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fifty acres under cultivation. The ranch consists of eight hundred acres, and is well supplied with good water, wild fruits, and he has many acres of good hayland and grass for pasture. The first dwelling put up on the farm was a dugout in which they lived for one year. The dry years followed soon after he located here and many were the losses and discouragements they experienced, and also in 1890 and 1891 they were occasioned much discomfort and anxiety through the Indian uprisings throughout this part of the state, but no one was injured. During the first years here he broke up all his land and did all the farm work with the help of two yoke of oxen, and used these faithful animals for five years. The ranch is now all fenced and well improved, free from all indebtedness, and he has one of the valuable pieces of property in the county, and a comfortable home.
Our subject was married while living in Iowa, April 20, 1873, to Miss Melissa Shearer, a native of Indiana, who settled in Illinois, when a girl, with her parents, and in 1866 they moved to Iowa where they were among the pioneers of Madison county. Mr. and Mrs. Macumber are the parents of five children, named as follows: William H., Edward A., James W., A. Jr., and Alida G., all married except John A. Jr., who lives in South Dakota. James W. also lives in South Dakota. The balance of the family live in Dawes county, Nebraska.
Mr. Macumber is a stanch
Democrat, inclining strongly toward Socialism, and has always
worked along reform lines and been closely identified with all
reform movements in his section for many years. He is a man of
superior intelligence and progressive ideas, and one of the
foremost citizens of his locality. A picture of the residence and
family will be found on another page.
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Albert L. Schnurr, who occupies a prominent place among the younger business men of Harrison, Nebraska, is a man of very pleasant personality, well liked for his straightforward character and genial disposition.Mr. Schnurr was born at Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, in August, 1879. His father, William, was a shoe merchant at that place, a good business man and well known throughout that section of the country. He married Rose Rukgaber, who was born in Richmond, Virginia, and reared in Iowa. Our subject's grandparents on his father's side were natives of Germany. Albert was reared and educated in his native state, graduating from the Mt. Pleasant high school in 1896, later attended the Mt. Pleasant academy and graduated from the commercial department of the Iowa Wesleyan University in 1898.
In 1899 Mr. Schnurr came to Omaha and entered the law office of W. A. Saunders, and studied law with that gentleman up to 1905, and in April of that year he came to Sioux county with the intention of engaging in the cattle business. He was admitted to the bar in 1906, and the following year was elected county judge of Sioux county, and is still serving in that capacity. He received the office by a vote of all parties, and against his own personal wishes in the matter, and has proven a most capable official.
Mr. Schnurr is secretary and treasurer of the Harrison Real Estate & Loan Company, and is also organizer and promoter of that concern, incorporated in 1906, with officers as follows: E. F. Pontius, president; John A. Anderson, vice president; A. L. Schnurr, secretary and treasurer; R. B. Schnurr, assistant secretary. This firm deals in real estate, ranch and farm lands. They have handled immense deals in town properties, and their responsibility and financial standing is unquestioned.
R. B. Schnurr, brother of our subject, was born in Iowa, April, 1886, and received practically the same training and education as Albert, coming to Harrison to locate permanently in June, 1907, when he associated himself with the firm as above mentioned.
Albert L. Schnurr is interested in considerable ranching property in this county, and he has been very successful since locating here, gaining an enviable reputation as a worthy and enterprising citizen of his community.
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Fred W. Rincker, owner of the book and music and stationery store at North Platte, came here in 1894, and has since resided at this place, where he has a pleasant home and is highly esteemed as a worth citizen.Mr. Rincker was born in McLain county, Illinois, in the town of Lexington, in 1857. He is a son of Dr. Rincker, a native of Germany, and early settler in Illinois, who received his education as a physician in his native country. Our subject was raised in Illinois, and began working on the railroad in 1880 at Cheyenne, Wyoming. He first was employed by the Union Pacific railway as a freight brakeman, continuing at this for two years, then was given the position of freight conductor, and in 1887 was appointed passenger conductor, holding his po-
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sition continuously up to January 2, 1907. He was on the fast mail running from Cheyenne to Council Bluffs, from 1890 to 1894, and later on the limited train from North Platte to Cheyenne. Mr. Rincker is a member of the Order of Railway Conductors, and has been ever since 1883, filling all the offices in the local lodges, having held the post of chief conductor for several terms at different times. He was the second oldest conductor in the service up to 1907, and has never had an accident attributed to himself. He belongs to North Platte Masonic lodge.
Mr. Rincker was married in 1884 to Miss Hattie White, born in Yankton, South Dakota. Her father, Clarence Sylvester White, went there in 1830 and located at Sioux Falls, later at Yankton, where he was engaged in freighting in the early days, in partnership with Colonel Laurence, also associated with W. A Paxton, of Omaha, and he was well known throughout the western states among all the pioneers. He used a large number of teams and men in this business, and was at the head of a large force when he was killed from ambush.
Mr. White built the first house in Yankton. He came originally from Vermont, first settling in Minnesota and driven out by the Indians, then moved to South Dakota. Mrs. Rincker's mother was, prior to her marriage, Miss Elizabeth B. Welch, a native of Vermont. Two chidden were born to our subject and his wife, namely: Ernest W., and Charles A.
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Edward V. S. Pomeroy, one of the prominent citizens of Cheyenne county, Nebraska, resides in Brownson precinct. He was born in Pittsfield, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, February 11, 1865, and grew up there. His father, Edward Pomeroy, was also a native of that state, lived there for many years, and died in 1889. Our subject's mother, who was Lucretia Van Sanvoord, was born and reared in New York state, and she still lives on the old homestead in Massachusetts.Mr. Pomeroy left home in 1885, and came to Nebraska, settling in Cheyenne county, where he pre-empted a claim in section 26, township 15, range 51, which is his present home. He immediately went to work and proved up on the land, built up a good home, and has gone through all the pioneer experiences of the early days in this section. He started with a very small capital, worked with untiring energy and succeeded in a marked degree. His is now proprietor of a ranch containing three thousand and forty acres of deeded land, known as the "Montauk Ranch," and controls considerable leased land in addition to this.
He erected a fine two-story stone house in 1886, and has good substantial farm buildings and all necessary equipment for operating a model ranch, and is one of the leading ranchmen of his locality. He is a genuine lover of fine stock, and breeds good running horses, many of which have been trained for the race track and proved to be among the best racers on the turf, winning many ribbons in different events. He has a fine track on the ranch where his racers receive their first training for the racing events. He is also a lover of outdoor sports and in the earlier days of his ranching here devoted much time to hunting and fishing.
Mr. Pomeroy has about two hundred acres of land cultivated, and raises grains, fruits, etc. He deals quite extensively in the cattle business, running about two hundred and fifty head annually, and keeps from one to three hundred horses on his ranch at all times. His ranch is beautifully located on Lodgepole creek, the main part of it lying north of the stream on the tableland.
Mr. Pomeroy was married in New York city, April 27, 1887, to Mary A. Platt, of that state, whose parents lived there for many years. The mother is now dead, but the father still occupies the old home. Mr. Pomeroy and his good wife have two adopted children, whom they took into their hearts and home when small and they are named Lucretia Ely, and Mary Ruthven Pomeroy. Mr. Pomeroy has devoted much of his time and efforts to the upbuilding of his locality and is prominent in local affairs. He is a Republican and stands firmly for his convictions. He is a member of the Episcopal church.
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Grant Bixler, who holds a prominent place among the pioneer settlers of Cherry county, is a very successful stockman and farmer. Mr. Bixler was born near Minonk, Livingston county, Illinois, July 5, 1868, living there until he was seven years old. In 1875 the family moved to Panora, Iowa, later they moved to Berwin, in Guthrie county, where the father bought a farm. His father was Samuel Bixler, of Pennsylvania Dutch stock, was a farmer, and served in the Forty-seventh Illinois for four years and nine months during the war. Though he fought in two battles he was never wounded, and is now living in Gordon. His mother was Miss Mary Desano, of English descent, born in Philadelphia,
© 2001 NEGenWeb Project Resource Center, Marilyn J. Estrada, T&C Miller