History of western Nebraska and its people, Vol. III, Part 39

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

USA > Nebraska > History of western Nebraska and its people, Vol. III > Part 39

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

FRANKLIN A REDFIELD was born in Livingston county, New York, November 25, 1834, and died August 26, 1904, in Johnson

county, Nebraska. His wife, Mary E. Aldrich, is a native of Ray county, Missouri, where she was born February 4, 1839. She came to Scottsbluff county in 1916 from Johnson coun- ty, where she had resided from the time of her husband's death, and now at the age of 80 years she lives by herself in the town of Melbeta and successfully looks after all her affairs.

Mr. Redfield, after his marriage on Febru- ary 4, 1858, lived in Illinois as a farmer until the outbreak of the Civil War. When the call of the country came for volunteers he enlisted and served three years in the war. He came to Nebraska April 1, 1870 and settled in John- son county. He was first a farmer and then a merchant there for ten years, was a very successful man, and widely known. Mr. Red- field was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic of Crabb Orchard Post G. A. R.

To Mr. and Mrs. Redfield were born two children. The elder of these, Lucien H. Red- field, was born in Illinois June 10, 1859; came to Scottsbluff county in 1911 and purchased land which he has improved and upon which he has been successful in general farming. To him and his wife, Alice (Worley) Redfield, a native of Iowa, eight children have been born, six of whom are living, namely: Clark, now employed in Melbeta, was across the ocean nine times, being in the U. S. navy during the late war on the transport Wilemina; Clara, a nurse in the Midwest hospital in Scottsbluff ; Lucy, the wife of Edgar Decker, a merchant in Melbeta ; and Mary, John, and Arthur, at home.

The other son of the subject of this sketch is William C. Redfield, a banker at Haig, in Scottsbluff county. He was born in Illinois on December 30, 1860. He was married to Mary E. Barrett, a native of New York, and two children have been born to them, namely : Franklin, who has recently been discharged from the United States navy, and Martha, de- ceased.

Mr. and Mrs. Redfield were members of the Congregational church in Illinois, but after coming to Nebraska they joined the M. E. church in Johnson county, bringing a letter from the Crabb Orchard M. E. church to the Melbeta church.

JOSEPH P. WOOD. - The subject of this sketch is a native of Iowa, and was born December 11, 1857. His father was George Wood, who was born in Madison, Indiana, and followed the occupation of a blacksmith in In- diana, later moving to Kansas where he worked

199

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

at his trade until his death at the ripe age of seventy-nine years. His mother, Artemisia (Austin) Wood, died at the age of fifty. She was a native of Kentucky.

Mr. Wood was united in marriage to Ella Johnson, who was born in Illinois November 24, 1859. Her parents were Horace Johnson, a native of New Hampshire, and Helen (Smith) Johnson, a native of Connecticut. Both Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are now de- ceased. They followed the calling of general farming in Illinois and never came to Nebras- ka.

Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Wood: Delmar, who is married and lives in California ; and Elsie, now Mrs. J. E. Clure, living on a farm in Scottsbluff county.

Mr. Wood came to Nebraska in 1886 and settled on a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres. After improving his place, he found, like many other western Nebraskans in the early days, that money was not so plenti- ful in the short grass region, so he secured em- ployment as manager of a ranch in Wyoming and held the position for twelve years. At the end of that time the prosperous growth of Scottsbluff county was beginning, and he returned to his place here and has success- fully followed farming and stockrasing from that time. He is a Democrat in politics and is widely known among the early settlers as an industrious man, a good friend and neighbor, an upright American citizen. He has seen the country grow and has grown with it. He is one of the many who have proved that the main difference between success and failure is the ability to stick to it.

WILLIAM JOHNS is a native of Nebras- ka, born in Johnson county August 22, 1868, and has spent his life in the state. His father, Ferdinand Johns, was a native of Germany, but came to America in the spring of 1868, where he took a homestead in Johnson county and followed farming there until his death at the age of seventy-six years. His mother, Caroline (Bolt) Johns, also born in Germany, died in Johnson county, aged sixty-eight.

Mr. Johns was married to Louise Zinsmaster, a native of Ohio. Her father, Jacob Zins- master was born in Germany, coming to Amer- ica when a young man. He married Maria Sutvarn, a native of Ohio. They were farm- ing people and died in Johnson county, Ne- braska.

To Mr. and Mrs. Johns eleven children have been born, ten of whom are living. They are: Earnest, Myrtle (now Mrs. Warren Dick-

inson, living on a farm in Scottsbluff county), Harry, Elnora, Wilber (deceased), Roy, Earl, Nellie, Bernice, Lorine, and Grace. All are living at home except the married daughter.

Mr. Johns has farmed in both ends of Ne- braska, twenty years in Johnson county and ten years in Scottsbluff. When he came here he purchased four hundred acres of land and has been engaged in general farming and stock raising. He now owns seven hundred and ten acres. He is not inclined to be boast- ful, but modestly says that he considers him- self successful. When a man at middle age has a family of ten children, a prosperous farm and ranch business, and seven hundred and ten acres of Nebraska land that is increas- ing in value every year - if such a man is not entitled to call himself successful, we must get a new definition of success.

C. H. BURK. - The subject of this notice was born January 29, 1856, in Fountain coun- ty, Indiana, the son of John and Mary Burk, both now deceased. John Burk was a native of Kentucky. He dealt in horses, and during the Civil War bought horses for the United States government. He never came to Ne- braska, but died at the age of seventy. The mother lived to the advanced age of eighty years.

C. H. Burk came to Nebraska in 1883 and settled at Tamora, in Seward county, where he engaged in the lumber business for about two years. He was married at Phillips, Nebraska, on June 30. 1885, to Pet W. Wood, who was a daughter of James W. and Margaret (Sho- walter ) Wood. She was born in Benton coun- ty, Iowa, where the father was an early set- tler and a prominent attorney, having come from London, England, directly to Iowa. Her mother was a native of Ohio. Both the par- ents are now deceased.

One child, Harmon J. Burk, was born to this union, and died at the early age of four years.

From 1885 to 1893 Mr. Burk conducted a hardware and lumber business at Phillips, Ne- braska, and then entered the banking business at the same place. Since that time he has been a banker and has had the unusual experience of founding and successfully developing some half a dozen banks in western Nebraska, all of which are now prosperous and growing with the fast growing country. His first lo- cation in this vicinity was at Bayard, where in company with J. W. Wehn he opened the Bank of Bayard in January, 1900, with a capitalization of $5,000. Later the same men

200

HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA

founded the Deuel County Bank, at Oshkosh, with $10,000 capital, and Mr. Burk made his residence in Oshkosh for two years directing the affairs of this bank. Next he spent two years with the Bank of Lewellen, in the same county, another $10,000 institution. In 1909 the Broadwater Bank, in Morrill county, was opened with $10,000 capital, and in 1911 Mr. Burk went to McGrew, in Scottsbluff county, where he opened a bank with $15,000 capital. He sold this in February, 1914, and since that time has been retired from active business pursuits.

Mr. Burk is a Republican in politics, and belongs to the Woodmen and Highlanders. Mrs Burk is a member of the Presbyterian church.

G. R. CONKLIN. - Born in Polk county, Iowa, September 18, 1872, Mr. Conklin came to Nebraska in 1886 with his parents. His father, Gilbert Conklin, was a native of New York and a farmer. His mother, Lucy M. Conklin, was likewise born in New York but was reared in Iowa. The parents took a home- stead in Nebraska, and the father dying be- fore final proof was made, the mother com- pleted the proof. She is since deceased at the age of sixty-one years.

The subject of this sketch was married at Gering to Florence Alberts, a native of Iowa. Of the five children born to them, one son, Clifford, died at the age of eighteen months. The others, all living at home, are: Walter, Clayton, Charles and Leslie.

Mr. Conklin proved up on a homestead near McGrew, Nebraska, which he sold. He also bought and sold several otehr places before locating on his present farm where he is engaged in general farming and preparing to make extensive improvements. He has, like practically all early Nebraska settlers, raised cattle. Furthermore, like all the other early settlers, he took a hand at every side line that offered a chance to make an honest dol- lar in the days when dollars were as scarce as steamboats on these western prairies. He hauled the first load of freight into Gering from Sidney. He drove a prairie schooner through from Missouri, and saw all the hard- ships of the pioneer days. Some of those who took part in those early struggles gave up and left; others stuck it out, and they are now the successful and prosperous members of the community in its present days of great development and growing riches. Mr. Conk- lin was one of those who stuck. He is road overseer of district number six and was a

member of the school board of district num- ber eighteen. He belongs to the W. O. W., while his wife is a member of the Woodmen Circle and of the Presbyterian church.

GEORGE KEIPER WHITAKER was born June 14, 1862, in Morgan county, Indi- ana. His father, Bland Whitaker, was a na- tive of Kentucky, a farmer by occupation, and lived to the age of seventy years. His mother, Fanny Whitaker, died at the age of fifty-four.

Mr. Whitaker was married at Kearney, Ne- braska, to Miranda Carpenter, whose parents were early settlers in Buffalo county. Her father, E. W. Carpenter, came to that locality in 1872. Both he and his wife, Emily, are now deceased.

Eight children have come to bless the home life of Mr. and Mrs. Whitaker, and all of them are living at home. Their names are, Nigel, Dell, Clarabell, Ruth, Harry, Emma, Jackson, and George K., Jr.

The subject of this sketch came to Nebraska in 1880 with his mother, and both of them took up homesteads in Buffalo county, near Kearney. After living there twenty-eight years, engaged in extensive farming and stock- raising operations, Mr. Whitaker came to Scottsbluff county in 1909 and bought his pres- ent home. This is a well improved place of three hundred and twenty acres, of which eighty acres is now under irrigation, and all the balance will be irrigated by the new Gov- ernment ditch which is now being constructed. Coming to this section of the state with the first railroad, Mr. Whitaker has seen it de- velop from a sparsely settled range country to one of the wealthiest sections of the United States, all in a few years, and he has had his share of the prosperity. He now confines himself to a general farming business, al- though up until 1918 he had raised cattle. In that year he closed out his cattle and retired from stock raising. In politics he is a Re- publican, and is a member of the Methodist church. He is well and favorably known to all of the pioneers of the county, and there is between them the bond of friendship that comes from pioneering together in the days of hard times.

CHARLES E. NEELEY was born in Schuyler county, Missouri, September 3, 1866. His father was Robert S. Neeley, a native of Lancaster, Ohio, and his mother, Sarah M. Neeley, a native of Kentucky. Both lived to an advanced age, the mother dying at eighty- five and the father at eighty-seven. The fath-

201

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

er, after living in Missouri for a number of years, moved to Colorado and engaged in the ranching business. In a runaway accident he was thrown from a buggy into the icy waters of an irrigation ditch, and owing to his age he was unable to withstand the shock and his death resulted.

The subject of this sketch came to Cheyenne county, Nebraska, in 1885 as a single man. In 1906 he was united in marriage with Elizabeth J. Baumer at Lancaster, Missouri, his wife being a native of that place. Three children have blessed this union, namely : Alpha, Joseph R., and Perry E., all of whom are living at home.

Mr. Neeley homesteaded and pre-empted three hundred and twenty acres of land in Mitchell Valley, in Scottsbluff county, which is now one of the richest sections of the great irrigated territory of western Nebraska. Lat- er he sold his holdings there, and moved to the old home in Missouri, but after an absence of five years he became convinced of the great truth that it is a crime to leave the North Platte Valley irrigated country, and an un- pardonable crime to stay away; so he return- ed and purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres of irrigated and eighty acres of non-irrigated land near Gering, which he has improved himself. It is now up to the stan- dard of Scottsbluff county farm homes, which is one of the highest standard in the world.

In politics Mr. Neeley has been an inde- pendent voter. He belongs to the I. O. O. F., Masons, and M. W. A., and for a number of years has been a member of the school board of his district. He is well known and stands high in the estimation of his neighbors.

J. J. KIPP. - The subject of this sketch was born in Germany on September 5, 1858, and came to the United States in 1862, and settled at Quincy, Illinois. He is the son of Joseph and Elizabeth Kipp, both natives of Germany, and both now deceased. When he was four years of age his mother died, his father being at that time in America, and three children of the family made the long journey across the ocean to join their father. The brother, Frederick, and the sister, Eliza- beth, who accompanied the little one are now not living.

Mr. Kipp's first wife was Mary E. Crane, a native of Iowa, and to them were born two children, Earl and Elizabeth, both living. The son is a farmer at Reddington, Nebraska, and the daughter, whose name is now Elizabeth Davis, resides at Harrison, South Dakota.

After the death of his first wife, Mr. Kipp was married to Frace E. Myers, who was born in Illinois, the daughter of Andrew and Ella Myers, of Independence, Missouri. Four children have been born to this union, Joseph H., Ella, Dorothy, Mabel, and Victor.

In March, 1888, Mr. Kipp settled in Sioux county, Nebraska, and followed farming and cattle raising there until 1901, when he dis- posed of his homestead and purchased land in Scottsbluff county and has since made his home upon it. He has eighty acres of fine irrigated land, which he has improved from its former condition of raw prairie into a modern and up-to-date farm; and in addition he owns a half interest in eighty acres near his home place. In common with the other pioneers of western Nebraska, Mr. Kipp endured the privations and hardships of early Nebraska homesteading and often found it hard to make both ends meet. He is now prosperous and one of the substantial members of his com- munity.

JOHN HARVEY PFEIFER. - One of the prosperous exponents of the agricultural and stock-raising interests of Scottsbluff county is the man whose name heads this re- view, who has been a resident of this section for a decade.

Mr. Pfeifer was born in Crawford county, Ohio, November 2, 1872, the son of Godfrey F. and Emiline (Snyder) Pfeifer, both of whom were natives of the Buckeye state. Seven children were born to them : Chris, now a ranchman in Banner county, Nebraska ; Laura, the wife of Frank Sears, a lumber merchant in Montana; Katy, who married Francis Whitman of Russell county, Kansas, and J. H., are living, the others are dead.

The father was a farmer school teacher in Ohio, and his was also the distinction of hav- ing been a gallant soldier of the Union dur- ing the Civil War. After the cessation of hostilities he became a farmer in the Buckeye state but being a man of excellent education and high attainments devoted a part of his time to communal affairs for the benefit of the rising generation, teaching in the public schools. After some residence there he sold out and came to Kansas, taking up a home- stead. From there he came to Banner county, where he finished proving up on a homestead left by a son who died. Subsequently he came still farther west to Scottsbluff county where he passed the remainder of his days. The mother lived in this county until September, 1913, when she too, sought her last rest. In

202

HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA

politics the father was a staunch supporter of the principles of the Democratic party but cast his vote independently when it came to county and municipal affairs, throwing his influence toward the man best fitted for each office. . He was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, having been a member of a battery of light artillery from Ohio during that memorable conflict. He was a Christian man of high standing in every community where he resided and had many friends who held him in high esteem.

Instances are numerous in Scottsbluff coun- ty where men have arrived in this section with few acquaintances or friends and have worked their way to affluence and indepen- dence, Mr. Pfeifer is one of the number; be- fore he came here he had been unable to ac- cumulate any large sum of money but this in no way discouraged him, for he was a man of energy, had faith in the future of west- ern Nebraska and set out to become possessed of a share of the prosperity he believed was coming to this county and today his faith has been justified by the comfortable fortune he and his family enjoy.

April 12, 1906, marks the day Mr. Pfeifer became a resident of this great commonwealth, for it was then that he located in Banner county as a ranchman, where for three years he was engaged in developing and operating a farm. He had already learned the best methods of planting and harvesting so that he was well equipped with practical experi- ence to enable him to carry on agricultural pursuits in the new country which he had decided to make his future home. Three years later he came to Scottsbluff to work for a cattleman where he gained valuable experi- ence in handling stock on a large scale, feed- ing, buying and marketing that has proved of value to him in recent years. Within a short period he bought his present farm of one hundred and forty-two acres, which at that time had few improvements but which he has brought to a high state of cultivation. He is engaged in general farming and stock-raising, being highly successful in feeding and fatten- ing cattle on alfalfa and beets, shipping to the great meat centers farther east.

On November 9, 1910 Mr. Pfeifer married Annie Hiersche, a native of Germany, and to them have been born four children: Leon- ard, Emma H., Dean and Clyde. Mr. Pfeif- er was educated in the excellent schools of this state and Kansas and is a firm believer in a good education for everyone and special training for any special vocation in life. He

says nothing shall stand in the way of his children securing the best educational advan- tages afforded by district, town and state, and as a result of his convictions he is a sup- porter of every movement for higher educa- tion, county farm bureaus, civic improvements in both local and state wide affairs. He is today one of the progressive representatives of modern rural life.

EARL W. COLLINS, has identified him- self most fully with the civic and material in- terests of Scottsbluff county, for he is not only a representative agriculturist of this sec- tion, but is also the owner of a well improved farm estate in section 30, township 23-55. He is a native son of the west and has exempli- fied its progressive spirit in the varied activi- ties that have brought him a generous share of temporal prosperty.

Mr. Collins was born in Valley county, Nebraska, in 1878, the son of Warren and Amanda (Thurston) Collins. The former a native of Allegheny county, New York, while on his mother's side he inherits traits from sturdy old New England ancestors, as she was born in the state of Maine. There were eight children in the family: Oscar, a farm- er in Valley county ; Carrie, the wife of W. J. Seeley, a farmer of Milford; Helen, a trained nurse at Ord, Nebraska; Earl W .; Ralph and Lynn, both farmers in Valley coun- ty; Rex, now engaged in farming in Wash- ington, and Floyd, a student in a medical college who spends his vacations at home. The parents came to Nebraska in 1872, when the only buildings known in the central part of the state and westward were composed of sod, and it was in such a home on a prairie homestead that Earl Collins spent his boy- hood days, attending the district school during the winter and doing such work as was suit- able to a boy on the farm. He has watched with the eye of a proprietor, the various changes that have been brought by the pas- sage of the years and the sturdy and progres- sive work of the big hearted pioneers, and has himself borne a full share of the labor of development. He is now one of the land- holders and successful agriculturists of the Mitchell community, of Scottsbluff county where his accomplishments entitle him to the respect and esteen in which he is uniformly held by his fellow citizens.

Mr. Collins located here in 1905, taking up a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres, on which he at once placed excellent improvements. He now has all his land un-

203

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

der cultivation, has a fine home and substantial buildings and has established himself as a pro- gressive and skilled farmer who thoroughly knows his business and can make his labor pay him proportionately.

In 1907 Mr. Collins was united in marriage with Frances Hewett and they have two charming girls, Doris and Helen, both at home.

Mrs. Collins was a native of Plymouth county, Iowa, but since coming to western Ne- braska, has learned to love the great wide open spaces of this section, where the skies are nearly ever sunny, and the country a wonderful picture with its great expanses of growing crops in the spring and of yellow ripened grain in the fall. She like her hus- band, is progressive in ideas and is a worthy helpmate for such a man. Mr. Collins is an up-to-date business man, keeps abreast of all questions of the day, whether national, state or communal and favors every progressive movement in this section. He is an indepen- dent voter, exercising his privilege of the fran- chise as his wisdom and conscience dictate, while his fraternal affiliations are with the Modern Woodmen of America.

MICHAEL L. KIESEL .- Scottsbluff coun- ty has few finer citizens of finer fiber or more sterling worth than Michael Kiesel, whose field of operations is in the Mitchell district where he is located on a fine farm with well developed land, beautiful home, ex- cellent and practical farm buildings and where he expects to pass many happy prosperous years. Mr. Kiesel is a Hoosier, born in Gib- son county, Indiana, August 30, 1881, the son of Matthew and Lena (Whitman) Kiesel. The mother was born in France and though a devoted wife and mother lived to spend but a few short years with her family as she died when quite young. Matthew Kiesel Sr., was born in Indiana where he was reared and educated. Upon reaching manhood's estate he engaged in farming, owning a fine, well developed tract of one hundred and twenty acres of land where he successfully conducted general farming operations for many years. Today he is a sturdy, vigorous old man of seventy years. He is a staunch supporter of the priciples of the Democratic party and liberal supporter and member of the Catholic church, a faith in which he was reared from childhood.

Michael Keisel, Jr., availed himself of the public school advantages afforded in his native state, by which he qualified himself for use-

ful citizenship and such public service as he is called upon to perform. His life oc- cipation of his own choosing was farming, in which he has made a striking success. His first practical work of this nature was as a boy on the old home place in Indiana, where he helped as much as his years and strength permitted, thus gaining a practical educa- tion along with theoretical studies in school. Indiana, was, however, well settled and there was little land available for the younger gen- eration. As the young man was a wide reader he learned of the opportunities afforded on the great rolling prairies of the middle west and yielded to the call of the open country, coming to Nebraska in 1907. After looking the country over he decided to locate in the panhandle and took up seventy-six acres of relinquishment land in the Mitchell district, Scottsbluff county, on which he has erected excellent buildings, a good farm home, placed the land in an excellent state of cultivation and everything around the farm indicates that the owner is one of the proseprous farmers of the county. Mr. Kiesel is modern in his meth- ods, he believes that the day of the open range is over and that the future meat pro- ducers will be the small farmer who specializes in thoroughbred stock, with this idea in mind he has made a specialty of raisng nothing but pure breds. His choice has been Holstein Frie- sian cattle, Shropshire sheep, Poland-China hogs and barred Plymouth Rock chickens, all of which have a wide reputation for their uniform standard of excellence and have been widely distributed over western Nebraska and the surrounding states, as Mr. Kiesel holds a public sale almost every year to which buyers come from all over the northwestern section of the country. He takes great pride in the inany blue ribbons won by his fine stock and chickens at the various county fairs where he has become a well known exhibitor.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of western Nebraska and its people, Vol. III, Part 39

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