USA > Nebraska > York County > York County, Nebraska and its people : together with a condensed history of the state, Vol. II > Part 40
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IHISTORY OF YORK COUNTY
C. Mason Albin, the subject of this sketch, was reared in his father's home in West Virginia where he received his education in the public schools, continuing to live in his native state until 1891 in which year he took up residence in Benediet. On settling in this part of Nebraska he commenced working out by the month engaged on neighborhood farms and after the lapse of some time he rented land which he continued to operate for some years. He then moved to Harlan county where he purchased a farm and worked that place along agricultural lines, ulti- mately selling to advantage and returning to York county in 1914. In the latter year he acquired his present place and has since been closely identified with the agricultural life of the district, being extensively engaged in general farming and stoek raising, success attending his well-directed efforts from the very commence- ment. Mr. Albin has etfected extensive improvements on his holding and has now one of the best kept and most valuable farms in his section of the county. Ile operates his place on the most scientific plans and in consequence his labors are rewarded with maximum results.
In 1895 Mr. Albin was united in marriage to Emma Sidwell, a daughter of Levi Sidwell, a well known citizen of York county. Mr. and Mrs. Albin are faith- ful attendants on the services of the Methodist church, in the practical affairs of which they are active participants as they are in all community good works. He gives his political support to the democratie party but has never been a seeker after publie office, preferring to concentrate his efforts and attention upon his agricultural interests. He is genial in manner and social in disposition. These qualities have won him personal popularity, while his enterprise and diligence have gained him prominence in business circles.
JOHN A. MERKEL
John A. Merkel after long years of connection with agricultural interests in York county is now living retired in York, enjoying the fruits of his own diligence and industry. He was born in Wayne county, Ohio, October 3, 1856, a son of Jacob and Mary (Emig) Merkel, both natives of Germany, but their marriage occurred in Ohio. The father was a briek maker and plasterer by trade and emigrated to the United States in the late '50s. He located in New York and later in Wayne county, Ohio, where he followed his trade for some time. In 1858 he removed to Iowa where he bought some land which he farmed in connection with his other trades. In 1871 he decided to come to Nebraska, with the result that he set out from lowa in that year with an ox team. He left Boone, lowa, on the 18th of April and arrived in York on the 6th of May, driving up what is now Lincoln avenue. At the time he came to that town it consisted of but two frame buildings and a sod shanty. He pre-empted one hundred and sixty acres in Bradshaw town- ship which he later bought, and his first home on this land was a dugout with dirt floor and two small windows. The next house he built of frame which was sixteen by twenty-four feet, hauling the lumber from Lincoln and Columbus. All supplies were also hauled from these places. His land he broke with an ox team and he also planted a grove and orchard, but the latter mostly died ont. He hauled his coal from Central City and got his wood from the Platte river. Mr. Merkel remem-
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bers having seen many antelopes and stray herds of buffalo. In 1843 the grass- hoppers destroyed all of the corn and in the same year at Easter time a blizzard kept the members of the family in the house for a period of three days. For a number of years he lived on the land and then sold it, removing to another place which he had bought and resided there until he retired. Ile spent the remaining years of his life with his son, John A. Merkel, the subject of this review, and died in 1908 at the age of seventy-six years. Ile was married in Ohio to Mary Emig who preceded him in death. The following children were born to them: John A., the subjeet of this review : Katie, who is deceased : Fannie. deceased ; Emma. deceased ; Maggie, who is the wife of John Glasser, a farmer in York county; Nora, who is the wife of W. A. Miller of York, engaged in the real estate Inisiness : Charles, resid- ing in Marion, Ohio, where he is engaged in the implement business ; and one child who died in infancy in Iowa. Both Mr. and Mrs. Merkel were stanch supporters of the United Brethren church, and he gave his allegiance to the democratic party.
In the acquirement of an education John A. Merkel attended the public schools of York county, the first school he attended being built of sod and containing home- made benches. At an early age he started farming and homesteaded eighty acres in Bradshaw township. He also bought forty acres in Arborville township. His first house was built of sod and was fourteen by twenty feet, consisted of one room and had a dirt roof. Here he made his home for a number of years when he sold the homestead in 1910. purchasing a quarter section in South Dakota and a half section in Canada. He engaged in general farming and stock raising and had a fine grade of cattle. In 1910 he retired and moved to York as a result of impaired health and here he is now residing.
In 1878 Mr. Merkel was united in marriage to Miss Hattie Mosgrove, a native of Iowa, and they have become parents of two children: Arthur, who is a graduate of the State University and is now practicing medicine in Ankeny, Iowa; and Blanche, who is the wife of W. R. Findall who is engaged in farming in Canada.
Mr. Merkel gives his allegiance to the democratie party, having firm belief in the efficacy of the principles of the party as factors in good government. He is likewise a consistent member of the United Brethren church. Mr. and Mrs. Merkel are now residing in York, where they enjoy all of the comforts and many of the luxuries of life as the result of his well directed thrift and energy in former years. His labors have brought about settlement and development in various districts and he is now enjoying the well earned rewards of former toil.
IIENRY H. JOHNSON
Henry H. Johnson is one of the younger farmers of York county who is carry- ing on farming operations very successfully. Ile was born in Tacoma, Washington, November 2, 1893, a son of John II. and Sophia (Jemson) Johnson, both natives of Sweden who came to America as young people. In 1898 the Johnson family left Washington and came to York county, the father purchasing a farm which he operated for several years and on which the subject of this sketch is now residing. John H. Johnson gave careful attention to the development of his place. added land to the original holding as he prospered and finally succeeded in getting under his
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control one hundred and eighty acres of the best of land. From the very com- mencement his efforts were rewarded with success and when he retired from active control of his farm he had the satisfaction of turning over to his son a well improved and highly valuable holding. He and his wife are constant attendants on the services of the Methodist church, in the good works of which they actively participate. In polities he takes an independent attitude.
Henry H. Johnson was the only child born to his parents and was five years old when he accompanied them from Washington to York county, in the public schools of the county receiving his education and helping his father in the labors of the farm. He now resides on the home farm which he is successfully operating, using modern methods and latest machinery in the carrying out of the work. Yet young in years he has before him a great prospect for agricultural development and present indications are that he will measure up to all demands in that connection.
On June 29, 1920, Mr. Johnson was united in marriage to Miss Miriam Bent, a native of Buffalo county, Nebraska. They are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and in all affairs designed for the welfare of the community they take an active and practical part. They have a wide acquaintance and a large number of warm personal friends.
WILLIAM H. FOTHERGILL
For the past fifteen years William H. Fothergill has been living retired at Gresham, York county, and there he is in the enjoyment of the many comforts to which his early industry and self-denial justly entitle him. For many years he was prominently and actively identified with farming. taking up that work when the county was in its formative stages and encountering all the hardships and priva- tions incident to the conditions of life at that time. He was born in London, England, July 31, 1848, a son of George and Freike Fothergill, also natives of that country and there they passed away, having reached advanced ages. For many years of his active life the father operated a steam hammer in the old country.
William II. Fothergill, in 1869, left England and immigrated to America, the ocean voyage being made on a steamship which arrived at Portland, Maine. He went directly to Omaha, Nebraska, and the first money he made on American soil was in payment for his distribution of handbills in Omaha. Later he found employ- ment on the Union Pacific Bridge across the Missouri at Omaha and continued in that line for two years. It was in 1871 that Mr. Fothergill came to York county, took a homestead of eighty aeres in Thayer township and immediately began to get the place into shape. He started by putting up a half sod and half dugout house in which he took up his residence, and also put up a temporary barn which was super- seded in time by proper buildings. He broke every foot of his land and commenced the planting of erops and for the better carrying out of the work he bought a team of horses in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and hauled lumber for the construction of his buildings, both horses and lumber having to be ferried over the river, the entire journey occupying about two weeks. Provisions and other commodities had to be hauled from Lineoln and Columbus in like manner. In 1876 he built a frame house fourteen feet by twenty feet and this structure is still standing. He set out
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trees and planted an orchard, for some years getting good results from the latter but finally it died out.
Mr. Fothergill is now the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of prime land, which is in an excellent state of improvement, and up to the date of his retirement in 1905 he had been carrying on general farming and stock raising with sustained success, except during the period that the grasshoppers visited York county when he lost everything with the exception of some wheat, and the seasons 1893-94 proved so bad that he was unable to raise any crops. In hard times he had to burn buffalo chips and brush from the creek for fuel, at another time burning corn and cornstalks for the same purpose. When the blizzard of 1824 came he was lucky enough to have all his stuff housed and consequently escaped destruction., He asserts that while Indian scares were plentiful in the early years he never suffered any inconvenience.
Since Mr. Fothergill retired to Gresham in 1905 he has continued to retain ownership of his place, which he rents. For fifteen years he has resided in Gresham where he has beeome widely and favorably known and he has never had occasion to regret his determination to try his fortune in the new world, for here he found good business opportunities and in their utilization has worked his way steadily upward. He supports the policies and principles of the republican party and is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in the work of which he has ever taken a warm interest.
JACOB SMITH
Jacob Smith, a retired farmer, is one of York's most prosperous and revered citizens, having been a gallant soldier in the Civil war where his record was as splendid as it has since been in his years of civilian life in York county. He was born in Hessen-Darmstadt, Germany, July 2. 1834, the son of Peter and Elizabeth (Cecher) Schmidt, who have since died. When Mr. Smith took out his naturaliza- tion papers the German way of spelling the name was dropped, and sinee that time it has been spelled Smith. His grandfather on his mother's side was a well-to-do farmer in their province when the war between Germany and France was in progress, having on his farm twenty-eight milch cows and several teams when Napoleon's army invaded that country and took possession of his stock. Their owner being a loyal German at once crossed to the other side of the mountain and reported to the Prussian general the location of Napoleon's men and the information that they intended to make a raid the following day. The news bearer was held under guard until his story was investigated and verified, and the Germans made a night attack and completely routed the French. For his loyalty to his country Jacob Smith's grandfather was made a Prussian count, was given the land he rented from the king free from rent or taxes, and was exempted from military service.
The mother of Jacob Smith was born in 1800 and immigrated to America in 1848 with her three sons, her husband having passed away. It took a great deal of courage to make this venture and the trip was an expensive one, as she had to pay one hundred dollars for each child's transportation charges on the ocean sailing
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JACOB SMITH WHEN A SOLDIER IN CIVIL WAR
THE NEW 10 PUBLIC LIE
ASTOR, LENOX .. L TILDEN FOUNDATIONS R L
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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY
vessel. After landing in this country they settled in Fort Wayne, Indiana, when but a few houses were to be seen in that town. Jacob Smith was then not yet fourteen years old but it was necessary for all the children to go to work in order to make a living, and so it was that he never saw the interior of a schoolhouse in this country. However, he learned to read though he never did much writing. In 1855 his mother passed away at the home of her daughter in Fort Wayne where she lived since she came to America.
Jacob Smith's first trade was learning to ehop wood as there was meh heavy timber in Indiana then. At that time there was not a railroad in the state and in 1856 he made a trip to Minnesota driving a team. For thirty-five miles of the journey there was not a house to be seen and his only companions on this lonely ride were two revolvers.
When the Civil war broke out he went back to Indiana and enlisted. The following is a copy of the record of Jacob Smith's life as a soldier :
"This certifies that Jacob Smith enlisted October 18, 1861, from Fort Wayne, Indiana, to serve five years, afterward changed to three years, and was mustered ' into the service of the United States at Fort Wayne, Indiana, as a private of Captain William's, Company D, Nineteenth United States Infantry, First Battalion, Major Carpenter commanding the battalion."
"The United States Infantry was organized; in conformity with the president's proclamation of May 4, 1861. Company A was organized August 24, Company B in September, and in October companies A and B were ordered to report to Gen- eral Sherman in Kentucky and were attached temporarily to the first battalion of the Fifteenth Infantry. Company C was organized in November, 1861. In Febru- ary, 1862, orders were issued designating companies A, B, C, D, and E, F, G, and H as the first battalion of the regiment. Companies C and D, under Major Camp- bell, were ordered to proceed to Louisville, Kentucky, and report to General Buell. Company E was organized March 15, 1862, and with companies A, B, C, and D participated in the battle of Shiloh, April 6-7, 1862. Major Carpenter was com- plimented for his gallant conduct in this engagement by his brigade commander, General Rosseau. The first battalion participated in the battle of Corinth, Missis- sippi. Company F was organized in April and sent to Pittsburg Landing and companies G and H were organized in May and were ordered to Washington, D. C., joining the army of the Potomac, and Company G was present at the battles of South Mountain and Antietam. In September Company H was detailed as a body-guard to General MeClellan. Colonel Canby was made brigadier general. During the battle of Murfreesboro, on Stone River, Tennessee, the gallant com- mander, Major Carpenter, gave up his life, falling from his horse with six mortal wounds. The loss to the regiment was heavy. It was eighteen months in the fieldl, including a march of over a thousand miles, in two battles and a number of skirmishes. Early in 1863 the regiment was united, the battalion having been reduced from five hundred to less than a hundred and fifty men, and on Septem- ber 19 the first battalion was engaged in the battle of Chickamauga, suffering heavily in killed and wounded, Lieutenant King being killed during the battle September 20th. During the Chattanooga-Ringgold campaign and at the battle of Missionary Ridge, the Nineteenth Infantry was a mere detachment and was reconsolidated with the Sixteenth Infantry and designated as a detachment of the Sixteenth and Nineteenth Infantry. Fort Willard, a redoubt in the Potomac, was
Vol. II-26
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named after General Willard, major of the Nineteenth Infantry. In the spring of 1864 the regiment was on the march toward Ringgold, Georgia, and was in many skirmishes and engaged in the battles of Resaca, Georgia, New Hope Church, near Dallas, Georgia, and on June 1, 1864, the battalion was at Kenesaw Mountain and took part in the battle there. It was also in action at Neal Dow Station, Peach Tree Creek, and finally on July 22d took a position on the railroad within two miles of the Atlantic and built breastworks. September 1st it took part in the battle of Jonesboro and on October 1st went into eamp at Lookout Mountain, where it remained during the winter. The said Jacob Smith was mustered into service of the United States and remained a few days at Fort Wayne, Indiana, then moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, remaining there in drill and military discipline until February 14, 1862, then ordered to Louisville, Kentucky, and later marched with the army on the campaign. He was always to be found with his army at his post of duty with his comrades, and he bore a loyal and faithful part in all its cam- paigns and battles as above outlined until August, 1864, when on account of having contracted rheumatism and heart disease from exposure and hardships, he was ordered to Fort Wayne, Detroit, Michigan, where he remained until October. 1864, when he received a certificate of honorable discharge at Fort Wayne. Detroit, Michigan, by reason of expiration of term of enlistment, having achieved a gallant record for meritorious service and soldierly conduct at all times."
During his life as a civilian Mr. Smith worked at many occupations, driving a team on a towpath, working in a paint shop which injured his health so that he had to give it up, elerking in a store and working in a saloon. However he did not remain at any of these very long, always returning to the farm after each new venture lost its allurement. On March 22, 1871, he came to Nebraska and filed on one hundred and sixty acres of what is now Baker township. He left his wife and three children and his mother-in-law in Lincoln three weeks while he came on and looked for a location. He rode on the first train to come from Lincoln to Fairmont, a conveyance which ran on a track laid in grass with the low places filled with dirt. His first home was a fourteen by sixteen frame house, but the following year he built a sod house, thirteen by nineteen feet inside and walls three feet thick. Because of the thickness of the walls Mr. Smith called his home his "fort." A ridgepole from the roof was covered with willow brush which reached to the eaves and this was covered with thatch and sod shingles. This was the home of the family for eleven years during which time they endured the privations and hardships that were the lot of the early settler. There were many dry seasons and then came the grasshopper plague that devastated the fields and laid waste the much needed grain. However, he did not lose heart and after eleven years during which time he was prosperous he sold and rebought tracts of land until 1903 when he moved to York. Since then Mr. Smith has lived retired. engaging in no business enterprise other than looking after residence properties.
Jacob Smith was married at Fort Wayne, Indiana, July 24, 1868, to Miss Katherine Brick, a native of Hessen-Darmstadt. daughter of Theodore and Marie Brick. The former died in Germany, the latter died in York county, Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have six living children : A daughter, Annie Maria, is the wife of Frank Cunningham, a farmer of York, and they have eleven children ; G. H. Cornelius, who is also married. is engaged in farming in York : Matilda, the
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wife of Dan Routt, lives in Perkins county, Nebraska, where her husband is engaged in farming; William, who was a farmer in Montana, is now an engineer at Antioch, Nebraska, is married and has one child; Katherine is the wife of Edward M. Johnson, a carpenter at Pawnee City, Nebraska, and the mother of ten children ; a son, Edward D. Smith, died in childhood; and Minnie is the wife of Charles Southworth, living in Montana. Mrs. Smith is a member of the Woman's Relief Corps and Mr. Smith is a member of the Robert Anderson Post and the G. A. R. Post No. 32 at York. They attend the Lutheran church. In politics Mr. Smith is a republican. He is now past eighty-six years of age and quite as keen and interested in the affairs of today as many of the younger genera- tion. He is in splendid health, and his wife, who is seventy-three years of age, is very active and well able to do all her own housework. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have braved the storms of the years and now live comfortably and happily with many memories of the past to recall, now that they have earned a well deserved rest.
ANDREW PINNEO
Andrew Pinneo, who is residing on the southeastern edge of York, has reached the advanced age of eighty years and is living retired, enjoying the fruits of his former well directed labor. He was born in Clark county, Ohio, January 3, 1840, a son of Andrew Pinneo, who was born in Vermont in 1768. The father was reared in that state from which he enlisted in the war of 1812, taking an active part. He was but a little lad at the time of the Revolutionary war but often told his family of the cannonading during that period. He married in Vermont and later moved to Ohio where his wife died, and at the age of seventy years he married again, this time Mrs. Sarah Mead, nce Oliver, who was a widow. Of the last marriage there were three children : Thomas, living in Illinois; Mary, died in 1865; and Andrew, of this review. The father's death occurred on his farm in Clark county, Ohio, at the age of eighty-seven years. Previous to his death he made application for a land warrant which his widow received, but as it was for land in Iowa or Nebraska and she did not care to come west she sold it. She brought her family to Illinois after the death of her husband and died in Logan county. Mr. Pinneo was in politics a whig.
Andrew Pinneo was but sixteen years of age when the family came to Illinois. His education was very limited and at an early age he engaged in farming. He later purchased some land in Champaign county, Illinois, and there resided for ten years, at the end of which time he returned to Logan county. In 1891 he came to Nebraska and bought two hundred and forty acres in Leroy township, York county, which land was but slightly improved. Mr. Pinneo experienced hard times after coming to this county and during those Cleveland years when Nebraska suf- fered from drought and money was scarce he had a hard time to make ends meet. As it was he was thirty-three hundred dollars in debt. It was not long, however, until time readjusted affairs and he became a very successful farmer. He was ever diligent and persistent and difficulties and obstacles seemed only to stimulate him to further effort. A number of years ago he decided to retire from active life and is now living in a comfortable home on the southeastern edge of York. He was at
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one time in possession of valuable land in Red Willow county which he recently sold, realizing a fair profit.
While residing in Illinois, Mr. Pinneo was united in marriage to Miss Leah Shaw, a native of Cleveland, Ohio. They have spent fifty-four happy years together and Mrs. Pinneo says of this union: "We have raised ten children and God has spared the lives of all of them. The family is still unbroken." The five sons and five daughters are: Jennie, who is the widow of Henry Alecock, and with her three children resides in York; William, who resides on his father's farm in LeRoy township and is the father of six children; Sarah, who is the widow of Albert Woodruff, and has two children ; Joseph, who is engaged in farming in McFadden township and is the father of eight children ; Elizabeth, who is the widow of Jasper Hall. and is residing in Fairmont with her eight children : Andrew, who is residing in Washington state: Laura, who is the wife of Peter Walbright of Buffalo county and has ten children: Edward, who is farming in LeRoy township and has one child ; Alice, who is the wife of Charles A. Briley, of Colorado, and has two chil- dren : and Albert, who is farming in McFadden township and has become the father of three children. Mr. and Mrs. Pinneo are devoted to their large family and to their forty-three grandchildren and one great grandson.
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