USA > Nebraska > Platte County > Past and present of Platte County, Nebraska : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 4
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JOHN MOFFETT.
John Moffett is serving for the sixth year as mayor of Platte Center after hav- ing filled other positions of public trust and responsibility. He has ever clearly recognized the duties and obligations as well as the privileges of citizenship and in his present position has used his official prerogatives to further many plans and measures for the general good. At the same time he is widely known as a suc- cessful business man, being active in the field of real estate and insurance. He was born in Williamstown, New Jersey, August 11, 1858, a son of Charles R. and Anna Marie (Downs) Moffett. Of their three children John and a sister, Miss Grace Moffett, are yet living. The family ancestry can be traced back directly, through eleven generations, to the Jennens family of England. Six generations have been residents in New Jersey, where records show that the family was living in 1728. John Moffett has copies of family and other records back through seven generations to 1667, among which are wills wherein were willed away negro boys, great coats, best hats, etc., and provincial and proclamation money prior and subse- quent to the Declaration of Independence in 1776.
John Moffett acquired a common-school education and in the year 1877 became a resident of Platte county, Nebraska, establishing his home at Columbus. After a
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short time, however, he went to Fremont, Nebraska, where he remained for a year as manager of the railroad eating house, and from 1881 until 1884 he was employed at Albion, Nebraska. In the latter year he came to Platte Center, where he turned his attention to the lumber trade, in which he was engaged until 1888. when he made his initial step in the real-estate and insurance field. He largely handles property in Boone, Nance and Platte counties and has negotiated many important realty transfers. He also represents five of the old line insurance com- panies and that branch of his business is likewise profitable. At the present time he is the second oldest real-estate dealer in Platte county. In addition to his other interests he is a large stockholder and the president of the Farmers State Bank of Platte Center and thus figures prominently in financial circles. He is also a stock- holder in the Farmers Elevator Company and owns a large amount of land in Platte county.
In 1881 Mr. Moffett was united in marriage at Columbus to Miss Nellie Glea- son, a daughter of John Gleason, who was one of the old pioneer residents of this part of the state. In his political views Mr. Moffett is a stalwart republican and for one term served as supervisor when the county was first organized into districts. In 1907 he was a candidate for county judge but was defeated by a few votes. For six successive years he has been mayor of Platte Center and is the present incumbent in that office, making an excellent record by the prompt and able manner in which he discharges his duties, carefully safeguarding the welfare of the public. For eight or nine years he has been secretary of the school board and the cause of education finds in him a stalwart champion. His religious faith is that of the Catholic church and he belongs to the Knights of Columbus lodge at Columbus. In manner he is quiet and unassuming, but sterling personal worth has brought him to the front. Men have come to know that he can be depended upon, that what he promises he will do and that his word is as good as any bond solemnized by sig- nature or seal. He is well liked and his standing in the community is high.
JOHN HENRY WURDEMAN.
John Henry Wurdeman, a retired farmer living on section 9, Sherman town- ship, is one of the veterans of the Civil war who proudly wears the little bronze button that proclaims him a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. Through- out his entire life he has manifested the same spirit of loyalty to his country which he displayed when he followed the nation's starry banner upon the battlefields of the south. At the same time he has been a most enterprising and progressive business man, accomplishing results which show his forcefulness, resourcefulness, industry, and capability. He was born in Ahlhorn, Oldenburg, Germany, Febru- ary 12, 1838, and has therefore passed the seventy-seventh milestone on life's jour- ney. His father, Diedrich Wurdeman, was a farmer of Germany and came to the United States in 1871, in which year he homesteaded in Sherman township, Platte county, but did not get the deed to the land, for he died in 1872, at the home of his son, John H. He was married three times and John Henry Wurdeman was one of the two children born of the first marriage. His religious faith was that of the Lutheran church.
JOHN H. WURDEMAN AND FAMILY
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Mr. Wurdeman, whose name introduces this review, attended school in Ger- many in the village in which he lived and at fourteen years of age began work as a farm hand. In 1860 he came to the United States and for six months worked as a farm hand at a wage of ten dollars per month, at South Grove, De Kalb county, Illinois. He then went to Ogle county, Illinois, where he received fourteen dollars per month for his serviees, but at the time of the Civil war he put aside all busi- ness and personal considerations and, responding to the call of his adopted country, enlisted on the 28th of August, 1861, as a member of Company D, Thirty-ninth Illinois Infantry, joining the command at Lindenwood, Illinois. He entered the service as a private and was promoted to the rank of corporal. He veteranized on the 5th of September, 1864, and on the 13th of October of the same year was wounded, after which he carried the bullet in his left cheek until January 21, 1865. His first injury was sustained at Darbytown Crossroads, Virginia, and on the 2d of April, 1865, he was wounded by grape shot in the right leg, at Fort Gregg, Virginia. Company D was organized at Rochelle, Illinois, and was among the first to be assigned for active duty. The regiment was quartered in the old Repub- lican Wigwam on Market street in Chicago, and the company was the first to meet the advance force of the enemy under General Stonewall Jackson, at Bath, Vir- ginia, on the 3d of June, 1862, entering upon the engagement without preliminary skirmish taeties. They were again and again upon the firing line, displaying a spirit of conrage and nobility, and at the expiration of their three years' term, three- fourths of the company reenlisted as veterans at Hilton Head, South Carolina. On being first mustered in, the company left Chicago, went to St. Louis and thenee proceeded to Hagerstown, Maryland, where they were given Springfield rifles and were engaged in doing guard duty on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. They par- ticipated in the battle of Winchester on the 23d of March, 1862, against Jackson, and from that time on were again and again on active duty on the firing line. Mr. Wurdeman made a most creditable military record as a brave and loyal soldier anil has every reason to be proud of the reputation won by his command.
In 1866 he went to Dodge county, Wisconsin, where he engaged in clerking in a store. While residing there he was married and in March, 1869, he removed to l'latte county, which was then a western frontier distriet. There was no bridge over the Missouri river at Omaha and the fare from Omaha to Columbus was nine dollars and sixty eents. Mr. Wurdeman seeured a homestead elaim of one hundred and sixty aeres in Sherman township, on which was a primitive house, half sod and half dugont. He was among the first settlers to penetrate into this region and there was little evidence of development and improvement. During his first win- ter he built a log cabin twelve by eighteen feet, hewing the logs on his own claim, and during the first three years he used an ox team for plowing. As time passed on his labors wrought a marked transformation in the elaim, which he converted from raw prairie into richly cultivated and productive fields. Starting in with one hundred and sixty acres, he added to his holdings from time to time as opportunity offered and his financial resources inereased. He had eighty acres on seetion 8, four hundred and eighty acres on section 9, two hundred and eighty aeres on sec- tion 10, forty acres on section 15 and two hundred and forty acres on section 16, Sherman township, together with three hundred and twenty acres in Staunton county, Nebraska, but has given all of this land to his children. The various traets were fine farming land, the soil being naturally rich and productive, and in addition
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PAST AND PRESENT OF PLATTE COUNTY
to cultivating his fields, Mr. Wurdeman engaged extensively in stock-raising and did much to improve the grade of stock raised in the county. He was also one of the organizers of the Maple Valley State Bank at Leigh, Nebraska, and when it was sold to the First National he became vice president of the latter. He has always been a most active and progressive man, ready to meet any emergency and carrying forward to successful completion whatever he has undertaken. His well directed efforts have found visible evidence in his various farm properties and his indefatigable industry made him one of the most substantial residents of the county.
On the 4th of February, 1866, at . Mayville, Wisconsin, Mr. Wurdeman was united in marriage to Miss Catharina Margaretha Wilke, a native of Oldenburg, Ger- many, born February 2, 1839, and a daughter of John Wilke, who was a landowner and agriculturist of that country. Mr. and Mrs. Wurdeman are the parents of six children, as follows: Rudolph H., a sketch of whom appears on another page of this work; Louise, the wife of John Ahrens, who is also represented on another page .of this volume; Charles, an architect of Columbus ; Frank, a biography of whom appears on another page; Edward, the vice president of the First National Bank of Columbus; and Alma, the wife of Fred Feye, a sketch of whom is given on another page of this work.
After a happy married life of almost fifty years Mrs. Wurdeman passed away October 17, 1915, loved and respected by all who knew her. She was an earnest Christian and was always ready and willing to aid those in sickness or distress.
Mr. Wurdeman was a member of the Grand Army post at Creston until it was discontinued and during his residence in Columbus held membership with the post there. He retired to Columbus in 1891, and tried living in town in a modern resi- dence, but preferring rural life, he returned to the farm and now makes his home on section 9, Sherman township. He has assisted in furthering every improvement of the township and he has served as a member of the county board of supervisors. He belongs to the German Lutheran church and his entire life has been guided by high and honorable principles, making him a man worthy of the esteem and regard of all with whom he has been brought in contact. His life has indeed been well spent and furnishes an example that the youth of the present generation may well follow, for his record proves that success and an honored name may be won simul- taneously.
ANDERS CHRISTIAN ANDERSON.
Anders Christian Anderson, a florist of Columbus and a wholesale dealer in seeds, has through a thorough acquaintance with his business, through enterprising methods and reliable dealing built up a trade which is now extensive and gratifying, returning to him a good annual income. Mr. Anderson is of foreign birth although he has been a resident of the new world from early boyhood. A native of Den- mark, he was born at Vordingborg. February 14, 1860, his parents being Soren and Marie (Hanson) Anderson. The father, who was a farmer by occupation, left Denmark in 1867, accompanied by his family and established his home in the state of New York, where he remained for a year. He then removed to Wisconsin,
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where he engaged in carpentering and in farming, living in that state_until 1876, when he came to Creston, Platte county, Nebraska, and secured a claim, devoting considerable time and attention to the development of his land. He afterward removed to Kansas, where he is still living while his wife died in 1913.
Anders C. Anderson, the eldest in a family of six children, assisted his father in the farm work from his boyhood days, but in 1890, when about thirty years of age, resolved to engage in business on his own account and did this by establishing a mail order seed business at Creston. In 1900 he removed to Columbus, where he established greenhouses, and he has since been one of the prominent florists and wholesale dealers in seeds in this part of the country. He has at present fifteen thousand square feet under glass and his property covers an entire city block. He sends out catalogues every spring, giving a full list of the seeds and plants which he handles, more than six thousand of these catalogues being mailed out in 1915 through territory including every state in the Union. He now makes extensive shipments and has won a well earned reputation for reliability and for the excel- lence of the product which he handles. He also grows all kinds of shrubs and flowering plants and as a florist is doing a good business, finding a ready sale for the product of his greenhouses.
On the 12th of September, 1891, at Creston, Nebraska, Mr. Anderson was united in marriage to Miss Ida Friedrich, a daughter of Carl August Friedrich. now deceased. Her father, who was a native of Saxony, Germany, was one of the old- time residents of Creston. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson have become the parents of five children, Frieda, Alfred, Oscar, Herbert and Ronald.
In his political views Mr. Anderson is a democrat and for four years filled the office of town clerk of Creston. He belongs to the Congregational church and is interested in all matters pertaining to the material and moral progress of the community. His home is a large modern brick residence, tastefully and attractively furnished, and its warm-hearted hospitality is one of its most pleasing features. His property holdings are the visible evidence of his life of well directed thrift and enterprise, resulting in the attainment of well merited success.
JOHN WILLIAM BENDER.
Prominent among the enterprising, energetic and progressive citizens of Platte county is John William Bender, a well known capitalist who is proprietor of the Poland China Breeding Farm of Humphrey township. He has been actively con- nected with public affairs, at one time serving as a member of the state legislature, and he has done much to mold public thought and action in his community. Never neglectful of opportunity, he has utilized every advantage to further individual success and the public welfare and his course, at all times honorable and upright, has won for him high regard.
Mr. Bender was born in Henry, Marshall county, Illinois, May 11, 1858, a son of Peter and Catharine (Mallmann) Bender, of whom mention is made on another page of this volume. His youthful days were spent in his parents' home and to his father he gave the benefit of his services until he reached the age of twenty-six years save for the period when he was acquiring his education as a
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pupil in the public schools of Henry, Illinois. After attaining his majority he married and for one year rented land from his father in Marshall county, Illinois.
In 1885, however, Mr. Bender arrived in Platte county, Nebraska, taking up his abode in Humphrey township on land which his father owned. Later he re- ccived eighty acres as a gift from his father, the place being located on section 22. Thereon he resided for a quarter of a century and to his original tract he added from time to time as his financial resources increased until he became one of the extensive landowners of the county, his possessions aggregating nine hundred acres of well improved land. He has one hundred acres in his home place and this he personally cultivates, while the remainder of his land is being operated by his sons. He continued to reside there until the spring of 1910, when he removed to Humph- rey, since which time he has occupied a home that stands in the midst of five acres of ground within the corporate limits of the town. Of his nine hundred acres he has five hundred and eighty acres in Platte county and the remainder in Boone county, Nebraska. While upon his farm he bred and raised full blooded Poland China hogs and his old homestead is known as the Poland China Breeding Farm. It is still the property of Mr. Bender but is now being conducted by his son Simon. Mr. Bender served as administrator of his father's estate and is widely recognized as a resourceful, capable business man, ready to meet any emergency and quickly recognizing at all times the possibilities and opportunities which continually arise in the business world. He helped to organize the First National Bank of Humphrey and from the beginning has served as its vice president. He owns valuable prop- erty in the town and in all of his business affairs has readily discriminated between the essential and the non-essential, utilizing the former quickly and effectively in the attainment of success.
On the 19th of February, 1884, Mr. Bender was joined in wedlock to Miss Mary Wunder, a daughter of Simon and Paulina (Yocco) Wunder, both of whom were natives of Germany. The father emigrated to the United States in 1856 and located in Marshall county, Illinois, where he purchased land and became a well-to-do agriculturist, passing away on his farm in that county. His widow later took up her abode in Henry, Illinois, where her demise occurred. To Mr. and Mrs. Bender have been born the following children: Paulina Eva, whose birth occurred May 28, 1885, and who gave her hand in marriage to Charles P. Pfeifer, the assistant cashier of the First National Bank of Humphrey, by whom she now has four children-Jerome W., Angela Marie, Elmer and Violet; Simon Peter, who was born October 2, 1887, lives on the home farm in Humphrey township and mar- ried Miss Sabina Abler, by whom he had two children. Eugene (deceased) and Mildren Marie; Catharine Cecelia, who was born March 2, 1890, and became the wife of James Caldwell, of Cedar Rapids, Nebraska, who cultivates her father's half section in Boone county and by whom she has one child, Esther Marie; John Frederick, who was born April 29, 1892, and is associated in farming with his brother Simon; Lewis Stephen, whose birth occured July 30, 1894; and Jerome William, born October 18. 1896. The two last named are still under the parental roof.
Since age conferred upon him the right of franchise Mr. Bender has been a stalwart democrat. He and all of his family are members of St. Francis Catholic church of Humphrey and he belongs to St. Joseph's Men's Society of that church. His son Simon is a member of the Catholic Order of Foresters of Humphrey. John
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W. Bender has also been a very prominent figure in political circles and has again and again been called to public office. For two years he served as road supervisor, for five years as assessor of Humphrey township. for four years as township treasurer and is now serving for the sixth year as justice of the peace and for the third year as police judge. He has been a member of the democratie central com- mittee for eight years and is the present incumbent in that office. He has twice been elected to the state legislature- first in 1903 to fill out the unexpired term of D. A. Becher, while in 1904 he was elected for the full term of two years, con- tinuing a member through 1905 and 1906. His public record is one which reflects credit and honor upon him and upon the community which has called him to office. He is ever loyal to the state and her best interests and at all times champions those measures which are a matter of civic virtue and civie pride.
JUDGE I. L. ALBERT.
As lawyer and lawmaker. I. L. Albert has left the impress of his individuality upon the history of the state and his name is associated with various progressive measures which have had to do with advancing public standards. He is a native of Pennsylvania, his birth having occurred in Clearfield county. December 28. 1856, his parents being Daniel and Barbara (Kephart) Albert, who were also natives of Clearfield county. The family comes of Saxon German ancestry but in both the paternal and maternal lines the ancestors of I. L. Albert were repre- sented in the Continental army during the Revolutionary war. On the maternal side he comes of a family of clergymen.
In the year 1876 Judge Albert left his native state and took up his home in Iowa. He graduated from Leander Clark College at Toledo, Iowa. in 1884, but had pursued the study of law during his college course, so that he was admitted to practice in 1881, three years from his graduation. He moved to Albion, Nebraska, in 1887, where he soon built up a large practice. In 1890 he located in Columbus, where he has since resided. He was county attorney of Platte county from January, 1891, until January, 1893. He became judge of the sixth judicial district of the state by popular election in 1898 and was made a member of the supreme court commission, serving in that capacity from March, 1901, until March, 1907. His fellow townsmen were still loath to dispense with his public service and again he was called to office, being elected a member of the Nebraska senate in 1911. He is the author of the Nebraska bank guarantce law and what is known as the Albert law for the suppression of houses of prostitution. His name is also connected with other important legislative measures which have found their way to the statute books of the state during the last four years.
His former wife, Mary, was a daughter of Robert and Eliza Meldrum, a native of Canada, and the mother of four of his children: Daniel, deceased; Robert M .; Frederick C .; and Mary M. She died in 1899. Later he married Miss Jean B. Powley, also a native of Canada and a daughter of John Powley. The children of this union are Ruth J., Warren G. and I. L., Jr. The religious faith of the family is that of the Methodist church.
Judge Albert has affiliated with the democratic party for a quarter of a century
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PAST AND PRESENT OF PLATTE COUNTY
but is strongly inclined to the Hamiltonian theory of government. He makes a close and discriminating study of all questions which come up for settlement regarding community, state or national affairs, and he does not hesitate to express his firm convictions upon any significant and vital question. He is widely known as a strong jury lawyer, very successful in trying cases before the court, where his resourcefulness and logic constitute the potent forces which have won him a place at the bar.
Judge Albert comes from a family of scholars. His ability and brilliancy gave him a secure place in the foremost ranks of the legal profession of Nebraska. Many of his opinions while he served on the supreme court commission of Nebraska were chosen by compilers of the leading cases in the United States and may be found in various reports containing select cases. His opinions are known for their profound logic and clearness. His pleadings, briefs and opinions are clean cut and to the point.
In the trial of a case Judge Albert has but one theory, which is always based upon the underlying principle of law. He never changes his theory until the facts are changed. In the light of his remarkable success as a trial lawyer it is evident that he has a keen conception of the law. His advice to lawyers is to ascertain the equities of their clients and they will have little trouble to support their cases with authorities.
Clever, witty, energetic, courageous and generous to a fault, Judge Albert is a charming companion. His word is good with his associates, his clients and the courts. He is a philosopher of the old school. He views and judges all things from the basis of truth. When he ventures an opinion on any subject, one feels and knows that his judgment is free from bias and prejudice. It is a matter of com- mon knowledge among all who know him that he deals fairly and impartially be- tween men.
Judge Albert is a friend in the best and noblest sense of the word. With him friendship means more than lip service. He will make personal sacrifices to aid his friends, many of whom have been placed under grateful and lasting obligations to him. He is a deep thinker, and a student of philosophy, morality and religion. He commands respect for his views on these subjects. He is a strong believer in the Christian faith. His true character is reflected in his home life, where he is a loved and respected husband and parent.
NICHOLAS BLASER.
Nicholas Blaser is now living retired after an active business career devoted to farming and contracting. His rest is well merited, being the reward of persistent, earnest labor, and his life record shows what may be accomplished through close application and indefatigable effort. A native of Switzerland, he was born in Can- ton Bern, in March, 1841, and there served as a soldier in the Swiss army for four years, being promoted to one of the officers of his company. When the term of his military service had expired he made a tour of France, England and Germany, but remained in Switzerland until after his marriage, when he came with his wife to the new world in 1867 and settled in Platte county, Nebraska. After about six
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