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 92
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Mr. Fink appreciates the advantage of learning, and has spared no pains to give his children all the advantages of education which money can procure. When his eldest children were young there were no schools in the part of Wisconsin in which he lived, and in order that they might not grow up with minds neglected and uncultivated, he organized the first school of the neighborhood in his own house, having since provided his younger children with advantages at a great deal of expense. They have amply repaid his solicitude in their behalf, and are intelligent, refined and cultivated young men and women. His eldest son, Charles A., has spent two and a half years in school in Europe, and after completing the regular course of instruction he took a special course of training in architecture. Since his return he has located in Milwaukee, Wis., where he is doing a lucrative business as an archi- tect, and is known as the designer of the Bravier Church work of Garnay.
RVILLE R. DEMING, one of the younger members of the farming community of Iligh- land Township, is finely located on section 9, where in addition to general farming he makes a specialty of stock-raising. ITis home and farm, of which a view will be found upon another page, is noticeable among those of the other enterprising citizens of Gage County as that of a man who is enterprising and industrious, and who is contribut- ing his quota toward the building up of his town-
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ship by keeping pace with the improvements of the age, and availing himself of the information that is to be gained by reading and by contact with other intelligent men. He is the offspring of an excellent family, and was born in Saratoga County, N. Y., Dec. 14, 1845. His parents, John and Sarah (Rockwell) Deming, were also natives of the Empire State, and claim to be of English ances- try. The household circle included four children, all of whom are living, namely : Edgar, a resident of Fulton County, N. Y .; Orville R., our subject; Melvina. the wife of Enos Murphy, of Saratoga County, N. Y., and Clark J., of Sedgwick County, Kan.
The parents of Mr. Deming were residents of New York, and are now deceased. Our subject was reared to manhood in his native county, amid the quiet pursuits of farm life, and acquired his education in the district schools. He continued under the home roof until 1868 or 1869, and there- after spent his time in the lumber trade until his marriage, which occurred when he was nearly thirty years of age, on the 21st of November, 1875. His bride, Miss Osie Whitney, was a native of his own county in New York, and of their union there were born five children, namely: Mervin, Aug. 17, 1877; Edna. Sept. 27, 1879; Maude, April 28, 1884, these being still living. The two deceased are : Alta, who was born July 3. 1882, and died Feb. 9, 1883; and Carl O., who was born April 30. 1886, and died April 20, 1887.
Mr. and Mrs. Deming lived in their native State a year after their marriage, and in the spring of 1876 changed their residence to DeKalb County. Ill., where our subjeet engaged in farming until the spring of 1879. Then selling out he came to Ne- braska, and purchased 160 acres of land from the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad Company, at $8 per acre. Upon this he labored industriously, cultivating the soil and gradually erecting the buildings necessary for his comfort and conveni- ence, and subsequently added to his real estate un- til he now has 240 acres, comprising some of the finest land in Highland Township. Considering the fact that he was comparatively without means when crossing the Mississippi, he has certainly given evi- dence of great industry and perseverance, and he
generously maintains that he has been ably as- sisted by his excellent wife and helpmate, who has stood by his side through sunshine and through storm, and fulfilled her whole part in their mutual toils and sacrifices. The Deming homestead is now one of the most desirable in this part of Gage County, and the family one of the most highly re- spected in the community.
Mr. Deming, politically, is in sympathy with the Democratic party, and socially, belongs to the A. F. & A. M., with which he identified himself in 1870 at Northampton, N. Y.
The wife of our subject was born July 27, 1855, and is the daughter of Oscar O. and Sarah R. (Steele) Whitney, the former a native of Vermont, and the latter of New York State. The household circle included three children : Osie, Mrs. D .; Leah, who died when twenty-nine years old, and William, who is engaged in inventions and patents at Glens Falls, N. Y. Calvin Brown, a favorite uncle of Mrs. Deming, served as a soldier both in the Mexi- can War and that of the late Rebellion; he is now in Fulton County, N. Y. Mr. Deming's brother, Edgar L., served in Company G, 115th New York Volunteers, in the Rebellion, for three years.
RS. ELIZABETH WALDRON is a woman of noble spirit and courageous heart, who has suffered the bereavement of her affec- tionate husband and has devoted hersell, with a Christian resignation to her great loss, to the care of her four children. Her father, Jacob Oppenheimer, was a man of more than ordinary perseverance and generosity, and our subjeet pos- sesses these excellent qualities in a marked degree, modified only to harmonize with the admirable womanly qualities which characterize her. He was horn near Saxony, Germany, and was the only living child of his parents; his father died when he was quite young. He remained in Germany with his mother as long as she lived, and after her death the ties which bound him to his Fatherland were broken, and, in company with some of his friends, he came to America. When he reached the harbor of New York he had about $10 in his pocket, and finding
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that his friends were wholly destitute, the spirit of generosity, which was one of his marked character- istics, urged him to bestow all he had upon his un- fortunate friends, and he started out with empty hands. -
The father of our subject was not of Jewish ex- traction, his father having been a native of France and his mother of Germany. After his generous disposal of his money he went to work in the Pennsylvania Iron Works, and also engaged in farming. He married in Ohio, and removed to Illi- nois, making his home on a farm in Fulton County. and having met with success, he became well situ- ated, and surrounded his family with the advan- tages and luxuries that wealth can procure. He died in 1880 at the age of sixty-eight years, but the mother still lives at her home in Shenandoah, Iowa, having reached the age of seventy-six years. They were the parents of seven children, namely : David, Sarah, James, Barbara, Eli. Elizabeth and Milton.
Our subject was born in Highland County, Ohio, on the 11th of June. 1850, and was but one year old when she was taken to Illinois. She lived on her father's farm and attended the common schools of the district, and having unusually quick percep- tion and keenness of intellectual faculties, she be- came a cultivated and refined young woman, and possessed many attractive qualities of mind and heart. She was married, on the 23d of January, 1873, to Mr. L. R. Waldron, a son of John and Isabella (Steward) Waldron, who went to Johnson County, Iowa, where the two families became ac- quainted and cemented their friendship by this happy union. Mr. Waldron was born on the 12th of January, 1850, in Ohio, and was but å child when his parents went to Iowa. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Waldron made their home in Mont- gomery County, where the former was engaged as a farmer, and after having charge of a rented farm for three years, he purchased some land and pros- pered well on his own behalf. They came to Ne- braska in 1882, and Mr. Waldron bought the north half of section 27, Hooker Township, on which lie was meeting with prosperity, when, unfortunately, his death occurred, on the 15th of February, 1883, and he left his wife and four children to mourn his untimely departure. The fond mother centers all
her hopes in her four sons-Ralph, Arthur, Worth and Ledrue-whom she will undoubtedly see become useful and noble men.
Mrs. Waldron has shown a great deal of courage and business capability in so successfully carrying on the management of the farm since the death of her husband. She is a member of the Presbyterian Church, of Adams, and is a woman of firm temper- ance principles. Her political views favor the ad- ministration of the Democratic party in politics, and she is everywhere esteemed as an estimable woman and a refined lady. We are pleased to pre- sent in this volume a view of her homestead.
R. THOMAS D. TIBBETS is one of the leading physicians and surgeons residing in Liberty. He was born in Munson, Me., on the 9th of December, 1847, and is a son of Edward Tibbets (deceased), who moved from Munson to Augusta of the same State when our subject was a child. From there he went to DeKalb County, Ill., in the year 1857, and engaged in agriculture until 1864, when he came to this county. He settled on Wolf Creek two miles north of the place now occupied by the city of Liberty, and at that time there were but two stores, a post-office and blacksmith-shop, in Beatrice. Jacob Shaw then had charge of the blacksmith-shop. and he still lives in the same city. There was not a house in the place occupied by this thriving city, and there were but three houses on Plum Creek, four on Wolf Creek and three on Wild Cat Creek, making in all perhaps not more than a dozen houses in this vicinity.
When the father of our subject came here the Indians roamed at will over the vast prairies, too indolent to make use of the unexcelled soil which nature had prepared to be the greatest resource of mankind. They indulged in the pastimes for which they were so celebrated and at which they became so expert, and had ample opportunity to cast their arrows at the elk, deer, antelope and wolves which abounded throughout this territory. But they are gone, and the land which they held so indifferently the hand of the enterprising white man has con-
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verted into fertile fields which produce abundant erops.
Our subject received an education which quali- fied him to make the profession of instructing the young and growing minds his principal occupation for a period of eight years, being engaged at differ- ent times in the schools all over this neighborhood. In his leisure time during that period he gave at- tention to the study of medicine, and afterward was graduated from the College of Physicians and Sur- geons, of St. Joseph, Mo., on the 2d of March, 1880. He had practiced in this vicinity four years previous to his graduation, and when the city of Liberty was founded he located here, having since that time built up quite a good practice. Not only does a physician relieve physical pain and become a confidant to whom suffering people willingly con- fide their ills, but he endears himself to the families because of his labors in their behalf, and thus en- joys a constantly increasing host of friends.
On the 6th of October, 1874, Dr. Tibbets was united in marriage to Miss Martha J. Losey, a daughter of James M. Losey, of Clay County, Kan. Five children came to their home, two of them only to remain for a short time, and the three now living are Lionel, Stella and Myrtle. The mother is an esteemed and well-known member of society, and a sympathizing helpmate to her husband, en- couraging him by her estimable disposition and qualities of womanhood. Our subject has for two years been a member of the County Board of Supervisors, and has served as Chairman of the Town Board of Trustees, being quick to support the measures by which the improvement of the city can be augmented. He is a member of the Re- publican organization.
F6 RANK G. LASELLE, a member of the firm of LaSelle, Fiske & Co., dealers in general merchandise, has charge of their store in Cortland, the other half of the business being lo- cated at Beatrice. He was born in Madison County, N. Y., May 2. 1861, and passed his boyhood in his native county, attending first a district and after- ward a select school. Of his father, William M. La-
Selle, a sketch will be found elsewhere in this work. The mother was Mary A. Grosvenor, the descend- ant of a fine old family of New York State.
Our subject came with his parents to Nebraska in 1881, and soon afterward entered the employ of his uncle, H. A. LaSelle, at Beatrice, who was conduct- ing a store of general merchandise. Subsequently he operated at Hastings in the same capacity, and from the latter place removed to Cortland, where he became the partner of Peter Hastings, with whom he continued until the latter gentleman disposed of his interest in the business to the firm of LaSelle, Fiske & Co.
Mr. LaSelle occupied himself in general mer- chandising at Cortland for a period of four years, at the end of which time his father, as a member of the firm of LaSelle, Fiske & Co., purchased the stock of goods of George R. Scott, in Beatrice. Frank G. now has entire charge of the business at Cortland, while the other partners manage the store in Beatrice. They form a trio bound to succeed, and their prompt methods of doing business have commended them generally to the citizens of this section.
Mr. LaSelle was married at Beatrice, in Septem- ber, 1884, to one of the most estimable and accom- plished young ladies of the city, Miss Hattie Saunders, who was born in Ohio. Of this union there are two children-Grosvenor V. and a babe unnamed.
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C ALVIN K. HIGGINS resides on section 35, Midland Township; he has been closely iden- tified with public affairs in this county since 1874. He was born on the 17th of June, 1844, in Pittsfield, Me., and is a son of Heman and Betsey (Tibbetts) Higgins, natives of Maine, and still residing in that State. Our subject is the eldest of the four children, of whom Charity became the wife of William Dyer, and resides in Burnham; George in Clinton, and Mary, the wife of Henry Lancaster, in Palmyra, all in their native State.
Our subject spent the early years of his life on his father's farm, engaged in the various duties in- cident to a country life, and attending the common schools, applying himself with such diligence to his
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studies that he secured a very good education. When his term of schooling was concluded he engaged in the profession of teaching, which he fol- lowed for five winters, alternating the arduous duties of the school-room with the free and inde- pendent life on a farm during the summer. In 1872 he went to Lowell and served as watchman in one of the large cotton mills of that manufacturing city, retaining his position for one year, whence in 1874 be came to Nebraska. He had a sufficient amount of money to enable him to purchase forty acres of land in this county, and with a yoke of oxen he broke the sod, prepared it for cultivation, erected a primitive style "shanty," and established himself in his "bachelor's hall."
By unceasing industry and due economy our subject prospered and accumulated quite a compe- tence, which enabled him in the fall of 1881 to set- tle where he now resides. He owns 160 acres of splendid farming land adjoining the city of Bea- trice, which is valued very highly, and for which he has been offered $150 per acre. He has erected a neat and commodious dwelling and a good set of farm buildings, and in various ways has he im- proved the land and added to its attractiveness. A view of his place may be seen on another page of this ALBUM. But such a pleasant home could not be graced alone by the owner, and in the same year that he established himself in his new home he brought his charming bride to share the comforts with him. The lady was Miss Rebecca Murgatroyd, who was born in Wisconsin on the 3d of April, 1857, and is a daughter of Emanuel and Ellen (Newson) Mur- gatroyd, of Beatrice. Two children, named May Ellen and Charlie, now bless the home of our sub- ject and his wife. To Mr. and Mrs. Murgatroyd there were born ten children, five of whom are liv- ing: Thomas, in Dakota; Margaret, now Mrs. Mid- dleton, of Gage County ; Mrs. Higgins; Ann, now Mrs. Eccleston, of Saunders County, Neb., and Mary, at home with her parents in Beatrice.
While our subject gives close attention to the work on his fine farm, and combines with his agri- cultural pursuits the raising of stock and good horses, he yet has time to devote to the service of the publie, and assumes a share of the labors tend- ing to the public improvement. He has acted in
the capacity of School Director, and in various ways has manifested his interest in the advance- ment of education and morality. He does not care to identify himself with any political party, but sup- ports the men whom he thinks best qualified to fill public offices, irrespective of party. All his wealth has been accumulated by his own energy and good management, aided by the inspiring presence and kind advice of his wife, and among men he is known to possess an unblemished reputation.
AMES E. BUSH. junior member of the law firm of Pemberton & Bush, at Beatrice, was born in the city of Rockville, Ind., June 1, 1845. His father. David Bush, a stonemason by trade, was a native of New York, served as a sol- dier in the Mexican War, and died in the service. when our subject was a child two years of age. Ilis mother, Roxalana (Minter) Bush, was born in Ken- tucky, and passed away the year following the de- cease of her husband. Thus six children, four sons and two daughters, were orphaned. Of these our subject was the youngest.
After the death of his father James was taken by his mother to Kentucky, and after the death of the latter the six children went to Peoria County, Ill. James there made his home with an aunt, Mrs. Han- nah Gordon, with whom he remained until a lad of eight years. After the marriage of his oldest sister he made his home with her until the out- break of the Rebellion. Mr. Bush, on the 8th of August, 1862, enlisted in Company E. 112th Illi- nois Infantry, which was assigned to the Army of the Ohio. The following winter the regiment oper- ated in Kentucky, and in the summer of 1863 as- sisted in driving the Morgan raiders from the soil of Kentucky and Ohio. Later they were with Gen. Saunders on his raid in Tennessee.
On the 21st of August, 1863, the regiment to which our subject was attached was assigned to the command of Gen. Burnside, and started ou the campaign in Eastern Tennessee. They subse- quently participated in the battles of Knoxville, Athens, Philadelphia, Dandridge and Bean's Sta- tion. They wintered in Tennessee, and on the
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1st of May, 1864, joined Sherman in the Atlanta campaign, and were present at the battle of Resaca, the siege of Atlanta, the engagements at Etowah, Jonesboro and Kenesaw Mountain. The rebels re- treated from Atlanta, the keystone city of the Con- federacy, and the Union lines were advanced into the rebel country 200 miles, the Confederate armies contesting every foot of ground as they retired be- fore the advance of the Union troops.
The Atlanta campaign lasted from the 1st of May to the Ist of August, 1864, when Sherman marched his army into the city. In the battles which fol- lowed, and which need not be recapitulated here. being matters of history, Mr. Bush did valiant serv- ice with his comrades, enduring the hardships and privations incident to the soldier's life, the action of the field, the hurried marches, and all the other vicissitudes of warfare. After the battles of Frank- lin and Nashville, which ended the war in the West, the 112th Regiment was sent first to Washington City and then to Ft. Fisher, on the coast of North Carolina. In the spring of 1865 it rejoined the army of Gen. Sherman at Goldsboro, N. C. Soon after this followed the surrender of Johnston's army. Mr. Bush having received his honorable discharge, was mustered out at Chicago in July, 1865.
Our subject, after being transformed from a sol- dier into a civilian, made his way to Stark County, Ill., and thereafter engaged in farming, also attend- ing school two years. In November, 1872. he en- tered upon the study of law in the office of Miles A. Fuller, of Toulon, Ill., and after having passed his examination in the Supreme Court at Mt. Vernon, Ill., was admitted to the bar June 5. 1875. He commenced the practice of his profession at Bradford, Ill., where he continued until the 6th of May, 1880.
Mr. Bush came to Beatrice in May of the year mentioned, and associating himself with J. N. Rick- ards, entered upon the practice of his profession here. The partnership was dissolved in 1884, and in 1886 Mr. Bush became associated with his pres- ent partner, Mr. L. M. Pemberton. They are now numbered among the leading attorneys of the city, and are in the enjoyment of a lucrative and stead- ily increasing business. They have a complete library, and keep themselves posted upon the points
which are constantly arising in relation to the duties of their calling.
The marriage of James E. Bush and Miss Anna E. Dyer, of Toulon, Ill., was celebrated in Novem- ber, 1867. Mrs. Bush was born in Genesee County, N. Y .. April 21, 1846, and is the daughter of Lemon and Philena Dyer, who were natives of New York. Mr. and Mrs. Bush are the parents of eight children, two sons and six daughters, namely: Bertha E., Charles E .. Dora E., Harold D., Maude C., Lena Roxie, Mina Belle and Gladys. Mr. Bush, politi- cally, is a Republican, and is a member in good standing of Rawlins Post No. 36, G. A. R., at Bea- trice, Neb.
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B ENJAMIN BURCH is one of the most prom- inent business men of Nebraska, being exten- sively interested in the banking and real estate business. He is the owner of town lots and improved property in Wymore; three quarter- sections of land in Frontier County, Neb .; one sec- tion in Rush County, near the county seat, La Crosse ; one-half section in Sherman County, Kan. He also has a number of fine brick business blocks in Creston, Iowa; also some real estate in Lincoln, Neb. The land in Frontier County is under culti- vation.
John Borch, the father of our subject, was born in Woodstock, Vt., on the 12th of July, 1800. When he was six years old his parents left Ver- mont and moved to the Shoot, fifty miles north of Montreal, Canada. He received a common-school education, after which he engaged in farming near London, Canada, and there lived for fifteen years. Then he moved to Port Stanley and remained until about 1837, engaged in farming, but selling this land he settled near Rockford, Winnebago Co., Ill., and there improved an extensive farm. He also engaged very largely in raising live stock, horses and grain, being quite successful. In the fall of 1857 he went to Fayette, Iowa, where he engaged in the drug business until the time of his death, in 1864.
While in Illinois the father of our subject was Justice of the Peace for about ten years, and was
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quite a leading man in his day. Ile and his wife were prominent and consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, he usually acting as Class-Leader and Steward of the church of which he was a member, and also being identified with the Sunday-school. For a long time he served faith- fully as Superintendent of the Sunday-school, un- til his advancing age obliged him to discontinue his arduous labors. He was married to Miss Lydia Hogabome in the year 1819, and to them came eight children, all of whom lived until the years. of maturity, and with but one exception are still liv- ing. One of the brothers and one sister of our subject are living in Nebraska.
The mother of our subject was born in Saratoga, N. Y., in 1797, and when she was ten years old her parents moved to Canada, where she remained with her father until the time of her marriage. While moving from New York to Canada, in the year 1808, it very unfortunately happened that during their journey across Lake Champlain the team car- rying the family broke through the ice, and her mother and brother drowned, it being a very sad death, and a great bereavement to her family. Mrs. Burch died in 1863, one year before the death of her husband, which occurred in 1864. Benjamin Burch, the grandfather of our subject, was born in the New England States, and for a long time he was engaged in milling in Vermont until going to Canada, where he engaged in agriculture. He married Miss Strong, and they had a family of thirteen children.
Benjamin Burch, our subject, was born on tlie 17th of April, 1821, in London, Canada, where he remained until he was thirteen years old, attending school, and then moved with his parents to Port Stanley. During the Canada Rebellion, when he was but sixteen years old, he was obliged to leave the country or be drafted into the army, whose cause he did not espouse. Being but a mere boy he did not sympathize with the cause of war, and in order to escape from unpleasant duties he went to Port Huron, Mich., where he engaged in a lum- ber establishment, and when eighteen years old he went with his parents to Rockford. Ill. There he remained with his father until he was twenty-one years old, when he began to work for himself, and
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