Dr. Seth Wilson Dodge, physician and surgeon of Fairbury, and also mayor a second term of the same municipality, has been a resident of this part of Nebraska for over thirty-five years, and has made a fine record in his profession and as a citizen. He was a successful teacher before he entered upon the practice of medicine, and since taking up the latter career has devoted himself assiduously to its study and practice. He is a man of great popularity among the citizens of Fairbury, as his place as their executive head would indicate, and in private and public life has been capable and public-spirited.
Dr. Dodge was born in Utica, New York, September 4, 1849, and comes of a good family. His grandparents were Calvin and Nancy (Eddy) Dodge, the former a native of Massachusetts and the latter of New York. His father was W. E. Dodge, born in New York and a farmer of that state. He married Matilda Kane, a native of New York and a daughter of Peter and Mehitable Kane, the former of whom was a soldier in the war of 1812. W. E. and Matilda Dodge had six children, three sons and three daughters, and four of them are living, the son Peter being a veterinary surgeon of Polo, Illinois. The mother of these children died at the age of seventy-five, and the father at eighty. He was a Republican, and both were members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Dr. Dodge was reared until the age of sixteen in New York, and then came to Rochelle, Ogle county, Illinois, where he completed his common school education. He afterward took a course in the state Normal in Peru, Nebraska, and at the State University of Nebraska. He taught for a number of years, and was in the schools of Beatrice, Nebraska. He began the study of medicine with Dr. D. A. Walden at Beatrice, and was graduated with his medical degree from the University of Iowa in 1882. He has served as city physician in Fairbury and was on the school board for five years. He is a Mason and also affiliates with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is a representative to the grand lodge of the state. He has gained good and representative patronage since locating in this city, and enjoys the complete confidence of friends and associates. He took a post-graduate course in medicine in Kansas City in 1893.
Dr. Dodge married in Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1875, to Miss
Lotta V. Giles, a lady of education and refinement, and she was born in Peoria, Illinois, a daughter of Joseph and Susan Giles, both of whom are deceased. They have two sons, C. W. G. Dodge is a graduate of dental surgery at Chicago, in 1899, and is now practicing at Hastings, Nebraska; Guy L. graduated from the Creighton Medical School, Omaha, in 1902, and is now practicing with his father. Both sons were educated in the Nebraska State University, and they also served during the Spanish war in the Second Nebraska Regiment.
Robert A. Clapp, one of the foremost lawyers of Fairbury, Jefferson county, Nebraska, has been located in practice here for ten years, and has made rapid progress in his profession since his admission to the bar in 1892. Besides devoting himself studiously to his individual work, he has taken a prominent part in the affairs of his adopted city, has been interested in politics, and in every line of work in which he has engaged has made good.
Mr. Clapp was born in St. James, Minnesota, January 31, 1872, a son of Rev. Robert A. Clapp, a Baptist minister well known in the west, having performed his duties with zeal and energy for the long period of half a century. He was a native of New York, and married Miss Velina Knickerbocker, who came of one of the oldest New York and eastern families. She died in 1896, at the age of sixty-one, leaving three children: John, of Wenatchee, Washington; Miss Mamie K., of Chicago; and Robert A.
In consequence of his father's frequent changes of residence, Mr. Clapp was reared and received hjs education in various places. He
attended schools at Fox Lake and Darlington, Wisconsin, and lived for a time in Kansas City, Missouri, and Salt Lake City, Utah. He was in the Normal and Collegiate Institute at Fairfield, Nebraska. He was admitted to the bar in 1892, and finished his legal education in 1893, at the Nebraska State University. He was attorney for the Farmers' Mutual Insurance Company at Lincoln, Nebraska in 1894. He has been a resident of Fairbury since 1897. He is a stanch Republican in politics, and has been mayor of Fairbury, and popular among all classes of citizens.
Fraternally he affiliates with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He has been a delegate to the local, county and state conventions of his party since taking up his residence here, and has always been found ready to aid with advice and means any matter undertaken for the general welfare. On May 26, 1897, Mr. Clapp was married at Columbus, Nebraska, to Miss Alphonsine Cushing, an educated and cultured young woman, and they have two children, Alphonsine B. and Robert C.
John B. Welsh is a retired farmer living in Fairbury, Nebraska, and is also a self-made man who in his business career has depended entirely upon his own efforts and has thereby worked his way upward from a humble position to one of affluence, so that his capital is now sufficient to supply him with all of the necessities and comforts as well as many of the luxuries of life. He has made his home in Jefferson county since 1871. Mr. Welsh is a native of Canada, his birth having occurred near the Vermont line in 1842. His father, Morris Welsh, was born in Ire-
land, acquired his education there and in early life crossed the Atlantic to Canada. He worked until he had money sufficient to send back to Ireland that he might have his promised bride, Miss Julis McGuire, join him in the new world. She was born and reared in his old home neighborhood on the Emerald Isle and after reaching America they were married. Subsequently they removed to Knox county, Ohio, and in that state both spent there remaining days, the father passing away at the age of sixty-seven years, while the mother died at the age of sixty-six years. They were Protestants in religious faith, and in his political views Morris Welch was a stanch Republican. They had six children: Ed, wwho was a soldier of the Fourteenth Indiana Infantry in the Civil war and was killed at the battle of Gettysburg; William, a member of the Twentieth Ohio Infantry; Mathew, who belonged to the Second Ohio Heavy Artillery; John B.; Morris, who was an orderly under General Kilpatrick for two years and enlisted for service with the Ninth Ohio Infantry; and Mrs. Joanna Sapp. All of the five sons were soldiers of the Civil war. This is a record of which the family has every reason to be proud, for few families can show a record for greater loyalty or bravery.
John B. Welsh was reared on the family homestead in Ohio and in the public schools there acquired his education. He was hardly more than a boy when on the 23d of August, 1861, he responded to the country's call for aid, enlisting at Toledo, Ohio, as a member of Company C, Third Ohio Cavalry, under command of Captain Howland and Colonel Zahm. Mr. Welsh participated in the battles of Shiloh, and for twenty-one days was connected with the siege of Corinth. He afterward went into Huntsville, Alabama, and was in all of the skirmishes and engagements of that raid. Later the command proceeded to Memphis and on to Charleston. He was also at Woodville, Ala-
bama, and later returned to Kentucky. He participated in the battle of Crab Orchard, Kentucky, and of Franklin, Tennessee, and was with General McCook's division of the Army of the Tennessee at the battle of Stone River. At length, Mr. Welsh was honorably discharged on account of physical disability at Louisville, Kentucky, in 1863, and returned to his home in Mount Vernon, Ohio. Afterwards he again enlisted on the 21st of February, 1864, joining Company I, of the Second Ohio Heavy Artillery under command of Captain Alonzo J. Thompson and Colonel Gibson. Going to the south he was at Cleveland and at Knoxville, Tennessee, and was also engaged in garrison duty until the close of the war, when he was again honorably discharged at Columbus, Ohio, on the 23d of August, 1865. He held the rank of corporal and made for himself a gallant record as a brave and efficient soldier.
In the year following his return from the army Mr. Welsh was married, on the 6th of January, 1866, in Mount Vernon, Ohio, to Miss Blanche Moxley, and they traveled life's journey together as man and wife for thirty-eight years. She was born and reared in Knox county, Ohio, and is a daughter of Caleb and Margaret Moxley, the former a native of New England. In their family were eight children: Otto, Joanna, Elizabeth, Caleb, Risdon S., Ellen, Savilla, and Mrs. Welsh. The father of this family was a farmer by occupation and always engaged in the tilling of the soil in order to support his wife and children. Both were members of the Methodist church, and because of their fidelity to the teachings of that denomination they enjoyed the warmest regard and confidence in their fellow men. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Welsh was blessed with six children: Mrs. Emma Noble; Walter, who is living in Jefferson county, Nebraska; William, who resides in Endicote precinct; Mrs. Alice Boggs, also of Endicote precinct; Mrs.
Myrtle McCord, who is living on the old homestead; and James, who is clerking in a hardware store in Fairbury.
It was in the year 1870 that Mr. Welsh came to Nebraska and in the following year he secured a homestead claim in Antelope township. On this he built a log cabin, ten by ten feet. In it he had a window formed of but a single pane of glass. He came to found a home, and though it required energy and courage to do this he bravely faced the situation and conditions of pioneer life. He was enabled to supply the table during the first few years with wild game, for buffalo, deer and turkeys were to be found in this portion of the state. For months he would use no money, but depended on game and the products of the garden for all that the family needed. Hot winds parched the crops and there was a grasshopper scourge in 1874, blizzards made the winters almost unbearable, but the great courage and resolution Mr. Welsh and his family continued in the work of making a home upon the frontier. At length he sold the homestead farm and purchased two other tracts of land. He now has a fine modern residence in the town, furnished in good style with a view to comfort as well as beauty. He likewise owns two other good town houses, and one of his farms is situated in Antelope precinct, while the other is in Endicote precinct. He is a good business man, enterprising and progressive, and whatever he has undertaken he has carried forward to successful completion. He certainly deserves great credit for what he has accomplished, as he has met hardships and difficulties which would have utterly discouraged many a man of less resolute spirit. In politics he is a Republican and he belongs to Russell Post, G. A. R. His name is honored throughout the community as that of a self-made man and a pioneer resident, who while promoting his own success has also contributed to the general progress of the community.
Mills Louderback, who is residing in Thompson, Nebraska, was born in Brown county, Ohio, November 13, 1828, and is a son of Thomas Louderback, whose birth occurred in the same county, while the grandfather, Michael Louderback, was a native of Germany and became the founder of the family in America. Thomas Louderback was reared in Brown county, Ohio, acquired his education there and was married in that county to Miss Sarah Springer, who was also a native of the Buckeye state and was a daughter of Uriah Springer, whose birth occurred in Pennsylvania. To Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Louderback were born eight children, namely: Liberty, Mills, Levi, William, Mary, Theresa, Martha and Flora. Of this number William was a soldier of the Civil war, belonging to the Thirty-third Illinois Infantry, and died at home while on a furlough. Thomas was likewise a member of the same regiment. He lost his health while participating in the military engagements of the northern army and died soon after the close of the war. The father of this family was a Democrat, in his political views strongly endorsing the principles advocated by Jackson. In religious faith he was a Baptist, and his life was ever upright and honorable. Both he and his wife died in Illinois, where they had made many warm friends, being highly respected for their excellent traits of heart and mind.
Mills Louderback was brought by his parents to Illinois, and upon the home farm he was reared, being early instructed in the value of industry, integrity and economy in the active affairs of life. The family home was established in Livingston county near Pontiac, and he acquired his education in the public schools there. He was married in that county in 1853 to Miss Harriet Corbin, who was born and reared there and died at the age of thirty-five years. She left five
children: Mathew, W.E., Mary C., Sarah Isodene and Martha Jane. Mr. Louderback was again married, in 1876, in Livingston county, Illinois, his second union being with Mrs. Sarah J. Bradfield, the widow of Joseph Bradfield, who died while serving in the United States army. He left two children, Mrs. Zephur A. Long and Joseph. Mr. Bradfield was a native of Ohio and became a most loyal citizen of his adopted country. At the time of the outbreak of the Civil war his patriotic spirit was aroused and he enlisted in the Firty-third [sic] Illinois Infantry as a member of Company G. He participated in the siege of Vicksburg and afterward died in the Marine Hospital of New Orleans, Louisiana.
Mills Louderback also left his home at the time of the Civil war, enlisting at Pontiac, Illinois, on the 12th of August, 1862, in response to President Lincoln's call for sixty thousand men. He joined Company C of the One Hundred and Twenty-ninth Illinois Infantry under command of Captain Perry, while later Captain A. McMurray was in command of the company. The regiment was equipped and sent south, being ordered to Louisville, and Mr. Louderback participated in some engagements and skirmishes in Kentucky and Tennessee. He was afterward under the command of General Sherman in the Atlanta campaign and the march to the sea, participating in the battles of Resaca, Kenesaw Mountain, Lookout Mountain, New Hope Church and Burnt Hickory. He also participated in the engagement of Peach Tree Creek not long before the capitulation of Atlanta. He was with the Twentieth Army Corps under General Thomas, and with that Division of the army went to Savannah, Georgia, and participated in the Carolina campaign and in the battle of Bentonville, which was the last engagement in which General Sherman fought. With his command Mr. Louderback proceeded to Raleigh, North Carolina, and later he par-
ticipated in the grand review in Washington, D.C. Throughout the greater part of the war he was at the front, proving a devoted and loyal soldier to his country's welfare, and in June, 1865, he received an honorable discharge at Washington, D.C.
After the war Mr. Louderback continued to make his home in Illinois until 1878, when he came with his family to Nebraska, settling in Jefferson county, where he secured eighty acres of land, which he has developed into an excellent farm. He gives his political allegiance to the Prohibition party, and is a member of the Freewill Baptist church, to which his wife likewise belongs. He favors religion and higher education, and in fact is found as a champion of all measures for the general progress and improvement. He is a man of fine appearance, weighing two hundred and fifteen pounds, is frank and jovial in manner and his word is as good as his bond.
For twenty-one years Winfield Scott Willoughby has been a resident of Nebraska and makes his home in Reynolds. He is a valued citizen of this community, for like most veterans of the Civil war he is as true to his country in days of peace as he was when he followed the old flag upon the battlefields of the south. He was born in Iroquois county, Illinois, on the 7th of May, 1847, a representative of one of the old families of that locality, his father, John Willoughby, having located in that county in 1839. He was a native of Tennessee and in early life was left an orphan, after which he was bound out to Bishop Roberts, of the Methodist Episcopal church. The Bishop removed from Tennessee to Lawrence county, Indiana, and there John Wil-
loughby was reared to manhood upon a farm, continuing to reside there until eighteen years of age. He then went to Illinois, and when nineteen years of age he was married to Miss Polly Brock, who was born and reared in Lawrence county, Indiana. They are both now deceased, the mother having passed away in 1854, while the father died in 1892, at the age of seventy-five years, upon the old homestead farm which he had purchased from the government for a dollar and a quarter per acre. For many years he had given his time and energies to its cultivation and improvement, and he developed it from a wild tract into one of rich fertility, yielding to him golden harvests. He gave his political allegiance to the Whig party in early days, and upon the organization of the new Republican party he joined its ranks and continued one of its stalwart supporters until his demise. In his religious faith he was liberal, and belonged to no church. In their family were seven children, but only two are now living, Winfield Scott and Mrs. Polly Reynolds.
Mr. W. S. Willoughby was reared upon the old home farm in Illinois, spending the days of his boyhood and youth in the usual manner of farm lads of the period. He worked in the fields through the summer months and attended public in the winter seasons, and at the age of eighteen years he put aside all personal considerations that he might aid his country as a defender of the Union cause. It was in February, 1865, that he enlisted at Ash Grove, Iroquois county, becoming a member of Company D, One Hundred and Fiftieth Illinois Infantry under Captain Hiram B. Venom, Lieutenant-Colonel C. Springer and William Keener. The regiment was ordered to Camp Butler at Springfield, Illinois, and not long after Mr. Willoughby was taken ill with typhoid fever, being very sick for six weeks. Later the command was ordered to Bridgeport, Alabama, and afterward went to
Cleveland, Tennessee. With his regiment, Mr. Willoughby joined General Sherman's army at Buzzard's Roost and was in all of the engagements to Atlanta, Georgia, proceeding afterward to Griffin, Georgia, and to Jackson. He took part in a number of battles and skirmishes and was fortunate in that he was not wounded. It was some time after the actual close of the war that he was honorably discharged, for following the cessation of hostilities, there came an order for the establishment of a provost marshal government in the south, and his regiment was kept on duty in that section of the country to suppress all riots and distrubances that might occur. It was on such a duty that Mr. Willoughby was at Griffin and at Jackson, Georgia, until about the close of his term. Later the regiment was ordered back to Atlanta, Georgia, where it was reorganized, for in the meantime it had been separated into different sections and the company stationed at different points in the south. Returning to the north Mr. Willoughby was mustered out of service at Camp Butler, Illinois, on the 16th of February, 1866. He was then but eighteen years of age, and yet he had done faithful service as a soldier in defense of the Union.
Following his military experiences Mr. Willoughby took up his residence in the county of his nativity and was married there to Catherine Crow, who has been to him a most faithful companion and helpmate on life's journey for thirty-four years. She was born in Philadephia, Pennsylvania, and is a daugher of Thomas and Ann (Campbell) Crow, both of whom are now deceased. Her father was a native of Ireland. Mrs. Willoughby has a half brother, Asel McFarland. Mr. and Mrs. Willoughby have six children: Mrs. Cora Snow, of Reynolds, Nebraska; Nellie, who is a popular and successful teacher of Reynolds; John, at home; Earl; Scott; and W. J. Bryan. They also lost two
children, Nora, who died at the age of three years, and one that died in infancy.
Mr. and Mrs. Willoughby began their domestic life in Iroquois county, Illinois, where they remained until 1883, and then came to Reynolds. He has a fine property adjoining the town, and in public affairs here he has been prominent and influential. He is independent in his political views, and he belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic, Major Potter Post No. 147, in which he has served as quartermaster and also as vice commander. He likewise has membership relations with the Masonic fraternity. He has served as township assessor of his precinct and is a member of the school board. He favors every moment that tends to promote the welfare and progress of his adopted county, and is well known as a man honorable in business, faithful in friendship and loyal in citizenship.
Benjamin Walker is one of the representative enterprising and progressive business men of Reynolds, Nebraska, where he is conducting a drug store. He came here in the period of early development of the town, and has made for himself an enviable record for meriting and enjoying the esteem and good will of his fellow men. Moreover, he deserves special credit because of the fact that from early boyhood he has been dependent entirely upon his own resources, and he has justly won the proud American title of a self-made man.
Mr. Walker was born in England, January 27, 1844, and is a son of George Walker. He was left an orphan at the age of six years and commenced life as a bootblack and news boy. He made
his way in the world from that time forward, and the hardships and trials that face a friendless boy as he battles with the world became familiar to him. He labored diligently, however, making the most of his opportunities, and the inherent force of his character enabled him to work his way upward. Although reared amid the most unfavorable circumstances and surroundings, he has developed a strong and honorable manhood and has accomplished success such as many a man reared with more favorable conditions might well envy. At the age of thirteen he hid in the hold of a vessel bound for New York, and as a stowaway started for the new world. Soon after the vessel started he was found in his hiding place, but the captain befriended him and made of him a cabin boy for the trip. For three months he was upon the way and then arrived in New York city. Not long afterward he proceeded to Buffalo, where his father was living. He remained in that city for a period and afterward proceeded to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, by the way of the lakes. In the latter place he worked at different occupations that he could secure that would yield him an honest living. For some time he was employed at farm work, and during this period he devoted many of his evenings to reading and study that he might broaden his education, which has been acquired entirely in this way and through practical experience. He was a youth of seventeen years of age when he became a soldier of the Civil war.
Mr. Walker had been deeply interested in the course of events which preceded hostilities and resolved that if the country needed his aid to preserve the Union he would enlist in its defense. Accordingly, in 181, in response to the call for three hundred thousand troops, Mr. Walker donned the blue uniform of the nation and became a member of Company K, Sixteenth Wisconsin Infantry. With his command he went to the front, and at the battle of Shiloh, on the 6th of April, 1862,
he was wounded, being shot through the lungs and the left side. His severe injuries caused him to be honorably discharged in the fall of that year. After spending this winter at Shiloh he was for three days without food. He lay alone in the garret of a private house. Later he was taken to Keokuk, Iowa, by boat, and was there placed in a hospital, where he received the usual army medical treatment. One day a lady, the mayor's daughter, visited the hospital, and she became interested in Mr. Walker and took him out riding and to her father's house. She enlisted her father's sympathies in his behalf, and the mayor secured a permit whereby he was enabled to go by boat to his home. He arrived in a very weak condition, but his natural robust constitution triumphed over wounds and disease, and in a comparatively short space of time he had recovered from the severe injuries he had sustained in behalf of his adopted country. Still his patriotic spirit was undaunted, and he enlisted in the Twenty-fifth Wisconsin Infantry under command of Colonel Orff. He was stationed in the south for a time, being at Burnside, Texas. He participated in the battles of Spanish Fort and of Mobile, Alabama. He made for himself a splendid military record, and the gratitude of the country is certainly due him for what he accomplished in defense of the old flag.
Following his military service Mr. Walker engaged in business, at Colby, Wisconsin, for a time. Later he sold out and came to Jefferson county, Nebraska, where he again engaged in business, conducting a general hardware store for about two years; then engaged in the drug and furniture business. By fair and honorable dealings he has built up a large business and now occupies a commodious brick block which he owns. This is filled with a large line of drugs and furniture, and through his honorable business methods and earnest desire to please his patrons he has secured a very liberal patronage and thereby received
each year a good income. For a number of years he was in partnership with A. H. Bothwell, but is now alone in his undertakings. His business block is twenty-five by sixty feet, one of the substantial buildings of the city.
In 1866, in Wisconsin, Mr. Walker was united in marriage to Miss Annie C. Daggett, who was born in New Brunswick, but was reared and educated in Wisconsin. They have many friends in Reynolds and throughout the surrounding locality and both are members of the Baptist church, taking an active part in its work. Mr. Walker is one of the church officers, and he has also held official relations with the Grand Army of the Republic, being at the present time senior vice commander. He is also identified with the Masonic fraternity. In matters of citizenship he is public-spirited and progressive and is co-operation has been given to many measures for the general good. He is a man who in the every-day walks of life, is found faithful to its principles and a high standard of conduct, and Jefferson county numbers him among its representative and valued citizens.
Rev. Joseph D. Masters, who has largely devoted his life to the work of the Christian ministry and is now living at Thompson, Nebraska, was born near Athens county, Ohio, April 28, 1845, a representative of an old family of that locality. His father was Amos Masters and grandfather Levi Masters. The latter was born in Pennsylvania and his parents were from New Jersey. He married Miss Susan Rickey, also a native of the Keystone state, and both died in Athens, Ohio. Amos Masters wedded Miss Eliza Stout, of Athens county and a
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