USA > Nebraska > Lancaster County > Lincoln > Lincoln, the capital city and Lancaster County, Nebraska, Volume II > Part 72
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VERNE HEDGE.
Verne Hedge, conducting the most important abstract business of Lincoln, has lived in the capital since 1886 and through the intervening period has become established not only as the foremost representative of his line of business activity but as a man and citizen whose worth to the community is widely acknowledged. He was born in Poweshick county, Iowa, September 3, 1877, a son of Porter Hedge, whose record appears elsewhere in this volume.
Verne Hedge, an only child, has lived in Lincoln from the age of eight years and the public schools afforded him his early educational opportunities. He was graduated from the high school with the class of 1893, and later he won two degrees from the University of Nebraska, that of Bachelor of Laws and that of Civil Engineer. His studies at the State University covered at different intervals a period of ten years, and ing 903 both degrees were Conferred upon
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him. Ile largely met the expenses of his college course, which accounts in part for the fact that he did not finish in the time usually allotted to college work, for it became necessary for him to abandon his studies now and then in order to earn money to enable him to pay his tuition and meet his other expenses. From 1897 until the fall of 1903, at irregular intervals between the period of his attendance at school, he was employed in the engineering department of the Burlington Rail- road. In 1903, upon his father's death, he succeeded to the abstract business, of which he has since been sole owner. The Verne Hedge abstract office represents the oldest business of the kind in Lincoln, and has perhaps the most complete set of abstract books in the city. Mr. Hedge has given his undivided attention to the business since 1903 and his name is thoroughly coupled with abstracts in the minds of aff Lincoln's people.
On the 24th of May, 1905, Mr. Hedge was united in marriage to Miss Edith Grace Bennett, of Lincoln, her father being John R. Bennett of that city. To them have been born two sons, namely: John Richard, whose birth occurred January 15, 1909; and Willard Charles, whose birth occurred October 27, 1911.
In politics Mr. Hedge is a republican, but has never been an office seeker, holding but one political position, having in 1913 been elected one of the trustees of Wyuka cemetery for a term of six years. It is a position, however, that pays no salary. He is a thirty-second degree Mason and member of the Mystic Shrine. He belongs to the Commercial Club, the Lincoln Rotary Club, the Country Club and other similar organizations, and when in the university he became a member of the Kappa Sigma and is now district grand master of that fraternity for the states of Nebraska, Iowa, North and South Dakota and Minne- sota. His religious faith is indicated by his membership in the First Christian church. Hs is well known in this city not only as a representative business man, but as a citizen whose influence is always on the side of right and progress, reform and improvement. Those who know him, and he has a wide acquaintance, speak in the highest terms of his excellent traits of character, his fidelity to duty and his close conformity to the highest standards of manhood and citizenship.
JOHN LOWDON.
John Lowdon, who has resided upon his present farm in North Bluff pre- cinct for many years, was born in County Durham, England, on the 13th of October, 1851, of the marriage of John and Elizabeth ( Harrison) Lowdon, who passed their entire lives in that county. The father engaged in farming and held a number of parish offices.
John Lowdon attended the parish school at Muggleswick, England, and remained at home until about twenty-six or twenty-seven years of age, when he began farming on his own account in his native county. In 1884, however, he came to the United States and located in Cass county, Nebraska, near Green- wood, where he farmed for a year, but at the end of that period took up his residence upon his present place in North Bluff precinct, Lancaster county, and for a time lived winy hsod housel/ Helowns Ciglity acres of fertile land, upon which he has made many improvements, bringing the place to a high state of
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development. He uses up-to-date machinery in his work and as he thoroughly understands modern agricultural methods and manages the business phase of farming well he has accumulated a competence.
Mr. Lowdon was united in marriage, on the 17th of February, 1881, to Miss Eliza Tudberry, who was also born in County Durham, England, and whose parents, William and Anna ( Blackwell) Tudberry, were natives of Nottingham- shire, England. Her father engaged in farming but passed away when Mrs. Lowdon was a child. The mother is also deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. Lowdon have been born five children, namely: Elizabeth Anna, the wife of Joseph Hedges, who is farming in Stevens Creek precinct; Mary Ethel, who married Russell Smith, a machinist employed in the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy shops at Havelock ; William Edgar, who is farming near Kowanda, Deuel county, Nebraska, and who married Miss Grace Hazeltine; George Frederick, an expert machinist of Chicago, who specializes in installing elevators; and Albert Law- rence, at home.
Alr. Lowdon is independent in politics and has served on the board of edu- cation for twenty years although he has never sought other office. His religious faith is that of the Church of England. He has never regretted his removal to this county, for he has here found opportunities which have enabled him to gain financial success and he has also found the institutions of the country to his liking. He has witnessed the greater part of the development of Lancaster county and has had a part in bringing about the changes that have transformed a pioneer region to the present prosperous agricultural district.
FRANK P. DWIGGINS, M. D.
Dr. Frank P. Dwiggins, physician and surgeon, holding at all times to high professional standards in his practice and meeting with a success which is merited by earnest effort and close application, was born in Oxford, Indiana, on the 16th of July, 1886. a son of Zimri and Stella ( Purcupile ) Dwiggins, both of whom were natives of Indiana, where they were reared and married. In early life the father was identified with the banking business and in later years became manager of the Aetna Life Insurance Company for the state of Nebraska. He removed to this state in 1898, settling in Lincoln, where his remaining days were passed, his death occurring in 1907. Ilis widow afterward became the wife of William Strawbridge and now resides in Chicago.
Brought to Lincoln during his boyhood days, Dr. Dwiggins pursued his early education in the public and high schools of this city and also attended the Lincoln Academy, from which he was graduated with the class of 1905. Later he organ- ized the National Accident Insurance Company, of which he was made secre- tary, and in that capacity he served until July, 1908, when he sold his interest to L. B. Howey, now president of the City National Bank of Lincoln. During the following fall he took up the study of medicine, entering the Bennett Medical College of Chicago, from which he was graduated with the class of 1912. Im- mediately afterward he returned to Lincoln and entered upon the practice of his profession with offices at .1339 Street. ITe gives his attention largely to
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surgical work and has been very successful in that branch of the profession, for he possesses comprehensive knowledge of anatomy, the component parts of the human body and the onslaughts made upon it by disease. He possesses, too, that self-control which frees him from all nervousness in emergencies and a steady hand, a mind calm and collected, enable him to utilize his broad scientific knowledge in such a manner that most efficacious results are secured.
In 1906 Dr. Dwiggins was united in marriage to Miss Bessie Bentley, her father being Dr. R. L. Bentley, one of the prominent physicians of Lincoln. They had two children, Lois and Robert. The wife and mother passed away in the year 1913, her death being deeply regretted by many friends.
Dr. Dwiggins is a member of the Loyal Mystic Legion, the Ancient Order of United Workmen and of Lincoln Lodge, No. 119, F. & A. M. He gives his political support to the republican party, and while he does not seek nor desire office, he is a member of the Lincoln Commercial Club and cooperates heartily in all of its plans and projects for the general good. He is likewise a member of the Baptist church, loyal to its teachings and its purposes. In strictly pro- fessional lines his connection is with the Lancaster County Medical Society, the Nebraska State Medical Society, and the American Medical Association, and through association with those organizations he keeps in close touch with all of the forces that are bringing to light the rules which govern health.
WILLIAM FRANK WELLER.
William Frank Weller, who carries on general farming on section 4. Oak precinct, was born in Afton, lowa, April 21, 1866, a son of W. J. Weller, men- tioned elsewhere in this work. He was but three years of age when brought by his parents to Lancaster county and here at the usual age he entered the public schools, acquiring a good education. In his youthful days he worked with his father upon the farm and at the age of twenty-two he began farming on his own account, taking charge of the old home place of three hundred and twenty acres in Little Salt precinct. He continued to carry on the farm work until his father, who for some years had been engaged in general merchandising in Raymond, retired from active business, when William F. Weller and his brother took charge of the store, managing it until it was sold. In the meantime William F. Weller devoted a portion of his time to the farm and in 1907 he took over the management of a farm which he rented in Oak precinct. There he continued to till the soil until 1010 and in the meantime he had purchased eighty acres of land on section 4. Oak precinct. This he cultivated and in addi- tion rented three hundred and twenty acres on section 9, Oak precinct. He made his home on the latter tract and farmed altogether four hundred acres of land for three years. In 1913 he improved his eighty acre tract, erecting a modern two-story residence and substantial barns and sheds for the shelter of grain and stock. In the intervening period he has since lived upon this place and its excellent appearance is an indication of his practical and progressive spirit. In addition Go Cultivating Ins/own land, hefalsofarms two hundred and twenty-five acres adjoining and his work brings good results, for annually he
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harvests substantial crops, the sale of which bring to him a gratifying return. In addition to general farming he carries on dairying, keeping for this purpose a herd of thirty registered Jersey cows, the cream being shipped to Lincoln. He also raises a large number of Duroc-Jersey hogs. He has a silo upon his place and full equipment for conducting a successful dairy business.
On the 14th of April, 1886, at the home of the bride in Little Salt precinct. Mr. Weller was married to Miss Loretta Bird Combs, who was born in Illinois, August 22, 1867, and was reared partly in that state and partly in Lancaster county, where she obtained her education. Her parents, Milton and Lydia (McGrew) Combs, were natives of Illinois and became early settlers of Nebraska, establishing their home in Little Salt precinct, where the father engaged in farming for many years. Both he and his wife died in this county and were laid to rest in the Oak Creek cemetery in Raymond. Mr. and Mrs. Weller have become the parents of four children. Henry Oscar, who was born in Little Salt precinct on the 19th of February, 18go, is now assisting his father in his farming operations. Lydia Fern, who was born in Little Salt precinct, October 21, 1895, is the wife of Clyde Lewis. Gertrude Marie, born in Little Salt precinct, December 13, 1898, is at home. William Joseph, born in Ray- mond, August 16, 1903, completes the family.
In politics Mr. Weller is a republican, believing firmly in the principles of the party. He has served as tax assessor of Oak precinct for the past four years and is the present incumbent in the position, and for one year he held the office in Little Salt precinct. He belongs to the Modern Woodmen camp at Raymond, in which he has filled the office of clerk, and he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, guiding his life according to its teachings. His fellow townsmen speak of him in terms of high respect, entertaining for him warm regard because of his well spent life.
OSCAR LAW.
Oscar Law is a retired farmer residing at No. 319 South Twenty-sixth street, in Lincoln, and is numbered among the pioneer residents of the county, for at an early day he became actively interested in agricultural pursuits in this section of the state. He was born in Erie, Pennsylvania, January 3, 1841. His father. Alex Law, was born in a log house about twelve miles east of Erie and was a representative of one of the old Pennsylvania families, probably of English descent. Having arrived at years of maturity he married Elizabeth Lewis, who spent her entire life in the Keystone state, and it was in Pennsylvania that Alex Law passed away when his son was two and a half years of age.
When a youth of but fourteen years, Oscar Law was thrown upon his own resources and has since been dependent upon his own efforts for whatever success he has won and enjoyed. He early learned the value of industry and opportunity and to make the former count with good results in the utilization of the latter. On the 22d of August 1860, all business cand personal considera- tions, however, were put aside, for on that date he enlisted in the United States
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navy to serve for a year, being assigned to duty on the ship, James Adger, com- manded by Captain J. B. Marshaund, a Frenchman. On that vessel he crossed the Atlantic and cruised in European waters in search of Captain Sims, who was largely responsible for England's attitude to the United States during the Civil war. The vessel proceeded as far as the Mediterranean sea. The troops often found traces of the Englishman but never encountered the object of their search. After a year's service in the navy Mr. Law returned home, and following the opening of the first oil well at Titusville, Pennsylvania, he became interested in drilling oil wells. He had previously worked at blacksmithing and understood the tempering of steel, which now stood him in good stead in treating the drills used in drilling the oil wells.
On the 5th of December, 1866, Mr. Law was united in marriage to Miss Augusta Wing, who was born in Washtenaw county, Michigan, twenty-two miles from Detroit. She had an uncle in Nebraska, who had homesteaded where Lincoln now stands and who lived in a sod house near the present site of the capitol. At the time of their marriage it was understood between Mr. and Mrs. Law that they would go to the west. She wished to esablish a home near her uncle's place in Nebraska and afer spending three years in drilling oil wells in Pennsylvania, Mr. Law started with his bride for this state, another young couple accompanying them. They traveled by rail to Council Bluffs, by stage to a point opposite Nebraska City and then across the river on a ferry. Nebraska City at that time had a street along the river front, but its growth had extended but little beyond that point. After resting two days Mr. Law engaged transpor- tation to Lancaster county, his destination being Salt Basin, as this district was then called. One man wished to charge him fifty dollars for the trip, but he knew the price was exorbitant and finally found another who would take them for twenty-five dollars. On the 7th of April, 1867, they arrived at the home of Mrs. Law's uncle, H. M. Merrill, who was acting as proof reader for the house of representatives of Nebraska when the bill passed authorizing the com- mittee to locate the capital. Mr. Law was in the audience when the committee, composed of Governor Butler, T. P. Kennard and John Gillespie, met and decided on the location, Mr. Kennard making a speech on the ground where the State Journal building now stands. Through the advice of his wife's uncle Mr. Law purchased a quarter section in what is now Lancaster precinct and today included within the corporation limits of University Place. For that tract he paid six dollars per acre and his first home was a little one story building, fourteen by twenty feet, built of native cottonwood lumber, which was sawed at a portable sawmill at the edge of the slough just south of the present site of the Burlington depot. The cottonwood trees at that time grew along the creeks but there was not a piece of pine to be had unless one took it from the wagon box of some settler. Until 1885 Mr. Law and his family remained upon that land and he engaged continuously in farming. He had sold half of the property to a young man who had come west with him but who became homesick and returned to the east. Mr. Law and his wife, however, bravely faced the hardships of pioneer life and after eighteen years he was able to sell his land for one hundred dollars per acre. He then purchased a hundred and sixty-three acresfin/ NUghzkhiff precinct./There foresided until seven years ago, when he left the farm and removed to Normal to be near his sister, Mrs.
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Jessup. After three years there spent he came to Lincoln and has since occupied a home at No. 319 South Twenty-sixth street.
Mr. and Mrs. Law relate many interesting reminiscences of the early days. On coming to the west he brought with him a rifle, and his wife was an expert shot. Many a morning at sunrise she would go to the door and bring down a few prairie chickens that would be found feeding where some traveler had fed his horses. These prairie chickens were very numerous and quite tame and if they were scared away they would immediately return wild for the grain left by the horses feeding. Until August 28, 1870, when the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad reached Lincoln, the Law home was a stopping place for travelers. Mrs. Law was an excellent cook and her fame in this connection was heralded all along the line. Every man of the community who had a team engaged in freighting as there was more money to be made at that work than in farming, for there was no market for produce, owing to the scarcity of settlers in this part of the state. On one occasion the family had been without potatoes for some time when Mrs. Law purchased a half bushel of good sized "early white" potatoes, for which she paid one dollar. She was very fond of the tubers and had been living on corn bread and wild meat so she could not resist the temptation of purchasing them even at that price. From the potatoes she cut a square out of the center which she cooked and over the outside of the remainder she rubbed dirt to heal them and in the spring the remainder of the potato was planted. From that half bushel they harvested twenty-two bushels so that the investment did not prove so bad after all. She had brought a large amount of garden seed from her father's home in Michigan and all garden products grew luxuriously. Between the furrows of the corn she planted melon seeds and raised more melons than the family could use. They gave away many and a neighbor's cows lived for three weeks in this melon patch without having to drink water. Mrs. Law did nursing in the early days and her services were in great demand for she possessed much natural ability for the work. One night she was called from her uncle's cabin and when he missed her he started in search, for it had been reported that a mountain lion was at large, although probably the animal was a timber wolf for a settler had lost some of his sheep. As stated. Mr. Merrill started out to look for his niece. The stars were shining but it was not light enough to distinguish objects. All at once he thought he saw the wolf, but whenever he would attempt to get out of its track it seemed to come toward him. He had no means of defending himself save by kicking the animal and so he kicked. It was a Nebraska tumble weed and the force of the swing which he made caused him to tumble to the ground. Mr. Law says that probably the first piece of furniture manufactured on the site of Lincoln was made by a German named High, who had a little shop just north of where the Federal building now stands and who found some native black walnut in the Stevens Creek precinct, from which he made a kitchen cabinet and dish cupboard combined, presenting it to Mrs. Law February 14. 1871. For forty-five years it has stood all kinds of heat and cold and wear and not a joint has weakened, being in as good condition now as the day on which it was finished. The glass has never been cracked or dropped out. and the drawers are still ornamented with the white china- mayobsfjust as Mr. High placed them there. The first school district in the county was the Frost school
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near where the capitol now stands and the second in the neighborhood of the Law farm where University Place is now seen. Mr. Law was elected treasurer of that district and held the office until he sold his farm and removed to North Bluff precinct. Immediately on locating there he was made treasurer of that district and held the office until he retired to Normal.
To Mr. and Mrs. Law were born six children: Mary, who is the wife of John Shields of Paola, Kansas, and has five children: George, of Enterprise, Oregon, who is married and has one child; Jessie, the wife of Eugene Baughman of Portland, Oregon, by whom she has three children; Walter, who is living on his father's farm and who is married and has four children; Ray, who is married and lives in Havelock, where he is employed by W. R. Johnson; and Eva, who is the wife of R. H. Martin. They reside with her parents.
In politics Mr. Law is a republican. He enjoys fair health, and his wife is in excellent health. They both possess a retentive memory, and their remi- niscences of pioneer times are most interesting, presenting a pleasing picture of the early days and the conditions which existed in Lancaster county at that period in its development.
HARVEY A. MORRISON.
Since 1900, with the exception of one year. Harvey A. Morrison has been a member of the faculty of Union College at College View, and since 1914 he has been president of the institution. A native of Iowa, he was born in Milo, Warren county, on the 2d of December, 1879, and is a son of James H1. and Jennie ( Mitchell) Morrison, who were born in Pennsylvania and Illinois respec- tively, and a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work. The father removed to lowa when about fifteen years of age and on reaching mature years became a minister of the Seventh Day Adventist church. He was honored by election as president of the Iowa conference and filled that position for seven years but at the end of that time went to California, where he remained for a year. In 1893 he took up his residence in College View, where he has since lived. He was one of the promoters of Union College. in which he has held numerous positions, and of which he served as a trustee until 1908. In 1900 he retired from the active work of the ministry, but he still takes a keen interest in everything relating to the progress and advancement of his church. He has now reached the age of seventy-five years and his wife is sixty-nine years old.
Harvey A. Morrison was reared under the parental roof and received his early education in the district schools of Warren county, Iowa. Subsequently he entered Union College at College View, Nebraska, from which he was gradu- ated with the degree of B. S. in 1900. From 1901 to 1905 he spent the sum- mers in post-graduate work in the University of Nebraska, and was again a student in that institution in 1910 and 1911. In 1909 Union College conferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts. Immediately following his graduation in 1000 he was appointed instructor in mathematics in that institution and after holding that position for ivo (years was made professor of mathematics, in which capacity he served until 1906. He was then made professor of mathematics
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and science and so continued until 1909, when he accepted the position of pro- fessor of mathematics in the South Lancaster Academy at South Lancaster, Massachusetts. At the end of a year, however, he returned to Union College and has since held the chair of mathematics. He has proved very successful in teaching this-the most exact of all sciences-and has also served the uni- versity in other capacities. From 1912 to 1913 he was treasurer and in 1914 was made president, which office he still holds. He keeps in touch with the modern trend of educational thought, understands how to coordinate the work of the various departments of the college and has the ability to secure the hearty cooperation of the faculty and students in his efforts to advance the best inter- ests of the institution. He has also been connected with business affairs, having been one of the organizers of the Bank of College View, of which he served for a time as cashier and later as vice president. He has since disposed of his interest in the bank, however, and now concentrates his energies upon his educational work.
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