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BIOGRAPHICAL SOUVENIR OF BUFFALO COUNTY Wisconsin has a record as one of the best fighting regiments in the Union army. It was changed to cavalry in September, 1863, and did its best fighting prior to that date. It sustained its greatest loss at Port Hudson, La., where its loss in killed, wounded and missing was two hundred and nineteen, the actual death loss being forty-five or twenty per cent. of the total number of the regiment engaged. The subject of this sketch enlisted in Company K, Forty-third Wisconsin volunteer infantry, September 12, 1864, having just turned his seventeenth year. His regiment was commanded by Col. Amasa Cobb, present associate justice of the state supreme court of Nebraska. Mr. Jenkins served nominally under Gen. George H. Thomas, being stationed at Nashville, Tenn. Going into the army late he saw but little active service. He was mustered out at Milwaukee, Wis., July 8, 1865. Returning to Green Lake county he engaged in work at his trade--boot and shoe making. January 1, 1868, he married Miss Emma L. Morse, of Seneca Falls, N. Y., and came as stated to Buffalo county, this state, in March, 1872. August 12, 1875, his wife died, leaving two children--Frank B. and Florence L. July 15, 1877, he again married, his second wife being Miss Mary E. Morrison, of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. By this marriage he has the following children--Charley A., Paul B. and Noble. Mr. Jenkins is a man of social turn, has a heart full of sympathy for his fellow-men and is willing at all times to help any in need or distress. He has been an active worker in a number of the beneficial orders, using these orders as a means to do what good he is able to for struggling humanity.
ELIZA R. MORSE, M.D. Among the women who have had the courage and independence to devote their lives to some special line of endeavor, it is no rash prediction to say that the subject of this sketch is destined to hold a useful and honorable place. Born in the town of Metamora, Woodford county, Ill., the daughter of Levi P. and Mary (Parmiter) Morse, she passed her earlier years in that locality and from the schools of her native place received a thorough common and high school training, acquiring her literary education at Eureka and afterwards at Knox College at Galesburg, Ill., which education was supplemented by a special course in the private Normal at Valparaiso, Ind. With a desire to devote her life to one of the liberal professions and having a special taste and aptitude as she believed for the practice of physic, she began to read medicine in 1884 with Dr. W. Mansfield of Metamora, Ill., pursuing her studies assiduously under this gentleman for many months. As she progressed in her knowledge of the profession, she became more and more enamored of it and the more firmly fixed became her determination to master its mysteries and to thoroughly prepare herself for its practice. Entering the Woman's Medical College at Chicago, Ill., she graduated from that institution in the spring of 1888, and then returned to Metamora, where she began the practice of her chosen profession with her preceptor, and met with the most flattering success from the beginning. Encouraged by this, she determined to enter upon an independent professional career, and with an instinctive confidence in the American sense of
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honor and fair play--displayed nowhere on this continent to such good advantage as in the great West, where all are absolutely free and equal according to merit. She came hither and in the spring of 1889 cast her fortune with the promising city of Kearney, where she at once took up the practice and has since continued at it. Her venture has not proved disappointing. She has met with as cordial reception from the fraternity as she could have asked and as liberal patronage from the public as she had any reason to expect. She has met the crucial requirements as to honesty and capability and her subsequent career therefore is only a matter of time and patient labor. She has qualified herself for the general practice and she pursues her profession in all its branches, giving special attention only as time and opportunity afford to the diseases incident to women and children. She is a thorough student and keeps fully abreast of the best thought of the day in her profession. She realizes that in the science of her profession as in all progressive sciences there are but few axioms, the perfection of the known and the discovery of the unknown being the constant ends in view. In the adaptation of the infinite variety of means to these ends, the realm of materea medica unfolds and discovers to the eye of the student, philosopher and humanist an ever widening field of research and labor, so that he or she who has selected this line of endeavor for his life work is not only not privileged to rest his knowledge on the dicta of the curriculum and the teachings of the books, but he commits a grave crime against his race when he does so, and one which soon or late returns in its consequences to plague him in his professional career. Not only is Dr. Morse fully alive to the responsibilities of her profession, but she is admirably fitted by nature for its successful pursuit. Endowed with that subtile (sic) sympathy which makes the whole world akin, her presence in the sick room is felt before she begins to prescribe. Cautious in the steps by which she proceeds, her first efforts are always directed to the task of securing the confidence of her patient, then an understanding of the ailment and then an application of the resources of her art to the trouble in hand. With such methods, re-inforced by a natural and professional acumen rare even in one of her sex and fraternity, distinguished each alike for their signal intuitiveness, she does not often fail of a cure when called in time, and where, from a neglect of proper precautions at the outset or from a dissolution of the forces of nature, restoration to health and vigor are beyond the reach of her skill, with a frank acknowledgment of this to herself and a discreet intimation of the unpleasant fact to the friends and relatives of her patient, she plies her utmost care to lengthening the feeble span of life for her unhappy sufferer and to robbing the dark and shadowy vale and depriving the death bed of at least its physical agonies.
CHARLES D AYRES, one of Kearney's successful and enterprising citizens, had his birth in the Buck-eye State in Medina county, Ohio, thirty miles from the city of Cleveland, on the twenty-second of October, 1852. His father, Nathan W., a native of New York State, moved to Ohio with his parents at an
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early age; subsequently removed to Henry county, Iowa, in the year 1867, and shortly thereafter to Van Buren county, Iowa, where he spent his remaining years till his death in 1878. His father--the grandfather of the subject of our present sketch--was a physician and a native of Connecticut, but spent his last days with his son in Medina county, Ohio, dying there at the age of sixty-nine. The father of Charles D Ayres followed the business of farming all his life. Mr. Ayres' mother, Mary J. (Quilhot) Ayres, is a native of Johnstown, N. Y., where she was born in 1823, is still alive and resides in Kearney.
The subject of our present sketch moved to Kearney from Iowa in the year 1874, and is consequently one of the pioneers of this section of the country, and could doubtless relate many interesting occurrences to which the present generation of new-comers are utter strangers. Mr. Ayres is the second of four children, of whom three--Edward J., William K. and himself--are still living, all in Kearney. One, Gertrude, is dead.
Mr. Ayres was educated in the common schools, and when he was of sufficient age to begin the active duties of life he engaged in farming. In 1880, however, he embarked in the coal business, to which he has continued since to devote his time, handling also farm machinery. Mr. Ayres is a republican in politics, but has never given it very much attention, being content to discharge the duties of an enterprising and progressive citizen and devoting his energies to business pursuits, which are more to his taste.
Mr. Ayres is a man of quiet and modest demeanor, but of very social disposition. He has passed all the chairs in the I. O. O. F., and encampment, and last year his brethren recognized his worth and ability by making him grand patriarch of the State of Nebraska. For the past six years he has been a member of the committee on appeals and grievances of the grand lodge of this state. He is also a member of the Rebecca lodge and of Canton Excelsior, No. 3, Patriarchs Militant. Mr. Ayres has also allied himself with the order of Knights of Pythias, both subordinate and uniform rank, and for the past year has been captain of the division. He is one of the substantial citizens of Kearney and is taking an active part in the development of this thriving young city.
Photo of George Fleharty GEORGE FLEHARTY was born in Grant county, Wis., August 27, 1837, and is a son of William and Martha (Toogood) Fleharty. His father was born in Maryland in 1802, and emigrated to Ohio when a boy, where he remained for a few years, after which he moved to Springfield, Ill., and subsequently located at Galena. He taught his first term of school near Springfield, where he also studied law. He was a man of marked ability. He served through the Black Hawk war, and entered the ministry of the Methodist church in 1835. His efforts in the ministry were attended with marked success, but he was compelled to retire after ten years' service on account of failing health. He was a member of what was then known as the Rock River conference. He died on his farm near Apple River, Ill., in 1873.
Two hundred years ago a person stand-
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ing on the wharf at Baltimore, Md., might have seen two persons swimming towards shore in advance of a ship; one of these was no other than William Fleharty, the founder of the Fleharty family in America. He determined to reach America in advance of his comrades. He was a native of the north of Ireland. He became an extensive slave owner, but freed them all before his death.
George Fleharty's mother was born in Troy, N. Y., in 1796. She resided after her marriage at Wilkesbarre, Pa; removed from there to St. Louis, Mo., where her husband died. She had a flat-boat constructed, and placing her few household utensils thereon, she and three little children, with the aid of a hired man, poled their little boat up the river to Galena, Ill. Here she met William Fieharty, to whom she was married in 1830. Four children were born of this union--Eveline M., William H., Margaret A. and George. Mrs. Fieharty died at the home of her daughter, Eveline, February, 1887. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
George Fleharty was married, December 25, 1860, to Annie Kelly, daughter of Richard and Katie Kelley, and born in Ireland in 1838. She emigrated to this country in 1845. Her father died in Warren, Ill., March 10, 1862; her mother resides in Chicago. Eleven children were born to them, seven of whom are still living, namely--Rosette, born November 11, 1863 (wife of William W. Pierce); George F., born July 27, 1868; Jennie, born August 15, 1870; Joseph II., born December 19, 1873; Nellie, born March 21, 1876; Charles F., born May 1, 1878; and Walter B., born December 28, 1881.
Mr. Fleharty came to Buffalo county, Nebr., November 13, 1871, and took a homestead in Center township, upon which he has resided continuously ever since. He made what improvements he could the first year, but the next winter his only team died, and for several years the grasshoppers swept away his crops, but he never became discouraged, like many others, and return to whence he came. The Indians were quite numerous, and were a source of constant annoyance to the settlers on account of their habit of begging and stealing. He was elected county surveyor in the fall of 1872, and served two years, and was elected county commissioner in the fall of 1873, and served a term of three years. The county jail, Platte river bridge, and other works of internal improvement were completed during his supervision. He was the first postmaster at Buda. He is an old soldier. Enlisting in a Wisconsin regiment, in 1862, he served his country faithfully during the war of the rebellion. He is an influential member of the republican party and a man of considerable learning.
JOHN WILSON, sheriff of Buffalo county, is one of the best known gentlemen as well as most popular and efficient public officials in central Nebraska. He comes of Scotch-Irish parentage, and retains in his make-up many of the most signal qualities of the race from which he springs. His parents, Samuel and Mary (Owens) Wilson, were brought to the United States by their parents when young, the former at the
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age of nine and the latter at the age of sixteen. They grew up in the city of Pittsburgh, Pa., where they met and were married, and from which place they emigrated West in 1865, and settled in Henry county, Ill., where they now live, being engaged in the peaceful pursuit of agriculture. They are the parents of nine children, of whom the subject of this sketch is the eldest, the others being Mary A., Jane L., Samuel, William A., James, Archie, Richard B. and Ella--the last named now deceased.
The subject of this notice was born in Allegheny county, Pa., on the twenty-first day of February, 1849. He was reared mainly in his native county, going to Henry county, Ill., with his parents in the spring of 1865. He was brought up on his father's farm, received a good common-school training, and began his career as a farmer in Henry county, Ill., but remained on the farm only a short time, when he was appointed deputy sheriff of Henry county by W. J. Vannice and served as such for three years. Vannice's term of office having expired and B. H. Goodell having been elected as sheriff, Mr. Wilson received the appointment of deputy under that gentleman and held this position for four years. In the fall of 1883 he moved to Nebraska and settled in Kearney, and began to speculate in real estate, following this for about a year. In 1884, in company with his brother Samuel, he engaged in the livery business in Kearney, continuing at it till the fall of 1887, when he was elected sheriff of Buffalo county. He was re-elected to the same position in the fall of 1889, and is now holding under that election. As evidence of the popularity he has achieved, he was re-elected by a majority of 1,300 votes, the largest majority ever given any public official in Buffalo county. He is a faithful and efficient officer and discharges his duties without fear or favor. He has won the popularity he has attained in the only way such things can be done--that is, by treating his office as a public trust and bringing to the discharge of his official duties the same zeal, energy and discriminating judgment that he exercises in the prosecution of his own affairs. That he should have some enemies is naturally to be expected, yet, as was said of another, his warmest friends "love him most for the enemies he has made." His name is a terror to evil-doers, as his presence is the best guarantee of peace, order and the faithful execution of the laws. Besides being a capable public official, he is a successful man of business and a wide-awake progressive, public-spirited citizen. He has been identified with the best interests of his community since locating in Kearney and has worked with a will for the promotion of all the enterprises which have sought favor there, giving liberally also in proportion to his means. He is now and has been for years chief of the Kearney fire department, is also president of the State Fireman's Association, and at the State convention held January, 1890, at Wahoo, he was elected delegate to represent the state at the National Convention of Engineers to be held at Detroit, Michigan. He is president of the Sheriffs' State Association and is now serving his second term as such.
Mr. Wilson married, May 18, 1880, Miss Rosa M. Beecher, daughter of Benjamin J. Beecher, of Henry county, Ill. To this union have been born four children, two
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living--John Howard and Ella Mary. Pearl W. and Archie E. died in infancy. Mr. Wilson is a republican in politics and is a stanch supporter of the principles of his party. He is a member of a number of the beneficial orders, among them the masonic, in which he has taken all the degrees up to and including the Knight Templar; the other societies of which he is a member comprise the Knights of Pythias, the Modern Woodmen of America, and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. In private life he is polite, companionable and accommodating. No man would go further to assist a friend or a stranger than he, and this is the secret of much of his popularity. He counts his friends by the hundreds, and no man in Buffalo county has warmer ones than he has. Mrs. Wilson is a member of the First Baptist church.
C. W. VAN ALSTINE is the leading artist and photographer of Kearney, has his studio at 2111 Main street, and has had an experience of thirty years in photographic work. When a lad of twelve years he lost his father and at that early age started out to make his own way in the world He first went to work at Watertown, N. Y., where he learned the trade of carriage trimming. Abandoning it on account of his poor health he learned the daguerreotype business, traveled two years, and then located at Potsdam, N. Y., where he remained until 1877. Poor health again caused him to relinquish his business, but in 1878, however, he regained his health and removed to Big Rapids, Mich., where he opened a photographic gallery, remaining there six years, when, being attacked once more with poor health he sold out and went south to Kansas; soon afterward he went to Richmond, Va., where he remained a few weeks and recovered sufficiently to remove to and open a gallery at Red Oak, Iowa, where he soon became fully restored to health and where he remained until 1889, when he sold out and opened his present photographic parlors at Kearney.
Mr. Van Alstine has been married twice--first, in 1864, to Miss Theresa A. Clark, by whom he had one son--Charles H. Van Alstine, now a practical photographer. Mrs. Van Alstine died in February, 1878. She was a member of the Episcopal church and for many years was organist of recognized merit. In April, 1884, Mr. Van Alstine was united in marriage to Miss Emma T. Green, then of Big Rapids, Mich., but a native of Belmont, N. Y. Mrs. Van Alstine is an artist and a finished and natural retoucher, and has had, for the past eight years, the reputation of being one of the finest artists in this respect in the country. She makes it very pleasant for the ladies, as she has excellent taste in the arrangement of drapery.
Mr. and Mrs. Van Alstine rank among our best people and enjoy the confidence and respect of all who know them; they are members of the Episcopal church and Mrs. Van Alstine is a member of the K. P. Sisterhood. Mr. Van Alstine is a Royal Arch Mason. The negatives used in making the portraits of Buffalo county citizens that appear in this work were made by Mr. Van Alstine. 408
HOMER J. ALLEN. One of the prominent and influential citizens of Kearney, Nebr., as well as one of the oldest settlers in this section of the state, is Homer J. Allen. Born in Erie county, Pa., in 1848, he came to this state while the major part of our beautiful and now well-settled territory was literally a howling wilderness. His father, Josiah N. Allen, was a Congregational preacher, born in Otsego county, N. Y., but while yet an infant moving with his parents to Erie county, Pa., where the earlier years of our subject were passed. It was in 1872 that Josiah N. Allen emigrated with a colony of neighbors and friends to this county, locating near the present village of Shelton. His entire life has been given to the Master's service, his labors having begun as early as 1858. He is still alive and resides near Shelton, where he first located. He can tell many an interesting and thrilling tale of pioneer experience, but for these there is scarcely room in a brief sketch like this. Suffice it to say that he preached the first sermon in what is now Buffalo county, and also married the first couple. His faithful wife, Polly Miller, a native of Erie county, Pa., was born on the third of August, 1837, and still lives to share the comforts and trials of his declining years. The Allens trace their lineage back to Samuel P., the great-grandfather of Homer J., who was of English descent. His son, Clother B., was born in New York State, but passed the greater part of his later life in Erie county, Pa., whither his son, as above stated, had emigrated about 1827. He died there at the age of seventy-seven years.
The subject of this sketch is the eldest of six children, of whom five are still living. Emogene, wife of a Mr. George, is a resident of Custer county, this state; Ernestine, now Mrs. S. J. Hedges, lives near Sidney, Nebr.; Milly, wife of Stephen Stonebarger, lives at Shelton; Mertie B. lives with her parents at Shelton; Hadley Dean is dead.
Our subject was reared up a farm boy in Erie county, Pa., and during his boyhood years attended the common schools of that state; but at the age of twenty-one, desiring to still further increase his fund of knowledge, he entered the excellent normal school located at Edinboro, Pa. It was his intention to take the entire course at this school, but his labors were broken in upon by an accident which he met with at the end of his second term, and which precluded his further attendance until other interests seemed to make it impossible for him to carry out his original intention. The remaining time that he lived in Pennsylvania was devoted to farming, and when, in 1872, having accumulated a little property, he came to Nebraska and bought eighty acres of land located about two miles southwest of Shelton.
He is one of the many men who have demonstrated beyond a doubt that good business habits, coupled with industry, will make a success of farming in Nebraska. Beginning with but eighty acres, he gradually added to his landed possessions till at the present time he owns four hundred and twenty acres. Mr. Allen continued the business of farming up to the year 1883, when his fellow-citizens, deeming his services would be of value to them, elected him to the office of county treasurer, and, for the better discharge of
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his duty, he in that year removed to Kearney, the county seat. At the end of his first term he was re-elected, holding the office continuously from his first election in the fall of 1883 until 1888. His services in this capacity were entirely satisfactory to his constituents. Ite has, since 1888, been engaged in the abstract and real estate business, which he still follows. He is, however, interested in various other commercial enterprises, having been active in organizing the Kearney National Bank, one of the strongest banking concerns in the city of Kearney, of which he has been a stockholder from its incipiency, and during a large portion of that time one of the directors. He is also treasurer of the Kearney Land and Investment Company, which company he also assisted in organizing.
Mr. Allen was married in 1875, March 18, to Phoebe S. Hotchkiss, of Erie county, Pa. Three children have come to bless this union--Elmer W., Edna M. and Leon. Mr. Allen and his wife are both members of the Congregational church of this place.
In the midst of his arduous and successful business enterprises, Mr. Allen has found time to develop the social side of his nature as well. He is a Knight Templar, member of Mount Hebron Commandery No. 12, and is also a member of the shrine located at Omaha. He is also connected with the A. O. U. W. of this place. Mr. Allen is a stanch republican in politics, but, as will be seen from the foregoing sketch, has preferred the more congenial walks of a business life to the turmoil and intrigue of a political career. He is a man of fine and commanding presence, and, best of all, has the respect and confidence of his fellow-citizens. In a city which can, perhaps, boast a larger number of enterprising and able men than the average city of its size, Homer J. Allen occupies an honorable place.
FRED URWILLER, one of the first settlers of Gardner township, Buffalo county, Nebr., is a native of Switzerland; was born May 24, 1849, and accompanied his parents to the United States in 1854. His father was a silk weaver by trade, but engaged in mercantile pursuits some, while a resident of his native country. The family lived at Rochester, N. Y., three years after landing in this country, and this consisted of eight children, five of whom died in the old country. In 1857 they moved to Marshall, Calhoun county, Mich. A farm was purchased near that place and successfully cultivated by Mr. Urwiller and his three sons, who proved themselves to be hard-working, industrious young men. The parents were both zealous members of the Lutheran church and were among the most respected citizens of the community. The educational advantages of Fred Urwiller were limited to the common district school, which he was only permitted to attend during the winter months. He assisted his father on the farm until he was twenty, when he began learning the carpenter trade.
In the fall of 1878, Fred Urwiller, accompanied by his two elder brothers, Jacob and Samuel, came to Buffalo county, Nebr., in search of land. They finally filed claims in Gardner township and
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began the arduous work of founding a home on the frontier of civilization. They were the first settlers in that immediate locality and the surroundings were indeed anything but encouraging. Fred came with limited means and borrowed money to procure material for a house. He erected a small, comfortable frame house, and when he got it finished he had but $25.00 left to carry himself and family through the winter. He worked out when he could get work, and earned what he could whenever opportunity afforded. He and his brother Samuel worked at Shelton and would often wade home through the deep snow to see how their families were getting along. Spring opened, crops were planted, and harvest time awaited with great eagerness by Mr. Urwiller and his neighbors. The harvests gathered were not always abundant, but Mr. Urwiller has never sown but what he reaped, though the harvest may have sometimes been small. On New Year's day, 1873, Mr. Urwiller was united in marriage with Miss Nevada Paul, a native of Michigan and a daughter of Arthur Paul, who was born in New York. This union has been blessed with five children, as follows--Cora M., born January 12, 1874; Cornelia, born September 24, 1877; Frank D., born November 9, 1882; Lillie, born April 9, 1886, and Florence E., born April 13, 1890. While Mr. Urwiller has not been a seeker after public office, he has, nevertheless, been called upon to fill various responsible positions of public trust. He has served as town treasurer, also as justice of the peace, and at this present time is a member of the county board of supervisors. He and his estimable wife are devoted members of the Presbyterian church, and are liberal contributors to every worthy cause. Mr. Urwiller has one of the best improved farms in the township and under his careful and judicious management it produces equal to any of the same number of acres in the county. As above stated, Mr. Urwiller came here with very limited means; he has tasted some of the bitter and disagreeable things of life, but he has boldly and courageously overcome every obstacle in this way; and by hard work, good management and rigid economy, has succeeded beyond his most sanguine expectations. He has denied himself and family many of the luxuries of life to avoid getting in debt, and to this, perhaps more than any other one thing, is due his success.
BYRON N. SPRINGER, an enterprising hardware dealer of Armada, Nebr., was born near the city of Council Bluffs, Iowa, April 17, 1853, and is the son of George W. and Hannah (Calmere) Springer. His father was born near New York City, March 27, 1809. He was a farmer by occupation and has resided in several states. In 1850 he moved to Iowa and was one of the first settlers in Pottawattamie county, that state. His paternal grandfather was William M. Springer, who was a native of New York, and served with distinction in the Revolutionary war. His mother was born in England, in February, 1813, but came to America in 1835, her parents having preceded her. Byron N. Springer was married March 19, 1874, to Miss Mary H. Tripplett, daughter of Thomas and
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Sarah (Pallock) Tripplett ; the former was a Virginian by birth and the latter was a native of Pennsylvania. They emigrated West in 1884 and are now living in Dawson county, Nebr. After marriage, Byron N. Springer engaged in farming in Iowa, which occupation he continued for several years, although he had become proficient as a blacksmith and followed that trade for ten years. He immigrated to Buffalo county, Nebr., March 4, 1884, and settled in Armada, where he worked at his trade as a blacksmith until December 1, 1886, when he engaged in the implement business. In October, 1887, he began the hardware business and is now known as the pioneer hardware dealer of the town. In the spring of 1889 his store with its contents was burned, but he soon started up again, and is now doing a lively and prosperous business. He is confident of the future success of Armada (now Miller), being situated as it is in the rich valley of Wood river. He has been a close observer of the progress of events since his residence in the town and he believes it only a question of a short time until the future of Armada will be assured. When he first came to the town there were only three or four sod houses; he built the first frame house, and since then the town has become an important trade center. He has been justice of the peace for Armada township; is a member of the Good Templars and. I. O. O. F., and a most ardent temperance man. He and his most estimable wife are members of the Methodist church. They have five children---Eva R., Clara E., Julia E., Gilbert O., and Ellis C. B. N. Springer's business building was the first to be placed in Fox's addition to the village of Miller, to which, and the original plat of Miller, the whole village of Armada moved during the summer of 1890, making Miller the largest and best town on the Kearney & Black Hills railroad, built up the Wood River valley during the year last named.
JOHN HENDRICKSON, one of the early settlers in Gardner township, Buffalo county, was born in Iowa, November 2, 1846. He is a son of Samuel and Hester (Lewis) Hendrickson, the former a native of Ohio, and the latter of Michigan. The parents were married in the Buckeye State and soon afterwards emigrated to Muscatine county, Iowa. They were among the very first settlers in the western part of that county and two hundred and forty acres of the land owned there now by the senior Hendrickson were prempted by him. The mother died in 1855. John Hendrickson, the subject of this sketch, is one of a family of eight children. His educational advantages were limited to the common district schools, which in that new country were not very far advanced.
Mr. Hendrickson enlisted in May, 1864, at the age of eighteen in the Forty-fourth regiment of Iowa volunteers and served three months. His regiment was assigned to patrol duty but was not in any noted battles, and he was mustered out in the fall of 1864. After the war he moved to Cass county, Iowa, where he lived for eight years, engaged in farming. He came to Buffalo county, Nebr., in the fall of 1878 and settled in Gardner township, where he lived in a dugout for three years and at times had a hard struggle to keep
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