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 47
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UGUST WARDEL. There are few more worthy representatives of the German Em- pire than our subject, who is the owner of a beautifully kept and well-cultivated farm of 320 acres, situated on section 24 of Grant Town- ship, of which he is a prominent citizen. The farm is watered by the Snake Creek, which makes it most valuable as a stock farm, since even in dry seasons there is a sufficiency for the cattle. The property has been in his possession since 1875, and he has since spared neither time, trouble nor expense in order to bring it to a well-nigh perfect state of agricultural efficiency, and to supply it with the divers necessities and conveniences in daily requi- sition upon a stock ranch. His farm buildings are nnusually fine, being substantially built, commodi- ous, and in arrangement convenient.
Previous to removal to this county our subject was a resident of Logan County, Ill., where he made his home in Lincoln for about four years, having an interest in the furniture and hardware business. He came to the United States in 1871, and located at Lincoln, being about twenty-nine years of age at that time. Previous to coming to this country he had been a resident of the city of Berlin, Germany, for about eleven years, and was
there engaged in piano building. The place of his birth was the city of Kiel-Raisdarf, in Sleswick- Holstein. This interesting event occurred on the 19th of January, 1842. In this place our subject was brought up, educated, and learned the trade of furniture-making, after which he continued to work four years as a journeyman cabinet-maker, and after spending three years in various parts of the Fatherland repaired to Berlin, as above noted. He was a skilled workman, but his health failed him, and was the immediate canse of his seeking another climate and of his coming to the United States. His quest of health has not been fruitless, for he has gained this in a remarkable degree.
While residing in Berlin our subject became the husband of Carlena Bree, in the year 1866. This lady was born in Werbelin. on the 16th of Decem- ber, 1843, and is a descendant of a good old Ger- man family. Both herself and husband are well educated in their native tongue, and it only required that they should become conversant with the En- glish language in order to utilize it in this country. They are the happy parents of one son and four daughters, to whom they have given the following names: William, Anna, Clara, Lizzie and Berta. Our subject and wife are both members of the Lutheran Church, in which faith they were reared. In his political sympathies our subject is Demo- cratic. He takes great pleasure in studying the various issues before the nation, and his former patriotic sentiments in nowise interfere with his loyalty to the Republic. He has songht to make himself thoroughly well acquainted with the insti- tutions and government of this country, and ap- preciates them to the fullest possible extent, and is in fact in every way worthy of mention as a repre- sentative German-American citizen.
E DWARD BARTLETT, of Blakely Town- ship, has been well known among the people of this county for a period of nearly twenty years, having come to this locality in the winter of 1869. He has the greater portion of his life been engaged in farming pursuits, and has been success- ful in his labors. As a pioneer of Southern Nc-
RESIDENCE OF AUG. WARDEL, SEC. 24. GRANT TOWNSHIP.
RESIDENCE OF EDWARD BARTLETT, SEC.33. BLAKELY TOWNSHIP.
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braska, coming here during the days of its early settlement, he has been the privileged witness of the many changes which have passed over the face of the country, and in its growth and prosperity has borne no unimportant part.
Mr. Bartlett, soon after striking the soil of Gage County, concluded there were few better places to locate, and secured a tract of land which had been homesteaded by another party, who had retired in disgust from the undertaking of becoming a per- manent resident of the then Territory of Nebraska. This tract embraced 160 acres on seetion 33 of Blakely Township, and was in its primitive condi- tion. Our subject began the cultivation of the soil in a modest way, in keeping with his means and facilities, and, by a course of study and economy, in the course of time began to realize the result of bis labors. What had seemed a barren waste be- gan to respond to the hand of the husbandman, and in due season Mr. Bartlett found himself on the road to prosperity, with capital for making the necessary improvements. Gradually there arose the farm buildings which the traveler observes with interest to-day, together with the machinery for the prosecution of agriculture after modern methods. A goodly assortment of live stock began to grow up, together with fruit and shade trees planted by the hand of the proprietor, so that now the well- appointed country estate not only appears as a credit to its owner, but is a eredit likewise to the township and county.
When we consider that Mr. Bartlett built up his little fortune from the foundation, coming bere poor in purse and without other resources than his own indomitable will and persevering industry, it will be granted that he has accomplished much where many a man would have failed. A native of Wiltshire, England, he is of that stanch, substan- tial ancestry which has ever been noted for its relis- ble qualities of citizenship. He was born Feb. 7, 1848, and is the son of Ilenry Bartlett, who was a weaver by trade, and worked in the woolen-mills of his native town several years before coming to this country. He made two visits to the United States before settling permanently, and is now set- tled on a good farm near the town of Pickrell. this county, living with his fourth wife, a German lady.
The mother of our subject was in her girlhood Miss Elizabeth Whatley, and departed this life in her native England, when her sou, our subject, was less than a year old. The latter lived with his fa- ther and step-mother until after reaching his major- ity. coming with them to the United States and assisting them in the maintenance of the family. They landed in Beatrice, this county, on the 6th of December, 1869, and soon afterward located on a farm in Blakely Township among its earliest pio- neers. When ready to establish domestic ties of his own Mr. Edward Bartlett was united in marriage with Miss Martha, daughter of Isaac and Isabella Lamb, the wedding taking place at the home of the bride in Blakely Township, July 16, 1873. Mrs. Bartlett was born in Marion County, Iowa, Dec. 6, 1855, and was a young girl when her parents came to Nebraska. The latter were natives of Ohio, and are now residents of Blakely Township. Mrs. B. received a common-school education and remained under the home roof until her marriage. Of her union with our subject there have been born eight children, one of whom, Elizabeth, died when nine months old. Those living are Charlotte, Henry, Emma, Arthur, Anna, William and Isabella. They form a promising family group, and will he given the advantages suited to their station in life. Mr. Bartlett takes a lively interest in educational mat- ters and is the friend of progress generally. Polit- ically, he gives his support to the Democratic party.
6 HOMAS P. TEAGARDEN is a prosperous young farmer residing on section 36. Elm Township. Ilis father, George W. Teagar- den, was born in Virginia in 1826, and his mother, Maria (Pees) Teagarden, was born in Ohio in 1831. The father was a blacksmith by trade, and was engaged in business in Washington, Pa., in which piace he married. In 1862 he enlisted in the 2d Corps, Company D, 140th Pennsylvania Infantry, and in the time of his service he was engaged for thirteen months as the army blacksmith, serving the remainder of the time in the ranks as a loyal soldier.
During one of the engagements the father of our
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subject was shot in the forehead, but the bullet glanced to one side and the wound did not prove fatal, though he was incapacitated for service for a few months and suffered extreme pain. He was mustered out in April, 1865, and upon his release from the service of the country he went to Pros- perity, Pa., where he remained for two years, and then removed to Marshall County, Ill. Thence he went to Livingston County, and again changed his residence, to Bureau County, in which place both father and mother are now living. He is engaged in the vocation of his earlier days, and is also sell- ing machinery. There were nine children in their family, our subject being the second.
Mr. Teagarden was born in Washington, Pa., on the 30th of April, 1854, and he remained at home until he reached the age of twenty-three years. He received a good common-school education, and after his school days were over he farmed for a period of two years in Livingston County, Ill., and again for two years in Bureau County. He then moved to Johnson County, this State, where he remained for one year, and in 1884 he came to this county and bought eighty acres of land in Elm Township, on which he makes his home. He has made all the improvements except the building of the house, and his farm presents a very attractive appearance.
On the 24th of December, 1878, while he was living in Illinois, our subject was married to Miss Clara Carse, who was born in Bureau County, on the 12th of February, 1854. She is a daughter of Andrew and Cornelia (Anthony) Carse, both of whom were born in Ohio, and at present reside in Livingston County, Ill. They had a family of nine children, of whom the wife of our subject is the third child. She received a thorough educa- tion, and took a course of instruction in the State Normal, at Normal, Ill., and was thus well fitted to engage in the profession of teaching. In that capacity she was occupied for eight years previous to her marriage, and her intelligence and ladylike manners insured her eminent success in the noblest of vocations. She is as admirable a wife and mother as she was exemplary as a schoolmistress.
To our subject and his wife there have been given four children-Frank S., George Roy, Mande,
and a babe unnamed. Both Mr. and Mrs. Teagar- den are much interested in educational matters, the former having held the office of School Director for three years, and in every way they lend their sup- port to the measures by which the highest enlight- enment of the community can be secured. Our subject is a strong Prohibitionist, and is prominent among active and public-spirited men.
MBROSE STRAWDER carries on an exten- sive and prosperous business as farmer and stock-raiser on section 28, Hooker Town- ship, and is widely known as a man of great business ability and unimpeachable character. He is a son of Isaac and Lucinda (Wimer) Straw- der, who were both natives of Virginia, and lived in their native State for a time after their marriage. Grandfather Wimer participated as a brave soldier in the War of 1812, and lived to the extreme old age of one hundred and two years, while Grandfather Strawder attained the age of ninety-six years. The father of our subject was engaged in farming in Vir- ginia until 1865, when he moved to Kansas, but he did not long survive in his new home, departing this life soon after his removal to that State, at the age of fifty-two years. The mother is sixty-four years old, and still lives at her home near Lincoln, having cared for a family of six children, namely: Am- brose, William T., Isaac N., Philip A., Solomon G. and Sarah C.
Our subject was born on the 30th of October, 1852, near Franklin, Va., and spent his early days on his father's plantation. The educational facili- ties were much limited, and the only schools which he attended were the "rate schools," in which he gained a thorough acquaintance with the element- ary branches of learning. He remained at home until he was twenty-four years old, and then he came to Nebraska, stopping in Cass County, where he worked on a farm near Plattsmouth for two ycars and then rented a farm in Otoe County. In the following year of 1880, he was married to Miss Saralı E. Miles, a daughter of A. C. and Eliza (Lockwood) Miles.
Mrs. Strawder was born on the 20th of May,
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1863. in Missouri, and was a young girl when she was brought to Nebraska during the time of the war. She has received a very good common- school education, and possesses many charms as a lady of education and refinement. For one year after their marriage our subject and his wife remained on a farm in Otoe County, after which they came to Gage County, und have since resided on their present farm of 300 acres, of which they own 240 acres. The land is very valuable and our subject has been very successful in the cultivation of it, as well as in the use to which he devotes it as a stock ranch. He has 112 head of cattle and from thirty- five to sixty head of logs. His farm appears to be in a splendid condition, and he may well feel grati- fied at its appearance, since the improvements have been mainly wrought by the labor which he has ex- pended on it.
Our subject and his wife have an interesting family of five children, on whom they have bestowed the names of Estella, Rosy. Carrie, Oliver and Nellie. With the careful home training of the de- voted mother and the many advantages of educa- tion and society which the position of their father can secure for them, these children will undoubt- edly become intelligent and noble men and women, and an honor to their parents. Our subject takes an active interest in the welfare of the public, as all right-minded and loyal citizens should, and the public is not slow to acknowledge his worth, having elected him Moderator of the schools, in which capac- ity he is now serving. He strongly advocates the policy of the Democratic party, and by bis hon- orable and successful career he has won the esteem and friendship of the people of his community, who speak of him in terms of the highest praise.
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R OLAND E. SHELLEY is the genial clerk of Rockford Township, and although a young and unmarried man he is probably more widely and favorably known than any other man of the township. Ile possesses a naturally pleasant and agreeable disposition, which has gained for him a host of warm and admiring friends, and he may well feel gratified because of
his popularity, having twice been elected by a vote far in advance of his party ticket. Ile is a son of Francis and Fanny (Hollingworth) Shelley, who were natives of England, the former of Staf- fordshire, and the latter of Derbyshire. The father followed the occupation of a shoemaker, and came to America with his family of five children in 1855, making his home in Portage County, Wis. lle worked for a time on a farm near Stevens' Point, and in 1861 he brought his family to Ne- braska, with its two additional members, and took up a homestead on section 19, Rockford Township, where he prospered well. He died in 1884, at the age of seventy-two, but the mother of our subject still lives in Holmesville with her son. There were six children in the family, four of whom were born in England, and named Myra, James W .. Thomas and Francis R. The remaining two, named Joseph A. and Roland E., were born in Wisconsin.
Our subject was born on the 6th of January, 1860, near Plover, Wis., and when he was a babe his parents moved to Nebraska, in August, 1861. The educational advantages were but limited owing to the newness of the country, but by close application our subject secured a thorough education in the common-school branches, and naturally possessing an ingenions and inquiring mind, he accumulated a large fund of general information, which, united with the attainments of the school-room, marks him as a young man of more than ordinary intelligence and kecnness of perception. He remained at home on his father's farm until he reached the age of twenty-one, when he went into a telegraph office of the Union Pacific Railroad, at Holmesville, and learned telegraphy. He soon obtained a situation on the Nebraska extension of the Missouri Pacific Railroad, at Padonia, Brown Co., Kan., where he re- mained for some time, but as his father was getting old our subject came home to take care of his par- ents as a dutiful son should. His father died on the 25th of May, 1884, at the age of seventy-two years.
In 1883 our subject had a neat and attractive frame house built in Holmesville, to which he re- moved with his mother in March, 1886. He has been engaged in the mercantile business. and is at present the gentlemanly and accommodating clerk
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of J. H. Fuller, dealer in general merchandise. His well-known efficiency secured him the election to the office of Clerk of the township, in which he is now serving his second term, giving general satis- faction. He is a member of the Methodist Episco- pal Church, and is prominently identified with the work of the Sunday-school, having served as Super- intendent of the school. He ardently advocates the policy of the Democratic party, and in the year 1887 he was sent as a delegate to the Democratic County Convention, where he was chosen delegate to represent his township at the State Convention. Ile is at present the delegate to the County Con- vention, his former service in behalf of his party having secured him this last election. In the Judiciary Court of September, 1887, he served with much credit on the Circuit Jury. He is an enter- prising young man, and has the promise of a bril- liant future before him, for which he is qualified by the possession of the virtue of true manhood.
MOS L. WRIGHT. Our subject, one of Sherman Township's valued citizens, re- sides upon section 14, and is the owner of one-half the section. James Wright, the father of our subject, was born in Ohio, and there spent the first twelve years of his life, when he ac- companied his parents when they removed to settle in Menard County, Ill. In that State he made his home until 1855, and then went to Keo- kuk County, Iowa, remaining there until he came to Nebraska, in 1867, and settled in Saline County, which was his place of residence until his death, which occurred in the spring of 1882. He was a man of active habits, bright and hopeful, but when he made up his mind upon a point, quietly deter- mined to effect his purpose. His death was gener- ally lamented by all the large circle that comprised his relatives, friends and acquaintances. His wife was Elizabeth Offield, a native of Kentucky, in which State also her parents were born. She was united in marriage to Mr. Wright in 1843, while residing in Menard County. Their family circle included eight children, all of whom are still living. Amos, our subject, was the first-born; the other
members of the family received the names sub- joined : William, who is a carpenter in Scott County, Iowa; John D., a mason at Wilber, Saline County ; Ira S., who is a farmer at DeWitt, of the same county ; Edward, a professional musician in De Witt; James H., a farmer in this county; Hannalı, the wife of Selden Lupher, a farmer in Saline County, and Elizabeth, who is still unmarried, and lives at home.
It was upon the 27th of September, 1844, that our subject was born in the old farmhouse in Menard County, Ill. He continued at home until he was twenty-two years of age. His education was commenced at about the usual age, and con- tinned until he had passed through all the classes of the common school, after which he attended the complete course at the High School of Washington County, Iowa. In 1866 he came to this county, and on the 13th of July entered a homestead on section 10, where he continued to reside until 1885, when, having a good offer, he sold it and purchased one-half of section 14, his present property. There are no especially dramatic events or adventurous phases in the life of our subject; it is rather the story of the quiet, somewhat retiring, but prosperous life of the busy, intelligent, practical farmer, with very little of care or anxiety outside the circle of his occupation and his home. To this latter, how- ever, it is his endeavor to bring a wealth of all those parts, points and attributes that go to make it the perfect haven of rest and abode of true domesticity it was originally designed to be.
In 1874 Mr. Wright married Clara Wickham, who has exhibited those womanly graces and matronly qualities that make her name a pride and delight to her family and friends. This lady was born in Andrew County, Mo., July 27, 1847. It was her misfortune to be bereaved of her father in the year 1853, and her mother now makes her residence in the home of our subject. Mrs. Wickham pre- sented her husband with thirteen children, seven of whom are living, Mrs. Wright being the young- est of the family. Our subject and wife are the parents of three children, who have received the names Francis A., Elizabeth and Frederick A.
One of the most interesting memories of the past of our subject is that connected with his carlier life
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in the State, and concerns the following incident: In 1867 the Indians made a raid upon the settle- ment, leaving their track marked with blood, vio- lence and destruction. The Governor called upon the settlers for help: among those who responded with alacrity was our subject, and he was one of the party to discover and identify some of the slain, and reseue certain captives. Mr. Wright has for many years been associated with the Republican party, and still continues his adherence to the same. He has been called upon to fill the office of As- sessor, and did so with much credit. For four years he served most worthily as a member of the School Board. With his family, as before remarked, he enjoys the highest regard of his fellow-citizens, which he values and appreciates most highly.
SAAC NAYLOR is an industrious and prosper- ous farmer residing on section 17, Nemaha Township. Ilis father, John Naylor, was a na- tive of Kentucky; his mother, Barbara (Corman) Naylor, was a native of Maryland, and they were married in the first-named State, making their home in Fayette County. The father's ancestors were natives of England, who had come to America dur- ing the Colonial times, and at the time of the War of 1812 the father of our subject participated in some of the engagements. Ile was a farmer, and lived in Fayette and Jessamine Counties the greater part of his life, but although he had a large planta- tion and prospered well, he would keep no slaves even during slave time. Unfortunately he did not live to see the abolition of slavery, his death occur- ring before the war, when he was sixty-two years old. The mother of our subject died in 1869, in her eighty-fifth year, and had borne a family of eight children, four girls and four boys, all of whom grew to manhood and womanhood, and whose names are Mary, Elizabeth, Nancy, Isaac, John, .James, Jane and Benjamin.
Our subject was born on the 15th of July, 1819, in Ohio, at the time of the three-years residence of his parents in that State, but his earliest recollec- tions are of the scenes in his Kentucky home. His father met with an accident while quarrying rock,
and was crippled so that he was no longer able to attend to the supervision of his large plantation, and our subject, as the eldest son, was early called upon to assume the responsibilities of manager of the estate. He received his education from the common schools of that time, and continued in charge of the homestead until 1842, when he was married to Miss Maria Miller. After his marriage he lived on a farm in the vicinity of his old home for seven or eight years, and then went to Macoupin County, Ill., where he bought a farm and was pros- pering well until the second year, when his wife died. Her death was a sad bereavement to him, as they had been married but ten years, and she was only twenty-four years old when she left him her five children, whose names are Mary Jane, Louisa, Jacob, Ann and an infant.
With the exception of the last-named child the children of our subject and his first wife were mar- ried and established in homes of their own, and had about them their own children. Mary Jane became the wife of W. II. Stults, a blacksmith, and they reside near Waverly, Macoupin Co., Ill. In their family they have five girls and five boys, whom we name as follows: Luther, Mettie, Pearlie, Lou, Ella, Eugene, James, Butler, Elberta and Alfred. Louisa married John Beard, but she died in 1869, at the age of twenty-three years; she was the mother of one child, Frankie, who is also deceased. Jacob resides in Nemaha Township, and is a pros- perous farmer; he married Martha Nibert, and is the father of four children-Charles, Frank, Walter and Adah. Ann married Joseph Stidley, and re- sided in Adams Township until the time of her death in 1885, leaving motherless the following seven children : Mathew, Mand, Ella, Joseph, Will- iam, Charles and George.
Our subject continued to reside on his farm in Macoupin County, and was married on the 15th of January, 1854, to Miss Eliza Baggerly, a daughter of Jonathan and Cassandra (Bailey ) Baggerly. Her parents were born in Shelby County, Ky., and both the paternal and maternal grandfathers were soldiers in the Revolutionary War. The parents lived in Shelby County, where the father was engaged in farming, and afterward they removed to Clark County, Ind., where they lived a long time and
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