USA > Nebraska > Lancaster County > Portrait and biographical album of Lancaster county, Nebraska > Part 80
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admirer of the principles of Odd Fellowship, and warmly interested in the success of the order. IIe became identified with it when a young man twenty- one years old, becoming a member and Chairman of Chosen Friends Lodge No. 45, in New Lexing- ton. Ohio, and joined Shawnee Encampment in 1852, at Xenia, Ohio, and held all the offices subsequently in both the Subordinate and Grand Lodges. He has been prominent in the order for over thirty years. In 1872 he connected himself with the A. F. & A. M., as a member of Lincoln Lodge No. 19, and was at various times proffered a prominent post, which he declined to fill on account of the pressure of other business. Politically, he was first a Whig until the abandonment of that party, since which time he has cordially supported Republican princi- ples.
Mr. Cline has never been married, being really too much interested in Masonry and Odd Fellow- ship to be able to give his serious thoughts and at- tention to the formation of domestic ties of his own. Ile religiously believes that the principles of Ma- sonry and Odd Fellowship properly lived up to would have the effect to ameliorate the condition of hu- manity at large. and further the highest precepts laid down in the Scripture, In his own life he has obeyed as far as was possible the sublime injunction, "We command you to visit the sick, relieve the distressed, educate the orphan and bury the dead."
SCAR A. CECIL is another of those who are prominent in West Oak Precinct in the line of stock farming. IIe is the owner of the whole of section 10, 640 acres of first-class farming land. His father, Henry Cecil, was born in Miami County, Ohio, in the year 1820, passed through the common school of his native town, and afterward became a farmer. After awhile he added to this the occupation of distiller, and continued until that business came under the ban of public opinion, when he substituted stock-raising. IIe en- tered largely into that occupation, breeding both horses and cattle, afterward adding sheep to the list, and with it the trade of wool-growing, which he continued until 1869, when he sold out and came
to this State. Ile had then been for some years carrying as many as 6,000 sheep on his farm.
Ilenry Cecil's first home in Nebraska was in Rich- ardson County, where he bought 320 acres of land, which be has continued to occupy, although he has for some time retired from active farm work. IIc was united in marriage to Miss Catherine Mann, in Miami County, in about the year 1814. There have been born to them four children-Caroline, Elizabeth, Oscar, our subject, and Lillie, His wife was born in Miami County, Ohio, in 1821, and was a daughter of Jacob Mann, one of the early set- tlers of Ohio, but a native of Virginia, where he was born in 1777 and lived until 1855, He was only a boy at the removal to Ohio, but as quite a young man he took land in a heavily timbered sec- tion, and cut out his farm from these surroundings as he needed. lle was a man of much physical power and dexterity, and has done more perhaps than any other man toward the location of the county seat. The strife had gone on between Troy and Piqua for a long time as to which should be the county seat of Miami County, and arrange- ments were made for the settlement by physical en- connter. rather than arbitration. At one discussion of the subject it was agreed that both sides should select a man who should represent them. On the side of Troy Mr. Mann was selected, and accord- ingly he entered the ring against his antagonist. It is not necessary that the particulars of this encounter should be given; it is rather the result with which we are concerned, and that was shown in that Troy has the county seat; so that the father of the mother of our subject was he without whom Troy would have lost.
Jacob Mann became the husband of Miss Shell, who died about 1859, leaving seven children, three sons and four daughters, all of whom are living. The grandfather of our subject, Thomas Cecil, was a native of Virginia, and died many years ago.
Oscar A. Cecil, the subject of this sketch, was born in Tippecanoe, Miami Co., Ohio, on the 6th of August. 1852. Until he was fourteen years of age his education was that of the common school. From there he went to Oberlin College, and after that to Hillsdale College, Mich., where he remained two years. Schooling and college being over our
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subject came to Nebraska, afterward returning to attend the business college at Poughkeepsie, finish- ing his course of instruction in the latter institution. From there he went into Ohio and became book- keeper for one of the leading firms of his native town, continuing the same for two years; from thence again to Nebraska, where he went into the office of the District Court, and was Clerk for four years in Nemaha County. During this time he was devoting himself to the study of law with much energy and was admitted to the bar, and went in with Judge Broady, of Beatrice. They continued to do business together in Brownsville for seven years, by which time they had quite a large client- age. Mr. Broady was elected Judge, and the county seat moved from Brownsville to Auburn, which in- clined our subject to come here to his farm, and he settled in his present home in 1886.
Among the work that has occupied our subject since that time is the putting up of a very fine two- storied residence, farm buildings in keeping there- with, and the taming of a large part of his property. He has large herds of very fine stock; many are full-blood, and so registered, including horses, cat- tle and other and smaller stock. The marriage of our subject was celebrated May 19, 1886, and has been most felicitous in its results to all concerned there- in. The lady of his choice was Anna MeComas, the daughter of Judge E. M. MeComas. She was born in 1858, in Nemaha, where she has always lived. She is a lady of education and refinement, and has abundantly proved her ability to make the life of Mr. Cecil complete.
Judge MeComas is a native of Miami County, Ohio, where he was born in 1829. until as a young man he started West. Immediately previous to his departure he was married to Miss Alumina Waggo- mer, a native of Troy, Ohio. Together they came and located upon the site of the present Kansas City, and continued residents there until 1858, when they removed to Nemaha, of this State. Here for some time he practiced medicine, which he under- stood somewhat, having been for some years in the drug business in the East. He was very active and prominent in political circles, and was elected County Judge, besides other lesser offices. The large majority of his neighbors are Republican, but
that fact does not in any way deter him from fol- lowing the dictates of his own opinions, and he is almost the only Democrat in the precinct; never- theless, his high character and efficiency cause him to be the recipient of the best appreciation and es- teem of the community.
Mrs. Cecil is a very ardent supporter and devont member of the local Presbyterian Church. Our subject has for two years held the office of Police Judge at Brownsville, and has been the City Treas- urer for some years. The integrity and conscien- tionsness of his life in the community have led the people generally to accord him entire respect and confidence.
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ARVEY WESLEY HARDY is one of the descendants of the Eastern heroes of the thrilling days of the Americo-Britannic Wars, and was born in Perry, Wyoming Co .. N. Y., on the 29th of October, 1825. His father, Sam- uel Hardy, was a native of Hardwick, Mass. His father, Francis Hardy, grandfather of our subject, was by trade a tanner and currier, a native of the same State, and went through a greater part of the War of Independence, taking part in the memo- rable battle of Bunker Hill.
Samuel Hardy was reared to manhood in Massa- chusetts, and from there removed to Vermont, and settled at Rutland, which was his residence for about ten years. In 1805 he started with his wife and two children for what was then called the Far West. All their movable property was put into a two-wheeled cart, and a yoke of oxen sufficed to draw the same. For forty-two days they traveled on in primitive style, camping and traveling alter- nately as day and night succeeded each other, in their course, until they arrived in what is now Wyo- ming County, and took a tract of timber land in what has since become the town of Perry. Here he built a log house, which was to be their home, and where afterward our subject was born.
After clearing quite a large tract, and being suc- cessful in husbandry until the year 1830, Mr. Hardy removed to Gainesville Township in the same county, and bought 180 acres of land. For several
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years after this settlement, Albany, nearly 200 miles distant, was the nearest market. It was so far removed from the farm that it did not pay to take grain there, although he used to take large quantities of pork. After the Erie Canal was opened, Rochester and Buffalo became the markets.
The wife of Mr. Hardy was a native of Massa- chusetts, and a daughter of Stephen Parker; the bonds were severed hy his death while residing upon the Gainesville farm, in February, 1855. The father of our subject went through the War of 1812, and among other battles participated in those of Lundy's Lane, Chippewa and Black Rock.
Our subject was reared upon the farm at Gaines- ville, and continued to make it his home until the year 1868, at which time he moved westward with the star of empire. His education was somewhat more extensive than that provided by the common school, being supplemented by a course at the Wes- leyan Seminary at Lima, and later at Genesee Col- lege. From his graduation he devoted himself until marriage to teaching, in which he was very successful. In 1868 he left his home at Gainesville, having found a good purchaser, and removed to Aurora, Ill., and engaged in the furniture busi- ness for two years; then, in 1871, he came to Lincoln and put in a large stock of goods, and commeneed business. The city at that time was estimated to contain 1,000 persons, although it was probably less, and it stood surrounded by prairie land in all its native wildness, but he has lived to see the city grow until its population is numbered at 40,000 to 50,000.
Our subject was married, June 6, 1855, to Char- lotte Abbott. This lady was born in Churchill, Monroe Co., N. Y. Her father, Calvin Abbott, removed from Vermont to New York in 1815, the removal being made in the usnal manner of the time. It was not long before he was busily at work upon his new property. He located at Ogden, Monroe County, bought a tract of timber land, and put up his log cabin. Ile brought a year's stock of provisions with him, at the end of that time expecting that his crops would be sufficient to go on with. As soon as his farm was cleared he erected a stone house according to the most perfect plans to which he had access, and upon its completion
resided there until his death. The maiden name of Mrs. Abbott was Charlotte Clement, who was born at Danville, Caledonia Co., Vt. She died in their home in Monroe County, in December, 1854.
Our subject is a man of public spirit and enter- prise, with all the business energy, clear-sightedness and wise, thrifty push. He is also a man whose life is guided by the Golden Rule, and because of this he is, with his family, the recipient of the cor- dial support and highest regard of those by whom he is surrounded. He has been twice elected Mayor of the city of Lincoln, first in 1877, and again the year following. It was during the first year of his administration that the famous high license liquor law became an ordinance. The provisions of the ordinance were afterward copied by the Legislature, and became the law of the State, known as the high license liquor law of Nebraska.
E DWARD B. HYDE. The power of the press is recognized all over the civilized world, and perhaps it exerts greater efforts to shape the thoughts and opinions of the masses than any other influence now extant. In politics, religion, educational and all social movements, it comes to the front and takes the lead in advancing and sup- porting new theories. It has caused a wonderful revolution in regard to the general intelligence of the people, thousands of whom owe all the learning they have ever acquired to the perusal of the daily and weekly papers. In politics, particularly, and in all questions of National reform do the opinions of the press assert themselves strongly, and they have become responsible, in a large degree, for the opinions entertained by their readers. The men as- sociated with the press should be made to feel the responsibility of their position, and should endeavor to direct the thought of the people to the proper channel. In such honorable labor is the subject of our sketch now engaged.
Mr. Hyde was born in Chicago, Ill., on the 8th of December, 1857, being the only son of Thomas H. and Rachel L. Ilyde, of whom a sketch ap- pears in this work. He received his early educa- tion in Sterling, Ill., and after coming to Lincoln he attended the city schools until the age of sixteen years, when he began to work in the Journal office.
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In that office he continued until the year 1878, when, having a thorough understanding of the business, and a knowledge of editorial requirements, he started a job printing office, and has been ardently engaged in that business ever since.
In the year 1884 our subject formed a partner- ship in the Journal business, the name of the firm being Ilyde, Hays & Hyde, and in 1887 the Lineoln News Company was formed, of which our subject was appointed Treasurer. Since that time he has occupied that honorable office, with much credit to himself and with the approval of the company. On the 10th of May, 1878, he was united in mar- ringe with Miss Ida Cooper, a daughter of P. A. and Sarah Cooper, of Platteville, Wis. They are the parents of three children -- Fred C., Neta and Robert.
As the profession in which he is engaged requires, our subject is well informed on all the important topies of the day, taking an active interest in the advancement and improvement of the public in general and of his own community in particular. Ile possesses fine social qualifications and is an es- teemed member of society. Ile is a member of the Lincoln Lodge No. 108, I. O. O. F., Salme En- campment No. 4, Canton No. 2, and is also a mem- ber of Lodge No. 9, A. O. U. W. He is a mem- ber of the Republican political organization, and has firm faith in the policy of its administration.
Le OUIS DITTMER, one of the most enter- prising young citizens of Buda Precinct, is a son of Henry and Louisa Dittmer, both of whom were natives of Germany. He was born on the 9th of April, 1862, in the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg, and with his parents emigrated at an early age to America, taking passage on a steamer at Hamburg which landed them in New York City after an ocean voyage of about two weeks. They came directly to Lancaster County, and the father of our subject homesteaded eighty acres of land in Buda Precinct, on which they made their home until the death of the father, which occurred on the 15th of July, 1883. The mother, only surviving her husband the brief period of less than four years, died on the 28th of May, 1887. They were the parents of four children who grew to manhood and
womanhood, namely: Elizabeth, who became the wife of Bernhard Steffen, of Buda Preeinet; Henry ; Louis, our subject, and Louisa, who became the wife of Henry Mink, of Lincoln.
The father of our subject was one of the repre- sentative German pioneers of this precinct, and en- joyed the confidence and esteem of his friends and neighbors in a marked degree. He was a member of the Lutheran Church, in which he served in an official capacity, having been among the first in organizing the society and building the church edifice in his locality. He was a public-spirited man, and in his death the county lost one of her best German citizens. ITis word was considered as good as his bond, and having been industrious and managed well he was able to leave his family a fine property, including 360 acres of land, the result of a life of industry and economy. Politically, he was a stanch defender of the principles of the Republican party.
Louis Dittmer received a good education, both in the English and German languages, and has had considerable experience of pioneer life, having been reared amid its toils and hardships. This, however, has simply contributed to the manliness of his character, and incited within him the desire for a home of his own and the position of a substantial citizen. With this end in view, on the 29th of February, 1888, he was married to Miss Ellen, a daughter of Carl and Mary Krause. The father is now deceased, and the mother resides in this county.
While our subject inherited a share of the land "which his father owned he has been active and in- dustrious, and has added to that amount until he is now the possessor of 240 acres of well-improved land on section 2. He did not join the political organization of which his father was a member, but chooses rather to vote independently and support the man whom he considers best qualified to serve the interests of the people. IIe is a member of the Lutheran Church, in the establishment of which his father played an important part, and is regarded as one of the promising young men of the community, one who will with credit assist in perpetuating the name and estate of his honored sire.
Henry Dittmer, Sr., the only brother of our sub- ject, is half owner of the farm. Ile has traveled
RESIDENCE OF JOS. L. PAYNE, SEC.4. DENTON PRECINCT.
RESIDENCE OF DITTMER BROS, SEC. 2. BUDA PRECINCT.
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extensively over the Western country and spent two years in Utah and Colorado. Like his brother Louis, he is highly respected by all who know him, is social. genial, and is still single. He has a good education in both German and Englishis, and a man who may be called one of the foremost of his pre- cinet.
A view of the homestead owned by Dittmer Bros, is given on the adjoining page, and from its appearance may be gathered even more fully than from a written sketch the character of the proprie- tors.
OSEPII L. PAYNE. The old Norse kings were rulers of a hardy race. if their legend history be true, for we are informed that "the survival of the fittest" was a primary and terrible fact in every maternal creed and practice : that the children were taken and caused to suffer exposure in their rigorous northern elimate, with the result that the weakly and imperfect succumbed, and only the most robust constitutions survived the ordeal. Thus every warrior (and every man was a warrior) had learned to endure hardness from in- fancy. Many of the strongest men and women of this country have become what they have simply because of the trying ordeal of earlier days. We do not hear of those who succumb, but we cannot refrain from learning the story of the fittest sur- vival." Among the men of Nebraska who have passed the ordeal and are now upon the tidal wave of success is he whose biography is herein sketched.
Joseph L. Payne, the provident and flourishing farmer and stock-raiser whose farm is situated on section 4, Denton Precinct, was born on the 15th of August, 1858, in Delaware County, Pa., and is a son of Edwin W. and Alice P. Payne, natives of the same State. At the age of fifteen years it was his misfortune to be left an orphan by the death of his father, his mother having died when he was two years of age. After his mother's death he made his home from time to time with his aunt, Mrs. Lydia A. Arment, and continued to do this until he was about sixteen years of age, remaining with
her entirely after the death of his father. From the above age until he was twenty he was working upon the farm by the month, but when within a year of his majority he decided to go to Perry County, Ill., and for eighteen months worked as a farm hand.
Lancaster County was visited by our subject in the fall of 1879, and a farm of 120 acres was leased for twenty-one years, and he has since then continued upon it. llis lease provided that the ground might be purchased from the School Com- missioners at any time prior to the expiration thereof. This he accordingly did a few years since, adding at different times until his property to-day comprises 205 acres of land, all of this being in an excellent state of cultivation. The accom- panying view of the property will assist to a cor- rect understanding of its beauty, extent, character and consequent value.
Our subject was married, Nov. 13, 1883, and be- came the husband of Harriet E. Giles, a daughter of James and Harriet Giles, of this precinct, Three children have been given to them, and are growing up amid surroundings and under influences incom- parably in advance of anything in the early sur- roundings of our subject. Adjoined are the names of this interesting family : The eldest child. Alice II., was born Sept. 3, 1884; in October, two years sub- sequently, their second child, Edwin J., opened his eyes to the light; the baby, Walter, was born on the 1st of March of the present year, 1888.
Our subject has come up to his present position from a very unpromising beginning; when it is considered how early in life first his mother and then his father were removed from him, the ex- ceedingly small opportunity he had to procure au education, that he was compelled by force of cir- cumstances to begin work at an age when most boys are still poring over their lessons, and that he had to make his own start as well as progress, it is an acknowledged fact that the advancement seen to-day is most honorable to him and the result of his continued persevering labor.
Mr. and . Mrs. Payne find their religious home in the fellowship of the Baptist Church, and he is Clerk of the church. He is also Treasurer for his school district. He uniformly and conscientiously de-
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posits his ballot in favor of the "grand old party," which was born amid the throes of the country by its civil war. Ile is a gentleman of enterprise and industry, strongly in favor of every movement cal- culated to benefit the people, a friend of good morals, and in every way a highly respected citizen.
ILLIAM P. NORCROSS, President of the Firth Bank, is widely known throughout this and adjoining States as an able finan- cier, a prominent and enterprising business man, and a large land-owner. He is a man of unbounded ambition, remarkable judgment and rare business tact. Begining life as a farmer's boy, he has met with more than ordinary success in the various vocations that he has pursued, of farmer, stock- raiser, prospector, merchant and banker, and he is now numbered among the moneyed men of Ne- braska.
Mr. Norcross comes of good old Pennsylvania families, on both his father and mother's side, who were descendants of English people who were among the early settlers of that State in Colonial times. His grandfather Norcross was a citizen of Pennsyl- vania, and served as a private during the Revolu- tionary War. The parents of our subject, William F. and Maria L. (Dickson) Noreross, were natives respectively of Erie County, Pa., and of Westfield, N. Y. They were married in the latter State, and subsequently settled in Erie County, Pa., where Mr. Norcross was quite prosperously engaged in farming from 1826 to 1840. Ile then removed with his family to Warren County, Ill., and he there became an extensive farmer and land-owner. He now lives a retired life at Monmouth, at the age of seventy-six years, having gained by his own ex- ertions and shrewd business policy an ample income. Ile has been a very energetic, capable man in his day, and the esteem and confidence in which he is held by his fellow-citizens show that his life has been honorable as well as useful. The amiable wife, who was to him a true helper and wise counselor, was early taken from him, her death occurring in 1857, when she was but forty years old. The fol- lowing are the names of the five children born to
them : John (deceased ), Marietta, William P., Hobart and Henry.
William Norcross, of this sketch, was born Nov. 12, 1843, at Monmouth, Ill., where he grew to man- hood, having a common experience with other boys reared on Illinois farms. He was early put to work at the plow, and performed other farm labors on his father's homestead until he was twenty-one, receiv- ing his education in the meantime in the common school. After attaining his majority, in 1865, he was seized with the gold fever and went to Pike's Peak and prospected in the gold mines. He made quite a little sum of money, enough to give him a fair start in life, and at the end of a year returned home, and again resumed agricultural pursuits. At the age of twenty-six, in 1870, our subject was married to Miss Susan E., the accomplished daugh- ter of George and Sarah S. (Gettie) Sickmon, natives of Buffalo, N. Y. Her father was a pros- perous farmer of Monmouth, Ill., where she was born in 1840, being the second child and second danghter of the five children, two boys and three girls, born to her parents. Her education, begun in the public schools of her native town, was there completed in Monmouth College, where she dis- played superior scholarship, and ranked high in her classes.
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