USA > Nebraska > Lancaster County > Lincoln > Lincoln, the capital city and Lancaster County, Nebraska, Volume II > Part 69
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in which he has served as master at arms, and he was formerly identified with the Modern Woodmen of America at Martel. He is not only respected for his energy and ability, but is also highly esteemed because of his integrity and public spirit.
CAPTAIN ROLLA O. PHILLIPS.
High regard was ever entertained for Captain Rolla O. Phillips because of the patriotic and public-spirited citizenship which he displayed, his devotion to the general good being manifest in many tangible ways. His business interests, too, were of a character that contributed to public prosperity, and in the more quiet relations of life-in those organizations where one meets one's fellows on the plane of comradeship-he was held in the warmest esteem.
His birth occurred at Jefferson, . Greene county, Pennsylvania, April 29, 1841, and he passed away at San Francisco, California, on the 9th of January, 1899. His parents Eli and Jemima (Oliver) Phillips, were natives of Delaware and of Pennsylvania respectively but removed from the latter state to Ohio, where Captain Rolla Phillips was reared and educated, completing his studies in Waynesburg College. When his textbooks were put aside he returned to Wash- ington. Pennsylvania, and there learned the printer's trade, but all business and personal considerations were cast aside when the country became involved in civil war, for he felt that his first duty was to the Union. In 1861, therefore, he enlisted in Company E. Twelfth Pennsylvania Infantry, and later reenlisted as a member of Company D. Eighty-fifth Pennsylvania Infantry, of which com- mand he was elected first lieutenant. He was first on active duty at the siege of Yorktown, and this was followed by the engagement at Williamsburg, a few miles beyond Yorktown. He participated in many other hotly contested engage- ments, being on active duty until mustered out in December, 1864, after serving for more than three years. He held the rank of captain at the time he received his honorable discharge, and as commander of his company he had inspired the men under him with much of his own courage and zeal.
When the war was over Captain Phillips removed to Illinois, where for a year he engaged in merchandising. He afterward devoted two years to reading law, and in 1868 was admitted to the bar at Pontiac, Illinois. He immediately removed to Marengo, Iowa, where he continued in law practice until 1869, when he came to Lincoln. Almost immediately after his arrival he was appointed deputy county clerk, in which position he served for three years, when he was elected county clerk, and by icelection was continued in the office for two terms. He then resumed his law practice, to which he gave his undivided attention until 1876, when he was elected to the lower house of the Nebraska legislature and served during the fourteenth session, which convened January 2, 1877. The careful consideration which he gave to all vital questions and his earnest indorse- ment of all measures which he deemed beneficial to the state proved him a public- spirited and patriotic citizen.
With the close of his legislative service Captain Phillips assisted in the organ- ization of the Lincoln Land Company, of which he became secretary and treasurer. He also took charge of the South Platte Company and for more than twenty years
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he was most active in managing the affairs of both organizations. From 1876 until his death he was also the town site representative of the Burlington & Missouri Railroad Company in all of the territory west of the Missouri river, in which connection he was engaged in laying out town sites, selling lots and assisting generally in the upbuilding of towns in Nebraska, Kansas and Colorado. His efforts were a direct element in the development and improvement of the west, and the worth and extent of his influence and labors can scarcely be measured.
In 1872, in Bureau county, Illinois, Captain Phillips wedded Miss Mary J. Gudgell, a daughter of Thornton and Sarah (Hughes) Gudgell, who were natives of Illinois and Pennsylvania respectively. Three children were born of this mar- riage but none are now living, and the family circle was once more broken by the hand of death when Captain Phillips passed away. In the spring of 1898 he had been ordered by his physician to take a vacation and he spent the follow- ing summer in company with his wife on the Pacific coast. Later they took an ocean voyage across the Pacific, but this did not bring the benefit desired, and upon reaching San Francisco he was taken to Waldeck Hospital, where he passed away on the 9th of January, 1899. Captain Phillips was a member of the Mili- tary Order of the Loyal Legion and of the Grand Army of the Republic, while in Masonry he attained the Knights Templar degree. His course was ever marked by fidelity to duty as strong and pronounced as that which he displayed when he followed the nation's starry banner on the battlefields of the south. In business affairs he displayed marked energy, notable sagacity and keen dis- cernment and, moreover, measured his acts by the standard of honesty. The splendid qualities which he ever displayed gave him a firm hold upon the affectionate regard of many friends.
JUSTUS F. BRAHMSTADT.
Justus F. Brahmstadt, a progressive young business man of Kramer, Nebraska, is a member of the firm of Brahmstadt Brothers, grain dealers, being associated with his brother Benjamin in the conduct of the enterprise. His birth occurred in Wood Lake, Cherry county, Nebraska, on the 29th of February, 1892, his parents being John F. and Sophia C. (Kramer) Brahmstadt, the former a native of Mecklenburg, Germany, and the latter of Gutenberg, Iowa. Henry Kramer, the maternal grandfather of our subject, was the founder of Kramer, Nebraska, coming to Lancaster county from Iowa by wagon in 1865 and homesteading the farm on which the town of Kramer was later built.
Justus F. Brahmstadt supplemented his early education, obtained in the dis- trict schools, by a high school course at Crete and a commercial course in Lin- coln. After putting aside his textbooks he spent two years in the employ of the Yates Lumber & Coal Company at Lincoln and subsequently resided during two winters in Arizona in order to recuperate his health. On the 3d of April, 1916, in association with his brother Benjamin, he purchased the Crete Mills elevator and has since been engaged, in the grain business at Kramer under the firm Dignized by microsoft
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style of Brahmstadt Brothers. The brothers are young men of ability and enterprise and success is attending their efforts in gratifying degree.
On the toth of November, 1915, Justus F. Brahmstadt was united in mar- riage to Miss Rose Kabley, of Crete, Nebraska. He is a republican in his political views and supports the men and measures of that party at the polls. His life is upright and honorable in every relation and he enjoys an enviable reputation in both business and social circles of his community.
NOAH EGGER, JR.
Noah Egger, Jr .. is one of the best known residents of Princeton, where he operates an elevator, conducts a hardware store and is also filling the office of postmaster. A native of Illinois, his birth occurred in Tazewell county on the 16th of November, 1863, and he is a son of Noah and Mary ( Pflager) Egger, natives respectively of Ohio and New York city. The father was educated in the district schools of the Buckeye state but in early manhood went to Tazewell county, Illinois, and engaged in farming near Pekin. In the fall of 1868 he came overland to Lancaster county, Nebraska, accompanied by his wife and four children, and the family located upon a homestead of eighty acres on section 2, Buda precinct. Their first residence in this county was a structure half frame and half dugout, and the first barns on the farm were dugouts. The father placed his land under cultivation and later added to his holdings. He replaced the first crude buildings on the farm with commodious and substantial struc- tures and otherwise improved the place. In 1881 he retired from active life and took up his residence in the town of Princeton. lle has since traveled all over the United States and now divides his time between Princeton and the state of Georgia. His sons operated the farm from 1881 until 1900, when they, too, removed to town, and thirteen years later the homestead was soll. The wife and mother, who was reared in Ohio, also survives.
Noah Egger, Jr., has passed practically his entire life in Lancaster county as he was but five years old when the family located here. During his boyhood and youth he attended the district schools in Buda precinct and also gained practical knowledge of farming through assisting his father. When nineteen years old he began his independent career and devoted his time to agricultural pursuits until 1900, when he left the home farm and removed to Princeton, where he still lives. He secured a position as clerk in an implement and hard- ware establishment and served in that capacity for a number of years. In March, 1916, however, he purchased the store from A. E. Van Berg and has since been sole proprietor. He also owns the local elevator and both enterprises yield him a good profit. From 1900 until 1907 he filled the position of deputy postmaster but in the latter year was appointed postmaster and is still serving in that capacity, proving very accurate and systematic in the discharge of his duties.
Mr. Egger was married in Buda precinct on the 5th of February, 1885, to Miss Mary Steele!She was born in Tazewell county. Illinois, and is a daughter of William and Mary ( Potts) Steele, who in 1881 removed from Illinois to
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this county, where both passed away. The father was a farmer by occupation. Mr. and Mrs. Egger have six children: Edwin, who is working in his father's store; Maggie, the wife of E. F. F. Dohe, a mechanical draftsman, who is in the employ of the United States government in the Panama Canal Zone; and Alva, Noah C., and Noel and Nora, twins, all at home.
Mr. Egger is a stanch advocate of democratic principles and loyally sup- ports the candidates and measures of that party at the polls. For five years he served on the school board but is not now connected with that body. Fra- ternally he is a member of Princeton Camp, No. 2022, M. W. A., in which he has held all of the offices, and has now served as clerk for fifteen years. He is affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal church at Princeton and in the teachings of that organization are found the principles which govern his conduct. He is industrious and possesses sound judgment, and the success which he has gained is dne to the exercise of those qualities.
ARNOLD EGGER.
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Arnold Egger, who owns and operates a good farm on section 3. Buda pre- cinct, is raising shorthorn cattle and Duroc-Jersey hogs. A native of Switzer- land, he was born in the canton of Bern, on the 22d of June 1866, and is a son of John and Anna Maria (Gygli) Egger, of whom further mention is made in the sketch of J. F. Egger, on another page of this volume. Our subject was brought to America in infancy, the family arriving at Pekin, Illinois, on the 24th of December, 1866. After farming in that state for two seasons they removed to Cass county, Nebraska, by wagon. The father engaged in farming near the old town of Rock Bluffs for two years and then began operating a tract of land on which the town of Sprague is now located. He followed agri- cultural pursuits there during his remaining years, passing away on the 11th of February, 1909.
Arnold Egger received his education in the schools of district No. 77 and district No. 36, Centerville precinct, and early became familiar with farm work through assisting his father. Following his marriage he began his independent career and took charge of one hundred and twenty acres on section 3, Buda precinct, belong- ing to his father. The land was under cultivation, but there were no buildings upon the farm when he took charge. He has since erected a substantial residence, good barns and outbuildings and has made many other improvements upon the place, which he now owns. He also holds title to one hundred and ten acres on section 34, Centerville precinct, and likewise cultivates that land. He seldom fails to harvest good crops of grain and also raises high grade shorthorn cattle and Duroc-Jersey hogs, from the sale of which he derives a gratifying addition to his income. He is interested financially in the Martel Telephone Company and was one of the organizers of the Bank of Sprague and also of the Farmers Grain & Lumber Company of Sprague.
Mr. Egger was married in Lincoln on the 5th of January, 1893, to Miss Josephine Pfleger, who was born in Jackson, Ohio, on the 28th of March, 1870. She was reared and educated in the Buckeye state and in Indiana, but in 1890
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became a resident of Lancaster county, Nebraska. She passed away on the 7th of March, 1909, and was buried in Princeton. She was the mother of two children, namely : Edward Albert, who was born on the 16th of November, 1893, and is farming with his father; and Cora, who was born April 25, 1896, and is at home.
Mr. Egger is an independent democrat, paying greater attention to the quali- fications of a candidate than to his political allegiance. He is strongly in favor of such temperance legislation as will protect those who have not sufficient will power to withstand the temptation to drink to excess. He has always mani- fested a keen interest in educational affairs and for fifteen years was a member of the school board in district No. 129 and for three years served in -a similar capacity in district No. 77. His religious faith is that of the Methodist Epis- copal church and fraternally he is connected with Sprague Camp, No. 1577, M. W. A., of which he is a charter member and in which he held office for years. His dominant qualities are such as invariably win respect and regard, and the circle of his friends is almost coextensive with that of his acquaintance.
CHARLES HENRY GERE.
The specific and distinctive office of biography is not to give voice to a man's modest estimate of himself and his accomplishments but rather to leave a perpetual record establishing his position by the consensus of public opinion on the part of his fellowmen. Judged in this way, Charles Henry Gere was one of Nebraska's most valued residents. Coming to the west in territorial days, he took an active part in the movement which resulted in the admission of the state into the Union, was afterward active in framing the constitution, and along many lines which have resulted in its intellectual, political and moral progress was an active and sustaining influence.
He was born in Wyoming county, New York, in 1838 and was descended from old colonial families. In the paternal line his ancestry is traced back to George Geer, son of "Jonathan of Heavitree," of Devonshire, who in 1634 crossed the Atlantic and established his home in Boston. In the maternal line Charles H. Gere was descended from Lieutenant Thomas Tracy, also from the south of England, who in 1635 arrived in Connecticut. Another of his ances- tors in the maternal line was Matthew Grant, who came to the new world about the same time and was one of the founders of Windsor, Connecticut. His maternal grandfather, Dr. Isaac Grant, served through the Revolutionary war with the Connecticut line and was in the campaigns in New Jersey and Pennsyl- vania under General Washington and at the storming of Stony Point. John Nelson and Julia (Grant ) Gere were the parents of Charles H. Gere, whose youthful experiences were those of the farm lad, his boyhood days being spent on his father's farm in Chenango county, New York. He pursued a prepara- tory course in Oxford Academy after completing his public school training and then became a junior in Dickinson College at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, from which institution he wasgraduated with the class of 186nft ®
Just before his graduation Mr. Gere offered his services to the government,
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enlisting with several of his classmates in the Pennsylvania "Bucktails," but they were all refused muster by order of Governor Curtin, who said that undergraduates were not needed. The following year he received the appoint- ment of teacher in a grammar school in Baltimore and under the direction of Congressman C. L. L. Leary he pursued the study of law. His hope of becom- ing one of the Union's preservers, however, was not to be frustrated, for in June, 1863, when Lee invaded Pennsylvania, he resigned his position as teacher to join the Tenth Maryland Infantry, which was ordered immediately to occupy Maryland Heights, where it guarded a battery of artillery during the battle of Gettysburg. Upon the expiration of his term of enlistment Mr. Gere served in the quartermaster's department at Annapolis and Martinsburg for several months and operated as a member of a party of independent scouts in the vicinity of Baltimore when Jubal Early raided Maryland. He afterward became a member of the Eleventh Maryland Infantry and thus served until the close of the war. He was admitted to the bar at Baltimore a few days later and then started on a visit to his mother, who was residing at Table Rock, Nebraska.
On the 20th of July, 1865, Mr. Gere reached Brownville, Nebraska, and from that date he was identified with the interests of this state. Being pleased with conditions here, he wrote back to Pennsylvania for his trunk and soon afterward opened a law office at Pawnee City. A little later he was admitted to partnership by David Butler, afterward the first governor of Nebraska, and by appointment of the county commissioners he was made prosecuting attorney for his county and was also elected to represent his district in the first legisla- ture, which convened in Omaha, July 4, 1866. As a member of that body he aided in electing Senators John M. Thayer and Thomas W. Tipton to help get the state into the Union. Upon the admission of Nebraska on the Ist of March, 1867, Mr. Gere became private secretary to Governor Butler, his former law partner, and on the location of the capital at Lincoln the following summer he began the publication of the first newspaper of this city, which he originally called The Commonwealth, later, however, changing the name to The State Journal. In the fall of 1868 he was elected to the senate from the five counties of Lancaster, Saline, Pawnee, Gage and Jefferson and was chairman of the committee on education and a member of the committee on railroads. In the former capacity he had charge of the university bill and as a minority in the latter committee reported a substitute for the bill appropriating four hundred thousand acres of state lands for sundry railroads, which substitute was finally accepted after a contest in both houses of the legislature and became a law. Under this statute there were built within two years the first section of the Burlington & Missouri in Nebraska, the Midland Pacific and the Atchison & Nebraska, all now merged into the Burlington system, also the Omaha & Southwestern, which is a part of the Union Pacific system. All of these rail- roads have been built through Lincoln, while the roads projected in the majority report of the committee were "up the river." for the benefit of the eastern tier of counties. The excellent work which Mr. Gere did as a legislator and in other public connections naturally made him a party leader and he was chosen chairman of the republican stater central committee and by reelection was con- tinued in that position through four successive terms. In 1875 he was elected Vol. II-34
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to the convention which framed the present state constitution and later was returned to the senate, where he served through 1881 and 1882. lu the spring of the former year he was made a member of the board of regents of the State University to fill a vacancy and was afterward twice elected to that position, acting as president of the board for several years. Still other public duties were given over to his charge. He was president of the board of trustees in Lincoln in 1869 and 1870 and by appointment of the county commissioners became county attorney. He also served as postmaster under President Harrison's administration and following the creation of the railroad commission he served as one of its members in the early '80s. For many years he was also a member of the board of library trustees. He took an active part in every project for the city's benefit and upbuilding and in all of his public work discriminated readily between the essential and the nonessential, seeming to realize almost intuitively the value of any situation, project or movement.
Mr. Gere continued in the practice of law until July, 1870, when The State Journal began issuing a daily edition, after which he concentrated his entire time and attention upon editorial work. In 1872 The State Journal Company was incorporated and from that date until his demise Mr. Gere was its presi- dent. He made it not only the leading paper of Nebraska but one of the most excellent journals of the country and ever adhered to the highest standards of journalism, using his influence to eliminate all the sensational features of "yellow journalism" and putting forth earnest effort to give to the public that which is of worth in connection with the changing conditions that bear upon history.
On the 19th of September, 1871, Mr. Gere was united in marriage to Miss Mariel E. Clapham, a daughter of Captain John Clapham, of Washing- ton, D. C., and they became the parents of four children, of whom three daugh- ters are living, namely, Mariel C., Ellen B. and Frances C. The family circle was again broken by the hand of death, when, on the 30th of September, 1904, Charles Il. Gere passed away after a brief illness. Mrs. Gere survived her husband for about eight years, passing away April 4, 1912.
Mr. Gere was a member of Appomattox Post. G. A. R., and always found delight in his association with his old army comrades, who served as a guard of honor at the church where his funeral services were held. The news of his demise carried with it a sense of personal bereavement into the great majority of Lincoln's homes, for he was esteemed, honored and loved wherever he was known. At his passing the city library board adopted resolutions which stated that he gave freely of his time and counsel to the affairs of the board of trustees and the library, serving for a long time as president, and stating that the board desired to express its grateful appreciation for the splendid work which he did for the library-work that resulted in great and lasting good to the community and was largely instrumental in securing for the city its present fine library building, containing thousands of volumes for public use. The resolutions further stated that in Lincoln and throughout Nebraska, where as an editor and pure-minded, patriotic citizen, he wielded a strong and wholesome influence, he will be sadly missed. S. L. Geisthardt, speaking of Mr. Gere, said that he was not only the Cfounder of Lincoln'slibrary) but That to him was due the passage of the act authorizing cities and towns to aid in maintaining free public
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libraries. By that act Lincoln was able to take over the old library, thus making it purely a city library and later a free library. Another evidence of Mr. Gere's high standing in the community was a motion passed by the minister's associa- tion, expressing their high appreciation of him personally and their commenda- tion of the clean and exemplary daily paper of which he was the founder and lifelong editor. The public schools of Lincoln also closed as a tribute to him and on that occasion the principal of the schools took the opportunity to impress upon the minds of the children the important part which Mr. Gere had taken in the organization and maintenance of the educational system of the state that they might recognize how much they owed to him. There is perhaps no citizen of Lincoln who has occupied a higher place in public regard or been more widely or favorably known. He was identified not only with Lincoln's devel- opment but with the progress and upbuilding of the commonwealth and upon many lines of public endeavor left the impress of his individuality.
By one who knew him well the following fitting tribute was paid to him: "One of Mr. Gere's striking characteristics was his gentleness. At his home, where he was idolized by his wife and daughters, he was always bright, cheerful and companionable. In his office he was equable in temper and so chary with reproof that perhaps not one of a large force of men can recall a harsh word uttered by him during more than thirty-five years of his editorship of the paper. Of a sensitive nature himself, he shrank from inflicting pain and always pre- ferred to give his editorial reproofs of men and measures a jocular rather than a brutal turn. The sense of humor was so highly developed in his nature that when he caught himself in a solemn and 'preachy' attitude he fell to langhing at himself, and many an utterance that would have been called a powerful editorial' was checked before it saw the light. His philosophy of life was sane, wholesome and cheerful. lle impressed everyone with whom he came in con- tact as a strongly intellectual and thoroughly lovable character. Mr. Gere's reading was prodigious. Even in his earlier years, when he had the bulk of the work to do on a lively frontier daily newspaper, together with much political activity, he was a deep and constant student. In his later years, when he had surrounded himself with younger assistants, who looked to him for guidance and were glad to take much of the labor from his hands, he spent a large share of his time in his library, where his well trained mind ripened with learn- ing that made his pen rich and fruitful and his companionship a delight."
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