USA > Nebraska > Adams County > Past and present of Adams County, Nebraska, Vol. II > Part 26
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ticing strict economy, and at length was able to begin farming on his own account on rented land. He was also married about that time.
After operating land belonging to others for four years Mr. Druecker came to Adams county and purchased one hundred and sixty acres one mile south of his present farm. For ten years he remained upon that place and his well directed industry and his thrift enabled him to add to his capital from time to time. At the end of a decade he purchased an adjoining quarter section, subsequently bought another adjoining one hundred and sixty acre tract and two years later purchased a farm of one hundred and twenty-six acres on section 34, Ayr township, on which he still resides and for which he paid ten thousand dollars. Three years later he added to his holdings by the purchase of four quarter sections in Zero township, three of which are in a body, and for this property he paid sixteen thousand dollars. He also owns stock in the Ayr Bank and in the Ayr Grain & Supply Company, which owns an elevator in Ayr. In addition to operating his home farm he, together with two of his sons, cultivates the three quarter sections in Zero township and the remaining quarter section in that township is operated by another son. All of his farms are well improved and he keeps everything in excellent condition, realizing that carelessness in that regard is one phase of inefficiency in farming. He has so wisely managed his farm work that he has secured a large return from his land and has also conserved the fertility of the soil and he has been quick to adopt improved methods of machinery, recog- nizing that advancement should be made in agriculture as well as in other forms of industry. During the '80s when times were exceedingly hard in Nebraska and many failed and left the state he remained here in spite of everything and by rigid economy kept his credit good and managed to gain a start. One of the factors in his success has been his unquestioned integrity and the certainty that he would meet all obli- gations that he might incur. His determination, his industry and his foresight have gained their reward and he is today one of the wealthy men of his township.
Mr. Druecker was married on the 3d of March, 1884, to Miss Louisa Albert, who was also born in Westphalia and is a daughter of William Albert. To this union eleven children have been born, five sons and six daughters, as follows. Ernest, who is operating one of his father's farms in Zero township, married Miss Amanda Brown, by whom he has a son, Clinton. William resides with his brother Ernest and is also operating land belonging to his father. Minnie gave her hand in marriage to Frank Robertson, by whom she has two daughters, Lucille and Mabel. Edward, who is residing on his
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father's west farm, married Miss Birdie Vovard and they have a son, Darwin. Ella is the wife of William Ribold, who is operating the Mary Cole farm, six miles northeast of Ayr, and they have three children, Letta, Marguerite and Ervin. Lena gave her hand in marriage to Frank Basard, a farmer of Ayr township, and they had one child, who, however, died in infancy. Henry and Fred are both at home, as are Louisa, Tilla and Fern, all three of whom are attend- ing school.
Mr. Druecker supports the democratic party in politics, being convinced of the soundness of its governmental policies. He is con- nected with the Ancient Order of United Workmen and both he and his wife hold membership in the Presbyterian church of Blue Hill. On the 8th of May, 1906, they sailed for Germany and remained for a month in the town where Mr. Druecker was born and also visited his wife's old home. Before returning they went to various places of interest in Europe and the trip was very enjoyable in all respects
MATT HEUERTZ.
Matt Heuertz, one of the financially independent and represent- ative farmers of Juniata township, was born in Jackson county, Iowa, on the 23d of April, 1877. His parents, Peter and Johanna (Siren) Heuertz, were both natives of the grand duchy of Luxemburg but emigrated to the United States in young manhood and womanhood. Both settled in Iowa, where they were married and continued to live until the spring of 1886, when they removed to Adams county, Ne- braska. The father owned a good farm on section 9, Roseland town- ship, which he brought to a high state of development, and was pro- gressive as a farmer and as a citizen, contributing to the development of his community along various lines of activity. He passed away in 1899, but his wife survives and is still living in Roseland township. To their union were born seventeen children, of whom Nicholas, Joseph, James, John Peter, Susie and John are all deceased, and one died un- named. Those living are: John, who owns and operates a good farm in Roseland township; August, also a farmer of that township; Lena Katie, the widow of Martin Scheifelbein and a resident of Juniata township; Lizzie, who is now Sister Sabastian in a convent at Milwau- kee; Mary, who is now Sister Fastina in a convent in Chicago; Anna, who is Sister Felix and is also in Chicago; Matt; Maggie, who is Sister Carista and is in Milwaukee; Nicholas, a farmer of Roseland town-
THE SUMMIT FARM BARN AND SILO
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ship; and Susie, the wife of Alexander Parr, of Roseland township. Of the four daughters who are nuns three are teachers and all are highly educated.
Matt Heuertz attended school in Iowa for two years and completed his education in the common schools of this county, to which he was brought when nine years of age. He began to assist with the farm work as soon as he was large enough and by the time that he reached maturity he was thoroughly familiar with all phases of agriculture. He remained at home until his marriage, which occurred when he was twenty-three years of age, and then began farming on his own account, operating land on section 9, Roseland township, for six years. At the expiration of that period he rented his present farm, which comprises the whole of section 16, Juniata township. He owns a half section in Holt county; Nebraska, a quarter section in Keith county and forty acres in Juniata township, this county. The large measure of success which he has gained is indicative of his ability and energy, and there is. no more efficient farmer in the county than he. He not only under- stands thoroughly the cultivation of the soil and the care of stock, but he is also a business man of acumen and sound judgment.
Mr. Heuertz married Miss Susie Kolen and they are the parents of seven sons, Josef, Anton, Benedict, George, Edward, Adolph and Peter. Mr. Heuertz indorses the principles of the democratic party but does not consider himself bound by party ties, often voting inde- pendently. Fraternally he belongs to Hastings Council, No. 1123, K. C., at Hastings and, as this affiliation indicates, is a communicant of the Roman Catholic church. He has the greatest faith in the future development of his county and of the state as a whole and has given practical evidence of his belief by investing heavily in land, and the wisdom of his course has been justified as his property has increased in value and has also returned him a good income.
MRS. GEORGE H. NORTON.
Mrs. George H. Norton was long identified with the west. Sne became a resident of Nebraska in 1872 and became an active factor in the agricultural development of Adams county. She was born in Springfield, Pennsylvania, August 13, 1831, a daughter of Phineas Cromwell and Mary Marilla (Loomis) Williams, and a sister of Pro- fessor Alvin Dighton Williams. She was educated at North Scituate, Massachusetts, and in early womanhood took up the trade of coat Vol. II-17
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making in a tailor shop in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, becoming more than ordinarily proficient in that work. She continued throughout her life in active connection with business interests. For a time she was engaged in the millinery business, and later became interested in farming.
On Thanksgiving Day, the 30th of November, 1854, in Paw- tucket, Massachusetts, now Rhode Island, she became the wife of George Henry Norton, a son of Joseph and Elvira (Davis) Norton, the latter a sister of ex-Governor John Davis of Rhode Island, and a cousin of Edwin Davis French, the New York artist. Mr. Norton was born May 7, 1833. Following their marriage, the young couple resided in Pawtucket and afterward at North Attleboro, Massachu- setts. On the 8th of September, 1862, Mr. Norton enlisted for nine months service as a member of Company C, Forty-seventh Massachu- setts Regiment, being in the command of Captain E. S. Horton. He was sent to New Orleans and on the 7th of March, 1864, he reenlisted as a member of Company C, of the Fifty-eighth Massachusetts Regi- ment, which was attached to the army of the Potomac under Gen- eral Burnside and in the retreat from Fredericksburg, Mr. Norton was taken prisoner. He was sent to Belle Isle and soon afterward to Andersonville, where he died September 9, 1864.
Mrs. Norton thus left a widow and in straightened financial cir- cumstances, went with her children to Minnesota to join her brother at Fairmont, Minnesota, where she resided until 1872. In that year she came to Nebraska and settled on a homestead claim of one hun- dred and sixty acres, directly north of her brother's home place in Adams county. This she cultivated and improved with the assistance of her eldest son and the younger children. She surrounded the quar- ter section with a honey locust hedge and planted shade and fruit trees, having at one time a fine orchard of apple, pear, plum and other fruit trees. She also planted a fine grove of cottonwoods which flourished for a number of years. She raised grain and wheat and made a liv- ing for herself and children with the help of the pension granted by the government. After living for a number of years in a sod house, she finally built a substantial six room frame house, which is still standing on the place occupied by her daughters. She also filled the office of deputy postmaster at Kenesaw in 1872-3.
Mr. and Mrs. Norton had two sons and two daughters: Delmur Dighton, a lumber merchant of Kenesaw, who married Miss Marga- ret Jones; Marilla Elvira; Melina Adelina; and George Henry, a farmer of Kenesaw, who married Miss Mabel Powers.
Mrs. Norton was a believer in the principles of the republican
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party and she held membership in the Freewill Baptist church, in the work of which she was actively interested, becoming a teacher in the Sunday school. She died at her home in Kenesaw, July 9, 1894, in her sixty-third year, leaving a memory that is cherished by all who knew her because of her many excellent qualities and kindly deeds. She was a most devoted mother, making many sacrifices for her fam- ily and to her friends she was ever loyal.
EDWARD J. GIBSON.
Edward J. Gibson, a prosperous and up-to-date farmer of West Blue township, was born in Cass county, Michigan, on the 7th of July, 1867. His father, James M. Gibson, was a native of Sandusky county, Ohio, and was born on the 12th of June, 1835. He attended school in his native state when opportunity afforded and continued to live there until about 1865, when he removed to Cass county, Mich- igan. In 1886 he came to Adams county, Nebraska, and rented a farm two miles north of Hastings, to the operation of which he de- voted his time for a number of years. He has now passed the eightieth milestone and is still in good health and takes an active interest in the affairs of the day. For some time he has resided with our subject. He was married in 1857 to Miss Katherine Bowers, of Summit county, Ohio, and she passed away on the 18th of March, 1897. To them were born three children, of whom our subject is the only son. Ella, born on the 6th of March, 1862, was a native of Ohio and be- came the wife of Edward Mead, who is a drayman of Hastings and who served as chief of the fire department for several years. She died on the 1st of June, 1903, leaving her husband and two children to mourn her loss. Mary, whose birth occurred in Cass county, Michigan, on the 27th of April, 1872, married Albert E. Troyer, of Boise, Idaho, and has one child.
Edward J. Gibson, the youngest in the family, attended the com- mon schools of Michigan until he was eighteen years of age, and the following year accompanied the family to this county. For five years he worked for his father on the home farm, but in 1891 he rented land four miles northwest of Hastings on his own account and remained there until 1902. During the succeeding seven years he engaged in the dray business in Hastings, but in March, 1909, resumed farming, renting a place four miles northwest of Hastings. In 1914 he rented the Godfrey Marti farm five and a half miles northeast of Hastings,
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and there he still lives. He is energetic and progressive and his labors are yielding him a good financial return.
On Christmas Day, 1901, Mr. Gibson was united in marriage to Miss Emma Crissman, a daughter of Joseph W. Crissman, an old settler of Adams county, now residing in Hastings. Two children have been born to this union, namely: Marian, whose birth occurred on the 19th of January, 1903, and who is attending school in district No. 33; and Edward D., who was born July 15, 1905, and is also attending school.
Mr. Gibson gives his political allegiance to the democratic party and fraternally is a member of the Fraternal Union, an organization with headquarters at Denver. His religious faith is that of the Baptist church. He has so ordered his life that he has not only gained a gratifying measure of financial success but has also won and held the friendship and respect of those who have been brought into close contact with him.
ED TANNER.
Ed Tanner, a general contractor conducting business at Hast- ings, was born in New York on the 15th of September, 1863, a son of Job and Mary Tanner. It was in the year 1871 that the family made their way across the country to Nebraska, settling seven miles northwest of Juniata, where the father secured a homestead claim and engaged in farming for fifteen years. There were eight children in the family, three sons and five daughters, of whom Ed was the fifth in order of birth. Both the parents are now deceased.
Ed Tanner was a little lad of but eight summers when the family left the Empire state and came to the middle west, so that he was largely reared here amid pioneer conditions. He pursued his educa- tion in the schools of Adams county, conning his lessons in a little log school building such as was common in pioneer times. When his text- books were put aside he concentrated his efforts upon farming and in fact his early training made him familiar with all the work of the fields from the time of early spring planting until after crops were harvested in the late autumn. When twenty-five years of age he concentrated his energies upon house building, into which business he had gradually worked, and since that time he has become well known as a contractor. He has been accorded many large jobs, including the making of the grade cut-off for the Hastings & Northwestern Rail-
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road, a distance of five miles. He has taken contracts for paving and sewer building at Nebraska City, Aurora and Nelson and he put in the Y for the Burlington & Missouri Railroad. He has also taken large contracts for work at Grand Island and for paving and sewer building in various parts of the state and is now working on a big drainage ditch between Kearney and Minden. He employs about forty men and teams in the execution of his contracts, having sixty- five head of horses and all the equipment necessary for undertaking big jobs of the character herein indicated. He understands the scientific phases as well as the practical features of the work and is thus able to direct the efforts of those whom he employs.
In September, 1885, Mr. Tanner was united in marriage to Miss Helen Monroe, a daughter of Stephen Monroe, of Illinois. They had two children, Vernon and Roy, who are associated with the father in business, and there is also one grandchild. The family home is maintained at Crane and High streets, but the wife and mother passed away on the 2d of April, 1915, her loss being deeply regretted not only by her immediate relatives but also by many friends.
Mr. Tanner votes with the republican party but has never been an office seeker, preferring to concentrate his time and energies upon his business affairs. In religious faith he is a Methodist, holding membership in the church in Hastings. In his business affairs he has closely applied himself to the duties at hand and at all times his course has been characterized by a progressive spirit. Industry has been his salient characteristic and diligence the directing force of his life. Advancement has not been accorded him but has been won at the price of earnest, self-denying effort, his undivided attention being given to business affairs.
ALVIN DIGHTON WILLIAMS.
Alvin Dighton Williams was born October 3, 1825, at Smithfield Center, Bradford county, Pennsylvania, the son of Phineas Cromwell Williams, who in turn was an only son. The latter left Connecticut about 1820. He was orphaned at the age of ten years and had but little educational opportunity. He came of Welsh and English ances- try and tradition says that his ancestors were of the same branch as Oliver Cromwell's. The Williams family in Connecticut were gener- ally well educated and tradition says that Thomas Williams was offered the presidency of Yale College but declined because of his con-
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nection with Oliver Cromwell and his fear of prominence. Phineas Cromwell Williams became a carriage maker and farmer and devoted his life to those pursuits. In politics he was a whig and an ardent ad- mirer of Henry Clay. He wedded Marilla Loomis of Troy, Pennsyl- vania, having spent his boyhood and youth upon a farm near that place. The Loomis family were English people from Connecticut and her mother's mother, a Godard, was Scotch-Irish. Both Mr. and Mrs. Phineas Cromwell Williams were members of the Freewill Baptist church. Their son, Alvin Dighton Williams, attended Whitestown Seminary and Hamilton College of New York and upon graduation in 1849 received his degree. Many years later the degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon him by Quincy College, now Chad- dock College of Quincy, Illinois, this honor being received in 1871. He worked his own way through the seminary and college, teaching and preaching and doing any work he could secure. At the time of his graduation he was ill with typhoid fever. He became a member of the Freewill Baptist church, having been baptised and received into the church of that denomination at Troy, Pennsylvania, June 2, 1839. Two years later he was licensed by the church to preach and given a quarterly meeting license by the Bradford and Tioga meeting in 1842. He was ordained at Carolina Mills, Rhode Island, in 1848 and became pastor of the church there for a time, later resuming the work after his graduation. During his college days he read a great deal of Eng- lish literature and developed a taste for the best which he continued to cultivate and which he transmitted to his children. He bought books as he could afford them and acquired many by writing for pub- lishers. When he came to Nebraska he brought with him a library of between fifteen and twenty hundred volumes.
It was in 1851 that Rev. Williams accepted a call from the church in Pawtucket, Massachusetts, now Rhode Island, remaining there for four and a half years, during which time he increased the church mem- bership to more than twice its original number. In 1855 he assumed the pastorate of the church at Lawrence, Massachusetts, and under- took the work of raising money for a new house of worship which was finished in 1857. An all winter revival trebled the membership. In 1857 he suffered a nervous breakdown and a throat trouble developed into bronchitis which never afterward entirely left him. Physicians said he must leave the New England climate and recommended Min- nesota. In the fall the family removed to Minneapolis where he took the pastorate of a Freewill Baptist church, but the throat trouble eventually obliged him to give up preaching and he devoted his time to teaching, writing and publishing papers. He established the Free-
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will Baptist Quarterly, managing it for three years and finally becom- ing editor. He was principal of the Minnesota Seminary at Wasioja, Minnesota, until the war called forth the young men in attendance. He then went to Cheshire, Ohio, where for a year he was principal of an academy. He started the West Virginia College at Flemington, West Virginia, and served for several years as president. In 1871 he came to Nebraska and served for one year as president of the State Normal School at Peru. In August, 1872, he arrived in Adams county, Nebraska, and settled on a quarter section, cornering on the townsite of Kenesaw on the northeast, being the first permanent set- tler within six miles. He built the first permanent house and put down the first well. He bought railroad land and at one time had nearly eight hundred acres. He won a prize of forty acres near Firth for the best article on sheep raising in Nebraska, the prize being offered by the Nebraska State Journal. He also started the Kene- saw Times, later published by his son, and for one year he published the Register at Lowell. Subsequently he established and published the Hastings Nebraskan, of which he had charge for several years. He served for a number of years as a trustee of the Nebraska Hos- pital for the Insane at Lincoln and as a member of the state board of agriculture. At the same time he was conducting his private business interests, both wisely and well. He developed a number of farms near Kenesaw and proved up on a timber claim northwest of the town. During the '70s he acquired eight hundred acres of land in Nebraska, mostly in Adams county, and at his death he left an estate valued at about fifteen thousand dollars, his land bringing ten thousand dol- lars. His library of from twelve to fifteen hundred volumes was given to the Oakland City College of Indiana, of which he was presi- ยท dent at the time of his demise.
While in Kenesaw Mr. Williams assisted in building a Freewill Baptist church and organized the church membership. He also aided in organizing the Hastings, Aurora and Nemaha River quarterly meeting, as chairman of the executive committee of the Nebraska yearly meeting. He organized churches at Marshall, Pleasant Plain, Long Branch, and Lincoln, Nebraska. About 1890 he went south and worked among the General Baptists. He became president of the Oakland City College of Indiana and was thus identified with educational interests at the time of his death. He had been state superintendent of schools in West Virginia in 1869 and 1870, and was principal of the State Normal School at Peru, Nebraska, in 1871-2. He held other positions of public trust, being chaplain of the Minnesota house of representatives between 1857 and 1860.
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Always a stalwart champion of the cause of temperance, he was worthy chief of the Good Templars in Minneapolis and in 1860 was a delegate to the national convention which met in Nashville, Ten- nessee. He was made a member of the Association of General Bap- tists in 1891, so continuing until 1894 and was its moderator in 1891-2. In politics he was a republican from the organization of the party until his death. He supported the party as editor of weekly newspapers-the Kenesaw Times, Lowell Register and Hastings Nebraskan-and by correspondence to different papers including the Nebraska State Journal. While in Minneapolis about 1858 he joined the Masons and the Good Templars and was a delegate from the lat- ter to the convention in Chicago at which was organized the prohibi- tion party, though he opposed the organization, believing that the temperance movement had better remain non-political. During the senior year of his college days he was elected retiring president of the Phoenix society and also of the Delta Upsilon fraternity and was editor of college papers.
On the 25th of April, 1850, at West Falls, Maryland, Mr. Wil- liams wedded Sarah Anne Harn, daughter of John and Charlotte (Hay) Harn, the former of English and the latter of English and German descent. They settled in Frederick county, Maryland, on a farm near Mount Airy. Mrs. Williams was the eldest in a family of nine. She educated herself and assisted her two sisters in securing a course at Cedar Hills Seminary for Young Ladies at Mount Joy, Pennsylvania, of which Rev. N. Dodge was principal and in which Mrs. Williams was an assistant teacher at the time of her marriage. She and her sister, Ellen D. Harn, were the first teachers of Fred- erick county, Maryland. Her oldest brother, Rev. George U. Harn, was a minister of the Church of God. He became identified with the abolition movement, joined the republican party on its organization and was killed while serving in the Civil war. Her brother Jesse died in the hospital during his service and another brother, Thomas, died from the effects of wounds. The children of Rev. and Mrs. Wil- liams were Cromwell Harn, deceased; Emma Loomis, the wife of I. D. Evans; Mary; Minnie, who has passed away; Katie, the wife of Joseph R. Thrall; and George Thomas, who married Miss Grace Barton of Kenesaw and is now residing in Denver, Colorado.
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