Gage County, Nebraska - Chapter 31: People Who Have Done Their Part in Making Gage County, 1918 (part 24 of 29)

JAMES E. BROWN, who has been fi resident of Gage county for nearly two score years and who has contributed worthily to the advancement of farm industry in the county, has lived virtually retired, in the city of Beatrice, since 1901, and he and his wife have a large and attractive residence at 702 North Eighth street, where they are enjoying the gracious peace and prosperity that properly crown the earnest activities of former years. James Edward Brown was bom in Stephenson county, Illinois, on the 9th of September, 1845, and is a son of William and Lydia (Hatch) Brown, the former a native of Ireland and the latter of the state of New York. William Brown was six years old at the time of the family immigration from the Emerald Isle to America, and in 1838 he became a pioneer settler in Wisconsin. Later he removed to Illinois and purchased land in Stephenson county, where he became a successful farmer and where both he and his wife passed the residue of their lives, his death having occurred in 1871. Of the seven children only three are now living. James E. Brown was reared to the sturdy discipline of the farm, received his early education in the. common schools of his native state, and though he was not yet sixteen years of age at the outbrealc of the Civil war his youthful patriotism was of insistent, order and was not long to be denied expression. About three months after his eighteenth birthday anniversary Mr. Brown, a remarkably vigorous youth who was six feet in height and weighed ' two hundred and fifty pounds, tendered the full force of his brain and brawn in defense of the integrity of the nation. On the 26th of December, 1863, he enlisted as a private in Company D, Forty-sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, George C. Crane having been captain of the company. With this command Mr. Brown proceeded to the. front and with, the same he continued to serve for a number of months after victory had.crowned the Union arms, as he was mustered out January 20,. 1866, his honorable discharge having been re- , ceived on the 2d of the following month. He took, part in the historic Red River campaign, the siege and capture of Mobile, and in various other active engagements, and he was favored in never having been wounded or captured. His fine physical powers stood him well in the arduous service incidental to marches and campaign activities, and during his entire period of service he endured only minor illness, which did not long incapacitate him, he having been mustered out at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and having then returned to his home, in Stephenson county, lUinois, where he found employment at farm work. In 1871 he went to Story county, Iowa, where he purchased eighty acres of land, for which he paid twenty dollars an acre. There he continued development work and farm enterprise for the ensuing four years, at the expiration of which he sold the property at the rate of twenty-five dollars an acre. Thereafter he farmed on rented land in Stephenson county, Illinois, until 1883, when he came to Nebraska and established his permanent residence in old homestead farm in Holt township, their three children being Leslie, Charlotte and Violet; Mary Jeanette, the second daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Brown, is the wife of Jacob Meyer, of Beatrice, and they have two children, - DeLysle and Ruth; Ida, youngest of the daughters, is the wife of A. Blaine Ozman, a prosperous farmer in Holt township, and they have two children, Dwight and Evelyn.

Though he has passed the psalmist's span of three score years and ten, Mr. Brown retains splendid physical vigor and is erect and active, with a commanding physique that the passing years have touched most lightly. He

Gage county. In Holt township, at a point is aligned as a staunch supporter of the printhree miles west of the present village of ciples of the Republican party and while on Pickrell, he purchased one hundred acres of his farm he served, as a member of the school unimproved land, and in the spring of the fol- board of his district, having invariably delowing year he brought his family to the new clined to become a candidate for any other home, the domicile of the family for the first office. Mr. Brown vitalizes the memories of summer having been a crude shanty, fourteen by sixteen feet in dimensions. In the following autumn Mr. Brown purchased an adjoining tract of one hundred and sixty acres and his youthful military career by his affiliation with Rawlins Post, Grand Army of the Republic, in his home city. He and his wife are earnest members of the Congregational for his family. He gained secure status as of the substantial and progressive exponents of farm industry in the county, made the best of improvements on his land and continued to reside on the old home place until 1901, since which time, as previously stated, he has lived retired in the city of Beatrice.

JACOB P. SAUSMAN. - As a dealer in creamery products, poultry, flour, and feed, Mr. Sausman has built up a prosperous enterprise in the village of Cortland and he is

Srown was born February 18, 1849, in Jefferson county, New York. She is a daughter of Jacob and Lydia (Spencer) Fuller, both natives of Vermont Mr. Fuller died in Jefferson county. New York, and his widow later removed with her children to Stephenson -county, Illinois, where she passed the remainder of her life. Mrs. Brown, a woman of gentle and winning personality, proved a true

Mr. S'ausman was born at Lena, Stephenson county, Illinois, December 11, 1859, and is a son of John L. and Caroline (Shearer) Sausman, the only other child having been Joseph, who died when about fifty-six years of age. John L. Sausman was born in Union county, Pennsylvania, February 18, 1834, and his death occurred May 25, 1904. During the period of his residence in Illinois he followed the trade of stonemason, and on the 10th of where he passed the remainder of his Hfe. He reclaimed his farm from the virgin prairie and made good improvements on the place, this property having been sold by him in 1881. During the remainder of his active career he followed his trade and was a successful contractor in Beatrice. He was a gallant soldier of the Union in the Civil war, his service having been with the Forty-sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, in which he enlisted in 1861. He participated in the battle of Shiloh, in which he received a wound of minor order, and after serving three years he reenlisted as a veteran, so that he continued as a soldier of the Union during virtually the entire period of the war. He was in later years an honored and influential member of the post of the Grand Army of the Republic at Beatrice. He was a son of Joseph and Hannah Sausman, the former of whom was born in France, whence he came with his parents to America when he was a boy. He was reared in the state of Pennsylvania, where his marriage was solemnized, and finally he removed with his family to Illinois and became a pioneer farmer in Stephenson county, where he and his wife passed the residue of their lives. Mrs. Caroline (Shearer) Sausman was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, October 6, 1835, a daughter of Jacob and Fannie (Biceline) Shearer, Hkewise natives of that state, and her death occurred at Beatrice, Nebraska, April 14, 1894.

Jacob P. Sausman was reared and educated in Illinois and in Jo Daviess county, that state, he gained early experience in connection with farm work. He was fifteen years of age when he accompanied his parents to Gage county, Nebraska, and here he gave, effective aid in the reclaiming and improving of the home farm, eighty acres of which he eventually purchased. In 1884 he sold his farm and removed to Cortland, where he established a draying business. Later he was employed four years as a traveling representative of the International Harvester Company, after having previously been engaged for a number of years in the coal and farm-implement business at Cortland. In 1905 he established his present creamery business in Cortland, after having previously had charge of the Cortland station of the Beatrice Creamery Company, and in his enterprise in the handling of creamery products, poultry, flour, and feed he has developed a substantial and prosperous business. In politics he is a stalwart Repubhcan and he served from 1904 to 1906, inclusive; as deputy assessor of Highland township. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and the Modern Woodmen of America.

On the 18th of November, 1880, Mr. Sausman wedded Miss Villetia Batten, who was born at Ottawa, Illinois, January 25, 1859, a daughter of William and Mary (Hayward) Batten, natives respectively of Maine and Vermont. The parents of Mrs. Sausman came from Illinois to Gage county, Nebraska, in July, 1871, and the father entered claim to a homestead one mile east of Cortland, where he developed a productive farm, both he and his wife having passed the remainder of their lives in this county. Mr. and Mrs. Sausman have two children; and both were graduated in the Cortland high school. Albert L., who was born April 23, 1883, conducts a barber shop in Cortland, the maiden name of his wife having been Ethel Fink. Una, who was born August 8, 1898, is the wife of Alvin Jungmeyer, who conducts an automobile garage at Cortland.

CHRISTIAN- F. FRY. - In Section 30, Sherman township is situated the handsome and productive farm of Mr. Fry, who has been a resident of Gage county since 1888 and who has won prosperity through his own efl'orts. He was born in Agusta county, Virginia, January 22, 1851, and is a son of John and Sarah (Cofifman) Fry, who likewise were natives of the historic Old Dominion state, where the father was born in 1822 and the mother in 1831. In 1854 John Fry removed with his family to Keokuk county, Iowa, the long overland trip having been made with team and wagon, and he became one of the pioneer farmers of that section of the Hawkeye state. In 1880 he came with his family to Pawnee county, Nebraska, and in this state he passed the remainder of his life, his death having occurred in 1900 and that of his widow in 1914, both having been zealous members of the Church of the Brethren. Of their eight children all are living except one and further data concerning the family is given on other pages, in the sketch of the career of William T. Ery.

The subject of this review was an infant at the time of the family removal to Iowa, where he received his early education in the pioneer schools, and he was twenty-six years of age when he accompanied his parents to Pawnee county, Nebraska. There he continued his association with agricultural industry 1888, when he came to Gage county and purchased eighty acres of land in Sherman township, fifty acres of the land having been broken. To this original homestead he has since added until he now has a well improved farm of one hundred ar.d fifty-six acres, the buildings being of excellent order and he having shown progressiveness and good judgment in the planting of shade trees which are now well matured, as is also his orchardf, which likewise was set out by him. He has taken loyal interest in community affairs and served fifteen years as a member of the school board of his district. In politics he is independent of strict partisan lines and supports the men and measures meeting the approval of his judgment. His farm is devoted to diversified agriculture and to the raising of good grades of cattle and swine. Pertinent to the high prices obtaining at the present lime, it is interesting to record that in the earlier period of his farm activities in Gage county Mr. Ery sold corn at the rate of ten cents a bushel and hogs for three and onehalf dollars per hundred weight. He and his family hold earnestly to the faith of the Church of the Brethren.

At North English, Iowa, in 1874, Mr. Ery wedded Miss Sarah Ann Miller, who was born in Rockingham county, Virginia, June 1853, a daughter of Noah and Erances (Huffman) Miller, who removed to Keokuk county, Iowa, in 1856 and who there passed the remainder of their lives. Mr. Miller was a miller by trade as well as name but after going to Iowa he gave his attention to agricultural pursuits. Of his twelve children all are living except two and Mrs. Ery is the eldest of the number. Mr. and Mrs. Ery have had four children : John N. is employed as a railway mail clerk, with headquarters in the city of Omaha; Minnie became the wife of Ulysses G. McPheron and was a resident of Sherman township at the time of her death; Samuel E. is employed as a railway mail clerk, out of the city of Uincoln; and Ola M. is the wife of Robert M. Jenkins, a prosperous farmer in Rockford township.

JOHN T. BUSBOOM came to Gage county in the year 1900 and purchased a fine farm of three hundrfed and tw-enty acres, the same comprising the west half of Section 7, Eilley township. He has remodeled and otherwise improved the buildings that were on the place and has erected other buildings, with the result that thrift and prosperity mark his estate as one of the model farms of Eilley township. Here he is successfully carrying fqrward his progressive activities as an agriculturist and stock-grower and stands well to the front as one of the substantial and representative exponents of farm industry in Gage county, as well as a liberal and public-spirited citizen.

Mr. Busboom was born in Ost Eriesland, province of Hanover, Germany, on the 29th of May, 1855, and is a son of Thees and Imke (Adams) Busboom, who came to the United States in 1868 and estabHshed their residence in Adams county, Illinois, whence they later removed to Champaign county, that state, where they passed the remainder of their lives and where the father became a prosperous farmer.

John T. Busboom acquired his rudimentary education in his native land and was thirteen years of age at the time of the family immigration to America. He was reared to adult age on the farm of his father and in the meanwhile profited by the advantages of the public schools of Illinois. There he eventually became the owner of a good farm, in Cham- paign county, where he continued his activities until 1900, when he sold his farm property and came to Gage county, Nebraska, where he has since been actively and successfully engaged in farming, as previously noted in this context, his farm being now looked upon as one of the finest in Gage county. In politics Mr. Busboom is independent and he and his wife hold membership in the Lutheran church.

In Champaign county, Illinois, March 10, 1882, Mr. Busboom wedded Miss Tida Duitsman, who was born in Germany, and they have six children : Thees is a successful farmer in Logan township; Gertrude is the widow of Menne J. Leners and they reside with her parents; Emma is the wife of John Ehman, of Hanover township; Gepke is the wife of Paul Beahr, of Hanover township; Thelka is the wife of Thee Wallman, of Logan township ; and John J., who married Miss Tillie Remmers, is associated in the management of his father's farm.

JOSEPH. S. HUBKA owns and gives his active supervision to his well improved farm estate of four hundred and thirty-four acres and his attractive homestead is situated in Section 12, Sherman township. He is a scion of a sterling pioneer family of Nebraska and on other pages is dedicated a memoir to his father, the late Albert Hubka, so that further review of the family history is not here demanded.

Joseph S. Hubka was born in Pawnee county, Nebraska, in the year 1871, and was reared to the sturdy discipline of his father's farm properties in Pawnee and Gage counties, the -while he made in his youth good use of the advantages afforded in the public schools. When he had attained to the age of twenty-five years his father gave to him his present homestead place, which comprised one hundred and sixty acres, and to the area of the same he has since added until he now has a valuable farm property of four hundred and thirty-four acres, improved with good buildings and devoted to diversified agriculture and stock-growing.

assumed connubial responsibilities, by his marriage to Miss Frances Vavruska, who was born in Marshall county, Kansas, and they became the parents of four children: Ernest was a member of the class of 1917 in the University of Nebraska; Latimer is attending the local schools; Elbert died at the age of seven years ; and Elmer is the youngest member of the home circle.

OSCAR J. HAUPT. - The one hundred and sixty acres of excellently improved land that comprise the northwest quarter of Section 20, Highland township, constitute the attractive farm owned and operated by Mr. Haupt, who is one of the representative agriculturists and stock-raisers of the younger generation in his native county. He was born in Highland township, June 30, 1884, and is a son of Julius and Catherine (Pfieffer) Haupt, of whose six children the first, Matilda, died at the age of twenty years; Augusta is the wife of Henry Cramer, of Stockton, Kansas; Rosa has supervision of the domestic economies and social amenities of the home of her brother Oscar J. ; Charles is a prosperous farmer in Clatonia township; Oscar J., was next in order of birth ; Arthur is engaged in farm enterprise in Highland township.

Julius Haupt was born in SVitzerland, January 12, 1844, and was about nineteen years of age when he left that fair little republic and came to the United States. At Peoria, Illinois, he found employment at his trade, that of blacksmith, "in the shops of the Avery Manufacturing Company, which was at that early period conducting operations on a small scale. While he was thus engaged, was solemnized,, at Peoria, the marriage of Mr. Haupt to Miss Catherine Pfieffer, who was bom in'Hessen,. Germany, April 17, 1844, and who was a youngwoman when she came to America, her father, Conrad Pfieffer, having later come to this country and having passed the closing years of his life in the home of his son Henry, in Gage county, Nebraska, where' he died at the patriarchal age of ninety-three years. Julius Haupt and his wife came to Gage county about 1875, and here: he obtained a homestead of eighty acres, in Section 18, Highland township. He endured his full share of the trials and hardships that fell to the lot of the pioneers of this locality, but, with the devoted cooperation of his wife, he pressed forward until he achieved substantial prosperity. He was the owner of a valuable Gage county estate of three hundred and twenty acres at the time of his death, which occurred December 30, 1916, his wife having passed away on the 8th of November of the preceding year, and both having been charter members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Clatonia.

Oscar J. Haupt early began to assist in the work of the home farm and after having profited fully by the advantages of the district schools he completed a course in the Beatrice , Business College. Soon afterward he began farming in an independent way, and his energy and progressiveness are bringing to him success in this great basic field of industry. In 1916 he purchased his present farm, to, the of which he ha!s added materially, and as he remains a bachelor he is favored in having as the chatelaine of his pleasant home his sister Rosa. He is a stockholder of different corporations, is a Republican in politics and he and his sister attend and support the Congregational church at Cortland.

The father of Mr. Haupt gave to the utmost > of his ability in fostering the civic and material development of Gage county, and in. thp early days commonly walked from his farm to Wilber to secure his mail. With hoe and spade he aided other pioneers in improving the roads of his township, and as a skilled artisan at the blacksmith trade he found much demand for his services, specially in the pioneer days.

JOHN N. MUMFORD is a representative of one of the well known families of Gage county and concerning the family history adequate mention is made on other pages, m the sketch of G. L. Muraford. He has gained substantial place as one of the aggressive and I successful exponents of agricultural and live- I stock industry in his native township of Logan, where he was born June 3, 1880. It is interesting to record that Mr. Mumford resides upon the old homestead upon which his father settled in 1865, in Section 8, Logan townshijp, and that he has active charge of the fine farm estate left by his honored father.

Mr. Mumford acquired his preliminary education in the district schools and thereafter continued his studies in the public schools of the city of Beatrice until his graduation in th«; high school, as a member of the class of 1901. He has had no desire to sever his allegiance to the great basic industries of agriculture and stock-growing and in his successful farm operations he now utilizes an area of three hundred and twenty acres, of which one hundred and sixty acres are individually owned by him. Mr. Mumford is found staunchly arrayed in the ranks of the Dtemocratic party, and he is actively affiliated with Beatrice Lodge, No. 619, Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks.

In 1910 Mr, Mumford wedded Miss Florence Thacker, whose father, John Thacker, was an early settler of Beatrice, where for many years he owned and conducted a drug store. Like her husband, Mrs. Mumford was graduated in the Beatrice high school, and she is the popular chatelaine of their pleasant home. They have no children.

ANTON HURTZ, of Wymore township, has lived in Gage county for the past thirty years and is one of its representative, successful farmers. In Rhineland, .Germany was established a home by Peter and Anna Mary (Roab) Hurtz, who tilled the soil and who there reared their sons and daughters, six of whom are living, as follows: Joseph is a farmer in Sicily township, Gage county; Anton is the immediate subject of this sketch ; Frank is a farmer in Wymore township; Jacob resides in Wisconsin, where he is a farmer; and Mary and John are residents of Wymore township, this county. Mr. and Mrs. Peter Hurtz left the homeland with their children in 1882 and sailed for the hospitable shores of the United States. For two years after their arrival they made their home in New York city, and before coming to Gage county, in 1887, they lived for a short time in Chicago.

In Gage county one hundred and sixty acres of land, in Wymore township, were purchased and here the family home was established, the parents having remained on this farm until they were called to the life eternal. Mr. Hurtz was eighty-three years old at the time of his death, his wife having passed away October 6, 1888.

Anton Hurtz was born in Germany, and the year of his nativity was 1862. He learned the baker's trade before leaving the fatherland with his parents. In New York he worked as a tanner and since his arrival in Gage county he has devoted his time to farming. In this connection he has indeed much to show that he has been a successful farmer, for he owns in 1918 five hundred and thirty acres of well improved and valuable land.

In 1892 Anton Hurtz married Miss Anna Paul, a daughter of John G. and Juliana (Walter) Paul, natives respectively of Zanesville, Ohio, and Germany. For a number of years John G. Paul followed farmiing industry in Illinois and in 1883 he came to Nebraska and located in Gage county, west of Blue Springs. There he continued to reside on his farm until he retired from active farming and removed with his wife to Beatrice. Of their children brief record is here given : John A. is deceased; Anna is the wife of Anton Hurtz, subject of this sketch; Charles is living near Guthrie, Oklahoma; Amanda remains with her parents ; Joseph is in the automobile business at lyos Angeles, California; Rosa is the wife of George Krai, an insurance agent at Hastings, Nebraska ; Ellen is the wife of Floyd Churchill, a farmer near Pierre, South Dakpta. Mr. and Mrs. Paul are communicants of the Catholic church and their children also are members of that church.

Anton Hurtz votes the Democratic ticket and has served his township in a highly satisfactory manner as a member of the township board for four years, as well as a member of the school board of his district. A new barn has been built to accommodate the large amount of stock and cattle that Mr. Hurtz owns, and his commodious and well built house provides an ideal home. The sons and daughters have been reared in the faith of the Catholic church and are receiving the educational advantages that shall fully fit them for their future careers. The children are as follows; Julia Helena is attending college at Hastings, Nebraska; John Albert is attending school at Beatrice; Amanda and Mary Katherine are attending school at Wymore; William Joseph, Karl Jacob, Walter George, and Francis are attending the district school ; and Paul, the youngest of the number, is still at home, awaiting his turn to attend school. Mr. Hurtz and his son Albert are members of the Knights of Columbus.

ANTON OETMANS, a retired farmer and honored citizen of Cortland, was a young man of twenty-four years when he immigrated from Germany to the United States and it has been entirely through his own ability and well ordered endeavors that he has achieved the goal of prosperity and well merited independence. He was born in East Friesland, Germany, March J8, 1842, a son of Dietrich and Margaret G. (Clausen) Oltmans, of whose nine children he was the second in order of birth; the eldest, Dietrich, Jr., still lives in Germany; Oltman is a prosperous farmer of Gage county, his homestead being in High-, land township, to the west of Cortland ; Anne became the wife of John Nefif and was a resident of Logan, Illinois, at the time of her death ; Margaret is the widow of Jacob Johnson and resides at Lincoln, Illinois ; Hilda is the widow of Harm Van Horn and lives at Pekin, Illinois; Jacob is a farmer near Lincoln, that state, as is also George; and Lubbo maintains his residence in Colorado. The subject of this review came to America in 1866 and about 1872 the parents and -ether members of the family joined him in Illinois, where both the father and mother passed the remainder of their lives.

Anton Oltmans was reared and educated in his native land and in 1866 he set forth for America. He made the voyage on a sailing vessel and while en route the ship sprung so serious a leak that all on board had to assist in the operation of the pumps, in order to keep the vessel from sinking, six weeks having elapsed ere Mr. Oltrnans disembarked in the port of New York city. He thence proceeded to Illinois, where he found work at chopping wood, shucking corn, etc. He finally was enabled to engage in independent farm enterprise in that state, where he continued his residence until 1881, in February of which year he arrived in Gage county. Here he purchased, at the rate of seven dollars an acre, one hundred and sixty acres of raw prairie land in Section 6, Highland township, four miles west of Cortland. On the place he built a frame house of one story, sixteen by thirtytwo feet in dimensions, and he then turned himself vigorously to breaking his land and making it available for cultivation. With the passing of years he made the best of improvements on his farm and by indefatigable industry and good management achieved substantial and worthy success. He remained on the farm until 1914, since which time he has lived in well earned retirement, his attractive residence in Cortland being one of the modern homes of this village. Energy and stability have marked his career and his course has been governed by those principles of integrity that always bring in their train the full measure of popular respect and good will. He is now the owner of a valuable landed estate of seven hundred and twenty acres in Nebraska, the major part of the same being in Gage county. As a loyal and appreciative citizen of the land of his adoption Mr. Oltmans gives his political support to the Republican party, and both he and his wife are earnest members of the Methodist Episcopal church.

April 6, 1870, recorded the marriage of Mr. Oltmans to Miss Kate Rademaker, who was born in Friesland, Germany, April 5, 1849, and she was eighteen years of age when she to America and established her residence at Pekin, Illinois, her widowed mother and others of the children having later come to this country. She is a daughter of Rient and Kate (Rieken) Rademaker, who became the parents of one son and four daughters, all of the children having finally established homes in the United States and the loved mother having been a resident of Illinois at the time of her death. In conclusion is given brief record concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Oltmans: Diedrich A. is a progressive farmer in Highland township; Mrs. Katherine Pothast, a widow, resides in the city of Beatrice, this county; Margaret is the wife of William Lucke and they are residents of Colorado; the fourth child died in infancy ; Rient H. is a prosperous farmer in Highland township; Anton, Jr., is a salesman in one of the leading mercantile establishments in the city of Beatrice ; Folkert R. remains at the parental home ; Sophia is the wife of Theodore Nannen and they reside in the state of Iowa ; Jacob resides upon and has the active management of his father's old homestead farm, in Highland township; and Theresa is the wife of Dr. R. V. Alldritt, of Lincoln, Nebraska.

FRANK. R. TILTON, a progressive farmer of the younger generation in Filley township, is a younger brother of Eloyd H. Tilton, who is individually mentioned on other pages, with due incidental record concerning the family, which has been associated with the civic and industrial activities of Gage county for more than forty years. Frank R. Tilton was born on his father's old homestead farm, in Section 14, Filley township, November 30, 1888, and is a son of the late Curtis Tilton, an honored pioneer of the county. After completing the curriculum of the district schools Mr. Tilton further fortified himself by taking a course in a business college in the city of Beatrice. He early gained familiarity with the various departments of farm industry and has now control of a well improved farm of one hundred and sixty acres, in Section 25, Filley township, eighty acres being owned by him and the property being a part of the well improved landed estate left by his father. He is a Republican in his political adherency and he and his wife hold membership in the Christian church in the village of Filley.

August 27, 1914, was recorded the marriage of Mr. Tilton to Miss Delia M. Saum, who was born at Warrensburg, Illinois, a daughter of Frank and Mary (Kerwood) Saum, now

EMIL HUBKA was born July 3, 1882, on the fine farm that is now his home, in Section 1, Sherman township, and he is a son of the late Albert Hubka, an honored pioneer to whom a memoir is dedicated on other pages of this volume. Emil Hubka has been from boyhood actively associated with the operations of his present farm, and succeeded to the ownership of the place, which comprises two hundred and forty acres, improved with good buildings and showing every evidence of thrift and good management. He is a Democrat in his political proclivities but has had no ambition for public office of any kind.

In 1907 was recorded the marriage - of Mr. Hubka to Miss Carrie Sikyta, who likewise was born and reared in this county, her father, Frank Sikyta, being a substantial farmer in Johnson county, this state. Mr. and Mrs. Hubka have five children, - Evelyn, Georgia, Emil, Jr.; Walter, and Marvin.

HORACE M. MILLER has found in the village of Filley ample scope for the manifesting of his exceptional initiative and executive ability, in the management of the well ordered grain elevator, as local representative of the Central Granaries Company, of Lincoln. He is essentially one of the most vital and progressive business men and loyal citizens of the village and his success in connection with the productive activities of life has been won entirely through his own ability and efforts.

Mr. Miller was born in Campbell county, Tennessee, on the 18th of July, 1871, and is a son of John H. and Frances (Shepherd) Miller, both of whom were born in the year 1849, - the former in Tennessee and the latter in Virginia. The father is now a substantial exponent of farm enterprise in Richardson county, Nebraska, where he established his residence in 1884. He and his wife be- :ame the parents of nine children, of whom he subject of this sketch is the eldest; Charles at Rulo, Richardson county; James is a drug clerk in the city of Chicago ; Robert is a telegraph operator and is now residing in New Mexico; Jacob is associated in the work of his father's farm; Josephine is the wife of R. Seymour Coupe, a farmer in Richardson county ; Laura is the wife of Louis C. S':hnell, of Boise, Idaho; Annie is married and lives in the city of Portland, Oregon ; Bessie is the wife of Charles A. Conn, of Seattle, Washington.

John H. Miller was reared and educated in Tennessee and is a son of Ashby Miller, who removed to that state from Virginia and who became a prosperous farmer : he was influential in local politics and served many years as justice of the peace. James Shepherd, maternal grandfather of the subject of this review, was a native of Virginia and became a substantial farmer in Tennessee, where he lived until his death. John H. Miller followed the business of brickmaking in his native state and in 1884 he came with his family to Nebraska and engaged in farming in Richardson county, where he and his wife still maintain their home. He is a Republican in politics, formerly served as a member of the Tennessee National Guard, at the close of the Civil war, and he and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal church.

Horace M. Miller acquired his earlier education in the schools of his native state and was thirteen years old at the time of the family rerhoval to Nebraska. Here he continued his studies in the public schools at Rulo, Richardson county, and at that place he was thereafter employed several years as clerk in a mercantile establishment. Thereafter he there served six years as assistant postmaster of Rulo, after which he learned the trade of telegraphy and for a time served as an operator for the Burlington Railroad. He then turned his attention to the grain business, at Rulo, where he remained until 1898, when he came to Gage county and took charge of the grain elevator at Filley, as representative of the Central Granaries Company, of Lincoln. He has since retained this position and has made an admirable record, few of the agents of this representative Nebraska corporation having

On the 1st of November, 1891, Mr. Miller wedded Miss Laura A. Rickabaugh, who was born in the state of Ohio, a daughter of Henry Rickabaugh, who came to Nebraska in 1886, but who later returned to Ohio, where he still resides and where occurred the death of his wife. To Mr. and Mrs. Miller have been born nine children : Maude A. is the wife of Clifford Armstrong, who is, in 1918, a student in a leading medical college in the city of Chicago ; Helen is a popular teacher in the schools of Gotthenburg, Dawson county, Nebraska; John is a student in the Nebraska State Normal School at - Peru ; and Ruth, Frederick, Gertrude, Robert, Howard and Mildred remain at the parental home. Mrs. Miller is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church and is a popular figure in the leading social activities of her home community.

Mr. Miller is past master of the local lodge of Ancient Free & Accepted Masons and is affiliated also with the Modern Woodmen of America and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. His political allegiance is given to the Republican party and he has given loyal and characteristically efficient service as a member of the village council of Filley, of which he was president for several terms, besides which he has been a valued member of the school board, of which he is serving in 1918 as moderator. He has given to his children the best of educational advantages, two of the number having completed courses in the state normal school at Peru and another of them being there a student at the time of this writing, as noted previously. The same provision will be made for the higher education of the younger children, and in no one sense can paternal stewardship be shown more effectively than in this direction.

JOHN A. EPARD, a representative farmer of Logan township, is a well known citizen who can c'aim the fine old Buckeye state as the place of his nativity. He was born in Clark county, Ohio, on the 21st of December, 1857, and in the same county were born also his parents, Simon and Jane (Anderson) Epard, representatives of pioneer families of that section of Ohio and now venerable citizens of Colby, Kansas, the father having celebrated in 1917 his eighty-second birthday and the mother her eighty-first. This sterling couple came to Gage county about 1877, and Simon Epard here farmed on rented land for a number of years. He then removed to Thomas county, Kansas, and took up a homestead farm near Colby, the county seat, in which attractive little city he and his wife have lived retired for a number of years. From Ohio Mr. Epard removed to Illinois, and from the latter state he came to number himself among the pioneers of Nebraska. He and his wife became the parents of five sons and two daughters, all of whom are living except one son: John, of this review, is the eldest of the number; Lon is a prosperous farmer in Logan township; Emma is the wife of John Gardiner, president of an insurance company in the city of Denver, Colorado; Samuel is a prosperous farmer in Thomas county, Kansas; Darwin is engaged in the banking business at Colby, that county; and Nancy is the wife of John Gillespie, a farmer of the same county. Simon Epard still owns his valuable farm of one hundred and sixty acres, in Thomas county, Kansas, as well as his residence property and other realty in Colby. He is a Democrat in politics and his wife is a member of the Christian church. His father, Samuel Epard, was a native of Maryland, and became a pioneer settler in Ohio, and he passed the closing years of his life in Indiana.

John Epard acquired his youthful education in the schools of Ohio and Illinois and at the age of twenty-one years he came to Gage county, Nebraska, where for a number of years thereafter he farmed on rented land. He purchased forty acres in Logan township in the second year of his residence in the county, his profits from his farm operations the first season having been four hundred dollars. He is now the owner of a well improved and productive farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Logan township, as well as a half-section of land in Thomas county, Kansas, near Col- by. He is a Democrat in politics and takes loyal interest in community aiifairs, though never an aspirant for public office of any kind. Mr. Epard still permits his name to remain enrolled on the list of eligible bachelors in Gage county.

FRANK H. BROWN, who is a stockholder of the Farmers' Grain & Coal Company of Cortland and who has active management of this representative industrial corporation, has the distinction not only of being a native son of Nebraska but also of being a scion of a family that was here founded in the early territorial era - nearly ten years prior to the admission of the state to the Union. He was born at .Cook, Johnson county, Nebraska, March 13, 1868, and is a son of Robert S. and Rachel (Bentz) Brown. Robert S. Brown was bom on a farm near Thompson, Windham county, Connecticut, on the 2nd of November, 1836, a son of James and Sarah (Shelly) Brown, who were representatives of families that were founded in New England in the colonial epoch of our national history and who were venerable citizens of Tecumseh, Johnson county, Nebraska, at the time of theif death. Reared on a farm and given the advantages of the common schools of, Connecticut, Robert S. Brown was seventeen years of age when he began his apprenticeship to the trade of blacksmith, in which he became a skilled artisan. In April, 1858, a few months after attaining to his legal majority, he accompanied his parents on their removal to Nebraska Territory. From Brownville, Nemaha county, they eventually removed to Johnson county, and there, in 1863, Robert S. Brown took up a homestead claim one and one-half miles northwest of the present village of Cook. He began the reclamation of his frontier farm but as a means of support continued to follow the work of his trade. He built a little log shop on the route of the old-time freighting line between Nebraska City and Beatrice, and here he did valuable service in shoeing the horses and doing repair work for the overland freighters. In 1865 he hauled from St. Joseph, Missouri, with horse teams one of the first threshing machines brought into southeastern Nebraska. His hearing became impaired when he was a youth and this fact rendered him ineligible for service as a soldier in the Civil war, but as a workman at this trade he was able to do his part in furtherance of the Union cause, as he did much repair work and horseshoeing for the military forces operating in this section of the country. Robert S. Brown developed his homestead of one hundred and s'xty acres into one of the valuable farms of Johnson county and he continued to give to the same his active supervision until 1900, when he removed to the village of Cook, that county, where he is now living virtually retired, as one of the venerable and honored pioneers of Nebraska and as one of the oldest exponents of the sturdy trade of blacksmith in the entire state, his work at his trade having been continued to a greater or less extent during his entire active career. His wife, who has been his devoted companion and helpmeet for more than half a century, was born in Ohio, August 12, 1843, and was a child at the time of the family removal to Nebraska territory, her father, John Bentz, having become one of the early settlers near Sterling, Johnson county, where he reclaimed a farm from the prairie wilds and where he passed the residue of his life.

Robert S. and Rachel (Bentz) Brown became the parents of six children, all of whom were born on the old homestead farm in Johnson county : Gustie is the wife of J. Y. Hunt, of Cook, that county; Thaddeus B. died when about twenty four years of age ; Frank H., of this review, was the next in order of birth ; Eucy is the wife of Daniel Vliet, of Cook, this state; William S. is engaged in the blacksmithing business at Cortland, Gage county; and Bert B. follows the vocation of electrician at Cook, Johnson county.

Reared to the sturdy discipline of the frontier farm, Frank H. Brown grew strong of mind and physical powers, his early education having been gained in the district schools of Johnson county. He continued to be associated in the work of the home farm until his marriage, in 1888, and thereafter he was engaged in independent farm enterprise in his native county until 1900, when he became associated with the conducting of a lumber business at Cook. In November, 1906, he came to Gage county and established his residence at Cortland, and here he has had since 1910 the management of the well equipped lumber yards of the Farmers' Grain & Coal Company. A substantial and progressive business man and valued citizen, he commands unqualified popular confidence and esteem. '

On the 21st of September, 1888, Mr. Brown wedded Miss Flora Godfrey, a daughter of John W. and Sarah (Woods) Godfrey, who were born in Ohio and came from Illinois to Johnson county, Nebraska, in 1879, estabHshing their home near Vesta. The only child of Mr. and Mrs. Brown is a daughter, Elsie M., who was graduated in the high school at Cook and who remains at the parental home, as a popular factor in the social life of the coni' munity.

In politics Mr. Brown accords allegiance to the Republican party, and he is serving in 1917-1918 as master of Highland Lodge, No. 194, Ancient Free & Accepted Masons, besides maintaining afiiliation with the Modern Woodmen of America.

HARRY E. SACKETT. - Gage county is signally favored in the personnel of its bar, and the representative lawyers here engaged in active practice are well upholding the prestige of their profession, both in character and achievement. He whose name initiates this paragraph has been engaged in the active general practice of his profession at Beatrice, judicial center of the county, since 1898, and is a member of the firm of Sackett & Brewster, which controls a large and important law business, retains a representative clientage and has had to do with much important litigation in the various courts of this section of the state. This history properly accords recognition to Mr. Sackett as one of the able and influential members of the Gage county bar and as a loyal and progressive citizen of the city of Beatrice.

Mr. Sackett was born on the parental homestead farm near Warren, Trumbull county, Ohio, on the 10th of October, 1874, and is a son of Oliver P. and Mary (Evans) Sackett. the former of whom passed the closing years of his life at Beatrice, Nebraska, where he died in 1913, his loved and devoted wife having preceded him to the life eternal, and the family home having beeti at Cameron, Missouri, at the time of her demise. The late Oliver P. Sackett was born in Connecticut and was a scion of one of the sterling English families that was founded in New England in the early colonial epoch of our national history, his grandfather, Benjamin Sackett, having been a patriot soldier in the war of the Revolution. During the greater part of his long and useful life Oliver P. Sackett continued his allegiance to the great fundamental industry of agriculture, and he was a successful farmer in Ohio, whence he finally removed with his family to Clinton county, Missouri, where he continued -his residence until 1903. In that year he came to Gage county, Nebraska, here passing the residue of his life, as previously noted. The original American progenitors of the Sackett family came to this country in 1630, and in the early and later generations members of the family have stood exponent of sterling worth and lofty patriotism, the subject of this review being eligible for membership in the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution.

Harry E. Sackett acquired his preliminary educational discipline in the public schools of Missouri, Ohio and Nebraska. With deep appreciation of the exacting demands in preparing himself for the legal profession, Mr. Sackett did not falter in his application to technical study and" finally was matriculated in the law department of the University of Nebraska, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1898, his reception of the degree of Bachelor of Laws being virtually coincident with his admission to the Nebraska bar. After his graduation Mr. Sackett began his professional novitiate at Beatrice, where he has continued in the practice of law during the intervening years and where he has de- veloped a substantial practice of essentially representative order, the character of his clientele giving the best assurance of his ability as a trial lawyer and well fortified counselor. He is senior member of the law firm of Sackett & Brewster, in which his confrere is Captain Charles L. Brewster.

Mr. Sackett is a prominent figure in the local camp of the Republican party but has only once appeared as a candidate for public office not directly in line with his profession, he having given four-'years of specially efifective administration in the office of prosecuting attorney of Gage county. His secure place in popular confidence and good will was shown in his election to the Nebraska state senate, in 1907, and he proved one of the influential working members of the upper house during the legislative term for which lie was elected. He was assigned to membership on important senate standing corrimittees and introduced a number of bills that came to enactment as representative of wise legislation in behalf of his constituent district and the state at large. He has been influential in the councils and campaign activities of the Republican party in Nebraska, and in 1912 he was a delegate at large from this state to the Republican National Convention, held in Chicago. Mr. Sackett is a member of the directorate of the Beatrice Building & Loan Association. He and his wife are members of the Christian church in their home city, and he is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, including the local commandery of Knights Templars, as well as with the Modern Woodmen of America and the Royal Highlanders.

On the 27th of September, 1899, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Sackett to Miss Hermina Reynolds, daughter of the late Dr. Herman M. Reynolds, to whom a memoir is dedicated on other-pages of this- work, the Doctor having been one of the most honored and influential pioneers of Beatrice and the first mayor of the city. Mr. and Mrs. Sackett have three children, - Dean R., Harry E., Jr., and Mary Louise.

in Section 7, Grant township, Mr. Burger is proving specially successful and influential as a breeder of short-horn cattle of the best type, and through his activities he is doing much to raise the grade of cattle in the county that has represented his home since he was a lad of eleven years and in which he is a representative of an honored pioneer family, a brief tribute to his father, John L. Burger, appearing elsewhere in this history and giving adequate data concerning the family. Mr. Burger is an active member of the Nebraska Short-horn Breeders' Association and from his fine herd of shorthorns he has made numerous sales for breeding purposes in Gage county. The leader of his herd is "Double Sultan," a son of the celebrated "Victor Sultan." He initiated his activities in the breeding of pure-bred shorthorn cattle in 1907, has used the most careful methods and policies in the connection, and has become one, of t^e leading exponents of this important phase" of industrial enterprise in this section. He raises annually an average of about fifty head of the pure-bred shorthorn stock and is known also as a successful grower of sheep.

Mr. Burger was born in Grundy county, Illinois, on the- 22d of May, 1866, about one year after the immigration of his parents from Germany to America, and he is .the first of the five children to have been born in the United States. He gained his early education in the schools of his native county and, as previously noted, was eleven years of age when the family came to Gage county, in 1877. Here he was reared to manhood on his father's pioneer farm, in Clatonia township, and in the meanwhile he profited by the advantages afforded in the schools of the' locality. He continued to be associated in the work and management of the home farm until 1894, when he rented land from his father and initiated his independent activities as an agriculturist and stockgrower. About the year 1899 he purchased from his father his present farm of one hundred and sixty acres, and the improvements which he has since made on the property mark it as one of the model stock farms of the county, - -an attractive rural home that can not fail to challenge admiration and that gives every indication of thrift and prosperity. His success has been the direct result of indefatigable energy and perseverance and in addition to his fine homestead farm he is the owner of three hundred aild twenty acres of land in Lincoln county, this state. He is one of the stockholders of the farmers' cooperative elevator company at Dewitt and is always ready to lend his influence in the furtherance of measures advanced for the general good of the community. He is independent in politics and has served continuously since 1901 as a member of the school board of District No. 149. Both he and his wife are communicants of the German Lutheran church.

On the 25th of February, 1891, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Burger to Miss Anna B. Ulrich, who was born in Illinois, July 9, 1864, a daughter of Charles G. Ulrich, a sterling Gage county pioneer of whom incidental mention is made on other pages, especially in the sketch dedicated to his son Edward. Mr. and Mrs. Burger have four children, - Albert F., Emma, Elmer and Erna, - all of whom remain at the parental home except Albert F., who is engaged in a garage at Dewitt, Saline county.

SAMUEL W. BEAM, a retired farmer and venerable citizen of Beatrice, has been a resident of Nebraska for somewhat more than thirty years and the prosperity which attends him represents the results of his productive farm activities in former years. A scion of a family that was early founded in Pennsylvania and that traces lineage back to German origin, Mr. Beam was born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, April 20, 1836, and is a son of John and Nancy (Woolford) Beam, both likewise natives of the old Keystone state, where the father became a substantial farmer and where he passed his entire life, the mother having survived him and having been in the home of one of her daughters, in Ohio, when she passed to the life eternal. Of the eight children the subject of this sketch is the eldest of the three now living ; William is a farmer near Desler, Ohio; and Rebecca, a widow, resides in the city of Fort Wayne, Indiana. John

Beam was a member of the German Reformed church and his wife a communicant of the Lutheran church. He was a son of Christian Beam, who passed his entire life in Pennsylvania and whose parents were natives of Germany.

Samuel W. Beam was reared on his father's farm and gained his youthful education in the common schools of his native county. He continued his association with farm industry in Pennsylvania until 1870 when he removed to Ogle county, Illinois, where he rented land and was actively engaged in farming, near Polo, for eleven years. He then purchased a farm of one hundred and twenty acres in Illinois, where he continued his activities six years, and in 1887 he came to Nebraska and rented a farm in Gage county. This farm, owned at the time by Frederick Bachle, continued as the stage of his productive labors for five years, at the expiration of which he purchased a half-section of land in Jefferson county. This property he developed into one of the valuable farms of that county and there he continued his residence until 1898, since which year he has lived retired in the city of Beatrice.

The year 1861 recorded the marriage of Mr. Beam to Miss Ephia McKeefer, who likewise was born and reared in Pennsylvania, a daughter of Jeremiah and Lydia (Rose) McKeefer, who were residents of that state during their entire lives. Of the remarkable and interesting family of fifteen children born to Mr. and Mrs. Beam all are living except two: Mrs. Laura Stauffer resides in the state of Illinois ; Mrs. Louisa Graybill is a resident of Polo, that state; Mrs. Lizzie Gilbert likewise lives in Illinois ; Mrs. Orpha Hamilton is a resident of San Diego, California; Mrs. Annie Morris lives at Holmesville, Gage county, Nebraska; Samuel is a successful farmer residing one-half mile south of Beatrice; Mrs. Ella Will lives near Holmesville, this county; Howard B. is a farmer near Holmesville; Mrs. Ida Elwood is the wife of a farmer in the same locality; Frank likewise is a farmer near Holmesville ; Harry is associated with farm enterprise near Beatrice; Clara is the wife of H. E. Hill, of

Beatrice ; and Grant also remains in Gage county. The devoted wife and mother was summoned to eternal rest on the 6th of March, 1905, she having been an earnest member of the Christian church, as is also Mr. Beam.

Mr. Beam has been significantly loyal- in all of the relations of life and has shown a high sense of personal stewardship. Lasting honor is his for the service which he rendered as a valiant soldier of the Union in the Civil war. In 1862 he enlisted in Company H, One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, with which he served nine months, - until the expiration of his term of enHstment. In 1864 he again enlisted and his service from this time forward covered a period of eight months. He took part in the second battle of Bull Run, in 1862, and also in the battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, as well as in various minor engagements. Under his second enlistment he participated in the battle of Bermuda Hundred, Virginia, and in the battle of Petersburg. He was corporal of his company during his first term of enlistment. He is affiliated with the Grand Army of the Republic and is a Republican in his political proclivities.

JACOB S. DELL is a popular member of a well known pioneer family concerning which adequate mention is made on other pages, in the sketch of the career of his brother, Joseph C. Ddl, and he himself is numbered among the representative exponents of agricultural and live-stock industry in the county that has been his home since his boyhood. Mr. Dell is the owner of an excellent farm of one hundred and twenty acres, in Section 15, Rockford township, a property which was purchased by him in 1904 and upon which he has made many modren improvements. He and his wife are prominent and zealous members of the Church of the Brethren, commonly designated as the Dunkard church, and he is assistant pastor of the South Beatrice church of this denomination.

home was maintained until 1876, when removal was made to Gage county, Jacob S. having been at the time a lad of six years. He was reared on his father's farm in Rockford township and after having profited by the advantages of the old Rock school he was for two years a student in a school of higher academic order at McPherson, Kansas. He has been an ordained clergyman of the Brethren church since 1897 and has given earnest and effective service in the ministry. He is a broad-minded and progressive citizen.

In 1905 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Dell to Miss Naomi CuUen, daughter of James K. Cullen, who was born in Virginia and who came with his family to Gage county in 1885. Mr. and Mrs. Dell have four children, - Pauline, Dwight, Dorothy and Violet.

OLTMAN OLTMANS, who is living practically retired on his attractive homestead farm of one hundred and sixty acres, in Section 8, Highland township, is also the owner of a well improved estate of equal area in Nuckolls county. He came to America as a young man with virtually no financial resources and through his own energy and ability has achieved substantial and worthy success.

Mr. Oltmans was born in the province of Hanover, Germany, November 18, 1844, and there he was reared and educated. In 1866 he was a soldier in the war between Germany and Austria, and he saw four days' of specially active conflict with the forces opposed to the Hanoverian regiment of which he was a member. In 1866, shortly after attaining to his legal majority, he made the voyage to America on a sailing vessel, and the ship required seven weeks and three days to complete the trip across the Atlantic. He was accompanied by his sister Hilda and soon after their arrival they proceeded to Logan county, Illinois, where he found employment as a farm hand. There he continued his active association with farm enterprise until the spring of 1880, when he came to Gage county, where he arrived in February of that year. He purchased eighty acres of unimproved land in Highland township, and that constituted the nucleus around which he has developed his splendid Gage county farm, of the present day, his farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Nuckolls county having- been purchased in 1905 and one of his sons having active management of the same. With him success has not came as an accident but has been the result of earnest and persistent industry, so that he is the more appreciative of the gracious prosperity that is now his portion. He is fervently loyal to the land of his adoption, with realization of the fact that here he has found opportunities for winning independence and substantial success, and in both spirit and action he exemplifies the true American ideals of citizenship. His political support is given to the Democratic party, and he and his wife are zealous members of the German Methodist Episcopal church in their home precinct, he having been one of the organizers of the same.

Miss Ella Decker was born in Germany, May 23, 1852, and she was a girl when she came to the United States. In Illinois, on the 23d of March, 1875, she became the wife of Mr. Oltmans, and she has proved a true helpmeet to him in the years that have marked his advancement toward the goal of prosperity. In conclusion is given brief record concerning their children: Richard is a resident of Texas; Rinehart has charge of his father's farm in Nuckolls county; Oltman Frederick is associated with his brother in the operation of the farm in Nuckolls county; William and George are prosperous farmers in Highland township; and Herman and Nettie remain at the parental home.

FRANK C. CROCKER is another of the native sons of Gage county whose civic and industrial loyalty is manifested in his successful activities as a representative of farm enterprise, his well improved homestead farm being situated in Section 16, Filley township, where he carries forward progressive and vigorous work in the line of diversified agriculture and is proving specially successful also in the breeding and raising of cattle and swine of superior order. He was born in Filley township, on the 1st of May, 1877, and adequate data concerning the family history are given in the sketch dedicated to his father, Hiram P. Crocker, on other pages of this volume.

Mr. Crocker gained his preliminary education in the district schools, later attended the village schools at Filley and thereafter completed a course in the Beatrice Business College. He has never wavered in his allegiance to the basic industries with which he became familiar in his boyhood, and has proved a most successful and aggressive exponent of farm enterprise in his native county.

In 1900 was recorded the marriage of Mr. Crocker to Miss Dora Belle Bowen, who was born at Shawnee, Perry county, Ohio, a daughter of Richard and Elizabeth (Morgan) Bowen, who were born, reared, and married in Wales and who established their home in Ohio upon coming to the United States : in the '80s they came to Gage county, Nebraska, and settled in Midland township, where the father engaged in farming and where both he and his wife pased the remainder of their lives. Of their nine children eight are living, Mrs. Crocker having been the fifth in order, of birth. Mr. and Mrs. Crocker have five children - Paul, Elton, Margaret, Harold, and Edith.

Mr. Crocker is a Republican in politics and he and his wife are active members of the Christian church in the village of Filley. He has attained to marked prominence and influence as a successful breeder and grower of fine live stock and served five years as president of the Nebraska S'wine Breeders' Association, besides which he was for two years a member of the state live-stock commission, under the administration of Governor Moorehead, he having been influential in effecting the establishing of this commission or board, which has done much to advance the live-stock industry in the state. Mr. Crocker's operations are conducted on the fine farm of three hundred and twenty acres which he recently purchased from his father, and upon an adjoining tract of three hundred and twenty acres that he rents. He is an extensive breeder of pureblood Duroc- Jersey swine, his business in the handling of this fine type of swine being the largest of all private sales enterprises of the kind in the entire west and having given him wide reputation in farm industrial circles.' He ships from his farm the finest types of Duroc- Jersey swine into all parts of the west, and has made this department ' of his farm enterprise a specialty for fully fifteen years. He feeds an average of more than one hundred head of cattle each year and he is a leader in advanced farm enterprise in this favored section of his native state. He and his family occupy the pleasant old homestead in which he was born and reared, and his progressiveness is shown not only in his individual activities but also in his insistent civic loyalty. About 1908 Mr. Crocker began zealous work to bring about legislative action for the providing of a^ fund to be used in driving hog cholera from the state, and finally an appropriation of five thousand dollars was made by the legislature for this purpose. Ivater Mr. Crocker was equally influential in obtaining a legislative appropriation of fifteen thousand dollars to be used in the establishing and maintaining of a state laboratory in which a serum should be manufactured for application in rendering swine immune from the cholera. In short, it may consistently be said that no other man in the state has done more to further the swine industry within its limits than has he, and his efforts in the suppression- of hog cholera have been specially potent and beneficent.

Here for the ensuing three years he was employed at farm work in Hanover township, and thereafter he was engaged in independent f artn operations on land which he held under a Scully lease until 1905, when he purchased his present fine farm of two hundred acres, in Section 18, Filley township. Of the buildings on the place when he bought the property there is remaining only the main part of the house, which he has so remodeled and improved as to make it one of the attractive rural homes of the township, besides which he has erected other farm buildings of model type, - all standing in evidence of his progressiveness and good management as an agriculturist and stock-grower. For the first year of his residence in Gage county Mr. Wiese received wages of only sixteen dollars a month, and what he has achieved in the intervening years is shown definitely in his ownership of his present valuable farm property. Mr. Wiese gives loyal support to the Republican party and he served several years as treasurer of his school district. Both he and his wife are earnest communicants of the Lutheran church.

In Johnson county, this state, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Wiese to Miss Grace Aden, who was born in Adams county, Illinois, January 15, 1870, a daughter of Fokke and Anke (Behrens) Aden, now residents of Johnson county, Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. Wiese have two sons, John and Frank.

GERD B. WIESE is another of the representative farmers of Gage county who claims the district of Ostfriesland, Province of Hanover, Germany, as the place of his nativity, his birth having there occurred on the 19th of September, 1869, and his parents, Bohle and Sarke (Loschen) Wiese, having there passed their entire lives. In the schools of his native land Mr. Wiese gained his early education and there also he gained his early experience in connection with agricultural pursuits. He was twenty-two years of age when he severed the home ties and came to the United States, in 1892, and in that year was recorded also his arrival in Gage county.

JOHN L. FRERICHS is giving his attention to the management of a well improved farm of one hundred and sixty acres, belonging to his father, in Section 29, Logan township, and his pleasant home receives mail service on rural route No. 3 from the city of Beatrice. He was born in Illinois, June 22, 1881, and is a son of Lammert W. Frerichs, concerning whom individual mention is rhade on other pages of this work, so that further review of the family history is not required in the present connection.

John L. Frerichs was about one year of age at the time of the family removal to Gage county, and here he was reared on his father's farm in Logan township, while his youthful education was obtained in the public schools of the locality. For the past fifteen years he has been engaged in farming enterprise in an independent way, and since 1906 he has resided on this farm, which has been improved with good buildings since he assumed control and which gives palpable evidence of thrift and good management. Mr. Frerichs is independent in politics, is serving as township clerk, to which office he was elected in 1916, and is also a director of school district No. 115, both he and his wife being members of the Lutheran church.

Mr. Frerichs chose as his wife Miss Fannie Schuster, .daughter of Evert and Anna Schuster, and the three children of this union are Marie, Evert, and Willis.

LAMMERT FRERICHS has all departments of his farm enterprise well organized and is one of the progressive agriculturists and stock-growers of the younger generation in Logan township, his well improved farm of one hundred and sixty acres being situated in Section 31 and being a part of the large estate owned by his father, L. W. Frerichs, of whom individual mention is made on other pages.

Larnmert Frerichs attended in his youth the public schools and also well ordered German schools, and at the age of twenty-one years he began his independent operations on his present home place, his success being shown by the very appearance of the farm, which is kept up to the best modern standard. As a progressive citizen he gives his support to the cause of the Democratic party, and he and his wife are active communicants of the Lutheran church.

In 1909 Mr. Frerichs married Miss Catherine Jobman, who was born in Dawson county, this state, and whose father, John Jobman, now resides in the city of Beatrice. Mr. and M"rs. Frerichs have four children - Lammert, Jr., John, Pope, and Reinhard.

Stanek, who is a native son of Nebraska and a representative of a pioneer family of Pawnee county. He was born in that county, on the 11th of May, 1871, and is a son of Anton and Anna (Kovanda) S'tanek, both natives of Bohemia, where they were reared to maturity, both having been young folk when they came to the United States. In 1867, the year that marked the admission of Nebraska to statehood, Anton Stanek numbered himself among the pioneers of Pawnee county, where he reclaimed and improved a farm and met his full share of the hardships that fell to the lot of the early settlers of Nebraska. He won success and prosperity through his industry and good management and continued his residence in Pawnee county until his death, his widow being now a resident of Humboldt, Richardson county. Of their six children the subject of this review is the eldest ; Albert is deceased ; Frank and James are engaged in farm enterprise in Pawnee county; Fannie remains with her widowed mother; and Annie is the wife of Frederick Fridley, of Humboldt, this state.

Joseph S. Stanek was born in the pioneer dugout which at the time constituted the home of his parents, and was reared under the conditions marking the pioneer days, his early educational advantages having been those of the district schools. His father was killed in a railroad accident and Joseph S., as eldest of the children, thereafter assumed the management of the home farm and the providing for his mother and the other members of the family. At the age of twenty-nine years he engaged independently in farm industry in his native county, and two years later he purchased his present farm and became one of the enterprising and industrious agriculturists of Gage county, his well directed energies having brought to him a generous success and having marked him as a thorough-going farmer. He is independent in politics and gives his support to men and measures meeting the approval of his judgment. He served ten years as a member of the school board of his district and is a citizen who commands high esteem.

It may consistently be stated that the father of Mr. Stanek was a mason by trade, and that in the early period of his residence in Nebraska he supplemented his income by work at his trade. In this connection he frequently walked to Brownville and Lincoln to find employment at his trade, and he received compensation of five dollars a day, which he used in providing for his family. He assisted in the building of the state penitentiary in the city of Lincoln. He worked at intervals in Iowa also, and once when he and his partner were ready to cross the Missouri river they found the ferry out of commission, under which conditions they placed their clothing on their shoulders and swam the entire distance across the stream. In his pioneer home his wife used a coffee-mill to grind corn for food.

In 1917 Mr. Stanek purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land in Saskatchewan, Canada, where he will farm during the summer seasons, returning to Gage county, during the winter months.

JOHN D. THORNBURG. - In the year that marked the admission of Nebraska to statehood Mr. Thornburg numbered himself among the pioneer settlers in Gage county and during the long intervening period of half a century he has continuously held precedence as one of the representative citizens and farmers of Midland township, where he is now the owner of a well improved landed estate of two hundred acres. He endured his share of the hardships and- trials incidental to pioneer life, did well his part in the furtherance of civic and material development and progress and is a sterling citizen to whom it is gratifying to accord recognition in this publication.

Mr. Thornburg was born in Randolph county, Indiana, July 30, 1846, and is a son of John L. and Harriet (Diggs) Thornburg, the former of whom was born in Ohio- and the latter in Pennsylvania, their marriage having been solemnized in the Hoosier state. John

L. Thornburg, who was born in the year 1821 and whose death xiccurred in 19n, was reared and educated in Indiana and was a scion of a sterling pioneer family of that state. He was a son of Joab A. and Betsy (Holoway) Thornburg, the former of whom likewise was born in Ohio, his father, Isaac Thornburg, having been one of the very early settlers in the old Buckeye state and having served as a soldier in the war of 1812. John Diggs, maternal grandfather of the subject of this review, was a native of England and became a pioneer settler in Ohio, to which state he removed from Pennsylvania. John L. Thornburg was a lad of seven years at the time of his parents' removal from Ohio to Indiana, where he grew to man's estate and where he continued his alliance with farm industry until he removed with his family to Iowa. He thus became a pioneer of the Hawkeye state, as did he later of Nebraska, to which latter commonwealth he came in 1869. He made Gage county his destination, purchased land in Rockford township and here he developed a productive farm. Eventually he sold the property and removed to Kansas, in which state he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives, theirs having been the distinction of being pioneers in each of three now opulent states of the west. Both were birthright members of the Society of Friends, to which gracious faith they adhered all their lives. In politics Mr. Thornburg was originally an old-line Whig, but he espoused the cause of the Republican party at the time of its organization and thereafter supported its principles until his death. Of his nine children five are now living, - Mrs. Olive Moore, of Morgan county, Kansas; John D., the immediate subject of this sketch; Mrs. Lydia Stapes, a resident of Iowa; Mrs. Rachel Fetrel, of Washington county, Kansas; and Mrs. Catherine Henry, who maintains her home in the state of Idaho.

John D. Thornburg was reared on the old home farm in Indiana and acquired his early education in the common schools of that state. He was eighteen years of age at the time of the family removal to Iowa, in 1864, and there he remained until 1867, when he came to the new state of Nebraska and numbered himself among the pioneers of Gage county. He entered claim to a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres in Section 25, Midland township, and here he has resided during the passing years, which have brought to him a generous measure of success and prosperity, as well as inviolable place in the confidence and esteem of all who know him. On his embryonic farm he provided as his first domicile a rude dugout of the type common to the early pioneer days, and later he manifested his enterprise, as well as his increasing prosperity, by erecting his present attractive residence, as well as other excellent farm buildings. He has been a vigorous and resourceful exponent of agricultural and live-stock industry in this section of the state and, as before stated, is now the owner of a fine farm property of two hundred acres. He has given special attention to the raising of full-blood Red Polled cattle. Mr. Thornburg recalls that when he first established his home on his present farm his nearest neighbor was sixteen miles distant, and he has done his share in bringing about the marvelous changes that have been wrought in the intervening years. His courage has been on a parity with his ambitious purpose and he never faltered in the face of difficulties and reverses while he was striving to reclaim and develop his farm and to aid in civic and material advancement, his devoted wife having been his earnest helpmeet and coaidjutor. His political allegiance is given to the Republican party and his civic loyalty has been shown in his effective service as township assessor, of which office he was the incumbent for two years, and as a member of the school board of his district. He has been for many years an active member of the Christian church, of which his wife likewise was an earnest adherent.

In 1865 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Thornburg to Miss Mary E. Ford, who likewas born in Indiana. She vvas a daughter of Dr. R. and Elizabeth (Bricker) Ford, who were residents of Iowa at the time of their death. The supreme loss and bereavement in the life of Mr. Thornburg was that entailed in the death of his loved wife, who was summoned to eternal rest on the 22nd day of October, 1915, and whose memory is revered by all who came within the compass of her gentle influence. Of their nine children six are living: Alonzo U. is a prosperous farmer in Osborn county, Kansas; Elvin A. is engaged in farm enterprise in the state of Oregon; Rosanna is the wife of Elmer E. Phillips, of Custer county, Nebraska ; Frank V. has active charge of his father's farm, in association with his younger brother, and is also the owner of a farm of ninety acres, in Midland township; Miss Pearl remains at the parental home; and Charles E. is associated in the work and management of the home farm.

CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN. - The well ordered farm of Mr. Andersen comprises one hundred and sixty acres and is situated in Section 35, Hooker township. He purchased this property in 1884, the land having at the time been entirely unimproved, and with the passing years he has reclaimed the farm most effectively and made it one of the valuable places of Hooker township. He has provided excellent buildings and unequivocal success has attended his activities as an agriculturist and stock-grower. Mr. Andersen is consistently to be designated as a pioneer citizen of Nebraska, in which state he has maintained his home for nearly half a century and in which he has stood exponent of loyal and appreciative citizenship. His political support is given to the Republican party and he and his wife are earnest members of the Lutheran church.

Mr. Andersen was born and reared in Denmark, the date of his nativity having been September 2, 1842'. He is a son of Nis and Eliza (Gissen) Andersen, the latter of whom died in Denmark. Nis Andersen came to the United States in 1881 and he passpd the remainder of his Hfe in IlHnois, his vocation in his native land having been that of a farmer. Of the six children the subject of this sketch is the younger of the two surviving, and Andrew is living retired in Bureau county, Illinois. ' tion in the schools of his native land, and there he served on two different occasions as a member of the Danish army. He came to the United States in 1871, and for some time he found employment in the city of Chicago, after which he was for seven years engaged in farming in Bureau county, Illinois, in which state he resided for a total of twelve years. In the autumn of 1884 he came to Nebraska, and here his energy, industry, and ability have gained to him substantial prosperity, he having been for many years one of the successful farmers of Gage county.

In 1872 Mr. Andersen wedded Miss Mary C. Heridricksen, who likewise was born in Denmark, a daughter of Peter Hendricksen, who there passed his entire life. Mr. and Mrs. Andersen became the parents of six children and concerning them brief record is here given: Christina is the wife of T. Thompson, a farmer in Filley township; Matta is the wife of Harry Yohe, of the same township; Peter R., who is an active manager of his father's farm, married Anna Christiansen, whose death occurred November 29, 1915, and who is survived by three children - Marion, Howard, and Julia ; Anna is the wife of Wood Dovett, of Johnson county; Andrew is engaged in . farming in Hooker township ; and Millie is the wife of Carl Sorensen, of Eilley township.

AUGUST HASENOHR is another of thd sterling citizens given to Gage county by the great empire of Germany, and in the state of his adoption he has through his own ability and energy so taken advantage of opportunities as to win for himself substantial prosperity. He came to Gage county shortly after attaining to his legal majority and here he found employment at farm work. What the intervening years credit to him in achievement is shown in his ownership at the present time of a valuable landed estate of six hundred and forty acres, - comprising two different farms in Gage county and one - of one hundred and sixty acres - near Dewitt, Saline county. His fine homestead farm, comprising one hundred and sixty acres, is one of the model places of Holt township and is situated in' Section 8, about four miles distant from the village of Pickrell, which is his postoffice address. On this homestead Mr. Hasenohr has made the best of modern improvements, his barn, thirty-six by forty-four feet in dimensions, having been erected in 1910, and the following year having recorded the erection of his handsome farm residence of twelve rooms.

Mr. Hasenohr was born in the province of Westphalia, Germany, January 22, 1866, and is a son of Herman and Elizabeth (Saving) Hasenohr, who passed their entire lives in that section of Germany : of their seven children the subject of this review is the only one in the United States.

August Hasenohr was reared and educated in his native province, where his father was a prosperous farmer, and in 1888, at the age of twenty-two years, he severed the ties that bound him to home and fatherland, in order that he might win for himself independence and prosperity in the United States. Soon after his arrival he came to Gage county, and for the first summer he was employed on a farm in Holt township. His previous experience well fitted him for independent enterprise as an agriculturist and stock-grower, and as his financial resources were not sufficient to justify him in purchasing a farm, he achieved the desired end to a certain extent by renting land near Pickrell, where he continued farming under these conditions, and with cumulative success, until 1897, when he made his first purchase of land, - a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, in Section IS, Holt township. There he continued his residence until 1908, when he removed to his present homestead farm. With increasing prosperity Mr. Hasenohr continued to make judicious investment in Gage county land, and he is at the present time the owner of a valuable and well improved Gage county estate of four hundred and eighty acres, as previously intimated in this article. He is one of the substantial stockholders in the farmers' grain elevator at Pickrell, is a Republican in politics, and is honored as a loyal and liberal citizen, as well as a man of sterling character and worthy achievement. Both he and his wife are active communicants of the German Lutheran church.

February 19, 1886, recorded the marriage of Mr. Hasenohr to Miss Carolina Tesmann, and about two years later she accompanied him on his immigration to America. She was born in Westphalia, Germany, July 27, 1859, and has been to her husband a true companion and helpmeet during the years thjt have marked his steady advancement toward the goal of prosperity. Of the seven children of Mr. and Mrs. Hasenohr the first two were born in Germany : William is now a successful farmer east of the city of Beatrice; Anna is the wife of Henry Henke, of Otoe county, this state ; Theodore is a progressive farmer in Holt township and Frederick near Dewitt, Saline county ; Lillie is the wife of Dick Helmke, of Holt township; and Alfred and Oscar remain at the parental home.

BRUNO J. BUHR is the owner of a farm of one hundred and twenty acres, in Section 24, Hanover township, has been a resident of Gage county since he was two years of age and his present farm is a part of the excellent landed estate accumulated by his father, who was a sterling pioneer of the county. He gives his attention to diversified agriculture and stock-raising, and in his farm enterprise is distinctly energetic and progressive, so that success comes to him as normal perogative.

Mr. Buhr was born in Atchison county, Missouri, October 19, 1878, and is a son of John G. and Grace (Holz) Buhr, both of whom were born and reared in Germany. In America their original home was in Illinois, where Mr. Buhr was engaged in Farming for a few years, after which he removed to Missouri and continued in the same basic line of enterprise, as did he later, for one year, in Kansas. He came to Gage county about the year 1880, and after farming for a time on rented land he purchased one hundred acres in Hanover township, where he later bought an additional tract, of one hundred and twenty acres. He reclaimed his farm from the virgin prairie, made good improvements on the place and on the old homestead both he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives, both having been zealous members of the German Lutheran church. Of their eight children five are living: Annie, who resides on her farm in Filley township, is the widow of Albert Lukin ; John J. is a prosperous farmer in Logan township; Albert J. is a farmer in Norton county, Kansas; Gerd is engaged in successful farm enterprise in Hanover township; and the subject of this review is the youngest of the number.

Bruno J. Buhr acquired his early education in the district schools and thereafter continued to be associated with his father in the management of the home farm, which he finally purchased, by acquiring the interests of the other heirs, in 1907. He permits nothing to deflect him from his close application to the work and management of his farm but is loyal and public-spirited as a citizen, his political support being given to the Democratic party and he and his wife being active communicants of the German Lutheran church.

The year 1904 recorded the marriage of Mr. Buhr to Miss Grace Ackermarin, who was born and reared in this county, a daughter of John and Geska (Schuster) Ackermann, who here established their home in the pioneer days. Of the seven children of Mr. and Mrs. Buhr all are living save one and the names of the surviving children are here entered in respective order of birth : Grace, Geska, John, Tillie, Menna and Rosie.

JESTUN O. McCLUNG was in the very prime of his vigorous and useful manhood when he was called from the stage of Hfe's mortal endeavors, in 1892, at the age of fortyfive years, and just prior to his demise he had purchased the farm of fifty-five acres, in Section 32, Filley township, on which his widow still maintains her home.

Jestun Otto McClung was born in Muskingum county, Ohio, on the 6th of September, 1846, and was twelve years of age when his parents removed to Missouri, where he was reared to adult age and where he completed his school work. As a young man he came to Nebraska and leased a farm in Lancaster county. Later he was engaged in farming under similar conditions in Johnson county, and finally he came to Gage county, where he became a farmer on rented land in Filley township. He was industrious and progressive and his success was shown when he finally purchased a farm of his own, but his death occurred shortly afterward, before he had removed with his family to the place. He was a man of sterling character, commanded unqualified popular esteem and was a loyal and progressive citizen of the state and county of his adoption. His poHtical support was given to the Republican party and he was a member of the Baptist church, as was also his widow, who now holds membership in the Christian church.

After the death of her husband Mrs. Mc- Clung removed with her four sons to the farm which he had purchased, and here she has maintained her residence for a quarter of a century. Within this period excellent improvements have been made on the farm, which is well managed and yields good returns.

In Lancaster county, this state, the year 1877 recorded the marriage of Mr. McClung to Miss Albertina Krantz, who was born in Jefferson county, Wisconsin, a daughter of William Krantz. She was a child when her parents came to Nebraska and numbered themselves ampng the pioneers of Johnson county, and when she was but five years old her mother died. Her father later contracted a second marriage, and when Mrs. McClung was twelve years old she came to Gage county to make her home with the family of Lucius Filley, with whom she remained two years. In the meanwhile she had duly profited by the advantages of the pioneer schools, and after leaving the home of Mr. Filley she went to Lancaster county, where she met and finally became the wife of Mr. McClung, with whom she returned to Gage county. With all of maternal devotion she has reared her four solas, each of whom accords to her the fullest measure of fihal love and solicitude and all of whom are now well established in life : Louis is a prosperous farmer in Sherman township; John B. is a resident of the state of California ; Guy is in Franklin county, Nebraska; and Claton C. remains with his mother and has active management of. the farm.