^
History of
Dodge and Washington
Counties, Nebraska
And Their People
Editors
REV. WILLIAM H. BUSS, Fremont
THOMAS T. OSTERMAN, Blair
Advisory Editorial Board
L D RICHARDS, Fremont
C D. MARR, Fremont
JAMES M. BEAVER, Scribner
W. J. CRANE, Arlington
EDMOND C. JACKSON, Blair
WM. E. SWIHART, Kennard
T. L. MATHEWS, Fremont
M. T. ZELLERS, M. D., Hooper
ROY CUSACK, North Bend
CHAS. E. MAJERS, Scribner
J. C. ELLER, Blair
C. M. WEED, Kennard
VOLUME II
THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
CHICAGO
1921
-X
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X
History of Dodge and
Washington Counties
Judge George L. Loomis has been a prominent and representative
member of the Nebraska bar since 1876, ranking as the pioneer attorney
in this judicial district of six counties, and is the head of the law
firm of Loomis, Laird & Loomis of Fremont, in which city he centralized
his larg^e and important law practice until his appointment to his present
office, that of collector of internal revenue for the District of Nebraska,
his appointment to this position having been made early in the first
administration of President Wilson. In his official capacity Mr. Loomis
maintains his headquarters in the City of Omaha, but he still resides at
Fremont, where he began the practice of his profession forty-four years
ago.
Mr. Loomis was born in Chautauqua County, New York, on the
28th of November, 1849, and he was reared and educated in the old
Empire State, where, in 1875, he received the degree of Bachelor of
Law, upon his graduation from Union University, Department of Law,
Albany, New York. In 1876 he established his residence at Fremont,
county seat of Dodge County, Nebraska, where success has attended
his professional activities. He has long been recognized as one of the
specially able members of the Nebraska bar, the while his law practice
came to be one of broad scope and important order. As an efifective
advocate of the principles and policies for which the democratic party
stands sponsor, Mr. Loomis has been influential in political affairs in the
state. He served two terms as city attorney of Fremont, was for two
terms county attorney of Dodge County, has represented this county as a
member of the State Legislature two terms, and was for eleven years
a member of the Board of Education of his home city. His civic loyalty
has been intense, and no citizen has been more appreciative of the advan-
tages and attractions of the State of Nebraska, in whose prosperity and
progress he has taken the deepest interest. Mr. Loomis was one of the
founders of the Commercial Law League of America in 1895, has served
with characteristic efficiency as a member of the Board of Directors of
Doane College at Crete, Nebraska, for twenty-three years. In his home
city he has been a director of the Commercial National Bank and the
Home Savings Bank since their organization nearly thirty years ago,
and for more than twenty years of the Equitable Building and Loan
Association. He represented Nebraska as a delegate at large to the
democratic national convention in Baltimore where Woodrow Wilson
was first nominated for the presidency, and he has wielded much influ-
ence in the councils and campaign activities of the party in his home
state. He has been long and actively affiliated with the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows and was grand master in 1889-90, grand repre-
sentative to the Sovereign Grand Lodge eight years, grand instructor fif-
teen years. Has been a member of the Board of Home Trustees nearly
459
460 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
twenty years and was president of the board at the time of erecting and
equipping the Odd Fellows Home at York, this state. He and his family
hold membership in the Congregational Church. Is past state regent
of Sons of the American Revolution.
On the 21st of July, 1880, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Loomis
to Miss Alice Hadley, who was born in the picturesque little City of
Hillsdale, Michigan, November 1, 1856, her parents having been pioneer
citizens of that state, where they continued to reside until their death.
Mr. and Mrs. Loomis have six children : Bayard is engaged in the
moving-picture business in the City of Omaha; Floyd is a successful
newspaper man in the City of Portland, Oregon ; Leo is the wife of Fred
C. Laird, of whom individual mention is made on other pages of this
volume ; Zela H. is vice president of the Telegram Company, publishers
of the leading newspaper at Columbus, Nebraska; Howard W. is the
youngest member of the Fremont law firm of Loomis, Laird & Loomis,
and concerning him further mention is made in appending paragraphs
of this review ; and Wayne is a student in the University of Nebraska
as a member of the class of 1922.
Howard W. Loomis was born at Fremont, and after here completing
the curriculum of the public schools he entered Fremont College, in
which institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1912.
In preparation for the profession of his choice he then entered the law
department of the University of Nebraska, in which he was graduated
as a member of the class of 1915. his reception of the degree of Bachelor
of Laws being practically coincident with his admission to the bar of his
native state. He forthwith became associated with his father in active
general practice at Fremont and is now the youngest member of the law
firm of Loomis, Laird & Loomis, his father being the senior member and
the third member being Fred C. Laird, whose wife is a daughter of the
senior member of the firm, as noted in the preceding paragraph. In his
professional work Howard W. Loomis is well upholding the prestige of
the family name and is one of the leading lawyers of the younger gen-
eration in his native county. The firm of which he is a member controls
a large and important law business, and incidental to the same he has
proved himself a resourceful lawyer and well fortified counselor. When
the nation became involved in the World war he promptly subordinated
his professional ambition to the call of patriotism. He entered service
in November, 1917, received his preliminary training at Camp Johnson,
and finally became a member of the American Expeditionary Forces in
France, where he was in active service fifteen months, his honorable dis-
charge having been received in September, 1919, after the close of the
war and his return to his native land. He is an appreciative and popular
member of the local post of the American Legion in his home city.
Mr. Loomis is found aligned as a stanch supporter of the principles
of the democratic party, and is affiliated with the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Alpha
Tau Omega college fraternity and the Phi Delta Phi fraternity of the
law school. He holds membership in the Congregational Church at Fre-
mont, where he remains at the parental home, as his name is still found
listed on the roll of eligible young bachelors in his native county.
Ross L. Hammond. In writing of the men that have been prominent
and influential in developing and promoting the highest and best interests
of Dodge County, special mention should be made of Ross L. Hammond,
widely known as one of the most enterprising and popular newspaper
DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 461
men of the state, who was editor of the Fremont Tribune for forty years,
and in addition to his duties in that capacity helped to build up an exten-
sive and remunerative business by the Hammond Printing Company, of
which he was president. In October, 1919, he disposed of his principal
interests in Fremont, and is now, in 1920, located at Riverside, Califor-
nia, engaged in investments and banking. A son of George and Jane
(Leech) Hammond, he was born May 13, 1861, in Le Grand, Marshall
County, Iowa, coming on both sides of the house of English colonial
stock and of honored Quaker ancestry.
Born in Jefiferson County, Ohio, George Hammond migrated to
Iowa in early life, and as a pioneer settler of Marshall County bought
land and began the improvement of a homestead. He met with good
success as a farmer and stock raiser, and also engaged in mercantile pur-
suits, building up a prosperous business as a dealer in lumber and grain.
A man of strong individuality, he was influential in advancing the pros-
perity of Le Grand, his home town, and was identified with the estab-
lishment therein of two colleges, and was a generous contributor toward
their support.
Scholarly in his tastes and ambitions, Ross L. Hammond received
his preliminary education in Le Grand, Iowa, attending the public schools
and Friends' Academy, and subsequently continuing his studies at Penn
College, in Oskaloosa, Iowa. Yielding, no doubt, to a natural tendency,
he began his connection with printing and journalism soon after leaving
college, and in September, 1879, came to Fremont to assume a position
on the Fremont Tribune, which was then owned by his father and his
brother Frank under the firm name of Hammond & Son. Becoming of
age in 1882, Mr. Hammond was admitted to partnership in the firm, and
the name was changed to Hammond Brothers. The publishing business
grew with surprising rapidity and in 1901 was incorporated, with a
paid-up capital of $100,000, the Hammond Printing Company, Mr. Ham-
mond being made president of the concern. He also became officially
connected as vice president with the Hammond & Stephens Company,
an entirely separate concern, which has a capital of $50,000 and is devoted
to educational publications and supplies.
He was for twenty-five years a director of the Nebraska Building
and Loan- Association, the largest financial institution of Fremont. For
several years before leaving the city he was its vice president. He was
for twenty years a member of the City Library Board and for several of
the latter years its president. He was a director of the First National
Bank and interested in several other banks of the state, and a farm
owner in Nebraska and Minnesota.
Under the wise control of Mr. Hammond the Tribune greatly pros-
pered and grew in influence, and with the development of the paper, the
job printing industry grew in a corresponding manner, its business hav-
ing become extensive and lucrative, it being at the present time one of
the most important industrial concerns in the city.
Mr. Hammond obtained his rudimentary knowledge of printing and
journalism on the home farm, he and his brothers having set up a small
press in their mother's pantry. Working evenings, rainy days and holi-
days these enterprising boys became familiar with the art of printing, and
subsequently began the publication of the "Amateur Star," a miniature
weekly paper which they published two or three years, supplying copies
to about 150 regular subscribers.
An active and influential member of the republican party, Mr. Ham-
mond served as a delegate to every state convention within the past
462 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
quarter of a century, and often assisted in the framing of the party
platforms, and as a pleasing and effective speaker has been prominent in
campaign work. He was a candidate for Congress from the Third Dis-
trict in 1896, when the republican party was defeated by the fusion
element. In 1897 he was appointed postmaster at Fremont by President
McKinley and having afterwards been reappointed by President Roose-
velt, served in that capacity five years, when he resigned the position,
his business requiring his entire attention. In March, 1908, Mr. Ham-
mond became collector of internal revenue for the State of Nebraska,
holding the position for six years, when he resigned.
An active and influential member of the Nebraska Press Association,
Mr. Hammond served as a delegate to many meetings of the National
Editorial Association. He was long prominent in the State Association,
which he has served as secretary and as president, and was first president
of the Fremont Men's Club, which was organized by sixty of the leading
men of the city for the purpose of considering questions of interest to
the general public. In 1918 he was candidate for the United States Sen-
ate, and while he polled a big vote was narrowly defeated. A highly
esteemed citizen, popular with all classes of people, Mr. Hammond and
his family were entertained in Fremont many times at dinners given in
their honor after their decision to go to California. The climax of
this series of functions doing them honor was a public banquet given
at the Hotel Pathfinder. Two hundred prominent men and women of
the city gathered to pay testimony of the high esteem in which they were
held. A loving cup, suitably engraved, was presented as an enduring
proof of this regard. As a means of giving his friends throughout the
state a similar opportunity to attest their esteem a banquet was given at
Lincoln to him and his family under the auspices of the Nebraska Press
Association. This was a brilliant and unusual affair, attended by men
and women of prominence in and out of the editorial profession. A
gridiron performance followed the dinner in which Mr. Hammond was
given a mock trial on the charge of desertion. The indictment was pre-
ferred by the governor, the chief justice of the supreme court presided,
the attorney-general and two or three former attorneys-general took part
in the prosecution and defense. While the unique affair was filled with
mirth it afforded a vehicle for giving expression of the universal regret
that Mr. Hammond was leaving Nebraska.
Mr. Hammond married in Fremont in 1885, Louise F. Reynolds and
into their home four children have made their advent, namely : Louise,
Le Ross, Howard and Constance. Fraternally Mr. Hammond is a
member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of the Modern
Woodmen of America and of the Ancient Order of L^nited Workmen.
Religiously he was reared in the Quaker faith, being a birthright Quaker,
but for many years he has been a member of the Congregational Church,
being for a long time before leaving Fremont chairman of its board of
trustees.
Joseph G. Widhelm is one of the representative business men of
the younger generation in Dodge County, where he has built up a most
prosperous enterprise as executive head, as well as founder, of the
Widhelm Remedy and Manufacturing Company, through which he has
produced a valuable line of livestock remedies and a complete line of
sanitary feeders' supplies, which he has protected with patents granted
him by this and other governments. This industry which he has estab-
lished in Fremont is one of the fastest growing enterprises in the citv.
DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 463
Mr. Widhelm was born in Platte County, Nebraska, February 28, 1880,
and is the son of Joseph and Theresa (Weimer) Widhelm, natives of
Austria, who established their home in Platte County, Nebraska, prior to
the admission of this state into the Union and here the father developed
one of the finest farm estates in that county. Joseph G. was the fifth
son of this worthy couple. At the early age of sixteen he started out to
make his own way in the world and to achieve his heart's greatest desire,
a more advanced education. By putting in a portion of each year at
hard labor, he was enabled to spend the remainder of the year at the
Fremont College until he completed a course of study which entitled
him to a state certificate. After spending a few years in the schoolroom
as instructor he finally retired from the work and engaged in the remedy
and manufacturing business in the year of 1908. He began his business
career with only a few hundred dollars, but by making every dollar do
full duty, preparing his remedies by night and selling them by day, he
quickly forged ahead. The worth of his goods soon became evident and
their wide and ever-increasing sale attracted the attention of a number
of Dodge County's most substantial citizens who came forward and
offered to assist him in incorporating the business under the name of
the Widhelm Remedy and Manufacturing Company. In the year of
1918, he received his permit from the state and the business was incor-
porated for $100,000. Joseph G. Widhelm became its first president
and general manager. The products of this plant are now being
shipped to all parts of the United States.
Mr. Widhelm is a liberal and progressive citizen even as he is a
business man. He is an active member of the Rotary Club, Commercial
Club and Knights of Columbus, in which last-named he has held some
of the highest offices. He also holds membership in the Modern Wood-
men and the Eagles.
October 23, 1907, recorded the marriage of Mr. Widhelm to Miss
Margaret V. O'Donnell, who was born and raised in Saunders County,
Nebraska, a daughter of Thomas and Margaret O'Donnell, both natives
of Ireland. Mr. O'Donnell was for many years in the employ of the
Union Pacific Railroad Company and was one of those who took part
in the ceremony of the driving of the golden spike incidental to the join-
ing of the Union Pacific with the Southern Pacific at Promontory Point,
Utah, which completed the great transcontinental line linking the east
with the west for the first time in the history of America.
Mr. and Mrs. Widhelm have two children, Virginia and Eugene.
The Marshall Family. The firm of Marshalls Nurseries, com-
posed of George A., Chester C. and Harvey W. Marshall, nurserymen,
is one of the solid institutions of Arlington, and the history of their
family is interesting enough to merit special attention in a work of this
high class. They are the sons of Benjamin Clark and Catherine (Nonna-
maker) Marshall, he born in Trumbull County, Ohio, and she in Han-
cock County, the same state. Both families were old established ones of
Ohio, where Benjamin C. Marshall continued to reside until 1881, at
that time he with his family coming west to Nebraska and locating
3^ miles northeast of Arlington. There he bought land and lived on
it until 1910, and then retired, moving at that time to Arlington, where
he lived until his death which occurred on February 15, 1919. After the
death of his wife in 1904, he did not maintain a home of his own, but
lived with his daughters. He and his wife had nine children, eight of
whom are living, namely: Eli W., who is a stockholder of the company
464 DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
of Marshalls Nurseries, and is its representative at Lincoln, Nebraska,
and he married Josie Dalley, their children being: Clark, May, Shirley,
Eula, Tina and Dorothy; Ami. who represents Marshalls Nurseries at
Bayard, Nebraska, married Minnie Marquard, and their children are:
Maude, Cora, Lula, Irma and Chet ; Chester C, who is vice president
of Marshalls Nurseries, married Mary Fellers and their children are:
Gail, Leta and Eva ; George A., who is president of Marshalls Nurseries,
married Dora Goltry and their children are: Vernon, Catherine, Ruth,
Ralph and Maurice ; Harvey W., who is treasurer of Marshalls Nur-
series, married Allie Snodgrass and they have one child, Esther, now
attending National Park Seminary, Forest Glen, Maryland ; Dora, who
is the widow of G. M. Whitford, who died in August, 1917, leaving her
and two children, Murray and Bernice, the three now living at Arlington ;
Lucy E., who is the wife of William A. Whitford, a retired resident of
Arlington, and they have one child, Gladys ; Austin C, who is engaged
in farming in Washington County, married Nettie McMillan and they
have six children : Leslie, Hazel, Clayton, Julia, Howard and Georgia.
Benjamin C. Marshall was a democrat in politics. His wife was a con-
sistent member of the Evangelical Church. Starting out in life with a
very small capital, through persistent effort and strict economy, Mr. Mar-
shall accumulated a comfortable property and died a man of means.
The elder of the Marshall children were educated in Ohio. Austin
was graduated from the Fremont, Nebraska, Normal School ; Harvey
graduated in the commercial course at the Shenandoah, Iowa, College,
and those younger than he received their education in the schools of
Washington County, Nebraska. They were all reared on the farm, and
in 1887 the sons started in the nursery business in a small way, grafting
40,000 apple trees and a smaller number of cherry and plum trees, and
carrying a general line of small fruits, shrubbery and ornamental trees.
The firm was originally composed of C. C. Marshall, George A. Mar-
shall and Harvey W. Marshall. In June, 1916, they incorporated with a
paid-up capital of $60,000, all owned by the family, and of this company
George A. Marshall is president, Chester C. Marshall is vice president
and Harvey W. Marshall is treasurer, while C. G. Marshall is secretary.
The company ships all over the United States, but the principal
trade comes from Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota. The annual
amount of business runs from 10,000 to 20,000 orders. In 1915 they
built a modern plant at Arlington, and in 1917 they enlarged same in
order to handle the increase of business. At present their main frost-
proof storage building, which is one and a half to two stories high, cov-
ers a space of 140 by 160 feet. At one time they had a forty-acre apple
orchard, which during the last seven years that it was productive, bore
from 10,000 to 15,000 bushels annually, and they shipped a large pro-
portion of these apples to Europe. This orchard, which was planted in
1893, is now, of course, practically extinct. The company have two
diplomas received from the Paris Exposition for apples there displayed,
and also a gold medal awarded them for apples in the fruit display at the
Omaha Exposition. They have Government diplomas for fruit displays
at both the Columbian and St. Louis expositions, and won nine sweep-
stakes during nine years, seven years in succession and one year between,
from the Nebraska state fairs. The plant is perfect in every respect and
the brothers own from 1,200 to 1,500 acres of land near Arlington, and
this present immense business is the outgrowth of the small nursery
established with $1,000 each, given the original partners by their father.
Employment is given to as many as 100 persons, according to the season,
DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES 465
and including salesmen and laborers. The somewhat remarkable success
attained by the Marshall family would not have been possible if the indi-
vidual members had not been men of sterling character, whose efforts
have always been directed along constructive lines and with a definite
end in view. Reared by careful and high-minded parents, they have
grown into very desirable citizens and Arlington is fortunate in having
them as residents and holders of valuable property interests here.
John P. Eaton. A Dodge County pioneer, one of its oldest and
best-known citizens, an honored survivor of the Civil war, and a man
whose work and influence have always been on the better side of the
changes and developments in this section of the West.
A New Englander, he was born in New Hampshire August 18, 1843,
son of Peter and Elizazbeth (Libby) Eaton. His father was a machinist
by trade and died in New Hampshire prior to the Civil war. In the
family were the following children : Mary, James, Sarah, George, Abigail,
John, Martha and Carrie. Of these John is the only survivor. Others
of the family who also came to Nebraska were George, Martha and
Carrie.
John P. Eaton had a common school education and was enrolled as
a student in Pittsfield Academy for about a year when the war broke out
and he finished his college course in the army. He was a fighting Union
soldier four years. He enlisted August 16, 1862, in Company B of the
Twelfth New Hampshire Regiment and fought in the battle of Gettys-
burg. On April 24, 1864, he was commissioned first lieutenant of Com-
pany G of the First United States Volunteer Infantry. He was put in
command of that company and served in that regiment on the western
frontier until after the close of the war. . He was honorably discharged
May 21, 1866, at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
He had not been out of the army long when he determined to estab-
lish a home in the new country west of the Missouri River and reached
Nebraska soil in 1867, traveling by train as far as the river. He home-
steaded eighty acres in what is now section 14, township 18, range 6, in
Cotterell Township, and that land has been his home and the scene of
his activities for over half a century. His first house was a five-room
board dwelling, which subsequently gave way to the modern residence
in which he still lives.
Mr. Eaton owns 485 acres of Nebraska farm lands. For thirty-five