USA > Nebraska > York County > York County, Nebraska and its people : together with a condensed history of the state, Vol. II > Part 30
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MILTON M. WILDMAN
Milton M. Wildman, for many years an attorney of York and prominent in the politieal affairs of his community, was born in Piatt county, Illinois, in 1856, a son of Thomas and Mary J. (Longnecker ) Wildman, the former a native of New York state and the latter of Kentucky. They came to Illinois in their youth, where they met and were married and settled in that state on a farm. Mr. Wildman held a number of township offices and was a stanch supporter of the principles for which the republican party is sponsor. Three children were born of this union, of which the subject of this sketch is the second. One child, David, is a retired farmer of York and the other is deceased. The paternal grandfather of Milton M. Wildman was Jonathan Wildman, a native of New York state who later removed to Ohio where he resided until his death. The maternal grandfather, David Longnecker, was of English origin, but removed to Illinois where he was living at the time of his death.
In the acquirement of an edneation Milton M. Wildman attended the country schools of Illinois, took a short course in a college at Ladoga, Indiana, and taught school three years in Illinois. In 188? he came to Nebraska and for the first three years of his residence in this state taught school and farmed. He then became desirous of becoming a lawyer and with that object in view read law in an attorney's office at York, after which he entered the Ann Arbor Law School and was graduated from this institution in 1888. He began to practice in York in partnership with C. S. Rainbolt, in which connection he continued for a short time and then launched into the practice on his own account and has since continued alone, except for a short time with G. W. Bemis.
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On the 20th of March, 1881, Mr. Wildman was married to Miss Martha A. Valentine, a native of Ohio and a daughter of John Valentine who removed from Illinois to Nebraska where his death occurred. Four children have been born of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Wildman: Holland Roscoe, a dentist in York ; Blaine Cecil, a teacher in the dental department of the Nebraska State University; Ethel Louise. a teacher ; and Elsie Pearl, a teacher. These young people are graduates of the York high school and each received a college education. They are all members of the Congregational church and citizens of whom the state may be justly proud.
Mr. Wildman has always been active in the work of the Congregational church and has served on the board of trustees and on the board of directors of that organization for a number of years. He also taught the men's class for several years. Fraternally he is a member of the Modern Woodman and Royal Highlanders and politically he is a republican. In the support of his party he has always been very active and has held several public offices. He has served as county judge and city and county attorney and in 1919 was a member of the state legislature. He has been a member of the city council and has acted as city clerk. With this record of political activity behind him he is now a candidate for district judge and as he has always carried a splendid vote in this county he expects to carry a good vote in the judicial district. The success that Mr. Wildman enjoys today is the result of his own labors, for when he came to Nebraska he had practically nothing except a grim determination and the courage to stand baek of it. Now in addition to the income from his large practice he owns two good pieces of business property and also some city property. In every phase of his life, whether as lawyer, business man or citizen, he has displayed thorough reliability as well as enterprise and in many ways has contributed to the material, political and moral development of the community.
GEORGE W. SHRECK
Among the enterprising and progressive business men of York George W. Shreck is numbered. lle is now conducting a real estate and insurance agency and in this capacity has won a clientage of large and gratifying proportions. He arrived in York county in early manhood having just enough money to reach his destination, and the success which he has achieved through the intervening years has been the direct result of his energy, enterprise and sound judgment.
Mr. Shreck was born in Harrison county. Indiana, August 6. 1856, a son of Philip and Sarah A. ( Reed) Shreck, who were natives of Virginia and Indiana respectively. His father was a son of George Shreck who removed to Indiana in 1835 and purchased land in this state. He was a carpenter by trade and worked along that line in addition to the development of the fields. A great-grandfather of George W. Shreck was William Deatrick, who removed from Virginia to Indiana at a very early day and on three different occasions made the trip between the two states on horseback. William Reed, the maternal grandfather of George W. Shreek, was born in North Carolina, and he, too, became a pioneer settler of Indiana. where he followed farming to the time of his death. The father journeyed across the country with team and wagon from the Old Dominion to the Hoosier state. He
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was reared on a farm and made agriculture his life work, remaining a resident of Indiana till called to his final rest. He possessed, however, considerable meehan- ical skill, and in early life learned the blacksmith trade and afterward conducted a blacksmith shop on his farm. He also built wagons but repairing was the principal part of his work in that connection. It was in Indiana that he married Miss Reed and both have passed away. They were consistent members of the Methodist Epis- copal church, and in his political views Philip Shreck was a republican. During the Civil war he served as a member of the Home Guard and was captured by Morgan. He had enlisted in the volunteer army and raised a company, but was rejected on account of physical disability. To Mr. and Mrs. Philip Shreck were born nine children of whom seven are living: George W .; J. R., who is engaged in the real estate business in Portland, Oregon ; W. A., a practicing physician of Bertrand, Nebraska : Emma, the wife of Jacob F. Smith, who is living on a farm in York county ; Mary F., the wife of Blithe Ludlow, a farmer of Medford, Oklahoma ; Amzi J., a farmer of Aberdeen, Idaho; and Anna B., who is a professional nurse of York.
George W. Shreck obtained his early education in the schools of Harrison county, Indiana, and was reared on the home farm, early becoming familiar with the best methods of tilling the soil and caring for the crops. He learned the black- smith's trade in early life and when twenty-one years of age removed to Waco, Nebraska, where he established a smithy. The old building which was put up in 1878 is still standing. Ile continued in active business in Waco for three years and in 1884 removed to York. His fellow townsmen, appreciative of his worth and ability, called him to public office. He was deputy sheriff for five years and was afterward three times elected to the office of sheriff. In 1905 he was elected state senator, representing the district being comprised of Fillmore and York counties. He was made postmaster under President Roosevelt, occupying the position for eight years. After his term expired he once more engaged in the real estate busi- ness, and there is no man more thoroughly familiar with property conditions and values in York than Mr. Shreek. At all times he has been most loyal to publie duties and has made a most excellent record in office. He now devotes most of his time to the real estate and fire insurance business, and while he largely handles local property he also deals to some extent in Colorado lands. Mr. Shreek is a director of the First National Bank and as a business man is most widely and favorably known.
In Indiana Mr. Shreek was married to Miss Miranda Melton who passed away in 1879, and he next wedded Laura Melton of the same state. Two sons have been born of this marriage: Charles D., who is an electrician of York; and Jay, who is engaged in the newspaper business in Chicago, being now connected with the Exhibitors Herald. He has been well trained for this work, and was formerly identified with the Chicago Tribune and with the Record-IIerald. The mother of these sons died in 1917. Later Mr. Shreck wedded Dora Knight, his present wife.
Mr. Shreck is a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity and has become a Knight Templar and member of the Mystic Shrine. He is also connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and with the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and has filled all of the chairs in the latter. Ile has also rendered official service to his church having been recording steward keeper of finance for twenty-two years, and has also been a
Vol. II-20
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member of the board of trustees for a number of years. He has also been secretary and president of the Commercial Club of York, and secretary of the York Agricul- tural Society. He has thus cooperated in many agencies which have had to do with the upbuilding and progress of the district in which he makes his home, and his contribution thereto has been extensive and valuable. He is everywhere spoken of in terms of high regard by reason of the sterling worth of his character and his devotion to the public welfare.
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W. N. HYLTON, M. D.
Prepared by comprehensive study and diligent attention to duty Dr. W. N. Hylton has won for himself a distinguished position in the ranks of the medical profession in York county and surrounding district. He has wisely utilized his native talents and as the years have gone on his reading and research have kept him in touch with the trend of medical scientific attainment. He was born in New Virginia, Iowa, May 22, 1862, a son of George W. and Letitia (Irwin) Hylton. the former a native of Indiana and the latter of Ireland, both of whom are now living retired and are well advanced in years.
George W. Hylton, who followed farming in his native state, went to Iowa. in the latter 50's and conducted a general merchandise store in New Virginia where he also served as postmaster for a time and was one of the best known men of that place. In 1872 he set out for Cass county. Nebraska, and drove overland from Iowa, crossing the river at Nebraska C'ity by ferry on March 1 of that year, and after a perilous journey reached his destination, where he acquired a homestead. In that part of the country he put up one of the first houses and it was composed of part sod and part frame, the hauling of lumber and other necessaries having to be done from Unadilla and South Bend, Nebraska. He proved up on the homestead and proceeded without delay to improve and develop its fields, planting and eulti- vating crops only to find that as a result of the grasshopper visitation he lost every- thing, a somewhat similar result following the advent of several blizzards. Apart from these disasters he was successful in his agricultural operations and continued along farming lines for several years, finally disposing of the homestead. In 1910 Mr. Hylton retired from active farm life and moved to Elmwood, Nebraska, and bought a tract of land in that neighborhood, which he still owns. He is now eighty-three years old while his wife is in her seventy-ninth year. They became the parents of the following children : Alfred, who died in California; W. N., subject of this sketch : Ilarry, engaged in the practice of medicine at Brownville, Nebraska; Mary, deceased : Mattie, the wife of Dr. G. G. Douglas, of Elmwood; Anna, the widow of Frank Richardson, of Ehnwood: Cora, the wife of William Gerbeling, of Nuckols county, Nebraska : Lney. the wife of Edward Gustin, of Elmwood, and Grace, who teaches in Blue Hill high school. The parents are members of the Meth- odist church. to the teachings of which they have ever conformed. He gives his political support to the republican party and in purely local affairs he has always been a consistent advocate of progress.
Dr. W. N. Hylton was a young lad when his parents left lowa in 1872 and he secured his preliminary education in the schools of Elmwood, Nebraska, later enter-
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ing the Nebraska State University, from which institution he was graduated in 1886 with the degree of M. D. He began the practice of his profession in that year, locating at Valparaiso, Nebraska, where he remained for one year. In 1887 Dr. Hylton came to Gresham and continued his practice, which as time passed and as he became better known gradually grew to large proportions and in the inter- vening years he has won a place in the front ranks of the medical practitioners of this part of the state. In 1898 he took a post-graduate course at Chicago, thus gaining broad and valuable practical experience along professional lines. His ability is pronounced and he has gained a most ereditable name and place in a profession where advancement depends entirely upon individual merit. He is a member of the American Medical Association and of the Nebraska and York County Medical Asso- eiations. Dr. Hylton is interested in business affairs as leisure from his professional duties permits. In 1906 he became president of the First National Bank of Gresham and has been serving in that capacity ever since. In 1908 he was responsi- ble for the installation of the lighting plant in Gresham which has been a success and proved an immense boon to the publie, and in other directions he has given of his time and ability to the advancement of the town and district. However, the demands of his profession leave him but little time for other work and to the duties of his practice he gives his best efforts.
In 1892 Dr. Hylton was united in marriage to Lula Lanphere, a daughter of Henry C. Lanphere, and to this union three children have been born: Harry, who holds the office of vice president of the First National Bank ; Helen, a graduate of the Gresham and York high schools, and the University Conservatory of Music at Lincoln, is now head of the piano department of the Pern Normal ; and George W., attending the Nebraska State University. During the World war Dr. Hylton joined the volunteer medical service attached to the United States military department. In polities he espouses the cause of the republican party and has held local offices from time to time. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Ancient Order of United Work- men, with the Woodmen of the World and the Modern Woodmen of America, in the affairs of all of which he takes a vital interest. The doctor and his wife are promi- nent in the social life of Gresham, where she is recognized as a lady of culture and refinement.
GEORGE FISHER
George Fisher is a retired farmer and Civil war veteran residing at Bradshaw, York county. He has passed the eighty-third milestone on life's journey and well deserves the rest which has come to him for it is the reward of persistent, earnest and intelligently directed effort in former years. He was born in Wurttemberg, Germany, October 6, 1837, a son of Fredriek and Catherine (Shilling) Fisher, both natives of Germany, where the father had been a farmer for many years.
George Fisher came to America when fifteen years of age, the voyage being made on an old sailing vessel which spent sixty days in crossing the Atlantic to New York. After arriving in this country he went to Brandonville, Maryland, and started to work at the saddlery trade, binding himself to the owner of the business for one year. He then migrated to Pennsylvania and engaged in farm labor in that state,
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remaining in the employ of one family for twenty-two years. When he first went to Pennsylvania he attended the district schools to learn the language, etc. Shortly after the outbreak of the Civil war Mr. Fisher enlisted in Pennsylvania for service in the Federal army and became a member of Company E, Eighty-fifth Pennsyl- vania Infantry. He was mustered into the service at Uniontown, October 4, 1861. and was with the Union forces for three years and three months, during this period having seen much active service and was in some of the hottest engagements of the war, withont, however, having received any dangerous or serions wounds. He was honorably discharged and returned to the farm work he was doing in Pennsylvania when he entered the army.
In 1881 Mr. Fisher went to Illinois and remained there for three years: at the end of that period, or in 1884, he came to Nebraska and settled in York county, buying a tract of land in Arborville township. He built a frame house on his holding and began to cultivate and develop the fields, his general farming and stock raising soon coming to a standard which placed him among the representative and progressive farmers of the township. As he prospered he added more land to his original holding and continued to bring the latter to an excellent state of improvement, finally disposing of the place he first bought, but still retains owner- ship in two hundred acres, most of which he rents. In 1909 Mr. Fisher retired from active connection with farm life and now lives in Bradshaw. He utilized every chance for judicious investment and never lost faith in the future of this district, for he readily appreciated the fact that nature was kind to this region and had placed before man numerous opportunities for successful business in this section.
In 1862, while residing in Pennsylvania, Mr. Fisher was united in marriage to Martha Rockwell. a native of the Keystone state, and they became the parents of six children : Catherine, the wife of Joseph Picthall; Thomas, who lives in Arbor- ville township : Charles, living in Cheyenne, Wyoming, a preacher of the Congrega- tional church : Albert, who practices medicine at Bismarck, North Dakota : Dora E .. the wife of Charles Swanson, a York county farmer, and Walter J., who lives on the old home place. Mr. Fisher and his wife are earnest members of the Congregational church and he is affiliated with Rickets Post, Grand Army of the Republic. Politi- cally he is a republican. giving stalwart support to the party, while in 1920 Mrs. Fisher recorded her first vote in the national elections of that year, casting it for the republican party. Mr. Fisher is a self-made man, having come to this country empty-handed but through the opportunities here offered and his industry and good management he has gained financial independence. He has reached an advanced age but is still keen of mind and is accorded the honor due those who have left behind them the record of a long and honorable life.
THOMAS KIRBY
'The history of the pioneer settlement of York would not be complete without the record of Thomas Kirby, one of the few carly residents who still tive on their homesteads. Thomas Kirby was born near Dublin, Ireland, in 1844, and was brought to the United States by an uncle when he was very young. His youth was spent in New York city but his education was acquired in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
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Thomas Kirby began to make his own way in the world at the age of fourteen when he was employed on a farm, later securing work on a railroad. In 1869 he came to Nebraska, taking up a homestead in Beaver township, York county, where he lived in a dugout, the primitive home of the pioneer. Later he lived in a log house and in 1890 built the frame house that has been his home since. Mr. Kirby's success is due entirely to his own untiring zeal, perseverance and determination, as he had no other capital with which to begin his life work.
He was married in 1882 to Miss Millie Nichols, who died leaving one child who has sinee passed away. His second marriage occurred in 1893 when he was married to Miss Lizzie L. Iloffman. Ile was at one time a director in the First National Bank of York. Mr. Kirby's political endorsement is given to the republican party, and he keeps well informed upon the questions and issues of the day. He has mem- bership with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at York, Nebraska. His prog- ress is shown by the fact that he owns seven hundred and twenty acres of valuable farm land and at one time had in his possession more than eight hundred aeres. Mr. Kirby is now in a position to enjoy life, receiving from his property a substan- tial income sufficient to keep him in comfort the remainder of his life. He has always been honorable, upright and straightforward in his dealings, and is a stanch advocate of all those forces which make for the moral welfare and progress of the community and country.
GEORGE A. MORRISON, M. D.
Dr. George A. Morrison, a prominent member of the medical profession in York county who has been actively engaged in the practice for more than sixteen years, is a native son of the county, born near where Bradshaw stands, April 23, 1877, a son of William F. and Virginia (Lichtenberger) Morrison, the former born and reared in Pennsylvania, continuing to reside in that state for several years and later going to Illinois, where he lived for some years before moving to Nebraska.
In 1870 William F. Morrison came to York county and took a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres, located one mile east and one and one-half miles north of Bradshaw. He made the journey from Illinois by team, driving across the country accompanied by his family. They first lived in a dugout and later built a sod house which in time was replaced by a newer building and in these circumstances made the most of life. The ground was broken and cultivation commenced with as little delay as possible after they had settled on the homestead, improvements were effected and prosperity attended their industry and consistent efforts. In 1880 Mr. Morrison moved to another farm of three hundred and twenty acres, situated a quarter of a mile east of Bradshaw and lived on that place for several years, bring- ing the land to a very high state of cultivation and conducting the work along the most progressive lines. Later he moved to Bradshaw and there passed away in May, 1901, and in his death the community mourned the loss of an honored pioneer settler and most respected citizen. Mr. Morrison took an active part in public affairs. He was the first assessor of the west half of York county, served as county commis- sioner and chairman of the board and was a member of the board committee to whose care was committed the building of the courthouse. His political allegiance
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was given to the republican party. His marriage to Virginia Lichtenberger resulted in the birth of ten children : Harry L., who died in 1882, and was the owner of the first livery stable at Bradshaw : Annie, who died in infancy ; Edmund W., who lives at Bayard. Nebraska ; Charles O., also living at Bayard; Samuel A., of Bradshaw ; Joseph E., living retired at Callaway. Nebraska; Frederick W., also of Callaway; Alfred E., a farmer, of York county ; Lee, a farmer and stockman, of Callaway; and George A., the youngest of the family.
George A. Morrison seeured his preliminary education in the common schools of the county and later entered York College, going from that institution to the Nebraska State University. He had been reading medicine before entering the medical college and in 1901 entered the medical department of Nebraska University, from which he was graduated in 1905 with the degree of M. D. Following his graduation Dr. Morrison returned to Bradshaw and opened an office for the practice of his profession, at which he has during the intervening years been very success- fully engaged and is now recognized as one of the foremost members of the medical faculty in the county. He gives close study to all literature and standard works as well as to the latest phases of scientific research calculated to advance his profes- sional attainments. Dr. Morrison is a member of the County Medical Association, the Nebraska State Medical Association and the American Medical Association, in the affairs of which he takes a practical interest. He is a Scottish Rite Mason, thirty-second degree, and a Shriner, also holding membership in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and has filled many of the chairs in these lodges. He is affiliated with the Phi Rho Sigma Honorary Medical fraternity, holding this eon- nection since his college days.
In June, 1907, Dr. Morrison was united in marriage to Nellie King, who was born in Collins, Iowa, and they have become the parents of two children: William Howard Morrison and Frank Andrew Morrison. Mrs. Morrison is an active member of the Eastern Star and in the social and cultural movements of her neighborhood she is a zealous participant. Dr. Morrison's life has been an active and useful one and he has made steady progress in the field of his chosen profession, and his ability, industry and thoroughness have bronght him a substantial measure of success.
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