Lincoln, the capital city and Lancaster County, Nebraska, Volume II, Part 50

Author: Sawyer, Andrew J., 1844- ed
Publication date: 1916
Publisher: Chicago, Ill., The S. J. Clarke publishing company
Number of Pages: 854

USA > Nebraska > Lancaster County > Lincoln > Lincoln, the capital city and Lancaster County, Nebraska, Volume II > Part 50

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all of the offices and is now serving as venerable consul. In Roca Lodge, No. 65, K. of P., of which he is a charter member, he served as chancellor commander in 1915. He is a man of marked enterprise, of business acumen and sound judgment, and the success which he has already gained is an indication of what he will accomplish in the years to come. He is held in the highest esteem in Roca and his friends are many.

EDWIN A. KREMER.

Edwin A. Kremer, who has gained a gratifying measure of success as a stock raiser, is residing on section 10, Grant precinct. A native of Nebraska, his birth occurred near Milford, Seward county, on the 18th of March, 1883, and he is a son of Andrew J. and Susan ( Burkey) Kremer, natives respectively of France and of Bureau county, Illinois. The father was educated in his native land, but when about sixteen years of age accompanied his parents, Jacob and Mary Kremer, to America. The family located near Peoria, Illinois, and Jacob Kremer took up a homestead in that section which he farmed for a number of years. A son, Andrew J. Kremer, assisted with the operation of the home place until he attained his majority when he was married and began his independent career. In 1882 he removed to Seward county, Nebraska, where he purchased railroad land which he is still operating. He has prospered as the years have passed and now owns an entire section of land in Seward county and a half section in Saline county, all of which is improved. He has gained financial independence through the exercise of enterprise and good judgment and is one of the leading citizens of his part of the state. He was married at Peoria, Illinois, to Miss Susan Burkey, who still survives, and they have six children, as follows: Edwin A .: Benjamin, who is farming near Aurora, Nebraska ; Jacob and Joseph, who are farming in Seward county; Anna, the wife of Dan Eicher, a farmer of that county; and Amos, at home.

Edwin A. Kremer was reared in Seward county, Nebraska, attending the common schools there, and gave his father the benefit of his labors until he was twenty-one years old. He then took charge of one hundred and sixty acres in that county belonging to his father and operated that place until 1913 when he purchased one hundred and sixty acres in partnership on section 10, Grant pre- cinct, which was taken up as a homestead by Fielding Martin. He raises both grain and stock, specializing in sheep. and his well directed labor yields him a good annual income. The farm is well improved, everything about the place is kept in excellent condition and he follows the most modern methods in his work.

Mr. Kremer was married on the 28th of September, 1905, at Milford, Seward county, to Miss Aline Saltzman, who was born in France but was brought to America when four years of age by her parents, David and Elizabeth ( Schertz) Saltzman, also natives of that country. To Mr. and Mrs. Kremer have been born two children: Della, born in Saline county, August 6. 1906; and Roy Edwin, born in Saline county, on the 9th of November. 1907. Mr. Kremer is non-partisan in politics, supportingthe kandidate Kom hit Rems best suited for the office without regard to party allegiance. His religious faith is that of

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the Jewish church. Although he has given the greater part of his time and attention to his farm work and has thus contributed to the agricultural develop- ment of that locality he has also found time to co-operate with various move- ments seeking to advance the general interest.

JURGEN HEINRICH AUGUST ERNEST THIEDEMANN.

Jurgen Heinrich August Ernest Thiedemann, who for many years has been better known as as H. Thiedemann, is one of the leading residents of Hickman. He owns valuable land in Lancaster county and was for many years successfully engaged in the conduct of a blacksmith and machine shop. He has reached the advanced age of eighty-two years but is still vigorous in mind and body and in the scope of his interests seems yet in his prime. He was born in Holstein, Germany, on the 7th of February, 1834, a son of Jurgen and Dorothea (Siever) Thiedemann, also natives of Ilolstein. The father, a blacksmith and machinist, passed his entire life in his native country.

HI. Thiedemann received a good common school education and also attended a trade school at Rensburg, where he learned the blacksmith's and machinist's trades and studied higher mechanics. Later he followed his trades at various places in Germany, in order to gain a knowledge of the methods in use in various districts, and thus became thoroughly proficient in his lines of work. In 1866 he crossed the Atlantic and at once made his way to Calumet county, Wis- consin. He located at New Holstein and worked at odd jobs there for some time. Later he removed to Fond du Lac, where he engaged in buggy and wagon making and also worked in a machine shop of the Northwestern Railroad. In 1867 he went to Council Bluffs, Iowa, at which time there were only a few houses in the town. He remained there only one night, making his way at once to Omaha, whence he came to Lancaster county. He took a steamboat at Omaha and at Nebraska City took a freight wagon for Centerville, which was the only town in the county at that time. He filed on a homestead on section 14, Center- ville precinct, and at once began to improve his place of eighty acres. Ile erected a sod house, patterned after the dike houses on the coast of Germany, but in the fall found that this type of house would not be warm enough for the winter and removed to a dugout standing on a neighboring farm. In 1868 he worked in a rock quarry east of Roca and aided in getting out the stone which was used in building the capitol at Lincoln. During this time he walked four and a half miles each day to work. In the spring of 1868 he built a dugout on his own place and resided there until 1871, when he took up his residence in Hickman. This was just before the railroad began running trains through the town and believing that the inauguration of railroad service would lead to the growth of Hickman, he established a blacksmith shop here, the first in the town. lle paid fifty-four dollars for a lot on which to erect his shop and later bought a number of residence lots for ten dollars each, which he still owns and on one of which his home is located. He gave his entire time to the conduct of the blacksmith shop until hisss. (building/upCa/large)andProfitable patronage and gaining an enviable reputation as a smith and machinist. Even after he retired

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he occasionally worked at his trade until ten years ago. For some time after removing to Hickman he rented his homestead, but in 1883 sold the place and later bought three hundred and twenty acres on section 32, Saltillo precinct, half of which. he subsequently sold. In 1885 he purchased one hundred and sixty acres on section 8, South Pass precinct, and his farms, highly cultivated, return to him a good income. Ilis son operates the land in Saltillo precinct. Mr. Thiedemann is in excellent financial circumstances and the prosperity which he enjoys is the direct reward of his industry, ability and sound judgment.

In 1857, in Holstein, Germany, occurred the marriage of Mr. Thiedemann and Miss Catherina Unger, who died in that country the following year. In 1859 Mr. Thiedemann was united in marriage, in Holstein, to Miss Maria Magdalena Choeler, who passed away at Hickman, on the 24th of December, 1912, after almost fifty-four years of happy married life. She was the mother of four children : Pavalena ; Jurgen Heinrich ; Johannes, deceased ; and Mary, who was born at Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, on the 27th of February, 1867, and is now the wife of John Cluster, a merchant of Danville, Illinois.

Mr. Thiedemann is an advocate of the republican party and for many years ably served as justice of the peace. He was also a member of the school board of Hickman for a long period and held the office of mayor for a number of terms. In all of his official service he proved efficient, upright and public-spirited and his record is one of which he has reason to be proud. He holds membership in the German Lutheran church and its teachings have guided him in his conduct in the various relations of life. He is widely known throughout the county and there is no resident of Hickman more highly respected than he.

JURGEN HEINRICH THIEDEMANN.

Jurgen Heinrich Thiedemann, the eldest son of H. and Maria Magdalena Thiedemann, was born in Holstein, Germany, on the 4th of April, 1861, and accompanied his parents on their emigration to this country. He received his education in the public schools of Lancaster county and early in life began assisting his father in the latter's blacksmith shop. He was so employed until he was married in 1886, when he took up his residence upon his father's farm on section 32, Saltillo precinct, which he has since operated. He does general farming but gives much attention to the raising of white faced cattle and standard bred Percheron horses. He follows up-to-date methods in his work and his weil directed labors are rewarded by a gratifying financial return. He was mar- ried at Stockfeld church, near Princeton, Lancaster county, on the 16th of November, 1886, to Miss Erlinda Christiansen, who was born in Glucksburg, Germany, December 31, 1865. Her parents, Lorenz and Maria ( Joosten) Christiansen, were also natives of that place. In 1873 the family came to the United States and located in Hickman, Nebraska, but subsequently the father purchased one hundred and sixty acres in South Pass precinct, which he culti- vated until 1877, and later bought eighty acres on section 27, Saltillo precinct. He farmed that tract of land until his demise,which occurred in 1886. He is buried in the cemetery at Stockfeld church, near Princeton. His wife survives

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and still lives on the farm in Saltillo precinct. Mrs. Thiedemann was eight years of age when she accompanied her parents to Nebraska and her education was acquired in the schools of South Pass precinct and in the Hickman schools. To MIr. and Mrs. Thiedemann have been born nine children: one who died in infancy; Henry William, a farmer of this county; John Emil, at home; Maria Christina, the wife of Rudolph Egger, who is farming near Princeton ; Margaret, deceased ; Erlinda Margaret, who is attending the high school at Hickman ; and William Henry, Elsie Erlinda and Mabel Henrietta, all of whom are attending the public schools. Mr. Thiedemann is a charter member of the Low German Lodge at Lincoln and helped to build the hall of that organization, on the corner of Ninth and N streets at Lincoln. He has been successful in all that he has undertaken and his salient characteristics are such that he has made many warm friends.

H. E. SIDLES.

H. E. Sidles, president of the Nebraska Buick Automobile Company and the German American State Bank of Lincoln, belongs to that class of representative business men in whose vocabulary the word fail seems not to appear. Through- out his entire career he has displayed notable discrimination that has enabled him to readily recognize the value of any business opportunity and from time to time he has extended his efforts and connections in the field of business until the commercial activity and material development of this section of the state are attributable in substantial measure to his efforts. Today he is active in control of various important enterprises and one, in considering his life, is led to the reflection that opportunities slip away from the sluggard, tauntingly play before the dreamer but surrender to the individual of high purpose, undaunted courage and indefatigable determination.

Mr. Sidles was born in Nebraska City, Nebraska, January 1, 1875. His father, F. A. Sidles, was born in Pennsylvania, but in 1875 became a resident of Nebraska City, where he engaged in the sewing machine business for a short time. The following year he removed to Lancaster county and became a druggist at Bennet, where he also dealt in real estate. In the conduct of his interests he won success and after acquiring a handsome competence retired from active life. Ile passed away in Lincoln, April 4, 1909, while his wife, who bore the maiden name of Hattie Heffley and is a native of Pennsylvania, still resides in Lincoln. They were the parents of three children: Il. E., of this review : Frank B., who is manager of the German Loan & Building Company of Lincoln ; and Carrie, who was a graduate of the State University of the class of 1889 and died in that year.

H. E. Sidles was largely reared in Bennet and attended the public schools there to the age of fourteen years, when his father removed with the family to Lincoln in 1880. Here he became a high school pupil and afterward spent a year and a half in the State University. In 1895 he engaged in the bicycle and sporting goods business and also lealt in phonographs. GJIe conducted this store until 1903, when he turned his attention to the automobile business, and upon

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the organization of the Nebraska Buick Automobile Company in 1909 he became its president and general manager and has occupied that position continuously since. Many other business interests however have profited by his wise direction and active aid. Ile is the vice president of the Lincoln Terminal Company, is a director of the First National Bank of Lincoln and of the First Trust & Savings Company. Ile is also connected with the firm of Plattner & Yale, with the Lincoln Pure Butter Company, the Des Moines Buick Automobile Company of Des Moines, lowa, and the Shultz Phonograph Company of Omaha. He is one of the stockholders of the Norfolk Buick Company of Norfolk, Nebraska, the Ashland Bridge Cmpany of Ashland, Nebraska, the Orpheum Theater Com- pany of Lincoln, the Electric Park Company of Lincoln and is the owner of a farm in Lancaster county and another in Jefferson county, Nebraska. llis investments have been most judiciously made and bring to him a very gratifying financial return.

Mr. Sidles was married in 1899 to Miss Dorothy Stire, who was born in Lincoln where the Elk clubhouse now stands, a daughter of John C. Stire, who was one of the early settlers of this city. Two sons have been born of this marriage, Fred and Harry. The parents are members of the Plymouth Congregational church and Mr. Sidles is identified with the Elks and the Masons, while his political allegiance is given to the republican party. What he under- takes he accomplishes. There is no phase of his business activity that will not bear close investigation and scrutiny. Possessing broad, enlightened and liberal minded views, faith in himself and in the vast potentialities for development inherent in his country's wide domain, his has been an active career in which he has accomplished important and far-reaching results, contributing in no small degree to the expansion and material growth of the city and from which he himself has also derived substantial benefits.

EDWARD F. BOHL.

Edward F. Bohl was a successful farmer of Centerville precinct and his demise, which occurred in 1904, was recognized as a loss to his community. A native of Lancaster county, his birth occurred in Highland precinct on the 7th of January, 1878, and he was a son of Nicholas Bohl. He passed his boyhood and youth upon the home farm and when not attending the public schools devoted his time to assisting his father. On reaching mature years he deter- mined to make farming his life work and purchased eighty acres of land on section 20, Centerville precinct, on which he made his home until called by death on the 11th of October, 1904. He made many improvements upon his farm and his well directed labors as a farmer and stock raiser were rewarded by a good financial return.

Mr. Bohl was married in Lincoln on the 22d of January, 1901, to Miss Amelia Frohn, who was born in Centerville precinct and is a daughter of William Frohn, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work. To this union were born two sons, Eliner William and Clarence Nicholas.R)

Mr. Bohl was a stanch advocate of the principles of the democratic party

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and loyally supported its candidates at the polls, but never sought office. He had a wide acquaintance throughout the county and was most highly esteemed where best known as his dominant qualities were those which characterize the highest type of manhood. His wife resided in Martel for a number of years after his death in order to afford her sons the advantages of the schools there, but in the spring of 1910 returned to the farm. Mrs. Bohl is a member of the Centerville Methodist church and highly respected in her community.

HION. JOHN THOMAS MARSHALL.

The Hon. John Thomas Marshall, who has represented his district in the state senate, is also one of the most prominent business men of Panama. He aided in organizing and for twenty-five years has served as cashier of the Bank of Panama, of which he and his brother Charles own a majority of the stock, and he is likewise vice president of the Bank of Cheney. A native of England, he was born in Yorkshire, twenty miles from Hull and twenty miles from the city of York, on the 8th of December, 1857. His father, John Marshall, was born at Cliff, Yorkshire, on the 18th of April, 1830, and received his education in that town. He was a shoemaker and conducted a large business in that line at Market Weighton, England, for many years. He manufactured and sold shoes and his business reached such proportions that it occupied a large three story building. In 1872 he came with his family to America and after landing at New York continued westward, locating in Weeping Water, Cass county, Nebraska. He purchased eighty acres of raw land four miles south of Weeping Water but after farming that place for a year established a shoe business in the town. In 1876 he admitted his son, John Thomas Marshall, to a partnership under the firm name of J. Marshall & Son and they erected a fine new building. In 1883 the father disposed of his interest in the business to his son William and the firm then became Marshall Brothers. The father lived retired in Weeping Water for many years, enjoying well merited rest. He was a man of fine business judgment and accumulated considerable property, owning forty acres of land in addition to the eighty acres which he first purchased and also holding title to property in Weeping Water and in Avoca. At the time of his death, which occurred on the 29th of January, 1912, he was with one exception the oldest resident of his town, and as an expression of the esteem in which he was generally held business houses were closed at the time of his funeral. He married Miss Charlotte Day, who was born in Birmingham, England, in 1826, and there received her education. She was married at Scancton, Yorkshire, England, and in 1872 came with her husband and children to the United States. Her death occurred at Weeping Water, Nebraska, on the 20th of September, 1891, and she is there buried. By her marriage she became the mother of ten children, all natives of England, namely : Lucy, the wife of Moses Maw ; Alfred L. ; Charles : Isabella, the wife of D. E. Jones ; John Thomas ; Paul J. ; William ; Louisa, the wife of Fred Evans ; Arthur ; and Harry, who died in infancy.

John T. Marshall'altenden school nic orkshire, England, but his educational opportunities were somewhat limited as he began learning the shoemaker's trade

HON. JOHN T. MARSHALL

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at an early age and following the emigration of the family to the United States in 1872, when he was fifteen years of age, he herded cattle south of Weeping Water, for a wage of six dollars per month. In 1873, however, he began working for his father at the shoemaker's trade and the following year entered the employ of Peter Merges, a shoemaker of Plattsmouth, Nebraska. In the spring of 1876 he went into business with his father, who was conducting a shoe store at Weeping Water, the firm name becoming J. Marshall & Son. Subsequently his brother William bought out his father's interest and the business was con- ducted under the name of Marshall Brothers for some time. In the spring of 1887, however, he disposed of his share of the business to his brother Arthur and purchased eighty acres of land from his father. He operated that farm until 1890, when he rented it and removed to Lincoln, as he wished to give his children better educational opportunities. While engaged in farming he culti- vated eighty acres of rented land in addition to the tract which he owned.

John T. Marshall dates his residence in Panama from the spring of 1891, when he and his brother Charles came here and with the assistance of some of the well-to-do citizens of the town organized the Bank of Panama, the first and only bank in the town. They built a well designed and attractive banking house and during the twenty-five years of the bank's existence have built up a good business and have gained the full confidence of the community. Charles Marshall, who at the time he organized the Bank of Panama was cashier of the Bank of Douglas, has served continuously as president of the local bank and J. T. Marshall has held the office of cashier during the entire time. He gives close attention to all details of the institution, is careful to protect the interests of stockholders and depositors but at the same time seeks to promote the business expansion of the community through a wise extension of credit. He and his brother Charles are also the majority stockholders of the bank. The two brothers and their sons, Roy and Ralph, organized the Bank of Cheney in 1910 and are successfully conducting that institution, which is the only bank in the town, Charles Marshall serving as president, John Thomas Marshall as vice president, and Ralph Marshall as a director. In addition to his important banking interests J. T. Marshall owns several farms in Lancaster county, a half section of improved land in Otoe county, just across the line, and considerable town property in Panama. His residence which he erected in 1910 is provided with all modern conveniences and improvements, being equipped with hot water heat, hot and cold running water and a central lighting plant. It is beautifully furnished throughout and is as fine a home as there is in Lancaster county.

Mr. Marshall was married at Plattsmouth on the 9th of May, 1880, to Miss Loretta Medella Smith, whose birth occurred near Meridian, Mississippi, on the 14th of May, 1861. Her father, Charles Payson Smith, was born in Bradford, Vermont, and after completing his common school course there entered the Bradford Academy and still later Dartmouth College of New Hampshire, from which he was graduated. After teaching for some time in the select schools of Mississippi he returned to Vermont and was there married to Calista A. Felch. He then returned to Mississippi, but in 1869 he removed with his family to Cass county, Nebraska, where his father-in-law had purchased a large tract of land. Mr. Smith located near Plattsmouth and farnied there until about1889, when he retired and took up his residence in Lincoln. buikling a beautiful home there. He Vol. II-25

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passed away May 8, 1893, and is buried in the Wyuka cemetery. His wife was born in the town of Felchville, Vermont, which was founded by her father. Following her husband's death she divided her time between the homes of her two daughters and died in Panama at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Marshall, May 21, 1902. Mrs. Marshall is also deceased, dying suddenly while waiting for a train at the Burlington depot at Lincoln on the 17th of April, 1915. She is buried in the Panama cemetery. She was a woman of many fine qualities and her demise was the occasion of much sincere grief. She was the mother of seven children. Clara Cleone, who was born November 28, 1881, at Weeping Water, Nebraska, and is a graduate of the University of Nebraska, is now the wife of George Roger La Rue, Ph. D., professor of biology in the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. Thomas Walter, who was born on the 7th of October, 1884, at Weeping Water, was one of the organizers and cashier of the Reed Point State Bank, of Reed Point, Montana. Ralph Waldo was born on the 13th of March. 1889, at Weeping Water and is connected with the Bank of Panama and with the Bank of Cheney. Jennie Alice died in infancy. Payson Day, who was born in Panama on the 26th of October, 1898, is now a student in the University of Nebraska. La Verne Althea, who was born in Panama on the 27th of April, 1903, is at home. Viva Bernice, born in Panama on the 28th of November, 1906, is also at home.

In 1912 Mr. Marshall was nominated for state senator on the republican ticket and won the election, taking office in January, 1913. He made such an excellent record as a lawmaker that in 1914 he was re-elected and in both the thirty-third and thirty-fourth sessions he served on important committees. During his first term he was chairman of the banks and currency committee and was also a member of the claims, county boundaries, insane hospitals, insur- ance, privileges and elections, public lands and buildings, apportionments and accounts, and expenditures committees. During his second term he served on the committees on banks and currency, on enrolled and engrossed bills, on medical societies and on revenue and taxation. He did excellent work in committee rooms, giving thorough study to the various bills to be reported on and taking into account all of their probable effects if enacted into laws. Hle also proved an able speaker from the floor and was recognized as one of the most valued members of the senate. He has taken an active interest in public affairs since early manhood and while living in Weeping Water served for three years as town trustee.

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Lincoln, the capital city and Lancaster County, Nebraska, Volume II, Part 50

Author: Sawyer, Andrew J., 1844- ed Publication date: 1916 Publisher: Chicago, Ill., The S. J. Clarke publishing company Number of Pages: 854

Author: Sawyer, Andrew J., 1844- ed
Publication date: 1916
Publisher: Chicago, Ill., The S. J. Clarke publishing company
Number of Pages: 854