 ASA B. WOOD. |
near Hemingford, of which thirty acres is laid out in town lots while he has a ranch of sixteen hundred acres, eighteen miles southwest of the town, which is a valuable farm tract. For about twenty-five years he ran a hardware and saddlery store in the town of Hemingford but seven years ago disposed of it and put the money in land which he began to see was a paying investment. He owns a fine modern home just at the edge of the city limits where a delightful hospitality is dispensed to the many friends of the family, for they, being the oldest residents, are well and favorably known in the community which they have assisted so materially to develop. Mr. Uhrig is considered one of the most substantial men financially of Box Butte county and his high standing with the citizens has been demonstrated by the various positions of trust which they have placed in his capable hands. He was elected county commissioner on the Democratic ticket in 1917 and has proved his efficiency in handling the vast business of the county in the past three years. He is an enthusiastic believer in the future of this section of the Panhandle and gives time, energy and money for any project that tends to the development of county or community. There are seven children in the Uhrig family: Nettie a graduate of the high school and the University of Nebraska, is now a teacher in the state normal school at Chadron; Frank is a farmer near Hemingford; Ida is at home keeping house for her father as the mother died in 1911; Otto A. is a clerk in the Farmers State Bank of Hemingford; Wilfred is employed by a hardware firm of Hemingford and was one of the first boys to enlist from Box Butte county when was was declared against Germany, remaining in the service two years and eight months, most of that time being in France, he is also a graduate of the Omaha Business college; George, a farmer near Hemingford, and Margaret, who is attending the Chadron normal school. Mr. Uhrig has made a record for liberality and progressiveness since serving as commissioner and is highly thought of as he has ever the welfare of the county in mind when exercising his powers of executive. ASA B. WOOD. -- In the compilation of a work of the province assigned to this publication there is both pleasure and consistency in giving more than cursory record of the career of Asa Butler Wood, the pioneer, the aggressive and successful newspaper man, the progressive and liberal citizen and the man who has wielded large influence in connection with the development and upbuilding of the western part of Nebraska. At Gering, the judicial center of Scottsbluff county, he is editor and publisher of the Gering Courier, which has the distinction of being the pioneer paper of the west half of the state and of which he has been continuously in active charge since April, 1887, when, as he himself has stated, "it was established, virtually, on the raw prairie." Few devotees of journalism in Nebraska have been so long and continuously at the helm of newspaper "navigation" as has Mr. Wood, and he has a longer continuous business record here than any other man in the North Platte valley. These years have been filled with large and worthy achievement on his part, and he is to be honored for the service he has given in furtherance of the civic and material progress of this vigorous part of our great commonwealth. Asa Butler Wood was born in Wapello county, Iowa, August 26, 1865, and this date indicates emphatically that he is a scion of one of the pioneer families of the Hawkeye state. His parents, Clay and Jane (Warren) Wood, were natives of Ohio. The former passed the closing years of his life in the. state of Iowa. The mother died at Gering, Nebraska, where she had joined her sons after their location here. She was a splendid woman who is remembered with appreciation by many earlier residents. The father was a valiant soldier of the Union in the Civil War, in which he served as a member of Company C, Thirty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was a man of sterling character and distinct individuality--one who was influential in community affairs and who commanded unqualified popular esteem. He was a successful school teacher and in Iowa be served several terms as county superintendent of schools. His political adherency was given to the Republican party and both he and his wife held membership in the Methodist church. Asa B. Wood acquired his early education in the public schools of Iowa, and after completing the curriculum of the high school he eventually broadened his training by association with the various departments of newspaper enterprise--a discipline that has well been designated as the equivalent of a liberal education. During his entire active business career he has never severed his allegiance to newspaper and allied work, and in the same he has been definitely successful. He has at the present time perhaps the best newspaper and job printing plant in the western half of the state and his prominence and influence in journalistic circles are evidenced by his having served as president of the Nebraska Press As- |
sociation. Mr. Wood has made his paper not only an exponent of but also a leader in the work of development and upbuilding that has brought great prosperity to western Nebraska, and his loyalty has been on a parity with his enthusiasm and prevision as an apostle of progress along both social and industrial lines. He has been unwavering in his allegiance to the Republican party and has given yeoman service in support of its cause. He has served several times as chairman of the Scottsbluff county Republican central committee, has been a delegate to county, district and state conventions of the party and has twice served as delegate to the Republican national convention--once from his district and once as delegate at large. He has not been ambitious for political preferment, however, and the only office he has held along this line was that of postmaster of Gering, a position of which he was the incumbent for sixteen years. With all things that have fostered communal interests Mr. Wood has identified himself with characteristic loyalty and efficiency, and in this connection it may be noted that, as a pioneer, he erected the first frame building at Gering, this having been used as the office of his newly established newspaper. The building is still standing, is used as a residence and is made the subject of an illustration in this history. As a newspaper office Mr. Wood has replaced this structure with a substantial and modern two-story brick building which is an ornament to Gering, the first floor being utilized for his printing establishment and the second floor being equipped and rented for general office purposes. Mr. Wood has been president of the Gering Community Club and is secretary of the Gering Investment Company, which built the modern Gering Hotel. He was specially active and earnest in the support of the various instrumentalities which furthered the work of preparation for the nation's participation in the World War and the upholding of the country's prestige in that great struggle. He was secretary and a member of the executive committee of the Scottsbluff county Council of Defense during the war period, and also a member of the executive committee of the county's liberty loan committee. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, in which he served two terms as master of Scottsbluff lodge, No. 201, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of which he is a charter member. He is also a charter member of the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and has passed the various official chairs therein. Mr. Wood and his wife are active members of the Christian church of Gering and at it intervals during the past thirty years lie has served as chairman of its official board. At Cozad, Dawson county, Nebraska, on October 11, 1888, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Wood to Miss Maggie Claypool, daughter of William and Sarah Claypool. The five children of this union are Marie, Dorothy, Marjorie, Lynette, and Warren C. The eldest daughter, Marie, is the wife of William B. Sands, who served as sergeant with the American expeditionary forces in France and thereafter in Germany, subsequently to the signing of the armistice, and now operating farm lands owned by the subject of this sketch. Mr. Woods, whose participation in public affairs, has made him one of the best known citizens of Scottsbluff county and western Nebraska, is a pioneer who has been a vital exponent of progress in this favored section of the state, and both in spirit and action lie has commended himself to the confidence and good will of the community and county in which he has lived and labored to goodly ends. What he has done speaks for itself, but even this brief review will offer a measure of assurance as to his achievement and to his high standing as a man and a citizen. JOHN C. MORROW, receiver for the United States Land Office at Alliance, belongs to one of the fine old pioneer families that located in north central Nebraska in the late seventies. He is one of the self made men of the Panhandle, whose experiences here have been diversified and interesting, ranging from the days of sod houses and Indians and the general frontier conditions of that period to the affluence and comforts of civilized modern life. In all these changes and the development of the county Mr. Morrow has taken an active and interested part. John Morrow was born in Lewis county, New York, February 25, 1867, the son of Thomas and Mary (McDonald) Morrow, the former a native of Ireland, who emigrated and located in the United States where he became a farmer. John was the eldest child in a family of four boys and three girls and thus early learned responsibility. When the boy was only twelve years of age the Morrow family left New York state for the west, as the father desired to give his children a good start in life and land was high in the east, while by coming west to the great praire (sic) country he could obtain fine farming land for the taking. The Morrows located on a homestead four miles west of Atkinson, Nebraska, in 1879 |
where the family lived for many years. John attended school in the east but had not completed the elementary grades so when school opened in the "soddy" near his home he attended during the winter, helping his father in many ways during the summer, for on a frontier farm there was always plenty for agile feel and willing hands, herding cattle, driving a plow or cultivator and thus the boy was a good practical farmer while a youth in years, and able to assume responsibility as the oldest child. Mr. Morrow recalls the first money he earned was for work on a farm, and he spent it for a pair of boots to wear to the district school that winter for he had to walk four and a half miles to Atkinson. He says that sometimes he could catch a ride on one of the Black Hills Stage Coaches as their route lay the same as his to Atkinson; some of the drivers were kind and let the boys ride, others would not but Mr. Morrow had exciting and interesting times as he rode with many of the famous Indian Chiefs going through to Washington to consult and confer with the President. Among the well known Indians he met in this manner was Chief Red Cloud of the Sioux. Mr. Morrow was ambitious and after finishing the country school he entered the normal school at Fremont and subsequently the Western Normal school at Lincoln, thus gaining an exceptionally fine education, which has been of advantage to him in his business life. After leaving school Mr. Morrow was engaged in business in the eastern part of the state for many years, meeting with great success in his chosen vocation. On January 10, 1899, Mr. Morrow married Miss Margaret Harrington, at O'Neill, Nebraska. Mrs. Morrow was the daughter of John B. and Margaret (Carroll) Harrington, both descendants of a fine old Irish family whose members had taken active part in the public life in their country for many years. Mrs. Morrow's parents emigrated from their native land to locate in Canada, and she was born at Lindsay, in the Dominion, being the youngest in a family of six children, three boys and three girls, two of the latter are now dead. Two of the brothers live in O'Neill, M. V. Harrington being one of the most successful criminal lawyers in the state, while J. J. Harrington was judge of the district court for many years and is a well known and prominent jurist of the north central section. Mrs. Morrow is a woman of high education and culture, having been trained during early years at the Loretta Convent at Lindsay, Canada, and also is a graduate of the O'Neill high school. There are two children in the Morrow, family: Theresa, who spent two years in the State University at Lincoln, graduating from the high school. She was a teacher in the kindergarten school in Alliance for a year but is now at the university and expects to receive her degree in 1921; Edward, is at present a student in the Alliance high school. In 1906, Mr. Morrow left Nebraska for the Pacific coast, locating in Seattle, Washington, where he engaged in the lumber busines (sic), for five years gaining a wide business acquaintance up and down the coast. Having been reared on a farm and always interested in agricultural pursuits he became a student of irrigated farming, being conviced (sic) that land with assured water was about the best investment a man could own. He was practically a native son of Nebraska, having spent the greater part of his life in this commonwealth, so it was toward "home" that he turned when he decided to invest heavily in irrigated farming land. In 1911 he came to the Panhandle, bought a relinquishment and took up a homestead seven miles northeast of Scottsbluff where the family were soon established. Mr Morrow at once began the development of his property, erected good and permanent buildings and a comfortable home for the family. Advocating modern methods, he applied them and at the same time invested in the best and latest machinery for the place. The first farm proving such a good investment Mr: Morrow later bought two hundred and forty acres of irrigated land nine miles northwest of Baird, which is only a mile and a half from the beet dump and he now has this land under process of development and anticipates that it will be in successful production within a short time. In 1915, Mr. Morrow was appointed Receiver of the Government Land Office at Alliance and soon moved his family to this city, where they have since resided as he still holds the office. At the present time Mr. Morrow is constructing a beautiful new twelve thousand dollar home in Alliance, which will be ready for occupancy in 1920. The family have taken a prominent part in the civic and social life of the community since locating here and are well known among the residents for their hospitality. Mr. Morrow is a true American, living up to the high standards he sets for citizenship; he is liberal in contributions to all worthy and laudable enterprises which will benefit the community and a most enthusiastic booster for the Panhandle as he has great faith in the future of this garden spot of Nebraska |
For many years Mr. Morrow has given much time to public movements, being the chairman of the Box Butte Red Cross Association, is chairman of the League to Enforce Peace in the country, while his fraternal affiliations are with the Highlanders, the Modern Woodmen, the Elks and the Knights of Columbus. In politics he is a staunch supporter of the principles of the Democratic party. JOHN W. GUTHRIE. -- Prominent among the operators in insurance in Box Butte county is John Guthrie, a resident of this locality for more than fifteen years. Long a business and insurance man, having given his time to these lines in Indiana until 1906, when he established himself in business in Alliance, and since that time he has so ably directed his activities and operations that today he is listed among the leading citizens of the county seat. Mr. Guthrie was born in Dubuque, Iowa, april (sic) 28, 1866, the son of Patrick and Emma (Mahar) Guthrie, the former a native of Ireland, who came to American to make his fortune, while the mother was descended from a fine old Pennsylvania family that located in the Keystone state at an early day. She was born near the present city of Scranton. Mr. Guthrie is the oldest living child in a family of nine, except a half brother, James B. Gray, who was associated with Mr. Guthrie in business from 1906 to 1913. Mr. Gray died in Alliance in 1913. Patrick Guthrie, like many of his countrymen who came to the United States to get ahead in the world, engaged in railroad work soon after landing on our shores and later became a general contractor, erecting many buildings in the city of Dubuque, one of which is yet standing, the City Hall. During the Civil War Mr. Guthrie was postmaster. One of the memorable pieces of his work was the construction of a section of a railroad known as the Dubuque and Western in 1856-57, in payment of which the company issued script, or as it was then known "Wild Cat" money. For his work Mr. Guthrie received about forty thousand dollars. The company failed and as a result the script wasn't worth the paper on which it was printed. John Guthrie still has some of this script which he keeps as a souvenir. John Guthrie started his education in the public schools of Carroll, Iowa, following his course there he entered Notre Dame University, Notre Dame, Indiana, where he remained a student for eight years. He took a special course in engineering, receiving his B.S. degree and then his degree of C.E. after higher study as he had decided that civil engineering offered a broader field for his abilities than the other courses. Soon after leaving college he accepted a position on the engineering staff of the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad; joining this organization in 1886. That year the road was built from Douglas, Wyoming, forty miles west of Casper, the same state, and the young engineer spent most of his time out along the right of way. However, the next year he returned to Carroll Iowa, where he settled down to reading law in the office of Judge F. M. Powers, but within six months took over the management of a German newspaper, Der Carroll Demokrat, which he ran for three years. This would seem to be rather a difficult task for an Irishman., but Mr. Guthrie was quite equal to it and made the paper a financial success. His bent was not in journalism and after disposing of the German publication, Mr. Guthrie went to South Bend, Indiana, to become associated with the Birdsell Manufacturing Company, a relationship which continued ten years. The Birdsell people manufactured wagons, clover hullers, and buggies. In 1900 Mr. Guthrie received an excellent offer from the New England Mutual Insurance Companies to become one of their Chicago representatives and he accepted, remaining in that city two years. In 1906 he came west, locating in Box Butte county where he formed affiliations with various insurance companies in a similar line of work. In April, 1906, he opened an offce (sic) in Alliance, began writing life insurance and has been the local representative of the Equitable Life Insurance since that date. In addition he represents variours (sic) lines of fire insurance under the firm name of Guthrie and Miller. Today they are rated as one of the most substantial firms in their line in the Panhandle, writing insurance for many thousands of dollars annually. On June 11, 1890, Mr. Guthrie was married at South Bend, Indiana, to Miss Flora C. Sullivan, a native of Greencastle, that state. She was the oldest of four children, having one brother and two sisters. Five children constitute the younger members of the Guthrie family: John M., a graduate of the South Bend, parochial high school, was a reserve officer during the World War, being commissioned second lieutenant at Camp Taylor, Louiseville (sic), Kentucky, August 15, 1918, and subsequently was transferred to Camp Jackson, South Carolina, being honorably mustered out of the service, December 23, 1918; Charles, also a garduate (sic) of the Parochial high school at South Bend, |
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