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 25
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E HME E. AUKES, M. D. It is our pleasure to offer in this writing a biographical com- pendium of Cortland's leading and repre- sentative physician and surgeon. This gentleman is a native of Hanover. Germany, and was born at Canum Amt Emden Ostfriesland, that Province, upon the 29th of May, 1852. He is a son of E. B. and Brechtje R. Aukes. His mother is still alive, and makes her home in Iowa. The father is de- ceased.
Dr. Aukes was the youngest son born to his par- ents, whose family circle included nine children. He received a good education in his native place and tongne, and at the age of twenty-one he en- tered the university at Gottingen, which is the uni- versity for Hanover, and of standard reputation. To it some of the finest scholars and physicians of Europe look as their alma mater. IIe attended the classes of this institution for four years, graduating in the spring of that year, receiving in token thereof the regular diploma of a doctor in medieine and surgery. Upon graduating our subject made several trips on one of the Hamburg line Atlantic steamers, serving in his profession.
In the summer of 1877 Dr. Aukes set foot upon
American soil with the purpose of making it his adopted country and future home. He began the practice of his profession in Logan County, Ill., con- tinuing until the early part of the year 1878, when he went to Hardin County, Iowa, locating in the town of Ackley. Here he speedily built up a lucrative prac- tice, and continued for two years. He next hung out his shingle at Owatonna, Minn., and there to mained for five years, having quite a large and pay- ing practice, which he sold at the end of that time, and in 1884 came to Cortland, where he established himself in his profession, and also established his drug-store, which was the first opened in Cortland. He has continned both branches of his profession until the present, and enjoys a large financial as well as professional success.
Dr. Aukes is a member of the Nebraska State Medical Society, also of the State Pharmaceutical Association. To both of these societies he is greatly attached, and some of his contributions at the va- rions sessions of the same have been received with every appreciation. Among the social orders the Doctor is also well and favorably known. Ile holds membership in the Goethe Lodge No. 38, of the I. O. O. F., at Owatonna, and also in the Star of the East Lodge No. 33, of the Masonic frater- nity, at the same place. In the former he has filled the chair of Noble Grand of the Goethe Lodge of Odd Fellows, of Owatonna, Minn.
In October, 1877, our subject was joined in holy matrimony to Miss Anne Ruhaak. This lady is a native of Illinois, and a daughter of Harm and Ellen Rullaak, natives of Germany, who settled in Illinois in 1848. Their daughter Anne was born at Pekin, Ill., June 10, 1858, being the first child of their family, which included in all four children. Dr. and Mrs. Ankes have become the parents of three children, whose names are recorded as here appended : Ella, who was born Oet. 1, 1878; Hat- tie, born Feb. 27, 1881; also Diana, born July 1, 1883, and died April 5, 1884.
The political opinions of our subject favor the Democratic party, of which he has been a member since taking citizenship in the country; but at the same time it is his endeavor to be as liberal as is possible in his political views, as in everything else, his large knowledge of the world and human nature
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dictating to him generous toleration of freedom of thought, sentiment and opinion in others as the wiser and more truly manly course. The Doctor and his wife are both active members of society, and are numbered among its elite. As a man, citizen and physician it is the happiness of our sub- ject to enjoy the highest regard and unbounded Confidenice of the community in which he resides.
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Le YNVILL H. WYMORE is a son of Freder- ick and Isabel (McMains) Wymore, who are natives of Kentucky, and after their marriage which occurred in Indiana, they made their home there. After a time they moved to Mahaska County, Iowa, and thence to Pawnee County, Neb., in 1855. They were among the early settlers in this State, and in common with others of that early day they have experienced an eventful life. The surrounding country was a great waste of prairie land which was the hunting ground of the Indians and the home of the deer, antelope and wolf. During these first years of settlement little but corn could be produced from the ground, and the settlers were compelled to go to Missouri for groceries, etc., and it was especially hard when these trips occurred in the winter. The distance from one neighbor to an- other increased the feeling of isolation and loneli- ness, and altogether there was a severe strain upon the courage and self-reliance of the carly inhabit- ants. In the year 1865 they came to this county, and are now living in Island Grove Township, in the enjoyment of good health and comfortable sur- roundings. There were ten children in their family, seven sons and three daughters, all of whom are now living.
Our subject was the fifth child of his father's family, and was born in Mahaska County, Iowa, on the 22d of August, 1848. He remained with his parents until he reached the age of twenty-two years, and received his education in the county schools. On the 15th of December, 1870, he was united in marriage with Miss Susan M. Sharp, who was born in Montgomery County, Tenn., on the 21st of February, 1854. She is a daughter of Jonathan and Margaret (Elvery) Sharp, who are
natives of Tennessee. Previous to the marriage of our subject, however, he had had some experience with the Indians. In 1863 he enlisted in Company E, 2d Nebraska Cavalry, for nine months' service. He went from Brownville to Sioux City, thence to Dakota and Minnesota, where the Indians were making trouble. They engaged with them in an encounter in which the Indians outnumbered them ten to one, but the military training of the soldiers enabled them to come off victorious, and at the ex- piration of his term of enlistment our subject re- turned to his home in Pawnee County, Neb.
In 1871 Mr. Wymore bought eighty acres of land on section 35, and forty acres on section 34, Island Grove Township, for which he paid from $3 to $8 per acre, according to the location of the land. When it came into his hands it was in an unculti- vated state, and the improvements which have made it such an attractive farm have been made by the hardest labor and perseverance. It is still the home farm, and yields good crops of grain, corn being raised more extensively than any other cereal.
Our subject and his wife have gathered about them a family of seven children, all of whom are living at home, and have received the names of Ira E., Francis E., Cordelia, Eva, Harley, Frederick J. and Grace. Mr. Wymore gives strict attention to the work of his farm, in which he has been success- ful, but while he is public spirited and interested in the affairs by which the good of the community can be secured, he does not seek public office, and is content to leave such honors to others. In poli- ties he votes with the Republican party.
EBASTIAN SENG, a representative far- mer and stock-raiser of Clatonia Township, owns and operates 160 acres of land on section 13, and is numbered among the enterprising citizens of this part of the county. He is a gentleman in the prime of life, and a native of one of the wealthiest States of the Union, having been born in Tazewell County, Ill., Oct. 17, 1841. His parents, Conrad and Elizabeth (Fifer) Seng, were of German birth and ancestry, and emigrated to America before the birth of our subject, in 1838.
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Their five children included two sons and three daughters. They settled among the pioneers of Tazewell County, Ill., where our subject was reared to manhood and became entirely familiar with the various employments of farm life. His education was conducted in the district school, and he re- mained a member of the parental household until in the twenty-fourth year of his age, then, having made arrangements for the establishment of a home of his own, he was united in marriage with Miss Catherine Westmeyer, the wedding taking place in Peoria, Ill., March 12, 1865.
Mrs. Seng was born in Germany, in August, 1840, and is the daughter of Jacob and Catherine West- meyer, who emigrated from the Fatherland about 1858. Their family consisted of ten children. The parents are now deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. Seng there have been born six children, two of whom, Otto S. and Anne C. E., died when two and one- half and fifteen years old respectively. The sur- vivors are four sons-William H., Charles C., John W. and George E., who continue at home with their parents.
Mr. Seng continued in Illinois until the spring of 1884, then, determined upon a change of loca- tion, he crossed the Mississippi with his family and took up his residence in this county. He and his estimable wife are both members of the German Methodist Episcopal Church, contributing liberally to its support, and being generally interested in those matters pertaining to the social and moral welfare of their community. Mr. Seng is a thor- oughi and skillful farmer, and enjoys the confidence and esteem of his neighbors. His homestead forms one of the most pleasant and desirable among those of Clatonia Township, which is settled up by a class of people more than ordinarily intelligent.
L EONARD S. AUSTIN. There are, perhaps, in the Western country more illustrations of the truth of the ancient legend which teaches there is more room, pleasure and ease at the summit of the social eminence than in any other place. The gentleman whose biography is herein sketched is a case in point; the only capital with
which he started in life was a clear brain, sound body, and an independent, aspiring soul. He was born in Linn County, Iowa, upon the 14th of March, 1849, and is the son of Joseph and Sarah (Sutton) Austin. His father is a native of Lower Canada, his mother of Hardin County, Iowa. They became the parents of nine children, all of whom are living. The mother departed this life on the 27th of August, 1874. and left a memory of faith- ful, affectionate womanly life and character that will endure. Mr. Austin, Sr., contracted a second matrimonial alliance in 1875, the lady being Miss Alvira Sleeth, of Cass County, this State, where they at present reside.
Our subject was reared to manhood in his native county, received the best education obtainable in the schools of the district, with which his parents judiciously commingled the various duties of farm life and attention to stock, so that as he arrived at manhood he had mastered these important details, and instead of being nonplussed by incomprehensi- ble minutia, he was enabled to start in life and operate his own farm after the manner of a master of such pursuits. 1Ie is at present the owner of 160 acres of good land, which has been brought to an almost perfect state of cultivation. Mr. Austin and family came to this farm in the month of March, 1878, having purchased it at the cost of $3.50 per acre. It was then in its original unbroken and unimproved condition, but that has long since given place to a newer and better order of things. There are few houses in the county more happily placed as regards situation, or better calculated by their arrangement to supply the essential factors of a true home. The farm buildings have been provided by the humanitarian thoughtfulness of our subject with such conveniences and arrangements as insure the greatest comfort to his stock.
If man is the creature of circumstance, as many would have us believe, then the circumstance which led to the union of our subject and Miss Mary Nash, of Cass County, although, perhaps, fortuitous, was exceedingly happy and fortunate, for in the years that have passed since their marriage upon the 24th of September, 1874, the streams of life then united have commingled and known no division, and by mutual aid, encouragement, inspiration, en-
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thusiasm, ambition and perseverance, they have risen to. the position it is their pleasure to occupy to-day. Mrs. Austin is the daughter of John and Mary (Hilder) Nash. Her father died Sept. 20, 1887, at the age of sixty-seven years; her mother still resides in Otoe County. Mr. and Mrs. Austin are the parents of one child, who has received the name of Emory, and has attained the age of ten years.
The reputation of our subject is most enviable, both as a man, citizen or farmer. In the latter connection it is chiefly as regards his success with his stock. He is the owner of a very large number of fine hogs of the Poland-China variety, and has angmented his financial prosperity more from this branch of trade than any other. He is also the owner of some fine cattle and horses. As a citizen our subject is careful, so far as he is con- cerned, to aid in the election of only those men who will endeavor by their action while in office to ad- vance thic interests of the people, without regard to petty party politics; at the same time the Repub- lican party usually receives his support. He is, with his wife, well received in society, and they are held in high regard by the community. He is connected with the fraternities of the K. of P. and I. O. O. F., and In both is much respected.
OHN H. CREAIG. Upon section 10 of Lincoln Township is situated the farm of one of Gage County's most excellent and worthy citizens, the property of the subject of this sketch. This farm is 160 acres in extent, and with the exception of a few acres is all under the plow. It contains some of the most excellent agricultural land in the district, and whatever nat- nral advantages may be possessed, its value and efficiency have been greatly enhanced by the untir- ing and zealous labor that has been freely bestowed upon it by our subject.
Mr. Creaig has been from his youth a farmer, and therefore comes to husbandry fully equipped at all points. His life in this State dates from the 11th of May, 1872, when he came with his parents from Cass County, Ill., where he was born in the year
1856, to William and Jane (Tracy) Creaig, natives respectively of Illinois. Besides our subject, they were the parents of one daughter, to whom was given the name Anna, who is residing in the north- western part of the State with her husband, Greene Smith.
Our subject, as above stated, was but a youth when he came to the State, and the happiest part of his life has been that in Nebraska. He has been especially fortunate in the particularly felicitous choice made by him of a life companion. At Bea- trice, Sept. 15, 1880, he was united in wedloek with Celesta I. Rathbun. This excellent lady was born at Rochelle, Ill., Jan. 16, 1862, and accom- panied her parents to this State in 1871. Practi- cally, she was brought up in this State, and received all but the rudiments of her education here. She has developed a character and disposition that are calculated to make her home and every member of it most happy and truly prosperous. There have been three children born of this union-Edward C., Anna R. and George H.
Our subject has not hitherto been prominent in political circles, but has always been anxious to bear every responsibility that is his as a citizen. He usu- ally votes with the Republican party. Being quite a young man, and already the recipient of the most perfect confidence of his fellow-citizens, who ad- mire such success as his, especially when supple- mented by high personal character and honor, it will be a matter of surprise if the future does not contain golden hours and high honors for our sub- ject.
ENRY H. GROVES keeps abreast of the times in all matters of general public im- portance, and is following the pursuit of agriculture with much success on his land on section 10, Nemaha Township. His parents, Jacob and Sally (Warner) Groves, were natives of Rock- ingham County, Va., who married and made their home in Henry County, Ind. The grandparents were natives of Germany, who afterward emigrated to this country, and the paternal grandfather was a soldier in the War of 1812. The father of our subject was a farmer, and in 1856 he moved from Henry County
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to Marshall County of the same State, where he re- mained until the time of his death in 1863, at the age of fifty-seven years. The mother died in 1874, aged sixty-six years, after having seen her family comprising ten children become useful and noble men and women.
Our subject, the seventh child in his father's fam- ily, was born on the 20th of January, 1840, in Fall Creek Township, Henry Co., Ind. His father's farm was situated in such a manner that it bordered on the land of the two adjoining counties, and in fact the home had been at different times in each one of the three counties of Delaware, Madison and Henry. Our subject attended school in each of those counties, and enjoyed an experience with the "Hoosier schoolmasters" of the early day. The school-houses were built of logs, and the furnishings were of the most primitive style, but studious and industrious pupils were able to gain considerable in- formation from their text-books, even if the sur- roundings were not as agreeable and attractive as those of more modern times.
As a dutiful son our subject remained at home until he was twenty-one years old, taking his share in the labor of the farm for the family welfare, and then he farmed a small piece of land of his own clearing, still making his home with his parents un- til the time of his marriage. On the 24th of Feb- ruary, 1866, he was joined in matrimony with Miss Lucinda Parish, a daughter of Green and Mary Emaline (Kerr) Parish. Her parents were natives of North Carolina, in which State they were mar- ried, afterward moving to Indiana, and engaging in farming for a time in Rush County. They then moved to Wayne County, and afterward to Mar- shall County, in which place the father died in 1864, aged sixty years, and the mother in 1874, also aged sixty years. Their family of eight children, four boys and four girls, are all living.
Mrs. Groves was born on the 18th of September, 1841, in Wayne County, Ind., in which place she made her home until her parents moved to Marshall County. She attended the district schools of her native county, and after her change of residence she attended the same school as our subject, and afterward taught for one term in the last-named county. After their marriage they remained for
a period of five years in Marshall County, and in 1871 they came to Nebraska, and the husband bought eighty acres of land in Nemaha Township, this county. Hle then took up a homestead of eighty acres, and began at once to improve his land, in which he met with much success, and was enabled to make subsequent purchases, so that now he is the owner of 440 acres of well-cultivated farming land. He has built a fine house, and has all the necessary and convenient buildings for the care and shelter of his stock on the home farm, consisting of 120 acres on section 10, while he has made valuable improve- ments on 320 acres on section 15. He has two orchards on the former, and one on the latter men- tioned farm, containing 120 bearing fruit trees. There are also beautiful groves containing maple, cottonwood, aslı, catalpa, and 150 mulberry trees, with which our subject has beautified the home farm.
Our subject and his wife have two children, El- mer and Cora Alice, the latter still living at home; Elmer married Miss Lizzie Casham. Mr. Groves is a member of the Farmers' Alliance, and has taken an active part in advancing the educational inter- ests of his community, having helped to organize the schools of his district, and having served as School Moderator. He is an ardent Democrat, and as far as he is able he assists in the upbuilding and upholding of an honest administration. Personally he is endowed with an exterior which is a true chiar- acteristic of the inner man, and he presents a fine, noble appearance. He is a first-class, prosperous farmer, and is equally distinguished for his excel- lent qualities in his public career.
RTIIUR R. FRANCIS, of Blakely Town- ship, has been pursuing the even tenor of his way on a good farm of 160 acres for the last twenty years, having secured this property by homestead right in October of 1867. He had then been a resident of this county one year, and thus is fully entitled to the honors of the pio- neer citizen. His farm lies along the fertile regions watered by Cub Creek, is amply supplied with valuable timber, and to-day, with the improve-
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ments effected by the hand of industry and enter- prise, is numbered among the valuable homesteads of this region.
Mr. Francis came to Nebraska from Benton County, Iowa, in the spring of 1866, in company with another family, making the journey overland with teams. He was born in Kalamazoo County, Mich., April 10, 1843, and is the son of Lyman Francis, a native of the Empire State, and of American parentage. The latter was a farmer by occupation, and spent his childhood and youth in his native county of Oneida, N. Y. Upon reaching manhood he sought for his wife a maiden of his own county, Miss Rachel Fuller, and they settled there and remained until after the birth of several children. The father then believing that he eould do better for his family emigrated to Michigan, settling on a farm in Schoolcraft Township, Kala- mazoo County, where they were among the earliest pioneers.
The Francis family sojourned seventeen years in Michigan, and in 1851 the father sold out and went with his motherless children into Will County, Ill. They lived there on a farm three years. Then crossing the Mississippi, Lyman Francis this time located in Benton County, Iowa, where he spent the remainder of his life, his death taking place in October, 1873, at the age of sixty-eight years. His wife, Rachel, had died at the homestead in Kalama- zoo County, Mich., about 1851. Mr. Francis was for years a member of the Christian Church, and both parents are held in tender remembrance by their children. Of these there were born to them fourteen, nine of whom are living and residing mostly in Iowa.
The subject of this sketch was the fourth child of his parents, and was in his boyhood when they left Illinois for Iowa. He was educated in the common schools of Benton County, and became familiar with farm pursuits as carried on in the Hawkeye State. He was twenty-three years old when the family came to Nebraska, and on the 25th of December, 1866, was married to Miss Ellen Pheas- ant. This lady was born in Tazewell County, III., Feb. 17, 1846, and is the daughter of Edwin and Isabel (Garton) Pheasant, who were natives of New York and Indiana, and are now living in Jef-
ferson County, this State. Mr. Pheasant, a farmer by occupation, was born in New York City, where he lived until a youth of fifteen years. He then came westward to Illinois with his uncle, locating in Tazewell County, where he grew to manhood and was married. His wife, the mother of Mrs. Francis, was born in Indiana, but reared in Illinois, After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Pheasant continued residents of the Prairie State a number of years, then with their family erossed the Father of Waters into Benton County, Iowa, whence in 1866 they came to Nebraska and now have one of the finest homesteads in Jefferson County. Mr. Pheasant has now reached his threeseore and ten years, and his estimable wife is aged about sixty-three. They are most exeellent people and members in good stand- ing of the Christian Church,
Mrs. Francis was a young lady when coming to Nebraska, and remained a member of the parental household until her marriage. Of her union with our subjeet there have been born seven children, two of whom, Clyde and Myrtle, died in infancy. Those living are Owen, Engene, Edwin S., Nora B., John W. and Gertrude. They are a bright and in- teresting group, and are receiving both the school privileges and the home training which will fit them for useful and honored members of society. Our subject and his wife are members in good standing of the Christian Church, and Mr. Francis, politically, is a Prohibitionist.
G EORGE GRANT, deceased. Among the first settlers in Grant Township was the subject of the present writing, and if there was one faet more elearly evinced than another, prior to and at the time of his demise, it was that his habits, charac- ter and life had commended themselves to his neigh- bors and fellow-citizens, and that they held him and his bereaved family in the highest regard. If ever there is an opportunity to diseover the true worth of a neighbor or friend, it is in the pioneer settle- ment, in which neighboring families are thrown almost entirely upon each other for that companion- ship without which life is barren and destitute.
Our subject came to Grant Township and settled
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