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facturing business for several years, with other members of the Reece family, continued the operation of the factory after Mr. Reece's death, in 1928.

Throughout his. life, Mr. Reece took an active interest in community affairs. Politically, he was a staunch Republican, but he never was a candidate for office. He was a charter member of the Columbus Rotary Club, a member of the Masonic Lodge, the B.P.O.E., the Chamber of Commerce, and the United Commercial Travelers.

John and Alfa Laughlin Reece were the parents of four daughters.

Harriet Letitia, deceased, was born at Ashland, Nebraska.

M. Genevieve was born at Ashland, also. She attended Kearney State Teachers College, and, following her graduation from Colorado State Teachers College at Greeley, she taught at the Third Ward School in Columbus. M. Genevieve is manager of the Reece Wooden Sole Shoe Company in Columbus.

Angelene Reece was born at Ashland, Nebraska. She graduated from Columbus High School and married Gus Bergman on August 14, 1919, in Columbus. They have four children: Elizabeth Ann, now Mrs. Roland Wilson of Crete, Nebraska; Mary Jane, who is Mrs. William Marsden of Columbus; Ernest, married to Lorraine Janda, lives in Columbus; and Dorothy Jean, now Mrs. Donald Slonecker, lives in Columbus. The Bergman children were all born in Platte County.

Alfa Dorothea Reece was born at Ashland, Nebraska. She graduated from Columbus High School and then attended the University of California, at Berkeley. Alfa Dorothea is sales manager of the Reece Wooden Sole Shoe Company, in Columbus.

The Reece family belong to the Federated Church in Columbus, Nebraska.

J. H. REED

J. H. Reed, educator and Columbus Township farmer, was a pioneer known to all of the early settlers. Born in Roolstaron, Portage County, Ohio, in 1833, he came to Columbus Township in 1876. He had attended the schools of his day, and acquired an advanced education.

In 1858, he married Catherine S. Morris, at Lebanon, Ohio. She was born in Berks County, Pennsylvania. They had two children: Lois H., known as "Lou," who married Angelo Pickett; and Frederick M. Reed. The Reeds had two adopted children, Harry B. Reed and Bertha Dunlap Reed.

Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Reed both obtained university degrees, and in the early days were owners of a fine library, which included all the classics and standard works of that era.

J. H. Reed was the first superintendent of schools at Ravenna, Ohio, and later was engaged in the merchandising and manufacturing of paper.

In the fall of 1876, he moved with his family to Platte County, and located in Columbus Township, on the farm where the Columbus Power House is now built. The J. H. Reed farm was later sold to Carl Rohde, Sr.

J. H. Reed was a farmer and extensive stock raiser. The original Reed barn, built by him, was moved by the Loup Public Power District from its original site, in the fall of 1935, to the former Frank Ruth Farm, now the Carl Rohde Farm, in the first section north and one mile east of its former site.

The J. H. Reeds were members of the Congregational Church in Columbus.

In the 1880's they moved to Riverside, California, where they acquired extensive interests in orange groves.

FRED MORRIS REED

Frederick Morris Reed, son of John H. and Catherine S. Morris Reed, was born at Mansfield, Ohio, May 29, 1867, and died on June 15, 1939, at Riverside, California.

In 1876, he moved with his parents to Nebraska, where, with a short interval of school teaching, he followed farming. In 1892, he moved to Riverside, California. The J. H. Reed family consisted of Fred, Lois, Mrs. Angelo Pickett, and two adopted children, a brother, Harry B. Reed, and a sister, Bertha Dunlap.

The J. H. Reed family lived for sixteen years on the Reed farm, northeast of Columbus. Fred Reed taught in the suburban school near his home, for a short time. This school was first known as the Browner School, and later as the Reed School. It was located on the Reed land.

Almost immediately after moving to Riverside, California, J. H. Reed became the city's first tree warden. He purchased acreage there, and Frederick was his father's able assistant in transforming it into a flourishing citrus grove. Frederick Reed continued orange culture and became vice-president of the Monte Vista Citrus Association and served as its president from 1935 to 1939.

Mr. Reed was well known to the faculty of the University of California for his work. He was a member of the Western Society of Naturalists, and possessed a valuable collection of rare plants.

RAYMOND H. REED

Raymond H. Reed, son of Eugene and Adalla High Reed, was born on April 16, 1906, at Holdredge, Nebraska, and came to Platte County in March, 1936. His father, an attorney, was born on February 19, 1866, in Cedar Falls, Iowa, and died in 1941, at Des Moines. His, mother was born January 1, 1868, in Pearl City, Illinois, and died November 20, 1944, in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Raymond has two brothers and one sister: Florence A. is the wife of A. B. Pickering, of Los Angeles, California; Eugene C. is married to Katherine Slaughter, and they live in Lincoln, where he is associate director of Conservation and Survey of the University of Nebraska; Leslie M. is married to Lucille Higgins and is the owner of the Manufacturers' Representative Sales Company of Kansas City, Missouri.

Raymond H. Reed lived in Holdredge, Nebraska, until he was seven years old, and then moved to Lincoln. There he attended the Elliott and Prescott Grade Schools and was graduated from the Lincoln High School and the University of Nebraska with a degree in engineering.

He worked with the United States Engineering Department from 1922-1928, and the General Electric Company from 1928-1932. Following that time, he has been in general engineering, and as a consulting engineer, worked with the Platte Valley Public Power and Irrigation District, the Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District, and the Loup River Public Power District. He is a member of the Raymond H. Reed Company, in Columbus, at 2305 1/2 Thirteenth Street.

During World War II, Mr. Reed spent two and a half years, November, 1942, to March, 1945, in the United States Navy. He received his training at Tucson, Arizona, the San Diego Destroyer Base, and the San Pedro Harbor Defense School. He saw active service at Attu, the Aleutians, where he was in charge of Harbor Defense at the United States Naval Air Base.

On February 11, 1945, in Lexington, Nebraska, Raymond H. Reed married Betty Louise Weaver, daughter of Frank J. and Etta Cora Spalti Weaver. Frank J. Weaver was born in Knoxville, Iowa, and is the owner of a clothing and dry cleaning business. Etta Cora Weaver was born in Oakland, Iowa. Mrs. Reed has one sister, Geraldine McDormott Hewitt.

Raymond H. and Betty Weaver Reed have one daughter, Sally Rae, born May 23, 1947, in Omaha.

The Reeds are members of the Federated Church in Columbus. Raymond H. Reed is a member of the Wayside Country Club, serving as president from 1948 to 1950; the B.P.O.E., Elks, the Rotary Club, the Columbus Planning Board, and is a professional registered engineer in the States of Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado and South Dakota.

SAMUEL GEORGE REEDER

Samuel G. Reeder was the fifth son and tenth child of Job and Nancy Campbell Reeder, who were the first couple to be married in Washington Township, Pennsylvania, their wedding taking place on March 12, 1800. Samuel was born September 14, 1821.

On January 5, 1843, he was married to Lydia Graham, the daughter of Samuel Graham. They had eight children: George H., Job, and Milton lived and died in Grand Rapids, Michigan; Mrs. Robert J. Wade, of Pennsylvania; James G. Reeder, and the others are unknown.

After his marriage Samuel Reeder settled on the old Reeder homestead, one mile south of Edinboro, Pennsylvania, and there he spent his entire active life. He was successful as a farmer and was interested in public affairs. He was active in building and served four terms as School Trustee and one term as County Auditor.

Samuel Reeder's father came into the wilderness and settled in 1789, where he lived for fifty years.

Lydia Graham Reeder was born March 25, 1823, in County Cavan, Ireland, and died in Edinboro, Pennsylvania, April 25, 1910. Samuel Reeder died in Edinboro, September 2, 1901. The Reeders were the parents of James Graham Reeder, a prominent Columbus judge and attorney.

JUDGE JAMES GRAHAM REEDER

James Graham Reeder, son of Samuel and Lydia Graham Reeder, was born January 18, 1858, in Erie County, Pennsylvania, arrived in Platte County March 18, 1882, from Hutchinson, Kansas, and died January 31, 1938, in Columbus. His father, born September 14, 1821, in Erie County, died September 2, 1901, in Edinboro, Pennsylvania. His mother, born March 25, 1823, in Ireland, died April 25, 1910, in Edinboro. James had three brothers and one sister:

George, Job, and Milton. They lived and died in Grand Rapids, Michigan; the sister, Mrs. Robert J. Wade, lived in Edinboro and Erie, Pennsylvania.

Completing his course in the elementary grades, James Reeder took a position as teacher at a rural school in Pennsylvania, and worked for twenty-five dollars a month to finance a college education at the Normal School, in Edinboro. Another teaching term at Brady's Bend, Pennsylvania, at eighty-five dollars a month, provided him with enough money to later enroll at the Allegheny College, at Meadville, Pennsylvania.

During the second semester, he registered as a law student with a firm at Erie, but because of finances at the end of six months he took a school at Mt. Zion, Tennessee, and also studied law in the office of McBrooks, Greer and Adams. After a year of teaching and studying, he was given his first opportunity at actual practice, when Mr. McBrooks offered him law work at his branch office in Bartlett, and for his services in maintaining the office he was not required to pay the one hundred dollars tuition fee to the firm.

Completing two full years of study in the law office, he passed the bar admission examination. He then went to Memphis to supervise the plantation of a cousin, while the latter was away on a hunting trip. During that time, he tried a few small law suits which gave him enough money to go home and visit his father. His father gave him money to buy some law books, and thus equipped, he accepted a place in a law office in Hutchinson, Kansas.

Because he was paid so little for his services there, he

sought a new location. A friend gave him the name of Byron Millet, a lawyer here, and after corresponding with him, James Reeder came to Columbus on March 18, 1882. Two days later, he found his first work, in the law office of Attorney W. S. Geer. Mr. Geer invited him to become his partner, which he did, and a year later, when Mr. Geer died, he purchased his law books and practiced alone for three years. His next practice was with W. N. Hensley, a well-known lawyer and editor in Columbus for many years. This firm was dissolved nine months later, when Mr. Hensley was appointed postmaster.

In 1887, J. G. Reeder went to Carlsbad, California, to marry his childhood sweetheart, and on May 18, 1887, he was married there to Lillian Smith, the daughter of Samuel Church and Clara Boone Smith, Mr. Smith, born July 10, 1825, in Haddam, Connecticut, was in the real estate business in Columbus from 1870 to 1886, and died April 18, 1907, in San Diego, California. Mrs. Smith, born November 28, 1833, died May 27, 1886, in Columbus. Lillian Smith Reeder had two brothers and one sister: George B., printer, married Alice Morrell; Elmer C., a civil engineer, one of the first to go to Panama, died in 1906, in the Canal Zone, Panama. He had been on the Nicaraguan Survey; Nellie, the wife of James Davois, died in 1898.

James G. and Lillian Smith Reeder had four children: Clara, an artist, was graduated from the Nebraska State Teachers College, at Kearney, and lives in Columbus; George, a graduate from the law school of the University of Nebraska, was a member of the law firm of Reeder and Reeder, and practiced in Columbus from 1923-1942. He married Hazel Perrin of Lincoln, and they had three daughters. Lucille Reeder is the wife of Harold M. Morse, of Clarks, Nebraska. They now live in Las Vegas, Nevada. Lucille attended the University of Nebraska; Marion Reeder was graduated from the University of Nebraska with Phi Beta Kappa honors. She is the wife of Doctor Leland H. Evans, formerly of Columbus. Their daughter, Mary Jean Evans Johnson, is a talented pianist. Doctor and Mrs. Evans also have two sons.

From 1887-1938, James G. Reeder was engaged in several law partnerships in Columbus. He was associated with Judge I. L. Albert, then with R. W. Hobart. In 1904 he formed a partnership with Judge Sullivan and Louis Lightner. In 1909, J. J. Sullivan moved to Omaha, and then the firm was known as Reeder and Lightner, until 1924. That year his son, George S. Reeder, became associated with him in the law firm of Reeder and Reeder, which continued until 1938.

James G. Reeder was president of the Columbus Public Library Board from its inception, and was instrumental in getting the Carnegie Library building.

He was a member of the Wayside Country Club, the Masons, and the Knights Templar. His hobbies were horseback riding and reading. He was a member of the Federated Church, and politically was affiliated with the Republicans.

On May 18, 1937, James and Lillian Reeder celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary in Columbus.

GEORGE SAMUEL REEDER

George Samuel Reeder, son of James Graham and Lillian Smith Reeder, was born in Columbus, Nebraska. His father died in Columbus, January 31, 1938, and his mother died there in 1945. George has three sisters: Clara; Lucille, married to Harold Morse; and Marion, the wife of Leland Evans.

George was graduated from the Columbus High School and the University of Nebraska College of Law, where he received his Bachelor of Laws degree. He has lived in Rogers, Arkansas, Smith Center, Kansas, Columbus, Nebraska, Berkeley, California, and Las Vegas, Nevada. In Arkansas, he owned and operated an apple orchard and farm. In Kansas, he had an automobile agency. He was associated with his father in the law firm of Reeder and Reeder until 1938. In 1942 he went to California where he was connected with Government service. In 1949 he opened a law office in Las Vegas, Nevada.

On November 27, 1911, in Lincoln, Nebraska, he was married to Hazel Perrin, the daughter of S. W. and Laura Courtney Perrin. Hazel has two brothers and one sister: Charles, in the insurance business, married to Zoe Gore; Dale is in the military service; and Edna, who married Doctor Louis Labarrere, died in Denver.

George Samuel and Hazel Perrin Reeder have three daughters: Courtney, born June 13, 1914, in Rogers, Arkansas, attended the University of Nebraska, the University of Arizona, at Tucson, and is married to David Jones, of Gallup, New Mexico. He was custodian of the Wupatki National Monument, near Flagstaff, Arizona. They have the distinction of having lived in the oldest inhabited house in the United States, a renovated Indian ruin, about eight hundred years old; Edna and Marion, twins, were born December 25, 1916, in Bentonville, Arkansas. Both attended the University of Nebraska. Edna also attended Doane College, at Crete, and was graduated from the Hartford Theological Seminary, at Hartford, Connecticut. She has worked as the Director of Religious Education in the Alstead Larger Parish, at Alstead, New Hampshire. She is married and lives in New Hampshire. Marion is married to C. W. Prentice, of Columbus.

George Reeder is a member of the Elks and the Lions Club. Politically, he is affiliated with the Republican Party.

The Reeder family are Congregationalists and were members of the Federated Church in Columbus.

DENNIS REGAN

Dennis Regan, a pioneer who came to Platte County in 1871, was born September 8, 1836, in Ratoo Parish, County Kerry, Ireland, where he grew to manhood. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Richard O'Regan, who lived and died in Ballyheig, County Kerry. The Regans dropped the "0" in their name when they came to the United States in 1856. Relatives of the family residing in Tralee, Ireland, still spell the family name O'Regan.

Dennis Regan had two sisters and two brothers: Honora O'Regan Hubbert, Catherine O'Regan Duggan, Patrick, and John. In 1856, Dennis located in Bureau County, Illinois.

On October 10, 1862, he was married at Mendota, Illinois, to Miss Margaret Holland, the daughter of John and Mary O'Neill Holland of Peru, Illinois. The Hollands were natives of County Cork, Ireland. On April 1, 1871, they came to Platte County, homesteading in Shell Creek Township, three and one-half miles northeast of Platte Center.

Mr. and Mrs. Regan had nine children: Richard C., at one time State Representative; Daniel; Honore; Tesse; "Dee," of Columbus; Thomas H.; John G., of Adel, Iowa; Mary, Mrs. John Cahill, of St. Edward; and Margaret, Mrs. Oswald V. White, of Columbus. All attended the public and parochial schools at Platte Center, Nebraska. John and Margaret are graduates of the Fremont College. John also attended college in Omaha. Margaret attended the summer sessions at the University of Nebraska, and at Drake University at Des Moines, Iowa. Richard, Daniel and Honore are deceased.

Dennis Regan took an active part in the forming of School District Number 22, known as the Regan School. He was the first director of the school, serving in that capacity for twenty-three years. Soon after locating in Shell Creek Township, he also aided in forming St. Patrick's Catholic parish. The church was erected on the site now occupied by St. Patrick's cemetery. St. Patrick's Church was razed in 1884 when St. Joseph's parish was formed.

Mr. Regan resided on his farm until 1917, when he moved to Columbus. He died February 23, 1928, in Columbus. Mrs. Regan died on March 3, 1911.

RICHARD C. REGAN

Richard C. Regan, son of Dennis and Margaret Holland Regan, was born in Bureau County, Illinois, on September 25, 1863. His parents were both natives of Ireland who had settled in Illinois. One of a family of nine, Richard had four brothers and four sisters.

He came to Platte County with his parents from Bureau County in 1871. The Regan Family settled on a homestead northeast of Platte Center. Richard attended school in District 22, which his father had helped to organize in 1872.

Richard C. Regan was a farmer and spent over sixty years in the management of his farm interests in Platte County.

He was interested in government and politics, and was a member of the Shell Creek Township Board for several years. He moved to Columbus in 1917. He served as a representative from Platte County in the State Legislature for eighteen years, from 1911-1917, and again from 1923-1933. He was the state senator from Nance and Platte Counties from 1935-1936. He was also a member of the Columbus City Council.

On January 14, 1920, at Monticello, Iowa, Richard C. Regan was married to Mrs. Agnes Keating Hart, the widow of P. J. Hart, of Columbus. They made their home in Columbus for a quarter of a century.

Richard C. Regan was a staunch Democrat. His hobbies were politics, and an interest in the early history especially of Shell Creek Township. He was a member of the Catholic Church. Richard C. Regan died in 1945.

WALTER REESE

Walter Reese, bookkeeper and auditor at the Farmer's Union Store for many years, and a former parochial school teacher, was born at Shelton, Nebraska, September 20, 1887. His parents were William and Bertha Meyer Reese.

William Reese was born April 26, 1861, at Fort Wayne, Indiana, and died at Ottertail, Minnesota, August 24, 1923. By occupation, he was a farmer. Bertha Reese was born at Valparaiso, Indiana, March 22, 1865, and died at Ottertail, August 9, 1917.

Mr. Reese attended the Concordia Teachers College at Seward Nebraska, a Teachers College in Chicago, and the Fremont College at Fremont, Nebraska. He was a parochial school teacher for thirty years, for twelve years of which he was the teacher at the Christ Lutheran School, northeast of Columbus.

On September 4, 1919, at Columbus, Walter Reese was married to Ida Loseke, the daughter of Fritz and Minnie Ahrens Loseke, a venerable Platte County couple.

Walter and Ida Loseke Reese have two sons and two daughters: W. Frederick, born at Snyder, Nebraska, June 9, 1920, is married to Dorothy Boyd, of Lincoln, and is associated with an auditing firm. He was a veteran of World War II. Robert, born April 21, 1924, at Snyder, Nebraska, was formerly employed at the Central National Bank in Columbus, and later was an assistant bank examiner in Nebraska. He is also a veteran of World War II. Elizabeth, born at Snyder, Nebraska, is with the State Assistance Office in Lincoln. Mary Louise, who attends school in Columbus, was born at Beemer, Nebraska, March 20, 1935.

Politically, Mr. Reese supports the Democratic Party. The Reese family are members of the Immanuel Lutheran Church in Columbus.

WILSON W. RICE

Wilson W. Rice was born in Old Hadley, Massachusetts, on October 4, 1834. He was married to Sarah Bettina Hazen, who was born at, Middleport, New York, on September 4, 1834, Wilson and Sarah Bettina Hazen Rice had four children: Wilson W., Jr.; Alma G.; Charles, and Charity Rice. Wilson, Jr., was born at Fort Hamilton, Kings

County, New York, in May, 1865. He followed the mercantile business throughout his life, and died at Canyon City, Colorado, in 1944, at the age of seventy-nine. Alma G. Rice, Mrs. Charles Miller, was born in Dalton, Massachusetts, May 29, 1867. She was a little girl when she arrived in Columbus with her parents in the late 1860's. In the late 1870's, the Rice home was located in Lovers Lane, southeast of Columbus. Mrs. Miller remembered the first cold winter when they burned bushels of long ears of corn in their cook stove to keep them from freezing. They had good soil and there was always plenty of wild fruit, berries, game, and fine groves of trees, where they and their neighbors held Fourth of July celebrations.

The youngest son of Wilson and Sarah Rice was Charles, born in Boone County, near St. Edwards, Nebraska, on October 20, 1875. He ran away from home while they lived in Columbus and went to work for the Union Pacific Railroad. He died in Los Angeles, California, years later after retiring from the railroad. Charity Rice, "Chatty," was born at St. Edwards, Nebraska, became a school teacher, and taught in Columbus.

Wilson Rice, his wife and two children, Wilson, Jr. and Alma enroute west to Nebraska from Dalton, Massachusetts, in the late 1860's, came as far as Council Bluffs by railroad and then crossed the Missouri River by ferry. From there on, they traveled by covered wagon.

The (sic) settled first, in Boone County, between Albion and St. Edwards, where they built a home of logs. The Pawnee Indians frequently roamed through that section, and would always exchange the red flannel and warm clothing allotted to them by the government for flour and other food.

During the Civil War, Wilson Rice served as a captain, and was wounded in battle. He moved his family from Columbus to Canyon City, Colorado, where he died in 1912, at the age of seventy-eight. Sarah Bettina Hazen Rice also died in Canyon City.

MYRON A. RICE

Myron A. Rice, of Shell Creek Township, was born at Riceville, Pennsylvania, March 26, 1860, and died at his home in Shell Creek Township, June 11, 1944. He came to Platte County from Waterloo, Nebraska, March 1, 1892. His father, Nelson Rice, a carpenter, was born in Riceville, in 1834, and died in Ohio, in 1874. His mother, C. Adel Moore Rice, was born at Union City, Pennsylvania, May 19, 1842, and died in Seattle, Washington, in February, 1938. Myron had one sister, Mary Adel, who was married to Nelson E. Edholm. Mrs. Edholm died in Seattle in 1936.

Mr. Rice received his early education in the public schools and later attended Rothburn's Business College.

On February 3, 1883, at Arlington, Nebraska, which was then known as "Bell Creek," Myron A. Rice married Fannie Reed, daughter of Thomas and Percy Sheldon Reed. Mr. Reed was a veteran of the Civil War.

The Rices had one daughter, Mary Adel, born at Waterloo, Nebraska, January 28, 1888. She is the widow of J. L. Setlok and had two sons. The eldest son, Sergeant Allan Rice, a bombardier on a B-29, stationed in the China-Burma-India Theatre of Operations, was reported missing in action December 14, 1944.

Mary Add Rice lives with her mother on the farm home in Shell Creek Township. Her hobby is painting life sketches in oil.

JAMES L. RICH

James L. Rich, well-known in Columbus, has been active in business and civic circles since his arrival in Platte County in January of 1919, from Gothenburg, Nebraska. Mr. Rich, son of Lewis D. and Ellen J. Zook Rich, was born in Gothenburg, January 8, 1894, the eleventh in a family of twelve children. His father was born in Putnam, Illinois, December 15, 1850, and died in Elm Creek, Nebraska, June 26, 1936. His mother was born in Marion, Ohio, December 17, 1855, and died in Gothenburg on December 9, 1926.

James L. Rich received his early education in the country grade schools near Gothenburg and later attended school in Los Angeles, California, while the Rich family was residing there. He is a graduate of the Gothenburg High School and the Kearney State Normal School at Kearney, Nebraska. While in highschool and college, Mr. Rich was a member of the baseball, basketball, football, and track teams.

During World War I, from April 7, 1918, to January 6, 1919, Mr. Rich served as a flying instructor at the California University Ground School, at Berkeley, California; Mather Field, at Sacramento, California, and Brooks Field, at San Antonio, Texas. He was discharged as a second lieutenant.

Mr. Rich, who is manager of the local Consumers Public Power District, was formerly chief clerk for the Northwestern Public Service Company, in Columbus. Prior to this, he was city clerk, and for several years head athletic coach at Kramer High School, and director for physical education in the other Columbus public schools.

On October 7, 1920, in Columbus, he was married to Madeline M. Dischner, the daughter of Joseph E. and Mary Liebig Dischner.

Mr. and Mrs. James L. Rich are the parents of two daughters and one son, all born in Columbus. Beverly is a graduate of St. Bonaventure's High School in Columbus and St. Joseph's Hospital School of Nursing, in Omaha. During World War II, Miss Rich was a second lieutenant in the Army Nurses Corps, and a member of the first group of nurses to enter Tokyo after the Japanese surrender. She was married to Francis

© 2005 for the NEGenWeb Project by Ted & Carole Miller