Portrait and biographical album of Lancaster county, Nebraska, Part 57

Author:
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Chicago, Chapman brothers
Number of Pages: 812

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resolved to manufacture lumber. He erected a saw- mill at a cost of $1,500, the result of his hard earn- ings, but he was exceedingly unfortunate in this venture, as a freshet arose and swept the mill away ; with it all his property was gone, and he had labored for naught. He did not lose his conrage, however. and the strength to work with it, but he manfully set about to retrieve his lost fortunes, encouraged and assisted by the young wife whom he had mar- ried in 1853, while his mill was being built.

Mrs. Montgomery's maiden name was Maria Doyle, and she is a granddaughter of William Doyle, who planned and laid out Doylestown, Ohio. She was born May 11, 1834, near the town which her grandfather had founded, and grew to woman- hood in the home of her birth, receiving her edu- cation in the common schools. She accompanied her parents to Missouri before her marriage. To her and her husband have been born seven children, all of whom are living, namely : Sarah J., Alice A., Florence V., Daniel, Mary U., Eleanor B. and Geor- giana M. Sarah is the wife of Harry Yapp, and they have two children; Alice is the wife of David Strickland, of Lancaster County, and they have eight children; Florence married Benjamin Debord, of Lancaster County, and they have one child ; Daniel married Alice Gamble; they live in Lan- caster County, and have two children. Mary is the wife of James Vaughn, of Red Willow County, Neb., and they have two children ; Eleanor married Milford Suigert, and they have one child; Geor- giana lives at home with her parents.

Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery commenced their wedded life in Sullivan County, Mo., and after the loss of his sawmill he fell back on his old trade of a carpenter as the best means of earning a liv- ing. Hle was thus engaged until the breaking out of the Rebellion, when, sympathizing with the North, it was not safe for him or his family in a hostile State, so he preferred to take up his abode in a more northern latitude, and came with his wife and children to Nebraska City. Ile resumed the carpenter's trade there and was quite profitably engaged in it for several years. In 1874, however, he decided to turn his attention to farming, and came to Lancaster County with his family and pur- chased his present farm. IIc has erected a fair set

Barbara K. Fischer

g. G. Etischer

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of buildings, dwelling, barns, etc., has a fine grove and plenty of fruit trees, all of which he set out with his own hands. The farm is well watered, and exceedingly productive.

In our subject this community finds a useful citizen, his neighbors a kind friend, and his family a good husband and father. In their religious views both Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery favor the Southern branch of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Politically, Mr. Montgomery is a true Democrat.

NGUS MCEACHRAN, a worthy represent- ative of the agricultural interests of High- land Precinct, came to this part of the county in February, 1877, and operates 160 acres of land pleasantly situated on section 13. Most of this is under a fine state of cultivation, and has been brought to its present condition by our subject. It was a wild and unbroken tract at the time of his taking possession, having been the property of the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad.

The subject of this notice was born on the other side of the Atlantic, in Argyleshire, Scotland, Dec. 4, 1820, and traces his ancestry back to a long line of one of the best nationalities in the world. His father, John McEachran, was a farmer and carpen- ter combined, and spent his entire life in his native Argyleshire, dying there at the age of fifty-nine. The mother, Mrs. Catherine (MeIsaac) McEachran, was a native of the same section of country as her husband and son, and spent her entire life in Argyleshire, dying at the advanced age of ninety- five years.

The subject of this sketch was the third child of a large family born to his parents, the most of whom died in early childhood. He was reared near the place of his birth. He was united in marriage to Miss Margaret McEachran, who was born and reared near his own home, and was also of pure Scotch ancestry. After marriage the young couple began life together on a rented farm, where they continued until resolving to emigrate to the United States.

Our subject with his family, in the spring of 1860, embarked at Liverpool on a sailing-vessel bound

for America, and coming directly westward, located first in Winnebago County, Ill., where he rented land, but sixteen years later made his way to this county. His family includes seven children, a part of whom, however, have filed from the home nest. John, the eldest, married Miss Mary Conway, and carries on his trade of miller at Milford, in this State; Hugh is operating a farm in Highland Pre- cinct; Flora is the wife of J. R. Sharp, a well-to-do farmer of Valley County; Catherine, Charles and Dan (twins), and Lizzie continue at home with their parents. Mr. McEachran gives his attention mainly to his farm and his family, having little to do with political affairs, but uniformly votes the Republican ticket.

G L. FISCHER has been very prominent among the people of Lancaster County, and although on Nov. 15. 1884, he passed away to enjoy the recompense of his useful life, his mem- ory still lives, and his honorable and successful career stands forth as a fitting example of what can be done by earnest and constant effort. He was one of the leading farmers of the vicinity of Olive Branch Precinet, his house being located on the county line between Saline and Lancaster Counties. The homestead consisted of 160 acres of good and well-improved land, and besides this he owned other large tracts of land, part in Big Blue Precinct and part in Olive Branch. He had become a large stock-raiser and was usually very successful in his undertakings, being well known as a good, honest, worthy citizen, and a man of standing.

Our subject was born in Bavaria, Germany, in 1826, and had ample reason to be proud of the pure German ancestry from which he sprang. His father had been a successful farmer in Germany, but he died before his son, our subject, was very old. The gentleman of whom we write was reared in his native State, and in the year 1848 he came alone and single to the United States, preferring to locate at Oswego, Ill. For two years he farmed in Kendall County, and went thence to Grundy County, Ill., where he purchased 160 acres of land, on which he worked until he came to Nebraska. In 1854, while living in Grundy County, Ill., he

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was united in marriage to Miss Barbara Krug, who was also a native of Bavaria, Germany, her birth having occurred on the 27th of January, 1836.

The father of Mrs. Fischer, John C. Krug, was a farmer of Bavaria, in which place he married his wife, Barbary Dialine, and after the birth of all their children they came to the United States, in 1852. They located on a farm in Grundy County, Ill., and there the father and mother died, being aged about fifty-two and sixty years respectively. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Fischer began life as farmers, and improved their farm of 160 acres in Illinois, leaving it, however, in the year 1874, for Nebraska, where they resided until the death of the husband. Since her bereavement Mrs. Fischer has managed the farm successfully, being entitled to the praise and honor which rightly be- long to any woman who has successfully labored to fill the position in life in which she is placed. She is the mother of nine children,

With the exception of one child the family of Mrs. Fischer are all living, and recorded as follows: Mary was married to Mr. H. G. Walage, residing at Crete, and has two children; Maggie became the wife of C. Durring, and lives on a farm in Sa- line County, Neb. ; William married Miss Barbary Fix ; they live in Seward County, Neb., and are engaged in farming : George J. (see sketch) ; Minnie became the wife of William Elfeldt, and lives on a farm in Lancaster County : Lovisa, the present wife of II. G. Walage, and Charles, Ellen L. and Augusta C., all at home with their mother. Our subject while living, and his wife and children, are members of the German Methodist Episcopal Church, of Olive Branch, and the former was a member of the Republican political party. As a man of upright, honest character, who abhorred trickery and deceit, he had won a position of esteem and confidence among honest men. We present the portraits of Mr. Fischer and his wife in this connection.

C IIARLES WESSEL has been for several years a prominent factor in developing and sustaining the great agricultural interests of Lancaster County, and the fine farm that he has im-

proved from the wild prairies, beautifully located on section 30, South Pass Precinct. comprising 230 acres of the richest and most arable land in this re- gion shows him to be a skillful and competent farmer. and the income that he derives therefrom places him among the most substantial and well-to-do citizens of the place.

Mr. Wessel is a Prussian by birth and breeding, as were also his parents, Charles and Mary (Cut- meyer) Wessel, they having been born near the vil- lage of Tangan, in Westphalia. His mother died in the Fatherland when he was thirteen years of age, in 1852, when she was forty years old. A true wife and a loving and devoted mother was thus taken away from her husband and the five children who were growing up around them, some of them at the age when they most needed a mother's tender care. The names of her offspring were Christian, Mary. Charles F., Fred (deceased) and IJenry. All the family, with the exception of our subject. re- side in Woodford County, Ill. His father belonged to the middle classes in his native country, and was there engaged in farming, which occupation he has carried on in Illinois since coming to the United States, and by his industrious, honest and upright life, he has won respect and esteem from all about him.

The subject of this sketch began to attend the Prussian schools at an early age, and as a bright scholar made rapid progress in his studies in the scientific course that he pursued. He also received religious as well as secular instruction, and was con- firmed at the age of fourteen. After leaving school he began to learn the tailor's trade, but, not liking it, he preferred to work out on a farm. When our subject was eighteen years old, in company with his brother Christian and sister Mary, he set sail from Bremen on the American-bound ship "Asclelius," and after a long voyage of nine weeks and two days, landed in New Orleans in the latter part of October, 1857. From that city they pro- ceeded on a steamer up the Mississippi River to Burlington. lowa. Our subject soon found work in that city as an employe of William Brickman, with whom he remained one year. He continued to work out, as did his brother and sister, and they faithfully saved their earnings to liquidate a small

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debt that their father had contracted, and to pay his and his remaining sons passage to this country, sending $300 across the water to their father and brothers, who joined them in the fall of 1859 in Woodford County, Ill., whither our subject, his brother and sister had moved. They all rented a farm together, and our subject remained with his people until his marriage, in 1864, with Miss Hen- rietta Wittstruck, when he established a cozy home of his own. Mrs. Wessel was born in Germany, and was but a child when she came to America with her parents. She has proved an invaluable assist- ant to her husband in his work, and has made a comfortable home for her family.

After marriage Mr. Wessel rented a farm for him- self, doing very well thereon for four years. At the expiration of that time, in 1868, he bought a farm of eighty aeres, which he sold in the fall of 1869, as he had been allured by the brilliant in- ducements held out to farmers by the wonderful agricultural resources of the then young State of Nebraska, and had determined to take advantage of them. Ile started with three wagons, three spans of horses and a stallion, with his wife and two small children, and their household goods. They arrived at Nebraska City on the 15th of November. having been exactly one mouth on the way. Mr. Wessel immediately looked up a suitable location, and being pleased with the country around South Pass, he pre-empted a tract of 172 acres on section 30, and two years afterward added the eighty acres on which his house now stands, which he took up under the provisions of the Homestead Act, and by further purchase he has further increased the aere- age of his farm to 280 acres, all of which is in a fine state of culture, and provided with a substan- tial set of farm buildings.

To our subject and his wife have been born eleven children, namely : Laura, Adolph, Mary, Clara, Anna, Charles, Kate, Fred, Lena, Louis and Eddie. Laura is the wife of Louis Rambow, of South Pass, and they have two children, Louis and Fred; Adolph assists his father in the management of the farm; Mary is the wife of C. Clursman, of Lincoln, and they have one child, Edward; Clara works in Lineolu. The remaining children live at home with their parents.

Mr. Wessel is an active, wide-awake man, of resolnte character, and undoubted integrity. Al- though of foreign birth, the years of his manhood have been passed in the United States, and as an intelligent citizen, familiar with her institutions and laws, our subject takes a hearty interest in the wel- fare of his adopted country. He sincerely believes the Democratic party can be most safely trusted with the guidance of National affairs, and earnestly advocates its principles. In matters pertaining to township and county affairs, he is, however, inde- pendent, voting for the man whom he thinks best. adapted to the position. He has himself held public oflice very acceptably, serving the township as School Director, and as Road Master. He is a man of firm religious convictions, and he and his family are valued members of the Presbyterian Church, at Princeton.

AMUEL McCLAY, ex-Sheriff of Lancaster County, is a native of the Buckeye State, and born near the well-known town of Findlay, July 28, 1834. When a little lad seven years of age, his parents removed to Cham- paign County, in that State, and from there later to Illinois, living for the first few years both in Tazewell and Fulton Counties.

John MeClay, the father of our subject, was born in Franklin County, Pa., and married Miss Jane Thompson, also a native of the Keystone State. He was a farmer by occupation, and after remov- ing to Fulton County, Ill., established himself per- manently and built up a good home, where his death took place in 1862. The mother later went to live with her children in Woodford County, and died there in 1868. The family cirele included six sons and five daughters, and ten of the children lived to mature years; five are now living.

The subject of this sketch was the sixth child of the parental family, and spent his childhood and youth under the home roof, becoming familiar with rural occupations and attending the district school. Later. in Illinois, he took a year's course at Brim- field Academy. He then began an apprenticeship at the carpenter's trade, which he followed four years

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and until the outbreak of the Civil War. He was then one of the first to respond to the call for troops, enlisting in Company II, 17th Illinois In- fantry, which was assigned to the Army of the Tennessee, and operated considerably in Mississippi. The 17th Regiment was a part of the 17th Army Corps, under command of Gen. McPherson. Our subject was first under fire at Fredericktown, Mo., and later participated in the battles of Ft. Donel- son, Shiloh and Vicksburg, besides meeting the enemy in various minor engagements and skir- mishes. At Fredericktown he was shot through the arm, which disabled him for six months, but after rejoining his regiment he suffered no further injury, although experieneing many hairbreadth es- capes. At the expiration of his term of enlistment he received his honorable discharge, in June, 1864, at Springfield, Ill., and returned to his old haunts in Illinois.

Mr. McClay, after being transformed from a sol- dier to a civilian, resumed carpentering, which he continued in the Prairie State until the spring of 1867. Then, determined to seek the farther West, he made his way to the newly admitted State of Nebraska, stopping for a time at Omaha, and con- ing in October following to Lincoln. He soon embarked as a contractor and builder, meantime being recognized by the citizens of this eounty as a valued accession to the community, being wide-awake, intelligent and energetic, with excel- lent business capacities and a good fund of in- formation concerning matters in general. He was accordingly pushed to the front, and in the fall of 1869, after acquitting himself ereditably in other positions of trust and responsibility, was elected Sheriff of Lancaster County on the Republican ticket. This office he held for a period of eight years, and upon retiring sought the quiet of the country and engaged in farming and stock-raising, having, however, his residence in the city.

Mr. McClay was five years employed as a farmer, then turned his attention to real estate, and began handling both farm and city property, and since that time has been mostly thus occupied. The lady who has presided over his home for the last sixteen years was in her girlhood Miss Sarah J. Lamb, with whom he was united in marriage Feb. 8, 1872.

Mrs. MeClay was born at Mt. Vernon, Ohio, May 21, 1845, and is the daughter of John and Sarah E. (Cassell) Lamb, who were natives of Pennsyl- vania and Maryland respectively; the father is dead, and the mother is still living in Lincoln. Of this union there have been born two children, both daughters-Minnie J. and Hattie L. Mr. McClay has always been strongly identified with the Repub- lican party.

ANIEL A. GILBERT. It has been cus- tomary to speak of men who have raised themselves to honorable stations in life without the aid of wealth or influential friends, as self-made men. There is much less sig- nificance in this expression than people suppose who use it. It would seem to imply that there are some men who are not self-made, that they were made by others, and that the qualities necessary to render a man successful in life need not be ac- quired, but may be conferred. That is not alto- gether true, though true to some extent, for all men must be self-made, if made at all. Every man must be the architect of his own fortune. There are many advantages, however, to be gained from hav- ing friends and means. A man starting out in life without either of these may finally achieve eminent success; and on the other hand, a man starting out in full possession of these advantages may make a signal failure unless he brings to bear some innate worth or virtue whereby to shape his course.

Such efforts have been put forth and such suc- eess attained by the subject of this sketch, that he may well take rank among those who have molded for themselves successful careers. Mr. Gilbert is a native of Saratoga County, N. Y., the date of his birth being May 23, 1830. Ile is a son of Platt C. and Susan Gilbert, who were reared in the State in which he was born. He spent the years of his youth and early manhood in close proximity to the land through which flows the ever beautiful and pic- turesque Hudson River, his father living on a farm, of which there are none more romantically situated than are those in Eastern New York.

Having received a fair common-school educa-

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tion, Mr. Gilbert then decided to follow the advice given by Horace Greeley, "Young man, go West and grow up with the country," so in the year 1873 he came to Nebraska, and located in Lincoln. For some six years he engaged in the dairy business, in which he was successful, and afterward he engaged in the grocery business in the same place, which he conducted for some five years. Subsequently he farmed for two years in Denton Precinct, again re- turning to the mercantile business at Denton in 1885, since which time he has been here. Ile is the general merchant of this place, and besides his store business, he is engaged in buying and selling grain and coal, and anything in the line of farmers' prod- uce. His storeroom is 24x40 feet in dimensions. the storeroom and village post-office occupying the front part of the building.

Mr. Gilbert was appointed Postmaster in the spring of 1886. He enjoys the esteem and confidence of those with whom he is associated in business, and his integrity and uprightness of character are un- questioned. He not only enjoys a reputation as a successful merchant, but in his duties as a servant of the Government he has given general satisfac- tion. He is a Republican in politics, and readily approves of any measure by which the good of the community in which he lives can be secured or ad- vanced.

In New York State Mr. Gilbert was married to Sarah F. Coon; they have had seven children, five of whom are living, as follows: James C., Charles A., Carrie B., Martin T. and Mattie F. In the en- joyment of these domestic ties, and with the esteem and friendship of his fellowmen, may he continue his prosperous career, serving his country in the position which it has bestowed upon him with the striet integrity and uprightness which have hereto- fore been his characteristic virtues.

ICHAEL PETER. While every man is to a great extent responsible for the reputa- tion which he bears among his fellowmen, there may be some circumstances bearing upon him to augment or depreciate in some degree what he might otherwise have become as an inde-

pendent factor. It is truc that to some extent heredity makes a man what he is; if his ancestry is illustrious, some beams of luster will fall on him ; if it is degrading, some stain from the degradation will mar his otherwise spotless name. We are pleased to state that the subject of our sketch need mention only with feelings of pride the ancestry from which he is sprung.

William Penn is one of the most estimable char- acters in English biography ; he embraced the tenets of the Society of Friends, and when religious intolerance became unbearable to him he obtained a patent from Charles II to found a settlement in North America, where the Friends might live un- molested. The settlement was organized on prin- ciples of perfect toleration, on the land which Penn purchased from the Indians, and on the 24th of August, 1682, he founded the city of Philadelphia (brotherly love), as the capital of his colony in Pennsylvania. The name of the city embodies the principle which he had at heart, his object in plant- ing the colony "to afford an asylum to the good and oppressed of all nations, to frame a govern- ment which might be an example to show men how free and happy they could be." Among the peo- ple who composed this celebrated colony were the ancestors of the gentleman in whose honor we write this sketch.

Mr. Peter was born on the 16th of November, 1818, in York County, Pa., and is a son of George and Catherine M. Peter, both natives of the same State. They had born to them a family of ten children, of whom but four now survive. Abra- ham is in Noble County, Ohio; Leo, now Mrs. Kline, and George, are also both in Noble County ; and Michael, our subject. is one of the pioneers of Buda Precinct, residing on section 12. When Michael was about eight years old his parents mi- gated to Ohio and settled in what is now known as Noble County, where the family were pioneers of the year 1826. There our subject was reared to manhood, and received what education he could from the early schools of his time.

On the 10th of March, 1842, Mr. Peter was mar- ried, in Ohio, to Elizabeth Sehell, a native of Bucks County, Pa., and they became the parents of twelve children, of whom the following survive: Andrew

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lives in Colorado; Jacob in South Pass Precinct; Daniel in Noble County, Ohio; John in Sherman County, Kan. ; Catherine, wife of llenry Oldemeyer, in Lincoln, this county; Margaret, wife of IIein Okdlemeyer, in Colorado; Lydia, wife of S. B. Bundy, in Sherman County, Kan .; Mary, wife of George Sowers, in Gage County. In 1871 our subject and his family came to Lancaster County, and have since resided here.

Mr. Peter homesteaded eighty acres of land, and improved it until it presents the fine appearance of to-day, having also seen the development of the surrounding country in a like manner as was his own farm. Ile is interested in progress and im- provement, and active in supporting any measures by which the good of the country can be secured. lle is a member of the Congregational Church, at Princeton, in which he has served as Elder for a number of years. He is a Democrat in politics, and is now past seventy years of age but still able to do a great deal of labor, being in the enjoyment of good health. He possesses the entire confidence of his neighbors, and is one of the living pioneers who have done much to make this county what it is. No one is more worthy of a place in this work than the gentleman of whom we write, as is mani- fested by the respect and esteem in which he is held by the people of his community.

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Portrait and biographical album of Lancaster county, Nebraska, Part 57

Author: Publication date: 1888 Publisher: Chicago, Chapman brothers Number of Pages: 812

Author:
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Chicago, Chapman brothers
Number of Pages: 812