History of western Nebraska and its people, Vol. III, Part 96

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

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Mr. Christensen has not confined all his time to his personal business but has taken an active part in public life, as he was elected county commission in 1914, on the Democratic ticket and served four years. During his term of office he was instrumental in putting in the first road grading in the county and also took part in other county matters of benefit to the people, for he is progressive in his own business and applied the same methods to the affairs of the county, giving them the benefit of his shrewd business judgment and

executive ability. The various public works he inaugurated in Dawes county stand as a monument to him, for he is a booster for his county and community and is every ready to assist every good movement that will benefit the people. Mr. Christensen is a man who has made good in this section of the state and proved that a man of energy and the deter- mination to succeed can overcome all ob- stacles and has builded wisely and well.

JOHN H. GLENN, a retired farmer of Chadron, who for many years was engaged in the teaching profession in Ohio and later here in Nebraska, is a man who has won a high place in the esteem of the people whom he served long and faithfully. He was born in Cleremont county. Ohio, November 11, 1861, the son of John W. and Martha (Creamer) Glenn, the former a naive of Scotland, while the mother was born in Cleremont county, Ohio. John Glenn was the youngest in a fam- ily of six children and is the only one living. His father was a United Brethren minister who preached for fifty years. John Glenn spent his boyhood in his native county in Ohio and attended the public schools there until he was nine years old, when his parents moved to Clinton county, near the town of Blanchest- er, where they lived the remainder of their lives. When only seventeen years old John Glenn had a certificate to teach, but as it was against the law to allow anyone under twenty to have charge of a school he attended the State University, at Lebanon, Ohio, for two years and began his first term of school when twenty years old and has taught thirty-two years altogether. Mr. Glenn progressed in his chosen vocation and was in charge of various schools in Ohio where he won a repu- tation as a fine teacher,

December 24, 1882, occurred the marriage of John Glenn and Miss Isabella Goodwin, at Blanchester, Ohio. Mrs. Glenn was the daughter of Levi and Hannah (Runyon) Goodwin both American born but of Irish parentage. Mrs. Glenn was next to the old- est in a family of ten children, all of whom are living and there were eighteen grand-children but one small child died and Raymond Good- win was killed in action in France, in 1918. Another brother, John Goodwin was wounded by the shell that killed his brother. Mr. and Mrs. Glenn have one child, Bertha, and Eva Hazel Bowen, who was adopted by them when five weeks old.

The Glenn family moved from Ohio to South Dakota in 1908, and located near Buffa-

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lo Gap on a homestead. They remained there about twenty months, proved up on the land and sold it to advantage. Coming to Chadron Mr. Glenn accepted a position in the railroad yards of the Northwestern railroad in the summer and continued his old profession of teacher in the winter. Remaining in Chad- ron until 1914, the Glenns then took a home- stead eight miles south of the town, which they still own. Mrs. Glenn says that she feels she earned her share of the farm as they had a well a hundred and seventy-six feet deep where she assisted in pumping the water for nine head of stock, as well as for household use. Mr. Glenn continued to hold his posi- tion with the railroad in Chadron walking eight miles back and forth from the farm each day for a time. Then they bought a horse and buggy and later a car. In 1918, the Glenn family moved into Chadron and rented the Old Foster building where Mrs. Glenn and her daughter kept a rooming house. They made a success of this business and in 1920, bought the building known as the McFadden Building on Eagan street, where Mrs. Glenn and her daughter are running an up-to-date rooming house and now serve excellent meals in a cafe which is connected with it. They are capable business women and have won a high place in the town since engaging in hotel business. They have many friends in Dawes county and are substantial reliable citizens. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church while Mr. Glenn belongs to the Masonic order, is an Odd Fellow and a member of the Knights of Pythias as well as the Modern Woodmen, having filled all the different chairs in these lodges.

WILLIAM H. REYNOLDS, the mayor of Chadron and well known dealer in real estate here, is one of the pioneer settlers of this sec- tion whose figure stands out prominently in political and municipal affairs of the county as he has taken an important part in the set- tlement and development from first locating here. Few men are better known and liked and few have willingly assumed so many of the burdens of public life for the benefit of the citizens of Dawes county and the town of Chadron. Mr. Reynolds was born in Mor- gan county, Illinois, July 13, 1849, the son of James M. and Amelia (Hand) Reynolds, the former born in Virginia, while the mother was a native of Illinois. To them twelve chil- dren were born, William being the tenth in order of birth. He spent his younger days in Morgan county, worked on the farm in the

summer time and attended school during the term. His mother died when the boy was six years old and his father when he was eleven years old. He worked as a farm hand during the summer months, and attended coun- try school in the winter time. Later he at- tended Whipple Academy and Illinois College, paying his way by working in a store. After leaving college at the age of twenty-three, he went to Missouri, locating on a farm in Har- rison county, where he engaged in farming for himself. Two years later, in February, 1875, Mr Reynolds married Miss Elizabeth Waltz, a native of Ohio, a daughter of John W. and Susan (Swan) Waltz, the latter born in Ohio. One child was born to this union, Eleanor B. who married Reverend Fred Hall, a Presby- terian minister of New Jersey Mrs. Hall is a graduate of the normal school at Chadron and Doane College, of Crete, Nebraska. Mr. Hall is also a graduate of Doane College, and took a graduate course at Yale University. During the World War he spent eighteen months in government service with the Y. M. C. A., being assigned to work in Ireland, Eng- land, and was one of the few Y. M. C. A. men to accompany the American forces to Arch Angel, Russia.

Mr. Reynolds came to Dawes county in 1884, while it was still unorganized territory, being secretary of the Missouri Colony which settled near the present site of Chadron. He built a log house on Bordeaux creek and was fortunate in always having an abundance of water. With his wife he suffered all the hard- ships and privations of frontier life and in 1884 and 1885 the settlers were forced to get supplies from Valentine, a hundred and thir- ty-five miles distant. During that winter there was a heavy fall of snow which laid long, the mercury was very low and the people ran short of provisions so that it was necessary to make the trip for supplies. On the way back the teams were stuck and Mr. Reyonlds and H. S. McMillan took a four horse team and scoop shovel and helped rescue the party. In the spring the settlers gathered enormous sup- plies of bones from the prairie which they exchanged for groceries.

For seven years, Mr. Reynolds lived on his homestead, then in 1890 became clerk in the Government Land Office at Chadron ; in 1892, he was elected county clerk of Dawes county on the Republican ticket and served two terms. When Dawes county was organized in 1885, Mr. Reynolds was active and played an im- portant part in county affairs and organiza- tion. He was elected State Senator from dis-

ROBERT H. WILLIS

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trict twenty-eight, which contained eight coun- ties, in 1898, served in 1899, and was re-elect- ed in 1910 and 1912, which shows the esteem in which he is held in Dawes county and the district. He is a man of great executive abil- ity and proved competent to fill every office to which he was elected or called. In 1919, Mr. Reynolds was elected mayor of Chadron, a city to which he had so largely contributed in its first settlement and organization. He is always ready to help in any movement for the benefit or development of the county or city and is a well known and well loved man in his city. Mr. Reynolds owns a quarter sec- tion of land near Belmont, Nebraska, and has a modern home in Chadron. For some years he has been actively engaged in the real estate business here, also carrying on loans and in- vestments. He has a partner, Fred A. Hood ; they have offices in the Citizens State Bank Building. Mr. Reynold's long association with the affairs of the county places him in a posi- tion to give his customers the greatest advan- tages in all real estate and land deals and he has a clientele that is not only satisfied but ever increasing.

During the World War Mr. Reynolds again took a front place in assisting its prosecution, as he was Fuel Administrator for Dawes county and took an active part in the work of the Red Cross. Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds are members of the Congregational church while he belongs to the Odd Fellows and is a Repub- lican.

ROBERT H. WILLIS, whose identifica- tion with important public affairs in Morrill county has been long and continuous, is now chief of the Bureau of Irrigation Power and Drainage of the Department of Public works of the state of Nebraska. Mr. Willis was born at Cheyenne, Wyoming, March 22, 1869, the son of John G. and Cecelia J. (Beck) Willis. The father was born at Saratoga, New York, a son of Robert and Mary (Toner) Willis, the former of whom was born in Tre- land and the latter in Scotland, both dying in the state of New York. The mother was born in Jowa. Her father, William Beck was a native of Scotland, who came to the United States, worked in the west as a miner and freighter and died in Montana. Robert Henry was the first born of his parents' seven chil- dren, the others being as follows: Cecelia Mary, the wife of William B. T. Belt, presi- dent of the Northwestern Group Bell Tele- phone Company, Omaha; William H., is in the implement business at Bridgeport ; Blanche

I., the wife of F. W. Smith, a merchant at Minatare, Nebraska : Edith, L., is an Episco- pal Church missionary in North Dakota : Bea- trice, who resides with her parents; and Mar- garet J., who teaches in an Indian school in South Dakota.

John G. Willis enlisted from Illinois for service during the Civil war, serving four years, under two enlistments, in company K Seventeenth Illinois cavalry. After the war he came west, located first at Omaha, then went to Cheyenne, Wyoming, was married there and started the first general store of the town. He continued in the mercantile business at Cheyenne until 1884 and was a leading citi- zen and as a member of the first city council was sworn in by the adjutant-general of the United States army of the Territory of Wy- oming. He is active in Masonry, belongs to the Consistory and is a Shriner.

Robert H. Willis attended school at Omaha and later received a technical education as civil engineer at Rensselaer Institute, New York, from which he was graduated in 1890. His first important work was done in connec- tion with the city engineer's office of Omaha. For two years he was associated with Douglas county engineer's office, then he spent a year with the Union Pacific railway at Pocatello, Idaho, after which private contracts engaged him until 1895, when he was appointed a water commissioner of Morrill and Scottsbluff coun- ties, in which office he continued until 1910. He then became water superintendent of Dis- trict No. 1 and now has charge of all irriga- tion work in Nebraska. He came to old Chey- enne county in September, 1894, locating at old Camp Clark, and since 1901 his home has been at Bridgeport. He has been identified with many of the developing agencies in this section and is one of the widely kown men of the Panhandle. With other enterprises of merit with which he has been connected, Mr. Willis owned and conducted the Bridgeport Blade, the first newspaper issued here, for five years.

In December. 1891. Mr. Willis was united in marriage to Miss Carrie Lee Melius, a native of Rensselaer, New York, who died Septem- ber 14, 1911, leaving one daughter, Cornelia E., who was born in September, 1893. She resides in New York and is connected with the State Industrial Commission. On January 6, 1914 Mr. Willis was married to Miss Anna E. Hascall, who was born at Grand Island, Nebraska. They are members of the Episco- pal church. Mr. Willis was early instructed by his father in the principles of the Republi-

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can party and they have always seemed to him just, wise and adequate for the governing of the United States. He is a Mason and be- longs to the Lodge of Perfection at Alliance, Nebraska.

JAMES H. BANKS, was born August 29, 1864, near DeWitt, Clinton county, Iowa, one of a family of nine children of David I. and Mary (Smith) Banks, the father being a na- tive of York State and the mother a native of Pennsylvania.

Growing to manhood near State Center,

Marshall county, Iowa, he attained a good practical education at the district school which was attended during the winter terms, working on the home farm during the summer ; James' first financial venture was to contract with a neighbor to hoe broomcorn at fifty cents a day when not occupied at home. After becoming of age he farmed for himself two years; and then started a furniture store in his home town, in which business he has been identified practically ever since. Coming to Nebraska in the early nineties Mr. Banks first located at York, becoming associated in the furniture business there and later at Fremont, Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska.

Mr. Banks was married to Miss Pearl Mann August 29, 1901, at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Miss Mann was born in Cleveland, Ohio, be- ing a daughter of Horace and Priscilla (Cook) Mann and related by marriage to President Mckinley. Mr. and Mrs. Banks being at the Buffalo Exposition with him two days previ- ous to the assassination. A son James E. was born to them, who at this time is being edu-

cated in Chicago, Mrs. Banks having died in 1903.

Coming to Chadron in the fall of 1912, Mr. Banks became manager and part owner of the Chadron Furniture Company. For a number of years he was secretary of the Nebraska Fur- niture Dealers Association and a member of the executive committee of the National Associa- tion and has for a number of years been a fa- miliar patron of the leading furniture markets. With a thorough knowledge of the business and of home needs, under his efficient management the Chadron Furniture Company has grown from a small stock in one room to one that occupies six times the original floor space, being the largest home furnishing establish- ment in northwest Nebraska, and is consider- ed one of the substantial business houses of Chadron. Mr. Banks has further verified his faith in the future development of the city by the purchase of the two story and basement brick building occupied by his company, locat- ed at the corner of Second and Morehead streets, together with other real estate, and he is identified with other commercial interests here and in Crawford, Nebraska, all of which afford employment to a number of heads of families which help materially in the making of a city. He has always responded loyally and liberally to every progressive movement where the aim has been for the betterment to the home town; is an honored citizen and a loyal M. W. A.

BENJAMIN A. BREWSTER was born in Omaha, Nebraska, June 1, 1870, the son of George W. Brewster, born in Cleveland, Ohio, and Elizabeth (Barton) Brewster, born in Mason, Illinois. Benjamin was the second child in a family of three children. His fath- er was a publisher and printer, publishing the first agricultural paper in Nebraska, at Omaha in 1871, and Benjamin has the bound volumes of this paper published while his father was in charge, from 1871 to 1883.

Benjamin Brewster was reared in Omaha until about fourteen years of age. The first money he remembers earning was setting type for his father, for which he received fifty cents, and Ben says he has been sticking type ever since. He went through the common schools in Omaha and in Oakland, Nebraska, where his father moved in 1882, and establish- ed the Oakland Independent. The father then went to Blain county, Nebraska, to start a town in the sandhills, believing the B. & M. railroad intended to build into this country. and his intention was to form a county about

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twenty-four miles square and have the town of Brewster the county seat. He succeeded in establishing the county all right and the town at the present time, 1921, is still the county seat ; but the railroad has not materialized.

Benjamin's father was a Civil War veteran, serving in the Eleventh Illinois Infantry during the war, and was wounded at the battle of Shiloh. When he went to Blain county in 1885, he took a tree claim and pre-emption and built the regulation sod house, and established the Brewster News, when this county was unor- ganized territory of Sioux County. At that time there was not a house within three miles. Mr. Brewster is credited with having done

more than any other man in putting Brewster and Blain county on the map.

Benjamin A. Brewster went through busin- ness college and together with his brother, Win F. Brewster, took over the Oakland In- dependent, running the same till 1890. He then went to Deadwood, South Dakota, and went to work on the Daily Pioncer as a print- er; stayed there until 1891 and then went back to Omaha and worked at his trade until 1893. He then bought the Ord Journal, a Democratic paper which he run about a year, and then went to Craig, Nebraska, and estab- lished the Craig Times, which he sold in 1885. He then went back to Omaha and worked at his trade until 1897, when he went

to Deadwood, South Dakota, and engaged in the newspaper work about two years, then went to Lincoln and was with the Newspaper Union until 1901. In 1901, he went to Sho- shone, Idaho, and edited the Shoshone Jour- nal, in partnership with F. R. Gooding, pres- ent United States Senator from Idaho. He remained here two years, returning to Craw- ford, Nebraska, and establishing the Crawford Courrier in 1905, which he run for about a year, and then went to Amarillo, Texas, and ran the Amarillo Daily Panhandle, where he remained until he came to Chadron, Nebraska, and established the Chadron Chronicle in 1909, which he published and edited until October, 1920.

During his residence in Chadron he ran on the Democratic ticket for State Senator of Ne- braska, from the twenty-eighth senatorial dis- trict, and was defeated by a small majority. He was appointed postmaster under Wood- row Wilson, March 23, 1916, and re-appointed June 4, 1920, and still holds the appointment at the present time.

Mr. Brewster was married October 11, 1908, in Deadwood, South Dakota, to Ida Austin, who was born in Texas. She was the daugh- ter of William Austin, born in Mississippi, and Nannie (Lewis) Austin, born in Tennes- see, of an old southern family. Her ancestors were among the large slave holders of the south. Mrs. Brewster is the eldest in a fam- ily of six children - three girls and three boys. She finished her education at the Mary Nash School at Sherman, Texas.

Mr. Brewster owns a modern home and business house combined, on Bordeaux and Second Streets, besides a lot of valuable prop- erty in Chadron, Nebraska. He is an Odd Fellow, Modern Woodman and an Elk, and one of the live wires of his little city.

JAMES R. SCHOOLEY, one of Banner county's progressive farmers and ranchmen, is also one of her worthy and dependable citi- zens. He belongs to a very prominent pioneer family of this region and has lived in the county since he was nineteen years of age. He was born in Neosho county, Kansas, October 30, 1870.

The parents of Mr. Schooley were Levi and Mary J. (Ellis) Schooley, natives of Illinois. For some years prior to coming to Nebraska, the family lived in Kansas and the father was a farmer in Neosho county. On July 25, 1886, he homesteaded in Banner county, seven miles southeast of Harrisburg, and resided on his place for eighteen years. He was then elected

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county judge and moved into Harrisburg. He was honored with re-election and served three more terms on the bench, and afterward, for many years was a justice of the peace. For several years before moving to Harrisburg, he had been road supervisor of Lone Spring pre- cinct. He was a man of such sterling integ- rity that he enjoyed the confidence of every citizen, although he was elected to different offices on the Republican ticket. Failing health caused Judge Schooley to remove in 1902, to Palisade, Colorado, in the hope that a change of climate would restore him to health, but it failed to do so and his death occurred there January 24, 1908. His widow resides at Fruita, in Mesa county, Colorado. Of their five children, James R. is the second of the four survivors, namely Jennie, the wife of A. L. Smith, who lives at Palisade, Colo- rado; Sidonia, the wife of Frank Lane, of Fruita, Colorado; and Francis Nathan, who is in business at McGrew, Nebraska, mar- ried Emma E. Campbell. Judge Schooley was a member of the Christian church, to which religious body his widow also belongs.

James R. Schooley attended the public schools in Kansas, somewhat irregularly on ac- count of delicate health, and he was by no means robust when he accompanied his par- ents, across country in a big covered wagon, to Banner county. His experience may, perhaps, be compared with that of the late beloved, great statesman and patriot, Theodore Roose- velt, who, under like impairment of health, came to the great west and found healing here. Mr. Schooley soon began to improve, and considering his present heavy business responsibilities, and the able way in which he is handling his various undertakings, good health is one of his best assets. He has never been entirely separated from Banner county, although he has had interests near McGrew and Minatare, but since March, 1919, he has operated his own farm with vigor and profit and is making plans for extension of his in- dustries.

Mr. Schooley was marred March 15, 1899, to Miss Sarah J. Harshman. Her parents were Theodore and Rebecca (Thompson) Harshman, for many years residents of Mina- tare. The mother of Mrs. Schooley died at Albany, Oregon, May 26, 1916, but her burial was at Minatare. The father survives and lives in Idaho. Mr. and Mrs. Schooley have two children: Theodore, who lives at Mc- Grew; and Levi, who lives at home, and a step-daughter, Ethel R., whose father, John R. Lendrum, was accidentally drowned in the

Platte River, July 10, 1891. She is the wife of Cecil Prettyman, of Broken Bow, Nebras- ka. Mr. and Mrs. Schooley attend the Chris- tion church. In politics, like his father, Mr. Schooley has always been a staunch Republi- can.

SHADRACH PETERMAN, who has been a farmer and ranchman ever since coming to Banner county, for many years before locat- ing in Nebraska, was actively identified with the lumber business. He was born at Nord- mont, Sullivan county, Pennsylvania, Febru- ary 3, 1876.

The parents of Mr. Peterman were James and Hannah J. (Hunter) Peterman, the former of whom was a native of Columbia and the latter of Sullivan county, Pennsyl- vania. The mother still resides at Nordmont, but the father died January 19, 1896. Of their ten children, Shadrach is the only one living in Nebraska. The father was a farmer and lumber dealer and was influential in Democratic political circles in Sullivan coun- ty. For many year he served in such offices as school director, road overseer and super- visor.

Shadrack Peterman attended school at Nordmont until fourteen years old, then start- ed out for himself, finding employment with lumber companies, with one of which he con- tinued for seven years. Lumbering is hard work and there are many accidents in the woods from one of which Mr. Peterman suf- fered, which resulted in a broken hip. That closed his career in the lumber industry as heavy labor was no longer possible. Mr. Peterman then came to Nebraska and remain- ed at Kimball for a short time before coming to Banner county. He worked for about four years for farmers and then bought land and went into the business of breeding Shire horses. He has done well in his investments and is looked upon as one of the county's substantial and reliable men. He recently sold two hun- dred and forty acres of land but has a tract of eighty four acres in Pennsylvania and his ranch in section twenty-two, town nine, Ban- ner county. In politics Mr. Peterman is a Democrat, and in national matters is loyal to party candidates, but in local affairs votes ac- cording to his own judgment. He belongs to the order of Knights of Pythias.

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History of western Nebraska and its people, Vol. III, Part 96

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