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 77
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99
In 1870 our subject was united in marriage with Miss Mary E. Bailey, a daughter of A. F. Bailey, who is a native of New Hampshire. Her mother is Janet (Ford) Bailey, and was born in New York State. The father was a farmer, and the family re- sided in Kenosha County, Wis., until 1863, when they came to this State and made their home on Cub Creek, nine miles west of Beatrice. The par- ents now reside in that city, the father aged seventy- seven years, and the mother sixty-five years, they having cared for a family of eight children, whose names are as follows: Cornelia, Charles, Hattie, Mary, Annie, Myra, Clara and Clyde. Mary, the wife of our subject, was born Jan. 31, 1851, in Ke- nosha County, Wis., and was a girl twelve years old when she came to this State with her parents. She attended the common schools and secured a thor- ough education, being amply qualified to engage in the profession of teaching in this county, at which she continued for five or six terms. She was teach- ing at the time our subject made her acquaintance, and he having provided a comfortable home for his bride brought her to it.
By this happy marriage they have had born to them seven children, of whom Violetta died when she was eight years old, and the other six are named: Annie, Willie, Bessie (deceased), Eloise, Hattie and Merton. Mr. Shelley voted for the adoption of the State Constitution in 1866, and he was also instrumental in organizing the connty into townships, having seen the prairie in its native state converted into fertile fields of waving grain and rich meadow land. He worked on the Otoe Reservation for two years, and really secured his hest start during that period. He owns 450 acres of well-improved land, on which he has built a commodions and attractive farm dwelling, a view of which is given in this volume. He has corn cribs, granaries and a tool-honse, all under one roof. He cribs 3,000 bushels of corn and 2,000 bushels of grain in his storehouse, and in order to secure this large result he carries on farming extensively, and is one of the most enterprising men of Rockford Township. He is a member of an association which owns an extensive Norman and Clyde breed-
G11
GAGE COUNTY.
ing establishment at Blue Springs. Ile has some very valuable horses, and uses four teams of the fourteen head in operating the work of his farm,
Mr. and Mrs. Shelley are influential members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Holmesville, of which our subject was one of the earliest members and Trustees. He has been prominently identified with the educational work in his township, having served as School Moderator for three years, and doing all in his power to seeure the best schools. In striet accordance with his Christian character he disapproves of the use of intoxicating drinks, and is an ardent advocate of the temperance cause, there- hy identifying himself with the Prohibition party. Among business men and in his social relations he bears an unblemished reputation, and enjoys the good-will of all.
F. KENYON has a good farm of 120 aeres on seetion 9, Blakely Township, which is de- voted to farming and stock-raising. most of the land being under cultivation. He bought his farm in 1871, but he did not make his home on it until 1877, and as it was in an uncultivated con- dition when it came into his possession he has had an experience in common with the other farmers of this section in the breaking and tilling of prairie land. He came to Blakely Township direet from Logan County, Ill., driving across the country with a team of horses in the month of October, 1877. He was comparatively without means when he came, and his greatest desire was to establish a home which he might call his own, and on which he might labor as an independent man. He has succeeded well from the beginning, and is now pleasantly sit- uated to enjoy what has been seeured by mueh hard labor and constant application.
Our subjeet was born in Adams Township, Jeffer- son Co., N. Y., on the 29th of October, 1843, and is a son of R. A. and Lydia (Rhodes) Kenyon, the former of whom was a native of Rhode Island, and the latter of New York. The father was a deer- skin tanner and glovemaker, and in 1844 the par- ents with their small family moved to a place near Marshall, Calhoun Co., Mich. In 1848 the family
went to Kalamazoo County, and made their home near Gull Lake, where the father carried on his vo- eation for seven years, afterward engaging in farm- ing. In 1864 he went to Logan County, Ill., and is still living there in the enjoyment of good health and mental faculties, active and industrious as ever, though he has reached the age of seventy-eight years. He lost his wife in Kalamazoo County, Mich., in 1852, when she was but thirty-eight years old, and the mother of seven children, three sons and four daughters.
Our subject was the fifth child of the family. of whom three sons and two daughters are now living, and all married and established in homes of their own. C. HI. Kenyon is Jiving in Cheyenne County, this State; Thomas W. is a shipper of stoek, and lives in Lincoln, Ill .; Elazan, the wife of George Blain, an architect, and Marinda M., the wife of Stephen R. Cushing, a carpenter and joiner, have their homes in San Jose, Cal. The father of our subject was a second time married, to Mrs. Roxana P. (Miller) Brewer, who was a native of Vermont. She was the mother of two children by her former marriage, one of whom is deceased and the other, Mary L., is now the wife of Thomas W. Kenyon.
Our subjeet was one year old when his father moved to Michigan, and twenty-one years old when he went to Lincoln, Logan Co., Ill. At the beginning of the late eivil troubles he was but seventeen years old, and he enlisted in Company B. 32d Illinois Infantry, under command of Col. John Logan, a cousin of Gen. Jolin A. Logan. The regiment was connected with the Army of the Tennessee, and went to the front in December, 1861, coming in contaet with the enemy at Shiloh, Ilatchie. Vieksburg and Jackson, and also being engaged in the campaign with Sherman to Atlanta. After the fall of that place our subject was afflicted with sore eyes, and was absent from his company from the 21st of June until the 1st of September, 1864. He went to rejoin his regiment and was taken prisoner near Marietta, Ga., but on the 13th of December in the same year he was paroled, and a little later was sent home on parole furlough. He was honorably dis- charged on the 5th of September, 1865, at Leaven- worth, Kan., having served for over four years as a hard-working and loyal soldier, for which he deserves
612
GAGE COUNTY.
lasting honor. Ile never was wounded, but he lost the use of one eye from disease, and the other has suffered in sympathy with it. With his regiment he marched 6.000 miles in sixteen months, and besides the regular engagements he participated in many minor battles and skirmishes. Such devotion to his country and disregard of self proves him to be the possessor of a true, manly heart, and among brave soldiers his memory will always be cherished.
After his discharge from the service of his coun- try our subject returned to Lincoln, Ill., and there met the lady whom he made his wife on the 12th of December, 1875. Miss Maria L. Turk, now Mrs. Kenyon, was born on the 1st of May, 1844, in War- ren County, Ohio, and is the third child of James and Anna (Crespin) Turk, also natives of Ohio. The father was a gunsmith, and he took his fam- ily to Lincoln, Logan Co., Ill., in 1867, in which place both parents died, the father in 1873. aged sixty-two years, and the mother in 1870, aged fifty- seven years. Five of their children survive them, and in company with Mrs. Kenyon spent their earlier years with their parents until their death. Mrs. Kenyon was educated in her native county, and possesses many charming qualities of womanhood, which fit her to adorn her home and the society in which she moves. Our subject and his wife are well-known and influential people, and are among the leaders in educational, social and religious work. The latter is a member of the Universalist Church. Mr. Kenyon is a stanch Republican, and warmly advocates the cause of that party.
-
AMES L. BOYDSTON. No less credit is due to the energetic young men who are carrying on the work which their fore- fathers began in a new country, than to those who first opened a path in the wilderness. The subject of this sketch, one of the younger members of the community of Filley Township, is tilling a portion of the soil on section 36, and by his thoroughness and skill laying the foundations for a future competence. He has 320 acres of fer- tile land, neat and substantial buildings, a fair as- sortment of live stock and machinery, and about
400-fruit trees in good bearing condition. occupy- ing ten acres of ground. A view of the home place accompanies this brief sketch of the enter- prising owner.
Curtis Boydston, the father of our subject. was born in Greene County, Pa .. about 1821, and lived there until 1855. That year he left the Keystone State and emigrated to Warren County, Ill. In early life he had learned the carpenter trade, com- bined with cabinet-making, and continned that and farming until convinced that he could do better at the lumber business. He followed the latter ac- cordingly for a time, but is now farming in Warren County, that State. He has been twice selected to represent the people of that county in the Legis- lature of Illinois, and in political matters in that State takes a prominent position.
.The mother of our subject, Mrs. Orpha Boyd- ston, was a native of Greene County, Pa .. hier birth taking place in 1821. She accompanied her family to Illinois, and died there in 1856. The parental household included eight children, six sons and two danghters, and five are now living, namely : Ulysses A., Station Agent at Alameda. Cal .; Newton L., telegraph operator at Virginia City, Nev .; James L., of this sketch; William L., of Galesburg, Ill., a conductor on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, and Frank, a grocer, of Newton, Kan.
The subject of this biography was born Feb. 14, 1848, in Greene County, Pa., and remained with the family of his father until twenty-eight years of age. In 1881 he crossed the Mississippi and began farm- ing in Harvey County, Kan., where he operated for two and a half years. In the winter of 1885 he came to this county, purchased his present farm, and has each year made good progress, so that in the near future he expects to enlarge the sphere of his operations and engage quite extensively in the raising of cattle and hogs.
The marriage of Mr. Boydston took place in April. 1885, his bride being Miss Ada, daughter of Royal and Julia Wiswell, who were natives of Ver- mont, and emigrated to Illinois about 1850; they removed from Warren County to Galesburg. The father is now living retired from active labor in California. Mrs. Boydston was born in Warren County, Ill., Jan 29, 1855, and spent her childhood
RESIDENCE OF J. L. BOYDSTON , SEC. 36. FILLEY TOWNSHIP
I
RESIDENCE OF HON. J .W. WILLIAMS, SEC. 18. FILLEY TOWNSHIP.
615
GAGE COUNTY.
and youth with her parents until her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. B. are now the parents of two bright chil- dren : Earl W., born March 14, 1887, and Altha R., July 25, 1888.
Our subject . cast his first Presidential vote for Grant, and uniformly supports the principles of the Republican party. He is a quiet. nnassuming citi- zen, attending strictly to his own affairs, but giving his support to those measures caleulated to advance the interests of his community. He and his excel- lent wife enjoy the respect and confidence of a large circle of acquaintances. and in their pleasant home are surrounded by all needful comforts.
ON. JOHN W. WILLIAMS. Among the solid citizens of Filley Township, none are held in more genuine respect than the sub- ject of this sketch. He is a farmer of ample means and pleasant surroundings, realizes a good income from his agricultural transactions, and is contributing his full quota to the business and in- dustrial interests of Gage Connty. His property has been secured by the exercise of patient indus- try and economy, the surest guarantee of success, and if Providence has richly blessed him, it is no more than he deserves.
The father of our subject, Mathew Williams by name, was of American birth and parentage, and began life in the State of Indiana. UJpon reaching manhood he married a lady of Irish descent, and also a native of Indiana. They settled upon a farm in Wayne County, and there became the parents of three children, our subject and two sisters, the lat- ter of whom are both now deceased. John W. was born Aug. 20, 1840, but while yet a child, his par- ents removed to Marshall County, Ind., where he spent his boyhood on the farm, and in attendance at school. When of suitable age he commenced working out, and in 1856 went .with his parents to Bureau County, Ill., and there made his home with his uncle for a period of four years.
Young William, in 1860, returned to his native State, and the year following, upon the outbreak of the war, enlisted in Company C. 20th Indiana In- fantry, and after a six-weeks drill on the old Tip-
pecanoe battle-field near LaFayette, the regiment was ordered to Cockeysville, Md., where, in addition to the regular drill, they were engaged in building railroad tracks and bridges. Thence they were de- tailed to Cape Hatteras. N. C. There they were forced to retreat from the enemy, and in addition to this a disastrous flood nearly washed them away. the troops being forced to wade in water up to their mouths for two hours, and three miles from shore.
Old Point Comfort, in Virginia, was the next destination of the 20th Indiana and some others, where they went into winter quarters. During the spring campaign they took part in the battles of the Monitor and Merrimac, witnessing the destruction of the latter, after which followed the battle at Nor- folk, Va. Thence they were called to reinforce McClellan, and participated in the seven-days bat- tle before Richmond, retreating to Ilarrison's Land- ing. Subsequently soon followed the engagements at Orchard, Charles City, Cross Roads, Malvern Hill, and then they again were halted at Harrison's Landing on the James River, where they encamped six weeks.
Upon again taking up their line of march our subject and his comrades received orders from Gen. Pope, and fought at Manassas Junction and in the second battle of Bull Run, where their Colonel was killed upon the field, together with many other officers. They were next at Chantilly, Va., where the gallant General, Phil Kearney, breathed his last upon the battle-field. Their next move was on to Washington, D. C., where they were placed among the fortifications around Arlington Heights, the regiment being so crippled by losses that it was not thought best they should engage in the Atlanta campaign. They were afterward, however, ordered to Virginia, where Mr. Williams partipated in the battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, and met the rebels at Gettysburg, Pa. In the distribu- tion of the Kearney medal of honor, given those who distinguished themselves in the memorable engagement at Chancellorsville, Mr. Williams re- ceived one of the twenty coveted prizes struck off by the War Department, and it is hardly necessary to say it will be preserved by his posterity as a priceless relic.
Until the battle of Gettysburg Mr. Williams had
616
GAGE COUNTY.
carried the musket of a private, but soon after this was given the commission of First Lieutenant. His regiment was subsequently sent to quell the draft riot of 1863. in New York City, where they were stationed about six weeks. Next his company formed one of the three which were sent up the East River to assist Gen. Dix in the guarding of 2,700 rebels. Mr. Williams states that the story of rebels suffering in Union prisons is untrue, as the prisoners had wholesome food and sufficient clothing.
Lient. Williams with his regiment was later as- signed to the Army of the Potomac, and afterward did good service in the battle of the Wilderness, where he was wounded in the shoulder, and on account of the thickly folded blanket which he carried escaped fatal injury. At Spottsylvania Court House his Captain was killed, and Lieut. Will- iams was tendered a Captain's commission and at once assumed command, leading the color company of the regiment through the remainder of the battle. At this engagement the colors were riddled by forty-five bullets. Capt. Williams followed the fortunes of his regiment until the close of the war, being thereafter at Cold Harbor, and he was one of the first to make the assault on Petersburg, fol- lowing the rebels from there to Appomattox Court House, and having the unspeakable satisfaction of witnessing their surrender. Capt. Williams ex- perienced many hairbreadth escapes, and, in recall- ing the events of that terrible time, often wonders that he escaped with his life. He received his honorable discharge on the 12th of July, 1865, at Jeffersonville, Ind., receiving the brevet of Major after having served four years. The last year of the war, so great had been the losses, four Indiana regiments were consolidated into one-the 7th, 14th, 19th and 20th.
Upon his retirement from the army Mr. Will- iams sought his old haunts in Marshall County, Ind., where he followed farming seven years. He had in the meantime, Oct. 30, 1866, bcen married to Miss Martha J. Fife. daughter of Thomas and Sarah (Reed) Fife, of Marshall County, Ind., and who was born there Feb. 25, 1845. The parents of Mrs. Williams were natives of South Carolina, and are now residents of Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Will-
iams spent the first six years of their wedded life in Indiana, and in 1872 our subject found his way to this State, and purchased 104 acres of land on sec- tion 18, in Filley Township, where he settled with his family as soon as he could erect a dwelling, and where they have since lived.
Mr. Williams has been fully as successful as a farmer as he was a soldier. Upon his arrival in this township he had been preceded by Mr. Filley and Mr. Gale only, and consequently may be named among its pioneer citizens. The improvements upon his farm (a view of which is herewith pre- sented) have been brought about through his own efforts. One year he suffered the loss of his crops, with the exception of his wheat. In 1876 he added to his real estate by the purchase of eighty-eight acres, and now has all that he cares to operate. Mr. Williams has in all 373 acres, all of which lie in Filley Township, except eighty in Logan Town- ship.
To our subject and his excellent wife there have been born seven children, six of whom are living, namely : Fannie L., Kate A., Josephine May, Clara Beatrice, Arthur F. and J. Channing. Mr. Williams and family are connected with the Methodist Epis- copal Church, at Filley.
Mr. Williams votes the straight Republican ticket, and besides serving as County Commissioner has been Township Supervisor three years, and Director in his school district for a period of fifteen years. During the late memorable campaign he was chosen by the votes of his district to represent it in the Legislature of the State. His excellent judgment, ripe experience and undoubted honesty, will be of great value to not only his own immediate con- stituency, but the people of the entire State.
OSEPH B. LEVIS. This gentleman comes of a long line of honored ancestors, whose genealogy reaches back to the "right tiglit little island across the sea," and figures somewhat more or less prominently in English his- tory. The Levis family came from England over 200 years since, and settled in what is now Pennsyl- vania. The father of our subject, Brinton Levis,
617
GAGE COUNTY.
was born in Chester County, Pa., about the year 1805, and was there reared to manhood and served as a young man through the whole Mexican War under Gen. Lee, in the position of Quartermaster. At the close of the war he returned to the Quaker State, where he made his home until 1852, and then removed with his family to Illinois, settling in Fulton County, where he was engaged as surveyor and school teacher.
The father of our subject died in Illinois, aged eighty-two years, in the fall of 1887. He had won considerable distinction during his life and was an adventurous spirit. In early boyhood he showed signs of great precocity, accompanied by fearless daring. Leaving his parents while still a small boy, he boarded a man-of-war with the intention of serving as a sailor, but was not received ; being thus deterred in his efforts and his design frustrated, he managed to secure a position as clerk upon a mer- chant vessel, and remained in the service about two years, in that time cirenmnavigating the globe, besides a number of other trips. When he enlisted in the Mexican War service he with the same fear- less spirit went forward, diligent in every duty. Of the 106 men who enlisted at the same time, in the same company, only five returned home, the father . of our subject being one of that number. In his later years he made his home with his son Joseph until his death, which occurred in 1887. The maiden name of his wife, the mother of our subject, was Phebe Ann Ring, who was born in the year 1811, in Delaware County, Pa., and died on the 5th of December, 1878, aged sixty-seven years, four months and five days. She was the mother of eleven children, whose names appear in the family register as follows: Hannah, William, Joseph Brinton, Rebecca, George, Ada, Nathaniel, Martha A., Franklin, Sarah J. and Mary.
Our subject was a debutant upon the stage of life upon the 4th of March, 1835, at Chadd's Ford, Delaware Co., Pa., in the house where Gen. Wash- ington had his quarters prior to the battle of Brandy- wine. At the age of seven years he accompanied his parents to their new home in Custer County ; at fifteen to the State of Illinois. His education was obtained in the old-fashioned rate school. In the latter State he hired ont by the mouth and continued
so to do until he arrived at the age of thirty-five. In 1861 he made a trip to Texas, but the war broke out and he was forced to return to Illinois. This trip was disastrous to him ; throughout the immedi- ately preceding seven years he had labored for one man. and in that time was enabled to save sufficient to purchase a herd of cattle, and attempted to move with them overland to the Lone Star State. But for the war and Spanish fever he would have cleared a handsome profit, but under the circumstances it was impossible, and all his money having been launched in this venture it was the death blow to his hopes for the time; en route he lost the larger number of them by the Spanish fever.
Going back to Illinois Mr. Levis began life anew, and worked for one year by the month, and saved enough to purchase a team and rented a farm. Upon the 16th of May, 1872, he was married to Mrs. Amanda C., a daughter of Thomas and Unity (Parker) Smith. IIer father was born near Wheel- ing, W. Va .. her mother in Mohawk Township, Coshocton Co., Ohio. IIer parents settled in the latter State and made it their home until the year 1847, when they removed to Sonth Fulton, Fulton County. Her father was by occupation a chair, cabinet maker and painter. Upon his removal to Illinois he turned his attention to farming: he is still living, and is aged eighty-one years. The mother of Mrs. Levis died in 1881, at the ripe age of sixty-five years. They were the parents of ten children, whose names are as herein recorded : Phoebe E., Amanda C., Uriah €., Mary J., Ilannah J., Hebron M., Isaiah L., Louis W., James E. and Ruey A.
The wife of our subject was the second child in the above family, and was born Sept. 9, 1835, in Fallsbury Township, Layton Co., Ohio. She began while quite small to spin, weave and pull flax, ad- vancing by regular gradation step by step until she was enabled to perform any and every part of the process between the preparation of the raw material and the finishing of the garment ready for the wearer, for in those days all garments, whether woolen or linen, etc., were made at home. Her education was somewhat restricted, owing to the fact that she was two miles from the nearest school- house, and frequently it was impossible to traverse
618
GAGE COUNTY.
the path that led thereto. At an early age she began to work out as a means of support, and was the fashioner of her life experience. She was married to Moses Robertson, of Indiana, and by that union became the mother of one child, Elviana, who is since deceased. She was afterward married to James W. Boyd, and presented him with two sons : James F., who is now in Johnson County, Neb., and George W., deceased. Her third mar- riage was with our subject. Their family numbered two children: Annetta, deceased, and Lenora M., who resides at home and is attending school.
In 1865 Mr. Boyd and his wife (now Mrs. Levis) beard the report of the remarkable work done in the Idaho gold mines and the success there possible, and accordingly made it convenient to journey thither in the hope of bettering their position. They settled in the vicinity of Boise City ; for some time they had realized that their portemonnaie had been in a state of chronic decline, and upon arrival it was to them an aching void that demanded im- mediate strenuous efforts to fill. This they accord- ingly set about at once, Mr. Boyd in the mines, his wife as cook for the miners, for which she re- ceived $70 a month. Mr. Boyd also took up a timber claim and kept it for a short time, and then sold his privilege, returning to Illinois via Salt Lake City, of which place Mrs. Levis' recol- lections are most vivid. The financial outcome of this trip over and above all expenses connected with their return journey, was the munificent sum of $15,000 in "dust."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.