundred acres in wheat, and sold their 10,000 resulting bushels for from $1.90 to $1.95 a bushel, in the market at Dix. It is their cus- tom to summer fallow all their wheat land for a time, merely dragging it to keep it clear of weeds. On the whole estate they have no mules or work horses, all the work being done by tractors and Duplex trucks, the latter carry- ing the wheat to market. When Edwin Whit- comb came here he formulated plans that have been carefully carried out and successfully

expanded. He invested $3,000 in modern ma- chinery and equipments, these including the tractors and trucks, drills, disc drags and three steel grain houses, each one having a 1,000-bushel capacity. Since coming here the brothers have sold several tracts of land but none of the original purchase. They have clear- ly demonstrated what can be expected from Nebraska soil in Kimball county when in- telligently cultivated.

JOHN E. FRENCH. - Practical industry, wisely and vigorously applied, seldom fails of attaining success, and the career of John French, now one of the leading farmers of the Henry district, is but another proof of this statement as he is a worthy representative of the younger generation of agriculturists who have played such a constructive part in the de- velopment of the valley and demonstrated past all discussion that irrigation of the rich allu- vium of the valley brings golden returns to the men who are devoting their energies and time to intensive farm industries.

Mr. French was born in Clay county, Illi- nois, in 1876, being the son of William and Hettie (Etchison) French, both born in In- diana. William French was a farmer, residing in Illinois until 1881, when he came to Ne- braska to take advantage of the public lands which were to be had for the taking in the west- ern section of the state. He first located in Dodge county, but five years later took up a homestead in Cheyenne county early in the fall of 1886. He proved up on the 160 acre tract and after he had broken the land, erected suit- able and permanent farm buildings, as well as a good house, became one of the substantial and dependable men of the Panhandle; later he disposed of his farm at an attractive figure. Mr. French was a Republican in politics, and though he never accepted public office, was one of the most progressive men of the section and took an active part in every movement for the development of the county and the uplift of his community. He was one of the first men to realize what inestimable benefit water would be to the valley and helped in building the first irrigation ditch in his locality, now known as the Mitchell ditch. He lifted the first spade of dirt on its construction work. Later he pro- inoted and built over a quarter of the well- known Steamboat ditch that opened up a rich district for intensive farming. The French family were members of the Baptist church in which they were active workers. He is now dead. The mother lives at Minatare.

John French accompanied his parents from Illinois when they came west and received his

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educational advantages in the public schools of this state, early learning to rely upon himself as all boys who were reared in the Panhandle during the pioneer days did. With his family he suffered the hardships and privations inci- dent upon settlement of a new region, and early learned the practical side of farm industry as carried on in this section and while a boy in years, was able to conduct much of his father's business, as he was the oldest of the family, the other children being: Lorenzo, a ranchman of Big Trail, Wyoming; Jessie, the wife of Charles F. White, deceased, and she now lives in Minatare; Edna, the wife of R. M. Woode, a farmer of Wyoming, and two children who died.

As soon as he was old enough John French took up a claim in Wyoming, consisting of a quarter section of land, where he engaged in general farming and stock-raising. made per- manent improvements on his land, and by his industry, executive ability and hard work was soon enjoying a good income. With increased capital he decided to branch out as a landed proprietor and invested his money in more land from time to time until he now owns nearly a thousand acres of fine, arable, valley property, most of which is under ditch. Mr. French has not devoted all his energies to one line but has carried on varied farm industries along with stock-raising, having good grades of animals. He thoroughly believes, as did his father, in in- tensified farming on irrigated land, as the best proposition in farming and has ably demon- strated his theories on section 16 in township 23-58. Early in his life he became associated with his father in business, first on the farm and then in the contracting business, when Wil- liam French began construction work on some of the most important irrigation projects in the upper valley. Mr. French found that he could easily carry on both branches of his business, and while he has become one of the largest landholders near Henry and a representative farmer of the section, he stands high among the business men and is rated one of the solid, reputable men of the financial circles of Scotts- bluff county. Mr. French still owns the first land he homesteaded here over twenty years ago, to which he has so materially added with the passing years. He recalls vividly the trials and early struggles which his parents and the other pioneers here encountered in contending for victory over the untried forces of a new land, and, notwithstanding the anxiety and arduous toil imposed, he looks back to those days as the happiest of his life.

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History of western Nebraska and its people, Vol. III, Part 31

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