USA > Nebraska > Gage County > Portrait and biographical album of Gage County, Nebraska : containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county > Part 12
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Dr. Craig's enthusiastic patriotism and military ex- periences lead him to a prominent position in the G. A. R., with which he is connected. Ile is also identified with the I. O. O. F., Knights of Pythias, and in the Masonic fraternity has taken the degree of a Knight Templar. In all these societies our sub- ject takes the deepest interest, and is regarded by all his fellow-members with unusually high esteem.
NDREW B. PIRIE is the master mechanic for the Southern Division of the Burling- ton & Missouri River Railroad at Wy- more. His father, Andrew B. Pirie, Sr., was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, in the year 1825, and having learned to take charge of engines and machinery, he sailed between the East Indies and Scotland with the Peninsula & Oriental Company. He remained in the employ of that company until the time of his death, in 1879, aged fifty-four years, having spent about twenty-five years in the service of the company. His wife died when our subject was about six years old.
Our subject was born on the 3d of Jannary, 1848, in Aberdeen, Scotland, where he received his edu- cation, attending school at Gordon's Hospital, a regular High School. He finished his course of study, and at the age of sixteen years he began to serve an apprenticeship as a machinist, which lasted for six years, in that time making a voyage to South Africa. Afterward he came to New York City, and thence to Chicago and direct to Burlington, Iowa, where he began to work for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad in 1867. Ile has since that time remained in the employ of this com- pany, having frequently been promoted because of his competenee and ability ; going first from Bur- lington to Plattsmouth, Cass Co., Neb., and then to Red Cloud, Webster County, when they were building the Denver extension of the road, and then
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coming to Wymore, where he put in all of the machinery, and started the shops. He has since had charge of all the locomotives and cars here.
The Burlington & Missonri River locomotive and car shops of the South Division were built in 1881, the machinery of which was put in under the direc- tion of our subject. The shop proper is 60x100 feet, and contains four lathes, planer, one sloating- machine, one drill press, one bolt cutter and two circular saws. About 110 men are employed here, who are kept busy repairing the thirty-six engines of this division. There is also a roundhouse of fifteen stalls, ten stalls being built at the same time, and afterward an addition of five stalls made under the direction of Mr. Pirie last year. This being the central point for all this division, there are on an average eighteen locomotives here every night. It is needless to speak further in praise of Mr. Pirie's ability, as the position which he holds is a great compliment to it.
On the 28th of November, 1877, our subject was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth L. Calder, who was born in Arbroath, Scotland, on the 24th of May, 1858. She came to America in 1874, and went for awhile to Kingston, Canada, thence to Plattsmouth, where our subject made her acquaint- ance. They are the parents of two children, both of whom were taken from them by an early death. Both Mr. and Mrs. Pirie are esteemed members of the Episcopal Church.
R. EZRA WONDER, practicing physician, and prominent among the business men of Blue Springs, has followed the practice of medicine for a period of fourteen years in this place, and is in the enjoyment of a good patronage. He is also condueting a drug-store, and is joint owner of the Opera House Block. Dr. Wonder came to this county in the summer of 1874, arriving at Blue Springs on the 16th of August, when there were not more than 150 inhabit- ants in the place. Most of these have now dis- appeared, having been removed by death or other circumstances. He was called upon that very day to attend a patient, although there were four other
physicians. These soon left the town, and Dr. Wonder was thus in possession of the entire field. He has made good use of his time and opportuni- ties, and is one of the most popular members of his profession in Southern Nebraska.
Seneca County, Ohio, was the birthplace of our subject, and where he first opened his eyes to the light Sept. 17, 1833. He completed his education in the High School of that place, began the study of medicine, and subsequently entered the office of Dr. J. Myers, in Carey, Ohio, under whose instruc- tion he remained for a period of four years. Ile then entered upon a course of lectures in the Cin- cinnati Medical College, and began the practice of his profession at New Riegel, in Seneca County. There he remained two years, then returning to Carey, became the partner of his former tutor, Dr. Myers, with whom he remained until the spring of 1861.
Our subject now changed his residence from the Buckeye State to Wakarusa, Ind., where he so- journed for a period of four years. Thence he returned to Carey, Ohio, where he established a drug-store and followed his profession successfully until 1874. His next removal was to this State, where he enjoys a fine reputation and the confi- denee of a large patronage in a marked degree. Dr. Wonder was married in Carey, Ohio, Oct. 1, 1857, to Miss Mary A. Kimball, and they are now the parents of six children, the youngest of whom, Eddie, died at the age of three years and nine months. The survivors have reached mature years, and are named respectively : Ruah Alma, Nathan D., Elmer E., Addie May and Edith M. Mrs. Wonder is the daughter of Capt. Nathan Kimball, a farmer by occupation, and a resident of Carey, Ohio. She was born there Feb. 22, 1836, and con- tinued under the parental roof until her marriage. Capt. Kimball was a native of Maine, and earned his military title in the War of 1812. After the conflict had ended he settled in the Buckeye State, of which he remained a resident until his death. The mother, Mrs. Mary Ann Kimball, resides in Wakarusa, Ind., in her eighty-fourth year:
Daniel Wonder, the father of our subject, was born in Mifflin County, Pa., April 12, 1791, and upon reaching manhood was there married to Miss
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Catherine Harpster. They became the parents of nine children, and in middle life left the Keystone State with their little family and settled among the pioneers of Stark County, Ohio. The father cleared a tract of land, making considerable improvements, but seven years later went into Seneca County, and entered a quarter-section from the Government. From this he built up one of the finest farms in that region, erected a large barn and a commodions brick house, the latter the first of its kind in that region, and the brick of which he manufactured himself. This structure is still standing, and is often pointed out to the passing traveler as one of the landmarks of the early days. Daniel Wonder became prominent in the affairs of Seneca County, holding township offices, and being generally inter- ested in the enterprises calculated for the advance- ment of the people. He was identified with the Evangelical Association, and died on the 20th of February, 1887, after reaching the advanced age of ninety-five years, ten months and eight days. The mother died in 1863.
Mathias Wonder, the great-grandfather of our subject, belonged to the German nobility, and was born in the Kingdom of Wurtemberg. IIe came of a very wealthy family, and emigrated to Amer- ica when his son Andrew was a little lad seven years of age. They made the ocean voyage in a sailing-vessel, and were nine months crossing the Atlantic. They landed at Philadelphia and settled in York County, Pa., where the great-grandfather died in middle life when only forty years old. ITis son Andrew was the eldest of the family, and mar- ried Miss Catherine Swartz, of Little York, Pa. To them were born twelve children. They lived within five miles of Little York seven years, then removed north fifty miles to Chimoke. Later they went into Mifflin County, and afterward lived in differ- ent portions of the Keystone State, where Grand- father Wonder followed his trade of wheelwright. He finally settled in Wayne County, Ohio, and with his wife lived to a great age, his death occurring when he was eighty-four years and six months old. He served as a soldier in the Revolutionary War, receiving an honorable wound, and thereafter drew a pension.
Among the children of Andrew and Catherine
Wonder was Daniel, who became the father of our subject. He was born five miles from Little York, Pa., April 12, 1792, and was a babe of five months when his parents settled in Chimoke. When they left there he was a lad of nine years. The country at that time was wild and uncultivated, and in- fested with bears, wolves, panthers, catamounts, etc., of which the father trapped and shot many. The school privileges of those days were exceed- ingly limited. After going to Mifflin County young Daniel was converted to religion through the preach- ing of Revs. Allbright and Miller. Six years later he removed with his parents across the mountains to Lost Creek Valley, where he lived until reaching his majority. Then obtaining permission from his father to take his ax and mattock, he left home and commenced in earnest the struggle of life on his own account. A year later, visiting his parents, he found them greatly in need of money, and gave them $4 in consideration of the tools which he had taken. Hle thus commenced in life with absolutely nothing. Returning to Jackson Valley he com- menced making shingles at the rate of fifty cents per day in the summer season, and thirty-five cents in the winter. Notwithstanding these small wages he managed to lay by a snug sum of money for those times, and shortly afterward began the estab- lishment of a home of his own by his marriage, April 12, 1814, with Miss Catharine Harpster. The young people commenced life together in a manner suitable to their means and position, and lived in the valley six, years. There were born to them three sons, John, Matthias and George, but not- withstanding the increase in the family, wages re- mained the same.
Daniel Wonder, abont 1820, removed to Ohio, and there were afterward added six children to the family circle. His industry and perseverance in dne time met with their reward, and he was enabled to do as he had always desired, viz: devote the balance of his life to the spreading of the Gospel. Ile had at an early age identified himself with the Evangelical Association, and remained connected with this until his death, which took place in 1887.
Dr. Ezra Wonder, in 1880, put up his business block, which is two stories in height, and occupies
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an area 23x90 feet. In 1882 he erected another store building by its side and of corresponding size. The upper half of the latter building comprises the Opera House. In 1881 he built a fine residence located in the northeastern part of the town, which with its grounds is an ornament to the city. He is recognized as one of the most liberal and public- spirited men in the place. Politically, Dr. Wonder is a stalwart Republican.
TEPHEN V. SHAW. The subject of this sketch, who now owns and occupies a good farm on section 21. Adams Township, came to Nebraska with his parents when a boy, and since that time has been closely connected with its growth and development. He was the youngest of a family of ten children, and was born in Dutchess County, N. Y., Jan. 4, 1844. His parents, Stephen P. and Hanna (Hicks) Shaw, were also natives of Dutchess County, but removed with their family to Litchfield County, Conn., when Stephen V. was a child three years of age.
The first recollections of our subject therefore are of his adopted home in the Nutmeg State. There began his primary education, but in 1850 the fam- ily left New England, and after a journey made in true emigrant style to the State of Wisconsin, and settlement in Somerset Township, Kenosha County, lived there from the fall of 1850 until the spring of 1857, when they again took up their line of march for the new and undeveloped Territory of Nebraska. Settling upon a squatter's claim, the father tilled the soil, and the family lived there amid numerous difficulties and hardships until his death, which oc- curred April 1, 1863.
Mr. Shaw was a boy of thirteen years when he made the journey from the Badger State to Ne- braska, and being a bright boy and very observant, the trip afforded him no end of amusement. They passed through the embryo cities of Beloit, Wis., Rockford, Dixon, Sterling, Moline and Rock Island, Ill., through Davenport, Iowa City, Des Moines and Glenwood, Iowa, and thence south and westward to Nebraska City, this State, where they crossed the Missouri River on a flatboat. Thence they made
their way up Salt Creek, and proceeded westward until they struck the edge of the Nemaha Valley, arriving here July 6, 1857. Young Stephen had been blessed with good and sensible parents, who realized the advantages of education, and gave to the boy the best chance for schooling which their circumstances and surroundings permitted. He completed his studies in the school at Nebraska City when a youth of sixteen years, and thereafter assisted his father on the farm until a short time be- fore reaching his majority. In the spring of 1864 he left home, and making his way to the central part of Colorado, began prospecting and working in the silver mines of Gilpin County, where he so- journed about one year. Upon returning home he engaged in various occupations until his marriage, in the meantime making preparations for the estab- lishment of a home of his own.
The maiden selected by our subject for his future wife and helpmatc, and to whom he was married Nov. 8, 1866, was Miss Minerva, daughter of Will- iam and Annie (Scott) Hand, who were natives re- spectively of New York and Canada. Mr. and Mrs. Hand after marriage settled at Niagara, where the father engaged in mercantile business, and whence they removed four or five years later to Kenosha County, Wis., where young Stephen Shaw and Miss Hand made their first acquaintance. The Hands in 1857 moved, like the Shaw family, to this State, settling near Nebraska City, where the father pursued the vocation of a farmer, and is now de- ceased. The wife of our subject was the only daughter in a family of three children, the other two being boys, William H. and Nathaniel. She was the second child, and was born at Niagara Falls, N. Y., May 24, 1850. She was a little girl about four years old when the family removed to Wis- consin, and seven years of age when they came to Nebraska. She received a common-school educa- tion, and was trained by an excellent mother in those housewifely arts a knowledge of which is so essential in one presiding as the mother of a family. To Mr. and Mrs. Shaw there have been born the following children : Louis, Katie, Elmira, Ada, Alice and Charles. The eldest is twenty, and the young- est two years of age. They form a household group in which the parents take pardonable pride,
NEBRASKA INSTITUTION FOR FEEBLE-MINDED YOUTH. BEATRICE.
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and are being fitted out with a good education and the other qualities which will make of them useful members of the community.
After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Shaw settled in Adams Township, where our subject had home- steaded 160 acres on section 21, and where he has built up a good farm, which they still occupy. He has a substantial residence, around which stand the trees of his own planting twenty years ago or more, and which are not only useful in warding off the storms of winter and the heat of summer, but add greatly to the value and beauty of his property. While having his hands full in tilling the soil and carrying on the improvement of his farm, Mr. Shaw has been in nowise negligent in regard to the wel- fare of the people about him, and has ever given ready and cheerful assistance to the enterprises cal- culated for the general welfare. He has served as School Director a number of years in the district, and with his estimable wife is prominently identi- fied with the Methodist Episcopal Church, of Adams, to which he gives an able support. Socially, both Mr. and Mrs. Shaw are members in good standing of the I. O. G. T. Mr. Shaw voted the Democratic ticket in support of Seymour in 1868, and Tilden in 1876, but his warm interest in the cause of tem- perance led him in 1880 to identify himself with the Prohibitionists.
W ARREN M. LASELLE, senior member of the firm of LaSelle, Fiske & Co., grocers at Beatrice and also dealers in boots and shoes, is numbered among the solid men of the city. He was born near Lebanon, in Madison County, N. Y., April 7, 1833, and was the eldest of eleven children, five sons and six daughters, ten of whom are still living. The parents were Mason A. and Mary A. (Grosvenor) LaSelle, also natives of Madison County, N. Y., the mother being the youngest daughter of E. G. Grosvenor, who bore the honor of being the first settler of that county. The Grosvenors were of English descent, while the LaSelles trace their ancestry to France.
The father of our subject was a farmer by occu- pation, and after his marriage settled on a farm in Madison County, N. Y., where he lived until
1883. Then coming to Beatrice with his family, he, after a brief sojourn in this city, located in Cortland, where he engaged in general merchandis- ing four years. Then, disposing of a half-interest in his business there, he returned to Beatrice, and in company with a partner, Mr. Fiske, established himself as a general merchant, and they have now built up an extensive and lucrative trade. They are prompt and reliable in their business trans- actions, and thus have obtained a good standing as business men and citizens.
To Mr. and Mrs. LaSelle there have been born four children, one son and three daughters, namely : Addie M., now the wife of 1. L. Fiske; Adelia N., Frank G. and Lizzie D. The family residence is a neat and comfortable structure, and its inmates are surrounded by all the comforts of life, enjoying also many of its luxuries. Mr. LaSelle presented his son Frank with a share in the business, and the latter bids fair to emulate his father in point of business principles and ability. They are both ardent sup- porters of Republican principles.
- R. JAMES T. ARMSTRONG, Superin- tendent of the Nebraska Institution for Feeble-Minded Youth, and which is lo- cated in the eastern portion of the city of Beatrice, assumed the duties of his responsible position on the 12th of August, 1886, and is dis- charging them with much efficiency. He is a man of fine business and mental capacities. a native of Columbiana County, Ohio, and. was born near Han- overton, Dec. 28, 1856. When a child two years of age, his parents came to lowa, settling on a farm in Jefferson County. The father, Titus Armstrong, was a native of Ohio, and the mother, Anna M. (Stever) Armstrong, was born near Carrolltown, Pa. Their family consisted of two children only, our subject and his brother Willard. The latter died when four years old, and his father died in 1858. Ilis mother is living in Washington County, Iowa.
The subject of this sketch was reared to manhood. passing his boyhood and youth after the manner of most farmers' sons, and acquiring his early educa- tion in the district school. Later he attended the academy at Fairfield, Iowa, and then he entered Parsons' College at that place. After emerging
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thence he became a student of the State University at Iowa City, where he continned two years. He then took up the study of medicine under the in- struction of Dr. O. W. Archibald, of Glenwood, and subsequently entered. the medical department of the State University, from which he was gradu- ated March 5, 1879.
Dr. Armstrong began the practice of his pro- fession in Southwestern Iowa, and during his four years' residence there built up a good business among the people of that region. Afterward chang- ing his residence to Omaha, he practiced there until assuming charge of the institution with which he is now connected. The buildings of this were com- pleted during the year 1886, and Dr. Armstrong was installed as its first Superintendent. He main- tains a careful oversight of every department, and has chosen an efficient corps of assistants, so that the domestic arrangements, as well as those relating to the education of the inmates, closely approach perfection. In the development of the darkened intellects under his charge Dr. Armstrong takes the keenest interest, and his ingenuity is often taxed to the utmost to devise the best methods for their well-being, morally, mentally and physically.
The marriage of Dr. James T. Armstrong and Miss Maude Archibald, of Glenwood, Iowa, was eclebrated at the home of the bride, June 30, 1881. Mrs. Armstrong was born in Nova Scotia, and was a daughter of E. T. Archibald. The parents of Mrs. Armstrong still reside in Nova Scotia. Of this union there have been born two sons-Paul C. and Osborn A. Mrs. Armstrong departed this life at her home at the institution, Sept. 27, 1887, and the Doctor's son, Osborn A., died Oct. 19, 1888, aged four years and three days.
Among the representative men of the State we are pleased to present the portrait of this well- known gentleman.
ENRY ARLINGTON LASELLE. The name of this gentleman is recognized . as that of one of the leading business men of Beatrice, Neb., of which he has been a resi- dent since the spring of 1867. A native of the
Empire State. he was born in Lebanon, Madison Co .. N. Y., Aug. 5.1838.
Our subject was the third son and fourth child of Mason A. and Dorcas (Conant) LaSelle, whose family included eleven children, six sons and five danghters, viz: W. M. LaSelle, of Beatrice; Cor- nelia, now Mrs. Dr. LaSelle Hutchings, of Brooklyn, N. Y .; Webster, deceased; Henry A., the subject of this sketch; Mary, now Mrs. M. E. Richmond, of St. Louis; Ophelia, now Mrs. Edwin Oatman, of Lawrence, Neb. ; Flora, now Mrs. D. C. Humphrey, of Los Angeles, Cal .; Albert E. LaSelle, of George- town, N. Y .; L. F. LaSelle, of Beatrice, Neb. ; Ellen, now Mrs. E. C. Salisbury, of Beatrice; and Frank C. LaSelle, of Herndon. Kan.
Mason A. LaSelle, the father of our subject, was born in Madison County, N. Y., and died at his home there March 18, 1875, at the age of sixty- seven years. He followed farming his entire life, and was a plain, solid, unobstrusive citizen, who pursued the even tenor of his way, performing life's duties creditably, and living at peace with all. The mother, also a native of Madison County, N. Y., was the daughter of Deacon Conant, of Eaton, N. Y.
The paternal grandfather of our subject, Josiah LaSelle. was a native of Connecticut, and married Miss Ennice Webb, of Hartford; they moved to Lebanon, N. Y., in 1802, and consequently were pioneers. He was quite a boy when the Revolu- tionary War broke out, and lived to the advanced age of ninety-three years, his death taking place at Lebanon, N. Y., in August, 1865, having lived to see the beginning and close of every war of the United States.
The parents of our subject soon after their mar- riage settled in Madison County, N. Y., and there Henry A. spent his boyhood and youth on the old homestead. He pursued his studies first in the district school, and later attended Hamilton Acad- emy. At the age of eighteen he went west with an unele, and spent two years in Fayette County, Iowa, where he taught his first school, and assisted his uncle in opening upa new farm ; returning home in 1859 he completed his studies at Oneida Confer- ence Seminary, at Cazenovia, N. Y., where he spent two years. Soon after, the Civil War being in prog-
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ress, he enlisted in Company D, 114th New York State Volunteers, under command of Col. Elisha B. Smith. In the capacity of a soldier young LaSelle acquitted himself creditably as a non-commissioned officer, receiving many evidences of the esteem and confidence of his superior officers, and was finally assigned to detached commissary duty at New Or- leans, La., having in charge a body of 1,300 men. and near the close of the war rejoined his command in the Shenandoah Valley, Va., under Gen. Hancock, and after the assassination of Lincoln went imme- diately to Washington, where his regiment formed a part of the grand guard around the city during the capture of Booth and the trial of the assassins, finally taking part in the grand review of the armies of the Union at the close of the war. Capt. LaSelle received his honorable discharge at Elmira, N. Y., in June, 1865. During his services in the war he bore an honorable part in Gen. Banks' expe- dition to the Gulf, also in the Teche campaign west of New Orleans, was forty-two days under fire at the siege and final capture of Port Hudson ; took part in the battle of Donaldsonville, and in the Franklin expedition on the Gulf to Sabine Pass, and other minor engagements. He was one of the fortunate ones of some 300 who were left of the 114th that went out full 1,000 strong, to reach home. The following winter he spent in New York City, but in the early spring of 1866 was called home to the bedside of his dying mother, and in April set his face toward the then Far West. Crossing the Missouri River he took up his abode at St. Joseph, Mo., where he spent about a year en- gaged in real-estate and railroad work, in the mean- time visiting Nebraska, then a Territory, for the first time, and entered a quantity of Government land near Beatrice, and settled in Beatrice in the spring of 1887, then a small outpost town of about twenty buildings. He secured by homestead and by purchase other tracts of land, and also invested a portion of his capital in a stock of general mer- chandise, which he opened up in a little log store- room near the present track of the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad. For a period of fifteen years he thus engaged in trade with quite satisfactory results, but about 1882, through natural desire for change, branched out into the real-estate and loan
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