 FRED CHEW AND FAMILY. |
deputy county clerk. In 1906, he became interested in a hardware and furniture store in Mitchell, having charge of the business until 1911, but sold to manage a hardware store in Lingle, Wyoming, running it until 1912. In the fall of that year he went to Henry, Nebraska, then took a vacation until 1914. Returning to Mitchell, Mr. Bristol opened a real estate office where he has since been in business. This enterprise has grown most satisfactorily. In 1916, he was elected county assessor and served until 1920, then resigned to take care of his real estate interests which were increasing continually and demanded his time. Mr. Bristol owns a hundred and twenty acres of land in the valley, eighty acres of which adjoin the town of Mitchell and is very valuable. Besides that he has other property in Mitchell as well as his home. March 1, 1905, Mr. Bristol married Miss Mary Bowman, of Schuyler county, Illinois. He is a staunch Democrat and has taken an active part in politics. For more than thirty-five years Mr. Bristol has been a Mason, has taken his 32d degree, is a Knight Templar and a Shriner. He is one of the constructive men of Mitchell who is ably helping in the development of the valley. FREDERICK C. CHEW, who is one of the large wheat growers of Kimball county, has built up his ample fortune by his own efforts and is recognized as one of the substantial men of the county. Frederick C. Chew was born in Warren county, Iowa, August 1, 1876, a son of William F. and Mary (Purvis) Chew, the latter of whom was born in Pennsylvania and died in Iowa, in 1897. She was the mother of three children, of whom Frederick C. was the eldest. He has a sister, Cora, who is the wife of Frank Thorp, a farmer in Iowa; and a brother Haymond, who is in the street car service at Omaha. William F. Chew maried (sic) Patience Lawrence for his second wife, who died November 25, 1908, leaving one son, John, who is a traveling agent for a stock food concern. William F. Chew is in the land business and resides at Anita, Iowa. For about fifteen years he served as a justice of the peace at Adair, Iowa, where he was prominent also in the Masonic fraternity. Frederick C. Chew attended school in boyhood and found himself generally usefully employed and recalls the first money he earned was when be was paid fifteen cents a day for digging potatoes He remained in Iowa as a farmer until 1909, when he came to Kimball county and homesteaded sixteen miles southwest of Kimball, under the Kinkaid law, securing a section of land. When the transaction of this business, including removal of his family and settlement in the county, was completed, he found his cash capital reduced to $30. With A. B. Beard he discovered that his credit was not impaired and through him he bought cows, rented a tract of land from Mr. Beard and engaged in farming and cattle raising for several years, when he located for a time on his homestead, since which time he has carried on dry farming, finding that some land, under proper conditions, will yield amazing crops of wheat. He sold his land for $17.50 an acre, then bought another farm for $12 an acre, selling one-half of that land for $45 an acre, and balance at $55 per acre, later buying 400 acres for $20 an acre and 640 acres at $33 per acre, and 80 acres at $26 per acre, and on this land he is growing, by dry farming, wheat, the yield from which brought him $8,000 last season. At the present time Mr. Chew has 900 acres in wheat, with prospects fair for a large yield. On January 4, 1899, Mr. Chew was married to Miss Ruth Evans, one of a family of eleven children born to Morgan L. and Jane (Lewis) Evans. The parents of Mrs. Chew were born in Wales and came to the United States in 1865, with their five older children, the six younger being born in America. The parents reside at Adair, Iowa, aged respectively, eighty-three and eighty years. Mr. and Mrs. Chew have had four children, two of whom died in infancy, the survivors being: Merle, who is farming for his father with a traction engine, and Marie, who is attending school at Kimball. Mr. Chew has purchased a fine residence which is beautifully located on an elevation overlooking Kimball and the surrounding country. Mr. and Mrs. Chew are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, with which they united while living at Adair, Iowa. He belongs to Beulah lodge, A. F. & A. M., at Adair. While not active politically, Mr. Chew is very much interested in everything pertaining to farm and community welfare and advancement and is a member of the Kimball County Fair Asociation (sic). Mr. Chew bought a fine residence just south of the city of Kimball on a fine elevation overlooking the city, which he later sold at an advance in price and has since bought of A. B. Beard a residence in the southeast part of Kimball. He now owns eleven hundred acres of farm land, all of which has doubled in value since he purchased it. |
WILLIAM QUIVEY, one of the well known members of the Mitchell bar, is a lawyer of ability who has been in active practice in the Panhandle for more than a decade and during that time has taken a leading part in legal affairs of the Platte valley. He is also a business man who stands high in this section as he is naturally constructive and has assisted in the development of this section since making Mitchell his home. Mr. Quivey was born at Charleston, Coles county, Illinois, July 19, 1842. When he was six years old the family moved to Wisconsin and, in 1850, to West Union, Iowa, where the boy was reared and educated. He attended the public schools, then graduated from the high school about the time of the outbreak of the Civil War. August 24, 1861, Mr. Quivey was attending the university but gave up his college course and with more than eighty other young men enlisted in the Union army as a private, being a member of Company C, Twelfth Iowa Infantry. He participated in the battles of Fort Henry and Fort Donaldson, where he was wounded and sent to the hospital for four months. He then returned to his company for further service and in 1864 enlisted in Battery K, First Missouri Light Artillery to serve until the close of the war. During that time he was in armies that took part in the battles of Donaldson, Shiloh, Corinth, Helena, Arkansas, and many other skirmishes and light engagements. He was mustered out of the service at St. Louis, August 4, 1865, and returned home to take up his interrupted education. For two years he was a student in the academy, then began to teach, a vocation he followed for ten years. During that time he was principal of the school and at the same time began to read law, being admitted to practice at West Union, Iowa in 1880. Having served as county superintendent of schools three terms, Mr. Quivey was well acquainted with the people and had gained their confidence. He went to Humbolt, Iowa, and opened an office to practice law, being engaged in professional work there five years before moving to Pierce, Nebraska, and was soon elected prosecuting attorney of Pierce county; was re-elected two terms and remained in practice there until 1910. Mr. Quivey then came to this county and took up a homestead two and a half miles north of Mitchell, where he lived a year to get his patent to the land. Later he sold some of the property. After this year on the farm he came into Mitchell, opened an office and has been practicing here ever since. Today Mr. Quivey is recognized as one of the able and prominent men of the legal profession in the Panhandle, a place which he has won by his hard work, high standards and ability. November 1, 1868, Mr. Quivey married Miss Jennie C. Babcock, a native of Ohio, who was reared in Iowa. She was a teacher before her marriage. Mrs. Quivey died in 1913, leaving three children: L. A., professor of literature at the University of Utah; Grace, the widow of C. F. Montrose, now makes her home in Scottsbluff, where she has taught the past year, having taught in Pierce previously; Zoe Marie, the wife of J. R. Ummell, of Mitchell. There was one child that died in infancy. Mr. Quivey is a Mason, is a member of the Methodist church, and four years ago entered the Federated church here. He is a Republican. From first coming to Mitchell he has taken an active and interested part in civic affairs and supports the movements for the improvement of the county and town. ISAAC CATRON, one of the energetic farmers of the Panhandle, who came to western Nebraska more than thirty years ago, is today a substantial business man who has made good in Morrill county and stands high in his community. Mr. Catron was born in Kentucky in 1866, the son of M. and Susan (Roberts) Catron, the former born and reared in Kentucky, while the mother was a native of West Virginia. They are both living at the age of eighty-three years. Five children made up the Catron family. Henry L., a farmer in Missouri; Martha, the wife of Thomas Brown, in the mercantile business in Oklahoma; Isaac, of this review; J. S., a farmer in Missouri, and Eliabeth (sic), the widow of Smith Graham, lives in Jefferson City, Missouri. The father left Kentucky and settled in Missouri where he became a farmer, though a Baptist minister by education. He later bought a bank in Brumley, Missouri, which he ran for some time, but returned to general farming. Mr. Catron is a Republican and while living in Kentucky during the Civil War, the Confederates burned a mill that he owned there. When the Confederate soldiers were in his vicinity he hid out as he did not wish to be captured. Isaac Catron was reared in Kentucky and Missouri and received his education in the |
public schools of the latter state and learned farming under his father at home. In 1888, he came to Nebraska and homesteaded a quarter section of land in old Cheyenne county, that part which is now Morrill county. Later he Kincaided three quarter sections which gives him six hundred and forty acres. He has placed good and permanent improvements on his farm, and today has a good grade of live stock. Mr. Catron has carried on general farming with success, is one of the early men here who finds that Panhandle land pays. In 1886, Mr. Catron married Miss Anne Tolle, a native of Missouri, the daughter of Fidelia Tolle, and nine children have been born to their union: Ethel, the wife of Fred Homan, of Springfield, Missouri; Bessie, the wife of Clint Park, who works at the sugar factory in Gering; Gertrude, the wife of Elmer Harness, of Oshkosh, Nebraska; Roy, of Sterling, Colorado, who is a railroad man; Fay, Frank, Florence, Grace, Charles and Margery, all at home. Mr. Catron takes an active part in the civic affairs of his home community and has served as director of his school district during the past fifteen years. He is a Republican in politics but does not care for political life for himself. Mrs. Catron is a member of the Baptist church. PATRICK J. DUNN, a pioneer settler of Morrill county, who came here when this was old Cheyenne county, is today one of the successful farmers of the Bridgeport district, where he has by his own efforts made a comfortable fortune. Mr. Dunn is one of the men who has seen the great changes that have taken place in the Panhandle and has shared in the work of developing and opening up this locality to settlement. He was born in Omaha, Nebraska, September 4, 1863, the son of Michael and Mary (McBride) Dunn, both natives of Ireland. They were the parents of eleven children: Thomas, of Omaha; Samuel, lives in Morrill county; Patrick, of this review; John C., and Mary J., are on the home place near Omaha; Ignatius J. lives in Omaha.; Michael, deceased; Clement, deceased; Cletius, lives in Montana, and Ita is the wife of Edward Keating. The parents came to. the United States in 1850. Mr. Dunn was a hard worker and soon found employment in Illinois on the Burlington railroad, which was being built at that time. He recalled for his children the fact that men used wheel barrows and ox teams in the work of filling and excavation, quite different from today. Later he came west to Omaha, to work with a government surveying party in Douglas and nearby counties. He was a member of the Catholic church and during his early life a Democrat, but later became a Republican. He died in November, 1900, being survived by his wife who lives on the home place near Omaha, a woman eighty-five years old. Patrick Dunn was reared near Omaha and received his education in the public schools of that locality. When he was old enough the young man started out in life as a farmer, coming to Alliance in April, 1888, when there were only a few tents to make up the town. Mr. Dunn believed there was a future here for a young, energetic man and within a short time took up land in Cheyenne, now Morrill county. The old sod house he built on his claim was the third school in all the wide reaches of old Cheyenne county, which has since been cut into seven counties, each large. Mr. Dunn suffered all the vicissitudes and hardships of the early, days, but kept his land and was not discouraged. He began to make money when the country settled up a little by farming and stock raising and when irrigation was established his success as a farmer was assured. Today he owns five hundred and four acres of land all under water rights, which produce large crops. Mr. Dunn is one of the settlers to whom pioneer honors are due; he stands high in his community where he has lived so long, as a business man and one of the old timers who has played an important part in developing the country. November 9, 1897, Mr. Dunn married Miss Gertrude A. Wood, a native of Illinois, and to them have been born eight children: Mary Helen, is cashier in a store in Bridgeport; Daniel F., lives in Bridgeport; Patrick J., is at home; William C., Kathleen, Ignatius and Josephine are also at home, and James who died in infancy. Mr. Dunn is a member of the Caholic (sic) church and an independent Republican in politics. HENRY WALSH. -- The vigorous and progressive population of Cheyenne county is made up largely of successful exponents of the agricultural and live-stock industries. In every part of the county, farmers seem to thrive, and an able and honorable representative farmer, as well as one of the progressive and prosperous citizens, is the man whose name heads this review. Mr. Walsh |
is one of the native sons of Cheyenne county, being born on his father's farm down near Potter in the Lodge Pole valley, October 26, 1885, the son of Stephen and Francis (Bartel) Walsh. The father was born in England and came to the United States when a young man to take advantage of the greater opportunities afforded here than in the tight little island of his birth, where a man with little or no capital had no chance of getting ahead in the world. Stephen Walsh came west after reaching America and in 1870 took up a homestead and tree claim in Cheyenne county on which he proved up and soon engaged in agricultural business. He put many permanent improvements on his place and though he suffered many of the hardships and privations of this new country during the eighties and nineties, was determined to stick and believed that the future of this section would in the end make him a fortune and his judgment was correct. Mr. Walsh raised cattle and horses in addition to his general farming, and when money was scarce worked at his trade of carpenter and as such skilled artisans were scarce on the plains at that early day found all that he could do and more. He had the honor of taking an efficient part in the erection of many of the buildings of Sidney and Potter, and they in a way may be regarded as a monument to his memory. He became a well-to-do farmer and stockman of this section, standing high in the esteem of his business associates and many friends. About twenty-eight years ago he was killed in a runaway, leaving a sorrowful family. Mrs. Walsh was born in Bohemia but came to America when young with her parents who settled in the locality of Schyler (sic), Nebraska, where she was reared and educated, passing away while a young woman at the age of thirty-five. Henry Walsh remained on the farm in Cheyenne county, obtaining his education by attending school near his home, working on the farm as all country boys do and so was well acquainted with the practical side of farming while still a youth. He was naturally fond of horses and other animals and as a boy helped break the colts that were raised by his father. As soon as his school days were over he became ambitious to establish himself independently and naturally chose the line to which his inclination turned and also that with which he was familiar and began to work while still a young man as a horsebreaker and to this day is regarded as one of the most efficient men in this business in all Cheyenne county. September 3, 1914, Mr. Walsh rode Buster, a noted outlaw horse of Cheyenne county, and won the championship of western Nebraska, in a bucking contest. This he still holds, having defended it for six years against any Nebraska man who has entered the bucking contests. For a number of years he was a cowboy with various outfits in Cheyenne county and along the Platte river, as that was the heigh-day of the range cattle industry when the great baronial cattle companies owned their herds, numbering many thousands that ranged from Texas and New Mexico, to the Yellowstone river in Montana. For one year Mr. Walsh was engaged in farming in Wyoming, then returned to Sidney for three years, being employed by a cattle concern in this county. Following this he was made an excellent offer to go to Colorado and accepted, but returned to spend nearly a year in this locality as a cowboy before going to Scottsbluff for a year, being engaged in feeding cattle there. From his father Mr. Walsh had learned the trade of carpenter during his boyhood, and after locating near Sidney permanently has been following this vocation a part of the time. Reared on a farm and having spent many years in the cattle business it was but natural that he should desire land for himself and when he decided to make this valley his home, bought a farm where he has been actively engaged, raising diversified crops, especially forage as he is a stock-raiser and heavy feeder. Mr. Walsh, like many of the scions of the pioneer families, possesses those qualities which have made it possible for him to meet and overcome obstacles, and as the years have passed, success has crowned his efforts. Thus today he and his family are surrounded with the comforts and blessings which they justly deserve. From his first entrance into business life Mr. Walsh has taken an active part in the civic and communal life. In politics Mr. Walsh draws no strict party lines in casting his vote, as his influence is exerted to place the most practical and best man in office that the people may be well served, and thus he is known as an independent. With his wife he is a member of the Lutheran church. March 16, 1906, Mr. Walsh married Miss Ella Peterson, at Sidney. She was a daughter of the Sunflower state, where she was reared and educated. There are three children in the family: Morton E., Ralph H., and Ruby Evelyn, all of whom are at home |
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