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 40
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Toour subject and his wife there have been born four children, two of whom, named Kittie B. and Ross E., were born in Illinois, and the remaining two. Earl M. and Harold, in this county. In 1880 they came to Nebraska and purchased 320 acres of land, all of which they have brought under cultiva- tion and to a most lucrative condition. Our subject has made many valuable improvements, chief of which was the building of a very fine house and farm buildings. The cattle and horse barns are built with a large basement, commonly called " bank barns," and are supplied with running water forced by a wind-pump. Our subject is extensively en-
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gaged in farming and stock-raising, breeding and feeding cattle, and for five years he has turned his attention to breeding roadsters and trotters, having nineteen head of horses. He keeps from 80 to 100 hogs, and has 100 head of cattle. On the farm there are two groves, containing two and a half acres apiece, planted with fine maple and box elder trees.
Mr. and Mrs. Frantz are influential members of the Christian Church, of Beatrice, and are each well qualified by educational and social attainments to honor the place in society accorded to them. Onr subject has been Director of the schools of his town- ship, and takes an active interest in the educational advancement as well as the political and religious welfare of his community. He is an ardent Repub- lican, and his zeal in the cause of that party secured his election as delegate to the Republican County Convention in 1886. He has accumulated his wealth by his own integrity and labor, and is in every respect a self-made man, who has been more than ordinarily successful in life.
W ILLIAM MAHLOCH has proved himself the possessor of a large amount of that ex- cellent quality of manhood and self-reliance, which, united with perseverance and industry, has enabled him to become one of tbe useful young farmers of Blakely Township, in which he owns a fine farm of 240 acres on section 5. When he started out in life he was comparatively poor, and what he now owns has been obtained by his own manly efforts, he being indebted to no man for the help of so much as a penny. He was born in Sheboy- gan County, Wis., on the 14th of December, 1852, and is a son of Phillip and Sophia (Vest) Mahloch, who had come to the United States from one of the Rhine Provinces in Germany after their marriage. The mother died in 1854 iu Wisconsin, but the father is still living in that State, and has reached the age of seventy-two years. The parents were Lutherans in their religious belief.
Our subject was twenty years old when he began working for himself, and first bired out as a farm laborer in his native State, then went to IIenry
County, Ill., where he worked for two years, after which, when he was twenty-three years old, he came to Nebraska. He was married in this township on the 28th of June, 1880, to Miss Lizzie Riddle, who was born in Marylaud in 1862. Her father was a German farmer who had come to the United States and settled in Maryland. The mother died in that State, and the father afterward married again and came to Nebraska, now making his home on a farm in Jefferson County. Mrs. Mahloch was sixteen years old when she came with her father to the great undeveloped West, and a little later was married here.
Onr subject and his wife have had six children in their family. one of whom, named Minnie, died when she was eleven months old, and the remain- ing four children bear the names of Louis, Hannah, Peter and Carrie ; an infant is unnamed. Mr. Malı- loch purchased his first land here in 1879, when lie secured 160 acres, after which he added eighty acres to it from an adjoining farm, and he now has one of the very good farms of this county. The land was wild and unbroken prairie when it came into his hands, and all of its improvements are due to his own industry, it being now in a condition to produce fine crops of grain. Our subject also gives considerable attention to the raising of stock of a superior grade. He was one of the first settlers in this neighborhood, and has been a resi- dent of this county since 1875. He and his wife are highly esteemed members of the German Luth- eran Church, and rank well among the best fam- ilies of the township. Mr. Mahloch affiliates with the Republican party in politics, and is a first-class, honorable man.
AMES M. TARRANTS. Upon the banks of the Big Blue River, in Blakely Township of this county, stands the well-built, splen- didly equipped and excellently managed Caldwell Mill, which is owned by Mr. Tarrants. whose history is herein presented in succinct formn. He is the son of Minos Tarrants, who was born in South Carolina, and while yet a child removed with his parents to Kentucky. In that State he
George . Hilkinson
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met and finally married Miss Nancy McConnell, who was born in Kentucky, of Virginian parents. After his marriage he settled in Warren County, Ky., where they made their home until their death, Mrs. Tarrants dying in the year 1850, at fifty-six years of age, and her husband in the year 1868, at the age of eighty-four years.
Our subject is one of a family of seven children, who are still living. He was born, brought up, educated, learned the duties and tasks of farm work until he arrived at man's estate, at the Warren County homestead. Oct. 5, 1854, he became the husband of Miss Margaret Merrell, at Lexing- ton, Ky., where this lady was born, and had con- tinned to live until that time. Her father was a blacksmith, and had lived in Kentucky, his native State, all his life, and there died in the year 1862.
The home of our subject was made quite bright and happy by the influence of his wife. His house is most happily situated and pleasant, both in in- ternal arrangement and general situation. Mr. and Mrs. Tarrants have been blessed by the birth of three children, whose names are recorded as follows: Ophelia, Lena and Nancy. The first child, how- . ever, died in childhood; Lena is the wife of Dr. C. D. Stevens, of St. Louis, where Mr. Stevens is at present manufacturing mineral paints upon quite a large scale; Nancy, the youngest, is happily mar- ried to C. L. Gratiot, who until his health failed superintended the mill of Mr. Tarrants.
As above noted, our subject was born in Warren County, Ky. There he remained until 1848, when he removed to St. Louis, Mo. After living for some time in that city, he purchased a small farm of twenty-five acres just beyond the city limits. During this time he was engaged in farming and fruit-growing. He removed thither in the year 1856, and in the year 1870 sold that property for the sum of $2,000 per acre. Ile then returned to the city, and removed to this place in 1887, and it was not long before he purchased his present prop- erty. His mill was originally the property of a Mr. Hancard, but this gentleman was bought out by our subject, who, although not a practical miller, has been quite successful in the business. It has an abundant supply of power and has a capacity of seventy-five barrels per day. In order to do this
our subject has been careful to employ only those who are intensely practical, and thoroughly under- stands the business in all its branches. Since the sickness of his son-in-law, the superintendency has been in the hands of Mr. Worthy Lee, a gentleman intimate with every department of his calling, und under whose management the good reputation of this mill is steadily and constantly increasing.
Our subject occupies a prominent place in the township, owing to this fact, and is at the same time highly esteemed because of his honor in all business transactions and general high character. In his political relations he affiliates with the Demo- cratic party, and is among the most stable and con- sistent of his party.
G EORGE C. WILKINSON is a representative of that Empire upon which the sun never sets, and although for many years a resident of this, his adopted country, he presents many of the national characteristics of his race. He came West to procure a home, and the means to sustain the same. Being English, it is needless to add he hung on to his purpose until it was attained, and to- day he possesses such a home of which he may be justly prond, when it is considered how many rough roads have been traveled in order to obtain the secret key to the situation. His residence and beau- tiful farm are upon sections 19 and 20, Sherman Township, and exhibit the most admirable enter- prise, thrifty cultivation, and abundant fertility.
Thomas Wilkinson, the father of our subject, was born in Nottinghamshire, England, in the year 1790. Ilis first employment was in a butcher shop, but as a young man he turned to the profession of veter- inary surgeon, which he practiced with much suc- cess until his death, which occurred in 1842. The maiden name of his wife was Mary A. Cousens, a native of the same county. Their family comprised five children, our subject being the only son. Their names are as follows: Mary A., the wife of George Hardy, one of Iowa's well-to-do farmers; Carolina Wilson, of London, England; our subject; Fanny Hardy. a widow, who makes her home at Island
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Grove, and Jane, who resides in London, England, and is still unmarried.
In Grassthorpe, Nottinghamshire, England, was born on the 6th of October, 1824, the subject of this sketch. All the days of childhood and youth, the school days, and also those when he joined the army of wage workers, were spent at home, and under this sheltering roof he remained until he had passed his eighteenth birthday. From that time he continued for three years in a butcher shop, learning the trade, which he afterward fol- lowed for about two years; then, in 1847, he came to New York, and from there went to Rochester, where he remained a year working at his trade. Thence he went to New Orleans, which was his home for about five years, during which time he continued at his trade, and succeeded in making somewhat of a start toward the success of to-day. At the close of that period he returned to Roch- ester; thence west to Illinois, where he rented a farm in Whiteside County, and for four years saw pros- perous times in that new departure. During this period he lived with his sister, who was upon an ad- joining farm.
The waves of war that surged and billowed filled the whole country with the noise of their roar- ing, and in common with others who had learned to love the star-spangled banner, our subject enlisted in Company F, 93d Illinois Infantry, and proceeded to the barracks at Chicago, where, after a short period spent in necessary drill and outfitting, with his regiment he went to the front, and became one of the Army of the Potomac. He participated in the great conflict at Lookont Mountain, Missionary Ridge, Champion Hills, Vicksburg and Altoona. He was also in Sherman's renowned march to the sea, and on the 3d of January, 1865, received an honor- able discharge at Louisville, Ky.
Upon leaving the army, our subject returned to Illinois, and there spent one year. During this year, however, he surrendered himself to the womanly graces and attributes of Miss Rebecca Jane Borton, the daughter of Darling H. and Anna (Ingling) Borton, natives of New Jersey and Ohio respect- ively. Their family numbered six children, two of whom were daughters. There are now but four members of this interesting family living. The wife
of our subject was the youngest child, and was born Aug. 1, 1843. Iler marriage was celebrated at Davenport, Iowa, on the 15th of June, 1866. Al- most immediately after the happy event the young couple started with wagon, team, and some stock, and continued their westerly journey until their ar- rival in this county, where he entered a homestead of 160 acres. The land taken by our subject was in the hands of a "squatter" who had a small log cabin that covered a site 12x13 feet, and had eight acres of ground broken. Our subject paid him $200 for his interest, and then took it as noted above. At that time the township was all Government land, and was exceedingly sparsely settled, as will be seen when it is noticed that only eleven houses stood as a nucleus of the present beautiful and enterprising city of Beatrice, and that between that place and the liouse of our subject, a distance of fourteen miles, there were only four houses. Since that time our subject has been enabled to purchase more land, until he controls a full half-section.
The family of our subject comprises two chil- dren, who have been named Mary C. and Thomas E. In political matters Mr. Wilkinson affiliates with the Republican party, and finds in it that which is in harmony with his principles and thought in such matters. For several years he has been a mem- ber of the School Board, and fills that office with satisfaction to all. Despite heavy trials, reverses and adversity, our subject has continued faithfully with the work he began, and has for years been numbered among the most prosperous and valued citizens of Sherman Township.
Among the portraits of representative citizens of Gage County presented in this ALBUM may be found that of Mr. Wilkinson.
E DWARD G. RATHBUN. Gage County con- tains its full quota of young men, who fill divers and honorable positions in the vari- ous departments of professional and business life. It is the purpose of this sketch to introduce to the reader one such, who has carved for himself a finan- cial prosperity, and built up a position that is at
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once substantial, and more truly complimentary then any mere eulogy, which this sketch is not de- signed to be. If in the following lines the facts stated reflect creditably upon the subject, as they must, there is supplied the inevitable reason.
Our subject was born in Ogle County, Ill., on the 26th of December, 1863, and is the youngest son and last living of Job B. and Olive M. (Buck) Rathbun. The mother of our subject bade her last farewell to her family, and went to her rest at the age of forty-seven years, in 1880. This lady was born in Steuben County, N. Y., of which State her par- ents were also natives. Thoughout her life she was a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and died in the faith. The father of our subject was also born in Steuben County, and was there reared to manhood. After their marriage the young couple settled in their native State, but only for a short time; they then removed to Ogle County, Ill., and located on a farm near Rochelle. In 1871 he came to this State and has since made his home here, for the greater part of the time at De Witt. He is the owner of 3,000 acres of ground, with the exception of a very small portion all in a very high state of cultivation. He is one of the wealthy men of the county, and has accumulated the greater part in this State.
Mr. Rathbun came to this county with his father, and from that time has made it his home. On the 22d of February, 1887, he was united in marriage, in Blakely Township, to Miss Nellie Whipple. This lady is a native of Illinois, in which State she was born on the 23d of March, 1870, and came to Nebraska with her parents when fifteen years old. Her parents are well connected, and have made many friends. Quite recently, however, they re- moved back to Illinois. Our subjeet and his wife are the parents of one' child, to whom has been given the name Edna May.
The home of our subject is situated on section 10, Lincoln Township, and comprises 160 acres of very fine agricultural land. He has spared no pains in improving his property, and being thor- oughly acquainted with all the work of the farm, he has brought it up to a very high standard of efficieney, and other things being equal, harvests as fine a crop as can be found in the district. His
settlement here dates from 1886. and most certainly his time has been fully and most profitably filled.
Mr. Rathbun takes great interest in the political situation, and usually votes with the Republican party, which looks upon him as a member who in the days to come, if he continues as he has begun, will figure in no mean place in the future history of the county, and perhaps in a larger sphere.
6 EBBE F. FISSER, a worthy member of the farming community of Clatonia Town- ship, owns 320 acres on sections 10 and 11, which he has operated to good advantage since the fall of 1874. Like many others of the solid men of this county his early home was on the other side of the Atlantie, in Hanover, Germany, which at the time of his birth, May 9, 1819, was under the do- minion of the King.
The parents of our subject, Tebbe and Antye (Gummerf) Fisser, were of pure German ancestry, and he was their eldest son. The family consisted of eight children; one is in Germany and one in this country. Tebbe T. was given a good German education, and in the twelfth year of his age began his apprenticeship at the blacksmith's trade, which he followed upon his native soil until the spring of 1848. He had now resolved to emigrate to Amer- ica, not being satisfied with his condition or bis prospeets in his native country, and accordingly took passage on a sailing-vessel at Bremerhaven, and after an ocean voyage of six weeks and three days landed in the city of New Orleans; thence he took a steamer for St. Louis, Mo., where he so- journed two and one-half months engaged in general work. Then, making his way eastward across the Mississippi, he took up his residence in Schuyler County, Ill., where he labored first on a farm and a few months later rented a tract of land, which he operated some time, and then bought a farm in the same county.
'The ten years following Mr. Fisser was engaged in farming and blacksmithing alternately, and in the fall of 1874 left Illinois and settled in Clatonia Township, this county, where he has since lived. He is now the owner of 320 aeres of good land, to
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which he has obtained a clear title solely by the ex- ercise of his industry and perseverance. His toils and sacrifices have been shared by one of the most estimable of women, who has been his faithful and devoted wife and his wise counselor for over forty- three years. To this lady, who was in her girlhood Miss Mary E. Schmid, he was married May 9, 1845, in his native Germany. Mrs. Fisser was born in Hanover, June 17, 1818. She, with her husband, is a consistent member of the German Methodist Episcopal Church, in which Mr. F. has served a number of years as Class-Leader and Super- intendent of the Sunday-school. Both have taken a warm interest in church matters, contributing liberally to its support and prosperity. Mr. F., politically, votes independently, believing in sup- porting principles instead of men. He has served as School Director in his district three years, and is one of those men in whom the community have entire confidence, and whose word is as good as his bond. In a comfortable home, surrounded by friends and the other good things of life, Mr. Fisser is but enjoying the fruits of an honorable career, in which there has never been a questionable act.
HARLES W. GEORGE is the present Clerk of Elm Township, and is a young man who possesses many admirable qualities of man- hood, as is proved by the honorable position which he occupies and the universal esteem in which he is held by the people of his community. His father, Daniel F. George, was born in New Hampshire in 1819, and his mother, whose maiden name was Mary Jane Mitchell, was born in Adams County, Ohio, in 1829. The father moved to Whiteside County, Ill., where he was one of the pioneer set- tlers, and where he still lives and follows the oc- cupation of farming.
. Our subject was born in Whiteside County, May 28, 1854, and his early life was spent on his father's farm, and in acquiring the education furnished by the common schools of that time, after which he attended for one year the Commercial College at Clinton, Iowa, and was well prepared to begin an active business life. He remained with his father
and engaged in agricultural pursnits until the year 1882, when he removed to his present farm, con- sisting of 160 acres on section 30, Elm Township. When he came on his land it was in a rough, un- cultivated condition, and he has made all of the improvements on it, having erected good buildings, made rows of fencing and planted groves of native timber.
On the 2d of October, 1882, our subject was married, in Whiteside County, Ill., to Miss Hattie Hudson, who was born in Garden Plain. in the be- fore-mentioned county. She is a daughter of John H. and Amanda (Mitchell) Hudson, who were both natives of Ohio, and had moved to Whiteside County, where the former was engaged in business as a merchant and shipper of stock. In 1878 his house was entered by burglars, and he unfortunately met his death by a pistol shot from the hand of one of the intruders. Mrs. George completed the course of instruction at Fulton College, and then for three years she was engaged in teaching in the public schools of her native town. She also made a thor- ough study of music and became an accomplished performer, giving instructions in that accomplish- ment for four years.
To the home of our subject and his wife there were sent three little children, two of whom, although they were received with hearts full of affec- tion and were tenderly cared for by devoted par- ents, were not allowed to remain long in the home which they had brightened, but were called to a higher sphere to beckon with their young hands to the bereaved parents. Their names are remem- bered as John and Harry, Calvin Mitchell being left to comfort his parents. Our subject and his wife are esteemed members of the Presbyterian Church, at Diller, Jefferson County.
Mr. George served as 'Town Treasurer during the years 1885 and 1886, and he was elected Clerk of the township in the fall of 1886, re-elected in 1887, and has given general satisfaction and won the approval of all. He votes with the Repub- lican party. Mrs. George is a strong temperance advocate, and is a lady in every way refined and amiable, her cultivated taste showing to good ad- vantage in the excellent manner in which she orders her home and its appointments. They are very
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happily situated in every respect, and our subject has a bright prospect for the future, having already ascended several steps in the ladder of fame. Mr. George was formerly a member of Lodge No. 566, A. F. & A. M., at Albany, Ill., but since the organ- ization of a lodge at Diller has attached his mem- bership to the latter.
R OBERT T. JERMAN. Among those who with patriotic heroism left all to stand in defense of their country when the storm of civil war burst upon us, was the subject of this sketch, who also has since done all that lay in his power to aid in the development and upbuild- ing of the Great West. Mr. Jerman is a native of the Buckeye State, having been born in Russell- ville, Brown Co., Ohio, on the 12th of April, 1837, and is the son of George and Rebecca (Bivans) Jerman, natives respectively of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. They were united in marriage in Hillsboro, and subsequently took up their residence in Brown County. In the year 1850 they went to Peoria County, Ill., and settled upon a farm near Trivoli. There the father of our subject died at the age of seventy-two years, in the year 1880, and the mother in the year 1884, aged eighty years and eighteen days. They were the parents of nine chil- dren, five of whom are living, whose names are re- corded as follows: Julia, now Mrs. William Wright; Robert, our subject; Jonathan ; Sarah; Fredonia, who is happily married to Arthur A. Pierce.
R. T. Jerman was reared upon the farm, and early initiated into the why and wherefore of things connected therewith. When the family re- moved to Illinois he was about fourteen years of age, and he remained working with his father until the bugle note of war's alarm rang throughout the country, calling men from office and store, and from bench and plow. Our subject responded with alacrity born of loyalty to the flag, and in 1861 he enlisted in Company C, 57th Illinois Infantry, and served for three years and thirteen days, when he was mustered out at Savannah, Ga. He was an active combatant in the battles of Shiloh and Cor- inth, Miss., besides a large number of engagements
of less importance. Upon the 3d of October, 1863, he was twice wounded at Corinth. Miss., once in the face, and again in the right thigh. At Holly Springs he was taken prisoner, and after being held "in durance vile" for a period of ten days, he was paroled and returned home, and remained.until April, 1863, when he again went to the front, and took part in the memorable Atlanta campaign, and was one of the heroes who accom- panied Sherman in the memorable march which has become a household word in the nation, and sup- plied the theme for one of its most thrilling pa- triotic songs.
Upon receiving an honorable discharge, our sub- ject returned to Illinois and resumed farming, in which he continued prosperously engaged until he came to Nebraska, in the early part of 1880, and purchased 160 acres of land situated upon section 17 of Midland Township. Here he has been, if pos- sible, more diligent. active and enterprising than in Illinois, and has accomplished a great deal along the line of improving his property, in spite of the fact that his health has never been the same since his army life. He has, however, not allowed this to hinder more than was absolutely necessary, and has the satisfaction of knowing that, should there come a time when labor will be an impossibility, he has quite a fair competency wherewith to help out the somewhat slender pension sent him by Uncle Sam in remembrance of the past.
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