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three hundred and forty acres, being recognized as one of the progressive citizens of the county. When he first came to this locality he met with many reverses, losing three crops in succession, beginning with 1898, through the ravages of chinch bugs and by hail.
On March 1, 1886, Mr. Barker was married to Miss Minnie Miller, whose father, Horace G. Miller, is an old settler in Brown county. His sketch appears on another page of this work. Mr. and Mrs. Barker have a family of three children, all of whom were born in Brown county, named as follows: Nellie, Audrey and Dale.
Mr. Barker takes
a commendable interest in all local affairs that tend to better
conditions in his community and is held in high esteem by his
fellow-men. He is a Republican in politics and a member of the
Royal Highlanders at Long Pine. On another page of this volume
will be found a view of Mr. Barker's residence and the surrounding
buildings.
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CAPTAIN
JOHN F. MORGAN AND
MRS. MARY R. MORGAN
Captain Morgan came to Harlan county in 1878 and located on a homestead in Fairfield township. He remained there for two years, then removed to Alma, renting his farm. He served all through the late war, having enlisted October 14, 1861, in Company A, Sixty-sixth Ohio Regiment, under Colonel Charles Candy. This was a company of volunteers from Champaign county, Ohio, and they saw service in many large battles. He remained with this regiment up to December 16, 1863, then re-enlisted on Lookout Mountain. In October, 1862, he had been made sergeant and filled this post with honor. June 20, 1865, he was commissioned first lieutenant of Company A. He was in Virginia at the battle of Winchester and Port Republic. Also at Cedar Mountain and Antietam, and at the latter place he received a severe wound which forced him to the Baltimore hospital for several months. He took part in the battle of Chancellorsville, and also in the battle of Gettysburg, this battle lasting for three days, and the horrors of that famous action are still fresh in our subject's mind. He was then ordered to Chattanooga, Tennessee, with his regiment, having been transferred to the western army. Here he participated in the battles of Missionary Ridge, Lookout Mountain, Resaca, Ringgold, Dallas and Pumpkin Vine Creek, where there was continual fighting between the Federals under General Sherman and Confederates under Johnston. He participated in the ten days' siege at Kenesaw Mountain, at Peach Tree Creek and at the siege and capture of Atlanta. He was with Sherman on his march to the sea, at the siege of Savannah, and through South and North Carolina, and at the battle of Richmond and later at the grand review at Washington, D. C.
Captain Morgan has been a member of the Grand Army of the Republic since 1878, and of Van Meter Post No. 94, as a charter member, and for a number of terms has held the office of commander and adjutant. He was on Captain Henry's staff while department commander and in 1905 on the staff of Corporal Tanner, major general and commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, and others.
Mrs. Morgan is one of the leading members of the Woman's Relief Corps of Alma. On May 11, 1886, she became a charter member and first president of Van Meter Relief Corps, and has been one of the hardest workers in that body. She was appointed press correspondent for the Department of Nebraska, and assistant national inspector in June, 1886; served for two years as president of the Department of Nebraska, and was for two and a half years treasurer of that department, one year was department secretary, and is now serving as department counselor. She was the national secretary for the years 1905 and 1906, and at the present time is acting as chairman of the national executive committee of the Woman's Relief Corps. In this order there are over one hundred and fifty-five thousand members in the United States.
In 1888 Captain and Mrs. Morgan edited and published "The News-Reporter," of Alma, an independent paper in the interest of the temperance cause, and this had a wide circulation in western Nebraska. They sold out their interest in this organ in 1900. Both Mr. and Mrs. Morgan are active in public affairs all through this section, the latter having
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served from 1881 to 1888, inclusive, as county superintendent of education for Harlan county. Captain Morgan is a prominent member of the Masonic order and an active worker in Harlan Lodge No. 116; also an Independent Order of Odd Fellow, being a charter member of Alma Lodge No. 81, which was the first of this order organized in Harlan county--in 1878.
He is an active Republican and has held the office of assessor, township clerk and treasurer of the town of Alma, and many other local offices. Captain Morgan has now retired from all active business interests and his time is devoted to his family and in the enjoyment of his comfortable home, surrounded by a host of warm friends and acquaintances.
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A leading old-timer of Box Butte county who has watched the growth of that part of the county since its early beginning, resides in Hemingford, where he is engaged in the milling and lumber business and is one of the prosperous and successful business men of the town.Mr. Miller was born in McHenry county, Illinois, in 1844. His father, Worthington Miller, was of American birth and his mother was Miss Harriet Everett before her marriage, and who died when he was six years old. When he reached the age of twelve years our subject started out for himself, working on different farms in Kankakee county, Illinois, for a number of years, and at the breaking out of the war he enlisted in the Seventy-sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, Company F, and saw active service along the Mississippi river and in Florida. He took part in the siege of Vicksburg; also at the siege of Mobile and spent three years in a soldier's life. He was in the last battle of the war, fought at Fort Blakely. His company went into the war in 1862 with one hundred men, and at the close of the war only twenty-two men answered the roll call, while the company had been recruited to the extent of fourteen men during that time. At the battle of Fort Blakely there were thirty-three men who went to the front, and after the battle came out with a loss of eleven men. After the close of the war he came back to his old home and went to farming and remained in Illinois up to 1880, moving to Chebanse, Illinois, in 1879, where he was engaged in the creamery business for five years. In the spring of 1885 he came to Hay Springs, Nebraska, locating on a homestead five miles from Hemingford, and here his first building was a sod house, at first occupying a tent for a few months after landing, with the tent pitched in the road. During the first years here he hauled wood and timber from Pine Ridge, and worked at different things to make a living and get a start on his farm, and broke up some land, proving up on the homestead after two years, using his soldier's right.
About the year 1891 our subject moved to Hemingford, where he started in the milling business, purchasing an interest in the Hemingford Flouring Mills. This mill was built in 1890 by Schlunts & Thomas, who operated it for a time. The mill has a capacity of seventy-five barrels per day, and has been a success from the start, and Mr. Miller was connected with business for sixteen years, and is now sole owner of the establishment. He also handles lumber and coal, and has a wide patronage throughout the town and county.
Besides his business interest in Hemingford, Mr. Miller owns a farm of two hundred and eighty acres in Iroquois county, Illinois, which was operated under his personal supervision for fourteen years, and he still spends much of his time at the place, although giving much of his attention to the milling and lumber business in Hemingford. Mr. Miller owns about one hundred and sixty acres adjoining the town of Hemingford, which is well improved.
Shortly after returning from the war Mr. Miller was married in Illinois to Miss Addie Pearson, and they are now the parents of two children, namely: Melvin L and George A. Melvin L. is in Iroquois county, Illinois, on the farm, and George A. is in Hemingford.
Mr. Miller was elected county treasurer of Box Butte county in 1895 and 1898, holding that office for two terms. He has been on the town board for a number of years, and has always taken an active and leading part in local affairs of his community. He is a Republican.
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Henry H. Ganow, one of the pioneers of western Nebraska, is known throughout Cherry county as a prosperous and energetic ranchman and farmer. He has been closely identified with the development of this region since 1880, when the family moved into this part of the wild west, and his name will occupy a place in the making of history of this part of the country. He resides on sec-
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tion 15, township 32, range 38, where he has a valuable estate of eight hundred acres, improved with a good house and barns, larger and better than the average in this part of the west.
Mr. Ganow was born in Fort Collins, Colorado, June 13, 1871, where almost the entire population were Indians, and he grew up amid the excitement of a wild and dangerous people, witnessing many uprisings of the redskins.
Mr. Ganow's father, Mallory B. Ganow, was a prominent old-timer in the west, coming to the plains many years ago. He acted as pilot for large herds of cattle and sheep driven from Texas and Mexico into this section, some times having as high as twelve thousand in a drove. He had a contract for ties and lived in the Colorado mountains for three years without seeing anything of civilization. There were six children in the family, of whom our subject was the fourth member, and he was raised in Colorado and Nebraska, coming to this region in June, 1881. His parents settled on White Clay creek, north of Rushville, Sheridan county, on ranch, and it was there that Henry began his career as a cowboy when but nine years of age. He afterwards rode all over this part of Nebraska and into South Dakota, leading a typical life of the wild west, camping out nights and experiencing many rough and dangerous times, and of his many narrow escapes that of a bear fight, while a friend, his brother and himself were on the Big White river, was the most exciting. The Bruin referred to was one of the largest ever seen in this territory. In 1899 he settled on a homestead, which he still occupies and on which he has resided continuously since. His first house was destroyed by a cyclone on August 3, 1900, in which everything was demolished. He has since erected a good set of buildings, a commodious frame dwelling, barns and sheds 26 feet by 80 feet in extent, wind mills, irrigation reservoir, fences, etc., making it one of the best equipped farms and ranches in that part of the country.
His ranch contains eight hundred acres, with sixty acres under cultivation, and he has it well improved with a fine orchard and many kinds of small fruit.
In July, 1900, Mr. Ganow was married to Miss Kathenka L. Beck, a native of the village of Nyckjobing, Denmark, and a daughter of James P. and Hannah M. (Elsberg) Beck. They came to America in 1874, sailing from Copenhagen in the Humboldt. The father was an expert machinist and traveled in Denmark, where his work carried him. He died in the old country. The mother with her little family came to America and settled in Chicago, where Kathenka attended kindergarten and school. Later on coming to Omaha she became forewoman in a mattress factory and nurse for a wealthy family who traveled a great deal.
Mr. and Mrs. Ganow have a family
of four children, namely: Laurine B., Harold E., Valerie M. and
Curtiss C. Mrs. Ganow is educating her children personally, there
being no schools nearby, and is instilling into them refinement
and love for books not common in the ranch country. She is
teaching them music as well as the ordinary branches of elementary
learning and for politeness they are not excelled by children city
bred. Mr. Ganow is a Republican and takes a lively interest in all
local and state party affairs. He is a member of the Modern
Woodmen of America. A view of the family residence, with its
surroundings, is to be found on another page of this work.
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The gentleman above named resides in North Platte, Lincoln county, Nebraska. He holds the post of passenger engineer on the Union Pacific Railway, and has a record as one of the most successful engineers on the road, his work being of such a high order that he is chosen by the railroad officials for the most of the special runs requiring skill, nerve, and a cool head. He is very popular in railway circles, and has the esteem and friendship of a host of people.Mr. Ell is a native of Columbus, Ohio, son of John P. Ell, who came to Lodgepole, Nebraska, in 1868 with his family. The father enlisted in the Eighteenth United States Infantry, and served all through the Civil war in the Army of the Potomac under Phil Sheridan, taking part in all the great battles of the war. When the barracks were built at Omaha he was sent there, then being a member of the Twenty-seventh United States Infantry. He also served in the Mexican war with the Ohio troops, and owing to his experience in that war was offered promotion in the Civil war, but declined the honor. In 1870 he came to North Platte and resided here up to the time of his death, which occurred in June 1882, aged sixty-four years.
Our subject began with the Union Pacific Railroad here in 1870, working in the roundhouse wiping engines, then was a fireman from
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July, 1871, to November, 1876, and since that time has been an engineer. He has the record of having made the fastest runs west of here, taking his train from Sydney to North Platte, one hundred and twenty-three minutes, in one hundred and nine minutes. The train was late, and this is the record run for this division. He was engineer from Sidney to North Platte on the celebrated run made by E. H. Harriman, president of the Union Pacific, and Mr. Harriman had a record of this trip made and framed, sending a copy to each conductor and engineer who took part in it.
Mr. Ell is member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, joining that lodge in 1877. Mr. Ell was married in February, 1879, to Miss Maggie McGinn, of Pittsfield, Illinois, and they have a family of two sons--John, a conductor on the same road his father is with, and George, brakeman on that road.
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Dr. John W. McLeran, a rising young dentist of Springview, has gained the confidence and respect of a large circle of acquaintances as a skillful practitioner and worthy citizen.Dr. McLeran was born December 7, 1873, in Marshalltown, Iowa, and is the son of Samuel R. McLeran, a prominent resident of Marshalltown, who has served as clerk of the district court in Marshall county for fifteen years. He was born in Vermont, of Scotch-Irish parents, served in the Civil war, and is widely known in political circles. His mother, who was Theresa P. Jones, died at the time of his birth.
Our subject was reared in Marshalltown, and after graduating from the high school there entered the State University at Iowa City, and afterwards the dental department of the Northwestern University, in Chicago, Illinois. After receiving his diploma he remained in Chicago for two years practicing his profession, and from there went to Boston, where he spent two years. In 1899 he located at O'Neil, Nebraska, practicing in that town for four years, then removed to Springview, where he has since been located. He is building up a splendid reputation and practice and is one of the solid men of Springview.
On May 3, 1905, he was married to Miss Lena McKnight, whose father, Dr. McKnight, is a prominent old settler of Brown county, a sketch of whom appears in this volume. One daughter, Ruth, has been born to them, her nativity occurring at Long Pine.
The Doctor is a Republican in politics. He has served the Masonic lodge at Springview as master since the institution of the lodge, and also affiliates with the Workmen. He deals extensively in real estate, has served as county surveyor and as editor of the local paper.
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S. J. Dunn, one of the leading citizens and foremost public men of Cheyenne county, Nebraska, is a worthy representative of an old Nebraska family. He is a brother of I. J. Dunn, who has the honor of having nominated William J. Bryan for the presidency in Denver, July 9, 1908. The Dunns are all well known in politics and have taken leading parts in the upbuilding and progress of western Nebraska from its early settlement.Our subject was born in Omaha, May 14, 1862, living there until he was four years of age, when his parents removed to Sarpy county, where he grew up on a farm. Of the children in the family there were six sons and two daughters, and S. J. was the second oldest. The father is now dead, but the mother occupies the old farm in Sarpy county.
Mr. Dunn came to Cheyenne county in 1895, arriving here in May of that year, and immediately took up a homestead on section 18, township 19, range 48, which he proved up on and has since added land to his original tract, owning at the present time three hundred and twenty acres, which he uses for grain and stock raising, running quite a bunch of cattle and horses.
Mr. Dunn has been very successful in his ventures and is one of the well-to-do residents of his township. He has a pleasant home and well improved farm, and is up-to-date and progressive in his method of farming. Politically he is an Independent.
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In driving through the farming district of Brown county, Nebraska, many well kept, highly cultivated and splendidly improved places are seen but none is more carefully conducted or successfully operated than that owned by the subject of this review. Mr. Townsend has spent many years on this farm and has become well versed in all modern methods of agriculture, and by experience and observation has acquired a wide knowledge,
© 2001 NEGenWeb Project Resource Center, Marilyn J. Estrada, T&C Miller