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 78
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Mr. and Mrs. Levis remained in Illinois about four years after their marriage, but came to this State and settled in Nemaha Township in 1880, and to their present home in 1883. Our subject is the owner of 160 acres of excellent land and twenty head of cattle. In all he operates 320 acres, and is recognized as one of the leading and most success- ful farmers of his district. He is a prominent member of the Farmers' Alliance, and one of its energetic and strong supporters. For about three years he has been School Moderator, discharging the duties of that office with satisfaction to all con- cerned. In political matters he is strongly in favor of the present administration, and usually votes and works in the interests of the Democratic party.
Mrs. Levis is a member in good standing of the Christian Church at Hooker, and is considered among its most devont and consistent members. She is one of the charter members of the cause at that place. In the community Mr. and Mrs. L. are held in the highest estimation on account of their personal worth, as well as their success, which has been signal in view of all the adverse circum- stances encountered.
OHN POSTLEWAIT is an old Virginian, a son of Joseph Postlewait, and a native of Monongalia County, Va. His mother was Margret Gleason, who was a native of Prince George County, Md., and by their marriage they had a family of ten children, of whom our subject was the third. His father died in Ohio, and his mother in Burlington, Iowa. The gentleman of whom we write was born on the 3d of July, 1820, and when he was two years old his parents went to Licking County, Ohio, where he remained until the year 1853, when he went to Burlington, Iowa. In that city he was engaged in shipping and feeding stock and buying grain, and in that business continued until 1861, when he returned to Ohio. In 1866 he. again went to Burlington, and in 1871 to Ottumwa, Iowa, at which place he engaged in mining until 1884.
In the spring of 1884 our subject came to this State, and resided for about six months in Odell, afterward moving to his farm, consisting of 120 acres on section 10, Glenwood Township. He has made fair improvements on it, and is pleasantly sit- uated in one of the happiest of homes. The main line of the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad, from Kansas City to Denver, passes through his farm, and within four rods from his house. He was married in Pennsylvania, on the 5th of September, 1854, to Matilda F. Craft, who was born in Union- town, Pa., on the 7th of October, 1830. Mrs. Postlewait is a daughter of George and Eliza (Work- man) Craft, both of whom died in Ohio, having reared a family of ten children, of whom the wife of our subject was the sixth. By this marriage our subject and his wife have become the parents of
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two children-George C. and Henry J. Henry J. died in Ottumwa, Iowa, when he was fifteen years old, and George C. is a resident of Glenwood Town- ship, and resides with his parents.
While living in Ottumwa, Iowa, Mr. P. was one of the County Commissioners, and he was also a candidate for the State Senate, having been defeated by the Republican candidate by but a few votes in a Republican district, which speaks well for his popularity. Since his arrival in this county he has held the office of Treasurer in his township, and is regarded as one of the truly representative men of this section. He is a Democrat in politics, and is an enterprising business man. He and his wife are members of the Catholic Church. They took a nephew, Gilbert G. Postlewait, to their home when he was two and a half years old, and as his foster- parents, they have regarded him as one of their own children. Mrs. Postlewait is an accomplished and intelligent lady; in her home she is an admirable wife and mother, and in the circles of society her amiability and charming manners have won for her a host of friends and admirers.
C HARLES ZIEGENHAIN takes rank among the skilled and scientific farmers of Lincoln Township, where he has a fine farm of eighty acres on section 16, all in a splendid state of cultivation, well supplied with substantial buildings, and lying just outside the corporation of the vil- lage of Ellis. IIe has been a resident of this State since 1877, and for a few years he rented a farm and assumed the management of it, at which he was so successful that he was soon enabled to purchase a farm of his own. In 1882 he secured his present farm, and since that time he has made most of the improvements on it, showing by his excellent judg- ment in the construction of the buildings and the general thrifty appearance of the place his knowl- edge of agricultural arts, and his ability to practice them. Previous to his residence here he had made his home in Taylor County, Iowa, to which place he had gone from McLean County, Ill. He made his home in the latter place from the year 1867 to 1876, engaged in farming, as he has since been.
Our subject was born at Frankfort on the Main, Germany, on the 21st of July, 1825. Ilis parents, John and Magdalena (Fischer) Ziegenhain, were also natives of the same country, and of pure Ger- man ancestry. In 1833 they came to the United States, and died on the way from New Orleans to St. Louis, in the same year. the father at the age of forty years, and the mother when thirty-nine years old. Our subject was but eight years old when he came with his parents to this country, and after his double bereavement he returned to his native country to make his home among the family rela- tives and friends. He was there educated in his native tongue, and was early tanght to depend upon his own labor for his maintenance, thins early de- veloping the quality of self-reliance, without which very few people achieve success in life.
In his native country our subject met and mar- ried Miss Anna E. Doonbrack, who was a native of Bremen, and had spent all her life there previous to her marriage, after which she came with her hus- band to the United States, and died in 1876 at her home in McLean County, Ill. She was then aged fifty-three years, and was the mother of six children, one of whom, named Mary, died in Iowa, when she was twenty years old. Of the children who survive we have the following record: John is in Bloom- ington, Ill. ; Herman married Miss Amanda Schello, and resides in Gage County; Lizzie is the wife of Charles McQueen, and makes her home in Gage County; William was educated in the college at Springfield, Ill., and is a minister in the Lutheran Church, at St. Louis, Mich., and Charles resides in Gage County. All the children have received good educations, and are prospering well in their different vocations.
Mr. Ziegenhain was a second time married, in Beatrice, to Mrs. Rosa Schmidt, nee Groser, who was born in Saxony, Germany, and when she was a girl came alone to America. She was first married in Pennsylvania, where after a time her husband died, leaving her with three children, named August, Fred and Edward, all of whom are yet single. Our subject and his wife are well-known and active members of society, who number among their friends the best and most influential citizens of the community, and have taken a warm and active
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interest in the Lutheran Church, of Blakely Town- ship, whose canse and the cause of religion they have been laboring to promote. Our subject is a well-informed and ardent Republican in politics, and is highly esteemed as a business man and loyal citizen.
R OBERT KYD, In the following sketch is preseuted an outline of one whose experi- ence of life is many-sided, and if opportu- nity offered would present many chapters of absorbing interest, and not a little of instruction. Our subject was born at Dungiven, County London- derry, Ireland, Sept. 2. 1830. He is the son of Robert and Elizabeth Kyd, natives of the same place. He left Ireland April 7, 1848, and arrived at New York May 11. He had served two years as an apprentice at carriage-making when a boy in Ireland, and worked for a few months in a wagon and wheelwright shop in New York until the fall of 1849. when he went to New Orleans, and superin- tended the loading and running of flatboats from that city to the lower coast until the spring of 1850, when he went to Cincinnati. In that city he con- tinued to make his home until 1884, and worked upon the canal boats for some time, and then bought an interest in a boat, and for the next twelve years continued to run as a canal boat Cap- tain, at one time owning as many as three boats.
In the late war our subject was Captain of Com- pany B, of the Fremont Guards of Ohio, for four months, and they were upon guard duty for the larger part of the time. Subsequently for five years he served in the National Guards, as Captain of the same company, 8th Regiment, Col. S. S. Fisher. In 1884 he came to this county, and in the month of February of that year settled where he now resides. He is the owner of 280 aeres of land, which he oc- cupies in general farming and stock-raising. In the latter department he gives attention almost solely to graded stock of the higher orders, and is very particular concerning their surroundings and treat- ment.
Upon the 28th of February, 1861, our subject and Miss Mary Martin were joined in holy matri-
mony, and their union has been fruitful in the birth of five children, four of whom are still living. Their names are recorded as follows: Annie (de- ceased in infancy); William J., engaged as topog- rapher for the Union Pacific Engineering Corps; Robert R., James H. and Annie E., all of whom are unmarried. Mrs. Kyd is the daughter of Matthew and Elizabeth Martin, and was born at Stranorlar, County Donegal, Ireland, on the 5th of February, 1835. Her parents were natives respectively of Scot- land and Ireland, and were residents of Stranorlar, but are now deceased.
While a resident of Cincinnati our subject was for fifteen years Captain of the guard of the work- house, and also helped the Sheriff of that place in his duties through the terms of the District Court. He has at all times taken a very deep interest in educational matters, and those enterprises that were for the advancement of the interests of the rising generation, He has been successful in building here perhaps the finest country school-house in the entire county. Mr. Kyd has given to his children the best High School education the city of Cincin- nati afforded, and is proud of the fact that his son William took the third prize for drawing at the general examination of the Cincinnati public school in the year 1876, the lad being then but twelve years of age.
Our subject stands high in the Masonic fraternity, with which he has been connected for thirty years. He has received all the degrees, from that of En- tered Apprentice to Knight Templar inclusive, and in Lodge, Chapter and Commandery is highly esteemed by his fellow-members, as he is also by the community at large.
ICHAEL KNOCHEL has resided for eight years on his present farm, consisting of 160 acres of good land on section 24, Lincoln Township, on which he has made many improvements. For ten years previous to his resi- dence here he was engaged in farming in Logan County, Ill., where he had met with good success, but not so much as his ambition led him to expect. Ile was born in the Rhine Province, Germany, on
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the 1st of November, 1833, and is of pure German ancestry, his father, Michael Knochel, being a native of the same country, and nniting himself in mar- riage with a German lady named Elizabeth Stont. The parents lived in their native country until they had gathered abont them a family of twelve chil- dren, seven sons and five daughters, after which they came to the United States and made their home in Erie County, Pa., in 1853, just one year after their son, our subject, had come. The family were bereaved of their father in 1868. when he was about sixty-one years old, but the mother is still living in Erie County. Pa., and is now eighty-five years old, still retaining all her faculties, and quite active for one of her advanced age.
Our subject was educated in his native tongue in Germany, and in 1852 came alone to the United States, making his home in Erie County, Pa., where he began life as a farm laborer. There he spent the next twenty years of his life, having in the meantime married, on the 20th of October, 1857: Miss Mary Page, who was also born in the Rhine Province, Germany, on the 26th of March, 1832. Her parents, Ludivich and Barbara Page, lived and died in Germany. When she was a young woman she came alone to the United States and became the wife of our subject. Since their marriage they have labored in unison, and have together endured many hardships in the endeavor to make and save a competence for their later days. Our subject worked for sixteen years in a sawmill in Pennsyl- vania, and since his removal to this State he has prospered well, and has reaped the reward which seldom fails to come to those who exercise the sterling qualities of manhood, industry and per- severance. Their farm has been improved by good buildings and fences, and its fertility increased so that it is in a condition to bring forth abundant harvests, and repay the owner for the great labor he has expended on it.
To the pleasant home which has been prepared by the considerate parents have come six children, named: Wendel, Kate, Grace, Barbara, George and Valentine; all are at home with their parents.
Mr. and Mrs. Knochel and family are members of the German Catholic Church, and as is characteristic of the adherents of that organization, they are devout
in their religious duties and industrious in their daily vocations. The former affiliates with the Democratic party in politics, and is a highly esteemed member of society in his community, having won the re- spect and friendship of those with whom he comes in contact by his display and evident possession of the admirable qualities of manhood.
ON. HIRAM WADSWORTH PARKER, one of the capitalists and prominent busi- ness men of Beatrice, is of New England birth and parentage, his native place being the town of Oakham, Worcester Co .. Mass., where he first opened his eyes to the light Dec. 17, 1827. His father, Luke Parker, also a native of the Bay State, was born in 1790, and married Miss Tamar Hastings.
The Parker family was first represented in Massa- chusetts, probably during the Colonial days. They were of English ancestry, and Luke, the father of our subject, was a tanner by trade. Hiram W. about 1834 removed with his parents to Athens County, Ohio, where they lived three years, and where the father followed his trade. Thence they removed to Chillicothe, where our subject com- pleted his education at an early age. When a lad of fourteen he entered the office of the Scioto Ga- zette, the oldest paper in the Buckeye State, and served an apprenticeship of seven years at the printers' trade. He next held a position in the of- fice of the Ancient Metropolis, which was then under the control of George Armstrong, a resident of Omaha. Here he remained two years. In 1848 he proceeded to the city of Columbus, becoming an employe of the Ohio State Journal, then under the editorial charge of W. B. Thrall and Ilenry Reed. In 1850 Mr. Parker left Columbus and es- tablished the Ironton Register, in Lawrence County, Ohio, which he conducted until 1858. He then disposed of the office and its appurtenances to R. N. Stimpson, who was subsequently editor of the Marietta Register.
In the fall of 1857 Mr. Parker visited Nebraska and determined upon his future location. A year later he took up his residence seven miles north of
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the present site of Beatrice, and there resided until the spring of 1865. Thence he removed to the southern part of Seward County, and purchasing land laid out the town of Camden, erected a saw- mill, and made general preparations to establish himself in business. Two years later he had a flouring-mill in operation, a large building with two run of buhrs. This proved the nucleus around which a goodly number of emigrants gathered and built up their homes. The Burlington & Missouri River Railroad in Nebraska, having left the em- bryo town some six miles north, resulted in the paralyzing of its city pretensions, but its agricult. ural and water privileges, among the best in the State, received ample recognition, and had the effect to keep there a class of intelligent and progressive men.
. Mr. Parker upon coming to this section of country was at once recognized as a valued addition to its farming and business interests, and as a man eminently fitted to hold responsible positions. In the fall of 1860 he was elected to represent the counties of Johnson, Gage and Clay in the Territo- rial Legislature, and later was elected County Judge under the old Territorial law. He also served as County Clerk and Postmaster, besides acting as Commissioner of Seward County for a term of three years. In 1871 he was solicited to accept the nomination for Secretary of State, but after the first ballot withdrew his name. That same year he was elected as a delegate to the Constitutional Conven- tion at Lincoln, and was also appointed Register of the United States Land Office at Beatrice, which position he held for a period of thirteen years, under the administrations of Grant, Garfield and Arthur.
In 1852, while a resident of Ohio, Mr. Parker was united in marriage with Miss Almira T. Dole, of Portsmouth, Ohio, and a graduate of Grand River Institute, in Ashtabula County. They spent the first six years of their wedded life in Ohio. They are now the parents of four children, but two of whom are living, viz: Frank H., who is married and a resident of Santa Cruz, Cal .; Louis C. con- tinues at home with his parents; the two deceased sons were Charles D. and Eddie H.
Mr. Parker assisted in the organization of the
First National Bank, of which he has been Vice President and Director, and he is now a stockholder and Director in the Beatrice National Bank. He is President of the Beatrice Canning Factory and of the Beatrice Sewer Pipe Works. Socially, he be- longs to the Masonic fraternity, being a member of Beatrice Lodge No. 26, and in the I. O. O. F. was Grand Master of the State. For a period of nine years he has been a member of the School Board, and has served as a member of the City Council. He was one of the principal movers and a stock- holder in the erection of the Masonic Temple and the post-office building, which structures are a great credit to the city, being ornamental as well as use- ful. The fine brick residence occupied by the family was erected in 1885, and is situated in a commanding position in the western part of the city. It is handsomely finished and furnished, and its inmates enjoy the friendship of a large circle of acquaintances, composed of the cultivated element of the community. Mr. Parker cast his first Presi- dential vote for Gen. Winfield Scott, and gives his support to Republican principles.
OSIAH M. RUMBAUGH has retired from active business life and is now enjoying the comfort and seclusion of his pleasant and attractive home in Blue Springs. He was born in Westmoreland County, Pa., on the 16th of August, 1839, his birthplace being one mile north of Greensburg, and he is a son of Henry and Susanna Rumbaugh, who were natives of Armstrong County, of the same State. His father was a son of Henry Rumbaugh, an officer in the Revolution- ary War, in which he distinguished himself as an able advocate of American freedom and liberty. The father died in the year 1871, when he was seventy-two years old, and the mother in 1874, at the age of seventy-two years. Our subject spent his early life in his native county, engaged in the variuos duties of a farm life, and received his edu- cation, which was a thorough one, in the Greensburg Academy.
At the beginning of the civil difficulties which so
SEC. 22.
'S.W. /4.
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TENANT HOUSE EAST OF RESIDENCE.
Plat of Farm.
N.E. 14.
SEC. 27.
B
2
B. & M.
B & M.
RESIDENCE OF JAMES KERR, SEC. 22. FILLEY TOWNSHIP.
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destroyed the peace and prosperity of the country, our subject hastened to offer his assistance, with that of thousands of other brave men, and enlisted in Company I, 11th Pennsylvania Infantry. He participated in the battles of Rappahannock Sta- tion, Thoroughfare Gap. Warrenton, Second Bull Run and others. In the second battle at Bull Run he was wounded in such a manner that he was unable to continue his service, and was conse- quently honorably discharged because of disability. After the war he went into the oil region of West Virginia, and for three years was superintendent of an extensive oil prospecting and speculating com- pany. In the fall of 1867 he went to Saginaw, Mich., where he worked at the carpenter trade for one year, thence to Adams County, Ill., in the spring of 1869, and in 1870 he engaged in the mer- cantile business in Ursa, twelve miles north of Quincy.
In February, 1880, our subject came to Blue Springs, where he has since resided, and engaged in the lumber business until 1886, at which time he sold out his interest in the business, and retired from active life, having accumulated a competence which enables him to live in very comfortable cir- cumstances. On the 17th of September, 1872, he was united in marriage with Miss Belle Turner, a daughter of Edwin and Ellen Turner, who are na- tives of Massachusetts. Mrs. Rumbaugh was born in Wayne County, Ill., on the 8th of September, 1845, and is an accomplished and intelligent lady, possessing a truly refined and womanly disposition, well qualified to grace her pleasant home and her prominent position in society. She is the mother of four children, named Alice L., Clarence (de- ceased), Winnie and Clyde, who have been the re- cipients of her kindest and most tender care.
Our subject bears the honor of having been elected the first Mayor of Blue Springs, in which capacity he served with much credit to himself and general satisfaction to the publie. Previous to his election as Mayor he was a member of the Town Board for two years, and was the mover and insti- gator of many of the improvements which have taken place in his city. Socially, he is a member in good standing of the Masonic fraternity, and his honorable war career entitles him to member-
ship in the G. A. R., Rawlins Post No. 35. Ile and his wife are influential members of the Preshy- terian Church, and are among the well-known so- ciety people, enjoying the esteem and friendship of a host of acquaintances.
AMES KERR, JR. One of the most beauti- ful and extensive stock farms of Filley Township is owned and operated by the sub- ject of this sketch. The greater part of it lies on section 22, and is in grass, being entirely devoted to the raising of cattle and hogs. By a life of industry Mr. Kerr has accumulated a gener- ous share of this world's goods, and his career has been that which has gained him the respect and confidence of his fellowmen.
Our subject is of substantial Scotch ancestry, his father, also James by name, having been born in the " land of the thistle." He emigrated to America in early life, settling first in the Dominion of Can- ada. Thence he emigrated to Ford County, Ill., where he still resides. Ile carried on stock farming quite extensively at one time, but is now living more retired from active labor. His wife, Mrs. Rebecca Kerr, the mother of our subject, like her husband a native of Scotland, died some years ago in Illinois. Their family consisted of ten children, five sons and five daughters, only five of whom are living : Elizabeth is married and lives in Pennsyl- vania; Mary is the wife of J. E. Bennett, also of the Keystone State; Margaret, Mrs. Knight, is a resident of Los Angeles, Cal .; Andrew is farming in this county.
James Kerr, Jr., was born in Upper Canada on the 29th of June, 1845, and there received his primary education. He left home at the age of fourteen years, and proceeding to New York State, remained about two years engaged in farming, and upon pushing further westward to Illinois, was simi- larly occupied another two years. In 1866 he mi- grated to Colorado, where he became interested as a stock dealer. He continued in that section of country until 1878, but during the last six years of bis stay there was employed as the conductor of a mule train of forty-two wagons, which transported
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merchandise from Cheyenne to Sidney, Neb. These wagons usually carried abont eleven carloads of freight, and occupied from thirty to sixty days in making the trip. Often the Indians were trouble- some, and the train had to be guarded by an escort of twenty to eighty soldiers. Often also they were compelled to "corral," or form their wagons in a circle, placing their animals inside, and from the breastwork thus constructed hide themselves from or engage in warfare with their savage foe. Not infrequently some of his men were killed.
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