USA > Nebraska > Lancaster County > Portrait and biographical album of Lancaster county, Nebraska > Part 73
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In the year 1887 our subject began the breeding of hogs and cattle for the market, the former most extensively, and in this new business was remarkably successful. Single-handed he ran his farm of 120 acres, his team consisting of three mules; besides the ordinary draft work they became also the mo-
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tive power of his threshing-machine. He began business in Holland in 1882, in farm machinery, implements and general requirements, and in this his prosperity continued with him. In the fall of the same year he came to llickman, where, continu- ing his other business, he went into partnership with Mr. McKimmon in grain and live stock. This, however, was a reverse, for he lost during this part- nership about 81,500. Soon after this he entered into partnership with Mr. Liesveld, and persuaded him to erect a steam grain elevator. The first year the firm ran under the name of Liesveld, Van- burg & Co., but Mr. Vanburg was bought out, and the firm took its present name. Their shipments amount to over 125,000 bushels per year. Besides this business they keep always on hand a large sup- ply of agricultural hardware, and the best makes of buggies and wagons. Mr. Trompen has an especial affinity for mechanism of all kinds, and is entirely in his element in this department of his business, which is the largest of its kind in the county.
The home of our subject has received at different times seven children, who have made it bright with their presence and happy with their mirth. Their names are recorded as below : Nicholas, Sena, Sarah, John, Martha, Fritz and Fredericka, all of whom are at home, the four older ones being in attendance upon the schools of the district.
The history of our subject in connection with all movements and enterprise for the benefit of the community reveals the fact that he is a large-hearted, public-spirited man, intensely interested in the ad- vancement of all classes of the community in which he resides. Politically, his record indorses the same opinion, and moreover has proved the opportunity for advancement of some of the above enterprises. He affiliates with the party of "The Plumed Knight." He has been a candidate nine times in the Repub- lican County Convention, was sent as a delegate to the State Conventions in the years 1880, 1886 and 1887. In the year 1886 he seconded the nomi- nation speech which presented Gov. Thayer to the convention, also Gen. Laws, the present Secretary of State, and Church Ilowe, now President of the Missouri Pacific Railroad, to the office of Congress. In an exceptionally efficient manner our subject has filled the office of Notary Public for one term, of
Director of Schools for many years, and Justice of the Peace for a period of nine years.
In the Northwest there is a large society of wheat producers and grain buyers, who hold an important position in regard to the business in that commod- ity in the Northwest, with the object of mutual protection, help and support, known as the North- west Grain Association. Our subject is one of the prominent members of this association, and one of its most earnest supporters. His high political sta- tion and large influence, his popularity and massive intellect, all combine to make him one of its leading members.
W ALTER HOGE is Secretary of the News Printing Company, of Lincoln, which pub- lishes the Weekly and Daily News, and also does a flourishing business in job printing. The subject of this sketch was born in Greene County, Pa., Oct. 27, 1847, being a son of Abner and Maria ( Wise) Hoge. In 1856 his parents removed to LaSalle County, Ill., and the father bought a farm in the southwestern part of the county, and has been prosperously engaged in agricultural pur- suits there ever since. He and his wife are benevo- lent, upright people, whose conduct has always marked them as well worthy of the confidence that they have inspired in their neighbors.
Our subject received his early education in the district school, and by a four-years attendance at that excellent institution of learning, Knox College, Galesburg, Ill., was still further fitted for the liter- ary vocation that he has since adopted. Ile com- menced teaching during his collegiate career, and for several years taught in LaSalle County. Ile abandoned the profession of teaching for that of a journalist in 1873, buying at that time a third in- terest in the Streator Monitor. In 1875 he sold that paper, and bought an interest in the Streator Free Press, then a weekly publication. In 1878 he made it a daily, and continued to publish it with good financial success until 1884, when he sold out, and started West to seek a location. Ile visited Lincoln, and being pleased with the city, its sur- roundings, and business prospects, he decided that he would make his home here. He bought an inter-
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est in the Lincoln Daily News, and has been con- nected with that paper since that time as managing editor, and he has been Secretary of the company that publishes it since its formation as a stock com- pany. Ile is a man of good literary ability, has a decided talent for business, and is well thought of in this community.
Mr. Hoge was married, in 1874, to Miss Belle Tullis, and to her sympathy and encouragement he is greatly indebted for his success in life. They have three children-Mabel, Charles and Jessie. While a resident of Streator, Ill., our subject took a prominent part in local and county affairs, was a member of the City Council for several terms, and represented Streator on the County Board of Super- visors for four years, filling the office with great acceptance to his constituents, resigning it in 1884.
h HOLLMANN is a well-known general farmer and stock-raiser on seetion 9, Olive Branch Precinct. In this business he has been very successful. He owns 240 acres, nearly all of which is the best improved land. Ilis farm is a fine one, having on it a capital house and substan- tial out-buildings. Mr. Hollmann developed it from the raw prairie, and its present prosperous condition furnishes abundant proof of its owner's business taet and energy.
Mr. Hollmann came to this State with Henry Kramer, in the year 1865, since which date he has continued to live where he now resides. He for- merly resided in Clayton County, Iowa. He and Mr. Kramer were among the first to settle this far west in Nebraska, and endured all the manifold hardships of pioneer life. Ilis account of things as they then were is one of thrilling interest. The sub- ject of our sketch was born in what is now Prussia, Germany, in 1831. When only twenty years old he came to this country alone and unmarried. Ilis father, Frederick Hollmann, was a Hanoverian, and served as a soklier. After spending twelve years in the army as a private, he was pensioned, and spent the latter years of his life in the seclusion of his native village, where he died at the age of eighty-three. He appears to have been a smart,
educated German. Early in life he had married Fredricka Wilka, a most intelligent woman, who died in Hanover at the age of seventy-six.
Our subject was one of the younger of a family of seven stalwart sons and two daughters. He grew to manhood in his native land, and was edu- cated in the German language. On his arrival in the United States he located at Cincinnati, Ohio, for one year, after which he removed to Clayton County, Iowa, where he was married to Eliza Kramer, daughter of the above-mentioned Henry Kramer. This lady was born in Prussia, Germany, in the year 1841. While yet young she came to the United States with her parents, with whom she continued to reside until her marriage to Mr. Holl- mann. She is the happy mother of eleven children. Of these the eldest is Magarata, wife of John Fix ; they live on a flourishing farm on section 16 of Olive Branch Precinct. Henry, the eldest son, took to wife a Miss Emma Brahnsted, and is a pros- perous farmer in this precinct. The second daugh- ter, Amelia, is the wife of George L. Fisher, who lives on and owns a fine farm in the same precinct. The other children are: Fred, Sophia, William, Louisa, Emma, Bernhard, Lany and Edwin, all of whom live at home with their parents.
In religion, Mr. and Mrs. Hollmann are German Methodists. Mr. Hollmann is one of the Church Trustees of the town in which he resides, and also occupies the position of Sabbath-school Superin- tendent. Mr. Hollmann, who has held most of the offices of his precinct, is a Republican.
ENRY JOHNSON, who resides upon his farm on section 34, Nemaha Precinet, was born in Denmark, Oct. 22, 1845. The news of the broad American prairies, its liberal and liberty-loving institutions, was sounded in the val- ley's of the land of the Norsemen, and in common with others of his countrymen he determined to visit the New World. Accordingly, in the spring of 1869 he came to this country, and soon after found his way to Nebraska, where he took eighty acres of land on the above section, under the Home- stead Law. It is well proved that his confidence in
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the country of his adoption and in her resources was not unfounded, for, whereas, when he landed in Nebraska City the total amount in his purse was fifty cents, he is now possessed of 120 acres of well-improved and highly cultivated land, and a most pleasant home. Our subject was married first, in Bennet, Neb., Sept. 4. 1874, to Jennie Ganey. This lady was born in Michigan; her parents were natives of Holland, and possessed their full com- plement of characteristics incident to the average native of that country. They had brought with them the we-will-not-be-overcome spirit of that sturdy race who dwell beneath the level of the ever-threatening wave, and are perpetually engaged with King Neptune in a war, the cessation of which on their part would mean desolation, defeat and death. This lady bore to our subject six chil- dren, who were named as follows: James, Garrett, Charles E., Martha A., Franklin and Willie, the two youngest children being now deceased. The mother of this family, after having spent the years of her wedded life in the noble effort to build up and advance the interests of husband and children, in December, 1886, was called upon to exchange the activities of life, with its shade and sunshine, bright sky and cloud-covered horizon, its labor, pain and tears, interspersed with some smiles, laughter and happiness, for the life beyond, of which we know so little, excepting as we obtain it from Revelation, and may realize from the nature of things some of its outlines, which are beyond our ken, upon the same principle that the sculptor can complete the out- line of the mutilated Torso.
The second marriage of our subject occurred in Lancaster County, Neb., May 6, 1887. This lady is also a native of Holland, and is the daughter of Peter and Nellie Clark. Of this marriage there has been born one child, Jacob P.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are members of the Lutheran Presbyterian Church, and enjoy the con- fidence and high regard of those with whom they are associated. His political connections are with the Republican party, and whenever occasion de- mands he is found willing to engage in any legiti- mate enterprise for its support and advancement in the community.
Our subject must be classed among those who
have not had the inestimable advantage of parental assistance in making the grand start in life. What- ever he is, whatever he has done, whatever he pos- sesses. is the result of his own ambition, labor and courage.
W ILLIAM HI. SUTTON. This gentleman, who represents worthily the peaceable and law-abiding element of Yankce IFill Pre- cinct, has a well-conducted farm of eighty acres, pleasantly located on section 24. Ile came to Ne- braska from Michigan in 1876, through Illinois with a team of horses and a buggy, and after taking ample time to survey the country, finally located in Saunders County, where he lived five years oc- cupied in farming. Then selling out he came to this county in the spring of 1884, locating upon his present farm, where he has since resided.
Our subject is essentially a self-made man, start- ing out in life without other capital than strong hands and a willing disposition, and has now a com- fortable home with a prospect of a competency in his old age. He was born in Livingston County, N. Y., on the 26th of January, 1841, and is the son of Ilenry C. and Elizabeth Sutton, who were also natives of the Empire State, born in the beautiful tract of country lying along the Iludson River. The Sutton family is of English descent, while on the mother's side our subject has a tincture of French in his veins, as his maternal grandfather, Peter DeGarmo, was a native of France. He crossed the Atlantic in time to do good service with Gen. LaFayette in the Revolutionary War, and spent his last years in New York State. The parents of our subject after their marriage resided for a number of years in the vicinity of the Hudson River, and finally moved into Livingston County, whence later they made their way into Michigan, locating in Washtenaw County. After a few years' residence there they moved to Calhoun County, the father still carrying on farming, and there the death of the mother occurred in 1884. The parental house- hold included eleven children, ten of whom are living, namely: Mary, John, Rowland, Solomon, Peter, Smith. William H., Alfred, Charles and Isa- belle. Annie is deceased.
Our subject removed with his parents to Michi-
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gan, where he was reared to manhood, and acquired a common-school education. Upon reaching his majority he left the parental roof, and began on his own account, working by the month, receiving $20 per month and his board. Upon the outbreak of the Civil War he enlisted in a Michigan regiment, and was mainly in the Quartermaster's Department. and finally became Assistant Wagonmaster, his duty being to look after the stores, and see that everything was kept in proper shape. After the close of the war he returned to Michigan, where he continued farming until emigrating to Nebraska. While a resident of Saunders County he was united in marriage with Miss Susan A. Hills, the wedding taking place June 10, 1883. Mrs. Sutton was born in Warren County, Il., Feb. 10, 1847, and of her union with our subject there has been born one child, a son, Clare, March 5, 1884.
Mr. Sutton gives his attention mainly to his farm- ing interests, but at times of general election casts his vote with the Republican party. He is a man of quiet, unobtrusive habits, making very little stir in the world, but pursuing the even tenor of his way honestly and uprightly, performing his duty creditably, and amply filling his niche in the world.
ATRICK BROWN. The fine farm of 160 acres, the property of our subject, and which is eligibly located on section 11, Little Salt Precinct, on the northern line of this county, was homesteaded by him during the early settlement of the latter in 1870. IIere he has since labored industriously, lived economically, and built up a homestead which invariably attracts the admiring eye of the traveler through this region. He is a man of whom his neighbors speak in the highest terms, being honest and upright, and pos- sessing all the elements of a good citizen, and one who is of value in his community.
The subject of this sketch, named after the patron saint of his native Ireland, was born on St. Patrick's Day, March 17, 1838, in County Limerick, where he lived with his parents until a lad of four- teen years, and, in 1852, set sail for America, After
a brief sojourn in New York City he was employed on a railroad in that State for some time, and then was a resident of Springfield, Ohio, engaged in rail- roading. He came to the State of Nebraska in the year 1870, and purchased the land which constitutes his present farm, but which was then a bare prairie, destitute of trees, and upon which no attempt had been made at cultivation. Among his first labors was the planting of forest trees of vari- ous kinds, besides setting out an orchard of apple trees, together with cherry, plum and other choice fruits of the smaller varieties. This feature of his labor at once stamps him as a man of intelligence and forethought, as the planting of trees is every- where recognized as only the work of an intelligent man of progressive ideas and cultivated tastes.
In addition to general farming Mr. Brown has also given much attention to stock-raising, dealing mostly in Galloway cattle, while he has also some fine horses, brood mares and swine. His homestead in all its appurtenances indicates the labors of a man of energy, prudence, and those better elements which go to make up the first-class citizen. His domestic affairs are presided over by an intelligent wife, who in her girlhood was Miss Margaret Ken- yon, and to whom he was married in the city of Lincoln, in May, 1871. Their union resulted in the birth of six children, a bright and interesting group, all of whom are living and at home with their parents. They are named respectively : George, John, Katie, Mary, Maggie and Winnifred M.
Mr. Brown has given his children the advantages of a good education, and by a course of careful home training there is every prospect that they will become amply fitted to represent their worthy parents in an enlightened community of the future. Mrs. Brown was born in the Dominion of Canada, in 1843, and is the daughter of James and Mary (O'Donel) Kenyon, who came to this county, set- tling in Lineoln; they are now living in Kansas. She acquired a common-school education, and re- mained with her parents until her marriage.
George Brown, the father of our subjeet, was born in County Limerick, Ireland, where he mar- ried Miss Catherine Griffin, and they became the parents of five children, four of whom lived to mature years and emigrated to America. George
Myson Loves Lower
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Brown spent his entire life upon his native soil, occupied as a farmer, and rested from his earthly labors in 1851, when about fifty-three years of age. The mother is also deceased.
YRON TOWER, a well-known eapitalist of Lincoln, is classed among the citizens of Nebraska who have substantially aided its growth and material prosperity, and as a representative pioneer, we are pleased to place a brief record of his life within the pages of this work. From a sturdy New England ancestry he derives those traits of character that have made him a force in the upbuilding of the West. He is a native of Smyrna, Chenango Co., N. Y., born March 20, 1833, to Almon and Mary Tower. Both his pater- nal and maternal grandfathers were like himself pioneers, they having been early settlers of Che- nango County, N. Y.
Shubael Tower, grandfather of our subject, was a native of Connecticut, and when a young man he penetrated to the wilds of Chenango County, N. Y., as an employe of the United States Govern- ment, and assisted in cutting a road for a mail route across the Empire State. He subsequently located in Chenango County, being one of its first settlers, and bought a tract of heavily timbered land in the vicinity of Plymouth, the present site. Ile cleared a farm from the primeval forest, and erected good buildings, making his home there until his death at the advanced age of ninety-six years. He was a man of much influence in the community, where he was revered for his wisdom and true Christian piety. He was one of the original members of the Congre- gational Church, of which he was Deacon for many years.
Almon Tower, the father of our subject, was born and reared on that old homestead in Ply- mouth, and in that town he was married to Miss Mary Sexton, also a native of Plymouth, born in December, 1808. Her father, Seth Sexton, was born in Connecticut, and was one of the early pioneers
of Plymouth. He was one of the founders of the Congregational Church, and was a Deacon for many years. lle improved a farm, and continued to be one of the substantial citizens of Plymouth until his death, at the age of seventy-two years. Ile was very prosperous, and acquired quite a large amount of property. After marriage the parents of our subjeet settled in Smyrna, just over the line from their native town, and lived there until 1843. Then Mr. Tower sold his property there and bought a farm near by in the town of Plymouth, upon which he resided for many years. Ile accumulated an ample competence by his shrewdness and industry, so that he was enabled to live in retirement during the last years of his life in the pleasant home that he had purchased in the village of Plymouth, his death occurring there in 1883. at the age of seventy-six. Hle joined the Congregational Church when quite young, and was a Deacon for many years, being an active worker in the cause of religion, temperance, and in everything that would in any way promote the moral advancement of the community in whose interests his own were so bound np. In politics he was originally a Whig, but he early gave his alle- giance to the Republican party, actively assisting in its organization. His good wife, who faithfully shared with him the burdens of life, lightening his labors by her cheerful assistance, still resides in the town of Plymouth, being now in her eightieth year, beloved and respected by all who know her. She was the mother of nine children, seven of whom grew to maturity, and the following is their record : Myron; Addison lives in Furnas County, Neb .; Nancy A. married Eugene Phelps, and lives in Wahoo, Neb .; Amasa died in 1885, in IIyde County, Dak .; Warren lives in Lancaster County, Neb .; Nettie married Charles West, and lives in Fremont, Neh. ; Flora E. married William Stewart, and lives in Plymouth, N. Y.
The subject of this sketch was reared in his na- tive county, receiving an education in the district school. He early showed a talent for music, which was cultivated, and he became quite a proficient musician. Being a young man of marked decision of character. ambitious and enterprising, he early sought the new States of the Great West, as a broader and more promising field than his native place
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wherein to work out the problem of "How to make a success of life," starting out from his old home in 1856, and spending his first winter away from the parental roof in Walworth County, Wis. In the spring of 1857 he started for Minnesota, going by rail as far as the railway was completed, thence by stage to Prairie du Chien, and from there on the river to La Crosse, where he engaged with a com- mission merchant to travel through Northern Min- nesota and Wisconsin. In the fall he returned to Walworth County, whence he again went to Min- nesota in the following spring of 1858, and located, being in the employ of a surveying party, and in the winter he taught singing school in different places in Olmsted and Fillmore Counties. In the summer of 1859 he went to La Crosse Valley, Wis., and rented a farm. The next winter be made his home in Walworth County. and then went to Illi- nois, where he bought a threshing-machine in the fall of 1860, and ran it very profitably that season. We next hear of him as again living on a rented farm in La Crosse Valley, where he staid a year. After that he returned once more to Minnesota, and settled in the town of Saratoga, Winona County.
The life of our subjeet has an added interest for us in that he was a member of that great and glori- ous body of soldiery who preserved our Union in- taet, and the honor of our flag unsullied, during the late civil strife, and at the risk of losing their lives, and at the sacrifice of all that they held dear on earth. It was while a resident of Minnesota, in the winter of 1862-63, that Mr. Tower enlisted in Company K, 9th Minnesota Infantry, and served until after the close of the war. He had a thrilling experience in the army, suffering all the terrible hardships that can befall a soldier, and if he had not inherited a fine physique, and a constitution of iron from a temperate and hardy ancestry, he would scarcely have been alive to-day. He was wounded June 10, 1864. in the battle of Guntown, and lay on the battle-field six days with no medical attendance and nothing to eat or drink. lle took his gun to pieces and buried it to save capture. Six days after the battle he was taken by the rebels to An- dersonville Prison. suffering severely from a wound in his left leg. In the September following his eapt- ure, he and other of his fellow-prisoners dug a tun-
nel, through which he and four of his comrades escaped outside of the stockade, but they were re- captured when five miles away, and were obliged to return to the horrors of prison life. In October our subject made his escape again, by riding out under the provision wagon, making his way to the woods, where he traveled nights, and remained con- cealed during the day. He was obliged to forage for a living, and the first few days ate nothing but raw sweet potatoes and wild grapes, but he finally ventured to the negro cabins, whose hospitable in- mates gave him hoe cake to stay his hunger. He was still suffering severely from the effect of his wounds, from which he has never recovered, his progress was therefore necessarily very slow, and notwithstanding the brave effort that he had made to regain his liberty, he was recaptured near Cape Fear River, and taken to Wilmington, N. C., and thence to Florence, S. C., where he was confined until December, 1864. He was then exchanged and taken to the hospital in Annapolis, where he nearly died from sickness caused by his wounds. and at the time of his discharge from the hospital, June 20, 1865, and for two years after, he walked with two crutches, and occasionally bas to resort to them even now.
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