 ALLEN B. McCOSKEY. |
pursuits. From Iowa he moved to Kansas, from which state he returned several times to Iowa before he established a home there, but afterwards lived twenty-four years in Kansas. In the fall of 1887, accompanied by his son William D., S. E. Sprigs and Calvin Marts, he came to Banner county, Nebraska and all of them secured homesteads in the same neighborhood, this being near the present town of Ashford, which village was started in the following winter. Aaron Shaul remained in Banner county for eight years, then moved to Oklahoma and his death occurred there three years later. It required courage and resourcefulness in those early days to secure means of subsistance (sic). William D. Shaul remembers that on one occasion, when there was great lack of corn and flour in the little colony, that his father and George A. Palmer started for Paxton with a load of pine posts, hoping thereby to get money with which to make possible the purchase of real food necessities. They could find no buyers, however, at Paxton and had to go seven miles further, near North Platte, where they sold their posts for twenty cents apiece. With this money they stocked up with corn and flour and when they returned home had no trouble in disposing of it profitably. This was in the winter of 1894-95. William D. Shaul attended the district schools in boyhood but never had advantages such as he has been able to give his own children. He lived with his people and helped them until his marriage, which took place October 14, 1892, when he was united with Miss Mary E. Palmer, an early settler in Banner county. The mother of Mrs. Shaul is deceased, but the father survives and is a resident of Holly, Oregon. Mr. and Mrs. Shaul have had children as follows: Aaron A., who assists his father; William E., who lives in Banner county, married Sadie Olsen; James G., who is in business at Gering, married Ethel Clarey; Etta M., who is the wife of Carl Philpot, of O'Neill, Nebraska; Orrin, who lives at home; Lulu and Lola, twins, and Rose, all of whom live at home; and one who is deceased. When his father went to Oklahoma, William D. Shaul accompanied him but returned to his homestead in 1897. One year later he moved near Gering, but three years afterwards came back to Banner county and has remained here ever since. He still owns property near Gering, and during the past year has operated some six hundred acres of land as a general farmer and stock raiser. He turns off from twenty-five to thirty head of cattle a year and seventy head of horses. He has seen many changes and witnessed remarkable fluctuations in price, both of livestock and grain. In 1892 he hauled wheat a distance of seventy miles to Sidney and sold it for fifteen cents a bushel. In addition to his other industries, Mr. Shaul keeps colonies of Italian and brown bees and secured over fifteen hundred pounds of honey in the past year. He has always been a busy man, too busy to ever consent to hold political office, but he has never changed in his adherence to the principles of the Republican party. ALLEN B. McCOSKEY, county surveyor of Scottsbluff county, Nebraska, to which section of the state he came thirty-three years ago, has been a continuous resident, with the exception of four years during which he performed public duties at the state capital. Coming here at an early day, when settlers were hastening to secure homesteads, and boundary lines were often suggested rather than proved, he found instant demand for his knowledge of applied mathematics, and probably has done more in the accurate settlement of land claims than any other surveyor in this part of the state. Allen B. McCoskey was born August 6, 1851, in Washington county, Indiana, in the same house in which his father, Robert McCoskey, had been born. The McCoskey family has been more or less a pioneering one, The great-grandfather of Surveyor McCoskey came from north Ireland and settled in Virginia. There his son, James McCoskey, was born and from there came to Indiana and as one of the earliest settlers, built his log cabin in a belt of timber in Washington county and died there. Robert McCoskey, one of a family of seven boys and four girls, spent the greater part of his life in agricultural activities, although he was a cooper by trade. In early manhood he married Julia A. Wilson, who was born at New Washington, Indiana, and died in her native state in August, 1865, leaving five children: Allen Bruce was the eldest, the others being Elizabeth, who lives at Niobrara, Nebraska; Moffet Alexander, a farmer and gardener near McMinnville, Oregon; Julia A., the wife of C. M. Hiestand, a telegraph operator at Thermalito, Butte county, California, and Robert Henry, a clerk in a store at Scottsbluff. Both parents were members of the Presbyterian church. After the death of the mother, the father kept the children together until they were all grown up. He came to Nebraska in 1891 and made his home with Allen about a year, then took a preëmption near the present site of Scottsbluff and proved up on same. His |
death occurred while on a visit to his daughter at Ogallala, Nebraska, November 26, 1893, at the age of seventy-two years. In the country schools Allen B. McCoskey received his primary education but he had additional advantages for his parents sent him to Blue River Academy after finishing the district school course. This was an excellent institution maintained by the Society of Friends, and with Quaker thrift and simplicity more attention was paid to such branches of study as higher mathematics, including the principles of surveying, than others of a less practical nature. During these early years home environment made Mr. McCoskey a farmer and perhaps choice, later on, a school teacher, and it is quite probable that he was successful in both lines. However, after four years in the schoolroom in rural Indiana, with no very satisfying prospect for a different future, he finally decided, like former pioneers of the family, to go pioneering into the West. Mr. McCoskey was too practical to expect an easy life for himself in the somewhat unsettled regions of which he directed his course in 1882. When he reached South Dakota he found work as a carpenter ready for him and for two months he adapted himself to life there, doing his best but not feeling satisfied with conditions. He then crossed the border into Nebraska and shortly afterward joined a dredging outfit, with which he continued two years. During the following two years he was employed in an undertaking establishment. In 1886 Mr. McCoskey came into Scottsbluff county and had the business foresight to pitch his tent here. He homesteaded and resided on his land for a time, but sold it when the demands of his profession made removal to the town of Scottsbluff imperative, and this progressive little city has been his home ever since, with the exception of the years spent in Lincoln as assistant state engineer from 1897 to 1901, which called him all over the state. He has surveyed on all the ditches of this county. He began surveying shortly after coming here and there is not much concerning the topography of the county that Mr. McCoskey cannot make clear. He was first elected county surveyor in 1892, and in 1897 was appointed assistant state engineer and spent four years in the engineer's office at Lincoln. In 1895 Mr. McCoskey was united in marriage to Miss Ora Johnson, a daughter of William Johnson, a homesteader in Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. McCoskey are members of the Presbyterian church. He is a Scottish Rite Mason and past master of his lodge, and belongs also to the Royal Highlanders. In political circles he has been somewhat active as a Democrat, but outside his profession has never accepted public office. UZELL T. SNOOK, who is an enterprising and substantial farmer and stock raiser in Banner county, has spent the greater part of his life in Nebraska and is well and favorably known in different sections. He was born in Jefferson county, Iowa, February 1, 1873. In the spring of 1887 the parents of Mr. Snook came to Nebraska. They were Gustavus and Arvilla (Miller) Snook, the former of whom was born at Fairfield, Iowa, October 14, 1846, and the latter in Ohio, April 13, 1850. Of their family of ten children the following are living: Henry W., whose home is at Union, Oregon; Uzell T., whose, home farm lies on section thirty-two, township twenty, range fifty- five, Banner county; John V., of Redwood valley, California; Carrie M., who is the wife of J. W. Patterson, of Gering; and Archie, who lives in Scottsbluff county. The mother of this family died May 5, 1908. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, with which she united at Gering, Nebraska. The father of Mr. Snook was an experienced sawmill man when he came from Iowa to Nebraska. Here he first operated a sawmill for its owners near Long Spring, and later a sawmill in Muddy canyon. He sawed the lumber which went into the construction of the first bridge at Gering, which was the only bridge in Scottsbluff county for many years. The logs came from Carter canyon. While thus engaged Gustavus Snook homesteaded near Pierson's ranch and lived in Banner county until 1898, when he moved to Scottsbluff county and followed farming south of Gering until 1907, then took a Kinkaid homestead, on which he lived during the rest of his life, his death occurring there on July 9, 1913. He was a man of sterling character and firm convictions, a strong Democrat in politics and sound in his Presbyterianism. Uzell T. Snook attended school after coming to Nebraska at Harrisburg and remained with his father until the age of twenty-one, when he started out for himself. He homesteaded a Kinkaid tract in 1907, on which he now lives, having four hundred and eighty acres here and farms about one-third of his land. He breeds Hereford cattle and has about fifty head a year. He has witnessed many changes since he first came here and in commenting on these, says that one dollar a day was the general harvest wage and he has work- |
ed for less. In 1887 all the wild animals had not been exterminated for on one occasion, with an ordinary shotgun, he killed a bob cat that measured four and one-half feet in length. Mr. Snook has everything very comfortable around him and has done a large amount of improving. On February 20, 1896, Mr. Snook was united in marriage to Miss Sadie E. Smith, who died June 25, 1917. She was a daughter of John E. and Nancy (Sego) Smith, who came to Nebraska in 1888. The mother of Mrs. Snook died January 1, 1917. The father lives at Gering. The following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Snook: Don M., who is at Syracuse, New York, was in military service for twenty-three months during the Great War; Avice, who is the wife of Edward N. Tart, resided at home while her husband was in military service in France; Harold, who is in business at Brush, Colorado; Ethel M., the wife of Albert Burkey, of Scottsbluff county; and Victor, Chester and Agnes, all of whom are at home. In politics Mr. Snook is a Democrat. TED KELLY, one of Banner county's substantial citizens, has spent his entire life here and is a representative of an old county family, a descendant of one of the earliest settlers. He was born July 9, 1886, in his parent's pioneer home, a sod house, in Banner county, this primitive dwelling still being preserved on his farm. Mr. Kelly's parents were William J. and Martha (Felts) Kelly, who were born in Pennsylvania. William J. Kelly was brought in childhood to Republic county, Kansas, and when twelve years old accompanied his employer to Texas and was brought up on a ranch. He was twenty-two years old when he came from Texas to Nebraska with a cattle herd, and it was at Sidney that he met and later married Miss Martha Felts. He then decided to stay in Nebraska and set about looking for a permanent location, stopping at first on the present site of Bridgeport, in Morrill county. In 1881, he came to Banner county, one of the first settlers, and homesteaded the land on which his son was born and on which he yet lives. There were two children in his family, Bessie and Ted. The former was the first white female child born in Banner county. She grew to beautiful womanhood and was married to Everett Walter. She died November 14, 1904, survived by three children; Clifton and Harry, both of whom live with Mr. Kelly; and Marvin, who lives at Indian Hill Wyoming. The father of Mr. Kelly lived on his homestead until his death, which occurred December 21, 1914. The mother died November 24, 1919, at Santa Ana, California. Ted Kelly was sent to school as soon as old enough, his father believing in general education and being one of the men who brought about the organization of the public schools in Banner county. By the time he had reached middle boyhood, conditions of living in this section had become easier, but he remembers/ his parents telling of early hardships and lonely isolation. Sidney was sixty-five miles distant and that was the nearest point where provisions could be bought or mail received. Later on a post office was established one-half mile west of the homestead, known as Livingston, the first postmaster being Lee Livigston. (sic) Mr. Kelly has five hundred and twenty acres in his ranch. He raises Duroc-Jersey hogs and White Face cattle, having a hundred head annually. On July 25, 1910, Mr. Kelly was united in marriage to Miss Tressie B. Ridge, a daughter of Jesse H. and Tillie (Owens) Ridge, early settlers in Morrill county. The mother of Mrs. Kelly is deceased but the father till resides at Bridgeport, Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. Kelly have two children: Carl, who was born August 19, 1911; and Alice, who was born July 30, 1915. Mr. Kelly has always been a Democrat in political faith, as was his father. He has never accepted any public office except membership on the school board and is still serving. He is interested in the aims of the organization known as the Farmers Union and owns stock in the same. Mr. Kelly is well known throughout the county as an enterprising business man. He belongs to the Knights of Pythias at Harrisburg. WILLIAM A. GRUBBS, a representative citizen and extensive farmer and stock raiser in Banner county, came here thirty-three years ago, and few men have been more useful to his section. His progressive spirit has been a leading factor in the founding of enterprises which have been of great and substantial Benefit. William A. Grubbs was born in Story county, Iowa, May 10, 1866, one of seven children born to Abraham and Margaret (Barnharde) Grubbs. He has one sister, Mrs. Josephine Carpenter, living in Nebraska. The father was born in Pennsylvania and came west to |
Iowa when young and lived there until his death, in October, 1865. He was a general farmer and was a man of upright character. The mother of Mr. Grubbs died in 1885. In the district schools in the neighborhood of his father's farm William A. Grubbs obtained some educational training, and he remained with his mother until her death. He was nineteen years old when he started out for himself, and in the spring of 1886, came to Banner county, Nebraska. In the following year he homesteaded and still lives on the place which lies on section 2, town 18-57, in the vicinity of Harrisburg. After a residence of tweny (sic)-five years he moved into Harrisburg and took the agency of the Ford automobiles, in 1912, and during the five years he held it sold eighty-seven cars. He owned the first Ford car in Banner county and at the time of purchase many of his neighbors doubted the expediency of the investment. He was confident, however, that he would be able to convince others of the value of the new means of transportation. Denver was headquarters and all the cars he sold had to be driven from there. Mr. Grubbs relates that when he drove his first car from Denver, he was accompanied by his wife and Mr. and Mrs. A. H. Pierson, and they had several adventures, one when they missed the right road and ran into a herd of antelope and another being caught in a heavy storm, and running the risk of having to stay all night in the car. The people did not yet look on automobiles in any other light than luxuries and farmers along the way when applied to for shelter, were not anxious to put themselves out for "wealthy eastern people," as they supposed, while there was no limit to their hospitality when they found the strangers were Banner county farmers. After the second trip Mr. Pierson entered into partnership with Mr. Grubbs and the association continued for eighteen months, after which Mr. Grubbs continued the agency for three years longer. Notwithstanding the expressed fears of many of his former friends, that the venture would never be profitable, Mr. Grubbs made a distinct success and perhaps many of his farmer acquaintances who now own and drive cars, are ready to acknowledge his business foresight. After giving up the Ford agency in 1916, Mr. Grubbs established an auto-truck line between Kimball and Scottsbuff, carrying both freight and passengers, and continued to operate it about two years. Circumstances then seemed to require his return to the farm. Three of his stalwart sons had entered military service in the World War and the fourth was making ready to depart, hence the responsibilities of conducting an estate of sixteen hundred acres fell upon their owner. Since that time he has remained on his farm and carries on his extensive industries under his own supervision, setting the example of farming with tractors, which has been followed by many of his neighbors. Before returning to his farm, Mr. Grubbs operated the telephone exchange at Harrisburg for seven months, the introduction of this necessary invention of modern life, being largely due, in this section, to his foresight and mechanical skill. The subject had interested him for several years previously. He put in the first telephone line in the county, beginning by borrowing two "series phones" as they were called, barb wire being used for connections. Now there are few farm residences which do not have telephones and credit may well be given Mr. Grubb's progressiveness for their introduction. In many other ways than those mentioned he has been foremost in county matters. Mr. Grubbs was an early supporter of "The Herd Law;" helped to organize school district number eleven and served as director many years, and assisted in establishing Gabe Rock cemetery, helping to dig the first grave therein. On January 23, 1888, Mr. Grubbs was married to Miss Lucinda M. Fuller, which was the first wedding in Banner county. Mrs. Grubbs is a daughter of William D. and Elizabeth (Kimberly) Fuller, early residents of Banner county, now living retired at Bushnell. To Mr. and Mrs. Grubbs the following children have been born: Minnie, who, is the wife of Leslie Barrett, of Harrisburg; Walter L., who lives on his homestead near Dubois, Wyoming, was a soldier in the World War; Vernon M., a farmer living thirteen miles west of Harrisburg, married Vivian Heintz; and Dallas B., Leon C., Nellie F., Violet, Arlo R., Alvin E., Barton J., Carrie M., Wilbur A., Junella M., and Franklin A., all of whom live at home, a happy, wholesome family illustrative of sturdy stock. Mr. and Mrs. Grubbs were active members of the United Brethren congregation when there was a church of that denomination here, but now attend other religious bodies, as for several years no minister of their own faith has been stationed in their neighborhood. Mr. Grubbs is a man of sound judgment and of wide experience but has not identified himself with any political party, for these reasons perhaps, voting independently. For many years in early days here he served |
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