Portrait and biographical album of Lancaster county, Nebraska, Part 60

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

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as he was often kept at home to work on the farm, a common experience of farmers' lads. About that time his brothers John and Peter enlisted to help fight the battles of their adopted country, becoming members of the 93d Illinois Infantry, and our sub- ject and a younger brother were detained at home to manage the farm, which they did very success- fully, their father continuing to realize good profits therefrom. Our subject continued at home until he was twenty-one, and, as he was then no longer needed, he went to work on a farm until 1863; bis mother having died the year previous to that time, his old home had lost all its charms for him. When he went forth into the world to work among stran- gers he was poorly and insufficiently clad, and with a light purse, but he lacked not courage, manliness, nor the true spirit of independence, and was firm in his resolution to make the best of his situation and to make a success of life. At the age of nineteen he met and became enamored with the grace and pleasing manners of Miss Mary A. Streetor, but on account of changes in his father's home, their mar- riage was postponed for three years, finally taking place Oct. 22, 1868, in Lincoln, Neb., their mar- riage being among the first recorded in the State. Mrs. Burling was born near Galesburg, Ill., Jan. 21, 1851, being the senior in a family of three children born to A. J. and Deborah (Boom) Streetor. Her father was the nominee of the Union Labor party for the office of President of the United States. The most of her girlhood was passed at Gales- burg, until the removal of her parents to Bureau County, Ill., where she met our subject. She after- ward went to Lincoln, Neb., to live, and had been residing there about a year when she was married, Mr. Burling arriving here a week before that event to claim the hand of his promised bride.

After marriage Mr. and Mrs. Burling pre-empted eighty acres of land in Buda Precinct, on section 24, and bravely and cheerfully faced the trials and privations of the pioneer life that lay before them, beginning their housekeeping in the most primitive manner in the little sod house, the characteristic habitation of the early settlers of this region. This was afterward replaced by a small log house, still standing on the old homestead. The years that followed were fraught with many hardships and

discouragements, so great indeed, that many of the early settlers left Nebraska and returned to their old homes in the East. rather than run the risk of starvation under the regime of the grasshopper, and the drouths that prevailed for several seasons to an alarming extent. But the tide at last turned, and after experiencing many privations and severe hard- ships, their labors were rewarded, and they became possessed of an assured ineome and a fine large farm. Mr. Burling sokl his homestead in 1877, but he still owns 600 acres of very valuable land, and his marked success has placed him among the moneved men of Lancaster County.

In 1878 Mr. Barling was selected by his party to represent the people of this district in the State Legislature, he being regarded as a man of conspie- nous ability, excellent business principles, and of undoubted integrity of character, and his brilliant record as a statesman amply justified his constitu- ents in their choice of him. While faithful to the responsible trusts imposed upon him as a Legisla- tor, he devoted his leisure time to the management of his large farming interests. During his term in the Legislature Mr. Burling was instrumental in bringing about some much needed legislation to proteet the interests of the State and of the people. He was the author and introducer of a bill urg- ing the right of a Sheriff to offer a man $50 for the capture and conviction of a horse thief. IIe also introduced a bill to exempt fruit and forest trees from taxation, and likewise a bill allowing any agricultural society to hold 160 acres of land as fair grounds, free from taxation. All these bills became laws and have proved very beneficial. Mr. Burling was very active in securing the necessary appro- priations for the capitol building of Lincoln, which was passed upon by a bare majority after a long and severe debate. In all of his legislative career our subject was devoted to the interests of the peo- ple, and at the same time was true to the Repub- liean party, of whose principles he is a staneh advocate. After his retirement from public life, Mr. Burling resumed his agricultural pursuits with renewed energy, and made many valuable improve- ments upon his estate. It is amply supplied with buildings, among which may be mentioned a com- modious frame dwelling, two stories in height; a

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barn for horses and cattle, 40x54 feet in dimensions, the largest in the township. A fine supply of water is secured by windmill pumps. Mr. Burling pays much attention to raising choice fruits; has straw- berries in abundance, and also has a fine young or- chard of about 200 trees, apple, cherry and plum.

In 1886, Mr. Burling desiring to secure the ex- ceptionally fine school privileges of the town of Firth for his children, removed here, and in the month of December bought a half-interest in the old Champion stand, entering into partnership with Mr. Champion. The latter retained charge of the business until October, 1887, when our subject purchased the whole business and has since managed it alone. He carries the largest stock of any mer- chant in Firth, and is doing a fine business.

To Mr. and Mrs. Burling have been born seven children, namely : Harry II., Fanny E., Frank A., Worthington (deceased). Perry R., Blanche A., Earl (deceased). Mr. Burling is regarded as a great addition to this community, as he is liberal and public-spirited, and greatly interested in ad- vancing the educational interests of the town. He is a prominent member of the I. O. O. F., at Firth, and has been through every chair. Mrs. Burling, who is a woman of fine character and perceptions, is a valued member of the Presbyterian Church, of Firth.

6 FRANK CANON is one of the oldest set- tlers and residents in Elk Precinct, and was born in the beautiful, fertile, agricultural dis- triet comprising Hampshire County, W. Va., on the 18th of March, 1833. His father, George Canon, followed agricultural pursuits, and so far as is known, spent his entire life in his native State, which was brightened and completed by his marriage with Ann Martha Gray, a native of the same State,

One of the greatest calamities that can overtake any person fell to the lot of our subject when he was four years of age. Although hardly able to realize the fact, and with the full meaning entirely incomprehensible to him, he was left fatherless, to grow up and enter into life without the guiding counsel, protecting arm and helping hand of that parent. Not long after he was bound out to a

Quaker, to learn the duties of farm work, and con- tinued with him for some seventeen years. At the age of twelve he accompanied his employer in his removal to Highland County, Ohio, and took up his home in the midst of its broad plains, beautiful valleys and gently sloping hills, and there he con- tinued to live until he attained his majority, when he was given a good suit of clothes and a horse, and started out into the world for himself. Ile contin- ued to work by the day and month in different parts of Ohio until 1863, when he went to Illinois. and was employed upon farms in Christian and Shelby Counties until 1869, when he made up his mind that he would come to Nebraska and seek a home. Accordingly, upon arrival in Lancaster County, in November, 1869, he looked around and located upon the place he has since occupied.

The property of our subject, as would be sur- mised from the date and circumstances, was Gov- ernment land, in all the rugged wildness of its natural state, and our subject had his hands full for many months to come. He first built a dug-ont, and oc- cupied the same with his wife for a period of seven years, and then erected his present pretty and com- fortable frame house. When he turned his atten- tion to the land he found his presence and possession disputed by the orginal denizens of the same, for at that time it was still occupied by all manner of wild game, although of late years they have been con- spicuous by their absence. The view of this prop- erty given in this volume will convey a fairly complete idea of the pleasant home and surround- ings, in and amid which the days of our subject are spent.

Our subject was happily married, in the year 1869, to Miss Sarah Pickering, who was born in Highland County, Ohio. Feb. 4, 1830. Her father was Jonathan Pickering, a native of Frederick County, Va. Her grandfather, so far as is known, was a native of Virginia, by occupation a mill- wright, which trade he followed nearly all his life, and who removed to Ohio in quite the later years of his history. His son, the father of Mrs. Canon, learned and followed the same trade as his father, after a few years combining with it that of farming, gradually working out of the millwright business.

The maiden name of the mother of Mrs. Canon

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was Mary A. Cline, a native of Ilampshire County. W. Va., and a daughter of Phillip and Elizabeth (Switzer) Cline. Her last years were spent in High- land County. Mrs. Canon secured the earliest opportunity offered to secure an education, having an ambition to develop and train her mental powers, and to be well informed on all general topics. 'The foundation and earlier work in this direction was obtained in the district school, after she was twenty years of age, and she has never allowed her- self to consider it complete. She afterward re- ceived more advanced instruction in South Salem, and still subsequently at Labanon. From that un- til the time of her marriage she did some very effi- cient work as a teacher in the public schools of Ohio. Mrs. Canon's father was a member of the Society of Friends, but having married out of the church his children had no part or lot in the matter, although his daughter afterward, by her own desire, joined the same church in 1865. The church to which Mrs. Canon belonged employed her to go to Little Rock, Ark., there to teach the freedmen. She continued as a teacher for two years, spending her vacations at home.

Among the inhabitants of Elk and distriet it will be hard to find a family more entitled to the admira- tion and respect which are accorded to those who face the difficulties of life and overcome them. When we remember the early history of our sub- Ject, his loneliness and helplessness, and then see him to-day the owner of his own farm and stock, re- spected and esteemed by his fellow-citizens and neighbors, we are reminded that there is such a thing as "the survival of the fittest." His farm comprises eighty aeres.

ENRY HOCIIIIEIM is honored, not only as an early settler of South Pass, but as one of its substantial citizens of the present day. le has been more than ordinarily successful as a farmer, and now owns one of the largest farms in Eastern Nebraska. IIe is a fine type of the so-called self-made man of our country, as all that he is and all that he has he owes to his own exer- tions; and while building up his own fortune, he

has been an important factor in developing the resources and aiding the growth of this part of the State.

Mr. Hochheim was left an orphan at a tender age and thrown on the charities of a cold world, his par- ents, William and Lena (Winch) Hochheim, hav- ing at the same time been swept away by the cholera, in St. Louis, he at the age of thirty-five. and she at the age of thirty-three. They were natives of Prussia, who but a short time before had emigrated to this conntry and settled in St. Louis. where the father engaged in various occupations. When they were thus suddenly cut off in the prime of life they left two little children, Henry and Charles, unprovided for, and they were placed in an orphan asylum by the city authorities. The former child, the subject of this sketch. was born in Prussia in 1847, and was two years old when his parents brought him to America. He was but three years of age when he was left an orphan, and when he was seven years of age his grandfather, Henry Winch, and his grandmother, eame to this country, and took him and his little brother out of the asy- lum and gave them the benefit of a kind and com- fortable home, and all the educational advantages possible. They were reared on a farm, and our subject remained with his grandparents until he was fifteen, receiving in the meantime a good education, comprising instruction in English and German. He was an independent, ambitious lad, and wished to make his own way in the world, and started out to do so at the age above mentioned. He readily found work as a day laborer, and was thus engaged until he was twenty-one, when he came to Nebraska in 1869. From Lincoln he came to South Pass and took up a homestead claim of eighty acres of wild land. He was then entering on a strong and vigorous manhood, with health, a prac- tical, sagacious mind, and an enterprising dispo- sition in his favor, to say nothing of the excellent opportunities afforded him by the wonderful climate and extremely fertile soil of the State where he had determined to make his future home. For three years he continued alone on his homestead, but at the end of that time he was so fortunate as to secure a helpmate and companion in the person of Miss Victoria Mier, to whom he was united in marriage

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in 1872. Their union has been blessed to them by the birth of five children, namely: Henry (de- ceased), Charles, Lena, John and Annie.

Our subject has been greatly prospered in his undertakings since becoming a resident of Nebraska, and has increased his landed estate from time to time, until he now owns 640 acres of land, lying partly in Lancaster County and partly in Gage County, forming, with its many improvements, one of the most valuable and best managed farms in Eastern Nebraska. After taking up eighty aeres of land as a homestead. Mr. Hochheim pre-empted 160: at three different times he purchased three 80- acre tracts of land in Gage County ; his fourth pur- chase comprised eighty aeres of land in Lancaster County, and his fifth and last purchase comprised another 80-acre tract of land in Gage County.

Mr. and Mrs. Hochheim are valued members of the community for which they have done so much. They are quietly and unostentatiously liberal, never withholding their hands in cases of need, and showing in their every-day lives that their religion is not a mere form, but is deeply seated within their hearts. They are faithful and zealous members of the Lutheran Church, of South Pass. In his political views, Mr. Hochheim is of the opinion that the policy of the Republican party is the proper one to pursue in regard to National and local matters, and he acts in accordance with his opinions at the polls.

1 OSEPH EPPS. George Epps, the grand- father of our subject. was a native of France, and came to this country accom- panied by his family, consisting of his wife and four children, located in Indiana, and was one of the pioneers of Putnam County, where he en- tered land, improved a farm, and afterward sold out and went to Iowa, taking a farm tract in Warren County, where he spent his last days. Ilis remains are buried in Warren County. The family had inereased to seven children, named as follows: Frank, Edward, James, John, William, Henry and Percy. At the time of emigration his son John, the father of our subject, was quite small, and the years of his childhood were spent in Indiana. He

accompanied the family upon their lowa journey. and took his place in the farm work until the year 1858, when he married, and settled in Warren County of that State, bought a tract of land, and went to work to cultivate the same.

When the alarm of civil war sounded throughout the country, and made itself heard in the homestead in Warren, John Epps, bidding farewell to wife and home, offered himself in defense of the old flag and the Union, and enlisted in an Iowa regiment. After a service of three years and two days he re- turned once more, but no longer the strong, healthy man he had been previous to his departure. The hardship of the bivouac, the forced march, the battle-field, in heat or cold, rain or shine, had un- dermined his constitution. His health was broken and hard labor was an impossibility. During the time of military service our subjeet had done con- siberable barber work for his comrades, and he now sold his farm and opened a tonsorial establishment at Grand Junction, Iowa. Ilis death took place in Des Moines, Iowa.

Charlotte Evans was the maiden name of Mrs. Epps. She was born in Pennsylvania, is of German descent, and is at present a resident of Mitchell, Dak. Of this union there were born six children- Christopher, Rachel, Agnes, Joseph, Mary and Amanda. The mother of our subject was twice married ; first to George Carter, by whom she had for children-John. Riley, Eliza and William.

Our subject was three years of age when he re- moved with his parents to Iowa. His father was an early settler in Polk County. He continued to make his home with his parents until twenty-one years of age, when he began life for himself, rent- ing a farm one season. He purchased a team, but shortly after lost one of his horses and purchased another. Ile continued to struggle on against every adversity, renting his farm for three years longer, when he bought a team and went West. Upon arrival in Nebraska he spent some time in prospect- ing, wintered at Rulo, then returned to Iowa and rented land at Hamburg for one season, returned to Polk County and rented improved land; in 1884 he sold his property, and on the 2d of March, 1884, settled in this county. He had accumulated some $500 in cash, and had intended to purchase a farm,

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but his wife and child were taken sick, and this took the greater part of his savings. He was there- fore obliged to commence anew. In the spring of 1 885 he clerked in a grocery store in the city of Lincoln, and has continued in business since then upon his own account. By striet attention to busi- ness, and honorable, square dealing, he has gained the confidence of the people and built up a large business.

In 1876 Mr. Epps was united in marriage with Miss Jane Stanton, at Des Moines, Iowa. Their home has been brightened by the birth of four children-Minnie, Fanny, Bessie and Harriet. This lady is the daughter of John and Ruth Stanton, and was born in Holt County, Mo., in 1862. She has been to him all that a helpmate and wife could be, and has stood nobly by in every time of trouble, trial and difficulty, helping and cheering.

Our subject is a member in good standing of the Masonie fraternity, and has ordered his life accord- ing to the designs on the trestle board of the Grand Master, so that his brethren have had pleasure and profit in his companionship; he lives in the bright- ness of the truth of the mystic pillar and acacia. From his earliest years his life was one hard struggle of " onward and upward," and whatever he is to- day, in character, in manliness, in social status and affluence, he owes under Providence to his own ambition and effort. In politics he is a stanch Republican.

E DWARD HEALY. Among the many fine farms which are to be found in Lancaster County, there are not many that surpass that situated in Little Salt Precinct, comprising 320 acres upon sections 1 and 12, and owned by the subject of this sketch, who is a descendant of the historic, liberty-loving Emerald Isle.

Edward Healy, father of our subject, was born about the year 1787, in Southport, Ireland, and after he had picked up a somewhat rudimentary education he was initiated into the mysteries of binding upper to sole in such a manner as to make the sole do its work on the earth ereditably. IIe continued to follow the trade of a boot and shoe

maker for many years, but in his later years turned to agricultural pursuits, Ile was united in mar- riage with Margaret Cashion, and they were the happy recipients of nine children, one of whom it was their sorrow to lose in the years of its child- hood. Mr. Ilealy and family are very devout mem- bers of the Catholic Church. He never left his native land, and in the year 1847 he had finished the pale of his life and lay down to his last rest. After her bereavement Mrs. Healy followed her children to this country, and took up her residence with her daughter in Iowa, where she continued to make her home until her death, in 1869, at the age of seventy five years. Our subject was born in Tipperary, on the 15th of Angust. 1839, and having in boyhood days imbibed somewhat of an educa- tion in the schools of his native county, he went to work upon a farm and continued at the same until about seventeen years of age, when, accompanied by a brother, he came to America in 1856 to seek his fortune.

Not every one who has seen the light of promise in the distance has been guided to success. Many, alas, have found it an ignus-fatus. Not so our subject; true, the path was rough and the journey long, but the fortune sought and the promise which lit up the Western horizon and invited the intrepid youths to follow, did not disappoint. It, however, simply led them to where a fortune was a possi- bility. It did not give them the fortune; that came as a result of their own untiring industry and bravery. Upon landing at New York City they went to work upon the old York & Erie Railroad, in which employment the brothers continued all the fall of 1856. From there our subject went to Savannah, Ga., and speedily obtained work on the Savannah & Gulf Railroad, and after that was com- pleted he spent one year at work in the Cumberland Mountains, and then went to Clinton, Iowa, where he spent seven years, and in the spring of 1866 re- moved to Cheyenne, Wyo., and remained for two years, and in 1869 made his last removal, when he took up his residence in this county. Of all the States he had visited, whether in the North or South, he preferred this country, and accordingly took up his first eighty acres in that year. Until he could build upon his ground he took up his

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residence in Lincoln, but worked his farm, and in the space of one year he had his homestead ready for his family, and from that time they have lived upon the farm. As may be supposed, their land was then in precisely the same condition as the prairie that had not been settled upon. It was in all the wildness of its nativity, but our subject speedily began to break it in, and by much labor and thought has brought it to its present magnifi- cent condition. To our subjeet must be given the honor of planting the first tree in the entire dis- triet, and also of having put up the first frame building. By his good management and constant effort Mr. Healy has added to the original eighty acres until he now owns 320 acres. Fully fifteen acres are given over to the occupancy of forest trees of all kinds, including black walnut, ash and ma- ple. Ilis orchard, likewise, is over five acres in extent, and filled with beautiful, select and thrifty fruit trees of all kinds that the climate will produce. The better to enable the reader to realize this, we present a view of the home with adjacent build- ings, which will without doubt be appreciated, es- pecially by those who retain pleasant memories in connection therewith.

The chief business of our subject is stock-raising, although considerable room is devoted to general farming. Mr. llealy is the possessor of a very fine herd of about 130 Short-horn cattle, also a num- ber of choice brood mares and swine in proportion. Both our subject and his family are devout and consistent members of the Catholic Church, having continued their allegiance to the faith in which they were brought up, and the Catechism which was taught and explained to them by the confessor of the family in the old country home.

In Miss Mary Allen our subject found the lady with whom he desired to link his life, and upon her acquiescence their union was celebrated Sept. 20, 1855. This has been happily consummated by the birth of thirteen children; the living are as follows : John, Ellen, Margaret, Julia, William, Mary, Jo- hanna, Thomas and James C. Mary (Allen) Ilealy was born in Ireland in 1838, and came to this country with her parents when abont five years of age. They settled in Massachusetts, but in 1854 removed to Pennsylvania, which was their home until 1865,

and thence to Washington, D. C., for a period of about twelve months. She is the daughter of Cor- nelius and Julia ( Mahony ) Allen. Her mother died about the year 1854, and Cornelius Allen, after his residence at Washington, made his home with our subject and family in his old age.

The eldest son of our subject is residing upon his property in Kansas; Ellen has now become the wife of James Nellis, a carpenter and builder, and resident of Davey ; Margaret, also residing at Da- vey, is now Mrs. James O'Brien, her husband be- ing the leading hardware merchant of that town. The remainder are still at home. Our subject is realizing the truth of the old proverb, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart therefrom."

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Portrait and biographical album of Lancaster county, Nebraska, Part 60

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

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