History of western Nebraska and its people, Vol. III, Part 9

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

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William Reeves was born in Mercer county, Missouri, August 28, 1861, and is a son of Ruben Thomas Reeves, who was born in Chris- tian county, Kentucky, March 10, 1826, and who was about eighty-one years of age at the time of his death. His wife was born in Ohio. She died in Illinois. Their marriage was sol- emnized in Missouri. William Reeves has gained his education almost entirely in the school of practical experience and through self- discipline, as he early became associated with his father in railroad construction work in re- mote localities and was thus denied the cus- tomary school privileges. He was but ten years old when he thus began work with his father, who was engaged in 1875 in construc- tion work on the levee along the Mississippi river from Hannibal to Hamburg Bay, later taking a contract for the building of one mile of the roadbed of the Union Pacific railroad near Callaway, Custer county, Nebraska, where he utilized in this work an average of about twenty-five teams. Later he constructed under contract two miles for the Burlington & Missouri River railroad, near Central City, and in both of these enterprises his son gave valu- able cooperation. It was in 1886 that the father and son came to what is now Scottsbluff county and entered claim to the land which is now owned by the latter. In the intervening years William Reeves has stood exponent of the most progressive citizenship, the while he has worked for and won distinctive prosperity.

In 1898 Mr. Reeves wedded Miss Susan V. Lacey, who was born in Texas, in July, 1874. They have two children, both of whom were born in the primitive sod house which still stands on the old home farm in Scottsbluff county. Shelley was born January 22, 1900, and Nellie July 18, 1906, both now being stu- dents in the public schools of Scottsbluff.

J. RAY LANE, who has been established in the real setate business at Scottsbluff since 1908, has been the means of bringing a large

HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA

amount of capital to the Platte Valley, own- ing a large acreage of valuable land and hav- ing control of vast properties on the commis- sion basis. Mr. Lane has become as favorably known in the business as he farmerly was in the educational field. He was born at Her- rick, in Shelby county, Illinois, June 1, 1884.

The parents of Mr. Lane were Jesse B. and Martha (Strohl) Lane, both of whom were born in Ohio and when young accom- panied their parents to Illinois. For three years the father was postmaster of Herrick, Illinois, an office he has filled at Scottsbluff since 1915. In 1888 Mr. Lane's parents came to Nebraska and settled in Cuming county where the father engaged in the real estate business until 1905, when he moved to Scottsbluff, where he continued his former activities until he was appointed postmaster. Of his nine children J. Ray is the second of the five survivors.

In 1902 Mr. Lane was graduated from the Wisner high school, and in 1904 from the Ne- braska Normal college at Wayne, with the B. C. degree, being president of his class. During the three following years he taught school, for one year in the country near Wayne, for one year being principal of the schools of Wolbach, in Greeley county, and one year superintendent of schools at Franklin. He then joined his father at Scottsbluff and is now associated with his brother Guy in the same business.

In 1915 Mr. Lane was united in marriage to Miss Dora J. Carter, a musician of note, who is a graduate of the New England Conserva- tory of Music, Boston, Massachusetts, and prior to the World War, was a student in Germany for two years. Mr. and Mrs. Lane have no children. In his political views he is a Democrat like his father and grandfather. He is active in Masoinc circles and was secre- tary of the first Masonic lodge installed at Scottsbluff He is a member of the Episcopal church.

GUY LANE, whose aggressive yet well planned business activities have given him high standing in commercial circles, is identified with a brother in the real estate line at Scotts- bluff. Mr. Lane was born at Wisner, Cuming county, Nebraska, March 28, 1889. The fanı- ily history appears in this work as it is an old and important one in the state.

Guy Lane enjoyed educational advantages at Wisner, and after completing the high school course, went itno the telephone business, and

during the following eight years he gained so broad a knowledge of electricity, that he might qualify for a number of positions where such knowledge is indispensable. In the meanwhile, however, the family moved to Scottsbluff and he joined them here, had some experience in the real estate line with his father, then be- came associated with his brother as the firm of Lane Brothers, and the partners carry on an extensive business, to the. extension of which Mr. Lane gives close attention.

In 1908 Mr. Lane was united in marriage to Miss Ann Konkle, and they have two chil- dren, namely : Helen Louise and Audrey Lee. As an intelligent, upstanding, expectant citi- zen, with ambition to not only forward his own fortunes but to also advance the best interests of county and state, Mr. Lane takes a hearty interest in politics and proves the sincerity of his convictions when he gives sup- port to the Democratic party.

CLYDE N. MOORE, M. D., president of the Scottsbluff County Medical society, is a leading member of his profession at Scotts- bluff, where he has built up a large practice and become thoroughly identified with the best interests of this section. Dr. Moore was born at Macomb, in McDonough county, Illinois, March 13, 1882, the son of H. N. and Anna (Cooper) Moore, the former born in Ihio and the latter in McDonough county, Illinois. They had two sons born to them : Roscoe P., who is manager of the Ogallala Lumber Company, at Ogallala, Nebraska; and Clyde N., who was an infant when his parents came to Nebraska. It was in 1882 that they left their cultivated land in Illinois and came to a sparsely settled section of Seward county, where the father invested in school land for which he paid $7 an acre. He became wealthy as a farmer and stock feeder and remained on his homestead in Seward county until the close of his life, his death occuring in August, 1908. Dr. Moore's mother survives and resides at Scotts- bluff. She is a member of the Presbyterian church and is interested in numerous benevo- lent enterprises.

Clyde N. Moore completed his high school course at Seward in 1900, but before taking up a scientific cause, devoted some time to the study of human nature by spending a short period on a ranch near Buffalo, Wyom- ing, and conducting a hotel. In the meanwhile he had done enough preparatory medical read- ing to enable him to enter Lincoln Medical college, in 1907, graduating in 1911 with the

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

degree of M. D., and immediately entered into practice at Gering, where he continued one and a half years before coming to Scottsbluff. Dr. Moore is engaged in medical and surgical practice, meeting with the success that not only is a source of gratification to every con- scientious medical man, but that has proved his worth to his fellow citizens. He is active in all the leading medical organizations, is president of the county society, is a member of the Nebraska State Medical association, of the American Medical association and belongs also to the Volunteer Medical Service Corps of the United States. Dr. Moore's personal standing is as high as is his professional. He has long been identified with the Masonic fra- ternity and still retains membership in his col- lege Greek letter society. Dr. Moore owns two valuable farms but his practice demands too much of his time and attention to permit his being much of a practical agriculturist.

On October 11, 1911, Dr. Moore married Miss Udoris M. Wilmeth, a native of Salem, Iowa. She had a liberal education there and later took advanced courses in other schools. Dr. and Mrs. Moore have one son, bearing his father's name, who was born May 9, 1917. In politics Dr. Moore follows the example set by his venerated father and gives support to the principles of the Republican party and upholds its vinlication of true Americanism.

HORACE E. BROWN. - It is surprising how many interesting stories come to light when real lovers of Nebraska get together and exchange reminiscences, and could the readers of the history of the Panhandle have these stories at first hand, few would ever afterward relish more romances of courage, endurance, persistency, of neighborhood brotherliness or exemplification of sincere Christianity. Ques- tion where you will, among the stable, repre- sentative people of this great state and you will pass on with a deeper respect for the prim- itive qualities that have helped build up so great a commonwealth. The family history of Horace E. Brown, the leading druggist at Scottsbluff, goes back to Illinois and Indiana, then to Iowa, and after four years of fighting in the Civil War, reaches Nebraska, where different but almost as fatal enemies were found, and finally were overcome.

Horace E. Brown was born at Mount Pleas- ant, in Henry county, Iowa, May 19, 1867, the eldest of six children born to Richard T. and Catherine (Allen) Brown. Richard T. Brown was born at Bedford, Indiana, in 1840 and in early life accompanied his father, John Brown,

to Iowa. During his growing period he worked with a railroad company and was the first agent at Pacific Junction, in Mills county. When the Civil War was precipitated, he en- listed and served four years as a member of the Fourth Iowa cavalry. All his life he was a man of good standing in the community, was a member of the Odd Fellows and a pillar in the Methodist Episcopal church. After the war he was married in Iowa to Catherine Allen, who was born in 1843 and died in 1915. Her father, John Allen, came early to Iowa, where he was a merchant, his death occurring while on a business trip on the Mississippi river between New Orleans and Burlington. The Browns settled in Johnson county when they came to Nebraska. They were not pre- pared to endure the climatic changes, nor could the father of Mr. Brown prevail against the grasshoppers that devastated his fields, so re- turn was made to Iowa, but it was too late, the charm of the wide, open prairies, the deep blue skies, the freshening winds and the fruitful land, had made living in any other section im- possible, and in 1880 the Johnson county res- idents were once more increased by the Brown family, who settled at Tecumseh. The father died in January, 1917.

Horace E. Brown had excellent school ad- vantages at Tecumseh. While attending school in the winters, he worked on a farm in the summers and learned to punch cattle on a ranch near Tecumseh, Beatrice and Nebraska City. An agricultural life, however, did not appeal to him, and after spending two years in the drug business, in Idaho, he went to Louisville, Nebraska, where he carried on a drug business for ten years. In 1905 he came to Scottsbluff and opened his drug store here which he has conducted ever since. Both graduates Nebraska State University and reg- istered druggists.

In Idaho, in 1890, Mr. Brown was united in marriage to Miss Mary Lindsey, who was born in Boise City, and they have two children, Richard and Raymond. Richard is an Ameri- can soldier with the Army of Occupation in Germany, entering military service in Septem- ber, 1917, as a member of the Eighty-ninth Division. He was educated in the University of Nebraska. He married Beatrice McIntosh. Raymond was also educated in the State Uni- versity. He married Zona Cline.

In politics Mr. Brown is a sound Republican as was his late father. He has served at times, as a member of the city council and when his party brought him forward as a can- didate for mayor, he lost the election by but seven votes. Mr. Brown is the most advanced

HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA

Mason in the county, a member of K. C. C. H., and a shriner, and belongs also to the Modern Woodmen. Mrs. Brown is active in social circles to some extent, is interested in all char- itable enterprises and is a member of the Epis- copal church.

DANIEL R. SCHENCK, justice of the peace and police judge, of Scottsbluff, who has served continuously and with the greatest effi- ciency since 1911, is well and favorably known in different sections of the state. He was born in Parke county, Indiana, September 8, 1849, the second of eight children born to Cyrenius and Mildred H. ( Reeder) Schenck.

Judge Schenck's father was born in 1827, in Butler county, Ohio, of Holland ancestry. In 1846 he was married in Parke county, In- diana, to Mildred H. Reeder, who was born in Virginia, in 1827, and died in 1913, surviving her husband one year. They were faithful members of the Methodist Episcopal church. In 1856 removal was made to Iowa, where the father engaged in the practice of medicine. At the outbreak of the Civil War he entered the Union army and served on hospital duty for four years, being quartered at Jefferson barracks during the greater part of the time. In 1876 Dr. Schenck came to Webster county, Nebraska, where he later served in the offices of coroner and justice of the peace. He was a Republican in his political views and belonged to the Masonic fraternity.

Daniel R. Schenck began life on a farm after obtaining a country school educa- tion, in Davis, Decatur and Warren counties, Iowa. In 1872, while in Warren county, he met with the serious accident that cost him his hand, it having been caught in a circular saw. When able once more to resume active life, he taught one term of school in Warren county and then went to Decatur to reënter a mill and completed the miller's trade. Through work at this trade, he came to Republican Val- ley, in 1876, and engaged in the milling busi- ness there until 1909, when he came to Scotts- bluff and took charge of a mill for his brother- in-law, O. R. Brown, which he operated for a year, when it was destroyed by fire. In 1907, in Republican Valley, he had been elected jus- tice of the peace and served with much gen- eral satisfaction. In 1911 he was appointed both justice of the peace and police judge of Scottsbluff. No one could perform the duties of these offices with more discrimination on the side of justice than Judge Schenck and there is never any danger but that the dignity of his courtroom will be upheld. In his polit- ical affiliation he has always been a Republican.

On March 31, 1881, Judge Schenck was united in marriage with Miss Alice L. Brown, who was born in Illinois, and they have three children : Albert O., Lloyd C. and Emma E. Albert O. went to Europe with the American Expeditionary Force in June, 1918, entered military service in December, 1917, and has proved himself a brave and gallant soldier ; Lloyd C., a soldier with the Army of Occupa- tion in Germany, was sent, after enlistment, to Jefferson barracks, where his grandfather had been stationed during his military service, many years ago. At the time of entering ser- vice, Judge Schenck's sons had just been grad- uated from Kansas City Business College, Kansas City, Missouri. Emma E., the only daughter, is trying to keep up the home at- mosphere for her father, as Mrs. Schenck was called away in 1915. Judge Schenck and his children all belong to the Methodist Episcopal church.

WINFIELD EVANS, who is serving his second term as water commissioner of Scotts- bluff, has been identified with Scottsbluff coun- ty since 1886. He is widely known, for through his scientific agricultural efforts much has been done to bring this section of the Pan- handle into a "place in the sun." While mod- est in regard to his achievements, he naturally takes pleasure in his success, and there are few representative agricultural bodies in the state that have not taken a deep interest in the meth- ods which have produced the remarkable ex- hibits of vegetables and fruits that for some years have carried off medals and premiums at various state fairs.

Winfield Evans was born at Knoxville, Illi- nois, May 17, 1864, the son of Charles and Jane Margaret (Wilber) Evans, the former born in Hartford county, Connecticut, in June, 1819, and died in 1888, and the latter in Scho- harie county, New York, in 1830, and died in April, 1886, in Illinois. Of their seven chil- dren the following, besides Winfield, survive : Ada, the wife of Frank Hardesty, a druggist at Rigby, Idaho ; Harry, a traveling salesman, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin ; Ralph, a printer of Milwaukee, and Grace, the wife of Walter Reiter, of Indiana. The mother of the family was a member of the Episcopal church. The father was a carpenter and cabinetmaker by trade and lived in several states. He came to Scottsbluff county, Nebraska, and homesteaded in 1887 and died here. He was a Repulican in politics and a member of the Masonic fratern- ity for many years.

In the public schools of Avoca, Iowa, Mr. Evans secured some educational training but

GEORGE E. MASON

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

he was only nine years old when he began farm work and continued interested in that line until 1894, at the same time acquiring a working knowledge of the building trades. He came to Scottsbluff county in 1886 and as- sisted in building the first houses in Scotts- bluff village, to which place he moved in 1900. He carried on building and contracting until 1915 when he erected his own comfortable residence and since taking possession of it has applied himself entirely to intensive gardening, his main object being to grow exceptionally fine vegetables to exhibit at state fairs. Dur- ing the five years his products have appeared on exhibition he has won first premiums for four years, and won first premium for the best county display in the world at the Interna- tional Soil Produce Exhibition, at Kansas City in 1918. This is a notable distinction and re- flects great credit on Mr. Evans.

On July 28, 1886, Mr. Evans married Miss Minnie J. Coakes, at Council Bluffs, Iowa, and they had two children: Charles J., who is employed with a sugar company at Bayard, Nebraska, and Ada Appoline, the wife of Ern- est Parmenter, of San Diego, California. The mother of these children died July 26, 1893, on her twenty-fifth birthday. On January 20, 1901, Mr. Evans married Miss Henrietta E. Hughes, who was born at Eldora, Hardin county, Iowa, and they have four children : Donald, Allen, Dorothy, and Winfield James, who took first premium when two years old at the 1916 county baby show, also at the Lincoln State Fair, when twenty-eight months old. Mrs. Evans is a member of the Presbyterian church. In politics Mr. Evans is staunch in his adherence to Republican principles. He is a Scottish Rite Mason and has passed through the chairs of the local lodge.

GEORGE E. MASON is a sterling citizen who contributes no negligible quota to the bus- iness prestige of the village of Bayard, Morrill county, where he is successfully conducting a well-equipped general wood-working shop. Further interest attaches to his career by rea- son of the fact that he is distinctively one of the pioneers of this favored section of the state.

Mr. Mason was born in New York city, on the 6th of February, 1852, and is a scion of the staunchest of American ancestry of German origin, his parents and his paternal grandfather having likewise been natives of the national metropolis and his paternal great-grandfather having been born in Hessen, Germany, whence he was sent by his sovereign to the American colonies. This sturdy patriot joined the Con- tinental forces and served with utmost valor as

a soldier in the war of the Revolution. Fred- erick E. Mason, father of the subject of this sketch, upheld the military prestige of the fam- ily name by his service in the defense of the Union when the Civil War was precipitated. He became a member of Company C, Sixty- ninth New York Volunteer Infantry, in which he rose to the rank of lieutenant. He was killed at the battle of Antietam in August, 1863. He was by trade a wood-carver and pattern-maker. His widow, whose maiden name was Hattie Weinerger, eventually con- tracted a second marriage, when she became the wife of Ferdinand Dippel. In 1874 they removed to Indianapolis, Indiana, where the devoted mother is still living (1919) at the venerable age of eighty-seven years. Her par- ents were natives of Germany and were resi- dents of New York at the time of their death.

George E. Mason passed the period of his childhood and youth in New York city, where he was afforded good educational advantages, including those of a leading academy of music, an institution in which he developed his excep- tional musical ability. In the national metrop- olis he served a four-years apprenticeship to the trade of pattern-maker, and thereafter he obtained from the government a position as chief musician and instructor in organizing and instructing a government band in the city of Chicago. In his official capacity he was later sent to various other localities, and in 1877 he was assigned to duty at Fort Laramie, where he remained six weeks. He returned to this frontier post in the following year and there served as chief musician, with the rank of lieu- tenant, until 1879, when he resigned his gov- ernmental post and engaged in the work of his trade, in New York city. There he continued his activities until 1884, when he removed to Indianapolis, Indiana, where he continued the work of his trade until the autumn of the fol- lowing year, when he heard and responded to the call of the progressive west. It was thus in the fall of 1885 that Mr. Mason came to western Nebraska, where he located a home- stead in what is now Scottsbluff county, his pioneer home being situated four miles east of the present village of Minatare. To the devel- oping and improving of his claim Mr. Mason continued to give his attention until 1901, when he sold the property and removed to Bayard, Morrill county, and established himself as a carpenter and builder. He continued to be thus engaged for a period of about three years, within which he erected some of the first of the more substantial and permanent buildings of the new town. Since that time he has success- fully conducted his general wood-working

HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA

shop, gaining high reputation as a skilled arti- san, as well as a reliable and substantial citizen to whom is accorded pioneer honors. Mr. Mason has never abated his interest in music. He had the distinction of organizing the first band at Gering, Scottsbluff county, as well as the first at Bayard. While residing on his claim he drove a distance of fifteen miles to instruct the band at Gering, and as a skilled musician he has otherwise done much to de- velop general musical interests in this section of the state.

As a pioneer Mr. Mason bore his full share of responsibilities in connection with civic de- velopment and progress. He has never wav- ered in his allegiance to the Republican party. He served as justice of the peace in both Scottsbluff and Morrill counties, his services in this office covering a period of fully a quarter of a century, besides which he was a member of the first school board organized in what is now Scottsbluff county.

October 15, 1884, recorded the marriage of Mr. Mason to Miss Christina Ruehl, who was born and reared in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, her parents having been natives of Germany and her father having served as a gallant sol- dier of the Union in the Civil War. In 1886 Mrs. Mason joined her husband on the pioneer farm in western Nebraska, and she had the dis- tinction of being the third white woman to be- come a resident of this now favored section of the Platte Valley, where she bravely bore her share of pioneer trials and vicissitudes. Of the eight children of Mr. and Mrs. Mason three died in early childhood. George E. conducts a barber shop at Bayard, and is also the leader of the Bayard band and head of a well-trained orchestra in this village; Edith is the wife of Nelson Wysong, of Harrison, Arkansas; Maude Emily is the wife of Lloyd Staples, of Los Angeles, California; Lydia L. is the wife of Frederick Young, of Bayard; Hazel E. re- mains at the parental home.

Mr. Mason is one of the well known and highly esteemed citizens and business men of Morriss county, and in connection with his wood-working shop, which is fifty by sixty- four feet in dimensions, he conducts a black- smith shop, so that he is prepared to handle diversified work with expedition and ability.

JOHNSON H. GRAVES, for many years identified with lumber interests in different states of the Union, has been connected with Scottsbluff enterprises more or less continu- ously since 1908. He is vice president and treasurer of L. W. Cox & Co., of this city. Mr. Graves is a native of Nebraska, born at

Palmyra, August 7, 1873, the son of James A. and Eva T. (Quick) Graves, the former born in Illinois and the latter in Pennsylvania. James Graves came to Nebraska in 1868 and was married at Nebraska City. There were five children in the family, three of these sur- vive: Johnson H., of Scottsbluff; May, the wife of Charles Young, of Freeport, Illinois, and Carroll, a farmer near Fort Lupton, Colo- rado. The parents were members of the Bap- tist church. The father was identified with the Populist party during its political ascend- ancy, and he belonged to the orders of United Workmen and Woodmen of the World. The paternal grandfather, John Graves, spent his last years in the state of Washington and died there in his ninety-fourth year.

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History of western Nebraska and its people, Vol. III, Part 9

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