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| Jester, Charles W., M. D. Dr. Charles W. Jester of Bethany has built up a large and representative practice, and his ability and conscientiousness are generally recognized. He was bom in Missouri on the 24th of December, 1865. and is a son of Thomas E. and Sarah F. (Wilson) Jester, the latter also a native of Missouri. The father, who was bom in North Carolina, came to Nebraska in 1861 and here enlisted in Company A, First Nebraska Volunteer Infantry, with which he served for three years and three months. At the close of the Civil war he was mustered out at Plattsmouth, Nebraska, after which he went to Missouri, where he farmed until 1873. In that year he returned to Nebraska and took up a homestead in Nuckolls county, which he improved and operated until 1900. He then retired from active hfe and removed to Deweese, this state, where he is still living. However, he retains the ownership of his farm in Nuckolls county, which has been in his possession ever since the patent therefor was given him by the United States government under the signature of U. S. Grant. His wife died on the 7th of November, 1901. Dr. Charles W. Jester was reared at home and as a boy attended the common schools of Nuckolls county. Subsequently he became a student in Fairfield College in Clay county and was graduated from that institution with the class of 1896. For several years he taught school in Clay and Nuckolls counties and later served for four years as county superintendent of schools in Clay county, during which time he did much to further the interests of the schools under his charge. However, he decided that the medical profession offered greater opportunities than that of teaching and at length matriculated in the Lincoln Medical Collie, which conferred upon him the degree of M. D. in 1904. He began practice at Eagle, Cass county, and remained there for four years, after which he came to Bethany, where he has since resided. He studies his cases carefully, taking into consideration the totality of symptoms, has been very successful as a diagnostician and also in prescribing the correct treatment. He has gained the confidence alike of the general public and his professional colleagues, and his practice leaves him little time for outside activities. On the nth of February, 1888, Dr. Jester was married to Miss Mary E. Keeney, and they have become the parents of four children: Earl, who died in 1889; Royal F., who is practicing medicine at St Paul, Nebraska; Pearl M., a student in the State University of Nebraska; and Carl W., who is attending the Lincoln Dental College. Dr. Jester is a democrat and has taken the interest of a good citizen in public affairs, although he has never sought office. Fraternally he is identified with the Modem Woodmen of America, the Royal Neighbors and the Masonic order, and his religious faitti is that of the Christian church. He is much interested in educational matters and is now serving as a member of the school board, and along strictly professional lines he is identified with the Missouri Medical Association. LINCOLN: The Capitol City and Lancaster Co., NE, Vol. 2; Chicago, Illinois, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, (c) 1916, pp. 73-74 |
| Johnson, W. R. W. R. Johnson is the owner of one of the leading commercial establishments of' Havelock, conducting a hardware, plumbing and heating business. He was bom in Otoe county, Nebraska, March 12, 1869, a son of William James and Theresa (Lender) Johnson. The father was born in Scotland, Febraary 22, 1840, and when four years of age was taken to Canada, When fifteen years of age he became a sailor on the lakes and followed that pursuit several years. With the outbreak of the Civil war he responded to the country's call for aid, enlisting in the Second Minnesota Regiment of Volunteer Infantry, with which he continued for four years, )^ing largely engaged in fighting Indians on the frontier. After the war he located at Nebraska City and engaged in freighting across the plains to Laramie, Wyoming. In 1867 he was united in marriage to Theresa Lender, a native of Missouri, and in 1891 they removed to Havelock, where Mr. Johnson embarked in merchandising under the firm style of Johnson & Son, opening his stock of goods in a little frame building on the present site of the brick store in which the business is still continued. Here Mr. Johnson was actively connected with the trade interests of the town until his death, which occurred February 8, 1896, and he occupied an enviable position in public regard as a business man and citizen. He was always greatly interested in attending the Grand Army meetings and he was an exemplary member of the Masonic lodge. His wife survived him for about two decades, passing away May 29, iQis. at the age of sixty-eight years. To them were born three children, namely: W. R., of this review; Mrs. Arthur Belts; and Grace M., of Elberta, Utah. W. R. Johnson was reared in Nebraska and in early manhood became his father's associate and partner in the busness which was conducted under the firm name of Johnson & Son until the father's death, when W. R. Johnson succeeded to the ownership of the store. He has erected an excellent brick building and he carries a large line of shelf and heavy hardware, in connection with which he takes contracts for plumbing and heating work. He is now accorded a liberal patronage and his business has reached profitable proportions. He was also one of the organizers of the Farmers & Mechanics Bank of Havelock but has since sold his stock. On October i2, 1896, Mr. Johnson was united in marriage to Miss Evangeline S, Prescott, a native of Lincoln and a daughter of W. H. Prescott, of that city. To them have been born two children, Harry and James. The family attend the Methodist church and in politics Mr. Johnson is a republican, but he has neither held nor sought political office. He is, however, a member of the school board and is interested in all that pertains to educational progress and to the improvement of the county along other lines. LINCOLN: The Capitol City and Lancaster Co., NE, Vol. 2; Chicago, Illinois, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, (c) 1916, pp. 78-79 |
| Jones, R. J. For fourteen years R. J. Jones has been engaged in the bakery business in Havelock and through this period has enjoyed a good trade that has brought to him substantial success. He was born in Wales in 1S59 and was a young man of twenty-one years when he left that little rock-ribbed country and sailed for the new world, settling in 1880 at Utica, New York, where he worked at the baker's trade. In 1887 he became one of the pioneer settlers of Sherman county, Kansas, where he engaged in the bakery business and also became a prominent and influential factor in the public life of the community. His fellow townsmen, appreciative of his worth and ability, twice elected him to the office of county treasurer and he was likewise a member of the school board. Mr. Jones resided in Fairfield, Nebraska, a short time before going to Kansas and was there married to Miss Anna Williams, who was born in Oneida County, New York. They had two sons: Robert G., a barber in Havelock; and D. Earl, who assists his father in business. The wife and mother passed away about four years ago. It was in August, 1902, that Mr. Jones came to Havelock and opened the bakery which he has since conducted with growing success, being now accorded a liberal patronage. While in Kansas, Mr. Jones joined the Masonic fraternity and is now a member of George Washington Lodge, No. 250, F. & A. M., of Havelock and of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. His political indorsement is given to the republican party and he stands for all those things which are most worth while in citizenship. He was nominated for mayor of Havelock but was not elected. s LINCOLN: The Capitol City and Lancaster Co., NE, Vol. 2; Chicago, Illinois, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, (c) 1916, p. 109 |
| Keller, Cornelius B. A constantly developing florist business is bringing substantial and gratifying success to Cornelius B. Keller, who now controls a very substantial trade in Lincoln. He was bom in Ohio, November 27, 1859, and is a son of Cornelius and Johanna Keller, who were natives of Ireland. The mother died in 1859, six weeks after the birth of our subject. The father, who was a farmer and plasterer, came to America about 1840, landing at New York, where he remained for six months. He then went to Ohio, where he settled upon a farm which he continued to own and cultivate throughout his remaining days, his death there occurring in August, 1896, His son, Cornelius E. Keller, was reared and educated In Ohio and remained with his father to the age of nineteen years, when he started out in life on his own account. He came to Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1879, to take up nursery work, which he had previously followed in Ohio. For two years he was in the employ of a nursery man at Lincoln and then secured a position at the state asylum, having charge of the greenhouse and garden. He remained in that connection for a year but in the meantime had purchased eighty acres of land near Emerald on the installment plan. He afterward traded that farm for his present property and greenhouse and since then he has greatly enlarged his equipment until he now has six greenhouses. He has also erected a fine modern residence on his property at No. 2403 R street. In the development of his business he has met with notable success and he now ships all over the state, enjoying a large patronage. Mr. Keller also owns other residence property in Lincoln, from which he derives a good annual income. He is also a stockholder in the Lincoln Telephone & Telegraph Company. His attention, however, is devoted chiefly to the cultivation of plants and flowers and there is no phase of the greenhouse business with which he is not familiar. He has closely studied the needs of flowers and plants and his broad knowledge and experience enable him to win substantial success as the years pass on. In August, 1883, Mr. Keller was united in marriage to Miss Ida Magee, a daughter of Ellison Magee. To them were born six children, as follows: May, at home; Jessie, who is a teacher in the Lincoln schools; Olive, who is engaged in teaching school at Fort Smith, Arkansas; Helen, a student in the State University; Howard, at home; and Ralph, who passed away in April, 1893. The wife and mother passed away in March, 1900, after a week's illness. Mr. Keller is prominently known in Masonic circles. He has taken the Scottish Rite degrees in Masonry and he is also identified with the Modem Woodmen of America, the Woodmen of the World and the Royal Neighbors. Politically he is a democrat, while his religious faith is that of the Presbyterian church. Mr. Keller is well known in Lincoln and throughout Lancaster county, his acquaintance constantly broadening through his social as well as his business connections. He is a man whose purposes are well defined, whose plans are carefully executed and whose indefatigable energy and capable management continually lead to. LINCOLN: The Capitol City and Lancaster Co., NE, Vol. 2; Chicago, Illinois, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, (c) 1916, pp. 101-102 |
| Kennard, Hon. Thomas Perkins Hon. Thomas Perkins Kennard, whose residence in Lincoln exceeds in duration that of any other citizen now living here, arrived in this city in 1868 and it is said that he has had more to do with the city's history than any other individual. It was Mr. Kennard who was chiefly responsible for locating the state capital in Lincoln and with other events of equal importance his name is inseparably associated. He was born in Belmont county, Ohio, near the town of Flushing, December 13, 1826, a son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Perkins) Kennard. The father, a farmer by occupation, was bom in Virginia and became an early settler of Belmont county, Ohio, There was something in the life of the frontier, however, that made an appeal to him and as Belmont county became more thickly settled he removed with his family to Henry county, Indiana, taking up his abode there in 1833. He there purchased a partially improved farm and later bought a section of land from the government at a dollar and a quarter per acre, he and his wife spending their remaining days upon that place. Their family numbered eight sons, one of whom died in infancy, and a daughter. The other seven sons, Levi, John, Jacob, Jenkins, Thomas P., Joseph and Marshall, reached mature years and the only daughter, Rachel, became the wife of Joseph James. All have now passed away with the exception of Thomas P. Kennard. Upon his father's farm in Henry county, Indiana, whither he removed when seven years of age, Thomas P. Kennard spent the greater part of his youth. He attended school but very little, about a year in all. In his youth he spent four years as an employe in a woolen mill of Henry county, there learning the business of spinning wool, while his elder brother, Jenkins, also served an apprenticeship in the same establishment. Finally the two brothers purchased the mill and operated it for three years, at the end of which time Thomas P. Kennard sold his interest to his brother. A year or two before he had decided that such a life was not congenial and, moreover, it was his ambition to study law but up to that time he had had no opportunity to do so. He worked in the mill from early morning until eight o'clock in the evening and furthermore he had had no general education to serve as the foundation upon which to build the super-structure of professional learning. He had obtained only a meager knowledge of the rudiments of learning from the commonest textbooks, gained in a year's attendance at school and through private study. He had no law books and was unable to buy them, but so strong was his purpose that he went to Newcastle, the county seat of Henry county, and made arrangements with a law firm to borrow such textbooks as he would need and which he would study under the direction of that firm, to whom he was to report every Saturday afternoon the progress that he had made and receive from them further instruction as to how to proceed. Occasionally he would get another law book and this method of mastering the principles of jurisprudence was followed for a year. After working all day in the woolen mill until eight o'clock in the evening he would then study until eleven or sometimes twelve o'clock at night. Upon selling his interest in the mill to his brother he removed to the little town of Greensboro, in Henry county, Indiana, secured a room to use as an office and hung out his shingle, inscribed "T. P. Kennard, Lawyer." He was then about twenty-five years of age and he had previously married. During the two years which he practiced there he won a reputation as a successful and rising young lawyer and at the end of that time sought the broader field offered in the town of Anderson, the county seat of Madison county, Indiana. He remained in practice there for about three years. Having inherited from his father a love for the frontier, he then decided that he would come to Nebraska and just prior to the Civil war, accompanied by his oldest brother, Levi, who had decided to engage in merchandising in. the west, he boarded a train at Indianapolis and proceeded to St. Louis. He there took a boat for Omaha as thbre was no railroad to bring him the remainder of the journey. The steamboat trip occupied about two weeks. The boat used wood for fuel and proceeded on its run only in the daytime, anchoring at some landing place at night. From Omaha the two brothers proceeded to Desoto, Washington county, Nebraska, where they took up their abode, Levi there engaging in mercantile pursuits, while Thomas P. Kennard entered upon the practice of law, in which he was soon well established. His ability soon drew to him wide attention and he became not only a leader at the bar but also in political circles. About that time the people of the state decided to hold a convention with a view to perfecting a constitution for statehood. Washington county chose Mr. Kennard as its representative in this convention and he accepted the position only on condition that he should be allowed to write the platform. He did so and its two principal planks were: first, female suffrage, or the right of women to vote; and second, that capital punishment should be prohibited in the new state. It was left to the people of Nebraska to vote for or against the statehood proposition and it was voted down. Soon afterward that element of the voters which favored statehood induced the Nebraska delegate in congress to introduce a bill for the organization of the state of Nebraska. The bill was enacted, was submitted to the people and on this occasion carried by about one hundred majority. Accordingly the two leading political parties met in convention at different places and nominated their candidates for state officers. The republicans, who favored state organization, met at Plattsmouth and nominated Thomas P. Ketmard for secretary of state. The democrats, who opposed state organization, met at Nebraska City. The republican convention before it adjourned chose General Thayer and Thomas P. Kennard to make a complete canvass of the territory of Nebraska in favor of the idea of state organization. General Thayer was then a candidate for United States senator from the new state as soon as it should come into being. At the ensuing election the republicans and those who favored statehood carried the day and the ticket for all state officials won. Mr. Kennard thus became the first secretary of state of Nebraska and by re-election served two terms. While in that office he was mainly instrumental in selecting Lincoln for the state capital as against Omaha, which had been the territorial capital. He led the fight in the state legislature and not only that but he also fathered the movement which led to the appointment of a commission of three men who should have the power to locate not only the state capital but also important state institutions. This commission, which was composed of Governor Butler, State Auditor Gillespie and Mr, Kennard, selected Lincoln as the capital and also as the site for the State University, the state insane asylum, the penitentiary and other institutions. Governor Butler left practically all this to Mr. Kennard, who was his devoted friend, and therefore Mr. Kennard had more to do with selecting Lincoin than anyone else, for he voted not only his sentiments but also those of Governor Butler. He had absolute control of the legislation which made Lincoln the capital, the matter being left to this commission, in which he was the dominating spirit, owing to Governor Butler's deference to his ideas. The bill which passed the legislature, however, had restricted the commission to Saunders, Butler, Seward, Saline and Lancaster counties. The commission visited all of these counties and Mr. Gillespie favored Ashland, while Governor Butler and Mr. Kennard favored Lancaster county. On the expiration of his second term as-secretary of state Mr. Kennard resumed his law practice but soon abandoned it for other business pursuits, first engaging in private banking and afterward in merchandising. He was again called to public office by appointment of Governor Robert W. Furnas, who made him state agent to prosecute certain claims against the federal government growing out of conditions arising under the enabhng act. In 1875 he was elected to the state senate and before the expiration of his term was appointed by General Grant as a member of the board to appraise about seven million acres of land in the Indian territory as the basis of the sale of the land to the various Indian tribes which the government was settling in that territory. Mr. Kennard was elected president of the board. After a few months he resigned and returned to Lincoln to become local attorney for the Union Pacific Railroad, in which capacity he continued for a number of years. He organized the Western Glass & Paint Company in 1890, becoming its president, and has since continued in that office. In 1896 he was delegate at large from Nebraska to the republican national convention at St. Louis when McKinley was nominated and served as vice president of that body. In 1898 he was appointed by President McKinley receiver of public moneys at the United States land office at Lincoln and special disbursing agent for the government. In recent years because of his advancing age he has retired from all active pursuits. The state will ever owe to him a debt of gratitude for his public-spirited devotion to its interests and especially is Lincoln indebted to him for the wisdom and foresight which he displayed in making this city the capital. LINCOLN The Capitol City and Lancaster Co., NE; Chicago, Illinois, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, (c) 1916, pp. 5-7 |
| Knowlton, Charles M. Charles M. Knowlton, of College View, who is one of the best known stock dealers in Lancaster county, was bom on the 12th of May, 1855, in Connecticut, His parents, William J. and Anna (Kinney) Knowlton, were born respectively in Maine and in Scotland. In his youth the father sailed before the mast and at die time of the Mexican war he served in the army of the United States, proving a valiant and loyal soldier. In 1858 he removed westward, settling at Cowper, Johnson county, Iowa. He purchased land but after operating it for two years had to give it up as the title was not good. He then removed to the vicinity of lovfii City and for ten years engaged in farming there but in 1867 decided to try his fortune still farther west and drove across the country to Lancaster county, Nebraska, He rented a farm, which he operated for a number of years, but at length, having accumulated a competence, he put aside the cares of active life and removed to Lincoln, where he lived in honorable retirement until his death on the r7th of December, 1897, when he was seventy-five years old. His wife survived until the 2d of May, 1905, and reached the advanced age of eighty-four years. Charles M. Knowlton was reared and educated in Johnson county, Iowa, and Lancaster county, Nebraska. He remained with his parents, giving them the benefit of his labors until he was twenty-five years of age, when he began farming on his own account. After renting land for two years he purchased eighty acres in Grant township from the Burlington & Missouri Railroad and for three years he concentrated his energies upon the development and improvement of that place. He then sold to advantage and after renting for two years bought eighty acres in Lancaster township which was already well improved. For twenty years he resided upon that farm and brought the land to a still higher state of cultivation and added various improvements, making his farm one of the most valuable in his locality. At the end of that time he came to College View and engaged in the livery business, with which he was connected for five years and ten months. Subsequently he became identified with general merchandising and for a year and a half operated a store in College View. He then disposed of that enterprise and has since engaged in the buying and shipping of horses, cattle and hogs. He is an excellent judge of stock, is widely acquainted throughout the county and understands how to market stock to the best advantage and has found his present business very profitable. He owns a fine modem home at the corner of Seventh and L streets, holds title to four acres in Bumham's addition to Lincoln and also owns a well improved ranch of eight hundred acres in Cherry county, Nebraska. He at one time held title to twenty-five acres of land inside the corporation limits of College View but has since disposed of that property. Mr. Knowlton was married on the 28th of October, 1880, to Miss Anna Schenk, a daughter of Fred and Mary A. (McKeown) Schenk, the former a native of Germany and the latter of Ireland, The father emigrated to the United States many years ago and located at Philadelphia, where he passed away in 1865 at the early age of twenty-eight years. His wife survived him for a long period, dying on the 17th of February, 1893, when sixty-three years old. Mrs. Knowlton was bom in Philadelphia on the 27th of December, 1858. By her marriage she has become the mother of a daughter, Gertrude, now the wife of Fred R. Stanley, who is engaged in the plumbing and heating business at Lincoln. On the nth of June, 1916, a daughter, Alyse Mildred, was bom to Mr. and Mrs. Stanley. The republican party has a stalwart supporter in Mr. Knowlton, who does all in his power to secure its success at the polls. Fraternally he is well known, belonging to the Modern Woodmen of America, the Royal Neighbors, the Masonic order and the Eastern Star. He is loyal in friendship, public-spirited in matters of citizenship, and all who have been brought in contact with him hold him in high esteem. LINCOLN: The Capitol City and Lancaster Co., NE, Vol. 2; Chicago, Illinois, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, (c) 1916, pp. 134, 137 |
| Love, Hon. Don Lathrop Hon. Don Lathrop Love, a prominent member of the Lincoln bar, has had much to do with shaping public thought and action in this city, of which he has been mayor. He was born in Janesville, Wisconsin, March 7, 1863. His father, Horace Love, was a farmer throughout his entire life. He was bom in western New York, being a son of Leonard Love, also a native of the Empire state and a farmer by occupation. The early members of the family lived in New England, where representatives of the name settled at an early date. The mother of Don L. Love bore the maiden name of Gracia A. Ashton, and was bom in New York in 1824. She was married to Horace Love near Janesville, Wisconsin, in 1848, the wedding taking place in the village of Cooksville. In 1864 they removed to Marshall county, Iowa, and four years afterward they became residents of Calhoun county, Iowa. where the father died in 1882. His wife survived him until 1910, reaching the advanced age of eighty-six years, while he was but sixty-three years of age at the time of his demise. Both were laid to rest in the cemetery at Malvern, Iowa. Don L. Love was the youngest of seven children, five sons and two daughters, namely: Horace A., a resident of Manson, Iowa; Addie, the wife of James Churchill of Malvern, Iowa; James L., residing at Long Beach, California; Jennie, who married Robert Fowler and is now deceased; Dr. Charles A. Love, living at Atascadero, California, where he practices medicine; Melvin, who died in childhood; and Don L,, of this review. The last named spent his boyhood upon a farm in Marshall and Calhoun counties, Iowa, and attended the district schools until he reached the age of sixteen years when he took up the profession of teaching. He devoted seven years to that calling and also attended school during that period, while in vacation intervals he worked on a farm. It was during that period that he spent about four years in the Iowa State University at Iowa City, being graduated from there in 1886 with the Bachelor of Arts degree. The entire cost of his college course he met with money which he earned by teaching school. During the season of 1886-7 he was principal of the school at Gamer, Iowa, and at the same time he devoted his leisure hours to the study of law. In the spring of 1887 he entered a law office in Des Moines and there continued his studies through the following summer. In September, 1887, he went to Garden City and there entered upon the practice of his profession, but there was little clientage to be gotten there for Garden City had been a boom town and the boom collapsed. After four months spent there, Mr. Love came to Lincoln, arriving here in 1S88. Gradually he has worked his way upward in his profession and has become a distinctively representative member of the Lincoln bar. In more recent years he has devoted much time to official duties and to the conduct of private interests, although for about twenty-three years he was one of the active members of the Lincoln bar. For a long period he was the partner of W. T. Stevens, practicing under the firm name of Stevens & Love, and with the accession of Samuel C. Cochran to the firm, the name was changed to Stevens, Love & Cochran. For a number of years they maintained a notable place as leading lawyers of the capital. At the present time Mr. Love is vice president of the Lincoln State Bank and vice president of the Lincoln Trust Company, and thus he figures prominently in financial circles of the city. On the 20th of August, 1890, occurred the marriage of Mr. Love and Miss Julia Larrabee, a daughter of late Govfemor William Larrabee of Iowa. Mr. Love is now director of the Nebraska Art Association, belongs to several literary clubs and is a member of the Nebraska Historical Society, all of which indicate the nature and breadth of his interests. In politics he has always been a republican, save in 1912 when he supported Roosevelt as a progressive. In 1909 he was elected mayor of Lincoln and served for one term of two years. One of the chief planks in his platform was a "dry" city and the temperance element under his leadership won. He was elected and the city was dry for the first time in its history, continuing so for two years, or while he held the office. In 1911, however, the opponents of temperance won and again in 1913. Prior to serving as mayor, Mr. Love had been appointed acting county judge and for a time was upon the bench. In 1912 he was a delegate at large to the republican national convention in Chicago and was one of the Roosevelt men who helped to organize the progressive party and nominate the New York statesman. In religious faith he adheres to Unitarian principles. He is a member of the Lincoln Commercial Club and of the Lincoln and Nebraska State Bar Associations. He is a man of marked ability, exerting a strongly felt influence over public thought and action, and standing at all times for those forces Which work for the uplift of the individual and the betterment of the district. LINCOLN: The Capitol City and Lancaster Co., NE, Vol. 2; ; Chicago, Illinois, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, (c) 1916, pp. 98-100 |