USA > Nebraska > Lancaster County > Lincoln > Lincoln, the capital city and Lancaster County, Nebraska, Volume II > Part 19
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ISAAC BALDWIN.
There is great similarity in the lives of four of Lincoln's respected and worthy citizens in that all have been identified with the pioneer history of Nebraska and all are veterans of the Civil war, having seen active duty at the front as members of the Twentieth Iowa Infantry during the darkest hour in the history of our country. Each, therefore, has the right to wear the little bronze button which proclaims him a Grand Army man, and the four who, more than half a century ago, were "boys in blue" have maintained their friendship uninter- rupted to the present time and will remain "comrades until the last tap sounds."
Mr. Baldwin was born in La Salle county, Illinois, December 27, 1844, his parents being Samuel and Nancy ( Hall) Baldwin, who were natives of Vermont and became early settlers in Michigan. It was in the '30s that they removed to La Salle county, Illinois, being there at the time of the Black Hawk war which occurred in 1832. Their son, Isaac Baldwin, well remembers old Shabbona, the Indian chief, who proved himself a friend of the white men. Samuel Baldwin was a prosperous farmer and when the Michigan and Illinois canal was built he was accorded a contract for building the aqueduct over the Fox river at Ottawa. In 1868 he became- a resident of Marshalltown, Joua. where he lived retired until called to his final rest WIIZAG RYM there.
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A log schoolhouse in La Salle county, Illinois, was the "temple of learning" in which Isaac Baldwin pursued his education. In April, 1862, when seventeen years of age he ran away from home, visited Dixon, Illinois, and Dubuque and Clinton, lowa, and finally found work at Cedar Rapids. There on the 28th of May, 1862, when in his eighteenth year, he enlisted as a member of Company B, Twentieth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, remaining with that command until March 15. 1863, when he was discharged on disability through the influence of a Baptist preacher who was a brother of General Schofield, and who had married Mr. Bald- win's cousin. Mr. Baldwin had been with his command in Missouri and most of the time acted as a nurse in the hospital. At Springfield, Missouri, following the encounter with the troops of the rebel general, Marmaduke, he assisted in bury- ing forty-five Confederate soldiers, but only eleven Union men had been killed in that encounter, though several afterward died of wounds and a man standing in front of Mr. Baldwin had his arm shattered during the fight. After being discharged Mr. Baldwin returned to Illinois and in 1864 at Ottawa assisted in raising a company of which Harry Ilossack became captain with Mr. Baldwin lieutenant. They went to Leavenworth, Kansas, and then marched to Topeka looking for the rebel general who had burned Lawrence, Kansas. They pro- ceeded to Springfield, Missouri, and down the Iron Mountain Railroad, captur- ing some bridge burners. After four months spent in that command, Mr. Baldwin returned to Illinois and taught school southwest of Ottawa, where he also engaged in farming for a year. He next removed to Tama county, Iowa, where for five years he resided upon a cultivated farm, owned by his father, while for two years afterward he engaged in lumbering in Minnesota. He then returned to łowa, settling at Traer and eight years later, or in 1880, established his home in Holt county, Nebraska, where he secured a government claim of one hundred and sixty acres of raw land on which not a furrow had been turned nor an improvement made. The railroad was then being built through the county and crossed his land, he receiving sixty dollars for the right-of-way, a sum which was of great assistance to him at the time when he had little ready money. He had secured the tract as a soklier's claim and proved up on the place. lle afterward conducted an eating house and hotel at Inman in the same county, and was there located when the battle of Wounded Knee occurred, furnishing thirty gallons of coffee to the United States soldiers when they were returning after the engagement, receiving the usual government price of fifty-six cents per gallon for the coffee. He was there during the terribly cold winter of 1888 when thousands of cattle met death on the prairies and many human lives were lost. A train was held snowbound there for three days and Mr. Baldwin had the task of feeding the people, having to bake bread and cook for them. For eleven years he remained at Inman and met with good success during that period. He was also in business at Leads, a suburb of Sioux City, lowa, and at Chambers, Nebraska, and at length he sold his homestead and in 1913 removed to Lincoln, retiring from active business life, since which time he has lived at No. 1717 Garfield street.
Mr. Baldwin was married March 6, 1866, at Ottawa. Illinois, to Susanna Bent, who was born in Cambridgeshire, England, January 23, 1847, and is a daughter of John and Sarah ( Graves ), Bent, who were also natives of that country. The father came to America when Mrs. Baldwin was three and a half years of
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age and soon afterward the mother and their three children attempted the trip, but were shipwrecked and lost all their possessions. One of the children was buried at sea, alter which the mother with the other two returned to England. Later they again started on a voyage to the new world, and this time were successful in reaching their destination, joining the husband and father in New York, where they remained for a time and then removed to Ottawa, Illinois, where Mr. and Mrs. Bent passed away. To Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin were born two children. Ella U. is the wife of William W. Watson of University Place and they have four children, Earl, Ira, Verna and Neta. The other daughter, Cora L., now Mrs. John Crotty, of Fort Worth, Texas, has two sons, Irwin and Clifford.
Mrs. Baldwin belongs to the Christian Science church. Mr. Baldwin is iden- tified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and gives political allegiance to the prohibition party, being a stanch advocate of the temperance cause. Ilis entire life has been characterized by high principles and manly conduct, and his many good qualities have brought to him the friendship and warm regard of all with whom he has been associated.
LEVI MARTIN WILHELM.
Levi Martin Wilhelm, now living retired at Havelock, was for a long period actively identified with general agricultural pursuits, making his home in North Bluff precinct. He was born at Belpre, Washington county, Ohio. April 17, 1847, a son of George and Elizabeth ( Potter ) Wilhelm. The father was born near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and the mother's birth occurred in Ohio. They re- moved to Illinois, settling in Henry county when their son Levi was but a young lad, and afterward they became residents of Missouri, but at the time of the outbreak of the Civil war returned to Illinois, where their remaining days were passed.
Levi M. Wilhelm spent the greater part of his boyhood in that state, where he obtained a public school education and was trained to the work of the fieldls. He engaged in farming in Illinois until 1879, when he came to Nebraska and for six years was engaged in the cultivation of rented land near Lincoln. He after- ward purchased one hundred and sixty acres of unimproved land in North Bluff precinct and with characteristic energy began its development, transforming the tract into arable and productive fields. He afterward extended the boundaries of his place by the purchase of an additional tract of forty acres and thereon he resided until August 14, 1908, when he retired from active business and estab- lished his home in Havelock, where he now resides.
Mr. Wilhelm was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Ettie Cunningham, who was born in Washington county, Ohio, a daughter of Erastus Elijah and Ruth (Rouse ) Cunningham, who were also natives of the same county. The mother died there during the early girlhood of her daughter, Mrs. Wilhelm, and the father passed away in Mount Vernon, Ohio. In the family of Mr. and Mrs. Wilhelm are six children: - Lloyd L., who married Bertha Schmidt and is a farmer in Yankee Hill precinct ! ERZ&Beef Kultw/ EGGOft Burles Goslin, a
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resident farmer of Lancaster precinct; Minnie, the wife of A. L. Barber, who follows farming near Havelock; Madge, the wife of George Guthrie, living in Omaha ; John Luther, a clerk in the Burlington shops; and Mildred, the wife of Walter A. Guthrie, who is cultivating her father's farm. Mrs. Wilhelmn traces her ancestry back to one of the early colonial families, being a descendant of Miles Standish. In early womanhood she successfully engaged in teaching school for seven years, being a teacher in the country and graded schools of Ohio. She has lived on a farm during the greater part of her life and has always maintained the deepest interest in educational matters and most liberal advantages have been accorded her children, who have been imbued with high principles and have been taught to judge for themselves. Her home has always been the center of social life in the community. She has ever believed in making her home so attractive to her children that they would prefer to remain there rather than to seek doubtful amusements elsewhere, and ber grandchildren, four boys and four girls, finds their greatest delight in visiting the home of the grandparents. Mrs. Wilhelm is a leader among the women of her neighborhood by reason of her progressiveness and broad-mindedness.
In political faith Mr. Wilhelm is a democrat and while residing on the farm served as school director, road supervisor and member of the election board. He and his family are members of the Methodist church and he has ever guided his life in harmony with the teachings of the church, so that his entire career has been an upright, honorable one, winning for him the deserved confidence and goodwill of his fellowmen. He is a prominent member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and has the distinction of being the only member of his lodge to receive the twenty-five year gold jewel medal in recognition of the fact that he has never missed a meeting or failed to pay an assessment during that period. He is a charter member of his lodge and his wife is a member of the Eastern Star and of the Rebekahs. She served for three years as secretary of both lodges and has been vice president of the district for the Rebekahs. Both Mr. and Mrs. Wilhelm are numbered among the prominent and valued citizens of the community in which they reside and the circle of their friends is almost coextensive with the circle of their acquaintance.
JOHN H. JOHNSON.
John H. Johnson, who owns a half interest in four hundred and eighty acres of excellent land in Grant precinct, is there engaged in general farming. His place is splendidly improved and is one of the most valuable farm properties of the county. He was born in New York, on the 23d of September, 1863, and is a son of Lacy and Lydia Johnson, natives of England, who, in 1851, crossed the Atlantic to America and located in New York where the father farmed until 1879, in which year they came to Lancaster county, Nebraska, to live with their children. The father died in 1910 and the mother in 1893.
John H. Johnson began his education in the Empire state and continued it after the removal of the family to Lancaster county, Nebraska. He supplemented his common school course by study in the Omaha Business College, the Lincoln
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MR. AND MRS. JOHN H. JOHNSON
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Business College and the Lincoln high school. He remained at home until he attained his majority when, in partnership with two brothers, Henry and James, he began farming on his own account. They were associated in business for twenty-five years, engaging in grain and stock raising in Grant precinct. For- merly they were heavy cattle feeders, but our subject, who is the only one now following agricultural pursuits, has largely discontinued that branch of his work. He still raises some high grade shorthorn cattle, however, and also breeds Poland China hogs and Percheron horses. His brother James died in November, 1914, and in the spring of 1915 the partnership between Henry and John was dis- solved and the former retired and removed to College View where he is still residing. He still owns, however, a half interest in the farm which comprises four hundred and eighty acres on sections 20, 21 and 28, the residence being on section 29. The buildings are model farm structures, provided with all modern improvements and representing an outlay of twelve thousand dollars. Mr. John- son derives a handsome income from his well directed labors as a farmer and stockraiser and is also interested financially in the Farmers Elevator Company at Roca, the elevator at Saltillo, and the Farmers Telephone Company.
Mr. Johnson was married on the 23d of February, 1916, to Miss Luella Hawks, a daughter of Austin A. and Lucinda ( Case) Hawks, natives respec- tively of Massachusetts and of Indiana. The father removed to the latter state in early manhood and farmed there for many years but at length went to Holdrege, Nebraska, where he died in 1888, at the age of eighty-seven years. The mother survives and is living in Lincoln.
Mr. Johnson is a republican and keeps well informed as to the questions and issues of the day but is without political aspirations. Mrs. Johnson belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church which he attends and he is also connected with the Knights of Pythias and the Ancient Order of United Workmen-asso- ciations which indicate the principles which govern his conduct. He has not only gained material prosperity for himself but has also been a factor in the agricultural advancement of his locality.
JACOB FORSYTH.
Jacob Forsyth, eighty years of age, but still hale and hearty and enjoying excellent health, occupies a comfortable home at No. 1733 Cherry street. For almost forty years he was actively engaged in farming in this section of the state, but eight years ago put aside the work of the fields and has since enjoyed a rest which he has truly earned and richly deserves. He is entitled to repre- sentation in this volume not only as a pioneer settler, but also as a veteran of the Civil war, having at the president's call for troops offered his services to the government, going to the front in defense of the stars and stripes. He was born in Muskingum county, Ohio, April 25, 1836. His father, John For- syth, removed with the family to Towa in 1851. settling on a farm in Scott county, and later he operated a sawmill on the Mississippi river. He married Lucy Hayden, a nativeDiothizerby Microsoft ® Nowa, while his Vol. II-10
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death occurred at Cordova, Illinois. They were parents of seven sons, all of whom reached adult ages and four of whom survive.
Jacob Forsyth was a youth of fifteen years when the family established their home in Scott county, Iowa, and there on the 25th of August, 1862, he responded to the country's call for aid, enlisting as a member of Company G, Twentieth Iowa Volunteer Infantry. He was in the service for thirty-five months and was mustered out at Mobile, Alabama, on the 25th of July, 1865. While at the front he became a corporal, and he participated in the battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas, the siege of Vicksburg and the siege of Fort Blakely. For two months he was ill in a hospital but during the remainder of the time was actively engaged in military duty. He was one of five brothers who joined the Union army and all of them returned home. These were William, Luther, Jasper, John and Jacob, but only Luther and Jacob are now living, the former being a resident of Merrill, Wisconsin. The Twentieth Iowa Infantry, to which Jacob Forsyth belonged, is represented in Lincoln by four members- more than are to be found in the city from any other regiment. These are William Diffendaffer, Isaac Baldwin, W. Belden Williams and Mr. Forsyth. They and their wives hold "reunions" occasionally at each others homes and call themselves the "Jolly Eight."
When the country no longer needed his aid Mr. Forsyth returned to Scott county, lowa, and for two years thereafter operated a threshing outfit and also engaged in farming. In 1872 he came to this state, establishing his home upon rented land in Cass county. Later he purchased eighty acres of railroad land and engaged in farming thereon until eight years ago, when he retired and removed to Lincoln, establishing his home at his present place of residence. His has been a useful, busy and active life. lle brought his fields under a high state of cultivation and through the capable management of his business interests gained the competence that now supplies him with all the comforts and some of the luxuries of life.
It was in 1865 in Scott county, Iowa, that Mr. Forsyth wedded Ellen Stopher, a native of that county, who died in Cass county, Nebraska, May 7, 1888. On June 8, 1800, he married Mrs. Josiah S. Keefer, who in her maiden- hood bore the name of Isabella Snoke. She was born in Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, and in Delaware county, Ohio, became the wife of Josiah S. Keefer, who there passed away February 3. 1880, although he and his wife had become residents of Lincoln in March, 1879. They built a home at the corner of Eleventh and K streets, which was then the outskirts of the city. Mrs. Forsyth has vivid recollection of Lincoln in its frontier days and its pioneer settlers. She is now seventy-two years of age, but looks many years younger. By her former marriage she has three children : Max L. Keefer, who is married and resides in University Place; Mrs. A. C. Adams, living at 1980 C street in Lincoln; and Mrs. John Gamble of Omaha.
Mr. Forsyth has for fourty-four years lived in this section of the state, and there are no experiences connected with the early settlement of the district with which he is not familiar. He can remember a time when he hauled the corn that he had raised to Lincoln and sold it for fifteen cents per bushel. His first trip to the west was made in ISGo, when he crossed the plains to Pike's Peak with a yoke of oxen, returning in the same way, and thus he crossed and
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recrossed Nebraska, which was then called the American Desert. His political support has been given to the republican party since its organization and he is a member of Kenesaw Post, No. 103, G. A. R., at Elmwood, Nebraska. Both he and his wife are held in the highest esteem. They are numbered among the most venerable couples of Lincoln, and in the regard of their friends they rank as they do in age-among the first.
CLAUDE STALEY WILSON.
Claude Staley Wilson, attorney at law and president of the Indiana Associa- tion of Lincoln, has, through the years of his connection with the bar, made continuous and substantial progress until he now enjoys an enviable reputation in all his work in the courts. He was born in South Bend, Indiana, April 12. 1877. the only son of Emanuel T. and Ollie Mary ( Staley) Wilson. The father is now a resident of Lincoln, in which city he took up his abode in 1881. The mother passed away in 1889. Emanuel T. Wilson was born in Canada, May 6, 1844, and throughout his active life has been a traveling salesman. Ile resided in South Bend. Indiana, for several years, and was there married, September 22, 1875, to Ollie Mary Staley, who was born at Plymouth, Indiana. January 22, 1849, a daughter of Alexander C. Staley, who became the founder of the A. C. Staley Manufacturing Company a woolen mill concern of South Bend. Indiana, which is still in existence under the same name and manufactures one of the most popular brands of men's woolen underwear in the United States. The founder passed away many years ago, but the firm name is still retained as it became a synonym for standard production of that character. In 1881 Emanuel T. Wilson brought his family to Lincoln, the only daughter being Alta Hattie Wilson, now the wife of Julian A. Sutter, a jeweler of Lewistown, Montana. The only son, Claude S. Wilson, was but four years of age when brought to Lincoln, and in the public schools he passed through consecutive grades until he had completed the work of the eighth grade. About that time his mother died, after which he and his sister spent two years at South Bend, Indiana, in the home of an aunt, Mrs. Ellen Sapp, their mother's sister. Claude S. Wilson attended the South Bend high school during that period and upon his return to Lincoln in the fall of 1803 he entered the preparatory department of the University of Nebraska in which he spent two years. He was for four years a student in the academic department and was graduated therefrom with the Bachelor of Arts degree in June. 1899. In the fall of the same year he entered the law department and completed a course there in June, tool, with the degree of I.L. B. He had also studied law in the office of Henry II. Wilson of Lincoln during that period. and he was admitted to the bar immediately after his graduation, continuing, however, in the office of Mr. Wilson, until July I, 1902. During the two years following his graduation from the law depart- ment, he also took post graduate work in the state university, devoting his atten- tion to the study of law under Roscoe Pound and the study of American history under Howard W. Caldwellgitized by Microsoft ®
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On the Ist of July, 1902, Mr. Wilson, of this review, formed a partnership with Fred A. Sutter, under the firm name of Wilson & Sutter, which connection continued until December, 1902, when the junior partner removed to Arizona. Since that time Mr. Wilson has been alone in practice and has gained a large clientage. He belongs to both the Lincoln and State Bar Associations. He is deeply attached to his profession, is systematic and methodical in habit, sober and discreet in judgment, diligent in research, courteous and kind in demeanor, and these qualities have all combined to add to his success. For several years he was treasurer of the Lancaster County Bar Association and has also been its vice president. For a number of years he was a lecturer on medical juris- prudence of the Nebraska College of Medicine.
On the 28th of November, 1907, Mr. Wilson was married to Miss Grace Hildebrand of Lincoln and they have a son, William H., who was born May 18, 1911. In politics Mr. Wilson is a republican, but has never been candidate for political office. He is a prominent Mason, having passed through both rites, becoming a Knight Templar and a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason. He is likewise a member of the Eastern Star. Many official positions have been conferred upon him in the order: he is past master of the blue lodge, past eminent commander of the commandery, and past potentate of the Mystic Shrine. He is likewise a past great sachem of the Improved Order of Red Men of the state of Nebraska. He belongs to the Alpha Tau Omega, the Phi Delta Phi and the Acacia, all college fraternities, and for several years hold the office of worthy grand scribe in the United States of the Alpha Tau Omega and was chairman of the committee which rewrote the constitution of that fraternity. He belongs to the Lincoln Commercial Club and for two years has been president of the Indiana Association of Lincoln. During his college years he was one of the foremost members of his class, popular and prominent in connection with all college functions and the same qualities which won him warm friendships in those days have gained him high personal regard during the period of his residence in this city. He possesses ability for leadership and marked skill in the practice of law, and added to these are a kindly spirit and a keen appreciation for the good qualities in others.
WILLIAM DIFFENDAFFER.
William Diffendaffer, who has led a most active life, has now attained the age of eighty-three years, his birth having occurred January 29, 1833. in Chester county, Pennsylvania, and he is a son of Henry and Sarah Diffendaffer. He had little opportunity to secure an education for he was bound out when a boy and lived among strangers. In 1854 he came west and settled in Muscatine county, Iowa, where he was residing at the time of the outbreak of the Civil war. He did not immediately respond to the call for troops, hoping that the trouble would soon be over, but his patriotic spirit would not long let him be con- tent to remain at home and at Davenport. Iowa. on the 15th of August. 1862, he enlisted in Company CeTwentieth low a Volunteer Infantry, and went to the front, participating in a number of hotly contested engagements, including the
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battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas, the long siege of Vicksburg and the siege of Fort Blakely, as well as other encounters with the Confederate forces. lle ever proved a brave and loyal soldier and returned to his Iowa home with a creditable military record.
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