History of western Nebraska and its people, Vol. III, Part 46

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

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John Mainard was reared and received his early educational advantages in the state of

Iowa, where his father was a farmer for a number of years before the family came to Ne- braska. At the time the Mainards settled here Johnnie was a sturdy youth in his eighth year and after assisting his parents in breaking the farm land on the homestead in Banner coun- ty determined that he too, would start out on a career as an agriculturist but his young blood called for more activity and he did not locate near the family home, but went to Wy- oming where he filed on a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres, upon which he placed the improvements required by the government,

proved up and became a landed proprietor. During this time he was a foreman and ranch- er in Wyoming for eight years and spent fif- teen years on the range, meeting with the well earned and deserved reward for the thought and labor required in the work on the farm, Mr. Mainard decided that he would widen his field of endeavor. He had always been inter- ested in machinery, having a natural ability in a mechanical line. After looking the coun- try over for a desirable location he came to Mitchell in 1909, and engaged in a general livery business as an introduction to the busi- ness which he later planned to establish and after two years opened a general garage, carry- ing a complete line of accessories. He is the district agent of the Hudson and Essex make of automobiles and today is one of the most substantial business men of the Platte val- ley. His natural bent toward mechanics and the fact that he realized and seized the great opportunity offered in the wide field of motor transportation has led to his firm establishment as a progressive leader of the automobile field in the western Pan- handle. His company does a general elec- tric repair work, a special feature is the vul- canizing of old tires that prolongs their life for thousands of miles of use. He runs a battery, a service station, and now has an excellent patronage, not only among the citi- zens of Mitchell but all up and down the val- ley and from other parts of the state, the ac- curate and expeditious workmanship of the garage and the unfailing courtesy and con- sideration of Mr. Mainard have given him a wide patronage and have combined to bring customers and make friends.

In 1906, Mr. Mainard married Miss Clara Green, a native of the Buckeye state, whose parents live in La Grange, Wyoming, where her father was for many years a farmer and rancher. Three children have been born in the Mainard family : Maude, Joella and Helen, all of whom are at home. Mrs. Mainard is a member of the Christian church in which she is a devoted worker. Mr. Mainard has carved his own career and it is but natural that he is an independent thinker on all subjects as he is a wide reader of the best books on pro- fessional and current subjects as well as the best of periodical literature. Following out this line he is an independent voter, drawing no close line when the question of the best man to fill office is put before the voters, giv- ing his influence to the one who can best serve the people. In August, 1919 Mr. Main- ard sold his garage and at once started his

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present large building 100x140, brick, which will be the largest in Mitchell, which he ex- pected to have completed by July 1, 1920.

ORLA F. COOK, a well known farmer and stock-raiser near Morrill, has been a resident of Scottsbluff county for fifteen years, and during that time has devoted himself to agricul- tural pursuits, his industry, thorough methods and good judgment bringing about very sub- stantial results. Mr. Cook is descended from a long line of distinguished English ancestors as his father was a nephew of the famous English actor, George Frederick Cook. Orla F. Cook is a Hoosier, born in Orland, Indiana, February 3, 1875, being the son of George F. and Lo- daska (Rogers) Cook, the former born in 1843, died in Gresham, Nebraska, while the mother, a native of Indiana, born there in 1848, is still living at Gresham. George Cook was one of the gallant sons of the nation who went forth in defense of the Union, when the Civil War was precipitated on this country. In re- sponse to President Lincoln's call for volun- teers he enlisted in the Union army and serv- ed three years, taking part in some of the hard- est engagements of the war. He was a mem- ber of the army which served under General Sherman and took part in the famous march through Georgia to the sea, as a member of Company B, One hundredth Indiana Volun- teer Infantry. He thus upheld the gallant tra- ditions of his family, as there has been no war in which the United States has been engaged but that a Cook has served under the stars and stripes, and if necessary made the greatest sacrifice, of life, in defending his country. At the close of hostilities, George Cook laid down the sword and took up the ploughshare to carry on the pursuits of peace and again en- gaged in farming in Indiana. He was an am- bitious man, and like many of the returned soldiers, wanted to get ahead in life, not only for himself but for his family and decided to avail himself of the cheap land to be had west of the Missouri. In 1880, he came to Ne- braska, purchased land near Ulysses upon which he at once began excellent and perma- nent improvements. He was not daunted by the many privations and hardships incident to settlement in this, then, new country, but bravely set out to break the virgin soil, plant and till his crops, and erect a good home for his family. So well did he carry out his work of improvement that in nine years he was enabled to dspose of the first holdings at a very satisfactory figure and with this money purchased more raw land; at once began to

improve it, make improvements similar, but better to those on the first farm and as time passed carried on extensive general farming and stock-raising operations, which placed him in the front rank of the agriculturists of this section. Mr. Cook had great faith in the fu- ture of the Panhandle and remained through the years of drought, the invasion by insect pests and weathered the hard winter blizzards, when so many of the settlers gave up and returned to their old homes in the east and his faith was justified for with the passing years his land was raised to a high state of fertility and the three hundred and twenty acre tract in time returned him a comfortable and substantial fortune, due to his hard work and natural ability. He was one of the brave men of high spirit and courage who played such an important part in the development of western Nebraska and thus paved the way for the present great agricultural production carried on in this section at the present time. Early in life, Mr. Cook was a Republican but after locating in Nebraska and studying the trend of events he became one of the leaders of the new Independent party and before his death swung over to the Democrats and the platforms advocated by that party. He was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, of the Masonic fraternity and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, attending the Chris- tian church, of which his wife was a member. There were two children in the family; James D., a farmer of Scottsbluff county and Arla who spent the first five years of his life on his father's farm in Indiana and when the family came to Nebraska was just a little lad. He received his educational advantages in the public schools afforded on the frontier dur- ing his youth and thus laid the foundation for a good practical education to which he has been adding all his life as he has been a stu- dent of agriculture and the great questions of the day whether county, state or national. While on the home farm the boy early shoul- dered many of the small duties that are ever to be found around a country home and as his age and strength permitted he began to work on the land. So while yet young he had learned by experience the practical side of farm business, which has been of inestimable value to him since he began an independent business career. In 1905 Mr. Cook came to Scottsbluff county, as he had already realized that the ever successful agriculturist was the man who had water for his growing crops at just the right time and was not dependent up- on the uncertain rainfall. For some years he

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has been studying up on the question of irri- gation and was of such keen vision that he realized that the rich soil of the Platte valley would produce any kind of crop and in great bounty with moisture. After looking this section over he filed on one hundred and sixty acres of land but subsequently released eighty acres of this tract, but later purchased another eighty that all might be under water. Today this land is one of the finest and most highly productive farms in the county as Mr. Cook conducts general farming and stock raising. Being a student of his profession he has de- cided that the greatest returns are made from a pure blooded strain of animals and has specialized in fine high breed Duroc Jersey hogs. From first locating in the valley he has introduced and practiced intensive modern farming, adopting the methods and machinery advocated by the state and government farm experts wherever he sees that such are of use to him and as a result Mr. Cook today is re- garded as one of the leading prosperous and progressive exponents of the agriculturists in this section, noted for its able and productive farmers.

On May 28, 1912, Mr. Cook married Miss Augusta Rulla, a native of Nebraska, born in Johnson county and to them have been born two children: Opal and Clyde Coy, both of whom are at home and for whom a bright fu- ture may be forecast, as their parents have determined that both shall have every ad- vantage in a social and educational way that the county and state affords, to equip them for life. Mrs. Cook has taken a keen interest in her husband's business and aided and encour- aged him in all his business affairs. She is a member of the Lutheran church of which the family are helpful supporters. In prin- ciple, Mr. Cook believes in the platforms of the Democratic party but is bound by no strict lines when it comes to casting his vote, as he believes the man who qualifies best for every office should be elected to fill it, whether in county, state or nation. Fraternally he is as- sociated with the Royal Highlanders, the Woodmen of the Word, Ben Hur and the Yeomen. He stands for progress and the up- lift of the community in which he lives, advo- cating good roads, good schools and progres- sive business.

CURTIS M. CLUCK. - A resident of Ne- braska and the Panhandle from the time when the only buildings known in this section of the state were composed of sod, Curtis Cluck has watched with the eye of a proprie-

tor the various changes that have been wrought by the passage of years and the sturdy progres- sive work done by the first settlers, and has himself borne a full share of the labor in opening and developing the country to its present high state of production and pros- perity. He is now one of the large landholders and successful agriculturists of the Morrill community of Sioux county where his accom- plishments entitle him to the respect and esteem in which he is uniformly held by his business associates and many friends. Mr. Cluck is descended from a long line of worthy ancestors who settled in Pennsylvania at an early date and played an important part in winning that state from the wilderness and settling it up. He was born in Perry county, Pennsylvania, in 1862, being the son of Will- iam and Barbara (Kirck) Cluck, both born and reared in the Keystone state, the former living to be sixty-nine years of age, while the mother died in her forty-seventh year. Will- iam Cluck was reared and educated in Penn- sylvania and after his school days were over. learned the trade of blacksmith which voca- tion he followed in his native state for some years, but he saw little opportunity to give his family all the advantages he wanted for them in the east and being a wide-awake man realized that the greatest chances for himself and his family were to be obtained in the newer country west of the Mississippi valley and emigrating from the old home with his family, he took up a homestead in Banner county, filing on a hundred and sixty acre tract, upon which he proved up. Mr. Cluck broke the virgin soil of the prairie, planted crops to tide his family over the first winter on the prairies as settlers were few and far apart when the family came to the Panhandle and each family must supply itself the best it could in order to save the long wagon trips to the nearest market for supplies. Soon im- provements were made on the land, permanent shelters for the stock and a comfortable house for the family which consisted of five chil- dren : C. M .; Katherine, the wife of Reverend Allen Chamberlain of Madison, Nebraska; Alice, deceased, was the wife of Thomas G. Granshaw, of Council Bluffs, Iowa; Anna, who marrier Lee England of Orient, Iowa ; and Millard, who is a ranchman of Banner county. The father was a member of the Republican party, as he believed in its prin- ciples and with his wife was a member of the Evangelical Lutheran church, a faith in which the children were reared.

Curtis Cluck was reared on his father's farm

AARON P. FISHER AND FIVE GENERATIONS

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

and received educational advantages afforded by the public schools of his neighbor- hood and then continued in the greatest of all schools, that of experience, which, though a severe teacher, teaches lessons that are never forgotten, and he thus laid the foundation for the life work which has been fraught with struggle and success. In 1895, Mr. Cluck be- gan his present career as an agriculturist by taking up a homestead in Sioux county ; his first tract being one of eighty acres, where he at once began to make improvements in the way of excellent buildings for his stock and other farm operations and erected a com- fortable home. Here he carried on general farming operations, making a specialty of the dairy business. There were few ranches in this section at the time Mr. Cluck located and he was able to use the open range for his cattle for some years, and being a keen buyer and man of foresight was able to turn his cattle over often to good profit and thus laid the foundation for the comfortable fortune, which has come to repay him for the time, en- ergy and toil that has been expended by him on the various branches of his profitable busi- ness. When he first came to the Panhandle he saw little to encourage him, the country be- ing practically undevedoped, while the few settlers, living far apart, were doing without conveniences and living in small houses if not sod dug-outs, but he had faith in the future of the section, both for farming and cattle and with his wife determined to remain and win fortune against all odds. Today all his land is under cultivation, he has a fine modern home and excelletn outbuildings, and has es- tablished himself as a progressive and skilled farmer who thoroughly knows his business and can make his labor pay him proportionately, being known and highly respected throughout the Morrill section. He still carries on gen- eral farming and raises all kinds of live-stock, the while the success which has attended his efforts is evinced by the consistency of his methods, as he is modern in thought and deed, employing the latest methods in his business as well as buying and operating the latest types of machinery to lighten the labors of farm work. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church of which Mrs. Cluck is an earnest worker, while Mr. Cluck is a staunch supporter of the principles of the Republican party and while he has never aspired to hold public office he advocates all improvements for the community which tend to social and civic development.

In 1883, Mr. Cluck married Miss Isa Mc-

Guffin in Iowa. he was born in Pennsylvania, but accompanied her parents to Iowa when they came west to locate on a farm in the newer country. There are two children in the Cluck family : Elmer, who lives in Morrill, where he is connected with the street department ; and Blanche, the wife of C. J. Goakey, a ranchman of Fulton, Wyoming.

AARON P. FISHER, an experienced and successful farmer in Scottsbluff county, is a native of Indiana, born in that fine old state, March 27, 1853. His parents were Samuel and Margaret (Huffman) Fisher, the former of whom was born in Virginia and the latter in Ohio. They had eight children, Aaron P. be- ing the youngest. The mother died, aged sev- enty-six years, and the father in his eighty- second year.

Mr. Fisher attended the public schools in Iowa in boyhood and remained with his par- ents and accompanied them to Nebraska in 1885. He settled first in Furnas county but conditions were hard there at that time and he moved into Kansas, but finally, after a trial of two years, decided that Nebraska offered better opportunities for the poor man, came back to the state and homesteaded in Cheyenne, now Scottsbluff county, two miles west of McGrew. Mr. Fisher brought his family and household goods across the country from Kansas in a covered wagon with team, and this wagon served as the first home. Like other settlers of that time, Mr. Fisher was forced to bear hard- ships that entailed loss of crops and stock, but his courage held out and now he is the fortu- nate owner of 309 acres of excellent land, 189 of which is under irrigation. He confines his attention to general farming at present, but at one time he was in the cattle business.

Mr. Fisher was married December 28, 1884, to Miss Abby Foster, who was born in Kansas, a daughter of John and Sarah ( Wilson) Fos- ter, the former of whom was born in Ohio and the latter at Eddyville, Iowa, where they reside. The maternal grandmother of Mrs. Fisher was born in 1828 and still lives. Mr. and Mrs. Fisher have three children: Marion, married Sarah Howard and has one child, Marie; Lilly, married Elmer Baquet and has two children, Berl and Myrl; and Bert, who has always been at home. Mrs. Fisher belongs to the Baptist church. Mr. Fisher was independent in his political views. He died December 28, 1919. The widow continues on the old place.

GEORGE F. TAPLIN, who is a well known resident of Sioux county, where he is engaged in farming, has been a resident of

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this state for fourteen years and during all this time has been interested in the agricul- tural development of the Platte valley.

George Taplin was born in Hardin county, Iowa, in 1874, being the son of C. R. and Mal- vina (Harrington) Taplin, the former a man of sturdy vigor now in his seventy-first year, while the mother died a young woman at the age of thirty-five years in 1889. The father was a Canadian by birth; he received his educational advantages in his native country and there upon attaining his majority entered into independent business for himself as a farmer, but he looked to the south and when his family was fairly well grown decided to emigrate. Coming to the United States the family located in Iowa, where C. R. Taplin bought a farm. Here he at once put into use the practices of his earlier business life, con- ducting general farming operations and en- gaged in stock-raising. After some years in that state he went to Colorado but did not find all conditions to his taste and decided to locate in Nebraska and took up a hometsead in Sioux county. He soon put many excellent permanent improvements on his eighty acre tract, erected good farm buildings, a comfort- able home, and within a short time was re- garded as one of the most reliable and sub- stantial men of the district. Mr. Taplin was a well educated man, took a keen interest in the affairs of the community and as a reward for the public spirit he displayed his county elected his commissioner, believing that the affairs of this section would be well and hon- estly conducted in his capable hands. Thus for seven years he not only conducted his own business but that of the county and he has the satisfaction of knowing that he holds the respect and confidence of its residents. The Taplin family are members of the Metho- dist Episcopal church to which they give hearty support, while in politics Mr. Taplin was allied with the Republican party. There were three children in the Taplin family: Franklin, a farmer in Canada ; Mary, the wife of F. T. Biddle, a formean in an ore mill in Colorado, and George F., the subject of this review, who was educated in the excellent pub- lic schools of Canada before the family came to the United States. Like all boys reared on a farm, he at an early age assumed many of the duties around the home place, learned from his father the practical side of farm business. For a number of years Mr. Taplin was engaged in farming in Iowa and Colorado, but he was ambitions to get ahead in the world on his own account and believed that with

his knowledge and experience in business he could do well on land of his own and deter- mined to take advantage of the free land offered settlers by the government in Nebras- ka and in 1906 located on an eighty acre homestead in Sioux county. He has raised the soil to a high state of fertility, believing in the best principles of intensive farming, has erect- ed good and substantial farm buldings and a fine modern home for the family. As the first land soon began to bring most gratifying results for the thought and labor expended upon it, Mr. Taplin obtained capital with which he bought a second eighty, giving him a farm of a quarter section, all of which is under irrigation. He does general farming and stock raising.

On July 25, 1906, Mr. Taplin married Miss Ellen Arbuckle, a native daughter of Ne- braska, the daughter of J. F. Arbuckle, of Fort Morgan, Colorado, and to this union four children have been born: Marion, Anna, Francis and Arthur, all of whom are at home. The children will be given every advantage to equip them for life as both their parents be- lieve in education as the best start in the world.

The Taplin family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church of which they are liberal supporters. Mr. Taplin is allied with the Republican party and his fraternal affilia- tions are with the Masonic order. Mr. Tap- lin is progressive in ideas and methods, stands for all communal and civic improvements and is one of the community's public-spirited men and one who has won the confidence and esteem of his business associates through his high ideals and integrity.

GEORGE H. GARRARD is one of the substantial farmers of Scottsbluff county. He came to the Panhadle while this section was still new and here has lived to view the mar- velous development of this favored section of Nebraska.

George Garrard was born in England in 1870, being the son of James and Mary (Hill) Garrard, both natives of that country, where they were reared, educated and married. The mother lived until her forty-sixth year, being survived by her husband who passed away at the age of sixty-two. They had a family of ten children. George was given all the educa- tional advantages his family could afford in his mother country and after his school days were over became an apprentice to a carpenter and thus learned a profitable trade that was of inestimable value to him in his later life. The young man was ambitious, he soon realized

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that there were few opportunities for him in his native country and while still young cour- ageously severed all the dear ties binding him to his home and set sail for the newer land with its many openings on the west of the Atlantic. Soon after landing in this country Mr. Garrard came west as her heard of the vast wide stretches of land that the govern- ment would give to settlers free and with the idea of becoming a landholder in 1891 he located in Kimball county. At this time he had just attained his majority but not daunted by the many privations he had to endure be- gan at once to work at his trade as a carpen- ter and many of the early dwellings and busi- ness houses of that day were erected by his skillful hands. Subsequently Mr. Garrard re- moved to the frontier village of Gering, where he engaged in business as a carpenter, gradu- ally branching out into a modest contracting business, and he played no small part in the building and development of the present seat of justice of Scottsbluff county.

He desired land of his own and about 1905 bought land in section 22, township 23-57, where he at once began business as a farmer. Mr. Garrard had devoted considerable study to agriculture problems before he purchased his farm so he at once began to inaugurate the latest methods of farming. He erected neces- sary farm buildings and a comfortable home, and has successfully engaged in general farm- ing and stock raising. He and his wife are favorably known and highly esteemed in the community.

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History of western Nebraska and its people, Vol. III, Part 46

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