Hall County, Nebraska - Chapter 28, 1920 (part 16 of 16)

Hall County. Modest, quiet, unassuming, it is only by close questioning that this young hero can be induced to tell of his thrilling experiences in the service of his counlrj', a recital of which gives but a poor idea of their magnitude and importance.

Mr. Sherer belongs to Nebraska. He was bom at Aurora, in Hamilton County, October 25, 1882. His parents are Jacob and Rhoda (Evans) Sherer, the former of whom is a native of Ohio, and the latter of Iowa, where she was born in January, 1861. Their marriage took place in Aurora, Nebraska, in January, 1881, and they have had six children as follows : Cecil S., Leo, Verna, Myrtle, Glenn, Elmer Ray and Nellie May, twins, Sampson and Dewey, twins, and Jacob. All the children are living with the exception of Elmer Ray, who met a soldier's death in the ever to be remembered batle of Argonne Forest, in France, on September 27, 1918. He entered military service on June 22, 1918, at Camp Lewis, Oregon, and was with a contingent of American soldiers landed in France on September 5, 1918.

Cecil S. Sherer attended the public schools of Wood River, Hall County, and after his high school course enlisted in the United States navy, on September 15, 1903, and was assigned to the United States steamer Albatross, a fish commission ship doing deep sea work on the Pacific coast. He was honorably discharged on September 14, 1907 and returned to his home with the expectation of engaging in agricultural pursuits during the rest of his life. For ten years he was so occupied on his own account, in Wood River township, but with the entrance of his country into war, not only was his patriotism aroused but memory of his life as a sailor came back and he soon determined the branch of his countn^'s service he would enter.

On December 26, 1917, he enlisted in the Unitd States navy once more for war service. (See photograph and service record -in the soldier section of this work). During his service of fifteen months he made seven trips across the Atlantic ocean, five of these on the United States Destroyer Talbot. On August 28, 1918, he saw his first submarine. It was in the English channel and at the same time two of the submarines attacked the convoy of destroyers, one of the monsters coming to the surface for its cruel work right in the midst of the convoy. As soon as sighted the five destroyers swept in, dropped depth bombs on the submarine with such efifect that within five minutes the boat sank, leaving seventeen of the enemy crew in the water, who, with American humanitarianism, were rescued by the United States steamer Rathburn. The second submarine was sighted about 1,000 yards to the port quarter and shots were fired from the destroyers resulting in the disapperance of the U. boat. One of the troop ships, however, had been injured by the undersea vessel and as it was listing heavily, the destroyers stood by to help, but its ship carpenters managed to repair the damage in part and the American troops were finally safely landed at Plymouth, England.

The convoy of destroyers then scattered, and with great speed went to different ports, having sixteen troop ships in charge, and all were safely landed either at Plymouth, England, or Brest, France. On one occasion, i\Ir. Sherer assisted in convoying the Leviathan in safety as far as the Azore Islands, and on the home voyage encountered another submarine. The Talbot was one of the receiving ships on November 21, 1918, when seventy German vessels were turned over to the Allies in the Firth of Fourth, a memorable occasion to which future histories will devote many pages. After the last trip as escort to troop ships, Mr. Sherer and his brave comrades wefre employed for a time in tatget practice on the south coast of Cuba, for the purpose of testing torpedoes. On March 1, 1919, a radio message was received calling for four destroyers to proceed at once to New York, the Talbot being one of the chosen vessels. On reaching that city Mr. Sherer learned that those destroyers were to be used for convoy of the George Washington, on which President Wilson was to sail for France. Before the vessels started, however, Mr. Sherer secured his release from the service, and contentedly returned to the safety and quiet of home, being ready, however, to return if his countrv' has further need of him. ,

FRITZ WIESE, one of Hall County's highly respected citizens, resides on his valuable farm situated in Wood River township, on which he has lived for forty-eight years. He was born in Lichtenberg, Germany, November 17, 1848, the second in a family of three sons and two daughters born to Dedlef and Margaret (Hein) Wiese.

Fritz went to school in his native land with his brothers and sisters, Louisa, Carl, William and Lizzie, and grew up under conditions that prevailed in his neighborhood at that time. He was an ambitious youth however and believing he could better himself in America, left Germany when twenty years old and came to the United States in April, 1869, and immedi- ately made his way to Hall County. He was not yet old enough under the law to take advantage of the homestead bill, but lost not a day in seeking work. This he found as a laborer and was paid $L55 a day for assisting in the building of a dam in the Platte River. After that he hired out to near-by settlers by the month. In the spring of 1871 he homesteaded in section twenty-six, securing eighty acres and also bought forty acres of school land all in Wood River Township. Mr. Wiese managed his own housekeeping during the time required to prove up, having many experiences both tragic and interesting. At this time there were many peaceable Indians in the neighborhood and he became acquainted with them and even has visited them in their camp on the island, at no time having cause to either fear or dislike them. He was lonely in a strange land, and kindness from anybody was appreciated. Money was hard to get in those days, trading being carried on between parties who often exchanged commodities in place of real money, but by close economy he finaly secured sufficient to enable him to buy a team of horses, a wagon, a mower and a breaking plow, and with that outfit he started to be a Nebraska farmer. There were many misfortunes during the earlier years for either the grasshoppers or the unexpected frost took his corn and oats, but he was no worse off than his neighbors and had fewer responsibilities than the most of them, so he tried to be philosophical and went steadily on. He now has two hundred and eighty acres of land worth $125 an acre, all well improved and well stocked, and a home fitted with every comfort he could wish.

On October 11, 1876, Mr. Wiese married Miss Catherine Dibbern, who was born in Hall County. Her parents were Jacob and Margaret (Wiese) Dibbern, natives of Germany who came to the United States and settled in Iowa in 1870, removing from there to Hall County in 1871. They had sixteen children four of whom died in infancy. The following are living: Catherine, Bertha, Minnie, Peter and Hans, twins, Delia, Anna, Ernest, Otto, Emma and August. Five sons and four daughters were born to Mr. and Mrs. Wiese: Emma, Arthur, Henry, Frank, Dora, Bernhardt, _Eda, Herman and Maggie. Emma, who died December 15, 1906,. was the wife of Henry Schlicker, who now lives in Garden County, near Lisco, Nebraska, with their five children, Tena, Pauline, Fred, Eda and Mable. Arthur carries on farming on the home place in Wood River township. He married Dora Bockman, and they have four children : Helen,

Henry, Elmer and Raymond. Henry, the second son, is deceased. Frank is a farmer in Alda township. He married Minnie Marth and they have the following children : Alfred, Ralph, Harvey, Catherine, Leroy and Bernadine. Dora is the wife of George Rathman, a farmer in Alda township, and they have the following children : Henry, Louie, Walter, Goldie, Viola and Marie. Bernhardt, who has but recently returned from military service with the American Expeditionary Force in France, saw hard service as a member of a machine gun company. His photograph and service record will be found in the soldier's section of this work. From what his young eyes have seen, war is so abhorrent that he does not want to talk of it even concerning the courageous feats he performed himself, of which his comrades speak glowingly. He proposes to assist in taking care of the home farm. Eda, the next in order of birth is deceased. Herman is a farmer in Wood River township. Maggie looks after her father's comfort in the home. The beloved mother passed away on June 11, 1907. Mr. Wiese has never been unmindful of the best interests of his township and when he has felt able to do so, has always co-operated in public spirited movements, has been helpful and friendly as a neighbor and strictly honest in every business transaction.

EMIL G. PEARSON, one of Wood River's representative men, has been known in this section of Hall County for over a quarter of a centurj'. For many years back he has been considered one of the township's best farmers and most successful stockmen. In Mr. Pearson is found a man of enterprise and progressiveness, of intelligence and sound judgment. His influence, well directed, has been beneficial to the entire farming community. A firm believer in the value of co-operation, he belongs to the farmer's organizations that started the elevators at Shelton and Wood River and is a stockholder in both of these successful enterv prises.

Emil G. Pearson was born at Helsingborg, Sweden, February 21, 1872. His parents were Per and Troen (Pearson) Pearson, who had the following children: Per. Kerston. Sven, Emil G. and Oscar. In April, 1890, Emil G. Pearson came to Hall County, Nebraska, settled in Wood River, and went to work for F. C. Dodge. Afterward for several years he worked on farms and then bought eighty acres of land with the expectation of building up a large agricultural business of his own.

In the early nineties climatic conditions in this section caused much loss and discouragement, and after Mr. Pearson had seen his crops for several seasons dried up and blasted for lack of moisture, he let the land go and became a 1 enter instead of an owner. That was a period very different in the county's agricultural history than the present. Low prices for farm products discouraged industry and seemingly argriculture here was at a low ebb. Li the meanwhile Mr. Pearson had married and in February, 1901, they went to Greeley, Colorado. There they looked over the country for a time with the result that they decided it by no means equalled Hall County from the point view of a prospective farmer.

After returning to Hall County from Colorado, in the fall of 1901, Mr. Pearson rented farming land and found better conditions existing, then bought one hundred and twenty acres on Grand Island southwest of Wood River. Under his management this has become some of the most productive land in the county. Mr. Pearson not only cultivates his own farm, but an additional five hundred and twenty acres, with the help of modern machinery and with a Ford automobile trtick for hauling. In addition to extensive farm production, the raising and feeding of cattle, hogs and sheep has become an important feature. The season of 1919 finds him with three hundred head of hogs and one hundred head of cattle.

On November 9, 1899, Mr. Pearson married Miss Lula A. McFarland, a daughter of James and Anna (Kimple) McFarland, who came from Ohio to Iowa and from there in the early seventies to Nebraska and secured a homestead in Kearney County. Mrs. Pearson had sister and brothers as follows : George, Lizzie, Etta, Fred, Jessie and Howard, all of whom are married and all survive except two brothers, who died of influenza during the epidemic in November, 1918. Mr. and Mrs. Pearson have eight children : Thea, a popular teacher in school district No. 69 ; Violet, attending the high school in Wood River ; Clair and Malcolm, assisting their father ; and Elmer N., Loretta B., Leona M. and Cecil R., the baby, all of whom are attending the country school. The Pearson home is a beautiful one. The modern residence, which has every city convenience except artificial heating, is even equipped with electric light. It is charmingly located with a fine grove on the west and a blue grass lawn and ornamental trees on the other approaches. The dynamo that supplies light to the residence and barns, pumps water to all parts of the corrals and feed yards. Everthing about the place is of substantial and modern construction. Mr. Pearson considers his land worth $100 an acre without any improvements. His residence cost him over $4,000. He has not discussed the cost of his automobile, in which he and his family spend many happy hours, but as it is in keeping with everything else on this model farm, its original price must have been considerable. Mr. Pearson does nat take all the credit for the success that has crowned his efforts, but attributes a just share to his estimable wife. The family acquaintance is wide and their friends are many. Mr. Pearson is serving as a director of school district No. 27. He is one of the most active factors in the local Grange.

TIMOTHY ROCHE, whose fine farm of one hundred and sixty acres is situated in Grand Island township, three miles south and two miles east of Wood River, is well known in Hall County, to which he came first in the spring of 1881, where he has since made his home, with the exception of five years spent in Wyoming. Mr. Roche was born in County Cork, Ireland, May 26, 1857. His parents were Timothy and Catherine (Reardon) Roche, whose nine children bore the following names : Margaret, Patrick, John, Edmund, James, Timothy, Dan, Mary and Catherine. The father died when Timothy was ten years old.

Eight years later while still a youth, Timothy Roche came to the United States, as he believed a young man had greater opportunities in the new world. His first six years in America were spent as a farm worker in Henderson County, Illinois. After coming to Hall County. Nebraska, in the spring of 1881, he bought railroad land in Harrison township, six miles north of Wood River. In 1890 Mr. Roche and his family moved to Green River, Wyoming, where he worked in the railroad shops until the spring of 1895. Upon returning to Wood River, Mr. Roche resumed farming in this neighborhood, in the meanwhile having acquired his present well stocked farm in Grand Island, and in 1910 he settled on the place which has since continued the family home.

On May 31, 1882, Mr. Roche married Miss Johanna C. Carey, who was born near Auburn, "Illinois, a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Davis) Carey. The father of Mrs. Roche was born in County Clare, Ireland, June 24, 1834, came to America in 1852 and went to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There, on April 12, 1859, he married Elizabeth Davis, who was

WILLL-.BALLINGER, one of Wood River's highly^ected citizens, has been a resident of Hall^iy sinee the fall of 1881, when he accompan\is parents to this section. For a numbei Y^^^s he followed farming, but a serious"^^"*^ ^^ 1898, almost entirely disabled h'i°'' ^ ^^^le, and smce the fall of 1911 he hJs^" '^^^ ^ ^^"^^ easier in his comfortable hom^°°'^ ^''f William J. Ballinger was '' "' ^^'"'^ County, Illinois. March 24 186^'^ parents were George W. and Sarah (l^'^ ,?^'' linger, the former of whom was b^%^^°^] gan County, Indiana, December 2^^^\ ""^ died in Nebraska, January 25 19f"f. *''^ latter bom in Hendricks County ^tl""' March 14, 1837, died July 17 191 T ^^ were united in marriage in 1857 a f ^'^ sons and one daughter were born t*^''!"?' John L. Francis M., WiE J and^^'^^^^' J; all of whom are living. The Bu ^ f amily came to Hall County in ?he^^,°^ 1881 and settled about four and a half^^'d southwest of Wood River. William I ub'"^ for his father for several yerrsanS'" started out for himself as a^farme? ^''" leaving the farm and coming to Wood f ^''' he engaged in teaming untfl two years^^°' although a sad sufiferer from rheumatism ,,. On March 23, 1890, Mr. Ballinger n' ned Miss Emma Lewton, of Wood Riv"' Her parents were Newton and Sarah E. ( Nes bit) Lewton, the former of whom was born in Pke County Illinois, May 15, 1841. and the \%\7rr L°"'«^'"^' Kentucky, August 27 1832. They were married at Carthage, in Han cock County, Illinois, and had two daughters and one son: Emma, Charles and SdenL Charles Lewton resides at Huntsville, Illinois.

Mrs Ballinger accompanied her parents when they came to Hall County in theTaHo 871, when her father located on a homestead four and a half miles northwest of Wood ti^''''' ^, P"'^^^*',^fi"y unsettled section at that thT nntl?- ^^"^"^^^^e" remembers some of the notable events of those early days par-^ ticularly the freezing of the crops, gras'sfopper invasion and more than all the memorab^

Tliere were many Pawnee Indians in the neighborhood, none of whom were savage, but all were certain to be hungry when they visited a settler's cabin. In 1881 Mrs. Ballinger's father removed to Wood River and went into the furniture and undertaking business. Later he became interested in a drug store and still later a livery business. In 1892 he embarked in a confectionery business and continued in this line up to the time of his death. May 24, 1894. The mother of Mrs. Ballinger died May 19, 1915.

To Mr. and Mrs. Ballinger one son was born, Charles W., on October 13, 1897. Without giving this young man undeserved praise, there is much to say in the way of comment on his honorable career. A diligent student, he was graduated from the Wood River high school on May 21, 1914, receiving the coveted distinction of Honorable Graduation Diploma. While yet in school he applied himself to acquiring the art of telegraphy, studying with Grant and Mrs. Gard, in the Union Pacific depot, and after he was considered competent, he entered the services of the Union Pacific Company as night operator and helper. Later he was used as relief man up and down the line for two years, and after this experience, was placed in the office of the train dispatcher in Grand Island. He was efficiently performing his duties there when he enlisted, May 15, 1917, for service as a soldier because he felt his country had need of all her loyal sons. His photograph and service record may be found in that interesting part of this work, the soldier section. Since his safe return to life he has gone back to his old position in Grand Island.

The accident above referred to that so seriously injured Mr. Ballinger some twenty years ago, was a fall over an unprotected plow shear, and his good right arm was almost severed thereby. Nevertheless he has borne that handicap and his later rheumatic affliction with remarkable patience and courage. He is a member of the Wood River Lodge, No. 158, Odd Fellows, to which he has belonged for thirtyone years. Mrs. Ballinger is a member of the Rebekah Lodge, No. 287. She is also a member of the Presbyterian church.

. JOHN FRANKLIN SHEHEIN, who was one of Hall County's well known and highly respected citizens for many years, invested in land when he came here, improved it and added to the original tract, and at the time of death, April 10, 1907, was accounted a farmer who had prospered greatly, as well as deservedly, for he was always careful and industrious. He had a beautiful home farm that he had enjoyed improving, it being said that his improvements cost more than was the original cost of the land.

John Franklin Shehein was born in Kentucky, January 21, 1858. His parents were David R. and Alice Shehein, who left Kentucky during the Civil War and moved to Hamilton County, Iowa. There John F. went to school and when old enough began to help his father on the farm. In June 1886, just before what is always referred to as the "big storm," he came to Hall County. At that time he was a poor man, but he had the industry and energy that served finally to make him a rich man. He bought railroad land in Doniphan township for which he paid $25 an acre, and as above stated, so admirably improved it that after his death his widow sold the entire form of one hundred and fifty-five acres at $125 an acre.

March 20, 1880, Mr. Shehein married Miss Mary Wiggins, who was born in Illinois, a daughter of Charles and Olive (Van Cassel) Wiggins, also natives of' that state. To this marriage children were born as follows : John Franklin, who lives at Doniphan, Nebraska; Georgiana, the wife of G. S. Denman, of Doniphan; Hattie May, the wife of Barney Jacobs, of Denver, Colorado ; David Earl, who lives in Kimball County; Led G., employed in the People's State Bank in Grand Island; Hazel Gladys, who lives with her mother; Verna, attending the high school ; and Howard and Matilda, both of whom are deceased. The family belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Shehein was a Republican in politics and he belonged to the fraternal order of United Workmen. He was an honorable, worthy man in every way and in his death Hall County lost one of her best citizens.

CHARLES D. EVANS, a well known, patriotic and popular resident of Hall County, came to the vicinity of Wood River with his parents when ten years old. This neighborhood has been his home ever since with the exception of six years spent as cowboy and farmer on the Bar A ranch, in Colorado. He was bom at Waynesville, Illinois, September 24, 1869.

The parents of Mr. Evans were Thomas A. and Sarah E. (Goodrich) Evans, both of whom were reared in Illinois. They had a family of three sons and two daughters, namely: Carles D., Carmi G., George D.. Mrs. Nora M. Warren, and Mrs. Jennie Harmeson.

The father came to Nebraska with his family in June, 1879 and settled four miles south of Wood River on the Platte. He was a bridge carpenter by trade and also was a farmer. He had served as a soldier in the Civil War and was very active in G. A. R. circles in Hall County. Being a man of sound character, he wa^' frequently elected to public office, and served several terms as road overseer and county assessor.

Charles D. Evans had some school training after coming to Hall County. He has always led an active life and from the age of fourteen years has practically taken care of himself. In boyhood days he earned a small wage as a cattle herder. He developed skill in managing horses, and while with the Bar A ranch in Colorado had a reputation for his feats of horsemanship. After coming back to Hall County he engaged in farming. On July 24, 1892, Mr. Evans married Miss Cora M. Irish, of Menlo, Iowa, the daughter of Jesse P. and Mary A. (Craig) Irish, the former, born in the state of New York, was eight years old when he was taken to Illinois and later to eastern Iowa. Mrs. Evans's mother was born at Blue Grass, Scott County, Iowa. After marriage the parents of Mrs. Evans removed to Adair County,Iowa, where they spent the rest of their lives. They had two sons and three daughters : Orlando E., Mrs. Annette J. Sill, Roscoe E.,Cora M. and Arthur O. Before becoming acquainted with Mr. Evans, Mrs. Evans had come to Boone County, Nebraska, to pay a visit to relatives.

Mr. and Mrs. Evans have three sons and one daughter, as follows: Roy E., in the United States navy, enlisted in the service of his country just before completing his course in the York Business College, photograph and his service record will be found in the soldier section of this work; Mary E., who taught school for one year after graduating from the Shelton high school, was married in 1916 to Arthur A. Harris, a farmer in Buffalo County, and they have one daughter ; Carl E, whose army service record may be found in the soldier section of this work, enlisted April 2, 1917, and upon release returned to the employ of the B. & M. railroad, with which he has been connected as a telegrapher since the age of sixteen years. He married May 17, 1918, Miss Hattie Mathew, of Wood River; and Everett B!, who is a schoolboy of seven years. Mr. Evans himself has an honorable milhary record, having served three years as a member of Company C, Second Nebraska National Guard. This shows that for three

Mr. and Mrs. Evans are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. They both belong to the Fraternal Aid Union. In politics he is a sturdy Republican. Of genial temperament and gifted with true wit, Mr. Evans is a welcome addition to any circle. His many friends find much enjoyment and cheer in listening to his humorous way of looking at

DANIEL O'KANE, one of Wood River's well known, respected, patriotic citizens, for many years was in the employ of the Union Pacific Railroad as telegrapher and agent. He was born in Ogle County, Illinois, October 24, 1855, and is one of a family of eight children born to Joseph and Mary (Davey) O'Kane.

Daniel came to Nebraska with his parents in the spring of 1874 and located in Willow Island, Dawson County, securing a section of land three miles northeasl^ of Gothenburg. Subsequently the father served one term as county commissioner in Dawson County. Daniel had attended school in Illinois, and was about twenty years old when he began to work for the government at North Platte, Nebraska, putting up hay for the cavalry regiments at Forts McPherson and Russell. In 1876 he worked on railroad construction and at the same time studied telegraphy, making such rapid progress that in 1877 he secured a position as operator and extra agent. On July 12, 1878 he was transferred to Fort ^NlcPherson in the capacity of night operator, and transferred from there, December 23, 1879, to Alda, Nebraska, as agent and operator for the Union Pacific. He remained at Alda the following ten years, when he was sent to Overton, where he remained until 1903 and in the next year retired from railroad service. For about three yeas he conducted a store in Kearney and then came to Wood River. Having so long been in "the tide of events" as it were, Mr. O'Kane feels that he is not ready entirely to retire, and in order to keep somewhat in touch with active aiTairs and passing events, he keeps himself busily engaged as a clerk in the Wood River post office.

On January 17, 1882, Mr. O'Kane married Miss Anna Mitchell, at Alda, Nebraska, who was born at Milford, Indiana, August 9, 1862. Her parents were Thomas and Frances H. (Self) Mitchell, the latter of whom died December 15, 1869, leaving two sons and three daughters, Mrs. O'Kane being the only surviving daughter. She was eight years old when she accompanied her father to Nebraska, where in 1871 he homesteaded near the present site of Alda, starting a little store at this location which was also the post office. Two years later he endeavored to cultivate his land but for two seasons the grasshoppers devoured all the result of his hard work, and he gave up the attempt. Accompanied then by his daughter and son, Frank, Mr. Mitchell went to Iowa with the intention of working there for sufficient capital to continue effort on his Nebraska land in the future. He had suffered a great shock in the year previously in the accidental death of his son Elmer. When the great exodus came to the Black Hills, Mr. Mitchell was one of the first to go to the gold fields from this section and he remained there several years doing very well.

In this connection, Mrs. O'Kane relates an interesting narrative .concerning a trip she made to Deadwood, South Dakota, in 1880, to visit her father. She was about sixteen years old at the time and was accompanied by a young woman a few years older, also going to visit her father. These brave maidens faced many perils on the journey, but safely reached their destination after traveling two days and three nights in a stage coach drawn by six horses. Youth and good spirits carried them through, with the seven other passengers, three of whom were young English prospectors. The stage driver gave the party credit .for being the j oiliest and best natured load he had ever brought up the dangerous Black Hills trail. Mrs. O'Kane remained with her father for a year and then returned to Alda, where she was married to Mr. O'Kane in 1882.

Mr. and Mrs. O'Kane have had three daughters and one son : Mary Mabel, who lived but seven months ; Josephine F., who was united in marriage, October 31, 1903, with John G. Doherty, of Looniis, Nebraska, cashier of the Exchange Bank of Ogalalla, They have five children, Irnia, Helen, Dorothy, Daniel and Kathleen ; Thomas Frank, who volunteered in the service of his country (see soldier section in this work) was graduated from a business college at Amarillo, Texas, then entered the service of the Santa Fe Railroad as rate clerk in the office of the general passenger agent and was filling the position as assistant chief clerk in the passenger department when he volunteered and is still in service ; and Thelma B., a graduate in the class of 1919 from the Wood River high school, and is a graduate also of the Conservatory of Music at Grand Island.

In his political views Mr. O'Kane is a Democrat and is as loyal to the party as he has always been to friends and employers. He is a member of the order of Modern Woodmen of America, while Mrs. O'Kane belongs to the Royal Neighbors and to the M. B. W. She has been one of the hardest workers in the Red Cross movement of the Wood River chapter and has received a beautiful badge and certificate of merit from the head office of the American Red Cross. This was in acknowledgement of having put in eight hundred hours for the cause, although the actual time ^ was much more than that, but it was not only an example of patriotism but a labor of love as well.

PATRICK FAGAN, one of Hall County's well known and highly respected citizens, has been identfied for many years with the management of several of the largest agricultural enterprises of the county, at the same time successfully conducting a large estate of his own. He was bom in the Dominion of Canada, November 13, 1866.

The parents of Mr. Fagan were John and Sarah (McGriskin) Fagan, both of whom were born in Ireland. They came to Canada about 1860, where the father of Mr. Fagan worked as a farmer until 1867, when removal was made to Morgan County, Illinois and the rest of the father's life was spent in the United States. In 1893 he came to Hall County, Nebraska, where he secured a homestead of a quarter section of land, situated in Prairie Creek township, and to the development and improvement of his land he devoted his remaining years. His death occurred in February, 1902. Both he and his wife were faithful members of the Roman Catholic church. They had the following children: William, a prominent farmer in Prairie Creek township; Patrick, who owns a valuable farm in Center township ; Katherine, the wife of Jeft'erson Norris, of Christian County, Illinois ; Mary, who lives at Hot Springs, South Dakota ; Anne, who has taught school in Hall County for twenty years ; Jennie, the wife of George Buckingham, of Chicago; Margaret, the wife of Edward Landrigan, of Ravenna, Buffalo County, Nebraska, and two who died in infancy.

Patrick Fagan had instruction in the country schools near his father's farm in Illinois. When he started out in life for himself he worked on farms for $15 a month, which was considered a fair wage at that time. He came first to Hall County in 1889 and in a short time returned to Illinois but three years later returned to spend a year before going to Wyoming, where he had many cattle and range experiences. In 1899 he settled in Hall County and has since made his home here. Mr. Fagan owns a farm of two hundred acres of land in Center township, which is well stocked and yields a satisfactory income. He is best known, however, for his successful management of two extensive ranches, having been for sixteen years the manager of the McDonald ranch, and at present manager of the great Taylor ranch, which is the largest ranch in the county, an account of which will be found elsewhere in this volume.

On May 12, 1901, Patrick Fagan married Miss Mary Donigan, who was born in Morgan County, Illinois, but her parents were natives of Ireland. Mr. and Mrs. Fagan have had four children born to them, three of whom are living: Clara, John and Margaret. Mr. Fagan and his family are members of the Roman Catholic church. He belongs to the Knights of Columbus and the Elks. In politics Mr. Fagan votes according to his own excellent judgment. He is an independent Republican.

. GEORGE FREDERICK has long been a resident of Hall County and for many years was actively engaged in farming pursuits, but for the past seven years has been living retired.

Mr. Frederick was born in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, April 5, 1844. His father, Christopher Frederick, was a native of the same province and when sixteen years of age came to America and worked at the trade of miller in New York and Boston. He remained here till he became twenty-one years of age, and often spoke of having voted for Andrew Jackson for president. He returned to Germany and married Margaret Keller. When the revolution of 1848 came on he again came to America, bringing his family and establishing his home in New York City. A few years later he moved to Franklin County, Indiana, and here he and his wife both passed away.

George Frederick was five years old when brought to America and grew to manhood in Franklin County, Indiana. In 1864, at the last call for volunteers, he enlisted in Company F, One Hundred Forty-sixth Indiana Regiment of Infantry and served till the end of the war, being mustered out in September, 1865. After the war he returned to Indiana and became a farmer, residing there until 1889, when he came to Hall County, Nebraska, and settled in Cameron township. He was sucessful in his chosen vocation and became the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of land which he cultivated until 1912, when he sold his farm and retired to Wood River, where he occupies a comfortable home, surrounded with all the necessities and many of the luxuries of life.

Mr. Frederick was married in Franklin County, Indiana, to Miss Catherine Keough, who was born in Hamilton, Butler County, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Frederick have two children: Otto, is cashier of a bank at Hanna, Wyoming; and Owen, an expert mechanic, in Wood River.

NEWTON WESLEY HENDERSON, a well known and competent farmer of Hall County for a number of years, is well remembered in Jackson township for his many traits of sterling character. He was born in Fulton County, Illinois, December 5, 1886, and died on his' farm in Hall County, October 19, 1909. He was the fifth in a family of nine children born to Elijah J. and Sarah E. (Watson) Henderson. His father was born in Fayette County, Ohio, April 22, 1835, and his mother in Indiana, September 18, 1832.

Newton Wesley Henderson was nineteen years old when he accompanied his parents to Nebraska in 1885, and had been well educated in the schools of his native state. The family settled in South Jackson township. Hall County, and he remained at home assisting his father as long as he was needed, then worked on neighboring farms until 1894, when he became a farmer on his own responsibility, and so continued until the close of his life. He carried on his farm operations with much success, was a kind husband and father and was neighborly and just in the community.

On December 8, 1897, Mr. Henderson married Miss Emma A. Alberts, of Jackson township. Hall County, a daughter of Gottlieb H. and Lena C. (Majweskey) Alberts, the former of whom was born January 1, 1822, at Baden, Germany, and the latter, February 7, 1838, in Mecklenburg, Germany. Mrs. Henderson's father was left an orphan in his youth. Before coming to the United States, he had served in the German army according to law, and after he reached this country, found it embroiled in civil war and re-entered military service, as a member of the Thirty-third New York Infantry. He served two and a half years, participating in many battles and at Fredericksburg received an injury to his knee that troubled him all the rest of his life. When he crossed the ocean to America, it was in a sailing vessel that was unskillfully managed, for the captain lost his bearings and while drifting far out of its course, provisions almost gave out.

Mr. Alberts remained on a farm in the vicinity of Syracuse, New York, after his military service was over, until 1871. In the meanwhile he had married a young lady who had crossed the ocean alone and had gone to the home of a brother near Syracuse, and to this marriage three sons and one daughter were born, Mrs. Henderson being the daughter, all natives of Hall County except the eldest son. As noted above, the Alberts family came here in 1871 and in the fall of the year Mr. Alberts homesteaded in Jackson township. Like other settlers of that time, this family passed through many hardships, trough loss of crops on account of unseasonable weather and the pest grasshoppers, and through the drowning of their cattle and horses in the Platte river, in the memorable blizzard that occurred Easter Sunday, in the early seventies. The family never sufifered from lack of food, however, for wild game was plentiful, and they even had enough at all times, to generously divide with the vagrant Indians who were never ashamed to beg. On the other hand, as Mrs. Henderson relates, they demanded the best their hosts could supply, always refusing corn bread if they saw white bread. Mr. Alberts erected a house for his family but when it was paid for he had only $5 left as his capital^ with which to face the future. In the estimation of everyone, he was a fine man.

For about four years after marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Henderson lived on a farm north of Wood River and then removed to the Alberts homestead in Jackson township. They became the parents of three sons: Ralph W., Earl A. and Elijah R. Ralph W. Henderson was born October 19, 1898, was in military service and accompanied the American Expeditionary Force to France. His record appears in the soldier section of this publication. He returned home safely with duty well performed, and is assisting his mother on the homestead. Earl A., who was born April U, 1900, and Elijah R., who was born iMarch 18, 1904, are also engaged in farm pursuits on the home farm, and all three are reliable, steady, highly respescted young men. During the World War, Mrs. Henderson was continuously active in Red Cross work, going into Wood River for supplies and taking them home to make into the articles most needed, her kind heart at all times overflowing with good will and sympathy for the sick and

DAVID L. MINOR. - Hall County, Nebraska is indebted to the state of Iowa for some of its most worthy citizens. From that state came the Minor family, a leading representative of which in this section is David L. Minor, a progressive man, large landowner and prosperous farmer.

David L. Minor was bom in Marion County, Iowa, January 25, 1866. His parents were William and Rebecca (Lyons) Minor, natives of Kentucky, he being the fifth born in their family of ten children, the other survivors being: Alice, the wife of R. A. Koepke ; Richard, located in Colorado; Mary, a resident of Iowa; William, a citizen of Grand Island ; and Daisy, the wife of a Mr. Forsher. The father was a carpenter by trade, an occupation he followed before locating in Hall County in 1892 and for years afterward followed the same vocation. His death occured in 1909.

In the excellent schools of his native state, David L. Minor obtained his education and prior to establishing himself in Hall County with his parents, followed farming in Iowa. His first land in the county was a tract of eighty acres which he purchased soon after becoming a resident and to which he added until he now owns four hundred acres. Mr. Minor is a farmer with modern progressive ideas and his varied farm activities are carried on scientifically. His beautiful home situated on section eleven. Center township, is one of the finest rural residences in this part of the country. Mr. Minor and his family enjoy all the advantages which make modern farm life agreeable, being near enough to Grand Island to participate in city affairs when they so desire.

November 2, 1892 Mr. Minor married Miss Carrie Anderson who was also born in Marion County, Iowa. They have three children : Lloyd William, Leatha and Laurel, all residing at home. Mrs. Minor belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church. In politics Mr. Minor has always given his support to the Democratic party.

MARTIN MATTISON. - There are few families in South Jackson township, Hall County, more respected or better established than the Mattisons, father and two sons all owning valuable land, all enterprising and progressive, and all types of thorough American citizens. Martin Mattison was born in Den-

Martin was eleven years old when he accompanied his parents, five brothers and one sister, to the United States in 1868 and after locating at Nebraska City, Nebraska, Mr. Mattison remembers the building of the first railroad there and recollects the day he started to school but never reached the building because of the necessity he felt of observing the ferrying across the Missouri river of the first engine for the new road. The family continued to live in Nebraska City until 1872," when the father took a homestead in Lancaster County, south of Lincoln. That section, like others in the state, suffered in early days from the grasshoppers and the climatic changes that ruined many a fine crop, but the parents of Mr. Mattison were sturdy, resourceful people, and they never lost courage as did many of the neighboring settlers. Martin remained with his father and assisted in operating the homestead until his marriage in 1886. For three years after that event he rented and operated land in Lancaster County. In 1889 he went to Colorado, where he remained eight years, in the meanwhile homesteading one hundred and sixty acres in Arapahoe County and engaged in farming and stock raising. Then he returned to Nebraska, resided on a rented farm in Adams County until 1906, when he came to Hall County and bought a farm of eighty acres situated in South Jackson township, two miles southeast of Shelton and eight miles southwest of Wood River, an admirable location. Here he carries on general farming and raises enough stock for his own use. . , ,j.

In July, 1886, Mr. Mattison married Miss Elizabeth Albers. She was bom at Garnavillo, Clayton County, Iowa, and accompanied her parents to Nebraska in 1867. She is the youngest in a family of four children born to Henry and Margaret (Hubby) Albers. Her father was a blacksmith by trade and after coming to Nebraska, homesteaded in Lancaster County. Mr. and Mrs. Mattison have two sons and one daughter: George, Rosa and Henry. George was bom in Lancaster County, is a graduate of the Ayer public school in Adams County, and is assisting his father on the home farm. Rosa was born in Lancaster County and also is a graduate of the Ayer public school. Henry, who was born in Arapahoe County, Colorado, also completed his school course in Adams County. For a short time he was in military service and his record appears in the soldier section of this work. He is at present assisting his father but is also interested as an automobile mechanic. Both sons of Mr. Mattison are property owners, and their one hundred acres of land one mile south of the homestead and in the river bottom, will prove a profitable investment. The family belongs to the Lutheran church. In politics Mr. Mattison is a strong Republican but has never been willing to accept any public office except membership on the school board. During the period of the World War he proved the quality of his Americanism by purchasing bonds and giving liberally to the Red Cross and other organizations.

MICHAEL L. CRONIN, one of Cameron township's farmers and stockmen, has been a resident of Hall County since he came here in 1888, and he has prospered here through his industry and good management. Mr. Cronin was born January 6, 1856, at Charleston, Coles County, Illinois. His parents were Jeremiah and Mary Cronin, both of whom were born in Ireland and were married there, coming to the United States on their honeymoon. They settled first in Indiana and then removed to Coles County, Illinois, and from there into Greene County in the same state. Of their twelve children there are but two survivors : Michael L. and his sister, Mrs. Kate Thompson, whose husband is a railroad engineer.

In boyhood Michael L. Cronin attended school as opportunity offered, and he grew to manhood industriously incHned with a desire to become a farmer and stockraiser. In 1888 he came to Hall County, Nebraska, and brought with him sufficient capital to buy land that was already improved, farming for five years near Wood River. In 1892 he purchased his present farm where he raises horses, cattle and hogs, his annual average being twenty head of cattle and eighty head of hogs. Mr. Cronin is now numbered with Cameron township's substantial farmers but he can easily recall times past when he offered to sell com at eighty cents a bushel only to have it refused, when eggs sold for five cents a dozen, and when the highest price for cattle and hogs wafs $1.25 per hundred weight. As for potatoes, which so recently all over the country were in the list of luxuries, he could not give them away.

In 1881 before coming to Nebraska, Mr. Cronin married Johanna Welsh, who was bom August 29, 1857, in Missouri. Her parents were Thomas and Margaret (Hartnett) Welsh, the former of whom was bom in County Limerick and the latter in County Cork, Ireland. From Missouri they removed to Montgomery County, Illinois, where the mother of Mrs. Cronin died, but her father died in Missouri at the age of fifty-eight years. Nine children were bom to Mr. and Mrs. Cronin, the two youngest being deceased : Michael, who passed away at the age of fifteen years, and Katherine, who was aged one year and nine months. AH the others have been given every advantage their father has been able to afford them and the family is a very united one, all but two children still remaining with their parents. The list is as follows : John, a farmer and also conducts a garage at Saint Libory, in Howard County ; Marie N., Joanna and Statia, all of whom live at home ; Patrick, who entered the National army July 28, 1918; Thomas Francis, who assists his father, and Daniel William, a graduate of the Spalding school and may study a profession. Mr. Cronin and his family are members of the Roman Catholic church. In politics he has always been a Democrat.

NOLAN PATRICK LACEY. - No people are better known or more highly respected in South Jackson township, Hall County, than the Laceys, who came here by ox-team in 1878, and now own some of the most valuable land in this section. The early history of the family is exceedingly interesting, with its pioneering features and military exploits, while its later records are no less so because of its sturdy character and solid American citizenship both in peace and war.

Nolan Patrick Lacey was born at St. Louis, Missouri, October 28, 1844, the son of Patrick and Mary (Nolan) Lecey, natives of Ireland. They had four sons and two daughters, Nolan Patrick being the eldest of the family. He lived with his parents until he was eighteen years of age. At the outbreak of the Civil War he enlisted in 1862 in the Union army and was placed in the ordnance department. Afterward he served until the war's close with a gtmboat crew, and was honorably discharged. On account of trouble with the Indians on the frontier, effort was made to increase the LTnited States regular army, and Mr. Lacey, as a seasoned soldier responded. When the regulars marched across the plains under the command of General Morrow, Mr. Lacey was made first sergeant of Company G, Thirtysixth Infantry. They were stationed at Camp Baker, Montana, and placed under the command of General Gibbons. Much trouble ensued with the Indians, although the most serious encounters with the Sioux on the Yellowstone river occurred after Mr. Lacey had returned to private life. Warfare with the teacherous Indians was however full of danger. He served out his term of enlistment, which ended in 1869, in the meanwhile having been married, and for seven years afterward resided at Salt Lake City, Mr. Lacey during this time, working in the silver mines.

On September 25, 1869, at Fort Douglas, Utah, Mr^ Lacey married Miss Nancy Hershey, whom he first met in the fall of 1868. She was born January 7, 1848, in Pleasant Valley, Wisconsin, a daughter of Henry and Caroline (Good) Hershey. Her father was born in Canada and her mother in Pennsylvania. She takes pride in the fact that for two hundred years her ancestors have been Americans, coming originally to this continent from Switzerland. Henry Hershey, father of Mrs. Lacey had true pioneering spirit. He was twelve years old when he came to the United States, following the death of his father, and went to live with a brother in Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, where he learned the millwright trade. He was twenty-one years old when he married Caroline Good, to which union three sons and five daughters were born, Mrs. Lacey being the fourth oldest child. Mr. and Mrs. Hershey lived in Canada for a short time after their marriage. Later, prior to the birth of Mrs. Lacey, they moved to Wisconsin. Then Mr. Hershey became interested in the little town of \\'arsaw, Minnesota, which, through the efforts of himself and brother, was colonized by Norwegians. In 1856 he built a grist mill and also a sawmill on the Canyon river, but pushed on into Nebraska six years later, arriving in a little settlement named Florence, the present site of the city of Omaha, in the winter of 1861.

It must be remembered that the Hersheys traveled very differently from the way people do in these days. There were no speedy automobiles at that time, in fact there were no railroads and but few horses to be had. Mrs. Lacey tells in a most interesting way of the winter journey in a prairie schooner drawn by oxen, in constant fear of savage Indians and very often during that winter the family fled to the blockhouse for protection. In the following July they left Omaha with a wagon train of sixty-three wagons, from two to three yoke of oxen being attached to each wagon, traveling slowly and in constant danger, finally reaching Salt Lake City by the way of the old Mormon trail. As noted above, Mr. and Mrs. Lacey livel at Salt Lake City until 1878, when they came to Nebraska, Mrs. Lacey making her second ox-team trip over the same trail on the way back. They located in Hall County where Mr. Lacey took a preemption and timber claim in South Jackson township, and this has been the family home ever since. To Mr. and Mrs. Lacey the following children were born : Frank J., Mary M., Nolan H., Caroline E., Walter D., William W., Emma D., Edward L. and Leonard C. Frank J., who is foreman in a large packing plant at Ontario, Southern California, married Emma Kesterson, and they have five sons and two daughters. Mary M. is the wife of Ward Allen, who is a market gardener and poultry fancier at Tulsa, Oklahoma. They have one son and one daughter. Nolan H. is the successful home farmer, operates the one hundred and sixty acres of fine land according to modern methods. On May 10, 1915, he married in Grand Island, Miss Ora E. Lippincott, who was born at Kearney, Nebraska. Her parents afterward moved to Elm Island, on the Platte River, southeast of Shelton, and she was educated there. Caroline E. is the wife of Francis L. Johnson, working with a Grand Island construction company. They have four sons and two daughters. Walter D. is a farmer in South Jackson township, near the Platte River, married SarabelleVaith. William W. is farming with his brother Walter D., married Etta C. Comer, and they have one daughter. Emma D. is with her brother in California. Edward L., who has returned from military service in the World War, is now working as a machinist at Sterling, Colorado, and his record appears in the soldier section of this work. Leonard C, whose honorable record as a soldier also appears in the soldier section of this work, is engaged in farming near New Castle, Wyoming. Mrs. Lacey and her family are justly proud of what she accomplished in Red Cross work, during the World War, for she not only provided comforts for her own sons, but knit eight additional sweaters and was one of the leading members of the Red Cross chapter at Shelton. She is a member of the Re-organized church of the Latter Day Saints, which has its headquarters at Independence, Missouri.

LEWIS C. BATTERSON. - An interesting story appears in the relation of the early life in Hall County of one of its most highly esteemed pioneers, Lewis C. Batterson, who is, also, one of the county's most substantial citizens. Like many other of the representative men of the county, he came from Ohio, and was born in Williams County, May 24, 1848. His parents were natives of Connecticut and of

Lewis C. Batterson came to Hall County, in November, 1872, homesteaded and has remained here ever since. He is located in section thirty, town nine, range twelve, and is the owner of four hundred and six acres all in one body, in Grand Island, and no finer land can be found in the county. After coming here he built himself a dugout, did his own housekeeping, and had one yoke of oxen and fifteen head of cattle that he had brought with him. On April 13, 1873, when a storm started, Mr. Batterson thought it best to drive his cattle out of the corrall down to the river until is should abate. He found so much to worry over in regard to his unprotected cattle during the next three days of furious storm, that he almost forgot that his little home was buried under snow and that he had neither fire nor anything to eat. When the storm finally exhausted itself, he managed to dig a path so that he could look for his cattle. He found that down by the river where the snow had drifted to the tops of trees that were thirty feet high, it had a crust so hard he could walk on the top of it. It was a sorrowful sight when at length he discovered his stock, for all were dead except one ox and one little calf that had found protection under the body of the ox. Thinking he would go back and bring the ox some corn, Mr. Batterson started, but almost human-like, the poor animals struggled after him, on the top of the snow, over the tree tops, finally reaching the half buried dugout.

At that time an ox team was worth $175 and it was indeed discouraging to see his stock, his entire capital, thus wrenched from him. The comforts of his old home in Ohio came back to him as he sorrowfully considered his condition and he finally decided to leave Nebraska and return to his native state. Hence he ofTered his one ox for sale at $30, which would buy his railroad ticket to the old Buckeye state. Fortunately no one in his neighborhood had the above amount, and just at that time Mr. Batterson was sensible enough to listen to the practical suggestions of another settler, who reminded him that if he remained and proved up his land, he could sell at an advance, and in the meawhile things might take a turn for the better. He paid a man $1.50 a day to help him skin his dead cattle, hired an ox-team to haul the hides nine miles to Gibbon, sold them there only to be told that he could not be paid under a week. The bill amounted to $30 and Mr. Batterson afterward made two trips on foot to collect his money, on neither occasion finding his debtor at home. In fact he never received one farthing of it, the man leaving the country. In the meantime, however, Mr.Batterson had made friends and a neighbor was willing to be security for him when he bought other oxen, for which he paid $60. With this team he broke sod and planted corn, also found work at fifty cents a day. He had one more discouraging experience before becoming well established. He hired out to a logging company at Laramie, Wyoming, for $3 a day and worked until he had earned $150, when the company declined to pay on the excuse that bankers had an attachment on the timber and the company could do nothing.

In the fall of 1874, Mr. Batterson returned to Ohio and on February 23, 1875, married Miss Minerva Cooper, of Williams County, a daughter of Griffith and Nancy (Amsbaugh) Cooper, the father a native of Virginia and the mother of Pennsylvania. After marriage Mr. Batterson returned with his young wife and they started housekeeping, in the little frame shanty he had erected, twelve by fourteen. In the next spring he built a sod addition for a kitchen. It was a happy home although there is a great contrast between that and the present commodious farm house with its modern comforts. To. Mr. and Mrs. Batterson three daughters were born all three now m homes of their own within easy reach of their parents. The eldest, Delia, is the wife of C. H. Bly, and they live on a farm about four miles southwest of Wood River. They have three sons. Carrie, the second daughter, is the wife of S. P. Burmood and they live onehalf mile east of the home place, and have two sons and one daughter. Blanche, the third daughter, is the wife of G. L. Burmood, a farmer located four miles south of Wood River, and they have two daughters.

Mr. Batterson is one of the honored veterans of the Civil War. When sixteen years old, in February, 1865, he enlisted in Company D, One Hundred Ninety-fifth Ohio Infantry, and took part, as a man, in the closing campaigns of the war, serving in the Shenandoah Valley. When the war closed he was sent to Baltimore, then to Washington, D. C, then to Alexandria and finally to Camp Chase, Ohio, where he was mustered out and received his honorable discharge in December, 1865. He then went to Iowa for awhile, in 1871 to Kansas, and from there traveling in a covered wagon, with his precious bunch of cattle, reached Hall County in 1872. Although there is no necessity, Mr. Batterson still looks after his own affairs to a large extent himself. Both

CLARENCE M. LOWRY, who has lived on his original homestead in Hall County, Nebraska, ever since he secured it forty-four years ago, is widely known in this section for he has been an active, useful, public-spirited citizen. He had many trying experiences in the settlement and developing his land. He was one of the earliest to agitate and give assistance in the adjustment of such public matters as the organization of schools and the improvement of roads. He now owns two hundred and sixty-six acres of cultivated land.

Mr. Lowry was bom near La Fayette, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, February 4. 1854. His parents were William Harrison and Sarah Lowry, the latter of whom lived to be ninety years old. Mr. Lowry's father was born in Ohio, later became a farmer in Indiana, still later came to Nebraska and died in Nemaha County when fifty years old. The record of his children reads as follows: Alexander, who is deceased ; Mrs. Rebecca Crompton, who is deceased; Mrs. Sarah J- Hall, a widow, lives in Idaho; Samuel, who lives on his ranch in Texas ; Harrison, deceased ; John, who is deceased ; Mrs. Margaret Denman, who is deceased; and Clarence M., who lives in Hall County. Harrison, John and James were soldiers during the Civil War, enlisting from Nebraska but as there was no recruiting station here they had to go to Iowa to enter the service.

When Clarence Malcom Lowry was four years old his parents brought him to Nemaha County, Nebraska. He attended the country schools when opportunity came but his boyhood and early youth held many responsibilities. He gave his father assistance on the home farm until 1872, when he came to Hall County and has lived here ever since. Coming here so early, he encountered many pioneer hardships that later settlers escaped. The great blizzard of 1873 that finds a record in state history, was probably the most calamitous of all the severe storms through which Mr. Lowry passed, although subsequent ones, the later years of drouth, and the pest of grasshoppers were all serious matters enough to discourage men of less resolution than Mr. Lowry. In 1873 he took up a homestead where he has since resided, being the only settler in this section who has done so. His property has been well improved and his sur-

In Hall County, February 4, 1877, Mr. Lowry married Miss Maggie Dufford, whose parents were born and reared in Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Lowry have seven children : Mrs. Delia Meseraull, who lives in Doniphan ; Archibald, who lives near Anselmo in Custer County; Mrs. Nettie Herr resides on a farm in Hamilton County ; Robert a farmer in Hall County ; Mrs. Gertrude Crawford, who lives in Hall County; and Fay and Rolland, both of whom are at home. As soon as Mr. Lowry became a land owner in the county and felt assured that the Indians yet in evidence were only thieving and not hostile he began to agitate for the organization of schools, believing this to be one of the first helps to good and intelligent citizenship. Afterward he served as a school director for twenty years. In the early times the transportation question was a very serious one and Mr. Lowry did his full part in bringing about the building of roads and later served four years in the office of road overseer. As a man of long experience and practical ideas, his suggestions on many subjects relating to the public welfare carry weight with his fellow citizens. He has been a Mason for many years being identified with the lodge at Doniphan.

JOHN C. McGpWAN, one of Hall County's representative farmers and stockraisers, a heavy land owner and honorable, upright citizen, was born April 4, 1880, at Wilton Center, Will County, Illinois. He is the eldest of a family of two sons and three daughters born to Michael and Mary A. (Shields) McGowan. His father was born in Ireland and his mother in Illinois.

John C. McGowan was brought to Nebraska by his parents in 1883. After his father came to the United States, he remained in the state of New York for eight years, then went to Illinois and was married there in April, 1879. After coming to Nebraska, he bought one hundred and sixty acres of land at $12.50 an acre, situated near Rising City in Butler County, and still lives there. In the schools of Butler County, John C. McGowan received his education, and afterward became a farmer and in association with his father and brother, acquired a six hundred acre tract in Butler County. In the spring of 1916 he came to Hall County and began improving the land the family had purchased ten years before in sections two and three, town nine, range twelve. He now has charge of seven hundred and twenty acres all under cvultivation except seventy-five acres in alfalfa and one hundred and sixty in pasture, of which he owns four hundred and forty. The property is improved with a large two-story frame house, substantial barns, cattle corrals and hog sheds. He is doing remarkably well in cattle and hogs, taking his 1919 record, which shows that so far he has sold fifty head of hogs averaging two hundred and forty pounds, and has another car of hogs ready, also fifty head of fat cattle, mostly White Face, that will average 1,100 pounds. He has ten head of work horses and mules, and attends to affairs over his large estate by driving a Chandler automobile. He keeps in touch with agricultural progress in this and other sections through membership in the Farmers' Grange of district twentyseven, and is financially interested in the Farmers Elevator association of Wood River. On September 12, 1916, Mr. McGowan married Miss Margaret C. Branigan, of Shelby, Nebraska. She is the ninth in a family of twelve children born to Maurice and Nora (Burke) Branigan, natives of Ireland, who were married at Columbus, Nebraska. The father of Mrs. McGowan was a section foreman in the construction of the railroad from Columbus west to Egbert, Wyoming. After leaving the railroad in 1889 he moved on his homestead near Clear Creek, Polk County, Nebraska, where he followed farming until the close of his life, in 1905. The mother of Mrs. McGowan still lives on the farm and owns two hundred and forty acres. Mrs. Mc- Gowan has been very active in Red Cross work and has taken special interest in the noble work done by the Knights of Columbus along the same line. Mr. McGowan is a member of this organization. Both belong to St. Mary's Catholic church at Wood River.

CHARLES A. DAHLSTROM. - In recalling the fine men of Hall County now passed away mention must be made of Charles August Dahlstrom, who, for many years was known and respected here. He came to Hall County with but little to show for the hard labor of a long period before, but when he died, December 14, 1911, he left a rich man's estate, owning one thousand and forty acres of well improved land.

Charles August Dahlstrom was born in Sweden, April 20, 1856, a son of August Hockhanson Dahlstrom. After completing his elementary education he attended an agri- cultural college at Wennersborg, Sweden, for two years. In 1879 he came to the United States and found his first work in a factory at Boston, Massachusetts. From there he went to Omaha. After working on a fann near that city for a time, he removed to Polk County, where he engaged in farming for about fifteen years. He then came to Hall County and remained until the end of his life, an honest, steady, hard-working farmer. He was unusually successful after coming here, soon acquiring a fine farm and when he died left not only a fine inheritance in a material way, but a good name, and a family that reflects still further credit on it. He was a large cattle owner and feeder, often marketing five hundred head of cattle and six hundred head of hogs a year. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church in Grand Island, and belonged to the Modern Woodmen at the same place.

In Polk County Mr. Dahlstrom was united in marriage to Miss Fanny Spong, the ceremony taking place November 11, 1883. Five children were born to them : George a farmer in Holt County; Nora, the wife of E. J. Long, a member of one of the old pioneer families of Hall County; Frank Richards, who served one year in the National army in the aviation department, attended the Massachusetts School of Technology, then was stationed at Brookfield, Texas, where, as a lieutenant he had charge of the operation of 62 aeroplanes for the government ; Fannie May, in the employ of the government at Washington, D. C, and Neva, who resides with her mother at Alda, after seven months in a government position at Washington. Mr. Dahlstrom was a Democrat in his political views but he could never be induced to accept a political office.

WILLIAM R. CUNNINGHAM, in the employ of the Fairmont Creamery Company, of Grand Island, is a native of the neighboring state of Iowa, and was bom in Mills County, December 24, 1871.

His parents, Alexander and Carrie S. (Slater) Cunningham, were natives of Pennsylvania, the father was born in Fulton County and the mother in Washington County. They were married July 4, 1865, and for many years resided in Iowa where the father followed the occupation of farming. In 1898 they became residents of Nebraska. Alexander Cunningham was a soldier in the Civil War, having served the full three years and was one of those fortunate enough +o serve a full term and return home without having been wounded. He was

William R. was the fourth child in a family of six, and was reared on a farm. His education was acquired in the public schools of Iowa, and he also attended the Western Normal College at Shenandoah. His parents then removed to Missouri, and there he assisted his father in the operation of a farm.

August 21, 1895, occurred the marriage of William R. Cunningham and Miss Balsa L. Peery, who was born in Nodaway County, August 31, 1877, Her parents are Granville and Amanda E. (Harlan) Peery. They were both natives of Missouri, the father born in Grundy County and the mother in Gentry County. Granville Peery was left an orphan at the age of seven years and became one of the early settlers of Nodaway County where he engaged in farming until he retired. He and his wife now live at Elmo, Missouri. Mrs. Cunningham was fifth in a family of twelve children and by her marriage has become the mother of seven children, as follows : Oren E., a young man of twenty-two, is a member of the American Expeditionary Force, and is nov/ in France in the service of his country (see his record and photograph in the soldiers section). Urah J., is a graduate of the Grand Island high school and is in her junior year at the Kearney State Normal School, and will teach the coming year; Eldon P., is a junior in the Grand Island high school, and is, during his vacation employed by the Fremont Creamery Company; Verle E., aged fifteen, and Royle R., are attending school ; one child, William E., died in infancy; and Harlan E., aged four, completes the family.

The family are members of the Christian church in the work of which they are very active. Mrs. Cunningham is treasurer of the Dorcas Society. During the war she was a liberal supporter and great worker in the doings of the Red Cross.

Mr. Cunningham and his family came to Grand Island seven years ago and for a time he was employed by the American Express Company. He then was an employe of the Fairmont Creamery Company. On the 13th of August, 1919, he went back to the express company. Since coming to this city they have made themselves valuable members of the best cociety and are held in the highest esteem by all who know them.

of three years. He was born in Knox County, Illinois, July 26, 1885. His parents were Archibald M. and Rachel (McCormick) Ray, of whom mention is made on another page of this volume, in a sketch prepared for William Wallace Ray.

Robert Bruce Ray was reared on a farm and attended the country schools, later entering the high school in Tecuniseh, after which he became a student in the State Normal at Peru, Nebraska, from which he was graduated with the class of 1906. For three years he successfully engaged in teaching school, and then for a time he solicited as a canvasser of books. Since 1910 he has been a salesman for the Walrath and Sherwood Lumber Company, and maintains his home in Grand Island. He took a soldier's part in the great World War, as will be seen from his record in the military chapter of this history.

On January 2, 1907, Mr. Ray married Miss Mary Phoebe Sheppard, who was born near Shelby, Polk County, Nebraska. Her parents are William H. and Harriet W. (Ware) Sheppard, who were among the early settlers in Polk County and it is said that they erected the first frame dwelling in that neighborhood.

Mr. and Mrs. Ray are the parents of three children: Harriet Rachel, born November 5. 1907; Willa Gertrude, born August 11, 1909; and Robert Brtice, Jr., born January 2, 1915.

He is a member of the Masonic, B. P. O. E. and U. C. T. lodges. The family occupy a comfortable home which they own, at 324 Wes Tenth street.

WILLIAM WALLACE RAY. - Because centrally located, together with the fact that it offers unusually good accommodations in the way of railway travel. Grand Island is a very desirable place to live in the capacity of travelling salesman. The subject of this record is one of those who have found it convenient to avail himself of the opportunities thus afforded and has made his home in Grand Island for the past seventeeen years.

William Wallace Ray was born in Yates City, Knox County, Illinois, October 2, 1876. His parents were Archibald M. and Rachel (McCormick) Ray, both of whom were natives of Ireland, the former born at Belfast. May 27, 1846, and the latter in the County of Antrim, August 13, 1850. They were brought to America by their representative parents when twelve years of age. They were married in Douglas County, Illinois, in August, 1874, and the father became a farmer residing in Knox Countv until 1888. When he came to Nebraska he settled near Bladen, and continued to be an agriculturist until his death which occurred August 17, 1897. The mother still resides on the old home place.

William Wallace acquired his education in the public schools of Illinois and Nebraska, his early training being supplemented by a course in the Nebraska State Normal School, at Peru, from which he was graduated with the class of 1902. His early years in business were .devoted to farming, stockraising and teaching. For the past eleven years he has been in the wholesale lumber business, and is vice-president of the Ottawa Lumber Company, which has extensive lumber interests in northern Michigan. Mr. Ray looks after the business of the firm over a wide territory, his field covering a large part of Nebraska, Eastern Colorado and Eastern Wyoming. He is also a stockholder and director in the Bladen Lumber Company of Bladen, Nebraska.

At Bladen, Nebraska, December 29, 1902, was solemnized the marriage of William Wallace Ray and Miss Blanche Gather. Mrs. Ray is a native of Nebraska. She was born near Bladen, October 21 1878. After completing the prescribed course of study taught in the public schools, she became a student in Grand Island College, from which she was graduated with the class of 1901, with the A. B. degree. The parents of Mrs. Ray were George P. and Frances Gather, the former born in Virginia, while the latter was a native of Boston, Massachuesetts and was a graduate of the Mount Holyoke Seminary.

The home of Mr. and Mrs. Ray has been blessed with the birth of three healthy children : George Gather, born November 9, 1907 ; Margaret Blanche, born October 2, 1911; and Frances Eleanor, born October 27, 1913.

A brother of Mrs. Ray was Lieutenant G. P. Gather, Jr., who fell at Cantigny, France, May 28, 1918, being the first Nebraska officer to lose his life in the World War. Lieutenant Gather was a member of the First Division, Twenty-sixth Infantry, being under command of Major Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.

Mr. Ray is a member of several fraternal organizations, being a Mason and has taken both the Knight Templar and Shriner degrees of that organization. His name is also found on the membership of B. P. O. E. and U. C. T. lodges of Grand Island. He exercises the right of franchise in support of men he deems best fitted for the office regardless of party affiliations. He is an ardent admirer of President Woodrow Wilson, who has jwA piloted the United States through one of the most trying times in its historv.

General Index

Doniphan : town of, 132 ; officers in, 134; commercial interests, 136; early settlement near, 146; Methodist church in, 339 ; Congregational church in, 346; its schools, 359; lodges, 385 ; its newspapers,

Grand Island : Fremont's description of, 7; settlement, 12, 15 ; personnel of first colony, 19 ; second colony, 21 ; settlement protected, 27 ; organization of, 101 ; list of officers of, 103; parks, 110; fire department, 111; municipal improvements, 112; revenue and taxation, 115; street railway system, 118; industrial enterprises in, 236 ff; commercial history, 263; hotels, 269; banking in, 297 ; churches, 328; schools in, 351; bonds voted on, 353 ; early census of, 355 ; early graduates from high school, 356 ; fraternal organizations, 392; press in, 395; physicians, 405

Hainline & Son Laundry, 246 Hall, Judge Augustus, biographical sketch of, 183 Hall County, discoveries affecting, 2; settlement of, 10 ff; first things in 23 ; public lands surveyed in, 30 ; early Indians in, 34 ff; effect of Oregon trail on, 57 ; map of, 60; arrival of permanent settlers in ; 64 ; cowboy regnne in, 65 ; earlv days in, 77 ff ; last years of Indian occupation in, 88; townships of, 145 ; township government in, 161 ; list of early voters in, 161 ; organization of, 166 ; first records of, 167; early proceedings of official board of, 168; townships formed, 171; fiftieth anniversary of, 179; part of, in state and federal governments, 181 ; list of senators representing 184; members of lower house of legislature from, 184; representatives from, m early constitutional conventions, 185 ; state officers from, 188;fauna, flora, and natural history of, 195; topography and soil survey of, ^U/, agriculture, live stock and dairying in, 223, 227; beet sugar industry in, 230 ; mdustrial history of, 236; banking in, 297; railroads, 316; churches, 328; schools of, 348; fraternal and social organizations, 368; organized labor in, 392; press of, 395; medical and dental profession, 405; bench and bar, 413; chronological survey of county's progress, 429; in military affairs, 433; in the i World War, 441; list of sons in war, 468

Indians : cause scare in 1864, 14; visit colony in 1858, 21; first massacre by, 25 ; Pawnees treacherous, 28 ; early inhabitants of Hall Countv, 34; the Sioux, 39; outbreak of 1864, 39; raid the Campbell ranch, 41; journeying to the hunt, SO; dance of, 51; horsethieves, S3 ; last years of occupancy of Platte Valley, 88 ff. Immigration Board, 290 Independent Order of Odd

Laundries, 245 Lawyers of Hall County, 423 Lewis and Clark Expedition, 4 Letton, Judge Charles B., describes storm of 1873, 201 Liberty Loan Campaign, 462 Long's Expedition, 7, 37 Loup Valley Packing Company,

Nebraska : beginning of his tory of, 2; changes in territory of, 7 ; initial steps in formation of, 8; territorial government of prior to 1858, 9 ; population in 1857, 11; Pawnees in, 35 ; trails across, 56 if.; first statehood election, 183; in the World War, 441 of Fifth Nebraska Infantry, Pawnees, largest tribe that lived in Nebraska, 35; decay of, 38; Major Frank North and Pawnee bcouts, 40 Penney, Minnie Freeman, a heroine, 203

Red Cross organized, 443; Hall County Chapter of, 451; Grand Island Chapter, 452 ; Women's Executive Committee, 452; membership and financial campaigns, 453

Schools in Hall County, 348; county superintendents, 349; in Grand Island, 359; in Wood River, 360; in Alda, 360 ; in Cairo, 361 ; school population, 362; parochial school, 366

Union Pacific Railway, early history of, 319; local management, 321 ; superintendents, 321 ; mechanical department, 322; list of train and enginemen, 322; station agents, 325; branches, 326

Wood River, first settlers, 14; post office, 74 ; early history of, 120 ; officers of, 121 ; early community buildings in, 124; early commercial interests 129; Citizens State Bank of, 308; Methodist church in, 339; Presbyterian church, 345 ; schools of, 360 ; Masonry in, 372; Rebekah Oddfellowship in, 375 ; lodges of. 385 ; newspapers or, 403