page 140

is under his control as chairman of the county board, and much of his time is spent in looking after these different matters. He has been county surveyor a great deal of his time since coming here. Kearney county rates as high as any, the best land averaging seventy-five dollars per acre, and in 1905 Mr. Slater sold sixty farms in Gosper county. In 1906 he sold from thirty to forty quarter sections in Cheyenne county, also a great deal in Phelps county and Kearney county. He has been one of the leading real estate men in western Nebraska for many years past. The Swedes who settle here buy land but do not often sell, and some of them own up to two sections.

      Mr. Slater is owner of over two thousand acres in this and the adjoining counties, all of which he rents out, and he states that the land in this region has more than doubled in value during the past four years. Four years ago he bought three hundred and twenty acres, for which he paid eight thousand dollars, and only recently was offered twenty-two thousand dollars for it, but refused the offer. One of his farms is stocked with cattle and horses, and the balance are devoted to grain culture.

     Mr. Slater occupies a fine residence in Minden, his family consisting of his wife, one son, Roscoe J., who is cashier of the First National Bank of Bertrand, and one daughter, Alena, wife of R. J. Strabel, and two unmarried daughters, Edna and Loretta. For the past ten years Mr. Slater has been a member of the board of trustees of the Wesleyan University for Nebraska. This school has had a hard struggle for existence, and he has given liberally of his money and time to help the institution along. He is a member of the executive committee, and the school now has about one thousand students and is developing rapidly. He has been on the board of the Minden Methodist Episcopal church since he first located here, and this church has recently built a fine new brick building.

      Timothy Morrissey, deceased, one of the most prominent early settlers in western Nebraska, was proprietor of a fine ranch of six thousand acres located twenty-four miles from Chadron, residing prior to his decease with his family in that town, where he moved in 1906 in order to give his children the advantages of the city schools. Mr. Morrissey was among the earliest settlers in the vicinity of Chadron, there being very few white men here when he arrived. He was an important factor in the development of the financial resources of that region, and was widely and favorably known throughout Dawes and the adjoining counties.

      Mr. Morrissey was born in Livingston county, New York, in 1860. His father was Andrew Morrissey, born in Ireland, who came to this country when a young man and started a farm in New York state. He had brought his bride, who was Katherine Dowling, of Queens county, Ireland, with him to the new country, and together they began life in the land of the free, building up a comfortable home, They raised their family in Livingston county, where they were taught to do all kinds of farm work, and in his boyhood days our subject worked out on different farms in the vicinity of his home.

      In 1884 he came west and arrived in Nebraska on March 31, camping out on the Bordeaux creek, Dawes county, in Pete Nelson's yards, where Chadron first started. Mr. Morrissey had footed it through this county from Valentine, as he had no team and the railroad was not at that time through this section. In the spring of that year he filed on a pre-emption north of Chadron and later returned to Valentine, where he remained for a short time and then went farther west, traveling by ox team through the country. His was the first shack ever built in what is now the town of Chadron, and he drove the first well on the upland near that place. The present site of Chadron was then "prairie dog town." During the winter of 1885-86 he was city marshal and made Chadron his home up to the spring of 1889, serving as deputy treasurer of Dawes county under DeForrest Richards, and that same year moved to twenty-four miles south of Charon, where he took up a homestead and timber claim, all of which was wild land. Here he tried farming for the first few years, but did not have very good success, so went into the stock raising business. He put up good buildings and improved his place constantly. He was owner of six thousand acres of good ranch land, engaging exclusively in sheep raising, and made a pronounced success of this line of work. When the C. & N. W. Railway was put through the sand hills in Cherry county, Mr. Morrissey was one of those who assisted in the work. Mr. Morrissey had a fine house containing nine rooms, the building being two stories high. His barn is 28x56, and plenty of good shed room, etc., and he put six wells on his place, with four windmills and

page 141

everything necessary to make a model ranch. He had telephone connections at his ranch home, building the line himself out of his own pocket. In September, 1906, Mr. Morrissey purchased his town residence and moved his family there, and until his demise divided his time between his ranch and city home, devoting all his attention to the building up of these places. Mr. Morrissey died the 20th day of December, 1907.

     Mr. Morrissey was married in April, 1889 to Miss Agnes L. Bartlett, daughter of Alfred E. Bartlett, farmer and ranchman of Dawes county, of Yankee stock, originally from Massachusetts. To Mr. and Mrs. Morrissey were born five children, namely; May, Inez, Harry, Reta and Mart, all of whom were born on the ranch, Mart, the baby, last named, died the 16th day of December, 1907, four days before her father's decease.

     For six years Mr. Morrissey acted as justice of the peace in Dawes county, during that time performing many marriages among the people of this region. He also held the position of postmaster at Dunlap, this county, for five years, and through these offices became a familiar and widely known citizen of the county.

      W. H. Miller, county attorney of Franklin county, Nebraska, is one of the leading citizens of his vicinity. He is the only child of A. V. Miller, retired, of Franklin, who is one of the oldest settlers in western Nebraska, having located in this county in 1880, homesteading in Macon township one hundred and sixty acres, breaking up the land and building a sod house, and who went through all the pioneer experiences of failures of crops and the discouragements familiar to the early settlers in this state. A. V. Miller was born in Waldoboro, Maine, in 1841, and enlisted in the United States navy in 1864, serving on the sloop "Brooklyn" and the gunboat "Ottawa" on the Atlantic at the battle of Fort Fisher under Admiral Porter. He was mustered out at the Brooklyn navy yard in 1865.

     His father, Gilmore Miller, served in the Twentieth Maine Regiment through the Civil war, from 1862 up to 1865. He was in the Army of Port Hudson, under General Banks. Our subject's grandfather, Frank Miller, of Lincoln county, Maine, was in the war of 1812; also his father, William Miller, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, so that the Millers were of fighting blood from the earliest days, and were brave soldiers and patriotic citizens. Hiram Miller came to this country from Germany as early as 1767. A. V. Miller's mother was Elizabeth Hahn, of Waldoboro, Maine. He married Miss Asenith Mack at Lawrence, Massachusetts, daughter of George and Louise Chase Mack, of Eaton, New Hampshire. Mrs. Miller was born in Carroll county, that state, and her mother was a daughter of Oliver and Abigail (Fernal) Chase, whose family settled there before the Revolutionary war. Our subject is the owner of a fine four-hundred-acre farm in Ash Grove township and Bloomington township, while his son, W. H. Miller, owns two hundred and forty acres under ditch on Snake river, in Carbon county, Wyoming. The latter married Miss Verna Furry, of Franklin, daughter of L. E. Furry and Carrie Bender Furry, both of whom came from Bedford county, Pennsylvania, whose parents were early pioneers in that state. Mr. and Mrs. Miller have two sons, Leonard Avy and Herbert Ross.

     Attorney Miller was born in Butler county, Iowa, in 1870. He attended Franklin Academy and studied law at the Lincoln State University, and graduated from that institution in 1897, at once opening an office in Hildreth. He was elected county attorney the following year and served one term, and re-elected in 1906, on the Republican ticket. He is recognized as one of the leading men of the profession in this part of the state, and has gained a high position in the estimation of his associates as a man of superior ability and judgment in all matters. He is a member of the Presbyterian church, and of the fraternal order of Independent Order of Odd Fellows. A portrait of Mr. Miller appears on another page of this volume.

     The history of Kimball county, Nebraska, would be incomplete without the life story of Henry H. Prouty, one of the most prominent of the pioneers of western Nebraska. Mr. Prouty was elected judge of the county in 1895, and, with the exception of the years 1897 and 1898, has held the office ever since, being the present incumbent. Judge Prouty has served his country with rare fidelity and acceptability and has won a high place in the esteem of his associates.

     Henry H. Prouty was born in Brattleboro, Vermont, December 18, 1842, being the youngest of ten children in his father's family. Mr. Prouty was reared in his native state, receiving

page 142

a good education and working for years in a carriage factory in Brattleboro. In April, 1886, he came west. locating in Kimball (then Cheyenne) county, Nebraska.

     Mr. Prouty saw active service in the Civil war, enlisting June 20th, in Company C, Second Vermont Infantry. He entered the service as a private and when mustered out in 1865 he had risen to the rank of senior captain of Company B of his regiment. Our subject participated in many severe battles from Bull Run to Appomattox. He was shot through both thighs May 4, 1863, at Salem Heights, Virginia, and was confined to the hospital for three months, after which he returned to his company. He was adjutant and quartermaster on the regimental staff, serving with honor and distinction, and was mustered out at Balls Cross Road, Virginia, July 28, 1865, after which he returned to Vermont.

     Henry H. Prouty was married in Brattleboro, Vermont, March 16, 1867, to Julia M. Hurley, a native of Ireland, and who died in Kimball, Nebraska, May 14, 1908. She was sincerely mourned by her family and a large circle of friends. Mr. and Mrs. Prouty were the parents of children: Edward M., married and living in Kimball, Nebraska; Ella M., now Mrs. E. M. Farley, of Lawrence, Massachusetts, and Caroline M., who is Mrs. Frank Lynch and a resident of Kimball; Harriet L., married to Lucian Stedman and living at Gardner, Massachusetts; and Julie M., married to Thrulaw Weed and living in North Loup, Nebraska.

     Our subject, on coming to Nebraska, located on a claim in section 14, township 16, range 56, and later took a tree claim. In 1868 he sold his ranch and moved to Kimball, the county seat, where he has resided ever since. Mr. Prouty was postmaster of Kimball under president Cleveland's second administration. Judge Prouty is a Democrat in politics and his popularity is shown by the fact that, although he is a Democrat in politics, he has been elected in a strong Republican county and at the last election he was also nominated at the Republican primaries.

     The above is one of the old settlers of Nebraska who came to this state when it was practically in its infancy and has remained to see it grow from a wild prairie tract to the fertile and productive country it has now become. While building up a good home and competence for himself he has also aided materially in the growth of his locality and is now prepared to enjoy the fruits of his many years of hard labor and share in the prosperity of the region. He has a comfortable residence and pleasant home in section 14, township 15, range 33, Cherry county, and is held in high esteem by all who know him.

     Mr. Boyer was born in Grayson county, Virginia, in 1874. He is a brother of Fiels L. B. K. Boyer, whose sketch appears in the book, and a son of Hugh Boyer, an old settler of Cherry county, of old American stock. When our subject was nine years old the family settled in Madison county, in the eastern part of Nebraska, and with his father made the trip to Cherry county about 1886, where they picked out a location on which they made settlement in that year. the balance of the family coming here later on, traveling through the country by team with a covered wagon containing their goods.

     At the first they put up a rough building and started to break up land for a farm. All supplies had to be hauled from Purdum a distance of fifty miles from their claim, and their nearest trading post.

     When Charles was eighteen years of age he started out for himself in Madison county, where he farmed for three years, then returned to Cherry county for a time, and was back and forth between the two places up to 1898, finally settling permanently nine miles northwest of Mullen. He is now owner of a good ranch consisting of eight hundred acres, which is devoted to cattle raising, and he is also interested in the dairying business on quite a large scale.

     In 1901 Mr. Boyer was married to Stella Hewitt, daughter of Wilson Hewitt, an old settler and owner of a good farm located near Kearney, Nebraska, where Mrs. Boyer was born and reared. Mr. and Mrs. Boyer are the parents of four children, namely; Esther, Wava, Bertha and Leonard. Mr. Boyer is independent in politics, voting for the men and measures he believes best suited to the needs of the people.

     David Hanna, one of the older settlers of Cherry county, Nebraska, and a popular resident of Wood Lake, has watched the development and growth of this section for the past twenty-five years, and has gained an enviable reputation as a successful business man and 

 

page 143

worthy citizen. He is engaged in the banking business and is widely known throughout this and adjoining counties.

     Mr. Hanna was born near Lisbon Center, St. Lawrence county, New York, Judy (sic) 4, 1844. His father, John Hanna, was of Scotch-Irish stock, farmer by occupation, and his family of eight children were reared and educated on the farm where our subject early learned to perform all sorts of hard labor, and received a good old-fashioned training which fitted him for the struggle with fortune which he encountered later in life. He first started out for himself at the age of nineteen years, when, together with one brother, he came west to Winona county, Minnesota, where they worked on farms for three years. In 1888 the parents with five sons followed and each bought land on the Winnebago reservation. In 1883 Mr. Hanna first came to Cherry county in company with his youngest brother, driving a bunch of cattle from Minnesota to this county, and immediately settled in section 18, township 29, range 27, on a homestead and tree claim and started in the stock raising business. He proved up on these places and having improved it with good buildings and fences, it is now considered one of the best ranches in the county. It is personally managed by himself and he derives a good income from the stock which he keeps on the place. The range contains eight thousand acres, and he runs about sixteen hundred cattle and two hundred and fifty horses on it. The surrounding country is well settled now, but when Mr. Hanna came here the nearest neighbor was thirty miles from his place, and he and his brother were the first white men to settle west of the village of Johnstown. There was no one living between his farm and Valentine, and no one south between his ranch and Broken Bow. He has always done his share in advancing the interests of Cherry county, and has built up a fine estate, which would be a great credit in the older and more thickly settled portions of the country. April 1, 1904, he bought a half interest in the bank at Wood Lake, purchased a fine residence and moved into town to give personal attention to the business. In 1890 Mr. Hanna was elected sheriff of this county, serving one term, and in 1902 was sent to the state legislature to represent the county as a member of the lower house. Since 1906 he has been a member of the state senate from his district.

     Mr. Hanna was married to Miss Janette Lambie, who was born in Hammond, St. Lawrence county, New York, in 1854, of Scotch descent. Seven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Hanna, four of whom are living, named as follows; Niel, Florence, Mary and Charlotte, all reared in Cherry County. They are consistent members of the Presbyterian church.

     Mr. Hanna with his family occupies a beautiful six thousand dollar residence in Wood Lake, and devotes his time to his different enterprises. He takes a keen interest in politics and keeps abreast of the times in matters of local and national importance. He is a Republican in politics. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, affiliating with the blue lodge at Wood Lake, the Chapter at Long Pine, the Commandery at Norfolk and the Shrine at Omaha. He also holds membership in the A. O. U. W. at Wood Lake.

     One of the most interesting illustrations in this work, and, which is shown on another page, is a view of the home and its surroundings. Portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Hanna will also be found elsewhere.

     Among the oldest settlers of western Nebraska who has taken an active part in the development of that region and gone through many bitter experiences in building up a home and competence out of nothing excepting his strong heart and willing hands, the gentleman above named deserves prominent mention. He came here when this part of the state was entirely undeveloped, towns were few and far between, supplies had to be hauled from North Platte to his claim, which was located twelve miles northwest of where the town of Whitman now stands, before the railroads were put through any portion of Grant county, and has come out victorious from the struggle. He had just gotten his home established and his farm nicely started when along came a destructive prairie fire and everything was swept away with the exception of his house, which was a rude affair built of sod. This occurred in 1894 and was a terrible calamity to him at that time, as well as to many other poor settlers in the vicinity, as it burned off miles of range and destroyed many humble homes.

     John Gentry was born on a farm in Monroe county, Indiana, in 1858, of American stock. He grew to the age of six years on the home farm, when the family moved to Illinois, settling in Hancock county, where he was reared and educated. In 1876 he left home and emigrated to Kansas, securing employment on a ranch and worked as a cowboy,

 Page 144

riding all over the western part of that state, eastern Colorado and into Nebraska, spending many years in that section of the country. He came to Grant county, Nebraska, in 1886, the following year took up a homestead in Cherry county, twelve miles northwest of Whitman and started at once in the cattle business. His first buildings were a sod house and barns, corrals, etc., and he lived on the place for about eleven years. This ranch now consists of three thousand acres, all good range land, partly fenced and supplied with good farm buildings. There are four flowing wells on the ranch, and, he has a large bunch of cattle and other stock, and has made a decided success in the ranching business. He puts up many hundreds of tons of hay each year and has some fine lakes on his ranch, which abound in many wild ducks and other kinds of wild fowl. Mr. Gentry personally conducts his ranching interests, but in 1896 removed to Hyannis with his family, where they occupy a handsome residence.

     In 1888 our subject was united in marriage to Fannie Monahan Abbott, whose father is a prominent pioneer in this part of Nebraska. They have two children, Carver and Raymond. Both children are at home with their parents and are very bright boys, who attend school in Hyannis during the session.

     Judge Fred N. Morgan, who enjoys an extensive and lucrative law practice, is one of the leading citizens of Bassett, Rock county, Nebraska. He is recognized by the legal profession as an able representative of the Nebraska bar, and his successful practice is the result of his earnest efforts and sound judgment. He was elected the first county judge of Rock county, and held that office for eleven years, being re-elected six time.

     Judge Morgan was born in Marion county, Indiana, September 22, 1858. His father, Granville Morgan, was a farmer and one of the pioneer settlers in Indiana, of American stock. When he located in that state he filed on a tract of government land situated three miles from the city of Indianapolis. Our subject's mother was, prior to her marriage, Sarah J. Smith, whose father was a Virginian and served in the War of 1812. He was an old settler in Kentucky, where the daughter was born. Mr. Morgan was reared and educated in his native state, during his boyhood years remaining on his father's farm and assisting in farm work, following the plow and getting a good sturdy training. He attended the country schools, and afterwards went to school in Indianapolis, graduating from the high school there at the age of nineteen. After school he spent one year on the home farm, then came to Nebraska, settling in Washington county, making his home at Blair, where in 1882 he began the study of law. In 1885 he moved to Newport, remaining four years, then came to Bassett, where he received the nomination as county judge and was elected, being the first judge of Rock county after its organization. He had been practicing law for several years prior to this, having been admitted to the bar in 1887 at Ainsworth. In 1904 he was elected county attorney, serving in that capacity two years, and has come to be recognized as one of the leading lawyers of the locality. He devotes his attention to the building up of his practice and has been successful in a marked degree. In 1904 he was appointed commissioner of the United States, having jurisdiction over land cases and preliminary hearings in cases that may come before the criminal branch of the court.

     October 7, 1889, Judge Morgan was married in Ainsworth to Miss Jessie C. Smith, a native of Iowa, daughter of Newton F. and Adaline (McAhren) Smith. This union is blessed with three children, namely: Alta Pauline, Genevieve Irene and Lyle Newton.

     Judge Morgan is one of the influential and public-minded citizens of his community, and stands firmly for the principles of the Republican party. The entire family holds communion with the Episcopal church. while the judge affiliates with the Masonic order and the order of the Eastern Star, the Elks, the Workmen, the Woodmen and the Royal Highlanders.

     Webster E. Bowers, a prosperous and successful member of the business community in Mullen, Hooker county, is an old settler in western Nebraska, having settled on the Dismal river in the southern part of what is now Hooker county in the spring of 1884. At this time there was no county organization. In fact, there were but two other families in that part of the country, and during the years in which this section of the state has been developing into a prosperous and comparatively populous region he has taken an active part in its growth and upbuilding.

 Page 145

     Judge Bowers was born in Wheeling, West Virginia, in July, 1856. His father, James M., was a well-to-do iron worker when the Civil war broke out, and was among the first to enlist in West Virginia for the defense of the Union. The close of the war found him broken in health and financially ruined. The agitation regarding the admission of the territory of Nebraska into the union of states had brought this region prominently before the public and in 1869, with his worldly possessions in a wagon, he left La Salle county, Illinois, for Nebraska, locating in the fall of 1869, fifteen miles southwest of Fairbury, Jefferson county, where he saw the uninhabited prairie grow into a prosperous, well tilled farming community and was an important factor in that development. The following sketch of his life is from the Fairbury Journal of March 21, 1903:

     "Captain James M. Bowers died at Fairbury, Nebraska, Monday, March 16, 1903, aged seventy-one years, eight months and twelve days. He was born July 4, 1831, in Blair county, Pennsylvania, and spent the early years of his life in that region. October 1, 1854, he was married to Miss Margaret Twinam at Marshall, West Virginia, and for the next ten years their home was at Wheeling. In 1861, when President Lincoln made the first call for volunteers, Mr. Bowers was among the first to enlist, being enrolled as a private in the First Virginia Regiment, United States Volunteers. He was almost immediately introduced to the realities of war, being actively engaged in McClellan's brilliant campaign whereby the rebels were driven from West Virginia and that portion of the Old Dominion saved to the Union. He was loth (sic) to speak of his military services, but it was evident that they were very honorable to him, inasmuch as he was promoted to the captaincy of his company within five months after his enlistment. He was subsequently engaged in the operation of the armies opposed to General Lee and participated in the battle of Gettysburg. On account of impaired health he was honorably discharged in August, 1863.

     "After the Civil war he resided for a short time in Illinois, and removed from there to Nebraska in 1869, residing for a short time at Blue Springs and since 1870 in Jefferson county on his farm near Reynolds. Some twelve years ago he began to feel the serious infirmity of the disease that ultimately resulted in his death and so retired from active labor and made his home in Fairbury. He has been known here as a quiet and honorable citizen, respected by all, beloved by the few whose privilege it was to know him intimately. So humbly that his good works were known to only a small number of his nearest friends, he was systematically charitable to the poor and distressed, and many suffering families have received the relief which he was so glad to extend without knowing who their benefactor was. Though himself a man of moderate means, he was thus one of the most useful and worthy citizens. His kindness of heart was the fruit of a strong Christian faith. He had been a member of the Methodist church for over fifty years and was at one time a local preacher of that denomination. He was also an Odd Fellow and a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. Funeral services at the Methodist church were conducted by Rev. W. M. Balch and at the grave by the Grand Army of the Republic.

     "He is survived by his wife, six sons and two daughter, and was preceded in death by two of his children."

     Margaret Bowers, widow of the old vetearn (sic) and pioneer, still lives in the old home at Fairbury, and her gentle and lovable character has brought her the love and respect of all who are so fortunate as to know her. Though she is now seventy years of age, she is ever to be found where there is need of sympathy, or more substantial help.

     The long drive from Illinois developed in the subject of our sketch a slumbering desire to ramble, and after four years of drouth (sic) and grasshoppers with the old folks, at the age of seventeen he struck out on his own hook. Marysville, Kansas, was on the old Mormon and California trail, and the well known Independence ford across the Big Blue river was only a few miles below this town. As this was a general resting place for the traveler on the way to the coast country, or the Mormon bound for Utah, it promised a contrast to the lonely life on the claim, and accordingly it was attractive to the youth in search of a change of scene. Though no longer the activity of former years prevailed here, still it presented many attractions to the eye of young Bowers. United States soldiers, trappers, scouts and Indians were often on the streets of the little town, and he was soon on the great plains hunting the then numerous herds of buffalo. Several years of hunting and trapping followed, with many adventures of different kinds, from riding day and night without rest and nearly without food to bring help for an injured comrade who lay nigh the jaws of death, a long hundred miles from a surgeon, to the plain matter of fact diet of straight jerked buffalo meat an alkali water. 

page 146

     "Web," as he commonly called, is not much of a talker, but his story of a little too much whisky is amusing:

     "A party of hunters were coming in from a very successful hunt, and one of the number, Rug. Beulis, an old United States soldier, was extremely fond of the red liquor. The crossing of the Republican river, near the mouth of Whiterock creek, was a hard one on account of quicksand, and Enoch Martin, who lived on the creek near its mouth, was engaged to help get the wagons over, and so save a great deal of labor unloading. When the crossing was made, and we were preparing for the night, Rug was missed. A couple of the boys went back to the north side of the river, where he was last seen near the camp of a party of trappers, where he was found, dead to the world with whisky he had obtained by trading the last of his ammunition to a trapper who had more whisky than gun feed. Martin was again pressed into service, and Rug. loaded into the wagon. When nearly across the river on the way to our camp, a trace which had probably been strained in the previous heaving pulling, broke, and Martin tumbled out to repair the trace. During this operation Rug. roused enough to see the fringe of cottonwoods along the stream and hear the ripple of the water, and he broke the silence with 'Boys, letsh camp, wood and water sho handy,' and then he was gone again. We had been where wood and water were appreciated."

     In November, 1877, Mr. Bowers was married to Miss Roxy L. Ripley, daughter of Amos J. and Huldah S. Ripley, at Marysville, Kansas. To them were born nine children. In the spring of 1884 they located on the south branch of the Dismal river, in what is now Hooker county. At that time this was a hunters' (sic) paradise. Antelope, deer and elk were roaming the country by the hundreds. Here again began the life of the pioneer, with all that the term implies. North Platte, by the route then traveled, was seventy-five miles distant, and was the nearest trading point, and postoffice, and the road was sandy and hilly, but over it was hauled, one way timber and posts from the Dismal, and the other the necessary supplies for the family. The trip usually required about seven days, and often ten. Grub, bedding fuel to cook with, summer or winter, and a supply of water for man and team, a great part of the time, all had to be hauled in addition to the regular load. From the river to the Platte was but one settlement; one Chapin, had a small ranch at the head of the South Loup river. The eternal drag through the sandhills can be estimated at its true meaning only by one who has had the actual experience.

     In 1889 Mr. Bowers began the study of photography, and in time became thoroughly proficient in that work. For about ten years he traveled in Hooker and surrounding counties, making pictures of ranches, stock and the babies. Today the most highly prized mementos of many of the old timers are the pictures made by this wandering photographer.

     In 1890 he sold his homestead on the Dismal, and moved to Mullen, where he now lives. Domestic dissension caused a rupture in time which lead to a separation of Mr. Bowers and his wife. In 1901 he married Martha E. Ripley, a sister of his former wife. To them have been born two children.

     In 1901 our subject established the only photograph gallery in Hooker county, at Mullen, where he has built up a good business, and is regarded as one of the best artists in the state, and is one of the substantial citizens of the town, and a worthy representative of his community. Judge Bowers has served his county in various official capacities, and has given satisfaction to his people as justice of the peace, county commissioner and county judge. He is a strong Republican, active in party politics.

     The subject of this review was born in Ghent, Columbia county, New York, March 11, 1854, of American-born parents. His father, John T. Hogeboom, was a civil engineer and lawyer by profession. The family came from Amsterdam, Holland, and settled in New Amsterdam, now New York City. His mother's maiden name was Sarah McClellen, and her father's name was Dr. Samuel McClellen of Nassau, New York. Our subject was reared in New York, remaining until 1878, when he traveled in the west, and worked on different ranches. * He also came up with cattle to Ogallala, which was the end of the old cattle trail from Texas, where over three hundred thousand were delivered and placed on northern ranges, to be shipped later to the Chicago markets; was located at one time seventy-five miles west of Old Fort Hartsuff on the North Loup river and no one was between them and Rosebud Indian reservation many miles to the west; was present at a Sioux Indian pow-wow at the mouth of Goose creek, where a beef was butchered and the pipe of peace--Calumet--was smoked and good feeling prevailed.* The Sioux came to the ranch not in the best of 

* Words between the asterisks appear exactly as they are in original book. Interpretation is left to the descendants.

page 147

good feeling, as they were returning from an unsuccessful trip east, where they had been after stolen ponies. He came to his present location on the head of the South Loup river four years prior to the organization of Logan county. Settled on unimproved prairie land and was the first homesteader who settled in the unorganized territory and has developed a splendid ranch, all improved and fenced in up-to-date manner, giving his attention to stock raising, where one of the attractions is the herd of registered Mule-Footed hogs.

     Mr. Hogeboom was married in 1882 to Mrs. Georgiana C. Hilgard, widow of Theodore C. Hilgard, M. D., whose father was Theodore E. Hilgard, lawyer, born in Nassau, Germany, immigrated to Illinois in 1835 with a family of nine children. Her father was Albert C. Koch, M. D., who immigrated to this country from Germany, coming here to make collections for the European museums. Among his collections were three skeletons of a big lizard seventy-five to eight feet long, "Zeuglodon maciospondylus." One was burned at Chicago during the great Chicago fire.

     Judge Hogeboom had excellent educational advantages in his early life and prepared himself for the legal profession by graduating from Columbia College of New York.

     He was well equipped with learning to participate in the political affairs of his county and to perform the duties of prosecuting attorney of Logan, which position he held. He was county judge when the county was first organized and is at present time the county judge.

     He was the first postmaster in Logan county, did surveying for many years, and quit only after his private and public interests demanded it. No man has been more closely identified with the growth of Logan county than has Judge Hogeboom, and he is esteemed everywhere for his sound principles and wise counsel.

     The subject of this review is now the oldest settler on the North Loup river in Custer county, Nebraska. He has taken an active part in the development of his locality and is one of the successful old-timers of this part of the country.

     Arthur R. Bowen was born in Garden Grove Village, Decatur county, Iowa. August 26, 1856, and was of Scotch-Irish ancestry. His father, Daniel L. Bowen, was a native of Ohio and a pioneer of Nebraska, being the first man to bring a family west in 1873. He was an old-time homesteader and drove to the state overland in a covered wagon, locating near the North Loup river. The father and our subject and brothers made trips with ox teams to Grand Island, a hundred miles away, to haul cedar posts and other supplies and materials. They built rafts of cedar posts and floated them down North Loup river to Columbus, where they sold them.

     Our subject's mother died in 1884. His father died in 1907 at Sheridan Wyoming, at the ripe old age of eighty-five years. He built up a good home and was prominent and influential among the old settlers.

     Arthur R. Bowen entered a homestead in Custer county in 1877 and has been an interested witness of the growth of the territory. He had to meet all the pioneer hardships, among them drouth (sic), grasshopper raids for two years and resulting crop losses. In 1904 a tornado wrecked his property in terrible shape, tore down buildings, windmills, trees, and his home, built of sod, was swept away from over their heads. His wife had to be dug out from under the sods and from under a heavy oak table after the storm had spent its fury. This was an awful experience and it is stamped indelibly on the minds of the family. Our subject has now a beautiful farm of four hundred and eighty acres with splendid improvements, and he has plenty of timber in the canons (sic) on the ranch. He cultivates two hundred and thirty acres and is successfully engaged in farming and stock raising.

     Arthur R. Bowen was married in 1879 to Miss Mollie Hollopeter. Her father was American-born, but of German parents. He was a prominent Dunkard minister. Her mother, Eliza Zigler, was American-born, but her parents were natives of Germany. Mr. and Mrs. Bowen have one child, Theresa, now married and living in South Dakota.

     Mr. Bowen is a strong Democrat in politics and is a stanch supporter of the principles promulgated in the platform of his party. He has held several minor offices with credit and distinction. He organized the Kent school district and built the school house years ago.

     C. H. Gregg, a well known resident of Kearney, Nebraska, is a typical representative of this hustling and enterprising western city, and illustrates in his own career the conditions of success at the present day. For many years

© 2000, 2001 NEGenWeb Project Resource Center, Marilyn J. Estrada, T&C Miller