History of western Nebraska and its people, Vol. III, Part 72

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 72

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).

366

HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA

assist him through the business college. Soon after finishing the commercial course he ac- cepted a position with a life insurance company and within a short time was transferred to Colorado by the Missouri State Life Insur- ance Company. There he assumed the duties of district agent and later was transferred to Nebraska in the same capacity but added the duties of loan inspector in 1914 with headquar- ters at Alliance. A year later he went into business for himself, carrying general insur- ance, farm, ranch and city loans, meeting with marked success in this new venture and mak- ing a very satisfactory income from his varied interests. Mr. Wright displayed marked ex- ecutive ability in all his business dealing here and in the county, which was quickly noted by other men engaged in financial affairs so that he was asked to become associated with the Guardian Trust Company in 1917. It had an authorized capital of $100,000, Mr. Wright assuming office as secretary and treasurer of the concern. In July, 1919, the Guardian State Bank was organized with Dr. C. E. Hershman, president ; Thomas Katen, vice-president and Mr. Wright, cashier ; practically the same per- sonnel as to officers as the trust company has. The new banking house opened with a capital stock of $50,000 and so far has been doing a most satisfactory business with rapidly in- creasing deposits, for the men who have charge of its affairs have long stood high in the esteem of the business men of the city, for they are conservative in their dealings, yet constructive in methods and let no opportunity slip that will benefit the trust company or bank.

Mr. Wright also is an active member of the firm of Wright and Wright, which does a general insurance and the returns from the various lines handled by them are bringing in satisfactory returns for the time, energy and thought put into the business.

On November 10, 1906, Mr. Wright was married at New Lexington, Ohio, to Miss Ag- nes Thompson, a graduate of St. Alloysius Academy of that city. The Wrights have a modern home in Alliance on one of the best residence streets, Big Horn Avenue, and in ad- dition Mr. Wright owns several desirable prop- erties which he has built for sale to meet the rapidly growing demand for homes. He has one of the rental agencies of Alliance which works in well with his loan and insurance busi- ness, his far vision in real estate and his sound banking methods, and is a citizen of whom Alli- ance may well congratulate itself, for it is the men of the younger generation with their untiring energy who are writing the history

of the Panhandle in deeds that are making this one of the favored sections of the middle northwest.

CHARLES W. JEFFERS, now one of the leading real estate dealers of Alliance is a pioneer settler of Nebraska and has lived in the Panhandle for nearly three decades so must be accorded the honors due to those who lo- cated here when northwestern Nebraska was "the frontier." He has witnessed the many changes that have been brought about, while in the work of development he has aided in many ways.

Mr. Jeffers was born in Wood county, Ohio, June 15, 1864, being the son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Smith) Jeffers, the former a son of the Keystone state while the mother was a Buckeye. Charles was the oldest of five chil- dren in his own family and the youngest of nine half brothers and sisters, as both his fath- er and mother had been married before and had families of their own. He was reared on his father's farm and attended the district school near his home to acquire educational advantages until 1873. That spring his moth- er died and his father passed away the same year, leaving the boy to his own resources and though just a little lad he was compelled to go to work. He remembers well the first money he earned planting corn with a hand corn planter, for which he received fifty cents a day in 1872, and putting some more with the three and a half dollars bought a pair of boots with copper toes, which became quite the envy of the rest of the small boys. After the death of his parents he worked for strangers, first shucking corn then went onto a farm where he worked vacations, Saturdays and late in the afternoons, going to school the remain- der of the time. For two years he was thus enabled to pursue his studies at school but after that all the education he could get was by studying at night but he was ambitious and even by this slow method managed to secure a good practical foundation upon which to build a business life. Some of the money he earned had to go toward supporting his younger brothers and sisters. Later Mr. Jeffers came west to Iowa, where he worked for a man named Maine, who was an extensive dealer. He was soon promoted to foreman of the farm and handled many thousand dollars for his employer, buying up cattle in the surrounding states. He also handled many government contracts for Mr. Maine and thus gained a wide and varied knowledge of business. In 1883, he came to Central City, Nebraska, as

367

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

foreman of a gang of men who were engaged in grading for a railroad contracting firm known as Owen Brothers, as they were then constructing the road bed of a railroad from Central City to Erickson with a branch running to Ord. The next year Mr. Jeffers took land in Hamilton county which he farmed until coming to Alliance on March 2, 1891, when he entered the service of the railroad in the shops. Starting in the cinder pit he was advanced to engineer of a passenger engine on the main line but resigned in 1899 and engaged in carpentry, a trade he had learned some years previously and continued to work for the company repair- ing cars for a while. In the fall of that year he took up a homestead in Garden county, twenty-eight miles southeast of Alliance and when the Kinkaid act was passed filed on a section. He put good and permanent im- provements on the place and remained en- gaged in agricultural industries for five years. In the meantime, he had been appointed depu- ty sheriff under Ira Reed, serving two years before he was elected constable and also depu- ty sheriff, filling both these offices at the same time under Calvin Cox. Four years later he was appointed chief of police of Alliance and was chief police officer of the city until May, 1917, having held the office of constable all these years. During his terms in office Mr. Jeffers had to handle the wild element brought into the town and county by the saloons which ran wide open and by his double office could pursue his man beyond the three mile limit and proved a most efficient official at a time when life and property in the Panhandle were held rather lightly; for Alliance was a junc- tion town of the two railroads and rough, un- ruly men congregated there and he can tell many enlightening and interesting experiences of that day. On November 17, 1892, Mr. Jeffers was married at Phillips, Nebraska, to Miss Anna Miller, a native of Ohio, whose brother, James W. Miller, was sheriff of Box Butte county in 1919. Mr. and Mrs. Jeffers have two children : Gladys, a graduate of the high school is engaged as ticket seller at the Imperial theatre; and Vera, at home. Mr. Jeffers owns a modern home in Alliance, while his office is in the Reddish Block, where he conducts a real estate and insurance business which is very successful due to the many friends he made in public life and the reputa- tion he has attained for square dealing and his ability to work. He and his family are mem- bers of the Methodist church and fraternally he is an Odd Fellow. November 20, 1920, Mr. Jeffers was again appointed chief of police of

Alliance, which shows the confidence the citi- zens have in his ability to maintain law and order.

FRANK ABEGG. - More than eight year's connection with the banking interests of Box Butte county and Alliance, during which time he has risen from a clerkship to be cashier of the First National Bank, has made Frank Abegg one of the best known figures in finan- cial circles of the Panhandle and western Ne- braska. He was born in Wapello county, Iowa, April 7, 1895, being the son of Walter and Catherine (Smith) Abegg, and was the sec- ond child in the family, which consisted of five people. When the boy was six years old his parents moved to Blakesburg, Iowa, where his father established the Blakesburg Savings Bank, with which he has been continuously associated to the present time. Young Frank well recalls the first money he made for him- self when but a small child for he was not much more than six years old, when he began to sell the Chicago Tribune in Blakesburg and was induced by his father to put the money he earned in the bank and thus start a small sav- ings account, and this excellent habit formed in early youth has stood him in good stead he says throughout all his business career, and to this day he always puts all his spare cash to his account which grows without his really knowing it to most satisfactory proportions. Mr. Abegg attended the public schools of Blakesburg where he laid the foundation for a good practical education to which he has been so constantly adding all his life as he is a wide reader of the best literature, and of course specializes in banking. Walter Abegg believed that every child should learn to work and thus know the value of the money he earned, and while he was abundantly able to support his family not only in comfort but luxury he had the boys start in at some indus- try as soon as their age and strength permitted and so young Frank at the age of fourteen went to work carrying mortar for a stone ma- son at a dollar and seventy-five cents a day, working at this trade for two and a half years. Frank was given his board at home but out of his earnings bought his clothes and was allow- ed fifty cents a week spending money. He thought this rather hard but later learned that the surplus was always credited to his account in the bank and when he grew older he had a goodly sum to his credit so that his father was really a much better parent than one who would have let his children squander their money on useless and unhealthful pleasures,

368

HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA

while they at the same time learned habits of thrift and frugality.

When only sixteen years of age Mr. Abegg held a position as time-keeper for the Mil- waukee Railroad on some of their construction work and in 1912, came to Alliance to enter the First National Bank as bookkeeper. From that time to the present he has been identified with banking matters, always advancing, and today he is cashier of the First National one of the strongest and most substantial banking in- stitutions in the Panhandle and throughout the state. Mr. Abegg is considered one of the cap- able, careful and conservative bankers of Box Butte county, and is a man whose personal in- tegrity and probity have done much to con- serve the interests of the institution and to gain and hold the confidence of the public. Mr. Abegg is a stockholder and director of the bank and has proved his worth by the en- viable record he has made within little more than a decade. He is a man who can meet all kinds of people, is popular with all the busi- ness men of Alliance and the surrouding coun- try and while yet young has attained a promi- nent place in the financial circles of the state so that his future looks most promising.

On November 16, 1916, Mr. Abegg was mar- ried to Miss Mary A. Newberry, the daugh- ter of Chenia A. and Ellen ( Brennan) New- berry, the father a native of Michigan. Three children have been born to this union: Walt- er E., Frank Jr., and Rita Ellen, for whom the parents intend good educations to fit them for life. Mr. Abegg is a Republican in his political views, while his fraternal affiliations are with the Elks and the Knights of Colum- bus. .

S. A. MILLER, a pioneer of the state and also of Box Butte county who has materially assisted in the opening up and development of the commonwealth and the Panhandle, was following several vocations before he located in the city of Alliance as he was in turn, cowboy, ranch manager, farmer and now is a business man of prominence who has become one of the dependable and substantial citizens of this community, and in all his various lines of endeavor his versatility enabled him to make a success of whatever he has undertaken. Mr. Miller was born May 27. 1864, in Knox coun- ty, Illinois, the son of Daniel and Elizabeth (Humphrey) Miller, the former a native of West Virginia. The boy was reared in Illinois and went to the country school, two and a quarter miles from his home until his tenth year when he was forced to go to work and

the education started in Knox county was fin- ished in the good, practical but expert school of "hard knocks," which teaches its pupils well by a strict discipline but the lessons so learned are never forgotten. For six years the boy worked on a farm by the month but when sixteen years old determined to do better for himself and as he had learned of the fine op- portunities in the plains country came west in 1880. He secured work in Dawson county on the Colton ranch under George Nelson. Mr. Miller had only nine and a half dollars when he left Illinois and with his companions drove across country in true pioneer style using a covered wagon for the trip. He earned his first money on Nebraska soil making posts at Buzzard's Roost, near Eddyville and remained there about a year. When Mr. Colton sold his ranch to Dayton and Company, Mr. Miller re- mained with the new proprietors who owned another large tract of land on Dry Cheyenne river, where he and other members of the outfit spent the summers with a large herd of cattle. In the fall they returned with the herd to the home ranch to ship to the eastern mar- kets. In 1887, Mr. Miller came to Box Butte county and the following year, located a home- stead twelve miles southwest of the present city of Alliance, where he built the regulation sod house of the pioneer, made suitable shelters for his stock and kept "bachelors hall," as he says. Money was very scarce on the plains at that early day and the first winter here Mr. Miller made money to buy his supplies by gath- ering up buffalo bones of the animals that had died on the prairies and sold them to W. W. Norton of Alliance, who shipped them east for fertilizer.

On September 9, 1889, Mr. Miller was mar- ried at Nonpariel to Miss Mary C. Sipson, of Nemaha, county, a true daughter of the state, whose father Alfred, had been born in Eng- land and was an early settler of Nemaha. Mr. Sipson spent most of his life in the United States as his parents brought him to America at the age of four. Mrs. Miller is the old- est of the five children born to her parents. After coming to Alliance to live Mr. Miller owned and managed a dray line for about six- teen years but disposed of it in 1907, and in May, 1911, bought the fixtures of a shoe store from John W. McNamara and opened an up- to-date shoe house, located at 305 Box Butte Avenue, carrying a general stock of men's and women's shoes. In 1917, Mr. Miller went to Chicago where he took a special course in practipedics on the science of giving foot com- fort to people suffering from fallen arches

369

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

and other foot troubles. From the first he met with a cordial response in business from the residents of the city and now with his add- ed line of orthapedic shoes and devices his trade has materially increased so that it is a most satisfactory concern from the financial point of view. He has a man in his employ who is a graduate of the same school, so that Mr. Miller can devote his time almost entire- ly to the management of the business in its larger aspects. Mr. Miller has a modern home and other real estate which he rents and today represents the true spirit of the Panhandle business man "progress." In politics he is a Democrat.

FRANK J. BRENNAN, is the owner and manager of one of the oldest drug houses in the Panhandle and has been established in professional life in Alliance for nearly twenty years. He has built up a clientele and sub- stantial business of which any man may well be congratulated, especially when his success is due to his own industry, high reputation for business ability and the courtesy displayed to his customers. Mr. Brennan was born in Bay City, Michigan, the son of Martin and Mary (Fitzpatrick) Brennan, both of whom were born in Ireland and came to the United States at an early day to locate in the northern cen- tral states. To their son they have transmitted those rare qualities of the Irish which no other race on earth is fortunate enough to possess, humor, wit and a genial optimistic disposition which enables the possessor to over-come and surmount many a difficulty in life that would daunt and discourage others.

Frank was next to the youngest in a family of twelve children and as his father died when he was only seven years old the burden of rearing and educating her children fell upon the mother, but she nobly put her shoulder to the task of being both father and mother to her little brood and that she was successful in this great undertaking need not be said when one looks at her sons and two daughters. Mrs. Brennan came to Alliance in 1888, one of the pioneer women of the section and town, so that her children were educated in the ex- cellent public schools here. Frank received

his instruction in the old building which was later converted into a flouring mill, and then graduated from the high school. He had early decided upon a professional career, and having chosen pharmacy matriculated in the pharmacy department of Northwestern University. The college proper is located at Evanston, but the inedical and pharmacy departments are situat-

ed on the south side of Chicago, where he re- ceived his degree and was admitted to prac- tice in 1899. Knowing that there were more openings and chance for building up a good business in the west than in Illinois, the young man returned to Alliance after commencement and bought the drug store owned by Fred H. Smith. He at once established it on a modern footing, with the slogan on "service," The health of a community depends nearly as much upon the druggist who fills the prescriptions as upon the doctor who writes them and Al- liance has indeed been fortunate in having such a capable and conscientious man for this work as Mr. Brennan who has always personally handled or supervised the prescription branch of his business. He is modern in his ideas and methods, keeps an up-to-date establish- ment in every particular, gives care to his displays and has added all the attractive side lines that people have learned to expect in the modern store. His promptness, courtesy and consideration have gone a long way toward his success in building up a fine trade which is also a money making business. The store is located advantageously on Box Butte Avenue, where the better elements of the city congregate for purchases. In addition, Mr. Brennan owns a modern home in the town where he and his gracious wife dispense a cordial hospitality to their many old, warm friends.

On September 1, 1909, Mr. Brennan was married at South Hampton, Canada, to Miss Madeline Carey, the daughter of John V. Carey and two children have been born to them: Helen, seven, and John F., a lad of two. Mr. Brennan is a member of the Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of Columbus.

ALLEN D. RODGERS. - Of the men who have lent dignity of character. excellence of labor and largeness of general co-operation to affairs in Box Butte county and the Panhandle for more than three decades, none is held in greater esteem than Allen Rodgers, the owner and manager of the leading grocery house of Alliance. Mr. Rodgers is entitled to pioneer honors for not only was he one of the early settlers of the section but was a freighter, fron- tiersman and broke timber claims for other men in order that they might prove up on them. Thirty-two years have passed since Mr. Rodgers drove into Cheyenne county in true pioneer style and settled on a homestead and timber claim. . For many years he lived and labored, slowly and arduously developing

370

HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA

a farm and establishing a home for his family, watching and assisting in the advancement and progress. While yet living in the country Mr. Rodgers gained a reputation for industry and integrity which is being perpetuated in his mer- cantile establishment and which he has trans- mitted to his children as a wonderful heritage, never to be purchased by mere money.

Allen Rodgers was born at Sigourney, Iowa, May 23, 1861, just at the opening of the Civil War. His parents were Willis and Madelina (White) Rodgers, the former a son of the Blue Grass state. Allen was the youngest of a family of twelve children and early learned to give and take where a number of boys and girls grow up together. His boyhood was spent in the country on his father's farm, where he grew up sturdy, healthy and self re- liant, able to cope with many an unexpected emergency. He received his early educational training in the good public schools of Iowa, and while yet a small boy began a financial career in a small way, his first venture was trapping quail and selling them for five cents apiece. When only seventeen the boy became impatient to become financially independent and established himself in business as a farm- er. On December 16, 1881, Mr. Rodgers was married in Sullivan county, Missouri, to Miss Margaret A. Perry, who was born at What Cheer, Iowa, the daughter of Jefferson Perry, a native of New York. She was the youngest in a family of five children and became the mother of three children of her own: Cora M., deceased; Minnie T., who married George Roach, a farmer near Alliance and they have five children, and Chester C., who married Grace C. Watson and they are the parents of two children. Mr. Rodgers is associated with his father in the grocery business. He is an Odd Fellow, Mason, Elk and Eagle.

Not satisfied with their surroundings, and desiring a home with its many opportunities, on the newly opened frontier of Nebraska, Mr. and Mrs. Rodgers drove overland in 1888, locating in what was then Cheyenne county, so that the nearest post office and town was Sidney, thirty-two miles away. Like all new settlers they were forced to meet and to overcome many obstacles and to endure nu- merous hardships. Hardly were the family settled when Mrs. Rodgers died. This left Mr. Rodgers with three small children on his hands, but he had already built a good, com- fortable, warm "soddy" and at once began the task of improving his pre-emption and timber claim. He says that people today with their automobiles do not realize what distance

meant to the first settlers who were forced to travel long distances by horse, mule or ox teams and that the thirty-two mile trip to Sidney and back in the eighties would mean much more to them than a journey of several hundred miles does today on the good roads in a machine. In recounting experiences Mr. Rodgers tells of one trip he and some near neighbors made to Sidney for mail and sup- plies. They took two teams to the wagon, and on the way had to shovel snow for six miles in the canyons to get the horses and wagon through, an undertaking that took sev- en days to cover the sixty-four miles. The Rodgers homestead was located on the south side of the Platte but settlers on the north side had to ford the river or make a detour of twenty miles to cross on the old Clark bridge built by the soldiers in the late sixties and many a team and man Mr. Rodgers has pulled from the quick sand of the treacherous stream when they attempted to cross. As money was scarce on the plains in the early days many of the settlers worked when they could find something to do at times when the farms did not demand all their time, and Mr. Rodgers broke timber claims for cowboys who had taken them but were obliged to be with their outfits at just the time such breaking could best be done. The cattle men were paid in money by their employers and they in turn paid gold and silver for the work on the land. In this way Mr. Rodgers was able to make enough money to buy his little family many of the necessities which other men had to do without. Settlers lived far apart in those days and Mr. Rodgers had been fortunate in hav- ing three other families take claims adjoining his in the valley at about the same time, as the women were kind to his motherless chil- dren and the men were able to help one an- other in many ways. In 1892 Mr. Rodgers married Miss Minnie White, the daughter of John E. White and the next year he sold his farm in the valley to move twenty miles north of the Platte into the sand hills where he bought a thousand acres of land. He built a comfortable home, placed good improvements on the place and was engaged in ranching and cattle raising for five years. Desiring better educational advantages for his children, Mr. Rodgers disposed of his ranch and came to Alliance that year, buying in October, the grocery stock of J. J. Lyons or "Daddy" Ly- ons as he was well and kindly known to the residents of the town. Mr. Rodgers was al- ready well known to the residents of the city for his care in fulfilling business obligations

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 72

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