USA > Nebraska > Lancaster County > Portrait and biographical album of Lancaster county, Nebraska > Part 13
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In the summer of 1872 Mr. Harris was a passen- ger on the ill-fated steamer "Metis," which was wrecked on her voyage from New York City to Providence, and was rescued after remaining sev- eral hours in the water, during which he clung to a plank. From this shock to his system he never fully recovered, and died two years later at Lincoln, June 12, 1874, at the age of fifty-nine years. Mr. Harris was a man of large ideas and a benevolent heart, who took a kindly interest in every project calculated to benefit mankind and encourage by his means and influence, as far as he was able. the dis- semination of both moral and substantial good. He affiliated with the Republican party, and was a member in good standing of the Congregational Church. Socially, he belonged to the I. O. O. F.
The mother of Mrs. Ilarwood was born in South- bridge, Mass., July 24, 1821, and is the daughter of Lement and Celia (Butler) Bacon, the latter of whom is a lineal descendant of Andrew and Mary (Germaine) Sigourney, who were married at IIu- guenot Fort, in Oxford, Mass., about 1701. She. like her husband, is a devoted Christian and a member of the Congregational Church. She is still living, making her home in the city of Lincoln.
The early life of Mrs. Celia Harwood was spent in Boston, where she attended its best schools, and developed into womanhood. She accompanied the
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family to Hannibal, Mo .. and subsequently to Bur- lington, Iowa, thence to Lincoln. this State, where they settled in 1872, and where she became ac- quainted with our subject. and was married. There have been born of her marriage with Mr. Harwood three children : Agnes, born April 12. 1884, who died when two days old; George Harris, who was born Aug. 10. 1885. and died Feb. 10, 1887, and Mary Dorrance, who was born April 6, 1887.
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In June, 1882. Mr. Harwood embarked at Phila- delphia on the steamer "Indiana," for a trip abroad, and after a safe voyage landed in Liverpool. He made a slow progress to London. stopping at Ches- ter, Stratford-on-Avon, and the Birmingham manu- factories. In London he was especially interested in Parliament, the Law Courts, the British Museum, the National Art Gallery, the Tower, the Kensing- ton Gardens, and in an examination of statistics and facts in relation to the commerce and manu- factures of Great Britain.
From London Mr. Harwood went to Paris, thence to Belgium, and made the enchanting journey up the Rhine to Switzerland. Later, he passed into Italy, visiting Milan, Venice, Florence and Rome, returning to Paris by the Mont Cenis tunnel. Re- visiting London, he traveled northward into Seot- land, finally embarking at the city of Glasgow upon the "Circassia," homeward bound. This trip was remarkable for happy escapes. In Switzerland, crossing the Tete-Noire, he was one of a party of three in a carriage drawn by a mule and a horse. The team ran away, throwing them all out, down a precipice of thirty feet, upon a narrow terrace, beyond which was an abyss almost unfathomable. Happily, no one was seriously hurt. On the voyage home, the "Circassia," in a dense fog off the banks of Newfoundland, suffered a collision with a sailing- vessel. Fortunately, no lives were lost, and the "Circassia" was not badly damaged.
ERMON H. BARTELS. There is existing from the period of the pre-Norman era of English history a prophecy to the effect that no three representatives of any dynasty can oecupy the throne of England consecutively with-
out a revolution. The remarkable exception to the fulfillment of the above is found in the present dy- nasty of the Guelphs, an llanoverian family, as will be remembered. Hanover, one of the old German Duchies, has not influenced the history of England alone, but that of other European nations, and from the less regal walks of life there have come citizens of that State who are among the most successful, steady, honorable and intelligent, of the settlers of our newer country. Among them may be men- tioned Hermon H. Bartels, one of Centerville's pros- perous farmers, who is a resident upon section 13.
In Hanover there lived a family, John H. Bar- tels and his wife, Adelheit, whose residence was sit- uated near Hoja. Upon the 26th of January, 1848, their home was made glad by the birth of a son. This son was the object of affection's tenderest solici- tude, and was reared carefully until the age when school life should begin. when he entered upon that experience. Having laid the foundation of his life in the halls of scholarly attainment, he passed to the sterner experiences of young manhood, continuing to reside with his parents until about twenty-three years of age, assisting with the various engagements of his chosen occupation of farming.
In 1867 our subject emigrated to America, tak- ing passage at Bremen in a sailing-vessel, which was followed by seven weeks of an experience novel, moving and exciting, at the same time not lacking in some features of ennui. He landed in New York City and proceeded direct to Mason County, Ill., where he was occupied in farming, and saw con- siderable prosperity as the result of his labor. In 1873 he came to Nebraska, and settled in this county upon his present property, which comprises 160 acres of excellently improved and highly cultivated fertile land.
Two years prior to the removal to this county Mr. Bartels deserted the ranks of bachelordom and was united in marriage with Miss Lizzie Steinke, on the 19th of October, at Savannah. This lady is the daughter of Renney and Rolrock Steinke, and was born at Hanover, in 1851. She is a lady of education and culture, possessed of those attractive and amiable traits which not only attract attention and admiration from true men and women, but re- tain continuously their friendship. Their union has
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been happily cemented by the birth of seven chil- dren, whose names are subjoined : Anne, John, Ilenry, Lena, Dora. Hermon and Louisa.
Excepting only that education given him by his parents, and the faithful counsel and help of his wife, our subject has attained his present success as the result of his enthusiastic, constant effort. Mr. and Mrs. Bartels are members in good standing of the Lutheran Church, and held in high esteem. Their children are being instructed in the same re- ligious tenets, and are developing elements of char- acter that promise great things to come. In busi- ness circles, social and religious, our subject and family are accorded the entire confidence and re- gard of the community.
LEXANDER BUCHANAN is the well- known farmer and stock-raiser, whose beautiful farm of eighty acres is located on section 12, Oak Township. He is a native of old Ireland, and the impulse which led him to the Western World is the same love of liberty and its institutions which is the cause of the agitation by Ireland's representatives in the Parliament at Westminster.
Our subject is the son of Alexander Buchanan, who was born in the beginning of the present cent- ury in Ireland. In his early days he was taught the trade of a tailor, and in after days continued to work at the same. In his young manhood he was united in marriage with Susan McElwee, who pre- sented her husband with five children, of whom four came to this country. In the year 1863 Mr. Bu- chanan, Sr., departed this life, when a little over sixty years of age.
Alexander Buchanan, our subject, was born June 10, 1829, in Ireland. Ile received the tuition of his boyhood from the parish schoolmaster, and as early as possible he was put to farm work, and 80 continued at his native place until the year 1864, when the brilliant descriptions and the bright Utopian visions of the land beyond the sea led him to sever the ties that bound him to his native land and his home, and come to America. Upon land- ing he proceeded immediately to Nebraska, where
he entered his present farm as a homestead in 1868. having in the interim worked as a carpenter in what is now the city of Lincoln. Before coming to this country he had served three years as a tailor, and was enabled to find work at once in the new town.
Having decided to settle upon his land, our sub- ject set to vork first to frame some building which should serve the purpose of home until his present building could be erected, and also a barn and other out-baildings. Here his recent occupation did him good service, and he was speedily provided for. The property lies quite pleasantly, and con- tains some of the best land of the district. He was as careful and energetic in working his land as in the erection of his buildings, and has been by no means ill-rewarded.
Our subject was united in marriage to Lulisia Paukling, Jan. 7, 1877, in Lincoln, who died but a short time after their union. Afterward, on his pres- ent farm, he was united to Mrs. Sarah Lusk, of Lincoln. The maiden name of this lady was Hy- land, and she was born in Kalamazoo, Mich., in October, 1832. She is the daughter of John Hyland, a native of Pennsylvania, and was born in the year 1795. As a young man he removed to Ohio, where he married Miss Hannah Ford, and removed to Michigan. To this union there came nine chil- dren, and they were privileged to bring seven to maturity. Of these our subject's wife was the fifth.
During the latter part of Mr. Hyland's life he retired from active farm work, and lived at Yan- kee Springs near Kalamazoo, where he died in 1865, having survived his wife about twelve years. It was at this home their daughter Sarah was born, in 1832, and where she received her education, and made her home until her first marriage, when she was united with a gentleman named Delurier, and with him made her home at Ypsilanti, Mich., until the death of her husband, when she was married in the year 1856 to Mr. Lusk, and went to Iowa, and there lived for fourteen years. The result of this union was a home cirele comprising six children. During her widowhood Mrs. Lusk visited Lincoln and made the acquaintance of our subject, to whom she was married in 1882.
Mrs. Buchanan has been a resident upon the bor-
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der all her life, and is perfectly familiar with its every phase. She has been always used to seeing Indians around her home, and had frequent deal- ings with them, but was never in any way molested, although upon several occasions her ready wit and inventiveness did her good service. Our subject and wife are both among the most prominent and at the same time devout members of the Ray- mond Presbyterian Church, and are among those who, by their intelligence and efficient labors. have caused Nebraska so quickly to have throughout the country so great a name for productiveness and fer- tility in any and every department of agriculture.
Our subject has for several terms been a member of the local School Board, and the greater part of the time of his settlement being also School Treas- urer. He has also held the office of Supervisor. Politically, our subject has always been connected intimately with the Republican party, energetic in campaigns and loyal at the polls, but his careful study of the great question of temperance as it is before the nation led him to the decision that the ground of the Prohibition party was the true one, and with the manly honesty which has characterized his whole life, he made known the change in his views, and took his stand with the Prohibitionists, with whom he is to-day, esteemed alike by men of both parties and by those who differ from him, re- spected for having the courage of his convictions and acting upon them.
E DWIN K. YOUNG is one of the foremost of the young and enterprising farmers of the present generation, who are rapidly pushing to the front to assist their elders in sustaining the great agricultural interests of Lancaster County, and what he lacks in experience is more than made up by his energy, courage, good judgment, and ability to work. He is engaged in general farming on sec- tion 11, Lancaster Township, and his farm of 120 aeres, admirably adapted to both grain and stock- raising, is one of the best in this locality where good farms abound.
Our subjeet is the son of the late John J. Young,
who was born Aug. 25, 1820, in Susquehanna County. Pa., and was there prosperously engaged in farming for many years. He married Urainia Kingsley. daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Roswell Kingsley, of Connectieut, who was a native of the same county as himself. and who was born on the fifth anniver- sary of his own birth. Aug. 25, 1825. They had a family of five children, four sons and one daughter, as follows: Ilattie E .. wife of Irving Snell, of Ne- braska City. Neb. ; Edwin K., John R., Elmer E. and Willie K., all of Lancaster. In 1878 Mr. Young settled up his affairs in his native State and started westward to look for land. having been attracted to this State by the many glowing reports that had come to his ears concerning the marvelous fertility of the soil and the healthfulness of the climate. While looking for a suitable location he was killed, June 18, 1878, at Sutton, in Clay County, Neb., by a railway accident, and thus closed the useful and honorable career of one who had ever been a faith- ful citizen and a good man.
Edwin Young, of this sketch, was born in Sus- quehanna County, Pa., Sept. 19, 1854, and his early years were spent on a farm in his native State. In 1878, in the fall of the year, he accompanied the other members of the family to this State, where he bought a farm. Jan. 25, 1887, the marriage of our subject with Miss Ella Maddox was celebrated. She is a daughter of Job H. and Mary A. (Brown) Maddox, of Benton County, Ind., and was born March 28, 1866. Her father was born in Ohio, Jan. 23, 1826, and her mother was born Jan. 6, 1826. They had a family of six children, of whom Mrs. Young was the youngest.
Mr. Young is paying much attention to stock- raising, and has his farm well stocked with cattle of good grades. Ile has also been quite successful in raising grain. The central location of his farm, within seven miles of the city of Lincoln, being thus near good markets and accessible to the great railways that cross the continent, makes it a very valuable piece of property.
Our subject is prompt and systematic in the management of his affairs, and is careful and con- siderate in his dealings with others. He has the moral, religious and material welfare of his com- munity at heart, and earnestly uses his influence to
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promote it. He is a valued member of the Baptist Church at Lincoln, and his wife is an equally valued member of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Lan- caster. In politics, Mr. Young is an enthusiastic Republican.
ILLIAM A. CADMAN is junior member of the firm of J. Cadman & Son, dealers in buggies, wagons, road-carts, hardware and agricultural implements, No. 233 North Tenth street. They carry a stock worth about $10,000, and have an extensive and flourishing trade. Our subject is a native of Illinois, born in Jo Daviess County, May 1, 1850. He is a son of John and Frances (Bennett) Cadman, natives of Pennsylvania. Ilis father was engaged in business in his native State as a merchant, and in 1840 be removed to Illinois, where he was prosperously engaged in the same vocation. In 1859 he came with his family to Nebraska, and located on a farm near Saltillo. This was when Nebraska was under Territorial govern- ment in the early days of its settlement, and he is, therefore, numbered among the pioneers of that first decade when the country was in a very wild state, still being considered a part of the great American Desert, so that to him and his contempor- aries belongs the honor of having shown to the out- side world the great possibilities that lay in the rich virgin soil of these vast prairies. He was one of the prime movers in establishing the overland wagon route. He afterward came with his family to Lincoln in early times, when it gave no indications of its present size and wealth, and he has contributed his share in promoting its growth. He is a shrewd, far-sighted man of business, and is highly respected in this community, where he is well known for his solid worth. In politics, he has long been a follower of the Republican party, and is to-day one of its sturdiest supporters. He is a prominent member of the Blue Lodge, being a Master Mason.
Our subject belongs to that large class who have been, so to speak, the architect of their own fort- unes, the so-called "self-made men" of our country. He was reared to farming pursuits and obtained a practical education that enabled him to enter suc-
cessfully into business. In early life he hal con- siderable experience of life in the wild West. On the 23d of June, 1887, our subject and his father bought out Messrs. Ilovey & Peek, and established themselves in their present business, which they have already made an assured success, and from which they derive a good income.
Mr. Cadman was married to Miss Katy A. Burks, Oct. 16, 1878, Elder II. T. Davis, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, performing the ceremony. She was born in Missouri in 1857, and is a daughter of John M. Burks. One daughter, Florence A., has been born of this marriage. her birth taking place in December, 1880. Our subject and his wife are pleasantly situated in their comfortable, commodions residence at No. 1228 T street, and they enjoy in the highest degree the esteem and confidence of all who know them. Mr. Cadman is a young man of good personal habits, is prompt and systematic in his business methods, and has always been found trust- worthy and faithful. Religiously, he is identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he is an honored member, and politically, he is allied with the Republicans of Lancaster County.
AMES N. CLARK, Deputy Postmaster at Cheney, and dealer in drugs and groceries, a pleasant, affable and intelligent gentleman, was born in West Union, Obio, June 20, 1858. His parents, Samuel E. and Sarah A. (Kirker) Clark, were natives of the same town as their son, where the father was employed at mer- chandising until the outbreak of the Civil War. Then, enlisting as a Union soldier in Company E, 91st Ohio Infantry, he was given a Captain's com- mission, and while leading his men in the battle of Cloyd Mountain, W. Va., was killed on the 9th of May, 1864. The mother is still living, and is now a resident of Creston, Iowa.
The parental family of our subject consisted of five children, namely : Mary, William A., Esther A., James N. (our subject) and Samuel K. James was but a little lad six years of age at the time of his father's death, and continued a resident of his native village until reaching manhood. His studies
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were completed in the Normal University at Leba- non, Ohio, and he engaged as a teacher for nine years following, after which he clerked at different places in Ohio. In March, 1885. he started for the West. and coming to this county took up his resi- dence in Grant Precinct, of which he has since been a resident.
Our subject, while a resident of the Buckeye State, was married in the town of Portsmouth, Scioto County, Sept. 3, 1879, to Miss Madge Tynes, who was born in Barbadoes Island, West Indies, July 11, 1861. Her parents. John B. and Margaret Tynes, were natives of Barbadoes. and are residents of Yankee Hill Precinct, this county. Our subject and his estimable wife are the parents of two sons, Arthur B. and Clarence K., who are now eight and six years old respectively. They have a neat and comfortable home, and enjoy the friendship and so- ciety of the best people of Cheney and vicinity. Mr. Clark is a member in good standing of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in politics. sup- ports Republican principles.
OEL NEWTON CONVERSE, M. D. The Hebrew classie hath it, that "Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." One of the most startling proofs, perhaps, of the above, was the result of the War of 1776. England at that time was in the full strength of naval and military power; her arms were supreme throughout the whole of Europe; the Napoleonie power was broken at her feet, and her flag in every sea was saluted with the utmost deferenee and respeet. The result to England was pride and haughtiness, and her counselors and king for the most part forgot that right is stronger than naval prowess and military power. Then from the Western Colonies there sounded out the answer to oppression and wrong which had been heaped upon them by the home Government-the Declaration of Independence, followed speedily by the noise of England's fall, the natural result of her ignorance and haughtiness. In spite of this it is a pleasure to remember that the common people were not with their rulers in this action, and that the common
people were the true nobles. who, in early days. peopled this country, and have transmitted to their sons and daughters a like nobility, so much so that, under the improved conditions of our sublime. free government every man and woman. unless they give themselves over to wrong, is noble in the highest sense of the word.
The subject of this sketch is the descendant of a family patriotic in the Colonial days. and there has been transmitted to him the nobility of character and indomitable energy characteristic of his ances- tors. His father, Lathrop Converse, was born in Bridport, Vt., and was the son of Jeremiah Con- verse, a native of Massachusetts. The latter, when a young man, was ordained to the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which profession was eminently congenial to his upright character and devout spirit. Nevertheless, when the oppressor would come and devastate home and country, and the eall went forth for defenders of the same, he was one of the first to respond with alacrity, and continued in the service with the full strength of patriotie manhood nntil disabled by a severe wound in the right shoulder. This marked him until he went to his last rest, mnstered out of the army of mankind, and finished the battle of life. He breathed his last in Madison County, Ohio, in the home which he had made his, in 1814.
When he settled in Ohio Lathrop Converse was a young man. The long journey from Vermont was made in primitive fashion, with wagon and team, a method then full of labor and difficulty. The family were among the earliest settlers of that sec- tion, and their home, erected upon a traet of un- cultivated land, was by no means pretentious. The walls of the dwelling were hewn logs, with the chinks and crevices plastered with clay; there was a stiek and mud chimney, a puncheon floor, and greased paper for windowpanes. Could John How- ard Payne have been acquainted with the pio- neer's log cabin when he wrote " Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home?" The tract of land upon which this house stood comprised 200 aeres, situated in Darby Township, and was pur- chased at the rate of $1 per acre. Once after they had settled the journey was made by Mr. Converse to and from Vermont on horseback, the usual mode
Margenett. Conouar
Truly yours I.h. Converse M. D.
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of travel in those days. Life in the new home was by no means easy, and the pioneers experienced all the difficulties incidental to new settlers. in the sale of their produce, being far from market; and, in spite of struggle and toil, at the time of his death, in 1822, Lathrop Converse was still in debt for his place, and his widow was compelled to sell the farm. After that liability was settled there re- mained $40. The doctor's bill of $100, consequent upon the long sickness of her husband, was paid with twelve head of cows and one horse. Thus was she left without means to fight for herself and four little ones, whose ages ranged from six months to six years.
The year following the death of her husband Mrs. Converse was married to Heman Wheeler, a native of Vermont, a farmer by occupation, and the owner of forty acres of land in the same township. Both Mr. Wheeler and wife were at this time devout members of the Methodist Church, and, although during the last six years of his life Mr. W. was not connected with any church, his Chris- tian life and character were the same. He departed hence in 1842, his widow continuing upon the homestead many years. She finally took up her residence with her eldest son, with whom she re- mained until her death, in 1873.
Incidents innumerable might be noted, full of interest, regarding pioneer life, but one must suf- fice. Of course it was the custom of the mother of our subject to do all her own work. Cooking was performed by the open fireplace, and instead of a journey to the dry-goods store, the spinning and weaving were performed by the mother's hands, and the cloth or linen produced was the result of her own industry and ingenuity. Joel N., our sub- ject, was once sent to the settlement with a fleece of lamb's wool, which was to be manufactured into a hat, and in payment carried twelve bushels of potatoes instead of our more convenient but then seldom used coin. What " store clothing " was used was paid for at a price which to us now would seem enormous.
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