ILLUSTRATED

BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM

OF

NORTHEASTERN NEBRASKA,

 

CONTAINING

 

Full Page Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens.

 

Together with

 

Portraits and Biographies of the Presidents of the United States.

 

Philadelphia

National Publishing Company

Omaha

1893

 

 

Pierce County Biographies

 

Capt. Henry S. Beck

James H. Brown

Lieut. Lyford R. Craig

David W. Elliott

Uriah M. Gable

Charles Gates

John F. Hecht

William H. Mast

Niel M. Nelson

William W. Quivey

Daniel Robinson Jr.

Albert Steinkraus

Joseph L. Stevens

Rufus A. Tawney

Hason Turner

Ferdinand Verges

 

 

           

CAPT. HENRY S. BECK, president of the First National Bank at Pierce, Nebraska, was born in Lancaster, Ohio, April 12, 1837, and is of German descent. His grandfather emigrated to America in 1808.  His father, Jacob Beck was born in Germany in 1804, and when four years of age came to the United States with his parents, who settled in Lancaster at a time when it was little less than a wilder­ness; there he grew up among the few sett­lers, surrounded by the many Indians who then had possession of the country.  What education he received was obtained at private schools.  He was united in marriage at Lan­caster, to Miss Susan Kerns, a native of Pennsylvania.  By this union seven children were born--Mary, wife of Z. Peters, living on a farm near Lancaster, Ohio; George W., a farmer; Jacob K., a farmer of Ohio; H. S., the subject of this sketch; Rev. James, a minister at Columbus, Ohio; Dr. John S., a prominent physician of Dayton, Ohio, who served in the Rebellion as a member of the Ninetieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry; he was mustered out as Quarter-master's Sergeant; Clara, wife of William Hughs, a farmer of Ohio.

 

The father of these children was identified with the Whig party, but was opposed to the extension of slavery in the territories.  He was elected treasurer of his county and served six years.  Mrs. Beck died in 1884; the was a sincere Christian, a devout mem­ber of the Lutheran Church, and highly respected by all who came in contact with her.

 

Captain H. S. Beck was educated in the district schools of the Buckeye State, work­ing on the farm summers and attending school during the winter.  He remained at home on the farm until the breaking out of the Civil War, and at the first call of Abraham Lincoln for "three-hundred thousand men," in November, 1861, he enlisted as a member of Company "I," Forty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was sent to the front at New Madrid and was under General Pope, and was at Pittsburg Landing.  On October 4th he was at Corinth, where the regiment lost Col. J. L. Kirby Smith and one hundred men.  He also took part in the battle of Iuka, and then went to Memphis and was there stationed for a time while the siege of Vicksburg was going on.  He was then sent to Tennessee, where a large portion of the regiment veteranized. After a thirty day's furlough, our sub­ject joined his command at Decatur, Alabama, and participated in the siege and capture of Atlanta, which consumed forty-six days of an engagement.  He was also with General William T. Sherman on his famous "March to the Sea."  During this time he was com­missioned as Captain at Goldsboro, North Carolina, and was present at the surrender of Johnson to General Sherman.  He also had the honor of taking part in that grandest of all military pagents--the Grand Review at Washington, June 1, 1865, a like scene which will never again be presented on the face of the earth.  Our subject was mustered out of service at Louisville, Kentucky, July, 1865, after which he returned to Columbus, Ohio.

 

He was united in marriage in 1868, to Miss Julia Wilson, the daughter of Robert Wilson and wife, of Lancaster, Ohio.  Mrs. Beck died in 1876, leaving one daughter, Nettie, wife of W. A. Spencer, cashier of the Pierce State Bank.  In 1879 Captain Beck came to Lincoln, where he engaged in mercantile business.  In 1882 he came to Pierce, where he has since been engaged in banking.  Politically, he is a supporter of the Republi­can party, and has served as a delegate to the State convention.

 

 

 

JAMES H. BROWN, a real estate dealer and attorney, residing at Pierce, Nebraska, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, June, 1845, of English origin.  S. Brown, the grandfather of our subject, was a native of Pittsfield, where he followed the tanning business.  He married and was the father of four children: George, who was a wholesale merchant in Boston; Nelson, the founder of Pittsfield Medical College at Pitts­field; Mary Ann, who married Judge Holster of Buffalo, New York; James H., the father of our subject, who married Mahitable Barker, who was born in Bangor, Maine, and by this union there were three children born: Mary, who married J. C. Burns, clerk of the District Court in Iowa; James H., of whom we write this notice; Ella A., who married a clergyman of Colorado.  Our subject's father died in Mercer, Pennsylvania, in 1850, his wife surviving until 1873.  Mrs. Brown, however, married for her second husband Edward Conley, by whom three children were born: Emma, Edward and George B.

 

Our subject received his education in Pennsylvania and Iowa, and attended Har- vard College for some time.  He read Law with Edmunds & Ransom, at Iowa City, Iowa, and practiced in St. Louis, but on account of his health came to Nebraska, locating in Pierce County, in the spring of 1870.  He organized the county and laid out the county seat, and is known as the "Father of Pierce County."  Politically, he is a Republican. In 1870 he was elected county clerk and clerk of the District Courts. He was county judge in 1874-75, and was elected the first attorney of Pierce County, but as the years passed by, he kept accumulating real estate until this line demanded his whole attention.  He now has from four to five thousand acres of land.

 

1887 marked a new era in this man's career, for it was during that year that he was united in marriage to Miss Katie E. Wood, a native of Lancaster, Wisconsin. Three children bless this union: Myron W.; Jessie II. and James H. Jr.

 

 

 

LIEUT. LYFORD R. CRAIG, Superintendent of the Pierce Mill Company, at Pierce, Nebraska, is a native of Illinois. He was born in Bureau County, February 24, 1845.  The family is of Scotch descent, but came from Ireland to this country. The father, Rufus L., was born in Massachusetts and came to Illinois about 1832, and located in Bureau County, where he was a pioneer; took up government land. and made a home for himself.  He was united in marriage in 1843, to Miss Caroline Lyford, a native of New Hampshire.  By this union three children were born--Lyford R., of whom we write this notice; Ella, wife of L. J. Griffith, of Walnut, Iowa; James W., of Walnut, Iowa.

 

When our subject's parents started out in life to make a home for themselves, Chicago was their nearest market, and that one hun­dred and forty miles away.  Mrs. Craig was a life-long member of the Congregational Church, and was a favorite in every com­munity in which she lived.

 

Lyford R. Craig was educated in the schools of his native State, remaining on the farm until June 15, 1862, which was during the Civil War period, when he enlisted as a member of Company "H," Sixty-ninth Illinois Infantry.   He was mustered into service at Princeton, and            sent to Camp Douglas, Chicago, where they received clothing and were placed upon guard duty over rebel prisoners.  After eleven months’ service he was mustered out at Chicago, June 15, 1864, and re-enlisted in Company "H," One Hundred and Thirty-ninth Illinois Infantry, being mustered in at Peoria and immediately sent to St. Louis. He was on several raids through Missouri and Tennessee.  He was commissioned as First Lieutenant of Company "H," and mustered out with the same commission.  After the War he em­barked in mercantile business with his father at Sheffield, Illinois.  In the spring of 1871 he engaged in farming, and later on bought grain.  In the spring of 1881 he came to Pierce County, Nebraska; located on a ranch and engaged in stock raising, but after two years he went to Mindon, where he again embarked in the grain business.

 

He was united in marriage to Miss Jennie M. Bach, and has been a resident of the village of Pierce since 1885.  Mr. and Mrs. Craig have two children--Grace L. and Leo W.  He is a member of the Masonic Fra­ternity, belonging to the Chapter at Kewanee, Illinois.  In politics he is a Republican, but he never aspires to any office.

 

 

 

DAVID W. ELLIOTT, a hardware dealer in Pierce, Nebraska, was born in Morgan County, Ohio, December 7, 1849, of English descent.  His grandfather Elliott was born in Devonshire, England, and followed the Seas for many years, and finally emigrated to Ohio and became a pioneer of that locality.  The father of our subject, David Elliott, was born in Noble County, Ohio, in 1825. He grew to man­hood in that section and was united in marriage to Miss Pasthenia E. West, the daughter of Thomas and Sophia West of West Virginia.  Four children blessed this union--David W. of whom we write this notice; Monroe N. died in 1889; Margaret, died in 1876; Annie, died in infancy.  Our subject's father came to Iowa and died in I855, and his good wife succeeded in keep­ing the family together.  She is at present living in Pierce, and is an acceptable mem­ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

 

David W. was educated in the district schools.  After the death of his father, his mother returned to Ohio, but in 1869, again returned to Iowa, where David remained until 1876, working at various places.  In 1881, he embarked in the mercantile business at Dedham, and was the first merchant of that place.  In the spring of 1883, he came to Pierce County and engaged in the hardware and agriculture implement business.  In 1881, he erected a brick building, two stories high, 22x75 feet, costing four thousand five hun­dred dollars.  He is a stock-holder in the Pierce County State Bank, and has other property interests.

 

He was married in Pierce County, Febru­ary, 1885.  Two children have blessed this union--Raymond H. born October 4, 1887, and Vera, born July 19, 1889.

 

Politically, Mr. Elliott votes with the Re­publican party, but is in no sense an office seeker. He is an honorable member of the Masonic fraternity, and is at present Senior Warden of his lodge. He is a man of more than ordinary ability, and is so regarded by his fellow townsmen.

 

 

 

URIAH M. GABLE, real estate, loan and insurance broker, of the firm of Gable & Son, residing in Plainview, Nebraska, was born in Washington County, Ohio, April 6th, 1841, although known as Pennsylvania Germans, he is such by ancestry only, as both his paternal and maternal grand­fathers were soldiers in the Revolutionary War.  His father Solomon Gable, with his wife Elizabeth Dull, mother of our subject, emigrated from Pennsylvania to Washington County, Ohio, at an early day, and afterwards emigrated to Iowa, when that State was still a Territory, settling in Van Buren County, and later moved to Appanoose Coun­ty, where the father died in 1847.  Mrs. Gable died in Davis County, Iowa, in 1863.  They had a family of twelve children, nine of whom lived to be adults.  Andrew moved to Iowa with the family, and afterwards went to Texas; Franey, widow of Eli Hodgson, is now a resident of Marion, Lynn County, Iowa; Susan married Vincent Cheadle, and died in Carthage, Missouri; Eliza married Lorenzo Ellis, in Van Buren County, where she died; Dennis died in Van Buren County; Levi S. is now a resident of Crawford Coun­ty, Iowa; Amos. W. and Harvey Clinton, are now residents of Woodland, California; Charles died in Appanoose County; Aaron S. now resides in California; George died in Van Buren County: Uriah Marion the subject of our sketch was the youngest of the family.  The educational advantages afforded upon the frontier were not of the highest order, however he managed through the agency of the old proverbial "log school house," fur­nished with "slab seats and McGuffey's text books" to acquire the rudiments which he afterwards developed into a good business education.  In the spring of 1858 he ac­companied his brother, Levi S. to Crawford County, Iowa, where he worked on a farm by the month, until he caught the early Pikes Peak gold excitement in the spring of 1859, and after engineering an ox team across the plains for forty-one days he reached his destination, and engaged in mining and prospecting until the fall of 1861 when he returned to Crawford County, Iowa, where he enlisted in the state militia and did guard duty, during the Indian scare. He was afterwards a member of Company H, of 11th Iowa Infant­ry, which he joined near Atlanta, and was with Sherman on his "March to the Sea," he look part in the Grand Review at Washing­ton, June, 1865, was discharged at Camp McClellan, Davenport, Iowa, and returned to Crawford County, Iowa, where in 1867 he married Miss Eliza A. Golden, he was engaged in farming in that locality until 1880, when he moved to Antelope County, Ne­braska, where he took a half section of government land, and followed stock raising and feeding until May, 1892, when he en­gaged in his present business.

 

Mr. and Mrs. Gable, are the parents of six children, Addie May, wife of W. A. Porter of Antelope County, Nebraska; Charles Pliny, a member of the firm of Gable & Son; Bertha June; Henry Allen; Andrew Joy and George.

 

Mr. Gable is an adherent of the Republican party, although he is liberal in his views, and does not consider it always necessary to cast his ballot strictly upon party distinctions.  He has been a pioneer of two States going into Iowa when it was still a Territory and has watched with interest the vast changes in both Iowa and Nebraska. He started out in life with no capital save his two hands, but with industry and good management he has accumulated a good property and made him­self one of the substantial business men of his County.

 

 

 

CHARLES GATES, present postmaster of Pierce, Pierce County, Nebraska, was born in Gallia County, Ohio, January 8, 1840, of English descent, and traces back to Gen. Gates. The grandfather of our subject was Stephen Gates, who emigrated to Ohio at an early day.  He married Mary Merrick of Puratanic stock.

 

His father, Jacob M. Gates, was born in Muskingum County, Ohio, about 1803. He received his education in the old log cabin with a puncheon floor with slabs for seats. He married Catherine Odell, a native of Virginia. By this marriage six children were born: Junius, who was among the first to enlist from Gallia County, Ohio at the time of the Civil War.  He served his time and was mustered out a Lieutenant.  He assisted in raising a company of the Thirty-fifth regi­ment, and was made First Lieutenant of it.  He was promoted to captain of the company, and died after the war in Ohio; David, who was also a soldier in the Rebellion, and last heard of was living in the Southern States.  Charles, of this sketch; John, who was also a soldier from Ohio, who was taken prisoner, but soon exchanged; James, a resident of Indiana, engaged in railroading.

 

Mrs. Gates, the mother of our subject, laid down the burdens of life in Ohio, after which Mr. Gates again married, and was the parent of the following children: Mary L., Sarah C., William W., Perry M. and Irene.  Mr. Gates was for many years a pilot on the river to New Orleans, but after marrying he quit the river.  In politics he was a Whig.

 

The subject of this notice was educated in his native State, at the district and the high school, receiving a liberal education. He remained at home until the breaking out of the War for the Union.

 

He enlisted September. 20, 1861, as a member of Company F, Thirty-third Ohio Infantry. In November was put on board of a steamship and sent to Maysville, Kentucky, and from there up to the Big Sandy. He was in the army of the Cumberland, under Gen. Anderson.  Anderson died when Gen. Buel took command. The regiment went into winter quarters and in the spring the regiment was sent to Bowling Green, Mis­souri, and from there they went to Nashville and Huntsville. Finally they were under the command of Gen. Bragg, and later on under Rosencrans.

 

At Buzzard's Roost he was wounded and sent to the field hospital, where he remained until after the battle of Atlanta, and was mustered out October 10, 1864, when he returned to Ohio.  Soon after the war he came to Champaign County, Illinois, where he followed farming and teaching.  He was engaged in the lumber business in Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky for nine years, coming to Pierce County, Nebraska, in the spring of 1881 and took a homestead.  In the fall of 1881 he was elected as the Super­intendent of Schools, serving until 1892.  In February, I892, he was appointed post­master at Pierce, under Benjamin Harrison's administration.  He is a charter member of the Knights of Pythias Order, and is a member of Evergreen Lodge, No. 153 of the Masonic Order, of which he is Master. In politics he is a Republican.

 

 

 

JOHN F. HECHT, president of the Plainview State Bank and a real estate dealer, is a native of Will County, Illinois, born at Joliet, November 3, 1854.  He is the son of Christian Hecht, who was born in Germany, emigrating to America in 1852, he being the first to establish his family name in the United States.  Christian Hecht was married in Will County, Illinois, to Miss Elizabeth Deerson, who was also a native of Germany. In 1861 they removed to a point near Grant Park, Kankakee County, Illinois, which at that time was a very new country.  They were obliged to go to Chicago, a distance of forty-three miles for flour and provisions. In 1884 Mr. Hecht came to Pierce County, Nebraska, where he claimed a homestead which he still owns.  Mr. and Mrs. Christian Hecht were the parents of five children who are living--John F.; George H.; Alice, (wife of Albert Herbert, of Grant Park, Illinois, a hardware merchant); Herman J., (a farmer of Pierce County, Nebraska); and Charles C. at home.

 

The father of our subject is a stanch Re­publican, and in the fall of 1884 was nomi­nated as county treasurer, and carried his precinct by a large majority.  By good man­agement and much hard work he has accum­ulated a large property, there being about one thousand acres of land in his family. 

 

John F., of whom we write this notice, was educated in the district schools which he attended during the winter, working on the farm during the summer season.  In 1876 he attended the Normal School of Northern Indiana at Valparaiso, from which he gradu­ated.  In the autumn of 1876 he came to Saunders County, Nebraska, where he was employed as a clerk and book-keeper for the firm of Henry Fuhrman, with whom he re­mained six years.  In 1882 he was united in marriage to Miss Jessie Stocking, a daughter of the late Moses Stocking, her mother's maiden name being Anna Loomis; her father was the first county commissioner of Saunders County, and president of the State Agri­cultural Society.  He also represented the State of Nebraska at the Centennial Exhibition in 1876; he was awarded the first pre­mium on wool, and also received a gold medal as one of the Commissioners.  He was a Republican, but never an office seeker, how­ever he was talked of for Governor at one time.  He was of a literary turn of mind and made many valuable contributions to the newspapers.

 

After the marriage of Mr. Hecht he soon came to Plainview, where he established the first bank of the place, and since which time he has been extensively engaged in banking and real estate business.  Politically, he is a supporter of the Republican party; he was a candidate for county treasurer in 1891, but was defeated by a small majority, by the coming out of the People's Party.

 

Mr. and Mrs. Hecht are the parents of three daughters--Inez, born June 20, 1885; Serene, born October 23, 1886; Freda, born June 25, 1889.  Mrs. Hecht was born in Cass County, Nebraska, November 26, 1859, and was educated at the State Normal School at Peru, graduating in 1880.

 

Mr. Hecht belongs to the Masonic Fra­ternity, being a member of Plainview Lodge, A. F. & A. M. No. 204, and is at present Worthy Master of the Lodge, of which he is a charter member.  He has represented his lodge three years at the Grand Lodge.  He also belongs to the Ancient Order of United Workmen.

 

 

 

WILLIAM H. MAST, president of the Farmers' State Bank at Plainview, Nebraska, was born in Davenport, Iowa, February 6th, 1860.  He is the son of August and Hannah (White) Mast, who emigrated to America in 1834.  They settled in Ohio and after a few years removed to Memphis, Tennessee, where the father was engaged in steam-boating.  In about 1845 he located permanently in Davenport, Iowa, engaging in mercantile business which he still follows.

 

Politically, he is a stanch supporter of the Democratic party, and was postmaster for a number of years under Democratic admini­stration.  Mr. and Mrs. August Mast were the parents of eight children: Ferdinand E., clerk in the establishment of J. H. C. Peter-son & Son, of Davenport, Iowa; Charles A., president of the Citizens National Bank of Norfolk; Frank P., traveling salesman from Detroit, Michigan; Clarence S., a resident of St. Joseph, in the employ of C., R. I. & P.-R. R. company; Lee B., chief day operator for the Western Union Telegraph Company, at Davenport, Iowa; Amelia C., wife of H. Schomberg, of Chicago; Julia, single.

 

The subject of this sketch, William H., was educated in the high school of Davenport, Iowa.  For nine years he was employed by the Rock Island Railroad Company, in their land department. In August, 1889, he came to Plainview, Nebraska, where he was made president of the Farmers' State Bank.

 

He was united in marriage at Davenport, to Miss Lulu Altman, the daughter of James S. Altman.  To them has been born one son; Burdette Pond, the date of his birth being September 12, 1890.  Mr. and Mrs. Mast are members of the Episcopal Church and worship in Trinity Church at Norfolk.

 

 

 

NIEL M. NELSON, a hardware merchant of Plainview, Nebraska, was born in Denmark, March 18, 1855, the son of James and Anna (Paulson) Nelson, who emigrated to America in 1862.  They were the first to establish their family name in this country.  Mr. Nelson came with a band of Mormons as far as Omaha, when he became tired of that peculiar religious sect and left them, settling at the last named place, which was then but a small village.  He was a wagon maker by trade, and worked for Henry Grebe for six years.  In the fall of 1868 he removed to Dakota County, Nebras­ka, where he claimed a homestead, but finally gave it up and moved to Stanton County, where he purchased a quarter section of gov­ernment land, paying one dollar and a quarter per acre.  He moved into a sod house in which he lived for several years.  At present he has a comfortable home, and is the possessor of four hundred and eighty acres of land well improved.

 

Mr. and Mrs. Nelson were the parents of three children--Niel M., of this notice; Paul, of Stanton County; Elsie, who died at the age of six months.

 

In politics our subject is Independent.  Both Mr. and Mrs. Nelson are highly respected people, and have lived together as man and wife for over forty years.

 

Niel M. was educated in the district schools and attended school kept in a sod house, which was in great contrast to the well fur­nished school rooms of today.  He has learned more, perhaps, by observation and experience in the great school of life than he ever did in school houses.  He remained at home with his parents until he was twenty-six years of age, during which time he taught several terms of school.  In 1881 he came to Plainview and took charge of a grain and lumber concern for William Ragan, some time after which his employer established a business at Creighton, and he operated there for him, and sold the first lumber and unloaded the first car at that point.  Soon after this he re­turned to Plainview and entered the employ of Holbrook & Frees.

 

In 1885 he embarked in the hardware busi­ness, which he has since followed; first as a member of the firm of Nelson & Baxter for a year and a half, after which he, with his father, bought his partner out.  In 1891 he erected in company with the I. O. O. F. and others a brick block, of which he owns a salesroom 25x67 feet with a basement; he carries the largest stock of any in the place.  Mr. Nelson was married in 1882 to Miss Lydia Howell, a native of Illinois.  By this union two sons and two daughters were born: Lottie, September 21, 1883; Chester A., De­cember 21, 1885; Edith, December 21, I887; and Benjamin, April 12, 1891.

 

At the time Mr. Nelson came to Nebraska it was yet a Territory, and all was new and undeveloped, and the whole domain presented one grand prairie landscape, but he has lived to see the land all taken up, while school houses and churches adorn the once "green, glad solitude,” and railroads cross and re-cross nearly every township, and Nebraska has come to rank high in the scale of wealth and prosperity.

 

Politically, Mr. Nelson is a supporter of the Republican party.  Among the local offices he has held may be mentioned that of Justice of the Peace, School District Treasurer, a member of the Town Board and other like positions.  In 1888 he was a delegate to the State Convention at Omaha to elect delegates to the National Convention.  He was elected Councilman of his village, receiving every vote within the incorporation, except his own.  He is a member of Plainview Lodge No. 157, of the I. O. O. F., and has represented his lodge at the Grand Lodge at different times.

 

 

 

WILLIAM W. QUIVEY, an attorney at law, residing at Pierce, Ne­braska, was born in Coles County, Illinois, July 19, 1843, of Scotch descent.  His grandfather, Nathan Quivey, was born in Scotland and emigrated to America after the Revolutionary War, and settled near Buffalo, New York.  He married Catherine Hart, by whom nine children were born: Nicholas; Joseph; John; Erastus; William; Addison M; Amanda; Mary J.; and Cathe­rine.

 

Nathan, the grandfather, was a soldier in the War of 1812, holding a Lieutenant's commission. In 1815 he went to Ohio, with what is known as the "Putman Settlement," where he cut out from the big timber an excellent farm, upon which he lived and died. The father of our subject was Addison M., born near Buffalo, New York, in 1806.  In 1815 he accompanied his parents to Ohio, where he grew to manhood.  In 1832 he went to Coles County, Illinois, and there enlisted and served as Sergeant in Abraham Lincoln's company, and was at the surrender of the Indians at Bad Axe, Wisconsin, in the Black Hawk War.  Soon after that trouble ended, he was united in marriage to Miss Theresa Olmstead, daughter of Moses E. Olmstead, one of the pioneers of that county.  By this union ten children were born: Alvira, wife of Rev. Robert Randall, of Todd County, Minnesota; Almyra, married Her­man Tebbitts of West Union, Iowa, where she died in 1863, leaving three children; Catherine, wife of E. M. Eastman of South Dakota; Daniel, who was a member of the Eighteenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, died from wounds received at the battle of Prairie Grove; William W., subject of this sketch; John C., who was a member of the Twelfth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and was taken prisoner at the battle of Shiloh, and died while incarcerated in prison at Macon, Georgia. The date of his death being October 3, 1862; Ellen M., wife of James Eastman of Alpina, South Dakota; Amanda, wife of Joseph Norrison of Tama County, Iowa; Cassie D., wife of Charles Eastman of Eugene City, Oregon; Nicholas, died at the age of eighteen months in Wisconsin.

 

In 1845, Mr. Quivey moved to Dane County, Wisconsin, and in 1851, to West Union, Fayette County, Iowa, where he died in 1870, age sixty-four years.  His wife pass­ed from the scenes of this life at Alpine, South Dakota, in 1882, aged sixty-nine years. She had been an acceptable member of the Methodist Church for fifty years.

 

William W., the subject of this notice, was educated in the city schools of West Union, and when the Civil War came on, he had just entered the Upper Iowa University, at Fayette, Iowa.  He abandoned his school and enlisted in the Twelfth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, as a member of Company C, and was mustered into services at Dubuque, Iowa, and from there sent to St. Louis, and from there to Paducah, Kentucky.  The following February he was sent to Fort Henry and was present at its capture by the fleet.   February 14th, 1862, he was wounded in the neck and sent home where he remained until July and then returned to his regiment at Corinth, Mississippi.  The Twelfth Iowa, Eighth Iowa, Fourteenth Iowa, and the Fifty-eighth Illinois regiments, lost heavily in the battle of Shiloh, and were consolidated into what was known as The Union Brigade.  Our subject participated in the two battles of Corinth.  October 20th, 1862, he was transferred to Battery K, First Missouri Light Artillery.  This Battery was sent to Memphis, and there went into winter quarters, and in the early spring of 1863, was sent to Helena, Arkansas. In the latter part of July, he went with Gen. Steel to Little Rock, which was captured in August, and our subject remained there until the close of the war.  He was mustered out at St. Louis, August 4, 1865, when he re­turned to West Union, Iowa, where he was married the same year to Miss Mary J. East­man, a native of Canada. She died Febru­ary, 1866.  Our subject attended school two years at West Union, and then took charge of a school one year, reading Law in the mean­time.  He followed teaching ten years, and held the office of Superintendent of the schools for some years.  In 1879 he was admitted to the Bar, and commenced the practice of law at Humboldt, Iowa, where he remained five years.  In April, 1885, he re­moved to Neligh, Nebraska, where he pre­empted a piece of land, and afterwards located in Pierce, where he has since practiced law. In 1886 he was elected county attorney and served two terms, he is a member of the Masonic Fraternity, also of the Grand Army of the Republic.

 

For his second wife he married Miss Jennie C. Babcock at West Union, in the autumn of 1868.  She is the daughter of Rev. Amos and Elma (Cornell) Babcock, the latter a distant relative of Gov. Cornell of New York.  They are the parents of three children now living: Arthur L., born March 28, 1870, a student at the State Normal School; Grace G., born March 28, 1872, a teacher in Penn­sylvania, who graduated at the State Normal School; Claud, born May 16, 1875, and died April 14th 1879; Zoe M., born March 16, 1883.

 

 

 

DANIEL ROBINSON, JR., of Plainview, Nebraska, will form the subject of this biographical notice.  He was born in Delaware County, New York, De­cember 18, 1804, the son of Daniel and Mary (Miller) Robinson, who emigrated from Or­ange County to Delaware County and became pioneers at the foot-hills of the Catskill Mountains.  They reared a family of five sons and two daughters: John, a soldier of the War of 1812, who followed the Sea for many years, enlisting as a Marine.  He labored on the Susquehanna River near Mid­dletown, Pennsylvania; William, married a Miss Ross, in Delaware County; Israel, rode a horse to haul the cannon to Sacketts Harbor.  He married Miss Catherine Tracy and settled in Broome County, New York, where he followed blacksmithing until his death.  Lewis married Betsy Wilds and settled on a farm in Broome County, where he died.  Daniel, Jr., the subject of this notice; Mary, married James Martin and settled in New York where she died; Char­lotte, married Bennett Rummer, now deceased, she is now a resident of Broome County.

 

Daniel Robinson, Sr., was a Baptist Minis­ter and a Chaplain in the war of 1812, stationed at Sacketts Harbor.  He followed the ministry for many years, finally laying down the burden of life, after ninety-four eventful years, in Broome County, New York; he was a man of more than ordinary ability and was a true christian man of which the world has none too many.  His wife died in the same county and was also a devout christian lady.

 

The subject of this notice received his education in the District schools of Delaware County, New York.  When he was thirteen years of age, he accompanied his parents to the Susquehanna River in Delaware County, and five years later left home to battle in life alone.  He went to Huntsville, Otsego County, where he was apprenticed to learn the hatters trade, serving four years.  The first year he received twenty-five dollars and his board.  We next find him in Bradford County, Penn­sylvania, where he embarked in business for himself.

 

1829 marked a new era in his life, for it was during that year he married Miss Electa Bosworth by whom he had one child.  Mrs. Robinson died after a year and a half of married life.  Her daughter's name was Helen M., the widow of Mr. Black. Soon after the wife's death Mr. Robinson removed to Broome County, where he engaged at farming with his father, he was again mar­ried in 1832, to Delia Ruggles, a native of Broome County, by whom five children were born.  Amelia, who married Orrin Rice, she died in California; Jane A., died at the age of sixteen years; Emma, wife of Harrison Hammond of Plainview, Nebraska; Althea, wife of E. C. Cass, a hardware merchant of Plainview, Nebraska, and Mary who died in infancy.

 

In I837, Mr. Robinson removed to Knox County, Illinois, and soon after was elected Justice of the Peace which office he held many years.  About 1848 he removed to Paw Paw, De Kalb County, Illinois, where he held the same office for four years.  In 1855 he removed to Waupaca County, Wis­consin, where he was again elected Justice of the Peace and served four years.  He was also engaged in a loan and real estate busi­ness.  In 1869, he purchased a farm which he cultivated until 1874, and then removed to Glenwood, Iowa, and was there elected to the office of Justice of the Peace.  Coming to Plainview, Nebraska, in 1887. He cast his first presidential vote for Andrew Jackson, but in 1840, voted for William Henry Harri­son remaining with the party up to the organ­ization of the Republican party; he voted for John C. Fremont, in 1856, and for every Republican president to the present time.

 

July 11, 1887, Mrs. Daniel Robinson passed from the scenes of this life; she was a sincere christian and a member of the Baptist Church, having been connected with that denomination nearly fifty years.  She was a loving wife, a kind mother and a friend of all.  Mr. Robinson is now living on borrowed time as he is now about eighty-eight years of age; he is Deacon of the Baptist Church and has always manifested much interest in the Church work.

 

 

 

ALBERT STEINKRAUS, Treasurer of Pierce County, Nebraska, will form the subject of this biography. He was born in Pommerania, Germany, September 8, 1853.  He received a liberal education in his native country.  His parents were Frederick and Sophia (Marten) Steinkraus, who migrated to the United States in the autumn of 1870, arriving in December, and spent the first winter at Omaha, Nebraska. The following March they moved to Madison County and settled on a homestead north of Norfolk, where they erected a cabin in which the family lived until a more commodious house could be built.  The sons carried on the place, while the father worked at the tailor's trade.  In 1874 he erected a building in which he followed his trade for several years, he being the first one in his line to locate at Norfolk.  He is now living a retired life in Pierce County.  Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Steinkraus had four children--Albert Herman, a farmer in Pierce County, Charles of Denver, Colorado, and Fred, Jr., clerking in Treasurer's office for his brother Albert.

 

The subject of this biography came to America when seventeen years of age, and followed farming up to January, 1884, when he was elected to the office of Treasurer of Pierce County, and re-elected in 1885.  In the autumn of 1887 he was elected County Clerk and ex-Officio Clerk of the District Court and Register of Deeds.  In 1890 he engaged in the real estate business under the firm name of Pohlman & Steinkraus.  In December, 1890 he was appointed to fill a vacancy in the County Treasurer's office, and the following year was again elected to that position which he still holds.  Politically, he is a stanch supporter of the Democratic party.

 

Mr. Steinkraus was married March 18, 1878 to Miss Mary Ruehlow, a native of Wisconsin.  They are the parents of five children--Ernest, Rhienhold, Lena, Martha and Albert, Jr.  Mr. and Mrs. Steinkraus are consistent members of the Lutheran Church.

 

At the time Mr. Steinkraus came to Madison County, it was wild and unsettled, and its brightness could never have been dreamed of, and much less realized.  He has lived to see school houses scattered over the prairies, with churches by their side, and a well educated and contented people. He has lived to see countless manufactories spring up all over the great State, while rail­roads cross and re-cross each other, pene­trating every nook and corner.  Telegraph and telephone wires can scarcely be numbered, and man is permitted to carry on conversation one with another, a hundred miles away.  Surely the age of wonder is upon us, and to be an eye witness to these changes is an honor; but to be more than an eye witness, even a participant, is not accorded to all, but among this number may be enrolled the name of Albert Steinkraus, one of the pioneers of Nebraska.

 

 

 

JOSEPH L. STEVENS, Postmaster at Plainview, Nebraska, and a member of the firm of J. L. Stevens & Co., loan and real estate dealers, was born in Almoral Delaware County, Iowa, April 12, 1859, the son of Levi O. and Jannette (Lease) Stevens of Vermont, who emigrated west and first located in Illinois about 1850, but perma­nently, in Delaware County, Iowa.  They were the parents of eight children, six of whom are living--Laura, wife of E. B. Kenyon of Nor­folk, Nebraska; Joseph L.; Sarah P., wife of James Adams of Blair, Nebraska; Charles A., of St. Louis, a graduate of Iowa College, and an architect by profession; Thadius F., of Clarkson, Nebraska, engaged in the lumber business; Phillip H., a student at Blair, Nebraska. The subject of this notice was educated in the district schools, and attended a partial course in an academy of Iowa. In the spring of 1880 he came to Pierce County, Nebraska, and took a home­stead and tree claim of two hundred and forty acres, which he proved up.  In 1885 he came to Plainview, where he embarked in the real estate business, and was also pro­prietor of the "Plainview Gazette" for four years.

 

Politically, he is a Republican, and in the spring of 1889 was appointed Postmaster.  His name was among the first to receive consideration in Nebraska. He belongs to the Masonic lodge at Plainview, and has held the office of Treasurer and Tyler.

 

He was united in marriage in the autumn of 1881 to Miss Minnie Holly, the daughter of Henry Holly, one of the early settlers of Pierce County, and a native of New York.  They have three living children--Otto, born July 7, 1883: Roxie, July 15, 1889; Rella, May 4, 1892.

 

Mr. Stevens is a young man who has made his own way, having nothing to speak of, but his own hard work and close attention to business, to produce what he possesses. Him­self and family are highly respected in the community in which they live.      They are members of the Baptist Church.

 

 

 

RUFUS A. TAWNEY, county clerk and ex-officio clerk of the District Court, and Recorder of Pierce County, Nebraska, was born near Gettysburg, Pennsyl­vania, March 5th, 1853.  On the father's side the family was of Scotch, Irish and German descent, while on the mother's they were of German.  His great-grandfather, John Tawney, moved from Maryland to a point near Gettysburg in I775, where he raised a family of thirteen children, the youngest Abraham Tawney, grandfather of our subject was married in the year 1812, to Mary Hornberger, whose father John Hornberger, moved from Northampton Coun­ty, Pennsylvania, to a farm three and one-half miles south east of Gettysburg in the year 1777, upon which farm the subject of this notice was born.  The title of the place remained in the family until 1877, when his father John E., removed to Saunders County, Nebraska. The grandparents reared three children, John E., father of our subject; Catherine who married George W. Lightner, who settled at Duncannon, Pennsylvania; Rev. Daniel A. Tawney of St. Paul, Minne­sota.  Mr. and Mrs. Abraham Tawney were both buried by the side of our subject's great grandparents, in the "White Church" burying grounds, located on the Baltimore Pike, four miles from Gettysburg.

 

John E., our subject's father, was born near Gettysburg in 1833, and there grew to manhood, receiving the advantages of the district schools common to that day.  He married Sarah Boblitz in 1851.  By this union six children were born---Rufus A., the subject of this notice; James A., an attorney of Winona, Minnesota, who was elected in 1892 to Congress on the Republican ticket; Mary E., who married Charles Bullard, and died at Fremont, Nebraska, in 1881; Daniel E., an Attorney of Winona, Minnesota; Sarah B., the widow of Albert Robson, of New York City, an elocutionist who graduated at Moses True Brown's School of Oratory, Boston; Emma, wife of Charles Meservey of Rushville, Nebraska.

 

Our subject's mother died in Pennsylvania in 1866, after which the father married Ann McKellip by whom eight children were born, seven of whom still survive--William, Ella, a stenographer at Rushville; Adell, John, Charles, Otto, (deceased), Oliver and Paul.

 

John E., our subject's father, was a Free-soiler, and upon the organization of the Republican party, he espoused that cause, being opposed to the extension of Slavery into the Territories.

 

At the time of the Civil War, he enlisted in the One Hundred and Sixty-fifth Volunteer Infantry, serving one year, and was mustered out as Orderly Sergeant of his company.  He was a moral man and strictly temperate, never having used a profane word, it is said.  By trade he was a blacksmith.

 

Rufus A., the subject proper of this notice, received his education at the district schools, and a partial course at Littlestown academy.  After leaving the school, at the age of thirteen years, he went to work in a general store, where he remained three years, after which he connected himself with a dry goods house in Philadelphia.  After one year his health failed when he returned home and worked upon the farm one year.  We next find him at Williamsport, Pennsylvania, em­ployed in the saw mill of John Du Bois, who sent him to the west side of the Allegheny mountains on a large lumber tract, giving him full charge of the work.  In 1878, when his father came to Nebraska, he accompanied him; but prior to his coming West, and in the month of April, 1878, he was united in marriage to Miss Edna B. Storey, of Brooksville, Pennsylvania.  Upon coming, to Nebraska he rented a farm in Saunders county for two years.  In 1879 he located a timber claim in, and in 1881, he removed to Pierce county and claimed a homestead, which he developed; also, a timber claim. He has added to his land until he has six hundred acres--two hundred and sixty acres of which is under cultivation, and two hundred and ten acres of the balance surrounded by good fence. In 1883 he was elected as one of the county commissioners and served for three years. He was appointed deputy county clerk in 1888, serving two years, and in the autumn of 1891, elected to the office of county clerk, which position he still holds.

 

Mr. and Mrs. Tawney are the parents of five children, born in the following order: Kate, December 25, 1879; Mary E., May 13, 1882; Ruth A., March 16, 1886; Willma, March 1, 1889 and Agnes, January 7, 1893.

 

Our subject is a member of Evergreen Lodge, No. 153, of the A.F. and A.M., also of Pierce Lodge, No. 40 of Knights of Pythias, and belongs to the Farmers' Alliance Organization.

 

 

 

HASON TURNER, County Superintendent of Schools of Pierce County, Nebraska, was born in St. Lawrence County, New York, April 14, 1847. His grandfather, Jonathan Turner, was of Massa­chusetts, and followed the occupation of cod fishing.  His father was Elisha R. Turner, who was born in Phillipstown, Massachusetts, who married Julia Hydron, a native of Troy, New York, of German descent.  They were married at Troy, New York, where the father carried on the shoe making business, and subsequently removed to St. Lawrence County, where he engaged in farming.  They were the parents of eleven children--Vincent, a farmer of St. Lawrence County; Hosea B., a farmer of the same county; Jefferson, a wheelwright of Clifton, Kansas. He was a soldier, enlisting from Michigan, and served through the Civil War with honor; William, a farmer of St. Lawrence County, who was a soldier in the One Hundred and Sixth New York Infantry, who was wounded, being in every engagement that his regiment took part in; Martha, wife of David L. Walker, of St. Lawrence County; Elisha R., inspector of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and a resi­dent of St. Lawrence County.  He enlisted in the Sixtieth New York Volunteer Infantry, and was with General Sherman on his mem­orable "March to the Sea."  He was woun­ded in the thigh, and mustered out as Orderly Sergeant.  Denny, a soldier of the Sixteenth New York Infantry, who was discharged on account of disability, he is now a resident of Pierce County, Nebraska; Lydia, wife of Daniel Fleetham, of St. Lawrence County, New York; Dr. Jason and Hason, twins, located in St. Lawrence County, both of whom were in the employ of the Government at City Point, and were in the city of Petersburg the morning after it was captured; Julia A., wife of J. R. Humphrey, of St. Lawrence County.

 

Elisha R. was a great admirer of Abraham Lincoln, and was a stanch Republican.  He died in St. Lawrence County in 1874.  His wife survived him until 1881, and then died in the same county. They were members of he Universalist Church.

 

He of whom we write this notice, was educated at the common and high schools, and graduated at Bryant & Stratton's Business College at Ogdensburg, New York, and took partial course at the State Normal School it Albany.  He taught one term at Clifton, New York, after that he was employed as book salesman.  For many years he was in the employ of Appleton & Co., of New York, and afterwards for Brown & Co.  He traveled extensively throughout the country.  In 1882 he came to Pierce County, Nebraska, purchased a homestead and proved up on the farm.  There was a frame building and a sod barn upon the place at the time, but today he is the owner of a well improved farm.

 

He was united in marriage in St. Lawrence County, New York, in 1882, to Miss Nena Bell, daughter of James Bell.  Our subject brought his young wife to the wilds of Nebraska where he remained until he proved up on his lands, after which he returned to St. Lawrence County, lived two years, and then returned to Nebraska. In the autumn of 1891 he was elected to his present office.

 

Of our subject's domestic life it may be said, that their home is blessed by the advent of three children--Belle Ann, born July 9, 1883; Marshall, January 13, 1886, and Laura, January 21, 1893.  In politics Mr. Turner is identified with the People's Party movement.

 

 

 

FERDINAND VERGES,     physician and surgeon, practicing at the City of Norfolk, Nebraska, was one of the pioneers of Madison and Pierce Counties. He was born in Prussia, Germany, August 21, 1833, and was the first to establish the family name in Amer­ica. His father, August, and his mother, Hen­rietta (Siegfried) Verges, were the parents of two sons and one daughter: Ferdinand, of whom this sketch is written; Frederick, a resi­dent of Germany, and Minnie, who died at the age of fifteen years. The parents of these children were lifelong members of the Luth­eran Church and both died in Germany.

 

Ferdinand was educated at the high school in his native place, and commenced reading medicine when twenty-one years of age, under the charge of Prof. Lutz.  He graduated in the medical college Coethen, the first homoeo­pathic college established.  This was in 1857.  He followed his profession in his native country until 1868, when hearing of the advan­tages of the United States, he decided to come, and landed in New York in the spring of that year.  He immediately came West, locating in Chicago, but hearing of Nebraska and the great prairies, he concluded to come and "grow up with the people and the country."  In 1869, he located on a homestead in Pierce County, where he built the customary sod house, which served for two years, when he built the first frame house in that vicinity. He took a quarter sec­tion homestead, afterwards, took three hundred and twenty acres of land, making four hundred and eighty acres in all, two hundred of which he put under cultivation.  In 1881, he removed to Norfolk, having a large practice at the time, and found that he either had to give up his profession or his farm life, and chose the latter, and since that time has been in active practice.  In 1889, he erected Verges Block.

 

Our subject was united in marriage at Nor­folk, in 1873, to Miss Augusta Marquardt, born in Prussia, in 1850.  By this union three children were born, who still survive: Minnie, born September 21, 1879; Anna, born December 25, 1881; Charles, born March 25, 1884. Mrs. Augusta Verges died April 4, 1887, and December, 1889 our subject married  Miss Mary Blattermann, by whom one child was born:  Mary, January 28, 1891. This child's mother died February 5, 1891.

 

In politics, Mr. Verges is liberal, aiming to vote for the best man at each election. While a resident of Pierce County he was one of the county commissioners.

 

At the time the Doctor came to Nebraska, a band of Indians roamed about over the prairies on ponies and occasionally_, frightened the white settlers. At the time he was building his dug­out, and while at work, he heard the brush crack and looking around saw two Indians and he thought his time had come!  He said his hair began to raise up.  This was his first experience with the "noble red man," but he escaped without harm.  He came to the country with but fifty dollars in his pocket, but, by good management and close attention to busi­ness, he has accumulated a large property, and is one of the directors in the Norfolk National Bank, also of the Elkhorn Building and Saving Association, and president of the Queen City Real Estate Improvement and Trust Company.