USA > Nebraska > Platte County > Past and present of Platte County, Nebraska : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 7
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Mr. Fischer and his family hold membership in the German Lutheran church, to which he is a generous contributor. He is a demoerat in his political views, believing that the principles of the party contain the best elements of good govern- ment. While he has never been an aspirant for office, he is a cooperant factor in plans and projects which have for their objeet the betterment of the community. His record is one which proved that the accident of birth does not control the future of the individual, for in this land where opportunity is open to all he has made steady progress and is now at the head of a profitable business in Platte Center, where he is recognized as a leading merchant.
JOHN H. IMIG.
Business enterprise finds a worthy representative in John H. Imig of Columbus, who is a wholesale and retail baker. A liberal patronage is accorded him, his trade having reached extensive proportions, while his annual financial return is gratifying. He was born in the Rhine province of Germany, February 24, 1874, and acquired his early education in the schools of that country but came to the United States when fourteen years of age, with his mother and sisters, the family home being established in Seward, Nebraska. He entered the workaday world as an apprentice in a bake shop and was employed in connection with a bakery business in Seward for ten years. In 1898 he removed to Fullerton, Nebraska, where he again worked at his trade and there he afterward embarked in business on his own account by establishing a company known as the Star Grocery & Bakery Company. He was associated therewith for six years and in 1904 came to Columbus, where he has since made his home. During the first ten years of his residence in this city he was an employe in the bakery establishment of Anton Vogel, but is now owner of a shop and conducts a wholesale and retail business, being accorded liberal patronage in both branches. The most sanitary and scientific conditions exist in his establishment and the wholesomeness and excellence of his product insures its ready sale.
On the 10th of February, 1907, Mr. Imig was united in marriage to Miss Elma Schmidt, her parents being Edward H. and Antonia Schmidt, the former a native of Germany. Mr. Schmidt became an early settler of Platte county, Nebraska, and here carried on farming for many years, winning substantial success by reason
JOHN H. IMIG AND FAMILY
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of his industry, thrift and enterprise. Our subject and his wife have five children, namely : Emma, Edward, Karl, Elsie and Henry.
The religious faith of the family is that of the German Lutheran church. In political views Mr. Imig is a republican and fraternally he is connected with Colum- bus Aerie, No. 1834, F. O. E., with the Modern Woodmen of America and with the Sons of Herman. He deserves much credit for what he has accomplished, having worked his way persistently upward since he started out to earn his living when a youth of fourteen years. Energy, persistency and reliability have been the crowning features in his business life and have brought him to a place among the successful men of his adopted city.
MICHAEL WHITMOYER.
Michael Whitmoyer is a prominent and successful attorney of Columbus who has practiced his profession in that city for the past forty-two years and enjoys an enviable reputation as one of the leading members of the bar of Platte county. His birth occurred on a farm in Columbia county, Pennsylvania, on the 12th of February, 1836, his parents being Simon and Sarah (Kisner) Whitmoyer, who were likewise natives of the Keystone state, the former born in 1810. Conrad Whitmoyer, the paternal grandfather of our subject, was a native of Pennsylvania and followed agricultural pursuits throughout his active business career. The Whitmoyer family comes of German ancestry.
Michael Whitmoyer began his education in the public schools and subsequently attended Greenwood Seminary at Millville, Pennsylvania, Dickinson Seminary at Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and the First Pennsylvania State Normal School at Millersville. He next began reading law, being thus engaged at Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, when the Civil war broke out. On the 7th of August, 1862, he joined Company E, One Hundred and Thirty-second Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and was at once elected captain of Company E, holding that rank during his term of service. He participated in the battles of Antietam, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville and was mustered out at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on the 24th of May, 1863, at the expiration of his term of service. Mr. Whitmoyer then resumed the reading of law and in 1865 was admitted to the bar of Pennsylvania, locating in Bloomsburg, where he followed his profession until February, 1873. At that time he came to Columbus, Nebraska, which city has remained the scene of his professional labors continuously since and where he has been accorded an extensive and gratifying clientage. The zeal with which he has devoted his energies to his profession, the careful regard evinced for the interests of his clients and an assiduous and unrelaxing attention to all the details of his cases, have brought him a large business and made him very successful in its conduct.
Mr. Whitmoyer has been married twice. In 1872, in Philadelphia, Pennsyl- vania, he wedded Miss Hannah E. Waller, who died the next year, leaving a daughter, Laura, now the wife of Dr. J. C. Reifsnyder, of Scranton, Pennsylvania. In 1877, near Troy, Pennsylvania, Mr. Whitmoyer married Emma A. Peckham, by whom he has three children, as follows: Florence, who is the wife of Dr. W. S. Evans, of Columbus, Nebraska; Gertrude, twin sister of Florence, who gave her Vol. II -- 4
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hand in marriage to Howard F. Geer of Upland, California; and Maurice, who is now a resident of Upland, California.
In politics Mr. Whitmoyer is a stanch republican, never wavering in his allegiance to the party which was the defense of the Union during the dark days of the Civil war. In 1872 he was elected a delegate to the national republican convention at Philadelphia, which nominated Grant for president, and was appointed colonel in the National Guards of Pennsylvania by Governor John W. Geary. In Columbus he has served for two terms as councilman, making a most creditable and commendable record in that connection. He belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic and the Knights of Pythias, and his religious faith is that of the Congre- gational church. Past the seventy-ninth milestone on life's journey, he has long been numbered among the honored citizens and leading lawyers of Columbus.
JOSEPH SCHMIDT.
Joseph Schmidt is a representative of the lumber trade, having for seventeen years been connected with the yard in which he is now occupying a position of responsibility. He was born in Austria on the 27th of May, 1858, a son of Florian and Mary (Hurneich) Schmidt, who were also natives of that country. The father was a farmer, following that occupation in the old country, where he continued to cultivate land until his death. His wife passed away in 1868.
Joseph Schmidt was reared and educated in Austria, no event of special impor- tance occurring to vary the routine of life for him until he reached the age of twenty years, when he left the parental roof and came to America, attracted by the favorable opportunities which he heard were offered in this country. He made his way across the country to Columbus and by team traveled to Humphrey, for there was then no railroad in the town. His financial condition rendered it impera- tive that he at once secure employment and for some time he worked out as a farm hand. In 1880 the work of building the Union Pacific Railroad was started and Mr. Schmidt became active in that connection, remaining as a representative of the company for eighteen years, acting as section foreman at different places. He finally tired of that and returned to Humphrey, where he entered the employ of H. Huneker & Brother, dealers in lumber. Since then the ownership of the yard has changed, the original firm having sold out to Weller Brothers. Mr. Schmidt has now been connected with this yard for seventeen years, a fact which indicates most clearly his fidelity; capability and trustworthiness.
In November, 1881, occurred the marriage of Mr. Schmidt and Miss Julia Franchel, a daughter of John Franchel, a native of Austria, in which country he spent his entire life. The mother died when Mrs. Schmidt was fourteen years of age and the father when she had reached the age of twenty-eight. Mr. and Mrs. Schmidt have become the parents of ten children, Joseph, Carl, Frankie, Louis, Mary and Annie, all yet living; while Herman, Jolin, Michael and Fred have passed away.
The parents are communicants of the Catholic church and for twenty years Mr. Schmidt has been a member of the Catholic Order of Foresters. He votes with the democratic party, believing its principles contain the best elements of
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good government. He has erected and now occupies a nice residence in Humphrey, where he is comfortably situated in life and where he maintains an unassailable reputation both as a business man and as a citizen.
LOUIS MAIER.
Louis Maier, who since February, 1915, has been manager of the Weller Brothers' lumber business at Humphrey, is an enterprising young man who step by step has worked his way upward and through an orderly progression has reached an enviable place in business circles. He was born in April, 1882, in the town where he still makes his home, his parents being Frank and Mary (Hundsfeld) Maier, who were natives of Austria and came to America in 1880, at which time they took up their abode in Humphrey. The father was a shoemaker and worked at that trade in his native land and also after taking up his abode in Platte county, where his remaining days were passed. He died in May, 1908, having for thirteen years survived his wife, who passed away in 1895.
In the period of his youth Louis Maier attended the public and parochial schools and in starting out upon his independent business career was employed as a. farm hand for eight years. He then became engaged in the grain trade, with which he was connected until February, 1915, when he accepted the position of manager of the lumber yard of Weller Brothers at Humphrey. He is now capably controlling the interests of the firm and is popular with his employers and with the purchasing public, for he is thoroughly reliable and always courteous and obliging.
On the 28th of June, 1911, Mr. Maier was married to Miss Josephine Eischen, a daughter of Peter and Mary (Backes) Eischen, who are now living retired in Oklalıoma. In religious faith Mr. Maier is a Catholic and he belongs to the Knights of Columbus. In polities he is a democrat and has served as clerk of Burrows township for two years. The greater part of his time and attention, however, is given to his business interests and as the result of his personal activi- ties he has worked his way steadily upward, prompted by a laudable ambition that has gained for him a creditable position.
LOUIS LIGHTNER.
In a history of the bar of Columbus it is imperative that mention be made of Louis Lightner, who is the junior partner of the firm of Reeder & Lightner. In this connection he is practicing with excellent success, for his ability enables him to successfully handle intricate and involved legal problems. He is yet a young man and has therefore not reached the zenith of his powers, so that his course for many years to come will undoubtedly be one of continuous progression.
Mr. Lightner was born in Nauvoo. Illinois, November 22, 1877, a son of William and Louisa (Brayshaw) Lightner. The father was born in Pennsylvania in 1812, while the mother was a native of Illinois. They were married in the latter state and Mr. Lightner still resides at Nauvoo, Illinois, having long survived his wife.
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who passed away in 1881. The family is of Holland origin, and the name was originally spelled Leichtner. Late in the seventeenth century representatives of the name crossed the Atlantic and the family was planted on American soil in Pennsylvania. At the time of the Civil war William Lightner responded to the country's call for troops, joining the Union army and rendering valiant aid in defense of the stars and stripes.
Louis Lightner attended the country schools of Platte county, Nebraska, having come to this state in his infancy to live with his annt, the wife of Hanson S. Elliott. In her home he spent the days of his boyhood and youth, and his education was acquired in the schools of the neighborhood. He was graduated in law, how- ever, from the Nebraska State University at Lincoln as a member of the class of 1910 and immediately afterward removed to Columbus, where he at once entered upon the active practice of his profession, forming a partnership with the Hon. James G. Reeder in 1908. The following year John J. Sullivan, who was a member of the firm, withdrew and removed to Omaha, at which time the firm style of Reeder & Lightner was assumed and so continues. Mr. Lightner is an able lawyer, clear in his reasoning, concise in his appeals before the court and logical in his deductions. He prepares his cases with thoroughness, and his devotion to his clients' interests has become proverbial. He is a director of the Equitable Building, Loan & Savings Association but otherwise concentrates his energies upon his professional activities.
On the 31st of July, 1907, in Liberty, Missouri, Mr. Lightner was married to Miss Margaret C. Griffith. He is well known in fraternal connections as a Master Mason, an Elk, a Modern Woodman of America, a Woodman of the World and as one of the Spanish War Veterans and also as a member of the Sons of Veterans. At the time of the war with Spain in 1898 he joined Company I of the Nebraska National Guard and went with his company into the First Nebraska Volunteer Infantry. The regiment was sent to the Philippines and Mr. Lightner accompanied it, the command sailing from San Francisco in June. He served until December 10, 1898, when he was mustered out. He was present at the capture of Manila on the 13th of August and was in the preceding battles on the 2d and 5th of August. He was a most loyal soldier, bravely defending the interests of his country, and thus his name has been placed on the honor roll along with those who have rendered military service to the United States in its most recent war. His political allegiance is given to the democratic party, and he was a delegate from the thirty-third Nebraska congressional district to the Baltimore convention in 1912. His interests are broad and varied and show a comprehensive understanding of life, upon which he places no fictitious values. He looks at all questions of public moment from a practical standpoint and seeks the good of the community in many ways.
WILLIAM A. ALDERSON.
The home of William A. Alderson at Humphrey is the finest residence in the town and stands as a monument to the enterprise and business ability of the owner, who for many years was closely associated with agricultural interests and by the careful management and control of his affairs gained a substantial measure of
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success that now classes him with the men of affluence in Platte county. He is now living retired save for the supervision which he gives to his invested interests. He was born in Wisconsin, September 20, 1850, and is a son of Edmund and Sarah (Woodward) Alderson, who were natives of England. The mother came to the new world with her parents when a maiden of fourteen summers and the father crossed the Atlantic when a young man of twenty-three years. Making his way into the interior of the country, he settled in Wisconsin and was employed in the lead mines for a time and afterward became the owner of a mine, the shaft of which was eighty feet in depth, with a ladder reaching the entire length. One day while descending this ladder he accidentally slipped and was killed, being but thirty-five years of age when his death occurred on the 5th of March, 1856. His widow continued to live in Wisconsin throughout her remaining days, passing away in October, 1893, when she had reached the age of sixty-three years.
William A. Alderson was reared and educated in the Badger state and remained with his mother to the age of nineteen, when he started out independently in the business world as a farm hand. He was employed in that manner until he attained his majority, when in April, 1872, he left Wisconsin and removed westward to Platte county, Nebraska, where he secured a homestead claim of one hundred and sixty acres in Humphrey township. Immediately he began to develop and improve that land, upon which, up to that time, not a furrow had been turned. The track of the plow was soon to be seen across the fields and as time went on the wild prairie was converted into rich and productive fields, which he carefully, systematically and profitably developed for thirty-nine years, or until 1911, when he retired and removed to Fremont, where he made his home for a year. He then returned to Humphrey and purchased a fine residence in the southwestern part of the town, standing on a hill which commands a splendid view of the surrounding country. He has since resided in Humphrey and his home is the most beautiful there. It is a large and commodious house of the modern style of architecture, surrounded by well kept grounds, covering twelve acres. He also owns the original homestead, to which he has added as his financial resources increased until his farm possessions now comprise four hundred and ninety-two acres.
While he no longer tills the fields Mr. Alderson is still a stockholder in the Farmers Elevator Company of Humphrey, of which he was a director for four years. While living upon the farm he made a specialty of breeding and raising shorthorn cattle and Percheron horses and fed from fifty to one hundred head of cattle annually. He did much to improve the grade of stock raised and his example in that direction and in the work of the fields has constituted a standard which others have profitably followed.
On the 27th of October, 1874, Mr. Alderson was united in marriage to Miss Elmira Slater, a daughter of James O. and Catherine (Goodser) Slater, who were natives of New York. The father was a farmer of the Empire state and during the latter part of his life operated a boat on the Hudson river. He died in 1903, while his wife has also passed away. Mr. and Mrs. Alderson became the parents of six children: Mabel F., at home; Oliver R., a resident farmer of Humphrey township; Rose H., who is teaching in the Humphrey high school; Delia M., the wife of Engene Ainsworth, who is operating his father-in-law's farm; William A., who is married and is engaged in business as a ladies' tailor at Hastings, Nebraska; and Verne Ashland, who died in 1888 at the age of two years and twenty-eight days.
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Mr. and Mrs. Alderson hold membership in the Methodist church and his political views are in accord with the principles of the republican party. His life record is one which should inspire and encourage others, showing what may be accomplished when one has the will to dare and to do. When he came to Nebraska he was sixteen dollars in debt and after paying his homestead fee he had but five dollars in his possession. The change in his financial condition has been reached by earnest, persistent labor, which has made him one of the substantial citizens of the county, owning one of the finest farms within its borders. In all that he has done he has been actuated by a laudable ambition and his record proves that success and an honorable name may be won simultaneously.
CLARA ROSA AERNI, D. C., PH. C.
Dr. Clara Rosa Aerni, one of the most successful chiropractics of Nebraska, following her profession in Columbus, is a native daughter of Platte county, her birth having occurred at Neboville, December 30, 1889. Her parents were Frank and Rosina Aerni, natives of Switzerland. The father was born January 6, 1846, in Hersiwil, Canton Solothurn, while the mother was from Utzenstorf, in the can- ton of Bern, her birth having there occurred, December 23, 1862. They emi- grated to America on the 19th of May, 1883, embarking on the steamer Helvetia as she made her last trip over the Atlantic. They came direct to Columbus, where Mr. Aerni still lives, being considered one of the successful farmers of this part of the state. His wife passed away June 23, 1912.
Dr. Aerni acquired her early education in a little suburban school just three miles north of Columbus, and having completed the course of instruction there, de- cided to enter the Columbus high school but illness prevented the completion of her course. She afterward studied dressmaking, being graduated from the Women's College of Scientific Dressmaking at La Crosse, Wisconsin, on the 22d of May, 1909. Her next undertaking was music, which she studied in the American School of Music of Chicago, of which she is an alumnus. Later she entered upon a three years' course of chiropractic and was graduated on the 28th of August, 1914, from the Palmer School of Chiropractic at Davenport, Iowa. Chiropractic is a philos- ophy, a science and an art of things natural and a system of adjusting the articula- tions of the spine, by hand, for the elimination of the cause of disease (def. by B. J. Palmer, D. C., Ph. C., president of the Palmer School of Chiropractic, Daven- port, Iowa). Chiropractic is unique, as well as universal in its application and by actual application and by actual proof of the fulfillment of its claims, although comparatively in its infancy, it has opened the door to success to over six thousand practitioners who enjoy the favor and good wishes of over one million intelligent people of the world. Yes, this great boon, as it is frequently called, has already before the age of twenty, been carried to many foreign lands, thirteen foreign countries being represented at one time in the Palmer School of Chiropractic (Chi- ropractic Fountain Head), located in Davenport, Iowa, at which place it was dis- covered by Dr. D. D. Palmer about twenty years ago. It was a very crude system until the son, Dr. B. J. Palmer, took it in hand and developed it, until today it is almost a painless method, and the only direct method of getting at the cause of the
DR. CLARA R. AERNI
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great category of diseases found in the human body. It is a well known fact that therapeutic methods are based on the "treatment of effects of disease." Chiropractic takes the opposite basic principle, that of the "removal of the cause" (no cause, no effect). The fundamental idea is that the source by which nature reaches the vari- ous and minute parts of the body is through the brain, spinal cord and spinal nerves, knowing that the nerves pass through an opening in the spinal column formed hy two movable vertabrae (segments) which are subject to all kinds of excessive forces in the shape of blows, strains, etc., and which. having gone beyond the limit of natural resistance, become subluxated (slightly misplaced) and thereby a pres- sure is brought to bear on these most delicate nerve fibers, thus destroying the life carrying capacity of these nerves, thus causing a lack or excess of function of that portion of the body supplied by such nerves. Taking this as a basis, naturally a new method for removal had to be invented. this is the adjustment of vertabrae. or the scientific application of force in the opposite direction of the, by palpation de- termined, subluxation, thus removing the pressure on nerves, which permits the natural currents to flow freely through the once more normal nerves, and as a result you have normal functionation in your portion of body supplied, making "ease in disease."
After completing her course in the Palmer School of Chiropractic, Dr. Aerni returned to Columbus, opening an office in the Telegram building, on the 3d of September, and since that time she has built up a good practice, her work proving most successful in coping with the intricate problems of health and disease.
Dr. Aerni is an active member of the Universal Chiropractors Association as well as of the Nebraska Chiropractors Association. She expresses her political views as "peace above everything else." She has membership with the Swiss Society of Columbus, in W. C. lodge, and is secretary of the drill team. She is also an active member of the German Reformed church, doing everything in her power to advance its work and extend its influence. She is making her life count as a force for good both in professional and church circles.
WENSEL J. TROJAN.
Wensel J. Trojan, living at Tarnov, has devoted his life to agricultural and banking interests and at the present time is the cashier of the Bank of Tarnov, his close application and indefatigable energy contributing to its growing success. He was born in Colfax county, Nebraska, in September, 1880, a son of Anton and Mary (Panek) Trojan, who were natives of Austria and in the year 1880 left that land to establish a home in the new world. Landing on the eastern coast, they crossed the country to Colfax county, Nebraska, and the father purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land which he cultivated and improved throughout his remaining days. He had learned and followed the blacksmith's trade in Austria but after coming to the new world gave his undivided attention to agricultural pursuits. His life's labors were ended in death April 15, 1905, while his wife passed away Feb- rnary 2, 1912.
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