USA > Nebraska > Sherman County > Loup City > The trail of the Loup; being a history of the Loup River region > Part 23
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28
THORNGATE, GEORGE-was born in Cataraugas county, New York, in 1834. When but twelve or thirteen years old he removed to Wisconsin in which state he afterward taught school. In May, 1861, he enlisted in Co. E, 5th Wisconsin Infantry. He engaged in the battles of Antietam and Williamsburg. In the latter battle he was wounded in the chin and sent home on sick leave. He was discharged in the spring of 1862. However, he reenlisted later in the 13th Wisconsin Light Artillery which was then stationed at Baton Rouge. He was mustered out in July, 1864. In the fall of the same year he was married to a Miss Crandall and the young couple took up their home in Missouri. The following year, 1878, they came to Valley county and settled at North Loup. Mr. Thorngate died in Decem- ber, 1893, but his wife still survives him.
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TIMMERMAN, LEVI D .- is another of our early settlers who came originally from New York. He was born in Jasper county, that state, July 22, 1849. In 1878 he came to Valley county and being well pleased with the county bought the south eighty acres of his present farm. In August he returned to New York and married Miss Mary Dennis. The following April they came to their new home on the Loup where they have since re- sided. It is interesting to know that for his first eighty acres of land Mr. Timmerman paid but $140.00. He now has one of the finest farms in this county.
TRUE, CHANDLER-was born in Clayton county, Iowa, December 1, 1854. Here he lived as a farmer until June 1878, when he moved to Ne- braska and settled on his present farm about four miles west of Arcadia. He was married December 25, 1878, to a Miss Knight and they have eight children living. Mr. True is a successful farmer as a glance at his well- kept farm will show.
WEAVER, MARSHAL N .- came to Nebraska in September, 1873, in company with George McAnulty. He settled at the head of the "Big Island," where he trapped and hunted during the winters of '73 and '74. He then returned to his old home in Latiabe, Pennsylvania, where he lives a prosperous man. It is safe to say, however, that he never forgets the beautiful North Loup Valley, the scene of some stormy adventures of his youth.
WEBB. SAMUEL S .- was born in Floyd, New York, in August, 1825. Here he lived till 1857 when he moved to Illinois. Two years later he mar- ried a Miss Davis and in 1861 moved to Wisconsin. Three years later they moved to Minnesota which remained their home till 1877 at which time they came to Nebraska and settled in Valley county. Mr. Webb is essen- tially a farmer, though now retired from active work. At the ripe age of eighty he lives in comfort in his North Loup home, respected and highly honored by all his townsmen.
WELLMAN, M. A .- Among the early trailers of the Loup and a man identified with the business interests of North Loup for a number of years was M. A. Wellman. He was born at Windsor, Mass., May 28, 1842. When a child his parents moved to Waushara county, Wisconsin, where he grew to manhood. On May 18, 1866, he married Miss Mary Francisco. Five years later they moved to Greeley county. In 1886 they moved to North Loup and purchased their present home. From that time to his death on May 4, 1899, Mr. Wellman was engaged in the grocery business in North Loup.
WHEELER, JOHN S .- was born in Sullivan county, New York, in 1854. Here he lived for twenty-four years, being engaged during the lat- ter part of this time in the printing business. In 1878 he came to Valley county and has lived here ever since. Until 1904 he farmed a place near Geranium but when this was sold he bought a farm near Elyria on which he now resides.
WIGENT, D .- was born in Berrien county, Michigan, August 17, 1859.
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Here he lived and attended school till 1877 when his parents came to Val- ley county and homesteaded on Turtle Creek. When Mr. Wigent came of age he took a homestead on the north branch of Turtle Creek. April 22, 1884, he married Miss Agnes Pecas. Three years later they sold out and bought near the present Hillsdale schoolhouse. In 1891 they moved to Barton county, Missouri. Here they lived for ten years when returning to Valley county they purchased the farm in Springdale where they now re- side.
WIYGENT, W. H .- One of the early settlers of Springdale was W. H. Wiygent who came to Valley county in 1875. Mr. Wigent was born near Syracuse, New York, July 25, 1843. When he was but a small child his parents moved to Mich- igan where he grew to manhood. In November, 1862, Mr. Wiygent enlisted in the Union Army and served till August, 1865. On December 23, 1866, he married Miss Myra Drake of Van Buren county, Michigan. He helped build the first bridge across the Loup river at Ord. Early in 1876 he homesteaded his place in Springdale, where he has since made his home.
WRIGHT, CHAUNCEY-was born on a New William Wiygent. York farm in 1813. Here he lived till 1874 when he came to Nebraska and took up a claim about three miles south of Ord. Mr. Wright was married to a Miss Standish in 1837 and to them five chil- dren were born. One of them, a daughter, married a Mr. Chaffee in 1860 and settled in Wisconsin. Mr. Chaffee enlisted in the fall of 1864 and served for one year. After being discharged from the army he returned to Wisconsin where he died in 1877. Mrs. Chaffee now came to Nebraska to live with her parents who soon afterwards moved to North Loup, where she has lived ever since.
Garfield County.
ABBOTT, WILLIAM-has followed the "star of empire" in its course toward the west. He was born in Alberg, Vt., in 1844. When but a baby his parents moved to Clinton county, New York, and it was from here that Mr. Abbott moved to New Jersey in 1866 and began to work his way west- ward. After a short stay in New Jersey he moved to Pawpaw, Ill. In 1869 he came to Iowa and after living there for nine years moved to this valley and settled near Burwell. He farms a piece of land in Jones' Canyon.
BARR, JAMES-comes of good Scotch parentage, having been born at Glasgow, in April, 1845. The Barrs left old Scotland in 1850 and imme- diately came to Chicago. His father was a stone-mason and contractor as well as bridge builder. The elder Barr thus had charge of constructing all the masonry on the old Galena and Chicago Union Railroad and put in the
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masonry on one of the first bridges to span the Mississippi. After attend- ing school at Belvidere, Illinois, "Jim" entered the army at the early age of sixteen. He became a member of the famous Scotch regiment under Colonel Stewart, which marched more miles, fought in more battles and suffered greater losses than almost any other regiment east or west. Mr. Barr's army history reads like a romance and would fill books to narrate. How he surrendered to "Stonewall" Jackson at Harper's Ferry, scouted in eastern Kentucky or saved the life of the rebel colonel, or how he se- verely wounded was brought in contact with the young woman-Esther Ann Tilden-whom he later married, cannot unfortunately be told in this brief sketch. In the early seventies O. S. Haskell arrived with his family in Valley county. Mrs. Haskell being a first cousin of Mrs. Barr had per- haps something to do with inducing the latter and husband to come west. At any rate the Barrs ar- rived in the Valley in 1874. For a year or so Mr. Barr worked for the gov- ernment at Fort Hartsuff. Now and later he was one of the chief govern- ment freighters between Fort Hartsuff and Fort Niobrara. In 1875 he filed on a pre-emption three miles southeast from Burwell, first held by George McAnulty of Scotia. This together with some additional land comprises the comfortable Barr farm of today. The author has had the privilege to read some of the numerous letters which have passed between Mr. Barr and men high in army and governmental affairs, and from it he feels free to state that had Mr. Barr been so inclined he might today have been in high office. But he was content to be a plain Scotchman. He has always taken active part in politics and could have held important offices had he wished. Thus he refused the nomination of representative from his dis- trict. As commissioner of Wheeler county just before its division, he drafted the petition for the organization of Garfield county and suggested the name which it came to bear.
BARKER, F. A .- was born in Alleghany county, N. Y., in April, 1848. When but a boy of five years of age he moved with his parents to Wisconsin. Here he received his early education and grew to manhood. In July, 1873, he came to Nebraska and homesteaded in Valley county. In 1891 he moved to Louisiana where he lived till 1897. He then returned to Nebraska and settled in Burwell. At present Mr. Barker is engaged in the bakery business.
DEAFENBAUGH, J. A .- first saw the light of day in Tuscaroras county, Ohio, on July 4, 1846. Evidently he was pleased with the celebra- tion for here he spent the first 29 years of his life. However, in 1875 he decided to cast his lot in Illinois, only to move again April, 1878, to Gar- field county, Nebraska. Here he took a homestead in the Loup Valley about three miles from where Burwell now is. In the winter of the follow- ing year he took unto himself a wife in the person of Miss Rose M. Schreier
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of Illinois. In 1903 they sold their old homestead and moved to their pres- ent farm. Mr. Deafenbaugh is an energetic farmer and has a beautiful place.
DRAVER, WILLIAM-comes from a country from which we receive many of our most reliable citizens. He was born April 13, 1840, on the Isle of Westray off the coast of Scotland. Here he received his education and remained till the age of twenty-eight. In 1861 he was married to Miss Ann Randal. His parents coming to the United States, he came with them and they all located in West county, lowa, remaining there five years. Mr. Draver is one of the earliest settlers of Garfield county, coming here in 1873. He still lives on the old homestead. When one learns that he and his children now own about twenty-six hundred acres of land, they are tempted to forget the early privations endured by Mr. Draver's family - poverty, drought, and sickness-all met with true Scotch fortitude which must characterize one who overcomes.
FREELAND, TRUMAN-"was born in Rock Island county, Illinois, on February 22, 1852. His parents were among the pioneers of northern Illinois. Mr. Freeland assisted in the construction of the first bridge thrown over the waters of the Platte in the state of Nebraska. He acted as lead chainman in the original survey of what is now Custer and Loup counties. He built the first actual settler's residence (a dugout) construct- ed in the valley of the North Loup river above Haskell Creek; and his nearest neighbor on the river valley was then twenty miles away. He was
the second settler of what is now Garfield county (Mr. C. H. Jones having preceded him a few days. ) He carried the first United States mail brought into what is now Garfield county. He cut and hewed the logs for the first school house built in the county, and on his pre-emption was broken the first sod turned in Garfield county. He built the first frame residence in the county constructed of lumber shipped from the East, and hauled the lumber from Grand Island, a distance of nearly eighty miles. Mr. Freeland is an author of no mean ability, his writings having appeared in some of the leading publica- tions of Nebraska and other states. He is also the author of a volume of poems soon to appear in print. He is decidedly a man of peace and never took any prominent part in the various conflicts with Indians in the early settlement of his neighborhood nor did he ever lose anything by them, ex- cept once when they stole his coat while he was felling a tree a few rods away. Mr. Freeland was married in 1874 to Miss Jane Russell of Rock Island county, Illinois. Mrs. Freeland taught the first school held in what is now Garfield and Wheeler counties. Mr. and Mrs. Freeland are the old- est residents now residing within the boundaries of Garfield county and have witnessed all the changing conditions from the days when the buffalo, elk, deer and antelope roamed over the prairies and woodlands to the time
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when all these have passed away and given place to modern civilization."
GROSS, ALEXANDER-is a native of Poland in which state he was born in 1855. He lived here 18 years and then sailed to New York. He went from one place to another for the first three years after coming to this country. In 1875 he arrived in Hall county and the next year moved up the valley to Valley county. He lived here till 1901 when he bought a farm in Garfield county only a short distance from Burwell. Mr. Gross is a suc- cessful farmer.
HEMMETT, TOM-was born in Niagara county, New York, March 9, 1850. While yet a lad of five years he removed with his parents to Pelican county, Michigan, where he grew to manhood. In the early '70's a num- ber of neighbors had moved out west and several had reached the Loup. The western fever seized young Hemmett and we soon find him making his way thither too. Early in 1875 he arrived on the North Loup and filed a pre-emption in the timber on Jones' Canyon, just above the claim of his old Michigan neighbor, C. H. Jones. He later took a homestead in the valley, a place which has devel- oped into one of the most productive and beautiful farms in this part of the state. Mr. Hemmett early became identified with Loup history. He played his part in the early Indian skirmishes and took quite a part in the county seat drama. He has for years been actively engaged in politics. When Wheeler county was divided in 1884 he was clerk of the county, but as his interests were in the new Garfield county he resigned his office. In 1904 he was elected clerk of Garfield couuty, serving three consecutive terms. After a brief interregnum he was again elected to the office, this time as a Populist. Mr. Hemmett has lived through more actual history than most men in his county.
JOHNS, W. C .- one of the citizens to whom we point with pride is a native of Green county, Wisconsin, born there forty-two years ago. In 1878, he came with his parents to what is now Garfield county. His early manhood was uneventful, being spent chiefly in receiving a good education in the public schools of Wisconsin and Nebraska. In 1892 Mr. Johns was married to Miss Anna Beauchamp of Fort Hartsuff, Nebraska. He was for some time a teacher and also a farmer and rancher. He is half owner of the grocery of Johns & Mitchell. The people have shown their appreciation of him by electing him to be sheriff of Wheeler county before the organization of Garfield county, as county superintendent and county treasurer. He is now serving his second term in that capacity. He is a Republican.
MESSENGER, H. A .- was born in Wisconsin in 1853 He lived here until May, 1874, when he started toward Nebraska with ox teams. He ar- rived in Garfield county about two months later and took up his home just north of Burwell at the place where he yet resides. He is a farmer by oc-
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cupation and has spent his whole life in following this kind of work. He is one of Garfield county's oldest settlers and has been closely connected with its history throughout all its stages of growth. He was a member of the old militia of which R. P. Alger was captain.
ROBKE, FREDERICK-has surely had a varied experience. He was born in Germany in 1834 where he lived until twenty-four years old. As a young man he spent four years of his life as a soldier, taking active part in the early war be- tween Prussia and Bavaria. His occupation while in the old country was that of a wagon maker, which work he followed for a number of years after he had come to the United States. In 1865 he arrived in the land of his adoption and located his home in Chicago. In 1870 he made a trip to Colorado but returned to Chicago six months later. In 1878 he moved to Nebraska and settled on his present home about three and one-half miles from Burwell. Since coming to this Valley he has been a farmer.
SMITH, MRS. M .- is another of those sturdy people who though born in a foreign land came to this country and made themselves a home. She was born in Scotland and came to Iowa in 1858. Here she lived till 1873 when she moved to Nebraska and settled in Garfield county. In 1871 she married a farmer by the name of Smith. In 1884 they moved into Burwell and have run a boarding house ever since. Mr. Smith died in 1891 but his wife has shown her ability as a business woman by continuing the business in a very successful way.
WEBSTER, FRANK A .- Among the early "Trailers of the Loup" who have since moved to other communities none is more worthy of men- tion than Frank A. Webster. Mr. Webster was born in Crawford. Pennsyl- vania, in April, 1852. When but three years old he moved with his parents to Adams county, Wis. Here he grew to manhood and learned the printer's trade. In April, 1873, he came to Omaha and accepted a position with the Omaha Bee. Here he remained only till the following fall when he came to the Loup Valley. Later western Burwell was platted on a part of his old homestead. For several years Mr. Webster was engaged in newspaper work in central Nebraska; among these papers was the Howard County Advocate. In 1878 he married Miss Ella M. Bowen. The Websters moved to Rathdrum, Idaho, several years ago where they still make their home.
WOODS, WILLIAM-has come a long way to find this garden spot on the Loup River. He was born in Surrey county, England, November 25, 1833. However, being attracted by the greater possibilities in a new coun- try he came to Canada on May 6, 1857, and located about fourteen miles west of Toronto. Mr. Woods then moved to the United States in 1-56. He has since lived in several different states, New York, Wisconsin Iowa and Nebraska among others. In 1865 he enlisted in the Union Army and served till the end of the war. Mr Woods came to Garfield county in 1874 where
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with the exception of a couple of years he has since resided. In 1878 he homesteaded the farm on which he now lives.
Greeley County.
BEEBE, Dr. J. B. - One of the most prominent figures on the Loup river from '71 to '77 was "Doc" Beebe. He came to the North Loup Valley in 1871 and for years "Beebe's Ranch" was one of the best known places in the Valley. His wife and charming daughter Susie were notable pio- neer women. In 1890 Mr. Beebe went to Oregon where he died a few years later.
BILYEU, J. W .- was born September 20, 1841, in Clinton county, Ill. When twelve years of age his parents moved to Bond county, Iowa, where Mr. Bilyeu grew to manhood. On August 12, 1862, he enlisted as a private in the 130th Illinois Infantry. He was present at the siege of Vicksburg. Upon his discharge in August, 1865, be returned to Bond county. On March 22, 1866, he married Miss E.C. File of Bond county. In the fall of 1877 he came to the Loup country and homesteaded near Scotia. In 1904 he purchased property in Scotia where he has since lived.
FARELL, GEORGE-was born in Columbus, Indian, January 10, 1857. In 1870 his parents moved to Caldwell county, Missouri, only to re- move to Howard county, Nebraska, the following year, having filed on their homestead the previous year. Though only a boy he and a friend went up near Kent and squatted on some land there. However, being forced off his land in 1874 he returned home and in 1877 homesteaded his present farm. The same year he married Miss Emma Bixby. In the fall of 1882 they moved to Scotia, only to return to the farm four years later.
DAVIS, MANSELL-One of the very first settlers in Greeley county was Mansell Davis. He was born in Jamestown, New York, in 1848 and resided there till 1867, when he moved to Dakota, Wisconsin. While in New York he was engaged in mercantile pursuits. His western life has, however, been that of farmer. When in 1871 the Dakota Seventh Day Baptists commenced casting about for new homes Mr. Davis became a member of the second or voluntary committee to explore the west. Thus he came to the Loup and became one of the first six to file on claims in Greeley County. In those early days Mr. Davis took quite an active part in pol- itics. Thus he was the first surveyor of Greeley county, and later served in the capacity of county superintendent and county supervisor. At the present time he lives on his fine farm three miles southeast of North Loup.
FISH, ALCIE P .-- The man who has the distinction of being the first settler in Greeley county was Mr. Alcie P. Fish. He was born February 18, 1822, near Brockport, New York. When he was 12 years old his father died and he was compelled to shift for himself. In March, 1843, he married Esther E. Williams near the Niagara Falls. In 1848 they moved to Loraine county, Ohio, where their son Elihu B. Fish was born. Elihu is
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the only survivor of four children. In 1850 Mr. A. P. Fish came to Fon du Lac county, Wis. In 1861 he enlisted in the First Wisconsin Cavalry where he served till his discharge in November, 1864. In October, 1871, he came to Greeley and pre-empted. His son followed the next spring and homesteaded one mile north of his present residence. Mr. Alcie P. Fish was one of the first county commissioners. Indeed, the first election was held in his house. His son was first county clerk of Greeley county. In the fall of 1879 the younger Fish married Miss Julia McMillan. The father moved to Scotia in 1887 and died three years later.
GARDNER, ANDREW-was born in Buffalo, N. Y., in 1849. When but a child he moved to Green Bay, Wis., where he lived till 1861. At this time he changed his residence to Fond du Lac, Wis., where he lived until he came to Nebraska in 1878. Mr. Gardner has always been a farmer, al- though in early days he used to spend the winter trapping. He worked on his farm about eight miles southeast of Scotia until 1904 when he retired from active labor and moved to town.
GILLESPIE, A. J .- Andrew J. Gillespie, Sr., the grand old patri- arch of the Loup, filled his hundredth year June 4, 1905. He is still re- markably hale and hearty for a man of his years. This wonderful good health he ascribes to the thirty four years he has lived in Nebraska "where people stay young longer than anywhere else on earth." Mr. Gillespie's name has long been associated with the North Loup Valley to which he came early in 1871. He first settled near Elba where he operated quite a ranch. His herd of cattle was the first to fatten on the grasses of the Loup. He also took the first contract to carry the United States mail up the North Loup valley, the route being fully seventy miles long. Often he drove the stage in person but never did his passengers dream that the man who guid- ed his team with such skill over the difficult route had long filled his three score and ten. Mr. Gillespie was born in Kentucky, June 4, 1805, near the place where Abraham Lincoln first saw light four years later. Like Lin- coln he spent his early manhood in Illinois, where he married Temper- ance Lee Bankston. daughter of Colonel Bankston, a life-long friend and comrade of Lincoln. Thirteen children were born to them, of whom twelve reached middle age. In 1836 the family moved to Iowa where they remained for many years. In 1871, at an age when most men are preparing to spend their declining years in peace, he sold his home near Dubuque and came to Nebraska. He became a great hunter and soon attracted the atten- tion of leading plainsmen, who have ever held him in the highest esteem. At the age of seventy-five he is known to have killed deer at a distance of more than three hundred yards. The centenarian is tall and supple, show- ing in his carriage but slight indications of the burden of a hundred years of active life. His long line of descendants inherit his fine physique and remarkable stamina. Thus his seventh son, Joe, won the trying horse race of many hundred miles from Chadron, Nebr., to Chicago, when already past middle life. He has a remarkable lot of descendants living-numbering in all 172 souls. Of these nine are his own children, seventy-seven are
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grand-children, eighty great grand-children, and six great great grand- children. At a grand public celebration held at Scotia in honor of his hun- dredth birthday, in the neighborhood of a hundred decendants assmbled to do the old man honor, and eight hundred guests were lunched and drank to his health and many happy years yet to come.
GRIFFITH, COL. B. F .- was born in Monroe county, New York, in 1845. When but five years old his parents moved to Pennsylvania which became his home. In August, 1861, he enlisted in Co. H. 105th Pennsylvania Infan- try and as a member of that regiment he fought through four long years. He certainly did his part in this great rebellion, having fought in many of the greatest battles of the war, Fair Oaks, Seven Pines, Second Bull Run, Antietam, Fredricks- burg, Chancellorsville, Wilderness and Gettysburg. In the last named of these battles he was severely wounded in no less than three places and afterwards spent sixteen months in the hospital. After having been discharged he returned to Pennsylvania where he lived till 1878 when he moved to this valley. Mr. Griffith is a lawyer, having been admitted to the bar in 1882. He has twice been elected county attorney of Greeley county. His . home is in Scotia.
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