 HORACE W. GURNSEY. |
EARL F. JONES, who is widely and favorably known all over Banner county, was born in this county, May 26, 1894, and is a son of John L. and Dora M. (Clayton) Jones, natives of Warren county, Illinois. The father came from Iowa to Banner county, in 1888, homesteading near Hull. He resided there as a farmer and ranchman until 1907, when he retired to Kimball, where he yet resides. The mother died in the spring of 1901. Of their six children, Earl F. was the fifth in order of birth. Earl F. Jones attended the country schools and lived at home until he was fifteen years of age, after which he resided with his brother Glenn for eight years. During the World War Mr. Jones served one year in the national army, and when released from military service in the fall of 1918, returned to Banner county. He immediately leased the farm of his mother-in-law, Mrs. Emily M. Larson, and is carrying on farming there. From boyhood Mr. Jones has been fond of horses and he possesses a certain dominance over them, which combined with physical courage, has enabled him to be very successful in the work of breaking horses and he has the record of breaking sixty-five head of horses in one autumn for Mr. Palmberg. For some years he was in the employ of a horse buyer and in this line traveled all over the county and believes he knows every road and trail and the most of the people. He left behind him many friends on these frequent trips. Mr. Jones was married at Denver, Colorado, September 11, 1918, to Miss Josephine Larson, and they have a sturdy little son, Melvin D., who was born June 15, 1919. Mr. and Mrs. Jones are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. In politics he votes independently, and fraternally is connected with the order of Knights of Pythias at Harrisburg. On March 1, 1920, he moved to the Levinsky ranch, holding a two years lease. HORACE W. GURNSEY, a well-known and popular citizen of Scottsbluff, is a representative of the third generation of the Gurnsey family in Nebraska, within whose borders his paternal grandfather established a home in the very early pioneer period. The name has been worthily linked with the civic and industrial development and progress of this favored commonwealth, and its honors have been well upheld by him whose name initiates this review. Horace William Gurnsey was born at Vesta, Johnson county, Nebraska, October 7, 1870, and is a son of Phineas B. and Susan Maria (Hartwell) Gurnsey, the former of whom was born in Illinois, on the 25th of January, 1846, and the latter of whom was born in Ohio, November 8, 1848, their marriage having been solemnized May 3, 1868, at Vesta, Nebraska--the year following that of the admission of the state to the Union. Mrs. Gurnsey passed to eternal rest March 6, 1896, and her husband still survives her, his home being at Scottsbluff. The grandfather of the subject of this sketch came from Illinois and established his home in Nebraska in the territorial days. He took up a tract of land near Sterling, Johnson county, and on this pioneer homestead he continued to reside until his death, at the age of fifty years. Phineas B. Gurney was reared and educated in Illinois, where he continued to be associated with his father in farm enterprise until the outbreak of the Civil War, when he tendered his aid in defense of the Union, by enlisting in Company G, Seventeenth Illinois Volunteer Cavalry, with which be participated in many engagements and lived up to the full tension of the great conflict. After the war he joined his parents in Nebraska, and his name will ever be worthily associated with the pioneer history of the state. Horace W. Gurnsey was afforded the advantages of the public schools of Lewiston and Tecumseh, Nebraska, and as a mere boy he gained practical experience in connection with farm work. In 1888 he became identified with railroad work, and for three years--1891-1894--he was employed as a railroad bridge carpenter. He was then transferred to the track department, and this connection continued about two years. In 1898 he served as chief of police at Ulysses, Butler county, and on the 23d of May, 1899, he removed to Alliance, Box Butte county, out of which place he had charge of the west section of what is now the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad. While he was thus engaged the county court house was removed on two flat cars from Marsland to Alliance. September 10, 1899, Mr. Gurnsey was transferred to Whitman, where he had charge of the railroad section and coal sheds. He there remained until 1900, when he was assigned supervision of a section out from Scottsbluff, to which place he removed, and he retained this incumbency until the autumn of 1906. For the ensuing three years he had charge of the alfalfa meal mill at Scottsbluff, and the following three years found him here engaged in concrete construction work, as a contractor. Mr. Gurnsey became well known as a practical and successful apiarist, he having taken up bee culture in 1904, in connection with his other activities, |
and having had at one time 140 stands of hives. He served three years--1912-1914--as chief of police of Scottsbluff, and his administration passed on record as one of the best in the history of this city. At the present time Mr. Gurnsey is giving his attention principally to the Great Western Sugar Co. as engineer on generators. In national affairs he gives his support to the Republican party, but in local politics he is not constrained by strict partisan lines. He is affiliated with Scottsbluff lodge No. 261, I. O.O. F., of which he served three years as secretary. On the 31st of December, 1891, Mr. Gurnsey wedded Miss Emeline Lockner, who was reared and educated at Bellwood, Butler county. She was an earnest member of the Baptist church and was affiliated with the Daughters of Rebekah, the Royal Neighbors, and the Degree of Honor. She passed to the life eternal on the 16th of April, 1914. Concerning the children of this union brief record is here offered: Lloyd William, born October 30, 1892, was graduated in the Scottsbluff high school as a member of the class of 1913, and he now resides at Scottsbluff, being in the train service of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad. The maiden name of his wife was Edna Carpenter. When the nation became involved in the great World War, Lloyd W. Gurnsey enlisted, in April, 1917, as a member of Company G, Fourth Regiment of the Nebraska National Guard, and with his command he was sent from Fort Crook to Deming, New Mexico, where he entered the great training camp. August 17, 1917, he was commissioned second lieutenant, at Camp Taylor, Kentucky, and he received his honorable discharge December 10, 1918, about one month after the signing of the historic armistice. Roxie Rachel, the second of the children of the subject of this review, was born August 1, 1894, and died July 28, 1900. George, born August 10, 1897, died December 19, 1913. Horace Harold, born July 12, 1898, was educated in the Scottsbluff schools and at the age of seventeen years he volunteered for service in the national army. He was sent to the military training camp at Deming, New Mexico, and there he contracted pneumonia, after which he passed twelve months in the military hospital at Fort Bayard, his discharge having been received October 20, 1918, shortly after the close of the war. Alice Olive, born February 26, 1901, is the wife of George Hays, of Silverton, Colorado, their marriage having occurred June 17, 1918. Jesse Ray, born March 6, 1903, and Marian Gladys, born October 20, 1913, remain at the paternal home. The second marriage of Mr. Gurnsey was solemnized March 28, 1919, when he wedded Miss Virginia L. Dumphy, at Alliance, this state. Mrs. Gurnsey was born August 17, 1895, at Kearney, Nebraska, and completed her educational discipline in the Scottsbluff high school. She is the popular chatelain (sic) of the attractive family home in Scottsbluff. LARS J. HENDRIKSON. -- There were not so many permanent settlers in Banner county in 1887, when Lars J. Hendrikson came here, as now, but nevertheless there were some fine people here and among these were natives of his own land. Mr. Hendrikson still resides on the homestead he secured thirty-two years ago, and long has been one of Banner county's foremost citizens. Lars J. Hendrikson was born in Sweden, September 15, 1865, a son of Lars and Christina (Olson) Hendrikson, natives of Sweden. The father was a small farmer in his native land. In 1880 he came to the United States and remained two years, then went back to Sweden, but in 1884 returned to this country accompanied by his family, and settled in Kansas. From there, in 1887, he came to Banner county and homesteaded in the eastern part of the county, and resided on the same until his death, September 4, 1911, the mother having passed away April 6, 1903. Considering that the father was a man advanced in years when he came here, he left an ample estate. He identified himself with the Republican party but was never active in politics. Both parents were members of the Baptist church. Of the eleven children, the following are living: Ida, who is the wife of Lewis Peterson, of Denver, Colorado; Lars J., who is of Banner county; August, who lives at Courtland, Kansas; Betty, who is the wife of Gust Anderson, of Pueblo, Colorado; Lottie, who is the wife of Frank Peterson, of Banner county; and Emma, who lives on the home place. Lars J. Hendrikson obtained his schooling in his native land. He came to the United States in 1884 and spent two years at Scandia, Kansas, but in 1887 he decided to locate permanently in Banner county, Nebraska, and secured a homestead adjoining that of his father. Since then he has acquired much additional land and has become financially identified with a number of flourishing business enterprises. His home ranch includes fourteen hundred and forty acres and he also owns a three-quarter section near Kirk. He is a stockholder in the Farmers Elevator Company at Potter and |
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