Portrait and biographical album of Gage County, Nebraska : containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county, Part 66

Author: Chapman Brothers (Chicago, Ill.)
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Chicago : Chapman Brothers
Number of Pages: 794


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 66


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On the 11th of March, 1874, our subject was called to mourn the death of his wife, who left eight children to his care, namely: Robert, Paulina, Daniel (deceased), Duwane, Emma, James, John


and Mary E. Two years later our subject married Mrs. Mary Jane Post, nee Shearer, who was a native of Pennsylvania. and was born in Perry County on the 6th of October, 1842. By this marriage they have one child, named Cora Belle. Mr. Townsend is an able advocate of the Republican party, and has taken an active part in the public affairs of his township, having served as Justice of the Peace for several years. He is a public-spirited and enter- prising citizen, and for many years has been an honored and influential member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.


C HARLES E. VAN PELT, whose beautiful farm is situated on section 7 of Sherman Township, has brought into his daily farm occupations and duties all that vim, enterprise, nervous energy, ambitious progressiveness and shrewd common sense which are the characteristics by which the Western American is chiefly endowed in the mind of the foreigner, who reads or speaks about him. His father, R. H. Van Pelt, was born in New Jersey, in 1808. He left that State when twenty-two years of age, and went to Jersey County, Ill., and entered heartily into agricultural work, continuing in the same until the year 1858, when he died.


The maiden name of the mother of our subject was Penelope Stout. who was born in New Jersey, in the year 1810. She married Mr. Van Pelt pre- vious to his removal from their native State to Illinois. Their family came to include seven chil- dren, all of whom were bright, naturally healthy sons. Of these five attained man's estate and en- tered the ranks of honorable citizenship. The names borne by them are as here appended: Alex- ander, a farmer of Jersey County, Ill. ; Clark, a resi- dent of Macon County, Mo., and the proprietor of a first-class harness-making establishment; Win- field S., of Jersey County, Ill., who is following the trade of a carpenter; our subject, and Wilbur F., a furrier of Macon County, Mo.


The subject of this sketch was born upon the Jersey County homestead, on the 22d of December, 1846, and continued to reside with his parents un-


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til he attained his majority. There was little room in his life. filled as it was with farm duties and labor from boyhood, for the educational process, although this might have been changed had the opportunity for obtaining an education been more complete, but there was very little chance for such profitable in- vestment of time and mental power, and the result was that his education, by force of circumstances, was somewhat neglected; but upon the more prac- tical subjects of labor he was more at home, and entered the years of manhood fully equipped for the conflict.


The removal of our subject to Nebraska occurred in 1869, when he came to this county and purchased a quarter-section of land at the rate of $2 per acre. It was, of course, in a virgin state, and he immedi- ately set to work to bring about a more complete and useful order of things, bestowing much thought and labor upon it. It was not long before smiling fields, waving grain and tasseled corn took the place of the tall, waving, wiry prairie grass. His claim shanty was removed after the lapse of a few years, and a more commodious and beautiful residence took its place, but it lacked attractive power and comfort to him. Sept. 27, 1877, he supplied the "one thing needful" to transform the house into a home. That year he entered into wedlock with Car- rie Linscott, the attractive and accomplished daugh- ter of Mr. and Mrs. Jeremiah Linscott, natives of Indiana, but subsequently residents of Ohio. where, in Greene County, their daughter Carrie was born upon the 1st of October, 1852. Her father still resides at the old home, which was sanctified to him by the birth of his child, and made more sacred in subsequent years as the scene of the last hours of his wife, who died Oct. 8, 1881, aged fifty-eight years and six months. The home of our subject and his wife has been illuminated, and its felicity enhanced, by the birth of five children, to whom have been given the following names: Linscott S., Wilbur F., Fannie L., Richard F. and Carrie.


Mr. Van Pelt was among the early pioneers of this State, and settled when neighbors were few and far between, when Nebraska City was the depot of import and export, and the only market. He ex- perienced all the trials, difficulties, hardships, pri- vations and pleasures of pioneer life, and has


watched with keen interest the phenomenal develop- ment and brilliant advance of this State, that has just passed the point in number of years between minor- ity and majority. Our subject's political sympa- thies are with the Republican party, and always have been. He has held with much honor and credit the most important offices of the township, including that of Justice of the Peace for a term of four years, of Assessor for ten years in succces- sion, and member of the School Board for six years. Socially, he is connected with the ancient fraternity of Free Masonry, and is a true and faithful frater of the lodge at Beatrice. His working tools are not allowed to lie by in idleness, but each and every one are used after their own order and in their sev- eral works, with the result, necessary and natural, that he is honored and respected, not merely within the mystic circle of his Masonic home, but also wherever true manhood and high character are ad- mired and esteemed. This sentiment is likewise shared in by his wife and family.


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E LBRIDGE H. BURINGTON, real-estate agent. Notary Public and Police Magistrate for the city of Blue Springs, is numbered among its prominent and well-to-do citizens. He is the owner of a fine home on Washington street, between Broad and Main, and has other improved real estate in this city.


Our subject is the offspring of an excellent fam- ily who trace their ancestry back to the early set- tlers of Vermont and New Hampshire. His father, Rensselaer Burington, was born in the State of Vermont, in 1812, where he was reared and educated, and learned the trades of carpenter and millwright. These trades he followed until about twenty-five years of age, then leaving New En- gland, established himself as a boot and shoe manu- facturer in Springfield, Pa. Ile operated thus successfully for a period of fifteen years, then dis- posing of his interests in the Keystone State, mi- grated to Lee County, Il., and purchasing a tract of land, built up a fine farm. HFe sojourned there also fifteen years, then crossed the Mississippi into Tama County, Iowa, where he kept a confectionery store.


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Later he returned to Illinois, establishing a similar store and adding to it a stock of groceries. In 1879 he sold out, and coming to this county took up his residence in Blue Springs, where he spent the re- mainder of his life.


The father of our subject was a very industrions and enterprising man, and during his early man- hood greatly interested in public affairs, and served as a Captain of Militia until the repeal of the law relating to military affairs. Religiously, he was first connected with the Christian Church, and later with the First-Day Adventists. He was married, in Ver- mont, in 1833, to Miss Lucy Pike, a native of New Hampshire, and they became the parents of six children, all of whom lived to mature years, and of whom four still survive. Mrs. B. was the daughter of John and Clarissa (Parker) Pike, and was born April 12, 1813. She continued at home during her childhood and youth. and is still living, making her home with her son, our subject. Rensselaer Bur. ington departed this life Jan. 17, 1881.


The paternal grandfather of our subject, Ami Burington by name, and a native of Connecticut, was a millwright by trade, and also carried on farm- ing. Upon removing from his native State he located first in Vermont, and thence removed to Erie County, Pa., where he spent the remainder of his life. Elbridge H., the subject of this sketch, was born in Springfield, Erie Co .. Pa., Feb. 8, 1837, where he remained with his parents until reaching his majority. He was educated in the common schools and worked with his father on the farm un- til leaving Pennsylvania in 1859, and settling in Lee County, Ill. He preceded the family to the latter place, they following the next year. He was a resident there for a period of twenty-seven years, working on his farm in Amboy and also engaging in carpentering.


In 1863 Mr. Burington, who had always given much attention to religious subjects, and who un- questionably possessed fine talents as a speaker, entered the ministry and thus labored in the Mas- ter's vineyard for a period of ten years. In the meantime he was also employed at his trade and carried on his farm. At the expiration of this time he abandoned manual labor and accepted the pasto- rate of both the Advent and Christian Churches at


different points, continuing in the ministry there- after, and being located six years in Genoa. De Kalb County. Subsequently he spent one year as an evangelist, and then returned to his former charge, remaining another year. He was held in high esteem by the people among whom he labored, and withdrew from the ministry only when failing health compelled the step.


Mr. Burington came to this county in the spring of 1880, and after a season of rest and quietude resumed his trade of carpentering, and finally oper- ated as a contractor and builder. He assisted in the erection of many of the important buildings of Blue Springs, including Rice Bros.' Block, the Bar- inger Block, and indeed most of the brick blocks now standing. He also purchased ground which he built upon, and is now the possessor of valuable property. He worked industriously during a sea- son when many others, discouraged, left the place. He was finally compelled to abandon his contract business and take up something less laborious; giv- ing his attention wholly to real estate, he is now in the enjoyment of a handsome income.


The marriage of Elbridge H. Burington and Miss Mary A. Aldrich was celebrated at Inlet, Lee Co., Ill., May 1, 1858. This union resulted in the birth of four children, one of whom died in infancy. Those surviving are: Orin E., Eva M. and Alice B. Mrs. B. is the daughter of Joseph and Zilpha Ald- rich, and was born in the State of Vermont, on the 27th of November, 1836. While she was still a child her parents removed to Pennsylvania, where they lived eighteen years, then migrated to Illinois, settling in Lee County, where the mother died in the spring of 1858. She was a lady possessing all the womanly virtues, and was regarded with the utmost affection by her children and all who knew her.


Mr. Burington is a man positive in his ideas, well educated and liberal minded, and while differ- ing with many upon the important questions of the day, possesses that high-bred courtesy which is care- ful not to give offense. While warmly and consci- entiously attached to the principles of his peculiar faith, he still treats with respect the opinions of others, and his rare conversational powers make him a most interesting companion. He is deeply at-


CHAPMAN BROS . LITHO, CHICAGO.


FIRST HOMESTEAD TAKEN IN THE UNITED STATES. THE CLAIM WAS FILED BY D. FREEMAN, JAN. 1. 1863. FIVEMINUTES AFTER TWELVE O'CLOCK. A.M.


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GAGE COUNTY.


tached to his home and family, a man whose exam- ple is worthy of imitation.


Orin E. Burington is a young man of fine nat- ural abilities and good education, and is prosecuting a successful business in books and stationery at Bine Springs; he was married, June 2, 1888, to Miss Rosa Jones, of this city, and they occupy a sung home not far from the father's. Eva M. is the wife of John Rumbangh, a well-to-do farmer of Sicily Township, and they are the parents of one child, a son, Loy E .; Alice B. married Mr. W. J. Harris, a prosperous farmer of Harlem County, this State, and they are the parents of two children -May Pearl and William E.


Mr. Burington is Vice President of the Board of Trade in Blue Springs, and has held the various minor offices of his township, including that of Jus- tice of the Peace.


OHN E. CLARK. Among the subjects of Her Brittannic Majesty, Queen Victoria, who have left the protection of the standard and trans- ferred their vows of fealty and loyalty to the flag of the great Republic, have made their home in the United States. and have learned to love the stars and stripes, is the gentleman whose name appears at the head of this sketch, who was born in Lower Canada.


Our subject is the son of Samuel and Rebecca (Ewart) Clark, both natives of the Dominion, but at present residing in Jefferson County, Neb. Our subject was the third of twelve children born to his parents. When he was about one year old his parents removed to Scott County, lowa. and there onr subject received his education and was reared to manhood, his father having there set- tled upon a farm. Not until he was twenty-three years of age did our subject remove from that home, and in that period he had proved his ability in the common school where he was educated, graduated to the more active pursuits of the farm, and subsequently worked in all the strength of his young manhood.


About the year 1880 our subject removed from Scott County to Kellogg, in Jasper County, Iowa,


where he remained farming for about four years, and then, in December of 1884, came to this county and settled in Glenwood Township, taking up a farin on section 8, upon which he has since resided. Since that time he has brought his farm to a high state of agricultural efficiency, and is continually planning and executing some addi- tional improvement. Mr. Clark has recently erected excellent out-buildings and dwelling, and has the entire property well fenced and everything in a good state of repair. Adjacent to his house are some 1,200 shade trees of various kinds, and a fine orchard containing not less than 200 excellent fruit trees of various kinds. Ilis sole attention, so far as his farm is concerned. is given to stock-raising and general grain production.


Mr. Clark became the husband of Miss Nancy Roul on the 22d of Jannary, 1881, at Kellogg, who has since presented him with four children, three of whom are living. Their names are herein subjoined as follows: William E. (deceased), Sam- uel. Eva May and Willis HI. Mrs. Clark was born in the North of Ireland, on the 22d of January, 1861, and accompanied her parents to this country when four years of age. She is the daughter of William J. and Martha Roul. Mr. Clark is strongly attached to the Democratic party, and is inclined to be quite energetie in its interests. Ile is a man of considerable mental power, reserve force and energy, and since his settlement has gained many friends by his manly bearing and high character.


SAAC L. FISKE, member of the well-known firm of LaSelle, Fiske & Co., and son-in-law of the senior partner, is a gentleman of excellent business capacities and a favorite in the financial circles of the thriving city of Beatrice. A native of New York State, he was born near the village of Lebanon, in Madison County, July 3, 1856, and was the second of the three sons born to Luman and Angeline (Close) Fiske. The parents of our subject were natives of New York. The paternal grandfather, John Fiske, a native of Massachusetts, emigrated to New York State, at an early day, and was for many years engaged in farming in Madison


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GAGE COUNTY.


County, where he spent the last years of his life. The Fiske family is of English descent, as also was the Close family, and the mother traces her fore- fathers among the early settlers of Connecticut, where they located probably during the Colonial days.


The father of our subject was a farmer by oc- cupation, and Isaac L. early in life became familiar with rural pursuits. After leaving the district school lie became a student first of Whitesboro University and then of Clinton University, spend- ing one year in the latter institution; at the age of sixteen years he began teaching. He officiated as teacher three terms in the district school, and sub- sequently taught two years in the village school at Lebanon, besides two terms of a select school. Later he became Principal of the High School at Smyrna, N. Y., where he remained until 1878.


The mercantile career of Mr. Fiske began when he was seventeen years of age, prior to attending the university. He then engaged in farming one year, and in the spring of 1880 sought the West, coming to Beatrice, Neb., and entering the es- tablishment of H. A. LaSelle as clerk. Here he remained six months, and was then employed with the firm of Hastings & Scott three and one-half years. In July, 1884, he formed a partnership with W. M. LaSelle in the grocery business at Cort- land, the half of which business the firm still owns. In July, 1888, he returned to Beatrice, and in com- pany with his partners purchased the grocery stock of George R. Scott, which also included boots and shoes. The firm is now in the enjoyment of a generous patronage, the several members being men of probity, and carrying on their business in a manner which has commended them to the esteem and confidence of their fellow-citizens.


On the 26th of May, 1876, our subject was united in marriage with Miss Addie M., daughter of W. M. LaSelle, his present partner. Mrs. Fiske was also born in Madison County, N. Y., in August, 1857. She has been well educated, and received careful home training from her excellent parents. Of this union there has been born one child-Flor- ence M. Mr. Fiske votes the Republican ticket, and, although not ambitious of office for himself, always takes a generous interest in the political


preferment of his friends. Socially, he belongs to the Modern Woodmen. The firm of LaSelle, Fiske & Co. is considerably interested in lands, owning several tracts in both Kansas and Nebraska.


OHN B. McGLAUGHLIN is a prosperous farmer of Rockford Township, where he has 160 acres of splendid land on section 1. He is a son of David and Hannah (Brady) Mc- Glaughlin, both of whom were born in Westmore- land County, Pa. The paternal grandfather, John McGlaughlin, came from Scotland when he was sixteen years old, and made his home in Northum- berland County, Pa. Samuel Brady, the great In- dian hunter, was a consin of grandfather Brady. After their marriage the parents of our subject made their home in McKeysport. Pa., and the father was a pilot on the Ohio River for twenty-five years. In 1857, with his family, he moved to Illi- nois, and bought a farm in Rock Island County, on which he prospered well. He was a member of the old Whig party, and died in 1870, at the age of fifty-seven years. The mother resides on the home- stead in Rock Island County, Ill., and is sixty-five years old, having seen her children become useful men and women. There were eight in the family, two of whom, named Jacob and Artemus, died in infancy, and the remaining six bear the names of James B., Joseph, John Marks, William, Abraham and Barbara.


Our subject, the oldest of his father's family, was born on the 5th of January, 1841, in MeKeysport, Allegheny Co., Pa. He enjoyed very good educa- tional advantages in his Eastern home, and was six- teen years old when he moved to Illinois, afterward attending the common schools for several winters and securing a thorough education. There he ap- plied himself to farm work until the time of the breaking out of the war, when he enlisted as a pri- vate for the three-months service in 1862. He en- tered Company F, 69th Illinois Infantry, and was mustered into service at Camp Douglass in Chicago, where he did guard duty over 10,000 rebel prisoners. In the fall of 1862 he took them to Vicksburg to have them exchanged, and was discharged at Camp


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Douglass after having served six months instead of three.


Our subject then returned home, and for two years applied himself diligently to the management of his farm affairs, but in 1865, when more troops were needed for the service of the country, he again enlisted for one year, or during the continuance of the war. He was mustered into service at Camp Butler and departed for New Orleans, thence to Mo- bile; Spanish Fort and Ft. Blakely had been taken three days before their arrival. Our subject then went to Montgomery, Ala., engaged in guard duty, and was taken ill with fever, with which he lay in the hospital for about two months, and was then discharged on account of physical disability, reach- ing home about the month of September. Ile came to Nebraska in 1867, and went as far west as the mountains, making an extensive tour through Kan- sas, Missouri and Nebraska, finally choosing Gage County as the place he would rather make his home. He located a homestead of 160 acres, and entered 200 acres besides in Sherman Township.


In the fall of the same year our subject returned to Illinois, where he was married, in March, 1868, to Miss Phoebe King, a daughter of James and Charlotte King, who were natives of Manchester, England. They were married in that city, the father being an overseer in a large cotton factory, and in 1840 with their four children they came to America, making their home near Troy, N. Y. The father became connected with some of the leading cotton factories of the East, and was very prosper- ons. Of his family there are now five living, all of whom were born in America, and whose names are Phoebe, Eliza, Jennie, Nellie and Vinnie. Mrs. MeGlaughlin was born in New York City in An- gust, 1843, and was a babe when her parents moved to Lowell. She enjoyed very good educational advantages, and became an accomplished musician, going to Illinois when she was twenty-one years old, and engaging as a music teacher.


In the spring of 1868 our subject and his wife came to the homestead, and resided in Sherman Township for several years, but in 1881 they sold out with the intention of going to California; after making a visit to Rock Island County they con- cluded to remain in this State, and purchased their


present farm of 160 acres on section 1. When our subject bought it. in 1882, it was raw prairie land, and he now has 100 acres under cultivation, with groves of box-elder and cottonwood trees, and has erected a splendid one and a half story frame dwelling. Since his coming to his present place the Rock Island Railroad has been constructed, and the new village of Rockford is laid out only a few rods from his residence.


Our subject has taken an active interest in the political affairs of his township, and being an ardent Republican he has been sent as a delegate to the County Convention. Ilis honorable war career en- titles him to a membership in the Rollins Post No. 35, G. A. R., at Beatrice. He has several times served on the jury, and in various ways he has distin- guished himself as a good and law-abiding citizen, and is socially connected with the A. F. & A. M. Mr. and Mrs. McGlaughlin are highly respected and . influential members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and as one of the prosperous families are well known in the leading society circles.


ONATHIAN CARPENTER. The subject of this notice, a retired farmer in comfortable circumstances, after many years of active labor is now enjoying the fruits thereof in a comfortable home in the city of Beatrice, surrounded by all that is needful for his well-being and happi- ness. His has been a varied experience, in which he has seen much of life, and learned many valn- able lessons. As a soldier of the Union Army during the late war, he traveled over a goodly portion of the South, and endured in common with his comrades the hardships and privations insepa- rable from the life of the patriot, doing battle for the land which gave him birth. After returning to the arts of peace he entered upon the quiet labors of the agriculturist, and meeting with success, is now numbered among the retired farmers of this county who have been enabled to secure for themselves the wherewithal which shall insure them against want in their declining years.


The subject of our sketch was born near Hagers- town, in Washington County, Md., July 31, 1841,


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GAGE COUNTY.


and was the second of nine children, seven sons and two daughters, the offspring of Jeremiah and Su- sannah (Cross) Carpenter, the former born and reared in Lancaster County, Pa., and the latter a native of Boonesboro, Md. Of their children eight are still living. The maternal grandfather, Robert Cross, was a marble cutter by trade, and carried on a prosperous business. He spent his last days in Maryland. The parents of our subject emigrated to Illinois, and from there in 1884 to Nebraska, settling in this county, where they still live.


Jonathan Carpenter of this sketch was reared to manhood on the farm of his father, and attended the common school during his boyhood. He was still a resident of his native State upon the out- break of the late war, and enlisted in Company B, 1st Maryland Cavalry, which was sent first to Web- ster, Va., and then down the Shenandoah Valley to Lynchburg, participating in the meantime in the battles of that campaign. Mr. Carpenter was with Sheridan in the memorable battle of Winchester, witnessing the defeat of Gilroy after the week's fighting, and later assisted in the battle of Gettys- burg. At Mt. Jackson the Union boys captured 380 head of cattle, twelve wagons, and a quantity of car wheels from which to manufacture shells. At one time Mr. Carpenter was thrown from a horse upon a pile of railroad iron, near Flagg's Mills, Va., sustaining serious injuries, having four ribs broken, and his foot and head also badly hurt. Later a shell bursting near his head completed the sum of his afflictions, and for a time destroyed his hearing. This, however, he recovered from, but such was the shock to his system that he was glad to receive his honorable discharge, which was given him in Sep- tember, 1864.




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